mass a single individual--Abraham--in order to make
him the depositary of His revelations. The Lord, moreover, according to
the good pleasure of His will, further specifies which of the
descendants of Abraham, to the exclusion of all the rest, is to inherit
this dignity, with all its accompanying blessings. From among the
posterity of Shem, the Lord sets apart first the family of Abraham,
then that of [Pg 12] Isaac, and lastly that of Jacob, as the family
from which salvation is to come. Yet even these predictions, distinct
though they be when compared with those previously uttered, are still
very indefinite when compared with those subsequently given, and when
seen in the light of the actual fulfilment. Even in these, the blessing
only is foretold, but not its author. It still remained a matter of
uncertainty whether salvation should be extended to all the other
nations of the earth through a single individual, or through an entire
people descended from the Patriarchs. The former is obscurely
indicated; but the mode in which the blessing was to be imparted was
left in darkness.

This obscurity is partially removed by the last Messianic prophecy
contained in Gen. xlix. 10. After what had previously taken place, we
might well expect that the question as to which of Jacob's twelve sons
should have the privilege of becoming the source of deliverance to the
whole earth, would not be left undetermined; nor could we imagine that
Jacob, when, just before his death, and with the spirit of a prophet,
he transferred to his sons the promises which had been given to his
ancestors and himself, should have passed over in silence the most
important part of them. On the contrary, by being transferred to Judah,
the promise of the Messiah acquires not only the expected limitation,
but an unexpected increase of clearness and precision. Here, for the
first time, the _person_ of the Messiah is brought before us; here also
the _nature_ of His kingdom is more distinctly pointed out by His being
represented as the peaceful one, and the peacemaker who will unite,
under His mild sceptre, all the nations of the whole earth. Judah is,
in this passage, placed in the centre of the world's history; he shall
obtain dominion, and not lose it until it has been realized to its
fullest extent by means of the _Shiloh_ descending from him, to whom
all the nations of the earth shall render a willing obedience.

The subject-matter of the last four books of t