yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him."

"Tabernacles of his palace," that is, "the tents of his princes and generals." (Cot. Bible.) "Yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him." Here is to be a FINAL PAUSE; for Michael, or "the lion of the tribe of Judah," is to meet him at the very spot where he stood eighteen hundred years ago, and predicted the distress of nations, and the final overthrow of all the kingdoms of the world. Amen, even so, come Lord Jesus."

CHAPTER V.

EXPOSITION OF DANIEL, CHAP. XII.

v. 1. "And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great Prince which standeth for the children of thy people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time; and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book."

The

At the closing point of "the time of the end," when the king of the north shall have come to his end having none to help him, shall MICHAEL STAND UP." meaning of the term Michael, as we are informed by Hebraists, is, "who is like God?" This title is evidently applied to that adorable personage, who is elsewhere called Emanuel, or “God with us.” We so understand it for the following reasons: 1. In Jude ix, Michael is called the Archangel; and as the term Archangel signifies a ruler of Angels, we understand it to be the Messiah. 2. In 1. Thess. iv: 16, we read "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first."

The phrase, en keleusmati, rendered "with a shout," implies the issue of a command, as by a commanding officer of land or naval forces. The word rendered "trump" sometimes means a signal-blast, or trumpet

call. The sense of the passage therefore, I apprehend to be this, the Lord Jesus Christ shall descend from heaven with the word of command, issued in the voice of the Lord of Angels, and with the trumpet-tones of Divine authority; and this fiat of omnipotence shall awaken the dead, or as Jesus said, (John v: 25,) “the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live." This passage in Thessalonians is synchronous and parallel with Dan. xii: 1, in which the great Prince, that standeth for the people of God, is represented as taking to himself His sovereign authority, and resurrecting the dead. We therefore conclude that Michael, and the Lord Jesus Christ, are one and the same. 3. We are told Michael is "the great Prince, which standeth for the children of thy people," that is Daniel's people. In Is. ix: 6, 7 we read, unto us a child is born: unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, THE PRINCE OF PEACE. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this."

"For

In Ezek. xxxvii: 25: "And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt, and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever; and my servant David shall be their Prince forever."

In Dan. viii: 25: "And through his policy also he 12*

shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many; he shall also stand up against the Prince of Princes; but he shall be broken without hand."

In Dan. ix: 25 "Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times."

In Acts v 30, 31. "The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree: Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins."

From all these testimonies I conclude, that the great Prince here alluded to, is no other than the son of God, who is the rightful heir to the throne of David.

'And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation," etc. If a man were told that, at a given period, there was a time of trouble, such as never was since the institution of a bank, he would readily understand it was connected with the currency, implying a pressure on the money market; thus, to my apprehension, is this time of trouble connected with the nations or governments. If it were not so, why is the term nations used? It is not said, such as never was from the beginning of the creation, or the beginning of the world, but since there was a nation, or, in other words, since the organization of a national government. It alludes therefore, I apprehend, to those national turmoils, and upheavings of the po

litical elements, that will overturn and demolish all the kingdoms of the world, so that subsequently to those commotions the mountains, (or governments,) as represented under the seventh vial, will not be found; for anarchy and confusion will fill the earth. According to Heb. xii: 26, 28, the kingdoms of this world will be shaken down and removed, to make room for that "kingdom which cannot be moved," but will stand forever.

"And at that time, thy people shall be delivered." The term here used is, in the Greek Septuagint, the same as used in the Greek Testament, rendered “saved." Every one that shall be found written in the book." The subjects of this salvation are enrolled among "the Church of the first born which are written in heaven."

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"And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem," (Is. iv: 3).

"And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies: they shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they be written. in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord God," (Ezek. xiii: 9).

"And whosoever was not found written in the book of life, was cast into the lake of fire," (Rev. xx: 15).

"And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book," (Rev. xxii: 19).