predictions with the historical present, may be explained, I conceive, that characteristic of Prophecy which consists in its' double sense;"1 according to which the particular is brought forward as a pledge of what lies far beyond, without representing the former as the true or highest end. Thus the prediction which foreshadowed the restoration of Judah from captivity in Babylon,' had a further end. "It is a subject," observes Mr. Davison, "akin to the Evangelical Restoration. Every Christian understands the resemblance."

30, 31). Of the manner in which the English Version renders these passages Ebrard remarks: "If were not in apposition to -, but a vocative, the latter words would be altogether without meaning."-Ibid. For an analogous, but different, interpretation, see Kennicott's "Remarks on select passages in the Old Testament,” p. 115.

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1 "This age of Prophecy [viz. that of David and Solomon], in particular, brings the doctrine of the 'double sense,' as it has been called, before us. For Scripture Prophecy is so framed in some of its predictions, as to bear a sense directed to two objects, of which structure the predictions concerning the kingdom of David furnish a conspicuous example; and I should say, an unquestionable one, if the whole principle of that kind of interpretation had not been by some disputed and denied. * The double sense of Prophecy, however is of all things the most remote from fraud or equivocation, and has its ground of reason perfectly clear. For what is it? Not the convenient latitude of two unconnected senses, wide of each other, and giving room to a fallacious ambiguity; but the combination of two related, analogous, and harmonizing, though disparate subjects, each clear and definite in itself; implying a two-fold truth in the prescience, and creating an aggravated difficulty, and thereby an accumulated proof in the completion."-Davison, Discourses on Prophecy, p. 195. In his application of this important principle, Mr. Davison appears to me to exhibit too great caution when he observes: "I would understand the double sense to obtain only in some of the more distinguished monuments of Prophecy."-p. 198. Olshausen seems to have had a more just apprehension of its applicability. Equally cautious with Mr. Davison, he guards against the abuse of this principle of the 'double sense,' by refusing to accept any interpretation of Scripture which the words of Scripture do not justify :-"This is to be laid down, in the first instance, as the rule of every system of exposition, that Scripture has no other meaning in addition to the simple meaning of its own words; but yet under this it again has the same, only lying somewhat more deeply. * * A firm, necessary connexion must always be maintained between the literal sense of the words, and the more profound import of this verbal sense."-Ein Wort, &c. s. 90. This pregnant sense of the language of Prophecy has been clearly pointed out by Bacon: "Secunda pars [Historiæ Ecclesiastica] quæ est historia ad prophetias, ex duobis relativis constat; prophetia ipsa, et ejus adimpletione * atque licet plenitudo et fastigium complementi eorum [vaticiniorum] plerumque alicui certæ ætati vel etiam certo momento destinetur; attamen habent interim gradus nonnullos et scalas complementi, per diversas mundi ætates."-De Augm. Scient. lib. II. c. xi. The importance of giving due weight to the comprehensive signification of the language of Scripture will be shown more fully in Lecture vii. Meanwhile I may refer to a remarkable illustration already given, Lecture iii. p. 109, note 1.

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2 Isai. lii.; Jer. xxxi. "In like manner the prophecy of the judicial destruction of Jerusalem with the dissolution of the Jewish Economy, symbolizes with that which relates to the final judgment, which will shut up the whole temporal Economy of God at the end of the world. In the New Testament they are united."--Davison, Dis courses, p. 199.

9 Ibid. p. 198. It may be well to observe here, that the whole system of Types to which the Bible attaches so much importance, affords an obvious illustration of the double sense' of prophecy. See on this subject Lecture v. infra,

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What we know respecting the occasional composition of the several books of the New Testament, supplies a striking analogy to that 'Law' of Prophecy to which I have now drawn attention. The external occasions which have called forth the successive components of the New Testament, are precisely parallel to the historical events to which particular predictions have been annexed; and may, in this light, be regarded as the providential element, by which the free agency of the sacred writers was brought under the guidance of Inspiration. The Epistles of S. Paul to the Corinthians, for example, were called forth by certain events in one of the churches which he had planted. This was confessedly their primary intent. And yet such was the occasion made use of by the Holy Ghost for the purpose of conveying Divine instruction to the remotest futurity.'

Before entering upon an examination of the particular facts by which, as I have said, the 'dynamical' theory of Inspiration may be proved, it is necessary to consider the nature of the Prophetic Office.

The great doctrine of Monotheism formed the essence of the Patriarchal Creed; and presented, as taught by Moses, the leading idea of the Jewish nation. On Sinai was announced from heaven the complete polity of Israel, according to which the people were to acknowledge Jehovah as their invisible Lord and King. The duty of the Hebrew as a citizen thus became equivalent to his religious duty ;—each particular of his life being referred to his duty to God. In the words of the Prophet-" Jehoveh was

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1 We learn from a passage in Tertullian's controversy with Marcion, that the Church has, from the first, recognised the principle that the external occasion of each inspired document is altogether subordinate to its destination for the future: "Ecclesiæ quidem veritate epistolam istam ad Ephesios habemus emissam, non ad Laodicenos; sed Marcion ei titulum aliquando interpolare gestiit, quasi et in isto diligentissimus explorator. Nihil autem de titulis interest, cum ad omnes Apostolus scripserit, dum ad quosdam."-Adv. Marcion, v. 17, p. 607. So also in the Fragment preserved by Muratori (see supra, Lecture ii. p. 57, note 2), we read: "Cum ipse beatus Apostolus Paulus sequens prædecessoris sui Johannis ordinem, nonnisi nominatim septem Ecclesiis scribat. * * Et Johannes enim in Apocalypsi licet septem Ecclesiis scribat, TAMEN OMNIBUS DICIT."-ap. Routh, Reliq Sacræ. t. i. p. 395. Of this passage Credner, having remarked that S. John is called the "prædecessor" of S. Paul with reference to Gal. i. 17 (oi πрò ¿μοî 'Аñóσтоλ01)—gives the following paraphrase: Although Paul has directed Epistles to seven churches defined by name, still these writings possess a value not merely local, but rather universal; just as the Revelation of John addressed, in the first instance, to seven churches has a universal value. This comparison is rendered a demonstration by the fact that in the Revelation itself (ch. ii. 23), what is said to the Seven Churches is extended to all, by the words: kal γνώσονται, πᾶσαι αἱ ἐκκλεσίαι”Zur Geschichte des Canons, s. 86. ai

вь

their Judge, Jehovah was their Lawgiver, Jehovah was their King." This conception received from Josephus the appropriate appellation of the "Theocracy. In it consisted the germ of that future Kingdom of God, the erection of which was the great end of the former Covenant. In the different features of the Theocracy can be traced the outline of that agency which has been ordained by the Divine decree for the Redemption of mankind. Here were displayed the preparations for, and the types of, that Church of Christ to be founded in "the latter days," and unto which all nations are yet to flow;-" which stretches out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river;"of which "kings shall be the nursing fathers, and queens the nursing mothers;"" She that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the son, terrible as an army with banners !"

The Theocracy presents two great periods: the one starting from Moses, the other taking its rise from Samuel. During the former, its chief ministers were the Priests, who, to the end, represented one of the most essential elements of the Law. To them was intrusted the sacred symbolism of Divine worship, to which even the oral teaching of the Law yielded in importance ;* the sacerdotal instruction, throughout the entire course of the Theocracy, being a system of teaching by acts. Together with the institution of the Sacerdotal Order, the germ of a new ministry-that of the Prophets-was placed by Moses in the Law,*

1 Isai. xxxiii. 22. Cf. 1 Sam. viii. 7; Micah, iv. 7. Cf. on this subject the remarks of Baumgarten Crusius, "Grundzüge der bibl. Theol.," s. 35.

2 Alluding to the various forms of earthly governments, Josephus observes: óð3 ἡμέτερος νομοθέτης εἰς μὲν τούτων οὐδοτιοῦν ἀπεῖδεν· ὡς δ ̓ ἄν τις εἴποι βιασάμενος τὸν λόγον, Θεοκρατίαν ἀπέδειξε τὸ πολίτευμα, Θεῷ τὴν ἀρχὴν καὶ τὸ κράτος ἀναθεὶς, καὶ πείσας εἰς ἐκεῖνον ἅπαντας ἀφορᾷν ὡς αἴτιον μὲν ἁπάντων ὄντα τῶν ἀγαθῶν.—Cont Apion, II. xvi. t. ii. p. 482.

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9 Ps. lxxx. 11; Isai. xlix. 23; Cant. vi. 10.

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↑ Hävernick justly rejects the opinion that the Priests represent merely the formal and external side of the Theocracy, while the Prophets exhibit its spiritual tendency and internal character. The symbolical ordinances and the oral teaching of the Law are placed side by side, in the following command of the Lord to Aaron: "It shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations: and that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean; and that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses."-Lev. x. 9-11. "Einleit." Th. II. Abth. ii. s. 4.

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Prophecy belongs rather to the promissory side of the Law, than to its commands. The Prophets are a free gift of Divine Grace, designed to bless the Theocracy as instruments of Jehovah, and in whom His love for His people finds expression." -Hävernick, loc. cit. s. 5. This writer further points out how fully the freedom of the Spirit's influence was exhibited, even under the Old Covenant, by the fact,-so remarkable when Oriental manners are taken into account,that the exercise of the

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although its full development was reserved for a later period. That the Spirit of Prophecy was poured out in his days, appears not only from the account of the seventy Elders who "prophesied" (as we read in the eleventh chapter of the book of Numbers),' but also from the tests which the Law had already defined for distinguishing between true and false prophets. The age of the Judges, towards its close, presents an instance in which the gift of Prophecy was conferred even to the fullest extent, in the case of the " man of God" who came "unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord ;" and whose announcements are conceived in a form, and expressed in a manner, identical with those of subsequent prophets. As time went on, together with the total degeneracy of the Priesthood, this dawning light of Prophecy was almost quenched in Israel. Under such circumstances, Somuel was called by God, not only to reform the Sacerdotal Order, but also to restore Prophecy to its true legal basis, by prophetic agency was independent of sex. This is proved by the examples of Miriam (Exod. xv. 20), Deborah (Judg. iv. 4)—whose genuinely prophetical song is a sublime echo of the age of Moses,-and Huldah (2 Kings, xxii. 14); to each of whom the official title (see infra, p. 158, note 1), of Prophetess-, is applied. Mention is also made of the existence of Prophetesses in the age of the New Testament: e. g. Anua (S. Luke, ii. 36), ar 1 the daughters of Philip the Evangelist (Acts, xxi. 9). Moses, filled with a growing sense of his powerlessness to keep the people true to their allegiance to God, had said unto the Lord: "I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me. * And the Lord came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy Elders: and it came to pass that when the Spirit rested upon them they prophesied (1), and did not cease. * * And there ran a young man,

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and told Moses and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp. * * Moses said unto [Joshua], Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the Lord's people were prophets (), and that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them !". vss. 14, 25, 27, 29; which latter words, observes Hävernick, express as well an earnest longing for the perfection of the Theocracy, as a profound insight into the essence of the Kingdom of God,-nay more, which contain a prophetic announcement of Its glorious future."-loc. cit. s. 17.

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2 If there arise among you a prophet () * * * and the sign or the wonder come to pass whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet."-Deut. xiii. 1–3. "The prophet (7), which shall presume to speak a word in My Name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die."-Deut. xviii. 20. These preparatory ordinances pointing to the institution of a Prophetic Order, although the office itself was not as yet fully developed, are perfectly analogous to the directions which related to the future introduction of kingly rule: e. g. "And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this Law in a book," &c.--Deut. xvii. 18.

3 Sam. ii. 27–36.

4 The influence of the Spirit of God was, however, still exerted, although in a lower and far different manner, in the persons of the Judges, by whom, during this interval, the Theocracy was administered. E. g. "The Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideo ."-- Judges, vi. 34; "upon Jephthah,"-xi. 29; upon Samson, xv. 14, &c. &c

proving that the guidance of the people must rest upon an inward religious life. His function was not, as has been erroneously maintained, to create anew, but simply to re-organize;' and the sacred history informs us of his success. The child Samuel saw

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a time "when the word of the Lord was precious," when there was no open vision :"-the man Samuel beheld around him a host of prophets, who, together with him, served Jehovah, sang His praises, received His revelations, and proclaimed His Name.3 In the interval between Moses and Samuel, the official title of the Prophetic Order, (Nabi), together with the office itself, had

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1 "As the whole tendency of Samuel's labors," observes Hävernick, can only be understood by looking constantly to the Law, as he is to be accounted merely the Theocratic Reformer, not the founder of Theocracy,such is also his relation to Prophecy."-loc. cit. s. 18. Indeed Samuel's entire life was, as it were, a reflection of that of Moses; and hence he is referred to in Scripture as a second Law-giver: "Then said the Lord unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before Me."-Jer. xv. 1. And again: And again: "Moses and Aaron among His Priests, and Samuel among them that call upon His name.”—Ps. xcix. 6. Although no information on the subject is given in 1 Sam. i., we learn from 1 Chron. vi. 22-28, that Samuel was of the tribe of Levi, and the family of Kohath; while we can infer that he performed the functions of a Priest from 1 Sam. vii. 9. (See Winer, "Real Wörterb." Art. 'Samuel.') He was not High Priest, Eli having been the last individual who filled at once the highest ecclesiastical and civil offices.

2 1 Sam. iii. 1.

3 The system of Revelation is most plainly exhibited by a review of the periods which start from Moses and Samuel respectively. I have already alluded (Lecture i. pp. 23, 24.) to the distinction which exists between God's revelations by Act, and by Word; i. e. between the manifestation of His power over the material universe, and the proofs of His omniscience by the mouth of His prophets. The former is chiefly attested in that series of sublime acts of Omnipotence, displayed during the space of time which elapsed from the Exodus to the conquest of Canaan:-for, although in the Patriarchal age also, there were exhibited proofs of miraculous power, they were comparatively few and far between. "This relative withdrawal of miracles in the history of thọ Patriarchs," observes Sack, "is an incomparable proof of the historic truth and the Divine nature of the Patriarchal Revelation. What opportunities has a mythicopoetical narrative here let slip!"—Apologetik, s. 174. After the possession of Canaan was secured, displays of miraculous power appear to have been gradually withdrawn; and the course of Revelation was now marked by the series of prophetic announcements which signalized the period from Samuel to Malachi. We must, however, bear in mind that, as in the Divine economy in general there are no abrupt transitions, so here, too, each of these phases of Revelation fades away into the other. In the age of Moses there were displays of omniscience; in the Prophetic period there were exhibitions of miraculous power. After Malachi there was indeed, for a considerable time, a cessation from such supernatural revelations; but this was merely the prelude to the advent of the Divine Revealer Himself, in whom both phases were united. C Köppen, "Die Bibel ein Werk der göttl. Weisheit." B. ii. s. 100.

The earliest occasion on which the word Nabi is used in Scripture, is when God commands Abimelech to restore Sarah to Abraham, adding: "He is a Prophet (NT) and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live."-Gen. xx. 7. "Here Abraham is so called, for the Patriarch combined in his person the kingly, the sacerdotal, and the prophetical office."--Hävernick, Einleit. Th. 1. Abth. i. s. 54. Cf. Ps. cv. 15. During the age of Moses mention is made, as we have seen (p. 156, notes and 2), of both Prophets and Prophetesses: e. g. "If there be a Prophet (x) among you, I the Lord will make Myself known unto him in a vision," &c.-Num. xii. 6. It is to be observed that Moses himself is styled Nabi in Hos. xii. 13 [14].

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