[Institutiones Theologicae Ex Optimis Autoribus Concinatae (ex officinâ Francisci Moyardi, 1658)]

Johannes Hoornbeek (4 November 1617, Haarlem – 23 August 1666, Leiden), was a Dutch Reformed theologian. He was a student and a follower of Gisbertus Voetius, writing with him on spiritual desertion. Like his teacher Voetieus, he was also later a professor of theology at the University of Leiden and University of Utrecht. The two universities were closely related in the 17th century, and both the teacher and his students participated in the intellectual “Utrecht Circle.” Another member of the circle was Hornbeek's student colleague Andreas Essenius. The circle was also known as De Voetiaanse Kring (The Voetian Circle), and it was one of the most influential intellectual circles of the Dutch second Reformation.

Table of Contents:

<aside>

CHAPTER IX. CONCERNING CHRIST

</aside>

I. The Foundation of the Gospel, Religion, and Our Salvation.

The foundation of the Gospel, of true religion, and of our eternal salvation is none other than Christ Jesus; concerning whom we must now discourse, and first it is meet to know that he is the very Messiah foretold in the sacred Scriptures of the Old Testament.

ZWINGLI. Therefore, our gracious Creator, in his infinite mercy, deigned at last to succor our most desolate cause, sending not an angel, nor a mere man, but his only begotten Son, clothed in our frail flesh, that neither his divine majesty might affright us from approaching him, nor his lowly humility cause us to despair of hope. For inasmuch as he is very God and the Son of God, sent as our mediator and intercessor, he doth uphold our hope: for what is there that he cannot do, or what doth he lack, who is the Almighty God? Yet, being also true man, he doth vouchsafe unto us familiarity, friendship, yea, even kinship and fellowship. For what can he withhold, who is our brother, partaking of our infirmities? Moreover, this wondrous and unparalleled mystery hath been set forth and ordained from the very dawn of human wretchedness.

WAL. The sacred name of the Messiah, in the Hebrew tongue Maschia, doth derive from the root משה, signifying to anoint: and it is equivalent to Christ in the Greek, from χρίω or χρίζω, which meaneth 'I anoint.' Of this divine anointing of the Messiah, the holy Prophet David beareth witness, Psalm 45:7, 'Therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy companions.' And the Prophet Isaiah, 61:1, 'The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is upon me, for that Jehovah hath anointed me to proclaim glad tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me': whereby in this latter passage is set forth the manner of his anointing, to wit, by that divine appointment unto his office, and by the Holy Spirit, as the blessed Apostles do expound, Acts 10:38, 'How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power.' And again, Acts 2:36, 'Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.' The name Jesus doth proceed from the Hebrew word signifying 'to save,' not from law, as certain Greeks have mistakenly supposed, albeit the etymology proposed by Avenarius be not altogether astray, which deriveth the word ἰάω or ἰάζω from ישע. Even as Jesus is the same as Joshua, for Joshua the son of Nun is named Jesus in the New Testament, Hebrews 4:8. Here let us observe, by the way, that we are rightly denominated Christians, according to the Scriptures; whereas some are wrongly called Jesuits; for in the work of salvation, Christ admitteth no partners, as it is written, Acts 4:12, 'Neither is there salvation in any other.' Yet in his anointing, he hath fellows, as it is said, Psalm 45:7, 'Above thy fellows.'

Things to Be Proven:

It is incumbent upon us to demonstrate:

1. That the Messiah is promised in Holy Writ as a King whose dominion is spiritual, not temporal; who shall suffer death, yet rise again, and after his resurrection shall live unto all eternity.
2. That the ceremonial laws and the Temple worship shall be utterly abolished upon his advent.
3. That the appointed time of his coming hath long since elapsed.
4. And that he is indeed Jesus Christ, our blessed Savior; wherefore, no other Messiah is to be looked for.

I. Verily, his Kingdom shall not be of this world, but a spiritual Kingdom, whereby he shall subdue the world unto himself, not by the sword or by might, but by the power of his Word and the efficacy of his Spirit.

This is proven:

1. Forasmuch as God doth never establish for himself a kingdom that is worldly and outward. For he is the sovereign Lord of all, who raiseth up kings and casteth them down according to his good pleasure, as it is written in Proverbs 8:15, 'By me kings reign, and princes decree justice,' and Daniel 2:21, 'He changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings.' Moreover, the Messiah is very God, as we have heretofore shown from the Old Testament Scriptures.

2. All the kingdoms of this earth are subject to decay and corruption: but the Kingdom of the Messiah is promised to be everlasting, never to be overthrown: therefore, etc. The truth of this is self-evident: for the world itself is perishable, as the Psalmist declareth, Psalm 102:26, 'They shall perish, but thou shalt endure.' And the Preacher saith, Ecclesiastes 1:4, 'I have beheld all the works that are wrought under the sun; and lo, all is vanity.' Likewise, Isaiah proclaimeth, Isaiah 40:6, 'All flesh is as grass, and all the glory thereof as the flower of the field: the grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall abide forever.' The minor premise is established by Psalm 45:6, 'Thy throne, O God, is established from everlasting to everlasting.' And also by Daniel 2:44, 'In the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be delivered to another people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.' Nor is this to be interpreted merely of a protracted period, as the Hebrew term עולם doth sometimes signify, but of an eternity absolute and without end: for it shall never be overthrown, neither shall it be given over to any other people, even as it is written in Daniel 7:14, 'And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and tongues should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.'

3. From the manner and the form of the Messiah's kingdom, which is everywhere described in such wise that it pertaineth not to any earthly dominion. For:

   • His throne is at the right hand of God, as it is written in Psalm 110:1, 'The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand,' which doth plainly signify a kingdom that is spiritual.

   • His scepter is his word, which shall go forth from Zion, Psalm 110:2, 'The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion.' And Isaiah prophesieth, Isaiah 2:3, 'For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people.'

   • Moreover, the office of preaching is laid upon him, and that with exceeding meekness, as Isaiah declareth, Isaiah 42:1, 'Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth,' etc., 'He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.' Likewise, Isaiah 61:1, 'The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to comfort all that mourn.'

   • And this is conjoined with the deepest humility and disdain for worldly glory. As it is written in Psalm 22:6, 'But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.' And in Zechariah 9:9, 'Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.'

   • Furthermore, that he was to be rejected by the Jews, to die for the sins of the people, and to rise again from the dead. As David saith in Psalm 16:10, 'For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.' And in Psalm 22:1, 'My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?' And Isaiah, in that most poignant prophecy, Isaiah 53:3, 'He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows,' etc.

     Objection: But they deny that chapter Isaiah 53 is to be understood of the Messiah, but rather of the Prophet himself.

     Response: That this is a manifest error is plain from even a cursory examination of that chapter. For commencing from the second verse, the Prophet speaketh consistently in the third person, as of one distinct from himself, saying, 'He shall grow up before him as a tender plant,' etc., 'He was despised, and we esteemed him not,' yet 'Surely he hath borne our griefs,' etc., 'He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities,' etc., 'All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.' Moreover, there are sundry particulars therein which cannot by any means be applied to the Prophet.

     Objection: But it is said that he speaketh of the people of Israel.

     Response: This likewise is erroneous; for he doth clearly set apart the people of Israel from him of whom he speaketh, declaring, 'He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows,' 'He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed,' etc., 'All we like sheep have gone astray.' And in verse 8, 'He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.' And in verse 11, 'He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.' And so throughout the chapter.

4. From the blessed fruits of his kingdom and priesthood; such as:

   • To bear the punishment due to the sins of the entire people, as it is written in Isaiah 53:6, 'And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.'
   • To justify a multitude by his knowledge, verse 11, 'By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.'
   • To pour out his soul even unto death, and to intercede for those who slew him, verse 12, 'He was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.'
   • Also, in Daniel 9:24, 'Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.' All these declarations do manifestly prove that the kingdom here foretold is a kingdom spiritual, not earthly and outward.

II. Arguments Concerning the Future Abrogation of the Mosaic Ceremonial Law.

The reasons which demonstrate the future abolition of the ceremonial law given unto Moses may be summarized under these heads:

1. For that a new covenant is explicitly promised, whereby the old covenant is to be done away; and this new covenant shall not be like unto that which God established with the fathers in the wilderness. As it is written in Jeremiah 31:31, 'Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt.'
2. For that both the priesthood and the sacrifices were appointed to be altered. Concerning the priesthood, it is written in Psalm 110:4, 'The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.' And touching the sacrifices, Psalm 40:6, 'Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.' And in Malachi 1:11, 'For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts,' whereas under the law, sacrifices were to be presented only in the Temple or the Tabernacle. Furthermore, the Messiah was to offer himself as a sacrifice, as Isaiah prophesieth, Isaiah 53:10, 'Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.' And verse 12, 'Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.'
3. For that the lawgiver was to be changed, as it is foretold in Genesis 49:10, 'The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.' Hence, the law itself is not to remain unaltered, as the Apostle exhorteth in Romans 13:1, 'Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers,' thereby indicating that we are not bound to the Mosaic law in all its particulars.
4. Moreover, it is declared that the offerings and sacrifices shall be brought to an end. In Daniel 9:27, 'And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.' Likewise, in Jeremiah 3:15, 'And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the Lord, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the Lord: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more.'

Objection: Yet it is objected that this law is frequently declared to be everlasting.

Response: The Hebrew term לעולם doth oftentimes signify a duration that is prolonged and continuous, derived from 'hidden,' akin to the Latin words perpetuum, perenne, juge, and the like. For instance, in Exodus 21:6, it is said, 'Then he shall serve him for ever,' which is to say, for the term of his life, or until the year of Jubilee. And in Jeremiah 25:11, 'And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years,' followed by verse 12, 'And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the Lord, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.' Moreover, it is manifest that the sacrifices, together with the feasts and ceremonies thereto annexed, as well as numerous civil statutes, did cease during the time of the Babylonian captivity; and likewise, since the overthrow of the Temple and the city even unto this present day, the Jews themselves, though loath to admit it, do witness the same.

III. The Time of the Messiah's Advent.

It now remaineth for us to observe that the time appointed in the Old Testament for the advent of the Messiah hath long since passed, even many hundreds of years ago; wherefore, the Jews, in rejecting the true Messiah, do but vainly look for another.

I. The first scripture to this effect is that renowned and familiar prophecy of Jacob, Genesis 49:10, 'The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the obedience of the peoples be.' The Hebrew word שבט doth primarily denote a rod or a branch, and by a figure of speech is employed to signify a sceptre: moreover, in the sacred writings, it is frequently used to represent a tribe, for from the single stock of Jacob sprang forth divers tribes, even as branches from a single tree; in like manner as the Dutch word stamme signifieth: wherefore Tremellius and Junius, in their translation, render it, 'The tribe shall not depart from Judah.' Yet it is commonly understood as 'sceptre,' that is, dominion or governance. Even so, the Chaldean Paraphrase hath it: 'The prince shall not be removed from the house of Judah, nor the scribe from among his descendants, until the Messiah shall come, unto whom the kingdom belongeth, and whom the nations shall obey.' The phrase 'lawgiver from between his feet' is a metaphor drawn from the custom of fathers, who place their sons between their feet or upon their knees, and there nurture them. As for 'Shiloh,' some interpret it as 'his son,' others as 'sent,' others as 'his peace,' deriving it from schaljab, which meaneth to be at peace, or from schil, son, or from schilah, the afterbirth: nevertheless, all do agree that by this name the Messiah is intended.