on, "an
anguish" similar to the pains of child-birth; a _palingenesis_, or,
in the words of Jesus himself, a "new birth,"[1] preceded by dark
calamities and heralded by strange phenomena.[2] In the great day,
there will appear in the heavens the sign of the Son of man; it will
be a startling and luminous vision like that of Sinai, a great storm
rending the clouds, a fiery meteor flashing rapidly from east to west.
The Messiah will appear in the clouds, clothed in glory and majesty,
to the sound of trumpets and surrounded by angels. His disciples will
sit by his side upon thrones. The dead will then arise, and the
Messiah will proceed to judgment.[3]

[Footnote 1: Matt. xix. 28.]

[Footnote 2: Matt. xxiv. 3, and following; Mark xiii. 4, and
following; Luke xvii. 22, and following, xxi. 7, and following. It
must be remarked that the picture of the end of time attributed to
Jesus by the synoptics, contains many features which relate to the
siege of Jerusalem. Luke wrote some time after the siege (xxi. 9, 20,
24). The compilation of Matthew, on the contrary (xxvi. 15, 16, 22,
29), carries us back exactly to this precise period, or very shortly
afterward. There is no doubt, however, that Jesus predicted that great
terrors would precede his reappearance. These terrors were an integral
part of all the Jewish apocalypses. _Enoch_, xcix., c., cii., ciii.
(division of Dillman); _Carm. sibyll._, iii. 334, and following, 633,
and following, iv. 168, and following, v. 511, and following.
According to Daniel also, the reign of the saints will only come after
the desolation shall have reached its height. Chap. vii. 25, and
following, viii. 23, and following, ix. 26, 27, xii. 1.]

[Footnote 3: Matt. xvi. 27, xix. 28, xx. 21, xxiv. 30, and following,
xxv. 31, and following, xxvi. 64; Mark xiv. 62; Luke xxii. 30; 1
_Cor._ xv. 52; 1 Thess. iv. 15, and following.]

At this judgment men will be divided into two classes according to
their deeds.[1] The angels will be the executors of the sentences.[2]
The elect will enter into delightful mansions, which have been
prepared for them from the foundation of the world;[3] there they will
be seated, clothed with light, at a feast presided over by Abraham,[4]
the patriarchs and the prophets. They will be the smaller number.[5]
The rest will depart into _Gehenna_. Gehenna was the western valley of
Jerusalem. There the worship of fire had been practised at various
times, and the place had become