"foot forty and two months. During thefe 42 months or 1243 years, the church of Chrift was to be very narrow, like the temple and the altar: but the outer court and the holy city of Jerufalem were to be trampled under foot of Papal Rome, for that period of time... When that period is accomplished, the holy city, the new Jerufalem, appears in all her glory, extent, and magnificence, as the hieroglyphic for the enlarged, purified, and triumphant ftate of the church.

The city and the gates, which were left out in the measurement in chap. xi. are now particularly measured, in verfe 15th of this chapter. The new Jerufalem comes down from God out of heaven, to fignify that the Chriftian church fhall, then, in every refpect, be formed upon the infpired fcriptures, that ftandard of Chriftianity, which is from God. It proceeds from heaven, even from that perfecuted Chriflian church, which, through the whole of this book, hath been called heaven. It shall then appear, that thofe perfecuted men in every age and country, who adhered to the word of God and to the teftimony of Jefus, were the inftruments under God, of gradually bringing the world at large to the belief, acknowledgement, and obedience of the truth, and confequently, of bringing about that triumphant and enlarged ftate of the church, fo beautifully reprefented by the new Jerufalem.

Jerufalem fhall be prepared as a bride adorn"ed for her husband." This is the fame defcription, which is given of the church of Chrift, at the commencement of the millennium in chap. xix. 6,-9. By the fimilarity or rather identity of the defcription, the fame ftate and period of the church are fignified. Ifaiah hath repeatedly predicted this triumphant state of the church, by the fame fymbols of the profperity of Jerufalem, and of her being married to the Lord. Ifaiah. liv. 5. "For thy maker is thy husband, (the Lord of hofts " is his name); and thy redeemer the holy One of "Ifrael, the God of the whole earth fhall he be "called." (The reader is defired to read the whole chapter as a prediction of the millennium and alfo the whole lxii. chap.) Isaiah. lxii. 1. 2, 4, 5, “For "Zions fake I will not hold my peace, and for Je"rufalems fake I will not reft, until the righte"ousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the "falvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. And "the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord fhall "name.-Thou shalt no more be termed, Forfak"en; neither fhall thy land any more be termed, "Defolate but thou shalt be called Hephzi-bah, "and thy land, Beulah: for the Lord delighteth "in thee, and thy land fhall be married;—as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, fo fhall thy

"God rejoice over thee. Verse 12th, And they "shall call them the holy people, the redeemed of "the Lord and thou shalt be called, Sought out, "a city not forfaken." "Isaiah. lxv. 18, 19. But "be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I

create: for behold I create Jerufalem a rejoicing, "and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Je"rufalem and joy in my people. Ifaiah. xl. i, 2. "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people. Speak ye "comfortably to Jerufalem, and cry unto her that "her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is "pardoned." All these chapters of Isaiah, are ftriking predictions of the millennium.

Verfes 3d, 4th, 5th. And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they fhall be his people, and God himself fhall be with them, and be their God. And God fhall wipe away all tears from their eyes: and there fhall be no more death, neither forrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are paffed away. And he that fat upon the throne, said, behold I make all things new. And he faid unto me, write for these words are true and faithful.

A

A tabernacle is a temporary ten or lodging, not intended for a lafting habitation like an house or a temple. Exnaci, which is here tranflated to dwell, fignifies to tabernacle, that is, to dwell for a fhort time as in a tent. This symbol fignifies, that this glorious and triumphant ftate of the church is not that heavenly ftate, in which the faints fhall dwell with God forever; but that state in this world, in which their worship of God fhall be fo pure and uninterrupted, and their communion with him so close, that the tabernacle of God may be faid to be with men, and he may be faid to tabernacle with them on earth.

The millennium, as the feventh millennary or great fabbath of the whole earth, is beautifully reprefented here, by the tabernacle of God being with men, and by men enjoying communion with God. During this period, men fhall be the people of God. He fhall put his law within them, and write it upon their hearts. As his fubjects they fhall know, and cheerfully obey his laws. They fhall be a willing and a peculiar people to him zealous of good works. God himself fhall be with them. His providence and grace fhall guide, protect, and bless them. They fhall never lofe fight of God. He fhall be always prefent with their minds, to influence and bless them. He fhall be their God. Him, and him only, they shall efteem,

love, worship, serve, and enjoy fupremely in spirit and in truth,

The purity of the worship of the people of God, and the clofeness of their communion with God, is beautifully expreffed by the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel, when predicting the millennium, in terms very fimilar to thofe now under our view. Jeremiah xxxi. 31,-34. Ezekiel xxxvii. 15,-28. The millennian ftate of the church of Chrift and of the world, fhall be fo like the paradifaical ftate, that it is described in these verfes, and in fome following parts of this and the next chapter, by fymbols drawn from that ftate.. In Paradife, because man was upright as God made him, and all the créatures were good, there was no pain, crying, forrow, nor death, until man, by eating the forbidden fruit, forfeited life and happiness, drew upon himself banishment from Paradife, and à curfe upon the ground, for his fake. In the millennian ftate, when men fhall be much wifer and better, than they have ever been iù any other period of the world, fince they were banished Paradife; they fhall be much freer from fuffering and forrow, and much happier than they had been in any former period.

This happiness fhall arife from the two fources, from which it proceeded in Paradife, a well regulated mind, and a most favourable outward fituation. As happiness can only be enjoyed by man,

when