Thou didst march through hands on high. The sun and moon stood still in their habitation at the light of thine arrows: they went at the shining of thy glittering spear. the land," i. e., Jerusalem, "in thresh the heathen in anger. the salvation of thy people," etc. geddon occurring in the Holy Land, and taking place after the seed of Abraham has been gathered and again settled therein, (vide Zechariah, xii. 13), becomes a conflict in which their very existence as a nation is at stake; when the Lord appears for their deliverance, Ezekiel, xxxviii. 14-24, and for the overthrow of all His foes. The last description which is given of it in Scripture is in chapter xix. of Revelations, in which the revelator says: "I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse, and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written that no man knew but He Himself; and He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood; and His name is called the WORD OF GOD. And the armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean; and out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the NATIONS. And He shall rule them with a rod of iron; and He treadeth the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls of the air, Come and gather yourselves together to the supper of the great God, that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and of captains, and of mighty men; and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them; and the flesh of ALL MEN, both free and bond, both small and great. And I saw the Beast, and kings of the earth and their armeis, gathered to- : gether to make war against Him that sat on the horse, and against His army. And the Beast was taken, and with him the False Prophet, and they were cast alive into a lake of fire, burning with brimstone." Immediately after which we have an account of the binding of Satan, and his casting into the bottomless pit, and the establishment of Christ's kingdom and reign for a thousand years. Is not this the same event to which our Saviour alludes in Matthew, xxv., where He says, "When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, (the armies of heaven), He will gather ALL NATIONS before Him, and separate them asunder, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats; and will say to them on the right, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; and to them on the left, Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels ?" Here is precisely the doom of the Beast, and the False Prophet, and kings of the earth, and all their armies, described in Revelations, xix., and the reward of His saints and faithful followers, described in Revelations, xx. So that the battle of Armageddon, or the GREAT DAY OF GOD ALMIGHTY, is the final breaking up of that long course of policy which the nations of the earth have pursued, whereby the authority of Christ and His laws has been ignored, and infidelity, and superstition, and tyranny have prevailed over all mankind. The aiders, and abettors, and upholders of these different systems, in their last great struggle to sustain them, shall fall on the plains of Armageddon, and with their fall shall the way be prepared to inaugurate that new system of righteousness, and truth, and peace, which the second Adam and the second advent will bring to a redeemed world. But it would seem that not until the Prophecy of Joel, iii. 10, shall have been fulfilled, with all its terrible results, as described in the succeeding verses, will the Prophecy of Micah, iv. 3, be realized, with all its desirable consequences, as also described in its sequel. The question is often asked by those who study the prophetic word, how near to us, or how far off, is that terrific contest of which we have now given some account? "How long shall it be to the end of these wonders ?" While we would not be so presumptuous as to specify" those times which the Father hath in His own power," yet our Lord has directed us always to look out for those signs of these coming events, which, like the budding fig tree, show that summer is nigh. And do not the signs of the times at this present period indicate that evil has gone forth from nation to nation, and that social and political disorganization is increasing throughout the earth? May not the word of Christ, "I came to send fire on the earth, and what will I if it be already kindled," be even now commencing its fulfillment; and the conflagration which is already lighted up in Europe be the beginning of that time of trouble of which the battle of Armageddon is the end? The most sober-minded and deep-thinking have for some time past regarded the signs of the times as exceedingly portentous, indicating the approach of some great crisis in the world's history. Politicians, as well as theologians, have expressed the opinion that the state of the world is by no means flattering to the friends of peace and progress, but rather indicates a coming struggle of interests and principles, which, if it continues to increase, may ere long turn the whole earth into a great battle-field, and make it an Aceldama. From Prophecy, we know that such a conflict must take place; and when the signs of the times seem to indicate that it is "nigh, even at the doors," a warning voice comes to us from that same prophetic word, to which we "do well to take heed:" "Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee; hide thyself, as it were, for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the Lord cometh out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain." Isaiah, xxvi. 20, 21. LECTURE IX. CASTING OF SATAN IN THE BOTTOMLESS PIT. "And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand, and he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years should be fulfilled, and after that he must be loosed a little season.' REVELATIONS, XX. 1-3. THE astonishing scope of Prophecy can not be better illustrated, nor its far-reaching vision set forth, than by comparing the first prediction, which was uttered nearly six thousand years ago, with the events yet to come announced in our text. "The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head," was declared to be the final result to him of that fraud which he had practiced upon our unsuspecting mother, who, through the sin in which he beguiled her, brought death into the world and all our woe. Before, however, the final stroke should be inflicted, a long course of hostility should exist between the two parties, the deceiver and the deceived, in which each should receive some damage. "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed," a perpetual strife, which should know no cessation, and which has been verified in the history of our race from the day that Cain slew Abel down to the |