CHAPTER XV. MESSIANIC PROPHECY. MESSIANIC prophecy has for its great object the glorious reign of God among men, the consequent overthrow of evil, and Messinic prophthe exaltation and blessedness of his people who obey ecy defined. him and love righteousness. This kind of prophecy constitutes a special feature of the Old Testament prophetic revelation, and appears under two forms: first, an impersonal portraiture of a coming kingdom of power and righteousness, in which humanity attains its highest good, and, second, the announcement of a person, the Anointed One, with whom all the triumph and glory are connected. Accordingly we have Messianic prophecies in which the person of Christ receives no mention, and others in which he is emphatically named and represented as the efficient cause of all the glory. Messianic prophecy should be studied on its divine and human sides. Viewed as a part of the divine purpose and plan of redemption, it appears in the course of sacred history as a progressive series of special revelations, gradually unfolding into greater clearness as the ages pass along. We recognize it in the protevangelium (Gen. iii, 15), in the promises to Abraham (Gen. xii, 3; xvii, 6; xviii, 18; xxii, 18), in the poetic words of Jacob (Gen. xlix, 10), and the promise of a prophet like Moses (Deut. xviii, 15, 18). It took a more specific form in connection with Nathan's words to David (2 Sam. vii, 12-16), and thereafter the king and the kingdom of righteousness become prominent in the Psalms and the Prophets.' In the interpretation of Messianic prophecies we meet with two schools of extremists. One insists on a literal interpre- Discard extation of nearly every passage, and accordingly drifts, tremists. as by logical necessity, to the teaching of a future temporal restoration of the Jews at Jerusalem, a rebuilding of the temple, and 'On the Messianic prophecies see J. Pye Smith, Scripture Testimony to the Messiah, 3 vols. (Lond., 1829); Hengstenberg, Christology of the Old Testament, 4 vols. (Eng. trans. by Meyer, Edinb., 1863); Tholuck, Die Propheten und ihre Weissagungen, pp. 146–189 (Gotha, 1860); Leathes, Witness of the Old Testament to Christ (Boyle, Lectures for 1868); Riehm, Messianic Prophecy (Eng. trans., Edinb., 1876); Gloag, The Messianic Prophecies, pp. 98-208 (Baird Lecture, Edinb., 1879); Briggs, Messianic Prophecy (New York, 1886); Elliott, Old Testament Prophecy, Part Third, pp. 186279 (New York, 1889). renewal of Hebrew ritual and worship. The other spiritualizes all forms of prophetic teaching to an extent that scarcely allows any true historical interpretation. In order to a faithful and satisfactory exposition, we must learn to distinguish, with reasonable clearness, between the forms of speech and the great underlying thought, between the imagery of historical and metaphorical allusion and the essential contents of a prophecy. duced for illus tration. What in each prophecy is mere form, and what is the essential Five Messianic idea, may be best seen by a full collation and comparison prophecies ad- of a number of similar prophecies. This is true alike of Messianic and of other great predictions. Our principles may be sufficiently illustrated by attention to the five notable Messianic prophecies which appear in the first twelve chapters of Isaiah. The chronological order of these and other prophecies of the son of Amoz seem to have been made subject to a certain logical order, as if the editing and arranging of the several oracles were governed by the purpose of exhibiting an organic series. In this single series we discover a marked progress of thought from what is at first broad and comparatively indefinite to what is more specific and personal. THE MOUNTAIN OF JEHOVAH'S HOUSE. The first in order is the prophecy of the mountain of Jehovah's house (Isa. ii, 2-4). This passage is identical with Micah iv, 1–3, but whether Isaiah quoted it from Micah (Gesenius, Henderson), or Micah from Isaiah (Vitringa, Lowth), or both from an older writer now unknown (Rosenmüller, Knobel), cannot be positively determined. Hitzig and Ewald think that it was taken by both prophets from a lost work of Joel; but this is a pure conjecture. Isaiah seems to have cited it as a text on which to base an appeal to the house of Jacob (comp. ii, 5-iv, 6), first announcing the glorious future in the language of another, and then proceding to show that Judah and Jerusalem must be purged with burning blasts of judgment, so that only a chosen remnant will attain the golden age (comp. iv, 2-6). We render the passage as follows: 2 And it shall come to pass in the end of days, The mountain of Jehovah's house shall be Established in the summit of the mountains, And it shall be exalted from the hills, And unto it shall all the nations flow. 3 And many peoples shall go there and say : Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, And he will teach us of his ways, And let us go on in his paths, For out of Zion shall go forth a law And the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. 4 And he will judge between the nations, And unto many peoples give rebuke ; And into plowshares they will beat their swords, And they no longer will be learning war. According to the rules already enunciated we should first en< deavour to distinguish that which is essential from that which is merely formal. A literal interpretation would here evidently involve insuperable difficulties, not to say absurdities. Who will urge that Mount Zion or Moriah is yet to be heaved up to a natural elevation higher than all other mountains of the earth, and that all the nations of men are as such to flow upward to it? Or who will insist that in order to the true fulfilment of this prophecy swords and spears must be literally and actually converted into other implements as here described? The true interpretation must be sought by a rational elimination of the main thoughts from the ideal forms of their Jewish imagery. The author was a Jew, and associated the highest hopes of his nation with a glorification of the holy mountain of Jehovah's temple. We should not, however, spiritualize all these Jewish forms of conception, and run into fanciful allegorical interpretations of particular words. In the very drapery of his thought we recognize the natural limitations of the prophet and trace the historical realism of the Old Testament religion. Let us now inquire after the essential contents and the corresponding essential prophetic thoughts of this passage. Beyond question the four main ideas are (1) the temple-mountain (including Zion) is to be exalted into prominence above all other hills; (2) Jerusalem will be the source of law and revelation; (3) there will be a confluence of all nations thither; (4) universal peace is to be effected by divine judgment among the nations. These essential contents furnish a clear prediction of four great corresponding facts, which are fulfiled in the origin and propagation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They may be thus formulated: (1) Jerusalem occupies a conspicuous historical, geographical, and religious position in the origin and development of the kingdom of God on earth; (2) the Gospel is a republication and enlargement of the law and word of Jehovah, having issued from Jerusalem as a geographical and historical starting point (comp. Luke xxiv, 47); (3) the nations will acknowledge and accept the truths and excellencies of this new and higher revelation; (4) the ultimate result will be universal peace among the nations. By this method of interpretation we show due regard to the language and thought of the writer, avoid the unnatural extremes of literalism, allow no fanciful allegorizing, and obtain a result which is at once simple, clear, self-evidencing as a truthful exposition, and confirmed by manifest New Testament fulfilment. THE BRANCH OF JEHOVAH. The prophecy of the Branch of Jehovah in Isa. iv, 2-6 is a counterpart of that of chap. ii, 2-4. The one opens, the other closes, the appeal to the house of Jacob. The one presents an outward historical picture, the other an inner view of the redemption of the true Israel. The one should be compared with the parable of the mustard seed, the other with the parable of the leaven (Matt. xiii, 31-33). 2 In that day shall the Branch of Jehovah become a splendour and a glory, And the fruit of the land a majesty and a beauty to the escaped of Israel; 3 And he that is left in Zion and he that remains1 in Jerusalem Shall be called holy to him—all who are written for life in Jerusalem. 4 When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, And the blood-drops of Jerusalem he will cleanse away from her midst, By the blast of judgment and by the blast of burning, 5 Then will Jehovah create over the whole site of Mount Zion, and over her assembly, A cloud by day and the brightness of a fire-flame by night' For over all the glory (there will be) a covering, 3 6 And a booth shall become a shade by day from heat, And a refuge and shelter from storm and from rain. The "Branch of Jehovah" and the "fruit of the land" are explained by Ewald, Cheyne and others as the natural wealth and produce of Israel's land; that is, immense and glorious harvests to be given as blessings from Jehovah. This, indeed, might furnish a worthy prophetic picture of the Messianic age and be explained like the similar imagery of chap. xxxv, 1, 2. Gesenius understands by 1 Observe the three different words here used to denote the surviving remnant, one who escapes, or that which escapes destruction; ; one who is left over, a survivor; i, one who remains, or is left behind. 2 Observe the allusion to the pillar of cloud and fire which accompanied Israel in the desert (Exod. xiii, 21). 3 Comp. Rev. vii, 15: "He that sitteth on the throne shall spread his tabernacle over them." the branch the chosen remnant, the new growth of Israel after the chastening judgments; but this confuses things which the sacred writer distinguishes in the immediate context. We prefer with most interpreters to understand an individual, as in Jer. xxiii, 5; xxxiii, 15; Zech. iii, 8; vi, 12, where the same word (ny) is employed. This Branch is here represented as at once a sprout of Jehovah and a growth of the land of Israel, a somewhat dim but very suggestive intimation of the Christ who was at once divine and human. The essential elements of this prophecy may be presented in four propositions: (1) The filth and crimes of the Jewish people must be put away by burning blasts of judgment; (2) there will be a surviving remnant, known as holy and written unto life; (3) they will enjoy divine protection and care as truly as did God's chosen people at the time of the exodus from Egypt; (4) all this honour, glory, majesty, and beauty will be brought about by, or in some way be most intimately associated with, a remarkable person or power here called a Branch of Jehovah. We need not insist on the personality of this branch, for that is not made prominent in the prophecy, nor should we put forward the twofold allusion in verse 2 as a dogmatic proof-text of the double nature of the Messiah. The entire passage is, accordingly, seen to be a striking prophecy of the judgment, redemption, and glorification of Israel.' IMMANUEL. The prophecy of Immanuel in Isa. vii, 14-16 is probably the most difficult and enigmatical of all the Messianic prophecies. This is partly owing to the fact that several expressions in it are capable of more than one interpretation. We translate as follows: 2 Till he knows to shun evil and choose good. 1 "This prediction," says Briggs, "is of great importance. It really opens up two new phases of the Messianic idea. It lays stress upon the discipline of the people of God themselves, and also upon a holy remnant to be redeemed from the fiery trials about to destroy the nation as a whole. A new line is opened for the doctrine of the advent of Jehovah. There is a judgment, not upon the nations as in Joel, but upon perverse Israel after the manner of Hosea. Israel is disciplined and then restored. The restoration is through a fiery trial.”—Messianic Prophecy, p. 194. 2 iny, to his knowing, is best explained as meaning up to the time when he first comes to know enough to distinguish between good and evil. His eating curds and |