CHIEFLY DESIGNED AS A CHECK AGAINST THE INFLUENCE OF PORTIONS OF SOCIETY. BY THE REV. G. F. RYAN, D. D. VOL. II. HALIFAX: PRINTED BY NICHOLSON AND WILSON, NORTHGATE. PROPHECY.-CHAP. XII CONTINUED. "The prophet's pen succeeds his breath, "READ at your leisure, sir," observed Mr. C., "the mandate of Jehovah, and the obedience of the prophet, commencing with the third verse-" And the word of the Lord came unto me the second time, saying, 'Take the girdle which thou hast got, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock. So I went and hid it by Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me.' And it came to pass after many days, that the Lord said to me, Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there.' Then I went to the Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it; and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing." Mr. A. "Then you suppose, that the prophet did not actually perform those journeys to the Euphrates, for the purposes described, but that the whole transpired amid those visions with which he was indulged ?" Mr. C. Such, sir, are precisely the views which I entertain of that, and all similar portions of the prophetic record,—they being in my opinion, symbolical exhibitions, or representations, presented to the imaginative faculty of the prophet's mind, and by which Jehovah revealed to him the nature and certainty of those events, which, though yet future, should infallibly be brought to pass." Mr. A. That, sir, may, however, be but your own inference from the fact, and as devoid of authority, as it may be of any thing like substantiating evidence." Mr. C. "Allow me, in turn, to affirm, that your assumption, in this instance, as in many others, is without any legitimate foundation, in as much as the deduction, which you would hypothetically impugn, is borne out by the high authority of the Deity himself, and presented to the mind with all the evidence, and sanction of his revealed truth. In demonstration of this the prophet says, "Then the word of the Lord came unto me saying, 'Thus saith the Lord, after this manner, will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem. This evil people who refuse to hear my words, who walk in the imagination of their heart, and walk after other Gods to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle which is good for nothing. For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me, the whole house of Israel, and the whole house of Judah, saith the Lord, that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory, but they would not hear." In the same manner, also, I conceive, we are to interpret the particulars recorded in the twentyfifth chapter of his prophecy, where Jehovah commanded him, saying, "Thus saith the Lord God of Israel-Take the wine-cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations to whom I send thee to drink it.'Then took I the cup at the Lord's hand, and made all the nations to drink unto whom the Lord sent me-to wit-Jerusalem, and the city of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princesthereof-Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people-the kings of Tyre, and Zidon, and the kings which are in the isles beyond the sea,-all the kings of Arabia, and the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the desert-the kings of Zimri—of Elam-of the Medes, and all the kings of the North, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth.” Now these actions, sir, together with others whose narration is recorded with the most minute precision in the prophetic scriptures, must be understood of those visions with which the prophets were more especially indulged, and during the continuance of which, the several transactions, and scenes of this nature, which are recorded by them, were caused to pass before their minds, while Jehovah, by such means revealed the purposes of his eternal mind, and informed his servants of those events which should transpire, in the more immediate, or remote ages of the world. Thus, in presence of the entranced prophets of Jehovah, did the present, and the future meet, B |