The Rabbi's Exposition, And The Author's Remarks. Chapter XII.
In the remaining chapters, I shall merely point out those parts in which the construction of the original is, or may be, different from that of the English version, as there seems no occasion to notice those passages where they both agree.
Verse 2. Behold I will make Jerusalem a cup of confusion unto all the people round about, and also upon Judah, who will be in the siege against Jerusalem.
By this it appears that Judah, namely, those who will be without the city, will likewise be greatly confused at their being compelled by the other nations to take part in the siege, and fight against their brethren.
[pg 154]Verse 10. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications; and they shall look unto me (concerning) whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, &c.
The change of person clearly proves, that it is not he who was pierced, to whom they will look; but it must be considered as if it were והביטו על אשר דקרו (or ורקד רשא לע וטיבהו), or אלי על את אשר דקרו (or ורקד רשא תא לע ילא) particles are well known to be frequently omitted or exchanged. This may either allude to those who had been formerly slain for their bold admonitions and warnings; or to those who will hereafter be slain in battle.
They who apply this to the Christian Messiah, have another difficulty to solve, besides the one above mentioned, and that is, to explain how a death is to be lamented, which, as they believe, was indispensable to the salvation of so many myriads of souls. And further, it may be asked, if it was the especial will of God that this should be so accomplished, how could the perpetrators of his death avoid it? And, lastly, what cause had the house of David, comprising the Messiah himself, to supplicate for mercy on account of [pg 155] his death, in which they, being his own family, had surely no share?
Ver. 8. ובית דויד לאלהים (or םיהלאל דיוד תיבו) cannot mean, and the house of David shall be as God, but only as a powerful being, as the Angel of the Lord before them. The witch of Endor, who saw אלהים (or םיהלא) ascending out of the earth, surely did not mean to say that it was God. And in many other passages we find אלהים (or םיהלא) applied to mortals as well as to God.
In answer to the difficulties proposed by the Jew, the Christian may say, that he does not mourn the death of Christ, but the sins that required such a sacrifice; and as to the free agency of those who crucified him, he will say, that God's seeing fit sometimes to employ the wicked in accomplishing his purposes, does not imply that he first makes them wicked for the purpose. When was there ever a time, that none could be found in Israel who were ready to slay the prophets? And as to the difficulty in the text of verse 10, it is one of the Jews' own creating, as the [pg 156] Christian finds none in receiving it as it stands without even the proposed alteration, an alteration admitted, but not proposed by him. The only remaining objection, which regards the house of David, has been anticipated and answered in the interpretation of verse 7.
Zechariah On The Messiah's Kingdom. Interpretation: Chapter XIII.
The progress of the Messiah's kingdom being regarded as that of Christianity, the next important step after the abolition of Judaism, was that of Paganism, which is evidently the subject of the chapter now before us; but along with this is coupled in the prophetic view another event, no less important, which arose out of, and accompanied the nominal conversion of the Gentile nations. This was the corruption of Christianity by the Pagan converts. For instead of relinquishing their former prejudices and [pg 158] superstitions, they retained, and brought most of them into the bosom of the church; and thereby in a short time totally changed the character of the religion which they professed to embrace.
It is true that this is a point of church history not always very distinctly stated by ecclesiastical historians; who seem more inclined to represent the conversion of Constantine, and the events of the fourth century, as every way favourable to the Christian cause. But the truth is, that precisely in proportion to the church's advancement in worldly prosperity and power, were its spiritual decline and degradation; in so much that the best historians admit, that from this period are its degeneracy and corruptions most indubitably to be dated. So different is the light under which the same event appears, according as it is viewed with regard to its spiritual or its political import. Which of the two best accords with the spirit of this prophecy, the reader will be at no loss to decide, when he sees that no prosperity is here spoken of, but on the contrary, that the cutting off two-thirds of the inhabitants of the [pg 159] land, or their spiritual death, is the event which is coupled in the prophecy with the admission of the Pagans into the church of Christ. And such was truly the result that followed to the many; namely, the loss of the true spirit of Christianity.
But if the abolition of Paganism be the subject of this chapter, it may be asked, how comes the purification of Israel to be announced in the opening of it? The answer is plain. Adopted Israel may be here understood. To lineal Israel indeed was the prophecy given; and with Israel, idolatry was, and ever had been, the besetting sin; most nearly therefore were the Jews also concerned in its abolition.
Viewed, however, in the more enlarged sense, idolatry comprises the indulgence of every evil propensity; for Paganism, by appointing a presiding Deity over each, had sanctioned the unrestrained gratification of every passion, in making it an act of devotion. Christianity, on the contrary, enjoins the restraint and control of our passions, and thus becomes the natural antidote to the poison of Heathenism: or the fountain of purification [pg 160] from the sin and pollution of idolatry, as the opening of this chapter declares.
In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.
That day, as formerly explained, is to every one the day of his conversion to Christianity. The house of David, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, here, as in the last chapter, symbolically represent the later converts to Christianity; as the house of Judah, which was first saved, signify the earlier Christians. The nature of the sin and pollution to be thus washed away, is next declared to be idolatry, and its abolition is foretold.
And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall be no more remembered; and also I will cause the prophets, and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.
It may be worthy of remark, that the names only of the idols, and not the spirit of idolatry, is here declared to be cut off; and from the land, which in prophetic language, commonly means the land of Israel, here, adopted [pg 161] Israel, or Christendom. Now, this nominal abolition took place in the fourth century, from which time both Jews and Gentiles have been prohibited from the open worship of idols. But we have now reached the nineteenth century without seeing the spirit of idolatry really extinct; if then the total abolition, which is yet to come, be here intimated, it must be symbolically foreshewn by the nominal abolition which then took place. That day, in regard to the inward and spiritual purification, is to be taken as the day of his regeneration to each individual, not as the same day to all collectively; but regarding the outward and ostensible abolition, this occurred when the pains and penalties of the Theodosian code prohibited the open practice of Pagan rites. The prophetic view may, however, include both.
And it shall come to pass in that day, when any shall get prophesy, that his father and his mother that begat him shall say, Thou shalt not live, for thou speakest lies in the name of the Lord: and his father and his mother that begat him, shall thrust him through when he prophesieth.
To prophesy, or foretel future events, was [pg 162] the main purport of Pagan rites; no undertaking of any moment being entered upon until the priests and oracles had been previously consulted. This, in a superstitious age, formed a lucrative profession for the soothsayers and diviners, and was successfully practised, till the darkness of Heathenism was dispelled by the light of Christianity, as foretold in the next verse.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed, every one of his vision when he prophesieth; neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive.
The Pagan, as well as the Jewish prophets, appear to have worn a distinct dress; but after Paganism was abolished, those who practised its rites in secret, of course denied and sought to conceal it.
But he shall say, I am no prophet but a labourer; for a husbandman bought me from my youth.
Slaves and bondmen frequently received a mark in their hands, to shew the master to whom they belonged; and persons attached to the Heathen temples were sometimes marked in a similar manner; the worshippers [pg 163] of Bacchus, for instance, were distinguished by the mark of an ivy leaf. (See Lowth in loco.) This explains the following verse.
And one shall say unto him, What are these marks in thine hands? Then shall he answer, Those with which I was marked in the house of my friends.
Thus seeking to avoid the suspicion attached to the marks of Paganism, under the pretext of their being the indication of bondage or servitude. But this evasion denotes that the abolition of Paganism was ostensible only, as it was still practised in secret. In reality the advancement of Christianity to the imperial throne, instead of promoting the sincere conversion of the Pagans, only served to complete what had already begun, namely, the corruption of the Christians; whose character and conduct soon totally changed, after the road to the acquisition of wealth and power was opened to them. In the contests for the attainment of these, which soon arose, (witness the Donatist faction,) the majority of Christians in a short time lost sight of the spirit of their religion; while the rancour and [pg 164] cruelty with which different sects persecuted each other, sprang from the same source, or their rivalship in the struggle for worldly power, as Mosheim declares. Such was the spiritual sword which undermined Christianity, and destroyed the life which is in Christ; as next foretold.
Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is next unto me, saith the Lord of hosts. Smite the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered; and I will turn mine hand against the little ones.
The sword is the symbol of strife and discord, warring against and destroying spiritual life, or the life in Christ; for he is the shepherd who is smitten by the sword, the person of Christ being here figuratively put for his doctrine or religion; the corruption of which is thus foreshewn by the dispersion and slaughter of his flock. The little ones signify the new converts, who are yet weak in their faith and principles; and thence more liable to be misled.
And it shall come to pass that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts shall be cut off, and die; but the third part shall be left therein.
[pg 165]The history of the fourth century, here prophetically foreshewn, amply testifies, that only the smaller number of Christians, amidst the general corruption, resisted the allurements of avarice and ambition, and retained their purity; these having imbibed the true spirit of Christ's religion, as next declared.
And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people; and they shall say, The Lord is my God.
It seems scarcely possible to give a more unequivocal intimation of the spiritual import of the whole, as not alluding to political events, but as regarding the progress of true religion, than is contained in those expressions of the last verse, which declare, that the supplications of the smaller number will be offered up in a manner acceptable to God, who will hear and answer them. The particular period alluded to, is distinctly marked by the nominal abolition of idolatry, and the general corruption of Christianity. The only difficulty, however, if there be any, regards the chronological order of the events; as the [pg 166] prophecy seems to foretel the entire abolition of Paganism, which has certainly not yet taken place; but this difficulty will be in a great measure removed, by supposing the prophetic view to look forward from the partial to the total, from the nominal to the real extinction of idolatry.
With respect to the division of the flock into two parts, it must not be supposed that any distinction of sects is here alluded to, for no one could, more than another, claim the character of purity and holiness. True Christianity must be sought for in the heart, and not in the outward form of worship, or profession of faith.
Notes To Chapter XIII.
Verse 5. :כי אדם הקנני מנעורי
For a man taught me to keep cattle from my youth.
Parkhurst, in his Lexicon, remarks upon this passage, as being strangely translated in our version; while Dr. Blayney agrees with him in the translation. For a man bought me, (or obtained possession of me,) from my youth. The Jew, while he acquiesces in the sense of הקנני (or יננקה) signifying to appropriate, contends that אדם (or םדא) does not mean merely a man, but a husbandman, or labourer, and renders it, For a husbandman I was appropriated from my youth. But neither the sense nor the grammatical construction thus appearing clear to my apprehension, as the verb is not in the first, but the third person with the suffix י me, after it; I propose to reconcile both by rendering the passage thus: For a husbandman bought or appropriated me from my youth. But in fact the difference is immaterial, as the sense, in whatever way expressed, is, For I was a farmer's servant, and a bondsman from my youth.
[pg 168]Verse 6. :ואמר אלין מה המכות האלה בין ידיך
What are these wounds in thine hands? &c.
Both Lowth and Blayney agree in regarding these words as an allusion to the custom of the idolatrous priests and prophets, of marking themselves in the hands. Their being challenged as the marks of Paganism, is a sufficient proof of their being so, and I have rendered it accordingly, marks instead of wounds. For if, as Blayney states, they were made by cutting and slashing themselves, still the marks, and not the wounds, would remain when healed.
Verse 7. :חרב עורי על רעי ועל גבר עמיתי
Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, &c.
In supposing these words to have had no direct reference to the death of Christ in their original intention, notwithstanding their appearing from St. John's Gospel to have been used by him, in forewarning his disciples of what was about to befal him, I offer no new opinion, for Dr. Blayney declares himself fully persuaded that they had not; and what gives weight to this opinion is, that it must have been founded on other grounds than those which have led me to that conclusion. For as Dr. Blayney had not embraced the spiritual view in expounding the prophecy, he could not be led to this inference by the same train of reasoning as myself. The words, גבר עמיתי (or יתימע רבג) he renders, “The man that is next to me,” which is certainly much nearer to the sense of the original than, The man that is my fellow.
[pg 169]Two parts shall be cut of, and die.
An awful annunciation! foretelling the spiritual death of two-thirds of the nominal Christian world. The corresponding passages in the Apocalypse predict the same event, and one of them in still stronger terms, for it is said, that “Every living soul in the sea died.” Literally, this passage cannot be taken, for literally there are no living souls in the sea. The sea means the Gentile nations, or Europe. The life is life in Christ. The loss of that life, or spiritual death is the loss of true Christianity: here extending over the whole sea, or comprising all the Gentile converts; and the period of this death is yet scarcely elapsed, beginning with the dark ages, and continuing to the millenium. What! is Europe then still, or has it so lately been in a state of spiritual death or perdition? Such is the language of prophecy, and its meaning cannot be explained away or evaded. “Every living soul in the sea dies.” The life in Christ is extinct. True Christianity no longer remains. Will none then be saved? This the prophecy no where says. The Gospel teaches that many may be saved who never heard of Christ. Are all Mahommedans, and they execrate the name of Christian, doomed to perish? No Christian will surely maintain this, and still less that all misguided Christians are doomed to perdition. But still the life in Christ is lost. True Christianity no longer prevails. If then, without it, men may be saved, where, it may be asked, is the use of it? I answer, in every way, and every where it is useful. Did true Christianity prevail, the myriads might be saved; the few only would perish. Without it the few only can be saved, the many are left to perish. By Christianity, all are taught to live for [pg 170] the next world; without it, the many will live for this; few are those that will think of another. Christianity not only diffuses peace and happiness on earth, but fits every man for enjoying eternal happiness hereafter. Such is the saving virtue of Christ's religion, in affording to all the means of attaining to eternal life and eternal happiness. But to return to the age in which we live, or from which we are just emerging. This period is peculiarly the age of infidelity—all Europe bears testimony to the fact. But are they who profess belief, really Christians? Look to conduct, and not profession for the proof. Is this world, or the next, the object of pursuit? If conscience whisper, that we who believe, lack the true spirit; how can we expect it in those who disbelieve? Where then in true Christianity?
As this chapter, according to the Rabbi's view, remains unfulfilled, so he offers no particular exposition of it, but limits his remarks to a few emendations of the received translation. Of these the only one any way material to the present discussion is that on verse 5, which has been already stated in the note on that verse.
Zechariah On The Messiah's Kingdom. Interpretation: Chapter XIV.
The corruption of Christianity, as foretold in the last chapter, is allowed to have been the means that prepared the way for those events which are announced at the opening of the present one. The ambition of the clergy, and the state of ignorance in which they purposely kept their flocks, had completely succeeded, before the end of the sixth century, in subjugating the minds of the people, and in establishing the supremacy of the priesthood in the west of Christendom, while the last of these causes served to facilitate in the [pg 172] east the success of the Mahomedan imposture, which, as well as Papacy, was an offspring of the spurious form of religion then prevailing under the name of Christianity.
These two usurpations under the mask of religion, divided, at the beginning of the seventh century, what had once been the Christian world, between them; one occupying the western half of it, and the other the eastern, according to our mode of expression; but as regards Palestine, where the Prophet wrote, this division is more accurately represented, as expressed in the Prophecy, by northern and southern; the northern half engrossed by the Greek and Latin churches, which being essentially of the same nature, are here taken as one; while Mahomedism usurped the place of Christianity in the countries lying for the most part south of Palestine, as Arabia, Egypt, India, Persia, and others. (See note on this.)
Such are the occurrences foreshewn in the opening of the present chapter; which now does, if it did not previously, declare the capture and pillage of the holy city, or the loss of the spiritual Jerusalem, true religion; [pg 173] this being followed by a portent awfully expressive of the events which succeeded this loss, namely, the cleaving asunder of Mount Olivet; (a symbol for nominal Christianity, Mount Zion signifying true Christianity, Mount Sinai Judaism;) one part of which moves northward, and the other southward, leaving a deep valley between them for the escape of those who are not involved in this spiritual captivity or destruction.
After this follows the intimation of a period of spiritual obscurity, which is declared to be neither day nor night, neither clear day-light, nor utter darkness; but on the evening of that day, light is said to dawn again, and living waters once more to flow out of Jerusalem. At length this is to be succeeded by the restoration of Israel, and the universal establishment of true religion in the new Jerusalem.
While the loss of true religion is clearly foreshewn in the capture of the spiritual Jerusalem, with which this chapter commences; and while the rise of Papacy and Mahomedism is foretold in the cleaving of Mount Olivet; the Christian will readily perceive, in [pg 174] the day of obscurity that follows, the dark ages shadowed forth; and in the dawn of light that breaks forth at the evening time, he will see intimation of the restoration of true religion at the reformation, when living waters again begin to flow out of Jerusalem.
The conclusion of this chapter, and of the Prophecy, declares the final and complete establishment of the Messiah's kingdom; that happy period for which we are taught to pray in the words, “Thy kingdom come.” Concerning the nature of this kingdom, the Jew not only differs from the Christian, but Christians also differ from one another. Before I attempt to decide so difficult a question, I shall state the prevailing opinions, and what the prophets have said on the subject.
The Jews expect, at the coming of their Messiah, the establishment of their political, as well as their spiritual supremacy over all the earth. The Christians reject all idea of a political kingdom, but differ in their views of it as a spiritual one. Some understand it to signify the universal establishment of true Christianity on earth, with the full enjoyment of all the blessings which it is calculated to [pg 175] afford; others at this second advent, look for the personal appearance of Christ on earth, to reign with the saints, who will be raised from the dead, to receive the reward of virtue in his kingdom; while many regard his kingdom as signifying a future state of happiness, having no connexion whatever with the earth we now inhabit, but to be enjoyed in an eternal abode, of which they have an indefinite idea as existing somewhere above the firmament.
This last, which is perhaps the most popular notion, seems least consonant to Scripture and prophecy; which distinctly speak of a kingdom on earth, as it is understood by the Jews; though not necessarily, as they suppose, a political one. As this is the chief point on which I am at issue with my opponent, I shall presently state the manner in which this city, the New Jerusalem, is spoken of by Isaiah and St. John. But previously I think it right to notice a fallacy in what I take to be the ground on which the popular notion of this kingdom rests; namely, because St. John in the Revelations gives intimation of a resurrection preceding, or accompanying [pg 176] its establishment. Now, we have, as I conceive, no just ground for assuming, in a vision, every other part of which is figurative, that this part alone is to be understood literally. Why, I should ask, may not this resurrection, like the rest, be also symbolical, or signify regeneration to newness of life? which our Saviour expressed by being born again; that is, a total change in our nature and habits, such as was produced in his apostles and disciples by the gift of the Holy Spirit. But even admitting the literal resurrection to be here intimated, (and no Christian can doubt the reality of a resurrection,) yet this would not be at all incompatible with a future existence on earth, a light in which it is viewed by many: we shall therefore inquire what the Prophets have said that may throw light on the nature of this kingdom on earth.
Both Isaiah and St. John, in speaking of the New Jerusalem, use the two-fold metaphor of a City and a Woman. In Isaiah liv. 11, et seq. this city is represented as having foundations of sapphire, windows of agate, and gates of carbuncle; and St. John, Rev. xxi. 16, describes it as built entirely of precious [pg 177] stones, having twelve gates, each of one solid pearl, and its streets paved with gold; being, moreover, equal in all its dimensions, that is, as broad as it is long, and as high as it is wide, to wit, twelve thousand furlongs, or fifteen hundred miles. This is surely very unlike a literal city; but this City shortly becomes a Woman, in St. John, and is styled “The Lamb's Bride;” while Isaiah, using the same change of metaphor, says, “For thy Maker is thy husband.”
If we now look to the context in Isaiah, for the purport of this figurative language, we shall find that he says, chapter liv. 14, “In righteousness shalt thou be established;” and again, chapter lx. 19, “But thou shalt call thy walls salvation, and thy gates praise;” and from chap. lxi. it appears throughout, that this description is intended to portray the perfection of righteousness, the beauty of holiness, and the riches of grace; these being, as declared, the ornaments destined to adorn the Bride. It is with a robe of righteousness, and a garment of salvation, that she will adorn herself, as Isaiah expresses it, chap. lxi. 10.; while St. John abounds in similar expressions; thus [pg 178] in Rev. xix. 9, speaking of the Bride's apparel, he says, “For the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints;” and of the City, which nothing impure is permitted to enter, he says, chap. xxi. 23-27, “For the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb was the light thereof.” Thus both, under this highly figurative description, appear to signify no literal city, or political state, but one which is altogether spiritual; that is, the utmost possible degree of purity and holiness, which will constitute this heaven upon earth; the New Jerusalem.
This chapter opens with the denunciation of divine wrath about to fall upon mankind on account of the corrupt state of religion. The expression used to foretel this, belongs more peculiarly to the day of judgment, called the day of the Lord; but is often employed in prophetically foreshewing particular judgments on the world, as here:
Behold the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished, and half of [pg 179] the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
The loss of the holy city, and the spiritual captivity of half its inhabitants, which is the bondage of sin, is the particular calamity here foretold; and this is followed by the punishment of those who were the authors of this evil, the enemies of true religion, who war against Jerusalem.
Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
The nations must signify here, as elsewhere, the Gentiles, or Pagans, whose spiritual hostility against true religion was shewn, as before stated, by their corrupting and paganising Christianity; while the judgment denounced against them consists in God's permitting the rise of the two great Antichristian usurpations, Papacy and Mahomedism. One, the man of sin, spoken of by St. Paul, (1 Tim. iv. 1, and 2 Thess. ii. 3,) a spiritual tyranny, enslaving the minds of men; and the other, the abomination of desolation, mentioned by Daniel, chap. viii. verses 10-12, and, as he expressly foretold, permitted by [pg 180] reason of transgression, or as a judgment on the world, its avowed object being the propagation of religion by the sword. The division of the corrupt form of religion then prevailing, into these two Antichristian apostacies, is thus foreshewn.
And his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem upon the East, and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the East, and toward the West, and there shall be a great valley, and half of the mountain shall move toward the North, and half of it toward the South.
A mountain, meaning a place of eminence or power, in spiritual language signifies religion; Mount Sinai, from which the Mosaic law was delivered, means Judaism, and is contrasted in the Epistle to the Hebrews, chap. xii. 18-22, with Christianity, which is there called Mount Zion, and the heavenly Jerusalem. The Mount of Olives is neither of these, but here symbolical of nominal Christianity, destined to be split asunder; leaving, however, a valley between the two parts for the escape of those not involved in this spiritual destruction; from which may be inferred, that true [pg 181] Christianity would not become utterly extinct.
And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee like as ye fled in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah, and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
The true Christian is thus admonished to fly, or avoid the prevailing apostacies; while divine favour and protection are promised to those who shun the general corruption. From the establishment of these two Antichristian dominations, a long day of spiritual darkness is declared to follow; which was accomplished in the reign of ignorance and superstition, during the period expressively denominated the dark ages. With God a thousand years are but as a day.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear nor dark;
But it shall be one day, which shall be known to the Lord, not day nor night, but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.
In the return of light at the evening time of that long day of obscurity, we see intimation of the revival of true religion at the reformation; [pg 182] which is still more clearly expressed as follows.
And it shall be in that day that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem, half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea; in summer and in winter it shall be.
The former and the hinder sea, or as Dr. Blayney proposes to render it, the Eastern and the Western Sea, may literally signify the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean; but figuratively the Eastern and Western Gentiles, who will receive the benefit of the spiritual waters. The expression, in summer and in winter it shall be, signifies literally, that they shall neither be dried up by the summer's heat, nor congealed by the cold of winter; but figuratively must mean, that the purity of religion shall not again be corrupted by the heat of fanaticism on the one hand, nor frozen by the cold of infidelity on the other. The universal prevalence of true religion is then declared. (See note.)
And the Lord shall be king over all the earth; in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.
The fulfilment of what now remains of the [pg 183] prophecy appears to be still future, and consequently it does not fall within the limits of our plan to attempt the particular exposition of each part of it; but sufficient, it is hoped, will be found in what is already accomplished, to convince the Christian reader of the general purport of the whole; and to warrant the statement made at the outset, that these six chapters are not, as former commentators have supposed them to be, a collection of unconnected predictions relating to different subjects, but one continued and uninterrupted prophecy, presenting a view of the progress of our religion, from its promulgation to its final establishment in purity and perfection.
That the evidence of this will be sufficient to convince the Jew, I am far from expecting, being well aware of the many objections he has still to urge against our exposition of prophecy, after those which are here presented, may have been removed. But it may possibly have some weight with him, when he finds upon examination, the same view of the subject offered by Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and others; which the Christian will find more circumstantially displayed in the Revelation [pg 184] of St. John. In fact, my exposition of the Apocalypse, has furnished me with the clue to guide me through all the prophecies, that relate to the progress of the Messiah's kingdom; for I find that each succeeding prophet has helped to fill up the outline given by his predecessors; while the picture is finally completed by St. John, the last of them all. But as a portrait is most easily recognised when the likeness is complete; so the prophecy last uttered, being most perfect, is most easily interpreted, and naturally becomes the key to all the others; that is, the last delivered ought to be the first expounded, which is the order I have pursued.
As I have made no change in the translation of this chapter, few explanatory notes are required; and the Rabbi's reply to this, as to the one preceding, may be comprised in this single objection; that no part has yet been literally fulfilled, such being the only fulfilment which he looks for or admits.
The impossibility of a more literal fulfilment has been shewn in many places, but especially at the beginning of chapter x.; and until the Jew answers this, I must consider, [pg 185] what to me appears to be the main pillar of his argument, as fairly overthrown. And the grand question, whether Christ be the Messiah, resting upon this, namely, whether his kingdom be a spiritual or a temporal one, must be decided, as regards the present argument, by shewing whether the prophecies relating to it have regard to spiritual or temporal affairs.
Many who object to the spiritual view, misconceive what is meant by the spiritual exposition; and consider it as setting aside altogether the historical fulfilment of prophecy; whereas the question is simply between religion and politics, between church and state; in short, whether the spiritual or temporal history of the world should be looked to, for the fulfilment of those prophecies which foretel the progress of Christianity, or the Messiah's kingdom. By directing their view to temporal affairs, the ablest expositors have hitherto discovered only an occasional allusion to Christianity in a few verses of particular chapters, and in others no allusion to it whatever; whereas, by adhering closely to the spiritual view, and understanding the prophecy [pg 186] as foretelling the progress of true religion; the battles and conflicts foretold, representing the opposition which it has experienced, and the corruptions which it has undergone from the evil passions and worldly propensities of man; we have been enabled to shew the historical fulfilment of the whole; not selecting, as others have done, particular passages, but shewing that every chapter and every verse relates to the same subject, and this subject, the progress of Christianity.
Notes To Chapter XIV.
Ver. 4. Half of the mountain shall move toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
Although this passage is left in the text as it originally stood, yet the writer acknowledges a manifest inadvertency in supposing the division here spoken of into northern and southern to have reference to the position of the prophet, any more than to that of the reader; with neither of which it has any connection. It has been objected by a judicious friend of the author, that Mahommedism has prevailed, and still does prevail in countries lying north of Judea, where the prophet wrote. The objection is perfectly just, not was it unperceived by the writer, though he did not at first see how to remove it, simple as is the solution of the difficulty, and striking as then appears the fulfilment of the prophecy.
The solution is—that this division of the nominal Christian world here foretold, into two grand apostacies, Anti-christianism and Mahommedism, which were destined to occupy a position [pg 188] northward and southward, had no relation to the prophet, but simply to each other—that is, they were to be north and south of each other.—Now let a line be drawn, such as might be expected from the fracture of a mountain by an earthquake, extending from the west of Europe to the east of Asia, over a surface of not less than 180 degrees of longitude, and no where deviating more than 10 degrees of latitude, and we shall find the Greek and Latin churches occupying the whole portion lying to the north, while Mahommedism engrosses all to the south. And we shall find those parts only of Europe cut off which were pre-ordained to fall under the Moslem yoke, as Spain, Sicily, Corsica, and Sardinia, Calabria, Greece, and Turkey in Europe; while Russia forms the boundary line from all the Mahommedan nations lying to the south of it. This line will be comprised between 40 and 50 deg. of nor. lat. Thus singularly have the words of the prophecy been accomplished. And thus strikingly is the will of Heaven, in the pre-ordination and disposal of human events, made manifest to the mind of man.
Ver. 8. In summer and in winter it shall be.
Can such a state of the world, it may be asked, which shall be exempt from fanaticism on the one hand, and from infidelity on the other, be brought about without some miraculous interposition to alter the nature and constitution of the human mind? And does it comport with the usual ordinances of Providence, who seems to effect his purposes by natural means, to deviate in this instance, from the ordinary course of nature? It certainly does not appear so; and it would, no doubt, be more satisfactory, and be more likely to obtain belief, if natural [pg 189] means could be pointed out, adequate to produce this marvellous change in the state of the world, without calling for the necessity of miraculous interposition. Let us see then—the most fertile source of infidelity will be found in the mysteries and dogmata invented by priestcraft, which reason revolts at and rejects. Are, these then, essential to true Christianity? is the question. If not—and Christ ever appealed to the reason of his hearers, advancing nothing that reason could gainsay—then true Christianity requires only to be taught, and Infidelity will have no ground left to stand upon. With regard to fanaticism, there can be no doubt that false ideas of religion engender this extreme; ignorance, encouraging the hopes of a sensual paradise on the one hand; and fear, inspiring the dread of eternal torments on the other, as in the Mahommedan and Romish churches, have been most fruitful in producing this extravagance. With just ideas of religion and the Divine beneficence, such feelings are incompatible. A religion of love, and such is Christianity when justly appreciated, can never lead to fanaticism. We may love God with all our heart, with all our mind, with all our soul, and with all our strength, and it can never disturb our reason, or lead to any but the happiest and most rational frame of mind.
Thus, the dissemination of true Christianity, the just appreciation of its precepts and their faithful practice, appears to furnish a remedy adequate to the removal of both these evils, without requiring the aid of any miraculous interposition to effect this purpose.