cation and Advancement of Cyrus, were so far from having any thing in them, that looked towards the fulfilling these Prophecies, that they all feemed extreamly to make against it, and did thereby wonderfully manifeft the Divine Wisdom and Power in the Prophecies, and in the Accomplishment of them. "For there is no Hiftorian, (fays Sir W. Raleigh, fpeaking of the Conqueft of Babylon,) who

was either prefent at this Victory of Cyrus, or "that received the Report from others truly, as it "was, that could better leave the fame to Pofterity, "after it happen'd, than Efay hath done in many "places of his Prophecies, which were written two "hundred Years before any thing attempted. And the fame Prophet who foretold the Empire of Cyrus the Perfian, foretold likewife, That the Kingdom of the Chaldeans fhould be deftroyed by the Medes, Ifa. xiii. 17. And it was prophefied by Jeremiah, that it fhould be destroyed by the Kings of the Medes, Jer. li. 11, 28. And this is the more remarkable, mbecaufe tho' Darius Medus conquer'd Babylon, yet he dying foon after, and Cyrus fucceeding him, the Fame of Cyrus, who was, at the taking of Babylon, but General of his Army, fo obfcured the Name and Memory of Darius, that Hiftorians have taken no notice of him; though he is found mention'd by the Scholiaft, upon " Ariftophanes, who fays, that a Darius, who was before him that was Father of Xerxes, gave Name to the Pieces of Coin call'd age, who must be Darius Medus. So much better were Transactions known to the Prophets before-hand, than to Hiftorians afterwards. The Judgments which were to befal divers other Nations, were alfo foretold by Ifaiah, and defcribed by particular Circum

u

1 L. 3. Part 1. c. 3. §. 5. Ariftoph. Concionant.

See Sir W. Raleigh, 1.3. c. 2. §.2.

ftances:

ftances: He prophefied of the Overthrow of Tyre by Alexander the Great; From the land of Chittim it is revealed to them, Ifa. xxiii. 1. The Land of Chittim is Macedonia, 1 Mac. i. 1. viii. 5. And Ifaiah exprefly calls Tyre an Inland, xxiii. 2, 6. and therefore muft mean that Tyre which was taken by Alexander; tho' it were not yet built, but rofe out of the Ruines of Tyre on the Continent, which Nebuchadnezzar deftroyed, according to Ezekiel's Prophecy. The Deftruction of Nineveh was foretold by the Prophet Nahum, an hundred and fifteen Years before-hand. "P Nineveh (that which God himself calleth that "Great City) hath not one Stone ftanding, which ❝ may give the Memory of the Being of a Town: one "English Mile from it, is a place called Moful, a "fmall thing, rather to be a Witness of the other's "Mightinefs, and God's Judgment, than of any fa"fhion of Magnificence in it felf.

The Prophet Jeremiah foretold the Conquefts of Nebuchadnezzar, and the Captivity of the Jews by him, in fo remarkable and folemn a manner, that it was notorious to all the neighbouring Nations: For, according to the Custom of delivering Prophecies by fome visible Signs, as well as in Words, he fent Bonds and Yokes to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which came to Jerufalem (from these several Kings) unto Zedekiah king of Judah; and foretold, That all thefe nations fhould ferve Nebuchadnezzar, and bis fon, and his fons fon, Jer. xxvii. 3, 7. And the Jews put him in Prison, for this Prophecy; where he was kept when Nebuchadnezzar took the City, and fet him at liberty. And when the Chaldeans had raised the Siege,

πόλις

Jofeph. Antiq. 1. 9. c. 11. No wóris parien z Daxeñua μTI I Zúgav xará Strabo, l. 16. p. 1071.

P Sir Ant. Sherley's Travels into Perfia, p. 21.

by

by reafon of Pharaoh's Army, which was coming to the Relief of Jerufalem; Jeremiah told the Jews, That Pharaoh's Army fhould return into Egpyt, without effecting any thing; and that the Chaldeans fhould come again, and take the City, and burn it with fire, Jer. xxxvii. 5. He likewife prophefied against Egypt, which the Jews made their Refuge and Sanctuary; and pointed out the very Place where Nebuchadnezzar would pitch his Tent, by taking great Stones, and hiding them in the Clay, at the entry of Pharaoh's Houfe Tahpanhes, in the fight of the Men of Judah; declaring, That his throne should be set upon those stones, and he should Spread bis royal pavilion over them, Jer. xliii. 9, 10. It is obfervable that Jeremiah, when he might have gone to Babylon, and lived in Safety and Honour there, chose rather to remain in his own Country, and perfift in the discharge of his Office; and when he was conftrained to go into Egypt, he still retain❜d the fame Zeal and Spirit of Prophecy. And the accomplishment of his Prophecy concerning Pharaoh, chap. xliv. 30. is to be feen in a Herodotus.

;

The Prophet Jeremiah was oppofed and contradicted by feveral Falfe Prophets, who prophefied deceitful and flattering Delufions to the People, perfuading them, that no evil fhould come upon them of whom Jeremiah foretold, That Hanania fhould die that fame Year in which he vented his falfe Prophecies, chap. xxviii. 16, 17. and, That Ahab the Son of Kolaiah, and Zedechiah the Son of Maafeiah, fhould be taken Captive by Nebuchadnezzar, and flain in the fight of the People of Judah, and roafted in the fire, chap. xxix. 21, 22. And thus diftinctly foretelling the Time and Manner of the Death of thofe Falfe Prophets, he vindicated his own Prophecies, which were at firft fo unwillingly believed, beyond all contradiction.

9 Herodot. Euterp. c. 169..

But

r

But that which feemed moft ftrange, and was moft objected against in the Prophecies of Jeremiah, was his Prophecy concerning, the Death of Zedechiah; for in this, He and Ezekiel were thought to contradi& each other. Jeremiah prophefied in Jerufalem, at the fame time when Ezekiel prophefied in Babylon, and concerning the fame things; and Jeremiah's Prophecy was fent to the Captives in Babylon, and Ezekiel's, to the Inhabitants of Jerufalem. But Jeremiah faid, Thine eyes fhall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall Speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou fhalt go to Babylon. Yet bear the word of the Lord, O Zedekiah king of Judah, Thus faith the Lord of thee, Thou shalt not die by the fword; but thou shalt die in peace and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings which were before thee, fo fhall they burn odours for thee; and they will lament thee, faying, Ah Lord! for I have pronounced the word, faith the Lord, Jer. xxxiv. 3, 4, 5. But Ezekiel prophefied in these words; I will bring him to Babylon, to the land of the Chaldaans: yet shall he not fee it, though he shall die there, Ezek. xii. 13. Now thefe two Prophets writing of the Captivity of Zedekiah, reckon up all the Circumftances of it between them, in fuch a manner, as that they were believed to contradict each other; and thereby the expectation and attention of the People was the more excited to obferve the Fulfilling of their Prophecies. Jeremiah faid, That he should fee the King of Babylon, and be carried to Babylon: Ezekiel, That he fhould not fee Babylon. Jeremiah, That he should die in Peace, and be buried after the manner of his Ancestors: Ezekiel, That he should die at Babylon. And if we compare all this with the Hiftory, nothing ever was more punAtually fulfilled: For Zedekiah faw the King of Baby

Jofeph. Antiq. 1. 10. c. 10, Hieron. ad Ezek. c. 12,

lon,

lon, who commanded his Eyes to be put out, before he was brought to Babylon; and he died there, but died peaceably, and was fuffered to have the ufual Funeral Solemnities, 2 Kings xxv. 6,7. And therefore both Prophecies proved true in the Event, which feemed before to be inconfiftent. And fo critical an Exactnefs in every minute Circumstance, in Prophecies delivered by two Perfons, who were before thought to contradict each other, was such a conviction to the Jews, after they had feen them fo punctually fulfilled, in their Captivity, that they could no longer doubt, but that both were from God.

Jeremiah foretold alfo, That the Kingdom of the Chaldeans fhould be destroyed, and that the Jews fhould be restored, after a Captivity of seventy Years: These nations fhall ferve the king of Babylon Seventy years: And it shall come to pass, when feventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, faith the Lord, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, Jer. xxv. 11, 12. For thus faith the Lord, That after feventy years be accomplished at Babylon, I will vifit you, and perform my good word towards you, in caufing you to return to this place, Jer. xxix. 10. And upon this Prophecy of Jeremiah the Jews depended, under the Captivity, Dan. ix. 2. Zech. i. 12. and it was exactly fulfilled to them. He foretold, that the Veffels of the Temple fhould be brought back again at the coming of the Jews out of their Captivity in Babylon, chap. xxvii. 22. And it was the particular care of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes, that they should be return'd, Ezra i. 7. vi. 5. vii. 19. He bought a Field of Hanameel his Uncle's Son, and the Evidences of the Purchase, which were fubfcribed in the fight of many Witneffes, were delivered to Baruck, to be preferv'd in an Earthen Veffel, as a Token of the Peoples return out of Captivity, and to be produc'd at their Return in confirmation of his Prophecies, Jer. xxxii. 9. The Generations of Nebuchad

nezzar's