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SECTION IV.

44th Q.-Were the Israelites favoured with any further declaration of the divine will than what was contained in the Law of Moses?

A.-Yes, God sent, from time to time, prophets to them; either to encourage them, when they loved and feared him, or, to denounce the judgments he would inflict on them, if they forsook him and disobeyed his commands.

Hag. ii. 4. Be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the Lord; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong all ye people of the land, saith the Lord, and work; for I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts; 5. According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my Spirit remaineth among you; fear ye not.

Zech. i. 16. Thus saith the Lord; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies; my house shall be builded in it, saith the Lord of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem. 17. Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; my cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and the Lord shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem.

2 Chron. xxiv. 18. And they left the house of the Lord God of their fathers, and served groves and idols; and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass. 19. Yet he sent prophets to them to bring them again unto the Lord; and they testified against them; but they would not give ear. 20. And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the Lord, he hath also forsaken you. 21. And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king, in the court of the house of the Lord.

2 Chron. xxxvi. 15. And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling-place; 16. But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets.

45th Q.-Did Moses and the prophets foretel the coming of Christ?

A.-They did, but none more explicitly than Isaiah, who has so fully described the person and mediatorial office of Christ, that he is often called the evangelical prophet.

Deut. xviii. 17. And the Lord said unto me, 18. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. 19. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.

Ps. ii. 6. I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. 7. I will declare the decree; the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. 8. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.

Ps. xxii. 7. All they that see me, laugh me to scorn; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, 8. He trusted in the Lord, that he would deliver him; let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. 16. They pierced my hands and my feet. 18. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.

Ps. lxix. 21. They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

Ps. xvi. 10. Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

Ps. cx. 1. The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. 2. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. 4. The

Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedec.

Jer. xxiii. 5. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. 6. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord our Righteousness.

Dan. vii. 13. 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. 14. And there was given him dominion and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

Micah v. 2. But thou Bethlehem Ephrata, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me, that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

Zech. 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 upon a colt the foal of an ass.

Zech. xiii. 7. Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts; smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered; and I will turn my hand upon the little ones.

Mal. iii. 1. Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me; and the Lord whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple; even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in; behold he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.

46th Q.-What has Isaiah prophesied of Christ?

A.-That he should take upon him our nature by being born of a virgin, and be called Immanuel, or God with us; that he should be wounded for our transgressions, lay down his life for the sins of the world, and become an intercessor for sinners.

Isaiah vii. 14. The Lord himself shall give you a sign, Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Isaiah ix. 2. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. 6. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulders; and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7. Of the increase of his 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.

Isaiah xxviii. 16. Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a sure foundation; he that believeth shall not make haste.* See also ch. viii. 14.

Isaiah xlix. 6. And he (the Lord] said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.

Isaiah liii. 1. Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? 2. For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground. 3. He 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. 4. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities;

* Bishop Lowth translates it, "He that trusteth in him shall not be confounded."

the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 6. 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. 7. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. 8. 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. 9. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. 10. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. 11. He shall 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. 12. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death; and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Isaiah lxi. 1. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2. To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn. 3. To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.

Isaiah Ixiii. 1. Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.

2. Where

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