In Psalm xli. 9, written 1021 years antecedent to his birth, the base conduct of one of his disciples in betraying him is recorded. "Yea, mine own familiar friend in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up the heel against me." In Zec. xi. 12, written 510 years before he assumed human nature, thirty pieces of silver is specified as the price for which he would be betrayed. In Zec. xiii. 7. written 510 years before his incarnation, the dispersion of his disciples in the hour of his extremity is foretold."Awake, O sword, against my Shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts: smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. In Psalm lxix. 21, written 1021 years before he ap ed nothing, so that Pilate marvelled." In the 13th chap. of the gospel byJohn, the treachery of Judas is particularly enlarged on,and the fulfilment of this prophecy exemplified in the base conduct of which he was guilty, in delivering the Redeemer into the hands of the scribes and Pharisees. In Matt. xxvi. 14, we thus read: "Then one of the twelve,called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, and said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver: and from that time he sought opportunity to betray him." In Mark xiv. 45th and following verses, the fulfilment of this prediction is recorded. We there read, when the officers of the Jewish Sanhedrim "laid their hands on him, and took him," that his disciples, conscious of their inability to defend him, and alarmed for the safety of their own persons, all forsook him, and fled. In Matt. xxvii. 33, 34, we are informed by the evan gelist, that when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, the place of a skull, they gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink. In John xix. 23, the fulfilment of this prediction is thus recorded: thus recorded: "Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part, and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughThey said, therefore, among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it whose it shall be. These things, therefore, the soldiers did." out. Luke xxiii. 33. "When they were come to the place which is called Calvary, there they crucified him :" which was done by piercing the hands and the feet to a cross beam appropriated to the purpose, and generally used for putting malefactors to death. John xix. 34. "One of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and have pierced and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son." Psalm xxii. 7. written 1060 years previous to his humiliation. "All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him; let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him." In Isa. liii. 12, written 706 years before he appeared on earth, his being associated with wicked men, at the time of his death, is predicted. "He was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." In Psalm xvi. 10, written 1060 years before the event occurred, the inspired penman, personifying him, thus speaks in reference to his resurrection: "Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell,neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption." I water and he that saw it bare record; and his record is true." Matt. xxvii. 39. "And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, and saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests, mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others, himself he cannot save." Mark xv. 25, 27, and 28, we thus read: "And it was the third hour, and they crucified him; and with him they crucify two thieves, the one on his right hand, and the other on his left: and the scripture was fulfiled which saith, He was numbered with the transgressors." In Acts ii. 13, we are informed, that after the Jews with wicked hands had crucified and slain him, God raised him up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be holden of it: to which account we have the testimony of the four Evangelists, of his having arisen from the dead the third day after his crucifixion. In addition to the prophecies here enumerated, I refer the reader to the whole of the liii. chapter of Isaiah: which describes so minutely a variety of circumstances in the Redeemer's life, that it is more like a history of events that were past at the time of its being written, than a prediction of such as were then to come; and yet in every particular it exactly agrees with the history of Christ, as recorded in the four Gospels. There are also in the Bible, besides these prophecies relating to the Saviour, a variety of general prophecies, which refer to the state of various nations of the earth, their rise and fall, and the changes which would and will continue to take place amongst them down to the end of time and the whole of these predictions, so far as they refer to past and present circumstances, have either received an entire and exact fulfilment, or they are visibly. fulfilling at the present time, in the various events which are now taking place in the earth. If, therefore, on this review of the prophecies that have already received their accomplishment, we apply them to the subject under investigation, the following will be found to be the exact state of the argument. Here are a number of prophecies, which are very minute in de. scription: they refer to a multitude of important and interesting events, which could only be known to God, and which no individual of the human race could possibly have communicated to the world, without having first received a communication from him relative to them :they were written at various and distant periods of time, yet all of them long before the circumstances alluded to took place:-the writers of them were men of different countries, educations, and habits, and had not, neither could have, as to the majority of them, any communica tion one with another; and yet in all their predictions they perfectly agree with each other, and the events to which they refer were, without a single exception, all fulfilled in the most circumstantial manner: which never could have been, if they had not, according to their own declaration, written by the immediate direction and authority of God. But, besides the prophecies to which our attention has already been directed, there are two others contained in the Scriptures, which I wish more particularly to dwell upon, viz. the destruction of Jerusalem, and the dispersion of the Jewish people, with the termination of their state and polity. The first of these events was predicted by Christ himself, and is recorded in the xxivth chap. of the gospel by Matthew, the 1st and following verses, and also in the former part of the xiiith chap. of the gospel by Mark, to which scriptures I must refer the reader for any information he may desire upon the subject, as I am obliged in this, as I shall also hereafter be in several other instances, to omit, on account of their length, the insertion of the passages enlarged upon. Now, in reference to this prophecy, I observe two things. 1. The simple fact of Christ's having uttered this prediction, is of itself a strong proof of the divine authority of his mission. The policy of a deceiver is always to court the favour of the people, and carefully to avoid every thing which would tend to make him odious amongst them; and of course, had Christ been a deceiver, he would, in common with the rest of such characters, have adopted this line of policy : in that case, however, such a prophecy as this never could have fallen from his lips. Nothing could possibly make him more unpopular than this prediction was calculated to do-it is a prediction which would excite all the rage and choler of a Jew and we find, in the event, that this was the effect which it produced; for it was (as we learn from Mark xiv. 58,) by perverting this, or some other expression of a similar kind which they had heard him utter, that they sought accusation against him to put him to death. : |