PROPHECIES CONCERNING CHRIST--THEIR FULFILLMENT

PROPHECIES CONCERNING CHRIST--THEIR FULFILLMENT
Having, in the preceding pages, given an accurate account of every material occurrence related in the sacred Scriptures, from the creation of the world to the death the prophet Nehemiah, and thence to the rebuilding of the temple of Jerusalem by Herod, we shall conclude the Old Testament History by devoting a few pages here to the prophecies concerning Christ and the Christian Religion.
OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES PREDICT CHRIST'S COMING
The coming of a Savior, which was the hope of Israel and the expectation of the Jews in every age, is frequently foretold throughout the Old Testament scriptures. They represent it as announced by the voice of God to the first human pair, and as forming, from the first to the last, the theme of all the prophets. And, however imperfect a summary view of such numerous prophecies must necessarily be, a few remarks respecting them shall be prefixed to the more direct and immediate proofs of the inspiration of scripture, derived from existing facts, in order that the reader may be rather induced to search the scriptures to see how clearly they testify of Jesus, than contented to rest satisfied with the mere opening of the subject.
A few of the leading features of the prophecies concerning Christ, and their fulfillment, shall be traced as they mark the time of his appearance, the place of his birth, and the family out of which he was to arise, his life and character, his sufferings and his death, the nature of his doctrine, and the extent of his kingdom.
THE TIME AND PLACE PREDICTED
The time of the Messiah's appearance in the world, as predicted in the Old Testament, is defined by a number of concurring circumstances that fix it to the very date of the advent of Christ. The scepter was not to depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver, to cease from among his descendents till Shiloh should come (Genesis 49:10). The desire of all nations, the messenger of the covenant, the Lord whom they sought, was to come to the second temple, and to impart to it, from his presence, a greater glory than that of the former (Haggai 2:7-9; Malachi 3:1). A messenger was to appear before him, the voice of one crying to the wilderness, to prepare his way (Isaiah 40:3; Malachi 3:1). A specified period--marked, according to similar computations in the Jewish scriptures, by weeks of years, each day for a year, was set, from the going forth of the command to restore and to build Jerusalem, after the Babylonish captivity, unto Messiah the prince (Daniel 9:25). A period somewhat longer was determined upon the people and upon the holy city (Daniel 9:24). After the Messiah was to be cut off, the people of the prince that should come were to destroy the city and the sanctuary; desolations, even to the consummation, were determined, and the sacrifice and oblation were to cease (Daniel 9:26-27). A king did reign over the Jews in their own land, though the ten tribes had long ceased to be a kingdom; their national council, the members of which, as Jews, were lineally descended from Judah, exercised its authority and power--the temple was standing--the oblation and sacrifice, according to the law of Moses, were there duly and daily offered up--and the time prescribed for the coming of the Messiah had drawn to its close--at the commencement of the Christian era. Before the public ministry of Jesus, a messenger appeared to prepare his way; and Josephus, in the history of that time, speaks of the blameless life and cruel death of “John that was called the Baptist,” and describes his preaching and baptism (Josephus Antiquities, b. 18, c. 5, sec 2). But every mark that denoted the fulness of the time, and of its signs, when the Messiah was to appear, was erased soon after the death of Christ, and being fixed to that single period, those marks could no more be restored again than time past could return. The time determined on the people and on the holy city, seventy weeks or four hundred and ninety years, passed away. The tribe of Judah were no longer united under a king. Banished from their own land, and subjected to every oppression, there was no more a lawgiver of the tribe of Judah, though Judah was he whom his brethren were to serve. Of the temple one stone was not left upon another. The sacrifice and oblation, which none but priests could offer, altogether ceased when the genealogies of the tribe of Levi were lost, and when the Jews had no temple, nor country, nor priest, nor altar. Ere Jerusalem was destroyed, or desolation had passed over the land of Judea, the expectation was universal among the Jews that their Messiah was then to appear; and heathen as well as Jewish historians testify of the belief then prevalent over the whole East that the ancient prophecies bore a direct and express reference to that period. And the question might now go to the heart of a Jew, however lothe to abandon the long-cherished hope of his race, how can these prophecies be true, if the Messiah be not come? or where, from the first words of Moses to the last of Malachi, can there be found such marks of the time when Shiloh was to come, or Messiah the prince to be cut off, as pertained to the period when their forefathers crucified Jesus--a period which closed over the glory of Judah, and which, in the continued unbelief of the Jews, has not heretofore left, for nearly eighteen centuries, a bright page in their history beyond it?
CHRIST'S LINEAGE
Though the countrymen of Christ when he came would not receive him, yet it was of the Jews that Jesus was to come; and the human lineage of the Messiah is as clearly marked in the prophecies as the time of his appearance. The divinity of the person of the Messiah, and his taking upon himself the likeness of sinful flesh, is declared in the Old Testament as well as in the new. He whose name was to be called the wonderful, the counsellor, the mighty God, was to become a child that was to be born, a son that was to be given (Isaiah 9:6). It was the seed of the woman that was to bruise the serpent's head (Genesis 3:15). The line of his descent, according to the flesh, and the pace of his birth, were expressly foretold. It was in the seed of Abraham that all the nations of the earth were to be blessed (Genesis 22:18). It was from the midst of the Israelites, of their brethren, that a prophet like unto Moses was to arise (Deuteronomy 18:15). And he was to be not only of the tribe of Judah, (Genesis 49:8, etc.), but also of the house or family of David. From the root of Jesse a branch was to grow up, on which the spirit of the Lord was to rest, and to which the Gentiles would seek (Isaiah 11:1-10). It was unto David that a righteous branch was to arise, a king, whose name was to be called the Lord our righteousness (Jeremiah 23:5-6). And it was in Bethlehem Ephratah, in the land of Judah, little as it was among the thousands of Israel, that he was to come, whose goings forth had been of old, from everlasting (Micah 5:2). And Jesus is he alone of the seed of the woman, of the descendants of Abraham, of the tribe of Judah, of the house of David, in whom all the families of the earth can be blessed; to whom the Gentiles seek, and who, ere the family genealogies of the Jews were lost, was shown by them to be born of the lineage of David, and in the town of Bethlehem.
THE CHARACTER OF CHRIST
The history of the life of Christ by the four evangelists is simply a record of what he said and did, and his character is illustrated by his words and actions alone. Christians have often tried to delineate it; and if in the attempt their thoughts have harmonized with the divine records, their hearts may well have then felt as it were the impression of that divine image after which man was at first created. Even some who never sought to be the champions of the Christian faith, have been struck with irresistible admiration of the life of its author. Rousseau acknowledges that it would have been nothing less than a miracle that such a character, if not real, could ever have been thought of by fishermen of Galilee. And Lord Byron not only called Christ diviner than Socrates, but he has no less truly than nobly said, that “if ever God was man, or man God, he was both.” But the divine character is such that none but a divine hand could draw; and seeking in the prophecies what the Messiah was to be, we read what Jesus was while he dwelt among men.
“Thou art fairer than the children of men; grace is poured into thy lips, therefore God hath blessed thee for ever. The scepter of thy kingdom is a right scepter--thou lovest righteousness and hatest iniquity (Psalms 45:2). The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears. But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins (Isaiah 11:2-5). He shall feed his flock like a shepherd, he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom (Isaiah 40:11). He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the streets. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench (Isaiah 42:2-3). Thy king cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation, lowly, and riding upon an ass (Zechariah 9:9). He hath done no violence, neither was there any deceit in his lips (Isaiah 53:9). He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; he was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth (Isaiah 53:7). I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheek to them that plucked off the hair; I hid not my face from shame and spitting (Isaiah 50:6). He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth (Isaiah 42:4). I have set my face as a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed (Isaiah 50:7). He shall deliver the needy when he crieth, the poor also, and him that hath no helper. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence, and precious shall their blood be in his sight. Men shall be blessed in him--all nations shall call him blessed,” Psalms 72:12.
CHRIST'S DEATH
The death of Christ was as unparalleled as his life, and the prophecies are as minutely descriptive of his sufferings as of his virtues. His growing up as a tender plant (Isaiah 53:2); his riding in humble triumph into Jerusalem; his being betrayed or thirty pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:12), and scourged, and buffeted, and spit upon; the piercing of his hands and of his feet, and yet every bone of him remaining unbroken; the last offered draught of vinegar and gall; the parting of his raiment, and casting lots upon his vesture (Psalms 22:18); the manner of his death and of his burial (Isaiah 53:9), and his rising again without seeing corruption (Psalms 16:10), were all as minutely predicted as literally fulfilled. The last three verses of the fifty-second (Isaiah 52:13-15) and the whole of Isaiah 53--written above seven hundred years before the Christian era, and forming, word for word, a part of the Jewish as well as of the Christian scriptures, prophetically describe, like a very history of the facts, the sufferings and the death of Christ; his rejection, by the Jews; his humility, his meekness, his affliction, and his agony; how his words were disbelieved; how his state was lowly; how his sorrow was severe; how his visage and his form were marred more than the sons of men; and how he opened not his mouth but to make intercession for the transgressors. In direct opposition to every dispensation of Providence which is registered in the records of the Jews, this prophecy represents spotless innocence suffering by the appointment of Heaven--death as the issue of perfect obedience--God's righteous servant as forsaken by him--and one who was perfectly immaculate bearing the chastisement of many guilty, sprinkling many nations from their iniquity by virtue of his sacrifice, justifying many by his knowledge, and dividing a portion with the great, and the spoil with the strong, because he had poured out his soul unto death.
JEWISH SCRIPTURES CONFIRM CHRISTIANITY
The prophecies concerning the humiliation, the sufferings, and the cutting off of the Messiah, need only to be read from the Jewish scriptures, to show that the very unbelief of the Jews is an evidence against them, and the very scandal of the cross a strong testimony to Jesus. For thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, according to the scriptures. And those things which God before had showed by the mouth of all his prophets that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.
That the Jews still retain these prophecies, and are the means of preserving them and communicating them throughout the world, while they bear so strongly against themselves, and testify so clearly of a Savior that was first to suffer and then to be exalted, are facts which give a confirmation to the truth of Christianity, than which it is difficult to conceive any stronger. The prophecies that testify of the sufferings of the Messiah need no forced interpretation, but apply, in a plain and literal manner, to the history of the sufferings and of the death of Christ. In the testimony of the Jews to the existence of these prophecies, long prior to the Christian era; in their remaining unaltered to this hour; in the accounts given by the evangelists of the life and death of Christ; in the testimony of heathen authors, and in the arguments of the first opposers of Christianity, from the mean condition of its author and the manner of his death--we have now more ample evidence of the fulfillment of all these prophecies than could have been conceived possible at so great a distance of time.
THE INTEREST OF EVERY SINNER
But if there be any truth, the perception and acknowledgment of which should lead to a sense of its importance, or a feeling of its power, it is surely that of the cutting off of the Messiah, as making reconciliation for iniquity, or the death of Christ as a sacrifice for the sins of men. It is not merely the knowledge of his righteous life, and of his ignominious death, in confirmation of the word of prophecy, but an interest also in them that every sinner needs. There exists not the man, except he be alike ignorant of the spirit within him and of the father of spirits, who could think of standing for himself, to answer for his sins, in the immediate presence of an all-holy God, and to abide the scrutiny of omniscience, and the awards of strict unmitigated justice enforced by almighty power. Nor could man of himself, in whom sin has once dwelt, be ever meet, whatever his thoughts of immortality might be, for participating in the holiness or partaking of the happiness of Heaven. And who is there that, even in the search after divine truth, can pass by Calvary, or cast but a glance toward it, and there behold in the sufferings of Christ a clear prophetic mark of his messiahship, without pondering deeply on the guiltiness of sin, which nothing less than the voluntary death of the Son of God could expiate, and on that infinite goodness and love which found and gave the ransom, whereby, though guilt could not be unpunished, the guilty might be saved. And if he reflect upon the manner in which this vision and prophecy were sealed up, who that has a heart within him, or that can be drawn with those cords of love which are the bands of a man, can refrain from feeling the personal application to himself of the words of Jesus--“I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me?”
ANNOUNCEMENT OF A NEW KINGDOM
But the prophecies further present us with the character of the Gospel as well as of its author, and with a description of the extent of his kingdom as well as of his sufferings. That he was to make a full and clear revelation of the will of God, and establish a new and perfect religion, was frequently and explicitly foretold (Deuteronomy 18:18-19; Isaiah 9:6-7; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 34:23-24). The words of God were to be put into his mouth, and whoever would not hearken unto him, God would require it of them. He was to be given for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles, to open the blind eyes. His law was to be put in the inward parts, or to be written not in tables of stone, but in the heart. And the religion of Jesus is pure, spiritual, perfect, and adapted alike to all. It is a revelation of the whole counsel of God; it is a law which has to be written on the heart: a kingdom which is established within. The doctrine of the gospel is altogether a doctrine according to godliness. This its enemies will not deny, for it is the cause why they hate it. Its very excellence and perfection is a stumbling-block to them. There is not a sin which it does not reprobate, nor a virtue which it does not inculcate. And too pure and perfect it would indeed be for man, were not reconciliation made for iniquity, and redemption to be found from its bondage.
A REVELATION OF GRACE AND MERCY
But the complete revelation of the will of God, which of itself would have pointed out a highway of holiness that men could never have reached, was to be accompanied with a revelation also of the grace and mercy of God, which might well suffice to show that the light was indeed light from Heaven. And while Jesus gave new commandments unto men, he announced tidings of great joy, which it never entered into the heart of man to conceive. In fulfillment of the prophetic character and office of the Messiah, he published salvation. Never was any anointed like Christ to preach good tidings to the meek; to bind up the broken-hearted; to proclaim liberty to the captive, the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to comfort them that mourn in Zion; to give to those who mourn for sin, or who seek for true consolation amid the bereavements or any of the evils of life, beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. And none like him ever proclaimed either the acceptable year of the Lord, or the day of judgment of our God (Isaiah 61:1-3). What many wise men of old sought to know, Jesus taught. What they desired to see, he hath revealed. All that he taught, as well as all that he did and suffered, bore witness of him as the promised Messiah; and that kingdom has now come nigh which the prophets saw afar off.
THE RESISTANCE TO THE GOSPEL
That the gospel emanated from Judea--that it was rejected by a great proportion of the Jews--that it was opposed at first by human power--that kings have acknowledged and supported it--that it has already continued for many ages--and that it has been propagated throughout many countries--are facts that were clearly foretold, and have been literally fulfilled. “Out of Zion shall go forth the law; and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:3-4; Micah 4:2). He shall be for a sanctuary, but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel; for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? (Isaiah 8:14). The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed (Psalms 2:2; Matthew 10:17). To a servant of rulers, kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship. The Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising (Isaiah 49:7-23). The Gentiles shall see thy righteousness; a people that know me not shall be called after my name. Behold thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that know not thee shall run unto thee” (Isaiah 11:10). No one is now ignorant of the facts, that a system of religion which inculcates piety, and purity, and love--which releases man from every burdensome rite and from every barbarous institution, and proffers the greatest of blessings--arose from the land of Judea, was rejected by the Jews, persecuted by Jews and Gentiles, and yet has subsisted for many ages, and has been spread into many countries, and is outwardly owned by kings and by people as the faith of the civilized world.
THE UNIVERSAL EXTENT OF THE GOSPEL
The final extension of the gospel over all the earth is the theme of many prophecies (Isaiah 25:7; Psalms 72:8-17; Hosea 1:10; Micah 4:1), while it is also clearly implied in others, that a long period was to elapse before the reign of darkness was to cease, or the veil to be taken off all nations. After the Messiah was to be cut off, and the city of Jerusalem and the sanctuary to be destroyed, desolations, even to the consummation, and until judgment should come upon the desolator, were determined; the children of Israel were to abide many days without a king, or ephod, or sacrifice; desolations of many generations were to pass over the land of Judea; Jerusalem was to be trodden down of the Gentiles, and blindness in part was to happen to Israel, till the times of the Gentiles should be fulfilled; and a great apostasy was to arise, and to prevail for a long, but limited period, before the stone that was to be cut out without hands was to become a great kingdom and fill the whole earth, or the last days should arrive, wherein the mountain of the Lord's house would be finally established and exalted above all, and all nations flow into it (Daniel 9:27; Hosea 3:4; Isaiah 61:4; Luke 21:24; Romans 11:25; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12; Daniel 2:45; Isaiah 2:2; Micah 4:1). But already, far beyond the conception of man to have harbored the thought, hath the light which has come out of Judea enlightened the nations; already have the scriptures been made known in a tenfold degree more than any other book; long has he been a light to the Gentiles, and long have kings seen and arisen, and princes rendered worship to him whom man despised, and whom the Jewish nation abhorred. The Christian faith made at first its bloodless way throughout the world. And though many a conspiracy has been formed, and many a bloody warfare waved against it, it not only stands unsubdued and unshaken after every assault, but the vain rage of its adversaries has been subservient to its extension and its triumphs. As a matter of history, the progress of Christianity is at least astonishing; as the fulfillment of many prophecies, it is evidently miraculous.
In closing even this brief and very imperfect summary of the prophecies relative to the Christian faith and to its author, are we not authorized to consider ancient prophecy, as bearing testimony to Jesus as the Savior; the time and the place of the birth of Christ; the tribe and family from which he was descended; his life, his character, his sufferings, and his death; the nature of his doctrine, and the fate of his religion--that it was to proceed from Jerusalem; that the Jews would reject it; that it would be opposed and persecuted at first; that kings would nevertheless acknowledge its divine authority; and that it would spread throughout many a nation, even to the uttermost parts of the earth.
Why, then, were so many prophecies delivered? Why, from the calling of Abraham to the present time, have the Jews been separated, as a peculiar people, from all the nations of the earth? Why, from the age of Moses to that of Malachi, during the space of a thousand years, did a succession of prophets arise, all testifying of a Savior that was to come? Why, was the book of prophecy sealed for nearly four hundred years before the coming of Christ? Why is there still, to this day, undisputed, if not miraculous evidence of the antiquity of all these prophecies, by their being sacredly preserved, in every age, in the custody and guardianship of the enemies of Christianity? Why was such a multitude of facts foretold that are applicable to Christ and to him alone? Why?--but that all this mighty preparation might usher in the gospel of righteousness, and prepare the way for the kingdom of God; and that Christians also, in every age, might add to their “peace and joy in believing” the perfect trust, that however great the promises of God may be, they still are sure; and that he who spared not his own Son, but gave him up for us all, will with him also, if his we be, freely give us all things. And if we ever read a book for any object, ought we not diligently to search the scriptures, to see how clearly they testify of Christ? And ought not every word of such testimony to be, like all scripture besides, profitable for doctrine and for instruction in righteousness? And may it not be profitable “for reproof and for correction” to all who mind only earthly things--who are eager to seek after unprofitable knowledge--who could talk, with all volubility, of the temporal concerns of others or their own--who could expatiate freely, perhaps, on the properties of a beast, the quality of their food, or the beauty of a garment--and who, although they have had the Bible constantly beside them, have, for many a year, remained ignorant of the value of the treasure it contains, or of the fulness of the testimony which God has given of his son? None surely would any longer willfully refrain from searching the scriptures to see how they testify of Jesus, or from seeking the words of eternal life which may be found in them, were they to lay to heart the thought that the second coming of Christ to judge the quick and the dead, is as certain as that the prophetic tidings of his first advent--once heard afar off--have already proved true.
And He Bearing His Cross Went Forth, John 19:17