that the tops of the mountains, which, for ages past, have been little else than naked and barren rocks, shall be so thickly covered with corn, that with each gather or stroke of the sickle, the reaper shall have his hand full. The phrase is illustrated, by way of contrast, in Ps. cxxix. 6, 7, "Let them be as the grass on the house-tops, which withereth afore it groweth up; wherewith the mower," (rather, the reaper,) filleth not his hand, nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom."

Isa. iv. 2, " And the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel."

The expression is very emphatical, and implies that every injury will be prevented, and the greatest degree of perfection be given to every kind of fruit; and we have sufficient proof that new kinds of still greater perfection will also be introduced in the trees of life. (Ezek. xlvii. 7, 12.) But of this more will be said hereafter.

Isa. li. 3, "For the Lord will comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord."

These words contain the clearest evidence that the curse of barrenness inflicted on the land for the wickedness of them that dwelt therein, will be totally removed at the time when this prediction shall receive its accomplishment.

Ezek. xxxiv. 26, 27, “ And I will cause the shower to come down in his season: there shall be showers of blessing. And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase.”

...

Ezek. xxxvi. 29, 30, 33-35, "And I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field. . . . Thus saith the Lord God, In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities, I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded. And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden."

Joel ii. 24, 25, "And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil. And I will restore to you the years that the locust had eaten, the canker-worm, and the caterpillar, and the palmer-worm, my great army which I sent among you. And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you."

Many other passages, both literal and figurative, might be

produced in support of this point. But perhaps the reader will think the above more than enough.

6. All troublesome, injurious, and poisonous trees, shrubs, herbs, weeds, &c.

Isa. lv. 13, "Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle-tree."

Although these words do not contain an explicit proof of the point, yet it is plain that, as in Gen. iii. 18, thorns and thistles are, by a synecdoche, put for the whole of that part of the curse; so here, thorns and briars are used in the same sense. 7. The carnivorous, voracious, venomous, and destructive dispositions and qualities of beasts, reptiles, birds, &c.

Isa. xi. 6-9, "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid: and the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice" or (adder's) "den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain." (Compare chap. lxv. 25.)

Isa. xxxv. 9, "No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there."

Ezek. xxxiv. 25, 28, " And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land; and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods. And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beasts of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid." Hos. ii. 18, "And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will make them to lie down safely."

These passages are so definite, appropriate, clear, and easy, that one might be led to suppose it impossible that they ever could be misunderstood. But, alas! long experience has abundantly shewn what mistakes an erroneous system and consequent prejudices can produce! It plainly appears from these quotations that no ravenous beast, or any which had been so, will be permitted to remain within the holy land; and in those places where they will be permitted, their destructive nature will be changed; and that no insect or creeping thing will be permitted to hurt or annoy the favoured inhabitants.

To strengthen and confirm what has been adduced in this section, let us take a view of two or three general passages, which imply the removal of every part of the curse.

Isa. lxv. 24, "And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer, and whiles they are yet speaking, I will hear." Or, as Bishop Lowth translates the last words, "I shall have heard."

Whoever properly considers the import of the last eight verses of this chapter, cannot fail to discover that they refer to the future renovated state of the Jews; and that the verse just cited forms a part of the description. Scarcely can any words more emphatically and beautifully express the extensive, tender, peculiar, and attentive care of Jehovah for the objects of His love, than those before us. The significant idea evidently contained in them is, that in order to prevent their feeling any sense of want that would approach the nature of pain, He will so constantly anticipate them, that before they are able to make known their desires, they will be satisfied; and while they are expressing, or beginning to express their wishes, the answer will have been completed.

The attentive reader cannot fail to perceive, that the accomplishment of this promise is perfectly incompatible with the remains of any part of the curse.

Zeph. iii. 15,-" The Lord hath taken away thy judgments," (or punishments,) "he hath cast out thine enemy: the King of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more." These words, also, refer to the time and state above mentioned. They are addressed, by way of prediction, to the still future inhabitants of the land of Israel in general, and those of Jerusalem and Zion in particular, when the Redeemer's personal presence shall be with them. concluding words are emphatically expressive of the removal of every part of the curse. The word "evil," most certainly includes both moral and natural evil, of every kind and degree. And the destruction of either of these, naturally implies the destruction of the other.

Rev. xxii. 3, " And there shall be no more curse."

The

This verse, as well as chap. xxi. 4, cannot refer to the heavenly state, for this plain reason,-the words, "No more curse," necessarily imply the previous existence of a curse, and its ceasing to exist in the same place or state in which it had before existed. Now, as no one can suppose the curse to exist in heaven, it never can cease to exist there; and the words, No more curse," when applied to that state, must cease to

be proper, or even true.

The human state on earth, then, is that alone to which the words can refer; and there only can it be realised. And when this is the case, no part of the curse can then remain.

Before we dismiss this subject, let us attend to the two following observations:

First, That the destruction or removal of moral evil, as the cause of the curse, necessarily implies the destruction or removal of natural evil, or the curse itself as the effect. And the destruction or removal of the latter, presupposes the destruction or removal of the former.

This consequence arises from the following thesis:

That if all sin were perfectly removed from man, a God of infinite goodness and love could not permit him to lie under such complicated suffering as is included in the curse. And, on the other hand, while man remains a fallen, polluted, and guilty creature, a Being of infinite wisdom, rectitude, and justice, could not exempt him from punishment.

Second, That the removal of any considerable part of the curse involves the removal of the whole. For instance, if sorrow, grief, or pain of mind were totally eradicated, all the causes which produce them must, consequently, be expelled also. Otherwise the nature of causes and effects, as well as the harmony and propriety of the decisions of Divine providence, would be destroyed. Further, if death were removed, or great longevity introduced, yet, without the removal of diseases and pain, grief and sorrow, either circumstance, instead of being a blessing, would become an additional curse.

From the whole, it naturally follows, that if the prophecies had been far less explicit with regard to the removal of the different parts of the curse, the proof of the complete and certain removal of the whole would have been sufficiently strong. But as the case now stands, the evidence is nearly as strong as words can make it.

With regard to objections, it is scarcely to be supposed that any rational mind can feel disposed to object to the idea advanced in the first section, in the limited sense in which it is there stated. But many will probably be urged against the ideas asserted in the second and third sections. But the consideration of those objections will be reserved to the close of the following chapter, in which the same subject will be resumed on a larger scale.

CHAPTER IV.

That the blessed state before described will be extended to all the human

race.

The reader is requested to recollect that some of the passages produced in the last section of the preceding chapter are explicitly applicable to the idea presented in this. It is needless to repeat them.

1. Gen. xii. 3, "And in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." This is the first peculiar promise made by the Great Jehovah to Abraham, the father of the faithful. It was repeated to him several times afterwards, with some little variation of language. For instance, in chap. xviii. 18, it is thus worded, " And all nations of the earth shall be blessed in him." In chap. xxii. 18, and also chap. xxvi. 4, it runs thus: "And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed."

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However the words "thy seed" be understood, whether in a limited and emphatical sense, as referring to the Lord Jesus Christ, which certainly is the principal signification, or in a general sense, as referring to his earthly posterity at large, it is perfectly certain that these promises never yet have had their proper or full accomplishment. For, in what sense, adequate to the peculiarity of the promise, have all the families, or nations of the earth, been blessed in Abraham's seed, taken in either the limited or general sense, since the promise was made to him, more than they were before? Particularly with regard to those nations which have continued in their heathen state from Abraham's time down to the present,-what blessedness have they received either from the Messiah, or from the Israelites, more than before Abraham's time? These passages, therefore, undoubtedly refer to the future glorious times when the Redeemer shall be king over all the earth, and when the earthly seed of Abraham will be made "the ministers of the Lord," for the good of the nations, and when "all that see them shall acknowledge that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed," (Isa. lxi. 6, 9.) Although at first they will be the instruments of punishing the nations, yet they will afterwards become the medium of conveying to them the greatest good.

The blessedness intended in those passages certainly refer to the renovation of all nations, and is more explicitly expressed in some of the following quotations :