from Egypt, and their support in the wilderness, with many subsequent indications of God's especial direction; the kindling of ce lestial fire on the altar, consuming the sacri fices; the permanent abode of a Divine oracle, or source of illumination from which revelations were obtained by the High Priest, by means of the Urim and Thummim, the operation of which was expected to be restored when the temple was rebuilt in the time of Nehemiah *, and which Josephus represents to have ceased two hundred years before he composed his Antiqui ties †. In treating of the declarations of God, which were prophetic, as relating to the Messiah, he sometimes generalizes what is particular, from not apprehending that import of the words which is distinctly seen by those who have the veil of prejudice taken from their hearts. He omits, therefore, or qualifies passages which have a spiritual meaning, and which now contribute to the support of faith; thus in delivering the pro phetic declaration of God in the expression of his wrath towards our first parents in • Nehem. vii. 65. 1 Esd. v. 40. iv. 46. xiv. 41, Paradise, he drops the intimation with respect to the Messsiah, which is the essential part of the promise; and not being aware, that by the serpent, we are to understand the great enemy of mankind, he interprets the divine threat with regard to the bruising of Satan by the victory of Christ, as importing only that men should direct their strokes against the serpent's head. Writing as a Jew, either ignorant of, or studiously disguising the truth, he omits to mention those parts of the promises communicated to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, which conveyed to them the assurance, that " in their seed should all the nations of the earth be blessed *. He may be thought however to have had some notion of the future dominion of the promised seed, as he speaks of Esau's having deprived Jacob of a kingdom to be given him by God; but he had not, it should seem, any notion that the enjoined sacrifice of Isaac had a typical character. On a general view of the testimonies afforded by Josephus, they will be found to relate principally to the establishment of * Comp. Ant. lib. i. c. 10. 13. 19. with Gen. xii. 3. xxii. 18. xxv. 12. xxviii. 14. + Lib. i. c. 19. § 6. p. 40. ὡς ἀφηρημένον τῆς παρὰ τῷ Θεῷ βασιλείας. facts, as well those which illustrate the completion of prophecy, as those, which tend to verify the reports and accuracy of the evangelical writers. In the particulars which will be adduced from the works of the Jewish historian, we shall not so much insist upon the proofs which are to be found in them, in confirmation of the prophecies of the Old Testament, the accomplishment of which took place, before the time of Christ*, since, as being a Jew, he may be supposed to have had a bias in favour of such prophecies; and it will be seen, that he acknowledged as sacred, all the books of the Old Testament which are received by our Church. It may be remarked, however, that he bears witness to the completion of the prediction of Daniel, by informing us, that Antiochus Epiphanes spoiled the Temple, and put a stop to the practice of offering up daily sacrifice during three years and six months. The accounts which Josephus gives of the external veneration which the Jews entertained for the Mosaic law are very remarkable, and the general Antiq. lib. v. c. 1. lib. ix. c. 11-13. lib. xvi. c. 1-6. 8-10. &c. + Cont. Apion, lib. i. § 8. De Bell. Jud. lib. i. c. 1. picture of the corruption of manners which prevailed among them, while it exhibits a striking departure from the principles of the law, is equally deserving of attention, being full of interest from the relation which it bears to the argument for the necessity of the Divine instruction of Christ, and of his intervention as a Mediator. It is necessary, however, to proceed to a more minute exposition of the evidence deducible from the works of Josephus. The first particular which may be mentioned as demonstrating strongly the advantage to be derived from attention to the writings of this historian is, that he appears to relate with minute and unusual accuracy, and detail of dates, that Nehemiah, by unwearied perseverance, finished the rebuilding of Jerusalem, after three years and four months exertion, in the 28th year of Xerxes, and in the ninth month*. Again, although he seldom adverts to astronomical circumstances, he mentions an eclipse of the moon, which took place a little before the death of Herod the Great. By these chronological notices some most important points relating to the history of Christianity have been ascertained, Antiq. lib. xi. c. 5. as the explication of the seventy weeks of Daniel, the duration of our Saviour's ministry, and the time of his death, in conformity to the prediction of that prophet *. The historian, in describing Daniel's interpretation of the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, when he comes to the part which relates to the stone cut out of the mountain without hands, which was to break in pieces the iron, the brass, and the clay, the silver and the gold, and which is generally supposed to relate to the kingdom of the Messiah, speaks thus remarkably: "Daniel did also explain "the things concerning the stone to the king, but I do not think proper to relate “ them, since I am only bound to describe things past, or things present, but not 66 66 things future; yet, if any one be so very "anxious of knowing truth, as not to abstain "from such points of curiosity, being de"sirous to enquire as concerning things "which are uncertain whether they shall 66 happen, let him be diligent in reading the "book of Daniel, which he will find among "the sacred writings." Upon this intima * Whiston's Joseph. Antiq. lib. xi. c. 5. and xvii. c. 6. and Supplement to the Literal Accomplishment of Prophecy, p. 72. |