of

might have found their way to Babylon during the period of the captivity; but there is no historical evidence of the return even of a remnant of any the tribes which, on the accession of Rehoboam, renounced the rule of the house of David. They wholly disappear from the page of history from the time of Shalmanesar's conquest of the kingdom of Samaria. By what stretch of ingenuity can the "second ingathering" be made to fit in with what took place in the time of Cyrus, with the obvious sense of the prophecy : "And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall put forth His hand a second time to collect the remnant of His people which shall be left out of Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Ethiopia, Persia, Shinar, Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And He shall raise a banner for the nations, and assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth "?1

With respect to the interpretation called "orthodox," which divides chapter xi. into two parts, one of which is to be regarded as having been accomplished at the period denominated "the first coming of Jesus," and the other to be fulfilled at the time of His "second" coming, no remark need be offered, as it has already been shown that the Hebrew Scriptures know nothing of two Messianic advents; they speak of one only.

Of all the peoples of antiquity, the Jews alone conceived the ennobling idea of the progress of humanity. They turned not to the past, but they

1 xi. 11, 12.

H

looked to the future for the "Messianic" or, as it has been poetically called, the "golden" age. From the earliest historical date the Abrahamic race was invested with the ennobling destiny of "making blessed all the families of the earth;" 1 and although in times of fierce contention between nations and races a narrow idea prevailed that the predicted era applied to one people only, the primitive truth was never completely obscured. It shone forth in the beautiful prayer with which Solomon inaugurated the national temple. found expression in the oracles of Isaiah and Micah, and neither the servitude of Israel under the Persians, the Macedonians, the Seleucidæ, or the Romans tended to weaken that ennobling idea.

It

The more troublous the age, the more rife persecution grew, the more pious Hebrews sought and found consolation in the promises of their sacred literature, that with the progress of humanising ideas persecution would abate, although its flame might flicker from time to time, and that the crowning scene of the moral drama would be played out, and, to quote the exquisite language of the Psalmist, "Mercy and truth would meet together, and righteousness and peace would be joined in embrace." 2 To the realisation of these hopes it appears to us that the prophecies of Isaiah in the second and the eleventh chapters of his book directly point. Whether Messiah's advent implies the birth of a particular personage, or whether, as

1 Gen. xii. 3.

2 Ps. lxxxv. 10.

many infer, from the poetical diction in which some of the Messianic passages are clothed, it describes the conjunction of certain events that are to act with extraordinary moral power on mankind in general, must be considered an open question. But what it chiefly concerns us to note are, that the inspired prophets identify Messianism with an age of universal peace and concord, and when love shall have become the sole governing principle of humanity.

VIII.

ON THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH, DENOMINATED "MESSIANIC."

SECOND LECTURE.

שאל לך אות מעם ה' אלהיך העמק שאלה או הגבה למעלה : ויאמר אחז לא אשאל ולא אנסה את ה' : ויאמר שמעו נא בית דוד המעט מכם הלאות אנשים כי תלאו גם את-אלהי : לכן יתן אדני הוא לכם אות הנה העלמה הרה בן וקראת שמו עמנואל: חמאה ודבש יוכל לדעתו וילדת

מאס ברע ובחור בטוב : כי בטרם ידע הנער מאס ברע

ובחור בטוב תעזב האדמה אשר אתה קץ מפני שני מלכיה :

"Ask for thyself a sign from the Lord: ask it in the depths below or in the heights above. And Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord. And he said, Hear now, O house of David, is it a small thing on your part to weary men, that you should also weary my God? Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, this young woman hath conceived and is bearing a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. He shall eat butter and honey, so that he may know how to reject what is evil, and to choose what is good. For before the boy shall know how to reject what is evil, and to choose what is good, the land, of whose two kings thou art in fear, shall be desolate."ISAIAH vii. 11-16.

THE passage just quoted does not, according to Jewish opinion, come within the category of Messianic prophecy; but inasmuch as it is so con

1

strued by many of our non-Israelite brethren, a consideration of its meaning cannot be regarded as foreign to the object of the present series of lectures. The English Bible, which differs in the translation of verse 14 from that which I have given it, makes it read thus: "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." The Church adopts this rendering, and recognises in the passage three propositions :-First, the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary; secondly, the birth of the Messias, or "the Christ;" thirdly, the divinity of the Messias who is born of the Virgin Mother. The authorities cited in support of these propositions are the text of Isaiah itself, the traditions of the Church, and the following passage out of the initial chapter of the Gospel of Matthew :"Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: when as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought of these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife; for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy

It is held by the Church of Rome, in obedience to a decree promulgated during the papacy of Pius IX., that St. Anna conceived the Virgin without sin. Protestants repudiate that dogma.