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ration of Ifrael, and the only one more that I fhall mention out of this Prophet, is,

12.

XLIV.

DAN.. I. And at that time fhall Michael ftand up, the great Prince that ftandeth for the children of thy people, and there fhall be a time of trouble, fuch as never was fince there was a nation, even to that fame time and at that time thy people fhall be delivered, &c.

The time here spoken of is when the king of the north, mentioned ver. 40. of the preceding chapter, fhould come to his end, and none Should help him. But this king of the north being (according to the moft judicious expofitors *) the Turkish empire, it is evident that event here referred to is yet future; and that it relates to the Jews is plain from these words, at that time thy people fhall be delivered. For who can fuppofe that the words thy people, i. e. the people of Daniel, can fignify any other than the nation of Ifrael or Judah. The Chriftian Church. may, indeed, with propriety enough, be called the People of the Lord, or of Chrift; but cannot, in any fenfe, be called the people of Daniel.

• See Mede, Book iii. chap. xvii. page 674.

HAGGAI prophefied to thofe that were returned from captivity about the year 520 before Chrift; and his principal defign feems to have been to encourage them in the building of the Temple.

XLV.

HAG. ii. 6. Thus faith the Lord of Hofts, yet once, it is a little while *, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the fea, and the dry 7 land: And I will shake all nations, and the defire of

all nations fhall come, and I will fill this house with 8 glory, faith the Lord of Hofts. The filver is mine, 9 and the gold is mine, faith the Lord of Hofts. The

glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the formert, faith the Lord of Hofts: and in this place will I give peace, faith the Lord of Hofts.

Almost all commentators have applied this Prophecy to the firft coming of Chrift; and think it fulfilled by his coming to that Temple which was then building. But if we rightly confider the context, we fhall fee that this is not the true meaning thereof.

For it is faid, ver. 6. & 7. I will shake heaven and earth, the fea, and the dry land; and I will shake all nations, &c. All this, therefore, was to be

*Or, it is a little thing, or a fmall matter to me. The glory of the last house shall be greater than the fyrfte, &c. TINDALE. So alfo in Q. Eliz. translation.

done

done at or before the coming of the defire of all nations. But were there any fuch shakings or commotions among all nations at or before the first coming of Chrift? The destruction of Jerufalem by the Romans was indeed a great shaking of the Jewish people; but not of all nations: neither can it be faid to be at or before the first coming of Christ. This fhaking, therefore, must relate to a future fhaking that fhall precede the fecond coming of Chrift, when the glory of the future Temple of the reftored Jerufalem, or (as it is rightly tranflated in Tindale) the glory of the laft house fhall be greater than the first *.

And that the Prophecy relates to this time is further evident from the 21ft, and following verses, where the fame fhaking is again mentioned. Speak to Zerubbabel governour of Judah, faying, I will shake the heavens and the earth, and I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will deftroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen, and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them, and the borfes, and their riders fhall come down, every one by the fword of his brother. In that day, faith the Lord of Hofts, I will take thee, O Zerubbabel my fervant, the fon of Shealtiel, faith the Lord, and will make thee as a fignet: for I have chofen thee, faith the Lord of Hofts.

* The latter and the former houfe, as our tranflation has it, feems to imply that there were to be but two Houses or Temples; that destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, and that which they were then building: but the first and last house does not confine us to only those two Temples.

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It

..It is plain from this paffage, that at this fhaking the Lord would deftroy the ftrength of the kingdoms of the heathen. But this was not done at the deftruction of Jerufalem; neither can that day, when Jerufalem was deftroyed, nor any day fince, be the time when the Lord fhould take Zerubbabel, and make him as a fignet; and therefore this Prophecy muft relate to the time of the fecond coming of Chrift, and of the firft refurrection, when Zerubbabel fhall, like Daniel, be one of those who fhall ftand in his lot at the end of the days mentioned Dan. xii. 13.

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- ZECHARIAH alfo prophefied to those that were returned from captivity, at the fame time with Haggai, or 520 years before Christ.

XLVI.

ZECH. ii. 4. Jerufalem fhall be inhabited as towns without walls, for the multitude of men and 5 cattle therein. For I, faith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory 6 in the midst of her. Ho, Ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, faith the Lord: for I have fpread you abroad as the four winds of the hea7 ven, faith the Lord. Deliver thyself, O Zion, that 8 dwelleft with the daughter of Babylon. For thus faith the Lord of Hofts, After the glory fent me unto the nations which spoiled you,

hath he

for he

* With a glorious power. TINDALE.

that

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that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of his eye. For behold, I will shake my hand upon them, and they fhall be a fpoil to their fervants: and ye fhall 10 know that the Lord of hofts hath fent me. Sing

and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, faith the Lord. II And many nations fhall be joined unto the Lord in

that day, and fhall be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou fhalt know that the 12 Lord of Hofts hath fent me unto thee. And the Lord fhall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and fhall choose Jerufalem again.

That the inhabiting of Jerufalem, here fpoken of, does not relate to the return from the Babylonish captivity, appears from ver. 6. where they are faid to have been fcattered unto the four winds of the heavens; an expreffion which fignifies their being scattered all the world over. Add to this, that they are faid to be fcattered by four horns, ver. 19. of the preceding chapter; by which horns are meant the four monarchies; and therefore the return from this fcattering could not happen till after they had been scattered by all the four horns. It is alfo faid, ver. 9. that the nations which spoiled them fhall be a spoil to their fervants, or to them that ferved them. But this has not yet happened: none of those who spoiled Ifrael have as yet become their flaves. It is also faid, that the Lord fhall inherit Judah, his portion in the holy land, and fhall choose Jerufalem again; which has not yet been fulfilled fince the scattering here mentioned.

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