land of the Chaldeans, Jer. xxv. 11, 12. For thus faith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon, I will vifit you, and perform my good word towards you, in caufing you to return to this place Jer. xxix. 10. And this Prophecy of Jeremiah the Jews depended upon, under the Captivity, Dan. ix. 2. Zech. i. 12. and it was exactly fulfilled to them. He foretold, that the Veffels of the Temple fhould be brought back again at the coming of the Jews out of their Captivity in Babylon, chap. xxvii. 22. And it was the particular care of Cyrus,Darius and Artaxerxes, that they fhould be return'd, Ezra i. 7. vi. 5. vii. 19. He bought a Field of Hanameel his Uncle's Son, and the Evidences of the Purchace, which were fubfcribed in the fight of many Witnesses, were delivered to Baruck, to be preferv'd in an Earthen Veffel, as a Token of the Peoples return out of Captivity, and to be produc'd at their Return in confirmation of his Prophecies, Fer. xxxii. 9. The Generations of Nebuchad nezzo's Pofterity, that should fucceed him, till the Destruction of that Monarchy, are foretold, Fer. xxvii. 7. The Destruction of Babylon, with the manner of Taking the City, as it was foretold and defcribed by the Prophet, agrees punctually with the Account of it by P Herodotus. One poft fhall run to meet another, and one meffenger to meet another, to fhew the king of Babylon that his City is taken at one end, and that the paffages are ftopped, and the reeds they have burned. with fire, and the men of war are affrighted. And this was declared in a memorable and folemn manner, by writing it down, and by cafting the Book into Euphrates, Jer. li. 31, 32, 62, 63. The Hiftorian informs us, that the City of Babylon being provided with all Neceffaries to endure a Siege for many Years, Cyrus order'd the Banks of the River to be cut, and the Waters to be drained, till it became fordable

Herodot. Clio, c. 191.

and

and then surprised the City by the Channel, both at the entrance of the River into the City, and at its Paffage out again. And this Stratagem he contrived to execute on a Festival, when the People, without any apprehenfion of Danger, were entertaining themselves with Dancings and other Diverfions. And his Soldiers at the fame time entring the most distant Places of fo great a City; both Ends were taken, before they that dwelt in the midst of the City, knew of it. So that Messengers were fent from both Parts of the City, in great hafte and confufion, to inform the King, that his City was taken at the end, that is, by a common Hebraifm, at each end: for one is not in the Hebrew, but is added by our Tranflators in a different CharaEter or, which is the fame thing, each Messenger fhould tell the King, that his City was taken at one end. That they should run from each end, the Prophet plainly foretels, in saying, that they should meet one another.

Jeremiah alfo prophefied, That the Seed of Ifrael fhould never ceafe from being a Nation to the end of the World; which we fee fulfilled in their continuing a diftinct Nation, tho' difperfed in all Parts of the World, Jer. xxxi. 36.

The Deftruction of Tyre and Zidon, and of Agypt, was foretold by the Prophet Ezekiel, and the Reftoration of the Egyptians, after Forty Years, Ezek. xxviii. 19. and xxix. 12, 13. As Ifaiah had foretold the Destruction of the latter Tyre by Alexander, long before it had any Being; fo Ezekiel prophefied, that Nebuchadnezzar fhould destroy Paletyrus, or Tyre on the Continent, but fituate at the entry of the fea, Ezek. xxvii. 3. which was never to be rebuilt, chap. xxvi. 14, 21. xxvii. 36. But Tyrus in the Ifle had its Rife from the Ruins of this. The Prophet fays, that this Tyre was strong in the fea, chap. xxvi. 17. that its borders were in the midst of the feas, chap. xxvii. 4. which

a 'Learned Author understands of its Maritime Power. And whereas the Prophet afterwards adds, that this Tyre was made very glorious in the midst of the feas, ver. 25. that the east-wind had broken her in the midft of the feas, ver.26. and that this Lamentation fhould be made over her, What city is like Tyrus, like the deftroyed in the midst of the fea, ver. 32. The fame Author understands these and other Expreffions of the like Nature, to be fpoken allegorically. But they seem rather to imply, that the City tho' ftanding on the Continent, was in great measure encompaffed by the Sea, being fituate on a Rock, (as the Name Tzor fignifies) or a large Promontory, reaching into the Sea. The Prophanation of the Temple, and of the San&tuary, by Antiochus Epiphanes, with the Death of Antiochus, and a Defcription of his Temper, and of his very Countenance, was clearly delivered by Da niel, Four hundred and eight Years before the accomplishment, Dan. viji. Daniel likewife defcribed the Fate of the Four Monarchies, the Restoration of the Jews, and the Rebuilding of their City; and the Birth and Death of the Meffias, with the precife Time of both, and of the Deftruction of the City and the Sanctuary. And Alexander the Great is faid to have been encourag'd by Daniel's Prophecy, in his Expedition. Indeed, his Prophecy, and the Hiftory of the Four Monarchies, are fo exactly parallel, that Porphyry could find no other evasion, but to fay, That the Book of Daniel was written after the Events: which,as Grotius obferves,is as abfurd,as if a Man fhould maintain, that the Works of Virgil were not written under Auguftus, but after his time: For the Book of Daniel was as publick, and as much difperfed, and as univerfally received, as ever any Book could be.

t

r

Laftly, Haggai and Malachi prophefied, That Chrift fhould come, before the Deftruction of the Second Tem• Marsham. Can. Chron. §. 18. Jofeph. Antiq. l. 12. c. II. Ibid. 1. 11. c. 8. Hieron. in Dan. Procem.

ple,

ple, Hag.ii.7,9. Mal.iii.1.And Hofea foretold the prefent State of the People of Ifrael, in those remarkable words, They shall be wanderers among the nations, Hof. ix. 17.

Not to infift therefore upon other Miracles and Prophecies, which were concerning things of lesser moment, or less remarkable in the Eyes of the World; thefe may fuffice, which were of that Publick nature, that there could be no Deceit or Mistake in them: Multitudes of Men, whom Prejudice or Malice had prepared to make the utmost Discoveries, were Witnesses to the Miracles; and both the Prophecies themselves, and the Fulfilling of them, were notorious to other Nations, as well as to the Jews, to whom they were deliver'd, and in whofe hands they have ever fince been, being read in the Synagogues every Sabbath-day. The Jews had as good Evidence, for Inftance, that Elijah wrought his Miracles, as they could have, that there was fuch a Man in the World. And when the Publick Tranfactions and Councils of Princes, the Fate and Revolution of Empires, with the prefix'd Time and Place, and the very Names of the Perfons, were fo particularly foretold, Two or Three hundred Years before the Things came to pass; we may as well queftion the Truth of all History, as the Certainty of thefe Revelations. For, indeed, they are the History of Things that were to come, fet down in the very Circumftances in which they afterwards were brought to pafs. And yet if a Man fhould difpute whether there ever were fuch a Man as Elijah, or fuch a Prince as Jofiah, or Cyrus, he would but make himself ridiculous; but if he deny that Elijah wrought fuch Miracles, or that Isaiah spoke of Cyrus, and another Prophet of Jofiah, by Infpiration, perhaps he may be thought to have made foine great Discovery, and to know fomething above the rest of Mankind, and fhall be likely to meet with Applause, instead of that Contempt which fuch Pretences deferve fo strangely partial are Men for any thing which

P 3

which is but against the Authority of the Scriptures. For I think it will be hard for Men to bring better Proof, that there were fuch Men as Elijah, and Jofiah, and Cyrus, than may be brought to fhew, that the latter were by Name prophefied of long before their Birth, and that the firft wrought all the Miracles re lated of him; or to produce clearer Evidence, that there was fuch a City as Jerufalem before the Reign of Cyrus, than we have, that the Destruction of the City and Temple, and the Captivity of the People with their Restoration after Seventy Years, was foretold by Jeremiah."

The Prophets did their Miracles in the most publick manner; and their Prophecies were deliver'd not in Corners, but openly, before all the People; not in obfcure and ambiguous Words, but in plain Terms, with a particular Account of Perfons, and Time, and Place they were kept, they were read and ftudied by that very People who at firft as little regarded them, as any Man now amongst us can do, but flew the Prophets themselves, and rejected their Prophecies with Rage and Indignation; but were afterwards, by the Event of Things, fo fully convinced (which was likewife foretold, Ezek. xxxiii. 33.) of their Divine Infpiration and Authority, that they wholly depended and rely'd upon them, and liv'd in an uncomfortable Exile, upon the fole Hopes and Expectations of feeing the rest of their Prophecies fulfill'd. And therefore the Pofterity of those who had flain the Prophets, had the highest Veneration for the Memory of these Prophets whom their Forefathers had kill'd; they built and adorn'd their Sepulchres, when it was so reproachful to them to erect Monuments of perpetual Acknowledgment, That they were the Children of them which killed the Prophets, Matth. xxiii. 31. and chofe to die any Death, rather than renounce the Authority of their Books, or part with them, even when they had forfaken their Doctrine, and chang'd

the