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it; and the like causes will always produce the like effects; Isaiah, chapter xxiii. verses 8 and 9: "Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth? The Lord of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory; and to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth.

Ezekiel, chapter xxvii. verses 3 and 4, says: "Thus saith the Lord God; Oh Tyrus! thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty. Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty." Chap. xxviii. 5. 16. 19: "By thy great wisdom and by thy traffic hast thou increased thy riches, and thy heart is lifted up because of thy riches. By the multitude of thy merchandise, they have filled the midst of thee with violence; and thou hast sinned; therefore will I cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God. Thy heart was lifted up because of thy beauty; thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thy iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffic; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth, in the sight of all them that be

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hold thee. All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee; thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any

more.

Newton on the Prophecies.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

PROPHECIES RESPECTING EGYPT.

EGYPT is one of the first and most famous countries we read of in history. In the Hebrew scripture it is called Mizraim, and the land of Ham, having been inhabited, after the deluge, by Noah's youngest son Ham, and by his son Mizraim. The name of Egypt is of more uncertain derivation. It appears in the 14th Odyssey of Homer, that the river was so called in his time; from thence it has been imagined the name might be derived to the country. Others conceive that the meaning of the name Ægyptus is Cuphti, the land of Cuphti, as it was formerly called by the Egyptians themselves, and by their neighbours the Arabians. It is certain that in the days of Joseph, if not before these, in the days of Abraham, it was a great and flourishing

kingdom*. There are monuments of its greatness yet remaining, to the surprise and astonishment of all posterity.

Egypt was celebrated for its wisdom no less than for its antiquity. It may be called the great academy of the earliest ages; hither the wits and sages of Greece, and other countries, repaired, and imbibed their learning at this fountain. The highest character given of Solomon's wisdom, is, I Kings iv. 30. that it exceeded the wisdom of all the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt. But with this wisdom, and with this greatness, Egypt was early corrupted; and was as much the parent of superstition, as it was the mistress of learning; and the one as well as the other were from thence propagated, and diffused over all other countries. It was indeed the grand corrupter of the world, the source of polytheism and idolatry to several of the eastern, and to most of the western nations; and degenerated at last to such monstrous and beastly worship, that we shall scarcely find a parallel in all history.

≈ The kingdom of Egypt began 2188 years before Christ; lasted 1633 years; and was reduced to a province 31 years after Christ. It was subdued by the Turks in 1525. The French army entered it in 1798, and overthrew it; but were driven out by the English in 1801.

The Israelites, on all occasions, were disposed to court the alliance of Egypt, rather than of any of the neighbouring powers, which prejudice of theirs was the more extraordinary, as the Egyptians generally treated them very injuriously. Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, 1 Kings xiv. 25, 26. and plundered it. And in all their alliances and leagues, Egypt was to them, "as a broken reed, whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand and pierce it." Isaiah xxxvi. 6. Upon these accounts we might expect that Egypt would be the subject of several prophecies.

The first great revolution that we shall mention, was the conquest of this kingdom by Nebuchadnezzar, which was particularly foretold by Jeremiah and Ezekiel. These two prophets have each employed several chapters or sections upon the occasion. Ezekiel declares, xxx. 10, 11: "Thus saith the Lord God; I will make the multitude of Egypt to cease, by the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon. He, and his people with him, the terrible of the nations, shall be brought to destroy the land; and they shall draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain ;" and the conquest of this kingdom was promised to Nebuchadrezzar, - as a reward for his service against Tyre, which,

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