&ion of Jerufalem ;) are apply'd in the second Perfon plural in all the Gofpels; Watch ye therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come, &c. But then our Saviour exprefly adds, by way of diftinction and of enlargement of this Exhortation, But what I fay unto you, I say unto all, watch. Asif he would imply, that tho' the former part of his Difcourfe, which he had apply'd to them particularly was peculiar to them,and to that Age and Nation; yet it was not fo in this laft Exhortation; which being of equal concern to them, and to all others, he defign'd that both they and all the world should think themselves equally con

cern'd in it.

VII. I obferve, that in all thisDifcourfe our Saviour ufes different numbers of the Nouns, when he speaks of the Defolation of Jerufalem, or Miferies of the Jews, either antecedent or confequent; and when he fpeaks of the day of Judgment: in the former cafe he always ftiles them the days of vengeance, or the like,in the plural; but in the latter he speaks only of one great day, and one great hour; which in the phrafe of the Jews, as well as ours ever fince, has been confin'd to the end of the world, and the day of judgment. This Obfervation, I think, has been alfo hitherto neglected; but certainly deferves our confideration. The day; The great day ;That day, and That hour, are known Expreffions in Scripture for the day of judgment; and have been thence tranffer'd to other Languages. But the days, or days of vengeance, or thofe days, in the plural,are never, that I know of, fo confin'd in the Scripture, nor in the ufe of other Nations. Since therefore this is the cafe, let us fee if the prefent diftinction be not carefully obferv'd in the prefent Difcourfe. And I venture to say it is done most accurately in all the Evangelifts. Thus the plural is every where us'd when the difcourfe is about the miferies of the Jews: Wo unto them that are with child, and to them that give fuck in thofe days, viz. When those which are in Judaa are to free to the mountains: Except thofe days should be shortened, there should no flesh be faved: immediately after the Tribulation of thofe days, or the long Miferies of the fews in their difperfion, as we shall fee prefently: In thofe days fhall be affliction, fuch as was not from the beginning of the creation, which God created unto this time, neither shall be: But in those days, after that

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tribulation, the fun fhall be darkened, &c. As for these things which ye behold, the days will come in the which there shall not be Left one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down. These be the days of vengeance; that all things which are written may be fulfilled. Thus alfo the fingular is every where us'd of the day of judgment. But of that day, and that hour knoweth no man, no not the angels of heaven, neither the fan, but the father. Watch threfore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come : Therefore be ye also ready, for in such an hour as you think not, the Son of Man cometh: Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day, nor the hour wherein the fon of man cometh: Take heed to your felves leaft at any times your hearts be overcharged with furfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this like, and so that day come upon you unawares; for as a fnare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. The Lord of that fervant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of. So that,upon the whole, we find the deftruction of Jerufalem, or miseries of the Jews diftinguish'd from the Day of Judgment, as well by the number of the Nouns, as the Perfon of the Verbs all along, the one being the days of vengeance, appropriate to that Age and Nation; the other being that great day and hour in which all the world is equally concern'd.

VIII. I obferve, That this day and hour in the fingularNumber, must belong to the Day of Judgment, because from the intire uncertainty of it is deriv'd an earnest Exhortation to Watchfulness against, and a long and famous Difcourfe of that great Day of Judgment. This is evident in the latter part of the 24th and the whole 25th Chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel : which is a continuation of the very fame Difcourfe; tho' by reafon of its length it be divided by us for convenience into two Chapters. The Argumentisdirectly this in all the Evan gelifts, Because of that day, and that hour knows no creature what faever; Watch therefore, and be ever ready for the day of judgment. Which if that day, and that hour refer to the De ftruction of Jerufalem alone, has no vifible Connexion at all; and therefore cannot refer to it; but muft belong to the Day of Judgment: efpecially when we shall fee prefently that our Saviour exprefly declares that they are not to be at the fame timą;

but

but that the Destruction of Jerufalem was to be fucceeded by feveral great Events before the Day of Judgment. Now this Argument, tho' fo ftrong in it felf, on a general view of the Connexion of our Lord's Argument, may yet be still more confirm'd from thefe two Obfervations, first that this famous Difcourfe of the Day of Judgment in the 25th Chapter begins with an exprefs Connexion with the former Difcourfe about the uncertainty of that eminent day and hour above-mention'd. Then fball the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, &c. which Note of Connexion is too clear to be deny'd or evaded. Secondly, In the midst of that famous Difcourfe of the Day of Judgment in the 25th Chapter, there are the very fame words which we meet with in the 24th, and about which we are now difputing. The words before, are, Of that day, and that hour knoweth no man; and here the words are, Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day, nor the hour wherein the fon of man cometh: which being the fame Expreffion in the fame Difcourfe, and in the fame Period of the Difcourfe; nay, with the very fame Design and Connexion, muft needs be understood in the fame fenfe; and unless we will be fo wild as to Expound the whole 25th Chapter of the Deftruction of Jernfalem, we muft Expound part of the 24th, of the Day of Judgment alfo.

IX. I obferve, That our Saviour exprefly diftinguishes between the Miseries of the Jews, and their Signs; and between the Day of Judgment, and its Signs; and affures us, that the former were to be intirely over ere the latter were to begin. This Obfervation depends on no less than our Saviour's clear and plain words in St. Luke, if they be compar'd with those in the other Evangelifts. And 'tis fomewhat hard that Commentators will fix their Opinions before they have patience to see what the latter, as well as the former Gofpels fay of this matter. For at the Conclufion of St. Luke's Account relating to the deAtruction of Jerufalem, he fets down these as our Saviours words, And they shall fall by the edge of the fword, and shall be led away captive into all nations, and Jerufalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, till the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. Here we have four great and methodically digefted Periods.

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First,

First the miferable flaughter of the Jews in the fiege of Jerufalem, They fall fall by the edge of the fword; Secondly the grand Difperfion of the Jews into all parts of the World afterward, They shall be led away captive into all Nations; Thirdly the Conculcation of Jerufalem by the Heathen after its deftruction, during a certain Interval of time, Jerufalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles; Fourthly the character or term of that Interval, till the fulness of the Gentiles be come in, or rather till the times of the Gentiles and of Antichrift's trampling down the Holy City in Daniel and the Apocalypfe be. at an end, or till the Jews are to be reftor'd to their Countrey, Till the Times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. And then after all thefe Occurrences and Miseries of the Jews are over, and not before, it follows And there shall be figns in the Sun, and in the Moon, and in the Stars: &c. Or in St. Matthew's exprefs words Immediately after the tribulation of those days and in. St. Mark's, But in those days, after that tribulation: so that if we will becontent to let St. Luke inform us what is meant by the tribulation of those days viz. not only the first Destruction of Jerufalem, but its fucceeding Conculcation by the Heathen; and that grand Difperfion and Captivity of the Jews alfo which was to fucceed it, little doubt can arife about the diftinctness of the two Prophecies before us.

X. Lastly, therefore I Obferve, that in our Saviour's words which have occafion'd moft of this difpute, there is a vifible diftinction between the things relating to the Destruction of Ferufalem, and thofe which relate to the Day of Judgment; and this both in St. Matthew and in St. Mark's Gofpels. Verily I say unto you, this generation fhall not pass till all these things Tauru Пávra be fulfilled: heaven and earth shall pass away but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no not the angels of heaven, neither the fon but the father only. The plaineft and most easy Paraphrase of which words is this. "I have moft exactly inform'd you of the Signs "and Particulars and Time for the Defolation of Jerufalem, "and for the overturning all the great Buildings of the Temple; "which was your first Queftion: and I do exprefly affure "you that heavy Deftruction fhall come within this prefent

"Genera

"Generation of Men, and the Age in which we now live: "and Heaven and Earth fhall fooner pafs away than this Pre"diction fhall fail: for I am fure I am fully acquainted with "that part of the Divine Providence: but as to your other Que"ftion of the Time and Signs of the great and General Judg"ment, do not think to confound them with the other: For "tho' I have told you the Signs which are to precede that "dreadful Period, yet I can give you no farther fatisfaction than I have already done as to the time when it will come, "or the diftance we are now from it: for as to that great day "and bour which is to put a Period to the prefent State of the "World, neither I nor any Creature whatfoever know it, be"caufe 'tis ftill referv'd as a Secret in the Divine Omnifcience "of the Father. This appears to me the moft eafy and agreeable fense of these words; and fuch as has no Difficulties or Objections from the rest of the Difcourfe, or the other parts of the New-Teftament; but makes every thing clear and plain to us. And indeed, if thefe laft words be understood otherwife, and apply'd to Jerufalem; as if Chrift had affirm'd that of the day and hour of its Deftruction neither he nor any Creature knew, it must fuppofe that to have been one of the grand Secrets of Providence, which it is too inconfiderable to be made; and it will not agree with the reft of our Saviour's Difcourfes here and elsewhere; who foretold the time and circumstances of that Deftruction more particularly than any other thing whatsoever; and had juft afferted that it was to be in that very Age; which how it can fo well agree with that Expofition I can by no means understand.

Upon the whole it appears to me very plain, that as the Dif ciples asked two diftinct Questions, the one about the end of the Jewish Temple, the other about the end of the World; to our Lord anfwers to them diftinctly alfo; and particularly that in St. Matthew He answers to the firft Queftion from v. 4. to v. 28. and to the fecond from v. 29. to v. 31. And that after that He exhorts his Difciples to difcern the Signs of the Deftruction of Jerusalem, as being certainly to come in that very Age; but warns them and all the World to be always watchful as to the Day of Judgment; because

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