It is true Dr. Wordsworth has one real argument on his side, that presents a serious difficulty for Millenarians to explain. It is the occurrence of a resurrection before the Millennium. His own view of it he gives at p. 52 :—

""And I saw Thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them. And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first Resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first Resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years."1

'Let us now consider these words.

First, let us observe that they are not spoken of the bodies of the saints, but of their souls. "I saw the souls of them who had been beheaded for the witness of Jesus." This must be carefully borne in mind, because the error of the Millenarians is mainly due to neglect of this distinction. They have imagined a body resurrection, whereas S. John is speaking of & spiritual one.3

'Secondly. It is not said that these souls lived again, but simply that they lived, and reigned with Christ.

'It is clear, then, that what is here said, is spoken not of a corporeal, but of a spiritual Resurrection.

'Thirdly. Let us recollect, that such is the nearness and dearness of all faithful Christians to Christ, that is exaltation is represented in Scripture as theirs. Christ said to Saul, when persecuting the members of His Church, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?" And He says to us, "Inasmuch as ye do it to one of the least of these my brethren, ye do it unto Me" And as Christ suffers with His members on earth, so are they glorified with Him in heaven. He is persecuted in them; and they reign with Him.'— Pp. 52-54.

This is perhaps as difficult to receive in interpretation of the prophecy, as some notion of the resurrection spoken of being actually corporeal and external, but not visible to men in this mortal state. Without affirming this to be the meaning, it may at least be suggested as a conceivable answer to a seemingly formidable objection. And it may be remembered, that such

2

'Rev. xx. 4-6.'

Compare Lightfoot, Harmony of New Test. and Rev. xx. "Here is a Resurrection, but not of bodies, but of souls. The souls of those that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus lived and reigned; and this is called the first resurrection." He observes that there is some figurative language in Ezekiel xxxvii.; the latter part of which book resembles the latter part of the Apocalypse. There is a spiri tual resurrection; Gog and Magog; and a new Jerusalem in both. Many of the Jews erroneously understood Ezekiel's vision of the dry bones literally, as many Christians interpret the first Resurrection in a like sense. It may be added, that the second death is a phrase used by the Jews. Onkelos renders Deut. xxxiii. 6, thus: "Let Reuben live, and not die ; i. e. the second death." See Lightfoot in Rev. xx.' 3 S. Aug. in C. D. xx. 7. De duabus resurrectionibus Joannes Evangelista in Apocalypsi eo modo locutus est, ut earum prima a quibusdam nostris non intellecta insuper etiam in quasdam ridiculas fabulas verteretur.' 5 Acts ix. 4.'

4· καὶ ἔζησαν, Rev. xx. 5.

NO. LXIX.-N. S.

D

6 Matt. xxv. 40.'

inconsistencies are to be expected in prophecy, from the examples given in the predictions relating to our Saviour himself, such as that He should be the Son, and yet the Lord of David. These seeming inconsistencies are the great keys of prophecy, when its fulfilment is sufficiently advanced to enable us to make use of them. Till then, their effect ought to be to restrain our presumption and self-confidence, and keep us patiently waiting for what it may please God to reveal by the course of His providence. Still they may be quoted in connexion or contradiction of a false exposition, provided that we always bear in mind, that the Divine purpose may yet have new combinations in store, and that we are almost sure to be unable perfectly to anticipate the very next phase of revelation, though we may be equally sure that it is really foreshadowed.

The general prevalence of a literal interpretation in early times is not a sufficient proof of its truth. We do not easily realize the Jewish state, and the extent of the influence of national feeling on the minds of the Apostles themselves. There are those, indeed, who would overrate this, and pretend to measure the movements of those who were certainly in a supernatural state by the elements and forces of nature. But these are to be met, not by a denial of those influences which were most certainly in action, but by admitting all that is true or reasonable, while we maintain that the supernatural graces and illuminations of the Gospel are not therefore rendered either improbable, a priori, or impossible to be traced in fact.

The predictive discourse of our Lord on the sight of the buildings of the Temple, rightly viewed, conveys this lesson with much force. The condescension to national feelings and carnal apprehensions is evident, yet the purpose of elevating the mind to more distant and spiritual objects is no less discernible, and the deliberate intention of making a partial and not a complete revelation is most manifest. It may be worth while to point out one important expression which is very likely to escape the English reader, and which has, in fact, escaped the attention of some who have given real thought to the exposition of the prophecy. A Greek writer, on the other hand, would be likely to pass it over from its very obviousness, and to assume that no reader could help perceiving it. Our translators appear to have intended to mark it by the new paragraph:

Matt. xxiv. 31. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall 'not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall 'not pass away.

6

36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the 'angels of heaven, but my Father only.'

The English reader might easily imagine that that day meant the day when these things should take place. But the distinction of the Greek pronouns, here imperfectly represented by the emphasis of italics, renders a different meaning by far the more natural, and points clearly to a distinction between the different parts of the foregoing prophecy, and an indefinite interval of time between them. Archdeacon Harrison has touched on this

point in a note to his eighth lecture:

'It appears to me, that these words of our Blessed Lord will not admit of any interpretation, other than that which would refer them to the generation then living. The words, as they stand in S. Matthew, are 'Auv λέγω ὑμῖν, [ότι, Mark and Luke] οὐ μὴ παρέλθῃ ἡ γενεὰ αύτη ἕως ἂν [μέχρις οὗ, Mark] πάντα ταῦτα γένηται [ἕως ἂν πάντα γένηται, Luke]. The concluding verb is, perhaps, best rendered in our version, in S. Mark's Gospel, " till all these things be done." I cannot think that ǹ yeveà aʊrŋ can be understood of the Jewish nation, through many generations, or of the human race. It would appear that, down to this point in His prophecy, our Blessed Lord is answering His disciples' question as to "the sign of" His "coming," and then proceeds to speak of that other day of His final coming, and "of the end of the world." And upon this, it would seem, He enters in the following verse, in which it is said, " But of that day and hour knoweth no man," &c.'-Pp. 424, 425.

It must be admitted, however, and may be admitted simply as a fact, and without the slightest disparagement to the prophecy, which was given according to the dispensation of Him who gave it, that the point of division is not marked with perfect clearness. In fact, there is a difference of opinion to this day as to the application of that part of it which relates to the 'abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet.' Dr. Maitland lays stress on the flight of the Christians of Jerusalem to Pella, and not to the mountains, as an evidence that the Roman invasion was not the calamity intended. In Matt, xxiv. 16, however, it is not those in Jerusalem, but those in Judæa, that are bid fly to the mountains; and this may have been intended to give a warning even prior to the final siege. But S. Cyril, of Jerusalem, (Maitland, p. 213,) supposes the abomination yet to come, and such is the opinion of Dr. Maitland himself:

The New Testament writers, even when delivering fresh predictions, sometimes take occasion to expound Old Testament prophecies. These inspired expositions, being the basis of all true understanding of the subject, must be first examined.

'A.D. 29.

The phrase," the abomination of desolation," though several times. paraphrased in the Septuagint Daniel, occurs in that precise form twice only once in chap. xi. 31, and again in chap. xii.: "The abomination of the desolation shall be given for 1,290 days." From our Lord's manner of quoting Daniel," the abomination of the desolation, the spoken of by Daniel," (Gr.) it appears that all these abominations are one, though

admitting of a secondary fulfilment. This calamity, as it appears from Dan. xii., will befal the Jewish nation in the end of the world: the Saviour's exposition makes the certainty doubly sure; for thus speaks He who hath the key of David: "When ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, then let them which be in Judea flee to the mountains;" and as for the period at which this is to happen, it is added, that "immediately" after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven.

'This abomination is to stand "in the holy place," and, " where it ought not." These expressions, though plain enough to a Jew, throw us back upon Daniel for explanation. In the ninth chapter, according to the Seventy, it stands thus: "In the temple shall be the abomination of desolations." (v. 27.)

'S. Luke reports another saying having reference to the same event: "When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies." This siege is described at length in Zechariah xiv. "I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled.” A comparison of the two passages shows that the New Testament prediction, though capable of a passing application to Titus or Adrian, refers to the siege in Zechariah. For, after it, says the Jewish prophet, the Lord shall go forth to fight with those nations: after that tribulation, says the Divine Teacher, shall the Son of man be seen. And, for the times of the Gentiles (left indefinite in S. Luke), we have to consult the Apocalypse, where it is said that the Gentiles shall tread under foot the holy city forty and two months. From this point the collation of the prophecies runs on smoothly the standing on the mount of Olives, the great earthquake, and the mourning of the tribes, all these, when read by the New Testament light, become plain in their order and connexion.

• A.D. circ. 50.

The famous conversation in Thessalonica, from the casual manner in which it is referred to, seems to have been an exposition of old prophecies rather than a formal delivery of new. If we take as the text the version of the Seventy, the passages commented on will appear to be the following:

OLD TESTAMENT.

He shall have intelligence with them, because they have forsaken the holy covenant. (Dan. xii.)

And behold, eyes like man's eyes. (Dan. vii.)

And the other king shall arise after them. (Dan. vii.)

He shall speak words against the Most High. (Ch. vii.)

And the king shall be exalted above every God. (Ch. xi.)

He shall pitch his tent upon the mountain of the will of the Holy One. (Ch. xi.)

In the temple shall be the abomination of desolation. (Ch. ix.)

• The fourth kingdom . . . and ten kings shall arise... and after them the other. (Ch. vii.)

'He shall smite the earth with the word of his mouth, and with the spirit of his lips he shall destroy that Wicked One. (Isaiah xi.)

And then shall that Wicked One be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth.

'A.D. 64.

'At this time Rome is first called Babylon by St. Peter, who thus prepares his readers for the coming transfer of Old Testament prophecies in the Apocalypse. This use of the name is so entirely in conformity with the usual style of Rabbinical disguise, that the Apostle's meaning was never doubted till the fifteenth century.

'A.D. circ. 80.

About this time the name Antichrist began to be applied to the Man of Sin. From S. John's method of introducing the word, it seems to have been already familiar to the Church: "Ye have heard that the Antichrist shall come." S. Paul's word, Antikeimenos, is the nearest approach to it in older writings.

The Apostles, as it cannot fail to be remarked by the most hasty reader, uniformly describe the day of the Lord as close at hand; but, let any one misunderstand them, so as to reckon upon it coming in a few years, or within any given time, and at once they hasten to correct the mistake, and to explain their true meaning. Happily for our instruction, they were, even during their own lifetime, so far misunderstood by some, as to find it needful to lay down the principles of a more sober calculation :-That God's reckoning differs from man's in the proportion of a day to a thousand years; that what some men call slackness is with Him long-suffering: and yet that the last day, when it does come, shall come quickly, that is, suddenly, and like a thief in the night. Where the Saviour reveals one obstacle to His speedy coming, S. Paul adds two besides: not only must the Gospel be preached everywhere, but the letting power must be first removed, and the Man of Sin must next appear. Moreover, adds the Apostle, let none tell you, as if he had learnt it from me, that the last day is at hand; let none think that I meant it in my epistle; let no man deceive you by any means.

Thus the Apostles, secure in the infallibility of their inspiration, so treated the subject as to convey precisely the same impression that their Master had left before them: for He, who said "Surely I come quickly," said also, "The end is not yet." To all, therefore, they say, Be ready; to the over-anxious, Be not troubled. Let no fond and frustrated hopes give a handle to the scoffer; but, above all, let no unexpected arrival of death or of judgment peril your eternal safety.'-Pp. 103-107.

Archdeacon Harrison, partly from his extreme caution, is less distinct :

'But the description, in our Lord's prophecy, of the coming of the Son of man and the signs attending it, is still further carried on, in imagery strongly resembling that which, in the vision before us, follows immediately at the beginning of the next chapter upon the scene of terror revealed under the sixth seal. "And then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn," is the language of our Lord's prophecy already cited, "and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And He shall send His angels," the prophecy continues, "with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from one end of heaven to the other." Or, as it is in S. Mark, "And then shall He send His angels, and shall gather together His elect from the four