rative and majestic ftyle well under- LET. ftood by those who understand the XVII. language of fcripture, defcribes the deftruction of the Jewish polity and fyltem. The terms may and do apply to the end of the world, for this obvious reason, that the two events are in many inftances parallel and analogous. His own declaration fhews plainly of which he was primarily and immediately speaking-" This gene"ration fhall not pass away, till all thefe things are fulfilled:" And the figures are thofe ufually employed, in like cafe, by the prophets of old.

The charge against St. Paul is founded folely on his use of the first perfon; 1 Theff. iv. 16. "We, who are "alive and remain, fhall be caught

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up to meet the Lord in the air."

But how common is it for us, when

speaking

LET. fpeaking of a fociety, an army, a naXVII. tion, to which we belong, to fay, we

went, or came, or did fuch a thing, or fall do fo and fo; though we ourfelves neither had nor fhall have any perfonal concern in the matter; though the event happened before we were born, or is to happen after our decease? Thus, in the Old Teftament, Pf. LXVI. 6. They went through the "water-there did we rejoice." Hof. "XII. 4. Jacob found God in Bethel; "there he spake with us." By the terms "we, who are alive," the apoftle means, doubtlefs, thofe of us Chrif tians who fhall then be alive. In another place, 1 Cor. iv. 4. he says, "We "know that he who raised up the Lord

Jefus, fhall raife up us alfo." He could not believe contradictory propofitions, that he should die, and that

he

he fhould not die. But what is deci- LET. five upon the point, in the fecond XVII. epistle to the fame Theffalonians, written only a few months after the first, he most earnestly admonishes them not to be deceived, as if by any thing that had fallen from him, either in fpeech or writing, they were to imagine "the day of God was at

hand;" fince the grand apoftafy, and other events, which required much intervening time for their accomplishment, were first to take place in the world. See 2 Theff. 1. 1, 2. Nay, he reminds them, ver. 5. that he had told them as much, "while he was yet "with them," that is, before either epiftle was written.

P. 41. "How came it to pass that "Chrift fhould curfe a fig tree for "being without fruit in March; or

"be

LET.

"be ignorant that it was not the feaXVII. "fon for figs?"

1. It is certain, in fact, that one fort of figs were ripe at that time of the year, namely, at the paffover.

2. By the feafon of figs may be meant the feafon of gathering figs, as in Matt. XXI. 34. "When the time,

or feafon, of the fruit drew near," that is plainly, the time for gathering the fruit," the Lord of the vineyard "fent his fervants to receive the fruit." If therefore one fort of figs was ripe about that time of the year, and yet the time for gathering them was not fully come, Chrift might with reason expect to find fruit on the tree. conftruing the paffage thus interpreted, as Mr. Macknight obferves, the latter clause must be joined with the words he came if haply he might find

In

any

LET.

any thing thereon, and the intermediate words thrown into a parenthesis, thus XVII. -He came if haply he might find any thing thereon (and when he came to it be found nothing but leaves) for the time of figs-of gathering figs-was not yet. That this is the true construction (adds Mr. M.) is plain, because the Evangelift is not giving the reason why there were no figs on the tree, but the reason why Jefus expected to find fome on it. He tells us, the season for gathering figs was not yet come, to fhew that none had been taken off the tree; and confequently, that hav ing it's whole produce upon it, there was nothing improper in Chrift's expecting fruit on it then. Whereas, if we fhall think the reason why he did not find any figs was, that the time of them was not come, we must acknow