The effect produced upon the waters of the globe by the manifestation of the Redeemer in flaming fire, when he cometh forth to the destruction of his enemies, and to establish his dominion over the earth, is frequently noticed in scripture: the sea, "Behold at my rebuke I dry up I make the rivers a wilderness, And die for thirst.' "He restraineth the sea and dryeth it up, The symbol of a judgment at that time suspended, shewn to the prophet Amos, is very remarkable in its description, "Behold, the Lord God called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part." It had actually eaten up a part, as seen in the vision, when the Lord relented; but we have here a foreshewing of what will be the effect of the Lord's calling to contend with fire. A fire is employed that is sufficient "to eat up the great deep." And no doubt the watery world will have undergone as great and important a change as the other parts of the universe; when he "once more shaketh the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land." But though the ocean in its present form be no longer, we need not doubt, that the new heavens and the new earth will have their distribution of waters. Of the destruction of one sea, and the effect produced upon another, of the earth cleft for two new rivers, and the smiting of the * Isaiah 1. 2. Compare Zeph. i. 3. Ezek. xxxviii. 20. Hosea iv. 3. + Nahum. great Euphrates into seven shallow streams, we have already read in prophecy. 66 4 Reproduction out of destruction, seems to be the constant picture set before us; and though the present sea be no more, the " dividing," or rather the reducing" or "stilling of the sea when the waves thereof roar," is reckoned as "an ordinance" "that does not depart from before the Lord." And the promise must be sustained, that "the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas" must be "put under the feet of man."* The sterile ocean, then, in its present form is to be no more, and a new distribution of land and water, on this terraqueous globe, of the nature and effects of which, we can form no idea or conjecture, is to be the final condition of this redeemed earth: Isaiah xlv. 18.-" For thus saith Jehovah that created the heavens; God himself" the Elohim himself" that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain he formed it to be inhabited: I am Jehovah, and there is none else." We read in the epistle to the Hebrews respecting the glory and inheritance of Christ: Heb. i. 8, &c." But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And, Thou Lord in the beginning hast laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the works of thine hands: they shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a * Psalm viii. 8. Jer. xxxi. 35, 36. Compare Isaiah li. 15, 16, &c. garment; and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail." It follows in the psalm here quoted, as we have before noticed, "The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee." And perhaps the beauteous scenes of the new creation in its finished state, which during the Millennium had been displayed in some happy countries, and caused the Arabian desert to rejoice and blossom as the rose, that had made Israel's wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord, may now, if not before, have been extended "from the rising to the setting sun," and "the outgoings of the evening and morning made to rejoice." "Thou hast visited the earth, and made it to teem with plenty; Greatly hast thou enriched it! Elohim has divided into streams' the fulness of the waters, Thou hast prepared their abundant produce. When thus thou hast prepared moisture for the furrows of the earth, Thou breakest down its ridges. Thou dost moisten it with showers, Thou blessest its vegetation; Thou encirclest the year with thy bounty, And thy chariots drop fatness; They drop beauties on the plain, And the hills are girt with joy ; The pastures are clothed with flocks, Here, then, we contemplate the consummation of the world's redemption. And this prospect of good for the earth, from the dust of which he was created, must certainly be most consolatory to the pious believer's mind. When he himself has received his higher destinies in heavenly places with Christ Jesus, he may not perhaps think with indifference on his native place, and the scenes of his humbler fortunes: in perfect holiness-where the glory of God absorbs every other consideration—he has acquiesced in the hallowing of God's name in the destruction of the wicked; and beheld with triumphant eyes-while he followed in the armies of heaven, Him, who in righteousness doth judge and make war-the everlasting discomfiture of every enemy of the Lord's Anointed: but not with less emotion will he behold the manifestation of the great Restorer's power, as out of second chaos and destruction he shall bring forth harmony and beauty, both when he begins, or as he proceeds, or shall consummate the "promised new creation"— folding up and changing the vesture of all things, till heaven and earth be full of his glory. He that has the higher portion in this glory, who is "called according to the purpose of God," "justified" and "predestinated to be conformed to the image of His only begotten Son, that He may be the first-born among many brethren," may well rejoice in hope of the riches of this glory; Christ's "in heritance in his saints ;" and, as St. Paul teaches, console himself in the present short affliction, which is working for him a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory: for he says, "I reckon that the sufferings of this present time, are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us." And not only this; but he sees as it were instamped on all the creation of God, a deeply cherished hope to be partaker in the manifested glories of the children of God. "For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God." "Because the creature itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God." 66 "O may we ever be enabled, to keep steadily in view, "the things which God hath prepared for them that love him,"-" things freely given us of God," with that glowing hope, which he, who "hath it in him" "purifieth himself as He is pure,"-mindful of the wonderful assurance given us, "For all things are your's, whether" "the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are your's ; and ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's." 66 Therefore, with angels and archangels, and with all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify thy glorious name; evermore praising Thee, and saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts, heaven and earth are full of thy glory: Glory be to Thee, O Lord Most High!!! AMEN." |