NAZARITES. The Nazarites were those who made a vow to live a more pure life than the generality of professors. The ceremony of the vow was looked on as a most solemn ceremony, as by it they engaged themselves to live devotedly to God: and the consecration continued about eight days. Numb. 6. LEVITES. The Levites descended from Levi, and were called after the three sons of Levi; from Gershon, Gershonites; from Koath, Koathites; and from Merari, Merarites. They were set apart to perform all the inferior services of the Tabernacle, to fix it and to take it down. The Gershonites had the charge of the coverings and the hangings; these were taken down and put up by them, and conveyed from place to place. The Koathites had the care of all the furniture belonging to the interior part of the sanctuary; and they had the care of the whole wood-work, while in the wilderness. At the time of David they were divided into 24 orders, to fill the offices or inferior places in the temple: to these were added four orders consisting of one thousand each, who praised the Lord with instruments; four orders of porters, and six orders of officers and judges concerning all things, which had relation to the temporal state of religion. number of Levites who had offices assigned to them in the temple, was twenty four thousand. To these were added the Gibeonites, whose office it was to provide, and hew wood, as well as to procure water for the house of God. The CHRIST, THE TRUE MESSIAH. It is now near 1800 years since the dispersion of the Jews took place, agreeably to the words of Moses, and during this great length of time, they have been expecting their Messiah to make his appearance. And, notwithstanding that the whole of the prophecies which foretold the coming of the true Messiah, have been fulfilled in the person of Christ, they contend that the Messiah is yet to come, and that he will restore them to their own land, with greater privileges than their progenitors enjoyed under the most prosperous reign of their kings. They say, that he will subjugate all nations to them, and that Jerusalem is to be the grand centre of government, from whence they are to send forth laws to the whole world. Therefore in order to show, so as not to admit of a refutation, that the Messiah is already come, and that the prophecies were accomplished in him, I shall lay before the reader a summary of those particulars, foretold by the prophets, which should take place at his coming; that those things were accomplished at the coming of Christ and that all those circumstances and things which were to take place at the coming of the MESSIAH, and which took place at the coming of CHRIST, were of such a nature, that they never can take place again. This will, without the possibility of a contradiction, prove, that he was the : TRUE MESSIAH. In pursuing this important subject, I shall in a great measure confine myself to the objections of a modern writer among the Jews, viz. David Levi, who, in his "Dissertations on the Prophecies," has collected the most formidable arguments from the writings of the Rabbies and learned Jews, ancient and modern, to prove that Christ was not the true Messiah. In the 24th chapter of Numbers, from the 15th to the 24th verses, these writers say that Balaam delivered four prophecies. "The first concerning the noble descent of the nation." But how this can be called a prophecy I know not. The second "concerning their righteousness," but it was not possible to apply this at any period to the nation of the Jews, for the pages of their own history charge them with a character the very reverse to that of piety. Moses calls them "a wicked, and a stiff-necked generation," and the prophets are uniform in representing them as a most rebellious people, from the time that they came out of Egypt, to their captivity in Babylon. Amos 3. 1. to the end of the chapter. Farther, the prophet in the 9th chapter foretels that they should ever continue in their rebellion against God, to the time of their utter dispersion over the whole world, verse 8th. 'Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, aud I will destroy it from off the face of the earth:' so much for the righteousness of the ancient Jews according to their own prophets. In the 23d chapter, verse 23d, the Jews translate the beth which is prefixed to Jacob, by the word in, and the same to Israel, and read the passage thus surely there is no enchantment IN JACOB, neither is there any divination IN ISRAEL. But in the English translation, the beth is rendered by the word against, which is, undoubtedly, with this construction, the true rendering; viz. Surely there is no enchantment (can succeed) against Jacob, nor is there any divination (can succeed) against Israel. For as Balaam and Balak were using enchantments against Jacob and Israel, it is absurd to translate the beth by in, and apply it to mean that there were no enchantments among them. In the next prophecy they inform us, that "Balaam foretels the coming of the Messiah, and the restoration of the Jewish nation to their own land, and as this was not to be accomplished till the latter days, he therewith consoles Balak by informing him, that he would not at present receive any injury from this people, for that the thorough subjection of Moab by them would not take place till the latter days." From this prophecy of Balaam, Levi and all the Jewish writers attempt to show, that the subjugation of Moab and Edom was not accomplished at the coming of Christ, and that as it was to be accomplished at the coming of the true Messiah, Christ cannot be the true Messiah, but that it remains to be fulfilled when the true Messiah shall come. As proof |