Isai. lii. 8. They shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall
briny ayain Zion.
EXCEEDINGLY strong and animated are the descriptions given us, in the prophetic writings, re- specting the return of the Jews from Babylon3
And in that event is God represented as to be pre- eminently glorified b. But we must not, in reading these glowing passages, confine our attention to that one event : we must bear in mind, that it was alto- gether typical of our deliverance by Christ ; and we must therefore regard it in that view, comprehending under its vivid representations that infinitely greater redemption which it was intended to prefigure. In truth, to understand the prophecies aright, we must remember that they contain, in general, a primary and a secondary sense ; primary, as having a literal
a Read the first three verses of this chapter. b ver. 6. with chap. lx. 21. x 2
fulfilment ; and secondary, as having a mystical ac- complishment under the Christian dispensation. By the deliverance of the Jews from Babylon, God's glory was made to appear: but it was more clearly seen in the apostolic age ; and will be yet more fully manifested at the latter day. Those periods, it is true, in respect of time, are far asunder : but in re- spect of purpose they are one ; and may be consi- dered, therefore, as declaring one great event, in its commencement, its progress, and its completion. It is in that view that I enter upon the passage before us : from which I shall take occasion to shew you,
I. The views which men had of Christ under the Mosaic economy —
Certainly, under the Mosaic dispensation, their views of Christ were very indistinct —
[True it is, that Christ was then prefigured in his person, work, and offices. It may well be doubted whether there was so much as a pin in the tabernacle which did not correspond with something in Christ ; or whether there was any thing in Christ which was not prefigured : for God gave to Moses a model ; and agreeably to " that pattern shewn him in the mount," was every thing made. Still, however, the Mosaic ritual was only a shadow : and, as a shadow will give but a very imper- fect conception of a man, especially in his intellectual and moral powers, so did the laws of Moses give a very inadequate representation of Christ, and of the salvation which he was to work out for us. It was to intimate this, that Moses put a veil on his face when he spake to the people under his charge0: and even the best informed of the prophets themselves were far from comprehending the full import of what they conveyed to usd. Doubtless " Abraham saw the day of Christ, and re- joiced in the sighte;" but still both he and all his posterity saw but little, in comparison of what was afterwards revealed to Moses and the prophets : and the prophets themselves, yea, and even John the Baptist, who was the greatest of them all, were inferior in knowledge to the least and meanest of the followers of Christ f.]
The deliverance from Babylon added but little to the knowledge which the Law conveyed —
« 2 Cor. iii. 18. d 1 Pet. i. 10, 12.
e John viii. 50. f Matt. xi. 11.