Whatever may be the true sigification of this prophecy, it is not, I conceive, favourable to the purpose to which Mr. Everett applies it, for the following reasons. 1. That in supposing what is commonly translated "seventy week"s," to signify four hundred and ninety years, the prophecy would be falsified; for certainly the expiration of this period did not "finish transgression," nor "make an end of sins," nor "make reconciliation for iniquity," nor "bring in everlasting righteous," nor "anoint the most holy things," i.e. as I understand it, the new and eternal temple and its altar, predicted by Ezekiel in the last chapters of his prophecies. On the contrary, the Jews became more wicked than ever, and the temple then standing was destroyed to its foundations.
2. It follows from what is allowed by Mr. Everett himself, p. 159 of his work, that from the going forth of the word to restore and build Jerusalem, to the birth of Jesus Christ, was not seven weeks and sixty and two weeks, i. e. sixty-nine weeks, but EIGHTY-FOUR weeks, for he says there, that the duration of the second temple was "NINETY-FOUR weeks," i. e. six hundred and fifty-nine years.
Now if my memory does not deceive me, Jerusalem was taken and the temple destroyed by t.i.tus about the year seventy after the birth of Christ, which is equal to the prophetic weeks; therefore take ten weeks from the ninety-four weeks, (the time Mr. Everett states to have elapsed from the building of the second temple, to its destruction) and there remains EIGHTY-FOUR weeks, and not SIXTY-NINE. Which circ.u.mstance, appears to me to vitiate entirely the interpretation of Mr. Everett, who supposes the annointed one," spoken of as to be cut off after the sixty-nine weeks, to be Jesus Christ.
As to who the "annointed ones" were, the first I think entirely refers to Cyrus, and the last who was to be "cut off" and have no successor, may either mean the pious and good Onias mentioned in the book of Maccabees, who was the last I think of the legitimate Jewish High Priests, [for after his time History testifies that several, who had not the right of primogeniture as descendants of Aaron, obtained the priesthood by force, by intrigue, and by bribery;] or the last Jewish High Priest, Joshua [fn74] who perished during the siege of Jerusalem, according to Josephus. At any rate the anointed one who was to be cut off, cannot mean Jesus of Nazareth; because this anointed one was to be cut off in that same week of seven years, in which the city was destroyed, whereas Jesus was crucified forty years before that event; a circ.u.mstance I insist which excludes any application of this prophecy to Jesus.
The claims set up for Jesus of Nazareth are moreover evidently rejected by Daniel"s prophecy, even according to Mr. Everett"s interpretation, forasmuch as he did not appear at the expiration of sixty-nine weeks, but of EIGHTY-FOUR.
And to conclude this discussion, I would observe that Daniel, ch.
iii, in his account of the image [seen in a vision by Nebuchadnezzar] whose head was of gold, breast and arms of silver, belly of bra.s.s, legs of iron, and feet and toes of iron and clay, is predicting the empires which have most influenced the fate of the Hebrew nation; i. e. the Babylonian, Persian, Grecian, and Roman, the last represented by "the iron legs," which did indeed bestride the world; these "iron legs" are represented as terminating in feet and toes part of iron and part of clay, which have no natural coherence; i. e. the Roman empire shall be divided into several kingdoms, partly strong and partly weak: a prophecy remarkably fulfilled in the history and condition of the kingdoms of Europe. The prophet goes on to say in ch. ii, that in the latter days of those kings or kingdoms, [which are yet subsisting] "the G.o.d of Heaven, would set up a kingdom which should never be destroyed," that of the Messiah. Of course the kingdom of the Messiah was not to be--not only not till after the destruction of the Roman empire--but not till the latter days of the kingdoms which grew up out of the ruins; whereas Jesus Christ was born in the time of Augustus, i. e. when the Roman empire itself was in the height of its splendour and vigour. Mr. Everett in p. 201, endeavours to escape the strong gripe of the prophet Daniel, by maintaining that these strong and weak parts, into which the Roman empire was to be divided, meant that it should be divided into "strong and weak inst.i.tutions." Now to turn this sensible interpretation head over heels, [fn75] it appears to me to be only necessary to observe, that these strong and weak parts into which the Roman empire was to be divided, were, according to the prophet, ch. ii. 4.3. of Daniel, to "mingle themselves with the seed of men," i. e. make intermarriages; which, it appears to me to be a thing that "strong and weak inst.i.tutions" cannot do. This, however has remarkably, been the case among the royal families of Europe, who intermarry too with the avowed design of cementing union and promoting peace and harmony.
Nevertheless, agreeable to the prophet"s prediction, they have not "cleaved together, but on the contrary have been almost constantly at war with each other.
PEBBLE IV.
"The children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim; afterwards shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their G.o.d, and David their king, and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days." Hos. iii, 4, 5.
"I will set up one shepherd over them, even my servant David, he shall feed [or govern] them, and he shall be their shepherd: and I the Lord will be their G.o.d, and my servant David, a prince among them." Ezech, ch. x.x.xiv. 23.
"David my servant shall be king over them, and there shall be one shepherd,"------" my servant David shall be their Prince for ever."
Ezek. ch, x.x.xvii. 24, 25.
"They shall serve Jehovah their G.o.d, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto [or for] them." Jer. x.x.x. 9.
"Incline your ear and come unto me: hear and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Behold I have given him for a witness, to the peoples, a leader and commander to the peoples." Is. Iv. 3, 4.
From such pa.s.sages I inferred, in my first publication, that the name of the true Messiah, was to be DAVID, and not Jesus. To avoid the force of these pa.s.sages Mr. Everett has recourse to allegory and a.n.a.logy.
Jesus is prophecied of in these pa.s.sages, says he, by the name of DAVID, because "there was an a.n.a.logy between these two distinguished servants of G.o.d. David, from a low and humble estate, was raised to be the founder of the temporal glories of his kingdom; and Christ, not less humble in his origin, was the author of the spiritual distinction of Israel; David was the most ill.u.s.trious political and Christ the most distinguished moral instrument of the Lord. David was commanded to entrust to his successor the election of the famous temple, which was the centre of the Jewish worship; and Christ has founded through the agency of his apostles that CHURCH by which his religion has been preserved, and diffused in the world."
"To laugh, were want of dignity, or grace, "And to be grave exceeds all power of face."
I a.s.sure Mr. Everett, that the days of Type and FIGURE are gone by, and have been succeeded among Biblical Critics by a stricter style of reasoning, and are now considered as "pious whims."[fn76]
In the present advanced state of sacred Criticism even the beautiful allegory in Paul"s Epistle to the Gal. ch. iv. which makes Hagar, Abraham"s maid, nothing less than "Mount Sinai in Arabia;"
and Sarah, Abraham"s wife, to be the "Jerusalem, that is above the mother of us all!" has come to be regarded as "rather queer."
I had also objected that the coming of the true Messiah, was according to the Old Testament, to be preceded by the appearance of Elijah the prophet on earth; and that he had not appeared before the era of Jesus, nor ever since.
In answer to this, Mr. Everett endeavours to show 173. & seq., that a man named John the Baptist--a righteous person,--whose raiment was of camels hair,--and whose meat was locusts and wild honey, who lived in the age of Jesus of Nazareth, was Elijah, and had a right to be so considered--by a figure.
To this I answer, that the prophecy of Malachi does not say "Behold I will send you one like Elijah, or "an Elijah,"---but it says explicitly, and expressly, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the Prophet, before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord; and he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers." Mal. iv. 5,6.
Now who is "Elijah the Prophet?" undoubtedly the great prophet of Israel, who called down fire from heaven--who raised the dead to life--and who ascended alive to heaven in a chariot of fire; G.o.d by such a translation sufficiently intimating that he had in reserve for him, some extraordinary commission. Moreover the coming of this Elijah the prophet, was to be followed by. "the great and terrible day of Jehovah," by which name the prophets call the personal descent of Jehovah upon the earth, to take vengeance on the wicked, and to punish the oppressors and persecutors of his people.[fn77] Was the appearing of John the Baptist followed by this event? or has it yet occurred, though that man lived eighteen hundred years ago? His appearance, instead of being followed by the interposition of G.o.d to avenge Israel of its enemies, was on the contrary, followed by giving Israel into the hand of its enemies, who, "for the overspreading of abominations," made Jerusalem a desolation, and delivered over its sinful population to the chains of slavery, and the bands of Death.
Elijah the Prophet is to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to the fathers." Did John the Baptist do this? On the contrary, the morals of his countrymen, in His age, instead of growing from bad to better, went on from bad to worse, till there was no remedy, and the Sword of G.o.d did his work.
Indeed, and indeed Mr. Everett you are wrong; And your superannuated allies, TYPE and FIGURE, whom I disdain to combat, cannot aid you to defend what is indefensible.
PEBBLE V.
The Law of the Pentateuch, is p.r.o.nounced by the Old Testament to be intended for a permanent and eternal Code for the Jewish nation. Mr. Everett denies this. Let us see nevertheless, if it cannot be proved.
The promulgation of the ordinance imposing circ.u.mcision on the descendants of Abraham, is in these words. "And G.o.d said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou and thy seed after thee in their generations. This is my covenant which ye shall keep, between me and you, and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circ.u.mcised.--He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circ.u.mcised; and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncirc.u.mcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circ.u.mcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant." Gen. ch. xvii. 9.-- 14.
The ordinance of the Pa.s.sover is also declared to be everlasting, "and this day [i. e. the feast of the Pa.s.sover] shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast unto the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever."
Ex.ch.xii. 14. see also v. 15.--in v. 17. it is said "ye shall observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever."
The ordinance of the day of atonement, is declared to be a perpetual inst.i.tution, "It shall be a statute for ever unto you," Lev.
ch. xvi. 29. "It shall be a Sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever." v. 31. "and this shall be an everlasting statute unto you." v. 34.
The feast of offering the first fruits of the year, is declared Lev. ch.
xxiii. 14. "to be a statute for ever throughout your generations, in all your dwellings."
The feast of the Pentecost, is also declared in the same ch. of Lev. 21. to "be a statute for ever, in all your dwellings throughout your generations." See also v. 41.
The ordinance of the Sabbath is p.r.o.nounced a perpetual inst.i.tution, "Verily my sabbath ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you, throughout your generations--Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations for a perpetual covenant: It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever." Ex. x.x.xi. 13--17.
As it is clearly evident from such pa.s.sages as the above, that the law of Moses was intended to be a perpetual rule for the Israelites "throughout all their generations," as long as they should exist, Mr.
Everett, in order to get rid of their force, has thought proper to annihilate the Jewish nation with a stroke of his pen. He maintains p. 350. of his work, that no such nation exists as the Jewish nation! This unexpected stroke was to me a confounding one--not on account of its force--but on account of its amazing effrontery.
The Jews not a nation! ask the histories of mankind; ask all writers who give an account of the different nations and peoples into which the race of Adam is divided! and Mr. Everett will find that they all consider the Jews as "a distinct and peculiar people."
"But, says Mr. Everett, p. 350, if they are a nation, we can be told whereabouts they dwell, and what cities they inhabit."
Undoubtedly Mr. Everett can be told all this if he will take the trouble to ask their chiefs; and if he does he will be surprised to learn that the Jews, in cities and countries that can be named and pointed out, amount probably to ten millions of people, governed by their own law, so far as relates to their religion and intercourse with each other, and yet Mr. Everett maintains that the Jewish nation does not exist. [fn79]
But I have a solemn answer from immortal lips to give to Mr.
Everett"s a.s.sertion, which he may possibly, if he be a religious man, hearken to, and tremble.
"Thus saith Jehovah, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night; which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; JEHOVAH OF HOSTS is his name; if those ordinances depart from before me saith Jehovah, then the seed of Israel shall cease being A NATION before me FOR EVER.
Thus saith Jehovah, if heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I also will cast off all the seed of Israel, for all that they have done saith Jehovah."
Jer. ch. x.x.xi. 35, 36, 37.
But, says Mr. Everett, p. 352, "above all, the Jews have no national existence in respect of their religion; which is really the princ.i.p.al point to be urged. The tribe of Levi which was separated to the service of the temple, and the family of Aaron, exonerated [fn80] to the priesthood, and ordained to be "a perpetual duration"
have both been long extinct, At least have long since ceased to be traced."
This is incorrect. The tribe of Levi is not extinct, neither has the family of Aaron ceased to be traced. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of Jews at present existing, are recognized by their brethren as of the tribe of Levi, and the descendants of Aaron to this day have the privilege of blessing the people in the Synagogues on solemn days, in a peculiar form which no other Jews are allowed to employ.
This marvellous fact, that the descendants of David and Aaron should yet be discriminated amidst the general confusion of the tribes, is an ill.u.s.trious verification of the following promise of Him whose word never fails, which I now oppose to the last rash a.s.sertion of his creature who has denied it.
"Thus saith Jehovah, David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel, neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me [fn81] to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually. Thus saith Jehovah: if ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season; then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne, and with the Levites the priests my ministers. As the host of heaven cannot be numbered neither the sand of the sea measured, so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites the priests that minister unto me." "Considerest thou. not what this people have spoken, saying, the two families which Jehovah hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? Thus have they despised my people that they should be no more A NATION before them. Thus saith Jehovah, If my covenant be not with day and night, and I have appointed, the ordinances of heaven and earth; then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, FOR I WILL CAUSE THEIR CAPTIVITY TO RETURN AND HAVE MERCY UPON THEM." Jer.
x.x.xiii. 17--26.
I presume that the CHRISTIAN CLERGYMAN who has contradicted his BIBLE and his G.o.d, is ready to exclaim like humbled Job; "I have uttered what I understood not; things too wonderful for me which I knew not; wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." Job ch. xlii. See Appendix. H.
Shall I proceed to the consideration of some little arguments of Mr.
Everett against the intended perpetuity of the Mosaic law derived from some expressions in the Psalms and the Prophets? Is it possible that Mr. Everett the scholar and the clergyman, is ignorant, that according to the idiom of the Hebrew language all such pa.s.sages are merely expressive that G.o.d lays no stress upon sacrifice, and burnt offering, if unsanctified by righteousness and good works: Mr. Everett has blindly recommended a pa.s.sage to my serious attention, p. 358, which ought to have made him sensible of this.
"Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the G.o.d of Israel, put your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh thereof. For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day I brought them out of Egypt concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. But this thing commanded I them saying, obey my voice." Jer. ch. vii.
23, 24. What! might a critic of the cast of Mr. Everett exclaim, did not G.o.d indeed command the children of Israel, when he brought them out of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices? are not the books of Leviticus and Numbers filled with regulations concerning them? Very true, might a rational scholar reply to him, but this and several other expressions in the Psalms and Isaiah are Hebraeisms, i. e. peculiar idioms of the language, expressing comparison not rejection; this pa.s.sage in Jeremiah implying that when G.o.d brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, in giving his law to them he laid no stress upon burnt offerings and sacrifices, in comparison with moral duties.