can no way agree with the Prophet that uttered them Thus we find that in the XXII Psalm there are many Expressions which cannot be applyed to David 3. That most of these Prophecies are avowedly attributed to the Messiah by the most ancient Authors of the Synagogue And the modern Jews themselves refer them to some that suffer'd a violent Death as to Rabbi Akiba who died in the second Century 4. That the Apostles unanimously applyed them to Jesus Christ the true Messiah following therein the general consent of their Nation CHAP. XXI That the Messiah was soon after to rise again FOrasmuch as Death entred into the World by Sin and that the Messiah was to take it away we may easily conceive That if the Messiah were according to the Divine disposal to submit to Death that he could not long continue subject to it He who was to restore life to those who were dead could never be confin'd and imprison'd in a Grave and he who was superiour to Enoch and Elias who ascended into Heaven because he alone was exalted to the right hand of God to reign there for ever as the Prophecies concerning him assure us ought certainly to leave his Sepulchre by a glorious Resurrection And this we are positively assured of by the ancient Oracles Psalm XVI vers 10 11. Thou wilt not leave my soul in Hell neither wilt thou suffer thine holy One to see corruption Thou wilt shew me the path of life in thy presence is fulness of joy at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore And to assure us that these and the like passages are applicable to none but the Messiah we find in the same Psalms expressions too high to be applyed to the Authors themselves As for example Psalm XXX vers 1 2 3. I will extol thee O Lord for thou hast lifted me up and hast not made my foes to rejoyce over me O Lord my God I cried unto thee and thou hast healed me O Lord thou hast brought up my soul from the Grave thou hast kept me alive that I should not go down to the pit And Psalm XLI vers 8 9 10. An evil disease say they cleaveth fast unto him and now that he lieth he shall rise up no more Yea mine own familiar Friend in whom I trusted which did eat of my bread hath lift up his heel against me But thou O Lord be merciful unto me and raise me up that I may requite them And Psalm XLIX verse 15. But God will redeem my soul from the power of the Grave for he shall receive me Psalm LVI vers 11 12 13. In God have I put my trust I will not be afraid what man can do unto me Thy Vows are upon me O God I will render praise unto thee For thou hast delivered my soul from death c. Psalm LXXII verse 20. Thou who hast shewed me great and sore troubles shalt quicken me again and shall bring me up again from the depths of the Earth Psalm CXLIII vers 11 12. Quicken me O Lord for thy names sake for thy righteousness sake bring my soul out of trouble and of thy mercy cut off mine Enemies and destroy all them that afflict my soul for I am thy Servant Hosea speaks to the same purpose Chap. XIII vers 14. I will ransom them from the power of the Grave I will redeem them from death O Death I will be thy plagues O Grave I will be thy destruction Repentance shall be hid from mine eyes Isaiah expresses the very same thing Chap. XXV vers 8. He will swallow up death in victory and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces and the rebuke of his people shall he take from off all the Earth for the Lord hath spoken it And yet more expresly Chap. LIII vers 10 and 11. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him he hath put him to grief when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin he shall see his Seed he shall prolong his days and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand He shall see of the travel of his soul and shall be satisfied by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justifie many for he shall bear their iniquities For the better understanding of which passages we are to observe 1. That the Messiah in many or most of them compriseth all Believers with himself according to that Maxim of the Jews who attribute to the Messiah the greatest of all the Prophets whatsoever God vouchsafed to any one of the Prophets and according to this Principle Jesus Christ speaks Matth. XII vers 39 40. An evil and adulterous Generation seeketh after a sign and there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of the Prophet Jonah For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the Whales belly so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the Earth 2. That upon this account the Messiah is represented to us not as rising again alone but as making all his Brethren partakers of the same glory which makes the Prophets speak of him not as a single person but in common with others who by him are made possessors of the same advantages 3. That most of these Texts were quoted by the Apostles who in so doing followed the sense of the whole Nation as appears from Acts II. vers 24 25 26 27 28 and 29. Whom God hath raised having loosed the pains of death because it was not possible that he should be holden of it For David speaketh concerning him I foresaw the Lord always before my face for he is at my right hand that I should not be moved Therefore did my heart rejoice and my tongue was glad moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope because thou wilt not leave my soul in Hell neither wilt thou suffer thy holy One to see Corruption Thou hast made known to me the ways of life thou shalt make me full of joy with thy Countenance Men and Brethren let me freely speak unto you of the Patriarch David that he is both dead and buried and his Sepulchre is with us unto this day And Acts XIII vers 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 and 37. But God raised him from the dead And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem who are his witnesses unto the people And we declare unto you glad tidings how that the Promise which was made unto the Fathers God hath fulfilled the same unto us their Children in that he hath raised up Jesus again as it is also written in the second Psalm Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead now no more to return to corruption he said on this wise I will give you the sure mercies of David Wherefore he saith also in another Psalm Thou shalt not suffer thine holy One to see corruption For David after
O my God yea thy Law is within my heart I have preached Righteousness in the great Congregation Lo I have not refrained my Lips O Lord thou knowest I have not hid thy Righteousness within my heart I have declared thy Faithfulness and thy Salvation I have not concealed thy loving Kindness and thy Truth from the great Congregation In the XVI Psalm he describes the inviolable stedfastness of the Messiah to the Service of God who had sent him to form a great People with the manner of his deliverance by God from all the powers of the World by raising him up from the dead and afterwards receiving him into Glory Psalm XVI 8. c. I have set the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand I shall not be moved Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoyceth my flesh also shall rest in hope For thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell neither wilt thou suffer thy holy One to see corruption Thou wilt shew me the path of Life in thy presence is fulness of joy at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore In the XXII Psalm he describes the Agonies through which the Messiah was to pass the manner of his Death the Victory which he should obtain over his Enemies and the Conversion of those very Nations which had cast him off In the CIX Psalm he speaks of the Oppressions of the Messiah pronouncing great numbers of Imprecations against that very person who should signalize himself by persecuting his Innocence Hold not thy peace O God of my praise for the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me they have spoken against me with a lying tongue Verse 1 2. Set thou a wicked man over him and let Satan stand at his right hand When he shall be judged let him be condemned and let his prayer become Sin. Let his days be few and let another take his Office Verse 6 7 8. Because that he remembred not to shew mercy but persecuted the poor and needy man that he might even slay the broken in heart As he loved cursing so let it come to him as he delighted not in blessing so let it be far from him As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his Garment so let it come into his bowels like water and like oyl into his bones Verse 16 17 18. In the CXIX Psalm he carries this Argument further in his Description of the Zeal of the Messiah for the House of God and of those insultings which he should meet with and the manner of their giving him Vinegar and Gall to drink with the hardning and rejection of those who had used him in that manner Save me O God for the waters are come in unto my soul I sink in deep mire where there is no standing I am come into deep waters where the floods overflow me Verse 1 2. Let not them that wait on thee O Lord Ged of Hosts be ashamed for my sake Let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake O God of Israel Because for thy sake I have born reproach shame hath covered my face I am beoome a stranger unto my Brethren and an Alien unto my Mothers Children For the zeal of thy House hath eaten me up and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me Verse 6 7 8 9. Reproach hath broken my heart and I am full of heaviness and I looked for some to take pity but there was none and for comforters but I found none They gave me also Gall for my meat and in my thirst they gave me Vinegar to drink Let their Table become a snare before them and that which should have been for their welfare let it become a trap Let their eyes be darkned that they see not and make their loins continually to shake Pour out thy indignation upon them and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them Verse 20 21 22 23 24. In the XCVII and XCVIII Psalms he describes the destruction of Idolatry when the promised Saviour should appear and when God should raise him upon his Throne The Lord reigneth let the Earth rejoyce let the multitude of the Isles be glad thereof Psalm XCVII 1. Confounded be all they that serve graven Images that boast themselves of Idols worship him all ye Gods. Zion heard and was glad and the Daughters of Judah rejoyced because of thy Judgments O Lord For thou Lord art high above all the Earth thou art exalted far above all Gods Verse 7 8 9. O sing unto the Lord a new Song for he hath done marvellous things his right hand and his holy arm have gotten him the Victory The Lord has made known his Salvation his righteousness hath he openly shew'd in the sight of the Heathen He hath remembred his Mercy and his Truth towards the House of Israel all the ends of the Earth have seen the Salvation of our God. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord all the Earth make a loud noise and rejoyce and sing praise Psalm XCVIII 1. 4. In the LXVIII Psalm he explains the glory of the Messiah and his Ascension into Heaven with the effusion of those gifts which he was to spread abroad for the Conversion of the Nations that God might dwell amongst the most rebellious Princes shall come out of Egypt Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God Sing unto God ye Kingdoms of the Earth O sing praises unto the Lord. To him who rideth upon the Heavens of Heavens which were of old lo he doth send out his voice and that a mighty voice Ascribe ye strength unto God his excellency is over Israel and his strength is in the Clouds O God thou art terrible out of thy holy places the God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power unto his people Verse 31 32 33 34 35. The Prophets who lived in the time of David or soon after pursued all his Idea's One see 's that Nathan II Sam. VII foretells Solomon's glory and the honour which he should have in building that Temple of which David had formed the design before in such a manner that he clearly shews three things which will by no means agree with Solomon I. That God should raise up a Son to David after his Death and place him upon his Throne whereas Solomon was born and advanced to the Throne by David himself II. It was promised that his Government should be endless this is not applicable to the Royal Posterity of David who had but Twenty Successors who bore the Title of Kings III. That God particularly promises to be the Father of this promised Son which is not more applicable to Solomon than to David to Josiah or Hezekiah One see 's that Corah's Posterity gave that Account of Solomon's glory upon his marriage with the King of Egypt's Daughter He speaks of a Throne much more august then that Princes was and he represents to us a God consecrated with
teach no more every man his Neighbour saying know the Lord for they shall all know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them saith the Lord for I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their Sin no more Thus saith the Lord which giveth the Sun for a light by day and the Ordinances of the Moon and Stars for a light by night which divideth the Sea when the waves thereof roar the Lord of Hosts is his name If those Ordinances depart from before me saith the Lord then the Seed of Israel also shall cease from being a Nation before me for ever Nothing can be desired more particular than this Oracle 1. It tells us that God would make a new Covenant with his People which supposes an abolishing of the former 2. That this Covenant was not to be like the foregoing 3. That the old Covenant had been made vain and had been broken by those with whom it was made 4. That this Covenant was to be made after those days that is in the time of the Messiah 5. That this new Covenant was not to be engraven in Tables of Stone but in their Hearts 6. That in the same Covenant full Remission of Sin is promised The same thing is also expressed Chap. XXXII vers 40. And I will make an everlasting Covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do them good but I will put my fear in their hearts and they shall not depart from me And Chap. L. vers 5. They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward saying Come and let us joyn our selves to the Lord in a perpetual Covenant that shall not be forgotten To this purpose also Ezechiel who himself was a Priest speaks of a Religious Worship extended to all Nations and of a new Covenant which God was to make with them Chap. XVI vers 60 61 62. Nevertheless I will remember my Covenant with thee in the days of thy youth and I will establish unto thee an everlasting Covenant Then thou shalt remember thy ways and be ashamed when thou shalt receive thy Sisters thy elder and thy younger and I will give them unto thee for Daughters but not by thy Covenant And I will establish my Covenant with thee and thou shalt know that I am the Lord. Here is first a Covenant differing from the former 2. A Covenant wherein other Nations were to be included clearly intimated by the elder and younger Sisters of the Synagogue 3. A Covenant whereby the Gentiles were to enjoy the same Priviledges with the Jews and be incorporated with them Malachy follows the steps of these Prophets when he calls the Messiah the Angel of the Covenant Chap. III. vers 1. Behold I will send my Messenger and he shall prepare the way before me and the Lord whom ye seek shall suddainly come to his Temple even the Messenger Angel of the Covenant whom ye delight in behold he shall come saith the Lord of Hosts I know very well that the Jews apply these words to Elias whose Ministry as they pretend was to consist in leading the Jews to Repentance But if we read the Text with attention we shall find two Messengers mentioned the first who prepare the way of the Messiah and the other is the Messiah himself who is called the Angel of the Covenant as being sent of God to make a new Covenant with men CHAP. XIX That the Jews by a dreadful effect of their blindness were to reject the Messiah THis is a very peculiar Mark which will guide us surely to the knowledge of the Messiah We find the Jews at this day very ready to follow every one that usurps that August Title and to take him for the only true Messiah that was promised them which is no other than what was infallibly to come to pass Neither will this much surprize us if we consider 1. That this People on divers occasions have given very strange instances of a prodigious blindness We see them reject Moses notwithstanding God had authoriz'd his Call by great and avowed Miracles Yea we find them rejecting David also whom God had so signally appointed to be their King and the Father of the Messiah of whom we hear these Prophecies 2. That God upbraids them with this blindness by his Prophets as a sin to which they were peculiarly inclin'd as appears from Psalm LXIX vers 23 24 25 26 27 and 28. Let their eyes be darkned that they see not and make their Loins continually to shake Pour out thine indignation upon them and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them Let their habitation be desolate and let none dwell in their Tents for they persecute him whom thou hast smitten and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded Add iniquity to their iniquity and let them not come into thy Righteousness Let them be blotted out of the Book of the Living and not be written with the Righteous One see 's the same thing in Isaiah Chap. VI. vers 9 10 11 and 12. where the Spirit of God foretells that the Jews should shut their eyes against the most evident and convincing proofs imaginable Go saith the Lord to the Prophet and tell this people Hear ye indeed but understand not and see ye indeed but perceive not Make the heart of this people fat and their ears heavy and shut their eyes lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and convert and be healed Then said I Lord how long And he answered untill the Cities be wasted without inhabitant and the houses without man and the Land be utterly desolate and the Lord have removed men far away and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the Land. Nothing can be imagined more particular than this Oracle concerning the Jews resisting the Prophet which God expresses in terms very usual amongst the Prophets as if Isaiah who was only the foreteller of their being hardned should himself be the cause of it The Prophet Hoseah describes the very same Complaints of God against the Jews for their blindness and ignorance for which he denounces their destruction Hos IV. vers 1 2 3 4 5 and 6. Hear the word of the Lord ye children of Israel for the Lord has a controversie with the inhabitants of the Land because there is no truth nor mercy nor knowledge of God in the Land. By swearing and lying and killing and stealing and committing adultery they break out and blood toucheth blood Therefore shall the Land mourn and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish with the Beasts of the Field and with the Fowls of Heaven yea the Fishes of the Sea also shall be taken away Yet let no man strive or reprove another for thy people are as they that strive with the Priest Therefore shalt thou fall in the day and the Prophet also shall fall with thee in the night and I will destroy thy Mother