FROM THE GREEK.
3. And what need is there to mention also that it was predicted of Christ[[790]] that then would the rulers fail from Judah, and the leaders from his thighs,[[791]] when He came for whom it is reserved (the kingdom, namely); and that the expectation of the Gentiles should dwell in the land?[[792]] For it is clearly manifest from the history, and from what is seen at the present day, that from the times of Jesus there were no longer any who were called kings of the Jews;[[793]] all those Jewish institutions on which they prided themselves—I mean those arrangements relating to the temple and the altar, and the offering of the service, and the robes of the high priest—having been destroyed. For the prophecy was fulfilled which said, “The children of Israel shall sit many days, there being no king, nor ruler, nor sacrifice, nor altar, nor priesthood, nor responses.”[[794]] And these predictions we employ to answer those who, in their perplexity as to the words spoken in Genesis by Jacob to Judah, assert that the Ethnarch,[[795]] being of the race of Judah, is the ruler of the people, and that there will not fail some of his seed, until the advent of that Christ whom they figure to their imagination. But if “the children of Israel are to sit many days without a king, or ruler, or altar, or priesthood, or responses;” and if, since the temple was destroyed, there exists no longer sacrifice, nor altar, nor priesthood, it is manifest that the ruler has failed out of Judah, and the leader from between his thighs. And since the prediction declares that “the ruler shall not fail from Judah, and the leader from between his thighs, until what is reserved for him shall come,” it is manifest that He is come to whom [belongs] what is reserved—the expectation of the Gentiles. And this is clear from the multitude of the heathen who have believed on God through Jesus Christ.
FROM THE LATIN.
4. In the song of Deuteronomy,[[796]] also, it is prophetically declared that, on account of the sins of the former people, there was to be an election of a foolish nation,—no other, certainly, than that which was brought about by Christ; for thus the words run: “They have moved me to anger with their images, and I will stir them up to jealousy; I will arouse them to anger against a foolish nation.”[[797]] We may therefore evidently see how the Hebrews, who are said to have excited God’s anger by means of those [idols], which are no gods, and to have aroused His wrath by their images, were themselves also excited to jealousy by means of a foolish nation, which God hath chosen by the advent of Jesus Christ and His disciples. For the following is the language of the apostle: “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men among you after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble (are called): but God has chosen the foolish things of the world, and the things which are not, to destroy the things which formerly existed.”[[798]] Carnal Israel, therefore, should not boast; for such is the term used by the apostle: “No flesh, I say, should glory in the presence of God.”[[799]]
FROM THE GREEK.
4. And in the song in Deuteronomy,[[800]] also, it is prophetically made known that, on account of the sins of the former people,[[801]] there was to be an election of foolish nations, which has been brought to pass by no other than by Jesus. “For they,” He says, “moved me to jealousy with that which is not God, they have provoked me to anger with their idols; and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people, and will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.”[[802]] Now it is possible to understand with all clearness how the Hebrews, who are said to have moved God to jealousy by that which is not God, and to have provoked Him to anger by their idols, were [themselves] aroused to jealousy by that which was not a people—the foolish nation, namely, which God chose by the advent of Jesus Christ and His disciples. We see, indeed, “our calling, that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble (are called); but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and base things, and things that are despised, hath God chosen, and things that are not, to bring to nought the things which formerly existed;”[[803]] and let not the Israel according to the flesh, which is called by the apostle “flesh,” boast in the presence of God.
FROM THE LATIN.
5. What are we to say, moreover, regarding those prophecies of Christ contained in the Psalms, especially the one with the superscription, “A song for the Beloved;”[[804]] in which it is stated that “His tongue is the pen of a ready writer; fairer than the children of men;” that “grace is poured into His lips?” Now, the indication that grace has been poured upon His lips is this, that, after a short period had elapsed—for He taught only during a year and some months—the whole world, nevertheless, became filled with His doctrine, and with faith in His religion. There arose, then, “in His days righteous men, and abundance of peace,”[[805]] abiding even to the end, which end is entitled “the taking away of the moon;” and “His dominion shall extend from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth.”[[806]] There was a sign also given to the house of David. For a virgin conceived, and bare Emmanuel, which, when interpreted, signifies, “God with us: know it, O nations, and be overcome.”[[807]] For we are conquered and overcome, who are of the Gentiles, and remain as a kind of spoils of His victory, who have subjected our necks to His grace. Even the place of His birth was predicted in the prophecies of Micah, who said, “And thou, Bethlehem, land of Judah, art by no means small among the leaders of Judah: for out of thee shall come forth a Leader, who shall rule my people Israel.”[[808]] The weeks of years, also, which the prophet Daniel had predicted, extending to the leadership of Christ,[[809]] have been fulfilled. Moreover, He is at hand, who in the book of Job[[810]] is said to be about to destroy the huge beast, who also gave power to His own disciples to tread on serpents and scorpions, and on all the power of the enemy, without being injured by him. But if any one will consider the journeys of Christ’s apostles throughout the different places, in which as His messengers they preached the gospel, he will find that both what they ventured to undertake is beyond the power of man, and what they were enabled to accomplish is from God alone. If we consider how men, on hearing that a new doctrine was introduced by these, were able to receive them; or rather, when desiring often to destroy them, they were prevented by a divine power which was in them, we shall find that in this nothing was effected by human strength, but that the whole was the result of the divine power and providence,—signs and wonders, manifest beyond all doubt, bearing testimony to their word and doctrine.
FROM THE GREEK.
5. And what are we to say regarding the prophecies of Christ in the Psalms, there being a certain ode with the superscription “For the Beloved,”[[811]] whose “tongue” is said to be the “pen of a ready writer, who is fairer than the sons of men,” since “grace was poured on His lips?” For a proof that grace was poured on His lips is this, that although the period of His teaching was short—for He taught somewhere about a year and a few months—the world has been filled with His teaching, and with the worship of God [established] through Him. For there arose “in His days righteousness and abundance of peace,”[[812]] which abides until the consummation, which has been called the taking away of the moon; and He continues “ruling from sea to sea, and from the rivers to the ends of the earth.”[[813]] And to the house of David has been given a sign: for the Virgin bore, and was pregnant,[[814]] and brought forth a son, and His name is Emmanuel, which is, “God with us;” and as the same prophet says, the prediction has been fulfilled, “God [is] with us; know it, O nations, and be overcome; ye who are strong, be vanquished:”[[815]] for we of the heathen have been overcome and vanquished, we who have been taken by the grace of His teaching. The place also of His birth has been foretold in [the prophecies of] Micah: “For thou, Bethlehem,” he says, “land of Judah, art by no means the least among the rulers of Judah; for out of thee shall come forth a Ruler, who shall rule my people Israel.”[[816]] And according to Daniel, seventy weeks were fulfilled until [the coming of] Christ the Ruler.[[817]] And He came, who, according to Job,[[818]] has subdued the great fish,[[819]] and has given power to His true disciples to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and all the power of the enemy,[[820]] without sustaining any injury from them. And let one notice also the universal advent of the apostles sent by Jesus to announce the gospel, and he will see both that the undertaking was beyond human power, and that the commandment came from God. And if we examine how men, on hearing new doctrines, and strange words, yielded themselves up to these teachers, being overcome, amid the very desire to plot against them, by a divine power that watched over these [teachers], we shall not be incredulous as to whether they also wrought miracles, God bearing witness to their words both by signs, and wonders, and divers miracles.