of its contents: but the reader must be upon his guard, particularly as to the application of the passage, because with the most anxious wish to be correct, misapprehension may occasionally have occurred. May this attempt draw the attention of abler men to the important parts of Scripture it sets forth, that mistakes may be corrected, and clearer lights given, that this vital part of Christianity may be better understood, and mankind strengthened in their faith, and improved in their conduct. And may He, from whom alone all light and wisdom come, prosper every work which has for its objects the improvement and happiness of man, and the glory of God. CONTENTS. Prophecies, &c. in the time of Christ-by the Angels at his birth, by Zacharias, by Simeon, and by John the Baptist. 135 2d-As to what should happen to himself-his rejection by the Jews; his sufferings; his being betrayed by Judas, and deserted by the other Apostles; his Cruci. fixion; his Burial; his continuance in the grave; his 4th-As to his Disciples-the exertions they should make, the treatment they should receive, the powers they should possess, the protection they should have.. 148 5th-As to the Jews; their conduct and fate; their rejection of Christ, and the vengeance which should be inflicted upon them the Destruction of Jerusalem -the period within which it should occur, and the means Christians should take to escape being involved 5th-As to the interval between his death, and the Destruction of Jerusalem; the uncertainty of that interval, and the manner in which he should expect CHAPTER I. PROPHECIES-LOOKING FORWARD TO CHRIST AND CHRISTIAN TIMES. FROM THE CREATION TO THE DEATH OF MOSES, 1451 YEARS BEFORE THE CHRISTIAN ERA. No. I. Contemplating Christ as "the Seed of the Woman," and "the Opposer and Vanquisher of Satan." No. 1. THE Lord God said unto the serpent, "I will put "enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy a "seed, and herb seed; it shall bruise thy head, and "thou shalt bruise his heel." Gen. iii. 15. a C "Thy seed," i. e. "the wicked," those who adopt Satan for their father, and he adopts for his sons. "HER seed," referring probably, though covertly, to the miraculous conception. C "It," and "his," in the singular number-looking forward to one person only. "Bruise thy head," i. e. " wound thee mortally, and triumph 66 over thee."-See Isa. xxv. 9. Hos. xiii. 14.-The head a vital part, the heel not. * "Bruise his heel," i. e. "obstruct his progress:" give him every annoyance." It may also refer to the "sufferings" he should undergo in his human state.-Kidder's Demonstration, Pt. I. ch. 7. sect. 1. fol. ed. p. 69.-And Hale's Trinity, I. 113, 114. B |