after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom." 2 Sam. 7: 12. Or, as it is still more distinctly in the parallel account in 1 Chron. 17: 11, "It shall come to pass when thy days be expired, that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons, and I will establish his kingdom;" and again, in that noble comment ou this famous prophecy, Ps. 89: 3, 4, "I have made a corenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant; thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations." Again, ver. 29. "His seed also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven." Again, ver. 35, 36. “Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David: his seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me." In all these places we see that the original promise, Gen. 3: 15, is still all along referred to.

7. That the seed in whom all nations are to be blessed, is the Messiah, is evident from many other passages of Scripture, where he is predicted as the source of blessings to all nations. "For to him give all the prophets witness, that through his name, whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins." Acts, 10: 43. David, speaking of the Messiah, says, "His name shall endure for ever, his name shall be continued as long as the sun; and man shall be blessed in him; and all nations shall call him blessed.' Ps. 72: 17. The apostle Peter also assured our forefathers, "that all the prophets from Samuel, and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days. Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, and in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed." Acts, 3: 24, 25.

8. Further, we observe that this prediction is applied to the Messiah, both in the New Testament and by our ancient Rabbins. We have just quoted the words of Peter, who

applies the promise to Jesus the Messiah; and the apostle Paul, who was a perfect Hebrew scholar, and could speak the language fluently, brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, one of our chief Rabbins, and had made greater progress in Jewish learning than all his cotemporaries, applies the promise to Jesus the Messiah, reasoning thus; "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, and to seeds, as of many; but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ." Gal. 3: 16. It is also applied to the Messiah by our ancient Rabbins. Sepher chasidim, § 961, quoted in Allix' Judgment of the Jewish Church, page 57. R. Reuben, in his testament to his sons, charges them to worship the seed of Judah, who should die for them, in visible and invisible wars, and should be among them an eternal King. Whiston's note on Josephus' Ant. B. I. ch. 13. § 4. In three passages quoted by Wetstein, from Bereshith Ravba and Ruth Ravba the singular Sera, seed, put to denote a son, is affirmed to signify "the King Messiah." Wetstein, N. T. Tom. II. in Gal. 3: 16.

9. Thus, my dear Benjamin, we perceive that Messiah is meant by the seed, in these predictions and promises made to our fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I should now be led to consider the blessings to be derived from the Messiah, but having already spoken of this subject in a former letter, and purposing, by divine permission, to show hereafter the fulfillment of these predictions in the Messiah Jesus, I shall, at present, mention only those blessings, in other parts of Scripture, referred to the prediction under consideration. In the Messiah we are indeed blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places; with peace, pardon, righteousness, and eternal life; with grace here, and glory hereafter. In Jesus," says one of our German divines, "the greatest of Abraham's descendants, the nations of the earth, and we also, have received the knowledge of truth, pardon of sin, tranquillity of con science, hope of salvation, peace and joy in God, and the

rich abundance of the gifts of the Holy Spirit." Seiler's Groe. Bib. Erb, vol. 1, p. 217.

§ 10. Justification, including the pardon of sin, acceptance with God, and eternal life, is particularly mentioned by the apostle, as included in this blessing to the Gentiles, saying, "The Scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before, the Gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.". Gal. 3: 8. "To him," saith the apostle Peter, “give all the prophets witness, that through his name, whoever believeth in him, shall receive remission of sins." The copious and powerful effusions of the Holy Spirit was another blessing included in this prediction; as we are taught by the apostle of the Gentiles, saying, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; for it is written, cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree; that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." Gal. 3: 13, 14. This was also frequently mentioned by the prophets, as what was to be conferred at the accomplishment of the promise. Isa. 44: 3. Joel, 2:28. comp. Acts, 2: 16–34. And although the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, which were bestowed at first for the spread and confirmation of the Gospel, and as evidence that God received and justified uncircumcised Gentiles through faith, as he did Abraham, Acts, 5: 32. 11: 15-19. 15: 8-12, have ceased, yet the regenerating, sanctifying, and comforting influences of the Spirit, are still bestowed on all believers, and are essential to their being 80. Rom. 8: 9, 14. Another blessing is adoption into God's family, and a title to the heavenly inheritance. Hence, saith the same inspired apostle, "when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." Gal. 4:4, 5. By the covenant with Abraham, our venerable

father, his natural seed were typically adopted as a nation. Exod. 4: 22, 23. Rom. 9: 4. But the mere children of the flesh, these are not the true children of God, Rom. 9: 4, and, therefore, when Christ, the promised seed, came to his own nation, it was only to those of them who received him, and believed on his name, that he gave power to become the sons of God, and these are described not as mere children of the flesh, but as born of God. John, 1: 11-13. The land of Canaan, also, which was promised to Abraham and his seed, for an everlasting possession, was but a type of the eternal inheritance in heaven. And our fathers, the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, understood it as such, and confessed themselves to be strangers and pilgrims on the earth, plainly declaring that they sought and desired a better country, that is, an heavenly, and looked for a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Heb. 11: 13-17. Hence, saith the apostle, the Gentiles which " were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world-are now no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God." Eph. 2: 12, 19.

11. We will now proceed to consider the extent, or subjects of these blessings. "All the nations of the earth," i. e. not every individual person, but some in all nations, who, with Abraham, believe in the same promised seed, as the apostle has taught us to explain this prophecy, saying, "And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before, the Gospel unto Abraham, saying, in thee shall all nations be blessed; so then, they which be of faith, are blessed with faithful Abraham." Gal. 3: 8, 9. This was the happy dawn of day upon the poor benighted Gentiles. It was the Gospel, or good news to them, that they also should be made partakers of the blessings to be procured by the Messiah; and the same

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good news was repeatedly foretold by the Prophets. I will name but a few. There shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious." "Behold my servant-in whom my soul delighteth-he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. I will give thee for a covenant to the people, for a light of the Gentiles." "It is a light thing, that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel; I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth." Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord-even them will I bring to my holy mountain; and-mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people." "The Lord God, which gathereth the outcasts of Israel, saith, Yet will gather others to him, besides those that are gathered unto him. The strangers that sojourn among you-shall have an inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel.” “From the rising of the sun, even unto the going down of the same, my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering; for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts." Isa. 11:10. 42: 1, 6. Matt. 12: 18. Isa. 49:6. 56: 6-8. John, 10: 16. Ezek. 47: 22. Mal. 1:11.

12. How strange, my dear Benjamin, that, after so many and clear predictions, any of our beloved brethren should have conceived the idea of excluding the Gentiles from the blessings of the Messiah1 for you know the great controversy which was so much agitated in the schools of Hillel and Shammai, viz. whether or no, when the Messiah came, the nations of the world would have any advantage by him? A vast majority were on the negative side of the question, and believed they would be all destroyed at his coming, and have no favor or mercy shown them. Yea, so deeply rooted was this erroneous sentiment, that even the disciples of Jesus,