delivered to the Jews in their present dispersed state : and it provides for them all the blessings which they stand in need of, both in this world and in the world to come.
Let us consider these promises,
I. As delivered more immediately to the Jewish people —
Whatever reference these promises might have to the period of their return from Babylon, it is manifest that they did not receive at that time a full accom- plishment ; and, consequently, that we must look for- ward to the future restoration of the Jews as the period fixed for their final completion.
The Jews are destined to be restored to their own
land —
[Of this, I conceive, there can be no reasonable doubt. The prophets speak so fully and so plainly on this subject, that we must divest language of all force and certainty before we can set aside the hope of their restoration to their own land. Whether that event shall precede or follow their con- version, I presume not to determine.
It should seem, from the writings of Moses, that the con- version of some, at least, will precede their return to Palestine : " When thou shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and obey his voice, then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity a." The Prophet Jeremiah, on the other hand, represents both events as simultaneous : " They shall come with weeping ; and with supplications will I lead themV But in the passage before us, the prophet speaks of their conversion as subsequent to their restoration: " I will bring you into your own land: then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean." All of these testimonies doubtless are true ; and they are easily reconciled, by only referring them to the different stages of their conversion, as viewed in its commencement, its progress, and its consummation. But, whatever be deter- mined with respect to this, their future restoration to the land of their fathers is as certain as any event which yet remains to be fulfilled.]
It is, however, not to this, but to the conversion of their souls, that I would chiefly draw your atten- tion—
a Deut. xxx. 1 — 3. b Jer. xxxi. 8, 9.