IF THOU PUT THE BRETHREN IN REMEMBRANCE OF THESE THINGS, THOU SHALT BE A GOOD MINISTER OF JESUS CHRIST, but he that-shallendure unto the-end, thesame shall-be-saved. SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS. Lu. xxi. 18. not an hair, &c.-Mt. x. 30, § 39, p. 301, 'The very hairs of your head are all numbered.' 19. patience, &c.-Rom. v. 3-5, Tribulation worketh patience;' &c.-Heb. x. 36, Ye have need of patience,'-Ja. i. 4, But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire,' &c. 12. iniquity shall abound-2 Ti. iii. 1-13, This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come, &c.'-Men having the form of godliness, but having the spirit and conduct of the world-Their evil case is further described, 2 Pe. ii.; Ju. 14—.9— It had been before predicted, Ps. xii. 1-4; Is. lix. 13. he that shall endure comp. Mt. x. 22, § 39, p. 299-Rev. ii. 10, Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.'-Heb. x. 39, We are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.' NOTES. Mt. xxiv. 11. many false prophets-Jesus had already shewn how they were to be known, ch. vii. 15-20, § 19, p. 1401 Jno. iv. 1, Many false prophets are gone out into the world.'-See the criterion, ver. 2, 3 -Some would affect great austerity, 1 Ti. iv. 1-8. With prediction is one which from the necessity of the case The love of many. Rather, according to the oricould be accomplished only gradually. ginal, which is not the same here as in ver. 10. Of reason, then, does this prediction come the last in the many,' i.e., ' of the majority.' Christ here foreorder;... and the universal disrepute of Christianity tells that beside many who would renounce the faith, immediately precedes the prediction of its universal and many who would corrupt it, ver. 10, .1, the love propagation..... As to the matter of fact involved of the greater number of Christians would become in the prediction itself, nothing admits of a clearer cold towards him and towards their brethren.-See confirmation.'-Greswell, p. 282.-See SCRIP. ILLUS.-2 Ti. i. 15; iv. 10, .6; He. x. 25. And see ADDENDA, p. 359, Of persecution.' Wax cold. The word wax means to become.' It is an old Saxon word. This is another of the effects of persecution, long, violent, and aggravated, a description of consequences which points to a period late in the order of succession, and converging to the time of the end itself. "Because of the multiplying of iniquity," that is, because the reign of lawlessness and terror was every day becoming more and more coming more intolerable; "the love," by which is outrageous; because oppression was every day bemeant the faith, the fervour, the devotion, "of the many, should be chilled, and begin to grow cold."Greswell, p. 280. Lu. xxi. 18. There shall not an hair, &c. A proverbial saying among the Jews, signifying perfect safety. -See 1 Sa. xiv. 45; 2 Sa. xiv. 11; 1 Ki. i. 52; Ac. xxvii. 34. Whatever losses they might seem to sustain, nothing would be found lacking to them in the resurrection of the just. Be 19. In your patience possess ye your sous. calm and serene, masters of yourselves, and superior to all irrational and disquieting passions. By keep ing the government of your spirits, you will both avoid much misery, and guard the better against all dangers. Mt. xxiv. 11. False prophets. Rather, false teachers, most probably the Judaizing teachers, the object of whose teaching was to do away with the scandal of the cross, by inculcating upon converts to the gospel, the necessity of the observance of the law of Moses, instead of an absolute and total reliance upon one sole and sufficient ground of trust, the merits of a crucified Saviour.... the first motive to their peculiar doctrine, was mainly the effect of persecution from the unbelieving Jews.'-Greswell. See on ver. 5, p. 325; see also on ch. vii. 15, § 19, p. 140. [12. And because iniquity shall abound. And because of the prevalence of lawlessness and iniquity of every kind. It seems better to assign this general sense to avouíav, than any of the particular ones which are given by one or other of the commentators. And thus it may include all the preceding."] possession. 13. He that shall endure unto the end. He whose hope, ver. 10, and faith, ver. 11, and charity, ver. 12, endure to the end; and he who bears afflictions, persecutions, &c., faithfully; that throughout all trials, even unto death, adheres to the truth, shall inherit the kingdom prepared for those who over come, terpret this of the destruction of Jerusalem, and [The same shall be saved. Many commentators inaffirm from Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. 5, that the Christians who took refuge at PELLA, in the mountainous region of DECAPOLIS, were preserved in the national ruin. Rather, take rousivas als réλos as a proverbial expression, denoting to persist with constancy, i.c., to fight it out as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Eehoerat may signify all the felicity which Christianity can impart to its faithful followers, both in this life and in the next.] NOURISHED UP IN THE WORDS OF FAITH AND OF GOOD DOCTRINE, WHERE UNTO THOU HAST ATTAINED.-1 Tim. iv. 6. Let men therefore beware, lest in escaping from the PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS. Lu. xxi. 19. We may be called upon to part with everything external. Even the objects of our warmest affection may be turned into our bitterest enemies; but still the command remains-' In your patience possess ye your souls'! Let our souls be filled with the love of God, and we have still remaining a rich [Mt. xxiv. 11. It is painful to be deceived by false brethren; but still more must it be to find that those unto whom men have listened as to oracles of God, have been but amusing them with dreams, or leading away from the truth by the delusions of Satan; and that, in order to be safe, they must renounce the leadership of those they have idolized, and the fellowship of many with whom they have accustomarily associated. But there were to be MANY false prophets. VOL. II.] [13 ver. Let us pray that we may be enabled to endure, not only for a time, but unto the end; not merely through this or the other evil, which our natural constitution may be best adapted to resist, but through all the trials to which we may be subjected, and which only Divine grace can fit us to endure.] THESE THINGS COMMAND AND TEACH.-1 Tim. iv. 11. [329 BECAUSE THOU HAST KEPT THE WORD OF MY PATIENCE, I ALSO WILL KEEP THEE FROM THE HOUR OF TEMPTATION, MATT. xxiv. 14. MARK. LUKE. 14 And this TOUTO TO gospel* of the kingdom shall-be-preached in all the world ockovμevn for a-witness unto-all nations Tois Elveσi; and then shall-the end'-come. SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS. Mt. xxiv. 14. this gospel of the kingdom-see on ch. iv. 23, § 18, p. 115; ix. 35, § 38, p. 293. preached-Peter, in opening the kingdom of heaven to the Gentiles, says, Ac. x. 36, .7, The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all :) that word,.... ye know, which was published throughout all Judæa, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached;' | tives, was to be made use of as a witness or testimony to the nations. Paul recognised his special call to this work, Eph. iii. 1-12. then shall the end come-An end was predicted, Eze. vii. 2, 3, &c.; when great and long desolations would ensue; when not only strangers, ver. 21, but even the worst of the heathen,' would possess their houses:.... and their holy places.... be defiled,' ver. 24-After Messiah's being cut off, was to be the destruction of the city and the sanctuary-Da. ix. 26, in all the world, &c.-The word olxovuvy, here trans- And the end thereof..... with a flood, and unto the lated world, is the same as in Lu. ii. 1, § 4, p. 19-It is end of the war desolations are determined.'-At the used four times in the Acts, ch. xi. 28; xvii. 6; xix. 27; time of the end was to be the invasion of the Roman xxiv. 5-In all of these cases it may be taken to mean world, by the kings of the south and of the north, the Roman world, as also it may in Rom. x. 18-Paul xi. 40, &c.-The Saracen and Turkish invasions, apwas himself a remarkable instrument in preaching pointed to lay the land most desolate, are described the gospel throughout the Roman world, xv. 15-24 under the fifth and sixth trumpets, Rev. ix. The comp. Col. i. 6, 23; Ac. i. 8; viii. 1, 4; xviii. 23; vision was closed up and sealed till the time of xix. 10. the end,' Da. xii. 4-9; which comp. with Rev. x. a witness, &c.-What was said, done, and suffered 4-7; but comp. Mt. xiii. 39-see on xxiv. 3, supraby the apostles, in testifying of Jesus, was to be put 6, the end is not yet,'-8, the beginning of sorrows,' upon record; and being added to the gospel narra--13, 'he that shall endure unto the end,' NOTES. Mt. xxiv. 14. This gospel, &c. The good news of the kingdom, to be given to those that overcome or 'endure unto the end,' as ver. 13, supra-comp. Rev. ii. 26; iii. 21; xii. 10, .1. Preached in all the world. See ADDENDA, p. 359. [When the gospel of the kingdom' has not only been preached throughout the Roman world, but has served as designed, for a witness' to the nations, then may the end come' in a happier fulfilment than it came upon Jerusalem when destroyed by the Romans; or upon the land when it began to be most desolate, as being placed under Mohammedan sway, which was about the time these. northern, and now Protestant nations, became subject to the see of Rome. When entirely free from her influence, we have fulfilled our mission to the nations, THEN SHALL THE END COME.'] [A witness, &c. The New Testament, which we regard as the witness of God to ourselves more especially, is record of the preaching of the gospel throughout the Roman world: first, personally by our Lord himself, as recorded in the Four Evangelists; secondly, by the apostles, as recorded in the book of the Acts, which leaves the great apostle of the Gentiles at Rome itself; thirdly, the New Testament contains the farther opening up, and applica tion of the truth of the gospel, as contained in the epistles, all which are sent to churches and individuals within the bounds of the Roman world, beginning with the epistle to the believers at Rome; fourthly, the New Testament contains, in the Apocalypse, an account of what was yet to happen in connection with the promulgation of the gospel, in the same locality, until the word should be transmitted unto all the nations, the multitude of nations,' springing from outcast Israel dwelling in the north and west; and after whom more especially the gospel message was sent in this direction; and who were to be the happy instruments of conveying the same 'to every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation for which great work the nations of AngloSaxon race have been given such unprecedenteď facilities.] [Our Lord in ch. xxiv. 14, may thus be regarded as predicting not only that the end would come upon the land, when the gospel had been proclaimed throughout the Roman world; but that the preaching of the gospel throughout the Roman world should constitute his WITNESS OF TESTIMONY to the nations; this, indeed, is implied in the very title of the book, The New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.'] PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS. [Mt. xxiv. 14. It is indeed good news, and a great inducement to hold out against all opposition, and under all discouragement, to be assured that he who endureth to the end shall be saved into the enjoyment of the kingdom of glory. Soon may that gospel, which hath come to us at such cost, through the Roman world, both pagan and papal soon may it be preached, with the witness from on high, to all the nations: and thereby a people be made ready for the Lord.] *A comparison of St. Matthew with St. Mark will shew that this prediction was twice distinctly stated; first at the beginning of this part of this discourse, Mk. xiii. 10, [p. 327;] a second time [now] at the end: the difference between which statements is simply that the former gives us what was first said about the event in general terms, the latter what was finally added, with somewhat more of special explanation; our Saviour having first joined together the two leading events of the christian history during this period,-the persecution of his church at home, and the propagation of his church abroad, as destined to begin together, or nearly so, and to accompany each other ever after; and equally to answer the end designed by the prediction of both in common; afterwards having passed to the particular notice of each in its turn, beginning with the former as the earlier in point of time, and ending with the latter, because its fulfilment from the nature of the case (in the whole of the effect predicted at least) must be the last thing of all. Secondly, we may observe, that like the rest of the particulars predicted in reference to the private or local history of the christian church among the Jews, through the contemporary period; this prediction, also, in reference to the gradual progress of the gospel abroad, was intended to be a sign and document of the several stages in the approach of the great national visitation at last; in the observance and construction of which, accordingly, the Hebrew Christians were as much interested, as in noting and applying the rest. We may infer this both from the adverb of time, "first," coupled with the prediction of the fact in St. Mark's account of it, and still more from the expressive addition, "And then will the end come," subjoined to it in St. Matthew's. The end could not arrive before this prediction in particular had been fulfilled; it could not be delayed after it had.... Whatever passing events might portend, there would be in the knowledge of this fact, a positive ground of conviction to the Hebrew Christian, that as yet he had nothing to fear. The catastrophe of his devoted country, terrible as it might be to contemplate, was still in the womb of time.. until christian apostles had carried the glad tidings of salvation into every land.'-Greswell, pp. 297-..9. 330] THE WORD OF GOD IS NOT BOUND.-2 Tim. ii. 9. [VOL. II. WHICH SHALL COME UPON ALL THE WORLD, TO TRY THEM THAT DWELL UPON THE EARTH.-Rev. iii. 10. FOR THE TIME IS COME THAT JUDGMENT MUST BEGIN AT THE HOUSE OF GOD: AND IF IT FIRST Mt. xxiv. 15. abomination of desolation-The sign! the holy place Where it ought not,' Mk. xiii. 14, of the long and severe desolation spoken of, Eze. vii. supra-Jerusalem was called the holy city,' Ne. xi. 1; -the Roman ensign, the eagle,' De. xxviii. 49-see Is. xlviii. 2; Mt. iv. 5, § 9, p. 64, where the people on ver. 28; spoken of by Daniel, ix. 26, .7, For ought to have sought shelter under the wings of the overspreading of abominations he shall make it Jehovah. desolate,'-The Jews sought protection under the whoso readeth Rev. i. 3, Blessed is he that Roman eagle to the rejection of Him, who would have readeth, and they that hear the words of this progathered the children of Jerusalem as a hen gather- phecy, and keep those things which are written eth her brood under her wings-comp. Mt. xxiii. therein for the time is at hand.' 37, 8, § 85, p. 320; Jno. xix. 12, .5, § 90. pp. 444, ..8-Da- understand-Da. ix. 23, Understand the matter, niel speaks of the abomination that maketh desolate, and consider the vision.'-25, 'Know therefore and xii. 11. understand,' NOTES. Mt. xxiv. 15. THAT PART OF THE PROPHECY WHICH this one fact-which could answer the purpose of a MORE PARTICULARLY RELATES TO THE SIEGE OF When ye..... see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel. The Roman armies had as their standard the image of the eagle, the ensign of desolation. The eagles were properly the tutelary divinities of the Roman legions, and worshipped as such, being enshrined in small temples, like any other object of ancient idolatry. [Mr. Greswell says, It is my opinion, that the only occurrence of this description between the time of the delivery of the prophecy, and the fulfilment of the event more especially predicted to follow upon PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS. [Mt. xxiv. 15. It is well to consider what brought the ensign of desolation into the holy place, where it ought not to have entered. It was not the prowess of the enemy without, but the infidelity of those within, who sought protection under the Roman eagle, to the rejection of Him who would have gathered them as a hen gathereth her brood under her wings.] Let us read, so as not only to understand the word of the prophecy, but also the lessons therein. Lu. xxi. 20. Let us not be too hasty in drawing conclusions: those who saw the besieging army of Cestius Gallus withdraw, amid the successful assaults of the pursuing Jews, might think that the words of Jesus were not likely to be fulfilled. That encompassing of the city with armies was, nevertheless, the sure sign of the desolation of Jerusalem; to which, on account of their exasperating the Romans, the very successes of the Jews contributed. The second general division of the prophecy is comprehended between ver. 15-28 of Matthew, its object in general being to return an answer to the second question, "What is the sign of thy appearing and presence?" its particular purpose, in one of its subdivisions, from ver. 15-22, inclusive, being to declare what this sign should be; in the other, from ver. 23-.8, inclusive, to declare what it should not be.'-Greswell, p. 307. See INTRODUCTION, p. 322. Without entering into the inquiry what further meaning the event here spoken of as the appearing and presence of Jesus Christ (apovoia) might possibly have, we may obviously take it for granted, that in one of its senses, and in the apprehension of the inquirers at least, the event denoted by this appearing and presence must be the same with the event denoted by the end. If, then, the order of the prophecy, at this point of time, passes on to ascertain the period of the end, it passes on to certify the period of the appearing and presence, and so far to return a direct answer to the second topic of inquiry; and that it does so pass, at this moment, is evident from the words which connect the beginning of this division with the end of the last, "When therefore ye see," with "and then will the end come." The proximity of the end, and so far of the Tapovoia, the appearing and presence, being thus presupposed, the object of what follows is to shew by what means it should be known not only to be near, but arrived.'-Greswell, pp. 312-..4. 'The substance of the several prophetical particulars comprehended in this first member of the second general division may be reduced to the following heads :-first, the practical admonitions, subjoined to the recognition of the fatal sign, and necessary to be observed immediately afterwards, Mt. xxiv. 16-8; Mk. xiii. 14-6; Lu. xxi. 21, .2. p. 332; to which may be added, Mt. xxiv. 20; Mk. xiii. 18: secondly, the purpose, intention, or final end of the days which were to follow, Lu. xxi. 22, p. ib.: thirdly, a promise that they should be prematurely abridged, and the grounds of it, Mt. xxiv. 22; Mk. xiii. 20, p. 333: fourthly, the description of the days themselves, and of the effects, both at the time, and for the future, which should result from them, Mt. xxiv. 19-22; Mk. xiii. 17, .9, 20; Lu. xxi. 23, .4.'-Ibid. pp. 319-.27. BEGIN AT US, WHAT SHALL THE END BE OF THEM THAT OBEY NOT THE GOSPEL OF GOD?-1 Pet. iv. 17. [331 TURN YOU AT MY REPROOF: BEHOLD, I WILL POUR OUT MY SPIRIT UNTO YOU, I WILL MAKE KNOWN MY WORDS UNTO YOU.-Prov. i. 23. 21 and let-them which-are in the-midst of it-depart-out; and let-not them that are in the countries -enter thereinto." 15 and let-him that is on the And woe unto-them that-are with child, and to-them that-givesuck in those days! 20° But pray-ye that your flight be not in-the-winter, neither on the-sabbath-day: 21 for then shall-be 16 of his house: and let-him that-is in the field not-turn back-again for-to-take-up his garment." "For these be the-days of 22 vengeance εκδικησεως, that all things which are-written may-be-fulfilled. 17 But woe to-them 19 For in those days shall-be Mt. xxiv. 17. on the housetop-Lu. xvii. 31, § 72. 18. neither.... return, &c.-The like haste commanded to Lot, as fleeing out of Sodom, Ge. xix. 17see Lu. xvii. 31, § ib. But woe unto-them that-are with child, and to-them that-givesuck, in those days!" 23 by Moses, De. xxviii. 49-58; also by Ezekiel, ch. vii. 3; xiv. 21, &c. Mt. xxiv. 19. woe unto them, &c.-Lu. xxiii. 29, § 91, p. 457, Behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren,' &c.-This woe had Lu. xxi. 22. the days of vengeance, &c.-Predicted been particularly dwelt on by Moses, De. xxviii. 53-.7. NOTES. Mt. xxiv. 16. Then let them which be in Judæa flee But the news of Nero's death, and soon after that of into the mountains. By Judæa must be understood all Galba, and the disturbances that followed, and the the southern parts of Palestine, both the plain and the civil wars between Otho and Vitellius, held Vespasian hill countries, which at this time went by the name and his son Titus in suspense. Thus the city was not of Judæa. By the mountains,' must be understood actually besieged in form till after Vespasian was conthe countries on the east side of Jordan, especially firmed in the empire, and Titus was appointed to comthose which in the time of war were under the govern-mand the forces in Judæa. It was in those incidental ment of the younger Agrippa. These countries re- delays that the Christians, and indeed several others, maining in their obedience to the Romans, the people provided for their own safety by flight. In Lu. xix. 43, who fled into them were safe. § 82, p. 264, our Lord says of Jerusalem, " Thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side." Accordingly, Titus, having made several assaults without success, resolved to surround the city with a wall, which was, with incredible speed, completed in three days. The wall was thirty-nine furlongs in length, and was strengthened with thirteen forts at proper distances, so that all hope of safety was cut off; none could make his escape from the city, and no provisions could be brought into it.'-See Jos. Bell. b. v. c. 12.] It is remarkable, that by the special providence of God, after the Romans, under Cestius Gallus, made their first advance towards Jerusalem, they suddenly withdrew again, in a most unexpected and impolitic manner; at which Josephus testifies his surprise, since the city might then have been easily taken. By this means they gave, as it were, a signal to the Christians to retire; which, in regard to our Lord's admonition, they did, some to PELLA, and others to MOUNT LIBANUS, and thereby preserved their lives. And if their flight ensued immediately on the defeat of Cestius Gallus, then it was not winter-see on ver. 20, infra-for the eighth of Dius, on which that defeat happened, corresponded in U. C. 819, A.D. 66, to October 15th, and October, in the Jewish year, was one of the mildest months in their calendar.'Greswell, p. 335. [Vespasian was deputed in the room of Cestius Gallus, who, having subdued all the country, prepared to besiege Jerusalem, and invested it on every side. 18. To take his clothes, &c. By rà iuária are meant the upper garments (the cloak and coat), which husbandmen of the southern countries have ever, when at work, laid aside, or left at home; they are then said to be youvoí.-See Mk. xiv. 51, § 88, p. 422. 20. Pray ye.... neither on the sabbath day. The distance allowed by the Jews for a sabbath-day's journey was only two thousand cubits, or about five furlongs; supposed to be the space between the camp and the tabernacle, Le. xxiii. 3. PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS. Lu. xxi. 21. It had been sneeringly said to the righteous, Flee as a bird to your mountains. The time did come when only the righteous could thus escape; when the unbelieving Jews perished in their strongholds throughout the whole land, or were drawn forth therefrom to suffer slavery or death. [Mt. xxiv. 17, .8. We may not be called to the same necessity for escape from temporal danger, but it becomes us to be ready, at the bidding of our Lord, to part at once with whatever of this world we have been accustomed to account it good to possess.] Lu. xxi. 22. The judgment written must take place. So far from feeling at ease on account of God IF THE RIGHTEOUS SCARCELY 332] deferring the days of vengeance, our highly favoured, impenitent to be yet scrupulously observant of the [VOL. II. WHOSO HEARKENETH UNTO ME SHALL DWELL SAFELY, AND SHALL BE QUIET FROM FEAR OF EVIL.-Prov. i. 33. MOREOVER ALL THESE CURSES SHALL COME UPON THEE, AND SHALL PURSUE THEE, AND OVERTAKE THEE, TILL THOU BE DESTROYED; Mt. xxiv. 21. great tribulation-Great, not only as to intensity of suffering at the beginning and end, but also as to continuance, as is intimated, Lu. xxi. 23, .4, pp. .332, ..4-They had been forewarned of it by Moses, De. xxviii. 60-.8-It had been presented to Abraham in the first recorded vision, Ge. xv. 12, 7-see the description of those who come out of the great tribulation, Rev. vii. 14-.7. such as was not, &c.-Je. xxx. 7, Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of LUKE. Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.'- NOTES.. Mt. xxiv. 21. Great tribulation. Josephus uses almost the very words of our Saviour:- All the calamities,' says he, which had befallen any nation from the beginning of the world, were but small in comparison with those of the Jews.' Such as was not. Such were the atrocities and horrors of the siege of Jerusalem, that the words may admit of the most literal acceptation. The triple negative is most strongly emphatic. [No flesh. ob mãoa cáp. A Hebraism for ovde sis. How literally this was fulfilled we learn from Josephus, from whom it appears, that if the siege had lasted out a little longer, the whole nation must have been destroyed. He says it was a proverbial expression in the mouths of all who escaped:-si un Taxéws àπшλóμsta, où av dokonusv. See on Great Tribulation,' supru.] [For the elect's sake. In Mark, "for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen." By the elect here we are to understand that comparatively small portion of the Jews living in Judæa, who had embraced, and continued to hold fast, the faith of the gospel. They are the same as those "few," who, in ch. xx. 16, § 76, P. 233, are distinguished from the "many... called"; the word there translated "chosen," being the same as that here translated "elect."- Lonsdale and Hale.] Or, rather, what is indeed the most probable supposition, we are not to understand by the elect, regard to whom was to produce this effect, simply the position to the unbelieving, of this day; but the believing portion of the Hebrew community, in opwhole series of fathers, patriarchs, and prophets, all the good and holy men of the Jewish nation, from the first; whose faith and obedience had been as exemplary as the unbelief and wickedness of this generation among their posterity was enormous and entitled to punishment; more especially the three most illustrious of the number, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to whom the denomination of the elect of God is first and properly applicable, and who had received on sundry occasions the assurance of his favour and protection inalienable from them and from their posterity.'-Greswell, p. 349. ham, Isaac, and Jacob, Joseph, &c., and such of their By the elect' may be understood not only Abrabelieving children as were in Judea at the commencement of the Great Tribulation, but also the chosen people in after times, unto whom the case of the remnant of Judah was to serve for testimony to the truth.-See SCRIP. ILLUS., and comp. Eze. xiv. 22. Those days shall be shortened. History, both Jewish and heathen, bears testimony to the truth of this part PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS. [22. Except those days... be shortened, &c. There were many circumstances which seemed likely to protract and delay the siege of Jerusalem. On the one hand, the rebellion of three chiefs, and the departure of Vespasian from Judæa, to enter upon the imperial dignity; on the other hand, the obstinacy of the Jewish nation, together with the hatred of the Ronians; a successful engagement with Cestius, and the then increased hope of assistance from God, and their countrymen on the other side of the Euphrates; Jerusalem, too, a city of extreme strength, both by nature and art, and well provided with every requisite for sustaining a long siege. Add to this, the counsels of Titus' generals, who advised him to wait for famine to do the work. All these circumstances threatened utter extinction to the Jews. But by the interposition of Divine providence, affairs took another direction. The consequence of long protracted hostility would probably have been the universal destruction of the Jews; those at home by the Romans, who were exceedingly enraged against them; and even by their own countrymen, the Sicarii zealots, &c., who put all to death who did not unite in the same desperate hostility with them. Wretches (says Josephus) who agreed in nothing but in butchering all that were worthy of being preserved, and were peaceably inclined. But for the preservation of the sound portion, however small, of the Jews, and especially the Christians, God by his providence shortened the duration of the war, as by the same providence he had before protracted the commencement of it, in order to give time to the Christians to escape.] - See ADDENDA, p. 360. Mt. xxiv. 21. The Jewish people, who were more highly favoured than any other, were also the most severely punished. We know of no nation whose punishment has been so great, so universal, and of such long continuance. Such protracted punishment cannot here be repeated: but let us beware. VOL. II.] [22 ver. May we not say, that for our sake the days of vengeance were shortened-that of the Jews a remnant was preserved. In the case of the preserved remnant of the Jews we have a continual witness to the truth of the gospel, which their fathers rejected.] WHERE SHALL THE UNGODLY AND THE SINNER APPEAR?-1 Pet. iv. 18. BECAUSE THOU HEARKENEDST NOT UNTO THE VOICE OF THE LORD THY GOD, TO KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS, ETC.-Deut. xxviii. 45. [333 |