z XXXIII. "He rose again the third day, according "to the Scriptures." The resurrection was frequently and clearly foretold in the Scriptures. In the twentysecond Psalm, after the prayers of the Lord Jesus under his sufferings and immediately before his death, have been rehearsed, he is introduced as expressing himself in these words: "I will declare thy name unto my "brethren; in the midst of the congregation will I "praise thee." With this compare the language of Paul, where he affirms, that the prophets and Moses foretold," that Christ should suffer, and that he should "be the first that should rise from the dead, and should "show light unto the people, and to the Gentiles." XXXIV. It is written, also, Psalm cx. 7. " He shall "drink of the brook in the way." "The way" denotes the course of his mortal life. The way is intersected and divided by " the brook." The rapid "brook," or torrent, signifies a violent inundation of suffering. "To "drink of" the torrent, is to be so inundated by it as only to escape suffocation, while "the waters come in "to the soul." After Christ shall have done this, then, nay," therefore," according to the promise of the Father, according to the value of the foregoing sufferings, according to merit most strictly so called, "shall he lift 66 up the head." He shall emerge from the brook of sufferings and death, and shall cause the members of his mystical body to emerge with him, that they may עלכן * y 1 Cor. xv. 4. * Ps. xvi. 10. comp. Acts ii. 29-31. Ps. xxii. a Comp. Mat. xxviii. 10. " Go tell my brethren." b Verse 22. d Ps. lxix. 2. c Acts xxvi. 22. partake of his glory, as they have partaken of his sufferings.34 XXXV. Add to this, Is. liii. 8. "He was taken," that is, to glory, "from prison and from judgment;"—from the power of the rulers of the people, who were intrusted with "judgment," from the coercive authority of the Roman Governor,-from every distress to which he may have been subjected by the judgment of God, as well as by that of human tribunals. "And "who shall declare," who shall conceive in his mind, or express with the tongue, "his generation?"* that is, the duration of his life, which, after he shall have submitted to death, will be everlasting; and his progeny of children, that shall afterwards arise. The tenth verse, if I mistake not, refers to the same thing, which the celebrated Cocceius not improperly translates thus: "And Jehovah has enfeebled, or reduced to impotence, "him that wished to weaken him." He that wished to weaken, harass, afflict, and, if possible, destroy Christ, is the Devil, who instigated at once the infernal hosts, and the Jews and Gentiles to seek his ruin. God, however, reduced the Devil to impotence, " destroyed him," and "stilled" him ;h that he might be unable to retain Christ in a state of death. Further, "when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, "he," that is, Christ, "shall see his seed;"-himself .דורו * -Et Jehovah volentem enervare ip » וַיְהוָה חָפֵץ דַכְּאוֹ הֶחֱלִי + "sum infirmavit, sive ad impotentiam redegit." Y is sometimes shall live, and he shall behold his children living; "he "shall prolong his days," that is, himself and his seed; "and the pleasure of Jehovah shall prosper in his "hand," in the hand both of Christ and of his seed.35 66 66 XXXVI. And what should hinder us from referring to this, Zephaniah iii. 8. " Therefore wait ye upon me, "saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to im"mortality?" In this chapter, the Prophet gives an account of the condition of Jerusalem in her latter days, the coming of the Son of God in the flesh, and the character of that age.i "The just Jehovah," he who is both God's "righteous servant," and "JEHOVAH our righteousness,"k" is in the midst thereof; he will "not do iniquity; every morning doth he bring his 'judgment to light; he faileth not." He preached the doctrine of true righteousness, and confirmed it by the testimonies of the prophets, and by works evidently Divine. "In the day-time he was teaching in the temple; and all the people came carly in the morning to him in the temple for to hear him.”m "But the unjust knoweth no shame." With this compare Christ's bitter lamentation: "O Jerusalem, Jeru"salem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them "that are sent unto thee, &c." The prophet, for the admonition of the Jews, next mentions the judgments of God inflicted on the Gentiles. And indeed before the coming of Christ, Egypt was subdued by the Persians; the inhabitants of Palestine were vanquished by the Greeks; the Jews took the towns of the Moabites from the Greeks and possessed them; they also subju 66 66 66 *p, ad diem, quo surgam in perpetuitatem. i Verses 5, 6, 7. k Jer. xxiii. 6. m Luke xxi. 37, 38. j Is. liii. 11. 1 See Is. liii. 9. 55 See NOTE XXXV. gated the Edomites; the Romans conquered all. God is then introduced speaking thus, after the manner of men: "I said, Surely thou wilt fear me; thou wilt re"ceive instruction, &c." With which compare the following expression in the parable of the vineyard: "Last "of all, he sent unto them his Son, saying, They will "reverence my Son." In fine, the Son of God turns towards his friends, whom he enjoins to wait patiently for his resurrection, which will be to eternity ;* in which acceptation the original word occurs in several other places. Aberbenel, aware of this, explains it as “a perpetual resurrection." In the subsequent verses, events that were to succeed the resurrection of Christ are foretold; namely, the infliction of God's dreadful wrath on Jerusalem, with the desolation of the whole land by fire and sword, and that by means of the nations gathered and assembled into one empire, to wit, the Roman; and then, the conversion of the nations by the preaching of the Gospel. It seemed proper, for the instruction of my pupils, to state the meaning of this passage at some length, in order to throw light on a remarkable prophecy, taken notice of by few. There are many other prophecies to the same effect, which I have not now leisure to illustrate. XXXVII. I cannot, however, omit that one, to which Paul directs our attention, namely, Isaiah lv. 3. where God addresses his elect‡ in the following words: "In"cline your ear, and come unto me; hear, and your "soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting cove 66 66 "nant with you, even the sure mercies of David."* This last expression is explained and applied by Paul thus: "And as concerning that he raised him up "from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, " he said on this wise; I will give you the sure mer"cies of David." Here, as in many other prophecies, David signifies Christ. Of him it had been said: My mercy shall not depart from him :"s and, "My mercy will I keep for him for evermore." Now God exhibits him to believers as the Pattern of all the blessings promised in the everlasting covenant, including the happy life of the whole man; which supposes the resurrection from the dead. For such is the import of these words, "I will give you the sure mercies " of David ;" that is, I will grant you those sure, lasting, solid, and truly valuable blessings which I have conferred on the Messiah. But no blessing, with which the resurrection of the body is unconnected, imparts complete felicity, or is worthy of a designation so magnificent. Consequently, God has raised up Christ also from the dead. The force of the Apostle's reasoning will be manifest to every man's conscience, if it be reduced, as has been done by a celebrated Interpreter, to the form of a syllogism, in this manner. God has raised up from the dead to die no more, him whom he is pleased to appoint the Pattern of all blessings, including the resurrection to eternal life. But when he says, "I will give you the sure mercies of David," he makes Christ, under the name of David, the Pattern of all blessings, and of the resurrection from the |