teacher, and wondering after him as a theological empiric. These remarks may be deemed severe; we mean them to be so. But, whether Mr. Irving may rank us with the righteous or not, it is in kindness that we would smite him for such aberrations as these, which are the more severely to be deprecated, inasmuch as they are unworthy of his talents, inconsistent with his piety, and tend greatly to diminish his usefulness.

Mr. Irving's scheme of interpretation, we do not think it necessary minutely to analyse, since it is confessedly borrowed. Partly on this account, we have suffered his volumes to remain so long unnoticed; and partly, because it is both an ungracious and a disagreeable part of our official duty, to hold up to deserved condemnation the pernicious indiscretions of influential and pious men. The general subject of the publications before us is, however, one of the highest interest, and which we should rejoice to see competently treated; and although we are conscious of being able to contribute but in a humble degree to clear up its difficulties, we shall avail ourselves of this occasion to suggest a few considerations, with a view to promote and to direct further inquiry.

What is the design of Prophecy? Mr. Irving states it to be twofold, according to the character of those to whom the ' revelation is given-the World or the Church.'

When the revelation is made to the princes, cities, or nations of the world, as by Balaam to the King of Moab, by Jonah to Nineveh, and by the dreams which Daniel interpreted, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; the great end in view is, to teach their wicked and rebellious hearts, that "the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will:" and along with this lesson of God's personality and power, to teach this other lesson of his holy providence, that unless they humble their pride and repent of their wickedness, they shall feel the rod of his anger, and the fierceness of his fiery indignation. But, when the revelation is brought unto the Church, as of the flood to Noah, of the promised seed to Abraham, of the seventy weeks to Daniel in the house of his сарtivity, of the revelation to John in the place of his exile; the blessed end which God hath in view is, to reward the faith of his servants, and to refresh the drooping spirit of his Church, and to assure Israel his inheritance, that however the heathen may rage, and the people imagine a vain thing against the Lord and his anointed, his faithfulness shall never depart, nor his watchfulness fail, from those who have chosen him for their trust.' Vol. I. pp. 13, 14.

To this view of the twofold end of Prophecy, we should not much object, had Mr. Irving classified the Divine predictions as consisting of threatenings and promises, instead of making the distiuction turn upon the description or class of persons to

whom they were specifically addressed. For this representation, there is no Scriptural warrant; and the examples adduced prove as much. The threatenings of God are often addressed to his Church, while the promises of his mercy are held out to the World. Thus, with regard to the revelation of the flood to Noah, or rather by Noah to that generation, it is said, that "Noah, being warned by God," was " moved with fear to prepare an ark for the saving of his house." (Heb. xi. 7.) Nor was there any thing in the awful message to reward his faith or to refresh his spirit. Again; the revelation to John in the Isle of Patmos opens with a series of predictive warnings, addressed, not to the world, but to the Church, and having for their de sign that very end which Mr. Irving would restrict to revelations made to the princes and nations of the world. Besides which, many of the predictions which would fall under his first class, were exclusively addressed to God's chosen people.

The Author subsequently distinguishes Prophecy into two kinds: Discursive Prophecy, or the shewing forth of the purposes of God respecting the World and the Church;' and Prophetic History, or the same purposes digested into a narrative of coming events, drawn up with reference to time and 'place;' of which the only instances are stated to be the books of Daniel and John. Of these two kinds, we are told, the His'torical are for the wise, the Discursive for the unwise; those ⚫ for the learned, these for the unlearned of the children of God.' With this distinction, our readers will not, we imagine, be better satisfied. For, in the first place, many of the prophecies in the book of Zechariah strictly fall within the second class, according to the Author's own definition; whereas he allows none of the books of the Old Testament to be of this kind, save the book of Daniel. Secondly, a distinction which would suppose the unequivocally explicit prophecy of the Seventy-sevens to have been addressed only to the wise and learned, and the mysterious oracles of David and Isaiah to have been intended for the unwise and the unlearned, can rest upon no solid basis or intelligible principle.

The several ends and designs of Prophetic Revelation must be ascertained by attentively considering the specific character of the various communications which, at sundry times and in divers manners, God has vouchsafed to make by his holy prophets. That they comprise both promises and threatenings, that they have a twofold aspect on those who believed and those who despised the warning or the promised blessing, is an obvious remark, but one of too general a nature to serve us in the present discussion. A more important distinction is observable between predictions of limited and temporary interest,

and those of a general and standing nature. Of the former kind are the prophecies relating to individuals; such, for instance, as the angelic annunciation respecting Samson, the message to Samuel concerning Eli, the prophetic denunciations of Elijah respecting Ahab, and the predictions relating to Cyrus, to Josiah, to Zerubbabel, and Joshua. To this class also we may refer the predictions respecting nations and communities, which were literally and finally fulfilled in the event; as those respecting the fall of Tyre and of Babylon, the conquest and degradation of Egypt, the punishment of Moab, Edom, and Damascus, and our Lord's prediction respecting the overthrow of Jerusalem. With regard to all these prophecies, it may be remarked, that, as their object was specific, so, their purport was unequivocal, and could not be mistaken. They concerned the present interests of the individuals to whom they were immediately addressed, and were obviously designed to excite and enable them to prepare themselves before-hand for the arrival of the events announced. The end of such predictions, instead of being 'twofold,' was multifold, varying infinitely, according to the more or less private nature and different bearing of the prophecy. But, generally speaking, they were intended to strengthen the faith of God's people in his almighty power and righteous government, as well as to excite repentance and fear of the predicted judgements, and to enable those who believed and heeded them to avoid the calamities announced. These purposes, they answered while unfulfilled. Subsequently to their accomplishment, they served sometimes as attestations of the veracity and Divine authority of the prophet who delivered the prediction, sometimes as sanctions of the Divine commands, or again, as standing monuments of the supremacy of the God of Israel, and evidences of the true religion. And, as recorded, together with their accomplishment, in the sacred writings, they still answer, in these respects, an important end. Their primary design, however, was, in connexion with the event following close upon the prediction, (sometimes only a few years or months, at other times a generation intervening,) to promote the same moral ends that the ordinary threatenings and promises of the Divine word, in conjunction with God's Providential dispensations, are intended to subserve now. Mr. Irving himself remarks, that

'Promise is nothing but prophecy, there being between these no difference, in the ends for which they are given, in the evidence upon which they rest, or in the fruits which the faith of them produceth in the soul. Or, if there be a distinction between the prophecies and promises, which are one in spirit, this is the only distinction; that the former bear the same relation to the Providence of God, which the latter bear to his Grace.' Vol. I. p. 19.

The Jews, in fact, by virtue of their peculiar relation to Jehovah as a people, were placed under a Providential dispensation altogether extraordinary,-a dispensation of Prophecy and Miracle; or, to speak more accurately, (prophecy being itself a miracle,) of miraculous communication and miraculous interposition. The prediction and the miracle were often of very private interest, as are many of the most remarkable interpositions of Divine Providence on behalf of individuals under the

present economy. What would now pass for ordinary and private events in domestic history, (such as the birth of an extraordinary child or the recovery of the sick in answer to prayer,) then partook of the extraordinary and miraculous character of the general dispensation.

But, collaterally with these predictions of limited and temporary interest, and distinct from them, we find in the Old Testament Scriptures, a connected chain of Prophecy of a totally different character, marked by its unity of design, permanent interest, and at the same time obscure and indeterminate import. This line of prediction begins with the promise of a Redeemer made to our First Parents; a promise general, mysterious, and as to the mode and circumstances of its fulfilment, wholly indefinite. This revelation was subsequently enlarged from time to time, and its import became more and more clearly developed as the time of consummation drew on. Still, in all the varied reiterations of this grand promise, from Adam to Malachi, the absence of explicitness, a reserve which checked the presumption of curiosity, an enigmatical phraseology which renders it probable that even the inspired messenger did not understand its full import, are prominent features of the prophetic discovery. Indeed, as we had occasion to remark in a former article*, those predictions which, since their fulfilment, approach the nearest to historical records of past facts, must have been to a Jew the most obscure, and seem adapted to check and to correct, rather than to excite the national anticipations of the promised Messiah. Nor does it appear that these prophecies enabled the most attentive and pious expectant of their fulfilment to prepare for the actual event. "Ought not Christ to suffer," was a question which not the most enlightened Jew was able to answer or to comprehend, till the foretold event had taken place. It is true, the disciples of our Lord were reproached with slow-hearted

* Ecl. Rev. Vol. xix. p. 219. Art. Gisborne's Essays. Not having seen reason to change the opinions then expressed, we shall be excused for repeating in this place the tenor of some observations which few of our readers, probably, will have in recollection.

ness and blindness for not recognizing the accomplishment of the prediction in the event. But the very reserved manner in which our Lord himself referred to his approaching sufferings, proves that the design of such reference, as well as of the previous prophecies, was, that, after he had risen from the dead, they might remember" that these things were written of him, "and that they had done these things unto him." (John xii. 16.) With regard to those who were waiting for the Consolation of Israel, we are warranted in concluding, that a distinct knowledge of the import of the prophecies relating to our Lord's Advent, was not necessary, and we may therefore presume, was not intended; since, without understanding some of the most important and explicit of those predictions, they embraced the general promise of a Redeemer, and recognized our Lord to be indeed the Son of God and the King of Israel. And that the obscurity of the predictions was intended to veil their meaning, prior to their fulfilment, from those who were instrumental in bringing about the event, seems clearly intimated by the Apostles. "For, had they known it," says St. Paul, speaking of the grand mystery, Christ crucified," they "would not have crucified the Lord of Glory." (1 Cor. ii. 8.) "And now, brethren," said St. Peter, "I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers. But those things which God before had shewed by the mouth of all "his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled." (Acts iii. 17, 18.)

Surely it will not be said, that this whole series of prophetic revelations failed of its purpose. Yet, as they were not understood by any even of the pious Jews, they could not contribute to prepare their minds for the actual circumstances of the event. They served, indeed, (and not the less by their obscurity,) to keep alive, and gradually to form and to direct the national anticipation. They were an important part of that system of means by which the faith of the devout Jew was confirmed amid the apparent ruin of his nation and the desolation of Zion. And it was one important design of the minor series of specific predictions and unequivocal fulfilments, running parallel with the line of prophetic testimony respecting Messiah, to assure the Church of the certain accomplishment of the grand promise made unto the Fathers. The unfulfilled prophecy was attested by those which were being verified before their eyes; and the whole series of miracles in the

The prophetic sign of the prophet Jonah (Matt. xii. 39, 40.) may be cited as another instance of prediction not intended to be understood till after the event.