Page images
PDF
EPUB

SECT. ever bleffed Trinity among the Jews, the descendants of Shem. "The Word was -"made flesh, and dwelt as in a tent among

“ us; and we beheld his glory, the glory "as of the only begotten of the Father, "full of grace and truth."

It is remarkable, that the Greek wσxnvσe, applied by St. John to Chrift, is precisely of the same fignification, allowing for the difference of tense only, with the Hebrew, by which Noah describes the dwelling of God in the tents of Shem. It may be further obferved, that from the fame root ¡ is immediately derived

Shechinah, by which the Jews exprefs the appearance of God's glory in the tabernacle. Confequently, the above passage of St. John, when compared with the parallel one in the Old Teftament, forms no inconfiderable proof of the divinity of Christ“,

John i. 14.

This prophecy indeed is capable of another fignification; "God shall enlarge Japhet, and he (viz. Japhet) fhall "dwell in the tents of Shem." It will ftill, however, ultimately relate to the promised Meffiah, who was to be born of the line of Shem, and to whofe religion the defcendants of Japhet were to be converted. The following paffage cited by Bochart is worthy of observation.

"Sed et vocationem gentium iifdem verbis continere præ

I.

3.

delivered to

3. When the defcendants of Shem be- CHAP. gan to multiply upon the face of the earth, and gradually to relapfe into idolatry, a further limitation of the promife became Prophecy neceffary. For this purpose God called Abraham. Abraham from among the fire-worshippers of Chaldea, and by a frequent intercourfe with him, in a fupernatural manner, both proved his faith, and prevented him from degenerating into the corruptions of the furrounding nations.

To this Patriarch

God foretold, that in his feed fhould all
nations of the earth be bleffed. So glo-
rious a reward did his steady faith in the
wisdom of God procure to him.
"He be-
"lieved in the Lord, and it was counted
"unto him for righteoufnefs."

From Abraham to Chrift, we have a regular chain of prophecies delivered to God's peculiar people. It need fcarcely be ob

"vidit jam ante eventum Chaldæus interpres Jonathan, in cujus paraphrafi hæc verba funt valde notanda.

[ocr errors]

ישפר י תחומיה דיפת ויתניורון בניו, וישרון במדרתא דשם

"Condecorabit Dominus terminos Japheti, et profelyti fient, (id "eft, convertentur) filii ejus, et babitabunt in fcbola, (id eft, "templo vel ecclefia) Semi. Nos fcilicet, qui fumus Jape“tionidæ, aut in eadem ecclefia habitamus cum Judæis qui "crediderunt; aut incredulis ejectis, eorum locum occupa "mus." Geog. Sacr. p. 150.

0 4

ferved,

SECT. ferved, how neceffary it was that the over-
III. ruling providence of God fhould separate

the Jews from the rest of the world. Had
this not been done, the grand evidence of
authentic prophecy must have been want-
ing to the Christian difpenfation. Suppof-
ing that an intercourse had been permitted
between the Ifraelites and their neighbours,
they would foon have loft all knowledge
of the only true God, and would have funk
into the base worship of the Canaanites.
Along with this knowledge, the history of
their own origin would have been forgot-
ten, as was notoriously the cafe with the
most celebrated nations of antiquity.
yond a certain period in the annals of all
profane authors, every thing is obfcure, fa-
bulous, and uncertain; fo that, although
there may be a confiderable mixture of
truth in the legends of the poets, yet it is
fo blended and incorporated with misre-
presentation and error, that it is difficult
to separate the one from the other.

Be

Had the Jews loft the knowledge of their origin, along with it must have been loft all fatisfactory recollection of the pro

e Vide Stillingfleet's Orig. Sacræ.

I.

mife made to Adam, Shem, and Abraham, CHAP,
refpecting the Meffiah. It may be added,
that if the Jews had been confounded
with the Gentiles, the prophets could have
claimed no greater degree of attention than
the Heathen oracles, however true might
be the predictions which they delivered.
The reafon of this is obvious: had the
Jews been exactly in the fame ftate of
darkness with the Gentiles, though their
prophets might really have had a divine
commiffion, yet we could never have been
certain that that was the cafe. Profane
authors frequently mention the accomplish-
ment of prophecies faid to be dictated by
their falfe deities, and yet the credibility of
them is never allowed to be fufficiently
established. Confequently, if true prophets
had been mingled with falfe ones, their
predictions would have defcended to us
with a very unfatisfactory degree of au-
thenticity, and might even have been en-
tirely overlooked amidst a multitude of
Heathen abfurdities. It appears, then, that
if the Jews had not been feparated from
the reft of the world, all that part of
the proof of Chriftianity, which depends
upon prophecy, would have been unte-
nable.

Doubtlefs,

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

SECT.

III.

To Ifaac.

Doubtless, the Almighty, at the time when he revealed our religion, might also have revealed afresh the promises, which he had formerly made to the Patriarchs; but this would not have been equivalent to prophecy. And fince, even now, though Christianity offers itself to mankind illuminated with fuch a conftellation of predictions, infidelity is ftill very forward to charge it with being an impofture; what would have been the triumph of the fceptic, had the Apostles allowed, that no prophecies were extant even by tradition; but at the fame time declared, that God had revealed to them certain promises long fince made to the fathers of the human race, and long fince forgotten by their posterity? Would it not have been much more fatiffactory, that Chriftianity, like Judaifm, fhould have been preached without any pretenfions to the evidence of prophecy, than have refted part of the proof of its authenticity upon fuch prophecy as this? Mahomet, or any other impoftor, had he been fo difpofed, might eafily have produced whole volumes of this kind of prophecy.

4. The Patriarch Abraham having two fons,

« EelmineJätka »