rule by which we_ can frequently discover or con-of times,—a
CHAP. XXXV.] FIFTH EULE OF TICIIONIUS. 113 for ever with Christ, is itself the land of the blessed, the land of the living; and we are to understand that this was given to the fathers Avlien it was promised to them in the sure and immutable purpose of God ; for what the fathers believed would be given in its own time w^as to them, on account of the unchangeableness of the promise and purpose, the same as if it were abeady given ; just as the apostle, writing to Timothy, speaks of the grace which is given to the saints : " Not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began ; but is now made manifest by the appearing of our
SaviourJlL He speaks of the grace as given at a time when those to whom it was to be given were not yet in existence ; because he looks upon that as having been already done in the arrangement and purpose of God, which was to take place in its own time, and he himself speaks of it as now made manifest. It is possible, however, that these words may refer to the land of the age to come, when there will be a new heaven and a new earth, wherein the unrighteous shall be unable to dwell. And so it is truly said to the righteous, that the land itself is theirs, no part of which will belong to the unrighteous; because it is the same as if it were itself given, when it is firmly settled that it shall be given.
Chap. xxxv.— The fifth rule of Tichonlus.
50. The fifth rule Tichpnius lays down is on designates of times,—a rule by which we_ can frequently discover or conjecture quantities of time which are not expressly mentioned in Scripture. And he says that this rule applies in two ways : either to the figure of speech called synecdoche, or to legitimate numbers. The figure synecdoche either puts the part for the whole, or the whole for the part. As, for example, in reference to the time when, in the presence of only three of His disciples, our Lord was transfigured on the mount, so that His face shone as the sun, and His raiment was white as snow, one evangelist says that this event occurred " after eight days," while another says that it occurred " after six days." ^ Now both of these statements about the number of days cannot be
2 Tim. i. 9, 10. 2 L^^e ix. 28. ^ Matt. xvii. 1 ; Mark ix. 2.
CIIR. DOCT. U