History of the Old Covenant. By J. H. Kurtz [pp. 451-486]

-Kurtz on the Old Covenant.
Some works,-able and useful works, too, and carrying the
weight of invincible demonstration with them,-which have
been written to show how the prophecies have been fulfilled in
our Redeemer, have yet we fear to some extent weakened the
cause, which they undertook to maintain, by allowing the impression to be silently left upon the mind, that it is only or mainly
in isolated predictions scattered here and there, that Jesus is to
be found. It ought to be brought distinctly out that these are
only a part, and a very inconsiderable part of the testimony
there contained, that the doctrine of the Messiah does not rest
merely upon disconnected proof-texts, however numerous or
explicit; but only that in them there comes more prominently
into view what the whole drift and current of Old Testament
Scripture equally conspires to teach.
The student of the Old Testament, from reasons which have
already been alluded to, cannot be long engaged in its study
before arriving at the conviction that Christ is foretold there.
There are predictions and types which are so clear as upon
their bare inspection to compel instantly this conclusion. But
after reaching this point it will not be long before he is compelled to take another step, and admit that these explicit pre dictions of a Messiah and these manifest types are not the only
things which speak of him. He will find it impossible upon
any satisfactory and consistent principles to limit the Messianic
content of Scripture exclusively to these. All the reasons
which will constrain him to forsake this ground, need not be
here detailed. We shall single out two, which are of themselves
sufficiently stringent.
One is the exceeding abruptness and the isolated character,
which would thus be attributed to these acknowledged Messianic
paragraphs. The dying patriarch, Jacob, is describing to his
sons the portion their descendants shall respectively possess in
the land of Canaan, when suddenly, with nothing to indicate a
transition, he speaks of the coming of Shiloh, and then as sud denly returns to his original theme, and goes on with the parti tion of Canaan. Isaiah is giving to Ahaz a sign, that the two
kings warring against him should not accomplish their hostile
purpose, and he tells him of the virgin's son. In the prediction
which occupies the last twenty-seven chapters of his book, all
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