again be thrown down, but shall continue "evermore." By the prophet Isaiah, the Lord declares, that the glory of Lebanon shall be used in ornamenting this His House: "The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee [Zion]; the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of MY SANCTUARY, and I will make the place of MY FEET glorious." Is. lx. 13. In considering the context at large, we have already endeavoured to show its application to the literal Israel, and its reference to Millennial times. We may now ask, For what other Sanctuary than a literal one can such materials be used? The particular trees here specified are trees high in estimation both for utility and ornament, and are therefore adapted to "beautify" a literal Temple. The second temple was greatly inferior to the first in splendour. as we read (Ezra iii. 12), "Many of the priests, and Levites, and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men that had seen the First House, when the foundation of this House was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice." And concerning it, the Lord says to Israel, by the prophet Haggai, "Who is left among you that saw this House in her first glory? And how do you see it now? Is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?" Hag. ii. 3. But he comforts them with the promise of one which shall excel the First: "For thus saith the Lord of hosts, Yet once it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens and the earth, and the sea and the dry land, and I will shake all nations, and the Desire of all nations shall come, and will fill this House with glory, saith the Lord of hosts. The silver and the gold are mine, saith the Lord of hosts: The glory of this latter House shall be greater than the former, saith the Lord of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts." ver. 69. The Desire of all nations, it is universally admitted, is here used as a title descriptive of the Saviour and the prophecy is generally referred to the period of His First Advent, although the commentators have laboured under the utmost difficulty to make the prophecy accord with such an interpretation. The fact they cannot deny, that the Second temple was : much inferior in splendour to the First. This difficulty they seek to evade, by departing from the material glory of the First and referring to the moral glory of Christ having been in the Second as a Teacher. But this is not only to destroy altogether the prophet's contrast, but also to overlook the fact that the prophecy itself marks its reference to this very point. When it is said, the "glory of this latter House shall be greater than the former," we would naturally understand the prediction to refer to the same kind of glory, the difference consisting not in the nature, but in the degree of it; and that, therefore, if it was a material glory in the one case, that so it would be in the other. And this view is confirmed, when we observe that it is in the same respect that the Second House was inferior to the First. To this natural comparison between the First and Third House we are, moreover, limited by the language of the prophecy itself. By it we are taught that to the material superiority of the latter House the prophet really does refer: "The silver and the gold are mine, saith the Lord," and he says so only in reference to the glorifying of this Temple; "the glory of this Latter House shall be greater than the former, saith the Lord of hosts." It is therefore a glory to the increase of which these precious metals can contribute, which is here spoken of. This was the kind of glory in which the First Temple far excelled the Second, and it is the glory in which the latter will be greater than even the former: "the silver and the gold are mine, saith the Lord." In addition, however, to this material superiority, the Lord promises to "fill this house with glory"-a promise which evidently refers to the glory in which he will manifest Himself, and is altogether distinct from that glory of the First temple, in comparison of which the Second was "as nothing." It has also been supposed, from the prophet's speaking of the latter temple as "this House," that he referred only to the Second temple. But while Haggai expressly speaks of the latter as excelling the former, and speaks of the second as greatly inferior even to the first, he views all the three as still God's "House." He does not introduce them as distinct Temples, but as the same Temple in different states and at different times. Thus of the second Temple he asks, "who is left among you that saw this House is her first glory?" Now while he thus views the first and second temples, as still the same" House," consistency requires that the second and third should also, be regarded as identical. It is farther to be observed that when this temple is built, there shall in an eminent degree be "peace" in Palestine: "and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord." Without insisting on the force of the expression, we would merely remark, that it seems rather to belong to that class of promises which relate to the Millennial period than to any preceding age. That it is to the premillennial advent of the Saviour this prophecy refers, appears farther obvious, from the commotions and changes by which it is preceded and accompanied: "I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land, and I will shake ALL nations, and the Desire of all nations shall come." As we shall afterwards have occasion to revert to this prophecy, we confine our attention at present to the shaking of all nations. At the Saviour's first appearance there was nothing which can with propriety be considered as a fulfilment of this extensive prediction. But it corresponds perfectly with all the predictions concerning the troublous period of the Saviour's premillennial coming; and in this respect also corresponds with his own prediction already referred to. His Return is to be at a time of “distress of nations with perplexity.” (Luke xxi. 25.) From these various circumstances, the prophecy must be considered as predicting the future erection of a Temple, the splendour of which will, by the more profuse use of silver and gold, not only excel that of the Second Temple, which, in the eyes of those who had seen the first, was "in comparison of it as nothing;" but which shall transcend the glory even of the First, the remembrance of whose superiority over the second called forth their pious regret. To this Temple and its ordinances the prophets make frequent allusions when speaking of Millennial times, 66 Such is the case in the following prediction by Jeremiah : "For thus saith the Lord, David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel; neither shall the priests, the Levites, want a man before me to offer burnt-offerings and to kindle meat-offerings, and to do sacrifice continually." Jer. xxxiii. 17, 18. Shall never" from the period to which the prophecy relates, and this is when "Judah shall be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely;" when the seed of David shall sit upon the throne of the House of Israel,” and the Branch of Righteousness "shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land." ver. 15, 16. These are clearly the characteristics of the Millennial age; and from this period the priests shall continually offer sacrifice. The temple shall no more thence be thrown down, the altar no more defiled. The priests shall "do sacrifice continually," and the sacrifices shall consist both of "burnt-offerings and meat-offerings." But the fullest account which we have of this Temple, and of its ordinances, is contained in that remarkable prophecy with which the book of Ezekiel concludes, and to which we have repeatedly referred. In it, the size and situation of the House are declared, its groundplan and elevations minutely described, its varied ornaments graphically delineated, its ministering priesthood appointed, and its ritual formally prescribed. The account of these, occupies several chapters, of which the most eminent Antimillenarian commentators decline giving any exposition, considering them as inexplicable: while all admit that they have not hitherto met their accomplishment, but refer to future times.* Now the * It is due to the eminent Mr. Faber to state, that while he strenuously opposes the doctrine of Christ's personal premillennial advent, he does not deny the literal re-erection of the Temple. He even goes the length of admitting, that, "during the Millennial period, there may possibly shine forth, as of old, the glory of the Shechinah, in the temple of the restored and converted Jews at Jerusalem. To this supposition, as a conjecture," he continues, "I am not disinclined: though its truth, I apprehend, is incapable of antecedent demonstration. We can only say, that, as various prophecies may seem to intimate some such matter, so it would in itself be perfectly agreeable to the analogy of the two former dispensations. Patriarchism and Judaism, each during its earlier period, had the permanent glory of the great source of the difficulty experienced is, a disbelief of the truths these chapters contain. They will not admit the re-erection of the Temple; and, to those who deny this, it is not wonderful that a plain declaration of the fact, and a minute detail of its circumstances, should appear incomprehensible. But to any who are not prepossessed with an opinion of the correctness of a system with which any interpretation of these chapters must be incompatible, and who are not resolved to continue so, these statements will appear remarkably precise. They bear internal evidence of being the very directions. according to which the Temple is to be built and its institutions regulated. Some commentators have indeed exercised their wonted ingenuity in vainly endeavouring to transform, by the process of spiritualization, all the parts of the building described, and all its enjoined institutions, into something pertaining to, and extending over the whole Christian Church. This however is a violation of every principle of decorum in the interpretation, and an oversight of the most pointed statements in the prophecy. It is expressly given to the children of Israel, and limited by territorial marks to the land of Palestine. In vision, the prophet was brought from Babylon "into the Land of Israel" that the Temple, &c. might be shown unto him. (Ezek. xl. 2.) He is commanded to declare" all that thou seest to the House of Israel." (xl. 4.) Farther, "thou son of man, show the House to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and let them measure the pattern. And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, show them the form of the House, and the fashion thereof, and the goings-out thereof, and the comings-in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof; and write it in their sight, that THEY may keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them." (xliii. 10, 11.) Shechinah. Whence we might infer that Christianity, during its. best and most triumphant period, would not want the same perpetu al and sensible attestation of the divine presence." Sacred Calen der of Prophecy, Vol. III. p. 475, |