THE

RESTORATION OF ISRAEL.

*MESSIAH.-This name is applicable, 1. To a king; 2. To a prophet; 3. To a high priest. "And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat, of Abel-meholah, shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room." 1 Kings xix. 16. "Thou shalt also take the anointing oil, and pour it upon his head and anoint him." Exod. xxix. 7. Also every one that is made a king is called a Messiah. "Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus," &c. Isaiah xlv. 1. This title is always given either to a king, to a ruler, or to a judge. "Behold thy king cometh unto thee." Zech. ix. 9. "Yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me, that is to be ruler in Israel." Mic. v. 2. "But with righteousness shall he judge the poor." Isaiah xi. 4.

*HE IS TO BE ONLY A MAN." So shall they be my people, and I will be their God, and David my servant shall be king over them." Ezek. xxxvii. 24. "But they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them." Jer xxx. 9. "Afterwards shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king." Hos. iii. 5.

*HE MUST HAVE BOTH FATHER AND MOTHER. -It is acknowledged by all that the Messiah was to be the Son of David: for this reason Jesus could not be the Messiah. And if it should be said that his mother was a daughter of David, that will not relieve the objection; for, if the daughter of David brings forth a son, he can by no means be called the son of David: for a son by a daughter has lost the very name of a son of David, although the son of his daughter. "And they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month, and they declared their pedigrees after their families, by the house of their fathers," but not by the house of their mothers. Numb. i. 18. Here we may observe, that a daughter in Israel has no pedigree of herself; for, if the daughter of a priest be married to a man of another tribe, her son will be no priest; and, if a daughter of any tribe be married to a priest, and she brings forth a son, he will be a priest. Thus the pedigree of a man depends on his father only.

*A SAVIOUR-is not the name of the Messiah, but the name of God; for the Messiah himself shall look up to God to be saved. "He is just and shall be saved," Zech. ix. 9. Observe the word is

venousha: the proper sense of the word is, And he shall be saved, but not " to save himself." And again," For I am the Lord, thy God, thy Saviour." Isaiah xliii. 3. "I, even I, am the “I, Lord; and beside me there "And all flesh shall know, that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Reedemer, the mighty one of Jacob." Isaiah xlix. 26. Happy art thou, O Israel;

is no Saviour: ver. 11.

a people saved by the Lord," (Deut. xxxiii. 29.) -but not by the Messiah.

* THE SON OF MAN.-Ezekiel the prophet is called by this name, and was called so by God. Jesus also called himself the Son of Man. We shall find it very difficult to settle by what name he ought to be called: for, if he is a God, he is no man; and, if he is a man, he is no God. Jesus himself never thought of such a thing; therefore he called himself the Son of Man: but, had he thought that he was a God, he would have called himself the Son of a woman; and that would have proved that no man could have been his father. But, if any man will contend that he was both God and man, it cannot be true for we have the following text; "And there is none other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh." Dan. ii. 11. "The heaven, even the heavens are the Lord's: but the earth hath he given to the children of men." Psalm cxv. 16. I think these proofs are sufficient to shew that he who partakes of flesh and blood, and eats and drinks, can be no God.

* FORGIVENESS OF SIN.-The Messiah can forgive no sin, but God whose dwelling is not with men, he only can forgive sin. "For there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared," and no other. Psalm cxxx. 4. Observe the term, "that thou mayest be feared," and no other; and therefore no flesh can forgive sin. Nay, even the Messiah must pray to God: and, inasmuch as the Messiah was to be born of a woman, he would consequently partake of flesh and blood, and the

nature of his person be formed only like that of another man.

*WHEN IS THE MESSIAH TO COME?-According to the belief of Christians, the Messiah is already come but for this great point I wish to see scripture proof; and where is the proof? Will you bring forward the prophet Daniel? this is what you rely upon, and you have nothing else upon which you can rely. I shall quote the passage to shew it affords no argument in support of Christianity. "And after threescore and two weeks shall the Messiah be cut off, but not for himself; and the people of the prince that shall come, shall destroy the city and the sanctuary: and the end thereof shall be with a flood; and to the end of the war desolations are determined." Dan. ix. 26. From this verse, and the 25th, it is an easy matter to prove that the Messiah was to be cut off after sixty-nine weeks; that is in the last week, or properly in the last seven years, before the temple was destroyed. But we find that Jesus was cut off more than six weeks, i. e. about thirty-seven years, before the temple was destroyed; and therefore he could not be the Messiah, but it must mean some other person.

Let us consider for a moment, that the captivity of Babylon was declared by the mouth of the prophet Jeremiah long before the people went into captivity: he said, There you shall be seventy years and no longer; and so it came to pass. But of how much consequence is the coming of the Messiah. If the seventy weeks are the only passage in the whole of the Old Testament, that