Jérusalem unto the Messiah, the Prince, shall be seven weeks, and three score and two weeks: the street shall be 66 whatever he required, to the extent of" 100 talents of silver, 100 measures of wheat," &c. &c.; and if this, which would again restore the worship of God in the temple, can be considered figuratively as building the city, there is no occasion to inquire for any other commandment. There was, however, another order in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes, mentioned Nehemiah ii. 2—8, under which Nehemiah was sent expressly to build the city; and the keeper of the king's forests was directed to supply timber to make beams for the gates of the palace, and for the walls of the city, and for the house into which Nehemiah was to enter; and it is very possible, if the chronology of that distant period were accurately known, that a computation from the twentieth year of Artaxerxes, would lead to as satisfactory a result as that I have noticed from the seventh. Each commandment is so near the period, that there can be no reasonable doubt but that the computation ought to be made either from one or the other. See Chandler's Defence, p. 136–145. e "Seven weeks," &c. The seventy weeks are broken into three parts; seven weeks, sixty-two weeks, and one week, and the last week is again divided into two halves. What is the reason for this division it is perhaps impossible to say with any thing like certainty, and what is here offered, is offered as conjecture only. It takes as its basis the computation from the seventh year of Artaxerxes. The seven weeks might be allotted for part of what was foretold, viz. "the sealing up the vision and the prophecy," for there was no vision or prophecy after Malachi; and though the chronology adopted in our Bibles places him (i. e. Malachi,) about the year 397 before Christ, which is sixty years after the seventh of Artaxerxes, he does not, as many other prophets do, fix the date of his prophecies; and they might have been complete eleven years before that time. At the end of the sixty-ninth week, or the beginning of the seventieth, John the Baptist began his ministry; and in the middle of the seventieth week, when Jesus began to be about thirty years of age, (Luke iii. 24,) he resisted with effect the temptations of Satan, established his victory over sin and death, began that career by which he made reconciliation for iniquity, confirmed built again, and the wall, even in troublous times: and after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not f 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. 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 cease1, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that deter k 1 the covenant, the new covenant of mercy, with many, by forgiving their sins, and put an end to the efficacy of the Mosaic sacrifice and oblation by dedicating himself to the service and redemption of man, and submitting to become a sin-offering for his followers and servants. f"Not for himself." See ante, Isa. liii. 4-6. "The people of the Prince that shall come ;" i. e. (according to the event)" the Romans." h "Confirm," &c.; i. e. (perhaps) by preaching and acting upon the terms of the new covenant, viz. repentance, faith, and forgiveness of sins. i "To cease," i. e. (perhaps) not literally, but making them of no effect, destroying their efficacy; by preaching and making that all-sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction, of which those under the Mosaic dispensation, were mere types. "The over-spreading of abominations ;" i. e. (probably,) if this be the correct reading," the exceeding greatness of her sins;" but the marginal reading is," upon the battlements shall be the "idols of the desolator;" and from the expression in our Saviour's prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem, "when ye shall "see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the pro"phet stand in the holy place," Matt. xxiv. 15.—it is probable the marginal reading is right. "The consummation," &c., i. e. (probably) until that period shall arrive, when the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled; when the Israelites shall have suffered what God shall have thought right; and when they shall come into and embrace the Christian faith. mined shall be poured upon the desolate. Dan. ix. 24-27. The particularity of this prophecy as to the time of Christ's coming, probably gave rise to that general expectation mentioned by Tacitus, Suetonius, and Josephus. "Pluribus persuasio in"erat," says Tacitus, (c. 13,)" antiquis sacerdotum libris conti"neri, eo ipso tempore fore, ut valesceret oriens, profectique Ju"dæâ rerum potirentur."-" Percrebuerat oriente toto," says Suetonius, 66 constans opinio, esse in fatis, ut eo tempore Judæi "profecti rerum potirentur." Suetonius in Vespasianum, c. 4. The passage in Josephus is thus translated: "That which chiefly "excited them (i. e. the Jews) to war, was an ambiguous pro"phecy, which was also found in the sacred books; that at that "time some one within their country should arise, that should "obtain the empire of the whole world. For this they had re"ceived by tradition, that it was spoken of one of their own 66 nation, and many wise men were deceived with the interpre"tation; but in truth, Vespasian's empire was contemplated in "this prophecy, who was created emperor in Judea." Josephus de Bello Judaico, c. vii. p. 31. See Chandler's Defence, p. 25, &c. See also Virgil's 4th Eclogue in the Appendix. This supposition, that Vespasian's empire was contemplated, scarcely requires refutation. He was not of the lineage of Jacob, Judah, or David, and had none of the characteristics of the Messiah.= The question, Matt. xi. 3., and Luke vii. 19: “Art thou he that "should come, or do we look for another," is in conformity with the expectation mentioned in this note. For commentaries on this prophecy, see Chandler's Defence, p. 132, and Dr. Lowth. See also Latimer's Sermons, p. 283. CHAPTER VI. PROPHECIES-LOOKING FORWARD TO CHRIST AND CHRISTIAN TIMES. AFTER THE END OF THE BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY, AND AT AND AFTER THE BUILDING OF THE SECOND TEMPLE-FROM ABOUT 520 TO 397 YEARS BEFORE THE BIRTH OF Christ. . FROM HAGGAI, ZECHARIAH, AND MALACHI. No. CXX. Upon the Time of Christ's coming, viz. during the Continuance of the second Temple. No. 120. 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: and I will shake all na❝tions, 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 с = a Haggai prophesied in the second year of Darius, (Hystaspes,) Hagg. i. 1., ii. 1., shortly after the conclusion of the Babylonish captivity, about 520 years before the birth of Christ. He was contemporary with Zechariah. b"The Desire of all nations;" i. e. " the Messiah, Christ, in "whom all the nations of the earth were to be blessed. "This house," i. e. " the second temple." It was then lying waste, Hagg. i. 4. but was shortly afterwards built, (Ezra vi.15.) and the object of this prophecy seems to have been to encourage the building it. of Hosts. 66 "The glory of this latter house shall be d greater than of the former," saith the Lord of Hosts, "and in this place will I give peace," saith the Lord of Hosts. Hagg. ii. 6-9. h FROM ZECHARIAH ". No. CXXI. Upon the Want of worldly Pomp in Christ's Appearance, the peaceable Character of his Religion, and the Extent of his Dominion. No. 121. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy i King cometh unto d "Greater," because Christ, the Desire of all nations, shall be in it. "Peace." See ante, Mich. v. 5.-" This man shall be the "Peace." And in the next page, Zech. ix. 10, " He shall speak 66 peace unto the Heathen." For a commentary upon this prophecy, see Chandler's Defence, p. 86-102. 8 Zechariah prophesied at the same time with Haggai, shortly after the end of the Babylonish captivity in the early part of the reign of Darius (Hystaspes), about 520 years before the birth of Christ, at the time the second temple was building.=The prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah encouraged the people, and forwarded their exertions. Ezra v. 1., vi. 14. h There are several other parts in Zechariah here omitted, which appear to look forward to Christian times, viz. Zech. ii. 10-13; Zech. iii. 8-10; Zech. vi. 9-12; Zech. viii. 7, 8. 14-17, and 20—23; Zech. ix. 12 to the end; Zech. x. 6—12; Zech. xiv. 1-21; and as to Zech. iii. and vi. see Chandler's Defence, p. 242, &c. i "Thy King," &c. St. Matthew and St. John both refer to this passage, as written of and verified in our Saviour upon his last entry into Jerusalem, where he sent two of his disciples for an ass and her colt, that he might ride into Jerusalem. St. Matthew says, "All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which 41 |