who are not of the house of Israel, is beau tifully represented by Ezekiel, under the image of a goodly cedar, under whose wide-spreading branches shall dwell all fowl of every wing.* The prophecies of Daniel respecting distant ages, are expressed in obscure and mystical language. There is however one passage suffici ently explicit for our purpose. "I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him; and there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom which shall not be destroyed." We are moreover made acquainted with the nature of this blessing. It will consist in the universal and cordial admission of all those principles, and in the cultivation of all those affections, which we have proved, from the nature of man, to be essential to his well-being. Principles and dispositions that shall subdue the ignorance, immoralities, and impieties which have deluged the world, and introduce universal * Ezek. ch. xvii. v. 22, 23. peace, prosperity, and social happiness. In other words, the love of virtue, implicit obedience to the laws of moral obligation, and the consolations of rational religion, shall prevail. pas We are also informed that this new and desirable æra is to be introduced by a distinguished personage, in whom are centered the sublimest virtues; in whom will be united superior dignity and elevation of character, with a state of humiliation and personal sufferings. To this state of things is there a partial reference in the sages already quoted. In other passages, all the circumstances which are so conducive to universal felicity, are, according to the impetuosity of prophetic language, collected together in one glorious assemblage. "There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, aud a branch shall grow out of his roots, and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears,"" but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity, for the meek of the earth; and he shall smite the earth,"-not with a sword,-but "with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteous ness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins." The subjugation of all the turbulent passions, which have always diffused misery proportionate to their prevalence, while they degrade rational man to a level with the most noxious animals; and the delightful harmony that shall result from mutual good-will, are beautifully described by those striking metaphors, "The wolf 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 suckling shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice's den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea."* Human ingenuity shall no longer be exercised to invent instruments of destruction, to be admired in proportion as they become tremendous, but to discover, multiply, and diffuse the means * Is. ch, xi. v. 1,9. ' They of good, and the blessings of peace. shall beat their swords into plough-shares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; for nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."* Unto us a "child is born,” says the same prophet, “unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulders, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end." &c. The meekness of his character is thus represented; "He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench. He shall not fail, nor be discouraged, until he have set judgment in the earth, and the isles shall wait for his law." His humiliation is thus described: "He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrow, and acquainted with grief." "He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a * Is. ch. ii. v. 4. † Is.ch. ix. v. 6. Is. ch. xlii. v. 2, 4. sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth," &c.* Yet "the spirit of God is upon him; the Lord hath anointed him to preach good tidings unto the meek; to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound."t This great personage is further represented under a character which denotes firmness and permanency as a foundation, and as a chief corner stone of the new edifice which is to be erected; that everlasting temple of universal holiness and felicity. "Behold, saith the Lord God, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation.-Judg ment will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet."+ From the above epitome of the moral and religious history of the ancient Hebrews, united with these prophetic declarations, it is manifest that, in consequence of the separation of this people from every other nation, and the peculiar dispensations of providence respecting them, by *Isa. ch. liii. v. 2, 7. † Isa. ch. lxi. v. 1, 2. |