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vity, it was announced that it should be for seventy years: which the event proved to be true, and they continued in possession of Canaan, for six hundred years, until the final subversion of their polity by Titus. though the ten tribes carried captive by Shalmaneser, and the body of the two tribes who were carried into captivity by Titus, are not now in Canaan; yet since the time of their final restoration has not arrived, this is no objection against these ancient prophecies, but a fulfilment of others: besides we have reason to believe that the Jews will ultimately be restored to their native country.

4. The twenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy contains most striking Predictions concerning the Jews, which have literally been fulfilled during their subjection to the Chaldæans and Romans, and in later times in all nations where they have been dispersed. To specify a very few particulars:

(1.) Moses foretold that their enemies would besiege and take their cities:

This prophecy was fulfilled by Shishak King of Egypt, Shalmaneser King of Assyria, Nebuchadnezzar, Antiochus Epiphanes, Sosius and Herod, and finally by Titus.

(2.) Moses foretold grievous famines during those sieges, so that they should eat the flesh of their sons and daughters.

This was fulfilled six hundred years after the time of Moses, among the Israelites, when Samaria was besieged by the King of Assyria; again, about nine hundred years after Moses among the Jews, during the siege of Jerusalem before the Babylonish captivity; and, finally, fifteen hundred years after his time, during the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans.

(3.) Moses predicted that the Jews should be few in number.

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This was literally fulfilled by immense numbers perishing by famine during the last siege of Jerusalem, after which many thousands were sold; and also after their final overthrow by Hadrian, when many thousands were sold, and those for whom purchasers could not be found (Moses had foretold that no man would buy them) were transported into Egypt, where very many perished by shipwreck or famine; and others were massacred. Yet notwithstanding all their miseries and oppressions, they still continue a separate people, and have become "an astonishment and a bye-word among the nations."

5. Josiah was prophetically announced by name, (1 Kings xiii. 2,) three hundred and sixty-one years before the event.

The fulfilment of this prophecy was remarkable, plainly showing it to be, not from man, but from God. (2 Kings xxxiii. 15.)

6. The utter Subversion of Idolatry among the Jews, foretold by Isaiah (ii. 18-21,) was fulfilled after their return from the Babylonish Captivity.

The calamities, denounced against them by the same prophet, on account of their wickedness, within two hundred years afterwards overtook

them. (Isa. iii. 1-14, compared with 2 Chron. xxxvi.) And, on the capture of Jerusalem by the Chaldæans, a few poor people were left to till the land, as Isaiah had prophesied. (Isa. xxiv. 13, 14, compared with Jer. xxxix. 10.)

7. Jeremiah foretold the Conquests of Nebuchadnezzar, and the consequent captivity of the Jews.

These were literally accomplished. Compare Jer. xxvii. 3-7, with xxxix. 11-14. And although the predictions of Jeremiah and Ezekiel concerning Zedekiah appeared to contradict each other, BOTH were fulfilled in the event; Zedekiah seeing the King of Babylon at Jerusalem, who commanded his eyes to be put out, and being carried to Babylon, where he died.

8. While Ezekiel was a captive in Chaldæa, he prophesied (v. 12, and viii.) that the Jews, who remained in Judæa, should be punished for their wickedness. In a very few years all the evils predicted, literally came upon. them by the Chaldæans.

9. The profanation of the temple by Antiochus Epiphanes, was foretold by Daniel (viii.) four hundred and eight years before the accomplishment of the prediction. The same prophet also foretold the destruction of Jerusalem, and the cessation of the Jewish sacrifices and oblations.

10. Hosea foretold the present state of the people of Israel in these words-" They shall be wanderers among the nations." (12. 17.)

CLASS II.-Prophecies relating to the Nations or Empires that were neighbouring to the Jews.

1. The once prosperous city of Tyre, as Ezekiel had foretold, (xxvi. 3—5. 14. 21,) is now become like "the top of a rock, a place for fishers to dry their nets on."

2. The prophecies concerning Egypt, (see Isai. xix. Jer. xliii. 8-13, and xlvi.; and Ezek. xxix.—xxxii., particularly Ezek. xxix. 10. 15, and xxx. 6. 12. 13,) have been signally fulfilled..

Not long after these predictions were delivered, this country was successively attacked and conquered by the Babylonians and Persians; next it became subject to the Macedonians, then to the Romans, after them to the Saracens, then to the Mamelukes, and is now a province of the Turk ish empire. And the denunciation-"I will make her rivers dry," is fulfilled by the generally neglected state of the numerous canals with which Egypt was anciently intersected.

2. The doom of Ethiopia was foretold by Isaiah,

(xviii. 1-6, xx. 3-5, and xliii. 3,) and by Ezekiel, (xxx. 4-6.)

This country was invaded by Sennacherib, King of Assyria, or by Esar haddon his son, and also by Cambyses, King of Persia. About the time of Christ's birth, it was ravaged by the Romans, and has since been ravaged successively by the Saracens, Turks, and Giagas.

4. Such an "utter end" has been made of Nineveh, agreeably to the predictions of Nahum, (i. 8, 9. ii. 8-13. iii. 17-19,) and Zephaniah, (ii. 13. 15,) that its very site

cannot be ascertained.

5. Babylon is made " a desolation forever," as Isaiah (xiii. 4. 19-22. xliv. 27,) and Jeremiah (1. 38. li. 7. 36, 37. 64,] had severally foretold.

This city was taken, when Belshazzar and his thousand princes were drunk at a great feast, after Cyrus had turned the course of the Euphrates, which ran through the midst of it, and so drained its waters that the river became easily fordable for his soldiers to enter the city. Its site cannot now be exactly determined.

6. Daniel predicted the overthrow in succession of the four great Empires of antiquity; the Babylonian, Persian, Grecian, and Roman. (Dan. ii. 39, 40. vii. 17-24 viii.) This prediction has literally been fulfilled: but neither the rise of the last three, nor their fall, could have been foreseen by men.

CLASS III. Prophecies directly announcing the Messiah.

The great object of the prophecies of the Old Testament is the redemption of mankind. This, as soon as Adam's fall had made it necessary, the mercy of God was pleased to foretel. And as the time for its accomplishment drew near, the predictions concerning it gradually became so clear, that almost every circumstance in the life and character of the most extraordinary personage, that ever appeared among men, was most distinctly foretold.

The prophecies announcing the Messiah are numerous, pointed, and particular. They not only foretel that a Messiah should come; but they also specify the precise Time when he was to come; the Dignity of his Character, that he should be God and man together; from whom he was to be descended; the Place where he was to be born; the circumstances of his Birth, Manner of

Life and Doctrine, his sufferings and Death; Resurrec tion and Ascension; and the Abolition of the Jewish Covenant by the introduction of the Gospel.-See a Table of the Principal Prophecies relative to the Messiah, in the Appendix, No. VII.

The connexion of the predictions belonging to the Messiah, with those which are confined to the Jewish people, gives additional force to the argument from prophecy; affording a strong proof of the intimate union which subsists between the two dispensations of Moses and of Jesus Christ, and equally precluding the artful pretensions of human imposture, and the daring opposition of human power. The plan of prophecy was so wisely constituted, that the passions and prejudices of the Jews, instead of frustrating, fulfilled it, and rendered the person whom they regarded, the suffering and crucified Saviour, who had been promised. It is worthy of remark, that most of these predictions were delivered nearly, and some of them more than three thousand years ago. Any one of them is sufficient to indicate a prescience more than human; but the collective force of all taken together is such, that nothing more can be necessary to prove the interposition of Omniscience, than the establishment of their authenticity. And this, even at so remote a period as the present, we have already seen, is placed beyond all doubt.

CLASS IV.-Prophecies by Jesus Christ and his Apostles.

Jesus Christ foretold,

1. The Circumstances of his own death; Matt. xvi. 21. Mark x. 33, 34. Matt. xx. 18, 19. xxvi. 23. 31, all which were most minutely accomplished.

2. His Resurrection; Matt. xvi. 21. xxvi. 32, fulfilled in Matt. xxviii.

3. The Descent of the Holy Spirit; Luke xxiv. 49. Mark xvi. 17, 18, fulfilled in Acts li.

4. The Destruction of Jerusalem with all its preceding signs and its concomitant circumstances; (Matt. xxiv. 1–28. Mark xiii. 1-23. Luke xxi. 5—24,) and the very generation that heard the prediction lived to be the miserable witnesses of its accomplishment.

5. The Spread of Christianity; and both sacred and profane historians bear testimony to the rapid propagation of the Gospel.

The character of the age, in which the Christian Faith was first propagated, must be considered.

It was not barbarous and uncivilized, but was remarkable for those improvements by which the human faculties were strengthened.

The profession of Christianity was followed by no worldly advantage, but, on the contrary, with proscriptions and persecutions.

Sceptics, particularly Mr. Gibbon, have endeavoured to account for the miraculous success of Christianity from causes merely human, viz.

(1.) The inflexible and intolerant Zeal of the first Christians.

This indeed might supply Christians with that fortitude which should keep them firm to their principles: but it could hardly be of service in converting infidels. No intolerance, however, existed among the primitive Christians; but, on the contrary, among their heathen persecutors.

(2.) The Doctrine of a Future Life.

The success which attended the preaching of this doctrine, was owing rather to the demonstration of the spirit and of the power that accompanied it, than to the doctrine itself, which was by no means suited either to the expectations or the wishes of the Pagans in general. Men must have believed the Gospel, generally, before they believed the doctrine of a future life on its authority.

(3.) The Miraculous Powers ascribed to the Primitive Church.

The actual possession of such powers by the apostles and first preachers of Christianity has already been proved. But when the numerous pretended miracles ascribed to the popular deities of the heathen, and the contempt in which they were held by the philosophers and by other thinking men, are considered, the miracles ascribed to the first propagators of Christianity, must have created a prejudice against their cause, which nothing could have subdued but miracles really and visibly performed.

(4.) The Virtues of the first Christians.

These Mr. Gibbon reduces to a mean and timid repentance for sins, and zeal in supporting the reputation of their society. But such virtues would have equally excited opposition to Christianity. The infidel historian does not account for the exemplary virtues of the first Christians; whose virtues arose from their faith, and not their faith from their virtues.

(5.) The Union and Discipline of the Christian Republic, as he terms the Christian Church.