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civil power; and in A. D. 756, he actually became prince of Rome and the territories adjacent, and restored to that city part of its ancient privileges; and he still continues to hold the sovereignty, and to maintain his independence, under the name of the Ecclesiastical States. *

(18.) This, or the Papal Power, is that predicted by Daniel, (ch. 8. 24— 27.) "And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise; and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings." This evidently points out the papal supremacy, in every respect diverse from the former, which, from small beginnings, thrust itself up among the ten kingdoms, till at length it successively eradicated three of them,—the kingdom of the Heruli, of the Ostrogoths, and of the Lombards.† "And he shall speak great words against the most High," in assuming infallibility, professing to forgive sins, and to open and shut heaven, thundering out bulls and anathemas, excommunicating princes, absolving subjects from their allegiance, and exacting obedience to his decrees in open violation of reason and Scripture. “And shall wear out the saints of the most High," by wars, crusades, massacres, &c.* "And think to change times and laws," appointing feasts and fasts, canonizing saints, &c. "And they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time," i. e. 31 years, or, reckoning 30 days to a month, 1260 days, equal to the same number of years in prophetic language; which if dated from the decree of Phocas constituting him the supreme bead of the church, A. D. 606, will terminate 1866.† The same Anti-christian power is described by the prophet in ch. 11. 36 -39. "And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished; for that that is determined shall be done. Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god for he shall magnify himself above all." The preceding verses (from v. 31) relate to the Romans; who not only destroyed the city and temple of Jerusalem, and crucified the Messiah, but during almost 300 years, sought by every means, to extirpate Christianity. The conversion of Constantine, while it stopped the rage of persecution, gave but little help to true religion. The power first exercised by the emperors in calling and influencing ecclesiastical councils, gradually passed into the hands of the clergy; and the Bishop and church of Rome at last carried it to an enormous length, magnifying themselves above every god.† "But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things." Forces, or, munitions, Heb. Mauzzim, or, gods protectors, saints, and angels, who were invocated as intercessors and protectors; had miracles ascribed to them; their relics worshipped; and their shrines and images adorned with costly offerings. But "the

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judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.”

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(19.) This latter, or the kingdom of MESSIAH, is the stone cut out of the mountain without hands, as interpreted by Daniel, (ch. 2. 44, 45.) “ And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure." In the days of these kings,' that is, in the days of one of these kingdoms, (see Ruth 1. 1.) i. e. the Roman; in which the God of heaven set up' the spiritual kingdom of the Messiah, which shall yet become a great mountain, and fill the whole earth.” (20.) Prophecies respecting CHRIST, or the MESSIAH.

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§ 1. General ones declaring the coming of a Messiah, Gen, 3. 15; Deut. 18. 15; Ps. 89. 20; Isa. 2. 2; 9. 6; 28. 16; 32. 1; 35. 4; 42. 6; 49.1; 55. 4; Ezek. 34. 24; Dan. 2. 44; Mic. 4. 1; Zech. 8. 8. Jesus the same with Christ, or the Messiah, John 1. 41; 4. 25; 6.69; 20. 31; Acts 17. 3; 18. 5, 28. Compare article Christ, pp. 136-139. § 2. His excellency and dignity, and the design of his mission, Gen. 12. 3; 49. 10; Num. 24. 17-19. The Targum of Onkelos translates this passage in the following manner: I shall see him, but not now; I shall behold him, but he is not near. When a king shall arise from the house of Jacob, and the Messiah be anointed from the house of Israel, he shall slay the princes of Moab, and rule over all the children of men. Deut. 18. 18; Ps. 21. 1; Isa. 59. 20; Jer. 33. 15, 16. "In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The Lord our righteousness," or rather, as Bp. Pearson and others render, that shall call her is The Lord our righteousness; or, adopting the reading of some MSS. and versions, And this is his name (w, shemo, as five MSS. have,) by which he (5, lo, as one or two MSS. the Vulgate, Chaldee, and Syriac read,) shall be called, Jehovah, our righteousness;' agreeably to the parallel passage chap. 23. 6. Dr. Blayney renders, And this is he whom Jehovah shall call, Cur righteousness;' and the parallel passage, This is the name by which Jehovah shall call him, Our righteousness;' but this is not only contrary to all the ancient ver

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sions, but has no consistent meaning; for our is here a pronoun, without any antecedent.*-No man has adopted a more likely way of explaining the phraseology of the Epistle to the Hebrews, than Schoetgen, who has traced its peculiar diction to Jewish sources; and, according to him, the proposition of the whole Epistle is this:-Jesus of Nazareth is the true God. And in order to convince the Jews of the truth of this proposition, the Apostle urges but three arguments:-1. Christ is superior to the angels. 2. He is superior to Moses. 3. He is superior to Aaron. These arguments would appear more distinctly were it not for the improper division of the chapters; in consequence of which, that one excellency of the Apostle's is not noticed-his application of every argument, and the strong exhortation founded upon it. Schoetgen has very properly remarked, that commentators have greatly misunderstood the Apostle's meaning through their unacquaintance with the Jewish writings, and their peculiar phraseology, to which the Apostle is continually referring, and of which he makes incessant use. He also supposes, allowing for the immediate and direct inspiration of the Apostle, that he had in view this remarkable saying of the Rabbins on Isaiah 52. 13,-' Behold my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.' Rabbi Tanchum, quoting Yalkut Simeoni, (P. ii. fol. 53.) says, п This is the king Messiah, who shall be greatly extolled and elevated: He shall be elevated above Abraham; shall be more eminent than Moses; and be more exalted than the ministering angels,' nwn axban. Or, as it is expressed in Yalkut Kadosh, (fol. 144.) The Messiah is greater than the patriarchs, than Moses, and than the These sayings

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המשיח גדול מן האבות ומן מלאכי השרת .ministering angels

the Apostle shews to have been fulfilled in our Messiah; and as he dwells on the superiority of our Lord to all these illustrious persons, because they were at the very top of all comparisons among the Jews; He, according to their opinion, who was greater than all these, must be greater than all created beings. This is the point which the Apostle undertakes to prove, in order to shew the Godhead of Christ; and therefore, if we find him proving, that Jesus was greater than the patriarchs, greater than Aaron, greater than Moses, and greater than the angels, he must be understood to mean, according to the Jewish phraseology, that Jesus is an uncreated being, infinitely greater than all others, whether earthly or heavenly. For, as they allowed the greatest eminence, next to God, to angelic beings, the Apostle concludes, That He who is greater than the angels is truly God but Christ is greater than the angels; therefore Christ is truly God.' Nothing can be clearer than that this is the Apostle's grand argument; and the proofs and illustrations of it meet the reader in almost every verse.t

§ 3. His divinity, Ps. 2. 11; 45. 6,7; “Thy throne, O God, is for

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+ Idem, Concluding Remarks to the Hebrews.

ever and ever the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre. Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." A greater than Solomon is here; and the person described is no other than the Messiah, as is acknowledged by many Jewish writers. The Targum on ver. 3, says, 'Thy beauty, xnwn xɔbn, malka mesheecha, O king Messiah, is greater than the children of men;' and the Apostle expressly quotes it as such, Heb. 1. 8, 9. Ps. 72. 8; 110. 1; Isa. 9. 6; 25. 9; 40. 10. In fact the prophecies of Isaiah concerning the Messiah seem almost to anticipate the Gospel history, and clearly predict his Divine character, (Comp, ch. 7. 14, with Matt. 1. 13—23, and Luke 1. 27–35; ch. 6, 9. 6 ; 35. 4; 40. 5, 9, 19; 42.6-8; 61.1; with Luke 4. 18; ch. 62. 11; 63. 1—4.) Jer. 23. 6; Mic. 5. 2; Mal. 3. 1: "the Lord whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts." Aben Ezra acknowledges that the Lord whom they sought and the Angel of the covenant are the same, the same thing being intended under a double ex

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המשיח הוא מלאך הברית

'He is the King Messiah, He is the Angel of the Covenant,' IT

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§ 4. The nation, tribe, and family he was to descend from, Gen. 12. 3; 18. 13; 21. 12; 22. 18; 26. 4; 28. 14; 49. 8; Ps. 18.50; 89. 4, 29, 35-37, " Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah." That is, as long as the sun and moon shall endure, as long as time shall last, his kingdom shall continue among men. The moon is probably termed a faithful witness, because by her, particularly, time is measured. Her decrease and increase are especially observed by every nation; and by these time is generally estimated, especially among eastern nations: So many moons is a man old—so many moons since such an event happened; and even their years are reckoned by lunations. Or, the rainbow may be intended; that faithful sign which God has established in the clouds, that the earth shall no more be destroyed by water. Ps. 132. 11-17. "There will I make the horn of David to bud: I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed." A horn is an emblem of power and sovereignty; and as one horn dropped off, another sprung up, till the budding forth of the Messiah, 'the horn of salvation,' (Luke 1. 69.); and the lamp, or family, of David was not extinguished, till the Sun of righteousness arose with healing in his wings.'* Compare his genealogy, Mait. 1. 1, &c.; Luke 3. 23, &c.;-conception, Matt. 1. 18; Luke 1. 26, &c.; and birth, Matt. 1. 25; Luke 2. 6.* § 5. The time when he was to appear, Gen. 49. 10; Num. 24. 17; Dan. 9. 24. "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon

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thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy." That is, seventy weeks of years, or 490 years, which reckoned from the seventh year of Artaxerxes, coinciding with the 4256th year of the Julian Period, and in the month Nisan, in which Ezra was commissioned to restore the Jewish state and policy, (Ezr. 7. 9—26.) will bring us to the month Nisan of the 4746th year of the same period, or A. D. 33, the very month and year in which our Lord suffered, and completed the work of our salvation. Ver. 25. "Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shalt be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times." The seventy weeks are here divided into three periods: 1. Seven weeks, or 49 years, for the restoration of Jerusalem. 2. Sixty-two weeks, or 434 years, from that time to the announcement of the Messiah by John the Baptist. 3. One week, or 7 years, for the ministry of John and of Christ himself to the crucifixion. Ver. 26. "And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not 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." "The people of the prince that shall come" are the Romans, who under Titus, after the expiration of the 70 weeks, destroyed the temple and city, and dispersed the Jews. Hag. 2.7. "And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come; and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts." This refers to a most important change or revolution, which should take place during the continuance of this temple, introducing a new and more glorious state of the church, 'Yet once more,' Jehovah intended to change entirely its external form, and to bring in that dispensation which should endure to the end. This would be a little while,' compared with that which had elapsed from the first promise of the Messiah, or even from the giving of the law. Then the Lord would' shake the heavens and the earth :' various convulsions and changes would take place in the Jewish church and state, which would end in the abrogation of the ritual law, and the ruin of their civil government, attended with tempests, earthquakes, &c. These events would be preceded by great revolutions among the nations; the Persian monarchy would be subverted by that of the Greeks, and that by the Romans; and at the appointed time, the Messiah, 'the Desire of all nations,' whom all nations should, and would desire, He, in whom all the nations of the earth should be blessed,' would come, and fill that 'house with glory." Ver. 9. "The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts." Whoever compares the descrip

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