God. For the Lord will surely break the Assyrian in his land, and upon the mountains of Israel tread him under foot; so that his yoke shall depart from off the sons of Jacob, and his burden from off. their shoulders *.

It appears both from the present prophecy, and from others which are parallel to it, that, although the overthrow of the Antichristian faction will be chiefly miraculous, yet it will partly be effected by the instrumentality of the Jews themselves. The daughter of Zion is to thresh and beat in pieces the nations that are assembled against her: and the remnant of Jacob is to be in the midst of the peoples as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep; treading down and tearing in pieces, so that none can deliver t.

Who are meant by the seven shepherds and the eight anointed men, that are represented as going forth to fight the battles of Israel, and to waste with the sword the land of the figurative Assyrian, it is impossible now to determine with any degree

Compare Isaiah xiv. 6, 16, 17, 25, and Comment. on Prophecy V.

+ The former verse (Micah v. 7.) described the benefits, "which the converted Jews should bring to those Gentiles that were disposed to embrace the Gospel: this (ver. 8.) instructs 46 us, how terrible adversaries they will prove to such as per"sist in their enmity to them and to the truth. Comp. Obad.

18, 19. Zech. xii. 6." Mr. Lowth in loc.

of

of precision, and therefore it would be a vain waste of time to indulge in the fruitlessness of conjecture: the accomplishment of the prophecy itself can alone explain this part of it.

It is worthy of observation, that the remnant of Jacob are not only to be in the midst of the nations as a lion among the beasts of the forest, and as a young lion among the flocks of sheep; but they are likewise to be in the midst of many people as the dew from the Lord, as showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men. This accords with those prophecies which declare, that the converted Israelites will be greatly instrumental in spreading the light of the Gospel through distant nations*, and that they will be made as it were the seed of the millennian church. Dew from the Lord, and showers upon the grass, typify the graces and doctrines of the Holy Spirit t Hence I think, that the diffusing of the remnant of Jacob (after their restoration and conversion,

*

"That remnant," says Mr. Lowth "shall be the instru "ments of converting those Gentiles among whom they live; "and thereupon may fitly be represented by the dews and "rains, which come down from heaven, and are the means of "making the earth fruitful."

+ "Rain, if not immoderate, and dew, and living water, for "the graces and doctrines of the Spirit; and the defect of rain, "for spiritual barrenness" (Sir Isaac Newton's Observ. on Dan. p. 19.). A church is made a wilderness and a parched land,

"when the living waters of the Spirit are withheld." Bp. Horsley's Hosea. p. 5.

be

be it observed) in the midst of many people, like dew and gentle showers, must mean precisely the same as the promise, that they should be sown among the nations that is to say, they should be the seed of the church; they should diffuse to the very ends of the earth the graces and doctrines of the Holy Spirit*. Yet, as the dew and showers tarry not for man, nor wait for the sons of men; so will not the Spirit of God always strive with man, nor wait for his acquiescence beyond a certain limited period. In the morning of the great day of the Millennium, the converted Israelites are as dew and gentle rain among the people. As the day advances towards noon, the dew and the rain are gradually dried up; and the watered vineyard of the Lord is reduced within narrower limits. In the evening, as we are taught by Ezekiel and St. John, the daring confederacy of Gog and Magog makes its appearance.

The concluding verses teach us, that, during the happy period of the Millennium, and after the Lord had executed his vengeance upon the nations, all wars and tumults should cease. Every fortified city and every strong hold should be destroyed †;

the

See Bp. Horsley's Hosea. p. 9, and my owir commentary on Prophecy XXVII. XXXII, and XXXIX. in the present work.

↑ The ineaning of the passage, according to Mr. Lowth, is "I will afford deliverance to my people, not in the ordinary " way

the land of Israel should be a land of unwalled villages; the people should dwell without walls, and having neither gates nor bars; and the Lord should cut the spear in sunder, and burn the chariot in the fire". With this freedom from war there should likewise be a freedom from all idolatry, and from every superstitious practice that is an abomination to God. The vanities, that have so long bewildered erring mortals, should then be abolished; and true religion alone should flourish.

PROPHECY XXXV.

Lamentation of the dispersed church of Israel-A promise of her restoration and of the overthrow of Antichrist.

Micah vii. 1. ZION. Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grape gleanings of the vintaget: there is no cluster

way of second causes, but immediately by myself; so that "they shall not need to trust in the strength of their forces, ❝or of their garrisons."

Compare Ezek. xxxviii. 11. and Psalm xlvi. 9.

The grupe gleanings of the vintage.] Compare Isaiah xxiv. 13. and xvii. 6.

to

to eat my soul desireth the first ripe fruit. 2. The good man is perished out of the earth, and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net. 3. That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh and the judge for a reward, and the great man speaketh oppression; it is his very life, and they weave the plan artfully *. 4. The best of them is a brier, the most upright is sharper than a thorn-hedge: the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh, now shall be their perplexity. 5. Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom. 6. For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law: a man's enemies are the men of his own house. 7. Therefore I will look unto the Lord I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me. 8. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me. 9. I will bear the indignation of the

*They weave the plan artfully.] That is, the plan of oppression. "They complicate it, i. e. the oppression; they con"trive it artfully and craftily; qu'ils entortillent, says the "French translation. So the Greeks use pairssv μnlır,—doλor, "to weave a design, counsel, deceit (See Hom. Iliad. vii. 324. vi. 187); and the Latins, nectere fraudes" Parkhurst's Heb. "Lex. Vox. nay.

Lord,