The prophet further enlarges on this subject in the following part of this chapter: "Proclaim me this among the Gentiles; prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near, let them come up. Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about; thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord. Let the heathen be wakened and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe; come, get you down, for the press is full, the fats overflow, for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision; for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The Lord shall also roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth shall shake; but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel." (Joel iii. 9, etc.) Every one who attends to this passage will observe what a striking similitude there is between this description of a battle and that in the Revelation which has been considered. God is here represented as fighting the battle against all the heathen, and destroying multitudes on multitudes. All the heathen, even all nations, are gathered together, all armed for war, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, and there are cut off in this valley of decision. In the Revelation all the nations of the earth are gathered together to battle at Megiddo, typifying the same thing with the valley of Jehoshaphat, and there they are slain. God causes his mighty ones to come down. And John says, "I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness doth he judge and make war. And his name

is called the Word of God. And the armies in heaven followed him upon white horses." Here there is a command to "put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe; come, get you down, for the press is full, the fats overflow, for the wickedness is great." Much the same representation is made of this battle in the Revelation, (chap. xiv. 14, etc.,) which has been particularly mentioned already. The prophet Joel goes on to the end of his prophecy describing the happy state of the church which shall succeed this battle, which has never yet taken place, and is like other descriptions of the millennial state by the prophets. "Then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no stranger pass through her any more. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountain shall drop

down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk. Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land. But Judah shall dwell forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation."

The prophet Micah prophesied of Christ and his kingdom, in the extent and glory of it in the latter day, and of the destruction of the wicked men, and the nations of the world, in favor of the church of Christ, and in order to the prosperity of his people. All this is contained in the fifth chapter of his prophecy." And He (i. e., Christ) shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God; and they shall abide, for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth. And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles, in the midst of many people, as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep; who, if he go through, both treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver. Thine hand shall be lift up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off. And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they have not heard." (Verses 4, 8, 9, 15.)

The prophecy of Zephaniah has respect to the battle of that great day of God Almighty, and the succeeding happy and prosperous state of the church in the millennium. It has indeed a primary respect to the evils and punishment brought upon Jerusalem and the Jews by the Chaldeans, for their apostasy and idolatry; and to the calamities and destruction which came upon the nations at that time, and previous to the restoration of the Jews, and to their restoration from their captivity, and return to their own land, which were types of the much greater and more important events, in the last days, in which all nations will be more immediately concerned, and to which the prophecy has an ultimate and chief respect. It was fulfilled but in part, and in a small degree, in the former events, and will have the chief and complete accomplishment in the latter, as has been before observed concerning other prophecies of the same kind. Jerusalem, in her most pure state, when the statutes and ordinances which God had prescribed were in some good degree observed, was a type of the true church of Christ. Therefore, under this name, and that of Mount Zion and Israel, the prophets speak of the true church in all future ages. But Jerusalem, considered in her most corrupt state of apostasy, was a type of the false church of Rome, and of all Christian churches when they apostatize from the holy doctrines and precepts of the gospel. Therefore,

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Christ is said to be crucified in the great city, by which is meant the apostate church of Rome, and all who partake of her corruptions, because he was crucified at Jerusalem, which was then a type of that great city, in her apostasy and enmity against Christ and his true church. (Rev. xi. 8.) The nations round about the land of Israel and Judea, and all those who at times afflicted and oppressed the visible people of God, and were enemies to them, were types of the enemies of the church of Christ, in the time of her affliction, especially of all the idolatrous nations and wicked men, who prosperity of the church, and are to be destroyed, in order to her oppose the deliverance and salvation. With these observations in view, this prophecy may be read, and the whole of it applied to the battle and events which will take place previous to the introduction of the millennium, predicted in the Revelation, under the seventh vial, and to the prosperity of the church which will then commence. Then it will have its full accomplishment, and many of the expressions in it, considered in their most natural and extensive meaning, cannot be accommodated to any events which have taken place, and are not yet fulfilled. Some of these will be now mentioned. The prophecy begins with the following words: "I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the Lord. I will consume man and beast: I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumbling blocks with the wicked, and I will cut off man from off the land, (the earth,) saith the Lord. Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God; for the day of the Lord is at hand; for the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests. The great day of the Lord is near; it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord. The mighty men shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord; and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as dung. Neither their silver, nor their gold, shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath, but the whole land (earth) shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy; for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them

The word in the original, translated land, is the same which in other places in this prophecy, and in many other places in Scripture, is translated earth, and doubtless should have been so translated here, and in some other passages which will be transcribed.

that dwell in the land, (earth.) Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness; seek meekness; it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger. Therefore, wait upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey, for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, and all my fierce anger; for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy." The parallel and likeness between this prophecy and that of the battle in the Revelation, is worthy of particular notice. This is called "the great day of the Lord, the day of the Lord's wrath, a day of distress and desolation, the day that God will rise up to the prey, to gather the nations, and assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them his indignation and fierce anger." In the Revelation, the whole world were gathered to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. The words, THAT great day of battle, seem to have reference to some day which had already been made known, and undoubtedly refer to the great day of God's wrath, which is mentioned in the prophecy before us, and by the other prophets. "And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. And the seventh angel poured out his vial (of wrath) into the air. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake and so great. And the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him who sat on the horse; and the fowls were filled with their flesh." In this prophecy it is said, "The Lord hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests.” In the Revelation, the fowls of heaven are invited to come to the supper of the great God to eat the flesh of kings, etc. According to this prophet, when the nations and kingdoms of the world have been gathered, and God has poured upon them his indignation, even all his fierce anger, and all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of his jealousy, the scene is changed, and the remnant which are left in the earth, the few afflicted and poor people, shall repent, and pray, and humble themselves before God, and return and put their trust in him alone; and God will return to them in a way of mercy, and build them up, and they shall be comforted, rejoice, and prosper. This is represented in the last chapter, from verse ninth to the end of the prophecy: "For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the

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name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent. From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, my suppliants, even the daughters of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering. I will also leave in thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord. The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies, neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid. Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the King of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee. Thou shalt not see evil any more," etc., to the end of the prophecy. This is set in much the same light in the Revelation, chapters nineteen and twenty. When the battle there described is over, the millennium is introduced.

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There is a prophecy by the prophet Haggai to the same purpose with the foregoing. Again the word of the Lord came unto Haggai, saying, Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth; and I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen, and I will overthrow the chariots, and those who ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother. In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, I will take thee, O Zerubbabel my servant, and will make thee as a signet; for I have chosen thee." (Hag. ii. 20-23.) Zerubbabel was a type of Christ; and what is here said of the type was not fulfilled in him, but is to be fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the antitype, when he shall reign on the earth, and his church fill the world, and he shall be exalted, and extolled, and be very high." (Isa. lii. 13.) In order to this, the great changes are to take place represented here by shaking the heavens and the earth, and by overthrowing the throne and strength of all the kingdoms and nations, and their being destroyed by the sword; which is the battle represented in the Revelation by thunders, and lightnings, and a great earthquake, and the falling of the cities of the nations.

The prophet Zechariah also speaks of these things. He prophesies of the millennium, and of the destruction of all the people and nations who oppose the interest of the church, as preceding the days of her prosperity, and introductory to it. "And in that day will I make Jerusalem [the true church of Christ] a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. In that day, saith