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No; but a sword, | Lord appeareth in a dream to
Joseph in Egypt,

upon the earth?
such a sword as this (ch. x. 34,
35.)". The meaning of which pas-
sage is, not that such was the inten-
tion or design of Christ's coming, as
to the counsels of God, but that
such was one of its effects, through
the corruption and wickedness of
man. "A passive testimony was
hereby given to the Lord Jesus.
They shed their blood for him who
afterwards shed his for them.-If
these infants were thus baptized with
blood, though it were their own, into
the church triumphant, it could not
be said but that, with what they
gained in heaven, they were abun-
dantly recompensed for what they
lost on earth."

HYMN.

Weep, weep not o'er thy children's tomb,
Oh Rachel! weep not so:
The bud is cropt by martyrdom,

The flower in heaven shall blow.
Firstlings of faith! the murderer's knife
Hath miss'd its deadly aim;
The God, for whom they gave their life,
For them to suffer came.
Though evil were their days and few,

Baptiz'd in blood and pain,

He knows them whom they never knew,
And they shall live again.

Then weep not o'er thy children's tomb,

Oh Rachel! weep not so;

The bud is cropt by martyrdom,
The flower in heaven shall blow.

§ IX.

CHAP. II. 19-23.

Herod dieth.

HEBER.

the

20 Saying, Arise, and take

young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life.

21 And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.

22 But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee :

23 And he came and dwelt in a city called "Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled 'which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.

o ch. iii. 13. Luke ii. 39 -p John i. 45. g Judges xiii. 5. 1 Sam. i. 11.

Reader. Hence it appears that our Saviour's sojourn in Egypt was but of short duration. He did not remain in that country long enough to receive any part of his earthly education there; for he was taken back to Nazareth as "a young child," i.e. while he was yet an infant.

Theophilus. From the expression "they are dead," are we to conclude that others besides Herod were en

Christ is brought back gaged in seeking the life of the infant Jesus, and that they had all been removed by the stroke of death?

again into Galilee to Nazareth. 19 But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the

Reader. It is, of course, probable that some of Herod's adherents were

ready to assist him in his wicked design, and God may have cut them all off by death.-Or the plural number may be here used in a general and indefinite sense, but referring strictly to Herod himself.-But there is, I think, a still better way of accounting for the plural form of expression in this place. The words appear to be a quotation from Exod. iv. 19, and so to contain an allusion, although without the usual note of reference, to what is said concerning Moses in that place;-hereby teaching us to regard Moses, in his flight from his enemies, as a type of the infant Redeemer in his flight from Herod.—In this respect, Herod may be viewed as a representative of all the enemies of Christ," they are dead which sought the young child's life."

Theophilus. I think I have understood that Herod was the last king of Judea, but here it is said that Archelaus reigned in the room of his father.

Reader. It was the intention of Herod, expressed in his will, that Archelaus should succeed him as king; but Augustus, the Roman emperor, would not bestow upon him that title. He suffered him, however, to retain the government of Judea, Idumea, and Samaria, under the inferior title of ethnarch; and at the same time he gave Batanea, Trachonitis, &c., to Philip, and Galilee and Peræa to Antipas. Archelaus held his office only nine years; at the end of which time he was deposed and banished, and Judea was entirely reduced to the condition of a Roman province.

Theophilus. I suppose the conduct of Archelaus was very bad, and that this led to his deposition; especially as it is said that Joseph "was afraid" to return into Judea when he heard that Archelaus was in power.

Reader. Such is the fact. He made himself odious and intolerable by his acts of cruelty and oppression; and it was at the instance of the afflicted Jews that the emperor visited his crimes with the punishment I have mentioned.

Here let me call your attention to what is, perhaps, to be regarded as an incidental evidence of the credibility of the Gospel narrative. The Evangelist says nothing concerning the character or proceedings of Archelaus; but the fact of Joseph's being afraid to come within his reach is in perfect accordance with the character of the tyrant, as it is displayed to us by common historians;-and the sacred writer, by thus dropping a hint, without attempting to account for the fact to which he alludes, appears to us in his true light, as one who was writing for persons who well understood the circumstances of the times of which he treated.

Why might Joseph have been expected to think of returning to Judea, in the first instance?

Theophilus. Because the infant had been born at Bethlehem; and because he knew that the Messiah was to be of the tribe of Judah.

Reader. And why would he naturally turn his thoughts to Galilee, in the next instance, and especially to Nazareth?

Theophilus. Because,—as we learn | writings which had been lost before

from another Evangelist, although the fact is not mentioned by St. Matthew,-Nazareth was the place in which Mary, and probably Joseph also, originally resided. Luke i. 26,

27.

Reader. Here you may remark an incidental coincidence between the histories of the Evangelists.

Theophilus. It is said in the twenty-third verse that it "was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene." But we have not been able to trace this prophecy in any part of the Old Testament. Will you be pleased to help us out of our difficulty?

Reader. Some have supposed that the Evangelist here applies to the Messiah several passages of the Old Testament, containing appellations resembling that of Nazarene merely in sound. Thus they have referred to Gen. xli. 26, where it is said that Joseph should be "separate (Nezir) from, or a Nazarite among, his brethren."-They regard Judges xiii. 5, "The child," i.e. Samson, "shall be a Nazarite," as pointing, in a more remote signification, to Christ.-And they suppose also that Isaiah xi. 1, in which our Saviour is foretold under the title of The Branch (Natzir), may be regarded as another passage of the prophets to which St. Matthew refers.-But I do not think that this view of the matter is consistent with the principles of sound interpretation.

Chrysostom thought that the predictions referred to by St. Matthew, were contained in some prophetical

his time. But this was merely his conjecture; and it is one which the more accurate criticism of the present day will not suffer us to adopt without obvious necessity.

I am inclined to agree with those interpreters who think that the Evangelist makes a general allusion to the sense or substance of predictions contained in several parts of the Old Testament, rather than to the precise words of any particular book or books. Now it had been foretold in more places than one that the Messiah would be despised and rejected by his contemporaries; and when the Evangelist wrote, the term "Nazarene" was proverbially employed as an expression of scorn or contempt. Having mentioned our Lord's early abode at Nazareth, the Evangelist points out the fact of his having incurred the odium and contempt necessarily connected with a residence in that place, as being part of that humiliation which had been so expressly foretold by the voice of prophecy. "To be called a Nazarene was to be called a despicable man. Now this was not particularly foretold by any one prophet; but, in general, it was spoken by the prophets that he should be despised and rejected of men (Isa. lxiii. 2, 3), a worm and no man (Ps. xxii. 6, 7), that he should be an alien to his brethren. Ps. lxix. 7, 8."

In reading this chapter, we have more than once had occasion to discuss the Evangelist's method of applying Old Testament prophecies to the person and history of Christ. I

therefore take this opportunity of reading to you four rules, drawn up by modern critics, according to which the phrase that it might be fulfilled may be applied in the New Testament, and according to one or other of which St. Matthew appears to have made all his quotations from prophecy.

RULE I. When the thing predicted is literally accomplished.

RULE II. When that is done, of which the Scripture has spoken not in a literal, but in a spiritual, sense.

RULE III. When a thing is not done either in a literal, or in a spiritual, sense, according to the fact referred to in the Scripture; but is similar to that fact.

RULE IV. When that which has been mentioned in the Old Testament as formerly done, is spoken of in the New Testament as accomplished in a larger and more extensive

sense.

Theophilus. I will endeavour to bear these rules in mind, and to mark their application as instances occur.

READER. Upon this short passage of Scripture we may make various reflections, for the improvement of our hearts and regulation of our practice.

Herod was dead.-There is something affecting in this brief notice of the end of this man's earthly history; especially when we remember that Josephus, the Jewish historian, gives a most shocking account of the manner of his death. His power to persecute has ceased; and he is numbered among those concerning whom

the Preacher says "Their hatred, and their envy, is now perished." Eccl. ix. 6. Well may we read in these few words a powerful argument against the vain, disquieting, and sinful fear of man. "Who art thou,

that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass; and forgettest the Lord thy Maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundation of the earth; and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? And where is the fury of the oppressor ?" Isai. li. 12, 13.

When Herod was dead ;-not before. So that the holy family remained until that time contentedly in Egypt. "They continued there until God gave the signal for their departure. -Let us, in like manner, remember that it is God's part to direct and ours to obey; nor can we be out of the way of safety and of comfort while we are following his directions, and steering our course by the intimations of his pleasure." "Oh how safe and satisfactory it is in all our ways to follow the call and command of God!"

An angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt.-" Our intercourse with God, if it be kept up on our part, shall be kept up on his, wherever we are. No place can exclude God's gracious visits. Angels came to Joseph in Egypt, to Ezekiel in Babylon, and to John in Patmos."

He arose and came into the land of Israel.-This strongly reminds me

of what we read in Gen. xii. 5, concerning faithful Abraham and his family," They went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came." Oh that the faith of Abraham and of Joseph may be ours throughout our earthly pilgrimage! "Did we but look upon the world as our Egypt, the place of our bondage and banishment, and heaven only as our Canaan, our home, our rest, we should as readily arise, and depart❘ thither, when we are called for, as Joseph did out of Egypt."

Being warned of God in a dream. -This took place after Joseph had quitted Egypt, and was a farther intimation of the divine pleasure for the direction of his steps. Does it appear surprising that full instructions were not given to him at first, when the angel bade him arise, and depart? This is not really strange. God mercifully leads his people in the right way, from one stage of their progress to another; and he requires that they shall continually wait upon him, in the way of faith, of prayer, and of duty, in order to be guided and protected, from time to time, according to their circumstances and their need.

Being warned-he turned aside.God may sometimes see fit to bring his people into positions of difficulty or danger; but he never does so without a cause, or unless it be, in some way or other, good for them to be thus afflicted. He rather withdraws them from needless danger ;and he teaches them not to rush into it of their own accord.

He shall be called a Nazarene.—It was for our sake that the blessed Redeemer endured reproach, as well as pain. Let us not be unwilling to endure unmerited reproach and scorn, for his name's sake, if we should at any time be exposed to

sufferings of this kind. sufferings of this kind. "Let us go forth unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. For here we have no continuing city; but we seek one to come." Heb. xiii. 13,

14.

HYMN.

(Job viii. 11-22.)

The rush may rise where waters flow,
And flags beside the stream;
But soon their verdure fades and dies,
Before the scorching beam.

So is the sinner's hope cut off;

Or, if it transient rise,
'Tis like the spider's airy web,
From ev'ry breath that flies.
Fix'd on his house, he leans;

His house, and all its props, decay; He holds it fast; but, while he holds,

The tott'ring frame gives way.

Fair, in his garden, to the sun

His boughs with verdure smile; And, deeply fix'd, his spreading roots Unshaken stand awhile.

But forth the sentence flies from Heaven,
That sweeps him from his place;
Which then denies him for its lord,
Nor owns it knew his face.

Lo! this the joy of wicked men,

Who Heav'n's high laws despise; They quickly fall, and in their room, As quickly others rise.

But for the just, with gracious care,

God will his power employ; He'll teach their lips to sing his praise, And fill their hearts with joy.

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