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in the temple, and prophets* were inspired to declare the will of God and His threatenings of punishment, and to work miracles. And, idolatrous as the people of the kingdom of Israel

* Of these prophets, one of the most illustrious was Elijah. He was fed for some time by ravens which brought him bread and flesh', symbols of that bread and flesh which came from heaven, that man might eat thereof and not die. He miraculously increased the widow's oil and meal at Zarephath, so that "the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord which He spake by Elijah; for he had said, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth 3." This miracle may have denoted that the bread of life4 and the oil of the Spirits, would continue to support man until the day when GOD would more plainly develope His scheme of salvation by the manifestation of Himseif in the flesh, when the rain of the Holy Spirit would be more conspicuously poured upon mankind. Elijah raised the son of this widow from the dead7; he twice brought down fire from heaven; and he fasted forty days and forty nights, as Moses had done before him, and as Christ afterward did. Elijah divided the waters of Jordan by his mantle, which mantle was the symbol of the power of the Spirit with which he was invested; and, when he was caught up into heaven 10 (thereby being made a type of Christ's ascension), his mantle, which fell from him, was taken by Elisha", 1 1 Kings, xvii. 6.

ΙΟ

2 John, vi. 51.

3 1 Kings, xvii. 12—16.

4 John, vi. 48.

5 1 John, ii. 20, 27. Psalm xlv. 7. Isaiah, lxi. 3.

• Psalm lxxii. 6. Jere. iii. 3. Hosea, vi. 3; x. 12. Joel,

ii. 23. Acts, xiv. 17.

7 1 Kings, xvii. 22.

8 1 Kings, xviii. 36-38.

2 Kings, i. 12.

9 1 Kings, xix. 8. 10 2 Kings, ii. 11. 112 Kings, ii. 13.

were, the Lord said to Elijah, "I have left me seven thousand in Israel, which have not bowed the knee to Baal "."

upon whom it had been previously laid by Elijah, in compliance with the direction of GOD, who had said, "Elishashalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room 13." By means of this mantle, Elisha also divided the waters of Jordan 14. And Elisha healed the noxious waters ', in token of Christ, whose healing and living waters, which give life whithersoever they go, heal all the waters of the spiritual sea 16. Elisha also multiplied the widow's oil 17; a figure, perhaps, that God giveth not the oil of His Spirit by measure unto His chosen. He miraculously deprived the poisonous substance in the broth of the sons of the prophets of Gilgal, of its deleterious effects, by sprinkling meal into it 18; thereby affording a figure of the bread of life which hath disarmed death of its sting. And he raised from death, the son of the woman of Shunem 19. He' also miraculously increased the barley loaves which were brought unto him, feeding therewith the people 20; and he cleansed Naaman of his leprosy, by bidding him wash in the waters of Jordan, whereby a figure was afforded of the cleansing of man by the waters of regeneration. And when Elisha was dead and buried, the people cast a dead man, whom they were about to bury," into the sepulchre of Elisha, and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood upon his feet 21; thus a figure was afforded not only of the resurrection of Christ, but of the resurrection of man through His death.

12 1 Kings, xix. 19.

13 1 Kings, xix. 16.

14 2 Kings, ii. 14.

15 2 Kings, ii. 20—22.

16 Ezek. xlvii. 1-9. Zech.

xiii. 1; xiv. 8. John, iv. 10,

14.

Rev. xxi. 6; xxii. 1.

17 2 Kings, iv. 1—7.
18 2 Kings, iv. 41.
19 2 Kings, iv. 32—35.
20 2 Kings, iv. 42-44.
21 2 Kings, xiii. 21.

In fifty-two years after the last spoiling of Jerusalem, Cyrus king of Persia (who had been announced, by named, two hundred years before his birth) made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, saying, "The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all His people? His GOD be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel (He is the GOD), which is in Jerusalem e." "Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites, with all them whose spirit GOD had raised up to build the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem." And Cyrus restored all the vessels of the house of the Lord which Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth out of Jerusalem, and had put them in the house of his gods 8."

Thus the tribes of Judah and Benjamin were released from captivity (together with the Levites, and those belonging to the other tribes, who formed a part of the people of the kingdom of Judah), and were restored to their

d Isaiah, xliv. 28; xlv.

1-4.

e Ezra, i. 1-3.

! Ezra, i. 5.

8 Ezra, i. 7, 11.

↳ Ezra, i. & ii. Nehem. vii.

own country.

The temple

The temple of the Lord was rebuilt, and it was dedicated with great joy and with large and repeated sacrifices, and the Passover was celebrated; the priests and Levites being all set in order" as it is written in the book of Moses i."

1 Ezra, iii. 10; vi. 3–32.

PART III.

GENERAL EXPOSITION OF THE PREDICTIONS RELATING TO CHRISTIANITY, as delivered UNDER FIGURES BORROWED FROM ISRAELITISH HISTORY.

THE descendants of the patriarch Jacob [or Israel] were comprehended under twelve tribes; and they were, collectively, called " the children of Israel," or "Israel a." Thus, the patronymic Israel was adopted as a generic appellation, to denote all the descendants of the patriarch Jacob.

After the death of Solomon, the children of Israel were divided into two kingdoms: whereof one consisted of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin; while the other kingdom was composed of the ten remaining tribes. That kingdom. which consisted of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, derived its appellation from the principal of those two tribes; it was called the kingdom of Judah, or Judah. So that Judah, which was the specific appellation of one tribe, became the common appellation both of Judah and of Benjamin. The other kingdom, which consisted of ten tribes, was styled the kingdom of Israel, or

a Exod. xiv. 29, 30.
b 1 Kings, xii. 20, 23.
e 1 Kings, xii. 20.

d 1 Kings, xii. 27; xv. 17.

2 Chron. xi. 17.

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