times and a half the period spoken of is never so expressed, but uniformly a time, times (or, if the word be supposed to be in the dual number, two times), and the dividing of a time; yet no person ever doubted the continuity of the one time, the two times, and the half time, or ever thought of separating them from each other. Surely then analogy requires us to allow the continuity of the seven weeks, the sixty two weeks, and the one week, which jointly make up the complete period of the seventy weeks. 7. The holy city at the beginning of the prophecy must be the same as the city destined to be rebuilt; and the city destined to be rebuilt must be the same as the city which Messiah cuts off from being his by divorce. This position requires no other proof than an attentive consideration of the context. 8. The prince that should come (in the 26th verse) must be the same person as the prince the Anointed One (in the 25th verse); that is to say, they must alike be the Messiah. That the prince in each verse should mean the same person, is required by the context: otherwise the prophecy is chargeable with the obscurity of introducing another person under the very same title as the Messiah, without any regular specification that another person is intended. The prince in the * 25th verse must be the Messiah, because he is so styled: the prince in the 26th verse must also be the Messiah, both because the most obvious construction of the context requires it, and because the word is joined with an epithet which plainly shews. that the Messiah alone can be intended. He that should come is a well known descriptive appellation of the long expected Saviour. It was thus that his advent was foretold by Jacob: "the sceptre "shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from "between his feet, until Shiloh shall come †." It was thus that he was announced by Balaam: "there "shall come a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall "rise out of Israel;-out of Jacob shall come he "that shall have dominion." It was thus also that he was predicted by Isaiah, and Malachi, and Micah: "the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and "unto them that turn from transgression in Ja"cob §:-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 66 ye delight in; behold, he shall come, saith the "Lord of hosts: but who may abide the day of "his coming, and who shall stand when he appear O exoμevos, as the appellation is expressed in the Gospel. "eth*?-but thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, 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 †." As he was announced by this style in the Old Testament, so is he acknowledged by the same style in the New. Thus we find that the chief priests, whose lips in this instance at least preserved knowledge, owned that Micah foretold the Messiah under the appellation of he that should come. Thus, when John the Baptist sent his disciples to inquire whether Jesus were indeed the Messiah, the question which they ask is, "Art thou he that should come, or do we "look for another?" Thus the Samaritan woman professes her faith in the expected advent of the Saviour: "I know that Messias cometh which " is called Christ; when he is come, he will tell us "all things ." And thus does our Lord himself speak of his ministry and coming: "behold, these "three years I come seeking fruit on this fig-tree, "and find none T." Exactly the same language is held respecting the second advent; "for yet a little "while, and he that shall come will come, and will "not tarry **" But it is needless to multiply * Malach. iii. 1, 2. + Micah v. 2. § Matt. xi. 4—Luke vii, 19, 20. ¶ Luke xiii. 7. Matt. ii. 6. | John iv. 25. ** Heb. x. 37. citations citations to prove so clear a matter. Not only the particular context of the present prophecy, but the general context of the whole Bible, requires us to understand the Messiah by Daniel's Prince that should come*. 9. The person, who confirms the covenant with many and who causes the sacrifice and meat-offering to cease, must be the Messiah. This position necessarily follows from the preceding one: for there is no other nominative case to the succeeding verbs except the Prince that shall come. 10. The righteousness of the everlasting ages, mentioned in the 24th verse, must be understood of a person; and that person must be the Messiah. It is said to be part of the office of the seventy weeks to cause this eternal righteousness to come. Now, since the seventy weeks look forward to the atonement for iniquity, made by the death of Christ; and since the 24th verse professes to be a detail of the grand particulars which they are to effect, the coming of Christ will be left wholly unnoticed unless it be specified by the phrase now under consideration. But, that it is specified by it, appears from the subsequent context. The prince that * See Bp. Kidder's Demons. of the Messiah. part I. chap. v. p. 37. should 8 should come is the eternal righteousness that should be caused to come. And his coming is declared to be at the end of the seven weeks and the sixty two weeks for so long is to be the time unto the Messiah; which expression cannot mean unto his death, but must mean unto his coming. Such personifications, as that of righteousness, are not uncommon in Scripture. Thus Christ is styled by Jeremiah our righteousness*: and thus he is said by St. Paul to be "made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and "sanctification, and redemption†." Thus also, in the same vein of personification, Isaiah, speaking either of Abraham or Cyrus, asks, "Who raised up "righteousness from the east?" for such is the literal translation of the original, though the whole context shews that a person is intended: and thus the same prophet, foretelling the future glories of the house of Israel, declares, that in the last ages God will make their officers peace, and their exactors righteousness §." Similar phraseology was perfectly familiar to the Targumists, who were wont to style the expected Messiah the Word of God, the Voice of God, the Name of God, or the Wisdom of God. The first of these titles is claimed for our Jerem. xxiii. 6. Isaiah xli. 2, 3. +1 Cor. i. 30. § Isaiah Ix. 17. See Jamieson's Vindication of the doctrine of Scripture, b. i. passim. Lord |