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Their Genuineness.

[Ess. 111. parts, and in various other particulars, we find, in the Old as well as in the New Testament, plain internal indications of a genuine origin; see Horne's Introd. to the New Test., vol. 1, chap. ii, sect. 1.

Nor have we any reason to doubt the general correctness of the text of the Hebrew Scriptures, as it has come down to us in the present day. On the contrary, we have sufficient warrants for that correctness, in the careful preservation of these divine writings by the Jews, before the Christian era; and afterwards in the labors of the textual doctors or Masorites, who elaborately employed themselves in ascertaining the readings, and even in numbering the letters of the several books, see Prideaux Con., vol. i, p. 278; in the ancient translations and paraphrases of the Old Testament; in the early multiplication of copies; and in the guard which the opposing sects of the Jews, before the coming of Christ, and the Jews and Christians after that era, must have reciprocally maintained, so as to prevent any wilful alteration of the common record.

Since the Hebrew Scriptures are thus indisputably genuine, and since, through a long series of ages, they have been so carefully preserved, we may proceed without further hesitation in making our appeal to their contents. Now, there is nothing which more distinguishes them, and more clearly indicates their sacred character, than the comprehensive and varied line of prophecy which runs in a rich vein through all their principal parts. In his dealings with Abraham and his descendants, (directed as those dealings were to the ultimate advantage of mankind in general,) God was pleased to make himself manifest, not merely by the operation of his grace, but by the two undoubted and especial signs of miracles and prophecy; and it was by these extraordinary means that, notwithstanding the remarkable proneness of the Israelites to rebellion

Ess. 111.] Prophecies respecting the Israelites, &c. 53 and idolatry, and the powerful opposition of the enemies of God, revealed religion was maintained in its appointed course, until the time arrived for its diffusion over the world at large.

In the promises of God addressed to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that their seed should be multiplied as the stars of heaven, and should inherit the land of Palestine, Gen. xxii, 17, &c. &c.-and in those addressed to Moses and Joshua, respecting the success of Israel in war, and the expulsion of the Canaanitish nations, Exod. xxiii, 28, &c.—in the communications made by the dying Jacob to his twelve sons, respecting the future condition of the several tribes of which they were the fathers, Gen. xlix-in the predictions of many singular events which were afterwards to distinguish the history of God's chosen people; such as the destruction of Baal's altar at Bethel, by Josiah, 1 Kings xiii, 2-the invasion of Judea by the Chaldeans, Hab. i, &c. &c.-the capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, Jer. xxi, xxxii, 28, &c.-the captivity of the Jews in Babylon, Jer. xvii, 4, &c.-the cruel treatment, yet peaceable death, of Zedekiah, Jer. xxxiv, 2-5; Ezek. xii, 13-the continuance of a small gleaning or remnant in the land, Isa. xxiv, 13, 14-the deliverance of the Jews from their bondage after seventy years, Jer. xxv, 12—and the building of the city and temple under the auspices of Cyrus, lsa. xliv, 28-in the ancient curse pronounced against Canaan, Gen. ix, 25-in the threats of punishment and destruction issued many years, and sometimes even centuries, beforehand, against the idolatrous states which surrounded and oppressed the Israelites-in Daniel's description of the succession of the four great monarchies-in all these and many other propecies, and in the gradual yet exact fulfilment of them, the ancient Hebrews were furnished with so many distinct

54

Respecting the Messiah.

[Ess. III. evidences that God was the author of their religion, and the conductor of that great scheme of love and providence, of which they were themselves the immediate objects.

As events have continued to unfold themselves, however, these evidences have received a variety of important additions. When we reflect on the still wild and unsocial condition of the wandering children of Ishmael, Gen. xvi, 12; on the testimony of modern travellers, that the site of ancient Tyre is, in the present day, a rock on which the fishermen spread their nets, Ezek. xxvi, 3-5; on the curious fact that Babylon, in the fourth century, was converted by the Persians into a park for wild beasts, and that its uncertain remains are still traced amidst the habitations of venomous reptiles, Jer. 1, li; Isa. xiii; on the gradual sinking down of Egypt into "the basest of kingdoms," Ezek. xxix, 15; and, above all, on the ruin and dispersion of the Jews themselves, who to this very hour are an "astonishment, a proverb, and a by-word, among all nations," Deut. xxviii,-we must confess that we are favoured with accumulated proof of the divine origin of that ancient system of religion, of which Christianity is the crown and consummation.

But there are prophecies in the Old Testament of a still higher importance than those to which I have now alluded, and still more properly applicable to the subject of the present Essay, because they afford a direct attestation to the divine origin of Christianity itself.

These are the prophecies, of which Jesus Christ, the long-expected Messiah of the Jews, was either the sole or the principal subject. "Search the Scriptures," said our Lord to the unbelieving Jews, "for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me," John v, 39; and on another occasion, in reference to that well-known

Respecting the Messiah.

55

Ess. III.] classification of the Old Testament already mentioned, he spoke of the things which were written concerning him "in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms:" Luke xxiv, 44. Accordingly we find that the leading object of that series of prophecies which pervades these several parts of the sacred writings of the Hebrews was to reveal to the people of God a great moral or spiritual deliverer, who was to arise in the Lord's appointed time, not only for their salvation, but for that of the whole world.

That such was to be his character, and such the object of his mission-that Christ was to be made manifest for the benefit of mankind in general, and in order to "destroy the works of the devil,"—was indicated in obscure and general terms by the very first prophecy recorded in Scripture; a prophecy which was delivered immediately after the fall of our first parents, and which declared that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head, Gen. iii, 15; and we soon afterwards read of the corresponding promise of God to Abraham, that in his seed, “all the nations of the earth" should be "blessed:" Gen. xxii, 18. The stock from which the Messiah was to spring was pointed out with a further restriction, and the extensive influence of his scheme of mercy was again adverted to in the prediction of Jacob, that the sceptre should not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh should come, and that to him should be the gathering of the people, or, as in the Hebrew, of the nations: Gen. xlix, 10. Moses, who was a mediator, a lawgiver, a shepherd of the people, and the meekest of men, predicted of this future ruler of Israel, that he should be like unto himself: Deut. xviii, 15-18. Job spake of Christ under the name of Redeemer, and prophesied that he should stand in the latter days upon the earth: Job xix, 23--27.

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Respecting the Messiah.

[Ess. III. This general outline is filled up in the book of Psalms, and in those of both the major and minor prophets, by a great variety of yet more definite declarations respecting the filiation, the history, the nature and the offices of the Messiah. In various parts of those sacred writings it is foretold, that this longexpected deliverer should come forth out of the root of Jesse, Isa. xi, 1; and out of the family of David, Jer. xxiii, 5-that his coming should be preceded by the mission of another messenger, who is denominated Elijah the prophet, Mal. iii, 1; iv, 5, 6—that he should arise during the continuance of the second temple, Hag. ii, 6-9; and seventy weeks, or four hundred and ninety years, from a fixed historical period, Dan. ix, 25-27-that he should be born miraculously of a virgin, Isa. vii, 14; and in the town of Bethlehem, Mic. v, 2-that his condition in life should be one of a very humble description, Isa. liii, 2-that he should be anointed of the Spirit, and engaged in proclaiming glad tidings, and in comforting the distressed, Isa. xlii, 1; lxi, 1-4-that his character should be remarkable for gentleness, kindness, faithfulness, and all-righteousness, Isa. xi, 1; xlii, 1—3—that, on his coming, there should take place miraculous cures of the blind, the deaf, the lame, and the dumb, Isa. xxxv, 3—6; nevertheless, that the Jews would refuse to believe in him, Isa. liii, 1—that he should be despised, rejected, and persecuted of men, Isa. liii, 3, 4; Ps. cxviii, 22, 23-that the rulers should take counsel together against him, Ps. ii, 2-that he should be betrayed by one of his familiar friends, Ps. xli, 9-that his flock should be scattered, Zech. xiii, 7—that he should be led as a lamb to the slaughter, and be as a sheep, dumb before his shearers, Isa. liii, 7-that his hands and his feet should be pierced, Ps. xxii, 16-that he should be cut off, yet not for himself, Dan. ix, 26-that his