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foretold in this prophecy; and the proof of this, both by the context, and by other plain testimonies of Scripture, shall be the central point of our discourse. Our subject is, The last tribulation of the Jews, as connected with their repentance, and preparatory to the revelation of the Messiah (a subject which it would be impossible to exhaust); but these three events,-the last tribulation of the Jews, their rescue by the Messiah, and their repentance both before and after, are so connected in point of time, that they will fall most naturally under one point of view; and the unity of the whole subject will best be preserved, if you will fix your attention, first, and chiefly, upon the miracle and marvellous grace of this prophecy. And I will pour, &c.

In this one sentence two events are foretold ; two, the most stupendous not only that this world, but even the whole universe, ever did or ever can behold; the only-begotten Son of the most High God crucified upon earth and transfixed; and again, returning to the same spot, in his scars and his glory, with pardon and amnesty. First of all, then, let your attention, I beseech you, be divided between both these events; both the deed of that sacrilegious spear, as well as the mourning on account of it, because the first of these, past already, is our pledge for the future. Besides,

this season is set apart by our Church for meditation on the cross; and our communion now should be sad and earnest, like that of the two disciples, on their way to Emmaus, in the evening after the resurrection of our Lord: then Jesus himself drew near and went with them. And hearken, my beloved brethren,-" Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." Lord, open thou our understandings also, that we may understand the Scriptures, and make our hearts burn within us!

Curiously exact was this prophecy, foretelling as it did, though but incidentally, the most peculiar circumstance of all that distinguished the death of the Messiah, that he should be transfixed by a spear; and wonderfully was it accomplished.

How exact! For, first, observe this gradation among the prophecies which, from age to age, foretold his death. By Isaiah it was foretold, "Thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin;" he shall die the death. But what death, a natural or a violent one? By Daniel it was foretold, "The Messiah shall be cut off;" not a natural, but a violent death. But death by violence is of many kinds: by the Psalmist then it was foretold, "they pierced my hands and my feet;” a circumstance peculiar to the death of the cross. shall die, he shall be cut off, he shall be crucified;

He

can anything be more particular than this? Why, yes, even more particularly still; by this prophecy it was foretold, what perhaps never happened, before or since, to any man even crucified, that not his hands and his feet only, but even his heart also should be pierced. Behold the prerogative of God most high: he seeth the things which are not, as though they were. He understandeth even the thoughts long before. And thus also, like the first Adam, sleeping (but this must be the sleep of death), the second Adam should give life to his bride, the Church.

Observe, next, that this second Adam, like the first, was to be the Son of God; and more, both David's Son, and David's Lord.

He was to be the Son of David. The Jews indeed have a fiction, unheard of by their forefathers, that a Messiah the Son of Joseph is predicted here. But ask them; who are they that shall be guilty of this nefarious deed, and pierce your Messiah? Be sure they will not take that blame to themselves. No, but adding to their fiction, a fictitious conjecture, they think it enough merely to suppose that it will be the act of some Gentile army who shall one day oppose their own restoration to Palestine. That it was indeed a Gentile spear which accomplished the prophecy, I confess; nay, more, that the hands

of all mankind may be said to have been on the shaft of that spear: and with regard to that nameless Gentile who dishonoured him being dead, Oh! wretched man that I am! I hear a whisper within me, "Thou art the man." Nevertheless, by no fact, nor figure of speech, may the plain words of this prophecy be so explained away: "They shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him." And who are they that shall mourn for him? The context informs us; the house of David, the house of Nathan, the house of Levi, the house of Shimei. And, by the way, remarkable it is, that these tribes by name, Judah, Levi, and Benjamin (for Shimei was a family of Benjamin), these three, and only these, are specified here: the other tribes, to wit, had no direct hand in the crucifixion of JESUS; they had been cast out seven centuries before for their idolatry, as these afterwards were dispersed for their infidelity, and for this murder. Howbeit, the same who by name are chief mourners here, have pierced him; the Jews have pierced their Messiah-Messiah the Son of David, for Messiah Son of Joseph there is none.

But this prophecy rather foretels of David's Lord, than of David's Son; for it foretels, that he who should be pierced, the same notwithstanding should pour upon them the spirit of grace and

of supplications.

Observe: "And I will pour

upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications; and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced." Whose word is this? "The

burden of the word of Jehovah for Israel." Throughout it is Jehovah who speaks. And indeed obvious it is, that he who promises to pour upon man the spirit of grace must needs be God.

In

In vain would the rabbies attempt to find a flaw in the reading here (unless indeed any of them should have tampered with it themselves). vain, if they succeeded even in that, would they deny, what many indeed of themselves have confessed, that the Messiah was to be Jehovah himself. Take them together, both the law and the prophets, and their grand revelation of all is this: that the angel of Jehovah, the angel of the covenant, who spake with the fathers, and who led the people in the wilderness, was Jehovah himself; that this same angel of the covenant, was to become their Messiah; and consequently that their Messiah was to be Jehovah himself. This is the testimony of heaven. One atonement must be once made for the sins of all, Pharisees and all; and one so infinite. He that offereth it unto God must himself be God! And this prophecy, in particular, never could have been

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