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CHAPTER XVII.

A CONTINUATION OF THE ARGUMENTS IN FA

VOUR OF THE DIVINE TRUTH OF THE SCRIPTURES, DRAWN FROM THE

WHICH THEY CONTAIN.

PREDICTIONS

WE have placed under the head of the second class of predictions all those, which particularly regard the Gentile world. In the days of the prophets there were hardly any among the idolatrous nations, who were not interested in them in a greater or less degree; either by their connection with the Jews, from having reduced them to servitude and bondage, or by having been conquered by, and subjected to, the children of Israel in their turn.

We have already remarked, that sacred history has not given us any clue by which to trace the condition of some of those nations, of which we find Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel predicting the ruin but if we compare the Bible with profane history, as regards the Assyrians, the Babylonians, Cyrus, the Medes and Persians, and the Egyptians, together with Tyre and Sidon; we shall discover sufficient conformity between them to

satisfy our minds, as to the whole of Prophecy; since the God who taught these predictions to his servants, never would have permitted them, we are assured, to mix up falsehoods with truth, and thus to destroy every barrier between right and wrong, good and evil.

Daniel, who was permitted to penetrate into ages far less obscure than those referred to by the other Prophets, spoke, we know, of Greece, and of the kings of Assyria and of Egypt, who were partakers of the empire of Alexander until in their turn they were subjugated to the Roman yoke. His predictions agreed so exactly with the history of facts, as they in aftertimes occurred, that infidelity has believed, or rather has pretended to believe, that they were forged after the events had taken place. To those who assert this, I shall reply in the words of the Prophet Ezekiel,-" And the word of the Lord came unto me saying, Son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth? Tell them, therefore, Thus saith the Lord God, I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel, but say unto them, the days are at hand, and the effect of every vision. For there shall be no more any vain vision, nor flattering divination within the house of Israel. For I am the Lord: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak, shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged; for in your days, O rebel

lious house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord God. Again, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, behold they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are far off. Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord

God.

There shall

none of my words be prolonged any more; but the words which I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord God *."

Is it possible that this is the language of an impostor? Could a pretended prophet have written with such confidence? Even the most incredulous cannot be otherwise than struck with awe at the boldness of this address; which, of itself, sufficiently declares its Divine origin. Will any one ask, why the Prophets predicted so many events, which had no connection with the church of God? I reply, that these predictions were of the greatest use, since in those times every nation had its own gods, and the idolaters regarded the only true God, the God of Israel, as a Deity peculiar to that people it was therefore necessary and proper, that the mighty Jehovah should make it known by his Prophets, that He is the true God, the Lord of heaven and earth, and the Sovereign Disposer of the conditions of all men.

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In the third and last class to which we have re

* Ezek. xii. 21, &c.

duced the predictions, are those which relate to the coming of the Messiah, the calling of the Gentiles, and the final restoration or gathering together of the Jews. These predictions are so clear, and in such numbers, that it is impossible to resist them, except by the most determined obstinacy. The Psalms contain many remarkable passages relating to our Lord, and the universal extension of his kingdom. And the Prophecies of Isaiah are numerous and particular, both with regard to his lowly condition and sufferings on earth; his glorious and heavenly reign, and the universal spread of the Gospel. The fifty-third chapter is of itself a specimen, which carries more evidence with it than page after page of argument. Indeed the whole of the writings of that Prophet display a sweetness, a beauty, and grandeur, joined to the most perfect truth, which proclaim them to be in every expression the composition of God.

I would here pause a few moments, and address myself earnestly to the scattered sons of Abraham. I would entreat them to compare only this Prophet, this one book of Isaiah with the Gospels; and then let them with candour own, whether they can still shut their eyes against the light. Let them tell me whether they can deny that Jesus, the crucified Jesus of Nazareth, is He who " was wounded for our transgressions," who "was bruised for our iniquities," upon whom is "the

I

chastisement of our peace," and by whose " stripes we are healed.”

The other Prophets, as well as Isaiah, abound with so many remarkable passages, that the only ground of astonishment is, not that there are so many Christians, but that there are any sceptics in the world; and I do not believe that there is such a being as an infidel, who has allowed his soul a fair chance, if I may be permitted the expression. The way of the unbeliever commonly is to starce his soul into a rejection of the truth: she is denied her spiritual food; the pages of Revelation are shut against her, the refreshment of prayer and praise is refused to her; she faints for want of that heavenly manna which is alone to be found in the Bible; and when, from long abstinence, she has lost all power of enjoying that which should have afforded her support and strength, she declares her only true nourishment to be poison, and in rejecting the word of God, in dashing aside "the cup of salvation," in refusing to partake of "the bread of life," she dies eternally.

This is the true cause of infidelity; this is the history of the destruction of the soul of the unbeliever he is a self-murderer, and one of the most determined of suicides. The Bible is not read, we are well convinced, by many who revile its pages: it is to them a sealed book, in more senses of the word than one. While by some it is read

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