visitation; her not recognising the great remedy for all this evil, when it was sent into the very midst of her; was one sad effect of her guilty blindness, and was an aggravation of her miserable condition: but it cannot be viewed as the sole, or as the chief, cause of their condemnation and expulsion from their land, because it is again and again described to be a sin of ignorance. So we are taught by our Lord and by his Apostles. Our Lord exclaimed upon the cross, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do ;" and Peter, addressing the individuals who had condemned his Lord, said, "Men and brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it." Paul, who in rage and bitterness against Christ and his members participated to the full in the guilt of his countrymen, if he did not surpass them all, says, "I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly." The same Apostle declares that "none of the princes of this world (including, of course, Herod, Pilate, and the Jewish sanhedrim) knew him; for had they known him, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory:" and in writing to his own nation, in Heb. xiii. it is remarkable that Paul likens the sacrifice of Christ, not to the sacrifices offered for the most heinous offences, but to that offered for the sin of ignorance, as will be seen by comparing that chapter with the iv th of Leviticus. The Ten Tribes certainly were not expelled on account of rejecting Jesus of Nazareth: the confession of Christ, therefore, is not necessary to their restoration, upon the principle contended for in regard to Judah. Nor have we any intimation that they will confess him at that time: on the contrary, the Scriptures which have been adduced, tend to prove the reverse. Neither have we any intimation of, nor is it conceivable that there should be, a difference of creed upon this vital point between the two nations, which are to be restored together. Such a difference would be an insuperable obstacle to their becoming, much more to their continuing, one kingdom in their own land. Moreover, we have reason to conclude that conversion of heart to the Lord was not the state of Israel generally when they were first carried into Canaan; and, therefore, that condition is not an essential requisite to their possession of the promised land. A certain measure of repentance and obedience, a seeking of the Lord, shall be manifested by both nations; but conversion of heart, which alone carries with it that true and abiding repentance, founded only on the cross of Christ, does not appear to be ascribed to either in the Scriptures. The mourning for having pierced the Saviour, which both have done by their sins, but which is introduced as a crime of which they then for the first time become conscious, is reserved for the period when the nations are gathered together against Jerusalem. (See Zech. xii. 9, 10.) (To be continued.) 329 THEOLOGICAL DEPARTMENT. JESUS THE HEAD OVER ALL THINGS TO HIS CHURCH. Analysis. 1. SELF-MANIFESTATION God's ultimate purpose. 2. An examination of the figurative language of Scripture necessary to its application. The difficulties and manner of entering upon it. 3. Jesus, the Head of his mystical body the church, is revealed as the fulness and completeness of all things. 4. Necessary to examine how this is accomplished. 5. It is to be inferred, from the purpose of Self-manifestation, that the great lines of distinction in all created things are specially designed to manifest the distinctness of Personality in the Godhead. 6. The Lord Jesus revealed in his fourfold offices: 1. As Prophet (Deut. xviii. 15, 18; Acts vii. 37). 2. As Priest (Heb. iv. 14). 3. As King (Acts ii. 30; Mal. xix. 2; Rev. xx. 4). 4. As Judge (Acts. x. 42; John v. 22; Rev. xx. 7). 7. These are the offices of the Lord Jesus throughout all the dispensations of the church. (1) As Prophet, in the Jewish dispensation. (4) As Judge, in the Resurrection dispensation. 8. The dispensations of the church ordained to manifest the offices of Christ, and the offices of Christ ordained to manifest the Trinity in Unity.- a. The Jewish Christ the Prophet: The Son. : b. The Gentile: Christ the Priest: The Spirit. c. The Millennial: Christ the King: The Father. d. The Resurrection: Christ the Judge: The Godhead. 9. This confirmed by the consideration of the offices of Christ.- (6) The Priest, the minister of the Spirit of God. 10. God's purpose of manifestation thus seen to be wrought out by the manifestation of the Trinity in Unity in the offices of ChristProphet, Priest, King, and Judge-throughout the fulness of the Church dispensations. 11. To confirm this truth it should be examined by the figurative language of Scripture, more especially by the particulars of the Jewish dispensation. A. Concerning the Jewish Tabernacle. 1. Declared by St. Paul to be a figure of heaven. 2. God's dwelling, and the centre to which all things had reference. 3. The divisions of the Tabernacle. 1. The ark. 2. The most holy place. 3. The holy place. 4. The court. 4. The court a figure of the Jewish dispensation. 5. The holy place a figure of the Gentile dispensation. 6. The most holy place a figure of the Millennial dispensation. 8. The Tabernacle thus a figure of the fulness of Christ : In the sanctuary, Christ the Priest and Bread of Life. In the most holy place, Christ the Priest-King. In the ark, Christ the seat of mercy and of judgment. B. Concerning the three great annual Feasts,-the Passover, First-fruits, and Tabernacles. 1. The Passover typical of the coming of Christ in the flesh, and his death as our passover; and thus of the end of the Jewish dispensation. 2. The First-fruits typical of the resurrection of Christ, and of the first resurrection at his second coming; and thus of the end of the Gentile dispensation. 3. The Tabernacles typical of the general resurrection; and thus of the end of the Millennial dispensation. 4. The feasts thus types also of the fulness of Christ. 5. The command to all the Jews to appear three times a year before the Lord, typical of the three resurrections: 1st, Christ's; 2d, the first resurrection; 3d, the general resurrection. C. Concerning the order of the Tribes around the Tabernaole. 1. Ordered in four divisions,-East, west, south, and north. 4. The Lord dwelt in the midst of his people, thus encamped, by the 5. Besides the cloud and pillar, he also shewed his glory by the appearance of the glorified God-Man. 6. Thus the glory of the Lord-in the cloud and pillar, over the Tabernacle, in the midst of this people gathered under four divisions-was the visible manifestation of the Lord's dwelling in the midst of his people. To be compared with 7. The vision of Isaiah,-The Glory; The Seraphim. 8. The vision of Ezekiel,—The Glorious appearance of a man; The Throne; The rainbow; The firmament; The four living creatures. 9. The vision of St. John,-The Glorified man; The Throne; The Rainbow; The twenty-four elders; The seven lamps of fire; The sea of glass; And the four beasts or living creatures. 10. Coincidence between the manifestation in St. John's vision and that in the Jewish encampment. A throne.. St. John. A mercy seat. Jewish. 11. The visions of Isaiah and Ezekiel both coincident with St. John's. 14. The Tabernacle the centre of reference. 15. The prophetic blessings of Judah, the head of the first division, appropriate to him the Lion of St.John and Ezekiel, and foreshew the Jewish dispensation. 16. The prophetic blessings of Ephraim, the head of the second division, appropriate to him the Or of St. John and Ezekiel, and foreshew the Gentile dispensation. 17. The prophetic blessings of Reuben, the head of the third division, appropriate to him the Man's face of St. John and Ezekiel, and foreshew the Millennial dispensation. 18. The prophetic blessings of Dan, the head of the last division, appropriate to him the Eagle of St.John and Ezekiel, and foreshew the Resurrection dispensation. 19. The four living creatures are the four heads of all the living creatures, The Lion, of the wild beasts; the Ox, of tamed beasts; the Man, of all reasoning beings; the Eagle, of all birds. 12. It is thus seen that the fourfold order of manifestation is a full key to the interpretation of the figures, emblems, and visions; and that these figures, emblems, and visions are themselves unassailable proofs of the order of manifestation. 13. Some further hints gathered from the Jewish dispensation, also strongly confirmatory of the Great Truth. a. The visible offices in the ministrations were four: 2. The Priests .....the Minister of the new sanctuary. 3. The High Priest.. ..........the Priest King. 4. The Lord's Presence.. ...the Fulness of the Godhead. b. In the sacrifices were four great orders or divisions: 1. The Trespass Offering typifying the Jewish. 2. The Sin Offering 3. The Peace Offering ...the Gentile. ..the Millennial. 4. The Whole Burnt Offering.... c. In the selection of the animals for sacrifices there was a fourfold 1. The Goat; 2. The Lamb; 3. The Ram; 4. The Bullock. d. In their civil constitution, when perfected, were found, as in the present most perfect civil states, a fourfold order and division: 1. The military state; 2. The civil state; 3. The ecclesiastical; 4. The regal. This to be compared with the church constitution in the wilderness of, 1. Levite; 2. Priest; 3. High Priest; 4. The Lord. 14. The whole Jewish church and nation is thus seen to have been built together in a form which manifests the fulness of Christ; and the daily actions of the Jewish people in their church service are seen to be in daily acknowledgment and setting out of the same glory. The providential arrangements of God throughout the whole Jewish dispensation will also be found to have conformed themselves to the same testimony: a. By the transactions in Egypt he gave a prophetic picture of the Jewish dispensation: b. By the passage of the Red Sea and the transactions in the wilderness he spake prophetically of the Gentile dispensation : c. By the transactions in the Promised Land in like manner did he shew the Millennial dispensation: d. From the restoration by Cyrus to the final judgment upon them he set out the Resurrection dispensation: e. The like testimony borne in subordinate events and the lives and actions of certain of the Lord's servants. 15. Our conclusions from the whole consideration are, That GOD'S FULL PURPOSE and intent will be perfected in the Lord Jesus-predestinately from all eternity, but manifestly in the dispensations of the fulness of times-dwelt in of the Father through the Holy Ghost; enthroned upon the new earth; shedding forth the eternal rays of glory in and by means of his church, filled up in its resurrection fulness-the glorious manifestation of God all in all. 16. That this glorious consummation God has ordained to accomplish by creation, death, and new creation; consigning unto the second death all who are not created anew in Christ. 17. That this course of manifestation requires TIME and PLACE for its unfolding; and the succession of time and distinctions of place are ordered according to the perfection of God's every work. 18. That the succession of time is ordered, in analogy to the work of creation, in seven parts or ages: 1. The Adam age. 3. The Patriarchal age. 4. The age of the Jewish church. 5. The age of the Gentile church. 19. That the Adam age was ordained for the manifestation of man's unworthiness of the Sonship. 20. That the Noah age was ordained for the manifestion of man's unworthiness of the Spirit of adoption. 21. That the Patriarchial age was ordained for the manifestation of man's unworthiness of the Father's office. 22. These first three ages were thus ordained for the manifestation of the nothingness of the creature; and the following ages, the ages of the church, for the manifestation of the alone-sufficiency and all-sufficiency of God: 23. The Jewish Church age was ordained for the manifestation of the Son; 24. The Gentile, for the manifestation of the Spirit; 25. The Millennial, for the manifestation of the Father; 26. The Resurrection, for the manifestation of God All in all. 27. That the distinctions of place are ordered, in analogy to the great divisions of the world (the heavens, the earth, and the sea), in three stages: 1. The world before the flood; 2. The world since the flood; and 3. The new heavens and new earth. 28. This is confirmed by the local distinctions throughout the Jewish dispensation, Egypt, the Wilderness, and the Promised Land. As by the separate rooms of the Tabernacle, The court, the sanctuary, and the most holy. a. In the court was the molten sea, the figure of the world's destruction by water-baptism by water. b. In the sanctuary was the seven-branched candlestick lighted, the figure of the world's destruction by fire-baptism by the Holy Ghost. 29. These three distinctions accord with the view of God's progress to manifestation by, 1. Creation; 2. Death; and 3. New creation. As also with the person of Christ: 1. Christ in the flesh; 2. Christ in the spirit; 3. Christ in glory. And they are indicative of the Lord's changes upon the mystical body of Christ, the church, before it is made meet for his glorious presence. 30. The parallel between the world and the church: 1. The first world corresponds with the church in the flesh, as exist |