only until that which is determined, shall have been poured upon them; For St. Paul says (Rom. xi. 25, 26. ); "I would not brethren that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: As it is written, there shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob." And our Lord, speaking of the desolations which the Jews should suffer as predicted by Daniel, says, ( Luke, xxi. 24); "And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations; And Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." When therefore the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled, then will God again have mercy upon and restore his ancient people. But when that time will be, or in what manner their restoration will be effected, or what kind of a restoration will take place, we pretend not to determine: But this we say with the Apostle (Rom. xi. 15); "If the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?"

Dissertation

13.

CHAPTER X.

WHEN those servants of God, who have been most eminent for piety and virtue, approach near to death, they are sometimes favoured with especial revelations of the divine will. For when Isaac was old and his eyes were dim, he was enabled to describe the future lot and condition of his Sons, Jacob and Esau, and of their posterity: And when Jacob was bending over the grave, we find him (Gen. xlviii. xlix. ) predicting the future circumstances of the Sons of Joseph, and of the twelve tribes in general: So also to Daniel, now about the ninetieth year of his age, God is pleased once more to give a very detailed and particular revelation of what would befall his people in the latter days. Though on several former occasions he had been highly favoured with the manifestation of things which would happen both to his own people the Jews, and to the world at large; yet still, at the very close of life, he was anxious to know the designs of providence respecting

his nation. He had ( ix. 3) before sought this knowledge, "by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes; " And his prayer was heard and answered: So now he repeats the same method; for says he (vs. 2, 3), "In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks. I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled." And why he thus humbled himself is explained by the angel (v. 14), who says to him; "I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days." The prophet was anxious to know the future state of his people; he sought this knowledge by fasting and prayer, and it was graciously granted.

Among the Jews there were two kinds of fasting; total, and partial: of the first kind was David's (2 Samuel, iii. 35); “And when all the people came to cause David to eat meat while it was yet day, David swear, saying, So do God to me and more also, if I taste bread, or ought else, till the Sun be down; "of the second kind was Daniel's, who lived on coarse fare, and did not anoint himself with perfumes during three weeks. In times of festivity it was usual with the Jews to anoint themselves; hence Naomi says to Ruth (Ruth, iii. 3); "Wash thyself therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment upon thee, and get thee down to the floor:" But in times of grief they abstained from it; for Joab says to the wise woman of Tekoah (2 Samuel, xiv. 2); "1 pray thee, feign thyself to be a mourner, and put on now mourning apparel, and anoint not thyself with oil, but be as a woman that had a long time mourned for the dead. And, as Daniel felt grief and sorrow for

the captivity of his countrymen; so, his outward appearance and manners corresponded with the feelings of his heart. His clothing was that of a mourner; and his diet as one who was humbling himself, and interceeding with God.

Nor did this eminent servant of God fast and pray in vain: for at the expiration of the three weeks his prayers were answered by a remarkable vision: For as he was by the great river Hiddekel, he saw certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz: His body also was like the Beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude" (v. 5, 6 ). This certain man was evidently the Son of God, who is called by Daniel (vii. 13); "one like the Son of Man:" And the description, which John gives (Rev. i. 13-15 ) of Jesus, is so very similar to Daniel's, that it is clear John borrowed his from him. And that the Son of God did appear at times under the old Testament dispensation, is evident from Genesis ( xviii. 2, 25, 26): For when Abraham looked, "lo, three men stood by him;" And to one of these he afterwards addresses his prayer for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and says; “ Shall not the judge of all the earth do right. " But who is the judge of all the earth but Christ? for he it is, "which was ordained of God to be the judge of quick and dead." (Acts, x. 42 )

This certain man is also described as having his loins "girded with fine gold of Uphaz." Now according to Bochart and Calmet, Uphaz and Ophir are the same place. But it is by no means agreed upon among the learned where Ophir was situated;

some thinking it to be in the East Indies, and others in Africa, Without however entering into any particular investigation of the subject, we shall quote the opinion of Wells and Prideaux. Wells says; "I shall say no more of Ophir here, than that it is generally agreed to lie in the East Indies." And on the same, subject Prideaux thus expresses himself: "But though it be by all agreed that the trade to Ophir and Tarshish was the same, that is now in the hands of our East India Merchants, yet there are great disputes among learned men, in what parts of the Eastern world these two places lay. Some will have Ophir to have been the island of Zocatora, which lies on the eastern coasts of Africa a little without the streights of Babelmandel. Others will have it to be the island. anciently called Taprobana, now Ceylon; and for its being an Island, they have the authority of Eupolemus an ancient author quoted by Eusebeus, on their side. For, speaking of David, he saith of him, that he built ships at Elath, a city of Arabia; and from thence sent metal men to the island of Urphe, or Ophir, situated in the red sea, which was fruitful in yielding, abundance of gold; and the metal men brought it from thence to Judea... Only thus much I cannot forbear to say, that if the Southern part of Arabia did furnish the world in those times with the best gold, and in the greatest quantity, as good authors say, they that would have the Ophir of the holy Scriptures to be there situated, seem of all others to have the best, foundation for their conjecture. But more than conjecture no one can have in this matter."w

When Daniel saw the vision, which is the subject of our present consideration, he was by the river

w Well's, Sa. Geo. v. 1. p. 93. - Prid. v. 1. p. 9, 10.