his belief,—if one ray of the hope of better things to come arise from hence, to enliven a single sorrowing heart,-if one atom be added to the mass of evidence, the author of these pages will neither have lost his reward, nor spent his labour in vain.

CHAPTER II.

PROPHECIES CONCERNING CHRIST AND THE CHRISTIAN

RELIGION.

It is one of the remarkable peculiarities of the Jewish religion, that, while it claimed superiority over every other and was distinguished from them all, as alone inculcating the worship of the only living and true God, and while it was perfectly suited to the purpose for which it was designed, it acknowledged that it was itself only preparatory to a future, a better, and perfect revelation. It was professedly adapted and limited to one particular people;-it was confined, in many of its institutions, to the land of Judea; its morality was incomplete; its ritual observances were numerous, oppressive, and devoid of any inherent merit;1 and being partial, imperfect, and temporary, and full of promises of better things to come, for which it was only the means of preparing the way, it was evidently intended to be the presage of another. It was not even calculated of itself to fulfil the promise which it records as given unto Abraham, that in him all the families of the earth should be blessed; though its original institution was founded upon this promise, and although the accomplishment of it was the great end to be promoted, by the distinction and separation of his descendants from all the nations of the earth. But it was subservient to this end,

"Because they had not executed my judgments, but had despised my statutes, and had polluted my sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers' idols; wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live." (Ezek. xx. 24, 25. Acts xv. 10.)

though it could not directly accomplish it; for the coming of a Saviour was the great theme of prophecy, and the universal belief of the Jews. From the commencement to the conclusion of the Scriptures of the Old Testament, it is predicted or prefigured. They represent the first act of divine justice, which was exercised on the primogenitors of the human race, as mingled with divine mercy. Before their exclusion from paradise, a gleam of hope was seen to shine around them, in the promise of a suffering but triumphant Deliverer. To Abraham the same promise was conveyed in a more definite form. Jacob spoke distinctly of the coming of a Saviour. Moses, the legislator and leader of the Hebrews, prophesied of another lawgiver that God was to raise up in a future age. And while these early and general predictions occur in the historical part of Scripture, which sufficiently mark the purposed design of the Mosaic dispensation, the books that are avowedly prophetic are clearly descriptive, as a minuter search will attest, of the advent of a Saviour, and of everything pertaining to the kingdom he was to establish. Many things, apparently contradictory and irreconcilable, are foretold as referring to a great Deliverer, whose dignity, whose character, and whose office were altogether peculiar, and in whom the fate of human nature is represented as involved. Many passages that can bear no other application, clearly testify of him: Thy king cometh-thy salvation cometh-the Redeemer shall come to Zion-the Lord cometh-the Messenger of the covenant, he shall come-blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord,2 are expressions that occur throughout the prophecies. These unequivocally speak of But were every other proof

the coming of a Saviour.

wanting, the prophecy of Daniel is sufficient incontroverti

Deut. xviii. 15, 18.

Zech. ix. 9. Isa. lxii. 11. Isa. lix. 20. Isa. xxxv. 4. Mal. iii. 1. Psal. cxviii. 26.

bly to establish the fact, which we affirm in the very words, that the coming of the Messiah is foretold in the Old Testament.1 The same fact is confirmed by the belief of the Jews in every age. It has been so deeply and indelibly impressed on their minds, that notwithstanding the dispersion of their race throughout the world, and the disappointment of their hopes for eighteen hundred years after the prescribed period of his coming, the expectation of the Messiah has hitherto formed a bond of union which no distance could dissolve, and which no earthly power could destroy.

As the Old Testament does contain prophecies of a Saviour that was to appear in the world, the only question to be resolved is, whether all that it testifies of him be fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ? On a subject so interesting, so extensive and important, which has been so amply discussed by many able divines, the reader is referred to the works of Barrow, of Pearson, and of Clarke. A summary view must be very imperfect and incomplete; but it is here given, as it may serve to exhibit to the general reader the connection between the Old and the New Testament, and as it may of itself be deemed conclusive of the argument in favour of Christianity.

A few of the leading features of the prophecies concerning Christ, and their fulfilment, shall be traced; as they mark the time of his appearance, the place of his birth, and the family out of which he was to arise; his life and character, his miracles, his sufferings, and his death; the nature of his doctrine, the design and the effect of his coming, and the extent of his kingdom.

The time of the Messiah's appearance in the world, as predicted in the Old Testament, is defined by a number of concurring circumstances, that fix it to the very date of the

I Dan. ix. 25, 26.

B

advent of Christ. The last blessing of Jacob to his sons, when he commanded them to gather themselves together that he might tell them what should befall them in the last days, contains this prediction concerning Judah: "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come."1 The date fixed by this prophecy for the coming of Shiloh, or the Saviour, was not to exceed the time that the descendants of Judah were to continue a united people, that should be governed by their own laws, and should have their judges from among their brethren. The prophecy of Malachi adds another standard for measuring the time; "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in; behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts." No words can be more expressive of the coming of the promised Messiah; and they as clearly imply his appearance in the temple before it should be destroyed. But it may also be here remarked that Malachi was the last of the prophets: with his predictions the vision and the prophecy were sealed up, or the canon of the Old Testament was completed. Though many prophets immediately preceded him, after his time there was no prophet in Israel; but all the Jews, whether of ancient or modern times, look for a messenger to prepare the way of the Lord, immediately before his coming. The long succession of prophets had drawn to a close; and the concluding words of the Old Testament, subjoined to an admonition to remember the law of Moses, import that the next prophet would be the harbinger of the Messiah. Another criterion of the time is thus imparted. In regard to the advent of the Messiah, before the destruction of the second temple, the words of Haggai are remark