discomfiture of those whom he placed in his vineyard of this earth, that they might render unto his Father the fruits thereof; who, forgetting their responsibility, and being long warned without effect, are at once consumed by the word of his mouth, and destroyed by the brightness of his coming. That period is now in progress: six of those thunders have, as we believe, been heard upon the earth; being the six great events which have befallen Christendom since the French Revolution: we wait for the seventh, which, being the completion of this fearful voice, is that which, in the Old Testament, is referred to under the symbol of the lion's roar. The period appointed for the rule of the oppressor, the time, times, and a half, of the fourth beast being accomplished, all the Old-Testament prophecies would have led us instantly to expect the thing constantly foreshewn therein by the lion's roar; which expectation, accordant with his word, God doth satisfy by exhibiting his Son, in the raiment of the great heir and possessor, roaring against his enemies, and revealing further, that this event, like all others in the Old Testament, had a season and a time for its accomplishment; which, by comparing the xth of Rev. with the xii th of Daniel, we do ascertain to be the thirty and the forty-five prophetic days, during which the act of recompence and revenge is brought to its termination. Let this suffice to shew what is meant by the name," the Lion of the tribe of Judah," to what event it refers, and at what time that event shall have its accomplishment: and now let us study the propriety of using this name on this particular occasion.

The challenge issued to every creature within creation's bounds was, to open the book of the inheritance of the earth, sealed with seven seals: these seals are the bonds upon the inheritance, which, as they are opened one by one, out flies a strong One, dispossessing the usurper until he is finally dispossessed: they are riders, who go forth in succession; and the last rider, who finishes the work (chap. xix), is the Lion of the tribe of Judah himself, who finishes the work by stroke of battle. The opening of the seals is an act of strength, not of velation-an exploit of war, not a word of doctrine—a controversy for a kingdom, not the preaching of a lesson

of truth. And so it ought to be, if that book be the book of the inheritance; for what hath knowledge to do with the redemption of an inheritance? But strength hath indeed to do with it; for, as hath been said, one of the of fices of a redeemer was to deliver the inheritance out of the hands of the strong, both to avenge the blood of the heir and to deliver him out of the prison-house. The heirs of the earth are the meek, the upright, the chosen ones of God, the election according to grace: these Satan hath raged against and slain, and their blood from beneath the altar crieth unto God for vengeance. Over them also Satan hath constructed the prison-house of Babylon; which is the beast, and the false prophet, and the kings of the earth in confederation. It therefore is as necessary an accomplishment of our Redeemer, that he should be able to break the gates of Babylon, and to cast out the old serpent and to fulfil the part of the avenger of blood; that is, to be the Judge of the quick and the dead; as that he should give his blood a ransom for our sins. Now to express the greatness of his strength, and likewise his act of revenge upon the oppressors of his people, the roaring of the lion is, as we have seen, a most frequent symbol in the Old Testament. And having been already sanctified in the word of God, to this end it is most appropriately employed in the passage before us, to designate Him who hath strength enough to wrestle with the old serpent, and crush his head. Besides the addition of the words," the tribe of Judah," doth bespeak him coming in the strength of the thousands of Israel. As the King of the Jews, as the Shiloh to whom the gathering of the people is to be, as the Shepherd and Stone of Israel; it representeth him as coming up to the work of breaking the prison house of Babylon, and putting his enemies under the soles of his feet. I cannot help observing, before closing this topic, how much the interpretation of the sealed book, as the symbol of the inheritance, is confirmed by the appropriation of this name, "the Lion of the tribe of Judah," unto Him who prevailed to open it. If the revelation of hidden truth be that which it contains, why give to him that opens it a name which hath no relation to the knowledge of truth, but to the putting forth of power and strength? Methinks he would have been called the Light, or the

Word, or the Truth, or the Witness, or any other name appertaining to a reasonable being, rather than this the lion of the tribe of Judah; but this will still more clearly appear, when we shall have considered his next name, which is "the Root of David."

THE ROOT OF DAVID.

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Here, likewise, we have to examine, first, the import of the name, and then the appropriateness to the occasion in which it is introduced. The name is taken from the xith chapter of Isaiah, verse 10: "And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek and his rest shall be glorious." Here, indeed, it is the Root of Jesse ; but inasmuch as he is the Root of Jesse, he is also the Root of Jesse's son, the Root of David. The name," Root of David," doth not occur at all in the Old Testament. Now, then, we find that this Root of Jesse stands for an ensign of the people; which is, in other words, to say, that to him shall the gathering of the people be; so that the two passages of the Old Testament, which give birth to these two names, do remarkably concur in this,-that he is to be the Head of the Jewish people. But connected with the latter of the two passages is this, moreover, that the Gentiles also shall seek to him: or, as it is in the Psalm, " He shall be made the Head of the heathen, and a people whom he hath not known shall serve him." By the name," Root of Jesse," therefore, he is represented to us, not only as the Lawgiver of Judah, but likewise as having "the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession." This appears still more beautifully, when we consider the first verse of that same chapter of Isaiah from which the name hath its origin; "And there shall come forth a Rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots." In the verses preceding, the Assyrian, with all his high ones of stature, are hewn down, and the thickets of their forests fall by the hand of a Mighty One; that is, by the Lion of the tribe of Judah; whereupon there issues a branch of another root, called the Root of Jesse, but afterwards made to bear Jesse himself,—at once the root and the offspring of Jesse: who, coming in the room of the thickets of the Assyrian, doth at length

cover the earth with blessedness, and make it to be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. In his character as the rod from Jesse's stem, and the contemptible sucker from his roots, the sevenfold unction of the Spirit is given to him (ver. 2); then all judgment (ver. 3); then the destruction of all wickedness (ver. 4); then all righteous government (ver. 5); and, finally, the fruit of all peace, unity, and blessedness, in the nether world (vers. 6-9). After this, in his character of Jesse's Root, he is introduced as the Gatherer of the people, and the Desire of the Gentiles, coming to a glorious rest (ver. 10). From this verse the name under consideration is taken; in which he passeth from the humility of being born by Jesse into the dignity of bearing Jesse and all his line. For it belongs to him, not as Jesse's Son, but as Judah's, to be the Gatherer of the people" (Gen. xlix); and, as Abraham's, to be the blessedness of all nations.

But still the mystery, how a man can be the root of his own father, remains unexplained: for the name in the text is not "the Seed of Abraham," nor yet "the Seed of the woman," but "the Root of David ;" one of those apparent contradictions of which this book is so full. What is couched under it may best be gathered from our Lord's own question to the Scribes, "What think ye of Christ? whose Son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in Spirit call him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David then call him Lord, how is he his Son ?" (Matt. xxii. 42— 45). So also that other discourse, John viii., concluding with these words, "Before Abraham was, I am." In all such expressions, the depth of doctrine contained, is that which is expressed in these words (Rom. i. 3, 4): "Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." He is at once the Son of Man, and the Creator of man and of all things; the one as to his human, the other as to his Divine nature. He is at once the Beginning of the creation of God, and having no existence as a creature till far down the stream of this world's history. These enigmas are not resolved by merely

saying that he was God as well as man; because the question occurs, why not speak of him in his Divine character as the root of angels, as well as the root of Jesse or David? why always connect his Divinity in such a remarkable way with man? To obviate this difficulty and set the thing upon its proper basis, we answer, that before the worlds were, he was set up in the predestinative form of man as the Christ; that being the form of being which was to be anointed Lord of every other form of being whatever. Taking to himself this character, he created all things, to express some part of its fulness, to stand under it, and in some way acknowledge it as the spring and source and end of its being; and Adam he created to be its full image and likeness amongst all creatures, who therefore was made lord of all. Single undivided lord of all; to be the type of Him that was to come into the world. When this perfect type of Christ was broken into fragments at the Fall, its completeness was represented in different persons, but never again was it contained in one person. No future man ever gave origin to a race, no future man was ever the origin of his own wife, no future man ever ruled a creation, no future man ever gave names to a creation. Of these fractional parts of the great type, David represented royalty; Abraham represented fatherhood, shewing that Christ had a father even in his Divine substance; Melchizedec represented priesthood, with royalty included; and when that compound type was likewise broken, Aaron represented priesthood, and David represented royalty: Moses represented him as the Head of the whole household of faith, and the great Mediator between God and the chosen people. In this respect he had in him somewhat of the royal office also; and in one place he is called "king in Jeshurun," but the completeness of the type of the king, was given in the person of David, whom God constituted a prophet for this very end, that he might receive instruction, and set in order the ordinance of the kingdom. To be the Root of David, therefore, signifies that as the root gives existence to the tree, and the fruit of the tree is the vital principle which forms it of one fashion rather than another, so He it was after whom David was fashioned and moulded, and who must be acknowledged to be in as true a sense the cause of David, as a father is the cause of his own son.

That