proved to him, that the Messiah, he "whose goings forth have been from everlasting," was to be born at Bethlehem.

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The Prophet Habakkuk, in that sublime hymn called his prayer, has many expressions very descriptive of the days of vengeance. "God came from Teman (says he) and the Holy One from Mount Paran. His glory covered the heavens, and the earch was full of his praise. Before him went the pes:ilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet. He stood and measured the earth: he beheld and drove asunder the nations, and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow his ways are everlasting. I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction; and the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble. The mountains saw thee, and they trembled: the deep uttered his voice, and lifed up his hands on high. The sun and moon stood still in their habitation. Thou didst march through the land in indignation, thou didst thresh the heathen in anger. Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thine anointed. Thou didst wound the head out of the house of the wicked." And as the prophet considers these desolating judgments as being preparatory to the salvation of God's people, so, speaking in the name of the whole Church, he describes the greatness of that salvation, when he says, a few verses after, "Although the fig tree should not blossom, and there should be no fruit in the vine; yet will I rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me walk upon mine high places." For, as he assures us in the preceding chapter, "The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea," a passage which contains a most glorious testimony to the days of refreshing, during which, as Isaiah bears witness, "the people shall be all righteous, the work of his hands, and the branch of his planting, that he may be glorified."

Zephaniah is very express upon this subject. Having described, at large, in the first and second chapters of his prophecy, the ruin that should come upon Judea, and the neighbouring countries, he proceeds, chap. iii, 3, to foretell the vengeance that should come upon all nations. "Wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey for my de ermination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy. Then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent. From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, my suppliants, the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering. The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid." In prospect of this glorious time, the prophet calls upon the Church under the ancient name of Zion, Jerusalem, and Israel, to break forth in praise to Jehovah the Redeemer, who will then be indeed " Emmanuel, God with us. Sing, O daughter of Zion: shout, O Israel: be glad and rejoice with all thine heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord hath taken away thy judgments: he hath cast out thine enemy: the King of Israel, even Jehovah, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt see

evil no more. In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not; and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack. The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty: he will save: he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love: he will joy over thee with singing. Behold at that time, (adds the Lord,) I will undo all that afflict thee, and I will save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven out; and I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame. At that time I will bring you again, even the time that I gather you, for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the Lord." Now, sir, who is this King of Israel that is in the midst of us and is mighty, and who declares he will save, but the "Word made flesh, that dwelt among us, and came to save his people from their sins?"

Zechariah speaks to the same purpose. In the second chapter, hav. ing mentioned the vengeance that should be taken upon the Babylonians and other nations, that had spoiled God's people of old, an emblem of wrath that will be poured upon the modern Babylon, he describes the days of refreshing in the following words: Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion. For, lo! 1 come, and dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord : [this seems to refer primarily to the coming of Christ in the flesh:] and many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, [viz. the Gentile nations,] and shall be my people. And I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto thee. And the Lord shall inherit Judah, his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again ;" which plainly foretells the conversion of the Jews, and their restoration to their own land. And, perhaps, the following words, "Be silent all flesh before the Lord, for he is raised up out of his holy habitation," may be intended as an intimation of the conversion of all mankind, their attendance upon the Lord in his ordinances, and their worshipping him in spirit and in truth.

Malachi, also, the last of the prophets, foretells, and that with great clearness, this two-fold work of the Messiah. Having pointed him out as "the Lord that should come to his temple, the messenger of the covenant, in whom (to be shortly revealed) the pious Jews delighted, rejoicing, like faithful Abraham, in the foresight of his day;" he next informs us what would be the effect of his manifestation in our flesh. "But who," says he, "may abide the day of his coming? And who shall stand when he appeareth? For he is like refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap, and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, [and by the spirit of judgment, as well as spirit of burning,] he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness." Then the times of refreshing shall succeed the days of vengeance, "and the offering of Judah and Jerusalem shall be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in the former years." For while the Lord comes "near to judgment," and is a "swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, and that turn away the stranger from his right, and fear not the Lord;" they that fear him "speak often one to another, and the Lord hearkens and hears, and a book of remembrance is written for those that fear the Lord and think VOL. III. 84

upon his name; and they shall be mine, saith the Lord, in the day when I make up my jewels. Then shall ye turn and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God, and him that serveth him not." And he speaks more clearly still in the next (the last) chapter. He first describes the days of vengeance. "Behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, and all that do wickedly, shall be as stubble: the day cometh that shall burn them up, and leave them neither root nor branch." He then foretells the days of refreshing which shall succeed. "But unto you that fear my name, shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings, and ye shall go forth and grow up as calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet, in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts."

Now, sir, he before whose face Jehovah's messenger, John the Baptist, was sent, and before whom he cried, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight;" he who suddenly comes to his temple, and, appearing in it as the Desire of all nations, gives it a glory, such as even Solomon's temple had not, though beside the splendour and magnificence of the wonderful fabric, overlaid with silver and gold, it had five signs of the Divine presence, as the Jews themselves have acknowledged, which were wanting in this second temple, viz. the Urim and Thummim, by which the high priest was miraculously instructed in the will of God; the "ark of the covenant," containing the two tables of the law written with the finger of God; the "fire upon the altar," which came down from heaven; the "shekinah," or visible display of the Divine glory, and the "Spirit of prophecy." He, who is like refiner's fire and fuller's soap, and who sits upon the souls of men, as a refiner and purifier of silver, purifying them from all pollution of flest. and spirit: he who comes near, by his spiritual presence, as a swift witness against sinners of every description, while as the "Sun of righteousness" he rises upon those that fear the name of the Lord, with healing in his wings, so that they go forth and grow up as calves of the stall: he surely must be more than a mere man. Leaving you to reflect, sir, on the contrariety of your doctrine, to that of the prophets, I remain, &c.

LETTER VÍ.

The testimony borne by the prophets to the Godhead of Christ. REV. SIR,How could you assert that none of the prophets gave the Jews any other idea of the Messiah, than that of a man like themselves, when Isaiah had given him names which are above every name, that at the names of our Saviour every knee should bow, and every believing Jew should confess that the Messiah is Lord God omnipotent? Had you forgotten this prophetic exultation: "Unto us the child is born, unto us the son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace?" Isa. ix, 6.

Your assertion is so much the more astonishing, as Isaiah in other places speaks of the Messiah in terms as magnificent. Take two or

three instances. That prophet describes the Messiah's humanity as a branch growing out of the roots of Jesse, as a holy Prince which shall judge with righteousness, reprove with equity, smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, slay the wicked with the breath of his lips, and so perfectly restore peace in the earth, that they shall not hurt nor destroy in all his holy mountain, or happy dominions, where even the Gentiles shall enjoy a glorious rest: "for the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off, and Ephraim shall not envy Judah, nor shall Judah vex Ephraim; and the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea,' Isa. xi, 1, &c. After this description of the Messiah, the Son of God manifested as Son of David and Jesse, to destroy the works of the devil, and to reign with his ancients gloriously, the prophet, in the name of the Church, sings, beforehand, a song of thanksgiving to God our Saviour, for these mighty achievements. In that day (says he) thou shalt say, The work of redemption is finished: "Behold, God is my salvation, the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. Sing unto the Lord, for he hath done excellent things. Cry out, and shout, thou inhabitant of Sion, for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee," Isa. xii, 1, &c. It was impossible for a spiritual Jew to read this description of the Messiah's peaceful kingdom, without seeing that this root of Jesse, this Holy One of Israel, so great in the midst of Zion, was the same wonderful person whom the prophet had just before called the "Son given," and the "mighty God." And our Lord gave the Jews an assurance of it, when he cried, on the great day of the feast, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink." And this he did when they had just been singing (as they did at that feast) those words of Isaiah: "You shall draw with joy water out of the wells of salvation ;" plainly intimating to them, as he had done to the woman of Samaria, that he was the Divine spring of our joy, the Holy One of Israel in the midst of us, and the Jehovah become our salvation, and sung by Isaiah.

The same prophet, personating John the Baptist, and foretelling the coming of the Messiah, says: "The voice of him that crieth in the wil. derness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, [the way of Jehovah ;] makė straight in the desert a high way for our God: Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain shall be made low, and the rough places plain; and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed. O Zion, that bringest good tidings, [or, as the bishop of London reads it, O thou that bringest good tidings to Zion, O thou that publishest the Gospel,] lift up thy voice with strength, lift it up, be not afraid. Say to the cities of Judah, Behold your God! Behold, the Lord God will come with a strong hand, his reward is with him, and his work before him," Isa. xl, 3, 10. This pompous description of the Messiah is again and again applied to our Lord in the New Testament. If Isaiah says to the cities of Judah, "Behold your God," John the Baptist crieth to them, " Behold the Lamb of God!" If the Lord God says, (by his prophet,) "Behold, the Lord will come, his reward is with him, &c: thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts, I am the First and the Last, and beside me there is no God," Isa. xl, 10, and xliv, 6; our Lord applying to himself these lofty expressions of Isaiah, saith,

"Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be: I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last," Rev. xxii, 12, 18.

And if the Jews had not the New Testament, they had a number of prophecies which confirmed and explained each other. Thus, suppose pious Jews would know who that God was, for whom they were to make the highway straight, and the rough places plain, Isaiah xi, 3, they needed only read on to the eleventh verse, where we find this additional description of him : "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd, he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are big with young." And if they had not the Gospel of St. John, where our Lord says, "I am the good Shepherd," they had the prophecy of Zechariah, where this Divine Shepherd is thus described: "Awake, O sword, against my Shepherd, against the man who is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts, smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered," Zech. xiii, 7, and Matt. xxvi, 31. And they saw in Isaiah how it pleased the Lord to bruise this Shepherd, when he made his soul an offering for sin; how he was wounded for our transgres. sions, and bruised for our iniquities; how all we like sheep have gone astray, and how the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all, Isa. liii, 5, 6, 10. They had the prophecy of Ezekiel, where this great Shepherd is thus described: "I will save my flock, I will set one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David, he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd: I the Lord have spoken it. And they shall no more be prey to the heathen, neither shall the beasts of the land devour them, but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid," Ezekiel xxxiv, 22, &c. They had this prediction of Hosea: "The children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an ephod: afterward they shall return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and shall fear the Lord, and his goodness in the latter days," Hosea iii, 4.

From these consentaneous prophecies the spiritual Jews saw, that the Messiah, their king, would appear both as the wonderful child promised to David, and as "the mighty God," called sometimes "the Lord of hosts," and sometimes "the fellow of the Lord of hosts," according to the description which St. John gave afterward of him: "In the beginning he was with God, and he was God; and we have seen his glory, which is the glory of the only begotten of the Father, [made flesh, and dwelling among us,] full of grace and truth."

The Jews met some of these shining descriptions of the Messiah, as often as they searched the oracles of God; the Holy Ghost having taken care to multiply them, that the unbelieving in all ages might be without excuse.

Moses saith: "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh come: unto him shall the gathering of the people be," Gen. xlix, 10. Now the spiritual Jews, wanting to know who this Shiloh should be, did not fail to read over the other prophets sent to enlarge upon this promise recorded by Moses, and they found this parallel description of the days of the Messiah: "In that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people: to it shall the Gentiles seek: and the