pieces the oppressor.' Though these words refer immediately to Solomon, they look forward to the Messiah, in whom they were more fully accomplished. This appears from the fifth verse, They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations ;'-in which language the inspired writer was carried beyond the type, and spake what would agree only to the antitype. Numerous instances of this double sense of prophecy may be observed by an attentive reader of the Jewish Scrip tures. After their return from Egypt, they dwelt in Nazareth, which was esteemed so contemptible a place, that it furnished the enemies of Jesus with matter for reproach, and thousands who could say nothing worse of him have called him the Nazarene. The old Testament abounds with prophecies of the obloquy that would be cast upon the Messiah: among others, see Ps. xxii. 6. But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.' These prophecies referred to all the reproach which he was to endure: but the evangelist singles out his being called a Nazarene as a direct fulfilment of them; saying, that he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene,' Matt. ii. 23. Having lived many years in obscurity, he entered on his public ministry. Isaiah, after he had prophesied concerning his forerunner who was to cry in the wilderness, immediately proceeds to this event. O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him,' Isai. xl. 9, 10. In the prospect of the same event, the prophet Malachi also says,' But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refi ner's fire, and like fuller's soap; and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness,' Mal. iii. 2, 3. This prophecy was fulfilled in Jesus. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance; but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire. Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire,' Matt. iii. 10. 12. Though he had to combat with the most crafty adversaries, they could not abide the day of his coming; for he discerned their hearts, and knew their thoughts, Matt. ix. 4. xii. 25. Luke v. 22: He confounded them, and put them to silence, Matt. xxi. 27. Mark xii. 37. Luke xx. 26: And they were afraid to ask him any more questions, Matt. xxii. 46. His purifying the sons of Levi was fulfilled, when a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith, Acts vi. 7. The Messiah was also to reprove with equity for the meek of the earth, Isai. xi. 4.—This our Lord did at different times. See particularly Matt. xii. 7, where he justifies his disciples against the accusation of the Pharisees, and reproves their reprovers. If,' said he, 6 ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.' Upon Galilee of the Gentiles a great light was to arise, Isai. ix. 1,2. This was fulfilled. And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the seacoast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nepthalim; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nepthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the gentiles; the people which sat in darkness saw a great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death fight is sprung up,' Matt, iv. 13. 16. The Messiah was to be zealous for the divine honour. The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me,' Ps. lxix. 9.—This prophecy was fulfilled in Jesus. He found in the temple those that sold oxen, and sheep, and doves, and the changers of money sitting; and when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and said, Take these things hence, make not my Father's house a house of merchandise,' John, ii. 14. 16. Behold, the Lord God will He was to work miracles. come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him,' Isia xl. 10. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing; for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert,' Isai. xxxv. 5, 6.-To those who came from John, desiring to know whether Jesus was the Messiah, he refused a direct answer, but appealed to facts, saying, 'Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached,' Luke vii. 22. The preaching of the gospel to the poor is the concluding part of the answer, as it was the crowning work of Christ, and that to which all the others were subservient; and corresponds to waters breaking out in the wilderness, and streams in the desert. He shall not cry, He was to be free from ostentation. nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street,' Isai. xlii. 2.-Many instances of the modesty of the Redeemer are recorded by the evangelists. See Mark i. 44. iii. 12. v. 43. vii. 36. Luke viii. 56. He also recommended humility to his disciples. Take my woke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls,' Matt. xi. 29. And again, If I, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another's feet,' John xiii. 14. The king of Zion came unto her, not only just and having salvation, but also lowly; and every part of his deportment corresponded with that of his riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass, Zech. ix. 9. Gentleness also was to form a part of the character of the Messiah. 'A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoaking flax shall he not quench,' Isai. xlii. 3.—This was so much the character of Jesus, that it even became proverbial. Hence Paul said to the Corinthians, Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ,' 2 Cor. x. 1. To gentleness he was to add kindness and compassion. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young,' Isai. xl. 11.Christ was 'the good shepherd, who gave his life for the sheep,' John x. 11. This was compassion like a God, That when the Saviour knew The price of pardon was his blood, Yet this excellent personage was to be despised and persecuted by his cotemporaries. He was to be 'despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;' and after he had suffered every indignity and cruelty which the wickedness of men could devise, he was to be put to death. See Isai. liii.—All this was accomplished in the person of the Saviour. But it was not for himself,' Dan. ix. 26. It was our griefs which he bore, and our sorrows which he carried. 'He was wounded for our transgressions; he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed,' Isai. liii. 5. The different stages of the sufferings of the Messiah were predicted by the prophets, and the sufferings of Jesus exactly correspond with their predictions.-The conspiracy of the rulers against him. The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us,' Ps. ii. 2, 3.— l'he treachery of Judas. It was not an enemy that reproached me, then I could have borne it; neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me, then I would have hid myself from him: but it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance,' Ps. lv. 12, 13.-—The price for which he was sold. They weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver,' Zech. xi. 12.-What became of it. And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter; a goodly price that I was prized at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord,' Zech. xf. 13. The chief priests bought with the thirty pieces of silver the potter's field to bury strangers in, Matt. xxvii. 7.-The flight of the disciples. Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered,' Zech. xiii. 7. When Jesus was apprehended, all the disciples forsook him and fled,' Matt. xxvi. 56. -His patience under the most cruel treatment before Caiphas and Pilate. I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I hid not my face from shame and spitting,' Isai. 1. 6.—His silence in the presence of his judges. 'He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter; and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth,' Isai. liii. 7.The rage of his enemies. Pilate wished to chastise him, and to let him go. But the mob were instant with loud voices, requiring that he might be crucified. And the voices of them and of the chief priests prevailed,' Luke xxiii. 23. Well might the Messiah say, 'Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion,' Ps. xxii. 12, 13. The parting of his garments, and the casting of lots for |