12 herd, a rock, a door ;—and when in his graphic account of the day of judgment, he speaks of the righteous and wicked as sheep and goats, we are at no loss to discern his meaning. Even so in the prophetical books, tropes and figures abound. They are employed however as mere ornaments, or expletives, inseparable from the sublime and poetic style of the respective writers. But as to the subjects of prophecy—the things foretoldthe substantial facts shadowed forth by the metaphors, we are of the opinion that the literal interpretation should be always adhered to. Let us test the truth of this principle with reference to some prophecies of the Old Testament which relate to the coming of the Messiah. They are scattered throughout the sacred books from the commencement of Genesis to the close of Malachi, expressed in various language, uttered by divers prophets, and announced at different periods. Are they to be literally or figuratively interpreted? The first is in these words, “ I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”'* We may say, if we please, that this was merely a prediction of the hostility between the race of serpents and the human race. fail not to perceive that it teaches something more. But we *Gen. iii. 16. a We infer from it that the Tempter, the evil spirit who employed the agency of the Serpent, would have a conflict with one of the descendants of Eve, in which though he would inflict some injury, his own power would be crushed and destroyed.—We might conjecture that the prophecy might be fulfilled through the agency of one of the human race born after the ordinary course of generation—But behold, there was a more literal fulfilment. It was accomplished by one who was emphatically the seed of the woman without a human father, the holy child of a Virgin. So when it was promised to Abraham that in his “ seed all the families of the earth should be blessed”—one might have considered this as nothing more than a prediction that mankind at large would be benefited by the descendants of Abraham. But the accomplishment was more literal. For "he saith not and to seeds, as of many, but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ."* Was it foretold that “a virgin should conceive and bear a son:" that “out of Bethlehem Ephratah,” one of the cities of Judah, should He come who was to be Ruler in Israel—whose goings forth were of old from everlasting ?+ Miracles were wrought to secure the accomplishment of the prediction to the very letter. Cæsar Augustus issued a decree that the whole world (i. e. the Roman empire) should be taxed. Joseph and Mary went up from Nazareth, their usual place of residence, to Bethlehem their family city, to be taxed there : and while there for this purpose, * Gal. iii, 16. + Micah. v. 2 the prophecy was fulfilled in the birth of the son of the virgin. The star of which Balaam 'spake conducted the wise men of the East to the very spot where the young child was-while the angels of heaven descended to pour forth their songs of joy that the prophecies were fulfilled in the birth of him who should bring glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, good will towards men. If we look at the prophecies relating to the humiliation and sufferings of our Lord, they afford us strong confirmation of the same truth; was it foretold that he should be betrayed by his familiar friend who ate of his bread-one of his own disciples, be denied by another, and forsaken by all? That he should be " a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief-despised and rejected of men”—that he should “be led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep dumb before the shearers, not open his mouth; that he should give his back to the smiters, and his cheek to them that plucked off the hair? Behold in the evangelical narrative a literal fulfilment of the prophecies in his course of suffering until he hung expiring upon the cross ! Nor did it cease even then. For while he was in the agonies of crucifixion he uttered the cry which David had put into his mouth a thousand a a years before, “My God ! my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"* Then was there a minute fulfilment of other predictions. They gave me gall for my meat, and in my thirst, vinegar to drink.”+ “ They pierced my hands and my feet"_“they part my gar ” ments among them”—and formy vesture"—which being without seam, and woven from the top throughout, could not be divided,“ they cast lots.” I When the soldiers came to inspect the sufferers, and break their legs by way of hastening their death, finding that Jesus was dead already, they broke not his legs; and thus another Scripture was fulfilled which said a bone of him shall not be broken." One of the guards which stood near the cross, with careless and cruel unconcern, plunged a spear into his side; and thus another Scripture was fulfilled—“they shall look on him whom they pierced.”|| Instead of his body's being carried to the Potter's field like that of a common malefactor, Joseph of Arimathea, a rich member of the Sanhedrim, begged the corpse and deposited it in his own new tomb; and thus was strangely fulfilled a paradoxical prophecy—“ he made his grave with the rich and with the wicked in his death.”'s Now all Christians contend that in the birth, life, sufferings and death of Jesus the prophecies were fulfilled to the very letter. On this ground of their literal fulfilment, we maintain our argument with Deists, in favour of the divine origin of our religion, and that with Jews, in favor of the Messiahship of our Lord. We feel persuaded that the exact correspondence between the prophecies of the Old Testament and the history of the New affords a stable foundation for our faith in the Gospel which can never be shaken. * Ps. xxii. 1. † Ps. lxix. 21. || John xix. 36. 37 † Ps. xxii. 16. 18. § ls.liii. 9. But the Old Testament Scriptures speak of the Messiah and his coming under widely different circumstances, and in very different terms from those which we have now quoted. They speak of him as coming not in humiliation, but in glory; not to suffer, but to reign. Not as a despised infant, but as a mighty Conqueror. Not as a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief—to be despised and rejected of men; but as a powerful and glorious monarch, who shall exalt his people, trample upon his enemies, and sway the sceptre of universal dominion. We now invite attention to some of this remarkable class of prophecies, scattered throughout the pages of the Old Testament. Isaiah having spoken of the Messiah as “a son born—a child given”goes on to predict of this child that “the government shall he upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be your |