Laban, the father-in-law of Jacob, resided, was to me a circumstance productive of delightful sensations."

MESSENGER, T855 malach. (2Kings 9. 18; Job 1. 14.) It is a practice in the East to employ messengers who run on foot to convey despatches, and these men sometimes go a hundred and fifty miles in less than twenty-four hours. (See FooтMAN.) Such messengers were sent by Joab to acquaint David with the fate of his son Absalom. Ahimaaz went with such speed that he outran Cushi, and was the first to appear before the king, who sat at the gate of Mahanaim, anxiously awaiting tidings from the battle.

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The common pace of travelling in the East is slow. Camels go little more than two miles an hour,

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but dromedaries are often used for the purpose of conveying messages in haste, especially to a distance, they are said to outrun the swiftest horses. To this practice Job alludes, when he says, "My days are swifter than a post." (9. 25.) Instead of passing away with a slowness of motion like that of a caravan, my days of prosperity have disappeared with a swiftness like that of a messenger carrying despatches.

MESSIAH, (Dan. 9. 25,26,) that is, the Anointed, the same as Xptoros, or Christ, (Mark 15. 32, is the name given to Our blessed Lord. Persons who held the offices of prophet, priest, or king, were anointed with oil, as being symbolical of the graces of the Holy Spirit, which qualified them for their respective duties; and as Our Lord fulfilled, for the redemption of our fallen race, all these offices, the term Messiah is now exclusively applied to Him.

As a Prophet, whose office was to teach and reprove, Jesus has perfectly instructed us in the will of God; and, as a Priest, whose office it was to offer sacrifices for the expiation of the sins of the people, to bless them and pray for them, Jesus, who was both priest and victim, offered Himself a sacrifice to God, in order to expiate our sins; for in Him we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace. (Ephes. 1. 3.) He has blessed us, in turning every one of us from our sins; and He ever liveth to intercede for us with God as our Mediator; for if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. (Rom. 8. 34; 1Tim. 2. 5; 1John 2. 1.) As a King, not like the earthly sovereign whom the Jews expected to deliver them from the yoke of the Romans, and who, they believed, would make them the most powerful people upon earth, Jesus reigns over a people whom he hath purchased to himself out of all the nations of the world; he gives for their government, laws which are calculated to render them perfectly happy both here and hereafter; he defends them against their spiritual enemies, and he will judge them at the last day. His mediatorial kingdom commenced after his resurrection, when he entered into his glory, (Luke 24. 26,) but it will not be eternal. The authority which he now exercises as a Mediator and Judge, is only a temporary dispensation, which will cease when he shall have fulfilled his office, that is, after the last judgment. This St. Paul sets forth in a striking and precise manner, in 1Corinthians 15. 24,25,28.

The advent of the Messiah had been the great theme of prophecy with the inspired writers, and at the period at which he actually appeared, as we learn from the unexceptionable testimony of pagan authors, a general expectation prevailed that some great Person would shortly appear in the East, who should more than realize the fictions of the golden age. Among the works which

are extant of Virgil, who flourished at the commencement of the Christian æra, is a congratulatory poem addressed to his patron, Pollio, who bore the high office of consul at the time when it was written. The poem is on the nativity of some child, whose birth was expected during his consulate, and whose extraordinary endow ments were to confer blessings on mankind. He was to be of heavenly extraction, to bestow universal peace, and to command the whole world; he was to destroy the serpent, and the blessings of his reign were to extend even to the brute creation. (Past. iv.) Virgil refers to drew his predictions. The images of this poem bear so the books of the Cumæan Sibyl, as the source whence he remarkable a resemblance to those in which the inspired prophets describe the times of the Messiah, that it is impossible to read the verses without being struck with the similitude.

Suetonius and Tacitus, who wrote at a somewhat

later period, both mention the general expectation in and settled persuasion prevailed throughout the East, very remarkable words. Suetonius says, "An ancient that the Fates had decreed that Judæa about this period was to give birth to such as should attain universal empire." (Vesp. § 4.) And the words of Tacitus are nearly similar: "Many were persuaded that it was contained in the ancient books of the priests, that at this very time the East should prevail, and that some power should proceed from Judæa, and possess the dominion of the world." (B. V. c. 13.) These expectations, which agitated even the Gentiles, were no doubt fondly cherished by the Jews, writhing as they were under the yoke of the Idumean Herod and his Roman allies; even the bold and the wicked, as well as the "just and devout," "waited for the consolation of Israel." (Luke 2.25.) And this "consolation" was presented to them; but not coming in the guise of a temporal deliverer, few of the house of Israel turned to Him who came "to redeem them that were under the law." (Gal. 4. 5.)

Into a detail of the events of the life of Our blessed Lord we need not here enter, as they form the subject of numerous separate articles, and as the record is accessible to all, in the pages of the Evangelists. We shall only remark that Our Saviour was born at the commencement of the last year of the reign of Herod the Great, and suffered crucifixion in the year A.D. 33, being the twentieth year of Tiberius. Chronologists are all agreed that our common æra, which was first used by a Roman monk named Dionysius Exiguus in the year 526, and introduced into the Western Church in the year 532, places the birth of Christ some years too late; but it has not yet been determined whether the difference is two, three, four, or even eight years.

Some early writers assert that the birth of Our Lord imposed silence on the heathen oracles, a statement substantially true, but the assertion that the temple of Janus at Rome was closed at this time because there was peace throughout the Roman empire, is more questionable; it rests entirely on the authority of Orosius, who wrote in the fifth century; for there is no allusion to the circumstance in any more ancient writer.

We will now give a brief view of the predictions contained in the Old Testament, concerning the advent, life, doctrine, sufferings, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. Such a variety of circumstances, predicted concerning one person so many years before he was born, and of such an extraordinary nature,—all accomplished in Christ, and in no other person that ever appeared in the world, point him out with irresistible evidence as the Messiah, the Saviour of mankind.

(1.) The prophecies of the Old Testament distinctly announced that the Messiah was to come, when the

government should be utterly lost from Judah. "The "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah. . . . . until Shiloh come." (Gen. 49. 10.) This prediction all the ancient Jews applied to the Messiah. Now the tribe of Judah is no longer a political body; it has no authority or magistrates of its own, but is dispersed and confounded among the other tribes of Jews; its present condition, therefore, is an evident mark that Shiloh or the Messiah is already come.

(2.) Daniel points out the precise time in which he was to come, to make an end of sin, and to bring in an everlasting righteousness. He fixes the seventy weeks (of years, that is, four hundred and ninety years) on one side, at the edict of Artaxerxes for the rebuilding of Jerusalem, which was accomplished by Nehemiah; and on the other, at the death of the Messiah, and the establishment of his church. The two points of this duration are therefore known, and one determines the other: the term at which a revolution of four hundred and ninety years commences necessarily shows where it ends, and this ending coincides with the advent of Our Lord. The prophets Haggai (2. 6-9,) and Malachi (3. 1,) foretold that the Messiah, the desire of all nations, whom they were seeking, should come before the destruction of the second Temple, and that his presence should fill it with a glory which the first Temple had not, though it was far richer and more magnificent. Jesus Christ preached in that Temple, which was totally destroyed within forty years afterwards. The second Temple has been destroyed upwards of seventeen centuries; whence. it is manifest that more than seventeen centuries have elapsed since the Messiah came.

(3.) The place where the Messiah was to be born, Bethlehem, and the tribe from which he was to spring, that of Judah, were literally predicted by Micah 5. 2. Both these circumstances are recorded by the Evangelists as fulfilled, the providence of God so ordering it, that Augustus should then command a general census to be taken, which caused Joseph and Mary to go to Bethlehem, not only that she might be delivered there, but that their names being there entered, their family might be ascertained, and no doubt might afterwards arise as to their being of the line of David. All the Evangelists have mentioned that Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judæa, and that this is an undoubted fact we are informed by St. Paul, when he asserts that it is evident that Our Lord sprang out of Judah. (Heb. 7. 14.)

(4.) The prophet Isaiah has particularly foretold that the Messiah should be born of a virgin, (Isai. 7. 14,) and that he should descend from the family of David, (9.6,7; 11. 1,2,) which was a particular branch of the tribe of Judah. While he points out his miraculous birth, and describes his descent, he pourtrays his character in colours so striking and distinguishing, as to render its appropriation to Christ obvious to every one who compares the picture with the original. It was this prophet that foretold (53. 1,) that the Messiah should be destitute of outward power or influence to attract the esteem and ensure the attachment of the world; that though in the eye of God he should be the chief corner stone, (38. 16,) elect, precious; yet that he should be a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence (8.14,15) to men who were guided by the motives which in general actuate the human breast, such as interest, ambition, and the love of sensual enjoyments; and particularly it was foretold, that the Jews should fall on this rock; should refuse to build on him, as the only foundation of their hopes; but should in their attempt to shake and overthrow it, be themselves scattered and broken to pieces. The same prophet declared (6.9,10,11) that he should veil the eyes of the wise and learned,

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and preach the Gospel to the poor and illiterate; that he should restore sight to the blind, health to the diseased, and light to those who had been oppressed with darkness; that he should teach the true and perfect way, and should be the great instructor of the Gentiles; that kings should fall down before him, and all nations pay him homage and obedience; that his reign should be gentle and benevolent; and that the influence of his Gospel should harmonize the jarring passions of mankind, and, together with the knowledge and worship of the true God, establish peace and purity on the earth. (56. 6,7,8.)

(5.) In the fifty-third chapter, the same prophet gives a most striking and affecting picture of the temper and behaviour of the Messiah amidst the many distressing and humiliating scenes through which he passed. Hence the most striking scenes of Christ's passion are delineated by the prophetic pencil with the same truth and exactness as if they had been drawn on the spot when the secret volume of the Divine decrees was unrolled, and when that which had been foreseen in vision was exhibited in reality. In addition to these prophecies of Isaiah, it may be remarked, that long before, David foretold the change of the order of the priesthood by the Messiah,-the office he should sustain, the sufferings which he should undergo, and the glorious triumphs he should enjoy from his resurrection, his ascension, and the extensive propagation of his Gospel. (Psalm 2. 6; 22; 110.)

(6.) The Messiah was not to lie in the grave and see corruption, (Psalm 16. 10,) but was to be raised from the dead on the third day after his interment, and to ascend into heaven, there to reign at his Father's right hand, invested with universal dominion. (Psalm 24. 7; 68. 18.) 68. 18.) That these things were exactly accomplished in the person of Christ is obvious to every one who compares these predictions with the statements of the Evangelists.

(7.) It was likewise foretold that the Messiah should abolish the Old and introduce a New Covenant or dispensation with his people; and accordingly, Jesus Christ brought in a more perfect economy. (Jerem. 31. 31-34.) The old covenant is therefore abolished, and its observance is rendered impracticable by the expulsion of the Jews from Judæa and Jerusalem, and the destruction by fire of that temple and altar, on which the whole of the Jewish public worship depended. It is as impossible to doubt now that the Mediator is come, as to question those external facts which prove that the ancient cove nant subsists no longer. The manner in which the Evangelical historians exhibit the fulfilment of the prophecies by Christ is remarkable, for they did not apply them with hesitation, as if they were doubtful concerning their sense, or undecided as to their object. Their boldness of assertion bore the stamp and character of truth. They had the clearest proof, more particularly from miracles, that their master was the promised Messiah, and were therefore fully persuaded that all the prophecies centred in him. They appear to have had no conception, that this evidence could, in the nature of things, be referred to any one else; and therefore they pressed the arguments drawn from the Old Testament upon the minds of the unconverted, with all the sincerity of conviction, and all the authority of truth.

By the accomplishment of the prophecies, which is the particular and incommunicable character of Jesus Christ, all pretended Messiahs, whether past or future, are convicted of imposture. This may be deemed conclusive, from the following considerations.

There is but one Deliverer promised, and to one only do the Scriptures bear testimony. Whoever, therefore, has neither been promised nor foretold, can be nothing

ness; and around him they throw the beams of their united light. In illustration of these remarks, we behold the promise of a Redeemer given to our first parents, immediately after the fall, in obscure and general terms. (Gen. 3. 15.) It foretold a victory which would be gained over the enemy that had deceived and conquered them; a victory the most illustrious in its effects and consequences, and which should amply revenge on the serpent's head the evils and miseries which he had introduced into the world. Farther, we behold the promise renewed in somewhat clearer language to the patriarchs, particularly to Abraham, the great father of the faithful, and the precise line indicated from which the Messiah was to be descended; the fulfilment of which prophetic promise may be seen in the genealogies of Jesus Christ, taken from the public registers by St. Matthew and St. Luke. The prophets have not only foretold, in general terms, a great revolution that would take place in the world by the coming of the Messiah ; but they have delineated some particular circumstances attending it which only the eye of Omniscience could have foreseen. They have marked out the precise time and place of the Messiah's birth; they have described, with wonderful exactness, the distinguishing features of his office and character; they have displayed, with equal beauty and truth, the effects and consequences of his advent; and, through all their predictions, something pointing to the Messiah, either by direct application, or by secondary and distant reference, is so interwoven with the general contexture, the universal scheme of prophecy, that, by keeping it in our eye, we shall be furnished with a clue to trace out their ultimate design, and contemplate their mutual connexion with, and dependence on, each other; for the testimony of Jesus is, clearly and eminently, the spirit of prophecy. This is its ruling and vital principle. Divested of this, it loses its spirit and its power. We behold no consistency; the impression of its dignity is weakened, its object is debased, its end is darkened; but viewed in this light, we behold in it a harmony which delights, a grandeur which astonishes, and from the result of the whole arises such evidence as carries conviction to the understanding." See MEDIATOR.

Taking advantage of the restlessness of their nation under a foreign rule, many impostors have arisen at different times, who have assumed the title of Messiah, and have found numerous followers among the Jews. Of these Our Saviour forewarned his disciples, saying, *Many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many." (Matt. 24. 11.) Of these the earliest, as well as the most celebrated, was Coziba, who raised the standard of revolt against Adrian. See BARCOCHAB.

In the reign of Theodosius the Younger, (A.D. 434,) another impostor arose, called Moses Cretensis. He pretended to be a second Moses, sent to deliver the Jews who dwelt in Crete, and promised to divide the sea, and give them a safe passage through it. His deluded hearers gave so much credit to this, that they neglected their lands, houses, and all other concerns, and took only so much with them as they could conveniently carry. And, on the day appointed, this false Moses having led them to the top of a rock, men, women, and children threw themselves headlong into the sea until so many were drowned that the eyes of the rest were opened, and they became sensible of the cheat. They then began to look out for their pretended leader, but he had disappeared, and escaped out of their hands.

In A.D. 529, the Jews and Samaritans rebelled against the Emperor Justinian, and set up one Julian for their king, and accounted him the Messiah. The emperor sent an army against them and killed great numbers, and

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having taken their pretended Messiah prisoner, immediately put him to death.

In A.D. 721 arose another pretended Messiah in Spain; his name was Serenus. He drew great numbers after him under a promise of conducting them to Palestine, but perished, with the greater number of his followers, by the swords of the Saracens.

The twelfth century was fruitful in false Messiahs. About the year 1137 there appeared one in France, who was put to death with many of those who followed him; and about the same time the Persians were disturbed by a Jew, who called himself the Messiah. He collected together a vast army; but he also was put to death, and his followers treated with great inhumanity. In the year 1157, a false Messiah stirred up the Jews at Cordova, in Spain. The wiser and better sort looked upon him as a madman, but the great body of the Jews in that country believed on him; on this occasion great numbers of the Jews in Spain were destroyed. In the year 1167 another false Messiah arose in the kingdom of Fez, which brought great troubles and persecution upon the Jews that were scattered through that country. In the same year an Arabian also set up there for the Messiah, and pretended to work miracles. When search was made for him, his followers fled, and he was brought before the Arabian king. Being questioned by him, he replied, that he was a prophet sent from God. The king then asked him what sign he could show to confirm his mission? "Cut off my head," said he, "and I will return to life again." The king took him at his word, promising to believe him if his prediction came true. It is needless to say the poor wretch never came to life again. Those who had been deluded by him were grievously punished, and the Jews condemned to a very heavy fine. Not long after this, a Jew who dwelt beyond Euphrates called himself the Messiah, and drew vast multitudes of people after him. He gave this for a sign of it; that he had been leprous, and was cured in the course of one night. He, like the rest, perished in the attempt, and brought great persecution on his countrymen.

In the year 1174 a magician and false Christ arose in Persia, where he was called David Almusser. He pretended that he could make himself invisible; but he was soon taken and put to death, and a heavy fine laid upon his brethren the Jews. In the year 1176, another of these impostors arose in Moravia, who made similar pretensions; but his frauds being detected, and not being able to elude the efforts that were made to secure him, he was likewise put to death. In A.D. 1199 arose in Persia an impostor called David el David. He was a man of learning, a great magician, and pretended to be the Messiah. He raised an army, but was taken and imprisoned, and having made his escape, was afterwards seized and beheaded. Vast numbers of the Jews were massacred for having taken part with this impostor. We are told by Maimonides of another false Christ that appeared in this century, but he gives no particulars of his name, country, or his good or ill success. appears that in the twelfth century no less than ten false Messiahs arose, and brought severe calamities and persecutions upon the Jews in various parts of the world.

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After this period, it is true that several false Messiahs appeared, whose pretensions were as extravagant as those of their predecessors, but they met with comparatively little countenance from their countrymen. Thus, in the year 1497, one Ismael Sophus deluded some of the Jews in Spain; but he speedily perished, and such as believed in him were dispersed. In 1500, Rabbi Lemlem, a German Jew of Austria, declared himself a a forerunner of the Messiah, and pulled down his own