monarch, in the midst of his midnight revels, when the city was taken, and the king with his nobles was slain. 7. The conspiracy against Daniel, and his miraculous preservation in the den of lions.

8. Daniel's prayer for the restoration of his people to their own land.

9. The prediction of the precise time at which Messiah should appear on earth and die for sinners.

Seventy weeks of years, or 490 years, reckoned from the seventh year of Artaxerxes in the month Nisan, in which Ezra was commissioned to restore the Jewish state and polity, Ezra vii. 9-26. will bring us to the month Nisan, A. D. 33, in the very month and year in which Christ suffered for us.

Hosea was raised up among the people of Israel after they had sunk into the grossest idolatry, and during the time that Isaiah prophesied in Judah. He began to prophesy somewhat earlier than Isaiah, and exercised his ministry about sixty years. The prophecies of Hosea were designed,

1. To impress upon the Israelites a deep conviction of the greatness of their wickedness in forsaking the Lord God of their fathers, the Creator of the world, for the worship of senseless idols, the work of their own hands. This the prophet represents under the metaphor of a wife proving unfaithful to her marriage vows.

2. To admonish them concerning the terrible judgments of God, which he threatened to bring upon them as a punishment for their transgressions.

3. To call the people to sincere repentance before the Lord, with promises of divine forgiveness; and to direct them in what manner they should return to God, from whom they had revolted.

The book of Hosea is divided into fourteen chapters, containing five principal sections.

Section I. Contains solemn reproofs of the idolatry of the Israelites, with promises of pardon to the peniteut, ch. i.-iii.

Sec. II. A condemnation of the bloodshed and wickedness of the people, with various evangelical promises, ch. iv. vi. 3.

Sec. III. The captivity of the nation denounced or account of their obstinacy in idolatry and wickedness, ch. vi. 4.-viii.

Sec. IV. Terrible denunciations of the divine judgments renewed, ch. ix.-xiii. 8.

Sec. V. Gracious invitations to repentance, with instructions in what manuer and with what words to return to the Lord, ch. xiii. 9. xiv.

The sixth, thirteenth, and fourteenth chapters contain the most affecting invitations to sinners to return to God, with his gracious promises of forgiveness. These deserve particular notice, and are designed for our consolation.

Joel is believed to have exercised his ministry in the time of Isaiah. The prophecies of Joel are contained in

three chapters, which may be considered as so many sections; the design of which was,

1. To exhort the Jews to immediate repentance, by threatenings of famine, which should be occasioned by numerous swarms of locusts, caterpillars, and cankerworms, destructive as an invading army.

2. To direct them in what manner they should return to the Lord by sincere humiliation and prayer.

3. To assure them of the divine forgiveness on their repentance, and of spiritual prosperity under the gospel dispensation.

The most remarkable thing in the book of Joel, is the promise of the effusion of the Holy Spirit, which was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost.

References in Joel.

Ch. ii. 28, 29. Acts ii. 16-21. | Ch. iii. 17.

Rev. xxi. 27. xxii. 1.

Little is known concerning Amos, except that he was called to the prophetic office from being a herdsman in Tekoa. He prophesied during the early part of Isaiah's ministry. The book of Amos is divided into nine chapters, which include three principal sections.

Section I. Relates the threatenings of the divine judgments against the Syrians, Tyrians, Edomites, Ammonites, and Moabites, ch. i. ii. 3.

Sec. II. The denunciations of God against the impenitent Jews, with invitations to them to return to the Lord by sincere repentance, ch. ii. 4.-ix. 10.

Sec. III. Evangelical promises to the godly, to pronote their consolation, ch. ix. 11. to the end.

It is not certainly known at what period Obadiah lived; some suppose he was that excellent man who was

governor of king Ahab's house, and the person who met Elijah, 1 Kings xviii. 3-7. but others think he was contemporary with Jeremiah. The book of Obadiah has only twenty-one verses, which include two sections.

Section I. Contains threatenings against the Edomites, on account of their pride and their cruelty towards the Jews, ver. 1-16.

Sec. II. Proclaims evangelical promises for the consolation of the pious, ver. 17-21.

References in Obadiah.

Ver. 3. Rev. xviii. 7. I Ver. 21.

JONAH.

Rev. xi. 15.

Jonah prophesied in the reign of Jeroboam, son of Joash king of Israel, about eighty years before the time of Isaiah. The subject of the book of Jonah is the mission of that prophet to the populous city of Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire, and his successful ministry among its people. The design of this prophetic record is to show, by the striking example of the Ninevites, the forbearance and long suffering of God towards sinners, by which they are spared on their sincere repentance.

The book of Jonah is divided into four chapters, containing two sections.

Section I. Relates the first mission of Jonah, his disobedience and punishment, ch. i. ii.

Sec. II. The second mission, and the success of the prophet, ch. iii. iv.

There are four things especially remarkable in the book of Jonah.

1. The disobedience of Jonah to the command of God, through fear of being accounted a false prophet, if the Ninevites repented, and the city should be spared.

2. The account of Jonah being cast into the sea, and his being swallowed by a great fish, which the Lord had prepared for that purpose.

3. The deliverance of the penitent prophet from his watery dungeon in the belly of the fish.

4. The beneficial effects of Jonah's ministry among the Ninevites.

In the deliverance of Jonah from the prison of the fish the prophet was a type of our Saviour's resurrection from the grave. It appears scarcely worth mentioning, that some persons have objected to the account of Jonah having been swallowed by a fish; as the prophet expressly declares, that" The Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah ;" and such doubting or incredulous persons forget the omnipotence of the Lord, the Creator of the universe, and the God of Jonah. Besides, several monstrous fishes of the shark kind, have, in modern times, been caught, in whose stomachs were found the whole bodies of men having on their clothes; and, in one instance, of a soldier having on his military accoutrements and armour.

Micah was a prophet of Judah, and he exercised his ministry in the time of Isaiah. He was raised up to confirm the predictions of Isaiah, against both the Israelites and Jews, whom he invited to repentance both by threatened judgments and by promised mercies. The book of Micah is divided into seven chapters, which contain three principal sections.

Section I. Contains various prophecies delivered in the reign of Jotham, ch. i.

Sec. II. Prophecies delivered in the reign of Ahaz, ch. ii. iv. 8.

Sec. III. Prophecies in the reign of Hezekiah, ch. iv. 9.-vii.

The book of Micah has been considered the most important single prophecy in the Old Testament; and the most comprehensive respecting the birth-place and the