Ch.23.Perjecution punfh;d. St.Ma 34; &c. I foretel you now what will be- fall you : I will lenduno you yet greater Pro- phets, &c. And thus you will ufe them, And fo when you have hired up the meafureofyour National Sin, the Detruction deferved by your Anceftors, but fufpended by the patience and long fuffering of God, Mill be fufpended no longer, but shall fall on this forlaken Genera- tion, and God will remember all at once, in the day that he dreadfully deftroyeth you. N. t. Whether this Zacharias was the Son of Jercjada, in eafh's days : and theName of Barachias , flipt into the Text by Come Scribe's conjecturè out of the Delcription of the Prophet Zachary : or whether is were,any other, is of no great Moment. a._ The Sins of their Anceftors are Paid to be punithed on that Generation. r. Becaufe it being a National l'aniNment, which was procured by National Sins, many Ages. 2. Becaule Children derive Nature and Guilt in part from Parents Sin, and not from ,Adam only, as the whole Hiftory of the Scripture theweth. 3. B'eeaufe they finned as their An- ceftors did. The Sin here defcribed, is much liketheirs . now, who Canonize the Saints whom their Anceftors Perlecuted and Murdered, and keep Holydays for them, and vifit theirShrines, and carry their Relicks, and account their Names the Honour of their Church ; and at the fame time, Hate, Perfecute, Silence and Murder thofe that imitate them. 37. O Jerufalem, Jerufalem, thou that killeft the prophets, and floneft them which are fent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen ga- thereth her chickensunder her wings, and ye would not ! 37. How oft have I offered by my Meffen- gets, and attempted to gather thee into a State of greatelt favour and fafety, with tendere(t love ; but you would not confect? N. s. Chrift would have taken the whole Cityand Nation into his Church; had theynot refufed : And therefore Infants as they were before. 2. if the yews had all believed in Chrift, he would not have continued the Law of Mfes, and that Policie, which did but lead to him ; nor have f trialten the reft of the World, to make them only his Church a but would have made them a part Of the Catholick Church. 38. Behold your houle is left un- to you defolate. 39. For I fay unto you Ye Ihall not fee me henceforth, till ye (hail fay, Bleffed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. 33, 39. Your Temple and City near are to tthew. Chrift's prophetic. Ch. 23, certain Defolatioo. when you have executed your fury on me, I will leave you to the fury of Deßroyers, and you flail fee me no more, till Convi&ion conitrain you to defire me, as your Saviour. Nate, That the Country of Judeawhere the remnant of the Jews, after the Deftruftion of Jerufalem, abode, were converted to Chrift, as other Countries were, in the days of Con/fau- rioe, and after ; and a Patriarch retied at3eruf:. lam : and a Bifhop at C,efarea, and manyBiflops and Churches among them, though fome re- mained obllinate. CHAP. XXIV. s. A Nd Jefus went out, and de- parted from the temple; and his difciples carne to him for to Phew him the buildings of the ¡temple. 2. And Jefus Paid unto them, See ye not all thefe things ? verily I fay un- to you, There 1111 not be left one lIone upon another, that !hall not be thrown down. t, z. All this Hall be caft down for the Sin of this People. 3. And as he fat upon the mount of Olives, the difciples came unto him privately, laying, Tell us when !hall thefe things be ? and what flail be the lign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? g. They defired him, that had fo oft told them, that he mutt be Crucified and Rife a- gain; and yet come again, to tell them the meaning, and, frgnaofhis canting, which they did not well underftand. Some Expofitors of this hard Chapter think, That the Qeftion meaneth no more, than [what shall be the Sig; s of thy Coming to Deftroy Jerufalem; and of the end oftheir Policie 7 Others think, that they expehted that Chrift fhould prefently come, and reign at yeruf lem, and fet up a Kingdom fo excellent, as Mould be the beginning ofa New Age, or World; as Ncah's after the De- luge, when all the World of wicked men Mould fubmit to him or he deftroyed. Others fay, That thefe queftions are put of different things, and times, and accordingly anfwered : a. When the Temple should be Deftroyed? 2. When Chrift Mould letup his Vilible King- dom? 3. When the WorldMould End? The two trrft undoubtedly they meant; but by his Coming, Ido notthink they meant, ei- ther his fending the Roman Army, norhis Co- mingat the Day of Refurre&ion and Judg- ment; but his Coming to be a Vilble Mo- narch,
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