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372 Sect. 160. Deliverances received, had hung up on the Walls and Pillars of it, befides what was laid up in its Treafuries (b); one of [them] fays unto him, Mafter, behold what vaftly large and curious Stones, and what stately Edifices [are thefe.]

JESUS foretells the Deftruction of the Temple.

Mat. XXIV.

I.

2

3

And Jefus replying faid unto them, [As for] thefe Things which ye behold with fo much Admiration, do you not fee the Splendor and Magnificence of all thefe great and pompous Buildings, which are the Pride of the Jewish Nation, and the Wonder of all the reft of Mankind? Yet notwithstanding all the prefent Grandeur of this ftately Temple, verily I say unto you, that the Days will quickly come, in which a victorious Enemy fhall profane its Sanctity, and deface its Beauty, infomuch that there shall not be left one fingle Stone upon another here, that shall not be entirely demolished (c), till no Remains of any Part of it fhall be preferved.

And when he was retired from the City, as he fate down upon the Mount of Olives, which was over-against the Temple, and commanded the finest Profpect of it from the Eaft, the Disciples, Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, who were favoured with a peculiar Share of his Intimacy and Confidence, came to him privately, faying, Mafter, we intreat thee, that thou wouldft tell us, when these awful Things fhall happen? and what [fhall be the Sign of thy fecond Coming,

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[one of them faith unto him, Mafter, fee what manner of Stones, and what Buildings are here.] [MARK XIII. I. LUKE XXI. 5.]

2 And Jefus [answering] faid unto them, [LUK. AS behold,] See ye not all thefe for thefe Things which ye [great Buildings?] Verily I fay unto you, [LUK. the which] there fhall not be Days will come, in the left here one Stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. [MARK XIII. 2. LUKE XXI. 6.]

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(b) Coftly Gifts, &c.] Hanging up fuch avaluala, or confecrated Gifts, was common in moft of the antient Temples. Tacitus fpeaks of the immenfe Opulence of the Temple at Jerufalem. (Hiftor. lib. v. §. 8.) Amongst others of its Treafures, there was a Golden Table given by Pompey; and feveral Golden Vines, of exquifite Workmanship, as well as immense Size; (for Jofephus tells us, in the Chapter cited above, § 4. that they had Clusters [ardpor Minxess] as tall a Man;) which, fome have thought, referred to GOD's reprefenting the Jewish Nation under the Emblem of a Vine; Ifa. v. 1, 7. Pfal. lxxx. 8. Ezek. xv. 2, 6. And Jofephus likewife afferts, (ibid. §. 6.) that the Marble of the Temple was fo white, that it appeared to one at a Diftance like a Mountain of Snow; and the Gilding of feveral of its external Parts, which he there mentions, muft, especially when the Sun fhone upon it, render it a moft fplendid and beautiful Spectacle.

(c) There fball not be left one Stone upon another here, &c.] It feemed exceedingly improbable, that this should happen in that Age, confidering the Peace of the Jews with the Romans, and the Strength of their Citadel, which forced Titus himself to acknowledge, that it was the fingular Hand of GOD, which compelled them to relinquish Fortifications, which no Human Power could have conquered. (Jofeph. Bell. Jud. lib. vi. cap. 9. (al. vii. 16.) §. 1.)-Bishop Chandler juftly obferves, that no Impoftor would have foretold an Event fo unlikely, and fo difagreeable. Defence of Christianity, pag. 472, 473.

(d) The

His Difciples the End of the World, [when all thefe Things fhall be fulfilled?] [MARK XIII. 34. LUKE XXI. 7.]

4 And Jefus [answering them, began to fay,] Take heed that no Man deceive you. [MARK XIII. 5. LUKE XXI. 8,—}

enquire, when thefe Things shall be.

Mat. XXIV.

373 when thou wilt execute thy Vengeance on these Sect. 160. thine Enemies; and of the End of the prefent Age and Difpenfation (d), when all thefe Things Shall 3. be accomplished, to make Way for the brighter Glories of that Kingdom, which thou wilt eftablish, when all thy Sufferings are over, and every Thing which opposes thy Triumph fubdued?

And Jefus anfwering them, began to fay, with 4 an Air of Solemnity agreeable to the Importance of the Subject on which he was going to discourse; As to the Event concerning which you now enquire, let me in the firft Place caution you, that you fee to it] in the most folicitous Manner, that no Man deceive you with falfe Pretences to a 5 For many fhall come Divine Revelation and Commiffion. For many 5 in my Name, faying, I am Shall come in my Name, and with the Title draw- liar to me, faying, I am the Meffiah (e); and the

Chrift; [LUK. and the Time

pecu

Time

(d) The End of the prefent Age.] So ouvexed to alvor may well be rendered. Compare Mat. xii. 32. Rom. xii. 2. 1 Cor. x. 11. Eph. ii. 2, 7. and Heb. vi. 5. ix. 26. in all which Places av may be rendered Age. Archbishop Tillotson, and many other excellent Writers, would retain our Tranflation, and fuppofe here are Two diftinet Questions; What should be the Sign of his Coming to punish the ungrateful Inhabitants of Jerufalem? and what the Sign of his final Appearance to the univerfal Judgment? And that Chrift answers the First Queftion in the former, and the Second in the latter Part of the Chapter: Tho' where the Tranfition is made, has been, among thofe that embrace this Interpretation, Matter of much Debate. Others have fuppofed, the Apostles took it for granted, that the World was to be at an End, when Jerufalem was deftroyed; and that Chrift was not folicitous to undeceive them, as their Error might make them fo much the more watchful; and therefore anfwers in ambiguous Terms, which might fuit either of thefe Events. But it seems much more natural to conclude, that they expected the wicked Perfecutors of Chrift, (in which Number most of the Magiftrates and Priefts were,) would by fome fignal Judgment be destroyed; and that hereupon he would erect a moft illuftrious Kingdom, and probably a more magnificent Temple, which they might think defcribed in Ezekiel: An Expectation, which they did not entirely quit, even to the Day of his Afcenfion. (See Acts i. 6.) Our Lord, with perfect Integrity and confummate Wisdom, gives them an Account of the prognosticating, and concomitant Signs of the Deftruction of Jerufalem; and then, without faying one Word of any Temporal Kingdom to be erected, raises their Thoughts to the final Judgment, (to which the Figures used in the former Defcription might many of them be literally applied,) and fets before them an Heavenly Kingdom, and Eternal Life, as the great Object of their Purfuit. Mat. xxv. 34, 46.This I take to be the Key to this whole Difcourfe; the particular Parts of which have been admirably illuftrated by many learned Commentators; but the whole Scope and Connection of it, fo far as I can recollect, fully explained by none.

(e) Many fhall come in my Name, &c.] See Jofeph. Bell. Jud. lib. ii. cap. 13. (al. 12.) §. 4 5.- -Chriftian Writers have always with great Reafon reprefented Jofephus's Hiftory of the Jewish War, as the best Commentary on this Chapter; and many have juftly remarked it, as a wonderful Inftance of the Care of Providence for the Chriftian Church, that he, an Eyewitness, and, in these Things, of fo great Credit, fhould (efpecially in fuch an extraordinary Manner) be preferved, to tranfmit to us a Collection of important Facts, which fo exactly illuftrate this noble Prophecy in almoft every Circumftance. (Compare Jofeph. Bell, Jud. lib. iii. cap. 8. al. 14.) But as it would fwell my Notes too much, to enter into a parti

cular

Mat. XXIV. 5.

374 Sect. 160. Time of Deliverance, fo long promifed, and fo long expected by the Jewish People, is now come (f), when the Yoke is to be broken off from their Neck, and their Enemies are to be fubdued under them; and by thefe plaufible Pretences they shall deceive many: But do not ye therefore go after them; for all their Promises and Hopeswill be vain, and fudden Destruction will overtake them and their Followers.

He foretells the Calamities that would begin their Sorrows.

6

7

But when ye shall hear of Wars, and Rumours
of Wars among the Jews, and Seditions raised by
them in feveral Places against the Romans, fee
that you be not troubled [and] terrified, as if the
great Event that I have now foretold would im-
mediately happen; for all thefe Things must first
come to pass, and be the gradual Openings of it;
but the End of them, in the utter Destruction of
the Jewish State, is not yet: Nay, fome of you,
my Difciples, will have feveral important Services
to perform here, after these Alarms are begun;
Services, which even by means of thefe Alarms
you may pursue with fome peculiar Advantages.

And then he further added, and faid to them,
Judea fhall not be the only Seat of War at that
Time; for in the neighbouring Countries Nation
fhall rise up against Nation, and Kingdom against
Kingdom (g): And partly as the Confequence of

thefe

draweth near:] and shall deceive many [LUK. go ye not therefore after them.]

[MARK XIII. 6. LUKE XXI.-8.]

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cular Detail of thofe Circumftances, I must content myfelf with referring to Dr. Whitby's excellent Notes on the xxivth of Matthew, and to Archbishop Tillotson's large and accurate Discourse on the fame Subject, in the Second Volume of his Pofthumous Works, Ser. 183,-187. p. 547, & feq. (f) The Time is come.] The Word ny fine may fignify, either the Approach, or Arrival of the Time, and may with great Propriety exprefs the first Opening of a Scene to be gradually difclofed; in which Senfe it is applied to Chrift's Kingdom, as preached by himself, and his Apoftles, during the Time of his perfonal Miniftry.Such pretended Meffiahs did indeed arife towards the Clofe of the Jewish State. See 1 John iv. 1. Acts. v. 36, 37. and Jofeph. Antiq. lib. xx. cap. 8. (al. 6, 7.) §. 6, 10.The Rhemifh Jefuits, as much as they triumph in their infallible Guide to the Interpretation of Scripture, ridiculously explain this as a Prophecy of Luther and Calvin; which I mention only as one Inftance among many more, of their contemptible Ignorance, or wicked Prevarication.

(8) Nation fhall rise up against Nation, &c.] Grotius gives us a particular Account of feveral Wars, of the Jews among themselves, and of the Romans with the Syrians, Samaritans, and other neighbouring Nations, before Jerufalem was deftroyed. There were alfo Earthquakes at this Time, in Apamea, Laodicea, and Campania: (See Tacit. Annal. lib. xii. §. 43, 58. lib. xiv. 27. lib. xv. 22. Sueton. Nero, cap. 48. Galb. cap. 18.)The Famine in the Days of Claudius is mentioned Acts xi. 28. as well as recorded in Hiftory; (Sueton. Claud. cap. 18. and Eufeb. Hift. Eccl. lib. ii. cap. 8.) and many perished by it in Judea. Jofeph. Antiq. lib. xx. cap. 2. §. 6.

(b) A

His Difciples there shall be Famines, and Peftilences, and [LUK.great] Earthquakes in divers Places, [and Troubles:] [LUK. and fearful Sights, and great Signs fhall there be from Heaven.] [MARK XIII. 8.- LUKE XXI. 10, 11.]

8 All these are the [Beginnings] of Sorrows. ĮMARK XIII. 8.]

MARK XIII. 9. But take heed to your felves: for LUK. before all thefe] they [LUK. shall lay their Hands on you, and perfecute you, and] fhall deliver you up to Councils, [LUK. and to the Synagogues, and into Prifons,] [to be] beaten [and afflicted, and fhall kill you:] and ye [fhall be hated of all Nations, and] fhall be brought before Rulers and Kings for my [Name's] fake, for a Teftimony against them. [MAT, XXIV. 9. LUKE XXI.12.]

bould firft be violently perfecuted.

375

thefe Ravages and Slaughters, and partly by the Sect. 160. immediate Hand of Providence on finful Men

Mat. XXIV.

who have rejected the Gofpel, as alfo to exercise 7.
the Faith and Charity of its Profeffors, there shall
be fevere Famines, and mortal Peftilences; and there
fhall alfo happen great and terrible Earthquakes in
various Places, and Troubles and Anguish of Mind
in the Apprehenfion of yet greater Calamities.
Here at Home there fhall also be dreadful Sights,
and great Signs from Heaven, particularly a Co-
met like a flaming Sword waving over Jerufalem,
and the Appearance of contending Armies in the
Air (b). But all thefe Things [are] only the 8
Beginnings of thofe Sorrows and Alarms, that will
iffue in the Destruction of Jerufalem.

But take ye heed to yourselves, and be cautious Mark XIII.
how you behave; and tho' you meet with the 9
fevereft Perfecutions, be not difcouraged from per-
fifting in the Truth, and from continuing faithful
in your Regards to me: For before all thefe Things
fhall happen, they fhall lay their violent Hands upon
you, and perfecute you with the greatest Cruelty
and Rage; [and] fhall deliver fome of you up to
the greater Councils, [and] cite others of you to
appear before the inferior Courts in the Synagogues,
and fhall caft fome of you into Prifons, to be fe-
verely scourged, [and] otherwife afflicted by Con-
finement and a Variety of Hardfhips there (i);
and indeed they fhall go fo far as to kill fome of
you in a few Years: And as for the reft, ye shall
be generally hated, not only by the Jews here at
Home, but by thofe Abroad, and by all the Gen-
tile Nations to whom you go; [and] fhall be
brought before Rulers and Kings for my Name's
fake, and for a Teftimony against them, that the
Gofpel has been offered to them in the most pub-
lick Manner, even to the greatest of Men, to

whom

(5) A Comet, and contending Armies in the Air.] Of thefe fee Jofeph. Bella Jud. lib. vi. cap. v. (al. vii. 12.) §. 3. and Tacit. Hiftor. lib. v. §. 13.

(i) Shall deliver you up to the Councils, &c.] All this was exactly accomplished: For Peter and John were called before the Sanhedrim; (Acts iv. 6, 7.) James and Peter before Herod; (Ats xii. 2, 3.) and Paul before Nero the Emperor, as well as before the Roman Governors, Gallio, Felix, and Feftus. (Acts xviii, 12. xxiv. xxv. xxviii.)

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376

The Spirit would help them to make their Defence.

Sect. 160. whom you might otherwise have had no Accefs:

Luke XXI. 13.

10.

you

mony.

MARK XIII. 10. And

the Gospel must first be published among all Nations.

11 But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up,

[fettle it in your Hearts, not

to meditate before, what ye fhall anfwer; and] take no Thought before-hand wht ever shall be given you in ye fhall speak: but whatfothat Hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghoft. [LUKE XXI. 14.]

(Compare Mat. x. 17, 18. Sect. 75.) And LUKE XXI. 13. And it it shall alfo turn to you for a publick and ho- fhall turn to you for a Teftinourable Testimony of the Innocence of your Caufe, however it may be mifrepresented, and of the Integrity and Uprightness of your Conduct. Mark XIII. And indeed, notwithstanding this early and violent Oppofition, yet before the Destruction of Jerufalem the Gospel must first be preached among all the Heathen Nations, which are fubjected to the Roman Empire; (fee Note (2);) and there alfo you will be followed with the like Affaults II and Perfecutions. But when they shall bring before Governours and Kings, and deliver you up to the Officers of Justice, to be profecuted as Criminals in their moft folemn Courts; fettle it at fuch Times in your Hearts as a conftant Rule, not to draw up any formal Speech, nor to premeditate what Anfwer or Apology you shall make; [and] be not anxiously folicitous before-band what you fhall Speak in your Defence, to vindicate yourfelves and your Religion from the unrighteous Charges and Afperfions of your Enemies; but whatsoever Thall be given in to you, and be ftrongly fuggefted to your Minds in that Hour, that speak boldly and refolutely; for it is not you that speak, but the Holy Spirit himself, who fhall affift, and dictate to you. (Compare Mat. x. 19, 20. Sect. 75. Luke XXI. and Luke xii. 11, 12. Sect. 111.) For it is really my Caufe in which you are engaged; and therefore, tho' you are ignorant and unlearned Men, and fo may be apprehenfive you fhall be confounded in the Prefence of Perfons who are in Rank and Education fo much your Superiors; yet depend upon it, that I will give you à Mouth to plead, and Wisdom to anfwer whatever they alledge against you, which all your Adverfaries fhall not be able to contradict or withstand; but fhall be even aftonished at the Freedom and Propriety with which you fhall express yourselves, according to the various Occafions which arife. (Compare Acts iv. 13, 14.)

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Mat.XXIV.

10.

.

LUKE XXI. 15. For I will give you a Mouth and Wisdom, which all your Adverfaries fhall not be able to gainfay, nor refift,

And many that have owned themselves my Fol- MAT. XXIV. 10. And lowers, shall then be offended, and give up all Re- then fhall many be offended,

gard

and

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