speculations which are too often put forth in the much-abused name of science. And we object to these things more in the interest of science than of theology, because while science may be seriously injured by the blundering of injudicious friends, or speculating and irrational votaries, the fundamental basis of theology is too firmly seated in the inner consciousness of man to be overturned by any amount of illogical reasoning on the part of its friends, or a greater amount of illogical rancour on the part of its foes. The Scriptures themselves present no bar to the most comprehensive investigation on the part of those who seek to know the all-perfect harmony between the Word and the Works of God, as a distinguished writer has well said— "Science has a foundation, and so has religion. Let them unite their foundations, and the basis will be broader, and they will be two compartments of one great fabric reared to the glory of God. Let the one be the outer and the other the inner court. In the one, let all look, and admire, and adore; and in the other, let those who have faith kneel, and pray, and praise. Let the one be the sanctuary, where human learning may present its richest incense as an offering to God; and the other, the holiest of all, separated from it by a vail now rent in twain, and in which on a blood-sprinkled mercy-seat, we pour out the love of a reconciled heart, and hear the oracles of the living God." 6 6 Method of the Divine Government, by Dr. McCosh. 289 CHAPTER XIV. THE PROMISED DELIVERER. GREAT is the relief at being able to turn from the crude guesses, the bold conjectures, and the unsubstantial theories of the Rationalists respecting the Creator of the universe and the origin of man, to the consideration of that "more sure word of prophecy," of which the apostle Peter says, "whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts.... For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." Of all the prophecies which we have hitherto considered, none are so important, and happily none are so capable of proof to those who are content to take God at His word, as those which bear the name of MESSIANIC, relating to every thing predicative of the promised Deliverer, who was to undo the work of the Evil One, when he persuaded our first parents in Paradise to disbelieve their Maker, and to prefer the reasoning of the first and earliest Rationalist, man's unwearied foe, "that old serpent, the Devil."8 The prophecy which records this incident in the first volume of the Book of Moses is thus expressed : "And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; IT shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."9 It is important to remember that the word rendered "IT" in 7 2 Pet. i. 19, 21. 8 Rev. xx. 2. 9 Gen. iii. 13, 15. U the Authorised Version, is used elsewhere in Scripture to denote one of the names of God, as it is here of the promised Deliverer, the Messiah, which, as the one only descendant of Eve who had no earthly father, was specially "manifested, that he might destroy the works of the Devil." And we know how this was effected, when Christ, the promised seed of the woman, “blotted out the handwriting of the ordinances against us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; and having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. ”3 Or again, “Forasmuch as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he (Jesus) also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the Devil." Although the Jewish writers do not directly interpret the "bruising” of the serpent's head to the promised Messiah, yet both the Targums of Jerusalem and of the Pseudo-Jonathan say that this victory over the serpent shall be "in the days of the Messiah." It is well known that the Church of Rome has corrupted this passage of Holy Scripture (Gen. iii. 15) in order to ascribe the victory over Satan to Mary," the mother of Jesus," instead of to her divine Son. The original Hebrew is perfectly unequivocal, for though the pronoun might be so pointed as to signify either he or she, yet the verb is, according to the Hebrew idiom, masculine; and, as we have already seen, the Hebrew "it" is used in Scripture as one of the names of God, and not of any fallen creature, like Mary and all mankind. This is the reading of all the various MSS. and printed editions of the Hebrew Bible, and of the Samaritan text.5 All the Rabbinical commentators, and the ancient Syriac and Arabic Versions, have the same masculine pronoun. In the Septuagint Version it is the same, as the LXX. have translated the term durós, "He," even though a 1 Ps. cii. 27; Isa. xlviii. 12. 3 Col. ii. 14, 15. 21 John iii. 8. 4 Heb. ii. 14. Although the Hebrew pronoun N by itself is either masculine or feminine, the Hebrew verb has a peculiarity which the English language has not, viz., it has in the third person two distinct forms for the masculine and feminine, as it stands in the text, he shall bruise; and if she had been meant, it would have been written differently, as, she shall bruise. neuter noun, σжéрμа, "seed," precedes it. The original Version of the Vulgate had ipse, not ipsa, as is proved by the language of Jerome, to whom the Romanists attribute the Vulgate translation, in his work, Quæst. Hebr. in Gen., "IPSE conteret caput tuum ; so that the alteration must have been made after Jerome's time (close of the fourth century), and was evidently made with a design to support the false, anti-Scriptural, and uncatholic doctrine of the Church of Rome, viz., that of the Immaculate Conception. In the valuable and interesting Course of Sermons on the Prophecies of the Messiah, delivered by the present Bishop of Winchester at Cambridge twenty years ago, the preacher supposes a discussion between an enquiring, thoughtful follower of the Roman standards, and a pious, intelligent disciple of Moses and the prophets," in which the latter is represented as giving reasons for the belief current amongst the Jews at the time of the Nativity that a great DELIVERER Would speedily come, that He would restore the kingdom to Israel, and make Jerusalem the chief among the nations, and joy of the whole earth. I think, therefore, this subject may be profitably considered in its twofold aspect-first, How the prophecy respecting the promised Deliverer was understood at the time by the more thoughtful Jews; and secondly, How far the traditions concerning this great Deliverer appear to have spread amongst the leading nations of the world. 1. The chief Messianic prophecies are thus interpreted by the Jewish doctors. The aged patriarch Jacob before his death commanded his sons to assemble themselves together, in order that he might inform them what should happen to them "in the last days," i.e., the days of the Messiah. The prophecy relating to the tribe of Judah is thus expressed :-"The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh come."6 This is interpreted in the Targum of Onkelos as follows:"There shall be dominion in the beginning, and in the end a kingdom 6 Gen. xlix. 10. shall be anointed from the house of Judah. There shall not depart a ruler from the house of Judah, nor a scribe from his children's children for ever, even till Messiah cometh, whose is the kingdom, and whom the people shall obey. I wait for thy salvation, O Lord." The simple meaning of this Messianic prophecy appears to be the sceptre, as the emblem of dominion, or as we should say, the sovereignty of the house of Judah, should not cease or depart from that tribe until Shiloh, the promised Deliverer, whose name signifies "the Prince of Peace," should appear. And the term "lawgiver" seems to point to the Sanhedrim, or Court of Judicature, the members of which chiefly consisted of the tribe of Judah, the prince or chief of which was always of that tribe, and which retained its power to the latter end of Herod's reign, when Christ was come." Again, Balaam's prophecy respecting what the twelve tribes of Israel would do to the people of Moab "in the latter days" is thus worded:-"There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth."8 This prophecy the Targum of Onkelos thus expounds "I behold him, but not now; I see him, but not near. A King shall rise out of Jacob, and a Messiah shall be magnified out of Israel, who shall destroy the princes of Moab, and shall bear dominion over all the children of men." So the various prophecies of Isaiah, e.g., "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called, The Mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace;"9 and the famous chapter respecting the sufferings, the death, and the rejection of the "man of sorrows" is distinctly applied in the Targum of Jonathan to the promised Deliverer. Indeed the Hebrew text "Behold, my servant shall deal prudently," is rendered in the Targum, "Behold, my servant MESSIAH shall deal," &c. 1 The second Psalm, which is so exclusively Messianic, as the Church of Christ has ever believed since the day of Pentecost, 7 See Gill's Commentary of Genesis, xlix. 10. 1 Isa. lii. 13. |