stirred up in the savage deserts of the north the hosts that burst upon the Roman empire, and swept away its glory and strength? And what in the later ages has hurried on the Saracen, the Tartarian, the Arabian conquerors; and spread a waste of confusion, misery, and death from the south of Europe to the China sea? It was not the gospel that did all this. It was done in ages and regions, that knew not Christ; it was done by that which has been doing it now, by that which will do it again, the passions of wicked men.

It only remains in this connexion to examine the assertion of Mr. English, that it is foretold by the prophets, that the restoration of the Jews shall be contemporary with the advent of the Messiah. This manifestly supposes the Messiah is to be an ordinary temporal conqueror; and not, as we have shown he was predicted to be, a spiritual and moral teacher. If his kingdom is to be a moral one, it must of course be progressive and gradual in its prevalence and influence.

The decision of the question therefore, whether the restoration of the Israelites is to coincide with the appearance of the Messiah, will probably depend, in the minds of all, upon the decision of the previous question, whether he was to be a temporal or a spiritual character. But as Mr. English has produced some authorities from the Old Testament upon this question, it will be necessary to examine them.

His first quotation in the order of the prophets in our Bibles is from Jeremiah xxiii. 5,8: "Behold the days are coming, saith the Lord, that I will raise up unto David a righteous branch: in his days Judah shall be saved," &c.* I am aware that this prophecy is usually interpreted of the Messiah, by modern Christians and Jews, as it was by the Chaldee paraphrast. But it is probable that it relates to the restoration of the Jews from the Babylonian captivity, and the government of Zerubbabel,† who was a descendant of David, and who is called in Zechariah vi. 12.† the branch. This I say is probable, for the whole context, in the two preceding chapters, relates to the siege and capture of Jerusalem, by Nebuchadnezzar, and the consequent captivity of the Jews, and in ch. xxiv. 4, 5, 6, to which the subject is pursued, we read these words, "Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel; like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans, for their good. For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land, and I will build them up and not pull them down, and I will plant them, and not pluck them up; and I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord; and they

* Grounds of Christianity examined, p. 18. † Grotius in Loc.

Compare Zech, vi. 13. with iv. 9.

shall be my people, and I will be their God, for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.' The prophet then proceeds to denounce judgment on Zedekiah by name, and on his princes; so that we can hardly doubt that it is the Babylonian captivity, and the restoration therefrom that is intended. But if Mr. English is willing to make a concession, which will be highly inconvenient in other parts of his argument, that the prophet bursts forth from the connexion, in which he was speaking of impending events, to foretel the days of the Messiah; then he must show that it was in the beginning of those days that Judah shall be saved. The prophet only says "in those days;" and Mr. English has no right to limit the prediction to the commencement of them. But he must allow the contrary, since he supposes the reign of the Messiah will be perpetual, and one of the authorities he quotes declares, that "the sons of Israel shall return, and shall seek after the Lord their God, and David their king, and shall fear the Lord, and his goodness, IN THE LATTER DAYS."

The passage also in the thirty-third chapter of the same prophet is referred to for the same purpose: "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform that good thing, which I have promised unto the house of Israel, and to the house of Judah. In those days, and at that time, will I cause the branch of righteousness to grow up, unto Da

vid, and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely; and this is the name wherewith SHE [Jerusalem] shall be called, the Lord our righteousness. For thus saith the Lord, 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, to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice before me continually." Now here, as in the preceding passage, the reference is probably to the restoration from the Babylonian captivity, and to Zerubbabel, since these are the subjects of the context, in which Babylon and the Chaldeans are called by name, and a deliverance promised from them. When therefore a few verses after it is said, that the days come, iu which, saith Jehovah, I will perform that good thing, which I have promised, it can hardly be supposed that any other promise is referred to, than that just made. But if it be insisted that this also should be interpreted, by a bold transition, of the times of the Messiah, then it may be remarked, that as it is near two thousand years since David has failed of a temporal prince upon his throne, and a temporal succession of Levites, and since it is declared he shall NEVER fail of these, we must suppose that a spiritual successor and a spiritual service were intended; or

else the solemn promise of God has been, for two thousand years, without fulfilment.

The next passages to which Mr. English refers, are Ezekiel xxxiv. 22, &c. and xxxvii. But these passages certainly contain no comparative designation of time. If they refer to the reign of the Messiah, all that they show is, that under his reign the Jews shall be made happy.

Hosea iii. 4, 5, is the next passage. It is as follows: "The children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an ephod, and without a teraphim. Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and shall fear the Lord, and his goodness IN THE LATTER DAYS." It is difficult to see by what right Mr. English refers his reader to this passage to prove that the advent of the Messiah, and the restoration of Israel are to be contemporaneous. Certainly no such idea is presented in it. The use of the name of David, in this and some similar texts, will be hereafter explained.

The only remaining text referred to in this connexion is Micah v. 3, in which he has applied to the birth of the Messiah a figurative expression of the prophet's concerning the sufferings of the Jewish nation; as will be seen by comparing Mic. v. 3, with iv. 9, 10. And on this mistake the