was adorned with goodly stones, and gifts," (Luke xxi. 5.) which many persons, in accomplishment of their vows for deliverances received, had hung upon the walls and pillars of it; and "what buildings are here;" (Mark xiii. 1;) " and Jesus answering, said unto them, As for these things which ye behold, see ye not all these great buildings, verily I say unto you, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down." (Luke xxi. 6, 7.) "And as he sat upon the mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked

* " (Costly gifts, &c.) Hanging up such ava@nuara, or consecrated gifts, was common in most of the ancient temples. Tacitus speaks of the immense opulence of the temple at Jerusalem. Amongst others of its treasures, there was a golden table given by Pompey, and several golden vines, of exquisite workmanship, as well as immense size; (for Josephus tells us that they had clusters as tall as a man ;) which some have thought referred to God's representing the Jewish nation under the emblem of a vine. And Josephus likewise asserts, that the marble of the temple was so white, that it appeared to one at a distance like a mountain of snow; and the gilding of several of its external parts, which he there mentions, must, especially when the sun shone upon it, render it a most splendid and beautiful spectacle."

+"(There shall not be left one stone upon another here, &c.) It seemed exceedingly improbable that this should happen. in that age, considering the peace of the Jews with the Romans, and the strength of their citadel, which forced Titus himself to acknowledge that it was the singular hand of God which compelled them to relinquish fortifications which no human power could have conquered.--(Josephus.) Bishop Chandler justly observes, that no impostor would have foretold an event so unlikely and so disagreeable."

him privately, Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?" (Mark xiii. 3, 4.)

It is probably owing to these questions involving two inquiries, that the answers returned by our condescending Lord involves two subjects; namely, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the destruction of our world. The one has already happened, and to mortal computation appears to have taken place long previous to the last and great event that will terminate all prophecies. But when prophecies are uttered by him to whom a thousand years are but as yesterday, the intervention of two or three thousand years is a distinction not worthy to be mentioned. And Jesus answering them, began to say, When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, and the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not in the holy place, whoso readeth let him understand, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let them which are in the midst of it depart out, and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto; and let him that is on the housetop not go down into the house, neither enter therein to take anything out 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 vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe to them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days. And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter,

neither on the Sabbath-day; for in those days there shall be great tribulation and distress in the land, and wrath upon this people, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created, unto this time, no, nor ever shall be.* And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations ;+ and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled, and the days come when God shall remember his ancient people in mercy. (Mark xiii. 20.) And except that the Lord had shortened those days,

*" (Such as there was not, or ever shall be.) This Josephus expressly asserts to have been the fact; and whoever reads his account, or even that judicious abstract from him which Eusebius has given us, will see a sad illustration of all this; and, criminal and detestable as the Jewish nation now was, will hardly be able to forbear weeping over these complicated miseries brought upon them by plagues, and famines, and fires occasioned by the siege, and by the carnage made, not only by the Romans, but by the yet greater cruelties of the seditious and zealots within the city, who really acted the part of so many incarnate fiends, rather than of men.' - Dodd. Ex.

"(They shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be carried away captives, &c.) It appears from Josephus, that eleven hundred thousand Jews were destroyed in this war, and near an hundred thousand taken prisoners, and (according to Deut. xxviii. 68,) sold for slaves at the vilest prices."

I "(Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles.) Their land was sold, and no Jew was allowed to inhabit there a rigour never used, that I know of, towards any other people conquered by the Romans; nay, they might not come within sight of Jerusalem, or rather of Elia, the name given to the new city, which was built without the circuit of the former, when the foundations of the old were ploughed up A heathen temple was afterwards built where that of God had stood, and a Turkish mosque pollutes it to this day: so

no flesh should be saved; but for the elect's sake whom He hath chosen, those days shall be shortened. And during the wars which are to bring on this sad catastrophe, except the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh could be saved. The whole nation would be utterly exterminated from the earth, and the name of Israel no longer be had in remembrance. But for the elect's sake, whom He has graciously chosen to be at length partakers of the blessings of his gospel, God will so order it in his providence, that those days shall be shortened; for He hath still purposes of love towards the seed of Abraham, which shall at length take place; (Rom. xi. 26;) and in the meantime He will make their continuing a distinct people a means of confirming the faith of Christians in succeeding ages.

Now we conceive the prophecies just stated completely justify the prefixed assertion, that the

remarkably was the hand of God upon them. And it is well known, by the testimony of a heathen writer, who ridiculously ascribes it to a fatal resistance in the elements, that Julian's impious attempt to rebuild their temple, and settle them in Jerusalem again, in professed contempt of this prophecy, was several times miraculously defeated by the eruption of balls of fire, which consumed the workmen." (Copied from Doddridge.)

'(Except the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh could be saved.) Such were the quarrels that prevailed among the Jews, that numbers of them were destroyed by one another; and the whole country was become a scene of such desolation and bloodshed, that not only those who were shut up in Jerusalem, but the whole Jewish nation, would have suffered much more by the longer continuance of the siege, considering how much the same spirit prevailed among them in other places." (Doddridge.)

tribulation, distress, and wrath predicted by our Lord, as awaiting the inhabitants of the city of Jerusalem, and which would exceed all that ever happened from the beginning of the creation, which God created unto that time, or would ever again happen, to be an exact parallel to the prophecy contained in the first of Lamentations; namely, "Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger." Our Lord further adds, that these be the days of vengeance when great wrath would be upon the Jewish people. We cannot forbear here again rather more at large remarking, that the wrath of God, the fierceness of God's anger, or the vengeance He denounceth against impenitent offenders, must most widely differ in its nature from the wrath, or fierce anger, or vengeance, exercised by man; in human beings the first frequently results from sudden and violent impulse, and the latter is often exercised by satiate revenge. But we cannot suppose the Deity to be ever actuated by sudden or violent impulse, or much less, by that infernal passion, the desire of dire revenge. And the justness of these observations is, we think, proved by the many prophetic denunciations contained in the Scriptures, specifying the precise periods when the hot displeasure of God. would fall upon his people. This, in particular, we are expressly told would be exercised in an unparalleled degree during the destruction of Jerusalem; and again at the destruction of our world. But a wrath, fierce anger, and ven