The Grounds of Christianity Examined by Comparing The New Testament with the Old. George Bethune English

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СКАЧАТЬ who created the heavens, and stretched them out; who spread abroad the earth, and the produce thereof, who giveth breath to the people upon it, and spirit to them that tread thereon. I the Lord have called thee for a righteous purpose,* and I will take hold of thy hand, and I will preserve thee; and I will give thee for a covenant to the people, for a light to the nations; to open the eyes of the blind, to bring the captive out of confinement, and from the dungeon those that dwell in darkness. I am the Eternal, that is my name, and my glory will I not give to another, nor my praise to the graven images. The former predictions, lo! they are to come to pass, and now events I now declare; before they spring forth, behold I make them known unto you. See also chap. xlix. 1,12, and chap. liv. 3, 5.

      In the 3d chapter of Hosea, verses 4 and 5, it is said by the Prophet, that the sons of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without sacrifice, and without a statue, and without an ephod, and without Teraphim. Afterward shall the sons of Israel return, and shall seek the Lord their God, and DAVID their King, and shall fear the Lord, and his goodness in the latter days.

      Micah chap. v. speaks of the Messiah thus, And thou Bethlehem Ephratah, art thou too little to be among the leaders of Judah? Out of thee shall come forth unto me, him who is to be ruler in Israel; and his goings forth have been from old, from the days of hidden ages. Therefore will He (God) deliver them up, until the time when she that bringeth forth, hath brought forth, and until the residue of his brethren shall return together with the sons of Israel. And. he shall stand and feed his flock, in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God, and they shall abide, for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth, and he shall be Peace. Jeremiah also speaks of the restoration of the Israelites under a Prince of the family of David, chap. xxiii. 5, 8.

      Behold the days are coming, saith the Lord, that I will raise up unto David a righteous branch, and a king shall reign, and act wisely, and shall execute justice, and judgment in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell in security, and this is the name by which the Eternal shall call him, OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.# [Heb.] The same is mentioned in chap. xxx. 8, 9. And it shall be in that day, saith the Lord of Hosts, I will break his yoke from off his neck, and his bands will I burst asunder, and strangers shall no more exact service of him. But they shall serve the Lord their God, and DAVID their King, whom I will raise up for (or to) them. * * * The voice of joy, and the voice of mirth, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that say. Praise ye the Lord of Hosts, for the Lord is gracious, for his mercy endureth for ever, of them that bring praise to the house of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, yet again shall there be in this place that is desolate (Jerusalem and Palestine,) without man and beast, and in all the cities thereof, an habitation of shepherds folding sheep, in the cities of the hill country, and in the cities of the plain, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the environs of Jerusalem. * * * Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform the good thing which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel, and concerning the house of Judah. In those days, and at that time, [he that readeth, let him observe] I will came to grow up of the line of David a branch of righteousness, and he shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In those days Judah shall be saved, and Jerusalem, shall dwell securely, and this is he whom the Lord shall call—OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. [Heb.] Surely, thus saith the Lord, there shall not be a failure in the line of David, one to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel, neither shall there be a failure in the line of the Priests, the Levites, of one to offer before me burnt offerings, and to perform sacrifice continually." See ch. xxxiiii. 14. In this place, the perpetuity of the tribe of Levi, as well as that of the house of David, is foretold. See also Jer. ch. xxx. 9.

      Contemporary with Jeremiah was Ezekiel. He likewise describes this happy state of the Israelites under a king of the name of David, chap. xxxiv. 22.

      Therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey: and I will judge between cattle, and cattle. And I will set up one Shepherd over them, and be shall feed them, even my servant DAVID: he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd, and I the Lord will be their God, and my servant DAVID a Prince among them. I the Lord have spoken it. And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land; and they shall dwell safely in' the wilderness, and sleep in the woods. And I will make them, and the places round about my hill, a blessing, and I will cause the shower to come down in the season: there shall be showers of blessing. And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit; and the earth shall yield her increase; and they shall be safe in their land; and shall know that I am the Lord, &c.

      In another passage this prophet says, that the two nations, Israel and Judah, shall have one king, and that this king shall be named DAVID, who shall reign for ever, chap. xxxvii. 21—28. Say unto them, thus saith the Lord God, behold I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land. And I will make them one nation in the land, upon the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be king to them all, and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all. Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will save them out of all their dwelling places wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them, so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. And DAVID my servant shall be king over them, and there shall be one shepherd. They shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt, and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their childrens children for ever, and my servant DAVID shall be their prince forever. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them: it shall be an everlasting covenant with them, and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them, for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the heathen shall know, that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall, be in the midst of them for evermore.

      The natural construction of this seems to be this, that a descendant of David, called by that name, should reign over the Israelites for ever.

      In the very circumstantial description which Ezekiel gives of the state of the Israelites in their own country, yet expected by the Jews, he speaks of the prince, and the portion assigned him, chap. xlv. 78. And in his description of the temple service, he moreover speaks of the gate, by which the prince is to enter into it. See chap. xlvi. 1, 2.

      The next, and last, passage I shall quote, is from the book of Daniel, who, in the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, had a vision of four beasts, representing the four great Empires. At the close of his account of which, he speaks of one like the son of man being brought into the presence of God, and receiving from the Eternal an everlasting kingdom (chap. vii. 13)—I saw in the night visions, and behold one like the son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and come to the ancient of days; and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

      I have now gone through the prophecies which are allowed both by Jews and Christians to relate to one person whom they call the Messiah. It must be evident from all these passages, that the characteristics of this, to both parties, highly interesting personage, as described by the Hebrew prophets, are these:—

      1. That he was to be a just, beneficent, wise, and mighty monarch, raised up and upheld, and established by God, to be the means of promoting universal peace, and happiness. That Israel should be gathered to him, and established in their own land; which was to be the seat of dominion, and the centre of union, and of worship to all the people, and nations of the earth; who were to live under the government, and receive, and obey the law of this beneficent prince; and enjoy unspeakable felicities on the earth, then changed to a universal paradise. And for all this happiness, they were to worship, СКАЧАТЬ