Matt. i. 21 — 23. Thou shalt call his name Jesus : for He shall save his people from their sins. Noio all this was done that it mif/ht be fulfilled ivhich ivas spoken of the Lord by the pro- phet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be loith child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
THE dispensations of Providence are extremely dark and intricate : the things which appear most afflictive often prove to be the richest mercies that could have been vouchsafed to us. This was remark- ably verified in the history before us. Joseph was espoused to a virgin of consummate piety ; but, before their nuptials, she proved to be in a state which gave him reason to suspect her fidelity. Desiring to ex- ercise all the lenity which the case would admit of, he determined to put her away privily. How dis- tressing must such an event have been to this holy man! But God sent an angel to unfold to him the mystery, to declare the ends for which the child should be born, and to impose on the infant a name, that should mark his office in the world. I. The appointment of the name —
God had often condescended to assign names to men —
[Sometimes he had made an alteration in their names ^; and sometimes totally changed them''. Sometimes he had assigned a name before the child was conceived'^. In these
* Abram and Sarai to Abraham and Sarah.
^ Jacob to Israel. <= John, Luke i. 13.