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FROM THE FIFTH LONDON EDITION, WITH THE AUTIIOR'S LAST CORRECTIONS
AND IMPROVEMENTS.

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115,599 JAN 2 1 1902

DAY +1851

4

THE BOOK

OF THE

PROPHET ISAIAH.

...

OUR blessed Lord, just before his ascension, said unto his disciples, "All things must be ful-
filled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms
concerning nie. ... Then opened he their understandings, that they might understand the
Scriptures." (Note, Luke 24:44-49.) Hence we learn, that the sacred volume of the Old
Testament was divided, at that time, nearly in the same manner as at present; though there
is some difficulty, and not much importance, in exactly determining which books belonged
to the Prophets, and which to the Psalms. The historical books, however, from Joshua to
Nehemiah, must have belonged to the Prophets, in our Lord's days. Indeed all the sacred
writers were prophets; and evident predictions of remote events are found in almost all the
preceding books: but then, the prophetical part comes in occasionally, in the midst of other
subjects: aud in many instances, the prophet seems to have been led by the Holy Spirit, to
foretel the most important and distant events, while he supposed himself, or at least might
appear to the reader, to be discoursing on another subject. But in the division of the Old
Testament, on which we now enter, prediction is evidently the principal subject; and other
topics are introduced occasionally, on account of some kind of relation which they bear to
he predictions: and the prophets knew and avowed, that they were foretelling future
events. From Moses to Samuel, few prophets were raised up: "the word of the LORD was
precious, there was no open vision:" but Samuel established the schools of the prophets,
and we read of a succession of them in every age, till the close of the Old Testament. (Notes,
1 Sam. 3:1. 10:5,6.) They were, in general, extraordinary instructers, sometimes in aid of the
priests and Levites; but more commonly to supply their defects, when they neglected their
duty. They were also bold reformers, and reprovers of idolatry, iniquity, and hypocrisy:
they called the attention of the people to the law of Moses, especially the moral law, the
standard of true holiness; they shewed the inefficacy of ceremonial observances, without the
obedience of faith and love; and they kept up and encouraged the expectation of the prom-
ised Messiah, and more fully declared "the sufferings of Christ and the glory which should
follow." (Note, 1 Pet. 1:10-12.) Several of these prophets, nay, some of the most eminent,
wrote nothing that we know of: others composed the historical records, which have been
considered, and which contain also occasional predictions; with other books of the same
nature, from which extracts only have been preserved for our instruction. But at length
Some of them were commanded to commit their messages to writing; and these constitute
the books on which we now enter.-Tradition informs us, that the prophets, having written
the prophecy, and delivered it as directed, affixed it to the door of the temple, where it con-
tinued some time, and was then taken down by the priests, and entered into their registers:
but the persecutions, which the prophets generally endured, from both priests and people,
render this tradition very doubtful; nor can we exactly know, in what way they were pre-
served. This, however, is not material: no learned man is anxious to know in what manner
Homer's Iliad, Virgil's Æneis, or Tully's Orations, were rescued from the general wreck of
ancient writings. They exist, and vouch their own authenticity. How much more, then,
do those prophecies, which have been fulfilling for ages, and are fulfilling at this day, demand
our attention by their internal evidence! In addition to this, however, the authority of both
Jews and Christians, and above all of Christ and his apostles, transmits them to us as "the
oracles of God."-The prophets did not teach any new doctrines, commands, or ordinances,
but appealed to the authenticated records; it was not therefore, needful that they should
confirm their messages, with that immense weight of public miracles, with which the dis-
pensation of Moses, and the gospel of Christ, were introduced. "Their pretensions to be
considered as God's appointed servants, were demonstrated by the unimpeachable integrity
'of their characters, by the intrinsic excellence and tendency of their instructions; and by
'the disinterested zeal and undaunted fortitude, with which they persevered in their great
'design. These were still farther confirmed by the miraculous proofs which they gave of
'divine support, and by the immediate completion of many smaller predictions, which they
'uttered. Such were ...
their credentials ... to their contemporaries: and we, who, having
lived to witness the ... second dispensation, can look back to the connexion which subsisted
between the two covenants, have received additional evidence of the inspiration of the
'prophets, in the attestations of our Savior and his apostles; and in the retrospect of a ger-
'minant, and gradually maturing, scheme of prophecy, connected in all its parts, and ratified
in its great object, the advent of the Messiah. We have still further incontrovertible proof

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