In those days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell confidently: and this is the name which they shall call Him, Our righteous Lord."(9) And of the calling of the nations which was to come to pass, and which we now see fulfilled, he thus spoke: "OLord my God, and my refuge in the day of evils.to Thee shall the nations come from the utmost end of the earth, saying, Truly our fathers have worshipped lying images, wherein there is no profit." But that the Jews, by whom He behoved even to be slain, were not going to acknowledge Him, this prophet thus intimates: "Heavy is the heart through all; and He is a man, and who shall know Him?"(2) That passage also is his which I have quoted in the seventeenth book concerning the new testament, of which Christ is the Mediator.For Jeremiah himself says, "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will complete over the house of Jacob a new testament," and the rest, which may be read there.(3)For the present I shall put down those predictions about Christ by the prophet Zephaniah, who prophesied with Jeremiah.
"Wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, in the day of my resurrection, in the future; because it is my determination to assemble the nations, and gather together the kingdoms."(4) And again he says, "The Lord will be terrible upon them, and will exterminate all the gods of the earth; and they shall worship Him every man from his place, even all the isles of the nations."(5) And a little after he says, "Then will I turn to the people a tongue, and to His offspring, that they may call upon the name of the Lord, and serve Him under one yoke.From the borders of the rivers of Ethiopia: shall they bring sacrifices unto me.In that day thou shall not be confounded for all thy curious inventions, which thou hast done impiously against me: for then I will take away from thee the Haughtiness of thy trespass; and thou shalt no more magnify thyself above thy holy mountain.And I will leave in thee a meek and humble people, and they who shall be left of Israel shall fear the name of the Lord."(6) These are the remnant of whom the apostle quotes that which is elsewhere prophesied: "Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved."(7) These are the remnant of that nation who have believed in Christ.
CHAP.34.--OF THE PROPHECY OF DANIEL AND EZEKIEL, OTHER TWO OF THE GREATERPROPHETS.
Daniel and Ezekiel, other two of the greater prophets, also first prophesied in the very captivity of Babylon.Daniel even defined the time when Christ was to come and suffer by the exact date.
It would take too long to show this by computation, and it has been done often by others before us.But of His power and glory he has thus spoken: "I saw in a night vision, and, behold, one like the Son of man was coming with the clouds of heaven, and He came even to the Ancient of days, and He was brought into His presence.And to Him there was given dominion, and honor, and a kingdom: and all people, tribes, and tongues shall serve Him.His power is an everlasting power, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom shall not be destroyed."(8)Ezekiel also, speaking prophetically in the person of God the Father, thus foretells Christ, speaking of Him in the prophetic manner as David, because He assumed flesh of the seed of David, and on account of that form of a servant in which He was made man, He who is the Son of God is also called the servant of God.
He says, "And I will set up over my sheep one Shepherd, who will feed them, even my servant David; and He shall feed them, and He shall be their shepherd.And I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David a prince in the midst of them.
I the Lord have spoken."(9) And in another place he says, "And one King shall be over them all: and they shall no more be two nations, neither shall they be divided any more into two kingdoms: neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, and their abominations, and all their iniquities.And I will save them out of all their dwelling-places wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.And my servant David shall be king over them, and there shall be one Shepherd for them all."10CHAP.35.--OF THE PROPHECY OF THE THREE PROPHETS, HAGGAI, ZECHARIAH, AND MALACHI.
There remain three minor prophets, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, who prophesied at the close of the captivity.Of these Haggai more openly prophesies of Christ and the Church thus briefly:
"Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Yet one little while, and Iwill shake the heaven, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;and I will move all nations, and the desired of all nations shall come."(11) The fulfillment of this prophecy is in part already seen, and in part hoped for in the end.For He moved the heaven by the testimony of the angels and the stars, when Christ became incarnate.He moved the earth by the great miracle of His birth of the virgin.He moved the sea and the dry land, when Christ was proclaimed both in the isles and in the whole world.So we see all nations moved to the faith; and the fulfillment of what follows, "And the desired of all nations shall come,"is looked for at His last coming.For ere men can desire and and wait for Him, they must believe and love Him.