THE PURPOSE OF GOD CONCERNING ISRAEL.

WE have thus traced out the whole line of Gentile prophecy, which flows in an unbroken stream from Nebuchadnezzar to the last great head of the fourth empire.

And we have found that we are now in the clayiron times of the feet of the image, and that the world is soon to see the revival of the Roman empire under the form of ten confederate kingdoms, the brief but memorable course of which will be cut short by the fall of the stone from the mountain-that is, by the descent of the Lord Jesus from the height of His power.

But while earth was bending to the sway of the Babylonian monarch, or shuddering beneath the tread of Persian myriads; while men were wondering at the lightning-rapidity and irresistible bravery of the legions of Alexander, or saluting Cæsar as lord of the world and a present deity; when the crown was placed on the brow of Charlemagne, and the majesty of Rome again hovered over Europe; while the Eastern empire was being destroyed by Moslem hordes; or while the armies of Napoleon

were spreading like a prairie-fire over the surface of Christendom-what, during these long times of commotion and change, was the counsel of God in regard to the Jew? Had He cast away His people? God forbid! He had not cast away His people whom He foreknew.

Through all the turmoil of Gentile times His purpose concerning Israel has remained sure. And although the children of Abraham have long been a nation scattered and peeled, a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land invaders, like overflowing rivers, have spoiled; yet when the iniquity of the Gentiles is full, and God's patience with them exhausted, Israel shall come into remembrance and be again gathered. The mystic Babylon shall fall, and Jerusalem shall arise and shine as the true city of the great King, and the joy of the whole earth.

Now the key to the future of Israel is to be found in the ninth chapter of Daniel. If we understand that portion of God's Word, our difficulty with the remainder of Hebrew prophecy will be greatly diminished, and we shall easily see how to arrange other predictions each in its own place.

Nor is this all. The closing verses of the chapter, by marking out the times of God's dealings with the Jews, instruct us also in regard to the position of the Church in the grand progress of His purposes; and show us that, although her members will hereafter reign with Christ, she, nevertheless, at present occupies a mere parenthesis in the world-history.

Believers often fail to realize this fact practically,

even when they agree to it in theory. They are eager to apply the prophetic Scriptures directly to themselves, can spare but little for the Israelite; nay, will sometimes even speak of his history as though the great object of his existence were to supply a type of the Church of this age.

To counteract such views, Paul wrote the eleventh chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, in which he shows that the Gentiles are merely as the branches of a wild olive tree which are at present grafted on the Jewish stock, but shall shortly be broken off to make way for the restoration of the natural branches. He warns the Gentiles not to be ignorant of this mystery, lest they should grow wise in their own conceits; and reminds them that God has a covenant with Israel, and that His gifts and callings are without repentance. Therefore the glory of earth must return to the children of Abraham, and "if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be but life from the dead!"

The Church has indeed a glorious destiny; but her calling is heavenly, while the Israelites shall be the kings of the earth. Since, therefore, prophecy mainly refers to earth, the Israelite has by far the greatest share of it. For those who are strangers and pilgrims here, and who are commanded not to mind earthly things, require to know but little of the world's history; those whose Saviour, whose home, and whose city, are in heaven, are not much concerned with the course of events below. Those who are warned that

at any moment, even in an hour when they think not, the King's messengers may announce, "The Master is come and calleth for thee," have no need to know the times and the seasons.

The Lord has, consequently, given but two continuous prophecies of the Church, while the prophetic Scriptures abound with details of the time when He will resume His covenant relations with Israel.

THE PERPLEXITY OF DANIEL.

In the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim, just before Nebuchadnezzar came to Jerusalem for the . first time, God foretold the impending trouble by the mouth of Jeremiah, and also set His limit to it. Judah should be a desolation, and should serve the king of Babylon seventy years; at the close of which time Babylon should be punished, and the land of the Chaldeans destroyed. The prophet did not, however, add anything respecting the restoration of his country

men.

But shortly after the departure of the second band of captives-Jehoiakim and those who were taken with him-the false prophet Hananiah declared that, within the space of two years, the Lord would break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar from off the neck of all nations, and bring back to Jerusalem the vessels of the Lord's house which had been carried away to Babylon. The same strain was taken up among the captives by Ahab, the son of Kolaiah, and Zedekiah, Jer. xxv. 8-14.

1 Thess. v. 1.

Jer. xxviii. 10-17.