abundant provisions of transforming grace; and Ezekiel declares

away the heart of stone, and But these hopes would never

that in future the Lord will take give in its place a heart of flesh. have acquired their proper consistency, if there had not been set before the mind, in the personal appearance of the Redeemer, a new and hitherto unheard of union between heaven and earth, and between God and man. In this alone could a reasonable basis of such hopes be found. But, along with the inwardlytransforming power, an outwardly-sifting and judicial process must take place, even to remove the existing contrast so far as morality was concerned. It is from this point of view that we are to understand such announcements as that of the Messianic judgment in Zech. v. and xi., and that of the destruction of the city and temple in Dan. ix. "Thy people all righteous;" this is a necessary postulate of the kingdom of God, which is sure to be realised in due time, though possible not till the development is complete. The wheat must eventually be separated from the chaff, and the latter burned up with unquenchable fire.

4. The announcement of a Messiah contained within itself the strongest motives of an ethical description. As the Messianic era was represented as the consummation alike of blessing and of punishment, the contemplation would inevitably act, in the case of the righteous, as a powerful impulse to steadfastness, and in that of the wicked, as an impulse to conversion. We may learn from Micah ii. 12, 13; iv. 1-8; Is. xl. 3-5, and Mal. iii. 19, sqq., in what manner the prophets availed themselves of this announcement, as a motive of repentance.

5. Even under the Old Testament, the gospel, which proclaims the forgiveness of sins through the mercy of God, existed side by side with the law. How greatly then must it have facilitated the acceptance of mercy, in the case of those, in whom the object of the law had been secured, to have the condition of salvation, the coming of Him who was to bear their sins as He has borne our own, placed before their minds in such prophecies as that contained in the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah! That the prophecy did answer its end in this respect is evident, to take a single example, from John the Baptist, who bore witness, on the simple ground of Is. liii., to "the Lamb of God that taketh away

the sin of the world." According to Luke i. 77, forgiveness of sins was the centre of all the hopes of salvation, indulged by the more earnest minds.

(I)

6. But the principal design of the Messianic prophecies was to prepare in such a way for the coming of Christ, that, when he should come, he might at once be recognised from a comparison of prophecy with its fulfilment. And the very fact that, notwithstanding this preparation, the greater portion of the people failed to recognise him, is in itself a proof of its necessity. As it was, the only persons who did not receive him, were such as had lost their capacity for an impartial examination of prophecy and history, through their ungodliness of mind. But if there had been no signs at all, the recognition would have been rendered infinitely difficult even to the upright in heart. The importance of the Messianic prophecies from this point of view is attested by New Testament authorities. When John the Baptist says in John i. 20, "I am not the Christ," he points to Jesus as the Christ. As Bengel says, "by thus limiting his speech he gives a handle to the thought which suggests itself, that the Christ is not far off." He speaks of Him with evident allusion to the prophecies of the Old Testament, as "he, who coming after him was before him" (vers. 27, 30), and with a reference to Is. liii. as "the Lamb of God." Andrew, his disciple, on the strength of what he has heard from him, says to his brother Simon in ver. 41, "we have found the Messiah." It is true that Christ himself teaches, that the first pre-requisite to a recognition of himself is a certain state of mind, which creates a susceptibility for the outward proofs of his divine mission (John vii. 17), and traces the unbelief of the Jews to the fact, that this is not their state of mind (John v. 39-47); see vol. i. p. 99. He represents himself as the promised Messiah, in John iv. 25, 26; Matt. xxvi. 63, 64, and xi. 3 sqq. In Luke xxiv. 25, 26, he reproves the apostles a being "fools and slow of heart," because they do not discern the harmony between prophecy and its fulfilment, which is so conspicuous in his history. In Luke xxiv. 45, he is said to "open their understanding" that they may understand "the prophecies relating to his person," and in this way to strengthen their faith. He sets forth these prophecies in various ways, describing their great importance as

the force by which history is determined, in such words as these, "thus it is written," and "thus it must be;" Luke xxiv. 26, 46, and Matt. xxvi. 54. The importance which he attached to the agreement between prophecy and its fulfilment, as forming part of his credentials, is apparent from the fact that on the occasion of his last entry into Jerusalem, he arranged all the incidents in such a way as to insure an exact correspondence to the statements of prophecy, Matt. xxi. 1, and John xii. 12-16.1 The first of the Evangelists brings forward proofs at the very outset, that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah promised in the Old Testament. This was the problem that had first of all to be solved. That Jesus was the Christ was one of the leading topics in the preaching of the apostles (Acts iii. 18, x. 43; 1 Cor. xv. 3, 4; 2 Cor. i. 20). In Acts xxvi. 22, Paul claims to obtain a hearing for his preaching of the gospel, on the ground that he says nothing but what Moses and the prophets have already foretold; and in ver. 27 he expressly asserts that whoever believes the prophets must of necessity believe in Christ as well.

There can be no doubt, therefore, as to the great importance of the Messianic prophecies, so far as the people of the Old Testament were concerned. But the question still remains whether they are of the same importance to the Christian Church. To this question an affirmative reply has been constantly and decidedly given. A passage written by the excellent Pascal may serve to exhibit the attitude which the Church has assumed towards these prophecies. In his Pensées, (Art. 10, Preuves de Jesus Christ par les prophéties), he says, "La plus grande des preuves de Jesus Christ ce sont les prophéties. C'est aussi à

1 According to Delitzsch (die bibl. prophetische Theologie p. 170), the connection between the two is the opposite of this. He appropriates the words of Augustine, "Christ did not act thus because the prophet had foretold it; but the prophet made the announcement, because this was the way in which Christ would act." That this statement of Augustine's, however, is not applicable to the form, but only to the essence, that is to the fundamental idea contained in the prophecy and expressed in the word y, is evident from this, that there were circumstances connected with the affair which were unimportant in themselves, and derived their importance solely from their connection with the prophecy, such, for example, as the fact of the she-ass being taken as well as the foal. If the attention to individual traits, such, for example, as the riding upon an ass, is to be rejected without hesitation as a reprehensible attempt to "idealise;" what are we to do with such passages as Is. 1. 6, "and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair," of which no historical fulfilment can be pointed out?

quoi Dieu a le plus pourvu; car l'événement qui les a remplies est un miracle subsistant depuis la naissance de l'Eglise jusqu' à la fin. Aussi Dieu a suscité des prophètes durant seize cents. ans; et pendant quatre cents ans après, il a dispersé toutes ces prophéties avec tous les Juifs, qui les portaient, dans tous les lieux du monde.-Quand un seul homme aurait fait un livre des prédictions de Jésus-Christ, pour le temps et pour la manière, et que Jésus-Christ serait venu conformement à ces prophéties, ce serait une force infinie. Mais il y a bien plus ici. C'est une suite d'hommes qui, constamment et sans variation, viennent l'un en suite de l'autre, prédire ce même avénement. C'est un peuple entier, qui l'annonce." But, following the example of the rationalists, Schleiermacher in particular has broken away from this common conviction of the whole Christian Church.1

The question, of primary importance here, is whether there are really any Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament. Schleiermacher answers this in the negative. He found nothing but indefinite presentiments, utterances of a subjective consciousness of the need of redemption, "a yearning of human nature for Christianity," such as may be proved to have existed in heathenism as well. In making such an assertion, he placed himself in decided antagonism to the authority of Christ and his apostles. For it is evident, not only from the passages just quoted, but from many others which have been referred to in the course of this work, that they did acknowledge the existence of actual prophecies in the Scriptures. And the fallacy of the assertion is quite as apparent, if we examine the prophecies themselves. We have brought forward proofs, that the Scriptures contain a long series of genuine prophecies. Compare, for example, what has already been observed in vol. iii., p. 299, with reference to Zechariah's description of the future. Compare also Dan. ix., where the anointing of Christ with the Holy Ghost, his death, the forgiveness of sins to be secured by him, and the judgment to be executed on Jerusalem by a foreign prince, are announced. The nation from which the Redeemer is to arise, is foretold in the Old Testament, and even the tribe (Gen. xlix. and other passages), the family (first of all in 2 Sam. vii.), the place (Micah v.),

1 Glaubenslehre i. 116 (105. 6,) Zweites Sendschreiben an Lücke, Studien und Kritiken 29, p. 497.

and the time of his birth,―viz., during the period of the political existence of Judah (see vol. i. p. 62), previous to the destruction of the second temple (Haggai), in the time of the fourth monarchy (Dan. ii. 7), and in the seventieth week (Dan. ix.). The prophets point out clearly and distinctly the condition of both the family and nation at the time of the coming of Christ, and fully agree in predicting, that before that event all the glory of Israel will pass away (vol. i. p. 516), the tabernacle of David fall into ruins (Amos ix. 11), and the line of David sink into the obscurity of private life, (vol. ii. p. 110). The prophets foretel that with Christ's coming a new spiritual and vital principle will begin to work in the human race (Joel iii.; Jer. xxxi. 31-40; Ezek. xi. 19), and history has confirmed the announcement. "All nations," says Pascal, "were sunk in infidelity and concupiscence; but the whole earth now burned with charity princes forsook their glory, and girls endured martyrdom. Whence came this power? The Messiah had arrived." The prophets also place in connection with the coming of Christ a severe judgment upon Judah, and its expulsion from the Lord's own land (e.g. Zech v. and xi.: Mal. iii.). The fulfilment is before our eyes, as well as that of the prophecies, which announce the spread of the kingdom of God among the heathen in the days of the Messiah, such for example as Ezek. xvii. 22—24, and Mal. i. 11, “ from the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same, my name shall be great among the Gentiles."

Again, the assertion, that an agreement between the prophecies and the actual result, in matters of detail, is of no importance whatever, is no more reconcileable with the authority of Christ and the apostles, than the denial of the existence of genuine prophecies. For if this be the case, why is the harmony between prophecy and fulfilment expressly pointed out in connection with the most remarkable circumstances of the life of Christ? Why did Christ explain to his apostles, after his resurrection, the passages in all the Scriptures relating to his sufferings and glory? Why did he add, after saying to his disciples "all ye shall be offended because of me this night," "for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad?" (Matt. xxvi. 31). Why did he say to the disciples (ver. 54), "how then shall the Scriptures