The Grounds of Christianity Examined by Comparing The New Testament with the Old. George Bethune English
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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, and glorify the true God only, and glorify the Eternal, and give thanks to Him because He is good, and his mercy endureth forever.
2. That this prince was to be of the line of David, and as it should seem, called by that name, and was to reign on his throne in Jerusalem.
3. That according to Micah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, (see the quotations)
his manifestation, and (and the restoration of Israel) were to be contemporaneous. See Hosea, chap. iii. 4, 5. And from Jeremiah xxxiii. 15, and from Micah v. 2, it should seem also, that he was not to be born, till the time of that restoration should be nearly arrived.
The prophecies concerning the Messiah of the Jews being now laid before the reader, we have only to apply these descriptions to know whether an individual be their Messiah, or not. For, (according to the principles laid down, and established in the preceding chapter) where the foregoing characteristics given by the prophets do centre and agree, that person is the Messiah foretold; but where they are not found in any one claiming that character, miracles are nothing to the purpose, and nothing is more certain, than that he has no right to be considered as such; and could he with a word turn the sun black in the face, in proof of his being the Messiah, he is, nevertheless, not to be regarded; for, whether such a person has yet appeared, can certainly only be known by considering, whether the world has ever yet seen such a person as this Messiah of the Hebrew prophets.
CHAPTER IV.
THE CHARACTER OF JESUS TESTED BY THOSE CHARACTERISTIC MARKS OF THE MESSIAH GIVEN BY THE PROPHETS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.
Had Jesus of Nazareth come into the world merely as a person sent with a revelation from God, he would have had a right to be attended to, and tried upon that ground. And if his doctrines and precepts were consistent with reason, consistent with one another, and with prior revelations, really such, and all tending to the honour of God, and the good of men; his miracles, with these circumstances, ought to have determined men to believe in him.
But since he claimed to be the Messiah of the Jews, foretold by their prophets, it is requisite, that that claim should be made out; and it is reasonable in itself, and just to him, and necessary to all those who will not take their religion upon trust, that ho should be tried, by examining whether this claim can be made out, or not. The argument from prophecy becomes necessary to establish the claim of the Gospel: and as truth is consistent with itself, so this claim must be true, or, it destroys all others.
Besides, what notions of common morality must he have, who pretends to come from God, and declares (Jo. v. 37,) that the Scriptures testify of him, if, in fact, the Scriptures do not testify of him? What honesty, or sincerity could he have, who could