Bashan; an high hill as the hill of Bashan. Why leap ye, ye high hills? This is the hill which God desireth to dwell in; yea, Jehovah will dwell in it for ever. The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord (Adonai) is among them as in Sinai in the holy place." This passage sufficiently indicates the glory that will be connected with Zion as the centre of the Divine government in the earth. But as there was an interval between the destruction of Pharoah and his hosts at the Red Sea, and the descent of Jehovah on Sinai, so there will be an interval between the destruction of Antichrist with his hosts, and the inauguration of Christ on Zion. This inauguration will be a result, but not an immediate result, of Christ's manifesting Himself in the way described in Rev. xix. as "King of kings and Lord of lords."

The morning star arises at the moment of the earth's deepest darkness. So when the Lord Jesus returns, evil will be dominant in the earth in a way in which it never yet has been, and never will be again. Antichrist will be in the plenitude of power at the head of all the Ten Kingdoms of the Roman World. Christendom, that is, those parts of the earth which will be neither heathen, nor subjected to the power of Antichrist, will teem, even as they already do, with corruption. As a general description, "darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples."

Accordingly, the avowed object for which Christ assumes His millennial power is that He may put down this giant strength of evil and subdue every enemy. "He must reign," says the Apostle, "until he hath put all enemies under his feet." 1 Cor. xv. Indeed so much is the subjugation of enemies characteristic of the millennial reign that it terminates as soon as the last enemy has been subdued. We must beware, therefore, of supposing that every enemy is suddenly and effectually subdued by the judgments which Christ inflicts at the moment of His appearing in glory. His first act will be to remove (changed and glorified) from the earthly into the heavenly branch of His kingdom, all those who are sanctified by faith in Him; and to remove, by means of angels, into the unseen place of torment, all who merely profess His name-all who come under the name of "Tares." See Matt. xiii. Christendom will thus end. On the day of His appearing also, after having been joined by His saints in the air, He will come with them to the Mount of Olives, (Zech. xiv.) and will utterly destroy all the armies that have been gathered under Antichrist with the view of blotting out Jerusalem. See Ps. lxxxiii.

At the same time will perish all the unrepentant in Israel who are found in Jerusalem, or the land. But the judgments that will be inflicted upon the nations that have either been reigned over by Antichrist, or have been associated with him in his last evil enterprise against Jerusalem (see Psalm already quoted), will be administered more gradually. They will fall with especial weight upon Edom, Moab, Ammon, Egypt, Arabia, and Tyre. Indeed it would not appear that any except those of irresponsible age are spared, either in those regions, or in any part of the Roman World. The distant heathen, however, "who have not heard His fame nor seen His glory," (Isaiah lxvi. 19) will be for the most part spared as individuals, although they may be broken up as nations.

These overwhelming and destroying judgments, however, will not continue after the glory of Christ has been fixed on Zion, and after Israel has been fully gathered under its shelter. After the inauguration of Christ's glory on Zion, the order of the millennial government, both in Heaven and earth, will be fully established. Israel will begin "to blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit;" and evil will hide its head, until for a brief moment it raises it again, without result, save in its own extinction, at the close of the millennial age.

The sixth verse, which thus reveals the fixed purpose of Jehovah in establishing the glory and power of Christ "upon Zion, His holy mountain," is appropriately followed by the address of Christ, as King, to those kings and governors who are spared after the termination of those judgments which usher in the millennium, and under which Antichrist will perish. From the seventh verse onward, the words are the words of Christ as the Messiah-King. He first recites what Jehovah had said unto Him at the time of His resurrection from the dead. "Jehovah SAID unto me, thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me and I will give thee the Gentiles for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron: thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." Such were the words addressed unto the Son by the Father at the time of His resurrection. See Acts xiii. 33. As yet, seeing that the time of long suffering and grace towards the nations is not past, He hath not "asked" to be invested with this power. But when the time shall come for Christ to use the words of this Psalm, He will have "asked," and He will have been brought before the Ancient of Days as described in Dan. vii. and

have been invested with the power of earth, and have begun to exercise it. On the fact of His having assumed this power, is grounded His exhortation to the kings and rulers that will have been spared. NOW, therefore, O ye kings, be wise; be instructed ye judges of the earth: serve Jehovah with fear and rejoice with reverence. Do homage to the Son, lest ye perish from the way when His wrath is kindled, yea, but a little." They to whom these words will be addressed, will have seen how Antichrist and others who have rebelled against Jehovah and His Christ have perished; and at last they will learn wisdom. "The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents; the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him; all nations shall serve him.” Ps. lxxii. 10, 11. Universal outward homage will thus be paid to the King whom Jehovah has inaugurated on Zion. Yet it is not said that all who render this outward homage are blessed. That word "blessed" is confined to those who trust in Him. "Blessed are all they that trust in Him." All in Israel, and very many among the Gentiles shall truly trust in Him in that day: but there are others who will render only a feigned obedience. See Psalm xviii. 44. "The sons of the stranger shall dissemble to me." "Filii alieni mentientur mihi." (Jerome.) "The strange children shall dissemble with me." Prayer Book Version. Mendlessohn's comment is: "They seem to be willing and trusty servants; yet in truth, in their heart they hate me but the fear of me hath fallen on them." From these strange children" will finally spring the last great Apostasy, when for a little season Satan is unbound.

But although Christ does not at the present moment legislate for and direct" the nations," as He will when the words of this Psalm shall be fulfilled, yet its prophetic voice might be heard and ought to be heard, even now, by nations and their Governors. Shall they at present despise and dishonour Him who is already made Lord and Christ-to whom Jehovah hath already said, "Thou art my Son; Ask of me, and I will give thee, &c. ?" Christ although not yet seated on His own millennial throne, is seated on His Father's throne, and administers all its power. See Rev. v. He hath all power in heaven and in earth. It is vain, therefore, for nations to deceive themselves with the thought that they can do homage to God as the Governor of all, if they refuse to own Christ as the Person, even now, invested with all the glory and power of the throne of the Majesty of the Heavens. To deny the fact of Christ's present

exaltation and authority, is virtual atheism. It is true indeed that the acknowledgment of this fact does not make men real Christians: but the denial of it makes them Infidels. A nation that by its official organs governmentally acknowledges the Lordship and Mediatorship of Christ as a fact, does not thereby become Christian in the sense of being brought into the Church of God; but it is Christian in another, and not unimportant, sense. It is Christian as contrasted with nations that governmentally refuse to acknowledge Christ, but acknowledge Mahomet, or Buddha, or any other false prophet, or false god; or who, like the Jews, pretend to acknowledge Jehovah, and at the same time reject Him whom Jehovah hath anointed as Lord of all.

The natural blessings that have for many centuries flowed down upon our own unworthy country, as a consequence of having outwardly owned the name of Christ and His one Mediatorship, must be obvious to all whose hearts are not judicially blinded. But of late years the recognition of Christ has begun to be relinquished. Whether Governors own, or do not own Him "by whom kings rule, and princes decree judgment," has been thought a matter of indifference. It has been thought immaterial whether men own Christ alone as the "one Lord," and the "one Mediator; " or whether they bow down idolatrously to Mary and seek the mediation of "the queen of heaven," or despise mediatorship altogether. Even in this our own favoured land it is beginning to be deemed immaterial whether Governors, and even authorized religious teachers own the supreme authority of the Word of God, or whether they give themselves over to philosophic Pantheism and trample under foot the blood of atonement and every other distinctive truth revealed in the Scripture. That ear must indeed be deaf (shall I say judicially deafened?) that hears not already the cry, "Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us."

Notes on Psalm II.

"Why have the Gentiles furiously gathered together, and why do the peoples meditate a vain thing?"

The Gentiles ] This word is frequently rendered "heathen" in our version-often a very objectionable rendering, inasmuch as the nations thus described are frequently not heathen. In the present case, for example, the nations who will form this great confederacy, will be the nations of the Roman World (Tηs oukovμevηs)-nations, that after having had the advantage of all the light that God has ever sent into the earth, and having for the most part professed Christianity, will have apostatised from all Truth, and given themselves over to the service and worship of Antichrist. The same alteration in the translation of D should be made in Joel iii. 9, 11, 12, "Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles." "Come all ye Gentiles." "Let the Gentiles be awakened and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there will I sit to judge all the Gentiles round about." The nations here addressed are those whose history forms the subject of the Prophecy of Daniel. They will first assemble at Armageddon, and thence advance into the valley of Jehoshaphat, where they will be trodden in the wine-press of wrath.*

"Gentiles" is the translation which should be always adopted for " in the Old Testament, and for covη in the New, whenever those words are used in contrast with Israel. There may be a few passages where "heathen" might be retained; but, as a general rule, "Gentiles," or "nations" should be substituted for "heathen," wherever that word occurs in our version of the Old Testament.

"For they are

They are the same nations as are referred to in Rev. xvi. 14. the spirits of devils working miracles, that go forth to the kings of the whole (Roman) world (тys oikovμevns öλns. Compare Luke ii. 1.) to gather them together to the battle of that day-the great day of God, the Almighty."