when the stone, (Dan. ii. 34.) having smitten the image, is upon the point of becoming a great mountain to fill the whole earth. Therefore, this coming of the Messiah with the clouds of heaven, cannot be his first appearance in this world; for it has already been proved, in considering Daniel ii., that the first coming of the Messiah takes place while the Roman empire is yet standing:-' In the days of these kings (or kingdoms) the God of Heaven shall 'set up a kingdom.' (Dan. ii. 44.) It consequently follows, that two different advents of the Messiah are revealed in Daniel; the 'one, while the Roman empire is yet standing, to establish the kingdom of the stone, (Dan. ii. 44, 45.) the other, when the Roman empire is destroyed, to establish the kingdom of the mountain-to give the kingdom to the saints. (vii. 27.) We may arrive at the same conclusion by another chain of argument. When the Son of Man comes with the clouds of heaven, (Dan. vii. 13.) he evidently comes in a triumphant : state; in the full possession of all the faculties of mature and perfect manhood; to be crowned with that honour, glory, and power, which are reserved for him in the counsels of the Most High. But this cannot be his first advent; for, according to all the prophecies, as understood both by Jews and Christians, he was to be born of a woman, and in the family of David; and, consequently, his first coming must be, not with the clouds of heaven, but as an helpless infant, born from the womb of his mother; and we must next look for him, not as receiving dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, but as hanging upon the breast of his mother to draw nourishment from her milk; and afterwards as increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man. And as it cannot be denied, that the condition of an infant is an humble, lowly state, it follows, that two different advents of the Messiah are revealed in prophecy; the one in a state of humility, the other in a state of glory: the one as an infant born in Bethlehem (Micah v. 2.); the other with the clouds of heaven, to receive the kingdom promised to him. But where is the Messiah during the period that intervenes between these two advents? Psalm cx. • The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand, until I make thine 'enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send "the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou 6. in the midst of thine enemies.' 'The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, thou art a ' priest for ever after the order of Melchisedech. 6 The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath. He shall judge among the heathen; he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the head over many countries.' The person here addressed by Jehovah, and whom David calls his Lord, ('Jehovah said "unto my Lord, ') can only be the Messiah; for to no other person, or character, can such language belong. The Messiah is here represented as being exalted at the right hand of God, till his enemies be made his footstool.' This exaltation is therefore in the heavenly world; for to that world only can belong the phrase at the right hand of God. This exaltation of the Messiah cannot be his first state as man; for that we have seen was the condition of an infant born at Bethlehem, and hanging upon the breast of his mother. Neither is this exaltation of the Messiah at the right hand of God, his last condition; for then his enemies will have been made his footstool: he will then have received dominion, glory, and a kingdom, 6 6 6 'that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him his dominion is an everlasting do minion, which shall not pass away; and his, kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.' Therefore, since this exaltation of the MAN, the Messiah, is neither his first state nor his last state, it follows, that it must be an intermediate state, during which he himself is highly exalted; but he has yet enemies who are not made his footstool; or, in other words, his cause and kingdom are, if not in a depressed, yet at least in a militant state, fighting with many, and powerful, and malicious enemies. During this period we also learn, that the Messiah sustains the office of a priest, made after the order of Melchisedech, to whom Abraham himself paid tithes. Now, as every priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices, wherefore it is of necessity that this man, the Messiah, have somewhat also to offer, of which I shall treat in another part of this work. The concluding part of this prophetical Psalm will be accomplished at the second advent of the Messiah, when the Roman empire is destroyed, as in Isaiah xxxiv. and lxiii. From this prophetical Psalm we may conclude, that the scheme of David Levi, with respect to the establishment of the Messiah's kingdom in the world immediately after his first advent, is altogether contrary to the Scriptures; and that all the prophecies which describe the triumphant progress of his cause and kingdom, must relate, ultimately, not to the period when he first comes into the world, in the form of an infant; and not even to the period F |