BS
1198
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THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
REMARKS
UPON
DAVID LEFT'S
Btssertattons on rt)e
RELATIVE TO *#/'
THE MESSIAH?/
AND UPON
THE EVIDENCES
OF THE DIVINE CHARACTER OF JESUS CHRIST:
Addressed to the Consideration of
BY JN INQUIRER,
Author of " Letters on the Evidences of Christianity ;" and various Papers which haw*
appeared in the Christian Observer, signed " TAL1B.' 1
Genesis xxvii. 29.
rap
DJtt
Numbers xxiii.
<?echariah ii. 10.
PRINTED FOR THE LOXDOX SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIANITY
AMONG THE JEWS.
LOXDOX :
Printed and Sold by
BLACK, PARRY, AND KINGSBURY, LEADENHALL-STREET
Sold also by
MFSSRS. RIVINGTONS, ST. 1'AUL's CHURCH YARD; HATCHADD,
IMCCADII.T.Y ; CONDER, BUCKLER S BV R Y ; AND
OGLE, GLASGOW.
1810.
PREFACE.
THE following Remarks owe their origin
to a letter which appeared in the Christian
Observer for May last, under the signature
' PERSEVERANS,' wherein the writer ex-
horts those Christians who feel an interest
in the spiritual welfare of the ancient
people of God, to endeavour to contri-
bute thereto by appeals addressed to them
from the press. And he particularly calls
the attention of those who have leisure
and talents, to the necessity of answering
1 DAVID LEVI'S DISSERTATIONS ON
f THE PROPHECIES RELATING TO THE
' MESSIAH.'
To these Dissertations the writer of the
following pages was, till then, a stranger ;
as he still is to the other works of the
VI PREFACE.
learned Jew. And what is now offered to
the consideration of the Jews, is not under
the name of a complete answer to every
part of Levi's work, for which the author
neither possesses sufficient erudition, nor
can command enough of leisure; but,
believing, with a conviction founded upon
serious investigation, that JESUS is the
promised Messiah, he has endeavoured,
according to the precept of the apostle,
to ^ive a reason of the hope that is in
him, against the chief objections of David
Levi. The following remarks have been
written in the midst of various and press-
ing avocations and interruptions, and are,
upon this account, even more imperfect
than they might have been otherwise.
From an attentive study of the Prophe-
cies of the Old and New Testaments, the
author has long since attained to a convic-
tion, that the awful events of the times in
PREFACE. Vil
which we live, are rapidly paving the way
for the restoration of Israel. . He believes
that their conversion and restoration are
very near at hand ; and that, with the
blessing of God, no efforts made for di-
recting their attention to JESUS, as the
promised Messiah, shall be altogether
fruitless.
It seems also probable, from the pro-
phetical writings, that no great or general
revival of religion will take place in the
Christian Church, till the conversion of
Israel ; for it is implied in the expression
made use of by St. Paul in Rom. xi. 15,
that when Israel is received into the
Church of Christ, by the conversion of
the whole nation, the Church shall be in
a dead and lifeless state, but this event
shall be the occasion of its emerging from
a state of death to a state of life. Upon
every account, therefore, the conversion
Vlll PREFACE.
of Israel is that great event, for which
every Christian ought most devoutly to
pray. The writer requests, therefore, the
fervent prayers of those who are waiting
for the consolation of Israel, that the fol-
lowing pages may not be without some
fruit to the glory of the adorable Re-
deemer, who purchased his Church with
his own most precious blood.*
November 19, 1809.
* The Society are requested by the author of these Re-
marks, (who resides 400 miles from London,) to state,
that when they were written, he did not know that David
Levi was no longer in life. This circumstance will account
for the fact of some passages being obviously written under
the contrary supposition.
CONTENTS.
CHAP. I.
Page
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. THE FUNDA-
MENTAL PRINCIPLE OF DAVID LEVl's
DISSERTATIONS ASCERTAINED. SHOWN
TO BE FOUNDED ON A PETITIO PRIN-
CIPII, OR TAKING FOR GRANTED THE
QUESTION AT ISSUE . . . . 1 tO Q
CHAP. II.
DAVID LEVl's FIRST PRINCIPLE CONTRARY
TO THE ANALOGY OF THE DIVINE
GOVERNMENT ... . 10 . 44
CHAP. III.
THE FIRST PRINCIPLE OF DAVID LEVl's
WORK ON THE PROPHECIES, SHOWN
TO BE CONTRARY TO THE DOCTRINES
OF THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES, RESPECT-
ING THE KINGDOM OF THE MESSIAH . 45 . 71
CONTENTS.
CHAP. IV.
Page
THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES TESTIFY THAT
THE MESSIAH WAS TO SUFFER; AND
THE PROPHECIES OF A SUFFERING
MESSIAH WERE ALL ACCOMPLISHED IN
THE LIFE, SUFFERINGS, AND DEATH
OF JESUS 72 tO 108
CHAP. V.
THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED . . 109 . 119
CHAP. VI.
ARGUMENT THAT JESUS IS THE MESSIAH,
FROM THE PRESENT STATE OF THE
JEWS AND OF THE CHRISTIAN GEN-
TILES 120 . 15$
CHAP. VII.
HARMONY OF THE JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN
SCRIPTURES BRIEFLY CONSIDERED,
AND ARGUMENT THENCE DEDUCED,
THAT JESUS IS THE MESSIAH . . 159 17
CONTENTS. XI
CHAP. VIII.
Page
MISCELLANEOUS AND CONCLUDING OBSER-
VATIONS . 179 tO 190
ADVERTISEMENT.
JL HE small Work now offered to the Public, has been
printed from the first rough manuscript of the Author,
which want of leisure prevented him from transcribing
fair. When he sent it to the Society for promoting
Christianity among the Jews, he expected, that, if it were
thought worthy of publication, he would have an oppor-
tunity of again seeing and retouching it, before it was
printed. But circumstances have occurred to prevent this.
The Author hopes that this simple statement will lead the
Header to overlook any inaccuracies of style, or impro-
prieties of expression, which may be discerned in it.
The Author is under the greatest obligations to the Gen-
tleman zvho has taken the trouble to correct the press ; but,
under circumstances so disadvantageous, it can scarcely be
expected that there should not be a considerable list of
errata; and it is probable that some have yet escaped the
attention of the Author. The Author takes the liberty of
requesting the Reader to correct the errata before he begins
to peruse the work.
March 13, 1810.
A LIST OF PUBLICATIONS
BY THE
LONDON SOCIETY,
SOLD BY
MESSRS. BLACK, PARRY, AND KINGSBURY,
LEADENHALL STREET.
LETTER to the ENGLISH ISRAELITE, by PERSEVERANS.
OBLIGATIONS of CHRISTIANS to ATTEMPT the CONVERSION
of the JEWS, by a PRESBYTER of the CHURCH of ENGLAND.
FIVE MINUTES' CONSIDERATION recommended to Mr. TOBIAS
GOODMAN, by the SAME.
JESUS the TRUE MESSIAH, a Sermon, by the Rev. ANDREW FULLER.
PROOFS from the ANCIENT PROPHECIES that the MESSIAH
must have come ; and that JESUS of NAZARETH is the MES-
SIAH; seriously addressed to the Attention of the Jewish Ration. By
a CLERGYMAN of the CHURCH of ENGLAND.
THE SAME, translated into the Hebrew Language.
REMARKS
UPON
DAVID LEFTS
EXssertattons; on fte prophecies.
CHAP I.
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCI-
PLE OF DAVID LEVI'S DISSERTATIONS ASCERTAINED.
SHOWN TO BE FOUNDED ON A PETITIO PRINCIPII, OR
TAKING FOR GRANTED THE QUESTION AT ISSUE.
JN o candid Jew will deny that the controversy
between the Jews and Christians is of the utmost
importance. It involves in it the questions-
Whether the Messiah, so long looked for by the
Jewish nation, be not already come ? Whether
Jesus was not this Messiah ? and, Whether the
Jews, by continuing to deny Him, be not guilty
every day of crucifying the Son of God afresh.
B
REMARKS UPON
inasmuch as they still confess and justify the
deed of their fathers ?
I lately saw it mentioned in a periodical pub-
lication, that the Jewish writer, David Levi,
had, in his controversy with Dr. Priestley, pro-
posed, as the fairest method of deciding the
momentous question, an examination of all the
prophecies concerning the Messiah, from Moses
to Malachi, and a comparison thereof with the
acts recorded of Jesus in the New Testament,
to see whether they have been fulfilled in his
person or not. It was further stated, that no
Christian writer has yet undertaken to answer
Levi ; and that this is often mentioned by the
Jews in such a way as to show that they attach
much weight to the silence of their Christian
opponents.
I felt my curiosity to be aroused by this cir-
cumstance, and I immediately procured a copy
of Levi's work, as far as it seems to be yet pub-
lished, viz. his three first volumes ; and have
perused it with that attention which the import-
ance of the subject demands, and which is more
LEVI S DISSERTATIONS.
peculiarly necessary, from the challenge which
the author offers to the whole Christian world.
I cannot help auguring well from this challenge.
It shows that a spirit of inquiry has arisen among
the Jews ; and as candid and fair discussion is
always favourable to the progress of Truth, they
who believe the Christian revelation, will see
newjreasqns from it to hope that the day is near
at hand when the Redeemer shall come to Zion,
and turn away iniquity from Jacob. How ani-
mating and encouraging is the hope, that the
Day Spring from on high is at length about to
re-visit that highly-honoured people, ' who are
' Israelites, to whom is the adoption, and the
A a. n. d
4 glory, <if the covenants, and the giving of the
' law, and the service of God, and the promises ;
' whose are the fathers ; and of whom, as con-
' cerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over all,
' God blessed for ever. Amen ! '
Whatever may be the feelings of infidels and
men of the world towards the Jews, no true
Christian can harbour towards them a cold or
indifferent thought. He must regard them with
B 2
REMARKS UPON
the tenderest and warmest affection, as his elder
brethren in the church of God ; and though
now apparently cast off because of their unbelief,
yet reserved to be the channels of new commu-
nications of grace and glory to a lost world. He
will therefore hail with rapture the approach of
that day, when ' ten men shall take hold out of
1 all the languages of the nations, even shall take
4 hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying,
' We will go with you, for we have heard that
4 God is with you/ (Zech. viii. 23.) Such, O
highly-honoured and beloved children of Abra-
ham, are the sentiments and feelings of the per-
son who now takes the liberty of requesting
your candid and patient attention to the follow-
ing pages, in which he proposes to offer some
concise remarks upon the reasoning of David
Levi from prophecy, and to lay before you some
of the evidences of the divine character and
mission of Jesus.
It is of a controversial work, as of a building ;
if the foundation be weak or unsound, the super-
structure must fall. Should it therefore be made
LEVI S DISSERTATIONS.
out, that the fundamental principle of David
Levi's reasoning' against Christianity from the
Old Testament prophecies is unsupported by
the Hebrew Scriptures, as well as contrary to
the whole analogy of the divine government,
or that it is a taking for granted the very ques-
tion at issue between Jews and Christians,
then the whole superstructure which he has
raised on it must fall to the ground, and the
Jews must have recourse to other arguments,
to justify their continued rejection of Jesus, as :
the promised Messiah.
Upon an attentive perusal of David Levi's
work, it will be found that nearly his whole rea-
soning from prophecy against the divine mis-
sion of Jesus, resolves itself into the following
argument. " That since the glorious events
" which are predicted by the Old Testament
" prophets, as to take place in the times of the
" Messiah, were neither accomplished by Jesus
" during his abode upon earth, nor have been
" brought to pass during the eighteen centuries
" which have elapsed since his coming, there-
" fore Jesus could not be the promised Messiah."
Now this argument itself rests upon the follow-
ing principle, That the glory of the Messiah's
kingdom upon earth was to take place imme-
diately, or very speedily after his first appearance
in this icorld.
I propose, in refutation of this principle, to
show That it is a taking for granted the very
question at issue between the Jews and Chris-
tians That it is contrary to the whole analogy
of the Divine government of the world That it
is contrary to the express intimations of the
Hebrew Scriptures, with respect to the nature
and progress of Messiah's kingdom That it is
expressly opposed to those prophecies which
foretel a suffering Messiah. And I shall next
call the attention of the Jews to some other
arguments in support of the divine mission of
Jesus.
As there were Sadducees among the Jews,
who denied the resurrection of the dead, and
the existence of angels and spirits, thus limit-
ing the hopes and fears of man, and the promises
LEVI S DISSERTATIONS.
of God, to the present state of existence, so
there have been, and still are, in the Christian
church, many persons who run to a contrary
extreme ; who deny the obvious meaning of all
the prophecies which relate to the restoration
of the Jews to their own land, and the glory
and happiness which there await them. This
mode of spiritualizing the prophecies respecting
the Jews, seems now, however, to be rapidly
losing ground ; and nearly all the later interpret-
ers receive these promises in their plain and
literal meaning. Between these Christian
interpreters and David Levi, there is therefore
no difference of opinion with respect to the cer-
tainty of the accomplishment of the prophecies
of the future restoration of Israel; the difference
between them respects the person by whom
they are to be accomplished. The Jew, deny-
ing the divine mission of Jesus, asserts that
the Messiah is not yet come ; and that, at his
first coming, he is to restore the whole house of
Israel. The Christian asserts that Jesus is the
Messiah promised to the fathers ; and that, at
REMARKS UPON
his second advent, He will restore and convert
the Jewish nation.
Which of these opinions accords best with
the Hebrew Scriptures, must be proved by a
fair and full examination of the Scriptures them-
selves; and it is obvious that neither of the par-
ties is entitled to assume that their own opinion
is the right one.
This seems to be the precise error into which
Levi has run. He has collected many prophecies
from the Hebrew Scriptures, which relate to
the excellent and glorious effects of the Mes-
siah's kingdom upon earth, and which are
equally received and believed by the Christian
and the Jew. In interpreting these prophecies,
he first takes it for granted, without proof, that
they are all to be fulfilled immediately after the
first coming of the Messiah ; and as they were
not thus fulfilled by Jesus, he thence argues
that Jesus was not the Messiah. To this the
Christian may answer, by demanding Levi to
produce one clear and unequivocal prophecy
from the Old Testament, which declares that
LEVI S DISSERTATIONS.
the establishment of the glorious kingdom of the
Messiah on earth, is to happen immediately
after his first advent. If the Jew cannot produce
such proof from the Scriptures, then his whole
argument from prophecy falls to the ground, as
being founded on a petitio pr'uicipii ; and it re-
mains, for aught that has been advanced by David
Levi, that Jesus may be the Messiah, in and by
whom all things that are written in the prophets
shall still receive their accomplishment.
10 REMARKS UPON
CHAP. II.
DAVID LEVI S FIRST PRINCIPLE CONTRARY TO THE
ANALOGY OF THE DIVINE GOVERNMENT.
JJY the Analogy of the Divine Government,
we mean that unity and similarity of plan which
m observable in all the different works of God ;
whether in the animal or vegetable kingdoms, or
in his moral creation. This analogy discovers
itself to the attentive observer in every part of
the works of God : in the generation of ani-
mals and vegetables ; in their progress from in-
fancy to maturity; and in their final dissolution.
it is no less discoverable in his government of
the rational and moral world.
It is a conspicuous part of this analogy, that
no animal or vegetable is brought to the perfec-
LEV1S DISSERTATIONS. 11
tion of its nature at once. Every thing arises
from small beginnings : the vegetable produc-
tions from seed deposited in the earth ; and
animals from the semen infused into the uterus.
The progress, both of animals and vegetables,
from infancy to maturity, is gradual and slow;
and it seems to be a general rule, that the nobler
and more durable any production is, the longer
is the period of its reaching perfection. Thus,
among animals, the elephant, whose faculties
approach most nearly to those of man, is slowest
of growth, as is, in the vegetable kingdom, the
oak, the monarch of the forest.
We discover the same analogy in the original
creation of the world. God might, by that
Almighty power which first produced the matter
of the world, have commanded into existence
the globe which we inhabit, and the planetary
system to which it belongs, in all that beauty
and perfection with which he gradually cloftthed
them during the six days of creation. But we
learn from the first chapter of Genesis, that He,
in his infinite wisdom, saw fit to adopt a dif-
12 REMARKS UPON
ferent plan ; one which precisely corresponds
with the analogy of his procedure in the provi-
dential government and preservation of the natu-
ral world.
With respect to the creation of man, who was
destined to replenish the earth, and to subdue
it, and to be in this terrestrial world the image
of the invisible God, it might be said by a pro-
fane caviller, Why all this loss of time ? Why
was only one pair of the human species created,
instead of such a number as might have been
sufficient, if not fully to people the earth, yet,
at least, accelerate the time, when, in the course
of nature, it would be replenished with intel-
lectual beings ? To such a caviller, the pious
Israelite might answer, in the sublime language
of inspiration, ' Who hath directed the Spirit of
' the Lord, or, being His counsellor, hath taught
c Him ? With whom took He counsel, and who
; instructed Him in the path of judgment, and
' taught Him knowledge, and showed Him the
' way of understanding ?' He might justly add,
that the procedure of God in creating only one
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 13
pair of the human species, was analogous to all
His other plans of creation and providence ; and,
consequently, must bear the stamp of the same
infinite wisdom, whether we can discern the
reasons of it, or not.
But, does this analogy with respect to the
gradual progress and developement of the works
of God, extend also to the economy of the
Messiah's kingdom ? Is the progress of His
kingdom, like that of the other plans of the
Deity, to be gradual ; small in its beginnings,
and slowly extending itself by the operation of
means appointed for the purpose ? Or, was the
original coming of the Messiah to be attended
with such signal and irresistible displays of di-
vine power, as should at once overcome all
opposition, and subject the world to his laws ?
He who believes in Jesus Christ as the pro-
mised Messiah, must also believe that the pro-
gress of his kingdom was intended to be slow
and gradual, like that of the other works of
God, at least till that period, called, by Chris-
tians, the Second Advent, when they are taught
14 REMARKS UPON
to believe, that the power of God will be ex-
erted, with irresistible energy, in the establish-
ment of Christ's kingdom, and in breaking in
pieces the opposing nations. The Christian, in
support of this opinion, may quote the words of
Jesus himself ' The kingdom of Heaven is
4 like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man
' took, and sowed in his field, which, indeed,
4 is the least of all seeds ; but, when it is grown,
4 it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh
' a tree, so that the birds of the air come and
' lodge in the branches thereof.' (Matt. xiii. 31,
32.) ' So is the kingdom of God, as if a man
' should cast seed into the ground, and should
' sleep and rise, night and day, and the seed
' should spring and grow up, he knoweth not
' how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of
' herself, first the blade, then the ear, after that,
' the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit
4 is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the
' sickle, because the harvest is ripe.' (Mark iv.
26 29.) What is taught in these parables
seems tosimply this : that in the kingdom and
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 15
economy of the Messiah, God does not depart
from, but strictly adheres to, the analogy which
is observable in all His other works, even in
those of the vegetable kingdom ; and, conse-
quently, that the sudden and immediate esta-
blishment of the kingdom of the Messiah, in its
glorious state, was not to be expected.
Such was the doctrine of Jesus ; and such,
consequently, must be the opinion of his follow-
ers. After what has been already mentioned, it
seems scarcely necessary to say, that the scheme
of the modern Jewish doctors, and particularly
of David Levi, is quite different. Without en-
tering upon the discussion of the evidences of
the divine mission of Jesus, which Christians
commonly adduce, and which Jesus himself, in
his conversations with the Jews, insisted upon,
as being unanswerable proofs that He was the
Messiah, Levi, in every part of his work on the
prophecies, brings it forward, in limine, as an
unanswerable objection to the pretensions of
Jesus, that he did not while he lived upon earth,
and has not yet produced, the great changes
16 REMARKS UPON
which prophecy leads us to expect in the times
of the Messiah. Were I to mention every in-
stance in which Levi argues in this way, I should
be obliged to transcribe a great part of his book,
I shall therefore content myself with quoting
one or two passages to that effect. In arguing
from the first prophecy of Isaiah, (Isaiah ii.) he
states, (Vol.1, page 72,) " Neither did Jesus at
" his coming judge and plead with the nations
" concerning their different and jarring faiths,
" so as to terminate their disputes, and entirely
" annihilate all contention about them ; and thus
" introduce universal peace into the world/'
In arguing from Isaiah xi. Levi writes, (Vol. I.
page 76',) " Neither will any one be so hardy as
" to say that it was fulfilled in the person of
" Jesus; for he did not restore the nation, nor
" did he fill the throne of David, although it is
" plain that the Jews expected a temporal
" prince, (see Matt. ii. 2 >6,) and the angel
" Gabriel is represented as promising Mary, that
*' the Lord God would give him the throne of
" his father David, and that he should reign
LEVI S DISSERTATIONS.
" over the house of Jacob for ever (Luke i.
" 32, 3:3) ; from all which, his disciples were so
" fully convinced that it was one of the offices
" of the Messiah to restore the kingdom to
" Israel, that they came to the resolution of
" actually asking him before his ascension, whe-
" ther he purposed at that time to restore the
" kingdom to Israel. (Acts i. 6.) The answer
" given to them plainly shows that he wished
" to evade giving a direct answer to such a tick-
" lish question. He, however, left the nation
" groaning under the yoke of the Romans, who,
" not long after, put an end to their kingdom
" and government."
For other passages to the same effect, see the
Dissertation itself, throughout the whole of
which the same argument is brought forward
against the divine mission of Jesus Christ.
It is not my present purpose to enter into a
particular refutation of the above remarks of
Levi ; my intention in quoting them being only
to illustrate what I have said upon the argument
from analogy. And I presume that it will ap-
c
18 REMARKS UPON
pear from them quite evident to the attentive
reader, that the expectations formed by David
Levi, with regard to the rapid and sudden esta-
blishment of the kingdom of the Messiah, im-
mediately after his appearance in this world, are
not agreeable to the analogy of the divine pro-
cedure in the creation and government of the
natural world.
I shall proceed next to inquire, Whether the
scheme of Levi be consistent with the analogy
of the procedure of God, in the government and
economy of the Old Testament Church ? and
as all my illustrations will be derived from the
Hebrew Scriptures, I hope that no Jew will ob-
ject to the conclusiveness of any arguments
which may be fairly deduced from that source.
It is proper, however, to premise, that, in argu-
ing from analogy with regard to the probable
course of the divine procedure in the economy
of the Messiah, we should not for a moment
lose sight of one most important fact, which is,
that the kingdom of the Messiah is in the Old
Testament always represented as eternal in its
LEVI'S DISSERTATIONS. 19
duration. To prove this point, which is, indeed,
acknowledged by the Jews, it is not necessary
to multiply quotations. I shall rest the fact on
one passage ; (Daniel vii. 14.) Now it is quite
evident that one or two thousand years bear no
sort of proportion to eternity : so that, with God,
' a thousand years are said to be as yesterday,
' when it is past, and as a watch of the night. '
(Psalm xc. 4).
It undeniably follows, therefore, that the
eighteen centuries which have elapsed since
the advent of Jesus, and during which, upon
the hypothesis of his being the Messiah, God
has delayed the establishment of his kingdom ;
bear not so great a proportion to the duration of
his kingdom, as a grain of sand does to the
matter of the globe.
I shall now endeavour to shew that it has been
the manner of the divine procedure towards all
his chosen servants, whose histories are recorded
in the Hebrew Scriptures, when promises were
made to them either of a temporal, or a spiritual
nature, to try their faith and patience by long
and discouraging delays in the performance of
the promises ; and I shall from this deduce a
proposition, that even a priori, it was to be
presumed that something of this kind would
take place in the economy of the Messiah.
The first instance which I shall produce, is
that of the patriarch Abraham. We find it re-
corded in Genesis xii., ' Now the Lord had said
' unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and
4 from thy kindred, and from thy father's house,
4 unto a land that I will show thee. And I will
4 make of thee a great nation, and I will bless
' thee, and make thy name great ; and thou
' shalt be a blessing/ ' And in thee shall all
' families of the earth be blessed. So Abram
' departed, as the Lord had spoken to him, and
1 Lot went with him : and Abram was seventy
1 and five years old when he departed out of
' Haran. 3
Here we have the original promise given to
Abraham, upon the faith of which he left his
own country and family, and became a pilgrim
in a strange country, in which he never pos-
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 21
sessed a foot of land, excepting the field of
Alachpelah, which he purchased of Ephron the
Hittite for a burying place. But was this pro-
mise speedily fulfilled ? It is evident that it was
not. We find it indeed renewed after Abra-
ham's arrival in the promised land. (Gen. xii. 7.)
' And the Lord appeared unto Abraham, and
' said, Unto thy seed will I give this land.'
Again, it was renewed in a more ample and
detailed manner, after the separation of Abraham
and Lot. (Gen. xiii. 14 17.) The next re-
newal of the promise is recorded in Gen. xv ;
and we there discover, that, from the long delay
in the fulfilment of it, the faith even of this
holy man had begun to stagger. ' And Abra-
4 ham said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me,
4 seeing I go childless ?' ' Behold, to me thou
4 hast given no seed : and lo, one born in my
' house is mine heir. And behold, the word of
4 the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not
' be thine heir ; but he that shall come forth
' out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir,
4 And he brought him forth abroad, and said.
REMARKS UPON
' Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars; if
' thou be able to number them : and he said
'unto him, so shall thy seed be And he be-
' lieved in the Lord, and he counted it to him
' for righteousness. '
Still, however, the performance of the pro-
mise is deferred; and at length, Sarah, wearied
out with the long delay of ten years, which had
elapsed from the giving of the promise, without
any apparent probability of its being fulfilled
through herself, proposed to Abraham to marry
her maid Hagar. The patriarch acquiesced in
this suggestion, and the consequence was the
birth of Ishmael, when Abraham was eighty-
six years of age, and exactly eleven years after
his call to come out of t-r of the Chaldees.
From this time, until he was ninety-nine
years of age, Abraham probably looked upon
Ishmael as being the promised son. But the
Lord then appeared to him again, (Gen. xvii.)
and informed him that he was to have a son by
Sarah, who should be the ancestor of the pro.
mised seed, i. e. the Messiah ; and to signify
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 23
the joyful nature of the salvation to be accom-
plished by him, the son to be born of the womb
of Sarah, now past the age of bearing, was to be
called Isaac, or laughter. In the following year
Isaac was born.
Thus it appears from the history of Abraham,
the father of the Jewish nation and of the Mes-
siah, that God was pleased to try his faith and
patience, during the long term of twenty-five
years, between the giving of the promise of a
son, and the fulfilment of it by the birth of
Isaac. During this period, indeed, to strengthen
the faith of the pious patriarch, the promise
was often renewed with increasing degrees of
clearness and particularity; yet it is apparent
from his history, that, in general, he enjoyed no
such extraordinary communications of divine
light, as to raise him above the common frailties
of our nature. He was an illustrious character,
who walked by faith, and not by sight, and
looked forward to that heavenly country, of
which Canaan was a type; but he was not a
faultless, or perfect character. His conduct,
24 REMARKS UPON
when he first went into Egypt, in making Sarah
pass herself for his sister, was exceedingly cul-
pable; and could arise from no source but a
distrust of the promise. (Gen. xii. 11.) We
find him guilty of the same sin a second time,
when he sojourned in Gerar ; and he thereby
subjected himself to this sharp rebuke from Abi-
melech, a heathen, ' Thou hast done things
c that ought not to be done.' (Gen. xx. 1 9.)
During the above long and tedious period of
twenty-five years, we may conceive that the
pious patriarch had many dark and discouraging-
hours: oftentimes would he be ready to say,
' Alas! I am come out of my native country,
and have left my kindred; but where is the per-
formance of the promise that I shall have a son ? '
Again, we may conceive him as chiding his
heart for doubting the faithfulness of his God,
and saying to himself, ' Therefore will I look
4 unto the Lord ; I will wait for the God of my
* salvation: my God will hear me/ And as
none that wait upon the Lord shall ultimately
be ashamed ; in due time, having waited, he re-
LEVI S DISSERTATIONS. 2-3
ceived the promise, in the birth of that son
whose name was called Isaac, or laughter.
Then was the mouth of the venerable servant of
the Lord ' filled with laughter, and his tongue
' with sino-ino": then said they amonu' the
o o / o
' heathen, the Lord hath done great things for
' him.'
If, then, we see that God, after having pro-
mised to Abraham that he should have a son,
delayed the performance of the promise during
the long period of twenty-five years, and thus
tried the faith and patience of his chosen ser-
vant ; it is agreeable to the analogy of this pro-
cedure, that the performance of the promises of
establishing the kingdom of the Messiah in
O O
glory, should be delayed during a period of
many centuries after his advent; and, a priori, it
was probable that something of this kind would
take place; for a period of twenty centuries
bears an infinitely less proportion to the duration
of Messiah's reign, than the term twenty-five
years to the whole extent of Abraham's life.
Similar analogies are observable in the con-
26 REMARKS UPON
duct of providence towards Isaac and Jacob ;
but I shall only mention them very briefly.
Isaac had no children by Rebekah during- the
term of twenty years after he took her to wife ;
and we read in Genesis xxv. 21. that ' Isaac in-
' treated the Lord for his wife, because she was
4 barren ; and the Lord was in treated of him,
; and Rebekah his wife conceived. 5
Jacob, who inherited the promise, that of his
loins the Messiah should proceed, in whom all
the families of the earth should be blessed,
(Gen. xxviii. Ik) was more than eighty years of
age when he married Leah, the daughter of
Laban ; of whom Judah, the progenitor of the
promised seed, was born. In the cases of both
these patriarchs, we therefore see, jirst, the
giving of the promise; and, secondly, a long and
trying delay in the accomplishment of it ; and
the inference to be deduced from both, with re-
spect to the probable course of the procedure of
God to the Messiah, is the same as has been
already made.
One of the most remarkable histories in the
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 27
Old Testament, and which tends most strongly
to support the analogy we are now tracing, is that
of the patriarch Joseph. Early distinguished
from his brethren for superior wisdom and piety,
he became the favourite son of his aged father,
who probably discerned in him the seeds of
those great and amiable qualities which so illus-
triously shone forth in his subsequent conduct
in life. Actuated, perhaps, more by the excess
of parental fondness, than by sound judgment,
the patriarch made for his beloved Joseph a coat
of many colours, thus openly giving him the pre-
ference over the rest of his sons. This distinc-
tion, however, as is common in such cases, only
moved the envy and hatred of his brethren ;
and these malignant passions were further ex-
cited by two supernatural dreams, in which God
was pleased to give Joseph a pre-intimation of
his future greatness. (Gen. xxxvii. o.) ' And
' Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told his bre-
' thren; and they hated him yet the more. And
' he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream
' which I have dreamed. For, behold, we were
REMARKS UPON
s binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf
' arose, and also stood upright; and behold, your
' sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance
c to my sheaf. And his brethren said unto him,
* Shalt thou indeed reign over us ? or shalt thou
' indeed have dominion over us? And they
* hated him yet the more for his dreams
' and for his words. And he dreamed yet
* another dream, and told his brethren, and
11 said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more ;
4 and behold, the sun, and the moon, and the
' eleven stars, made obeisance to me. And he
' told it to his father and to his brethren; and
' his father rebuked him, and said unto him,
' What is this dream that thou hast dreamed ?
' Shall 1, and thy mother, and thy brethren, in-
' deed come to bow down ourselves unto thee to
' the earth ? And his brethren envied him ; but
1 his father observed the saying.'
There can be little doubt that these dreams
made a deep impression upon the youthful
mind of Joseph, and were considered by him
us intimations from God, that he was destined
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 29
one day to be raised above all his brethren ;
and it is probable that the remembrance of
them was greatly instrumental in supporting
him under the severe and long-continued trials
which he afterwards underwent, before he was
raised to glory and empire. Jacob also seems
to have considered the dreams in the same light,
for we are informed by the sacred historian, that
he observed the saying.
But, instead of finding the promises of God
immediately fulfilled to Joseph, we see him,
soon after he related his dreams, overwhelmed
with a long course of the severest trials.
When sent out by Jacob to see his brethren,
he was cruelly seized by them, and they first
proposed to murder him ; but, departing from
this purpose, they sold him to a company of
Ishmaelites as a common slave. By the Ish-
maelites he was carried into Egypt ; and they
sold him to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, and
captain of the guard. (Gen. xxxvii.) Ad-
vanced to a station of trust and confidence
in the family of Potiphar, he became the object
30 REMARKS UPON
of the adulterous desires of a worthless woman,
whose earnest and persevering solicitations had
no other effect but that of displaying, in a more
illustrious manner, the excellency of his cha-
racter, and the power of the grace of God,
which could preserve him without spot under
so dangerous a temptation. But, though he
thus conquered the lusts of the flesh, he fell
a sacrifice to the vile calumny of the wife of
Potiphar, disappointed of the gratification of
her desires. He was accused by her of an
attempt to violate her person ; and was cast into
the prison where the king's prisoners were
bound. Here he was permitted to remain for
several years ; and though he gained the esteem
and unlimited confidence of the jailor, there was no
apparent probability of his recovering his liberty.
It was not till fourteen years had elapsed,
from the time that he was sold to the Ish-
maelites, that Joseph was sent for out of prison
to interpret the dreams of Pharaoh, and was
raised to the highest dignity in his kingdom.
Eight or nine years more elapsed before the
LEVIS DISSERTATIONS. 31
complete fulfilment of Joseph's dreams. (Gen,
xlii. o.) ' And the sons of Israel came to buy
* corn among those that came, for the famine
' was in the land of Canaan. And Joseph was
4 the governor over all the land ; and he it was
' that sold to all the people of the land; and
' Joseph's brethren came and bowed down
' themselves before him, with their faces to the
' earth. And Joseph saw his brethren, and he
' knew them, but made himself strange unto
' them, and spake roughly unto them ; and he
' said unto them, Whence came ye ? And they
' said, From the land of Canaan, to buy food.
' And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew
' not him. And Joseph remembered the dreams
' which he had dreamed of them/
The history of Joseph does, therefore, in the
fullest manner, confirm the analogy which we
have observed, both in the government of the
natural world, and in the procedure of God
towards the patriarchs ; and we hence see new
reason to presume, a priori, that in the kingdom
of the Messiah a similar procedure was to be
REMARKS UPON
expected; and that the glorious establishment
of his kingdom was not to take place for many
ages after his first appearance in the world.
The history of Moses, the great and chosen
leader and legislator of the children of Israel,
is another example of the same analogy. It
seems evident, from Exod. ii. 11 14, that
Moses had some secret hope, or pre-sentiment,
that God was, by him, to deliver the Israelites
from Egyptian bondage ; * and, actuated by
love for his oppressed brethren, he was impa-
tient to begin the glorious work of their redemp-
tion, which he was prepared to expect as being
near at hand, from a traditionary knowledge
of the promise made to Abraham, that, at the
appointed time, God would bring his people out
of the land of Egypt. (Gen. xv. 14.) Filled
* I am not, perhaps, at liberty to quote the New Testa-
ment as a book of authority in a controversy with Jews ; but
I cannot help remarking, that, from Stephen's expression in
Acts vii. 25, it seems probable that it had been made known
to Moses by divine revelation, that he was chosen by God to
effect the deliverance of Israel.
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 33
with these expectations, Moses seems to have
resolved upon making an attempt to deliver his
countrymen. But the time appointed by the
Lord was not yet come ; nor was it agreeable to
the analogy of his procedure towards his chosen
servants, that the noble desires of Moses should
be immediately gratified. He therefore saw fit
to disappoint these desires; and Moses, fearing
the wrath of Pharaoh, who sought to slay him,
fled from Effvpt, and took refuge with Reuel,
O*/ i
the priest or prince of Midian, where he was
for forty years in the humble employment of a
shepherd. During this long period, the pro-
mised redemption of Israel was delayed, and
the faith and patience of Moses were severely
tried; and thus he was gradually prepared, in
the school of adversity, for the important part
he was destined to act in the approaching re-
demption.
It is acknowledged, as I suppose, by David
Levi, and other Jewish writers, that the re-
demption of Israel out of Egypt was a lively
type of that greater redemption to be effected
D
34 REMARKS UPON
by the Messiah ; and also, that Moses himself
was a type of the Messiah. But if so, is it not
probable, even a priori^ that there should be
a near resemblance between the type and anti-
type? And if Moses, the leader of the first re-
demption, was tried by a delay of forty years,
after he first went forth from the court of Pha-
raoh to see his brethren, and attempt their de-
liverance, does it not appear probable that
something of the same kind should happen in
the economy of the Messiah, the chosen servant
of God, the leader of the great and final re-
demption of Israel ?
We see a similar analogy in the history of
David, the man after God's own heart; and
who was manifestly not only the progenitor,
but, in an eminent manner, a type of the Mes-
siah, who is, more than once, called by the
name of David in the prophetical writings.
Eight years elapsed between David's being
anointed as the successor of Saul in the king-
dom, and his accession to the throne of Judah ;
and seven years more before he was acknow-
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 35
ledged as king by all the tribes of Israel.
During the greatest part of the first of these
two periods, he was in trouble and affliction ;
wandering from one place to another, to avoid
falling into the hands of Saul.
Thus I have endeavoured, by a short review
of the divine procedure towards the most
eminent patriarchs, the great legislator, and the
most pious monarch of the Jewish church, to
show, that it has been the invariable analogy
of that procedure to delay, for a long time,
the performances of the promises made to the
chosen servants of God. I shall now endeavour
to trace the same analogy in the conduct of
God towards the children of Israel as a body.
Four hundred and thirty years elapsed be-
tween the first giving of the divine promise
to Abraham, that his seed should inherit the
land of Canaan, and the redemption of Israel
out of the land of Egypt ; which redemption
was only the first act of God towards the ac-
complishment of his own promise. During the
first part of this long period, Abraham and his
D 2
REMARKS UPON
posterity were pilgrims and strangers in the
land of promise. (Exod. vi. 4.) During the
last part of it, they were under the most cruel
oppression in the land of Egypt. At length
the period arrived, when, in performance of his
holy promise, God was about to deliver his
people. While Moses fed the flock of Jethro,
near to mount Horeb, ' the Angel of the Lord
' appeared to him in a flame of fire, out of the
* midst of a bush : and he looked, and behold,
' the bush burned with fire, and the bush was
' not consumed. And Moses said, I will now
* turn aside and see this great sight, why the
c bush is not burnt. And when the Lord saw
' that he turned aside to see, God called unto
' him out of the midst of the bush, and said,
c Moses ! Moses ! And he said, Here (am) I.
' And he said, Draw not nigh hither; put off
' thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place
' whereon thou standest is holy ground. More-
' over, he said, I am the God of thy fathers the
1 God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the
4 God of Jacob, And Moses hid his face; for
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 37
' he was afraid to look upon God. And the
' Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of
' my people which are in Egypt, and have heard
' their cry, by reason of their task-masters :
' for I know their sorrows. And I am come down
' to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyp-
* tians, and to bring them up out of that land
' unto a good land, and a large: unto a land
' flowing with milk and honey. Come now,
' therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh,
' that thou mayest bring forth my people, the
' children of Israel, out of Egypt/ (Exod. iii.)
Commissioned from the Most High, Moses,
and his brother Aaron, proceeded to the court
of Pharaoh, and demanded of him that he
would permit the children of Israel to go out
of the land of Egypt. And as the Egyptian
monarch hardened his heart against giving
obedience to the commands of God, the most
dreadful plagues were inflicted upon him and
his kingdom by the hand of Moses. At
length, after the slaying of all the first-born
in the land of Egypt, the children of Israel
38 REMARKS UPON
were permitted to depart; and their enemies,
the Egyptians, having followed them to the
shores of the Red Sea, a passage through the
sea was miraculously opened for Israel ; and
Pharaoh and his host essaying to follow them,
were overwhelmed by the waters returning to
their channel. ' Thus the Lord saved Israel
4 that day out of the hand of the Egyptians;
' and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the
1 sea shore. And Israel saw that great work
' which the Lord did upon the Egyptians ; and
' the people feared the Lord, and believed the
' Lord and his servant Moses/ (Exod. xiv.)
Being thus redeemed from the hand of their
inveterate enemies, by the out-stretched arm of
God himself, it might have been expected
that nothing remained, but that the children of
Israel, under the same almighty protection and
guidance, should march in triumph, and take
possession of the promised land. But the ways
of God are not as our ways, nor his thoughts as
our thoughts. None of the generation which
came out of Egypt were accounted worthy to
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS.
enter the promised land, excepting Joshua and
Caleb. (Numb. xiv. 26 45.) Even Moses,
the servant of the Lord, was not permitted to
enter the land of promise; he only saw it from
Pisgah, where he died. (Deut. xxxii. 49.
xxxiv. 4, 5.)
The forty years during which Israel wandered
in the wilderness being at length elapsed, and
Moses being dead, Joshua, the son of Nun, was
commanded to lead the children of Israel over
Jordan, into the land of promise. And during
the life of Joshua they were safely settled in
Canaan ; the greater part of the nations which
previously occupied it being put to the sword.
But it is certain, that though, at this time,
God began to give effect to the promise made
to Abraham, that he would give the land of
Canaan to his seed for their possession, yet the
promise, in its full extent, was not fulfilled
under Joshua. To satisfy ourselves of this,
we need only compare the original promise, as
recorded in Gen. xv. 18., with the third chapter
of the book of Judges, which contains an
40 REMARKS UPON
enumeration of the nations who were left in
Canaan to prove the children of Israel. Even
in the glorious and prosperous reigns of David
and Solomon, the promise made to Abraham
was not fulfilled in its full literal meaning ;
for though most of the nations, between the
Euphrates and the Mediterranean, were either
completely subjugated, or rendered tributary to
Israel by these monarchs, yet it is clear that
Tyre still continued a powerful and indepen-
dent state; so that the promise recorded in
Joshua i. 4., that the whole land, from the
Euphrates to the Mediterranean, was to be
given to the children of Israel, was not strictly
made good. And it is certain that it never
was fulfilled after the reign of Solomon ; for, in
less than three hundred years after his reign,
the ten tribes were carried away captive into
Assyria, whence they have never returned.
The captivity of Judah in Babylon followed
that of Israel, after an interval of nearly a
century and a half; and it is well known, that
only a small part of Judah returned to Jerusa-
LEVI S DISSERTATIONS. 41
lem, in consequence of the permission granted
by Cyrus and Darius, the Persian monarchs.
During the period which elapsed between the
return from Babylon, and the destruction of
Jerusalem by the Romans, the Jews enjoyed
little tranquillity ; arid were always harassed,
and often grievously oppressed, by the Persians,
the Macedonians, and the Romans.
The sum of the whole of what has been said
upon the procedure of God towards the chil-
dren of Israel, is this : More than four centu-
ries elapsed between the giving of the promise
to Abraham, and the redemption of Israel out
of Egypt. Forty years more elapsed before
God began to execute his promise, by giving to
the Israelites possession of the land of Canaan ;
and neither in the time of Joshua, nor even of
David and Solomon, was the promise fulfilled in
its full extent ; and still less has it been so since
the reign of Solomon ; so that, though a period
of nearly four thousand years has elapsed, since
the giving of the promise of the land of Canaan
to the seed of Abraham, the fulfilment of
REMARKS CPON
that promise, in its full extent, is still fu-
ture.
I think, therefore, it cannot be denied, that an
examination of the procedure of God towards
the chosen people, furnishes another strong
instance of the analogy which I have endea-
voured to trace, in the histories of the patri-
archs ; and tends to confirm the presumption,
that something of the same kind was to be
expected in the economy of the Messiah. For
with what colour of reason, and upon what
grounds, can the Jew assert, that, in the procedure
of God towards the Messiah, there is to be a
total departure from all those principles, and an
entire deviation from those analogies, which are
observable in all the other works of God ; and in
his dispensations towards his most faithful and
highly-honoured servants, and towards that
people whom he chose for himself, w r hen all the
other nations of the earth were sunk in brutish
idolatry ? It is evident to every enlarged mind,
and to those who attentively study the works and
the word of God, that there is the closest analogy
LEVI S DISSERTATIONS. 43
observable in every part of these works ; and as
all the dispensations of God towards his
servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their
posterity, form parts of one vast plan, of which
the final and glorious result is to be seen under
the economy of the Messiah; when, not the
children of Israel only, but all the nations of
the world, all the ends of the earth, are to be
brought to the knowledge and worship of the
true God ; it is certainly altogether improbable,
and, indeed, utterly incredible, that unity of
design and operation should not run through
the whole of this vast plan. The hypothesis of
David Levi is directly opposed to the idea of
such an unity of design and operation ; since it
assumes, that the kingdom of the Messiah is to
be established in glory immediately after his
first advent in the world, and that it is to meet
with no successful or long-continued opposition.
This scheme is, therefore, contradictory to the
whole analogy of the government of God, both
in the natural and moral world, so far as it has
come under our observation.
44 REMARKS UPON
On the contrary, the Christian system, which
supposes that the establishment of the Mes-
siah's kingdom was designed to be gradual ;
that it was to meet with long opposition, so as
most severely to try the patience of his ser-
vants (see Matth. xxiv. 9 13); is, so far,
entirely agreeable to, and consistent with, every
preceding part of the procedure of God towards
his Old Testament Church. This, indeed, will
not, alone, prove the divine mission of Christ ;
but it at least removes, most effectually, the
chief objection to the truth of Christianity,
which pervades every part of David Levi's
work on the prophecies ; and shows, that instead
of being an objection, it is what was to have
been expected, even a priori, to take place in
the kingdom of the Messiah.
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 45
CHAP. III.
THE FIRST PRINCIPLE OF DAVID LEV! S WORK ON THE
PROPHECIES, SHOWN TO BE CONTRARY TO THE
DOCTRINES OF THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES, RESPECTING
THE KINGDOM OF THE MESSIAH.
1 COME now to examine, how far the first prin-
ciple adopted by Levi, in his work on the pro-
phecies, is agreeable to the Scriptures of the
Old Testament. I shall not attempt to follow
the learned Jew through all the different pas-
sages of the Old Testament which he has con-
CJ
sidered in the three first volumes of his work,
as this would lead me beyond the limits of my
present plan. Indeed, this is not necessary;
for all, or nearly all, his arguments from pro-
phecy, may be resolved into the one first prin-
46 REMARKS UPON
ciple already mentioned, viz. that the glorious
establishment of the Messiah's kingdom is
O
immediately to follow his first advent into the
world.
As David Levi has expressed his confidence
that the Christians cannot produce one single
clear unequivocal prophecy from the Old
Testament, which foretells a two-fold coming
of one and the same person as the Messiah,
it may be proper to observe, that there might
be the best reasons for a certain degree of
obscurity in the prophecies w-hich relate to the
Messiah, as too great a degree of clearness
might have interfered with their accomplish-
ment.
This is obviously th case with respect to the
prophecies relating to the four great monarchies,
and to the destruction of the fourth monarchy ;
i. e. the Roman, which is, probably, very near
at hand. These prophecies are sufficiently
clear to be understood, in their great outlines,
by attentive and impartial persons who make
it a study to inquire into the subject ; but they
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 4?
are not so clear as to be understood by the
careless and inattentive, or by those who are to
be the great agents in their accomplishment, viz.
the princes and governors of the world. Were
they thus understood by all, it is evident that
they would interfere with their own accom-
plishment ; and would, without the interven-
tion of new miracles, be entirely falsified ; for
it cannot be. supposed that the princes of the
Roman world, with their eyes open to the pre-
dictions of their own ruin, would take those
very measures by which they are to be preci-
pitated into destruction.
It ought also to be considered, that, with
regard to the question whether Jesus be the
promised Messiah, the Jews are by no
means impartial, judges ; nor can they be so
in the very nature of things. The hypothesis that
Jesus is the Messiah, involves in it a charge
against the Jewish nation of the blackest nature ;
for if Jesus be the Messiah, then certainly the
Jews w r ere his murderers, and to his murder
they have added the crime of continuing to
48 REMARKS UPON
reject and blaspheme him, for a period of eigh-
teen centuries. Now, it cannot be maintained
by a candid Jew, that his nation are qualified
to act as impartial judges in this matter ; for this
were to say, that a man may, at once, act the
part of a party and a judge, which is contrary
to all the received maxims of human jurispru-
dence, as well, indeed, as of common sense.
The candid Jew must therefore admit, that he
comes to the examination of this question
under circumstances peculiarly unfavourable ;
and that, even if the truth be on the side of
Christianity, he is under a strong bias against
the truth, and has strong temptations to resist and
^ J.
reject its evidence.
If there be candid and reasonable men among
the Jews, these considerations ought surely to
render them suspicious of themselves ; and it
certainly is a part of the character of every
serious and humble inquirer into divine truth,
to examine himself narrowly, lest he should
unfortunately be under any secret bias against
the svstem, into the merits and evidence of
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 49
which he is searching. Neither can it have
escaped the observation of candid Jews, that
many well-informed and learned persons of the
Gentile nations, among whom they are scat-
tered, have, at one time, doubted the truth of
Christianity; and yet, on more mature exami-
nation, have become sincere converts to it. All
these persons have maintained, that the evi-
dence of the divine mission of Christ from the
prophecies of the Old Testament, is of the
strongest and most powerful nature ; and when
the Jew asserts the contrary of this, he should
at least remember, that he is under the strongest
temptation to make this assertion, even if it
be false, and to shut his eyes against the evi-
(Jence which Christians commonly refer to, in
support of the pretensions of the founder of their
religion. Let, then, the candid and humble Jew
only come to the examination of this question,
with that degree of self-diffidence which be-
comes the serious inquirer into divine truth.
In opening the Old Testament, let him bend
his knee in humble prayer and supplication to
E
50 REMARKS UPON
the God of his fathers, the God of Abraham,
of Isaac, and of Jacob, that He may condescend
to illuminate his mind to see and embrace the
truth ; and Christians will then have little
doubt of the result of an investigation entered
O
upon with such a spirit.
Indeed, it deserves the particular attention of
the candid Jew, that this spirit of self-diffidence,
and a sense of his need of divine illumination,
is not to be found in the pages of David Levi.
We do not see, in his work, the same spirit
which animated the pious psalmist, the sweet
singer of Israel, when he uttered such petitions
as the following ' With my whole heart have
' I sought thee : O let me not wander from thy
' commandments. Thy word have I hid in
1 my heart, that I might not sin against thee.
' Blessed art thou, O Lord : teach me thy
'statutes.' (Psalm cxix. 10 12.) And again,
' Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold won-
' drous things out of thy law. I am a stranger
' on the earth, hide not thy commandments from
'me.' (Ibid. 18, 19.) Again, the psalmist
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 51
prays, ' Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy
4 statutes, arid I shall keep it unto the end.
' Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy
* law ; yea, I shall observe it with my whole
' heart. Make me to go in the path of thy com-
4 mandments, for therein do I delight. ' In
another Psalm, the xxv., David prays, ' Show
' me thy ways, O Lord ; teach me thy paths.
' Lead me in thy truth, and teach me ; for thou
' art the God of my salvation : on thee do I
' wait all the day. '
It appears from these passages, that the
psalmist was deeply and habitually impressed
with a sense of his own blindness, and need of
the divine teaching, in order to understand the
law of God. O that there were, in the minds
of the modern Jews, the same sense of their
great and absolute need of illumination from
the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham,
of Isaac, and of Jacob, in order to their under-
standing the prophecies relative to the Messiah !
Having made these general observations, I
shall now endeavour to show, that though,
E 2
52 REMARKS UPON
perhaps, there be not any one passage of the
Hebrew Scriptures, which clearly shows a two-
fold coming of one and the same person as the
Messiah ; yet, by comparing different passages
of the Scriptures one with another, we must
arrive at the conclusion, that there are two
advents of the Messiah revealed in the Old
Testament.
Of all the prophets of the Old Testament
dispensation, Daniel seems to have been the
only one to whom the events which form the
subject of his prophecies were revealed in
chronological order! If, therefore, the time of
the advent of the Messiah be revealed at all, we
may expect to find it in the book of Daniel.
The first passage of this prophet which I shall
consider, in reference to this point, is that part of
the second chapter wherein Daniel explains the
prophetical dream of Nebuchadnezzar, king of
Babylon.
Two distinct symbols were presented in sleep
to the mind of the Babylonian monarch. First,
' agreat image/ described in ver. 31 33.; and,
LEVI S DISSERTATIONS. 53
secondly, cer. 31, 3.5., ' a stone cut. out without
' hands, which smote the image upon his feet
' of iron and clay, and brake them in pieces.
' Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the
' silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together;
' and became like the chaff of the summer
' thrashing floor ; and the wind carried them
' away ; and no place was found for them : and
' the stone that smote the image became a great
' mountain, and filled the whole earth. '
The great image is declared by the prophet
to be a symbol of the four kings, or kingdoms,
which were to arise in the world, viz. the Ba-
bylonian, the Medo-Persian, the Macedonian,
and the Roman empires; the last of which was
to subsist in two different conditions; First,
as one undivided empire strong as iron; and,
secondly, as divided into ten kingdoms, having
part of its pristine strength mingled with much
weakness ; ' iron mixed with miry clay. ' (uer. 41 .)
And it was not possible that a more exact
picture could have been given of the state of
the Roman empire, since its division into ten
54 REMARKS UPON
kingdoms by the invasions of the Goths and
Vandals. Thus far, I presume, both Jews and
Christians are agreed in the interpretation of
this prophecy.
The stone which smote the image on its feel,
and afterwards became a great mountain, and
filled the whole earth, is declared by the pro-
phet to symbolize a kingdom to be set up by
God. (ver. 44.) ' And in the days of these
5 kings, shall the God of Heaven set up a king-
' dom, which shall never be destroyed : and
' the kingdom shall not be left to other people ;
* but it shall break in pieces all these kingdoms,
4 and it shall stand for ever.'
I suppose that the Jews agree with us in un-
derstanding this kingdom of the God of Heaven
to mean the kingdom of the Messiah. In none
of the books of the Old Testament do we read of
any other kingdom, than that of the Messiah, to
be established by God; and, therefore, it is quite
incontrovertible that the kingdom of the Mes-
siah is spoken of in this passage of Daniel.
I presume further, that the Jews will admit
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 55
that the kingdom of the Messiah begins to be
set up at his first coming ; or, at least, at the
period when he first begins to exercise the
authority with which he is invested ; or, in
other words, that the kingdom of the Messiah
cannot be set up before his own appearance in
the world.
Having premised these observations, I now
shall deduce, from the above prophecy, the
following propositions, which seem to me to
be established by it.
First, The kingdom of the Messiah was to be
set up in the world, and, consequently, the
advent of the Messiah was to take place, not as
the modern Jews and David Levi suppose, at
the time of the destruction of the last of the
Gentile monarchies, i. e. the Roman, but
during the existence of the four monarchies ;
for we read in the forty-fourth verse, that ' in
' the days of these kings, (or kingdoms,) the
; God of Heaven shall set up a kingdom. '
Secondly, The kingdom of the Messiah was to
exist in the world in two different states or con-
56 REMARKS UPON
ditions. First, as symbolized by a stone cut out
without hands; i. e. this kingdom, in its first
state, was to be erected without the operation
or assistance of human power;* and it was to
be in an obscure condition, as well as small in
its extent. All these ideas seem to be necessa-
rily implied in the symbol of a stone cut out
without hands. But, secondly, this stone, this
small and contemptible kingdom of the Mes-
siah, is to smite the image upon its feet; or, in
other words, is to smite the Roman empire in
its last state, as divided into ten kingdoms; and
then the image is to be totally dissolved, and its
materials dissipated; and the stone (the small and
contemptible kingdom of the Messiah) is to
become a great mountain, j* and is to fill the
whole earth; i. e. it is to be advanced to a glo-
rious and triumphant state.
* In the language of symbols, a hand denotes power.
| In the language of symbols, a mountain denotes a
kingdom.
LEVI'S DISSERTATIONS. 57
This smiting of the image evidently takes
place precisely at that time, when the judg-
ments against the nations, (particularly Edom or
Rome,) which are predicted in Isaiah xxxiv.
and Ixiii., begin to go forth.
From the second of the foregoing proposi-
tions, it is quite evident that the prophecy in
the second chapter of Isaiah, which is com-
mented upon by David Levi, relates exclusively
to the triumphant state of the Messiah's king-
dom ; for we find in that prophecy, that the
kingdom of the Messiah is represented, not by
the symbol of a stone, but by that of a mountain.
It is called the ' mountain of the Lord's house,''
vcr. '2.; and the ' mountain of the Lord,' ver. .'3.;
consequently, David Levi's argument from that
prophecy against the divine mission of Jesus,
is founded upon this gross mistake, that Isaiah
therein describes the kingdom of the Messiah in
its original state in the world, which is proved
not to be the case. The prophecy refers only to
that time when the stone, having already
smitten the image, is become a great mountain.
58 REMARKS UPON
In Daniel vii., we have also a prophecy of
the four Gentile kingdoms, and the kingdom of
the Messiah; but the symbols are here different
from those of the dream of Nebuchadnezzar:
the vision of Daniel also contains more particu-
*
lars than that dream.
After describing the three first beasts which
arose out of the stormy sea, and by which were
symbolized the Baby Ionian, the Persian, and the
Macedonian empires, the prophet says, ' After
4 this, I saw in the night visions, and behold, a
' fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong
' exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it
* devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the
: residue with the feet of it; and it was diverse
; from all the beasts that were before it; and it
* had ten horns. I considered the horns, and,
* behold, there came up among them another
I little horn, before whom there were three of
* the first horns plucked up by the roots: and
II behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of
* man, and a mouth speaking great things. I
; beheld till the thrones were cast down, and
LEVls DISSERTATIONS.
' the Ancient of Days did sit, whose, garment
' was white as snow, and the hair of his head
Mike the pure wool; his throne was like the
' fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.
' A fiery stream issued and came forth from
4 before him ; thousand thousands ministered
' unto him, and ten thousand times ten thou-
' sand stood before him: the judgment was set,
4 and the books were opened. I beheld then,
' because of the. voice of the great words which
' the horn spake; I beheld even till the beast
' was slain, and his body destroyed, and given
' to the burning flame. As concerning the rest
' of the beasts, they had their dominion taken
' away, yet their lives were prolonged for a
' season and time. I saw in the night visions..
' and behold, one like the Son of Man came
' with the clouds of heaven, and came to the
' Ancient of Days, and they brought him near
' before him ; and there was given him clo-
' minion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all
' people, nations, and languages should serve
' him : his dominion is an everlasting dominion.
60 REMARKS LPO.V
' which shall not pass away; and his kingdom
' that which shall not be destroyed. '
It is not my purpose to enter at length into
the interpretation of this part of the vision ; hut
I shall just mention, that the beast here de-
scribed, is, by the almost unanimous consent of
Christian, and, I suppose also, Jewish interpret-
ers, allowed to mean the Roman empire. The
ten horns signify the ten kingdoms into which
that empire was divided after its overthrow by
the Goths and Vandals; and nearly all of our
Protestant writers on prophecy agree that the
little horn symbolizes the Papal power.
It is apparent from the above passage, ver. 9
11., that the coming of the Messiah (the Son
of Man) with the clouds of heaven, which is
described in this vision, takes place after the
body of the fourth beast (the Roman empire)
is given to the burning- fire to be destroyed.
In other words, this advent of the Messiah
precisely synchronizes with the destruction of
Rome, the Edom and I3ozrah of Isaiah xxxiv.
and Ixiii. It also synchronizes with that period.
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 6l
when the stone, (Dan. ii. 34.) having smitten
the image, is upon the point of becoming a
great mountain to fill the whole earth. There-
fore, this coming of the Messiah with the
clouds of heaven, cannot be his first appearance
in this world ; for it has already been proved, in
considering Daniel ii., that the first coming of
the Messiah takes place while the Roman
empire is yet standing: ' In the days of these
' kings (or kingdoms) the God of Heaven shall
' set up a kingdom. ' (Dan. ii. 44.) It conse-
quently follows, that two different advents of
the Messiah are revealed in Daniel; the one.
while the Roman empire is yet standing, to
establish the kingdom of the stone, (Dan. ii.
44, 45.) the other, when the Roman empire is
destroyed, to establish the kingdom of the
mountain to give the kingdom to the saints,
(vii. 27.)
We may arrive at the same conclusion by
another chain of argument. When the Son of
Man comes with the clouds of heaven, (Dan.
vii. 13.) he evidently comes in a triumphant
O2 REMARKS UPON
state; in the full possession of all the faculties
of mature and perfect manhood ; to be crowned
with that honour, glory, and power, which are
reserved for him in the counsels of the Most
High. But this cannot be his first advent ; for,
according to all the prophecies, as understood
both by Jews and Christians, he was to be born
of a woman, and in the family of David; and,
consequently, his first coming must be, not
with the clouds of heaven, but as an helpless
infant, born from the womb of his mother; and
we must next look for him, not as receiving do-
minion, and glory, and a kingdom, but as hang-
ing upon the breast of his mother to draw
nourishment from her milk ; and afterwards as
increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favour
with God and man. And as it cannot be
denied, that the condition of an infant is an
humble, lowly state, it follows, that t\vo differ-
ent advents of the Messiah are revealed in pro-
phecy; the one in a state of humility, the other
in a state of glory : the one as an infant born in
Bethlehem (Micah v. 2.) ; the other with the
LEV1 S DISSERTATIONS.
clouds of heaven, to receive the kingdom pro-
mised to him. But where is the Messiah
during the period that intervenes between these
two advents?
Psalm ex. ' The Lord said unto my Lord,
* sit thou on my right hand, until I make thine
' enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send
* the rod of thy strength out of Zion : rule thou
1 in the midst of thine enemies. * ' The Lord
' hath sworn, and will not repent, thou art a
' priest for ever after the order of Melchisedech.
' The Lord at thy right hand shall strike
' through kings in the day of his wrath. He
* shall judge among the heathen ; he shall fill the
' places with the dead bodies ; he shall wound
1 the head over many countries. '
The person here addressed by Jehovah, and
whom David calls his Lord, (' Jehovah said
' unto my Lord, ') can only be the Messiah ; for
to no other person, or character, can such
language belong. The Messiah is here repre-
sented as being exalted at the right hand of
God, ' till his enemies be made his footstool.'
(34 REMARKS UPON
This exaltation is therefore in the heavenly
world; for to that world only can belong- the
phrase at the right hand of God. This exalta-
tion of the Messiah cannot be his first state as
man; for that we have seen was the condition of
an infant born at Bethlehem, and hanging upon
the breast of his mother. Neither is this exal-
tation of the Messiah at the right hand of God,
his last condition; for then his enemies will
have been made his footstool: ' he will then
' have received dominion, glory, and a kingdom,
' that all people, nations, and languages, should
' serve him : his dominion is an everlasting do-
' minion, which shall not pass away ; and his
kingdom that which shall not be destroyed/
o *
Therefore, since this exaltation of the MAN,
the Messiah, is neither his first state nor his last
state, it follows, that it must be an intermediate
state, during which he himself is highly exalted ;
but he has yet enemies who are not made his
footstool; or, in other words, his cause and king-
dom are, if not in a depressed, yet at least in a
militant state, fighting with many, and powerful,
LEVI'S DISSERTATIONS. t>5
and malicious enemies. During this period
we also learn, that the Messiah sustains the
office of a priest, made after the order of Mel-
chisedech, to whom Abraham himself paid
tithes. Now, as every priest is ordained to
offer gifts and sacrifices, wherefore it is of ne-
cessity that this man, the Messiah, have some-
what also to offer, of which 1 shall treat in
another part of this work.
The concluding- part of this prophetical
Psalm will be accomplished at the second
advent of the Messiah, w r hen the Roman empire
is destroyed, as in Isaiah xxxiv. and Ixiii.
From this prophetical Psalm we may con-
clude, that the scheme of David Levi, with
respect to the establishment of the Messiah's
kingdom in the world immediately after his
first advent, is altogether contrary to the Scrip-
tures ; and that all the prophecies which de-
scribe the triumphant progress of his cause and
kingdom, must relate, ultimately, not to the
period when he first comes into the world, in
the form of an infant; and not even to the period
F
66 REMARKS UPON
when he is exalted at the right hand of God,
until his enemies be made his footstool; but to
that time when he comes with the clouds of
heaven, to receive the kingdom, and when his
enemies are made his footstool.
I shall now resume the consideration of the
objection so confidently advanced against the
divine mission of Jesus in David Levi's work.
(Vol. I. page 13$.) The passage is as follows:
"I am confident they (the Christians) cannot
" produce one single clear unequivocal pro-
" phecy from the Old Testament, which foretells
" a two-fold coining of one and the same person
" as the Messiah ; and that, too, at the distance
" of such a number of years as have already
" elapsed from the supposed period of his being
; " on earth ; whence it is manifest, that the
" whole scheme of the Millenium is a mere chi-
*' mera, an ignis fatuus^ notwithstanding all the
" noise and pother that has been made about
" it. "
In answer to this objection, I would again
re-call to the mind of the reader an observation
LEVl'S DISSERTATIONS.
already made in a former page; viz. that the
eighteen centuries which have elapsed from the
coming of Jesus, bear no more proportion to the
duration of the kingdom of the Messiah, than a
grain of sand does to the matter of the terres-
trial o-lobe. This, I think, removes the weight
w O
of David Levi's objection, so far as it rests upon
the length of time which has elapsed since the
first coming of Jesus. Further, the principle of
this objection made by David Levi, seems to be
this, that we have a right to prescribe to the
Almighty Governor of the universe, precisely
what degree and kind of evidence he is bound
to afford us of the divine mission of the Mes-
siah. Christians have never maintained, nor
did the author of their religion himself assert,
that the evidence of his divine mission, from
the prophecies of the Old Testament, is of so
strong and so obvious a nature as to preclude
the necessity of the most diligent use of our
reasoning faculties, in searching for that evi-
D "
dence. Christ himself said to the Jews,
' Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye
F 9
()8 REMARKSUPON
' have eternal life, and they are they which
- testify of me. ' (John v. 39.) Now, the com-
mand to search^ supposes that the truth is not
so evident as to be known without searching.
Accordingly, we read of certain Jews at Berea,
in Acts xvii., " who received the word with all
' readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures
' daily, whether these things were so ; therefore,
' many of them believed. '
This is the temper of mind which best befits
feeble and sinful creatures, who are anxious to
know and to do the will of God; and it by no
means becomes any of the children of men to
dare to prescribe to God what precise degree of
evidence he shall afford us of the great truths
of religion.
It is not upon one passage of the Old Testa-
ment, that Christians found their belief that
Jesus is the Messiah, but it is upon the whole
of the prophecies relating to the Messiah. By
comparing scnpture with scripture, they are con-
vinced that the life, the doctrine, the sufferings,
the death, the resurrection, the ascension, and the
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 69
second advent of Jesus, are all predicted in the
Hebrew Scriptures. And if it be necessary
diligently to search the Scriptures, in order to
attain this conviction, this is quite analogous to
the whole economy of the providential govern-
ment. In no part of the vast circle of know-
ledge does important truth lie on the surface.
To be a good mathematician, an astronomer, or
a logician ; to attain a competent knowledge of
any one of the arts which are necessary for the
well-being of man, as a member of civil societ3 r ,
require the diligent and persevering application
of our faculties. And shall it be thought that
the only species of knowledge which is tran-
scendently important, viz. that of the revealed
will of God, is to be attained without diligent
and solicitous inquiry ? or that God will bestow
it upon the idle, the careless, or the in-
different? Surely not.
This may show how unreasonable David Levi's
objection is, even if it had not been proved,
from the prophecies of Daniel, that there are
two advents of the Messiah revealed in the
70 REMARKS UPON
Hebrew Scriptures. Indeed, from the infidelity
of many of his own nation, who, though sur-
rounded by the strongest evidence of the truth
of the Mosaic revelation, and themselves living-
evidences of its truth, yet do not believe a
syllable of revelation, (see Levi's Dissert. Vol.
III. page 141.) David Levi might have been
led to see, that our reception of the truths re-
vealed to us in the Scriptures depends less
upon their being supported by over-powering
evidence, than upon our being disposed to give
a willing and patient hearing to the evidence
actually given. What evidence, for instance,
can be more over-powering to a candid mind,
than that which arises from the fulfilment of
the wonderful prophecies recorded in Deutero-
nomy with respect to the children of Israel ?
Yet it is a fact, acknowledged by David Levi
himself, that many of his own people turn a
deaf ear to this evidence, and believe not a syl-
lable of revelation ! No\v, had it pleased the
Almighty to give that precise degree and kind
0f evidence of the divine mission of Jesus
LEVI'S DISSERTATIONS. 71
which Levi requires, how does he know but
that this evidence would have been resisted in
the same way as many of his nation resist that
which supports the Mosaic revelation? Nay,
how does he know but that he himself is now
resisting that evidence which God hath seen
fit to give of the mission of him who is the
true Messiah ?
72 REMARKS UPON
CHAP. IV.
THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES TESTIFY THAT THE MESSIAH WAS
TO SUFFER; AND THE PROPHECIES OF A SUFFERING
MESSIAH WERE ALL ACCOMPLISHED IN THE LIFE,
SUFFERINGS, AND DEATH OF JESUS.
ISAIAH liii. ' Who hath believed our report?
' and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed ?
' For he shall grow up before him as a tender
' plant, and as a root out of a dry ground : he
1 hath no form nor comeliness ; and when we
' shall see him, there is no beauty that we
* should desire him. He is despised and re-
< jected of men ; a man of sorrows, and ac-
' quainted with grief; and we hid as it were our
4 faces from him: he was despised, and we
LEVI'S DISSERTATIONS. 73
' esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our
' griefs, and carried our sorrows ; yet we did
4 esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and
4 afflicted. But he was wounded for our trans-
' gressions ; he was bruised for our iniquities;
; the chastisement of our peace was upon him ;
' and with his stripes we are healed. All we,
' like sheep, have gone astray ; we have turned
' every one to his own way; and the Lord hath
* laid on him the iniquity of us all. lie was
' oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened
' not his mouth. He was taken from prison,
' and from judgment, and who shall declare his
' generation ? for he was cut off out of the land
'of the living; for the transgression of my
' people was he stricken. And he made his
' grave with the wicked, and with the rich, in
4 his death; because he had done no violence,
1 neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet
' it pleased the Lord to bruise him : he hath
' put him to grief: when thou shall make his
' soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed.
; he shall prolong his days, aud the pleasure of
74 REMARKS UPON
4 the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall
4 see of the travail of his soul, and shall be
' satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous
'servant justify many; for he shall bear
' their iniquities. Therefore will I divide unto
' him (a portion) with the great, and he shall
4 divide the spoil with the strong; because he
' hath poured out his soul unto death : and he
4 was numbered with the transgressors, and he
4 bare the sin of many, and made intercession
4 for the transgressors. '
The point at issue, between Jews and Chris-
tians, with respect to the foregoing prophecy,
is, what person is spoken of. The modern Jews
allege, that the Jewish nation is here per-
sonified ; and their sufferings during their long
and dreadful captivity are thus foretold. The
Christians, on the contrary, apply this passage
to the sufferings and death of Jesus. I shall
therefore inquire, first, how far the features of
character possessed by the person who is the
subject of this prophecy, are to be found in the
Jewish nation ; and. secondly, whether all these
LEVI S DISSERTATIONS.
features of character did not shine forth conspi-
cuously in the life, and sufferings, and death of
Jesus.
The person here described, is styled the
righteous servant of God. (ver. 11.) Righte-
ousness, therefore, forms a prominent feature of
his character. How far this feature of character
belongs to the children of Israel, at any period
of their history, we may learn from the Hebrew
Scriptures, and the writings of David Levi.
When they were about to inherit the land of
Canaan, Moses, in the name of the Lord, thus
addresses them: ' Speak not thou in thine
' heart, after that the Lord thy God hath cast
' them out before thee, saying, For my righte-
' onsness the Lord hath brought me in to pos-
' sess the land ; but for the wickedness of these
1 nations the Lord doth drive them out from
1 before thee. Not for thy righteousness, or for
4 the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go
' to possess the land ; but for the wickedness of
' these nations the Lord thy God doth drive
them out from before thee, and that he
76 REMARKS UPON
' may perform the word which the Lord sware
4 unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
1 Understand, therefore, that the Lord thy God
4 giv r eth thee not this good land to possess it for
4 thy righteousness; for thou art a stiff-necked
' people. Remember, and forget not, how thou
* provokedst the Lord thy God to wrath in the
' wilderness : from the day that thou didst de-
' part out of the land of Egypt, until ye carne
4 into this place, ye have rebelled against the
4 Lord. ' (Deut. ix.)
After their entrance into the promised land,
and their settlement in it, Joshua, who inti-
mately knew the character of his people, thus
addresses them, at a time when they had just
renewed the profession of their firm determina-
tion to continue in the service of the Lord,
(xxiv. 19.) ' And Joshua said unto the people,
' Ye cannot serve the Lord; for he is an holy
; God ; he is a jealous God: he will not forjnve
o
' your transgressions nor your sins/ The mean-
ing- of this seems to be, that there was some-
thing in the character of the children of Israel
LEVl S DISSERTATIONS. 7?
so opposite to the holiness of God, that it was
impossible for them sincerely to love and obey
him.
In the time of the prophet Isaiah, the chil-
dren of Israel and Judah are described as ' a
' sinful nation ; a people laden with iniquity ;
' children that are corrupters.' ' Except the
1 Lord had left us a very small remnant, (of righ-
' teous persons,) we should have been as Sodom,
' and we should have been like unto Go-
' morrah.' Even their religious worship is de-
scribed as being abominable in the sight of God.
(Isaiah i. 13.) In the time of Jeremiah they
were equally depraved and wicked ; the prophet
says, (ch. ix. 2.) ' Oh that I had in the wilder-
' ness a lodging-place of way-faring men, that I
4 might leave my people, and go from them ; for
' they be all adulterers, an assembly of trea-
' cherous men ! And they bend their tongues
' like their bow for lies, but they are not valiant
' for truth on the earth ; for they proceed from
- evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the
; Lord. Take ye heed every one of his neigh-
78 REMARKS UPON
' hour, and trust ye not in any brother ; for every
' brother will utterly supplant, and every neigh-
' bour will walk with slanders.' No descrip-
tion can convey ideas of more deplorable obli-
quity and degeneracy of character. The eighth
chapter of Ezekiel contains a most affecting
account of the wickedness of the Jews about
the same period. In that inimitable prayer of
the prophet Daniel, recorded in Daniel ix., we
see how deeply that holy man was affected with
the sins of his people. The same thing appears
after their return from the Babylonian captivity.
(Ezra ix. 4.) ' Then were assembled unto me
' every one that trembled at the words of the
' God of Israel, because of the transgressions of
' those that had been carried away ; and I sat
' astonished until the evening sacrifice. And
4 at the evening sacrifice 1 arose up from my
' heaviness, and having rent my garment and my
' mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread out
' my hands unto the Lord my God, and said, O,
' my God, 1 am ashamed, and blush to lift up
' my face unto thee, my God ; for our iniquities
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 79
4 are increased over our head, and our trespass is
' grown up unto the heavens. Since the days of
' our fathers have we been in a great trespass
' unto this day; and for our iniquities have we,
our kings, and our priests, been delivered into
' the hands of the kings of the lands, to the
sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to acon-
' fusion of face, as it is this day.' The con-
cluding book of the canon of the Old Testa-
ment shows, that the children of Judah were not
better at that time than in the days of the more
ancient prophets.
Let us now hear the testimony of David
Lcvi with regard to the character of his people,
from the time of the Babylonian captivity to
the present day. In his remarks upon the pro-
phecy of Hosea, in Vol. III. page 06, he says.
" The prophet having thus briefly represented.
" by the above figure, the captivity of the ten
" tribes, the destruction of Jerusalem and the
" first temple, with the visitation of Babylon to
" the house of Judah, and not to the house of
" Israel, proceeds to inform us of the destruction
80 REMARKS UPON
" of the second temple, under the figurative re-
" presentation of the name of the third child,
" (tier. 8, 9.) And she conceived, and bare a
" son, and God said, call his name Lo-ammi,
" (not my people). This was to show, that the
" children of Judah, during- the second temple,
" would not, by their actions, be his people. "
Levi elsewhere testifies, (Vol. I. page .59.) that
upon the return of Judah from Babylon, " their
44 sins were not yet done away ; and they greatly
" added to them, so that they were doomed to
" a future captivity. "
David Levi says, " that there are many of
' his brethren at present who laugh at all the
*' warnings of the divine judgment, and ridicule
" the idea of a Messiah coming to save them ;
44 (for they do not believe a syllable of revela-
; ' tion;) much less, say they, can we believe,
44 that God can ever be so vindictive as to
" destroy his creatures by war, &c. Thus" (says
Levi,) " do they pretend to honour God, by
" denying his justice, and depriving him of the
;; government of the world which he hath
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 81
" created in his wisdom, in opposition to what
" the word of God teaches us as the punish-
" ment of the antediluvians, of Sodom," &c.
(Vol. III. page 141.)
Indeed, the authority of David Lewi was no
way necessary to show that the Jews continue
to be a wicked people like their fathers ; for it is
plainly foretold in Ezekiel xxxvi., that they will
continue in wickedness till the day of their re-
demption ; and they are there charged with
causing the name of the Lord to be profaned
among the heathen by their great wickedness.
The conclusion to be drawn from what has
been said on this subject, is, that the Jews
have, at no period of their history, been a
righteous people; and, consequently, the pro-
phecy of Isaiah liii., which relates to a person
called the righteous servant of God, cannot
relate to the sufferings of the Jewish nation ; nor
can a people, who, throughout every part of
their history, have been wicked and rebellious,
and whose sufferings have been only the just
punishment of their sins, be personified under
82 REMARKS UPON
the character of a righteous servant of God.
The Jewish interpretation of this prophecy is
therefore false.
The next feature in the character of the
righteous servant of God, who is the subject
of this prophecy, is, that his sufferings are
expiatory of the sins of others : ' He hath
' borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows ; yet
' we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God,
* and afflicted. But he was wounded for our
' transgressions; he was bruised for our iniqui-
' ties; the chastisement of our peace was upon
' him, and with his stripes we are healed.
' All we, like sheep, have gone astray ; we
4 have turned every one to his own way ; and
' the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of
' us all. '
It is quite clear that the person here spoken
of, the righteous servant of God, upon whom
the iniquities of us all are laid, must be different
from those whose iniquities are laid upon him;
in other words, they are not his own sorrows,
and his own iniquity, which he bears, but the
LEVI S DISSERTATIONS. 83
sins and sorrows of others: else why is it said he
hath borne our griefs, and not he hath borne his
otcn griefs? If the Jewish nation were here
personified, and a description given of their
sufferings, then the passage would run as
follows: . ' He hath borne his griefs, and car-
' ried his sorrows : he was wounded for his
' transgressions, and the chastisement of his
' peace was upon him ; and with his stripes was
' he healed/ To understand the third personal
pronoun he, to mean the same individuals, or
nation, as the first personal pronoun we, in one
and the same sentence, is in the highest degree
absurd. But to such shifts are the Jews re-
duced, by denying the plain and obvious mean-
ing of their own sacred books.
It follows, therefore, that the sufferings of
the person here described are expiatory ; they
are submitted to for the benefit not of himself,
but of others. Now, there is no passage of the
prophetical Scriptures which declares this of
the sufferings of the children of Israel. On the
contrary, it is said, in numberless passages of
G 2
34 REMARKS UPON
the Scriptures, that all their sufferings are the
fruit of their own sins. (Levit. xxvi. 39.)
4 And they that are left of you, shall pine away
' in their iniquity in their enemies' lands ; and
4 also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they
4 pine away with them. If they shall confess
4 their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers,
fc with their trespass which they trespassed
4 against me ; and that also they have walked
' contrary unto me; and that I also have walked
' contrary unto them, and have brought them
' into the land of their enemies; if then their
4 uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they
4 then accept the punishment of their iniquity,
4 then will I remember my covenant with
4 Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and
4 also my covenant with Abraham will I remem-
4 ber ; and I will remember the land. '
In the above passage, we see Israel led into
captivity for their own iniquity ; and it is only
when they shall have accepted the punishment
of their iniquity, as being their just due, that
they shall find mercy, and be restored to their
LEVl'S DISSERTATIONS. 85
own land. Indeed, it deserves the particular
attention of the Jews, that there seems to be
some great offence, which is emphatically dwelt
upon by the Spirit of God in this passage, as
the procuring cause of their misery: it is called
' the trespass which they trespassed against me. }
The Hebrew word tyo here rendered trespass,
seems to mean, properly, a falling away, or
apostacy from the truth, which is the very
worst species of sin. (See Parkhurst on this
word.)
Since, then, it is evident, that the punish-
ments inflicted upon the Jewish nation have
been for their own sins, their sufferings cannot,
in any sense, be an expiation for the sins of
others. Consequently, the passage of Isaiah,
which we are now considering, does not describe
their sufferings, since it relates to the sufferings
of a person who is styled the righteous servant
of God, and who suffered for the iniquities of
others, not for his own.
But farther, If we suppose that in the liii. of
Isaiah the Jewish nation is personified, then we
86 REMARKS UPON
must suppose that the person styled, in ver. 11,
the righteous servant of God, is one and the
same with those who, in the 6th verse, are said
to ' have all gone astray, like sheep, and to
' have turned every one to his own way. J But
how can a people, described as so laden with
iniquity, receive the title of the righteous ser-
vant of God in the very same passage of Scrip-
ture? This would be making the Scriptures
contradict themselves. The Jews are therefore
certainly mistaken in their application of this
prophecy.
The clause in the 8th verse, ' he was cut off
' out of the land of the living, ' cannot possibly
apply to the nation of Israel : neither can the
phrase in the 9th verse, ' he made his grave
' with the wicked, and with the rich in his
' death;' for these are things that cannot be
affirmed of a nation : and if it be said that
these expressions are figurative, the reply is,
that they still cannot apply to the Jews, who.
though led captive in all nations, are preserved
from destruction, and are destined, by provi-
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 87
deuce, to be raised to glory and happiness
at a future, and, probably, not very remote
period.
It does not characterize the Jewish nation,
that they ' have done no violence, neither was
4 deceit found in their mouth. ' On the con-
trary, it is testified against them, by God him-
self, that they ' filled their land with violence.'
(Ezek. viii. 17-) And if, in this and all the fore-
going particulars, the prophecy will not answer
to the character of the Jews, it follows that it
has no relation whatever to their sufferings.
I would now proceed to examine whether
the prophecy was not fulfilled minutely in the
life, the sufferings, and death of Jesus. I
think it impossible for any unprejudiced person
to read the four gospels attentively, without
feeling a conviction that Jesus was a preacher of
righteousness. To prove how 7 often he preached
righteousness, it would be necessary to tran-
scribe a great part of the gospels ; I shall
therefore content myself with quoting a few
passages, earnestly beseeching the Jews to
88 feEMARKS tPON
judge for themselves in this matter, by an atten-
tive perusal of the gospels.
' Blessed are the poor in spirit ; for theirs
' is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they
6 that mourn ; for they shall be comforted.
' Blessed are the meek ; for they shall inherit
' the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger
' and thirst after righteousness ; for they shall
' be filled. Blessed are the merciful ; for they
' shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in
' heart ; for they shall see God. Blessed are
' the peace-makers ; for they shall be called
* the children of God. Blessed are they which
4 are persecuted for righteousness' sake ; for
* theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ' ' Ye have
' heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love
' thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I
' say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them
' that curse you, do good to them that hate
' you, and pray for them which despitefully
* use you, and persecute you ; that ye may be
4 the children of your Father which is in heaven ;
' for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil, and
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 89
4 on the good, and sendeth rain on the just, and
' on the unjust. For if ye love them which
' love you, what reward have ye? do not even
' the publicans the same? And if ye salute
' your brethren only, what do you more than
4 others ? do not even the publicans so ? Be
' ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which
' is in heaven is perfect.' (Matt, v.)
' Not every one that saith unto me, Lord,
' Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven ;
' but he that doeth the will of my Father which
' is in heaven. Many will say unto me in that
' day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in
' thy name ? and in thy name have cast out
' devils? and in thy name done many wonderful
' works? And then will I profess unto them,
' I never knew you : depart from me, ye that
' work iniquity. Therefore, whosoever heareth
' these sayings of mine, arid doeth them, I will
' liken him unto a wise man, which built his
' house upon a rock : and the rain descended,
4 and the floods came, and the winds blew, and
' beat upon that house ; and it fell not, for it
90 REMARKS UPON
' was founded upon a rock. And every one
' that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth
' them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man,
' which built his house upon the sand : and
' the rain descended, and the floods came, and
4 the winds blew, and beat upon that house;
' and it fell, and great was the fall of it. '
(Matt, vii.)
* But when the Pharisees had heard that he
' had put the Sadducees to silence, they were
' gathered together. Then one of them, which
4 was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting
' him, and saying, Master, which is the great
' commandment in the law ? Jesus said unto
1 him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with
' all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with
' ail thy mind. This is the first and great coin-
' mandment. And the second is like unto it,
' Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On
' these two commandments hang all the law
' and the prophets. ' (Matt, xxii.)
' And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up and
* tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do
LEVl'S DISSERTATIONS. Ql
' to inherit eternal life ? He said unto him,
' What is written in the law ? How readest
4 thou ? And he, answering, said, Thou shalt
' love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
4 and with all thy soul, and with all thy
' strength, and with all thy mind ; and thy
4 neighbour as thyself. And he said unto him,
' Thou hast answered right ; this do, and thou
' shalt live. But he, willing to justify himself,
' said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
' and Jesus, answering, said, A certain man
' went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and
' fell among thieves, which stripped him of his
' raiment, and wounded him, and departed.
' leaving him half dead : and by chance there
' came a certain priest that way ; and when he
' saw r him, he passed by on the other side.
' And likewise a Levite, when he was at
4 the place, came and looked on him, and
' passed by on the other side. But a certain
' Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he
' was; and when he sa\v him, he had compas-
' sion on him; and went to him, and bound
' up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and
8 set him on his own beast, and brought him
' to an inn, and took care of him. And on the
' morrow, when he departed, he took out two-
' pence, and gave them to the host, and said
4 unto him, Take care of him ; and whatever
' thou spendest more, when I come I will repay
' thee. Which now of these three thinkest
' thou was neighbour unto him that fell among
' the thieves ? and he said, He that showed
4 mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him,
' Go thou, and do likewise. ' (Luke x.)
That Jesus was not only a preacher, but a
doer of righteousness, is evinced in every part
of the evangelical history. His whole public
ministry was a course of unwearied, and per-
severing, and ardent charity, to the souls and
bodies of men, as well as of piety to God.
Even his enemies and murderers could not prove
any crime or fault against him. He himself
said to the Jews, ' Which of you convinceth me
' of sin:' (John viii. 46.) It is evident, from
the history of his condemnation by the Sanhe-
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 93
drim, that they were destitute even of a pretext
for putting him to death : they could allege no
crime against him, excepting that of his con-
fessing himself to be the Messiah, the Son of
God. (See John xix. 7-)
Mat. xxvi. o9. ' Now, the chief priests and
' elders, and all the council, sought false witness
' against Jesus to put him to death, but found
' none : yea, though many false witnesses came,
' yet found they none. At the last came two
' false witnesses, and said, This (fellow) said, I
' am able to destroy the temple of God, and to
' build it in three days. And the high priest
' arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou
'nothing? what is it which these witness
' against thee ? But Jesus held his peace. And
' the high priest answered and said unto him, I
c adjure thee, by the living God, that thou tell
' us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of
' God. Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said :
' nevertheless, I say unto you, Hereafter shall
4 ye see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand
' of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
94 REMARKS UPON
' Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying,
4 He hath spoken blasphemy ; what further
' need have we of witnesses? Behold, now ye
' have heard his blasphemy. What think ye ?
' They answered and said, He is guilty of
' death. '
Matth. xxvii. ' When the morning was
' come, all the chief priests and elders of the
' people took counsel against Jesus, to put him
* to death: and when they had bound him, they
' led him away, and delivered him to Pontius
' Pilate, the governor. Then Judas, which had
' betrayed him, when he saw that he was con-
' demned, repented himself, and brought again
' the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests
' and elders, saying, I have sinned, in that 1
' have betrayed the innocent blood. And they
' said, What is that to us ? See thou to it.
' And he cast down the pieces of silver in the
' temple, and departed, and went and hanged
' himself. '
' And Jesus stood before the governor ; and
the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 95
c king of the Jews ? And Jesus said unto him,
' Thou sayest. And when he was accused of
4 the chief priests and elders, he answered no-
c thing. Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest
' thou not how many things they witness
' against thee? And he answered him to never a
O
' word, insomuch that the governor marvelled
' greatly. Now, at the feast, the governor was
4 wont to release unto the people a prisoner,
' whom they would. And they had then a
' notable prisoner, called Barabbas. Therefore,
' when they were gathered together, Pilate said
' unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto
' you ? Barabbas, or Jesus, which is called
' Christ? For he knew that for envy they had
c delivered him. When he was sat down on the
' judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying,
' Have thou nothing to do with that just man;
' for I have suffered many things this day in a
' dream because of him. But the chief priests
' and the elders persuaded the multitude that
' they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus.
; The governor answered and said unto them,
96 REMARKS UPON
' Whether of the twain will ye that I release
* unto you ? They said, Barabbas. Pilate saith
* unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus,
' which is called Christ? They all say unto
' him, Let him be crucified. And the governor
' said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they
' cried out the more, saying, Let him be cru-
' cified. When Pilate saw that he could prevail
' nothing, but that rather a tumult was made,
4 he took water, and washed his hands before
' the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the
' blood of this just person; see ye to it. Then
* answered all the people, and said, His blood be
' on us, and on our children. Then released he
'Barabbas unto them; and when he had
* scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be cruci-
' fied. >
My purpose, in giving the preceding quota-
tions, is to show, that of the three parties con-
cerned in the murder of Jesus, viz. Judas, his
betrayer; the chief priests, his accusers ; and
Pilate, his judge ; the first and the last pro-
nounced him completely innocent : and the se-
LEVI'S DISSERTATIONS. 97
cond had no charge whatever to prefer against
him, but that one already mentioned, viz. that he
professed himself to be the Messiah. This is
evident from the proceedings of the Sanhedrim ;
for, though they ' sought false witness against
' him, they found none ; ' and it was not till he
confessed himself to be the Son of God, that the
' high priest rent his clofctlis, saying, He hath
* spoken blasphemy ; what further need have we
c of witnesses ? J The same thing is evident
from John xix. 6, 7, ' Pilate saith unto them,
c Take ye him, and crucify him, for I find no
4 fault in him. The Jews answered him, We
' have a law, and by our law he ought to die,
* because he made himself the Son of God.'
Now, it is quite obvious, that, in order to
prove that Jesus was guilty of falsehood and
blasphemy, in confessing himself to be the
Messiah, it was necessary that the Sanhedrim
should have convicted him either of leading the
people away from the worship of God, (see
Deut. xiii. 1 5.) or of uttering false predic-
tions. (Deut. xviii. 20 22.) ' But the pro-
H
98 REMARKS UPON
* phet which shall presume to speak a word in
* my name, which I have not commanded him
* to speak, or that shall speak in the name of
4 other gods, even that prophet shall die; and if
* thou say in thine heart, How shall we know
the word which the Lord hath not spoken ?
* When a prophet speaketh in the name of the
* Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass,
4 that is the thing which the Lord hath not
4 spoken ; but the prophet hath spoken it pre-
4 sumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of
4 him.'
Did the Sanhedrim institute an inquiry into
the pretensions of Jesus upon these principles,
by which they were bound to be guided, as being
a part of the law of Moses ? It is evident that
they did not. They neither convicted Jesus
of false doctrines, nor of false predictions.
They could not call in question the spotless
innocency of his life ; nor can the modern Jews
prove that the Sanhedrim did, upon this occa-
sion, pay the smallest attention to the com-
mands of the law. It follows, therefore, (even
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 99
upon the supposition which is most favourable
to the Sanhedrim,) that they condemned Jesus
without any evidence whatever of his guilt;
i. e. they were (even on the supposition of his
being an impostor,) guilty of a judicial murder,
by condemning him as such without evidence.
But O ! if it be indeed true, as we Christians
believe, that he was the promised Messiah, how
awful is the load of guilt which this act of the
Sanhedrim entailed on the Jewish nation ! ' His
'blood' (said the Jews) 'be on us, and our
' children:' that blood does still lie upon them
as a curse, and will do so, ' till they shall look
' on him whom they have pierced, and mourn
' for him as for an only son ; and shall be in
' bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness
' for his firstborn.' (Zech. xii.)
As, therefore, we have seen that Jesus was a
preacher of righteousness ; that his whole mini-
stry was a course of active beneficence to the souls
and bodies of men ; and that his greatest enemies,
the Jewish Sanhedrim, with all the advantages
they possessed from their official situation, could
H 2
100 REMARKS UPON
prove nothing against him ; and, as we have
further seen, that both his betrayer^ Judas, and
his judge, Pilate, pronounced him innocent; it
follows that, in every respect, his character and
conduct showed him to be ' the righteous ser-
' vant of God;' which is the great characteristi-
cal mark of the person described in Isaiah liii.
The next feature of character belonging to the
person who is mentioned in Isaiah liii., is, as we
have seen, that his sufferings are expiatory; and
submitted to by him for the sins of others, arid
not for his own. ' He was wounded for our
* transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, the
' chastisement of our peace was upon him, and
' with his stripes we are healed. We all, like
4 sheep, have gone astray, &c. ; and the Lord
* hath laid, or caused to meet on him, the ini-
4 quity of us all.* And, in the concluding verse
it is said, that ' he bare the sin of many. * Now,
it deserves particular consideration, that the
Hebrew word here used for he bare, is precisely
the same which, in Leviticus xvi. 22, is applied
to the bearing away the sins of the children of
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 101
Israel by the scape-goat. In Isaiah liii. 12, the
phrase is MM DU"| NZDnand in Leviticus xvi. 22,
it is D/W~^3~~.nN ?ty TjnOT MM1 The inference
is, that the bearing of sin, in both passages, has
the same meaning; and it is natural also to sup-
pose, that the scape-goat was a type of the
righteous person mentioned in Isaiah liii., who
was, in the proper sense of the word, to bear the
sins of many.
Let us now compare the doctrines of the
New Testament, with respect to the sufferings
of Jesus, with the foregoing prophecy. Does
Isaiah say of the righteous servant of God that
' he bare the sin of many?' The New Testa-
ment testifies the same of Jesus, (John i. 29.)
' The next day, John seeth Jesus coming unto
; him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God,
which taketh away the sin of the world.'
(Matth. xx. 28.) * The Son of man came not
to be ministered unto, but to minister; and to
; give his life a ransom for many.' (Rom. v. 6.)
' For when we were yet without strength, in
' due time Christ died for the ungodly.' (1 Pet.
102 REMARKS UPON
ii. 21.) ' Christ also suffered for us, leaving us
c an example that ye should follow his steps ;
' who did no sin, neither was guile found in his
' mouth.' * Who, his own self, bare our sins on
' his own body on the tree, that we, being dead
' to sin, should live unto righteousness ; by
1 whose stripes ye were healed. For ye were as
' sheep going astray; but are now returned
' unto the shepherd and bishop of your souls/
Isaiah says of the righteous servant of God,
(liii. 10.) ' It pleased the Lord to bruise him ; he
' hath put him to grief. ' The New Testament
says, (Rom. viii. 32.) ' He that spared not his
' own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how
' shall he not with him also freely give us all
' things?' (1 John iv. 9.) ' In this was mani-
' fested the love of God towards us, because
* that God sent his only begotten Son into the
' world, that we might live through him.
' Herein is love, not that we loved God, but
' that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the
' propitiation for our sins.'
Isaiah says, ' he bare the sin of many; and
LEVI S DISSERTATIONS. 103
' made intercession for the transgressors. 3 St.
Paul says, (1 Tim. ii. 5, 6.) ' For there is one
' God, and one Mediator between God and
1 man, the man Christ Jesus ; who gave him-
1 self a ransom for all, to be testified in due
c time. 5 (Heb. ix. 26.) ' But now, once in the
* end of the world hath he appeared, to put
' away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as
' it is appointed unto men once to die, but after
4 death the judgment; so Christ was once
' offered to bear the sins of many ; and unto
' them that look for him shall he appear the se-
' cond time, without sin, unto salvation. 5 St.
Peter says, (1 Pet. iii. 18.) ' For Christ
4 also hath once suffered for sins, the just
- for the unjust ; that he might bring us to
God. 5
Isaiah says, (liii. 9-) ' He made his grave with
4 the wicked, and with the rich, in his death.'
We are informed by the evangelists, that Jesus
was crucified in a place called Golgotha, or the
place of a skull ; which was probably so called
from its being the place of burial for the male-
104 REMARKS UPON
factors who had been executed there. * St.
John further says, (ch. xix. 41, and 42.) ' Now,
4 in the place where Jesus was crucified, there
* was a garden, and in this garden a new sepul-
' chre, wherein was never man yet laid ; there
' laid they Jesus therefore, because of the Jews'
c preparation, for the sepulchre was nigh at
' hand.'
4 Here, then, we may see and admire the exact
* completion of this famous prophecy of Isaiah,
' He made his grave with the wicked, and with
4 the rich, in his death. He was buried like the
4 wicked companions of his death, under the
' general leave granted to the Jews for taking
* down their bodies from the cross ; and was,
' like them, buried in, or near the place of exe-
* cution.
4 But here the distinction, foreseen and fore-
4 told many hundred years before, took place in
4 favour of Jesus; who, though numbered with
* See West on the Resurrection, Sec. xviii. page 209.
LEVI S DISSERTATIONS. 10.5
' the transgressors, had done no violence, neither
4 was there any deceit in his mouth; for Joseph
' of Arimathea, a rich man, and an honourable
' counsellor, (Matth. xxvii. 57. Markxv. 43.
' John xix. 38.) and Nicodemus, a man of the
' Pharisees, a ruler of the Jews, a master of Israel,
* conspired to make his grave with the rich, by
' wrapping his body in linen cloaths, with a mix-
' ture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred
' pounds weight, and lay ing it in anew sepulchre,
' hewed or hollowed into a rock, which Joseph
' of Arimathea had caused to be made for his
' own use; circumstances which evidently show,
' that he was not only buried by the rich, but
' like the rich also, according to the prophecy. '
(West on the Resurrection, page 210.)
Isaiah says, (i-er. 12.) ' Therefore will I
' divide him a portion with the great, and he
4 shall divide the spoil with the strong; because
' he hath poured out his soul unto death. ' St.
Paul says of Jesus, (Phil. ii. 8.) ' Being found
' in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and
* became obedient unto death, even the death of
106 REMARKS UPON
* the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly
4 exalted him, and given him a name which is
* above every name ; that at the name of Jesus
c every knee should bow ; of (things) in heaven,
' and in earth, and under the earth : and that
' every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ
4 is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. ' The
same doctrine respecting Jesus is taught through-
out the whole of the New Testament. (Matth.
xxviii. 18.) ' And Jesus came and spake unto
e them, saying, All power is given unto me in
* heaven and in earth/ (See Acts ii. 33. iii.
21. Heb. i. 3.)
Finally, Isaiah says, ' he was numbered with
' the transgressors;' and the evangelists tell that
4 there were two thieves crucified with Jesus,
4 the one on his right hand, the other on his left.'
(Matth. xxvii. 38.) Isaiah tells us, ' he made
4 intercession for the transgressors;' and Luke
informs us, (xxiii. 34.) that Jesus made inter-
cession for his murderers, saying, ' Father, for-
' give them, for they know not what they do.'
We are also told in Heb. vii. 25, that Jesus
LEVl's 7DISSERTATIONS. 107
* ever liveth to make intercession for them that
* come unto God by him.'
I have thus shown, that there is the most
exact coincidency between this prophecy of
Isaiah, and the life, and sufferings, and death,
the character, and offices of Jesus, as described
in the New Testament; and this, not in one
particular, but in all. Now, as God knoweth,
and ' declareth the end from the beginning, and
' from ancient times things that are not yet
4 done, ' (Isaiah xlvi. 10.) it follows, that this
coincidency must have been foreknown by the
Lord when he inspired his servant Isaiah to
utter this prophecy; and, consequently, that it
must have been designed by Him. Therefore,
God did, in this passage, design to describe
Jesus as his righteous servant, who should, by
his sufferings, atone for our iniquities. Conse-
quently, as Jesus is the righteous servant of
God, we must receive his testimony concerning
himself; and it follows that he is the Messiah.
Oh that there were such a heart in every
one of the children of Abraham who may read
108 REMARKS UPON
these pages, as to lead them seriously to pray to
the God of theirfathers, the God of Abraham,
of Isaac, and of Jacob, that he would give them
a heart rightly to understand this prophecy of
Isaiah ! Then I have no doubt that the pro-
phecy of Zechariah xii. 10 14, would also be
very soon fulfilled with respect to them. I
would now conclude this chapter in the words
of the pious psalmist, * O that the salvation of
- Israel were come out of Zion ! When the
' Lord bringeth back the captivity of his people,
* Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad. '
LEV! S DISSERTATIONS.
109
CHAP. V.
THE SAME SUB.JECT CONTINUED.
IN the twenty-second Psalm, David, speaking
in the first person, describes a series of the most
dreadful sufferings, which correspond, in the
most particular and minute manner, with the
sufferings of Jesus, as related by the evangelists.
I shall place the following quotations from the
psalmist and the evangelists, in opposite co-
lumns, that the reader may the more easily dis-
cern the exact correspondence between them.
Psalm, ver. 6. ' I am a
* worm, and no man ; a re-
* proach of men, and d,e-
* spised of the people. '
Matth. xxvi. 67. ' Then
* did they spit in his face,
' aud buffeted him ; and
' others smote him with
' the palms of their hands,
' saying, Prophesy unto
' us, tfoou Christ : who is
he that smote thee ? '
110
Psalm, ver. 7- ' All they
' that see me. laugh me to
1 scorn : they shoot out the
lip, they shake the head,
4 saying, He trusted in the
* Lord that he would deli-
* ver him ; let him deliver
' him, seeing he delighted
' in him.'
Psalm, ver. 14. ' 1 am
' poured out like water,
* and all my bones are out
* of joint : my heart is like
Matth. xxvii. 39. ' They
' that passed by reviled
' him, wagging their heads,
' and saying, Thou that
* destroy est the temple,
' and buildest it in three
'days, save thyself: if
* thou be the Son of God,
* come down from the
* cross. Likewise, also, the
' chief priests, mocking
' (him) with the elders and
* scribes, said, He saved
* others, himself he cannot
' save : if he be the king
' of Israel, let him now
* come down from the
* cross, and we will believe
him. He trusted in God ;
' let him deliver him now,
' if he will have him, for
' he said, I am the Son of
< God. '
Matth. xxvii. 27- ' Then
' the soldiers of the gover-
4 nor took Jesus into the
' common hall, and ga-
LEVI S DISSERTATIONS.
Ill
* wax ; it is melted in the
* midst of my bowels. My
' strength is dried up like
* a potsherd ; and my
* tongue cleaveth unto my
' jaws ; and thou hast
' brought me into the dust
' of death. For dogs have
' compassed me ; the as-
* sembly of the wicked
' have inclosed me : they
* pierced my hands and my
' feet. I may tell all my
* bones : they look and
' stare on me. They part
' my garments among
' them, and cast lots upon
' my vesture. '
thered unto him the
' whole band of soldiers.
' And they stripped him,
' and put on him a scarlet
' robe. And when they
had platted a crown of
' thorns, they put it upon
' his head, and a reed in
' his right hand ; and they
' bowed the knee before
' him, and mocked him,
* saying, Hail ! king of the
1 Jews ! And they spit
' upon him ; and took the
' reed, and smote him on
' the head. And after
' that they had mocked
' him, they took the robe
' off from him, and put his
* own raiment on him, and
* led him away to crucify
' him. (John xix. 23.)
' Then the soldiers, when
' they had crucified Jesus,
* took his garments, ami
* made four parts, to every
' soldier a part ; and also
112
REMARKS UPON
his coat : now the coat
' was without seam, woven
4 from the top throughout.
* They said, therefore,
' among themselves, Let
* us not rend it, but cast
* lots for it whose it shall
be ; that the Scripture
' might be fulfilled, which
saith, They parted my
' raiment among them, and
* for my vesture they did
' cast lots : these things,
' therefore, the soldiers
< did.'
As we read of nothing in the history of
David's life, which at all corresponds with the
language of this Psalm, we must conclude, that
though the psalmist here speaks in the first
person, yet the Spirit of God, who inspired him
to express himself as above, had some other
person in view; and when we see how exactly
the language corresponds with the history given
us by the evangelists, of the last sufferings of
Jesus, we cannot avoid coming to the conclu-
LEVI S DISSERTATIONS. 113
sion, that Jesus and his sufferings are here
spoken of. At least, if the Jews deny this,
they must produce some other individual to
whose history the description may answer
better.
There are various other passages in the pro-
phets which were fulfilled in Jesus. (Zechariah
ix. 9.) ' Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion !
' shout, O daughter of Jerusalem ! Behold, thy
< king cometh unto thee: he is just, and having
* salvation ; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and
4 upon a colt, the foal of an ass. ' This predic-
tion was fulfilled in Jesus, (Matth. xxi. 6.)
' And the disciples went, and did as Jesus com-
* manded them ; and brought the ass and the
1 colt, and put on them their clofcih^, and they
' set him thereon. And a very great multitude
' spread their garments in the way ; others cut
' down branches from the trees, and strawed
* them in the way. And the multitudes that
* went before, and that followed, cried, saying,
' Hosanna to the Son of David ! Blessed is he
' that cometh in the name of the Lord ! Hosan-
i
114 REMARKS UPON
e na in the highest! And when he was come
' into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying,
c Who is this ? And the multitude said, This
4 is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth of Ga-
' lilee. '
It may be remarked, that the Hebrew word
*& which our translators render ' lowly 9 ' in the
foregoing passage of Zechariah, signifies likewise
' afflicted; 1 * (see Parkhurst on the word rtiy) the
clause might, therefore, without violence to the
original, be rendered, ' Behold, thy king cometh
' unto thee, just, and having salvation; he (is)
' afflicted, and riding upon an ass, even upon a
' colt, the foal of an ass. J To show with
what minute accuracy the prophecy was fulfilled
in Jesus, we have only to turn to Luke's
* j# seems to signify uny kind of distress which op-
presses or depresses a man. It is translated poor in Deut.
xxiv. 12, 14, 15. It is used in Exod. iii. 7, to express the
oppression and affliction of Israel in the land of Egypt :
perhaps it is best rendered in English by a complex term,
oppressed with affliction) or poverty.
LEVls DISSERTATIONS.
Gospel, (xix. 41.) where we are told in what
manner he was aftlicted when he approached
the holy city. ' And when he was come near, he
' beheld the city, and wept over it, saying, If
' thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this
' thy day, the things that belong to thy peace !
' but now they are hid from thine eyes : for the
' days shall come upon thee that thine enemies
' shall cast a trench about thee, and compass
'thee round, and keep thee in on every side;
' and shall lay thee even with the ground, and
' thy children within thee ; and they shall not
' leave in thee one stone upon another ; because
' thou knewest not the time of thy visitation/
It was foretold by the prophet Haggai, that
the Messiah was to appear during the standing
of the second temple, (ii. 6.) ' For thus saith
< the Lord, yet once, it is a little while, and I
' will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the
' sea, and the dry land ; and I will shake all na-
' tions ; and the desire of all nations shall
4 come ; and I will fill this house with glory,
' saith the Lord of hosts. The silver is mine,
i 2
116 REMARKS UPON
4 and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts.
4 The glory of this latter house shall be greater
* than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts;
1 and in this place will I give peace, saith the
' Lord of hosts. '
If the Jews, about the time that Jesus ap-
peared, did not understand this prophecy as
foretelling the advent of the Messiah while the
second temple was standing ; and if they did
not understand Daniel's famous prophecy of the
seventy weeks as Christians now do, it seems
very difficult, if not impossible, to account for
the universal expectation which they then in-
dulged, of the immediate coming of the Mes-
siah. That such an expectation was prevalent
among them is evident, not only from the
evangelical history, but also from the testimony
of Sfcuetonius and Tacitus, who agree in affirm-
ing, that there was an opinion spread through
the whole East, that at that very time some
person was to arise in Judea, who should
obtain the empire of the world. But, if such
was the opinion of the Jews, it supports the
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 117
pretensions of Jesus : and, if that was the
time appointed for the appearance of the Mes-
siah, no other person but Jesus did appear, who
could have any pretensions to that character,
and the Jews look in vain for the appearance
of another Messiah now; and it is only by
complying with the prediction of Zechariah
xii. 10 14, that they will be enabled to dis-
cover the true Messiah.
The shaking of the heavens, and earth, and sea,
and dry land, mentioned by the prophet Haggai,
in the above passage, seems to refer to the over-
throw of the Persian empire by Alexander the
Great, which took place in about two centuries
from the time of this prophecy ; for it is by
such symbols that the prophets describe the
revolutions of states and empires. By the shak-
ing of all nations, mentioned in the seventh
verse, the Spirit of God seems to intend the
overthrow of the Macedonian empire, and the
conquest of Syria and Judea by the Romans,
and those dreadful wars and commotions which
accompanied these events, and took place im-
118 REMARKS UPON
mediately before the coming of Jesus. It was
after this shaking that Jesus appeared in the
world ; and the evangelist, having related his
entry into Jerusalem, riding upon an ass,
(Matth. xxi.) thus describes his appearance in
the temple. ' And Jesus went into the temple
' of God, and cast out all them that bought and
' sold in the temple ; and overthrew the tables
' of the money-changers, and the seats of them
' that sold doves ; and said unto them, It is
' written, My house shall be called the house of
' prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.
' And the blind and the lame came to him in
4 the temple, and he healed them. And when
' the chief priests and scribes saw the woncler-
4 ful things that he did, and the children crying
' in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son
' of David ! they were sore displeased, and said
' unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And
' Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never
; read, Out ot the mouths of babes and suck-
' lings thou hast perfected praise ?'
Thus, by the appearance of Jesus, the Mes-
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 119
siah, in the second temple, before his last suffer-
ings and death, that temple acquired a greater
glory than the one built by Solomon. There is
no other way by which the second temple,
which had not the Shechinah, or the Ark of
the Covenant, or the Tables of the Law, or the
Urim and Thummim, or the Holy Fire, can be
shown to have had a greater glory than the first
temple, which was glorified by all these
emblems of the divine presence and favour;
for it is not in the external ornaments of gold
and silver that the glory of either temple did
consist, but in the presence of the Almighty,
and the visible emblems of his favour and pro-
tection.
120 REMARKS UPON
CHAP. VI.
ARGUMENT THAT JESUS IS THE MESSIAH, FROM THE PRE-
SENT STATE OF THE JEWS AND OF THE CHRISTIAN
GENTILES.
IF Jesus be the Messiah, then it follows,
that all the Gentiles who believe on him are
now the people of God ; and that the Jews,
by crucifying the Messiah, and still continuing
to reject him, have ceased to be in a covenant
relation with the God of their fathers.
On the other hand, if Jesus be not the Mes-
siah, but either an enthusiast, or an impostor,
then his followers, who acknowledge him as the
Messiah, and worship him as God, one and
equal with the Father, are, by so doing, guilty
both of blasphemy and idolatry : and it follows,
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 1*21
upon this supposition, that the Gentile nations,
who have embraced the religion of Jesus, are
not the people of God ; and that the Jews, who
yet wait for the true Messiah, are the only
people who can be said to continue in the wor-
ship of the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and
Jacob : i. e. they are, on this hypothesis, still
the people of God ; for it will not be denied
that the true worshippers of God, and those
who believe in, and embrace the promises made
in his written word, are his people.
It is my design, in this chapter, to examine
which of these conclusions is most agreeable
~
to the language of the Hebrew Scriptures, and
to the present state of the Jewish nation. But,
previous to this, I shall endeavour to show
what are the sentiments of David Levi upon
this point.
Levi does, in his work on the prophecies,
expressly admit, " that it was for their enormous
" wickedness that the Jews were removed from
"their own land;" (Vol. I. page 43 62.)
yet he elsewhere maintains, (Vol. 1. page 266.)
REMARKS UPON
" That God hath chosen Israel for his glory ;
" to lutnd down I lie knowledge of Ins unity among
" the nations hitherto ; and, at their restoration,
" to be the means of bringing all mankind to
" the true knowledge of Cod." And, in Vol. I.
pages .52, o3, and 223 ; and Vol. It. page 23o,
he represents the Jews as worshipping the one
true God the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and
Jacob ; and that their dreadful persecutions
and massacres have been endured because of
their adherence to the doctrine of the pure
unity of God, so strongly inculcated in the
Mosaic dispensation, in opposition to every
other doctrine, and particularly to the Christian
doctrine, of a plurality of persons in the God-
head. I therefore understand Levi as main-
taining, that, throughout the whole period of
their captivity, the Jews have been the only
true worshippers of the God of their fathers:
and as all the relations between God and man
are mutual, it follows, upon this supposition,
that as the Jews have been the only true wor-
shippers of God. lie, on the other hand, has
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 123
been to them as their God, and they have been
his people. It also follows, that the Christian
Gentiles, being- corrupters of the doctrine of the
pure unity, and worshippers of a deceiver or
enthusiast, God has never stood in a covenant
relation towards them, and they have never
been his people. Having thus seen what is
the opinion of David Levi, and the conse-
quences of his opinion, I shall proceed to ex-
amine how far it is agreeable to the Hebrew
Scriptures.
In a preceding- chapter, various passages
were quoted from the Hebrew Scriptures, to
show that the cause of the Jews being led into
their present long and dreadful captivity, was
their having grievouslv sinned against the Lord
c O
their God. I shall now bring forward such
passages as seem most directly to bear upon
the question, & . whether the Jews have,
during their long captivity, been the true wor-
shippers of Goci ? And here I would premise,
that, to worship God, to serve God, to seek, or
to obev, or love, or know God, are all terms.
124 REMARKS UPOX
which, in the Scripture language, are nearly
synonymous : at least, any one of these actions
or affections certainly implies, in itself, all the
rest ; and, on the other hand, the negation of
any one of them implies the absence of all.
Moses prophesied as follows, in Deuter. xxx.
' And it shall come to pass, when all these
' things are come upon thee, the blessing and
4 the curse, which I have set before thee, and
' thou shalt call (them) to mind among all
1 the nations whither the Lord thy God hath
' driven thee ; and shalt return unto the Lord
' thy God, and shalt obey his voice, accord-
' ing to all that I command thee this day,
c thou, and thy children, with all thy heart,
' and with' all thy soul, that then the Lord
' thy God will turn thy captivity, &c. ' (ver. 6.)
' And the Lord thy God will circumcise thy
' heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the
' Lord thy God with all thy heart, and all thy
' soul, that thou mayest live. '
The inference I draw from the above passage,
is this: as the restoration of the children of
LEVI'S DISSERTATIONS. 125
Israel from their long and dreadful captivity,
is to take place as soon as they return unto the
Lord their God, and not before, it follows,
that, during this captivity, they have been
afar off from God ; for a people that is already
near to God, cannot be called upon to return to
him. Now, to be afar off from God necessarily
includes in it the absence of his true fear, and
love, and worship, from the heart of those
who are thus afar off. Therefore, as the Jews
have been, during their long captivity, and
still are, afar off from God, it follows that
they have not, and do not, truly love and
worship him ; and, consequently, they do riot
know him. And hence we may see the suita-
bleness to their present condition, of the promise
contained in Hosea ii. 20, that the children of
Israel shall, upon their return from captivity,
* know the Lord. '
From this we may also see the absurdity of
the reasoning of David Levi, in Vol. I. page 32,
of his Dissertations ; for he there represents
one party among the Jews as having " con-
126 REMARKS UPON
" stantly adhered to the true faith, " and' al-
ways continued in the covenant ; and yet he
says that this party of true worshippers are,
at the period of their restoration, to return to
God by a sincere repentance in a public manner .
But if they have always adhered to the true
faith, and to the covenant, then they have
always been near to 'God; and there can be
no need of a public and solemn returning to
God, such as is necessary for those w r ho have
apostatized. According to Levi, the Christian
nations, among whom these Jews dwell, have
corrupted the doctrine of the pure unity of the
Godhead; and the Jews are witnesses and
martvrs for this true doctrine. Now, if Levi
ft/
were right in this opinion, we certainly might
have expected that the restoration of the Jews
to their own land would have been promised
to them, not upon their returning to God,
(for, on this hypothesis, they have never de-
parted from God,) but as a reward for their
long and faithful adherence to the worship
and the covenant, of God. in the midst of the
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 127
most trying and adverse circumstances. The
language of Moses is, therefore, quite inconsis-
tent with the scheme of David Levi ; for, by
promising their restoration upon their return to
God, it supposes that they have departed from
God, and from his covenant.
There is a passage in the xxviii. of Deu-
teronomy, the 28th and 29th verses, which is
no less inconsistent with Levi's scheme. It
is as follows: ' The Lord shall smite thee
' with madness, and blindness, and astonish-
' ment of heart ; and thou shalt grope at noon
* day, as the blind gropeth in darkness. ' This
is one of the judgments denounced against
the children of Israel for their disobedience :
and the only question which arises in consider-
ing the passage, is, What is the nature of the
blindness here threatened ?
The following is Levi's explanation of the
blindness mentioned in the first clause of
Isaiah xxxv. o, ' Then shall the eyes of the
' blind be opened. ' " In this figurative lan-
" guage," (says Levi,) " the prophet, in a most
128 REMARKS UPON
" masterly manner, has drawn an exact picture
" of the state of the (Jewish) nation during this
" dreadful captivity ; for, on account of the
" great troubles they have undergone, they
" may be said to be blind ; their sight being
" darkened, as it were, by the excessive
" afflictions which they have suffered ; dark-
" ness being an emblem of affliction. "
In his remarks upon Isaiah xlii., (Dissert.
Vol. I. page 256.) and particularly on that part
of the Messiah's office which relates to his
opening the blind eyes, (see ver. 7,) Levi has,
however, adopted a very different explanation
of the blindness there mentioned, and which he,
very properly, refers to the Gentiles. " Here"
(says Levi,) " the proper office of the Messiah
" is clearly shown, in respect to the nations,
" (Gentiles,) who may justly be said to be in
" a state of spiritual blindness, on account of
" their not having a clear idea of the truth and
" unity of God : he is therefore to enlighten
" them, and open their eyes to the truth."
It thus appears, that when blindness is pre-
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 129
dieted of his own nation (the Jews) in the
prophetical writings, David Levi explains the
term as denoting the " effects of the excessive
"afflictions they have undergone; darkness
" being an emblem of affliction ; " but when
blindness is predicted of the Gentiles, he
explains it as denoting " a state of spiritual
" blindness, on account of their not having
" a clear idea of the truth and unity of God ! "
We of the Gentiles have no objections to this
interpretation, in so far as it respects ourselves.
We acknowledge, with the deepest gratitude
to God, that we were blind, and did sit in
darkness, worshipping the works of our own
hands, and devils; but, blessed be God, that
' the Day Spring from on high hath visited us,
' to give light to us who did sit in darkness,
4 and in the shadow of death; to guide our
4 feet in the way of peace. ' We acknowledge
that Jesus, the Messiah, did open our blind
eyes by the light of his glorious gospel,
whereby he hath called all who believe in his
name from darkness into his marvellous light ;
K
130 REMARKS UPON
and we produce this, as an incontrovertible
argument, that He is the true Messiah. But
we demand of David Levi, upon what prin-
ciples of just and fair interpretation of the
prophetical writings does he understand blind-
ness, when predicted of the Jews, to mean one
thing ; and, when predicted of the Gentiles,
to mean quite a different thing? -'If this be
allowable, then we rm<y make any thing we
please of prophecy, and turn and twist it just
as it suits our purpose . If this be allowable,
it destroys every principle of certain interpreta-
tion, and we degrade the word of Jehovah him-
self to a level with the abominable quibbles of
the Delphic oracles .
David Levi complains, I think with great
reason, (Dissert. Vol. I. page 129.) of the
unfairness of those interpreters, among Chris-
tians, who " explain the prophecies which
" foretel the calamities of the Jews, in a literal
" sense, and those which speak of their future
*' felicity, in a spiritual, and mystical sense."
" It is not a little pleasant," (says Levi,) " to
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 131
" observe the great kindness of Christians
" towards us in this respect; for they are
" extremely ready and willing to grant us the
" entire and undisturbed possession of all the
"evils foretold us; which, indeed, we have
" fully experienced for upwards of seventeen
" hundred years ; whilst they, with equal gene-
Ci rosity, apply to themselves all the glorious
" promises, which, with equal certainty, pre-
" diet our future happiness in the latter days.
" This is kind indeed ! and for which, I am
" sorry to say, our nation in general, and my-
" self in particular, are not quite so thankful,
" as, perhaps, might be expected of us ! " &c.
The writer of these pages is happy to be
able to express his perfect concurrence with
the learned Jew in the above sentiments ;
but he would put t home to every candid Jew,
whether Levi, in his interpretation of the term
blindness, as applied to the Jews and Gentiles
respectively, has not been guilty of a want
of fairness and candour, not unlike that of
the above spiritualizing interpreters among the
K2
132 REMARKS UPON
Christians. To be consistent with himself,
the Jewish writer must admit, that, whether
the term blindness be applied to the Jewish
nation or the Gentiles, it has one and the
same signification, viz. spiritual blindness ; ig-
norance of God and his law; of ourselves,
our duty, and true happiness. Indeed, I
should have thought that David Levi would
have found no difficulty in admitting this
interpretation ; since, in his remarks upon the
very same prophecy of Isaiah, he represents
the prophet as upbraiding the Jews " with
" acting as deaf and blind persons ; since they
" would neither hear the words of the prophet,
*' nor see and consider the wonderful works of
-' God: on the contrary, they scoffed and
" mocked the prophet. " (Vide Dissert. \o\. I.
page 260.)
The blindness, therefore, which is denounced
by Moses against Israel, as one of the judg-
ments brought upon them by their sins ; and
which is so great, that they are to ' grope at
' noon day, as the blind gropeth in darkness ; J
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 133
does, without controversy, signify spiritual
blindness. And the idea here suggested to us,
is, that the Jews, though surrounded with the
ftft blaze of the light of revelation, and dwell-
ing in that light, shall be unable to discern one
single ray of it ; and, though involved in long
continued and most dreadful calamities, they
shall be unable to discover the cause of them,
but shall grope and feel their way, even as
we see the blind do at noon day. How un-
speakably awful and affecting is this descrip-
tion of the spiritual condition of this once
highly-honoured and happy nation ! O ! that
every Jew who may read these pages would
take it to heart; and, retiring into his closet,
would bend his knees to the God of Abraham,
and Isaac, and Jacob, beseeching God to en-
lighten the eyes of his understanding, to know
the true nature of the blindness, which, ac-
cording to the prediction of Moses, the servant
of the Lord, has befallen the people of God !
I need scarcely add, after what has been
said, that this state of spiritual blindness is
134 REMARKS UPON
quite opposite to the opinion formed by David
Levi, of the condition of his own nation. We
have already seen that the learned Jew repre-
sents one party of his nation as having ".con-
" stantly adhered to the truth, and made open
" profession of the faith, and always continued
" in the covenant. " Another party he states
(Vol. I. page 30.) as " consisting of such, who,
" through the length of the captivity, number-
" less massacres, persecutions, and banishments,
" have not sufficient fortitude to support them,
" and therefore seem to apostatize, and pretend
" to embrace Christianity ; but, in their hearts,
" secretly adhere to the true faith and law of
" Moses : and such arc, at this day, called
" among us O'D'ON Tlie compelled ones; because
" they act by compulsion ; for, as soon as they
" can by any means escape from the popish
" countries, they instantly return to Judaism."
According to Levi, then, both these parties
of the nation know the truth, and the cove-
nant; and, while the one party openly professes
the faith, the other secretlv adheres to it. But,
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 13.5
in the Hebrew Scriptures, they who know the
truth, and adhere to the covenant of God,
are said to walk in the light. (Ps. Ixxxix. 15.)
' Blessed are the people that know the joyful
' sound ; they shall walk, O Lord, in the light
' of thy countenance : in thy name shall they
' rejoice all the day.' (cxix. 160.) ' Great peace
' have they which love thy law ; and nothing
* shall offend them.' (xcvii.) ' Light is sown
' for the righteous, and gladness for the upright
' in heart. ' If, therefore, Levi be right in the
account which he gives of his nation, we might
expect that, at least, that party of it which
openly adheres to the covenant, and law of
God, would dwell in that light which is sown
for the righteous ; and as they know the joyful
sound of God's statutes, which, according to
the declaration of the psalmist, (xix. 8.) rejoice
the heart of those who walk in them, we might
suppose that they would enjoy the light of
God's countenance in the lands of their cap-
tivity. But. instead of this, we are informed
by Moses, that the whole nation are ' to grope
136 REMARKS UPON
' at noon-day, as the blind gropeth in darkness; '
and therefore it is manifest that they are to see
no light, and to enjoy no comfort or consolation
of a spiritual nature, during their captivity.
(Vide Deut. xxviii. 6.3.) Thus, it is quite appa-
rent, from the whole of what has been said, that
the scheme of David Levi is directly opposite
to the account which is given of the state of the
Jews during their captivity, by Moses the servant
of God: and, whether Moses or David Levi
be right, let the Jews themselves judge.
If Levi, to escape the conclusion of his
having advanced sentiments altogether incon-
sistent with the writings of Moses, shall refer to
other parts of his work, wherein he expressly
acknowledges the present " impious and irreli-
" gious behaviour of the Jewish nation, "
(Dissert. Vol. II. page 230.) it will only prove,
that, besides being chargeable with supporting
sentiments inconsistent with the writings of
Moses, he is inconsistent with himself.
The commission given to the prophet Isaiah,
when he saw that remarkable vision of the Lord
LEVl'S DISSERTATIONS. 13*
in the temple, (vi. 8.) confirms, in the most de-
cided manner, the view which is taken above, of
the nature of the blindness which was to happen
to Israel. The prophet says, ' Also, I heard the
' voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send ?
4 and who will go for us ? Then, said I, Here
' am I ; send me. And he said, Go, and tell
' this people, Hear ye, indeed, but understand
'not; and see ye, indeed, but perceive not.
' Make the heart of this people fat, and make
4 their ears heavy, and shut their eyes ; lest they
4 see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and
' understand with their heart, and convert, and
' be healed.' It is impossible that language
could convey, in plainer or more significant
terms, a denunciation of spiritual blindness,
hardness of heart, and stupidity, in the midst of
all the means of knowledge. The words do not
signify that the Jews were to be deprived of the
light of divine truth ; but that, though sur-
rounded by this light, and having the word of
God sounded in their ears, they should be
so hardened, as to become morally incapable
138 REMARKS UPON
of profiting by these most important privi-
leges.
The prophet asks, in the eleventh verse, /tow
long this awful judgment was to continue ?
4 And he answered, Until the cities be wasted
4 without inhabitant, and the houses without
' man, and the land be utterly desolate, and
' the Lord have removed men far away, and
' there be a great forsaking in the midst of the
' land. ' That is, not only till the time of the
Babylonish captivity, but till the destruction of
the city and second temple by Titus; for, ac-
cording to David Levi's own acknowledgment,
(Vol. III. page 06.) the Jews, during the second
temple, were not, by their actions, the people of
God, and "Cod was not to them,"/, e. was
not their God. Or, to use the language of
the prophecy of Isaiah, the Jews, during the
second temple, ' heard the word of God, but
4 did not understand it ; they saw, but did not
' perceive: their hearts were made fat, their ears
; dull, and their eyes were shut, that they should
1 not see, and hear, and convert, and be healed.'
LEVls DISSERTATIONS.
It is undeniable, therefore, and the Jews
themselves must allow it to be so, that when
Jesus appeared and preached, saying, ' Repent.
' for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,' he
spake to a people who were under the awful
sentence of judicial blindness, pronounced
against them for their sins by the prophet
Isaiah: a people who had ears to hear, but un-
derstood not ; eyes to see, but perceived not.
He spake to a generation, who, according to
Levi's view of Hoseai. 9, were, by God him-
self, called Lo-ammi, ' not my people;' and of
whom God said, ' I will not be to you.'
Now, I would beseech the candid Jew to
draw for himself the natural and unavoidable
inference from the above fact. The judicious
Christian will not, indeed, assert, that it follows
therefrom that Jesus is the Messiah ; but does
not the above circumstance most effectually
remove and answer the objection often made to
the divine character of Jesus, from his having
been rejected by the Jewish nation ? This
objection is insisted upon by David Levi. (Vol.
140 REMARKS UPON
f. page 137-) in the following words: " And
" as they (the Christians) freely acknowledge
" that the Messiah belongs to the Jews, it must
" astonish every impartial, candid, and liberal
" mind, when it considers how inefficacious his
" (Jesus's) appearance was to them ; for it is
" clear, from all history, that he was so far from
" being endued with the power of bestowing
" on them the good they had just reason to
" expect from the prophecies of the Old Testa-
" merit, by accomplishing the great promises
" made to them, that they, on the contrary, a
" few years after, according to the prediction of
" Daniel, saw their temple burnt, their chief
" city destroyed, and their country laid waste,
" &c. ; so that it is plain he brought them
" nothing but misery and shame, and which is a
" demonstration that he conk! not be the Mes-
" siah. "
To this apparently formidable objection, it
would, perhaps, be extremely difficult for the
Christian to give a solid and satisfactory answer,
without the assistance of the Hebrew Scriptures.
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 141
But it is enough for us to appeal to these Scrip-
tures, as containing most complete evidence,
that when Jesus appeared, the great body of the
Jewish nation were not in a proper state for dis-
cerning and judging of the evidences of his
divine character and mission. Jesus, therefore,
may be the Messiah ; and the Jews, under the in-
fluence of that hardness of heart, and that moral
inability to understand divine truth, which were
foretold by the prophet Isaiah in the passageabove
quoted, may have rejected and crucified the
Lord of Glory : or, to say the least, the rejection
of Jesus, by a people who. according to Moses,
were to ' grope at noon-day r and of whom God
himself testified, ' Ye are not my people, and I
'will not be to you,' forms no solid objection
to his divine character and mission. There is a
necessary and most intimate connection between
the practice of holiness and spiritual discern-
ment ; between unholy practice and the spirit
of delusion : and as the Jews, according to the
testimony of David Levi himself, were, when
Jesus appeared, a wicked people, it is evident
14'Jl REMARKS UPON
that they were not in a fit state for discerning
the nature of the Messiah's kingdom, or the
evidences of his divine mission.
The above considerations may also furnish an
answer to a complaint which they make against
the Christians, for considering them as a blind,
obstinate, and superstitious people, labouring
under a spiritual blindness. (Vide Levi's Dissert.
Vol. I. page 267.) We would ask the Jews,
Whether we are to form our estimate of their
present character from their own opinion of it,
or from the testimony of Moses and the pro-
phets ? Is it right for us to believe the Scrip-
tures, or is it not ? We appeal to their Scrip-
tures, and not to our own, upon this point : we
invite them to a candid and careful examination
of the writings of Moses and the prophets, for
a full confirmation of the fact, that blindness is
happened unto Israel (Rom. xi.) until the ful-
ness of the Gentiles be come in.
The language used by the prophet Ezekiel, in
his w r onderful predictions of the future restora-
tion of Israel, shows, likewise, that, during their
LEVI'S DISSERTATIONS. 143
captivity, the nation have not sustained the cha-
racter of the people of God, but have been
estranged from his covenant and worship. In
chapter xx., after describing their return to their
own land, the Lord, by the mouth of the pro-
phet, says, in i-er. 42, ' And ye shall know that
' I am the Lord, when I shall bring you into the
4 land of Israel, into the country for the which I
' lifted up mine hand to give it to your fathers.
' And there shall ye remember your ways, and
' all your doings, wherein ye have been defiled ;
* and ye shall loath yourselves in your own
4 sight, for all your evils that ye have committed.
1 And ye shall know that I (am) the Lord, when
4 I have wrought with you for my name's sake ;
* not according to your wicked ways, nor your
' corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the
' Lord.'
s
In chapter xxxix., after prophesying of the
destruction of Gog and his hosts, the prophet,
speaking in the name of the Lord, adds, (ver. 22,)
c So the house of Israel shall know that I am
' the Lord their God, from that dav and forward.
144 REMARKS UPON
' And the heathen shall know that the house of
'Israel went into captivity for their iniquity:
' because they trespassed against me, therefore
' hid I my face from them, and gave them into
4 the hand of their enemies ; so Ml they all by
* the sword.' (Ver. 27.) ' When I have brought
" them again from the people, and gathered them
4 out of their enemies' hands, and am sanctified
' in them in the sight of many nations, then
' shall they know that I am the Lord their God,
' which caused them to be led into captivity
' among the heathen: but I have gathered them
' unto their own land, and have left none of
' them any more there. '
As it is repeatedly said, and with peculiar
emphasis, in the foregoing passages, that Israel
shall know the Lord their God when he shall
bring them into their own land; ' the house of
; Israel shall know that I am the Lord their
' God, from that day and forward, ' we must
necessarily conclude, that, during their captivity,
they have not known the Lord their God, and
have not truly served or worshipped him;
LEVI S DISSERTATIONS. 146
which is quite inconsistent with David Levi's
assertion, that one party of his nation " has
" always openly adhered to the truth, and con-
" tinned in the covenant ; " and that the other
party, though from fear " they seem to aposta-
" tize, yet, in their hearts, secretly adhere to the
" true faith, and the law of Moses."
The very strong language which is used by
Ezekiel with respect to the repentance of the
children of Israel after their restoration, deserves
the particular attention of the Jews. It shows
that they will then form a very different
estimate of their past character and conduct,
from what now appears to be the opinion of
David Levi on this subject. And, indeed, it is
worthy of the anxious inquiry of the descend-
ants of Abraham, whether they have not been
guilty of some sins, the nature and extent of
which are now hidden from them, in conse-
quence of that blindness prophesied of by
Moses and Isaiah.
The only passage in the prophetical writings
146 REMARKS UPON
which seems particularly to describe the matter
of the future repentance of the Jews, is that
one in Zechariah xii. 9 14, which I have
already referred to : ' And it shall come to pass
' in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the
4 nations that come against Jerusalem. And I
4 will pour upon the house of David, and upon
1 the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of
4 grace and of supplications ; and they shall
* look upon me whom they have pierced, and
4 they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for
4 his only son; and shall be in bitterness for
4 him, as one is in bitterness for his first born.
' In that day shall there be a great mourning
4 in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hada-drim-
4 mon in the valley of Megiddon. And the
; land shall mourn, every family apart : the fa-
4 mily of the house of David apart, and their
' wives apart; the family of the house of Na-
' than apart, and their wives apart ; the family
* of the house of Levi apart, and their wives
4 apart; the family of the house of Shimei
LEVl'S DISSERTATIONS. 14?
' apart, and their wives apart. All the families
' that remain, every family apart, and their wives
' apart. '
It seems quite apparent, from the context of
this passage, that it relates to a great national
repentance of the tribes of Judah and Levi,
which is to take place about the time of their
restoration. And as we likewise learn from
Ezekiel, that when the children of Israel are
restored, they shall remember their ways and
their doings wherein they have been defiled,
and shall loathe themselves in their own sight
for all the evils which they have committed,
we are naturally led to conclude, that this
mourning forms at least a part of the repentance
mentioned by Ezekiel ; and the parties con-
cerned in it seem to be the whole house of Judah,
and that part of the tribes of Benjamin and
Levi which were united with Judah in the time
of the second temple. The subject of this
mourning is, without doubt, the discovery made
by the tribe of Judah of the true character of
that person whom they have pierced ; even the
L 2
148 REMARKS UPON
same person that is described by Isaiah, who,
speaking in the name of the whole nation, says
of him, ' lie is despised and rejected of men;
' a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
* and we hid as it were our faces from him: he
' was despised, and we esteemed him not/
This person, we have already proved, was no
other than Jesus the Messiah. At his second
coming with the clouds of heaven, (Dan. vii.
ly.) which takes place at the destruction of the
Roman empire, and about the time of the
restoration of the Jews, Jesus the Messiah will
appear to that people who pierced him, and
they shall look on him whom they pierced, and
mourn for him as for an only son. Mingled
emotions of astonishment, grief, and shame, and
holy self-abhorrence, for the crime of their fore-
fathers, and their own long continued sin in re-
jecting the Messiah, will then agitate the breasts
of the chosen people of God.
If the Jews object to this interpretation, then
it is incumbent upon them to state unto what
other great national sin, excepting that of the
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 149
crucifixion of Jesus, the passage now quoted
from Zechariah can apply; and to account for
the circumstance, that the only passage in the
Hebrew Scriptures which seems to describe
the matter of their future national repentance,
should so exactly suit the Christian scheme.
Having thus endeavoured to show, from the
Hebrew Scriptures, that the Jews, during their
captivity, have not been the people of God,
but have been afar off from him, and ignorant
of his true worship, I shall now proceed to
examine, whether there be any reason, from the
same Scriptures, to conclude, that, during this
period, God has had a people among the
Gentiles.
As the Jews have not been the people of
God during this period, it follows, that either
( Jod lias had a people among the Gentiles, or
that he has had no people in the world; or, in
other words, that the worship and fear of God
have become quite banished from the earth.
l>ut this seems quite contrary to many plain
declarations of Scripture. In Psalm xxii. 30, ifc
150 REMARKS UPON
is declared, that ' a seed shall serve him ; it shall
4 be accounted to the Lord for a generation.
4 They shall come and declare his righteousness
* unto a people that shall be born, that he hath
' done this. ' From this passage we may infer,
that, in the darkest periods of the church, God
has always had a chosen seed to serve him. The
psalmist, in the seventy-second Psalm, which was
given by the Spirit of God in reference to the
Messiah, says, (ver. 5.) ' They shall fear thee as
4 long as the sun and moon endure, through-
' out all generations. '
It appears from the prophecies of Daniel,
(chap. vii. 25.) that, even during the reign of
that tyrannical power which is symbolized by
the little horn of the Roman beast, there are
upon earth a people called the saints of the
Most High ; and though these saints are de-
livered into the hand of this power, to be op-
pressed by him, yet they are not so given up as
to be quite extirpated from the earth.
Thus, then, we are led to believe, that, in
every age, God has had a people in the world ;
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 151
and we have already seen, that the Jews, being
4 smitten with blindness, so as to grope at noon
'day, as the blind gropeth in darkness/ they
are not, during the period of their captivity,
the people of God. Are there, then, any pas-
sages of Scripture which can lead us to dis-
cover where we are to look for the people of
God?
V r ery remarkable to this purpose is the
declaration contained in the song of Moses.
After predicting the idolatry of the children of
Israel, the prophet adds, in the ,19th and
following verses, ' And when the Lord saw (it),
4 he abhorred (them), because of the provoking
4 of his sons and of his daughters. And he
' said, 1 will hide my face from them ; I will
4 see what their end shall be: for they are a
' very fro\vard generation ; children in whom
' is no faith. They have moved me to jealousy
k with (that which is) not God ; they have pro-
' voked me to aii2:er with their vanities ; and I
O
4 will move them to jealousy with (those which
' are) not a people : I will provoke them to
152 REMARKS UPON
4 anger with a foolish nation. ' Here the Lord
declares his just and holy procedure towards
his ancient people. As they, by forsaking the
worship of God for that of idols, did move
Him to jealousy, with that which was no God,
He, in return, moves them to jealousy, by
taking to Himself, as a people, those who were
not a people, i.e. the Gentiles; and by hiding his
face from his ancient people of Israel. In this
most remarkable prediction, the language is
evidently borrowed from the sensations of the
conjugal state; by which, in various passages
of the Scriptures, God was pleased, in the
adorable condescension of his love, to illustrate
the nature of the union between Himself and his
chosen people. Thus, in the sixteenth chapter
of Ezekiel, the city of Jerusalem is represented
to us under the image of a woman, who had
been united to the Lord in the state of marriage,
but was, like an adulteress, gone astray from
her husband. And the same image is chosen
in the prophecies of Hosea, to denote the
union between God and his people, as is ex-
LEV1 S DISSERTATIONS.
pressly admitted by David Levi. (Vol. III.
page 64, 78, 80, 81.)
The prophet Isaiah, predicting the future
restoration of the whole of the children of
Israel to the favour of God, and to a state of
union with Him, expresses himself in the follow-
ing language: (iiv. 1.) ' Sing, O barren; thou
' that didst not bear: break forth into singing,
' and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with
' child : for more are the children of the deso-
' late, than the children of the married wife,
' saith the Lord.' And, (ver. 4.) ' Fear not;
' for thou shall not be ashamed : neither be
' thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put
' to shame : for thou shalt forget the shame of
' youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of
' thy widowhood any more. For thy Maker
' is thine husband ; the Lord of Hosts is his
name : and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of
' Israel : the God of the whole earth shall he be
' called. '
David Levi, in his comments upon this pas-
sage, (Vol. II. page 2.) maintains, that ; - the
154 REMARKS UPON
" barren woman denotes the Jewish nation,
" which, in captivity, is a barren woman de-
" serted by her husband. " Thus far the learned
Jew is, as I conceive, perfectly accurate in his
illustration of the passage. He then goes on
to say, that " the husbanded (or married) wo-
" man denotes the Gentiles ; who enjoy plenty
" and peace in their own country, as a woman
" that lives at ease with her husband, and is
" surrounded with her children. "
That the married woman here denotes the
Gentiles, is also, I think, without dispute ; and
in this I agree with the Jewish commentator.
But it appears to me, that David Levi has not,
from this admission, drawn the conclusion,
which, to be consistent with himself, he ought
to have done. We have already seen, that
when the Jewish nation is said to be in a con-
jugal union with God, Levi understands it as
signifying their being united to Him by a cove-
nant relation, as his peculiar people. (Vol. IIJ.
page 6 L) When, therefore, the prophet Isaiah,
in the above passage, gives to the Gentiles the
LEVI S DISSERTATIONS. J55
title of the married wife, (while the Jews are
called " the barren woman deserted by her
husband, ") Levi ought certainly to have seen
that this language necessarily includes in it the
important fact, that, at the time when the
Jewish nation is deserted by God, and in a
state of reproach and widowhood, the Lord
has a people among the Gentiles, to whom he
gives the title of his married wife ; and who
must, therefore, be in a state of covenant rela-
tion with Him as his true worshippers.
I would, therefore, again ask David Levi and
the Jews, how they can make it to consist
with the principles of fair and impartial inter-
pretation, to understand the figure of a conju-
gal union with God, when predicted of them-
selves, as signifying eminent spiritual privi-
leges as the peculiar people of God ; and.
when predicted of the Gentiles, as implying
merely a state of temporal enjoyment and
prosperity ; " plenty and peace in their own.
" land? 7 ' Moreover, how does it consist with
the veracity of God, to suppose that He wouJd
156 REMARKS UPON
give the title of his married wife to a people,
who, if Levi and the Jews be right, worship an
impostor, or an enthusiast ; and are guilty of
corrupting the fundamental doctrine of the
divine unity ? If Judaism cannot be defended
but by such a dereliction of all the principles
of fair reasoning, it were surely better for the
children of Israel at once to throw down the
weapons of their warfare, and - look upon Him
' whom they have pierced ; mourning for Him as
' for an only son ! ' Oh that there were in them
such a heart !
From the preceding passage of Isaiah, it
therefore undeniably follows, that, during the
widowhood of the Jewish church, when ' Israel
' is smitten with blindness, and gropeth at noon
; day, as the blind gropeth in darkness, ' God
has a people among the Gentiles, to whom He
condescends to give the title of his married icifc.
!$ut the appointed and the glorious time will
come, when ' Israel shall return, and seek the
' Lord their God, and David their king ; and
shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 157
' latter days. ' (flos. iii. 5.) To this time the
above prophecy of Isaiah has reference ; and
the newly-converted Jewish nation is therein
called upon to sing, and to rejoice, because
more are her children, than the children of the
c fcBBn wife, the Gentile church. So great and
glorious will be the effect of the couversion and
restoration of Judah and Israel, and of the
awful judgments of God which shall introduce
and accompany these glorious events, that they
shall be the means of exciting the universal
attention of an unbelieving world; and, these
events being accompanied by an abundant effu-
sion of the Spirit of God, then shall be fulfilled
the glorious predictions both of the Old and
New Testaments, for all the ends of the earth
shall remember, and turn to the Lord ; and
truly, more shall be the children of the barren
woman, than of the married wife.
The calling of the Gentiles, and the rejec-
tion of the Jews upon account of their unbe-
lief, are also predicted in Isaiah Ixv. 1, 2, to
which I would refer the reader.
158 REMARKS UPON
It is thus quite evident, from the Old Testa-
ment Scriptures, that at the period when Israel
is cast off from being the people of God, the
Lord takes to himself a people from among the
Gentiles. Now, where will the Jews look for
this people of God, unless it be among the
Christians ? It is apparent that the Mahom-
medans, and those who continue in Pagan
idolatry, are not the people of God ; and as
I suppose the Jews will agree with us in this
point, it seems unnecessary to enter upon the
proof of it. It only remains, therefore, that the
people of God are among those nations which
profess the Christian faith ; * and, if so, it follows,
undeniably, that Jesus is the Messiah.
* When I say that the people of God are among those
nations who profess the Christian faith, I mean to distin-
guish between real Christians, and those who bear that
name only, but by wicked works deny the faith. It is to
the first only that the honourable appellation of the people
of God belongs. And no candid Jew will object to a dis-
tinction, which is equally to be found in the Old Testament
history of the church of Israel.
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 15Q
CHAP. VII.
HARMONY OF THE JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURE*
BRIEFLY CONSIDERED, AND ARGUMENT THENCB
DEDUCED, THAT JESUS IS THE MESSIAH.
I SHALL consider this harmony, first, as it relates
to the view taken both in the Hebrew Scrip-
tures, and those of the New Testament, of the
present and future condition of the Jewish
nation.
The ancient prophets are unanimous in de-
claring, that the great national redemption and
restoration of Israel are to happen when the
Roman kingdom (the fourth beast of Daniel, and
the Edom of Isaiah,) is destroyed : and, from
the prophecies of Daniel we learn, (vii. 26.) that
the destruction of the fourth beast, i. e. the
1GO REMAHKS UPON
Roman empire, is to commence at the conclu-
sion of a certain period which is called a time,
times, and the dividing of time; i.e. one year,
two years, and half a year, or three years and a
half. Christian writers have shown, with
abundant clearness, that this period, being re-
duced to days, is equal to twelve hundred and
sixty days; and they are pretty generally agreed
in sentiment, that each of these prophetical days
signifies a year; and that, consequently, the
true period announced by Daniel, when the de-
struction of the Roman empire is to commence,
is twelve hundred and sixty years; but from
what particular era this period is to be dated,
remains, as yet, a disputed point. It is also
probable, from the concluding chapter of Da-
niel's prophecies, that the destruction of the
Roman empire will occupy a space of about
thirty years, being the difference between the
above-mentioned period of twelve hundred and
sixty days, and another period of twelve hun-
dred and ninety days, announced to Daniel by
the angel, in c/tajj. xii. 11.
LEVI'S DISSERTATIONS. 161
Now, in the most exact harmony with the
prophecies of Isaiah and Daniel, Jesus, after
predicting with wonderful minuteness the de-
struction of Jerusalem by the Romans, informs
his disciples, (Luke xxi. 24.) ' They' (the
Jews) ' shall fall by the edge of the sword, and
' shall be led away captive into all nations ; and
' Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gen-
' tiles, until the times of the Gentiles be ful-
' filled.' By the times of the Gentiles, we are
certainly to understand the period allotted for the
duration of the four Gentile monarchies ; and Jesus
seems to have had a particular reference to the
time, times, and half a time, or twelve hundred
and sixty days of Daniel, at the expiration of
which the destruction of the Roman monarchy
was to commence. Till this period, therefore,
Jerusalem is trodden under foot of the Gentiles,
according to the prediction of Jesus ; and then
commences that awful series of judgments on
the nations composing the empire of Rome,
or Edom, which is to issue in the destruction of
that empire, and the national redemption of Israel.
M
162 REMARKS UPON
These judgments are described in Luke xxi.,
in the same symbolical language as is used in
Isaiah xxxiv. 4, to signify the dissolution
of the heavens politic at the destruction of
Rome. Thus Jesus declares, ' there shall bf
1 signs in the sun, moon, and stars; ' and Isaiah
says, ' the heavens shall be rolled together as a
* scroll, and all their host shall fall down.'
It appears, therefore, that Jesus speaks pre-
cisely the same language as the prophets of the
Old Testament, with regard to the time when
the Jews are to be restored ; and is not this an
evidence of the most powerful nature of his
divine mission ? For it is inconsistent with all
our ideas of the perfections of God to suppose,
that if Jesus had been an impostor, or an en-
thusiast, he would have been so far enlightened
as to be enabled to discover the exact meaning
of the prophecies of the Old Testament; which
were, at the time of his appearance, so little un-
derstood by the best-informed of the Jewish
nation, that it is plain they expected the imme-
diate fulfilment of the predictions respecting
LEVl's DISSERTATION'S. \Q3
the destruction of Rome, and the redemption of
Israel, which have not been fulfilled to this
day.
The language of St. Paul exactly corresponds
with that of Jesus upon this point: he informs
us, that ' blindness in part is happened unto
' Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come
' in.' (Rom. xi. 25.) By this fulness of the
Gentiles, I think we are to understand precisely
what Jesus intended when he used the expres-
sion, until the ' times of the Gentiles be ful-
* filled ;' i. e. the filling up of the' appointed time
for the duration of the four Gentile monarchies.
And perhaps St. Paul, in using the above lan-
guage, had some allusion also to the declaration
of God with respect to the Amorites, in Genesis
xv. 16.
There is also the most exact harmony be-
tween the Old and New Testaments, in the
view which they both take of the high privi-
leges and dignity of the nation of Israel; and in
their estimate of the glorious purposes to be
effected by God, through the instrumentality of
M 2
164 REMARKS UPON
the Jews. No language of the Old Testament
can give us a higher idea of the privileges and
the dignity of the ancient people of God, than
that of St. Paul : ' Who' (says he) ' are Israel-
* ites ; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and
c the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of
c the law, and the service (of God,) and the pro-
' mises. Whose are the fathers ; and of whom,
4 as concerning the flesh, Christ came; who is
4 over all, God blessed for ever.' And, as the
Hebrew prophets agree in predicting that the
national redemption of Israel, and the judg-
ments which shall usher it in, are to be the
great means, in the hand of God, of awakening
an universal spirit of repentance among the
nations ; and that then ' all the ends of the
' world shall remember and turn to the Lord;'
(Psalm xxii. 27-} and then also ' the earth shall
' be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the
' waters cover the sea ; ' (Isaiah xi. 9.) so, in
precise harmony with these declarations, the
apostle Paul informs us, that ' if the casting
them ' (the Jews) ' away be the reconciling of
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 16,5
' the world, what shall the receiving of them
' be but life from the dead ?' (Rom. xi. 15.} So
great and glorious a change shall be effected in
the state of the whole world by this glorious
event, the restoration of Israel to the favour of
God, that it shall resemble a resurrection of the
world from death unto life.
Surely, then, the descendants of Abraham
have no cause to entertain prejudices against
the Christian Scriptures. If these Scriptures
write bitter things against this once highly-fa-
voured people, during their present state of spi-
ritual blindness and unbelief, it is no more than
Moses and the prophets do, as has been seen in
a former chapter. And, on the other hand, if
Moses and the prophets concur in predicting
the future glorious restoration of Israel, and the
great and blessed purposes which are to be
effected by it ; if they agree in representing this
ancient and honourable people as being under
the peculiar charge and guardianship of the Al-
mighty, even in the time of their lowest and
most degraded state, it is no more than the
166 REMARKS UPON
great apostle of the Gentiles does, who says,
that ' as touching the election, they are still
' beloved for the fathers' sakes ; for the gifts
4 and calling of God are without repentance.'
(Rom. xi. 28, 29.)
Another great principle wherein the most
exact correspondence exists between the Jewish
and Christian Scriptures, is, that ' without the
' shedding of blood there is no pardon or remis-
' sion of sin.^ Even sins of ignorance are not
exempted from the operation of this principle in
the Hebrew Scriptures ; on the contrary, the
particular sacrifices to be offered up by the va-
rious orders of the children of Israel, to atone
for sins of ignorance, are enumerated in the
fourth and fifth chapters of Leviticus with
minute accuracy. The offending person is, in
every case, commanded to ' lay his hand upon
c the head of the sin-offering, and slay the sin-
' offering in the place of the burnt-offering.
' And the priest shall take of the blood thereof
' with his finger, and put it upon the horns of
' the altar of burnt-offering, and shall pour out
LEVls DISSERTATIONS.
' all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar.
' And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as
* the fat is taken away from off the sacrifice of the
' peace- offerings ; and the priest shall burn it
; upon the altar, for a sweet savour unto the
' Lord: and the priest shall make an atonement
' for him as concerning his sin, and it shall be
'forgiven him.'
Tn the sixteenth chapter of Leviticus, we have
an account given of a solemn atonement,
which once every year was made by the high
priest, who went into the holy of holies with
the blood of the sacrifices, which he offered
for himself, and for the sins of the people.
Even external and corporeal pollution, arising
from leprosy, or issues, was cleansed by the
shedding of blood. (Levit. xiv. lo.) Upon the
slaying of the first-born of all the land of Egypt,
at the redemption of the children of Israel, we
are told, that the blood of the paschal lamb
upon the lintels, and the two side posts of the
doors of the children of Israel, was the appointed
token, upon seeing which the Lord passed
168 REMARKS UPON
over the door, and did not suffer the destroyer
to come into their houses to smite them.
(Exod. xii. 23.)
Oh that such of the children of Abraham as now
live in the expectation of the promised redemp-
tion from their present long-continued and dread-
ful captivity, would seriously ponder the above
great principle of their law, that without the
shedding of blood there is no remission of sins !
And as the redemption out of Egypt was but
a type and shadow of that great and final redemp-
tion which is promised to them by all the holy
prophets, it surely is incumbent upon them to
consider, whether the paschal lamb, slain in com-
memoration of their former redemption, be not
likewise but a type and shadow of some greater
and nobler sacrifice, by whose blood they are
to be sanctified at the era of their future restora-
tion : for if the first redemption was not effected
without the shedding of blood, most assuredly
the second redemption can only be procured by
the same means ; and where is the victim which
is to be offered ? ' where is the lamb for a burnt-
LEVls DISSERTATIONS.
' offering?' (Gen. xxii. 7-) In answer to this
question, I would humbly intreat every one of
the children of Israel who may cast his eyes on
these pages, to retire into his closet, and to open
his bible at the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah,
and also the xii. 10 11, of Zechariah, and
humbly to pray to the God of his fathers for an
understanding heart, to see the true meaning:
O * O
of these passages.
It is well known that the whole scheme of
the Christian Scriptures is founded upon the
above great principle of the Levitical law, that
without the shedding of blood there is no
remission of sin. These Scriptures, therefore,
in their great fundamental principle, completely
harmonize with those of the Jews. To prove
this, it is by no means necessary to multiply
quotations from the New Testament, as those
produced in a former chapter may be sufficient
for the purpose. We read, in the Epistle to
the Hebrews, ix. 11, ' That Christ, being
' come an high priest of good things to come,
' in a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not
170 REMARKS UPON
' made with hands ; not of this building; nei-
4 ther by the blood of goats and calves, but by
' his own blood, he entered in once into the
' holy place, having obtained eternal redemption
' for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats,
' and the ashes of an heifer, sprinkling the
' unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the
' flesh; how much more shall the blood of Christ,
' who, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself
' without spot to God, purge your conscience
'from dead works, to serve the living God!'
And in chap. x. 11. ' And every priest standeth
' daily ministering and offering oftentimes the
' same sacrifices, which can never take away
4 sins: but this Man, (Jesus,) after he had offer-
' ed one sacrifice for sins, for ever sat down at
' the right hand of God; from henceforth wait-
' ing till his enemies be made his footstool.
' For by one offering he hath perfected for
' ever them that are sanctified. '
Is it possible that any Jew can read the
above quotations, without being struck with
the exact coincidence between the doctrines
LEVl'g DISSERTATIONS. ]?1
contained in them, and the concluding part of
the fifty-third of Isaiah, already so fully consi-
dered in a former chapter ?
Another great leading principle, with respect
to which there is no difference between the
Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is,
the absolute necessity of a priesthood to offer
the ordained sacrifices, and to make atonement
for the sins of the people. In every case under
the Levitical dispensation, the person who had
sinned was required to bring his sin-offering,
and to lay his hand upon its head, and slay it
in the place for the burnt-offering; but it was
not the offender himself who made the atone-
ment, for it is said, ' the priest shall take of
' the blood of the sin-offering with his finger,
' and put it upon the horns of the altar of
'burnt-offering,' &c. ; 'and the priest shall
' make an atonement for his sin that he hath
' committed.' (Levit. iv 7 . 34, ,35.)
In two memorable instances recorded in the
sacred history, of persons who were not of the
seed of Aaron taking it upon them to usurp
172 REMARKS UPON
the office of the priesthood, by burning incense
before the Lord, it pleased God to interfere,
and, by awful displays of his power and anger,
to show that his ordinances and appointments
were not to be violated with impunity. Korah,
Dathan, and Abiram, with two hundred and
fifty of the princes of Israel, were swallowed up
by the earth for this sin, and the disease of the
leprosy was inflicted upon Uzziah, king of Judah,
for the same offence. (Vide Numbers xvi. and
II. Chron. xxvi. 16 21.)
It has already been observed, that the redemp-
tion of Israel out of Egypt was but a shadow,
or type, of that greater redemption which awaits
the nation at the period of their second restora-
tion. Now, as the Aaronic priesthood was
instituted at the period of the first, or typical
redemption, may it not at least be presumed
that this priesthood was the shadow of a more
perfect one to come ? Else, whence the declaration
of God to the Messiah, in the hundred and tenth
Psalm, already quoted, ' Thou art a priest for
; ever, after the order of Melchisedech. } If the
LEVI S DISSERTATIONS.
Messiah, who was to come of the tribe of Judah,
and family of Jesse, be called a priest for ever,
it is evident that his must be a priesthood quite
different from that of Aaron ; and accordingly
He is constituted a priest after the order of
Melchisedech.
But as the economy of the Messiah is the
last and most perfect of God's dispensations to
man, it follows, that every constituent part of
that economy must be more perfect than the
corresponding parts of those economies which
preceded it ; consequently, the Messiah's priest-
hood must be a more perfect one than that of
Aaron, which belonged to a less perfect econo-
my ; and it must supersede, and set aside that
priesthood, even as manhood supersedes infancy.
Now, it is deserving of the most serious atten-
tion upon the part of the Jews, that this is pre-
cisely the character which is given in the New
Testament Scriptures of the priesthood of Jesus.
He is called an high priest for ever, after the order
of Melchisedech ; and in the seventh chapter of
the Epistle to the Hebrews, we have a compa-
174 REMARKS UPON
rison instituted at full length, between this
priesthood and that of Aaron ; and the conclu-
sion drawn from the whole is as follows : (ver. 2 1 .)
' For those priests (the Levitical) were made
' without an oath, but this with an oath, by
' him that said unto him, The Lord sware, and
' will not repent ; thou art a priest for ever,
' after the order of Melchisedech. By so much
' was Jesus made a surety of a better covenant.
' And they truly were many priests, because
' they were not suffered to continue by reason
' of death ; but this man, because he continueth
' ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Where -
' fore he is able also to save them to the uttermost
' that come unto God by him, seeing he ever
' liveth to make intercession for them. For
' such an high priest became us, who is holy,
' harmless, undenled, separate from sinners, and
' made higher than the heavens ; who needeth
c not daily, as those high priests, to offer up
' sacrifice first for his own sins, and then for
' the people's, for this he did once, when he
4 offered up himself. For the law maketh men
LEVI'S DISSERTATIONS. 175
' priests which have infirmity; but the word
' of the oath, which was since the law, (viz. in
4 the hundred and tenth Psalm,) maketh the
' Son, who is consecrated for evermore. y
Such, then, is the doctrine of the New Testa-
ment, with respect to the priesthood and offer-
ing of Jesus; and if, as the Jew must admit,
there is the most exact conformity between this
doctrine and that of the hundred and tenth
Psalm, and the fifty-third of Isaiah, it is incum-
bent upon him to account for this conformity,
and to show how it consists with any other hy-
pothesis but that of Jesus being indeed the
Messiah promised to the fathers.
In vain shall we search in the pages of David
Levi for any express acknowledgment of the
two fundamental principles of the Levitical
dispensation which have been mentioned. The
legal sacrifices have ceased for nearly eighteen
centuries ; and the family to which the priest-
hood was attached is not now to be dis-
tinguished from the rest of the Jewish nation.
The Jews have, therefore, no sacrifice to offer
REMARKS UPON
for sins ; they have no priest to make atonement
for their transgressions. Levi, therefore, is re-
duced to the necessity of seeking some other
way of atonement; and hence we find him, in
Vol. I. page 232, mentioning, that at the period
of the restoration of Israel they need not be
under any apprehension of going into captivity
again \nfor that all their sins are expiated by the
severe punishment they will then have under-
gone. But if, as has already been proved, even
sins of ignorance could not be expiated under
the law without the shedding of the blood of a
sin-offering, and without atonement made by
the priest, how does David Levi's idea, that the
sins of the Jews (which, according to his own
account, are very great and aggravated,) are to
be expiated by their own sufferings ? how, 1
ask, does this idea accord with the above-men-
tioned fundamental principle of the Levitical
law? It is quite evident that the law of Moses
stands in direct -opposition to David Levi's
scheme. And, truly, if the Jews have no other
expiation to look to but that of their own suf-
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 177
ferings, they must (if the law of Moses be from
God) remain for ever under the consequences
brought upon them by their offences.
How can David Levi also reconcile this
notion, that the sufferings of the Jews, during
their captivity, are to expiate their sins, which
he elsewhere mentions, in Vol. I. page 209, with
the declaration of God in Ezekiel xxxvi. 22 :
' Therefore, say unto the house of Israel, Thus
' saith the Lord God, I do not this for your
' sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy
' name's sake, which ye have profaned among
' the heathen, whither ye went ? ' And, in ver.
24, ' For I will take you from among the
4 heathen, and gather you out from all coun-
' tries, and will bring you into your own land.
' Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you,
' and ye shall be clean; from all your filthiness,
' and from all your idols will I cleanse you. A
' new heart also will I give you, and a new
spirit will I put within you ?' &c.
From this passage it is quite plain, that
neither the merit nor the sufferings of the
178 REMARKS UPON
Jewish nation are the procuring causes of their
restoration, but the free unmerited mercy of
God, acting from a respect to the glory of his
great name; and if the sufferings of the Jews
are not the procuring cause of their restoration,
neither are they that which expiates their ini-
quity.
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 179
CHAP. VIII.
MISCELLANEOUS AND CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS.
I PROPOSE in this chapter to offer to the con-
sideration of the Jews, a few concluding obser-
vations upon the important question at issue
between them and the Christians.
According to the view which David Levi
takes of the prophecy of Hosea, i. 8, 9, the
Jews, during the second temple, were not the
people of God, and were, therefore, by God
himself, called ' Lo-ammi, not my people.'
(Dissert. Vol. III. page 56.} Either, therefore,
they still continue to bear the name Lo-ammi,
and to be in a state of alienation from God, or
there was some period of their history when
N 2
180 REMARKS UPON
they did from that state emerge into the cha-
racter, and dignity, and exalted purity of those
who deserve the honourable appellation of the
sons of the living God. (Hosea i. 10.) Now,
if this happy change has already taken place, it
is surely not of that insignificant nature that
the period when it happened should not be
known and ascertained. We therefore demand,
that the Jews shall inform us when the change
took place ?
But if the Jews shall agree with David Levi,
who seems to think that this change has not
yet taken place, and will not happen till the era
of their restoration, it then follows that they
are still ' Lo-ammi, not the people of God ; '
and, in this case, we can find no difficulty in
accounting for the wickedness of the nation,
which is acknowledged by David Levi, (Vol. Jl.
page 23.) as being the procuring cause of the
length of their dreadful captivity: nor is it dif-
ficult to account for their " present impious and
" irreligious behaviour," as acknowledged by the
same writer. (Vol. II. page 230.) For as the
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 181
nation still continues to bear the prophetical
name of ' Lo-ammi, not my people/ they only
act in consistency with the character included
in this appellation, when they render themselves
liable to the charges contained in the above
passage of David Levi.
But though the present acknowledged im-
pious behaviour of the Jewish nation, and their
wickedness during their long captivity, be
quite consistent with the language of God in
the prophecy of Hosea, it is not so easy for
Christians to reconcile with these things the
merit which is claimed for his nation by David
Levi, of their having endured the most dreadful
persecutions and massacres from the nations
for their adherence to the true unity of God
(Levi's Dissert. Vol. I. page 223.)
Christians are taught to believe, that to be
martyrs for the doctrine of the divine unity, or
any other of the great truths of God, includes
in it all the peculiar privileges, as well as the
happiness and character, of those who are the
children of the living God : and is quite opposed
182 REMARKS UPON
to the state of those who are in a condition of
separation from God.
There is one important fact, which cannot but
have come under the consideration of reflecting-
Jews: it is, that of all those men among the
Christian nations of Europe who have rejected
the New Testament, there are none who have
continued to receive the Old Testament as a
revelation from God. Now, if the Jews be
right in rejecting Jesus, how comes it that, in
the opinion of all among the Christian nations
who think the most freely on these subjects,
the Old and New Testaments must stand or fall
together? According to the Jewish hypothesis,
the Old Testament only is from God, the New
Testament is an imposture. Now, if it be so,
is it not quite inexplicable, that, during the
space of eighteen centuries, the Old Testament,
excluding the New, has not made a single con-
vert of name? Is it conceivable that God
would permit this to be the case, if the New
Testament were not from God? Many pro-
found thinkers, and some of the most en-
LEVl's DISSEKTATIONS. ] 83
lightened philosophers who have ever lived in
the world, have become sincere and humble
Christians; but have we ever heard of converts
to Judaism ! How do the Jews account for
this?
In the preceding pages it has been shown,
that, according to the prophecies of Moses, the
Jews are, during their captivity, ' to grope at
' noon-day, as the blind gropeth in darkness.'
Now, we would wish the Jews to consider
what explanation they can give of this blind-
ness ? Wherein does it consist ? According to
the Christian scheme it is easily explained: it
consists in their having rejected and crucified
the promised Messiah, the Lord of Life. But,
according to the system of modern Judaism, I
know not how it admits of any explanation ;
and we have already seen to what wretched
shifts David Levi is reduced, when he w 7 ould
explain the term blindness where it is pre-
dicted of the Israelites.
To a Jew, whose mind is filled with high
notions of the exclusive privileges of his own
184 REMARKS UPON
nation, it must certainly appear a most offensive
declaration, that spiritual blindness hath hap-
pened unto Israel. But let the candid Jew
seriously reflect, whether it be not in the na-
ture of things equally mysterious, that God
should have left the whole Gentile world in a
state of blindness from the calling of Abraham
till the coming of Jesus, upon the Christian
hypothesis ; and, on the Jewish hypothesis, till
the present day. As God is no respecter of
persons, and his tender mercies are over all his
works, it is natural to suppose that there must
be some equality in the administration of spi-
ritual benefits both to the Jews and Gentiles.
Upon the Christian scheme, there is such an
equality; and after that the apostle of the Gen-
tiles has, in the eleventh chapter of the Romans,
taken a short and comprehensive view of the
procedure of God towards both Jews and Gen-
tiles, he closes the whole in the following words,
(tser. 2,5.) ' For I would not, brethren, that ye
' should be ignorant of this mystery, (lest ye
4 should be wise in your own conceits,) that
LEVl'S DISSERTATIONS. 185
' blindness in part is happened unto Israel 5
4 until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
' And so all Israel shall be saved; as it is
' written, There shall come out of Sion the de-
4 liverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from
4 Jacob. For this is my covenant unto them,
' when I shall take away their sins: As con-
' cerning the gospel, they are enemies for your
' sakes ; but as touching the election, they are
4 beloved for the fathers' sakes. For the gifts
' and calling of God are without repentance.
' For as ye, in times past, have not believed
' God, yet have obtained mercy through their
' unbelief; even so have these also now not be-
' lieved, that through your mercy they also may
4 obtain mercy. For God hath concluded them
4 all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon
4 all. O the depth of the riches both of the
' wisdom and the knowledge of God; how un-
' searchable are his judgments, and his ways
4 past finding out ! '
To conclude: both Jews and Christians are
186 REMARKS UPON
agreed that the Scriptures of the Old Testa-
ment were dictated by divine inspiration. Va-
rious passages of these Scriptures have been
shown to meet in the character, the life, the
last sufferings, and death of Jesus, and to ac-
cord with the declarations of the New Testa-
ment regarding the effects of his death, and his
condition and offices since his exaltation.
It is undeniable that this person was the
founder of the Christian religion, and is believed
by his followers to be the Messiah promised to
the Jews. It has been shown, that he was a
righteous person in his doctrines and his actions,
and it is certain, that neither lie nor his first
followers could gain any thing by an imposture;
for he himself expired upon a cross, and the re-
wards of his disciples, in the earliest ages of
the church, were prisons, persecution, ignomini-
ous and painful deaths. It is incontrovertible
also, that though his religion was contrary to the
prejudices and vices of the Jews and Gentiles,
and was opposed by the whole power of the
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 187
reigning superstitions, aided by the secular au-
thority of the Roman government, yet it pre-
vailed so mightily by the force of conviction
alone, that after three centuries it became the
established religion of the Roman empire ;
and, since that period, it has numbered among
its disciples the greatest and most learned men
of the Gentile world, and has been rejected
only by those who equally deny the truth of
the Mosaic revelation. It is certain, that
though this religion has been opposed by men
of great wit, acuteness, and learning, yet the
founder of it has never yet been proved to be
an impostor or an enthusiast; nor have any
facts been brought to light which invalidate his
pretensions. It is certain, that since the Jews
crucified Jesus they have never prospered.
Within forty years after his death Jerusalem
was destroyed by the Romans, and the Jews
led away captive among all nations, among
whom they have suffered great and dreadful
calamities. And what is equally remarkable.
REMARKS UPON
their own sacred books declare them to be at
present not the people of God ; not in covenant
relation with God, but in a state of blindness
and separation. Of the nature and cause of
this blindness they themselves can give no
rational or consistent account; while, upon the
Christian scheme, it is at once accounted for.
Such is a summary of some of the leading facts
and arguments which unite in demonstrating
that Jesus is the Messiah; and no answer has
been made, in David Levi's work on the pro-
phecies, to any one of these proofs of the
divine mission of Jesus.
We cannot close these remarks, without an
earnest and most affectionate invitation to the
ancient people of God, seriously to ponder the
arguments advanced in the preceding pages ;
and to examine the Scriptures, whether these
arguments be well founded or not. And oh
that there were in the Jews such a disposition
as to lead them now to adopt, as the language
of their hearts, the pathetic prayers put into
LEVl's DISSERTATIONS. 18Q
their mouths by the evangelical prophet Isaiah,
in reference to the period of their restoration !
' O Lord, why hast thou made us to err from
' thy ways ; and hardened our hearts from thy
'fear? Return, for thy servant's sake, the
' tribes of thine inheritance. The people of thy
' holiness have possessed it but a little while :
' our adversaries have trodden down thy sanc-
' tuary. We are thine : thou never barest
' rule over them ; they were not called by thy
' name.' (Isaiah Ixiii. 17 19-) And, again,
' Be not wroth very sore, O Lord ; neither
4 remember iniquity for ever. Behold, see, we
' beseech thee, we are all thy people ! Thy holy
' cities are a wilderness; Zion is a wilderness;
' Jerusalem a desolation ! Our holy and our
' beautiful house, where our fathers praised
' Thee, is burned up with fire ; and all our plea-
' sant things are laid waste. Wilt thou refrain
1 thyself for these things, O Lord ? wilt thou
'hold thy peace, and afflict us very sore? 3
(Isaiah Ixiv. 9 12.) We conclude, in the
language of the pious psalmist, ' Blessed be the
* Lord God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous
' things ; and blessed be his glorious name for
' ever; and let the whole earth be filled with his
' glory ! Amen, and Amen. '
1T1K END.
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