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stumbling block and :ock of offense, which it was long foretold by God should be laid in Zion, and which should occasion the fall of many in Israel; for through the humble manner of his birth, and his abject state upon earth, he became despised and rejected of men; yet he is set for the rising again of many, who shall rely upon his merits, and submit to his government.

A certain good prophetess, called Anna, who had for a long time waited for the redemption of Israel, entering the temple at the instant in which Simeon exulted in the birth. of the heavenly infant, and finding that he was the promised Messiah, likewise joined with him in praising God, and went forth and declared the glad tidings of salvation to all the faithful in those parts.

Having, in every respect, complied with the ceremonies and rites contained in the law of Moses, Joseph and Mary, with the child Jesus, entered into Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth, but did not long abide there; for having adjusted their affairs, they returned again to Bethlehem, the place of our Lord's nativity.

This step seems to have been pursued in consequence of their opinion that it was necessary, in order to his being acknowledged the Messiah, sent by God, that he should reside, some time, in the place of his birth.

Whatever was their motive for a removal, it is evident, from Scripture, that while they were in Bethlehem with their son, certain eastern philosophers, called magi, or wise men, came, in consequence of the appearance they had seen, to Jerusalem, and inquired for the King of the Jews; declaring they had seen his star in their own quarter, and were come to pay him the adorations due to his dignity.

The whole city of Jerusalem was alarmed at the unexpected arrival of the eastern magi; an event which much perplexed the tyrant Herod, whose ambitious mind maintained the utmost aversion to the very thought of a rival or competitor, and consequently could not brook a report that favored the news of the birth of a king of the Jews.

Disguising, however, his sentiments, he received the magi

with seeming respect, attended to the design of their errand with affected simplicity, and, to gratify their curiosity, summoned a general council, and demanded of them where. Christ should be born. The council kept him not long in suspense, for well remembering that the prophets had particularly foretold the place of his birth, they replied to the demand of their monarch, "In Bethlehem of Judea ;" and to confirm their answer, cited prophetic authority: "And thou, Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda; for out of thee shall come a governor that shall rule my people Israel."

The tyrant king, in consequence of the reply from the supreme council of the nation, directed the magi to Bethle hem, as the place, according to ancient prophecy, designed for the honor of Christ's nativity, earnestly entreating them, at the same time, immediately, on their finding out the child, to send him word, that he might repair thither, and pay his adoration to him also.

But this was mere pretense, and vile hypocrisy; for so far was Herod from entertaining any religious regard for the infant Jesus, that he vowed in his heart to destroy him as soon as he should be found; looking on him as designed for a temporal prince, who would expel him, or his descendants, from the throne of Judea, instead of a prince whose kingdom was wholly spiritual, and whose throne was not to be established upon earth, but in the heavenly Jerusalem.

We can not have a more convincing proof of the divinity of our Saviour's mission, than his miraculous preservation from the designs of the ambitious Herod. The tyrant, in this case, acted with the utmost subtility; he declined accompanying the wise men in person; nor did he even send attendants with them, who, under the guise of honoring them, might have secretly informed him of the abode of the

Messiah.

However, the magi, having obtained the intelligence they sought in Jerusalem, set forward, under the guidance of the same star that conducted them from their own country, but nad left them on their arrival in Judea, which was the cause

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