Japhet the fon of Noah; a country of the moft filthy and deteftable idolatry, in which, in early times, the great idol Atergatis, a mermaid, was the god of their adoration, and "Gog" was their prince, and a great enemy of the Jewish church. It may therefore be reafonably fuppofed that the prophet meant, by thofe two words, figuratively to defcribe the refractory idolatrous nations, who are now to be deceived by Satan in the four quarters of the earth, and to be gathered together to battle: a mighty hoft! for their number is to be as the fand of the "fea." Nor are the faints to be unprepared to meet the dreadful event: they are to be "in camp," or, as it is before figuratively expreffed, they are "* to ftand upon a fea of glafs mingled with fire," under the protection of their Almighty Redeemer, invincible. Of this perfect fecurity, this invincibility of the church of Chrift, Satan fhall be fo ignorant as to know nothing of it, and be under a delufion fo ftrong, that he fhall think it will be an eafy prey; and fhall therefore go upon the breadth of the earth, and compass the camp of the faints about, and prepare to destroy it; but fool! THAT GOD, WHOSE WISDOM AND POWER IS INFINITE, and "who made "the heavens and earth and the fea, and the rivers " and fountains of water §," fhall pour down FIRE upon thee and thy mighty host," and devour thee;" that is, by fuch means as fhall be confiftent with his omnipotent will, utterly deftroy them; that, in this great and laft awful overthrow of the enemies of his holy word, he may be "fanctified," and his holy name glorified, in their fight, as well as in that of his church. * Rev. xv. 2. + Ezek. xxxviii, 14, when foretelling the fame event. But But although the heathen world is to be thus utterly deftroyed, yet Satan, which is the devil, their leader that deceived them, being "a fpirit," a fallen angel, is not to be deftroyed with them, but is to be referved for a worfe, and yet a more merited fate-a fate to which even annihilation would be infinitely preferable: he is to be taken and " caft "into A LAKE OF FIRE AND BRIMSTONE, where "the braft (of apoftafy) and the false prophet (of "atheism) are punished § (having been caft thither "before the coming of Chrift), and to be tormented "day and night for ever and ever. Thus Chrift, will now have reigned, according to the exprefs prophecy of St. Paul, "until he hath put all enemies "under his feet," except one, and this, the last enemy that is to be deftroyed, is death." He will now have triumphed over that "old ferpent" who feduced our firft parents to difobey their bountiful and benevolent CREATOR moft ungratefully and wickedly; who enfnared and betrayed the pious defcendants of Noah into the pollutions of heathen idolatry; who, when Chrift had fpread the holy word and will of God over the heathen world, feduced his church into Mohamedan and papal darknefs and apoftafy, and into all the horrid abominations, blafphemies, and lufts of French atheism; who, not yet fatiated with all this mischief, this "perdition" of the fouls and bodies of the human race, feduced the remains of the three laft-mentioned enemies of Chrift into a grand confederacy to prevent his coming; and who, now defperate with fo many defeats, has audaciously attempted to deftroy him and his church IN THE HEIGHT OF HIS POWER AND GLORY. * Eph. ii. 2. Matt. xxv. 41. 1 Cor. vi. 3. | 1 Cor. xv. 25, 26. § Rev. xix. 20. From this triumph of "THE BLESSED SON OF "GOD," the Prophet paffes to the deftruction of the world, the fecond refurrection, and the laft judgment, which feem to be defcribed as if they were to be in a manner contemporary events-events bleffed and glorious indeed to thofe who fhall, during their probationary ftate in this life, have put their faith and hope in him, and "feared God and given glory to "him" in fpirit and in truth! but events awful and dreadful beyond all expreffion to those who have refused to hear his voice, treated him as an impoftor, and denied both the FATHER and the Son," and fhall have deluded their own fouls to believe they can live without God in the world." The former he fhall fet on his right hand, and the others on the left. To the former he fhall fay, "Come, ye bleffed of MY FATHER, inherit the kingdom pre"pared for you from the foundations of the world." And to the latter, "Depart from me, ye curfed, into everlafting fire, prepared for the devil and his anર gels." This awful fubject, which I will endeavour to explain by other parts of God's holy word, the prophet foretels in thefe words: Ver. 11." And I faw a great white throne, "and him that fat upon it." It was a throne to denote his fupremacy and omnipotence over all his works it was white to fhow his immaculate juftice. "And he that fat upon it was THE ETERNAL SELFEXISTING JEHOVAH, THE I AM, THE ALPHA AND "OMEGA, THE SUPREME INFINITELY PERFECT AND 66 EVER GLORIOUS GOD, BESIDES WHOM THERE IS NO GOD." A God whofe purity and holiness are fo infinitely perfect, that no temporal, impure, or imperfect thing, can, for a moment, bear his holy prefence without perifhing *. Of his excellence the Exod. iii. 6. xix. 21. 1x. 35. prophets prophets and apoftles have attempted in vain to give us a perfect idea, as all such attempts must be while we remain in this imperfect fallible state; for that which is finite and mortal cannot comprehend infinity. Nahum attempts to defcribe his infinite righteousness and juftice, when foretelling the fame awful event here predicted by St. John: "THE LORD," fays he, "is flow to anger and great in POWER, and will not "at all acquit the wicked. His way is in the "whirlwind, and in the storm, and the clouds are "the duft of his feet. He rebuketh the fea, and "drieth up all the rivers. The mountains quake "at HIM, and the hills melt, and the earth is burni at "HIS PRESENCE; yea, the world and all that dwell "therein. Who can ftand before His indignation; "and who can abide in the fiercenefs of His anger? "His fury is poured out like fire; and the rocks are thrown down by HIM. THE LORD is a good ftrong hold in the day of trouble; and HE knoweth "him that trufteth in HIM. But with an over"running flood he will make an utter end of the place "thereof (of the earth), and darkness, or everlasting punishment, fhall purfue His enemies." Such is Nahum's fublime, although inadequate, defcription of the God of heaven; and fuch his prediction of the fame awful event here foretold by St. John. And although the firft is more diffufe in narrating the fact, and the other more brief and comprehenfive, there is fuch an agreement in the effential circumftances, that I will not pafs over it without a remark or two. The firft begins with a defcription of the omnipotence and righteousness of God, for the most part literal; the other, in a concife and beautiful figure, reprefents the fame truths, by feeing God fitting upon "A white throne;" an emblem of purity, power, and righteoufnefs. The first predicts that the mountains fhall quake at HIM, and and the hills fhall melt, and the earth, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein, fhall be burnt at his prefence. The other, that "the earth and the "heavens fhall flee away from his face." And the firft, that God will "make an utter end thereof;" and the other, that there fhall be "found no place "for them," plainly meaning that they fhall be utterly annihilated by the fame incomprehenfible wifdom and power by which they were created *. Of the fame event St. Peter alfo treats in his first Epiftle equally clear and concife; "For," fays he, "the DAY of the LORD will come as a thief in the "night, in the which the heavens fhall pass away with "a great noife, and the elements fhall melt with fer"vent heat; the earth alfo, and the works that are "therein, shall be burnt up." I could here add the teftimony of other prophets and apoftles to confirm the truth of this great prophetic event, but enough has been offered to convince any true believer in thofe "two witnesses" of God, the Old and New Teftament. And as to the atheift and fceptic, who deny the existence, or doubt the truths of the holy word of God, all that the prophets and apofiles have faid will not §" remove their delufion," nor fave them from the everlasting punishment that will be irreversible if they perfift in their blafphemies and unholinefs until death; which they must know, from daily events, may be to-morrow, yea, the next moment. The prophet having now foretold the coming of Chrift with the departed faints, their union with the just then living upon earth in his kingdom, the depreffion of the power of Satan, his capture and final punishment, and the utter deftruction of the * Dan. xii. 1. 42 Peter iii. 10. + Rev. xi. 3. world, |