DISSERTATION IV.

JACOB.-Prophecies respecting his Sons; and particularly of JUDAH.

JACOB had received, from his father Isaac, a double blessing, temporal and spiritual: the promise of the land of Canaan,—and of the seed in which "all nations of the earth shall be blessed." And he bequeathed the same, a little before his death', to his children. The temporal inheritance he divided among all his sons; but the blessed seed could only descend from one; and this he limited to the line of Judah; at the same time prophetically sketching out the characters

1 Newton has here some remarks upon an opinion of great antiquity, that the nearer men approach to their dissolution, their souls grow more divine, and discern more of futurity: an opinion which he conceives to have originated from the tradition of many of the patriarchs having been divinely inspired in their last moments, to foretell the future condition of their descendants.

and fortunes of all the tribes (Gen. xlix.); which prediction subsequent events completely fulfilled.

The spiritual blessing which was bequeathed to Judah, ran thus: “Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise; thy hand shall be in the neck of thy enemies; thy father's children shall bow down to thee;” and it is added, “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come, and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be." (Gen. xlix. 8. et seq.)

The word translated sceptre means a rod or staff of any kind, and particularly that which belonged to each tribe, as an ensign of authority. Hence the authority which Judah had then, was to remain among his posterity, and the tribe should remain as a certain body politic, until a certain period. And this helps to explain the other word, "law-giver;" as the staff is the authoritative emblem of the tribe's unity, so the lawgiver is the officer or judge, bearing the rule and authority of the tribe. Hence Judah was to remain independent tribe, having its own judge or ruler, until the time foretold; viz.

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"Until Shiloh come;" i. e. until the Messiah arrive; for whatever different expositions of the word there may be, the sense of them all points to this, "that by the coming of Shiloh is meant the coming of Messiah."

"And unto him shall the gathering of the people be;" the generally received interpretation of which is, that the people of the Gentile world would become obedient to the Messiah.

Now the twelve sons of Jacob constituted the heads of twelve separate tribes; of which the tribe of Judah appears to have been the most numerous (Numb. i. 27); and to rank first in the armies of Israel (Numb. ii. 3); and on all occasions to manifest such courage, as to verify the prophetic designation, "Judah is a lion's whelp,-who shall rouse him up ?" The second king of Israel was from this tribe; which, thenceforward, had the sceptre, not only of its own tribe, but also of the kingdom, till the Babylonish captivity'. During this their seventy years' vassalage, however, they were permitted to live as a distinct people, having rulers and governors amongst themselves. And at their return, we read that " Cyrus ordered the vessels of the temple to be delivered to the prince of Judah" (Ezra i. 8); so that they had then a head of their tribe, who thenceforward governed them.

Under the Persians, Greeks, and Romans, they yet lived as a distinct people, having their own laws and

1 After the division of the kingdom, the tribe of Benjamin merged into that of Judah, so as to be considered only as an appendage to it. And previously to the Babylonish captivity, the kingdom of Israel had been dissolved; the Ten Tribes being carried away captive into Assyria, from whence they never returned.

rulers, elders and councils. This subsisted till our SAVIOUR'S time, as is evident from the Gospels: their power in capital and state causes, however, began to be abridged; they might judge, but not execute, without the sanction of the Roman governor. (John xviii. 31.) The sceptre was evidently then departing; and in about forty years afterwards, it was entirely gone. Their city was taken; their temple destroyed; themselves slain, or sold for slaves. And never since have they been formed into one body or society; but have been dispersed amongst all nations; their tribes and genealogies confounded: and themselves living without lawgiver or ruler, and without supreme government, in any part of the earth; and all this for a period of almost eighteen hundred years; So exactly has been completed this part of the prophecy.

"Unto Him shall the gathering of the people be." The Gentiles have, indeed, been thus gathered to His obedience. The Gospel "took root downwards, and bore fruit upwards," rapidly in most parts of the known world. In Constantine's time, the civilized world became christianized, and the "kingdoms of the world became the kingdoms of our Lord;" and we, ourselves, have been gathered thus unto Christ.

This prophecy, then, and its completion, furnish us with an invincible argument, not only that the Messiah is come, but that Jesus Christ is the Person. For the

sceptre was not to depart from Judah, till the Messiah came. Now it did depart at the final destruction of Jerusalem, and hath been departed nearly eighteen hundred years; consequently, the Messiah hath long since come. And there can be no possible doubt who that Messiah is; as Peter said to Jesus, so say we, “Lord, to whom shall we go; Thou hast the words of eternal life; and we believe, and are sure, that Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."