ページの画像
PDF
ePub

"A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.

"And in his name shall the Gentiles trust."

I will here quote certain passages from Isaiah, a perusal of which, I apprehend will convince the reader, that the servant of this quotation was Jacob or Israel. If these shall not convince him, I request him to read carefully from the xli. to the xlviii. Isaiah, inclusive.

"But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen; the seed of Abraham my friend.

"Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant: I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away. [Isaiah xli., 8, 9.]

"Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen; "Thus saith the Lord that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun whom I have chosen.

"Remember these, O Jacob and Israel: for thou art my servant: I have formed thee; thou art my servant; O, Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me." [Isaiah xliv., 1, 2, 21.] Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he: I am the first, I also am the last. [Isaiah xlviii., 12.]

If it be still insisted that this servant was an individual, that individual must have been Zerubbabel.

As the Jews returned to Jerusalem without noise or tumult, or bloodshed, so their leader Zerubbabel, who is sometimes called God's chosen servant, as well as the whole nation, was represented as averse to strife and bloodshed. However, in the verses quoted by Matthew, I have no doubt, and think the reader will have none after a due examination of Jeremiah, Isaiah, Haggai, and Zachariah, that Isaiah alluded to Jacob or the house of Israel, and not to an individual.

I will now notice another quotation by Jesus, from 118th Psalm: “The stone which the builders refused, is become the head of the corner." If I understand him, he applies this to the Gentiles, that is, they were the stone that had been refused, but were to succeed to the Jews in what you call God's favor. This is so unlike and so diametrically opposite to other expressions attributed to him, to which I have called your attention, that, I cannot but think it an interpolation. I have this further reason for thinking so. Peter applies it to Christ, and calls him the stone which the Jews refused.

However, have it as you please. My object is, to show it was a prophecy of nothing. These Psalms are called David's Psalms, though it is admit

ted that there are many he did not write. This one is attributed to him by your divines, that is, to no one else, but there is no doubt, it was written for, or by, King Hezekiah. To be convinced of this, the reader has only to read the 20th Chapter, II. Kings; 38th Isaiah, and the Psalm itself. All which I would transcribe, were it not that it would appear like bookmaking. It appears, that Hezekiah was sick, and Isaiah told him, from the Lord too, that he would surely die, and left the room. The King prayed for restoration to health, turning his face to the wall; and the Lord answered his prayer. Isaiah had not got out of the court yard, before the Lord told him he had altered his mind, and would restore the King. Isaiah returns, and informs the King of this change of purpose. The King is greatly rejoiced, ann promises, that he will praise God all the days of his life. His language is a little remarkable, as furnishing proof, not only that he was to make and sing songs or Psalms, for this recovery, but that he had not learned that any of the dead had risen, or would rise. He says:

"For the grave can not priaise thee; death can not celebrate thee; they that go down into the pit, cannot hope for thy truth.

"The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day; the father to the children shall make known thy truth.

"The Lord was ready to save me; therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the Lord." Now for the Psalm, the whole of which I will transcribe,

PSALM CXVIII.

O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good, because his mercy endureth forever.

2. Let Israel now say, that his mercy endureth forever.

3. Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy endureth forever.

4. Let them now that fear the Lord, say, that his mercy endureth for

ever.

5. I called upon the Lord in distress: the Lord answered me, and set me in a large place.

6. The Lord is on my side; I will not fear; what can man do unto me? 7. The Lord taketh my part with them that help me: therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me.

8. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man:

9. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.

10. All nations compassed me about: but in the name of the Lord will I destroy them.

11. They compassed me about: yea, they compassed me about; but in the name of the Lord I will destroy them.

12. They compassed me about like bees; they are quenched as the fire of thorns: for in the name of the Lord I will destroy them.

me.

13. Thou hast thrust sore at me, that I might fall: but the Lord helped

14. The Lord is my strength and song, and is become my salvation.

15. The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly.

16. The right hand of the Lord is exalted; the right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly.

17. I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord,

18. The Lord hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death.

19. Open to me the gates of righteousuess; I will go into them, and I will praise the Lord:

20. This gate of the Lord, into which the righteous shall enter.

21. I will praise thee, for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation.

22. The stone which the builders refused is become the head of the

corner.

23. This is the Lord's doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.

24. This is the day which the Lord hath made: we will rejoice and be glad in it.

25. Save now,

prosperity.

I beseech thee, O Lord; O Lord I beseech thee, send now

26. Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord; we have blessed you out of the house of the Lord.

27. God is the Lord, which hath showed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.

28. Thou art my God, and I will praise thee; thou art my God, I wil exalt thee.

29. O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

This I contend is one of the songs which Hezekiah promised to have sung to stringed instruments, all the days of his life, for his wonderful recovery. Compare it with the chapters before referred to, and see if it does meet his

case.

"I shall not die, but live and declare the works of the Lord: the Lord hath chastened me sore, but he hath not given me over to die." This shows that the author had been very sick, and that he had determined to praise God, for his restoration.

"Open to me the gates of righteousness; I will go into them, and I will praise the Lord: the gates of the Lord into which the righteous shall enter, I will praise thee; for thou hast heard me, and become my salvation.", That is, because the Lord heard his prayer, when he was sick, and restored him to health, he would praise him. And what comes next? Why the famous text about the stone, to wit:

"The stone which the builders refuse, is become the head of the corner." What an abrupt break off is here according to Matthew and his hero-a jump from an account of his recovery from a bed of sickness, to a prediction of the church of Christ, or Christ himself. And what follows?

"This is the Lord's doing; it is marvellous in our eyes." That is, my recovery was marvellous. What an isolated prediction this must be. You ask, what it was, if not a prediction? It must have been one of those adages or saws, among the Jews, (such as are found among every people,) used to express a recovery of a person from sickness to health, whose life had been despaired of, as had been the case of Hezekiah. We have hundreds such. "Whip the devil round the stump"-"Great cry and little wool"-"Hold with the hare, and run with the hounds"-"Gave him the bag to hold”—“Kicked the bucket”—which last is applicable to the case of a King, or any other individual, who does not recover from a sickness: but of whose origin or derivation not one in ten thousand (myself among the rest) can inform you: but be careful how you use it, as it may become one of the foundations of some religion, some thousand years hence.

CHAPTER XIV.

For the sake of variety, I will take up the history of Paul, as found in the Acts of the Apostles, and show that it cannot be true.

In the first place, I remark, that Judea, at this time, was a Roman province, and that the Governors sent there from Rome, appeared to have absolute power-the Jews had no political or civil power whatever they dared not take down the bodies of convicts from the cross without leave from the Roman Governor. These Magistrates in all the provinces looked upon the quarrel between the Jews and Christians with perfect indifference and contempt, and would not take cognizance of any charge of heresy brought by one Jew against another, or by a Jew against a believer in Jesus, but seemed to be impartial between them: they understood the rights and privileges of the citizen, and were disposed to protect him in both, as in the case of Paul, when he was arrested in Jerusalem, and his life threatened by a mob. It would seem that the Romans so far respected the superstition of the Jews, as to protect their temple from profanation. The temple guard was composed of Roman soldiers, and the charge against Paul-the one on which he could have been tried and punished-was the taking persons into the temple that ought not to have been taken there. All these particulars we learn from the book itself.

Secondly: Paul was a Pharisee, the disciple of Gamaliel. The Pharisees, believing in angels and spirits, and the resurrection of the dead, did not persecute the christians, but the Sadduces, who believed in neither, we are told, did.

Luke first introduces Paul to our notice, as the young man who held the clothes of the murderers of Stephen. I know your book says witnesses, and from this word the careless reader takes up the impression, that Stephen was put to death according to the form of law. It appears that a company of Jews were offended at Stephen for a speech he made to them, and dragged him out of the city, and there put him to death, by stoning.There is nothing remarkable in this. Riots and murders are no uncommon occurrences. But the impunity of these murderers, and their accomplices if known, is irreconcilable with our notions of the police of a large city, under a Roman Governor. But you say he was before the council. What council?

A council of Jewish priests. Was this council a judicial tri

« 前へ次へ »