xxvii. 26.) Some tell me that the word all should not be used there; and I know it is not expressed in the Hebrew; but on reflection, I find that it is certainly implied: * for the blessings are only promised to those who obey all the commandments. That word all comes again and again. "It shall be our righteousness if we observe to do ALL these commandments before the LORD our God, as He hath commanded us." (Deut. vi. 25.) Now I see clearly that, every day and hour of my life, I have offended. I have not kept all, but broken all. And what little I have attempted to do, I have not done as the Lord hath commanded us: for He commands us to love Him "with all our heart, and soul, and might; and that His words, which He hath commanded us, should be in our hearts." (Deut. vi. 5, 6.) Those which I have kept, I have only kept from fear. I have, therefore, in no respect confirmed the words of the Law, but am altogether under the curse. And oh! "Who can stand before His indignation, and who can abide in the fierceness of His anger? (Nah. i. 6.) How shall I escape from this curse? for until it be entirely removed, I must be utterly miserable. Some of my friends tell me that it will not last for ever: but none of them can show me any passage in the Word of God, wherein we are told so; and the declaration, "There is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave whither thou goest" (Eccl. ix. 10), plainly implies the contrary. We must find the way of salvation in this life, or not at all.

R. N. Assuredly, my son. We are placed here upon the earth for no other purpose than to seek and find the way of eternal life. Abundant means are here provided us, and the Spirit of God strives with us (Gen. vi. 3), to lead us in the right way. He who teaches us to look for any means of salvation after this life is ended, denies the sufficiency of those which are here vouchsafed us, reproaches the wisdom and mercy of our Creator, and

* That the curse rests upon every one who does not keep all the commandments, is evident from verse 15 of the following chapter, where it is written, "It shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do ALL his commandments and his statutes, which I command thee this day, that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee." (Deut. xxviii. 15.)

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gives indeed occasion to the enquiry, "Wherefore hast Thou made all men in vain?" Why were we placed in this evil and perishing world at all?

J. O then, whither shall I fly for refuge now? "For innumerable evils have compassed me about; mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of my head; so that my heart faileth me." (Ps. xl. 12.) You, Rabbi, were wont to give me comfort and instruction. Can you

give me any now?

R. N. Blessed be God! my son, He hath not left us hopeless or comfortless. I have suffered you to speak thus far, that I might discover the true state of your mind. But, before I proceed, you must learn to pray with David, Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy Law" (Ps. cxix. 18) a prayer which has been too much neglected by our whole nation: and this is the true reason why we have thus long remained in darkness. For the Lord only can give us a right understanding in these things.

J. That is a truth which I have much neglected. May the Lord have mercy upon me, and enable me now to understand your instructions!

R. N. Amen! my son. Listen then attentively, while I read a passage from the Law :

"And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come over Jordan into the land of Canaan; Then ye shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you; that the slayer may flee thither, which killeth any person at unawares. And they shall be unto you cities of refuge from the avenger; that the man-slayer die not, until he stand before the congregation in judgement." "If he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or have cast upon him anything without laying of wait, Or with any stone, wherewith a man may die, seeing him not, and cast it upon him, that he die, and was not his enemy, neither sought his harm: Then the congregation shall judge between the slayer and the revenger of blood, according to these judgements : And the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the revenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to the city of his refuge, whither he has fled :

and he shall abide in it unto the death of the High Priest, which was anointed with the holy oil. But if the slayer shall at any time come without the border of the city of his refuge, whither he was fled; And the revenger of blood find him without the borders of the city of his refuge, and the revenger of blood kill the slayer; he shall not be guilty of blood: Because he should have remained in the city of his refuge until the death of the High Priest: but after the death of the High Priest the slayer shall return into the land of his possession." (Numbers xxxv. 9-12, 22-28.)

J. Some resemblance of my own case, I think I can see, in the poor wretch flying from the revenger of blood. I too am flying-but I know not whither. There is no

city of refuge whose gates are open to me.

R. N. You perceive some resemblance. So far is well. But I believe you do not see the whole extent of it. Have you yet learned that you have committed murder unawares? You seem surprised and alarmed. But I must add, that, though you have done it unwittingly, you have not done it innocently. For your sins have slain the righteous Servant of the Lord-His Elect, in whom His soul delighteth. (Isaiah xlii. 1.)

J. How is that possible? Whence could you learn that my sins have been attended with such dreadful consequences?

R. N. From testimony which you cannot dispute. From the word of God himself. For there it is expressly written, that our sins have slain Messiah.

J. Slain Messiah ! I am overwhelmed with fresh perplexity and distress. Where do you find this written?

R. N. In a passage which our ancient rabbins always interpreted of the Messiah; "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities. He was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was He stricken. He hath poured out his soul unto death; and He was numbered with the transgressors; and He bare the sin of many." (Isa. liii. 5, 8, 12.) J. How can that be, as Messiah is not yet come?

R. N. The prophet certainly wrote before He came, and yet you see he uses the past tense-signifying thereby, that the event was as certain as if it had been already past,

and our sins just as certainly the cause. Besides, you know that many of the learned of our nation believe, that He is come already, but conceals Himself from us on account of our sins. In a certain sense this is undoubtedly true: for it is evident that the prophetic period mentioned by Daniel (ix. 24), upon every possible interpretation, has long since expired;-the second temple, to which he was to come (Hag. ii. 3, 9), is long since destroyed; and the sceptre is utterly departed from Judah long ago, which was not to take place till He came. (Gen. xlix. 10.) So that Messiah has certainly come: though our sins, and especially our impenitence and unbelief, so blind our hearts, that we cannot discern Him. Also, in that same passage of Daniel (ix. 26), I find it expressly said, "Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself;" which agrees with what I have already quoted from Isaiah, "He was wounded for our transgressions."

J. Have you any other passage which proves or illustrates this?

R. N. There is that remarkable passage in which the Lord speaks of the future repentance and salvation of Israel, saying, "They shall look on Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn." (Zech. xii. 10.) It is Messiah who speaks; of whom also it is said, in the next chapter, "Awake, O sword, against my Shepherd, and against THE MAN that is MY FELLOW, saith the LORD of hosts." (Zech. xiii. 7.) Messiah, who is also called the Shepherd, (under which character He is promised, Ezek. xxxiv. 23, and Isa. xl. 10, 11,) is the fellow or equal of the LORD of hosts: yea, is the LORD of hosts; for David says, "The LORD is my Shepherd" (Ps. xxiii. 1); and certainly, in the promised glory of the latter days, God does not intend to deprive His people of their privilege, by giving them an inferior shepherd; though nothing is more plain than that Messiah will then be our Shepherd. Whence it is evident, that if Messiah be not the LORD of hosts, it would be far better for us that He should never come; which is absurd to think of. I dwell upon this point, because it is very important; and the children of Israel, for some centuries past, have sadly departed from the faith of our fathers: as I find by examining the writings of the most ancient rabbins, who certainly ex

pected a Divine Messiah. This is also confirmed by the passage, "Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his Name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." (Isa. ix. 6.) And again, let me ask you, or any man, If Messiah be not really and truly IMMANUEL-God with Us ·God in our nature-how could the LORD of hosts, with any meaning or propriety, be called our GOEL?—as He is continually, in the latter chapters of Isaiah-the whole of which refer to the times of Messiah—either as relating events preparatory to His coming, or such as should succeed it. GOEL is, properly, the next of kin, with whom rested the duty of redeeming the captive, of redeeming the inheritance,* and also of avenging the murder of any one who was slain. It is easy to understand how MESSIAH, the Seed of Abraham, the Branch out of the stem of Jesse, the Son of David, should be called our GOEL. But, if Messiah be not also the LORD God, how are we to understand that God is our Goel? Yet it is promised, as one of the great and unspeakable blessings to Israel in the latter days,-" Thou shalt know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, (GOEL,) the Mighty one of Jacob." (Isa. lx. 16.) Think then, how

great reason you have to apply to yourself the words of David: "Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, Thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness." (Ps. li. 14.)

I have digressed thus far, my son, on this important point, because it is needful to a right understanding of that passage in Zechariah, "They shall look upon ME whom they have pierced;" when it is evident that the LORD is the speaker, both from expressions used in the verse itself, and from the whole context. How could the LORD be pierced, except by becoming man? And now (to return to the point of your guilt) observe, my son, that it is the LORD whom you have pierced. For to strike at Messiah is to strike at God himself: and this you have done by every act of sin. It may be truly said, "You knew not what you did," for the awful guilt of sin is not

* See the Book of Ruth.