case, is the saying of our Lord: "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad :" from which my conclusion is, that Abraham saw in vision both the advents of Christ. It will be acknowledged, I suppose, by most persons, that if holy men of old partook in common of any spiritual privilege, such privilege would not be denied to so eminent a saint as Abraham, whose great distinctions were, that he was the father of the faithful, and the friend of God. Now if we are to suppose, by these words of our Lord, that Abraham in seeing the day of Christ saw only his suffering-day, (which, it is believed, he did, in the offering of his son, his only son, Isaac,) then I assert, that he partook of only half the privilege, which, in this respect, was granted to others; for to such "the Spirit of Christ, which was in them, testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow." This, doubtless, he also saw; and the sight would indeed fill his "soul with gladness," anticipating the grace that is to be brought unto him, "and his spiritual seed," at the "revelation of Jesus Christ." 3

In ISAAC's blessing I perceive nothing which speaks directly of these things; though, in conveying the blessing of Abraham to Jacob, to

2 1 Pet. i. 10, 11.

1 John viii. 56.

31 Pet. i. 13.

4

Compare Gen. xxvii. 29, with Gen. xii. 3.

the exclusion of Esau, the promise of the seed of the woman was necessarily included.

The blessing of JACOB, however, is of another character, and contains an interesting prophecy.1 In this we find a reference to the two advents of Christ. "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be." (ver. 10.) Here we find the prediction of that first advent which was announced by "a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. Thus Christ came as SHILOH. Here also is foretold "the gathering of the people" to Him, as members to a head: to which a reference seems to have been made by our Lord, when He said, “and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all unto me."3 It appears to me that

"2

this saying has a double reference: first, to that gathering to Christ from among the nations, which has been taking place continually since his being lifted up from the earth at his crucifixion; but, secondly, and more particularly, to that gathering of his elect from the four winds, from the north and from the south, from the east and from the west, to meet Him in the air, "when He shall be revealed from heaven with

1 Gen. xlix. 1-28.
3 John xii. 32.

2 Luke ii. 13, 14.

his mighty angels," "and shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe in that day." Thus each advent is spoken of in this passage.

2

But, under the prediction of Judah's dominion, (ver. 8, 9,) the second coming of the Lord is more distinctly revealed. On this subject the same writer, to whom I have before referred, W. Sherwin, thus speaks. "Jacob also prophesied of Judah's dominion, which was the type of Christ's, who was to descend from Judah; who is, therefore, in that state, styled, 'the Lion of the tribe of Judah;'3 which dominion of his and his saints shall not be forfeited, nor pass to other people,' (as Daniel speaks,) when He shall cease to sit on his Father's throne, and come to sit on his own throne in the said 1000 years with his saints, as the Son of David, for ever, viz. while the world remains. When will really be the sure mercies of David for himself and all his spiritual seed, which are so many ways distinguished from the natural; as ought to be well observed. The design of God in all the promised mercies to all those fathers, was, that their race and state should grow up or prosper into a kingdom, as was hinted before; which their natural race had only as a type for a time

6

2 Thess. i. 7, 10. 4 Rev. iii. 21.

2 Gen xlix.
2 Sam. vii. 13, 16, 19.

3 Rev. v.

6 Ezek. xvi. 13.

conditionally; but it was surely confirmed to Christ in the renewed state to come, when all the said spiritual seed shall rise and reign with Him, as confirmed by all the prophets, witnessed to in the gospels and apostles' writings, and carried on by Christ himself from the beginning of the Revelation to the end thereof." 1

JOSEPH's history, as recorded by Moses, typified the humiliation and consequent exaltation of Him, who being in the form of God, and thinking it not robbery to be equal with God, yet made himself of no reputation: wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him. His rejection, betrayal, and sale by his brethren for the goodly price of twenty pieces of silver, his being taken from prison and raised to the throne of Egypt, set forth the sufferings of Christ and the glory that shall follow, when the kingdoms of this world shall become his.

TO JOB I shall next refer; as Mr. Scott's remark, in his preface to that Book, has much weight, viz. that "it is very likely that Job was in his first prosperity, between the time when Joseph died and the appearance of Moses in Pharaoh's court as the deliverer of Israel:" for which opinion he adds his reasons. That Job foretels the second coming of Christ, and that a

1 "The True Good News," appendix, p. 3.

2 Vide Preface; also Caryl's Exposition of the Book of Job, pp. 19, 102, 103; also Preface to Bishop Patrick's Paraphrase.

personal coming, a personal coming at the latter day, when He is to stand upon this earth, and when Job in his body, after it shall have been raised from the grave, shall see Him, none can deny. And when we speak of Christ as our Redeemer, (though doubtless that title refers to his redeeming us from sin and Satan now, as "out of the enemy's hand,") it is to be understood as referring to "the redemption of the body" from the dominion of the grave, which shall be actually effected for us only in the first resurrection.

We come next to one who, though a prophet, was not a holy prophet, but who, notwithstanding, "heard the words of God, and saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open," I mean BALAAM. Of the future glories of Christ in his kingdom he spake. For a most interesting exposition of this passage I refer the reader again to Dr. Homes' work, p. 70.

"It will be a suitable preface to what we are to infer from this prophecy, if we give the exposition of the verses above quoted in the words of the Hebrews, and of the Greek Septuagint : for to the Hebrews that proverb well appliesUbi bene nemo melius.

"I shall see Him, but not now or nigh;' that

1 Num. xxiv. 17-24.