The fruit of the olive fail, And the fields produce no food ; The flock be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stall ; Yet will I rejoice in Jehovah, I will joy in the Elohim of my salvation. The Lord Jehovah is my strength, And he will make my feet as the feet of antelopes, "Thou didst touch with his staff," the staff of God in the enemy's hand, "the head of his" Judah's "villages." How exactly does this point out to us the particular circumstances already referred to, in which restored Jerusalem inhabited " villagefashion," without a wall or even a fence of thorns, shall sustain the last desperate attack of her mortal foe! when the glory of Jehovah is to be seen in her defence. Every heart trembles at the approach of the Dreadful Avenger, and at the devastations that are abroad through his fiery indignation, even the people, whom the prophet personates, and for whose deliverance Jehovah Sabaoth is manifested, partake of the alarm. But, strengthened by his upholding Spirit, they shall be enabled to exercise confident trust in their God; though in the attending circumstances of this last conflict, all ordinary means of support and sustenance have seemed to fail. The same appearing person of the Godhead, who "came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them, who shined forth from Mount Paran," will again be seen in all his glory, of which these former manifestations were but the prophetic types and symbols. L SECTION THE EIGHTH. THE FULL AND FINAL RESTORATION OF ISRAEL, AND THEIR SUBSEQUENT PROSPERITY. Jehovah having been made known by the judgments that he has executed, the remnants that are spared of the rest of mankind gladly assist in completing the restoration of all the dispersed of Israel, and bring them back from all parts of the earth-The great felicity of Israel, when finally restored on the land of promise-That land, though great changes have been produced in its climate and on its surface, has, in some respects, the same geographical boundaries— The elevation of the mountains of the Lord's house-The new and abundant supply of water, and unbounded fruitfulness of the soil, in the new creation. THE Elohim of Israel has now been manifested to be Jehovah. He has now taken to himself his great power, and doth reign, and all his enemies, "who would not have this man to reign over them," have been made his footstool. Israel has found rest beneath the cloud of his glory: and in the midst of mighty convulsions, which have altered the universal face of nature, "his holy arm has been made bare in the sight of all the nations." The nations, or the remnants of nations, which he has spared and preserved alive on the face of the whole earth, now submit to the sceptre of his kingdom, and willingly assist in completing the restoration of his people Israel; for all were not yet gathered: (Isaiah xlix. 22, &c. xviii.) "Thus hath Adonai Jehovah said, Behold I will lift up my hands to the nations, And they shall bring thy sons in their bosom, And their queens thy nursing mothers. And they shall prostrate their faces to the earth before thee, And thou shalt know that I am Jehovah, And they that wait for me shall not be ashamed.” "Oh, country, continually extending the shadow of its wing, Which is beyond the rivers of Cush; That sendeth embassadors by sea, Even in light vessels on the face of the waters : Go, ye swift messengers, To a nation scattered and cast away, To a people feared from that day and henceforward : To a nation expecting, and expecting, and still trampled under foot, Whose land the rivers have spoiled. All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers upon earth, As it were a signal lifted upon the mountains shall ye behold, As it were the sounding of a trumpet shall Under the metaphor of a vineyard destroyed, after a prospect of fruitfulness, is then represented the last invasion and judgment of restored Jerusalem. * On that occasion, as we have seen, Jehovah is so manifested, that all surviving nations will understand the Divine purpose respecting the restoration of all the dispersed Israelites; and this maritime nation taking the lead, will bring home to his holy Temple at Jerusalem, his people collected from all parts as "a present to Jehovah," as we read in Zephaniah iii. 9. Surely, then will I turn to the nations a pure language,† That they may all of them call upon Jehovah, and serve him with one consent. From beyond the rivers of Cush My suppliants shall bring as an offering, The daughter of my dispersed." Compare the grand scene, Psalm lxviii. and also in the sixtieth of Isaiah : "Arise, shine, for the light is come, And the glory of Jehovah is risen upon thee, For lo, darkness hath ‡ covered the earth, And gross darkness the nations; But Jehovah shall arise on thee, And nations shall go to thy light, And kings to the brightness of thy rising. See Second Advent in loco. "Will return to" or "alter for the nations a pure lip." See original of Gen. xi. 7. and compare Joel ii. 28. Or shall have. They all gather themselves together and come to thee: Thy sons come from far, Thy daughters are borne on the side. Then shalt thou see and overflow with joy, And thine heart shall tremble and swell. For the riches of the sea shall be turned towards thee, The troops of camels shall cover thee, They shall bring gold and frankincense, The flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to thee, They shall come up with acceptance on my altar, Who are these that fly as a cloud, And as doves to their windows? Surely the distant coasts wait on me, Bringing my sons from far, Their silver and their gold with them! Unto the name of Jehovah thy Elohim, And to the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified. thee," &c. Add from the last chapter of the same prophet: "The time is come to gather together all nations and all languages, And they shall come, and shall see my glory. |