The Grounds of Christianity Examined by Comparing The New Testament with the Old. George Bethune English
to be of Divine authority, that after long and great calamities (the consequences of their sins,) the people of Israel would be restored to their country, and attain the most distinguished felicity under a prince of the family of David. This is the subject of numberless prophecies throughout the Old Testament.
Passing over all those prophecies in which the national glory is spoken of without any mention of a prince or head; I shall recite, and remark upon the most eminent of those in which mention is made of any particular person, under whom, or by means of whom, the Israelitish nation, it is said, would enjoy the transcendent prosperity elsewhere foretold.
The second Psalm is no doubt well known to my readers, and supposing it to refer to the Messiah, it is evident, that it describes him enthroned upon mount Zion, the favorite of God, and the resistless conqueror of his enemies.
The next prophecy of this distinguished individual is recorded in Isaiah ix. 6—Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and the Wonderful, the Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father shall call his name* the Prince of Peace. [For thus it is pointed to be read in the original Hebrew, and this is the meaning of the passage, and not as in the absurd translation of this verse in the English version.] Of the increase of his government there shall be no end upon the throne of David, and his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment, and with justice from henceforth and for ever: the zeal of the Lord of Hosts will do this. Here again we have a mighty monarch, sitting upon the throne of David, upon earth; and not a spiritual king placed in heaven, upon the throne of the mighty God, the everlasting Father.
The next passage which comes under notice, is in the eleventh chapter of Isaiah, in which a person is mentioned, under whom Israel, and the whole earth was to enjoy great prosperity and felicity. He is described as an upright prince, endued with the spirit of God, under whose reign there would be universal peace, which was to take place after the return of the Israelites from their dispersed state, when the whole nation would be united and happy.
There shall spring forth a rod from the trunk of Jesse, and a scion from his roots shall become fruitful. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him; the spirit of wisdom, and understanding; the spirit of counsel, and strength; the spirit of knowledge, and the fear of the Lord. And he shall be quick of discernment in the fear of the Lord; so that not according to the sight of his eyes shall he judge, nor according to the hearing of the ears shall he reprove. With righteousness shall he judge the poor, and with equity shall he work conviction# on the meek of the earth. And he shall smite the earth with the blast of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked one. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his lions, and faithfulness the cincture of his reins. Then shall the wolf take up his abode with the lamb; and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling shall come together, and a little child shall lead them. And the heifer, and the she bear shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the suckling shall play upon the hole of the asp; and upon the den of the basilisk shall the new weaned child lay his hand. They shall not hurt, nor destroy in my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. And it shall come to pass in that day, the root of Jesse which standeth for an ensign to the people, unto him shall the nations repair, and his resting place shall be glorious.
As the scion here spoken of is said to spring from the root of Jesse, it looks as if it were intended to intimate, that the tree itself would be cut down, or that the power of David's Family would be for some time extinct; but that it would revive in the latter days.
The same Prince is again mentioned, chap xxxiii. 1, 3, where the people are described to be both virtuous, and flourishing, and to continue to be so. (v. 15—17.)
Behold a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule with equity. And the man shall be a covert from the storm, as a refuge from the flood, as canals of waters in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a land of fainting with heat. And him the eyes of those that see shall regard, and the ears of them that hear shall harken, * * * * till the spirit from on high be poured out upon us, and the wilderness become a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be esteemed a forest. And judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and in the fruitful field shall reside righteousness. And the work of righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness perpetual quiet, and security. And my people shall dwell in a peaceful mansion, and in habitations secure, and in resting places undisturbed.
The same Prophet, chap. lxii 1, speaks of a person under the title of Gods Servant, of a meek disposition, raised up by God to enlighten the world, even the Gentile part of it; to bring prisoners out of their confinement, and to open their eyes; alluding, probably, to the custom too common in the East; of sealing up the eyes, by sewing or fastening together the eyelids of persons, and then imprisoning thorn for life. It is doubted, however, whether the Prophet meant, or had in view, in this passage, the Messiah, or his own nation.
Behold my servant whom I will uphold, mine elect in whom my soul delighteth; I will make my spirit rest upon him, and he shall publish judgment to the nations. He shall not cry aloud, nor raise a clamour, nor cause his voice to be heard in the public places. The bruised reed shall he not break, and the dimly burning flax he shall not quench, he shall publish judgment so as to establish it perfectly. His force shall not be abated, nor broken, until he has firmly seated judgment in the earth, and the distant nations shall earnestly wait for his Law.
Thus saith the Lord, even, the Eternal, 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,