the minds of men; and the impetuous collision of irreconcilable principles, goading the passions and blinding the understandings of their respective adherents; can scarcely fail to forebode, in the present semblance of a calm, the approach of a general and an overwhelming tempest.

At any rate it is undeniable that, whether the unequalled and inevitable "time of trouble" as yet may or may not have commenced its course, it has not fulfilled it that the main judgements are yet to be accomplished upon the earth: that they will burst upon the world suddenly and irresistibly*: that the signs of the times are seriously, habitually, soberly, and devoutly to be watched by the followers of Christ, according to His direct injunction: and that whether these judgements may or may not be even now at the door, it is no distant generation that shall witness them, and as one of their results, the Conversion of the Twelve Tribes of Israel to the faith of their Crucified Saviour, and their re-establishment for ever in the land given on their behalf by the Lord of all to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

It may finally be asked, whether there are any circumstances in the present state of the world, or of the Jewish people, which may seem to have a visible bearing on the Restoration of Israel. In the present state of the world there is one such circumstance of great moment,― the condition of the Turkish empire. With the exception of Russia, it has for many years been the policy, and particularly of late, of the leading states of Europe, actuated by reciprocal jealousies and apprehensions, to uphold the power of Turkey. Of the policy, as such, I mean not to speak. But be it wise

* Rev. xvi. 15.

or not, it is policy which will be utterly vain. It is policy which has not the possibility of success. The doom of the Turkish empire is pronounced. That empire is the prominent foe of Israel. For centuries it has occupied the land of Israel, the platform on which Israel is to be replaced. From that platform the Turk must be swept away, that Israel may repossess his inheritance. The power of the Turk must be utterly destroyed, that he may no longer remain to annoy the restored people of God. The Angel shall pour out the wrath of God “ upon the great river Euphrates," the original apocalyptic symbol of the Turkish power, and "the waters thereof" shall be "dried up." Rev. ix. 14. to the end. and xvi. 12. Every prophecy, whether of the Old Testament or of the New, which pronounces the re-establishment of the Twelve Tribes in Palestine, pronounces, expressly or virtually, the total destruction of the Turkish empire.

Look, then, at the existing state of that empire. Compare its existing state with its condition half a century ago. What have the political efforts of European governments for the preservation of the integrity of its dominions availed? Has not the Ottoman strength been in a constant progress of decay? The time ordained in the counsels of Providence for its total extinction not having hitherto arrived, the exertions of other states have been permitted to render the course of ruin slower. But how rapidly has it advanced of late! What is Turkey now? Practically, the slave of Russia; shorn of extensive portions of its European territories; combating with parts of the remainder in perpetual insurrection; and in Asia and Africa, not to dwell on inferior defalcations, stripped of its provinces from the cataracts of the Nile to Caramania by a victorious vassal, who now rules Palestine itself. Is

not the Angel of Wrath pouring out his vial on the Great River Euphrates, and drying up its waters to prepare the way for the triumphant return of Israel to the Land of Promise?

The civil situation of the Jews has latterly received some amelioration in certain parts of the Continent; but not in such a measure as to produce any general change in their condition. There exists, however, among a large number an encreasing persuasion that the time for the appearance of their long-expected Messiah is at hand. In various places, also, there are evidences of a less unfavourable disposition than heretofore towards Christianity. Instances of conversion have become more frequent. They are by no means to be disregarded. But the most satisfactory proof of improved feeling is to be found in the growing spirit of religious enquiry among the Jews, especially in Germany and in Poland; and of willingness or solicitude to hear the statements and reasonings of Protestant missionaries, and even to read the New Testament, now printed in Hebrew for distribution among the Jewish population. To the indulgence of such a spirit their Rabbies commonly offer, as we might anticipate, vehement opposition. But it is a spirit which they are unable to suppress. May it rapidly be diffused more and more widely, and produce, through the grace of God, Christian faith and Christian holiness!

From the history of the people of Israel let it be your care to draw and to apply to your own heart and conduct the great practical truth, so forcibly impressed, and so beautifully illustrated, by the Apostle. "Because of unbelief they were broken off: and thou standest by faith. Be not high-minded; but fear." Reflect on the unparalleled blessings by which they

were distinguished. They are the chosen nation, "to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; whose are the fathers; and of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever." They were the favoured "olive-tree," planted in the vineyard of God. The branches became unfruitful, and were broken off; and the Gentiles, the “branches of the wild olive,” were grafted into their place. "Be not high-minded; but fear. If God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. Behold the goodness and the severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but towards thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off." * Let this lesson of stedfastness in faith and holy obedience recur to your bosom whenever you behold an individual of the Jewish race. Let it teach you to behold him with humility, and with kindness; and to meditate on the dealings of your Maker with the tribes of Israel. And while you consider the past and the present state of the chosen descendants of Abraham, remember the restoration that awaits them. They are "the natural branches ;" and when "they no longer abide in unbelief, God will graft them in again."

There is yet another lesson of useful instruction which the consideration of the Jewish history may impress with particular force upon the mind. The interpositions by which Providence guided and protected the Jews were in general, as it has already been observed, in a high degree miraculous. Yet all these signal and unmerited favours produced not in that

* Romans, ix. 4, 5.; xi. 17—24.

people either durable gratitude or obedience. Remember, then, in the first place, the favours which God has bestowed and is still bestowing upon yourself. These blessings are not the less because they are bestowed daily and hourly; nor because they are bestowed on many other persons as well as upon you. These blessings are as truly the free and unmerited gifts of your Almighty Benefactor, as were the mercies poured out on the Israelites in the miracles wrought for their deliverance in Egypt, in the wilderness, in the land of Canaan. What title had you to the blessings of creation, of protection, of redemption, more than the Israelites had to a passage on dry ground through the Red Sea; to the presence of God in a cloudy pillar to guide them by day, and in a pillar of flame by night; to the daily supply of manna, during nearly forty years; to the supernatural destruction of the army of Sennacherib; or to the warnings continued during many centuries by a succession of inspired prophets? Were mighty works wrought by the hand of Omnipotence for the Jews? Those very works were wrought not for the Jews only, but for your admonition, for your benefit. Mighty as they were, mightier have been wrought for you. Christ, of whose coming and office the Jews had learned through the medium of prophesies then involved, as to matters of detail, in much obscurity, has since their day descended from Heaven; has lived as man, and suffered more than man; has made that full atonement on the cross, which the law, given to Moses, was intended only to prefigure and introduce. The intercession of Christ, now pleading for you at the right hand of God, was to the Jews altogether unknown. The sanctifying aid of the Holy Spirit of God, to enable you to will and to do those things