he substance with the
form,--the idea with the temporary clothing which the prophet puts upon
it, in accordance with the nature of prophetic [Pg 300] vision, in
which, necessarily, all that is spiritual must be represented in
outward sketches and forms. This form is as follows:--In the place
nearest to the temple, and which was able to contain a great multitude
of people, in the valley of Jehoshaphat, all nations are gathered. (The
valley very probably received its name from the appellation which, in
the passage under consideration, the prophet gives to it, in order to
mark its destination; for Jehoshaphat means, "the Lord judges," or
"Valley of Judgment."[1]) The Lord, enthroned in the temple, exercises
judgment upon them. In this manner--in outward forms of perception--the
idea is brought out, that the judgment upon the Gentiles is an effect
of the kingdom of God; that they are not punished on account of their
violation of the natural law, but because of the hostile position
which they had occupied against the teachers of God's revealed
truth,--against the Lord Himself who is in His Church. Every violation
of the natural law may be pardoned to those who have not stood in any
other relation to God, even although they should have [Pg 301]
proceeded to the most fearful extent in depravity. They who were once
disobedient, when the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah,
were not as yet given over to complete condemnation, but were kept in
prison until Christ came and preached to them. "This was the iniquity
of Sodom: fulness of bread, and abundance of peace, were in her and her
daughters; yet the hand of the poor and needy they did not assist; but
they were haughty and committed abomination before the Lord: therefore
He took them away as He saw good." But, nevertheless, the Lord will, at
some future time, turn the captivity (the misery) of this Sodom and her
daughters, and they shall be restored as they were before,--not
corporeally, for their seed is utterly rooted out from the earth, and
even their place is destroyed, but spiritually; compare Ezek. xvi. 49
ff. But, on the other hand, far more severe punishments are inflicted
upon those who have rejected, not the abstract, but the concrete
God,--not the God who is shut up in the heavens, but the God who
powerfully manifests Himself on earth, in His Church. It is true, that
as long as this revelation is still an imperfect one--as it was under
the Old Testament di