refer the reader to "The joint histories of David and Solomon typically considered," in which he will find Nathan's testimony to the second coming of the Lord: i. e. under the idea that Nathan composed that part of the Sacred History. But, beside the acts of Solomon, we have his writings, which now demand attention. Without any reference to those Psalms which are supposed to have been written by him, the books of Canticles, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes remain to be noticed. Of these the two former alone furnish matter bearing upon our present subject.

Many opinions have been entertained respecting the Book of Canticles; but, I humbly suggest, that those learned men have come nearest the truth respecting it, who have held, that this Song of Solomon "affords the veil of a sublime and mystical allegory delineating the bridal union between Jehovah and his church:"1 of which Bishop Lowth and others consider a more concise model is furnished in the forty-fifth Psalm. If this be true, the mind is necessarily carried forward to that period, when the true church shall be prepared as a bride adorned for her husband; when the marriage of the Lamb shall come, and his wife shall have made herself ready. In chapter iv. we have this remarkable saying of the bridegroom, "Until the day break,

2

1 Horne's Analysis, &c. p. 131. 2 Rev. xix. 7, and xxi. 2.

:

"The night is far Above two-thirds of

and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense. Thou art all fair, my love, there is no spot in thee." The present season, as it respects our world, is represented in the Scriptures as the night and that which is to succeed it, as in the order of nature, as the day. spent, the day is at hand." the night were then gone, when St. Paul wrote those words, about A. M. 4064. A short third remained; 2 and that short season is now become shorter still by nearly 1800 years. Christ is indeed gone to a far country, and, as the light of the world, his sun is set for a season; but streaks of light begin to promise the breaking of that day, when the shadows shall flee away before his rising; when He shall present his bride to himself "a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but holy and without blemish."

3

Again, in the present state of Christ's church, she is privileged with communion with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and union being the ground of communion, every real believer, so

1 Romans xiii. 12.

2 A. M. 4064, that is, according to the common chronology of the nativity having taken place A. M. 4004, but if for this be substituted what some chronologists of the present day have supposed to be the more correct date, I need not observe, that the short third, which then remained, is materially shortened.

3 John ix. 5.

soon as, by living faith on his part and the gift of the Spirit on Christ's, he is made one with Christ and Christ with him, has fellowship with the Three. But this holy intercourse is continually interrupted. The remainders of corruption, the snares of the world and the devil, the striving of flesh against spirit, and the unavoidable engagements of our earthly callings, hinder the full enjoyment of this hallowed intercourse. Thanks be to God, however, this shall not alway last! A time is to arrive "when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality," when we shall hold uninterrupted communion with our Head, when we shall hear his gracious invitation personally addressed to each, "Eat, O friends; drink, yea drink abundantly, O beloved." To that season, I conceive, these words to refer. Cant. v. 1. 2

Of the Book of Proverbs Mr. Scott observes, in his preface, "It would be unreasonable to expect direct prophecies in a composition of this nature." Reference, however, is made, I think,

11 John i. 3; 2 Cor. xiii. 14.

2❝It is evident that the bride, or heroine, in this divine poem still waits for the enjoyment of personal intercourse with her beloved, (i. 7; ii. 7, 8; iii. 1; iv. 6, 16; v. 2, 8; vi. 1, 2; vii. 12; viii. 1, 4, 14;) she hath not yet given him her loves; (vii. 11;) yet she constantly hears his voice, and ever anticipates his approach; (ii. 8; vi. 11;) realizing, in the ardour of her faith and love, the substance and evidence, the perfect hope of enjoyments not yet actually in her possession." Morning Watch, No. VI, p. 274.

1

in one passage, to the reign of righteousness and peace in the renewed world, when "the meek shall inherit the earth (which they have not yet done) and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace." The place to which I refer is the following. "For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it. But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it." If the reader will bring together the following passages, I hope it will appear, that I have not strained this Scripture, in attaching to it the meaning which is here stated.-Dan. vii. 27; Matt. v. 5, xiii. 41; Luke i. 32, 33; Rom. iv. 13.

Passing by "the succession of prophets" which was raised up in the nation of Israel, (such as Ahijah, Jehu, Elijah, Micaiah, and Elisha,) I turn to those who are distinguished as the authors of the several canonical books which bear their names. These I propose to consider shortly, in chronological order.

To begin with "JONAH the son of Amittai." That the miraculous preservation of the prophet was a sign of Christ's burial, in which his body was preserved from corruption,3 cannot well be denied, seeing our Lord taught this truth to those who sought of Him a sign. "An evil and adul

1 Psalm xxxvii. 11.

2 Prov. ii. 21, 22.

3 Psalm xvi. 10.

terous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For, as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." Thus this prophet pointed to the first advent of Christ.

In the Book of JOEL there are two memorable passages which bear upon our subject. The first of them is chapter ii. 28-32. On which words St. Peter comments on the day of Pentecost, shewing that this prophecy then began to be fulfilled. And, to my mind, it appears, that it then only began to be accomplished: my reason for which belief rests upon the fact revealed by the prophet, viz. that these things were to happen as forerunners of "the great and terrible day of the Lord," (ver. 31,) when, “in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance." Was such deliverance found in either, when, within 38 years from the day of Pentecost, the abomination of desolation stood in the holy place? when those who were in Judea fled to the mountains? when those who were in the midst of it, even of Jerusalem, departed out of it, according to the instructions of their Lord, and were saved by retiring to Pella? All, I think, must acknowledge, that neither mount Zion nor Jerusalem

1 Matt. xii. 39, 40.

2 Acts ii. 16.