The times of the kings of Judah is the Jewish age of prophecy. No less than twelve out of fourteen of the Jewish Prophets prophesied during the reigns of the last twelve kings of Judah, a period of two hundred and seventy-four years. The Lamentations of Jeremiah were written in 588, the very year of the final captivity and burning of the Temple. Daniel, Ezekiel, Zachariah, and Obadiah flourished during the Captivity; Daniel, Ezekiel, and Zachariah prophesied through a great part of it; Haggai, at the time of the return; and Malachi, more than a century after the restoration of the Temple. To interpret soberly the Jewish Prophets, it is essential that we are acquainted with the history of the times in which they flourished. Now the brief sketches we have in the books of Kings and Chronicles, constitute the only authentic documents we have on this subject, and are therefore to the student of prophecy of inestimable value.

The books of Ezra and Nehemiah stand to the prophecies concerning the Captivity and the Return as civil and ecclesiastic history now do, and shall continue to do, in relation to the yet unaccomplished oracles. Of those predictions we shall give a few remarkably literal and specific:-"Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, Because ye have not heard my words, behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the Lord, and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual desolations. Moreover, I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle. And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the Lord, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldean, and will make it perpetual desolation. And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations." Jer. xxv. 8-13. Also, Jeremiah xxix. 10-14. "For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word towards you, in causing you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your

heart. And I will be found of you, saith the Lord; and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive."

Of the literal and exact accomplishment of these predictions, it is scarcely necessary to add to the passages already quoted from 2 Chron. xxxvi. 14—21, except in proof of the actual return from that state, as both Isaiah and Jeremiah so clearly and fully speak. The facts gathered from these historians are:

1st. That in the first year of Cyrus* king of Persia, B C. 536 years, exactly at the close of seventy years from the beginning of the Captivity, a decree was issued and proclamation made for the return of the Jews and the rebuilding of the house of God. ch. i 81. Some fifty thousand returned at this proclamation. ii. 64, 65.

2d. Soon as these returned they began to rebuild the altar and restore the primitive worship. ch. iii. 2—13.

3d. But when the reformers began to rebuild and restore the ancient order of things, under the guidance of Zerubbabel and Joshua, the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin, because their proffered help was rejected, began to oppose the work of reform. They not only troubled them in building, but hired counsellors to accuse them before Cyrus, even to the times of Darius and Cambyses, styled Ahasuerus. iv. 1-16.

4th. The work was thus greatly impeded by the Samaritans till Darius issued a new decree, bearing date 519 before Christ, seventeen years having intervened from the decree of Cyrus

5th. The Temple was rebuilded and dedicated, and the feasts observed according to the law, in the twenty-first year after the return. ch. vi. 1-22.

6th. Nevertheless, the ancient order of things was not yet fully restored, nor the captivated people fully brought back for fiftyeight years. For it was not till the days of Ezra and Nehemiah that the work of reform and restoration was completed. It called for more than the decrees of Cyrus and Darius and their helping hand, with the efforts of Zerubbabel and Joshua, supported by the predictions and exhortations of Haggai and Zechariah. Ezra the scribe and a new decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, were yet wanting.

7th. This splendid decree or charter was furnished by Artaxerxes Longimanus in the seventh year of his reign, allowing all Israelites of whatever tribe to return, giving them money and provisions, and commanding them to set up a proper government. The decree was issued in the seventh year of Artaxerxes, 457 years before Christ. Ezra vii. 28.

* Read also Isaiah xliv. 28.; xlv. 1-4.

Sth. Ezra, on his commencement, soon as he and his companions returned to Jerusalem, began a great moral reformation, in which he was ably supported by Ezra.

The breaches in the walls of Jerusalem were not rebuilt till Nehemiah, in the year 20 of Artaxerxes, with a new decree and new auxiliaries, which he obtained in the 20th of the king of Assyria, or 445 years B. C., set about it.

9th. But to consummate the whole, Ezra taught the people a pure speech, and expounded to them the whole Institution, the true sense of which they had lost in the Captivity. This was not fully done till the 32d of Artaxerxes:-"And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water-gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe, to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded to Israel. And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month. And he read therein before the street that was before the watergate, from the morning until mid-day, before the men and the women, and those that could understand: and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law. And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose; and beside him stood Mattithia, and Shema, and Anaiah, and Urijah, and Hilkiah, and Masseiah, on his right hand; and on his left hand, Pedaiah, and Mishael, and Malchiah, and Hashum, and Hashbadana, Zechariah, and Meshullam. And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people; (for he was above all the people;) and when he opened it, all the people stood up. And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God: and all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground. Also Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Masseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, caused the people to understand the law: and the people stood in their place. So they read in the book, in the law of God, distinctly, and gave the sense, them to understand the reading." Nehem. viii. 1-8.

and caused

And

All the ordinances were now kept as at the beginning. Thus the Feast of Booths was kept:-"And all the congregation of them that were come again out of the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths: for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun, unto that day, had not the children of Israel done so. there was very great gladness. Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and so on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according unto the manner." Nehem. viii.

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17, 18. "And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers. And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the Lord their God one-fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed, and worshipped the Lord their God." ix. 2, 3.

They finished the work of reform by making a clear, full, and explicit covenant against idolatry, chap. x.; after which they separated themselves from all unholy persons, and gave their whole hearts to the Lord. ch. xiii. 1-3. “On that day they read in the book of Moses in the audience of the people, and therein was found written, that the Ammonite and the Moabite should not come into the congregation of God forever; because they met not the children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them, that he should curse them; howbeit our God turned the curse into a blessing. Now it came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude." But it ought to be borne in mind that only a remnant of the professed people of God-of Israel according to the flesh, ever returned from Babylon. Many of them lived and died in the land of their enemies.

Thus were the prophecies concerning the Captivity fulfilled, and in the fulfilment of the prediction we have data prospective of the present captivity of God's people under the yoke of "Babylon the Great." The fact of the transfer of that title to Papal Rome indicates a similarity in the fortunes of the Old and New Testament Israels. The Papacy is to Christianity what Paganism was to Judaism. One God was the basis of the Jewish Institution and the glory of it. One Mediator is the basis and glory of Christianity. Paganism made many gods; and the Papacy has made many mediators. Paganism prevailed over God's people for a time: so has the Papacy over Christ's people. As the Old Covenant people were corrupted by their Pagan masters, so the New Covenant people are yet corrupted by their Papal rulers. As the degeneracy of Israel was in the ratio of their defection from the primitive purity of the Mosaic Institution, so have been the delinquencies of the Christian people; and as the Jews return to the ancient order of things accompanied their deliverance and preceded the enjoyment of their forfeited inheritance; so must the restoration of primitive Christianity accompany the deliverance of the Christian people and precede the conversion of the world, and the full fruition of the primitive glory of the latter day. In the Jewish case, political revolutions preceded their deliverance: for the day of their redemption followed close upon the last days of the Chaldean power. The sword that rescued Israel slew their captivators. Babylon instantly

fell in an unexpected hour; so will Rome sink like a millstone in the sea. In the Christian case we may expect as great a similarity of fortunes as there is in all the prominent points of the typical and antitypical institutions. This, however, is rather in anticipation of what is yet more fully to be developed when we enter upon the various fortunes of the Christian people.

A REFORMED CLERGYMAN,

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MR. LYND'S DISCOURSE ON SPIRITUAL INFLUENCE.

No. I.

THIS discourse fills one entire broad side of the Cross and Baptist Journal and about one-third of another. Much as we would desire to lay it all before our readers at one time, we cannot, with any regard to the subjects on hand. We shall therefore be compelled, as before, to divide it into sections. The curious reader can, however, when the whole is republished, read it and the reply at one session:

From the Cross & Baptist Journal.

THE INFLUENCES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.-REPLY TO MR. CAMPBELL. 1. I cannot perceive the force of his disclaimer that he does not make his own opinion a prominent part of the system of truth. If I understand the meaning of language, he has for years been using his best efforts, from the pulpit and the press, to show that Christians generally entertain wrong views of the influence of the Spirit. If they are wrong, he does right to correct them. Of this no one will complain. But if he maintains that the Spirit operates through the truth, and Christians generally admit that the truth is the instrumentality of the Holy Spirit, then in what are they wrong? Not in the fact, and not in the instrumentality. If they are wrong, therefore, it must be in not receiving the opinion of Mr. Campbell. That opinion limits the power of God by pleading that "all the converting power of the Holy Spirit is exhibited in the Divine Record."

2. It is perfectly clear from Mr. Campbell's reply, that I have neither misapprehended nor misrepresented him in his views of divine influence. Though he says, "Mr. Lynd himself does not seem fully to comprehend the extracts which he has just quoted from the dialogue," it now appears that I have most clearly comprehended them. The very position which those extracts indicated and which I supposed him to assume, he has repeated in the strongest language. We are now fairly at issue on a point of vital importance to the whole scheme of redemption. If Mr. Campbell errs here, it is a fearful error, involving a departure from the faith once delivered to the saints.

3. Mr. Campbell verbally admits the fact that the Spirit of God exercises an influence upon the human mind in renewing and sanctifying men, and yet the fact itself is virtually denied. The gospel teaches that the influence of the Holy Spirit gives to divine truth an eficacy in renewing and sanctifying men which it could not have independently of suck influence. This fact Mr. Campbell does not admit. Now, if this fact can be sustained hy the word of God, his error is one of fearful magnitude. It is not a speculative difference about an opinion. He mistakes altogether the fact as taught in the word of God, when he charges me with superadding my opinion as to the kind of power or influence exercised.— I have expressed no opinion upon the subject, and Mr. Campbell substantially admits that I have not when he says, "I doubt not that already Mr. Lynd sees as distinctly as myself, that supernatural no more than mediatorial, when prefixed to power, reaches at all to the