CHAPTER XX. THE PERSON OF CHRIST. 2. Prove that Gen. xlix. 10, refers to the Messiah, and show how it proves that Messiah must have already come? GEN. xlix. Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee. Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes; 12 his eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk. 6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall (a) The word Shilo signifies peace, and rule my people Israel. is applied to the Messiah: Compare--MICAH V. (b) It is only to the Messiah that the ISAIAH lv. Now gather thyself in troops, O daugh- gathering of the nations is to be: ter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek. * But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. 3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, Beeven the sure mercies of David. the people, a leader and commander to hold, I have given him for a witness to the people. Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the LORD thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee. ISAIAH lx. 1 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. 2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. 3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee. HAG. ii. 6 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; 7 And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts. "The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts. (c) Up to the birth of Jesus Christ the sceptre and the lawgiver did remain with Judah. Seventy years after this they departed. The Jews received this prophecy. If Christ had not arrived previously, this would be false: 3. Prove the same from— DAN. ix. 24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. 25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. 27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. It is to be understood as weeks of years, this being a common way of reckoning with the Prophets : EZEK. iv. 5 For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. 6 And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. day for a year. 8 7 Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and thine arm shall be uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy against it. And, behold, I will lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to another, till thou hast ended the days of thy siege. HAG. ii. 9 The glory of this latter 'house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts. MAL. iii. 1 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 of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. (6) As to place and circumstances: MICAH V. 1 Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek. 2 But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. 3 Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brethren shall return unto the children of brought forth: then the remnant of his Israel. to thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee for ever. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and And in thy majesty ride thy majesty. prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of fall under thee. Thy throne, O God, the king's enemies; whereby the people is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre. 7 Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: thee with the oil of gladness above thy therefore God, thy God, hath anointed fellows. All thy garments smell of myrth, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad. "Kings' daughters were among thy honourable women: upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir. 10 Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father's house; 11so shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him. 12 And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the people shall entreat thy favour. 13 The king's daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold. 14 She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework: the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee. 15 With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought they shall enter into the king's palace. 16 Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth. 17 I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations: therefore shall the peopie praise thee for ever and ever. ISAIAH ix. 5 For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire. 6 For 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 Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. 2 ISAIAH liii. 1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. 1 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. ISAIAH xlii. I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; ISAIAH xlix. 5 And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God Surely he hath borne our griefs, and shall be my strength. And he said, It is carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem a light thing that thou shouldest be my him stricken, smitten of God, and afflict- servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, el. But he was wounded for our trans- and to restore the preserved of Israel: I gressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: will also give thee for a light to the Genthe chastisement of our peace was upon tiles, that thou mayest be my salvation him; and with his stripes we are healed. I unto the end of the earth. 7Thus saith All we like sheep have gone astray; we the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and have turned every one to his own way; his Holy One, to him whom man despisand the LORD hath laid on him the in- eth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, iquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and he was afflicted, yet he opened not and arise, princes also shall worship, behis mouth: he is brought as a lamb to cause of the LORD that is faithful, and the slaughter, and as a sheep before her the Holy One of Israel, and he shall shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his choose thee. Thus saith the LORD, In mouth. He was taken from prison and an acceptable time have I heard thee, f.om judgment: and who shall declare and in a day of salvation have I helped h's generation? for he was cut off out of thee: and I will preserve thee, and give the land of the living: for the transgres- thee for a covenant of the people, to sion of my people was he stricken. And establish the earth, to cause to inherit he made his grave with the wicked, and the desolate heritages; that thou maywith the rich in his death; because he est say to the prisoners, Go forth; to hd done no violence, neither was any them that are in darkness, Shew yourdeceit in his mouth. selves. They shall feed in the ways, and 10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise their pastures shall be in all high places. him; he hath put him to grief: when 10 They shall not hunger nor thirst; thou shalt make his soul an offering for neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: sin, he shall see his seed, he shall pro- for he that hath mercy on them shall lead long his days, and the pleasure of the them, even by the springs of water shall LORD shall prosper in his hand. 11 Hehe guide them. And I will make all |