the coming of YAHVEH, is yet so obscure in our version as to be' utterly meaningless to the ordinary reader. MSS. discovered since our translation was made throw great light on the passage. According to the critical text of Kennicott and De Rossi the passage reads thus

Title.-Now these are the last words of David.

Proem.-The oracle of David, the son of Jesse,

Even the oracle of the man raised up on high;
The anointed of the God of Jacob,

And the sweet psalmist of Israel.

The Spirit of YAHVEн speaketh by me;
And his word is upon my tongue;
YAHVEH, the God of Israel sayeth;
To me speaketh the Rock of Israel.

Song.-The just one ruleth among men!
He ruleth by the fear of God!

As the light of the morning ariseth YAHVEH;
A sun without clouds for brightness;

And as the grass from the earth after rain,

Verily thus is my house with GOD;

For an everlasting covenant hath he made with me,
Ordered in all things and sure,

For he is all my salvation, and all my desire.

Isaiah proclaims the coming of YAHVEн, chap. xl.

'A voice crying: ' In the wilderness prepare ye a way for YAHVEH, Make strait in the desert a highway for our God!

Every valley shall be exalted, every mountain and hill shall be made low;

And the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain;

And the glory of YAHVER shall be revealed,

And all fesh shall see it together,

For the mouth of YAHVEH hath spoken.

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Oh thou that tellest glad tidings to Zion, get thee up into the high

mountain.

Oh thou that tellest glad tidings to Jerusalem, lift up thy voice with strength:

Lift it up!-Be not afraid.

Say unto the cities of Judah, 'Behold your God.'

Behold, the Sovereign YAHVEH shall come with strength!

Jeremiah proclaims the deliverance of YAHVEн, chap. xxiii.

Behold, the days come, saith YAHVEN,

That I will raise up unto David a righteous Branch,
And a King shall reign and prosper;

And shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
In his days Judah shall be saved,

And Israel shall dwell safely;

And this is the name whereby he shall be called-
YAHVEH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

Zechariah foretells the Reception of YAHVEH, chap. xi. 12, 13.

And I said unto them, If ye think good give me my price, and if not forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. And YAHVEH said unto me, Cast it unto the potter-a goodly price that I was prized at of them.

And I took the thirty pieces of silver and cast them to the potter in the house of YAHVEн.

Zech. xii.,

They shall look upon ME whom they have pierced, and shall

mourn.

Isaiah predicts the effect upon the nation of their treatment of YAHVEH, chap. viii. 13-15.

To YAHVEH himself of hosts pay holy homage,
Even him be your fear, and him your dread;

And he shall be for a sanctuary,

But for a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence

To both houses of Israel.

Malachi warns of the near approach of the Sovereign, YAHVEH himself being speaker, chap. iii. 1.

Behold, I send my messenger,

And he shall prepare the way before ME,

And THE SOVEREIGN, whom ye seek, will suddenly come
To his temple,

Even the Messenger of the Covenant, whom ye delight in.
Behold, he cometh, saith YAHVEH of hosts.

This term, the Sovereign, is, by Hebrew usage, appropriated exclu-
sively to the supreme God, and is in Exodus applied to YAHVEH or
Jehovah, as the Sovereign Jehovah of Israel. It occurs eight times
in the Old Testament, and has this application in each instance, ad-
mitting of no other. The great work of the prophetic era appears
to be the interweaving of the two ideas of the divinity and humanity
of the coming One. We find a continued series of statements con-
cerning the divinity and humanity of the coming Deliverer so inter-
changing the personalities of the two, as to identify, beyond the
possibility of separation, the two sets of prophecies as relating to one
person. Such passages, and those identifying the Deliverer of the
past with the Deliverer to come, may be said to constitute the pro-
phecies of the Old Testament. The mind of the prophet was filled
with the conception of YAHVEH as upon the throne of the universe, as
walking the circle of the heavens, as dwelling in the fulness of glory.
From that point of conception He is seen as about to interpose his
own arm of salvation to bring deliverance to man.
Then he ap-
pears on earth as 'the man of sorrows,' 'stricken and afflicted,'
despised and rejected,' 'acquainted with grief,' 'pierced,' 'making
his grave with the wicked.' Again bursting the bars of death, he
rises and reigns as Messiahmic King, whose dominion is an ever-

lasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

6. Complete in Christ. He came. The long expected Deliverer, the Sovereign, came suddenly to his temple. YAHVEH, in the person of CHRIST, speaks on earth. To this the apostle John testifiesThese things said Esaias when he saw his glory, and spake of him (Christ).' Isa. vi. states the glory seen-'I saw the SOVEREIGN Sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple; above it stood the seraphim, and one cried unto another, saying, 'Holy, holy, holy, YAHVEH of hosts! The whole earth is full of his glory! Then said I, Woe is me, for mine eyes have seen the King, YAHVEH of hosts.' Thus do the New Testament writers refer to the Old in speaking of Christ. They plainly identify the MESSIAH with YAHVEH of the Old Testament. Thus they affirm:that Isaiah saw the glory of Christ. In Isaiah it is the glory of YAHVEH. They affirm that Christ was the leader of Israel in the wilderness. In the narrative of their wanderings they were led by YAHVEH. It is affirmed that Moses preferred the reproach of Christ to the treasures of Egypt. In Exodus it is YAHVEH for whom he endures all things. It is affirmed that at the giving of the law the voice of Christ shook the earth. In Exodus it is the voice of YAhven. It is affirmed that the Spirit of Christ spake by the prophets. The prophets themselves refer their utterances to the Spirit of YAHVEH. Thus do the apostles assert the identity of Christ with YAHVEI. They assume it as an established truth by attributing to Christ all the glory and dominion everywhere throughout the Old Testament ascribed to YAIVEH. Their arguments for the divinity of Christ are historical. Beginning at the creation, they affirm that the same Being who laid the foundations of the earth, and who manifested himself to the ancients from time to time along the line of history, appeared in the person of Christ on earth. The manifested presence of Christ begun at the very foundation, the varying forms by which he appeared to his ancient people, preparing them for the more permanent and universal manifestation of himself as the great MALAK (messenger) YAHVEH, the MESSIAH. This completed dispensation is set forth in the New Testament as a great historical fact and unit, containing from beginning to end the work of Christ in the world.

We find three great names used by the Old Testament writersELOHIM, ADONAI, YAHVEH. These are everywhere distinct in the original, yet interchange under the relations of the work of deliverance. ELOHIM and YAHVEн are the two distinctive names of the Old Testament. ADONAI (Sovereign) is a title expressive of governmental relation, and takes the place of ELOHIM OF YAHVFH according to circumstances. ELOHIM (God) whom no man hath seen at any time' -a name unfolding all the attributes of God apart from man-stands in the beginning as Creator. In the beginning ELOHIM created the heavens and the earth.' It is a remarkable word,-a plural noun appearing everywhere as the subject or nominative of verbs in the singular. It is also used as unfolding distinct personalities, thus: ELOHIM said, Let us make man in OUR image according to OUR likeness.' YAHVEH, or YAHVEH ELOHIM, is a name of relation-one, as we have shown, growing out of the expectation of humanity in view of a divine promise. He who gave the promise, adopted its name, and

MALAK

entered into a relation of affection with the race, and proclaimed it as his memorial name. YAHVEH also assumes all the attributes of ELOHIM, and uses in two instances the plural form to which we have alluded. And YAHVEH ELOHIM said, Behold the man has become as one of us to know good and evil.' 'And YAHVEH said, Let us go down and there let us confound their language.' Thus ELOHIM, by derivation and use, expresses power, and represents the object of awe and reverence-the head of the universe. ADONAI expresses a relation of dominion. YAHVEH one of affection and deliverance. YAHVEH, OF MESSENGER YAHVEH, visible presence. This 'manifestation,' messenger,' or 'angel,' as a man walks and talks with Abraham, as an angel wrestles with Jacob, communes face to face with Moses, is seen in the heavens by the elders of Israel. The pillar and the cloud also were the visible signs of YAHVEH's presence to the Israelites. Each was to them in turn MALAK YAHVEH. This then is the first manifestation of YAHVEH to humanity, and the preparation for that more wonderful revelation of himself to the world as the Messenger of the Covenant, of which great manifestation the name YAHVEH is itself a prophetic memorial.

The ground for distinction in personality is thus found in the Old Testament. Excepting the instances in which a divine speaker, other than YAHVEH ELOHIM, аppears. YAHVEH is the one God' of the Hebrew scriptures. That other speaker whom no man hath seen, stands in relation to the Old Testament YAHVEH, as sending him, and sanctioning his work like that of the Father in the New Testament to the Son. When YAHVEH appears upon earth as the Messiah, and by his incarnation becomes our Elder Brother,' he bears the designation, the CHRIST, the anointed, and is called the Son. This joint interest, expressed in the Old Testament by the interchange of the name of the Deliverer YAHVEH, is in the New intimated by the terms Father and Son.

We have seen the origin and history of the term YAHVEн, but tradition had so blinded the minds of the Jewish nation, that they knew him not. The superstition, as stated by Josephus, was, that 'the name of God was a name not lawful to be uttered.' So with the law or ten commandments, which,' says Josephus, it is not lawful for us to write in their own words.'

Thus YAHVER, the original name of the promise, being veiled in superstition, and its meaning lost, we find the expectation of the world represented by a new term. Before the coming of the Messiah, the Hebrews had adopted the Greek language, which, spreading from the great centre of philosophy and art, merged all nationalities in one common tongue. The expectation of the world, by a term of this universal language, is made known to the comprehension, not of one nation, but the whole race. This Greek term, in familiar use as expressing this expectation, is the exact equivalent of the old Hebrew YAHVEH 'O 'Epxóuevos, 'The Coming One,' or 'He who is to come.' Thus, John hearing of Jesus, sent the question, Art thou ó épxdμevos (the coming One), or look we for another?' This term we find adopted by the Saviour as his watchword to the Church-Behold, I come; Watch.' 'I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last, ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος, ὁ παντοκάτωρ, who is, and who was, and who is TO COME, The Almighty (Heb. El

Shaddai). These terms standing at the close of the completed revelation of redemption, are most significant, as bringing together in one person all the names under which the divine nature is revealed to man. The prevailing idea that mere eternity of being is expressed by the proposition just quoted, is baseless. The terms of the proposition exclude the metaphysical rendering. The Greek would require d v kal å ĥv kaì d ésóμevos, 'who is, and who was, and who will be,' instead of 'who is, and who was, and who will come,'ὁ ἐσόμενος instead of ὁ ἐρχόμενος. The use of the verb ἐρχόμαί, ' to come,' needs no discussion. YAHVEH, the promise of the first coming, is fulfilled, and yet YAHVEн, the memorial name, still remains in its equivalent δ ερχομενος. Of d épxóuevos it is written, 'Behold, He cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him!'

THE CHURCH DURING THE THIRD AND FOURTH CENTURIES.

In the course of the two preceding centuries, we have seen Christianity, from the time of its promulgation in Jerusalem, spread far and wide, and take deep root, notwithstanding the acrimonious opposition with which it was received. We have seen it steadily advancing in the face of the conspiracy of kings and rulers to accomplish its overthrow, and not only resisting the pertinacious attempts of the adversary with success, but surely, steadily, and unceasingly progressing, with an irresistible power; possessing an inextinguishable vitality, and manifesting, in the lives of its professors, its heavenly origin. The condition of the Roman empire at this time farnishes a melancholy confirmation of the truth of the declaration, that 'the world by wisdom knew not God,' and is a sad comment upon the vaunted effects of civilization in elevating mankind. Emperor succeeded emperor with a marvellous rapidity, in turn to fall beneath the dagger of the assassin, the weapons of their own soldiers, or to perish in despair by the rash act of their own hands. Every kind of vice and unblushing profligacy, envy, hatred-the most untempered malignity, murder, and bloodshed filled the land, met by naught save an impotent philosophy, of which it has been appositely remarked, that it taught none save those who required not its lessons. It was in circumstances such as these that the light of the gospel shone forth, manifesting its brilliancy the more strikingly by contrast with the surrounding darkness; and the sequel showed too truly that men loved darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil. We have to notice after the cessation of the persecution under Severus, the enjoyment by the early Christians of a long period of comparative tranquillity, which continued almost unbroken during the first half of the third century, except for a short period under Maximin, A.D. 235. Christianity had now arisen to a position of some importance. Its superiority as a religion over the senseless superstitions of Polytheism, was admitted by the sensible and virtuous among the Romans, and accordingly many courted its countenance, some from a heartfelt appreciation and love of the truth, but by far the greater portion, apparently from no higher motive than that of appearing before men as virtuous. The churches, already,