wild beasts," according to the Prophet. Egypt remains " a base kingdom;" and the recent attempt to raise it to consequence, has wonderfully failed. But the Jews are miraculously preserved. Jerusalem is still "trodden down of the Gentiles: there is not one stone left upon another: her habitation is left desolate," as our Lord foretold; but the Jews, though afflicted, are not forsaken: though reviled as a bye-word, they are enriched with the spoils of their enemies.

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In this Prophecy of Moses we have the whole plan of Providence announced, which was so closely adhered to throughout the Bible. Here are the history and present state of the Jews detailed, before they were a people. Here is a point, that gives a check to our incredulity, sets us upon reconsidering those darker intimations, which we may have overlooked, and paying more critical attention to subsequent predictions.

Of those, which relate to the Jews, in times prior to the appearance of the Messiah, the most remarkable are the Prophecies of Isaiah concerning the restoration of that people by Cyrus; and the destruction of Babylon. The latter is perhaps the most sublime and beautiful description to be found in any author sacred or profane.*

A moderate knowledge of ancient history will

*Isaiah xiii. xiv.

also enable you to understand those allegorical Prophecies of Daniel, which relate to the four great monarchies, the conquests of Alexander the great, and the persecution of his successor Epiphanes; the fall of the Roman empire, and its dissolution into various states. But having dwelt as long as necessary on those predictions, which evince the exercise of an overruling Providence, it is time to turn our thoughts to those, which foretel the coming of the Messiah. They are so frequent in Isaiah, that he has been styled the evangelical prophet; and his descriptions of the approach, character, and humiliation of Christ, and the happy state of society to follow the general diffusion of his religion, are too well known to require to be particularly pointed out; as the correspondence between them and the facts related in the Gospels is so minute, that you will easily recognise the resemblance and make the application. This I shall leave to your own reflections, aided by such commentaries as you can all obtain: for it is not the object of this discourse, to expound the Prophecies; but only to point out the most eligible manner, in which the unlearned may read and interpret them. As to those, that are of doubtful signification, either in the Old or New Testament, I advise you not to perplex yourselves, in quest of what you could never ascertain to your satisfaction; and what is not necessary to the stability of your faith; since for this purpose

those Prophecies, that are plain and unquestionable, are abundantly sufficient.

Of those, which have most severely exercised and amply repaid the learning and ingenuity of the biblical critic, Daniel's Prophecy of the seventy weeks is the chief. Though, before its completion, it must have appeared to the Jews to be wrapt up in mysterious language, the more learned of that nation, who applied to the study of it, anticipated the approach of a great deliverer, and directed the attention of the people to the period, at which he was to appear. This previous interpretation is a satisfactory circumstance attending many of the scriptural predictions; and this foreknowledge, however inaccurate, is one of those unsuspected proofs, which demonstrate their divine origin and the truth of the interpretation. Among Christians the prophecy of the seventy weeks has gone through every process of the critical laboratory, yet nothing consistent has been extracted from it, except a designation of the time, at which Christ actually appeared, and a description of his office five hundred years before that blessed event.

The intimations of the advent of the Messiah become more and more clear from the beginning to the end of the Old Testament. It is closed by the description of Christ and his precursor, which Malachi left as the last words and most valuable bequest of the ancient Prophets. The

last of that venerable line introduces Jehovah, saying; Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger (or angel) of the covenant, whom ye delight in:" and he concludes the Old Testament with these words, which foretel the ministry of the Baptist, and are so interpreted by our Lord himself: "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet." "The law and the prophets," says our Saviour, "prophesied until John: and, if you will receive it, this is Elijah, who was to come." "The disciples then understood, that he spake to them of John the Baptist." With this promise the Book of the Old Revelation closed; and for four hundred years, the Jews continued to expect the Redeemer, without any further prophetic warning, till the New Revelation opened with the preaching of this very Elijah, and the appearance of the Messenger of the Covenant.

Beside the direct predictions concerning Christ, we meet with a variety of prophetic expressions, which have an evident reference, in their pri mary sense, to the individuals and events of the age, in which they were uttered; and yet agree so well with the life and character of Jesus, that no intelligent person can read them without being struck with the resemblance. This has given rise to what is called the double sense of

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Prophecy, which implies, that phrases and epithets evidently used with a reference to David, for instance, were also intended to have a remote allusion to Christ. This is a supposition, which is seldom received at the first suggestion; a principle, which few minds can entertain without reluctance, or at least, hesitation; and which, perhaps, should not be pressed upon one, who feels unwillingness to admit it; but left to win its way by silent and secret operation.

The first impression may be, that it is a partial and superstitious predilection; arising from a desire to support a favourite system by every expedient right or wrong, and every mode of argument true or false. If it be not imputed to a spirit of deception and imposture, it will, at least, be ascribed to mistaken or misguided piety. This same person, however, may, in the course of his reading and reflection, meet with so many passages, apparently written with a view to more ancient times, yet clearly applicable to the Messiah; some more minutely corresponding with their secondary than their primary object, and others, that can hardly be referred to any but Christ, that he may be led to consider, whether they may not have a double reference. If he advert to the wonderful consistency of sentiment and design, which pervades the whole of scripture, from the creation to the redemption of man, he will naturally and truly conclude, that there was a con