Jonathan Edwards · 312 of 409

XII. TYPES OF THE MESSIAH · Part 5

God, agreeably to some of these and other prophecies of the times of the Messiah, first pleaded with Israel concerning their sin, and brought them to cry earnestly to him, before he delivered them by Gideon. Judg. vi. 6-10. God did not send them deliverance till they were brought to extremity. Agreeably to Deut. xxxii. 36, 37. and many other prophecies.

The enemies of Israel, that sought their destruction, that Gideon overcame, were an innumerable multitude, and many nations associated and combined together; agreeably to many prophecies of the victory and salvation of the Messiah. Gideon was appointed “to the office of a saviour and deliverer of God’s people by the sovereign election and special designation of God; agreeably to many prophecies of the Messiah. He was endued with might, and upheld and strengthened immediately from God, and by the Spirit of God and the spirit or might resting upon him. Judg. vi. 14-16, 34. Agreeably to many prophecies of the Messiah. Gideon was as it were a root out of a dry ground, of a poor family, and the least in his father’s house; a low tree, without form or comeliness. Judg. vi. 15. Agreeably to the prophecies of the Messiah. Gideon was not only the captain of the host of Israel, but was immediately appointed of God to be a priest to build the altar of God, and to offer sacrifice to God, to make atonement for that iniquity of Israel that had brought that sore judgment upon them, that he came to deliver them from. Judg. vi. 20-28. And he offered a sacrifice acceptable unto God, and of which God gave special testimony of his acceptance, by consuming his sacrifice by fire immediately enkindled from heaven. Ver. 21. And his sacrifice procured reconciliation and peace for Israel, ver. 24. These things are exactly agreeable to the prophecies of the Messiah. Gideon destroyed idols, abolished their worship, threw down their altars, and set up the worship of the true God. At this time that Gideon overthrew the idols and their worship, those idols and their worshippers were solemnly challenged to plead and make good their own cause. Judg. vi. 31-33. Agreeably to Isa. xli. 1-7. and 21-29. Gideon drank of the brook in the way, and was so prepared for the battle, and obtained a glorious conquest over the kings and the heads of many countries, and filled the place with the dead bodies, agreeably to Psal. cx. 5-7. “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 heads over many countries: he shall drink of the brook in the way, therefore shall he lift up the head.” The company with Gideon was a small remnant, that was left after most of the people departed. So is the company represented that shall obtain victory over their enemies in the Messiah’s times. Isa. x. 20,. &c. “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel shall stay upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea; yet a remnant shall return. Therefore thus saith the Lord, O my people, be not afraid of the Assyrian For the Lord shall stir up a scourge for him according to the slaughter of Midian.” Mic. v. 8, 9. “And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people, as a lion among the beasts of the forests, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep; who if he go through, both treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver. Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off.” Gideon’s company, with which he overcame his mighty enemies, were not only small but weak, and without weapons of war. Agreeably to this is Isa. xli. 14,. &c. “Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men (or few men, as it is in the margin) of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth; thou shalt thresh the mountains and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff,” &c. And Mic. iv. 7. “I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off, a strong nation;” with verse 13. “Arise, and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass; and thou shalt beat in pieces many people,” &c. Zeph. iii. 12. “I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord.” Ver. 16, 17. “In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not, and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack, or faint” (as it is in the margin). “The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty, he will save.” Ver. 19. “Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee, and I will save her that halteth,” &c. The representation of a cake of barley bread tumbling into the host of Midian, and coming unto a tent, and smiting it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along, signifying Gideon’s destroying the host of Midian, Judg. v. 13. is not unlike that in Daniel ii.of a stone cut out of the mountains without hands smiting the image and breaking it all in pieces, that it all became as the chaff of the summer threshing floor. Gideon and his company overcame and destroyed the mighty host of their enemies, without any other weapons than trumpets and lamps. This is agreeable to the prophecies of the Messiah, which show that the weapons by which he should overcome his enemies, should not be carnal but spiritual, and particularly that it should be by the preaching of the word. Ps. cx. 2. “The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies:” together with Isa. xi. 4. “He shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.” Isa. xlix. 2. “And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword.” The word of God is in the Old Testament compared to a lamp and a light. Prov. vi. 23. “For the commandment is a lamp and the law is a light.” Ps. cxix. 105. “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path;” and particularly it is so represented in the prophecies of the Messiah’s times. Isa. li. 4. “A law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people.” So preaching the word in the Old Testament is compared to blowing a trumpet. Isa. lviii. 1. “Lift up thy voice like a trumpet: show my people their transgression.” Ezek. xxxiii. 2, 3,. &c. “If the people take a man and set him for their watchman; if he blow the trumpet, and warn the people,” &c. Particularly it is so represented in the prophecies of the Messiah’s times. Isa. xxvii. 13. “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come that were ready to perish,” &c. Ps. lxxxix. 15. “Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound. They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance.” God destroyed the host of Midian by setting every man’s sword against his fellow. Agreeably to this is Hag. ii. 22. “And the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother.” Ezek. xxxviii. 14. “Every man’s sword shall be against his brother.” Gideon led captivity captive, agreeably to Ps. lxviii. He led those kings and princes in chains that before had taken them captives; agreeably to Ps. cxlix. 7-9. “To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people: to bind their kings in chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron: to execute upon them the judgment written. This honour have all the saints.”

There is a no less remarkable agreement between the things said of Samson in his history, and the things said of the Messiah in the prophecies of him. His name Samson signifies Little Sun, well agreeing with a type of the Messiah, that Great Sun of righteousness, so often compared in the prophecies to the sun. The antitype is far greater than the type, as being its end. Therefore, when the type is called by the name of the antitype, it is fitly with a diminutive termination. Samson and other saviours under the Old Testament, that were types of the great Saviour, were but little saviours. The prophets, priests, kings, captains, and deliverers of the Old Testament, were indeed images of the great light of the church and the world that was to follow. But they were but images: they were little lights, that shone during the night. But when Christ came, the great light arose and introduced the day. Samson’s birth was miraculous; it was a great wonder in his case, that a woman should “compass a man,” as the prophecies represent it to be in the case of the birth of the Messiah. Samson was raised up to be a saviour to God’s people from their enemies, agreeably to prophetical representations of the Messiah. Samson was appointed to this great work by God’s special election and designation, and that in an eminent and extraordinary way, agreeably to the prophecies of the Messiah. Samson was a Nazarite from the womb. The word Nazarite signifies separated. This denotes holiness and purity. The Nazarite was, with very great and extraordinary care and strictness indeed, to abstain from the least legal defilement; as appears by Num. vi. 6. and the reason is given in the 8th verse. “All the days of his separation he is holy unto the Lord:” and with the utmost strictness he was to abstain from wine and strong drink, and every thing that appertained in any respect to the fruit of the vine; wine being the liquor that was especially the object of the carnal appetites of men. And he was to suffer no razor to come upon his head, any way to alter what he was by nature, because that would defile it, as the lifting up a tool to hew the stones of the altar would defile it. The design of those institutions concerning the Nazarite, about his hair and about wine, is declared, Num. vi. 5. “He shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair grow.” This sanctity of the Nazarite representing a perfect holiness both negative and positive, is spoken of in Lam. iv. 7. “Her Nazarites were purer than snow: they were whiter than milk: they were more ruddy in body than rubies: their polishing was of sapphire.” Therefore Samson’s being a Nazarite from the womb, remarkably represents that perfect innocence and purity, and transcendent holiness of nature and life in the Messiah, which the prophecies often speak of. The great things that Samson wrought for the deliverance of Israel and the overthrow of their enemies, was not by any natural strength of his, but by the special influence and extraordinary assistance of the Spirit of God, Judg. xiii. 25. and xiv. 6, 19. and xv. 14. xvi. 20. agreeably to many prophecies I have already observed of the Messiah’s being anointed and filled with God’s Spirit, and being upheld, and helped, and strengthened, and succeeded by God. Samson married a Philistine, and all the women that he loved were of that people that were his great enemies. Agreeably to those prophecies that represent the Messiah as marrying an alien from the commonwealth of Israel: as Ps. xlv.: and his marrying one that was the daughter of the accursed people of Canaan, Ezek. xvi. 3, 8,. &c. together with the latter end of the chapter, and the many prophecies that speak of Christ’s calling the Gentiles and his saving sinners. Samson was a person of exceeding great strength; herein he is like the Messiah, as he is represented, Ps. lxxxix. 19. “I have laid help on one that is mighty.” Ps. xlv. 3. “Gird on thy sword on thy thigh, O most mighty, in thy glory and in thy majesty.” Isa. lxiii. 1. “Who is this travelling in the greatness of his strength?” When Samson was going to take his wife, a young lion roared against him. So the enemies of the Messiah and his people are compared to a lion roaring upon him, gaping with his mouth ready to devour him. Ps. xxii. 13. “They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.” Ver. 21. “Save me from the lion’s mouth.” Samson rent the lion as the lion would have rent the kid; which is agreeable to the prophecies which represent the Messiah destroying his enemies as a strong lion devouring his prey. Gen. xlix. 9,. &c. and the many prophecies that speak of his punishing leviathan with his great, and sore, and strong sword, his mightily and dreadfully destroying his enemies, treading them down as the mire, treading them in his anger and trampling them in his fury, sprinkling his raiment with their blood, &c. Samson is fed with honey out of the carcass of the lion, which is agreeable to what the prophecies represent of the glorious benefits of the Messiah’s conquest over his enemies, to himself and his people, his own ascension, glory, and kingdom, and the glory of his people. Samson made a feast on occasion of his marriage, which is agreeable to Isa. xxv. 6. “And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things; a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow; of wines on the lees well refined.” Isa. lxv. 13, 14. “My servants shall eat my servants shall drink my servants shall rejoice my servants shall sing for joy of heart;” and innumerable prophecies that speak of the great plenty and joy of God’s people in the Messiah’s times; and this accompanying the Messiah’s marriage with his spiritual spouse. See Isa. lxii. 4, 5, 7-9. and Hos. ii. 19-22. and Cant. ii. 4. and v. 1. When Samson visited his wife with a kid, he was rejected, and her younger sister, that was fairer than she, given to him; Judg. xv. 2. Which is agreeable to what the prophecies represent of the Messiah’s coming to the Jews first, when he was offered up as a lamb or kid, and making the first offer of the glorious benefits of his sacrifice to them, and their rejecting him, and the calling of the Gentiles, and the more glorious and beautiful state of the Gentile church than of the ancient Jewish church. In Judg. xvi. 1, 2. we have an account how Samson loved a harlot, and from his love to her exposed himself to be compassed round by his enemies. So the prophecies represent the Messiah as loving a sinful people, and from love seeking such a people to be his spouse, as that which occasions his suffering from his enemies. Isa. liii. taken with the following chapter. Samson, while his enemies are compassing him round, to destroy him, rises from sleep, and from midnight darkness, and takes away the strength and fortification of the city of his enemies, the gate of the city, which his enemies shut and barred fast upon him to confine him, and the two posts, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of a hill. Judg. xvi. 3. So the prophecies represent the Messiah, when compassed round by his enemies, rising from the sleep of death, and emerging out of the thick darkness of his sorrows and sufferings, spoiling his enemies, and ascending into heaven, and leading captivity captive. Samson was betrayed and sold by Delilah, his false spouse or companion. So the prophecies do represent the Messiah as sold by his false and treacherous people. Samson was delivered up into the hands of his enemies, and was mocked and derided, and very cruelly treated by them; agreeably to what is foretold of the Messiah. Samson died partly through the cruelty and murderous malice of his enemies, and partly from his own act: agreeably to what is foretold of the Messiah. Ibid. § 51, 58, 59, 72. Samson at his death destroyed his enemies, and the destruction he made of his enemies was chiefly at his death; which is agreeable to Isa. liii. 10-12. and Psal. lxviii. 18. Samson overthrew the temple of Dagon, which is agreeable to what the prophecies say of the Messiah’s overthrowing idols and idol worship in the world. Samson destroyed his enemies suddenly in the midst of their triumph over him, so that their insulting him in the prospect of his destruction, instantly issues in their own destruction; agreeably to Isa. xxix. 5-8.

There is a yet more remarkable, manifest, and manifold agreement between the things said of David in his history, and the things said of the Messiah in the prophecies. His name David signifies beloved, as the prophecies do represent the Messiah as in a peculiar and transcendent manner the beloved of God. David was God’s elect in an eminent manner. Saul was the king whom the people chose. 1 Sam. viii. 18. and xii. 13. But David was the king whom God chose, one whom he found and pitched upon according to his own mind, without any concern of man in the affair, and contrary to what men would have chosen. When Jesse caused all his elder sons to pass before Samuel, God said concerning one and another of them, “The Lord hath not chosen this; neither hath the Lord chosen this,” &c. See 1 Chron. xxviii. 4. There David says, “The Lord God of Israel chose me before all the house of my father, to be king over Israel for ever: for he hath chosen Judah to be the ruler; and of the house of Judah the house of my father; and among the sons of my father he liked me to make me king over all Israel.” See Psal. lxxviii. 67-70. and lxxxix. 3. “I have made a covenant with my chosen; I have sworn unto David my servant;” agreeably to Isa. xlii. 1. “Mine elect,” &c. 49. “And he shall choose thee.” He was a king of God’s finding and providing, and he speaks of him as his king. 1 Sam. xvi. 1. “I will send thee to Jesse for I have provided me a king among his sons.” 2 Sam. xxii. 51. “He is the tower of salvation for his king.” Agreeably to Psal. ii. “I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.” He is spoken of as a man after God’s own heart, and one in whom God delighted. 2 Sam. xxii. 20. “He delivered me because he delighted in me;” agreeably to Isa. xlii. 1. “Behold my servant whom I uphold; mine elect in whom my soul delighteth.” David was in a very eminent manner God’s anointed, or Messiah, (as the word is,) and is so spoken of, Psal. xxii. 51. “He showeth mercy to his anointed, unto David;” and xxiii. 1. “David, the son of Jesse; the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob.” Psal. lxxxix. 19, 20. “I have exalted one chosen out of the people; I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him.” Samuel anointed him with peculiar solemnity. 1 Sam. xvi. 13. See how this agrees with the prophecies of the Messiah. David’s anointing remarkably agrees with what the prophecies say of the anointing of the Messiah, which speak of him as a being anointed with the Spirit of God. So David was anointed with the Spirit of God, at the same time that he was anointed with oil. 1 Sam. xvi. 13. “And Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brethren; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.” David is spoken of as being a poor man, of a low family, and in mean circumstances. 1 Sam. xviii. 23. “I am a poor man, and lightly esteemed.”2 Sam. vii. 18. “Who am I? and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?” Agreeably to this, it is said of the Messiah in the prophecies, that he was a root out of a dry ground, that he was a low tree. David is spoken of as an eminently holy person, a man after God’s own heart. He is spoken of in the history of the kings of Judah, as one whose heart was perfect with the Lord his God; 1 Kings xi. 4.; one that went fully after the Lord; 1 Kings xi. 6.; one that did that that was right in the eyes of the Lord. 1 Kings xv. 11. 2 Kings xviii. 3. 2 Chron. xxviii. 1. and xxix. 2. He is spoken of as pure, upright, and righteous; one that had clean hands; that kept the ways of the Lord, and did not wickedly depart from God; 2 Sam. xxii. 21-27. This agrees with what is said in the prophecies of the Messiah. David was the youngest son of Jesse; as the Messiah in the prophecies is spoken of as coming in the latter days. He has frequently the appellation of God’s servant. It would be endless to mention all the places; see them in the Concordance under the word servant David. So has the Messiah often this appellation in the prophecies. Isa. xlii. 1-19. xlix. 3-6. lii. 13. liii. 11. Zech. iii. 8. David’s outward appearance was not such as would have recommended him to the esteem and choice of men, as a person fit for rule and victory, but, on the contrary, such as tended to cause men to despise him as a candidate for such things; 1 Sam. xvi. 7. “Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature for man looketh on the outward appearance; but the Lord looketh on the heart.” 1 Sam. xxii. 42. “And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth.” Ver. 56. “Inquire whose son the stripling is.” Eliab, his elder brother, thought him fitter to be with the sheep, than to come to the army. 1 Sam. xvii. 28. Agreeably to Isa. liii. 2. “He shall grow up before him as a tender plant, as a root out of a dry ground. He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.” David appeared unexpectedly. Samuel expected a man of great stature, and appearing outwardly like a man of valour; and therefore when he saw Eliab, David’s elder brother, that had such an appearance, he said, surely the Lord’s anointed is before him. His appearance was astonishing to Goliath and to Saul. So the prophecies represent the Messiah’s appearance as unexpected and astonishing, being so mean. Isa. xlii. 14. “Many were astonished at thee. His visage was so marred more than any man.” But yet David was ruddy and of a fair countenance, and goodly to look to. 1 Sam. xvi. 12. xvii. 42. agreeable to Psalm xlv. 2. “Thou art fairer than the children of men.” Cant. v. 10. “My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousands.” He was anointed king after offering sacrifice. 1 Sam. xvi. So the prophecies represent the Messiah’s exaltation to his kingdom, after he had by his sufferings offered up a sacrifice to atone for the sins of men. David says of himself, 1 Chron. xxviii. 14. “The Lord God of Israel chose me to be king over Israel for ever.” And God says to him, 2 Sam. vii. 16. “And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee. Thy throne shall be established for ever.” This is agreeable to the prophecies of the Messiah. David, by occupation, was a shepherd, and afterwards was made a shepherd to God’s Israel. Ps. lxxviii. 70-72. “He chose David his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds, from following the ewes great with young. He brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.” This is agreeable to many prophecies of the Messiah, who is often spoken of in them as the shepherd of God’s people, and therein is expressly compared to David. Isa. xl. 11. “He shall feed his flock like a shepherd.” Isa. xlix. 9, 10. “They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places. They shall not hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor sun smite them. For he that hath mercy on them shall lead them; by the springs of water shall he guide them.” Jer. xxiii. 4, 5. “And I will set up shepherds over them, which shall feed them I will raise up unto David a righteous branch,” &c. Ezek. xxxiv. 23. “And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them; even my servant David: he shall feed them, and shall be their shepherd.” Ezek. xxxvii. 24. “And David my servant shall be king over them, and they shall have one shepherd.” Cant. i. 7. “Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon.” David was of an humble, meek, and merciful spirit. 1 Sam. xviii.23. 2 Sam.vi.21, 22. vii.18. 1 Sam. xxiv. throughout, and xxvi. throughout; 2 Sam. ii. 5, 21. and iv. 9,. &c. vii. 18. 2 Sam. xxii. 26. and many places in the Psalms show the same spirit, too many to be mentioned. This is agreeable to what is said of the Messiah, Zech. ix. 9. “He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on an ass, and a colt the fool of an ass.” Isa. xlii. 3. “A bruised reed shall he not break,” &c. Isa. xl. 11. “He shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.” Isa. liii. 7. “He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.” David was a person that was eminent for wisdom and prudence. 1 Sam. xvi. 18. “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse prudent in matters.” And xviii. 5. “And David behaved himself wisely.” Ver. 14. “And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways.” Ver. 30. “David behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul.” Ps. lxxviii. 72. “He guided them by the skilfulness of his hands.” This is agreeable to what is said of the Messiah, Isa. ix. 6. Chap. xi. 2, 3. xli. two last verses, with xlii. 1. lii. 13. Zech. iii. 9. David is said to be “a mighty valiant man.” 1 Sam. xvi. 18. “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse, a mighty valiant man.” This is agreeable to Ps. xlv. 3. “Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory, and thy majesty.” Isa. lxiii. 1. “Who is this travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.” And in this very thing the Messiah is compared to David. Ps. lxxxix. 19, 20. “I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people; I have found David my servant.” David was a sweet musician; was preferred as such to all that were to be found in Israel, to relieve Saul in his melancholy. He is called “the sweet Psalmist of Israel.” 2 Sam. xxiii. 1. He led the whole church of Israel in their praises. He instituted the order of singers and musicians in the house of God. He delivered to the church the book of songs they were to use in their ordinary public worship. This is most agreeable to the prophecies of the Messiah, which do every where represent, that he should introduce the most pleasant, joyful, glorious state of the church, wherein they should abound in the praises of God, and the world be filled with sweet and joyful songs after sorrow and weeping; wherein songs should be heard from the uttermost ends of the earth, and all nations should sing, and the mountains and trees of the field, and all creatures, sun, moon, and stars, heaven and earth, should break forth into singing, and even the dead should awake and sing, and the lower parts of the earth should shout, and the tongue of the dumb should sing, and the dragons and all deeps; the barren, the prisoners, the desolate, and mourners should sing; and all nations should come and sing in the height of Zion; they should sing aloud, and sing a new song, or in a new manner, with music and praises exalting all that had been before. The particular texts are too many to enumerate. The patriarch from whom Christ descended, for this reason is called Judah, i. e. Praise: and the Messiah is represented as leading the church of God in their sweet and joyful songs. Ps. xxii. 22. “I will declare thy name unto my brethren. In the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.” Ver. 25. “My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation.” Ps. lxix. 30-32. “I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. The humble shall see this and be glad.” Ver. 34. “Let the heaven and the earth praise him, the seas and every thing that moveth therein.” See also Ps. cxxxviii. 1-5. We read in Ps. lxxxix. 15. of the joyful sound that shall be at that time; and the day of the Messiah’s kingdom is compared to the spring, the time of the singing of birds. Cant. ii. David slew a lion and a bear, and delivered a lamb out of their mouths. So the enemies of the Messiah and of his people are in the prophecies compared to a lion, as was observed before. So the prophetical representations made of God’s people that are delivered by the Messiah, well agree with a symbol of a lamb. The prophecies represent them as feeble, poor, and defenceless in themselves, and as meek and harmless. Ps. xlv. 4. and xxii. 26. lxix. 32. cxlvii. 6. and cxlix. 4. Isa. xi. 4. xxix. 19. and lxi. 1. David comes to the camp of Israel, to save them from Goliath and the Philistines, just at a time when they were in special and immediate danger; when the host were going forth to the fight, and shouted for the battle. So the Messiah in the prophecies is represented as appearing to save his people at the time of their extremity. So God appeared for the redemption of his people out of Egypt. But Balaam prophesying of the redemption of the Messiah, Numb. xxiii. 23. says, according to this time shall it be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought? This is also agreeable to that prophecy of the deliverance of God’s people in the Messiah’s times; Deut. xxxii. 36. “The Lord shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up or left.” So Ps. xiv. and liii. and xxi. 11, 12. and xlvi. and lviii. 7,. to the end; and lx. and cxviii. 10,. to the end; and xxviii. 21,22.; and xxix. 5-8.; and xxx.27-30.; xxxi.4-5. xl. the latter end, and xli. throughout, xlii. at the beginning, li. 7. to the end, and many other places. David was hated and envied by his brethren, and misused by them, when he came to them on a kind errand from his father, to bring them provision. Herein he resembled the Messiah as Joseph did. David kills Goliath, who, in his huge stature, great strength, mighty army, and exceeding pride, much resembled the devil, according to the representations of the devil in the prophecies of the Messiah’s conquest and destruction of him; who is called Leviathan, (Isa. xxvii. 1.) which in the Old Testament is represented as a huge and terrible creature of vast strength and impenetrable armour, disdaining the weapons and strength of his enemies, and the king over all the children of pride; Job xli. David went against Goliath without carnal weapons. David prevailed against Goliath with a sling and a stone, which is agreeable to Zech. ix. 15. “The Lord of hosts shall defend them, and they shall devour and subdue with sling-stones.” David, when going against Goliath, took strength out of the brook in the way, agreeable to that concerning the Messiah, Ps. cx. 6, 7. “He shall fill the places with the dead bodies: he shall wound the heads over many countries: he shall drink of the brook in the way; therefore shall he lift up the head.” David cut off the head of the Philistine with his own sword. So it may be clearly gathered from what the prophecies say of the Messiah’s sufferings, and that from the cruelty of his enemies, and the consequences of them with respect to his exaltation and victory over his enemies, that the Messiah shall destroy Satan with his own weapons. David carried the head of Goliath to Jerusalem: which is agreeable to what is foretold of the Messiah, Psal. lxviii. 18. “Thou hast ascended on high; thou hast led captivity captive;” together with the context. David put Goliath’s armour in his tent: which is agreeable to Psal. lxxvi. 2, 3. “In Salem is his tabernacle, (or tent,) and his dwelling-place in Zion. There brake he the arrows of the bow, the shield, the sword, and the battle.” When Saul saw David returning from his victory, he says repeatedly with great admiration concerning him, “Whose son is this youth?” 1 Sam. xvii. 55. “Inquire whose son this stripling is;” ver. 56. “Whose son art thou?” ver. 58. agreeably to Psal. xxviii. 8. “Who is this king of glory?” Again, ver. 10. and Isa. lxiii. 1. “Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bosrah? This that is glorious in his apparel,” &c. The daughters of Israel went forth to meet king David, and sang praises to him when he returned from the slaughter of the Philistine; agreeably to Psal. xxiv. and lxviii. and many other places. David obtained his wife by exposing his life in battle with the Philistines, and in destroying them: agreeably to what is prophesied of the Messiah’s sufferings and death, his conflict with and victory over his enemies, and his redemption of his church by this means, and the consequent joy of his espousals with the church.