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dwelt in the whole south of Judea. Being afterwards incorporated with the Jews, they seem to have constituted a main portion of those who perished in the siege of Jerusalem; when it was razed to the foundations, and the destruction was accomplished which had been imprecated upon this people. Blood was to pursue the children of Edom, even when they had taken refuge in the city and temple of the Lord, and among his professed worshippers; even till that blood was purged from the midst of them, by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning. The words, "neither be dismayed, O Israel," seem, however, more to refer to the other house, that of the ten tribes; who appear to be also particularly addressed in the words that immediately follow, "For, lo, I will save thee from afar," unto which they had been sent, as being cast far off among the Gentiles. "And thy seed from the land of their captivity." The Lord had promised to save the house of Joseph when yet in the open valley; and ultimately, not only shall they be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation, and brought home to their father's house in glory, constituting the main portion of that spouse unto which the Lord shall be married, and whom he shall call up into his heavenly glory; but their seed left behind them on the earth, shall be restored to the temporal possession of the land, inheriting therewith the riches of the Gentiles. And not only shall they be thus favoured, Jacob, the other house first spoken of in these words," shall return, and shall be in rest," and not be as hitherto, upon their return from Babylon, continually disturbed by the intrusion of strangers. Jacob shall now have truly wrestled, and overcome," the spirit of grace and of supplication" having been poured out upon him. As Jacob, when he obtained the name of Israel, wept and made supplication unto the angel, so shall this remaining portion of his descendants. Then shall they "look upon Him whom they have pierced, and shall mourn." Then the Lord shall

[SEAL II.

give full deliverance. In Jesus, Judah also shall be blessed, and made one with Israel; so shall all Israel be quiet in himself; "Ephraim shall not envy Judah, nor Judah vex Ephraim." And as Israel shall be quiet in himself, so externally also shall there be none to make afraid. His enemies all around will have been cut off, "and there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor a grieving thorn of all round about them." "Thus saith the Lord God: When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob. And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them: and they shall know that I am the Lord their God."

When Israel had fled afar, as taking refuge along the coasts of Europe, in the Tyrean and Egyptian colonies, there seeking to escape from the Assyrian, who came up and swept away the remnant into the land of their captivity in the North Country,—then did his case seem indeed desperate. Yet was God hereby preparing for his seed to become the promised multitude of nations. In the meantime, his enemies have been, and are being, dashed against each other and destroyed; and this shall be, until, upon his ultimate return; he "shall seek them and shall not find them; even all that contended with him. They shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought." Then, indeed, shall Jacob "return, and be in rest; and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid." We have here ample security that the event described is something different from what has yet taken place; and that it will introduce into a peace which will be permanent. Now this very destruction of the enemy; this preparation for peace, by the removal

of that which has created disquiet, appears to be the subject of the second seal, Rev. vi. 3, 4.

The election of Israel having obtained the blessing, expressed by the white horse of the First Seal, we have now described the portion of Edom, the people against whom the Lord said he would have indignation for ever; the people who had usurped the inheritance and throne, and even the very name of Judah; and who, having effectually sold the birthright, in the case of Christ, deserved to be disinherited; and this was to be by judgment, described in the goings forth of the second, third, and fourth horses, as beheld upon the opening of the seals. The first of these three horses answers to Edom's own name, red, betokening bloodshed. And power was given to him that sat thereon, to take peace from the earth or land; which was effectually done when that irreconcilable enmity broke out between the Jews and the Romans, which produced that general and continual warfare between them, as described by Josephus. The great Sword may more particularly refer to that exceeding slaughter which took place at the destruction of Jerusalem; when the Jewish rulers had the first part of their wish gratified, "His blood be upon us and on our children." These had for the time linked their fortunes with Edom, and must for so long a time endure the curse, even until his blood shall be removed from the midst of them.

Our Lord, as executing judgment by the slaughter of the enemy, is described, Isa. Ixiii.

"Who is this that cometh from Edom,
With dyed garments from Bozrah?
This that is glorious in his apparel,
Travelling in the greatness of his strength?
I That speak in righteousness, mighty to

save.

Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, And thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine-fat?

I have trodden the winepress alone,
And of the people there was none with me:
For I will tread them in mine anger,
And trample them in my fury;

And their blood shall be sprinkled upon

my garments,

And I will stain all my raiment.

For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, And the year of my redeemed is come."

What follows in this prophecy plainly intimates that the slaughter of Edom, from which the Lord has come, and the still greater destruction of the enemy more generally, unto which he is proceeding, are all in order to provide peace for his people. And such also is intimated in the expansion of this Second Seal, Ezek. xxxv., xxxvi. 1—15. Here, as in Isa. lxiii. this judgment begins with the message of judgment upon Edom, to whose name, red or bloody, there seems to be a frequent reference in the prophecy.

"Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, And hast shed the blood of the children of Israel

By the force of the sword,

In the time of their calamity,

In the time that their iniquity had an end:
Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord God,
I will prepare thee unto blood,
And blood shall pursue thee:
Sith thou hast not hated blood,
Even blood shall pursue thee."

Thereafter the desolation of Mount Seir is described, as it is at this day. And then the reason is assigned, "Because thou hast said these two nations, and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas the Lord was there." Upon the captivity of the Jews the Edomite came down and dwelt in their land, and so continued; so that an Idumean was even king of the Jews, and sought to slay the rightful heir to the throne of David in the slaughter of the infants of Bethlehem. Yet neither did Edom prosper, as having so obtained the dominion. Blood did pursue him, even into the streets of Jerusalem, and the recesses of the temple; and blood abundantly flowed both from the Edomites, under the name of Jews, and from their enemies the Romans, with whom they had joined hands against the Lord, and against his Anointed. The Lord hath indeed judged Edom, both as to place and people; and it is here, v. 11, promised that He will be known among Israel, when He hath been known to judge Edom. The desolations of Edom,

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dwelt in the whole south of Judea. Being afterwards incorporated with the Jews, they seem to have constituted a main portion of those who perished in the siege of Jerusalem; when it was razed to the foundations, and the destruction was accomplished which had been imprecated upon this people. Blood was to pursue the children of Edom, even when they had taken refuge in the city and temple of the Lord, and among his professed worshippers; even till that blood was purged from the midst of them, by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning. The words, "neither be dismayed, O Israel," seem, however, more to refer to the other house, that of the ten tribes; who appear to be also particularly addressed in the words that immediately follow, "For, lo, I will save thee from afar," unto which they had been sent, as being cast far off among the Gentiles. "And thy seed from the land of their captivity." The Lord had promised to save the house of Joseph when yet in the open valley; and ultimately, not only shall they be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation, and brought home to their father's house in glory, constituting the main portion of that spouse unto which the Lord shall be married, and whom he shall call up into his heavenly glory; but their seed left behind them on the earth, shall be restored to the temporal possession of the land, inheriting therewith the riches of the Gentiles. And not only shall they be thus favoured, Jacob, the other house first spoken of in these words, "shall return, and shall be in rest," and not be as hitherto, upon their return from Babylon, continually disturbed by the intrusion of strangers. Jacob shall now have truly wrestled, and overcome," the spirit of grace and of supplication" having been poured out upon him. As Jacob, when he obtained the name of Israel, wept and made supplication unto the angel, so shall this remaining portion of his descendants. Then shall they "look upon Him whom they have pierced, and shall mourn." Then the Lord shall

[SEAL II.

give full deliverance. In Jesus, Judah also shall be blessed, and made one with Israel; so shall all Israel be quiet in himself; "Ephraim shall not envy Judah, nor Judah vex Ephraim." And as Israel shall be quiet in himself, so externally also shall there be none to make afraid. His enemies all around will have been cut off, "and there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor a grieving thorn of all round about them." "Thus saith the Lord God: When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob. And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them: and they shall know that I am the Lord their God."

When Israel had fled afar, as taking refuge along the coasts of Europe, in the Tyrean and Egyptian colonies, there seeking to escape from the Assyrian, who came up and swept away the remnant into the land of their captivity in the North Country,-then did his case seem indeed desperate. Yet was God hereby preparing for his seed to become the promised multitude of nations. In the meantime, his enemies have been, and are being, dashed against each other and destroyed; and this shall be, until, upon his ultimate return; he "shall seek them and shall not find them; even all that contended with him. They shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought." Then, indeed, shall Jacob "return, and be in rest; and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid.” have here ample security that the event described is something different from what has yet taken pl that it will introducad which will be perva very destruction Co prepare

We

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it would seem, are to continue even until Israel should have filled the face of the earth with fruit: "Thus saith the Lord God, when the whole earth rejoiceth I will make thee desolate; as thou didst rejoice in the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee. Thou shalt be desolate, O Mount Seir, and all Idumea, all of it. And they shall know that I am the Lord."

The prophecy then turns from Mount Seir to the mountains of Israel, of which the enemy had said, "Aha! even the ancient high places are ours in possession," ch. xxxvi. 5. Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea, which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart; with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey. Prophecy therefore concerning the land of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy, and in my fury, because ye have borne the shame of the heathen: therefore thus saith the Lord God, I have lifted up mine hand, surely the heathen that are about you, they shall hear their shame. But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel, for they are at hand to come. Behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown. And I will multiply men upon you;" not the house of Judah only, but "all the house of Israel—all of it. And the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded." And the names of Joseph and of Ephraim shall he again written upon them: "They shall increase and bring fruit; and I will settle you after your old estates, and will do better than at your beginnings:" thus shall Jacob be in rest. "And I will cause men to walk upon you, my people Israel; and they shall possess thee; and thou shalt be their Inheritance, and thou shalt no more

[SEAL II.

henceforth bereave them:" There shall be none to make Israel afraid: "Neither shalt thou cause thy nations to fall any more, saith the Lord God." Thus has the Lord been clearing the land of Israel's inheritance; and thus will he clear it with the sword of his judgment, although all the nations of the earth should be gathered there to battle. The heathen shall certainly be disinherited, that Israel may possess his Inheritance in peace.

Thus have we seen from Jer. ch. xxx. v. 10, that both houses of Israel, in the great Return promised, will be entirely unmolested by the enemy, and thereafter will remain in internal quiet and external peace; and, as only a portion of Judah returned from Babylon, and then found their fields seized by Edom, who ultimately also swamped their commonwealth. As they had upon that return to build up the walls of Jerusalem with weapons in their hands, and were never thereafter in perfect peace so as not to be afraid; so surely is the predicted Return yet to take place, when Jerusalem shall be what its name implies, the Sight of Peace; and when the blessing spoken of in the name of the capital of Israel shall be realized in fulness, the Lord, the Keeper of Israel, keeping them in perfect peace for ever.

Upon the opening of the second seal, Rev. vi. 3, 4, we have seen the Lord's powerful provision, in the great sword, for the removal of the man of blood within the camp of Judah, and all the enemies around the Inheritance of Israel.

This we have seen further illustrated in Ezekiel, xxxv. xxxvi. 1—15; where it is shown that the Lord hath indeed provided a sword, whereby Edom and all the haters of Israel shall be cut off, as intimated by the going forth of the red horse: subsequent to which all Israel shall repossess their land in perfect peace: having nothing within to disturb their quiet, or from without to make them afraid.