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fore, must have brought forth her son-and this Son is Jesus, the Christ. Thus Moses, Isaiah, and Matthew concur; and facts the most unequivocal have confirmed the whole! Behold the wisdom and providence of God!'

Many Trinitarians think they find a strong support for their views in the expression, 'God with us,' but the term admits of an easy explanation, without supposing it to denote the Deity of the person to whom it is applied. In the language of the Scriptures, God was said to be with a people or a person, when he aided them or preserved them, though there were no visible manifestations of his presence.

The Lord of hosts is with us;

The God of Jacob is our refuge.' Psa. xlvi. 11.

And he said, 'Certainly I will be with thee.' Exod. iii. 12. Gen. xxvi. 3. 28. God was with Ahaz and his people when he aided them to overcome their enemies, and as a sign of this aid or deliverance, the term Immanuel, God with us, that is, is with us, with being the emphatic word, was given to the child. We suppose the epithet God's-help, or Help from God, expresses the full meaning of Immanuel.

Some have questioned the propriety of the application of the passage in Isa. vii. 14. to Christ. A writer, in allusion to this, says, 'the term is applied to a child that was to be born in the time of the prophet, a child who was to be a sign to Ahaz, king of Judah, of the deliverance of his kingdom within two years from the time of the forces brought against it.' 'This,' he continues, 'is evident from the context, and has been admitted by respectable Orthodox commentators.' In

reference to this view, Professor Stuart asks, 'How could the birth of Jesus, which happened seven hundred and forty-two years afterwards, be a sign to Ahaz, that within three years his kingdom was to be freed from his enemies? Such a child, it would seem, was born at that period, for in ch. viii. 8. 10, he is twice referred to as if then present, or at least then living.'

There cannot be the least doubt that the passage in Matthew has direct reference to Christ. The whole connection will support this view; therefore, extended remark is unnecessary.

The interpretation of Immanuel is striking and full of consolation. It shows the sacred nearness existing between God and man. God is with us under all circumstances: in adversity and prosperity; in sickness and in health; by day and by night; when among strangers, and when in the midst of relatives and friends.

'Within thy circling power I stand
On every side I find thy hand;
Awake, asleep, at home, abroad,
I am surrounded still with God.'

'He is God with us to comfort, enlighten, protect, and defend us in every time of temptation and trial, in the hour of death, *** and God with us and in us, and we with him to all eternity.'*

*For some excellent remarks on this whole subject, see ADAM CLARKE on Isa. vii. 14.

XXVII. ENSIGN.

And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an Ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.'

Isa. xi. 10.

THIS word occurs in seven instances in the singular, and once in the plural, but is in no other instance applied to the Messiah; though some may think he is intended in the twelfth verse of this chapter.

The figure is very appropriate and striking. It is interesting to see the various ways employed by the Sacred Writers to illustrate the character and various offices of the Messiah. Figures are drawn from military life; from architecture; from some prevalent custom; from legal forms; from the animal and vegetable kingdoms. Indeed, all nature, and every art and science, is made to render homage to the Messiah.

The present appellative is very interesting, and needs no labored criticism.

Ensigns are warlike banners, monuments or trophies of victory. The prophet Isaiah, threatening the Israelites with an invasion, tells them, 'that God would lift up an ensign to the nations from far.' The motto is very well explained by Cruden:-There shall be a root of Jesse which shall stand for an ensign of the people, and to it shall the Gentiles seek; that is, That Christ the Messiah, growing upon the root of Jesse, should mount up, and be advanced, by the preaching

of the gospel, to a great height, so as to become a visible and eminent ensign, which the Gentiles, as well as the Jews, may discern; to whom they should repair by faith, and in whom they should put their trust.'

"The ancient Jewish ensign was a long pole, at the end of which was a kind of chafing-dish, made of iron bars, which held a fire, and the light, shape, &c. of which denoted the party to whom it belonged.' The brazen serpent was lifted up on an ensign, and to this our Lord compares his own 'lifting up' in consequence of which he will draw all men to him. In the motto, the prophet referred to a custom among the Israelites. That nation was divided into tribes, and each tribe had an appropriate standard, which was regulated by the blessing pronounced upon the sons of Jacob by that aged patriarch. When they went to war, the members of each tribe knew where was their peculiar location, by the ensign of their father, which was unfurled and floating in the air. To this, they gathered after the heat of the battle was over, and rejoiced in view of victory, or wept, because of being vanquished.*

In Gen. xlix, we have an account of the blessing wherewith Jacob blessed his sons before his death. From that account we may learn what was the ensign of each tribe. Commencing with Reuben, he pronounced a blessing upon each, in the order which follows, and in the words which we will now quote: 'Reuben, thou art my first-born, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity,

*See Numbers ii. 2-25.

and the excellency of power; unstable as water, thou shalt not excel. Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. Judah is a lion's whelp. Zebulon shall dwell at the haven of the sea; he shall be for an haven of ships. Issachar is a strong ass, crouching between two burdens. Dan shall be a serpent in the way, an adder in the path. Gad, a troop shall overcome him; but he shall overcome at last. Asher, his bread shall be fat, he shall yield royal dainties. Naphtali is a hind let loose. Joseph is a fruitful bough by the well, whose branches run over the wall. Benjamin shall raven as a wolf; in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.'

Such were the words in which the aged patriarch pronounced his dying benediction upon his sons. It is easily perceived what would be upon the ensign of each tribe. The tribe of Reuben would be represented by foaming waves of the sea; those of Simeon and Levi, by swords and spears; that of Judah, by a young lion; that of Zebulon, by ships reposing in harbor; that of Issachar, by an ass crouching between two burdens; that of Dan, by a serpent in the path; that of Gad, by troops contending for victory; that of Naphtali, by a deer in the attitude of running; that of Joseph, by a beautiful bough by the side of a well; that of Benjamin, by a ravenous wolf.

By 'that day' we are undoubtedly to understand the times of the Messiah. This was a common mode of speaking when the prophets looked forward to his reign.

After having spoken somewhat largely in reference to the meaning of the word ensign, little need be said

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