Wv+3 0 "I give ias was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth p. 239- Lecture XIII. The allusion made by our Lord to the manna which was given to the Israelites in the wil derness. John vi. 32, 33. Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily,' I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven : but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world p. 257.' Lecture XIV. The Passover a Type of Christ. Luke xxii. 14, 15, 16. And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer : for I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until il be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. .p. 277. contents. xv PART III. TYPES MENTIONED IN scripture after the EVENTS, WHICH WERE PREFIGURED, HAD OCCURRED. Lecture XV. The Levitical Priesthood, the Tabernacle, and the services were typical of the person and offices of Christ. Heb. hi. 1. Holy brethren, partakers cf the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus p. 302. Lecture XVI. The Sacrifices of the Levitical Law were typical of Christ. Heb. xiii. 11, 12. The bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burnt without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sane- ¦ tify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate ; : p. 325. Lecture XVII. The people of Israel typical of the person of Christ : and their history prefigurative of the institutions of Christianity. 1 Cor. x. 1, 2, 3, 4. Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea ; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea : and did all eat the same spiritual meat : and did all drink the same spiritual drink : for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ p. 348. XVI CONTENTS. Lecture XVIII. The descendants of Abraham historically typical of all true believers ; Canaan of heaven : Joshua of Christ. Gal. iv. 24. Which things are an allegory p. 369- Lecture XIX. Isaac typical of Christ. John viii. 56. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day ; and he saw it, and was glad p. 391. Lecture XX. Adam and Melchisedec typical of Christ. Recapitulation. Conclusion. Heb. xiii. 8. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever p. 4,15. LECTURE I. GENERAL STATEMENT OF THE ARGUMENT DRAWN FROM THE HISTORICAL TYPES CONTAINED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. COL. II. 17. Which, are a shadow of things to come. That there exist two books, historically in dependent of each other, the one purporting to contain, among other things, the laws and institutions of the Jewish nation, the other the extraordinary birth, actions, and death of Jesus of Nazareth, who was called Christ, is a fact which no one can dispute. That these books have been transmitted to our own times in a state of general accuracy, and that they are the genuine productions of the writers whose names they bear, has often been most satisfactorily proved. And that these writers were faithful and credible witnesses of the facts which they re late no one can reasonably doubt, who has learned, as all may learn, their unshaken reso- A 2 Lecture I. lution in encountering the perils and sufferings, to which they voluntarily exposed themselves, solely in attestation of the truth of those facts. But when the Scriptures lay claim to the pecuhar title of a rule of life, it becomes ne cessary, not only to establish their authenticity, but to shew that "all Scripture is given by inspiration of God."3 This assertion is to be proved by the evidence of miracles and pro phecy, and by the inherent excellence of the doctrines which the writings contain. And who ever will read with attention the proofs, which have already been accumulated with this in tention, will rise from the investigation with a perfect confidence in the certainty of those things, in which he has been instructed. But there is also a collateral branch of proof, by which it seems possible to confirm the divine authority of the Scriptures : and it is this. The historical authenticity of the Old and New Testaments can be estabhshed each by a separate proof. Now between the events recorded in the two books there exists a close and avowedly preconcerted connection. The Old Testament throughout plainly prefigures the New, and is declared to do so. Its his tory, laws, and institutions, the apparently ' 2 Tim. iii. 16. Lecture 1. 3 casual events which occurred to the Jewish people, all had reference to future events, which were literally fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ, and were all fulfilled in no other. The national records of the Jews are a continued prophecy of Christ: a prophecy pervading all their existence as a people: a prophecy dis cernible from the earhest ages; in the calling and trials of their father Abraham, in then- Egyptian bondage, in their wanderings in the desert, in their hymns of victory over the ene mies of Sion, and in their lamentations of captivity by the waters of Babylon: even more conspicuously displayed in their religious rites, in the judgments which they suffered, in the favours which they received at the hand of God — whether they obeyed or whether they rebelled, still were they made the instruments of perpetuating, by types and figures, the memorial of Him, in whom the promises and threatenings of the law all had their comple tion. Now, by whatever means we satisfy our selves that this studied mutual relation exists, the connection, if once established, affords a proof of design in the events, and of inspi ration in the volumes, which record them and found their claim to inspiration upon such a connection. a2 4 Lecture I. This too is a proof , in some degree inde pendent both of verbal prophecy and of mira cles. For it might exist if there were not one direct prophecy in the whole volume of Scrip ture; and if all the facts recorded in it, when separately considered, indicated no deviation from the ordinary course of events. So far, indeed, as the declared connection of two series of facts, in the relation of histo rical type and antitype, may be regarded as a mode of conveying information respecting future events and of recording their comple tion, the argument from this connection is of the same nature as that which is drawn from the fulfilment of prophecy; and may be re garded as one branch of that extensive divi sion of evidence. It will also be found that verbal prophecy: tends materially to establish that preconcerted connection between different events, upon which the whole proof depends. But there is this pecuhar advantage attend ing an enquiry into the prefigurations of the Gospel dispensation, that they never could have been fraudulently inserted. They are woven into the , very texture of the narrative, and can be detached by no force but such as is sufficient to destroy the whole. It is a conceivable supposition, for it has Lecture I. 5 been asserted, that a short direct prophecy might have been interpolated. And it often requires much labour, and may not always be possible," to trace its existence, from the day in which it was uttered by the inspiration of the Spirit of God, to the time when the caviller comes forth to demand a reason of the hope that is in us. But no imaginable ingenuity could invent, and impose upon a people as a correct his tory of their nation, a long series of events which had no foundation in truth. Nor could any impostor exercise such a control over the events of his life, as to fulfil this series in his own person. The questions, therefore, which we have to determine, are these : whether the connection between the events do exist; and whether this connection be a preconcerted one. And a satis factory decision upon these points can be ob tained only by a careful comparison of the several events, which lay claim to this character. Now there are, undoubtedly, facts in the Old Testament, to which express reference is made in Holy Scripture, as being, in some sense, typical of corresponding events in the New Testament. And to those who are fully convinced, from other sources, that the Scrip tures are the revealed word of God, this eir- 6 Lecture I. cumstance is conclusive in proving that the one had reference to the other, whether the connection may to us be obvious or not. In arguing from the fulfilment of types alone to the inspiration of Scripture, we must undoubtedly not assume that inspiration to exist. Yet when an action, in the life of Christ, is expressly declared to correspond with a pre vious action, in the life of some person recorded in the Old Testament; when that correspond ence is perhaps even predicted ; and is in itself obvious : too particular to have been occa sioned by accidental coincidence; and entirely independent of the personal agency of Christ himself; the very aUegation of such a fact is a phenomenon, which, at least, challenges en quiry by its very singularity. There is nothing like it in the recorded history of the world. A resemblance, indeed, in certain circum stances of the history of two individuals in different ages might exist, without the one being a type of the other. One person may imitate the actions ascribed to another. This has been done. Yet he, who unconsciously thus served as a model, was never conceived to have been the type of him, who endea voured to follow his example. And on this supposition the circumstances of correspondence Lecture I. 7 must be few; for they must be solely in the power of the imitator. One person may casually be placed in cir cumstances similar to those of another. Yet, however close the connection may be, it will be of a very different kind from that of type and antitype. It would be no difficult task to point out a similarity in the actions related of different persons in the Grecian and Roman history, or even in the Scriptures, while yet the coincidences are of such a nature, that nc* argument can be founded upon them, in favour of a preconcerted connection between the events, in which they were severally engaged. And this preconcerted connection is the peculiar characteristic of a type. Similarity alone proves nothing. But when there appears «Spon earth an in dividual, evidently endued with power from above, speaking as never man spake,b and doing works such as no man can do except God be with him ;c restoring sight to the blind, energy to the impotent, hearing to the deaf, life to the dead: when this same prophet, in addi tion to the miracles which he performs and the verbal prophecies which he fulfils, refers expressly to certain most extraordinary events, confessedly the shadows of things to come/ » John vii. 46. c John iii. 2. d Col. ii. 17- 8 Lecture I. well known to the people whom he addresses, and forming a prominent part in their singular national history, as prefiguring other events, equally extraordinary, which were to be directed against this heavenly messenger himself: when the manna, which their fathers did eat in the wilderness, is appealed to as a figure of that bread of life which came down from heaven:6 when a fact so wonderful as a brasen serpent erected in the wilderness, upon which who soever looked was healed of the deadly effects of a venomous bite, is asserted to have fore shadowed, the lifting up of the Son of Man,f and that, before the event occurred which was to accomphsh the prediction : when the miraculous preservation of the prophet Jonah is declared in the same manner to have sig nified the time, *%i^ which this prophet's body should continue in the earth :B when the sa crifice of the paschal lamb is set forth as a symbol, which was to be " fulfilled in the king dom of God:"h and when, upon a closer en quiry, these, and numerous other alleged cir cumstances in the history of the Jews, are found to correspond both almost and altogether with the life, sufferings, death, and resurrection of Him, who founds upon that resemblance the c John vi. f John iii. 14. ' Matt. xii. 40. h Luke xxii. 16. Lecture I. 9 reality of his divine mission — we surely have a proof of unity of counsel in the purposes of God, of his Providence overruling and or dering the events of this world so as to com plete his designs, and of the inspiration of those volumes, which, purporting to, contain his re vealed will, exhibit this internal evidence of their heavenly origin. It must not however be denied that :• the argument drawn from the fulfilment of types requires to be applied with great caution.. It has been contended that the very fulfilment, which is the basis of our reasoning, is purely imaginary : that it exists only in the fancy of the commentator, who has mistaken acci dental similarity for preconcerted design : that the narratives of Scripture, when impartially considered, afford no sufficient foundation for the weight of proof which is laid upon them : and that men of ardent minds have carried the analogous method of allegorical interpre tation to such excess as even to destroy the truth of history. To such objections it will be sufficient to reply that, in cautiously apply ing typical illustration, we introduce no new nor visionary scheme. This mode of interpre tation is familiar to the age and country in which the Scriptures were first published, it is frequently adopted by the inspired writers; 10 Lecture I. and was constantly used by all the Jewish in terpreters of their law and prophets. In order thoroughly to comprehend any writer, it is necessary that we follow the direction which he himself points out for our investigation, even if it were at the hazard of being some times exposed to error. The excess into which both Jews and Christians have been hurried, in their fondness for mystical interpretation, may justly act as a warning to us not hastily to draw conclusions from a source singularly liable to abuse: but can never be produced as a legitimate argument against all enquiry; or as a reason for denying the validity of every conclusion. No one will say that it was impossible for the Almighty and All-knowing God to pre figure events as well as to predict them. His thoughts are not as our thoughts, neither are his ways our ways.1 No one will say that the Scriptures, which purport to be given by His inspiration, contain no reference to such prefigurations. They abound in every part of the sacred volume. A singularity of this kind, so far from being an objection to the claim which these writings make to inspiration, may almost be said to be the natural consequence of a real revelation 1 Isai. Iv. 8. Lecture I. 11 from heaven. Allowing it to be in any de gree probable that the will of God should be revealed, and preserved in written documents, in the same degree is it probable that much should be contained in them, with regard both to the matter treated of, and to the manner of treating it, different from what we meet with in any other book whatever; and, certainly, much which is different from the conventional style of argument and arrangement adopted by any particular nation in a distant age. In a work proceeding from the Supreme Intel ligence, from Him who changeth not,k we might expect to find indications of unity of counsel pervading the spiritual economy of all ages, of which any records exist. And this is what we do find in the Bible. We may not be able strictly to follow all the steps, by which it has pleased God to indi cate the gradual developement of his one great scheme. For "who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counsellor hath taught him?"1 Events, which are long to re main hidden in the obscurity of future ages, are predicted in the language of prophecy, sometimes with the precision with which we relate the past, sometimes in terms designedly more obscure, sometimes in terms immediately k Mai. iii. 6. ' Isai. xl. 13. 12 Lecture I. referring to temporal events, but ultimately to those which shall be completed only in the fulness of time. Men are also instructed, under the direc tion of the Holy Spirit, by significant actions as well as by words. The Almighty multi plies visions and uses similitudes by the mi nistry of his prophets."1 Again, the whole or a part of one man's life, by a continuance of the same mode of con veying information, is made prophetic of the counsels of God, which are to be completed in a subsequent age. But all these various methods of instruction are only modifications of the same general prin ciple, the gradual display of unity of design by a foreknowing and Almighty God. And being commanded, as we are, to search the Scriptures, we dare not leave unexamined a most important branch in the interpretation of the book of hfe. While however we undertake the exami nation of the wonderful connection of events which we are taught to look for in Holy Scrip ture, we must be especially careful that we attempt not to be wise above that which is written. There is perhaps no part of sacred interpretation in which so much care is requi- m Hos. xii. 10. Lecture I. 13 » site, that we may rightly divide the word of truth." If once the mind, instead of being confined within the sober limits of just interpretation; be suffered to wander in the deceitful fields of imagination, it may there build up for itself a fabric fair to the eye, but having no simi larity to that whose builder is God. They who are puffed up with vain conceit of their own understandings, and : would en deavour to discover, in Scripture, mysteries which others of less acuteness are unable to discern — they who wish to support upon ap parently scriptural grounds the corrupt super stitions of men — they who have a design to explain away the humiliating doctrines and awful threatenings of Holy Writ — they who would undermine the fixed faith of the believer in the Gospel of truth — all these have had recourse to some mystical interpretation as the means of accomplishing their designs. But the existence of a typical relation, be tween any two events recorded in the Scrip tures, by no means implies that either of them is imaginary. The Old Testament, it is true, prefigures the New Testament. But the events of each are real. And the very connection upon which our conviction of this prefigura- " 2 Tim. ii. 15. 14 Lecture I. tion is founded, is to be discovered from the assertions of the Scriptures alone, and esta bhshed upon the principles which they point out. While, with humble faith, and reliance upon God's Holy Spirit to enlighten our minds, we search these oracles of truth, we have good grounds to hope that we shall not search in vain. But, even in the defence of our religion's truth, we must beware that we intrude not with vain curiosity into those mysteries which the Divine wisdom has concealed. The ark of God requires not to be stayed by the un hallowed strength of man. And he, who, hke Uzzah,° interposes an unbidden, much more an unholy arm, incurs a degree of guilt, in proportion to his arrogance and rashness. A sincere reverence for the sacred Volume, a singleness of heart, a humble and a docile mind, equally removed from the temerity which would obtrude its own unauthorized inventions as the doctrines of revelation, and from the timidity which would reject what is clearly contained in the Scriptures, are required of those who would interpret them. They who so search the Scriptures wiU find their labours repaid by a more enlarged insight into the glorious scheme of redemption ema- 0 2 Sam. vi. 6, 7. Lecture I. 15 nating from the free grace of God. They will perceive the great design gradually displayed to mankind by direct prophecy, by types and prefigurations, all originally preparing the world for the Saviour, who was ushered in with such a pomp of witnesses, and now bearing con tinued testimony to the reality of his mission and the truth of his doctrines. The object, then, of the ensuing Lectures will be, to point out the connection between typical interpretation and the general inter pretation of the Holy Scripturesp — to shew the proper use which may be made of this branch of sacred criticism, the degree of certainty which may be expected to result from such an en quiry : the dangers which flow from its abuse — the rules by which any investigation of this nature should be conducted*1 — and afterwards to arrange,1 and examine in detail,8 the more prominent historical types which the Scriptures contain. » Lect. II. i Lect. III. r Lect. IV. s Lect. V— XIX. LECTURE II. THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE GENERALLY, AND THAT OF THE HISTORICAL TYPES. Matt. XXIV. 15. Whoso readeth let him understand. If a revelation of the Divine will is to be made to the world, and to be delivered down from age to age, some method must be in vented or adopted, by which the ideas formed in one mind may be accurately communicated to another. It has pleased the Almighty to make use of written language for that purpose. The selection of this medium of intercourse presupposes a language already existing, pos sessing terms to which a definite meaning is affixed, and these united according to esta blished rules ; and also that the human writers had received, either by language or by some other means, a knowledge of the facts or doc trines which they transmit. Lecture II. 17 In order then to- understand the Scriptures, we must attend to the circumstances which have had the greatest influence in modifying language : and this will lead us to observe the different methods of interpretation, and their mutual dependence. Whatever may have, been the origin of: lan guage ; whether the gift of utterance and the knowledge of what was spoken were originally, implanted in our first parents by. their Creator, or the faculty were speedily acquired by the use of those noble endowments of mature in tellect, with which man was blessed when he proceeded from the hands of God, created in His own image, after His likeness : the power of communicating its sentiments by speech was, doubtless, one of the earliest acquirements of the human mind. But we have no reason to imagine that lan guage was either imparted or acquired, at first, in a state of greater . advancement than was necessary for the limited intercourse of the earhest ages of society. The original progenitors of the human race had few natural wants, and no artificial desires. Every impression made by the senses was clear and definite. Every instant opened some source of enquiry before unnoticed: and the attractions of all were enhanced by the graces which B 18 Lecture II. novelty imparts to objects otherwise indiffer ent. Ideas, therefore, derived from objects of sense would naturally be the first to which a name was affixed; and their most simple re lations the first which were expressed. Soon, however, the invisible operations of the mind within itself, the incomprehensible spiritual nature of God, and of the soul, which man could not but perceive within him, would require to be discussed. In order to effect this, a comparison would be made in the mind, between the ideas, of which the senses alone could convey no notion, and those, of which the notion was already acquired by the senses, and fixed by a word. Thus terms, originally applicable to the out ward senses, would be diverted from their first meaning, and apphed to that which was con ceived to bear some relation to it. Hence there would soon be introduced a variety oi figura tive terms. In proportion to the simplicity, and it may be said to the poverty, of the language, would be the relative number of terms which had thus acquired an adventitious sense. What had been begun almost from necessity would be continued by habit or by choice. And as the powers of language were cultivated, men Lecture II. 19 of ardent imaginations would discover beauties in these figurative expressions. They would find themselves and their hearers animated by the sensible images presented to their minds : and soon learn to cultivate as an art modes of expression, which were rather to be avoided, if possible, as conveying inadequate, if not er roneous, conceptions. The further cultivation of language would probably tend to diminish the use of figurative terms. Or, what is practically the same, they would cease to be considered figurative. Meta^ phorical words would by degrees become fami liar in their remote meaning; and at last cease definitely to excite in the mind the primary idea derived from the senses. Experience appears to justify these conclu sions. Whenever it has been possible to make observations upon men in the rudest state of society, their language has been found thus to abound in figurative terms. We need not then be surprized that, in the recorded account of the events which oc-, curred in the first ages after the creation of the human race, we should find instances of the greatest boldness of verbal imagery; espe cially when there is occasion to describe the things which belong unto God. In the very sentence which the Almighty pronounced upon b2 20 Lecture II. the first murderer, the terms appropriated to the bodily sense of hearing are apphed to the intimation conveyed to the Lord respecting the offence of Cain— " What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground."3 Throughout the whole of Scripture, indeed, it is principally in treating of the actions and attributes of God, that figurative terms are introduced in consequence of the imperfection of language. The bodily parts, the affections, and even the passions of animal nature are ver bally ascribed to Him, who, as we also know from Holy Scripture, is without parts or pas sions, for "God is a Spirit."b The language of Scripture must be the lan guage of man, or it would not be intelligible to man. I. In interpreting, then, simply the words used in Scripture, the first difficulty wall be to distinguish between those terms which are literal, and those which are figurative. This difficulty, however, extends to the words only. The terms, whether literal or figurative, do not necessarily involve any am biguous or hidden meaning. When it is said that Joab " took three darts in his hand, and thrust them through the heart 1 Gen. iv. 10. * John i v. 24. Lecture II. 21 of Absalom,"" the sacred writer expresses him self literally. When it is said that " Joab per ceived that the king's, heart was towards Absalom,'"1 the same writer expresses himself figuratively, although by an obvious and scarcely perceptible metaphor. But the meaning in tended to be conveyed is in each case clear: and the ambiguity, if any, is only verbal. II. But there is stiU another mode in which words are used, which is, with less propriety, sometimes called figurative. The terms which are used may convey, in addition to their original meaning, another meaning of a nature totaUy distinct. This is beautifully exemplified in Scripture by many instances of fable and parable; in which instruction is conveyed by means of a fictitious narrative. Jotham's parable of the trees, which went forth on a time to anoint a king over them,e is the earhest example extant of this method. The parable which Nathan delivered to David/ that of the woman of Tekoah,8 and Ezekiel's parable representing, under the image of two eagles and a vine, the judgment which God would bring upon Jerusalem,11 are also well c 2 Sam. xviii. 14. d 2 Sam. xiv. 1. c Judges ix. 8—15. f 2 Sam. xii. 1—4. « 2 Sam. xiv. h Ezek. xvii. 1 — 10. 22 Lecture II. known instances. And those of our Saviour are so simple, varied, and expressive, that, in dependently of their authority and holiness, they must always be admired as perfect models of this style of composition. In every parable, in addition to the primary literal sense, there is a secondary spiritual sense. The literal sense expresses the similitude ; the spiritual sense conveys the moral instruction. The primary sense is verbally complete in itself. But, in order fully to understand the mean ing of the speaker, we must also discover the instruction which these words are intended to convey. The parable of the sower, for instance, re lates in simple terms a series of ordinary oc currences; the sowing of seed, with the pro gress which it makes in its vegetation under various circumstances. The spiritual meaning, the thing signified, is the growth or falling away of grace in the soul of man. In the interpretation of parables, the literal sense requires first to be explained : and, in the explanation, terms may probably occur, which will require to be distinguished as respectively literal and figurative. The connection of the spiritual sense with the general purport of the literal sense must then be discovered, either from the explanation which is given in Scrip- Lecture II. 23 ture, from the context, or from a careful con sideration of the occasion on which the parable was dehvered. III. But in the Holy Scriptures there occur other passages, for the full understanding of which, it is necessary to introduce principles different from those of mere verbal interpre tation. In all ages of the world, and especially in the earlier stages of society, information of events has been conveyed by expressive actions as well as by words. And although written language is the means by which we now have the Holy Scriptures presented to us, this method, so familiar to the inspired writers, and often the very method in which they were instructed in what they record, has had great influence upon the phraseology of the sacred volume; and occupies a principal part even in the revelations which it has pleased God to make to mankind. A sign, as well as an articulate sound, may be made the conventional indication of an idea. And, when its meaning is once estabhshed, its use will be even more expressive, and far more general, than that of language. In the legal transactions of almost all nations, in the transfer of property, in the manumission of slaves, in the administration of an oath, some bodily 24 Lecture II. action has- been chosen to accompany and to ratify the act. As early, at least, as the time of Abraham, he who bound himself by an oath put his hand under the thigh of him to whom he sware.1 In hke manner there were actions by which the several passions were ex pressed. He who had seen Jacob, with his clothes rent and with sackcloth upon his loins, 'would at once have perceived the affliction of his soul, as well as if he had heard him ver bally declare, " I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning."" By an extension of this method of convey ing intelligence, the use of material emblems was introduced, bearing nearly the same rela tion to sounds that hieroglyphical symbols in writing bear to syllabic or literal characters.1 It is not necessary for our present purpose to dwell upon the effects which this very curious circumstance has introduced. It has been often noticed, that signs of a similar nature were actually used in picture-writing: were improved and familiarized : and that these images were incorporated into the idiom of the languages spoken by those who used them. The style of the sacred writers is deeply imbued with materials derived from this source, 1 Gen. xxiv. 2. xlvii. 29. k Gen. xxxvii. 34. 1 Herodot. IV. 131. Lecture II. 25 in their intercourse with1 other eastern nations, and especially with Egypt.1" As long, however, as actions, symbols, and allegorical words were used, to signify present or past events, they were merely emblematical representations of what might have been known by natural means, and : expressed by articulate sounds. But the same method was also applied to predict future events. A very large portion , of the prophetic parts of Holy Scripture treats of instruction conveyed by action. The sacrifice of Isaac was probably in tended to give the Patriarch Abraham. intima tion of the great events which it thus repre sented." ' When Moses slew the Egyptian who smote an Israelite," he did it not unadvisedly nor hastily, but in order to shew by action,' under the direction of God's Spirit, the deliverance which was to be accomplished. " For he sup posed his brethren -would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them."p When Ahijah was commissioned to fore- 1 tei that the kingdom should be taken from Solomon, he clad himself with a new garment, 1 and found Jeroboam in the way. " And Ahj- m See Hurd on Prophecy. Serm. IX. n See Warburton's Divine Legation. Book V. Sect. 5. 0 Exod. ii. 12. p Acts vii. 25. 26 Lecture II. jah caught the new garment that was on him, and rent it in twelve pieces.'"1 And he gave ten pieces to Jeroboam, to signify by action, as well as by word, that the kingdom should be rent out of the hand of Solomon, and ten tribes should be given to him. When Elisha the prophet was fallen sick of the sickness whereof he died, "Joash the king of Israel came down unto him and wept over his face." The prophet, under the inspiration of hea ven, proceeded to inform him by a symbolical action, of the events which should come to pass. He commanded the king to take bow and arrows, and to put his hands upon them, to indicate his war with Syria. And Ehsha put his hand upon the king's hands, to shew that victory came from God alone. He directed him to open the window eastward, towards the country beyond Jordan, which was then possessed by the Syrians, and to shoot. And the king shot. And the prophet said, " The arrow of the Lord's deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria : for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consumed them. And he said, Take the ar rows: and he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. ,1 1 Kings xi. 30. Lecture II. 27 And he smote thrice, and stayed. And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times ; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice."1 The whole of this transaction was prophe tical instruction by action. The king's hands laid upon the bow, the prophet's hands laid upon the king's hands, the arrow shot forth, the smiting of the ground, were all intelligi ble signs of what was to take place. Almost the only words used were those by which the prophet directed the king what he was to do. In many instances the prophet of God was commanded himself to perform actions signi ficant of the events which the Holy Spirit enabled him to foresee. Thus Isaiah was commanded to loose the sackcloth from off his loins, and to put off the shoe from his foot: and, thus divested of that part of his dress which designated his pecu liar character,8 to walk for a sign and a wonder, or rather as a type and a pattern,' concerning Egypt and Ethiopia: thus indicating in his own person the captivity and degradation of r 2 Kings xiii. 14 — 19- s Zech. xiii. 4. 1 See Bishop Chandler's Defence, Chap. iii. Sect. 1. 28 Lecture II. the Egyptians and Ethiopians, by the king of Assyria." Thus Jeremiah^ by breaking a potter's ves sel, in the valley of Hinnom, described to the Jews who were present the destruction of their city. By making bonds and yokes, and, having first put them upon his neck, sending them to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, and Tyrus, he declared their subjugation to the yoke of the king of Babylon.y And his last recorded prophecy was an instance of the same kind. , After writing in a book aU the evil which had come upon Babylon, -he commanded Seraiah to bind a stone to the book which he had written, and, as he cast it into the midst of the Euphrates, to say, " Thus shall Babylon sink, and shaU not rise from the evil that I wiU bring upon her:"z the very same sym bolical action, and nearly the same words, as the angel in the Apocalypse3 uses in prophesying the destruction of the spiritual Babylon. Thus also the prophet Ezekiel was unto them a sign. Among numerous other expressive actions, he pourtrayed upon a tile the holy city and its siege.b He caused a razor to pass upon his head and upon his beard, and with the hair u Isai. xx. 2 — 4. x Jer. xix. * Jer. xxvii. ' Jer. li. 64. R Rev. xviii. 21. b Ezek. iv. 1. Lecture II. 29 he performed what the Lord commanded him, as a testimony against Jerusalem.0 He pre pared his stuff for removing, and dug through the wall and carried it out thereby,4 and when the house of Israel asked him, what doest thou? his answer was, " I am your sign."6 Again, he ate bread with quaking, and drank water with trembling and carefulness, to set forth the desolation of the land, and the captivity of Zedekiah and the people in Babylon.' This method of conveying information was so common, that even false prophets adopted it as the most significant. When a lying spirit went out to deceive Ahab to his death, " Zedekiah the son of Che- naanah made him horns of iron; and he said, Thus saith the Lord, With these shalt thou push the Syrians until thou have consumed them."g In the New Testament the same method is adopted. Agabus "took Paul's girdle and bound his own. hands and feet, and said, Thus saith . the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle."h c Ezek. v. d Ezek. xii. 3, 5, 11. ' Ezek. xii. 11. ' Ezek. xii.«18. e 1 Kings xxii. 11. h Acts xxi. 11. 30 Lecture II. The vision of St. Peter is another instance of a similar nature.1 Now allowing that some of the symbolical actions, mentioned by the prophets of the Old Testament with the boldness of poetical ima gery, were transacted in vision only, many are related as real with such simphcity of expression, that we cannot regard the narra tive as any other than the plain assertion of a fact.k In such passages sober interpretation forbids us to regard the recital as fictitious, or as re presenting what took place in vision. We must consider these actions as the familiar and expressive mode adopted by the Spirit of God, to declare to mankind events which should afterwards be fulfilled. IV. We are now led to a method of in formation stiU more recondite than any of those methods which have been considered, that con veyed by a personal or historical type. One person is an historical type of another, when the real actions of his ordinary life de signedly, by the Providence of God, prefigure the real actions of the life of the person to whom reference is made. And an event is historically typical of a future event, when the 1 Acts s. 9—16. k As Ezek. xii. 6—11. Isai. vii. Zech. iii. 8. Lecture II. 31 first has the same designed connection with the second. This mode of conveying information differs from a moral allegory or a parable, in which the narrative is fictitious ; but is very nearly allied to prophetical instruction delivered by action, which is also sometimes called typical. Those acts of the prophets, however, were individual acts, avowedly performed for an especial purpose. Some of them, as those recorded in the first three chapters of Hosea, might occupy a long portion of time ; but they were not completely interwoven into the ordi nary business of the prophet's life. But the typical actions, which are to he made the foundation of our enquiry, arose imme diately out of the events in which the typical person was engaged. They often formed part of the daily occurrences of his hfe. The cha racter in which he performed them was not an assumed character, but his own. As the prophet sometimes knew what events he predicted, or set forth by a significant action, so the person, who prefigured another, was sometimes conscious of his typical character. Sometimes, although he himself knew not the fact, the connection was declared by the spirit of prophecy before the events prefigured came to pass. 32 Lecture II. Sometimes, again, the person who typified another was not even declared to be typical, until after the antitype had appeared: but the relation subsisting between them is ratified by prophecy dehvered by him who was prefigured. The Scriptures of the New Testament con tain also many references to types in the Old Testament, which were not declared to have existed, until after the events which fulfilled them had taken place. In all these instances, if once the fact of a designed prefiguration is estabhshed, we have a species of prophecy of a most remarkable kind, extending itself over successive ages, embodied in the transactions of private and national history. Thus then we find the Spirit of the most High God accommodating its mode of opera tion to human apprehension, adopting various methods of instructing mankind ; and requiring on their part corresponding pains to investi gate and to comprehend His revealed will. The word of God, as we possess it, is a written word. Hence there arise the difficulties of com prehending the idiom of the languages in which it is expressed; and of knowing the local cus toms, manners, and laws of the people to whom it was first delivered. Lecture II. 33 In addition to the particular difficulties of the original languages of Scripture, there are others arising from the general structure of all language. There are verbal difficulties arising from the necessary use of figurative terms. There are difficulties which arise from the allegorical use of words, in parables and even in enigmas;1 and from the introduction of symbolical terms. There are also difficulties which arise from the substitution of pecuhar actions for words, either to designate the past, or to foretel the future. And there is an extensive class of real events occurring, even when miraculous, in the ordinary course of the lives of individuals, and in the history of nations, which require to be interpreted with pecuhar care, because they are set forth to us as connected with other future events, as prefiguring and prefigured, type and antitype, shadow and substance. The difficulties which occur in the inter pretation of types are not merely verbal diffi culties. When Christ is called "The Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world,"1" the assertion is more than the appli cation of a metaphorical term. Neither are the difficulties of interpreting types altogether of the same nature as those 1 Judges xiv. 14. m John i. 29- 34 Lecture II. which occur in the interpretation of parables. The parables of Scripture are conversant with fictitious events : types with real. The con nection of the primary and secondary senses in parables, may often be discovered by the context, or by considering the occasion on which they were delivered. The connection of typical events with those which they foreshew, can be determined by authority only. For unless the Scripture has declared that the connection exists, we can never ascertain that any resem blance, however accurate, is any thing more than a fanciful adaptation ; and we may go on to multiply imaginary instances without end. Supported, however, by such a declaration, we may boldly take one stand ; and examine with reverence and with care how accurate the claim is. In this examination we shall tread upon the confines of prophecy, and there re cognize the infallible tokens of Divine fore knowledge, and an overruling Providence. And if at any time we approach those high things of God, into which the very angels in heaven desire to look," we must thence take occasion not to indulge an unhallowed curiosity, but to adore that inscrutable wisdom and goodness which hath done so great things for man. n 1 Pet. i. 12. LECTURE III. THE USE OF HISTORICAL TYPES AUTHORIZED BY scripture: THE DEGREE OF ASSURANCE WHICH MAY BE EXPECTED : THE DANGER OF ABUSE : AND RULES OF INTERPRETATION. 2 Pet. iii. 16. In which are some things hard to he understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. Since it is asserted that the Sacred Writings record events which are historically typical of other events, this alone is a sufficient reason to induce us to- examine them with care. And the fact, if it be estabhshed, will afford a cor roboration of the more direct arguments in favour of the inspiration of the Scriptures. It will be desirable, however, as a previous step, to examine some of the grounds, which the Scriptures afford to authorize such a re search; to shew the use, which may properly be made of the types of the Old Testament; to point out some of the errors, which have arisen from the abuse of analogous methods c 2 36 Lecture III. of interpretation : and to lay down the princi ples, upon which any enquiry into them should be conducted. I. The perusal of the Epistle to the He brews is alone sufficient to convince any un prejudiced enquirer, that the history of the New Testament lays claim to a preconcerted connection with the events recorded in the Old Testament: that this connection consists not in the mere casual similarity of circumstances, is not produced by a perversion of facts to satisfy a system of ingenious accommodation; but is sometimes clear, decided, unequivocal: so obvious that no one can deny the existence of the claim ; so intimate as to pervade, at least, all the peculiar institutions of the Jewish people. The inspired author of that epistle, address-* ing those who were most learned in the Jewish law, all along considers the law given by Moses as preparatory to the grace and truth which came by Jesus Christ. He regards the law as the shadow, the gospel as the substance : the law as possessing only " the patterns of things in the heavens," while the gospel possesses " the heavenly things themselves."3 This connection is more fully shewn, by a comparison between the word spoken by an- " Heb. x. 1 . ix. '2l>. Lecture III. 37 £els, and that " which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed by them that heard him:"b by shewing the supe riority of Christ, the high priest of our pro fession, who was faithful as a son over his own house, compared with Moses, who was faithful, indeed, but in an inferior degree, as a servant :v by contrasting the imperfect priest hood of Aaron with the eternal priesthood of Christ, after a more ancient and more exalted order :d and by observing, that the tabernacle and the sacrifices of the law were but a figure for the time then present,6 an incomplete deli neation of that greater and more perfect taber^ nacle, not made with hands, and of the sacrifice of himself made by Christ to take away sin. And the whole argument is concluded by ap plying to the Christian dispensation, the object of these prefigurations, the very terms origi nally appropriated to the types which repre sented them : as if the earthly Sion were iden tified with the celestial mount which it re presented, and the city of Jerusalem with the courts of the kingdom of heaven : " Ye," as Christians, " are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned -with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and " Heb. ii. 3. c Heb. iii. d Heb. v. vi. vii. ' Heb. ix. 9. 38 Lecture III. tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words;" "But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the hving God, the heavenly Jerusalem."' Undoubtedly, there is found in the whole of this Epistle an unhesitating boldness, in re^ ferring the historical types to their correspond ing antitypes, which nothing but the authority of inspiration can justify. And that interpreter would be worse than injudicious, who should presumptuously endeavour to found an argu ment upon any aUeged similarities of a kindred nature, which his unassisted imagination might discover in the sacred volume. But he who presumes to deny the exist ence of all preconcerted connection, between the history and ritual institutions of the Jews, and the economy of the Gospel, acts a still more unwarrantable part. The reasoning and iUustrations of the Apo stle were not denied by those to whom they were addressed; men, be it remembered, ex posed to all the seductions which the sophistry of their countrymen could devise ; and, in many instances, prepossessed with an opinion, which their own Scriptures might have refuted, that the laws and institutions of Moses were in tended for perpetual obligation. ' Heb. xii. 18. 22. Lecture III. 39 Now the Apostle' would not have had re course to a line of argument, which might have been in a moment refuted, had it been unfounded, while he was so amply provided with others, against which no possible objec tion could have been alleged. The same mode of interpretation, which is adopted by the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, is occasionally used in other parts of the sacred Scriptures. And no one can tho roughly understand the whole revealed scheme of Divine Providence, by which the world was prepared for the coming of the predicted Mes siah, without examining the historical events, which are declared to have prefigured him. The degree of connection between two cor responding events, may vary, by minute shades of difference, from clear and express prophecy, to allusion or implied similarity. But, what ever may be the weight of evidence, which a careful examination of the Scriptures may establish, the believer in the inspiration of Holy Writ knows it to be his duty to search all that is written in the Law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms concern ing Christ.6 And even the unbehever would expose himself to the charge of culpable neg ligence, who should neglect well to consider g Luke xxiv. 44. 40 Lecture III. ah the circumstances by which a revelation is asserted to be estabhshed, before he draws the cheerless conclusion, that no revelation exists. The question is not to be met with affected indifference, nor with superficial cavils. It is to be discussed with the care which an inter est higher than the highest human concerns demands; and with the seriousness and rever ence which the nature of the investigation requires. In the Scriptures we think we have the words of eternal hfe.h And the testimony which they bear to Christ, and Christ to them, the consistency of so many complicated parts, the unity of so extensive a design, from the foundation of the world to that period when the mystery of God shall be finished,1 is one powerful argument, by which their pretensions to a divine original are estabhshed. II. The necessity, then, of consulting the evidence afforded by the historical types of the Old Testament, fulfilled in the person of Christ, being assumed, let us consider the de gree of assurance, which a proof of this nature may reasonably be expected to possess ; and the collateral benefits which may be derived from our research. 1. Now a type mentioned in Scripture may h John v. 39. » Rev. x. 7. Lecture III. 41 not afford intrinsic irresistible evidence of in spiration. If the connection of the events in question be only slightly mentioned, the objector will be ready to reply, that the application is fal lacious : and, if the connection be expressly declared, he will stih demand by what au thority we beheve the infahibihty of those Scriptures, on the divine inspiration of which the certainty of the alleged connection entirely depends. Upon those, who have learned to give a reason of the hope which is in them, objections such as these wih have little influence. The pure and holy doctrines of their religion, the miracles wrought, and the prophecies fulfilled and fulfilling, have long since taught them the divine authority of their Bible. And, know ing this, they are confident, that whatever is therein contained is truth. With us, therefore, the assertion of Scripture is sufficient. But, without referring any doubtful enquirer to the other extensive sources, by which the inspiration of the Scriptures is proved, we may find, in the very consideration of the historical types contained in them, intrinsic evidence of their heavenly origin. The mere assertion of any writer, that two events, evidently similar in many remarkable 42 Lecture III. respects, and occurring in different ages, are connected in the relation of type and antitype, affords no proof that the document which contains the assertion is inspired; because the necessary connection can be established only by assuming that fact. But ah the types of Scripture are not thus founded upon a simple affirmation. Some of them, as we shah hereafter see, are so intimately connected with prophecy, that the same historical evidence, which esta blishes the existence of the alleged type and its antitype, estabhshes also the prediction of an event and its completion. In such instances, the fulfilment of the pro phecy cannot be separated from the fulfil ment of the type. The accomplishment of the predicted event proves the Scripture, in which it is contained, to be given, as it purports to be given, by inspiration of God: and we therefore rely with perfect assurance upon the connection of the type and antitype, which that Scripture pronounces to exist. The correspondence is sometimes also itself the subject of prophecy ; and, therefore, is necessarily preconcerted, and furnishes imme diate proof of the inspiration of Scripture. 2. The historical types of Scripture tend also to vindicate the ways of God to man, by Lecture III. 43 shewing the importance of events, apparently, trifling, when taken in connection with other events, and forming a part of one grand de sign. The arrogance or the presumption of men has often represented some of the histories of Holy Writ as unworthy of that dignity, which their judgement would establish as the cha racteristic of a revelation from above. But " shall mortal man be more just than God ?"k Those things which pass man's un derstanding, and such are ah questions respect ing the agreement of that which is clearly revealed, with the incomprehensible nature of God, it becomes not man to affect to judge. The objection, however, is as futile as it is presumptuous. For the confirmation of our faith, it has pleased God to shew, that many of these events, minute and insignificant as they may appear to the inconsiderate mind, are in reality the connecting hnks of that golden chain which unites heaven and earth. In the place where they are related, they may stand as solitary, facts, which might be detached without appa rently affecting the immediate coherence of the narrative. But in the appointed time the Di vine counsels are perfected. The event is k Job iv. 17. 44 Lecture III. declared and proved to have had some precon certed reference to a future important event; to have prefigured, to have typified it : to have served in some measure to prepare the minds of men for the revelation of the pur poses and wih of God; and to afford proof to all succeeding ages, that His will has been revealed. 3. Another beneficial result, which may be expected from a careful study of the types contained in the Scriptures, is the conviction, which they afford, of the continued Providence of God overruling the affairs of the whole world. Particular stress is laid upon the types, as establishing this fact, because in them more especially the fierceness of man is seen to turn to the praise of God. If one person is, in many respects, the designed representative of another who shah afterwards appear, the events of his life are necessarily so directed as to com plete the design of the Almighty counsels. It may be difficult to conceive how this effect can be produced consistently with that free agency, which alone appears to render man an accountable creature. But such a difficulty, which is not peculiar to these actions, alters not the fact. In the accomplishment of many of his pro- Lecture III. 45 vidences, God moves in a mysterious way to perform his will. But upon the hves of those, who were ordained and declared to be types of the glories which should hereafter be re vealed, it has pleased his unsearchable wisdom to stamp the visible impress of his sovereign power. They are so manifestly led by His hand through those passages of their lives, in which they were made the hving models of His future designs, that the most inconsider ate cannot fail to acknowledge the existence of a controlling power, regulating the compli cated events and conflicting interests of the world. 4. The types of Scripture shew also the unity which pervades ah the ways of God in his dealings with mankind. From the very instant, in which Adam by transgression fell, the same scheme of salva tion was faintly discovered. The redemption of fallen man by the death of Christ, the place, the time, the manner of his birth; the nation, the tribe, the family whence he should spring ; the very persons who should first come for ward as the representatives of the Gentiles, to hail the new-born King, and to offer gifts :l the circumstances which should accompany his ministry, his death, his burial, his resurrection, 1 Psal. lxxii. 10. 46 Lecture III. his ascension, were ah revealed to the world, at sundry times, and in divers manners, by pro phecy and by type. But the coming into the world of a suffering and yet a triumphant Messiah, in whom ah the prophecies and types received their final completion, is the one ob ject to which these magnificent preparations had respect. While then we attempt, with humility yet with earnestness, to search the Scriptures in Order to discover the prefigurations of Christ which are contained in them, we may reason ably hope to add somewhat to our confidence in the faith which we profess, to perceive the wisdom which has directed the minutest in cidents recorded in Scripture ; and to discern infallible marks of the continued Providence of God, and of the unity of his eternal coun sels. III. Still we must remember that, in in vestigating the traces of designed coincidence in the several histories of Holy Writ, we are treading upon dangerous ground. The figura tive interpretation of Scripture, which we thus approach, is pecuharly hable to abuse. Some have suffered their imaginations to lead them so far astray, as even to consider the historical parts of Scripture as nothing more than an ahegorical recital. Lecture III. 47 It is not perhaps so much to be wondered at, that they who could find no other wea pons, with which to attack the Christian faith, should have had recourse to this extravagant fiction. If one adversary ra could thus set aside the recorded history of the fall of man, upon the reality of which ah our knowledge of the origin of evil is to be obtained — if another" could, in hke manner, destroy that testimony of Jesus, which the spirit of prophecy affords— if the sober narrative, which sets forth the splendid miracles of the Gospel, could be re duced to the emptiness of mere allegorical fables0 — and the history of Christ and his Apo stles be treated as a mystical representation of the great phasnomena of the natural world ;p the very foundations of our religion must sus tain a grievous shock. And they who believe it to be their present interest, that the doc trines of Christianity should not be true, nor m Blount, in the Oracles of Reason, adopted this strange hypothesis, proposed by Dr. Burnet of the Charter-house; Archaeolog. Lib. II. Chap. vii. It is even used by Origen against Celsus. Bp. Marsh, Lect. XVIII. See Jenkins' Rea sonableness of Christianity, Vol. II. A similar principle of mythical interpretation is favoured by many of the modern German divines. n Collins. ° Woolston. p Volney. See Faber's Origin of Pagan Idolatry, Book VI. Chap. vi. Sect. III. 1. Sir W. Drummond in his (Edipus Jtvdaicys, endeavours to support a fancy of the same kind. 48 Lecture III. its threatenings a real subject of alarm, act, at least, a consistent part, when they endea vour to subvert it by such misrepresentations. But, at an early period in the history of the Christian Church, the very persons who undertook the defence of our faith against its adversaries, unadvisedly replied to their ob jections, not only by sober argument and by an appeal to the solid grounds of evidence, but also by introducing the unsound princi ples of mystical interpretation, already familiar to the fanciful Jews, and to the subtle ex pounders of the heathen mythology. In later ages the same unwarrantable licence has been used by injudicious men. Visionary expositions of Holy Writ have been given by those whose imaginations were misled by a too great desire to penetrate into the high things of God ; and its clearest narratives ex plained away, from the vanity of those who are wise in their own conceits, and would measure the wisdom and the power of God by the standard of human reason. The sober interpretation of the historical types in Scripture, has nothing in common with errors such as these. The type is indeed compared to the shadow, of which the anti type is the substance: but the comparison is made solely with respect to the degree of Lecture III. 49 perfection in which the Divine will is dis played, in two distinct series of real events. Others have erred, without running into the extreme of denying the reality of history, by endeavouring to establish doctrines upon fan ciful types, unauthorized by Scripture. The church of Borne, having first proposed, as a principle of interpretation, that Scripture may have, in the same passage, more than one historical meaning, and any number of mystical senses9 which her ingenuity can discover, and her authority establish, has made ample use of the unhmited powers which she has thus usurped. If some of her members,1 led away by a sincere desire to do honour to the Sacred Writ ings, have injudiciously applied illustrations, and assumed a connection between events, for which Scripture offers httle, if any, authority; their error is to be lamented, and, if possible, to be avoided. But other interpretations have been ad vanced, upon principles utterly subversive of all sober use of the Holy Scriptures. The creation of two great hghts,8 the one q See Waterland, Preface to Scripture Vindicated. Glas- sius Philologia Sacra, Lib. II. Part 1. Tract I. Sect. 2. Aug. PfeifFer Hermenentica Sacra, Cap. iv. Sect. 1 — 10. r Pascal is not always exempt from errors of this kind. See his Pensees; seconde partie, Art. IX. s Gen. i. 16. D 50 Lecture III. to rule the day and the other to rule the night, is interpreted, by the highest autho rity of the Roman church,' to signify the su periority of the pontifical authority to that of any earthly sovereign." The promise made to David, "I wih sta- blish the throne of his kingdom for ever,"x is adduced to predict the endless duration of the papal power, of which David, and even Christ, is assumed to be the type. The sacerdotal tribe of Levi is asserted to be the figure of the Roman hierarchy. And when Moses, in ahusion to their impartial judgement upon the idolatrous Israelites, pronounces a prophetic blessing upon Levi, "who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him, neither did he acknowledge his brethren," y he is con sidered as authorizing the monastic vow made by children even without their parents' con sent. And the unhmited papal supremacy, in its several branches, is declared to be pre- ' Pope Innocent III. Fecit Deus duo magna luminaria, id est, duas dignitates instituit, quae sunt, Pontificalis au- toritas, et regalis majestas : sed ilia quae prasest diebus, id est, spiritualibus, major est altera quae noctibus, id est, carna- libus : ut quanta est inter solem et lunam, tanta inter pon- tifices et reges differentia cognoscatur. u See Glassius Philolog. Sacra, Lib. II. Part 1. Tract II. Sect. 3. Art. VI. and Sect. 4. Art. V. Luther on Gen. ix Turrecremata — Summa de ecclesia, Lib. I. Cap. xc. x 2 Sam. vii. 13. y Deut. xxxiii. Q. Lecture III. 51 figured in the universal dominion which has been given to man by his Creator, over the beasts of the field, the fowls of the air, and the fishes of the sea.z Other Christian interpreters have not alto gether escaped similar errors. The lion which met Samson in the way,a has been fancifuhy set forth as a type of St. Paul.b When Christ calls his disciples from their nets, and promises to make them fishers of men, he has been supposed, without any scriptural authority, to represent the ordinary occupations in which they had been engaged, as designedly and minutely figurative of their future exertions and success.11 And the avowed existence of types, in some of the events of the Old Testament, has induced visionary minds to regard the whole history of the Jews as a perpetual, uninterrupted representation of the history of Christ and his Church : and to search the Scriptures in order to discover traces of those revolutions which have happened, and wih continue to happen to the end of time.d z Antoninus, Bishop of Florence, on Psalm viii. 7- Deus omnia subjecit pedibus ejus, id est, pontificis Romani : oves, id est Christianos, et boves, id est, Judaeos et haereticos, pecora campi, id est paganos: pisces maris, id est, animas in purgatorio. a 'Judges xiv. 5. b Vitringa Observat. Sacrae, Vol. II. c Lampe Prolegomena ad Evang. Joh. d Joh. Cocceius : see Mosheim, Cent. XVII. Sect. 2. Part. II. D2 52 Lecture III. The mention of such dreams, put forth as interpretations of the word of truth, is a suf ficient refutation of them. But their existence shews with what caution the Holy Scriptures should be approached: and how careful we should be not to go beyond the written word of God to say less or more. The imaginations of man are vain and un substantial : the words, which God has spoken unto us, they are spirit and they are life.6 IV. But even if we confine our attention to the words of Scripture, it is necessary that we do not attribute more than its just weight to any particular branch of sacred interpreta tion. The plain facts, the plain prophecies, the plain doctrines of Scripture, are in themselves sufficient to establish the inspiration, and, there fore, the authority of the sacred volume. The exphcation of the less obvious modes of proof, however important, must be considered as sub ordinate to these. The fundamental articles of our faith, and the rules for the regulation of our hves, are revealed with the greatest plainness of speech. They are comprized in a few simple words, to understand which requires nothing but the ordinary perception of right and wrong. c John vi. 63- Lecture III. 53 The innocence of our first parents, created in the image of God ; their fall, and its grievous consequences, the redemption of man by the death of Christ, the means of grace afforded him here, by the influence of the Spirit of truth ; and the hopes of glory hereafter, through faith in the sacrifice of his Redeemer — the duties, which man is commanded to fulfil, as proofs of the inward influence of religion in his heart — to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with his Godf — to be kindly affectionate one to another with bro therly love,8 to do to ah men as we would they should do to us,h to provide things honest in the sight of ah men, and, if possible, to live peaceably with them,1 to visit the father less and widow in their affliction, and tb keep ourselves unspotted from the world" — doctrines and precepts such as these, are inscribed in the sacred volume with such legible characters, that he may run that readeth them.1 That which is thus plainly revealed is to be made the standard, to which we must, if possible, refer, in all doubtful interpretation of the more obscure parts of Scripture : and no figurative sense must ever be made to.con- f Micah vi. 8. e Rom. xii. 10. h Matt. vii. 12. Luke vi. 31. ! Rom. xii. 17, 18. k James i.. 27- * Hab. ii. 2. 54 Lecture III. tradict the plain hteral sense of any other portion of Holy Writ. This caution, which is necessary in the in terpretation of all the figurative and allego rical parts of Scripture, must be carefully borne in mind in examining the types. The observations into which we have been led will also suggest other rules of typical interpretation. The error of those who suffer their imagi nations to suppose the existence of types where they are not, should warn us that no action must be selected as typical of another, unless it be distinctly declared, or plainly intimated in some part of Scripture, to possess that cha racter. Again, the relation between an historical type and its completion, must be considered as a general relation, which does not necessa rily extend to every minute particular. Simi larity by no means implies equality. In the typical action, there may be many circum stances which have no place in the antitype: especially when men, subject to passion and often slaves of sin, were, in some parts of their lives, made the figures of the spotless Son of God. In the typical action there may also be less than there is in the antitype. For the sha- Lecture III. 55 dow of good things to come, could not be expected to set forth, in its fulness, the per fect image of those things. There may also be, in different parts of Holy Scripture, various types, ah having a reference to the character and offices of Christ and of the religion which he taught; but re ferring to them in different respects and with various degrees of precision. These partial types, at the same time that they ihustrate the great object to which they ah have fespedt, support and strengthen one another. Above ah, it must not be forgotten, that no doctrine is to be taught, as necessary to salvation, which is founded solely upon those passages of Scripture which are typical. These wonderful manifestations of the coun sels of God, as gradually displayed to the world, will be found in perfect accordance with the great truths which are distinctly revealed for our instruction, and upon which our faith and practice are to be built. We examine the prefigurations and types of the Old Testament, as astonishing indica tions of Almighty power, disclosing the myste ries of futurity by means which human wisdom could never have devised, nor unassisted human agents have accomplished. We regard them as one of the various modes by which our 56 .Lecture III. heavenly Father has rendered visible, to his servants upon earth, his intimate knowledge of all future contingencies, and his ever watch ful Providence over the affairs of men. We admire the wonderful harmony which is thus discovered in all the parts of the various dis pensations, under which God's moral govern ment has been displayed. We see the patriarchs of old time, and the Israelites by their pub lic and private history, by their law, and by their prophets, alike having respect to Him, in whom all the promises of God are yea, and amen.m Pursuing with caution the traces laid down in the book of truth, we know that we are not fohowing " cunningly devised fables."11 We see, it is true, much which is obscure : much which we may wish to have more clearly de veloped: much which our present . powers of mind are perhaps unable to comprehend. Still we permit not this acknowledged uncertainty, in some points, to shake our well-grounded confi dence in those things, which are clearly revealed. Nay, difficulties, such as these, serve even to animate the hope of further intellectual at tainments in some future state. God, who has made nothing in vain, has yet endued man with an insatiable curiosity, m 2 Cor. i. 20. ' n 2 Pet. i. 16. Lecture III. 57 which is innocent, if exercised under due re straint. Now every thing around us is sedu lously adapted to the circumstances of its con dition. The wants and desires of all animated nature are confined to a limited scale : and no more is required. Man alone forms an exception to this general rule. In him alone do we recognize desires of what is utterly unattainable by the use of the faculties, which he has received from his Creator. How can this anomaly be explained ? Why is this contradiction found in the body and the mind of man himself? How is it that, in the midst of a creation, in which every other individual is endued with the very Avishes which it is capable of gratifying, there should exist a being blessed with faculties superior to those of ah other creatures, which never can be satisfied? Why do we find the eye made to see, and the tongue to speak, and the feet to walk ; but the active mind of man continuahy grasping after conceptions which it can never reahze — -vainly endeavouring to seize what is incomprehensible, to circumscribe infinity ? Analogy itself would lead us to the con clusion, that these high faculties were also in tended to be satisfied: and, since experience shews that they can never be satisfied here, 58 Lecture III. that man will be, at least, capable of perfect ing his knowledge hereafter. But weak is the degree of assurance which any mere reasoning can give, upon themes like these, compared with the satisfaction which the word of God affords. And upon this point that word speaks as one having authority ; "Now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shah I know even as also I am known."0 ° 1 Cor. xiii. 12. LECTURE IV. DIVISION of types 2 Tim. II. 15. Rightly dividing the word of truth. It has been noticed, that the historical types of the Old Testament form only one of the various methods, by which the Spirit of God has, from time to time, declared his wih, and revealed his designs to man. They were in tended to foreshadow, by real events, other real events which were afterwards to be ac complished. In this view they may be considered as a branch of prophecy: for, provided the infor mation is clearly conveyed, it is evidently a matter of indifference, whether God's foreknow ledge of future transactions be indicated by the words of inspired prophets, by the particular significant actions which they perform; or by the course of events in which they are natu rally engaged. 60 Lecture IV. If it be assumed, that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are given by inspi ration of God, the arbitrary arrangement of the historical types, contained in them, may vary with the particular design with which any enquiry into them is conducted. But when the historical types of Scripture are considered, in connection with prophecy, as affording a corroboration of the other proofs of inspiration, it is desirable to arrange them in an order suggested by that connection, and by the degree of proof which they are capa ble of affording. I. The first division wih contain those which are the most nearly connected with ver bal prophecy : those, if any, which are declared to be prophetical at the time the type was represented; or at any other period previous to the appearance of the antitype. The first part of these is very important, as estabhshing, upon the most incontrovertible grounds, the connection subsisting between the type and antitype, and consequently the au thority of the Scriptures in which they are con tained. But it cannot be expected to con tain many types. Historical types, by their very nature, indicate future events more ob scurely than verbal prophecy, or than those symbolical actions which were performed for Lecture IV. 61 the express purpose of foresbewing a particular event. The connection of the type and antitype may, after the events prefigured have come to pass, be clear and intehigible, and evidently preconcerted; and, if it be so, that fact is suf ficient for the purpose which they were designed to answer. But it is by no means necessary, in order to prove this connection, that it should be declared at the very period when the per son appeared in the character of the type. The difficulty, indeed, of conceiving how his practical free-agency could be reconciled with the extraordinary Providence, under which he is avowedly placed, wih be nearly in propor tion to the degree of knowledge, which he appears to possess, of this peculiarity in the circumstances of his life. Accordingly, upon searching the history of the Old Testament, we discover but one, or, at most, but two persons, who, during their hves, were declared to prefigure the events which should occur in the Christian dispen sation. These persons are Moses, and Joshua the high priest, in company with his fellows, as recorded in the book of Zechariah the pro-' phet. 1. The well known prophecy, which Moses received at the giving of the law, and deli vered to the people of Israel before his death, 62 Lecture IV. referring to a prophet whom the Lord God should raise up unto them of their brethren, hke unto him,3 at once points him out as a person who, during some part of his life, was aware of his own typical character. The existence of the prophecy is indispu table: the assertion of its fulfilment in the person of Christ is express : and the comple tion wonderfully accurate. This one fact alone estabhshes, upon sure grounds, the existence of historical types in the dispensations of God's Providence ; and sets in a clear point of view the intimate connec tion which subsists between the interpreta tion of types* and that of verbal prophecy. 2. The other typical person, who was de clared to be so, during his life, was Joshua, the high priest of the Jews, during the re building of the temple. When Zechariah the prophet was enlight ened by the Spirit of God, to declare to the Jews, desponding at the interruption of their work," that the temple and its service should reahy be restored, the information was con veyed to the prophet0 by a vision, in which Joshua the high priest appeared, arrayed in the new vestments of his sacerdotal office, and with a fair mitre set upon his head. In order ' Deut. xviii. 15. " Ezra v. c Zech. iii. Lecture IV. 63 to shew the typical meaning of this vision, the high priest and his fellows are declared to be men of wonder, or men who appeared as signs and types. And in order to deter mine the person? who was to be the corres ponding antitype, there fohows immediately the prophecy, "for behold I will bring forth my servant THE BRANCH;" a person dis tinct from Joshua, and already well known to the Jews by the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah, as the Messiah, the promised seed of David, the rod that should come forth out of the stem of Jesse, and the Branch that should grow out of his roots.6 Now the restoration of the temple, and the estabhshment of the high priest, took place as was predicted. In this action, then, of his hfe, Joshua was the declared type of the Messiah : and it wih remain to be considered who was the person who fulfilled the type, and com pleted the accompanying prediction. If it should appear, from the writings of the New Testament, that this person was Jesus of Nazareth, we shah have an additional rea son to conclude, that he alone was the object so often prefigured and predicted by the law and the prophets. d Ver. 8. See Bp. Chandler; Defence of Christianity, Chap. iii. Sect. 1. * Isaiah xi. 1. Jer. xxiii. 5. 64 Lecture IV. The fulfilment of prophecy establishes also, more indirectly, the claim of other persons to the character of historical types. Thus the prophecy made by David of an eternal priest after the order, or likeness, of Melchizedec/ points out that extraordinary per son as designedly prefiguring some future priest, and king. And those prophecies which appear to ahude immediately to David or Solomon, but are apphed in the New Tes tament to Christ, will give occasion to enquire, how far such application imphes the existence of designed connection between their hves, and that of Christ. II. The second division of types, wih contain those which, although not prophetical in the type, nor ratified by any subsequent prediction, were stamped as authentic by the seal of completed prophecy, in him who pro fessed to be the antitype. The history of the Old Testament records some particular fact; without expressly stating, that it had a designed reference to any thing which should hereafter happen. The history of the New Testament records the apphcation which Jesus Christ made of this fact to him self, during his ministry upon earth. But the application is made by Christ with respect to ' Psal. ex. 4. Heb. v. 6. vii. 15. Lecture IV, 65 some future event, entirely independent of his own will; and afterwards accurately ful filled. If this be estabhshed, it forms an intrinsic proof of preconcerted connection in the events, as well as of foreknowledge in the person of Jesus. No greater evidence can be offered in favour of superhuman knowledge, than the fact of a person foretelling, with accuracy, the circum stances of his own death. No greater evidence can be given in favour of the sincerity of a prophet so inspired, than the fact of his using no means to escape from the malice of his enemies, but voluntarily surrendering himself into their power, although he knew ah things which should be accomplished. And when to this evidence of prophecy there is added the evidence of miracle ; when the conclusion, deduced from the apphcation of typical illustration, imphes not only the death, but the resurrection of the Prophet, and states the very period, during which his body shah be retained in the earth; and when all this too is fulfilled to the very letter — we ar rive at a degree of moral certainty, with respect to the Prophet's claims, which none can resist, without endangering the foundation of every truth. E 66 Lecture IV. Men may bring themselves to doubt any thing. But they who approach the Scriptures with a hearty desire to search whether these things be so, wih weigh, indeed, with caution, the evidence which these writings offer, but will stih keep their minds open to conviction: and being once convinced that they are given by inspiration of God, they will hesitate no longer to take them as the guide of their faith, and the rule of their hves. 1. Under this division is to be placed, the type of the brasen serpent, which was erected in the wilderness by Moses, to heal the wounded Israelites. The narrative of the fact by Moses8 is clear and concise. It there stands as an isolated, though wonderful, fact. The serpent itself is long preserved as a memorial of the event: and is destroyed by Hezekiah, in consequence of an abuse arising from excessive and super stitious reverence.11 At length appears a person known to be a teacher come from God, by the miracles that he performed, and therefore sought out and visited at night by a ruler of the Jews. And this teacher declares of himself, that " as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up."1 * Numb. xxi. 8, 9. '' 2 Kings xviii. 4. ' John iii. 14. Lecture IV. 67 As it is predicted, so does it come to pass. His death ensues, violent, painful, ignominious : in the very manner which was thus predicted!, probably at the very beginning of his ministry, and certainly long before his enemies had ma tured their schemes for accomplishing their designs. The completion of the prophecy is here an intrinsic proof of the authority, with which the prophet expounded the word of God ; and the exposition implies; at least, some precon certed connection subsisting between the events which took place in the wilderness, and upon the hill of Calvary. 2. A similar allusion; although not so de finite, is made by our Lord to the fact of his violent death ; when he is discontsing, in the synagogue of Capernaum, of the manna which the Israelites ate in the wilderness. " Your fathers did eat manna in the wilder ness, and are dead.... I am the hving bread which came down from heaven; if any man eat of this bread he shah hve for ever: and the bread which I will give js my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." k Whatever be the degree* of correspondence, which the discourse of Jesus implies, between the manna and himself, we have here a dis- k John vi. 49, 51. E2 68 Lecture IV. tinct prophecy of his own death, accompany ing and ratifying his exposition of the Jewish history. 3. The typical nature of the paschal sacrifice is, in like manner, confirmed by an ahusion which our Lord made to its fulfil ment in the kingdom of God, at the time when he dehvered a clear prediction of his own sufferings.1 4. Again, the book of the prophet Jonah relates his miraculous preservation for three days and three nights ; his being swallowed up, and his restoration to life and activity at the end of that period. The sacred volume soon closes upon the prophet's history; and the narration is left as one of those wonders, which it has pleased the Almighty, from time to time, to display in his dealings with mankind. But the fact was not only a fact of wonder : it was intended to prefigure a greater miracle wrought by a greater prophet.™ An evil and adulterous generation came to Jesus, and sought after a sign from heaven. But Christ declared that no sign should be given them but the sign of the prophet Jonas : for as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so should the Son of Man be 1 Luke xxii. 15, 16. '" Luke xi. 32. Lecture IV. 69 three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." The powers of darkness triumphed; and Christ, by wicked hands, was crucified and slain. His grave was appointed with the wicked: but with the rich man was his tomb. The third day came ; and Jesus rose from the dead : thus realizing the prophecy which he had uttered, by a miracle unheard of in any former prophet, however favoured of God; and exhibiting the full reahty of that design, which the prophet Jonah displayed feebly, by the shadow of a type. III. Types which are accompanied by pro phetical declarations, either at the time when they are exhibited, or before they are com pleted in the antitype, become, if confirmed by the fulfilment of the prophecy and the correspondence of the prefigured events, an intrinsic proof of the authority which declares, or plainly infers, their mutual connection. But the same proof, which estabhshes the authen ticity of one part of the Holy Scriptures, neces sarily tends to estabhsh that of the whole. There wih arise, consequently, a third division of the types mentioned in the Old Testament, which are not supported by the aid of verbal prophecy, either in the type or in n Matt. xii. 40. 70 Lecture IV. the antitype : such as are declared to be types, either by express assertion, or by imphcit allu sion, after the events have occurred, which they were ordained to prefigure. The connection is estabhshed solely on the authority of revelation, the existence of that revelation being founded upon previous proof. Under this division may be classed the numerous types contained in the levitical sacrifices, and in the law of Moses, so fully developed by the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews. Those passages of Scripture in which the whole people of Israel, during the various events of their national history, are represented tp have, in some degree, prefigured the person of Christ and the institutions of his religion, will also suggest several instances. It is true that types of this nature are liable to be confounded with those events, in the history of the Old Testament, which are employed by the writers of the New Testa ment, merely in order to elucidate the doctrines which they inculcate. If, however, an instance aheged as a type, should to any one appear to be only an accom modation, such an application of Scripture history is neither fanciful nor useless. There are to be found many passages in the Holy Lecture IV. 71 Scriptures, in which the first teachers of Christianity, apphed those methods of illustra tion, which were famihar to their new con verts, as the readiest mode of conveying in struction, and touching their hearts. If to us, who are familiarized with a differ ent style of reasoning, any of their applications should appear inconclusive, or the connection difficult to be traced, we must beware that the error rest not with ourselves : that we be not mistaking the object of the Sacred Writers ; and endeavouring to deduce from them that which they never intended; — that we do hot look for argument, where they propose illus tration merely. The Scriptures were given as the foundation of ah that we are to believe, and ah that we are to hope. But it requires no long study to discern, that their aim is not so much to reach the heart of man by first convincing his under standing, as practicahy to influence his conduct by engaging his affections. There doubtless are found in Scripture the most convincing proofs of a Divine original. Upon these it is built firm and stedfast. And these evidences must be diligently examined by all who would be ready to give to those who ask them, a reason of the hope that is in them.p There ' 1 Pet. iii. 15. 72 Lecture IV. is found, in the volume of inspiration, matter of unlimited enquiry. In its extensive regions there are heights, which surpass the most exalted flights of human intellect, depths, which the most profound research can never fathom. But, in the inspired writings, there is also found much which must be felt as weh as understood. And this influence upon the heart of man is often conveyed, in Scripture, by an appeal to the modes of thinking and acting established among the people, to whom it is immediately addressed. These accommodations may not be adapted to stop the mouths of gainsayers. Their cavils are to be met, and the authority of the Scrip tures is to be estabhshed, upon different grounds. But the humble and faithful believer in the inspired word wih hesitate before he denies the justness of an application, which he knows to be made by God himself. To him, the continued allusion made, in the writings of the New Testament, to the history and laws of the Old Testament, will be a source of delight and satis faction. It will disclose to him, in the trans actions of all ages, one great, pervading, intel ligent, superintending mind, carrying on the most merciful and magnificent designs for the recovery and salvation of fallen man. And he wih learn to distrust that spirit of cavihing and Lecture IV. 73 doubt, which would reduce all things to the fallible decision of his erring reason. IV. There wih still remain those numerous alleged types, which are not expressly mentioned, nor even alluded to, in the Scriptures, but have been inferred from the narratives contained in them. But whatever probabihty may attach to these, and however useful the application of them may be for reproof or for instruction in righteousness, the connection between the two events, assumed to correspond, can never be established with the degree of certainty which is required, before they can be produced in corroboration of the writings in which they occur. A fertile imagination may discern a similarity of cir cumstances, while the proof of preconcerted connection is entirely wanting. If we consider the history of Joseph, sold by his brethren, deposited in the earth, and thence restored to life, reduced to the ex tremity of distress, in that distress foretelling the delivery of one of his fellow-sufferers, and the destruction of the other, and, finally, raised to great glory, and making his brethren par takers of his exaltation ; we may perceive many points of resemblance between his life and the life of Christ.q But since it is no where asserted q Pascal, Pensees, Partie II. Art. IX. §¦ 2. Prosper de Promiss. 74 Lecture IV. in Scripture, either openly or by allusion, that Joseph is a type of Christ, we can establish no conclusion upon such a similarity. When Aaron the high priest, arrayed in the robes of his holy office, puts on incense and makes atonement for the people, standing be tween the dead and the living, and the plague is stayed:1 we cannot fail to recognize a striking correspondence between this action, and the offering made for the sins of the whole world, by the great High Priest of our salvation. But unless it can be shewn, that the character of Aaron is in Scripture con sidered typical of Christ, we shah fail in estabhshing a designed correspondence in the particular events. Similar objections may be made to bringing forward the history of Sampson as typical.6 Undoubtedly there are strong features of similarity between his history and that of Christ. Born in consequence of a miraculous revelation, separated as a Nazarite from the womb, rising in the night and carrying away Promiss. et Praedict. Part I. c. xxix, quoted by Pearson on the Creed, Art. V. It has been thought that Stephen alludes to Joseph as a type of Christ, from a comparison of Acts vii. 51, 52. with Acts vii. 9. But the inference appears very slightly founded. See W. Jones, (of Nayland,) Vol. III. Lect: 8. ' Numb. xvi. 47- ' Jortin, Eccles. Hist. Vol. I. p. 186. Vitringa, Observat. Sacrsc, Vol. II. Lecture IV. 75 the doors of the gate which defended the hostile city, and victorious over his enemies even in death; he unites in his own person. circumstances of agreement with the corres ponding events in the life of Christ, which we can hardly imagine to have been entirely with out design, when we know how other events have really been connected by the Providence of God. But the design being no where as serted or implied in Scripture, the comparison rests only on the authority of human inter preters. Far be it from any one to discountenance the temperate discussion of these and similar points of resemblance to Christ, in the history of eminent men recorded in the Old Testament. The enquiry may be made the means of much religious instruction, and may serve to shew the similarity, at least, of the means, which the Pro vidence of God has devised, in different ages, to promote his designs. The minds of men were, perhaps, thus led on and prepared for the great revelation of the Gospel. The events of Christ's birth, and ministry, and death, however wonderful, were no new thing; no strange, sudden deviation from the course of God's Providence. In many instances the deahngs of tke Almighty are unveiled in his word, and the steps by which the Gospel dispensation was 76 Lecture IV. prefigured are displayed. Probably in many more the same great design was promoted effectually, though secretly to us; and the traces of it may be investigated, with advan tage, by those whose leisure and attainments enable them to undertake the task. But our present enquiry, confined to those historical types which may be considered evi dences of the inspiration of Scripture, and intentionahy ihustrative of the mutual con nection of its several parts, wih exclude ah those, either in the patriarchal or Jewish dis pensation, in which the connection of the events is neither expressed nor imphed in the sacred volume. It wih comprise only, First, those which are supported by accom plished prophecy, delivered previously to the appearance of the antitype : or, Secondly, those supported by accomplished prophecy, delivered in the person of the anti type : or, Thirdly, those which in Scripture are ex pressly declared, or clearly assumed, to be typi cal, after the prefigured events had taken place^ LECTURE V MOSES WAS A PREDICTED HISTORICAL TYPE OF SOME GREAT PROPHET: AND THE TYPE WAS NOT COMPLETED IN ANY PROPHET OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. Deut. xviii. 15. The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken. When Moses, under the immediate inspira tion of the Spirit of God, uttered this prediction to the people of Israel, he gave a specific pro phecy, to which their descendants were, in future ages, to look ; and also indicated a remarkable peculiarity in his own character. He was already known to those whom he addressed as their leader and deliverer, their lawgiver, their prophet, and their priest. The miracles which he had wrought, the manifesta tions of divine favour which had been bestowed upon him, had long pointed him out as an individual eminently distinguished above his fellows. They who had come out of Egypt, and they 78 Lecture V, who had been born in the desert, however they might occasionahy rebel, must equally have acknowledged him to be endued with wisdom and power from on high. The eye-witnesses of the wonderful works, which he had per formed before Pharaoh, could not doubt the reality of his divine mission. They, who had walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea, and seen ah their enemies dead upon the sea shore, could not forget at whose bidding the waters had been divided, and the sea had after wards returned to its strength. Nor could they, who had trembled before the thunders of Mount Sinai, have entirely shaken off the impression of those terrors, by which the authority of Moses had been confirmed. His wonders also in the desert, which all had seen and known, must have confirmed the young in their behef of those more ancient things, of which their fathers had told them. Such was the Prophet, who was now de livering his last injunctions to his country men. At this concluding period of his ministry, Moses was gifted with a greater measure of the prophetic spirit, than he had exhibited in the whole course of his past life ; and disclosed to the people of Israel a fact hitherto concealed from them : that his own actions, wonderful as Lecture V. 79 they , were in themselves, and convincing, as proofs of his own prophetic character, had ah an ulterior object : that they were intended to introduce and to prefigure the actions of that Prophet, whom the Lord God should raise up from among them, like unto him self. This prediction of the future influences and modifies the past also. When correspondence with the several actions of Moses is laid down as the criterion, by which he who fulfilled the prophecy is to be tried, to those very actions is ascribed, in some degree, a symbolical character. The prophecy is a verbal prophecy. But the connection between the first series of events, in which Moses was engaged, and the second series of events, in which the predicted Prophet should be engaged, is strictly the connection of historical type and antitype. The existence of the prophecy proves, incontrovertibly, that the similarity, if it be found to exist, is precon certed: and the completion of the prophecy involves also the completion of the type. If, therefore, it should be found that Jesus, both by himself and by his disciples, was asserted to be this Prophet like unto Moses; and that he alone fulfilled, in every respect, the conditions which Moses prescribed; we shall have a proof, at once from verbal prophecy and 80 Lecture V. from typical prefiguration, " that Jesus was Christ."3 This prophecy is so important in establishing the claim of Jesus to the character of the Mes siah, that the adversaries of Christianity have laboured with more than usual earnestness to prove, that it received its fulfilment in some of the inspired persons recorded in the Old Testa- ment.b Before we can enter, then, upon the aheged correspondence between Moses and Christ, it will be necessary to shew, from a con sideration of the circumstances under which the prediction was made, that it did not ahude solely, or principahy, to any succession of prophets, nor to any single prophet, raised up among the people of Israel before the coming of Christ. Moses delivered this prophecy to the Israelites, when he was renewing, in the plains of Moab, the enactments of their law ; and reminding them of the circumstances under which they had been made. But he had him self received this prophetic intimation at a much earlier period of his hfe. The promise of a Prophet like unto himself, a Acts xviii. 28. " See Munster and Fagius on Deut. xviii. 18. Limborch, Arnica Collatio cum erudito Judaea Secund. Script. Judaei, p. 9. Lecture V. 81 was evidently" first made to Moses at the solemn delivery of the law upon Mount Sinai ; although the prediction was not published to the people of Israel until forty years afterwards. The people, terrified at the display of God's glory, desired that they might not hear again the voice of the Lord their God, nor see that great fire any more lest they should die. It pleased the Almighty to acquiesce in the desire of his people ; and to promise Moses, in their name, even more than they desired. He per mitted him to act as the mediator between God and man, at the same time making a solemn promise to Moses, of a future great Prophet like unto him : " they have weh spoken that which they have spoken : I wih raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren hke unto thee."d Forty years elapsed after this declara tion to Moses, during which period that pro phet, conscious that he bore a typical character, promulgated his laws, performed many of his miracles, and gave evident testimony of his communion with heaven. At the end of that time the same promise was made to the people at large. Moses knew that they were about to be tempted to ido latry, by the nations among whom they should c Compare Exod. xx. 1&. Deut. v. 27- xviii. 16. d Deut. xviii. 17, 18. F 82 Lecture V. be placed. He therefore warned uiem, mai they should not learn to do after their abo minations ; but that they should be perfect before the Lord their God. That they might be encouraged to preserve their fidelity to the God of their fathers, Moses declared to them, what the Lord had before revealed to him, that a Prophet should be raised up like unto himself, unto whom they should hearken. Now the Almighty frequently vouchsafed to deliver to his servants some splendid pre diction of the future glories of the Messiah, as an encouragement under sorrow, and a support under imminent temptation. The promise, that in him all the families of the earth should be blessed, was first made to Abram when he was called to leave his country, and his kindred, and his father's house.8 The hmitation of the kingdom to the tribe of Judah, and the prophecy that Shiloh should cpme, was also delivered at the time when the dying patriarch Jacob left his descendants in a strange land, in which they were afterwards enslaved/ And the clearer predictions of the later prophets were promulgated at a time of captivity. It was therefore perfectly in accordance with the usual mode of God's dealings, that his Holy ' Gen. xii. 1. f Gen. xlix. 10. Lecture V. 83 Spirit should direct Moses studiously to select this occasion for delivering to the Israelites some direct prophecy of the Messiah, who is pre dicted in no other part of the book of Deuteronomy. Such a prophecy do we con ceive to have been delivered in the words before us; "The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, hke unto me; unto him ye shall hearken." In discussing, then, this prophecy, it is necessary to distinguish two distinct periods of time. It was first given to Moses, when the people desired to be defended from the terrors which accompanied the publication of the law, and desired a mediator to stand before them. It was afterwards given by Moses to the people, when he wished to warn them against the temptation to idolatry, and the forbidden arts of divination. That the prophecy, as first revealed, applied solely to the Messiah, there can be no doubt ; and the immediate connection, which it thus displays, between the law and the Gospel, is most striking. But the opposers of Christ ianity have altogether avoided the consideration of the first delivery of this prophecy, and have argued, from the circumstances which accom- F 2 84 Lecture V. panied its second delivery, that it points to some more early completion in the immediate successors of Moses, who were to possess a por tion of the prophetic spirit, and make all those without excuse, who should forsake the true God, to hearken unto observers of times and diviners. Now even allowing tbe truth of this asser tion, it would by no means follow that the prediction had no further intent. The voice of inspiration speaketh not as man speaketh. Since one person or one event is often design edly prefigurative of another person or event, it sometimes happens, that the prophetic lan guage of Holy Scripture includes, in its com prehensive meaning, the imperfect figure as well as the "very image."g And if the cor respondence between the predicted facts, and the action of any Prophet who is selected as its supposed object, be manifestly imperfect, we must still look to some more favoured indi vidual as the ultimate scope of the prophetic declaration. Now the very terms of the prediction de livered to the Israelites, which direct their attention not to prophets, but to a single Pro phet, appear to preclude the supposition, that a succession of prophets, of nearly equal dig- g Heb. x. 1. Lecture V. 85 nity, was solely here promised to them by Moses. If, however, it be yet contended, that the words were completed in some one of the long and illustrious line of inspired men whom God did raise up, it must be shewn, that he possessed the distinguishing characteristic, pro posed as the authenticating seal of his claim, similarity to Moses. Now the lawgiver of the Jews was, in every respect, no ordinary man. The hnes of his character are strongly and decidedly marked : and resemblance to him, if resemblance exist, is readily pointed out, and easily recognized. Among the holy men of old time, Joshua and Jeremiah are the two persons who have been most frequently- selected by the later Jewish interpreters, each as the individual indi cated in this prediction. But neither of them wih bear the test, which the deliverer of the prophecy himself proposes. Joshua had been already selected from among the Israelites, at the time when Moses spake. He had been a minister to Moses when he went up unto the mount of God.h He had been declared to be a man in whom was the spirit of wisdom :! and he had received, by the imposition of the hands of Moses, a h Exod. xxiv. 13. 1 Compare Deut. xxxiv. 9. with Numb, xxvii. 18. 86 Lecture V. portion of his honour.k The especial commu nications, which he afterwards held with God, and the wonders, of which he was the faithful instrument, were a continuance of the powers which he had received, rather than indications of a new commission. But the very words of the prediction delivered by Moses imply, that the Prophet hke unto him was a prophet to be raised up, in some time subsequent to that in which he was addressing the Israehtes: and therefore could not have received their fulfilment in Joshua, who had been already set apart for the service of God. Neither was Joshua in other respects a pro phet like unto Moses. There is, it is true, one point of resem blance between these chosen men. The people were to hearken to the predicted Prophet, as they did to Moses. And, when Moses was dead, " They answered Joshua, saying, Ah that thou commandest us we will do, and whither soever thou sendest us we wih go. Accord ing as we hearkened unto Moses in ah things, so will we hearken unto thee." 1 But with this similarity as a military leader and deliverer, the comparison ceases. However lax a mean ing be attached to the term, like unto Moses, k Numb, xxvii. 20. 1 Josh. i. 16, 17- See also Josh. iv. 14. Lecture V. 87 no one could fulfil the conditions, who was in reality not a prophet at all, in the highest sense in which the appellation is used. And it may reasonably be doubted, whether the assertion, upon which much has been built, that "Joshua was the successor of Moses in prophecies," m can be advanced with truth. He was, indeed, a man highly favoured by God, as the appointed commander of His people. But we no where read of his mind having been enlightened with the knowledge of futu rity. The time of a prophet's death was usually that at which he was peculiarly gifted with wisdom from on high. Especially at that hour, when his friends were gathered around him, before his departure, to receive his solemn in junctions, the dimness which envelopes futu rity was wont, if ever, to be cleared from the mental eye. So was it with Jacob," with Joseph," with Moses.p But in the declining years of Joshua, al though his dying commands are recorded, we trace no distinct marks of such superhuman prescience. When Joshua waxed old and was stricken in age, he called for all Israel;' but it was m Ecclus. xlvi. 1. n Gen. xlix. ° Gen. 1. 24, 25. p Deut. xxxiii. q Josh, xxiii. xxiv. 88 Lecture V. to remind them of the prophecies which Moses had delivered; to impress upon their minds their obligation to serve the Lord and obey his voice; and not to add to those revelations of future events, which had been so clearly made by his predecessor. Other instances might easily be aheged, in which the comparison between Moses and Joshua totally fails. But the Scripture itself expressly refutes the notion, that Joshua could be the person of whom Moses exclusively spake. In the conclusion of the book of Deuter onomy, when it is declared, that "Joshua, the son of Nun, was fuh of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands upon him ; and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the Lord commanded Moses ;" there is immediately added, "and there arose not a prophet since in Israel hke unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face," or rather, who knew the Lord face to face, " in ah the signs and the wonders which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to ah his servants, and to all his land: and in ah that mighty hand, and in ah the great terror, which Moses shewed in the sight of Israel."1 At whatever time, before the clos- r Dent, xxxiv. 9 — 12. Lecture V. 89 ing of inspiration, this assertion was made, it completely destroys the supposition, that Joshua was the Prophet like unto Moses: and it points out the hind of similarity which must be looked for, in any person, who prefers a claim to that character. Considerations of a similar nature will con vince us, that neither Jeremiah, nor any other of the prophets recorded in the Old Testa ment, ever reached the measure of the sta ture which Moses attained. The wonderful gifts of the Spirit were not poured out upon him with a sparing hand. He was endowed with greater powers than those bestowed upon any of the other chosen instruments, whom God ordained among his people. The Jewish writers themselves8 distinguish the degree of inspiration which Moses pos sessed, from that enjoyed by ah the other prophets. 1. When God spake to other prophets, the revelation was made by dream or by vision. " Hear now my words," said the Lord him self, "if there be any prophet among you, I the Lord wih make myself known unto him in a vision, and wih speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so, who s See Smith, Discourse on Prophecy, Chap. xi. in Wat son's Tracts, Vol. IV. Sherlock, Sermon VI. on Prophecy. 90 Lecture V. is faithful in ah mine house. With him wih I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches, and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold."1 In this man ner, the Lord before "spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh with his friend."" It is, undoubtedly, difficult clearly to con ceive the mode of communication indicated in these words, between a man of hke passions with ourselves, and God, whom no man hath seen at any time,51 yet there surely is here declared such an intimate communion with the Most High, as is asserted of no other human being. 2. When the other prophets received in timations of the wih of the Almighty, their human nature was often too weak to bear the splendours which were displayed. "I Daniel," says the prophet, "alone saw the vision I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength. Yet heard I the voice of his words, and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground." y ( Numb. xii. 6—9. » Exod. xxxiii. 11. "¦ John i. 18. y Dan. x. 7 9. Lecture V. 91 But when Moses was permitted to con verse with God himself, his physical and mental powers were undazzled and unspent by that celestial cohoquy. He went up into the very presence of the God of the whole earth, descending upon mount Sinai. With such strength was he strengthened in his soul, that the ineffable glories of the Divine splendour shook not the settled firmness of his purpose to obey the commands of God who called him. Although he did exceedingly fear and quake,2 he was yet enabled to retain his self- possession. The people trembled, and " mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire : and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, MOSES SPAKE, and God answered him with a voice." a 3. To the other prophets the power of pre dicting was vouchsafed at intervals. The Lord put a word into their mouth; and they then spake as they were commanded. But with Moses there seem to have been no such in termissions. He was constantly blessed with some portion of the prophetic spirit: and with z Heb. xii. 21. a Exod. xix. 18, 19- 92 Lecture V. the privilege of enquiring of the Lord, upon all occasions of difficulty and doubt." But the legislative character of Moses is that by which he is most distinguished, from ah the prophets of the Old Testament who succeeded him. Moses was, as a lawgiver, pre-eminent. The laws which he promulgated were remarkable : adapted to the peculiar government under which the Israelites lived; enforced by sanctions such as no one but an inspired prophet could im pose; present success or immediate temporal calamity, intended, and sometimes understood, to indicate future reward or punishment. Now of all the illustrious prophets whom the Old Testament records, not one introduced a new law. Not one, therefore, was a pro phet like unto Moses, in this distinguishing point of resemblance. From the very circumstances, then, under which this remarkable prophecy was delivered, we have reason to conclude, that Moses is set forth as an historical type of some one great Prophet, who was to be raised up, and when raised up should be known by his similarity to him: and that the prophecy was not ful filled in Joshua, nor in Jeremiah, nor in any other of the prophets of the Old Testament. " Numb. vii. 89. ix. 8. Lecture V. 93 It wih remain to be shewn, on a subse quent occasion, that Christ Jesus was the Pro phet thus prefigured and predicted. That fact, then, for the present being as sumed, let us consider how the conviction of it should influence our thoughts and our con duct. The first feehng which a due consideration of these facts must excite, is that of astonishment. How far does a scheme of this magnitude and importance, surpass every contrivance of human wisdom. The law of Moses is repre sented as most strictly connected, throughout, with the Gospel, for which it prepared the world. At the very time when it was first delivered, Moses was taught to look beyond its temporal enactments; to regard himself as the representative of some greater Prophet, and the ceremonies and rites, which were imposed upon the Israehtes, as foreshadowing fuller and better blessings. To what degree the minds of Moses, and of the more holy and spiritual among his coun trymen, were enlightened, so as to discern in the figures for the time then present6 the reahties which they represented, it would be, perhaps, in vain to enquire. But that he did consider them in some degree symbolical, we c Heb. ix- 9. 94 Lecture V. can hardly doubt, knowing that he was " ad monished of God when he went about to make the tabernacle: for see, saith he, that thou make ah things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount."d As, there fore, he at least knew the tabernacle and its services to relate to the heavenly things which he had seen in the mount, we cannot imagine him to have been ignorant that the whole law had also the shadow of good things to come.' Neither did the fathers of old, in their obedience to the law, look only for temporal promises. Life and immortality were brought to light through the Gospel ;f but some faint beams of this latter glory had, at times, been im parted to mankind, sufficient to guide their steps, and to lead them onwards on their way. " These all died in faith : not," indeed, " having received the promises, but having seen them afar off; and were persuaded of them and embraced them."g But, whatever degree of hope might, from this source, be derived by the Jew, the continued intimate connection between the law and the Gospel, since it has been made clear by the Spirit of God, is to d Heb. viii. 5. e Heb. x. 1. f 2 Tim. i. 10. « Heb. xi. 13. Lecture V. 95 the believing Christian a confirmation of his faith, and a subject of contemplation most striking and most wonderful. But a material part of the law, given by Moses, had a more individual object : an object in which we, as men and as Christians, have all the deepest interest. The very same moral commandments, which the Lord spake unto the Israelites of old, out of the midst of the fire, Christ embodied in the precepts which he commanded his followers to obey. It is true, that no man may hope to be saved by his obedience to these precepts ; " for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."'1 But it is also true, that no man may hope to be saved without obedience : obedience, after ah, interrupted and imperfect, but stih con stituting the only external evidence which we can give, that we are under the influence of a rational, lively, saving faith. The exposition, then, of the moral law of Moses,- given by Christ himself, wih furnish us with two brief, but comprehensive heads of serious self-examination. 1. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with ah thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with ah thy mind, and with all thy strength. This is the first and great commandment.'" h Rom. iii. 23. ' Matt. xxii. 37, 38. Mark xii. 30. 96 Lecture V. Now when we retire to the secret cham bers of our own hearts, and there examine the hidden springs of action, what answer can we sincerely return respecting the great lead ing principle of duty, love to God? If this love existed in proportion to its importance, it might be expected to absorb ah other feel ings : to engross all the affections which are implanted in our hearts. As often as we re flect upon the favours which we have received from God, we ahow them to transcend ah others. Our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this hfe, above ah, our redemp tion through Christ Jesus, the means of grace and the hopes of glory, are advantages which no human benefactor can bestow, and excite expectations which ho earthly objects can raise. But it is a most humiliating proof of the imperfection of our nature, that these things, inconceivably great and important as we confess them to be, do not, in fact, ever affect us in a degree adequate to their mag nitude : and often not at ah. There are many, who were never once influenced simply by the love of God, and the desire to please Him, in any transaction of their lives. There are many more, who profess to love God, and yet, when ever the love of God and the desire of pleas ing man are opposed, choose to obey man Lecture V. 97 rather than God. Many feel a distaste for every thing which tends to set God before their thoughts: avail themselves of every plea to excuse their neglect of his service, his word, his ordinances ; avoid his house, refuse his sacraments: pray not to Him for assistance; praise Him not for benefits received. They think of ah other things ; of their favourite studies, their business, their amusement, their advancement in the world: but in ah their thoughts God is not." There cannot be a stronger proof of the absence of the love of God than this fact. What we love we think of often. It frequently recurs to our minds, whether we wish to reflect upon it or not. It gradually gains possession of us ; influences the whole train of our ideas ; regulates insen sibly the whole course of our actions. Those who forget, and those who neglect God, as weh as those who deny Him, certainly can not be said to "love God with all their heart, and with ah their soul, and with ah their mind, and with all their strength"— cannot be said to love Him, in reality, at all. In estimating, however, the degree of in ternal love which different men may entertain towards God, there is room for much uncer tainty, and, what is worse, for much self- k Psalm x. 4. G 98 Lecture V. deceit. But Christ himself has laid~down as certain rule, by which our love to him, and therefore to the Father,1 may be known: "if ye love me, keep my commandments." m If we recognize within ourselves an habitual respect to the commandments of God, an earnest desire to obey his will, a reverent fear of offend ing him, a hearty repentance and deep remorse for our past sins, and a firm resolution, by his grace, to walk henceforth in newness of life ; we have good reason to hope that the love of God actuates our hearts, and to pray that it may be increased. If we perceive none of these signs, if we are living in the commission of known sin, deferring the day of repentance, encouraging ourselves with the example of others, we are still far from the love of God; and therefore still wanting in a duty essential to our final salvation. 2. Such is the first and great command ment of the law. "And the second is hke unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."" This is like it in importance; and in the close analogy which it bears to it in practice. Without the love of man the love of God 1 John xiv. 7- m John xiv. 1 5. n Matt. xxii. 39- Lecture V. 99 cannot exist. " If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar," saith St. John : and for an obvious reason ; " he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?"0 A rule thus extending to all the friendly offices and kindly charities of life, pervading ah our intercourse with our families and the world, intended to regulate the very desires which give birth to evil passions and unholy practices, is plain to be discerned and applied, but difficult, indeed, to be satisfied. A minute enquiry into our own hearts wih hardly fail to discover numerous instances, in which we have faded to comply with this standard. It wih discover much self-love: much love of worldly honours and vain distinctions; and often but little of that disinterested love of others, which the law of Mosesp and the more perfect law of Christ,q expressly command. ¦ To a rule thus perfect, obedience is enjoined: and to those who strive with ah dihgence to comply with these conditions, is promised the grace of God to assist their weakness, and to supply their imperfection. Between the seve rity of God's justice, and the sins of man, there stands an intercessor, the Mediator of 0 1 John iv. 20. p Lev. xix. 18. « Matt. xix. 19. g2 100 Lecture V. the new covenant, prefigured by Moses upoB the holy mount. While we have time, then, how earnest should we be to obtain a personal interest in the benefits which Christ has purchased for us, "holding fast the profession of our faith without wavering:'" using ah the means of grace; "not forsaking the assembling of our selves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another."3 The sanctions of the law of Moses were awful in the extreme: the law of Christ is established with stih greater authority. "He that despised Moses' law, died without mercy under two or three witnesses. Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, Vengeace belongeth unto me, I will repay, saith the Lord.'" Be it our earnest prayer, that we may never know, by woful experience, how fearful a thing it is " to fall into the hands of the living God."u ' Heb. x. 23. • Heb. x. 25. * Deut. xxxii. 35. Heb. x. 28— 30. " Heb. x. 31. LECTURE VI. CHRIST WAS THE PROPHET PREDICTED AND TYPIFIED BY MOSES. Deut. xviii. 15. The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken. It has been already observed, that this remark able prophecy, which was made known to Moses at the dehvery of the law, and declared to the Israehtes immediately before his death, pointed him out as an historical type of some one great Prophet, whom the Lord God should raise up. And it has been concluded, from a consideration of the circumstances accompany ing its delivery, that it was not fulfilled in Joshua, nor in any of the prophets of the Old Testament. In examining a prophecy, which we have always considered to be fulfilled by a par ticular event, we are subject to two errors of different kinds. The one is, that our pre conceived opinion may influence our judg ment, and induce us to consider the corres pondence between the prediction and the event 102 Lecture VI. more accurate than it really is : the other, that long familiarity with the plain circumstances of the fulfilment may cause us to undervalue that relatively inferior degree of precision, with which the prediction is expressed. It is, therefore, highly desirable to correct our judgment, by enquiring what degree of expectation any specific prophecy had excited, before the event had taken place, which is supposed to have been predicted. A prophecy, indeed, which had excited no expectation pre viously to its accomplishment, may yet be sufficiently clear, when elucidated by the event. The absence of expectation can form no suf ficient ground of objection to the alleged ful filment of prophecy, although its previous existence is a strong corroboration of the con clusion formed subsequently to the event. Let us apply this principle to the prophecy of Moses, which we are now considering. Let us examine, whether any trace can be found of the interpretation which the Jews put upon it before the Christian eera : whether they con sidered it to have been fulfilled in the prophets of the Old Testament, or still looked forward to some one Prophet, greater than all that preceded him, who should be raised up, like unto Moses. If it can be shewn, that such an expectation existed, even after the sealing Lecture VI. 103 of the book of canonical Scripture, Ave shall have reason to believe, that the prediction was in itself sufficiently clear; and that the inter pretation, which the Jews would now put upon the passage, is an invention of compa ratively recent date. One of the singular privileges conferred upon Moses, was personally to answer the questions of the Israehtes, in the same man ner as the high priest is said, in after ages, to have answered after the judgment of Urim,* when enquiry was made on subjects of pub lic importance.Again, one of the pecuhar titles, by which Moses was known among the Jews, was the Faithful Prophet. So God himself designated him:b and by this very term, the Apostle, addressing the Hebrews, and adopting their estabhshed phraseology, shews the similarity between Moses and Christ." Now, in the second century before the Christian aera, and after the cessation of pro phecy in the Jewish church, we find that there was stih an expectation of a Prophet, who should return answers to enquirers, as Moses did, and be like him, also, a faithful prophet. * Numb, xxvii. 21. 1 Sam. xxviii. 6, 15. " Numb. xii. 7- Q Heb. iii. 2. 104 Lecture VI. The first book of Maccabees, which, although an uninspired composition, and not free from error, may be taken, at least, as historical au thority for the national acts and general opi nions of the Jews at the time, on two occasions, indicates this expectation. When Judas and his brethren went up to cleanse the sanctuary, and repair the altar, which Antiochus had profaned, "he chose priests of blameless conversation, such as had pleasure in the law, who cleansed the sanctuary, and bare out the defiled stones into an unclean place. And when as they consulted what to do with the altar of burnt-offerings which was profaned, they thought it best to pull it down... And laid up the stones in the mountain of the temple, in a convenient place, until there should come a Prophet to shew what should be done with them," or rather, to return answer concerning them.d Now the gift of prophecy was known to have ceased with Malachi : and no ordinary prophet was expected, until Elijah should be sent " before the coming of the great and ter rible day of the Lord." e This public act, there fore, acknowledging the hope entertained by * /ac^oi tou napayei'riOrjvat 7rpo(ptjTtjv -tov a 7r OKptOtj va i mtp\ avruiv. 1 Mace. iv. 12 — 40". • Mai. iv. 5. Lecture VI. 105 the Jews of a future Prophet who should re turn answer, shews that, in their opinion, the prediction which Moses dehvered, of a Pro phet hke unto himself, was stih unfulfilled. The same expectation is again discovered in the remarkable reservation, which they made, in conferring the government and priesthood upon Simon, the brother of Judas, and his posterity. The act of registry, written in tables of brass, and set upon pillars in mount Sion, declared that "the people of the Jews Were weh pleased that Simon should be their governor and high priest for ever," that the dignity should be no longer personal, but hereditary, "until there should arise a faithful Prophet."f This passage, as well as the preceding, has always8 been considered to indicate the con tinued expectation which the Jews entertained, ' 1 MaCC xiv. 41. — etvai Siyudra tj^ov/ievov xai dpyiepea eh tov aliSva era? tov dvac e'fti, avatr- Trjaei a-ot Kvpios 6 Geo? o-ov.—TIpocpriTrjv ctvaa Trja- ta ai)™?. Perhaps the term ek tov almva has also a reference to the expected Age of the Messiah, of which the author of the book of Tobit speaks in similar words : ewe wXtjpwdcSai naipoi tov aiwi/o?. Tobit xiv. 5. The same mode of expression is often used in Scripture; Psalm lxxii. 5, 17.' lxxxix. 36, 37. Dan. ix. 27- Matt. xxiv. 3. Mark xiii. 4. Luke xxi. 7. See Kidder's Demonstr. of the Messias, Part III. Chap. ix. p. 378. e See Bp. Chandler's Defence, Chap. i. Sect. I, 2. 106 Lecture VI. that some one great Prophet should appear. And the specific ahusion to the very terms of Moses' prophecy, and to their opinion that the prophet so raised up should be a Faith ful Prophet, identifies the object of their ex pectation with him whom Moses predicted. This expectation, first excited among the Israehtes before the death of Moses, was thus preserved among all their national calamities. It survived after the voice of prophecy had ceased: and served to animate their hopes in ah the struggles which they maintained against their numerous and powerful enemies. The same expectation remained at the time when Christ Jesus appeared upon the earth. The council of the Jews, who sent to demand of John the Baptist who he was, well read in the prophecies of Malachi, first asked if he were Ehas? And when he said, I am not, they again asked, probably with ahusion to the prophecy of Moses, Art thou that Prophet?11 They who were looking for the consolation of Israel, and imagined they had discovered him, could devise no words more apposite to describe their conviction than those of Philip, "We have found him, of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write." The peo ple, trained up in the traditional knowledge of b John i. 21. ' John i. 15. Lecture VI. 107 the mighty miracles which Moses had wrought, and taught to expect a prophet like unto him in his sacerdotal and regal character, "when they had seen a miracle which Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that Prophet that should come into the world :" and they were eager to take him by force and make him a king." The very conduct of the rulers of the Jews to Peter, when he applied this prophecy of Moses to Christ, may, in this part of the ar gument, be brought to prove, at least, the interpretation which the Jews generahy adopted. Anxious as they were to destroy the rising church of Christ, and perceiving Peter and John to be unlearned and ignorant men, they would at once have declared them to be but setters forth of strange opinions, when they heard them establishing their doctrines upon this prophecy, had they then generahy received the interpretation, to which the Jews of the present day have recourse, that the words of Moses were fulfilled in the prophets of the Old Testament. Even impostors took advantage of this ex pectation, to deceive many, by pretending to imitate the miraculous acts of Moses.1 And the open avowal of some of the Jews them- k John vi. 14, 15. 1 Joseph. Antiq. xx. 8. 1. De Bell. Jud. ii. 13. 5. Acts xxi. 38. 108 Lecture VI. selves refers this prediction to the Messiah : " It cannot be, but that a prophet shah at last rise like to Moses, or greater than he : for the king Messiah shah be as great or greater : there fore these words, ' there arose not a prophet since in Israel, like unto Moses,' are not to be expounded as if there should never be such a prophet, but that in all the time of the fol lowing prophets, tih the cessation of prophecy, none should arise like unto Moses. But after that, there shah arise one hke him, or greater than he."m A prophet, then, hke unto Moses, who should at once fulfil the prediction and the type, having been so long promised, and so continually expected, after the gift of prophecy had ceased, and up to the very time when Christ appeared, it is now to be shewn that He was the person to whom the prophetic words and actions of Moses had reference, and that in Him they were completely fulfilled. In the first place, then, Christ himself sup ported his claim to the belief of the Jews, by a reference to the prophecy of Moses. " Had ye believed Moses, ye would have beheved me, for he wrote of me."n Our Lord was, in this discourse, asserting his title to the character m The author of Sepher Ikarim, iii. 20. quoted by Patrick on Djeut. xxxiv. 10. " John v. 46. Lecture VI. 109 of the Messiah. He had appealed to the tes timony of John ; to the greater witness of the works which he did: he had instructed them to search the Scriptures, which testified of him: and he concluded his argument, with alleging the predictions which Moses had de hvered. It is surely, therefore, in the highest degree probable, that Christ, preferring this claim to be the Messiah pointed out generally in the prophecies of the Old Testament, and in those which Moses relates in the Penta teuch, ahuded to this, the most pointed pro phecy, which Moses delivered in his own person and recorded in his writings; and which ah the Jews considered to bear reference to their expected great Dehverer. After the resurrection of Christ, and the miraculous effusion of the Holy Ghost upon the assembled disciples, the mind of St. Peter was enhghtened with a fuller knowledge of the prophecies and prefigurations of the Old Testament. And in his address to the Jews in which he persuades them that, in the death of Christ, God had fulfilled those things which he had shewed by the mouth of all his pro phets, he cites verbahy the prediction of Moses, as the most exphcit among the prophecies to which he alludes." ° Acts iii. 18, 22, 23. 110 Lecture VI. When St. Stephen was brought before the council of tbe Jews, and was endued with such supernatural wisdom and power, that the in ward influence of the Spirit was even reflected upon his countenance, he also adduced this pro phecy of Moses, as affording the fullest con-; firmation of the divine mission of Christ.p To the believer in revelation; one express assertion in the New Testament, that Christ was the person who fulfilled any prophecy con tained in the Old Testament, is, in itself, a sufficient proof. No further certainty can be added to perfect assurance. But when the com pletion of prophecy is produced as a proof of the divine authority of the books in which it is found, the enquirer may reasonably desire to be satisfied that the alleged correspondence actually exists. Now the first particular, which the predic tion of Moses teaches us to expect in him who should be raised up to fulfil it, is, that he should be a Prophet hke unto him. And in the fullest sense in which the terms can be used, Christ Jesus was such a Prophet. The title of prophet was, sometimes, given to those holy men, who were inspired with wisdom from above, and empowered to de clare to the people the will of the Almighty. p Acts vii. 37. Lecture VI. Ill That Christ was such a teacher sent from God, the whole tenor of his blameless life, the purity of his precepts, their wonderful adapta tion to the precise wants, and secret weaknesses which every one must feel in his own heart, and the miracles which he wrought, sufficiently tes tify. These alone were satisfactory proofs that he was a prophet, in the estimation of those to whom they were first displayed; before they knew, what has since been shewn to the world, the exactness with which ah the prophecies of the Old Testament were fulfilled in him, and the accuracy with which his own predictions have been accomplished. Christ takes compassion upon the widow of Nain, whose son is carried out. He speaks, and the dead revives. The conclusion, which the eye-witnesses of this transaction drew, was irresistible. "There came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great pro phet is risen up among us."q The most illiterate could not fail to reason accurately from such premises. When a man blind from his birth, who received his sight by the wih of Christ, was asked what opinion he formed of him that had opened his eyes; his answer immediately was, " He is a prophet."1 But those inspired persons are with peculiar » Luke vii. 16. * John ix. 17-~ 112 Lecture VI. propriety denominated prophets, who were gifted with the power of foretelling future events. Now the prophecies, delivered by Christ, are unexampled in number and accuracy. Some predictions, which should speedily be fulfilled, were uttered to confirm his disciples' faith. Other prophecies were delivered, which were not to be fulfilled until a later period, but stih at such a time, that they who heard the pre diction were also the witnesses of its comple tion. Christ foretold the influence which the obscure fishermen, whom he selected as his Apostles, should exercise, when they had become fishers of men :s that they should have power given them to speak with other tongues, and to perform miracles;' and should "go forth as witnesses unto him, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth."" He foretold the persecutions of his disciples in general," the very mode of Peter's death :y and intimated which of his disciples should survive the de struction of the holy city.7 But the most remarkable of Christ's pro phecies were those which he delivered respecting ¦ Matt. iv. 19. Mark i. 17. ' Luke xxiv. 49. Mark xvi. 17. n Acts i. 8. * John xv. 20. Luke xxi. 12. ' John xxi. 18. z John xxi. 22. Lecture VI. 113 himself. That he should be betrayed by one of his own disciples,7 denied by another,3 forsaken by ah;b that Jerusalem was the place appointed for his death,0 the Jews the cause,* the Gentiles the instruments;6 that they should mock, and spitefully entreat him, and scourge him, and spit upon him, and crucify him ; that the third day he should rise again ;f that after his re surrection he should appear to his disciples, in Galilee;8 that he should again ascend into heaven,h and thence send another Comforter to abide with them for ever1 — ah these circum stances, which could be conjectured by no analogy, nor fulfilled by any collusion, were ' repeatedly declared to his disciples, at first by obscure intimations, and, at the last, in terms the most clear and express. Other prophets have been illuminated with the Spirit of God. Others have dehvered to the world predictions which have been fulfilled in % John vi. 70. xiii. 21, 26. Matt. xxvi. 21. Mark xiv. 20, 42. " Luke xxii. 31, 32. John xiii. 38. " Matt. xxvi. 31. John xvi. 32. c Matt. xvi. 21. xx. 18. Luke xviii. 31. d Mark viii. 31. x. 33. Luke ix. 22. * Matt. xx. 19. John iii. 14. f Luke xviii. 31 ...33. Matt. xvii. 22. John ii. 19, 21. x. 17. Mark x. 34. viii. 31. B Matt. xxvi. 32. Mark xiv. 28. h John vi. 62. xvi. 28. ' John xiv. 16. xvi. 7- H 114 Lecture VI. distant ages. But a series of declarations so explicit, respecting the very person in whom they were accomphshed, often by the instru mentality of hostile agents, is sought for in vain, even in the pages of revelation. But the similarity, between the prophetic character of Moses and that of Christ, wih ap pear most visibly, by comparing the prophecies which each delivered of the very same event; the destruction of Jerusalem, and the disper sion of the Jewish nation. The prophecy of Christ is not merely an application of the previous prediction of Moses. Circumstances are added which prove it to be an original prophecy. That of Moses is desti tute of any marks of time. That of Christ specifies the very generation in which it shall come to pass. The prophecy of Moses was ful filled in more than one event which happened to the Jews. That of Christ was fulfilled, in its temporal sense, only by one, signal, catas trophe. The event referred to was future, both with respect to Moses and to Christ. Whether, therefore, Christ intended to ahude to the pro phecy of Moses or not, his prophetic power was equahy apparent. He singled out, from the various vicissitudes to which the people of the Jews were subjected, one specific age, not yet Lecture VI. 115 distinguished by any remarkable signs of the times, which could lead to a conjectural apphca tion of Moses' prediction, as the period in which the destruction of Jerusalem should take place. And that generation did not pass away until all was fulfilled. The celebrated prophecy of Moses, contained in the twenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy, is, doubtless, one of the most remarkable which the Old Testament records. Before the Israehtes had set foot in the land which they were to inhabit, and fifteen hundred years before the final completion of the prediction, the Spirit of God enabled Moses to discern and characterize the nations of the world, which as yet existed not, and to foresee the fate of the cities of Judea, before their foundations had been laid. His prediction is not, indeed, delivered in terms of positive affirmation. He lays before them a blessing and a curse: but, with a prophetic consciousness of their disobedience, he dwells, with an accuracy painfully minute, upon the miseries which they should endure, if they did not observe the words of the law which are written in the book." This prophecy has received, and is stih receiving its completion, with the most won derful precision, in the dispersed and afflicted k Deut. xxviii. 58... 68 H2 116 Lecture VI. people of Israel. They are scattered "among ah people from the one end of the earth even unto the other :" and among those na tions they find no ease, neither doth the sole of their foot have rest : but they have had, and still have, " a trembling heart, and fading of eyes, and sorrow of mind:"1 and they are become an astonishment, a proverb, and a by word, among ah nations whither the Lord has led them.m Wherever we go forth on the face of the whole earth, there we meet the suffering remnant of the Jews, existing every where as a separate people, and nowhere as a nation, Uv ing evidences of the prescience with which God had endued his servant Moses, and monuments of Divine wrath. But there arose one greater Prophet than Moses, who predicted the same events in stih more definite and authoritative tennis. Both prophets designated the most fatal enemies of Judea, by a pointed ahusion to their eagle," the ensign of their armies, and the emblem of their rapid march. Both foretold a siege in ah their gates. Both predicted their dreadful sufferings in that siege.0 Both declared 1 Deut. xxviii. 64, 65- m Deut. xxviii. 37- " Deut. xxviii. 49. Matt. xxiv. 28. Comp. Job xxxix. 30. " Deut. xxviii. 52 ... 57. Matt. xxiv. 21. Luke xix. 43. Lecture VI. 117 that Israel should be led away captive into all nations ;p and both clearly intimated the fact, of which we are ah this day eye-witnesses, that they should in their dispersion be stih known among ah the people of the earth, unin corporated with the general mass of society, " trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfihed.q" So far the prophecies of Moses and of Christ are similar. But to that delivered by our Lord are added circumstances, which indicate a fuller knowledge of the Divine counsels than was unfolded to Moses. The immediate object of Moses1 was to caution the Israehtes against general dis obedience ; that they might observe ah the words written in that book; and therefore might be ready to hear that Prophet hke himself, whom in that book he had just pre dicted. The object of Christ was to forewarn his disciples, that when they saw these things coming upon the land, he that was in Judea might flee into the mountains, and they that were in the countries not enter thereinto/ He adds, therefore, definite marks of time, and signs which should precede the threatened de- v Deut. xxviii. 25. ' Luke xxi. 24. i Deut. xxviii. 65. Luke xxi. 24. 1 Matt. xxiv. 16. Luke xxi. 21. 118 Lecture VI. struction. He predicts false Christs and false prophets : " he warns them not to be terrified at wars and rumours of wars, and commotions, for that the end is not yet.' He 'prepares them to expect earthquakes in divers places, and famines, and pestilences, and fearful sights, and great signs from heaven." And he predicts the per secutions which they should endure, and the success which the Gospel should attain," be fore the days of vengeance should come, that ah things which were written might be ful filled/ The prophecies of Christ were not vain words. The Providence of God has so ordered the course of the world, that we have stronger historical evidence of their minute, nay, verbal, fulfilment, than can, probably, be produced to attest the completion of any other prediction. The weak subterfuge of a pretended fabrica tion, subsequent to the event, is ah that the advocates of infidelity can oppose to a proof of Divine authority so complete. But we have not, I trust, so learned Christ.' We have learned to recognize in him, the object pointed out by ah the prophecies, and types, and ceremonies of the law: to acknowledge ' Matt. xxiv. 5, 24. Luke xxi. 8. ' Luke xxi. g. Mark xiii. 7- " Luke xxi. 11. " Mark xiii. 10. v Luke xxi. 22. ' Ephes. iv. 20. Lecture VI. 119 him to be the long expected Prophet like unto Moses. But shah we have learned all these things in vain ? Shah ah this goodly train of holy men and inspired prophets, have prepared the way for " The Prince of peace,"3 and yet our reception of him be confined to a cold and barren acknowledgement of his presence? Shah we confess Christ with our hps, while we deny him in our lives ? We believe Christ to be the Prophet so long predicted and pre figured: so ardently desired by the Israehtes of old : so rapturously welcomed by ah among his own nation who looked for the consolation of Israel ; and by many devout worshippers of the Gentiles. We believe that " there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved."b We know the command, " Let every one that nameth the name of Christ, depart from iniquity."0 Shah then any of us stih live as without a Saviour, and without God in the world? The state, in which we are placed as Christ ians, is a state full of comfort, if we wih use the means, which, through the mercy of God, we possess.When Moses left the world, he promised a Prophet like unto himself. And in Christ * Isai. ix. 6. b Acts iv. 12. c 2 Tim. ii. 19. 120 Lecture VI. Jesus such a Prophet came. When Christ left the world, he promised his disciples not to leave them comfortless, but to send them another Comforter/ And, as on this day/ the Holy Spirit was poured out upon ah flesh. The same Spirit, which visibly descended upon the Apostles on the day of Pentecost, stih invisibly aids, strengthens, and supports the faithful Christian in the discharge of his arduous duties. The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, and maketh intercession for us/ But as the assurance, that God's Holy Spirit is ever present with us, represents the Christian's hfe as fuh of comfort, it also repre sents it as a state of peculiar responsibility. " Know ye not," says the Apostle, " that ye are the temple of God; and that the Spirit of God dweheth in you ?" g The body of man is henceforth a living temple, devoted to the service of God, in which his Spirit continually dwells. It may not, without great sin, be pro faned by deeds of unhohness and impurity ; it may not be made the lurking-place of passion, nor the abode of lust. "If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy: d John xiv. 16, 26. c This Lecture was delivered on Whitsunday. ' Rom. viii. 26. g 1 Cor. iii. 16. Lecture VI. 121 for the temple of God is holy ; which temple ye are.'"1 The Christian is no longer his own : he is bought with a price : and therefore is com manded to glorify God in his body, and in his spirit, which are God's.1 These commands are addressed to all Christians in ah ages: to the young as well as to the old. They bend not to the sudden impulse of headstrong passion, nor to the stubborn obstinacy of habitual vice. They represent our members as members of Christ; and our personal offences, as direct offences against him who is of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on ini quity/ By a hfe of purity God is glori fied : by a hfe of impurity he is set at nought. " I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a hving sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service."1 Pray to him to set a watch before your mouth, and to keep the door of your lips,m that ah things which offend and defile the man may be rejected, and that ye may be "builded to gether for an habitation to God, through the Spirit." " h 1 Coy. iii. 17- '1 Cor. vi. 19, 20. k Hab. i. 13. ' Rom. xii. 1. m Ps. cxli. 3. n Ephes. ii. 22. LECTURE VII. CHRIST FULFILLED THE PROPHECY AND TYPE OF MOSES ; 1. IN COMMUNICATION WITH GOD'. 2. IN MIRACULOUS POWER: 3. IN AUTHORITY. John V. 46. Had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me ; for he wrote of me. In the Scriptures of the Old Testament, we are not only taught that a prophet should be raised up, who should fulfil the verbal pro phecy of Moses, and therefore complete the type of his person; but we have also an inti mation* of some of the features of resemblance, which the predicted prophet should possess: 1. That he should, as Moses did, know God face to face : 2. That he should perform signs and won ders, such as the Lord sent Moses to do in the land of Egypt: 3. And that he should be endued with * Deut. xxxiv. 10, 11, 12. jECTURE VII. 123 visible authority, as Moses was, in ah the great terror which he shewed in the sight of ah Israel. That Christ was, in the fuhest sense of the words, a prophet like unto Moses, has been already proved. Our Lord, therefore, appealing to signs of future events which accordingly came to pass,b fulfilled the very conditions, which no false prophet could fulfil;" and, con sequently, was a Divine teacher, to whom those who were addressed were required, at least, to hearken. This one proof of inspiration invests ah his words with the character of infallible truth. We may now, therefore, use the assertions of Christ himself as evidences, not merely that he declared himself to have been similar to Moses, but as proofs that the facts which he states were certain, and his inferences just. I. The first criterion of similarity, which the Scriptures of the Old Testament teach us to expect, in him who should fulfil the prediction of Moses, is, that he should have a more intimate communion with God, than any other inspired prophet. This was the marked distinction of the type; and must, therefore, be the dis tinction of the antitype. Now in the whole series of prophets re- " John xiii. 19- xiv. 29- c Deut. xviii. 22. 124 Lecture VII. corded both in the Old and New Testament, Moses and Christ alone are found to have held communion with God, without the in tervention of dream or vision. Moses was permitted to converse, face to face, with the angelic Being who represented the invisible God: and at his own earnest request, was favoured with some more clear revelation of the glory of God, than was at any other time vouchsafed to man/ Upon the authority of Moses, known to be a prophet of God by the wonders which he performed, we beheve and know that these things are so. Upon the authority of Christ, similarly at tested, we also beheve and know that what he declares of himself is true. It is not necessary, for our present purpose, to dwell on the mysterious union of two dis tinct natures in the person of Christ, which is so clearly revealed in Holy Writ. But the passages which declare that doctrine, necessarily imply that the intimate communion, which subsists between Christ and his heavenly Fa ther, is incomparably superior even to that which Moses enjoyed. Of them that were born of woman there was not a greater than John the Baptist;" and he declares of Christ, d Exod. xxxiii. 18 ...23. ' Matt. xi. 11. Lecture VII. 125 that " God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him."f Jesus is called, " the only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father."8 Christ declares of himself, what is said of no other person angehc or human, "the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him ah things which himself doeth."h And he plainly as serts, that he alone hath seen the Father.1 There are two events, in the histories of Moses and of Christ, closely connected with the intimate communion which each held with the spiritual world, and exhibiting, very clearly, the correspondence of the historical type with the prefigured antitype. When the Lord delivered to Moses the law upon Mount Sinai, the Prophet was there forty days and forty nights. And when he came down from the mount, the glories of heaven, with which he had been so long conversant, were, in some faint degree, reflected upon his countenance. The very skin of his face shone, and the people were afraid to come nigh him/ Many ages elapsed, and this wonderful event stood alone in the history of. the world. No prophet appeared like unto Moses; none who made the least pretensions to such a Visible token of heavenly communication. ' John iii. 34. B John i. 18. h John v. 20. ' John vi. 46. k Exod. xxxiv. 30. 126 Lecture VII. But the event foreshadowed upon Mount Sinai, was completed upon Mount Tabor. Christ went up into the mountain to pray with his three disciples, and was transfigured before them. "His face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light."1 Moses himself, the representative of the law, and Elias, the chief ofthe prophets, "appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomphsh at Jerusalem."1" All the circumstances attending these two events, corresponded in a remarkable manner. The skin of Moses' face shone. " The fashion of Christ's countenance was altered ;" and his face did shine as the sun.1' When Aaron and ah the children of Israel saw Moses coming down from the mountain of Sinai, they were afraid to come nigh him/ And when Christ came down from the mount ain of Transfiguration, " straightway ah the peo ple," says St. Mark, " when they beheld him" with some rays of majesty and glory stih re maining upon his countenance, "were greatly amazed ;"p the very expression which the same 1 Matt. xvii. 2. ™ Luke ix. 31. n Luke ix. 21. » Exod. xxxiv. 30. * Mark ix. 15. Ilac 6 o-yXoi llmv clvtov egeBanfttjdt]. Comp. Mark xvi. 5. Ela-eXdovaat eh to fivrmelov, eTSov veavta-Kov Kadtjuevnv Col. ii. 9. n Matt. vii. 29- 138 Lecture VII. times, but rarely, he ahuded to the works which he had performed, and to the prophecies which he fulfilled, as testimonies of the reality of his Divine mission. But more frequently he laid down his maxims with imposing autho rity. " It has been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt per form unto God thine oaths. But / say unto thee, Swear not at ah."0 Such was the tone of independent com mand with which Christ issued his moral pre cepts. Other prophets were wont to reiterate the assertion of their inspiration ; and to impress upon their hearers the remembrance, that what they spoke was, in reahty, the command of God. They often commenced, or con cluded, their exhortations, with the assevera tion, " Thus saith the Lord ;" or with some phrase of the like import. Such asseveration was very natural, and quite conformable to what we might expect from those who spake under authority of the highest kind, felt by themselves, and acknowledged by those whom they addressed. The prophets thereby appealed to the strongest confirmation which human testimony could receive. How is it then, that we meet with no one instance of this kind in 0 Matt. v. 33, 34. Lecture VII. 139 the discourses of Christ ? It is not because he knew not the mind of the Lord. For he dwells upon the majesty and power of God, upon the influence of the Holy Spirit, upon the various mansions of his Father's house, hke one who speaks that which he knows, and testifies that which he has seen/ Yet his ad vice, his exhortations, his warning, his threat ening, although enforced with unparalleled seriousness, and with the most earnest and affectionate warmth, are stih advanced upon the sole authority of his own word. How can we account for this anomaly in the conduct of one, who was indisputably a prophet sent from God? It was not a pe culiarity of the gospel dispensation. For the Apostles and disciples of Christ recur to the same method of enforcing their assertions which the old prophets adopted; with this singular addition, that they quote the words of Christ himself as the last authority, from which hes no appeal. " Remember the words of the Lord Jesus,"9 was a command to their converts, at once acknowledged and obeyed. If Christ were merely a prophet, such as the other inspired men were, how can we re concile this uniform assertion of independent authority, with the meekness and humility p John iii. 11. '' Acts xx. 35: 140 Lecture VII. which ah his actions displayed? If he were only a teacher sent to enlighten the world, by instructing them in a purer morality, and a more spiritual worship, why should he stu diously avoid introducing a sanction, which ah other prophets justly considered as adding to their reasonings and precepts the authority of immutable truth? Upon one principle only can the difficulty be solved : that Christ, the glorious antitype, of which Moses and many others were the imperfect type, spake by his own authority: that there was in him a power greater than had ever been vested in any human being, however favoured by the inspiration of heaven : that, therefore, he spake as never man spake ;r that, therefore, the words which he dehvered, "they are spirit, and they are hfe."s 2. In the performance of his miracles, the authority of Christ is as conspicuous as in his teaching. Calm, dignified, collected, he but speaks the word, and the powers of nature obey. There is no appearance of effort or constraint ; no elaborate preparation, no studied effect. Christ, and his disciples, entered into a ship. " And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now fuh. And he was in the ' John vii. 46. ! John vi. 63. Lecture VII. 141 hinder part of the ship asleep on a pillow : and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm." With reason might the disciples, who wit nessed this, fear exceedingly, and say one to another, "What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?'" In the synagogue of Capernaum, there was a man which had a spirit of an unclean devil. And Jesus rebuked him: and he came out. And they who witnessed it "were ah amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this ! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out."" We cannot, by the exertion of our finite intehect, pretend to appreciate omnipotence. But an intrinsic power, such as is here exer cised by Christ, over ah the operations of nature with which we are conversant, calm ing the seas, and stilling the winds, and con trolling those, evil spirits, of which we can think only with a feehng of indefinite terror ; and conveying the same authority to those whom he would, does seem, not only to complete < Mark iv. 36—41. u Luke iv. 33—36. 142 Lecture VIL the highest idea we could form of a Prophet hke unto Moses, in ah that mighty hand which he shewed in the sight of ah Israel; but as approaching to that power of the Almighty and Eternal God, immeasurable, and incompre hensible, by the boldest conceptions of human imagination. 3. This highest degree of authority, which the very circumstances would lead us to as cribe to Christ, is confirmed by the express assertion of Holy Writ. When Jesus had completed ah that was writ ten of him, and finished the work which God sent him to do ; when he had, by his ignominious death and glorious resurrection, for ever proved himself to be the very Christ, he addressed these plain words to his assembled disciples, before he ascended visibly in their presence into that heaven whence he came down. "Ah power is given unto me in heaven and in earth."" It is impossible for language to ex press more precisely a fact of immense im portance. He now, at least, speaketh plainly, and speaketh no proverb/ Here is no ambi guity, no figurative construction, no forced inference. The meaning cannot be mistaken: and the authority thus ascribed to the person and commands of Christ is such, as excludes x Matt, xxviii. 18. > John xvi. 29- Lecture VII. 143 the supposition of any superior. He, who has ah power in earth, has a right to the obe dience of man : He, who has ah power in heaven, has a prerogative which is peculiar to God. At a much earlier period of his ministry, Christ declared his authority in terms equally express ; with the addition of the pecuhar nature of the power given to him, as the Judge of all the world. "As the Father hath hfe in himself, so hath he given unto the Son to have hfe in himself; and hath given him au thority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of Man."2 Before authority such as this, all earthly splendour and power sink into absolute insig nificance. They are but the glimmering of the morning-star, fading away before the glorious rising of the day-spring from on high. In the fulness of time, then, there did arise a Prophet in Israel hke unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face; hke him, also, in the signs and wonders which he did, and in the authority with which he was invested. And that Prophet was Jesus of Nazareth. Knowing, therefore, that these things are ' John v. 26, 27- 144 Lecture VII. so, what manner of persons ought we to be in ah holy conversation and godliness?3 The great terror which Moses exhibited, was unexampled upon earth; and we may, in some measure, conceive the dread with which the Israelites received a law introduced by such awful sanctions. We read, with a mixture of pity and regret, the history of their wilfulness, and obstinacy, and sin; and we almost wonder that, after having witnessed such an impressive display of God's power, they should yet have forsaken his ordinances, and given no conti nued credence to his word. We read of the warnings which they had received by the voice of God's Prophet, and of the judgment which overtook them in their sins ; and are almost tempted to regard such infirmity of purpose, as an unaccountable instance of more than ordinary weakness. But while we con template the fate of those who were disobe dient to the law of Moses, let us not over look our own neglect of a law, purer in its nature, and still more awful in its sanctions. Moses spake to the people of Israel the words of God's law. Christ has spoken unto us often; by his word of revelation, by the warnings of his Providence, by the inward admonitions of our own consciences, by afflic- a 2 Pet. iii. 11. Lecture VII. 145 tion in ourselves, by the example of the fate of others. But although he so speaks, it is at the present possible for man not to hearken ; and many do not. Many refuse to hear him that speaketh : some, through negligence, some through wilfulness, some through the impe rious slavery of their sinful passions. We may not altogether disbelieve : few comparatively do that : but thousands, who profess the faith, have yet an evil heart of practical unbelief. Their faith restrains them from no evil, leads them into no good word nor work. For a time, a very short time, we may thus delude ourselves. But it is a delusion from which we shall sooner or later be alarmingly awakened. The autho rity, which Christ claims, is no speculative au thority ; to be merely reasoned upon and talked about: it is an authority which will hereafter be seen, and known, and felt by every soul of us, before men and angels. " Marvel not at this ; for the hour is coming, in the which ah that are in the grave shah hear his voice, and shah come forth ; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of hfe; and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation."" These are words of most awful import: let not the frequency with which we hear them, * John v. 28, 29- K 146 Lecture VII. diminish their effect upon us. They open a scene, beyond ah comparison, more fearful than any that was ever disclosed before the eyes of man. They place before us a blessing and a curse ; hfe and death ; the ineffable joys of heaven ; the unknown but dreadful torments of those dreary regions, where the worm dieth not, and their fire is not quenched. While it is cahed to-day, then, "see that ye refuse not him that speaketh : for if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shah not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from hea ven."0 * Heb. xii.5. LECTURE VIII. CHRIST WAS PREDICTED AND TYPIFIED BY MOSES, 1. AS A LAWGIVER! 2. AS A MEDIATOR AND PRIEST : 3. AS A KING : 4. IN OTHER POINTS OF RESEMBLANCE. John V. 46. Had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me, for he wrote of me. We have already attempted to establish the accuracy of this assertion of our Lord, by com paring some of those points of resemblance, which the Scriptures lead us to expect, between Moses and the Prophet who should be raised up hke unto him. We have observed, that Christ was hke Moses by being a prophet ; by holding intimate communion with God; by his power of working miracles ; and by the authority which he displayed. But there still remain some striking peculiarities in which Christ, and no one else, accurately completed the type exhibited in the person of Moses. Let us for the present, therefore, direct k2 148 Lecture VIII. our attention to this similarity displayed in the character of Christ; I. As a Lawgiver; II. As a Mediator and Priest; III. As a King; And in some other more minute circum stances of correspondence. I. The character of a lawgiver is a very obvious feature, which has been shewn to dis tinguish Moses from every other prophet re corded in the Old Testament. Yet no pro phet could be said to be like unto Moses, who was unhke him in this particular : and the pro phecies of the holy volume continually taught the people to expect some fuller, more per fect, and more general law to be dehvered, by a Legislator commissioned from above. Centuries passed away after the giving of the law of Moses : and still the voice of pro phecy warned the people that they were to look to another law, an everlasting covenant/ " It shall come to pass in the last days," says Isaiah, " that the mountain of the Lord's house shah be estabhshed in the top of the moun tains, and shah be exalted above the hills : and all nations shah flow unto it. And many peo ple shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house * Jer. xxxii. 40. Lecture VIII. 149 of the God of Jacob: and he wih teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for out of Zion shah go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem."b Again, the Spirit speaketh expressly: "Hearken unto me, my people, and give ear unto me, O my nation; for a law shah proceed from me, and I wih make my judgment to rest for a hght of the people."0 At the very period which other recorded prophecies pointed out for the appearance of such a great Prophet and Lawgiver, Christ came down upon earth, to introduce the new covenant, to put the law into the minds of men, and to write it in their hearts/ Christ came, indeed, not to destroy the law, but to fulfil it/ He. came to exhibit the reahty which ah the ceremonies, and types of the law, had faintly prefigured. He came to be obedient to the whole law, to satisfy its utmost severity. But Christ also came to fulfil the moral law, by the introduction of a new commandment; to explain, to modify, to enlarge, to spiritualize those positive injunctions, which God had before dehvered to the world by his servant Moses. This was the very character which Christ assumed, when he first began to teach the peo- " Isai. ii. 2, 3. c Isai. li. 4. d Jer. xxxi. 33. Heb. viii. 10. * Matt. v. 17- 150 Lecture VIII. pie. Having been miraculously set apart to his sacred office, by the voice from heaven, which attested his divine nature at his bap tism ; having ratified the truth of his mission by many miracles, having applied to himself the written prophecies of the Jewish Scrip tures/ and selected twelve apostles to be the especial ministers and teachers of his word, he proceeded to dehver his laws to the assem bled multitude, with the authority which his heavenly commission entitled him to exert. Many of these laws had reference to those which Moses had dehvered to the Israehtes; many were directed against the abuses, which the traditionary expositions of the Jews had introduced into their system : and many were strictly new laws, adapted to the final scheme of Christian revelation, with as much propriety, as the peculiarities of the Mosaic code were to the singular circumstances of God's selected people. Moses had commanded the people in the name of God, " Thou shalt not kill." g Christ declares in his own name, "I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother, with out a cause, shah be in danger of the judg ment;"11 and he adds particular instances, as 1 Luke iv. I6k..21. > Deut. v. 17. h Matt. v. 22. Lecture VIII. 151 specimens of the mode in which the precept of general Christian charity should be carried into effect. Moses had commanded the Jews, that they should not commit adultery. Christ enjoins the regulation of the very passions and thoughts of the heart.' The bond of marriage, which, by the law of Moses,k and -the lax in terpretation of the later Jews, might be dis solved at the caprice of an individual, was, by our Saviour, pronounced to be indissoluble,1 as it had been from the beginning. God had declared by Moses, " Ye shah not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God."m But the command of Christ amounts to a prohibition of ah extra judicial oaths. "I say unto you, Swear not at ah.'' "Let your communication be yea, yea, nay, nay."n The austerity of the Mosaic law, is expressed in terms hke these. "Thine eye shah not pity; but hfe shah go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot." ° The mild character of the Christian doctrine is comprized in the few words, " I say Unto you, That ye resist not evil."p Such an impression did Christ's uniform 1 Matt. v. 28. k Deut.,xxiv. 1—4. 1 Mark x. 4. . . 12. m Lev. xix. 12. » Matt. v. 34, 37- ° Deut. xix. 21. t Matt. v. 39- 152 Lecture VIII. practice of expounding and extending the law of Moses make upon his hearers, that his very enemies made this fact the ground of cap tious enquiry, that they might have to ac cuse him. When the woman, taken in adul tery, was brought before Christ, the Scribes and Pharisees said unto him, " Now Moses, in the law, commanded that such should be stoned, but what say est thou?"q As Christ thus extended the influence of the laws which Moses gave, by adding new precepts, and enforcing them by new sanc tions, so he demohshed at once the unsound fabric, which the traditions of men had raised and displayed as the commands of God. And from all the precepts which the books of the law contained, he singled out two, the love of God, and the love of man, as containing the summary of ah the duties which we are required to practice. These, and ah his laws, he enforced by his own indisputable authority, founded upon the public claims which he first estabhshed to the character of the Christ. The Prophet, then, who was to come like unto Moses, must, when he came, have been a lawgiver ; for as a lawgiver Moses was emi nently known. Search now the whole range of inspired 1 John viii. 5. Lecture VIII. 155 prophets : view that long line of eminent men distinguished by various degrees of inspiration, having diversities of gifts from the same Holy Spirit; some endued with the power of work ing miracles, healing the sick, and raising the dead; some enabled, with the glance of their mental vision, to pierce the gloom of futurity, and depict with the boldest, yet most accu rate imagery, events yet distant ; seek out Joshua, the chosen captain of Israel, the tri umphant leader of her hosts; Samuel, called to consecrate her kings; David, himself the anointed of the Lord; Elijah, a man of hke passions with ourselves, but gifted with Divine wisdom in his life, and distinguished in his death above the sons of men ; and Elisha, upon whom the spirit of Ehjah rested:' con template those twelve holy men, who declared ah the wih of the Lord, until vision and pro phecy were sealed up : and behold ah these enforcing, with ah the authority of their office, and in the name of the most High God, the sanctions of the Mosaic law, and often giving intimations of some greater Lawgiver, who should be raised up; yet in no one in stance themselves introducing any new law. Behold the world, left for a series of years in darkness, uncheered by one ray of inspira- 1 2 Kings ii. 15. 154 Lecture VIII. tion, until at length the gospel day begins td dawn. The Spirit begins to be poured out upon ah flesh. The prophetic dream, the vision, and the superhuman voice/ are once more displayed among the people of Israel. The messenger comes in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord : and then the long predicted, and typified, and expected Prophet appears, hke unto Moses in many respects, and delivering laws, as Moses did, with authority and power. Surely in ah this we recognize the hand of God. We see him who estabhshed the his torical type in the character of Moses, complet ing the antitype in the person of Christ. II. There are, besides, instances in the life of Moses, in which he appears in another character, different from that of any other prophet: as a personal mediator and priest. Throughout the Old Testament, God com missioned the prophets to speak to the people in his name ; and, by such commission, invested them with an office, in some degree, similar to that which Moses was thus called upon to sustain, but inferior in dignity. God also appointed under the law, certain rites, as the means by which it pleased him that atone ment should be made for offences. Under * John xii. 28, 29. Matt, iii; 17. xvii. 5. See Smith's Dissertation on Proph. Chap. x. Lecture VIII. 155 this law, the high priest, in virtue of his office, offered both gifts and sacrifices for sins/ And no man took that honour unto himself; but he that was called of God, as was Aaron." The fearful punishment of those, who "offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not," x suffi ciently indicates how sinful in his sight was any unauthorized assumption of such a charac ter, in which a human being, compassed with infirmities, presumed to stand, as it were, be tween God and man. But Moses was permitted and personally called to undertake these most solemn offices. The law " was ordained of angels in the hand of a mediator." y At the time when God manifested his peculiar presence upon Mount Sinai, and spake unto the people by his angel messenger/ astonishment and terror took possession of their minds. They desired, in their alarm, that they might no more hear the voice of the Lord, nor see that great fire, the symbol of his presence, lest they should die/ God granted their request; and while he gave a promise to Moses of the one great Prophet hke unto himself, who should be ' Heb. v. 1. u Heb. v. 4. T Lev. x. 1, 2. ' Gal. iii. 19. 1 Acts vii. 38. Heb. ii. 2. * Deut. xviii. 16. 156 Lecture VIII. raised up, he permitted his chosen servant to stand between the Lord and the people,b a mediator of the old covenant. A revelation of the Almighty so awful as this, opening a scene so infinitely surpassing the highest conceptions of human intehect, is not to be approached but with reverence and fear. But if the most fertile imagination were to feign an action, which should pur posely represent upon earth, the office which we are assured Christ exercises in heaven ; which should place before our eyes, " one God, and one mediator between God and man ;" ° no action could be conceived more appropriate than that which Moses here per forms; and none so awfully impressive. On one side are displayed the terrors of the Lord; on the other, the people trembhng under the consciousness of their weakness ; unable to stand when He appeareth. Between them is interposed the appointed mediator, the averter of expected destruction, the only channel of intercourse between heaven and earth. That Christ is this mediator of a new and better covenant,*1 is one of the fundamental articles of faith, upon which ah our hope of final acceptance with God is built. And, un- » Deut. v. 5. c 1 Tim. ii. 5. 11 Heb. viii. 6. ix. 15- Lecture Vill. 157 doubtedly, it does add to the confidence with which we hold fast our faith, that this im portant office is so plainly prefigured by Moses himself, at the very time, when he de livered the law which was to introduce the gospel, and first received the promise, that a Prophet hke unto himself should be raised up. The hkeness was, in one principal part, to consist in the very character which Moses was then representing, imperfectly, indeed, as a faint shadow represents a substance of ex quisite symmetry, and elaborate construction. If Christ were not the person who fulfilled this type which Moses then exhibited, and the prophecy which was made to him, no other person ever appeared upon earth, who did com plete them. If Christ were so designedly fore shadowed, the fact could arise only from the de terminate counsel and foreknowledge of God, who has revealed his wih to man, and given the world this, among other proofs of the reality of his revelation. Within awhile after this significant inter position of Moses between Jehovah and his people, the Israehtes forgat God their Saviour; made a calf in Horeb ; and worshipped the molten image/ On this occasion we find Moses again offering himself as the mediator • Exod. xxxii. Deut. ix. 7—21. Psalm cvi. 19. 158 Lecture VIII. to turn away the just wrath of God, which had waxed hot. And his successful interces sion is, in this instance, the more remarkable, as it was employed to avert the Divine indig nation already excited; and was accompanied by a voluntary offer of himself. " Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt, forgive them their sin ; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written." f Now the weakness of human nature, and the earnestness of affection, may lead men to express themselves with great warmth: as Moses, on another occasion/ prayed to be re leased from the burden of hfe ; and Saint Paul could wish that himself were accursed from Christ for his brethren/ Stih, without the express permission and command of God, the prayer of Moses were both presumptuous and useless. Whosoever hath sinned against God, him will he blot out of his book.1 " None can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him."k Yet the intercession of Moses was effectual. God ' Exod. xxxii. 31, 32. e Numb. xi. 15. h Rom. ix. 3. ' Deut. xxxiii. 33. k Psalm xlix. 7- Lecture VIII. 159 said, that he would destroy the Israelites, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, as a champion in a besieged city, to turn away his wrath.1 And, that the zeal or the impatience of Moses, should cause him unadvisedly to express a desire, that his own name might be blotted from the book of life; that his faith in the promises of God should fail, or that he should presume, unbid den, to offer himself the just for the unjust; are suppositions all difficult to reconcile with the acceptance of his prayer, and with the acknowledged mode of Divine government under which he was placed. But the whole transaction becomes intel ligible and luminous, if we regard it as an event in which Moses was engaged, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, through his desire to restore the people to the favour of God; while the Prophet, perhaps unconsciously, although designedly, prefigured the voluntary sacrifice of Christ, who was cut off, but not for himself" On these two occasions we have seen Moses standing forth as a mediator ; the type of Christ the mediator of the new covenant. Another circumstance of resemblance is found in his priestly office, when he ratified that first cove- 1 Psalm cvi. 23'. m Dan. ix. 26. 160 Lecture VIII. nant with blood. " He took the book of the, covenant, and read in the audience of the peo ple: and they said, Ah that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient. And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you concern ing ah these words." When Christ established the eucharist, he made a pointed allusion to this ratification of the first covenant. " He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye ah of it : for this is my blood of the New Testament," or covenant, "which is shed for many for the remission of sins."0 The author of the epistle to the Hebrews, expressly reasons upon the correspondence be tween this dedication of the first covenant by Moses, not without blood, and the ratification of the second covenant by Christ with his own blood/ It is an act different from the sacrifices, which were made under the Mosaic law, although connected with them by a plain analogy. Without assuming the authority of revelation, we may not be able to shew, that in this act Moses was typical of Christ ; but guided by that revelation we " Exod. xxiv. 7, 8. ° Matt. xxvi. 27, 28. p Heb. ix. 19, 20. Lecture Vill. 161 know that he was : and certainly no other prophet ever appeared, who in this singular dedication could have been foreshadowed. III. There stih remains a remarkable pe culiarity, in which Moses was a living type of Christ ; the regal authority with which he was invested. No one of the other prophets was king, except David ; who, in many instances, himself typified the Messiah. But of Moses probably it is declared, " He was king in Jeshurun," or Israel/ "when the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel were gathered together." r To what extent and with what precise limita tions the title of king is thus ascribed to Moses, it is not material here to enquire. Nor wih the conclusion be materially affected, if these words should be interpreted so as to refer, not to Moses, but to God himself. It is sufficient that Moses was invested with the kingly office, as is manifest from his whole history; that he was entrusted under God with the supreme power, with the au thority of imposing and executing laws; that he was the leader of the armies of Israel, the chosen instrument for first consecrating the priests and their holy places, and the presider over their national assembhes. « Deut. xxxii. 15. r Deut. xxxiii. 5. 162 Lecture VIII. If now we are to search for a prophet like unto Moses, where shall we look for one, who unites to his other high qualifications the eminent dignity of king? David alone of those prophets, who are recorded in the Old Testament, was so exalted : but David was not a lawgiver, nor a mediator, nor a priest. He knew not God face to face. He per formed no miracle ; he was not like Moses in ah the signs and wonders which God sent him to do, nor in ah that mighty hand and great terror which Moses showed in the sight of ah Israel/ In Christ only, the Son and Lord of David, is the type completed in all its fulness. If Moses was king in Israel, Christ is set as a king upon the holy hill of •Sion/ Of him, the Messiah the Prince," was it declared long before he came upon the earth; "The government shah be upon his shoulder : and his name shah be cahed Won derful, Counsehor, The mighty God, The ever lasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shah be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth, even for ever."" These splen- 3 Deut. xxxiv. 12. * Psalm ii. 6. u Dan. ix. 25. x Isai. ix. 6, 7- Lecture VIII. 163 did assertions are not applied to Christ in the looseness of figurative expression : they are not the effusions of a poetic imagination; but the sober realities of truth. The words are lofty, for the conceptions which they convey are divine. The same testimony to the regal character of Christ, thus given by the spirit of pro phecy, was borne to him while upon earth. He received, without a rebuke, the acknow ledgment of Nathaniel, " Thou art the Son of God, thou art the King of Israel." y That he was Christ a king, was one of the accusations under which he suffered. And he replied, with a dignified affirmation, to the question of Pilate, demanding if he were a king/ But stih more emphatic are the terms in which his exaltation is expressed, since his ascension into the glories of heaven. God hath " set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above ah principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come ; and hath put ah things under his feet." a " God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name y John i. 49. z Luke xxiii. 2, 3. * Ephes. i. 20, 21,22. L 2 164 Lecture VIII. of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the -earth : and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." b Hear also the words of him, to whom was opened, in vision, some faint view of the majesty with which Christ is invested on high : " I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the beasts and the elders : and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands ; saying, with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to re ceive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and bless ing. And every creature which is in hea ven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and ah that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever."0 Before distinctions and glories such as these, the highest earthly honours vanish away. Human types are, indeed, but shadows com pared with the splendid realities of such an antitype. Stih, it has pleased the Almighty, " Phil. ii. 9, 10, 11. ' Rev. v. 11... 13. Lecture VIII. 165 that this inconceivable exaltation, should be made the subject of prophecy and of type. As Moses represented and predicted Christ as a prophet, as a worker of miracles, as a law giver, and as a mediator; so we conceive he foreshadowed, in his regal character, the ma jesty of Christ, to whom all power is given in heaven and in earth. IV. But besides the general features of similarity, which have already been noticed, there exist other minute coincidences in the characters of Moses and Christ, which, al though, perhaps, insufficient as grounds of proof in themselves, afford strong confirma tion of the designed connection between the type and antitype/ As Moses was preserved in his infancy from the danger of that death, to which those of his own age were exposed, so was Christ rescued from the massacre of the infants made by He rod. As " by faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be cahed the son of Pharaoh's daughter ; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the plea sures of sin for a season;"6 so Christ, when tempted by the great adversary, refused all the d See Jortin, General Preface to Ecclesiastical History, p. 282... 290. Eusebius, Demonstratio Evangelica, Lib. iii. §. 2. e Heb. xi. 25. 166 Lecture VJII. kingdoms of the world and the glory of them.' When Moses had been driven by the tyranny of the king, to flee from Egypt into the land of Midian, and was cahed of God to return to his countrymen, "The Lord said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt, for all the men are dead which sought thy life."6 When Christ, in his infancy, had been driven by similar tyranny into the land of Egypt, and when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, almost in the very words which the Spirit had already ap plied to Moses, " Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel ; for they are dead which sought the young child's life."h Moses and Christ both fasted during the same period of forty days and forty nights.1 Moses fed the people with manna; Christ with bread miraculously augmented: Moses sent out twelve men to spy out the land,k the precursors of that conquest over Canaan, which should afterwards be accomplished: f Matt. iv. 8. « Exod. iv. 19. h Matt. ii. 19, 20. Compare the Septuagint version of Exod. iv. 19 t eOvtinaat yap rrdvTcs ol fpjToiI»T(! too Ttjv \j/v^tjv with Matt. ii. 19, 20. T£0i/f;Ya Lectures, Chap. xvii. Book I. 18. Lecture X. 219 This correspondence is confirmed, in a re markable manner, by the terms which, in Scrip ture, designate Christ. David and Christ stand in the same relation, with respect to Jesse: the one as type, the other as antitype. Hence, the Messiah is often denominated David, and spoken of as the son of Jesse.1 Solomon and Christ stand in the same relation, with respect to David: the one as type, the other as antitype. Hence, the Messiah is often de nominated the Son of David. But the Mes siah is never cahed, either in Scripture, or by the Jews, the Son of Solomon, because no such son was distinguished as a hving representa tive of Cbrist.m All these considerations lead to one con clusion: that David and Solomon, in addition to the great designs which they were made instrumental in accomphshing, were raised up by the Almighty to prefigure the Messiah : and that the prefigurations were, in every re spect, completed in Jesus Christ. 1 Isai. xi. 1, 10. m See Bp. Chandler's Defence, Chap. iii. Sect. 3. LECTURE XI. THE BRASEN SERPENT. John iii. 14, 15. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Soti of man be lifted up : that whosoever be lieveth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. Having already considered those historical types of Christ, which are mentioned in Scripture, and corroborated by prophecies, delivered before the appearance of the antitype, and subsequently fulfilled, we may now turn to those typical per sons and events, which are ratified by the com pletion of prophecy, delivered by him who pre fers a claim to the character of the antitype. One prominent event of this nature, is the erec tion of the brasen serpent by Moses. The existence of a preconcerted connection between two series of events may be revealed with various degrees of precision. Their mu tual relation may be so strongly marked, and so plainly asserted, that no one who believes the Lecture Xf. 221 authority of the writings, in which they are re corded, can doubt its reality. Or, on the other hand, although great similarity may exist, the intentional connection may be so faintly pointed out, that the most ardent mind may reasonably hesitate before it wdl draw the conclusion, that the one was designedly intended to prefigure the other. And, between the two extremes, there may be conceived any number of intermediate gradations. Now, it is certain, that the lifting up of the brasen serpent is not plainly declared, either in the Old or New Testament, to have been or dained by God, purposely to represent, to the Israehtes, the future mysteries of the Gospel revelation. And there appears no sufficient ground for concluding, that the serpent was such a type of Christ, as some men of fervid imagination have been anxious to shew, by an enumeration of fanciful resemblances. Stih, some kind of connection between the two events seems to be intimated by Christ him self. And that intimation is made the founda tion of a very remarkable prophecy, accurately fulfilled. We may, therefore, institute a cau tious and unprejudiced enquiry, in order to dis cover what degree of preconcerted connection is set forth in Scripture, between the lifting up of the serpent, and the lifting up of the Son of 222 Lecture XI. man. If any such connection were assumed by Christ, before the second event took place, the accompanying prophecy, since completed, invests his interpretation with infallible au thority. And even if the inferred connection should be too shght to justify the conclusion, that the one event clearly prefigured the other, we still shah find, in the exact prophecy of Christ, one of those incontrovertible proofs, upon which the reality of his divine mission is founded. The history of the brasen serpent is well known. When the time appointed for the wan dering of the Israehtes, in the wilderness, had nearly expired, the murmuring of the people, which had long been directed against Moses and his family, at length broke out into open rebel lion against the Most High. " They journeyed from mount Hor, by the way of the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom,"a through which they had in vain attempted to procure a pas sage/ Their steps were thus turned once more from the promised land of Canaan; " and. the soul of the people was much discouraged be cause of the way. And the people spake against God and against Moses, saying, Where fore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness ? For there is no bread, nei- * Numb. xxi. 4— 9. * Numb. xx. 14. . .21. Lecture XI. 22:5 ther is there any water, and our soul loatheth this light bread." Their impiety was soon visited with a special judgment. "The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people : and much people of Israel died. Therefore the people," terrified at the fearful visitation, "came to Moses and said, We have sinned: for we have spoken against the Lord and against thee: pray unto the Lord that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent," in form and colour hke those which had been the instru ments in producing the plague, "and set it upon a pole," or, perhaps, set it up for a sign :e " And it shah come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shah live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole : and it came to pass, that if a ser pent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he hved." Such is the simple and brief narration of this miraculous event. Of the fact itself there can be no doubt. Many experienced the salutary effects in the heahng of their deadly wounds : and thousands were witnesses of its efficacy. The brasen serpent itself was, for many cen turies, preserved among the people as a memorial * See Kidder's Demonstr. of the Messiah, Book I. chap. vii. 224 Lecture XI. of the event/ Neither can there be any doubt, that the cure was supernatural. The Jews themselves weh knew, that the effect was not produced, as has been fancifully asserted, by any subtle incantation/ nor by any human art, but by the power of God alone. They regarded the serpent as " a sign of salvation, to put them in remembrance of the commandment of the law." For they knew that "he that turned himself toward it was not saved by the thing that he saw, but by Him who is the Saviour of all."f Some of them, calling to mind the various pro mises, which had been made of old time to their fathers, instructed to look for that seed of the woman, which should bruise the serpent's head/ deeply feeling, in their own hearts, their need of a physician, who should heal them of the plague of sin, knowing how strictly the Israelites were forbidden to make any image, and yet that Moses was expressly commanded to make this,11 d 2 Kings xviii. 4. e Sir John Marsham attempted to shew, that the brasen serpent was a talisman. Canon Chronic. JEgypt. Saecul. X. Sect. 9. See Calmet ; Bible on Numb. xxi. 8. The notion is confuted in Shuckford's Connection, Book. XII. f Wisdom xvi. 6, 7- ' Gen. iii. 15. h As early as the second century of the Christian JEra, the Jews acknowledged, that they could give no account of this apparent contradiction, unless the fact were considered typical of some future blessings. Justin Martyr, Dial, cum Tryphone, p. 322. B. Fol. Paris, 1636. See also Fagius on Numb. xxi. 9- Lecture XI. 225 might even regard the serpent in the same light in which many of the Jews have since regarded it, as a sacramental emblem of some higher blessing, which it prefigured. But no intima tion occurs in the canonical Scriptures of the Old Testament, that the miracle had a designed reference to any subsequent event. From the day in which Hezekiah destroyed the image, and cahed it Nehushtan, a brasen bauble, we read no more of that serpent, until the day when Christ Jesus held his conference with Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. On that memorable occasion, he discoursed on subjects of the deepest interest. Founding his instruction on the acknowledged authority of those miracles, which proved him to be a teacher come from God, Christ opened to the astonished ears of the teacher of Israel, the wonders of the spiritual world. The necessity of a new birth, the difference between that which is born of the flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit, were laid down with the accuracy of perfect knowledge. Christ claimed to himself a degree of wisdom and power, to which no mere man could ever pre tend. Nicodemus was no . stranger to the em phatic question proposed by Agur, " Who hath ascended up into heaven or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists ? who hath P 226 Lecture XI. bound the waters in a garment ? who hath esta blished all the ends of the earth ? what is his name and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell ?" ' But such knowledge was too excehent for unassisted reason to attain. The question remained a hard saying which none could an swer, until Christ then declared, that " no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man, which is in heaven." k Having thus laid the sure grounds on which his high commission rested, Christ proceeds to speak, in the spirit of pro phecy, of the causes which the mercy of God has rendered efficacious for the salvation of fahen man ; the meritorious cause, his own sufferings and death, and the instrumental cause, sincere faith in those to whom the doctrine is propounded. Christ conveys this instruction to Nicodemus, by referring to the erection of the brasen serpent. " As Moses lifted up the ser pent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be hfted up : that whosoever beheveth in him should not perish but have eternal life." Here, then, we find one, acknowledged to be a teacher come from God, in the beginning of his ministry, instructing a disciple well learned in ah the customs and history of the Jews, by the delivery of a prophecy, the com- 1 Prov. xxx. 4. k John iii. IS. Lecture XI. 227 pletion of which depended upon the similarity between the things which he was to suffer, and a wonderful and notorious event in the previous history of the Jewish nation. And in this prophetic assertion, two distinct circumstances of resemblance are pointed out ; the outward act ; the lifting up of the Son of man, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness ; and the benefit, which the free mercy of God extended to those who looked with faith upon this sym bol of salvation.1 The words in which the first part of this prophecy is expressed, are sufficiently clear to prevent any ambiguity in the apphcation of them. The term, "to lift up," m apphed to the death of the cross, was so frequently used in that sense, that its meaning here cannot be mistaken : but being a figurative expression, it possessed precisely the degree of uncertainty which would prevent its exact signification from being known, untd interpreted by the event. On two other occasions, our Saviour employed the same words for the same purpose. He re ferred the Jews for a more perfect knowledge of his mission, to the time when they should 1 'ZiixftoXov craiTtip'iat. Wisdom xvi. 6. m See Pearson on the Creed, Art. IV. p. 200. Fol. 1676. Bochart. Hierozoicon. Lib. IV. Cap. xiii. p. 426. Schleusner. in voc. v-^/ow. P 2 228 Lecture XL have " lifted up the Son of man." " And at another time he declared, " I, if I be lifted up from the earth, wih draw ah men unto me." And " this" we know " he said, signifying what death he should die." ° When, therefore, Christ said, " as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up," he declared it to be determined in the Divine counsels, that he, who alone had come down from heaven, "who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God," had now made himself of no reputation, and taken upon himself the form of a servant, and had been made in the hkeness of man : and that, being found in fashion as a man, he should humble himself, and become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross/ Every man, who has read the undisputed narratives of the evangehsts, corroborated by the testimony even of their adversaries, knows how accurately this prediction was accomplished by the crucifixion of Christ. The resemblance between the two events, the hfting up of the serpent, and the hfting up of the Son of man, was perfect. Still it was a resemblance, which a mere conjecture of Christ could hardly have devised ; " John viii. 28. ° John xii. 32, 33. p Phil. ii. 6, 7, 8- Lecture XL 229 and which no sagacity could have anticipated, when the first event occurred; even if the general circumstances of the second event could have been contemplated. If an Israelite had conceived the idea of a prophet exciting the animosity of his country men, so as at length to be put to death at their instigation, the hfting up of the serpent would have conveyed to others no adequate notion of such a transaction. The fulfilment implied a most important pohtical change. Crucifixion was not a Jewish, but a Roman, punishment. If Christ were gudty of blasphemy, of which they afterwards accused him, they had a law, and by that law he ought to die/ But death for such a crime would be inflicted by stoning/ It had been revealed, however, in the prophets and in the law, that the Messiah should suffer death upon the cross : and the fate of empires was so ordered as to complete the designs of Divine wisdom. And Christ himself, to whom the Spirit was given without measure, knew from the beginning all things which must be fulfilled : and what he foresaw he also foretold. He knew, and he declared, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, and chief priests, and scribes:5 that they should condemn him to death, and ' John xix. 7- ' Lev. xxiv. 14, 16. ' Matt. xvi. 21. 230 Lecture XI. " dehver him to the Gentiles, to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him.'" And with full consciousness of this termination of his earthly ministry, he declared to Nicodemus, " As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up." The prophecy, thus delivered by Christ, ap pears also to ihustrate the previous narrative of the sacred volume. There seems to be no assignable connection, between the lifting up of a brasen serpent, and the cure of those who had been bitten. It is not necessary to suppose, as some have done, that looking upon the serpent of brass would have naturally aggravated the deadly symptoms. But it is evident, that to cast a look upon such a representation had no intrinsic effect in producing the cure. To account for the benefit received, it might be Sufficient to refer to the uncontrollable will of God, who will have mercy upon whom he will have mercy, by the means which his sovereign wisdom dictates. But it has pleased him, even in his miraculous acts, often to render his ways in some degree visible and intehigible : to work by means, to which He has attached some ordinary efficacy. To purify the waters of Marah by casting into them a tree/ or those of ' Matt. xx. 18, lp. u Exod. xv. 2.5. Lecture XI. 231 Jericho by infusing salt ; *• to heal a leprosy by washing in the waters of Jordan/ or a grievous bod by the apphcation of a vegetable prepara tion/ were ah instances, among many others, in which the immediate power of God was ex hibited by preternaturahy augmenting the effect of the natural means employed. Upon other occasions, the effectual fervent prayer of a right eous man was immediately answered, by the cure of the sick, or the restoration of the dead to life : the blessing, ordinarily promised to the prayer of faith, being thus increased, and bestowed in an extraordinary manner. But in the desert it pleased the Almighty to appoint an instrument, which in itself had manifestly no influence in producing the cure. The thing which the wounded Israelites saw could never save them. If the serpent had no reference to any future event, there is no apparent connec tion between the means and the end. If we conceive it to have designedly prefigured the lifting up of Christ upon the cross, this connec tion is supphed. Although they who were bitten could not be cured by the thing which they saw, they might be, and on this supposi tion they were, cured by Him who is the Sa viour of all. 1 2 Kings ii. 21. y 2 Kings w 14. 1 2 Kings xx. ~. Isai. xxxviii. 21. 232 Lecture XI. From the mode, then, in which Christ intro duces the mention of the brasen serpent, from the manner in which the very pecuhar prophecy of his own death is connected with it, from the accurate resemblance in the external circum stances, and from the absence of ah other assign able connection between the means employed and the cure effected, it seems highly probable, that the lifting up of the serpent in the wilder ness, was intended to prefigure the lifting up of the Son of man. The conclusion, thus deduced from the cor respondence in the external acts of the two events, is confirmed by the similarity in the effects which were produced, expressly pointed out by Christ : " As Moses hfted up the ser pent in the wdderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up : that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life." By the sin of our first parents, ah mankind were far gone from original righteousness. In Adam all died. The sting of death, sin, was deeply fixed in our nature ; and man lay ex posed to the wrath of God, unable, by his own power, to raise himself from this state of misery: aptly represented by the fainting Israelites, extended upon the desert, dying with the mortal bite of the fiery serpents. But behold the mercy and loving-kindness of God. Lecture XL 233 Whde we were yet sinners, God sent into the world the promised seed of the woman, who should bruise the serpent's head. He gave his own Son to be made sin for us, although him self without sin/ to take upon him our nature, to pass a hfe of privation and suffering ; to bear our griefs and carry our sorrows ; to be de spised, and rejected, and buffeted, and scourged, and to suffer death upon the cross : that as Moses hfted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so the Son of man should be lifted up; and that when so hfted up, he should draw ah men unto him. And the means, by which, as in Adam all died, even so in Christ ah should be made ahve, were precisely simdar to those by which the brasen serpent, erected by Moses, was made effi cacious to heal the Israehtes. It was an act of faith, to which the wisdom of God attached an exclusive blessing. No other remedy was pro vided for the wounded Israelites, than to look upon the sign which Moses hfted up. Salva tion is now proposed by no other means than by faith in the blood of Christ, who was in hke manner lifted up upon the cross. Ah who looked upon the serpent of brass lived. All who believe in Christ shah not perish, but have eternal life. They who tempted and rebelled * 2 Cor. v. 21. 234 Lecture XL against Christ in the wdderness, were destroyed of the serpents/ They who now tempt and rebel against him, by neglecting his revealed word, have no promise, and, therefore, can have no ground for hope, that they wih be enabled effectually to resist "that old serpent, which deceiveth the whole world."0 Without pursuing the comparison by a de-: duction of any more minute coincidences, these resemblances are sufficient to shew a remarkable correspondence, between the effects produced by the elevation of the serpent in the wdderness, and the hfting up of Christ upon the cross. And the correspondence, being predicted by Christ himself, arises from no ingenious accom modation of circumstances accidentally simdar. Christ, while dehvering an undoubted prophecy, clearly fulfilled, points out the lifting up of the serpent in the wdderness, and the cure per formed by it, as an event to which the circum stances and consequences of his own death should be hke. In order, therefore, to fulfil the prophecy, as it was fulfilled, the two series of events were, by the Providence of God, to be made to correspond. And it is difficult to con ceive any correspondence, unless, either the ser pent, when it was so lifted up, intentionally prefigured the future death of Christ upon h I Cor. x. 9. c Rev. xii. 9. Lecture XI. 235 the cross, or that death were adapted, if we may so speak, to an event previously indifferent. Now the lifting up of Christ on the cross was not an isolated fact. It was the great event so long predicted in the prophets,4 and foreshadowed in the law/ Christ himself con tinually referred, during his life, to this termi nation of his ministry : and his fohowers, after his death, preached what was a stumbling-block to the Jew, and foolishness to the Greek/ as the foundation of ah their hopes. When so vast a fabric harmonizes, in this manner, with a single event, we ean scarcely avoid the conclusion, that the correspondence was designed from the be ginning : that the connection between the hft ing up of the serpent in the wdderness, and the hfting up of the Son of man upon the cross, was preconcerted, and therefore typical. But whatever opinion may be formed re specting the typical character of the brasen ser pent, indicated in the words of Christ, the prac tical doctrine, which those words convey, is of the highest interest to ah. There are few doctrines which have been more opposed, than that which attaches such pre-eminent importance to belief in Christ. Endless are the cavils and discussions to which * Zech. xii. 10. Psalm xxii. 16, 17- « Exod. xii. 46. See Lect. XIV, XV, XVI. ' 1 Cor. i. 23. 236 Lecture XI. it has given rise. But surely it is not for man to supply the secret connection, which the Almighty counsels have established, between an act performed, and the benefit received. No Israehte, burning with the wound of the fiery serpent, would have stayed to make the enquiry, " how can these things be ?" before he looked up to the sign of salvation erected by God's command, that by looking he might hve. The act of looking, might originally have been an indifferent act. But God commanded it to be performed ; and it then became a duty. So it is in spiritual things. God has thought fit, in his unerring wisdom, to make faith in his Son the indispensable means of salvation, to ah those to whom the doctrine is propounded. The benefits freely proposed are incomparably greater than any which this world can offer: the pardon of sin ; release from eternal death ; the gift of everlasting hfe. What should be said of that man, who, instead of searching the revealed wih of God to know, with certainty, whether these things be so, and receiving with thanksgiving such inestimable benefits, will con tinue to harden himself in sin, and refuse his assent, because he cannot precisely comprehend the mode, in which the rehef is conferred ? Yet this is the conduct of thousands. If, then, the Son of man were hfted up, Lecture XI. 237 "that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life ;" if by grace we are saved, through faith, and that not of our selves, since it is the gift of God : g it is most important, that we ah consider whether we have this faith or not. Now to say, we beheve, is most easy and most common. We are all Christians in name. And God alone can read the heart, and know how fervent and how effec tual is the behef of any man. But there is one criterion by which ah may, in some degree, judge of the insincerity of faith. No faith is sincere, which does not produce the fruits of a holy, pure, rehgious, charitable hfe. "A good man, out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things : and an evil man, out of the evil treasure, bringeth forth evd things/"1 Actions, therefore, and actions only, shew to other men the truth and sincerity of reh gious principles. And if any man affect to possess a saving faith, whfle he indulges in the known practice of unrepented sin, the reply to his pretensions is made in the words of Saint James : " What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?" "Faith, if it hath not works, is dead being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have * Ephes. ii. 8. " Matt. xii. 35. 238 . Lecture XL works : shew me thy faith without thy works, and I wih shew thee my faith by my works." ! To those who thus sincerely, although im perfectly, endeavour to fohow the precepts of our holy religion, the doctrine of the atonement is full of comfort. They feel, hke the Israehtes, the mortal bite of sin. They feel their moral strength fail. They know how widely the poison is spread : that the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. Stih wih they raise the eye of faith to Him who was lifted up, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wdderness, that whosoever beheveth in him should not perish, but have eternal hfe. They wih contem plate the wonderful love of God thus shewed to his creatures. They wih receive " the ministry of reconciliation : to wit, that God was in Christ, reconcihng the world unto himself, not im puting their trespasses unto them:" "for he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteous ness of God in him."k * James ii. 14, 17, 18. k 2 Cor. v. 19, 21. LECTURE XII. JONAH A TYPE OF CHRIST. Matt. xii. 40. As Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly ; so shall the Son of man be three days and three inghts in the heart of the earth. In the same manner in which Christ pro phetically indicated the circumstances of his death, by a reference to the erection of the brasen serpent in the wilderness, he predicted the wonderful fact of his resurrection, by a corresponding ahusion to the miraculous deli verance of the prophet Jonah. This prophecy affords indisputable proof of the Divine mis sion of Jesus : whde the mode, in which it is dehvered, appears to point out the remarkable coincidence between the history of Jonah, and the circumstances attending the resurrection of Christ, as the result of design. On more than one occasion/ the Jews, un satisfied and unconvinced by the numerous "¦ Matt. xvi. 1, 4. Luke xi. 16. 240 Lecture XII. miracles which Christ had performed before their eyes, came to him, and required a sign; some token from heaven,b such as other pro phets had exhibited/ and such as the promised Messiah was expected to perform:4 a sign so manifest, and so decisively supernatural, as at once to remove every doubt. But the wisdom of God, which furnishes proof enough to sa tisfy the unprejudiced enquiry of the humble mind, wih in no wise deviate from the course which seems good to Him, in order to remove the obstinacy of unbelief. Of ah the wdes of infidelity, not one is more deceitful, than that which continually demands some newer and fuller proof, after sufficient evidence has been given. They, who refused to give cre dence to the merciful words and mighty works of Christ, would readdy have found some sub terfuge to elude conviction, had the very sign- which they demanded been immediately af forded. But although the ways of heaven were not, and could not be, the ways of man, God would not leave himself without witness. Christ promised them a sign : not, indeed, the sign from heaven which their presumption re- b Luke xi. 16. c Exod. ix. 22. Josh. x. 12. 1 Sam. vii. 9, 10. 2 Kings i. 10. d Dan. vii. 9 — 14. Lecture XII. 241 quired: but a sign greater than any which had before been shewn; in which heaven and earth should bear testimony to the divine cha racter of Him who predicted and accomplished it. Jesus "answered, and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shah no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's behy, so shah the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." It is scarcely possible for any prophecy to be expressed in terms more clear than these. The facts ahuded to were weh known to the Jews : they were contained in the volume of their canonical Scripture, which the Pha risees, and Scribes, and Sadducees ah received with implicit deference. In that sacred book they read/ that Jonah was commanded to " go to Nineveh, and cry against it:" but that he disobeyed the divine command; and rose up to flee from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa, and entered into a ship to go to Tarshish. "But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken." The mariners then " Jonah i. Q 242 Lecture XII. took counsel in their fear, and cast lots that1 they might know for whose cause the evd had come upon them : and the lot feh upon Jonah. The prophet acknowledged his guilt to be the cause of the great tempest which was upon them; and offered himself as a voluntary ex piation. The mariners reluctantly yielded to necessity. " The men rowed hard to bring" the ship " to the land, but they could not :" and, having prayed to the Lord not to lay upon them innocent blood, they "took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea; and the sea ceased from her raging." But "the Lord had prepared a great fish to swahow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the behy of the fish three days and three nights ;"f again, "the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land."g All this was weh known to the Jews, whom our Lord addressed. Whatever, therefore, was the precise nature of the sign which Jesus pro mised, it's general features were marked with sufficient accuracy. The simdarity could not be complete, unless the Son of man gave him self a voluntary and satisfactory offering for sin ; were kept in the heart of the earth, three days and three nights, and at the end of that time restored, as Jonah was, to hfe. The evil ' Jonah i. 17- B Jonah ii. 10. Lecture XII. 243 and adulterous generation of the Jews might not understand the fuh import of this and other prophecies of Christ, predicting his re surrection after three days' imprisonment in the tomb: but, when he had been crucified and slain, they weh remembered that such had been the tenor of his words : for " the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pdate, saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, whde he was yet ahve, After three days I wih rise again ;"h and they endeavoured, with impotent precaution, to prevent the completion of the sign. The fulfilment of the prophecy was as ac curate as the prediction was circumstantial. One sign of the prophet Jonah had been already actuahy shewn by Christ, and by no other person. For he too had slept amidst ah the terrors of a storm; had been awakened by his alarmed companions in their anxiety for their safety; and had convinced them, that he was indeed- a prophet, by causing the wind to cease, and ahaying the raging of the waves.1 But a greater sign was stih to come. As Jonah was judged by the very persons for whose dehverance he offered his hfe a ransom; so was Christ brought before his own, who re ceived him not. As the mariners delayed to h Matt, xxvii. 62, 6$. ' Matt. viii. 23—27- q2 244 Lecture XII. execute sentence upon Jonah ; so the governor himself, who condemned Christ, made fruitless efforts to save him; and endeavoured to ex culpate himself from the guilt of innocent blood/ As the effects of God's temporal judg ment ceased, when the prophet Jonah was cast into the sea; so his wrath was turned away from a guilty world by the death of Christ. As Jonah was given up to destruction; so Christ suffered, was dead, and buried. But the holy One of God saw not corruption. At the predicted time, he broke the bands of death, under which it was not possible he should be retained, and shewed himself ahve by many infallible proofs. It would be superfluous, on the present occasion, to dwell at any length upon the evidence, by which this fundamental part of our holy faith is estabhshed. Friends and ene mies, the keepers who did shake and become as dead men, the angels from heaven who de clared that Christ was risen, testified to the world the reahty of this great event. He held converse with those who had known him per sonally before his death ; being seen of them forty days.1 He was seen of Peter, then of the twelve: after that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once;1" of whom the " Matt, xxvii. 24. ' Acts i. 3. m 1 Cor. xv. 5, 6. Lecture XII. 245 greater part were appealed to as living wit nesses, by those, who, forsaking all their usual employments, submitted to persecution and danger, and death, that they might pubhsh the fact. To be a witness of this, was the principal qualification of the apostolic office: to preach the resurrection, the principal part of the apostolic duties. Upon this they built ah their hopes of present influence, and future glory. If there be one fact estabhshed upon sure grounds, that fact is the resurrection of Christ. We know, then, and are weh assured, that Christ, at different times during his hfe, pre dicted his own death, and that after three days he should rise again : that one of those pre dictions was founded upon a comparison in time and circumstances, between the deliver ance of the prophet Jonah from the fish, which God had prepared to swahow him up, and that of Christ from the heart of the earth: and that this prediction was fulfilled by a miracle, to which even the volume of Scripture itself affords no parallel. Whatever interpretation Christ, who so prophesied, and so rose from the dead, put upon the words of Scripture, that interpre tation we must receive as indisputably true. And it is to be considered, whether the studied 246 Lecture XII. introduction of so singular a fact, into the pre-> diction of an event stih more astonishing, does not indicate some kind of preconcerted con nection between the two events. Now there is something very remarkable in finding this narrative of the prophet Jonah, and this only, among the canonical Scriptures of the Jews. In those writings, we might ex pect to find most fully recorded, and most carefuhy preserved, the prophecies which im mediately relate to themselves. And this is the case with the other prophets of the Old Testament. Their predictions related either directly, or indirectly, to the Israehtes. Those inspired men prophesied to the selected people of God, and laboured principally to keep alive the expectation of the coming of the Messiah. Yet many of their predictions immediately ap plied to the temporal affairs of their country men ; or foretold to them the fate of those powerful enemies, whose pohtical state had the greatest influence upon their national wel fare. Now the book of Jonah refers not to the Israelites. Although he was a prophet in Israel as early as the days of Jeroboam, the son of Joash," the words of the prophecies, in which he promised peace to the afflicted people, have v " 2 Kings xiv. 25. Lecture XII. 247 .not been written and preserved, by the Spirit of God, for the instruction of after ages. The recorded prophecies which he delivered, and the warnings, which he was commissioned to preach, were directly addressed to a distant and a hostile people : and they were addressed without producing an effect which had much, if any, influence upon the Jewish nation. The prophet was cahed from his own country, and his father's house, and was compehed to do the Lord's bidding. He fled from the presence of the Lord : and was miraculously taken from the course which he had proposed to himself; rescued from impending destruction; and sent to preach to the city of Nineveh. The Ninev- ites repented at the preaching of Jonah : " And God saw their works, that they turned from their evd way ; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them ; and he did it not."0 The only addition which is made to this narration, in any part of Scrip ture, is the history of the anger, and reproof of the prophet, when the punishment which he had predicted was suspended. The book of the prophet Jonah, then, has this singularity ; it has no immediate connec tion with the history of the Israelites, among whose Scriptures it is recorded ; whde the pro- 0 Jonah iii. 10. 248 Lecture XII. pliecies of Jonah, to themselves, are not so pre served. Stih, the miracle performed in the preserva tion of Jonah, the detail of which forms so large a part of the history, and is related with scru pulous minuteness, stamps an importance upon the whole transaction; and, undoubtedly, was neither performed nor recorded in vain. Yet it may be doubted/ whether the miracle was ever advanced by Jonah, as affording the cre dentials of his high commission to the people of Nineveh ; or as corroborating his claims to the title of a prophet in his own country. Both the history, and the miracle, appear to stand, in the Old Testament, as events unac companied by any direct consequence. The observation of this fact would natu rally lead us to look beyond the history itself, for its full explanation. And the analogy, sug gested by a careful perusal of the other books of the Old Testament, would further direct our enquiry to some part of the Gospel dis pensation, to see if any connection can be dis covered between the transactions in which Jonah was engaged, and any subsequent events. That very connection appears to be indi cated in the prophecy of Christ. His assertion brings together, on indisputable authority, two p Compare Matt. xii. 39—41. xvi. 4. Luke xi. 29, SO, 32. Lecture XII. 249 .distant and astonishing events, as objects of comparison: the exactness of the correspond ence being the measure of the accuracy with which the prophecy was to be fulfilled. The sign of the prophet Jonas was no ordinary sign. Since the ereation of the world, it was not heard, that any other man had come in such perd of his hfe, and been so miraculously pre served. No other event afterwards occurred, in any degree similar. Yet Christ singled out this remarkable sign, as connected with the conclusive evidence of his divine commission. "An evd and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shah no sign be given to it but the sign of the prophet Jonas. For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's behy, so shah the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." Between the sign shewn by Jonah, and the sign afterwards exhibited in the re surrection of Christ, the correspondence is most exact. The similarity is so perfect, both in the circumstances, which are very peculiar, and in the time, in which there is nothing remark able, except its coincidence with this and other predictions/ that it could hardly have escaped the notice of any person who became acquainted with the two events after their completion. « Hosea vi. 2. John ii. 19, 21. Mark x. 34. 250 Lecture XII. But the very closeness of the resemblance, which would render subsequent observation comparatively easy, entirely removes the sup position of any conjectural apphcation, before the fulfilment. Jesus knew that Jonah had been swallowed up, and restored to life after three days. But He only, who knoweth all things, could have known, that in like man ner, Jesus should be buried, and in three days should rise again : and He only, with whom all things are possible, could have fulfilled the pre diction, by so raising up Jesus on the third day. Thus the narrative, contained in the book of the prophet Jonah, is connected with the events of the gospel history: and we can scarcely avoid concluding, that the Providence of God, which preserved his prophet from de struction, and recorded the circumstances of his delivery, directed the course of that mira culous event, so as to prefigure the death and burial of Christ, and the very time during which his body should be retained in the grave. The previous history of the prophet corres ponds, in a remarkable manner, with the events of the life of Christ ; and the repentance of the heathen Ninevites, at the preaching of Jonah, formed no faint emblem of the con version of the gentile world to the true faith; a work which was first commanded to be Lecture XII. 251 undertaken by the apostles of Christ, after his resurrection; and by preaching the resurrection was principahy effected. The book of the prophet Jonah, then, no longer appears as a portion of holy writ un connected with the general scheme of revela tion. It contained a shadow of good things to come. The typical event was not calcu lated, hke direct prophecy, to raise any pre vious expectation of the corresponding miracle in the Messiah's restoration to life; it might not, even when pointed out by our Lord, dis tinctly inform his hearers as to the precise degree of simdarity for which they were to look: but they who are now enabled, by the grace of God, to read in his word the whole series of his dealings with the world, will re ceive, from the evident and predicted connec tion of these two distant events, an accession of faith, a fresh confidence in their religious truth. They wih recognise the highest wis dom in recording and preserving this part of the history of Jonah. They wih consider the prophet, under the immediate and forcible con trol of a direct Providence, unwillingly made the instrument of warning the luxurious Ninev- ites to repentance, and unconsciously prefi guring, in his miraculous dehverance, the re surrection of his Saviour and his God. Thus, 252 Lecture XII. the more closely we examine the events re lated in Scripture, the more convincing proofs do we obtain, that one Providence has directed, and one Spirit recorded them. It is true, that the fact of the resurrec tion is not to be proved by prophecy, nor by type. That is estabhshed upon evidence alone. It is true, that the importance of the resur rection requires not to be corroborated by aids drawn from such a source: for that is suffi ciently apparent, from every page of the New Testament : it is the very corner-stone of the gospel fabric. But it is satisfactory to perceive the same great event gradually revealed to mankind, at sundry times, and in divers man ners. To behold Isaac received again from the dead, "in a figure,"1 and the sign of the pro phet Jonah circumstantially displaying the same important event. But the resurrection of Christ is not to be considered only as a miraculous fact, long pre dicted and prefigured. It is most intimately connected with all that we beheve, and ah that we hope. " If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, them also which sleep in Jesus, will God bring with him."8 One principal object of the Christian dis pensation was, to bring life and immortality ' Heb. xi. 19. ¦ 1 Thess. iv. 11. Lecture XII. 253 to light. Independently of revelation, man never did, nor ever could, know, with cer tainty, that death was not the termination of his existence. He might argue from an as sumed analogy between the material and spi ritual world. He might reflect upon the in trinsic difference between man, endowed with the power of thought, and the mere beasts that perish. He might breathe many an ardent aspiration after a futurity of happiness, and an endless improvement of his faculties : but his most successful labours served rather to nou rish his hopes, than to convince his judgment : they could do little more than shew the pos sibility of a future hfe after death. Even in the revelation which God made of his wih, the knowledge of a resurrection was not at first fully displayed. There were, doubtless, many holy men of understandings more en lightened than those of their fehows, who looked with confidence to the imphed promises of future glory. These knew that the right eous had hope in his death :' that when the dust returned to the earth as it was : the spirit returned to God who gave it/ They knew that death should be swallowed up in vic tory •/ that their dead men should hve/ and be ' Prov. xiv. 32. u Eccles. xii. 7- 1 Isai. xxv. 8. y Isai. xxvi. 19- 254 Lecture XII. ransomed from the power of the grave :* that they who sleep in the dust of the earth, should awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt:3 and they trusted, when they should awake, to be satis fied with the hkeness of God/ But it was not tdl Christ rose from the dead, and became the first-fruits of them that slept, that the full assurance of the nature and manner of the resurrection was made known to man. Since the resurrection of Christ, the high destinies of man have been clearly revealed. That which was contemplated only with timid hope, has become an object of definite and cer tain knowledge. No one wih now say, that it is a thing incredible, that God should raise the dead/ when Christ himself, in his human nature, has triumphed over the powers of dark ness. No one wih now say, that there will be no resurrection of the dead. For Christ himself, who so died and rose again, declares "the hour is coming, in which ah that are in the grave shall hear his voice, and shah come forth ; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life ; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.'"1 '¦ Hosea xiii. 14. » Dan. xii. 2. 11 Psalm xvii. 1.5. * Acts xxvi. 8. d John v. 28. Lecture XIL 255 In that judgment, then, shah the men of Nineveh rise up with this generation, and con demn it? "They repented at the preaching of Jonas." The first day, in which they heard the terrors of the Lord, was the first also which witnessed their contrition and amend ment. But, "behold, a greater than Jonas is here:"6 greater in his office, greater in his power. The judgment, which he threatens on the disobedient, is more fearful: the reward, which he promises to the obedient, more glo rious : the motives to repentance more noble : the means of grace more full and more effectual. We ah profess to look to the resurrection as the consummation of ah our hopes. But we can never reflect too frequently, that those promises of God, animating and encouraging as they are, are made only to the sincere, the penitent, and the reformed. To "them who, by patient continuance in weh doing, seek for glory, and honour, and immortality." f If we would attain the promises, some change, ana logous to the resurrection for which we look, must be begun, even in this life. We must be planted in the hkeness of his death, if we would be planted in the hkeness of his resur rection/ We must die to sin, and rise again ' Matt. xii. 41. ' Rom. ii. 7. * Rom. vi. 5. 256 Lecture XII. unto righteousness : we must cease to do evd, and learn to do well. We must mortify our members which are upon the earth. We must< here endeavour, by the use of ah the means, which the Providence of God has granted, to be transformed by the renewing of our minds,h to be made like our heavenly Saviour in humility, in piety, in the devotion of every thought and wish to the wih of God, if we would look with confidence to a happy resur rection hereafter. h Rom. xii. 2. LECTURE XIII. THE ALLUSION MADE BY OUR LORD TO THE MANNA GIVEN IN THE WILDERNESS TO THE ISRAELITES. John vi. 32, 33. Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven ; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the zoorld. The mode in which Christ here makes ahusion to the manna, which the Israehtes ate in the wdderness, is different from that in which he refers to the brasen serpent, and to the miracu lous preservation of the prophet Jonah. In the passages which contain those references, our Lord himself suggested the historical facts as subjects of comparison with the events, which he predicted at the same time. The selec tion, therefore, and the apphcation, were both made on his own authority ; ratified by the miracles which he had previously wrought, and confirmed by the completion of the ac companying prophecy. It has already been R 258 Lecture XIII. argued, that such a selection of those facts points them out as events designedly prefigura- tive of the corresponding events in the death and resurrection of Christ. But the same reasoning will not precisely ap ply to the subject of our present consideration. Upon attentively perusing the discourse, in which Christ compares his person and his doc trine, with ah its consequences, to the bread which came down from heaven, it wih be per ceived, that the subject was suggested by the observations of the Jews themselves, who first referred to that miraculous fact ; and it will, perhaps, appear more probable, that the ahusion which our Lord was thus led to make, and the comparison which he instituted, were intended rather to enforce his doctrine by an apposite ihustration, than to infer a preconcerted con nection, between the sending of the manna, and his own coming into the world. Still, as this allusion has often been con sidered to point out the manna as a designed type of Christ, was made the foundation of a direct prophecy, and is, at least, an instance in which Christ founded his own instruction to the Jews upon a well known event in their history ; its discussion may, without impropri ety, be introduced in this part of our present enquiry. Lecture XIII. 259 A brief review of the passage, in which the ahusion is contained, compared with some other discourses, in which our Lord introduced similar illustrations, wih be the easiest method of ascertaining the general import of the refer ence, and wih shew how naturally it arose out of the subject in question. Jesus had performed, in the desert of Beth- saida, one of his most mighty works, the only miracle which is recorded by ah the four evange lists. He had fed five thousand men with a few barley-loaves, and two fishes. He had again convinced his disciples, that he was the Son of God/ by walking upon the water, and calm ing the boisterous wind: and, having landed on the coast of Gennesaret, near to Caper naum, gave additional proof of his miraculous power, by making perfectly whole as many as were brought unto him, from the villages, or city, or country/ The day fohowing that on which the people had been miraculously sup plied with food, they who had witnessed the transaction, having in vain sought Jesus in the desert, took shipping and came to him to Ca pernaum : and having found him in the syna gogue/ they addressed him with surprise and reverence, and "said unto him, Rabbi, when 1 Matt. xiv. 33. b Matt. xiv. 36. Mark vi. 56. e John vi. 59. R 2 260 Lecture XIII. earnest thou hither?" If Jesus had been anx ious to satisfy incredulity, by multiplying the proofs of his Divine mission, he might now have referred the enquirers to the eye-witnesses, who had just seen him suspending, by his power, the estabhshed laws of nature. If he had sought personal aggrandisement, the re spect with which he was accosted, by the very men who would, the day before, have taken him by force, to make him a king,d might have been improved, in such a manner as to satisfy the most aspiring ambition. But the kingdom of Jesus was not of this world. As was customary in his discourses/ instead of answering their questions of curiosity, or courting popular applause, he chose rather to address himself immediately to the instruction of those with whom he conversed. He knew the heart, and declared, that they sought him, not from a thorough conviction of his Divine authority, so miraculously attested be fore them ; but because they did eat of the loaves and were filled. Then, adopting a figure familiar to the Jews/ and immediately sug gested by the subject of his discourse, he added, " Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth d John vi. 15. * Luke xiii. 23. John xii. 34. ' Psalm xix. 10. cxix. 103. Prov. ix. 5. Jer. xv. l6. Lecture XIII. 261 unto everlasting hfe, which the Son of man shah give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed,"8 with the Spirit: him hath He proved to be the Messiah, by the signs which He has enabled him to perform. The Jews understood the easy metaphor under which the instruction of Jesus was couched ; they knew, that the labourer was worthy of his hire ; and, according to their customs, might eat of the things in which he laboured, of the fruit of the vine, or of the fig-tree, or of the corn field/ They demand ed, therefore, in reply, upon what conditions they might partake of the blessings thus pro vided. " What shall we do," in what em ployment shah we engage, " that we might work the works of God," and thereby qualify ourselves for that food which endureth for ever? "Jesus answered, and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye beheve on him whom he hath sent." To believe, there fore, on him whom God the Father had so sealed, is the means of becoming a partaker of that heavenly food. This interpretation, given by Christ himself, wdl serve to explain the whole of the succeeding passage, in which the same course of illustration is pursued. But many of the Jews refused thus to be- s John vi. 27- h See Lightfoot on John vi. 262 Lecture XIII. heve. If Jesus had bid them do some great thing, they would perhaps have done it.1 But this simple doctrine, beheve and live, so differ ent from any which they had before heard, required, in their estimation, to be estabhshed by some greater proof. " They said, therefore, unto him," as at other times,k " What sign shewest thou, then, that we may see, and be lieve thee ? What dost thou work ?" AVe know that when the Messiah cometh, he shah be a prophet hke unto Moses, who shewed signs from heaven. Thou hast fed a multitude miraculously, by increasing the quantity of bread ; but Moses fed the whole people of Israel for forty years : " Our fathers did eat manna in the desert ; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat :" l and our tra ditions have led us to expect, that the latter Redeemer shah perform the same miracle/ The reply of Jesus was to this effect ; The very sign which ye demand is now exhibited before you. Moses gave you not the bread from heaven ; but my Father is giving you the true bread from heaven. For that is the bread of God, which is distinguished by two characteristic marks, "it cometh down from 1 2 Kings v. 13. k Matt. xii. 38. John ii. 18. 1 Psalm lxxviii- 24. m See Lightfoot on John vi. 31. Lecture XIII. 263 heaven, and giveth life," not to a selected few, but '"to the whole world." Many of the Jews now understood our Lord's discourse sufficiently to perceive how desirable were those blessings, which he pro mised under this inviting figure. They said, therefore, unto him, "Lord, evermore give us this bread." But they yet knew not precisely what they asked. Jesus, therefore, proceeded to explain, more fully, the sense of his assertion ; declaring that the two signs of the bread, which came down from heaven, were completed in himself. "Jesus saith unto them, I am the bread of hfe. He that cometh to me, shall never" spiritually " hunger ; and he that be lieveth on me, shall never thirst.'"1 Such per fect confidence shah he attain in the evidence of my mission, and such faith in my doctrines, that he shah become partaker in the ;blessings to be purchased by the atonement for sin, and the privdeges thereby obtained to the faithful. Ye demand a sign, that ye may see and beheve me. " But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and beheve not." Still, although ye beheve not, others wih. " Ah that the Father giveth me shah come to me ; and him that cometh to me, I wih in no wise cast out."0 Then Jesus declared, that he thus came down - John vi. 35. " Ver. 36, 37- 264 Lecture XIII. from heaven to do his Father's wih: and an nounced the particulars in which that wih con sisted. " The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven." p They considered him only as Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother they knew/ In answer to this objection, our Lord further declared the necessity of God's preventing and assisting grace, before any man could be induced to beheve and to obey. "No man can come to me, except God the Father draw him : and I wih raise him up at the last day."r The prophets of old time, taught you to look for this divine teaching in the latter days. " It is written in the prophets, And they shah be ah taught of God/ Every man, there fore, that hath heard, and hath learned -of the Father, cometh unto me. Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father."' Our Lord's discourse is thus brought back to the fact of his descent from heaven, as the bread of hfe. And he then proceeds to explain the manner in which the second characteristic of the true bread from heaven, the giving of life to the whole world, appertained to himself. » John vi. 41. ¦> Ver. 42. r Ver. 44. 1 Isai. liv. 13. * John vi. 45, 46. LfictuRE XIII. 265 "Verily, verdy, I say unto you, He that be lieveth on me, hath everlasting life : I am that bread of life. Your fathers did" indeed "eat manna in the wilderness, and" yet " are dead." u The manna in the wilderness, therefore, how ever miraculous, could not be truly that bread from heaven of which Jesus spake : for "this is" the property of " the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die. I am the hving bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shah hve for ever : and, the bread that I wih give is my flesh, which I wih give," not for the temporal preservation of a few indi viduals, but "for the" eternal "hfe of the" whole" world." x In these words, Christ gave a plain pro phecy of his own death, as an atonement for sin. But this doctrine appeared still more unintelligible, to many of the Jews, than the preceding. They put their own construction on the figurative words of Christ, as if he should give the flesh of his body to be eaten : and "strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"y Jesus, in reply, adopted their own interpreta tion of his words, repeated his former declara tion in stih more forcible terms, and, continu- u John vi. 47, 48, 49- x John vi. 50, 51. * Ver. 52. 266 Lbcture XIII. ing the same metaphor, added the circumstance of drinking his blood, as necessary to salvation. He spake figuratively of that partaking in the atonement, purchased by the sacrifice of his body which was given, and his blood which was shed, and of that future communion with him, which is promised to true behevers; at the same time plainly intimating the nature of the rite, which he should afterwards institute, in commemoration of the sacrifice which he had just predicted/ " Jesus said unto them, Verdy, verdy, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no hfe in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal hfe; and I wih raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father; so he that eateth me, even he shah hve by me." B Having thus declared, in language suffi ciently intehigible, although figurative, the nature of that true bread from heaven, Jesus, in conclusion, repeats the terms of his first proposition ; " This is that bread which" * See Waterland on the Eucharist; chap. vi. * John vi. 53.. .57- Lbcturb XIII. 267 reahy " came down from heaven : not as your fathers did eat manna and are dead. He that eateth of this bread shah hve for ever."" Now, upon reviewing the natural and un forced ahusion, made by our Lord, to the t manna which the Israelites did eat in the wdderness, it may certainly admit of much doubt, whether it were intended by him to indicate any designed connection between that bread, which was given from heaven, and him self. It must be remembered, as was before noticed, that the circumstance in the Jewish history is not selected by Christ, and explicitly apphed to himself. The mention of it naturahy arises from the discourse in which he is en gaged. It is first suggested by the Jews them selves, and its developement is made in those points, which their successive objections unfold. Neither must the figure, by which his in struction is first delivered, be considered as one which was new and strange to his hearers. This discourse was made in the synagogue, whither the Jews resorted to hear the Scrip tures. The images presented in the phrase ology of their sacred books, and preserved in the traditional learning of their scribes, would be fresh in their minds. They had heard the words, which Solomon ascribes to the person " John vi. 58. 268 Lect.ure XIIL of Divine Wisdom ; " Wisdom hath budded her house.... she crieth upon the highest places of the city, Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that wanteth under standing, she saith to him, Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled." c And they knew that the meaning of the invitation was, that they should " for sake the foolish and hve: and go in the way of understanding.'"1 They had been familiar ised to the forcible imagery of Isaiah. "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money ; come ye, buy, and eat ; yea, come, buy wine and mdk without money, and without price." e And they knew also the exposition of this invitation, given by the prophet himself; " Inchne your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soid shah live."f And the interpretations of their law, abounded in simdar expressions/ The Jews, therefore, who heard the words of Christ, ex horting them to "labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that which endureth unto everlasting hfe," would weh understand instruction, conveyed in words adapted to their. previous conceptions and habits of thoughts c Prov. ix. 1. . .5. d Prov. ix. 6. ' Isai. Iv. 1. ' Ver. S, * See Whitby on 1 Cor. x. 3. Lecture XIII. 269 Our Lord himself, on other occasions, took advantage of the circumstances in which he was placed, in order to introduce his instruction under the same familiar image, or by ahusions of a similar kind. To the woman of Samaria he proposed the saving doctrines of the Gospel, by the figure of "hving water," suggested by the subject of their conversation. Jesus said unto her, " Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shah give him, shah never thirst : but the water that I shah give him shah be in him a weh of water, springing up into everlasting hfe."h Soon after, when "his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat ;" his reply was, " I have meat to eat that ye know not of." " My meat is to do the wih of him that sent me, and to finish his work."' Again, Jesus was in the synagogue on the feast of tabernacles. The eighth and last day of the feast was come, which the traditions of the Jews had invested with peculiar so lemnity. The water from tbe pool of Sdoam was cohected in the golden vessel, and brought with the voice of the people, crying, " With joy shah ye draw water out of the wells of salvation,"" and with singing, and with the sound of the trumpet, to the priest; who h John iv. IS, 14. ' John iv. 31, 32, 34. k Isai. xii. 3. 270 Lecture XIII. poured it, mixed with wine, upon the sacri fice, as it lay upon the altar.1 Jesus per mitted not to pass unnoticed a scene so cal culated to attract the imaginations of the peo ple. He adbpted the words suggested by the occasion ; and " stood, and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth in me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake he of the Spirit." m Our Lord addressed his own disciples, in a similar manner, soon after he had performed a miracle, analogous to that which is the basis of our present enquiry, by feeding four thou sand men, as related by Saint Matthew and Saint Mark/ His disciples had forgotten to take bread : " Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed, and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the Sadducees." ° And when they understood not, Christ referred them to the two miracles which he had per formed, at once to remind them, that they needed not to be careful for the meat which perisheth, and to recal to their minds the 1 See Bishop Lowth on Isai. xii. 3. — Lightfoot and Whitby on John vii. m John vii. 37, 38, 39. " Matt. xv. 32.. .38. Mark viii. 1. . .9. u Matt. xvi. 5, 6. Lecture XIII. 271 discourse, which St. John onlyp records to have followed the first miracle ; the discourse in which the doctrines and person of Christ were presented under the figure of the bread, which came down from heaven. " Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.'"1 These instances are sufficient to shew how frequently our Lord, in his discourses, adopted a style already familiar to his hearers, by pro pounding his doctrines under the image of material food. The mode of ihustration in them ah is simdar, and in many of them there is no appearance of any typical ahusion. In the instance which we have now been considering, the connection between the circum stances produced by the Jews, and the instruc tion derived from them, appears too incidental to be adduced as a proof, that our Lord im plied a preconcerted connexion between the p Saint Matthew here alludes to a discourse of our Lord, which he does not record : while Saint John, who relates the discourse, makes no mention of the subsequent allusion to it. Many coincidences of this nature, evidently undesigned on the part of the Evangelists, are found in the Gospels. These might be expected in independent narratives, made by artless persons, who were conscious of the truth of what they related, and, therefore, regardless of appearances ; but they are entirely inconsistent with the supposition of any collusion. * Matt. xvi. 12. 272 Lecture XIII. manna which feh in the wdderness, and his own person and doctrines: we have, therefore, no sufficient ground to conclude, upon his au thority, that the one was historically typical of the other. That the manna in the wdderness had, in deed, some designed reference to the Christian dispensation, may appear sufficiently, from the argument which St. Paul, in his Epistle to the Corinthians/ founds upon that connection. But the consideration of that argument wih be introduced with greater propriety among those types, which require us to assume the divine authority of Scripture, in order to estabhsh their existence/ If, however, the comment of our Lord, upon the Jewish history, do not necessarily imply any such typical relation, it must stih be re garded with the utmost reverence and atten tion. It unfolds doctrines of the most mo mentous import, immediately ratified, as well by the miracle which he had performed, as by the foreknowledge, which it imphes, of his own death for the sins of the whole world. Ah the words, indeed, which Christ gave to the world, are dignified with the authority of truth : for "him hath God the Father sealed.'" But this discourse is confirmed, as many others are, • 1 Cor. x. 3. ' Lect. XVII. ' John vi. 27- Lecture XIII. 273 by its intimate union with a miraculous fact, and a fulfilled prophecy. The doctrine is con nected directly with the miracle ; and the pro phecy inseparably interwoven with the instruc tion. This doctrine is, that whoever partakes of the benefits of his propitiation made for sin shah have eternal life: and that there is no other mode by which men can be saved. These benefits are given by the free grace of God; and are ordinarily conveyed to the mind of man by the means which he has provided. Doubtless they may, by his mercy, be ex tended to those, who hved before the coming of Christ upon earth ; and to those who now hve where the sound of the Gospel has not yet been heard. But of us, who have long received the doctrines of life, is clearly required a compliance with the appointed means of im provement. We must have faith; for this is the work of God, that we believe on him whom he hath sent/ We must hear his word, and must spiritually eat the flesh of Christ, and drink his blood in the sacrament of his Church. But, besides this doctrine, so intimately con nected with the illustration of our Lord, his words contain also practical instruction, on the u John vi. 29- S 274 Lecture XIII. importance of working out our salvation, and encouragement to persevere. The sum of that instruction is briefly comprehended in these words: "Labour not for the meat which pe- risheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting hfe, which the Son of man shall give unto you."x There is little fear, in these days, that any one should so misinterpret the words of Christ, as to conclude it unlawful to labour at all for the support of the present life. The fruit ful annals of heresy offer, indeed, distances of those, who so perverted the meaning of Scrip ture, forgetful of the example and commands given us by St. Paul, and the apostles/ The danger with us is of an opposite nature. Day after day, and year after year, " man goeth forth to his work, and to his labour,'" for the meat which perisheth. For this end, no toil is considered too irksome, no exertion too long continued. He is made to possess months of vanity ; and wearisome nights are appointed to him/ He will compass sea and land : he wih expose himself to the pestilence that walketh in darkness ; and to the arrow that flieth in the noon-day. This is the object of " John vi. 27- >' Acts xviii. 3. xx. .'it. I Cor. iv. 12. 1 Thess. iv. 1-1- J Thess. iii. 10. ' Psalm civ. 23. » Job vii. 3. Lecture XIII. 275 his dady care, and of his nightly dreams. He thus "walketh in a vain shew," and is dis quieted in vain. "He heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shah gather them."b Such labour, which reason alone would dis approve, our Lord condemns. Labour not thus- for the meat which perish eth : but rather labour for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shah give unto you. The means of so labouring are afforded us by Christ. His invitation stih is " Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters: and he that hath no money ; come ye, buy and. eat : yea, come buy wine and mdk, without money, and without price. Wherefore do ye spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which satisfieth not? Inchne your ear and come unto me : hearken and your soul shah hve."c The means of knowledge, by his Scriptures ; the means of grace, by search ing those Scriptures, and partaking of his holy ordinances ; the means of justification and sanc tification, by the merits of his death, and the influence of his Holy Spirit — all these are freely bestowed upon such as labour earnestly for the bread of hfe. Stdl, our own endeavours, our constant, persevering exertions, are indis pensable. We must work out our own sal- b Psalm xxxix. 6- l Isai. Iv. I, 2, 3. S2 276 Lecture XIII. vation; with fear, indeed, and trembling; for we have fradties and errors, and sins in numerable to contend with; but stih with humble confidence in the support which we are promised from above : for it is God which worketh in us, both to will and to do of his good pleasure/ If a man labour for the meat which perisheth, he often but sows the wind and reaps the whirlwind/ His toils are great and incessant, and often all ultimately fail. But he that earnestly labours for the meat which endureth for ever, shah assuredly not labour in vain. He relies upon a wisdom which can foresee all things, and upon a power which nothing can resist. He knows in whom he has trusted ; for he has read the sure word of the Gospel of truth ; " Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness : for they shah be filled." f d Phil. ii. 12, 13. ' Hos viii. 7- f Matt. v. 6. LECTURE XIV. THE PASSOVER A TYPE OF CHRIST. Luke xxii. 14, 15, 16. And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before 1 suffer : for I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. JCiVERY believer in revelation weh knows, that the sacrifice of the paschal lamb prefigured Christ our passover, who was sacrificed for us. But the assertions in Scripture, which prove this fact, are principahy such as were made after the death of Christ. The inspiration, therefore, of Scripture, must be assumed, before any reasoning can be founded solely upon them. Accordingly, the consideration of this remark able type would properly be deferred till we come to discuss those, the proof of which pre supposes the divine authority of the Scrip tures, did not the words, of our Lord, in allusion to the rite, while distinctly intimating his own death, connect the prefiguration with a pro-, 278 Lecture XIV. phecy, the completion of which immediately authenticates his exposition. The type is thus brought within the present division of our sub ject. In confirmation of the accuracy of the resemblance, briefly alluded to by our Lord, we may refer to other parts of the New Tes tament, the divine authority of which is to be considered firmly estabhshed upon other grounds. The necessity of thus anticipating what should, strictly, be reserved for a more advanced period of the investigation, might render the present instance less adapted to furnish independent proof of the authority of Scripture, if the resemblance rested solely upon an assertion. But the close coincidence, which no unprejudiced mind can deny, between all the circumstances observed in celebrating the Jewish passover, and the corresponding events in the death of Christ, is one of those histo rical facts, which alone render in the highest degree probable the designed connection of the Jewish with the Christian dispensation, and, consequently, the divine origin of both. The assertion of Scripture is, to us, a fuh con firmation of that, which observation alone might have pointed out: and is the sole foundation of the doctrinal instruction which may be built upon the resemblance. Lecture XIV. 279 The prophetic assertion of our Lord, respect ing the passover, was made immediately be fore its fulfilment. But the fact, upon which it is founded, was often before disclosed in the course of his ministry. Every one who has read, with attention, the narratives of the evangelists, must have been struck with the calmness which characterizes ah the discourses of Jesus respecting his own death. There is nothing vague, or indefinite, in his expressions respecting an event, which, of all others, is usually regarded by man with the greatest uncertainty, as weh as with aversion, while it is yet distant. But to the mind of Jesus, the time, the manner, the causes, the consequences of " his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem,"3 were all present with the pre cision, with which the most retentive human memory contemplates past events. Jesus displayed this knowledge on various occasions ;b at first, by obscure intimations ; and a Luke ix. 31. b Seven distinct prophecies, or allusions, are enumerated ; 1. John ii. 19. 2. Luke ix. 22. 3. Mark ix. 12. 4. Matt. xvii. 23. Mark ix. 31. Luke ix. 44. 5. Luke xvii. 25. 6. Matt. xx. 19. Mark x. 34. Luke xviii. 32. 7. Matt. xxvi. 2. 280 Lecture XIV. afterwards by predictions of stih increasing clearness ; till, at the last, he spake openly to his disciples. Weh knowing the malice of his enemies, the bitterness of that death which he was about to taste for the sin of the whole world, and the inconceivable horrors which he should endure in those hours of darkness, he yet spake and acted with ah the serenity of a composed mind. The near approach of his sufferings diminished in no respect the con sistent firmness, which had marked his earlier conduct. The feast of the passover drew nigh: and Jesus came to Jerusalem. The discourses, which he there delivered, had all a reference to his death, and the important issues depending upon it. He foretold the destruction of the holy city : and declared, with even greater precision than before, "Ye know, that after two days, is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified."0 Twice, dur ing the week preceding his passion, had our Lord been anointed with precious ointment; and, on each occasion, he reminded those who witnessed with indignation this costly demon stration of respect, that she who performed the office had done it for his burial/ "Then c Matt. xxvi. 2. * Matt. xxvi. 6... 12. Mark xiv. 3. • .9, John xii. 3. . -7- Lecture XIV. 281 came the day of unleavened bread, when the passover must be killed."6 And Jesus sent Peter and John, to make ready the passover; discovering in the minuteness of his regula tions, his perfect knowledge of every future contingency. " And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer; for, I say unto you, I wih not any more eat thereof, untd it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God ;"f untd that, which is foreshadowed by the significant emblem of the paschal lamb, be fulfilled by the sacrifice of the true " Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world;"6 until the Gospel dis pensation be estabhshed, and that heavenly kingdom be appointed, in which "ye may eat and drink at my table." h These words of Christ contain a distinct ahusion to the typical nature of the paschal lamb. The precise mode, in which the type was to be "fulfilled in the kingdom of God," is not, indeed, for the pre sent pointed out. But enough was said to excite the attention of the disciples, and to enable them to understand, and to cah to remembrance, when a fuller revelation of the ' Luke xxii. 7. ' Luke xxii. 14, 15, 16. * John i. 29. h Luke xxii. 30. 282 Lecture XIV. Divine counsels should be made to them, that their Lord had told them before it came to pass. Accordingly, in the allusion which St. Paul makes to the typical character of the Jewish passover, he introduces the fact, as one well known to his Corinthian converts, of which they require rather to be reminded than in formed. He is commanding them to put away from among them an incestuous person ; and he urges his injunction, by an unforced refer ence to the Jewish feast of unleavened bread, which was probably near, at the time his epistle was written.' " Know ye not," says the Apo stle, adopting a proverbial expression,1* " that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump ? Purge out, therefore, the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ, our passover, is sacrificed for us : therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness ; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."1 This assertion of the Apostle implies, that the passover, in all its circumstances, bore a designed and acknow ledged reference to the death of Christ. The same intimation of the typical nature of the paschal lamb is also supplied by the ' I Cor. xvi. 8. k Gal. \. [). '1 Cor. v. 6, 7, 8. Lecture XIV. 283 interpretation of the Old Testament, given by the evangelist St. John. He saw, and bare record, that after the crucifixion of our Lord, the soldiers came, and brake the legs of those who were crucified with him ; " but when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs." And he declares, that "these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken."1" Now there are three passages in the Old Testament, to which it has been supposed that reference is here made. The first two are the commands given with respect to the paschal lamb, in which the Israehtes were forbidden to " break a bone thereof:"11 and the third is that assertion of David, " Many are the afflictions of the right eous ; but the Lord dehvereth him out of them ah. He keepeth ah his bones ; not one of them is broken."0 But the close corres pondence, between the form of words adopted by the evangelist, and those which were ori ginally spoken of the paschal lamb, shows clearly, that his immediate intention was to quote the passages which describe the insti tution of the passover. But there is no con tradiction in supposing, that an allusion was m John xix. 32, 33, 36. n Exod. xii. 46. Numb. ix. 12. ° Psalm xxxiv. 19, 20. 284 Lecture XIV. also intended to the words of David, who, being a prophet, in asserting the general care of the Almighty over the righteous, might be guided by the Spirit of God, to speak of him who was peculiarly "the Holy One, and the Just."p He might use words, which bore reference to the preceding type, while they propheticahy indicated the corresponding cir cumstances, which the Divine Providence should accomplish in the future antitype. St. John, therefore, writing, as we believe, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, apphes to the person of Christ, passages in the Old Testament, which have a direct reference to the paschal lamb. This could not be, unless he regarded the one as foreshewing the other: unless he considered the passover of the Jews as a figure of those things which were to be "fulfilled in the kingdom of God," by the death and passion of our Saviour Christ. The prediction, then, of our Lord, and the words of his apostles, teach us to regard the paschal lamb as typical of the death of Christ. And upon referring to other passages of Scrip ture, the suggested correspondence, in every particular, is found to be wonderfully exact. The animal sacrificed at the passover, was to be a lamb without blemish/ Christ is styled p Acts iii. 1 1. ri Exod. xii. 5. Lecture XIV. 285 the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world;1 a lamb without blemish and without spot/ The paschal lamb was to be one of the flock. Christ, the Word who was made flesh, and dwelt among us/ was taken from the midst of the people, being in all things made hke unto his brethren." The sacrifice of tbe passover differed from other sacrifices, in being a public act of the whole people: it was to be slain by "the whole as sembly of the congregation of Israel."" The chief priests, and the rulers, and the people, were consenting to the death of Jesus/ The blood of the passover was, at its first institu tion, to be sprinkled upon the lintel, and the two side-posts/ for the protection of the people ; and in the subsequent celebration of the paschal sacrifice, " the priests sprinkled the blood, which they received of the hand of the Levites."a It is by the sprmkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, that our consciences are purged,b and protection and salvation obtained/ The pass- over was to be eaten by the Israelites, in the character of travehers, with their loins girded, their shoes upon their feet, and their staff in r John i. 29, 36. s 1 Pet. i. 19- See Isai. Iiii. 7- 1 John i. 14. u Heb. ii. 17- x Exod. xii. 6. y Luke xxiii. 13. z Exod. xii. 7, 22. a 2 Chron. xxx. 16. xxxv. 11. " Heb. ix. 14. Q Heb. xii. 24. 1 Pet. i. 2. 286 Lecture XIV. their hand/ They, for whom Christ is sacri ficed, are compared to strangers and pilgrims/ and are commanded to stand, having their loins girt about with truth, and having on the breast-plate of righteousness, and their feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace/ The Israelites were to eat the pass- over in haste/ We are to give diligence to make our calling and election sure :h and to flee for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us/ The passover was to be sacri ficed only in the tabernacle, and afterwards only in the temple at Jerusalem/ Neither could it be that Christ should perish out of Jerusalem.1 The month, and day of the month, on which the passover was to be sacrificed by the Israelites, is laid down with accuracy. And, on the very day on which the pass- over ought to be slain,™ and on which Christ celebrated the paschal feast with his disciples, he endured his agony and bloody sweat: and he suffered death upon the cross, on the day when, at least, the scribes and Pharisees, and some of the principal men among the Jews, did " eat the passover." " A Exod. xii. 11. '1 Pet. ii. 11. ' Eph. vi. 15. K Exod. xii. 11. "2 Pet. i. 10. ' Heb. vi. IS. k Deut. xvi. 5, 6. ' Luke xiii. 33- m Luke xxii. 7. 'Ei< ij F.Alil Oveo-Oai tu -wda-^a. " John xviii. 28. Lecture XIV, 287 Another pecuharity in the paschal offering is the time of the day, at which it was appointed to be slain. " The whole assembly of the con gregation shah kill it in the evening ;" ° or, as the expression is rendered in the margin, be tween the two evenings. The time designated by this expression is sufficiently clear, from a comparison of other passages in which it is found/ The term, even ing, was taken, with considerable latitude, to indicate the whole time, between the declining of the sun from noon and its setting: and the period was divided into the former and the latter evening. Thus the same time, described by St. Luke in the words, "the day began to decline,'"1 is denominated by St. Matthew, even ing : and from the account given by St. Matthew himself, it is evident, that he is speaking of the former evening : for after the miracle, which he describes, is performed, some considerable time elapses before the second evening of the same day comes, when Christ, having gone up to a mountain apart to pray, was there alone/ The comparison of these two corresponding accounts proves, that, in the time of our Saviour, at least, the term " between the two evenings" did not ° Exod. xii. 6. p Exod. xxx. 8. Levit. xxiii. 5. Numb, xxviii. 4. 11 Luke ix. 12. 'H ce fj/tepa rjp^uTo n\iveiv. ' Matt. xiv. 15, 23. 288 Lecture XIV. mean, as has been supposed/ the period of twi light, that intermingling of light and darkness, which takes place between the setting of the sun, and the obscurity of night. The tradi tions and customs of the Jews shew also what interpretation they put upon the words. For the second daily sacrifice was commanded to be continually offered "between the two evenings;"' and it is known, that the lamb was slain be tween the eighth and ninth hour of the Jews; and offered between their ninth and tenth hour/ Josephus also expressly states, that the evening sacrifice took place about the ninth hour:* and that the paschal lamb was slain from the ninth to the eleventh hour/ When any thing, then, was commanded to be done " between the two evenings," it was usuahy performed at the ninth hour, the point of time equidistant from the begin ning and the end of the whole period. Now, at the very time appointed for the sacrifice of the paschal lamb, between the two evenings, Christ our passover was sacrificed for us. The scene of suffering began at the s Aben Ezra on Exod. xii. Parkhurst's Heb. Lex. in verb. my ' Exod. xxix. 39- Numb, xxviii. 4. 11 Talmud tract, de pasch. cap. 5. See Godwin's Moses and Aaron, p. 133. Kidder. Demonstr. of the Messiah, p-219- x Ant. xiv. 4, 3. y Bell. Jud. vi. 9. 3. Lecture XIV. 289 third hour of the day/ And at the sixth hour there was darkness over ah the land until the ninth hour/ And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost/ Many other circumstances of resemblance have long since been observed, between the type exhibited in the passover, and Christ the antitype/ The comparison which was made, as early as the second century of the Christian sera, between the particular mode in which the paschal lamb was prepared in roasting, and the manner in which the body of our Lord was fixed to the cross,d may, perhaps, appear too fanciful to be insisted on. But when we find, that the covenant of the passover Avas made with those who ate the flesh of the lamb ; and the gospel covenant with those who embrace the true faith, or, in the language of Christ himself, who " eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood:"6 that, as the whole lamb was to be eaten, so the whole doctrine of Christ is to be em braced without reserve: that, as no one, who 1 Mark xv. 25. * Matt, xxvii. 45. Mark xv. 33. Luke xxiii. 44. b Matt, xxvii. 46, 50. Mark xv. 34, 37- c See Bochart: Hierozoicon, Par. 1. Lib. II. cap. 1. Witsius de cecon. Faederum, Lib. IV. cap. ix. 35. . .38. * Justin Martyr Dial, cum Tryphone, p. 259- B. ' John vi. 53. T 290 Lecture XIV. was legally impure, might partake of that banquet ; f so every one that nameth the name of Christ, must depart from iniquity ;B for, without holiness, no man shah see the Lord : h that, as a second passover was ex pressly ordained for those who were "unclean by reason of a dead body," or were "in a journey afar off;" ' so Christ, who was in mercy given as the second passover, was given to quicken those who were dead in trespasses and sins,k and to make nigh by his blood, those " who sometimes were far off:"1 that, as the lamb was brought to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb ; so Jesus, before his accusers, opened not his mouth : m that, as the passover was at first killed before Israel was dehvered from bondage ; so Jesus suffered before the world was " dehvered from the bondage of cor ruption, into the glorious liberty of the chddren of God :" " that, as the paschal lamb was to be eaten With bitter herbs, and with unleavened bread, the bread of affliction ; ° so every Christ ian must " through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God;"p must beware of the f Numb. ix. 6. « 2 Tim. ii. 19- h Heb. xii. 14. * Numb. ix. 10. k Ephes. ii. 1. ' Ephes. ii. 13. m Isai. Iiii. 7- John xix. 9. "Rom. viii. 21. 0 Exod. xii. 8. Deut. xvi. 3. » Acts xiv. 22. Lecture XIV. 291 leaven of hypocrisy/ and " keep the feast, not with the old leaven, neither with the leaven of mahce and wickedness, but with the un leavened bread of sincerity and truth"1 — we must confess, that ah these circumstances of resemblance could not have occurred without the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, who instituted the ordinance, to com memorate the temporal dehverance, which he would immediately bring upon his people; and also to shadow forth the eternal de hverance, which should be wrought for the world, when that which was typified in the passover, should be "fulfilled in the kingdom of God."Some of these resemblances might have been accidental ; some may be imaginary : but can any one beheve, that ah of them can have happened by chance? If this be inconceivable, we have here the finger of God. We find an ordinance commemorative of a miraculous fact, instituted long before the event took place : an ordinance, incon venient to be observed, and too remarkable to be forgotten. It was transmitted from generation to generation for fifteen hundred years. The solemnity might be from time to time interrupted: but the remembrance ' Luke xii. 1. ' 1 Cor. v. 8. T 2 292 Lecture XIV. of it was retained amidst ah their national calamities. Its celebration brought the scat tered people of Israel from the extremities of their land: it united them in friendly socie ties. Their chddren were introduced that en quiry might be made, what mean ye by this service?8 As long as their city stood, even while the enemy was besieging them in ah their gates, the paschal lamb was slain, and the feast of the Lord's passover kept:' re garded by ah as a memorial of past mercies, and, perhaps, by some as a prophetic inti mation of future spiritual deliverance/ At length the Divine counsels are fulfilled. Jesus Christ the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world, appears upon earth. At the close of his ministry, he partakes of the passover, and points it out as a figure of what shah be " fulfilled in the kingdom of God." His pre diction is accomplished by the sacrifice of him self, the true Paschal Lamb : and soon the place, which the Lord chose to put his name there, is destroyed : and the typical passover cah no longer be offered "in such sort as it was written." x s Exod. xii. 26. * Josephus ; Jewish War, vi. 9. §. 3. u Justin M. Dial, cum Tryph. p. 297. D. quotes a remark able passage to this effect from Ezra, which he asserts to have been erased by the Jews. x 2 Chron. xxx. 5. Lecture XIV. 293 All these circumstances could not have been brought to pass without the especial in terference of the Divine power; nor predicted by Christ, without the immediate inspiration of Divine wisdom. No man could foresee, that the place of his death should be Jeru salem ; because if was the place appointed for the celebration of the Lord's passover. No man could foresee, that the time of his death should be that festival, which was usually distinguished by acts of mercy ; by dehverance of the captive, and setting free those who were bound : that the hour of his death should be precisely that, at which the paschal lamb was slain : that his body should be removed from the cross on the same day, as no, part of the paschal lamb was permitted to remain untd the morning: and that he should die upon the cross, before those who were crucified at the same time with him ; and his body, consequently, remain unmutilated; in order that the scripture should be fulfilled, " A bone of him shah not be broken." The prophet, who so spake, must have been a true prophet: the doc trines, so attested, must have been given from above. II: But the comparison between the pas chal lamb considered as the type, and Jesus 294 Lecture XIV. Christ as the antitype, proves more than the general truth of the Christian religion. It proves, that the death of Christ was a real sacrifice for the sins of the world. The passover was strictly a sacrifice; dis tinct, indeed, from the four general kinds of sacrifice, which were instituted by the law of Moses : but, still, denominated, in the Scriptures of the Jews, a sacrifice/ and an offering;" and included, by the expounders of their law, among those three pecuhar sa crifices which were closely ahied to peace- offerings/ At its first institution, it was probably sacrificed in every house by the first-bom, who exercised the priestly office, untd they were afterwards redeemed, and the tribe of Levi separated for the priesthood/ The pas chal lamb was always brought to the taber nacle, or to the temple/ where it was pre sented, and offered up to God by the priest, although not always slain by him ; its blood was sprinkled upon the altar,4 and the entrads y Exod. xii. 27- xxiii. 18. xxxiv. 25. Deut. xvi. 2, 4, 5, 6. 1 Corban. — Numb. ix. 7, 13. a See Cudworth,, Discourse on the Lord's Supper, p. 10. " Numb. iii. 40. ..51. c Deut. xvi. 5. compared with Deut. xii. 5, 6, 11, 14. 4 2 Chron. xxx. 15, 16. xxxv. 11. See Magee on Atonement, No. 35. Lecture XIV. 295 burned. And thus ah the essential, distin guishing marks of a real sacrifice were united in the offering of the paschal lamb. This sacrifice was also, in its original insti tution, expiatory. The sprinkling of the blood was the appointed means for averting the wrath of God, when the destroying angel passed by the door of the house in which the offering was made. Now, in the same sense in which the paschal lamb was sacrificed, " Christ our pass- over, is sacrificed for us." The type being an expiatory sacrifice, so must the antitype be. For the analogy, upon which the apostle's ar gument depends, would totahy fail, if the death of Christ were either not a sacrifice at ah, or a sacrifice of a nature entirely distinct from that of the paschal lamb. III. The same comparison will elucidate the true nature of the Sacrament instituted by our Lord, at the same time in which he prophetically referred to the passover, as typi cal of 'himself. The paschal lamb being slain as a sacrifice, the eating the flesh of the vic tim was strictly analogous to those feasts upon the things sacrificed, which were uni versally estabhshed/ both among Jews and ' See Exod. xviii. 12. xxxii. 6. xxxiv. 15. 1 Sam. i. 3, 4. xvi. 11. Cudworth on the Lord's Supper, ch. i. , 296 Lecture XIV. heathens. And as the death of Christ cor responds with the sacrifice of the passover, the Christian eucharist, which we are com manded to keep, corresponds with the sub sequent feast of the passover. We celebrate these holy mysteries, not as a material sacri fice/ nor only as a memorial of the death of Christ ; but as the means by which the faith ful partaker receives, continuahy, fresh acces sions of grace and strength to his soul; as they, who were admitted to feast upon the sacrifices under the law, rose from the privi leged banquet, with bodies invigorated and refreshed. The Apostle Paul himself makes use of this analogy between the feasts upon the ancient sacrifices, whether offered by the Jews or by the heathens, and the communion of the body and blood of Christ. He is com manding the Corinthians to flee from idola try, to which they were peculiarly tempted: and, in answer to some question which they had propounded, is persuading them, that it is unlawful to partake of things which were confessedly offered to idols : he argues that although, as they justly aheged, neither the idol is any thing, nor that which is offered in sacri fice to idols any thing, different from what it ' On this point sec Waterland on the Eucharist, ch. xii. Lecture XIV. 297 Was before; yet they, who ate of the things sacrificed to idols, are, by that very act, con sidered to become partakers of the sacrifice, and to hold communion with the demons to whom the offering is made. The Apostle then proceeds to argue with them upon principles which, whether as Christ ians or as Jews, they could not deny ; "I speak," says he, "as to wise men ; judge ye what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ," which was shed ? " The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ," which was broken ? Because the bread is one/ we, being many, are one body : for we are ah partakers of that one bread. " Behold," again, " Israel after the flesh ;" who worship God by sacrifices according to the law of Moses : " Are not they which eat of the sacrifices, partakers" or communicants,11 " of the altar ;" mutually participating in the benefits of the sacrifice? " What say I then ? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing? But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God : and I would not that 8 "Oti eh d'oros, e'v aa>p.a ol •woXXol iapev ol yap TravTe<; en tou e»m aprov peTe-^ofiev. 1 Cor. x. 17- See Waterland on the Eucharist, chap. viii. h Kavuivol. Ver. 18. 298 Lecture XIV. ye should have fehowship with devils," be, as it were, communicants of them.1 "Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devds: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils." k The whole argument of the Apostle is manifestly founded upon the fact, that the Christian eucharist is of the same nature with those feasts upon the things sacrificed, esta bhshed among the Jews, by the sanction of their law, and among the Gentiles, either by imita tion of the practice of the Jews, or by tradi tion from the patriarchal ages. The analogy, thus assumed by the Apostle, supposes also the Sacrament of the Lord's Sup per, to be a federal rite : one of those cove nanting ordinances, by which it has pleased the Almighty, conditionahy, to offer advantages to his creatures, in return for their obedience and homage. The act of eating and drinking with one another, was one of the most ancient modes by which a covenant was ratified between man and man.1 And they who did eat of that which was offered upon the altar of God, did, in hke manner, testify to the existence of a covenant between God and themselves. The act was a s Ou 6eXm oe vpds notvtavovs ™» hatpov'iwv yeveatiat. Ver. 20. k 1 Cor. x. 15...2I. 1 Gen. xxvi. 30. xxxi. 46. Josh. ix. 14. comp. Psalm xii. 9- Lecture XIV. 299 "partaking of God's table, whereby he owned his guests to be in his favour, and under his protection; as they, by offering sacrifices, ac knowledged him to be their God."m When, therefore, the Apostle draws a paral lel between eating of the sacrifice, as practised by Israel after the flesh, and partaking of the communion of the body and blood of Christ, he presumes, what is also established upon other grounds, that this Holy Sacrament is " the new covenant in the blood of Christ:"" and that they, who devoutly and worthily comply with the conditions required on their part, . shah receive the invaluable blessings promised by God, and purchased by the death of his Son :' as they, who partook of the sacrifices of the altar, were considered partakers of the benefits procured by the previous sacrifice. Thus wonderful are the wisdom and mercy of God : thus consistent is the scheme, which he has formed, for the salvation of offend ing man, and revealed for his instruction. To redeem mankind from eternal death, Christ our passover was sacrificed. To this event ah the prophecies, and ceremonies, and types of the law, had respect : in this they were fulfilled. The passover was, by the m Potter on Church Government. " Luke xxii. 20. 1 Cor. xi. 25. 300 Lecture XIV. Jews, regarded principally as a memorial of past mercies. To the Christian, the contempla tion of it is most interesting, as a prophetic in timation, handed down by the practice of suc cessive generations, of that which was to be "fulfilled in the kingdom of God." The obligation of celebrating the passover ceased, when the death of Christ, which it prefigured, had come to pass. But it is succeeded by a rite, perfectly analogous to it, shewing the same death of our Lord, untd he come/ What then shah be said of those nominal professors of Christianity, who, confessing that Christ our passover is thus sacrificed for them, confessing that they have no hope of salva tion but by his merits, do yet refuse to " keep the feast ;" habitually disregard the positive commands of their Saviour, and their God, and slight the means of grace which infinite mercy has provided ? This neglect of one of the primary duties of Christianity is of no uncommon occurrence. Few of those, who ordinarily attend the public worship of our Church, approach the table of the Lord with bended knees and contrite heart, as often as they are invited to commemorate " the death and passion of our Saviour Christ, whereby alone we obtain re- " 1 Cor. xi. 26. Lecture XIV. 301 mission of our sins, and are made partakers of the kingdom of heaven." Let not such men deceive themselves — God is not mocked. Excuses may easily be devised to satisfy then- own minds, and to elude, if not to satisfy, the expostulations of others. But no excuse will avad at the day of judgment, against the posi tive command of Christ himself; "this do in remembrance of me."p " p Luke xxii. 19- 1 Cor. xi. 24. LECTURE XV. THE LEVITICAL PRIESTHOOO, THE TABERNACLE, AND THE SERVICES, ARE TYPICAL OF THE PERSON AND OFFICES OF CHRIST. Hebrews iii. 1. Holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, con sider the Apostle and High-Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus. It has been proposed to divide the historical types of the Old Testament into three parts; the first two containing those, which may be considered as confirming the divine authority of the Scriptures ; and the third, those, which cannot be proved to exist, without first assuming that divine authority. If, during the occurrence of a series of events, they are declared to be prefigurative of another series of future events ; or if a pro phecy be founded upon the similarity between a past event, and one which is future; the ful filment of the predicted correspondence affords, in either case, an intrinsic proof, that the con nection between the events was preconcerted; Lecture XV, 303 and that the prophet, who spake, was divinely inspired. The only thing requisite, in these instances, is to prove the facts, and the ex istence of the prophecy before its completion. The historical types, then, which have been already considered, as far as they fall under either of these heads, are evidences tending to prove, that the Scriptures, which contain them, are given by inspiration of God. But there are other types, which cannot, with cer tainty, be known to exist, without assuming the authority of the writings in which they are so expounded. And although the study of these is not, in itself, calculated to furnish immediate testimony to the inspiration of Scrip ture, it may stih serve to disclose the harmony subsisting between the various dispensations, by which it has pleased God to regulate the spiritual affairs of the world ; to illustrate what is, in itself, obscure, by a comparison with that which is more obvious ; and to shew utihty, beauty, and order, in institutions which, at first sight, appear unconnected and confused. The Epistle to the Hebrews is the book of the Holy Scriptures, which most clearly developed the connection between the law of Moses, and the Gospel of Christ. It is in tended, not to convince those who are strang ers to the Gospel; but "leaving the principles 304 Lecture XV. of the doctrines of Christ," a to shew to those who already believe, the connection which sub sists between all the institutions of God in his dealings with man; at the same time dis playing the great superiority possessed by the Christian dispensation, over those which pre ceded it. In the course of his profound argument, the author of that Epistle compares the apo stolic office of Moses, with that of Christ; and the priesthood of Aaron, with that borne by the High-Priest of our profession/ He com pares the tabernacle, and the services, - with heaven, which it represented; and the offices which Christ there performs for us :e and the sacrifices of the law, with the corresponding sacrifice offered by Christ for the sins of the whole world/ This general argument, how ever, has been so fully illustrated by one of my predecessors in the office which I hold/ that it wih not be necessary for me to en large upon so difficult and extensive a subject. My object wdl only be, assuming the reason ing and conclusions of the Apostle, to point out some of the leading facts, which shew that the comparison between the Law and the Go- * Heb. vi. 1 . b Heb. iii. . .viii. 1 Heb. ix. <• Heb. x. ' Franks' Hulsean Lectures for 1823,. Lect. XI XX. Lecture XV. 305 spel, is not made in the looseness of figurative language; that the institutions of the law are not only inferior, in duration, to the promises of the Gospel, but are designedly intended to prefigure them. I. This law was first established by the undoubted authority of heaven. Moses was neither deluded by a vain imagination to be heve himself inspired with powers, which in reahty he did not possess; nor did he assume a character, to which he had no claim, for the purpose of deceiving others. He was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians: he acted, when he first received his Divine commission, with the greatest calmness : he even reluctantly obeyed the command of God, when he dared no longer refuse : and he displayed the real tokens of his prophetic character, by signs and wonders, which struck dismay into the hearts of the oppressors of Israel. The same proofs of his Divine authority were exhibited in the desert. The terrors, which were displayed upon mount Sinai, were too mighty to have been produced by any agency, but the immediate operation of the Lord of heaven. And under the pubhc sanction of this visible interference of the Almighty, Moses delivered to the people the laws which he received from God. The law, thus given to the Israelites, in U 306 Lecture XV. a manner different from that in which any other code of laws was ever promulgated, impressed with the very seal of God's power, might be expected to be different also in its nature, from any laws, which mere human reason had de vised, and human authority established. It was avowedly imposed for a pecuhar purpose. "It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made."f It was intended to select a people from the rest of the world, and to keep ahve a memorial of the gracious promise of the Messiah, who had been already predicted, un til the fulness of time should come. There was, therefore, nothing improbable in the sup position, that a law, established by God him self with such an intention, should contain, within its own pecuhar injunctions, some memorial of the great design which it intro duced. And, on the authority of revelation, we are persuaded that such was the case ; that the law was a schoolmaster to bring men unto Christ/ by prefiguring, generahy, in its priest hood, and sacrifices, and ordinances, the things which should hereafter be brought to pass. II. Every notion which can be formed of religion supposes the existence of one Supreme Being. "He, that cometh to God, must be- ' Gal. iii. 19. * Gal. iii. 24. - Lecture XV. 307 heve that he is; and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."h But the con sciousness of guilt is inseparably connected, in the mind of sinful man, with the conviction that there exists a God of perfect purity. To estabhsh, then, any communication between heaven and earth, it has pleased God to ap point, that some mediator should be taken from among men, who might " offer," in their name, "both gifts and sacrifices for sins."1 This in stitution was not without reference to future things. WeTknow that, in the patriarchal ages, the regal priesthood of Melchisedec prefigured that of Christ: and the inferior order of the levitical priesthood was also so constituted, as to foreshadow the great High Priest of our profession. The comparison, between the high priest of the Mosaic dispensation and Christ, is made the express ground of the argument in the fifth chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews; the whole of which, plainly infers the typical character borne by the high priest. The circumstances of similarity are, indeed, too numerous to have been considered as casual coincidences, even if they were not thus noticed on infallible authority. Every high priest was to be "taken from among men."k Christ was h Heb. xi. 6. ' Heb. v. 1. k Heb. v. 1. u2 308 Lecture XV. " made flesh, and dwelt among us."1 The high priest, although exalted, by his office, above his brethren, was yet a man of hke passions with them, " compassed with infirmity : and by reason hereof he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins."m Christ Jesus "made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men :"" and "in the days of his flesh," " offered up prayers and supphcations, with strong crying and tears, unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared."0 The high priest was thus a human being, that he might "have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way."p " Where fore, in all things, it behoved" Christ "to be made hke unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest- in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.'"1 "Though he were a son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered."1 Of the Jewish high priest it was expected, that he should not be inferior to his brethren in form and riches, and wis dom, and strength/ Although Jesus, in his 1 John i. 14. m Heb. v. 2, 3. ¦ Phil. ii. 7- 0 Heb. v. 7. i' Heb. v. 2. q Heb. ii. 17. 1 Heb. v. 8. s Outrani de Sacrif. Diss. I. iv. Lecture XV. 309 human nature, had no form nor comeliness ; nor any beauty that they should desire him;' yet, spiritually, he is described as "fairer than the children of men ;" one into whose lips grace was poured/ The Jewish high priest was clothed in vestments of peculiar splendour, an emblem of the righteousness" with which the Holy One should be invested, and of the sal vation which he should bring to those who beheved upon him. The inferior priests were at first consecrated, by being partially anointed with oil/ the sensible representation of the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit/ But upon the head of the high priest only was the precious ointment poured, that ran down upon the beard, and went down to the skirts of his garments ;a a sacred unction of honour and joy, as weh as of holiness, significant of that effusion of the Spirit " without measure,b by which "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth, with the Holy Ghost and with power,"0 as weh as with the od of gladness above his fellows/ The high priest, under the Jewish dispensation, was " or dained for men," to act on their behalf/ "in things pertaining to God;"f a faint image of ' Isai. Iiii. 2. ¦ ™ Psalm xiv. 2. • Psalm cxxxii. 9- y Lev- vui- 30- ' 1 John ii. 20, 27- a Psalm cxxxiii. 2. b John iii. 34. c Acts x. 38. d Psalm xiv. 7. e oirip dvdpuiirav. f Heb. v. 1. 310 Lecture XV. that " one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus,"6 through whom only we have access unto the Father ;h who " is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them."1 No man could take the honour of the high priesthood unto him self, but he that was cahed of God, as was Aaron/ "Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest, but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to-day have I be gotten thee."1 Now, is it conceivable, that this close con nection should subsist, between the high priest hood of Aaron and that of Christ, without the resemblance having been designed ? or that ah these comparisons should be made by the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, unless the inspired writer intended to point out, and ratify this design? It is true, that he does not in express terms assert, that the levitical priesthood was a type of that which Christ exercises. But the whole tenor of his reason ing evidently implies that it was so. He con nects the law and the Gospel in terms indi cating the relation of cause and effect. He considers the possession of certain qualifications, by the levitical priesthood, to be a reason * 1 Tim. ii. 5. h Eph. ii. IS. ¦ Heb. vii. 25. k Heb. v. 1. ' Heb. v. 5. P^alm ii. 7- Lecture XV. 311 for their existence in the person and offices borne by Christ; a conclusion which implies, not only the superior authority of the priest hood of Christ, but its designed connection with the levitical priesthood. III. The typical nature of the levitical dispensation will appear still more clearly, if we consider the place in which the sacrifices were to be offered. In the account which Moses himself gives of the building of the tabernacle, he expressly makes allusion, in se veral instances,1" to a pattern or prototype, which had been exhibited to him in the mount, after which ah things wrere to be constructed. Now whatever that pattern were, whether it were a sensible model, or a verbal description, or a representation immediately conveyed to his mind by the inspiration of God, its ex hibition clearly shewed to him, that the taber nacle, which he erected, was not intended to be complete in itself, but to be a figure of heavenly things. And his studied repetition of the fact might have led all, as it did lead some of those who read his history, to regard the ceremonials of their religion in a similar point of view. But, not to leave the fact to mere conjecture, the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews de- m Exod. xxv. 9, 40. xxvi. "0. 312 Lecture XV. clares the figurative nature of the tabernacle, and its service, in the most exphcit terms. It must be observed that, in the authorized version of this Epistle, two different words of the original" are both rendered by the same word, " pattern." To prevent ambiguity, how ever, it wih be desirable to denominate the model shewed to Moses, the pattern, and that which is made after the model, the copy. The Apostle's argument seems to imply a scheme of revelation, composed of three several gradations mutually connected. The objects are, First, the sensible representation of heaven itself; the pattern, or similitude, or type, which was shewed to Moses in the mount. Secondly, the levitical tabernacle; the copy of this pattern ; the antitype of this type. Thirdly, the heavenly places, as revealed in the Gospel dispensation, winch were success ively represented, both in the pattern, and in the copy. The levitical tabernacle is thus a copy, with respect to the pattern of heavenly things, after which it was immediately formed; and prefigurative, with respect to the heavenly places, into which Christ entered. It is thus said to be " a figure for the time then present,"0 " TuVot, Heb. viii. 5. vwoiuy^a, Heb. ix. 23. ° Heb. ix. 9- Lecture XV. 313. to be, with its services, the "copies of things in the heavens ;"p to possess the "shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things :"q and they who serve in it, are said to serve "unto the example and shadow of heavenly things:'" while, on the contrary, Christ is declared to have " passed into the heavens:* to be "set down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man;'" to have come "an high priest of the good things to come, by the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is to say, not of this budding:"" to have en tered not "into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true, but into heaven itself."* These expressions, considered, for the pre sent, only as far as they refer to the taber nacle itself, point out the place in which the levitical high priest exercised his office as pre- figurative of the place into which Christ, our High Priest, is entered. But if the tabernacle be typical, so must v Heb. ix. 23. " Heb. x. 1. r Heb. viii. 5. s Heb. iv. 14. * Heb. viii. 1, 2. u Heb. ix. 11. dp%iepev Heb. viii. 1, 2. Lecture XV. 323 the right hand of God ; the Holy Spirit pro mised. " If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is the propitiation for our sins." k But to the wilfully impenitent, to the slave of passion, and the voluntary servant of sin, this gracious revelation wih have been made in vain. They who travad, and are heavy laden with the consciousness of many a sin, and yet endeavour " to go on unto perfection," ' are invited to " come boldly unto the throne of grace," that they may " obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need;"1" even as "the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, re ceiveth blessing from God." n But upon those who oppose or slight such proffered mercy, a fearful doom is pronounced. " That which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing, whose end is to be burned." ° But we, I trust, have not so learned Christ. We have learned to search the Scriptures, to obey his command, to pray for his grace, to trust in his merits; to look up to him as "the High Priest of our profession,"" who k I John ii. 1, 2. ' Heb. vi. 1. m Heb. iv. 16. n Heb. vi. 7- 0 Heb. vi. 8. * Heb. iii. 1. X 2 324 Lecture XV. is able "to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.'"1 « Heb. vii. 25. LECTURE XVI. THE SACRIFICES OF THE LEVITICAL LAW WERE -TYPICAL OF CHRIST. Hebrews xiii. 11, 12. The bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burnt without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. No unprejudiced person, who reads these words, would ever doubt, that the author's design was to express an intentional correspondence be tween the sacrifices for sin, under the levitical law, and the death of Christ. Some parts of the Epistle to the Hebrews require great attention, in order to perceive and fohow the train of reasoning which is used. Some passages are rendered difficult to be un derstood from the use of uncommon words, or an unusual collocation of them. But the words themselves are here so simple, and their connection so obvious, that we might have imagined no one who reads them could have mistaken the writer's meaning, and no 326 Lecture XVI. one who is satisfied of his inspiration, could doubt the truth of his conclusion. But who shah say to the pride of reason, hitherto shalt thou come, and no further? The most positive assertions are eluded, the plainest con clusions are denied, when they oppose the preconceived opinions of a favourite system. With those who would deny the Divine au thority of the writings, in which this asser tion is contained, we have, for the present, no concern. We know in what we have be lieved : and should, I trust, be ready to give to any one who asked us a reason of our behef. But our observations wih be directed against the errors of those, who, allowing ah Scripture to be given by inspiration of God, do yet either extenuate, or distort, or deny the con clusions, to which the plain interpretation of Scripture necessarily leads. It has already been concluded, upon the authority of the Epistle to the Hebrews, that the levitical high priest, the tabernacle, and the services performed in it, were intended to prefigure the priesthood of Christ, the place, and the manner of his heavenly ministry. It will now be our object to shew, that the sa crifices under the law, were, in like manner, intended to prefigure the sacrifice which Christ offered for the sins of the whole world. Lecture XVI. 327 We need not attempt the discussion of the difficult question respecting the origin of sacri fice ; whether it were derived from the dictates of natural reason, or estabhshed in obedience to the direct command of God. Whatever opinion is formed respecting the patriarchal sacrifices, no one doubts, that those under the levitical dispensation were expressly enjoined, as part of the very pecuhar laws under which the Israehtes were to live. Neither wih it be requisite to enquire, whe ther sacrifice were adopted as part of the law of Moses, in comphance with a custom, to which the people had long been habituated in their intercourse with idolatrous nations ; or as an additional sanction to a divine rite, esta bhshed by patriarchal tradition. It is not dis puted, that the sacrifices under the law were accompanied with circumstances which charac terized no other sacrifices ; ah distinguished with scrupulous care in the book of the levi tical law, and observed through a succession of ages with corresponding accuracy. It is in these peculiarities that the principal proofs of a designed prefiguration must be looked for : and they are neither few in number, nor doubt ful in degree. The animal sacrifices under the Mosaic dis pensation were of various kinds, differing in 328 Lecture XVI. the object for which they were offered, and ah bearing some reference to the great sacrifice of the death of Christ. 1. The most ancient kind was, doubtless, the burnt-offering, in which the whole of the victim was consumed and went up before God, as the name imports/ either as an expression of gratitude for past favours, or as adding weight to the prayers which accompanied the sacrifice," to deprecate evd, or to supplicate good. Under the levitical law, the whole burnt-offering was often expiatory ; c it was expressly required on several specific occa sions;"1 and was permitted as a votive, or a free-wih-offering, either by a Jew, or by a stranger. The peculiarity of this sacrifice was its completeness : and to this is almost exclu sively* apphed the assertion, that it is, with reference to the Almighty, a sweet-smelling savour. f 2. The second kind of sacrifice was the peace-offering ; of which part was consumed in the fire, and part divided between the priest "¦ j-ftiy from ,-f?}? ascendit. " Job i. 5. xiii. 8. Numb, xxiii. 2, 14, 30. c Lev. xiv. 20. d Lev. xii. 8. xiv. 19, 20. xv. 15, 30. xvi. 24. Numb. vi. 11,14.c Lev. iv. 31. f Exod. xxix. 18. Lev. i. 9, 13, 17. Numb. xv. 14. Lecture XVI. 329 who officiated, and him who brought the offer ing. It was either made on the occassions en joined by the law,8 or brought for a thanks giving, or for a vow, or for a voluntary offer ing/ 3. But the most numerous and important sacrifices were those of an expiatory nature, offered in acknowledgment of sin, and as the means appointed by God to avert its fatal con sequences. Whether it were a sin-offering, or whether it were a trespass-offering, the imme diate object was simdar, to atone for the gudt of some offence committed either against God, or against man. Now, in the Scriptures of the New Testa ment, the death of Christ is frequently spoken of in terms appropriated to the sacrificial wor ship of the Jews : and that, not only by ahu sion, or figure, but in such a pointed manner, as to .indicate a designed connection between those sacrifices and that of Christ. Some pas sages in Scripture intimate the general con nection of sacrifice with Christ's death: others refer, especiahy, to the peculiar rites wkh which sacrifice of a particular kind was ac companied. The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews argues from the fortieth Psalm, that all the * Exod. xxix. Numb. vi. 14. h Lev. vii. 12, 16. 330 Lecture XVI. sacrifices and offerings of every kind, under the law, were introductory to the perfect sacrifice, which was foreshadowed by them, and super seded them. To shew that " it is not possible that the blood of buhs and of goats should take away sins,"1 he introduces the words which David, by the spirit of prophecy, long be fore uttered, in the person of the Messiah. " Wherefore, when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me. In burnt- offerings and sacrifices for sin, thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come, in the volume of the book it is written of me, to do thy wih, O God." k The apostle then subjoins a full explanation of the prophet's assertion. " Above when he saith, Sacrifice and offering, and burnt-offerings, and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law ; then said he, Lo, I come to do thy wih, O God. He taketh away the first that he may establish the second.'" The first, which was to be so taken away, in cluded ah the animal sacrifices and other offer ings of the levitical law: the second, which was to be so established, was " the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for ah."m 1 Heb. a. 4. * Heb. x. 5... 7. 1 Heb. x. 5... 9- mHeb. x. 10. Lecture XVI. 331 In another instance, St. Paul compares the sacrifice of Christ with the offerings made under the levitical law, with a more pecuhar refer ence to the burnt-offerings. " Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God, for a sweet- smelling savour;"" the very terms which are used respecting the burnt-offering, voluntarily brought to the door of the tabernacle, and there offered, and accepted "to make atonement for him" that offered it/ But the sacrifices more immediately typical of the death of Christ were those of an en tirely expiatory nature ; the sin-offering, and the trespass-offering. The language of various parts of Scripture so uniformly suggests this connection, that the most laboured and in genious attempts to explain them away, by considering them as mere figurative ahusions, have been unsuccessful. Jesus Christ is said to have been " brought as a lamb to the slaughter;" to have "borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows;" to have "borne the sins of many;"p to have "been offered'"1 for that purpose; to have given "his life a ransom for many,"1 "for all;"5 to have n Ephes. v. 2. ° Lev. i. 2, 4, 9, &c. p Isai. Iiii. 5, 7, 12- Acts viii. 32. ' Heb. ix. 28. r Matt. xx. 28. Mark x. 45. » 1 Tim. ii. 6. 332 Lecture XVI. shed his blood "for many, for the remission of sins;'" to have been "dehvered for our offences;"" to have been set forth by God "to be a propitiation through faith in his blood ;"x to have been sent "to be the propitiation for our sins ;"y to have " died for the ungodly ;"z to have " died for our sins ;"a and by his death, to have reconciled us to God;b to have "by himself purged our sins;"0 to have made "re conciliation for the sins of the people;"3 to have "entered in once into the holy place, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, having obtained eternal re demption for us ;"e " by one offering" to have "perfected for ever them that are sanctified ;"f to have been slain, and to have redeemed us to God by his blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation ; g to have been "the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world;'"1 "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world;"1 to have been made "sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."k It is declared, that God " laid on him ' Matt. xxvi. 28. u Rom. iv. 25. " Rom. iii. 25. y 1 John ii. 2. iv. 10. z Rom. v. 6. a 1 Cor. xv. 3. * Rom. V. 10. c Heb. i. 3. Kaddptapov Troitio-dpevo<; d Heb. ii. 17- ' Heb. ix. 12. f Heb. x. 14. * Rev. v. 9- h John i. 29. * Rev. xiii. 8. k 2 Cor. v. 21. Lecture XVI. the iniquity of us ah;" and made "his soul an offering for sin j"1 that redemption, and for giveness of sins are obtained through his blood:"1 and that " we are sanctified through the offer ing of the body of Jesus Christ once for ah."" St. Peter also solemnly addresses the Christian Church, in terms of encouragement ; which yet are powerless and unmeaning, unless the death of Christ were a real offering to take away sin: "Pass the time of your sojourning here in fear : forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation, re ceived by tradition from your fathers : but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot."0 When we find the Scriptures thus uniformly applying to the death of Christ the terms, which were originally applicable to the expi atory sacrifices of the levitical law, the obli gation of which entirely ceased, as soon as the great Atonement was made for sin, we cannot avoid the conclusion, that a designed connec tion existed between those sacrifices and the death of Christ : that they were the shadow, of which he possessed the " very image," the type of which he was the antitype. 1 Isai. iiii. 6, 10. m Ephes. i. 7- Col. i. 14. n Heb. x. 10. ° 1 Pet. i. 17... 20. 334 Lecture XVI. This conclusion wih be strengthened, by referring to the very pecuhar solemnities which were appointed to be observed, at the offering of some of the expiatory sacrifices; ceremonies apparently unmeaning in themselves, but found to possess a most singular analogy to the man ner, in which Scripture assures us the death of Christ is made instrumental in taking away the sins of the world. Every minute circumstance, in the levitical sacrifices, was prescribed by the law given by the immediate inspiration of heaven/ The se lection of the victim, the manner of preparing it, the offering of it at the door of the taber nacle, the imposition of hands upon its head with prayer, the solemnities with which it was to be slain, the manner in which the several parts were to be distributed, the various me thods in which some of the blood was to be sprinkled, either upon the mercy-seat, or upon the horns of the golden altar in the sanctuary, or upon the brasen altar of burnt-offering, upon its horns, upon its sides, or upon its base, and the remainder poured out: the significant ceremonies to be performed with the parts of the victim, in the peace-offerings of the whole congregation, and the trespass-offering of the leper/ by waving them towards the various p See Lighttbot's Temple Service, ' Lev. xiv. 12, 24. xxiii. 20. Lecture XVI. 335 quarters of the earth, and heaving them in the air — ah these were prescribed by the law of Moses, or by tradition, and scrupulously observed. Some of these ceremonies were such as, in ah ages, and in almost all nations, had been used to accompany sacrifice: and it has been forcibly argued, that ah sacrifices had reference to the death of Christ, by observing the uni versality of the principle of vicarious atone ment which they pre-suppose, and represent by significant actions. But some of the expiatory sacrifices under the levitical law are declared, in Scripture, to have peculiarly foreshadowed the sacrifice of Christ. Such are the sacrifices, the blood of which was carried into the sanctuary, and their bodies afterwards burnt without the camp. The flesh of many of the expiatory offer ings, as weh as that of the peace-offerings, was given to be eaten ; but it was to be eaten by the priests alone, in the holy place, in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation/ But other sin-offerings were required to be made with ceremonies of a more solemn nature. There were some sin-offerings, of which they might not eat, who served the sanctuary : and r Lev. vi. 25, 26. x. 17- 336 Lecture XVI. a remarkable pecuharity of these offerings was, that the blood of ah of them was taken either into the outer or inner sanctuary, in token of the more important nature of the expiation which was made by these sacrifices ; and their bodies were commanded to be burnt without the camp/ Now, for what purpose can we imagine re gulations such as these to have been inserted in a law confessedly of divine appointment? They clearly indicated some especial design: a design which they, who received the law, might not comprehend, but which they might hope should be revealed in the fulness of time for the confirmation of their faith. This pur pose has been fully declared by the inspired author of the Epistle to the Hebrews. He selects these very offerings for sin, the bodies of which were burnt without the camp, as especiahy bearing a typical relation to Christ. They were unblemished in body, as ah other victims were, in order to represent more pro perly the spotless purity of the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world. Their blood was carried into the outer sanc tuary, and there sprinkled upon the altar, to prefigure the shedding of Christ's blood, that he might with it sanctify the people : and their 5 Lev. iv. 12, 21. xvi. 27. Lecture XVI. 337 bodies were taken out, and burnt without the camp in the wilderness, and afterwards without the city of Jerusalem, to foreshew, by a continued and most significant emblem, that Christ should so suffer without the gate. These resemblances might have been ob served as coincidences of a very remarkable kind, by any one who was made acquainted with the sacrificial ceremonies of the Israelites : and some designed connection might have been presumed between different parts of the same , system, which possess such obvious features of simdarity. But the existence of design is esta bhshed upon grounds which no one can doubt, who ahows the authority of the Epistle to the Hebrews, and takes notice of the reasoning of the apostohc writer. " We have an altar," that is, a sacrifice offered upon an altar, "whereof they have no right to eat who serve the taber nacle. For the bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burnt without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered with out the gate.'" In this passage, it is evident, that these particular sacrifices are assumed to have prefigured the sacrifice of the death of 1 Heb. xiii. 10... 12. Y 338 Lecture XVI. Christ, and the place in which it should be offered. But there is still another kind of sin-offer ing, even more solemn than these: that which was annuahy made on the great day of atone ment. This has already been adduced as typical of Christ in its general circumstances/ It shad only, therefore, be now observed, that those victims without blemish, the blood of which was, once every year, carried into the most holy place, within the vail, and there sprinkled upon the mercy-seat, and the bodies of which were also to be burnt without the camp, united in themselves ah those marks of a typical cha racter, which the other expiatory sacrifices par tially possessed. They prefigured the purity and holiness of Christ, the propitiation made by his death, the place on earth in which the sacrifice was offered, and the courts of heaven into which he entered once, by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption for us/ The levitical sacrifices, then, and especially those of an expiatory nature, having been ap pointed as typical of Christ's death, a very important consequence necessarily fohows from the subsistence of such a relation. Those sacrifices were generally vicarious : the victim was considered to be laden with the " Lecture XV. " Heb. ix. 12. Lecture XVI. 339 burden of sin; and its life was given and ac cepted as a ransom for the offender. This fact is clearly estabhshed, by a careful consideration of the manner in which expiatory sacrifice is mentioned throughout the Old Testament : and it is confirmed, by the testimony of those Jewish writers who have explained their law/ But there are three prominent circumstances which at once shew the vicarious nature of the sacrifices under the law. 1. The first is the imposition of hands upon the head of the victim, signifying the removal of the offender's gudt. It is true, that this ceremony was used both in the burnt-offerings and peace-offerings of individuals/ which were more properly of an eucharistic, than of an expiatory nature. Yet, even in these, some reference appears to have been made to a con fession of sin accompanying the laying on of the offerer's hands/ But, whatever might be the import of the ceremony in those sacrifices, the express words of Scripture assure us, that the imposition of hands upon the head of a sin-offering was intended to express the removal of the guilt from the offender to the victim. One of the most expressive and remark- y See Outram de Sacrifices, Dissert. I. cap. xxii. 1 Lev. i. 4. iii. 2, 8, 13. iv. 4, 24, 29- a See Outram de Sacrifices, Dissert. I. xv. 8. Y2 340 Lecture XVI. able parts of the atonement, which was made on the great day of expiation, was that effected by the two goats, together making one sin- offering,0 one of which was slain, and the other sent into the wilderness as a scape-goat. The high priest was thus directed : he " shah lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him ah tbe iniquities of the children of Israel, and ah their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shah send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: and the goat shall bear upon him ah their iniquities unto a land not inhabited."0 No terms can more clearly express the transference of the guilt of the offenders to the selected victim, by the appropriate symbol of imposition of hands : and the intention being declared in this instance, we cannot doubt that the same cere mony had the same import, when used in other sin-offerings, either for individuals, or for the whole congregation. 2. The second circumstance which shews, that the guilt of the offender was considered to be transferred to the victim, is the fact, that the sin-offering, upon which the solemn imposition of hands had been made, was cere- " Lev. xvi. 5. . . 10. See Magee on the Atonement, No. 73. c Lev. xvi. 21, 22. Lecture XVI. 341 moniahy unclean, and communicated this defile ment to those who came into contact with it. The man who led forth the scape-goat into the wdderness, and they, who on the same day carried out the bullock, which was burnt with out the camp, after it had been solemnly offered with the usual ceremonies of expiatory sacri fices, and, therefore, probably with the impo sition of hands/ contracted legal uncleanness, by performing the ceremony : for they were commanded to wash their clothes, and bathe their flesh in water before they were permitted to come into the camp/ The ceremonial de filement, in the principal expiatory sacrifices, doubtless arose from the symbolical commu nication of the offender's gudt, by the imp6- sition of hands upon the head of the victim. It would appear, that a simdar pohution was incurred by those, who burned without the camp the bodies of any beasts the blood of which was brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin: and it certainly was communicated to those, who, in the same man ner, consumed and gathered the ashes of the red heifer, which partook of the nature of an ex piatory sacrifice, and was a purification for sin/ In these institutions we perceive, then, an d Lev. iv. 4, 15, 24, 29, 33. ' Lev. xvi. 26. . .28. ' Numb. xix. 8, 9. See Outram de Sacrificiis, Diss. I. xvii. 1 . 342 Lecture XVI. individual, or a whole people, confessedly la bouring under the guilt of sin, and anxious to avert its punishment, by obeying a specific ordinance of God, appointed for that purpose. We observe a victim, selected with every pre caution which should insure its perfection and purity, solemnly dedicated to God, with the rites which He had ordained : and, as soon as these rites are terminated, we perceive those who offered the sacrifice to be purged from their sins ; but the victim to have acquired the greatest ceremonial pohution. Nothing could more significantly mark the fact, that the sins of the offender were transferred to the victim. 3. The punishment also of the victim was strictly vicarious, in that life was given for hfe. The various disputes which have so often been held, respecting the principle of vitality, sufficiently shew, how necessary it was, if a vicarious sacrifice were made, to fix upon some sensible symbol which should designate that which was invisible, the life of the animal: and if any part be once fixed upon, and de clared so to represent the life, it is evident that no reasonable objection can be made -to the selection. Now the part, Avhich was se lected in the levitical sacrifices, is the blood; an emblem, perhaps, the most obvious of any Lecture XVI. 343 that could have been chosen, and excellently adapted to the purpose: for its continuance in the body is necessary to animal life; and, when shed, it stih possesses a separate and visible existence; and leaves the body of the victim unmutdated, except by the wound in flicted for its death. The blood of animals acquired, therefore, in the Mosaic economy, an adventitious holiness. The Israelites were forbidden to eat of it ; for it represented the hfe itself, which was reserved to make atonement in sacrifice for the life of him who offered it. "The life of the flesh," it is declared in the law, " is in the blood, and," or therefore/ "I have given it to you upon the altar, to make an atonement for your souls ; for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul." These three facts, the transference of guilt by the imposition of hands upon the victim's head, the consequent legal pollution of the victim, and the life of the animal being repre sented by the blood, and offered upon the altar, prove that, at least, the expiatory sacrifices of the Jews were of a strictly vicarious nature. And this conclusion agrees with the certainly unprejudiced opinions of the Jews themselves/ s See Patrick on Lev. xvii. 1 1 . h See Magee on Atonement, No. 33. 344 Lecture XVI. Now to these sacrifices the death of Christ is compared, not casually, not incidentahy, not unadvisedly, but continually, and with evident design : not in mere figurative language, which, originating in the mind of the speaker, might imply no real connection between the objects of comparison ; but by an analogy between the things themselves. The death of Christ is, in the Christian dispensation, what expiatory sacri fice was in the levitical dispensation. The two were connected by the design of Divine Pro vidence, the first shadowing forth, imperfectly, what was exhibited fuhy and completely in the second. If, then, the expiatory sacrifices of the law were strictly vicarious, so was the sacrifice of Christ. If the gudt of the sinner was trans ferred, under the law, to the victim which was slain, the gudt of a sinful world was in like manner transferred to Christ, who gave himself a ransom for ah.1 If the' victim, before immaculate, received a stain from the sins which it bore, Christ also, who knew no sin, was ready made sin for us/ If the life of the animal was given by the sprinkling of its blood, that of Christ was actuahy made an offering for sin.1 The language of Scripture, and the prefigurations of the law, unite in shewing the 1 1 Tim. ii. 6. k 2 Cor. v. 21. ' Isai. Iiii. 10. Lecture XVI. 345 reality, as well as the efficacy, of the sacrifice of Christ. In ah the animal sacrifices, then, of the levi tical law, we observe many remarkable restric tions and ceremonies, ah expressly enjoined on the authority of God's command. Many of these restrictions were, in themselves, incon venient, and some of the ceremonies apparently trivial : yet, they were united in one compacted scheme, and observed from age to age. Some of the rites are agreeable to the notions which ah nations have held respecting sacrifice : others are peculiar to the levitical dispensation. But, as long as we continue to reason upon the origin and intention of animal sacrifice, with out any assistance from above, we find our selves but wandering in a mighty maze, without a plan to direct our footsteps. Even in the books of the Old Testament, the obscurity which envelopes many of the sacrificial ordi nances, is but partially dissipated. We, there fore, refer to the word of God, revealed in the New Testament ; and there we find a lamp unto our feet, and a hght unto our path. We perceive much, which was before uncertain, fixed, much which was imperfect, completed. We learn, that all this train of sacrifices was designed to prefigure, by various means, the one great sacrifice offered by Christ ; that they 346 Lecture XVI. all perpetuated a symbohcal representation of the same important events, which the prophets delivered by word, or by sign ; and other holy men exhibited by the real actions of their or dinary lives: that, in this one sacrifice, the true expiation was made for the sins of men; and then the obligation of making any other offering for sin for ever ceased. We are thus enabled to discern the mutual connection be tween the various parts of the scheme, devised by Divine wisdom, for the salvation of fahen man: and should be led to adore the mercy which has thus provided a remedy for sin, commensurate with the magnitude of the evd. With what humility, then, should we con template our own unworthiness, and the ex ceeding sinfulness of our faden nature, which could only by such a sacrifice be restored to the favour of God. With what gratitude should we reflect upon the mercy of our Redeemer, who " came into the world to save sinners :"ra and with what earnestness should we labour to be made partakers of such inestimable bene fits. "By him, therefore, let us offer the sacri fice of praise continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name."" Let us give all diligence to add to our " faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge m 1 Tim. i. 15. " Heb. xiii. 15, Lecture XVI. 347 temperance, and to temperance patience, and to patience godliness, and to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness charity:"0 forgetting not "to do good and to commu nicate" to the necessities of others, " for with such sacrifices God is weh pleased."" 0 2 Pet. i. 5, 7. p Heb. xiii. 16. LECTURE XVII. THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL TYPICAL OF THE PERSON OF CHRIST I AND THEIR HISTORY PREFIGURATIVE OF THE INSTITUTIONS OF CHRISTIANITY. 1 COR. X. 1, 2, 3, 4. Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be igno rant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all bap tized unto Moses in the cloud, and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual meat ; and did all drink the same spiritual drink : for they drank of that spi ritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. There is something very remarkable in the instruction deduced in the New Testament from the history of the Israehtes. Christianity hav ing been founded upon Judaism, it was per haps to be expected, that the attention of early Christian writers should be directed to ah those, who, "having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:"3 that the examples of holy men, who hved under the law, should often be produced for a warn ing, or an encouragement to those who had received the Gospel. All this, accordingly, we • Heb. xi. 39. Lecture XVII. 349 do find. But we find much more. We find various passages of the New Testament, in which, while reference is made to the history of the Israelites, for the purpose of enforcing moral and religious improvement, some kind of connection is intimated between those his torical transactions, and the things which should come to pass in the latter days. These intimations are given in different parts of Scripture with different degrees of clearness. If we look for decided assertions, that the history of the Israehtes prefigured the several parts of the Christian scheme of reve lation, we perhaps expect more than we shah discover in Scripture. The connection is rather to be inferred from the general mode, in which the inspired writers of the New Testament treat of the Jewish history, than to be proved from any one broad affirmation. Still there are intimations enough to induce us to en quire, whether the same people, who in their religious rites so clearly prefigured the offices which Christ sustains, and the sacrifice which he offered, might not also prefigure, in the astonishing events of their national history, some circumstances of the dispensation which Christ introduced: and our enquiry will shew, that there is, at least, a high degree of pro bability that such a connection subsists. 350 Lecture XVII. I. The first passage, which shall be noticed, is one which appears to point out the people of Israel as a type of Christ personahy. St. Matthew relates, that our Lord, in his infancy, was taken into Egypt, " that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I cahed my Son."b The impression upon the mind of any man reading this passage would certainly be, that it was quoted as a distinct prophecy of the event related by the Evan gelist ; and that the person spoken of was no other than Jesus. But a reference to the ori ginal prophecy of Hosea shews/that the asser tion was made respecting the people of Israel : " When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and cahed my son out of Egypt."0 This application of the words of the pro phet is undoubtedly difficult to be explained; and the variety of interpretations, which have been proposed, have themselves introduced fresh difficulties. Without entering upon any dis cussion, respecting the different opinions which have been held by those, whose names have deservedly the greatest weight, it must be ob served, that the quotation is made in the most definite and positive terms; and that, if the authority of the Evangelist be allowed, we " Miltt- »• 15. >¦¦ Hos. xi. 1. Lecture XVII. 351 must consider the passage to bear direct allu sion to Christ. On the other hand, the connec tion of the original words with the expostulation of the prophet Hosea to the Israehtes is so obvious, that perhaps no one, in reading that passage alone, would detect any appearance of prophetic allusion to a future event. What, then, would be the natural conclusion of any unprejudiced mind? It would surely be, that the people of Israel, in that part of their history, prefigured, by the providence of God, the events in which Jesus should after wards be engaged: that thus, the same words, which related historically to the coming of the Israehtes out of Egypt, related also pro phetically to the corresponding circumstance in the history of Jesus; not from any accom modation of words spoken in one sense, and quoted in another, not from any ambiguity in the meaning of the terms, not from any figurative, or proverbial use of the expression, but from a preconcerted, designed connection between the two events. In any other history, uncorroborated by the authority which the Scriptures possess, it must be allowed, that a conclusion of this nature would be inadmissible; because, in no history but that of the Bible, is the veil lifted up, which conceals the counsel of the Most High 352 Lecture XVII. in his dealings with mankind. And, even here, the conclusion is to be adopted only as it seems inevitably to fohow from the comparison of two passages, both of which we beheve, and know, to have proceeded from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The Scriptures contain also other texts, which are, at least, consistent with the suppo sition, that the people of Israel was, in some, measure, typical of the Son of God. The Lord is said to be a Father to Israel, and Ephraim to be his first-born ;d as Israel is denominated the Anointed/ or Christ ; the Son, and the first born of God:f and, conversely, Christ himself is addressed under the designation of Israel/ and probably alluded to under the name of Jacob/ There is another remarkable passage of the prophet Hosea, in which the whole people of Israel is spoken of in terms, which are alluded to in the New Testament, as bearing reference to Christ. When St. Paul is reminding the Corinth ians of the foundation of the faith, which had been preached to them, he addresses them in these words : " I delivered unto you, first of d Jer. xxxi. 9. ' Hab. iii. 13. r Exod. iv. 22. s Isai. xlix. 3. h Psalm xxiv. 6. Lecture XVII. 353 all, that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day, according to the scriptures."1 There can be no doubt that the term " accord ing to the scriptures," refers, in each clause of the sentence, to some verbal prediction which is contained in the Old Testament, relating to the death of Christ, and his resurrection on the third day. With respect to the death of Christ for our sins, there are numerous prophecies of the most circumstantial kind/ His resurrection also is predicted in terms sufficiently clear:1 and the time, during which his body should remain in the earth, is typically represented by the sign of the prophet Jonah. But the only verbal prophecy, which intimates that Christ should be raised up on the third day, is that addressed by the prophet Hosea imme diately to the people of Israel : " Come and let us return unto the Lord : for he hath torn, and he wih heal us : he hath smitten, and he wih bind us up. After two days will he re vive us; in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.'"" It is i 1 Cor. xv. 3, 4. k Psal. xxii. 16, 17- Isai. Iiii. 5, 8, 12, &c. 1 Psal. xvi. 10. compared with Acts ii. 31. m Hos. vi. 1, 2. Z 354 Lecture XVII. evident, upon a review of the whole expos tulation of the prophet, that he is promising the people of Israel a restoration from their national calamities and captivity, on condition of their repentance, under the figure of a re surrection from the dead ; a figure frequently used in the poetical and prophetical books of Scripture." But the mention of the precise time, " the third day he will raise us up," a circumstance which is verbahy predicted in no other part of the Bible, and yet is said by St. Paul to have come to pass in the resur rection of Christ " according to the Scriptures," strongly confirms the opinion of those, who consider the passage as a distinct prophecy of the resurrection of Christ. Even if the words were in some measure fulfilled by the recovery of the people from national distress, after an intermediate time, indicated by the prophetical period of two days, the fact would prove only, that the national history of the Jews was, in this instance also, so ordered, as faintly to prefigure the death of Christ, and his rising again. This comparison of different passages of Scripture shews, then, that the Holy Spirit has made use of words, which bear reference to the "Psal. xxx. 3. lxxi. 20. lxxxvi. 13. Ezek. xxxvii. 11. Isai. xxvi. 19. Lecture XVII. 355 people of Israel, and, by the same authority, are apphed to the person of Christ. The chosen descendants of Abraham are thus pointed out, at least in some part of their wonderful national history, as designedly foreshadowing that one Seed of Abraham, in whom the promises, made to himself, and to his posterity, should ah be accomplished. II. But it by no means follows, because the people of Israel was historically typical of the person of Christ, in some respects, that the same relation should subsist in other instances. Neither must we permit our imaginations to multiply resemblances, which have no founda tion in the word of God. Persons and events are often, in Scripture, ahuded to as bearing typical reference, partly to one future event, and partly to another; as the same event is also foreshadowed in its different circumstances by different preceding events. An instance of this nature is found in the notice which is taken of a later period in the history of the Israehtes, their passage through the Red sea, and wandering in the desert ; an ahusion which represents the people of Israel as prefiguring the Christian Church; and the instruments of some of their miraculous deliver ances, as designed types of the institutions and person of Christ. z 2 356 Lecture XVII. St. Paul, in his first Epistle to the Corinth ians, replies to various questions which his con verts had proposed/ Some of them, puffed up with the conceit of superior knowledge, appear to have relied on their privileges as Christians ; and to have underrated the strength of the temptations to which they were exposed. They were conscious of enjoying the ordinary means of grace ; they had been baptized into the Christian faith, and received the cup of blessing, and the bread which was broken, the com munion of the body and blood of Christ/ They considered, that they might join in the feasts, which the heathen around them made upon the victims offered to idols, without in curring the danger of apostacy from the faith. To such as these the apostle addresses the im portant instruction, " Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fah."q To enforce the necessity of constant vigilance, after re ferring to the care which he himself used to keep under his body, and bring it into sub jection, lest that by any means, when he had preached to others, he himself should be a cast away;1 St. Paul refers to tbe history of the Israelites. " Moreover, brethren," he writes, " I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that • 1 Cor. vii. 1. PI Cor. x. 16. « 1 Cor. x. 12. r ! Cor ix 2J Lecture XVII. 357 ah our fathers were under the cloud, and ah passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea ; and did all eat the same spiritual meat ; and did ah drink the same spiritual drink : for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ."" In this passage, the object of the Apostle is, not only to represent the Israelites as having been partakers of miraculous benefits, in the food which they ate, and the water which they drank. For he introduces terms which were quite unnecessary for that purpose, and were calculated to excite notions in those who read them, which, on that supposition, the writer never meant. The assertion, that the Israelites " were ah baptised unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea," could not fail to suggest some de gree of correspondence between the initiatory rite of the Christian covenant, and that part of the history of the Israehtes. St. Paul then denominates the food of the Israelites in the wdderness, " the same spiritual meat," and " the same spiritual drink." If it were his intention to imply, that the material sustenance of the Israehtes represented food of a divine and spiritual nature; that there was a designed analogy, between the nourishment of the Israel- > 1 Cor. x. 1. ..4. 358 Lecture XVII. ites, and the elements consecrated in the Lord's Supper, in order to represent the body and blood of Christ ; that what was commemorated in the Christian ordinance, was prefigured in the Jewish history ; the apostle could scarcely have selected terms better calculated to convey such an impression : especially when the words are taken in connection with those immediately preceding them. And, to remove ah ambiguity, he concludes the ahusion with an assertion clear and express: "They drank of that spiritual Rock which fohowed them, and that Rock was Christ." Whatever degree of knowledge, then, re specting the future events of the Gospel, the apostle supposes the Israelites to have possessed, his whole argument proceeds upon the supposi tion, that circumstances in their dehverance were designed, under the immediate Providence of God, to shadow forth the institutions of Christianity, and to be so understood by the Christian Church. The simdarity thus indicated extends to a variety of remarkable particulars. The Israel ites were under the protection and guidance of a cloud, which was spread out as a cover ing/ the sensible representation of that Pro- vidence, which conducted them to the land of ' Psalm cv. 39- Lecture XVII. 359 Canaan, the lot of their inheritance," as it now protects the Church of Christ collectively, and guides the faithful in their course through this world, to the rest which remaineth to the people of God/ The children of Israel "all passed through the sea, and were ah baptized unto Moses, in the cloud, and in the sea." Their descent into the channel, which the hand of God made for them, through the midst of the sea, and their rising again from the waters, which "were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left," y was an apt, and the apostle intimates, a designed, representation of the baptism by which Christians enter into covenant with God. The emblem was rendered, perhaps, more striking by the showers which were poured out from the cloud, for the refreshment of the peo ple in their wanderings. For that some asper sion of this nature took place, we learn from the words of David, in speaking of their march through the wdderness ; " Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain, whereby thou didst con firm thine inheritance when it was weary.'" The cloud also sometimes descended, as a cloud of glory, into the midst of the congregation;* as the baptism " with the Holy Ghost and with " Psalm cv. 1 1 . x Heb. iv. 9. >' Exod. xiv. 22. l Psalm lxviii. 9. a Exod. xi. 34. 360 Lecture XVII. fire,"0 was afterwards sent down upon the Christian Church. By their descent into the sea, and passing under the cloud, the Israehtes were convinced of the authority of Moses, were consecrated to the dispensation which he was appointed to introduce, were separated from the slavery of their previous condition, and enabled to prosecute their journey towards Canaan ; representing, by a series of real events, the institution of Christian baptism, and the benefits derived from it. The Israehtes were also miraculously made partakers of meat and drink which, in addition to their primary effect in sustaining their sink ing strength, had also an inward spiritual mean ing, prefiguring the sacramental elements which Christ ordained to be received in his Church. " They did ah eat the same spiritual meat." Well might the manna, the angels' food which the Israehtes ate, be thus denominated: celestial in its origin, pure in its nature, miracu lously given to the people of God, and bearing a sacramental reference to the true bread of God, which should come down from heaven/ They did also " ah drink the same spiritual drink." The water which flowed in streams from the rock which Moses smote, and followed the Israelites in their wanderings, foreshadowed * Matt. iii. 11. Acts ii. 3. c John vi. 32, 33. Lecture XVII. 361 the blood of Christ which should be shed, and was analogous to the wine which he appointed to be drank by his fohowers, as the memorial of that event. Thus the argument- of the apostle imphes, that the national history of the Israehtes had a designed analogy to the state of the Christian Church : that the faithful of old possessed privdeges resembling those which the Christians enjoyed in their sacraments ; the one prophetic, the other commemorative. They were initiated into the Mosaic dispensation, by a baptism in the cloud and in the sea; as the new converts were baptized into the Christian faith. And, when entered upon the course to their promised earthly inheritance, they were renewed from time to time with spiritual meat and drink ; as the confirmed Christian is provided with the means of grace, by partaking of the sacred ordinance established by Christ. The benefits also of each flowed from an analogous source. The deductions made by human reason, even from the premises esta bhshed by Holy Writ, are always to be received with caution. But the conclusions derived from the apostle's reasoning, in the present instance, are confirmed by an assertion which no believer in the inspiration of St. Paul can for a mo ment dispute : " They drank of that spiritual 362 Lecture XVII. Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ." Before a declaration so positive as this, ah cavil must disappear. We may not be able to understand, fuhy, how the rock represented Christ ; we never could have known that it did, without the authority of Scripture. But we cannot explain away, and dare not contradict, a fact which the Holy Spirit has thus esta blished. When, however, the analogy, between the rock in the desert and Christ, is pointed out, we may be justified in observing points of simdarity between them, which we might have passed unnoticed, unless under the direction of an in fallible guide. The rock in the wdderness, from which "tbe waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed,"4 was a designed represen tation of Christ, who invited ah who thirst to come unto him; and promised hving water to those who ask" of him/ The resemblance, how ever, was imperfect. Ah, who drank of the water which flowed from the rock smitten by Moses, received refreshment to their weariness : but the relief was merely temporary. Whoever drank of that water thirsted again. But who ever shall drink of the water, which flows from the Rock of our salvation, shall never thirst ; Phil. ii. 9, 10. ' Numb. xiv. 6. . .9. ' John iii. 12, 13. « Heb. ii. 10. Lecture XVIII. 388 witness, the material emblem of heaven, and the pledge of the immediate presence and favour of God, "into the possession of the Gentdes, whom God drave out."u And the true Jesus introduced into the Gentde world, who lay in darkness, and the shadow of death, the spiritual benefits themselves. Joshua, by the immediate command and supernatural assistance of Heaven, arrayed the people of Israel, and triumphed over the temporal kings of Canaan, who opposed his progress/ Jesus armed his faithful followers with weapons of warfare, "not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds :" y " and having spoded principalities and powers, made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them"2 in his cross. At the command of Joshua, the Israelites compassed the city of Jericho, and the priests blew with the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout; and the wall of the city fed down flat/ At the illus trious "appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,"0 "the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God:"0 and the very "heavens shah pass away with a great noise, u Acts vii. 45. x Josh. x. T 2 Cor. x. 4. « Col. ii. 15. a Josh, vi- 20. b 1 Tim. vi. 14. « 1 Thess. iv. 16. 384 Lecture XVIII. and the elements shall melt with fervent heat : the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burnt up."d Knowing, then, that the people, whom Joshua led, were typical of the faithful in ah ages ; that the country, into which he led them, prefigured that heavenly rest, which was seen afar off, even by the fathers who died in faith, and stih remaineth to the peo ple of God; that the very name of Jesus was given to him ; and that his actions, in many respects, correspond with those ascribed to the Saviour of the world; we have good reason to believe, that his life was, by the Providence of God, so ordered, as to represent future things ; that he was a personal type of the true Jesus. But tbe history of the Israehtes not only contains information respecting the deahngs of God : it unfolds a series of events " written for our admonition,"6 and apphed by the au thority of divine wisdom. The caution deh vered by the Apostle, in his address to the Hebrews, is a caution to all Christians in ah ages: and a caution of the most important nature : " Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evd heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God." f To all of us, of whatever age, or station, d 2 Pet. iii. 10. * 1 Cor. x. 11. ' Heb. iii. 12. Lecture XVIII. 385 or acquirements, this solemn warning affords a subject of deep and earnest meditation. But many of those, who are here assembled, are just entering upon that dangerous period of their lives, when they are first left to think and act for themselves. To such I would particularly apply the exhortation of the apostle. You are now liberated from many of those restraints, which the experience of your instructors, or the anxious sohcitude of parental care, has imposed during your earliest youth. Many of you, it is to be hoped, have been brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord; accustomed sincerely to reverence the institutions, and the duties, which reli gion prescribes. You have heard, perhaps, much of the danger of unbelief; and know, that man, in his weakness, has sometimes pre sumed to doubt, and, in his wickedness, has sometimes dared to deny, the God who cre ated, the Saviour who redeemed, the Holy Spirit who sanctifieth him. But. you have not yet been yourselves tempted to unbelief. The companions and familiar friends of your youth may have led you into folly and sin, of. which you earnestly now repent : but, amidst all your errors, they, as well as yourselves, believed that " there is a reward for the righteous,"8 that, * Psalm lviii. 11. Bb 386 Lbcture XVIII. doubtless, there is a God that judgeth the earth. The time is now come, when some of you may be cahed to know, by your own experience, how deceitful and specious are frequently the wiles of infidelity. Even among the young, there are sometimes found those, whom a de ceived heart has turned aside. Men of no mean attainments, and, perhaps, of manners more than usually prepossessing, may occa sionally be found, even within the wahs of this our Sion, who have learned to make sport of holy things. Sometimes it may be the pride of self-conceit, and the vanity of appear ing superior to common prejudices, which in duces them to speak lightly and irreverently of those mysteries, into which hoher beings than any human creature desire with humihty to look : and arrogantly to question the actions of that incomprehensible and eternal God, be fore whose throne the angels and blessed spirits of heaven fall down with faces veiled/ Sometimes the very course of their stu dies may have led them into an error, appa rently less presumptuous, but equally dangerous. Satan may be transformed into the resemblance of an angel of light; may delude them under the specious pretence of "science falsely so cahed."1 They may cavil at the proof of our 11 Rev. vii. 11. '1 Tim. vi. 20. Lecture XVIII. 387 religion's truth. They may, perhaps, have been so engaged for a time in the cultivation of abstract reasoning, as to be less forcibly affected with that degree of certainty, which moral demonstration is calculated to produce. They may have been so occupied in perusing the eloquent pages of heathen morality, as to be less sensible to those precepts and doctrines, which are often delivered only with the majestic plainness of truth. Or they may have been so entangled in the deceitful maze of meta physical subtlety, as to overrate the bounds of human knowledge: they may expect to re- concde what to them appears contradictory, in their conceptions of heavenly things : to define and explain the power, the wisdom, the jus tice, and the mercy of God, by the feeble efforts of their own fallible minds. From whatever cause such a heart of un belief may have originated, beware that it deceive you not. If, in your hours of social intercourse, you meet with those, who would unsettle your fixed faith in the holy profes sion of your religion, by levity, or by argu mentation, take heed how ye hear : " take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God."k " Heb. iii. 12. BE 2 388 Lecture XVIII. I wih suppose, that you so far benefit by the opportunities afforded you here, as to study for your own conviction the proofs, upon which the truth of our rehgion is budt, as upon a rock firm and stedfast. And, undoubtedly, such a research, undertaken with a humble and unprejudiced mind, wih terminate in es tablishing your faith. Search with what accu racy and acuteness you can, the reasons of the hope that is in you. The more minute your scrutiny is, the more complete wih be your satisfaction. But such a work requires both time and labour. And that you may not be carried away by every fair semblance of per verted reason, remember how much easier it is, in every subject, to advance a specious ob jection, than to furnish a satisfactory reply : how many cavds, which appear unanswerable to the inexperienced mind, have been long since confuted : how many apparent contradic tions have been reconciled, by patient compa rison and research. Look, besides, to the hves of those who are imbued with any of the diversified shades of unbelief; and see whether the practice, to which their principles generahy lead, point them out as safe models for your imitation. But the most dangerous temptation to in fidelity is that Avhich arises from the influence Lecture XVIII. 389 of a vicious life upon the judgment. A heart of unbelief is frequently first an evil heart. In general, a man does not begin by disbe lieving the doctrines, and then proceed to dis obey the commands of religion. So complicated are the motives, by which even the reason ing powers are influenced, that they, who would be thought persons of superior acuteness, are very commonly led to believe what they hope, upon grounds which, in any other case, they would justly consider insufficient. He, who is once "hardened through the deceitfulness of sin," l is soon led to imagine, that God may not be of eyes so extremely pure, requiring truth in the inward parts; so just, so true, so unchangeable, so fearful in judgment, as the Scriptures declare : and upon that feeble foun dation he budds his hope of eventually escaping the punishment pronounced upon ah unre- pented sin. Whenever, then, you are tempted to sin, remember that you are tempted, not only to disobey the positive commands of religion, but to weaken the very tie which binds religion to the soul. If ye continue faithful unto the end, great shah be your reward. There remaineth a rest for the people of God: an eternal rest from sin, and trial, and sorrow ; a sabbath of blessed- 1 Heb. iii. 13. 390 Lecture XVIII. ness and peace, into which "they, to whom it was first preached, entered not in because of unbelief. "m "Let us labour, therefore, to enter into that rest, lest any man fah after the same example of unbelief."" m Heb. iv. 6. n Heb. iv. 11. LECTURE XIX. ISAAC TYPICAL OF CHRIST. John viii. 56. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day ; and he saw it, and was glad. We cannot bring to a close an enquiry into the typical prefigurations of the Gospel history, which are contained in the Old Testament, without directing our attention to the volun tary offering, which Abraham made of Isaac. Whether this event be considered as the triumph of confiding faith over the natural feelings of humanity, and the affection of a parent; as an instance, in which the sovereign- power of God interfered, to cause an apparent deviation from the usual laws, by which the moral world is governed; or as one of those "things hard to be understood," which it is difficult to reconcde with the notions which human reason would form, respecting the deal ings of the Almighty ; it must always be re garded as a subject of the greatest interest. 392 Lecture XIX. To dweh, however, upon any of these points would be at present superfluous : for they have not long since been here elucidated, with more than ordinary eloquence and learn ing/ Our present enquiry, in conformity with the plan which has been pursued, wih lead us only to consider the action, which tried the faith of the patriarch, as far as it is designedly prefigurative of the death and resurrection of Christ. Very few of those, who cah themselves Christians, hesitate to acknowledge, that the offering up of Isaac was more than a simple historical event : that it was, in some measure, representative and prophetical of Christ's " day." But various opinions have been held, respecting the degree of accuracy, with which the predicted event was set forth ; the precise manner, in which the information was conveyed ; and how far its import was understood by Abraham him self. A correct judgment upon this question can be formed only by an examination of those por tions of the New Testament, which ahude to the trial of Abraham, compared with the his tory, as recorded in the book of Genesis. The first passage, which appears to relate to this subject, is the celebrated assertion made by * Benson's Hulsean Lectures for 1822. Lect. XIV, XV. Lecture XIX. 393 our Lord in one of his discourses with the Jews. "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day :" or rather, earnestly desired that he might see my day; "and he saw it, and was glad."0 Jesus was vindicating his own authority, and his superiority to Abraham, from the imputa tions of his opponents, by a reference to the tes timony of heaven and earth. "If I honour myself, my honour is nothing : it is my Father that honoureth me, of whom ye say, that he is your God." c This was a direct appeal to the numerous evident tokens, which Christ had re ceived, that he was a prophet sent from God. He had been declared the Son of God by a voice from heaven : d and had performed, pub licly, such miracles as attested his Divine com mission. If he had not done the works of his heavenly Father, they would not have been bound to beheve. But, when he had done them, though they believed not him, they should have beheved the works/ But, the Jews having referred to Abraham, Jesus pro ceeds to shew, that the patriarch himself had, , through faith, seen the things which were then displayed upon earth. "Your father Abraham b tjyaXX ida-aTo "va i'S ty Trjv tjpepav Ttjv iptjv' John viii. 56. c John viii. 54. d Matt. iii. 17- ' John x. 37, 38. 394 Lecture XIX. earnestly desired that he might see my day ; and he saw it, and was glad." We, who are fully persuaded of our Lord's authority, know from these words, that by some means, and on some specific occasion, Abraham, during his life, did see Christ's day. But the assertion of Jesus proves more than that. It was produced to convince the Jews, with whom he reasoned, by a reference to a fact either acknowledged by them, or capable of being established upon grounds, which they would not question. It, therefore, proves, that this insight into futurity, granted to Abraham at his earnest desire, was expressed or implied in the Scriptures, which the Jews acknowledged to be given by inspiration of God. Now the history of Abraham, from his first being called out of his country, and from his kindred, and from his father's house/ to the period of his death/ is related with great minuteness in the book of Genesis. The Scrip ture records a gradation of promises made to Abraham, increasing in clearness and impor tance. The patriarch, when he was first cahed, and obeyed, received the general promise; "I wih make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great ; and thou shalt be a blessing : and I will bless them that f Gen. xii. 1. * Gen. xxv. 8. Lecture XIX. 395 bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shah ah families of the earth be blessed."11 When he separated himself from Lot, and dwelt in the land of Canaan, the pro mise was renewed, with an assurance, that the land which he saw should be given to him and his seed for ever, and that his seed should be as the dust of the earth.1 Immediately after he was returned from rescuing his kinsman, Lot, and the slaughter of the kings, and had paid tithes to Melchisedec, the general promise of increase was limited to his own son : "and he beheved in the Lord, and he counted it to him for righteousness."k A new assurance of the Divine promise was given to him, when the covenant of circumcision was first appointed ; and a corresponding change made in the name of the patriarch, who was to be a father of many nations, and of Sarah, of whom the Son, accord ing to the promise, should be born.1 But it was not untd Abraham had given the fuhest proof of his faith in God, by offering up Isaac, the son of his old age, that the blessing to all na tions, which was to be by his seed, that is, by Christ,m was fully declared with the utmost pre cision, and ratified by an oath. Because God b Gen. xii. 1. . .3. ' Gen. xiii. 14, 16. k Gen. xv. 6. : Gen. xvii. m Gal. iii. 16. 396 Lecture XIX. could swear by no greater, he sware by him self/ saying, " In blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I wih multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea-shore : and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies ; and in thy seed shah all the nations of the earth be blessed."0 In ah these successive revelations, extending over so large a portion of Abraham's hfe, he doubtless received true, although imperfect, in formation respecting his one great descendant. But the question is, whether these promises con veyed that clear and anxiously expected insight into futurity, which our Lord imphes, when he declares, "Your father Abraham earnestly de sired to see my day : and he saw it, and was glad." All these promises were calculated to inspire the patriarch with confidence ; since they assured him, upon authority which he knew to be infahible, of many great and pre cious blessings, which should descend upon his numerous posterity ; and, by the means of his seed, be diffused over the whole earth. And Abraham " was glad," when the birth of Isaac was distinctly foretold : for " he fell upon his face and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old?"r And this he did, not from unbe- " Heb. vi. 13. ° Gen. xxii. 16, 18. '' Gen. xvii. 17- Lecture XIX. 397 lief, for "he staggered not at the promise of God ;" but with a severe and holy joy, " giving glory to God, and being fully persuaded, that what he promised he was able also to per form." q Wherefore also the chdd of promise was named Isaac, laughter, not from the sub sequent incredulity of his mother, when she "laughed within herself,"' but in token of the exultation of his father when he received the promise. Stih it appears not, that this promise was made in consequence of any specific earnest desire, which Abraham had entertained. There was, however, one action of his life, in which so clear an intimation of the great events of the Gospel was conveyed, that it may with the greatest propriety be cahed, seeing the day of Christ. And this information was given at the very time when the patriarch was most likely to have been animated with that " earn est desire," which our Lord declares he did possess at some period of his life. That action was the intended sacrifice of Isaac. Abraham was well acquainted with the pro mises of a Redeemer, which had been made im mediately after the fall of man, and renewed from time to time ; until the revelations made to himself limited the blessing to his own per sonal descendants. Having so long continued .« Rom. iv. 20, 21. ' Gen. xviii. 12. 898 Lecture XIX. under an extraordinary providence, and seeing Isaac his son growing up to years of manhood ; knowing that in Isaac his seed should be cahed," perhaps even regarding him as the individual, by whom the whole design of God's gracious scheme should be perfected; it is no impro bable supposition, that he might "earnestly desire," before his death, some especial informa tion respecting the manner, in which the sal vation so long expected should at length be brought to pass : and that the command to offer up his own son as a sacrifice was given, among other wise purposes, with the intention of afford ing him this information, by a real action, pre figuring what should come to pass in the latter days, enabling him to SEE the day of Christ. This opinion, it is well known, was sup ported by a distinguished writer in the last cen tury/ But it is not necessary, with him, to suppose the whole transaction to have been a scenical representation, analogous to those speci fic symbolical actions, which the prophets were afterwards commanded to perform. Whether this hypothesis be weh founded or not, the events in which Abraham was then engaged were certainly calculated to afford the patriarch some insight into the scheme of Divine Provi- • Gen. xxi. 12. ' Warburton, Div. Legation, Book VI. Sect. 5. Lecture XIX. 399 dence ; to shew to future ages, that the sacrifice of Christ was contemplated in the counsels of the Almighty, long before it came to pass ; and that Isaac was, by an immediate Providence, engaged in events, which clearly prefigured those of the Gospel history. The whole transaction bears a degree of simdarity to the events of Christ's death, which the most cursory observation cannot fail to dis cover. Isaac, the " only-begotten" and beloved son of an indulgent father, was given up, as an innocent victim to suffer death, upon one of the mountains of Moriah/ Christ, the only-begot ten Son of God, who knew no sin, was made sin for us,x and was crucified and slain upon one of the same mountains. As Isaac was led up to the place appointed by God for the sacri fice, he was laden with the wood, which Abra ham clave for the burnt-offering/ When Jesus was led away to be crucified, he went forth "bearing his cross."2 Isaac appears to have given himself up as a willing victim to the command of God, although at his period of life/ he might have effectually resisted the com parative feebleness of his aged father. In order » Gen. xxii. " 2 Cor. v. 21. T Gen. xxii. 3, 6. z John xix. 17- a Josephus says he was 25 years of age, Ant. Book I. ch. xiii. §. 2. - 400 Lecture XIX. to fulfil the scriptures, that thus it must be, Jesus was "brought as a lamb to the slaugh ter:"0 although he might have prayed the Father, and presently have received from him "more than twelve legions of angels." c The sacrifice of a ram was appointed and accepted by God, instead of that of Isaac. The long train of levitical sacrifices was estabhshed, on the same Divine authority, to prefigure for a time the sacrifice of Christ, and to occupy the same part in the Jewish dispensation, which the death of Christ occupies in the Christian. But the offering of Isaac prefigured the resurrection of Christ after three days, as weh as his death. The words of scripture, on this point, are most clear. " By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac ; and he that had received the promises offered up his only-begotten son, of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be cahed: accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead ; from whence also he received him in a figure,'"1 or in a parable. And this offering was made "on the third day"e after Abraham had set forth, and counted his son as one dead. To interpret these words as containing an assertion, that Abraham received Isaac from b Isai. Iiii. 7- ' Matt. xxvi. 53. d e'v TrapaftoXii. Heb. xi. 17. ..19- * Gen. xxii. 4. Lecture XIX. 401 the dead, in a dramatical representation/ may be to force the language of scripture to an unwar rantable extent. But the authority of the apo stle expressly declares, at least, a remarkable point of resemblance between the history of Isaac and that of Christ ; that when the arm of the patriarch was arrested by the angel of God, who cahed unto him out of heaven, and for bade him to slay his son, he received Isaac, figuratively, from the dead ; as we know that Christ, having been retained in the grave during the same period, ready arose from the dead, on the third day, being made the first-fruits of them that slept. The offering, then, of Isaac appears to be that part of the sacred history, in which Abra ham may, with pecuhar propriety, be said to have earnestly desired to see Christ's day, and having seen it, to have been glad. In all the promises which were successively made, in ah the bright prospects which they were calculated to open, he might anticipate the blessings which should be bestowed personahy upon himself ; he might discern, with the eye of faith, his de scendants becoming as the stars of heaven, and as the sand upon the sea-shore, innumerable : he might foresee their possession of a land flowing with milk and honey ; their peculiar privileges ' See Faber, Horae Mosaicee. Book II. Sect. 3 ch.iii. §. 5. C c 402 Lecture XIX. as the people of God ; and the general blessing which should come upon all the famdies and nations of the earth, by Abraham and his seed. But, at the time when he offered his son, he was favoured with a more express communication of the Divine will. This was the last trial of his faith ; the concluding period in the series of revelations, which he received from above. No clearer insight into futurity appears to have been granted to the patriarch : and no higher degree of certainty respecting the Divine pro mise could have been obtained, than that which was ratified by the sanction of an oath. We may not be able to ascertain the precise degree of knowledge, which Abraham possessed respecting the things typified in the offering up of Isaac. But he might understand, that the redemption, which he expected, should be ob tained only by some sacrifice, analogous to that which he was commanded to offer, that of an only-begotten son : he might know, that some of the circumstances of time and place, attend ing that sacrifice, should correspond with the action which he had been commissioned to per form ; and that a real resurrection from the dead should authenticate the Saviour of the world, as he received Isaac from the dead in a figure. That some knowledge of " Christ's day" was afforded him, the assertion of our Lecture XIX. 403 Lord fully proves. That this knowledge ex tended to some correct information respecting the event which was foreshadowed, appears from the name which he affixed to the place. Adopting the words, which he had uttered in faith, as he ascended the mountain, " God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt-offering;"8 Abraham cahed the name of that place, Jeho- vah-jireh, — The Lord will provide. And we have the authority of Moses for declaring, that the event and the place were kept in remem brance, in after ages, by a proverbial expression respecting the mount. We read no more of the trials of Abraham. Henceforth he con tinued to live satisfied in the faith : and in that faith he died ; " not having received the pro mises, but" yet " having seen them afar off." h There exists, besides, a very remarkable piece of history, which appears to shew how the sacrifice of Isaac was understood in the patriarchal ages. A knowledge of so remark, able a transaction would, very probably, have beeen preserved in the family of Esau, and dif fused through his posterity among the nations of the east. And such a tradition, however distorted by ignorance or superstition, might stih retain sufficient indications of its origin; and, even by its exaggerations, serve to shew * Gen. xxii. 8. h Heb. xi. 13. C C 2 404 Lecture XIX. the kind of interpretation which was originally put upon the facts. Such a tradition, seems to have been transmitted in the singular mystical sacrifice of the Phoenicians.' Human sacrifices were common among that deluded people. Sometimes tbe victims were taken indiscriminately : sometimes they gave even their first-born for their transgression ; the fruit of their body for the sin of their soul/ And in times of peculiar danger and distress, the king of the country, or the chief man of any city, offered the most dearly be loved of their chddren, as a victim to appease the anger of heaven. And this sacrifice, it is said, was performed mystically. The sacrifice is reported to have arisen from that made by a former prince of the land, who decorated his only -begotten son in royal apparel, and offered him as a burnt-offering upon an altar. There can be httle doubt, that this tradi tion originated in the sacrifice of Isaac, although perverted by the addition of fictitious circum stances, and made subservient to gross super stition. Independently of the similarity of the events, the very names, given to the son who was offered up, and to his mother, bear such evident reference to those of the sacred his^ 1 See note (A) at the end of the Lecture. L Micah vi. 7- Lecture XIX. 405 tory, that the correspondence cannot be con sidered accidental. This tradition confirms, in a remarkable manner, the truth of the Scripture history. But there is another singular circumstance at tending it. This is the only sacrifice of the gentde world, which is declared to have been offered mystically.1 Such a character could not be ascribed to this barbarous rite, if it were only commemorative of a previous event.. The very term indicates, that it was considered to be prefigurative of something to come. And this traditionary notion, so remote from the con ceptions of the people who held it, affords a strong presumption, that the sacrifice of Isaac, from which it was derived, was understood to be typical even in tbe patriarchal ages. Thus, then, the trial of the patriarch was rendered subservient to the wisest purposes. Having displayed the eminence of his faith, and proposed him as an example to ah men in ah ages, it was chosen as the occasion of delivering some of the most explicit verbal prophecies respecting the Messiah, which were ratified by the oath of God himself. It was made the means of conveying partially to him self, and his contemporaries, a representation of the "day" of Christ; and, since it has been 1 Bryant, Observations and Inquiries, p. 291. 406 Lecture XIX. elucidated by the Gospel history, it stands re corded as one of those real events, which most clearly shew the wisdom and the power of God, and confirm the fact, that his wih has been revealed to mankind. When we read of an event hke that of the trial of Abraham, produced by the immediate interference of the Almighty, and unexampled even in Scripture, we are too apt to rest satis fied with a knowledge of the circumstances, and of their connection with the other parts of Holy Scripture ; without referring the prin ciples, by which holy men of old were influ enced, to the regulation of our own hves. It is far more easy to render Scripture, in some measure "profitable for doctrine" only, than to apply it " for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness ; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto ah good works." m But let us not so dismiss the consideration of that history, which records the triumph and reward of faith. In these our days, and in this land, we are not cahed upon personahy to en dure so great a fight of afflictions. The sacri fices, which we are required to make, are not generally of a nature so severe as those which tried the fathers of old time. Nay, the legi- m 1 Tim. iii. 16, 17- Lecture XIX. 407 timate exercise of our affections is usuahy ar rayed on the side of our duty: we are cahed upon rather to regulate than to violate them. But it must not be denied, that, even now, great sacrifices are sometimes required, not unhke that by which Abraham was tried. We may, perhaps, have fixed our hearts with too great an anxiety upon the perishable things of this world: and God, for wise pur poses, may detach us from them. To use the strong language of Scripture, our hfe may be bound up in the hfe of another/ We may have seen some beloved object growing up in ah the freshness and cheerfulness of youth, uncontaminated as yet by the evil influence of the world; ignorant ahke of its guilt and of its sorrows. It may have been our delight, to watch the first dawnings of infant intehect ; to correct the first deviations from the paths of rectitude ; to infuse into the uninstructed mind, those maxims of religion, which are em braced with more readiness, before the soul is warped by the indulgence of passion, or seduced by habitual vice. The hopes of our imagina tion may at length have been crowned with success. The delicate plant may have thriven beneath our care, and have grown up "as the tender grass, springing out of the earth, by n Gen. xliv. SO. 408 Lecture XIX. clear shining after rain."0 Beholding this fa vourite of our hopes flourishing in all the vigour of youth, we may almost have cherished the expectation, that it would long continue. Our imagination may have conferred upon it a durability, which even our own experience might have denied. We may have fixed upon it many an anxious thought, and many an ardent wish : and have bestowed upon the crea ture that exclusive attention, which can be claimed only by the Creator. While we are thus secure, the course of God's Providence may cah upon us, suddenly, to part with the object in whom the warmest affections of our hearts have centered. The desire of our eyes may be taken away with a stroke. Our bright est hopes may be in a moment withered : and we may be left alone upon the earth, to bear our burden and our sorrow as we may. When the mind recovers from the first stunning sense of a loss hke this ; when it begins to feel the reality of that dispensation of the Almighty, which at first appears only hke a dream ; and to experience that aching void which chills the heart, when it looks round for those who once were, and finds them not — whither shah it turn for comfort adequate to the affliction? Time, it is true, will induce patience, and " 2 Sam. xxiii. 4. Lecture XIX. 409 make the mind sullenly acquiesce in an in evitable loss. But the action of time is slow and wearisome indeed. Philosophy may at tempt to shew the uselessness of unavailing grief: and an unfeeling world may strive to distract the mourner from his painful contem plations, and to fix his attention on its frivolous and unsatisfactory pursuits. But truly mise rable comforters are they ah. The only sure consolation is that, which enabled the patriarchs in old time, and holy men in all ages, to ob tain a good report : a fixed faith in the pro mises of God, revealed in his word. And it is no shght effort of faith, which can surmount a trial such as this : which can rely with con fidence upon the promises of future blessings, which have been made to us in the gospel of truth : looking forward to a re-union with those whom we lament : accounting that God is able to raise them up from the dead : and that, if we continue faithful unto the end, he shah raise us up also by Jesus, and present us with them/ Again, we may be placed in circumstances which demand a wdhng sacrifice of obedience to God; which cah upon us to make an im mediate and decisive choice between the things of heaven and those of earth. Temptations to f 2 Cor. iv. 14. 410 Lecture XIX. flagrant violations of duty may not often occur. Nor are they, perhaps, the most dangerous ; for they find us prepared. Those are to be most dreaded, which assad us in our unguarded hours ; which come recommended under an appearance of thoughtless gaiety, and not un frequently enlivened by ah the brilliancy of a playful imagination. They who are just attain ing the age of manhood, are peculiarly exposed to a trial of this nature. And such are some of you. You may have hitherto met with httle difficulty in the path of duty. Guarded, by the care of others, from many of the temp tations to which the inexperience of youth is exposed, taught to respect ah the ordinances of rehgion, you enter the world, prepared, doubtless, to meet with much which may cah for circumspection; and somewhat, which may try your constancy and faith. But you may expect, perhaps, to find the hne, which sepa rates virtue and vice, more strongly and de- didedly marked than it frequently is. You may not be aware how speciously the first temptations to sin are often disguised, and how unexpectedly they are advanced. It may be in your moments of innocent relaxation, or in the ordinary intercourse of society, that the deadly snare may first be laid. It may not be an open enemy, one who is notorious for Lecture XIX. 411 his follies or vices, who first attempts to per suade you from the strict path of unaccom modating duty. It may be a companion and a familiar friend ; one with whom you have often taken sweet counsel, and walked unto the house of God in company/ If such a temptation do assail you, beware that it pre vail not. You may be exposed to the ridicule of those around you : you must expect to meet with much opposition in your perseverance ; for by so doing you reproach them : and you wih find, within yourselves, a secret enemy soliciting you to comply. Stih, dare to be singular. Be prepared to offer unto God the sacrifice which he requires. Pray to him for grace to strengthen your weakness ; and your resistance shah not be in vain. But there is stih a trial, harder than any which arises from external temptation, the call to forsake an inveterate habit of sin. We may cherish within our bosom some favourite pas sion, which our better reason disapproves : some darhng vice, more than usually congenial to our disposition, estabhshed by indulgence, con firmed by habit. Against other sins we, per haps, strive sincerely; and our exertions are, by the grace of God, rewarded with success. But this one easily besetting sin is viewed « Psalm lv. 14. 412 Lecture XIX. with complacency ; faintly resisted, perhaps so licited and encouraged. We aggravate the force of temptation when it arrives: we yield: and seek for a palliation of our guilt in the weak ness, which we have ourselves contributed to produce. At length, by some of those means which the Almighty employs to rouse the slumbering conscience, the voice of God is heard : it commands us to take this beloved sin, and to offer it upon His altar. Like Abra ham, we have means of knowing, that the words proceed from God. They may be found written in the volume of His revealed wih. Here, then, begins the mortal struggle between our inclination and our duty. Here is the right arm to be struck off: the right eye to be plucked out. But he who is a faithful follower of Abraham, will not hesitate to obey the call. He wih immediately arise, and ad dress himself to the great work. Conscious of his own weakness, he wdl yet rely upon Him who is mighty to save ; and prepare to com ply with the specific commands of God. His faith, like that of Abraham, wih be declared by his works ; and by works wdl his faith be made perfect.' Perhaps, when the resistance to evd is sin cerely made, obedience may be found less dif- 1 James ii. 22. Lecture XIX. 413 ficult than the repentant sinner at first believed. A ram was prepared and offered instead of Isaac. And the grace of God, which is promised to ah who ask with faith, may, with the temp tation, also have sent some way to -escape, which the eye of man could not discern, nor his sagacity foresee. But all that we can present to God, in this life, must stih be incomplete. Our resig nation to his wih must often be sulhed by a lingering remembrance of past enjoyments, too nearly allied to discontent. Our resistance to external temptation must often fail: our struggle against the weakness of our own hearts must often end in defeat. Stih, let not the faithful Christian despair. Let him look to the sacrifice once offered for sinners. Let him contemplate that Lamb, which God provided for a burnt-offering : the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Let him turn to that book which contains the whole wih of God, and read those gracious promises made, through the merits of that sacrifice, to all who believe and repent. So, when he falls, he shah rise again : when he is weak he shah be made strong. He shall go on from strength to strength : and, in ah his trials, will look forward with hope, though with no presumptuous confidence, to the period when, 414 Lecture XIX. according to the sure promise of God, they which be of faith shall be blessed with faithful Abraham.8 ' Gal. iii. 9. Note (A), p. 404. This history is related in a fragment of the translation of Sanchoniatho's history by Philo Byblius, preserved by Eu sebius, Praeparatio Evangel. Lib. I. cap. x. Lib. IV. cap. xvi. "Fidos nv Toh iraXaiots, iv Tah fi.eya\ai<; trvfxtpopah twv Kivovvtav, dvTt Tr]<: iravTiav (pdopas, to rjyanrtjpevov twv TeKvtav tou? KpaTovvTai rj TroAe&K rj 'edvovs eh p!aoiu7£i} tcivo'vvtnv en iroXepov peyl&TWv KaTeiXricpoTwv T^f ytapav, p3 a a- 1\ t k w Koa-pLrjo-as a- %rj p a t 1 tov vlov, fiwfjLov Te Ka- TaGnevaaapevos, KaTe8v)"p unicus, unigenitus; the very word used Gen. xxii. 2. in the command given to offer up Isaac. And Bochart interprets Anobret, ex gratia concipiens, an appropriate appellation of Sarah, Heb. xi. 11. Bryant considers that this mystical sacrifice typified Christ ; but had no reference to previous events. Magee thinks that it related to Abraham, and also was prefigura- tive of Christ. The argument in the text rests upon the fact, that it was acknowledged to be typical — KaTe Isai. Iiii. 8. Sec Heb. vii. 1. . .25. Lecture XX. 423 result of any fancied resemblance observed after the events had come to pass, but cer tainly foreseen, because predicted in the days of David. In vain should we seek for a ful filment of these particulars in any other priest and king. They were reserved for Him alone, who, "being made perfect," "became the au thor of eternal salvation unto ah them that obey him ; cahed of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec."" III. We wih now revert to the hne of argument, which it has been attempted to pursue, in our whole examination of the prin cipal circumstances in the life of Christ, which have been designedly prefigured. The Spirit of God has adopted a variety of means to indicate his perfect foreknowledge of ah events, and his power to control them. This is sometimes declared by express verbal prophecy; sometimes by specific actions per formed by Divine command; and sometimes by those pecuhar events, in the lives of indi viduals, and the history or religious observances of the Israehtes, which were caused to bear a designed reference to some parts of the Gospel history. The main point, in an enquiry into these historical types, is to establish the fact of a pre- * Heb. v. 9; 10- 424 Lecture XX. concerted connection between the two series of events. No similarity, in itself, is sufficient to prove such a correspondence. Hence, ah those aheged types have been omitted, how ever probable, which are not mentioned, directly or indirectly, in the holy Scriptures. Even those recorded in Scripture are recorded under very different circumstances. If the first event be declared to be typical, at the time when it occurs, and the second event correspond with the prediction so delivered, there can be no doubt that the correspondence was designed. If, before the occurrence of the second event, there be dehvered a distinct prophecy, that it wih happen, and wdl correspond with some previous event; the fulfilment of the prophecy furnishes an intrinsic proof, that the person who gave it, spake by Divine inspiration. It may not, from this fact, fohow, that the two events were connected by a design formed be fore either of them occurred: but it certainly does fohow, that the second event, in some measure, had respect to the first; and that, whatever degree of connection was, by such a prophet, assumed to exist, did reahy exist. If, again, no specific declaration be made, re specting the typical character of any event or person, untd after the second event has oc curred, which is then declared to have been Lecture XX. 425 prefigured ; the fact of preconcerted connection wih rest solely upon the authority of the per son who advances the assertion. But, if we know, from other sources, that his words are the words of truth, our only enquiry will be, if he either distinctly asserts, or plainly infers, the existence of a designed correspondence. The fact, then, of a preconcerted connection between two series of events, is capable of being estabhshed in three ways: and the his torical types have been accordingly arranged in three principal divisions. Some of them afford intrinsic evidence, that the Scriptures, which record them, are given by inspiration of God ; the others can be proved to exist only by assuming that fact: but ah, when once estabhshed, display the astonishing power and wisdom of God; and the importance of that scheme of redemption, which was ushered into the world with such magnificent prepa rations. In contemplating this wonderful system, we discern one great intention interwoven, not only into the verbal prophecies and extraor dinary events of the history of the Israelites, but into the ordinary transactions of the lives of selected individuals, even from the creation of the world. Adam was "the figure of him that was 426 Lecture XX. to come."0 Melchisedec was "made hke unto the Son of God."c Abraham, in the course of events in which he was engaged by the espe cial command of Heaven, was enabled to see Christ's day :d and Isaac was received from the dead "in a figure."6 At a later period, the paschal lamb was ordained to be sacrificed, not only as a memorial of the immediate deli verance, which it was instituted to procure, and to commemorate, but also as a continued memorial of that which was to be " fulfilled in the kingdom of God."f Moses was raised up to deliver the people of Israel; to be to them a lawgiver, a prophet, a priest; and to possess the regal authority, if not the title, of king. But, during the early period of his life, he was himself taught, that one great Prophet should be raised up hke unto him: before his death he dehvered the same pro phecy to the people: and, after that event, the Israehtes continuahy looked for that faith ful prophet, who should return answer to their enquiries/ Their prophets ah pointed to some greater lawgiver, who should introduce a new law into their hearts, and inscribe them upon their minds/ The whole people of Israel were b Rom. v. 14. ' Heb. vii. 3. * John viii. 56. * Heb. xi. 19- ' Luke xxii. 16. « 1 Mace. iv. 46. xiv. 41. h Jer. xxxi. "."- Lecture XX. 427 also made, in some instances, designedly repre sentative of Christ: and the events, which occurred in their national history/, distinctly referred to him. During their wanderings in the wdderness, God left not himself without witness, which should bear reference to the great scheme of the gospel. They ate spiritual meat. It was an emblem of the true bread of hfe, which came down from heaven.1 " They drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them : and that Rock was Christ."" They were de stroyed of serpents ; and a brasen serpent was lifted up on a pole, that whosoever looked might hve. It was a sensible figure of the Son of man, who was, in hke manner, to be lifted up; "that whosoever beheveth in him should not perish, but have eternal life."1 Besides, their rehgious ordinances were only " a figure for the time then present."1" Their tabernacle was made after the pattern of hea venly things;" and was intended to prefigure the "greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands."0 The high priest was a hving representative of the great " High Priest of our profession:"" and the levitical sacrifices plainly had respect to the one great sacrifice 1 John vi. 32. k 1 Cor. x. 4. 1 John iii. 15. m Heb. ix. 9- 11 Heb. viii. 5. Exod. xxv. 9, 40. ° Heb. ix. 11. t Heb. iii. 1- 428 Lecture XX- for sins. Joshua the son of Nun represented Jesus in name : and by his earthly conquests in some measure prefigured the heavenly tri umphs of his Lord. In a subsequent period, David was no indistinct type of " the Messiah the Prince,'"1 for a long time humbled, and at length triumphant over his enemies. And the peaceable dominion of Solomon prefigured that eternal rest and peace, which remaineth to the people of God. In a stih later age, the miraculous preservation of the prophet Jonah displayed a sign, which was fulfilled in the resurrection of Christ. And when the temple was rebuilt, Joshua, the son of Josedech, the high priest, and his fellows, were set forth as "men of sign," representative of the BRANCH, which should, in the fulness of time, be raised up to the stem of Jesse/ The illustration, then, to be derived from the historical types of the Old Testament, is found diffused over the whole period, which extends from the creation of the world, to the time when vision and prophecy were sealed. And all the light, which emanates from so many various points, is concentrated in the person of Christ. In some of these instances, the express cir cumstances of similarity are pointed out on i Dan. ix. 25. ' Zech. iii. 8. Isai. xi. 1. Lecture XX. 429 the authority of Scripture : in others only the general likeness is so estabhshed ; and the spe cific detail is to be supplied, by observing the correspondence, in the recorded history of the typical person, and that of Christ. But the conclusions are all founded upon Scripture: and they extend to so many circumstances in the history and offices of Christ, as to form a prominent part among the various proofs which estabhsh the certainty of his Divine commission. The place of Christ's birth was prefigured as weh as predicted: for in the same place, David, a type of Christ, was born/ His name was cahed Jesus : the very same name that was imposed, by Divine command, upon Joshua the son of Nun. In his infancy, he was per secuted, as Moses was. He was cahed out of Egypt, as the people of Israel were brought out thence, and denominated, with reference to that event, the Son of God/ That he should dehver laws, and that his preaching should be accompanied with miracles and prophecies, was indicated, when it was declared, that he should be the Prophet like unto Moses. And his transfiguration upon the mount, when "his face did shine as the sun,"u was remarkably 3 1 Sam. xvii. 12. ' Hos. xi. 1. Matt. ii. 15. " Matt. xvii. 2. 430 Lecture XX. simdar to the corresponding circumstance in the history of Moses, when he came down from the mount, and "the skin of his face shone." * But the events, which attended the conclu sion of his earthly ministry, were most distinctly prefigured, as they were most clearly predicted, in the Old Testament. That he should be betrayed by one of his familiar friends, was typified by the treachery of Ahithophel to David: and the fate of the traitor was the same in both instances ; he hanged himself and died/ His% submission to the wih of his hea venly Father was faintly set forth in the con duct of Isaac, when he was bound by Abraham his father, and laid upon the altar. His inno cence was typified in the unblemished victims of the levitical sacrifices, and the unspotted purity of the paschal lamb. The time of year appointed for his death was that in which the annual feast of the Passover was kept : the hour of the day was the same at which that lamb was slain. The place of his death was upon one of the mountains of Moriah, as was the typical offering of Isaac. He "suffered with out the gate ;" as " the bodies of those beasts, whose blood was brought into the sanctuary for sin, were burnt without the camp."z He T Exod. xxxiv. .10. i 2 Sam. xvii. 23. z Heb. xiii. 11. Lecture XX. 431 was lifted up on the cross; as the brasen ser pent was hfted up in the wdderness: yet no bone of him was broken ; as the paschal lamb was commanded to be kept entire. His side was pierced, by the wanton violence of the soldiery, "and forthwith came thereout blood and water ;"a as that Rock which "was Christ,"0 was smitten with the rod of Moses, so that the waters gushed out, and ran in the dry places hke a river/ Lastly, he was buried, and rose again on the third day; as Jonah was cast alive into the sea; was swal lowed up; and after three days was restored to life: and as Isaac was received as from the dead, by his father, on the third day after they departed to perform the sacrifice. These are ah weh known particulars in the pubhc history of Christ, prefigured at sundry times and in divers manners : and the correspondence depends upon the authority of Scripture. They are far too numerous, and too remarkable, to have been produced by accidental coincidence; even if the proof of preconcerted design were not indehbly im pressed upon many of them by the sure word of prophecy. They could never have arisen from the intentional imitation of a false pro phet : for they were all, either accompanied ¦* John xix. 34. " 1 Cor. x. 4. c Psalm cv. 41 . Lecture XX. by the fuhest proof of a Divine commission, or brought to pass by the means of his very, enemies. Here, then, is a branch of prophecy, which proves the truth of the Christian reli gion, while it throws a light upon ah the transactions which have been brought to pass by the immediate Providence of God; and written for our learning, by the inspiration of his Holy Spirit. It shews the manner in which events, apparently casual, have been overruled ; it affords a satisfactory reason why others, apparently trivial, have been re corded : and it displays, throughout ah ages, unity of counsel, pursuing a mighty purpose, by means surpassing human knowledge and human power. By the typical prefigurations contained in the Old Testament, Jesus Christ is also shewn to be "the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever," in his offices, as well as in his actions and sufferings. He was prefigured as a pro phet, by Moses; as a priest, by ah the long train of the levitical hierarchy : as a king, by Moses, in power if not in name ; and both in power and name by David and by Solomon : as both a priest and king, by Melchisedec, and by Joshua the Son of Josedech : d as a mediator, and intercessor, by Moses ; by the ordinary * Zech. vi. 12. Lecture XX. 433 office of the levitical high priest ; and, especi ally, by that performed every year at the great day of atonement. The sacrifice, which Christ made for sin, was long prefigured by those of the law, with astonishing clearness and fidelity. And the efficacy, graciously imparted to faith in that sacrifice, was exemplified in the miraculous cure of those, who looked upon the brasen serpent and hved ; and by the power of the levitical offerings to wipe away the stain of ceremonial pohution. The very means of grace afforded in the sacraments, which Christ ordained in his Church, were prefigured in the events which occurred to the Israehtes : and all our hopes of future glory were faintly typified in that land of promise to which they aspired. So wonderful are the ways of God: so unchangeable his purpose : and so extensive the means which he employs to bring it to pass. From the days of Adam to the days of Christ, one plan is gradually unfolded ; one merciful design for reconcihng the world to God ; one Lord, one faith ; one Saviour " Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever." Upon every thing, which emanates from the Divine counsels, the stamp of immutabihty is impressed. Man and his pursuits change in cessantly. From day to day, and from year to E E 434 Lecture XX. year, new objects of interest arise; new de sires, new hopes. But the Almighty changes not. From eternity to eternity, he exists the same. Now this is not a fact of mere specula tion. It is brought home to our own bosoms, by our relation to God through the Scriptures. We ah have access to the revealed wih of God, which sets forth this his unchangeable purpose for the regulation of our hves. And observe what exceeding importance is thus given to that sacred volume. Did it proceed from one of hke passions with ourselves, sub ject to change, we might be led to question some of its doctrines : we might have some shew of reason for neglecting to comply with some of its commands. Were we not assured, by observing the course of the world in ah ages, as well as by the assertion of holy writ, that Jesus Christ and his religion is " the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever," we might suppose, that the relative position of God and man, in the lapse of ages, might have varied : we might have thought that what was revealed respecting the Divine na ture and intentions, at one period, might cease to be true at another period ; and, therefore, that the duty of man might not always be the same. In every thing which de pends upon the mutable wdl of man, this effect Lecture XX. 435 is produced. With whatever wisdom human laws are compded, they continuahy require revision. The penalty affixed to peculiar of fences, varies with the state of civilization; and the very same action, which in one age is permitted without restraint, in another may be visited with the utmost severity of punish ment. In order to live according to human laws, it is necessary to know the time when they were made, as weh as the persons who imposed them. They are, like their authors, hable to change. With the law of God it is not so. What is therein written, is writ ten. When we read the Bible, we read not only the words of truth, but the words of unchangeable truth. Since, then, there is revealed the means of salvation by the unchangeable purpose of God, with what earnestness does it become us to search the Scriptures, in which that purpose is declared. Whenever we do search them, with a sincere desire to hve according to their holy precepts, we shah discover, that in many things we have ah offended; and are, consequently, exposed to the punishment which is therein denounced. If, then, we would escape this sentence, which we know wih neither be reversed nor modified, we must ourselves change. The wicked must 436 Lecture XX. forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and he must return unto the Lord, who has promised to have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he wih abundantly par don/ Let not the contrite sinner despair. God is unchangeable in his purpose of redemption, as well as in his declaration of punishment upon unrepented sin. The humble penitent must contemplate with devout reverence, not unmixed with fear, "the Father of hghts, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning ;"f but he knows that the un changeable " Spirit also helpeth our infirmi ties," and "maketh intercession for us:"g and he wih stih lift his eyes to the Redeemer, " that died, yea, rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God,"h " Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever." * Isai. Iv. 7- ' James i. 17. * Rom. viii. 26. h Rom. viii. 34- YALE UNIVERSITY i a39002 0Q17t>523?h j