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tions; and just in proportion as the commentary fails to give the mind of the Spirit, (and where is there one infallible?) in that degree it supersedes the authority of Scripture.

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But the trammels imposed upon us by the society in which we move are often more firmly riveted, than are the intellectual bonds of those authors whom we consult: more especially when we believe that circle to be composed, generally speaking, of the excellent of the earth, and to maintain views and principles superior on most points to the members of other denominations. who is possessed of independence or originality of mind is nevertheless greatly checked by the fear of being considered heretical perhaps, or at least a man of singular views and at issue with all good men of his own communion: yea, he may be suspected of disaffection to that community to which he belongs, and of an undue leaning towards some other body of christians, to whose sentiments his own perhaps more nearly approximate. These things therefore have a great tendency to indispose a man against doctrines not entertained by the body with which he is associated; and it requires great originality of mind in the truly pious and humble-deep conviction of the importance of the views presented to them by the teaching of the Spirit-and great fearlessness of consequences, to stand forward and conspicuously maintain truths, which the majority of persons entertaining his own faith are predisposed to deny.

The qualifications however just adverted to are eminently possessed by the author of the volume before

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opinions are doubtless more or less deferred to by the accustomed members of his flock, yet we are sensible how unpalateable many of his sentiments must be to the great mass of his ministerial brethren of every denomination. We have been greatly surprised at the remarkable, and we may say uniform, indifference or opposition to prophecy in general, and to Millennarian doctrine in particular, evinced by Dissenters; because it is not very long since, that the principal advocates of the personal reign of Christ were to be found without the pale of the establishment, whilst the exceptions only to the rule were members of the Church of England. Those of the established clergy who are now led to embrace these views still find that they constitute but a small minority of the whole body: but the dissenting minister who preaches them stands almost literally alone-first in respect to his own particular denomination; and secondly, in regard to the great mass of those who are bound together by the common principle of dissent. We respect therefore such individuals as Mr. Tyso, Mr. Anderson,* and some two or three others, who without (in their particular cases) being moved by the desire to be the first to revive these truths, and with the certainty of becoming comparatively unpopular, do nevertheless decidedly commit themselves on the millennarian question.

"God, (observes Mr. Tyso, in the Conclusion of his work,) who searcheth the hearts of all men, is my witness, that the object of my research has been prophetic truth. I have endeavoured to lay aside all prejudice, and to receive the kingdom of God as a little child. But to err is a human frailty, and I can

*We hope in due course to notice Mr. Anderson's nervous Essays.

not flatter myself that I have given the true meaning of every passage have quoted, though I certainly think I am right in the main.". "Let every one, that is desirous of obtaining a knowledge of revealed truth, take the Bible and read it as from God. If he has common sense there is no necessity for him to ask other people, "What saith the Lord?" and so receive his knowledge through fallible interpreters and traditions of men. Christ accused the Jews of making void the law through their traditions: let us fear lest the same charge should be brought against us relative to the prophets.

Mr. Tyso however has something more than the merit of ministerial courage in this Work. He treats his subject with ability and with originality. He appears to us to have tolerably succeeded in divesting his mind of prejudice,—and also of the impressions which might have lodged in it from the perusal of other prophetical works: for he not only differs from the anti-millennarian writers; but on one or two points advances opinions, which are equally at variance with the sentiments of the generality of millennarians themselves. The student of prophecy, who desires to understand his subject, will therefore do well seriously to weigh the statements and expositions of Mr. Tyso; nor should we think it right indeed for any one to sit down satisfied with his own views, whilst the conflicting opinions of able and candid writers are passed over without consideration.

The Work itself contains a summary of the principal heads of millennarian doctrine, embodied in the language of Scripture; which the Author generally leaves to speak for itself. There are few texts bearing upon the subject which are

not glanced at; and when he does stop to reason, it is usually with clearness, cogency, and conciseness.

The first point on which Mr. Tyso differs from the generality of interpreters is the revival of sacrifices under the new Jerusalem dispensation;

as he takes Ezekiel's description to be literally intended: as do also Mr. Begg, the learned Editor of the Morning Watch, and since them others who are converts to the same opinion. Mr. Tyso's Work has engravings and plans illustrating this subject.

Another point in which our Author differs from the generality is, that he places the conflagration after the Millennium; considering its being supposed to occur previously "is a fruitful source of many errors, and an hypothesis only supported by one text of Scripture, which he conceives capable of a different construction. On this point his views are more fully elicited in a reply to Abdiel, contained at page 328 of No. X; and from this it will be seen, that though he postpones the great or universal Conflagration of the world, he nevertheless believes that there will be a judgement by fire on the enemies of Christ at the period of his premillennial advent.

In regard to the remaining discrepances between himself and others, his own words will best describe them.-"I am not sure that the slaying of the witnesses has taken ' place. I doubt whether the seventh trumpet has sounded. I 'believe the seventh vial has not ' been poured out and I think the 1260 years have not terminated.” He adds" I think it very probable that these events will take place shortly: that there will be a dreadful convulsion of all nations and

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that Christ will quickly appear to 'take vengeance on his enemies and 'to establish his kingdom on the

earth.-Watch and pray, for ye 'know not when the time is.

We add a few extracts concerning the temple described by Ezekiel, and which are also characteristic of the ability with which the author generally handles his subject.

"Calmet, in the folio edition of 1732, has given a map of the land which is to be inhabited by the restored tribes, according to Ezekiel chap. xlviii. But, taking Kadesh-barnea for its southern boundary, instead of Meribah Kadesh, he has been obliged to place Jerusalem about forty miles farther northward than its proper latitude and even with this act of geographical violence, he has but just half the space remaining for each southern tribe, which he has allotted for each northern tribe; whereas the Scriptures represent them all equal in breadth (v. 8.) That the southern boundary is not Kadesh-barnea, but Meribah Kadesh, is plainly asserted by the prophet Ezekiel, chap. xlvii, 19, and xlviii, 28. And this is a truth which is capable of mathematical demonstration. Take any well-constructed map and divide it into thirteen equal parts, of forty-two and a half miles each. Let the first be taken from Hamath, in the north, and the thirteenth will fall at Meribah Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, near the Red Sea, which was to be demonstrated." Pp. 55, 56.

*The translation of these two verses from the LXX, is as follows: Ezekiel xlvii, 19. "And the south side southward, from Tamar, even the Palmy, unto the water of Meribah Kadesh, lying upon the great sea.” Ezek. xlviii, 28.—“ The boundaries shall be from Tamar unto the waters of Meribah Kadesh. The inheritauce shall be unto the great sea." This must be the Red Sea, because it is southward. The Mediterranean is the great sea westward, xlvii, 15.

To this statement he adds a note, stating, that Winchester has committed the same error in the map attached to his published Lectures ; and also another, in making the holy oblation upwards of 53 miles, which is more than three times the size of the other portions;

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whereas the Scripture saith,
shall be as one of the other parts.'
This error, Mr. Tyso says, arises
from his having added the hand-
breath to each cubit, instead of to the
reed: making Ezekiel's reed six cu-
bits and six hand-breadths, instead
of six cubits and a hand-breadth.

"Whoever will take the trouble to compare the ground-plan of Solomon's temple, as given by Calmet or Prideaux, with that of Ezekiel, as delineated by Poole, or in the foregoing pages, will soon perceive that it is a very different structure, scarcely bearing a resemblance. Solomon's temple was 60 cubits long, 30 cubits broad, and 30 cubits high. (1 Kings vi, 3, 4; 2 Chron. iii, 3, 4.) Zerubbabel's was ordered to be 60 cubits long, and 60 cubits broad. (Ezra, vi, 3.) Herod's was 100 cubits long. (Josephus, Book XV, chap. xiv.) Solomon's was in a square of 60 cubits. Ezekiel's is to be in a square of 500 cubits. There is no doubt but Ezekiel's temple will be as much superior to Solomon's as 500 is to 60, or as the glory of King Messiah will surpass the glory of King Solomon. Therefore, in this sense, the glory of this latter house will exceed that of the former." P. 74.

Having treated of the vast extent and magnificence of this future temple he adds :

"Some persons object to the literal interpretation of certain prophecies, because the things foretold are unlikely and incredible! These persons may object to history on the same ground. The amount of gold and silver said to have been expended in building the temple of Solomon was one hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver, (1 Chron. xxii, 14,) amounting to upwards of 800,000,0007. sterling; which, says Dr. Prideaux, was sufficient to have built the whole temple of solid silver,† and greatly exceeds all the treasures of all the monarchs in Christendom.‡ Josephus says, "there were stones in Herod's temple, twentyfive cubits long, eight cubits high, and about twelve cubits broad; that is, thirty seven feet long, twelve feet high, and about eighteen feet broad: that Herod employed 1000 carriages to draw them, 10,000 expert workmen to prepare them, 1000

Jennings's Lectures, Vol. I, p. 33.

priests to superintend them; and the time it took to build it was nine years and six months." (Book XV, chap. xiv.) The Jews continued to beautify and adorn it for forty-six years. (John ii, 20.) The stones at Stonehenge, on Salisbury plain, are very surprising; yet who doubts their magnitude? One stone, which is broken, measures twenty-five feet in length, seven feet in breadth, and three feet six inches in thickness. Mr. Maundrel informs us that he saw, in a wall which encompassed the temple at Balbec, one stone which was twenty-one yards long, and two others, each twenty yards long, four yards deep,

and as many broad.* That the stones in Herod's temple were very large may be proved from Mark xiii, 1; Luke xxi, 5.” Pp. 76, 77.

To put the Reader in possession of the whole subject, it would be necessary to quote every word of Mr. Tyso's description; for he writes with great sententiousness, and therefore affords a reviewer very little scope for abridging or condensing. We decidedly incline to the literal view taken by the Author and by Mr. Begg† though we think both these Writers sometimes push the literal too far. And there are difficulties also which lie in the way of the literal view of Ezekiel's temple, and of the revival of sacrifices, which (though we by no

means

think them a ground for rejecting the plain declarations of God's word) compel us nevertheless to stand in doubt as to the meaning of many things.

It is remarkable, that at the return from captivity the Jews did not set about to erect their new temple on the plan revealed to Ezekiel during that captivity. The Prophet was specially ordered to shew to the house of Israel, provided they were ashamed of their iniquities, the whole pattern and forms and ordinances and laws of this house, with

a charge that they should keep the whole form and ordinances thereof, and do them. (Chap. xliii, 10, 11,) That the people who returned with Zerubbabel were ashamed appears from Nehemiah ix, 1-3; yet no reference or allusion seems to have been made to this revelation to Ezekiel, either in a literal or spiritual sense. Moreover, Ezekiel was himself commanded to take the seed of Zadoc and with them officiate in the

offerings and sacrifices. (Chap. xliii, 18-27.) This Ezekiel did not, whilst in the flesh, that we are any where informed; and if it refer to the resurrection state of Ezekiel and the sons of Zadoc, there are directions which seem incompatible with that condition,—e.g. xliii, 18. And though we have no objection to the resumption of sacrifices as a commemorative ordinance, abstractedly considered, yet it appears incongruous with the deliverance of the animals from bondage, which is generally looked for during the millennial dispensation, that being the time for the restitution of all things" from the curse.

Such a revival of sacrifices appears also incompatible with the reasoning of St. Paul in the Epistles to the Galatians and Hebrews. After having been abolished, (or rather fulfilled, by the exhibition of the antitype for the type: for the Lord came not to destroy the law but to fulfil,) it would seem like a return again to the "beggarly elements" from which the Church has been delivered. The esteemed Author candidly admits the force of the reasoning in the Epistle to the Hebrews; but argues, that the facts of the case, in that the Apostles continued to offer sacri

* Maundrel's Travels, p. 138, edit. 1749, Oxon.

+ We hope also ere long to have an opportunity of bringing Mr. Begg's valuable works before the notice of our Readers.

fices and observe Jewish feasts for thirty-seven years subsequent to the death of Christ, seems to prove that these things were not removed on account of the death of Christ. (P. 195.) He here however appears to confound the circumstances of their being virtually fulfilled by "Christ our passover who was sacrificed for us," and their being ostensibly removed. There was no unlawfulness in the Jew conforming to his own ritual, until God signally put it away from him, more than in Christ coming to John's baptism. John also preached that the kingdom of heaven was at hand, and the spiritual part of that dispensation was fully manifested at Pentecost; yet the dispensation which it superseded was not removed until some time after.

We conclude this part of the subject by stating, that we have less difficulty after all by taking the latter chapters of Ezekiel in a literal sense, than in a figurative and we only throw out the previous observations in the hope of eliciting the opinions of others on this interesting subject.

There is another point in which Mr. Tyso differs from all interpreters we have ever met. It is, that the translation of the living saints does not take place till the end of the Millennium; though he admits the dead in Christ rise previously. We shall exhibit the Author's opinions on this point in his own words.

"At this period, "the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first. The first trump will usher in the coming of the Lord, and raise the pious dead at the commencement of the Millennium: the second, or "last trump," will change the living will change the living saints, and raise the wicked dead at the end of the Millennium.-" Behold I shew you a mystery, We shall not all sleep, but

we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump : for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." (1 Cor. xv, 51, 52.) These two resurrections will be a thousand years apart. John saw in vision that the risen saints "lived and reigned with Christ a lived not again until the thousand years thousand years; but the rest of the dead were finished." (Rev. xx, 4, 5.) Some persons object to this view of the subject by saying: 'The dead in Christ shall rise first, that is, before the living saints are changed; then they will be caught up together with them "to meet the Lord in the air," so that the two events will immediately succeed one another.' But the same Apostle assures us, that the living saints will be changed at the same instant of time as the dead are raised; viz. at the last trump, even "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye." Does not this language describe with great precision the two events as perfectly simultaneous, and without any lapse of time? But this is not all, the word then does not imply that it must be immediately. The word translated then is eπεTα. It is frequently translated afterwards; and the same word is used to denote the time of an event at least eighteen hundred years after a previous one connected with the resurrection : "Christ, the first-fruits, (TEITA) then, or afterwards, they that are Christ's at his coming." And at another place in the same chapter it includes a space of "Howbeit that was four thousand years: not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural, and (πETα) then, or afterwards, that which is spiritual." Seeing it includes more than a thousand years in both the above passages, why may it not include one thousand in the passage under consideration; (1 Thess. iv, 17;) especially as the Scriptures say, "The rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished?" Rev. xx, 5." Pp. 138-140.

According to this view the dead in Christ are perfected without the living, which is contrary to Hebrews xi, 39, 40. We cannot at all concur in this view, any more than in his placing the last trump at the end of the Millennium. The dead who are raised simultaneously with the changing of the saints 1 Cor. xv, 52 must, according to this view,

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