the People, fuper-intending Matters, and taking upon him the Government of the Tribe, to which he belonged; but that he should be the Perfon intended by the Prophefy is impoffible, because he was not Born in Bethlehem, which is the Place affigned for the Birth of this Ruler, but in Babylon, as his Name imports. He was never any Ruler of Ifrael: for, tho' he might be at the Head of the Captivity for fome Years, yet it was without the Title and Authority of a Governour; and, when he had executed his Commiffion, he returned to Babylon, and there died. But now, that the Meffias was to be Born in Bethlehem, and no where else, is plain from the Anfwer, which the Scribes and Pharifees make Herod, upon his confulting them, and their Quotation of Micah for the Proof of it; is plain from the general Notion, which not only the Learned, but the Vulgar among the Jews, had at that time imbibed from Scripture, That Chrift was to come of the Seed of David, and out of the Town of Bethlehem, where David was born; and is plain from that Petition in their Liturgy, wherein they pray for the Advent of the Meffias in thefe Terms; Shake

* Matt. ii. 1, &c. 'Joh. vii. 41.

m Shake thy felf from the Duft, arise, put on thy beautiful Garments, O my People, by the Hand of Ben-Jeffe the Bethlehemite bring Redemption near to Soul.

my

Zerobabel indeed might be a Man of Renown in his Generation; but it is carrying the Matter much too far, to fay of him, that he fhould ftand and rule in the Strength of the Lord, and in the Majefty of the Name of the Lord his God; and much more is it fo, to fay, that the going forth, or the Birth of this Ruler was of old, and from the Days of Eternity, (as the marginal Note has it,) which is only applicable to the Mes fias, and, in a proper Senfe, only verified in our bleffed Saviour, Who in the Beginning was with God.

1

liii. to

ral.

And, in like manner, if we confider Nor that the Words of the Prophet Ifaiak,and com- in aiah pare them with our Lord's Hiftory, as the the Jews Evangelifts have recorded it, we fhall in gene foon perceive that they are applicable no where else. For, whereas the Evangelifts give us a particular Account of his low and deftitute Condition; that he was Born of mean Parents, and bred up in the fervile Employ of a Carpen

its

K 2

ter;

Bp. Chandler's Defence of Chriftianity. Micah

iv. 4.

Ver. 2. P Joh. i. 2. Bullock's Reasoning

of Chrift and his Apoftles confidered.

ter; that, after he entered upon his publick Miniftry, he had no certain Dwelling-place, and was generally ob liged to others for the neceffary Supports of Life; the Prophet tells us of the Perfon, he defcribes, that a he was to grow up, as a Root out of the dry Ground, was to have no Form or Comelinefs, and, when we should fee him, there was to be no Beauty, that we should defire him. Whereas they defcribe the Contempt and Indignity which he incurred, upon the Account of the Meannefs of this his Condition, being often reproached with fuch Expreffions as these, Is not this the Carpenter's Son? And can any good Thing come out of Nazareth? The Prophet hath told us, That he was defpifed and rejected of Men, and we bid, as it were, our Faces from him, he was defpifed, and we efteemed him not. Whereas they relate the Sufferings and Perfecutions, and, at laft, the unjuft and ignominious Death, which he was made to fuffer; the Prophet acquaints us, that he was a Man of Sorrow, and acquainted with Grief; was taken from Prifon and from Judgment, was number'd with Tranfgreffors; and cut off out of the Land of the living. Whereas they

t

9 Ifai. liii. 2. Ver. 3. Ver. 8. Ver. 12.

* Ver. S.

they every where declare his Innocence, and that, for no Offence of his own, he was thus condemned to fuffer; the Prophet afferts, w That he had done no Violence, neither was any Deceit found in his Mouth; but that he made his Soul an Offering for Sin, to justify many, by bearing their Iniquities, and to make Interceffion for Tranfgreffors, which is the very Notion we have of the Meffias. And, laftly, whereas they teftify, that this fame innocent and afflicted Perfon was raised from the Dead, and exalted to the Right-hand of God with Power and great Glory; the Prophet informs us before-hand, that he was toy be exalted and extolled, and be very high; and, because he poured out his Soul unto Death, therefore God would divide him a Portion with the great, and he fhould divide the Spoil with the frong, which is certainly meant of his triumphant Affent and Glorification. But now with what Propriety of Conftruction can any thing of all this be applied to the Jewish People? We hid, as it were, our Faces from him, (fays the Prophet, fpeaking in their Perfon,) he was defpifed, and we efteemed him not, he was wounded for our Tranfgreffions, be

K 3

.

was

Ifai. lii. 13.

was bruifed for our Iniquities, the Chafifement of our Peace was upon him, and by his Stripes we are healed; here are two diftinct Characters, which plainly respect different Perfons on the one hand, a Perfon greatly despised; on the other, the Perfons defpifing him; one wounded and bruised, not for his own, but the Iniquities of others, and thefe latter healed by the Stripes and Bruises of the former; fo that, if, (according to the Interpretation of fome,) the Jews are meant by the fuffering Perfon, who are meant by the Person, through whom and for whom they fuffer? But, waving this Difficulty, in what poffible Senfe, may we ask, can it be true, that the Jews bore the Griefs, of carried the Sorrows of others; that they were wounded for other Mens Tranfgreffions, or bruised for Iniquities not their own? The publick Calamities, which God at any time fent upon them, are, by all their Prophets, imputed to their own crying Sins; but the Perfon, here afflicted, is faid to have done no Violence, neither was any Deceit found in his Mouth: And does this Character fuit them under any Captivity, or other fort of Calamity, that the Prophet might have in view? If we will believe him, 'tis plain, he had another Opinion