"of the fruits. A vine, in the prophetic language, "is an image of the church of God; the branches

of the vine are the members of the church; and "the useless shoots, and unfruitful luxuriant "branches, are the insincere nominal members of "the church. And the pruning of such shoots "and branches of the vine is the excision of such hypocritical professors, at least the separation

of them from the church by God's judgments. "This verse therefore and the following clearly “predict a judgment to fall upon the church for its purification, and the utter destruction of hypo

"of refreshing and copious showers; so, it appears, the "thunder of God's judgments will usher in the long desired season of the consummation of mercy. So accurate is the "allusion in all its parts." Letter on Isaiah xviii.

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It may here be observed, how exactly Scripture corresponds with Scripture. The long cessation of the visible interpositions of Providence has led the members of Antichrist to deny that such interpositions ever took place: yet in this very denial they have unwittingly accomplished the prophecies. In the last days were to arise scoffers, walking after their own lusts, contemptuously asking where is the promise of God's coming, denying that the earth was ever overwhelmed by the deluge, and asserting that all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. The Lord however hath already begun to shake both the political heavens and the political earth; and, ere long perhaps, Infidelity may be constrained with unwilling eyes to behold the restoration of Israel amidst such signs and wonders, as she can neither contradict nor oppose.

"critical

"critical professors of the truth *. The purifi"cation of the Christian church, by the awful vi"sitations predicted in this passage, seems to be "the proper preparative for the renewal of the "call, to them that are near, the Jews; and to "them that arc yet afar off, the Gentile tribes not

yet converted. Immediately after this purgation. "of the church, at the very time when the bird "of prey with all the beasts of the earth, "Antichrist with his rebel rout, shall have fixed "his seat between the seas, in the holy mountain †, a present shall be brought to the Lord of hosts; "the nation, described in ver. 2. as those to whom "the swift messengers are sent, after their long "infidelity, shall be brought as a present unto "Jehovah. They shall be converted to an ac

knowledgment of the truth; and they shall be brought to the place of the name of Jehovah, "to mount Sion: they shall be settled in peace * and prosperity, in the land of their original inThis "heritance t

"God, in the latter ages, will purify his Church with sore "but wholesome judgments. Compare John xv. 1, 2." (Letter ou Isaiah xviii.) These judgments will probably be the troubles occasioned by incessant war.

It was a prevailing opinion among the early fathers, that Antichrist is to possess himself of the Holy Land, and "that there he is to perish." (Letter on Isaiah xviii.) This opinion was inanifestly founded on Dan. xi. 41, 45, not to mention other parallel prophecies.

"When the present offered consists of persons, the "offered, as well as the offerers, must be worshippers. For

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"This then is the sum of this prophecy, and "the substance of the message, sent to the people dragged about and plucked. That in the latter ages, after a long suspension of the visible interpositions of Providence, God, who all the while regards that dwelling place which he never will "abandon, and is at all times directing the events "of the world to the accomplishment of his own purposes of wisdom and mercy; immediately "before the final gathering of his elect from the "four winds of heaven, will purify his church by "such signal judgments, as shall rouse the atten"tion of the whole world, and, in the end, strike "all nations with religious awe. At this period, "the apostate faction will occupy the holy land. "This faction will certainly be an instrument of "those judgments, by which the church will be pu"rified. That purification therefore is not at all "inconsistent with the seeming prosperity of the "affairs of the atheistical confederacy. But, after "such duration, as God shall see fit to allow to "the plenitude of its power, the Jews, converted

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"to be offered is to be made a worshipper; or, in some instances, to be devoted to some particular service in which the general character of a worshipper is previously implied, both "in the person who hath authority so to devote, and in the "devoted, as in the instances of Jephthah's daughter and the "child Samuel. The people therefore, brought as a present "to Jehovah to mount Zion, will be brought thither in a con"verted state." Letter on Isaiah xviii.

"to the faith of Christ, will be unexpectedly "restored to their ancient possessions. The swift

messengers will certainly have a considerable

share, as instruments in the hand of God, in the "restoration of the chosen people. Otherwise, to "what purpose are they called upon (Ver. 1.) to "receive their commission from the prophet? It "will perhaps be some part of their business to "afford the Jews the assistance and 'protection of "their fleets. This seems to be insinuated in the

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imagery of the first verse. But the principal

part, they will have to act, will be that of the "carriers of God's message to his people. This "character seems to describe some Christian

country, where the prophecies, relating to the "latter ages, will meet with particular attention; "where the literal sense of those, which promise "the restoration of the Jewish people, will be strenuously upheld; and where these will be so "successfully expounded, as to be the principal means, by God's blessing, of removing the veil "from the hearts of the Israelites

"In what people of the earth, of the eastern "or the western world, the characters of the messenger people may be found, when the time shall

come for the accomplishment of the prophecy, is "hitherto uncertain in that degree, that we are "hardly at libérty, in my judgment to conjecture. "But I cannot but say, that it seems in the highest degree improbable, that the atheistical demo

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cracy of France should be the people, for whom the honour of that office is intended. The French "democracy, from its infancy to the present moment, has been a conspicuous and principal "branch at least of the western Antichrist. The messenger people is certainly to be a Christian people. For I think it cannot be doubted, that "the messenger people, and the leaders of the present to Jehovah to mount Sion, are the same people. And the act of leading a present to "Jehovah to mount Sion must be an act of worshippers of Jehovah; for it is an act of worship. They therefore who lead the present will be true "worshippers, performing that service from religious motives. Those, who shall thus be instru

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ments in this blessed work, may well be de"scribed, in the figured language of prophecy, as "the carriers of God's message to his people. "The situation of the country, destined to so high (6 an office, is not otherwise described in the prophecy, than by this circumstance; that it is to "be beyond the rivers of Cush; that is, far to the "west of Judèa, if these rivers of Cush are to be understood, as they have been generally "understood, of the Nile and other Ethiopian "rivers; far to the east, if of the Tigris and the Euphrates. The one, or the other, they must "denote; but which, is uncertain

My notion of the prophet's geographical language is, that it is the language of the Phenician 66 voyagers of his time. And, in those times, the "most

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