"Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel," Ezra v. 1. “And the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo," Ezra vi. 14. Both the name and mission of this prophet are announced at the commencement of the book; and not only in i. 12, is he designed a prophet; but in the following verse is he spoken of as "the Lord's messenger," delivering the "Lord's message unto the people." The name of the prophet repeatedly occurs in the course of his prophecy; and he has the benefit of at least one very decisive quotation in the New Testament. "For thus saith the Lord of hosts, Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land," Hag. ii. 6. "But now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also the heaven," Heb. xii. 26.* 45. Zechariah.] The name of this prophet is associated with that of Haggai, in the book of Ezra-as may be seen from the quotations given in the last article. It is also introduced at the commencement of the prophecy; and is repeated in the seventh verse of the first chapter. The use of the first person occurs everywhere throughout the book. And God Himself is made to take up the word, as it were, from the mouth of the prophet, and to speak in His own person-v. 4; vii. 9; viii. 2, &c. There are many illustrious testimo See further Haggai i. 6.—Micah vi. 14, 15. | Haggai ii. 17.—Amos iv. 9. nies in the Gospels to the prophetical character of this book." Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy King cometh unto thee; he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass," Zech. ix. 9. "All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell ye the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass," Matt. xxi. 4, 5. See also John xii. 14, 15.—" And the Lord said unto me, cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prized at of them! And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord," Zech. xi. 13. "And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value: and gave them for the potter's field as the Lord appointed me," Matt. xxvii. 9, 10.—“They shall look upon me whom they have pierced," Zech. xii. 10. "And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced," John xix. 37.-" Smite the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered," Zech. xiii. 7. "For it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered," Mark xiv. 27. See also Matt. xxvi. 31.* 46. Malachi.] The name of the prophet is given with the book at the commencement of it. See further Zech. i. 3.-Mal. ii. 7. ii. 10.-2 Cor. vi. 16. viii. 16.-Eph. iv. 25. And most decisive quotations are made from him by the Apostle Paul, and the Evangelists." I loved Jacob, and I hated Esau," Mal. i. 2, 3. "As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated," Rom. ix. 13.-" Behold I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me," Malachi iii. 1. "For this is he of whom it is written, Behold I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before me,” Matt. xi. 10. See also Mark i. 2, and Luke vii. 27.—“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers," Malachi iv. 5, 6. "And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children," Luke i. 17.* 47. We have now presented all the scriptural testimonies for which we can possibly afford room. There is no such mass, and no such firm contexture of evidence, for the existence or authority of any ancient book, as we have for the canon of the Old Testament. The strength of this evidence does not altogether lie in those quotations from the later writers, which either name some prior book in the collection, or which name the author of it. There is many an undoubted quotation See further Mal. ii. 10.-Eph. iv. 6. iii. 1.-Luke i. 76. iii. 7.-Zech. i. 3. Mal. iv. 2.-Luke i. 78. announcing itself to be such by the manner in which it is introduced, as when taken generally from scripture," or when said to be a thing already "written;" or, still more specifically, when said to be "written in the prophets;" or lastly, when said to have been spoken by God Himself, and when what is thus spoken we find to be in the Old Testament.* Over and above these we can, apart from any note of introduction whatever, detect the words of a later writer to have been a quotation, from their close resemblance to the words of an elder one; and lastly the recital of the same historical facts in the more recent, that we find to be narrated in the more ancient scriptures, may be argued for the existence of the earlier record as a creditable document from which the information has been taken; and the more if it be the only record that has come down to us of the history in question. There is a far greater likelihood, that the innumerable consistent allusions to the Jewish history, which are to be found in the later scriptures, were derived from written memorials than from oral tradition-handed down with such uniformity, and with such particularity, and such fulness, through a track of centuries. And we may be sure that the very memorials which furnished the information, would have had infinitely better chance of being transmitted to "But now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven," Heb. xii. 26-an undoubted quotation from Haggai ii. 6, though without the mention of its being written at all, either by Haggai or in scripture. It is represented as the voice of "Him that speaketh from heaven;" and many other instances occur of such virtual, though somewhat disguised quotations. In later times, than other memorials, which, if not worthy of being consulted, would not be held worthy of being preserved. The credit in which any books were held by the men of a remote age, is our best guarantee for the care wherewith they would be transmitted to their children, and through them onward to the most distant posterity. other words, the books which gave to the Jews at the time of our Saviour, and for some centuries before, that historical knowledge on which they placed their reliance, must be the very books that we have received from their hands; and thus, in the identity of statement between the reputed later and the reputed earlier of these sacred writings, do we find a strong evidence for the reality of the earlier writings. For the full impression of this argument, we must divest ourselves of the rooted and established tendency to view the Bible as one book-it being in truth an aggregate of distinct books, which found a place there only because of the credit and confidence which they enjoyed in ancient times; and on which account, they are entitled to all the greater credit and confidence from us in the present day. Each testimony is just the more valuable, that it is a Bible testimony; and when viewed therefore what each ought to be as an independent testimony, never, may it well be said, have any books had so multitudinous an evidence, and that too evidence of which every ingredient taken separately is of such sterling quality and weight, as the books of the Old Testament. From the days of Moses, each successive period has borne downwards safely and solidly |