visit his people when he sends them any peculiar blessing. It is said of Naomi, (Ruth i. 6,) “Then she arose with her daughters-in-law, that she might return from the country of Moab for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the LORD had visited his people in giving them bread.” Jehovah came to his people in the blessing of an abundant harvest. Here we have the same kind of evidence that the "great prophet" was Jehovah, and that the "bread" was Jehovah, which the passages compared furnish that Christ was Jehovah. John, in preparing a way for Christ, prepared a way for Jehovah, because Christ was the representative of Jehovah. In preparing a people for Christ, John prepared a people for Jehovah, because Christ was the ambassador of Jehovah, who came in his name, and with his authority. In turning "many of the children of Israel" to Christ, he turned them to Jehovah, because all who received Christ received Jehovah who sent him.

Jer. xxiii. 5, 6. "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. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely and this is the name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS."

This king who was to succeed David is called a "righteous Branch," which may denote his lineal descent. His name was to be called "THE LORD OUR RIGHTE OUSNESS" which may denote that during his reign Jehovah would signally bless his people with prosperity. If the prophecy is a prediction of Christ, as some think, it denotes the abundant blessings which God would bestow upon mankind during his reign.

Jer. xxxiii. 16. "And this is the name wherewith she shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS."

Here Jerusalem is called by the same name; which

shows the absurdity of inferring from the former passage that Christ is Jehovah.

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Equally absurd is the argument derived from the name 'Emmanuel,” which signifies "God is with us;" and which is thought to be given to Christ: Matt. i. 23. The name Emmanuel," as it occurs Isa. vii. 14, is given to a child born soon after the prophet uttered the prediction of his birth. In Isa. viii. 8, it is applied to the people of Judah : "Thy land O Emmanuel." In these instances it denoted that God would be with his people by some peculiar favor. It is never indicative of the character or dignity of the person to whom it is given.

CLASS VI.

PASSAGES QUOTED TO PROVE THAT THE PECULIAR ATTRIBUTES OF GOD ARE ASCRIBED TO CHRIST.

Eternal Existence.

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

In the original, the word which occurs twice, in this verse, and is rendered "come forth" in the former part and "goings forth" in the latter, literally signifies birth; and is generally so understood in the former case, and is applied to the advent or birth of Christ. But if it means birth in one place, it may also in the other; and the latter clause may be rendered, "Whose birth has been from of old, from everlasting." That is, "Whose birth has been determined, or appointed, from everlasting." Or if the birth be referred back to a far more distant period than the time of our Saviour's advent in the flesh, still it implies generation, or beginning, and is incompatible with the notion that the Son of God existed from all eternity.

M

We

read, verse 4, "He shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God." If he were eternal and independent, he would stand and feed in his own strength, and in the majesty of his own name. He would need no assistance or support from the Lord his God; for he would not have any Lord or God. This passage, then, furnishes no evidence for the doctrine of the eternal generation of the Son.

John viii. 58. "Before Abraham was I am.'

The Greek eu, here rendered 'am,' is rendered 'have been' in John xiv. 9. But as 'have been' would rather exclude than express the idea of continued existence to the present time, we must use the word 'was' to express the true meaning of the Greek, owing to the peculiarity of our language. The meaning is, 'before Abraham was born I was.' To connect the present tense 'am' with the imperfect tense was,' as in the Common Version, is ungrammatical and without meaning. But the passage is evidently elliptical. The word 'he' is implied after 'am,' as will be seen by comparing the following passages. John iv. 26. "I who speak unto thee am he." John ix. 9. The blind man said, I am he." John xviii. 5. “ I am he." Luke

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xxi. 8. Many will come in my name, saying, I am he." Compare Matt. xxiv. 5, For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ," with Mark xiii. 6, "For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ." The words in italics are supplied by the English translators. See also Mark vi. 50. John vi. 20. All that can be proved by this passage is the pre-existence of Christ. The doctrine of "the eternal sonship" can derive no support from it.

He is before all things."

In verse 15, Christ is called "the first born of every creature." This proves that he has not existed from all eternity. "He is before all things" may denote his pre

eminence in dignity. But if it denotes his pre-existence, it can only prove that he existed before the creation of the universe.

Rev. i. viii. "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty."

The true reading of this passage, as found in the text of Griesbach, is, "I am Alpha and Omega, saith the Lord God, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.' As St. John attributes the words to the Lord God Almighty, they prove nothing concerning Christ.

Rev. i. 17, 18. "I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth and was dead."

As he who is the first and the last" was once dead, it cannot be God who alone hath immortality. The mean

ing is, that the Christian dispensation, over which Christ has been ordained of God to preside, was begun and will be completed by him, who is the author and finisher of our faith. The same remarks are applicable to Rev. xxii. 13, where Christ says, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last." When John fell down to worship him, (verse 8) he forbade him, saying, See thou do it not; for I am thy fellow-servant, and of

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*"Expressions of similar import with the title Alpha and Omega,' are applied to God in several parts of the prophecy of Isaiah, relating to the deliverance of the Jews from captivity through the instrumentality of Cyrus and the Persians. See Isa. xli. 4. xliii. 10. xliv. 6. xlviii. 12. These passages, as Le Clerk observes, are all intended to describe that superintending providence of God, which comprehends the past, the present, and the future. When the Almighty is said to be the first and the last,' the meaning of the expression is, that he is contemporary with the earliest and the latest events in that chain of causes and effects, by which he accomplishes his stupendous counsels. This remark is beautifully adapted to the series of occurrences referred to by the prophet Isaiah. It appears equally suitable at the commencement of a prophetical narration of the successes and calamities, which were appointed by the Almighty for the Christian church." Yates, p. 220.

thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God." Verse 9.

Immutability.

Heb. i. 10-12. "And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning," &c.

Some of the best critics refer this passage to Christ as the Father's delegate in the creation of the world. But the following is, I think, to be preferred.

The passage is a quotation from Psalms cii. 25—27, in which the Psalmist makes an appeal to the immutability of Jehovah as the surest pledge of his faithfulness to the posterity of his chosen people; and then adds, (verse 28,) “The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee." So the writer of this Epistle, after citing God's promise (Ps. xlv. 6, 7,) to reward the faithfulness of his Son, repeats the same appeal of the Psalmist as the surest pledge of the stability and perpetuity of Christ's kingdom. The words appear to be addressed not to Christ, but to Jehovah.*

Heb. xiii. 8. "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever."

This passage refers not to the nature, but to the doctrine of Christ. With this exposition agree Adam and Samuel Clark, Calvin, Newcome, Whitby, Le Clerk, and the majority of expositors.

Matt. xviii. 20.

Omnipresence.

"For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

If the presence of St. Paul with the disciples from whom

* See Dr. Clark's Seripture Doctrine, p. 81. No. 552; Emlyn's Works, Vol. II. p. 340; and Lindsey's Sequel, p. 488.