The angel who stands in the presence of God, and is made the annunciator of the incarnation of the Son of God, is surely "one of the chief princes," or an "archangel," whatever may be the meaning of those terms. St. John tells us that "seven angels stand before God;" and whether this be an indefinite expression, or a perfect number to imply many, Gabriel is one of them; and what higher place can be assigned to Michael? Some indeed have wished to confine the order of archangel to Michael alone, under the idea that he was the second person in the Trinity; but there is nothing in Scripture to warrant such an interpretation; and there are such grave objections to it, that I cannot believe that any expositor who had never heard of this patristical opinion would gather it from the perusal of the passages in which Michael is mentioned. The manner in which Michael is spoken of, is very different to that which St. Paul applies to the Son of God in the first chapter to the Hebrews. L. L. ON THE PHRASE, "A NAIL IN A SURE PLACE." To the Editor of the Christian Observer. My attention has lately been accidentally called to a passage in the prophet Isaiah, which it strikes me the commentators have failed to explain in a clear and satisfactory manner. The passage I allude to is in the 22nd chapter of Isaiah, and at the 23rd verse, where the Lord, speaking by the mouth of the Prophet, of Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, says, "I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place." The explanation usually given of this expression is taken from Sir J. Chardin, who states, "Where the ways of life and houses are more simple, it is necessary to furnish the inside of the several apartments with sets of nails, or large pegs, to dispose of, and hang up the moveables in common use. They do not drive these into the eastern walls, which are too hard if of brick, if of clay too mouldering, but fix them in as they are building. Eliakim is considered as a principal stake of this sort, for the support of all vessels destined for common or sacred uses; that is, as the principal support of the whole civil and ecclesiastical polity: the nail, mentioned in verse 25, is of course to be understood of Shebna." The latter part of the note, I presume, is by Bishop Lowth, as his name is added to Sir John Chardin's in the note in D'Oyly and Mant's Family Bible, from which I have copied the above. Sir J. Chardin's account, as far as it goes, no doubt is correct enough; but it stops very far short, in my opinion, of the full meaning, and by no means leads to a clear understanding of the extent and beauty of the metaphor. Had the passage which I have quoted been taken into consideration in conjunction with the preceding verses from the 15th to the end of the chapter, the true meaning of the Prophet, and the force of his illustration, would have been perceived. It is necessary to recollect that at the time when this prophecy is supposed to have been delivered, namely, about 712 years before our Saviour-what we call money, medallic money, was unknown to the Jewish people. The 66 view which I take of the meaning of "a nail in a sure place,” is, a nail in a secure place; and the secure place directly alluded to in this passage is, I believe, a Treasury. Sir Wm. Gell, in his account of the building at Mycenæ, called the Treasury of Atreus, says he found bronze nails in the walls, which he imagines were used to attach the plates of metal with which he conceives the structure was lined. In another part of the description of this ancient edifice, given in Stuart and Revett's Athens, it is stated, "the whole face of the chamber was covered with thin plates of brass or bronze, fixed to the stone construction by metal nails, the holes for which are very evident." Though it is very probable that the holes were in part, or chiefly, for fixing plates of metal to the walls, yet it is also probable some might be for the suspension of articles of value; for allowing the date of the building to be, as supposed by Stuart, about 1185 years B. C., money was at that time unknown by the Greeks, and metallic wealth consisted in articles made from the precious metals in suits of armour, &c. &c. At the time when Isaiah wrote, medallic money, as before stated, was unknown to the Jews, and their metallic wealth was stored in bullion, in ornaments for the person, or in articles of sumptuous use; amongst the latter were cups and vessels. In the 35th chapter of Genesis, and at the 53d verse, we read that Abraham's servant presented to Rebekah "jewels of silver, and jewels of gold," which word jewels is rendered in the margin vessels." These "vessels" are mentioned in conjunction with "precious things" given to Rebekah's mother and brother. If we look at verse 15th of the 22nd chapter of Isaiah, we find Shebna spoken of as Treasurer, whose office was to be transferred to Eliakim. Shebna is said to be "over the house," and in the 36th chapter of the prophet, and at the 3rd verse, we find Eliakim, son of Hilkiah "over the house;" so that it would appear being 66 over the house," was being Treasurer. If such seem clear, then the rest of the account becomes perfectly intelligible. The "key of the house of David" was to be given to Eliakim; the key of a door not for common passage, or of ordinary apartments, but which might be shut that none should open; a door over which he should have sole and absolute control. Then comes a duplicature of the type; Eliakim is next compared to " a nail in a sure place." The meaning of this, closely following an account of a lock-up chamber, is evident. Eliakim was to be as a nail fastened in a sure or secure place--in a place made sure by a door, of which a person held the key. After this statement comes the explanation of the use of the nail; namely, whereon to hang "vessels of cups," and "vessels of flagons." We have seen that vessels of silver and gold were considered amongst "precious things" in the time of Abraham; we know from Homer that vessels of various kinds were ranked amongst the wealth of his heroes, and preserved in their treasuries; and to descend to a similar state of society nearer to our own times, we find the custom of laying by treasure of the precious metals in the shape of vessels, was practised by the Gothic tribes. In a poem called Beowulfe, a MS. of which, supposed to be of the 10th century A.C., exists in the British Museum, but the original of which is thought to be of the 4th century, the hero Beowulf, having overcome the monster Grendel, the Hrothgar, speaking of the "rings and vases" found in the cave of King Grendel, says, "now I will prudently lay by my spoils in my treasury; they will hereafter supply the wants of my people." To increase the probability of the construction offered, being the correct one, that the "sure place" named is a Treasury, I may bring forward historical facts recorded of the king of Judah at the very time when Isaiah penned the prophecy which has been discussed. In 2 Chronicles, chapter 32, verse 27th, it is said, Hezekiah "made himself treasuries for silver and gold, and for precious stones, and for spices, and for shields, and for all manner of pleasant jewels." In the marginal reading we have for "pleasant jewels," "instruments of desire." And when these treasuries are referred to in 2 Kings, 20th chapter, verse 13, we have the following account:-" Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and shewed them all the house of his precious things, the silver and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures." In this passage, the marginal reading for “armour” is “jewels"—Hebrew, "vessels." We have also, in Malachi iii. 17, this expression of the Lord towards the righteous, They shall be mine, saith the Lord, when I make up my jewels;' for "jewels" the margin here gives, as the true reading, "special treasure." Of the types intended to be exhibited-of Shebna as the type of the rejected Jews, and of Eliakim as the type of the Christian world-I shall not speak; but perhaps I may be allowed to point out the beauty of the metaphor, in representing our Saviour as a nail in a treasury, upon which true Christians are to be entirely dependent, without support of their own; and also the additional force given to the passage, by representing Jesus as the Treasurer likewise, who keeps the key of the door of the treasury in which the faithful, his most precious jewels, are deposited, and who shuts that none can open to remove them from their resting place. If we confine ourselves to the surety of the nail's place from being built up with the wall of the " several apartments," according to the tenor of Sir J. Chardin's explanation, then we deprive the metaphor of many of its most interesting features; for then we diminish the preciousness of the vessels, which are no longer vessels of "special treasure," but may be vessels of ordinary value; then their safety is also diminished, because, though entirely dependent on a nail surely fixed, yet they may be taken off by any person passing by. Taken in the view I have suggested, the type is full and complete, and represents the preciousness of true believers in the eye of the Lord, their entire dependence upon Him, and their security in His keeping. I am, sir, your obedient servant, LAICUS. REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. BISHOP M'ILVAINE ON OXFORD-TRACT DIVINITY. Oxford Divinity compared with that of the Romish and Anglican Churches, with a special view to the Illustration of the Doctrine of Justification by faith, as it was made of primary importance by the Reformers, and as it lies at the foundation of all Scriptural views of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. By the Right Reverend CHARLES P. M'ILVAINE, D.D., Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Ohio. 1 Vol. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1841. WE could gladly never read, much less pen, or trouble our readers with, another line upon the Oxford Tract controversy. Enough has been written long ago, we might say centuries ago, upon both sides of the chief questions involved in it, for those who wish to repair to the fountainheads of information; but the revivers of the system advocated in the "Tracts for the Times," know full well that the great majority of readers do not, and cannot, firmly form their opinions, by a well-arranged consecutive course of laborious study; but that iteration, repetition, and continued inculcation are requisite for the purpose of proselytism. And assuredly they have not been lukewarm in acting upon this knowledge. They have put forth multitudes of publications in numerous varieties of form; but especially have they largely availed themselves of the powerful aid of the periodical press, daily, monthly, quarterly; and this, not only in works avowedly theological, several of which they have found ways and means to gain entire possession of, but also in others of a political, literary, or miscellaneous character, in which they procure the insertion of paragraphs and dissertations; from the columns of several of the newspapers to the sheets of the Quarterly Review. Among other popular appliances, an Ecclesiastical Almanac, or new Church Calendar, has not been forgotten. It was obviously a measure of great importance to follow up the plan which had been so boldly commenced in the well-known tractate on the Breviary, and the office for Saint Bishop Ken's day, by reviving the memory of the "legendary lore" of Popish saints, and supplying in this and other matters the mournful deficiencies of the Anglican ritual. ingly, during the last two years, there has issued, from one of the accredited presses of the Tractarian sect, an "Ecclesiastical Almanac," which, on the title page, is said to be "without authority, but compiled from authentic sources." Whilst, however, the compilers thus disclaim authority, the authority we suppose of the Anglican Church, they yet, in their advertisement, refer to some high authority which sanctions what they put forth."The whole," they say, "rests upon authority far higher than the research or learning of the editor could supply, being taken as nearly verbatim as the limited space would permit, from a work of acknowledged authority." It may be gathered from the book itself, that this authority is what they call the Catholic Ritual, that is, in fact, the Romish Ritual. Having thus set up an authority for themselves, they proceed to act upon it; and utterly forsaking the principles laid down in the preface and introduction to the Anglican Prayer Book, they endeavour to undermine its authority by extolling the superior excellence of the Romish book. For instance, our own book gives "few rules, plain and easy to be understood," for conducting Divine Service, and condemns" the number and hardness of the rules called the Pie, and the manifold changings of the service, making it so hard and intricate a matter." The Editors of the Ecclesiastical Almanac, on the contrary, complain of the perplexity and deficiency of our rubrics, and shew "the expediency of filling up our own deficiencies from the intrinsic richness of the ancient ritual;" "for there," say they, "we shall find no possible conjuncture overlooked, no single point in the church's round of service, doubtful or disordered; all is harmony, all is accurately and precisely arranged." Again, in all cases of doubt and diversity, our own book directs us "to resort alway to the Bishop of the diocese, to quiet and appease the same :" whereas, this improved Almanac sends us to Rome. Further, our own book has purposely left out all "stories and legends," "whereof some are untrue, some uncertain, some vain and superstitious:" but this Popish book is mostly made up of fabulous and superstitious tales about the Saints, whose names were retained in our calendar merely for civil and not religious dence of the LORD's Day. In our church tables, "All Sundays in the year" take precedence of Saints' days; and one strong reason for keeping this order is, that the Sunday lessons may not be set aside by the Apocrypha. The introduction to our Prayer Book speaks of the reading of Holy Scripture as the great thing to be attended to in Divine Service, and lays great stress on its consecutive reading for the benefit of both clergy and people. Having a course of Sunday lessons selected for us, "The very pure word of God," surely we ought to keep to the principle of our church by not deviating from that course. This innovating and unauthorised Almanac extols the Romish service under the specious name of "the ancient ritual." The learned Editors ought to know, and to have the candour to declare, that no liturgy is so ancient that it can be traced to an age not marked by many and gross superstitions. There is no reason to believe that any of the ancient liturgies were committed to writing until the fifth century.* Now let us refer again to our own Prayer Book. In the intro *Would that the Oxford Tract party would speak as honestly as does Mr. Riddle in his Christian Antiquities, p. 375. "I have taken the liberty of discarding the assumed titles of St. James's Liturgy, St. Peter's Liturgy, &c.; thinking it better to avoid, as much as possible, even the repetition of an acknowledged falsehood, when it is possible that it may tend to perpetuate error." We are glad to pen this passing reference to this laborious and valuable work, for the sake of adding that the indefatigable compiler has recently published another book of reference, which the student will find highly useful. It is intitled "Ecclesiastical Chronology; or the Annals of the Christian Church, from its foundation to the present time." The facts are arranged according to the order of dates, with a counterpart alphabetical index. Y |