68

God hindering it, in order to fulfil the threatenings of his word. 66 Verily, I fay unto you, Ye shall not fee me henceforth," that is, ye fhall not have my countenance or favour, "till ye fay, Bleffed is he "that cometh in the name of the Lord;" or both of thefe events might happen, but not at the fame time, or they might never happen at all, neither the one nor the other, as I doubt not but many of our infidels think; and therefore, if the converfion of the Jews fhould be attended with this circumftance alfo, it must be a farther proof of the divine inspiration of the prophecies. That their converfion will go before their restoration, is alfo, I think, clearly afferted in Scripture, particularly in the paffages juft now quoted. If then their uncircumcifed hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity, that is, acknowledge the fin by which they have provoked God to fend them into captivity, and alfo his justice in fo punishing them, "then will I re"member my covenant with Jacob," &c. " and I "will remember the land," or, as it is in the paralel place, Deut. xxx, and 3. "Then the Lord thy God "will turn thy captivity, and gather thee from all "the nations whither he hath fcattered thee." Here you fee their restoration is promifed only on condition of their repentance, which in their prefent ftate muft imply their confeffing the truth of the Gospel, or their converfion, and confequently this must go before that. But this point is put out of all doubt by the words of our Saviour, quoted before, "Verily, I fay unto you, Ye fhall not fee me henceforth, "till ye fay, Bleffed is he that cometh in the name

66

"of

"of the Lord." And therefore, I cannot but wonder how Mr Bicheno came to deny it.

Another circumftance, or rather event, mentioned by the facred writers as happening at the fame time with the conversion of the Jews, is the fall of Antichrist, by which I do not mean the total abolition of Popery, (for that feems to be referved to the laft concluding scene, or battle of Armagiddon, as we shall immediately fhow,) but fome great calamity that is to befall the Antichriftian party, previous to that event, and fignified in Scripture by the pouring out of the fifth vial on the feat of the Beaft. The word in the original, is the throne of the Beaft, and may fignify either the place of his refidence, which is Rome, with the territory belonging to it, or his power and authority. Mr Mede understands it in the first sense, and thinks that the destruction of the city of Rome, is the thing meant by this vial. Mr Lowman, who underftands it in the fecond fenfe, thinks that this vial means fome great diminution of the Pope's power, and in this perhaps he is right; but in his applica tion of it to the reformation begun in Germany by Luther, I apprehend he is mistaken; for the feven vials are called the feven laft plagues, in which the wrath of God is filled up, that is. as we fhall fhew afterwards, the feven laft fteps of Antichrift's fall, or the feven laft judgments of God upon him, by which he is humbled and brought down. But the power of the Pope never began to decline till the reformation; this therefore cannot be the fifth ftep of his fall, or the thing fignified by the fifth vial. Though God had fent many heavy judgments on the Pope and his

followers

followers for their wickednefs, as the ravages of Turks and Saracenes, divifions, and bloody quarrels among themselves; yet as none of these produced any reformation in religion, fo neither did they cause any diminution of the Pope's power; but, though often humbled, and fometimes on the very point of being annihilated, he always rofe again in a little. time, and was in the very height and fulness of his power when the Reformation began.. This, therefore, cannot be the fifth step of his fall, or the thing fignified by the fifth vial, Befides, the vials are called the feven laft plagues, which feems to imply, that Antichrift had been plagued feveral times before any of the vials were poured out upon him; and therefore, in reckoning them, we ought not, as Mr Lowman does, to begin with the firft of the judgments that befel him after he rofe: Were we to do fo, and to reckon all the remarkable judgments that have befallen him fince his power was established, among the number of the vials, instead of seven, I am afraid we should reckoned more than twice the number. The vials therefore are to be understood only of the feven laft steps of Antichrift's fall, or the feven last remarkable judgments of God upon him, by which he is weakened and brought down. The Reformation, as we have juft now feen, was the firft ftep of Antichrift's fall; and therefore, all who place the commencement of the vials before this are certainly in the wrong; but whether this is to be reckoned the firft of them, or they commence at a latter period, is hard to fay; for I find a great difference of opinion amongst expofitors on this part of the Revelation. It is indeed one of the

darkest

1

darkest passages in all that book, probably because, either as to the whole or greater part of it, it still remains to be fulfilled; yet, of all the explications I have seen of it, I think Mr Fleming's is the best, both because it is fully as rational as any of them, and more than this, his prediction concerning the fall of the French monarchy, partly founded on his explication of this paffage, has been wonderfully fulfilled. He was of opinion, that the fourth vial would run out about the year 1794, and the revolutions that have happened in Italy fince that period, have all the appearance of being an accomplishment of the fifth vial. This, it is faid, was poured out on the feat, or, as it is in the original, on the throne of the Beast; and whether by his throne, we understand his place of refidence, or his power and authority, the judgments which have at this time befallen him, have literally fallen on his feat, both his dominions and his power have been greatly abridged. What Bonaparte has done to him, certainly touches him more nearly, and is a greater weakening of his power than any thing that has happened to him fince the Reformation; and therefore, whether Mr Fleming's method of reckoning the vials be right or not, I am ftrongly of opinion, that the blow which Bonaparte lately gave to the Pope's intereft, is indeed an accomplishment of the fifth vial, or at least a beginning of it. But whatever is of this, that the converfion of the Jews will happen about the time either of the fifth or fixth vial, is more than probable, and that for the following reafons:

Firft, That it will coincide with fome remarkable step of Antichrift's fall, is evident from several

paffages

paffages of Scripture, as Daniel, chap. xii. 6. and 7. "And one faid to the man clothed in linen, "which was upon the waters of the river, How long "fhall it be to the end of these wonders? And I "heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon "the waters of the river, when he held up his right "hand, and his left hand unto heaven, and fware by

him that liveth for ever, that it fhall be for a time, "times, and an half: and when he fhall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all "these things fhall be finifhed." The word accomplish or finish, fignifies either to perfect and complete a thing, or to make an end of it. Here it cannot be taken in the first fenfe, because the fcattering or difperfion of the Jews was complete long ago, and therefore it must be taken in the fecond, and fhould have been fo rendered: And when he shall have finished, or put an end to the difperfion of the holy people, or Jews, that is, when they are restored, then all these things fhall be finished. Here you fee the prefent captivity and difperfion of the Jews, is faid exprefsly to end with the time, times, and a half of the Beaft; at least, these two are joined together in fuch a way, as would lead one to think, that this is the prophet's meaning. Another passage to this purpose is in the words of our Saviour, Luke xxi. and 24. "And Jerufalem fhall "be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times "of the Gentiles be fulfilled." That by the times of the Gentiles, we are here to understand the fame period as that above mentioned, viz. the time, times, and a half of Antichrist, is evident, else why does our Saviour use the word in the plural number, call