thefe Oracles appeared to have fo great a Latitude, as to make us understand, that they concern two Objects, viz. the one immediate and near, as for example, David,and the other remote,viz. the Meffas and these are thofe Oracles which contain both the Proofs and the Types together, which we shall chiefly treat of hereafter. Thus I confess, that the Oracle which is contained in the 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 Verfes of the 7th Chapter of the fecond Book of Samuel, concerns Salomon only. For of him alone these words must be understood; If he commit Iniquity, I will chaften him with the Rod of Men, and with the Stripes of the Children of Men. But then 'tis also true, that the Promise it contains is too great and too magnificent to be wholly limited to Salomon. Nay, 'twould even appear to be falfe, had it no other Object to be afcribed to befides him: 'tis only in the Perfon of the Meffias, that we perceive it is fully accomplished. I will fet up thy Seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy Bowels, and I will establish his Kingdom, &c. I will „be bis Father, and be shall be my Son, &c. and thine Haufe, and thy Kingdom, shall be established for ever before thee thy Throne fhall be established for ever. For who fees not, that this everlasting Dominien, which the Scripture fpeaks of in another place, faying, That the Seed of David fhould fic upon the Throne as long as the Sun and Moon endureth 3 cannot truly be understood of the temporal Dominion of Salomon; but that it agrees only to the Spiritual Kingdam of the Meffias? In like manner we freely confent that the Jews fhould make as many Reflections as they please on the Oracle contained in the 7th Chapter of Efaiah, verf. 14. and quoted by St. Matthew; A Virgin Kka Thall fhall conceive, &c. to fhew us that the literal Sense of thefe words are to be applied to a Virgin, that lived in the Days of the Prophet, or even to a married Woman, (for the Original Word may bear either fignification) which was to bear a Son, who fhould no fooner have Knowledg to difcern Good and Evil, but fhould refcue the Land of Judah from the Power of the Kings of Ifrael and Affyria, who being come to ravage that Country, had put Ahaz, and all Ferufalem with him, into a very great Confternation. For they will be still obliged to own, that the Sign of this Oracle extends further than fo, and that to preferve it in its full Senfe, we must apply it to the Meffias, in whom we find it accomplished in a very excellent and most noble manner. For, 1. The Prophet thinks it not fufficient to fay, that a Virgin fhall conceive, but he gives it alfo for a Sign that God intended to preferve his own People, a Sign that was to encourage Abaz, and fill his Heart with Joy, and a Sign that God himself had given, of his own accord, and which Abaz himself durft not prefume to ask for, having answered the Prophet who encouraged him thereto, that he would not tempt the Lord. Now 'tis certain, that a Child that is born in the World, by the ordinary courfe of Nature, has nothing in him that deferves to be looked upon as a Sign, and much lefs the Sign of an extraordinary and fignal Deliverance. 2. The Child that is there mentioned, was to be called Immanuel, or God with us: A very remarkable Exprellion indeed, and not only too difproportionable to an ordinary Child, but too great alfo for the greatest of the Prophets; and which not being to be parallel'd in all the Scrip ture, and denoting fomething nobler than an humane Character, cannot reasonably be afcribed to any other but to the Meffias. 'Tis obfervable that the fulfilling of this fame Prophecy is related in the follow ing Chapter, in these Words. And Chap.8.v.3. I went unto the Prophetess, and he O conceived and bare a Son, &c. For before the Child fhall have knowledg to cry, my Father, and my Mother, the Riches of Damafcus, and the Spoils of Samaria, &c. Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the Waters of the Rivers, &c. And he Shall come up over all bis Channels, &c. and the Stretching out of his Wings, fhall fill the breadth of thy Land, 0 Immanuel. Tis evident that the literal Senfe of this Oracle, which the Jews urge Ifo much against us, is abfurd and incomprehentible, if confidered by it felf. For, I pray, what's the meaning of the Prophet, thus to call fo many times an ordinary Child, who was not to contribute any thing towards the Deliverance of the People, by the name of Immanuel, i. e God with us, fince the People were to be delivered, before he fhould have the knowledg to cry, my Father, or my Mother? Wherefore fhould he turn his Speech to this Child? Wherefore fhould he make him to be look'd upon, as the Lord and Master of the Holy Land, when he afcribes to him the Care and Dominion of it in the following words, And the stretching out of his Wings, fhall fill the breadth of thy Land, O Immanuel ? But the Prophecy of the Birth of Jefiss Christ in the City of Bethlehem, is not fo easily to be called in queftion by the Jews, as they do the other Oracles, without down-right contradifting themselves; because their Fathers have exprefly Kk 3 prefly declared, he was to be born in Bethlehem, according to that Oracle we read of in St. Mat thew, which a little differs in the Micah 5, 2. words, but not in fenfe; And thou Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thes fhall he come forth to me, that is to be Ruler of W. rael, whofe Goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. And he shall stand and feed in the ftrength of the Lord, in the Majesty of the Name of the Lord his God, and they shall abide for nos Shall be be great unto the Ends of the Earth, and this Man fhall be the Peace, &c. The putting to death all the Children that were in Bethlehem, is a fad Testimony, which proves, that we did not invent the Answer which the Scribes and Pharifees returned to Herod: And that Anfwer likewife, is a certain Evidence that the Jews themfelves were formerly of Opinion, that this Oracle concerned the Meffias only. But though we had not this great Precedent against the Rabbies of these Times, yet of whom but of the Meffias could it properly be faid, that out of Bethlehem there fhould come a Ruler in Ifrael? For as for thost who are of Opinion, that these words fhould be understood, as if they were already come to pafs; and conftrue them, he is gone out, afcribing | them to David; they are confuted by the whole tenour of the Difcourfe; and especially by the following Expreffions, He fhall ftand and feed in the Lord, he fhall be the Peace, he shall be Great. Where is then that Ruler? Where is that Strength and Greatness of the Lord, which shall be known unto the Ends of the Earth? Where are thofe Goings forth from Everlasting? Where is that Man come out of Bethlehem, that is the Peace Peace of God? Since therefore Bethlehem has been destroyed fo many Ages ago, and that they cannot tell us of any one but Jefus Chrift to whom all these Characters can more properly be afcribed, we may fafely conclude, that Jefus Chrift is only meant in this place. CHA P. XI. Where we fball examine fome Prophecies that concern the Office of the Meffias. WE E fhall never be able fully to comprehend the Senfe of the Prophecy we read of in the 42d of Efaiah, unless we recite it at large. It is expreffed in the following words; Behold my Servant whom I uphold, mine Elec in whom my Sonl delighteth: I have put my Spirit upon him, he shall bring forth Judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his Voice to be heard in the Streets. A bruised Reed fhall be not break; and the fmoking Flax fhall be not quench: be shall bring forth Judgment unto Truth. He shall not fail, nor be difcouraged, till he have fet Fudgment in the Earth: and the Ifles fhall wait for his Law. Thus faith God the Lord, he that created the Heavens, &c. Ithe Lord have called thee in Righteoufrefs, and will hold thine Hand, and will keep thee, and give the for a Covenant of the People, for a Light of the Gentiles; to open the blind Eyes, to bring out the Prifeners from the Prifon, and them that fit in Darkness out of the Prifon-house. I am the Lord, that is my Kk 4 Name, |