rection, King Agrippa," the almost Christian," forewarned the Jewish embassy, who came to complain to him of the oppressions of Florus, of this very circumstance, in his admirable dissuasive to them against provoking a most unequal contest with the Romans, without hope of assistance from GOD. "If ye rigidly observe the rites of the Sabbath day, and abstain from any manner of work thereon, ye will be easily taken, as your ancestors were by Pompey; who was most actively employed in preparing for the siege on those days, during which the besieged were inactive; but if, in the course of the war, ye transgress the law of your country, the war is absurd, for what else is left worth fighting for? And if ye wilfully violate your duty to GOD, it is impious, and how then can ye call upon HIM for assistance?" Bell. Jud. II. 16, 4, p. 1089. Hudson.

Thus, by the righteous judgments of GOD, were their Sabbaths, which they really profaned, made the instruments of their fall; and the Lord's days, which they despised and rejected, the instruments of their punishment!

The frightful calamities of this war were foretold by Moses above sixteen hundred years before; and the horrors of this siege in particular, detailed with all the minuteness of Josephus himself, the eye witness. See the foregoing pages, Vol. II. 209, &c. Some of a very peculiar kind remain to be noticed in this place.

1. Multitudes of fugitive Jews were crucified during the siege within sight of the walls, either to strike terror into the besieged, or to glut the rage and hatred of the besiegers; so that room was wanting for the crosses, and crosses were wanting for the bodies*. Bell. Jud. V. 11, 1. Thus resembling themselves that CRUCIFIED SAVIOUR, whose "blood they had imprecated upon themselves and upon their children," in his cruel and ignominious punishment!

2. Some of the deserters had swallowed gold, and were detected searching for it afterwards in their excrements. Hence the avarice of the soldiers, Romans as well as auxiliary, was excited; concluding that all the deserters were full of gold. This led them to rip up the bellies, and search the entrails of two

After the siege Josephus observed, among several Jews crucified at Tekoa, a neighbouring village, three of his former acquaintances still alive; and besought Titus, with tears, that they might be taken down; who immediately granted his request, and gave orders that care should be taken of their recovery. Two of them died, the third survived. Josephi Vita, § 75.

thousand of them in one night! Titus, when he heard of this horrible deed, was greatly displeased, and gave orders to put to death all, in future, who should repeat it. But the love of money overpowered the dread of punishment, and it was still practised, until put an end to by repeated disappointments. Bell. Jud. V. 13, 4, 5. Such was the dreadful but appropriate punishment of the lovers of Mammon, and haters of GOD!

3. The practice of burying their money and other precious things in troublesome times, among the Jews, made the avaricious conquerors, after the capture of the city, raze it to the foundations, and even to plow up the ground, in order to discover the hidden treasures, quite contrary to Roman usage. Titus himself was most anxious to save the Temple, but in vain; and lamented the destruction of the city afterwards, when he saw it on his way from Antioch to Egypt; execrating the authors of the rebellion. Bell. Jud. VII. 5, 2. Thus signally was accomplished the prophecy of Micah, iii. 12.

"Therefore shall Sion, for your sakes, be ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem become heaps [of stones,] and the Temple-mount as the heights of the forest," [which are usually waste and barren.]

These calamities were confined to the unbelieving Jews; for the Christians, listening to the prophetic warnings of their divine Master, quitted the city devoted to destruction, on the first appearances of the hostile armies of Cestius and Titus approaching to the city.

III. Brazen, or Macedo-Grecian.

JEWISH CHURCH reformed, to continue for 70 weeks of years; to
be regenerated after 2300 days, or years

V. STONE, or CHRISTIAN CHURCH, founded in the midst of the

one week

B. C.

606

605

536

420

331

322

168

168

A.D.

31

Papal and Mahometan persecutions, to continue for 1260 years..

620

III. Seventh trumpet, including seven vials, or last plagues.
Infidel persecutions....

1793

End of the 2300 and 1260 years

1880

CHURCH TRIUMPHANT.

IV. FIRST RESURRECTION at THE REGENERATION.

THE MOUNTAIN, or KINGDOM OF CHRIST and his saints upon
earth, to continue for 1000 years, and until the end of the

world, or GENERAL RESURRECTION

V. THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN

......1000 Generations. ...Eternity.

This concise chronological scheme is designed to furnish a general outline of the fortunes of the JEWISH and CHRISTIAN CHURCHES, from the first Jewish captivity to the end of the world, collected from the historical prophecies of Daniel, CHRIST, and John, all linked together in one connected series, and mutually illustrative of each other, as parts of one grand mysterious plan of DIVINE GOVERNMENT, harmonizing throughout, though delivered at sundry times, and in divers manners, beginning with time and ending with eternity.

The dates of the establishment of the four great temporal empires that composed Daniel's compound image, destined to precede the foundation of the CHRISTIAN CHURCH, may be seen in the foregoing scheme of his visions, Vol. II. p. 492-496; and the dates of the intermediate occurrences may be found, Vol. II. pp. 440, 486, 518, 537, 548; the remaining dates are to be explained in the sequel.

In this scheme the vision of the seven seals, in the Apocalypse, is supposed to take up the prophetic history from the foundation of the Church, exactly where the dream of the golden image, which formed the basis of Daniel's ensuing visions, ended; and to be succeeded by the visions of the seven trumpets and seven vials, to the end of Daniel's grand prophetic period of 2300 days, ending along with his and John's persecuting period of 1260 days, A.D. 1880.

Next follows the auspicious period of the REGENERATION, beginning with THE FIRST RESURRECTION, foretold by our LORD; during which, the kingdom of THE SON OF MAN, and of his saints, foretold by Daniel, is to prevail throughout the earth for 1000 prophetic years, which are here supposed to denote generations, of three to a century; pursuing the analogy of Prophecy, in which days symbolically denote years, as we have seen; and consequently, years, the next higher measure of time, and the most ancient, generations.

Hence it appears, that CHRIST'S prophecies in the Gospels,

form an intermediate explanatory link to connect together the mysterious revelations vouchsafed to his favourite Prophets, Daniel and John. They require, therefore, next to be considered, after the former.

CHRIST'S PROPHECIES.

"JESUS OF NAZARETH," himself, THE PROPHET of God, of the highest order, most " mighty in deed and in word before GOD and all the people" of the Jews, Luke xxiv. 19, in his public discourses to them, briefly and enigmatically stated the awful and mysterious doctrines of his second appearance in glory, (as at first, in humiliation,) to raise the righteous dead, at the resurrection of the just, or first resurrection, in the regeneration, or restitution of all things; and afterwards, to raise and judge all mankind, at the general resurrection and judgment, to take place at the conclusion of the world, John v. 20-29, Luke xiv. 14, xx. 35, 36, Matt. xix. 28, xiii. 37-43, xvi. 27. He also denounced woes to that wicked and adulterous generation, and threatened to come in judgment thereon, and on their rebellious city, in the life time of some of the bystanders, verifying "the sign of the Prophet Jonah," which he repeatedly gave the unbelieving Scribes and Pharisees; and weeping over the ungrateful city, most pathetically did he lament the utter destruction that was coming upon it; and the long continued desolation of their temple, until their final conversion, fulfilling ancient prophecy, Matt. xii. 39–41, xvi. 4—28, xxiii. 33-39, Luke xix. 41-44, &c.

After these awful denunciations, delivered in public, on several occasions, when he left the Temple, for the last time, on Wednesday evening, in Passion week, and was ascending Mount Olivet, in the way to Bethany, his disciples pointed out to him the stately and magnificent buildings of the Temple, full in their view: whereupon he remarked, before them all," See ye not all these? Verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down!" as recorded by the three first Evangelists; with the additional observation by Luke, that "the days of its destruction were coming;" Matt. xxiv. 1, 2, Mark xiii. 1, 2, Luke xxi. 5, 6, evidently referring to his former observation, two days before, when he wept over the city from the same spot, Luke xix. 41. This solemn declaration naturally excited the anxious curio