I have now gone through the prophecies which are allowed both by Jews and Christians to relate to one person whom they call the Messiah.  It must be evident from all these passages, that the characteristics of this, to both parties, highly interesting personage, as described by the Hebrew prophets, are these:—­

1.  That he was to be a just, beneficent, wise, and mighty monarch, raised up and upheld, and established by God, to be the means of promoting universal peace, and happiness.  That Israel should be gathered to him, and established in their own land; which was to be the seat of dominion, and the centre of union, and of worship to all the people, and nations of the earth; who were to live under the government, and receive, and obey the law of this beneficent prince; and enjoy unspeakable felicities on the earth, then changed to a universal paradise.  And for all this happiness, they were to worship, and glorify the true God only, and glorify the Eternal, and give thanks to Him “because He is good, and his mercy endureth forever.”

2.  That this prince was to be of the line of David, and as it should seem, called by that name, and was to reign on his throne in Jerusalem.

3.  That according to Micah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, (see the quotations)

his manifestation, and (and the restoration of Israel) were to be contemporaneous.  See Hosea, chap. iii. 4, 5.  And from Jeremiah xxxiii. 15, and from Micah v. 2, it should seem also, that he was not to be born, till the time of that restoration should be nearly arrived.

The prophecies concerning the Messiah of the Jews being now laid before the reader, we have only to apply these descriptions to know whether an individual be their Messiah, or not.  For, (according to the principles laid down, and established in the preceding chapter) where the foregoing characteristics given by the prophets do centre and agree, that person is the Messiah foretold; but where they are not found in any one claiming that character, miracles are nothing to the purpose, and nothing is more certain, than that he has no right to be considered as such; and could he with a word turn the sun black in the face, in proof of his being the Messiah, he is, nevertheless, not to be regarded; for, whether such a person has yet appeared, can certainly only be known by considering, whether the world has ever yet seen such a person as this Messiah of the Hebrew prophets.

CHAPTER IV.

The character of Jesus tested by those
characteristic marks of the messiah given by
the prophets of the old testament.

Had Jesus of Nazareth come into the world merely as a person sent with a revelation from God, he would have had a right to be attended to, and tried upon that ground.  And if his doctrines and precepts were consistent with reason, consistent with one another, and with prior revelations, really such, and all tending to the honour of God, and the good of men; his miracles, with these circumstances, ought to have determined men to believe in him.