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ART. XI-1. The Harmony of the Apocalypse with other Prophecies of Holy Scripture: with Notes, and an Outline of the Various Interpretations. By the Rev. W. H. HOARE, M.A., late Fellow of St. John's, Cambridge. London: Parker. 1848.

2. The Great Continental Revolution, marking the Expiration of the Times of the Gentiles, A.D. 1847-8. By JAMES HATLEY FRERE, ESQ. Hatchard. 1848.

EVENTS are still pressing onward to a crisis with an aspect which is both bewildering in the rapidity of its course and startling in the unexpected features which glare upon us, from day to day, as the scene flits before our astonished gaze. We cannot but notice these events, but it is under the impression that the events are in the hand of God, and therefore unknown to man; and that, before the lines which we are now writing shall issue from the press, some new turn of affairs may so change the aspect of all things as to render obsolete and inapplicable all our present conjectures, which have only past experience for their basis, and the ordinary calculations of human sagacity to direct them and test their truth. More and more are we made to feel the force of the admonition, "l'homme propose, mais Dieu dispose."

But because it is so-because the issues are in the hand of God and all the steps and stages are under his controultherefore the general results have been declared beforehand in the word of God in such terms as to serve for warning and instruction to the Church, and to prove that God has foreseen and overruled all things; yet not so expressly declared as to tempt man to interfere with the counsels of God, by endeavouring with the puny arm of flesh to accelerate or frustrate the purposes of the Almighty. "Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counsellor hath taught him? Let them bring forth, and show us what shall happen: let them show the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them, or declare us things for to come."

The prophecies of the Old Testament constituted a perpetual code of admonition for the Jews, showing them, during the whole Mosaic dispensation, what would be the consequences of transgressing the law and breaking the commandments which he had given from Mount Sinai; and how, notwithstanding their sin against him, he would still accomplish

to the very letter the promises which he had made to Abraham, the father of the faithful, and to David, the chosen king; and would raise up Christ of Abraham's seed to sit on the throne of David, although the Jews should be cast off for their sins, and another people would be taken out from among the Gentiles in their stead.

The unbelieving Jews not only disregarded all these warnings, but also did everything in their power to frustrate the accomplishment of the prophecies by crucifying Christ himself, and persecuting to the utmost all who believed in him, hoping thereby to erush in the bud this dreaded Christian Church, although their own prophecies abound in declarations that it should at some future day fill the whole earth. It is evident that the Scribes and Pharisees knew the general tenor of the prophecies, but were ignorant of the manner in which they would be accomplished. When asked by Herod, they readily answered, from the prophecies, that Bethlehem Judah was the place in which the Messiah should be born: and then, knowing that our Lord had declared that after three day's he would rise again, they did all that lay in their power to frustrate this prediction; and when their efforts failed, and they were told by their own watch, who had been eye witnesses of the fact, that he was actually risen from the dead-yet still this unquestionable miracle in accomplishment of our Lord's prophecy had no effect upon these infatuatedly prejudiced men: it only hardened them the more, so as to add subornation of falsehood to rejection of the truth, by their giving money to the watch in order to conceal the fact and charge the disciples with stealing the body, though, in so doing, they would necessarily subject themselves to the accusation of having neglected their own duty. And the rancour with which the Pharisees pursued the first disciples is evinced in the words of St. Paul before Agrippa, who asserts that, while acting under the authority of the chief priests, he thought it his duty to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth, saying, "Many of the saints did I shut up in prison, and when they were put to death I gave my voice against them; and I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and, being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities" (Acts xxvi. 11).

The prophecies of the Old Testament are referred to by St. Peter on the day of Pentecost, as then being fulfilled in a very remarkable manner-first, in the resurrection of Christ; secondly, in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the believers.

He appeals first to the prophecy of Joel as being accomplished in the dispensation beginning from that time, and spoken of by the prophet as the last days, during which God would pour out of his Spirit on all flesh (Acts ii. 16). On which it is to be observed that the "all flesh" spoken of by the prophet is meant to indicate that other races of mankind would be admitted to the same privileges as the Jews under the new dispensation, by the breaking down of the wall of partition between Jew and Gentile: it does not mean that the Spirit will be poured out upon all mankind, whether believers or unbelievers; for it is immediately added that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved: on which St. Paul's comment is—"How shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?—and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?—and how shall they hear without a preacher?—and how shall they preach except they be sent ?" (Rom. x. 14). And St. Peter accordingly preaches to the assembled multitude, saying, “Ye men of Israel hear these words-Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you, by miracles, and wonders, and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be holden of it." And then, after quoting the prophecies which refer to the resurrection of Christ, coneludes "This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore, being by the right hand of God exalted and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he (that is Christ) hath shed forth this (that is the Holy Spirit) which ye now see and hear......... Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made this same Jesus whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ." And when the multitude, being moved by these words, cried out, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?"-Peter answers, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the Holy Ghost; for the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call " (Acts ii. 39).

We thus see that the prophecy of Joel could not have its fulfilment until the time when Christ, being raised from the dead, had ascended into heaven, and gave the Holy Ghost to them that believe in his name: yet the name of Christ does

not appear in Joel's prophecy, although his meritorious death and exaltation to the right hand of the Father is the procuring cause. And as, for the first reception of the Holy Spirit, on the day of Pentecost, faith in Christ as the giver, and baptism as being instituted by Christ for that express purpose were the necessary conditions-so, for the continuance of the Holy Spirit in the Church, and for the admission of succeeding generations to the same privileges, like faith and like obedience are at all times necessary; for the Church is one, and the faith and baptism are one, throughout all generations. But if our readers will turn to the prophecy of Joel, they will find that a part only of its contents was accomplished at the commencement of the present dispensation, and another and more important portion remains to be fulfilled at the close of the Christian dispensation or times of the Gentiles-that is, fulfilled in the restoration of the Jews, and the destruction of the apostate nations, and in the latter day glory of the Church and people of God, with the announcement of which all the most important of the Old Testament prophecies invariably terminate.

For Joel's prophecy passes on without a pause to the great and terrible day of the Lord, before which the sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood-signs which Christ himself makes the precursors of his second coming in the Gospels, and which are connected with the approach of the same time in the symbolical language of the Apocalypse (Rev. vi. 12). But immediately connected with that day of judgment, and one of the most conspicuous of its many features in the Old Testament prophecies, is the restoring of the captivity of Israel, and bringing them back to Jerusalem and the land of their fathers, to be no more cast out: after which Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation (Joel, iii. 20). And thus the prophecy of Joel not only covers the whole of the times of the Gentiles but embraces the restoration of the Jews also; and, by parity of reasoning, relates not only to the first coming of Christ and the giving of the Holy Ghost, but also to his second coming without sin unto salvation (Heb. ix. 28)—his coming to be glorified in his saints and to be admired in all them that believe.

Prophecy thus spans all time, because it is the declaration of the counsels of God; and no part of time is uncovered by prophecy, because this would be almost as absurd as the supposing that a portion of time was overlooked by God, or a portion of the human race not under his controul; yet, since the Hebrew prophecies more especially concern the Jewish

people, and do for the most part either entirely pass by, or only casually refer to, the Gentile dispensation, our Gentile Church has one book of the New Testament Scriptures which is devoted solely to the prophetic history of the intermediate times-between the casting off of the Jews and their restoration-between the first and second Advents-between the first fruits on the day of Pentecost and the final ingathering at the feast of tabernacles. This book of Christian prophecy is the Apocalypse-the last book of the sacred canon.

Of the Apocalypse, therefore, its intermediate character is the great feature: it takes up a portion of time during which God is dealing with the Gentiles, to make known his counsels towards them, in the same manner as he has made himself known to the Jews in the Old Testament; and, as the counsel of God is one and unchangeable, and worldly affairs are governed by him, not he by them-so, the Old and New Testaments relate to one purpose and issue in the same result, and are only successive chapters of the same history, inseparably interwoven with each other.

"All commentators (says the late Bishop Jebb), have observed the striking resemblance between portions of the Apocalypse, considerable both in number and extent, and the prophetic books of the Old Testament; and since the days of Bishop Louth some have, though slightly, adverted to the poetical imagery and structure of those resembling portions. The student who wishes rightly to apprehend and to appreciate the language of this last and most mysterious book of the sacred canon will do well to compare attentively the several correspondent passages of it and of the prophets."

Mr. Hoare, in the volume before us, has endeavoured to bring out this resemblance by printing, parallel with the text of the Apocalypse, a paraphrase composed of the very words of the Old Testament, extracted from the prophecies which the apostolic seer appears to have in his eye-bringing out in this comparison, not merely the connection of the two as forming one purpose, but the place which the Jews and Gentiles occupy towards each other in time, as St. Paul teaches us their place theologically and in the abstract in the tenth and eleventh chapters of his epistle to the Romans:-" This may be done by a careful selection of the most appropriate passages-placing in one column the text of St. John, and in another a combination of passages from other parts of Scripture most nearly agreeing with it both in expression and in subject matter-and thus forming a kind of Scripture Paraphrase to this book." And in so doing a light has been thrown upon the divisions of the book itself, suggesting an arrange