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saith the Lord of hosts. Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the head-stone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace, unto it. The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands also shall finish it." Primarily this prophecy referred to Zerubbabel the governor of Judah, but its secondary application, it is generally admitted, is to Christ, the mighty Conqueror, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. In this latter case "Zerubbabel" is not taken literally. So upon a due regard to their primary import, and to consistency in their remoter sense, a literal interpretation of many other expressions in prophecy, commonly adduced as favourable to the doctrine of a literal restoration, must be rejected.

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Zech. vi. 11-13," Take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest; and speak unto him, saying, Behold, the man whose name is THE

BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord: even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall have the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne." Here, in the primary sense," Joshua the son of Josedech," is signified; but more remotely, though chiefly, Jesus, the King of kings, the Lamb that sits and intercedes upon the throne above. But in this secondary sense," Joshua the son of Josedech" is not to be taken literally, so neither should many other expressions, supposed to indicate a literal restoration.

Yours, &c.

E

LETTER VII.

Observations on some particular Prophecies.-Isa. xi. 11; lx. Ixv. 17, &c.-Jer. xxxi. xxxiii.-Haggai.-Zechariah.-No reason why the Jews should be distinguished, on their conversion, above other nations.--Their loss of national character probable.-Objection answered.

MY DEAR FRIend,

March 24th, 1828.

NoT to multiply further observations on single terms, the force of the objection now under notice may be shewn by a reference to some of the prophecies at length.

Isaiah xi. 11-16, "And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time, to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the

nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them. And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dry shod. And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt." This prophecy may seem to favour the opinion of Israel's restoration. The words, verse 10, "In that day," indicate the period in which the prophecy contained in the preceding verses is to be fulfilled, as some part of the Christian æra; because

the preceding part of the chapter describes the kingdom of Christ on earth, and it seems in reference to that, it is said "In that day." If the prophecy then was to be fulfilled in the Christian æra, it has not been fulfilled yet, either literally or spiritually; and the question is, Does it predict a literal restoration, or not? The language employed is figurative. No countries now exist under the names of Assyria, Cush, &c. Ephraim cannot now be said to be envious of Judah, &c.; and verses 14, 15, 16, admit of no other description, by possibility, than figurative. But, admitting that the prophecy describes a restoration, it does not say to what, (if to any thing beyond the divine favour, chap. xii. 1,) nor intimate that the restoration shall be to the land of their forefathers. And, as the language employed is figurative, the interpretation best agreeing with the Christian dispensation is, that all obstacles to the conversion of the Jews will be removed, that, by being gathered into the fold of Christ, they shall lose their character of vagabonds among the nations, and their interests be facilitated by the most unlikely

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