PREDICTIONS.

A REDEEMER IS PROMISED TO OUR FIRST PARENTS.

"And the Lord God said to the serpent, I will put enmities between thee, and the woman, and thy seed and her seed; she (or it) shall crush thy head." (Gen. iii. 15.)

THE PROMISE RENEWED TO

ABRAHAM AND ISAAC.

"The Lord said to Abraham. In thee shall all the kindred of the earth be blessed." (Gen. xii. 3.) "Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name Isaac, and I will establish my covenant with him for a perpetual covenant, and with his seed after him." (Gen. xvii. 19.) Isaac bequeathed the blessing to Jacob, (Gen. xxvii. 27), who left it as a rich inheritance to Juda. (Gen. xlix. 10.)

FULFILMENT.

"When the fulness of the time was come, God sent His Son, made of a woman, made under the law that He might redeem them who were under the law." (Gal. iv. 4.)

"To Abraham were the promises made, and to his seed. He saith not, and to his seeds, as of many; but as of one, and to thy seed,' which is Christ." (Gal. iii. 16.) "The God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers hath glorified His Son Jesus, whom you indeed delivered up, and denied before the face of Pilate, when he judged he should be released. (Acts iii. 13.) "By faith he (Abraham) abode in the land, dwelling in cottages with Isaac and Jacob, the coheirs of the same promise." (Heb. xi. 9.

PREDICTIONS.

FULFILMENT.

SIGNS BY WHICH THE TIME OF

THE COMING OF THE RE-
DEEMER SHOULD BE MANI-
FESTED.

"The sceptre shall not be taken away from Juda, nor a ruler from his posterity, till He come that is to be sent, and He shall be the expectation of nations." (Gen. xlix. 10.)

At the time of our Lord's birth, the sceptre (which seems to signify political power) was partly taken away from the Jews by the great power the Romans then exercised in Judea, and also by the introduction of Herod, who was a foreigner, as king: but it was not until the siege and destruction of Jerusalem under Titus Vespasian, a few years after our Lord's Passion, that this translation of the sceptre was finally completed.

FROM AMONG THE DESCENDANTS OF JUDA, GOD CHOSE THE FAMILY OF DAVID.

"The Lord chose the tribe of Juda.... And He chose David His servant." (Psalms lxxvii. 68, 70.) "And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root, and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him; the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of counsel and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and of Godliness. And He shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord." (Isaias xi. 1.) "He appointed to David His servant to raise up of him a most mighty king, and sitting on the throne of glory for ever." (Eccles. xxiv. 34.)

"Of this man's (David's) seed, God, according to His promise, hath raised up to Israel a Saviour Jesus." Acts xiii. 23.) "The angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary, and the angel being come in, said unto her, Hail full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women.... Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of David His father, and He shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end." (Luke i. 26.)

BLESSED LORD WOULD BE
BORN OF A VIRGIN.

"Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emanuel.” (Isaias vii. 14.) "Emanuel being interpreted is, God with us. (Mat. i. 23.)

"Joseph her husband being a just man, and not willing publicly to expose her, was minded to put her away privately. But while he thought on these things, behold the angel of the Lord appeared to him in his sleep, saying Joseph, son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost, and she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from. their sins. Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which the Lord spoke by the prophet saying, Behold a virgin," &c. (Matt. i. 19-23.)

PREDICTIONS

THE PLACE OF OUR Redeemer's BIRTH FORETOLD BY MICHEAS.

"And thou, Bethlehem Ephrata, art a little one among the thousands of Juda; out of thee shall He come forth unto me, that is to be the ruler in Israel, and His coming forth is from the beginning, from the days of eternity." (Micheas v. 2.)

THE HOUR OF HIS BIRTH.

"While all things were in quiet silence, and the night was in the midst of her course, Thy Almighty Word came down from Heaven from Thy royal throne." (Wis. xviii. 14.)

OUR LORD'S PRESENCE IN THE

TEMPLE FORETOLD BY AG-
GEUS AND MALACHIAS.

"Yet one little while, and I will move the Heaven and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land, and I will move all nations; and the desired of all nations shall come; and I will fill this house

FULFILMENT.

"When Jesus therefore was born in Bethlehem of Juda in the days of king Herod, behold there came wise men from the East to Jerusalem saying, Where is He that is born king of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East, and are come to adore Him. And king Herod hearing this was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And assembling together all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where Christ should be born; but they said to him, In Bethlehem of Juda; for so it is written by the prophet." And thou Bethlehem," &c. (Matt. ii. 1-6.)

"And there were in the same country shepherds watching and keeping the night watches over their flocks.... And behold an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the brightness of God shone round about them, and they feared with a great fear. And the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy that shall be to all the people for this day is born to you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David." (Luke ii. 8.)

"And behold there was a man in Jerusalem, named Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Ghost was in him. And he had re

PREDICTIONS.

with glory, saith the Lord of Hosts." (Aggeus ii. 7.)

"And presently the Lord whom you seek, and the angel of the testament whom you desire shall come to His Temple. Behold He cometh, saith the Lord of Hosts." (Mal. iii. 1.)

THAT

66

OUR LORD SHOULD BE ADORED BY EASTERN KINGS SOON AFTER HIS BIRTH.

'Arise, be enlightened O Jerusalem, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee...... And the gentiles shall walk in thy light, and kings in the brightness of thy rising....all they from Saba shall come, bringing gold and frankincense, and showing forth praise to the Lord." (Isaias Ix. 1.)

"The kings of Tharsis and the islands shall offer presents, the kings of the Arabians and of Saba shall bring gifts, and all kings of the earth shall adore Him." (Psm. lxxi. 10.)

FULFILMENT.

ceived an answer from the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. And he came by the Spirit into the Temple. And when His parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, be also took Him into his arms, and blessed God and said, Now, Thou dost dismiss Thy servant O Lord according to Thy word in peace; because my eyes have seen Thy salvation which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel." (Luke ii.)

"In the days of king Herod, behold there came wise men from the East to Jerusalem, saying where is He that is born king of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East, and are come to adore Him.... Then Herod privately calling the wise men learned diligently of them the time of the star which appeared to them; and sending them into Bethlehem, said, Go, and diligently inquire after the child, and when you have found Him, bring me word again, that I also may come and adore Him......and behold the star which they had seen in the East went before them, until it came and stood over where the child was; and seeing the star they rejoiced with exceeding great joy; and entering into the house they found the child with Mary His mother, and falling down they adored Him, and opening their treasures they offered Him gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh.' (Matt. ii.)