shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of Hosts shall reign in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously." Is. xxiv. 23. "At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord, and all the nations shall be gathered unto it to the Name of the Lord to Jerusalem." Jer. iii. 17. "Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord." Zech. viii. 22.

SECTION XVI.

THE LITERAL FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY.

In preceding Sections, we have endeavoured to prove, from the very nature of most of the predictions adduced, that they are only capable of a literal interpretation. Advancing in the argument, we now farther observe, that to explain away all the predictions concerning the glory of Christ, is to justify his rejection by the Jews, notwithstanding of the plain declarations of his humility and sufferings. For, if we are at liberty to spiritualize all the prophecies which foretell his reign in glory, how can we blame them for adopting a similar mode of interpreting other predictions not more clear and far less numerous? Besides, this is a method of interpretation which seems not only repugnant to reason, but is quite inconsistent with that Literal Fulfilment which Prophecy has hitherto received. If all past predictions, except where figures are obviously used, have had their fulfilment literally, even when the minuteness of Prophecy was extreme, on what principle of interpretation is a mode of fulfilment yet unprecedented now to be expected? We can point to a long series of predictions which have been literally fulfilled, and to others which are being so at this very day, in their utmost minutiæ, and can see no reason to suppose, that those which, for aught we can tell, may relate to the ensuing month or

the ensuing year, are not to have a literal fulfilment also, as no intimation is given by the Spirit of Prophecy of a period at which this mode of their accomplishment shall cease. Thus alone can the criterion divinely given, by which to distinguish the true from the false prophet, be of any avail: "If thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously." Deut. xxvii. 21, 22. And the minuteness with which Prophecy has hitherto been fulfilled, proves how safely the rule may be applied. The past dealings of God in this respectwhich show the perfect correspondence between the prediction and its accomplishment-have however been much neglected; and hence, perhaps, the unwillingness so often displayed, believingly to receive the promises He has bestowed, without the intervention of our limitations; and hence, also, our unbelieving fears to submit divine predictions concerning the future to the ordeal which Jehovah himself has prescribed.

But of the evidence to be derived from the past fulfilment of Prophecy, did our limits permit the prosecution of this branch of the argument, the history of nations and individuals would furnish abundant and valuable illustration. We might take the Scripture predictions concerning the state of different countries, and show how amply they are verified by the accounts of recent travellers, wholly unconscious of the coincidence, -and, in some cases, with views decidedly hostile to Revelation. Or, taking History as evidence, we might trace the Literal Fulfilment of Prophecy in the rise and fall of empires-the scenes of their splendour, and the means of their overthrow. We might refer to the judgments poured on the cities of old, and in the height of their glory when denounced of the Lord;-of Nineveh, of Babylon, of Tyre, of Jerusalem, and others: and might gather thence evidence incontrovertible of the Literal Fulfilment of Prophecy in circumstances the most improbable to human foresight-by means the

most unlikely in human estimation-and with a specification of incidents so apparently insignificant, as would perhaps, never have been recorded had not the minds of historians been under the immediate control of Him whose omniscience they thus unwittingly attested. The very improbability of such prophecies ever being fulfilled renders their accomplishment a more glorious display of that divine attribute which Jehovah claims as peculiarly his own, and in proof of which he even appeals to Prophecy. Some who have not inquired upon the subject, are apt to imagine, that, although intimations of a general nature have been given, particular circumstances are not condescended upon. This opinion, however, is far from being correct. There is often a perfect delineation of inferior circumstances, and this, in some instances, to a degree altogether astonishing; as when, in picturing forth Idumean desolation, the prediction includes the provision of a mate for every vulture: "There shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate. Seek ye out of the Book of the Lord and read, no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate; for my mouth it hath commanded, and his Spirit it hath gathered them." Is. xxxiv. 15, 16.

These remarks derive much confirmation from a rccent publication by the Rev. Alexander Keith, entitled, "Evidence of the Truth of the Christian Religion derived from the Literal Fulfilment of Prophecy;" from which, did our limits permit, we should gladly have availed ourselves of extracts.* But, for the illustration of our views, we prefer making a selection of Scripture predictions concerning the humiliation of Christ, with reference to their Fulfilment.

The patriarch Jacob had left the consolatory assurance that the sceptre should not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh came;

*

Although the author has sometimes endeavoured to find fulfilment for prophecies which have not yet met their accomplishment, we would warmly recommend this work to the perusal of those who have not attended to this branch of the argument. Written for the confutation of the avowed Unbeliever, it is not less calculated to reprove the practical infidelity of real and professed Christians in the absolute verity of divine prediction.

(Gen. xliv. 10 ;) and, accordingly, it was not till about the time Christ publicly appeared in the temple, in the twelfth year of His age, that the last king, Archilaus, was dethroned and banished. The Redeemer was not only to be of the tribe of Judah, but of the family of David; and his genealogy, both by natural and legal succession, have, in Scripture, been preserved as evidence. Matt. i. Luke iii. Isaiah predicted that a virgin should conceive and bear a Son; and, in due time, the fulfilment of the glorious prophecy was attested to Mary's espoused husband by an angel from heaven. Is. vii. 14. Mat. i. 10. Prophecy had pointed to Bethlehem Ephrata, as the place of His nativity; and two of the evangelists inform us Jesus was born there. Micah v. 2. Mat. ii. 1. Luke ii. 4, 6. The prophet predicted to Jerusalem the approach of her lowly King riding upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass; and the evangelist records its exact fulfilment, when Jesus so entered the city amid the hosannals of the multitude. Zech. ix. 9. Matt. xxi. 1. Prophecy declared, "When we shall see Him there is no beauty that we should desire him;" and we know that "He came unto his own, and his own received him not." Is. liii. 2. John i. 11. It was said by the prophet, "We hid, as it were, our faces from him;" and the evangelist informs us, "All his disciples forsook him and fled." Is. liii. 3. Matt. xxvi. 5, 6. The Saviour, in Prophecy, complained of being laughed to scorn; and his evangelists narrate the contempt with which He was treated;-"Herod with his men of war set him at nought," and the Roman soldiers having arrayed him in the emblems of mock royalty, bowed the knee before him in derision. Ps. xxii. 6. Matt. xxvii. 29. Luke xxiii. 11. If he said, "I hid not my face from shame and spitting," the pen of inspiration records that he was thus ignominiously treated. Is. 1. 6. Matt. xxvi. 67. Prophecy had foretold, "They shall smite the Judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek;" and its fulfilment was witnessed, when "They spit upon him, and took the reed and smote him on the head." Mic. v. 1. Matt. xxvii. 30. The prophecy is, "He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth;" the

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fulfilment is, "When he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing." Is. liii. 7. Matt. xxvii. 12. The prophet predicted, that he should be "despised and rejected of men:" and when, by their law, a prisoner must be released, the Jews clamorously preferred Barabbas, a robber and murderer, to the Holy Son of God. Is. liii. 3. Mark xv. 15. Did Prophecy pourtray him as "a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief?" He not merely "endured the contradiction of sinners," but suffered under the hiding of his Father's face, and in our room experienced the bitterness of divine wrath, till in his agony he sweat blood, and exclaimed that his soul was exceeding sorrowful, even unto death." Is. liii. 3. Heb. xii. 3. Matt. xxvi. 38. If it was foretold that he who did eat his bread should lift his heel against him; "Jesus answered and said, he that dippeth his hand with me in the dish the same shall betray me." Ps. xlix. 1. Matt. xxvi. 23. It was predicted that he should be prized at "thirty pieces of silver ;" and it is also narrated, that Judas covenanted to betray his Master into the hands of His enemies for that sum. Zech. xi. 12. Matt. xxvi. 14, 15. And the Lord said unto the prophet, "Cast it unto the potter ;" and when the traitor returned the reward of his treachery to the chief priests, they took counsel and bought with it the potter's field to bury strangers in." Zech. xi. 13. Matt. xxvii. 7. In Prophecy, the Saviour complained, "They shake the head, saying, He trusted in the Lord that He would deliver him; let Him deliver him seeing he trusted in Him;" and in the very words did not the chief priests with the scribes and elders "mocking him" say, "He trusted in God, let Him deliver him now if He will have him?" Ps. xxii. 7, 8. Matt. xxvii. 43. In Prophecy, the Saviour complained, "they gave me gall for my meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink;" and it was verified when, at Golgotha, "they gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall." Ps. Ixix. 21. Matt. xxvii. 34. The prophet foretold, that "threescore and two weeks" of years after the edict for rebuilding Jerusalem, the Messiah should be cut off; (Dan. ix. 26.) and History testifies this to have been the precise time

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