Chap. II. Thus the two claffes of prophecies which we are comparing, viz. thofe about the light of the Gentiles, and thofe that fpeak of a divine perfon incarnate, contain the fame fingular characters of extraordinary exaltation and glory, and of extraordinary humiliation and fufferings: and as it was of ufe to confider thofe two points apart by themfelves, on account of their peculiar importance; fo they pave the way for running the parallel between the two forts of prophecies in view, in the method obferved in the former chapter, by fhowing the harmony between them in the following particulars: 1. their fpeaking of the times of the enlightening of the Gentiles; 2. their harmony in their account of the enemies of the extraordinary perfon they speak of; 3. and of facts relating more directly to the hiftory of his life; as well as in, 4. the doctrinal characters they give of him; and, 5, in the principal figures by which they exprefs these facts or doctrines; together with, 6. the confolations, and other practical instructions, which they mix with these things.

I. Though all the above-cited paffages relating to a divine perfon incarnate, do not exprefsly call him the light of the Gentiles; yet there are feveral things, either in thefe paffages themselves, or in the contexts to which they belong, which fhow, that the times of the enlightening of the Gentiles are the times they treat of.

Thus in Pf. lxviii. whereas y 18. fpeaks of a divine perfon afcending on high, the context, in y 32. fpeaks of the time when all the kingdoms of the earth would fing praifes to the Lord, which fuppofes their being enlightened in the knowledge of him; and particularly y 31. fpeaks of "princes co

ming out of Egypt, and of Ethiopia, as foon Aretching out her hands to God *." The 110th

See Acts viii. 37. &c.

pfalm

pfalm fpeaks exprefsly of the fame person as a priest for ever at the right hand of God in heaven, and as ruling at the fame time among the Heathen or Gentiles on earth. In the 9th of Ifaiah, which, in 6. contains one of the clearest prophecies concerning a divine perfon incarnate, it is faid, y 2. "The people that walked in darkness have seen a ແ great light they that dwell in the land of the "fhadow of death, upon them hath the light fhi"ned;" where the expreffions, importing the enlightening of the Gentiles, have a manifeft refemblance to the expreffions on the fame fubject in lf. xlix. 9. and chap. xlii. 16. formerly explained. Whereas, in If. xl. y 3. 4. & 9. are evidently parallel to Mal. iii. 1. both thefe places fpeaking of the coming of the Lord after a forerunner has prepared the way before him; and in the 9th verfe of this 40th of Ifaiah, Zion and Jerufalem are once and again faid to bring good tidings, and are commanded" to lift up their voice with ftrength, to lift it up, and not to be afraid; to fay to the cities of "Judah, Behold your God:" the context, y 5. fhews, that in this chapter the prophet is fpeaking of the times when the glory of the Lord fhould be revealed, and all Hefh fhould fee it together. In If. xlv. which treats of the Lord, in whom Ifrael fhould have righteousness and ftrength, and in whom they fhould be juftified, and fhould glory, the prophet fhews, that he is fpeaking of the time when "all the ends of the earth fhould be called to look to the Lord, that they might be faved," y 22.; and to fhew that he is not fpeaking of a calling of the nations without any effect or fuccefs, it is added, that the Lord had fworn by himfelf, and that "the word was gone out of his mouth, that unto "him every knee fhould bow, and every tongue "fhould swear," y 23.; which prediction agrees with what is foretold in y 16. 17. about the overthrow of idolatry, and about Ifrael's being faved in

ແ

H 2.

the

the Lord, with an everlafting falvation. In Micah v. whereas y 2. fpeaks of the ruler in Ifrael, whofe goings forth were from of old, from everlafting, and who was to come out of Bethlehem;

4. tells us, not only that he would feed in the ftrength, and in the majesty, of the name of the Lord his God; but adds, "For now fhall he be great unto "the ends of the earth :" which proves, that the prophet fpeaks of the times, when the ends of the earth, the remotest Gentile nations, fhould be enlightened in the knowledge of God, and of the greatnefs of his majefty. And as the above-cited three contiguous chapters in Zechariah speak of a divine perfon incarnate in a state of humiliation, the last of these chapters* fpeaks of the overthrow of idolatry; and the first and the last † of them fpeak of the breaking of the covenant between God and the people of the Jews, and of a general and extraordinary defolation that was to Befall that people; which must be understood of what happened in the times of the enlightening of the Gentiles; becaufe the defolation by the Babylonifh captivity was paft before the time of Zechariah's prophecy.

II. As to what is foretold in the prophecies in view, concerning the enemies of that extraordinary perfon whom they fpeak of, feveral things relative to that subject are anticipated in the remarks that have been made already on the chief contents of those prophecies. It is fufficient to add at prefent, that in If. viii. 14. the Lord of hofts is faid to be for a stone of ftumbling and rock of offence to both houfes of Ifrael, at the fame time that he is faid to be for a farctuary to fome other people; which must be meant of thofe who are not of the houfe of Ifrael, but of the nations of the Gentiles: and that in If. xlv. 24. where it is foretold, that

Chap. xiii. 2. 8. & 9.

See on PT. ii. Zech. xi. xii. xiii.

+ Chap. xi. 10.

men

men would fay, “Surely, in the Lord I have righ"teoufness and ftrength," mention is made of fome who would be incenfed against him, and fhould be afhamed. So ufual it is with the prophets, in handling this fubject, with the most encouraging promifes to mix awful threatenings; the defign of which is, to give merciful warnings concerning the danger of neglecting fo great falva

tion.

III. As to facts relating to the life and death of the extraordinary person in view, there is a remarkable harmony, as has been proved in part already, between the two forts of prophecies we are comparing, as to the account they give of the time when that perfon was to come into the world, of the family of which he was to defcend, of the place of his refidence, and his humiliation and fufferings; and it adds greatly to the force of the general argument, that the prophecies relating to a divine perfon incarnate, are more fpecial and particular on fome of these heads, than the other prophecies formerly confidered, befides their containing fome new facts which thofe other prophecies do not men

tion.

As to the time of that great perfon's coming to the world, when Malachi fays, that the meffenger of the covenant was to come to his temple, it fuppofes, that he was to come during the standing of the second temple, it being in the time of that temple that Malachi prophefied. In Ifaiah xl. it is fuppofed, that he was to come while Jerufalem and the cities of Judah fubfifted, seeing these cities are called to behold him: And whereas the name of Zion, when understood to denote a particular place, fignifies the church of God in Judea or Ifrael, to which that name was originally appropriated; and is applied to the converted Gentiles, as acceding to the communion of that church, and incorporated with her; it is not only foretold, that the Meffiah

fhould

fhould be appointed king in Zion, Pf. ii. but that God would fend the rod of his ftrength (the Meffiah's ftrength) out of Zion, Pf. cx. 2.; which is equivalent to the prediction If. ii. 3 that when the nations fhould flow into Zion, it should be by means of a law coming out of Zion, and the word of the Lord coming from Jerufalem; plainly implying, that the doctrine that was to enlighten the Gentile nations was to come from Judea; and confequently, that the revealer of that doctrine was first to publish it there, and that he was to come to the world during the time that Judea was, in a peculiar manner, the feat of the vifible church: So that' fuch predictions concerning Zion, contain intimations, not only concerning the place of the Meffiah's refidence and public miniftry, but alfo concerning the time of his coming.

Whereas the prophecies confidered in the former chapter, about the light of the Gentiles, foretell, in a more general way, that he was to spend his labour among the Jews in vain, If. xlix. 4. which fuppofes his refiding among them, and alfo that he was to defcend of the houfe of Jeffe; the prophecies that have been confidered in this chapter, fore-. tell more particularly, that he was to be born in Bethlehem, and was to defcend of the family of David, Micah v. 2. Jer. xxiii. 6.

The prophecies in If. xl. and Mal. iii. contain feveral facts relating to the Meffiah's forerunner; particularly, that he would not only call men to prepare for the coming of the Lord, but that he would have fuccefs in his preaching; that he would actually prepare the way of the Lord before him; that he would appear but a very little time before the Lord, the Meffiah himself; for after mentioning the fending of that inferior meffenger, it is added, that the Lord, the meffenger of the covenant, would come fuddenly to his temple, Mal. iii. 1. And whereas, in framing conjectures, it might appear

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