effected its destruction. And it would appear that, generally, St. Matthew, who, it must be remembered, was one of the twelve, in immediate attendance on our Lord, relates the prophecy in the terms in which it was probably delivered by Jesus; whilst St. Luke, who heard not our Lord himself, but who wrote his Gospel, (as he himself informs us,) upon the testimony of others, who were eye-witnesses and ministers of the word, relates it in a sort of paraphrase, according to the explanation of portions of it which our Lord had subsequently given.

We must now notice the occasion of this prophecy.

Our Lord having uttered those awful denunciations against the Scribes and Pharisees, contained in the 23d chapter, concludes with these words→→→→ "Behold your house is left unto you desolate: for I say unto you, ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord:" after which (as we read in the 1st verse of the chapter before us,) “he departed from the temple;" and never again did he vouchsafe his presence within its walls. Then might they indeed have written upon it Ichabod, for truly its glory was departed. The disciples however now came about him, and, apparently struck by his words" Behold, your house is left unto you desolate!"-directed his attention

c Luke i. 2.

to the beauty and magnificence of that house, as if they would plead for its preservation. If this was in their mind, they would be greatly disappointed by the answer of Jesus:-" See ye not all these things? Verily I say unto you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down."

may

Ah, brethren, many of the signs of those days bear a striking resemblance to the signs of our own times; and among them, the rage which prevailed in all Judea for erecting new palaces and buildings, and adorning their cities and towns with magnificent structures. And though it be as unpalatable to us, as it was to them, to be informed that the stones and the buildings, which we here and elsewhere behold, are all to come down; yet true it is, that the day is at hand when a ruthless and infidel fanaticism shall overthrow them: " for the day of the Lord shall be upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall, and upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures; and the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low; and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day."

To proceed however: when the disciples had retired to the Mount of Olives,-on which they sat with a full view of the city and temple before them, and the awful words of Jesus still ringing

d Isa. ii. 12-17.

in their ears, they came to him privately and asked him, "Tell us when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" The former of these questions manifestly relates to the desolation of Jerusalem and the temple. The second is as evidently suggested by those words which Jesus added, when he denounced the destruction of their house" Ye (meaning the nation) shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that COMETH in the name of the Lord." This plainly declared, that he, as the Messiah, would for a time be hid from the house of Israel, and make himself strange to them; but that a period would also arrive when he would again manifest himself to them, and when they should receive him as the Christ, and the blessed of the Lord. Therefore the question, "What the sign of thy coming ?"

What suggested the question concerning the end of the world is not so apparent. First, I would observe, that the Greek word here translated world, does not signify the terrestrial globe, but a period of time-an age, or dispensation. Now, it was a tradition generally held by the Jews, that the ages were to be thus divided:2000 years before the Law,-2000 years under the Law, and 2000 years under Messiah; and it is probable that, as the second period had now

e της συντελείας του αιωνας - the consummation of the ages

passed away, the disciples considered that the Mosaical dispensation was about to terminate: and whether this was to be involved in the desolation of their house, or in the coming again of Jesus, or if there was to be any other sign of it, they now desired to be informed.

To these questions Jesus answered and said unto them" Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying 'I am Christ,' and shall deceive many." (Verses 4, 5.) With regard to false Christs previous to the destruction of Jerusalem, Theudas and the Egyptian are mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles ;' and Josephus states that impostors of this description became so numerous during the procuratorship of Felix, that he daily put some to death;8 a loose mode of writing, yet affording us undoubted evidence that this part of the prediction was fulfilled.

" And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars; see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation must rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines and pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows." (Verses 6-8.) I need only here quote the words of that esteemed commentator, the Rev. T. Scott, to show

f Acts xxi. 38.

Joseph. Ant. lib. xx. c. 5, 8; De Bell. Jud. lib. xx. c. 13.

how these things were fulfilled; who says" that by the concurrent testimony of ancient historians, and the judgment of modern and learned men, the period alluded to was distinguished from all others which went before and which followed, by such events as are here predicted." But these things were nevertheless only the beginning of sorrows to the Jews. They were to be more or less involved in them; but they were not the great outpouring of wrath which God had in store for the nation : and we learn from history, that just before the elevation of Vespasian to the throne, though the Jews had provoked the wrath of the Romans, their punishment was, notwithstanding, obliged to be deferred, because the great commanders of those days were too much occupied elsewhere.

Our Lord continues :-" Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another." (Verses 9, 10.) The word then does not signify that this was to be the next event in order of time, but in or during the period previous to the crisis of tribulation coming upon them. For Luke says"But before all these things they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being

h Com. on Matt. in loco. See also Joseph. Ant. lib. xviii. c. 9; xx. 2; de Bell. ii. 10; iv. 4; Tacitus, Annal. xii. xiv.; Hist. v. and Acts xi. 28.