expressions of this Psalm the Image of a Death which was equally shameful and cruel The other part of the Psalm gives us an Account of the deliverance of that person who is mentioned in this holy Hymn I. He obliges himself to praise the Name of the Lord in the most numerous Assembly II. He observes it as an effect of this deliverance that all the ends of the World should remember and turn unto the Lord and that all the Kindreds of the Nations should worship before him III. At last he takes notice that the Kingdom of God should spread it self over all the Nations of the World. One may judge by the History of David whe-this Psalm is applicable to him therein we may see all the Crosses which he underwent particularly represented during all the former years of his Reign But there we have no Account that David ever suffered any thing like that which is so exactly described in this Psalm And this may be said further that when David took any Occasion to paint out his Sufferings to us he has put in several stroaks which only relate to the Messiah and which shew us in a very lively manner that he was to pass through much greater Tryals than any of those from which David had been delivered The later Jews who endeavour to verifie this Prophecy in Esther or Mordecai agree with us at the bottom that David carried his views further than barely his own Sufferings And those also who apply it to the poople of Israel must acknowledge the same Truth even against their wills But the more ancient Jews were more equitable in their applications of the XXII Psalm to the Messiah They applyed it to him in earnest even after the time of Jesus Christ when the comparison of these Characters of the Messiah which may be found so exactly in the Death of Jesus Christ led them to an opposition of this Truth And certainly there needs very little equity to acknowledge that this Oracle or rather this heap of Oracles belong'd to the Messiah by the confession and agreement of the Jews in our Saviour's time I. They had not then resolved to make their advantages of the Writer's fault who writ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 like a Lion instead of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they have pierced my feet as they have done since In short Aquila who lived 100 years after Jesus Christ and the other Jewish Interpreters Symmachus and Theodotion translated that passage as we now read it II. The Notion which the Synagogue always had of the Sufferings of the Messiah obliged them to suppose two Messiahs one suffering and the other glorious rather than to contradict that Truth openly which is expressed by these Oracles in soparticular a manner III. Nothing can be imagined to be more ridiculous than to suppose that Jesus Christ should quote the first words of this Psalm upon the Cross thereby to engage all Mankind to take notice of the accomplishment of this ancient Oracle in all his Sufferings if we suppose that this Psalm even by the confession of the Jews had no relation to the Messiah The same Reflexion may be made concerning the Apostles who have quoted so many passages of this Psalm to prove that Jesus Christ was the Messiah because one may find in his Death and in the Circumstances of it such a litteral and exact accomplishment of this ancient Prophecy But if it should be objected That after all this agreement of the Synagogue can make no more than a strong prejudice this may be easily answered by considering that when the Psalmist speaks of the extent of his Kingdom over the whole Earth it was that Circumstance which determined the Synagogue in their application of this whole Psalm to the Messiah because as the Jews themselves acknowledge this extent of Empire is one of those Characters which according to the ancient Oracles is applicable to none but the Messiah In short because it is of great importance I shall repeat it here again common sense led those who considered these ancient Oracles to compare them as naturally they ought with those that went before and to determine the scope and intent of the later ones by the relation which they had to the precedent ones and there was only need of one considerable Clause to make a certain determination after they had made such a comparison This the Jews were certainly convinced of when they acknowledged that the last words of David II Sam. XXIII 1-8 were to be applyed to the Messiah by comparing them with Balaam's Oracle of the Messiah Numb XXIV We may therefore take it for granted That David did not absolutely speak of himself in the XXII Psalm and that he carried his views as far as the Messiah that he gave a great number of Characters to his Posterity whereby they might distinguish notwithstanding the greatness of his Sufferings and even the better by his very Sufferings than which no clearer marks can possibly be given because there is nothing more involuntary than enduring of Miseries nor nothing which depends less upon the choice of the person who is to undergo them than the particular kind of punishment or than the Circumstances which must accompany his Death when it is once left to the unjust power of violent Enemies We come now to the CX Psalm which in a very few words contains several very important Characters of the Messiah which are very distinctly expressed If one considers it exactly it seems to have been composed after that Nathan had acquainted David with the Glory of his Son which God had promised him such a Son who should build a House wherein God should dwell for ever and who should sit upon a Throne which should never be overturned whereas David had only form'd a Design of Building a Temple to the Lord. In short one see 's that the Spirit of Prophecy had given him a view of the Glory of this august King who should be born of his Seed and of the Glory of his Kingdom which should never be destroy'd David advances this King not only above all MEN by calling him his Lord who was himself a King but also above the Angels by making him sit at the right hand of God in the Kingdom of Heaven This is personal He also describes the Glory of his Office by considering him as a Priest of a higher order than that of Aaron from whom Melchisedech received Tithes in the person of Abraham And in a word he acquaints us with the progress of his Kingdom and the greatness of his Victories Let us examine all these Characters by themselves I. He brings in God speaking to the Messiah whom he calls his Lord Sit thou at my right hand until I make thy Enemies thy footstool This points out to us 1. That the Messiah ought to be advanced to Glory 2. That God intended to subdue his Enemies by little and little whilst the Messiah should be in his Glory as it was
so prophane as to deny that if in the same Author and in the same Chapter any man should read in one continued Series Predictions which should explain the miraculous Birth of the Messiah his Family his Preaching his Miracles his Sufferings his Resurrection his Ascension into Heaven the Sending of the Holy Ghost the Calling of the Gentiles but that the History of the Gospel would sufficiently justifie Jesus Christ to be the promised Messiah But they take it to be a very strange thing that the Apostles should apply several passages in ancient Authors to the History of Jesus Christ tho' the whole Contexture of their Books do not seem to oblige us to make any such Interpretations They therefore suppose that the Apostles made several fortunate Allusions to the more remarkable passages in those ancient Authors which may pass for Predictions of those Events which afterwards happened just as Nonnus wrote the History of the Gospel in Homer's Verses and as Eudoxia made a Cento out of Virgil's Poem which contained the same History tho' neither Homer nor Virgil had any of the Mysteries of the Christian Religion then in view That this apparent Difficulty may be solved it will be necessary to examine Three things I. The Matter of Fact it self II. The Reasons which gave occasion for the doing of it III. The Impression which this Fact has produced in the minds of men to this very time For the First Tho' it is well known that common use do's not allow men to joyn Foreign Idea's in the same Discourse yet we may easily conceive that God might and ought to do it if we will allow what may be easily collected that he resolved to send the Messiah into the World Such a practice was the more natural because the ancient Patriarchs before Moses and Moses himself who form'd the Commonwealth of the Jews had prepar'd the minds of the People to such sort of Expressions as were raised above the present Subject And certainly if one takes but the pains to consider the wisdom and beauty of the Authors who writ these Prophetical Books on the one side and the Character of the Writers of the New Testament on the other he would perceive that if these words That it might be fulfilled were of necessity to be changed into these As one may perceive a sort of Completion of such or such Passages in the Old Testament yet notwithstanding that the most part of those Quotations would evince an exact Accomplishment and the Oracles which they alledge would bear a just proportion to those Events which are related by the Evangelists in our Saviour's Life Can any thing be more singular than the Prophecy in the Seventh of Isaiah of the Messiah's being born of a Virgin of the piercing of his hands and feet Psal XXII of the mixture of Gall which was offered him to drink hinted at Psalm LX. 22. of his being sold for Thirty pieces of Silver Zechar. XI 3. or then several others of a like nature which at present I shall not stand to reckon up It must be confessed however that these Oracles are interwoven for the most part with Matters relating to Events happening in the time when each Prophet lived or which seem to be applicable personally to the Prophets Three Orders or Reasons may be conceived which will justifie the Wisdom of God in the ordering of these Oracles in a way which seems so contrary to the common practice of the World. The first Order contains Reasons drawn from the person of the Messiah himself of whom we speak The second Order contains those which arise from the consideration of the People amongst whom the Messiah was to be born The third contains those Reasons which respect other Nations amongst whom the Messiah was to be preached I shall examine these three sorts by themselves and I hope that we may gather from thence that the Eternal Wisdom presided over this mixture of these Oracles which relate to the Messiah with other Idea's which seem to be wholly foreign to the Subject In short it may be urged That the belief of a Messiah form'd of so apparent Contradictions cannot easily be received of the suddain A Messiah of the Seed of David whom David calls his Lord a Messiah who complains that he is forsaken by God whom however he ought to adore A Messiah born with the weaknesses of Youth who at the same time is called a mighty God and the Father of Eternity c. However these Idea's which seem so opposite ought of necessity to have been so separated by the Prophets least they should have been looked upon as Chimerical Descriptions and incompatible in one and the same Subject A second Reflexion which may be made upon this Matter is That the Jews were bound not only to preserve their Oracles but also to execute them in part Thus for instance there was a necessity for them to reject the Messiah to deliver him up to the Gentiles to be crucified there was a necessity that their punishment should be as signal as their Crime and that they should be dispersed over the World after the Destruction of Jerusalem as the Prophets have clearly shewn Now how could all this have ever been effected if the Description of the Messiah by the Prophets had been as Historical as that of the Apostles or the Evangelists who gave us only a Narrative of Matters of Fact. In a word was it not the interest of the Gentiles to whom the Gospel was to be preached that these Oracles should be scattered up and down the Writings of these ancient Authors They were to be Called upon the Rejection of the Jews The Jews were bound to preserve the Books of the Old Testament after they were cast off by God that the Authority of these Books and these Oracles might be beyond all contest as Testimonies with which we are furnished by the adverse Party which ought to have place until the fulness of the Gentiles should profess Christianity Let any one therefore judge if it was not necessary in this state of Affairs that there should be some obscurity in the Prophetical Descriptions and by consequence that this interweaving of foreign Idea's with those which concerned the Messiah as also this dispersion of the Oracles through different places of the Sacred Writers was not necessary and so much the more as they were uttered upon several Occasions by different Authors And we may affirm it as a certainty That according to the purpose of God this obscurity did not hinder either Jews or Pagans from perceiving those ruling Idea's of a Messiah when they read the Old Testament Neither was the dispersion of these Oracles through so many different places any greater hindrance to their application since the Jews laid it down as a constant Maxime That the accomplishment of every thing which we find to be foretold as great and illustrious by the Prophets ought to be looked for in the Person of the Messiah when the
who apply these very Passages to the Ministry of John the Baptist Thus we find that St. Matthew and St. Matth. III. 1 Mark I. 2 Mark make a manifest Allusion to these two Prophecies Zachary also the Father of John the Baptist applyes that of Isaiah to his Son and his Authority is the more considerable because he was a Priest 2. By an attentive considering the Passages themselves 3. By the common consent of the Jewish Church who by a generally received and undoubted Tradition that Elijah the Tishbite the Septuagint in their Translation of that place of Malachy telling us as much was to be the Forerunner of the Messiah and we find that in the time of our Saviour the Multitude and his Disciples supposed the same thing And the Jews at this day have the same perswasion viz. That Elias is to come before the Appearance of the Messiah from which Tradition of the Jews the Christians of old did and many at this day do believe That Elias shall resume the Functions of his Ministry before the last coming of Jesus Christ to Judge the Quick and the Dead 2. We may observe That the Character of the Forerunner of the Messiah being that which the Jews had much in their eye it was needful for it to be as notable and extraordinary as was that of the Prophet Elias whose Ministry was without dispute the most remarkable and illustrious of all the Prophets since Moses which gave the Prophet Malachy occasion to call him Elias much upon a like account as the Prophet Ezekiel calls the Messiah Ezek. XXXIV 23 24. David But above all things we must carefully observe the several Marks the Prophets give us of this Forerunner The Prophet Isaiah gives us these following particulars 1. That his Ministry was to be very signal and attended with general Respect and Veneration 2. That he was to preach in the Wilderness 3. That he was to call Sinners to Repentance 4. That he was to confound those who were most eminent in Authority and to comfort the Poor and Humble 5. That he was immediately to precede the Messiah 6. That his Ministry was to usher in that grand Revelation of the Glory of God in the presence of all Flesh i. e. before all Nations of the Earth who were to be called by the Messiah to his Religion according to the express Declaration of the Prophets The Prophet Malachy doth most distinctly represent to us 1. That the Mission of this Forerunner was not far off Behold saith he I send my Messenger He speaks of it as of a thing at the Door Now it is evident and the Jews themselves own it That from the Time of Malachy there was never a Prophet till the Appearance of John the Baptist. 2. It tells us that this Elias was to call Sinners to Repentance and to prepare the way before the face of the Lord. 3. That he was immediately to precede the Messias this he expresses by saying And the Lord whom ye seek shall suddainly come to his Temple even the Angel of the Covenant whom ye delight in It is evident that he speaks here of the Messiah whom he calls Psalm II. not only the Angel or Messenger of the Covenant but also the Lord The Lord forasmuch as God had promised him as a King to the House of David and the Angel of the Covenant because God by him was to make a new Covenant with the Nations of the Earth as Jeremy declares Chap. XXXI CHAP. XIII That the Messiah was to be born before the dissolution of the Jewish State and the Destruction of the Second Temple THE preceding Mark of the Messiah leads us to this we are now to speak of and affords it considerable Light. I will not repeat here what I have already set down concerning that Prophecy Gen. XLIX verse 10. concerning the Time when our Saviour was to appear in the World It is evident at first sight That that Prophecy evidences Three things 1. That the Scepter was to be in the House of Judah before ever the Shiloh was to come 2. That the Scepter was to give way to an inferiour Dignity which the Prophet sets forth by the word Lawgiver and which did take place till the time of Zerubbabel and his Successors 3. There was a necessity that this last Dignity also was to come to an end which happened not till the Advancement of Herod the Great to the Throne of Judea And it is easie to confirm this Truth by other Oracles which give a further Light to this our Explication We have several that are very remarkable upon this account The first is that of Daniel Chap. II. verse 40 41 42 to 46. where he first takes notice of the Succession of several Monarchies until that of the Messiah 2. The Time in which the Messiah was to appear I confess he do's not determine the Time very precisely mentioning only the Monarchy during which he was to be manifested but to make amends for this when he comes to explain the particulars of this Prophecy which before he had propos'd in general terms he doth not only point at the time of his Appearance but the very Year of his Death and he do's it with that exactness that it is impossible to be mistaken about it See what he saith in the IX Chapter of his Revelations Verse 24 25 26 27. Seventy weeks are determined upon thy People and upon thy Holy City to finish the Transgression and to make an end of Sins and to make Reconciliation for Iniquity and to bring in Everlasting Righteousness and to Seal up the Vision and Prophecy and to Anoint the most Holy. Verse 25. Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the Commandment to restore and build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be Seven weeks and threescore and two weeks the Streets shall be built again and the Wall even in troublous times Verse 26. And after the Threescore and two weeks shall MESSIAH be cut off but not for himself And the People of the Prince that shall come shall destroy the City and the Sanctuary and the end thereof shall be with a Flood and unto the end of the War desolations are determined Verse 27. And he shall confirm the Covenant with many for one week and in the midst of the week he shall cause the Sacrifice and Oblation to cease and for the over-spreading of Abomination he shall make it desolate even until the Consummation and that determined shall be poured on the desolate For the understanding of this Prophecy which is so exact and all the Events it refers to so particularized it is to be observed 1. That by the Weeks Daniel here speaks of Seven Years are designed according to the Stile of the Law Levit. XXV 8. when it speaks of the Year of Jubilee so that Seventy Weeks make out 490 Years which is acknowledged by the most Learned amongst the Jews Jachiades Abarbanel and Manasseh
Ben Israel 2. That the Prophet writing in Chaldea followed the Account of the Chaldean Year which consists of 360 days as appears clearly from other passages of this Book where he resolves the Years into Days without regarding the several Days which in a just Calculation were to be intercalated 3. That the Prophet expresses a certain Epocha from whence the counting of these Weeks is to begin viz. an Order to rebuild the Temple which cannot be applyed to that of Cyrus which was in a manner of none effect nor to the Edict of Darius Son of Hystaspes which had regard only to the re-establishing of the Temple nor to that of Artaxerxes given to Ezra in the Seventh Year of the Reign of that Prince because that contained only some particular Priviledges for the Ministers of the Temple but to the Edict which Artaxerxes granted to Nehemiah in the Twentieth Year of his Reign which contains a particular Grant to rebuild the Temple with its Fortifications 4. For though there be but 483 Solar Years from the 20 of Artaxerxes to the first of Cajus Caligula yet we shall find the just Number of 490 Years if we follow the Chaldean way of Calculation in which they reckon 360 Days to a Year And indeed we find just 483 such Years from the 20 Year of Artaxerxes to the time wherein all Judea was in expectation of the Messiah It was then Jesus Christ was baptized He suffer'd Death Three Years and a Half after his Baptism viz. The Nineteenth Year of Tiberius before the Seventh Week was ended and the Term pointed out by Daniel was expired I know that some famous Men begin the Weeks of Daniel from the Second Year of Darius Nothus and make them to end with the Destruction of Jerusalem which happend in the Year 490 accounting from the Second Year of the said Darius and they conceive themselves oblig'd thereto by an Argument they believe invincible because from the Second Year of Darius Nothus to the Thirty Second of Artaxerxes Mnemon they find just Forty nine years that is the Seven Weeks designed by Daniel for rebuilding of the Ruins and fortifying of the City and the rather because Nehemiah return'd to Artaxerxes in the Thirty second Year of his Reign having finished that work Nehemiah XIII 6. But this Opinion cannot stand for these two Reasons which seem to me to be unanswerable The first is Because they suppose that Daniel ends his Seventy Weeks at the Destruction of Jerusalem whereas indeed he saith no such thing but expresly tells us that the Messiah should be cut off in the midst of the Seventieth Week The second is That so without designing it they rob Jesus Christ of the Glory of having determined the Time of the Destruction of Jerusalem as if instead of a Prophecy concerning that Event he had only given us an Explication of that of Daniel Neither will I make any further stop here to observe That that which has given most trouble to Interpreters hath proceeded from the want of making an exact distribution of the different parts of that Prophecy which very distinctly delivers three things 1. The end of the Prophecy which happened after Seven Weeks in the time of Malachy 2. The Death of the Messiah which came to pass in the midst of the last Week of the 490 Years 3. The Peace which was to be made in the midst of one Week that is Three years and an half before the Destructiof Jerusalem which was done not by the Messiah as some have imagined but by the Romans who made Peace with the Parthians Annal. Lib. XV. as is recorded by Tacitus An intelligent Reader will easily judge That this diversity of Opinions concerning the meaning of this Oracle has been occasioned by want of attention to what has been now mentioned Now these Observations being supposed as indeed they are Matters of the greatest Evidence it necessarily follows That the Messiah was to appear before the Destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans The Time is set down so precisely by Daniel as leaves no pretence to doubt of this Truth And indeed tho' the Jews seem presently after the time of our Saviour to have adopted the Opinion I mentioned before as being unwilling to receive the Messiah and therefore carried it to the end of the Seventy Weeks viz. to the Destruction of their Temple notwithstanding Daniel expresly tells us That the Temple was not to be destroyed till after the Appearance of the Messias The Jews I say being convinc'd by the force of this Argument have owned that the Messiah was born at the time of the Destruction of the second Temple but that he has hid himself ever since The second Oracle concerning the Time of the Coming of the Messiah is That of Haggai which expresly tells us that the Messiah was to appear during the second Temple which was begun to be built by the Order of Cyrus finished under Darius Son of Hystaspes and destroyed by Vespasian The Words of the Prophet are as follows Chap. II. vers 7 8 9. And I will shake all Nations and the desire of all Nations shall come and I will fill this House with Glory saith the Lord of Hosts The Silver is mine and the Gold is mine saith the Lord of Hosts The Glory of this latter House shall be greater than that of the former saith the Lord of Hosts and in this place will I give Peace saith the Lord of Hosts It is worth our noting 1. That this Oracle promises a very great change 2. It describes the Messiah as the Expectation of the Gentiles suitable to the Idea God had given of him to Abraham 3. That it fixes the Coming of the Messiah to the Time of the second House that is to say of the Temple built by Zorobabel 4. It makes the Glory of that House to depend upon its being honoured with the presence of the Messiah In short if we would be convinc'd of this Truth we need only consider three things The first is That the Prophets Zachariah and Malachy do represent to us the Coming of the Messiah as near at hand Balaam had said almost Ten Ages before I see him but not nigh which intimated his coming to be then at a great distance But Zechariah speaks thus concerning it Chap. III. vers 8 9 10. Hear now O Joshuah the High Priest thou and thy Fellows that sit before thee for they are men wondred at Behold I will bring forth my Servant the BRANCH For behold the Stone that I have laid before Joshua upon one Stone shall be seven Eyes behold I will engrave the graving thereof saith the Lord of Hosts and I will remove the iniquity of that Land in one day In that day saith the Lord of Hosts shall ye call every man his Neighbour under the Vine and under the Figtree Malachy expresses himself concerning the approaching coming of the Messiah thus Chap. III. verse 1. Behold I will send my Messenger and he
shall prepare the way before me and the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his Temple even the Messenger of the Covenant whom ye delight in behold he shall come saith the Lord of Hosts One ought to observe two very considerable things in this Prophecy The first That the Messiah was to come suddainly The second That Malachy expresly points to us that the appearing of the Messiah was to be during the second Temple the words of the Prophecy distinctly expressing it And sure it is that all who gave any credit to these Oracles did understand them so For first Both Jews and Gentiles looked for the Messiah during the second Temple We find a passage express to the purpose in Tacitus and it was on this ground that Josephus gave the Title of Messiah to Vespasian 2. They expected him at the end of the Seventy Weeks which was the Third Year after the Death of Jesus Christ This was the occasion of their being deluded by so many false Messiah's about the time of our Saviour and a little after 3. They never despair'd of his coming taking the Promise of the Messiah's coming to be conditional when as indeed it was absolute until they began to believe that the term set down by God himself was expired 4. The reason of their cursing those that compute the times set down so distinctly and precisely by Daniel was because they found themselves disappointed in his Calculation finding that the time which Daniel had pointed at for the coming of the Messiah seem'd to be already expired 5. 'T is but of late that they have try'd to evade it by maintaining that the Temple will be built a third time and that then the Messiah shall appear but this evasion is unanswerably refuted 1. Because Daniel assigns a certain term which is expired 1600 Years since 2. Because he expresly tells us That the desolation of the Temple was to be for ever as will appear in the following Chapters And 3dly Because Haggai in effect calls the Temple of which he speaks The second or third House by which expression he so distinctly points out the second Temple to us that it would be ridiculous to suppose it meant of a third Temple to be built 1700 Years after the ruin of that of which he prophecied CHAP. XIV That the Messiah was to be born of a Virgin of the House of David HItherto we have seen that the Messiah was to be born of the Posterity of Abraham by Isaac of that of Isaac by Jacob and of that of Jacob by Juda. This hath been sufficiently made out already I have also shew'd from the Oracle in the I Sam. Chap. VII That he was to be born of the Posterity of David and we find the same very particularly and fully set down in the LXXXIX Psalm The following Prophets have exprest themselves to the same purpose Isaiah XI vers 1 2 3. and the Prophet Jeremy hath pursued the same Idea's Chap. XXIII vers 5 6. and Chap. XXXIII vers 15 16 17. Neither do the Prophets only distinguish the Messiah by his being born of a Virgin but also by determining that Virgin to the House of David Neither need I repeat here what I have already observ'd That this is a Truth the Grounds whereof God had laid down in his first promise viz. The Seed of the Woman shall bruise the Serpents head where he makes mention of the Seed of the Woman only without naming that of the Man the word of Seed or Posterity very evidently designing a Man to be born of the Woman which is acknowledg'd by the Jews in another Prophecy and the same which the Apostle St. Paul takes notice of as a Maxim generally owned by the Doctors of the Synagogue Galat. III. It is also evident that the word Woman plainly denotes the Sex of which this person was immediately to be born It was obvious to judge That something miraculous was to attend the Birth of the Messiah We see Isaac born of a barren Mother past the Age of Child-bearing We find also something very singular at the Birth of Sampson and Samuel and 't is well known that the promise of the Messiah was something far greater than the Birth of these now mentioned how illustrious soever they might be and that therefore probably his Birth was to be attended by a greater Miracle But because this was a thing wholly new we ought to observe in what manner God did particularly foretel it The Prophecy of Isaiah expresseth it thus Chap. VII vers 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17. Moreover the Lord spake again unto Ahaz saying Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God ask it either in the depth or in the height above But Ahaz said I will not ask neither will I tempt the Lord. And he said hear ye now O house of David is it a small thing for you to weary men but will ye weary my God also Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign behold a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and shall call his name Immanuel Butter and honey shall he eat that he may know to refuse the Evil and choose the Good for before the Child shall know to refuse the Evil and choose the Good the Land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her Kings The Lord shall bring upon thee upon thy People and upon thy Father's House days that have not come from the day that Ephraim departed from Juda even the King of Assyria Where we may observe 1. That the Promise here is made to a wicked King but of the Family of David to whom the Prophet particularly addresses himself 2. That this Prophecy was given at a juncture of time very capable of awakening their attention to it at a time when the State of the Jews was reduced to the greatest extremity and the House of David in particular in a very great consternation 3. The Prophecy was utter'd by a very illustrious Prophet who was of the Royal Family 4. It was sealed and confirmed with the Prediction of the Birth of a Child which came to pass accordingly 5. It is set forth as a very extraordinary sign instead of that which the wicked King refused to ask when Isaiah offer'd it him in the Name of God. I am not ignorant that the Modern Jews deny that this Character of being born of a Virgin belongs to the Messiah but it is an easie matter to confute them For first Would it not have been ridiculous for the Apostles to go about to apply this Oracle to their Messiah if it had not been a thing universally own'd by the Jews that this was the meaning of Isaiah's Prophecy Is it not evident that this Character so difficult to gain belief would rather perplex than strengthen their proofs And yet certain it is that St. Matthew has done so Chap. I. verse 23. as likewise St. Luke Chap. I. verse 31. Justin Martyr observ'd That the Notion of this
of one that was Blind and another that was Lame at Alexandria He that would know the Particulars may consult Tacitus his History And last of all we ought to observe That the Jews do not only agree that this Oracle of Isaiah refers to the Messiah but they also still propose the Power of working Miracles as a Character which would render the Messiah very illustrious and certainly known CHAP. XVII That the Messiah was to be an illustrious Prophet THis Truth I have already asserted in the Reflexions I made on the Prophecy of Moses Deut. XVIII But one ought to explain this Character of the Messiah more particularly God having been pleased further to illustrate this Oracle of Moses First then We say that the word Messiah implies Anointing which was common to Kings Prophets and Priests and since David's time we find nothing more common than this Title in the Books of the Old Testament where we may observe that Moses was dignified with this Gift of Prophecy and that Samuel communicated the same to Saul and David when he anointed them to be Kings Yea the Jews to this day are of opinion that Elias the Prophet shall anoint the Messiah that is initiate him in his Prophetical as well as his Royal Function Secondly God more precisely signifies this Isai XI Vers 1 2 3. where he declares he would communicate all the necessary Gifts of the Prophetical Function to the Messiah There shall come forth a Rod out of the stem of Jesse and a branch shall grow out of his Roots And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding the Spirit of Counsel and Might the Spirit of Knowledge and of the Fear of the Lord. So that he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes neither reprove after the hearing of his ears These words need no Commentary For the Jews refer them constantly to the Messiah and they plainly import that he was to be a great Prophet forasmuch as all the Characters which are there given to the Spirit which was to rest on the Messiah are the same which in the Old Testament we find attributed to the Prophets and may easily be taken notice of in the History of the Prophets especially of David and Solomon And much to the same purpose is that passage Isai XLII vers 1 2 3 4 5 6 and 7. Behold my Servant whom I uphold mine Elect in whom my Soul delighteth I have put my Spirit upon him he shall bring forth Judgment to the Gentiles He shall not cry nor lift up nor cause his voice to be heard in the street A bruised Reed shall he not break and the smoking Flax shall he not quench he shall bring forth Judgment unto Truth He shall not fail nor be discouraged till he have set Judgment in the Earth and the Isles shall wait for his Law. Thus saith God the Lord he that created the Heavens and stretched them out he that spread forth the Earth and that which cometh out of it he that giveth breath to the People upon it and spirit to them that walk therein I the Lord have called thee in Righteousness and will hold thine and will keep thee and give thee for a Covenant of the people for a Light of the Gentiles to open the blind eyes to bring out the prisoners from the prison and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house In which Oracle one ought to take notice particularly of those things which the Jews apply to the Messiah 1. That God proposes the Gifts of the Spirit which he bestowed upon him as an Effect of his Love and the choice he had made of him 2. That the Messiah was to make use of the same as Rules for reforming the Country and propounding Gods Covenant to the Gentiles which clearly suppose the necessity of the Gift of Prophecy to qualifie him for such great Undertakings 3. That contrary to the thundring Character which distinguished the rest of the Prophets who were as so many publick Censors the Messiah was to speak with all meekness and sweetness to the Nations which should receive his Preaching One see 's that Isaiah repeats the same Idea's Chap. LXI vers 1 2 3 4 5 6 and 7. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek he hath sent me to bind-up the broken hearted to proclaim liberty to the Captives and the opening of the Prison to them that are bound To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of Vengeance of our God to comfort all that mourn to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion to give unto them Beauty for Ashes the Oyl of Joy for Mourning the Garment of Praise for the Spirit of Heaviness that they might be called Trees of Righteousness the planting of the Lord that he might be glorified And they shall build the old Wasts they shall raise up the former Desolations and they shall repair the waste Cities the Desolations of many Generations And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks and the sons of the Alien shall be your Plowmen and your Vine dressers But ye shall be named the Priests of the Lord men shall call you the Ministers of our God ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles and in their glory shall ye boast your selves For your shame ye shall have double and for confusion they shall rejoyce in their portion therefore in their Land they shall possess the double everlasting joy shall be upon them In short he represents in this and the former Oracle the Gentiles as a People being in darkness and in the misery of a Prison from whence we may easily infer First That the Messiah was to be a Prophet how vile and abject soever that Character might appear in the eyes of the World as I have shewed that it was where I spake of the Prophets in general Secondly That he was to discharge these Functions during the whole course of his Life and that it was to be his chief Employment here upon Earth David had before signified Psalm XXII verse 22. that the Messiah was to declare the Name of God unto his Brethren viz. the Jews by exercising his Prophetical Function in Judea but the Holy Spirit did something more when he seem'd to point out Galilee as the place where this Sacred Doctor was chiefly to fix his abode This is in effect insinuated when God tells us that he was to begin his Ministerial Functions in the Tribes of Naphtali and Zebulon Isai IX vers 1 2 and 3. Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation when at the first he lightly afflicted the Land of Zebulon and the Land of Naphtali and afterwards did more grievously afflict her by the way of the Sea beyond Jordan in Galilee of the Nations The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light they that dwell in the land
of the shadow of Death upon them hath the light shined Thou hast multiplyed the Nation thou hast encreased the joy they joy before thee according to the joy in Harvest and as men rejoyce when they divide the spoil I shall afterwards take notice That the time of the Messiah was to be distinguished by an incredible abundance of Spiritual Gifts and so this shall suffice at present to prove that the Messiah was to be a very great Prophet CHAP. XVIII That the Messiah was to propound a new Covenant from God with all men THis is a Truth which is easily gathered 1. Because all Nations before they could be made partakers of the Blessing of God by the Messiah according to the promise made to Abraham were first to be received into the Covenant 2. From the nature of that Covenant it self of which Moses was the Mediator the end of which was to separate the Jews from other Nations some of which were not capable of being received amongst them till after several Generations whereas they were to be made partakers of this Blessing by the Messiah 3. Because in effect all the Ceremonial Law was only added to the Moral as it were contrary to God's principal intention and only upon occasion of the Jews worshipping the Golden Calf as St. Gal. 3.19 Paul observes in the Third Chapter of his Epistle to the Galatians Besides it appears that God at divers times had given sufficient hints concerning this 1. He had proposed a new Priesthood of the Messiah which was to abolish the Levitical Priesthood and this is the more remarkable forasmuch as David who pronounced that Oracle Psalm CX was he who first form'd the design of building the Temple to which all the Levitical Service was annexed 2. We find him rejecting in some sort the Levitical Ministry after he had despised it in comparison of the Spiritual Worship Psalm XL. vers 6. Sacrifice and Offering thou didst not desire mine ears hast thou opened Burnt-offering and Sin-offering hast thou not required And Psalm L. vers 8 9 10. I will not reprove thee for thy Sacrifices or thy Burnt-offerings which have been continually before me I will take no Bullocks out of thine House nor He-goats out of thy Folds for every Beast of the Forest is mine and the Cattel upon a thousand Hills And Psalm LI. verse 17. he tells us that the Sacrifices of God are a broken spirit in opposition to the Sacrifices which the Law prescribed and to signifie their imperfection the Law having appointed none for the expiation of Murther or Adultery Isaiah follows David Chap. 1. vers 11 12 13 14 and 15. To what purpose is the multitude of your Sacrifices unto me saith the Lord I am full of the Burnt-offerings of Rams and the fat of fed Beasts and I delight not in the blood of Bullocks or of Lambs or of He-goats When you come to appear before me who hath required this at your hands to tread my Courts Bring no more vain Oblations Incense is an abomination unto me the new Moons and Sabbaths the calling of Assemblies I cannot away with it is iniquity even the solemn meeting Your new Moons and your appointed Feasts my Soul hateth they are a trouble unto me I am weary to bear them And when you spread forth your hands I will hide mine eyes from you yea when ye make many prayers I will not hear your hands are full of blood And Jeremiah speaks much to the same purpose Chap. VII v. 21 22 23. But besides God directly promiseth this new Covenant by Isaiah Chap. XLII vers 6 7. I the Lord have called thee in Righteousness and will hold thine hand and will keep thee and give thee for a Covenant of the People for a Light of the Gentiles To open the blind eyes to bring out the Prisoners from the Prison and them that sit in Darkness from the Prison house It is natural to observe That in this place where God speaks of the Messiah as the Jews themselves confess he expresly declares two things 1. That the Messiah should be a Covenant of the People that is that he should mediate a Covenant between God and the People 2. That the fruit of this Covenant was to extend to the Gentiles which plainly implyes that it was not the old Covenant forasmuch as from it several were excluded The same Covenant is also mention'd Chap. XLIX vers 8 9. Thus saith the Lord in an acceptable time have I heard thee and in a day of salvation have I helped thee and I will preserve thee and give thee for a Covenant of the People to establish the Earth to cause to inherit the desolate Heritages That thou maist say to the Prisoners go forth to them that are in darkness shew your selves they shall feed in the ways and their pastures shall be in all High-places He pursues the same Notion Chap. LV. vers 3 4. Incline your ear and come unto me hear and your soul shall live and I will make an everlasting Covenant with you the sure mercies of David Behold I have given him for a Witness to the People a Leader and Commander to the People Than which nothing can be more particular And to the same purpose he speaks Chap. LXI vers 8 9. For I the Lord love Judgment I hate robbery for Burnt-offering and I will direct their work in truth and I will make an everlasting Covenant with them And their Seed shall be known among the Gentiles and their Off-spring among the people all that see them shall acknowledge them that they are the Seed which the Lord hath blessed It is as clear as the day That God in these Oracles promiseth an irrevocable Covenant because he calls it an Everlasting Covenant in opposition to the former He takes notice also in the same Book That the said Covenant was to be propounded in the midst of the Nations and that then that Blessing of God should be known according to the ancient Oracles which was promised universally to all Nations This is that which God more particularly explains afterwards by the voice and pen of a Prophet who was of the order of Priests thereby to prevent all sorts of Exceptions Jeremiah in effect speaks to the same purpose Chap. XXXI vers 31 32 33 34 35 and 36. Behold the days come saith the Lord that I will make a new Covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah Not according to the Covenant that I made with their Fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the Land of Egypt which my Covenant they brake altho' I were a husband to them saith the Lord But this shall be the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days saith the Lord I will put my Law in their inward parts and write it in their heart and I will be their God and they shall be my people And they shall
he had served his own Generation by the will of God fell asleep and was gathered to his Fathers and saw corruption But he whom God raised again saw no corruption In like manner we find St. Paul alluding to that of Hosea XIII vers 14. in I Cor. XV. vers 55. O Death where is thy sting O Grave where is thy victory CHAP. XXII That the Messiah was to ascend into Heaven and send down from thence the miraculous Gifts of Prophecy Languages c. THis was a thing which might rationally enough be expected Deut. XVIII 18. for the Messiah being to resemble Moses who had not only the Gifts of the Holy Spirit himself but also in a manner communicated the same to the Heads of the Congregation of Israel it was reasonable to infer That the Messiah was to receive much more eminent Gifts and to communicate them to far greater numbers But besides this God had expresly promised it by David Psalm CX vers 1 2. where he represents the Messiah sitting at the right hand of God. The Lord said unto my Lord sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool The Lord shall send the Rod of thy strength out of Zion Rule thou in the midst of thine Enemies It is worth our noting that Daniel represents to us the same Notion where he speaks of the Kingdom of the Messiah Chap. VII vers 13 14. I saw in the night visions and behold one like the Son of Man came with the Clouds of Heaven and came to the Ancient of Days and they brought him near before him And there was given him Dominion and Glory and a Kingdom that all People Nations and Languages should serve him his Dominion is an everlasting Dominion which shall not pass away and his Kingdom that which shall not be destroyed Where doth God dwell unless in Heaven David expresses himself in term which import something too great to be applyed to the Symbolical Ark of the Covenant Psalm XXIV vers 7 8 9. Lift up your heads O ye Gates and be ye lift up ye everlasting Doors and the King of Glory shall come in Who is this King of Glory the Lord strong and mighty the Lord mighty in Battel c. He speaks further of the glorious Kingdom of the Messiah Psalm XLV vers 5 6 7. Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the Kings enemies whereby the people fall under thee Thy Throne O God is for ever and ever the Scepter of thy Kingdom is a right Scepter Thou lovest righteousness and hatest wickedness therefore God thy God hath anointed thee with the oyl of Gladness above thy fellows 'T is evident that David addresses himself there to the Messiah because he stiles him a God anointed above his Fellows And he pursues the same Idea Psalm LXVIII vers 18. Thou hast ascended on high thou hast led captivity captive thou hast received gifts for men yea for the rebellious also that the Lord God might dwell amongst them Nothing can be imagined more express than these words which lively represent to us the Ascension of the Messiah and the pouring forth of Prophetical Gifts to bring the Heathens to the Service of God. Isaiah speaks the same Chap. XLIV vers 3. For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground I will pour my Spirit upon thy Seed and my Blessing upon thine Off-spring The waters here spoken of according to the ordinary stile of the Prophets are nothing else but the Graces of God's Spirit Joel expresses himself very plainly in this matter Chap. II. vers 28 29 30 31 32. And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh and your sons and your daughters shall prophesie your old men shall dream dreams your young men shall see visions And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit And I will shew 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 as the Lord hath said and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call Nothing can be conceived more particular than this Oracle concerning the effusion of the Prophetical Gifts upon the Servants of the Messiah after his Ascension For 1. he clearly hints at the several ways of Prophecy which shall be bestowed upon the Subjects of the Messiah 2. That this great Event was to be before the Destruction of Jerusalem which St. Peter foretels as a thing at the Door Acts II. vers 30 31 32. after he had shewed that the wonderful effusion of the Spirit at Pentecost was a litteral accomplishing of the Prophecy of Joel he adds Therefore being a Prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an Oath to him that of the fruit of his loins according to the flesh he would raise up Christ to sit on his Throne he seeing this before spake of the Resurrection of Christ that his Soul was not left in Hell neither his Flesh did see Corruption This Jesus has God raised up whereof we all are witnesses Ezechiel goes on with the same views with Joel Chap. XXXVI vers 26 and 27. A new heart also will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you an heart of flesh And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my Statutes and ye shall keep my Judgments and do them And Chap. XXXIX verse 29. Neither will I hide my face any more from them for I have poured out my Spirit upon the House of Israel saith the Lord God. And Zachariah agrees with both the foregoing Prophets Chap. XII verse 10. And I will pour upon the House of David and upon the Inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of Grace and of Supplications and they shall look upon him whom they have pierced and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only Son and shall be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his First-born 'T is obvious to make these following Observations upon these Oracles 1. That the Messiah was to be raised above the reach of any of his Enemies 2. That he was to ascend to Heaven and to be instated there in Glory in order to his being dignified and glorified above all Nations 3. That he was from thence to send down Prophetical Graces plentifully which made his entrance into Heaven a kind of Triumph 4. That this great Event was to precede the destruction of Jerusalem to which the Prophet Joel in the fore-cited place seems to allude The Messiah was to form
come from far and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side Then thou shalt see and shine and thine heart shall fear and be enlarged because the abundance of the Sea shall be converted unto thee the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee And Chap. LXII vers 2. The Gentiles shall see thy righteousness and all Kings thy glory and thou shalt be called by a new name which the mouth of the Lord shall name And vers 11 and 12. Behold the Lord hath proclaimed unto the ends of the World say ye to the daughter of Zion behold thy salvation cometh behold his reward is with him and his work is before him And they shall call them the holy people the redeemed of the Lord and thou shalt be called Sought out a City not forsaken And Chap. LXV vers 1. I am sought of them that asked not for me I am found of them that sought me not I said behold me behold me unto a Nation that was not called by my Name And Chap. LXVI verse 18. It shall come to pass that I will gather all Nations and Tongues and they shall come and see my Glory Amos who was contemporary with Isaiah speaks the same thing Chap. IX vers 11 12. In that day will I raise up the Tabernacle of David which is fallen and close up the breaches thereof and I will raise up his ruins and I will build it as in the days of old That they may possess the remnant of Edom and of all the Heathen which are called by my Name saith the Lord which doth this The Prophet Micah also follows the Prophet Isaiah step by step Mich. IV. vers 1 2 3. But in the lasts days it shall come to pass that the Mountain of the House of the Lord shall be established in the top of the Mountains and it shall be exalted above the Hills and people shall flow unto it And many Nations shall come and say Come and let us go up to the Mountain of the Lord and to the House of the God of Jacob and he will teach us of his ways and we will walk in his paths for the Law shall go forth of Zion and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem And he shall judge among many people and rebuke strong Nations afar off and they shall beat their Swords into Plow shares and their Spears into Pruning-hooks Nation shall not lift up a Sword against Nation neither shall they learn war any more Zephaniah is as clear as any of the rest Chap. II. vers 11. They shall worship him every one from his place even all the Isles of the Heathen And Chap. III. vers 9 10. Then will I turn to the people a pure Language that they may all call upon the Name of the Lord to serve him with one consent From beyond the Rivers of Ethiopia my Suppliants the daughter of my dispersed shall bring mine offering Jeremiah in the Fourth Chapter of his Prophecies vers 2. confirms the same Truth as likewise Chap. XVI vers 19. and more expresly Chap. XXXI verse 34. And they shall teach no more every man his Neighbour and every man his Brother saying know the Lord for they shall all know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them saith the Lord. After the return of the Captivity we find that the Prophets still pursued the same Idea's Haggai II. vers 7 8. And I will shake all Nations and the desire of all Nations shall come and I will fill this House with Glory saith the Lord of Hosts The Silver is mine and the Gold is mine saith the Lord of Hosts Zechariah speaks in like manner Chap. II. vers 10 11. Sing and rejoyce O daughter of Zion for lo I come and I will dwell in the midst of thee saith the Lord. And many Nations shall be joyned to the Lord in that day and shall be my people and I will dwell in the midst of thee and thou shalt know that the Lord of Hosts hath sent me unto thee And Chap. VIII vers 20 21 22. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts it shall yet come to pass that there shall come people and the inhabitants of many Cities and the inhabitants of one City shall go to another saying Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord and to seek the Lord of Hosts I will go also Yea many People and strong Nations shall come to seek the Lord of Hosts in Jerusalem and to pray before the Lord. And Chap. XI vers 10. he expresses the same thing more distinctly And I will cut off the Chariot from Ephraim and the Horse from Jerusalem and the Battel bow shall be cut off and he shall speak peace unto the Heathen and his Dominion shall be from Sea to Sea and from the River unto the ends of the Earth Malachi speaks to the same purpose with the greatest clearness imaginable Chap. I. vers 10 11. Who is there among you that shuts the doors or kindles fire on mine Altar for nought I have no pleasure in you saith the Lord of Hosts neither will I accept an offering at your hand for 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 On all which passages one may make these Observations 1. That all this whole Series of Idea's hath as much connexion to one another as the words of those Oracles have which we have now alledged 2. That these Prophets have set it forth with all its possible Characters by the Original of these People calling them the Children of Seth by their Countreys Egypt Assyria the East and West by their Idolatry by their Aversion to the Jews their Ignorance c. 3. That these Prophecies were generally understood by the Jews of old of the Calling of the Gentiles as appears from the use the Apostles made of them when they preached to the Gentiles 4. That forasmuch as God had ordered Proselytes to be received into the Jewish Communion he seem'd thereby to have hinted to them that what he had enjoyn'd them as to particulars ought with much more reason to be practiced in general to all the Nations of the World and ought also to be universally desired 5. That the Modern Jews themselves constantly believ'd that the Messiah should lead the Gentiles to Repentance So Kimchi Moses Maimonides and many other Authors since the Talmudists 6. That the Opinion which the Jews have entertained That the Messiah as a great Conquerour was to subdue the Nations proceeds only from the sense of the Oppression they have been and still are under which makes them so earnestly desire a temporal deliverance from the power of the Gentiles by means of the Messiah and the pompous expression of some of the Prophets have strengthen'd this belief in them tho'
they cannot deny but that the same Prophetical passages do imply that the Messiah was to subject the Gentiles by the way of instruction CHAP. XXIV That the Jews were to be rejected in the time of the Messiah THere are three things which make this particular very considerable The first is That it seems altogether opposite to the Design of God who was entred into Covenant with the Jews excluding all other Nations of the Earth The second is That nothing ever was a greater Scandal to the Jews than the thoughts of a possibility that God should ever cast off their Nation 3. The third is That the Rejection of the Jews seem'd less possible in the time of the Messiah than at any other time The Messiah being according to their perswasion to procure the salvation of the Jews in the first place and before other Nations were made partakers of those Blessings which he brought along with him And it was upon this Account that God hath forgot nothing which might make those Oracles that relate to the Rejection of the Jews in the time of the Messiah very sensible The chief Priviledges which made the Jews consider themselves as God's peculiar People were these 1. God himself was in a peculiar manner their King and Soveraign which gave Josephus occasion to call their State a Theocracy 2. Their Religious Service did wholly depend upon God who had instituted their Order of Priesthood 3. God had placed them in a Country by themselves and separated them from all other Nations 4. God had given them the Urim and Thummim which gave them an infallible Resolution in all important Cases happening to their State which was an evident Mark of the Divine Presence and Direction 5. God gave them particular Marks of his Blessing the extraordinary Fruitfulness which continually usher'd in their Sabbatical Year the Security which they enjoyed during their three Solemn Feasts and above all the Deliverers which he from time to time rais'd up for them their Fourteen Judges and Kings And God also threatned them with evils opposite to these Blessings and all this is denounced against them step by step 1. He declares that he would no longer be their God. 2. That he would abolish and reject their order of Priesthood which was accordingly executed by degrees 3. That he would turn them out of their own Country without recovery 4. That they should have no more Prophets or Revelations 5. That he would take away from them all the Marks of his Protection The passages expressing these several particulars are here subjoyn'd which may be easily rang'd under the foregoing Heads that we may understand the better that God hath plainly foretold the Rejection of the Jews at the time of the Messiah 1. Moses then threatens them with a terrible Desolation Deut. XXVIII vers 28 29. The Lord shall smite thee with madness and blindness and astonishment of heart And thou shalt grope at Noon day as the blind gropeth in darkness and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore and no man shall save thee Manasseh acknowledges that God in this passage foretels not only their first Desolation under Nebuchadnezzar but also that which happened under Titus Vespasian The Eagle mention'd at the 49th verse of that Chapter being not only applicable to Nebuchadnezzar whom Ezechiel Chap. XVII represents under that Notion but more particularly to the Roman Emperour Titus whose Eagles gave a literal accomplishment to that Prophecy This makes it evident That at the same time when God threatens them with their first Desolation he also denounces to them the last and that consequently we may apply those passages to the second Rejection of the Jews which were spoken of the first 2. Hosea expresseth the same in his first second and third Chapters where he particularly fortels their being deprived of the Royal Dignity Priesthood and Prophecy 3. Isaiah speaks to the same purpose in his first second and fifth Chapters as also Chap. XXVIII XLII L and LXVI and in his XXV Chapter he speaks as if no Restoration was to be expected 4. Amos represents the same thing Chap. V. vers 16 17 and 21 22. Therefore the Lord the God of Hosts the Lord saith thus wailing shall be in all streets and they shall say in all the High-ways Alas alas and they shall call the Husbandman to mourning and such as are skilful of Lamentation to wailing And in all Vineyards shall be wailing for I will pass through thee saith the Lord. I hate I despise your Feast-days and I will not smell in your solemn Assemblies though ye offer me Burnt-offerings and your Meat offerings I will not accept them neither will I regard the Peace-offerings of your fat Beasts Where he hints that their Desolation shall be without recovery 5. Jeremiah is very express in Chap. V VI and X. verse 11. where he declares that their Destruction should be without remedy as also Chap. XII and XXXI 6. Daniel follows their steps Chap. IX vers 25 26 27. where he directly points at the Destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple The words are these Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the Commandment to restore and build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks and threescore and two weeks the street shall be built again and the wall even in troublous times And after the threescore and two weeks shall MESSIAH be cut off but not for himself and the people of the Prince that shall come shall destroy the City and the Sanctuary and the end thereof shall be with a flood and unto the end of the War Desolations are determined 'T is worth our observing That Josephus the Historian a little after the Destruction of Jerusalem Antiq. Lib. X. acknowledges that this Prophecy of Daniel did expresly foretel the ruin of the Temple of Jerusalem and of the Jewish Government by the Arms of the Roman Empire which himself was an Eye-witness of 7. Zechariah speaks after the same manner Chap. XI vers 9. Then said I I will not feed you that that dieth let it die and that that is to be cut off let it be cut off and let the rest eat every one the flesh of another 8. And Malachi follows these common Idea's Chap. I. vers 10 and 11. Who is there among you that shuts the doors for nought Neither do ye kindle fire on mine Altar for nought I have no pleasure in you saith the Lord of Hosts neither will I accept an Offering at your hand For 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 I cannot conceive how any that consider the succession of these Idea's so interwoven one with another can have the least
convinces me and therefore am inclined to think that no such Objection was ever made against her In the mean time it is well worth our noting 1. That the Blessed Virgin had Zachariah the Priest as an Examiner and Witness of her behaviour from the beginning at whose house she abode during the first months of her being with Child and who publickly divulged the miraculous Birth of his own Son and his leaping in his Mother's Womb at the Salutation of the Blessed Virgin 2. That the Blessed Virgin lived many years after the Passion of our Saviour that she might undergo and answer any Accusations of that nature 3. That she also had for Witnesses of the Miracles which attended her Conception all the Disciples of S. John as well as those of Jesus Christ tho' the Disciples of S. John did not agree with the Disciples of Jesus Christ 4. That what she declared of her self was not a Fact which had no traces whereby it might be examined in the Old Testament 5. That the Jews had thirty years to examin the several particulars which had relation to the Messiah and the miraculous manner of his Birth at the time when she published this particular passage of her life 6. That we cannot call in question the veracity of the Blessed Virgin in the account which she gives us of what concern'd her self of which no witness could be produced forasmuch as the accomplishment of that part of her Prophecy That all Nations should call her blessed clearly shews that she had received the Spirit of Prophecy no more than we can suspect any Forgeries in the Relations of other Prophets tho' we have no other Testimony concerning them but that of the Prophets themselves CHAP. IX That Jesus Christ lived and preached after the same manner as the Prophets had foretold the Messiah should do I Have clearly shewn that Jesus Christ was born of the Posterity of Adam by Seth by Noah by Abraham by Isaac by Jacob by Judah by David as it was foretold of the Messiah by the most ancient Oracles the encrease of which I have already taken notice of in my third part I have afterwards shewed That Jesus Christ was born of a Virgin Gen. III. 15 Isai VII 14. whereby those Oracles The Seed of the Woman shall bruise thy head and a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son seem'd to be clearly accomplished Let us now see according to those Oracles what kind of Person the Messiah was to be from his Birth to his Death according to those Idea's which the Prophets have given us Moses expresly tells us Deut. 18. that the Messiah was to resemble him The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet like unto me Deut. XVIII 15. which place as I have observed before has been so constantly applyed to the Messiah that it appears that not only John the Baptist when he sent his Disciples to Jesus Christ Philip speaking to Nathanael and the Disciples when they were asked by our Saviour who he was but also the Samaritan woman understood it so without the least hesitation and said that when the Messiah should come he would tell them all things In short one see 's an exact proportion between Moses and Jesus Christ Not only because our Saviour was saved in his Infancy from the hand of Herod and from a River of Blood like another Moses or because Egypt serv'd for a Retreat to him as Moses had hid himself in Arabia or because he was rejected by his Brethren those of Nazareth who would have thrown him headlong from a Rock because he declared himself to be the promised Deliverer and Messiah by applying to himself the words of Isaiah The Spirit of the Lord is upon me c. Neither shall I now take notice of his being despised and disown'd by his Brethren and called a Galilean whereas indeed he was of Judea For indeed the Messiah was to be treated as a Nazarene that is a contemptible person and a Man of no consideration for we may find that because our Saviour was brought up at Nazareth tho' he was born at Bethlehem he was therefore look'd upon as a person incapable of any thing that was great John I. 46 Can any good thing come out of Nazareth said Nathanael to Philip and the Pharisees to the Officers whom they had sent to take Jesus Search and look for out of Galilee ariseth no Prophet much less the great Prophet the Messiah who by way of Eminence is so called 'T is upon this account that he was called a Galilean not only by the Heathens but by his own Disciples too For the word Galilean seems to have been a name for one of an impure Extraction because many of other Nations dwelt among the Jews in Galilee But I shall take notice of several other more important Resemblances between them and such as have Relation to the Ministry of Moses rather than his Person by referring all to his Preaching his Miracles his Predictions and some other Heads of that Nature First then Jesus Christ that he might at first maintain the Character of the Messiah appears in the Temple John the Baptist had heard him called the Son of God by a very peculiar witness a Voice from Heaven Wherefore we see that at his first Entry upon his Ministry he drives out those that prophaned the House of God whom he called his Father with a Scourge John II. 13 14 15 c. and this he did at the Feast of the Passover before the whole Nation of the Jews Here is another Character of the Messiah He was to begin the Exercise of his Ministerial Functions in the Tribes of Naphthali and Zebulon according to the Prophecy of Isaiah Isai IX 1. and this our Saviour exactly accomplished by his beginning to preach at Nazareth which was in the Tribe of Zebulon and he conversed much at Capernaum which was in the Tribe of Naphthali according to the observation of the Evangelists But I proceed to consider some Circumstances of his Ministry Isaiah had foretold that the Messiah was to preach the Gospel to the poor which Jesus applies to himself in the Synagogue at Nazareth declaring that in his person that Prophecy was fulfilled Isai LXI 1. viz. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me wherefore the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek c. The choice which he made of his Disciples from among the meanest of the people and the basest of the crowd which follow'd him wherever he went ought to pass for a sufficient accomplishment of this Prophecy The Messiah according to the representation which Isaiah gives us of him was to publish the Tidings of the Remission of Sins and was not this that which Jesus Christ did during the course of his Ministry The Messiah was to preach the Remission of Sin in such a manner as that he might dry up the Fountain of it at the same time in
become Christians 'T is also of great importance to observe further as I have already done that the Books of the New Testament were penn'd before the overthrow of the Commonwealth of the Jews There are only some of the works of S. John which were writ after the Destruction of Jerusalem I have before observed that the Divine Providence order'd it so that all the Jews for five and thirty years together repairing thrice a year to Jerusalem at their three solemn Festivals might have greater opportunities to inform themselves of the truth of the Facts contained in the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles To this Remark I shall now add two weighty Considerations The one is That the Christians for some years submitted themselves to the Ceremonial Law and repaired with the Jews to Jerusalem and by this means were engaged to examine the Facts contained in the Gospel The other is That after the Council of Jerusalem they were dispensed with as to that Custom as well as the observing of all the other parts of the Ceremonial Law which set the Christians in a greater opposition to the Jews and so encreased the necessity of examining very scrupulously on both sides whatsoever was for or against them in those matters of Religion This Observation leads us naturally to another That it is absolutely impossible that an imposture of this nature should not be discovered when there ariseth a Difference between those who may be looked upon as the Authors of the Forgery and those who after them endeavoured to gain credit to it Now if we find that one Disciple of Jesus Christ betrays him without accusing him of the least Crime or Imposture if we have seen the Christians at first united in the same Assemblies with the Jews and that there were several Contests and Disputes between the Apostles and those first Christians yet without calling those Facts which are continued in the Gospel in question by either side S. Paul takes notice of the Contests which happened betwixt him and S. Peter S. Luke relates the heats between S. Paul and Barnabas upon very slight occasions he sets down also the Dispute which arose about the distribution of Alms to the Greek and Jewish Widows One see 's that there arose a Dispute amongst the Apostles themselves about the Calling of the Gentiles to the Gospel one see 's afterwards the obstinacy of some of the Jews of the Sect of the Pharisees who maintained the absolute necessity of submitting to Circumcision and S. Paul's opposition set down in his Epistle to the Galatians We need no more to make it evident that there could be no concert nor collusion between them to deceive or impose upon those to whom they preached the Gospel Let us go a little further a Dispute happens about a Capital Point of Christian Religion about the Resurrection insomuch that S. Paul thinks himself obliged to write concerning it to the Corinthians so that there was a necessity of examining the truth of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ again Now we find that S. Paul to confirm this Doctrine in general chiefly makes use of the instance of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ which he proves by Arguments taken from the Fact it self that is by witnesses whom he produceth Whereupon I make this considerable Reflexion That in comparing this Dispute of S. Paul with the Writings of the Evangelists it clearly appears that they did not alledge all the proofs they might have done None of them relates in particular the number of those who saw Jesus Christ in Galilee upon the holy Mountain but S. Paul who had examined the faithfulness of their Relations and knew the witnesses specifies the number and observes that many of them were yet alive if perhaps any of them were already dead I shall add only two Considerations more which prove that it was even impossible for the Apostles to impose upon the World on this occasion The first is taken from their State and Condition They are no great Lords whose Power might terrifie any one from examining their Writings or whose Reputation could not have been called in question without danger On the contrary they were men of mean condition employ'd in base Professions often cast into Prisons and from time to time oblig'd to appear before Magistrates for the same Doctrine and the same Facts which they published to the World. Let us consider then whether it were an easie matter for S. Paul for instance I say for this S. Paul a maker of Tents this S. Paul without Reputation without Riches this S. Paul who was seized at Jerusalem after divers Persecutions this S. Paul who was sent a Prisoner to Rome and imprisoned there under the power of the Roman Magistrate and who at last lost his life by Nero's order to make those blindly believe all he said who were at liberty to examine whether all that Luke related as happening to him at Jerusalem at Maltha at Philippi at Athens were indeed true or only a framed Story The second thing we ought to observe is That not only the Books of the Apostles were publickly read every Lord's day by a constant Law of which we have most authentick witnesses in the Writings of the Apostles themselves and in other ancient Books which are still extant but also that they were all of them written not in Hebrew which at that time was a dead Tongue nor in Syriack a Language spoken in a very few places but in Greek which at that time was the Language commonly received throughout all the Roman Empire and besides was the Language into which the Divine Providence had caused the Old Testament to be translated about three Ages before that men might compare the ancient Oracles and their accomplishment together CHAP. XX. That the whole Model of the Religion and Commonwealth of the Jews is at this day so entirely destroyed that the Messiah could no more be known WHat I have before set down to establish the truth of those Facts which serve for a Foundation to the Christian Religion is certainly sufficient to answer the design which I formed in writing these Reflexions upon the Books of the Holy Scripture and I believe I may with justice conclude That as nothing is more uncontestable than the truth of those Books and of the Facts in them related so there is nothing more certain than the Truth and Divinity of the Christian Religion So that now I have only two things to do with which I conceive it will be necessary to conclude these Reflexions The one is to shew the absolute impossibility of conceiving any other accomplishment of the ancient Oracles than what is set down in the Gospel The other is that concerning the Divisions amongst Christians which are a scandal to the Jews and especially concerning the difficulty of the Mysteries which the Gospel proposes which are as so many stumbling Blocks to them which hinder them from discerning those Characters of Truth in the Gospel which by
the fulfilling of the ancient Oracles appear therein with so much lustre The former of these shall be the Subject of this and the latter of the next Chapter As the pulling down of the Scaffolds which were only set up to build a Palace is an infallible sign that the Building is finished so one may say that the total defacing of the Model which God had formed in the Law that the Messiah at his coming might be certainly known is an unanswerable proof that he is already come It is worth our pains to make some Reflexions on this overthrow that we may conclude against the Jews that if the Messiah was yet to appear in the World it would be impossible to know him according to the Characters which God had given of him before his appearing In the first place therefore whereas God had confined the Jews to the Land of Canaan that they might be visible to all the Posterity of Noah of whom one part that is the Off-spring of Cham possessed Egypt and Africa the Posterity of Japhet Europe and the lesser Asia and those of Shem the rest of Asia the Jews at present are driven from that Country and far from being restored to it after Seventy years as they were by Cyrus they have been for ever banished thence by a Decree of the Emperour Adrian who forbad them so much as to turn their eyes towards Judea which was in the Year of Christ 135. The Heathen Celsus insults over them in these remarkable words They have no more saith he either Land or House remaining to them Secondly So far were they from having any Remainders of a Temporal Power Dispersâ— palabun◠〈◊〉 coeli 〈…〉 sui ext◠〈◊〉 vagantâ—â— per orbeâ— fine homine fine Deo Rege quibus nec advenarum jure terram patriam saltem vestigio sâ—lutare comeditur Apolog cap. 21. that they were then wholly deprived of it See what Tertullian saith of them in the Year of our Saviour 204. They wander up and down the World like despersed Vagabonds banished from their Climate and Country without Man without God for their King and are not permitted as Strangers to set foot on their Native Soil We read a Decree of Honorus the Emperour which deprives them of the Right of nominating their Patriarchs or of paying them any Tribute which shews that their Authority whas wholly extinct Thirdly Their Temple at Jerusalem being destroyed in the Seventieth Year of our Lord as that in Egypt called Onion was the year following it could never be built again notwithstanding that Julian the Apostate out of his hatred to the Christians favoured that Enterprise in the year of our Saviour 363. There is a Letter still extant which Julian writ to the Jews to assure them of his Protection and to encourage them to that work but it was not so much his death which dashed that undertaking as a very memorable opposition from Heaven Marcelinus a Heathen gives us this account of it Lib. 23. Imperiique sui memoriam magnitudine operum gestiens propagare ambitiosum quondam apud Hierosolymam Templum quod post multa interneciva certamina obsidente Vespasiano posteaque Tito aegre est expugnatum instaurare sumptibus cogitabat immodicis Negotiumque maturandum Alypio dederat Antiochensi qui olim Britannias cur averat pro-Praefectis Cum itaque rei idem fortiter instaret Alypius juvaretque provinciae Rector metuendi globi flammarum prope fundamenta crebris assultibus erumpentes fecere locum exustis aliquoties operatibus inaccessum hocque modo elemento destinatius repellente cessavit inceptum And being desirous to propagate the Memory of his Government by the Greatness of his Works he with vast expence designed to rebuild the splendid Temple which was formerly at Jerusalem which after many and bloody Battels being besieged by Vespasian and afterwards by Titus was at last taken with difficulty he committed the care of hastning the Business to Alypius of Antioch who had formerly been Pro-praefect of Britain As therefore this Alypius was vigorously prosecuting the Work being assisted by the Lieutenant of the Province terrible Balls of Fire frequently breaking forth near the foundations sometimes burnt the Workmen and made the place inaccessible Thus the design was laid aside The Element it self beating them back on purpose Julian easily apprehended that their Religion would perish and that it could never be restored without the Temple In the fourth place The observation of some of their Laws was absolutely forbidden as being contrary to those of the Roman Empire Thus they were not suffered to have many Wives Upon this overthrow many inconveniences followed which it will be convenient to represent at one view 1. They no longer know those persons who at the first Division of the Land by Joshua were Owners of the different parts of the Land of Canaan 2. Their Families and Tribes are confounded their Jubilee which could not be kept but in the Land of Canaan and which obliged them to study their Genealogies having ceased long since 3. The Family of David is at this day utterly unknown 4. They have no more lawful Priests to observe the Primogeniture to examine the Tokens of Virginity tho' it appears that according to God's design these Laws were given on purpose to ascertain the knowledge of the Messiah and to be like Inclosures about this important Truth in the compass of which it might be the better examined Certainly if the Jews were still in possession of Judea if they had their Kings of the Tribe of Judah if they had their Priests if they were assured of their Genealogies if they still enjoyed all the other necessary means for establishing the certainty of their Descents if their Temple had still subsisted in its former lustre and that the Sacrifices appointed by the Laws were still offered there The Jews might boldly answer that the Shiloh was not yet come that is they ought not to despair of seeing the Messiah born at Bethlehem of the Seed of David and entring the Temple of Jerusalem Then the Prophecy of Daniel which determins 490 years for the term in which the Messiah was to appear and be cut off by a violent Death and Punishment would seem to be eluded But the term of the Messiah's coming is past the Commonwealth of the Jews is overturned the Temple of Jerusalem is destroyed 1600 years since there are no more Genealogies among the Jews they do not know their Tribes much less their Families How then can it be supposed that God should be true in his Oracles as we must acknowledge him to be if they were never answered by the Event To speak the truth it is impossible to consider the Arguments we have alledged to prove that Jesus Christ is the Messiah and especially those Demonstrations which the Apostles have given us without acknowledging these two things The first is That it was very easie at the time of Jesus Christ's appearing to examine whether he