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ARTES
LIBRARY
1837
SCIENTIA
VERITAS
OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
E PLURIBUS UNUM
S-QUAERIS-PENINSULAM AMOENAME
CIRCUMSPICE
:
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649
J5
M17
1840a
POPULAR LECTURES
ON THE
PROPHECIES
RELATIVE TO
THE JEWISH NATION.
BY
THE REV. HUGH M'NEILE, M. A.
MINISTER OF ST. JUDE'S CHURCH, LIVERPOOL.
**
"Ye are my witnesses." -ISAIAH xliii. 10.
"To expound these predictions of the ancient prophets, of any thing but the
restoration of the natural Israel, is to introduce ambiguity and equivocation into
the plaines oracles of God."-BISHOP HORSLEY.
THIRD EDITION.
LONDON:
J. HATCHARD AND SON, PICCADILLY.
1840.
:
J. DAVENPORT, PRINTER, LAWTON-STREET, LIVERPOOL.
*
Reali
12-11 -39
PREFACE.
THE following Lectures were originally delivered in
London. My leading object in their composition was
to make intelligible to large mixed congregations, a
subject which I considered of great importance, and
which I believed to be very rarely made the theme
of popular discourse from the pulpit.
That subject is the purpose of God concerning the
Jewish nation, as it is revealed in the Holy Scriptures.
In examining this, my chief auxiliary has been the
decision which history has already pronounced upon
the right interpretation of prophetic language; and in
my anticipations of the future, all I assume is, that
the species of interpretation which events have ren-
dered imperative, as it respects fulfilled prophecies,
ought to be adhered to, with consistency and candour,
in the examination of those prophecies which are as
yet unfulfilled.
The language of the prophets is often, almost al-
ways, figurative in some degree: but the events pre-
dicted are not the less on that account literal events.
277195
a 2
iv
PREFACE.
15.
When the Holy Ghost spake by the mouth of
Zechariah, saying, Smite the shepherd, and the sheep
shall be scattered, the language was figurative, our
Lord not being literally a shepherd, neither his disci-
ples sheep. But the event predicted in that figurative
language was a literal event; and to the matter of
fact, as it occurred in Gethsemane, the prophecy is
applied by St. Matthew xxvi. 31. It is, therefore,
no objection to the literal interpretation which I ad-
vocate, to say that the prophetic language is figura-
tive. I admit that it is so-sometimes highly so.
The question is, What do the figures mean? Do
they mean other figures, or do they mean facts?
My opinion is, that facts are the legitimate themes
of prophecy. I appeal to history, comparing it with
the prophetic volume, for the establishment of a prin-
ciple by precedents; and I endeavour to convince by
candid argumentation. I dogmatize not at all. I am
open to conviction, when a more excellent way of
interpreting the language of the prophets shall be
pointed out. But I must be permitted to say to
some of my esteemed Brethren, who have opposed
the interpretation here offered, without themselves
offering any other; that a simple denial without rea-
sons assigned, or the true interpretation given to
supersede the false, cannot in fairness be expected to
have any weight of conviction. I have heard such
denials frequently, but in vain. I have heard them
accompanied with much persuasive eloquence, with
PREFACE.
many
tender and affectionate appeals, sometimes with
ill-dissembled personal mortification, but all in vain.
I do not mean to imply that the system of inter-
pretation which I advocate, is divested of all difficulty.
Far otherwise but I protest against such a criterion
of truth being set up. Nothing that deserves the
name of interpretation is, or can be, free from diffi-
culty. Our decision must be made between mea-
sures and degrees of embarrassment.
It is compa-
ratively easy to urge objections against any system,
when it is tangibly propounded.
The nature of the difficulties incurred ought,
however, in sound reason, to be taken into chief
consideration. Now, it appears to me, that our chief
embarrassments arise, not from finding any passages
of Holy Scripture, in the obvious meaning of the
language, contradicted by our scheme; but from a
lack of more revelation, to explain to us how these
things can be, and thereby to supply us with answers
to curious (sometimes captious) questions: whereas,
the spiritualizing scheme has to encounter the direct
grammatical contradiction of revelation given.
It is one thing to anticipate the facts predicted,
according to the literal meaning of the same words,
when used in other books, or in other places of the
same books, acknowledging our ignorance as to the
mode of accomplishment, because that mode is not
revealed and it is quite another thing, to put a dif-
ferent meaning on the same words, in different places
vi
PREFACE.
..
of the same sentence, in order that the mode of accom-
plishment may be thereby rendered intelligible.
I had rather avow my inability to answer the ques-
tion, “How can that be?”—in a thousand instances,
than put an evasive interpretation upon a single verse
of the word of God.
When our Brethren shall cease to beat the air in
refutation of what we never advanced; when they
shall see the absurdity of prejudging the question, by
good natured lamentations over our sad, sad delusion;
and when they shall gird up their loins to the work in
good earnest, betake themselves to study the subject
patiently in detail, and produce grave and solid argu-
ments, not negatively alone, in opposition to an erro-
neous system of interpretation, but positively also, in
support and confirmation of a genuine system; I
repeat, I am open to conviction, and shall, in all sin-
cerity, rejoice to be instructed. I protest, with all my
soul, against the idea of any man supposing that he
knows enough, and thereupon refusing to inquire into
the depths of revealed truth, on the plea of dangerous
novelty, or non-essential speculation, Additional in-
struction in the meaning of the Scriptures, is growth
in the knowledge of God; and in that knowledge, it
is my desire and hope that I shall increase, not only
during this life present, but throughout eternity.
Since these Lectures were delivered, many ex-
tremely interesting points of doctrine have engaged
the attention of the churches in this kingdom; and
PREFACE.
vii
an attempt has been made to identify, with prophetic
investigation, those opinions which are considered
heterodox in themselves, and dangerous in their ten-
dencies. The unfairness of such an attempt will be
manifest to every man who is acquainted with the
subject, and who possesses sufficient candour for the
exercise of discrimination. Yet, notwithstanding its
unfairness, it has succeeded in strengthening existing
prejudices, and exciting conscientious alarms. Dis-
crimination is indispensable to the acquirement of
true wisdom. It is foreign to my present purpose to
examine in detail the doctrines referred to. But the
manner in which the present revived discussion of
those doctrines stands connected with the study of
prophecy is sufficiently remarkable; and exhibits, in
its true light, one of the many recommendations of
that study.
:
All truth is linked together in one harmonious
chain an accurate investigation, therefore, of any
one point, in all its bearings, is invariably connected
with such a clearing up of collateral points, that exist-
ing error is detected, and unlooked-for controversy
thereby elicited. To the study of prophecy, we are
thus indirectly indebted for the re-examination of
many important doctrines which had been allowed to
fall into comparative neglect. And whatever may be
said (and too truly said) about the acrimonious spirit
in which religious controversy is usually conducted,
still it is a recognized fact, that the most prosperous
î
viii
PREFACE.
A
!
times of the church have been times of controversy.
In this deadening world we have much more to fear,
as Christians, from stagnation, than from storms.
Indifference at heart to the distinguishing peculiarities
of vital truth, concealed beneath a superficial bustle
about outwardly useful things, is far from a prosperous
state. The ease, and harmony, and seeming unanimity
engendered by it, are fatal symptoms of a growing,
though disclaimed, latitudinarianism. An intruder
upon the fascinating spell is condemned as an enemy
to peace. And since the bond of its union is not the
depth of truth, the man who presses forward any
deep truth, whatever his particular view of it may be,
is deemed an intruder: not in reference to what he
says, for that is not carefully examined; but in re-
ference to his saying any thing which every body
does not say. It would not, indeed, sound well to
bring the real accusation against him-to wit, that he
is a searcher into more of the truth of God than is
usually brought forward; and that he proclaims what
he knows with the boldness of honest enthusiasm,
"uncaring consequences ;"-this were an honourable
charge: it suits better with the temper of the times to
charge him with a breach of love, a want of brotherly
kindness, a harsh, Ishmaelitish spirit.
But what shall a Christian man say of that love
which extends its wide, indiscriminating embrace,
not only to Christians of various denominations, but
also to antichristians: to men who deny the God-
PREFACE.
ix
head, and reject the atonement of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and deride as fanaticism the inspiration of the
Holy Ghost? When attempts are made to limit the
operation of Christian love within the narrow circle
of any one favourite class, it becomes a Christian
man to protest against the bigotry of such a limita-
tion: but when, on the other side, this boasted love
enlarges itself beyond all Christian classes, and calling
itself universal charity, or religious liberty, gives the
right hand of fellowship to the enemies of the cross
of Christ, it equally becomes a Christian man to pro-
test against the foul abuse; yea, to lift up his voice
like a trumpet, and bear witness against the infidel.
amalgamation.
Ye who profess submission to the Bible, do ye not
hear the Bible? Ye who combine for the distribu-
tion of the Bible, do ye not read the Bible? For it
is written, In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was WITH GOD, and THE WORD was God.
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,
and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only
begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the
Father. Whosoever abideth not in the doctrine of
Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doc-
trine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
If there come any unto you, and bring not this doc-
trine, receive him not into your house, neither bid
him God speed: for he that biddeth him God speed
a 3
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X
PREFACE.
44
is partaker of his evil deeds. A professedly religious
union between members of the church of Christ and
avowed. Socinians (such as we see formed and boasted
of as a signal triumph of this enlightened age) is a
virtual denial of the Gospel of our salvation, and a
high offence against God. I repeat, a professedly
religious union; because every man is at full liberty
to join his fellows in the furtherance of secular ob-
jects, without any reference to their religious opinions.
Whatsoever, saith the Apostle, is sold in the sham-
bles, that eat, asking no question for conscience sake.
The seller might be a heathen, a sacrificer to idols.
The Christian purchaser need not inquire: religion
was in no way involved. But when the ostensible
object of a combination among men is declared to be
religious, and when the leading theme of proud con-
gratulation is the liberality on every side, which thus
delightfully combines, the state of the case is wholly
altered. If any man say unto you, This is offered
in sacrifice unto idols, EAT NOT. How can con-
scientious Socinians combine in anything connected
with religion with us, whom they must abhor as
abominable idolaters? That is, if they have zeal
and faith sufficient to rise into the dignity of abhor-
rence: for, it should be remembered, that indifference
and indecision are frequently the real roots of apparent
meekness.
I deny not, that the defenders of Christian truth
are often betrayed into unchristian tempers; that the
PREFACE.
xi
sons of Zebedee, in their indignation at the ill-treat-
ment received by their Master, forget what manner
of spirit they are of themselves. Meanwhile, however,
they are his instruments for keeping prominent and
pure those fountains of living water, at which their
brethren drink and are satisfied. Athanasius is raised
up in defence of the doctrine of the Trinity. In the
performance of his work, he loses the serenity and
self-possession of Christian meekness, and writes with
unchristian acrimony against Arius. Meanwhile, he
guards from insiduous adulteration that bread from
heaven, upon which thousands of Christians have fed
daily for centuries: he vindicates the glorious truth,
that in one God, essentially and immutably One,
there are three co-equal and co-eternal Persons; that
cardinal truth of the Catholic faith, "which faith,
except every one do keep whole and undefiled, with-
out doubt he shall perish everlastingly."
I
say not this to justify, or in the slightest degree
to palliate, unchristian tempers. God forbid! But I
observe it in devout meditation upon the hand that
rules the storm; and I write it to allay, in some
measure (if the Lord will), the petty clamours which
are raised against those men of God, who in all sin-
cerity, though encompassed with our common infirmity,
are doing the work of our heavenly Father.
With respect to the spirit in which the present
volume is written, I have only to say, that my design
has been to avoid any approach to either of two
3
xii
PREFACE.
extremes. On the one side, I detest that whining
affectation of tenderness, which libels while it imitates
the chastened manly sympathy of true Christian feel-
ing. And on the other side, I equally abhor levity,
or sarcasm, or jesting; such modes of speech being
delicately, yet powerfully, stigmatized by an apostle, as
not convenient—ovк ávñкovтα. (Eph. v. 4; compare
Rom. i. 28.) It has been my anxious desire and prayer
to exemplify the scriptural characteristics inculcated
upon Titus, uucorruptness, gravity, sincerity. How
far I have succeeded, it is not for myself to judge. If I
have failed, my infirmity, and not my will, consented.
The argument urged in the Introduction is familiar
to every student of the evidences of Christianity;
yet I deem it far from unseasonable to give a brief,
popular statement of it, with a somewhat varied form
of illustration.
:

PREFACE
TO THE SECOND EDITION.
}
"THERE are three aspects in which every thing on
this earth may be regarded. First, the way in which
it strikes the senses, i. e. its outward form; second,
the way in which it strikes the intellect, i. e. its place
in that system of things which our reason apprehends.
These are the two aspects under which we all natu-
rally regard the objects and events about us: for we
have two orders of faculties just suited to these two
aspects.
"But there is a third element in every thing, which
is neither discernible to our senses, nor to our intel-
lect—and that is GOD: his power in making and sus-
taining the thing, and his purpose in placing it, and
keeping it where it is. This is the kingdom or reign
of God in the affairs of this world: and as this reign
is the acting of the Spirit of God, it cannot be seen
or comprehended by any one who has not the Spirit
of God in him, who is not "born of the Spirit."
The Spirit of God in a man, therefore, is that which

xiv
PREFACE TO THE
corresponds to the kingdom of God in the universe,
the third and chief element in every thing.
"The time is approaching, when that kingdom will
be made most palpable and visible, even to the out-
ward senses and intellect. It is at present working
under ground (so to speak), but is soon to explode;
and then, all the kingdoms of the earth will become,
before it, like chaff on the summer threshing-floor.*
Now it cometh not with observation; then it will come
even as the lightning, which makes itself awfully visible
over the whole earth.Ӡ
Of this universally pervading, but hitherto invisible
kingdom of God, an outward and visible index has
been given to the world in the history of the Jewish
nation. From the page of that history, as from a
bright reflector, we learn the great principles of God's
management in the affairs of this world; and are sup-
plied with a miniature specimen of what his universal
kingdom will be, when He shall arise to execute judg-
ment and justice in the earth.
No-where, except in HIM who is the brightness of
the Father's glory, and the express image of his per-
son; no-where, except in Jesus Christ himself, is the
character of God so clearly exhibited to the contem-
plation of men, as in the history of the Jewish nation.
It is true, therefore, with a fulness of meaning seldom
considered, that salvation is of the Jews; because sal-
vation in man is conformity to the character of God;
* Daniel ii. 34, 35, 44. + St. Luke xvii. 20-24.
SECOND EDITION.
XV
and such conformity is produced by beholding, as in a
glass, the glory of the Lord's revealed character, and
being changed into the same image from glory to
glory as by the Spirit of the Lord; and the charac-
teristic glass held up before us, unto the accomplish-
ment of this transforming process in us, is-first, the
person, character, and ministry of Jesus Christ, "the
faithful witness," who was himself a Jew; and secondly,
the history of the Jewish nation, to whom Jehovah
says, "Ye are my witnesses:"
In turning our attention to the Jews, then, we are
not merely gratifying an historical, prophetical, or
intellectual curiosity; but, if we look aright, we are
putting into operation upon our souls, God's own
manifested witness for Himself, unto our knowledge
of Him, which is life eternal. It is, therefore, with
unfeigned thankfulness to God, that the Writer of
the following Lectures recognizes in the church an
increased and increasing attention to this subject.
The history of the Jews has been properly divided
into two periods: the former reaching from Abraham
to Christ; the latter including all the time which
has passed since. And the Jews, living in these
two periods, have been distinguished respectively as
ancient and modern Jews.
The religion of the Jews, as a nation, requires a
similar distinction. Ancient Judaism may be de-
fined, as the system of doctrines and precepts which
were taught in the ceremonial institutions of the Old
xvi
PREFACE TO THE
;
Testament; and which were retained, though amidst
much general corruption, till the time of Jesus Christ.
Modern Judaism comprehends the opinions, tradi-
tions, rites and ceremonies, which began to be re-
ceived and practised, before the destruction of the
second temple; were afterwards enlarged and embo-
died in the Cabbalistic and Talmudic writings; and
have been professed and followed by the great body
of the Jewish people, without any material alteration,
down to the present day.
From this it is clear that ancient Judaism was
Christianity in the bud, contained in typical institu-
tions, ordained by God himself, and bearing express
testimony to the coming Saviour. The Lord God
of Israel, who sees the end from the beginning, and
calleth things that are not as if they were, acted for
ages and generations on the credit of what Christ was
afterwards to accomplish. "The law had a shadow
of good things to come." The believer under the
law, i. e. the ancient Jew, who was a Jew indeed, in
the spirit and not in the letter only, had access to God
on the credit of the then future, but fore-ordained
incarnation of the eternal Son. He had forgiveness
of his sins, not by the blood-shedding of bulls, or
goats, or lambs, but on the credit of the then future,
but fore-ordained blood-shedding of the incarnate
Saviour, the Lamb of God. He had renewal of his
character, in heart as well as life, not by the cere-
monial washings or sprinklings of water, but by the
SECOND EDITION.
2
xvii
'
戚
​power of the Holy Ghost, given on the credit of the
then future, but fore-ordained resurrection and ascen-
sion of Jesus Christ.
This was true religion, as then revealed in the
wisdom of the living God, and the enjoyment of it
issued in true salvation. But all this has long since
ceased. That which was then future and fore-ordained,
has since been actually performed. The substance
of all is in Christ. The miraculous rending of
the veil in the temple, when Jesus expired on the
cross, was God's own sentence of abrogation upon
ancient Judaism as such. The destruction of the
temple itself, and the holy city, a few years after,
completed the manifestation of Jehovah's purpose as
regarded ancient Judaism. He took
He took away the type,
He took away
that he might establish the antetype.
the sign, that he might establish the thing signified.
He took away a dispensation consisting of significant
promises, superseding it by a dispensation based upon
actual performances. Sacrifice, and offering, and
burnt-offering for sin he would have no longer, but
the one all-sufficient sacrifice of the death of Jesus
Christ once offered. Ancient Judaism, therefore,
which was the truth of God then, merged into Chris-
tianity, which has been, and is, the truth of God for
ever.
Modern Judaism is as much opposed to this truth,
as any of the varying forms of heathenism in the
world. Dr. Owen has well remarked, that whosoever
xviii
PREFACE TO THE
judges of modern Judaism by what he finds written
in the law of Moses and the Prophets, is but a novice
in such matters.* Encountering modern Judaism, it
is not merely against a perversion of Scripture that
we have to contend. It is not simply (as some seem
to think) against a rejection of the New Testament,
while the Old Testament is received as the alone
revelation from God. It is not against the emptiness
of ignorance; neither against the pride of unassisted
human reason, that we have to direct our efforts;
but against a mind pre-occupied by human traditions,
supposed to be of divine authority, and a heart pre-
engaged by most palatable superstitions.
The doctrine of modern Judaism, on the funda-
mental question of a sinner's acceptance with God,
is thus expressed: When we have no temple or
“altar, there is no other expiation made for sin than
"repentance only." Again, "As Jews, we would
"deem it to imply mutability in the Supreme, were
"we to entertain any belief that sincere repentance
"does now require a Mediator, to render it acceptable
"to the Almighty."‡
In the German and Polish Jews' Prayer Book is
* Qui religionem Talmudicam, seu præsentem Judais-
mum eam esse quæ in Lege et Prophetis enarratur, putat,
is hisce in rebus hospes est.-Owen Theolog. Lib. V.
Diagr. iv.
+ Maimon. de Pœnit. a Clavering, p. 45.
+ See Jewish Repository, vol. ii. p. 462.
SECOND EDITION.
xix
the following fearful address to God, on the atoning
merit of fasting:-" Sovereign of the Universe, it is
"clearly known to thee, that whilst the holy temple
66
<<
was established, if a man sinned, he brought an
offering, of which they only offered its fat and blood;
"yet didst thou, in thine abundant mercy, grant him
"pardon. But now, because of our iniquities, the
"holy temple is destroyed, and we have neither sanc-
"tuary nor priest to atone for us. O! may it there-
"fore be acceptable in thy presence, that the diminu-
❝tion of my fat and blood, which has been diminished
"this day (by fasting), may be accounted as fat offered
"and placed on the altar, and thus be accepted for me,
"to make atonement for my sins!"
Of the manner in which the characters of men are
estimated before God, Maimonides gives the follow-
ing pernicious description :-" In every man, virtues
"are mixed with vices. If the virtues of an individual
"exceed his vices, he is esteemed righteous. If his
"vices exceed his virtues, he is accounted wicked;
"and if his virtues and vices be equal, then he is
"called an intermediate. The estimation in this
matter, depends not on the number of virtues or
"vices, but on their greatness; for one virtue some-
"times outweighs many vices; and sometimes one
"vice outweighs many virtues. As, at the death of
an individual, an estimate is taken of his virtues and
66
66
vices, so on the festival of each new year every
"man's virtues are compared with his vices. He
XX
PREFACE TO THE
,"
1
"that is found righteous, is adjudged to life; he that
"is found wicked, is sentenced to death. Respecting
(6
(C
an intermediate, judgment is suspended till the day
"of atonement. If he repent before that day, he is
'adjudged to life; but if not, he is then liable to
"death. When a man's virtues and vices are com-
pared, the first and second sins are not reckoned,
"but only the third, and those which follow."*
Concerning the punishment of sin after death, a
catechism of modern Judaism contains the following
question and answer:—
"How many judgments then does such a man
"undergo, when he leaves this world?
66
"Answer. Seven. The first is when the soul
departs from the body. The second is when his
"works go before him, and exclaim against him. The
"third is when the body is laid in the grave. The
"fourth is Chibbut Hakkefer; that is, the beating in
"the grave, when the angel Duma rises, attended by
"those under his command who are appointed for the
beating of the dead. They hold in their hands three
66
(6
fiery rods, and judge at once the body and the soul.
"The fifth is the judgment of the worms. When his
body has lain in the grave three days, he is ripped
* I am unwilling to quote such poison, even in the way
of exposure, without exhibiting, in connexion with it, the
divine antidote, in the language of God himself, by the
Apostle James:-
:—“ Whosoever shall keep the whole law,
and yet offend in one point, HE IS GUILTY OF ALL."
SECOND EDITION.
xxi
σε open; his entrails come out, and his bowels are taken
"and dashed in his face. After the three days a man
"receives judgment on his eyes, his hands and his feet,
"which have committed iniquities, till the thirtieth
"day. The sixth is the judgment of hell. The
"seventh is, that his soul wanders, and is driven
"about the world, finding no rest anywhere till the
days of his punishment are ended."
CC
In answer to an objection urged against parts of
this, that a dead body is not capable of feeling, Rabbi
Isaac says,
“A worm in a dead body is as painful as
"C
a needle in a living one."
The precepts of modern Judaism are enumerated
by the Rabbies, six hundred and thirteen. They are
divided into two classes-affirmative and negative.
The affirmative are two hundred and forty-eight;
answering, as we are gravely informed, to the number
of members in the human body. The negative are
three hundred and sixty-five; which rabbinical anato-
my pronounces to be the number of veins, or other
smaller vessels.
Rabbi Crool, of Cambridge, in his book on the
restoration of Israel, speaking of the two tables of
the decalogue, says: These two tables contained
"the whole six hundred and thirteen precepts of the
law." And the reason he assigns is highly charac-
teristic of modern Judaism. It is this: "In the ten
"commandments there are six hundred and thirteen
66
letters, and each letter stands for one command;
xxii
PREFACE TO THE
"and in the whole law of Israel there are six hundred
"and thirteen commandments: and such was the
"power of these two tables, that it contained the
"complete law. Thus far it is proved that a perfect
"God gave a perfect law.”
In a work entitled Prayers for the New Year,
printed in London in 1807, and used in the syna-
gogues, we find the following painful specimen of
modern Judaism:--
"O! deign to hear the voice of those who glorify
"thee with all their members, according to the num-
"ber of the two hundred and forty-eight affirmative
"precepts. In this month they blow thirty sounds,
"according to the thirty members of the soles of
"their feet. The additional offerings of the day are
"ten, according to the ten in their ankles. They
(C
66
approach the altar twice, according to their two legs.
“Five men are called to the law, according to the
"five joints in their knees. Lo! with the additional
offering of the new moon, they are eleven, accord-
"ing to their eleven ribs. They pour out their
"supplication with nine blessings, according to the
"muscles in their arms; these contain thirty verses,
"according to the thirty in the palms of their hands.
"They daily repeat the prayer of eighteen blessings,
"according to the eighteen vertebræ in their spine.
"At the offering of the continual sacrifice they sound
"nine times, according to the nine muscles in their
"head. In the two orisons they blow eight times,
SECOND EDITION.
xxiii
*
(6
according to the eight vertebræ of their neck.
"Their statutes and laws are contained in five books,
"according to the five perforations. He hath or-
“dained the six orders of the Mishna, according to
"the six different imaginations of the heart and in-
"ward parts; also the animal life, spirit, rational soul,
"perception, appetite; the skin, flesh, veins, and
"bones: these shall all lift up the eye, and pierce
"the ear, and open the mouth, that with the tongue
"and speech of their lips, and from the sole of the
"foot to the head, may shew the particulars of their
"good acts; so that when the sound of the cornet
"ascends, their adversaries may be ashamed, and that
"they may be justified in the day of judgment, and
"hear the second time from their God."
Such is the appalling spectacle presented by mo-
dern Judaism! A mixture of buffoonery and false-
hood, cheating the conscience, and drowning the soul
in everlasting perdition, from the presence of the
Lord, and from the glory of his power. The case,
considered simply as one of missionary obligation,
cries aloud for exertion, and it is a case in which
effective exertion is attended with peculiar and com-
plicated difficulty. The details of the traditions and
superstitions of the Jews are but little known by the
Christian church; yet it may safely be affirmed, that
no man who is ignorant of them, can be a competent
Christian Missionary (or what, in this case, is synony-
mous, a Christian Controversialist to the Jews. The
xxiv
PREFACE TO THE
Christian controversialist against Popery, however
gifted, eloquent and mighty in the Scriptures he may
be, is seen and felt to be incompetent if he be igno-
rant of the Missal, the Breviary, and the Mass Book.
And equally, or more glaringly incompetent, must be
the Christian controversialist amongst the Jews, if he
be ignorant of the Targums, the Talmud, and the
Cabbala.
Targum is a Chaldee word, signifying a para-
phrase. The general opinion is, that these para-
phrases originated in the circumstances arising out of
the Babylonish captivity. That the Jews dwelling
among, and serving the Chaldeans by the space of
seventy years, during which time a whole generation,
with few exceptions, must have passed away, did very
generally adopt the language of their masters; that
pure Hebrew ceased to be a vernacular tongue, an
accurate knowledge of it being confined to the priests,
and perhaps a few of the higher orders of the nation.
When they returned to Jerusalem, and the law was
read in pure Hebrew, an interpretation was indispen-
sable to enable them to understand it. This inter-
pretation must have been Chaldee, the only language
with which the majority were acquainted. There is
reason to believe that the method adopted in the days
of Ezra and Nehemiah, and continued for several
generations on every Sabbath day, was for a sentence
of the law to be read in Hebrew, and then inter-
preted in Chaldee, and so each successive clause to
}
SECOND EDITION.
XXV
the end of the section. These interpretations were
at first given extempore by persons familiar with both
languages, and under the superintendance of Ezra.
Nehemiah viii. 1-8.
Afterwards, under less favourable circumstances,
these interpretations became less accurate; and even-
tually degenerated from faithful translations of the
word of God into fanciful paraphrases of men.
These
paraphrases, though progressively more and more
mingled with human falsehood, nevertheless continued.
to be received as of divine authority, and were,
in many instances, perpetuated by insertion in the
margin of the copies of the law. Increasing in num-
ber from time to time, they were at length collected
by certain industrious persons, who supplied of their
own what was yet wanting, to complete a version of
any one or more books of the sacred volume. These
compilations are the Targums. Many are supposed
to be lost. The most celebrated of those still extant,
and in pernicious use amongst the Jews, are that of
Onkelos on the Law, and that of Jonathan Ben
Uzziel, on the Prophets..
The word Talmud signifies learning or doctrine.
The book distinguished by this title, and received
amongst the Jews with the most unbounded venera-
tion, consists of two parts, called the Mishna and the
Gemara. The Mishna denotes a second law. The
Jews believe that all the precepts of the law, given
to Moses, were accompanied with an interpretation.
b
xxvi
PREFACE TO THE
They say that God first dictated the text as it is
written in the Pentateuch, and then gave Moses an
explication of every part of it. It was commanded
that the text should be put into writing, and the ex-
planation committed to memory, to be communicated
to that generation, and transmitted to posterity by
word of mouth. Hence the former is called the
written law, and the latter the oral law.
When Moses came down from the Mount, he deli-
vered both these laws to the people. As soon as he
was returned to his tent, he was attended by Aaron,
who sat at his feet, and to whom he recited the text,
and taught the interpretation which he had received
from God in the Mount. Then Aaron rising, and
seating himself on the right hand of Moses, Eleazar
and Ithamar entered, and Moses repeated to them all
that he had communicated to their father; after
which they arose, and seated themselves, one on the
left hand of Moses, and the other on the right hand
of Aaron. Then went in the seventy elders, and
Moses taught them in the same manner as he had
taught Aaron and his sons. Afterwards entered the
congregation at large, or all of them who were de-
sirous of knowing the Divine will; and to them also
Moses recited the text and the interpretation, in the
same manner as before. These two laws, as delivered
by Moses, had now been heard by Aaron four times,
by his sons three times, by the seventy elders twice,
and by the rest of the people once. After this, Moses
SECOND EDITION.
xxvii
·
withdrawing, Aaron repeated the whole that he had
heard from Moses, and withdrew; then Eleazar and
Ithamar did the same; and on their withdrawing, the
same was done by the seventy elders; so that each
of them having heard both these laws repeated
four times, they all had them firmly fixed in their
memories.
Towards the end of the fortieth year after the
departure from Egypt, Moses assembled the people,
announced the time of his death to be near, directed
those who had forgotten any tradition he had deli-
vered, to come to him, that he might repeat it to
them anew, and invited them to apply to him for a
solution of all questions in which they found any dif-
ficulty. The last month of his life was employed in
giving these repetitions and explications to the people,
and especially to Joshua, his successor.
Before Joshua died, all the interpretations which
he had received from Moses were transmitted by him
to the elders who survived him. These elders con-
veyed them to the prophets, and by one prophet they
were delivered to another. In every generation, the
president of the Sanhedrim, or prophet of his age,
for his own private use, wrote notes of these traditions,
but taught in public only by word of mouth. Thus
matters proceeded, no part of the oral law being com-
mitted to writing, for public perusal, from the time of
Moses to the days of Rabbi Jehuda, or Rabbi Judah
Hannasi, called the Saint, anno mundi 3980. This
b 2
xxviii
PREFACE TO THE
celebrated Rabbi observed that the students of the
law were gradually diminishing in number; that dif-
ficulties and distresses were multiplying; that the
kingdom of iniquity (by which title he designated
Christianity) was increasing in strength, and extend-
ing itself over the world; and that the people of
Israel were driven to the ends of the earth. Fearing
lest, in these circumstances, the traditions would be
forgotten and lost, he collected them all, arranged
them under distinct heads, and formed them into a
methodical code of traditional law. The book so
composed is entitled The Mishna. Copies were
speedily multiplied, and received by the Jews at large
with all the unquestionable authority of divine reve-
lation.
The Mishna, however, is written in a very difficult
style, and admits of great variety of interpretations.
The most learned men among the Jews employed
themselves in explaining its difficulties; and about
three hundred years after its publication, a collection
of the various opinions expressed by those writers was
made by Rabbi Jochanan, president of a school in
Palestine: and a Commentary so compiled was pub-
lished. This is called The Gemara; and, added to
the text of the Mishna, forms what is called the Jeru-
salem Talmud. Afterwards a more enlarged Com-
mentary, or Gemara, was made by Rabbi Asha: it is
called the Babylonian Gemara, and, together with the
Mishna, forms the Babylonian Talmud.
SECOND EDITION.
xxix
3
The Cabbala are absurd fictions, grounded upon
certain mystical interpretations of Scripture, alleged
to have been given to Moses by God himself. The
Jews say that Moses was on Mount Sinai for three
several periods, of forty days each; that during the
first period he received the written law; that during
the second he was instructed in the Mishna; and that
the last forty days were spent in the study of the
Cabbala. As practised among the Jews, the Cabbala
is nothing more than a system of magical charms,
consisting in a superstitious use of the words, and
even letters, of the Scripture, especially the various
names of God, under pretence of effecting cures, and
other miracles beyond the course of nature.*
Thus we perceive that among the Jews, as among
Papists, human traditions, human commentaries on
traditions, and the fanciful superstitions and lying
wonders of human imagination, occupy the place, and
usurp the authority, of the voice of God!
In every
such case, the word of God, even when retained in
the letter of it, is practically neglected, and really in
the comparison hated; because, while human tradi-
tions and commentaries lower themselves to human
infirmity, or even depravity, the word of God makes
no such truce, but maintains its high uncompromising
and condemning purity. We do not wonder, there-
fore, to find such sentiments as these in the writings
* For much interesting information upon these and simi-
lar topics, see "Allen's Modern Judaism."
XXX
PREFACE TO THE
:
<<
of Jewish Rabbies: "He that is learned in Scripture,
"and not in the Mishna, is a blockhead."
"The
"Bible is like water; the Mishna like wine; and the
"Gemara like spiced wine." "The law is like salt;
"the Mishna like pepper; and the Gemara like balmy
spice." To study the Bible can scarcely be deemed
"a virtue; to study the Mishna is a virtue that will
"certainly be rewarded; but to study the Gemara is
"a virtue never to be surpassed." It is impossible
not to be struck with the similarity between the
Jewish and Popish treatment of the Bible. The
word of God is treated like water by the Romish
church; while the Breviary is her wine, and the Mass
Book her spiced wine!
The promotion of Christianity amongst the Jews
is indeed (so far as regards the use of means by its
advocates) a work of peculiar and complicated diffi-
culty. No one can estimate the impracticability of
the soil, without having some acquaintance with the
noxious weeds by which it is overgrown.
And when, in addition to all this, it is remembered
that the Christian church, instead of aiming at the
cultivation of this field, has been occupied, generation
after generation for centuries, in throwing upon it
every stone of reproach, and scorn, and obloquy; we
need not be surprised that, of late years, when gra-
ciously taught to turn her hand and seek for a blessing
upon Jacob, she experiences extra and especial toil in
clearing the ground.
SECOND EDITION.
xxxi
Touching the future condition of this people,
“wonderful from their beginnings hitherto," the best
lesson is learned by the study of the past. Prophecy,
compared with history, has "fixed an insurmountable
“barrier at the threshold of infidelity."
This stronghold of evidence is, however, derived
from taking prophecy in its obvious literal meaning,
and history in its manifest literal facts. If it be im-
proper to interpret Moses and the Prophets literally,
then history cannot be appealed to for evidence of
inspiration. On the contrary, if it be proper to appeal
to the facts of history as evidence of inspiration, then
the literal interpretation of Moses and the Prophets
is established.
"That the people of a single state (which was of very
limited extent and power, in comparison of some of
the monarchies which surrounded it) should first have
been rooted out of their own land in anger, wrath, and
great indignation.-the like of which was never expe-
rienced by the mightiest among the ancient empires,
which all fell imperceptibly away at a lighter stroke;
and that afterwards, though scattered among all na-
tions, and finding no ease among them all, they should
have withstood eighteen centuries of almost unre-
mitted persecution; and that after so many genera-
tions have elapsed, they should still retain their dis-
tinctive form, or, as it may be called, their indivi-
duality of character, is assuredly the most marvellous.
event that is recorded in the history of nations. Aud
xxxii
PREFACE TO THE
}
*
if it be not acknowledged as a "sign," it is in reality,
as well as in appearance, a wonder" the most inex-
plicable within the province of the philosophy of his-
tory. But that, after the endurance of such manifold
woes, such perpetual spoliation, and so many ages of
unmitigated suffering, during which their life was to
hang in doubt within them, they should still be, as
actually they are, the possessors of great wealth; and
that this fact should so strictly accord with the pro-
phecy, which describes them on their final restoration
to Judea, as taking their silver and their gold with
them, and taking the riches of the Gentiles; and
also, that, though captives or fugitives, "few in num-
ber," and the miserable remnant of an extinguished
kingdom at the time they were "scattered abroad,”
they should be at this hour a numerous people; and
that this should have been expressly implied in the
prophetic declaration, descriptive of their condition
on their restoration to Judea, after their wanderings,
that the land should be too narrow by reason of the
inhabitants, and that the place shall not be found for
them,† are facts which as clearly shew, to those who
consider them at all, the operation of an over-ruling
Providence, as the revelation of such an inscrutable
destiny is the manifest dictate of inspiration.
Such are the prophecies, and such are the facts,
respecting the Jews; and from premises like these,
the feeblest logician may draw a moral demonstration.
*Isaiah lx. 9. lxi. 6. Isaiah xlix. 19. Zech. x. 10.
SECOND EDITION.
xxxiii
If they had been utterly destroyed; if they had
mingled among the nations; if, in the space of nearly
eighteen centuries after their dispersion, they had
become extinct as a people; even if they had been se-
cluded in a single region, and had remained un-united;
if their history had been analogous to that of any
nation upon the earth, an attempt might, with some
plausibility or reason, have been made to shew cause
why the prediction of their fate, however true to the
fact, ought not, in such a case, to be sustained as
evidence of the truth of inspiration. Or if the past
history and present state of the Jews were not of a
nature so singular and peculiar, as to bear out to the
very letter the truth of the prophecies concerning
them, with what triumph would the infidel have pro-
duced those very prophecies, as fatal to the idea of
the inspiration of the Scriptures. And when the
Jews have been scattered throughout the whole earth;
when they have remained everywhere a distinct race;
when they have been despoiled evermore, and yet
never destroyed; when the most wonderful and amaz-
ing facts, such as never occurred among any people,
form the ordinary narrative of their history, and
fulfil literally the prophecies concerning them, may
not the believer challenge his adversary to the pro-
duction of such credentials of the faith that is in him?
They present an unbroken chain of evidence, each
link a prophecy and a fact, extending throughout a
multitude of generations, and not yet terminated.
b 3
xxxiv
PREFACE TO THE
Though the events, various and singular as they are,
have been brought about by the instrumentality of
human means, and the agency of secondary causes,
yet they are equally prophetic and miraculous; for
the means were as impossible to be foreseen as the
end; and the causes were as inscrutable as the event;
and they have been, and still in numberless instances
are, accomplished by the instrumentality of the ene-
mies of Christianity. Whoever seeks a miracle, may
here behold a sign and a wonder, than which there
cannot be a greater. And the Christian may bid
defiance to all the assaults of his enemies from this
stronghold of Christianity, impenetrable and impreg-
nable on every side.
These prophceies concerning the Jews are as clear
as a narrative of the events. They are ancient as the
oldest records in existence; and it has never been de-
nied, that they were all delivered before the accom-
plishment of one of them, They were so un-ima-
ginable by human wisdom, that the whole compass of
nature has never exhibited a parallel to the events.
And the facts are visible, and present, and applicable
even to a hairbreadth. Could Moses, as an uninspired
mortal, have described the history, the fate, the dis-
persion, the treatment, the dispositions of the Israel-
ites to the present day, or for two thousand two
hundred years; seeing that he was astonished and
amazed, on his descent from Sinai, at the change in
their sentiments and in their conduct in the space of
SECOND EDITION.
XXXV
forty days? Could various persons have testified, in
different ages, of the self-same and similar facts,
as wonderful as they have proved to be true?
Could they have divulged so many secrets of
futurity, when of necessity they were utterly
ignorant of them all? The probabilities were in-
finite against them; for the mind of man often
fluctuates in uncertainty over the nearest events,
and the most probable results; but, in regard to
remote ages, when thousands of years shall have
elapsed, and to facts respecting them, contrary to all
previous knowledge, experience, analogy, or con-
ception, it feels that they are dark as death to
mortal ken. And, viewing only the dispersion of the
Jews, and some of its attendant circumstances-how
their city was laid desolate their temple, which
formed the constant place of their resort before,
levelled with the ground, and ploughed over like a
field—their country ravaged, and themselves mur-
dered in mass-falling before the sword, the famine,
and the pestilence;-how a remnant was left, but
despoiled, pursecuted, enslaved, and led into cap-
tivity;-driven from their own land, not to a moun-
tainous retreat, where they might subsist with safety,
but dispersed among all nations, and left to the mercy
of a world that everywhere hated and oppressed
them ;-shattered in pieces like the wreck of a
vessel in a mighty storm;-scattered over the
earth like fragments on the waters, and, instead
xxxvi
PREFACE TO THE
of disappearing, or mingling with the nations, re-
maining a perfectly distinct people, in every kingdom,
the same, retaining similar habits and customs, and
creeds, and manners, in every part of the globe ;-
though without ephod, teraphim, or sacrifice-meet-
ing everywhere the same insult, and mockery, and
oppression-finding no resting-place, without an enemy
soon to dispossess them-multiplying amidst all their
miseries—surviving their enemies-beholding, un-
changed, the extinction of many nations, and the
convulsions of all-robbed of their silver and of their
gold, though cleaving to the love of them still, as the
stumbling-block of their iniquity—often bereaved of
their very children-disjoined and disorganized, but
uniform and unaltered-ever bruised, but never
broken-weak, fearful, sorrowful, and afflicted-often
driven to madness, at the spectacle of their own mi-
sery-taken up in the lips of talkers-the taunt, and
hissing, and infamy of all people; and continuing
ever, what they are at this day, the sole proverb
common to the whole world: how did every fact,
from its very nature, defy all conjecture; and how
could mortal man, overlooking a hundred successive
generations, have foretold any one of these wonders
that are
now conspicuous in these latter times?
Who but the Father of Spirits, possessed of perfect
prescience, even of the knowledge, of the will, and
of the actions of free, intelligent, and moral agents,
could have revealed their unbounded, and yet unceas-
4
SECOND EDITION.
xxxvii
ing wanderings; unveiled all their destiny, and un-
masked the minds of the Jews and of their enemies
in every age and clime? The creation of a world
might as well be the work of chance as the revelation
of these things. It is a visible display of the power
and of the prescience of God; an accumulation of
many miracles. And although it forms but a part of
a small portion of the Christian evidence, it lays not
only a stone of stumbling, such as infidels would try
to cast in a Christian path, but it fixes an insur-
mountable barrier at the very threshold of infidelity;
immoveable by all human device, and impervious to
every attack."*
Is this satisfactory and felt to be conclusive as re-
gards the past? Doubtless it is, completely so. Let
all those who feel it to be so, consider candidly on
what principle of prophetic interpretation this satis-
faction is founded. When Moses and the Prophets
spoke of the dispersion of Judah and Israel, did they
mean literally what they said? When they described
the persecutions, and oppressions, and miseries of that
people in all ages, did they mean literally the lineal
descendants in the flesh of that nation, as distinguished
from all other nations? And did they mean to say,
that those lineal descendants in the flesh of the Jewish
people, generation after generation, would be scat-
tered abroad from their own country, among the na-
tions of all countries? This question is fraught with
* Keith.
xxxviii
PREFACE TO THE
consequences. If Moses and the Prophets, when they
spoke of Judah and Israel, meant some other people,
(e. g. Christians among the Gentiles); and if, when
they spoke of dispersion and persecution, they meant
some other thing, (e. g. a distressed state of mind);
then the historical facts to which Keith refers are not
fulfilments of the prophecies. They happen, indeed,
to agree with the language of the prophets inter-
preted literally, But the prophecies must not be
interpreted literally; and, therefore, these facts must
not be received as fulfilments. Such is the auxiliary
which infidelity finds in the rejection of literal inter-
pretation.
But on the other hand. If the facts adduced be
indeed the fulfilments of the prophecies referred to,
then the literal interpretation of prophecy is esta-
blished. And such an interpretation of the prophe-
cies which are as yet unfulfilled, will give the facts
which are to be scripturally anticipated.
It is established, for example, that when Moses
and the Prophets write Judah and Israel, they mean
Jews in literal, lineal descent in the flesh, and not
Christians of the Gentiles: that when they write dis-
persion from their land among all nations, they mean
literally the land of Judea, and literally nations
in other lands that when they write captivity, per-
secution, sword, famine, pestilence; they mean lite-
rally those calamities which have accordingly come
literally to pass. When, therefore, in the same con-
SECOND EDITION.
xxxix
texts they go on to write deliverance from captivity
and persecution, restoration to their own land, from all
countries whither they have been scattered, resettle-
ment in their old estates, and national glory, honour,
and power, and peace, under the Son of David, their
king, what do they mean ?* Is the character of
their language fundamentally altered, because the ful-
filment of it has not yet become history to us? Is
there any talismanic power in the particular age of
the world wherein we chance to live, that up till
this time the language of the prophecies should be
taken literally; but after this time it must not be
taken literally? And is our faith so mingled with
infidelity, that, although by the help of history we
can acknowledge that events which have occurred
were predicted, we cannot on the strength of prophecy
alone feel confident that events predicted will occur?
It is a serious question, how far we are enabled to
adventure the confidence of our hearts upon the bare
word of God without a voucher. In matters of
doctrine and experience it is difficnlt to ascertain.
Prophecy supplies a test, and cordially to anticipate
without wavering the fulfilment of ALL that the
prophets have spoken, is to honour the faithfulness of
our God.
*For thus saith the Lord: LIKE as I have brought all
this great evil upon this people; SO will I bring upon them
all the good that I have promised them." Jer. xxxii. 42.
+ St. Luke xxiv. 25,
ST, JUDE'S, JULY, 1838.
INTRODUCTION
CONTENTS.
LECTURE I.
PAGE.
1
THE JEWS HITHERTO A SEPARATE PEOPLE.
NUMB. Xxiii. 9. Lo! the people shall dwell alone,
and shall not be reckoned among the nations.
The object of these Lectures to examine the pro-
phecies concerning the Jewish nation-History the
best interpreter of prophecy-Mr. Davison quoted
-The first revealed characteristic of the Jewish
people, is their separation from the surrounding
nations of the earth-Constituted a distinct nation
by the word of God to Abraham-His manner of
interpreting that word-His descendants continue
separate during the Egyptian bondage-In the wil-
xlii
CONTENTS.
1
PAGE.
derness-In the occupation of Canaan-Predictions
by Moses-Establishment of the royal government
-The nation carried captive to Babylon, and there
kept separate Their return to their own land-
Light thrown upon the interpretation of prophecy
by so much of the history.....
LECTURE II.
THE JEWS CONTINUE A SEPARATE PEO-
PLE TILL THE END OF THE TIMES OF
THE GENTILES.
NUMB. Xxiii. 9. Lo! the people shall dwell alone,
and shall not be reckoned among the nations.
The separate state of the Jews proved from facts,
and universally admitted up to the time of the
birth of Christ. From that period of their history
a difference of opinion exists in the Christian
church-That difference stated-The opinion that
their separation will continue till the end of the
world, maintained-Distinction between Israel and
Judah-As a plain matter of history-As fully
recognized by the Prophets-Distinction between
Judah national and the Christian remnant out of
it in each age-Clearly stated by St. Paul-Con-
tinued separation of the Jews not to be accounted
for by second causes-Mr. Lawrence and Mr. Gib-
bon quoted-Proofs that the separation must con-
tinue-1st. From the predictions that the Jews
shall be a taunt, reproach, proverb, and by-word—
2nd. From the prediction of the transfer of the
13
|
CONTENTS.
xliii
cup of the Lord's anger from them to those who
have afflicted them-3rd. From the argument of
St. Paul, that the receiving of the Jews again to
God's favour, will be as life from the dead to the
Gentile world……………
PAGE.
45
LECTURE III.
THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES.
ST. LUKE xxi. 24. Jerusalem shall be trodden down
of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be
fulfilled.
The Jewish nation to continue separate till the
end of the times of the Gentiles, or present dispen-
sation-What is meant by the present dispensation
The plan of Jehovah respecting this world gra-
dually developed, or dispensed—The end of it pro-
mised from the beginning-All former dispensations
have fallen short of that end-The present dispen-
sation examined into-The history of the progress
of Christianity gives no reason to suppose the pre-
sent to be a final dispensation-The design of the
present dispensation-1st. To take and save a peo-
ple out of the Gentiles, Acts xv. 14.-Proofs from
the experience, the number, and the character of
the real disciples of Jesus Christ-2ndly. To pro-
voke the Jews to jealousy-the termination of the
present dispensation-The nature of it will be a
separation-Proofs from the ancient prophecies,
the parables of our Lord, and the apostolical Epis-
tles—The date will synchronise with the restora-
tion of the Jews, and precede the introduction of
millennial blessedness.....
75
xliv
CONTENTS.
LECTURE IV.
THE JEWS SHALL BE BROUGHT TO A PEN-
ITENT STATE OF MIND, PREPATATORY
TO THEIR RESTORATION.
LEV. xxvi. 40-42. If they shall confess their ini-
quity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their
trespass that they trespassed against me, and that
also they have walked contrary unto me; and that
I also have walked contrary unto them, and have
brought them into the land of their enemies; if
then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and
they then accept of the punishment of their ini-
quity; then will I remember my covenant with
Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also
my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and
I will remember the land.
Recapitulation of the former part of the subject
-Entrance upon that part of which it is future—
What God has revealed concerning his purposes
towards the Jews, at and subsequent to the ter-
mination of the times of the Gentiles-Their
penitence, previous to their restoration, argued
from, 1st, the language of the predictions, in its
natural and obvious meaning; 2dly, the prayer
of Solomon; 3dly, the past deliverances of the
Jews; 4thly, the analogy of sound doctrine-Ap-
parently opposing passages of Scripture considered
-Their conversion subsequent to their restoration
-Bishop Louth quoted.......
PAGE.
111
:
CONTENTS.
xlv
LECTURE V.
THE JEWS SHALL BE RESTORED TO
THEIR OWN LAND
PAGE.
Ezek. xxxvii. 21, 22. Thus saith the Lord God,
Behold, I will take the children of Israel from
among the Heathen, whither they be gone; and
will gather them on every side, and bring them into
their own land: and I will make them one nation
in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and
one king shall be king to them all; and they shall
be no more two nations, neither shall they be di-
vided into two nations any more at all.
Various interpretations which have been given
of the text considered; 1st. the return of the Jews
from Babylon; 2dly, the conversion and sanctifi-
cation of the Christian church; 3dly, the mixture
of the two; 4thly, the literal re-occupation of
Palestine by the twelve tribes-The last proved to
be the correct one, by its being the only one
which is consistent throughout.….…………….
LECTURE VI.
THE KING OF THE JEWS.
JER. xxiii. 5, 6. Behold, the days come, saith the
Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous
branch: and a king shall reign and prosper, and
shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
139
xlvi
CONTENTS.
4.
In his days, Judah shall be saved, and Israel
shall dwell safely; and this is his name whereby
he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUS-
NESS.
PAGE.
The revelation which it has pleased God to give
us, concerning the king of the Jews at, and subse-
quent to, the restoration of that people to their
own land-Text consists of seven distinct par-
ticulars--All these must be fulfilled in one person-
No such person has ever yet appeared in the world-
The only person possessing any claim to it, is Jesus
of Nazareth-His claims examined-Three of the
seven particulars proved to be applicable to Him,
at his first coming-The remaining four proved
not to be applicable—A second coming of Jesus
Christ, the universal expectation of Christians-lf
the prophecy be of Him, the four particulars, not
yet applicable to Him, must then apply-Proofs
from Scripture, that they will apply; so that in
Him, considered at both comings, the whole pro-
phecy will find adequate fulfilment-The King's
person in that day considered-Its reality-Iden-
tity-Appearance.....
161
}
LECTURE VII.
THE JEWS SHALL HAVE NATIONAL PRE-
EMINENCE IN THE EARTH, AND SHALL
PROVE A BLESSING TO ALL NATIONS.
Isa. lii. 9. 10. Break forth into joy, sing together,
ye waste places, for the Lord hath comforted his
CONTENTS.
xlvii
people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord
hath made bare his holy arm, in the eyes of all
the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall
see the salvation of our God.
The nature of the national pre-eminence of the
restored Jews, in the millennium-Consisting in
righteousness, peace, and pure worship-The res-
tored Jewish nation shall be a blessing to all the
nations of the earth-Proofs from Scripture-Mr.
Faber quoted-The nature of the blessings be-
stowed upon the nations, by means of the restored
Jews-A converted, or Christian state, not an
Adamic state-Proofs from Scripture-Objections
answered-The duration of the blessing communi-
cated to the nations-Considered to be for a limited
period, from Rev. xx. 4-7-Universalism shewn
to be unscriptural-Conclusion of the whole sub-
ject-Practical application, addressed to Christians
-And to Jews....
PAGE.
189
APPENDIX.
223
INTRODUCTION.
WHO, and what are the Jews, and what shall
they be? These are questions of lively interest
to the Christian. The past history and present
condition of the Jewish people, bear witness to
the divine inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, and
to the immediate personal agency of Almighty
God in the management of the affairs of this
world, with a power and plainness which no
gainsayer can refute. And the Holy Scriptures
bear witness to the future pre-eminence of that
degraded people, with a reiteration of prediction
which no believer can resist. History is the pro-
vidence of God. The Bible is the word of God.
They mutually attest each other, on the subject
of the Jewish nation, unto this day. Collusion
is manifestly impossible; the inference, therefore,
against the sceptic is irresistible.
B
2
INTRODUCTION.
i
Who are the Jews?-In answering such an
inquiry concerning any people or nation, the
practice of historians is to trace their origin,
their national pedigree, so to speak; which, when
they have done, they consider that the question,
Who are these people, is fully answered. Thus
did Tacitus concerning the ancient Germans;
and thus Gibbon concerning the Suevi, the Alle-
manni, and other barbarian tribes, who contri-
buted to the downfall of imperial Rome.
In adopting the same method respecting the
Jews, we, in the first place, trace them back to
a certain province of the Roman empire, which
provoked the hostility of the Emperors Vespasian
and Titus, and the capital city of which was
destroyed by the latter emperor, with a dreadful
slaughter of the inhabitants. The survivors were
scattered abroad among the various nations of
the earth; and the Jews in England, and other
countries of Europe, at this moment, are the de-
scendants of those refugees. For a series of years
previous to this dispersion from Judea, they were
tributary to the Romans. The eastern campaigns
of Pompey, and the still earlier conquests of
Scipio, supply us with abundance of the most
authentic information upon this point. The his-
tory of the Macedonian conqueror enables us to
trace the origin of the Jews still farther back;
INTRODUCTION.
3
and we find that in the reign of Cyrus, king of
Persia, they were brought from Babylon into
Judea, where they settled and built the city of
Jerusalem.
Thus far there is no room for denial or doubt,
by any inquirer who possesses even a superficial
acquaintance with the history of the world. But
beyond this, the scriptural account of them has
been denied; and one of the daring falsehoods
which infidelity has put forward with unblush-
ing effrontery, is, that we know nothing of the
Jewish nation antecedent to what is insidi-
ously called their emigration from Babylon. In
tracing their origin still farther, therefore, let us
fortify our statement with legitimate proof.
Our assertion is, that the Scriptural history of
the Hebrews, from the call of Abraham till the
captivity of Zedekiah, king of Judah, including
a variety of miraculous interpositions by the
God of the whole earth, is true,-true in the ob-
vious meaning of the language, without any
evasion. Our proof of this rests its first firm step
upon a matter of fact, undeniably before our eyes.
The Jews of the present day possess and re-
vere a very remarkable collection of books, which
they say were given to their forefathers by the
immediate inspiration of Almighty God. These
books record a variety of stupendous miracles;
B 2
4
INTRODUCTION.
and the Jews, as a nation, at this moment, be-
lieve that a generation of their ancestors beheld
the performance of those miracles, and therefore
handed down these books to their posterity, as
genuine and authentic.
That this is the present opinion of the nation,
may be learned from any intelligent Jew in Lon-
don or elsewhere. We know, say they, that God
spake to Moses and the prophets. Now a most
important question is, when did they first begin
to believe these things concerning these books?
And a manifest absurdity rests upon the sup-
position, that any generation of Jews, except that
one which saw the miracles, could have been the
first to acknowledge the divine authority of the
books. For observe how the case stands. Sup-
pose any impostor to have forged those books in
later times; and suppose them coming for the
first time into the hands of a Jew. He reads in
them that his forefathers were miraculously de-
livered out of the land of Egypt, and led through
the Red Sea, and that an ordinance of religious
worship, called the Passover, had been instituted
in remembrance of that deliverance, and con-
tinued from father to son, down to his own days.
He pauses, and stares at the strange statement.
What! he says; my father never taught me any
thing about this Passover; I was never present
INTRODUCTION.
5
at it myself; I have never even heard of it till
now; and yet this book says it was instituted
many years ago, and has been celebrated an-
nually by all the Jews ever since. I know to a
certainty this is not the case: therefore this book
is not true. How could such a man have been
persuaded to embrace the truth, and contend for
the divine inspiration of such a book? To be-
lieve that, not an individual man only, but a
whole nation simultaneously adopted such a
book under such circumstances, is a splendid
triumph of the credulity of scepticism.
This argument holds good, at whatever period
of the history of the nation it is pretended that
the books were forged, and for the first time pub-
lished. The contents of the books themselves,
therefore, supply an insuperable hindrance to
their being received as inspired by any genera-
tion except that one which saw the miracles,
and thereupon commenced the celebration of the
commemorative ordinances.
If any man or set of men in this country were
now to write a book, and say in it that all the
British people had been in France; that they
had been miraculously brought through the sea
into their own land; that a great national feast
had been established in remembrance of their
escape from their enemies; and that all the
6
INTRODUCTION.
:
people of England went once a year to London to
keep that feast: who among us would not laugh
at the silly absurdity of imagining that such a
book could be received by the nation, and cause
us now, for the first time, to believe that miracu-
lous escape, and now, for the first time, to cele-
brate that feast? This line of argument applies
to any and every period of the history of England.
We conclude, therefore, that the Jewish books.
were written and made public at the time when
the miracles recorded in those books are said to
have been performed; or, at least, during the
life-time of those persons who were eye-witnesses
of the miracles; because no other persons could
have received the books, and because we do ac-
tually see with our own eyes that the books are
received.
This, then, establishes the important fact; that
the miracles were indeed performed. For observe
how the argument stands in this respect. If any
minister were now to publish a book, and declare
in it that on a certain day last year, or the year
before, he had wrought a miracle in the presence
of his whole congregation: that they were faint-
ing with thirst, for example, and that he had
struck a rock with a rod, and brought out for
them all an abundant supply of water and if he
were now to come and announce a number of
INTRODUCTION.
7
laws and regulations, some of them exceedingly
inconvenient and disagreeable to his people, and
command the universal observance of those laws
on pain of death, appealing for his authority to
the miracle which he said he had wrought before
their faces last year;-what would they say to
him? Would not their indignation be roused
against such intolerable effrontery? And might
they not well say, Away with your laws and re-
gulations; you have no authority over us as for
your pretended miracle, we were upon the spot
when you say it was performed, and we never
saw it; yet you allege it was of such a nature,
that had it been performed we must have seen it,
and could not but recollect it?
If Moses had written a book, and made it pub-
lic among the Israelites, saying, that on a certain
day, when they were all pursued by Pharaoh,
king of Egypt, he had stretched his rod over the
sea; that the waters had divided, leaving a dry
passage between; and that the whole congrega-
tion had passed safely through, which the Egyp-
tians assaying to do, were drowned; that on an-
other day, when they were murmuring for water
in the wilderness, he had smitten a rock, and
procured a rich supply for the whole multitude;
that on another day, when some of them had
rebelled against him and his brother Aaron, he
8
со
INTRODUCTION.
summoned the rebels before all the people, and
said, (Numb. xvi. 29, 30)" If these men die the
common death of all men, or if they be visited
after the visitation of all men, then the Lord hath
not sent me. But if the Lord make a new thing,
and the earth open her mouth and swallow them
up, with all that appertain unto them, and they
go down quick into the pit; then ye shall under-
stand that these men have provoked the Lord."
And if Moses had come afterwards to the Israelites
with a number of laws and regulations, some of
them exceedingly inconvenient and disagreeable
to the people, and had commanded them to obey,
on pain of death, appealing for his authority to
the miracles which he said he performed before
their eyes and if these miracles had not taken
place, what would the Israelites have said to
Moses? Would they not very naturally have
said-away with your laws and regulations; we
reject your authority: as for those miracles which
you allege you performed, we were upon the spot
when you say they took place: you describe them
as of such a nature that they could not possibly
have escaped our notice or our memory; yet we
never saw them. Your book wears falsehood
upon the face of it.
Would not this have been
the result if Moses had been an impostor?
But, on the other hand, if the Israelites had
INTRODUCTION.
9
acknowledged the justice of his appeal; if they
had yielded to his authority, and entered upon a
long course of self-denying obedience to his laws;
would not this be a conclusive proof that they
had verily and indeed seen the miracles which
he alleges they had seen? For the miracles of
Moses were not done in a corner, but in the pre-
sence of the whole congregation of Israel, about
six hundred thousand that were men, besides
children.
We see, then, that the avowed publicity of the
miracles, connected with the circumstance (al-
ready proved) of the books having been written
during the life-time of multitudes, who were said
in the books to have seen the miracles; would
render a successful imposture morally impossible.
What, then, is the truth? It is that six hundred
thousand men were persuaded at once to yield to
an authority, founded upon an assertion, that
certain great miracles, affecting even the lives of
every one of them, had taken place before their
eyes; which miracles, they must all have known
perfectly well, had never taken place? Or is it,
that a whole nation, at some time unknown, and
by some influence unknown, were persuaded to
embrace, as the truth of God, a record, which
declared, that they and their ancestors had reli-
giously observed certain annual festivals; which
B 3
10
INTRODUCTION.
festivals they must have known had never been
observed or heard of, till the fabrication of that
record? Or is it, that Almighty God himself
did interfere in a miraculous manner, on behalf
of the nation of Israel, to make known in the
earth his power and providence? On which
side does credulity range herself? and on which
side, rational conviction?
We are not, therefore, proceeding without our
proof, when we say, that the Jews are what they
say they are the descendants of that nation,
that ancient nation, which sprang from Abraham
of Ur of the Chaldees; which was divided into
twelve tribes in the family of Jacob: which was
brought into Egypt, and settled in Goshen, under
the superintending care of Joseph; which was
oppressed by Pharoah; which was miraculously
delivered under the guidance of Moses; which
triumphed over the nations of Canaan, by the
victorious sword of Joshua; which rebelled
against God, was chastened, repented, and was
delivered, and rebelled again; which disregarded
the warnings of the inspired messengers of God;
which was carried away captive by the king of
Babylon, and oppressed seventy years; which
was restored to their own land; which turned
again in obstinacy against God, despising, re-
jecting, and crucifying the Lord of glory; which
INTRODUCTION.
11
*
was rooted out by the conquering arms of the
victorious Romans; which was scattered among
all nations to the four winds of heaven: which
was preserved a separate people, not mingling
among any people in their dispersion; which is
still a separate people in this, and other countries
and cities; scattered and peeled, as described
by the prophet; a nation wonderful indeed, from
their beginning hitherto.
Thus, in answering the question, Who are
they? we have anticipated, in one very impor-
tant respect, the question:
II. What are they?
They are God's witnesses, living witnesses;
bearing a testimony to the genuineness, the au-
thenticity, and consequently the inspiration, of
the Holy Scriptures; a testimony which may
indeed be denied, (ignorance or obstinacy may
deny anything,) which may indeed be cavilled
at or evaded, but which cannot be refuted. Wit-
nesses, therefore, manifesting the moral attributes
of Jehovah, in a more striking manner than do
any of his other works. Does any man inquire
about the character of God, we answer, look at
the Jews! Behold, in his dealings with them, his
sovereign prerogative of distinguishing grace;
his holiness; his severity, kind even in its hea-
viest judgments; his kindling compassion, when
12
INTRODUCTION.
he beholds the repentance of his people; his
tremendous indignation, when at last poured
forth, his faithfulness to his promise; his mys-
terious Providence,—and all this, (with the great
predicted result of it all,) for the manifestation of
himself, that the world may know, that HE IS
THE OMNIPOTENT ONE; and none else. "Ye are
my witnesses, saith the Lord; I have declared,
and have saved, and I have shewed, when there
was no strange God among you: therefore ye.are
my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God.
Yea, before the day was, I am He: and there is
none that can deliver out of my hand: I will
work, and who shall let it?"
Having thus briefly answered the questions
who, and what, are the Jews, we inquire
III. What shall they be?
To supply a scriptural answer to this interest-
ing inquiry, is the object of the following pages.
LECTURES.
LECTURE I.
Numb. xxiii. 9. "Lo! the people shall dwell alone, and
shall not be reckoned among the nations."
KNOWN unto God, are all his works from the
beginning of the world. It is his distinguishing
characteristic, that he calls things that are not,
as though they were. The challenge by which
the idolatry of the heathen is put to shame, is
grounded upon this high prerogative of the true
God. Thus saith the Holy One of Israel, "Let
them bring forth and shew us what shall happen.
Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that
we may know that ye are gods. Who hath de-
clared from the beginning that we may know?
Yea, there is none that sheweth, yea, there is
none that declareth. To whom will ye liken me
and make me equal, and compare me, that we
may be like? Remember this, and shew your-
selves men; bring it again to mind, O ye trans-
14
LECTURE I.
gressors.
Remember the things of old, for I am
God, and there is none else; I am God, and
there is none like me: declaring the end from
the beginning, and, from ancient times, the things
that are not yet done; saying, my counsel shall
stand, and I will do all my pleasure."*
Our present object is to examine, in the faith
and fear of God, the meaning of what the Holy
Ghost has spoken concerning the Jewish nation,
by the mouth of the holy prophets. It is not,
therefore, to the fancies of a poet that your at-
tention is solicited: it is not to the equivocal
evasions of a heathen oracle: it is not to the
guessings of a vissionary enthusiast; nor to the
cunningly-devised fables of an ingenious priest-
hood. No, it is to the true sayings of the living
and the true God. It is to the instructive pro-
vidence and revealed purposes of Him, whose
will is law, whose power is absolute; of Him,
the great First Cause, in whom you live, and
move, and have your being; by whom kings
reign, and princes decree justice; by whom
nations rise and fall: by whom our own nation
has been raised, and blessed, and made a bless-
ing; by whom the Jewish nation was established,
is dispersed, and (we believe) shall be restored
again. The Lord God hath spoken-this is our
* See Isaiah xl. to xlvi. inclusive.
LECTURE I.
15
sure warrant. To ascertain the right meaning
of his words—this is our proper business.
The progress of events, by giving fulfilment
to many of the predictions of the prophets, has
borne testimony, in a way that cannot be resisted,
to the true meaning of the figurative language of
prophecy. History is but another name for the
providence of God: and so far as it can be shewn
to have been the subject of prophecy, its faithful
record should be distinctly and carefully com-
pared with the terms of the prediction. Because
the best possible method of soberly anticipating
events, from the language of those prophecies
which are still unfulfilled, is to observe the
connexion between the language and the event
in those which have already found their fulfil-
ment. It is thus that, in the school of experi-
ence, we shall make the nearest possible ap-
proaches to a right distinction between what is
actually literal, what is merely figurative, and
what is specifically symbolical, in the inspired
language; whieh distinction is acknowledged by
all who have attended to the subject, to be the
grand desideratum of prophetic interpretation.
It is well observed by Mr. Davidson, in his
Discourses on the Structure, Use, and Inspira-
tion of Prophecy, that "the rational exposition
of it requires that we attend to the seasons and
16
LECTURE I.
=
He says,
"A certain
circumstances under which it was given, and
endeavour to take some measure of it by its adap-
tation to them. For it was never given to be an
insulated phenomenon, nor merely to demonstrate
the prescience of its all-wise Author; but by
him it was engrafted upon the exigencies of times
and persons, and made to serve as a light of
direction to the attentive observers of it, before
the event had set the seal to its truth." This is
of great importance. I will add only one more
preliminary reflection, taken from the same cau-
tious and correct writer.*
acquaintance with the contents of Scripture must
be presumed on the part of my hearers; without
which I could not expect the general view pro-
posed to be given, to be admitted as a just and
faithful one; nor is it possible, by quotations
made on the moment, to supply the materials for
an adequate judgment in this case; which ma-
terials can be derived only from the knowledge
or examination of the chief document itself-the
Scripture volume. Nor is this the only instance
wherein our satisfaction, and even our means
of judging of the truth or use of revelation, are
made to depend upon some personal study of it.
There is cause to think that scepticism itself is
often no more than a form of very unreasonable
* See note A, in the Appendix.
LECTURE I.
17
enthusiasm, demanding conviction without the
pains of inquiry."
The first revealed characteristic, then, of the
Jewish people, concerning which I would invite
you to search the Scriptures, is their separation
from all the surrounding nations of the earth.
This is directly stated concerning them in the
words of our text, which form a part of the cele-
brated prophecy of Balaam. That false diviner
was invited by the king of Moab to come and
curse the Israelites, as they passed through his
territories. God commanded Balaam not to go;
but he, loving the wages of iniquity, tempted God
to give him angry leave to take his own course.
He was soon, however, forced to feel and acknow-
ledge that it is God who made, and who controls
man's mouth. He could not speak according to
his own will, or to the will of his master Balak;
but a true prophecy was given to him against
his will, and to the disappointment of his covet-
ousness. "He took up his parable and said,
Balak, the king of Moab, hath brought me from
Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying,
Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel.
How shall I curse whom God hath not cursed?
or how shall I defy whom the Lord hath not
defied? For from the top of the rocks I see him,
..
18
LECTURE I.
}
and from the hills I behold him: Lo! the people
shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned
among the nations.”
This characteristic of separation has belonged
to the Jewish people, in a remarkable degree,
from the very commencement of their history;
and a comparison of the prophecies that it would
be so,
with the fact that hitherto it has been so,
is the part of the subject now more immediately
to be brought before us.
In tracing the sacred history of the multiplica-
tion of the human species on the earth, after the
deluge, we find three distinct lines of descent
mentioned in the 10th chapter of Genesis; one
from each of the sons of Noah:-1, the line of
Japheth; 2, of Ham; 3, of Shem. Then, after
the dispersion of the people from Babel, the gene-
rations of Shem are again introduced, and carried
down to the family of Terah. Ham and Japheth
are lost sight of in the history for a season, and
Shem is taken: all the other descendants of Shem
are lost sight of, and Terah is taken: all the
other sons of Terah are lost sight of, and Abra-
ham is taken and on him and his posterity the
whole attention of the reader is concentrated.
I. This man was the father of the Hebrews.
Here, therefore, we find the origin of the Jewish
LECTURE I.
19
nation. The descendants of Abraham were con-
stituted into a distinct people by the word of the
divine prediction: God said, I will make of thee
a great nation.*
This is the first prophecy re-
lative to the Jewish nation, distinctly as such.
The circumstances in which Abraham stood, at
the time when this prophecy was given, should
be attentively considered. He was a very old
man, long married and without any family: it
had ceased also with Sarah, his wife, to be after
the manner of women. This seemed to present
an hindrance to the literal interpretation of the
prophecy; and if human arguments, grounded
upon probability, had been allowed to have much
weight with him, he would, in all likelihood, have
had recourse to some other interpretation.
might, perhaps, have supposed that the children
of his steward, Eliezer of Damascus, who was
then his heir presumptive, were, in the figurative
language of prophecy, called his own children;
or, in other words, that God did not mean what
he said exactly, but something else; which some-
thing else Abraham was to collect from the words
of God, in the most reasonable way he could,
without being enthusiastic or presumptuous
enough to expect impossibilities. We know,
however, that the father of the faithful had
* Gen. xii. 2.
He
20
LECTURE I.
recourse to no such evasions. To his everlasting
praise, it is recorded of him by the apostle Paul,
that "being not weak in faith, he considered not
his own body now dead, when he was about an
hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of
Sarah's womb: he staggerd not at the promise
(or prophecy) of God, through unbelief; but was
strong in faith, giving glory to God; and being
fully persuaded that what he had promised, (not
what Abraham might choose to understand by it,
but what he had promised) he was able also to
perform.”*
The friends and household of Abra-
ham might, indeed, have questioned, at the time
the justice of his literal interpretation of the
Lord's prophecy. They might have represented
to him in strong colours, those very considerations
which the Apostle specifies as naturally occurring
under the circumstance of his and Sarah's case;
and we cannot imagine any argument by which
he could meet such reasonable opposition to his
views, except simply an appeal to the terms of
the prophecy, taken in their obvious sense. "God
hath said it, and I believe what he hath said,
simply because he hath said it. The circum-
stance of difficulty, or even apparent impossibility,
in the way of a literal fulfilment, has no effect
upon me, for nothing is impossible with God;
*Rom. iv. 18-21.
LECTURE I.
21
and though this be confessedly marvellous in the
eyes of my household, and in my own eyes, does
it therefore follow that it should be marvellous in
the eyes of the Lord of Hosts? Assuredly not.
I am free to acknowledge the strength of the
objection, and I would be wholly influenced
thereby, if the prophecy were the word of man.
But God hath spoken, and I resolutely persevere
in expecting that he will do, precisely and lite-
rally, what he has promised to do." This is the
language of faith; and to the heart of faith, here
would be an end of controversy: but we know
little of the nature of man, if we suppose that such
a line of argument could be generally satisfactory
or effective. I am not alleging that a contro-
versy, such as is here imagined, did actually exist
in the family, or among the friends of Abraham.
The supposition, however, that it may have ex-
isted, involves no contradiction in itself, and it
serves to illustrate a very important principle.
Year after year elapsed, and still there was no
appearance of the fulfilment of the prophecy; and
from the nature of the case, each succeeding year
rendered the literal fulfilment of it more improb-
able. If a difference of opinion, then, as to the
right interpretation did really exist at the time,
the advocates of a figurative, or, as Abraham
would probably have called it, an evasive inter-
22
LECTURE I.
pretation, would acquire strength and confidence
in the delay. Here was the trial of Abraham's
He continued to believe,
faith and patience.
giving glory to God. The prophecy was repeated
to him with increasing clearness, and additional
details, and at last the event fully justified his
literal expectation. For "the Lord visited Sarah,
as he had said; and the Lord did unto Sarah as
he had spoken; for Sarah conceived, and bare
Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of
which God had spoken to him."*
Thus was
preparation made for "the great nation," while
history, at the same time, gave her plain and
instructive verdict in favour of the literal inter-
pretation of prophecy.
II. Again, the Lord said unto Abraham, after
that he was come into the land of Canaan, and
after that Lot was separated from him, "Lift up
now thine eyes, and look from the place where
thou art, northward, and southward, and east-
ward, and westward; for all the land which thou
seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for
ever." This grant of Canaan implied an exclu-
sive dominion of occupation, and thereby, as a
necessary consequence, separated the people to
whom it was made from the rest of the world.
* Gen, xxi. 1, 2.
+ Gen. xiii. 14, 15.
LECTURE 1.
23
"And the Lord said unto Abraham, Know of a
surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land
that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they
shall afflict them four hundred years and also
that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge:
and afterwards shall they come out with great
substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in
peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.
But in the fourth generation they shall come
hither again; for the iniquity of the Amorites
(the natives of the land, who must be driven out
or destroyed, in order to give you Hebrews pos-
session of it,) is not yet full.
In that
same day the Lord made a covenant with Abra-
ham, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this
land, from the river of Egypt unto the great
river, the river Euphrates."*
•
Here, in addition to the particulars already
mentioned, namely, the formation of the people
into a distinct nation, and the gift of a particular
land for their residence; it is predicted, that be-
fore they entered into possession of this land, they
should be an afflicted and enslaved↑ people, and
* Gen. xv. 13—18.
This distinction between the affliction and the bondage
of the Israelites,-the former including the latter, but not
confined to it-throws light upon the difficulty which has
been experienced respecting the period of 400 years here
mentioned. "Their actual bondage in Egypt was of com-
24
LECTURE I.
also that God would execute judgment upon the
nation which enslaved them. Who that has ever
read the book of Genesis, can be ignorant of the
simple, beautiful, and singularly interesting his-
tory of Joseph and his brethren; in the course
of which the special providence of Jehovah is
so clearly marked, and in the sequel of which
the aged Jacob and his household, threescore and
ten persons, were brought into Egypt? And
now the prophecy, implying that they should
continue a separate people, was put to trial.
Seventy emigrants, settling in the midst of a great
nation, their brother the prime minister of the
state, and themselves well received by the king
for their brother's sake, in the common course
paratively short duration; but the affliction of the seed of
Abraham commenced in his son Isaac. The interval be-
tween Isaac's birth and the Exodus was 405 years; and if
we suppose the predicted affliction of the seed to commence
in Isaac's fifth year, when he would be beginning to feel
the effect of Ishmael's mockery, we then have the affliction
enduring 400 years, and including in the last period of it the
bondage." What is said (Exod. xii. 40) about the so-
journing of the people for 430 years before the Exodus,
presents no difficulty in the way of this solution, but rather
confirms it; because it is evident, from Gal. iii. 17, that this
period of 430 years is to be reckoned from the giving of the
promise to Abraham, which was first done 25 years before
the birth of Isaac." This corresponds exactly; and so the
whole period of sojourn included the other two, which are
more accurately characterised as first a period of affliction,
and finally a period of actual slavery.
LECTURE I.
25
of human affairs would soon amalgamate with
the nation, and lose their distinction as a separate
people. This seemed likely to be the result to
the Hebrews of a long residence in Egypt. The
literal interpretation of the prophecy given to
Abraham, and repeated to Isaac and Jacob, was
indeed against this; but, perhaps, the literal in-
terpretation was not to be closely insisted upon :
perhaps some reasonable allowance was to be
made for the figurative language of prophecy,
delivered in strains of Eastern poetry. Perhaps
separation from all nations might only mean that
they were to be of a different spirit from other
people; refraining from idolatry, and shewing
a good example of worshipping the true God.
Perhaps the predicted judgment upon the nation
whom they served, might mean nothing more
than the gradual conversion of the Egyptians to
the religion of the Hebrews; and perhaps their
possession of the land of Canaan, concerning
which the prophecy was so explicit, might signify
in a figure, that their influence would eventually
predominate in the land of Egypt and elsewhere,
through the growing prevalence of the religion
of their fathers. Whatever might have been
thought by some of the prudence and sobriety
of such an interpretation at the time, we know,
by the event, that it would have been wholly
C
26
LECTURE I.
erroneous. It does not appear whether any of the
Hebrews relaxed into this spiritual interpreta-
tion, or anything approaching to it; but we know
that neither Jacob nor Joseph did. The dying
directions of the one concerning his burial, and
of the other concerning his bones, make it mani-
fest that they departed this life in the faith of the
literal fulfilment of the prophecy.* That part of
the prophecy which implied the separation of the
people to dwell alone, received throughout this
period a continuous fulfilment of the most obvi-
ously literal character. "The men were shep-
herds; they were all men of cattle; and every
shepherd was an abomination to the Egyptians.
It is of moment to observe this historical fact;
because the circumstance in it which looked to
be most adverse to the fulfilment of the divine
prediction, did eventually conduce to, and almost
prepare the way for it. First of all, their occu-
pation and habits of life as shepherds, were a
reason for a separate place being given to them
to inhabit the land of Goshen, the best fitted for
their use. Next, the prejudices and antipathy of
the Egyptians to their pastoral character, acted
as a constant principle of separation, to preserve
the selected race in union with itself, and un-
mingled with the mass of their indigenous, but to
* Gen. xlix. 29; 1. 24—26.
LECTURE I.
27
.
them alien fellow subjects. The land of Goshen,
covered with its cattle, in a country principally
devoted, as Egypt always has been, to the labours
of tillage; and the inhabitants of that pastoral
oasis fenced in, like their own flocks, within a
separate pale and fold, by the very hatred of the
people who had given them a reception; wore a
character of their own, and gave signs of the
purposes which the Almighty Shepherd was pre-
paring to bring out of such beginnings; when
he should lead his people forth like sheep, as he
afterwards did, by the hand of Moses and Aaron,
and bring them, according to his promise, to their
land of rest."*
66
Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all
that generation. And the children of Israel were
fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multi-
plied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the
land was filled with them. Now there arose up
a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.
And he said unto his people, Behold, the people
of the children of Israel are more and mightier
than we. Come on, let us deal wisely with
them, lest they multiply, and it come to pass
that, when there falleth out any war, they join
also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and
so get them up out of the land. Therefore they
* Davison.
C 2
28
LECTURE I.
:
did set over them taskmasters, to afflict them
with their burdens."* Thus was active op-
pression added to secret prejudice and antipathy,
to keep the people effectually separated from the
Egyptians; and thus was literally fulfilled that
portion of the prophecy, which said to Abraham,
'thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is
not theirs, and shall serve them."
The circumstances of their deliverance out of
this bondage, are detailed with incomparable
sublimity in the early chapters of the book of
Exodus; where we find an awfully literal ful-
filment of the next clause of the prophecy,-" And
also that nation whom they shall serve, will I
judge." It was soon after this deliverance, and
during their passage through the wilderness, to-
wards the promised land, that the circumstances
already mentioned, connected with our text, oc-
cured; and prophecy again marked them out
as a people separate, and to continue separate.
"Lo! the people shall dwell alone, and shall
not be reckoned among the nations."
Much of the prophecy given to Abraham had
now received its literal fulfilment. The people
were increased into a great nation: they had
been in a strange land, serving strangers; the
predicted period of their affliction had expired;
+ Gen. xv. 13.
* Exod. i. 6-11.
LECTURE I.
29
they were delivered, and their enemies destroyed;
and now it only remained that they should be put
in full possession of the land of Canaan. It is
remarkable, that after so many particulars of the
prophecy had been fulfilled to the letter, the people
should have hesitated, or evinced any sceptical
feeling respecting the remainder. But they did
so; and the faithfulness with which their mur-
muring is recorded, is no small internal testimony
to the honesty of the author of the Pentateuch.*
The congregation generally received, with cul-
pable willingness, the evil report of the land,
brought back by the majority of the spies; and
they said, "Let us make a captain, and let us
return into Egypt." And when Joshua and Ca-
leb resisted that evil report, and declared, on the
*It has been objected, that had such stupendous miracles
been performed before their eyes, they could never have
murmured against a leader so divinely authenticated, and
that, consequently, the fact of their murmuring proves that
they never saw the miracles.
To this we reply, first, that there would indeed be some.
appearance of force in the objection, if the fact of the mur-
muring had been suppressed by Moses, and had reached us
from some other source. But as it is, the narrator of the
miracles is the narrator of the murmuring also; removing
even the appearance of fraud.
And, secondly, we reply, that they know but little of
human nature, who imagine that even the clearest intellec-
tual conviction (and miracles can produce nothing more)
will ever exercise a permanent practical power over man's
character.
30
LECTURE I.
contrary, that the land was an exceeding good
land, a land which flowed with milk and honey,
all the congregation bade stone them with stones.
The anger of the Lord was kindled against the
congregation, and he sware in his wrath that
they should not enter into the land. Their un-
belief, however, could not render the faithfulness
of God of none effect: the promise was sure to
the seed of Abraham; some must enter in; and
the Lord said to Moses, "Your carcases shall
fall in this wilderness; and all that were num-
bered of you, according to your whole number,
from twenty years old and upward, which have
murmured against me, doubtless ye shall not
come into the land, concerning which I sware to
make you dwell therein, save Caleb, the son of
Jephunneh, and Joshua, the Son of Nun. But
your little ones, which ye said should be a prey,
them will I bring in, and they shall know the
land which ye have despised.*
In the accomplishment of this part of the pro-
phecy, we again see the special providence of
God, in preserving the people separate. They
were delayed in Egypt and in the wilderness,
till the iniquity of the Canaanites was com-
pletely full: that is, till it was a righteous thing
in God, who had given those nations warning,
* Numb. xiv.
LECTURE I.
31
and time for repentance, now at last to destroy
them, either by famine, or pestilence, or earth-
quake, or by the hand of man. This last was
his purpose, and he employed the Israelites in
the dreadful mission.
When they entered the land, therefore, they
were commanded utterly to destroy the inhab-
itants, sparing neither sex nor age; and thus
their separation as a people dwelling alone, was
secured. And when one of the nations of the
land deceived them into a league, so that they
could not destroy them without breach of faith,
they resolved upon a mode of treatment which
would equally secure their national separation :
they degraded them into a state of perpetual
servitude; making them hewers of wood, and
drawers of water, for the accommodation of the
congregation.*
Together with establishment in their own land,
they had now fresh elements of separation among
them. The ordinances of the tabernacle worship,
which had been instituted in the wilderness,
with express and repeated injunctions to continue
them in the land, served as a hedge by which the
vineyard of the Lord of Hosts was surrounded
and fenced from the world.
Pausing, then, and contemplating the nation.
* Joshua ix.
I
32
LECTURE I.
at this period of their history, we make these two
important observations.
First, the literal interpretation of the prophe-
cies given to Abraham was proved, by the events,
to be the true one.
And, secondly, a rich provision was made for
the continued literal fulfilment of the prophecy of
Balaam-Lo! the people shall dwell alone, and
shall not be reckoned among the nations.
III. The voice of prophecy, which had so long
and so frequently pronounced blessings upon the
Hebrew nation, had now raised a counter tone,
and the Lord had declared, by Moses, their dis-
persion and desolation. On this part of the sub-
ject the 28th chapter of the book of Deuteronomy
should be carefully studied. No selection of
quotations can convey any adequate idea of that
celebrated prophecy. The same infallible voice
had given utterance to the still more remote pur-
poses of Jehovah concerning the nation; and
restoration, free pardon, and final glory, were the
animating themes. On this point the 30th chap-
ter of Deuteronomy is as clear and explicit,
though not so copious, as is the 28th chapter on
the desolation. It does not belong to our present
purpose to enter into any detailed examination
of these prophecies: it is sufficient to observe,
1
LECTURE I.
33
that such of the Israelites as paid due attention
to the predictions delivered to Abraham, compar-
ing them with their literal fulfilment, had every
reason to expect a similarly literal fulfilment of
those delivered by Moses. Moses proclaimed
two leading branches of the purpose of God, res-
pecting the Jewish nation;-1. Desolation, long
and dreary. 2. Restoration, complete and glo-
rious. Under these two heads nearly all the sub-
sequent prophecies concerning the nation might
be perspicuously arranged; with this remarkable
difference, however, in the distribution; that
whereas, in the predictions of Moses, a manifest
superiority, in stress and copiousness is given to
the afflictive side of the prophecy; in David,
Isaiah, and the other prophets, the case is just
the reverse. The tribulation is indeed described
by them all, but only as enduring for a night;
while the exuberance of the prophecy is reserved
for the joy of the succeeding morning. A train
is laid under the nation, ready to explode, and
scatter them to the four winds; while at the
same time, an everlasting arm is described as
stretched forth around the ruins, all powerful to
preserve, to restore, to rebuild, in permanent mag-
nificence. In confirmation of this, it would be
easy to adduce from all the prophets a multitude
of passages, parallel to the 28th and 30th chapters
C 3
34
LECTURE I.
$
of Deuteronomy: but our attention is, for the
present, to be restricted to some of those predic-
tions concerning the nation, which have already
been avowedly fulfilled.
65
IV. Subsequently to the establishment of the
Israelites in Canaan, a period of four hundred
years elapsed, without any event permanently af
fecting the affairs of the nation. Israel served
the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days
of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which
had known all the works of the Lord, that he had
done for Israel."* The next ages degenerated:
their compliances with the idolatrous customs of
the surrounding nations, provoked the Lord their
God to anger, and brought down frequent and
severe chastisements upon them. They were
given successively into the hands of their ene-
mies, the king of Mesopotamia, the king of Moab,
the king of Canaan, the king of Midian, the king
of the Philistines, and served them. But still
they were kept separate; and in their troubles,
when they called upon the Lord, he heard them,
and raised up deliverers for them, one after ano-
ther-Othniel, and Ehud, and Barak, and Gideon,
and Samson, by whom he brought them out of
all their distresses, without any internal change
* Joshua xxiv. 31.
LECTURE I.
35
in their national constitution. During this period,
there seems to have been a cessation of prophecy,
if we except the song of Deborah: and that song
has been deemed prophetic, more, perhaps, on
account of a parallelism of expression in one.
clause of it, with a passage in the 68th Psalm,
than because of any actual prediction contained
in it.*
V. The next period of the history of Israel
was marked by a great and national change-the
introduction and establishment of the regal go-
vernment. I pass over the anointing of Saul to
be king, which was done by special directions
from God to Samuel, without what can properly
be called a prophecy. The same may be said of
the call of David to the throne: but after his ap-
pointment, the settlement of the crown in his
family became the subject of clear and copious
prediction. The first king of the nation had been
of the tribe of Benjamin; the second was of the
tribe of Judah; and there was nothing in the ex-
isting state of affairs, independent of prophecy,
to give satisfaction to the people, on the subject
of the succession to the throne of David, or
the establishment of the royal dynasty. Pro-
phecy supplied this want, accurately defining and
* Judges v. 12, comp. Psal. lxviii. 18.
36
LECTURE I.
.
limiting the succession of the crown in David's
family. (2 Sam. vii. 12-17. 1 Chron. xvii.
11-27.) It is scarcely possible to comment
upon this prophecy, without adverting to what
has been well called the double sense * as it is
scarcely possible to read it (comparing it with
Heb. i. 5.) without perceiving that a greater than
Solomon is here. But it is the primary and tem-
poral sense alone to which we are now to advert,
and that for the single purpose of marking its
strictly literal fulfilment. The prophecy declares
a perpetuity of dominion to be enjoyed by the
*Scripture prophecy is so framed in some of its predic-
tions, as to bear a sense directed to two objects; of which
structure the predictions concerning the kingdom of David
furnish a conspicuous example; and, I should say, an un-
questionable one, if the whole principle of that kind of in-
terpretation had not been by some disputed and denied,
But the principle has met with this ill acceptance, for no
better reason, it should seem, than because it has been in-
judiciously applied in cases where it had no proper place;
or has been suspected, if not mistaken, in its constituent
character, as to what it really is. The double sense of pro-
phecy, however, is of all things the most remote from fraud
or equivocation, and has its ground of reason perfectly
clear. For what is it? Not the convenient latitude of two
unconnected sentences, wide of each other, and giving room
to a fallacious ambiguity; but the combination of two re-
lated, analagous and harmonizing, though disparate sub-
jects, each clear and definite in itself; implying a twofold
truth in the prescience, and creatiag an aggravating dif-
ficulty, and thereby an accumulated proof, in the comple-
tion.”—Davison, pp. 210, 211.
LECTURE 1.
37
seed of David: "Thine house and thy kingdom
shall be established for ever before thee: thy
throne shall be established for ever." The ful-
filment of this declaration, in the full and abso-
lute meaning of the terms, is reserved (as I shall
endeavour to prove in its proper place) for that
king of the Jews, who was born of the house of
David, according to the flesh; and concerning
whom, the angel Gabriel proclaimed at his birth,
"He shall be great, and shall be called the Son
of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give
unto him the throne of his father David; and he
shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and
of his kingdom there shall be no end."* But in
its application to the typical kingdom of David,
and his successors, "the expression for ever
conveys, according to an acknowledged principle
of scriptural criticism, the idea of an age or dis-
pensation; an unbroken perpetuity for a given
time; holding on through a period or system of
things, to which a reference is understood to be
made." Here, the system of things to which
* St. Luke i. 32, 33. The propriety of giving a literal
interpretation to these verses, is placed in a striking point
of view, by quoting the preceding verse in the angel's ad-
dress to Mary: "Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb,
and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus."
the literal interpretation of verse 31 correct? And why not
of verses 32 and 33 ?
Is
38
LECTURE I.
reference is made, is the regal government of
Judah. "So long as kings shall reign in Jeru-
salem, the throne shall be filled by a man of the
house and lineage of David."
The prophecy thus understood was fulfilled to
the letter. Solomon, Rehoboam, Abijah, Asa,
Jehoshaphat, &c., son after father in regular suc-
cession, occupied the throne of David in Jeru-
salem, till the kingdom was overturned, the city
destroyed, and the nation carried captive into
Babylon. "The common adjunct to the history
of the death of a king of Judah, from David to
Coniah,* is, and his son reigned in his stead.
If our object were to prove the inspiration of the
prophecy," this might be strikingly contrasted
with the kingdom of Israel; in which, during a
part of the same period, one dynasty after another
was cut off, and the crown transferred from family
to family. This might naturally have excited, in
the people of Judah, some apprehensions of simi-
lar disasters in their kingdom. And when they
beheld the great wickedness of some of their
kings; when they heard of insurrection, and con-
spiracy, and domestic treason in the state, and
of confederated invasion from without, for the
avowed purpose of setting up another king in
Jerusalem; their only security against the suc-
* See Lecture V., and note near the end.
LECTURE I.
39
cess of such attempts, lay in their reliance on the
faithfulness of the prophecy literally interpreted.
It is manifest, that any swerving from the simply
literal interpretation would, in this case, have
totally defeated the main object of the prophecy;
or, in other words, that if any relaxed interpre-
tation of the terms of the prediction had been
admitted, the nation might as well have been
left without any prediction at all. This is what
strictly belongs to our present subject. During
the whole of the period in question, we have, in
the history of the kingdom of Judah, a continuous
fulfilment of the prophecy of Nathan, literally
interpreted; and any interpretation, other than
the literal, would not accord with the facts of the
case.
VI. In the reigns of the last of the kings of
Judah, Jeremiah predicted the destruction of the
kingdom, the captivity of the people in Babylon
for seventy years, and their restoration to their
own land, at the expiration of that period.
The terms of these predictions are briefly these:
"This whole land shall be a desolation and an
astonishment, and these nations shall serve the
king of Babylon seventy years............... After
seventy years be accomplished at Babylon, I will
visit you, and perform my good word toward you,
40
LECTURE I.
in causing you to return to this place." (See
Jer. xxv. 8-14, and xxix. 10.) In these pro-
phecies, three things are plainly asserted, and a
fourth very obviously implied. It is asserted-
1. That the nation of Judah should be carried
captive to Babylon, leaving their own land deso-
late. 2. That their captivity would last seventy
years. 3. That at the termination of those years
they would be restored to their own land and
city; and by these assertions, it is obviously
implied. 4. That during their captivity they
would be preserved a separate people for if
amalgamated with the Babylonians, how could
they be again separated, and brought back as a
nation to the possession of their fathers?
We have only to advert to the plain terms of
the subsequent history, to see how accurately all
this was fulfilled, in the obviously literal meaning
of the language of the Prophet. For the cap-
tivity of Judah, and desolation of her land,
see 2 Chron. xxxvi. 17-21. For the fact of
their providential preservation as a separate peo-
ple during their captivity, see Esther iii. 8. For
the history of their return at the end of the pre-
dicted period, when God raised up Cyrus, of
whom he had spoken long before, see Isaiah xliv.
28, and Ezra i, ii, and iii.
In order to appreciate this part of the subject,
LECTURE I.
41
it may be well briefly to contemplate the position
of the prophecy in the days of Daniel. Daniel
was in possession of the roll of Jeremiah. Com-
paring, then, the state of affairs, as they existed
around him, with the terms of the prophecy, he
would observe, that the assertion of the prophet,
concerning the captivity of his nation, had found
a plain and literal fulfilment: he would observe,
also, that the implication of the prophecy, con-
cerning his nation being kept separate, and not
reckoned among the Babylonians, was receiving,
up to the moment of his observation, a similarly
literal fulfilment. What, then, could be so na-
tural, nay, so imperative, as to be guided by the
facts of the case so far, in his interpretation of
the remainder of the prophecy concerning the
restoration of his people to Judea, and conse-
quently, to anticipate the literal fulfilment of
that also? That such was Daniel's view of
the subject, he has plainly told us; and when he
understood further, by his studies, that the period
mentioned by Jeremiah was drawing near its
close, he recognised, in his calculation of the
time, connected with his interpretation of the
language of the prophecy, an animating stimulus
to prayer and supplication, with fasting, before
the Lord his God. (Dan, ix. 2, 3, &c.) The
event fully justified his literal interpretation, and
42
LECTURE I.
our contemplation of the whole supplies us
with another important lesson on the subject
of prophetic interpretation, in addition to those
which we have already learned in the school of
history.
Similar lessons may be learned, by comparing
the prophecies of Isaiah and Ezekiel, concerning
Tyre, Egypt, and Babylon, with the histories of
these places respectively.* In each case the
* See Keith on Fulfilled Prophecy. After an admirable
selection of details, illustrative of literal interpretation, he
proceeds to say:- "On a review of the prophecies relative
to Nineveh, Babylon, Tyre, and Egypt, may we not, by the
plainest induction, from indisputable facts, conclude that
the fate of these cities and countries, as well as of the land
of Judea and the adjoining territories, demonstrates the truth
of all the prophecies respecting them; and that these pro-
phecies, ratified by the events, give the most powerful of
testimonies to the truth of the Christian religion. The de-
solation was the work of man, and was effected by the ene-
mies of Christianity, and would have been the same as it is,
though not a single prophecy had been uttered. It is the
prediction of these facts in all their particulars, infinitely sur-
passing human foresight, which is the work of God alone.
And the ruin of these empires, while it substantiates the
truth of every iota of these predictions, is thus a miraculous
confirmation and proof of the inspiration of the Scriptures.
By what fatility is it, then, that infidels should have chosen,
for a display of their power, this very field, where, without
conjuring, as they have done, a lying spirit from the ruins,
they might have read the fulfilment of the prophecies on
every spot? Instead of disproving the truth of every reli-
gion, the greater these ruins are, the more strongly do they
LECTURE I.
43
:
events justified, we should rather say demanded,
the most obviously literal interpretation of the
prophecy and no interpretation, other than the
literal, will bear comparison with the facts of the
case. The natural and truly important inference
is, that other prophecies, conveyed in similar
language, shall, in their respective times, find a
similar, that is, a literal fulfilment.
We now conclude for the present, merely
observing, that up to this period of the history of
the Jewish nation, their predicted characteristic
of separation from all other nations, was evidently
authenticate the scriptural prophecies; and it is not, at least,
on this stronghold of faith that the standard of infidelity
can be erected. Every fact related by Volney is a witness
against all his speculations; and out of his own mouth is he
condemned. Can any purposed deception be more glaring
or great, than to overlook all these prophecies, and to raise
an argument against the truth of Christianity from the very
facts by which they have been fulfilled? Or can any evi-
dence of divine inspiration be more convincing and clear,
than to view, in conjunction, all these marvellous predic-
tions, and their exact completion?"
"It matters not by what means these prophecies have been
verified; for the means were as inscrutable, and as impos-
sible to have been foreseen by man, as the event. The fact
is beyond a doubt, that they have been literally fulfilled, and
therefore the PROPHECIES ARE TRUE. They may be over-
looked, but no ingenuity can pervert them. No facts could
have been more unlikely or striking, and no predictions re-
specting them could be more clear.
44
LECTURE I.
..
maintained to the letter of the prediction. That
it has continued so up to this day, and shall so
continue till the end of this dispensation, are the
topics next in order before us.
>
LECTURE II.
Numb. xxiii. 9. "Lo! the people shall dwell alone, and shall
not be reckoned among the nations.
دو
FROM these words, we have already considered
the separation of the Jewish people from all the
surrounding nations, during the early periods of
their history. We observed the literal fulfilment
of some of the prophecies given to Abraham; of
the celebrated prophecy of Nathan addressed to
David; and of some of the prophecies of Jere-
miah, respecting the captivity of Judah in Baby-
lon, for seventy years, and their restoration to
Judea at the close of that period. From all this
we inferred, that other prophecies, conveyed in
similar language, would, in their respective times,
find a similar, that is, a literal fulfilment; and
we concluded, leaving the people re-established
in their own land, under Ezra and Nehemiah, in
consequence of the predicted decree of Cyrus,
king of Persia.
So far, the application of the language of
Balaam is clear and undeniable: "the people
shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned
46
LECTURE II.
among the nations." It is equally obvious, and
equally admitted, that this language applies to
them, during the following four centuries of their
history. The flattering privileges, conferred upon
them by Alexander of Macedon, could not seduce
them into any amalgamating compliance with
the habits of the heathen. The blood-thirsty
persecutions of Antiochus of Syria, could not ex-
tirpate the heaven-protected race; although re-
peated by the tyrant avowedly for that purpose.
After a brilliant, but short-lived struggle for their
independence, under the Maccabees, they sunk
into comparative insignificance in the political
world, and were soon added to the conquests of
the then victorious Romans. But, though tribu-
tary, they continued separate, maintaining their
distinguishing peculiarities, without the smallest
relaxation, till the time when Jesus of Nazareth
was born among them.
Here we reach a period of their history, at
which an important difference of opinion con-
cerning them has existed, and does exist, in the
Christian church. It is alleged by some, that
the peculiarities of the Jews, as a separate peo-
ple, terminated with the promulgation of the
Gospel; since which, they have been in no sense
the peculiar people of God, but are totally cast
off, in a national point of view; to be called, in-
LECTURE II.
47
deed, as individuals in common with the heathen,
to the true knowledge of Jesus Christ; but no
longer recognized as a separate nation, to be dis-
tinguished from the Christian church. This is
a common opinion. It has been handed down
among us Gentiles, from generation to genera-
tion; and although some of the most learned ex-
positors of prophecy, in every age of Christianity,
have opposed it on Scriptural grounds, and de-
monstrated its falsehood, yet still it maintains
its hold, firmly rooted in Gentile prejudice; from
a misapplication, it would seem, of the language
of the apostles, respecting the unity of the church
in Christ. It is adopted without examination,
referred to as a matter of course, and asserted
without proof.
Now, in opposition to this we think that the
Scriptures assert a perpetuity of separation. We
maintain that the language of our text, put by
the Divine Spirit into the mouth of Balaam,
describes the state of the Jewish people, as a
nation, kept separate by the hand of God, not
merely till the time of Christ, but absolutely,
without limitation or interruption, till the end of
the world. This is of vital importance, in its
connexion with other themes of prophecy, after-
wards to be considered. I now, therefore, proceed
to give such reasons, and advance such arguments
48
LECTURE II.
as appear to me satisfactorily to establish it; and
I shall endeavour to simplify the proof as much
as possible.
In order to avoid ambiguity of expression, in
following up this subject, it is necessary carefully
to remark, First, The distinction between Israel
and Judah; and, Secondly, The distinction be-
tween Judah, considered nationally, and certain
individuals, selected out of that nation, in each
succeeding age.
I. The distinction between Israel and Judah
is a plain matter of history. In the latter part
of the reign of Solomon, who was king over all
the twelve tribes, the prophet Ahijah met in a
field, alone, Jeroboam, one of Solomon's generals;
and he had clad himself with a new garment;
and Ahijah caught the new garment that was on
him, and rent it in twelve pieces: and he said to
Jeroboam, "Take thee ten pieces; for thus saith
the Lord, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend
the kingdom out of hand of Solomon, and will
give ten tribes to thee. Howbeit, I will not take
the whole kingdom out of his hand; but I will
make him prince all the days of his life, for David
my servant's sake, whom I chose, because he kept
my commandments and my statutes: but I will
take the kingdom out of his son's hand, and will
LECTURE II.
49
give it unto thee, even ten tribes.
And unto his
son will I give one tribe, (in addition to his own
tribe of Judah,) that David my servant may have
a light always before me in Jerusalem, the city
which I have chosen me to put my name there.
And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign accord-
ing to all that thy soul desireth, and shalt be
king over Israel," Accordingly, we read, that
immediately after Solomon's death, when Reho-
boam, his son, ascended the throne, ten of the
twelve tribes revolted from him, at the instigation
of Jeroboam; that Rehoboam sent a messenger
to remonstrate with them; that they seized his
messenger, and stoned him to death; that Reho-
boam then "" assembled all the house of Judah,
with the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred and four-
score thousand chosen men, which were warriors,
to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the
kingdom again to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon.
But the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, the
man of God, saying, Speak unto Rehoboam, the
son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto the
house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rem-
nant of the people, (whatever individuals of the
ten tribes had adhered to the cause of the royal
family of David,) saying, Thus saith the Lord,
ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren,
the children of Israel: return every man to his
D
50
LECTURE II.
house; for this thing is from me.'
Thus was
the distinction established between Israel and
Judah; and we read of them, for three centuries
afterwards, as distinct kingdoms, under distinct
lines of kings.
66.
This distinction is fully recognized by the pro-
phets. Thus saith the Lord, by his servant
Hosea, Though thou Israel play the harlot,
yet let not Judah offend." And after Judah had
offended, the Lord said to Jeremiah, "Hast thou
seen that which backsliding Israel hath done?
And her treacherous sister Judah saw it;
and I saw, when for all the causes whereby back-
sliding Israel committed adultery, I had put her
away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her
treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went
and played the harlot also." The same subject
is dilated by the prophet Ezekiel, xxiii.; where
the names Aholah, and Aholibah, are given to
the two kingdoms. "Thus were their names;
Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem, Aholibah."
And Isaiah is very clear, and says,
“The Lord
shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall
assemble the outcasts of Israel; and gather to-
gether the dispersed of Judah, from the four
corners of the earth.”
The predicted dealings of God, with these two
* 1 Kings xi. and xii.
LECTURE II.
51
kingdoms, are widely different.
Concerning
Israel, it was declared that they should be out-
casts; totally cut off from all visible interposition
in their behalf; not only put away from their di-
vine husband, but divorced also; not only scattered
among the nations, but also losing one important
feature of their distinguishing identity, in that
they would serve the strange gods of the nations,
wood and stone: yet still, with a final clause,
that in the end, God, who seeth not as man seeth,
will bring them back again. Concerning Judah,
on the contrary, it was declared, that they should
be dispersed only, not outcast; put away only,
not divorced; scattered, indeed, among the na-
tions, but never losing the distinguishing badge
of their identity as a separate people, the wor-
shippers of the God of Abraham; and, finally,
that they should be restored, with the whole
house of Israel, to the land of their fathers. This
diversity of treatment in the interim, and simi-
larity of treatment in the end, might be verified
by a multitude of quotations. When, therefore,
we speak of final restoration, we include both
kingdoms; but when we speak of a perpetuity of
manifested separation, we of course contemplate
the kingdom of Judah only.
That objection, therefore, to our general state-
ment, which is grounded upon such passages as
D 2
52
LECTURE II.
Hosea i. 6, For I will no more have mercy upon
the house of Israel, but I will utterly take them
away, falls to the ground. We have only to pro-
ceed with the quotation of the context to support
and confirm our view; but I will have mercy
upon the house of JUDAH, and will save them by
the Lord their God, and will not save them by
bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, nor by horses,
nor by horsemen. These expressions, says
Bishop Horsely, are too magnificent to be un-
derstood of anything but the final rescue of the
Jews from the power of Antichrist, in the latter
ages, by the incarnate God destroying the enemy
with the brightness of his coming; of which the
destruction of Sennacherib's army, in the days of
Hezekiah, might be a type; but it was nothing
It may seem, perhaps, that the prophecy
points at some deliverance peculiar to the house
of Judah, in which the ten tribes will have no
share, such as the overthrow of Sennacherib
actually was; whereas the destruction of Anti-
christ will be an universal blessing. But in the
different treatment of the house of Judah, and
the house of Israel, we see the prophecy hitherto
remarkably verified. After the excision of the
kingdom of the ten tribes, Judah, though occa-
sionally visited with severe judgments, continued,
however, to be cherished with God's love, till
more.
LECTURE II.
53
Then Judah became
they rejected our Lord.
Lo-ammi* (not my people); but still continues
to be visibly an object of God's love, preserved
as a distinct race, for gracious purposes of mercy.
Perhaps in the last ages, the converts of the house
of Judah will be the principal objects of Anti-
christ's malice. Their deliverance may be first
wrought, and, through them, the blessing may
be extended to their brethren of the ten tribes,
and ultimately to the whole world. This order
of things the subsequent prophecy seems to point
out.+
Thus we have cleared our way one step. The
kingdom of Israel is, in reference to our present
subject, dismissed out of our view. They are
* Horsley on Hosea, Preface pp. xvi.-xxiii., where the
typical import of the names of the three children of the pro-
phetess (Hosea's wife) is ably argued. The three children
represent certain distinct parts of the Jewish nation, of the
whole of which the mother was the emblem. Jezräel (the
seed of God) signified the election, consisting progressively
of a beloved remnant, and eventually of the whole nation.
Compare the 5th and 28th verses of Rom. xi. Lo-ruhamah
(unpitied ove nλenμevn. 1 Pet. ii. 10.) signified the ten
tribes, during the whole interval, till the final restoration.
And Lo-ammi (not my people) signified the kingdom of
Judah during the times of the Gentiles. Till both Lo-
ruhamah and Lo-ammi having run their course, the whole
twelve tribes become the Jezreel, and great shall be the day
of Jezreel,
+ Ibid. i. 6. See note B, in the Appendix.
54
LECTURE II.
:
|…
lost to the eye of man, and were so, be it ob-
served, many centuries before the time of Christ.
God withdrew them from the recognized scene
of his providence, and they are now nowhere to
be found, except in the revealed purpose and
plan of Jehovah, who has caused their name to
be clearly written as co-heirs in the prophetic
entail of the land.
But with JUDAH it is far otherwise. They
have been held forth, by the hand of God, to
the observation of men in all ages: the curtain
has never for one moment dropped, to hide
them from the view of either the church or
the world; but they have stood prominent, from
generation to generation, as God's witnesses in
the earth. Witnessess, indeed, of the desperate
iniquity of their fathers, and the infatuated ob-
stinacy of the children; but witnesses, also,
whose testimony can never be invalidated, of
the righteousness and truth of the Lord their
God. It is admitted that the language of our
text was strictly applicable to the Jews till the
time of Christ; but Israel was carried captive
by Shalmanezer, king of Assyria, outcast and
lost, seven hundred years before Christ, conse-
quently, during that interval, the language of our
text was applicable to Judah only. Concerning
Judah we now speak, and allege the perpe-
LECTURE II.
55
tuity of this application, "Lo! the people shall
dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among
the nations."
If it be urged, in opposition to this view, that
in the New Testament the Apostles speak of
Israel, not Judah: the answer, I think, is, that
the ten tribes, as a kingdom, being lost sight of
for ages, and individuals of many, perhaps of all
of them, having come up with Judah from Baby-
lon, or afterwards mingled among them, the
general name of the whole nation, in its earlier
ages, from Jacob to Rehoboam, is used generally,
without any special recognition of a distinction
between the two kingdoms, which had been long
practically obsolete. A proof of this is, that
St. Paul calls himself an Israelite, in the same
sentence where he specifies the tribe of Benjamin
as his paternal tribe. (Rom. xi. 1.) Similar is
the answer to the objection, grounded upon the
mention of the twelve tribes by the apostles.
(Acts xxvi. 7; James i. 1.) That individuals of
each tribe are intended, is clear from the fact
that St. James, who addressed his Epistle to the
twelve tribes, writes as to Christians throughout;
not arguing doctrinally, to convince his nation of
the messiahship of Jesus, but urging the expe-
rience and practice of true disciples of Christ.
Will it be asserted that the Apostle addressed his
56
LECTURE II.
countrymen nationally, as confirmed believers in
the Lord Jesus? Surely not; and if not, to
whom is his Epistle addressed? Obviously to
individual believing Jews, of whatever tribe they
might be; some, perhaps, of every tribe.
II. It is further necessary to our proof, to
mark the distinction between Judah, considered
nationally, and certain individuals selected out
of that nation, in each succeeding age, since the
promulgation of the Gospel.
The Apostle Paul states this distinction point-
edly, in Rom. ii. 28, 29. In one sense, all were
Jews, who were circumcised in the flesh; they
belonged to the nation: in another sense, those
only were Jews who were circumcised in the
heart also; they belonged to the election. This
distinction between the nation and the election,
is again strongly marked by the same Apostle;
who, speaking of grace and salvation in Christ,
saith,
"The nation hath not obtained the bless-
ing; but the election hath obtained it, and the
rest were blinded." Again he saith, "Hath
God cast away his people? (without exception?)
God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the
seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin."
Then follows, in the next verses, the distinction
between the nation and the remnant which God
LECTURE II.
57
foreknew.
This was not a novel distinction; it
had existed at all times; specially the Apostle
referred to the days of Elijah the prophet, when
this distinction is a clear matter of sacred his-
tory; the nation having been idolators, with the
exception of seven thousand individuals, who
constituted the reserved remnant.
The same
Into fel-
distinction existed in the days of Paul; the na-
tion being cast away from God, with the excep-
tion of a remnant, the number of individuals
composing which is not told us. This remnant
formed the original stem of the Christian church
-Jesus Christ, himself a Jew, being the root.
This remnant composed, and still composes, some
of the branches of the Christian tree.
lowship with this remnant, into participation*
with these branches, the first converted Gentiles
were admitted; and all converted Gentiles have
been successively introduced. There is no such
thing as a Gentile church: there is no such thing
as a Jewish church: but elect Jews and Gentiles
compose one church in Christ.
This distinction being thus clearly and scrip-
turally established, it will follow that many state-
* If some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being
a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with
them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree.—
Rom. xi. 17.
D 3
58
LECTURE II.
ments may be true concerning the nation gene-
rally, which, if applied specially to these selected
individuals, would not be true: and, that many
statements may be true concerning these indivi-
duals specially, which, if extended to the nation,
would not be true. This will admit of a fami-
liar illustration. We say concerning the British
nation, that it is an educated nation; and this
is true: but if this be applied specially to cer-
tain individual Englishmen, who do not know
the letters of the alphabet, it becomes false.
Again, we say concerning certain Englishmen,
that they are ignorant; and this is true: but if
this saying be extended generally to the nation,
it becomes false. Now, substitute Judah for
England, and separation for education, and you
have these propositions. The Jews are a sepa-
rate people; true: but apply this to those indivi-
dual Jews who have been converted to Christian-
ity, and it becomes false. Again, some Jews
have received Jesus as the Messiah, believed
the Gospel, mixed with Gentile Christians, and
lost their separate character; true: but extend
this to the nation generally, and it becomes
false.*
*Other individual Jews, besides those converted to the
Gospel, may have mingled with the surrounding population,
without invalidating this statement: so that, granting those
instances which Dr. Buchanan mentions to have been of
LECTURE II.
59
This distinction meets, and, I think, fully an-
swers, the objection already alluded to, grounded
upon the language of the apostles respecting the
unity of the church in Christ.
One of the peculiarities of the mystery, which
St. Paul was specially commissioned to proclaim
to the world, was, "that the Gentiles should be
fellow-heirs, and of the same body (ovoowμa) and
partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel.”
Accordingly, his language to Gentile converts is,
"Ye are no longer strangers and foreigners, but
fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the house-
hold of God. And are built upon the foundation
of apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the chief corner-stone. In whom all the
building, (obviously including the Jewish saints,)
fitly framed together, groweth unto an holy tem-
ple (one building) in the Lord. In whom ye
(Gentiles) also are builded together for an habi-
tation of God through the Spirit."
•
Nothing can be more explicit than this lan-
guage. The elect church is ONE, of whatever
national materials composed. Abraham and
Polycarp, Moses and Athanasius, Jeremiah and
Luther, are builded into one temple, united in
the kingdom of Judah, still our general position holds
good. See Christian Researches.
Eph. ii. 19-22, and iii. 1-6.
60
LECTURE II.
66
one body, partakers of one promise in Christ,
and sanctified by one Spirit. The mainspring
of the godly character of Moses was that he
preferred the reproach of Christ to worldly wealth
and honour. The mainspring of every Chris-
tian's character is the same. And St. Paul,
addressing the Gentile Christians of Galatia,
says, As many of you as have been bap-
tized into Christ, have put on Christ. There
is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond
nor free, there is neither male no female: for ye
are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be
Christ's then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs,
according to the (one) promise."* It is obvious,
however, that this oneness of the election of God,
* This oneness of the elect church, the Lamb's wife,
(Compare Canticles vi. 9. My love, my undefiled is but one,
with Rev. xxi. 9,) supplies a formidable, I think, indeed, an
unanswerable objection to the opinion advanced by some
writers, that the faithful, under the Old Testament dispen-
sation, and the faithful under the Gospel, are to be distin-
guished in the millennial kingdom: the latter, as the spi-
ritual and glorified; the former, as the spiritual, not yet
glorified: the latter, as the New Jerusalem, which comes
down from heaven; the former, as the subordinate kings
and princes of the world. All the faithful compose one
body. As many of the gentiles as are of faith, are blessed
with faithful Abraham.* This unbroken aggregate is the
bride of the Lamb, the New Jerusalem; and the subor-
dinate dominion of the regenerated earth is reserved, not
for risen Jewish saints, but for the restored Jewish nation.
*See Note C in the Appendix.
LECTURE II.
61
composed of individuals gathered out of all na-
tions, presents no difficulty in the way of the
national separation for which we argue.
Thus we have cleared our way another step.
The remnant of individuals selected from the
Jews in each age, and truly converted to the
faith of Jesus of Nazareth, have certainly not
continued a separate people; neither are they,
nor can they be, a separate church. They have
been incorporated with the church of Christ,
which knows nothing of distinctions. But with
the Jews, considered nationally, it is far other-
wise. The wall of separation between them and
other nations is in no sense or degree broken
down; and our belief is, that as the language of
our text never yet has ceased, so also it never
will cease to be applicable to them in the letter
of it.
In alleging this perpetual and manifest sepa-
ration, it is now obvious that we speak exclu-
sively of THE PEOPLE OF JUDAH CONSIDERED AS
A NATION.
III. Having said so much in explanation of
what we mean, when we speak of the Jews being
a separate people during the times of the Gen-
tiles, let us now put the argument for their unin-
terrupted separation into this form.
62
LECTURE II.
As a matter of observation, we begin by saying
they are at this moment a separate people, scat-
tered in all nations, yet mingling with none.
This is a plain fact, which even ignorance her-
self, with all her hardihood, can scarcely deny.
But how is this fact to be accounted for? A
modern writer on physiology, who labours to
prove that man is matter, and nothing else; that
the soul is organized brain, and nothing else; in
his chapter on the causes of the varieties of the
human species, finding the Jews, amongst other
classes, forced upon his attention, thus cursorily
disposes of this important question:-"The Jews
exhibit one of the most striking instances of na-
tional formation, unaltered by the most various
changes. They have been scattered for ages
over the face of the whole earth; but their pecu-
liar religious opinions and practices have kept
the race uncommonly pure.* Now, it must be
* Laurence on Physiology, &c. page 468, Edit. 3.
It may be urged, that the writer's object was simply to
enumerate, among the varieties of organization, that one
exhibited by the Jews; and not at all to discuss the ques-
tion of why they continue a separate people. To what pur-
pose, then, is their separation spoken of at all? Still more;
why is any reason assigned for it? The truth is, the sepa-
rate state of the Jewish people, in opinion and practice, is
too closely connected with the evidences for the inspiration
of the Scriptures, to be a matter of real, however it may be
of affected, indifference to any of our modern Sadducees.
LECTURE II.
63
admitted that this, so far, is not very philosophical.
It is merely saying they are separate because
they are separate. The question is, how came
they to adhere so strictly and so long to their
peculiar religious opinions and practices, under
the varied circumstances of their outward condi-
tion? The Romans adopted the opinions and
practices of the Greeks; the Goths those of the
Romans; and when Christianity was promul-
gated, Greeks, and Romans, and Goths, adopted
the opinions and practices of certain poor Gali-
That I am fully warranted in reckoning Mr. Laurence
among this class, requires no proof, to any person acquaint-
ed with his writings. Let his criticism on the popular no-
tion of life be taken as a specimen, (Page 52.) I forbear
to transcribe it, for obvious reasons. The following passage,
however, from page 72, may, I think, be transcribed with
advantage. It is characteristic of the school to which Mr.
Laurence belongs, and it contains its own antidote. "Some
hold, that an immaterial principle, and others, that a natu-
ral, but invisible and very subtle agent, is superadded to the
obvious structure of the body, and enables it to exhibit vital
phenomena. The former explanation will be of use to those
who are conversant with immaterial beings, and who under-
stand how they are connected with, and act upon matter;
but I know no description of persons likely to benefit by
the latter. For subtle matter is still matter; and if this
fine stuff can possess vital properties, surely they may reside
in a fabric which differs only in being a little coarser."
With such passages in the body of his work, it is vain, or
something worse, for Mr. Laurence, in his Introductory Re-
ply to the charges of Mr. Abernethy, to disclaim all inten-
tion of interfering with the theological doctrine of the soul.
64
LECTURE II.
leans. How is it, then, that the Jews, scattered
among all these nations, have kept aloof from
them all, retaining their own peculiar opinions
and practices? Surely it is not too much to ex-
pect that a philosopher, in assigning any reason
whatever for their so doing, would, if he could,
give a better reason than that they did so because
they did so. And, therefore, surely it is not too
much to conclude, that since he does not give a
better, he has none better to give. And thus we
perceive how a well-informed, acute, and useful
man,
a great man, so long as he confines him-
self to his legitimate sphere,-unwittingly brings
glory to God by his own discomfiture, when he
presumes to assail that holy ground which Jeho-
vah hath consecrated to place his name there.
(C
Mr. Gibbon ascribes the continued separation
of the Jews to "the sullen obstinacy with which
they maintained their peculiar rites and unsocial
manners," and which, he says, seemed to mark
them out a distinct species of men, who boldly
professed, or who faintly disguised, their impla-
cable hatred to the rest of human kind.”* Here
the question recurs-how came they thus sullenly
and obstinately to maintain their peculiar rites,
while other nations, larger and mightier, and
more polished in every human acquirement, gave
*Decline and Fall, &c. ch. xv.
LECTURE II.
65
up their peculiar rites? The same writer, in
another place, ascribes this to what he calls the
selfish policy of the nation. Now, admitting
that the circumstances of their separation se-
cured to them some national advantage, (the very
reverse of which is the case) still, to ascribe the
continuance of that separation to a national po-
licy, is to suppose a marvellous unity of purpose,
and a persevering conformity to that purpose,
among large bodies of men, who for ages have
been free to think and act for themselves, and
have had no communication with one another. If
such a supposition had been made in favour of
Christianity, our accomplished historian would
have been one of the first to fasten upon it the
fang of some well-turned sarcasm; seeing how
difficult, nay, how impossible, it is, to get any
set of men, (who may differ without fear of an
inquisition,) to agree either in purpose or prac-
tice, for any length of time, even with the ad-
vantage of uninterrupted communication.
What shall we say, then? Is the separation of
the Jewish people up to this day to be ascribed
to accident, or to the special purpose and agency
of Almighty God? To allege the former, when
we contemplate the variety of their circumstances,
rich and poor, learned and ignorant, their num-
bers, their ever-varying temptations to give up
་
66
LECTURE II.
their offensive peculiarities, the extent and du-
ration of their dispersion, and the diverse cha-
racters of the nations among whom they are dis
persed in the face of all these considerations,
we repeat, to say that they are kept separate by
accident, is to ascribe rather more to a happy
combination of second causes, arriving by various
means at the same end, than is altogether con-
sistent with our boasted rational scepticism, which
takes nothing for granted. Except, indeed, that
as a love of self-indulgence, in despite of the re-
monstrances of conscience, lies at the root of in-
fidelity, our sceptics have no objection to ascribe
omniscience and omnipotence to accident; be-
cause, however skilful accident may have shewn
itself hitherto, they do not give it credit for the
exercise of a final retributive justice; and have,
therefore, no fear of being cast into hell by it. I
am aware, that a celebrated modern penitent,
himself once a sceptic, says, that a love of sin
does not always lie at the root of infidelity ; but
I am compelled to differ from him; because he
who knew infallibly the windings of the human
heart, and their influence on the wilf and judg-
ment, has declared distinctly, that "this is the
condemnation; that light is come into the world,
* Evidence against Catholicism, by Mr. Blanco White,
pp. 6, 7.
LECTURE II.
67
and men loved darkness rather than light;" not
because the evidence for the light is insufficient,
not because the rays of the light are contradic-
tory, but "because their deeds were evil. For
every one that doeth evil, hateth the light, nei-
ther cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be
reproved."* To allege, on the contrary, that the
separation of the Jewish people is by the special
purpose and agency of Almighty God, is to say
no more than is legitimately proved by the unde-
niable facts, that prophecies, accurately describ-
ing such a state of things, were written in He-
brew, translated into Greek, circulated among
the most enlightened nations of the world, and so
multiplied in copies, as to render subsequent
adoption absolutely impossible; and all this
previous to the dispersion of the people from their
own land.
If, then, it be proved that the separation of the
Jews hitherto, is according to the divine purpose,
the argument, which supports itself upon the
supposition that their peculiarities as a people,
recognized in the word of God, ceased at the
time of Christ, falls to the ground. And if their
peculiarities did not cease at the time of Christ,
then when did they cease? And if not yet,
then when will they cease? We conceive, that
* St. John iii. 19, 20.
68
LECTURE II.
the onus probandi is thus fairly thrown upon
those who deny the perpetual separation of the
kingdom of Judah to be a theme of divine pro-
phecy.
IV. But our case can be made stronger still;
and we now proceed to state some of our direct
reasons for believing, that as the Jewish nation
have been kept separate from all people until
now, so also they will be kept separate unto the
end. I shall confine myself to three reasons for
this belief, and state them as briefly as possible.
First, it is predicted by Moses, and repeated by
Jeremiah and Ezekiel, that the Jews should be
a taunt, and a reproach, and a proverb, and a
by-word, among all the nations wither the Lord
their God would scatter them (See Deut. xxviii.
37; Jer. xxiv. 8, 9; Ezek. v. 13, 14, 15.) Now
it is manifest, that if at any time they should
amalgamate among the nations, lose their dis-
tinguishing peculiarities, become as the people
among whom they are scattered, and cease to
dwell alone; these prophecies would immediately
cease to be applicable to them; merging in the
tide of human society, they would no longer pre-
sent, as they now do, a prominent object, miracu-
lously sustained upon its surface, in despite of
all the buffetings of its angry insulting waves.
LECTURE II.
69
Proverbial reproach, then, is a revealed charac-
teristic of their dispersion; but proverbial re-
proach necessarily implies continued separation;
therefore, continued separation is a revealed cha-
racteristic of their dispersion. This proves a
certain continuance of separation, without doubt;
but how does it appear, that such continuance is
to endure till the close of the dispensation ?—
This leads to our second reason.
It is copiously predicted, that the cup of the
Lord's anger shall continue in the hands of the
Jews until the time appointed of the Lord, not
merely to take it out of their hand, but also to
transfer it into the hands of those who, till then,
will have oppressed them. The language, de-
claring this, is grounded on the existing circum-
stances of the nation in the days of the prophets.
Edom, who broke the yoke of his brother from
off his neck, according to the prophecy of Isaac
(Gen. xxvii. 40); the Assyrian, who carried away
Israel (2 Kings xvii. and xviii.); and Babylon,
who held Judah in captivity, were the great types
of all the subsequent enemies of the chosen na-
tion, whether Romans, Turks, or professing Chris-
tians. The day of Jerusalem's recovery is the
day of their ruin. In that day, it will be a right-
eous thing in the servants of the Lord to execute
unsparing destruction upon his and their enemies.
70
LECTURE II.
:
In the prophetic anticipation of that day, Psalm
cxxxvii seems to have been written. It opens
with a description of Judah in the Babylonish
captivity, maintaining his undiminished affection
for Zion; and it concludes with these truly awful
expressions," Remember, O Lord, the children
of Edom in the day of Jerusalem, who said, Rase
it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.
daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed,
happy shall he be that rewardeth thee as thou
hast served us. Happy shall he be that taketh
and dasheth thy little ones against the stones."
At the time of Judah's restoration from Babylon,
no event occurred which can even be mistaken
for the fulfilment of this fearful prediction, neither,
any thing typical of the event here predicted.
For the types of that day, we must look back to
the deliverance of the Hebrews out of Egypt,
and their establishment in Canaan. They were
kept in bondage till the iniquity of the Egyptians
was full, and they were delayed in the wilderness
till the iniquity of the Amorites was full.
now they are kept in dispersion and degradation
till the iniquities of the modern mystical Edom
and Babylon shall be full; and then fury shall be
poured forth, and vengeance executed both by
their own hands, as in the case of Joshua's exter-
minating conquests, and by a greater hand than
So
LECTURE II
71
theirs, stretched out to fight for them, as in the
case of Pharaoh's overthrow. Here quotations
might be multiplied. (See Isa. xlix. 25, 26, and
li. 21—23; Jer. xxx. 16, 17; Obad. 15-22.
There is no intimation of any gradual mixing
among their oppressors, or of any the smallest
mitigation of their oppression. On the contrary,
in the day that judgment is executed upon Baby-
lon, Judah is described as arising from the dust
of her disgrace and shame, loosing the bands
from her neck, and putting on her beautiful gar-
ments as God's holy city. Nothing can more
clearly mark the separation of Judah from the
nations in that day. That day of vengeance will
be the termination of the times of the Gentiles; as
it is written, "Jerusalem shall be trodden down
of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles
be fulfilled." Then shall the holy city be trodden
under foot no more; the power of the holy people
shall no longer be scattered; the king of fierce
countenance, and understanding dark sentences,
shall be broken without hands: the dominion
shall be taken away from the ten horns of the
fourth beast, including that little horn, which,
during its appointed time, times, and dividing
of a time, shall have worn out the saints ;; and
the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness
of the kingdom under the whole heaven, (that is,
(C
72
LECTURE II.
upon all the earth,) shall be given to the people
of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom
is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions
shall serve and obey him." (Luke xxi. 24;
Dan. vii. and viii. and xii.
A third consideration, which proves the sepa-
rate condition of the Jews to the end of this dis-
pensation, is that prophetic argument of the Apos-
tle Paul, in which he concludes, that "the re-
ceiving of the Jews again to God's favour, will
be as life from the dead, to the Gentile world.”
66 The conversion of the Jews is here described as
being much more eminently beneficial to the great
collective body of the the Gentiles, than was the
conversion of those Gentiles, who in the apostolic
age had embraced Christianity; that is to say,
the Gentiles collectively are represented to be
much more benefitted by the yet future conversion
of the Jews, than they were by that partial con-
version of certain members only of their own body,
which has hitherto taken place. A great benefit,
no doubt, was conferred upon the Gentiles, even
by a partial admission into the church for St.
Paul styles this benefit the riches of the Gentiles,
and the reconciling of the world; but then he
contends, that an infinitely greater benefit, a
benefit which he celebrates as life from the dead,
will be conferred upon them by the receiving of
LECTURE II.
73
the Jews."* This could not be accomplished in
any sense at all answering the magnitude of the
expressions, or harmonizing with the drift of the
Apostle's reasoning, if the Jews were in the mean-
time to be mixed among the Gentiles, divested
of their national peculiarities, and gradually, or
even miraculously, converted to the Christian
faith, in common with, or subsequent to, the
Gentile world. We maintain, therefore, the
uninterrupted application of the language of
Balaam, "Lo! the people shall dwell alone,
and shall not be reckoned among the nations."
Seeing, therefore, upon the whole, that we
have such proof, direct and indirect, of our
general position; and such satisfactory answers
to the objections urged against it, we settle into
the persuasion which has been so eloquently and
justly expressed, that as the Jews have been, so
till the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled, they
shall be, "like those mountain streams, which
are said to pass through lakes of another kind
of water, and keep a native quality, to repel
commixture; holding communication without
union, and traced as rivers without banks, in the
midst of the alien element which surrounds
them ?"
* Faber.
- avison.
E
LECTURE III.
Luke xxi. 24. “Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the
Gentiles; until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”
HITHERTO Our subject has been the separation of
the Jewish people from all the nations upon
earth.
1. The whole twelve tribes during the early
periods of their history:
2. The kingdom of Judah subsequent to the
casting out of the ten tribes: and
3. The people of Judah, considered nationally,
and as distinguished from the election, which has
in each succeeding age formed a part of the
Christian church. And I hope it is not too much
to say, that we have proved the separation hither-
to of Judah as a nation, to be not by accident,
nor by policy; nor, in any sense, by the will of
man; but by the power, and according to the
revealed purpose of Almighty God. And also,
that such separation shall continue till the end
of the times of the Gentiles. The next question
E 2
76
LECTURE III.
is, What then is to be done with the Jewish
nation? Has God revealed his further intentions
concerning them? And if so, what are those
intentions?
Now, as the further and more glorious predic-
tions concerning the Jews, stand closely con-
nected with the conclusion of the times of the
Gentiles, or this our existing dispensation; it
seems necessary, in order to avoid ambiguity of
expression, and the misunderstanding inevitably
consequent thereupon, to consider, in passing,
what we mean by this present dispensation, and
what our views are respecting its design, and the
nature and period of its close.
This, therefore, is our present subject; and
though it may perhaps appear, at first sight, to
be a digression from the topic more immediately
before us, it will be found in the sequel, to be
too intimately blended with the Jewish question,
to be omitted in any thing like an orderly in-
quiry into the prophecies relative to the Jewish
nation.
It is written, that "To every purpose there is
a season, and a time to every purpose under the
heaven. A time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up," &c.
Eccles. iii. 1-8. And, as in the affairs of men
here enumerated, so also in the great purpose of
LECTURE III.
77
God there is a time for the accomplishment of
each part. In each of these times, the Lord gives
out, or dispenses a portion of his eternal design.
Hence a dispensation of religion may be thus
defined :—A revelation of some part or parts of
the Divine will, accompanied by the performance
of some corresponding part or parts of the Di-
vine plan.
It will not be denied, that from the beginning,
or ever the mountains were brought forth, Jeho-
vah had a plan in view concerning this world:
not its commencement merely, but its continu-
ance also, and its termination; according as it is
written, "Known unto God are all his works
from the foundation of the world." A part of this
plan was, that at some particular period, known
only unto himself, and kept in his own power, all
the families of the earth should be blessed with
the true and saving knowledge of God-the great
enemy of God and man being bruised under the
seed of the woman. This we know, by referring
to the promises made to Adam and Abraham, as
recorded in the book of Genesis. Our attention
is then directed to the manner in which it has
pleased God to proceed, towards the accomplish-
ment of this, his gracious purpose.
He did not make Eve the mother of the pro-
mised seed of the woman, and so destroy the serpent
78
LECTURE III.
at once, and make a short work upon the earth.
No, the promise was given; but the performance
of the thing promised was delayed. Meanwhile,
however, some few of the families of the earth
were blessed: they believed the promise; through
faith they became interested in the benefit of its
yet future accomplishment; and being influenced
by the blessing," they walked with God:" but
the bulk of the inhabitants of the earth were
still under the curse, led captives by the devil
at his will, and working uncleanness, with
greediness. This state of things continued, till
the iniquity of man abounding in the earth, so
moved Almighty God to anger, that he destroyed
the guilty race, saving only the small family of
his servant Noah. At that time the promise to
Adam, instead of being fulfilled, or in appar-
ently progressive fulfilment, seemed to be for-
gotten: nay more, it seemed to be contradicted.
But God's ways are not as our ways; neither is
God's mode of proceeding to be judged of by
what seems suitable to us.
Again, when God called Abraham, and told
him, that in his seed all the families of the earth
should be blessed, he did not make Sarah the
mother of the promised seed. Here, as before,
the promise was given-but the performance de-
layed. In the meantime, God separated to him-
LECTURE III.
79
self a people-a peculiar nation-and gave them
in types and prophecies more and more clear in-
struction respecting the execution of his plan.
Some believed; through faith they became in-
terested in the benefit of the yet future accom-
plishment of the promise; and influenced by the
same faith, they too "walked with God:" but
the bulk of even that favoured nation, and all the
rest of mankind, were still under the curse.
Israel rebelled against the Lord, rejected his
counsel, despised and persecuted his messengers,
and in the end crucified his Son; they so moved
him to anger, that he cut them off from their pri-
vileges; destroyed their temple and city; and
dispersed them, in disgrace and degradation,
among the heathen. At that time the promise
to Abraham, instead of being fulfilled, or even in
apparent fulfilment, seemed to be forgotten; for
the families of the earth, instead of being blessed,
were still under the wrath and curse of God.
But God's ways are not as our ways.
The promised seed was now indeed come: but
so unlike what had been expected-so unlike the
powerful One, who could bruise the serpent's
head, and bless all the families upon the earth,
that few, very few, recognized him as the seed:
few, therefore, derived any benefit from his
coming; the nation rejected him; and thus the
80
LECTURE III.
accomplishment of the promise made to Abraham
was partly brought to pass, and partly delayed.
The seed was come: the families of the earth
were not blessed in him.
Then it was, that in the wisdom of God, true
religion was extended to other people and na-
tions. Another portion of the divine plan was
dispensed. Another dispensation was introduced.
The glad tidings of salvation, by the long pre-
dicted seed of the woman, were preached to the
Greeks and Romans, and other heathen nations,
that the blessing of Abraham might come upon
the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; and then it
seemed as though the whole of the great pro-
mises made to Adam and Abraham, and repeated
by all the prophets, were about to be fulfilled:
the head of the serpent bruised; all the families
of the earth blessed; and the whole world co-
vered with the knowledge of the Lord, as the
waters cover the sea;
But experience should teach us, that God's
mode of proceeding is not to be judged of by
what seems right or probable to us.
We see
that the antediluvian dispensation held out a
prospect of the glorious promise of universal
blessedness being fulfilled. But the time was
not yet. That dispensation fell short of the
accomplishment. We see that in like manner
LECTURE III.
81
the patriarchal and Levitical dispensations held
out, with increasing clearness, a prospect of the
great promise being fulfilled. But still the time
was not yet fully come. Those dispensations fell
short of it. Now we see this dispensation hold-
ing out a still more animating prospect of the
final promise being fulfilled. But let us take
instruction from what is past. Our dispensation
also may fall short of the glorious consummation,
and another change may take place, similar to
the destruction of the world,-similar to the re-
jection of the Jews.
This is possible, to say no more; and whether
it is the revealed purpose of God or not, deserves
at least a fair inquiry. Is this dispensation,
under which we are living, the final dispensation,
which will issue in the full performance of the
divine plan of mercy to the whole world? or is it
another introductory dispensation, such as those
which have preceded it?
The more common opinion is, that this is the
final dispensation, and that, by a more copious
outpouring of the Holy Spirit, it will magnify
itself, and swell into the universal blessedness
predicted by the prophets, carrying with it Jews
and Gentiles, even the whole world, in one glori-
ous flock, under one shepherd, Jesus Christ the
Lord. This is reiterated from pulpit, press, and
E 3
82
LECTURE III.
platform. It is the usual climax of missionary
exhortation, or rather missionary prophecy.*
*//
On the supposition that this is the truth, it
must be admitted that the accomplishment of the
promise has advanced, and is still advancing,
very slowly; and that even now, after eighteen
centuries, comparatively little has been done;
for, although Christianity established itself on
the downfall of the most cultivated Paganism,
with sufficient rapidity to convince every candid
mind, that it was from God; yet, in reference to
the great promise affecting the whole world, its
progress has hitherto been slow indeed. This,
however, would of itself be no argument against
our dispensation being the final one; because
*It is curious and instructive to remark how this view
of the subject may be stated, and amplified with all the
glowing enlargement of impassioned eloquence, without
exciting any feeling that the speaker is at all interfering
with the subject of unfulfilled prophecy. He is, indeed,
prophecying, and in his own words, and from his own fancy;
but the strain is in harmony with the popular impressson,
and is accordingly hailed as a strain of love, and greeted
with instinctive approbation.
But no sooner is a different view of the future announced,
though it should be in the very language of inspiration, than
a jar is felt, and resented, and the intruder is blamed (if not
denounced) as a troubler of the peace and unity of the
religious world.
The writer is happy to observe that this evil, though much
to be lamented still, is much abated.
LECTURE III.
83
slowness in the eye of man, is not necessarily
slowness in the proceedings of God.
But, supposing this to be the final dispen-
sation, the dawn of the day of universal blessed-
ness, we might expect to find the advance of the
light, though slow, yet progressive. Now it
must, in fairness be admitted, that the history of
the church of Christ does not answer to this ex-
pectation. Christianity has not been holding her
ground in the world, while she advanced to fur-
ther conquests. Her course resembles the emi-
grations of a pilgrim, rather than the triumphant
establishments of a conqueror.
From many
places, where once she presided in her beauty,
she has departed, without leaving even her name
behind from others, all that was valuable about
her is gone, and only a name remains. For look
along her wake! Where is the apostolical church
of Jerusalem, over which James presided in the
sober dignity of inspired wisdom? Gone! The
holy city is trodden down of the Gentiles. The
crescent of the false prophet of Arabia waves over
its walls. Where are the churches of Ephesus,
of Smyrna, of Pergamos, of Thyatira, of Sardis,
of Philadelphia, of Laodicea, to whom the Spirit
spake by the beloved disciple? Gone! all gone!
The name of Christian is, indeed, retained in some
of those districts; but it is an empty name.
84
LECTURE III.
Where are the churches of Carthage and Hippo
Regius? Gone! The voices of Cyprian and
Augustin find no kindred spirit to prolong their
echoes on the shores of north-eastern Africa: even
the very name of Jesus has been eradicated from
the barbarous soil. Where is the fair daughter
of heaven, who, appearing in the hired lodging of
Saul of Tarsus, and making her way into Cæsar's
household, shone so long with simple beauty in
imperial Rome? She retains, indeed, the name of
Christian, and usurps the name of Catholic; but,
alas! how grievously is she defiled by the vain tra-
ditions and superstitious idolatries of fallen man!
her native purity is gone, and abomination; yea
Mother of Abominations is written upon her fore-
head. Where are the churches of Wittemburg and
Geneva, those lights from the Lord which burst.
upon the darkness of Europe by the instrumen-
tality of Luther and Calvin? Gone! Reasoning
infidelity, under various well-sounding names,
presides over the fountains of instruction, poison-
ing the streams; while darkness has again co-
vered the land, and gross darkness the people.
In our own favoured country what has been the
progress of Christianity? Thanks be unto God,
the candlestick has not been removed from the
churches established in these islands. We have
and hold in our articles of faith a true confession :
LECTURE III.
85
......
but it is painful to ask and answer the question,
Has true Scriptural religion increased among us?
For, omitting that portion of our population which
is infidel in creed, or openly ungodly in practice,
or both, (a portion of fearful magnitude,) and,
confining our observation to the more regular,
formal, and, apparently, Christian members of
our community, what shall we say? Information
has indeed increased an hundredfold. Education
has spread her benign embrace around the length
and breadth of our land. Decency, and order,
and harmony, and peace, delightfully prevail.
But need you be reminded, brethren, that all
these things may be, where true scriptural reli-
gion is not? That the Gospel, by its collateral
effects, may civilize, and reform, and polish a
whole community, while it directly evangelizes
and saves only a very small remnant? That (to
use the language of Luther) it may produce Re-
guluses and Fabriciuses, upright and righteous
men according to man's judgment, and yet have
nothing in it of the nature of genuine righteous-
ness before God? and is it not true, at this
moment, that the prevailing tone of Christianity
has so subsided into a good-natured quietness,
a plausible profession of individual humility,
slily praising itself, while at the same time, it
affects too much diffidence to find fault with any
86
LECTURE III.
1
other, and an indiscriminate charity which kindly
implies that all creeds are equally safe at last?
I repeat, is not the prevailing tone of Christianity
in this country so infected with the atmosphere
of this fashionable liberality, that any thing ap-
proaching the spirit, and fire, and zeal, and faith
of primitive piety, is denounced as fanaticism;
as unholy, because unhumbled impetuosity, or, at
least, shrunk from and shunned as enthusiasm,
needlessly offensive, and therefore exceedingly
injudicious? and is not this the secret of the
great apparent increase of religion among us?
The church has relaxed in both her doctrine and
practice. She occupies a lower and broader plat-
form than is meet; and having laid aside, as
ultra and unnecessary, much of what is forbidding
to the carnal mind, she has enticed multitudes to
join hands with her, whose hearts are not right
with her Lord, and who would never have made.
a show of joining her, had she adhered to the
faithfulness of her Lord's truth, and the holiness
of her Lord's example. It is not so much that
genuine Christianity has increased, as that a spu-
rious mixture, diluted down to the palate of the
world, is passing current for the true.
But granting the full extent of what some con-
tend for, as to the increase of true religion in
England, still it cannot be maintained that
LECTURE III.
87
Christianity has been progressive, acquiring and
retaining influence over the families of the earth.
And in reference to the promise of universal
blessedness, the fulfilment of which is anticipated
under this dispensation, it is worthy of remark,
that the inspired description of what all the fami-
lies of mankind shall be, is not yet applicable
(neither has it ever been) to even one single family
in the most favoured city or village in Christen-
dom; so that, in order to complete the glorious
work, the effects produced must not only be en-
larged in degree, but also become different in
kind.
I do not say that these considerations contain
a proof of this dispensation not being the final
one; but I certainly think that they are, at least,
calculated to excite in unprejudiced minds a sus-
picion that it may not be, and that, when com-
pared with the histories of former dispensations,
they supply strong presumptive evidence that it
will not. At least, they should prevent any in-
telligent man from rejecting, a priori, and with-
out examination, the opinion that it will not.
What say the Scriptures, then?
I. As to the design of this dispensation ?
II. As to the termination of it?
88
LECTURE III.
I. When the Gospel made progress among the
Gentiles, by means of the preaching of Paul and
and Barnabas; that is, at the commencement of
this dispensation, and when a controversy arose
at Antioch respecting the circumcision of the Gen-
tile converts; a council of the apostolical church
was called together at Jerusalem, to consider and
determine the point in dispute. In that council
Peter referred to the special revelation by which
he had been led, some time before, to go and
preach in the house of Cornelius, the Gentile
centurion; upon which James made the following
remarkable comment : Simeon hath declared
how God at the first did visit the Gentiles,
TO TAKE OUT OF THEM A PEOPLE FOR HIS
NAME."*
Now, if we believe (as we profess to
* Acts xv. 14-17.
To this agree the words of the Prophets; as it is written,
"After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle
of David, which is fallen down, and I will build again the
ruins thereof, and I will set it up; that the residue of men
may seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles upon whom
my name is called saith the Lord, who doeth all these things."
After this I will return ! After what? After a period of
desertion, during which the house of David shall be deso-
late and broken down. After such a period I will return to
it, and build it up. But during that period what is to be
done? Is God to be without a people on the earth, while he
is turned away from the Jewish people, and until he returns
to them?
No. In the interim he hath visited the Gentiles, to take
out of them a people for his name. To this agree the words
LECTURE III.
89
do) that this is not merely the opinion of the
Apostle, but that he spake these words as he was
moved by the Holy Ghost, then we have here a
distinct declaration of God himself that the de-
sign of this dispensation is to take and save a
people out of the Gentiles, which is certainly a
very different thing from converting and blessing
all the families of the earth. On this point
proofs may be multiplied from the experience,
the number, and the character of the real disci-
ples of Jesus Christ, as largely described in the
New Testament.
Concerning the experience of true believers
under this dispensation, we read, 2 Tim. iii. 12,
of the Prophets, who say, after this I will return; and I
will build again what was fallen down. What is it that is
thus described as fallen down and deserted for a season, and
afterwards built up again as in days of old? (Compare
Amos ix. 11,) Clearly the Jewish nation, the consequence
of whose restoration is immediately added, that the residue
of men might seek after the Lord, even all the Gentiles.
Thus there is first a period revealed, during which the
Jews would be trodden down; and the characteristic of this
period is, a people taken out of the Gentiles. Then, se-
condly, after this, a period at which the Jews will be lifted
up again. And, thirdly, a period immediately consequent,
when all the Gentiles will call upon the Lord.
Such is the apostolical order,-
1. The casting away of the Jews.
2. A blessing among the Gentiles.
3. The receiving again of the Jews.
4. Life from the dead to the world.
90
LECTURE III.
"All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall
suffer persecution;" Matt. v 11, "Blessed are
ye when men shall revile you and persecute you,
and shall say all manner of evil against you
falsely for my sake;" also, John xv. 19, "If ye
were of the world, the world would love his own;
but because ye are not of the world, but I have
chosen you out of the world, therefore the world
hateth you;" Luke xii. 51-53, "Suppose ye
that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell
you nay, but rather division: for from henceforth
there shall be five in one house divided, three
against two, and two against three. The father
shall be divided against the son, and the son
against the father; the mother against the daugh-
ter, and the daughter against the mother; the
mother-in-law against the daughter-in law, and
the daughter-in-law against the mother-in-law;"
Matt. x. 36, "And a man's foes shall be they of
his own household."
Concerning the number of true believers, we
read, Matt. xxii. 14, "Many are called, but few
are chosen;" Matt. vii. 13, 14, 21, 22, 23,
"Enter ye in at the strait gate, for wide is the
gate and broad is the way that leadeth to des-
truction, and many there be which go in thereat:
because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way
which leadeth unto life, and few there be that
LECTURE III.
91
find it. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord,
Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven;
but he that doeth the will of my Father which is
in heaven. Many will say to me in that day,
Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?
and in thy name have cast out devils? and in
thy name done many wonderful works? And
then will I profess unto them I never knew you;
depart from me ye that work iniquity."
Concerning the character of true believers, we
read, 1 John ii. 15. "Love not the world,
neither the things of the world. If any man love
the world, the love of the Father is not in him."
James iv. 4, "The friendship of the world is
enmity with God; whosoever, therefore, will be
a friend of the world, he is the enemy of God."
2. Cor. vi. 17, "Wherefore come out from among
them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord." "And
I beseech you, by the mercies of God," saith the
Apostle," that ye be not conformed to this world."
Rom. xii. 1, 2.
These passages of Scripture avowedly belong
to this dispensation. They have applied in every
age, and do still apply to the true disciples of
the Lord Jesus. On the supposition, that we
have rightly interpreted the language of James,
at the council of Jerusalem, and that the design.
of this dispensation is to take a people out of the
92
LECTURE III.
:
If
Gentiles, these Scriptures will continue to apply
till the end of this dispensation; but on the sup-
position, that the dispensation is to enlarge itself
by degrees into the universal blessedness pre-
dicted by the prophets, then these Scriptures will
not continue to apply. And who is to determine
at what point of the progress they cease to be
applicable? If the world become Christian, the
world will no longer persecute Christians. If all
the families of the earth be blessed with eternal
life, the way of life will be no longer narrow.
the world become Christian, then Christians can-
not separate from the world. It is obvious, that
in the passage from our present state to a state of
universal holiness, these characteristic sayings of
the New Testament must cease to have any ap-
plication, and become obsolete, not to say false.
And again, I ask, who is to determine at what
point of the progress they cease to apply? If it
be answered, when the more favourable circum-
stances of the church cease to require them: the
question recurs, who is to judge of those circum-
stances? Some persons in this country think
that already true religion is not thus exposed to
hatred and enmity, but only extravagance and
enthusiasm, provoking a cross for themselves :
while others consider such an opinion as a proof
that those who hold it are, themselves, ignorant.
LECTURE III.
93
of what true religion is. We maintain, therefore,
that as the statutes of the book of Leviticus con-
tinued binding, until another plain and direct
communication from the God who gave them,
shewed that they were superseded, and a better
order of things introduced; so these Scriptures,
describing the experience, the number, and the
character of the Lord's people under this dispen-
sation, must continue applicable, till another plain
and direct communication from him who gave
them, shall shew that they are superseded, and a
still better order of things introduced. This com-
munication we expect at the second coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ; and, consequently, we
conclude that we have no reason to expect, until
the coming of the Lord, any such change in the
aspect of the church, as would falsify or neutra-
lize these statements of the New Testament.
But then, let us not be misunderstood. While
we thus declare our conviction that the present
dispensation is for an elect church only, we do
not for a moment imagine that God's final pur-
poses of mercy towards the world are to be limited
to this election. Far otherwise. To suppose
that because this dispensation is for the salvation
of a remnant, therefore there will be no subse-
quent and wider salvation; would be as absurd as
it would have been for an ancient Jew to sup-
94
LECTURE III.
;
pose, that because his dispensation was for a par-
ticular people, therefore no other people could
have true religion extended to them. No, my
brethren, we joyfully maintain, that the saving
mercy of God in Christ Jesus will eventually
extend over the length and breadth of the whole
world, and be experienced in the circle of every
family then on the earth. We maintain, that the
death of Christ is a full, perfect, and sufficient
sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of
the whole world; and that eventually salvation
will prove co-extensive with redemption; that is,
so far as respects the then population of the
whole world. We say the then population of
the world; for we utterly reject the ensnaring
heresy of the Universalists, which seems to be
Satan's gilded bait, to allure and destroy by
unsanctified benevolence.
This throws light upon the controverted ques-
tion of the extent of redemption. Redemption is
not salvation to any; neither is it unto salvation to
all who are redeemed. It is done, not to human
persons or sins, whether few or many, but to the
character and government of God. Does God take
account of sin, by relative quantity, as we do?
Surely not. Whosoever shall keep the whole law,
saith the Lord, and yet offend in one point, he is
guilty of all. To redeem a transgressor against
LECTUTE III.
95
one point, therefore, demands a price as rich as
to redeem a transgressor against all.
And by
parity of reasoning, if all mankind have trans-
gressed against the whole law, to redeem one
trangressor demands a price as rich, as to redeem
all mankind; and the redemption of all men de-
mands no more than would be indispensable for
the redemption of one man. There is no place,
in this branch of the subject, for the considera-
tion of relative quantities of sin, or relative num-
bers of sinners.
Salvation is quite a different subject, and is,
for the present, confined to a specific number of
persons elected out of mankind in Christ. Thus
the doctrine of this dispensation corresponds with
the history of the church; while, at the same
time, a redemption is prepared, of sufficient value,
to meet the demands of the "dispensation of the
fulness of times." Eph. i. 10.
Our judgment, therefore, is, (and, we think,
not without evidence, yea, not without proof,)
that the design of the present dispensation is not
the conversion of the Gentile world, but the call-
ing of an elect people out of the Gentiles to the
knowledge of God and salvation by Jesus Christ.
In confirmation of this view, I revert to what has
been already stated, and observe, that if this be
the design of the dispensation, then we see the
96
LECTURE III.
progressive accomplishment of that design in the
history of the church.
Another design of this dispensation is re-
vealed to us, by comparing Deut xxxii. 21. with
Rom. x. 19. and xi. 11, 66
They have moved me
to jealousy with that which is not God; they
have provoked me to anger with their vanities:
and I will move them to jealousy with those
which are not a people; I will provoke them to
anger with a foolish nation." But I say, Did not
Israel know? First, Moses saith, I will provoke
you to jealousy by them that are no people, and
by a foolish nation I will anger you, "I say, then,
Have they stumbled that they should fall? God
forbid: but, rather through their fall, salvation is
come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them (the
Jews) to jealousy." From hence we learn, not
only that extending the blessings of the Gospel to
the Gentiles would, in the first instance, excite
the anger, and jealousy, and enmity of the Jews,
but also, that eventually the Jews, being reco-
vered from their judicial stupidity and careless-
ness about the things of God, and perceiving the
Gentiles to be in possession of the riches of the
Messiah, would be moved to a holy emulation,
that they might not be surpassed in the service.
of Jehovah by any people.
To this agree the words of our Lord: "Jerusa-
LECTURE III.
97
lem shall be trodden down by the Gentiles until
the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled; by which
it is clearly implied, that when the times of the
Gentiles are fulfilled, Jerusalem shall not be
trodden down any longer. And it is equally
clear, that until the times of the Gentiles are
fulfilled, all attempts to raise up Jerusalem as
a nation must fail. We say, as a nation, be-
cause individuals may be converted, and Chris-
tians may be, as they have been, the favoured
instruments of doing what the Apostle to the
Gentiles laboured and prayed for, that is, of suv-
ing some individuals.
Thus, as during the times of the Jews, "all
were not Israel who were of Israel:" the whole
nation being called, but only a remnant really cho-
sen and saved; so now, during the times of the
Gentiles, all are not Christian who are of Christen-
dom: all are called, but only a few are chosen and
saved. The way of life is narrow for the present;
but we are waiting for the glorious appearing of
the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ, who
will bruise the serpent's head, restore the Jews,
and cause the whole Gentile world to flow to-
gether to the glory of the Lord, as manifested in
the nation of Israel. This harmonizes the Scrip-
tures, and provides for the rich abounding mercy
of Jehovah to the world, in due time; without
F
i
98
LECTURE III.
2
3
attempting to mar the symmetry of the Gospel, or
to stretch this dispensation beyond its revealed
measure. God concluded the Jews in unbelief
saving a remnant. He will conclude Christen-
dom in unbelief saving a remnant. And when he
hath concluded all in unbelief, and secured to
himself for ever the acknowledgment of every
creature, that salvation is of grace, then he will
have mercy upon all! "Oh! the depth of the
riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of
God, how unsearchable are his judgments, and
his ways past finding out."-Rom xi. passim.
These then, we conceive, are the designs of the
present dispensation-1. to take a people out of
the Gentiles. 2. To provoke the Jews to jea-
lousy so making way for the restoration and
conversion of the Jewish nation, and the salvation
of the whole heathen world.
II. With respect to the termination of the
times of the Gentiles, it may be considered
either as to its nature or as to its date.
1. The nature of it will be to all Christendom,
what every day of it is to some individuals in
Christendom; that is, a separation, everlasting
salvation to some, the damnation of hell to others.
Of this most important and alarming statement
we have, what appears to me, direct and satis-
LECTURE III.
99
factory proof in the ancient prophecies, in the
parables of our Lord, and in the apostolical epis-
tles.
In the ancient prophecies.-The chief enemies
of the Jewish nation, during the times of the
Jew, were Edom and Babylon. Edom, who
shook off the yoke of Jacob according to the pro-
phecy of Isaac: and Babylon, who held Judah in
a seventy years' captivity. It is the general opin-
ion of the Christian church, that the Jewish na-
tion was at least, in one point of view, a type of
the true spiritual church of Christ; whence the
application so constantly made of the Old Testa-
ment promises, to what is called the spiritual
Israel of God. Upon the same principle, we
maintain, that the enemies of the Jewish nation
were types of the enemies of the church of Christ,
and make a similar application of the Old Testa-
ment denunciations of wrath against what we call
the spiritual or mystical Babylon or Edom, or
Moab. The circumstances of the times in which
the prophets lived, supplied a language, in the
use of which, as applicable to those times and
circumstances, the Holy Ghost over-ruled the
mouths of the prophets to speak of greater things
than those. Thus, in the opening of the sixty-
third chapter of Isaiah, the language is swelled
far beyond the description of any literal victory
Dor M
F 2
100
LECTURE III.
which the Jews ever gained, under any of their
leaders, over Edom or Babylon.
"Who is this that cometh from Edom, with
dyed garments from Bozrah? this, that is glo-
rious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness.
of his strength? I, that speak in righteousness,
mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine
apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth
in the winefat? I have trodden the winepress
alone, and of the people there was none with me
for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample
them in my fury, and their blood shall be
sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all
my raiment; for the day of vengeance is in mine
heart, and the year of my redeemed is come."
This passage is usually applied to our Lord Je-
sus Christ, at his first coming to make an atone-
ment for sin; but will the language bear such an
application? At that time our Lord shed his own
blood only. Here he is described as stained
with the blood of his enemies. At that time he
manifested his loving-kindness and tender mercy
toward his enemies, making intercession for them
even in the agonies of death. Here he is des-
cribed as treading them down in his anger, and
trampling them in his fury. At that time, peace,
and love, and free forgiveness, were in his heart
towards the vilest of sinners, evidenced in his re-
:
LECTURE III.
101
ception of the dying thief. Here he is described
as having the day of vengeance in his heart.
When, therefore, it is maintained that for their
blood we should read his blood; that for anger
and fury, we should read loving-kindness and
tender mercy; and that for vengeance we should
read free forgiveness, and undeserved love-then,
it may also be maintained, that the passage be-
fore us, applies to the first coming of our Lord in
his humiliation unto death. But, until these er-
rata, in the language of Isaiah, shall be pointed
out on sufficient authority to alter the text, we
must espouse the contrary opinion, and maintain
that the passage before us applies to a very dif-
ferent coming of our Lord, at a period predicted
by himself, when he shall say concerning those
enemies of his, who would not have him to reign
over them, "bring them forth, and slay them
before me!" Luke xix. 15—27.
Thus also, in Jeremiah 1. and li. throughout,
the great idolatrous apostacy of the times of the
Gentiles is denounced by the same name of
Babylon, and with the same details of vengeance
which are afterwards reiterated by the apostle
John, long after the literal Babylon had ceased
to exist. Compare Rev. xviii. with Jer. 1. and
li. On this theme of dreadful judgments to be
inflicted upon the enemies of God, at the close of
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LECTURE III.
this dispensation, when the Jewish nation shall
be restored, and the saints gloriously saved,
the prophets are peculiarly full and explicit.
Nothing, indeed, can be more clear than that
the times of the Gentiles will end in a great
separation. We have further proof-
In the parables of our Lord.-In the parable
of the tares and the wheat, which is written
and expounded in Matt. xiii., Jesus describes
the mixture of the children of the kingdom, and
the children of the wicked one, as continuing
all along till the harvest; which harvest is ex-
pounded to mean the end, not of the material
world, Toν коσμov, but of this dispensation or age,
Tov alvoc TOUTOV, and then the separation,-the
tares bound in bundles to be burned, and the
wheat gathered into the barn.
In like manner, in the parable of the net that
was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind,
which, when it was full, they drew to the shore,
and sat down and gathered the good into vessels,
but cast the bad away; so shall it be at the end
of the world (here again the expression is awwvos,
the age, or dispensation): the angels shall come
forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,
and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there
shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
So also in the parable of the ten virgins, we
LECTURE III.
103
find a separation at the end of the dispensation,
or, in other words, at the coming of the Son of
Man. "Five of them were wise, and five were
foolish;"" they all slumbered and slept;" "the
bridegroom came; the wise went in with him to
the marriage, and the door was shut." "After-
wards came also the other virgins, saying, Lord,
Lord, open to us; but he answered and said,
Verily I say unto you, I know you not."* This
is even more alarming than the former; because
this applies to the state of the professing church
in Christendom, as distinguished from the nations
generally; and it shews us that the true remnant,
who enter into the joy of their Lord, will fall
short, not only of the world, commonly so called,
but also of the seemingly religious world.
My Brethren, take heed unto yourselves: in
Jesus Christ there is salvation for you, and no-
where else; his blood cleanseth from all sin, and
nothing else can cleanse from any sin: his righte-
ousness justifieth from all things, and nothing
else can justify from anything: he is a complete
Saviour, and there is no Saviour but he; a just
God and a Saviour there is none else. Depend
* Matt. xxv. 1—13.
"Then shall the kingdom of hea
ven be likened," &c. For explanation of this note of time,
compare chap. xxiv. at the end, especially verse 42, with
chap. xxv. 13.
104
LECTURE III.
on him, venture on him, yea, venture wholly,
without hesitation or reserve, counting all your
own best righteousness but as dross and dung,
that you may win Jesus Christ, and be found in
Jesus Christ. And now, Brethren, I say unto
you, "Watch, for ye know neither the day nor
the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh."
Here it is objected, that the parable of the
leaven gives a different view of this subject,
and represents the assimilating process of the
Gospel as continuing till the whole is leavened.
In reply to which I observe, that the quantity of
meal in which the leaven is described as being
hid, is a definite and small quantity-three mea-
while the field in which the tares are
described, is indefinitely the world, o кooμos;
which circumstance has induced commentators
to apply the one parable to the mixed aspect of
the Gospel kingdom, as set up in the world; the
other to the progressively sanctifying nature of it,
as it is set up in the heart of the individual.*
In adopting this distinction, therefore, we are
sures;
* See Scott on Matt. xiii. 33. He says, "The former
parable represents the kingdom of heaven as set up in the
world. This shews us the nature of it as it is set up in the
heart." If this distinction be correct, then in the three
measures of meal there may, perhaps, be an allusion to the
three component parts of each individual, as enumerated by
the Apostle, 1. Thess. v. 23.
LECTURE III.
105
not framing an ingenious device, to support our
scheme, but simply following Mr. Scott and
others, in the solution of a difficulty which has
been felt, wholly independent of the subject now
before us, and in order to avoid making the para-
bles contradict one another; and it is obvious,
that this distinction wholly removes that objec-
tion to our general view, which is grounded upon
the parable of the leaven.
The conclusion, then, which we would draw
is, that the termination of the times of the Gen-
tiles will be a separation of the saints from the
ungodly, of the just from the unjust, similar to
the separation of Lot from the men of Sodom,
accompanied, also, with a dreadful judgment
upon Christendom, similar to that upon the cities
of the plain. This conclusion is confirmed by
the memorable words of our Lord (Luke xvii.
26-30,) "And as it was in the days of Noe, so
shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man.
They did eat, they drank, they married wives,
they were given in marriage, until the day that
Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came,
and destroyed them all. Likewise, also as it
was in the days of Lot, they did eat, they drank,
they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded.
But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom,
it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and
!
:*
F 3
106
LECTURE III.
destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the
day when the Son of Man is revealed." We
have further proof-
In the apostolical epistles. St. Paul says to the
Thessalonians, "Yourselves know perfectly, bre-
thren, that the day of the Lord so cometh as a
thief in the night. For when they shall say,
peace and safety, then sudden destruction shall
come upon them, as travail upon a woman with
child; and they shall not escape. But ye, bre-
thren, are not in darkness, that that day should
overtake you as a thief; ye are all the children
of light, and the children of the day; we are not
of the night, nor of darkness; therefore let us not
sleep as do others, but let us watch and be
sober." "Seeing it is a righteous thing with
God to recompense tribulation to them that trou-
ble you; and, to you who are troubled, rest with
us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from
heaven, with his mighty angels, in flaming fire,
taking vengeance on them that know not God,
and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ; who shall be punished with everlasting
destruction, from the presence of the Lord, and
from the glory of his power, when he shall come.
to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired
in all them that believe (because our testimony
among you was believed) in that day." Here a
LECTURE III.
107
separation is marked between the church and the
world, in that day, as wide as between light and
darkness-salvation and destruction. These pas-
sages addressed to Gentile converts are of the
utmost importance: for whereas the coming of
the Son of Man, spoken of by our Lord himself,
is commonly interpreted to apply exclusively to
the destruction of Jerusalem; it cannot be
maintained, that the Apostle referred to that
event when writing to Christians in Greece,
who were in no way interested in the fall of the
holy city. The chronological marks contained
in 2 Thess. ii. put this beyond any reasonable
doubt.
2. We have now further to consider the date of
the close of this dispensation. On this point I
shall not enter upon the grounds for direct chro-
nological calculations, with which it has pleased
God to supply the church, and whereunto they
that are wise and learned do well that they take
heed. I confess, that I have no confidence
in any of the interpretations upon this point,
which have as yet been given to the church:
nor do I see my way to the proposal of any-
thing more satisfactory. I observe, however,
upon the relative date of the termination of the
times of the Gentiles; that it will synchronise
with the restoration of the Jewish people, and
103
LECTURE III.
:
:
..
precede the introduction of millennial blessed-
ness.*
The proof of this has been anticipated; for, if
Jerusalem be trodden down till the times of the
Gentiles be fulfilled, those times must be fulfilled
when Jerusalem is lifted up; and if, as we have
seen in the parable of the tares and the wheat, a
continued mixture of good and bad growing to-
gether be a characteristic of this dispensation;
then this dispensation cannot include a period
when all will be good; and, consequently, it must
end before the millennium begins. This supplies
the true answer to those who allege, that the
descriptions of separation given above at the
coming of the Son of Man, apply to a period sub-
sequent to the millennium, when a great falling
off will have taken place:† for, however the ques-
tion may be determined, concerning the condition
and character of the nations of the earth during
the millennium, it is clear, that our Lord's de-
scription of the state of the field until the harvest,
and the description which the prophets have given
of the prevalent, if not absolutely universal right-
* See Mr. Faber's Sermon before the Jews' Society, in
1822, where this subject is ably discussed.
t In a volume of Sermons by the late Mr. Milner, pub-
lished for the benefit of the Church Missionary Society, this
view of the subject is advanced, but without any attempt at
argumentative support. (Pages 268–272.) ·
LECTURE III.
109
•
eousness of the millennial nations, cannot, with-
out violence, be applied to the same period.*
*Matt. xiii. 24-30; 36-43. Let both grow together
UNTIL the harvest. The harvest is the end of this dispensa-
tion, when the Son of Man will return with the holy angels,
who are the reapers. Let both tares and wheat GROW TO-
GETHER, is characteristic of the whole period of the Lord's
absence. Now, I ask, is this phrase, let both grow together,
equally characteristic of the millennium, and of this dispen-
sation? If it be answered, yes; I cannot for a moment dis-
pute that such a millennium will precede the coming of the
Lord we have it already. The millennium predicted by
the Holy Ghost, is not however, so motley a concern as this
would make it. Its characteristics are, the people shall be
ALL righteous-they shall all know the Lord, from the least
of them unto the greatest of them. They shall not hurt nor
destroy in all my holy mountain. The earth shall be covered
with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
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 hea-
then, saith the Lord of hosts. These, and similar pre-
dictions, manifestly describe a state of things contrasted
with the present. That state is the millennium. The tares
must be removed previous and preparatory to the mil-
lennium. The season of the removal of the tares is the
harvest. The harvest is the period of the Lord's coming
with the holy angels. Consequently, the Lord's coming
must be previous and preparatory to the millennium.
It may be here remarked, how every sectarian effort to
get what is called a pure church, is a petty attempt to ante-
date the millennium by the removal of the tares. In all
such attempts, the wheat also is removed, or tares are mis-
taken for wheat, or both, and the scheme proves abortive.
A visible church and open communion, correspond with our
110
LECTURE III.
:
I forbear from any detailed application of the
subject at present; simply observing, that if this
view of the dispensation be indeed scriptural-
and if, instead of being in the dawn of wide-
spreading improvement, making progress towards
the meridian of millennial righteousness, Chris-
tendom be really on the eve of a tremendous over-
throw-then nothing can be more obvious than
the connexion between this view of the subject,
and the watchfulness of the church of Christ;
what he said to his immediate disciples, he says
to us all, Watch!
Lord's-let both grow together until the harvest. Then, in-
deed, the "ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor
sinners in the congregation of the righteous."
LECTURE IV.
LEV. xxvi. 40-42. "If they shall confess their iniquity,
and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass
which they trespassed against me, and that also they have
walked contrary unto me. And that I also have walked
contrary unto them, and have brought them into the
land of their enemies : if, then, their uncircumcised
hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punish-
ment of their iniquity, then will I remember my covenant
with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac; and also
my covenant with Abraham will I remember, and I will
remember the land.
We have now considered the separation and the
depression of the Jewish people. Their separa-
tion from the commencement of their history, in-
cluding, first, the whole twelve tribes: then the
kingdom of Judah as distinguished from the out-
casts of Israel: and (subsequent to the time of
Messiah) the same kingdom of Judah considered
nationally, as distinguished from the remnant of
individuals converted in each succeeding age to
the faith of Christ-their depression, during the
times of the Gentiles, called by our Lord, in Mat-
thew xxiv. 29, the "tribulation of those days," or
as it is expressed in the parallel passage in Luke
112
LECTURE IV.
66
xxi. Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the
Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be ful-
filled."
We have further considered what we are to
understand by this expression, the times of the
Gentiles and advanced some arguments in
proof of the opinion, that the dispensation under
which we now live will end in like manner as the
times of the antediluvian dispensation, and the
times of the Jewish dispensation ended; being
designed for the separation of an elect church
from amongst the nations, which church will be
completed at the return of Christ, its head, pre-
vious to the introduction of that glorious purpose
of universal mercy which Jehovah has revealed
towards our fallen world.
We thus advanced in our subject to the conclu-
sion of this present dispensation; and then, and
there, we found the Christian churches apostate,
and ruined; a remnant only being saved: then
and there also, we found the Jews a separate
people. We now repeat our question, What is
then to be done with the Jews? Has God re-
vealed his further intentions concerning them;
and if so, what are those intentions?
This leads us into the region of simple, unas-
sisted prophecy. As long as we had history and
observation for our companions, we had an occa-
LECTURE IV.
113
sional, and, I must be bold to add, an unanswer-
able appeal to them: but now we go where no
man can follow, who requires any further proof
than the simple dictum of the Holy Scriptures,
thus saith the Lord. We enter upon a narrow
path, clearly traced, indeed, by the inspiring hand
of the Holy Ghost, that glorious, ready writer,
whose pens are the prophets; but not admitting
of any excursive corroboration. History, how-
ever is still of use to us; because, containing
the fulfilment of some prophecies, it contains, at
the same time, a guide to the interpretation of
the prophetic language: and it is of use still fur-
ther, so far as the prophets themselves point to it,
as typical, or as containing analogical simili-
tudes. Analogies and types, drawn from revela-
tion itself, cannot of course be expected to have
any influence upon the minds of those who deny
the divine authority of that revelation; and as I
have reason (from various private letters lately
received) to believe that some such persons are
here present, and have followed the subject with
us thus far, I would now, with earnestness and
much affection, entreat them, as my beloved
brethren, and fellow-sinners in Adam, to revert
to what has been briefly said upon the fact of
the separation of the Jews from all nations, unto
this day, and with solemn candour to come to a
114
LECTURE IV.
resolute determination of mind upon the argu-
ments there adduced; remembering, that it is
not the Shibboleth of a party amongst men that
is at stake, but their own everlasting salvation,
both body and soul. The condition of such per-
sons is truly appalling. In the good providence.
of God, they have beenbaptized in the name of
his dear Son, and have had the oracles of his
truth intrusted to their care, and pressed upon
their perusal. They have thus been transferred
from the wide waste of Tyre and Sidon, into the
cultivated enclosure of Chorazin and Bethsaida.
But they have despised the baptism; they have
resisted the Holy Ghost; they have neglected,
nay, even denied the Scriptures. Under the
watchful care of the husbandman, they have pro-
duced no fruit, but proved barren cumberers of
the ground; yea, worse, they have been as noxi-
ous weeds, distilling poison, and blighting, by
their baneful influence, many a fair and promising
flower. They cannot stand in the judgment,
absolutely, as ignorant and comparatively irre-
sponsible heathen men. No; they must appear
before God relatively as deserters and apostates.
May the abounding mercy of Jehovah, in Christ
Jesus, whom they deny, be extended to them.
with power, now while it is yet time; pardoning
all their sins, including this deadly sin of unbe-
LECTURE IV.
115
lief; and may the Holy Ghost graciously guide
them into the saving truth of the Holy Scriptures!
With the great majority, however, amongst us,
thus saith the Scripture, is all sufficient proof.
Our difficulty is in ascertaining unequivocally
what the Scripture does say; and our differences
of opinion, one from the other, are differences of
interpretation only, not of standard.
The question now before us is, What has God
revealed concerning his purposes towards the
Jews, at and subsequent to the termination of
the times of the Gentiles? An adequate answer
to this inquiry would include a great variety of
of particulars. On the present occasion, let us
specially consider—
THEIR PENITENCE IN THEIR DISPERSION,
as immediately leading to their restoration to the
land of their forefathers.
They shall acknowledge their iniquity, and
the consequent righteousness of God's chastise-
ments they shall recognize his hand in their
dispersion among their enemies: they shall ac-
cept their punishment from him as a token of
holy love; and they shall cry to him for deliver-
ance out of their distresses. These shall be the
beginnings in them of the manifestation of God's
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LECTURE IV
sovereign mercy towards them, preparatory and
immediately antecedent to their restoration. This
state of mind and heart is frequently spoken of,
as the obviously implied condition, upon the
performance of which their restoration hangs
suspended: but God has graciously made the
condition of one promise, the subject matter ab-
solutely of another; thus pledging himself to
work in them all that he requires from them.
I. In support of these positions, I appeal, in
the first place, directly to the language of the
predictions, in its natural and obvious meaning.
The subject is fully stated in our text, and the
verses immediately connected with it. The dis-
persion and misery of the people, after the des-
truction of their city (that is, as I think, and shall
endeavour to prove in its place, their present dis-
persion,) being largely predicted up to verse 39,
it is written at verse 40, If they shall confess
their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fa-
thers, with their trespass, which they trespassed
against me, and that also they have walked
contrary unto me (here is their acknowledgment
of their national guilt,) and that I also have
walked contrary unto them, and have brought
them into the land of their enemies (here is their
recognition of God's hand in their dispersion):
LECTURE IV.
117
if then, their uncircumcised hearts be humbled,
and they then accept of the punishment of their
iniquity, (here is their submission of heart, ac-
quiescing in, instead of resisting their punishment)
then will I remember my covenant with Jacob,
and also my covenant with Isaac; and also my
covenant with Abraham will I remember, and 1
will remember THE LAND. (Here is the promise
put conditionally, depending for its fufilment
upon this state of penitence being produced in
the nation.) The desolation of the land is reiter-
ated in the next verse (43), and then (44, 45) the
promise is put absolutely; that which before was
introduced, as waiting for the performance of a
condition, being now enumerated among the un-
conditional certainties, which the Lord God of
Israel will surely bring to pass. When they be
in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them
away, neither will I abhor them to destroy them
utterly, and to break my covenant with them;
for I am the Lord thy God. But I WILL for
their sakes remember the covenant of their an-
cestors, whom I brought forth out of the land
of Egypt, in the sight of the heathen, that I
might be their God. I am the Lord.
The penitence of the nation, while yet dis-
persed, is declared in the conditional form, in
Deuteronomy iv. 27-31. If from thence thou
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LECTURE IV.
shalt seek the Lord thy God....if thou
turn to the Lord thy God.&c.; also
chapter xxx. 1, 2, 3.
The same is predicted absolutely by Ezekiel,
chap. vi. The desolation being described in the
early verses, it is written at verse 8, "Yet will I
leave a remnant, that ye may have some that shall
escape the sword among the nations, when ye
shall be scattered through the countries; and they
that escape of you shall remember me among the
nations whither they shall be carried captives....
and they shall loathe themselves for the evils
which they have committed in all their abomina-
tions; and they shall know that I am the Lord,
and that I have not said in vain, that I would do
this evil unto them." Also by the prophet
Hosea, thus saith the Lord, "I will be unto
Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the
house of Judah; I, even I, will tear and go
away: I will take away, and none shall rescue
him; I will go and return to my place, till they
acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in
their affliction they will seek me in the morning.
Come, and let us return unto the Lord, for he hath
torn, and he will heal us: he hath smitten, and
he will bind us up." (v. 14, 15; and vi. 1.)
All this language is in itself very clear and sim-
ple. Had it been the intention of the Holy Spirit
,
LECTURE IV.
119
to inform us by the prophets, that the Jews would
be brought into a state of penitence, while still
dispersed among the nations; that is, that they
would confess their sins, and the sins of their fa-
thers before the Lord their God; loathe them-
selves for their iniquity, discern the immediate
hand of Jehovah in their dispersion, and seek
unto him for deliverance; and that upon their
doing so, He would remember his promise to
their fathers, and restore them to the possessions
of their fathers:-had it been the intention of the
great Inspirer of the prophets thus to write, what
more express language can we conceive to be
used for the purpose than that which has now
been quoted; Suppose that the event should
thus take place, that the Jews in every quarter
of the world should (as in many places they
already do) acknowledge and bewail the sins of
their nation, and cry mightily unto their God for
deliverance, not merely in the formal language of
their Liturgy, borrowed from the writings of their
fathers, but in the deep sincerity of their hearts
also; and that when this cry became general
among them, the miraculous interference of their
God and their fathers' God were manifested in
their behalf, and Palestine again put into their
possession; and suppose an accurate historian
subsequently to write a narrative of the events;
120
LECTURE IV.
:
what more unequivocal language could he use
than the language of these prophecies, turned
into the past tense?
But is not the language of prophecy figurative?
Yes, frequently. Let us then examine what
are the figures conveyed by these expressions,
they shall confess their iniquity, and the ini-
quity of their fathers; they shall loathe them-
selves; they shall remember me, and seek my
face. If it be alleged, that these and similar
words predict those convictions of sin which the
people of God, whether Jew or Gentile, should
feel in all lands previous and introductory to their
conversion, then let us inquire further, what are
the figures contained in the preceding expressions
of the same prophecies, "I will bring the land
into desolation, and your enemies which dwell
therein, shall be astonished at it; and I will
scatter you among the heathen, and will draw
out a sword after you; and your land shall be
desolate, and your cities waste." (Lev. xxvi.
32, 33). "Ye shall be plucked out of the land;
the Lord shall scatter thee among all the people."
(Deut. xxviii. 63, 64.) "I will be unto Ephraim
as a lion, and as a young lion unto the house of
Judah; I, even I, will tear." (Hosea v. 14.)
The people of God among the Gentiles, are still
in the habitations of their friends, in the posses-
LECTURE IV.
121
sions of their fathers; their lands have never
been brought to desolation; they have never
been plucked from their homes, nor torn as by
the fury of a lion. Surely, when it was promised
to Abraham, in his old age, that he should have
a son, it would not have been so violent an
interpretation of the language of that promise to
have said, that the children of his confidential
household steward were accounted as his chil-
dren, and that, therefore, he was to look to the
family of Eliezer of Damascus for his heir; as it
is to make the language of the prophecies, now
before us, to signify the convictions of Gentile
sinners, or individual Jews, as distinguished
from the nation. In the case of Abraham, we
know by the event, that any interpretation which
evaded, in the slightest degree, the literal mean-
ing of the words, would have been erroneous;
and in the case now before us, we ask, if these
preceeding expressions of the prophecy, scattered,
plucked off the land, torn, be applicable exclu-
sively to the Jewish nation, and to that nation
in the literal meaning of the words; upon what
principle is it that an arbitrary disruption of the
context can be made, and the subsequent expres-
sions of penitence denied a similar application?
Either, therefore, first, plucked off the land must
be shewn to apply to Gentiles, who have never
G
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LECTURE IV.
been plucked off their lands, and individual Jews,
who have never had any lands; or, secondly,
they shall confess their iniquity, they shall
loathe themselves, they shall remember me, and
seek my face, must be acknowledged to apply
to the Jewish nation as a nation; or, thirdly, the
interpreter must separate what the Holy Ghost
has joined.
II. In support of our general position, I appeal,
in the second place, to the prayer of Solomon,
2 Chronicles, chap. vi.
Various calamities are supposed as befalling
the people; defeat in battle, famine in their land,
dispersion among their enemies; and in each
case, their confession of sin, and penitent suppli-
cation before God,are introduced as the precur-
sors of their deliverance: "If they sin against
thee (for there is no man that sinneth not), and
thou be angry with them, and deliver them over
before their enemies, and they carry them away
captives unto a land far off or near; yet, if they
bethink themselves in the land whither they are
carried captives, and turn and pray unto thee in
the land of their captivity, saying, We have
sinned, we have done amiss, we have dealt wick-
edly; if they return to thee with all their heart,
and with all their soul, in the land of their
LECTURE IV.
123
captivity, whither they have carried them cap-
tives, and pray towards their land which thou
gavest unto their fathers, and the city which
thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I
have built for thy name; then hear thou from
the heavens, from thy dwelling-place, their prayer
and their supplications, and maintain their cause,
and forgive thy people which have sinned against
thee."
In connexion with this, as the general prin-
ciple of the divine dealings, and in further sup-
port of the position now before us.
III. I appeal, in the third place, to the histo-
ries of the past deliverances of the Jews, whether
the first great deliverance of the whole nation,
in all its tribes, from Egypt, or the subsequent
and smaller deliverances of parts of the nation,
out of their respective distresses. In the case of
Egypt, we read in the book of Exodus, ii. 23,
"It came to pass in process of time, that the
king of Egypt died; and the children of Israel
sighed because of the bondage, and they cried,
and their cry came up unto God by reason of
the bondage; and God heard their groaning, and
God remembered his covenant with Abraham,
with Isaac, and with Jacob, and God looked
upon the children of Israel, and had respect unto
G 2
124
LECTURE IV.
""
them." And in chap. iii. 7, 8, 9, "The Lord
said, I have surely seen the affliction of my peo-
ple which are in Egypt, and have heard their
cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know
their sorrows, and I am come down to deliver
them. ....... Now, therefore, behold the cry of
the children of Israel is come unto me……………………………………..”
vi. 5, "I have also heard the groaning of the
children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in
bondage; andI have remembered my covenant."
To guide us in our interpretation of this trans-
action, we have it thus recited by Moses in the
book of Numbers, xx. 14, 15, 16, when he sent
to the king of Edom to solicit his permission to
pass through his territory: "Thus saith thy
brother Israel: thou knowest all the travel that
hath befallen us; how our fathers went down
into Egypt, and we have dwelt in Egypt a long
time; and the Egyptians vexed us and our fa-
thers: and when we cried unto the Lord, he
heard our voice, and sent an angel, and hath
brought us forth out of Egypt." The national
cry precedes the national deliverance: yea, it is
so stated, as if the groaning of the captives had
reminded God of his covenant with their fathers,
which for a season was forgotten.
After the death of Joshua, and of all the elders
who overlived Joshua, and who had seen all the
LECTURE IV.
125
works of the Lord which he had done for Israel;
the nation rebelled, and incurred the righteous
anger of their heavenly King, for the Lord was
their king. For this they were delivered into the
hands of their enemies, to be in subjection to one
conqueror after another; Chushanrishathaim king
of Mesopotamia, and Eglon king of Moab, and
Jabin king of Canaan, and the king of Midian,
and the king of the Philistines, who oppressed the
Israelites for various periods, from seven years to
forty years at a time.* Under each of these
calamities it is recorded of the nation, that they
cried unto the Lord for deliverance; and it was in
answer to their cries that he raised up Othniel,
and Ehud, and Deborah, and Gideon, and Jeph-
thah, and Samson. To appreciate this reference
to their history, the whole Book of Judges should
* If our present object were to draw practical instruction
from this history, much that is deeply important might be
observed upon the manner in which Israel's transgressions
commenced, They had received commandment from God
utterly to drive out the nations of the land before them; but
they disobeyed: Judges i 21, 27, 29, 30, 31, 33. Thus the
beginning of their iniquity was a culpable omission of a trou-
blesome duty. Such omissions serve but to increase diffi-
dulties; for such duties are never so easily performed after
they have been for some time evaded. Procrastination
paralyzes the energies of cheerful obedience, and, in the
mean time, the neglected duty becomes a snare. The people
of the land, thus spared in Israel's neglect, became the fruit-
ful sources of Israel's idolatry. Judges ii. 11, 12.
126
LECTURE IV.
be carefully perused. See particularly chap. x.
10-16. The best comment I can offer upon all
this, as applying to the subject before us, is the
107th Psalm, the burden of which is, Then they
cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he de-
livered them out of their distresses: the national
cry still preceding the national deliverance.
The national calamity next in order, took place
after the rebellion of the ten tribes against the
royal family of David, and their establishment as
a separate kingdom. They were given up for
their idolatry into the hands of the Assyrians,
carried away from their land, and scattered among
the heathen, where they continue unto this day.
Their cry for deliverance has not yet been
uttered.
In the history of the kingdom of Judah, we
have another instance in corroboration of our
argument. The example of the ten tribes was
thrown away upon her. "I saw, saith the Lord,
when for all the causes whereby backsliding Is-
rael committed adultery I had put her away, and
given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous
sister Judah feared not, but went and played the
harlot also." Jer. iii. 8. For this the two tribes
were given up into the hands of the Chaldeans,
to be captives in Babylon by the space of seventy
years. Here, again, the national cry of penitence
LECTURE IV.
127
preceded the national deliverance from captivity.
This was predicted by Jeremiah, (xxix. 10-14.)
"Thus saith the Lord, After seventy years be
accomplished at Babylon, I will visit you, and
perform my good word toward you, in causing you
to return to this place. For I know the thoughts
that I think toward you, saith the Lord; thoughts
of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected
end. Then shall ye call upon me; and ye shall
go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto
you. And ye shall seek
shall seek me, and find me, when
ye shall search for me with all your heart. And
I will be found of you, saith the Lord, and I will
turn away your captivity..... In the histories
of Daniel and Nehemiah, we have most signal
instances of the fulfilment of this prophecy, as the
appointed time drew near. Daniel ix. Neh. i.
""
If these histories had been left wholly without
application to the present dispersion and future
restoration of the Jews, yet still they would afford
us strong analogical confirmation of the view we
have taken of the language of the prophecy: but
this confirmation is rendered direct and explicit,
when we find the deliverance from Egypt set forth
by the Holy Ghost as the grand exemplar of the
final redemption of the whole nation. (Isaiah xi.
11-16; Micah vii. 15.) And when by the pro-
phetic prayer of the 83rd Psalm, we are taught
128
LECTURE IV.
the application of the victories of Deborah and
Gideon, to the future deliverance of the Jews and
destruction of their enemies. Compare Psalm
lxxxiii. 9-18. with Judges iv. and v. and vii. 25.
IV. Fourthly, I appeal to the analogy of sound
doctrine: not indeed for an independent proof,
but for a corroboration of what appears to me to
be already proved.
It has been the practice of the best Christian
divines, in all ages of the church, to derive illus-
trations from the Lord's dealings with the Jewish
nation, explanatory of the doctrines of the New
Testament, and of the dealings of God with his
believing people in Jesus Christ. The warrant
for this practice rests on the typical nature of the
Jewish nation and history. The nation was a
type of the church: the promises of the land of
Canaan, to the nation, were typical of the promises
of final salvation, body and soul, to the people of
God and the whole history of the nation was
typical of the experience of New Testament
believers.
1
Thus the sovereign choice, from amongst his
brethren, of a man of the Chaldeans, Abraham,
the son of Terah, the father of the nation: the
sovereign rejection of his son Ishmael, and con-
firmation of the promise to Isaac; and the still
LECTURE IV.
129
more marked distinction made between the two
sons of Isaac before the children were born, or
had done any good or evil;-illustrate in the
most striking manner the election of God's sove-
reign grace, to the exercise of which he vindi-
cates his undeniable prerogative, saying, "Have
not I a right to do what I will with my own?"
and which he has so put into righteous operation,
that an Apostle, commenting upon this very
point, lays it down as a general truth, not to be
gainsayed, that salvation is not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth
mercy.*
Thus, again, the long-suffering of God with the
Jewish nation, as it is written, " Many times did
he deliver them; but they provoked him with
their counsel, and were brought low for their
iniquity nevertheless he regarded their affliction.
when he heard their cry; and he remembered for
them his covenant, and repented according to the
multitude of his mercies;" (Psal. cvi. 43-45;
see also Hosea xi. 7, 8, 9)-illustrates touchingly
the patient love of Jesus our Lord towards the
ungrateful and provoking members of his mystical
body. To this long-suffering the Jewish nation
was indebted for its continued existence; and
every disciple of Jesus Christ may well
*Rom. ix. 16-23.
say, "It
G 3
130
LECTURE IV.
is of the Lord's mercy that I am not consumed,"
66 if thou wert extreme to mark what is done
amiss, O Lord, who could stand?"-" not that
thou art slack concerning the fulfilment of thy
promises or threatenings, as men count slackness;
but thou art long-suffering to usward, not willing
that any should perish, but that all should come
to repentance."*
Thus, also, the holy jealousy of the Lord over
the Jewish nation, giving them into the hands of
their enemies for their national offences, requiring
repentance from them, promising repentance to
them, and bringing them to repentance, before
he delivered them from bondage ;-illustrates
the paternal chastisement and watchful care of
which all the children of God in Christ Jesus are
partakers, for "he scourgeth every son whom
he receiveth,” he prunes sharply every fruit-bear-
ing branch, that it may bring forth more fruit.
The effect of such discipline is thus beautifully
described by the Apostle, 2 Cor. vii. 10, 11,
66
Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation
not to be repented of ;....................for behold this
self-same thing that ye sorrowed after a godly
sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea,
what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indigna-
tion, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire,
Psal. cxxx. 2 Pet. iii. 9.
*Lam. iii. 22.
LECTURE IV.
131
yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge!" Now as the
dealings of the Lord with the Jewish nation,
in times past, illustrate this doctrine of the
church; so also does this doctrine, now existing
in the church, confirm our interpretation of the
prophecies, that thus it shall be again with the
Jewish nation. Their sorrow must precede their
restoration.
We may go one step further, though the sub-
ject more properly belongs to our next Lecture,
and say, that the unchanging faithfulness of
God to his church, confirmed by many infallible
promises, is a token and pledge of the sure ac-
complishment of his promise of final restoration
*To those who maintain that no such promises are given;
that certainty in the matter of salvation is a most dangerous
doctrine; that the Lord Jesus Christ travailed in agony and
bloody sweat even unto death, leaving it to the option of
fallen creatures, whether he shall ever see of the travail of
his soul and be satisfied, or not; there is of course no
strength in this branch of analogy. But to as many as are
persuaded that Jehovah has mercifully taken the end as
well as the beginning of this work into his own hand; that
his purpose is unchangeable, and his covenant, for the ac-
complishment of it, ordered in all things and sure; that the
revealed office of the Holy Ghost is effectually (by means,
indeed, of motives working in the moral constitution of the
creature, but still effectually and invariably) to apply what
the Lord Jesus has perfectly prepared; and that the final
salvation, therefore, soul and body, of every member of the
mystical body of Christ is infallibly certain, because God is
unalterably true. To as many, I repeat, as are cast into
132
LECTURE IV.
to the Jews, when their uncircumcised hearts
shall be humbled, and when he shall remember
his covenant with Jacob, with Isaac, and with
Abraham, and shall remember the land. Con-
cerning the church, we say, salvation is promised
to the penitent; and except they repent, they
cannot be saved: and, again, repentance is pro-
mised to them that they may be saved; and
being penitent, saved they most surely shall be.
Concerning the Jewish nation, we say, restora-
tion is promised to the penitent nation; and ex-
cept they repent, they cannot be restored: and,
again, repentance is promised to them that they
may be restored; and being penitent, restored
they most surely shall be.
V. Finally, those prophecies which seem op-
posed to the view here taken of the penitence of
the nation, and which have been frequently
quoted against it, apply, I conceive, to a totally
different branch of the subject. In Ezekiel xx.
42, 43, we read, as addressed to the Jewish na-
tion, "Ye shall know that I am the Lord, when
I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into
the country for the which I lifted up mine hand
the mould of this sound and orthodox doctrine of the Ca-
tholic church, there is, in the analogy before us, a de-
monstration of the return of the Jews to their own land.
LECTURE IV.
133
(I sware) to give it to your fathers: and there
shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings
wherein ye have been defiled, and ye shall loathe
yourselves in your own sight for all your evils
which ye have committed." And in the 36th
chapter we read, "I will take you from among
the heathen, and gather you out of all countries,
and will bring you into your own land: then
will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall
be clean, &c. ..... (24, 25.) Ye shall dwell
in the land that I gave to your fathers. (28.)
I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the in-
crease of the field, that ye shall receive no more
reproach of famine among the heathen: then
shall ye remember your own evil ways," &c.
(30, 31.) Also in Zechariah, chap. xii. 6, we
read, "Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her
own place, even in Jerusalem. And I will pour
upon the house of David, and upon the inhabi-
tants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of sup-
plications; and they shall look upon me 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." From these and similar pas-
sages, it might seem, at first reading, that the
national penitence of the Jews is not to be ex-
pected until after their restoration to their land.
134
LECTURE IV.
•
But we must carefully distinguish between their
national penitence, properly so called, under an
acknowledgment of their deserved punishment;
and their subsequent godly sorrow, under a per-
ception of their undeserved forgiveness. The
passages now before us seem to me to predict the
conversion of the Jews to the faith of a crucified
Messiah,* after they are in their own land; and
when the Lord, whom their fathers pierced, shall
appear personally among them, for it is in the
land, even on the Mount of Olives, that his per-
sonal appearance to them shall take place. Zech.
xiv. 4. This, therefore, does not interfere with
the view already advanced, from other predic-
tions, of a preliminary penitence as Jews, pre-
paratory to their restoration. I understand the
31st chapter of Jeremiah as embracing this whole
subject in its order. In verse 18, the preliminary
penitence of Israel is declared: "I have surely
heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus, Thou
hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bul-
lock unacustomed to the yoke. Turn thou me,
and I shall be turned; for thou
my
God. Surely after I was turned (here is the se-
cret grace of God securing the repentance), 1
repented; and after I was instructed, I smote
art the Lord
*It is of this conversion that the Apostle Paul speaks in
Rom. xi. 23, and 2 Cor. iii. 16.
LECTURE IV.
135
upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even con-
founded, because I did bear the reproach of my
youth." Then follows the kindling mercy of God
towards the penitent (20): "Ephraim, my dear
son! a pleasant child! for since I spake against
him, I do earnestly remember him still; therefore
my bowels are troubled for him: I will surely
have mercy upon him, saith the Lord.”
In the next verses, the restoration of the people
to the land is the theme: "Set thee up way-marks,
make thee high heaps; set thine heart toward the
highway, even the way which thou wentest: turn
again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these thy
cities............there shall dwell in Judah itself, and
in all the cities thereof together, husbandmen,
and they that go forth with flocks...........I will
sow the house of Israel, and the house of Judah,
(the two kingdoms, however diversely treated in
the interim, are associated as one in the predic-
tions of final and permanent blessedness) with the
seed of man, and with the seed of beast: and it
shall come to pass, that like as I have watched
over them to pluck up, and to break down, and to
throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict, so will
I watch over them, to build and to plant, saith
the Lord." (21-28.) And then follows a des-
cription of their true change of heart, when the
Lord shall make with them a new covenant,
136
LECTURE IV.
}
and write his laws in their inward parts.".
(29—34.)
A penitential cry, therefore, to the God of their
fathers, uttered by them as Jews, and as a nation,
is what we are first to expect. Already, as we
have heard from an eye-witness of the interesting
scene, some of them assemble themselves on the
eve of their Sabbath, under the walls of Jerusa-
lem, where the abomination of desolation still
standeth, and chant in mournful melody the la-
mentations of their Jeremiah, or sing with some
thing like a dawn of hope—
"Ail Bene, Ail Bene,
Bene Betkha bekarob!
Bimheira, bimheira, beyamenu bekarob !
"Ail Bene, Ail Bene,
Bene Betkha bekarob!
Bimheira, bimheira, beyamenu bekarob!
Bimheira, bimheira, beyamenu bekarob!
Lord, build-Lord, build-
Build thy house speedily.
In haste! in haste! even in our days,
-build thy house speedily.
"Lord, build-Lord, build-
Build thy house speedily.
In haste! in haste! even in our days,
-build thy house speedily.
In haste! in haste! even in our days,
-build thy house speedily."
LECTURE IV.
137
We conclude, for the present, with what Bishop
Lowth calls a "formulary of humiliation," a peni-
tential confession and supplication of the Israel-
ites in their present state of dispersion."
"Look down from heaven, and behold from the
habitation of thy holiness and thy glory. Where
is thy zeal and thy strength, the sounding of thy
bowels, and of thy mercies toward me? Are they
restrained? Doubtless thou art our Father, though
Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknow-
ledge us not: thou, O God, art our Father, our
Redeemer; thy name is from everlasting. O Lord,
why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and
hardened our heart from thy fear? Return, for
thy servants' sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.
The people of thy holiness have possessed it but
a very little while:* our adversaries have trodden
* According to the chronology of our most learned writers,
about 3740 years have elapsed since the promise first made
to Abraham, that the land of Canaan should be given to him
and his seed for ever. During these 3740 years, it will be
found that the whole period during which any part of the
posterity of Abraham have possessed the promised land, has
not exceeded 1481 years; for, from the entrance of Israel,
under Joshua, into Canaan, till the destruction of Jerusa-
lem by the Romans, are 1551 years, from which, the seventy
years captivity in Babylon being substracted, there remain
1481 years; and as the ten tribes were carried captive into
Assyria in the year 721 before Christ, this part of Abraham's
seed have possessed the land of promise only 730 years out
of the whole period of 3740 years. If there is to be no
138
LECTURE IV.
down thy sanctuary: we are thine: thou never
barest rule over them: they were not called by
thy name. Oh! that thou wouldst rend the hea-
vens, that thou wouldest come down………………..
We are all as an unclean thing, and all our right-
eousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade
as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have
taken us away........... Be not wroth, very sore,
O Lord, neither remember iniquity for ever: be-
hold, see, we beseech thee; we are all thy people.
Thy holy cities are a wilderness; Zion is a wil-
derness, Jerusalem a desolation! Our holy and
our beautiful house, where our fathers praised
thee, is burned up with fire; and all our pleasant
things are laid waste. Wilt thou refrain thyself
for these things, O Lord? wilt thou hold thy
peace, and afflict us very sore?" Isaiah lxiii.
and lxiv.
national restoration of Israel to the land of their fathers, we
may well ask what is to become of the promises so often re-
peated, that God would give unto Abraham and his seed the
land of Canaan for ever? Are we to suppose that, in this
respect, there is to be a deviation from the general rule of the
Divine procedure, as laid down by St. Paul, that "the gifts
and calling of God are without repentance? This would
not only be contrary to those general assurances of the
Divine faith and veracity, which are to be found in the
Scriptures; but altogether inconsistent with the many
express promises to the posterity of Abraham, of their
restoration to their own land in the latter days.--Jewish
Expositor for 1821.
LECTURE V.
EZEK. Xxxvii. 21, 22. "Thus saith the Lord God:
Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among
the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them
on every side, and bring them into their own land :
and I will make them one nation in the land upon the
mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to
them all; and they shall be no more two nations,
neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any
more at all.”
THESE words, and numerous predictions similarly
worded, seem to require, for their fulfilment the
actual restoration of the twelve tribes of Israel to
the land occupied by their forefathers, and their
permanent establishment therein as one nation.
We have already argued, and I trust on scrip-
tural grounds (the only ground which in this
question can supply firm footing for a moment),
in favour of the opinion, that, at the conclusion
of the times of the Gentiles, God will give to the
Jewish people a penitent spirit, to confess their
iniquity, and accept their deserved punishment
at his hand, preparatory to their restoration to
Judea; and we concluded by strengthening our
interpretation upon this important point, by an
analogy drawn from the doctrines of the New
Testament, the revealed dealings and purposes.
140
LECTURE V.
of God, as they relate to the Catholic church of
his elect people in Jesus Christ.
Our present object is to state more expressly,
and to defend, that interpretation on which our
faith rests, in anticipating the
LITERAL RE-OCCUPATION OF PALESTINE
by the Jews.
It may, perhaps, appear to some of you, that
this point is so clearly and repeatedly stated by
the prophets, and is now so generally admitted,
that it does not require any detailed proof; and
there may be some feeling of impatience among
you, at our dwelling so long upon what you con-
sider the plain and easy, and obvious parts of
the subject; anxious as you are to have the deeper
and more neglected branches of the prophetic
records pressed upon the attention of the church.
I cannot, however forget, that this fundamental
point is still denied by many who profess, and
who seem truly to enjoy the religion of the New.
Testament. Neither can I lose sight of the im-
portance of being well fortified with scriptural
authorities in support of this literal restoration,
which seems to me to be inseparably connected
with the glorious personal advent of the King of
the Jews, his reign upon the earth, and the final
LECTURE V.
141
My
and universal conversion of the nations.
heart's desire and prayer before God is, that I
may be guided by the Holy Ghost to advance
that interpretation which is according to his will,
and that my Christian Brethen who hear me, may
he induced fairly to search the Scriptures for them-
selves, to ascertain whether these things be so.
The Jews shall be restored as a nation to the
land of their forefathers. In proof of this, I refer
to the language of our text, as plain and explicit.
For the further confirmation of this opinion, two
modes may be adopted; either, first, the enumera-
tion of parallel passages, asserting the application
of them all to this view of the subject, and chal-
lenging any other interpretation which will bear
comparison with the respective contexts; or, se-
condly, the selection of some one passage, and
a detailed exposure of the inconsistency of every
interpretation if it, except the one which main-
tains the literal return of the twelve tribes to their
own land; leaving that one, therefore, in undis-
puted possession of the field of truth.
I shall now adopt the latter mode, and make
choice of the words of our text, in connexion with
the remarkable context in which they are found:
"Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will take
the children of Israel from among the heathen;
whither they be gone; and will gather them on
•
142
LECTURE V.
every side, and bring them into their own land;
and I will make them one nation in the land,
upon the mountains of Israel, and one king shall
be king to them all, and they shall be no more
two nations, neither shall they be divided into
two kingdoms any more at all." Here we have
five particulars distinctly enumerated:
1. The land.
2. The children of Israel.
3. The restoration.
4. The two kingdoms.
And, 5. The one king. And whatever inter-
pretation we adopt in reference to any one of
these particulars, let us be consistent, and carry
that interpretation throughout, applying it fairly
to the other four particulars.
I. The first interpretation of this prophecy, to
which I would direct your attention, is that which
makes the land to mean Judea literally; the chil-
dren of Israel to mean the Jewish people; the
restoration to mean the return of Judah from
Babylon, and their re-settlement in their land
under Ezra and Nehemiah; the two kingdoms to
mean Judah, and some individuals of the other
tribes, who returned from Babylon with Judah; ;
and the one king to mean the rulers of the kingdom
of Judah, subsequent to their return from Babylon.
་
LECTURE V.
143
¿
This, so far, is in itself consistent. Let us
examine, then, how it will bear comparison with
the language of the Holy Ghost, by the mouth of
the Prophet. First, the land in the prophecy is
here understood to mean Judea literally; that is
to say, the whole district of country lying be-
tween the Nile and the Euphrates, as marked out
in the promise of God to Father Abraham. With
this interpretation, every thing that the Prophet
has written concerning the land, its restored fer-
tility and beauty, and the multiplication upon it
of both men and beasts, will naturally and ob-
viously accord. This interpretation, therefore, so
far seems undeniable. Secondly, the children of
Israel, in the prophecy, are here understood to
mean the Jewish people. With this, every thing
that the Prophet has written concerning the chil-
dren of Israel, their division and dispersion, their
re-gathering and re-union, will most naturally
accord. This branch, also, therefore, of the inter-
pretation before us, appears to be conclusive.
Thirdly, the restoration in the prophecy is here
understood to mean the return of Judah from
Babylon; and in order to maintain this consist-
ently, the two kingdoms in the prophecy are
understood to mean Judah, and some companions
of Judah from the other tribes: also, the one king
in the prophecy, is understood to mean the rulers of
144
LECTURE V.
the kingdom of Judah, subsequent to the return
from Babylon. With this view of the subject,
much that the Prophet has written, will not, and
cannot be made to accord. The return of Judah
from her captivity in Babylon, was doubtless the
fulfilment of the restoration promised in some pro-
phecies, as Jeremiah xxv. 11, and xxix. 10--
14; but does it therefore follow, that the same
event was the fulfilment of this prophecy of
Ezekiel? Surely not.
by comparing the prophecy itself with the event.
That must be examined,
The two kingdoms are thus described in the
prophecy, (v. 16, 17, 18, 19;) the one consisting
of Judah, and some of the other tribes his com-
panions; the other consisting of the whole body
of the ten tribes of Israel. These two are said
to become one. The two kingdoms of the alleged
event, according to the interpretation now before
us, consist, the one of Judah, the other of Judah's
companions from the other tribes. Thus in the
prophecy, Judah's companions are combined
with Judah, and made in the aggregate one of
the kingdoms; but in the interpretation, Judah's
companions are separated from Judah, and made
another distinct kingdom; therefore, the interpre-
tation does not agree with the prophecy. In the
prophecy, the whole body of the ten tribes is
specified as one of the two kingdoms: in the
LECTURE V.
145
!
་
interpretation, no mention is made of that whole
body; therefore, the interpretation does not agree
with the prophecy.
Again, the one king in the prophecy is thus
described (v. 24, 25): "David, my servant, shall
be king over them; and they all shall have one
shepherd.......................and my servant David shall
be their prince for ever. These words point out
either king David himself, raised from the dead,
in order to reign again in Jerusalem over all the
twelve tribes, as he did before or some indivi-
dual descendant of David, called after his illus-
trious ancestor; or at least a line of kings of the
family of David, thus designated in honour of
the great conqueror of Israel's enemies, as the
Roman emperors were from Cæsar.
The one king of the alleged event, according
to the interpretation now before us, was neither
David, nor any individual descendant of David,
nor a line of kings of the family of David; but a
series of governors, the most remarkable of whom
we know to have been of other families. The
Maccabees were Levites, concerning whose tribe.
neither Moses nor any of the prophets spake any
thing of royalty. The king, therefore, of the pro-
phecy does not correspond with the king of the
event, which is proposed as the fulfilment; and,
consequently, the interpretation grounded there-
H
A
146
LECTURE V.
;
upon cannot be maintained as the meaning of the
prophecy.
On this subject a celebrated commentator, after
advocating this interpretation, makes the follow-
ing acknowledgment: "This prophecy was ful-
filled very imperfectly in the persons of the Jews
after the captivity; both because neither the tribe
of Judah nor the other tribes returned entire, and
because they were not governed by kings of the
family of David."* In all fairness, then, the in-
terpretation which makes the return from Babylon
to be the fulfilment of the restoration here pre-
dicted by Ezekiel, must be relinquished.
II. Another interpretation of this prophecy, is
that which makes the land to mean the Christian
church; the children of Israel to mean the elect
people of God, the true, the spritual Israel, ga-
thered from all nations; the restoration to mean
the conversion of sinners; the two kingdoms to
mean Jews and Gentiles in one church; and the
one king to mean Jesus Christ, of the house and
lineage of David, now exercising spiritual domin-
ion over all believers.
I am not conscious of any unfairness in thus
stating it; but to remove all doubt, I will repeat
it in the words of one of its advocates :
“This
* Calmet, apud Mant and D'Oyly in loco.
>
LECTURE V.
147
-
prophecy certainly looks further to the kingdom
of Christ. He is that one King, in allegiance to
whom all God's spiritual Israel shall cheerfully
unite, and under whose protection they shall all
be gathered. All believers unite in one Lord,
one faith, one baptism; and the uniting of Jews
and Gentiles in the Gospel church, their becom-
ing one fold under Christ, the one great Shepherd,
is doubtless the union that is chiefly looked at in
this prophecy."* The prophecy describes Judah
and Ephraim united in the land. This is inter-
preted to mean the union of Jews and Gentiles
in the Gospel church. To be consistent with
itself, therefore, the interpretation must main-
tain, that by the land in the prophecy, is meant
what this popular commentator calls the Gospel
church.
Now, let us examine it. The general state-
ment of doctrine contained in it is, that all the
people of God (denominated the true Israel, be-
cause that Israel, the chosen nation, was a type
of the church chosen out of all natious) shall be
converted to the faith of Christ, and form one
glorious spiritual kingdom, in which there exists
no longer any distinction between Jew or Greek,
male or female, Barbarian, Scythian, bond or
free; but all are one in Christ Jesus: the middle
* Matthew Henry, in loco.
H 2
148
LECTURE V.
wall of partition being thrown down; the enmity
even the law of commandments contained in or-
dinances, being abolished in his flesh; of twain
one new man being made, so that through him
we both (Jew and Gentile) have access by one
Spirit unto the Father. Against this, as a state-
ment of New Testament doctrine, there is no ob-
jection; on the contrary, it is most sound. In the
Christian church there are no national distinc
tions: all the living members of Christ, chosen
of the Father before the foundation of the world,
born into the world at divers times and in divers
places, and born again of the Holy Ghost into
the church, at the fulness of the time appointed
for each; these all compose one body. The
kingdom they enjoy is spiritual, consisting of
righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy
Ghost and Jesus Christ, their head, is King
over them all. This is a part of the truth once
delivered to the saints, and, as such, deserves
that we should earnestly contend for it. But this
is not the subject now before us: we are not ex-
pounding the conversations of Jesus, nor the apos-
tolical epistles. The matter in hand is a prophecy
which God spake by his servant Ezekiel; and
the question is, are these doctrines of the Gospel
the subject of this prophecy, or has the prophecy
found its fulfilment in the promulgation of these
LECTURE V.
149
doctrines? This I freely and fearlessly answer
in the negative.
For, first, The interpretation before us makes
the land to signify the Christian church. Now,
what says the prophecy?" Ye, O mountains of
Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and
yield your fruit to my people of Israel; for they
are at hand to come. For behold I am for you;
and ye shall be tilled and sown; and I will mul-
tiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, all
of it and the cities shall be inhabited, and the
wastes shall be builded: and I will multiply upon
you man and beast; and they shall increase and
bring fruit: and I will settle you after your old
estates, and will do better unto you than at your
beginnings :
the desolate land shall be
tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all
that passed by. And they shall say, The land.
that was desolate is become like the garden of
Eden; and the waste, and desolate, and ruined
cities are become fenced, and are inhabited."
Among other particulars here mentioned, it is
clearly stated, first, that the land was desolate,
but shall again be tilled and sown; and, secondly,
that both men and beasts shall be multiplied
upon the land. Compare this with the supposed
interpretation. The land of the prophecy was
desolate; its cities uninhabited, and laid waste:
.
150
LECTURE V.
"
鹭
​but the land of the interpretation was never deso-
late. In the darkest ages, the Christian church,
though comparatively few in numbers, maintained
its glorious character as God's righteous witness
in the earth. The land of the prophecy shall have
beasts as well as men multiplied in it; but the
land of the interpretation is wholly composed of
immortal creatures, to the exclusion of beasts.
The interpretation, therefore, does not agree with
the prophecy.
Again, the children of Israel of the prophecy
are described as being wholly removed out of the
land; but the children of Israel of the interpre-
tation (the people of God) can never, from the
nature of the case, be removed out of the land of
the interpretation. The people of God compose
the Christian church: remove them, and the
church ceases to be. According to this interpre-
tation, the children of Israel and the land are in-
separable, yea, identical: if they be removed, the
land is removed. But the prophecy describes
them as removed from off the land, which re-
mained in its place when they were gone. The
interpretation, therefore, does not agree with the
prophecy.
Again, the restoration of the prophecy is a re-
settlement of the children of Israel in the land
which their fathers had possessed, but from which
LECTURE V.
151
they had been ejected: but the restoration ac-
cording to this interpretation, is the conversion
of sinners to the Christian church, in which nei-
ther they not their fathers had ever been before,
and from which, therefore, they never could have
been ejected. The interpretation, consequently,
does not agree with the prophecy.
Again, the two kingdoms of the prophecy were
originally one, and are described as having been
divided into two. Their re-union is predicted,
and it is added, that they shall not be divided any
more. But the kingdoms of the interpretation.
(Jews and Gentiles) were never one, and, conse-
quently, could never have been divided, so as to
afford an opportunity for a prediction of their
RE-UNION in Christ. The interpretation, there-
fore, does not agree with the prophecy.
Once more, the king of the prophecy is called
David, and seems clearly to denote some indivi-
dual of the regal family of the stock of Jesse,
who should be renowned upon the throne of his
great ancestor. The king of the interpretation
is Jesus Christ, of the seed of David. This,
therefore, corresponds exactly, but not in the
sense intended by these interpreters-as is evi-
dent; for if four out of five parts of this interpre-
tation fail, the fifth can have only an apparent
agreement in some other sense, and not in the
152
LECTURE V.
j
systematic sense intended by the interpreters.
For example; the King shall reign, and Jesus
Christ is the King. These are propositions to
which both prophecy and interpreters will assent.
But the prophecy declares, that the place of his
reign is Judæa, and the people over whom he
shall reign are the kingdoms of Judah and Israel
united into one; while the interpreters declare
that the place of his reign is the Christian church,
and the people over whom he reigns are Jews
and Gentiles in one body. Both these statements
are true, but they concern different things, and
the statement of the interpretation is not the
meaning of the statement in the prophecy.
Surely we may conclude here, as before, that
in all fairness this system of interpretation must
be relinquished, so far, at least, as this prophecy
of Ezekiel is concerned.
III. The impossibility of adhering consistently
to either of these modes of interpretation has been
felt, and a third mode has been adopted, which
is neither more nor less than an inconsistent mix-
ture of these two. It makes the land to mean
Judæa, literally, in one part of the prophecy, and
the Christian church, spiritually, in another part;
the children of Israel to mean, literally, the Jews
in one part, and, spiritually, Christians in another
LECTURE V.
153
J
part; the restoration to mean the return of Judah
from Babylon in one part, and the conversion of
sinners in another; the two kingdoms to mean
Judah and his Israelitish companions in one part,
and Jews and Gentiles in another; the king to
mean the Jewish ruler after the Babylonish cap-
tivity in one part, and the Messiah in another;
thus mingling the two preceding interpretations,
and adopting them alternately, as is found most
convenient for glossing over the context. This is
avowed, though in guarded language, as thus:
"The most sensible interpreters seem to agree
that there are several expressions in this chapter
(Ezek. xxxvi.), particularly in the latter part
of it, which cannot be literally understood of any
event, excepting of the reign of the Messiah, of
the freedom that he has procured for his church,
of another promised land, and of a chosen people,
different from that of the Jews; but, at the same
time, that there may be recognized in it certain
forms of speech, which have had their literal ac-
complishment since the return of the Jews from
their captivity."*
Certain forms of speech have had a literal ac-
complishment! Several expressions cannot, &c.!
Is not this to pretend to some mode of ascer-
taining the prophet's mind, other than by the
* Calmet apud Mant and D'Oyly.
H 3
154
LECTURE V.
prophet's words? Surely this system, or rather
no system, refutes itself; for if such arbitrary
liberties be taken with the language of Scripture;
if when the prophet, in two different places of
the same prophecy, uses the same words, without
any intimation of a difference in his meaning;
the interpreter be permitted to say that the words
in one place have a meaning which they cannot
have in the other place; then manifestly the church
is at the mercy of the fancy of the interpreter,
and all settled consistent exposition is at an end.
The true secret of this inconsistency lies here;
that expositors have taken it as a sort of sine quâ
non in their interpretations, that the prophecies
have been already fulfilled. The category of yet
unfulfilled has not been allowed a place in their
systems: hence they have diligently applied
every practicable passage to the return of Judah
from Babylon, and have toiled with sore labour
and travail, to make all the rest fit on to the
Christian church. In this they have been baffled,
as to any detailed consistency; and yet the degree
of similarity naturally to be expected between
type and antitype has encouraged them to go on,
and confirmed them in their opinions: while all
the time they have been pointing out antitypical
applications, and calling them expositions of
prophecy.
LECTURE V
155
4
Only admit this idea of yet unfulfilled, and a
thousand difficulties vanish. And why should
this idea not be admitted? We have seen, that
so long as we have the history of the Jews to
compare with the prophecies concerning them-
that is, up to this time; a certain mode of in-
terpreting those prophecies is rendered indis-
pensable: then why not simply continue that
same mode of interpretation, when we have pro-
phecy alone not yet illustrated by history? If
prophecies concerning the Jews, delivered two or
three thousand years ago, be proved, by the history
of the interim up to our own days, to have been
fulfilled in a literal sense, and therefore to de-
mand a literal interpretation; upon what prin-
ciple can it be alleged that other prophecies, de-
livered in similar language by the same prophets,
are not to be similarly interpreted after our days?
Must God have done, before our days, all the
literal things which he ever intended to do upon
the earth? Is there, indeed, any thing magical
in the age of the world we live in, that it should
change the nature of the prophecy or of its fulfil-
ment? Or is it that unbelief, though forced to
yield to the testimony of history, yet refuses to be
effectually taught, even by that plain lesson, and
will not take God at his word, or trust him for a
moment out of her sight?
156
LECTURE V.
IV. The interpretation, then, which remains
to be considered, and which alone will be found
to harmonize with all that the prophets have
written, is that which makes the land always to
mean Judæa literally; Judah always to mean
the two tribes nationally, with their Iraelitish
companions; Israel always to mean the whole
ten tribes nationally; restoration always to mean
the actual return of the twelve tribes to Judæa;
and David, their own king, always to mean the
King of the Jews, of the seed of David, Jesus
Christ our Lord.
This interpretation holds good in every point.
The present condition of the land of Palestine is
well known to be one of extreme barrenness and
desolation; whereas it was a land of flocks and
herds, a land flowing with milk and honey, the
glory of all lands. In this we recognize the lite-
ral fulfilment of that clause of the prophecy which
predicts desolation; and from the next clause of
the prophecy, we confidently anticipate a literal
renovation to beauty and fertility, accompanied
by a multiplication of beasts upon it, as well as
men, for the consumption of its produce. In the
present condition of the Jewish people, divided
and dispersed, we recognize the literal fulfilment
of those clauses in the prophecy which imply
division and predict dispersion; and from similar
LECTURE V.
157
clauses, similarly interpreted, we confidently an-
ticipate a similarly literal fulfilment of the pro-
mised restoration and re-union. But here it may,
perhaps, be objected, that in order to be consis-
tent throughout, we must maintain that king
David literally shall reign again over the twelve
tribes in Judæa, according to the terms of the
prophecy. To which I answer, first, that if the
prophecy stated this unequivocally, we should
have no hesitation in believing and expecting it;
neither should the apparent improbability, or
even absurdity of it, interfere in the slightest de-
gree with our faith. But, secondly, the Jewish
people, who shall be re-assembled in the land,
are not the identical individuals of whom the
prophet speaks as being dispersed, but their lite-
ral, lineal descendants, who shall be found alive
at the time appointed of God for their restoration.
In like manner, the King of the Jews, who shall
reign over the twelve tribes in the land, is not
the identical David, or Solomon, the son of
David, or Rehoboam, the grandson of David,
who did reign over them before their division, but
the literal, lineal descendant of David, the last
of the line of Jewish kings who shall be found
alive at the time appointed of God for their re-
union into one kingdom. The last individual
who was born King of the Jews, was Jesus of
?
158
LECTURE V.
Nazareth, and he is still alive. He is the literal,
lineal descendant of David; and the angel who
announced his birth, informed his mother that
the Lord God would give unto him the throne of
his father David.* Luke i. 32. The people
*It is written of Coniah or Jechonias, the last king of
the house of David before the captivity,
CC Thus saith the
Lord, write ye this man childless, a man that shall not pros-
per in his days; for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting
upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah."
(Jer. xxii. 30.) If the word childless, in this passage, be
taken literally as an English reader would understand it, it
will involve a direct contradiction to Matt i. 12-Jechonias
begat Salathiel. I think it has been satisfactorily argued,
that the original word, the root of which is simply nudus,
may, without any violence, be understood in a general sense,
as destitute or deprived. It is translated in the Septuagint
by εχκηρυκτον. This view would limit the meaning of the
word to royal progeny; and indeed the text itself seems to
warrant, nay, to require such a limitaton, the second clause
being an explanation of the first. Write this man child-
less, &c.-Why? Because no man of his seed shall prosper,
sitting upon the throne of David, &c. It is not said he shall
have no seed, but that no man of his seed shall reign. If
this exposition be just, it implies that he would have poste-
rity, while it asserts that none of them would inherit the
kingdom of their father. This has been strictly fulfilled.
He had two sons, Asser and Salathiel. (1 Chron. iii. 17.)
But his successor in the kingdom was his uncle Mattaniah,
whose name the king of Babylon changed to Zedekiah.
(2 Kings xxiv. 17; Jer. xxxvii. 1.) The last king of Judah,
therefore, before the captivity, was of the seed of David,
though not of the seed of Coniah. The sons of Zedekiah,
however, were slain by the Chaldees, as we read 2 Kings
XXV. 7. The genealogy, therefore, was continued in the
seed of Coniah. Jechoniah begat Salathiel, and Salathiel
LECTURE V.
159
have been preserved upon the earth generation
after generation. The King has been preserved
in heaven, where he sitteth on the right hand
of God. We are plainly informed that he shall
come again from heaven in like manner as
he went up into heaven. (Acts i. 11.) Thus
King and people shall meet, and the literal,
lineal descendants of David's subjects, shall be
governed by the literal, lineal descendant of king
David himself, and he shall reign over the house
of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall
be no end."
In pursuance of my plan, as announced at the
commencement of this discourse, I have refrained
begat Zerobabel, &c. But no man of his seed prospered,
sitting on the throne of David. The Lord Jesus is of the
seed of Coniah as truly as he is of the seed of David or
Abraham; but he did not prosper on the throne. (See
page 150.) The clause now before us of the prophecy of
Jeremiah, has been in continuous fulfilment since the days
of Coniah even unto our own days; but this clause is not
the whole prophecy; and that a limit to the period of the
application of this clause was pre-determined, is manifest
from the subsequent clause, which says, Behold the days
come, saith the Lord that I will raise unto David a righteous ·
branch, AND A KING SHALL REIGN AND PROSPER," &c.
Thus, in the history of the Jewish nation, Jer. xxii. 30. has
found a literal fulfilment for many centuries, while, in the
preserved genealogy from Coniah to the Virgin Mary, and
since then, in the person of Christ himself, provision has
been kept up for the literal fulfilment of Jer. xxiii. 5. in his
time.
:
160
LECTURE V.
from that species of corroboration which might so
largely be given to this view of the subject,
by the quotation of parallel passages, satisfied
that a fair investigation into the true meaning
of this one prophecy, if consistently followed
throughout, must shut up every candid inquirer
to the conclusion I have here drawn. That the
subject is capable of reiterated corroboration
from similar language used in other places, all
will readily allow who are acquainted with the
prophetic writings. It is, in fact, the leading
theme with the Jewish prophets. The original
grant to Father Abraham is never lost sight of.
It is the climax of every song of triumph, the key-
note in reference to which every strain is set, and
without which there is no harmony in the whole.
Is the Lord, the Son of David, the King of the
Jews, to return?—It is to the Mount of Olives, in
the land of Judah. Is he to reign over his people?
-It is in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem. Are the
nations of the earth to be blessed?-It is in com-
ing to the light which shall have arisen upon
Jerusalem. [Zech. xiv. 4; Isa. xxiv. 23, and lx.
throughout.] Yea, many hymns of praise are
written in anticipation of this great accomplish-
ment of Israel's blessedness, and left ready to be
sung by the re-assembled tribes in the land of
Judah. See Isa. xxvi. and Jer. xxxiii. 10, 11.
I
▸
LECTURE VI.
JER. xxiii. 5, 6. "Behold the days come, saith the Lord,
that I will raise unto David a righteous branch, and a
King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judg-
ment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall
be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely, and this is his
name whereby he shall be called, the Lord our Righte-
ousness.
Has it been proved, or has it not, that the Jews
shall be restored?—that the outcasts of Israel,
and the dispersed of Judah, shall be re-united
into one kingdom, and thus the whole twelve
tribes of the sons of Jacob be put in permanent
possession of the land of their forefathers? Is this
the meaning, or is it not, of the two sticks in the
hand of the Prophet Ezekiel, which God caused to
become one, and then expounded in the remark-
able language which we have lately considered?
My Brethren, I must be permitted to say, that
the proof advanced, brief and general as it has
been, requires something more than a mere denial
to set it aside, and that no candid student of
Holy Scripture can fairly resist it, unless he can
take the 36th and 37th chapters of Ezekiel, and,
adhering consistently to the whole context, shew
:
.
162
.
LECTURE VI.
*
VIus a more excellent way of interpretation. This
I say, because the custom of flippant criticism
is to triumph in the exposure of what it thinks
an error, without any attempt to elucidate the
difficulty, or point out the truth. And not only
so, but it too frequently misleads its unwary
readers into a rejection of what it superciliously
condemns, while it provides no substitute for
their instruction, but leaves them as empty and
vapid as itself.
Our attention is next invited to some of those
further particulars, which are revealed concern-
ing the restored nation-and, first, to their King,
who shall reign over them with power and great
glory in that day.
We have already spoken of the king of the
house and lineage of David; but the subject
demands a more detailed examination. I shall,
however, refrain from some of the topics usually
urged in connexion with the coming of this great.
King, because I am desirous to keep prominent
that part of the subject which especially relates
to the Jewish nation, and to avoid elevating a
collateral (however important) into a main topic
of discussion. For this cause, I have hitherto
refrained from speaking largely of the great Gen-
tile monarchies, which occupying, for certain
predicted times, the most conspicuous stations in
LECTURE VI.
163
this world's history, were made the resting-places
or land-marks of prophecy, pointing out the seats
and the exercise of that unrighteous dominion,
which shall be destroyed utterly by the bright-
ness of the coming of the King of Judah, when
the times of the Gentiles, and the iniquities of
our modern Amorites shall be fulfilled. For this
cause, also, I forbear to make any comment on
the signs of the present times, though, undoubt-
edly, the state of affairs around us is well calcu-
lated to give point and power to that saying of
the Prophet Isaiah, respecting the nations who
have oppressed the Jews: "Lord, when thy hand
is lifted up, they will not see; but they shall see,
and be ashamed for their envy at thy people."
Our present subject is,―The revelation which
it has pleased God to give us concerning
The KING OF the Jews,
at and subsequent to the restoration of that peo-
ple to their own land.
Many persons do not believe that any such re-
velation is given to us at all. To such I address
myself, in the first place, and institute this im-
portant inquiry,-Who is the king mentioned in
our text? Has any individual appeared upon
earth since the days of Jeremiah the prophet, in
164
LECTURE VI.
whose history all the particulars predicted in
these two verses have been fulfilled?
In order to answer this question with pre-
cision, we should begin by examining closely
what the predicted particulars are: "Behold, the
days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto
David a righteous branch, and a king shall reign
and prosper, and shall execute judgment and
justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be
saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is
his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord.
our Righteousness!" From these words we learn
seven distinct particulars concerning the indivi-
dual here spoken of:-
1. He shall be of the stock of David.
2. He shall be righteous.
3. He shall be a king.
4. He shall reign prosperously, i. e. according
to the common meaning of language, he shall
have victory over his enemies, and enjoy the satis-
faction of seeing his subjects in peace, and plenty,
and happiness:
5. His executive government, like himself,
shall be righteous; he "shall execute judgment
and justice in the earth."
6. His reign shall be marked by a very striking
historical event, the safety of Judah and Israel.
And, 7. His royal name, by which he shall be
LECTURE VI.
165
known and called of all his subjects, shall be
“Jehovah our Righteousness!"
It is manifest, that unless some individual has
appeared in the earth, embodying in his character
and history all these particulars, the prophecy has
not yet been fulfilled; and unless some such in-
dividual shall appear in the earth, the prophecy
can never be fulfilled. I speak to you as to those
who believe that Jehovah, the living and true
God, dictated these predictions to his servants
the prophets; and who, therefore, cannot for a
moment doubt that the prophecy shall be fulfilled,
if it have not been fulfilled already. And to you
I again propose the question, Has any individual
appeared in the earth, whose descent, character,
history, and name, will bear to be measured by
the length and breadth of this single prophecy
Let it be observed, that from the very nature of
the case, the individual in question could not have
lived in obscurity, and escaped the notice of man-
kind. Kings do not live and reign in corners, nor
in the unfrequented wildernesses of the earth; and
such a king as this would unquestionably have
engaged the pen of poets and historians. Where,
then, shall we look for such an individual?
Jeremiah lived and prophesied in the days of
Amon, Jehoiachim, and Zedekiah, kings of Judah,
about six hundred years before the commence-
166
LECTURE VI.
..
ment of the Christian era. In the ages immedi-
ately succeeding that period, we look in vain for
any individual possessing the slightest pretensions
to the appropriation of the prophecy. I need not
specify any of the kings, whether Jew or Gentile,
who reigned during those six hundred years, nor
occupy your time in proving that none of them
fulfilled this prophecy. I come at once to him
who is generally believed to have been the person
predicted in our text, and to have satisfactorily
and fully fulfilled the prediction, i. e., Jesus of
Nazareth, our Lord and Saviour.
Was, then, the prophecy of our text fulfilled
in Jesus of Nazareth? Let us try the particulars
seriatim. The person predicted in our text was
to be, 1. Of the stock of David. To this parti-
cular Jesus of Nazareth corresponds exactly: he
was born of a virgin, of whom it was written that
she was of the house and lineage of David, and
he was truly a branch of this stock, bone of her
bone, and flesh of her flesh, very man of the sub-
stance, and in the proper nature of his mother.
2. The person predicted was to be righteous. To
this particular also Jesus of Nazareth corresponds
exactly he was holy, harmlesss, undefiled, and
separate from sinners; in him was no sin: the
prince of darkness came to him, and found no-
thing in him he was emphatically the righteous
LECTURE VI.
167
one. 3. The person predicted in our text was
to be a king. To this particular, also, Jesus of
Nazareth corresponds: he was born King of the
Jews; he was inquired for under that title by the
wise men, who had seen his star in the east, and
came to Jerusalem to worship him; and when he
was afterwards asked himself, by Pontius Pilate,
"Art thou the King of the Jews?" he did not
deny it, though (the time not having arrived when
he was to declare himself King) he avoided giv-
ing Pilate a direct answer (John xviii. 33, 34):
"Then Pilate entered into the judgment-hall
again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art
thou the King of the Jews? Jesus answered him,
Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others
tell it thee of me?" Being pressed again by, the
question in a more general form, "Art thou a king
then?" he answered in the affirmative, "Thou
sayest that I am a king." A king he was, though
for a season veiled in voluntary humiliation, for
the attainment of a great ulterior purpose.
So far, then, we find the prophecy in our text
obviously, and without any violence to the lan-
guage, applicable to Jesus of Nazareth. But we
have some other particulars to examine. 4. The
person predicted in our text was to reign pros-
perously, which, as I observed, according to the
common meaning of language, signifies that he
168
LECTURE VI.
should have victory over his enemies, and enjoy
the satisfaction of seeing his subjects in peace,
and plenty, and happiness. To this particular
Jesus of Nazareth certainly did not correspond.
Instead of reigning prosperously as a king, he
was in disguise as servant, and living so, he
was despised, and rejected, and insulted, and put
to death. Instead of having the victory over his
enemies, his enemies had the victory over him;
and although, because of his personal dignity
(for he was a king), his enemies, and even death
itself, could not hold him, yet still he did not
effectually throw off his disguise and confound
his adversaries; on the contrary, he retired from
their observation, under the charge and apparent
ignominy of a defeat, and left them in the exer-
cise of a mysterious and fearful liberty to con-
tinue, if they will, in their rebellion. Instead of
seeing his faithful subjects in the enjoyment of
peace and prosperity, he told them distinctly that
his object at that time, was not to send peace.
upon the earth, but a sword; that they would
be persecuted; that their foes would be they of
their own households; that they would be cast
out of the synagogues; and that the time was at
hand when whosoever killed them would think
he was doing God service. It is true he left
them a legacy of peace, as it is written John xiv. ;
LECTURE VI.
169
but it was a peace of endurance in the midst of
suffering: it was a peace whose foundation is
patience, and its superstructure hope: it was the
peace of a faithful martyr, rather than of a pros-
perous king.
In this particular, therefore, the
individual predicted by Jeremiah certainly does
not correspond with the past history of Jesus of
Nazareth upon the earth.
5. The person predicted in our text, was to
execute judgment and justice in the earth. Now
this, again, does not correspond with Jesus of
Nazareth. He was in his own character, as we
have said, just and righteous, but he did not es-
tablish an ascendency of righteousness; he did
not execute judgment in the earth on the con-
trary, injustice, oppression, and violence have the
practical or executive ascendancy unto this day.
If it be said that his kingdom is spiritual, that he
did establish an ascendancy of righteousness in
the bosoms of his saints, and that this is the true
meaning of the prophecy; I answer, that granting
to the fullest extent the righteous character of
the disciple of Jesus,-granting it to a degree
that none of themselves will grant it, for they all
feel and acknowledge themselves vile and carnal,
—yet still this unearthly righteousness, existing
in the hearts of a remnant of mankind, (scoffed
and reviled by the world), cannot with any show
I
170
LECTURE VI.
of fairness or impartiality in the interpretation of
language, be applied to, as the fulfilment of a
prophecy which speaks in such words of majesty
as these, "he shall execute judgment and justice
in the earth.”
6. Again, the king, predicted in our text, was
to have this remarkable and important event to
characterize his reign, "in his days Judah shall
be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely." To this
particular, the past history of Jesus of Nazareth
does in no wise correspond. On the contrary,
Israel continued outcast, and Judah was trodden
down and degraded in his days; the sceptre had
departed from Judah; their tribute-money was
due to Cæsar; they declared they had no king
but Cæsar; their iniquities were at the full; and
a very few years afterwards they were utterly
ruined in both church and state, and dispersed
abroad in disgrace among the nations, as we have
seen, unto this day. If it be alleged, that the
Judah and Israel of the prophecy mean the
Christian church, I answer, that this objection
has been fairly met, and, as I think, satisfactorily
refuted in our examination of the 36th and 37th
chapters of Ezekiel; and I cannot now diverge
from my main argument, to contend with those
who persevere in asserting, that when the in-
spired prophets of Jehovah wrote Jews, they
LECTURE VI.
171
intended their readers to understand Gentiles.
This characteristic, therefore, of the reign of the
king, predicted by Jeremiah, does in no wise
correspond with the history of the days of Jesus
of Nazareth.
Our text contains yet one particular more.
7. The name by which the king, predicted by
Jeremiah, would be called and known, is Je-
hovah our Righteousness. To this particular we
find, by the New Testament, that Jesus of Na-
zareth corresponds in a certain sense. He is
declared to be made of God unto his people
righteousness, to be the end of the law for righte-
ousness; and the desire and prayer of his true
followers is, to be found in him, not having their
own righteousness, but his. But as yet, this is
stated only to the ear and heart of faith. The
disciples of Jesus cannot manifest it in the earth
—cannot prove it to the world—cannot shew, so
as to convince gainsayers, what master they
serve, and in what righteousness they are clothed.
This royal name is not fully proclaimed even in
the Christian church; nor is the sublime doctrine
contained in it, admitted or believed in its sim-
plicity and fulness by one in a thousand of those
who call Jesus master. Besides, let us attend to
the prophecy. The speaker is a Jew: the sub-
jects of the king, just mentioned in the preceding
1 2
172
LECTURE VI.
words, are Jews: and the plain construction of
the passage requires that the pronoun our be re-
ferred to the Jews: so that the prophecy declares
the name by which the king shall be called
amongst his Jewish subjects in those days, to be
Jehovah our Righteousness. Now, have the Jews
acknowledged Jesus of Nazareth as Jehovah their
Righteousness? Surely not.
Upon the whole, then, we see that Jesus of
Nazareth did not completely fulfil this prophecy.
Need I even suggest the inquiry, Has it been ful-
filled since his time? No. Many monarchs have
indeed reigned and prospered since; Constantine
and Justinian of Rome, Charles of Germany,
Henry of France, our own Henrys and Ed-
wards of England; but none of these were of
the stock of David; none of these were righte-
ous: none of them gave peace and safety to
Israel; and to apply to any of these, the royal
name of the king in the prophecy, would be blas-
phemy itself.
We have arrived, then, at a most important
conclusion, important in itself, and important in
its bearings upon other arguments; to wit, that
this prophecy by Jeremiah has never yet, up to
this moment, found a complete fulfilment.
Let
Will it ever be completely fulfilled?
the sacred text itself make answer,-Behold,
LECTURE VI.
173
thus saith the Lord! The Lord, who cannot
lie, hath spoken it, and it must be fulfilled.
When? and in whom? These are questions
of interest, both to Jew and Gentile.
Of the seven particulars mentioned in this pro-
phecy, we have seen that three were perfectly
and literally appropriated to himself by Jesus of
Nazareth; that three others were not appropri-
ated at all; and that the seventh was appropri-
ated but in a partial manner. Now it is admitted
by all who receive the Scriptures as the word of
God, that Jesus Christ who was dead, and is
alive again, will return to this earth. He sitteth
at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
“from thence he shall come.”* "He shall come
again with glory."+ "At whose coming all men
shall rise again with their bodies." It is the
creed of every Christian church, and of every
Christian, that Jesus Christ will come again. It
is the distinguishing hope of those who surround
his table: they shew forth his death till he come.
Now this revealed truth, that he will come again,
in connexion with the subject before us, excites
a presumption at least, if not a positive expec-
tation, that as some parts of this prophecy are
+ Nicene Creed.
* Apostle's Creed.
Athanasian Creed.
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LECTURE VI.
applicable to him and to no other, the remaining
parts will be applicable to him when he returns;
so that in what he did at his first advent to the
earth, combined with what he will do at his se-
cond, the whole prophecy will find in him a com-
plete fulfilment. HE HAS DONE WHAT IDENȚI-
FIES THE PERSON PREDICTED: HE WILL DO WHAT
WILL ACCOMPLISH THE FULFILMENT OF THE HIS-
TORY PREDICTED.
Supposing this expectation to be well grounded,
when he returns he must throw off his disguise
of a servant, and assert his royal authority; he
must subdue his enemies, and give peace, and
plenty, and happiness to his friends and willing
subjects; he must unsheathe the sword of justice
in the earth, and so execute judgment as to give
occasion to say, "Verily there is a reward for the
righteous; verily, there is a God that judgeth in
the earth." In his days Judah must be saved,
and Israel dwell safely; and he must be recog-
nized and hailed by the Jewish nation as Jehovah
their Righteousness. Now it is certainly re-
markable, to say no more, that those things
which, from this prophecy we are naturally led
to expect would come to pass, are precisely
the things which, in other prophecies, we are told
shall come to pass at the second advent of the
Lord.
LECTURE VI.
175
Jesus Christ shall return, not in disguise as
before, but with power and great glory. He
shall be manifested as the King of kings, and
Lord of lords, reigning and prospering, executing
judgment and justice in the earth, subduing his
enemies under him, and giving peace, and plenty,
and happiness to his friends.
These are all exceedingly important points;
but I merely enumerate them here, because
(though important) they are, as I said, only col-
lateral to our main subject, which keeps the Jews
in prominence. This is the next particular of
the prophecy. Judah shall be saved, and Israel
shall dwell safely, And the fulfilment of it is
largely and explicitly connected with the second
coming of the Lord. "Therefore, behold, the
days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no
more say, The Lord liveth, which brought up
the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
but, the Lord liveth which brought up, and
which led the seed of the house of Israel out of
the north country, and from all countries whither
I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their
own land.” And again, “Behold, I will bring
it health and cure; and I will cure them, and
will reveal unto them the abundance of peace
and truth. And I will cause the captivity of
Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and
176
LECTURE VI.
will build them as at the first* And I will
cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby
they have sinned against me; and I will pardon
all their iniquities whereby they have sinned,
and whereby they have transgressed against me.
And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise,
and an honour before all the nations of the earth,
which shall hear all the good that I do unto
them; and they shall fear and tremble for all the
goodness, and for all the prosperity that I
cure unto it." See also Isaiah xiv. 1, 2; and
xxvii. 12, 13; and li. 22, 23; and Ix. passim ;
Ezekiel xxxiv, xxxvi, xxxvii; Hosea iii. 4, 5;
Micah iv; Zechariah viii. 22, 23; xii. 6-10;
xiv. passim.
pro-
As the complete fulfilment of the seventh par-
ticular of the prophecy, we read concerning the
Lord the King, and in him shall all the seed of
Israel be justified, and shall glory. Surely shall
one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and
strength. This is the heritage of the servants of
the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith
Jehovah.1
* If Israel mean the ten tribes, as distinguished from the
two, the prophecy is, as we allege, unfulfilled as yet :-if
Israel mean Gentile converts, how were they builded at the
first?
Jer. xxxiii. 6–9.
Isa. xlv. 24, 25, and liv. 17.
LECTURE VI.
177
Where, now, is the harshness, where the enthu-
siasm, where the inconclusiveness of this line of
argument? Where, also, I would ask, is there
any other interpretation which deals so fairly
with the language of the Prophet, not evading or
explaining away a single word, but taking all as
it stands; hailing the application of as much of
it to Jesus of Nazareth, as the New Testament
history literally warrants, and expecting the simi-
larly literal application of the remainder, and the
manifested fulfilment of it all, just as the Prophet
has spoken.
The conclusion, then, which I draw from all
this is, that Jesus Christ is the king spoken of in
this place by Jeremiah; that at his first coming
he laid hold of a part of this prophecy; and that
at his second coming he will lay hold of the re-
maining parts of it; that is, he will reign pros-
perously on the earth, he will execute judgment
and justice in the earth, he will restore Judah
and Israel to peace and safety in their own land,
and he will be acknowledged and proclaimed by
them, with joy and gladness, Jehovah their Right-
eousness. Permit me here to suggest to any
intelligent man who hears me, and does not agree
with me, that it will be more suited to the im-
portance and difficulty of the subject, and more
becoming his professed zeal for the truth, to con-
*
1 3
178
LECTURE VI.
struct a grave and deliberate answer to the rea-
sons which I have advanced, than briefly or dog-
matically to deny the conclusion which I have
drawn.
Making this conclusion the basis of a fresh
argument, I proceed to say, that as the Lord
Jesus, at his second coming, will reign prosper-
ously on the earth, and execute judgment and
justice in the earth, it follows that the earth can-
not be destroyed immediately on his second com-
ing. Changed it may be, in whole or in part.
This, together with the nature of the change, is
another question; but finally destroyed it cannot
be. And further, as the Lord Jesus, at his second
coming, will restore the Jews to their own land,
it follows, that whatever change may have taken
place on the earth, the geographical distinctions.
of countries will remain discernable, so far, at
least, as will be necessary to distinguish Pales-
tine from all the other countries of the earth; and
national distinctions will remain discernable, so
far, at least, as will be necessary to distinguish
the Jewish nation from all the other nations of
the earth. Here, again, I suggest to the intelli-
gent objector, the propriety of gravely refuting
the premises, rather than rashly denying the con-
clusion.
We may now advance to make some further
LECTURE VI.
179
inquiries concerning this great King in his king-
dom, and this must be done with all practicable
brevity,
First, then, let us inquire concerning the reality
and identity of the King's person in that day.
Here I begin to address a different class of per-
sons: I mean those who have agreed with me in
all I have hitherto advanced, but who, on the
subject of the King's person do not agree one
with another. This point has been strenuously
debated, and some of you, my Brethren, well
know that the hinge of the controversy among
ourselves turns upon this pivot. Now I do not
dogmatize to any of my Brethren; I examine
carefully; I declare my mind freely and boldly;
but I neither set up my opinion as a standard,
nor do I think or feel less kindly towards any of
my fellow-students in the word of God, because
they form and maintain opinions different from
mine. "I speak as to wise men, judge ye what
I say."
On the subject of the King's person, then, in
the great day of triumph, I refer to the first pro-
phecy addressed to the devil in the garden of
Eden, Gen. iii. 15: “And I will put enmity be-
tween thee and the woman, and between thy seed
and her seed it shall bruise thy head, and thou
shalt bruise his heel." I refer to the prophecy
:
180
LECTURE VI.
<
reiterated to the Patriarch, Gen. xxii. 17: "That
in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying
I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven,
and as the sand which is upon the sea shore;
and thy seed shall possess the gate of his ene-
mies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the
earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my
voice." I refer to the prophecy addressed by the
angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary, Luke i. 31, 32 :
"And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb,
and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name
Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the
Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall
give unto him the throne of his father David, and
he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever,
and of his kingdom there shall be no end."
From these passages we learn, that he who is
to bruise the serpent's head is the seed of the
woman—that he who is to possess the gate of his
enemies, is the seed of Abraham-that he who is
to sit on the throne of his father David, is that
man child conceived in the womb of the Virgin,
and called Jesus. What is this seed, this holy
thing, but the human nature of our Lord? And
how shall the prophecy be fulfilled, if the human
nature of Jesus be not the conqueror and the king?
If the victory be gained, and the kingdom esta-
blished and administered by the out-pouring of
•
LECTURE VI.
181
the Holy Ghost, in the absence of the human na-
ture of Jesus, then it is not the seed of the woman
who does these things, for Jehovah the Holy
Ghost was never incarnate. The prophecy says
distinctly, that the seed of the woman, the seed
of Abraham, the child Jesus, shall do these things;
and the conclusion which I draw from this is,
that our Lord Christ, in his human nature, return-
ing to this earth in like manner as he quitted it
from Mount Olivet, will confound his adversaries,
perfect his elect, restore his dispersed nation,
still beloved for the fathers' sake, and establish
his kingdom in righteousness.
To others this will appear an unwarrantable
conclusion, and they will consider the prophecies
referred to satisfactorily fulfilled, if the great con-
summation be brought about after a spiritual
manner, seeing that the seed of the woman, by his
obedience unto death, hath procured and sent the
Holy Ghost to this work, and that, consequently,
all that is done directly by the Spirit, may be said
to be done by the Saviour in his human nature.
But according to this view, a most unwarrant-
able liberty is taken with our text. It makes
the first clause of this passage to be literally ful-
filled; the king to be literally of the stock of
David (for the literal incarnation is not denied),
and it makes the fourth and fifth clauses of the
182
LECTURE VI.
same passage to be spiritually fulfilled; the king
not literally executing judgment and justice in
the earth, after a visible nanner, so as to over-
whelm gainsayers, and vindicate his friends in
the eyes of the world, but spiritually establishing
righteousness in the hearts of his people. Is this
distinction authorized or warranted by the pro-
phecy itself? or is it introduced in order to ac-
commodate the prophecy to the supposed inter-
pretation? We reject it, and maintain consis-
tently, that the reign of the seed of David will be
as literal as his incarnation. The angel Gabriel
said to the Virgin Mary, 1. thou shalt bring forth
a son; 2. the Lord God shall give unto him the
throne of his father David. Here were two pro-
phecies. Had Mary applied to the former the
canon of interpretation now commonly applied to
the latter, she could not have believed that she
was literally to bear a son. If we would apply
to the latter the canon of interpretation which
history has shewn to belong to the former, we
could not deny the personal, literal reign of Jesus
Christ over the twelve tribes of Israel in Jerusa-
lem. The only objection which can be urged
against this is unbelief. Thus saith the Lord
God concerning Mary, "Blessed is she that be-
lieved; for there shall be a performance of those
things which were told her from the Lord."
LECTURE VI.
183
2. Let us inquire concerning the appearance
of the king's person in that day. On this point
it seems to me, that the history of the transfi-
guration of Jesus on Mount Tabor, was intended
to instruct us; that transfiguration being, as I
think, a specimen and earnest of the glorious
appearance of our Lord the King in his king-
dom. It was a prophecy by a fact. God reveals
his purposes in two ways: there are prophe-
cies in words, and prophecies by facts. When
God said, by his servant Daniel, "Messiah shall
be cut off, but not for himself;
there was a
prophecy in words of the vicarious death of
the Lord Jesus. When the Jewish people "took
every man a lamb according to the house of
their fathers, a lamb for an house......
lamb without blemish
a
...... and the whole
assembly of the congregation of Israel killed it in
the evening, and they took of the blood, and
struck it on the two side-posts, and on the
upper door-post of the houses," there was a
prophecy by a fact, of the same vicarious death.
Compare Exod. xii. 1-14, with 1 Cor. v. 7.
When David said, "Thou wilt not leave my
soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine holy
one to see corruption; " there was a prophecy
in words, of the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
(Acts ii. 24-30:) when Jonah was enclosed in
R
184
LECTURE VI.
the whale, and the third day vomited forth
again on the dry land, there was a prophecy by
a fact, of the same resurrection. Matt. xii. 39, 40.
When the Holy Ghost, by the mouth of Jere-
miah, said, "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 which I made with
their fathers.... But this shall be the covenant
..............I will put my law in their inward parts,
and write it in their hearts," &c.-there was a
prophecy in words, of the new covenant. When
Sarah, the free woman, bare a son to Abraham,
against the course of nature, according to the
promise, and by the sovereign power of God,
there was a prophecy by a fact, of the same new
covenant. Gal. iv. 22—31.
So also, when Jesus said, "The Son of Man
shall come in the glory of his Father, with his
angels,”—he prophecied, in words, of his second
advent in glory. And when he was transfigured
before Peter, James, and John, on Mount Tabor,
there was a prophecy by a fact, of the same glo-
rious advent.
It was by a consideration of that glory, that
Jesus had been impressing upon his disciples the
importance of following him fully, and cheerfully
suffering for his sake: "If any man will come
LECTURE VI.
185
66
after me, let him deny himself, and take up his
cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save
his life, shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose
his life for my sake, shall find it. For what is
a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world,
and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give
in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man
shall come in the glory of his Father, with his
angels; and then he shall reward every man ac-
cording to his works." In order to give this ex-
hortation full force upon them, he promises to
some of them a specimen of this influential glory :
'Verily, I say unto you, there be some standing
here, which shall not taste of death, till they see
the Son of Man coming in his kingdom." Ac-
cordingly, six days after, he was transfigured in
the presence of three of them; and his face did
shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as
the light. Thus they were supplied with some
distinct idea of what the glory was to be, to the
end that they might teach others, when the proper
time should come for making it known. They
were not to make it known until after his resur-
rection. Jesus charged them, saying, "Tell the
vision to no man, until the Son of Man be risen
again from the dead. This restriction was neces-
sary had his glory been proclaimed, it would
have frustrated his gracious purpose of suffering:
186
LECTURE VI.
?
for had the rulers known him, they would not
have crucified the Lord of glory. it was neces-
sary, however, that the earnest of his glorious ap-
pearance should be given previous to his resur-
rection; because the object of his appearing sub-
sequent to his resurrection, being that he might
be identified, and the literal resurrection of his
flesh established beyond a doubt, it was of course
necessary that his body should then appear, not
in a glory to which they were strangers, but as it
had done in ordinary before his death. At the
time appointed, his disciples declared the glori-
ous vision; and the language of St. Peter, in so
doing, fully justifies the exposition of the event
here given. See 2 Pet i. 16, 17, 18; and com-
pare Matt. xvi. 24-28, and xvii. 1-10.
The appearance of the Lord Jesus, therefore,
the King of the Jews, when he shall return to
this earth, and execute justice and judgment in
the earth, will not be any mysterious shechinah,
or inexplicable cherubim, as in typical days of
old, but plainly a man, with risen flesh and
bones, in figure as a man, and beaming in the
glory of God.
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it
doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we
know, that when He shall appear, we shall be
like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. The
LECTURE VI.
187
King of the restored Jews shall be also the King
of the risen saints in that day; for they that are
Christ's, shall rise at his coming, and he shall
change the bodies of our humiliation, that they
may be fashioned like unto the body of his glory.
Such, Brethren, is the transporting prospect
set before us; and the beloved disciple says, every
man that hath THIS HOPE in him, purifieth him-
self, even as Jesus is pure.
LECTURE VII.
ISA. lii. 9, 10. "Break forth into joy, sing together, ye
waste places of Jerusalem; for the Lord hath comforted
his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord
hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the
nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the
salvation of our God."
We have now advanced, and, I think, established,
from the sure word of God, these important posi-
tions concerning the Jewish nation,-1. Although
many individuals among them may be, as many
have been, converted to Christianity, and thereby
incorporated with the church of Christ; yet the
Jews, as a nation, shall be preserved to the end,
a completely separate people. 2. So preserved
separate, they shall be restored as a nation to the
possession of that land wherein their fathers
dwelled. And, 3. So restored, they shall have
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of David, to be
their king.
There remain two topics more, the subjects of
many and most animated predictions, to which I
now solicit your attention, and with which I shall
conclude.
190
LECTURE VII.
1. The restored Jewish nation shall have na-
tional pre-eminence in the earth.
II. The restored Jewish nation shall prove a
blessing to all the nations of the earth.
On these subjects, the language of the prophets
is sometimes that of ordinary prediction, but more
frequently of rapturous apostrophe and admira-
tion. Addressing the restored Jewish nation, as
standing before their eyes in her glory and beauty,
they proclaim her to be the glory and beauty of
the whole earth: they call also upon the heavens
and the earth to rejoice in her redemption, and
the manifested glory of her God therein; and they
hail the light of the Lord, which shall then have
arisen upon her, as the attraction unto salvation
of all the ends of the world. "Awake, awake!
put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beau-
tiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for
henceforth there shall no more come into thee
the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake thy-
self from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jeru-
salem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck,
O captive daughter of Zion. Sing, O ye heavens,
for the Lord hath done it; shout ye lower parts
of the earth; break forth into singing, ye moun-
tains, O forest, and every tree therein; for the
Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself
in Israel. Break forth into joy, sing together ye
LECTURE VII.
191
waste places of Jerusalem, for the Lord hath
comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusa-
lem. The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in
the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of
the earth shall see the salvation of our God."
The beam that shines on Zion's hill,
Shall lighten every land;
The King who reigns in Zion's towers,
Shall the whole world command.
I. The restored Jewish nation shall have na-
tional pre-eminence in the earth.
This is the main point with Isaiah. He does
indeed describe, with all but historical accuracy,
the work of salvation by Messiah, at his first
coming. He does indeed mourn, with Eolian
plaintiveness, over the present degraded state of
Zion, till Messiah returns with power as her Re-
deemer. But when that longed-for era is set be-
fore him by the Spirit, however the prelude of
his strain may touch on other topics, and intro-
duce the Conqueror as coming with vengeance
on Moab, or Babylon, or Bozrah, it is but the pre-
lude. The risen glory of the Jewish nation, is
the brightness of the field of view, in his pro-
phetic glass. There he hastens, there the chorus
rests, and swells, and prolongs, and repeats its
tones of ecstatic harmony. The soul of the seer
192
LECTURE VII.
is satisfied with the theme. The Spirit of the
Lord is willing that he should be so. "Arise,
shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the
Lord is risen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall
come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of
thy rising. The abundance of the sea shall be
converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles
shall come unto thee. The multitude of camels
shall cover thee; the dromedaries of Midian and
Ephah, all they from Sheba, shall come: they
shall bring gold and incense; and they shall
shew forth the praises of the Lord. Surely the
isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish
first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and
their gold with them, unto the name of the Lord
thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because
he hath glorified thee. And the sons of strangers
shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall
minister unto thee; for in my wrath I smote thee,
but in my favour have I had mercy on thee.
Therefore, thy gates shall be open continually;
they shall not be shut day nor night; that men
may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles,
and that their kings may be brought. For the
nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall
perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.
The sons also of them that afflicted thee, shall
come bending unto thee; and all they that
LECTURE VII.
193
despised thee, shall bow themselves down at the
soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee the city
of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
Whereas, thou hast been forsaken and hated, so
that no man went through thee."-The utter im-
possibility of applying such expressions as these
to the Christian church, which has never been so
forsaken, corroborates our former arguments, con-
demns the evasive system of figurative interpre-
tation, and identifies the party addressed by the
Prophet, to wit, the long forsaken and hated, but
in the end restored and glorious, nation of the
twelve tribes of Israel.-"I will make thee an
eternal excellency, a joy of many generations.
Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks; and
the sons of the alien shall be your ploughmen
and vine-dressers. But ye shall be named the
priests of the Lord; men shall call you the min-
isters of our God: ye shall eat the riches of
the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast
yourselves."
This prophecy last quoted, describes the nature
of the Jewish national glory, when their king
shall be king over all the earth. "One king, and
his name one."* It will not consist in such ele-
ments of superiority, as now constitute the glory
of nations. Military and naval prowess, literary
* Zech. xiv. 9.
K
194
LECTURE VII.
fame, commercial prosperity, splendid attain-
ments in the arts and sciences for the enjoyment
and embellishment of social life, enlightened and
liberal policy, improving revenues-in a word,
internal resources, and external power-domestic
arrangements, which leave all other nations far
behind us; and foreign influence, to dictate laws.
to the world: making advantageous treaties to
the aggrandisement of our empire, and the ex-
tension of our commerce; or magnanimously
making disadvantageous treaties, to the glory
of our generosity. These, and such as these,
are now the themes of national triumph; in these
consists the pre-eminence of national glory. But
the pre-eminence of the restored Jewish nation,
will consist in a superiority of a wholly different
nature from this.
The national glory of this dispensation is inse-
parable from unrighteousness. National honours
are now the grand prizes of successful ambition;
national emoluments, of successful traffic. Whe-
ther combination or opposition be traced in the
various wheels of the machine, it is SELF that
supplies the moving power: interest and vanity
compose the main-springs. Principle is out-
raged, friendships violated, truth disregarded,
consistency scoffed at: envy, hatred, and malice,
are inspired into the rival pretenders to the
LECTURE VII.
195
This is but too
proof were our
prizes, and pride into their triumphant possessors.
Deceit and fraud, dishonesty and dishonour, are
in the way; loftiness and tyranny, luxury and
self-indulgence, are at the end.
susceptible of proof, if such
present object. Indeed, it is not denied, all
disguise is thrown off; and the man who would
now talk of disinterested patriotism, in any other
way than with a sneer at the hypocrisy of the
pretension, would be considered as more eligible
for exportation to Utopia, than for a seat in our
sensible senate-house.
The restored Jewish nation, on the contrary,
shall be, what our world has never yet seen, nor
shall see, till Israel presents the glorious con-
summation—A RIGHTEOUS NATION! "In that
day, shall this song be sung in the land of
Judah........... ....Open ye the gates, that the
righteous nation, which keepeth the truth, may
enter in." "Thy people also shall be all righ-
teous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the
branch of my planting, the work of my hands,
that I may be glorified. A little one shall
become a thousand; and a small one a strong
nation: I the Lord will hasten it in his time.
I will put my law into their inward parts, and
write it in their hearts; and will be their God,
and they shall be my people. And they shall
K 2
196
LECTURE VII.
teach no more every man his neighbour, saying,
Know the Lord: for they shall all know me,
from the least of them unto the greatest of
them. And I will give them one heart, and one
way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good
of them, and of their children after them: I will
not turn away from them to do them good, but
I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall
not depart from me. Then will I sprinkle clean
water upon you, and ye shall be clean; from all
your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse
you; a new heart also will I give you,..........and
I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to
walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judg-
ments, and do them..........I will also save you
from all your uncleannesses............The remnant
of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies, nei-
ther shall a deceitful tongue be found in their
mouth............In that day there shall be upon the
bells of the horses HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD."*
Again, the national glory of this dispensation
is inseparably connected with war, and the
wretchedness and misery consequent thereupon.
It opens various pretexts for aggression to ambi-
tious monarchs: it supplies various themes for
* Isa. xxvi. 1, 2: lx. 21, 22; lxi. 3. Jer. xxxi. 33;
xxxii. 39, 40. Ezek. xxxvi. 24-29. Zeph. iii. 13. Zech.
xiv. 20, 21.
LECTURE VII.
197
irritating eloquence to rival statesmen. Quarrels
of pride ensue. Monarchs and statesmen do not
fight alone, but drag in their train the thousand
kindling spirits of their subjects, ardent to redress
the nation's wrongs, to vindicate the nation's
glory. Hence the voice of mourning in their
lands, the widow's tear, the orphan's cry! deli-
rant reges, plectuntur Achivi.
The restored Jewish nation, on the contrary,
shall be a peaceful nation; and, under their
dominion, there shall be universal and permanent
peace in all the earth. "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: but there the glo-
rious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers
and streams, wherein shall go no galley with oars.
neither shall gallant ship pass thereby. For the
Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our Lawgiver, the
Lord is our King; he will save us…...
In
his days shall the righteous flourish, and abun-
dance of peace so long as the moon endureth.
And he shall judge among many people,
and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they
shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and
their spears into pruning-hooks: nation shall not.
198
LECTURE VII.
lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they
learn war any more. But they shall sit every
man under his vine, and under his fig-tree, and
none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of
the Lord of hosts hath spoken it.
In that day,
saith the Lord, will I assemble her that halteth,
and I will gather her that is driven out, and her
that I have afflicted; and I will make her that
halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off
a strong nation; and the Lord shall reign over
them in Mount Zion, from henceforth even for
ever. And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong-
hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it
come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall
come to the daughter of Jerusalem."* The child
that was born unto us of the seed of Abraham ;
the Son that was given to us of a virgin of the
house and lineage of David; the Saviour, on
whose unseen arm a chosen people have been
long leaning for support, in the midst of tempta-
tion, and persecution, and scorn, shall then have
the visible government of the world upon his
shoulder, and be manifested as the Prince of
Peace. "Of the increase of his government and
peace there shall be no end; upon the throne of
David, and upon his kingdom, to order it and to
establish it, with judgment and with justice, from
*Isa. xxxiii. 20-24. Psal, lxxii. 7. Micah iv. 1—8
LECTURE VII.
199
henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord
of Hosts will perform this."*
Once more. The national glory of this dispen-
sation may consist with infidelity. A man who
is an infidel may be a glorious king; a glorious
general or admiral; a glorious statesman, poet,
artist, or philosopher. Men of any creed, or of
no creed, are alike eligible to national honour and
glory. Of such a nature is this glory, that its
richest laurels may entwine a brow within which
the fear, or even the existence of a God, has
ceased to call up a single serious reflection; its
brightest trophies, its stars of pride, may adorn a
bosom which has never heaved under the pressure
of conscious sin, or felt an emotion of love to-
wards him who gave his life to save the sinner.
The restored Jewish nation, on the contrary,
shall be a nation of true worshippers of the one
only living and true God-Jehovah in Trinity—
the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel.
Infidelity will be impossible. "They shall all
know me, saith the Lord, from the least of them
unto the greatest of them. Neither shall they
defile themselves any more with their idols, nor
with their detestable things, nor with any of their
transgressions. I will place them, and multiply
them, and will set MY SANCTUARY in the midst of
* Isa. ix. 6, 7.
200
LECTURE VII.
them for evermore. My tabernacle, also, shall be
with them; yea, I will be their God, and they shall
be my people. And the heathen shall know that
I, the Lord, do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary
shall be in the midst of them for evermore.
Thus it appears, that the glory, the kingdom,
the pre-eminence of the restored Jewish nation,
shall consist in their nearness to God, and his
nearness to them. His sanctuary in the midst of
them, will cause all the nations of the earth to do
them honour; and their holy superiority shall be
exercised in perfect national and individual right-
eousness, in universal and uninterrupted peace.
But how can these things be? How can right-
eousness, and peace, and true devotion supersede,
among the nations, the high and lofty splendour,
the pride and glory of military and naval supe-
riority? The answer is, the sceptre of Messiah's
kingdom in the earth will be a sceptre of righte-
ousness. His people's prayer shall be heard and
answered-THY WILL be done in earth, as it is in
Heaven! "The lofty looks of man shall be hum-
bled, and the haughtiness of man shall be bowed
down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that
day; for when his judgments are in the earth, the
inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness."
Great will be the change, when God shall
* Jer. xxxi. 34. Ezek. xxxvii. 23--28.
LECTURE VII.
201
66
make clear to men's eyes and ears what are now
only matters of faith when the disregarded
sanctions of the divine law shall be exhibited
with power;
so that a man shall say, verily
there is a reward for the righteous; verily
there is a God that judgeth in the earth." The
judgments of men will be rectified. That which
has been disjointed by sin, will be re-set. The
fear of the Lord will be seen and known to be
wisdom; and a nation pre-eminent in righte-
ousness, and in favour with God, will be ac-
knowledged the most glorious of the nations.
II. The restored Jewish nation shall prove a
blessing to all the nations of the earth.
To this truth bear all the prophets witness.
Indeed it is so incorporated in the sacred text
with other subjects, that the passages already
quoted have fully declared it. But more directly.
It is predicted by Zechariah, that when the
Jews shall be restored to their land, and their
King shall have returned to reign over them,
and over the whole earth, living waters shall go
out from Jerusalem. In parallel language, it is
predicted by Joel, concerning the same period,
that it shall come to pass in that day, that the
mountains shall drop down new wine, and the
hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of
K 3
202
LECTURE VII.
Judah shall flow with water, and a fountain
shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and
shall water the valley of Shittim.
Compare with these the vision given to Ezekiel,
of the holy waters issuing from the temple, and
flowing forth to the healing of the desert and the
sea, so that whithersoever the waters shall come,
every thing shall be healed and shall live *
This, it may be said, is highly figurative
language. Doubtless, it is so: but the figure
means something literal; and we must bear in
mind the difference between figurative language
and figurative fulfilment. The latter is mere
evasion. "The supplies of grace, (literal bles-
sings) are often represented in Scripture by rivers
and streams of water, (figurative language,) which
both cleanse and make fruitful the ground through
which they pass."+"The passage refers to the
wide effusion of divine knowledge from Jerusalem
restored. By living waters, there is good reason
to believe are meant the gifts and graces of the
Gospel dispensation. That these benefits will
be diffused more extensively by the restoration
of the Jews, is not obscurely intimated in
Romans xi. 15."
* Zech. xiv. 8. Joel iii. 18. Ezek. xlvii. 1-12.
+ Lowth on Zech. xiv.
vii. 37-39.
Compare John iv. 10-14, and
Newcome on Ezek. xlvii. Blayney on Zech. xiv. 8.
LECTURE VII.
203
In another prophecy, Zechariah informs us,
with more literal plainness, "that there shall
come people, and the inhabitants of many cities,
and the inhabitants of one city shall go to an-
other, 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 Jerusa-
lem, and to pray before the Lord. Thus saith
the Lord of Hosts, in those days it shall come to
pass that ten men shall take hold out of all lan-
guages of the nations, even shall take hold of the
skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with
you: for we have heard that God is with you."*
On the prophecy of Hosea, which concludes
with the words, "great shall be the day of Jez-
reel," Bishop Horsley remarks, "Great, indeed,
and happy shall be the day, when the holy seed
of both branches of the natural Israel shall be
publicly acknowledged of their God; united un-
der one head their King Messiah; and restored
to the possession of the promised land, and to a
situation of high pre-eminence among the king-
doms of the earth. The natural Israel were the
first seed of the universal church, and there is
reason to believe that the restoration of the con-
verted Jews will be the occasion and means of a.
+ Hos. i. 10, 11.
* Zech. viii. 20-23.
204
LECTURE VII.
prodigious influx of new converts from the Gen-
tiles in the latter ages. Thus the Jezreel of the
natural Israel, from the first, have been, and to
the last will prove, a seed sown of God for him-
self in the earth."
A remarkable matter of fact, respecting the
propagation of Christianity, closely connected
with this scheme of interpretation, and I think
strongly corroborative of it, is thus stated by
Mr. Faber:-"In the course of a very few years,
the religion of Christ had more or less pervaded
the whole Roman empire, and had made success-
ful inroads into the contiguous nations, both bar-
barious and civilized. In the course of little more
than three centuries, it became the established
theological system of the greatest and the most
polished monarchy then subsisting. Succeeding
events seemed to threaten, if not its absolute ex-
tinction, yet, at least, its contraction within its
original, narrow limits. But the result was the
very opposite of what, by political sagacity, might
reasonably have been anticipated. The religion
of the conquering Goths was, in every instance,
nationally abandoned; the religion of the con-
quered Romans was, in every instance, nation-
ally adopted. Some of the northern warriors
might be earlier, and some might be later prose-
lytes; but the ultimate, universal concomitant of
LECTURE VII.
205
Gothic national invasion, was Gothic national
conversion.
"When this great moral revolution was effected,
the victories of the cross seemed, as it were, to
be suddenly arrested in their mid career. Much
about the time that our Saxon ancestors were
exchanging the ferocious idolatry of their fathers.
for the milder religion of Christ, the Saracens
attacked the whole southern line of the Roman
empire, and, after the interval of a few centuries,
they were followed by the Scythic Turcomans.
Each division of these irresistible conquerors
obtained permanent settlements upon the Roman
platform: the Saracens in Syria, and Africa, and
Spain; the Turks in the entire territory of the
eastern empire. Yet, mark the wide difference
of the result. All those earlier invaders, who
seized upon the fragments of Roman dominion.
from the north, embraced the religion of the van-
quished, though in direct opposition to a well-
known maxim of Paganism, that the success of
their votaries was the surest test of the power
of the gods. All those later invaders, who planted
themselves upon the Roman territory from the
south-east and the east, not only rejected the
religion of the vanquished, but continued to be
pertinaciously animated by a most violent spirit
of hostility against it.
*
206
LECTURE VII.
"The difference between the two cases is suf-
ficiently striking: but the matter does not rest
here. It is not that other remote nations were
rapidly accepting the Gospel, while the Saracens
and the Turks, with an unhappy singularity, were
rejecting it. So far from such being the fact, it
would be difficult, I believe, to produce any
prominent instance of a national conversion to
Christianity, subsequent to the period during
which the ancestors of the present Europeans
received it as their public rule of faith. The
Mexicans and the Peruvians, indeed, may have
been half exterminated, and half forced into a
semblance of our religion; and in our own days,
on better principles and to a purer mode of faith,
the petty islands which are washed by the great
Pacific Ocean may have been nationally con-
verted but what are these, when contrasted
with the vast field for missionary exertion, which
stretches far into comparatively civilized Asia!
"Individually, some conquests may have been
made by the pious and laborious men, who have
undertaken the mighty task. But what has been
done nationally? What has been done upon a
grand scale? What has been effected, which
bears any resemblance or proportion to the earlier
triumphs of the cross? Both Romanist, and Pro-
testant, and Greek, are alike compelled to give
LECTURE VII.
207
the same desponding answer—JUST
NOTHING.
Look at Persia, look at Arabia, look at Boutan
and Thibet, look at Tartary, look at Hindostan,
look at China; in one word, cast your eyes over
the whole of Southern Asia, with its dependent
islands, and what do you behold? No where is
the cross nationally triumphant: every where an
incalculable majority of the people either bows to
the idols of Paganism, or is besotted through the
delusion of Mahommedanism!
66
What I have stated, though it may well serve
to produce abundant speculation, is itself a mere
naked matter of fact. However we may account
for it, and however we may reject it, still nothing
can be more clear, than that the progress of the
Gospel has now for many ages been completely
arrested. Nor must we attribute this notorious
circumstance altogether to want of exertion. The
depressed Oriental church may, indeed, have been
long in a state of constrained torpidity; but nei-
ther the Romanist nor the Protestant has discon-
tinued the holy warfare; and yet we all too well
know, what very trifling effects have been pro-
duced either by the one or by the other. I say
not this as undervaluing even the most trifling
effects; for, in one point of view, they are infi-
nitely important, and, as such, amply repay every
exertion but still, when we look back to the
208
LECTURE VII.
earlier centuries, what are a few thousands of
scattered individuals, if compared to the unre-
claimed millions which throng the vast conti-
nents of Asia and Africa?
"The truth is, that, whatever partial success
may attend missionary exertions in regard to in-
dividual Pagans or Mahommedans, the Gentiles
will never be converted nationally, and upon a
large scale, until the Jews shall have been first.
converted and the ground of this very important
position is, that the converted Jews are destined,
in the unsearchable wisdom of God, to be the
sole, finally successful missionaries to the Gen-
tile world."*
:
Upon the nature of the blessing thus to be be-
stowed upon the nations by means of the restored
Jews, I observe, that it appears to me, it will
be true and proper conversion to God: and not
merely as some persons have urged, a state simi-
lar to that of Adam before the fall—a holy and
happy state, indeed; but still not the state of a
converted sinner, upheld by the Holy Spirit.
In support of the opinion, that it will be a con-
verted (a Christian and not an Adamic) state, I
refer, first, to the 67th Psalm, which is a prayer
of the Jewish nation concerning their final re-
* See Mr. Faber's admirable Sermon before the Society
for promoting Christianity among the Jews.
LECTURE VII.
209
toration, and its consequences on the earth:
"God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and
cause his face to shine upon us, that thy way
may be known upon earth, thy saving health
among all nations." Here the alleged conse-
quence of the Lord's returning favour to the Jews,
is, that his saving health shall then be made
known among the nations. And in the 7th verse
it is declared that God shall bless the Jews, and
the consequence shall be, "all the ends of the
earth shall fear him." These expressions are
common for conveying the general idea of con-
version; and if it be denied that the nations
shall be converted, some reason ought to be
shewn why the usual meaning of such expres-
sions should be restricted in this place.
I refer, secondly, to Isaiah liii. 11. compared
with Isaiah xi. 9. "By his knowledge (the know-
ledge of him) shall my righteous servant justify
many." And, "They shall not hurt nor destroy
in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be
filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the
waters cover the sea." In the former of these
passages, justification is connected with the
knowledge of the Lord. In the latter, it is pre-
dicted, that the knowledge of the Lord shall be
co-extensive with the inhabitants of the earth.
It is, therefore, a matter of divine prediction, that
210
LECTURE VII.
all the inhabitants of the earth at that time shall
be justified. But justification is a blessing cha-
racteristic of a Christian or converted state, a
blessing described by apostles and prophets as
bestowed upon the ungodly; and to predicate it
of persons in an Adamic state, would be to em-
ploy the word in a sense wholly different from
the common scriptural use of it. Since, there-
fore, the nations of the earth shall be all justified,
for they shall all have the knowledge of the Lord,
I conclude that they shall be in a converted state,
having peace with God, not as Adam had, in in-
herent righteousness, without the knowledge of
evil, but as we have, through our Lord Jesus
Christ.
66 If
I refer, thirdly, to Romans xi. 12, 15.
the fall of them be the riches of the world, and
the diminishing of them be the riches of the Gen-
tiles, how much more their fulness?..............
For if the casting away of them be the reconcil-
ing of the world, what shall the receiving of them
be, but life from the dead?" The fall of the
Jewish nation has been a blessing to the world,
in opening a door for the Gospel to come among
the Gentiles to the conversion of a few: much
more, argues the Apostle, the recovery of that na-
tion shall be a blessing to the world, even life
from the dead. But how much more, if the bless-
LECTURE VII.
211
ing communicated after their recovery he so in-
ferior to gospel blessedness? An Adamic state
of innocent creatureship, is so infinitely inferior
to a Christian state of union with God, that no
increased proportion of the number of creatures
so blessed, would justify the much more of the
Apostle. On the contrary, the Christian blessing
of a few would be the much more, yea, infinitely
superior to the Adamic blessing of millions. If,
however, the nature of the blessing be the same.
in both cases, then the circumstance of the vast
increase of numbers may be fairly pleaded as the
meaning of the much more. I conclude, there-
fore, that the nature of the blessedness communi-
cated to the nations of the earth, by means of the
restored Jews, will be Christian,-i. e. union
with God in Jesus Christ our Lord.
I refer, fourthly, to Revelations xxi. The
New Jerusalem is seen coming down from God
out of heaven; and this glorious bride of the
Lamb (even the aggregate of the mystical body
of Christ, risen and translated into the image of
their great Head) being described, it is added at
verse 24,-"And the nations of them which are
SAVED (TV σCoμevwv) shall walk in the light
of it."
In opposition to this, it is urged, that if they
be so Christianized, they cannot fall away: but
212
LECTURE VII.
it is predicted (Rev. xx. 7, 8.) that they shall be
deceived by the devil, and fall after the millen-
nium; and, consequently, it is necessary to limit
the nature of their blessedness during the millen-
nium to an Adamic state, from which it is alleged
they may fall, as our first parents did.
I acknowledge the difficulty involved in this
objection; but I do not feel it to be of such a
nature, as to interfere with the more obvious in-
terpretation of the texts above considered. In
the first place, it is grounded upon a passage of
Scripture, to the true meaning of which we have
not one parallel text to guide us, or guard us
against mistake. And, secondly, the event pre-
dicted in that solitary passage, is to take place at
the end of a yet future dispensation. On both
these accounts, it is reasonable to suppose that
the passage is more obscure than those other pas-
sages which, with all the advantages of parallel
reference, predict events much nearer at hand.
And it seems to me, therefore, to be altogether
unreasonable and inconclusive to allow the sup-
posed meaning of that passage, by a reflex in-
fluence to dispossess the plainer interpretation
of these. I prefer adhering to the natural mean-
ing of these, and acknowledging that there is
something in that beyond my power to explain.
Upon this general principle, I decline submission
LECTURE VII.
213
K
to the difficulty grounded on this passage of the
Apocalypse. I do not, however, deny that a
solitary text, if plain in itself, and involving no
apparent opposition to other passages, is an abun-
dantly sufficient warrant for our most unhesitat-
ing confidence: but the instance now before us
is not of this obvious kind. If I were to hazard
a conjecture in explanation, I would say, grace
we know is not hereditary, and there seem to be
intimations in the prophecies of succeeding gene-
rations of men upon the earth during the millen-
nium.
It is objected, again, that the mystical body of
Christ shall be completed at his second advent,
and, consequently, admit of no increase; and
that, therefore, the nations of the earth subsequent
to that event, cannot be brought into a Christian
state. To this I reply, that the objection thus
urged would as effectually exclude from Chris-
tianity the restored Jewish nation, as it would
the other nations of the earth. But we have al-
ready seen that pardon of sin, true repentance,
the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ, and
the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit-essentially
Christian blessings-are amongst the predicted
gifts of God to the Jews in that day. It follows,
therefore, that any view of the mystical body of
Christ, which would exclude the restored Jewish
214
LECTURE VII.
nation from Christianity, must be founded upon
a fallacy somewhere. And if Christianity may
be extended to one nation, in addition to the risen
and translated saints, there is nothing in the
principle of this objection to interfere with the
similar extension of it to all nations. Union to
Christ is used in different senses in the Holy
Scriptures. We read of "elect angels ;" and it
is written, that "in the dispensation of the ful-
ness of times, God shall gather together in one
all things in Christ, both which are in heaven
and which are in earth, even in him." By the
things in heaven here mentioned, I understand
the elect angels and the risen saints; and by the
things in earth the restored Jews, and the then
converted nations of the Gentiles, I cannot
admit, therefore, that any conclusive argument
against this view can be grounded upon a con-
sideration of the mystical body of Christ. Is it
not intimated in Rev. xx. 12-15, that some,
whose names are written in the book of life, shall
be raised from the dead at the end of the millen-
nium? At what period could these have died?
Not previous to the second advent of the Lord;
for all they that are Christ's shall have been raised
or translated at his coming. Must not these,
therefore, have died during the millennium? And
if so, the whole family of Christ, whose names
LECTURE VII.
215
are in the book of life, shall not be completed at
his second advent.
Upon the more minute details, however, of the
Lord's kingdom, subsequent to its actual intro-
duction at the Lord's coming, I cannot satisfy
myself that I have unequivocal scriptural ground
to stand on; and, therefore, these latter observa-
tions are made rather on the defensive against the
objector, than as containing any positive assertion,
or offering you any direct instruction.
Upon the duration of the blessing thus com-
municated to the nations, it is to be remarked,
that although the kingdom of the Lord, and of
his risen saints, be frequently declared to be an
eternal kingdom, enduring for ever, henceforth,
even for ever, and having no end (Baoiλevori eis TOUS
αἰώνας, και της βασιλειας ουτου ουκ εσται τελος, Luke i.
33.), yet there is a revealed limit to the duration
of that state of things on the earth, which is usu-
ally called, though perhaps very erroneously,
the millennium. That limit is the period men-
tioned in Rev. xx. 4, 5: “They" (the saints)
"lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
But the rest of the dead lived not again until the
thousand years were finished."
Whether this be literally a thousand years, or
whether the same description of reckoning should
be applied to this period of years, that has been
216
LECTURE VII.
very generally, though perhaps erroneously, ap-
plied to prophetic periods of months and weeks,
and to periods marked only by the general term
of times, I will not pretend to determine. But
be it a thousand years literally, or, taking a day
for a year, three hundred and sixty thousand
years, it is still a definite period, and must have
a termination.
"And when the thousand years are expired,
Satan shall be loosed out of his prison: and shall
go out to deceive the nations which are in the
four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to
gather them together to battle; the number of
whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went
up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed
the camp of the saints about, and the beloved
city; and fire came down from God out of hea-
ven, and devoured them. And the devil that
deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and
brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet
are, and shall be tormented day and night for
ever and ever:” εις τους αιώνας των αιώνων, ages of
ages, the "secula seculorum" of the vulgate.
I have already acknowledged my difficulty
concerning this passage. One point, however,
and that of no small importance, is sufficiently
clear from it. It condemns, as an antiscriptural
fiction, the deluding doctrine of the Universalists.
LECTURE VII.
217
The beast and the false prophet, the symbols by
which the apostacy of the times of the Gentiles
in all its forms was exhibited to the Prophet, are
described as already in the lake of fire, when the
devil is cast into it. They had been cast into it
alive, body and soul, with sudden destruction
from the brightness of the Lord's coming at the
beginning of the millennium. But the wicked,
who had died previously, are not cast into it till
they receive their bodies at the end of the millen-
nium; nor is the devil confined to it till then.
THEN, however, "whosoever is not found written
in the Lamb's book of life, is cast into that lake
of fire," which shall burn as Tous aιwvas Twv at wvwv.
"Their worm dieth not, and their fire is not
quenched." See the Lord's fearful language,
Mark ix. 42—48.
εις τους αιωνας των
And now, my dear Brethren, I have done. The
nature of our subject, and the necessity of a con-
tinuous argument in the treatment of it, have
prevented me from dwelling much upon the doc-
trines of the cross of Christ, or the details of
experimental piety and personal righteousness.
This I regret. Men and Brethren, hearken! By
the law is the knowledge of sin. By the deeds.
of the law shall no man living be justified, for all
have sinned; we are conceived in sin, and born
in iniquity. Except a man be born again, he
L
218
LECTURE VII.
cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Repent-
ance is a gift from God. Faith is a gift from
God. Pardon of all sin is a gift from God. Jesus
Christ died, the JUST ONE, for us the unjust;
bearing our sins in his own body on the tree:
and he is risen again, and exalted to the right
hand of God, a Prince and a Saviour, to give re-
pentance, and faith, and pardon. The blood of
Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin, and without
shedding of blood there is no remission.
Men and Brethren, hearken! If any man be
in Christ, he is a new creature: old things have
passed away, and all things are become new.
God dwells in the man. The man walks with
God. His religion is not a science, but a na-
ture; not a theory, but a life. His worship does
not consist of the bended knee, the outstretched
hands, and the uplifted voice: neither is it con-
fined to the church, the family, and the closet.
These all are but occasional actings of it. Its
habit is pervading; extending to every faculty
of body and mind; originating the motives, and
thereby sanctifying the performances of daily
duty. I beseech you, therefore, Brethren, by the
mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which
is your reasonable service. And be not conformed
to this world, but be ye transformed by the re-
LECTURE VII.
219
newing of your mind, that ye may prove what is
that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of
God.
If you know and experience these things, and
live no longer unto yourselves, but to him who
died for you and rose again, then happy are ye;
and your studies of prophecy will be safe and
honourable. But if not, all your inquiries, how-
ever interesting in the pursuit, may prove but as
the delusive hopes of the enemies of Mount Zion.
As it is written: "It shall even be as when a
hungry man dreameth, and behold he eateth; but
he awaketh, and his soul is empty or as when a
thirsty man dreameth, and behold he drinketh;
but he awaketh and behold he is faint, and his
soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all
the nations be that fight against Mount Zion."
Christians, be ready! Take heed to yourselves,
lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with
surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life,
and so that day come upon you unawares. For
as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on
the face of the whole earth. Watch ye, there-
fore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted
worthy to escape all these things that shall come
to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.*
Jews, be ready! Addressing you as indivi-
* St. Luke xxi. 34-36.
L2
220
LECTURE VII.
duals, I say unto you, there is no salvation for
any human being but in Jesus Christ, Neither
circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircum-
cision, but a new creature in Christ Jesus. In
him, the son of Abraham, the son of God, there is
neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free, male nor
female, but one faithful body. Believe, then, in
him whom your fathers crucified, and ye shall be
saved.
Addressing you as a nation, separate from every
nation, I say unto you, mourn, mourn ye children
of Judah, for your long, your deep offences against
the Holy One of your fathers. You will not, in-
deed, acknowledge Jesus of Nazareth as your
Messiah till you see him; but you shall see him
in such an hour as ye think not. Behold, we
mourn for you, and pray for you, and we believe
assuredly that honour and glory await you in the
land which the Lord your God hath promised to
you; that you shall there see, and acknowledge,
and admire him whom we love, and shall say,
Hosannah to the Son of David!
Blessed is he
that cometh in the name of the Lord! Hosan-
nah in the highest!
Lord, hasten it in its time! Even so, Amen.
LECTURE VII.
221
"Israel arise! shine forth! Thy light is come,
The glory of the Lord is risen on thee
;
And tho' long banish'd from thy favour'd home,
Thou'rt still belov'd of God: thou shalt be free.
Zion, awake, awake! put on thy strength;
Deck thee in beauty, as in days of old :
Thy cup of fury is wrung out at length;
Thy day of trembling none shall more behold.
"Arise, Jerusalem! unbind thy chains :
Oh, captive daughter! lift thine head on high!
Thy King of glory in effulgence reigns.
And nations gather 'neath thy brightning sky."
APPENDIX.
[A.]
I WOULD not be understood as coinciding in senti-
ment with Mr. Davison in all that he has written,
On the contrary, I cannot but consider his attempt
to set aside the more commonly received opinion of
the divine institution of primitive sacrifice, to be a
signal failure. He argues chiefly from the silence
of the scripture history, as to any direct appoint-
ment of sacrifice in the patriarchal age: contrasting
this silence with the very express command upon the
subject, given in connexion with the Mosaic ritual:
(see page 31 of this Inquiry, &c.;) and he expresses
himself with some severity against Kennicott, Wit-
sins, &c.; and also against Archbishop Magee, be-
cause they recognize, in Gen. iii. 21. an intimation
of the divine appointment of sacrifice. He calls
their comments "remote and hazardous, not to say
most arbitrary," and charges them with a complicated
ingenuity involving a petitio principii as to the main
question at issue." (pp. 24-26, and note.)
224
APPENDIX.
Yet in support of his own opinion, that primitive.
sacrifice is to be traced to the invention of man, and
not the appointment of God, he says, "Superstition,
by an easy corruption of mind, might soon come to
think, that the animal victim was not merely the
representation of a deserved punishment, in which
use it was rational; but the real equivalent for it,
in which sense it was most unreasonable; and thus
resort to sacrifice for pardon, as well as confession."
(p. 144.) What should be said of this hypothesis?
We know, by Pet. i. 19, 20, that sacrifice for sin
was the purpose of God before the foundation of
the world. To say, then, that fallen man, by the
uninfluenced exercise of his reason, aided by the
unreasonable and superstitious corruptions of his
mind, should have adopted a practice which happened
to be in perfect unison with the mind of God, is
perhaps to ascribe too much to a fortuitous coin-
cidence. And, on the other hand, to admit that
God secretly influenced man to the adoption of the
practice, without any revealed commandment to that
effect, is to yield what, after all, is the main question
of the inquiry; since inspiration and revelation are
alike divine.
Mr. Davison has offered no explanation of Gen.
vii. 2. It is the first express mention of the distinc-
tion between clean and unclean animals; yet it takes
for granted, that Noah was already perfectly ac-
quainted with this distinction; for, if ignorant of it,
:
APPENDIX.
225
he could have made no attempt at obedience to the
divine commandment, to take with him into the ark,
clean beasts by sevens, and unclean by pairs. If,
therefore, it be rigidly denied that any revelation was
given, but what is expressly contained in the letter of
the record, the advocates of that opinion are bound to
shew from what source Noah could have derived the
information, which it is manifest he possessed. Noah
was previously acquainted with the distinction be-
tween clean and unclean animals; but the Scripture
history, previous to the time of Noah, contains no
mention of such distinction; does it therefore follow,
that the distinction was an invention of men? It
would, I think, be difficult to shew by what easy
corruption of mind, superstition might have con-
trived to separate between the roebuck and the hare,
the goat and the camel, the dove and the raven;
pronouncing on the one side clean, and on the other
side unclean. If then it be conceded, that these
and similar distinctions, were too delicate and de-
tailed for human invention, the conclusion is inevi-
table. They were of divine institution; but the
Scripture history is silent upon the subject, until
the long subsequent age of Moses; and consequently,
the silence of the early Scripture history, in the
letter of it, is not conclusive against the fact of
divine appointment; although that silence stands in
remarkable contrast with subsequent express reve-
lation upon the subject in question. If this reasoning
L 3
226
APPENDIX.
be correct, the very foundation of his system is
withdrawn from Mr. Davison; and the censures which
he has so freely passed upon several distinguished
divines, might have been spared.
It does not belong to my present purpose, to
pursue this argument further; and I would not have
adverted to the subject at all, but that, feeling much
indebted to Mr. Davison, for his work on Prophecy,
and having expressed myself in general terms of sin-
cere commendation, I considered it my duty to accom-
pany such expressions with this necessary reservation.
and protest.
[B.]
THE TEN LOST TRIBES.
THE following paragraph, which lately appeared in
a German paper, under the head of Leipsic, is calcu-
lateď to lead to some interesting inquiries:
"After having seen, for some years past, merchants
from Tiflis, Persia, and Armenia, among the visitors
at our fair, we have had, for the first time, two traders
from Bucharia with shawls, which are there manu-
factured of the finest wool of the goats of Tibet and
Cashmere, BY THE JEWISH FAMILIES, who form a
third part of the population. In Bucharia (formerly
the capital of Sogdiana) the Jews have been very
APPENDIX.
227
numerous ever since the Babylonian captivity, and are
there as remarkable for their industry and manufac-
tures as they are in England for their money transac-
tions. It was not till last year, that the Russian
government succeeded in extending its diplomatic mis-
sions far into Bucharia. The above traders exchanged
their shawls for coarse and fine woollen cloths, of such
colours as are most esteemed in the East."
Much interest has been excited by the information
which this paragraph conveys, and which is equally
novel and important. In none of the geographical
works which we have consulted, do we find the least
hint as to the existence, in Bucharia, of such a body
of Jews as that here mentioned, amounting to one-
third of the whole population; but as the fact can no
longer be doubted, the next point of inquiry which
presents itself, is, Whence have they proceeded, and
how have they come to establish themselves in a
region so remote from their original country. This
question, we think, can only be answered by sup-
posing, that these persons are the descendants of the
long-lost Ten Tribes, concerning the fate of which,
theologians, historians, and antiquaries, have been
alike puzzled; and, however wild this hypothesis may
at first sight appear, there are not wanting circum-
stances to render it far from being improbable. In
the 17th chapter of the second books of Kings, it
is said, "In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of
Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away unto
228
APPENDIX.
Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor, by
the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes;"
and in the subsequent verses, as well as in the writings
of the prophets, it is said, that the Lord then "put
away Israel out of his sight, and carried them away
into the land of Assyria, unto this day." In the
Apocrypha, 2nd Esdras xiii. it is said, that the Ten
Tribes were carried beyond the river (Euphrates),
and so they were brought into another land, when
they took counsel together, that they would leave
the multitude of the heathen, and go forth into a
further country, where never mankind dwelt; that
they entered in at the narrow passages of the river
Euphrates, when the springs of the flood were stayed,
and "went through the country a great journey, even
of a year and a-half:” and it is added, that "there
they will remain until the latter time, when they
will come forth again." The country beyond Bu-
charia was unknown to the ancients; and it is, we
believe, generally admitted that the river Gozan,
mentioned in the Book of Kings, is the same as the
Ganges, which has its rise in those very countries in
which the Jews reside, of whom the Leipsic account
speaks. The distance which these two merchants
must have travelled cannot, therefore, be less than
three thousand miles; and there can be little doubt
that the Jews, whom they represent as a third party
of the population of the country, are descendants of
the Ten Tribes of Israel, settled by the river Gozan.
APPENDIX.
229
The great plain of central Asia, forming four prin-
cipal sides, viz. Little Bucharia, Thibet, Mongols,
and Mancheous, contains. a surface of 150,000
square miles, and a population of 20,000,000. This
vast country is still very little known. The great
traits of its gigantic formation, compose, for the most
part, all that we are certain of. It is an immense
plain of an excessive elevation, intersected with bar-
ren rocks, and vast deserts, of a black and almost
moving sand. It is supported on all sides by moun-
tains of granite, whose elevated summits determine
the different climates of the great continent of Asia,
and form the division of its waters. From its ex-
terior flow all the great rivers of that part of the
world. In the interior are a quantity of rivers,
having little declivity, or no issue, which are lost in
the sands, or perhaps feed stagnant waters. In the
southern chains are countries, populous, rich, and
civilized; Little Bucharia, Great and Little Thibet.
The people of the north are shepherds and wanderers.
Their riches consist in their herds. Their habi-
tations are tents, and towns camps, which are trans-
ported according to the want of pasturage. The
Bucharians enjoy the right of trading to all parts
of Asia, and the Thibetians cultivate the earth to
advantage. The ancients had only a confused idea
of Central Asia. "The inhabitants of this country,"
as we learn from a great authority, "are in a high
state of civilization; possessing all the useful manu-
230
APPENDIX.
factures, and lofty houses built with stone. The
Chinese reckon (but this is evidently an exaggeration)
that Thibet alone contains 33,000,000 of persons.
The merchants of Cashmere, on their way to Yark-
and in Little Bucharia, pass through Little Thibet.
This country is scarcely known to European geo-
graphers." The immense plain of Central Asia is
hemmed in, and almost inaccessible by mountain
ranges of the greatest elevation, which surround it
on all sides, except towards China; and when the
watchful jealousy of the government of the Celestial
Empire is considered, it will scarcely be wondered at
that the vast region in question is so little known.
Such is the country which these newly-discovered
Jews are said to inhabit in such numbers. The fol-
lowing facts may, perhaps, serve to throw some addi-
tional light on this interesting subject.
In the year 1822, a Mr. Sargon, who, if we mistake
not, was one of the agents to the London Society,
communicated to England some interesting accounts
of a number of persons resident at Bombay, Canna-
nore, and their vicinity, who were evidently the
descendants of Jews, calling themselves Beni-Israel,
and bearing, almost uniformly, Jewish names, but with.
Persian terminations. This gentleman, feeling very
desirous to obtain all possible knowledge of their
condition, undertook a mission for this purpose to
Cannanore; and the result of his inquiries was, a
conviction that they were not Jews of the one tribe
APPENDIX.
231
and a half, being of a different race to the white and
black Jews at Cochin, and, consequently, that they
were a remnant of the long-lost Ten Tribes. This
gentleman also concluded, from the information he
obtained respecting the Beni-Israel, that they ex-
isted in great numbers in the countries between
Cochin and Bombay, the north of Persia, among the
hordes of Tartary and in Cashmere; the very coun-
tries in which, according to the paragraph in the
German paper, they exist in such numbers. So far,
then, these accounts confirm each other, and there is
every probability that the Beni Israel, resident on
the west of the Indian Peninsula, had originally pro-
ceeded from Bucharia. It will, therefore, be in-
teresting to know something of their moral and re-
ligious character. The following particulars are col-
lected from Mr Sargon's accounts.-1. In dress and
manners they resemble the natives, so as not to be
distinguished from them, except by attentive ob-
servation and inquiry. 2. They have Hebrew
names of the same kind, and with the same local ter-
minations, as the Sepoys in the ninth regiment.
Bombay Native Infantry. 3. Some of them read
Hebrew, and they have a faint tradition of the cause
of their original Exodus from Egypt. 4. Their
common language is the Hindoo. 5. They keep
idols and worship them, and use idolatrous cere-
monies intermixed with Hebrew. 6. They cir-
cumcise their own children. 7. They observe the
232
APPENDIX.
10.
Kippoor, or great expiation day of the Hebrews, but
not the Sabbath, or any feast or fast days. 8. They
call themselves Gorah Jehudi, or White Jews; and
they term the Black Jews Collah Jehudi. 9. They
speak of the Arabian Jews as their brethren, but do
not acknowledge the European Jews as such, because
they are of a fairer complexion than themselves.
They use on all occasions, and under the most trivial
circumstances, the usual Jewish prayer, "Hear, O
Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord." 11. They
have no cohen, (priest), levite, or casi among them,
under those terms; but they have a kasi (reader),
who performs prayers, and conducts their religious
ceremonies; and they appear to have elders and a
chief in each cominunity, who determine in their re-
ligious concerns. 12. They expect the Messiah, and
that they will one day return to Jerusalem. They
think that the time of his appearance will soon arrive,
at which they much rejoice, believing that at Jeru-
salem they will see their God, worship him only, and
be despised no more.
This is all the information that can be collected
from the accounts of Mr. Sargon. The celebrated
Oriental Geographer, Ibn Haukal, however, des-
cribes, with great minuteness, under the appellation.
of Mawer-al-nahr, the region in which these Jews.
are said to have been discovered. He speaks of it
generally as one of the most flourishing and pro-
ductive provinces within the dominions of Islam, and
APPENDIX.
233
describes the people as distinguished for probity and
virtue, as averse from evil, and fond of peace.
"Such is their liberality," says he, "that no one
turns aside from the rites of hospitality; so that a
person contemplating them in the night, would imagine
that all the families in the land were but one house.
When a traveller arrives there, every person en-
deavours to attract him to himself, that he may have
opportunities of performing kind offices for the
stranger; and the best proof of their hospitable and
generous disposition is, that every peasant, though
possessing but a bare sufficiency, allows a portion of
his cottage for the reception of his guest. Thus, in
acts of hospitality they expend their incomes. Never
have I heard of such things in any other country.
The rich and great lords of most other places expend
their treasures on particular favourites, in the in-
dulgence of gross appetites, and sensual gratifications.
The people of Mawer-al-nahr employ themselves
in a useful and rational manner; they lay out their
money in erecting caravanseries, or inns, &c.—You
cannot see any town, or stage, or even desert, without
a convenient, inn or stage-house, for the accom-
modation of travellers, with every thing necessary.
I have heard that there are above two thousand
nehats or inns, where, as many persons as may arrive,
shall find sufficient forage for their beasts, and meat
for themselves."
These particulars, we should presume, can scarcely
་
234
APPENDIX.
fail to prove interesting both in a moral and reli-
gious, as well as in a geographical point of view.
The number of the scattered members of the tribe
of Judah, and the half-tribe of Benjamin, rather
exceed than fall short of five millions. Now, if to
this number be added the many other millions to be
found in the different countries of the East, what an
immense power would be brought into action were
the spirit of nationality once roused, or any extra-
ordinary event to occur, which should induce them
to unite in claiming possession of that land, which
was given them for an heritage for ever," and to
which, in every other clime of the earth, their fond-
est hopes, and their dearest aspirations, never cease
to turn!-Caledonian Mer.
[C.]
In further elucidation of this subject, and to ex-
press strenuous disapprobation of what has been lately
much spoken of—namely, the formation of a Hebrew
church, I gladly avail myself of a valuable paper sup-
plied by a friend, who has kindly consented to my
making this use of the following extracts :—
"In the Epistle to the Romans, the Apostle Paul
makes known the Lord's will respecting the future state
of the church. In the ninth chapter he declares that
APPENDIX.
235
the Jews have stumbled at the stumbling stone
which is laid in Zion, and shall therefore be for a
time removed from the favour of God, excepting a
remnant according to the election of grace. In the
eleventh chapter, the church is compared to an olive-
tree, of which Christ is the life. The Jewish nation
are represented by some of the branches broken off,
and the Gentiles as a wild olive-tree, grafted in, and
abiding in, by faith. This breaking-off is declared
to be only for a season; unbelief shall be dispelled
by faith, by which they shall again be grafted into
their own olive-tree. As therefore there never has
been but one church existing in the world, divided
into various local churches for the convenience of
discipline, it would appear, that should any of the
children of Isaac receive of the Lord faith, and
then refuse to join the church from which they were
broken off, they set themselves in array against the
Lord's revealed purpose, rend the body of Christ, and
are guilty of schism. Two churches can never exist,
seeing the Lord's body is but one, as St. Paul declares
to the Ephesians: "Christ having made both one, and
broken down the middle wall of partition which was
between the two, and reconciled both unto God, in
one body, on the cross, and given access to both, by
one Spirit unto the Father." (Eph. ii. 14, 16, 18.)
The same truth is clearly revealed in 1 Cor. xii.
where all the members of one body, being one body,
is used as a figure to represent the oneness of the
236
APPENDIX.
church, which, with its head, is called "Christ." So
also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized
into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whe-
ther bond or free, and have been made to drink into
one Spirit. And then, returning to his illustration,
he sets forth the oneness of the body, by the various
offices of the members, which are so ordered, that
there shall be no schism in the body; which would
be the case, if any member set itself apart from the
rest. Then, having declared the church generally to
be the body of Christ, and individual believers to be
the members in particular, he enters into a recapitu-
lation of the diversity of the gifts bestowed on the
church, which recapitulation shews the church to be
composed of Jews and Gentiles, the first named apos-
tles, having been all Jews, and the gifts afterwards
enumerated, having been bestowed on Gentiles also.
That this was a truth, which the Jews found it dif-
ficult to receive on the first entrance of Gentiles into
the church, St. Paul accounts for, by declaring it to
be a mystery not made known unto the sons of men,
in other ages; as it is now revealed by the holy apos-
tles and prophets, that the Gentiles should be fellow-
heirs, and of the same body. But after any of the
Lord's purposes have been clearly revealed, no plans
of expediency, no hopes of usefulness, no designs of
promoting the Lord's glory, however specious or well
intended, can in any manner, or in any degree justify
opposition to those purposes, by substituting our own
APPENDIX.
237
devices. In the Jewish church every disregard to the
Lord's appointment, and disrespect to his ordinances was
visited by signal judgments, as we see in the case of Mi-
riam; of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and of Uzzah.
And surely the sin cannot be less in the Christian church,
although the Lords displeasure is not in this dispen-
sation shewn in the same visible manner. Rather is
the resposibility increased manifold, since the coming
of Christ, and his assumption of his prophetical and
priestly offices. For now, the ordained ministers of
his church are his representatives; and, deriving their
authority immediately from him, are so to be consi-
dered. “He that heareth you, heareth me; and he
that despiseth you, despiseth me." To refuse to re-
ceive baptism from them, and to substitute what seems
to human reason to do as well, is to imitate the unbe-
lief of Naaman, rather than the faith of the Eunuch ;
and to lead into sin those who (tempted by an appa
rent urgency of the case,) rush uncalled into holy
offices, and touch the ark with unhallowed hands.
Much confusion may arise, from not clearly seeing
the difference between national distinction and pecu-
liarity, and the nature of spiritual privileges. The
Lord has promised, that Israel shall never cease from
being a nation before him for ever. They were dis-
tinct, when the Lord God dwelt among them-they
are so, in their present dispersed and outcast state—
and they shall still be so, when, gathered from all
countries, they shall be restored to the land given to
238
APPENDIX.
their fathers; and the Lord shall be their God, and
they his people. But the church of Christ shall, by
his own blood, be redeemed to God, out of EVERY
kindred, and tongue, and people, and NATION; and
believing Israelites should feel it a privilege to join
that form of it, which may be established in a country
where, during their dispersion, they may happen to
dwell. To neglect present duties, or to despise pre-
sent privileges, in consequence of looking forward to
some that are future, and which the present gener-
ation may not live to enjoy, is to run before the
Providence of God, and prescribe to Him, who is
infinite in wisdom, and who will perform all his plea-
sure, not urged by man's impetuosity—not impeded
by man's unbelief.
The Christian church having been first established
at Jerusalem, that was considered as the mother
church, and appeal was made to it when necessary;
but after the church was driven from Jerusalem by
the destruction of the city, no church which existed
had any supremacy over the rest. Each church,
(that is, the church in each place where it was set up)
having been founded either by the apostles, or on
apostolical authority, had its government within itself;
and where the ruling powers believed in Christ, the
Christian religion became the established religion of
the country.
To deny that the holy Catholic church exists,
wherever there are apostolic churches founded, is to
APPENDIX.
239
fall into the error of the Romanists, who claim a
supremacy for their church; which claim of supre-
macy, among other evidences, proves it to be an
apostacy.
""
To set up a Hebrew church, with self-constituted,
or lay-constituted ministers, is the schism most of all
to be deplored. Every professed believer, who se-
parates from the church of apostolic descent, esta-
blished in his own land, refuses to keep "the unity of
the Spirit, in the bond of peace ; but any of the
Hebrew nation who believe, and who will not come
into the church, not only do this, but in effect they
say, "We will not be grafted in again; we have been
broken off, and we will see if it be not possible to
strike fresh root, and thrive alone." Christ esta-
blished the Christian church in his own person,
breaking down the national barrier which existed;
and until He appears the second time, himself to
reconstitute his church, disobedience to its laws, as
now existing, and disregard of its ministers and ordi-
nances, as now appointed, even in the slightest de.
gree, is disobedience to Him, and disregard of
Him, its only HEAD.
THE END.
APR 15 1915
J. DAVENPORT, PRINTER, LAWTON-STREET, LIVERPOOL.
BY THE SAME AUTHOR.
SERMONS ON THE SECOND ADVENT, preached
in St. Jude's, Liverpool. Fourth Edition. Price 4s. 6d.
cloth.
AN ORDINATION SERMON, preached in the Cathe-
dral of Raphoe, and published by desire of the Lord
Bishop of the Diocese.-Price 1s. sewed.
A VOLUME OF SERMONS, Royal 12mo.-Price 7s.-
Third Edition. Originally 8vo.-Price 12s.
THREE SERMONS, preached before the Judges of As-
size, in the County of Surrey, and published by desire of
the High Sheriff.—3s. sewed.
LETTERS TO A FRIEND, who has felt it his duty to
Secede from the Church of England, and who imagines
that the Miraculous Gifts of the Holy Ghost are revived.
amongst the Seceders.-3s. boards.
SERMONS ON THE TRINITY, preached in St. Jude's
Church, Liverpool, on Trinity Sunday, 1835.-1s. sewed.
SERMON OF THE PRINCIPLE AND USES OF A
CHURCH ESTABLISHMENT.
LETTERS ON THE IRISH EDUCATION BOARD;
addressed to the Town Council of Liverpool.
PROTESTANT AND EDUCATION SPEECHES.
LETTER ON SLAVERY AND POPERY, addressed
to Edward Cropper, and Thomas B. Horsfall, Esquires.-
Second Edition.
ADDRESS TO THE IRISH CLERGY.--Second Edi-
tion.
*The Author avails himself of this opportunity, to
protest against any responsibility for certain Sermons and
Lectures bearing his name, which are re-published from the
pages of "The Pulpit." They were printed without any.
consent or correction on his part, and contain gross mis-
representations (sometimes amounting to actual contru-
dictions) of what he said on the occasions referred to.

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