purport with the term used in the Old Testament, where it is said, the glory of the Lord appeared.' And that the glory, here spoken of by St John, is the same with the glory which appeared between the cherubim of the Jewish tabernacle, must be evident to any one who will but consider and compare the Old and New Testaments together. In many places of the Old Testament, the Jewish prophets have an eye to this evangelical glory, and plainly foretel the restitution of that Shechinak, or tabernacle glory, which dwelt between the cherubim. Thus says Isaiah', 'In that day shall the ⚫ branch of the Lord' (772) Jehovah the branch (an acknowledged title of the Messiah) be for a beauty, and (3) for a glory-exactly parallel to what Zechariah says, Behold the man whose * name is the BRANCH, he shall build the temple of • the Lord 3, and he shall bear the glory.' So likewise says Isaiah *, ‘In that day, there shall be a 'root of Jesse; to it shall the Gentiles seek, and ⚫ his rest shall be glory. Again, The wilderness and the solitary place' (meaning the Gentile nations) shall be glad: the glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, they shall see (3) the glory ' of the Lord' just the same promise as is made in other passages; 'Arise, shine, for thy light is I Isa. iv. 2. 2 Zech. vi. 12. 13. come, 3 See St John ii. 2. He spake of the temple of his body." 2 6 come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee; darkness shall cover the earth-but Jeho'vah shall rise upon thee, and his glory shall be 'seen by thee '.' The Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory' —and * ' Į 'will gather all nations and tongues, and they shall come and see my glory.' I shall only point out two more passages relative to the same purpose, but they are of such a nature, as to put this truth beyond all contradiction. The one is 3, The voice ' of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord,' &c. Which very prophecy is applied by all the evangelists to St John the Baptist as the immediate forerunner of Christ: and then says the prophet, The GLORY of the Lord 'shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.' The other passage is in Haggai", "The desire of all ⚫ nations shall come, and I will fill this house with 'GLORY.' 'The GLORY of this latter house shall be 6 greater than the GLORY of the former, saith the Lord of hosts.' Directed by so many concurrent prophecies, it was no wonder that the pious and devout Jews looked so earnestly for the coming of the Messiah, and for the restoration of that glorious appearance, by which Jehovah had in former times been seen among men. Hence, upon the birth of Christ, we find Simeon, that just man, who waited for the consolation of Israel, not only rejoicing on his seeing the Lord's Christ, but likewise applying to him the prophecies that I have just noticed. 'Mine eyes,' says he', 'have seen thy salvation which thou hast 'prepared before all people, a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the GLORY of thy people Israel. The former part of this title had been promised before*, 'I will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant to 'the people, for a light of the Gentiles. And again 3, 'I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles;' and 4, the Gentiles shall come to thy light,' &c. And here, in regard to Simeon's manner of expression, it deserves our notice, that he makes a distinction between what Christ was to be to the Gentiles, and what to the people of Israel. To the Gentiles he was a LIGHT, but to Israel he was the GLORY. There is a particular force in this distinction; the Gentiles had no knowledge or acquaintance with , the glory of the Lord; they had long before that time lost sight of the original cherubic exhibition; and God had not as yet set up any other exhibition of himself, or of his glory, among them. This was the peculiar favour vouchsafed to the children of Israel. The tabernacle was theirs, which among other things, says St Paul', had the cherubim ↑ St Luke ii. 30. 2 Isaiah xlii. 6. 4 Isaiah 1x. 3. 'of 5 Heb. ix. 5. of glory;' and hence this glory is called THEIR glory,' the glory of Israel. Simeon directs the Jews to a more especial consideration of this child, as being their glory, the revival of their former glory, or Shechinah; by which denomination they could not but know and comprehend the design of his appearance; though the Gentiles, for want of the cherubim of glory among them, could not have any just or adequate idea of a Saviour under that appellation. Nor is it to be doubted, but that the pious Simeon, being under the influence of the Holy Ghost, did see, in the child Jesus, some manifestation of this glory, which, for wise reasons of Divine Providence, might for some time have been concealed from the rest of the Jews. That the birth of Christ was ushered in with a visible glory is most certain, from the particular account given us by St Luke; and the glory of the Lord, there mentioned, is a literal translation into Greek of the 79, the glory of Jehovah in the Old Testament. Whether the angel that proclaimed the joyful tidings was not a divine person, the person in Jehovah, who appeared in old times, or in other words, the divinity of Christ, may be a subject proper for exercising our meditations; especially since there seems to be a distinction made between this angel and the multitude. of the heavenly host that attended him; which multitude 3 is called, in the plural number, the angels. We may likewise employ Psal. cvi. 20. Jerem. ii. 11. 2 St Luke ii. 9. 1 Sam. iv. 21, 22. ploy our devout enquiries to good purpose upon the short doxology sung by the heavenly host on this glorious solemnity; which, from the nature of the construction, may be rendered good will to'wards men' (or, literally, complacency, delight, &c. in human nature, as 'sudonia 'v 'angois will signify) is glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth. And if this interpretation be just, as there can little be said against it, will it not import, that the incarnation of Christ is both the glory in the highest, and the blessed source of peace upon earth? We have much the same exclamation in a subsequent chapter', 'Blessed be the king that cometh in the ' name of the Lord, peace in heaven, and glory in the highest." But I shall leave this to pious people, to think of as they see reason; as also the nature of the star that was seen by the wise men of the east 2; whether this star might not have been some exhibition of the cherubic glory, although our conceptions are not adequate to the nature of such a peculiarly splendid exhibition. It must be allowed, however, that what St John says on this head is sufficiently plain and demonstrative. I shall transcribe the whole paragraph: We beheld his GLORY, 'the GLORY as of the only begotten of the Father, 'full of grace and truth; and of his fulness have we 'all received, and grace for grace. For the law 'was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time, the St Luke xix. 38. 2 St Matth. ii. 9, 10. |