i SERMON VII. The authenticity of the sacred Scriptures demonftrated from Prophecy. . 2 PETER I. 19. WE HAVE ALSO A MORE SURE WORD OF PROPHECY; WHERE UNTO YE DO WELL THAT YE TAKE HEED, AS UNTO A HE late Bishop Sherlock's paraphrafe on our text runs " The time will come when the things you hope Tthus. " for shall be placed in a clear light, when ye shall see "all your expectations fully justified in the accomplishment; in "the mean while ye do well to attend to PROPHECY, though but a small glimmering light, and shining at a distance in a dark place, yet the best you have or can have at present. In another "part of his book he has this observation. It is no commendation " of prophecy to say, that it is very dark and obfcure; nor yet "can it be a reproach, provided it answers all the ends designed " by Providence." To enable ourselves therefore to judge of the importance of proofs derived from prophecy, we shall select certain instances which have been as accurately registered as they were wonderfully fulfilled. The The prophecies which we find recorded in holy writ, were not, like those of the ancient Oracles and Sybils, couched in fuch dark and obscure terms as would admit of any double or fallacious meaning, but pronounced with all the plainness and perfpicuity imaginable; nor were the Jews at any time an over-credulous people, as the greater part of the Heathens were, but on the contrary, very obstinate, and very hard to be convinced; and this is fully evident from that exclamation of the prophet Ifaiah, "Lord, "who hath believed our report?" - It was for this very reason, that they demanded a fign of our Saviour: -And the woman of Samaria had never acknowledged him as such, had he not given her sufficient proof of his being endowed with more than human knowledge. In short, when we take a survey of a few of the most known prophecies, and find, by sufficient teftimonies, that they were accomplished long after the decease of those who pronounced them, we must certainly entertain a most venerable idea of those holy men, and set a high value on their writings, which have been miraculously tranfmitted to posterity for the conviction and advantage of these latter ages. We shall begin with the promise delivered unto Abraham; "Thy feed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and " shall serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred years; " and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and " in the fourth generation they shall come hither again:"-What oracle did ever foretel any thing in such direct terms, so manifestly, and so long before it came to pass? And yet that prophecy was in every respect fulfilled at the appointed time: and who can fairly charge it with the least fallacy or deceit ? fince Mofes, in his pilgrimages with the children of Ifrael, wholly relied on this promife, it highly behoved him, doubtless, to speak of a prediction, that was common among them, and handed down by uninterrupted tradition from father to fon. And moreover, as it was received received by Abraham, so was it believed by Moses, and actually put in execution by Joshua. Jacob made his last testament in Egypt, in which there are as many prophecies as there are words; not in regard to his own children only, but to the tribes likewise, that should owe their rife to them. One instance, we presume, will be fufficient."Judah, thou art he, whom thy brethren shall praise: thy father's "children shall bow down before thee. The sceptre shall not "depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until "SHILOH come." -The true and genuine meaning of which prophecy was ever held by the Hebrews to be this; that the sceptre was to remain in the possession of Judah, and that the sovereign jurisdiction was to be lodged in him, until the coming of the MESSIAH.-Now Reuben, Simeon, and Levi were the eldest brethren of Jacob's house; and therefore this remarkable passage was directly repugnant to the order of nature. Moreover, Mofes, who led the people of Ifrael out of Egypt, was of the tribe of Levi, and Joshua, who brought them into the land of Canaan, of the tribe of Ephraim. -The judges were sometimes of one tribe and sometimes of another. And Saul, the first king that was elected by the people, was of the tribe of Benjamin, which was the youngest of them all. These circumstances, doubtless, gave a cruel shock to the prophecy. The sceptre, however, in a short time, passed from Saul to David; from a king to a young shepherd of Judah, where it was firmly fixed, notwithstanding the heavy murmurs and complaints of the other tribes against it. If it should here be demanded how shall we be assured that these were the words of Jacob? - Is it not natural, as well as rational to reply, that the same credit ought to be given to this history, as to any other; and who prefumes to dispute the authority of that writer, who has maintained his character unspotted, through a long series of ages?-This, however, hath further VOL. III. evidence. T evidence. For it is Mofes, who records this prophecy; and what end could he propose to answer by so doing, as he was of the tribe of Levi. If he did this out of favour to Judah, why was he not afraid of difsobliging, not only Reuben, but Simeon and Levi? -Or, what reason can be affigned why he did not rather chuse to make the prophecy fall on the tribe of Levi, since that would have added weight to his authority? Nay, what gratification could this be even to Judah, fince that tribe was then excluded, and had no share in it till a thousand years afterwards? When all these circumstances shall be duly confidered, this prophecy has most assuredly all the evidence of the spirit of God, that can reafonably be defired. In the blessings which Jacob conferred on his pofterity, he points. out the several parts that should be allotted to each of his children in the land of Canaan, as if he himself had been in the actual poffeffion of them: To one he affigns the fea-coast; to another the corn-country, and to a third the vineyards, in the very fame manner as they were some hundred of years afterwards divided. amongst them. Now, how could this be, but by the all-wife direction of the fovereign Disposer of all things?-But when we read, that Jacob, in blessing the children of Joseph, preferred Ephraim, the younger son, before Manasses the elder; and that when he was warned thereof with, some concern by the father, his answer was ; "I know it, my son, I know it; he also shall "become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his "younger brother will be greater than he, and his feed shall be" come a multitude of nations." What motive could induce Jacob to say so, or Mofes to record such prophecy ?. Again, Mofes is continually reminding the people of the conquest of Canaan, according to the promise, and therefore this prophecy must needs be well known among them. Moreover, Mofes portions out the land, as if they had been in actual poffeffion; nominates 2 : : 6 nominates proper arbitrators to make the just partitions for them; prescribeth laws for their establishment, and the regulation of their future conduct; lays them down a plan, or platform, of their several cities, fuburbs, and houses which they should erect; injoineth them the tilling of their grounds; their resting on the seventh year, their public festivals and other folemnities; and appointeth cities of refuge for such as should be guilty of cafual man-flaughters. This was dictating as if the country was already in their hands. And yet what likelihood was there that they should ever be masters of that land, when they burned bricks in Egypt, or when they lingered in the wilderness? Or, indeed, at the return of the men that were sent to spy out the land, when they reported nothing but the beauty of the place and the intrepidity of the people? - Suppose a man should at this day portion out France or Spain, and affign to every one of us our respective share; would he not expose himself to the utmost contempt, and become the object of derision ? And yet Mofes himself never entered into that land, and those who waited for it died in the way. At the time appointed, however, the Canaanites gave place. Now, is it reasonable to suppose, that the people would ever have followed Moses, or that Mofes, who might have been so well provided for in the court of Pharaoh, would ever have attempted to lead them through such a long series of wayward distresses, had they not been wellassured that the promise came from God himself? But Mofes proceedeth still further; for as he foresaw that they would become masters of Canaan, so he foreknew that they would offend the Almighty, by serving Baal after they were in poffeffion. He forefaw that they would ungratefully forget their God; and that God, however, even in his wrath, would remember mercy. He foresaw that they would be dispersed, and scattered over the face of the whole earth, and be trodden under the feet of strangers. In short, he foresaw that God would call the Gentiles into his church in their T2 |