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his countrymen against the Assyrians, nor wasted the land of Nimrod. As I have shown that this book of Micah, is made up of scraps and odd ends, picked up here and there, some of them having been written at least, one hundred years after his death, may we not reasonably conclude, that this 2nd verse was a part of some ancient manuscript respecting David, who was born in Bethlehem, and became a ruler of the Israelites. Micah must have been a Jew, for all the prophets were Jews. We have nothing from the pen of an Israelite, or one of the ten tribes, after the death of Solomon. It will be remembered, that after his death, the dissolution of the Israelitish confederacy took place, the ten tribes it is said, revolting from two. These ten tribes, notwithstanding they were called revolters, retained the original name, and their kingdom was called the kingdom of Israel. That of the other two was called the kingdom of Judah, and its subjects Jews. It is really laughable to hear our republican clergy, talk about the revolt of the ten tribes.

Had Carolina withdrawn herself from the Union, she might, with the same propriety have talked about the revolt of the other twenty-three states. The writer of the book of Kings, treats of them as separate and distinct kingdoms universally denominating the one as the kingdom of Israel, and the other as the kingdom of Judah, as thus: "Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea, the son of Elah, king of Israel, that Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz, the king of Judah, began to reign." The wise men asked for the young child who was born king of the Jews, and not for a ruler in Israel. Is it to be supposed, that Micah, a Jew, hating the Israelites, and a contemporary of king Ahaz, between whom and the king of Israel, fierce war was being waged, would have prophisied for the Israelites, making them the special favorites of God. Is it not wholly incredible that this Micah called the people of Israel, God's people, and prophesied that God would call forth a ruler for them out of the town of Bethlehem in Judah. Keep in mind, that in the days of Micah, an Israelite and a Jew, were as distinct as a Jew and a Heathen, and the hatred between them more bitter. Can it be believed that Micah would call upon his countrymen the Jews, to fly to arms, and repel their invaders, the Israelites; and the next breath, the very next verse, tell these same Jews, that these invaders were God's people, and that God was about to place over them, a prince of his own choosing, and this prince to be a Jew.

Such a declaration as the verse in question, coming from a jew at that juncture would have cost him his life. But it is just such a one as a partisan of David at the :ime he was intriguing with the unnatural Jonathan for the crown of his father, might be supposed to have made. The union at that time had not been dissolved-the twelve tribes composed one king

dom-the kingdom of Israel. David was born in Bethlehem, was a man after God's own heart, (so said his favorites and flatterers,) and became king of the Israelites. In the language of these prophets, he came out of Bethlehem unto God, whose goings forth were of old, to be a ruler of his people Israel. No learned Hebrew scholar, if honest, will tell you that the word whose, in this verse refers to the ruler. The goings forth were of God, unto whom the ruler was to come or of Bethlehem. If of Bethlehem, the verse should read: “And thou, Bethlehem, &c. whose boundaries have been established, time out of mind, &c.," outgoings or goings forth, being synonymous with boundaries or limits. (See xix. Judges.)

CHAPTER XVII.

The 53d chapter of Isaiah is quoted by the christians more frequently than any other portion of the prophecies to prove that the coming of Jesus and the object of hir mission, were foreseen by those holy men called prophets. I shall here transcribe the 52d and 53d chapter of Isaiah.

CHAP. LII.

Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion, put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.

2. Shake thyself from the dust; arise and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.

3. For thus saith the Lord, Ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money.

4. For thus saith the Lord God, My people went down aforetime into Egypt, to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.

5. Now therefore, what have I here, saith the Lord, that my people is taken away for nought? They that rule over them make them to howl, saith the Lord, and my name is continually, every day blasphemed.

6. Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak; behold it is I.

7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good; that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!

8. Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing; for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion.

9. Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem; for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.

10. The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.

11 Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing: go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord

12. For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the Lord

will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rere-ward.

13. Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.

14. As many were astonished at thee; (his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:)

15. So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see, and that which they had not heard, shall they consider.

CHAP. LIII.

Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?

2. For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground, he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

3. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows and acquaintted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised and we esteemed him not.

4. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted.

5. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

6. All we, like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

7. He was oppressed and he was afflicted; yet he opened not his mouth; he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.

8. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living;. for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

9. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

10. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him: he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

11. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

12. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death; and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

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Before I proceed to comment on these chapters, let us examine the argument founded upon them. The writer says that somebody hath no form nor comeliness. The christian replies that Jesus had no form nor comeliness, therefore he was that somebody. Could not Richard III., after descanting on his own deformity, have with the same propriety added: "Therefore, I am that somebody." From the representations as given by christians Jesus was in person most beautiful. The writer says that his HE is despised and rejected of men—a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief— hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows—was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities-the chastisement of our peacc was upon him with his stripes we are healed-the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all--he was oppressed and affiicted, yet he opened not his mouth--he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. Nothing future in all this! Yet the christian triumphantly exclaims that a person by the name of Jesus, (a very common name among the Jews,) six or seven hundred years after Isaiah lived, was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, &c., &c., and, therefore, he was that somebody that had been before rejected, &c.

I have twice remarked that a prophecy cannot prove a fact; but this argument of the christian, even on the supposition that the foregoing declarations were in the future tense, takes for granted every fact in dispute between the infidel and himself. It presumes the garden-the tree-God's prohibition to eat of its fruit-the talking serpent-the temptation--Adams' yielding to it-God's curse which extended to all Adam's posterity-. his sorrow that he had made man-and the plan he finally adopted by which he put it in man's power to relieve himself from the curse, and regain his favor; for, if all these are not true, then Christ cannot be said to have suffered for us, to have been bruised for our iniquities, borne our griefs, or carried our sorrows, nor can it be said that on him was laid the iniquity of us all. The argument also takes for granted all the wonderful facts related in the new testament respecting Jesus.

Had the writer (you may call him Isaiah,) been more minute and definite; had he prefaced his assertions with all the facts from the old testament, which this christian argument takes for granted; would such a preface have proved them? Isaiah's assertion, no more than yours or mine, can add to the credibility of Moses' statements. If you can prove all the

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