CONSIDERED; AND PROVED TO BE LITERALLY FULFILLED IN JESUS. Containing An Answer to the Objections of the Author of The Scheme of Literal Prophecy .

PREFACE.

THE design of the following sheets is to consider the prophecies of the Old Testament, respecting the Messiah; and to prove that they are literally fulfilled in Jesus, against both Jews and Deists. I have therefore collected together the exceptions of the former to those prophecies, and the rather because they are, as far as known, made use of by the latter. I have consulted, as much as I was able, the writings, both of old and later Jews, and shewn, that in most, if not in all the prophecies considered, they have understood them of the Messiah. I produce those authorities, not as decisive in this controversy, but as the convictions and concessions of an adversary, and that a bitter and implacable one to Christianity, and which I think deserves consideration with the Deist. I cite old Jews to shew the sense of the ancient synagogue; the later ones to shew the strength of conviction upon their minds, who cannot but have observed, what use the Christians have made of those prophecies, and though often pinched with them, yet they have been obliged to own them as prophecies of the Messiah, for which reason the testimonies of later Jews, seem to have the most strength and force in them, And that the reader may riot be at a loss about old Jews and later Jews , he is desired to observe that by old Jews , I mean those who wrote, or are supposed to have wrote within the first five or six centuries after Christ, as the authors of the Targums , Talmuds , Rabboth , Zohar , &c. and by later Jews, I mean those who wrote within the last five or six centuries, as Maimonides , Jarchi , Aben Ezra , Kimchi , &c.

The author of The Scheme of Literal Prophecy , whose exceptions I have all along considered, has advanced several things with regard to the belief of the Jews, concerning a Messiah, which I think myself obliged to take notice of in this place.

First , He seems to insinuate as though the belief of a Messiah among the Jews, was not anciently a fundamental article of their faith, but made so from the eleventh century, when their confession of faith was drawn up by R. Moses Maimonides . That the Jews’ confession of faith, was drawn up by Maimonides , about that time, in thirteen articles, is not denied, which articles are generally believed by all of them, without any contradiction, as Leo Modena says; but then this no more proves, that the article relating to the Messiah, then began to be a fundamental article of their faith, than the article respecting the unity of the Divine Being, which must be acknowledged, was always the faith of the Jewish church: Besides, Maimonides did not make, but only drew up, those articles, and it is highly reasonable to suppose; that he drew them up not as the novel opinions of some particular persons; but as what had been the ancient, constant, and universal sense of his people; and what would be received as such without hesitation, as they accordingly were. R . Joseph Albo is the only person that is usually cited as denying the article of the Messiah to be a fundamental one; he reduced the Jews’ confession of faith to three general heads, which he calls roots, namely, the belief of the Divine Being, the law of Moses , and a state of rewards and punishments, to which he thought all the rest reducible; now, though he is not willing to allow the article of the Messiah to be rq[ a root , or a fundamental principle , his design herein being manifestly enough to oppose the Christian religion, whose main fundamental principle is faith in the Messiah, Jesus; I say, though he is not willing to allow it to be a root ; yet he grants that it is a branch, which ã[tsm gj rq[ ˆm arises from the third root , that is, that of rewards and punishments, and declares that all ought to believe the Messiah , who receive the law of Moses ; that the prophets prophesied of his coming , which is sure and evident ; that he who does not believe the coming of the Messiah , denies the words of the prophets , and is a transgressor of the affirmative precepts ; so that though he will not allow the article of the Messiah, to be a fundamental one; in which he was alone, and had no followers; yet he owns it to be a branch of a fundamental one; and therefore we should be so far from concluding from the single opinion of this person, that this was not a fundamental article of the Jewish faith, that the contrary is rather evident from hence.

Secondly , The same author intimates, that many of the Jews themselves have seemed to have no expectation of a Messiah, as the Sadducees and Scribes, the Samaritan Jews, Josephus , and some in his time, R. Hillell in the third century; nay, that Maimonides speaks very indifferently of it. As to the Sadducees , they as impatiently expected the Messiah, as the rest of the Jews did, were as intent upon detecting of Jesus, whom they supposed not to be the true Messiah, and were as violent opposers of him and his followers, as any others; which they would not have concerned themselves about, had they not believed in a Messiah. Some say, that the Caraites , are of the old stock of the Sadducees , and hold the same doctrines as they did, who it is certain expect a Messiah, as much as the other Jews do. As to the Scribes , who, though they were, as this author says, letter men , yet believed ( Mark 7:35; 9:11) that Christ , or the Messiah , is the son of David , and that Elias must first come ; indeed he says that what he has said of the Sadducees and Scribes, he only proposes in the way of conjecture, but it seems to be a conjecture without any foundation for it, As to the Samaritan Jews, nothing is more manifest, than that in the times of Jesus they expected a Messiah; it was a notion which seemed universally to obtain among them, as appears from the woman of Samaria , with whom Jesus conversed, who could say ( John 4:25), I know that the Messiah cometh which is called Christ . It is allowed that the modern ones, have notions of a Messiah, though very confused and very different, which need not be wondered at, since they reject the books of the prophets, and confine themselves to the five books of Moses . In one of their letters to Sealiger , they say the name of the Messiah with them, is bhçh which it seems they do not know the signification of, though it seems to be an abbreviation of abhçh o ercomeno V, he that is to come , whereby the Samaritan as well as the Jerusalem Jews, understood the Messiah, as is manifest from the words of the woman just now mentioned, As to Josephus , and some other Jews in his time, who thought that Vespasian was the prince that was to come, it is manifest enough that they expected a Messiah, though they were mistaken in the person, whom they thought to be, he, nor can any thing else be fairly concluded from hence. R. Hillell it is true, gave out that “Israel was to have no Messiah, because they enjoyed him in the days of Hezekiah ;” but then this was only the opinion of a single person; for notwithstanding his authority, the Jews still expect a Messiah; besides, this saying of his was not a disbelief of the Messiah, but a mistaken notion about the time of his coming; and as for Maimonides speaking indifferently of the Messiah, it need not be wondered at in him nor in any other of his nation, if there has been any other who has done so; since they have been so wretchedly disappointed in their expectation of him, and since they see so little need of, and expect so little from him.

Thirdly , This same author would have us believe, that the expectation of a Messiah, among the Jews, was grounded, not upon the literal , but upon the allegorical , and traditional sense of the Scriptures; but if so, how came the Scribes , who, as this author acknowledges, were a party of letter-men , to expect a Messiah, and to say, that he was the Son of David , as has been before observed? Surely those men who are “supposed to have rejected many of the prevailing Jewish notions, not founded on the letter of the scriptures,” would have rejected the notion of a Messiah, if not founded thereon.

Besides, the Caraites , or Scripturians , an ancient sect among the Jews, f12 rejecting the mystical, enigmatical, traditional, and allegorical expositions of the Rabbis, strictly and closely adhere to the very letter of the scriptures, and yet expected a Messiah as much as other Jews do. Now, from whence could this expectation arise? or whereon could it be grounded, but the literal sense of the Scriptures? It is therefore a mistake that a notion of a Messiah cannot he established from the prophecies of the Old Testament, without a mystical and allegorical sense of them; for in their first, literal, and obvious sense, they respect him, as I hope, the following account of them grill make appear.

Fourthly , I cannot but much wonder, that this author should think “most probable, that many of the places, wherein the Messias is expressly named in the Chaldee Paraphrases , are interpolations;” especially, when he thinks that those writings are much more modern, and of a later date than the Jews would have them to be; for the later the date of them is, the less reason is there to suppose them to be interpolated in those passages which respect the Messiah; for surely it can never be thought, that they would take such a method with their own Targums on those prophecies, when they must be supposed to know what use the Christians made of them, both against them, and in vindication of Christianity; nor is there any thing with which the Jews are more puzzled and confounded, than when they are urged with those paraphrases; and there is a great deal of reason to suppose, that those places, wherein the Messiah is expressly named, are so far from being interpolations, that were not those writings so sacred with them, as that they dare not corrupt them, they would have expunged them long ago. As to this author’s reason for these thoughts, that “Josephus says, those Jews who were in the vulgar error, or the belief of a Messias to arise out of their nation, built their expectation but on one ambiguous oracle or prophecy, found in their sacred books.”

I would only reply, that Josephus indeed, speaks of an oracle or prophecy found in their sacred books ; that about that time one of them , from their country, should rule over the world ; which oracle he calls an ambiguous one, and says was what chiefly excited the Jews to the war , but then he no where says, that the Jews’ expectation of a Messiah was built upon one single, doubtful prophecy, but that their expectation of his arising out of their country, and at that time was so; the ambiguity of which oracle lay in his arising out of their nation , which some understood of his being horn there, as the generality of the Jews did and others, of his entering upon his government there, as Josephus did, and therefore applied it to Vespasian :

From whence it appeal’s that this instance gives no reason to conclude, that the passages respecting the Messiah, in the Chaldee paraphrases, are interpolations; for the Jews might have many plain prophecies, on which they built. their expectation of a Messiah, some of which these paraphrases have pointed out to us; and yet Josephus speaks but of one ambiguous or doubtful prophecy respecting the time of his coming, and the country from whence he was to arise, which excited the Jews to the war, and animated them obstinately to persist therein; in which he supposes them to be mistaken, though, alas the ground of their mistake, and which therefore was fatal to them, was, that the Messiah, the person prophesied of, was already come.

I conclude with desiring the reader to observe, that I do not produce the prophecies of the Old Testament, respecting the Messiah’s second coming, as literally fulfilled in Jesus, but as to be so fulfilled in him, and the reason of my taking notice of them, is to make the scheme of prophecy more complete; and seeing all the rest of the prophecies, respecting the Messiah, have had a literal completion in Jesus, there is a great deal of reason to believe that these will also; especially, seeing it is such a completion of them, that Jesus and his apostles have given us reason to expect. I have not, indeed, inquired into the authenticity of the book of Daniel , and of the two first chapters of St. Matthew ’s gospel, which the author of The Scheme of Literal Prophecy has called in question, but have taken them for genuine parts of the sacred writings; the reason why I have not attempted an enquiry of this nature, when I have had occasion to consider some passages in those parts of Scripture, is, because I was not willing to interrupt the reader, by breaking the thread of prophecy. I must confess, that what this author has advanced on this head deserves consideration; and I hope, that some of the learned writers in this controversy, will think it worth their notice and regard. I shall only add, that whereas my design in writing the following sheets, is an honest, and impartial enquiry after truth, and an attempt to establish and promote it; in doing of which, as I have treated the argument with candor and temper; so, I hope, if I should appear to be mistaken in any thing I have advanced, I shall be candidly treated, as I shall be heartily thankful for such a discovery.

CHAPTER -The Introduction; with a particular consideration of that first prophecy, respecting the MESSIAH, recorded in Genesis 3:15. THOUGH the prophecies of the Old Testament, concerning the Messiah, which have had their exact completion in Jesus , are not the only proofs of the truth of the Christian Religion; there being many others, namely, the nature, importance, and tendency of the doctrines of the gospel, the verity and reality of facts recorded in the New Testament, such as the miracles of Christ, his resurrection from the dead, &c., yet are they real and unquestionable ones, and such as deserve our particular consideration; especially seeing Christ, and his apostles, so frequently appealed to them, to confirm the truth of what they delivered. Salvation by Jesus Christ, is the great doctrine of the gospel, and the sum and substance of the Christian Religion, of which salvation , says the apostle Peter ( 1 Peter 1:10,11), the prophets have enquired, and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ, which was in them, did signify, when it testified, before-hand, the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.

One main and principal branch of this salvation, is the forgiveness of sin through the blood of Christ; now to him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him, shall receive remission of sins ( Acts 10:43); and indeed Jesus and his apostles said ( Acts 26:22,23), none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come: that Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people and to the Gentiles.

It was the common and usual practice of Christ to direct his hearers to search the scriptures of the Old Testament, they are they , says he ( John 5:39,46), which testify of me ; yea he expressly says that Moses wrote of him ; he always spoke of his sufferings, and of several circumstances of them, as predicted by the prophets; and therefore after his resurrection, in order to lead his disciples into a thorough acquaintance with these things ( Luke 24:27,44), beginning at Moses, and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures, the things concerning himself, and declared that all things must be fulfilled , which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms concerning him.

The marks and characters of the Messiah , as fixed by the prophets, in the Old Testament, are very plain and visible in Jesus, which have been no small confirmation of the faith, hope, and joy, of those who have believed in him. Hence, says ( John 1:45) Philip to Nathanael , these two being some of the first that believed in him, and whose hearts were filled with joy at the first notice of him, We have found him , of whom Moses in the law , and the prophets did write , Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Now though this kind of proof is not the only foundation of the Christian Religion, yet it must be esteemed a very considerable part of it, for we who believe in Jesus , are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets , Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone , which foundation a late author has endeavoured to undermine, in several tracts on this subject of prophecy. Wherefore it highly becomes those who have any value for Jesus, the Redeemer, to attempt the rescuing of it, against such bold attacks, and daring insults, upon the best and most excellent religion in the world. I am sensible that several prophecies have been already, in this present controversy, very learnedly and judiciously discussed, and sufficiently cleared from those exceptions which have been made against them, as also am conscious of my own weakness and inability to engage in such a work; yet, having the Redeemer’s glory at heart, and being fully assured of the goodness of the cause, as well as willing to contribute what I can towards the securing the honour of Jesus, the confirmation of believers, and conviction of infidels, I have undertaken the consideration of the prophecies of the Old Testament, respecting the Messiah, which are either cited as such in the New, or are generally, by Christian interpreters, referred to him; and shall attempt to prove, that they truly and properly belonged to the Messiah, and have been actually and exactly fulfilled in Jesus, which must be no inconsiderable evidence of the truth of the Christian Religion.

I shall begin with Genesis 3:15, which is the first prophecy respecting the Messiah, of whom in the volume of the book , in the first roll thereof, en kefalidi bibliou in the head or beginning of the book of God, it was written , that he should do the will of God; which was no other than to destroy Satan the old serpent, with his works, and rescue sinful and miserable man out of his hands, pursuant to this original prophecy, which was given quickly after man’s apostasy from God, and stands at the head and front of the Bible, from the giving forth of which, the Messiah has been spoken of by the mouth of all God’s holy prophets, which have been since the world began ( Luke 1:70).

Now this, and the preceding verse, contain the judiciary sentence pronounced by God upon the serpent, for his concern in the apostasy of man from his Creator, of the real causes of which, and what artful methods were used to effect it, together with the dreadful consequences thereof, a particular account is given in this chapter. But for the better and more full explanation of those words, it will be proper to consider these two things.

I. Who, or what is meant by the serpent, on whom this sentence is pronounced.

II. The several parts and branches of that sentence.

First , It will be proper to consider who, or what is meant by the serpent.

That a true and real serpent, and not the mere appearance or image of one is here intended, is manifest, from its being reckoned among the beasts of the field , (ver. 1), from that cunning and subtlety which are there ascribed so it, and which are remarkably eminent in this creature, as also from the nature of the curse denounced against it, which was to go upon its belly and eat dust all the days of its life . These words cannot be understood solely, and alone, of a real serpent, but of Satan, in it, and with it, and of that only, as used and actuated by him, he being the principal, this only the instrument, as will appeal from the following considerations. 1. Speech is ascribed to it, which is peculiar to rational creatures; for the opinion of Philo , Josephus , Aben Ezra and others, that beasts, in their original, and primeval state, were endued with a faculty of speaking, must be rejected as entirely fabulous: but this may well be understood of Satan speaking in the serpent, whose common practice has been to utter voices in persons possessed by him; nay, to give forth oracles from the Gentile idols, things inanimate, and may as well be supposed to form articulate words in the mouth of the serpent, as the angel of the Lord did in the mouth of Balaam ’s ass. 2. This serpent appears to be endued with reason and understanding; here is a design formed by him against the glory of God and the happiness of man, managed with all the subtlety and contrivance imaginable, as well as malice and envy, which are very visible throughout his whole conduct, and can never be applicable to an irrational creature. 3. It is not reasonable to suppose, that human nature, as endued with reason, knowledge, and wisdom, even in its full strength and glory, could be outwitted, seduced and overcome, by a creature so mean and inferior to it. 4. The writings of the New Testament always refer the deception of mankind, to the malice and cunning of Satan and that often, under the name of a serpent ( John 8:44; 2 Corinthians 9:3; Revelation 12:9). 5. Though these writings are of no account with Jews and Deists, yet the sense of the former, respecting what we have now under consideration, perfectly agrees with them; many of their chiefest masters acknowledge, that Satan accompanied the serpent, was in him, was the cause of the ruin and destruction of mankind, and was principally intended in the curse, which also appears from the names they give the serpent, as lams , which signify the God that hath blinded , to which the apostle has some regard, when he says ( 2 Corinthians 4:4), speaking of Satan, the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not : also they call him twmh dalm the Angel of Death , because he was the cause of death to Adam , and all the world; to this the apostle refers, when he tells us ( Hebrews 2:14), that Jesus came to destroy him that had the power of death , that is the Devil . Moreover, nothing is more usual with them than to call Satan, ynwmdqh çjn the old serpent , which is the very name St. John gives him ( Revelation 7:9. and 20:2), and no doubt takes its rise from this history of the serpent in Genesis . But, Secondly , I shall now consider the several parts of the curse denounced against the serpent, which are these, namely, to be the most accursed of all creatures, to go upon its belly, to eat the dust of the earth, and live in a continual enmity with mankind, to which, though it would be hurtful, yet man should have the advantage over it; all which has been exactly fulfilled in it; for the serpent is the most hateful of all creatures, and, however erect its posture might he before the execution of this sentence, it is certain that now it is a reptile upon the earth; the dust of which is its food: and between which and man there is a real enmity; man abhors the sight of a serpent, and a serpent abhors the sight of man, and though it may secretly, and at unawares, bite the heels of men, yet man has the advantage over it so as be can easily bruise and crush its head, which, being most in danger, it is most careful to guard. Now, the infliction of this upon the serpent is no ways unreasonable, since it was used by Satan as an instrument to bring about his vile and wicked designs; besides, by this curse, God shewed the more his detestation of the sin of Satan, in ruining mankind, and how much it was displeasing to him; seeing he would not suffer either principal or instrument to escape; for it must not be supposed that this curse only regarded this brute creature, but that it was chiefly designed against Satan, the sole projector and conductor of the whole affair; for it would not be agreeable to the justice of God, to inflict this on the instrument and let the principal go free; nor would there be any proportion between the sentence against man and the serpent, if this concerned the serpent only, which will appear more manifest, by considering the several parts of the sentence, and how they have been executed upon Satan.

First , One part of the curse is that he should go upon his belly , which is periphrasis of creeping upon the earth, and is aptly expressive of the great dragon , that old serpent , called the Devil and Satan , being cast out of heaven into the earth , and his angels with him ; where he now has his abode and rules in the hearts of men, for which reason he is called, the God and prince of this world , being never able to rise higher, and regain his place, and first estate in the highest heavens, which is no small part of his punishment.

Secondly , Another part of the curse denounced against him is, his eating the dust of the earth , which designs the mean and abject condition in which Satan now is, who does not, as formerly, feed upon angels ’ food , the joys of heaven, but entertains himself with base mean and earthly lusts, in which that impure spirit delights. Moreover, it may also intend the very great subjection of Satan, not only to Christ, the King of kings, who has led captivity captive, but even to the meanest of his people, under whose feet the God of peace will shortly bruise him , which is no small mortification to that proud spirit: Thus the phrase of licking the dust of the earth is used in Psalm 72:9 and Micah 7:17.

Thirdly , As a further degree of punishment to him, it is threatened by God that he would put enmity between him and the woman , between his seed and her seed : the meaning of which is, that the woman, into whose affections he had insinuated himself, and with whom he had so much familiar conversation, now seeing how much she had been imposed upon, and seduced by him, to the ruin of herself and posterity, should be filled with an enmity to him, which should be placed in her, as a punishment of him, and which enmity should not center in her only, but be transmitted to her seed , by which must be meant more especially the Messiah, who, by way of eminency, may be called the seed of the woman , who should oppose himself to Satan, and his seed, the evil angels, and the whole race of wicked and ungodly men, which would hate and persecute both him and his people.

Fourthly , For the filling up the measure of his just punishment it is promised that an entire victory over him should be gained by the woman’s seed, it shall bruise thy head , and thou shalt bruise his heel , for this word it manifestly refers to the woman’s seed, by which is intended the Messiah; nor can it be any just objection, to the application of it to him, that the word seed is a collective word, seeming it is often used to design a single person, as in Genesis 4:25, chapter 15:2, and chapter 21:13. That this is to be understood of him, will appear more evident, if we consider the following things:

First , That the person spoken of, is called the seed of the woman , and not of the man, which can agree with no other than the Messiah, who was to be born of a virgin, as was afterwards more clearly revealed by Isaiah 7:14.

Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel; which was fulfilled in Jesus, who was truly the seed of the woman , and of her only, being made of a woman , and not begotten by man, but was conceived in the womb of the virgin, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

Secondly , The word awh which is here rendered “it ”, is one of the names of God, and is so used in <19A227> Psalm 102:27 but thou art the same , awh hta thou art HE . See also Isaiah 48:12, and thus the Jews frequently use it, nay, in Zohar they apply it to the eternal and blessed God, bruising the serpent’s head, as expressed in this text, which well agrees with Jesus, who is the unchangeable, eternal, and omnipotent HE , auto V who is the same yesterday , today , and for ever , the true alpha and omega , the first and the last , which is , and which was , and which is to come , the Almighty .

Thirdly , The work he was to do deserves consideration, and proves the person spoken of, to be the Messiah, which was to bruise the serpent ’s head , that is, to destroy Satan and all his works, set aside all his craft and cunning, crush all his machinations and designs, and overturn his whole empire; now this is frequently spoke of in the Old Testament, as the Messiah’s work; and, in some places, a peculiar reference seems to be had to this original prophecy; as in <19B006> Psalm 110:6, which psalm solely belongs to the Messiah, where it is thus prophesied of him, he shall wound the heads over many countries , çar xjm hbr xra l[ which may be thus rendered, he shall wound the head , that is, him that is the head, or ruler, over a large country , which is no other than Satan, the god and prince of this world, who was to be wounded, bruised, and destroyed, by the Messiah. Again in Habakkuk 3:13 it is said, f24 Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thine Anointed; thou woundest the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck.

Selak.

Which agreeable to Kimchi ’s reading and comment, who expounds it of the Messiah, may be thus paraphrased, “As thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, when they entered into the land of Canaan ; so wilt thou go forth for the salvation of thy people, by the hands of Messiah, the son of David , who shall wound Satan, who is the head, the king and prince of the house of the wicked, and shall raise up all his strength, power, policy, and dominion.”

Now all this well agrees with Jesus; who has destroyed Satan, got an entire conquest over him, has spoiled principalities and powers , and subverted his whole empire.

Fourthly , The sufferings of the Messiah, are very fitly expressed by the serpent’s bruising his heel : Some by his heel , understand his people, here on earth; and by bruising it, those persecutions which Satan and his emissaries are continually raising against, and afflicting them with; though it rather seems to intend his human nature, which as the divine nature is the head and chief in Christ, this is the heel , the inferior and lowest nature in him, which was frequently exposed to Satan’s insults, temptations and persecutions, and what he particularly struck at, and at length so far succeeded as to bring him to a shameful and ignominious death, the iniquity of his heels , the sins of his people, which he bore in his own body on the tree, then compassing him about .

Fifthly , Several Jewish writers have understood this clause of the Messiah, and particularly the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem ; the former of which in his paraphrase of it says, there shall be healing for the heel , in the days of the king Messiah ; and much to the same purpose says the latter.

The Targum of Onkelos , seems well to express the secret, spiteful, malicious, and insidious manner, in which Satan attacked the Messiah, in the end of the world by paraphrasing the words thus, he shall remember thee what thou didst to him of old , and thou shalt observe or watch him in the end . Though later Jews oppose the application of it to the Messiah, especially to Jesus, and two things are chiefly objected by them. First , that Jesus did not bruise or destroy Satan, but rather Satan was the procuring cause of the death of Jesus; to which I reply, that Satan so far gained his point, as to bring about the death of Jesus, we Christians do not deny, but then we assert, that Jesus, through death destroyed him that had the power of death , that is , the devil , by which we do not mean an annihilation of his being, but a dispossessing him of his power, a confounding of his schemes and projects, a destruction of his works, and a subjection of him to Christ, the triumphant conqueror, who has ascended on high , and led captivity captive . Secondly , they object that Satan still retains a power over persons; and that the apostle Paul himself acknowledges, that he hindered him and others from coming to the Thessalonians ( 1 Thessalonians 2:18, and that in Romans 16:20), the same apostle speaks of Satan, as to be bruised, under the feet, of the followers of Jesus, and not as already bruised: to which I answer, that Satan indeed has often a permission from Christ, to do many things which tend to the disquietude and discomfort of his people; but yet he can go no further than he has leave, which shows that he is entirely conquered by Christ, and in subjection to him; and though he is not fully and completely bruised under the feet of saints, yet is he under the feet of Jesus, who has spoiled principalities and powers and made a shew of them openly ..

A late author objects that though Jesus might bruise the devil ’s head , or triumph over him , yet Jesus was the only person , that ever was born , whose heel the devil could not bruise , or over whom the devil could not triumph , by any attack , whatsoever . But I have already shewn in what sense Christ’s heel was bruised, by the devil, and how he, and his emissaries triumphed over him, having nailed him to the cross, and laid and secured him in the grave: But this triumph did not last long, for though he was crucified through weakness , he liveth by the power of God , though his heel was bruised, his head could not be; for though he was dead, he is now alive, and will live for evermore.

In fine, from this first prophecy, we learn, that the Messiah was to be incarnate, born of a woman, and not begotten by man; that he was to suffer and die; as also, that he was to destroy Satan and his works, which Jesus has done: And it may be observed, that salvation was proclaimed, as soon as sin was committed, and a prophecy of a Messiah given forth as soon as there was any need of one.

CHAPTER -Shewing that the Messiah was promised to Abraham, and what advantages the nations of the world were to receive by him. THE next prophecy, respecting the Messiah, or discovery that was made of him to the sons of men, was made to Abraham, ( Genesis 22:18). And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. Now, in the former prophecy, it was left undiscovered and undetermined, out of what people or nation the Messiah should arise, and only, in general declared, that he should be the seed of the woman; but in this it is expressed in plain terms, that he should be of the seed and posterity of Abraham; as Jesus, the true Messiah was, who ( Hebrews 2:16) took not upon him the nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham, and is therefore justly called ( Matthew 1:1) Abraham’s son. But, for the better understanding of this prophecy, two things should be inquired into, 1. Who is meant by the seed of Abraham, in whom all nations should be blessed? 2. What advantages the nations of the world should receive by this promised seed?

First, It will be proper to inquire, who is meant by the seed of Abraham, in whom all nations of the earth were to be blessed? Now this seed cannot intend Isaac, the immediate seed of Abraham, because this blessing in the extensiveness of it, was never verified in him: Besides, it is carried down to his posterity ( Genesis 26:4), as not terminating in him, it not being intended of him; and for the very same reasons, it cannot design Jacob, the immediate seed of Isaac, (see Genesis 28:14), nor has it ever received its completion in the whole body of the Israelitish nation, the posterity of Jacob ; for what advantages have the nations of the world ever received from them? or when, and how have they been blessed in them, or the Jews ever been the occasion of any blessing to them? Whilst they continued in their own land, they dwelt alone, and were not reckoned among the nations ; they kept themselves at the utmost distance from other people; their religion, laws, and customs being different from them; they would have no communion with them, either on a civil or sacred account; nor any conversation; they would not perform any civilities to them, no, not even the common offices of humanity; nay, there was a real enmity in the Jews against the Gentiles; The former thought it no crime to do any hurt or mischief to the latter, either in person or estate; nay, their hatred has ran so high as even to do all they could to hinder their everlasting salvation, and all arising from a mistaken sense of Deuteronomy 23:6. And since the destruction of their civil polity, and their dispersion, the nations have received no advantage from them; they have not been in a capacity to give them any assistance so that as the nations of the world never have been, they never are likely to he blessed in those people, who have always been so far from being accounted a blessing to them, that their name has been used by way of reproach, and as a proverb, a taunt, and a curse, wherever they have been driven. From whence it appears that the nations of the world never took up this, as a form of blessing among them, God bless you, as he did the Israelites or seed of Abraham; which a late author f27 thinks to be the sense of the phrase here, from its use in all other places; in which sense it is true, he has the concurrence of the greatest part of the modern Jews; authorities which he at other times treats with the utmost contempt: But no one instance can be produced, when the nations of the world ever used such a form of blessing as this; nor does the use of the phrase, in all other places, determine this to be the sense of it here: (see Deuteronomy 29:19; Psalm 72:17; Isaiah 65:16; Jeremiah 4:2); where there is not the least foundation for such an interpretation.

Besides, in parallel texts, the word is used in Niphal, in a passive form, as in Genesis 12:3 and Genesis 18:18 and 28:14, which directs us to the plain sense of the words in this. And as to Genesis 48:20, the only place produced in favour of this sense, the word is purely active, and so no proof of the use of it in a different form; and though that text informs us what would be a usual form of blessing among the Jews; yet neither that, nor any other text, nor any history either sacred or profane, acquaints us, that that, or any other Jewish form of blessing, would be used among the Gentiles. Now, as it appears that this prophecy never had its completion, either in the more near posterity of Abraham, as Isaac or Jacob, or in his more remote, even the whole body of the Jewish nation, in any age, or period of time, it remains, that some other person or persons must he fixed upon, which can be no other than the Messiah, even our Jesus, to whom the apostles have applied it ( Acts 3:25,26; Galatians 3:8). The import of which is, that the Messiah should be of Abraham’s seed, and that the Gentiles should be blessed in him; and though Modern Jews have coined other interpretations of this prophecy, yet the ancient ones understood it in the sense now given. Two things are principally objected by modern Jews against the application of it to the Messiah, and in favour of its intending the whole body of the Israelites: 1. They say the word seed cannot be understood of a single person, but is used collectively of a large number; but instances have been given, in the preceding chapter, where the word seed is used of a single person; so that St. Paul is to be justified, when he says ( Galatians 3:16), Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, and to seeds, as of many; but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ. 2. They object that no blessing comes to the nations of the world, but through the Jews to which I answer; it is true that salvation is of the Jews; that to them belong ( Romans 9:4,5) the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the glory of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever; from whom the nations of the world receive all their blessings; but then we deny that the Gentiles receive any blessings from them, but only as through the Messiah, Jesus, one of their nation, who was made a curse, that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles. But, Secondly, Let us now consider the advantages which the nations of the world were to receive from the Messiah, this promised seed. And it is to he observed, that by all the nations of the world, every individual person therein is not intended, but only some in all nations, who, with Abraham, believe in the same promised seed, as the apostle has taught us to explain this prophecy; So then, says he ( Galatians 3:9), they which be of faith, are blessed with faithful Abraham. The Jews look upon it to be a sufficient verification of this prophecy, that some of the Gentiles, by means of their patriarchs, have been brought to the knowledge of the being, unity, providence, and omnipotence of God, which knowledge is the cause of all true blessedness: but the plain meaning of the prophecy is, that though the Messiah was to be of Abraham’s seed, yet his posterity alone were not to receive the advantage thereof; but his divine blessings were to extend to the several nations of the world.

The calling of the Gentiles, by the Messiah, was the great mystery, which in other ages was not made known so clearly, as it is now under the Gospel dispensation; there were indeed frequent intimations of it in the Old Testament, and the Jews could not be altogether strangers to it, though nothing was more displeasing and provoking to them: This temper of theirs, God long ago foretold by Moses, saying ( Deuteronomy 32:21), I will move them to jealousy, with those which are not a people, I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation; that is, by calling and blessing them. Isaiah, of all the prophets, spoke most largely concerning the blessings designed for the Gentiles by the Messiah; but the apostle says ( Romans 10:20), that he was very bold on that account; for he was sure to incur the displeasure of the Jews; nay, run the risk of his life for being so. Near the time of the Messiah’s coming, this controversy was much agitated in the schools of Hillell and Shammai, namely, Whether or no, when the, Messiah came, the nations of the world would have any advantage by him? A vast majority were on the negative side of the question; though some few, such as old Simeon, and others, knew, that he was to be a light to the Gentiles, as well as the glory of his people Israel: but the greater part were so far from thinking that the Gentiles would be redeemed by the Messiah, that they firmly believed they would be all destroyed at his coming, and have no favour or mercy shewn them. This notion Jesus and his apostles much opposed, and is the true reason of the grace and redemption of Christ being expressed in those universal terms, they so often are in the New Testament. The controversy was not then, as it is now, between the Arminians and Calvinists, Whether all and every individual of human nature were to be redeemed by Christ; but, Whether any of the Gentiles should be redeemed by him, or no? which, as I said before, was determined in the negative: But Jesus and his apostles declared against it: Our Lord, in a discourse of his with one of their learned Rabbis, says ( John 3:16), God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

By the world here, Christ means the Gentiles, as distinct from the Jews, as manifestly appears from the words of the apostle John, who lay in the bosom of Jesus, and must be allowed to be the best interpreter of his words. Now he tells us, that Jesus was ( 1 John 2:2) the propitiation for our sins, meaning the sins of the Jews; for John was a Jew; and, says he, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world; wherein he explains the words of Jesus, and, at the same time, struck at the darling notion of the Jews. The apostle Paul uses the word in the same sense ( Romans 11:12,15), for there was much the same distinction then as now; there were Israel, and the nations of the world, as now the church and the world, the former of which the Jews claimed to themselves, and the other they gave to the Gentiles, whom they looked upon as rejected of God; but Jesus gave himself a ransom for all, for Gentiles as well as Jews, and the grace of God hath appeared unto all men; the doctrine thereof, after the resurrection of Jesus, was no more confined to Judea, but carried into the Gentile world, by the first preachers thereof, who had a commission from Christ to go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature; whereby the blessings of the Messiah were conveyed to the Gentiles as well as to the Jews; which brings us to consider the several advantages which the nations of the earth were to receive from the Messiah, the promised seed, which are as follow: 1. Redemption, which is the source and spring of all the rest. The Messiah is frequently spoken of, in the Old Testament, under the character of a Redeemer, and the Jews always expected him as such; many instances might be produced from thence as proofs of it: I shall content myself with mentioning one, which I the rather choose, because it is cited in the New.

The passage is in Isaiah 49:20.

And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord. This, says Aben Ezra, is the Messiah.

St. Paul cites the text in Romans 11:26 after this manner, There shall come out of Sion the deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness, from Jacob.

The Jews quarrel with this citation, and charge the apostle with a perversion of the prophet’s words, which, how justly, will appear by considering the principal differences between them the prophet says, The Redeemer shall come to Zion; but, according to the apostle it is, There shall come out of Sion the deliverer: For the reconciling of which, it ought to be observed, that the servile letter? sometimes signifies from, as well as to, when it is put in the room of?, of which, some instances may be produced; (see Exodus 16:1. and 19:1; Numbers 33:38; Ezra 3:8; 1 Kings 12:24; compared with 2 Chronicles 11:4). Besides, the Messiah was to come out of Zion: Hence says David ( Psalm 14:7), O that the salvation or Saviour of Israel were come out of Zion: so that our apostle fitly expresses the faith and expectation of the old Jewish church in this citation. The other difference is, in Isaiah; it is said, that this Redeemer should come to those that turn from transgression in Jacob; when the apostle says, that when he is come, he shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. The Jews, who quarrel with him for his version of this clause, would do well to consider, that this is exactly agreeable to the Septuagint version, the authors of which were all Jews: besides, the Targum on the place favors our apostle’s version and sense, which paraphrases it thus, “The Redeemer shall come to Zion, and so turn the rebellious ones of the house of Jacob to the law.” From the whole it appears that they have no reason to charge the apostle with a false citation or perversion of Isaiah’s words, which not only declare the character of the Messiah, as a Redeemer, but also acquaints us with the nature of his redemption; not a deliverance from the Roman yoke, as the Jews vainly expected; but this Redeemer was to remove ungodliness from Jacob; he was to redeem Israel from all her iniquities: Salvation by him was to be an everlasting salvation, and not a mere temporary one and such a salvation old Jacob expected, who, whilst he was blessing his sons, a little before his death, breaks out in this pathetic manner ( Genesis 49:18), I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord. Remarkable is the paraphrase of Jonathan ben Uzziel on these words; “ When Jacob saw, says the paraphrast, that Gideon the son of Joash, and Sampson the son of Manoah, were appointed to be redeemers, he said, Not for the redemption of Gideon do I wait, nor for the redemption of Sampson, because their redemptions are but temporary; but for thy redemption, O Lord, do I wait; because thy redemption is an everlasting one.” Some copies read the last clause thus; “but for the redemption of Messiah the son of David.” Much to the same purpose also is the Jerusalem Targum on the place. From whence it appears, what sort of a redeemer, and what kind of redemption the ancient Jews expected; even such a Redeemer as Jesus is, whose name was called so, because he saves his people from their sins, who is become the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.

Now of this salvation and redemption, by the Messiah, the Gentiles were to partake as well as the Jews; for God gave him to be ( Isaiah 49:6) a light to the Gentiles, that he might be his salvation unto the ends of the earth; and accordingly the Gospel is become the power of God unto salvation, to every one that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. Though salvation is of the Jews; the author of it came from among them, and to them it was first preached, yet it does not belong to them only, all the nations of the earth being to be blessed, in the Messiah, with this blessing.

The writings of the Old Testament abound with intimations of the Messiah, as a Redeemer, and the nature of redemption by him ( Isaiah 9:6); nor are they wanting to give us an account of the greatness of his person; they represent him as the mighty God, God’s equal and fellow ( Zechariah 13:7), as the Adon or Lord ( Malachi 3:1), whom the Jews sought, of whom, in a time to come, it should he said, Lo ( Isaiah 25:9), this is our God, we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord, we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation; though they also often speak of him as a man, as a son bore, and a child given, as one that should be exposed to very great sorrows, hardships, and sufferings, nay to death itself; hence it appears, that the Jews had no reason to quarrel with Jesus, as they did, for that he being a man made himself God; especially when his works declared him to be so for the Messiah of the prophets was to be both God and man. 2. Another blessing which the nations of the earth were to be blessed with, in the Messiah, or advantage they were to receive by him, is justification from all sin and condemnation; the apostle seems to have this blessing, designed for the Gentiles solely in view, namely, citing Genesis 12:3, he says ( Galatians 3:8), And the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.

The people of God, under the Old Testament, were sensible that there was no justification before God, by any righteousness of their own, which they knew and acknowledged to be as filthy rags, wherefore they desired ( <19E302> Psalm 143:2) that God would not enter into judgment with them; for in his sight no man could be justified, that is, by any works of his own.

Now one part of the Messiah’s work was ( Daniel 9:24) to bring in everlasting righteousness, for the justification of those that believed in him; hence one of his famous names and titles is, The Lord our righteousness ( Jeremiah 23:6), and from him, they expected their justifying righteousness, surely ( Isaiah 45:24,25), shall one say, In the Lord have I righteousness and strength —in the Lord, or according to the Chaldee paraphrase, in or by the Word of the Lord, the eternal Logo V, shall all the seed of Israel be justified and shall glory ; which blessing the Jews were not to enjoy alone, for the Gentiles were to share with them in it, who were not only to see this righteousness in others, but to enjoy it themselves; for all the Messiah’s people, whether Jew or Gentiles, were to be all righteous, and indeed at present the latter have the greatest share in this righteousness; for while Israel ( Romans 9:30,31), which followed after the law of righteousness, have not attained to the law of righteousness; the Gentiles which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith, which they have not from themselves, but from the Messiah, Jesus, who is the ( Romans 10:4) end of the law for righteousness to every one that believes, by whom they ( Acts 13:39) are justified from all things, from which they could not be justified by the law of Moses. 3. Another blessing, which the Gentiles, as well as Jews, were to receive from the Messiah, is peace. Peace and abundance of it were promised to be in the days of the Messiah; many ( Psalm 72:3,7; Isaiah 9:6,7; Haggai 2:9) prophecies speak of it, one of the Messiah’s titles is Prince of peace; nay, he is called The peace; because all true peace is owing to him, he is both the author and donor of it, which Gentiles as well as Jews participate of; for the Messiah was to ( Zechariah 9:10) speak peace unto the heathen, which Jesus has done, by preaching peace to them which were afar off and to them which were nigh f33 , that is, to the Jews, who were a people near unto the Lord; and to the Gentiles, who were afar off from him; the one also being upon the spot where Jesus and his disciples first began to preach, the other at a distance from them; and this