yet He has not so appeared: in that character, therefore, He has yet to come; and when He shall accomplish that prophecy delivered by Isaiah,1 and shall come "from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozra," when his garments shall be dipped in blood from having trod the winepress of the wrath of God, then, I conceive, He will have fulfilled, as the antitype, the chief particulars which were shewn forth in the history of David, whose tumultuous life and reign, characterized by war and bloodshed, was succeeded by the milder times of peace and righteous government, with which Jehovah blessed Solomon his son. Let our attention now be turned to the reign of Solomon, and the first particular to be noticed, in connection with our present view, is that of his taking possession of the throne of his father David in peace, having put all enemies, such as Adonijah and Joab, under his feet. In the corresponding character of "David's Son," or the "righteous branch,"3 Christ shall sit upon David's throne, and having delivered his church out of the hand of her enemies, that she may serve Him without fear," of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom, to order Isa. lxiii. 1. + 3 Jer. xxiii. 6; Matt. xxii. 42. 2 Rev. xix. 13. 4 Luke i. 74. it and to establish it, from henceforth even for ever."1 Solomon next appears as the builder of God's house, in which character he employs the materials which had been collecting during the reign of David from amongst the heathen, as well as the children of Israel, and those which himself had added. So Christ, at his second coming, will unite in one glorious body, or spiritual temple, (in the midst of which He himself will dwell as God manifest in the flesh) all the members of that body, or lively stones of that temple, which have been collecting in former ages and dispensations, and especially during the times of the Gentiles; to which shall be added the quick, who are found faithful at his appearing; for they without us shall not be made perfect. The celebration of Solomon's nuptials sets forth the next act of Christ, when He presents unto himself his glorious church without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, and celebrates the marriage supper of the Lamb.3 Other particulars might be brought forward; such as Solomon's name, his wisdom, (pointing to Christ as the "wisdom of God,") his wealth, his undisturbed dominion, and the peace and righ 1 Isa. ix. 7. 2 Ezek. xxxvii. 27. 3 Eph. v. 27: Cant. iv. 7: Rev. xix. 7-9. teous government, which, so long as he walked with God, were continued to him. These must strike every attentive reader, and therefore need not be specified. If the above imperfect sketch be consistent with the truth, the following questions necessarily arise. How much of the type has been fulfilled? What is the next particular for which we are to look? Each of these questions may be answered at once. If David's mounting the throne, and collecting materials for the future temple were designed as figures of Christ's ascension, and of the corresponding work of collecting a peculiar people, who shall hereafter shine in the temple of the Lord, so much of the type has been fulfilled, and the next particular, for which we must look, is the appearing of that Lord as "a man of war," when He will tread the people in his anger, and trample them in his fury, when their blood shall be sprinkled upon his garments, and He will stain all his raiment: when the day of vengeance which is now in his heart, and the year of his redeemed, is come. "For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh, and the slain of the Lord shall be many." Here I observe, that in all those parts of this typical history in which reference is clearly made to the acts of the antitype, (that is, to Christ as 1 Isa. lxiii. 3, 4; and lxvi. 16: Rev. xiv. 20: xix. 14. David,) as those acts have been performed by Him at his first coming, or as they are reserved for future accomplishment at his next appearing, we must consider SAMUEL as speaking beforehand of those days in which Christ should accomplish his words. To the prophets GAD and NATHAN are ascribed the six concluding chapters of the first book of Samuel, and the whole of the second book, with which the reign of David is concluded. When NATHAN the prophet conveyed God's promise to David, I consider that he also spake of the days of the Messiah. Thus in the tenth verse, "Moreover, I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime." Though God's people had rest from all their enemies round about during David's reign, and during the reign of Solomon his son, I need not tell the candid reader, that this promise has not been fully accomplished. If any think so, let him point out in what "place of their own" that people are now planted; and let him shew that Jerusalem is not trodden down of the Gentiles, and that the Jews are not despised and oppressed by the nations. Again, the same re Acts iii. 24. 2 2 Sam. vii. 5-17. mark may be made on the thirteenth verse, where Solomon is promised; and the Lord, having engaged to establish his kingdom, undertakes to do more than was fulfilled in Solomon. "He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever." And the repetition of the concluding words, as the conclusion of the covenant, prove its certainty: "And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee; thy throne shall be established for ever." To the accomplishment of this promise to the uttermost we are constrained to look beyond Solomon, even to that Son of David who is given unto us, upon whose shoulder the government shall be: whose title then shall be (like Melchisedec, king of Salem) The Prince of Peace: who, having left the Father's throne, on which He now sits, shall come to sit upon his own: 3" of the increase of whose government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this."4 "Now the acts of DAVID the king, first and last," being written as well "in the book of GAD the seer," as "in the book of Samuel the seer, 1 See page 39. 3 Rev. iii. 21, and Luke i. 33. 2 2 Sam. vii. 16. D |