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CHAPTER V.

THE EVIDENCE OF

REVEALED RELIGION FROM

THE

PROPHECY.

HE laft courfe of arguments which I fhall produce in favour of the Jewish and chriftian revelations is that which is derived from prophecy, which is of a mixed nature, depending in part upon the testimony of the friends of revelation that fuch prophecies were delivered, and upon credible history that they have been fulfilled. In fome cafes, however, it is a matter of public notoriety, that the books which contain the prophecies were extant long before the events to which it is afferted that they correfpond; so that this argument borrows no aid from the teftimony of the friends of revelation only.

It must be acknowledged that God only can forefee, and with certainty foretel future events, at least such as are very remote, and which depend upon caufes which did not exist, or which could not be known by man to exist, at the time when they were foretold. It is not neceffary, however, that the event should correfpond to the prophecy fo exactly, as that it might have been diftinctly described before it came to pass. For in how dark

and

and obfcure a manner foever the prophecy be expreffed, it will be fufficiently manifeft that it came from God, if, after the event, the correspondence between them be fo great, that human forefight could not have described it in such a manner, and if it be highly improbable, or impoffible, that it should have been described in fuch a manner at random. But many prophecies recorded in the fcriptures were as intelligible before as after the event, and yet they did not at all contribute to their own accomplishment, by inducing the friends of revelation to exert themselves, in order to bring about the thing foretold; the event being produced by natural and foreign causes.

Of the many prophecies which are recorded in the books of fcripture, I fhall only mention a few of the more confiderable, reciting in the first place, the words of the prediction, and then relating from history the correfponding events.

SECTION I.

Prophecies relating to various nations which had con nections with the Jews.

THE

HE prophecies concerning the posterity of Abraham by ISHMAEL, have been remarkably fulfilled; and the prefent ftate of the Arabs, who

are chiefly defcended from Ifhmael, is an atteftation of their truth and divinity.

Several of these predictions imply, that the posterity of Ifhmael fhould be numerous; as Gen. xvi. 6.-12. And the angel of the Lord faid unto Hagar, I will multiply thy feed exceedingly, and it shall not be numbered for multitude. And the angel of the Lord faid unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and fhalt bear a fon, and shalt call his name Ishmael, and he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him, and he shall dwell in the prefence of all his brethren. To Abraham alfo God faid, Gen. xxi. 13. And alfo of the fon of the bond woman will I make a nation, because he is of thy feed. In feveral other places the prophecy concerning Ishmael being a great nation is repeated; as Gen. xxi. 20. with the additional circumftances of his begetting twelve princes.

Now all these particulars have been remarkably fulfilled. The defcendants of Ishmael were a confiderable nation in very early times, and under Mohammed and his fucceffors, the Arabs extended their conquefts over a great part of the world. All the northern coafts of Africa abound with Arabs, Palestine is now almoft entirely occupied by them; they also still retain their antient feats, and are as numerous there as ever.

It was faid that Ishmael fhould be a wild man, and the Arabs are wild and intractable even to a pro

verb. It was faid that his hand fhould be against every man, and every man's hand against him, and it is well known that the Arabs, and, probably, the Arabs only, of all the nations of the world, have constantly lived in a state of hoftility with all mankind; many of them fubfifting by plundering their neighbours, and the travellers and caravans which are obliged to pass through any part of their country; and befides this, their different clans and chiefs are almost always at war with one another.

It seems to be intimated, by Ifhmael's dwelling in the midst of all his brethen, that his pofterity should continue to dwell among them, and to fubfift as a feparate nation, notwithstanding this state of constant hoftility; and it is truly remarkable, that, though the conquest of Arabia has been attempted by almost all the great empires which have bordered upon them, it has never yet been fubdued; and no nation ever made the attempt without repenting of it; having met with nothing but difgrace and lofs. This was most remarkably the cafe in the time of Trajan, the most warlike of all the Roman emperors, and, when the empire was in its greatest ftrength.

The deftruction of NINEVEH, the greateft and moft flourishing city in the world while it stood, and the capital of the Affyrian empire, which fubdued the ten tribes, and carried them captive, was diftinctly and peremptorily foretold by the prophet Nahum.

Nahum, probably about the time of the captivity of the ten tribes by the Affyrians; and in about feventy years after that great empire was conquered, and the capital of it destroyed by the Medes and Babylonians.

BABYLON fucceeded Nineveh in power and fplendor, and Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon conquered the Jews, and carried them into captivity; yet long before this event, and even before the Babylonians made any great figure among the nations, the utter ruin of their city and empire was foretold. The prophecies concerning it are long and circumstantial, and the description that is given of the condition to which it fhould be reduced correfponds most exactly to feveral fucceffive ftages of it; and the whole prophecy is completely verified at this day.

The deftruction of Babylon is foretold in general terms by Isaiah xxi. 9. and by Jeremiah l. 17, 18. and li. 8. The time of this event was fixed by Jeremiah, who wrote at the time that the Babylonian empire was in its greatest ftrength and glory, Jer. XXV. II, 12. Thefe nations fhall ferve the king of Babylon seventy years, and it shall come to pass, that when feventy years are accomplished, I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, fays the Lord.

The conquefts of Cyrus, who befieged and took Babylon, were diftinctly foretold by Ifaiah; and that great conqueror is even mentioned by name, If. xlv.

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