By Rev. J. Packard, Prof. in the Prot. Epis. Theol. Scm. of Virginia.

Christology of the Old Testament, and a Commentary on the predictions of the Messiah by the Prophets. By E. W. Hengstenberg, Doctor of Phil. and Theol., and Professor of the latter in the University of Berlin. Translated from the German, by Reuel Keith, D. D., Professor in the Prot. Epis. Theol. Sem. of Virginia. In three volumes. Washington, D. C.: Wm. M. Morrison. Boston: Crocker & Brewster. New-York: Gould, Newman & Saxton. Philadelphia: Wm. Marshall & Co., 1839. pp. 560, 423, 496.

BEFORE remarking on the above work, we propose to show, very briefly, that many predictions of the Old Testa ment referred specifically to our Saviour. We shall do this by appealing to his authority, and to that of his apostles; and by comparing the descriptions of the Messiah, which we find in the Old Testament, with the earthly ministration of Jesus Christ.

When our risen Lord drew near to the disciples who were going to Emmaus, after chiding them for doubting that, according as the prophets had spoken, Christ must suffer and enter into his glory, he began “at Moses and all the prophets, and expounded unto them, in all the Scriptures, the things concerning himself" Shortly after, he stood in the midst of the eleven and said unto them, "These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you; that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures; and said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day." When questioned publicly by two of John's disciples, "Art thou Luke 24: 44, 45.

*Luke 24: 25-27.

1

he that should come, or look we for another?"* he answered, by referring to the fulfilment of those prophecies, which describe the marvellous works of the Messiah: "The blind receive their sight, the lame walk," etc. Acting on the authority committed to them by Christ, the apostles boldly asserted the reference of the prophets to their Saviour. 66 The spirit of Christ which was in them," "testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow." "Those things, which God before had showed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer he hath so fulfilled." Peter affirmed, "To him give all the prophets witness ;" and Paul likewise, "In him all the promises of God are yea and amen."||

66

The general descriptions of the Messiah have their full accomplishment only in Jesus Christ. It was promised to Abraham, that in him should "all the nations of the earth be blessed;" which Paul interprets as "preaching the gospel unto Abraham." God promised to David, that his seed should endure for ever; that the throne of his kingdom should be established for ever, as the days of heaven, and as the sun before him; that David should never want a man to sit upon his throne." The Jews applied these prophecies to the Messiah. "We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth for ever"++ But the children of Israel have abode many days without a prince and without a king. In the time of Christ they had no king but Cæsar. Jesus Christ is therefore the true king of Israel. The Lord God hath given him "the throne of his father David," and he reigns "over the house of Jacob”—the Israelites indeed "for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end."§§ "The root of Jesse shall stand as an ensign— a standard to the people ;" and "unto him shall the gathering of the people be."||||

When we come to the more specific descriptions of the Messiah, we see that they can refer to none other than

*Matt. 11: 3.

§ Acts 3: 18.

T Gen. 12: 1-3; 18:

Matt. 11: 4, 5.

† 1 Pet. 1: 11.

Acts 10: 43; 2 Cor. 1: 20. 18; 22: 18; 26: 4; Gal. 3: 8.

** 2 Sam. 7: 16; 1 Kings 9: 5; Ps. 72; 89: 4, 29, 36; Ps.

110: 4; Jer. 33: 14-17.

§§ Luke 1: 31-33.

tt John 12: 34. ‡‡ Hosea 3: 4. Is. 11: 10; Gen. 49: 10.

Jesus Christ. Though his goings were from of old, from everlasting, and though styled "the Everlasting Father," he must be born in Bethlehem of Judea. This was the general expectation of the Jews; and when Herod demanded of the chief Priests and Scribes where Christ should be born, they replied, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the Prophet.* The Messiah was to be of the stem of Jesse-a righteous branch, raised up out of his roots-called from hence, "My servant David." All the people, at the time of Christ, were in expectation that Christ should come of the seed of David. “And of this man's seed, God, according to his promise, raised unto Israel a Saviour," Jesus Christ, who was made" of the seed of David," and "of his house and lineage."

According to the prophets, he must be "despised and rejected of men," "a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence," especially to the house of Israel-" a root out of a dry ground, without form or comeliness." He was to be wounded, bruised, scourged, oppressed, by an unjust sentence cut off from the land of the living, stricken, spit upon; yet his soul would be a sin-offering, and the work of redemption would be finished by his bloody death.† This was fulfilled to the minutest circumstance, even to the parting his garment, and casting lots for his tunic. Christ "hath once suffered, the just for the unjust ;" "his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree;" "by whose stripes we are healed."§

The office of the Messiah was to be "a prophet like unto Moses," "mighty in word and deed before God and all the people;" to be a king who should "order and establish his kingdom, and execute judgment and justice."|| For these ends he was to be endowed with abundant qualifications. "The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him; the Spirit of wisdom and understanding; the Spirit of counsel and might; the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord;" because "the Lord hath anointed him to preach the gospel to the poor, to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty

*Mich. 5: 2; Matt. 2: 5, 6.

8: 14; Ps. 22: 1, 17.

† Is. 52: 13; 53: 12;

Matt. 27: 35; Mark 15: 24; Luke 23: 34; John 19: 23. § 1 Pet. 2: 24; 3: 18. | Deut. 18: 15, 20; Is. 9: 7.

to the captives." In the course of his ministration "the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped; the lame man shall leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing." "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd, and carry the lambs in his bosom." "My righteous servant shall justify many, for he shall bear their iniquity." "He shall make reconciliation for iniquity, and bring in everlasting righteousness."* So prevalent were these expectations, that the ignorant Samaritan woman, who received only the Pentateuch, said of the Messiah, "When he is come, he will tell us all things ;" and Simeon, who was waiting for the consolation of Israel, like a second Jacob, exclaimed: "Mine eyes have seen thy salvationa light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel."I

66 а

We have thus given a brief synoptical view of the Messianic prophecies. We have chosen to quote them at length, and leave the reader to compare them with their fulfilment in the New Testament. Thus he will be able to give reason of the faith that is in him" in these predictions, and exhibit the biblical evidence on which they rest. We love to dwell on the foreshadowings of the hope of Israel; to trace the footsteps of the Saviour among the saints of old; and we do not fear that it will be "grievous" to our readers to do likewise. Besides, these prophecies may be placed in such a position, as to reflect light on each other, and thus add to their mutual strength. Like the diamond, of which Solomon says, "whithersoever it turneth it prospereth."shineth-so does Scripture give out light at every angle, and at every point of view. Oh! that the men of God were more diligent in studying and weighing every expression of the prophecies, and finding Him of whom Moses and the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God! How much would they gain by doing it! How much do they lose by not doing it! How much more firmly would the people of their charge be rooted and grounded in the faith, if they were fed with the wisdom and knowledge of prophecy !

And what study more profitable and delightful, than the growth of prophecy? Who, that takes pleasure in seeking

* Is. 11: 2; 35: 5; 42: 1; 53: 11.

Luke 2: 30.

† John 4: 25.

out the order of God's working in nature, can fail to be struck with the analogy in the gradual development of prophecy. It is the least of all seeds in Genesis; but it grows up-we know not how, occulto velut arbor ævo-to be the greatest of trees, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in its branches ;-a cloud, at first no bigger than a man's hand, but gathering size and volume as it sweeps along, till finally it fills the whole heaven. To use the beautiful comparison of Leighton, "The sweet stream of prophecy did, as the rivers, make its own banks fertile and pleasant as it ran by, and flowed still forward to after ages; and by the confluence of more such prophecies, grew greater as it went, till it fell in with the main current of the gospel in the New Testament, both acted and preached by the great prophet himself, whom they foretold as to come, and recorded by his apostles and evangelists, and thus united in one river clear as crystal. This doctrine of salvation in the Scriptures hath still refreshed the city of God, his church under the gospel, and still shall do so, till it empty itself into the ocean of eternity."* First, there is the promise in general terms. Salvation is to come from the posterity of the woman; then through the family of Shem; from this family Abraham is selected; from his sons, Isaac; from the sons of Isaac, Jacob; from the twelve sons of Jacob, Judah-the ancestor of David. We see that in prophecy a thousand years are with the Lord as one day; that he is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but that he that shall come, will come, and will not tarry. More than 4000 years elapsed between the first promise, and "the voice of one crying in the wilderness." Four centuries intervened between the prophecy of Malachi and its fulfilment in John the Baptist; yet, prophecy bridges the gulf between the Old and New Testaments. Jesus Christ is the centre of them both, the hope of the former, and the glory of the latter. Perhaps so long an interval was necessary, in order to familiarize the minds of men with the idea of a Messiah. They must see and feel their everlasting need, and the exceeding desirableness of a Saviour, before he would be granted. They must cry out, with an exceeding great and bitter cry,

* Vol. I. 170. London, 1835. See also a most beautiful illustration of Is. 9: 1, in Vol. II. 77.

SECOND SERIES, VOL. IV. NO. II.

12