Luke, prove him to be a descendant of David or not. The early Christians laid great stress on this circumstance, from their lying under the same prejudices with the rest of their countrymen, and from their applying all the prophecies concerning the glory of the latter times, to the period of the promulgation of Christianity, in a spiritual sense; because they saw that there was no prospect of their being fulfilled in their own times in a literal one.

The great effusion of the spirit, of which Joel speaks, is something that is to take place in the latter times, properly so called. That Christ would baptize with the Holy Spirit, was first announced by John the Baptist; and that he would raise the dead and judge the world, is what we learn from himself, this not having been intimated by any preceding prophet.

7. The prophet Elijah is not said to come before that branch of the house of David, under whom the nation is to enjoy its prosperity, but only before the great and dreadful day of the Lord, which was to follow the coming of the Lord who was to come into his temple, preceded by a messenger, who is, therefore, no doubt the same Elijah. The branch of the house of David is no where said to have any particular forerunner.

8. It is remarkable that the Jews seem wholly to have overlooked the account of the sufferings and death of the Messiah, though they are so particularly described by Isaiah and Daniel, and also alluded to by Zechariah, as the subject of grief and regret to the Hebrew nation, after their return to their own country. But it is not much to be wondered at, that they were chiefly struck with the much more frequent accounts of the future glory of their nation, and of the prince, or princes, who will be at their head; or that they confounded the character of the Messiah with that of their future deliverer. Some of them might possibly think that what is called the death of the Messiah, might be nothing more than some emblematical representation of the difficulties through which he was to make his way in effecting the deliverance of his countrymen. We find that when our Saviour spake in the plainest terms of his death and resurrection, his disciples did not understand him, supposing probably that his words had some figurative meaning.

9. To me it is very evident, that the apostles, as well as the rest of the Jews, confounded the character of the MesIsiah with that of the future restorer of their nation; thinking that the blessings of his reign were of a spiritual nature.

Peter also may perhaps have supposed that what the prophets, in figurative language, call a new heaven and a new earth, which was to be the seat of virtue, as well as of happiness, (meaning the great revolution for the better in the state of this world, after the return of the Jews from their present dispersion,) of that state of the earth which is to succeed the general resurrection, when he says, (2 Peter iii. 13,) "Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens, and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." And perhaps his idea of a general conflagration may not have sufficient foundation. He does not say that it was an article of revelation to himself, but only a subject of general expectation; and neither does any one of the old prophets, nor our Saviour, say any thing of this conflagration, though he speaks of his coming to raise the dead and judge the world, at the supposed time of it; and though he describes the punishment of the wicked as effected by fire; by which, however, he probably meant punishment in general, by whatever means occasioned, especially that kind of punishment which either consumes or purifies.

Thus, Gentlemen, have I laid before you and your readers, my very free observations on the subject of the ancient Jewish prophecies; and I have given the greater scope to my speculations, because I flatter myself that some of your learned Correspondents may, by this means, be induced to give to this truly important subject that degree of attention to which it is entitled, and assist me in correcting any errors that I may have fallen into.

With my sincere thanks for your indulgence, I am, Gentlemen, your very humble servant,

PAMPHILUS.

II.

Of the Perpetuity of the Jewish Ritual.*

Ir seems to be a very general opinion among Christians, that the peculiar rites of the Jewish religion were intended to be nothing more than temporary provisions, and that they are all abrogated by the gospel; so that when the Jews shall be converted to Christianity, all distinction between them

* Theol. Repos. 1786, V. pp. 403-444; VI. pp. 1–21.

and other nations will cease, that their Temple and the service of it will never be restored, and even that circumcision itself will be discontinued.

On the contrary, the Jews are fully persuaded that their law is, in every particular, of perpetual obligation; and the doctrine of the Trinity itself is hardly more offensive to them than the idea of the abrogation of it, and of their being confounded with the rest of the world.

After considering the subject with as much attention as I can give to it, I cannot help being of the same opinion with the Jews with respect to it; and I wish to submit my reasons to the consideration of your learned readers. They are all comprised in these positions, that the Jewish institutions are most solemnly and repeatedly declared to be perpetual, and we have no account of their being abrogated. They are perfectly consistent with the profession of Christianity, as the history of our Saviour and the apostles shews; no authorized teacher of Christianity says that he was commissioned to declare that they were, or were to be, abrogated; nor does any thing in their writings, when fairly interpreted, imply that they considered them as abrogated.

SECTION I.

Declarations concerning the Perpetuity of the Jewish Ritual.

Nothing can be more expressly asserted than the perpetual obligation of all those rites which were to distinguish the Jews from other nations. That at which our minds revolt the most is circumcision, consisting of cutting away a part of the human body, which, as well as any other part, we cannot doubt has its use in the system, and the loss of which, we must naturally conclude, would be attended with some inconvenience. It appears, however, in the tenor of the covenant originally made with Abraham, that this particular mark was to distinguish his posterity by Isaac and Jacob to the end of time.

Gen. xvii. 7-14: "And I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and thy seed after thee, in their generations, for an everlasting covenant; to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God. And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant, therefore, thou and thy seed after

thee, in their generations. This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you, and thy seed after thee, every man-child among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your fore-skin, and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you;-and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant; and the uncircumcised man-child, whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people. He hath broken my covenant."

The natural construction of this solemn treaty, or compact, is, that God would secure to the posterity of Abraham the inheritance of the land of Canaan, with whatever privileges were implied in his being their God, on condition that their male children should be circumcised. There is no limitation with respect to time. Nay, it is expressly said, that the covenant should be perpetual.*

The obligation the Jews were under to keep the Passover is also expressly said to be perpetual, Exod. xii. 14: “ And this day shall be unto you for a memorial, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an ordinance for ever." This is repeated afterwards, and the observance of this rite is confined to Jews, proselytes and slaves, who should be circumcised. Ver. 48.

The observance of the Sabbath was never to be discontinued. Exod. xxxi. 16, 17: "Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath-throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever."

The appointment of the family of Aaron to be priests was to continue as long as the Israelites should be a nation. Levit. vii. 35, 36: “This is the portion of the anointing of Aaron, and of the anointing of his sons, out of the offerings of the Lord made by fire, in the day when he presented them to minister unto the Lord in the priest's office, which the Lord commanded to be given them,-in the day that he anointed them by a statute for ever throughout their generations."

The Feast of Tabernacles was to continue for ever. Levit. xxiii. 41: "And ye shall keep it a feast unto the Lord.It shall be a statute for ever in your generations." The observance of this festival is particularly mentioned in the prophecies which relate to the future settlement of the Jews in their own country, as obligatory on all the world; as if

* See Vol. XI. pp. 75, 76.

an union of worship was to be established, by all nations sending deputies to attend at Jerusalem once a year. Zech. xiv. 16-19:*

And it shall come to pass that every one who is left among all the nations,

Which came against Jerusalem,

Shall go up from year to year

To worship the King Jehovah God of Hosts,

And to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.

And it shall come to pass that whoever will not go up,

Of the families of the earth, unto Jerusalem,

To worship the King Jehovah God of Hosts,
Upon them shall be no rain.

But if the family of Egypt

Go not up, and come not;

Upon them shall be the calamity

With which Jehovah shall smite the nations.

Who go not up

To keep the Feast of Tabernacles.†

This agrees with what Isaiah (ii. 2—4) prophesied concerning the same great period of time:

It shall come to pass in the latter days;

The mountain of the house of Jehovah shall be established on the

top of the mountains;

And it shall be exalted above the hills:

And all nations shall flow unto it.

And many peoples shall go, and shall say,

Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah ;

To the house of the God of Jacob;

And he will teach us of his ways;

And we will walk in his paths:

For from Sion shall go forth the law;

And the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem.

And he shall judge among the nations;

And shall work conviction in many peoples:

And they shall beat their swords into plough-shares,
And their spears into pruning-hooks:

Nation shall not lift up sword against nation;
Neither shall they learn war any more.‡

With respect to all the laws of Moses, it is evident, from the manner in which they were promulgated, that they were

In this paper, which was probably written before the preceding, the Author uniformly adopted the common version. I have ventured here to substitute the versions of Lowth, Blayney and Newcome, which Dr. Priestley appears to have approved. The reader may easily indulge his own preference.

+ Newcome's Minor Prophets, pp. 214, 215.

Bishop Lowth, p. 5. See Micah iv. 1-3, and supra, pp. 152, 153.