feast of the first fruits. One sheaf was taken out of the field and brought to the priest, who lifted it up as it were in the name of all the rest, waving it before the Lord, and it was accepted of them, so that all the sheaves of the field were holy from the acceptation of that; for If the first fruits be holy, the lump also is holy.' Rom. 11: 16. And this was always done the day after the Sabbath, that is the paschal solemnity after which the fullness of the harvest followed; by which thus much was foretold and represented, that as the sheaf was lifted up and waved, and the lamb was offered on that day by the priest to God, so the promised Messiah, that immaculate lamb which was to die, that priest which, dying, was to offer up himself to God, was upon this day to be lifted up and raised from the dead, or rather to shake, and lift up and present himself to God so as to be accepted for us, that so our dust might be sanctified, our corruption hallowed, our mortality consecrated to eternity." On the creed 259.

But this all-important event has also been predicted in several passages of Scripture.

§ 2. In Psalm 2d, verse 7th, it is said, "I will declare the decree : the Lord hath said unto me, thou art my son; this day have I begotten thee." That this Psalm relates to the Messiah, is acknowledged by our Rabbins (p. 120,) With respect to this verse in particular, see Zohar in numb. fol. 82, 2. Tal. Succah, fol. 52, 1, Maim. in Tract. Sanhed, c. 10. What is said in this Psalm is not applicable to David or any other mere creature. Neither David, nor Solomon, nor any other ever had the promise of possessing "the heathen for his inheritence or the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession." To give that reverence, adoration, and worship required; to exercise that trust and confidence in any other but the Messiah, would be idolatry. Besides, as the Apostle justly observes, "to which of the angels, said God, at any time, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee?" Heb. 1: 5. Hence, the same

apostle, in the midst of the synagogue, applies it to the resurrection of Christ, saying, "We declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God has fulfilled the same unto us, their children, in that he has raised up Jesus again; as it is also written. in the second psalm; thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee." Acts, 13: 32, 33.

3. Another prediction of the resurrection of the Messiah is in Psalm 16: 10, "Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption." The plain meaning of the words is, that the person spoken of was to rise from the dead without seeing corrup tion. The word nephesh, translated soul, more frequently relates to the mere body; Lev. 19:28-21: 1; and the word sheol, translated hell, signifies frequently the grave; Gen. 4:38; Isa. 38: 18; i. e. thou wilt not leave my body in the grave. But had the Psalmist stopped here, it would have been applicable to all mankind, for none shall be left in the grave; the next clause, therefore, explains the former, viz. for thou wilt not suffer thine holy one to see corruption. The wav conjunction, translated neither, is frequently explanatory, (page 167.) Hence it is said in Medresh Tehilkim, The moth and worm shall have no power over him." The learned Dr. Kennicot translates it, "For thou wilt not abandon my life to the grave." It is evident, therefore, that David did not speak of himself, for he died, was buried, and saw corruption. Hence, said the apostle, "Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the Patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; he seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption." From the whole tenor of the Psalm, it appears to relate to the Messiah as

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expressing his abhorrence of the general idolatry of mankind, and his own zeal for the honor of Jehovah; with the full assurance of his being raised from the dead before his body should be corrupted in the grave. Hence, the inspired apostles, Peter and Paul, apply it to Jesus Christ to prove his resurrection from the dead, as I shall show hereafter.

§ 4. I proceed to another prediction in Psa. 118:22, "The stone which the builders refused is become the headstone of the corner, this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes." Kimchi says some of our Rabbins ascribe the whole of this Psalm to the Messiah; the 22d verse is expressly applied to him in Zohar. Exod. fol. 93, 3. Tickcone Zohar. correct, 5 fol. 15:2. Yarchi in Mica, 52. The Lord Jesus Christ applied these verses to himself. Math. 21: 41, and the apostle Peter applies them to him, Acts, 4:11; 1 Peter, 2:7. Nor did the Jews in their time object to the application; yea, the common people that attended Christ when he rode into Jerusalem, and the children in the temple, took their Hosannah from this Psalm, vers. 25, 26; Math. 21:9, 15. The Messiah is often compared to a stone for strength and duration, as a foundation, in the temple of the living God. Hear the words of the Lord, "Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, behold I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a sure foundation; he that believeth shall not make haste." Isa. 28: 16. The Targum interprets this passage of a great King; but Yarchi, of the King Messiah. See also Tal. Bab. Sanhed. fol. 38: 1; and it is applied to Jesus Christ by the apostle, Rom. 9:33; 1 Peter 2:6. He is that "stone cut out of the mountain without hands." Dan. 2:45. Him the builders refused. The High Priests, Scribes, Lawyers, and Pharisees, who professed to build up the people in knowledge and righteousness, and in the knowledge and faith of the true Messiah, rejected Jesus as the Christ, and refused him as the Messiah, the Savior, and

Redeemer, and set him at naught; but to their great mortification, agreeably to this prediction, he rose again from the dead, and became the head-stone of the corner which unites angels and men, Jews and Gentiles, saints above and below, saints in all ages and places. "This is the Lord's doing," and blessed be his holy name.

§ 5. Isaiah, 26: 19, may probably be considered as another prediction of the resurrection of the Messiah. "Thy dead men shall live; together with my dead body shall they arise: awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust, for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead." The passage is understood of a literal resurrection from the dead, both by Jewish and Christian interpreters, see Meade's work, p. 713. Sanhed, fol. 90:2. Kethuboth, 111:1. Mid. Cohel. 62: 3. Remarkable are the words of Elias Levite in his Tish. 109, "The word nevelah," saith he, "is never used in Scripture but of the carcass of a beast or fowl that is dead; and never of a man that is dead, but of him that dies an unnatural death,,excepting this place, which speaks of the resurrection of the dead; and I greatly wonder that the prophet should call the bodies of the pure righteous ones a carcass; no doubt there is a reason for it known to the wise men and cabalists, which I am ignorant of." Had R. Elias compared this passage with Daniel, 9:24, where Messiah is said to die an unnatural death, the death of a criminal, to be cut off, he might have found a solution to his mystery. To return: the person speaking appears to be the Messiah, from the character of him in the context, who is the Lord Jehovah, in whom is everlasting strength, ver. 4; the desire, the expectation of his people, verse 8, 9, who ordains peace for them, and works all their works in them, verse 12; and has sole dominion over them, verse 13. Hence, at the time of the resurrection of the Messiah's dead body from the grave, others were to arise with him, which was fulfilled at the resurrection of Jesus Christ: " The graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints that slept arose

and came out of the graves after his resurrection." Math. 27, 52, 53. Now, it is worthy of observation that, although these saints arose from the dead at the crucifixion of Christ, yet they did not leave their graves till after the resurrection of Jesus. Hence, saith the apostle, Christ is risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept. 1. Cor. 15.20.

6. The apostle Paul, in proving the resurrection of Jesus, produces the following passage: "I will give you the sure mercies of David." Psa. 53: 3. That the Messiah is here intended, is evident from his name David, which is frequently given to him, see Jer. 30: 9, Ezek. 34: 23, 24, Hosea, 3: 5, as also from his several offices, "given for a witness to the people, as a leader and commander," which words as well as the former are, by Aben Ezra and Kinchi, understood of the Messiah. Now, by the " sure mercies of David," are to be understood the blessings of the everlasting covenant, which the Messiah by his death and resurrection was to procure; but had he only died and not risen from the dead, these blessings had not been ratified or made sure. Therefore, when God promises his people that he will give them the sure mercies of David, or of the Messiah, he promises that the Messiah shall not only die to procure mercies for them, but that he shall rise again from the dead to make those mercies sure to them.

§ 7. Permit me, my dear Benjamin, to mention but one passage more from the prophets, which many have considered not only as a prediction of Messiah's resurrection from the dead, but also as pointing out the exact period he was to remain under the power of death. You will probably anticipate that I allude to Hosea, 6:2 "After two days will he revive us; in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight." This passage is applied to the resurrection and to the Messiah, by R. Moses Haddarshan, in Gen. 22: 4. Ber. Rab. and the Targum says, "After two days he will revive us; he will revive us in the