ISAIAH 18


1 Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia:

Ho! Land of widely o'ershadowing wings extending from beyond to rivers of Cush

Oy to the Eretz Tziltzal Kenafayim (Land of Whirring Wings, i.e., Ethiopia), which is beyond the rivers of Kush;

(Other passages in Isaiah plus Ezekiel 38 compared lead us to the rational conclusion that Tarshish is the Jewish protector)

There is, then, a partial and primary restoration of Jews before the manifestation, which is to serve as the nucleus, or basis, of future operations in the restoration of the rest of the tribes after he has appeared in the kingdom. The pre-adventual colonization of Palestine will be on purely political principles; and the Jewish colonists will return in unbelief of the Messiahship of Jesus, and of the truth as it is in him. They will emigrate thither as agriculturists and traders, in the hope of ultimately establishing their commonwealth, but more immediately of getting rich in silver and gold by commerce with India, and in cattle and goods by their industry at home under the efficient protection of the British power.

And this their expectation will not be deceived; for, before Gogue invades their country, it is described by the prophet, as "a land of unwalled villages, whose inhabitants are at rest, and dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates; and possessed of silver and gold, cattle and goods, dwelling in the midst of the land." (Ezek. 38:11,12,13).

Elpis Israel Ch 17



"A land of wings" is a figurative expression, like that of "wings of the God of Israel." Isaiah, predicting the invasion of the Holy Land by the king of Assyria, says,

"The stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel!"

That is, his dominion shall overshadow it from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates. This is a beautiful allusion to the eagle-winged lions of Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian power. A winged lion is used in Daniel as the symbol of Assyria under its Ninevite dynasty. When the sovereignty was transferred from Nineveh to Babylon, the prophet represents the wings as being plucked.

Nineveh lost its wings, and could, therefore, overshadow no more. It was once a City of Wings, and Assyria a land of wings; so that if the prophet had any message to proclaim to it from afar, he might have exclaimed,

"Ho, land of the overshadowing wings!"

A city or land of wings, then, is a city or land having dominion; and if the wings are wide-spreading, which is indicated by a widely extended shadow, the dominion is extensive, perhaps very extensive, if an intensive word be used to express the idea of shadowing.

But all lands have not wings, because all lands have not dominion. Canada and the West Indies, Hungary and Lombardy, have no wings. The wings of the mighty overshadow them all. They have no dominion over their own lands, even; hence none dwell under their shadow. Austria, on the other hand, is a land of overshadowing of wings.

So are Russia, Turkey, France and Britain. Belgium is a lion without wings. Its dominion is restricted to its home-land-a land which overshadows none but its own people. But we need add no more under this head; for by this time, the reader will certainly perceive what is meant by the figurative expression, "land of widely o'ershadowing wings."

"Extending from beyond to"-ashr maivr le, pronounced asher mai-aiver le. ASHER is the relative pronoun who, which, that, singular and plural, masculine and feminine; and agrees with its antecedent kenahphahyim, wings. Hence, literally, wings that from beyond to, that is "wings extending from beyond to," as I have given it in the text.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, May 1853.



The Lion-power of England has not yet attained the westward bounds of the dominion marked out for it in the providence of the Holy Ones. Its increment will be truly Tarshish-like, extending along coasts and their more immediate vicinities. Isaiah says it is to reach

"to the rivers of Khush;"


that is to the Tigris and Euphrates, till it meets the Persian province of Gog's empire. From thence it will occupy the south western coast of the Persian Gulf, and the western coast of the Arabian sea to the Straits of Babelmandeb, or Dedan and Sheba.

From the Straits it will extend along the Red Sea till it meets the Russo-Assyrian, or Gog, again on the confines of Egypt, which he will have recently conquered, and annexed to the Russian empire. From this boundary it will border on the Russian conquest to the southern extremity of the Dead Sea, and along its eastern shore to the Arnon and ascending that river to about the same parallel as Samaria, and thence eastward to the Euphrates.

This boundary gives it Edom, Moab, and Ammon, which are countries lying between the Red Sea, Dead Sea, river Arnon, and Euphrates. The reader can procure a map of the east, and by tracing this boundary, he will see the extent of the empire in that part of the earth allotted to the British Lion as the full stretch of its dominion before the actual manifestation of the king of Israel as the Stone prepared of Yahweh to fall upon the image and grind it to powder.

The dominion of Asia, will be the real ground of the coming conflict between the powers that be, whatever apparent cause may seem to bring it about. The final possession of the Holy Land will determine that question; that is to say, the power that shall conquer and permanently annex that country to its domain, will have the dominion.

If Russia obtain it, the British Lion will have received its death wound. The consciousness of this it is, that will make Britain as inveterate against Gog as she was against Napoleon I, who purposed the foundation of an eastern empire that should include Egypt and Palestine, and annex Persia and Hindostan.

Napoleon having conquered Europe sought the annexation of the Russian empire, which, if effected, would have prepared him for another effort in the east. If he could have carried out his schemes, Nebuchadnezzar's image, with some modifications, might have stood upon its feet nearly forty years ago.

This would have been premature; besides that a toe kingdom, which France is, was never designed to become the Clay-element cementing the pedestal. It is of the Iron, not the Clay; and therefore not intended for purposes of confederation, but rather as an element to be confederated, transiently indeed, but still combined in one dominion with other constituent parts.

The confederating power is not of the iron element of the image, but commingling itself with the iron pieces; a union, however, which must be very brief, as represented by the brittleness of iron where its constitution is invaded by clay.

The Clay-element not only forms part of the feet, but of the toes also; this goes to show that the Clay-power obtrudes into the toe kingdoms, and moulds them to itself, but which cannot apply to Britain, seeing that it is found in antagonism to it in the Holy Land, where the power of the image stands arrayed in complete armour, like Goliath ready for combat, and about to be slain by a little Stone from David's sling.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, March 1858



2 That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes [whirling things - [helicopters from aircraft carriers?] upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!

That sendeth ambassadors by the sea

The conclusion that the ships of this British power are‭ "‬the ships of Tarshish‭" ‬becomes irresistible when we ascertain that Britain was the source of the tin supply furnished to the market of Tyre by Tarshish‭ (Ezek. xxvii)‬,‭ ‬and that the very name of Britain is traceable to a phœnician‭ (‬or Tyrian‭) ‬word‭ (‬Baratanac‭) ‬signifying the tin islands.‭

Britain is merely the Tarshish power pushed to her utmost western limits,‭ ‬yet exercising dominion in all the regions which formerly owned the name,‭ ‬east or west.

This can only apply to an island power as a characteristic description.‭ ‬Other powers might use the sea for ambassadors,‭ ‬but an island power must.‭ ‬Other powers on conterminous territories could,‭ ‬and in most cases would,‭ ‬and do,‭ ‬use the land:‭ ‬an island power cannot send ambassadors by the land.

...British pride will first be broken,‭ ‬as it is testified earlier in Isaiah:

‭ "‬The Day of the Lord of Hosts shall be‭ ‬.‭ ‬.‭ ‬.‭ ‬upon all the ships of Tarshish‭ ‬.‭ ‬.‭ ‬.‭ ‬when He ariseth to shake terribly the earth‭" (Isa. ii. 12, 16, 19)‬.

‭ ‬There is intimation of a disaster to the British fleet which will make Britain sensible of the divine character of the power at work‭ (Psa. xlviii. 7)‬.‭ ‬After this,‭ ‬she will be the‭ "‬first‭" ‬to place her ships at the Lord's service.

All this is of unspeakable interest to us,‭ ‬placed as we are in the very heart of the power to be so divinely used.‭ ‬There is something beautiful in the circumstance that the power thus to be employed in the work of setting up the Kingdom of God should in advance be providentially used as the asylum of religious liberty,‭ ‬the defender and disseminator of the Bible,‭ ‬and the nursing-mother of the recovered truth in the latter days.‭ ‬For such is the situation.‭

We look abroad and see no evidence of the truth being astir,‭ ‬or even known in European lands.‭ ‬Its activity seems to be confined to the British race in England and her colonies and the daughter-country of the United States.

‭ ‬It is a pleasant thought:‭ ‬but let us not rest too much upon it.‭ ‬It will help us nothing in the great day drawing near,‭ ‬if it should be found that with all our knowledge,‭ ‬and all our satisfaction,‭ ‬we are lacking in that submission to God in His worship,‭ ‬love and obedience,‭ ‬of which Christ is the highest example,‭ ‬and by which all the true children of God are in some degree characterised.

Seasons 2. 91




; which sendeth by sea whirling things even upon vessels of fleetness on the surface of waters! Go swiftly, ye fleet messengers, to a nation carried away and oppressed; to a people terrible from this and onward; a nation prostrate and trodden down, whose lands rivers have spoiled. *

Britain on the Euphrates, and the Assyrian as a cloud to cover Israel's land, will bring face to face, in the heart of Asia, the friend and foe of God's oppressed, dispersed, and captive nation. Policy and interest will identify Britain with the Jews, while many of its people will sympathise with them on religious principles.

But the Jews are enemies to Jesus; and the British government, while they profess to venerate him, pay no respect to his teaching or commands. Their pride must therefore be humbled before either of them can be employed as allies in the work of the evening time.

Hence, "two-third parts" of Judah in the land are cut off by the Assyrian, leaving the other third for the purposes of the Deliverer: while the powerful fleet of the overshadowing power, cooperating in the war against the Russo-Assyrian, is broken and dispersed.

The testimony in support of this is found in the forty-eighth psalm, which contains a prophecy parallel with this of Isaiah.

"As we have heard so have we now seen concerning the city of Yahweh hosts, concerning the city of our Elohim-the Elohim will establish it throughout the age."

It refers, then, to the time when Zion exists as "the city of the great King," with the "Elohim manifested in its palaces for protection." But before this manifestation "the kings were assembled (against her;) they rushed along together; but when they saw, they were in great consternation; they were confounded; they fled in terror. Trembling seized upon them there, a pang as of travail."

After predicting this headlong flight of the Assyrian's kings, he goes on to say, "by an east wind thou wilt break in pieces the ships of Tarshish"-of that Tarshish which, having partaken of the general dismay, shall be among the first to place its ships at the victor's disposal, to bring Zion's sons from far to their fatherland. Thus will Britain, and the Jews already in Judea, be prepared for cooperation in the work of the evening time.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, May 1853



The knowledge of God was kept alive by the ministry of the prophets, and His requirements miraculously-attested embassage going out from Judea in the name of Christ, summoned "all men everywhere to repent," and to

"turn to God from idols, to serve the living and the true God, and to wait for his son from heaven".

Though the result of this appeal was not very bountiful as regards widespread and effectual "repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ," yet a humanising effect was produced in vast communities of the human race.

The basis of European civilisation was laid in the substitution, in 300 years, of State Christianity for Paganism as the religious constitution of the Roman Empire. The work of the apostles while it accomplished the primary object of taking out a people as the associates of Christ in his coming glory, has indirectly reclaimed the population of Europe from a state of utter barbarism to a state of comparative enlightenment, in which they are more fit to be operated upon by that dispensation of judgment and instruction which is about to come into force in all the world.

The nation, "terrible from their beginning hitherto," is a nation whose future is bound up with this coming dispensation. Though "meted out and trodden down," God has not cast them off for ever. This He cannot do, for He has pledged His word to the contrary:

"If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel, for all that they have done" (Jer. 31:37).

"Though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet I will not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure" (30:11).

When this "correction in measure" has reached its appointed limits, the nation terrible from their beginning hitherto will become terrible again in the same way. Israel is again to be employed as the instrument of those wonderful acts by which the world, at the coming of Christ, is to be taught righteousness.

Seasons 1.84




4 For so Yahweh said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.

...before he [the rainbowed angel] advances against the daemonial and idol worshippers of "Christendom" so called, "he cries with a loud voice as when a lion roars." Being "the lion of the tribe of Judah," his proclamations are the roarings of that lion; and the carrying of them into effect, is the noise of the roaring (Ezek. xix. 1-9).

Before the noise of his roaring lays waste their cities, and desolates their land and the fulness thereof, he is still awaiting the result of his manifesto to the nations of the west. Enthroned in Jerusalem his dwelling-place, he is fearless of attack.

"I will be still," says the Spirit: "yet in my dwelling-place I will be without fear -- as dry heat impending lightning, as a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest" (Isa. xviii. 4).

Such will be the condition of the political aerial, styled in Apoc. xvi. 17, "the air," at the crisis when "the lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and earthquakes, and great hail" (xi. 19; iv. 5) shall be about to rend the heavens, shake the earth, and beat down the corrupters of the world.

During this ominous sultriness, and portentous calm, the strong lion of Judah "sends of those who have escaped" "the whirlwinds of the south," of the saved remnant of Judah, 

"to the nations Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, sounders of the truth, to Tubal, and Javan, and the isles afar off, that have not heard his fame, nor seen his glory; and they shall declare the glory" of which he is the king, "among the nations" (Isa. lxvi. 19).

But, they will not only declare his glory throughout the west; they will also make known the aion-evangile, the good concerning the millennial cycle, soon to commence in all its blessedness; and with a loud voice throughout the aerial, styled "mid-heaven," invite mankind to

"fear the Deity, and give glory to him, because the hour of his judgment,"

which is to destroy the catholic and protestant constitution of things, "has come" (Apoc. xiv. 6,7).

Eureka 10.7.


***


Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews, at Zion, "still as dry heat impending lightning, as a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest...

"I will be still (yet in my dwelling-place I will be without fear)." In the common version it reads "I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling-place," or marginally, "regard my set dwelling." The text places the considering person in the dwelling, and at rest there; the margin, makes him exterior to it, and looking at it. A very important difference this, when we come to understand the locality of the dwelling-place.

"I will be still as dry heat impending lightning, as a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest."

This is the quiescence of Yahweh's Name-bearer, after beating down the Assyrian at eventide, by which he obtains forcible possession of Jerusalem. It is absolute quietude, or cessation from all hostilities, an armistice, as it were, obtaining from the descent to the Mount of Olives, and the commencement of the war between the King of Israel and the papal powers of the Roman West.

The words "yet in my dwelling place I will be without fear," are parenthetic and descriptive of the great King's perfect security and fearlessness, in the midst of fierce and warlike nations, among whom he has introduced himself "as a thief," with the intention of spoiling their governments of all their glory, honour, dominion, and wealth.

As if he had said, "though I forbear immediately to follow up the victory I have gained in delivering Jerusalem from the Russo-Assyrian Gog, the enemy will be too confounded to rally his forces and lay siege to the city, for its recovery out of my hand. I shall be in it, and hold it without any ground of fear from a threatened renewal of the siege."

... The "dwelling-place" of the fourth verse, is declared in the seventh verse to be "MOUNT ZION, the dwelling-place of the Name of Yahweh of armies." This mount on which "the city where David dwelt" formerly stood, was selected by Yahweh himself, as the place of residence for his Name in all the Age to Come, termed "for ever."

... The one crown is David's, which he wears by inheritance; the "many," are those he wins from the Beast and kings of the earth whom he overcomes in battle, when he "gathers the clusters of the vine of the earth," and casts its grapes, fully ripe, "into the great wine-press of the wrath of God."

Jesus, the Redeemer, comes to Zion; at that crisis, "reaps the earth," in the overthrow of Gog: then, as a dew-cloud, he rests in Zion, awaiting the full ripening of the vine clusters in the Roman West.

This "perfecting of the fruit" is accomplished when the acceptance, or rejection, of the trumpet-proclamation to the land of o'ershadowing of wings, and to other lands, has divided them into adverse and friendly nations. As hostile, they are "the Goats;" as friendly, they are "the Sheep" of the Imperial Fold.

This division effected, and the Royal Reaper, no longer still as dry heat and a cloud of dew, thrusts in his pruning-hook again, and having reaped the grape-clusters, treads them in the wine-press without the city, that is, beyond the limits of the land.


Bro Thomas 


5 For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away and cut down the branches.

For before harvest as the perfecting of fruit when sour grapes are ripening, there shall be a blossom: and He will cut (it) off as vine-shoots by pruning hooks, and luxuriant twigs are lopped away.

"Before harvest there shall be a blossom," liphnai kahtzir yihyeh nitzzah. This blossom is Gog, who aims at establishing a permanent dominion over the east and west. He obtains preadventual possession of Jerusalem, but is unable to retain it in subjection. His ambition blossoms forth with great promise, but he proves eventually unable to bring his schemes of conquest and dominion to perfection.

Though laden with thick clay, his blossom will not become even a sour grape; for scarcely doth he appear as a flower in Yahweh's vineyard, but he is cut off and blown away like chaff before the wind.

The ten-horn or toe-kingdoms are not so. They continue to flourish on the earth's vine, first as blossoms, then as sour grapes, and lastly, as grapes fully ripe, and fit for the wine-press without the city. They are trodden at vintage-time; but the pre-eminent blossom is cut off "before harvest" "as vine-shoots by pruning-hooks, and luxuriant twigs are lopped away." *




The Gog power does not yet exist

It is the‮ ‬Gōg eretz ham-Magōg,‭ ‬the emperor of the German fatherland,‭ ‬that is the subject of the prophecy.‭ ‬At present,‭ ‬there is no such emperor...But the nesi Rosh, the prince of the Russians, is in opposition with Gōg, and will be one and the same power? Granted; but let us be content to wait for the execution of the sentence until the Prince of Rosh becomes the Emperor of Magog in the fulness of his power.

Ezekiel's prophecy of Gog relates solely to the invasion of the Holy Land by that power; to the antagonism presented by the British; to the overthrow of the invader by the Lord God-Adonai Yahweh;-and to the subsequent restoration of "the whole house of Israel." ...When it moves in that direction there will be no turning back ... for the Lord says,

"I will bring thee against my land that the nations may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes."

The invasion will be consummated, and the "first attempt" will be the last.

...Hooks are used in the prophets to signify Yahweh's judicial policy in regard to the people of his curse. Thus, he says to Israel,

"The Lord God hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that he will take you away with hooks, and your posterity with fish-hooks"-Amos 4:2.

This taking away with hooks is illustrated in the deportation of the tribes from the Holy Land by their Assyrian invaders. Again,

"Before the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening, there shall be a blossom, he shall both cut it off as sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away and cut down the branches. They shall be left together to the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them,"-Isai. 18:5, 6.

Hooks in the jaws, are to draw out the power owning the jaws from the waters in which it swims, as the great Leviathan or Dragon. They are not for drawing or turning him back, but for drawing out-Ezek. 29:3, 4: but when pruning hooks are used they are for lopping off, cutting down, and slaying, as Isaiah predicts of Gog in the above quotation; for of him have all the prophets spoken-Ezek. 38:17.

The hooks to be put into Gog's Dragon-jaws, are for the purpose of bringing him forth from his place in the north parts, and all his army with him, that the power may be captured and destroyed upon the mountains of Israel. This is fishing the Dragon that is in the seas-Isai. 27:1.

Adonai Yahweh is the fisher, with his hooks armed with a bait that has never failed of bringing up the Leviathan family of the sea to the mountains of Israel-Possession and dominion over Jerusalem and her land. The Lord will draw him up there with his hooks; and

"with his sore, and great and strong sword punish him"

with a wound he will not recover for a thousand years.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, July 1856.



6 They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.

They shall be left together for the carrion-bird of the mountains, and the wild beast of the land; and the bird of prey shall destroy upon it, and every wild beast of the land shall ravin upon it. *



7 In that time shall the present be brought unto the Yahweh hosts of a people scattered and peeled, and from a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, the mount Zion.

At that time a present shall be diligently brought to Yahweh of armies, a people carried away and oppressed even of a people terrible from this (time) and onward; a nation prostrate and trodden down, whose land rivers have spoiled; to the dwelling-place of the NAME of Yahweh of armies, Mount Zion. *

* Herald of the kingdom and Age to Come, May 1853


"At that time."-At evening time, and subsequently to the King of Israel's victory over Gog, and over "the Beast, False Prophet, and Kings of the earth, and their armies." The nations in arms being subdued under Israel-Psalm 47: 3, their hosts will no longer need to be detained in foreign parts. The time will have therefore come to give them rest from war; and to transport their victorious armies into their native land, that they may be disbanded there, and "settled after their old estates"-Ezekiel 36: 11...

...the land of overshadowing of wings will be in great request for this service, which will be willingly and joyfully rendered. Hence, Israel's eventide return to their fatherland, by this agency, is termed the diligent conveyance of "a present to Yahweh of armies."

Those of the scattered nation that are inaccessible to ships, will be brought home by the usual means of transportation by land. This present brought by sea and land to Mount Zion is termed by the prophet "an offering unto Yahweh out of all nations." His words are, "They shall bring all your brethren, an offering unto Yahweh out of all nations upon horses, and chariots, and litter vehicles, and upon mules, and dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, as the children of Israel bring the offering in a clean vessel to the house of Yahweh"-Isaiah 66: 20....

This "present" is not brought before the return of Jesus, the bearer of Yahweh's name, from the right hand of power. It cannot be brought until he becomes "Yahweh of armies," and is enthroned in Zion; for it is brought by strong nations as an offering to him dwelling in Zion. Were all Israel now sent back to Palestine by existing powers, their restoration would be no offered present to the Yahweh-name, because Zion is not yet the actual abode of Yahweh-Jesus.

The "present" will be freely offered, because the offerers will have come to the recognition of the true nature of things. Jesus, whose prophetic name is "Yahweh our righteousness"-Jeremiah 23: 6, will have convinced them of his power, and right to the world's allegiance, by his skill and prowess in arms. The south will no longer keep back, nor the north refuse to give up; for the Dragon, and the Beast, the False Prophet, and the Kings, with all the armies that now give effect to their wickedness, will have been destroyed; and all obstacles to the full return of Israel from the four winds of heaven, completely removed. "They shall bring my sons from far, saith God, and my daughters from the ends of the earth; every one that is called by my name: for I have created Israel for my glory"-Isaiah 43: 1, 6-7.

This "present" is not brought before the return of Jesus, the bearer of Yahweh's name, from the right hand of power. It cannot be brought until he becomes "Yahweh of armies," and is enthroned in Zion; for it is brought by strong nations as an offering to him dwelling in Zion. Were all Israel now sent back to Palestine by existing powers, their restoration would be no offered present to the Yahweh-name, because Zion is not yet the actual abode of Yahweh-Jesus.

The "present" will be freely offered, because the offerers will have come to the recognition of the true nature of things. Jesus, whose prophetic name is "Yahweh our righteousness"-Jeremiah 23: 6, will have convinced them of his power, and right to the world's allegiance, by his skill and prowess in arms. The south will no longer keep back, nor the north refuse to give up; for the Dragon, and the Beast, the False Prophet, and the Kings, with all the armies that now give effect to their wickedness, will have been destroyed; and all obstacles to the full return of Israel from the four winds of heaven, completely removed. "They shall bring my sons from far, saith God, and my daughters from the ends of the earth; every one that is called by my name: for I have created Israel for my glory"-Isaiah 43: 1, 6-7.

But before the free-will offering of this present of Israel to their King by the nations no longer hostile, and before Zion is delivered of the man-child, Palestine will be occupied by a Jewish population, respectable for numbers, industry, and wealth. This is evident from the following testimony:

"In the latter years, O Gog, thou shalt come into the land brought back from the sword and gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which were (asher-hahyu) for desolation continually: but is brought forth out of the nations, and they dwell safely all of them." "Thou shalt come up against my people of Israel as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the nations may know me, when I shall be glorified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes."

This proves a partial return before Gog's invasion. The following text shows their prosperity in their land before he disturbs their peace. Yahweh addressing himself to Gog says, "Thou shalt think an evil thought; and shall say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, to take a spoil and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places now inhabited, and upon the people gathered out of the nations, who have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land." *

*****

...Zion, then is not in Sky-Kingdomia, but in Palestine. "Yahweh loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob." "When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory."

All people pretending to sanity admit that the Lord has not yet appeared in his glory since this prophecy was written. It is manifest, therefore, that Zion is in an unbuilded condition, that is, in ruins: and seeing that there are no ruins in Sky-Kingdomia, it follows again that the Zion in which the Lord delights, is not there.

"The Lord hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest for ever; HERE will I dwell; for I have desired it. There will I make the horn (power) of David to bud." "Zion shall be redeemed (from the power of the enemy) with judgment:" "and the redeemed shall come to Zion"-come, not go, to Zion. "Our heart is faint, and our eyes dim, because of the mountain of Zion which is desolate." "The Lord shall yet comfort Zion." "I set my King on Zion my holy hill," "the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever."

"Then the moon shall be confounded and the sun ashamed, when Yahweh of armies shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously." In view of these testimonies, how forcible and appropriate the exhortation to Israel, "O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord!" *

* Herald of the kingdom and Age to Come, May 1853