mediately promises in addition; "I will put a new spirit within you, and will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh." ver. 19.

Again, "Thus saith the Lord God," by the same prophet, " Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep and bring them out, as a shepherd seeketh out jjhis flock, in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day; and I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel, by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be; there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed, upon the mountains of Israel." Ezek. xxxiv. 11—14. These sheep, it is added, "are men," and "they, even the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord." ver. 31, 30. That they are the literal Israel is also evident, as they are to be gathered "from the countries and brought to their oivn land," to the "mountains of Israel, and to " all the inhabited places of the country," ver. 13, 14. This restoration has not yet been enjoyed, for, after it "they shall no more be a prey to the heathen," " neither bear the shame of the heathen any more," "but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid." ver. 28—31.

Once more, by the same prophet, "Thus saith the Lord God, Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name.... when I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them, in the sight of many nations; then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but / have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there. Neither will I hide my face any more from them; for I have poured out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God." Ezek. xxxix. 25—29. This clearly refers to the literal Israel, as it was they who " went into captivity for their iniquity," who were led into captivity among the heathen;" and it is they only who remain yet to be gathered " out of their enemies' lands.... unto their own land." Neither is this the restoration from Babylon, for all Israel did not then return; but, when this promise is fulfilled, there is " left none of them any more there." It is also immediately subsequent to Israel's triumph over Gog, when they shall "spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord." ver. 10. It is, consequently, still future; which is farther obvious from the Lord's gracious assurance, "neither will I hide my face any more from them."

If these predictions do not prove the future restoration of the literal Israel to the land of their fathers, it may certainly be asked, In what language could such a promise be made, that would not be equally liable to be misapplied, perverted, or discredited? We may as well deny the literal conversion as the literal restoration of Israel—most of the passages which assure us of the one, predicting also the other. If it was not a figurative dispersion they suffered, neither will it be a figurative restoration they shall enjoy. And if dispersion was a part of the punishment of their national transgression, so also will restoration be obtained when forgiven of the Lord, and will be connected with their national repentance. And how wonderfully has the Lord preserved the Jews for this display of His sovereignty and grace! Although scattered into every nation of Europe,—nay, attracted into every country under heaven into which commerce has been introduced— and possessed, as many of them are, of immense wealth—they have not been allowed to become the proprietors of any soil. They have no inheritance in other lands, and they have always cherished a passionate desire to return to their own. Throughout their long captivity, they have been thus kept unsubjected to the influence of other local attachments, and in a state of constant readiness for migration ; and recent movements among them render it Highly probable that the time of their general departure is at hand. By the dispensations of His providence, the Lord is manifestly preparing the way for their return. In the plenitude of their uncontrolled power, earthly potentates may indeed combine, and, with a view to perpetuate their systems of iniquity, may create kingdoms at will, allot to them the territories they shall possess, and appoint the kings by whom they shall be governed,* without asking counsel of the Lord, or regulating their decisions by His "sure decree." In all their calculations, Israel may not be reckoned; in their disposal of territory, no portion may be assigned for their inheritance. But the God of Jacob "has purposed, and who shall disannul it?" "Zion shall be redeemed with judgments, and her converts with righteousness." "But ye, 0 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."f Is. i. 27. Ezek. xxxvi. 8. For at the time Samaria was taken by Shalmanezer he " carried Israel [the Ten Tribes] away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and in Habor, by the river

SECTION IV.

RESTORATION OF THE KINGDOMS BOTH OF
ISRAEL AND JUDAH.

In the preceding Section, we have endeavored .
prove, from the contexts of the passages adduced, that
their only legitimate application is to the literal house
of Israel; and that the restoration they predict is yet
future. Distinct as these passages are, in proof of the
positions maintained, those now to be cited are more
obviously so, as the class of predictions they contain
are still less capable of being alienated from their pro-
per objects. Their accommodation to the Gentile
church is still less admissible, because, from the dis-
tinctions they make, it is rendered more apparent that
they relate to the descendants c" Abraham. By ex-

¥-ess mention of the Kingdom cf Israel or the Ten
ribes, distinguished from that of Juds.h or the Two
Tribes,* their reference to the literal Israel is put beyond
question; while the fact that the ten Tribes have re-
ceived no general restoration since ti\ese predictions
were given, renders it equally manifest that their pro-
mised return to the Holy Land is still future. Under
Ezra, a small portion of the Israelites returned from
Babylon to their own land, when liberated \fj CYI£8'
But those who went up were in all only about tmy
thousand, (including about seven thousand setvan 3,
Ezra ii. 64, 65.) not a fifth of the whole, and ^ese?^"
pear to have been almost all, if not wKoVVy,
kingdom of Judah: namely the Two Tribes
and Benjamin: (Ezra i. 6. iii. O. iv. 1, 13- V>
are expressly told that the "nations whorr*
and noble Asnapper brought over, and set.
of Samaria," when the Israelites were
syria, still continued to occupy them.

• Attention is forcibly called to this distinction in & which relate to the different circumstances in -which tjj* been placed— Israel being outcast and Judali dispersed

of Gozan; and in the cities of the Medes And the

king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel; and they possessed Samaria and dwelt in the cities thereof." 2 Kings xvii. 6, 24. Of the captive Israelites, individuals would doubtless embrace opportunities of returning, but it is known with certainty that no general restoration of them has since taken place. The testimony of History proves, that, both in the first and fifth centuries of the Christian era, they were still in or near the places, of their original settlement; but latterly they have disappeared from observation, and various conjectures are now entertained concerning their present situation and circumstances.* The Lord will, however, in His own time, bring them from their hiding place, as in the following predictions they are clearly distinguished from the kingdom of Judah, with whom they are to be restored and afterwards re-united.

With justice, therefore, in arguing the question, we might have assumed that those predictions which declare their combined restoration, " even the whole house of Israel," still remain unaccomplished. In addition to the evidence of this palpable fact, we will, however as in the preceding Section, endeavor to prove, from