tries, and made the sword of Almighty wrath, drunk with the blood of the nations, he shall enter the glorious, holy land of Palestine; and he shall plant the tabernacle of his palace between the seas. "He shall proceed," say the prophets, "and come as a storm, and as a cloud cover the land, he shall go from his place, from the north parts of the world; to carry away silver, and gold, and goods, and great spoil," collected by the Jews from all countries. He will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken. God will then rise in his vengeance, "he will send pestilence and blood; and rain an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, and fire and brimstone" upon him. While his immense armies cover the mountains of Israel, the abused elements become the enraged ministers of Divine vengeance. The atmosphere no longer yields its vital energy; the earth no longer supports their weary limbs; the mountains are thrown down, floods of rain and ponderous hailstones, drown and destroy their camps. The stars fight against them, the gentle breeze is changed to a howling tempest; the fiery bolts of heaven destroy the fields, and consume the le

gions of war; a fatal pestilence lurks in every breath; the air is death. "They have fought against Jerusalem;" therefore, saith God, "every man's sword shall devour his brother;" discord and dismay shall seize them; "their flesh shall consume away, while they stand on their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth." "These plagues shall come in one day;" "in one hour these judgments come;" "in one hour is he made desolate." Only "a sixth part," of his army will survive to return to the north country. God invites "the fowls and beasts to come and eat the flesh of the mighty and drink the blood of his princes and men of war."

"It is come; it is done, saith the Lord God." The weapons of this vast Antichristian army, which is destroyed, will supply the whole land of Israel, "with fuel for seven years." They will cut no wood from their fields or forests. On the east side of the sea shall they bury them, and seven months, shall all the nations of Israel be burying them, that they may cleanse the land from contagion.

This battle and overthrow of Antichrist is the same mentioned in Revelations. It is fought in the same place, and at the

same time. There the dragon, the beast and the false prophet, gather the kings of the earth and of the whole world to the battle of the great day of God Almighty. They gather them together to a place called Armageddon, which lies between the Galilean and Mediterranean

seas.

All these enemies of Christ are to perish at the close of the twelve hundred and sixty years. Hence it is evident from prophecy, that not far from the present time Antichrist will unite with the papal powers; they will go forth to the holy land, and there between the seas will be destroyed together.

These days will be terrible. Alas, who shall live when God doeth this. Such a time has not been since there was a nation. As the trembling of Sinai, the darkness and the thunder, were signs of the present God; so the fall of thrones, the dismay of nations, and the dissolution of empires, display the wrath of Jehovah, and the exact fulfilment of prophecy. The sun is dark, the moon is blood, the stars are falling. Though the prophecies are of old, they perfectly accord with the appearances of the present day. This Antichristian power, after having devoured the flesh of the great Harlot, and made her desolate, has formed

an alliance with her; she has actually set the crown on his head, and given him "her power, her seat, and great authority." A combination of their force to destroy real Christianity, to persecute and "crush" the people of God, is highly probable. "The fury of God will then come in his face," as prophecy has long declared, "and the fire of his wrath will burn," and this Antichristian "mighty army of many nations shall fall, and their bones cover the land of Israel."

ARMENIA, a province of Asia, consisting of Modern Turcomania, and part of Persia; having Georgia on the north, Curdistan, the ancient Assyria on the south, and Natolia or Asia Minor on the west. This province includes the sources of the Tigris and Euphrates, the Araxes and Phasis; and here also the province of Eden, in which Paradise was situated, is by some supposed to lie. The name Armenia, is thought to be derived, either from Aram the Father of the Syrians, or from Harminni, the mountain of the Mineans. Moses, Gen. viii, 4, says that the ark rested upon the mountains of Armenia, according to the Vulgate; but it is the mountains of Ararat, by the Septuagint and Hebrew reading. In the second book of Kings, chap.

xix, ver 27, and Isa. xxxvii, 38, it is said that the two sons of Senacherib, after having killed their father, escaped into Armenia. It is one of the most healthy provinces of all Asia; the air is mild, the soil is rich, and well watered with many streams and large rivers. On this account perhaps, some have supposed it to be the paradise or garden of Eden, mentioned in Genesis. The frontiers, though mountainous, are fertile. Formerly it was an independent kingdom; but is now subject, partly to Persia, and partly to the Turks. The part subject to the Persians is called Upper or Grand Armenia, and sometimes Eastern; the other part is called Lower or Little, or Western Armenia. The people are sober, industrious, and enterprizing. Mer. chants of Armenia are found in almost every considerable port of Asia and Europe. They are Christians. It is said a million souls in this country profess Christianity, though they are subject to Mahometan masters. Their clergy consist of monks, preachers, doctors, bishops, archbishops, and patriarchs. Erzeram is the capital of Armenia. Polygamy is not allowed; of course the people are more numerous, than in any other prov

ince of the Turkish empire. The celebrated mountain Ararat, on which, or some other summit of the same range, the ark of Noah rested, is in this country. (See Ararat.)

ARNON, a river or brook frequently mentioned in scripture; its spring head is in the mountains of Gilead, or of the Moabites; it discharges itself into the Dead Sea. Anciently this river was the dividing line between the Amorites and Moabites, and afterwards it was the line between the Moabites, and those tribes of Israel, who settled east of Jordan. They possessed from Arnon to the mount of Hermon. Bonfrerius.

AROER, a city of Judea, belonging to the tribe of Gad, Deut. ii, 36, &c. situated on the northern banks of the brook Arnon, at the extremity of that country, which the Hebrews possessed beyond Jordan. Eusebius says, that in his time, Aroer, was seated on a mountain. There appears to have been several towns of this name in Palestine. See Josh. xiii, 25, Judg. ii, 33; 1 Sam. xxx, 28, &c. This, however, is doubted by others, and not without some good reasons. "The city in the midst of the river," and "the city in the river," &c. may doubtless mean the same place. It is

supposed the city might consist of two parts, one standing on the bank of the river, the other in the river, or on a piece of ground surrounded by the water of the river, an island in the Arnon. This opinion seems countenanced not only from the city in the river being mentioned with Aroer; but also from the very name Aroer. The Hebrew word seems to be compounded from the word Ir, a city repeated or doubled, implying, that Aroer, was a double city, or two cities united in one. What is said in the text above seems to favor this. When we read that they pitched in Aroer, on the right side of the city, that lies in the midst of the river of Gad; this last phrase is exegetical, to explain on what part of the town they lay, viz. on that part, which lies in the midst of the river of Gad. It was eighteen miles north from Jerusalem.

ARPAD, is thought to have been a city of Syria. It was always placed with Hamath, 2 Kings, xviii, 34, xix, 13, Isa. x, 9, xxxvi, 19, xxxvii, 13; Jer. xlix, 23. Senacherib boasts of having reduced Arpad and Hamath, or of having destroyed the gods of those two places. Hamath is known to be the same with Emesa; and it is thought that Arpad is the

same with Arad or Arvad, as it is sometimes called in Hebrew. See Arad. Dr. Wells says that Arvador Urphad lay above the land of Hamath, over against which lies the island of Aradus, which name contains traces of the Hebrew Arpad or Arvad. This city after having been taken by the Assyrians, was ruined by the Chaldeans, Jer. xlix,23, but seems afterwards to have been rebuilt.

ARSARETH, the country where it is supposed the ten tribes of Israel may be found, 2 Esdras, xiii, 45. See IsRAELITES.

ARVAD, a city of Phenicia, situated on a small island,southward of Tyre, and a league from the continent. See ARADUS.

ARUBOTH, or ARABOTH, a city or country belonging to the tribe of Judah, (1 Kings iv, 10) the true situation of which is not known.

ARUMAH, a city near Shechem, (Judges ix, 41) where Abimelech dwelt.

ASHAN, a city of Palestine, belonging to the tribe of Judah, (Josh. xv, 42) but yielded to the tribe of Simeon, (Josh. xix, 7.) Lat. 31, 22.

ASHDOD, one of the five governments, belonging to the Philistines.

ASHDOD,OrAzoth,according to the Vulgate, or Azotus, ac