The magnitude of the endowments here given identifies the possessor of them as the Seed: and by these promises the genealogy of the Seed can be traced from the time of Abraham down, not only to Jesse, but to David and Solomon, whilst nearly, if not quite, five hundred years later the genealogy reappears in Zerubbabel. Prophecies, therefore, in regard to the Seed of Abraham, the Seed of Isaac, the Seed of Jacob, or the Seed of Jacob after him, must of necessity relate to the future of the generation in which the Seed appears. This is self-evident; also labors accomplished by the Seed it is equally self-evident are of the past. Why should these two biblical axioms be ignored? The Scriptures give record after record of work actually accomplished, and which could be performed by none except the Redeemer; now, by what train of legitimate reasoning can work which is positively recorded as having been done be considered altogether prophetic in its nature, and subject to fulfilment in the indefinite future?

The mystery of the apparent contradictions in relation to the Seed completely disappears when the period of time involved in his labors is taken into consideration, together with the "many waters" through which he passed during that time. The Seed, by the text, is the son of Jesse.

The text continues,

According to what has gone before, this prophecy is subject to fulfilment in or during time subsequent to the days of Jesse. From the description the inference is plain that the thousand years era is indicated, during which the Saviour, together with his saints, shall reign on the earth.

The text continues,

The term "that day" evidently refers to "the latter day," and the latter day refers to the last grand division of the times: of which there are four, corresponding to the four ages of man. "In this day, therefore, shall be fulfilled the sign given to Ahaz, king of Judah, that a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." This one is the son of Jesse, whilst the text above quoted calls the same one "the root of Jesse," which signifies an existence before Jesse: for it is evident that "the root bears the branch, and not the branch the root." Moreover, it has been said, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given." Are these contradictory statements? or are they confirmative of the actual presence of the Messiah in the labors of Zion? The latter with scarcely a doubt. The sign given to Ahaz was given to all people that they might believe, and it follows that the sign "shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious." If the root and branch of Jesse comes as a sign and an ensign to the people, he comes that his work may be manifest unto all. What is his work? The text replies, "And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. "And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth."

If the Lord sets his hand again the second time to recover the remnants of his people, it is self-evident that he must have set his hand the first time. And if he set his hand the second time when he was born of a virgin, when was it that he set his hand at the first? When the Saviour died and arose from the dead, the work of the redemption of man was finished; therefore the "second time" could not have taken place after his resurrection, that the first time should be considered that of his ministry: consequently the ministry must have been the "second time." The Sacred Writings clearly call for the "first time" to be the period embraced from the time Melchizedek, the priest of the Most High God, met Abraham, brought forth bread and wine, blessed him, and called him possessor of heaven and earth, until the fulfilment of the sign given to Ahaz, king of Judah, which sign was fulfilled when the virgin conceived and bore a son. Is the mystery any greater under these circumstances? Not at all, but it becomes simplified rather: for of the bread and wine brought forth by Melchizedek, Moses seems clearly to have said, "Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one, whom thou didst prove at Massah, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah." It must also be borne in mind that after Abram had been invested with all things, that he gave unto Melchizedek tithes of all: in consequence of which a tenth of the living bread would have been in the keeping of Melchizedek. Further, it is of this tenth that Isaiah speaks (vi. 13): "But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil-tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves : so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof."

Hence by the ministrations of the priesthood of Melchizedek the tenth returned and was eaten during the generations from Abraham until the Messiah was born of the virgin. In this wonderful, wonderful work, Melchizedek was priest of the Most High God, and as such evidently fulfilled the ministrations of his office until our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who was anointed priest after this order, ministered in his stead, when he also brought forth bread and wine and said to his disciples, "Take, eat: this is my body."

By the law, the iniquity of the people must fall upon the children in the flesh, and unless the people eat the body of the Seed, there seems to be no other possible way whereby their iniquity can fall upon him and their redemption accomplished. It seems, therefore, that when the Lord set his hand the first time to recover his people it was during the priesthood of Melchizedek, and when he set his hand the second time to recover the remnants it was during his ministry. Redemption rests with the Seed, and it follows from the Scriptures that his body must be eaten: hence the object of the greatest and grandest of all the orders of priesthood becomes manifest.

Chapter xxiv. In this chapter the curse which has come upon the city of confusion is thus described: "Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.

"And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him.

"The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the Lord hath spoken this word.

“The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish.

"The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.

"Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.

"The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all the merry-hearted do sigh.

"The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth.

"They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it.

"The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may come in.

"There is a crying for wine in the streets: all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone.

"In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction."

Such is the fate which overtakes the city of confusion; but even at this late day it appears that a remnant shall escape from the general destruction: for the text continues, "When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people, there shall be as the shaking of an olive-tree, and as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done.

"They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the Lord, they shall cry aloud from the sea.

"Wherefore glorify ye the Lord in the fires, even the name of the Lord God of Israel in the isles of the sea."

The burden is continued, and the destruction of the earth is predicted, as follows:

"For the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake. . . .

"The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall and not rise again."

The burden is continued, and states, "And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth."

From this it is clear that there are at least two classes of fallen beings involved in the great struggle, and in whose redemption "the long-suffering" of the Redeemer is made manifest.

Of these fallen it is said, "And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited." The period during which they are shut up is evidently the thousand years, or the seventy years according to the days of one king, after which they shall be visited: for the burden continues, "Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously."

The thousand years' reign is laid down in the great plans of Zion, and forms a portion of the bounds of the great city Jerusalem: the limits of which are set according to the number of the children of Israel, or by "the thousand generations."

The redemption of man, although compassed with dire tribulation, is comparatively easy: for it is written (Isa. xlix. 6), "It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the ends of the earth." Hence the magnitude of the purpose looms out into grand proportions, and a highway of reconciliation therefore must be prepared, wherein all, even to the very ends of the earth, may have an opportunity of entering.