shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before the Lord," and Psa. xcvii. 1. 8. 12, xcviii. 4, to the end, and c. 1, 2. Isaiah xlv. 23, xlix. 13. Isaiah Iv. 12, and many other places. The great prosperity of Israel through the reign of Solomon was introduced with the sound of the trumpet. 1 Kin. i. 34. 39. 1 Chron. xxix. 21, 22. Agreeable to Isaiah xxvii. 13. "The great trumpet shall be blown," &c. Solomon was the Messiah or anointed in an eminent manner. He was anointed by the special direction both of David and of Nathan the prophet. 1 Kings i. 11. 34. 39. He was anointed with God's holy anointing oil out of the tabernacle, verse 39; not only was Solomon anointed of God, but he was anointed also by the people. They made him king over them by their own act, 1 Chron. xxix. 22; agreeable to Hos. i. 11. "Then shall the children of Judah, and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint over them one head; and they shall come up out of the land. For great shall be the day of Jezreel." David made Solomon to ride on his own mule, and he sat on his father's throne, while David was yet living, and was king. His father solemnly invested him with his kingly authority; and himself gives him his charge. 1 King i. 30. 33. 35. 47, 48, ii. 12. 1 Chron. xxviii, xxix. This is agreeable to the account that is given of God the Father's investing the Messiah with his dominion in Dan. vii. See also Zech. vi. 12, 13, and Ezek. xlvi. 1, 2, with xliv. 2. Solomon is spoken of as not only sitting on the throne of his father David; but also as sitting on God's throne, and reigning in some respect in God's stead, as his vicegerent. 1 Chron. xxviii. 5. The Lord hath chosen Solomon my son, to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the Lord-over Israel." Chap. xxxix. 23. "Then Solomon sat upon the throne of the Lord as king in stead of David his father." 2 Chron. ix. 8. "Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted in thee, to seat thee on his throne, to be king for the Lord thy God." So the prophecies do represent the Messiah, as sitting on the throne of David his father. Isaiah ix. 7. "On the throne of David, and upon his kingdom to order it," &c. Jer. xxxiii. 17. 21. And also as sitting on the throne of God. Zech. vi. 13. "He shall build the temple of the Lord and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne." Also Dan. vii. 13, 14, and Psalm ii. "I have set my king on my holy hill of Zion." Psalm cx. "Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool." Psalm xlv. 6. "Thy throne, O God, is for ever." The beginning of Solomon's reign was a remarkable time of vengeance on the wicked, and such as had been opposers or false friends of David and Solomon. Many such were then cut off. 1 Kings ii. So that it was as it were the righteous only that delighted themselves in that abundance of peace, and partook of the glory, prosperity

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and triumph of God's people, that was enjoyed in this reign, which is agreeable to Isaiah. lxi. 2. "To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God: lxv. 12, &c. "Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter-my servants shall eat; but ye shall be hungry," &c. Chap. lxvi. 14-16. "And the hand of the Lord shall be known towards his servants, and his indignation towards his enemies. For behold, the Lord will come with fire and with his chariots, like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury-and the slain of the Lord shall be many." Isaiah xxxiii. 14, &c. "The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprize d the hypocrite. He that walketh righteously-shall dwell on high -thine eye shall see the king in his beauty." Mal. iv. 1—3. “All the proud, yea, all that do wickedly, shall be as stubble. But unto you that fear my name, shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings. And ye shall tread down the wicked." Ezek. xx. 38. "And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me." Psalm xxxvii. 9-11. "For evil doers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while and the wicked shall not be yea thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth, and delight themselves in the abundance of peace." And many other places. Solomon did not immediately cut off these rebels and transgressors; but gave them opportunity to enjoy the blessings of his reign with others, if they would turn from their evil way, and submit to him, and approve themselves worthy men and faithful subjects. But when they went on still in their transgressions he cut them off. Agreeable to what is foretold should be at the introduction of the glory of the Messiah's reign, in Psalm lxviii. 18, &c. "Thou hast ascended on high-thou hast received gifts for men, yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them. Blessed be the Lord who daily loadeth us with his benefits. But God shall wound the head of his enemies, and the hairy scalp of such an one as goeth on still in his trespasses." Solomon was a man of great and unparalleled wisdom. This is agreeable to Isaiah ix. 6. "His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor." xi. 2, 3. "The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and of might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; and shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord." Zech. iii. 9. "Upon one stone shall be seven eyes." See also Isaiah xli. two last verses, with xlii. 1. God was with Solomon and greatly established his throne. 1 Kings ii. 12. 2 Chron. i. 1, agreeable to Isaiah ix. 7. 9. "Upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom, to order it and to establish it— from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts

shall do this." Psa. lxxxix. 2, 3. "Mercy shall he build up for ever: thy faithfulness wilt thou establish in the very heavens. I have made a covenant with my chosen." 20, 21. "With my holy oil have I anointed him, with whom my hand shall be established; mine arm also shall strengthen him." 36, 37. "His throne shall endure as the sun before me: it shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven.' Psa. ii. throughout. Psa. xlv. "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever." Psa. cx. "Sit thou at my right hand, the Lord hath sworn," &c. Isai. xlii. 1. 4. "Behold my servant whom I uphold he shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth, and the isles shall wait for his law." And xlix. 8. "I have helped thee, and I will preserve thee, to establish the earth." The Lord magnified Solomon exceedingly, and bestowed upon him such royal majesty as had not been on any before him in Israel. 1 Chron. xxix. 25. 2 Chron. i. 1.; agreeable to Psa. xlv. 2, &c. "Thou art fairer than the children of men gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most Mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty." Ver. 6. "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever." Isai. ix. 6. "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of peace." Solomon married Pharaoh's daughter, a stranger; agreeably to Psa. xlv. 10. "Hearken, O daughter, consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people," &c. "She was the daughter of a king;" agreeably to Psa. xlv. 13. "The King's daughter," &c. a Gentile, agreeably to Hos. ii. 16. "Thou shalt call me Ishi," (i. e. my husband.) Ver. 19, 20. "AndI will betroth thee unto me." Ver. 23. "And I will have mercy upon her that hath not obtained mercy; and I will say unto them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God;" with innumerable other prophecies of the calling of the Gentiles. She was an Egyptian, and Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Agreeably to Psa. lxxxvii. 4. "I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me." Psa. lxviii. 31. "Princes shall come out of Egypt." Isai. xix. 18, to the end. In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan and there shall be an altar unto the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt and the Lord shall be known unto Egypt; and the Egyptians shall know the Lordand the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed shall be Egypt my people." Pharaoh's daughter being an Egyptian, was of a swarthy complexion; agreeably to Cant. i. 5. "I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem." We read of no person that ever of

fered such great sacrifices as Solomon did. 1 Kin. iii. 4, and S, 5. 63, 64. 1 Kin. ix. 25. This is agreeable to what the prophecies represent of the Messiah, as the great priest of God, who by the sacrifices he should offer, should perfectly satisfy divine justice, and truly procure the favour of God for his people; his sacrifices being herein of greater value than thousands of rams and ten thousands of rivers of oil, and all the beasts of the field. Solomon built the temple; agreeably to Zech. vi. 12, 13. He made the dwelling place of God, that before was only a moveable tent, to become a stable building, built on a rock or everlasting mountain; agreeably to Isai. xxxiii. 20. "Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities. Thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down: not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed; neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken." Chap. xxviii. 16, 17. "Behold I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation-judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet." Ezek. xxxvii. 26. "Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them: it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will place them and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore,' taken together with the prophetical description of that sanctuary in the fortieth and following chapters. Solomon's temple and his other buildings in Jerusalem were exceeding stately and magnificent, so that he vastly increased the beauty and glory of the city. Isai. I. 13. "The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee. The fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the box-tree together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary: and I will make the place of my feet glorious." Ver. 15. "I will make thee an eternal excellency." Chap. liv. 11, 12. "Behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires; and I will make thy windows of agates and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones." The temple that Solomon built was exceeding magnifical of fame and of glory throughout all lands. 1 Chron. xxii. 5; agreeably to Isai. ii. 2. "And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the bills, and all nations shall flow into it." See also Mic. iv. 1, 2. Isai. Ix., at the beginning. "Arise, shine; for thy light is come the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee; and the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising." Solomon enlarged the place of sacrificing, so that sacrifices were not only offered on the altar, but all the middle part of the court was made use of for that end, by reason of the multitude of worshippers and the abundance of sacrifices. 1 Kin. viii. 64. 2 Chron. vii. 7. ; which is agreeable to Jer. iii. 16,

17. "And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land in those days, saith the Lord, they shall say no more, the ark of the covenant of the Lord," &c. at that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord, and all nations shall be gathered unto the name of the Lord unto Jerusalem." Mal. i. 10, 11. "From the rising of the sun 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" and many other places. Solomon was a great intercessor for Israel, and by his intercession he obtained that God should forgive their sins, and hear their prayers, and pity them under their calamities, and deliver them from their enemies, and fulfil his promises, and supply all their necessities that they might find mercy and find grace to help in a time of need, and that God might dwell with Israel, and take up his abode among them, as their king, saviour, and father. (2 Kin. viii. 2 Chron. vi.) By his intercession and prayer he brought fire down from heaven, to consume their sacrifices; and obtained that God should come down in a cloud of glory to fill his temple. 2 Chron. vii. 1-3. 1 Kin. viii. 54. His intercession was as it were continual, as though he ever lived to make intercession for his people, that they might obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. See those remarkable words, 1 Kin. viii. 59. Solomon was not only an intercessor for Israel, but for the stranger that was not of Israel, but came out of a far country for God's name sake, when he should hear of his great name and great salvation. 1 Kin. viii. 41-43. 2 Chron. vi. 32, 33.; which is agreeable to what the prophecies do abundantly represent of the joint interest of the Gentiles in the utmost ends of the earth, with Israel in the Messiah, through hearing his great name, and the report of his salvation. Solomon prayed for all the people of the earth that they might know the true God. 1 Kin. viii. 60. So the prophecies do abundantly show, that the Messiah should actually obtain this benefit for all nations of the world. Solomon did the part of a priest in blessing the congregation. 1 Kin. viii. 14. 2 Chron. vi. 3, with Num. vi. 23. ; which is agreeable to the prophecies which do represent the Messiah as a priest, and also to Gen. xxii. 18. "In thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed." To the like purpose, chap. xii. 3, xviii. 18, and xxvi. 4, and Psa. lxxii. 17. "And men shall be blessed in him." Solomon made a covenant with the king of Tyre, and the servants of the king of Tyre were associated with the servants of Solomon in the building of the temple: which is agreeable to the prophecies of the Messiah's being a light to the Gentiles and covenant of the people; and the Gentiles being associated with the Jews and becoming one people with them; and their coming and building in