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Dr * * T . P . Smith ' s Scripture Testimony to the Messiah . 243
Untitled Article
his notes , or be might have read in the dedication , * " Irtiperfectum quidem opus . Quoniana absoluta locorum Novl Testa men ti , ex quibus Trinitaiis dogma extruitur explicatione , cum Vetus Testamentum aggressus > eo usque processisset , ut solumraodo prophetae restarent , in tnedio opere ceu servus fidelis et vigilans , a Deo ad Jaetiora est avocatus , et antequam cursum absolvisset bravio donatus ; " * but he wished it to appear that Enjedin was unable by any contrivance to evade the force of the passage , and he did not seek far for any other way of explaining his silence .-f * Section xxiii . Isaiah x ) . 1—3 , 9—11 . What God , the Lord Jehovah , is said to do in this passage is attributed by our author to Christ , because what is said of preparing a way for Jkhovah , is in the New Testament applied to John , the forerunner of our Lord . Matt . iii . 3 ; John i . 23 - y Luke i . 76 , 16 " : To rebut this conclusion , ' * ( viz . that the Messiah is the Lord Jehovah , ) says Dr . S ., " it is asserted that ' John was the forerunner of the Lord their God , by being the forerunner of Jesus , the great messenger of God to mankind . It must be confessed that this interpretation is not destitute of apparent reasons , but after weighing the arguments on each side , I acknowledge that the evidence in favour of the other interpretation seems to me to preponderate . " It would seem , then , that in this instance Dr . S . does not consider his own case very strong , and as he acknowledges that the prophecy in its primary sense predicted " the deliverance of the sons of Judah from their mournful slavery in Chaldsea , " consequently that it was , so far as
concerned that primary sense , " fulnlled in a series of providential occurrences , without any thing properly miraculous , " it is truly extraordinary that he should not consider the manifestations of Divine power and goodness in the miracles and doctrines , of Christ as a sufficient accomplishment , without looking for any reference to his person . The attempt to argue from our Lord's application to himself of the same image of the good ShepJierd , which the prophet employs to represent the care of Jehovah for his chosen people , is strange , and can hardJy need refutation .
" Moses and David in the sacred writings / says our author , " and other chieftains in the oldest records of Gentile language and manners , are called the shepherds of their people . But it is to the distinguishing and exalted manner in which this appellation and its attributes are given to Christ , that the attention of the serious reader is invited . " Our Lord applies the image somewhat particularly , beautifully representing it by means of his dying for the good of mankind , and hinting at the call of the Gentiles , ( ' * other sheep I have , which are not of this fold , them also I must bring , " ) as well as indicating the grand doctrine which he came
* " Au imperfect work indeed . For , when , having completed the explanation of those passages of the New Testament from which the doctrine of the Trinity is derived , he had applied himself to the Old Testament , and had proceeded so far that only the prophets remained , in the midst of his labours , being found like a faithful and watchful servant , he was culled away by God to a happier state , and before he had finished the course , received the prize of victory . "—Eujedini ,
Explicationes locorum , Epistola dcdicatoria . -T With respect to the primary or , perhaps , entire reference of the passage to Hezekiah , the admission of which would put an end at once to any argument froui it respecting the nature of Christ , we would refer to the papers by the Hev . Robert Wallace , of Chesterfield , in the Monthly Repository , ( Old Series , ) Vol . XIX . for 1824 . This gentleman maintains , with much force of argument , that the prophecy was fulfilled in Hezekiah .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1831, page 243, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2596/page/27/
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