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utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the Lord their God. But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God; I am the Lord." Levit. xxvi. 31, 33, 38, 39, 44, 45. Here you may learn, that before the coming of the Messiah the first and second temple must be destroyed, the land of Israel laid waste, Israel scattered among all nations, and there to pine away in the sins of their fathers, and their own, * and afterwards the first covenant will be remembered, and Israel will be restored. But as Christ came before these times he could not be the Messiah.

THE MESSIAH IS NOT COME." Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz: the cup also shall pass through unto thee; thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked. The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; he will no more carry thee away into captivity. O daughter of Edom, he will discover thy sins." Lament. iv. 21, 22. It is well known that the prophet Jeremiah lived at the time of the destruction of the first temple: * the question here will be, How came the prophet to take notice of Edom? To which it may be answered, that it frequently happened, whilst a prophet was delivering the oracles of God, a new subject would on a sudden be revealed to his mind. So here the prophet lamented over Jerusalem and her people: on a sudden was shewn to him a great lamentation, that is, the burning of the second temple by Edom, and the present long captivity: but at the same time was

also shewn to him the downfal of Edom, and the redemption of Israel; and, when he had finished this short prophecy, he began again with his former subject, that is, with the fifth chapter of the Lamentations.

This short prophecy must be well considered. First, the prophet tells Edom to " rejoice and be glad" of the downfal of Israel: but know, says he, that a day is appointed for you also; and that day will be when the sin of Israel shall be accomplished, and that will be the day when thy sin shall be discovered, and from thence Israel shall no more be carried away into captivity. Here is a plain proof that the rise of Israel depends on the downfal of Edom. Secondly, as long as Edom is master, Israel must remain a prisoner. Thirdly, so long as Israel is a prisoner, his sins are not accomplished, and as long as they are not accomplished, the measure of Edom is not full; for these two points must come to pass at once, that the one shall finish his sin, and the other shall only commence to pay his debts. Now, if any honest man will consider this argument, he must acknowledge that the Messiah is not yet come. But, if any person will still contend that the Messiah is come, then let him answer this question: The prophet says, "The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; he will no more carry thee away into captivity." Consider well the text, that, when the sin of Israel shall be finished, he will no more be in captivity. This prophecy was declared more than five hundred years before Christ. Now tell me, of what use was his coming? * He could do no good to Israel ;

and what can be a clearer proof than the present captivity, that the period for the coming of the Messiah was not at that time? Secondly, the whole world is witness that Edom is not yet fallen? but what is the proof that Edom is not yet fallen? The proof is, the captivity of Israel; for the moment Edom shall fall the captivity of Israel shall be ended, and Israel shall be restored; and that is the proper time for the coming of the Messiah, but not before. Thus far it is proved that the Messiah is not come.

* PROOF FROM THE GOSPEL THAT CHRIST WAS NOT THE MESSIAH.-And Christ" went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him, to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Christ said unto them, See ye all these things? verily I say unto you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down." Matt. xxiv. 1, 2. "And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the gentiles, until the times of the gentiles be fulfilled." Luke xxi. 24. Here Christ gave instruction to his disciples, by telling them that Jerusalem must be destroyed, and Israel must fall by the sword, and be led captive among all nations. Now here he testifies that he was not the Messiah; for by the coming of the Messiah Israel will be restored, but not to go into a fresh captivity. Further he says that "Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the gentiles," and that the people shall be in captivity, "until the times of the gentiles shall be fulfilled." This is true, that Israel shall be dispersed until the measure of the

iniquities of the gentiles shall be full; at that time Israel shall be accomplished, and the punishment of the gentiles shall commence.

We find that God said the same to Abraham; "Thy seed shall be in captivity until the fourth generation, then they shall be restored; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full." Genesis xv. 16.* This declaration is confirmed by the Apostle Paul: "Tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the gentile." Rom. ii. 9. Here we learn that, when Jew and gentile both are found guilty, the Jew is the first to be punished; and, when the Jew has suffered out his time, the gentile comes next. "But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the gentile." v. 10. From these passages we may learn, that both in punishment and reward the Jew is first, and after comes the gentile. You see here plainly that Paul meant nothing else but this: that, when Israel should have finished their sufferings, at that time the measure of the gentiles would be just full. But in regard of reward it will be the contrary, for Israel will be the first, "Saying, hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them which were sealed; and there were sealed one hundred and forty and four thousand," that is, of each tribe of Israel twelve thousand. "After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude which no man could number, of all nations," &c. Rev. vii. 3, 4, 9.

I should wish that the reader would take notice

* HE MUST HAVE BOTH FATHER AND MOTHER. -It is acknowledged by all that the Messiah was to be the Son of David: for this reason Jesus could not be the Messiah. And if it should be said that his mother was a daughter of David, that will not relieve the objection; for, if the daughter of David brings forth a son, he can by no means be called the son of David: for a son by a daughter has lost the very name of a son of David, although the son of his daughter. "And they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month, and they declared their pedigrees after their families, by the house of their fathers," but not by the house of their mothers. Numb. i. 18. Here we may observe, that a daughter in Israel has no pedigree of herself; for, if the daughter of a priest be married to a man of another tribe, her son will be no priest; and, if a daughter of any tribe be married to a priest, and she brings forth a son, he will be a priest. Thus the pedigree of a man depends on his father only.

*A SAVIOUR-is not the name of the Messiah, but the name of God; for the Messiah himself shall look up to God to be saved. "He is just and shall be saved," Zech. ix. 9. Observe the word is

venousha: the proper sense of the word is, And he shall be saved, but not " to save himself." And again, "For I am the Lord, thy God, thy Saviour." Isaiah xliii. 3. "I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no Saviour: ver. 11. "And all flesh shall know, that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Reedemer, the mighty one of Jacob." Isaiah xlix. 26. Happy art thou, O Israel;

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