deepen our impression of the constancy and perpetuity of those great spiritual laws which govern and guide the development of mankind. In its fullness the divine character makes itself known only in the life and teaching of our Saviour; but there are elements in that character which seem to emerge, so to speak, at different intervals and on critical occasions in the history of Israel: the holiness of God revealing itself in the promulgation of the moral law and in the ordinances of the levitical sanctuary; His longsuffering and readiness to pardon being manifested in His dealings with those who provoked and disobeyed Him in the wilderness, and in the providential tenderness with which He bare and carried His people all the days of old1; while His patience and tenacity of purpose is exhibited in the restoration of His exiled people to their own land, and in the revival of His work in the midst of a dreary waste of years 2. Every student of the Old Testament can fill up these outlines for himself; but speaking generally, the point of chief importance is that we should regain and deepen the sense of what is most fundamental in the teaching of the ancient Scriptures, namely the reality of God's eternal purpose-the perfection of man; the method of His action-taking man as he is in order to make him what he is capable of becoming; the means He employs in the execution of His will-the discipline of suffering. We are to get into the habit of reading modern history in the light of the spiritual purpose revealed in Scripture, and to judge of movements social and political by their effects on human character. We are to learn from the prophetic philosophy of history that the fates of nations are conditioned by their bearing towards the moral purpose of God 3.' 2. A second great purpose of the Old Testament Scriptures is comprehensively described in our Lord's 1 Isa. lxiii. 9. 3 Pfleiderer, Gifford Lectures, vol. ii. 2 Hab. iii. 2. p. 42. declaration to the Jews: they are they which testify of me1. Christ in all the varied aspects of His person is the final cause and ultimate explanation of the Old Testament, nor can we understand even imperfectly what is meant by His 'Messianic self-consciousness without its aid. Origen indeed observes that the very proof of its inspiration lies in the fact of Christ's advent 2. Certainly the true character of the ancient Scriptures is only manifest in the light of the Incarnation. A product so vast and wonderful can only be supposed to stand in vital relation to some unique event in human history, for which it prepares the way. In this connexion it is unnecessary to do more than direct attention to the organic unity of the Old Testament regarded as a history of redemption. The fact of this unity is presupposed in the science of Old Testament theology, which assumes that every element and institution in the discipline of the Hebrew nation had a direct bearing upon the fulfilment of a single divine purpose. If the idea of redemption is the keynote of the Old Testament, the advent of a Redeemer is its goal and consummation. But just in proportion as the idea of redemption is profound and complex, the unity of aim that marks the Old Testament implies an infinite variety in the character of its component parts. Jesus Christ came not to destroy but to fulfil the teaching of the Old Testa 1 John v. 39. 2 de Princ. iv. 6. It is scarcely necessary to say that in the early Church the Old Testament was chiefly valued for apologetic and controversial purposes. The argument from prophecy was 'the one formal method of proof' employed by the first Christians. Stanton, The Jewish and Christian Messiah, p. 176. The argument from prophecy has gained in force by being restated in accordance with our wider critical knowledge. In its modern form it is parallel to the argument from design, laying less emphasis upon particular predictions and resting rather on the broad general correspondence between prophecy and fulfilment. For a contemptuous but somewhat belated estimate of prophecy, see Mr. Goldwin Smith's recent Guesses at the Riddle of Existence, pp. 167 foll. The writer's general point of view will be plain from the following extract: 'The Messiahship of Jesus is a question with which we need practically concern ourselves no more. The Messiah was a dream of the tribal pride of the Jew to which... we may bid a long farewell.' Ee ment; but His person was so mysterious, His work so many-sided, that each portion of the book which fore-announced His coming may reasonably be supposed to have reference to some aspect of His person or some element in His work. Thus if, as St. Paul teaches, Christ is the second Adam, it is evident that the mysterious narrative of man's origin in some way prefigures the work of the new creation exhibited in the life of the incarnate Son. The titles Lamb of God and Our Passover recall the solemn associations connected with Israel's deliverance from bondage, and its formation into an elect people of God. The name JESUS points back to the ministry and achievements of Joshua. The word Saviour recalls the memory of the deliverers under whose auspices Israel gained secure possession of the land of their inheritance. The name David or Son of David appropriates to Christ the experiences of the first true king and his godly successors on the throne; in Christ the mystery of the kingdom finds its fulfilment. The title Messiah embraces the spiritual counterpart of all offices discharged by those on whom under the old Law the sacred unction had been bestowed; it includes the dignity of kingship, and in a subordinate degree the functions of prophecy and the grace of priesthood. So, again, when our Lord refers to the temple of his body, or to His blood as the blood of the new covenant, or to His death as a ransom for many, or to His sacred flesh as meat indeed, it is obvious that He points to the entire sacrificial system and the very structure of the ancient sanctuary as typical of Himself. Finally, when He refers to Himself as the Wisdom of God He seems to bring within the range of the Messianic element in Scripture the whole khokmah literature; while His comparison of Himself to a Bridegroom justifies the symbolical application of Solomon's Song. Our Lord's teaching in fact suggests and implies much more than it explicitly declares; namely, that in His own person and work all that was limited, shadowy, fragmentary, or disconnected in the writings and characters of the Old Testament, was harmonized, developed, and completed. His life and teaching, His death and exaltation, formed together or singly the key to the true interpretation of Scripture, and the principle of its unity. In narrative, symbol, prophecy, and song, Christians may discern the outlines of His living form; in every righteous hero, in every innocent sufferer, in every steadfast martyr, in every victorious king, in every prisoner of hope, in every ministering priest, in every dispenser of blessing, we may see Christ Himself. In every typical ordinance some aspect of His Messianic office is prefigured, in each judgment on sin His coming is anticipated, in every prophet His Spirit speaks, in every conqueror of God's enemies He is the victor, in every afflicted saint He complains, in every godly king He reigns'. What has just been said suggests the further remark that the Messianic quality of many Old Testament passages depends on their idealistic character. It has been said that the true justification of many New Testament quotations from the Old is simply the broad principle that what is ideal is Messianic. Thus the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews in his employment of the eighth Psalm, and St. Peter in his reference to the sixteenth 2, seem to base their argument on a definite law of scriptural interpretation. Christian teachers would doubtless gradually accustom themselves to read highly idealistic passages of Scripture in the light of the Messianic expectation, and ascribe to them a certain secondary or mystical meaning, thus expanding and spiritualizing their original sense. The 1 Cp. Aug. c. Faust. Man. xix. 31: 'Quod [sc. regnum caelorum] ori ejus etiam nominandum servabatur quem regem ad regendos, et sacerdotem ad sanctificandos fideles suos universus ille apparatus Veteris Instrumenti in generationibus, factis, dictis, sacrificiis, observationibus, festivitatibus, omnibusque eloquiorum praeconiis et rebus gestis et rerum figuris parturiebat esse venturum; qui plenus gratia et veritate et ad praecepta facienda adjuvando per gratiam et ad promissa implenda curando per veritatem, venit legem non solvere sed adimplere.' "Heb. ii. 6 foll.; Acts ii. 25 foll. ment; but His person was so mysterious, His work so many-sided, that each portion of the book which fore-announced His coming may reasonably be supposed to have reference to some aspect of His person or some element in His work. Thus if, as St. Paul teaches, Christ is the second Adam, it is evident that the mysterious narrative of man's origin in some way prefigures the work of the new creation exhibited in the life of the incarnate Son. The titles Lamb of God and Our Passover recall the solemn associations connected with Israel's deliverance from bondage, and its formation into an elect people of God. The name JESUS points back to the ministry and achievements of Joshua. The word Saviour recalls the memory of the deliverers under whose auspices Israel gained secure possession of the land of their inheritance. The name David or Son of David appropriates to Christ the experiences of the first true king and his godly successors on the throne; in Christ the mystery of the kingdom finds its fulfilment. The title Messiah embraces the spiritual counterpart of all offices discharged by those on whom under the old Law the sacred unction had been bestowed; it includes the dignity of kingship, and in a subordinate degree the functions of prophecy and the grace of priesthood. So, again, when our Lord refers to the temple of his body, or to His blood as the blood of the new covenant, or to His death as a ransom for many, or to His sacred flesh as meat indeed, it is obvious that He points to the entire sacrificial system and the very structure of the ancient sanctuary as typical of Himself. Finally, when He refers to Himself as the Wisdom of God He seems to bring within the range of the Messianic element in Scripture the whole khokmah literature; while His comparison of Himself to a Bridegroom justifies the symbolical application of Solomon's Song. Our Lord's teaching in fact suggests and implies much more than it explicitly declares; namely, that in His own person and work all that was limited, shadowy, |