made the earth to tremble: thou hast broken it: heal the breaches thereof: for it shaketh." In another instance he expresses the idea that we need not fear when we see other nations die and perish, because we rely on God's support, and not on our sword and strength, in accordance with the words:" A people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help" (Deut. xxxiii. 29): he says (Ps. xlvi. 2):" Therefore will we not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be shaken in the midst of the sea."
The following figurative language is employed in Scripture in referring to the death of the Egyptians in the Red Sea:" The waters saw thee; they were afraid: the depths also were troubled, etc. The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven: the lightnings lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook" (Ps. lxxvii. 17-19)." Was the Lord displeased against the rivers?" etc. (Hab. iii. 8)." There went up a smoke out of his nostrils," etc. (Ps. xviii. 9)." The earth trembled," etc. (judges v. 4, in the Song of Deborah). There are many other instances; but those which I have not quoted can be explained in accordance with those which I have cited.
Let us now consider the words of Joel (iii. 3-5):" And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered, for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance," etc. I refer them to the defeat of Sennacherib near Jerusalem; but they may be taken as an account of the defeat of Gog and Magog near Jerusalem in the days of the Messiah, if this appears preferable, although nothing is mentioned in this passage but great slaughter, destruction, fire, and the diminution of the light of the two luminaries. You may perhaps object: How can the day of the fall of Sennacherib, according to our explanation, be called" the great and the terrible day of the Lord?" But you must know that a day of great salvation or of great distress is called" the great and terrible day of the Lord." Thus Joel (ii.11) says of the day on which the locusts came over the land," For the day of the Lord is great and terrible, and who can abide it?"
Our opinion, in support of which we have quoted these passages, is clearly established, namely, that no prophet or sage has ever announced the destruction of the Universe, or a change of its present condition, or a permanent change of any of its properties. When our Sages say," The world remains six thousand years, and one thousand years it will be waste," they do not mean a complete cessation of existing things; the phrase" one thousand years it will be waste" distinctly shows that time will continue: besides, this is the individual opinion of one Rabbi, and in accordance with one particular theory. But on the other hand the words," There is nothing new under the sun" (Eccles. i. 9), in the sense that no new creation takes place in any way and under any circumstances, express the general opinion of our Sages, and include a principle which every one of the doctors of the Mishnah and the Talmud recognises and makes use of in his arguments. Even those who understand the words" new heavens and a new earth" in their literal sense hold that the heavens, which will in future be formed, have already been created and arc in existence, and that for this reason the present tense 46 remain" is used, and not the future" will remain." They support their view
