3.8,17.) In unison also with these original promises | are the predictions that this land of Canaan should be to the children of Israel an everlasting possession. (Deut. 30. 1-5; Jerem. 30, 3;) all these predictions, however, being contingent on the obedience of the Jews to their heavenly King, failing which, another series of prophecies of opposite character have taken their place. The 28th chapter of Deuteronomy contains a series of most striking predictions relative to the Jews, which are fulfilling to this very day. Bishop Newton and Dr. Graves have shown its accomplishment at great length. To specify a very few particulars: "Moses foretold that they should be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth, scattered among all people from one end of the earth even unto the other, find no ease or rest, be oppressed and crushed alway, be left few in number among the heathen, pine away in their iniquity in their enemy's land, and become an astonishment, a proverb, and a bye-word unto all nations." How literally all this has been fulfilled, is matter of common observation; and may be found stated at length in the articles, JEWS; PALESTINE.

Josiah was prophetically announced by name, and his acts for the suppression of idolatry recounted, three hundred and sixty-one years before the event, (1Kings 13. 2,) by a prophet who came out of Judah on purpose to denounce the judgments of God upon the priests of the altar, and upon the altar itself, which Jeroboam had then recently erected at Bethel.

The prophecies of Isaiah, at a time when the nation was plunged in the grossest practices, foreshowed the utter subversion of idolatry among the Jews, (ch. 2. 18-21,) which accordingly, after suffering the punishments denounced, they have very long utterly forsaken.

Jeremiah foretold the conquests of Nebuchadnezzar, and the captivity of the Jews by him, in so remarkable and solemn a manner, that it was notorious to all the neighbouring nations, who were included in the denunciations.

According to the custom of delivering prophecies by visible signs as well as words, he sent bonds and yokes "to the kings of Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, Tyre, and Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which came to Jerusalem, [from these several kings,] unto Zedekiah, king of Judah," and foretold "that all these nations should serve Nebuchadnezzar and his son, and his son's son." (Jerem. 27.3-7.) The Jews put him in prison for this prophecy, where he was kept until Nebuchadnezzar took the city and set him at liberty. (39.11-14.) This prophet was opposed and contradicted by several false prophets, who prophesied deceitful and flattering delusions to the people, persuading them that no evil should come upon them; of whom Jeremiah foretold, that Hananiah should die that same year in which he uttered his false prophecies, (28. 16,17,) and that Ahab, the son of Kolaiah, and Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah, should be taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar, and slain in the sight of the people of Judah, and roasted in the fire. (29. 21,22.) And thus distinctly foretelling the time and manner of the death of these false prophets, he vindicated his own prophecies, which were at first so unwillingly believed, beyond all contradiction. But that which seemed most strange, and was most objected against, in the prophecies of Jeremiah, was his prediction concerning the death of King Zedekiah; in which he and Ezekiel were thought to contradict each other. Jeremiah prophesied in Jerusalem at the same time when Ezekiel prophesied in Babylon, and concerning the same things; and Jeremiah's prophecy was sent to the captives in Babylon, and Ezekiel's to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Now these two prophets, writing of the captivity of Zedekiah,

1091

enumerate all the circumstances of it between them in such a manner, that they were believed to contradict each other; and thus the expectation and attention of the people were the more excited to observe the fulfilment of their prophecies. (Comp. Jerem. 34. 2-7; and Ezek. 12. 13.) Jeremiah said that Zedekiah should see the king of Babylon, and be carried to Babylon; Ezekiel, that he should not see Babylon: Jeremiah, that he should die in peace, and be buried after the manner of his ancestors; Ezekiel, that he should die at Babylon. Now if we compare all this with the history, nothing was ever more punctually fulfilled; for Zedekiah saw the king of Babylon, who commanded his eyes to be put out, before he was brought to Babylon; and he died there, but died peaceably, and was suffered to have the usual funeral solemnities. (Jerem. 39. 4,7; 2Kings 25. 6,7.) Therefore both prophecies proved true in the event, which before seemed to be inconsistent; and so critical an exactness in every minute circumstance, in prophecies delivered by two persons who were before thought to contradict each other, was such a conviction to the Jews, after they had seen them so punctually fulfilled, in their captivity, that they could no longer doubt but that both were from God.

The profanation of the Temple by Antiochus Epiphanes, together with his death, was clearly foretold by Daniel four hundred and eight years before the accomplishment of his prediction. (Dan. ch. 8.) He likewise prophesied the destruction of the city of Jerusalem, the desolation of that city, and also of Judæa, and the cessation of the Jewish sacrifices and oblations. (9. 26,27.) The accomplishment of these predictions is attested by all history.

Hosea also foretold the present state of the people of Israel in these remarkable words: "They shall be wanderers among the nations." (ch. 9. 17.)

Our limits will not permit us to give an account of all the various prophecies which have been remarkably fulfilled; but whoever has examined profane history with any degree of attention, and compared it with the predictions of Scripture, must, if he be not blinded by prejudice and hardened by infidelity, be convinced of the truth of prophecy by its exact accomplishment. It is absurd to say that these prophecies were delivered since the events have taken place, (a desperate assertion, which the exact agreement of the prophecy and the event has sometimes forced from the enemies of revelation,) of which not a shadow of proof can possibly be produced, and which is against all probability; for we see prophecies, the latest of which must unquestionably have been delivered about seventeen hundred years ago, and some of them above three thousand years ago, fulfilling at this very time; and once flourishing cities, and countries, and kingdoms in a desolate condition, all brought about in the very same manner, and with the very same circumstances as the prophets had foretold.

"We see," says Bishop Newton, "the descendants of Shem and Japheth ruling and enlarged in Asia and Europe, and perhaps in America; and the 'curse of servitude' still attending the wretched descendants of IIam, in Africa. in Africa. We see the posterity of Ishmael 'multiplied exceedingly, and become a great nation' in the Arabians; yet living like 'wild men,' and shifting from place to place in the wilderness; their hand against every man, and every man's hand against them;' and still dwelling an independent and free people, in presence of all their brethren,' and in the presence of all their enemies. We see the family of Esau totally extinct, and that of Jacob subsisting at this day; 'the sceptre departed from Judah,' and the people living nowhere in authority, everywhere in subjection; the Jews still dwell

ing alone among the nations, while the remembrance of Amalek is utterly put out from under heaven.' We see the Jews severely punished for their infidelity and disobedience to their 'great prophet like unto Moses;' plucked off from their own land, and removed into all the kingdoms of the earth; oppressed and spoiled evermore; and made a proverb and a by-word among all nations.' We see 'Ephraim 30 broken as to be no more a people,' while the whole nation is comprehended under the name of Judah; the Jews wonderfully preserved as a distinct people, while their great conquerors are everywhere destroyed; their land lying desolate, and them selves cut off from being the people of God, while the Gentiles are advanced in their room. We see Nineveh so completely destroyed, that the place thereof is not and cannot be known; Babylon made a 'desolation for ever,' a possession for the bittern, and pools of water; Tyre become like the top of a rock, a place for fishers to spread their nets upon;' and Egypt a base kingdom, the basest of the kingdoms,' and still tributary and subject to strangers. We see, of the four great empires of the world, the fourth and last, which was greater and more powerful than any of the former, divided in the western part thereof into ten lesser kingdoms; and among them a power with a triple crown differs from the first' with a mouth speaking very great things,' and with look more stout than his fellows 'speaking great words against the Most High, wearing out the saints of the Most High, and changing times and laws.' We see a power cast down the truth to the ground, and prosper and practise, and destroy the | holy people, not regarding the God of his fathers, nor the desire of wives, but honouring Mahuzzim,' godsprotectors, or saints-protectors, and causing the priests of Mahuzzim to rule over many, and to divide the land for gain. We see the Turks stretching forth their hand over the countries,' and particularly over the land of Egypt, the Libyans at their steps,' and the Arabians still 'escaping out of their hand.' We see the Jews 'led away captive into all nations, and Jerusalem trodden down of the Gentiles,' and likely to continue so until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled,' as the Jews are by a constant miracle preserved a distinct people for the completion of other prophecies relating to them. We see one who opposeth and exalteth himself,' above all laws Divine and human, sitting as God in the Church of God, and showing himself that he is God, whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of righteousness.' We see a great apostasy in the Christian church, which consists chiefly in the worship of demons, angels, or departed saints, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats.' We | see the Seven Churches of Asia lying in the same forlorn and desolate condition that the angel had signified to St. John, their 'candlestick removed out of its place,' their churches turned into mosques, their worship into superstition.

6

"For these things we have the attestation of the past, and the experience of present times; and we cannot well be deceived, if we will only believe our own eyes. We actually see the completion of many of the prophecies in the state of men and things around us; and we have the prophecies themselves recorded in books, which books have been read in public assemblies these seventeen hundred or two thousand years, have been dispersed into several countries, have been translated into several languages, and quoted and commented upon by different nations, so that there is no room to suspect so much as a possibility of forgery or illusion."

The term prophecy, popntevw, is also used, (1Cor. 11. 4,5; 14. 1, &c.,) either for the art of explaining Scripture, speaking to the church in public or by way of exhortation, or for singing the praises of God in the language of inspiration.

By a prophet, however, is usually understood a divinely inspired predicter of future events, and very many persons thus gifted are mentioned in the Scriptures. Of some of these, as Jacob, Moses, Balaam, Elijah, and Elisha, but few prophecies remain; but there are others, sixteen in number, whose predictions have been more fully preserved, and these, under the name of the Prophetical Books, form a very important portion of the Old Testament. Of these latter prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, are styled the Greater; and Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, the Lesser: the events of their lives, so far as known, and the general scope of their prophecies, are given in the alphabetical order.

The Hebrew prophets present a succession of men at once the most singular and the most venerable that ever appeared, in so long a line of time, in the world. They had special communion with God; they laid open the scenes of the future; they were ministers of the promised Christ. They upheld religion and piety in the worst times, and at the greatest risks; their disinterestedness was only equalled by their patriotism. To succeeding ages they have left a character consecrated by holiness and "visions of the Holy One," which still unveil to the Church his most holy attributes and his deepest designs. "Prophecy," says the Apostle Peter, "came not of old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." (2Peter 1. 21.) They flourished in a continual succession during a period of more than a thousand years, reckoning from Moses to Malachi, all co-operating in the same designs, uniting in one spirit to deliver the same doctrines, and to predict the same blessings to mankind; the great object of prophecy being, as has been before observed, a description of the Messiah and his kingdom. (Matt. 26. 56; Luke 1. 70; 18. 31; 24. 44; John 1. 45; Acts 3. 18,24; 10. 43; 13. 29; 15. 15; 28. 23; 1 Peter 1. 10-12.) Their claims to a Divine commission were demonstrated by the intrinsic excellency of their doctrine; by the disinterested zeal and undaunted courage with which they prosecuted their ministry, and persevered in their great design; and by the unimpeachable integrity of their conduct. But even those credentials of a Divine mission were still further confirmed by the exercise of miraculous powers, and by the completion of many less important predictions which they uttered. (Deut. 13. 1-3; 18. 22; Josh. 10. 13; 1Sam. 12. 8; 2Kings 1. 10; Isai. 38. 8; 1 Sam. 9. 6; 1Kings 13. 3; Jerem. 28. 9; Ezek. 33. 33.) They were the established oracles of their country,

and consulted upon all occasions when it was necessary to collect the Divine will on any civil or religious question. These illustrious personages were likewise as well the types as the harbingers of that greater Prophet whom they foretold; and in the general outline of their character, as well as in particular events of their lives, they prefigured to the Jews the future Teacher of mankind. Like Him also they laboured by every exertion to instruct and reclaim; reproving and threatening the sinful, however exalted in rank, or encircled by power, with fearless confidence and sincerity, becoming "men of God."

The manner in which the prophets published their predictions, was either by uttering them aloud in some public place, or by affixing them on the gates of the Temple, (Jerem. 7. 2; Ezek. 3. 11,) where they might be generally seen and read. Upon some important occasions, when it was necessary to rouse the fears of a disobedient people, and to recall them to repentance, the prophets, as objects of universal attention, appear to have walked about publicly in sackcloth, and with every external mark of humiliation and sorrow. They then adopted extraordinary modes of expressing their convictions of impending wrath, and endeavoured to awaken the apprehensions of their country by the most striking illustrations of threatened punishment. Thus Jeremiah made bonds and yokes, and put them upon his neck, (Jerem. ch. 27,) strongly to intimate the subjection that God would bring upon the nations whom Nebuchadnezzar should subdue. Isaiah likewise walked naked, that is, without the rough garment of the prophet, and barefoot, as a sign of the distress that awaited the Egyptians. (Isai, ch. 20.) So Jeremiah broke the potter's vessel, (Jerem. ch. 19,) and Ezekiel publicly removed his household goods from the city, (Ezek. 12. 7,) more forcibly to represent, by these actions, some correspondent calamities ready to fall on nations obnoxious to God's wrath; this mode of expressing important circumstances by action being customary and familiar among all Eastern nations.

The Jewish doctors tell us, that a mind loaded with fresh guilt, oppressed with sorrow, or disturbed with passion, could not duly receive and exercise the prophetic inspiration. Accordingly, when David, in his penitential psalm, after the affair of Uriah, prays that the Holy Spirit might be restored to him, that God would give him joy and gladness, and a free spirit; the Hebrew commentators understand, by these expressions, that prophetic spirit which his guilt and distress of mind had banished, and that peaceful and cheerful frame which would invite its return. To prove that passion unfitted the mind for the prophetic impulse, they plead the story of Elisha, who, being requested by the three kings of Judah, Israel, and Edom, to inquire of God for them in their distress for water during a military expedition, was transported with pious indignation against the wicked king of Israel; but being willing to oblige the good king of Judah, called for a minstrel or musician, for the apparent purpose of calming his passion, and thus preparing him for the spirit of inspiration. Accordingly, while the minstrel played, we are told "the hand of the Lord came upon him."

It was the peculiar privilege of the Israelites, that their Almighty Ruler condescended to be "inquired of" on behalf of his people by the mouth of his priests and prophets; and accordingly the prophets in particular were much resorted to for the purpose of inquiring whether wars should be undertaken, whether the sick would recover, &c. When they consulted a prophet, the Eastern modes required a present; and they might think it was right rather to present him with eatables

1093

(of which their presents often consisted) than other things, because it frequently happened that they were detained some time, waiting the answer of God, during which hospitality would require the prophet to ask them to take some repast with him. And as the prophet would naturally treat them with some regard to their quality, they doubtless did then, as the Orientals do now, proportion their presents to their avowed rank and number of attendants.

Jeroboam sent a present by his wife to the Prophet Ahijah, of ten loaves and cracknels, and a cruse of honey. Some commentators are of opinion that this was a fit present only for a peasant to make, and was designedly of so small value to conceal the rank of the messenger; but this idea by no means corresponds with the custom of the East. It was certainly the wish of the king that his wife should not be recognised by the aged prophet; but the present she carried, though not intended to discover her, was, in the estimation of the Orientals, not unbecoming her rank and condition.

The prophets, according to Augustine, were the philosophers, divines, instructors, and guides of the Hebrews in piety and virtue. These holy men were the bulwarks of religion against the impiety of princes, the wickedness of individuals, and every kind of immorality. Their lives, persons, and discourses, were alike instructive and prophetical. Raised up by God to be witnesses of his presence, and living monuments of his will, the events that happened to them were frequently predictions of what was about to fall on the Hebrew nation. Although the prophets possessed great authority in Israel, and were highly esteemed by pious sovereigns, who undertook no important affairs without consulting them, yet their way of life was exceedingly laborious, and they generally lived retired, in some country place, and in colleges or communities, where they and their disciples were employed in prayer, in manual labour, and in study. Their labour, however, was not such as required intense application, or was inconsistent with that freedom from secular cares which their office required. Thus Elisha quitted his plough when Elijah called him to the prophetic office, (1 Kings 19. 19,20;) and Amos (7. 14) tells us that he was no prophet, neither a prophet's son, but a herdsman and a gatherer of sycamore fruit. The pupils or sons of the prophets, who lived under the direction of Elijah and Elisha, erected their own dwellings, for which they cut down the timber that was requisite. (2Kings 6. 1-4.)

The apparel of the prophets was in unison with the simplicity of their private life. Elijah was clothed with skins, and wore a leather girdle round his loins. (2Kings 1.8.) Isaiah wore sackcloth, (20.2,) which was the ordinary habit of the prophets. Zechariah, speaking of the false prophets, who imitated externally the true prophets of the Lord, says that they should not wear a rough garment, (Heb., a garment of hair,) to deceive. (Zech. 13. 4.) Their poverty was conspicuous in their whole life. The presents they received were only bread, fruits, and honey; and the first fruits of the earth were given them as being persons who possessed nothing themselves. (2Kings 4. 40.) Their frugality appears throughout their history; for instance, the wild gourds, which one of the prophets ordered to be prepared for his disciples. (2Kings 4. 38-41.) The angel gave Elisha bread and water for a long journey, (1Kings 19. 6-8;) and Obadiah, the pious governor of Ahab's household, gave the same food to the prophets whose lives he saved in a cave. (1Kings 18. 4,13.) Their recluse abstemious mode of living, and mean apparel, sometimes exposed them to contempt among the gay and courtly; it was probably the singular dress and appearance of Elisha which occa

sioned the impious scoffs of the young men at Bethel. (2Kings 2. 2,3;) yet they were regarded with high esteem and veneration by the wise and good, and even by persons of the first rank in the state. (1Kings 18.7.) But however they might be respected by pious monarchs, the prophets were frequently exposed to cruel treatment from wicked princes, whose impiety they reprehended, and to insults and jeers from the people. whose immoral practices they censured and condemned; and many of them were even put to violent deaths. (Heb. 11. 35,38.) Still, amidst all these persecutions and this impious treatment, they despised dangers, torments, and death, and with wonderful intrepidity attacked whatever was contrary to the law and worship of Jehovah, contemning secular honours, riches, and favours with exemplary disinterestedness.

It appears from Deuteronomy 18. 20-22, that a false prophet was punished capitally, being stoned to death; and there were two cases in which a person was held convicted of the crime, and consequently liable to its punishment, viz.: (1.) If he had prophesied something in the name of any other god, whether it took place or not, he was, at all events, considered as a false prophet, and, as such, stoned to death. (Deut. 13. 2-6.) (2.) If a prophet spoke in the name of the true God, he was tolerated, so long as he remained unconvicted of imposture, even though he threatened calamity or destruction to the state, and he could not legally be punished; but when the event which he had predicted did not come to pass, he was regarded as an audacious impostor, and, as such, stoned. (Deut. 18. 21,22.)

It does not appear that the prophets were bound by any vow of celibacy; for Samuel had children, and the Scriptures mention the wives of Isaiah, (8. 3,) and Hosea. (1.2.)

"The word Prophet," Herder remarks, "first occurs in the passage where God said to Abimelech, Restore the man his wife, for he is a prophet.' (Gen. 20. 7.) The word thus appears to have been known to Abimelech, and since the people over whom he ruled were of Egyptian origin, the ground of doubt is removed. Among the Egyptians, the term was applied to superior priests; those who held intercourse with the divinity, and were admitted to a knowledge of divine mysteries, the interpreters of nature,—in a word, those who were the mouth of the gods. This is plainly the sense in which the word prophet occurs in the most ancient writings of the Hebrews. Abraham was represented to the king as a wise and holy man, intrusted with the counsels of the Deity; and who must be preserved harmless, even in a strange land. Again, God says to Moses, 'Thou shalt be a god, and Aaron shall be thy prophet;' showing indisputably, that a prophet imports the mouth of God, the speaker of his word, the revealer of his mysteries. In this, its primitive and most proper sense, it often occurs in Moses and the Prophets, and indeed the whole prophetic character and claim, as exemplified in Moses, was founded on this: A Prophet shall God raise up like Moses, who shall speak to you in the name of God. Surely the Lord will do nothing, but IIe revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.' (Amos 3. 7.) The conception now given obviously did not include that of a musician and poet. Neither Abraham nor Aaron were poets; Samuel, Nathan, Ahijah, Elijah, and Elisha, had nothing to do with poetry, though some of them were very distinguished prophets. The oracles which they gave were in very plain and intelligible prose. On the other hand, David and Solomon were poets, but not prophets. The example of one who called for a minstrel, in order, as it is said, to awaken in himself the gift of prophecy, has been greatly misapplied. He

called him in order to calm and subdue his anger, under the influence of which he was not master of the dictates of reason, much less capable of uttering a Divine oracle. By the term Seers, also applied to the prophets in the times of Samuel and David, they were clearly distinguished from minstrels. They saw hidden things, looked into the future, and were what we call 'sages.' "But secondly, because these wise men, whether they spoke of the past, the present, or the future, were the mouth of the Divinity, they spoke also the language of the Divine Being, that is, divinely oracular language, in a lofty figurative style, and so that came to be in name prophetic language, which was the most elevated poetry. Who, in speaking in the name of God, would speak in a manner unworthy of his majesty and dignity? Who that is inspired speaks coldly, and without elevation? Did not the Pythia think it necessary to utter her oracles in verse? The origin of this notion shows itself from what was said above, but only in an incidental and derivative sense. In all languages poets are called vates, but only because they were originally considered as divinely inspired seers, and revealers of the future, and because some noble and good men among them were, in reality, the instruments of Divine Providence.

Nothing, therefore, is more natural than that the uttering of Divine oracles should, in process of time, be denominated prophesying, as we now daily use the word preaching' when we speak of a discourse uttered with the preacher's tone and manner. The evil spirit came upon Saul, and he prophesied, that is, he uttered, amidst his mad raving, lofty indeed, but irrational expressions. We know, from various evidences of it, that poetry and music had great power over him, and this power manifested itself in his present weakness.

“And because, in the third place, at that period of the world, music and poetry were associated, and even the poet and musician often united in the same person, it was quite natural also that the notion of oracular discourse should be extended even to this art. Asaph and Heman prophesied upon stringed instruments, that is, they uttered in their songs sacred and lofty sentiments, they resolved, as they themselves say, the dark problems of wisdom by the sound of the harp. Poetry never produces so powerful an effect as when it is supported by music; and the sacred feeling, which is diffused by both arts combined, is enthusiasm. But it does not follow, therefore, that every prophet had his instrument by his side, or that his name or office distinguished him as a minstrel. The Prophet Balaam, with his sublime and oracular declarations, spoke without an instrument, and the far feebler language of many of the later prophets, which almost sinks to the level of prose, was scarcely fitted for music. They carefully distinguished lyric song from their prophetic style.

"Finally, the prophet and the man of disordered intellects are not the same. We must greatly mistake the lofty and political character and sentiments of Isaiah if we consider him abandoned by reason. That many of their symbolical acts must appear very strange, they themselves confess, and this was the very aim of their actions.

"Under the guise of folly was concealed a deep and important meaning, and if the expression, Insanire cum sapientia, could ever be applied with propriety, it was here. They were, at all events, often the object of sar casm to the vulgar, and of supercilious contempt to godless kings. While Jehovah was an object of reproach, oracles uttered in his name, and containing severe admonitions, would be counted folly and madness. But alas! the event gave sufficient evidence of their truth."

The latest of the Hebrew prophets was Malachi, who,