"Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation." These words were addressed by the angel Gabriel to Daniel, when he had seen in vision the nations that would continue the desolations of Jerusalem and the treading under foot the sanctuary and the host. They refer to the time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation, that shall come upon the desolators of the church of God, when Michael shall stand up for the deliverance of those "that shall be found written in the book." The following passages of scripture refer to this subject. The commencement of the indignation was the anger of God against the kingdom of Judah for their idolatry, and rejection of his law, and the counsels and admonitions of his servants the prophets. The house of Judah was his pleasant plant—his chosen people—the mount Zion which he loved—who built his sanctuary in Jerusalem, which he had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put his name there for ever. For profaning his Sabbath, and for "the provocation of Manasseh the king of Judah, which he did in Jerusalem,—the Lord said, I will remove Judah out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, my name shall be there." 2 Kings xxiii, 26, 27. Isaiah foretold the indignation against Jerusalem in the following words: [chap. x, 5, 6;] "O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge to take the spoil, and take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets." Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon was the appointed rod of God's anger, to carry into effect his purpose against Jerusalem. Jer. xxv, 9; xxviii, 14; xxxii, 28–35. "Behold I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the Lord, and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing and perpetual desolations." The going into effect of the indignation, commenced at Jerusalem. Verse 29. "For lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name." Ezekiel refers to the same, and the duration of the captivity of the kingdom of Judah. Chap. xxi, 26, 27. "Thus saith the Lord, Remove the diadem and take off the crown. . . . Perverted, perverted, perverted [margin] will I make it—the kingdom of Judah—until He comes whose right it is: and I will give it him"—that is, to Christ. The Gentile rule over Jerusalem, and the church of God, commenced in Jehoiakim's reign. 2 Kings xxiv, 1–4. "In his days, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him. And the Lord sent against him bands of Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by his servants the prophets. Surely at the commandment of the Lord came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood which the Lord would not pardon." From the above, and other passages of scripture, we understand that the indignation was the captivity, and utter ruin of the kingdom of Judah, and the removal of the people of Jerusalem to Babylon—"out of his sight;" and the continual subjection of the church of God afterwards to the arbitrary rule of the Gentile nations, under "yokes and bonds," by whom "the sanctuary and the host have been trodden under foot." The duration of the indignation is shown in Dan. xi, 36. "The king"—that is, "the abomination that maketh desolate, [verse 31,] shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done." The latter clause is explained in chap. ix, 27: "He shall make it desolate—Jerusalem—even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolator. [Margin.] Isaiah foretold what was determined upon the desolation of the church of God. Chap. x, 12, 25. "When the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion, and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria . . . and mine indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction." See also chap. xiv, 24–27. The fruit of Assyria, in the time of the end of Zion's controversy, is the last of the series of the successors of Babylon—the present nations that rule the church of God. We will now refer to some passages which show more particularly what will be at the end of the indignation. If the indignation was the subjection of the Lord's people to the rule of their enemies, which has ever continued from the days of Nebuchadnezzar to the present time, then what will be the end of "the rebuke of his people," unless it is "the bringing again their captivity," the "breaking of their yokes and bonds," and their "deliverance from the power of all their enemies?" There are many passages in the Old Testament, which speak of the "bringing again the captivity of his people," which have not been fulfilled, but are connected with the events that will occur at the end of the gospel dispensation. David looked forward with earnest desire to the time when the saints are to be delivered from their enemies. Ps. xiv, 7; cxxvi. "O that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When the Lord bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad." Joel speaks of this event, and the time it takes place, [chap. iii, 1, 2,] and the events that are connected with their fulfillment. Verses 9–16. "For behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations." The fulfillment of this prophecy is in connection, after the time of the latter rain—the pouring out of his Spirit upon all flesh, and the prophesying of your sons and daughters, with "dreams and visions;" when "the remnant" are delivered at the commencement of the great and the terrible day of the Lord, described in chap. ii, 28–32. The gathering "of all nations," is for war. "Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near. Beat your ploughshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let all the heathen be awakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle for the harvest is ripe. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision;" or "threshing,"—margin. The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, . . . and the heavens and the earth shall shake," &c. The valley of Jehoshaphat is literally "a narrow glen between Jerusalem and the mount of Olives, through which the brook Kedron flows." It is impossible that "all the heathen shall gather themselves" to this limited place; therefore the term cannot be understood in its literal sense. The signification of Jehoshaphat, is "the judgment of the Lord." In this sense it should be understood. The terms, Israel, Judah, Jacob, mount Zion, Jerusalem, which are connected with the bringing again the captivity of my people, or his people, are the remnant that are delivered. These terms will only apply to the holy people, that are scattered among the nations—those that "have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." Rev. vii. "They are not all Israel which are of Israel. Neither because50they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children. They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God. But the children of the promise are counted for the seed. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ. Ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved." Rom. ix, and Gal. iii. Zephaniah speaks of the assembling of the kingdoms at the end of the indignation upon the saints. Chap. iii, 8, 19, 20. "Therefore wait ye upon me saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger, for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy. Behold at that time I will undo all that afflict thee, and gather her that was driven out: and I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame. I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity, before your eyes saith the Lord." See Rev. iii, 9, 10. "Behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet and to know that I have loved thee. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of trial [Whiting] which shall come upon all the world to try them." Is not this time of trial that is to come upon the saints, "the decree" or "consumption" that is determined, which shall "go forth" just before the captivity is turned: and the trial that shall come upon all the world, the "time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation"—the pouring out of his indignation, even all his fierce anger? Zeph. ii, 1–3, 7. "Gather yourselves together, O nation not desired. Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, seek ye the Lord all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment: seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger." The "nation not desired," are the holy people, the remnant that keep the commandments of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ. The decree evidently refers to the edict of the image-beast. Rev. xiii. The day of the Lord's anger, refers to the last end of the indignation, when Michael stands for the deliverance of his people. Isaiah refers to this time and the events connected with the decree. Chap. x, 12, 20–23, 27. "When the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion, and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria. . . . And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame, and it shall burn and devour his thorns and briars in one day. And the remnant of Israel, such as are escaped of the house of Judah, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them, but shall stay upon the Holy One of Israel. Though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness. Therefore, thus saith the Lord God of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee. For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction. And the Lord of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him; and in that day, his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing"—the Holy Ghost. See chap. lix, 19, 20. The Spirit of the Lord will put him to flight—margin. Jer. xxx, 3–8. "We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace"—the going forth of the decree. "Wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned to paleness. Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble: but he shall be saved out of it. For in that day saith the Lord of hosts, I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him." Isa. li, 22, 23. "Thus saith thy Lord the Lord, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury: thou shalt no more drink it again. But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee," &c. Isa. xxxiv, 1, 2, 8. "Come near ye nations to hear: and hearken, ye people. . . . For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their enemies: he hath delivered them to the slaughter. . . . For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion." Isa. xxvi, 20, 21. "Come my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain." Dan. xii, 1. "At that time shall Michael stand up, the great Prince which standeth for the children of thy people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book." Here is the turning of the captivity of the holy people, in the time of Jacob's trouble, and their deliverance from the power of all their enemies. Then the indignation of the Lord is poured out upon all nations, and "the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even forever and ever." The above are some of the passages of scripture that show what will be in the end of the indignation referred to by the angel Gabriel in Dan. viii, 19.