Chapter IX: , implies that the passage was written soon after

the people left Egypt, and therefore centuries before any siege
or dispersion.

61. And it was to end, as it actually did end, in the
destruction of the nation, _until thou be destroyed_.

62. While the Jews that survived were to be left comparatively
_few in number_; which was certainly the case, even allowing
that the statement of Josephus that 600,000 perished in the
siege may be an exaggeration.

63. And these were to be forcibly expelled from the land of
Canaan, which they were just about to conquer. And they
actually were so expelled by the Romans, partly after this war,
and still more so after their rebellion in A.D. 134, when for
many centuries scarcely any Jews were allowed to live in their
own country, an event probably unique in history.

64. But instead of being taken away to a single nation, as at
the Babylonian captivity, they were now to be scattered over
the whole world, _among all peoples, from one end of the earth,
even unto the other end of the earth_. And how marvellously
this has been fulfilled is obvious to everyone. No mention is
made of a _king_ here, as in ver. 36; so while that suits the
Babylonian captivity, this suits the later dispersion, though
in each case there is a reference to their serving other gods,
for which it must be admitted there is very little evidence.

65. Then we have the further _sufferings_ that the Jews were to
undergo in their dispersion. Among these nations they were to
find _no ease, nor rest for the sole of their foot_, but were
to have _a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and pining of
soul_. And here, again, the event is as strange as the
prophecy. Nowhere else shall we find a parallel to it. For
centuries the Jews were not only persecuted, but were often
expelled from one country to another, so that they found _no
rest_ anywhere, but were driven from city to city, and from
kingdom to kingdom.

66. And their life was to hang in doubt night and day;

67. And they were to be in a continual state of fear and alarm;
all of which was completely fulfilled.

68. Lastly, we read, that some of the Jews, instead of being
dispersed, were to be _brought to Egypt again with ships_, and
to be in bondage there. And this also came true, after the
siege, when many of the Jews were sold for slaves, and sent to
the mines in Egypt, probably in slave ships.

Everyone must admit that the agreement all through is very remarkable; in fact, the prophecies about the dispersion of the Jews--and we have only examined a single instance in detail--are even more striking than those about the desolation of Assyria and Babylonia, or the degradation of Egypt. And to fully realise their importance, let us suppose that anyone _now_ were to foretell the future of three great nations, saying that one was to be utterly destroyed, and the land desolated; another to sink to be a base kingdom; and the third to be conquered and its inhabitants forcibly expelled, and scattered over the whole world. What chance would there be of any one of the prophecies (leave alone all three) coming true, and _remaining true for two thousand years_? Yet this would be but a similar case.

What conclusion, then, must be drawn from all these prophecies, so clear in their general meaning, so distinctive in their character, so minute in many of their details, so unlikely at the time they were written, and yet one and all so exactly fulfilled? There appear to be only three alternatives. Either they must have been random _guesses_, which certainly seems incredible. Or else they must have been due to deep _foresight_ on the part of the writers, which seems equally so; for the writers had had no experience of the permanent desolation of great empires like Assyria and Babylonia, while as to the fate of Egypt and the Jews themselves, history afforded no parallel. Or else, lastly, the writers must have had _revealed_ to them what the future of these nations would be; in which case, and in which case alone, all is plain.

(_B._) SPECIAL PROPHECIES.

We pass on now to the Special Prophecies. These are found all through the Old Testament, the following being eight of the most important.

The fact that David's throne should always be held by his descendants, _i.e._, till the captivity, about 450 years;[139] and its fulfilment is specially remarkable when contrasted with the rival kingdom of Samaria, where the dynasty changed eight or nine times in 250 years.

[Footnote 139: 2 Sam. 7. 12-16; 1 Kings 9. 4, 5.]

The division of the kingdom into ten and two tribes, evidently announced at the time, since Jeroboam had to go away in consequence, and apparently the reason why the rebels were not attacked.[140]

[Footnote 140: 1 Kings 11. 31, 40; 12. 24.]

The destruction, rebuilding, and final destruction of the Temple; the first of these prophecies being made so publicly that it caused quite a commotion, and nearly cost the prophet his life.[141]

[Footnote 141: Jer. 26. 8-16; Isa. 44. 28; Dan. 9. 26.]

The destruction of the altar at Bethel, which was set up as a rival to that at Jerusalem; publicly announced some centuries before, including the name of the destroyer.[142]

[Footnote 142: 1 Kings 13. 2; 2 Kings 23. 15, 16.]

The destruction of Israel by the Assyrians.[143]

[Footnote 143: 1 Kings 14. 15; Isa. 8. 4.]

The destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians.[144]

[Footnote 144: 2 Kings 20. 17.]

The captivity of the Jews, including its duration of seventy years, their most unlikely restoration, and the name of the restorer.[145]

[Footnote 145: Jer. 29. 10; Isa. 44. 28.]

The wars between Syria and Egypt.[146]

[Footnote 146: Dan. 11.]

We will examine a single instance in detail, and select that referring to the _destruction of Jerusalem_ by the Babylonians, as this is connected with one of the miracles mentioned in the last chapter, _the shadow on the dial_. Now, it will be remembered that, on one occasion, the Jewish King Hezekiah was seriously ill, and on being told of his unexpected recovery, he naturally asked for a _sign_. And then in accordance with his demand the shadow on his dial went back ten _steps_.[147]

[Footnote 147: 2 Kings 20. 8-11 (margin, R.V.); Isa. 38. 8.]

This _dial_ was evidently a flight of steps, with some object on the top, perhaps an obelisk, which threw a shadow on a gradually increasing number of these as the sun set. And a sudden vibration of the ground, due perhaps to an earthquake, and causing the obelisk to slope to one side, would quite account for the shadow _going backward_, and leaving some of the steps which it had covered. And the narrative certainly implies that the effect was sudden, and apparently limited to this one dial.

It seems, however, to have attracted considerable attention; since messengers came from Babylon to _enquire about it_, and to congratulate the King on his recovery.[148] And if the sloping obelisk, and perhaps broken steps, were still visible, this would be much more natural than if there was nothing left for them to see. Though in any case, as they called it the wonder that was done _in the land_, it evidently was not noticed elsewhere, and must have been due to some local cause. And we may ask, how could any writer have asserted all this, even a century afterwards, if no such sign had occurred?

[Footnote 148: 2 Chron. 32. 24, 31.]

We are then told that Hezekiah showed these messengers all his treasures, which leads up to the _prophecy_ that the treasures should be carried away and Jerusalem destroyed by these very Babylonians. This is introduced in the most natural way possible, as a rebuke to the king for his proud display; and it is difficult to consider it a later insertion. Yet the event could not have been humanly foreseen. For Babylon was then but a comparatively small and friendly nation, shortly to be absorbed into Assyria (in B.C. 689), and only when it regained its independence nearly a century later did it become strong enough to cause any fear to the Jews.

We need not discuss the other prophecies at length, since that they all refer to the events in question is generally admitted. Indeed, in some cases, owing to the mention of names and details, it can scarcely be denied. Therefore those who disbelieve in prophecy have no alternative but to say that they were all written _after the event_.

At this lapse of time it is difficult to prove or disprove such a statement. But it must be remembered that to say that any apparent prophecies were written after the event is not merely to destroy their superhuman character, and bring them down to the level of ordinary writings, but far below it. For ordinary writings do not contain wilful falsehoods, yet every pretended prophecy written after the event cannot possibly be regarded in any other light. The choice then lies between _real prophecies_ and _wilful forgeries_. There is no other alternative. And bearing this in mind, we must ask, is it likely that men of such high moral character as the Jewish prophets would have been guilty of such gross imposture? Is it likely that, if guilty of it, they would have been able to pass it off successfully on the whole nation? And is it likely that they would have had any sufficient motive to induce them to make the attempt?

Moreover, many of these prophecies are stated to have been made _in public_, and to have been talked about, and well known long before their fulfilment. And it is hard to see how this could have been asserted unless it was the case, or how it could have been the case unless they were superhuman.

It should also be noticed that in Deuteronomy the occurrence of some definite and specified event is given as the _test_ of a prophet, and one of the later prophets (Isaiah) appeals to this very test. For he challenges the false prophets to foretell future events, and repeatedly declares that this was the mark of a true prophet.[149] And it is inconceivable that men should thus court defeat by themselves proposing a test which would have shown that they were nothing more than impostors. Yet this would have been the case if all their so-called prophecies had been written after the events.

[Footnote 149: Deut. 18. 22; Isa. 41. 22; 44. 8; 48. 3-5; see also Deut. 13. 1-3.]

(_C._) CONCLUSION.

In concluding this chapter, we must notice the _cumulative nature_ of the evidence. The prophecies we have referred to, like the miracles in the last chapter, are but specimens, a few out of many which might be given. This is very important, and its bearing on our present argument is naturally twofold.

In the first place, it does not increase, and in some respects rather decreases, the difficulty of believing them to be true, for thirty miracles or prophecies, provided they occur on suitable occasions, are scarcely more difficult to believe than three. And the number recorded in the Old Testament shows that, instead of being mere isolated marvels, they form a complete series. Their object was to instruct the Jews, and through them the rest of the world, in the great truths of Natural Religion, such as the existence of One Supreme God, Who was shown to be _All-Powerful_ by the miracles, _All-Wise_ by the prophecies, and _All-Good_ by His rewarding and punishing men and nations alike for their deeds. And when we thus regard them as confirming a Revelation, which was for the benefit of the whole human race, they lose a good deal of their improbability. Indeed many who now believe Natural Religion alone, and reject all revelation, would probably never have believed even this, but for the Bible.

On the other hand, the number and variety of these alleged events greatly increases the difficulty of any _other_ explanation; for thirty miracles or prophecies are far more difficult to _disbelieve_ than three. A successful fraud might take place once, but not often. An imitation miracle might be practised once, but not often. Spurious prophecies might be mistaken for genuine once, but not often. Yet, if none of these events are true, such frauds and such deceptions must have been practised, and practised successfully, over and over again. In fact, the Old Testament must be a collection of the most dishonest books ever written, for it is full of miracles and prophecies from beginning to end; and it is hard to exaggerate the immense _moral_ difficulty which this involves.

Many of the Jewish prophets, as before said, teach the highest moral virtues; and the Jewish religion, especially in its later days, is admittedly of high moral character. It seems, then, to be almost incredible that its sacred writings should be merely a collection of spurious prophecies uttered after the event, and false miracles which never occurred. We therefore decide in this chapter that the _history_ of the Jewish religion _was confirmed by prophecies_.