THE RAINBOW. the door will be shut. We have had trifling enough; let us now be in earnest, and give Christ such a place in our hearts as He never had before, so that the prospect of his coming may fill us with hope and joy! WE BEAUTIFUL PICTURES. E have said in the foregoing article, that sometimes the pictures of the future drawn by brethren who teach that the world will be evangelized by the Church during the present dispensation, are very beautiful. This is not to be wondered at; for the world is to be converted, and that, too, at an earlier period than the most earnest friend of missionary labour would venture to predict. The world will be converted, although not until after the return of our King-the true Sovereign of humanity-from the far country; and the descriptions of it in that state, given by the seers of Israel and Judah, are entrancingly beautiful. There is one thing wanting in the pictures of the moderns which the ancients always have, and that is, the glorious presence of the Lord the King! No wonder that the latter excel in beauty! There is a glow of holy warmth diffused over them which no ingenuity of eloquence can impart in the absence of Christ the Lord. "How complete your representation of the happy time coming would be," said we, at the close of a graphic description of what the Gospel, according to the speaker, will accomplish, "if the Lord Jesus Himself were but seen in the picture!" The radiant presence of the once despised and rejected One gives to the scenes of the latter-day glory their peerless beauty. The peace, love, prosperity, light, joy, and holiness of that Sabbath-day of time, are all explained by the fact that the name of the chief city shall be, "The Lord is there." The garden of the first Adam was a nook somewhere in the East; the paradise restored of the Second Adam will be the entire world; and, out of the fulness of his wonderful love to men, He will make it far more beautiful than ever poetic imagination conceived. Could we have all that our brethren speak of, while the Lord of the fair estate was absent, the golden splendour that rests upon the prophetic paintings would be absent too. It is the King of Israel present with his people, that gives the inimitable glory. Here is a little sun picture. Let us look at it: "Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord hath taken away thy judgments; he hath cast out thine enemy; the King of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more. In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not; and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack. The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing." (Zeph. iii. 14-17.) What pencil could have drawn that, if not held by the Holy Ghost? And if He held it, surely He saw the facts and features of the scene just as they are to be in the blessed time coming; and surely, also, He meant us to understand the description just as it is given. It is sacrilege to rob that sketch of its glory by an interpretation (?) which banishes Israel, and Zion, and Jerusalem, and even the Lord Himself from the scene. To" spiritualize" that, is not to make it spiritual, and beautiful, and grand, but to degrade and destroy it. Here is another splendid picture. "And in that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee: thou that wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me. Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. And in that day shall ye say, Praise the Lord, call upon his name-or proclaim his name, margin-declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted. Sing unto the Lord; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth. Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee." (Isa. xii.) Now, there are three things noticeable in this millennial lyric, this exulting song of adoration. First: The Lord has come and is among his people, the Holy One of Israel in the midst of her. She is no longer "without a king" (Hosea iii. 4), for her glorious Messiah is with her; and in the overflowing abundance of her happiness she forgets the shame of her youth, and remembers the reproach of her widowhood no more. (Isa. liv. 4.) Secondly: Converted Israel is found, not scattered among the nations, but gathered in the Lord's land. She is the " inhabitant of Zion." She is no longer a captive and removing to and fro, but at home in the country of many wonders, her long exile ended, and her sackcloth for ever put off. There is no hint of the conversion of Israel, as a people, whilst they sojourn amongst the Gentiles; but let Christians who are labouring to convince the Jews that Jesus of Nazareth was the Anointed of Jehovah, take courage. The seed they are sowing now will bear most abundant fruit ere long in the land given to Abraham and his descendants for an inheritance Jan. 1, 1868. BEAUTIFUL PICTURES. "For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah; that they may dwell there, and have it in possession. The seed also of his servants shall inherit it, and they that love his name shall dwell therein." (Psa. lxix. 35, 36.) Thirdly: The very thing we long for, the very picture of beauty we desire to see as a realized fact, namely, the conversion of the world, is to be effected through the instrumentality of converted Israel. "Praise the Lord, publish his name, declare his doings among the people-the nations, or Gentiles. He hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth." As the Church came through Israel, so the conversion of the nations is to come through Israel. The Lord's first disciples and apostles were Jews. "Thus it is written," said the risen Saviour, "and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day; and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things." Accordingly it was done. Pentecost told its wonderful lesson. The Gospel was preached in the nations, and ever since the Lord has been taking out of them a people for his name, the election, the first fruits, the body of Christ. But this is not all. Very far from it, blessed be God! The election of this dispensation do not constitute all who shall be saved, but the first sheaf of a magnificent harvest. When the real Church shall be gathered, and the nominal church, or apostate Christendom, "cut off," the Lord will return to Jerusalem, and she shall be called "the throne of the Lord," and through converted Israel the streams of light and salvation shall flow to the uttermost ends of the earth. Here is the proof. "It shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." (Isa. ii. 2, 3.) The application of this sublime prophecy to the "beginning of the Gospel" is simply out of the question, notwithstanding the fact already noted that the Church is the result of the Gospel which came from Jerusalem. For, first, the physical change in the elevation of Mount Zion, mentioned in the second verse, did not take place in the times of the Apostles, and has not taken place yet. Secondly, the fourth and fifth verses are not yet accomplished predictions. They read thus :"And he—the Lord-shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and Jan. 1, 1868. their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord." This time of judgment among the nations, and of universal peace, has not yet come. Nor can it come until the Prince of Peace sits upon his throne. Universal peace during the present dispensation would contradict the express teaching of our Lord. Wars and rumours of wars, strife and division are the predicted characteristics of the world, during the entire period that the Gospel of the Kingdom should be preached in it for a testimony against it. It has been even so! And the house of Jacob does not yet with one consent walk in the light of the Lord. Thirdly: Jesus has not yet returned; but the prediction implies his personal presence in Mount Zion, and the parallel prophecy in Mich. iv. expressly asserts it: In that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted; and I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation; and the Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever." Beautiful pictures! Through God's great mercy they are so numerous in the sure word of prophecy, that the search for them is like walking in the garden of the Lord, and being bewildered with the variety, and beauty, and exquisite fragrance of its innumerable flowers. But let the reader mark this well:-the secret of the exquisite beauty and glory, is the glorious presence of our adored Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. THE HOLY AND THE UNHOLY CITIES OF THE APOCALYPSE. WE E know that Jerusalem is being rebuilt! Would that we had faith to believe in the literal fulfilment of all prophecy which is told in literal language. "Faith is the evidence of things unseen.' There are two great earthly cities described in the Apocalypse, which are to consist in the latter times; one is to be partially destroyed by earthquake, the other is to be entirely destroyed by fire. One must be Jerusalem; it is called "the holy city." St. John is told to measure in it "The temple of God." We nowhere read that this temple is to be destroyed. This holy city is to be oppressed for a period only (forty-two months), then visited by earthquake, after which the people in it give glory to the God of heaven. They appear to have been chastened, then Jan. 1, 1868. "the woe" passed away. The distinction between the two great cities is very apparent in the 16th chapter, 19th verse. "The great city was divided into three parts by an earthquake. . . . and great Babylon (then) came in remembrance." The sound of earthquake was heard a short time before the destruction of ancient Jerusalem, but we do not read that the city was injured by it. Isaiah prophesies of Jerusalem, "Woe to Ariel, the city where David dwelt, yet I will distress Ariel. It shall be visited of the Lord of hosts with earthquake, and great noise, and the flame of devouring fire; and the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel . . . shall be as the dream of a night vision." "Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field. . . . for the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed." (It is those who fight against Ariel are scattered, blessing seems to follow quickly after judgment.) "Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale." Has this time of blessing yet come? Has Ariel been yet delivered from the terrible one? Read this 29th chapter of Isaiah. Jerusalem is oppressed both by God and man, visited by earthquake, and brought so low that she whispers out of the dust, yet she is delivered suddenly, mysteriously; and her enemies scattered as "chaff that passeth away." "And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed." Has this vision been since fulfilled? It appears to agree with the prophecy in the Apocalypse. We read of this holy city of the Revelation as existing after one thousand years, it is called there "The beloved city," it is earthly, for the nations from the four corners of the earth compass it about. It is again delivered miraculously from its enemies. This we may put in contradistinction to the city (or seat) of the beast, "Babylon the Great." There is no mention of a temple in this city, the term holy is never applied to it; on the contrary, it is called "The mother of harlots and abominations of the earth." Such a city bearing the name Babylon did not exist when St. John was shown the vision. The beast which carrieth this city, was, and is not, and (in a vision of the future) yet is. The city may arise in an equally mysterious manner. All the world shall wonder when they behold the beast. St. John wondered with great admiration when he saw the woman (or city). St. John was carried away in the spirit into the wilderness, to behold this woman: we know how great a wilderness is near the site of ancient Babylon (the city which was), we know that it was once an idolatrous, blasphemous, persecuting city, given to fornication and merchandise; all marks similar to the Babylon which shall be destroyed in the latter days. Berosus tells us that Nebuchadnezzar built a palace at Babylon, "emi |