LETTER IV.

The foundation of the Proofs of Chrift's Divinity from the Writings of the Prophets, is laid in the three original Prophecies recorded by Mofes, concerning the Meffiah.

IN

REV. SIR,

N the two laft letters I have endeavoured to fhew, both from Scripture and Reason, that the Ifraelites could reafonably expect a divine Meffiah, and that it is most unreasonable and unfcriptural to fuppofe, that, whereas the Son appeared on mount Calvary for the redemption of all mankind from the tyranny of Sin, Death, and Satan ; God the Father appeared on mount Horeb merely to redeem one fingle Nation from the tyranny of Pharaoh. Coming now to the point, I fhall confront your first fundamental Propofition with the Prophecies of the old Teftament. Speaking of the Meffiah as a MERE MAN, and repeating in your Difquifitions on Matter and Spirit, what I have already quoted from the beginning of your Hiftory of the Corruptions of chriftianity you write [page 311] Nor can it be faid, that any of the ancient Prophecies give us the least hint of any thing farther.

In direct oppofition to this doctrine, I fhall fhow, that all the prophetic Books of the old Teftament contain, ftrong hints, or express declarations of the Melfiah's Divinity; and I enter upon this task the more willingly, as I hope to prefent you with fome new obfervations on this important fubject.

C 2

The

Had it pleased, the Lord to fpare Mr. Fletcher, he had purpofed to do this,

6

The oldest Book is Genefis: Mofes, the Writer of it, is the firit Prophet of the Jews, the oldest people in the world. And in that Book we find the three original Promises relative to the Meffiak. The first was made immediately after the fall in thefe words; I will put enmity between thee (O Serpent) and the woman, and between thy feed and her feed It fhall bruife thy head, and thou shalt bruife his heel: Gen. iii. 15. As if the Lord had faid to the Tempter, By the inftrumentality of a ferpent thou haft triumphed over the woman, ⚫ and by her over the man, but the day is not loft: A long and dreadful war fhall be waged between thee and my Church, the fpiritual Mother of all living fouls, the myftical woman of whom Eve is a type: And another Eve shall one day bear a Son, the fecond and better Adam, whom I call the feed of the woman, because •he shall be miraculofly formed of the fubftance of a woman without the interpofition of a man, as Eve was miraculously formed of the subftance of Adam without the interpofition of a woman. Armed with divine power he fhall • enter the field against thee, and thy forces. By the help of the wicked, who are thy feed, thou fhalt indeed bruise his heel, wound to death the inferior part of his wonderful perfon, the body which he fhall affume from his mother, and by which he fhall be allied to the earth. But his 'deadly wound fhall be fatal to thee; for,. thewing himself the Prince of life, even with his bruifed heel he fhall bruife thy head, he fhall deftroy thee and thy feed. Then fhall the woman and her feed poffefs the gates of their enemies: then shall the curfe brought upon the earth by the firft Adam, be turned into a bleffing by the fecond; and the World redeemed, instead of being full of cruel habitations, shall become

like

like this forfeited garden.' That this is a juft expofition of this firft Prophecy appears both from what is already come to pass, and from other predictions defcriptive of the events foretold to the mystical Serpent.

And do not fay, Sir, that this Paraphrafe makes too much of Chrift; for if the Son of God was manifefted to deftroy the works of the Devil,(1 John iii. 8.) is it not evident, that none can turn thorns and thifles into paradifical fhrubs, anguish into blifs, death into life, and the general Curfe into an univerfal Bleffing, but he who faid at first, Let there be light, and there was light; and who, when he first acted the part of a righteous Judge, thundered these words in the ears of guilty man, Curfed is the ground for thy fake, thorns and thiftles fhall it bring forth to thee: Duft thou art and unto duft fhalt thou return? For fuppofing the Sun, by withholding his quickening beams, had caused a general winter and an univerfal night; is it not plain that the only remedy adequate to the greatnels of fuch an evil, would be the return of the folar light?

The fecond original Promife refpecting the Meffiah, was made to Abraham, when he dwelt in Haran, and confirmed upon mount Moriah, on an occafion, which reflects a great light on the Sufferings, Character and work of the Meffiah. By myfelf have I forn faith the Lord [who can fwear by no higher Being than himself beraufe thou hast done this thing, and haft not withheld thy Son, thine only Son; that in bleffing I will bless thee

-Thy feed shall poffefs the gate of his enemies. and in thy feed fhall all the Nations of the earth be bleffed: Gen. xxii. 16, &c. St. Paul, alluding to this promife, faith, Chrift hath redeemed us from the curfe of the law, being made a curfe for us for it is written, Curfed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

C 3

that

that the bleffing of Abraham might come on the Gea tiles, through Jefus Chrift.-For, to Abraham and his feed, were the Promifes [of an universal bleifing] made: He (God) faith not, and to Seeds, as [if this bleffing were to be the defert] of many [of Abraham's children] But as of one, ONE [of them] And to thy SEED, which is CHRIST: Gal. iii. 13, 16.

Being enlightened by this, and other parallel Scriptures, we clearly fee, that the fenfe of this Promife is as follows: O thou, Father of the faithful, Heaven is pleased with thy fteady obedience: Thou haft exemplified the holy • Purpofe of God the Father, who will not fpare his Son, his only-begotten Son; but will deliver him up as a divine facrifice for a guilty world: And Ifaac hath fhadowed out the meek ' obedience of the Son of God, that heavenly • Lamb, which God will provide, that wonderful • Defcendant of thine, who fhall be fo fuperior to all his brethren, as eminently to deserve the name of the Son of God, according to his outgoings from everlasting, and the name of thy Seed, according to the human nature, which he fhall affume from thee, by a virgin of thine offspring. Tis He, whom I peculiarly mean by thy Seed. He fhall be thine Ifaac, thy laughter and thy joy: By faith, fee his day and be glad (John viii. 56.) Rejoice in him evermore, for he fhall be the defire of all nations, and the joy of the whole earth for through him fhall all the families and people be filled with righteousness, peace, and joy; when he shall poffefs the gate of his enemies, and cause righteousnels to cover the earth, as the mighty waters cover the bottom of • the fea?

The third Prophecy relative to the Meffiah was tered by dying Jacob, Gather yourselves together,

faid

faid he to his Sons, that I may tell you that which fhall befall you in the last days.-Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren fhall praife: Thy father's children fhall bow down before thee. Judah is a tion's whelp, he flooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old tion: Who fhall roufe him up? The fceptre fhall not depart from Judah, nor a Lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come, and anto Him fhall be the gathering of the nations. Gen. ixl. 8, 10.

This ancient Prophecy, explained according to the parallel Scriptures, amounts to the following Prediction: " Judah, my Son, as the Lion is King among the Beasts of the Forest, so fhall thy Tribe be the most honourable, powerful, and and warlike in Ifrael. But thy greatest honour • fhall arise from David, one of thy Defcendants, • and from the line of Kings, who fhall fpring up from his loins: For they, together with the Levites and Priests, who fhall adhere to them, • fhall continue to give Princes and Rulers to the • Ifraelites, till the Shiloh fhall come, who fhall * fustain four most important offices. (1) Being typified by Mofes and Aaron, two of Levi's grand-children, he fhall be a meek Lawgiver, • a powerful Prophet, and a majestic High Priest: (2) Being reprefented by David, an invincible captain, and a victorious Prince, whole Offspring he fhall be, he shall fubdue or destroy all his enemies, and fhall deferve the titles of Lion of the tribe of Judah, and Captain of our Salvation: And (3) Being fhadowed out of by Solomon, another of his ancestors, a peaceful and profperous King, who by his wifdom and power fhall fecure the admiration and refpe&t of all the Eaft, he fhall fhew himself the Shiloh, the mighty Redeemer, promised to our Fathers; for he fall redeem Ifrael from all his fins, and from all his d: i troubles.