The Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University
Jonathan Edwards [1743], "Prophecies of the Messiah" (WJE Online Vol. 30) , Ed. Jonathan Edwards Center [word count] [jec-wjeo30].
"Prophecies of the Messiah" Miscellanies no. 1067.4
Misc. 1067.4 (ed.)
93. ZECHARIAH 1 TO THE END, AND CHAPTERS 2, AND 3, AND 4, AND 5, AND 6. What we have in the book of Zechariah, from the 7th verse of the first chapter to the end of the 6th chapter, has a chief respect to blessings of the Messiah's kingdom. What has been observed already of ch. 3, vv. 8-9, and ch. 4, v. 7, and ch. 6:12-14,Secs. 9-10. shows that they are prophecies of the Messiah. But the connection shows that the context of these places, and what precedes, from v. 7 of the first chapter, and what is contained in ch. 5, relates to the same thing, viz. the benefits God's people should receive by the Messiah, and the destruction of the enemies of the church by him. All is as it were one vision or visions immediately following one another in a course at one time, all showed by one angel, at one appearance of that angel. See, concerning the angel that talked with Zechariah, ch. 1:7-14, 19, 21; ch. 2:2-4 and ch. 4:1, 4-6, 11-14; ch. 5, vv. 2, 5, 10; ch. 6:4. And all to the same purpose, viz. to comfort the church of God under its present troubles, with promises of what God would hereafter do for his church; see ch. 1:13. The things here foretold can't be the restoration from the Babylonish captivity, for that was now past. The house to be built for wickedness in the land of Shinar, spoken of, ch. 5, [v. 11], can't be the literal Babylon: for that had already its destruction begun by Cyrus, and was to be destroyed more and more till, in a little time, it was to be reduced to utter destruction, never to be built anymore. And 'tis evident that the 2nd chapter, as well as the 3rd and 4th and 6th, contains a prophecy of the times of the Messiah. 'Tis exceeding plain by v. 11, "And many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people." Here, there is a promise of rebuilding Jerusalem, and a new measuring and laying out the city, ch. 1:20-21, ch. 2:1-2; which can't be supposed to be only or chiefly that which was now a-doing in Zechariah's time, but that which is foretold elsewhere of the Messiah's times, Ezek. 40:1-3 and 48:30 to the end, Jer. 31:38 to the end. In ch. 2:1-4 is represented the vast extent of the city of Jerusalem, which agrees to no state of the literal Jerusalem, but is agreeable to the prophecies of the times of the Messiah, as that in the last chapter of Ezekiel. And v. 4, "Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein"; this is agreeable to Is. 49:18-20, "Lift up thine eyes round about, behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. . . . For thy waste and desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, . . . The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say in thine ears, The place is to[o] strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell"; and Is. 54:2-3, "Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited." Vv. 4-5, "and Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude," etc., "For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her." This is agreeable to Is. 26:1, "We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and for bulwarks"; Is. 4:5-6, "And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be defense"; Is. 60:18-19, "but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise. The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory." V. 10, "Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come," etc., is agreeable to ch. 9:9, Is. 40:9 and 52:7-9 and 62:11, and very many other places. "Lo, I come, and will dwell in the midst of thee" [v. 10]. This is agreeable to innumerable places; 'tis needless to mention any. V. 13, "Be silent, O all flesh, before the Lord: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation," is agreeable to Ps. 46:10-11, "Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us: the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah." Those words, "the Lord [. . .] is raised up out of his holy habitation," is agreeable to that, Ps. 102:13, "Thou wilt arise, and have mercy upon Zion"; and Ps. 68[:1], "Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered"; and other places that speak of God awaking as one out of sleep [Ps. 78:65], and his showing himself and shining forth that had dwelt between the cherubims [Ps. 80:1], and his roaring out of Zion [Joel 3:16] and making bare his holy arm in the sight of all nations [Is. 52:10], exalting and magnifying himself in the sight of the heathen [Dan. 11:36], and sending forth the rod of his strength out of Zion [Ps. 110:2], and riding forth in his glory and his majesty, with his sword girded on his thigh [Ps. 45:3], etc. Joshua, the head of the church of Israel, his putting off his filty garments and being clothed with change of raiment [Zech. 3:3-5], is agreeable to Is. 61:10, "he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels"; and Is. 52:1-2, "put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautifull garments, O Jerusalem [. . .]: henceforth there shall no more pass through thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake thyself from the dust," etc. What is said in the 4th chapter, is agreeable to other prophecies of the extraordinary effusion of the Spirit in the Messiah's days. What is represented in the 5th chapter, of the confining and imprisoning wickedness in an ephah with a "talent of lead," to shut the mouth of it, and removing it from amongst God's people, to carry it far away to be settled "on her own base," and to dwell in her own house and her own land henceforward," is agreeable to the many prophecies of the times of the Messiah that speakMS: "speaking." of God's removing iniquity from his people, cleansing them from filthiness [Ezek. 36:25], purging out the rebels from the midst of them [Ezek. 20:38], separating them from the uncircumcised and the unclean [Is. 52:2], etc. And what is said in the former part of the chapter of the terrible curse of God and remarkable judgments that come upon hypocrites that mingle themselves with God's people and make a profession of religion, but are workers of iniquity, is agreeable to Mal:3, 5, 18; Ps. 50 at the latter end; and Is. 26:10-11 and 33:14, and many other places. Vv. 3 and 4, it is said concerning the flying roll, that "every one that stealeth shall be cut off on this side [. . .]; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off on that side," and that "it shall enter into the house of the thief" and the false swearer. These represent those false professors that are workers of iniquity, either by profaneness towards God, or injustice towards men, or by a violation either of the first or second tables of the Law. There is in the flying roll a curse for all sorts of workers of iniquity: on the one side is written a curse for those that violate the first table, on the other side a curse for those that violate the second. Ch. 6:15, "they that are far off shall come and build in the temple of the Lord," is agreeable to Is. 60:6-10, "they of Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; . . . All the flocks of Kedar," etc.; "thy sons shall come from far, their silver and gold with them, unto the name of the Lord thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, . . . And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee." 94. ZECHARIAH, CHAPTERS 8, 9 AND 10. There is great reason to suppose that the prophet Zechariah, in the 8th chapter of his prophecy, has respect to the same times that he has in the six first chapters, and that he speaks of in the next following chapter, viz. ch. 9, from v. 9, as I have observed already.Sec. 11. There is a very clear evidence of it in the latter part of the chapter [vv. 20-23], which speaks plainly of the calling the Gentiles, and of their joining themselves to Israel, and going up to seek the Lord and worship in Jerusalem, and of God's worshippers being chiefly of the Gentiles, there being many more of them than the Jews, ten to one, v. 23. V. 3, "Thus saith the Lord; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called the city of truth, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts the holy mountain." This is agreeable to Is. 60:14, "and they shall call [thee], The city of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel." V. 5, "And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof," and also v. 19. These are agreeable to Jer. 31:4, "Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of [them] that make merry"; and v. 13, "Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow." V. 7, "I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country." This is an argument that it was not any of those additions that were made to the number of returning captives, speedily after this in Ezra's or Nehemiah's time, that is the thing aimed at in this prophecy. For we have no account of any V. 8 is agreeable to many forementioned prophecies. Vv. 12-13 are agreeable to many forementioned prophecies. Ch. 9:1 speaks of the day when the eyes of men "shall be towards the Lord," "as all the tribes of Israel." How agreeable this is to many other prophecies, see §68. And here it may be noted that this in the first verse, is an evidence that the prophecies here concerning the land of Hadrach and Damascus, Hamath, Tyrus and Zidon, etc., have their fulfillment in events accomplished in the days of the Messiah: for here it is expressly said to be in the day "when the eyes of men, as of all the tribes of Israel, shall be towards the Lord," as what follows in the 8th and 9th verses, etc., is a further evidence of it. Ch. 10 is evidently a continuation of the prophecy in the 9th. V. 1 is agreeable to many forementioned prophecies of the days of the Messiah. What is said, v. 3, of God's anger against the shepherds, is agreeable to Ezek. 36 and many other forementioned prophecies of the times of the Messiah. What is said, v. 3, of God's punishing the goats, is agreeable to Ezek. 34:17. And what is said, v. 3, of God's treating his people as his flock, is agreeable to ch. 9:16 and Ezek. 34:31, "And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord"; and 36:37-38, "I will increase them with men like a flock. As the holy flock, the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men"; and very many other forementioned prophecies. What is said, v. 5, of God's people's treading down their enemies under foot "in the mire of the streets," is agreeable to many things in other prophecies already observed. See Is. 26:6 and Mic. 7:10 and Ps. 68:23. Vv. 6-8 are agreeable to many forementioned prophecies. V. 9, "I will sow them among the people: and they shall remember me in far countries; and they shall live with their children, and turn again," is agreeable to Hos. 2:23, "And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy." Vv. 10-11, "I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria; . . . And he shall pass through the sea with affliction, and shall smite the waves ofJE Jr. crossed out this word and inserted "in." the sea, and all the deeps of the river shall dry up." None can reasonably doubt whether the same thing is not here prophesied of, as in Is. 11:11, "And it shall come to pass, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt," etc.; and vv. 15-16, "And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod. And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day when he came up out of the land of Egypt"; and ch. 19:23, "In that day there shall be an highway out of Egypt to Assyria." V. 12, "they shall walk up and down in his name, saith the Lord." This is agreeable to Mic. 4:5, "And we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever." 95. ZECHARIAH 12 AND 13 AND 14. The 12th and 13th and 14th chapters of Zechariah, have evidently a respect to the same times of the salvation and prosperity of God's people that are spoken of in the six first chapters, and the 8th and 9th and 10th chapters. CHAPTER 12, v. 1. The prophecy in these chapters is introduced in like manner as the prophecy of the salvation of the Messiah, in Isaiah, in the 40th and following chapters of that book. Vv. 3-4, 6, 9 are agreeable to Is. 8:9-10, Obad. 18, Mic. 4:11-13, Is. 41:15-16 and ch. 39:5-8, and the prophecy concerning the company of God in Ezekiel, chs. 38 and 39, and many others. What is said, v. 10, of God's pouring out his Spirit, is agreeable to many forementioned prophecies. What is said, v. 10, etc., of the people's supplication and mourning, and great conviction of sorrow for their sin, is agreeable to Jer. 31:9, "They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them"; and Jer. 3:21, "A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, they have forgotten the Lord their God"; Jer 31:18-19, "I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus," etc.; Ezek. 16:61, 63 and 20:43 and 36:31. CHAPTER 13:1, "In that day there shall be a fountain opened," etc. See places parallel to this, §91.MS: "p. 5, 6 of that section," or the portion of the entry beginning with the paragraph, "'And to bring in everlasting righteousness,'" and continuing through the next two paragraphs. V. 2, "I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered," is agreeable to Ezek. 36:25, "from all your idols will I cleanse you"; and 37:23, "Neither shall they defile themselves anymore with idols, nor with their detestable things"; Hos. 14:8, "Ephraim shall say, What have I to do anymore with idols?" V. 7, "Awake, O sword, against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones." Whatever may be more immediately intended by this, yet the Messiah seems to be the person ultimately and chiefly aimed at. Forementioned prophecies would lead us to understand the Messiah, above all other persons, by the man that is God's "fellow." He is called the man of God's right hand, Ps. 80:17; he is the man to whom God says, "Sit thou on my right hand" [Ps. 110:1]; and, "Thou art my son" [Ps. 2:7]; and, "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever. . . . God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows" [Ps. 45:6-7]; and of whom he says, "I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth [Ps. 89:27]; and of whom it is said in this prophecy, ch. 6:13, that "he shall bear the glory," and that "he shall [sit] and rule upon Jehovah's throne," and that "the counsel of peace shall be between them both," i. e. between him and Jehovah, as between fellows. And that the Messiah should be smitten with God's sword, and cut off by it, is agreeable to Is. 53 and Dan. 9; and that, upon the smiting of the shepherd, the bigger part of the nation of the Jews should be scattered, is agreeable to the prophecy in Dan. 9. CHAPTER 14:6-7, "And it shall come to pass, that the light shall not be clear and dark," etc. This is agreeable to Is. 60:20, "Thy sun shall no more go down." V. 8, "in that day, living waters shall go out from Jerusalem," etc. This is agreeable to Ezek. 47 and Joel 3:18, and Ps. 46[:4], "There is a river, [the] stream whereof," etc. V. 9, "And the Lord shall be king over all the earth, etc., is agreeable to innumerable forementioned prophecies. V. 10, "All the land shall be turned as a plain," etc., is agreeable to Is. 40:4, "Every valley shall be exalted, the mountains and hills shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain." That in v. 10, "Jerusalem shall be [. . .] inhabited in her place, from Benjamin's gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king's winepresses." This is agreeable to Jer. 31:38-40, "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the city shall be built to the Lord from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner. And the measuring line shall yet go forth over against it upon the hill Gareb, and shall compass about to Goath. And the whole valley of dead bodies, and of the ashes, and all the fields unto the brook Kidron, unto the corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be holy unto the Lord; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more for ever." V. 11, "And men shall dwell in it, and there be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited," is agreeable to innumerable forementioned prophecies. V. 13, "And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbor, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbor"; Hag. 2:22, "and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother." What is said in the latter part of the chapter [v. 16], of all nations going up to Jerusalem from year to year to keep the feast of tabernacles, is agreeable to Is. 6:23 and Is. 2:3, and Mic. 4, and Zech. 8:22 and 9:1, Jer. 3:17, and many other texts that represent the Gentiles as coming to worship in God's holy mountain, and in God's house of prayer, and the like. What is said, vv. 20-21, of their being written "Holiness to the Lord" on the bells of the horses, etc., is agreeable to what is often said of the great degrees of purity and holiness that shall be in the days of the Messiah, and of all, even the most common things, and things in themselves unclean, being holy and consecrated to the Lord: every common dwelling place being as the tabernacle of the congregation, Is. 4:5; and all the common people becoming priests to the Lord, Is. 61:6; yea, the whole city of Jerusalem's being the throne of the Lord, Jer. 3:17; yea, the very burying place that, by the Law of Moses, was most unclean, becoming holy, Jer. 31:40. That, v. 21, "and in that day there be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts," is agreeable to Is. 52:1 and 60:21, Is. 35:8 and 26:2 and 4:3, Ezek. 44:7-9, Joel 3:17, Ezek. 20:38, and many other places. 96. GENESIS 3:20. That it is with respect to the salvation and benefits of the Messiah that Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she is the mother of all living, as we have an account in Gen. 3:20, see "Scripture," nos. 322 and 399."Notes on Scripture" nos. 322 and 399, in WJE 15:304-6, 396-99. And that she should be called Eve, "Life," because the mother of the Messiah, and so through him of all that are saved from that death that the fall exposed mankind to, is confirmed by the many prophecies that have been taken notice of, that speak of restored life, an eternal life as a blessing God will bestow on the Messiah, and restoration to life and eternal life as a great blessing that God's people shall receive through him. Ps. 72[:15], "he shall live"; Ps. 21[:4], "He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, even length of days for ever and ever"; Is. 53[:10], "he shall prolong his days"; Ps. 61:6-7, "Thou dost prolong the king's life: and his years as many generations. He shall abide before God for ever"; Ps. 16:9-11, "my flesh shall rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; nor suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore"; Ps. 118:17, "I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord." And 'tis represented as though the Messiah would perfectly put an end And the people that are the subjects of the benefits of the Messiah's kingdom are deciphered and distinguished by this, that they that are "written among the living." Is. 4:3, "And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem." And life is spoken of as the great benefit that God's people shall recieve by the Messiah. Is. 55:3, "Hear, and your soul shall live." Hence we read of abundance of living water flowing in the Messiah, to cause everything to live, to revive as it were from a state of death to perpetuate a state of life, and trees of life with an unfading leaf and unfailing fruit, and the leaf to restore and heal, and the fruit to support and perpetuate life. Ezek. 47:8-9, "which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed. And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, whithersoever the river shall come, shall live: . . . for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh"; v. 12, "And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine"; Zech. 14:8, "And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them towards the former sea, and half of them towards the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be"--not only in summer but in winter, in that dead season of the year when all things seem to be dead, to cause them to live and flourish then. And this life that is given by the Messiah, is spoken of as being eternal life. Ps. 22:26, "your heart shall live for ever." And is often spoken of as enduring everlastingly beyond the age of heaven and earth, Ps. 102:26-28, Is. 51:6 and 65:17-18 with 66:22 and 54:7-10, Dan. 7:14, 18. 97[a]. PSALM 40:6-10. Ps. 40:6-10, "Sacrifice and offering," etc. "Hæc verba, concedentibus Judæis Messiæ sunt." Stapferus, Theolog. Polem., Tom. III, p. 108.Johann Friedrich Stapfer, Institutiones Theologogiae Polemicae, Tom. III, p. 108: "Ex quibus verbis, quæ concedentibus Adversariis Messiæ sunt." 97[b]. (Add this to §34.) ItJE Jr. has punctuated and edited this entry. is manifest that the great subject of the whole of this second part of this book of the prophet Isaiah, from the beginning of the 40th chapter to the end of the book, is the great salvation of the Messiah, and the glorious blessings of his kingdom and the prosperity of God's Israel in his days; excepting some occasional mention made in some few places of other things, by way of application, of what had been just before said on this subject, or asJE Jr. inserts "an." introduction of what the Prophet is about further to say, and some things that relate more especially to some events that are types forerunners and earnests of this great salvation. That the Messiah and the great things of his times and kingdom, are the great subject of the whole of this second part of this book, many things make evident. I shall take particular notice of some: 1. That these things are foretold here and there in many parts of it, and that very much of it taken up about them, is exceeding plain and evident, and has already been particularly observed and shown, as ch. 40:9-11 and ch. 45:14 to the end, ch. 42 and 43:10, and ch. 49 and 50:4-10, and 51:16 and 52:7 to the end, and 53 and 55:3-4, and 59:19-2, and ch. 61, and 62:1 and 11 and 63:1-6. These prophecies have already been taken notice of, because the person of the Messiah is more particularly mentioned in them. But there [are]JE Jr. inserts "are." very many other passages that do speak of the times of the Messiah, no less plainly and manifestly by forementioned prophecies, than these do of his person. Here are many predictions of the calling of the Gentiles, which it appears by forementioned prophecies, and those prophecies in this book that have already been observed,See the second table at the end of "Prophecies of the Messiah," "A Table of the Prophecies in the Order in Which They Are Found in the Scripture." yea, and particularly those that have been observed in this part of the book, is a great event to be accomplished by the Messiah. Ch. 44:1-5 and 54:1-3, and 56:1-8 and ch. 60 throughout, and 63:16 and 65 throughout, and 66:7 to the end. In Is. 65:25, there is mentioned that great pacification or uniting all things in peace, by causing the wolf to dwell with the lamb, that is foretold, ch. 11, which is another sure token of a prediction of the Messiah's times. And there are things innumerable throughout this part of this book, agreeable to other forementioned prophecies of the Messiah, that show most evidently that the same times, and the same salvation and prosperity of God's people, is foretold here, as there. It would be endless particularly to observe them all, and needless, because they are easy toJE Jr. inserts "be." observeJE Jr. adds "d." by anyone that will take the pains to compare them. 2. All the other predictions of the future salvation and prosperity of God's Israel, and destruction of their enemies, in this part of the book, that have not been particularly observed, are so connected with those parts that have been observed, and have now been particularly shown to relate to the times of the Messiah, that it is most manifest that they speak of the same things. The times are the same, the salvation is the same, and the glorious kingdom of God on earth, wherein these things shall be wrought, is the same. In the eight first verses of ch. 40, we have an account of the preparation for the Messiah's coming, which is declared, vv. 9-11. In the following part of the chapter, to v. 27, we have plainly God's expostulations with idolaters, when he comes to destroy idolatry and set up his kingdom in opposition to that of false gods. InJE Jr. capitalizes this word. the four last verses, we have an account of the discouragement of God's people in long waiting, before God comes to comfort and deliver them, and an exhortation to wait for that coming and comfort spoken, vv. 1-2 and 9-11. The 41st chapter is evidently a continuation of the same speech of God, on the same occasion, still expostulating with and challenging idolaters, vv. 1-7 and 21 to the end, and still comforting his people and promising them deliverance, vv. 8-20. And the former part of the chapter is evidently connected with the latter part, as the same discourse and continued speech of God; but I have already shown that the latter part is a prophecy of the Messiah, and is a part of that great prophecy of him in the 42nd chapter, still in the same, continued speech of the Most High. The 42nd chapter is still a prophecy of the same great comfort and deliverance that is spoken of in the 40th chapter; and the 43rd chapter is a continuation of the same discourse of God that was in ch. 42, as the conjunction that it begins with, and the subject and whole drift of the chapter, shows. And there are the same evidences that the 44th chapter is a continuation of the same speech, of the same thing. It would be endless to reckon up all the particular agreements between these chapters that show 'em to be one continued prophecy on the same subject. And that the 45th chapter is a continuation of the discourse in this chapter, only looking atMS: "of." the latter end of the 44th and the beginning of the 45th, sufficiently shows. And so [I]JE Jr inserts "I." might go on to the end of the book, and easily show all to be one continued discourse, and that all is chiefly on the same subject, the same great salvation and future glory of the church. There is nowhere any visible beginning of a new discourse, no new introduction, such as, "The word of the Lord came to Isaiah," or "In such a year or at such a time was this burden," or "Moreover the Lord said unto me," or "The burden of Babylon," or "The burden of Edom," or "The burden of the valley of vision," etc., as in the former part of the book, and as in the diverse distinct parts of the books of the other prophets. But all is one continued discourse, and all a prophecy on the same great subject, excepting some small digressions, apostrophes and applications, occasional reproofs and expostulations, as I before noted. It would fill a volume by itself to take notice of all the agreements and connections and parallel expressions, that show that the prophecy throughout is mainly about one and the same thing. A careful reading and observation, is enough to convince everyone. 98. THE PROPHECIES OF THE FUTURE APPEARANCE OF A VERY WONDERFUL AND GLORIOUS PERSON IN GENERAL. 'Tis a great confirmation that the prophecies that we so often find of a future glorious and wonderful person, that should come into the world and appear in the church of God, spoken of in a lofty manner and with high encomiums, are prophecies of the Messiah: that we have no plain instance anywhere in the Old Testament of any other prophet, king or deliverer of God's people foretold beforehand with encomiums, and his virtues and great acts much insisted on and celebrated. Joseph was an excellent person, and very wonderful were the things that came to pass concerning him; great was his advancement and honor, and great were the things God brought to pass by him; and he was made the savior of the church of God and the world of mankind from perishing by famine, and he had dreams himself signifying his own future advancement: but we have no account of any particular foregoing prophecies of him and his virtues and glorious deeds, no revelation made of 'em to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Moses was a great, excellent and wonderful person, was remarkably distinguished and exalted in virtues and in spiritual privileges and honor, and in the use God made of him as the instrument of the wonderful works of God, and benefits to God's church; but we have no account of any prophecies concerning him in the church of God before he appeared, nor of Joshua his successor, nor of Samuel that great prophet that probably founded the school of the prophets, and in whom began that succession of prophets that continued so long in Israel. And though David was so great a king and prophet, and so eminently God's anointed and the founder of the royal family of Israel, and though so great things were accomplished by him; yet we find no prophecies concerning him before he was born, excepting a sentence of Balaam—"a star shall arise out of Jacob, and a scepter out of Israel, and shall smite the four corners of Moab and destroy all the children of Sheth" [Num. 24:17]--which yet seems to refer chiefly to the Messiah, and to David only as his type. No foregoing written prophecies of Solomon, that greatest, wisest and richest prince that ever reigned on earth; no preceding encomiums of his wisdom, and his glorious reign, and great works in building the temple. No preceding prophecies of those great prophets, Elijah and Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, or Daniel. Josiah and Cyrus were prophesied of by name, but all that was said of Josiah was that he should burn men's bones on the altar of Bethel [I Kgs. 13:2]. And 'tis remarkable that though Cyrus did not belong to the church of God, but was a heathen prince, yet more is said of him beforehand in prophecy than any other person, it being thus ordered because he, being an alien from the commonwealth of Israel, the people were less in danger of being led to idolize or ascribe undue honor to him, either while he lived or after his death, from what was foretold of him; and what is foretold of him and what he should do for the church of God, for the comfort of God's people, seems to be foretold of him as a type of the Messiah, and as being the instrument of that great event of the return of God's people from the Babylonish captivity, so often spoken of as a type of the redemption of the Messiah. The most that was said beforehand in the written prophecies of the Scripture, concerning the Prophet that was to be the Messiah's forerunner, that was the most honorable office of all the prophets, is that he should be like the prophet Elijah, and should "turn the hearts of fathers to the children," and children to the fathers, "and of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just" [Luke 1:17]. 99. [JEREMIAH 12:14 TO THE END.] Jer. 12:14 to the end is to be reckoned among the prophecies of the Messiah's times, of which I may (God permitting) hereafter write the reason, in time convenient.JE does not add any material on Jer. 2:14. 100. THE BOOKS OF THE PROPHETS IN GENERAL. It is evidence that the glorious things that the prophets insisted so much upon, relating to the great salvation, prosperity and glory of God's Israel when redeemed from a miserable captivity, did not chiefly respect anything that attended the Jews' return from Babylon; because the prophets that prophesied after the captivity still continue to prophesy of the same things and in the same manner, using the same kind of language. Again, 'tis evident that the books of the Prophets, as well as the Psalms, do chiefly relate to the Messiah and the things that appertain to his salvation and kingdom, because the angel, in Dan. 9:24, speaks of these things as the things, in the accomplishment of which, is the grand fulfillment of the vision and prophecy, in which all prophetical revelations are summed up and have their ultimate result and consummation. See §91.MS: "p. 4 at bottom and 5 at top," i.e. the paragraph beginning, "And besides, 'tis signified to Daniel at this time, that this that is here foretold, even the coming of the Messiah . . ." The rabbies among the Jews still agree at this day that all the oracles of the Prophets relate to the Messiah. Basnage's History of the Jews, p. 371.Jacques Basnages, History of the Jews, p. 371: "They still agree at this day, that all the Oracles of the Prophets relate to Messiah; but they pretend that 'the particular Oracles, that indicate his coming, can't be distinguish'd, and that is is very difficult to find them.'" Basnage cites "Ex Gemera c. 1. Sect. 1. p. 126." Memorandum.Remaining entries written by JE in a later hand. Remember to look and see what Bp. Kidder says on many of these prophecies of the Messiah, in his Demonstration of the Messiah. The places being referred to in the index at the end of his book.Richard Kidder, Demonstration of the Messias (1726 ed.). The fourth index in Kidder's work is "A Catalogue of Scripture Texts." 101. ZEPHANIAH 2:11. Zeph. 2:11, "The Lord will be terrible unto them: for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and men shall worship him, every one from his place, even all the isles of the heathen." It were easy to show how it is evident that this has respect to the times of the Messiah, by its agreement with other prophecies, in that here is foretold the calling of the Gentiles, the destroying of idol worship, the conversion of the isles, and that the worshipping of God should not be confined to one temple, city, or country, etc. A TABLE OF THE SECTIONS IN THE ORDER IN WHICH THEY ARE WRITTEN.The following tables are divided into two columns per page, but for ease of presentation are displayed here in single columns. N. B. No. 891 ends with §18, and No. 922 ends with §37, and [No. 1067] begins with §38. SectionPropheciesNumber 1Gen. 3:15 No. 891 2Gen. 49:8-12 3Is. 9:6-7 4Is. 11 5 Jer. 23:5-6 6Jer. 33:15-16 7II Sam. 23:1-8 8Is. 4:2 9 Zech. 3:8-10 10Zech. 6:12, etc. 11Zech 9:9 to the end 12Hag. 2:4, etc. 13Mal. 3 14Mal. 4 15Mic. 5 16Jer. 30, Ezek. 34:23-24 and 37:24 and 37:24-25, Hos. 3:5, Is. 55:3-4 17Ezek. 17, latter end, and 34:29 18Ezek. 21:25-27 19Is. 7:14No. 922 20Is. 28:16-17 21 Zech. 3:8-9 22Zech. 4:7 23Ps. 118 24Is. 32:1, etc. 25Is. 41-42 and 43:10 26Is. 49 27Is. 61-62 28Is. 50:4-10 29Is. 51:16 30Is. 52:7 to the end 31Is. 53 32Is. 59:19-21 33Is. 62-63 to the end of the book 34Is. 40 and 33 at the latter end, and Hos. 13:9 to the end, and ch. 14 35Zeph. 3 36Ps. 50, and 96-100, and 113, and also Is. 2 and Mic. 4 and 7 37Joel 2-3 38Amos 9:11 to the end[No. 1067] 39Ps. 72, Is. 45:14, etc. 40Gen. 22:18 and 12:3 and 18:18 and 26:4 and 28:14 41Job 19:25-27 42Num. 23:23 43Num. 24:17-19 44Deut. 18:15-19 and Is. 59:21 45Ps. 110 46Ps. 45 and Hos. 1:10-11 and 2:14 to the end 47Ps. 46 48Ps. 47 49Ps. 48 50Ps. 102 and Is. 51 51Ps. 14 and 53, Gen. 49:18, Is. 46:13, and Is. 51 and 56:1 52Ps. 2 53Ps. 20-21 54Ps. 16 and Ps. 61:5-8 55Ps. 22 56Ps. 132:11 to the end 57Ps. 89:1-37 58Ps. 68 59Ps. 87 60The Book of Psalms 61Is. 8:9-10, 14-17 and ch. 9:1-7 62Is. 19:18 to the end 63Mal. 1:7 64Is. 24:13 to the end, and chs. 25-35 65Jer. 3:14 to the end 66Jer. 16:14 to the end 67Jer. 31 and 32:36 to the end 68Ezek. 16:53 to the end 69Ezek. 20:33-44 70Ezek. 35-36 71Ezek. 38-39 72Deut. 32:18-43 73Obadiah 74Ezekiel, the nine last chapters [40-48] 75Ps. 60 and 108 76Ps. 67 77Ps. 138 78Ps. 85 79Ps. 69 80Ps. 86 81Ps. 58 82Ps. 65 83Ps. 66 84Ps. 80 85Ps. 24 86 The six last Psalms [145-150] 87The book of Psalms in general 88Hos. 5:15 and 6:1-3 89Dan. 2:34-35, 44-45 90Dan. 7:9-14, 18, 22, 26-28 91Dan. 9:24 to the end 92Dan. 12:1-3 93Zech. 1:7 to the end, and chs. 2-6 94Zech. 8-10 95Zech. 12-14 96Gen. 3:20 97Is. 40 to the end 98Prophecies in general 99Jer. 12:19 to the end [100The books of the Prophets in general 101 Zeph. 2:11] A TABLE OF THE PROPHECIES IN THE ORDER IN WHICH THEY ARE FOUND IN THE SCRIPTURE Prophecies§ Gen. 3:151 Gen. 3:2096 12:3, 18:18, 22:18, 26:4, 28:14 40 49:8-122 v. 1851 Num. 23:23.42 24:17-1943 Deut. 18:15-1944 32:18-4372 II Sam. 23:1-87 Job 19:25-2741 Psalms, the book in general60 and also87 252 1451 1654 2053 2153 2255 2485 40:6-1097 4546 4647 4748 4849 5036 5351 5881 6075 61:5-854 6582 6683 6776 6858 6979 7239 8084 8578 8680 8759 89:1-3757 96-100 36 10250 10875 11045 11336 11823 132:11 to the end56 13877 14586 14686 14786 14886 14986 15086 Is. 236 48 7:1419 8:9-10, 14-1761 9:1-761 vv. 6-73 11 and 124 19:18 to the End62 24:13 to the End64 25-26 64 2764 28, vv. 16-1720 29 64 3064 3164 3264 vv. 1-224 3364 at the latter end34 3464 3564 4034 From thence to the end of the book97 41-4325 45:14 to the end39 46:1351 4926 50:4, 10.28 51:1629 and also50-51 52:7 to the end30 5331 55::3-416 56:151 59:19- 2132 v. 2144 6127 6227 and also33 6333 Jer. 3:14 to the end65 12:14 to the end99 16:14 to the end66 23:5-65 3016 31, 32:36 to the end67 336 Ezek. 16:53 to the end68 17:22-2417 20:33-4469 21:25-2718 24. 23, 24.16 34. 29.17 35-36 70 3716 38-39 71 40-487 Dan. 2:34-35, 44-4589 7:9-14, 18, 22, 26-2890 9:24 to the End91 12:1-392 Hos. 1:9-1146 2:14 to the end46 3:516 5:15, 6:1-388 13:9 to the end, 14 34 Joel 2-337 Amos 9:11 to the end38 Obad.73 Mic. 436 515 736 Zeph. 2:11101 336 Hag. 212 Zechariah, six first chapters93 3:8-99 and also21 4:793 6:12, etc.10 Chs. 8-1094 9:9 to the End11 Chs. 12-1495 Mal. 1:1163 313 414
Jonathan Edwards [1743], "Prophecies of the Messiah" (WJE Online Vol. 30) , Ed. Jonathan Edwards Center [word count] [jec-wjeo30]. |
|||||
