I. The first passage, which shall be noticed, is one which appears to point out the people of Israel as a type of Christ personally. St. Matthew relates, that our Lord, in his infancy, was taken into Egypt, "that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my Son." The impression upon the mind of any man reading this passage would certainly be, that it was quoted as a distinct prophecy of the event related by the Evangelist; and that the person spoken of was no other than Jesus. But a reference to the original prophecy of Hosea shews, that the assertion was made respecting the people of Israel: "When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt." This application of the words of the prophet is undoubtedly difficult to be explained; and the variety of interpretations, which have been proposed, have themselves introduced fresh difficulties. Without entering upon any discussion, respecting the different opinions which have been held by those, whose names have deservedly the greatest weight, it must be observed, that the quotation is made in the most definite and positive terms; and that, if the authority of the Evangelist be allowed, we b Matt. ii. 15. c Hos. xi. 1. must consider the passage to bear direct allusion to Christ. On the other hand, the connection of the original words with the expostulation of the prophet Hosea to the Israelites is so obvious, that perhaps no one, in reading that passage alone, would detect any appearance of prophetic allusion to a future event. What, then, would be the natural conclusion of any unprejudiced mind? It would surely be, that the people of Israel, in that part of their history, prefigured, by the providence of God, the events in which Jesus should afterwards be engaged: that thus, the same words, which related historically to the coming of the Israelites out of Egypt, related also prophetically to the corresponding circumstance in the history of Jesus; not from any accommodation of words spoken in one sense, and quoted in another, not from any ambiguity in the meaning of the terms, not from any figurative, or proverbial use of the expression, but from a preconcerted, designed connection between the two events. In any other history, uncorroborated by the authority which the Scriptures possess, it must be allowed, that a conclusion of this nature would be inadmissible; because, in no history but that of the Bible, is the veil lifted up, which conceals the counsel of the Most High in his dealings with mankind. And, even here, the conclusion is to be adopted only as it seems inevitably to follow from the comparison of two passages, both of which we believe, and know, to have proceeded from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. d The Scriptures contain also other texts, which are, at least, consistent with the supposition, that the people of Israel was, in some measure, typical of the Son of God. The Lord is said to be a Father to Israel, and Ephraim to be his first-born; as Israel is denominated the Anointed, or Christ; the Son, and the firstborn of God: and, conversely, Christ himself is addressed under the designation of Israel, and probably alluded to under the name of Jacob.h There is another remarkable passage of the prophet Hosea, in which the whole people of Israel is spoken of in terms, which are alluded to in the New Testament, as bearing reference to Christ. When St. Paul is reminding the Corinthians of the foundation of the faith, which had been preached to them, he addresses them in these words: "I delivered unto you, first of d Jer. xxxi. 9. la Psalm xxiv. 6. e Hab. iii. 13. Isai. xlix. 3. i all, that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day, according to the scriptures." There can be no doubt that the term "according to the scriptures," refers, in each clause of the sentence, to some verbal prediction which is contained in the Old Testament, relating to the death of Christ, and his resurrection on the third day. k With respect to the death of Christ for our sins, there are numerous prophecies of the most circumstantial kind. His resurrection also is predicted in terms sufficiently clear:1 and the time, during which his body should remain in the earth, is typically represented by the sign of the prophet Jonah. Jonah. But the only verbal prophecy, which intimates that Christ should be raised up on the third day, is that addressed by the prophet Hosea immediately to the people of Israel: "Come and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us: he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us; in the third day he will raise us m up, and we shall live in his sight." It is i 1 Cor. xv. 3, 4. * Psal. xxii. 16, 17. Isai. liii. 5, 8, 12, &c. 1 Psal. xvi. 10. compared with Acts ii. 31. m Hos. vi. 1, 2. Ꮓ evident, upon a review of the whole expostulation of the prophet, that he is promising the people of Israel a restoration from their national calamities and captivity, on condition of their repentance, under the figure of a resurrection from the dead; a figure frequently used in the poetical and prophetical books of Scripture." But the mention of the precise time, "the third day he will raise us up," a circumstance which is verbally predicted in no other part of the Bible, and yet is said by St. Paul to have come to pass in the resurrection of Christ "according to the Scriptures," strongly confirms the opinion of those, who consider the passage as a distinct prophecy of the resurrection of Christ. Even if the words were in some measure fulfilled by the recovery of the people from national distress, after an intermediate time, indicated by the prophetical period of two days, the fact would prove only, that the national history of the Jews was, in this instance also, so ordered, as faintly to prefigure the death of Christ, and his rising again. This comparison of different passages of Scripture shews, then, that the Holy Spirit has made use of words, which bear reference to the " Psal. xxx. 3. lxxi. 20. lxxxvi. 13. Ezek. xxxvii. 11. Isai. xxvi. 19. |