every prophecy, we must do it in the spirit of fear, of bu mility, of faith and of prayer; we should bring into view the date or time when it was written; the occasion and cir. cumstances under which it was written; we must see whether there be any thing in the context which may serve to fix the meaning and application of the words to one particular date, person, or event; and above all we must search whether any of the divinely inspired penmen have ever quoted or applied the passage, or in any way have made reference to it, as we shall then be most certain of truth while treading in the footsteps of men inspired by the Holy Ghost, for God the Spirit is undoubtedly the best interpreter of his own word "For the Spirit (namely, the same which was in the Apostles) searcheth all things, yea the deep things of God:" 1 Cor. ii. 10. We should therefore endeavour to avail ourselves of their application and interpretation of holy Scripture, that, so far as opportunity has been given us, we may reap every advantage from their divine inspiration.

May this compilation of prophecies go forth as a little Missionary unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel: And, so far as the mind of the Spirit has been truly and clearly set forth, may it even prove a blessing to the faithful in Christ Jesus.

ROBERT WALPOLE HOUGHTON.

Trinity House, Halsted.

July, 1848.

A FEW WORDS

OF

AFFECTIONATE KINDNESS

ΤΟ THE

JEWS AND ISRAELITES.

YOU have been for nearly eighteen hundred years strangers to the Holy Land, and are scattered through the nations! Consider 1 pray you what might be expected from the wrath and jealousy of Almighty God, should the Messiah have come, and have been rejected? That he has already come I shall now prove to you in a few words from your own Bible, and may the Spirit of God give you grace to believe and be saved.

From the united Voice of your holy prophets it is clear that the following incidents must all inseparably meet in, and characterize the true Messiah

1. He must be born of a virgin.

2. He must be lawfully descended from the royal lineage of king David.

3.

4.

His birth place must be Bethlehem.

His first advent must take place, while the second Temple at Jerusalem is standing. First of all, Messiah must be peculiarly the

seed of the woman, she must conceive him supernaturally, and give birth to him miraculously; for thus the prophet Moses has written, Gen. iii. 15, I will put enmity between thee (the serpent) and THE WOMAN, and between thy seed and HER SEED; IT SHALL BRUISE THY HEAD, and thou shalt bruise his (Messiah's) heel. And Jer. xxxi. 22, For the Lord hath created a new thing in the earth, a woman shall compass a man. And Isa. vii. 14, Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. And thus was Jesus Christ born, see Luke i. 26— 28. and Matt. i. 16-25.

Secondly, Messiah's genealogy must be proved, by regularly authenticated and public documents, showing him to be indubitably descended from Abraham, through king David's line; see Gen. xii. 3. & xxii. 18. also Psalm cxxxii. 11. Isai. xi. 10. Jer. xxiii. 5. And in this manner has Jesus Christ's genealogy been proved. see Matt. i. 1—16. and Luke iii. 23-38.

Thirdly, The Messiah must be born in Bethlehem the town of David, see 1 Samuel xvi. 1-4. and Micah v. 2. And even here was Jesus Christ born, see Matt. ii. 1. and Luke ii. 1–15.

Fourthly, Messiah's first coming, must take place while the second Temple at Jerusalem was yet standing, and therefore He cannot be expected after its destruction; for thus it is written, The Lord whom ye seek shall

suddenly come to his Temple, even the (Angel or) messenger of the Covenant....behold He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. Malachi ini. 1. see also Haggai ii. 9. and Daniel ix. 25, 26.

Therefore from the words of your own Bible, must not the Messiah have already come?

But that MESSIAH WAS TO BE REJECTED at his first Advent, who can doubt who reads the following prophecies?— Moses declares Gen. iii. 15, Thou (The Serpent) shalt bruise his (Messiah's) heel: now Where is that learned Rabbi on earth, who can show how this prophecy might be otherwise fulfilled, unless by Messiah being rejected at his first coming?

What mean these words of Gabriel? Messiah shall be cut off, but not for himself. Dan. ix. 26. What mean these of Isaiah liii. 8, For he was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people, was He stricken.

Of whom and what does Micah speak? ch. v 1, They shall smite the Judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek. See this fulfilled Matt. xxvii. 30.

What mean these words of Isaiah 1. 6? I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. See this fulfilled Matt. xxvi. 6,7, xxvii. 26, and John xviii. 22.

To whom does the prophet refer? Saying to Him whom man despiseth, to Him whom the

NATION abhorreth. Isaiah xlix. 7. And again, He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Isa. liii. 3. If Messiah were not rejected, how could the following prophecies be fulfilled? Who hath believed our report and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed. Isaiah liii. 1. The kings of the earth set themselves (against) and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and his (Christ or) anointed. Psalm ii. 2. They pierced my hands and my feet, I may tell (or count) all my bones: they look and stare upon me: They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture Psalm xxii. 16, 17, 18. And one shall say unto Him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then He shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends! Awake, O sword, against my shepherd and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts, smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. Zec. xiii. 6, 7. See their clear fulfilment in the person of Jesus Christ, Acts iv. 5, 6. Matt. xxvii. 35. Luke xxiii. 33, 34. John xix. 23, 24, 37. & xx. 25. Again, see how literally Zec. ix. 9. has been fulfilled in John xii. 12—16 And how Zechariah xi. 12, 13, has been fulfilled in Matt. xxvii. 9-12, showing the very price given for Messiah !

Finally, what other reason can be assigned for all that mourning(instead of joy Jat Christ's second coming; Zec. xii. 10, unless that, Mes