natural is it for the imagination to picture such a state of society in the future; to look to Divine Providence for such a regeneration of humanity as shall lay the foundation of a kingdom of God upon earth, the restoration of all things to the true condition designed by the Creator. Such a golden age has been anticipated by several of the ancient classical writers, and in various religious systems. Such an age is longed for and predicted by various classes of reformers at the present day. The feeling on which such anticipations are founded is alluded to by the Apostle Paul, when he says (Rom. viii. 19, &c.), that "the creation is earnestly expecting the manifestation of the sons of God"; and that "the creation was made subject to vanity in the hope that it would be delivered from its bondage to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the sons of God."

We may go further. We may maintain that the anticipation of an individual Messiah has its root in universal human nature. We not only feel a dissatisfaction with the present condition of society, but with the character of every individual in society; yea, with our own character as degenerate and imperfect. No one fully expresses in his life his ideal conception of what a man ought to be. No one acts and lives in perfect harmony with the holy voice within him. Thus there arises within us the ideal of a perfect man, of one whose whole manner of thinking, feeling, and acting is in perfect harmony with the spirit of God; that is, we form the idea of the Messiah of God. But as we cannot find such a Messiah around us or within us, it is natural to look for him in the same future in which we looked for the regeneration of society. From such a future perfect man it would be natural to look for the regeneration of society, at least in certain ages of the world, when abstract principles are not distinctly apprehended and their power understood. For we learn from observation how much the improvement of society and the advancement of intellectual and moral light have depended on gifted individuals, who from time to time have appeared on the earth. From this view it appears that the coming of such a person as Jesus was not only, in some sense, a fulfilment of the expectations of the Jews, but of "the desire of nations."

The Messianic idea was however developed in a very high

degree, and in a peculiar form, among the Jews. This happened from the same reason that the spirit of prophecy, in general, on all subjects to which it applied itself, was developed in a far higher degree than among other nations. But from the preceding remarks it will be perceived that the Messianic predictions of the Hebrew prophets are not so peculiar and anomalous as they have sometimes been supposed to be.

The Messianic predictions originated less immediately in ideas of earthly retribution, and were less suggested by the circumstances of the times, than the other predictions of the Hebrew prophets. They partook more of an ideal character than common predictions, and sprung more from the general faith of the nation as the peculiar people of God, and from the general convictions and spirit of the prophets. It will be found, however, that the Messianic predictions, as well as those relating to other subjects, always had a practical object with reference to the contemporaries of the writers, and were not designed by their authors for the special use of distant ages. They always had the practical object of reviving the drooping spirits of the nation in calamitous times, of keeping the people from despair of help from their God, and thus from casting off their faith and trust in him.

We now come to the inquiry what the Messianic predictions of the Jewish prophets were. It will be convenient to consider, 1. What was the glorious state of things in the future, which they predicted; and 2. What was the instrumentality by which it was to be effected. Under the first head we may make a subdivision of the prophetic expectations:-1. The purely religious; 2. The political and religious united.

I. The general religious expectations, or predictions. These were founded on the correct view that truth has an almighty power, and must finally obtain a triumphant and universal dominion over the minds of men. The prophets were convinced of the truth and power of their religion, and hence of its tendency to extend itself beyond the bounds of their own nation. Consequently they could not fail of entertaining the firm expectation that the time would come when every form of idolatry should perish, and give place to faith in the true God, and thus the religion of Israel be received by all the heathen nations. Among passages of this import are

Is. xviii. 7, &c., where it is predicted that the Ethiopians, whose country was regarded as one of the remotest from Palestine, should bring presents to the temple of Jehovah at Jerusalem.

"At that time shall gifts be brought to Jehovah of hosts

From a people tall and fair,

From a people terrible from the first and onward,

A mighty, victorious nation,

Whose land is divided by rivers,

To the dwelling-place of Jehovah of hosts, to Mount Zion.”

In Is. xxiii. 17, 18, the same thing is predicted of the Tyrians, viz. that their wealth should be consecrated to the service of Jehovah at Jerusalem.

"But her gain and her hire shall be holy to Jehovah,

It shall not be treasured, nor laid up in store;
But it shall be for them that dwell before Jehovah
For abundant food and for splendid clothing."

In Is. xix. 19-21, the same thing is predicted of Egypt.

"In that day shall there be five cities in the land of Egypt
Speaking the language of Canaan

And swearing by Jehovah of hosts;

One of them shall be called the City of the Sun.

Thus shall Jehovah be made known to Egypt,

And the Egyptians shall know Jehovah in that day,

And shall offer to him sacrifices and oblations ;

They shall make vows to Jehovah and perform them."

This confident expectation of the acknowledgment of Jehovah as the true God, in other words, of the extension and establishment of the kingdom of Heaven among men, is carried still further by some of the later prophets. Thus, Zeph. ii. 11:—

For he will destroy all the gods of the earth

And before him shall worship, every one from his place,
All the islands of the nations."

So also iii. 9:

"Then will I again bestow upon the nations pure lips,

So that they shall all of them call on the name of Jehovah,
And serve him with one consent.

From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia

My suppliants, the sons of my dispersed ones, shall bring my offering."

So in Jer. iii. 17:

"For then shall Jerusalem be called the throne of Jehovah,

And all the nations shall resort to it ;

They shall resort to Jehovah, to Jerusalem,

And shall no more walk after the perverseness of their evil hearts."

See also xvi. 19-21; Zech. viii. 20-23, xiv. 16.

But perhaps the strongest and purest hopes of the universal spread of the religion of Jehovah are expressed by an unknown prophet, in religious insight the most distinguished of all the prophets, who wrote a short time before the close of the exile at Babylon, and whose work has been erroneously ascribed to Isaiah. Thus, Is. xlii. 1, 4:—

"Behold my servant, whom I uphold,

My chosen, in whom my soul delighteth;

I have put my spirit upon him;

He shall cause laws to go forth to the nations.

He shall not fail, nor become weary,

Until he shall have established justice in the earth,

And distant nations shall wait for his law,"

So in xlix. 6: —

"He said, It is a small thing that thou shouldst be my servant

To raise up the tribes of Jacob,

And to restore the preserved of Israel;

I will also make thee the light of the nations,

That my salvation may reach the ends of the earth.”

So in li. 4:

"For a law shall proceed from me,

And I will establish my statutes for the light of the nations.”

See also lx. 5, 6, and lxvi. 18–23.

In all the preceding passages it is predicted that all the nations shall be united with Israel by a common religious faith, by the knowledge and worship of Jehovah. Perhaps a certain degree of political superiority on the part of the Jews is implied in them. But the predictions are probably as purely religious as Jews of the age when they were written could make.

II.. Having spoken of the purely religious and moral expectations of the prophets relating to the period which may be called Messianic, I come now to those of a temporal nature, i. e. those in which a national, political, or physical element is mingled with the religious and moral. A lover of truth will not ignore any part of the predictions of the prophets.

I will, however, first speak of the state of things which according to the prophets would immediately precede the Messianic times. It was to be a time of national purification and reformation, brought about by the retributive judgments of God. The people were to become righteous before they became prosperous. Thus Jer. iii. 12, 13, 14, &c. :

Return, O rebellious Israel, saith Jehovah!

I will not turn a frowning face upon you;

Though I have rejected you,

Yet will I receive you again,

One from a city and two from a nation,
And I will bring you to Zion.”

This work of national purification and reformation is represented as being brought about by Jehovah's inflicting punishment on his people by means of heathen nations, through which he destroys the incorrigibly wicked from the midst of his people, and brings the remainder to a better mind. Thus, Is. i. 25, 26:—

"And I will again turn my hand toward thee,

And wholly purge away thy dross,

And take away all thy alloy.

And I will restore thee judges, as at the first,

And counsellors, as at the beginning.

Thou shalt be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city."

So, ch. iv. 2-6 : —

"In that day shall the increase of Jehovah be glorious and honorable,

And the fruit of the land excellent and beautiful,

For them that have escaped of Israel.

All that remain in Zion,

And all that are left in Jerusalem,

Shall be called holy;

When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion,

And have removed the blood of Jerusalem from the midst of her,

By a spirit of judgment and a spirit of destruction,