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II. But how should this be? How could this come to pass? What should be the reason of it? Does not this deserve serious consideration? Amos iii. 6." Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord has not done it?" Such things are not the effect of chance, but are owing to the direction of Providence. Is. xlv. 7. "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things." But if God inflict calamities upon any people, it is not without reason; for all his works are done in truth. So again, in the forecited chapter of Amos, ver. 1 and 2: "Hear this word, that the Lord hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family, which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying: You only have I known of all the families of the earth. Therefore I will punish [or visit] you for all your iniquities."

It is a reasonable maxim: "Unto whom much is given, of him shall much be required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more:" Luke xii. 48. The people of the Jews had been favoured by God with many privileges; a suitable improvement might be expected; if they transgress the laws of God, their punishment will be exemplary: nor could any thing else but sin alienate the mind of God from them. Is. lix. 1, 2: " Is. lix. 1, 2: "Behold the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save: neither is his ear heavy that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated between you and your God." And Lam. i. 8: "Jerusalem has grievously sinned; therefore she is removed." According to the declarations of Moses and all the prophets, the prosperity and adversity of this people would be proportionate to their regard or disregard of the laws of God: for this I refer to Leviticus, ch. xxvi. and Isaiah, ch. i. And I shall make quotations from the book of Deuteronomy, ch. xxviii. 1, 2: “And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God- -ver. 15. But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day, that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: 25. The Lord shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies. Thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them, and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth-ver. 37: And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a by-word among all the nations, whither the Lord shall lead theever. 49, 50: The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, [as swift] as the eagle flieth, a nation, whose tongue thou shalt not understand: a nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young:ver. 52-59, And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst throughout all thy land. And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, throughout all thy land, which the Lord thy God hath given thee. And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and thy daughters, which the Lord thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thy enemies shall distress thee. So that the man, who is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children, which he shall leave: so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children, which he shall eat: because he has nothing left him in the siege, and in the straitness wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates. The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground, for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter, and toward her young one that cometh from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear. For she shall eat them for the want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates. If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law, which I have written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, the Lord thy God: then the Lord will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance."

We may be hence apt to think that Moses foresaw the distresses of the siege of Jerusalem, in the year of our Lord 70, and all the calamities endured by the Jewish people about that time, throughout their whole land, and their dispersion afterwards. If he did not foresee them, the

words spoken by him were then fulfilled; and all the calamities which then befell the Jewish people, or have since befallen them, are exactly according to the original plan of Divine Providence concerning them.

When the law of the ten commandments was delivered at mount Sinai, the people were greatly terrified; and they earnestly requested that God might speak to them no more in that way: if he would be pleased to speak to them by Moses, they engaged to hear and obey him. God accepted of this request, and assured them that for the future he would reveal his mind to them in a more familiar manner: he would speak unto them by Moses, and afterwards by prophets like unto him: and that there might be no room for mistake, deceit, or delusion, he would furnish those, whom he should send unto them, with sufficient credentials of their mission. If any should come to them in his name without such credentials, they might be slighted and despised; but if they came with proper credentials, they ought to be heard and obeyed; and if not, it would be resented. This is related several times in the books of Moses, and deserves to be attended to by us.

Ex. xx. 18, 19: "And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noïse of the trumpets, and the mountain smoking.And they said unto Moses: Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die."

Deut. v. 22-29. "These words the Lord spake unto all your assembly in the mount, out of the midst of the fire of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice-And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, (for the mountain did burn with fire) that ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes and your elders. And ye said: Behold, the Lord our God has shewn us his glory, and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire-Now therefore, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more we shall die

-Go thou near, and hear all that the Lord our God shall say, and speak thou unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee, and we will hear, and do it. And the Lord heard the voice of your words when ye spake unto me, and the Lord said unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken unto thee; they have well said all that they have spoken; O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!" Which words are supposed to be wonderfully emphatical, expressive of a most ardent wish and desire.

Once more Deut. xviii. 15-18. "The Lord thy God will raise up to thee a prophet, from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me: unto him shall ye hearken. According to all that thou desiredst of the Lord thy God in Horeb, in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord thy God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not. And the Lord said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spokenI will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren," and what follows.

Here is the origin of the prophetical character; men sent from God with a special commission to declare to mankind his mind and will. And from the occasion of this institution (the great terrors of mount Sinai, and the request thereupon made) it might be argued that, if ever a prophet should arise among the people of Israel, like unto Moses, and meeker than he, and if his miracles, the signs and proofs of his mission, should be more universally saving and beneficent than those of Moses, it should not be any disadvantage to him, nor lessen the respect fit to

be shewn unto him.

We proceed in considering the texts lying before us.

Deut. xviii. 18-22. Says God to Moses: "I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken to my words, which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. But the prophet which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. And, if thou say in thy heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken, but the prophet has spoken presumptuously. Thou shalt not be afraid of

him."

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Here is a general rule for discerning the mission of prophets, or such as should come in that character, as from God. It is a rule that would be of use in all ages; and is here delivered for that purpose.

"If the thing follow not nor come to pass." Those words do not intend any prediction of some distant good or evil, to come some while hereafter; but they intend a prodigy, or some work above the ordinary course of nature; which he who takes upon him the character of a prophet proposeth, as a sign, or token, or proof of his mission. If the sign proposed by any man, as a token and proof of his mission, be performed, he ought to be hearkened to; if it is not performed, there is no reason to apprehend any harm from despising and rejecting him; he has no message from God; "he has spoken presumptuously; thou shalt not be afraid of him." This may appear farther from what is said ch. xiii. 1, 2, 3: “If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and he giveth a sign, or a wonder;" that is, proposeth some great work as a proof of his mission, " and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods (which thou hast not known) and serve them; thou shalt not hearken to the words of that prophet, or dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul."...ver. 4. "And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death....So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee."

Here is a case put which never could happen; never would any man be able to perform a miracle in order to induce the people of Israel to worship other gods; but supposing it, he was nevertheless to be disregarded.

In all other cases, the rule here laid down for judging of prophets would hold, and was to be observed by all. If a man proposed some extraordinary work as a proof of his mission, which was not performed, he was not to be regarded. So all the false prophets, spoken of by Josephus, who appeared in the times of Felix, Festus, and other governors of Judea, some while before the destruction of Jerusalem, in order to induce people to follow them, in hopes of deliverance from subjection to the Romans, engaged that they should "see the walls of Jerusalem fall down before them," to give them easy entrance into the city; or that they "should see the waters of Jordan divided," that they might go over upon dry ground; or "that God would shew them signs in the wilderness," and the like. But nothing of that kind came to pass.

But if a prophet gave, or proposed a sign or wonder in proof of his mission, and it came to pass, or was performed, it would be decisive in his favour. So, when there were murmurings and disputings among the people of Israel in the wilderness, which tribe should have the priesthood, it was proposed that" twelve rods, each having the name of the prince of the tribe upon it, and another rod, with Aaron's name upon it, for Levi, should be laid up in the tabernacle, before the testimony;" and his rod which blossomed should be known to be the man whom God had chosen. "Moses then laid up the rods before the Lord, in the tabernacle of witness. And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness: and behold, the rod of Aaron, for the house of Levi, budded, and brought forth blossoms, and yielded almonds. And Moses brought out all the rods from before the Lord unto all the children of Israel; and they looked, and took every man his rod :" Numb. xvii. So that point was determined, and the "murmurings of the children of Israel ceased." And so it must be in all other like cases. If a "sign," or "wonder," has been " given" or proposed, and it is performed, or "comes to pass,' comes to pass," it is decisive.

Here then is the rule. If a man come, and speak in the name of God, and prove his commission by signs and wonders, he is to be regarded and received as a prophet. And God declares "whosoever will not hearken unto my words, which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him." Deut. xviii. 19. It cannot be otherwise. The consequence of disobedience to the word of the Lord, so manifested and confirmed, must be dreadful.

Let us now apply this. Jesus spoke in the name of God, faithfully delivered the words which he had received from God, and performed many miracles in proof of his commission. John xii. 49, 50, "For I have not spoken of myself: but the Father, which hath sent me, he gave me commandment what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that his commandment is life everlasting. Whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak." Ch. viii. 42, "I proceeded forth and came from God: neither came I of myself, but he sent me."

And in proof of his mission he appealed to his works, which were great and numerous, and openly performed in the view of all men. John v. 31, 32, 33, "If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. There is another that beareth witness of me, and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true. Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth. 36. But I have greater witness than that of John; for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, they bear witness of me that the Father hath sent me." And ch. xv. 24: "If I had not done among them the works which no other man did, they had not had sin: but now they have both seen and hated both me and my Father."

a

If Moses and the ancient prophets wrought miracles, there is as good reason to believe Jesus likewise did so, and more than any of them, or than all of them together. For the testimony of the writers of the New Testament is as credible as that of the writers of the Old Testament. And if it be said that Elijah was taken up to heaven, it is as credible that Jesus was raised from the dead, and afterwards ascended up to heaven.

Our Lord asserted his prophetical character, and his peculiar character of the Messiah; and often reminded the Jews of the terrible consequences of rejecting him who spake in the name of God, or, in the words of Moses, that it "would be required of them." John viii. 24, "If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins." sins." Ver. 25, " Ver. 25, "They said unto him, Who art thou? Jesus said unto them, Even the same that said unto you from the beginning." John the Baptist often said the same-that " he was not the Christ, but was sent before him." John iii. 28; and see ch. i. 19-37.

I

But, not to multiply texts, I shall quote Matt. xxi. 33-44, "Hear another parable. There was a certain householder, who planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a wine-press in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country. And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen that they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants unto them, more than the first; and they did unto them likewise. Last of all he sent unto them his Son [the Messiah] saying: They will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the Son, they said among themselves: This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. When therefore the Lord of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? They say unto him: He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their season. Jesus saith unto them: Did you never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner? This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes:" Psalm cxviii. 22, 23. "Therefore I say unto you: The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and shall be given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. And when the chief-priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them." This should be compared with Luke xx. 9-18.

Here our Lord speaks of the ancient prophets, and then of himself, and shews the dreadful consequences of rejecting him, and his message. There is another thing that should be observed, which is what our Lord added concerning the treatment to be given to his apostles and evange lists, the prophets of the New Testament also sent to the Jewish people. Matt. xxiii. 29-39, "Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers • we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye are witnesses to yourselves that ye are the children of them who slew the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the a Si quis Paganus ab ipsis Judæis quærat, cur credant mira- proditum ad posteros transmiserunt. Grot. de V. R. C. 1. v. cula a Mose facta, nihil dicant aliud, quam inter suos adeo perpetuam constantemque ejus rei fuisse famam, ut non potuerit, nisi ex testimonio eorum qui vidissent, proficisci. Sic ab Eliseo [2 Reg. cap. iv.] auctum apud viduam oleum; purgatum [cap. v.] subito a malâ scabie Syrum, hospitæ [ib. iv.] filium ad vivum revocatum, et similia alia credunt Judæi, non aliam sane ob causam, quam quod testes bonæ fidei id

sect. ii.

I.

b De Eliæ vero in cœlum raptu, unius Elisæi, tamquam viri omni exceptione majoris, testimonio fidem habent. At nos de Christi adscensu in cœlum duodecim proferimus testes vitæ inculpatæ, de-Christo post mortem in terris viso multo plures. Quæ si vera sunt, verum sit necesse est Christi dogma planeque nihil a Judais pro se adferri potest, quod non et nobis pari aut potiori jure possit aptari. Grot, ib.

damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold I send unto you prophets and wise men, and scribes. And some of them ye will kill and crucify, and some of them ye will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, [rather son of Jehoiada, 2 Chron. xxiv. 17-22,] whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, all these things shall come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee! How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, but ye would not. Behold your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you: Ye shall not see me henceforth till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the

Lord."

All this is properly said by our Lord in his prophetic denunciations. Not only the rejection of Jesus himself would be "required of them," but likewise their refusal to hearken to his apostles. For they likewise were prophets and spake by divine inspiration. They spake in the name of God, and delivered his mind and word, and proved their mission by miraculous works. If therefore, after having crucified the Lord Jesus, the Jewish people should proceed to treat in like manner his disciples, who were sent to them; if they should "scourge them in their synagogues," and put some of them to death," and persecute them from city to city," (as he foresaw they would;) they would then bring upon themselves, in the end, a terrible condemnation and such miseries would befall them, that it would seem as if all the righteous blood shed from the foundation of the world had been required of them.

And that they did so treat the apostles and other disciples of Jesus, appears from the books of the New Testament. These things may have been already taken notice of by us: nevertheless they must be here briefly recollected. How the apostles of Jesus were apprehended, imprisoned, beaten, and farther threatened, may be seen in the book of the Acts, ch. iv. and v. Somewhile afterwards, ch. vi. and vii. Stephen was stoned, "and there was a great persecution against the church, which was at Jerusalem, and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles." Some time after this, when Herod Agrippa had been advanced to the kingdom of Judea by the Romans, we are informed, ch. xii. 1-4, that "he stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded farther to take Peter also." But after he had been imprisoned he was miraculously delivered "out of the hands of Herod, and from the expectation of all the people of the Jews." St. Paul, writing to the Hebrews, ch. x. 33, 34, bids them "call to remembrance the former days, in which, after they had been illuminated, they had endured a great fight of afflictions: partly,' says he, "whilst ye were made a gazing-stock, both by reproaches and afflictions, and partly whilst ye were companions of those who were so used. For ye had compassion upon those who were in bonds, and bore joyfully the spoiling of your goods: knowing that ye have in heaven a better and a more enduring substance." And we have good reason to believe that James, called the Lord's brother, the apostle, who generally resided at Jerusalem, was put to death by the Jews there in a tumultuous manner, about the year of Christ 62.

How Paul acted in the early days of the gospel, and whilst he was under the direction of the chief-priests and Pharisees, we know partly from the Acts of the apostles, and partly from his own epistles. It is said, Acts viii. 1, that he "was consenting to the death of Stephen." And ch. vii. 58, "When he was stoned, the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet whose name was Saul." And afterwards, chap. ix. 1, 2, "But Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high-priest and desired of him letters to Damascus, to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.' And in his speech before king Agrippa, and the governor Festus, Acts xxvi. 9-12, he says himself: “ I verily thought with myself that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death I gave my voice against them. And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and, being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities. Where

a See Vol. i. p. 217, &c.

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