tition between us; having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even
392 OTHER TESTIMONIES PROVING [EXERC. XIII.
the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace ; and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: and came and preached peace to them that were afar off, and to them that were nigh.” Thus did God give “peace” at Jerusalem, both to the Jews and Gentiles, by Him that was the “ de- sire of all nations;” and so by this circumstance of the context also is our interpretation fully confirmed.
25. Although we have sufficiently confirmed our argument, and vindicated it from the exceptions of the Jewish masters, yet, because it is most certain that the constant faith of their church of old was, that the Messiah should come whilst that second temple was stand- ing, which they have now apostatized from and renounced, coun- tenancing themselves in their infidelity by the miserable evasions before mentioned, I shall add yet further strength unto it from a parallel testimony, and from their own confessions. The parallel place intended is that of Mal. ui 1, “ Behold, I will send my mes- senger, and he shall prepare the way before me: even the angel” (or “ messenger”) “of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lorp of hosts.” The time future of his coming is by Haggai said to be NJ DYD, “a little while;” and he (@ e,, Malachi) answerably affirms that he shall come O8N5, “ suddenly,” in the sense before declared. He who by Haggai is called M101 pyan-e3, “The desire of all nations,” with respect unto the Gen- tiles, all desirable things being laid up in him, is by Malachi called DwpId OANTWS FIND, with respect unto the Jews, “The Lord, whom ye seek,” whose coming they looked for so long, and prayed for so earnestly, And what Haggai expressed absolutely, “shall come,” afterwards intimating the respect his coming should have unto the temple, Malachi sets down fully, DTN siz) —“ He shall come unto his temple.” Further to clear what it is that in both these places is intended, he is called, N24 TNO, “The angel of the covenant,’ God’s “ messenger,” who was to confirm and ratify the new covenant with them; that is, the Messiah. The Targum of Jonathan expresseth it on Jer. xxx. 21, closing the promise of the covenant with these words, San’ payap pAymwey pra pass sn; —“ And their King shall be anointed from among them, and their Messiah shall be revealed from amongst the midst of them.” He who was “the desire of all nations,” “the Lord” whom the Jews sought, “the messenger” by whom the new covenant was to be ratified, that is, the Lord the Messiah, was to come, and he did come, unto that temple.
26. And here the Jews are at an end of all shifts and evasions. It cannot be avoided but the Messiah must be here intended. Rashi would fain yet evade: “‘The Lord, whom ye seek;’ that is,
SECT. 25-27. ] THE MESSIAH TO BE COME. 303
bavion ‘Tok, —* The God of judgment;’ because they had said be- fore, chap. 11. 17, ‘Where is the God of judgment?’” Vain man! these words, which he himself had but just before interpreted to be the atheistical expression of wicked men questioning the judg- ment of God, are now, to serve his turn, an earnest desire of seeking after the Lord, which in these words is evidently set forth, “The Lord, whom ye seek,” “The angel of the covenant, whom ye delight in;” for both these are the same, as Aben Ezra acknowledgeth: S53 nym vs nan yxdp xin aon sin ponn;—“The Lord, he is the glory and the angel of the covenant; the same thing being in- tended under a double expression.” And it is evident whom he intends thereby,by his interpreting the “messenger” to be sent before him to be Messiah Ben Joseph, whom they make the forerunner of Messiah Ben David.
Kimchi interprets the angel to be sent before him, “The angel of God’s presence from heaven,” to lead the people out of their capti- vity, as of old he went before them in the wilderness, when they came out of Egypt. But we are better taught who this messenger was, Matt. xi.10, Marki.2. As for “the Lord, whom they sought,” he speaks plainly : nyan qxdo sin mwon 7p win;—* This is the King the Messiah, and this the angel of the covenant.’ He adds, in- deed, the old story about Elijah and his zeal for the covenant, whence he had the honour to preside at circumcision, to see the covenant observed, and may be thence called the angel of the cove- nant. But it is plain in the words, and confessed by Aben Ezra, that “the Lord whom they sought,” and “the angel of the cove- nant,” are the same. And as to these words, bonny sid oxnp,— “Te shall come suddenly to his temple,” he adds in their explica- tion, yp) xdw sav oxnd > Tox Syeo7 Tap2 aand Ndy ppm nda xbw ond NDW INI DID IND OY O4N;—“ Because the time of the end is not revealed or unfolded in the book of*Daniel, it is said “he shall come suddenly,” because there is no man that knows the day of his coming before he come.” We grant that the precise day of his coming was not known before he came; but that the time of it was foretold, limited, and unfolded, in the book of Daniel,—so far as the season and age of it would admit was made evident, all future expectation declared to be void, and that in the book of Daniel,—we shall imme- diately demonstrate. At present we have proved, and find that they cannot deny, but that he was to come unto the second temple, whilst it was yet standing.