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JEHOVAH'S SIGNATURE, TO THE PROMISES RESPECTING ISRAEL AND JUDAH.

"His Name is as ointment poured forth." It may not be unworthy of remark that the anointing oil, as mentioned, Exod. xxx. 23, 24, was compounded of five ingredients, pure myrrh, sweet cinnamon, sweet calamus, cassia, and oil olive. Whatever may be the full import of this, it is at least worthy of observation, that the name of Christ as predicted (Is. ix. 6) is five-fold, "His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." And we have seen that these five names are, as to their import, recognised in this order, Psalm lxxxix. See Fourth Thunder, pages 89—91.

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We are now to see that the case there pointed out is not singular. The remainder of this chapter, Jer. xxxi. 27—40, consists of five portions, correspondent, and in the same order, with this five-fold name. The first two and the last of these five, begin each with, "Behold the days come, saith the Lord." The third and fourth have at the commencement of each, “ Thus saith the Lord." Correspondent to the title "Wonderful," we have the Redeemer of Israel described as to his wondrous dealings in providence, ver. 27—30. As the "Counsellor," who hath purposed to reconcile unto himself, according to new covenant mercy, the people whose fathers were under the law; but which covenant hath been broken and done away, He is described, v. 31—34. As the "Mighty God," who hath formed, and who upholds creation; and who will uphold Israel unto the fulfilment of his purpose with regard to them, v. 35, 36. As the "Everlasting Father," or He whose compassion cannot be exhausted, he speaks, v. 37. And as the "Prince of Peace," His throne shall

be in Zion, and the city shall be built which shall see the peace so long predicted in the name of Jerusalem, ver. 38—40. He who hath been dealing so wondrously with his people in rooting out and scattering abroad; who hath devised that wondrous plan of divine mercy, according to which they are to be given true and eternal union with Himself; who is able to sustain them under the operation of his newcreating power, equally as He upholds the material universe under the operation of the natural laws; He whose compassion toward his people is unceasing; and who shall possess that peaceful kingdom, which shall encompass the globe, and the throne of which shall be in Jerusalem. He hath purposed the restoration of Israel, preparatory to His own return.

We saw, from the seven seals, that in Christ, a literal return, clearly in contrast to anything which has taken place, was to be effected for the lost house of Israel. In the seven thunders we have seen that we are come to the time of Israel's restoration; that we are in the place, from which the return is more particularly to be: yea, that we are the very people, and that in Christ we have a right to return to our own border—that it is the duty and the privilege of those whose is the power, to prepare for the peaceful restoration of All Israel; and for the ministration of justice and of mercy to the Jew, in the place where he hath been but oppressed evermore.

In farther confirmation of these promises, He who is Jesus, the Lord, the Saviour, as described in the seven seals, who is Christ, through whom that anointing is bestowed that is implied in the seven thunders, hath now his name, as subscribing these evidences, written out in full.

THE FIRST NAME.

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THE WONDERFUL," THE GOD OF PROVIDENCE.

Ver. 27—30.

The God who hath dealt so wondrously with Israel and Judah, in the past, at visiting upon the Children the Sin of the Fathers, promises to change the course of His providential Dealings with regard to them, after the predicted Restoration, so that thence each shall be dealt with according to his individual Case.

"Behold the days come, saith the Lord,

That I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah
With the seed of man and with the seed of beast.

And it shall come to pass, like as I have watched over them,

To pluck up,

And to break down,
And to throw down,

And to make to perish,

And to afflict;

So will I watch over them,

To build and to plant, saith the Lord.

In those days they shall say no more

The fathers have eaten a sour grape,

And the childrens' teeth are set on edge;
But every one shall die for his own iniquity:
Every man that eateth the sour grape,
His teeth shall be set on edge."

In the wonderful providence of God, that land, which is the centre of all lands; which was anciently so abundant in cattle, and so full of inhabitants, is now comparatively destitute of both. The Lord hath removed men far away, and there is an utter forsaking in the midst of the land. But He who hath thus accomplished so far his threatened punishment upon backsliding Israel and treacherous Judah, hath equally foretold their restoration, the restoration of both Israel and Judah, and of Israel first: and that restoration shall not be to spiritual blessings alone, although without these the other cannot truly be enjoyed. He I will sow the house of Israel and the

house of Judah, not only with the good seed of the word, which is indeed of paramount importance, but He will sow them also with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast. Even this shall come to pass as well as the other, notwithstanding human unbelief, and any unfavourable appearances in the past or the present. That which is appointed shall, in the course of God's good providence, most assuredly take place.

The Shepherd of Israel seemed to have utterly forsaken his flock, and entirely left them to their wanderings and dispersion: But not so; He watched over them still; He was correcting them in their wanderings, and

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disappointing them in their plans of opposition to his goodness, in order that He might work for them good in their latter end. The dispensations of his providence, however painful, have all been tending towards the benefit of those who have been rightly exercised thereby; and shall be consummated in glory and blessing, full and everlasting.

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As the Wonderful, the God of Providence, He watched over "to pluck "his people, even the whole house of Israel, that He planted in the good land He had promised to their fathers. It was with a mighty hand that He brought them out of Egypt, and cast out the nations before them, and gave them to inherit a land flowing with milk and honey. But they forgat the hand that fed them, and misused the favours he bestowed upon them: He plucked them up, and cast them far off among the Gentiles, and dispersed them throughout the countries; and they were to appearance lost to that land, and even to themselves; and so have they remained until the end of the seven times, during which Israel was to be outcast from the land, and Judah in painful subjection to the Gentiles.

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As the Counsellor, the God of Redemption, also, He hath been watching over them "to break down." He hath broken down the middle wall of partition that stood between those that were cast afar off among the Gentiles, and these, the Jews, that were left near. The ordinances which were commanded to be observed, according to the covenant which was made with their fathers when they came up out of Egypt, have been removed. There has, for about eighteen centuries, been no opportunity of fully attending to them, even by those who were the most inclined to trust in them.- Having rejected Him who is the fulfilling of the law, the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth, the Jews have, in the providence of God, been deprived of all national ground of trusting in their

"THE WONDERFUL.”

own righteousness, according to the law. May they soon see for what purpose it is that they have been thus dealt with; and know the kindness of our God, in breaking down that wall which they would have made a wall of separation, not only between themselves and the Gentiles, but between Moses's disciples and the Redeemer of Israel.

As the Mighty God, the God of Creation, also, He hath been watching over them" to throw down" the images, the work of men's hands, which not only by ancient Israel were set up, but by their modern descendants, called Christians. Along with their idols, how utterly cast down, have become those idolaters, professing Christianity, in the very land of Israel itself! They also have been cut off, or are trampled under foot, by the proud Mahommedan oppressor; who was given a commission, not only to throw down the idols of the heathen, but to pour contempt upon the shame of those who profess to have salvation through the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ; but whose trust is not in "the Mighty God" who made heaven and earth; but in a god which themselves have made—a wheaten god—a wafer the work of men's hands,—before which they bow, and upon which they call for deliverance: which, in the mass, is said by the Romanists to be offered up for them in sacrifice—a sacrifice for the sins of both the living and the dead! After which, this god is swallowed by them as is a morsel of bread. This deep degradation hath not only been the casting down of nominal Christians in the land, but of many nations out of it. Again and again hath the Mighty God visited this insult to his divine majesty, with the throwing down of our own nation, even as He hath honoured our open protest against all such abominations, by exalting us, since that protest, above all the nations of the earth. May God forbid that our fall should be with Babylon! Certain it is that the idols He will utterly abolish. May our experience

GOD WONDROUS IN HIS JUDGMENTS.

in the past be for safety in the future!

He who promised to be as a Father to Israel, hath yet been watching over them, as if " to destroy" even his firstborn Ephraim, and make all the memory of him and his companions to perish. They were carried away into a land of forgetfuluess. They have been sought for, and could not be found; or if it was thought they were found, as in the North American Indians, or the Nestorians, it was as perishing from off the face of the earth -as being manifestly in a state of destruction. The hope of finding the lost children of Rachel, the fatherless, who were to find mercy in the everlasting arms, hath ever, as it was approached, fled from the grasp of the anxious inquirer: or, if it could satisfy the individual discoverer, it could satisfy but few beside. The Jews were known, but evidently under severe rebuke; and as perishing, both in the land and among the Gentiles, in much misery, and generally in deep disgrace, with, seemingly, no smile of their Heavenly Father shining upon their weary way. The people bearing the name of Israel have not known the love of Him who said, "I am a Father to Israel;" and the people of whom the everlasting Father saith, "Ephraim is my first-born " have been called "the Lost!"

The Prince of Peace, the King of Salem, hath also seemed to be, as the God of Providence, watching over only "to afflict," and that the very capital of his expected kingdom.Truly Zion hath been afflicted and smitten evermore. Of all cities, it hath, perhaps, the least seen that which is expressed in the name Salem, Peace. What affliction from without, and mutual destruction from within, were there at the time of its being besieged by the Romans! And then again how entire was its destruction by the Persians! The Christians, as they were called, had only time after that destruction to prepare it as a prize for the Saracens; and then came the Crusaders, establishing their

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kingdom of Jerusalem: since which it has once and again been lost and won by the kings of the south and the north; and now the place appointed to be the throne of the Lord, is still in a position the most critical. The oppressor is the judge—the hand to defend, is that which would spoil her. Her inhabitants are of too heterogeneous a character to give any great promise of internal prosperity or peace; and there is as little of it from without. Plunder, oppression, and strife, have been fast desolating the land, and wearing out the inhabitants.

Thus did the Lord pluck up the whole house of Israel, break down the Jewish economy, and cast down the idols.

Thus hath the name of Ephraim perished among the heathen, out among whom they were cast; and thus has the place of the name of the Lord of hosts been of all places the most afflicted evermore. But is it to continue so always? No. The mystery of all this wondrous working is to be disclosed. It is to be seen that the plucking up of Israel was, that, being planted in other lands, their seed being in many waters, they might spread out unto all the ends of the earth, and fill the face of the world with fruit.The breaking down of the Jews, and depriving them of the means of observing that ceremonial law, in which even the disciples of Christ were too disposed to trust, and the dispersing them among their brethren who had been cast afar off, was that He might make of the twain one new man, so making peace. The throwing down of the idols, and therewith of idolatrous Christian confederacies, whether in the east or the west, has been that Israel might exalt their King, the God of heaven and earth; and might, with Him, be exalted—Searching into His works, in place of worshipping their own, they were to acquire power for the production of works of usefulness: "He hath shewed His people the power of his works, that he may give them the heritage of the heathen."

The making of the name of Ephraim to perish, the depriving them of

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THE PROMISED CHANGE OF DISPENSATION.

their crown of pride,their presumptuous glorying, as being the first-born, upon whose head—upon the crown of whose head, the blessing was to fall, was, that they might, in all humility as common Gentiles, and as having no confidence in the flesh, take refuge in Christ, and find their title to blessing only in Him to whom all praise is due. And the afflicting of Zion as in rebellion against her King, or as seeking refuge under other lords, makes more manifest the truth of our Messiah's claim to the throne of his father David; and the folly of refusing to allow that claim, either on the part of Jew or Christian. And the contrast, of that afflicted state of Zion, to her condition as inhabited by a people waiting for the coming forth of the King, and presenting unto Him their willing homage, and prayers for his return, will bring out into still more striking manifestation the sons of the Living God, as witnessing of his grace and his glory, in appointed time and place, the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, the Mount Zion.

God hath indeed wrought wondrously in accomplishing the threatened judgments; and this he gives as a pledge that the promises will be fulfilled with equal verity and fulness of accomplishment; so that, however wondrous the things may he which He hath promised to do for his people in their latter end, we need not doubt of their literal fulfilment. In that land which hath been so long lying waste, the promise shall be found good to the people that were supposed to he lost, Joel ii. 26. "And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you; and my people shall never be ashamed." Yea, and better than all, the fulness of the blessing shall be poured upon the whole body of the people, as truly as on the few disciples upon whom the Spirit descended on the day of Pentecost. Many dark days have come since; but all these were foreknown and foretold. The desolations are accomplished: this cannot be denied. As undeniably

must the promise stand sure," So will I watch over you to build and to plant, saith the Lord."

Then the sin of Backsliding Israel, in seeking to be like the nations around them, will no longer be visited upon their posterity, as being left undistinguished among the nations: but "All that see them shall acknowledge them that they are the seed the Lord hath blessed!" The sin of treacherous Judah, in denying their King, and through that denial courting the favour of a heathen monarch, will no longer be visited upon their children, by their being dealt with treacherously by all the heathen powers, among whom they have been wandering in judicial blindness. Israel shall be acknowledged of the Lord, and Judah shall acknowledge their King: and this shall be in Zion. "He will in this mountain destroy the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations.He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth; for the Lord hath spoken." So shall it come to pass that, "In those days they shall say no more, the fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge." But still there shall be no cause for presumptuous rebellion against the divine government:

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The individual sinner shall be punished, although his posterity shall escape. Sin shall be immediately punished in the person of the guilty, so that it will not contaminate the nation, nor be propagated from sire to son, as before—"But every one shall die for his own iniquity." So will He purge out the sinners from among them. "Every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge." As truly as the Providence of our God hath proceeded according to the word in the former dispensation, so will it in that which is to succeed. Israel then will live as immediately under the eye of their God.

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