by them, the remarks already made will enable LECT. VII. us to judge. Let us turn, then, gladly and thankfully, to that interpretation which was the first ever put upon the passage, which was the prevailing interpretation in the early Christian Church, and which has come down to us sanctioned by the infallible authority of our Lord and his apostles. To this interpretation, there is nothing in the passage itself which offers the slightest difficulty; on the contrary, all its statements receive upon it a due and harmonious explanation. The sinlessness of the suffering servant of God,-his vicarious substitution for others,―his meekness and unrepining gentleness under the cruelties of his enemies,—his triumph in the salvation of those for whom he suffered,and even the historical allusion to the circumstances of his burial and resurrection,-all find their counterpart and fulfilment in the life and work of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ of God. A great collection of Jewish testimonies in favour of the Messianic interpretation, is furnished by Hulsius, Schöttgen, and others. As a specimen, the following may be given. Targum Jonathan: "Behold, my servant the Messiah shall prosper, &c." Tanchuma: "Behold, &c. This is the King Messiah, who shall be extolled, and exalted, and be high. He shall be extolled above Abraham, exalted above Moses, and be high above the ministering angels." R. Alshech: "The Rabbins of blessed memory, with one mouth, according to the received traditions, declare that this discourse is concerning the King Messiah." Ap. Hulsii, Theol. Jud. p. 321, 322. † See Luke xxii. 37; John xii. 38; Acts viii. 28; 1 Pet. ii. 21-25, &c. LECT. VII. In vain has the perverse ingenuity of his enemies sought to find these criterial qualities exemplified in any other. The improved philology and hermeneutics of modern times, have only served more clearly to show that the earliest interpretation of this memorable passage is not only the best, but the only one that can stand the test of a searching and scientific scrutiny.* Messianic character of 32. JOEL. (B. C. 660.) This prophet does not inJoel ii. 28- troduce into his writings any allusion to the Messiah personally, but he announces as characteristic of the latter dispensation, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon individuals of all ranks and ages, without respect of sex or any of those official distinctions which were peculiar to Judaism, (ii. 28-32,)-a prophecy which Peter announced as fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, when he and his fellow disciples assumed the office of teachers under the guidance of Divine influence. (Acts ii. 16-21.) Messianic MICAH. (B. C. 758-669.) This prophet furnishes several delineations of the glories of the Messiah's reign, some of which are identical with those found in Isaiah. He also announces the union of the divine and human natures in the Messiah, refers to his mysterious birth, as a matter with which the Jews in his day were See Hengstenberg, l. c. Henderson in loc. Jahnii, Append. in Her. Sac. Fas. ii. p. 3—66. † Comp. chap. iv. 1-3, with Is. ii. 2-4; chap. vi. 6-9, with Is. 1. 11-17, &c. familiar, and especially names Bethlehem as LECT. VII. the place where he was to be born : And thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, Art thou too small to be among the thousands [tribes] of Out of thee shall come forth unto me He who is to be ruler in Israel. But his forthgoings are from old, from the days of Wherefore He [Jehovah] shall deliver them up until Prophecies in especially, JEREMIAH. (B. C. 628-586.) As this pro- Messianic phet delivered his oracles very near the time Jeremiah, of the Babylonish captivity, not only are his xxiii. 6. writings filled with sorrowful meditations upon the crimes and ruin of his nation; but his Messianic predictions partake of a hue borrowed from the prevailing colour of his feelings. They consist chiefly of announcements of the abolition of the Levitical system of worship, (iii. 16—18,) sense. * Mic. v. 1, 2. I have followed Newcome, in reading the second member of the first parallelism interrogatively, as the best mode, in the present state of the text, of bringing out the And his forthgoings, &c. The word thus rendered, , properly means the time or place, and not the act of going forth. (See Hengstenberg, Christ. iii. 298 ff.) The clause in which it occurs here is in evident contrast to the preceding, and intimates, that though, as a man, the Messiah was to come forth from Bethlehem, yet, his birth-place was eternity. This accords with Isaiah's application to him of the title, The Father of Eternity." For evidence of the Messianic reference of this passage, see Matt. ii. 5; John vii. 41, 42. 66 LECT. VII. and the making of a new and spiritual covenant with the chosen people, (xxxi. 31-34.) With these are coupled several announcements of the personal Messiah, under the name of "the Righteous Branch" whom God was to raise up to David, and with evident allusion to the promise of God to David by Nathan the prophet, (xxiii. 5-8; xxxiii. 15-22.) The most remarkable feature in these announcements, is the title "Jehovah our righteousness" which the prophet applies to the Messiah. Understanding by the term "Righteousness" here, what is its leading biblical meaning, justification, or acquittal in the sight of God, the prophet must be viewed as announcing the grand fundamental doctrine of Christianity, viz.; the justification of sinners through the merits of incarnate Deity. To avoid this conclusion, many have proposed to render the passage by "Jehovah is our righteousness;" and in support of this, they adduce the practice which prevailed among the Jews, and which had been received by them from the patriarchs, of giving significant names to objects, not so much for the sake of describing the objects themselves, as indicative of the feelings of the person by whom they were bestowed. Thus Moses called an altar which he built, "Jehovah-nissi," Jehovah my banner, as a memorial of the Lord's gracious interposition on behalf of his people when fighting against the Amalekites, (Exod. xvii. 15;) and so in like manner, it is contended, that the prophet here simply LECT. VII. affirms, that the people who shall live under the Messiah's sway, shall, in gratitude to God for sending him, give him the memorial-name of "Jehovah-tsidkenu," Jehovah our Righteousness. It must be allowed, that in this objection there is considerable force; the more especially, that in chap. xxxiii. 16, the same name is apparently bestowed by the prophet on Jerusalem. Let it be observed, however, in the first place, that there are certain palpable differences between such announcements as that concerning Moses in the case referred to, and that made by the prophet here concerning the Messiah. The fact affirmed is not the same in both. In the one case, we are told that a particular individual gave a significant name to a certain object connected with a specified transaction; in the other, we have only a general declaration that an individual about to appear shall bear a particular name, descriptive of his character and office. The ends to be answered by the two statements are not the same for both. The purpose of the one is, that the reader may know the simple fact, that a certain person took the specified way of shewing the importance he attached to a certain transaction; the purpose of the other is, that we may obtain a more correct idea of the character and office of the individual announced. Under these circumstances, it seems hardly competent to compare the two cases for the purpose of BB |