The restoration
in the latter days, described by Jonathan Edwards.
Scripture instances and examples of success in prayer give great encouragement to pray for this mercy. Most of the remarkable deliverances and restorations of the church of God, that we have account of in the Scripture, were in answer to prayer. So was the redemption of the church of God from the Egyptian bondage (Exodus 2:23 and Exodus 3:7).
The great restoration of the church in the latter day, is often spoken of as resembled by this; as in Isaiah 64:1–4, Isaiah 11:11, Isaiah 11:15–16, Isaiah 43:2–3, Isaiah 43:16–19, Isaiah 51:10–11, Isaiah 51:15, Isaiah 63:11–13; Zechariah 10:10–11; Hosea 2:14–15. It was in answer to prayer, that the sun stood still over Gibeon, and the moon in the valley of Aijalon [Joshua 10:12], and God's people obtained that great victory over their enemies: in which wonderful miracle, God seemed to have some respect to a future more glorious event to be accomplished for the Christian church, in the day of her victory over her enemies, in the latter days; even that event foretold Isaiah 60:20. "Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself."
It was in answer to prayer, that God delivered his church from the mighty host of the Assyrians, in Hezekiah's time; which dispensation is abundantly made use of, as a type of the great things God will do for the Christian church in the latter days, in the prophecies of Isaiah. The restoration of the church of God from the Babylonish captivity, as abundantly appears both by scripture prophecies and histories, was in answer to extraordinary prayer; see Jeremiah 29:10–14, and Jeremiah 50:4–5; Daniel 9 throughout; Ezra 8:21 ff.; Nehemiah 1:4–11, Nehemiah 4:4–5, and Nehemiah 9 throughout.
This restoration of the Jewish church, after the destruction of Babylon, is evidently a type of the glorious restoration of the Christian church, after the destruction of the kingdom of Antichrist; which (as all know) is abundantly spoken of in the Revelation of St. John, as the antitype of Babylon. Samson, out of weakness, received strength to pull down Dagon's temple, through prayer [Judges 16:28–30].
So the people of God, in the latter days, will out of weakness
be made strong, and will become the instruments of pulling down the kingdom of
Satan, by prayer.