This obscurity in the prophecies of Scripture must not be supposed to bear the most distant re semblance to the studied ambiguity of the heathen oracles. These were only consulted with regard to events immediately future ; men take little interest in what is very remote in its date and consequences: there was, therefore, the utmost need for caution, lest, by a rash response, the credit of the oracle should be weakened or destroyed. The answers were, accordingly, so contrived as to flatter the hopes of the inquirer, and, at the same time, to save the credit of the oracle in case of failure. There is a most remarkable difference between such responses and the oracles of God. The latter are never ambiguous with regard to events immediately future, whose occurrence is determined by circum stances which have already happened, though their result and issue may be entirely unknown to men. Thus, Jeremiah made no mystery of the captivity of the Jews which was to take place in his own time; whilst to comfort them, he announced its ter mination, after a lapse of seventy years. In the same manner our Lord declares that Jerusalem should be utterly destroyed, before the generation which heard the denunciation should pass away. The same observation applies to all the prophetic announcements in Scripture, which apply to events immediately future. The intimations of Joseph to Pharaoh, of Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar, of Samuel to Eli ; are delivered without the slightest ambi guity, or attempt at concealment. No provision is made for evasion in case of failure ; the credit and the safety of the person who announces the will of heaven are fairly staked on the issue; and in all these cases, the result has been such as to produce implicit faith in the predictions respecting distant and darkly intimated events.
But there is not the same clearness of meaning when the prophecy relates to events of remote date, and of momentous importance in the history of the world, or of the church of God. It is then veiled in figure, in allegory, and in mystery; though we may discern a dark outline we cannot complete the picture ; and we must wait with patience till it stands revealed by the evolution of events, which completely interpret the previously intimated coun sels of heaven. The use of such prophecies is rather to convince mankind of the constant univer sal providence of God, than to lift the veil from futurity; and whenever an event occurs which, by the circumstances attending it, can be proved to have been foretold, that event bears the signature of heaven to its truth, and its importance in the economy of providence.* In short, it seems to have been the intention of the Almighty that events should explain the prophecy, rather than that the prophecy should make mankind fully acquainted with future events. It is evident that the prophet, in foretelling distant events, had no inducement to affect mystery where there was no danger of being detected, and where he had so many opportunities, had he been an imposter, of advancing his interest, by flattering the prejudices of his countrymen, or of indulging his malignity by terrifying them by une quivocal denunciations of judgment.
Indeed, there is every reason to think that the prophets themselves were unacquainted with the meaning of many of the most important predic tions which they delivered. They had visions and dreams in which certain representations seemed to pass before their view, and certain words seemed to reach their ears. They knew they were under a prophetic influence, and that they were bound to record faithfully what they had heard and seen. But they gave themselves no concern about the inter pretation; nor do their countrymen ever press them for an explanation of their dark and mysterious in timations. They related all that God had been pleased to reveal, and they would have deemed it presumption to have pryed farther into the secrets of heaven. God reserved to himself the interpre tation of his own counsels; and, by the events of his providence, demonstrated that he ruled in the armies of heaven, and regulated the affairs of the children of men.
The first prophetic intimation of the Messiah is supposed to be contained in the promise that the seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the ser pent. The promise is afterwards renewed to Abra ham, for it is said that in him all the families of the earth should be blessed. This promise has never received a literal fulfilment, by any temporal bless ings conferred on the human race, by the natural seed of Abraham; but it has been completely ful filled, or is in the progress of being fulfilled, by the blessings which Christ, his lineal descendant, ac cording to the flesh, has conferred, and is still con ferring on the human race. The prophecy of Jacob on his deathbed, has been universally understood by Jews and Christians to apply to the Messiah.
The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, till Shiloh come, and unto him shall the gathering of the people be." This prophecy defines with considerable precision the time of his appearing. Moses, shortly before his death, said to the Israelites, " The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet, from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken." This prophecy is applied by the Apostles (Acts iii. 22) directly to Jesus of Nazareth.
The prophet Isaiah (ch. liii.) points out more particularly the peculiarities in the character and history of the Messiah, his innocence, his suffer ings, and the object which was to be accomplished by them. The sixty-nine weeks of Daniel, which were to elapse between the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the cutting off "Messiah the prince," mark still more definitively the time of his suffering. In the interpretation of this prophecy, all divines con sider a day as representing a year; and, according to the most accurate chronology, by calculating on this plan, the time of the Messiah's death will be found to be exactly defined.