The good Christians of the United States, I do nut use the term in
sarcasm, for they are good, speak in their books and sermons of
the Christian religion as if it were every where the same as in the
grand, free, and liberal republic. But the Fact is not so. An
American who reads the poems of Homer, or Ovid's
Metamorphoses, laughs at the religion of the ancient Greeks and
Romans as a ridiculous folly; but when he visits those countries in
Christendom which are not Protestant, he will be inclined to regard
their religion as a blasphemy against the Most High. Go where
you will in those countries, if you look into their churches, you
invariably nod "a molten image, or picture, and a teacher of lies."
[fn117]
The prophets of the Old Testament reproached the idolatrous
Jews, that "according to the number of their cities were their
gods." But in the countries I speak of, the number of gods is
according to the number of churches, and even houses; for every
house contains an image or picture of some saint or other, who is
considered as the tutelary guardian of the family.
H
Mr. Everett observes upon this prophecy of Jeremiah p. 75. of his
work, "as it is near two thousand years since David has failed of a
temporal prince up on his throne, and a temporal successor of
Levites, and since it is declared that it shall NEVER fail of these,
we must suppose that a spiritual secession and a spiritual service
were intended: or else the solemn promise.-of God has been for
two thousand years, without fulfillment."
"Ut semper!"------
Sternhold and Hopklns had great qualms, When they did quaver
David's Psalms; "Which made their hearts full glad. But had the
prophet back been sent, To hear them SING,--and you
COMMENT, They surely had run mad."
I
PASSAGES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT PREDICTING THE
RESTORATION OF THE DISPERSION.
"Behold the former things are come to pass, and new things do I
DECLARE: BEFORE THEY SPRING FORTH I TELL you them."
"I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west:
I will say to the north, give up; and to the south keep not back:
bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the
earth. Every one that is called by my name: for I have created him
for my glory, I have formed him; yea I have made him. Is. xliii: 3, 6,
7.
"Thus saith the Lord God, behold I will lift up my hand to the
Gentiles, and set up my standard to the peoples; and they shall
bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried
upon their shoulders. And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and
their queens thy nursing mothers; they shall bow down to thee
with their face toward the earth, and shall lick up the dust of thy
feet: and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah, for they shall not be
ashamed that wait for me. Shall the prey be taken from the
mighty, or the lawful captive delivered. But thus saith Jehovah.
Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey
of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that
contendeth with thee; and I will save thy children. And I will feed
them that oppress thee with their own flesh: and they shall be
drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh
shall know that I Jehovah am thy Saviour, and thy Redeemer, the
Mighty One of Jacob." Is. xlix.
" Jehovah shall comfort Zion, he will comfort all her waste places:
and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the
garden of Jehovah; joy and gladness shall be found therein;
thanksgiving and the voice of melody. Hearken unto me my
people, and give ear unto me O, my nation: for a law shall
proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for alight of
the peoples. My righteousness, is near, my salvation is gone forth,
and mine arms shall judge the peoples: the isles shall wait upon
me, and on mine arm shall they lean."
[See the Heb.] Is. li.
"Fear not, for thou shalt not be ashamed; neither be thou
confounded: for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt
forget the shame of thy youth, [i. e. thy ancient Idolatry] and shalt
not remember the reproach of thy widowhoods [i. e. thy two
dispersions] any more. For thy Maker is thy Husband, Jehovah of
hosts is his name, and thy Redeemer the Holy one of Israel; the
God of the whole earth shall he be called. For Jehovah hath called
thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of
youth, when thou hadst been refused saith thy God. For a small
moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather
thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment, but
with everlasting kindness will I have mercy upon thee, saith
Jehovah thy Redeemer. For this is as the waters of Noah unto me:
for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go
over the earth; so have I sworn that I will not be wroth with thee,
nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be
removed: but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall
the covenant of my peace be removed, saith Jehovah that hath
mercy on thee. O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not
comforted: behold I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy
foundations with sapphires, and I will make thy windows of agates,
and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant
stones, and thy children shall be taught of Jehovah, and great
shall be the peace of thy children. In righteousness shalt thou be
established: thou shalt be far from oppression: for thou shalt not
fear, and from terror, for it shall not come near thee." Is. liv.
"Behold thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations
that knew not thee shall run unto thee, because of Jehovah thy
God: and for the Holy one of Israel; for he hath glorified thee," Is.
lv. 5.
"Behold the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness
the peoples; but Jehovah shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall
be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light and
kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about
and see; all they gather themselves together, they come to thee:
thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at
thy side. Then thou shalt see and flow together, and thine heart
shall fear and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea
shall be converted unto thee, the forces [or wealth] of the Gentiles
shall come unto thee. The multitude of camels shall cover thee;
the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah: all they from Sheba shall
come: they shall bring gold and incense: and they shall show forth
the praises of Jehovah. All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered
together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth [i. e. the chiefs of the
Arabs Nebaioth was the eldest son of Ishmael] shall minister unto
thee: they shall come up with acceptance to mine altar,
[doubtless, because they have been worshippers of one sole God
of Abraham and the prophets since, the days of Mohammed] and I
will beautify the house of my glory. "Who are these that fly as a
cloud, and as the doves to their windows? Surely the isles shall
wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from
far, their silver, and their gold with them; unto the name of
Jehovah thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel because He hath
glorified thee. And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls,
and their kings shall minister unto thee, for in my wrath I smote
thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee. Therefore thy
gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor
night: that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and
that their kings may be brought. For the nation and kingdom that
will not serve thee shall perish; yea those nations shall be utterly
wasted. The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir-tree,
the pine-tree, and the box-tree together, to beautify the place of
my sanctuary: and I will make the place of my feet glorious. The
sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee:
and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the
soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee the city of Jehovah, The
Zion of the Holy One of Israel. Whereas thou hast been forsaken,
and hated, that no man went through thee, I will make thee an
eternal excellency, a joy of endless [ac. to the Heb.] generations.
Thou shalt suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast
of kings: and thou shalt know that I Jehovah am thy Saviour and
thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob. For brass I will bring
gold, and for iron I will bring silver; and for wood brass, and for
stones iron: I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors
righteousness. Violence shall no more be heard in thy land,
wasting nor destruction within thy borders: but thou shalt call thy
walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise. The sun shall be no more
thy light by day: neither for brightness shall the moon give light
unto thee: but Jehovah shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and
thy God thy Glory. Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall
thy moon withdraw itself; for Jehovah shall be thy everlasting light,
and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. Thy people also
shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land forever, the branch
of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified."' Is
ch. Ix.
"Thou shalt be a crown of glory in the hand of Jehovah, and a
royal diadem in the hand of thy God. Thou shalt be no more
termed forsaken: neither shall thy laud any more be termed
desolate--For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons
marry thee: and, as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride so
shall thy God rejoice over thee." Is. ch. Ixii.
"Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her all ye that love
her: rejoice for joy with her all ye that mourn for her: that ye may
suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations: that ye
may milk and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. For
thus saith Jehovah. Behold I will extend Peace to her like a river,
and the glory of the Gentiles like an overflowing stream: then shall
ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon
her knees. As one whom his mother comforted so will I comfort
you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem." Is. Ixvi.
"Thus saith Jehovah, keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my
salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed.
Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth
hold of it, that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth
his hand from doing any evil. Neither let the son of the stranger
who hath joined himself unto Jehovah, speak, saying, Jehovah
hath utterly separated me from his people--the sons of the
stranger that join themselves to Jehovah, to serve him, and to love
the name of Jehovah, to be his servants, every one that keepeth
the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant:
even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful
in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
shall be accepted on mine altar; for mine house shall be called a
house of prayer for all peoples. Jehovah God which gathereth the
outcasts of Israel saith, yet will I gather others to him beside those
that are gathered to him." Is. ch. Ivi.
"Tell ye and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together:
who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from
that time: Have not I Jehovah? and there is no God else beside
me; a just God and a Saviour, there is none beside me. Look unto
me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the Earth: for I am God and,
there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of
my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that unto me:
every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Surely, shall one
say, in Jehovah have I righteousness and strength: even to Him,
shall men come: and all that are incensed against Him shall be
ashamed. In Jehovah shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and
shall glory." [fn119] Is. xlv. 21. &c.