,transcriber's ,notes ,punctuation has been standardized4 ,the ,table of ,contents has been modified by the ,transcriber to agree with the text4 ,the original text shows quotations within quotations set off by similar quote marks4 ,the inner quotations have been changed to single quotes for improved readability4 ,characters in small caps have been replaced by all caps4 ,non-printable characteristics have been given the following ,italic text3 -- text ,bold text3 -- text4 ,this book was written in a period when many words had not become standardized in their spelling4 ,words may have multiple spelling variations or inconsistent hyphenation in the text4 ,these have been left unchanged unless indicated with a ,transcriber's ,note4 ,footnotes are identified in the text with a number in brackets #b and have been accumulated in a single section at the end of the text4 ,transcriber's ,notes are used when making corrections to the text or to provide additional information for the modern reader4 ,these notes are identified in the text by a symbol1 and are accumulated in a single section at the end of the book4 ,,the ,,pentateuch1 ,,in ,,its ,,progressive ,,revelations ,,of ,,god ,,to ,,men4 ,,designed ,,for ,,both ,,pastors ,,and ,,people4 ,,by ,,rev4 ,,henry ,,cowles1 ,d4,d4 8,understandest thou what thou readest8 ,and he said1 ,how can ,i unless some man should guide me80,,acts ,,viii3 #cj1 #ca4 ,,new ,,york3 ,d4 ,,appleton ,,co41 #edi ,,and #eea ,,broadway4 #ahgd4 ,entered according to ,act of ,congress1 in the year #ahgc1 by ,,rev4 ,,henry ,,cowles1 ,d4,d41 ,in the ,office of the ,librarian of ,congress1 at ,washington1 ,d4,c4 ,,preface4 ,,my reasons for treating the ,pentateuch topically rather than textually will be obvious4 ,criticism on the original text is rarely needed4 ,there is seldom the least occasion to aid the reader in following the line of thought or the course of argument4 ,the demand here is rather for the discussion and due presentation of the great themes of the book4 ,my plan has therefore aimed to meet this demand1 discussing these themes critically so far as seemed necessary either because of their intrinsic nature or because of popular objections or misconceptions2 and always practically so far forth as to show the important moral bearings of these themes as revelations of ,god to man4 ,it has been1 however1 my purpose to explain all the difficult1 doubtful1 or controverted passages4 ,the modern objections to ,genesis1 more or less related to true science1 have been brought under special examination because they are at present eliciting so much public attention4 ,let all real truth be welcomed and held in honor1 whether revealed in the works of ,god or in his word4 ,it is knowledge of ,god that we seek2 some of which we learn through his works of creation or of providence2 more through his revealed word4 ,it behooves us to dismiss all apprehensions lest these diverse forms of divine revelation may come into real conflict1 and equally1 all fear lest the ,bible should be compelled to recede as ,science advances4 ,the points of contact between sacred and profane history and antiquities have been carefully examined1 both for their own intrinsic interest and for the incidental confirmation which they bring to the sacred volume4 ,as will appear in the ,introduction ,i have had an eye somewhat to the idea of progress in these successive steps of divine revelationyet with an aim not so much to prove a point disputed as to illustrate a fact sometimes overlooked2 hoping thus to heighten the reader's interest4 ,this wonderful grouping of those events of the earliest ages of time1 given us of ,god through the masterly hand of ,moses1 is for every reason worthy of profoundest study4 ,in the humble hope that these pages may serve to obviate old difficulties2 suggest new aspects of truth2 inspire fresh zeal in this study2 and enhance the spiritual profit of every readerthis volume is submitted to the ,christian public4 ,,henry ,,cowles4 ,,oberlin1 ,o41 ,october1 #ahgc4 ,,contents4 ,,introduction1 p4 #a4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,,creation1 p4 #i4 ,naturally the first fact revealed2 ,its moral lessons1 #i2 ,the origin of this record and the manner of its revelation to men1 #ab2 ,nature and the supernatural1 #ac2 ,theories on the origin of life1 #ad2 ,the sense of the word 8day0 in ,gen4 #a3 #af2 ,argued 7#a7 ,from the laws of language1 #ag2 7#b7 ,from the narrative itself1 #ah2 ,objection from the law of the ,sabbath1 #ba2 7#c7 ,from ,geological facts and their bearings on the question1 #bb2 ,prominent points of harmony between ,genesis and ,geology1 #be2 7#d7 ,does 8,create0 7,gen4 #a3 #a7 refer to the original production of matter8 #bf2 7#e7 ,the relation of v4 #a to v4 #b1 and to the rest of the chapter1 #bi2 7#f7 ,the work of the fourth day1 #ca2 7#g7 ,the sense of the record as to the origin of life1 vegetable and animal1 #cb2 7#h7 ,on ,god's 8making man in his own image10 #cc2 7#i7 ,the relation of ,gen4 #b3 #d-be to ,gen4 #a1 #ce2 7#aj7 ,invariability of 8kind0 in the vegetable and animal kingdoms1 #cg2 ,the theory of ,mr4 ,darwin1 #ch2 ,the issue between ,darwin and ,moses1 #ch2 ,darwin's five main arguments1 #ci2 ,brief replies1 #dj2 ,objections bearing generally against ,darwin's scheme1 #dc2 7#a7 ,it requires almost infinite time back of the earliest traces or possibilities of life1 #dc2 7#b7 ,requires what ,nature does not givea close succession of animal races1 differing but infinitesimally from each other1 #dc2 7#c7 ,his argument is essentially materialistic and is therefore false1 #de2 7#d7 ,it ignores man's intellectual and moral nature1 #df2 7#e7 ,it ignores or overrides the law of nature by which hybrids are infertile1 #df2 7#f7 ,this scheme is in many points revolting to the common sense of mankind1 #df2 7#g7 ,it is reckless of the authority of revelation1 #dh4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,the ,,antiquity ,,of ,,man1 #di2 ,two main questions3 #a4 ,is the human family older than ,adam8 #di2 7#a7 ,the argument for man's high antiquity1 ,from traces of his skeleton1 #ej2 ,from his tools and works1 #ea2 7#b7 ,from the traditions and chronologies of the old nations1 #ei4 ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,hebrew ,,chronology1 #fj2 #b4 ,how far back was ,adam8 #fj2 ,from birth of ,christ back to the founding of ,solomon's ,temple1 #fj2 ,first disputed periodthat of the ,judges1 #fj2 ,second disputed periodthat of the sojourn in ,egypt1 #fb2 ,third disputed periodbetween ,terah and ,abraham1 #fd2 ,fourth disputed periodfrom the creation to the flood1 #ff2 ,fifth disputed periodfrom the flood to the call of ,abraham1 #fh4 ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,antiquity ,,of ,,man ,,resumed1 #gb2 ,on the ,antiquity of ,egypt1 #gb2 ,the date of ,menes1 its first king1 and of the pyramids1 #gd2 ,unity of the human race3 ,were there races of pre-,adamic men1 now extinct8 #ge2 ,are the present living races descendants of the same first pair8 #ge4 ,,chapter ,v4 ,,the ,,sabbath1 #gg2 ,as old as ,eden2 made for man as a race4 ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,,the ,,events ,,of ,,eden1 #ha2 ,i4 ,is the description of man's fall symbolic or historic8 #ha2 ,,ii4 ,the moral trial1 #hd2 ,,iii4 ,the temptation1 #hg2 ,,iv4 ,the fall1 #hh2 ,the curse2 the first installment of the penalty for transgression1 #hi2 ,the first promise1 #ij4 ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,,from ,,the ,,fall ,,to ,,the ,,flood1 #ib2 #a4 ,notes on special passages2 ,gen4 #d3 #a1 8,i have gotten a manthe ,lord10 #ib2 ,gen4 #d3 #f1 #gwords of the ,lord to ,cain1 #ib2 ,gen4 #d3 #bc1 #bd1 the song of ,lamech1 #ib2 #b4 ,abel's offering and the origin of sacrifices1 #ic2 #c4 ,the great moral lessons of the antediluvian age1 #ie4 ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,,the ,,flood1 #ii2 ,its moral causes1 #ii2 ,its physical causes1 #aja2 ,was this flood universal8 #ajb2 ,as to the earth's surface1 #ajb ,as to its population1 #ajd2 ,traditions of a great deluge1 #aje4 ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,,from ,,the ,,flood ,,to ,,the ,,call ,,of ,,abraham1 #ajg2 #a4 ,the law against murder and its death-penalty1 #ajg2 #b4 ,the prophecy of ,noah1 #ajh2 #c4 ,the genealogy of the historic nations1 #aaj2 #d4 ,babel and the confusion of tongues1 #aab4 ,,chapter ,x4 ,,abraham1 #aad2 ,his personal history2 the divine purposes in the new system inaugurated with him2 ,concentration of moral forces2 a more definite covenant between ,god and his people2 ,utilizing the family relation1 #aaf2 ,developing a great example of the obedience of faith1 #abj2 ,in leaving his country at ,god's call1 #abj2 ,in waiting long but hopefully for his one son of promise1 #abj2 ,in obeying the command to offer this son a sacrifice1 #abj2 ,god's revelations to ,abraham progressive1 #abb2 ,the missionary idea in this systemblessings to all the nations1 #abe2 ,the ,messiah included in these promises1 #abf2 ,sodom and ,gomorrah1 #abh2 ,the angel of the ,lord1 #acj4 ,,chapter ,,xi4 ,,the ,,patriarchs1 ,,isaac1 ,,jacob1 ,,joseph1 #acb2 ,isaac1 #acb2 ,jacob1 #acc2 ,at ,bethel1 #acc2 ,at ,mahanaim1 #acg2 ,the struggle of prayer2 ,the points and grounds of this conflict2 ,the law of prevailing prayer1 #adj2 ,jacob and ,joseph1 #adc2 ,developments of personal character1 #add2 ,joseph in ,egypt1 #adf2 ,the hand of ,god in this history3 ,seen in the sufferings of the innocent1 #aee2 ,seen in overruling sin for good1 #aeh2 ,the purposes of ,god in locating ,israel in ,egypt1 #afj2 ,ancient ,egyptian history and life confirms ,moses1 #afb2 ,special passages considered3 ,going down into ,sheol1 ,gen4 #cg3 #ce1 #aff2 ,jacob's benedictions upon his sons1 ,gen4 #di1 #afh2 ,the ,scepter of ,judah1 ,gen4 #di3 #aj1 #afi2 ,the less readable portions of ,genesis1 #aga2 ,close of ,genesis1 #agb4 ,,chapter ,,xii4 ,,exodus #agc2 ,the oppression1 #agc2 ,moses1 #age2 ,his great mission1 #agi2 ,the ten plagues1 #ahe3 ,these plagues supernatural1 #ahg2 ,several of them specially adapted to ,egypt1 #ahi2 ,the case of the magicians1 #aij2 ,the shape of the demand upon ,pharaoh to let the people go1 #aic2 ,the hardening of ,pharaoh's heart1 #aid2 ,history of the case1 #aid2 ,what is said of ,god's purpose in it1 #bjc2 ,light on this case from ,god's revealed character1 #bjd4 ,,chapter ,,xiii4 ,,the ,,passover1 #bje2 ,consecration of all first-born1 #bjg2 ,the long route to ,canaan1 #bji2 ,the march and the pursuit1 #baj2 ,the guiding pillar of cloud and of fire1 #baa2 ,the locality of the ,red ,sea crossing1 #bae4 ,,chapter ,,xiv4 ,,the ,,historic ,,connections ,,of ,,moses ,,with ,,pharaoh ,,and ,,egypt1 #baf4 ,,chapter ,,xv4 ,,the ,,events ,,near ,,and ,,at ,,sinai1 #bbb2 ,the manna1 #bbb2 ,rephidim2 water by miracle1 #bbe2 ,the battle with ,amalek1 #bbi2 ,jethro1 #bcj2 ,the ,scenes at ,sinai1 #bcb2 ,the national covenant2 ,the giving of the law1 #bcb2 ,the moral law1 given from ,sinai1 #bcf2 ,to be distinguished from 8the statutes and judgments10 #bcf2 ,the commandments considered severally2 #a4 #bch2 #b4 #bci2 #c4 #bda2 #d4 #bda2 #e4 #bdc2 #f-i4 #bdc2 #aj4 #bde2 ,progress in the revelations of ,god to man1 #bdf4 ,,chapter ,,xvi4 ,,the ,,hebrew ,,theocracy1 #bea2 ,the supreme power1 #bea2 ,the powers of ,jehovah's ,vicegerent1 #bec2 ,the ,general ,assembly and their ,elders1 #bed2 ,the scope afforded for self-government1 democracy1 #bee2 ,the fundamental principles of this system1 #beh2 ,its union of ,church and ,state1 #bei2 ,its principles and usages in regard to war1 with notice of the war-commission against the doomed ,canaanites1 #bfa2 ,the grant of ,canaan1 and the command to extirpate the ,canaanites1 #bfb4 ,,chapter ,,xvii4 ,,the ,,civil ,,institutes ,,of ,,moses1 ,,or ,,the ,,hebrew ,,code ,,of ,,civil ,,law1 #bgj2 ,general view of it1 #bgj2 ,analysis of the crimes condemned1 #bgc2 ,crimes against ,god3 ,idolatry1 #bgc2 ,perjury1 #bgd2 ,presumptuous sins1 #bge2 ,violations of the ,sabbath1 #bgf2 ,blasphemy1 #bgf2 ,magic arts1 #bgf2 ,crimes against parents and rulers1 #bgi2 ,crimes against person and life1 i4 e4 crimes of blood1 #bhj2 ,cities of refuge1 #bhb2 ,murder by unknown hands1 #bhd2 ,crimes against chastity1 #bhe2 ,statutes to protect rights of property1 #bhf2 ,statutes against usury1 #bhh2 ,statutes for the relief of the poor1 #bhi2 ,crimes against reputation1 #bib4 ,,chapter ,,xviii4 ,,civil ,,institutes ,,of ,,moses ,,continued2 ,hebrew servitude1 #bid2 ,man-stealing1 #bid2 ,no rendition of fugitives1 #bie2 ,severe personal injuries entitled to freedom1 #bie2 ,periodical emancipation1 #bif2 ,religious privileges of servants1 #bih2 ,the slavery that existed before ,moses1 #bii2 ,the condition of ,israel in bondage in ,egypt1 #bii2 ,the ,jubilee1 #cjj2 ,its bearing upon foreign servants1 #cja2 ,meaning of 8bond-servant10 #cjb2 ,servants of foreign birth1 #cjb2 ,judicial ,procedure1 #cjd2 ,judges1 #cjd2 ,the seat of justice1 #cje2 ,the processes of prosecution1 #cje2 ,advocates1 #cje2 ,of witnesses1 #cje2 ,punishments1 #cjf2 ,fines1 #cjf2 ,sin and trespass offerings1 #cjg2 ,stripes1 #cjg2 ,excommunication1 #cjh2 ,modes of capital punishment1 #cjh2 ,disgrace after death1 #cjh2 ,judicial procedure and punishment summary1 #cjh2 ,statutes without penalties1 #cji2 ,two ,historic ,questions1 #caa2 ,how far is this system indebted to ,egypt8 #caa2 ,how far have the best civil codes of the most civilized nations been indebted to this ,hebrew code8 #cad2 ,progressive revelations of ,god in this code1 #cai4 ,,chapter ,,xix4 ,,the ,,religious ,,system ,,of ,,the ,,hebrews1 #cba2 ,classification of sacrifices1 #cbb2 ,choice of animals for sacrifice1 #cbc2 ,the scenes of sacrifice1 #cbd2 ,the significance of sacrifices1 #cbe2 ,of the portion taken as food1 #cbf2 ,special sacrifices1 #cbg2 ,sacred times and seasons1 #cbg2 ,the ,morning and ,evening ,sacrifice1 #cbg2 ,the ,sacrifices for the ,sabbath1 #cbh2 ,the sacrifices at each new moon1 #cbh2 ,the three great festivals1 #cbh2 ,the ,passover1 #cbh2 ,the ,feast of ,pentecost1 #cbh2 ,the ,feast of ,tabernacles1 #cbi2 ,the great day of ,atonement1 #cca2 ,sacred ,edifices and ,apparatus1 #ccd2 ,the ,sacred ,orders1 #cce2 ,present value of the ,mosaic ritual1 #ccf2 ,its lessons on the blood of atonement1 #cch2 ,that these lessons are steps of progress in the revelation of ,god to men1 #cdj4 ,,chapter ,,xx4 ,,historic ,,events ,,of ,,hebrew ,,history ,,from ,,sinai ,,to ,,the ,,jordan1 #cdb2 ,the golden calf1 #cdb2 ,the intercession of ,moses1 #cdc2 ,the ,lord reveals his name and glory1 #cdf2 ,incidents connected with this idol-worship1 #cej2 ,lessons from ,moses on prayer1 #cec2 ,taberah and ,kibroth-hataavah1 #ced2 ,miriam and ,aaron envious of ,moses1 #cee2 ,kadesh-barnea and the unbelieving spies1 #cef2 ,rebellion of ,korah and his company1 #cfj2 ,the fiery serpent and the brazen one1 #cfc2 ,balak and ,balaam1 #cfd2 ,balaam's prophecies1 #cfg2 ,his prayer1 #cfh4 ,,chapter ,,xxi4 ,,on ,,the ,,last ,,four ,,books ,,of ,,the ,,pentateuch1 #cge2 ,their method and subject-matter1 #cge2 ,leviticus1 #cgf2 ,numbers1 #cgf2 ,deuteronomy1 #cgg2 ,deut4 #ab-bf1 #cgh2 ,the prophet like ,moses1 #chj2 ,the blessings and the curses1 #chc2 ,the last words of ,moses1 #chd2 ,the ,song of ,moses1 #chf2 ,moses blesses the tribes1 ,deut4 #cc1 #cid2 ,death and character of ,moses1 #dja2 ,the ,mosaic system and the future life1 #djc2 ,progressive developments of truth and of ,god1 #dab4 ,advertisements1 #dae ,,introduction4 ,,the ,,revelations ,,of ,,god ,,to ,,men ,,progressive4 ,,it is supposable that ,god might have made his entire written revelation of himself to men at once1 through one inspired prophet and one only2 in one definite locality 7,eden or ,jerusalem71 and all brought within a twelve-month4 ,but he did not deem this the wisest way4 ,he preferred to speak at considerable intervals of timethrough a long succession of 8holy men of old20 8at sundry times and in diverse manners0 7,heb4 i3 #a74 ,among the choice results of this progressive method we may name the following3 7#a47 ,that by means of it ,god made large and admirable use of history4 ,this was revealing himself to men1 not simply by his words but by his works4 ,in ways which men could not well mistake1 he was thus able to manifest himself as the ,god of nations2 also as the ,god of families2 and not least1 as the ,god of individual men4 ,it was vital to human welfare that he should place himself before men as being not a heathen ,brumha1 sunk in unconscious sleep for ages1 but as the ,all-seeing1 ever-active ,one1 exercising a real government over men1 ruling in equity and yet with loving-kindness2 ever present amid all their activities and impressing himself upon the thought and the heart of the race4 ,in this line of policy how admirably did he give promises to his servants to inspire their faith in himself2 then prove that faith through years and ages of trial and delay2 but at last confirm his word by its signal fulfillment6 ,by what other method could ,he so effectually reveal himself as a personal ,godthe personal ,friend of his trustful childrenevermore worthy of their supreme confidence1 whether they could or could not see at once all the reasons of his ways8 ,his providential rule over nations as such found in this method ample scope for the fullest illustration4 ,the record of this ruling in the ministrations of prosperity and adversity2 in the rise and the ruin of great nations through the lapse of the world's early centuries1 constitute a marvelously rich portion of this progressive revelation of ,god to man4,a ,bible made up of words from ,god without any deeds of ,god would be open to dangerous misunderstanding and thus might in great measure fail of its purpose4 ,at best it would be tame and unimpressive compared with the method ,god has chosen of revealing himself largely in actual works at innumerable points along the ages for more than four thousand years4 7#b47 ,again2 no small gain accrued from the large number and various qualities of the holy men through whom ,god spake4 ,the personal blessing to themselves was too rich to be limited to any one man4 ,rather let it be shared by many scores of men1 standing forth before their respective generations age after age from ,adam down to him of ,patmos4,we may also note the large range of diversity in their personal character and in their endowments as authors4 ,how varied were the circumstances of their lives and the moral trials which were the refiner's fire to their spiritual life6 ,how abundantly by this means did their personal experiences illustrate the ways of ,god with those who come nearest to him in the fullness of heart communion6 ,how many chapters are thus provided of the most reliable most varied and easily applied ,christian experience6 ,by means of the diversity of inspired writers1 the ,bible is enriched with the charms of a large variety in style1 as well as in the experiences of the ,christian life4 ,among all the sacred penmen1 no two minds are cast in the same mold4 ,poetry1 eloquence1 imagination1 logic1 sublimity1 pathosin what endless combinations do we find these gifts apportioned and manifested6 ,how should we admire the wisdom which chose out men of gifts so diversified1 and then adopted a method of inspiration which left each writer's mind to the unrestrained development of its own peculiar genius4 7#c47 ,yet farther2 the progressive historical method of making up the ,bible opened the door widely for miracles and prophecy4 ,the occasions for miracles were multiplied4 ,they could be introduced naturally where manifold and not single results should accrue4 ,in this way there was no need to manufacture opportunities for miraculous interposition4 ,abundant occasions arose to demand them1 when consequently they had a most thrilling effect4 ,we may see this in the scenes of the ,exodus1 the conquest of ,canaan1 the rescue of ,hezekiah and his people4 ,so also of prophecy4 ,it asks for time4 ,on the supposition that the fulfillment is to appear in the ,scriptures1 an interval of some duration must come between the utterance and the fulfillment4 ,it was also wise that prophecy should subserve the superadded purpose of spiritual comfort to ,god's people during the ages between comparative darkness and forth-breaking light4 ,in fact it gave to ,god's people the first single beams of morning twilight1 bearing the grateful assurance that the ,sun of ,righteousness would surely rise on the nations in the fullness of gospel times4 7#d47 ,still again2 by this method of making up inspired history it is placed side by side with profane history and the most ancient monuments of the race1 and thus invites investigation on the point of its truthfulness4 ,is this progressive history of ,god's ways toward men confirmed by whatever reliable history of the same period has come down to us through other sources8 ,this point well deserves and richly rewards a careful examination4 7#e47 ,moreover1 it is to be presumed that ,god would commence his revelation of himself to our race in the very infancy of their existence4 ,the ,bible shows us that he did4 ,assuming that at this point they had every thing to learn1 we ought to expect that their first ,bible lessons would turn their thought to the great truths of natural religionthe manifestations of ,god in his works of creation and providence4 ,in harmony with this reasonable expectation1 we read8,in the beginning ,god created the heavens and the earth40 ,in that opening chapter of revelation1 ,god said1 8,let there be light10 and it was2 also 8a firmament0 above1 and it was2 8,let the dry land appear10 and it appeared2 8let there be light-bearers in the heavens10 and they shine forth2 let grass and herbs grow2 let creatures live in the waters1 in the air1 and on the dry land1 and it was so2 and finally1 8let us make man10 far unlike all the rest8in our own image and likeness0and god-like man sprang into being4 ,so onward the narrative witnesses to the ever-present hand of ,god in the mists1 the rains1 and the teeming vegetation of the new-made world4 ,god1 the great ,author of nature2 ,god in nature and evermore over all nature1 was the first lesson recorded in ,god's revelation of himself to men4 ,in natural order1 the next lesson like this1 is ,god in providence,god administering the agencies of earthly good or ill1 making his presence manifest among his intelligent and moral offspring1 and even 8coming down to see0 7as the early record has it7 what men were doing and whether the cry coming up to him told truthfully of the guilty violence perpetrated by man upon his fellows4 ,this idea,god ruling over the race in righteous retribution for their good or evil deedswas obviously one of the first great moral lessons to be illustrated1 enforced1 impressed4 ,so vital is this conviction to the ends of a moral government that it should not surprise us if the actual administration of present rewards and punishments in the common course of human life in this world should be made far more prominent and palpable in the early than in the later ages of the race1 so much so as to force itself upon the dullest eyes and compel the attention of the most stupid and reluctant observers4,such 7we shall have occasion to notice7 was unquestionably the divine policy throughout the earlier stages of human history1 abundantly apparent in the records of the ,bible4 ,in later times1 the exigencies of a system of probation1 and especially the importance of giving large scope to faith1 after sufficient evidence has been afforded1 served to impose narrower limits upon present retribution1 reserving the larger share to the perfect adjustments of the great future4 ,in the earlier stages of human history1 it would obviously be vital to give men sufficient demonstration that ,god does rule1 and therefore is to be believed when he threatens to punish either here or hereafter1 and consequently is evermore to be feared as the certain avenger of crime4 ,hence the imperative need in those early ages of such manifestations of ,god's justice as would impress the fear of his name4 ,with our eye open to the native pride of depraved souls and to their appalling tendency to disown ,god and bid him 8depart0 and not trouble them with his 8ways10 it will not surprise us that ,god should shape his earliest agencies of providence to inspire fear rather than love4 ,it needs but the least thought to see that this policy was a simple necessitythe most obvious dictate of wisdom4 ,in this point revelation might naturally be progressive1 advancing as soon as was safe and wise from manifestations inspiring fear to those which would reveal his love4 ,the doctrine of divine providence in regard to the sufferings of good menone of the hardest problems of human lifemight be expected to unfold itself gradually4 ,it would be quite too much for the infancy of human thought and knowledge to grasp this problem and master all its intricacies4 ,hence the scope for a gradual unfolding 7as we may see7 all the way from the discussions in ,job and the ,psalms to the clearer light which shines in the epistle to the ,hebrews1 as also in ,peter and ,paul4 ,this beautiful illustration of progress in divine revelation will well reward attention in its place4 7#f47 ,on the supposition that ,god's scheme for the recovery of our lost race contemplated some atonement for sina provision in its very nature and relations toward both ,god and man exceedingly delicate and criticalit is at least presumable beforehand that ,god would bring out this idea with great carewith the wisest precaution against misconception1 and not improbably with some foregoing illustrations of its significance and of its intended application4 ,precisely this we see in the great sacrificial system of the ,mosaic economy4 ,we only put essentially the same idea into other and more general terms when we say that a protracted course of successive revelations provides for making an antecedent economy pave the way for a subsequent onea first revelation preparatory to a secondone set of ideas imprinted and impressed upon the human mind1 made conducive to other and higher revelations yet to follow4 ,the wisdom of such progressions can not fail to impress itself upon all thoughtful minds4,thus ,god's revelations of himself from age to age were adjusted to the advance in spiritual development which he had provided for in the human mind4 ,as training and culture developed higher capacities1 new lessons were in order and higher attainments were made4 8,whoso is wise and will observe these things1 even they shall understand0 the loving-kindness and matchless wisdom of the ,lord4 ,to forestall misapprehensions 7possible and sometimes actual71 let it be noted that progress in the revealed science of ,god by no means supersedes what has gone before4 ,naturally it only serves to place old truths in new and richer light4 ,no one fact affirmed concerning ,god in the earlier ages is denied in the later4 ,certain features of his character may be brought out more prominently in the later lessons1 but there is no unsaying of the things said before4 ,nothing can conflict with this axiom of divine science8,i am the ,lord2 ,i change not40 ,prominence may be given in the early ages to such manifestations as impress men with fear and as set forth ,god's righteous justice toward transgressors2 while later revelations may disclose more fully the depths of divine love and compassion4 ,yet let none infer that ,god is less just in the ,new ,testament than in the ,old1 or that the earlier policy of ,god's throne has been modified to a larger leniency toward persistent criminals4 ,the men who flippantly talk of throwing aside the older revelation 8as they do an old almanac0 mistake most egregiously4 ,god has written nothing to be thrown aside4 ,the oldest records still give us lessons of ,god shining with unfading freshness and undimmed glory4 ,the statutes binding on ,israel in the wilderness and in ,canaan may not be in the same sense binding on our age1 but they have not for this reason become valueless4 ,they made revelations of ,god then1 truthful and rich2 they make revelations of ,god still which it were but small indication of wisdom or good sense to ignore4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,,creation4 ,,fitly the written word of ,god to the race begins with the creation4 ,in every reflecting mind the first inquiry must be this3 ,whence am ,i8 ,whence came my beingthis wonderful existence2 these active powers8 ,it must be that ,i am indebted for all these gifts to some higher ,being2 how earnestly then do ,i ask,to whom8,no other question can claim priority to this4 ,every thing in its nature and relations gives it precedence above all other questions4 ,inasmuch as my reason affirms to me that ,i owe my existence to some great ,maker1 ,i feel that ,i must know ,him and must know my responsibilities to ,him4 ,i need to learn also how the further questionmy future destinymay link itself with my relations to ,him who brought me into being4 ,of secondary yet similar interest are the corresponding questions as to the world we live in4 ,who made it8 ,does its ,maker hold it under his own control8 ,does ,he still operate its forces and wield its agencies8 ,have ,i any obligations and duties toward ,him who made the earth and all that is therein8 ,verily ,i must assume that if there be a ,god1 at once ,creator and ,upholder of the earth and ,father of his rational offspring1 his written word will hasten to throw light on the otherwise dark minds of his childrenwill let them know that 8in the beginning ,god made the heavens and the earth0 and man4 ,the moral lessons of this great fact,god our ,creatorare forcibly brought out in later scriptures4 ,listen to the ,psalmist3 8,o come1 let us sing unto the ,lord 444 for he is a great ,god and a great ,king above all gods4 ,in his hands are the deep places of the earth2 the strength of the hills is his also4 ,the sea is his and he made it1 and his hands formed the dry land4 ,o come1 let us worship and bow down2 let us kneel before the ,lord our ,maker1 for he is our ,god and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand40 7,ps4 #ie3 #a-g47 ,note also the blended sublimity and beauty of ,david's appeal3 8,praise the ,lord2 sing unto him a new song1 for the earth is full of the goodness of the ,lord4 ,by the word of the ,lord were the heavens made and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth4 ,he gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap2 he layeth up the depth in store-houses4 ,let all the earth fear the ,lord2 let the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him1 for he spake and it was3 he commanded1 and it stood fast40 7,ps4 #cc3 #a-i47 ,still higher if possible rises the lofty strain of ,isaiah when he would set forth the unequalled power of the great ,creator as the ,refuge and ,salvation of his trustful children38,who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and meted out heaven with a span1 and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure1 and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance8 ,to whom then will ye liken ,god08 etc4 7,isa4 #dj3 #ab1 #ah74,so when ,job had indulged himself too far in questioning the ways of ,god in providence1 the ,lord replied out of the whirlwind1 demanding of him8,where wert thou when ,i laid the foundations of the earth8 ,declare if thou hast understanding4 ,who hath laid the measures thereof if thou knowestwho hath stretched the line upon it8 ,whereupon were the foundations thereof fastened1 or who laid the corner-stone thereof when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of ,god shouted for joy08444 8,canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds that abundance of waters may cover thee8 ,canst thou send lightnings that they may go and say unto thee1 ,here are we08 7,job #ch3 #d-g1 #cd1 #ce47 ,in that great conflict of ages against idolatry1 the one final appeal was wont to be made to this great fact of ,god's ,creatorship4 ,we have examples in ,ps4 #aae3 #b-h and ,jer4 #aj3 #a-af and elsewhere4,thus throughout the sacred word this great fact that ,god is our ,creator1 involving the whole sphere of ,god in nature1 stands as the first witness to his true divinity1 the first proof that in him we live and have our beingthe ground of the first claim upon us for supreme homage1 worship1 trust1 love and obedience4 ,the first lessons taught in ,eden were taken from this great and open volume of natural religion4 ,the first lessons which ,god's people were to place before the heathen in their mission work of the early ages were drawn from the visible worlds and from their testimony to the ,great ,creator4 ,these manifestations are the alphabet of ,god2 the point therefore from which progressive revelations begin4 ,noticeably the record of the creation 7,gen4 #a and #b7 rests not with simply giving the general statement that ,god made all things1 but enters somewhat into the particulars1 reciting in certain points the steps of the process and the order of its details4 ,first the heavens and the earth had a beginning and this beginning was from ,god4 ,at some stage in the process1 perhaps the next in order after the heavens and the earth could be said to be1 the earth was chaotic1 i4 e4 formless and desolate2 then ,god brought forth light2 then to clear the atmosphere somewhat of mists and vapors1 he caused some of its waters to rise into the expanse1 and some to descend to the earth below2 then gathered waters below into seas1 leaving portions of the earth's surface dry land4 ,then he brought forth grass and herbage2 next1 the light-bearers in the heavens appearedthe sun1 moon and stars2 then came into being fish1 reptiles and fowl2 and on the sixth day land1 animals and man4 ,thus in six successive periods of time1 through steps of gradation easily traced by the witnessing 8sons of ,god0 7,job #ch3 #g71 the processes of this creative work were finished4 ,the ,great ,father would have his first-born unfallen 8sons0 as well as his later-born and redeemed children enjoy these works of his creative hand1 and therefore he developed them slowly and in the order of naturally successive steps that they might see that all was truly 8good10 8very good40 ,partly because of advances made within recent times in physical science1 partly because of speculations not always friendly in tone to the inspired record1 and partly because of the intrinsic interest and importance of the subject1 some special points in this narrative demand very particular attention4 #a4 ,the origin of the written record and the manner of its revelation to men4 ,the entire book of ,genesis is ascribed to ,moses on most valid grounds2 whether as compiler only or as original author1 is1 therefore1 the first question4,i do not see how this point can be determined with absolute certainty4 ,the probabilities in my view favor the supposition of previously written documents1 these probabilities arising1 not to any considerable extent from manifest differences of style in its various portions1 and not at all from diversities in the use of the names of ,god1 ,jehovah and ,elohim2 but mainly from the strong presumption that such genealogical records as abound in ,genesis1 coupled so largely with numbers1 would be put in writing before the age of ,moses4 ,men who had the knowledge of writing would certainly appreciate its utility for the preservation of such facts as these4,and further2 the very use of the word 8generations0#a 7,gen4 #b3 #d7 in the sense of history1 and much more still the statement 7,gen4 #e3 #a71 8,this is the book of the generations of ,adam10 raise this presumption nearly or quite to a certainty4,in making up the historical portions of the ,scriptures it seems rational to assume that the ,lord moved 8holy men of old0 to put in writing such facts falling under their personal observation and immediate knowledge as he deemed useful for these sacred records4 ,in some cases the writer might be 7as was ,luke7 just one remove from the original eye-witnesses1 yet in a position to learn the facts with 8perfect understanding0 and 8certainty40 ,we should not doubt the power of ,god to give to holy men these historic facts by immediate revelation2 but the question is not one of power1 but of wisdom1 of divine policy1 and of fact4 ,the divine policy seems to have been 7in this case as in miracles7 never to introduce the supernatural1 the miraculous1 to do what the natural might accomplish equally well4 ,on this principle inspired men were moved of ,god to use their own eyes and minds in writing ,scripture history in all cases when the facts came within their certain knowledge4 ,there were facts1 like these of the creation1 which fell under no human eye1 and which therefore do not come under this principle4 ,some form of direct revelation from ,god is1 therefore1 to be assumed here4 ,though the supposition of a revealing angel might find some support from subsequent prophetic ,scriptures1 yet a direct revelation from ,god to some inspired writer is the more obvious supposition4,it has been asked,was this creation in its processes and announcements shown in a manner analogous to prophetic visionthe writer then recording in his own phrase what he saw and heard8,there being no testimony on this point from either of the two partiesthe divine ,revealer or the human writerwe must leave it undecided4 ,fortunately it is of no particular importance to us4,it is1 however1 of some importance that we consider the question whether in this account of the creation we are to look for statements adjusted to sciencenot merely to the stage of its progress in this present year of the nineteenth century1 but to the perfect science of ultimate fact2 or1 on the other hand1 for statements adapted to the average mind of ,hebrew readers in the age of ,moses1 written for their comprehension1 instruction and spiritual culture4 ,i answer unhesitatingly1 the latter4 8,all ,scripture1 given by inspiration of ,god1 is profitable for doctrine 444 and for instruction in righteousness0 7#b ,tim4 #c3 #af71 and was of ,god designed and shaped for these ends4,yet let it be borne in mind2 these statements respecting the processes of creation1 being in the sense intended1 actually true1 will not conflict with any true science4 ,they may omit processes which human analysis and research may render probable1 passing them as not germain to the scope of a moral revelation and as not likely to be intelligible to the masses of mankind4,finallythat the assumed stand-point of view from which these processes of creation are contemplated is on this earth and not elsewhere in the universe is certain from the fact that it was written to be read and understood by men and not by angels4 ,hence we must expect the facts to be presented as they would have appeared to a supposed observer upon our globe4 #b4 ,what is the true idea of nature1 and what the line between nature and the supernatural8 ,a reference to familiar facts will best set forth the case4 ,thus2 it is in and by nature that at a certain temperature water becomes vapor2 at another temperature1 ice2 that vapor rises in the atmosphere1 water runs downward1 and ice abides under the laws of solids4 ,on the other hand it is not in nature that water in any of its forms creates itself4 ,its elements can not begin to be1 save by some power above nature4,again1 by nature plants and animals reproduce their kind1 but never can of themselves begin their own existence4 ,hence some of the processes brought before us in this record of creation come under the head of nature2 others are as obviously supernaturalfrom the immediate hand of ,god4 ,the work of the second daythe mists of the atmosphere1 in part ascending in vapor1 in part precipitated upon the earth in waterseems to have followed natural law4 ,in the work of the third1 the waters on higher portions of the earth's surface subsiding into the seas1 follow the law of flowing water4 ,but the original creation of matter and the beginnings of life1 both vegetable and animal1 must have been supernaturalfrom the immediate fiat of the ,almighty4 ,this point would scarcely need special definition had not extreme views been put forth in our times2 as 7e4 g47 that nature is virtually a second-rate deityindebted to ,god1 indeed1 for the original gift of its powers1 but thenceforward working those powers independently of ,godmade to run without ,god after he has once wound it up as the mechanic makes and winds up his watch4 ,but the ,scriptures recognize no such semi-deification of nature4 ,according to their teaching1 ,god still 8upholds all things by the word of his power0 7,heb4 #a3 #c72 8,by him all things consist0 7,col4 #a3 #ag7;i4 e41 are maintained in their existenceare held to system and order under natural law4 ,it is precisely ,god himself who gives or withholds the rain2 who calls to the lightnings and they answer1 8,here we are07,job #ch3 #ce72 and it is none the less ,god who wields these agencies because he does it in harmony with principles which are just as fixed as he pleases to have them4 ,therefore true science will take no exception to the doctrine that nature is nothing more or less than ,god's established mode of operation4 ,we may call these modes of operations 8laws0 or 8powers10 and may think and speak of them as constituting 8,nature20 but if we come to regard ,nature as a maker and a doer1 working independently of ,god1 we have 7inadvertently perhaps1 but none the less really7 ruled ,god out of his own universe4 ,both ,scripture and reason hold that 8in him we live and move and have our being40 7,acts #ag3 #bh47 ,the broad fact that ,god's intelligent creatures must live in this material world and be constantly acting upon matter and acted upon by matter1 suggests abundant reasons why ,god should ordain fixed laws for the changes and states of all material things4 ,but why should we think of ,god's hand as any the less present in all these changes of material states and forms because they follow fixed and ascertainable laws8 ,in truth the divine wisdom is only the more abundantly manifested by means of this reliable uniformity4 ,another doctrine yet more extreme severs all connection between nature and an intelligent ,power above and over her1 and thus makes her supreme in her domain4 ,this is so far ,atheismruling ,god out from at least the entire material universe4,yet1 again2 to make nature herself intelligentto ascribe to nature whatever traces of design appear in her operations1 and to hold that nature is herself the universe1 undistinguishable from any higher spiritual power1 is ,pantheism4,it is therefore important to define nature so that her true relations to the ,supreme ,intelligencethe very ,god,creator and ,lord of the universeshall be distinctly seen and reverently recognized4 ,the advocates of extreme naturalism have labored faithfully to verify their doctrine by experiment4 ,they have put ,nature to tasknot to say tortureto compel her to originate life4 ,pushing their chemical analysis of those forms of matter in which life is thought specially to reside1 they flatter themselves that they have at last got their hands on the very elements which1 brought together1 make life1 viz4 carbonic acid1 ammonia1 and water1 chemically combined4 ,to this compound they give the name1 8protoplasm40 ,they have found1 they say1 that where life is there is protoplasm1 its home and dwelling-place at least2 and that life never appears lodging in any other home4 ,they can not see that the presence of life adds any thing to this compound1 or that its absence takes any thing away4 ,therefore they are sure they have found what makes life4 ,now the skillful chemist in his laboratory has not the least difficulty in providing himself with carbonic acid1 ammonia1 and water4 ,why then does he not evolve the long-sought-for life-force and prove his doctrine1 past all doubt8 ,let him bring out new beings1 new forms of life1 vegetable or animal or both1 in ample diversity1 for the range is unlimited4 ,let his laboratory push forth into being such troops of offspring as will forever confound gainsayers and prove that ,nature1 properly manipulated1 is equal to the production of life-forces in endless variety and abundance4 ,have any modern scientists done this8 ,not yet4 ,have they made any approximation toward it8 ,mr4 ,huxley thinks he has come so near to it that if he could only have at his service the favorable conditions of the very earliest state of matter1 he should succeed4 8,if it were given me 7says he7 to look beyond the abyss of geologically-recorded time to the still more remote period when the earth was passing through physical and chemical conditions which it can no more see again than a man can recall his infancy1 ,i should expect to be a witness of the evolution of living protoplasm from not living matter4 ,that is the expectation to which analogical reasoning leads me40#b8,not living matter evolving living protoplasm0 means that matter itself1 dead matter1 begets real life4 ,nature would thus become herself a creator1 exercising the most decisive functions of the ,infinite ,god4 ,mr4 ,huxley can not make ,nature do this exploit in the present state of this world or of the universe2 but he fully believes there was a time when he should have seen it if he had been there6 ,this is his proof of the new doctrine4 ,he will not presume to 8call it any thing but an act of philosophic faith40 #c4 ,the sense of the word 8day0 as used in ,gen4 ,i4 of the six days of creation4 ,to simplify the subject ,i make the single issue,is it a period of twenty-four hours1 or a period of special character1 indefinitely long8 ,the latter theory supposes the word to refer here not so much to duration as to special characterthe sort of work done and the changes produced during the period contemplated4 ,turning our attention to this latter theory1 we raise three leading inquiries3 7#a47 ,do the laws of language and1 specially1 does the usage of the word 8day0 permit it8 7#b47 ,apart from the bearing of geological facts1 are there points in the narrative itself which demand or even favor this sense of the word8 7#c47 ,what are the geological facts bearing on this question1 and what weight may legitimately be accorded to them8 7#a47 ,beyond all question the word 8day0 is used abundantly1 7and therefore admits of being used7 to denote a period of special character1 with no particular reference to its duration4 ,we have a case in this immediate connection 7,gen4 #b3 #d71 where it is used of the whole creative period3 8,in the day that the ,lord ,god made the earth and the heavens40 ,under the same usage we have 8the day of the ,lord0 7#a ,thess4 #e3 #b7 for the day of judgment2 8the day of ,god10 in the same sense 7#b ,pet4 #c3 #ab72 8the day of salvation0 7#b ,cor4 #f3 #b72 8day of redemption0 7,eph4 #d3 #cj72 a 8day of darkness and of gloominess2 a day of clouds and of thick darkness0 7,joel #b3 #b74 8,in the day of prosperity1 be joyful2 but in the day of adversity1 consider0 7,eccl4 #g3 #ad74 8,if thou hadst known in this thy day the things10 etc4 7,luke #ai3 #db74 ,so also ,job #ai3 #be1 and ,john #h3 #ef1 etc4 ,to set aside this testimony from usage as being inapplicable to the present case1 it has been said7a47 ,that here is a succession of days1 8first day10 8second day10 8third day10 etc41 and that this requires the usual sense of days of the week4,to which the answer is that here are six special periods succeeding each othera sufficient reason for using the word in the peculiar sense of a period of special character4 ,each of these periods is distinct from any and all the rest in the character of the work wrought in it4,the reason for dividing the creative work into six periods8days0rather than into more or fewer lies in the divine wisdom as to the best proportion of days of man's labor to the one day of his rest1 the ,sabbath4 ,god's plan for his creative work contemplated his own example as suggestive of man's ,sabbath and was shaped accordingly4 ,this accounts for dividing the work of creation into six special periods1 correlated to ,god's day of rest from creative work47b47 ,it will also be urged that each of these days is said to be made up of evening and of morning8,the evening and the morning were the first day10 etc4 ,but the strength of this objection comes mainly from mistranslation and consequent misconception of the original4 ,the precise thought is not that evening and morning composed or made up one full day2 but rather this3 ,there was evening and there was morningday one1 i4 e41 day number one4 ,there was darkness and then there was light1 indicating one of the great creative periods4#c ,it is one thing to say,there were alternations of evening and morningi4 e4 dark scenes and bright scenesmarking the successive periods of creation1 first1 second1 third1 etc42 and another thing to affirm that each of these evenings and mornings made up a day4 ,the point specially affirmed in the two cases1 though somewhat analogous1 is not by any means identical4,let it be considered moreover1 that while in ,hebrew as in ,english1 night and day are often used for the average twelve-hour duration of darkness and of light respectively in each twenty-four hours1 yet in neither language are the words evening and morning used in this sense1 as synonymous with night and day4 ,indeed 8evening0 and 8morning0 are rather points than periods of time2 certainly do not indicate any definite amount of timeany precise number of hours2 but are used to denote the two great changesi4 e4 from light to darkness and from darkness to light2 in other words1 from day to night and from night to day4 ,therefore to make evening and morning added together constitute one day is entirely without warrant in either ,hebrew or ,english usage and can not be the meaning of these passages in ,genesis4#d 7#b47 ,the showing of the narrative itself1 considered apart from the bearing of geological facts4 7a47 ,here vs4 #c-e demand special attention1 this first day being the model one4,i understand 8evening0 to be the chaotic state of v4 #b1 when 8darkness was on the face of the deep10 and 8morning0 to be that first 8light0 which ,god spake into being4 ,the reason for using these words8evening and morning0in this sense ,i find in the universal sentiment of mankind that light is pleasant and darkness is not4 ,this sentiment is indicated here2 8,god saw the light that it was good40 ,the state of chaos was in contrast with thisdismal1 dreary1 awakening no sense of beauty or order2 no emotions of joy4 ,the light of day brings joy1 and the freshest and best sensation of it comes with the morning4 ,hence these words were fitly and beautifully appropriate to the two great creative statesfirst chaos2 secondly1 lightwhich together marked off the first of the six creative days4,but we can not for a moment think of this chaotic state as being only twelve hours4 ,we can not rationally think of the word 8evening0 applied to it as having any reference to time1 duration4 ,it was an evening only in the sense of being dark1 desolate1 any thing but joyous like the morning4 ,the word 8evening0 may be chosen rather than night for the sake of a more perfect antithesis with 8morning40 7b47 ,throughout at least the first three of these creative epochs there was no sun-rising and setting to mark off the ordinary day4 ,these therefore were not the common human day2 but1 as ,augustine long ago said1 these are the days of ,goddivine daysmeasuring off his great creative periods4 ,god moved through these six great periods by successive stages of labor and of rest4 ,beginning with the long evening of chaos2 then advancing to a glorious day of light2 then1 after a cessation analogous to man's rest by night1 he proceeded to the work of the second daythe joyous and beautiful development of the firmament in the heavens4 ,so onward by stages of repose and of activity1 these figurative evenings and mornings continued through the six successive epochs of creation4 7c47 ,in some at least of these creative epochs1 the work done demands more time than twenty-four hours4 ,for example1 the gathering of the waters from under the heavens into one place to constitute the seas or oceans and leave portions of the earth's surface dry land4 ,nothing short of absolute miracle could effect this in one human day4 ,but miracle should not be assumed here1 the rule of reason and the normal law of ,god's operations being never to work a miracle in a case where the ordinary course of nature will accomplish the same results equally well4 ,we must the more surely exclude miracle and assume the action of natural law only throughout these processes of the creative work because the very purpose of a protracted rather than an instantaneous creation looked manifestly to the enlightenment1 instruction1 interest1 and joy of those 8morning stars10 the 8sons of ,god0 who beheld the scene1 then 8sang together and shouted for joy0 7,job #ch3 #g74 ,the greatness of the work assigned to the fourth day stringently forbids our compressing it within the limits of one ordinary human day4 ,especially is this the case if we understand the verse to speak of the original creation of these light-bearersthe sun and the moon and the stars also1 and of their adjustment in their spheres for their assigned work4 ,think of the vastness of the sun and of the numbers1 magnitude1 and immense distances of the stars2 and ask how it is possible that the creation of these bodies could be either instructive or joyful to the beholding angels if it had been all rushed through within twenty-four hours of human time4,this difficulty is in a measure relieved if we suppose the fourth day's work to have been1 not the original creation of these heavenly bodies1 but only the bringing of them into the view of a supposed spectator upon the earthi4 e4 by clearing the atmosphere so as to make these heavenly bodies visible4 ,the question at issue between these two constructions of the fourth day's work must be examined in its place4,the amount of creative and other work brought within the sixth day should be noticed4 ,first1 ,god created all the land animals2 then ,adam2 then he brought 8every beast of the field and every fowl of the air0 to ,adam to see what he would call themwhich at least must assume that ,adam had attained a somewhat full knowledge of language1 and that he had time enough to study the special character of each animal so as to give each one its appropriate name1 and time enough also to ascertain that there was not one among them all adapted to be a 8helpmeet0 for himself4 ,then the 8deep sleep0 of ,adamhow long protracted1 the record saith not2 and finally the creation of ,eve from one of his ribsall to come within the sixth day2 for the creation of ,eve certainly falls within this day1 being a part of the creative work1 and accomplished1 therefore1 before ,god's seventh day of rest from all his work began4 ,these labors of the sixth day1 moreover1 were precisely such as should not be rushed through in haste4 ,the importance1 not to say solemnity1 of these transactions and the special interest they must be supposed to awaken in the first-born 8sons of ,god0 most stringently preclude precipitate haste4 ,it is not easy to see how ,moses or his intelligent readers of the early time could have supposed all this to have transpired within the twelve hours of light in a human day4,we may say1 moreover1 in regard to each and all of these six creative periods that if the holy angels were indeed spectators of these scenes and if ,god adjusted his methods of creation to the capacities of these pupilsthese admiring students of his glorious worksthen surely we must not think of his compressing them within the period of six human days4 ,divine days they certainly must have been1 sufficiently protracted to afford finite minds scope for intelligent study1 adoring contemplation1 and as the ,bible indicates1 most rapturous shouts of joy4 ,against the theory of indefinitely long periods1 it is objected that the law of the ,sabbath demands the usual sense of the word 8day40 ,the record in ,gen4 #b3 #b1 #c1 is8,on the seventh day ,god ended his work which he had made2 and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made4 ,and ,god blessed the seventh day and sanctified it1 because that in it he had rested from all his work which he had created and made40 ,the words of the fourth command are8,six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work2 but the seventh day is the ,sabbath of the ,lord thy ,god1 etc4for in six days the ,lord made heaven and earth3 wherefore the ,lord blessed the ,sabbath day and hallowed it40,the real argument here rests on the analogy between ,god's working and resting1 and man's labor and rest4 ,in each case the period of labor is six out of seven2 of rest1 one in seven4 ,this argument does not require that ,god's six working days and one resting day should be of twenty-four hours each4 ,if it did1 we should be hard pressed to show that ,god's seventh day of rest from creation's work was a merely human day from sun to sun4 ,no2 it suffices if we make ,god's days of creative energy and of creative rest each and all divine daysall alike periods of indefinite lengthall of the same sort2 and on the other hand man's days of labor and his day of rest1 all human days1 of the same sort with each other1 from sun to sun4 ,as ,god's resting day is plainly of indefinite lengtha period known by its character and not by its duration1 so should his days of creative labor be3 not only so may they be1 but so they ought to be according to the analogy and argument in the case4,we come therefore to the conclusion that entirely apart from the demands of geological science1 the creative days must be periods of indefinite length1 called 8days0 with reference to the peculiar work done in them and to their peculiar character1 and not as being the ordinary human day of twenty-four hours4 ,it may be admitted1 moreover1 that the phraseology and the whole shaping of the narrative in respect to days may have contemplated the institution of the ,sabbathto be founded as shown above upon the analogy of ,god's labor and rest with man's permitted labor and enjoined rest in commemoration of ,god's work of creation4 7#c47 ,we are to consider the geological facts bearing on this point and the weight legitimately due to them4 ,if the point last put has been sustained1 it will be seen at the outset that even should geology make large demands for time1 far beyond the ordinary human day1 we shall have no occasion to strain the laws of interpretation to bring the record into harmony with such demands4,we open this inquiry therefore into the facts of geology1 not so much to make out if possible a harmony between them and ,genesis by toning down the facts of science or by toning up the inspired record1 as to show how readily and how beautifully the facts just as they are 7so far as known7 accord with the legitimate sense of the sacred record4 ,preliminary to the main inquiry before us is the question as to the primary original state of matter4 ,was it brought into existence in its primordial elementsthose molecules which not only defy all human effort at analysis1 but which seem to be in their nature the simplest forms of matter8,chemistry has shown that many of the most familiar substances1 long supposed to be simple1 are really compound4 ,were they brought into existence in the state in which we commonly see them1 or in their ultimate1 most simple elements8 ,for example1 did ,god originally create water1 or the two gases 7hydrogen and oxygen7 of which it is composed1 which were subsequently combined chemically into water8,on this point the ,scriptures are silent4 ,if ,science has any thing to reveal about it1 the field is open to her and she may proceed1 nothing in the sacred ,scriptures dissenting or restricting4 ,if she succeeds in proving or half proving that the first state of matter was nebulousa 8fire-mist0gaseous in form1 very well4 ,i do not see that the record of ,moses contests this theory4 ,it passes this point with no dogmatic statements whatever1 not even a fact which necessarily implies either the affirmative or the negative4 ,the record in ,genesis does assume that at the point where the second day's work begins1 the atmosphere was heavily charged with vapor1 and that a part of this was precipitated upon the earth in water and a part borne upward into the higher strata of the atmosphere4 ,the third day's work gathered the waters then upon the earth's surface into the ocean beds and left portions of the land dry4 ,consequently the state of the atmosphere1 and in general the condition of the waters of our globe were not arranged at first just as we have them now4 ,so much we are told4 ,there are yet other preliminary questions4 ,on the shores of lakes1 seas1 oceans1 we find pebbles rounded and smooth1 mineralogically of the same elements which are found in rock formations4 ,were they created in this rounded and worn state1 or were they once portions of these rock strata1 but subsequently broken up by natural agencies and worn by the action of flowing water8 ,another case4 ,coal beds often contain what seem to be whole trees and huge vegetables 7ferns1 etc47 apparently charred and converted into coal4 ,were they created just as we find them1 or were they indeed trees and vegetables before they became coal8,yet another case4 ,the rocks nearest the surface contain almost universally more or less of what seem like fossilized plants and animals4 ,they have the form of the plant or animal in wonderful perfection4 ,were these fossiliferous rocks1 containing apparent fossils1 created as we see them1 or were these fossils once real plants and animals8,i see no reason whatever to hesitate over these questions4 ,we can not suppose that ,god created these worn and rounded pebbles1 these charred trees and ferns1 these prints of animal footstepsthese fac-similes of his creative work in the vegetable and animal kingdom1 for the sake of puzzling or misleading1 or1 in plainest words1 deceiving his intelligent offspring4 ,he never could have meant to baffle all scientific inquiry into his works of creation4 ,rather we must assume that he lays his works open to such inquiries1 and invites men to study and learn his ways4 ,if this be admitted1 it follows that these stratified and fossil-bearing rocks open to us a great volume of ,pre-,adamic history of our globe1 revealing its processes of rock-formation2 to some extent its climatic and various conditions for the support of life1 vegetable and animal1 and for its successive populations of plants and animals4 ,grouping comprehensively some geological facts bearing on the duration of the great creative periods1 ,i note 7#a47 ,vast strata of rock-formations1 widely diverse from each other1 too diverse to have been formed under the same circumstances and conditions of our globe4 ,somethe lowest in relative positionappear to have been once in a state of fusion under intense heat1 while othersin general all the higher rocksseem to have been deposited under water4 ,mineralogically1 these rocks differ from each other very widely and also from the fused rocks47#b47 ,again1 some are manifestly composed of fragments of pre-existing rocks1 broken off and worn by long-continued attrition and then compactedknown as pudding-stonethe breccias47#c47 ,yet again2 immense strata of these intermediate and higher rocks contain fossil organic remains1 some of vegetables1 others of animals or of both1 and also in very great variety4 ,more marvelous still2 they are found occurring in groups1 bearing a well defined relation to each other1 so that one strata of rock contains species of vegetables and also of animals in a measure adapted to each other1 and adjusted to the condition of the earth's surface and climate at one and the same time4 ,another strata shall contain a different group1 to some extent new and yet not altogether so1 but lapping on with some of the earth's old inhabitants reproduced1 and omitting other species47#d47 ,again1 immense beds of coal are found1 undoubtedly of vegetable origin1 differing somewhat widely from each other as having been formed from diverse vegetable and forest material1 and under various degrees of heat and pressure4 ,no small amount of time must be given for the growth and deposition of these mountain piles of tree and fern4,the charring of these coal-pits of nature was provided for in the 8fervent heat0 of the earth just below the surface1 coupled with pressure brought upon them it would seem by convulsions and upbreakings1 to which the earth's crust has been many times subjected47#e47 ,limestone1 largely of animal origin1 demands in like manner time for the growth of the animals whose shelly incasements1 accumulating age after age1 have made such ample provision of limestone and of lime for the use of man4 ,this list of nature's facts as the practiced eye reads them from the crust of our earth does not claim to be exhaustive4 ,if it were all1 however1 it would still be amply sufficient to sustain the demand for long creative periods as opposed to ordinary human days4 ,it should not be forgotten that this demand1 coming forth from the facts developed in the crust of the earth1 falls in most fully with what we have seen to be the legitimate construction of the ,mosaic record4 ,prominent points of harmony between ,genesis and ,geology4 7#a47 ,creation was a gradual process1 spanning from beginning to end long periods of time4 ,i use the word 8creation0 to comprehend not only the original production of matter1 but its subsequent changes and transformations till the earth was fully prepared for the abode of man4 7#b47 ,the earth was for a considerable time under water4 ,the record of ,moses is decisive to this point4 ,the current theory in respect to the formation of most if not all the rocky strata of the earth's crust is equally so4 7#c47 ,there was light on the earth before the appearance of the sun4 ,genesis dates the light from the first day2 the appearance of the sun1 from the fourth4,the theory that the primitive state of created matter was gaseous 7or nebulous7 provides for this1 since it is well known that the chemical combination of the two gases that form water 7for instance7a combination produced by electricity1 evolves light4 ,but we are not restricted to this hypothesis to account for light before the sun was visible4 ,the state of the atmosphere may furnish all the causes needed4 ,see below1 page #cb4 7#d47 ,vegetables were created before animals4 ,so ,moses1 for he locates the former on the third day2 the latter on the fifth and sixth4 ,this is of course the order of nature since the animals are to subsist on vegetables4 ,geology finds vegetables in fossil state below the earliest animals4 7#e47 ,among the animal tribes1 those of the water are before those of the land4 ,genesis gives us fish and reptiles and even fowl before the mammalsland animalsthe former on the fifth day2 the latter with man on the sixth4 ,geology indorses this order1 showing that fish and reptiles lie in rocks lower and older than quadrupeds4 7#f47 ,man is last of all4 ,the testimony of the rocks is here at one with that of ,genesisother animals and the vegetables also1 long ages before man4 ,now how has it happened that this record1 coming to us through ,moses1 harmonizes so wonderfully with the main results of a science yet in its infancyalmost utterly unknown until the present century8 ,is it due to the scientific attainments of ,moses8 ,is it not rather due to inspiration8holy men of old0,moses himself or the fathers before himbeing taught by the same ,being who 8in the beginning created the heavens and the earth80 ,the marvel is that this record should be so constructed as to present a very intelligible view of the processes of the six days' work to the average mind of the race before geological science was born1 and yet when this science begins to develop the constitution and composition of the earth's surface1 the inspired record is found to harmonize with these developments in all important features4 ,so it is wont to happen4 ,truth rejoices in the light4 ,a truthful ,bible and all true science meet in loving communion1 evincing their common parentageoffspring of the same ,infinite ,father4 #d4 8,in the beginning ,god created the heavens and the earth40 ,was this the original production of matter2 or was it only the modification of pre-existent matter into new forms8 7#a47 ,that this was the original production of matter is probable a priori because it is true1 and because it is a truth very important to affirm in this first revelation4 ,matter is not eternal and self-existent4 ,those who intelligently believe in one ,supreme ,godan ,infinite1 ,intelligent ,spirit1 will need no words wasted to disprove the assumption that matter existed from eternity1 the ,author of itself2 for this assumption ascribes to matter the distinctive qualities of ,god himself4,it is moreover important that ,god should declare himself to be the author of all existing matter in the universe4 ,this is one of his great and distinctive worksone which human speculation has been prone to deny him1 and which therefore it is of the utmost consequence that he should affirm4 7#b47 ,the passage 7,ps4 #ij3 #b7 ascribed to ,moses1 expressly declares that ,god existed 8before the mountains40 8,before the mountains were brought forth1 even from everlasting to everlasting thou art ,god40 ,moses did not think matter to be eternal4 ,he knew and taught that ,god existed from eternity and that matter did not4 ,the obvious sense of his words is that ,god 8brought forth0 7i4 e4 into existence7 the mountains of this earthly globe4 7#c47 ,the writer to the ,hebrews affirms that this doctrine,god the original ,creator of matteris accepted by faith1 i4 e4 upon the credit of ,god's own testimony4 8,by faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of ,god so that things which are seen were not made of things that do appear0 7,heb4 #aa3 #c74 ,not being constructed out of matter previously apparent1 they must have been made by the direct production of matter not before existing4 7#d47 ,this is the natural and obvious sense of the words and this the place to affirm this first fact in the work of creation4 ,this is the point to start with4 ,how came the matter of the universe into being at all8 ,whence came this material substance composing the heavens and the earth8 ,in the beginning ,god created it4,it may be said truthfully that if ,god had purposed to reveal himself as the ,author of matterthe real ,maker of it allhe could have found no words more fitted to his purpose than these4 ,hence to deny that this is their sense is the next thing to denying to ,god the right or the power to reveal this fact at all4 7#e47 ,it is objected that the primary sense of the word bara#e 7used here7 is not to bring into existence what had no existence before1 but 8to cut1 to cut out1 to carve0 7,gesenius72 8to cut1 form1 fashion0 7,fuerst74 ,but this objection1 though plausible to a merely superficial view1 is really of very little force4 ,usage1 not etymological relation1 gives law to language4 ,the etymological1 primary sense of barak1 the common ,hebrew word for bless1 is to break2 then to bend as the knee1 to kneel and to cause one to kneel2 and then1 perhaps from the custom of kneeling to receive the patriarchal benediction1 or to implore blessings from ,god1 comes the ultimate and by far the most common significanceto bless4 ,usage in every case must determine the most common and therefore most probable sense2 then the context and the known opinions of the writer come in to aid toward the true sense in any given instance4 ,in the ,hebrew verb regard must be had to its form1 technically called its 8conjugation10 since the sense of the several conjugations from the same root may vary widely4 ,in this verb 7bara7 the sense of ,hiphil conjugation is to fattenwhich is very remote from the sense of 8,kal0 and of its passive 8,niphal40 ,in ,piel only do we find the etymological sense to cut1 to carve out 7five times only7 and these spoken of human operations exclusively 7,josh4 #ag3 #ae1 #ah and ,ezek4 #bc3 #dg and #ba3 #ai74 ,but in ,kal and its passive ,niphal1 we find the word used forty-eight times1 and always of divine operationsalways of some form of creative work wrought by ,god himself and never by man4#f ,the testimony therefore from usage is entirely conclusive to the point that this word in this form of it was specially appropriated to signify ,god's creative actsthe exertion of his creative power4,there are two other ,hebrew words having the sense to make1 to form1 asah and yatsar1 which are sometimes used of ,god as creating but by far most often of man's work in forming and molding material things4 ,now note the argument4 ,the ,hebrews had these three words for making1 out of which one only is used exclusively of ,godnever of manas a maker4 ,now there is one special sense in which ,god can make and man can not1 viz4 that of bringing into existence what had no existence before4 ,over against this1 place the fact that their word 8bara0 is used of ,god's making forty-eight times and of man's making never1 and we must conclude that they expressed by this word that distinctive power of ,god which man never can even approachviz4 the power to give existence to matter1 to mind and to life4 ,in passages where this sense of 8bara0 is appropriate1 there can be no question that it is the real meaning4 #e4 ,the relation of v4 #a to v4 #b and to the rest of the chapter4 ,some have maintained that v4 #a is only a statement in general terms of the contents of the chapter1 a heading1 stating no particular fact distinct from what follows4,others take it to be one fact in the seriesthe first step in the process of the creative workthe successive steps then following in due order4 ,this latter construction ,i accept2 and urge in its support1 7#a47 ,that this is the most obvious sense of the words4 ,the word 8,and0 7v4 #b7 8,and the earth was without form10 etc41 must be taken as continuing the subjectnot as commencing it4 ,it should give us another and succeeding fact1 and not be taken to begin a detailed history4 7#b47 ,this is the natural order of the facts4 ,first1 matter must be brought into existence4 ,nothing can be done with it1 nothing can be said about it1 until it is4 ,the first verse therefore is the natural beginning of the narrativethe first fact to be stated4 ,the second verse gives naturally the next fact1 viz4 the condition of this matter immediately prior to the six days' creative work upon it4 ,deferring the little he has to say upon the 8heavens10 he calls our attention to the earth as being of chief interest to man1 and makes this the main theme of the chapter4,an observer would have seen the earth mantled in darkness1 its atmosphere laden with murky vapors and dense mists2 the surface 7if indeed the waters below could be distinguished from the waters above7 one wide waste of waters1 all formless1 vast1 dismal2 with nothing of order or beauty on which the eye could rest4 ,above and upon this shapeless mass the ,spirit of ,god was hovering1 or shall we say incubating1 for such may be the figure involved in the ,hebrew verb4 ,moreover it seems to be implied that this action of the creative ,spirit was protracted4 ,the ,hebrew participle 7used here7 expresses continued actionwas brooding over1 incubating1 this wild1 waste1 desolate mass4 ,some scientific men suppose they find in this second verse1 not water1 but the gaseous matter which ultimately became water and solid earth4 ,this construction originates in a theory in regard to the primal form in which the matter of our world came from the ,creator's hand1 which theory may or may not be true1 but if true is too remote from the common mind and too foreign from the scope of divine revelation to allow us to suppose that ,god would refer to it in his revelation4,carrying out this scientific theory1 some have held#g that not only the 8waters0 of v4 #b but those of vs4 #f1 #g1 were gases1 not waters4 ,the fatal objections to this theory arethat these 8waters0 are the same which in vs4 #i1 #aj1 are 8gathered into one place0 and 8called seas20 also that the common people for several thousand years could not have understood ,moses if he had spoken of gasescertainly could not have understood their common word for waters to mean gases4,it is not well to strain and force this simple narrative to speak so scientifically as to be unintelligible to those for whom it was primarily written4,the first state of created matter may have been gaseous4 ,the record in ,genesis has said nothing to forbid this4 ,it certainly could not come within its province to teach it4 ,suffice it that time enough may be found between verses #a and #b for a portion of this gaseous matter to form waternot to say also to form the more solid portions of this globe4 ,the connection of v4 #b with v4 #a is such that an indefinitely long period may have intervened4 ,the first verb of v4 #b implies no close connection with v4 #a4 ,but in v4 #c the form of the first verb8,and then ,god said0does make a close historical connection with v4 #b4 #f4 ,the work of the fourth day4 ,were the light-bearers 78lights0 in the sense of luminaries7 in the heavens1 viz4 the sun1 moon1 and stars also1 8made10 created1 on this day1 or simply brought forth to the view of a supposed observer upon the earth8,the latter theory that they were not first brought into being then1 but only brought into view from the earthseems to me most probable1 because7#a47 ,to suppose them created then would be out of all proportion for one day's work among the six4 ,throughout the other five days' work a beautiful proportion obtains3 it should therefore be expected in this4,if it be said that this consideration draws its great strength from our astronomical knowledge of those heavenly bodiesmuch more enlarged than those of the age of ,moses1 ,i answer 7a47 ,moses1 8learned in all the wisdom of the ,egyptians10 was not altogether a novice in astronomy7b47 ,modern astronomy is essentially true1 not overrating the relative magnitude of the heavenly bodies2 and this record in ,genesis comes from one who knew all the truth4 7#b47 ,if these verses be understood to speak of their original creation1 it would seem to be out of place here between the creation of vegetables 7third day7 and of the earliest born animals 7the fifth74 ,but in the sense of bringing these heavenly bodies to view and the sun into its normal action upon vegetables and upon animal comfort1 it is precisely in place4 7#c47 ,according to the interpretation given to v4 #a 7above7 the matter composing these heavenly bodies was brought into existence 8in the beginning0 when 8,god created the heavens0 as well as 8the earth0 and before the six days' work began4 ,if so1 then the intervening processes of modification must naturally have been going on from that time until this fourth day4 7#d47 ,some expositors and scientists account for the light on the first day without the sun by means of electricity or other chemical agents2 but it is scarcely possible that ,moses and his first readers could have thought of any thing but the sun as the source of that light1 especially because 8,god called it ,day10 and the darkness alternating with it then 7as ever since the earth began its diurnal revolutions7 8he called ,night40 ,this reference to day and night must naturally carry every ,hebrew mind to the sun as the source of that light and to its well-known withdrawal at evening as the reason for the darkness and the night4,it need not be supposed that the body of the sun was then visible4 ,the state of the atmosphere might have admitted a portion of his light and yet not have disclosed his face4 ,in our times we have seen cloudy1 dark days1 with no sun visible1 yet with a manifest distinction between day and night4 #g4 ,the true sense of the record as to the origin 7#a7 of vegetable life 7vs4 #aa1 #ab71 and 7#b7 of animal life 7vs4 #bj1 #ba1 #bd1 #be47,the important words are1 8,let the earth bring forth grass0 7v4 #aa72 8and the earth brought forth grass0 7v4 #ab74 8,let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature10 etc4 7v4 #bj72 8and ,god created every living creature that moveth which the waters brought forth abundantly0 7v4 #ba74 8,let the earth bring forth the living creature0 7v4 #bd72 8and ,god made the beast of the earth10 etc4 7v4 #be74;,here note that the historical statements give the true sense of the imperatives1 and show plainly that the earth and the waters are not creative but only sustaining powers1 and that they bring forth and sustain only under the fiat of the ,almightyonly when and as ,god said1 ,do it4 ,for the whole tenor of these chapters 7,gen4 #a and #b7 presents to us ,god himself as sole and supreme ,creator4 ,in the closest connection with the earth's bringing forth the living creature1 we are told that ,god made the beast of the field4 ,though the waters brought forth abundantly1 yet it was still ,god himself who created 8every living creature that moveth40 ,the agency of the earth in producing grass is presented in a popular waythe precise1 fundamental thought being1 that ,god made the earth his instrument in bringing forth all things that grow2 and in like manner in sustaining animal life4 ,if we will1 we are at liberty to push our queries and ask not only who gave life1 vegetable and animal1 but how8 ,in just what way did he impart that somethingbe it quality or power or substancewhich we call life8 and deeper still,what is life8 ,is it some subtle form of matter1 or only some indefinable force given to matter2 and if this be it1 ,to what special form of matter is it given8 ,if it be matter1 did ,god sow the tiny germs thereof in the waters and on the land and leave them to be developed under auspicious circumstances8 ,or did he breathe forth from his own infinite life these life-forces into material things to make plants or animals8,and yet again2 ,what was the status of that lump of dead matter 7small or great7 at the point when ,god put into it the life-force and it became living matter1 vegetable or animal8 ,was the first form of the living animal the egg1 or its microscopic cell2 or was it the fully developed animal1 prepared for all life's functions1 and ready to furnish other life-bearing cells for reproduction8 ,on these points what says the record8 ,not much at the utmost4 ,it does seem to assume that ,adam began existence1 not an infant in the normally helpless condition of human birth1 but with fully developed powers4 ,beyond this we look in vain to the record for light4 ,we only know that the life-forcethat subtle entity which always eludes the most vigilant searchwhich distances all the strides of scientific scrutinywhich mocks at chemical analysis and never comes to our call2this life-force we simply know is from ,god himself and from ,god alone4 ,the original gift of it is his prerogative and the secret thereof is for evermore with him4 #h4 ,in the passage8,let us make man in our image1 after our likeness0 7v4 #bf7 there are two special points to be considered37a47 ,in what sense is man made in the image of ,god8 7b47 ,the explanation of the plural pronouns1 8us0 and 8our08,let us make man in our image40 7a47 ,inasmuch as ,god is a spirit and never to be thought of as having a corporeal naturematerial1 tangible to our bodily senses1 we are at once shut off from all reference to man's physical1 corporeal nature and shut up to his spiritual nature to find in it the points of this resemblance4 ,consequently man is made in ,god's image as being gifted like his ,maker with intelligence and with capacities for moral actionbeyond comparison the noblest possible elements of being4 ,he has the sense of moral obligation and the voluntary powers requisite to fulfill such obligation4 ,he can find his supreme joy in voluntarily seeking the good of others1 even of all other sentient beings1 and in laboring even to the extent of self-sacrifice to promote their welfare4 ,this is the pre-eminent perfection of ,godthe very point ultimately in which man is made in his image1 and capable of becoming more and more ,godlike1 forever approximating toward his holiness and blessedness4,his intellectual powers are only the servants of these highest and noblest activities of his being47b47 ,the use of the plural pronouns8,let us make1 in our image0has been accounted for variously4 ,some would make this plural intensive1 corresponding to the emphatic plural in ,hebrew nouns4 ,but there seems to be no real analogy in the two cases4,some make it the plural of dignity 78pluralis excellentiae071 as an oriental monarch puts forth his edict1 saying 8we10 not ,i4 ,but the great simplicity of this whole narrative goes against this explanation4 ,moreover1 this usage1 so far as it appears in literature1 sacred or profane1 is later by many ages than ,moses4 ,besides1 there is no apparent reason why ,god should assume more dignity in saying8,let us make man10 than in saying1 ,let us make light1 or the sun in the heavens4 ,indeed1 the form of the divine behest8,let there be light10 seems to our ideas the more sublime and the more expressive of ,god's supreme dignity4,i see no explanation of this plural that is at all satisfactory save that which assumes a reference to the persons of the ,trinity4 ,as one reason for such reference it may be suggested as certainly not improbablethat the idea of man1 ,god's chief work in creation1 was coupled with his future history 7all present to the divine mind7as fallen1 yet also as redeemed1 and specially as redeemed by means of the incarnation of the ,son of ,god in human flesh4 ,supposing this incarnation present to the divine thought1 the significance of this plural would be,let us proceed to make in our own image this wonderful being whose nature the eternal ,son shall one day assumethis man who is to bear relations to us so extraordinary1 so wonderful before the angels1 so signal before all created minds1 so glorious in its results to the whole moral universe6 ,have not we,father1 ,son and ,holy ,ghosta most surpassing interest in the creation of this being1 man6 #i4 ,the relation of ,gen4 #b3 #d-be to ,gen4 #a4 ,here are two points of some importance to be considered4 7#a47 ,are the two passages by the same author8 7#b47 ,do they both speak of the creation of the same first man1 i4 e4 the same ,adam1 or is the ,adam of ,gen4 #b another and different first man1 brought into being long subsequent to him of ,gen4 #a3 #bf-bh8 7#a47 ,that the two passages are from different authors has been maintained on the following grounds47a47 ,that v4 #d8,these are the generations#h of the heavens and the earth0appears like the heading of a new and distinct portion of history4,but nothing forbids that it should be the heading of a new section or chapter of the same continuous history by the same author1 resuming his subject with only a very comprehensive allusion to the great facts of creation which he had given in chap4 #a1 as fully as his plan required4 ,this done he may proceed to a more full account of the creation of man and the events of his early history47b47 ,that the account here differs somewhat from that in ,gen4 #a1 e4 g4 as to the creation of man1 and yet more especially1 the creation of woman4,but these differences are not discrepancies and are fully accounted for by the scope and design of this portion1 viz4 to give the history of the first man and woman in much more detail47c47 ,but especially this diversity of authors has been argued from the different names of ,god which appear in these two passages4 ,in chap4 #a and #b3 #a-c1 the name is simply and exclusively ,god 7,elohim74 ,in chap4 #b3 #d-be and in chap4 #c1 the name is 8the ,lord ,god0 7,jehovah ,elohim74,this difference is indeed a palpable fact1 and has been the theme of an indefinite amount of critical speculation based for the most part on the utterly groundless assumption that the same author can not be supposed to have used both these names for ,god4 ,those critics 7mostly ,german7 who have flooded their literature with disquisitions on this subject assume in the outset that none but a 8,jehovist0 ever used the name ,jehovah1 and none but an 8,elohist10 the name ,elohim1 it being in their view impossible or at least absurd that the same author should use sometimes one of these names and sometimes the otherwhich assumption seems to me supremely arbitrary1 irrational1 and uncritical4 ,authors now use at their option the various names for ,god1 either for the mere sake of variety1 or because in some connections one seems more euphonious or more significant than another4 ,why may not an equal license of choice be accorded to ,hebrew writers8 ,it is unquestionable that the same ,hebrew author does use both of these names for ,god4,they made far more account than we of the various senses of the several names for the ,deity4 ,the names ,jehovah and ,elohim1 were not precisely identical in their suggested ideas1 although both are legitimately used of the one true ,god4 ,elohim suggests that he is the ,exalted1 ,eternal ,one1 the ,infinite ,creator of all4 ,this name is therefore specially appropriate in chap4 #a4 8,jehovah0 conceives of him as the ,immutable and ever faithful ,one1 coming into covenant relation with his people as the ,maker and the ,fulfiller of promise4 7,see remarks on this as ,god's memorial name in my ,notes on ,hos4 #ab3 #e74 ,hence as the narrative in ,gen4 #b and #c brings ,god before the mind in these special relations to the first human pair and to the race1 this name is here specially appropriate4 ,but lest some might suppose that this ,jehovah is thought of as another ,god than the ,elohim of chap4 #athe writer uses both namesthe ,elohim who is also ,jehovah to his rational creature man and especially to all his obedient trustful people4 7#b47 ,that ,gen4 #b3 #g relates to the creation of the same first man as ,gen4 #a3 #bf-bh1 and not of another man ages later1 seems to me to admit of no rational doubt4 ,the inducements to make out two distinct creations1 i4 e4 of two different first men1 come from the supposed proof of the existence of man on the earth ages before the ,adam of antediluvian history4 ,i propose to treat below this question of the antiquity of man4 ,let it suffice here to say that we must not mutilate the record or disregard the laws of philology for the sake of making the sacred narrative conform to theories which are yet rather assumptions than scientifically proven facts4,as to the correspondences and variations in the two narratives of the creation of man1 the first makes prominent his being created in the image of ,god3 the second assumes this in the fact that ,god gave him law in ,eden2 in the knowledge of the lower animals which his naming them assumes2 in the superior dignity which the ,lord's bringing them before him for names implies2 and in the fact that among them all no helpmeet for him could be found4 ,his nature ranked far above theirs4,the earlier narrative says briefly that ,god 8created them male and female40 ,the later one expands this fact much more fully and makes it the foundation for the law of marriage4 ,the later record treats with the utmost brevity the main part of the six days' work and must have been written with the previous record before the mind1 to be a supplementary and continuative history1 designed to bring out prominently the creation of woman and the scenes of the garden1 its moral trial and ultimately its results4,the supposition of a different ,adam from that of the former record could never have occurred to the ,hebrew mind1 and therefore can not be accepted as the sense of the passage4 #aj4 ,invariability of 8kind0 in the vegetable and animal kingdoms4 ,the record in ,genesis sets forth that ,god created grass1 herb1 and then fruit tree2 8each after his kind20 also reptiles1 fish1 fowl and land-animals1 each 8after his kind20 and finally man 8in the image of ,god40 ,over against this the modern theory which bears the name of ,darwin holds that all the animals of our globe 8have descended from at most only four or five progenitors1 and plants from an equal or lesser number20#i and moreover1 that man has in this respect no pre-eminence above the beasts1 but has descended in the same line with them from some one of the four or five progenitors of the great animal kingdom4 ,more still he says in the same connection8,analogy would lead me one step further1 viz4 to the belief that all animals and plants have descended from some one prototype40,these four or five progenitors of the whole animal kingdom correspond substantially with what ,webster calls the five sub-kingdoms1 viz4 ,vertebrates1 ,articulates1 ,mollusks1 ,radiates1 and ,protozoans4 ,the technical classification under these sub-kingdoms into ,classes1 ,orders1 ,families1 ,genera1 and ,species becomes of little or no account in any discussion of ,darwin's system1 for his theory of 8descent with modifications0 is reckless of all these lines of demarkation1 traveling over and through them all without finding the least obstruction4,let it be distinctly understood therefore that though ,mr4 ,darwin makes frequent use of the word 8species10 and entitles one of his volumes8,the ,origin of ,species10 yet his theory takes a far wider range than the question whether 8species are variable40 ,in his view not only are species variable1 intermixing at will and passing from one into another1 but genera also and families and orders and classesnot to say also each of the great sub-kingdoms of the animal world2#aj even the distinction between animals and vegetables fades away under his analogical argument4 ,hence the issue between ,darwin and ,moses is relieved of whatever uncertainty hangs over the dividing line between species and varieties1 and may fitly be limited to these two points2 the invariability of 8kind0 in the sense of ,moses in ,genesis2 and the distinct origination of man4 ,under ,mr4 ,darwin's system 8community of descent0 and not 8some unknown plan of creation0 is 8the hidden bond0 which unites together all living existences of our globe4 8,looking to some unknown plan of creation0 7in his own words7 has prevented the truly scientific classification and history of the forms of life in our world4 ,the ,bible has stood in the way of the growth of science4,under his system the changes by natural descent from any given parent to its offspring1 taken individually1 have been exceedingly small4 ,hence the theory requires an indefinitely long time from the point of the original creation of the four or five primordial forms to the present status of living things1 vegetable and animal1 in our world4,the above remarks will suffice for a very general introduction to ,mr4 ,darwin's system4 ,wishing to bring this discussion within the narrowest possible limits and yet do justice to ,darwin1 to ,genesis1 and to the truth1 ,i propose to state briefly his main arguments2 then comprehensively my rejoinder to them severally in their order1 and then subjoin some general considerations bearing upon his entire theory4 #a4 ,darwin holds that by natural law the offspring vary1 though slightly1 from the parent1 and hence1 that1 given an indefinitely long time1 he has any desired amount of variation4 #b4 ,when animals multiply beyond the means of subsistence1 there ensues a struggle for life in which the strongest and most favored in circumstances are the victors and survive4 ,this law which he calls 8,natural ,selection0 7or 8the survival of the fittest07 works a gradual improvement in the race4 ,a twin argument with this comes from 8sexual selection10 the amount of which is that in the case of some at least of the animal races1 there arises a struggle among the males for the possession of the females1 in which struggle the most attractive in beauty or in song1 or the champions in fight1 being the victors1 perpetuate the race and thus improve it4 ,this law of the animal races 78sexual selection07 works precisely in the same line with the law called 8natural selection40 ,it may serve therefore to provide a little more of the same thing1 but no new or different product whatever4 ,hence it does not seem to call for a distinct refutation4 #c4 ,homologous anatomical structure is found to obtain very extensively among widely diverse races1 e4 g4 in the arm of man1 the fore-leg of the monkey and indeed of all quadrupeds1 in the wing of the bird and the fin of the fish4 ,this indicates a common parentage4 #d4 ,some animals which1 fully grown1 differ from each other widely1 are scarcely distinguishable in the embryo4 ,hence he infers their common origin4 #e4 ,the fact of rudimentary organs is assumed to be historic1 proving that some ancient progenitor used them1 and that they have gradually passed out of use4 ,this is held to prove that great changes of structure come of genealogical descent4 ,,brief ,,replies4 #a4 ,to ,darwin's first law1 viz4 that the offspring always vary though slightly from the parent1 and therefore1 given indefinite time1 he has any desired amount of variation1 ,i reply that this law of variation becomes practically worthless for his theory1 because these variations from parent to offspring run in all conceivable directions and not in the one definite direction required for his purpose1 i4 e4 toward a higher grade of perfection1 or which his argument requires toward a new form of animal life4 ,for example1 there is always some change in the human countenance from parent to child4 ,yet who does not know that those changes run in every possible direction and not in one uniform line of progress or advance1 as from monkey toward man and from man toward angel8 ,for another example we may take the shape of the skull and of the brainevermore differing slightly from parent to offspring yet not by any means on one given line4 ,the skulls of ,egyptian mummies entombed three thousand years ago do not differ appreciably from those of the ,copts 7their lineal descendants7 of to-day1 i4 e4 are no more pithecoidape-like4 ,on ,darwin's theory three thousand years backward ought surely to approximate toward the ape2 otherwise these variations are fruitless4 ,this law of successive genealogical changes amounts to nothing for his argument unless the changes consent to come into line so that their results shall actually accumulate with the lapse of ages4 ,the fatal lack in the argument isno husbandry of these infinitesimal changesnot the least perceivable accumulation4 ,a second branch of my reply suggests that ,mr4 ,darwin misinterprets this law of nature1 viz4 perpetual variation from parent to offspring4 ,it is doubtless a law1 but ,darwin has quite missed its divinely ordained purposewhich is to indicate the relationship between parent and child on the one hand1 and yet maintain individual identity on the other4 ,the resemblances answer the former purpose2 the differences1 the latter4 ,beings constituted to bear personal responsibilities so momentous as those of man must be so organized that every one can identify his own individuality1 lest one man be hung for some other man's crime4 #b4 ,his second argument comes from the law of 8natural selection08the survival of the fittest0with which it is convenient to couple the precisely similar law of 8sexual selection0the ascendency of the smartest over their inferiors1 to perpetuate the race4 ,here a specific case will suffice both to illustrate and to refute4 ,the principle of 8natural selection0 has a fair chance for itself in the spawn of the shad4 ,it is no doubt true that none but the smartest out of the many thousand spawned at once survive so as to become parents in their turn4 ,yet who believes that these smartest shad are becoming sturgeon or sharks or whales by this law of progress8 ,are they actually found to be any thing but shad after never so many hundred generations8 ,it may seem superfluous to push the still more pertinent question,are these smartest and most ambitious shad really found to be working up out of their watery element1 ,i i4 e4 working up into ducks or geese1 or into blackbirds and crows8 ,for just this is ,mr4 ,darwin's theorythe line of ascent running up from fish to fowl2 from fowl to mammal and so on up to man4 ,the questions here suggested are therefore only the fair and scientific test and touchstone of his argument4 ,a law which has not made its results even perceptible since the birth of the first shad known to human history must be regarded as scientifically worthless4 ,my second remark here is that ,darwin errs not in finding these to be laws of nature8natural selection10 8sexual selection0but in interpreting them1 ,i i4 e4 in detecting their divinely ordained design and their actual working and product4 ,i suggest that these laws1 apparently made for the improvement of races1 may be requisite to enable them to hold their own against the ever present tendency to degeneracy4 ,life is a perpetual struggle against death4 ,the life-principle finds an antagonist force in chemical law which is evermore hurrying organized matter back to its inorganic state4 ,still further1 be it considered1 races excessively prolific would rapidly lose vitality but for these laws of natural and sexual selection4 ,we may therefore rationally assume that these laws are simply forms of the general principle of self-preservation1 and not a purposed provision for lifting a lower race up to the plane of a higher4 #c4 ,as to homologous anatomical structure1 e4 g4 of the arm1 fore-leg1 wing1 fin1 paddlethere are abundant reasons for its existence aside from the assumption of ,darwin that it proves a common ancestry for man1 monkey1 calf1 bull-dog1 eagle1 toad and whale4 ,the ball and socket joint at man's shoulder is the perfect thing for use4 ,equally so is the same kind of joint for the fore-leg of a horse1 the wing of an eagle or the fin of a fish4 ,god made the anatomy of man's arm perfect4 ,what forbids that he should make an equally perfect machinery for the motions and various uses of other animals8 ,the reason of this uniformly perfect machinery is found in the wisdom and benevolence of the ,great ,maker1 and proves nothing in favor of a common descent from some one parent1 i4 e4 it proves nothing unless you may assume that ,god could not have made two kinds of animals with homologous anatomical structurestwo kinds1 each with machinery perfect for its purposes4 #d4 ,as to the similar appearance of the embryo in very dissimilar races1 there may be differences in the embryo which no microscope and no human test have yet discovered4 ,the force of this argument seems to me to come rather from ignorance than from knowledge4 #e4 ,as to rudimentary organs1 their history is very obscure and their design also4 ,i suggest that ,mr4 ,darwin begin with the history and the reason for the rudimentary organs which appear on the bosom of the male in the species man4 ,when he shall have mastered this problemthe history and the reasonwe can afford to consider his argument therefrom in proof that man has a common ancestry with whatsoever other animal he may find having this male organ1 not rudimentary but in full activity4 ,probably he will prove that man must have come down by descent from that class of animals which economically combine the two sexes in one and the same individual6 99 99 99 99 99 ,some objections of a more general bearing upon ,darwin's scheme4 #a4 ,his system requires indefinite1 almost infinite1 ages of time back of the ,silurian strata1 i4 e4 back of the oldest known remains of life1 vegetable or animal1 on our globe4#aa ,that is1 he requires for the development of his system an almost infinite extension of time back beyond the earliest traces or proofs of life1 vegetable or animal1 on our globe4 ,and this1 he would have men believe1 is the perfection of modern ,science6a science which pushes its sphere in time back indefinitely beyond all known facts upon the bare evidence of theories and assumed analogies6,but even this gives not the full force of the objection made by true ,science to his system4 ,it is not merely that he builds upon assumed facts where no known facts arewhich is building upon nothingbut where no facts can be1 which is building not merely upon negatives but upon impossibilities4 ,there is no room for his assumed facts where he locates them4 ,if ,geology proves any thing it proves that vegetable and animal life commenced on our planet as soon as the planet was ready and not sooner1 and that we have the remains of the earliest living organisms in the oldest fossil-bearing rocks4 ,his scheme is therefore conditioned upon impossibilities and must be false4 #b4 ,his system requires a close succession of animal races1 differing from parent to offspring by only the least possible amount1 with no leaps1 no gaps whatever4 ,thus from monkey up to man the system calls for at least a few scores not to say hundreds of intermediate links4 ,where are they8 ,his suffering theory cries out for their support3 there is no answer4 ,the earth's surface responds not to the call2 even 8the depths say,they are not in me60 ,from the original monad up to man all the way through at least the long line of the vertebratesreptile1 fish1 bird1 mammalthat is to say1 through the serpent tribe2 the fish kingdom2 the swallow1 blackbird and eagle1 and especially through the quadruped familythe horse and camel and particularly the monkey householdthrough all this remarkable line of ancestry1 ,darwin's system demands a very gradual upward march by the shortest possible stages of progress1 so that the intermediate links must be barely less than infinite4 ,it certainly ought to be very easy to trace a genealogical line so well represented4 ,it is estimated that thirty thousand fossil species have been recognized4 ,how many of these can be formed into this genealogical line from the aboriginal vertebratesupposed to be aquatic and ,ascidianup to man8 ,has ,mr4 ,darwin set himself to marshal this proof-line of witnesses to his system8 ,no4 ,not only has he not done this very appropriate thing1 but he has said little1 quite too little on this most vital point1 in the way of showing what could be done4 ,he reiterates that the geological records are very imperfect4 ,doubtless they quite fail to come up to meet the demands of his system4 ,it is the fatal weakness of his theory that just where it should find facts in animal history for its support1 they are not there6 ,he himself admits that if you believe in a tolerably full showing of animal history in the geological records of our globe1 you must disbelieve his system4#ab ,he needs quite another geological record for his proofs4 #c4 ,his argument is essentially materialistic4 ,in his reasonings and assumptions1 all there is of mind in man or any animal is of the brain and the nervous organism4 ,all animals have wants and are moved by a sense of want to supply them4 ,this begets self-originated activity1 and this activity involves thoughtyet only as a function of the material brain4 ,most of the animals are social by nature3 hence another member in this family of wants and enjoyments1 begetting another class of impulses and activities4 ,but whether it be man or monkey1 dog or kitten1 these activities and these plans and thoughts underlying them1 come of the nervous organism1 of which the brain is the center4 ,on his theory and in his words 7,origin of ,species1 pp4 #ic1 #id7 8the moral sense is fundamentally identical with the social instinct40 ,hence it becomes the burden of his argument that the brain in man and in monkey is homologousalmost perfectly the same in shape1 in quality1 and in its bony incasement4 ,he seems to be quite unaware that there may be something in the human brain that a twelve-inch rule will not measure1 nor the nicest made scales weigh1 nor the sharpest chemical tests discern4 ,it seems never to have occurred to him that even if the brain of man and of monkey weighed in the same notch1 fitted into the same cast1 responded alike to the same chemical tests 7which1 however1 is a good way from being the case71 yet there might be material qualities in the human brain too subtle and ethereal to be appreciable under any known physical test2 and much more still might be a spirit inhabiting the human brain and working through it which the monkey has not4 8,that the breath of the ,almighty hath given to man understanding0 is a fact higher than the range of ,darwin's philosophy4 ,the prima facie probability thence arising that ,god would fit up a special material organism for the one only mind made in his own image seems to have entirely escaped ,mr4 ,darwin's notice4 ,the record by ,moses on this pointthat ,god created man by a special act1 entirely independent of all other forms of life1 vegetable or animal1 commends itself to the good sense of most men as more than probable1 as indeed supremely rational and unquestionably true4 #d4 ,it is but a natural result of his materialistic system that he should have no adequate conception of the pre-eminent glory of man's intellectual and moral nature4 ,with great ingenuity he labors to make it appear that ,tray feels shame and guilt and even the moral sense of oughtnessall the same in kind with those of man4 ,he does not say in definite words that the best developed dog is capable of knowing his divine ,creator and of rendering to ,him the obedience1 love1 and homage of an adoring heartis capable of becoming consciously a trustful child of ,god and a temple of the ,holy ,ghost4 ,he does not quite say this2 indeed he does not seem to appreciate these exalted functions of a soul made in ,god's image1 or to think them worthy of particular notice4 ,it is a capital fault in his reasoning that he ignores almost entirely these highest1 noblest activities of man's nature4 ,thus ignoring these most vital points which lift man so high above all the lower animals1 how can it be expected that his reasoning upon the material relations of man and beast should be otherwise than lame and fallacious8 #e4 ,scientifically it is a sufficient condemnation of this system that it is compelled to fritter away the fundamental law of species which ,god fixed1 not upon its surface but deep in its nature1 viz4 that hybrids shall be infertileincapable of propagation4 ,the crossing and consequent interblending of distinct species1 genera1 families1 and orders1 if by their nature possible1 would long ages ago have thrown the animal world into inextricable confusion1 effacing every line of distinction4 ,such a result must have been simply fatal to all scientific classification4 ,if ,mr4 ,darwin's theories had been taken as the divine plan1 the world would have had more grades and orders of animal life than there have been days since the first monad came into being4 #f4 ,the scheme is in many points revolting to the common sense and sober convictions of men4 ,some of its assumptions lie close upon the border of the ridiculous4 ,think of the stride upward from vegetable life to animalthe plant pulling its roots out from the soil and beginning to use them for legs6 ,and of the very analogous aspirations and endeavors of the fish to live out of waterto push out his fins into wings2 convert his superabundant fat into muscle2 expand his lung and soar off in mid-heaventhe very eagle himself6 ,the effort to tone down these absurdities within the limits of sober sense by simply taking it little by little1 spreading the change over a few thousands or millions of years and subdividing the work among a vast number of generations may help to confuse some minds and blunt the edge of its absurdity2 but soberly considered1 the absurdity is still there4 ,hence we may note the fact that most writers seem to find themselves quite unable to discuss this theory to any extent without sliding1 perhaps unconsciously1 from sober argument into ridicule and irony4 ,i am well aware that1 to abate if not nullify the force of this apparent absurdity1 it will be said that along the actual line between plant life and animal life1 the vegetable and animal kingdoms are actually brought closely side by side2 that plant life shades off by almost imperceptible stages till it comes so near to the lowest forms of animal life that the dividing line is scarcely if at all perceptible4 ,this fact no scientist disputes4 ,the real question turns upon its purposed object or ultimate reason4 ,is it1 as ,mr4 ,darwin's theory assumes1 to bridge over this dividing line and facilitate the march of 8genealogical descent with variations0 across what else would be a bad if not an impassable gulf8 ,this being the claim set up by ,mr4 ,darwin1 ,i answer 7a47 ,the proper test of this theory is simple3 ,is there any 8march0 here at alli4 e4 any progressive movement from one form of vegetable life to another1 from lower forms to higher1 or as this case seems to demand1 from higher forms to lower1 for along this dividing line we have the lowest known forms of both vegetable life and animal8 ,is this army of the lowest vegetable species and of animal life-forms1 down in this dark microscopic valley1 really on the march1 or is it absolutely moveless and fixed8 ,are the flora on the vegetable side of the line really1 doffing their plant-life uniform and regalia1 and emerging on the other side of the line into fauna to swell the hosts of animal-life forms8 ,this it would seem must be the test for the proof or disproof of ,darwin's theory4 7b47 ,but again1 ,i would reply in this as in other points2 ,mr4 ,darwin misses not so much the facts of nature as the ultimate reason of those facts4 ,what is the ultimate reason for the remarkable fact that the plant kingdom crowds itself so closely upon the confines of the animal8 ,not1 ,i answer1 to facilitate the transit of generations from the one province to the other4 ,of such transit there is not the first shade of evidence4 ,but the reason is that the ,great ,author of nature out of his infinite resources has filled both kingdoms perfectly full of life-forms so that no territory between their respective domains lies unoccupied4 ,it is simply a fecundity of life-forms or species1 analogous to the fecundity of living representatives under most of these speciesall alike traceable to the infinite resources of the ,creator's wisdom and power4 #g4 ,finally1 this theory is reckless of the authority of revelation4 ,it makes no effort to reconcile its doctrines with the testimony of the ,scriptures4 ,especially on the great points of the creation of manas to his body1 independent of all other animals2 as to his spirit1 made in the very image of ,god2 and as to woman1 formed from manthis system stands in absolute antagonism with ,god's word4,it should not surprise us1 therefore1 that the common sense of mankind 7with rare exceptions7 revolts from its absurdities4 ,it should not surprise us that ,sciencethe true ,science which builds1 not on unsupported assumptions but on ascertained and incontestable factsshould disown these theories and speculations4 ,true ,science1 here as elsewhere1 now and forever1 is at one with ,revelation2 and these pillars of the great temple of ,truth are in not the least danger of being shaken4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,the ,,antiquity ,,of ,,man4 ,,under this head several questions arise3 #a4 ,is the human family older than the ,adam of ,scripture history8 #b4 ,how far back really is the date of ,adam8 i4 e4 ,how many years intervened from ,adam to the flood and how many to the ,christian era8 ,subsidiary questions are 7a47 ,were there one or more races of primeval men pre-,adamic but now extinct8 7b47 ,have there been various 8head-centers0 of the existing human family2 or only one and that ,adam8 ,or 7the same question in another form7 are all the living varieties of race lineally descended from ,adam and all from ,noah8 ,the special interest of these questions will hinge upon their relation to the ,scripturesi4 e4 their supposed or real bearing upon the truth of the ,scripture historythe friends of the ,bible desiring to know whether any well sustained facts exist to affect its credit1 or to modify its currently received interpretation3 and on the other hand1 men whose sympathies are not with the ,bible1 being inquisitive to see if by any means its authority can be impugned or impaired4,it is obvious that this sort of special interest1 for or against the ,bible1 is liable to affect the candor and fairness of the investigation on either side4 ,the friends of the ,bible1 however1 have really not the least occasion to fear for its stability4 ,it is indeed possible that our interpretation of its chronology may require modificationbut always and only toward truth4 ,also we may have erred in supposing the ,bible to have taught what it never intended to teach4 ,but the real word of ,god can have nothing to fear from the advance of human sciencethat is to say1 from the real knowledge of actual facts4,with the utmost composure1 therefore1 we welcome all candid investigation1 subjecting every new theory to appropriate scrutiny1 sifting the evidence on which it rests with no prejudice for or against the conclusions to which it may compel us4 #a4 ,the high antiquity claimed for man is fitly the first question in order4 ,here the evidence comes and of necessity must come 7#a47 ,from traces of man upon the crust of the earth1 i4 e4 in the rock-strata1 the drift-deposits1 or in caves and lake-dwellings1 or in monuments of human labor and skill3 ,and 7#b47 from the traditions of the most ancient nations and the high antiquity of their existence1 civilization1 and monuments4 ,under the first head the traces are either 7,a47 ,remains of the human skeleton2 or 7,b47 ,remains of man's work and of his tools4 7,a47 ,as to the remains of the human skeleton4 ,by universal admission these remains are not found in the rocks that bear in abundance the fossil vegetables of the third great epoch of creation2 nor in those yet higher strata that contain the oldest forms of animal life whose home is in the waters2 nor is man found with the reptiles1 say of the fifth day of creation2 nor indeed until we come to deposits of the most recent date1 of a kind at least similar to those which are known to be forming within the historic age of man4 ,from these admitted facts ,i make this special point1 viz4 that if man had lived on the earth contemporary with the oldest animal species1 we ought to find not merely one skeleton or half a skeleton buried along-side of myriads of fossil sea-shells and fishes1 but a fair show of specimens1 so many at least as to leave no question as to his being a joint occupant with them of the earth as it then was4 ,one or two1 or even a dozen skeletons1 gathered from every explored portion of the earth's surface1 are too few for the base of a theory like this because such scattered cases1 in number so meager1 are always subject1 more or less1 to abatement from the following possibilities3 7a47 ,the human family in all ages have buried their dead1 and often1 during the earlier ages1 in rock-hewn sepulchers or in natural caves2 7b47 ,in all ages of the world men have been liable to fall into rock-fissures and ravines and to die there2 and to leave their skeletons to become fossil there1 particularly in calcareous and similar rocks where decomposition or solution in water and new deposits are in progress2 7c47 ,men have been wont to frequent caves for shelter1 for safety in war or from persecution1 and consequently might leave their bones there2 or 7d47 ,their bones may have been dragged into caverns by flesh-eating animals or borne into strange positions by underground currents of water2 or again1 7e47 ,since the historic ,adam1 drift deposits have in some circumstances been forming under water1 in which waters men have been liable to be drowned and their skeletons to become imbedded in those deposits4 ,changes of elevation may bring such deposits to view4 ,such possibilities must practically nullify confidence in the proof of man's high antiquity from his bones so long as the specimens are so exceedingly few and even these few found only quite near the surface4 ,this argument will be appreciated by those who duly consider1 on the one hand1 that if man were on the earth in those pre-,adamic ages1 it is in the highest degree improbable that his population ranged at a dozen for the area of all ,france1 and a few hundreds only to a continentfor what should forbid him as well as the lower animals to 8be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth08 ,besides1 a population so sparse and consequently weak could have made no stand against armies of hyenas1 leopards1 bears and lions4,on the other hand1 the occurrence of human bones1 in numbers so very few and so remote from each other1 will be much more rationally accounted for by the possibilities above indicated4 ,yet let it be understood3,the way is open for any extent of further investigation4 ,we have no occasion to fear the result of the search4 ,let the rocks be torn up and examined2 let mountains be tunneled and canals be dug2 let railroad grading go where it will2 if the human skeleton should be found where none of these or similar possibilities admit its date since ,adam1 we will certainly give the case all due consideration and weight4 7,b47 ,next is the argument from man's work and from his tools4 ,here a larger field opens4 ,my limits scarcely allow me to do more than indicate briefly the present state of the question4,thus far explorations have been mostly restricted to ,northern and ,western ,europe1 say north of the ,alps and of ancient ,greece1 in the regions anciently known as ,gaul1 ,germany1 ,scandinavia and ,britain4 ,the supposed remains of man's tools and work are found chiefly in caves and lake-dwellings1 or under drift1 and only to a small extent in monuments above the present surface4 ,the lake-dwellings specially referred to are in ,switzerland1 where during the very dry winter of #ahec-d several remarkable villages were found built on piles below1 the present average watermark1 which were once without doubt the abodes of men1 with quite abundant traces indicating their modes of life1 civilization1 implements1 and the contemporary animal races4#ac ,the various stages of civilization developed in these ancient remains have been usually classified under three heads3 #a4 ,the ,stone age1 in which man's cutting implements1 working tools and weapons of war1 were of stone4 ,this age is sometimes subdivided1 the older part being called 8,palaeolithic0 old stone1 and the more recent1 8,neolithic0 new stone4 #b4 ,the ,bronze age1 its implements being chiefly of copper or brass4 #c4 ,the ,iron age1 where iron first appears4 ,now the great questionthe only one that comes within our range of inquiryis the date of these traces of ancient men4 ,when did the men of the ,stone age and of the ,bronze and the ,iron age live8 ,in the outset1 it can not be assumed reasonably that this stone-age civilization1 apparent in ,northern and ,western ,europe1 was necessarily universal at that time over all the earth4 ,it may have been coeval with the very high civilization of ,egypt and even of ,babylonia1 ,phenicia1 ,etruria4 ,we must consider that large portions of the world in those early times were unknown to each other1 even as interior ,africa has been unknown to the civilized world almost to this very hour4 ,it is therefore entirely an open question,was this stone-age civilization pre-,adamic8 ,was it anterior to ,noah2 or shall its place in the ages be found contemporaneous with the early civilized nations of known history8 ,it is important here to premise yet further that the earth's surface has at no very remote period experienced considerable elevations and depressions and changes of temperature4 ,especially there are proofs of an extraordinary period of glaciers and icebergs1 by means of which huge bowlders have been transported from their ancient beds and scattered afar1 and vast masses of debris1 rocks ground down and pulverized1 mixed with sand1 gravel1 and small stones1 have been heaped up along the line of the glaciers and spread over their track4 ,it is not easy to conceive the full measure of utility resulting from this great ice-flood and glacier movement1 in grinding the surface of the rocky strata and mixing this finely pulverized matter with decomposed vegetable elements to prepare soil for our earth's surface4 ,the opinion is becoming general that man was not placed upon the earth until after this glacial and ice-bound age4 ,he could not have lived here then3 certainly not in portions reached by glacial action and ice floods2 the earth was not ready for him till afterwards4 ,no decisive traces of his presence at an earlier period have been found4 ,such traces appear shortly after4 ,the problem of the time of man's first appearance upon the earth is for the most part one of estimates2 and these estimates in the department of geology are comprised1 at least chiefly1 under these five heads3 7#a47 ,the time required for the alluvial deposits underneath which his remains or implements have been found4 7#b47 ,the time required for the growth of the peat under which we find man or his works4 7#c47 ,the time required for the succession of forest growths since his first appearance4 7#d47 ,the age of the animal races1 extinct or living1 whose remains are found associated with his4 7#e47 ,we have next and last another source of testimony which is mainly free from the uncertainties of estimate1 viz4 the question of commercial relations between the barbarous stone-age1 bronze-age1 or iron-age tribes1 and the civilized nations of the early historic ages4 ,the estimates on these several points demand distinct consideration4 7#a47 ,the estimate of the time required for the alluvial deposits along the banks of rivers1 has been extremely various4 ,lyell1 having visited the delta of the ,mississippi river in person1 estimated its time-period of accumulation at one hundred thousand years4#ad ,but a careful examination made by gentlemen of the ,coast ,survey and other ,united ,states officers1 reduces this time-period to four thousand and four hundred years4#ae ,again1 ,mr4 ,lyell estimates that #bbj1jjj years are necessary to account for changes now going on upon the coast of ,sweden4 ,later geologists reduce the time to one-tenth of that estimate4 ,a piece of pottery was discovered deeply buried under the deposits at the mouth of the ,nile4 ,it was confidently asserted that the deposits could not have been made during the historic period1 until it was proved that the article in question was of ,roman manufacture4#af ,such diversities suffice to show at least that somebody has blundered4 ,some of these high estimates are gratuitously extravagant4 ,all estimates from the drift deposits1 bearing on the antiquity of man1 ought in reason to be made with careful reference to these two modifying considerations3 7a47 ,that drift deposits may have been1 and with the utmost probability were1 much more rapid in the earlier ages than at present4 ,at the close of the glacial and ice period vast masses of loose matter were ready to be swept rapidly as drift by river freshets4 ,any farmer may have an illustration of this if he will plow his side-hill field1 running his furrows up and down the hill4 ,he will find that the first powerful shower will bring down far more drift than the fortieth4 ,it would be very short-sighted in him to take the drift of the tenth year after the said plowing for his rate of annual deposition and estimate the whole period from this data4 ,but on this mistaken principle some geologists have made their time estimates for the drift simply monstrous4 7b47 ,human remains and tools may in many ways get far below the surface of the drift4 ,they may have been buried under it after its deposition4 ,while the drift lay under water1 7soft and pliable therefore17 flints1 arrow-heads1 knives1 or human bones1 may have sunk in the mire4,these and similar considerations may demand large abatement from the time-estimates built upon the amount of drift found above the remains of man4 ,we may apply these modifying considerations to the case given by ,lyell 7,antiquity of ,man1 pp4 #bg1 #bh7 of the drift deposits near the ,lake of ,geneva4 ,here are five inches in thickness deposited since the ,roman period 7known by its enclosed memorials7 which we safely put at #ahjj years4 ,next below is a strata of six inches depth1 marked by bronze implements1 which he estimates to reach back from the present time1 #cjjj to #djjj years4 ,similarly1 the next strata 7seven inches7 indicated as the ,stone age1 he counts at #ejjj to #gjjj years old4 ,but if the depositions were much more rapid in the early than in the later ages of our world1 these estimates for the ages of bronze and of stone must be materially shortened1 and may reasonably be brought within the historic period of man4 7#b47 ,the time required for the formation of peat beds has been usually estimated upon its observed growth and accumulation at the present day4 ,yet in the case of peat-growth as in the case of drift-deposits1 it is at least possible and would seem highly probable that its growth and deposition were much more rapid during the earlier ages of our race than at present4 ,the virgin soil was richer2 the climatic influences may have been more propitious4 ,it should be considered also here 7as in the case of drift7 that the remains of man and his implements1 instead of resting invariably upon the surface of the peat1 may by various means have gone down much below the surface4 ,the time of man's presence1 therefore1 as measured by the time estimated to be necessary for the deposit of the peat found above him1 may be quite overestimated4 ,the peat beds of ,denmark are put by ,lyell 7,antiquity of ,man1 p4 #ag7 at a minimum of #djjj years4 ,in the valley of the ,somme 7,france7 they are found #cj feet deep2 and in its upper strata there are ,romish and ,celtic memorials1 showing that its depositions continued a considerable time after the historic age of ,rome4 7#c47 ,the time required for the succession of forest growths since the appearance of man4 ,geologists find in ,denmark1 earliest1 a growth of ,scotch fir2 next1 of oak2 last1 coming down to the present1 of the beech4 ,the age of civilization known as the ,stone age synchronizes nearly with the fir2 the ,bronze age with the oak2 the historic period with iron implements answers to the beech4#ag ,now the problem is,how much time is required for one species of forest growths to run its course and become supplanted by another8,obviously this problem must depend not on time alone1 but on climatic changes4 ,moreover1 one kind of trees may require less time than another to exhaust the soil of the elements specially congenial to its health1 vigor and stability4 ,i do not see that any reliable measure of time can be found for estimating the life-period of different species of forest growths4 7#d47 ,attempts have been made to estimate the antiquity of man from the animal races with which his remains have been found associated4 ,the animals brought into this estimate have been chiefly the mammals1 quadrupeds1 most nearly related1 by anatomical structure1 to man4 ,great account has been made of the fact that the remains of man 7his bones or his tools7 have been found in connection with the remains of land animals now extinct4 ,the uncertain element in all such calculations is the date at which the said animal species became extinct4 ,this is perhaps fully as doubtful as the age at which man began to live on the earth4 ,so far as is known1 some species have disappeared within the present century2 e4 g4 the ,great ,auk1 or ,northern ,penguin 7alca impennis71 last seen alive in #ahdd4 ,several species1 once quite prominent for their hugeness or other qualities1 are supposed to have disappeared within the historic period of man2 e4 g4 the mammoth1 the mastodon1 the woolly rhinoceros1 the cave-bear1 etc4 ,but precisely when they severally became extinct1 no existing data suffice to show4 ,of course it avails little to prove that man was coeval with a few animal races now extinct4 7#e47 ,far more important in my view is the light thrown upon the antiquity of the ,bronze and ,iron ages of civilization in ,northern and ,western ,europe by the traces of commercial relations between those respective peoples and the civilized nations of the known historic ages4 ,in this case1 the elements of uncertainty common to the preceding estimates are mostly if not wholly eliminated4 ,when among the relics of the ,bronze age1 say in ,switzerland or in ,denmark1 we find art-specimens1 valuable for use or beauty1 which manifestly came from ,phenicia1 ,etruria1 or ,egypt1 bearing unmistakably the stamp of their civilization1 and specifically1 of their art1 we need no further proof that the old ,bronze age lay in time along-side of the reign of ,etrurian or ,egyptian art and civilization4 ,on this subject the ,british ,quarterly 7,oct41 #ahgb7 on 8,the present ,phase of ,pre-historic ,archeology0 discusses the question whether the ,bronze civilization in ,central and ,northern ,europe was introduced by an invading people from the ,east1 or by peaceful commerce with the peoples contiguous to the ,mediterranean1 viz4 the ,phenicians of ,palestine1 the ,etrurians of ,italy1 and the ,egyptians4 ,the argument is strongly in favor of the latter alternative4 8,the beautiful bronze swords1 spear-heads1 axes1 knives1 razors1 etc41 which lie scattered over ,northern and ,central ,europe are remarkable for the singular beauty of their form and ornamentation0all bearing so much unity of design as to prove a common origin from the same source4 8,the double spirals1 and dotted circles and spirals and zigzag ornaments which are so common on the bronze articles of ,france1 ,germany1 ,britain1 ,ireland1 and ,scandinavia are identical with the designs which are found in ,etruscan tombs4 ,some of the bronze swords and spear-heads are also identical2 and the peculiar spuds and bronze axes1 used by the ,etruscans1 are similar to those which are found in ,northern ,europe40 7pp4 #bdg1 #bdh74,the limits of my plan forbid a full presentation of this argument4 ,suffice it to say briefly that very great progress has been made within the last fifty years toward disentombing the pre-historical ages of ,central and ,northern ,europe1 and bringing out their relation to the early historic civilization of ,egypt1 ,phenicia1 and ,etruria4 ,the results thus far seem to identify the oldest race of man as known by his remains 7i4 e4 they of the earlier ,stone age7 with the ,esquimaux of ,lapland2 the men of the later ,stone age1 with the ,iberian or ,basque people of ,spain2 after whom were the ,celts and the ,belg who were on the field at the period where ,roman history touches ,britain and ,gaul4,how far back in time those ,esquimau tribes lie1 it seems yet impossible to determine2 but the next wave of populationthey of the later ,stone agefalls far within the period of scripture chronologynot necessarily older than the ,phenicians1 ,assyrians1 and ,egyptians4 ,inasmuch as ,phenician art and commerce were in their glory during the reigns of ,david and ,solomon1 we may at least provide a considerable interval of time for the ,esquimau tribes of the older ,stone age before we encounter the deluge of ,noah1 and much more still1 before we come up to ,adam4 ,it is a fact of no trifling importance that the oldest race detected by the explorers of the earth's crust can be so clearly identified with the ,esquimaux now occupying the highest northern latitudes inhabited by man4 ,more abundant still are the proofs which bring the ,bronze and ,iron ages of ,northern ,europe within what were the historic times of the nations on the borders of the ,mediterranean4,the estimates made by some geologists and antiquarians which carry the later ,stone1 the ,bronze1 and the ,iron peoples back into the mighty ,past anywhere from #aj1jjj to #ajj1jjj years seem to me extremely fanciful and unscientific4 ,thorough investigation into all the facts bearing on the case coupled with sober estimates of the time which they indicate1 will at no distant day bring this problem of the antiquity of man to a satisfactory solution4 ,it does not become us to fear any revelations which come legitimately from well ascertained facts4 99 99 99 99 99 ,another argument for the high antiquity of man has been drawn from the traditions of the most ancient nations,china and ,india2 also from the great population1 the early civilization1 and the art-monuments of ,egypt4 ,on the point of the traditions and chronologies of the ancient nations of the ,east1 the first problem is to ascertain what they are and what they claim4 ,if they run up their figures 7as sometimes said7 to #bj1jjj years1 the extravagance of the claim vitiates its credibility4#ah ,we put it to the account of fancy and fiction1 or of national pride1 and rule it out from the realm of historic science4 ,but if as estimated by ,bailly 7,kitto2 ,chronology1 p4 #dcd7 the years from the ,christian era back to the creation are put in ,chinese chronology at #faeg2 in the ,babylonian1 at #faeh2 and in the ,indian 7by ,gentil7 at #fagd1 we give these chronologies our respectful attention4 ,the fact that the extreme difference in these three is but seventeen years is certainly striking1 and indicates either a common origin of authority or an approximation toward the truth2 perhaps both4 ,we shall soon have occasion to compare these figures with the latest and most approved results of ,biblical chronology4 99 99 99 99 99 ,as to the age of ,egyptian art1 civilization1 and political power1 the time allowed for its development in harmony with ,usher's chronology 7the one usually indicated in editions of the ,english ,bible7 must be admitted to be shortalmost incredibly short4 ,here ,i submit that the primary question should bethe correctness of ,usher4 ,let the ,bible system of chronology be rigidly scannednot for the purpose of making it tally with ,egyptian claims1 or with any other system of chronology not sacred2 but for the purpose of arriving at the truth as ascertainable from the ,bible itself4 ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,hebrew ,,chronology4 ,from the ,birth of ,christ to the ,creation4 ,,by general consent the birth of ,christ is made the central point of all sacred chronology1 the ,christian ages being reckoned forward from that point 7,a4 ,d47 and the ,jewish or earlier ages being reckoned backward 7,b4 ,c474 ,we treat of the latter only4,going backward from the ,christian era1 there is general agreement and no reasonable ground for diversity till we reach the period of the ,judges of ,israel4 ,the cardinal points are3 ,b4 ,c4 ,the decree of ,cyrus for the restoration of the ,jews4 #ecf ,the duration of the captivity1 from the fourth year of ,jehoiakim1 #gj years4 #fjf 7,but counted from the fall of the city under ,zedekiah1 #eb years only47 ,from the revolt1 first year of ,rehoboam to the fall of the city1 #chh years4 #igf ,to the founding of the temple1 beginning of ,solomon's fourth year1 #cg years4 #ajac ,this last epoch has chronological importancethe foundation of the temple laid,a4 ,d4 #ajac4 ,the first disputed1 diversely estimated1 point is the period of the ,judges2 yet the proof texts and authorities cover the period from the ,exodus to the temple4 ,usher makes the period of the ,judges #cci years2 ,jahn and many others1 #dej4 ,usher relies on #a ,k4 #f3 #a3 8,in the #dhjth year after the children of ,israel were come out of the land of ,egypt1 in the fourth year of ,solomon's reign over ,israel 444 he began to build the house of the ,lord40 ,his computation runs thus3 ,,years4 ,hebrews in the wilderness4 #dj ,hebrews under ,joshua4 #ag ,samuel and ,saul together4#ai #dj ,david 7#b ,sam4 #e3 #d1 #e74 #da ,solomon up to the founding of the temple4 #c ,judgesto fill out #dhj4 #cci #dhj ,the long period for the ,judges rests primarily on ,acts #ac3 #bj1 which states that 8after having divided to them the land of ,canaan by lot1 ,god gave them judges #dej years until ,samuel the prophet40 ,placing #dej in the above computation in place of #cci;an excess of #aaa yearswe find the date of the ,exodus ,b4 ,c4 #afjd instead of ,usher's figures ,b4 ,c4 #adia4 ,in support of this long period for the ,judges may be urged 7#a47 ,the authority of ,paul as above 7,acts #ac3 #bj7 which makes this period #dej years4 7#b47 ,josephus makes the interval from the ,exodus to the founding of the temple #eib years1 and not #dhj4 ,the ,jews of ,china also make it #eib;facts which favor the supposition that the ,hebrew text of #a ,k4 #f3 #a1 is in error4 ,it can not be supposed that either ,josephus or the ,chinese ,jews adjusted their figures to harmonize with ,paul4 7#c47 ,the internal dates in the ,book of ,judges demand the long period and can not be harmonized with the short one3,thus ,judges #aa3 #bf shows that the ,hebrews had then dwelt in ,heshbon1 ,aroer and along the coast of ,arnon #cjj years4 ,these years lie between the entrance into ,canaan and the beginning of ,jephthah's judgeship4 ,we have then this computation3 ,,years4 #cjj years1 minus #ag years for the term of ,joshua1 is #bhc ,add for ,jephthah 7,judg4 #ab3 #f7 #f ,for ,ibzan #g years2 for ,elon #aj2 for ,abdon #h 7according to ,judg4 #ab3 #h1 #aa1 #ad7 #be ,servitude to the ,philistines 7,judg4 #ac3 #a7 #dj ,sampson 7,judg4 #ae3 #bj and #af3 #ca7 not less than #bj ,eli 7#a ,sam4 #d3 #ah7 #dj ,a period without dates 7narrated ,judg4 #ag-ba7 estimated at #dj ,makes a total of #ded ,it is entirely impossible to bring these internal dates in the history within the short period of #cci years for the ,judges4 ,we must therefore accept the long period#dej yearsand place the ,exodus in #ajac #eia ,b4 ,c4 #afjd4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the next period of conflicting authorities is the ,sojourn in ,egypt4 ,the issue lies between the long period1 #dcj years1 and the short one1 #bae years4,the first proof text is ,ex4 #ab3 #dj3 8,now the sojourning of the children of ,israel who dwelt in ,egypt was #dcj years40 ,next is ,gen4 #ae3 #ac3 8,thy seed shall be a stranger in a land not theirs and shall serve them2 and they shall afflict them #djj years03which is quoted substantially by ,stephen1 ,ac4 #g3 #f4,on the other hand stands ,gal4 #c3 #ag1 which makes the giving of the law on ,sinai #dcj years after the covenant made with ,abraham4 ,the interval from that covenant to ,jacob's standing before ,pharaoh is readily computed thus3 ,from the covenant with ,abram1 he being then #ge years old 7,gen4 #ab3 #d7 to the birth of ,isaac1 ,abraham #ajj years old 7,gen4 #ba3 #e7 is #be years4,from birth of ,isaac to birth of ,jacob 7,gen4 #be3 #bf7 #fj4;,jacob standing before ,pharaoh 7,gen4 #dg3 #i7 at #acj1 the sum of which numbers is #bae4 ,according to ,paul1 this would leave for the sojourn in ,egypt but #bae years4 ,a distinct class of proofs came from an estimate of the generations between the fathers who went down into ,egypt and the sons who entered ,canaan4 ,of this1 presently4 ,reverting now to the obviously conflicting proof texts above cited1 we may note that ,ex4 #ab3 #dj is read variouslythe ,septuagint 7,vatican text7 adding after 8dwelt in ,egypt10 the words8and in the land of ,canaan20 while the ,alexandrian text of the ,septuagint adds also8they and their fathers40 ,both these additions appear also in the ,samaritan text and in the ,targum ,jonathan2 while the ,masoretic ,hebrew is supported by the more reliable ,targum of ,onkelos2 also by the ,syriac and the ,vulgate4 ,these additions as in the ,septuagint are clumsily made4 ,the dwelling in ,canaan1 referring to ,abraham and ,isaac1 should come in before the dwelling in ,egypt if at all1 and not after4 ,the diversity between the two texts of the ,septuagint is suspicious4 ,the authority of the old ,hebrew text stands unshaken4 ,the passage ,gen4 #ae3 #ac is strong to the same purport1 since it was 8in a land not his own0 7i4 e4 not ,canaan71 and was a state of tyrannous oppression which was to continue #djj yearspoints which forbid us to include in this #djj years the life-history of ,abraham1 ,isaac and ,jacob4,as to ,paul 7,gal4 #c3 #ag7 his readers had before them only the ,septuagint2 he would therefore naturally follow its authority1 and the more readily because the difference between that and the ,hebrew in the length of the interval was a point of no importance to his argument4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the evidence from the lapse of generations during the sojourn in ,egypt is of great1 not to say decisive1 importance to our question4 ,here1 however1 opinions as to its bearing differ totally4 ,one of the test passages is ,ex4 #f3 #af-bj1 which makes the whole age of ,levi #acg years2 of ,kohath1 his son1 #acc2 of ,amramapparently his son and the father of ,moses1 #acg4 ,the age of ,moses when he stood before ,pharaoh 7,ex4 #g3 #g7 was #hj4 ,kohath was born in ,canaan2 his father was older by several years than ,benjamin2 presumably1 therefore1 his children were older2 yet ,benjamin had ten sons when he went down into ,egypt 7,gen4 #df3 #ba74 ,if we suppose that ,kohath was #be when he went into ,egypt1 then he lived there #ajh years4 ,amram lived there #acg1 and ,moses at the ,exodus had lived #hj4 ,with these given generations and ages1 this computation is stretched to its utmost extent since it supposes ,kohath's death at #acc and ,amram's birth to have occurred in the same year2 also ,amram's death at #acg and the birth of ,moses to be in the same year2 yet the sum is only #cbe1 which is less by #aje years than the long period4 ,with these data the short period 7#bae7 might be readily provided for4 ,but several circumstances combine to show that there must be several omitted links between the ,amram here spoken of1 and ,kohath4 ,for in this genealogical list 7,ex4 #f3 #af-bj7 we have but two names between ,levi1 the tribe-father1 and ,moses1 viz4 ,kohath and ,amram4 ,but between ,joseph1 a younger tribe-father1 and ,zelophehad1 a contemporary of ,moses1 there are four intervening names 7,num4 #bf3 #bh-cc72 between ,judah and ,bezaleel there are six 7#a ,chron4 #b3 #c-e1 #ah-bj72 between ,joseph 7through ,ephraim7 and ,joshua1 there are nine 7#a ,chron4 #g3 #bb-bg74;,again1 we have in ,num4 #c3 #bg1 #bh1 a census of the four ,kohath families4 ,the males1 from one month and upward1 are #hfjj4 ,if we set off one-fourth of these to ,amram 7i4 e4 #baej7 and remember that the ,amram who was father to ,moses had but one other son1 ,aaron1 7known to this genealogy7 with four sons1 and that ,moses had but two1 we shall see it utterly impossible that the male offspring of ,moses and of ,aaron could number #baej4 ,therefore ,amram1 the immediate son of ,kohath1 must have been several generations back of the ,amram who was father of ,moses4,the genealogy of ,jochebed1 the mother of ,moses1 might also be explained1 but space forbids4,the vast increase of ,hebrew population1 from the #gj souls who went down into ,egypt to the #fjj1jjj men of age for war who went out 7,ex4 #ab3 #cg71 suggests a longer time than #bae years4 ,the evidence on the whole preponderates decisively against the shorter and in favor of the longer period1 #dcj years4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the third doubtful period in ,hebrew chronology lies between ,abraham and his father ,terah1 the question being the age of ,terah at ,abraham's birth4 ,some authorities make it #gj years2 others1 #acj4 ,the proof texts are7a47 ,gen4 #aa3 #bf2 8,terah lived #gj years and begat ,abram1 ,nahor1 and ,haran407b47 ,gen4 #aa3 #cb2 8,the days of ,terah were #bje years2 and ,terah died in ,haran407c47 ,acts #g3 #d2 8,abram came out of the land of the ,chaldeans and dwelt in ,haran2 and from thence1 after his father was dead1 he removed into this land wherein ye now dwell407d47 ,gen4 #ab3 #d2 8,abram was #ge years old when he departed out of ,haran40,the difficulty is that if ,abram was born when his father was #gj and lived with him till his death at the age of #bje1 he should have been #ace and not merely #ge when his father died and he went into ,canaan4,to surmount this difficulty some construe the text 7a47 to mean that ,terah lived #gj years before the birth of his first son2 that ,abram was not his first-born but is named first on account of his greater prominence in history and in character2 and that ,abram was not born till his father was #acj4,others assume that ,stephen made the slight mistake of supposing that ,terah was dead when ,abram left ,haran for ,canaan1 misled by the circumstance that the historian1 in order to dispose of his case1 narrated ,terah's death before he spoke of ,abram's emigration to ,canaan1 although 7as they assume7 it in fact occurred #fj years afterwards4,others assume an error in the number of years assigned as the full age of ,terah1 making it #ade instead of #bjethe ,samaritan text giving these figures4 ,the assumption that ,stephen was mistaken is to be rejected2 partly because it was vital to the purposes of his speech that his historic points should be accurately madeat least in harmony with current ,jewish opinionto say nothing of the further fact that he is before us as one 8filled with the ,holy ,ghost0 and specially inspired2 partly because the history represents ,terah as sympathizing fully in the spirit of the removal from ,ur to ,canaan1 and apparently prevented from going only by the infirmities of age4,the choice seems1 therefore1 to lie between the first named explanation and the last4 ,the firstmaking the passage 7,gen4 #aa3 #bf7 mean only that ,terah lived #gj years before the birth of his eldest1 but became the father of three sonsleaving us at liberty to fix ,abraham's birth at his #acjth yearis a possible construction1 but is rendered somewhat improbable by ,abram's question 7,gen4 #ag3 #ag7 8,shall a son be born to him that is #ajj years old08 ,how could he have thought this strange if in fact he himself had been born when his father was #acj8,there may be an error in the number of years of ,terah's life2 the ,samaritan text may be right in making it #ade4 ,this is below the average age of his fathers2 but in those as in all other days1 men were subject to die before they reached the maximum age of their generation4 ,it would seem that he set out from ,ur with the reasonable expectation of going to ,canaan4 ,hence a probability that he died unexpectedly1 and at an earlier age than his fathers4 ,i can express no positive opinion upon this case4 99 99 99 99 99 ,two other doubtful periods remain to be considered1 viz4 ,the interval from the creation to the flood2 and the interval from the flood to the call of ,abram4 ,the question upon these two intervals is substantially the same1 so that they may properly be presented together4 ,it hinges in both cases upon the authority of the textsviz4 for the former interval1 ,gen4 #e3 #c-cb2 and for the latter1 ,gen4 #aa3 #aj-bf4;,in form these tables are not chronological but genealogical4 ,they do not reckon from any given era1 as if 7e4 g47 to show the interval from the creation to the flood1 but give the age of each member of the genealogical line when his son of the same line was born4 ,it is therefore by adding together these measured portions of each man's life1 viz4 the years he lived before the next member in the line was born1 that we obtain the entire interval4,the tables give three facts as to each man's life2 7a47 how old he was when his son in this line was born2 7b47 how long he lived afterwards2 and 7c47 the sum total of his years4 ,if the chain is perfect1 with neither missing nor supernumerary links1 and if the numbers of the first class are all correct1 the result must be reliable4 ,but plainly the result will be changed at once by changing the first set of numbers and the second to correspond1without changing the third at all4 ,in the present case from ,adam to ,noah inclusive are ten generations4 ,the sum of the first class of numbers as it stands in our ,hebrew text is #afef1 to the year of the flood4 ,the only question of difficulty is upon the authority of the text4 ,the ,septuagint makes the same interval #bbfb;an excess above the ,hebrew of #fjf years4,in like manner from the birth of ,arphaxad to the call of ,abram 7ten generations inclusive7 the ,hebrew text makes a total of #cfe years2 the ,septuagint #ajae1 or by another text of the ,sept4 #aaae1 making an excess of #fej or #gej years4 ,the sum of excess in the two periods is #abef or #acef4,the following tables will serve to show how these diverse footings are produced4 ,the numbers given by ,josephus have some interest3 ,i therefore place them in the table for the period before the flood4 ,the numbers given in the ,samaritan text are frequently brought into this comparison4 ,they differ considerably from either of the other authorities1 but seem to me of no particular value1 and are therefore omitted4 ,a4 ,,hebrew ,,text4 ,,septuagint4 ,,josephus4 ,age ,age ,age at ,rest at ,rest at ,rest ,son's of ,son's of ,son's of ,,names birth4 life4,total4 birth4life4,total4 birth4life4 ,total4 #a4 ,adam #acj #hjj #icj #bcj #gjj #icj #bcj #gjj #icj #b4 ,seth #aje #hjg #iab #bje #gjg #iab #bje #gjg #iab #c4 ,enos #ij #hae #ije #aij #gae #ije #aij #gae #ije #d4 ,cainan #gj #hdj #iaj #agj #gdj #iaj #agj #gdj #iaj #e4 ,mahalaleel #fe #hcj #hie #afe #gcj #hie #afe #gcj #hie #f4 ,jared #afb #hjj #ifb #afb #hjj #ifb #afb #hjj #ifb #g4 ,enoch #fe #cjj #cfe #afe #bjj #cfe #afe #bjj #cfe #h4 ,methuselah #ahg #ghb #ifi 99#ahg #ghb #ifi #ahg #ghb #ifi #i4 ,lamech #ahb #eie #ggg #ahh #efe #gec #ahb #eie #ggg #aj4 ,noah #ejj #dej #iej #ejj #dej #iej #ejj #dej #iej ,to the flood #ajj #ajj #ajj ,total #afef #bbfb #bbef 99 ,the ,vatican text of the ,seventy makes this number #afg4 ,comparing the ,hebrew figures with those of the ,septuagint1 it seems plain that one set or the other has been altered by design4 ,it should be borne in mind that the ,septuagint is a translation from ,hebrew into ,greek1 made about #bhe ,b4 ,c41 which is not far from #aejj years prior to the date of our oldest ,hebrew manuscripts4 ,also that ,josephus wrote in the latter part of the first century after ,christ1 giving ,jewish history quite faithfully as then understood4,in the first table ,josephus sustains the ,septuagint with only the one slight exception of making ,lamech #ahb instead of #ahh at the birth of ,noahhis total being thereby six years less4 ,the reader will note carefully how these main differences between the ,hebrew and the ,septuagint stand4 ,in the first five names and in the seventh1 the years in the first columni4 e4 the age of the father at the birth of his son1 are less by #ajj in the ,hebrew than in the ,septuagint1 or 7what amounts to the same thing7 greater by #ajj in the ,septuagint than in the ,hebrew4 ,to correspond1 the years in the second column are greater by #ajj in the ,hebrew than in the ,septuagint1 so that the totals as they appear in the third column come out the same in both texts4,these are the only important variations4 ,the other is a slight onethe ,septuagint adding six years to the age of ,lamech at ,noah's birth1 or the ,hebrew taking six years off from the number as in the ,septuagint4 ,in this case ,josephus is with the ,hebrew text4,it may be noted also that in the cases of ,jared and ,methuselah1 the figures agree4,now the question is,which text is pure1 and which has been corrupted8 ,a better view perhaps of the whole question will be obtained if at this point we study the corresponding table for the period from the birth of ,arphaxad 7two years after the flood7 to the call of ,abram1 made up from the ,hebrew text1 from the ,septuagint and from the ,samaritan text of ,gen4 #aa3aj-bf3 ,b4 ,,hebrew ,,text4 ,,septuagint4 ,,samaritan4 ,age ,age ,age at ,rest at ,rest at ,rest ,son's of ,son's of ,son's of ,,names birth4 life4,total4 birth4life4,total4 birth4life4 ,total4 #a4 ,shem #ajj #ejj #fjj #ajj #ejj #fjj #ajj #ejj #fjj #b4 ,arphaxad #ce #djc #dch #ace #djj #ece #ace #cjc #dch #c4 ,salah #cj #djc #dcc #acj #ccj #dfj #acj #cjc #dcc #d4 ,eber #cd #dcj #dfd #acd #bgj #djd #acd #bgj #djd #e4 ,peleg #cj #bji #bci #acj #bji #cci #acj #aji #bci #f4 ,reu #cb #bjg #bci #acb #bjg #cci #acb #ajg #bcg #g4 ,serug #cj #bjj #bcj #acj #bjj #ccj #acj #ajj #bcj #h4 ,nahor #bi #aai #adh #agi #abe #cjd #gi #fi #ade or #gi #i4 ,terah #acj #ace #bje #acj #ace #bje #gj #ge #ade or #gj or #gj #aj4 ,abram1 his call #ge #ge #ge ,total #cfe #ajae #ajae ,here it will be noticed that the important differences are of the same sort as in the corresponding table before the flood4 ,in a series of six names 7,arphaxad to ,serug inclusive7 the ,hebrew has #ajj years less in each life than the ,septuagint before the dividing point4 ,in the first 7the important7 column1 the ,samaritan agrees with the ,septuagint4 ,the years in the second and in the third columns are quite irregular4 ,in the case of ,nahor the ,septuagint exceeds the ,hebrew either #ej1 as in the ,alexandrian text of the ,septuagint1 or #aej as in the ,vatican text4 ,on the question,which of these texts1 the ,hebrew or the ,greek1 has been corrupted8 it may be said in favor of the integrity of the ,hebrew3 7a47 ,that it is the original47b47 ,that in general it has been preserved by the ,jews with extreme care and guarded against corruption with the greatest vigilance4 99 99 99 99 99 ,in favor of the integrity of the ,septuagint on the points now in question may be urged 7a47 ,as to the period from ,adam to ,noah1 the general concurrence of ,josephusan independent and reliable witness as to the state of all the ,jewish authorities of his time4 ,in regard to the period after the flood1 the corresponding concurrence of the ,samaritan text in all vital points4 7b47 ,the fact that there is no known reason for intentional corruption2 while over against this it has been supposed 7with how much probability it is difficult to say7 that the ,jews during their controversies with the ,christians on the great question of the ,messiah 7,a4 ,d4 #aej-djj7 found it for their interest to shorten the period from the creation to the ,christian era in order to prove that the ,messiah had not yet come4 ,this presupposes it admitted on both sides that he was to come within some given number of years after the creationperhaps #dejj or #ejjj4 ,we have already seen reason to suppose that the ,hebrew text of #a ,kings #f3 #a is in errorperhaps corrupted4 ,it is manifestly less than the truth by the difference between #dhj and #eia4 7c47 ,the accuracy of the ,septuagint chronology on these contested points does not appear to have been called in question until at least #djj years after the translation was madenever before ,a4 ,d4 #aej1 about the date when the controversy arose respecting the ,christian ,messiah4 7d47 ,it was in use and fully accredited before the ,christian era4 7e47 ,it was used and its authority fully admitted by the fathers of the ,christian church4,this fact and the next preceding render it at least probable that the ,hebrew text at that time was in harmony with the ,septuagint4 7f47 ,the ,chaldean and ,egyptian annals seem to demand more time back to the flood or to the creation than the present ,hebrew text admits1 and therefore lend their influence 7to be taken for what it is worth7 in favor of the ,septuagint rather than the ,hebrew because of its longer periods4 7g47 ,in table ,a it will be readily seen1 comparing the figures of the first column in the ,hebrew with the corresponding figures in the ,septuagint1 that the latter are very uniform while in the ,hebrew there is a wide diversity between the highest and the lowest1 four standing considerably below #ajj and two above #ahj4 ,the probability seems to be somewhat against so wide diversity4,in table ,b the ,hebrew figures in the first column are sufficiently near each other4 ,out of seven in succession the extremes are #bi and #ce4 ,we have an equal uniformity in the first column of the ,septuagint and of the ,samaritan1 six of these figures being the same as in the ,hebrew with only the addition of #ajj4 ,the ,hebrew figures seem low relatively to the total years2 and on the other hand the ,septuagint figures seem too high4 ,especially is this objection formidable when we remember ,abram's surprise that ,god should promise him a son when #ajj years old 7,gen4 #ag3 #ag74 8,shall a child be born to him that is #ajj years old80as if it were a thing unknown in then recent history4 ,but if all ,abram's ancestors back to the flood begat their respective sons in this line at ages ranging from #ace to #acj 7or all but ,terah7 it is somewhat difficult to account for his surprise4 ,the best we could say would be that the average human life was fast lessening4 ,i regard this as the most serious objection of internal character against the integrity of the ,septuagint text4,on the whole the chronological questions at issue between the ,hebrew text and the ,septuagint1 turning upon the authority of their respective texts1 are very much complicated and not a little doubtful4 ,i have laid before the reader what ,i regard as the main arguments1 and rest the case here1 hopeful that greater light may yet arise1 leaning1 however1 toward accepting the authority of the ,septuagint4 99 99 99 99 99 ,reviewing the points made in this examination of ,hebrew chronology1 it will be seen that we extend the time beyond ,usher's system1 7a47 ,in the period of the ,judges at least #aaa years2 7b47 ,in the sojourn in ,egypt #bae years2 and 7omitting the interval between ,terah and ,abram as uncertain71 7c47 ,in the interval from the flood to the call of ,abram 7if the ,septuagint be followed7 at least #fej years1 and perhaps #gej2 and 7d47 ,in the period from the creation to the flood1 #fjf yearsa total of #aehb or #afhb years4,or1 to put the case in another form1 we put the ,exodus in the year 7,b4 ,c47 #afjc2 ,jacob's going into ,egypt1 ,b4 ,c4 #bjcc2 the call of ,abram1 ,b4 ,c4 #bbdh2 and by the ,septuagint the flood1 #cbfe or #ccfe2 and finally1 by the ,septuagint1 the creation1 ,b4 ,c4 #eebg or #efbg4 ,this approximates toward harmony with the reported results of the ,indian chronology which locates the creation ,b4 ,c4 #fagd2 also the ,babylonian1 ,b4 ,c4 #faeh1 and the ,chinese1 ,b4 ,c4 #faegthe excess of the latter above the longest sacred chronology being only #ecj years4 ,the approach toward harmony in these three not sacred chronologiesthe ,indian1 the ,babylonian and the ,chinesethe extreme difference being only #ag yearsis certainly a remarkable fact4 ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,the ,,antiquity ,,of ,,man ,,resumed4 ,,as to the antiquity of ,egyptian art1 civilization and political power1 there are two main questions3 #a4 ,how much time1 after ,noah1 is required8 #b4 ,how much can be allowed in harmony with the most reliable authorities of ,hebrew chronology8 #a4 ,under the head of time required1 it is in place to note the circumstances which favored the very rapid growth of ,egyptian civilization and also of the numerical and political power of ,egypt4 7a7 ,mizraim1 the father of ,egypt1 who gave his name to the kingdom1 was a grandson of ,noah and the father of seven sons 7,gen4 #aj3 #a1 #f1 #ac1 #ad74 ,consequently he started early and strong4 7b7 ,the fertility of the ,nile valley was prodigious2 it was capable1 therefore1 of sustaining an immense population1 and so would attract other people besides the lineal descendants of ,mizraim4 ,every thing was propitious for the early and rapid peopling of their country4 7c7 ,fixed residence1 coupled with cheap bread and abundance of it1 put the ,egyptian on vantage-ground above any other ancient nation for the early culture of art and for rapid growth in all that made ,egypt great4 7d7 ,it is a capital mistake to assume that the arts and sciences were originated in ,egypt after the flood1 and that therefore a very long time must be allowed for their growth and development up from utter barbarism4 ,for there was surely no insignificant amount of art and science among the builders of ,noah's ark4 ,the yet earlier history of the race names 8the father of all such as handle the harp and organ10 and also 8an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron0 7,gen4 #d3 #ba1 #bb74 7e7 ,it is a significant fact that the ,chaldean tradition of the deluge as preserved by ,berosus sets forth the special care taken by ,noah to preserve and transmit to the new-born nations after the flood the arts and sciences which had been developed before that catastrophe4 ,they say he was admonished to put in writing an account of these arts and sciences and deposit it in a place of safety until the flood should be past4 ,this tradition reveals the fact of a current belief that there was such knowledge to be preserved1 and that means were used to preserve it4 #b4 ,under the head of time required it remains to give a synopsis of the latest and most reliable results of ,egyptologists in regard to the ,egyptian date of ,menes1 their first king1 and of the building of the three great pyramidsthese being the most important epochs of the earliest ,egyptian antiquity4 ,the standard historic authority 7not1 however1 above suspicion7 is ,manetho1 an ,egyptian priest of ,heliopolis1 of the age of ,ptolemy ,philadelphus 7reigned ,b4 ,c4 #bhd-bdf71 who is supposed to have made up from the ancient records of his nation a list of thirty or thirty-one dynasties of ,egyptian kings1 beginning with ,menes and ending with the conquests of ,alexander the ,great1 giving the years of each king's reign4 ,unfortunately it comes down in a somewhat fragmentary condition1 as copied by ,julius ,africanus 7died ,a4 ,d4 #bcb71 who was himself in part copied by ,eusebius 7of the fourth century7 and by ,syncellus 7flourished ,a4 ,d4 #ghj74 ,until recently it has been the current opinion of the best authorities 7still held by many7 that these dynasties were at some points contemporary and not successivesome of them reigning in ,upper ,egypt1 others in ,middle or ,lower ,egypt1 at the same time4 ,this would raise the problems,how many and which were contemporary8 ,how much is the entire period actually shortened by this contemporaneousness8,moreover it has been supposed also that on the same throne there has been at some points a joint occupancy of two or more kingsfather and son perhaps1 or of some rival claimants2 so that the entire duration of a given dynasty may be less than the sum of the reigns of its enumerated kings4#bj,the problem of whole duration being complicated by these elements of uncertainty1 it has been the great aim of recent investigation to gather in all possible aid from the monuments and bring their testimony to bear upon the tables of ,manetho4 ,the results are variously estimated and the problem can not be regarded as yet fully settled4 ,i place together the opinions of some of the best authorities3 ,i4 ,for the date of ,menes1 reputed the first king4 ,b4 ,c4 ,bunsen's latest revised recension of ,egyptian ,chronology locates him#ba #cjei ,j4 ,p4 ,thompson at least as far back as #cjjj ,r4 ,s4 ,poole 7,smith's ,bible ,dictionary1 p4 #fhb7 #bgag ,sir ,gardner ,wilkinson 7see 8,aids to ,faith10 p4 #bid7 #bfij ,wm4 ,palmer 7,smith's ,bible ,dictionary1 p4 #fhg7 #bbbd ,the 8,old ,chronicle0 7very valuable authority7 #bbbj ,eratosthenes and ,apollodorus1 original authorities1 in no respect inferior to ,manetho #bgic ,other estimates from less reliable authorities carry him back yet further4 ,for convenience of comparison we place here our corrected ,bible ,chronology for the call of ,abrahamviz4 ,b4 ,c4 #bbdh2 and for the flood1 by the longest ,septuagint text1 ,b4 ,c4 #cdbe1 and by the shortest1 ,b4 ,c4 #ccbe4 ,these dates afford ample time for ,mizraim1 grandson of ,noah1 to make a home and found a community in ,egypt1 in which ,menes might presently reach the dignity of being the first king4 ,,ii4 ,the date of the ,pyramids4 ,b4 ,c4 ,bunsen in his latest recension1 about #bfjj ,prof4 ,c4 ,piazzi ,smith1 by astronomical calculations #bagj ,george ,rawlinson 7in 8,aids to ,faith10 p4 #big7 #bdjj ,these dates may be compared with the call of ,abraham,b4 ,c4 #bbdh4;,j4 ,p4 ,thompson 7,genesis and ,geology1 p4 #hf7 says8,the three great pyramids by the common consent of ,egyptologers are assigned to the fourth dynasty of kings of the old empire1 as given by ,manetho40 ,it will be seen that these dates for ,menes1 the first king1 and for the oldest pyramids are amply provided for within the extension of sacred chronology as above indicated4,other points in ,egyptian antiquities will be treated of in their place4 99 99 99 99 99 ,on the general subject of the antiquity of man1 it only remains to touch briefly the subsidiary questions stated above1 p4 #di4 7a47 ,were there one or more races of primeval men1 pre-,adamic1 but now extinct8 ,so far as reliable facts have yet come to light there is no sufficient evidence of the affirmative4 ,our investigations into the antiquity of man do not seem to demand a longer time than the extended sacred chronology above presented affords4 ,it is perhaps too soon to say that no evidence will yet appear of a pre-,adamic race not in existence now4 ,but it will be soon enough to recognize the fact when the evidence shall have been adduced4 ,till then1 it is more scientific to believe only so far as we have knowledge based on evidence4 7b47 ,have there been various head-centers of existing human species1 or only one1 and that ,adam8,or 7the same question in different form7 ,are all the living varieties of race lineally descended from ,adam8 and all from ,noah8,these questions contemplate the well known diversities of race in the existing human family4 ,the classification of race is made somewhat variously by different authors2 but the more common one makes five classes3 ,the ,caucasian1 or white2 ,the ,mongolian1 or yellow2 ,the ,ethiopian negro race1 or black2 ,the ,american1 or red2 and the ,malayan1 or brown4 7,see ,webster47 ,let it be premised in the outset that this distinction of race is one of variety and not of species4 ,it sits upon the surface and does not penetrate to the inner nature4 ,all these races have the same anatomical structure2 the same physical organs2 and what is far more1 the same intellectual and moral nature4 ,every-where they exhibit the common effects of the fall of ,adam2 the same depravity of moral nature2 the same common need of redemption by ,christ4,these are cardinal traits and tests4 ,what is the color of the skin compared with the stamp of ,god's image upon the very nature itself8 ,that these races intermingle and cross indefinitely is sufficient proof that they are only varieties1 and by no means distinct species4,yet this of itself does not prove that all men have descended from one first man,adam4 ,for the ,lord had power to create five or ten ,adams1 each the head-center of as many distinct races1 yet all1 of the one species1 man4 ,so far therefore as respects the creative power of ,god or the constitution of man1 this is an open question3 ,what then are the facts8 #a4 ,the ,scriptures imply with the strongest form of implication that the ,adam of ,genesis is the fatherthe one only fatherof the whole human race4 ,the narrative of the creation2 of the fall2 and of the first promise of redemptionall imply this4 ,paul implies it in those passages in which he compares the ruin of the race through the one man ,adam with the salvation provided for the race through the greater second ,man1 ,jesus ,christ4 ,the strong passages are ,rom4 #e3 #ab-ai and #a ,cor4 #ae3 #ba1 #bb4 #b4 ,the diversities of race may be accounted for as produced by either or both of two causes2 7a47 ,climatic influences2 7b47 ,sporadic1 abnormal peculiarities1 appearing suddenly1 and perpetuating themselves by inheritance4 #c4 ,the geographical distribution of the race from one head-center1 ,adam1 is certainly possible4 ,there is some reason to suppose that the relative position of the seas1 oceans1 and continents at their points of nearest approach may have been different in the earlier ages from the present4 #d4 ,the proofs of a common language from which all known human languages have been derived conspire to sustain the common origin of all the human family4 ,this list of proofs might be extended and the argument from these points greatly expanded4 ,on the subordinate question whether ,noah was the common ancestor of all the races living since his day1 the answer turns mainly on the point of the universality of the deluge2 or rather1 on this precise point,did the deluge destroy all the living men except those saved with ,noah in the ark8 ,this question will be considered in its place4 ,,chapter ,v4 ,,the ,,sabbath4 ,,it has been already suggested that the division of the creative work into six days rather than into five or ten or any other number1 contemplated the weekly ,sabbath and was designed to connect this ,sabbath for man with ,god's rest from this creative work so that the ,sabbath should be at once a memorial of the creation and should bear in itself the force of ,god's example in his relative periods of labor and of rest4 ,god created this beautiful earth for man's abode1 and man to dwell upon it2 therefore let man remember his ,great ,creator and ,father1 thoughtfully contemplating his works1 admiring and adoring1 worshiping and serving the ,glorious ,author of both his being and his blessings4 ,god wrought six days and rested one2 so let man throughout all the ages of earthly time4 ,such is the relation of the ,sabbath to ,god and to man4,note therefore #a4 ,god ordained and enjoined it4 ,it is precisely a divine institutionnot man-made but heaven-born2 an outgrowth of ,god's wisdom and love for his offspring manfor that one of all his creatures whom only ,god 8made in his own image40 8,god blessed the seventh day and sanctified it2 because that in it he had rested from all his work which ,god created and made0 7,gen4 #b3 #c74 8,blessed and sanctified0not as to himself but as to man2 i4 e4 not to make the day a blessing to himself but a blessing to man2 not to make the day holy to himself but holy as to man4 ,it was a day for man to keep holy and a day laden with blessings for man on condition of his sacredly observing it in its true spirit and intent4,in accord with this view are our ,savior's words 7,mk4 #b3 #bg71 8,the ,sabbath was made for man0to become a blessing for man1 one of the great and sure channels of mercy from the ,great ,father to his obedient children4 ,thus the ,sabbath was instituted for man when the race existed in ,adam and ,eve aloneone of the institutions revealed from ,god and enjoined in ,edengood for man before his fall1 and surely not less needful to the race fallen than to the race sinless4 ,let it be distinctly considered that this ,sabbath was instituted with no limitations of time or race or nationnot for ,eden alone2 not for the race before their fall onlyto become defunct when man began to sin2 not for the ,jews alone to be only a ,jewish national observance and to become obsolete when the ceremonials of ,judaism 8waxed old and vanished away40 ,it was indeed prescribed anew to the ,hebrew nation and enforced with new sanctions1 especially by his obligations to his covenant-keeping ,god for national deliverance from ,egyptian bondage2 but this weighs not a feather against the doctrine that the ,sabbath was made for man4 ,while the ,sabbath obligation1 thus heightened by new mercies1 might be said to become more sacred and obligatory upon the ,jewish nation1 this fact could by no means make the day less sacred to the ,gentiles of every land and of all time4 #b4 ,as sustaining scripturally this argument for the divine appointment of the ,sabbath for the race of mankind1 let it be noted that the seven-day division of time is unquestionably traceable to this primeval institution4 ,it did not originate in the revolution of the earth on its axis which makes the common day1 nor in its revolution in its orbit round the sun which makes the year1 nor in the changes of the moon which mark off lunar months4 ,it is an abnormalwe might say unnatural division of timeone which comes not of nature but from a source above naturefrom ,god directly and from ,god alone4 ,historically we find this seventh-day period in existence during the flood4 ,noah observed it and sent out the raven and the dove after seven-day intervals of time4,it becomes most distinctly apparent in the recorded history of the manna 7,ex4 #af3 #bb-cj74 ,by the natural law of the manna1 each next day's supply was distilled each night upon the adjacent grounds1 ready for the labor of gathering it in the early morning4 ,this would normally make labor a necessity for their subsistence every day1 leaving them no ,sabbath4 ,therefore ,god arrested the normal law at the ,sabbath point and provided a double supply on the morning next preceding1 giving none on the morning of the ,sabbath4 ,moreover by another special provision1 this double supply was kept two days from putrefactionin this case only1 so that it sufficed perfectly for their wants till the ,sabbath was past4 ,some of the people1 oblivious of the ,sabbath1 8went out on the seventh day to gather1 and found none4 ,and the ,lord said unto ,moses1 ,how long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws8 ,see1 for that the ,lord hath given you the ,sabbath1 therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days2 abide ye every man in his place2 let no man go out of his place on the seventh day0 7,ex4 #af3 #bg-cj74 ,most decisively therefore does this narrative assume that the ,sabbath was not then a new institution but an old one4 ,this scene and these words1 be it remembered1 were before 7not after7 the giving of the ten commandments from ,sinai4 ,to the same purport is the form of the fourth commandment2 8,remember the ,sabbath day to keep it holy40 ,the ,lord does not say,i now introduce a new and special precept4 ,his words1 8,remember0 etc4 do not imply this but imply the very opposite of this4 ,so also do the reasons assigned2 viz4 ,god's creative work finished in six days with rest on the seventh4 ,if this were a reason for the ,sabbath1 it was certainly good for ,adam in ,eden and for all of ,adam's children to the end of the world4 ,corresponding to this we may note that in this fourth command ,god does not say,i appoint each seventh day for a sign between me and thee and a memorial of your national deliverance from ,egyptian bondage 7as many have maintainedto make out that the ,sabbath was nothing but a ,jewish institution7 but this is not the form in which the ,sabbath stands in the immortal decalogue4 ,these pointsa 8sign0 between the ,lord and ,israel and a memorial of deliverance from ,egypt1 came in fitly afterwards as a supplementan appendix to this fourth command in its special relations to the children of ,israel4 ,see ,ex4 #ca3 #ab-ag and ,ezek4 #bj3 #ab1 #bj1 with my ,notes on the passage in ,ezekiel4 ,but these special and superadded relations of the ,sabbath to the ,hebrews can not possibly in reason diminish the obligation of the original ,sabbath ordained for man as a race in ,eden4 #d4 ,to complete the argument for a perpetual ,sabbath1 it is only needful to add that our ,lord re-endorsed it and gave it the whole weight of his sanction for all future time2 and in these several ways3 7a47 ,by re-endorsing the entire decalogue8,i am not come to destroy the law but to fulfil0 7,mat4 #e3 #ag74 ,the scope of the sermon on the mount7of which these words are a part7 proves that his eye was on the great moral law of ten commandments4 ,plainly he could not have spoken of the ,mosaic ceremonial law1 and therefore must have spoken of that special code of precepts of which the ,sabbath was the fourth47b47 ,he endorsed the ,sabbath as perpetual and universal by solemnly declaring8,the ,sabbath was made for man0 7,mk4 #b3 #bg747;c47 ,also by affirming it to be his own prerogative to enforce the ,sabbath and to set forth its spirit and expound its obligations4 8,therefore10 because the ,sabbath was made for man1 for all men of all time1 8therefore1 the ,son of man is ,lord also of the ,sabbath0 7,mk4 #b3 #bh74 ,it was in order to relieve the law of the ,sabbath 7as then currently expounded7 from burdensome1 excessive and injurious constructions which human nature could not bear and which were alien from its true spirit1 that our ,lord confronted the traditions of the ,scribes and ,pharisees and sought to place this great institution upon its true and eternal basis47d47 ,finally as showing historically that our ,lord had never a thought of terminating the obligation of the ,sabbath at his death but designed its obligation to be perpetual1 we have this very incidental word8,pray ye that your flight be not in the winter1 neither on the ,sabbath day0 7,mat4 #bd3 #bj74 ,when the ,roman armies should bring down the judgments of the ,almighty upon the doomed city of the murderers of ,jesus1 his followers must flee to the mountains across the ,jordan2 yet let it be their prayer that they might not be compelled to flee either in the severity of winter's cold1 nor on the holy ,sabbath4 ,flight for life might be morally admissible even on this sacred day2 yet it would be most appropriate to pray that ,god would spare them this moral trial and not subject them to the necessity of labor on this holy day4,in these various ways our ,lord most fully and undeniably re-endorsed the ,sabbath as for all time4 ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,,the ,,events ,,of ,,eden4 ,,the first human pair have their first earthly want met by their ,maker in a homea quiet1 beautiful spot 7precisely where we know not1 but near the source of the great ,euphrates7 in which trees of beauty for the eye and of nutritious fruitage for subsistence supplied some pleasing occupation for the mind and wholesome labor for the hand2 where1 happy in each other's love and blessed with the freest communion with their ,maker1 not a thing was lacking to fill their cup of joy4 ,if it might only lastand for this1 nothing more was needful save that their moral nature should be cultured1 their faith and love and obedience strengthened up to the point of being thoroughly1 fully confirmed3 then their lot would have been most blessed4 ,as a requisite means for such culture1 ,god subjected their faith and obedience to one gentle testto one point of moral trial4 ,to have endured this successfully would have made them morally stronger and have drawn them yet nearer in love and trust to their ,great ,father2 but to fall before it,ah6 this is the experience of human life1 but too well known in its fruits of sin and woe6 ,the history of these scenes is before us in this third chapter of ,genesis4 ,our leading inquiries may fitly take the following order3 ,i4 ,is this description symbolic or historic2 i4 e4 symbolic of all human sinning2 or historic as to this first sin1 its antecedents and immediate consequents8 ,,ii4 ,the moral trial2 ,,iii4 ,the temptation2 ,,iv4 ,the fall2 ,v4 ,the first promise2 ,,vi4 ,the curse1 being the first installment of the great penalty upon transgression4 ,i4 ,the preliminary question as to the character of this record demands a brief notice4 ,in my view it is not to be taken as a symbolic representation of the universal fact that the race yield to temptation and fall before it1 but as a historical account of the first human sinincluding the person of the tempter and his methods2 the working of his temptations upon ,eve and then upon ,adam and the first group of immediate results4,under this construction of the narrative1 ,i find here a real serpent1 and a real1 not a merely symbolical1 ,satanthe serpent supplying the external guise1 the sense-medium2 but ,satan1 the intelligent mind1 the malign purpose4 ,the narrative seems to indicate that ,satan chose the serpent for his service because of his well known subtlety4 ,it is of small account to push our conjectures on this point beyond what is written 7here and elsewhere72 but it is supposable that the serpent was ,satan's fittest instrument as being less likely to excite surprise by his uttered words4 ,that this record speaks of a real serpent and of a personal devil ,i am constrained to believe1 because1 #a4 ,this is the obvious sense of the narrativeis the construction which the mass of readers most naturally put upon it1 supposing them to be unsophisticated1 holding their minds in harmony with the simplicity of the ,scripture narrative and so in a mood to take most readily its obvious sense4 #b4 ,this construction is implied and thereby endorsed in subsequent scriptures3 e4 g4 ,isaiah 7#fe3 #be7 having said8,the wolf and the lamb shall feed together0peace and love supplanting violence and crueltyadds1 8,and dust shall be the serpent's meat0with manifest reference to this primal curse on ,satan's special agent4 ,see also a similar reference in ,solomon's ,messianic ,psalm 7#gb3 #i73 8,his enemies shall lick the dust40 ,also ,micah #g3 #ag4,these allusions presuppose a real serpent in the scenes of ,eden4 ,that the real personal devil was there1 the responsible agent1 is surely implied by our ,lord 7,jno4 #h3 #dd73 8,ye are of your father the devil2 he was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth because there is no truth in him40 ,so also ,john 7#a ,jno4 #c3 #h73 8,he that committeth sin is of the devil1 for the devil sinneth from the beginning10 i4 e4 ever since that first great sin in tempting our common mother4 8,for this purpose was the ,son of ,god manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil0according to that first promise8,i will put enmity between thee and the woman1 between thy seed and her seed3 it shall bruise thy head1 and thou shalt bruise his heel40 ,paul incidentally gives his construction of this narrative3 8,the ,god of peace shall bruise ,satan under your feet shortly0 7,rom4 #af3 #bj72 and our ,lord also in ,luke 7#aj3 #ah1 #ai73 8,i beheld ,satan fall as lightning from heaven2 and ,i will give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions1 and over all the power of the enemy40 ,in #b ,cor4 #aa3 #c1 ,paul gives us a plain1 historic version of this narrative8,but ,i fear lest by any means1 as the serpent beguiled ,eve through his subtlety1 so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in ,christ40,but ,satan is perhaps most sharply identified in the descriptive points made by ,john 7,rev4 #ab3 #i and #bj3 #b73 8,and the great dragon was cast out1 that old serpent1 called the devil and ,satan1 who deceiveth the whole world40 444 8,and he laid hold on the dragon1 that old serpent who is the devil and ,satan1 and bound him a thousand years40 ,our ,lord1 as also ,paul and ,john1 saw in this narrative a real ,satan and also the veritable serpent1 made his instrument4 #c4 ,that ,satan should use such an instrument is manifestly within and not beyond his power4 ,it has in certain points its analogy in the demoniacal possessions recorded by the ,evangelists4 ,as to power he is spoken of as the god and prince of this world1 8the prince of the power of the air1 the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience40 ,the ,scriptures attribute to holy angels great power over material agencies2 and with scarcely less fullness to ,satan and his legions also4 ,in the case of demoniacal possessions1 nothing can be more obvious than the manifestations of ,satanic mind1 mind speaking through human lips indeed1 yet giving utterance to ,satanic thought4 8,we know thee who ,thou art40 8,what have we to do with thee1 ,jesus1 thou ,son of ,god8 ,art thou come to torment us before the time08 7,mat4 #h3 #bi and ,mk4 #e3 #g and ,luke #h3 #bh4 ,see also ,acts #ai3 #ae47 #d4 ,other points in this narrative are recognized in the ,scriptures as historic and not merely symbolic4 ,paul wrote to ,timothy 7#a ,tim4 #b3 #ac-ae73 8,for ,adam was first formed1 then ,eve1 and ,adam was not deceived2 but the woman being deceived1 was in the transgression4 ,notwithstanding1 she shall be saved in child-bearing10 etc4all referring very definitely to this narrative as fact and not merely drapery illustrating some universal truth4,to the same purport is ,paul in ,rom4 #e3 #ab1 #ai3 8,as by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin40 8,as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners10 etc4 ,so also #a ,cor4 #ae3 #ba1 #bb4 #e4 ,the sin of the first pair stands in its appropriate historic place here 7not a merely symbolic place71 being immediately connected with the curse upon the serpent 7and under him upon the devil72 upon the woman also1 and the man and the ground2 also with the expulsion from ,eden and man's changed life1 from the ease and the delights of ,eden to sweating labor upon a stubborn soil1 in perpetual conflict with noxious growths4,these considerations suffice in my view to prove that this narrative must be taken as simple history1 and not as symbolic drapery employed to set forth1 not these specific events1 but only the general truth of human depravity4 ,,ii4 ,the ,moral ,trial4 ,provision was made for this trial by one simple prohibition1 forbidding to them the fruit of one tree in the midst of the garden4 ,of all else they might eat as they pleased4 ,all they could need for subsistence or enjoyment was freely permitted them2 but the fruit of this one tree they might not eat on pain of death4 ,this was the test of their obedience4 ,this was to discipline their faith and their love toward their divine ,father4 ,there the tree stood before their eyes in the midst of the gardenevery sight of it suggesting their ,great ,father's wordnot to be eaten at all on penalty of death4 ,will they cheerfully and even joyfully deny themselves so much for the love they bear their ,father8 ,so long it shall be well with them4 ,every time they put down the temptation to eat of it they will become stronger in their spirit of obedience and more happy in ,god4 ,it was a means of continual culture in holiness1 ever leading onward and upward into deeper communion with ,god and more assured and joyous submission to his will1 more strength of purpose in obedience1 more delight in whatever self-denial obedience might involve4 ,surely it is not too much to say that they might make this means of moral culture a priceless blessing to their souls4 ,how could paradise meet the greatest of all their wantsthe want of their new-born soulswithout this one provision for proving and invigorating their loving obedience to their ,god8 ,need we then raise the question,what was ,god's purpose in this prohibition8 ,the answer is at hand,to accomplish precisely this result2 to give the first human pair a test of obedience which should be naturally a means of moral culture and of growth in holiness4,the horrible thoughtthat ,god meant and sought to make them sinhow can we say less of it than that it is born of ,satan6 ,for it assumes1 as ,satan did in the garden1 that ,god sought1 not their good1 but their hurt2 is not benevolent but malevolent6 ,our souls recoil from this assumption4 ,doth not the ,scriptures say truly 7,jas4 #a3 #ac71 8,neither tempteth he any man08 ,never1 for the purpose of drawing him into sin6,is it replied3,god certainly knew they would eat that forbidden fruit2 the answer is1 ,undoubtedly he did2 but this proves nothing as to his purpose and aim in placing them under this moral trial4 ,if it be yet said,he might have made the trial so much less that they would have borne it successfully3 the proper answer is1 ,who knows that8 ,who is wiser or more loving in such an emergency than ,god8,consider also that while ,god knew they would fall1 he also knew that he could redeem the race through his ,son1 gloriously2 and so could make the wrath of both wicked men and devils subserve his praise4 ,we may account this to be his reason for subjecting the first pair to a form of trial 7every way good and wise in itself and well designed7although he foresaw they would fall before it4 ,it was still 7as he saw the case through to its remotest end7 better than any other form of trial2 better than no trial at all1 supposing such a thing in their case possible4 ,thus may we vindicate ,god's ways in this transaction4 ,it was kind in him to grant for their free use every other fruit in the gardenall they could need4 ,it was right that he should impose some test of their obedience and love4 ,indeed it was a natural necessity of their moral nature that this question of obeying ,god1 always and every-where1 should come to issue4 ,as surely as they were moral beings1 capable of knowing duty and of doing it1 born into being with susceptibilities to happiness which sometimes must be virtuously denied at the demand of ,god and of the greater good1 so surely they must meet this trial sooner or later1 in one form or another1 until they become so strong in their holy purpose1 so fixed in the spirit of love and obedience to ,god that temptation to sin is of course spurned away and duty is done for evermore without a question4 ,moral trial1 therefore1 if not in this precise form1 yet in some analogous form1 is the necessary means of developing moral strength and confirmed holiness2 is therefore the natural pathway to the blessedness of heaven4 ,thus1 with no wavering of doubt1 we may vindicate ,god's ways toward man in this first great moral trial brought on our race4 ,in what sense was this called1 8,the tree of the knowledge of good and evil08 7,gen4 #b3 #i1 #ag and #c3 #e7;,it brought the knowledge of evil by fearful experience2 the knowledge of good to a certain extent by the freshened sense of contrast with the experience of evil4 ,sin gives to moral beings such knowledge of good and of evilknowledge it were better far for them they should never have6 ,was the fruit of this tree a natural poison8 ,we do not know4 ,god has not told us4 ,it may have been or it may not4 ,god does not base his prohibition on this ground4 ,there are other grounds1 all-sufficient1 without this4 ,it might perhaps be urged with some plausibility that the analogy of this earthly life favors the affirmative inasmuch as for the most part1 ,god's prohibitions of food and indeed of animal indulgence in general1 are based on this principle,abstain from poison2 do thyself no harm4 ,god is not wont to prohibit aught that is good for food or pleasurable to any sense1 except because it is pernicious1 poisonous4 ,what was this threatened penalty8 ,death1 in what sense8 ,in the same sense in which it actually falls upon all who reject ,christ and fail of his salvation4 ,upon such the curse of the law falls without abatement or modification4 ,their doom must surely be taken as the exponent and measure of the meaning of this threatened death4 ,of course it includes the loss of ,god's favor2 the incurring of his frown4,that eternal death did not begin instantly was due to arrest of judgment for a new probation under the scheme of redemption2 and to nothing else4 ,was natural death a part of this penalty8,plainly natural death became the doom of the race1 equally of the redeemed and of the unredeemed1 under the scheme of redemptiona scheme which carried with it more or less of earthly life before the death of the body4 ,but this proves nothing as to the breadth of the original threatening8,thou shalt surely die40 ,what would have been in respect to natural death if no scheme of redemption had intervened and the original threatening had been executed at once1 we have no means of knowing4 ,mortality as at present resting on the race and terminating in natural death is one of the incidents of the new probation under mercy1 and gives us no light on the other question1 viz4 ,what if no mercy had come in8 ,in general1 it is of small account for us to ask1 ,what would have been if something else had happened otherwise than it did8 e4 g4 ,what would have taken place if the first pair had endured all temptation8 ,how long would the trial have continued8 ,would it have terminated by removing the tree1 or by taking off the prohibition1 or only by such complete victory over temptation that its presence could have been only a joy and a triumph8,what part would have been borne by 8the tree of life08 ,and after their sin1 what if they had put forth their hand to take and eat of this life-tree8,speculations of this sort never make men wiser4 ,,iii4 ,the ,temptation4 ,on this point the history is remarkably full and distinct4 ,to those who have given attention to what may be called the law of temptationthe way it works and gains its objectlittle explanation of the narrative is needed4,we may note that ,satan took care not to be recognized as an enemy2 that he made his first approaches with subtlest caution and skill1 bringing up the case of the prohibited fruit as a question,is it indeed so that ,god hath said1 ,ye shall not eat of every tree8 ,as if he would say,what do you think about this prohibition8 ,is it quite pleasant to be put under such restraint8,when ,eve recited the words of ,god's prohibition and added something moreviz4 8neither shall ye touch it10 it is at least supposable that ,satan had already sprung in her mind the feeling that the injunction was indeed very stringent1 perhaps unreasonably and unkindly so4 ,it is plain that ,satan is emboldened and now ventures to strike out squarely against ,god4 ,putting his word unqualifiedly against ,god's word1 8ye shall not surely die10 he became 8the father of lies10 8a liar from the beginning10 and threw all the weight of his influence into the scale to break down ,eve's confidence in ,god's veracity as well as in his real kindness4 ,then with ,satanic cunning he took advantage of the name given to this forbidden tree to make ,eve think that knowledge1 great and enviable like that of the gods1 would come from eating this fruit4 ,artfully he charges that ,god knew this1 and sought by the prohibition to debar them from this boon of knowledge so desirable4 ,the gilded bait was swallowed but too soon and too thoughtlessly6 ,eve had listened2 she had more than half believed these lies2 she still dallied with the temptation2 she looked again at the tree and its fruit2 she saw it beautiful and seemingly good for food2 and1 far beyond this1 it appealed to her imagination as giving her that unknown wisdom1 like the wisdom of the godsso she took of it and ate6,then she brought of it to her husband4 ,her words to him are not on record4 ,we are left to imagine how her example may have wrought upon him1 and sympathy also with her doom if ,adam thought of that2 how the feeling,i must stand or fall1 live or die1 with this only human friend ,i have on earthmay have overcome every scruple4 ,so far as appears he yielded without a word of question1 much less of reproof4 ,he yieldedand the awful deed was done6 ,,iv4 ,the ,fall and its ,immediate ,effects4 ,the first human pair are in sin2 they have risen against ,god their ,maker in rebellion4 ,instantly 8their eyes are opened40 ,they realize how strangely different are the sensations that come after sin from those that are before4 ,the false hopes1 the fascinations1 the bewildering1 bewitching charms of temptation's hour give place to the awful sense of folly and of wronga sense of passing suddenly into a world of solemn and dread realities pertaining to ,god1 duty1 and doom4 8,they knew that they were naked02 an awful sense of being unfit to be seen2 a consciousness of being ugly1 loathsome1 as if the inner guilt of their souls stood out visibly over their whole bodiesthis seems to have been their first sensation1 and they set themselves to sewing fig-leaf coverings4 ,as evening drew on they heard the voice of the ,lord ,god walking in the garden4 ,that voice which up to this day had been their sweetest music now fills their very souls with shame and terror4,it is remarkable that ,adam's words and his acts also make so much account of his nakedness1 apparently of person4 ,was it that his convictions of sin and guilt were yet superficial1 so that his sense of shame for his sin turned his thought first to his personal nakedness8 ,had he yet to learn that 8,god looketh on the heart08 ,if so the ,lord's searching question must have met his case8,who told thee that thou wast naked08 ,how camest thou by this sense of shame1 this dread of the eye of thy divine ,father8 8,hast thou eaten of the tree whereof ,i commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat08,adam could not do otherwise than confess his sin1 yet with an apology which almost or quite reflected upon ,god2 8,the woman whom thou gavest to be with me1 she gave me1 and ,i did eat40 ,the woman too sought to screen herself somewhat under the apology of a subtle temptation4 8,the serpent beguiled me and ,i did eat40 ,the secondary results of the fall appear in the curse severally pronounced of ,god upon the serpent1 upon the woman1 and upon the ground for his sake4,as to the serpent1 since he stands before us in this entire transaction as a double character1 so the curse upon him comes in a sort of double meaning4 ,the most obvious sense of the passage assigns a measure of this curse to the literal serpentthe animal under the guise of whom ,satan beguiled his victim4 ,but the responsibility and guilt being upon the very ,satan1 this curse falls chiefly on him4 ,he is degraded1 doomed to eternal shame2 and in his great conflict against ,god and goodness1 to disgrace1 defeat and damning ruin4 ,words of telling significance were these28,i will put enmity between thee and the woman1 and between thy seed and her seed2 it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel40 ,the serpent guilefully assumed to be your friend4 ,i tear off his mask and expose him in his true nature2 ,i ordain eternal enmity between serpent and woman1 and pre-eminently between the serpent's seedthe children of the deviland the great1 distinguished ,personage known as 8the seed of the woman40 ,this enmity underlies the mighty conflict of the ages,christ and ,satan each leading on his host to battle and no peace or even truce arresting hostilities till the victory of the ,king of ,kings shall be complete and ineffably glorious4 ,thus the first relation between serpent and womanthat of assumed but treacherous friendshipdevelops into everlasting enmity,god1 her real friend1 becoming in the person of his incarnate ,son1 born of womanher champion and the mighty antagonist of ,satan and all his offspring4 ,here and thus mercy breaks in upon this scene of sin and ruin1 and ,god begins the wonderful process of making the wrath of ,satan the occasion of his own infinite glory4,the words which put so tersely the result of this great conflict take their shape and borrow their drapery from the guise under which ,satan here appearsthat of the crawling serpent4 ,he shall wound the heel of his opponentthe natural place for the serpent's bite2 but his own head bruised and crushed1 shall end the fight4,this first promise of ,god to our fallen race sweeps the eye over the whole vast field of moral conflict between ,christ and ,satan1 and testifies of glorious victory over ,satan as the sublime result4 ,it was inexpressibly kind in the ,lord to bring in these gleams of light and hope upon the trembling souls of the first sinning pair before he proceeded to speak of the specific forms of suffering that must righteously come upon them and their offspring as the testimony of ,god's displeasure against sin4 ,having said this1 he proceeds to the curse upon womansorrow in the birth of offspring2 and the curse upon mantoil and struggle for subsistence on a soil prolific in noxious growths and demanding labor as a condition of fruitfulness4 ,yet let the minor points of this scene sink into the shade in the presence of the sublime glory of the great first promise4 ,in the light of this we see that though ,satan plotted the ruin of the race1 yet ,god counter-plotted the ruin of ,satan and the salvation of the masses of mankind4 ,when it might have seemed that all was lost1 it proved that this extremity was ,god's great opportunity1 for his strong arm was made bare for help and real victory4 ,this is the birth-hour of most momentous issues4 ,sin came in upon ,eden and upon earth2 and many a bitter sorrow1 many a cup of suffering and woe1 must needs follow in its train2 but ,redemption comes in also2 it enters upon its co-ordinate work to save the soul from sin and from eternal death and to bring in everlasting righteousness4 ,the history of our world in its most vital aspects is foreshadowed here in this first short meeting of their ,maker with this sinning pair4 ,the spoken recorded words were few1 but their significance was momentous2 the sweep of their bearing1 the issues of the divine policy here indicated1 were destined to fill up the ages of time with stirring and strange conflict1 and to send their influence down through the endless ages of man's being and of ,god's kingdom4 ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,,from ,,the ,,fall ,,to ,,the ,,flood4 #a4 ,notes on special passages4 ,in ,gen4 #d3 #a our ,english version stands8,i have gotten a man from the ,lord40 ,some critics construe these words of ,eve to mean,by the help or blessing of the ,lord2 but the more direct and obvious sense of the original is this3 8,i have gotten a man1 the ,lord0as if she assumed that this1 her first-born son1 was really the promised divine 8seed of the woman0 who was to bruise the serpent's head4 ,the current objection to this construction is that it is too far in advance of ,eve's theology3to which however the obvious reply is,who knows how far advanced ,eve's theology may have been8 ,her imagination may have outrun the actual revelation at that point made4 ,all we can say is that these words are recorded as indicating her thought1 and that this is the most natural sense of her words4 ,in the ,lord's expostulation with ,cain 7#d3 #f1 #g7 we read3 8,if thou doest well1 shalt thou not be accepted80 but better,would there not be an elevationi4 e4 of countenance1 a cheerful looking up1 instead of that fallen1 sullen look spoken of in the previous verse48,and if thou doest not well1 sin lies crouching at the door0sin being personified and thought of as some animal1 perhaps the serpent1 ready to allure him on to deeper1 more damning crime3 8,and its 7not his7 desire is toward thee0its ,satanic purpose is to ensnare and ruin thee3 8but thou shouldst rule over it0in the sense of mastering its temptations1 commanding them down and ruling them out from thine heart4 ,the speech or rather song of ,lamech to his two wives 7#d3 #bc1 #bd7 must be assumed to have a close connection with the occupation and skill of ,tubal-,cain1 8a workman in brass and iron40 ,consciously strong and boldly overbearing in view of this new invention and production of death-weapons1 he proudly sings3 8,i have slain 7or could slay7 a man for wounding mea young manfor any hurt inflicted upon me2 and0 7there being in this case some real provocation2 ,cain had none7 8if ,cain would be avenged sevenfold1 truly ,lamech seventy and seven40 ,the lenity shown to ,cain was bringing forth its fruits2 the invention of improved death-weapons was also contributing to fill the earth with bloody violence4,these little facts indicate the state of society which culminated in so filling the earth with violence that ,god was compelled to wash out its blood-stains and its degenerate race with the flood4 99 99 99 99 99 #b4 ,abel's offering1 and the origin of sacrifices4 ,abel kept sheep2 ,cain tilled the ground4 8,in process of time0 7,heb4 8at the end of days07the stated time for worshiping ,god with offerings,cain 8brought of the fruit of the ground0an unbloody offering3 ,abel 8brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat40 ,the reference to their 8fat0 proves that these animals1 lambs of the fold1 were slain in sacrifice4,the record informs us that ,god looked with favor upon ,abel's offering1 but not upon ,cain's4 ,it does not concern us to know how ,god signified his approval of ,abel's sacrifice1 whether by fire from heaven consuming it1 or otherwise2 but it does concern us to ascertain if we can why he approved it4 ,we have some rays of light on this point from the writer to the ,hebrews who says3 8,by faith ,abel offered unto ,god a more excellent sacrifice than ,cain1 by which he obtained witness that he was righteous1 ,god testifying of his gifts40 ,now the simplest idea of faith1 the one element always present in it1 is bowing to ,god's authority with implicit confidence in his word4 ,but in this case bowing to ,god's authority implies that ,god had given some word in reference to bloody sacrificesthe offering of a lamb by shedding its blood upon the altar4 ,and if ,god had given any such word of command1 it is certainly to be presumed that he had also given at least this general idea1 that the blood of the innocent lamb took1 in some sense1 the place of the blood of the guilty offerer1 so that the sacrifice would imply the confession of guilt1 and also faith in a bloody substitute of the ,lord's own providing4,prosecuting our investigations we find this broad fact of history bearing on the case1 viz4 that ,noah1 ,abraham and ,isaac built altars wherever they were sojourning and offered bloody sacrifices thereon4 ,further1 ,god directed ,noah to preserve in the ark clean animals by sevens1 but animals not clean only in pairstwo of a speciesa fact which can not be reasonably accounted for save with reference to their customary use in sacrifice4 ,we have then before us the well-established fact of the early custom of bloody animal sacrifices4 99 99 99 99 99 ,how came this custom into existence8 ,it did not originate with mencertainly not with good men4 ,apart from divine suggestion1 they could not have supposed that the slaughter of an innocent animal would be pleasing to ,god4 ,the presumption would be utterly against this4 ,they could not have thought out the divine idea of atonement for sin by the death of ,christ1 ,god's own incarnate ,son3 the very supposition is absurd1 for it supposes that men were able to sound the infinite depths of ,god's wisdom and of his love1 and to grasp the relations and bearings of his vast moral government with a reach of thought1 not human but divine4 ,yet further2 it is not supposable that1 having excogitated and discovered the grand idea of atonement1 they could have devised the plan of prefiguring this atonement by the bloody sacrifice of the most innocent1 harmless and lovely of the animal races4,and further1 if they could have thought out this miracle of ,god's wisdom and loveboth the divine idea of atonement1 and the expediency of illustrating it for ages by a foreshadowing system of bloody sacrificesit would still have been the height of presumption in them to have started this system of sacrifices without ,god's special and sanctioning appointment4 ,we are therefore shut up to this alternative3 ,either the whole system of altars and bloody sacrifices1 as practiced by ,abel1 ,noah1 ,abraham and ,isaac1 was an unmeaning farcea thing of no significance1 a mere amusement or fancy1 meaning nothing and good for nothing2 or1 ,god himself originated the system and enjoined it1 and these good men were observing it in obedience to special revelation from ,god4,here it will be readily seen that the first side of this alternative is perfectly precluded by the fact that ,god approved their sacrifices4 ,god 8had respect to the offering of ,abel40 ,he 8smelled a sweet savor0 in the sacrifices offered by ,noah 7,gen4 #h3 #bj1 #ba47 ,the other alternative therefore1 viz4 that bloody sacrifices originated in a direct revelation from ,godis the only supposition left us4 ,we must adopt it4 ,it can not be necessary to draw out an argument to prove that in instituting this system of bloody sacrifices ,god gave his people some notion of its significance4 ,the whole record shows that he was on most familiar terms with them and therefore can not be supposed to have left a point of so much importance utterly blank4 ,it is not too much to say that unless some light were thrown by the ,lord himself upon the meaning and purpose of these bloody offerings1 the command to make them would require some apology2 for apart from their expiatory significance1 they are most revolting to even human benevolencemost foreign to all just notions of what is due treatment of innocent lambs1 bullocks and doves from our hand4 ,it should also be considered that their moral value depends on their significance4 ,all these bloody sacrifices must have been practically valueless unless their expiatory significance was in some good degree understood4 ,that ,god ordained them for the sake of their moral value1 who can for a moment doubt8,the conclusion1 therefore1 seems inevitable that ,god not only enjoined these bloody sacrifices1 but gave his people to understand in general their significance to the extent of fulfilling that unconscious prophecy of ,abraham 7,gen4 #bb3 #h73 8,my son1 ,god will provide for himself a lamb for a burnt-offering40 ,these views1 if just1 are of vast historic value as showing how much ,god taught his people at that earliest day1 pertaining to his great thoughts of redemption for a lost race4 99 99 99 99 99 #c4 ,the great moral lessons of the antediluvian age4 7#a47 ,it may be regarded as ,god's experiment of a very long life-probation for man4 ,of course this experiment is not to be thought of as made to satisfy himself as to its wisdom1 but to satisfy created finite minds in this and in every other world4 ,in a case where issues so momentous were pending on the results1 it must be vital to the honor of ,jehovah before all created minds that he should fix the average period of human probation in this earthly life at the best possible point4 ,if he had begun with the same average limit which has obtained since the days of ,moses 7three-score years and ten71 he must have anticipated the general impression that this is much too short for the decision of destinies so vast as the welfare of an immortal existence4 ,it was therefore eminently wise that ,god should begin 7as we see that he did7 with a much longer1 even a tenfold longer average life-period4,this very long life1 moreover1 carried with it an extraordinary physical vigor1 apparently a very great exemption from sickness1 frailty1 suffering1 save as induced by the violent and murderous passions of man toward his fellows4 ,the discipline of suffering seems to have been at its minimum for all human history4 ,the experiment of almost unimpaired physical well-being was afforded the freest scope for its manifestation4 ,what was the result8 ,the words of ,solomon express it well3 8,because vengeance against an evil work is not executed speedily1 therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil0 7,eccl4 #h3 #aa74 ,the mass of those generations sunk down morally to the lowest point possible1 short of a general and promiscuous destruction4 8,all flesh had corrupted its way40 8,every imagination of the thought of man's heart was only evil continually40 8,the earth was filled with violence40 ,human life had no sacredness2 society1 no safeguard2 murderous passions1 no restraint4 ,the race were fast becoming too corrupt to live4 ,if the ,lord had not swept them by a flood1 the earth would fain have opened her jaws to swallow them from the face of the sun4 7#b47 ,this social and moral degeneracy becomes a very instructive lesson for all time upon the results of the non-punishment of murder4 ,it was doubtless wise for ,god to begin as he did with ,cain2 but it was not wise to continue that policy after such results had been brought out before both this world and the whole intelligent universe4 ,what men socially related must needs do for their mutual protection in order not merely to make society a blessing but to make the existence of men in society a possibility1 was precisely the problem to be solved2 and to its solution this first period of human lifethe antediluvian agewas definitely adapted4 ,it brought out the solution perfectly4 ,no other experiment can ever be necessary4 ,when the race started anew after the flood1 the ,lord advanced to the true doctrine and enjoined on social man the solemn duty of shielding human life by taking the murderer's blood4 8,whoso sheddeth man's blood1 by man shall his blood be shed0 7,gen4 #i3 #f74 ,this was one step of manifest progress in the revelation of ,god's will as to the responsibility and duty of men in their social and governmental relations4 ,it was progress in the origination of societyprogress built on the great lessons of human history4 7#c47 ,here are also lessons of faith and of heroic virtue in the godly lives of the small and it would seem constantly diminishing group of pious men living among the multitudes of the ungodly4 ,here was ,enoch1 8the seventh from ,adam10 who preached a righteous ,god and a coming judgment to a hardened generation1 but seems to have met with only resistance1 to the extent apparently of relentless persecution4 ,the remark of the apostle 7,heb4 #aa3 #e78;,he was not found because ,god had translated him10 may perhaps imply that his enemies sought him for purposes of bloody violence1 from which the ,lord took him away in his chariot of fire by translation to heaven6,here too was ,noah1 also 8a preacher of righteousness10 who 8walked with ,god0and was warned by him of the impending deluge of waters4 ,he warned his fellow men of their threatened doom1 but warned them only in vain4 8,they ate1 they drank2 they bought1 they sold20 they revelled and scoffedtill the day that ,noah entered into the arkno longer6,but we speak now of the example of ,noah's faith in ,god4 ,he saw no portents in the sky2 heard no muttering thunders in the distant heavens2 yet he held on year after year till the ark was readyhimself preaching and warning2 fearlessly and heroically witnessing by his labors upon the ark to his positive faith in the forewarnings of ,god4 ,thus his faith rebuked the godless unbelief of his generation1 and testifies to us of the wisdom and blessedness of taking ,god at his word and of adjusting our life to his command1 though in the face of a scoffing world4 7#d47 ,yet another point in this cluster of great moral lessons is indicated for us by ,peter 7#b ,pet4 #b3 #d-i72 8,for if ,god spared not the old world1 but saved ,noah1 the eighth person1 a preacher of righteousness1 bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly3the ,lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to preserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished40 ,that awful word1 retribution1 gathers into itself the fearful significance of these stupendous events4 ,they are ,god's foregoing judgments1 brought out in this world to foreshadow the sorer visitations of that coming day when ,god shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing1 good or evil4 ,god surely does take note of the sins of men1 how long soever he may stay his uplifted hand and delay to smite4 ,if wicked men were wise they would believe ,god's words of warning1 and take care not to live over again the life of that doomed generation and meet a final judgment more awful even than theirs6 7#e47 ,let us not fail to notice those wonderful and beautiful ways of ,god with his children1 coming down in such condescending and most familiar communion1 talking with them apparently almost as man talks with his dearest friend2 and this not in ,paradise only before the fall1 but after the fall scarcely less2 and onward as the narrative indicates in the case of ,enoch and of ,noah4 ,what more could he have done to reveal a personal ,god to mortals8 ,surely the ,god who thus revealed himself in the fresh morning of our race is no dim abstraction1 no impersonal ,nature or ,essence1 diffused and diffusible throughout space1 the ideal soul of all matter4 ,this effort to dispose of a ,god with whom it is man's privilege to walk in positive personal communion1 but who also takes cognizance of man's iniquity1 and to transmute him into an empty1 forceless ideality1 finds not the least countenance in these earliest manifestations of himself to our race4 ,note how he dwells with men2 how he walks with them and lets them walk with him6 ,what is this but free and loving communion8 ,what less can it imply than just what the narrative of man's creation witnesseth1 viz4 that ,god 8made man in his own image0capable therefore of real and most intimate communion of spirit with his ,maker8 ,this lesson is written all the way through the ,bible4 ,it stands out here with beautiful prominence in this first great chapter of ,god's revelation of himself to man4 ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,,the ,,flood4 #a4 ,,first1 let us note its moral causethe reason why ,god swept off the living from the face of the earth by a deluge of waters4,it was essential to the moral results which ,god sought that this reason should be given very definitely4 ,so we find it given 7,gen4 #f3 #e-ac73 8,god saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth1 and that every imagination of the thought of his heart was only evil continually40 8,the earth was corrupt before ,god2 and the earth was filled with violence40 ,these points are reiterated in most distinct and emphatic terms1 showing that1 outside of the household of ,noah1 the whole living race had deeply apostatized from ,god and were boldly and even defiantly irreligious4 ,eliphaz in ,job 7#bb3 #ae-ag7 gives the tradition current in his time1 thus3 8,who said unto ,god1 #8,depart from us1' and1 #8,what can the ,almighty do for them'0i4 e4 for ,noah and his godly associates8 ,despite the words of ,noah who bore to them ,god's awful forewarnings and preached the righteousness of repentance1 they pressed on in their sins unmoved and reckless8till mercy reached its bound and turned to vengeance there06 ,it was a whole generation hopelessly corrupt1 daring the ,almighty to make good his awful words of warning6 ,the result is on record that all sinners of every age1 tempted to like hardihood and defiance of ,god1 may study it with profound consideration4 #b4 ,the antecedent occasions of this deep apostasy from ,god as given in the narrative1 next demand our attention4 ,they are 7#a47 ,the pious families intermarry with the godless4 7#b47 ,the ,spirit of ,god1 persistently resisted1 is withdrawn4 7#a47 8,the sons of ,god saw the daughters of men that they were fair1 and they took them wives of all which they chose40 ,the 8sons of ,god0 were his professed children of the godly race of ,seth1 ,enos and ,enoch4 ,the 8daughters of men0 were of the ,cainites1 cultured probably in music 7,gen4 #d3 #ba72 attractive in person1 fascinating in mannersbut alas1 all corrupt in heart as toward ,god6,the ,jews have a tradition that these 8sons of ,god0 were fallen angels1 once first-born sons of ,god1 who by intermarriage with man's fair daughters1 intensified this fearful corruption of the race4 ,this tradition we must reject for the following as well as other reasons3 7a47 ,nothing is said here about angels4 ,the record gives us no word which legitimately designates angelsleast of all1 the fallen angels4 7b47 ,according to the ,scriptures1 angels 8neither marry nor are given in marriage40 ,the tradition is therefore not only without ,scripture authority but against it4 7c47 ,if this extreme demoralization had been caused by the marriage connection of fallen angels with the daughters of men1 those angels should certainly have come in for their share of the visible retribution4 ,god gave ,satan his share of the curse for his agency in the first great sin4 ,the same justice would have made the fallen angels visibly prominent under this curse of the flood4,either of these reasons singly would be sufficient ground for rejecting this tradition2 much more must they suffice1 combined4 7#b47 ,the withdrawal of the divine ,spirit is the second assigned antecedent of this fatal degeneracy4 ,in our ,english version we read8,and the ,lord said1 #8,my ,spirit shall not always strive with man1 for that he also is flesh2 yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years4'0,as to the meaning of 8,my ,spirit10 we must reject the senseanimal lifethat which ,god breathed into man to make him 8a living soul0 7,gen4 #b3 #g71 as being incongruous with the verb 8strive03 also the senserational soulthat which makes man a rational being2 and must accept the sense so amply sustained by ,scripture usagethe divine ,spirit1 sent by ,christ to transform human hearts4,the word 8strive0 to translate the ,hebrew verb#bb is not bad4 ,we must reject the construction of some of the old versions1 dwell1 as not in the original1 and as too tame3 also the turn given it by ,geseniusto be humiliated1 put downas not borne out well by the original2 and say that the verb is currently used of judicial transactionssearching out1 convincing1 convicting2 and seems to have a striking analogy in that leading word given us by ,christ2 8,when he is come1 he shall reprove the world0enforce conviction upon the worldas to sin and righteousness4 ,the next clause is more difficult and perhaps more controverted3 8,for that he also is flesh40 ,why is the word 8also0 here8 ,and what is the logic indicated by 8for that08 ,can it mean that ,god withdraws his ,spirit because man is humanwith a body of 8flesh08 ,our translators separated the main ,hebrew word into threethe preposition meaning in1 the relative written elliptically1 and the particle meaning also4 ,the construction of ,fuerst is better8,in their wandering1 he is flesh10 i4 e4 their degeneracy has brought flesh completely into the ascendant3 warring against the spirit1 the flesh is absolute victor in the fight4 ,henceforth all further conflict is hopeless4 ,hence ,god may righteously saynay must in honor to himself say,my ,spirit shall not plead my cause in man forever4 ,he is utterly gone over to the flesh1 and nothing remains but that he must perish4 ,one hundred and twenty years of merciful respite#bc for patient warning and exhaustive trial must suffice3then1 if no penitence appear1 judgment must fall1 and that without remedy6,thus ,god places on record the moral causes and antecedents of this fearful visitation1 that its moral lessons may go down to distant ages for their admonition to the end of time4 ,the hour of doom draws nigh4 ,the ,lord gave ,noah definite notice to enter his ark 7#g3 #a7 and allowed him seven days time 7#g3 #d7 to gather in all whom the ark was provided to save4 ,then 8the fountains of the great deep were broken up and the windows of heaven were opened40 ,of small avail for safety then was the gigantic frame of the giants of those days or the defiant heart of unbelieving scoffers6 ,it is scarcely needful to speak of the physical means which ,god employed to produce this flood4 ,the agencies which appear in the volcano and in the earthquake and which ,god holds imprisoned at no great depth below the earth's surface1 are all-sufficient for these results4 ,we may suppose that they lifted the bed of the adjacent seas1 upheaving their waters into the atmosphere to descend in torrents of rain1 and sinking for the time the inhabited landsand the work is done4 ,such alternate upheavals and depressions are1 we may say1 chronic to the crust of the earth4 ,the ancient records of geology bear this testimony4 ,it was not strange therefore but was merciful that ,god should allay human fears by his promise to drown the earth no more4 ,his bow in the cloud1 seen when the sun shone forth after the shower1 became by ,god's special appointment the sign and pledge of this covenant4,i see no good reason to suppose that the rainbow never existed before4 ,it must have existed by the laws of nature1 unless those laws were greatly changed at the flooda change which should not be assumed without sufficient reason4 ,no such reasons are apparent4 ,it is better therefore to construe the promise,the well known bow in the cloud ,i give and ordain to be my sign and pledge that the earth shall be deluged with water no more4,beautiful symbol1 kindly and lovingly ordained2 and as we look upon it1 delighted with both its beauty and its significance1 let it heighten our joy that ,god says of himself1 8,i will look upon it and remember my covenant40 99 99 99 99 99 ,was this flood universal8 #a4 ,was it universal geographically1 overspreading the entire globe8 #b4 ,was it universal as to all living men1 leaving absolutely none alive on the face of all the earth1 except those in the ark8 #a4 ,that the deluge was of limited extent geographically1 and not universal1 may be fairly assumed on the following grounds3 7#a47 ,the moral reasons for a deluge do not seem to require it to be universal1 since obviously that corrupt generation whose sins demanded such a judgment did not overspread all the continents and lands of the globe1 but appear to have been confined within a quite limited area in ,western ,asia4 7#b47 ,while on the one hand we may not limit the miraculous power of the ,almighty2 on the other hand1 it is not legitimate to assume an expenditure of miraculous power indefinitely beyond what the occasion demands4,this objection is designed to apply1 not specially to the supply of water requisite to flood the whole earth at once1 for there is water enough in the oceans and seas to submerge the continents1 provided only that the ocean beds be temporarily uplifted and the continents relatively depressed3 but it does apply with great force to the preservation of the living animals and plants of the whole world4 ,the narrative assumes that the deluge will destroy the land animals and the fowls of the air unless they are protected in the ark4 ,it also gives us the dimensions of the ark1 and leaves us to estimate proximately how many could be saved alive in it4 ,the narrative1 therefore1 does not authorize us to resort to miracle for the preservation of these animal races4,now it is entirely certain that only an exceedingly small part of all the land animals1 insects and birds of the whole world were saved in the ark4 ,men versed in natural science estimate the living species of vertebrate animals at #ba1jjj2 of articulates1 #cjj1jjjnumbers by far too great to be provided for in ,noah's ark4,yet again3 ,to a great extent the 8fauna0 7as they are called7the animal species of the several continentsdiffer widely from each other4 ,south ,america has its families1 many of them unknown to other continents2 ,australia has its special group1 and ,africa its own4 ,it is simply incredible that all or even the mass of these animals came to ,noah and were preserved in the ark4 ,if they had been destroyed by the flood1 there should be traces of their sudden annihilation in the drift of that flood1 and geological research might trace the introduction of new races by special creation to repeople those continents4 ,no such line of proofs for a universal deluge is found4 ,the absence of such traces of destruction and of new creation makes it far more than probable that the flood was limited in extent and not universal4 ,still further it is urged against a universal delugeand for aught that appears conclusivelythat volcanic cones existof ,etna in ,sicily and of ,auvergne in ,southern ,francewhich1 being composed of loose scori and ashes1 must have been washed away by any deluge that should reach them4 ,the cones of ,etna are estimated to be #ab1jjj years old4 7#c47 ,the apparently universal language of the narrative may be readily explained as other similar language must be in the ,scriptures1 without assuming a range of meaning beyond the writer's personal knowledge4 ,the writer of this narrative 7,gen4 chaps4 #f-i7 speaks as an eye-witness1 especially of the great rain2 of the ark borne up upon the waters2 of the surging back and forth of the billows1 and of their covering 8the high hills under the whole heaven10 i4 e4 as far as the eye could reach4 ,the same style of universal language appears frequently in the ,scriptures1 yet subject to limitations from the known nature of the case2 e4 g4 ,deut4 #b3 #be3 8,this day will ,i begin to put the fear of thee0 ,israel 8upon the nations that are under the whole heaven20 ,acts #b3 #e8,there were dwelling at ,jerusalem1 ,jews1 devout men1 out of every nation under heaven40 ,mat4 #c3 #e3 8,then went out to him ,jerusalem1 and all ,judea1 and all the region round about ,jordan40,it is in point to notice also that the word 8the earth10 so frequently used in this narrative1 very often has the sensethe land4 ,it should manifestly have a meaning as broad when used of the extent of the judgment as when used of the extent of the sin1 and not necessarily any more broad4 ,of the sin it is said repeatedly8,the earth was corrupt before ,god20 8the earth was filled with violence40 ,obviously this same 8earth10 to the same geographical extent and not apparently any thing more1 was destroyed by the flood4 ,it may be noticed also that the word 8ground0 ,heb4 adamah is used 7,gen4 #g3 #bc7 as a synonym for 8earth08every living substance which was upon the face of the ground0but this carries with it no sense of universality as to this globe4 ,there is every reason to suppose that at this time both the righteous descendants of ,seth and the wicked descendants of ,cain were living in the great basin of the ,euphrates and the ,tigriswith great probability not reaching out beyond the area bounded by the ,indian ,ocean1 the ,persian ,gulf1 the ,caspian1 ,black1 ,mediterranean and ,red ,seas4 ,this1 therefore1 we may assume to have been the area submerged by this deluge1 and we have no occasion to look for its traces beyond these limits4 #b4 ,whether the deluge destroyed all living men from the face of the whole geographical earth except those in the ark1 it is perhaps impossible to decide with absolute certainty4 ,if any were not reached1 they must have been such as had wandered early1 far from their native home1 suppose into ,china or ,africa1 where neither the corruption which became the moral cause of the deluge nor the deluge itself reached them4 ,the question is one of probabilities only1 for we have no certain knowledge on the subject and can not have4 ,the probabilities are in my view quite against the supposition4 ,traditions of a ,great ,deluge4 ,all the great nations of history have traditions more or less definite of a vast deluge in the days of their fathers4 ,as should be expected1 these traditions compared with the ,bible record are variously modified1 corrupt we might say1 mixed with fable1 magnified as great stories are wont to be in passing from lip to lip through many generations4 ,in general those are most pure which are found nearest the locality of ,eden and which were earliest committed to writing4 ,some authors classify them into the ,west ,asiatic1 including the ,babylonian1 that of the ,sibylline books1 the ,phrygian1 the ,armenian1 and the ,syrian1 some of which are remarkably close to the truth4 ,the ,east ,asiatic1 including the ,persian1 the ,chinese1 and the ,indian2 the ,grecian1 found in ,plato1 ,pindar1 ,apollodorus1 ,plutarch1 ,lucian and ,ovid2 and those of peoples and tribes outside of the old worldthe ,celts of ,northern ,europe1 the ,mexicans1 the ,peruvians1 the ,indians of ,america and the tribes upon the ,pacific ,islands4 ,lange remarks that the ethical idea of the flood as a judgment upon men for their sins is every-where apparent4 ,the ,chaldean traditions1 brought down in the writings of ,berosus 7wrote ,b4 ,c4 #bfj71 are singularly minute and quite in harmony with the scriptural account in its main outlines1 some of which are as follows3 ,giving the name of ,xisuthrus to the last of the primitive kings1 it sets forth that he was warned of the flood in a dream2 was commanded to write down all the sciences and inventions of mankind and preserve them2 to build a ship and save therein himself and his near friends1 and take in also animals with suitable food4 ,after the flood had somewhat subsided1 he let fly a bird which came back2 a second which returned with slime on its foot2 a third which never returned4 ,then seeing land visible1 he opened his vessel and came forth with his wife and children2 built an altar and offered sacrifice to the gods4 ,they found the country to be ,armenia4 ,portions of the ark were long in existence1 sought for as amulets and charms4 ,the ,chinese story may be taken as a sample of those more remote from the locality of ,noah4 ,as given by the ,jesuit1 ,m4 ,martinius1 the ,chinese date this great flood ,b4 ,c4 #djjj2 say that ,fah-he1 the reputed author of ,chinese civilization1 escaped the flood1 and together with his wife1 three sons and three daughters1 repeopled the renovated world4 ,dr4 ,gutzlaff communicated a paper to the ,royal ,asiatic ,society 7as in their ,journal xvi3 #gi7 in which he stated that he saw in one of the ,buddhist temples in beautiful stucco the scene where ,kwanyin1 the ,goddess of ,mercy1 looks down from heaven upon the lonely ,noah in his ark amidst the raging waves of the deluge1 with the dolphins swimming around as his last means of safety and the dove with an olive-branch in his beak flying toward the vessel4 ,nothing could exceed the beauty of the execution4#bd ,those which are found among the ancient people of the ,western ,continentthe ,cherokees1 ,mexicans and ,peruvianshave special interest as proving that1 remote as these tribes were from the locality of ,noah1 they must have had a common origin and must have received this common tradition of the flood from the valley of the ,euphrates4 ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,,from ,,the ,,flood ,,to ,,the ,,call ,,of ,,abraham4 #a4 ,the law against murder and its death-penalty4 ,when the waters of the great deluge had subsided and ,noah and his family found themselves once more upon the face of the solid earthan unpeopled solitudethat which we read in ,gen4 #i1 was beautifully in place38,and ,god blessed ,noah and his sons40 ,so long imprisoned in the ark2 so long in the presence of this fearful visitation of a righteous ,god upon a hopelessly corrupt generation1 how naturally must their view of human life take on a somber hue1 and how refreshing to be assured that the ,great ,god was still their loving ,father6 8,god blessed them and said1 #8,be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth1'0for ,god would have it filled again with living men4 ,moreover1 though few and feeble1 they need not fear the violence of the animal creation1 for 8the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth2 444 into your hand are they delivered40 ,then by special provision1 apparently never made before1 ,god sanctioned the use of animal flesh for human food4 ,yet lest this sanction should make them dangerously familiar with the shedding of blood1 and tend to lesson the sacredness of human life1 ,god solemnly forbade the use of blood for food1 and then proceeded to ordain that human blood shed by ferocious animals should be avenged with their life4 ,then follows special legislation against murder by guilty human hands3 8,whoso sheddeth man's blood1 by man shall his blood be shed1 for in the image of ,god made he man40,that this is precept and not merely prophecy is so apparent that argument in proof might seem almost an insult to the common understanding of mankind4 ,yet the passage has been wrested in this way from its obvious significance4 ,it should be construed in harmony with the scope of the context4 ,note therefore1 that its close connection with the use of animals for the food of man and with the 8requiring0 of human blood shed by the violence of beasts compel us to find here precept and not prediction4 ,still more does the historic place of this precept1 standing upon the ruins of the old world and in the presence of the yet unwasted bones of thousands whose wickedness had culminated in such recklessness of human life that 8the earth was filled with violence40 ,in the presence of such gigantic iniquity1 grown up under the experiment of pardoning and not punishing the crime of murder and giving unrestrained license to bloody passion1 it was pertinent to lay a new and more effectual foundation for maintaining the peace of society and the sacredness of human life4 ,the solemn lessons of the past required1 not a prediction of retributive vengeance under the social law of self-preservation1 but a divine precept demanding it and enforcing it with its logical reasonthat 8,god made man in his own image40 ,you may take the life of the lower animals for no higher cause than human sustenancefood for man's wants2but let no man put forth his hand against the blood of man1 for he bears the very 8image of ,god40,to make this new law the more solemnly impressive1 man must himself be the executioner of this divine behest8,by man shall his blood be shed40 ,society itself must commit to some of its members this solemn function and they must take the murderer's life4 ,nothing less can shield the life of man from bloody violence2 nothing less will duly honor ,god's image in man4 99 99 99 99 99 #b4 ,the prophecy of ,noah4 ,in ,gen4 #i3 #be-bg we have the first of those patriarchal utterances of prophetic sort1 in various strainblessing and not blessingof which several examples occur subsequently1 as in the case of ,jacob 7,gen4 #di3 #a-bg72 ,moses 7,deut4 #cc3 #a-bi74 ,the form is thoroughly that of ,hebrew poetrythe brief parallelism of sentiment and language being the prominent feature4,the circumstances which called out these prophetic words are given briefly in the narrative4 ,noah having come forth from the ark soon commenced the culture of the vine and experimented 7unfortunately7 in the free use of its wine4 ,while he lay overcome and personally exposed in his tent1 his younger son ,ham1 lost to all sense of filial duty1 reported the sad spectacle4 ,shem and ,japheth1 with filial pity and with the most delicate modesty1 covered his shame4 ,when ,noah awoke to consciousness and came to know what his younger son had done unto him1 he said1 8,cursed be ,canaan2 a servant of servants shall he be to his brethren4 ,blessed be ,jehovah1 ,god of ,shem1 and let ,canaan be servant to them4 ,let ,god enlarge ,japheth1 and let him dwell in the tents of ,shem2 and let ,canaan be servant to them40,it had been previously said 7v4 #ah71 that 8,ham was the father of ,canaan40 ,what part1 if any1 ,canaan bore in this transaction1 that the curse apparently due to ,ham should fall so specially on him1 the narrative does not say4 ,the offense of ,ham lay in the line of his relation as a son4 ,perhaps it was for this reason that his punishment lay in the humiliation of his son4 ,be this as it may1 the words were prophetic of the future relations of the posterity of ,canaan to the posterity of both ,shem and ,japheth4 ,the devoted nations of ,canaan were terribly exterminated by the ,hebrew people1 sons of ,shem2 the remnant 7e4 g4 the ,gibeonites7 were made hewers of wood and drawers of water2 and in the age of ,solomon1 were subjected to the most severe labors4 ,see ,josh4 #i3 #bj-bg1 and #b ,chron4 #b3 #ag1 #ah and #a ,chron4 #bb3 #b4 ,when ,noah's prophetic eye fell on ,shem1 the blessings that rose to his view were too rich and grand for description4 ,he could only give utterance to his grateful emotions and thanksgivings in the words8,blessed be ,jehovah1 ,god of ,shem06 ,blessed be ,jehovah1 the ,god of the covenant with his professed people1 the ,god of all blessings1 of ever-enduring love and faithfulness6 ,what will he not do for his chosen people1 brought into relations to himself so near and so dear6,in this line the sweep of his prophetic eye took in the ,hebrew race,abraham and the patriarchs2 ,moses and the pious kings and holy prophets2 and above all1 the ,great ,messiahto be born of ,david's line and to be the incarnation of ,god's mercy to a lost world4 ,no wonder his soul was moved to devoutest adoration,blessed be ,jehovah who reveals himself as the ,god of ,shem6 ,of ,japheth he predicts enlargement in the sense of a numerous offspring8,god shall enlarge10 i4 e4 multiply 8,japheth10 with a play on the significance of his name which signifies the enlarged one4 ,god will verify his name and enlarge the enlarged son2 in ,hebrew phrase1 will ,japhetize ,japheth4,in the last clause of this verse1 the original leaves us in doubt whether the subject of the verb is ,god or ,japheth4 ,grammatically it might be either,god shall dwell1 or ,japheth shall dwell1 in the tents of ,shem4 ,in favor of making ,japheth the subject are these considerations37a47 ,the verse preceding gives the prophetic destiny of ,shem2 this1 of ,japheth47b47 ,the expression is not altogether apposite when applied to ,god1 for although ,god dwelt in the ,hebrew temple and dwells by his ,spirit in the bodies of his people1 yet he is not elsewhere said to dwell in the tents of his people4 ,the phrase leads the mind to such dwelling as may be said of men but is not said of ,god4,applied to ,japheth it had a most apposite and beautiful fulfillment when the ,gentile races of ,japheth came in as proselytes to the ,hebrew communion1 but far more when in the ,christian age1 the ,jews were broken off from the old stock that the ,gentiles might be grafted in1 and they were2 and may be almost said to have taken possession of the deserted tents of ,shem as their own through all the ,christian centuries to this hour4 ,all ,protestant ,christendom is this day of ,japheth's line1 fully at home in the tents of ,shem4 ,a very extraordinary case of the wresting of ,scripture to make it justify crimeso great a crime as the enslaving of menis the attempt to force from this prophecy concerning ,canaan a vindication of the enslaving of ,africans by ,americans4 ,the wresting appears in these two broad facts37a47 ,that the ,africans were not ,canaanites1 and therefore the prophecy said nothing about the negro race4 ,admitting for argument's sake that it justified the enslaving of ,canaanites1 it did not in the least justify the enslaving of ,african negroes47b47 ,if the passage had named the ,african negro instead of the ,canaanite1 even then a prediction of what shall be might fall very far short of being a command as to what man ought to do4 ,prophetic predictions of war form not the least justification of warfall utterly short of a divine command enjoining man's duty4 ,predictions of the ,savior's death could never justify his murderers4 99 99 99 99 99 #c4 ,the genealogy of the great historic nations4 ,in ,gen4 #aj the ,bible for once departs from its usual method and gives a chapter of universal historythe only one4 ,elsewhere it traces the history of the one nation which had 8the oracles of ,god10 and in later ages1 of the ,christian church1 touching the nations of the outside world only as they come into relations to the seed of ,abraham or to the kingdom of ,christ4 ,but here we see the sons of ,noah branching out to people the countries of the great ,eastern ,continent and to found the old historic nations of the earth4,japheth whom ,prophecy was to 8enlarge0 7,gen4 #i3 #bg7 furnished the tribes from which grew the great nations of ,northern and ,eastern ,asia and for the whole of ,europe4 ,at first they occupied the maritime regions bordering on the ,caspian1 ,black and ,mediterranean ,seas1 spoken of here as 8the isles of the ,gentiles0conforming to the ,hebrew usage which called all maritime countries 8isles40,next we have the sons of ,ham1 among whom were ,nimrod1 the builder of ,babel2 ,mizraim with his seven sons who himself gave name to ,egypt2 ,canaan whose posterity long held ,palestine1 and several names which appear either in the cities or the tribes of the valley of the ,euphrates and of ,arabia4,shem seems to have shared with ,ham the possession of the great fertile basin of the ,euphrates and the ,tigristhe cradle of the racetogether with portions of ,arabia and in general of ,south-western ,asia4 ,it is a matter of some interest to know that this remarkable record of the birth of the great nations of antiquity is perfectly sustained by the universal history of all subsequent ages4 ,whether ,chaldean or ,phenician1 ,egyptian or ,arabian1 ,greek or ,roman1 ,mongol or ,tartar1 ,indo-,germanic1 ,celtic1 ,belgic or ,britonall find the germ of their nationality in this wonderful chapter1 and all concur to swell and substantiate the proof that the human race sprang from ,noah and that we have no occasion to look for pre-,adamic men or for tribes that escaped the flood and have no pedigree among the sons of ,noah4 ,while it was never the purpose of divine revelation to give to any great extent the universal history of the race1 it is proper to note that what it does give bears the divine stamp of truth4 ,all historic science does it homage4 ,all the light that comes up from the comparative study of the languages of the race helps us still to follow the track of the emigrating tribes as they diverged from the ancient home of ,noah's family4 ,the ,science of ,ethnography begins with this chapter of inspiration1 ,gen4 #aj4 99 99 99 99 99 #d4 ,babel and the confusion of tongues4 ,gen4 #aa3 #a-i records a very remarkable event1 of far reaching consequences toward the geographical diffusion of the race4 ,up to this point there was but one languageas the record has it8one lip and one set of words10 8lip0 being 7perhaps7 used for the mode of speaking1 including pronunciation and possibly inflection2 while words are the matter of language1 the roots or ground-forms4 ,the fact that the latter have been far less variable than the former1 appearing to some extent in all subsequent ages throughout all the diversities of human tongues1 favors this distinction4 ,migrating from the ,armenian hill country where the ark rested1 ,noah's posterity reached the fertile plain of ,shinar1 halted there1 and set themselves to the building of a magnificent and lofty tower4 ,there being no stone at hand1 they prepared brick1 not sun-dried after the common ,oriental method1 but thoroughly burned for greater durability4 ,as both consequence and proof of this durability1 the supposed ruins of this great tower1 known as 8,birs ,nimrood0 tower of ,nimrod are still extant within the area of ancient ,babylon1 silently witnessing alike to the labors of those fathers of the nations before their dispersion1 and to the truthfulness of this sacred record4 ,this tower was not built for safety in case of another flood 7as some have supposed7 for1 with such an object1 a high mountain and not a plain would have been chosen for the site2 it could at best have saved but few2 and more than all1 the record gives a very different view of the motive4 ,this motive was consolidationthe aggregation of the masses into one vast nationality or kingdoma thought due to the ambition of some controlling minds aspiring to power1 distinction1 fame4 ,foreseeing the tendency to dispersion they sought to forestall it1 to find their own glory in having a multitude under their sway and in building monuments that could not perish4 ,for wise reasons ,god blasted this scheme4 ,precisely what divine influence was interposed to confound the language of these men1 ,i doubt if it is possible for us to know certainly4 ,it is supposable that the many became restive under the domination of the few and the severe labor of this enterprise1 so that diverse counsels and dissolving social bonds had some influence in blocking the progress of the work4 ,misunderstandings sprung up and found expression in diversities of tongue4 ,what could be more natural when harmony gave place to discord8 ,so this huge tower-building was arrested and men scattered abroad as they would4,the new tongues which took their rise here had ample opportunity to diverge more and more widely in subsequent ages4 ,the immense variety in language which the history of the world discloses has been a growththe product of subtle causes1 of segregation and non-intercourse in part1 and in part also no doubt of diverse mental traits and various influences of culture4 ,what the original language was1 common to the race up to this point1 has been much debated by learned men without arriving at uniform and satisfactory results4 ,whether it was1 as some suppose1 the veritable ,hebrew tongue2 or as others think1 the ,aramaic1 i4 e4 the ,chaldee2 or whether it is utterly lostthese are the alternatives2 but for the choice between them we can have no very positive data4 ,those descendants of ,noah who best preserved the religious faith of the fathers would stand most aloof from the scenes of ,babel1 and be naturally least affected by its many-tongued controversies and its resulting confusion of speech4 ,that they escaped these influences altogether is perhaps too much to assume4,that the ,aramaic 7,chaldee7 tongue1 closely allied to the ,hebrew1 held its place for ages in the valley of the ,euphrates1 strongly favors its claim to be1 if not the very tongue of ,noah1 at least of the same family4,these points suggest probabilities but fall short of certainty4 ,,chapter ,x4 ,,abraham4 ,,abraham is one of the great men in the world's religious history4 ,why he is so can not be well understood and appreciated without at least a brief view of the state of the world religiously considered at the date of his call1 and the demand thence resulting for the new religious instrumentalities of which ,abraham was in a sort 8the head-center40 ,in the age before the flood religion had never really flourished4 ,we read of a time when 8men began to call on the name of the ,lord10 and something approximating toward system and concentration appears to have been introduced4 ,but the record is silent as to any marked result except so far as it may appear in the piety of individual men1 e4 g4 ,enoch and ,noah4 ,apparently the religious element failed even to hold its own against the on-rushing tides of worldliness4 ,even the sons of godly fathers formed unhallowed marriage connections1 and consequently were borne rapidly down the broad current of degeneracy and moral corruption till only one family remained to represent the piety of all that generation4 ,there was a fatal lack of moral forces4,the flood was a vigorous moral lesson in itself2 and besides this1 the race started afresh from the seed of this one pious family4 ,ten generations bring us to ,abraham in ,ur of the ,chaldees1 near the old cradle of the race4 ,the history of religion during this period from ,noah to ,abraham is exceedingly meager4 ,gathering up the few fragmentary notices which emerge from the general darkness in the age of ,abraham1 we find that his father's family in ancient ,ur 8served other gods0 7,josh4 #bd3 #b72 that ,abraham1 journeying toward the south country of ,palestine1 sojourned awhile in ,gerar and was there drawn into grave temptation by the apparent godlessness of the people1 since he apologizes on this wise for representing ,sarah to be his sister and not his wife3 8,because ,i thought1 ,surely the fear of ,god is not in this place2 and they will slay me for my wife's sake0 7,gen4 #bj3 #aj1 #aa74 ,the same temptation befell him previously in ,egypt 7,gen4 #ab3 #aj-bj7probably indicating the same inward thought based on the same apparent public morality4 ,then we have the horrible wickedness of ,sodom and ,gomorrah where not ten righteous men could be found4 ,and sad to say1 we see a very low tone of religious and moral life in the family even of ,lot1 who as the nephew and special associate of ,abraham should represent the better elements of society4,akin to these special facts is the general one that the personal history of ,abraham through a full century of somewhat extensive travels and various experience brings him into contact with ,god-fearing men in only the single case of ,melchizedek4 ,apart from this one brief but wonderful interview 7,gen4 #ad3 #ah-bj7 the recorded history of ,abraham gives the impression of a godly man working his way for the most part alone1 amid godless people on every handalone save as the ,lord testifies of him8,i know him that he will command his children and his household after him and they shall keep the way of the ,lord to do justice and judgment0 7,gen4 #ah3 #ai74,the case of ,melchizedek1 8a priest of the ,most ,high ,god0 and also 8king of ,salem0a man so venerable in piety1 in personal presence apparently1 in power and in years1 that even ,abraham received his blessing and 8gave him tithes of all0this is the one sole bright spot on the otherwise dark religious life of the world as known through the history of ,abraham4 ,we marvel that ,abraham1 so far as appears1 never met ,melchizedek before and never saw him again4 ,it seems strange that two such men1 so kindred in character and spirit1 each almost alone breasting the strong currents of prevailing wickedness1 should not have formed at least an infant ,christian ,association to stand by each other and bring their joint light to a common focus in the midst of the world's deep and far spreading moral darkness4 ,but ,god had a certain great plan to bring out with ,abraham and his own way of doing it4 ,it is plain there was need of this new plan4 ,the cause of piety and truth was in peril and called for some 8new departure0some yet untried method and power4 ,the world was waiting for some ,abrahami4 e4 for just the system of which the great and godly ,abraham was the prominent figure and the historic representative4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the patent points in this new system1 put in briefest words1 were,abraham the head of a great family2 the founder of a great nation2 the representative of the family covenant and its first and illustrious exemplar2 the progenitor of the ,great1 long-promised ,messiah2 and coupled with his lineal posterity1 the repositories of ,god's truth and promiseshis offspring1 the people with whom ,god dwelt and was publicly worshiped for ages in the presence of the idolatrous nations of the earth2 over whom ,god became their visible earthly ,sovereign1 their recognized ,king and ,god4,thus the ,lord laid the foundation for progressive manifestations of himself and for a growing development of religious truth and of its legitimate forces from age to age till the ,messiah should appear4 99 99 99 99 99 ,plainly we may recognize among the divine purposes in this new system1 #a4 ,in generalto conserve1 concentrate1 augment and perpetuate the religious and moral forces of revealed truth4 #b4 ,in particular3 7#a47 ,to utilize all the best elements of the family relation1 turning to fullest account parental care and affection and the facilities furnished by nature to parents for the training and culture of their offspring4 ,the germinal idea of this great family covenant lies in the promise1 so often reiterated8,i will be a ,god to thee and to thy seed after thee0 7,gen4 #ag3 #g1 #aj1 #ai74 ,a marvellous wealth of significance lies in these brief words2 for what can be more rich and all-embracing than this8,i will be a ,god to thee0thy ,god2 all that a ,god can become to man made in his image2 his loving ,friend1 his 8,shield and exceeding great reward02 his hope and joy and trust2 and to crown all1 his glorious salvation6 ,surely this cup of blessings is rich and full enough to meet the largest wants of any individual human heart4 ,but when man becomes a fatherwhen woman becomes a mothera new love is born in the soul and new wants are thence begotten1 for the parental heart instinctively cries out as the heart of ,abraham did8,o that ,ishmael might live before thee06 ,even soresponds the great parental heart of ,god,i know the heart of a parent2 therefore ,i said 8,i will be a ,god to thee and to thy seed after thee02 not to thee alone but to thee1 and also1 not less1 to thy beloved offspring besides4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the one comprehensive condition for the fulfillment of this great promise is briefly indicated in the case of ,abraham1 of whom ,god said8,i know him that he will command his children and his household after him1 and they shall keep the way of the ,lord to do justice and judgment2 that the ,lord may bring upon ,abraham that which he hath spoken of him0 7,gen4 #ah3 #ai74 ,the ,lord knew that ,abraham would fulfill the conditions so conscientiously and well that he could fulfill his promise4 ,the conditions are thus incidentally brought outviz4 parental fidelity and authority2 the early culture and training of his household2 consecration1 the prayer and the faith which are legitimately begotten of this covenant and naturally correlated to it2these are obviously the fitting conditions upon which the fulfillment of this covenant on ,god's part must depend4,but1 ,o1 the wealth of blessings garnered up within its bosom for those who walk in the steps of ,abraham with like precious faith and like godly nurture6 ,how wonderfully does piety become self-perpetuating in the family line from generation to generation of those who take this covenant to their inmost heart and find ,god in it ever faithful and ever true and evermore 8mighty to save0 as he hath said6 ,here1 strange to say1 some good men would thrust in a peremptory limitation1 asserting that this family covenant is ,abrahamic and ,jewish only2 good for them1 but not good for the ,christian age2 good in the national but not in the family sense and application thereof4,but what is the logic of such a limitation8 ,was the love of parent for offspring lost out of the human heart at the coming of ,christ8 ,or did the ,lord forget at that point how deeply he had implanted this love in human bosoms8 ,or did he think that piety1 under the improved auspices of the gospel age1 could thrive without the help of this family covenant8 ,or did he reason thusthat the gospel age having the advantage of the ,jewish in so many points1 could afford to forego this family promise1 and yet not on the whole fall below the ,abrahamic dispensation8,or in another point of view1 looking at the evidence rather historically than logically1 it is claimed1 as ,i understand the argument1 that ,christ did not renew the promise8,a ,god to thee and to thy seed after thee02 and therefore it did not pass over into the gospel age4,to which ,i reply2 ,the real question isnot1 ,did ,christ renew8 but1 ,did he annul8 ,did he say,i have come to make void the law1 not to fulfill8 ,did he say,that family covenant which the patriarchs loved so dearly1 in the faith of which they trained their sons and daughters into the love and service of their fathers' ,god1 has well done its work and can stand no longer8 ,did he labor to reconcile the parental heart of his ,jewish disciplesloving their dear little ones so tenderlyto this sudden withdrawal of divine promiseto this sore bereavement of hope and slaughter of faith8 ,was this what he meant when he said2 8,suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not2 for of such is the kingdom of heaven08 ,or was this the meaning of ,peter when in the first ,pentecostal sermon he proclaimed8,the promise 7of the ,holy ,ghost7 is to you and to your children0 7,ac4 #b3 #ci78 ,or could this have been the purpose of ,paul when he testified2 8,if ye be ,christ's1 then are ye ,abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise0 7,gal4 #c3 #bi78,the proof that the gospel age ruled out the great family covenant is by no means apparent4,it should be considered that the covenant is one thing2 circumcision another4 ,the covenant does not of necessity die because circumcision is discontinued4 ,the covenant existed before circumcision and could be operative without it2 indeed could live without any visible sign or seal1 if so the ,lord pleased4,nor does the perpetuity of this covenant turn on the proof that baptism takes in all respects the place of circumcision4 ,whether it does fill the same place or does not1 the covenant standeth sure4 ,there is value in an external rite or sealelse ,god had never enjoined it4 ,but it falls exceedingly far short of being the thing of chief value4 ,into the argument respecting the change from the old seal to a new one1 it is not in place here to enter4 ,this class of moral sentiments and social affections looks forward in the line of human generations from parent to offspring4 ,another class of no small value looks back reverently1 not to say proudly1 to honored ancestors4 ,here also ,abraham's name became a positive power upon his posteritynot indeed of the very highest efficiencynot altogether proof against being corrupted to the pampering of national pride and even of personal self-righteousness1 for bad men might learn to say1 8,we have ,abraham for our father40 ,yet still it can not be questioned that for long ages the name and history of ,abraham bore the precious savor of his faith and of his staunch fidelity as the servant of the living ,god4 ,it was the prestige of a name both great and good1 and served to perpetuate his piety among millions of his offspring4 ,in this direction all those qualities in ,abraham which made him truly great as well as eminently good become elements in this new scheme for augmenting the spiritual and moral forces of ,god's kingdom among men4,it can not be amiss1 therefore1 to linger here a moment and study this wonderful man4 ,verily the ,lord found the right man for his purposes in ,abram1 then living in 8,ur of the ,chaldees40 ,he called him to leave kindred 7save the few who joined him in this migration72 to leave also all there was to him in countrythe land of his fathers' sepulchers2 and travel several hundred miles to a strange unknown land4 ,abram heard and recognized ,god's voice2 he bowed to his authority and went4 ,this first recorded illustration of his faith in ,god and obedience made its impression upon future agesas we may see in the words of ,joshua 7#bd3 #b1 #c72 of ,nehemiah 7#i3 #g1 #h72 of ,stephen 7,acts #g3 #b-e72 and of the writer to the ,hebrews 7#aa3 #h-aj7which last may be taken as a specimen of all4 8,by faith ,abraham1 when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance1 obeyed2 and he went out1 not knowing whither he went40 ,not a little might be said of many of the lesser yet really noble qualities of ,abraham's characterhow magnanimous he appears in his bearing toward ,lot 7,gen4 #ac3 #e-i72 how dignified before the sons of ,heth 7,gen4 #bc3 #c-af72 how hospitable in entertaining three strangers who came up as he sat in his tent door in the heat of the day 7,gen4 #ah3 #a-af7 when he 8entertained angels unawares0 7,heb4 #ac3 #b72 how humble1 reverent yet earnest in his intercession for ,sodom 7,gen4 #ah3 #bc-cc72 how fearless1 daring and wonderfully efficient in the rescue of ,lot from the plundering hordes of the ,east 7,gen4 #ad3 #ac-bd72 how unselfish in refusing to participate in the recovered booty3but all these qualities fade like stars before the sun when seen in the presence of his wonderful faith and unflinching obedience to the commands of the ,lord his ,god4 ,the most signal manifestations of his faith and obedience cluster about three several points in his history2 viz4 his call to go forth from his ancestral home and country2 his waiting twenty-five years for the birth of his one son of promise2 and the command to offer this only son in sacrifice4 ,that first call revealed the man4 ,it was but to hear ,god's voice2 and forthwith he 8conferred not with flesh and blood40 ,he seems not to have paused a moment to question the ,lord about the conditions1 or to consider the hardships2 and he never 8looked back40 ,next that promise of a son1 standing so long unfulfilled2 year by year the human probabilities fading1 dying out1 till at length they are utterly dead1 and nothing remained save the naked promise6 ,this was indeed training ,abraham's faith to wait4 ,inasmuch as ,god's chosen plan of introducing the ,messiah involved long ages of waiting and trusting and living on simple promise1 this was by no means a profitless or uncalled for illustration of the nature1 the value1 and the power of faith as in man toward ,god4 ,high above either of these cases1 in point of the fierceness of the trial and the wonderful spirit of calm and steadfast faith and endurance1 stands the case of ,god's command and his consent to sacrifice his son ,isaac 7,gen4 #bb74 ,the record puts this case in the foreground as to trial3 8,god did tempt ,abraham0not in the sinful sensetempting to make him sin2 but in a sense appropriate to ,godsubject him to a terribly searching trial4 ,first1 ,god called him by name 8,abraham06 ,then said8,take now thy son1 thine only son0that son of promise in whom all thy hopes and all thy heart's affections have been so long concentratedthat son 8whom thou lovest0take him and go1 far away three days' journey to a mountain which ,i will point out1 and there 8offer him up for a burnt-offering06 ,was ,abraham shocked8 ,did he stagger under this stunning blow8 ,did he pause to debate the matter with ,god8 ,did he beg that the awful agony might be at least delayed till he could collect himself and prepare for a trial so unexpected1 so sudden1 so terrible to bear8 ,the record gives no hint of any thing of the sort4 ,abraham had heard ,god's voice many times before and could not have had the first doubt as to its identity4 ,if the least doubt had crossed his mind he surely would have said8,lord1 this seems so unlike ,thee3 ,is it not ,satan1 thine enemy8 ,i can not move one step until ,i know of a certainty that this is thine own voice40,but there was no relief in this direction4 ,yet we almost instinctively ask,did not ,abraham expostulate8 ,did he not say,o my ,lord1 this ,isaac is the son of thine own promise1 my only hope for that great and long promised posterity2 and what wilt thou do for thy truth8 ,besides1 the deed is so shocking1 so revolting to a father's heart6 ,moreover1 hast thou not said8,whoso sheddeth man's blood1 by man shall his blood be shed08 ,and what an example this will be before all the tribes of the earth6 ,how it will encourage them on to murder their children in sacrifice to their gods6 ,we can readily make up what may seem to us very strong arguments against obedience to such a command2 but it does not appear that ,abraham whispered in his heart the first one of them4 ,the only hint we have of his deep thoughts in the case comes through the writer to the ,hebrew ,christians8,accounting that ,god was able to raise him up even from the dead40 ,plainly the ,lord meant to show that his command when made known unquestionably is to be obeyed without debatewith no misgivings1 no faltering1 no fear4 ,so ,abraham moved firmly on1 saying not a word to ,sarah1 keeping his counsel even from his two chosen servants and from his son2 holding the strange secret in his solitaryshall we say1 sad bosom8,no2 for there is not the first note of sadness throughout this wonderful transaction4 ,look at those three days of ongoing journey4 ,ah1 was not this a long time to think over the strange deed6 ,and those intervening nightswas there any sleep to his eyes while this terrible suspense lay still between the command and its execution8,so far as appears ,abraham moved on with unshaken fortitude and undisturbed calmness4 ,certain it is that he never lost his self-possession1 for he continued to plan carefully and even sharply against disturbing influences4 ,he could not trust his servants to stand by2 so he halted them at a distance back from the scene4 ,he kept the awful secret from his son ,isaac until he had him bound and laid on the altar and the uplifted blade was ready to fall6 ,this was the obedience of faith6 ,the wonderful illustration stands out before all the ages with ,god's seal of approbation broadly stamped upon it4,when the trial had fully reached its culminating point and no room remained for doubt that ,abraham would obey ,god at every cost1 fearless of consequences1 or rather committing all consequences to his ,god1 then ,god's angel interposed6 ,a ram was provided for the sacrifice and the son of promise went back to a more happy home with a more happy father1 doubly blessed in the renewed approbation of his covenant-keeping ,god4 ,no wonder that ,god proceeded then to make that covenant stronger and broader and richer than ever before6 ,no wonder ,abraham stamped into the very name of this ever memorable locality one of the grand moral lessons of the scene8,jehovah ,jireh0,in the mount of the ,lord1 himself will provide6 ,when you come to the mount of last and utmost emergency1 the ,lord will have salvation ready6 ,his angel will appear2 the ram of sacrifice will be there2 and ,isaac may go in peace6 99 99 99 99 99 ,according to the common law of ,christian experience1 ,god's methods with ,abraham were progressive2 his manifestations of himself moved on by successive stages2 much this year but more the next2 so much indeed at the first that it must have seemed to the good man very great1 but more and greater were yet to come4 ,the successive epochs at which ,god appeared to ,abraham to talk with him of the great covenant are very distinctly marked in the historyof such sort as many a ,christian might record in his own personal life-history4 #a4 ,in the outset of ,abraham's history is that eventful call which brought him out from 8,ur of the ,chaldees10 the narrative of which stands ,gen4 #ab3 #a-c4 ,in the promise made to him then the leading points were8,i will make thy name great02 8,i will make of thee a great nation02 8thou shalt be a blessing and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed02 ,i will stand by thee to bless all who bless thee and to curse whosoever may curse thee4,this must have raised in ,abram's mind large expectations and assured him that ,jehovah was indeed his own ,god4 #b4 ,immediately after ,abram's arrival in ,canaan 7,gen4 #ab3 #g7 the ,lord appeared to him specially to identify that as the land which he had promised 7,gen4 #ab3 #a7 to show him and to give to his posterity4 ,there1 as in each new home1 ,abram built an altar and in devout worship called on the name of the ,lord who had thus appeared to him4 #c4 ,next1 after his magnanimous bearing toward ,lot 7#ac3 #g-i1 #ad-ah7 in which he seemed ready to waive all claim to any territory ,lot might choose to occupy4 ,the ,lord bade him lift up his eyes toward every point of the compass1 all round about and reiterated his grant of the whole8,all the land which thou seest to thee will ,i give it and to thy seed forever40 ,also1 that his seed should be as the dust of the earth4 ,his generous magnanimity toward ,lot in nowise damaged his standing with ,god or his rights in the goodly land of promise4 #d4 ,a yet richer scene of divine manifestation followed ,abram's rescue of ,lot from the plundering horde of the great ,eastern kings 7,gen4 #ae74 ,the first words were significant and precious3 8,fear not1 ,abram2 ,i am thy shield and thine exceeding great reward40 ,abram knew enough of human nature and of the resentful1 lawless spirit of those warlike kings to see that he was exposed to their vengeance and that they might return any day with more military force than his household could muster4 ,it was therefore at once timely and kind in the ,lord to meet him at this point with this comforting assurance3 8,fear not2 ,i am thy shield02 ,i stand between thee and those vengeful foes3 my strong arm shall be a wall of fire round about thee4 ,moreover ,abram had nobly refused to appropriate to his personal use even a thread or a shoe-latchet of the booty brought back from his routed enemieswhereupon the ,lord said1 8,i will be thine exceeding great reward40,truly when a man's ways please the ,lord1 he not only keeps his enemies at peace with him but makes all things go well4,on this re-appearance the ,lord promised him a son more distinctly than ever before1 and posterity as the stars in number4 ,here it is said definitely8,abraham believed ,god and ,god counted it to him for righteousness40 ,his faith pleased ,god1 and because of it1 ,god accepted him and he stood as one who is 8all right before ,god40,remarkably the ,lord at this time identified himself to ,abraham as the same ,god who had appeared to him in his fatherland and called him forth into ,canaan and said1 ,this is the very land ,i then promised to give thee2 to which ,abraham replied 7v4 #h71 8,whereby shall ,i know that ,i shall inherit it08 ,at once the ,lord proceeded to ratify his covenant in the usual ,oriental manner4 ,a heifer1 a she-goat and a ramone from each species commonly used in sacrificeare brought forward2 each is cut into two parts2 the parts are laid asunder2 a turtle-dove and a young pigeon1 also used for sacrifice in certain contingencies1 were added but not cut in two4 ,then when night came on1 a deep sleep fell upon ,abraham and the ,lord gave him in vision certain prophetic views of his posterity2 and ratified the covenant by passing 7in the symbol of fire and smoke7 between the severed parts of the sacrificial animals4 ,of this method of ratifying covenants we have historical traces in ,jer4 #cd3 #ah-bj4 ,we have also early and decisive indications of the same mode in the fact that at least in the ,hebrew1 ,greek and ,latin tongues the word for ratifying a covenant means primarily to cut4 ,the phrase is1 to cut a covenant4 ,the prominent thing in the transaction was the cutting of the animal in twain that the contracting parties might pass solemnly between the parts of it4 ,it seems to be assumed that the contracting parties virtually imprecated upon themselves a like doom if they proved faithless to their covenant4 #e4 ,at the next eventful appearance ,abraham had been waiting in faith for the son of promise a quarter of a century and was perhaps tempted to think the fulfillment fast becoming impossible4 ,pertinently therefore the first words of the ,lord were8,i am the ,almighty ,god6 ,walk before me and be thou perfect02 fear nothing2 my covenant stands fast4 ,i will multiply thee exceedingly6 ,abraham fell on his face and ,god talked with him1 reiterating his promise of posterity1 giving unwonted prominence to the family feature of his covenant8a ,god to thee and to thy seed after thee0and instituting the rite of circumcision4 #f4 ,the sixth and last recorded appearance followed the triumph of ,abraham's faith in the sacrifice of his only son4 ,in this the ,lord re-affirmed the great elements of his promiseposterity as the stars of heaven2 triumphant over their enemies2 a blessing to all the nations of the earth4,thus at successive and somewhat remote intervals and mostly on special occasions the ,lord manifested himself to his servant to confirm his faith1 to enlarge the range of promise and to signify his pleasure in the obedient trustful life of his friend4 ,such is the religious history of ,abraham as related to his covenant ,god4 ,corresponding to this is the history of his posterity1 the ,hebrew nation4 ,to them as to their patriarchal father ,god manifested himself through long ages1 at successive points1 e4 g4 in their ,egypt life2 in his uplifted arm over ,pharaoh to bring them forth in the memorable ,exodus2 at the ,red ,sea2 at ,sinai2 all through their wilderness life2 at the ,jordan crossing2 in the conquest of ,canaan1 and onward1 onward1 till the coming at length of that greater ,seed of ,abraham in whom most signally were all the nations of the earth to be blessed4 ,but to the details of this latter history we must give more definite attention in their place and order4 99 99 99 99 99 ,one other special feature in the great covenant with ,abraham should be noticed4 ,in many respects this covenant made ,abraham and his posterity a peculiar people1 discriminating broadly between them and every other nation1 and accumulating the blessings of ,god upon them in no stinted measure4 ,it might be apprehended that such exclusiveness would beget bigotry1 national pride and self-righteousness2 but1 with wisest forethought1 the ,lord put into this covenant one counteracting element of great power1 viz4 that he ordained them to be a blessing to all the nations of the earth4 8,in thee and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed40 ,it was never the thought of ,god that the ,hebrew people should live to themselves and for themselvesshould garner their own store-house full of heavenly blessings and leave all other peoples to shift for themselves as best they might4 ,no2 ,god's plan contemplated the culture in their souls of the broadest benevolence1 and this1 pressed into service by a sense of largest responsibility to meet the revealed purposes of ,god as to their work4 ,into this great system which made them his peculiar people1 he put1 openly and clearly1 the germinal idea of a salvation to be provided for the wide worldthis covenant people to be the almoners of all these blessings to the otherwise benighted and perishing nations4 ,properly understood and duly regarded1 this germinal idea would have developed in their hearts and lives the true missionary spirit1 would have given at once both breadth and depth to their piety1 would have made them feel that ,god had great thoughts of mercy for the whole race of man1 and had honored them as his ministers in giving this salvation to every creature4 ,at the very least here was opened a thoroughly rich field for prayer1 the broadest scope for real sympathy with the benevolence of the ,great ,father of all the nations and a powerful antidote against the narrow exclusiveness which might otherwise have shrunk and shriveled their piety and narrowed their aspirations to themselves and their land4 ,how often in the heart of the good men of later timesthe men like ,moses1 ,samuel1 ,david1 ,isaiah1must the kindling thought have been sprung by this great germinal promise,when shall these things be8 ,when shall the full fruitage of these great promises be realized8 ,what have we to do to hasten the coming of that sublime consummation8 99 99 99 99 99 ,it remains to speak more definitely of the promises made to ,abraham as including the great ,messiah4 ,in this as in most other ,messianic prophecies1 the argument is threefold2 7#a7 ,the language obviously admits the ,messiah1 i4 e4 may be construed without violence to apply to him1 or at least to include him3 7#b7 ,its meaning is so broad that it must include him2 the blessings are too great to be supposed possible without himapart from him3 and 7#c7 ,the inspired writers of the ,new ,testament found the ,messiah in this prophecy4 ,the substance of the prophecy is in the words8,in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed0 7,gen4 #bb3 #ah and #bf3 #d74 ,beyond question this may include the ,messiah as the author of these really universal blessingsblessings for all the nations of the earth4 ,nay more2 the blessings are too great1 too broad1 too far reaching to admit any supposable interpretation short of the ,messiah and the gospel age4 ,historically no fulfillment less broad than the ,christian can possibly be made out4 ,in ,christ and in him only can this prediction be fulfilled4 ,and to crown all1 our ,lord himself testifies2 8,your father ,abraham rejoiced to see my day2 and he saw it and was glad0 7,jno4 #h3 #ef74 ,it may be noticed that the word used by our ,lord was not me1 my person2 but 8my day0the gospel age2 the great events of it2 the wonderful results of my comingwhich is no doubt the exact truth4 ,it was rather what was to be achieved by ,christ in the way of blessings upon all the nations than what lay in ,christ's person definitely that ,abraham prophetically saw4 ,paul adds his testimony that these words refer to ,christ2 7a47 ,affirming 7,gal4 #c3 #h78,the ,scripture1 foreseeing that ,god would justify the nations #8heathen' through faith1 preached before the gospel to ,abraham1 saying1 #8,in thee shall all nations be blessed4'0 8,preached before0 is simply predicted1 revealed by prophecy1 with the accessory idea that the thing revealed was the gospel1 the news of salvation47b47 ,to show that in his view the burden and fullness of this prophecy are ,christ and nothing less or other than ,christ1 he says in this connection 7v4 #af72 8,now to ,abraham and to his seed were the promises made4 ,he saith not,and to seeds as of many1 but as of one,and to thy seed1 which is ,christ40 ,waiving any special effort to justify ,paul's argument from the singular number of the word 8seed10 his testimony is certainly valid to the point for which ,i have adduced it1 viz4 that ,paul saw ,christ in this prophecy4 ,how much soever the principles of exegesis may reluctate1 they certainly will not deny that he interprets the prophecy concerning ,christ4 ,their complaint would be that he ties it down to ,christ too exclusively4 ,it must be held therefore that the promises made to ,abraham really include a prophecy of ,christ4 ,we could not infer from the record in ,genesis how well ,abraham understood the reference to the ,messiah4 ,but the allusions to this point in the ,new ,testament give us light1 our ,savior most distinctly declaring,abraham rejoiced that he might see my day2 he saw itwith great joy4 ,the writer of the ,epistle to the ,hebrews1 speaking of ,abraham and the patriarchs as not having received the promised blessings but as seeing them from afar and embracing them1 has in mind specially their faith in the promised heavenly city 7,heb4 #aa3 #aj1 #ac1 #ad1 #af71 yet not to the exclusion of him who prepares those mansions for his people 7,jno4 #ad3 #b1 #c74 ,his testimony is in point to show that ,abraham looked beyond the earthly side of those blessings to the heavenly2 rested not in the earthly ,canaan1 not in the multitude of his lineal sons and daughters2 but reached out beyond these to the city that hath eternal foundations and to the blessings of the ,great ,messiah1 good for all the nations of the earth4 ,the nearer and lesser blessings had a power of suggestion1 lifting his thought to the more remote and greater4 ,a man who talked with ,god so intimately can not be supposed to have missed these grand ideas of the gospel age and of the heavenly state which we are sometimes wont to regard as the special1 not to say exclusive1 revelations of the ,new ,testament4 ,sodom and ,gomorrah4 ,involved in this history of ,abraham1 there occurs this ever memorable case of sudden and most fearful judgment upon the ungodly in this worldthe overthrow of the cities of the plain4 ,sodom and ,gomorrah only are mentioned by name in ,gen4 #ac3 #aj and #ai3 #bd1 #bh72 in several cases for brevity1 ,sodom only2 but ,moses 7,deut4 #bj3 #bc7 and ,hosea 7#aa3 #h7 speak of ,admah and ,zeboim as also overthrown4 ,these were contiguous and 7in ,gen4 #ad3 #b7 confederate cities4 ,the narrative sets forth their appalling and absolutely universal wickedness4 ,other references suggest the causes or occasions 7,ezek4 #af3 #di1 #ej71 and intimate that the better life and the reproving testimony of ,lot were powerless 7#b ,pet4 #b3 #g1 #h74 ,the narrative also makes prominent the immediate agency of ,god in this destruction4 8,the ,lord rained upon ,sodom and upon ,gomorrah fire and brimstone from the ,lord out of heaven0 7,gen4 #ai3 #bd74 8,when ,abraham looked toward ,sodom and all the land of the plain1 lo1 the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a great furnace0 7v4 #bh74 ,the case became for all future time a standard illustration of ,god's most sudden1 fearful and utter destruction of the wicked4 7,see ,deut4 #bi3 #bc and ,isa4 #ac3 #ai and ,jer4 #bj3 #af and #ej3 #dj and ,amos4 #d3 #aa and #b ,pet4 #b3 #f and ,jude #g47 ,it classes itself naturally with the deluge of ,noah's time and with the fall of ,pharaoh's host in the ,red ,sea1 and the swallowing up of ,korah and his company in the wildernessall combining to show that ,god never lacks the means or the power to begin his threatened retribution upon the wicked here in time whenever he deems it wise for the moral ends of warning4 ,the question of secondary agencies is of altogether secondary importance4 ,it may well suffice us that ,god's hand was there4 ,it matters but little whether he made use of the agencies of the natural worldlightning and the combustible materials of that locality1 or otherwise4 ,that these natural agencies were employed is perhaps probable4,the locality of those cities is undoubtedly identified1 viz4 at the southern extremity of the ,dead ,sea1 now and for many ages submerged though in quite shallow water4 ,the adjacent soil affords bitumen and other inflammable substances in abundance1 indicating with great probability that a prodigious discharge of electricity ignited the whole region1 fire from the ,lord out of heaven gleaming and crashing2 the atmosphere all ablaze with flames and the very ground on which the city stood burning with terrible fury4 ,it might seem that the deep moral pollutions of its people had doomed that vast plain to be first purified by fire and then sunk from human view for all the coming ages by its subsidence beneath the waters of the ,dead ,sea4,in view of this appalling scene1 how terribly significant become the words of ,jude8,set forth for an example1 suffering the vengeance of eternal fire06 ,how easily and yet how fearfully can the ,almighty execute the judgments written against guilty sinners who scorn his words of warning and dare his vengeance6 8,the ,angel of the ,lord40 ,cases occur in ,old ,testament history in which the ,lord appears in visible form and is called interchangeably 8the ,lord0 and 8the ,angel of the ,lord40 ,see the personal history of ,hagar 7,gen4 #af3 #g1 #ac72 of ,abraham 7,gen4 #ah3 #b1 #af1 #cc and #bb3 #aa1 #ae-ah72 of ,jacob 7,gen4 #ca3 #aa-ac1 #af72 of ,moses 7,exod4 #c3 #b1 #d1 #f1 #g1 etc41 and #bc3 #bj-bc72 of ,gideon 7,judg4 #f3 #aa1 #ab1 #ad1 #bj-bc7 and of ,manoah 7,judg4 #ac3 #ah1 #bb74 ,the term 8angel0 means in general a messenger2 but is manifestly applied and therefore is applicable to the visible manifestations of ,god himself1 supposably of the second person of the ,godhead1 i4 e4 ,god as made manifest to mortals4 ,the cases above referred to are entirely decisive as to the usage of the phrase1 8,the ,angel of the ,lord0 in some cases 7not relatively many7 to denote the very ,presence of the ,lord himself coming down to reveal himself to his people4 ,in ,gen4 #ah3 first three men appear before ,abraham2 he entertains them4 ,two of them go on toward ,sodom2 one remains talking with ,abraham4 ,it is said 8,abraham stood yet before the ,lord02 then drew near and offered that remarkable prayer of intercession for ,sodom2 after which 8the ,lord went his way and ,abraham returned to his place40,in ,gen4 #bb1 when ,abraham had stretched forth his hand to slay his son1 8the angel of the ,lord called to him out of heaven40 ,shortly after 7vs4 #ae-ah7 8the angel of the ,lord called unto ,abraham out of heaven the second time and said1 ,by myself have ,i sworn1 saith the ,lord2 etc4444 ,because thou hast obeyed my voice40 ,this can be no other than the very ,god4,the passages above referred to from the history of ,moses are striking4 ,in ,exod4 #bc3 #bj-bc we read3 8,behold ,i send an angel before thee to keep thee in the way and to bring thee into the place which ,i have prepared4 ,beware of him0 7i4 e4 not to offend him7 8and obey his voice2 provoke him not2 for he will not pardon your transgressions1 for my name is in him0name1 as usual in the sense of the very qualities of character of which the name is a significant indication4 ,,chapter ,,xi4 ,,the ,,patriarchs4 ,isaac4 ,,the story of ,isaac is brief2 his life uneventful1 perhaps we might say monotonous4 ,the record shows that the ,lord appeared to him on two distinct occasions2 at ,gerar 7,gen4 #bf3 #b-e71 renewing the covenant previously made with ,abraham1 with a very full restatement of all its salient points2 also at ,beersheba 7#bf3 #bc-be7 where we are told 8he builded an altar and called on the name of the ,lord10 in the steps of his godly father4,we see a point of his character in the fact stated incidentally1 that ,esau's marriage into ,hittite families 8was a grief of mind to ,isaac and to ,rebekah40 ,esau lacked sympathy with the spirit of the pious patriarchs and utterly failed to appreciate the inheritance of blessings which had lain so near the heart of his grandfather ,abraham and of his father ,isaacfacts which the historian touches briefly8,thus ,esau despised his birthright40 ,the writer to the ,hebrews puts the case forcibly3 8,who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright0 7#ab3 #af74,we have no means of knowing how persistently and wisely ,rebekah had labored to win and hold him by her maternal opportunities and power4 ,in later years she seems to have withdrawn her heart from him to give it 7with apparently extreme partiality7 to ,jacob4,of her duplicity in the matter of the paternal blessing1 it can scarcely be necessary to say that the fact of its being recorded by no means proves that the ,lord justified it4 ,indeed the absence of any explicit condemnation can not be taken as equivalent to a justification4 ,jacob's exile from his father's house and home for twenty long yearsso manifestly the result of this duplicitymust have been to her mind painfully suggestive4 ,it seems plainly to have been one of ,god's ways in providence to rebuke and chasten her for this wrong1 and perhaps we may add1 to save ,jacob's soul by removing him from a maternal influence which was so defectivenot to say faulty and pernicious4 ,as to ,isaac1 one point only is named of him by the writer to the ,hebrews in his catalogue of illustrious examples of faith3 8,by faith ,isaac blessed ,jacob and ,esau concerning things to come0 7#aa3 #bj74 ,these benedictions 7recorded ,gen4 #bg3 #bh1 #bi1 #cc1 #cg1 #ci1 #dj7 must be regarded as far more than a venerable father's good wishesindeed as nothing less than prophetic benedictionswords uttered under the divine impulses of the ,holy ,ghost4 ,their broad outlook embraced the great outlines of the future history of the two nations that were before him in the person of his two sons4 ,jacob4 ,in ,jacob's history there is no lack of stirring incident and critical exigency2 in his character1 no lack of positive elements and vigorous force4 ,bethel where he seems to have found ,god first2 ,mahanaim where the double hosts of ,god met him and the murderous rage of ,esau threatened every precious life in all his household1 and he found help only as he wrestled with the angel of the covenant till he prevailed2 the scenes of his sojourning in ,canaan where ,joseph first comes to view1 envied and hated of his brethren1 and his father mourned for him many days as dead2 and finally ,goshen where the aged patriarch found his lost ,joseph yet alive and lord of all ,egypt2 stood before ,pharaoh2 saw his sons and sons' sonsa growing host2 gave them his blessing and was gathered to his fathers3surely these salient points of his history indicate no lack of adventure1 and in the religious point of view1 abundant scenes of moral trialexigencies that tasked his virtue and endurance1 his faith and patience1 and in the end brought forth his chastened soul purified by the discipline of suffering and strong in the faith of ,abraham's ,god4 ,to understand well the scenes of ,bethel1 we must think of a young man1 emerging from boyhoodhis fond mother's chief belovednot to say1 her pet boynever yet thrown upon his own resources2 an heir to wealth2 a child of easeperhaps of maternal indulgence2but now suddenly brought into peril of life from his twin brother's indignant rage and violence4 ,it would be so horrible to the mother to see her ,jacob slain by his own brother's hand and to 8lose them both in one day06 7,gen4 #bg3 #de74 ,safety seemed to be only in flight1 so she must needs send him secretly to the distant land of her birththe old maternal family home4 ,therefore1 with many a pang of heart1 and 7let us hope7 with many a prayer1 she commended him to the ,god of the covenant and sent him away4 ,one day of thoughtful travel had passed slowly over ,jacob1 his mind traversing by many rapid transitions from the home he had left behind to the new scenes that met his eye2 from the brother before whose fury he was fleeing1 to the unknown experiences of life among friends he had never seen4 ,at last the sun had gone down2 the eye had nothing more to see2 weariness called for rest and sleep4 ,with a stone for his pillow1 with his tunic wrapt about him1 and the broad heavens above for his canopy1 he slept and dreameddreamed of a ladder with its foot on the earth beside him and its top in the heavens2 and wonderful to see6 the angels of ,god descending and ascending upon it6 ,a new sense of communication between earth and heaven came upon him1 assuming a strange reality when he saw the ,lord standing above it and heard him say1 8,i am the ,lord ,god of ,abraham thy father and the ,god of ,isaac40 ,before this ,jacob had heard of that wonderful covenant of ,god so often ratified with his venerable grandfather and his father4 ,the transfer of blessing from ,isaac to himself as the lineal heir of both birthright and blessing was a thing of quite recent experience4 ,how fully he had comprehended its glorious significance before does not appear2 but now that he is cast out alone upon the wide1 unknown worldnow that he so much needs the ,great ,god for his friendit comes over him with solemn1 precious interest4 ,the words spoken were full of comfort4 ,they reminded him of the great family promise to ,abraham1 renewed to his father ,isaac3 8,a ,god to thee and to thy seed after thee10 and he felt that the promise put its finger upon his own aching1 solitary heart4 ,he had a fresh assurance that his life would not come to nought and be a failure1 for the ,lord said3 8,the land whereon thou liest1 to thee will ,i give it and to thy seed2 and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth1 and thou shalt spread abroad to the ,west and to the ,east2 to the ,north and to the ,south2 and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed40 ,and lest these blessings might seem too remote to meet his sense of present peril and need1 the ,lord kindly added8,and behold ,i am with thee and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest1 and will bring thee again to this land2 for ,i will not leave thee until ,i have done that which ,i have spoken to thee of40 ,how deeply these scenes and words impressed the soul of the youthful ,jacob is apparent in the few words which fell from his lips when he came to the full consciousness of wakeful life4 8,surely the ,lord is in this place1 and ,i knew it not06 ,i had not thought to meet ,god here and to meet him so6 ,i thought ,i was utterly alone but lo6 ,god is here6,we must suppose that ,jacob had never been so near to ,god before4 ,such a meeting with the ,majesty of heaven was new to his experience1 and a sense of solemn aweof reverence amounting to fear1 came upon him3as the record is1 8he was afraid and said1 ,how dreadful is this place6 ,this is none other than the house of ,god1 and this is the gate of heaven40 ,the ladder stretching upward1 its foot resting beside him and its top in the heavens1 the open door far in the sky through which the angels seemed to come and go2 the voice of the ,lord himself and withal uttering such wordsah indeed1 the whole effect was as if ,god and heaven had truly dropped down upon him1 and this was ,god's dwelling-place and heaven's door was there6 ,the scene was entirely too precious to be suffered to pass into oblivion2 so ,jacob's thought turned to some memorial of the scene and to a moral adjustment of his future life to this heavenly call4 ,first1 he took the stone which had served him for a pillow and set it up for a pillar and poured oil upon the top of ita sacred unction4,to the place he gave the significant name 8,bethel0house of ,godby which it was ever after known4 ,then1 by a solemn vow1 he gave himself to the ,lord who had thus called and comforted him with promise4 ,we read1 8,jacob vowed a vow1 saying1 #8,if ,god will be with me and will keep me in this way that ,i go1 and will give me bread to eat and raiment to put on so that ,i come again to my father's house in peace1 then shall the ,lord be my ,god1 and this stone which ,i have set for a pillar shall be ,god's house2 and of all that thou shalt give me1 ,i will surely give the tenth unto thee4'0,if we press the word 8if0 at the head of this sentence so as to make it thoroughly conditional1 and withal suggesting some shades of doubt whether ,god would prove faithful1 we shall wrong ,jacob1 imputing to him what manifestly he could not have meant4 ,his words must be taken thus3,inasmuch as ,god has so kindly promised to be with me in all my otherwise doubtful way1 and to bring me back despite of all peril to my father's house again1 ,i accept him as in very deed my ,god2 and out of all my accumulated wealth1 ,i will surely give one tenth to him4,the spirit is that of one drawn by ,god's promised mercynot of one who stands in grave doubt whether ,god will come up to the full height of his promise4 ,these are the words of one who has no doubt on that point and who refers to that promise only to say that because of it1 under the joyful assurance of it1 he gives himself to ,god in full1 prompt1 and perpetual consecration4 ,a reverent soul brought so near to ,god1 impressed with a sense that heaven and ,god are verily here1 does not tempt and provoke ,god by expressing the fear that he will not prove faithful to his promises6,late into the morning ,jacob lingered in this hallowed spot as one loth to close such an interview with ,god and break the charm of such sacred associations4 ,and when at length he must go on his journey1 it was with far other heart than in his solitary journey of the day before4 99 99 99 99 99 ,of the scenes of his sojourn at ,haran there is no occasion to speak particularly4 ,perhaps the deception in which his mother and himself were the responsible parties came up fresh and clear to him when he found that ,laban had taken similar liberties with him1 giving him ,leah when ,rachel was in the bond4 ,a man never gets so sharp and keen a sense of the wrong of these little deceptions as when he becomes the victim and the sting goes deep into his own bosom4 ,this is sometimes the ,lord's way to testify his disapprobation of this wrong and to impress his own view of it upon those who may have sinfully indulged in it4 ,mahanaim4 ,the second great exigency of ,jacob's life has its record in ,gen4 #cb4 ,twenty years have passed away in ,haran2 he has wives1 children1 and ample substance of cattle1 sheep1 camels4 ,indeed all his children except ,benjamin are now about him4 ,not feeling at home longer with ,laban2 remembering the ,lord's promise to give ,canaan to him and to his children2 mindful moreover of the scenes of ,bethel1 and we may hope1 somewhat fearful lest the household gods which were dangerously near the heart of ,laban1 might be a snare to his wives and children1 he fully makes up his mind to return to ,canaan4 ,at some point on this return journey1 7as the narrative states rather abruptly71 the angels of ,god met him4 ,jacob saw them and said1 8,this is ,god's host0a convoya kind of military guard1 the demand for which presently appeared4 ,he gave name to the place from the fact8,mahanaim0the double camps or hosts4 ,they seem to have been an intimation to him that danger was near1 and that ,god's hosts were near also for his rescue4 ,on his way back to ,canaan1 and consequently approaching the residence of ,esau in the land of ,seir1 ,jacob is fully aware that his coming must be known to ,esau1 and therefore he sends messengers to him for the purpose of conciliating his good will4 ,these messengers soon returned to ,jacob1 saying2 8,we came to thy brother ,esau1 and also he cometh to meet thee and four hundred men with him40 ,in an instant ,jacob comprehends the situation and sees his danger4 ,those four hundred men are led on by ,esau with no peaceful purpose4 ,the lapse of twenty years has not sufficed to quench the fire of his wrath and to revive fraternal affection4 ,still unforgiving he comes on 8breathing out threatening and slaughter10 exhibiting identically the same character which he impressed on his posterity and which manifested itself in the vindictiveness of the ,edomites at the fall of ,jerusalem before the ,chaldean power4 ,amos 7#a3 #aa1 #ab7 and ,obadiah 7vs4 #aj-af7 represent this vindictiveness against the posterity of his brother ,jacob as the ground and reason of ,god's overwhelming judgments on their nation and land4 8,because he did pursue his brother with the sword and did cast off all pity1 and his anger did tear perpetually1 and he nursed his wrath for ever40,such was the bearing of his nation toward the sons of ,jacob in the day of ,jerusalem's fall2 and with this same spirit he is coming1 at the point of his history now before us1 to cut off ,jacob's powerless family4,with admirable self-possession and wisdom1 ,jacob laid his plans promptlyfirst1 to divide his train into two parts1 placing one at some distance in advance of the other1 so that if the front column were attacked1 the rear might stand some chance of escape3 and secondly1 to send forward a valuable present to ,esau28two hundred goats2 two hundred ewes and twenty rams2 thirty milch camels with their colts2 forty kine2 ten bulls2 twenty she-asses and ten foals0 7,gen4 #cb3 #ac-ae7;enough at least to arrest ,esau's attention and perhaps to soothe his spirit toward his brother4 ,these he sent forward with fitting words of conciliation3but by far the most vital measure of relief yet remainedprayer to the ,great ,god of the covenant4 ,vs4 #i-ab record the words of this prayer1 apparently as offered to ,god in the first moments after the messengers returned and apprised him of his danger4 ,the prudential arrangements above named followed1 occupying the morning hours of the day4 ,when night came on ,jacob was left alone save that the ,lord came down in form as a manthe angel of the covenantand a scene of struggling1 wrestling prayer ensued which ceased not till the dawn of the morning4 ,as the narrative has it2 8,jacob was left alone1 and there wrestled a man with him until the break of day4 ,and when he saw that he prevailed not against him1 he touched the hollow of his thigh2 and the hollow of ,jacob's thigh was out of joint as he wrestled with him4 ,and he the angel-man said1 ,let me go1 for the day breaketh4 ,and he ,jacob replied,i will not let thee go except thou bless me4 ,and he said unto him1 ,what is thy name8 ,and he said1 ,jacob4 ,and he said,thy name shall no more be called ,jacob1 but ,israel2 for as a ,prince hast thou power with ,god and hast prevailed4 ,and ,jacob asked him and said1 ,tell me1 ,i pray thee1 thy name2 and he said,wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name8 ,and he blessed him there4 ,and ,jacob called the name of the place ,peniel1 for ,i have seen ,god face to face and my life is preserved40 ,what we may call the costume1 the purely external forms of this scene1 are striking1 peculiar1 but thoroughly significant4 ,in view of the circumstances1 there can not be the least doubt that1 mentally1 spiritually1this is a scene of prayernothing else1 less or more4 ,the prayer is a struggle of soul on the part of the suppliant4 ,he is in trouble2 he is shut up to ,god alone for help2 and he feels that he can not be denied4 ,the scene of the wrestling must imply that ,god debates this matter with the suppliant ,jacob1 apparently resisting1 contending1certainly delaying1 and prolonging the conflict hour after hour of the live-long night till break of day4 ,seeing that he prevailed not to silence ,jacob's supplication1 i4 e4 to break his hold as a wrestler1 he touched the hollow of ,jacob's thigh1 crippling the wrestler seriously1 yet leaving his arms with strength unimpaired to hold fast his antagonist4 ,then as if to test ,jacob's faith and endurance to the utmost1 he said8,let me go1 for the day breaketh20 to which ,jacob replied8,i will not let thee go except thou bless me40 ,jacob as a wrestler with one thigh out of joint had become powerless to cast his opponent2 but with his arms in their full strength he could hold onand he did4 ,the culminating point in the struggle is reached in these remarkable words2 8,i will not let thee go except thou bless me40 ,i can not be denied4 ,i have thy promise3 it touches this very caseprotection and succor till ,i return to my country2 and ,i can not let go my hold4 ,i must have help now1 or perish6,the change of name is richly significant4 ,jacob1 i4 e4 supplanter1 suggested the deception by which he obtained from his blind father the blessing2 but with it came the rage of his brother and this present peril to himself and to his great family4 8,israel0 means a prince with ,godone who has prevailed in the struggle of prayer and obtained the blessing he sought4 ,the change of name thus indicates the change in ,jacob's relations to ,god and to ,esau which followed his victory in this prayer-struggle4 ,but what is the significance of this example8 ,what was really the animus of this conflict8 what the reason for it2 what the point in debate1 and what the great moral lessons which it teaches8 ,our data for the answer to these questions must come from one or both of two sources3 7a47 ,the circumstances of the present case2 7b47 ,the principles of ,god's spiritual administration of grace to his people in connection with prayer4 7a7 ,as to the circumstances of the present case3,the covenant of ,god with ,jacob is very definite4 ,jacob understands and manifestly pleads it1 as we see in this chapter4 ,these are his words as recorded3 8,o ,god of my father ,abraham and ,god of my father ,isaac0the ,lord the ,jehovah1 signifying the faithful ,god of his people 8who saidst to me1 ,return unto thy country and to thy kindred and ,i will deal well with thee3 ,i am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies and of all thy truth which thou hast showed unto thy servant2 for with my staff ,i passed over this ,jordan1 and now ,i am become two bands4 ,deliver me1 ,i pray thee1 from the hand of my brother1 from the hand of ,esau1 for ,i fear him1 lest he will come and smite me and the mother with the children4 ,and thou saidst1 ,i will surely do thee good and make thy seed as the sand of the sea which can not be numbered for multitude40,it should be noted that the promise in this covenant precisely meets ,jacob's present emergency8,return and ,i will deal well with thee3 thou saidst1 ,i will surely do thee good and make thy seed as the sand of the sea40 ,these points fully covered his present danger4 ,jacob doubtless had in mind the very explicit terms of this covenant as announced to him at ,bethel3 8,i am with thee and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest and will bring thee again to this land2 for ,i will not leave thee until ,i have done that which ,i have spoken to thee of40 ,there is therefore no room for mistake on this point4 ,the ,lord's promise to ,jacob is explicit1 and in its terms guarantees perfect protection in his present peril4 ,why1 then1 it will be asked1 was this night-long struggle8 ,we may find some light toward the answer if we remember that every promise of ,god to man must in the nature of the case imply certain conditions2 and the promise in this covenant equally with all other promises4 8,if ,i regard iniquity in my heart1 the ,lord will not hear me40 8,ye ask and receive not because ye ask amiss40,as bearing on this very covenant let us recall the ground of the ,lord's confidence that he should be able to fulfill his words to ,abraham3 8,i know him that he will command his children and his household after him1 and they shall keep the way of the ,lord to do justice and judgment1 that the ,lord may bring upon ,abraham that which he hath spoken of him40,now it will be in point to consider that these scenes of danger from ,esau's rage inevitably brought up between the ,lord and ,jacob the question whether the deception practiced upon ,isaac to transfer to ,jacob the blessing which legitimately fell to ,esau could be passed over by the ,lord without rebuke4 ,was it proper that the ,lord should endorse it with no rebuke whatever8 ,if he were ever to bear his protest against it1 the present was the time4,yet further1 the fact had but recently come to ,jacob's knowledge that his favorite ,rachel had stolen her father's gods and taken them with her as she left the family home4 ,had ,jacob been faithful to the ,god of his fathers in teaching and impressing the worship of the one true ,god and in protesting solemnly against idol-worship8 ,and had he been firm and outspoken against such theft and deception as that of his beloved ,rachel8 ,must not things of this sort be inquired into and definitely settled before the ,lord could interpose with such manifest deliverance as would virtually endorse ,jacob as right before ,god8,it ought not to escape our notice that while the narrative in the preceding chapter 7#ca7 recites the misconduct of ,rachel and shows that ,jacob then for the first time became aware of the extent of her idolatry1 theft1 and deception1 so a subsequent narrative 7#ce3 #a-d7 apprises us in a very significant way that both the ,lord and ,jacob remembered this wonderful night of struggle1 and that some of the matters then in issue were set right4 8,god said to ,jacob,arise1 go up to ,bethel that place of so many hallowed associations and dwell there and make there an altar unto ,god who appeared to thee when thou fleddest from the face of ,esau thy brother4 ,then ,jacob said to his household and to all that were with him1 ,put away the strange gods that are among you1 and be clean1 and change your garments1 and let us arise and go up to ,bethel1 and ,i will make there an altar unto ,god who answered me in the day of my distress1 and was with me in the way which ,i went40 ,yes1 8he who answered me in that day of my distress10 before whom this whole matter was reviewed and debated through that long1 fearful nightwho called me to account in that dread emergency and pointed out my sins and put my soul to most humble confession of past short-comings and to most solemn vows of future service2let us amend our ways and our doings before the eye of this holy ,god who mercifully spared us in that fearful hour4 ,these circumstances throw light upon this remarkable scene of prayer4 99 99 99 99 99 7b47 ,we may also call to mind the principles of ,god's spiritual administration over his people in respect to answering their prayer4 ,here it is safe to say that ,god never delays to answer prayer without some good reason4 ,he could not delay from mere caprice4,on the other hand he may delay the blessing sought1 for the purpose of holding it before the suppliant's mind till he shall better appreciate its worth1 and his own dependence on ,god alone for it1 and that he may accept it more gratefully and prize it more adequately when it comes4 ,the reasons for delay may often lie in this direction2 but in the present case of ,jacob we must look elsewhere1 since in his fearful emergency this particular reason is scarcely supposable4 ,his case was so urgent and involved interests so dear and so near to his very soul that his mind could scarce need to be sharpened to more intense desire or impressed with a deeper sense of dependence4 ,again1 ,god often holds the suppliant in suspense for the sake of throwing him upon self-examination4 ,it may be simply indispensable both for the good of the suppliant and for the honor of ,god that he should be put to the deepest self-searching1 to compel reflection and consideration for the purpose of convicting him of some sin that must needs be seen1 confessed1 repented of and put utterly away4 ,we must not overlook the great fact that when ,god grants signal blessings in answer to any man's prayer1 it will be taken as a tacit indorsement on ,god's part of this man's spiritual state4 ,it will be considered as ,god's testimony that he is not 8regarding iniquity in his heart0that there are no iniquities palpable to the world and present to the man's own consciousnessindulged and not condemned and forsaken4 ,on this principle it often happens that ,god must needs compel the praying soul to the most thorough heart-searching and to the most absolute and complete renunciation of known sin1 before he can honorably and safely bestow signal blessings4 ,if now we place this obvious principle of ,god's spiritual administration alongside of the well-known facts of ,jacob's history1 we shall readily see reasons1 apparently all-sufficient1 for this long delay and this remarkable struggle of prayer before the blessing was given4 ,the ,lord was searching his servant and impressing some great principles of practical duty upon his mind under circumstances well adapted to insure very thorough reformation4 ,when ,jacob at length prevailed and the ,lord blessed him there1 the crisis was past1 and the danger really over4 ,it was only for the ,lord to put forth his finger and touch the heart of ,esau3then the revenge and murderous rage of the ,esau that was1 gave place to fraternal kindness and sympathy4 ,we read1 8,esau ran to meet ,jacob and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him2 and they wept0 7,gen4 #cc3 #d74 ,the result therefore was far more and better than a mere escape with life from ,esau's murderous purpose4 ,it was the reconciliation of long alienated brothers4 ,at least it secured one precious scene of fraternal sympathy and love4,we read little of ,esau's subsequent life4 ,the brothers met at the death-bed and grave of their father 7,gen4 #ce3 #bi72 perhaps their paths never came in contact again4 ,the scenes of ,mahanaim have afforded to the godly of all future ages some new light on the great subject of prayer4 ,this was the first strong decisive case on record of prevalence in prayer4 ,abraham interceded long for ,sodom2 but with no further result than to show that ,god was very condescending to hear such prayer1 yet that the thing asked could not be granted4,here is a case of positive victorya real prevailing with ,god1 reached1 however1 only after a most remarkable struggle4 ,it is a great advance in the revealed science of prayer to have a case so illustrative as this of the great laws of prevailing prayer4 ,jacob and ,joseph4 ,the group of historic incidents in which ,jacob and ,joseph were prominent actors is eventful and striking2 in some points without a parallel in human history4 ,if it were fiction1 a mere drama1 wrought out by some gifted imagination1 it could not fail to command the admiration of men as a most finished plot1 a wonderful outline of strange varieties of human character4 ,truth is sometimes 8stranger than fiction03 and the careful reader of this narrative will testify1 far more instructive and impressive4 ,the points of chief value will be readily embraced under the following heads3 ,i4 ,the striking developments of personal character in the case of ,jacob1 ,joseph1 and his brethren4 ,,ii4 ,the hand of ,god in this history1 manifested in two respects3 7a47 ,in the suffering and moral trial of the righteous3 7b47 ,in his overruling control of the wicked to bring forth abounding good from their wickedness4 ,,iii4 ,the divine plan and purpose in locating the birth of the great ,hebrew nation in such contact with ,egypt4 ,,iv4 ,egyptian history and life1 studied in connection with this sacred narrative as affording confirmation of its truthfulness4 ,i4 ,the reader of ,gen4 #cd and #ce and #cg and #ch will see that the ten older brethren of ,joseph were 8hard boys40 ,the sacred historian must have been quite willing to give this impression1 else he would not have recorded ,reuben's incest with his father's concubine 7#ce3 #bb71 nor ,judah's criminal connection with a supposed harlot who proved to be his own daughter-in-law 7,gen4 #ch71 nor the pitiless cruelty of ,simeon and ,levi when stirred up to revenge the dishonor done to their sister ,dinah 7,gen4 #cd74 ,especially do the worst elements of depraved character appear in their treatment of their younger brother ,joseph4 ,the narrative 7,gen4 #cg7 is brief2 gives facts without comments2 but what facts6 ,joseph was young and very simple-hearted4 ,up to the point where the history introduces him1 he had been trained in a religious homewhich seems scarcely to have been the case with the ten older sons4 ,their shepherd life took them into distant parts of the country1 and seems practically to have removed them much of the time from home and its domestic influences4 ,unfortunately the domestic influences of that polygamous home were by no means so wholesome as a religious home ought to furnish4 ,envy and jealousy were stimulated into fearful strength4 ,joseph was sent to help the sons of ,bilhah and ,zilpah4 ,painfully impressed by their misdeeds1 he reported them to his father4 ,the special love of this aged father for ,joseph1 manifested in the 8coat of many colors0 7really a long tunic reaching to the wrists and ankles7 occasioned more rankling jealousy4 ,finally1 ,joseph's remarkable dreams which his simplicity related without apparently a thought of giving offense1 brought their animosity to its climax4 ,soon ,joseph is thrown into their power4 ,they see him coming and conspire to take his life4 8,come10 7say they7 8let us slay him and cast him into some pit1 and we will say1 ,some evil beast hath devoured him2 and we shall see what will become of his dreams40 ,we are not told which of them suggested this murderous purpose4 ,reuben1 the eldest brother1 was the first to protest4 ,his plan was that they should cast him alive into some pit2 and then in their absence he could take him out and return him safely to his father4 ,they consented2 stripped him of his new coat1 and cast him into a pit without water4 ,these pits were dug in that poorly watered country for the sake of getting water for their cattle4 ,then they sat down to eat bread1 perhaps complimenting themselves that they had not murdered him1 but had shown their power and for the present had put him out of their way4 ,manifestly their consciences were dead to that sense of guilt which a few years later forced them to say1 8,we are verily guilty concerning our brother in that we saw the anguish of his soul when he besought us and we would not hear0 7,gen4 #db3 #ba74 ,just then a caravan of ,ishmaelites and ,midianites came in sight1 moving toward ,egypt1 and ,judah came to the rescue with the proposition to take up ,joseph and sell him1 to be taken as a slave to ,egypt4 ,with some manly feeling he says8,what profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal his blood8 ,come1 let us sell him to the ,ishmaelites1 and let not our hand be upon him1 for he is our brother and our flesh2 and his brethren were content40,reuben's better qualities come up to view again when he returned to the pit1 hoping to rescue his brotherbut found no ,joseph there6 8,he rent his clothes02 he came to his brethren exclaiming1 8,the child is not2and ,iwhither shall ,i go80 ,in the next scene these brethren were if possible more heartless still4 ,it commonly happens that one crime demands another and yet another to conceal the first4 ,so in this case1 the next thing is to deceive their father even though it torture him with the agony of supposing his favorite son devoured by some evil beast4 ,they kill a kid2 stain ,joseph's coat with its blood2 and then send it to their father1 saying1 8,this have we found2 see whether it be thy son's coat or not40 ,there was no mistaking the coat1 and ,jacob's grief is heart-breaking4 ,remarkably it is said that 8all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him1 but he refused to be comforted02 and he said1 8,i will go down into the grave to my son mourning4 ,thus his father wept for him40,how easily those sons might have said3 8,father1 we have sinned against ,god and against thee2 but ,joseph is not slain by lions2 we sold him into ,egypt6 ,you may live to see him again40 ,but not even ,reuben or ,judah had conscience1 and truthfulness1 and filial affection enough to reveal the guilty secret4 ,miserable comforters were they all to their father's broken heart6 99 99 99 99 99 ,leaving ,jacob to long years of bitterest grief1 we follow the fortunes of ,joseph4 ,from this point the thread of the story takes him into ,egypt a slave4 ,sold to ,potiphar1 an officer under ,pharaoh1 it soon became apparent that the ,lord was with him and made every thing prosper under his hand4 ,he rises rapidly in the confidence of his master2 is put in charge of all his housebut here springs up a new trial4 ,joseph is beautiful in person and amiable in manners4 ,potiphar's wife1 lewd and shameless1 tempts him with solicitations to adultery4 ,joseph's bearing in this case was worthy to be put on permanent record to pass down through all future generations to the end of time1 a perfect model of both virtue and wisdomthe virtue that resists seductive temptation with unwavering firmness2 and the wisdom that comprehends and applies the perfect methods of resisting temptation4 ,joseph did not dally with his tempter2 did not suffer the temptation to gather new force1 but met it instantly with the strongest considerations possible8,how can ,i do this great wickedness and sin against ,god60 ,god1 said he to himself1 is my best friend2 ,i am his servant4 ,he has stood by me through all my trials and given me this great prosperity2 his pure eye is on me2 ,i can not do this great wickedness against him6,the sense of a present ,god settled the question forever4 ,there was indeed another line of considerationshis obligations to the husband of this lewd woman4 ,potiphar had trusted him most entirely2 shall he abuse this trust8 ,never4,thus ,joseph's course was at once decided4 ,but this vile woman persisted in her solicitations1 till at length1 maddened by her failure1 she plotted his death4 ,she laid hold of his garment2 he escaped leaving it in her hands4 ,with this for her proof she accuses ,joseph of the crime of which she alone was guilty4 ,joseph is thrown into prisonbecause of his virtue and not because of any crime4 ,of course the ,lord was with him still1 and again ,joseph rises in the favor and confidence of those in power2 is put in charge of all matters in the prison1 and thus the ,lord turned this great trial to account to bring ,joseph before ,pharaoh4 ,long was the trial2 the story of his relations to the chief butler and the chief baker is in point chiefly as showing how ungratefully the butler could forget his imprisoned friend and prolong his imprisonment4 ,but the hour of deliverance came at last4 ,pharaoh's two dreams impressed and disturbed his mind so much that he summoned all his wise men to his helpbut in vain4 ,at this opportune moment the chief butler remembers ,joseph4 ,he should have spoken of him to the king two years before2 but engrossed with his own prosperity1 he forgot his prison benefactor till this time4 ,joseph comes to the help of the king4 ,his first answer is beautifully modest and fragrant with piety4 8,i have heard of thee1 said the king1 that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it40 ,joseph replies3 8,it is not in me2 ,god shall give ,pharaoh an answer of peace0 7,gen4 #da3 #af74 ,the dreams are interpreted to signify seven years of overflowing plenty1 followed by seven of extreme famine throughout all the land4 ,joseph suggests to the king to store up the excess of the plentiful years against the deficiencies of the famine years4 ,the king sees the wisdom of this suggestion and at once appoints ,joseph to this responsibility2 in fact1 sets him over all ,egypt save only in the honors of the throne4 ,at this point the historic thread brings ,jacob and his sons in ,canaan to view again4 ,we are not told whether they had the seven years of exuberant plenty there1 but the years of famine were there in terrible power4 ,they were soon breadless4 ,the father hears that there is corn in ,egypt2 so he sends ten of his sonsall that are with him save ,benjaminto get corn4 ,it was to be brought on the backs of their asses1 and therefore it was wise to send them all together4 ,the scenes that follow are told with masterly simplicity4 ,joseph knows them2 they do not recognize him3 ,what policy shall he pursue8 ,why1 we may perhaps ask1 why does he not make himself known to them at once8 ,why does he treat them so roughly2 accuse them of being spies2 throw them all into prison for three days2 propose to keep them all confined save one and send him back after ,benjamin2 but finally compromises the matter by taking ,simeon as a hostage1 binding him before their eyes1 and then consenting that the rest may go home and bring ,benjamin down as the condition of ,simeon's release8 ,why does he put their money into the mouth of each man's sack of corn8 ,why this long delay1 and these searching1 harassing preliminaries8 ,it was not that ,joseph was hard-hearted and rather enjoyed using his power and taking some revengenothing of this sort4 ,it is indeed said in the first stage of this interview8,joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them0 7,gen4 #db3 #i71 and thereupon said1 8,ye are spies2 to see the nakedness of the land are ye come40 ,but this only shows that his policy was settled upon the spur of the moment4 ,he saw what he needed to accomplish and laid his plans accordingly4 ,the whole narrative shows that1 so far from being void of fraternal feeling and hard-hearted1 in fact it tasked his firmness of character to the utmost to suppress his emotions sufficiently to carry out his purpose4 ,his main purpose was to bring them to thorough repentance4 ,for this end he must needs throw their thought back upon their great sin and bring the heavy pressure of present calamity upon them with all its suggestive power to show them that ,god was taking them in hand for that wickedness4 ,he also wished to see how they felt toward their father and toward ,benjamin4 ,their feeling toward both the father and his youngest son would be an index of their penitence for their great sin toward himself4 ,joseph was a man of consummate wisdom4 ,few men have ever lived who understood human nature better than he1 or could plan better for a given effect4 ,consequently we shall not miss greatly if we infer his design from the actual effect4 ,when we see what he accomplished1 we are reasonably safe in saying,this is what he aimed to do4 ,observe now that the first scene had not fully transpired ere he heard them saying one to another1 8,we are verily guilty concerning our brother in that we saw thee anguish of his soul when he besought us and we would not hear2 therefore is this distress come upon us40 ,and ,reuben answered them 7i4 e4 interposed at that point7 saying1 8,spake ,i not unto you1 saying1 ,do not sin against the child2 and ye would not hear8 ,therefore1 behold also1 his blood is required40,joseph saw that his scheme was taking effect2 their consciences were at work4 ,how his own heart must have throbbed6 ,accordingly we read8,he turned himself about from them and wept40 ,but the work is not yet complete2 so he brushed away the tears and 8returned to them and took from them ,simeon and bound him before their eyes40 ,why he chose ,simeon is not indicated4 ,perhapsnot to say probablyhe was the leading spirit in the cruel scenes thirteen years before4 ,we remember that ,simeon and ,levi led off in that bloody affray with the men of ,shechem4 ,however this may be1 he was the eldest after ,reuben2 and ,reuben1 though a coarse1 rough nature1 was on the side of mercy toward the abused ,joseph4 ,simeon1 therefore1 is chosen for the hostage1 to be kept in close confinement while the rest are dismissed to go home4 ,simeon will have abundant time to think over the guilty deeds of that dreadful past6 ,let us hope that it brought him to genuine repentance4 ,the narrative details the return of the nine brethren to their father's house2 how they told their story there2 how ,jacob rebuked them for disclosing their youngest brother2 how he struggled desperately against his manifest destiny2 how he said,benjamin shall never go down into ,egypt2 how ,reuben interposed in his rough way1 saying to his father3 8,slay my two sons if ,i bring not ,benjamin back to thee0as if he could not see that murdering two of his grandchildren would be infinitely far from helping the matter or affording the least relief4 ,with better good sense and a more just appreciation of his father's feelings1 ,judah pled with his father3,we shall all die of starvation unless we go down to ,egypt for corn3 we must take ,benjamin with uselse we get no corn4 8,send the lad with me2 ,i will be surety for him4 ,of my hand shalt thou require him3 if ,i bring him not unto thee and set him before thee1 then let me bear the blame forever0 7,gen4 #dc3 #h-aj74,the heart of their father ,israel comes to view hereyielding to the inevitable necessity2 wisely getting up a liberal present of the best fruits of their land2 double money1 to return what came home with them in their sack's mouth1 and to buy again4 ,saddest of all he gave up his dear ,benjamin1 and then with many a prayer he sent them to ,egypt a second time3 8,and ,god ,almighty give you mercy before the man that he may send away your other brother and ,benjamin3 ,if ,i be bereaved of my children1 ,i am bereaved40,but he did not see the deep thoughts of ,god in these trying scenes1 and perhaps he had not yet fully learned how wise and safe it is to trust ,almighty ,god to bring out his own results in his own way6 ,he will learn more by and by4 ,events thicken2 the final consummation hastens on4 ,they are in ,egypt again and stand before ,joseph4 ,his quick eye sees his beloved brother ,benjamin among them4 ,at once he gives orders to the ruler of his house to prepare a dinner for all these men and to bring them all into his house4 ,a deeper fear seizes upon them3 what1 say they1 can this mean8 ,what new charges1 what prosecutions1 what fresh dangers1 are coming now8 ,they meet the ,steward at the door and tell him their story about the returned money4 ,the recognition of ,god in his reply seems strange for an ,egyptianunless we suppose that ,joseph had given him the words4 ,he said1 8,peace be to you2 fear not2 your ,god and the ,god of your fathers hath given you treasure in your sacks4 ,i had your money0 7,gen4 #dc3 #bc74 8,and he brought ,simeon out to them0which might well have given some relief to their burdened hearts4,the dinner hour approaches2 they are to eat with the lord of the land4 ,they get their presents ready2 and when ,joseph appeared 8they bowed themselves to him to the earth40 ,the historian is careful to mention this for its bearing as the fulfillment of that long past dream of the boy ,joseph4 ,with the true politeness of profound sincerity ,joseph inquires about his father3 8,is your father wellthe old man of whom ye spake8 ,is he yet alive80 8,and they answered3 ,thy servant our father is in good health2 he is yet alive2 and again they bowed down their heads and made obeisance40,now his eye falls on ,benjamin1 his own mother's son1 and he asks8,is this your younger brother of whom ye spake unto me8 ,god be gracious unto thee my son40,ah1 but ,joseph's heart is too full2 8he made haste1 for his bowels did yearn upon his brother2 and he sought where to weep1 and he entered into his chamber and wept there40 ,but1 the time has not come yet to reveal himself2 the searching ordeal through which he must needs make his brethren pass has not fully done its work2 so ,joseph washes off the tears2 refrains himself from shedding more1 and orders the food set on4 ,the brethren of ,joseph had probably a rather pleasant timeonly it seemed strange to them that they were seated by age from the eldest to the youngest and ,benjamin had a five-fold mess6 ,how comes it that the lord of ,egypt knows so much about us8 ,they can not see4 ,they are getting ready now for home2 their sacks are filled with corn again1 and again the money is put back into each sack's mouth1 and worst of all1 ,joseph's silver cup is slipped into the mouth of ,benjamin's sack4 ,ere they are fairly out of the city ,joseph posts his steward after them1 abruptly charging them with having ungratefully stolen his lord's silver cup4 ,consciously innocent and deeply indignant1 they are rash enough to say,let the man in whose sack it is found die1 and take all the rest of us for slaves6 ,how were they amazed and overwhelmed when the cup was found in ,benjamin's sack6 ,they rent their clothes in bitterness of heart1 and all return to the city4 ,judah comes to the front here2 it is 8,judah and his brethren0 who come to ,joseph's house1 and ,judah who makes the plea in behalf of ,benjamin4 ,the historian is careful to say again that when they met ,joseph 8they fell before him on the ground40 ,he also remarks that ,joseph was yet in his house1 having remained there ever since the caravan left in the early morning1 too full of thought on this subject to turn to any other business4,now he expects to learn how they feel toward ,benjamin and toward their aged father4 ,he must be sure they are all right on these points before he lifts the vail and shows them himself4,they are brought back as criminals before him4 ,with a sternness that is not at all in his heart but in his assumed manner only1 he says,what deed is this that ye have done8 ,were ye not aware that ,i have the power of positive and certain divination8,judah is in deep perplexitybut he speaks frankly3 8,what shall we say unto my lord8 or how shall we clear ourselves8 ,god hath found out the iniquity of thy servants0which words can not1 it would seem1 refer to any iniquity in the matter of the silver cup1 but must have referred to the long past crime of the brethren toward ,joseph4 ,he can not say less than that they will all become the slaves of ,joseph1 all including even ,benjamin4,no1 replies ,joseph2 ,i want only the guilty man1 ,benjamin2 all the rest of you may go in peace to your father6,now the crisis so long dreaded has come4 ,a terrible responsibility falls upon ,judah4 ,with wonderful simplicity1 with most touching filial affection toward his father1 and with masterly skill he rises to the moral sublimity of the occasion4 ,he comes near to ,joseph and begins his great plea4 ,every reader must study it4 ,we shall need to go far to find more touching eloquence1 a more masterly setting forth of the facts of the case including the whole story from the beginning to the end4 ,the case of the aged father and of his two younger sons left him by his best beloved wifeput in the aged patriarch's own wordsran thus3 8,ye know that my wife bear me two sons1 and the one went out from me1 and ,i said,surely he is torn in pieces1 and ,i have not seen him since2 and if ye take this also from me1 and mischief befall him1 ye shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave4 ,now therefore when ,i come to thy servant my father and the lad be not with us2 7seeing that his life is bound up in the lad's life7when he shall see that the lad is not with us he will die2 and thy servants will bring down the gray hairs of our father with sorrow to the grave4 ,i said to him1 ,if ,i bring not ,benjamin back1 ,i will bear the blame forever4 ,now therefore ,i pray thee1 let me abide instead of ,benjamin1 the bond-servant of my lord1 and let him go back to his father4 ,for how shall ,i go to my father and the lad be not with me8 ,lest peradventure ,i see the evil that shall come on my father40,this was more than ,joseph could bear4 ,he could refrain himself no longer2 the tears would come2 the swelling emotions must have vent4 ,joseph cried3 8,have every man away from me save these men of ,canaan40 ,the proof of their love to their aged father and to ,benjamin is unmistakable2 ,joseph is satisfied4 ,they are penitent for their long past crime against him1 and he can therefore at length break the secret and show himself their long lost brother6 ,how do their ears tingle as they hear him say8,i am ,joseph3 ,doth my father yet live80,the first shock is almost stunning3 they can not answer him1 for they are troubled at his presence4 ,more kind words and the kindest possible manner are now in place4 8,joseph said to his brethren1 ,come near to me1 ,i pray you2 and they came near40 ,again he says8,i am ,joseph1 your brother1 whom ye sold into ,egypt40 ,then with a turn which evinces the exquisite tenderness of his heart1 he begs them 8not to be grieved nor angry with themselves20 but to think rather of the design of ,god in permitting and providentially shaping this wonderful series of events4 8,god did send me before you to preserve life4 ,there are five more years of famine yet to come2 ,god sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance4 ,so now it was not you that sent me hither1 but ,god40 ,the best thing he could say under just those circumstances to soothe their mind1 to assure them of his full forgiveness and to give them consolation in place of the agitation1 fear1 and remorse that so nearly overwhelmed their spirits4 ,arrangements for the future are soon made4 ,joseph assures them that the best of ,egypt's land shall be given them1 and insists that they hasten home and bring their aged father and their little onesevery thing they havedown to ,egypt1 because five more years of famine are to follow4 ,egyptian wagonsunknown to ,jacob's householdare sent1 and the brethren are hastened off4 ,were they not a happy band8 ,the great agony of fear is past2 the surgings of anxiety and solicitude have ceased2 the pungent convictions of that dread crime long ago against their younger brother have done their work1 and wrought out 8the peaceable fruits of righteousness40 ,this is a wonderful crisis in their life history4 ,let us hope that most if not all of them found ,god through these fiery trials and these penitent tears6 ,they are home again4 ,the first thing is to break this strange secret to their father4 ,they make just two points3 8,joseph yet alive20 8,joseph ,governor over all the land of ,egypt40 ,it was too muchwas too good to be believed4 ,the ,english version has it1 8,jacob's heart fainted40 ,better8,jacob's heart remained cold1 for he believed them not40 ,it stirred no joyous and warm emotions1 for he could not believe it4 ,but when they told him all the words of ,joseph1 and especially when he saw the wagons which ,joseph had sent to carry him1 then his spirit rose2 his heart waxed warm2 he said3 8,it is enough2 ,joseph my son is yet alive2 ,i will go and see him before ,i die40 ,beersheba1 the old home of his father ,isaac1 lay on his route4 ,he stopped there and offered sacrifice to the ,god of his father ,isaac4 ,the night following the ,lord met him in vision1 saying1 8,i am thy ,god and the ,god of thy father2 fear not to go down into ,egypt1 for ,i will there make of thee a great nation3 ,i will go down with thee into ,egypt and will bring thee up again2 and ,joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes0i4 e4 to close them in death4,how tenderly appreciative of the circumstances and of ,jacob's need was this vision of ,beersheba6 ,such are ,god's blessed ways with his children4 ,he can not send them into scenes of special danger or of critical interest1 without some special manifestations of his presence4 ,,ii4 ,we are to notice the hand of ,god in this history in its twofold bearings3 #a4 ,as active in the sufferings and moral trial of the virtuous2 #b4 ,as manifested in his overruling control of the wicked to bring forth from their wickedness abounding good4 #a4 ,as active in the sufferings and moral trial of the virtuous4,the most cursory reader of this story will see in it a striking case of the sufferings of innocence4 ,joseph1 envied and hated for no fault of his2 coming near to being murdered by his own brothers1 and really sold into slaverya slavery prospectively life-long and in a distant1 unknown land2 torn away from every thing dear in home1 at the age of seventeen3this surely was innocence subjected to the sternest suffering4 ,how do such things happen under the government of ,god8 ,when they do happen1 what do they prove8 a4 ,negatively3 ,they prove that all the suffering in this world can not be retribution for sin4 ,there may be great suffering which can not in any true sense be the punishment of great crime4 ,the greatest sufferers are not necessarily and always the greatest sinners4 ,suffering is not graduated to crime4,this lesson ,job's three friends were slow to learn4 ,even ,job himself seems not to have learned it thoroughly1 but was groping toward it1 under the lessons of his own conscious experience4 ,it may not be amiss to suggest here that ,job and his friends reasoned without the light which this history of ,joseph would have given them if they had ever heard or read it4 ,they either lived before ,joseph1 or too remote from these scenes to hear or in any way learn the lessons they teach4 b4 ,positively this case illustrates some of the ends which ,god aims to secure by permitting the sufferings of the good2 e4 g4 to discipline them to patience under suffering1 and to trust in ,god in the midst of darkness and in spite of it4 ,joseph's slavery and prison-life in ,egypt would have been simply miserable without this patience and this trust in the ,lord his ,god4 ,suppose he had given himself up to fretting and chafing and dashing his head against the strong walls of his prison and to wrenching off the fetters with which they 8hurt his feet0 7,ps4 #aje3 #ah72,what could have come of such adjustment of one's self to dark providences8 ,certainly not the sweet and blessed discipline which he did in fact get from his afflictions2 certainly not the favor and the blessing of his ,god4 ,every thing in the future as before his eye was dark enough2 but he knew there was a ,god of loving kindness abovea ,god who made no mistakes1 yet whose purposes were often too deep for afflicted man to fathom1 and therefore a ,god whom his children should learn to trust as certainly doing all things well4 ,again2 the case serves to reveal ,god's pity and his love in that he goes with his children into their slave-life and into their prison-life with such smiles of favor1 such tokens of his presence1 as may well make them joyful in the most terrible affliction4 ,as ,paul and ,silas prayed and sang praises within the cold1 desolate walls of a prison while yet smarting under the ,roman scourge1 and with perhaps some prospect of sufferings more severe when another day should dawn2 so ,joseph found the ,lord with him when he reached ,egypt a slave2 with him when cast into prison because he virtuously repelled a foul temptation to crime4 ,god was there1 proving to his servant ,joseph that no surroundings are so dark that ,god's manifested presence will not make them lightthat no sufferings and no bereavements are so severe that ,god can not throw his smile upon the sufferer and fill his soul with overflowing joy6 ,yet again2 this lesson teaches that ,god uses means apparently rough and stern to prepare his servants for higher responsibilities and more signal blessings4 ,we can not say what ,joseph would have been if he had remained in the bosom of his doting father's home through all those years from seventeen to thirty1 instead of being in ,god's school of suffering and trial2 but it is safe to say that he made rapid strides forward in this school of ,godin his knowledge of human nature2 in his quick and manifest sympathy with every one in trouble2 in his skill to gain the confidence of those about and above him2 in his capacity for business2 and not least in his living piety and his humble walk with ,god4 ,his surroundings threw him roughly upon his own resources1 and at the same time sweetly upon ,god's resources2 and in consequence he rose1 as few men have even been fit to rise1 from slave-life and from prison-life1 to be the actuary of a great kingdomthe almoner of bread and of life to the nations of the then civilized world2 and also to become one of the most exalted and spotless characters of all history4 ,are not the ways of ,god truly wonderful8 99 99 99 99 99 ,the ways of ,god toward ,jacob must not be overlooked4 ,we need not debate the question how far his sufferings were those of innocence1 and how far he was criminally responsible for the lack of moral culture and the power of fearful depravity in his sons4 ,be this as it may1 it was hard for him to lose ,josephthe one son who was a comfort to his heart among so many who were quite otherwise4 ,even after thirteen years his heart seems still to be sore with that great sorrow1 so that when his ten sons say that ,benjamin must go with them to ,egypt1 he exclaims1 8,all these things are against me06 ,and when at length he is compelled to consent1 his words indicate that he bows to an inexorable fate rather than yields in sweet trust to a divine hand believed to be wise and kind1 though utterly and inexplicably mysterious28,if ,i am bereaved of my children1 ,i am bereaved40 ,jacob lived to see the clouds of darkness lifted and rolled away4 ,he lived to learn that all those things were not against him by any means1 but were in fact shaped of ,god to save his great household alive through a seven years' famine2 and 7what is far more than even this7were designed of ,god for the salvation of those sons of his whose wickedness had brought these sorrows upon him1 and whom ,god had faithfully taken in hand to bring them to repentance4 ,had he not learned ere this that it was always safe to trust in his father's ,god8 ,had not the ,lord said to him1 8,i will surely do thee good08 ,as to being 8bereaved of his children10 was not the covenant very definite3 8,a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee1 and kings shall come out of thy loins08 7,gen4 #ce3 #aa74,this discipline of the aged patriarch was sharp but wholesome4 ,he might have said1 8,in faithfulness hast thou afflicted me40 ,the clouds of life's stormy day cleared before sunset4 ,it would be pleasant to hear1 if we might1 the experiences of his closing years when he came to understand ,god's ways and to reap the blessed fruits of such chastening sorrows4 99 99 99 99 99 ,these methods and ends of ,god in the discipline and culture of his people reach onward into eternity4 ,the faithful here are the rulers there 7,mat4 #be3 #ba74 ,those who take ,god's discipline kindly here and turn it to best account according to his thought and will1 have their reward above4 ,it is not needful that we know in their details what the heavenly responsibilities are1 and what the dignities and the honors of those who have been faithful over a few things here2 but we are safe in the belief that earthly discipline and culture are not lost attainments as to the after life4,as one short day transferred ,joseph from the prison-house of the kingdom to the lordship of that kingdom1 so one day is long enough for the transfer of many a humble1 suffering saint of ,god from dungeons of darkness and pain to palaces of royalty and bliss4 ,in the story of ,joseph these great truths of ,god's administration with his people were breaking forth upon the minds of men by most interesting stages of progress4 99 99 99 99 99 #b4 ,from these lessons in ,god's ways with the righteous1 we turn to other lessons pertaining to his ways with the wicked4 ,this history of ,joseph shows how skillfully and mightily ,god manages the wicked1 making their wickedness work 7wholly against their purpose7 to evolve abounding good4 ,we have seen how ,joseph directed the thought of his brethren to these ways and designs of ,god4 8,be not angry with yourselves that ye sold me hither2 for ,god did send me before you to preserve life40 8,so now it was not ye that sent me hither1 but ,god0 7,gen4 #de3 #e1 #g1 #h74 ,and again seventeen years later1 after ,jacob's death1 his brethren being apprehensive lest ,joseph might then relapse into revenge1 he said to them2 8,fear not1 for am ,i in the place of ,god8 ,but as for you1 ye thought evil against me2 but ,god meant it for good1 to bring to pass as it is this day1 to save much people alive0 7,gen4 #ej3 #ai1 #bj74 ,we should quite under-estimate ,joseph's knowledge of human nature and his sense of moral distinctions if we were to press his words to mean that ,god's agencies in those crimes superseded theirs2 lifted off their responsibilities and left them essentially faultless4,the reason why ,joseph's remarks took this turn seems to have been this4 ,he saw that conviction for sin had done its vital work in their souls2 that they were apparently penitent and leaning toward the most severe self-condemnationat a stage where it was both safe and kind to turn their attention to ,god's hand as evolving good from their sin4 ,in so far as we can have confidence in ,joseph's judgment as to their moral state1 his words afford proof that his brethren were truly penitent1 and at a stage where consolation might properly be suggested as some relief to their mental anguish4 ,the use which ,god made of the sin of ,joseph's brethren exemplifies his consummate1 far-reaching wisdom4 ,he knew all the future4 ,he saw the coming famine2 knew how to advance ,joseph to the lordship of all ,egypt1 and to put him there just in time to garner up the surplus of seven years of overflowing abundance1 and then dispense these stores of corn for the sustenance of thousands less provident throughout all ,egypt and all adjacent countries4 ,the resources of ,god's providence1 guided by such wisdom1 are simply boundless4 ,what can he not do when he wills to do it8,the case is equally demonstrative of his love4 ,mark how he bends the great powers of his infinite being to the production of good1 to multiply the means of happiness4 ,this view of his character is doubly1 yea infinitely precious when studied in its developments in a world1 or rather a universe1 with sin in it4 ,if the ,lord were obliged to say,i must content myself with the co-operation of the good1 the unfallen1 turning their agency to best account for the promotion of happiness2 but as to the wicked1 they are beyond my reach2 ,i can do nothing with them2 the evil they do must be endured as so much dead loss to the universe1 never to be of any service toward virtue and happinessthe case would be1 so far1 one of unrelieved sadness4 ,we may bless the name of our ,god that his resources of wisdom and power and the outgoings of his love are not thus limited4 ,no indeed2 some good results will be extorted from even those horrible crimes of ,joseph's brethren4 ,even the devil's wickedness in which he exults as availing to frustrate ,god's plans and to shake his throne1 he will find at length to his everlasting confusion and shame1 has been made1 by the over-mastering wisdom1 power1 and love of ,god1 to subserve the very cause he thought to break down1 and to break down every thing he had vainly hoped to build up6 ,for is not ,god wiser and mightier than the devil8 ,the final result of the conflict will prove it4,but it is in place here to note that this story of ,joseph's brethren and of ,god's over-ruling hand in their case was shedding some rays of light on these previously dark problems1 and therefore was indicating progress in the revelations of ,god and of his ways with sinful men4 ,nor let us overlook this one other pointthat the case evinces the consummate skill of ,god in managing the free moral activities of men without the least infringement upon their free agency and moral responsibility4 ,we see this in the way they went into their sinpurely of their own free purposeafter their own envious and proud heart1 although ,god had purposes to answer by means of this very sin4 ,we see it still more1 if possible1 in the means he used to bring them to repentance2 how he put his great hook into their jaws and brought them down to ,egypt2 took the pride out of them2 pressed them with one calamity after another till they came to feel very weak before ,almighty ,god2 aroused their long slumbering consciences and kept their thought upon that long past1 almost forgotten crime against ,josephtill at length they seem to have become thoroughly penitent4 ,only by legitimate means and influences1 and only by such a use of these as still left their moral activities under their own responsible controlwere these grand results reached4,thus we may take lessons in the masterly skill with which ,god's agencies interwork with man's1 effective to the result he proposes because ,god is more and mightier than man4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,iii4 ,taking a broader range of view1 we may next study the purposes of ,god in locating the birth of the ,hebrew nation in the land of ,egypt4 ,since ,god's purposes never come to nought but are always accomplished perfectly1 the ends he has in view being surely secured1 it is safe to reason backward from known results to original purposes4 ,it would amount practically to the same thing if we were to ask,what great results were actually secured by locating his people in ,egypt when and as he did2 by shaping their history as he did1 and by bringing them out at length with his high hand and outstretched arm8 #a4 ,in answering these questions we may note that ,egypt in that age stood at the summit of the world's civilization1 a fully organized kingdom1 a great and highly cultured people4 ,there is most ample proof that ,egypt was then eminent above any other nation in learning1 wisdom1 science1 and art2 in jurisprudence1 and in the administration of law2 in industry and in wealth2 in short1 in all the main appliances and results of a high civilization4 ,the antiquities of ,ancient ,egypt are the marvel of our times4 ,her temples1 pyramids1 and obelisks2 her paintings and works of art1 have come down to our age in most wonderful preservation1 living witnesses to her ancient greatness4 ,there was no other kingdom on the face of the earth where a man like ,moses could have been educated and trained to become the law-giver of the ,hebrew nation1 or where such a system of civil law as ,god gave his people by the hand of ,moses could have taken its rise and could have been understood1 accepted1 appreciated1 and ultimately wrought into established usage and into the national life4 ,we shall have occasion in its place to inquire how far the civil system given through ,moses was borrowed from the ,egyptian ,code1 and consequently how far the scenes of their ,egyptian life prepared the way for the new national life instituted in the wilderness4 #b4 ,the plan of transferring his people from their nomadic1 pastoral life in ,canaan1 to a settled residence in ,egypt provided scope for all those developments which we have been studying in the history of ,jacob1 ,joseph1 and his brethren4 #c4 ,yet more and greater developments of ,god's mighty hand were provided for in the deliverance of his people from their bondage in ,egypt2 in his judgments on ,pharaoh and his land2 in the destruction of his hosts in the ,red ,sea2 in the wilderness life of ,israel during forty years2 and at length in their location in the land of promise4 ,all these points will come under review in their order4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,iv4 ,some notice should be taken of ancient ,egypt as affording confirmation to the historic accuracy and truthfulness of ,moses in ,genesis4 #a4 ,moses assumes that ,egypt had a king and a fully organized government4 ,the evidence of this from ,egyptian history and antiquities is too abundant and accessible to need citation4 #b4 ,also that the people subsisted mainly by agriculture1 not pasturage2 that their soil was exceedingly fertile and the country one of great wealth4 ,the facts on these points also are beyond question4 ,the ,nile has always made ,egypt rich in soil and in agricultural productions4 ,its periodical inundations have sustained the fertility of that valley for thousands of years4 ,alternations of years of plenty with years of famine have been their common experience in all ages1 though probably never so extreme and protracted as in the age of ,joseph4 #c4 ,the history by ,moses records the fact that in the early stages of this great famine the lands passed over largely to the crown1 but were leased to the farmers for a certain portion 7one-fifth7 of the crops 7,gen4 #dg3 #bj-bf74,testimony from sources other than sacred proves these points4 ,herodotus was told by the priests of ,egypt that the king gave each ,egyptian laborer a square piece of land of equal extent and collected from each a yearly rent4 ,diodorus states that all the land of ,egypt belonged either to the king1 the priests1 or the military caste4 ,strabo says that the farmers and tradesmen held their lands subject to rent4 ,in the ,egyptian sculptures as shown by ,wilkinson1 only kings1 priests1 and the military orders are represented as land-owners4 ,see 8,hengstenberg and the ,books of ,moses10 pp4 #fb-gj4 #d4 ,the history by ,moses makes an important exception in the case of the priests4 ,being supported directly from the royal treasury1 they were not obliged to alienate their lands during the great famine and consequently continued to hold them 7,gen4 #dg3 #bb74 ,with this all profane testimony concurs4 #e4 ,this fact implies an organized priesthood as a favored and therefore powerful class in ,egyptian society4 ,egyptian history confirms this and shows moreover that they were not merely priests1 performing religious functions1 but were the learned and scientific men of the nation2 had charge of education2 held in their body the art and the 8wisdom0 of the nation and performed largely the administrative functions of government4 8,the thirty judges 7says ,drumann7 priests of ,heliopolis1 ,thebes1 and ,memphis1 were maintained by the king1 and without doubt1 the sons of the priests also1 all of whom over twenty years of age were given to the king as servants2 or1 more correctly1 to take the oversight of his affairs40 8,the ministers of the court were in ,egypt the priests1 just as the state was a ,theocracy1 and the king was considered as the representative and incarnation of the ,godhead40 7,hengstenberg1 p4 #fh74;,it was by virtue of this usage that ,joseph married into the class of the priesthood1 ,asenath his wife being a daughter of ,potipherah priest of ,on 7,gen4 #da3 #ej74,the reader will perhaps recall the striking analogy between the ,egyptian system and the ,hebrew ,theocracy1 particularly in the point that the ministers of religion were also ministers of civil law and prominent in its administration4 ,the judges in the civil courts were taken chiefly from the tribe of ,levi4 #f4 ,joseph's arraignment of his brethren8,ye are spies2 to see the nakedness of the land are ye come0suggests an inquiry into the relations of ,egypt to foreign powers4 ,the suspicions of ,joseph obviously assume a consciousness of great liability to foreign invasion4 ,such was the fact2 and the reasons for it will readily appear4 ,we have only to think of the powerful tribes scattered over vast ,arabia1 the ,hittites and other tribes of ,canaan and of the regions ,north and ,eastall stalwart men1 all poor and subsisting on precarious supplies1 yet possessed of fleet animalshorses1 dromedaries1 camelswith which they were able to move masses of men with great celerity4 ,let such men see the tempting bait of corn in plenty in ,egypt1 and the marvel is how ,egypt could protect herself against sudden and formidable invasion4 ,the monuments of her early history testify to her long and bloody wars with the ,hittites and other tribes of ,western ,asia1 often carrying the war into their country as a wiser policy no doubt than to stand behind her own walls on the defensive4 ,suffice it to say here that when those ,asiatic countries were famishing for bread and it was well known there was corn enough in ,egypt1 the suspicion expressed by ,joseph that those ten men were spies was not only natural but perhaps even a necessary measure of policy to satisfy the ,egyptians4 ,they must naturally apprehend danger though he might personally know that these men were harmless4 #g4 ,sacred history drops this incidental remark8,for every shepherd is an abomination to the ,egyptians0 7,gen4 #df3 #cd74 ,to some extent this feeling was a natural outgrowth of their relations to the nomadic tribes of ,south-western ,asiato which we have recently referred4 ,but there is some reason to suppose among them a certain special antipathy against the sheep1 more intense than against any other domestic animal unless swine be an exception4 ,they had so much respect for the cow that they made her and her species objects of worship4 ,although they attained great skill in the manufacture of linen1 cotton1 and silk1 ,i meet with no allusion to wool4 ,woolen cloths are never found upon ,egyptian mummies2 linen and cotton were used4,some writers have supposed that shepherds were held in special abhorrence because their country had been conquered and ruled by a dynasty of shepherd kings from the ,north-east2 but the precise date of their invasion and of their rule over ,egypt is very much in doubt4 #h4 ,both ,joseph and his father were embalmed after death 7,gen4 #ej3 #b1 #c1 #bf7;a service performed by the physicians4 ,the antiquities of ,egypt furnish most conclusive testimony to their skill in this arta skill far surpassing that of any other people known to history4 ,great numbers of those embalmed bodies 78mummies07 have been found in ,egyptian tombs within the present century1 in perfect preservation4 ,on this point the coincidences between sacred and profane history are striking4,the practice was very ancient1 some mummies bearing the date of the oldest kings4 ,it was performed by a special class of physicians4 ,in harmony with ,moses1 ,herodotus and ,diodorus state that the embalming process occupied forty days2 the entire period of mourning seventy4 ,classic authorities give accounts similar to those in ,gen4 #ej of great mourning for the dead4 ,the monuments contain representations to the same effect4 ,funeral trains1 processions1 of such sort as ,gen4 #ej records1 are represented abundantly in the oldest tombs at ,elithias1 also at ,sagguarah1 at ,gizeh1 and at ,thebes4 7,hengstenberg's ,egypt and ,moses1 pp4 #gj-gh74;,a coincidence so minute as this is noticed2 that mourners forbore to shave their hair or beard2 but none might appear before the king unshorn4 ,consequently we observe that in the mourning scene of ,gen4 #ej1 ,joseph does not come before the king in person but 8spake unto the house of ,pharaoh0 requesting them to speak in his behalf to the king 7,gen4 #ej3 #d-f74 ,quite in contrast with the usual oriental custom1 women were exempt from seclusion and moved in society with apparently entire freedom4 ,this appears in the family of ,potiphar4 ,the ancient sculptures and paintings found in their tombs give a very full view of the domestic life of the ancient ,egyptians1 no point of which is more striking than the high social position of woman and the entire absence of the harem system of seclusion4 8,the wife is called the lady of the house40 7,see ,smith's ,bible ,dictionary1 p4 #fgg74 ,according to the monuments the women in ,egypt lived under far less restraint than in the ,east1 or even in ,greece4 ,wilkinson's ,egypt is full of testimony to this point 7,vol4 ,,ii41 p4 #chi74 ,hengstenberg's ,moses1 p4 #bd4 ,sad to say there is abundant evidence from profane sources of a very lax morality among married womenof which the history of ,joseph in ,potiphar's house is an illustration4 ,herodotus gives a fact in point3 8,the wife of one of the earliest kings was untrue to him4 ,it was a long time before a woman could be found who was faithful to her husband4 ,when at last one was found1 the king took her without hesitation for his wife40 ,yet other points might be adduced of coincidence between the sacred and the profane records of ,egypt as the former appear in ,moses4 ,the above may be taken as specimens4 ,most amply do they testify that the author of ,genesis was entirely familiar with ,egyptian life and manners4 ,the sharpest and most unfriendly criticism has hitherto detected no point of discrepancy between these respective recordsno point in which it can be made to appear that ,moses wrote without well understanding the ,egyptian life of which he speaks4,the corresponding coincidences in ,exodus will be suggested in their place4 99 99 99 99 99 ,some special passages occurring in these latter chapters of ,genesis should receive attention4 ,jacob going down into ,sheol to his son ,joseph4 ,in ,gen4 #cg3 #ce ,jacob1 supposing ,joseph to be dead1 says8,i will go down into the grave 7,sheol7 to my son mourning40 ,the reader of the ,hebrew text of ,genesis has not met with this word before1 and may reasonably expect to see its meaning discussed here4 ,in the outset it should be observed that these words can not possibly mean,my dead body shall go down into the grave proper1 the sepulcherthere to lie by the side of ,joseph's dead body4 ,he could not have meant this because the place of ,joseph's supposed dead body was entirely unknown to him4 ,he had seen his bloody coat and inferred that ,joseph was no doubt torn in pieces2 where1 he knew not2 and whether devoured by flesh-eating animals he could not know4 ,we must therefore reject this construction of his words4,plainly the ,joseph he thought of was the undying soul4 ,he expected at his own death to meet ,joseph in that state or place which the ,hebrews indicated by the word 8,sheol40 ,what is the primary significance of this word8 ,what were the views of the ancient ,hebrews in regard to its location and the state of its occupants8 ,the noun 8,sheol0 is made from the verb ,shaal#be having the sense1 to ask1 to demand2 and conceives of the place as evermore demanding1 insatiable2 that which is never full2 never has enough4 ,the current ,hebrew conceptions of the word may be seen in ,prov4 #cj3 #ae1 #af1 and ,isa4 #e3 #ad1 and ,hab4 #b3 #e4 8,there are three things that are never satisfied2 yea four say not1 ,it is enough3 the grave0 ,sheol1 etc48,therefore hell ,sheol hath enlarged herself and opened her mouth without measure2 and their glory1 and their multitude and their pomp1 and he that rejoiceth shall descend into it40 8,who enlargeth his desire as hell0 ,sheol 8and is as ,death1 and can not be satisfied10 etc4 ,as to the location of ,sheol it seems clear that they thought of it as an under-world1 as somehow beneath the surface of the earth4 ,we see this in the case of ,korah and his company 7,num4 #af3 #bh-cd71 of whom ,moses said38,if the earth open her mouth and swallow them up with all that appertain to them1 and they go down alive into ,sheol ,eng4 #8the pit'1 then shall ye understand that these men have provoked the ,lord0 444 8,as he had made an end of speaking these words1 the ground clave asunder that was under them and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up10 etc4,we find the same view in ,deut4 #cb3 #bb4 8,for a fire is kindled in mine anger and shall burn unto the lowest hell ,sheol1 and shall consume the earth with her increase and set on fire the foundations of the mountains40 ,in regard to their conceptions of ,sheol as a state of being for the righteous and the wicked dead1 it is easy to see that holy men of the oldest time lacked the clear light of the gospel age4 ,then it had not yet been said8,in my father's house are many mansions02 8,i go to prepare a place for you1 and ,i will come again and receive you to myself that where ,i am1 there ye may be also0 7,jno4 #ad3 #b1 #c74 ,they had not heard these words of ,jesus8,this day shalt thou be with me in paradise0 7,luke #bc3 #dc72 those of ,paul3 8,having a desire to depart and to be with ,christ which is far better0 7,phil4 #a3 #bc74;,but the patriarchs did expect to 8be gathered to their people0the good men who had gone on before4 ,this is said of ,abraham 7,gen4 #be3 #h72 of ,ishmael 7#be3 #ag72 of ,isaac 7#ce3 #bi72 and of ,jacob 7#di3 #bi1 #cc74 ,david said of his deceased infant child3 8,i shall go to him1 but he shall not return to me40 ,job said of that little known world8,there the wicked cease from troubling1 and there the weary are at rest0 7,job #c3 #ag71 and yet he sometimes thought of it as intensely dark1 for gospel light had not then fallen upon it38,before ,i go whence ,i shall not return1 even to a land of darkness and the shadow of death2 a land of darkness as darkness itself2 and of the shadow of death without any order1 and where the light is as darkness0 7,job #aj3 #ba1 #bb74 ,conceptions of this state as well illustrating the fall and doom of wicked kings and kingdoms1 tinged1 it would seem1 with the spirit of poetry1 may be seen in ,isaiah #ad1 and ,ezek4 #ca3 #ae-ah4 ,how far these notions as to the locality of ,sheol are to be ascribed to direct inspiration1 and how far to a merely human speculation1 following the leading thought that the body goes down and back to dust at death1 it seems by no means easy to determine positively4 ,we may be allowed to doubt whether the ,lord intended to reveal definitely the location of human souls after death4 ,it was a point of the least conceivable importance2 and moreover our knowledge of celestial geography may be yet quite too limited to admit of any intelligible revelation on this point4 99 99 99 99 99 ,jacob's benedictions upon his sons on his death-bedmore or less propheticpresent some points that call for special notice4 ,remarkably they seem in most if not in all cases to start from the then existing present1 and to build their allusions to the future upon it4 ,we see it in the case of ,reubennoted for his outrage of his father's nuptial bed2 of ,simeon and ,levi1 whose history suggested their cruelty toward the men of ,shechem2 of ,judah1 whose name bore the thought of praise and whose record in the case of ,joseph put him at once in the front among his brethren2 of ,joseph1 whose relations to his father and indeed to all the family had been surpassingly precious4 ,the special address of ,jacob to each of these was closely linked to their past history4 ,the prophetic feature in all these cases seems to have been suggested by these salient points of their history4 ,reuben as the first-born might have kept his supremacyif he had been worthy of itbut he was not4 ,simeon never rose to any distinction1 and scarcely held any well-defined territory in ,canaan4 ,levi came into prominence as the ancestor of ,aaron and of ,moses1 and redeemed himself also by the religious zeal and energy of ,phineas in a great emergency during the wilderness life 7,num4 #bf3 #f-ac74 ,the tribe were scattered in ,israel1 yet not in the bad sense4 ,judah and ,joseph had each a future more resplendent and distinguished than any other of the twelvetheir prominence in ,jacob's benediction being fully carried out through the history of their nation4 ,some special passages and phrases should be briefly explained4 ,in v4 #d1 the phrase1 8,unstable as water10 does not compare water to the solid earth or to more solid rock as treacherous to the foot and unsafe to stand on2 but rather as bubbling1 effervescing under heat or applied forceas therefore a fit image of ungoverned passion2 of wantonness1 impatient of restraint4 ,reuben had no moral stamina1 and therefore could not hold his natural place of headship as the first-borna moral lesson worthy of thoughtful consideration4 ,a young man given to licentious indulgence can have no solid bottom to his character4 ,the sagacious will never trust him4 v4 #e4 8,simeon and ,levi are brethren0of kindred spirit2 8instruments of cruelty are in their habitation02 better1 instruments of cruelty their swords are4 ,most solemnly does the dying patriarch disavow all sympathy with their cruelty6,the phrase8,mine honor0 in the sense of myselfmy nobler powersis specially significant here1 for their spirit was dishonorable1 treacherous1 basely cruel4 ,jacob had a sense of honor which utterly forbade all sympathy with them in this thing4,in the last clause of v4 #f1 the ,english margin gives the sense of the ,hebrew3 8,they houghed oxen40 ,they slew not one man only but man as a species2 and cut the hamstrings of their cattle4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the benediction upon ,judah 7v4 #aj7 stands unrivaled in importance and is not without difficulty4 ,the main question is whether the word 8,shiloh0 signifies the ,messiah1 in the special sense of the ,peace-giving ,one2 or refers to the city of that name in ,canaan4 ,if it refers to the ,messiah1 the sense1 the application and the fulfillment of the passage are facile and truly richthus3 ,judah shall head the tribes and give them kings until the ,great ,messiah shall come3 then all the nations 7,gentile and ,jew7 shall obey himobedience rather than 8gathering0 being the best established sense of the word4 ,it occurs elsewhere only in ,prov4 #cj3 #ag4 ,no facts of ,jewish history are better known than thesethat ,judah led the march through the wilderness1 and that from ,david to ,christ the scepter was in ,judahuntil the ,messiah came1 when it dropped from his hand4 8,we have a law10 7said the ,jewish ,sanhedrim in the age of ,christ7 8and by our law he ought to die0i4 e4 for blasphemy4 ,but under their law1 capital punishment was by stoning 7,lev4 #bd3 #ae1 #af1 and ,mat4 #bf3 #fe1 #ff1 and ,jno4 #ai3 #g74 ,having lost the power of life and death over criminals1 they were compelled to take the case to the ,roman authorities4 ,their mode of capital punishment was crucifixion4 ,thus the 8cross0 stands through all the ages to prove that the scepter had departed from ,judah and that the ,messiah had come4,but he came not only to die but to reign1 and the nations of the wide earth are to bow to his scepter4,such is the construction of this passage1 provided the term 8,shiloh0 refers to the ,messiah4 ,that it does refer to him may be argued on two grounds3 7a47 ,this construction is facile1 natural1 and supported by analogous prophecies2 7b47 ,the other which makes ,shiloh the name of a town in ,canaan1 labors under serious1 not to say insurmountable difficulties4 7a47 8,shiloh0 is derived readily from the verb ,shalah1#bf kindred with ,shalam1 both words being in frequent use in the sense of being at peace and in rest2 expressing good wishes for peacei4 e4 for all prosperitythe noun from which might naturally mean the author of peace1 as we see in ,mic4 #e3 #d4 ,furthermore1 this distinctive feature of the ,messiah's character and mission is the theme of ,ps4 #gb and of many passages in ,isaiah1 e4 g4 #i3 #f1 #g1 and #aa3 #a-aj1 and #fj3 #ah-bb4 ,these prophecies naturally follow the lead of this and therefore sustain the construction here given it4 ,moreover1 it is natural and highly probable that ,jacob whose twelve sons were to found the twelve tribes of ,israel and who knew that the ,messiah was to come in the line of some one of his sons1 should indicate which4 ,noah had designated ,shem3 ,god had designated ,abraham1 ,isaac1 and ,jacob2 now the choice is naturally made out of these twelve4 ,that the long promised ,seed was in ,jacob's thought is forcibly and beautifully suggested in the midst of these dying benedictions by the words8,i have waited for thy salvation1 ,o ,lord0 7#di3 #ah74 ,in the sustaining hope of a coming ,savior he had waited and trusted through many long years2 for these words express the precious experiences of a life4 ,as ,jesus himself testified of ,abraham1 8,he rejoiced to see my day10 hailing it joyously from afar1 so ,jacob witnesses of himself1 8,i have waited for thy salvation1 ,o ,lord40 7b47 ,those who give 8,shiloh0 here the geographical sense argue that in every other case of its use in scripture1 it refers to the town of that name4 ,this name for a town appears first in ,josh4 #ah3 #a1 #h1 #aj1 and often subsequently in ,judges1 #a ,sam41 etc4 ,but there is no evidence that in ,jacob's day it had come into use in geography4 ,this usage1 so far as appears1 was long subsequent4 ,nothing forbids1 therefore1 that ,jacob should use it simply for its significancethe ,peace-giving ,one4 ,again1 the most marked supremacy of ,judah began after the nation had reached ,shiloh4 ,it is therefore bad history and very inept prophecy to represent ,judah as holding the scepter until the nation came to ,shiloh2 the fact being that he had not held it in the full sense previously to reaching ,shiloh1 but did hold it for many centuries after ,shiloh had lost its pre-eminence as the religious capital4 ,i see therefore no good ground for setting aside the ,messianic interpretation of this passage4 ,the argument in its defense is ably and fully drawn out by ,keil in his ,commentary1 and yet more fully by ,hengstenberg in his ,christology1 vol4 #a4 pp4 #ej-fc4 ,the less readable portions of ,genesis4 ,we have passed several portions of ,genesis with little or no notice2 e4 g4 the genealogical tables1 and some of the less important sketches of family and tribal history2 e4 g4 that of ,abraham's sons by ,keturah2 of ,ishmael1 ,esau1 ,laban1 etc4 ,of these less readable passages1 let it be noted3 #a4 ,they are such as never could find place in a tale of fiction1 gotten up in some later age to interest and amuse the reader4 ,the fact that nobody finds interest and amusement in reading them now proves conclusively that no writer of fiction could possibly have concocted such chapters from his own fancy and have foisted them into a professedly ancient history4 ,the men who forge books of fiction to pass them off as truthful history are careful not to put in unreadable chaptersvoid of rational or even imaginative interest to the men of after ages4 #b4 ,consequently these passages are incontrovertible proof of the genuineness and real antiquity of these writings4 ,in their time they had interestjust that interest which attaches to sober truth3 none more or other than this4 #c4 ,the ,scriptures were written with special adaptation to their first readers1 and must include therefore those matters which had real value and interest to them1 whether they would continue to have interest and value many thousand years onward or not4 ,this fact1 often overlooked1 has many important bearings4 #d4 ,by far the greater portion of these historic books has a permanent interest and value to us and will have to their readers through all future ages4 ,we see in these ancient books not only the earliest developments of human nature in the primitive society of the race1 but also the earliest manifestations of ,god to men1 and can trace their progressive unfoldings step by step1 age after age by new methods and with clearer light as we move on toward the great era when ,god became manifest in human flesh4 #e4 ,it may well reconcile us to the annoyance 7if such it be7 of some unreadable portions that precisely these above all others afford us the strongest evidence of the genuineness and high antiquity of these entire books4 ,they constitute an internal mark of antiquity and genuineness which by the laws of human nature never could be counterfeited4 ,the man who should attempt to counterfeit such proofs that his fiction is true history would not prove himself very sharp save in the skill of spoiling his book and frustrating the only conceivable object of a fictionfor the sake of what8 ,we lay down ,genesis1 profoundly impressed that this oldest volume of human history is unsurpassed in simplicity and beauty1 and wonderfully rich in its revelations both of man and of his ,maker4 ,,chapter ,,xii4 ,,exodus4 ,,this second book of the ,pentateuch takes its modern name from its principal event1 the exodus of the ,hebrew peopletheir marching forth out of their house of bondage from the land of their oppression1 to be replanted under ,god's gracious providence in the goodly land promised to their fathers4,this one main event as recorded in this book includes many subordinate points1 e4 g4 ,i4 ,the oppressions of the ,hebrews by the ,egyptians4 ,,ii4 ,moses1 who became in the hand of ,god their great ,deliverer2 his history2 his early training and his call from the ,lord to this great work4 ,,iii4 ,the great mission of ,moses to ,egypt's king2 his reception2 the ten successive plaguesmiraculous judgments from the hand of ,god2 the case of the magicians2 the hardening of ,pharaoh's heart1 and the ultimate result4 ,i4 ,the ,oppression4 ,the narrative shows that this oppression consisted in part in the exacting of terribly severe labors1 especially in building1 including the making of brick1 the preparation of mortar1 the transportation of these materials1 and the erection of buildings4 ,the ancient monuments of ,egypt confirm the statements of sacred history1 showing that the ,egyptians employed national bondmen in the construction of their vast national works2 that they placed over them task-masters2 that when the workmen fell short of the required tale of brick1 their masters put them to more severe labors1 and in some cases to labors of other sort4 ,it has been supposed by some that the ancient paintings represented some of these laborers with the well-known physiognomy of the ,hebrews4 ,it should be noted that this bondage differed from the slavery of modern times in this one respectthat the bondmen were held by the king and the nation in their national capacity and not by individuals4 ,the ,hebrews were not held as private but as public property4 ,the king and the nation as such bore therefore the responsibility and guilt of this oppression1 and ,god let his judgments smite them for the most part in such a way as to indicate their sin4 ,a second feature in this oppression was the king's cruel edict to murder the male infants4 ,this was first enjoined upon the ,hebrew midwives4 ,fearing ,god more than ,egypt's king1 they evaded obedience2 whereupon the king commanded all his people to cast the male infants into the river4,the reason assigned for both these measures was public policy1 to prevent the rapid increase of ,hebrew population which the king assumed might be dangerous to his throne and people in case of a foreign invasion4 ,such a policy is at once short-sighted and wicked2 short-sighted1 since kind treatment would have made this rapidly growing people their fast friends and helpers2 wicked1 because it violates common morality1 insulting ,god1 and provoking his wrath by outraging all the obligations which he imposes on men toward their fellows4 ,egypt's king and court presently found themselves arrayed against ,almighty ,god and saw him take up the challenge in a fearful conflict for mastery4 ,we shall see in the final issue that the ,lord improved this occasion to illustrate some of the noblest principles of his government over nations and indeed over individuals as well1 showing that he abhors oppression2 takes the side of the oppressed2 hurls his fiercest thunderbolts against giant oppressors in every age2 and every-where holds men to the responsibility of using their power to befriend and not to oppress their human brethren4 ,this oppression began with 8a new king over ,egypt who knew not ,joseph40 ,it is generally held that these words indicate a new dynastyone royal line superseded by another1 perhaps a foreign power coming in to supplant the former dynasty4 ,the points of historic contact between ,egyptian and ,hebrew chronology may at some future day be adjusted with reasonable certainty4 ,they are not yet4 ,the subject is undergoing a somewhat thorough investigation with some prospect of ultimate success4 ,at present ,i am not prepared to express positive opinions4 ,two of the disputed periods in ,hebrew chronology are necessarily involved2 7a47 ,the period of the ,judges1 which as shown above some reduce to #cci years2 others extend to #dej2 7b47 ,the period of the sojourn in ,egypt1 made by some #bae years2 by others1 #dcj4 ,some of the theories which attempt to locate this new king of ,egypt in his relation to ,hebrew history place the ,exodus about ,b4 ,c4 #afjj2 others ,b4 ,c4 #adia4 ,some put the commencement of the sojourn in ,egypt ,b4 ,c4 #bjcj2 others ,b4 ,c4 #agjf2 yet others ,b4 ,c4 #ahae4 ,i have given my reasons for adopting the longer periods4 ,it is possible that ,egyptian authorities may yet throw a strong influence upon the decision of these much disputed points of ,hebrew chronology4 ,the narrative shows that the ,hebrews had become numerically strong and were rapidly growing stronger4 ,joseph had been dead probably a considerable time and all the men of his generation4 ,being #ci years old when his father came into ,egypt and dying at the age of #aaj1 he lived to protect his people #ga years4 ,moses was #hj years old when he came before ,pharaoh1 bearing the command of the ,almighty8,let my people go40 ,it is probable that the terrible edict to destroy all the male infants did not long precede the birth of ,moses4 ,the interval between the death of ,joseph and the birth of ,moses will depend on the duration of the entire sojourn in ,egypt1 since from this entire sojourn we must subtract the years of ,joseph's life after the sojourn began and the years of ,moses before it closed1 i4 e4 #ga #hj #aea4 ,this sum must be subtracted either from #bae1 leaving #fd2 or from #dcj1 leaving #bgi4 ,the latter ,i assume to be the true period4 ,it provides abundantly for the great increase of the ,hebrew people1 and accounts for the fear felt by ,egypt's 8new king40 ,,ii4 ,,moses4 ,we shall study the history of ,moses without the key if we overlook the point made by the writer to the ,hebrews 7#aa3 #bc73 8,by faith ,moses when he was born was hid three months because they saw that he was a proper child1 and they were not afraid of the king's commandment40 ,faith in ,god made them fearless of ,egypt's cruel king4 ,it would seem also that they saw in the peculiar beauty of this child a sort of prophecy of his future1 something at least which raised expectation and put them upon special ventures to save his life4 ,three months they secreted him within their home4 ,when this expedient could suffice no longer1 they prepared an ark of bulrushesa little box1 water-tight1 constructed to floatand moored it with its treasure among the flags on the river's bank4 ,we may suppose that his mother knew the spot where the king's daughter was wont to take her baths1 and that her faith and prayer lay back of this venture to throw her darling infant upon the compassion of a stranger woman's heart4 ,it need not be supposed that she foresaw his future adoption into the royal family1 his training for forty years in all the wisdom of the ,egyptians1 and his consequent qualification to become the great ,hebrew ,lawgiver and ,deliverer4 ,suffice it that these results lay in the thought of ,god4 ,she had faith enough to commit her darling to ,god's care and to leave all the future unknown results to his adjustment4 ,the ways of ,god were mercifully kind toward this ,hebrew mother4 ,she stationed his elder sister as a sentinel to watch the issue1 and then 7let us presume7 gave herself to prayer4 ,when this elder sister with palpitating heart saw the daughter of ,pharaoh take the beautiful child to her bosom1 she felt that her time had come4 ,modestly advancing1 she said1 8,shall ,i go and call to thee a nurse of the ,hebrew women that she may nurse the child for thee08 ,pharaoh's daughter said1 ,go4 ,how joyfully did she go and call the child's own mother6 ,god's finger was there4 ,the mother's faith has come up as sweet incense before ,him and her heart is made glad1 as only a praying mother's can be4 ,there was no occasion to tell us that she consecrated this child to ,israel's ,god for any service he might have for him in his after life4 ,such a mother1 drawn by her sweet faith into such relationship to ,god1 could do nothing less4 ,moreover1 this was no barren consecrationwas not a vow once made and soon forgotten4 ,nothing can be more certain than that she cared diligently for the moral training and culture of this marvelously saved son4 ,else how could it happen that 8when he was come to years1 he refused to be called the son of ,pharaoh's daughter2 choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of ,god than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season2 esteeming reproach for ,christ greater riches than all the treasures of ,egypt1 for he had respect to the recompense of the reward0 7,heb4 #aa3 #bd-bf78 ,the seeds of this world-conquering faith must have been dropped early into his tender mind4 ,this hired ,hebrew nurse1 permitted to come into the royal palace by some back-way1 was indulged this privilege freely1 we know not precisely how long2 but let us presume that the same faith and prayer kept this door open1 at least for her occasional visits in his future years4 ,how many testimonies of ,god's love to the fathers of their nation she dropped into his youthful ear2 how much she told him of ,god as 8the exceeding great reward0 of his believing people2 how well she put the contrast between 8the treasures of ,egypt0 and the treasures laid up for ,god's then persecuted people3these points are rather left to our inference than definitely stated2 but we may be very sure that the faith of ,moses took hold of these grand truths of then extant revelation2 fixed its hold early2 and held fast through all his future life4 ,we have three co-ordinate narratives of the early years of ,moses3 that given in ,heb4 #aa3 #bd-bg1 very brief1 and touching only its specially religious side2 while that of ,stephen 7,acts #g3 #bj-bi7 is full1 even somewhat more full than the narrative in ,ex4 #b3 #aj-ae4 ,particularly ,stephen adds that ,moses was 8learned in all the wisdom of the ,egyptians and mighty in words and in deeds0a man like ,joseph of immense efficiency3also that he was 8full forty years old0 when it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of ,israela statement which shows that he distinctly recognized this relationship of brethren4 ,seeing a brother ,hebrew abused by an ,egyptian he interposed1 smote the ,egyptian dead1 and buried him in the sand4 ,stephen's words suggest that this was not merely one of those quick1 spontaneous impulses felt by noble souls in view of outrageous wrong1 but was a first step toward a contemplated career of interposed force for the rescue of his people from their oppression4 8,for he supposed his brethren would have understood how that ,god by his hand would deliver them2 but they understood not0 7,acts #g3 #be74 ,the whole of the fact seems to be that the ,lord was not yet ready and had not fully prepared ,moses for this great life-work of his yet1 and certainly had not inaugurated him into it4#bg;,interposing the next day in a quarrel between two of his own ,hebrew brethren1 he learned that his slaying of the ,egyptian was known1 and immediately sought safety by flight to the land of ,midian4 ,the ,lord had more objects than one in turning his steps thither2 not only his then present safety1 but the spiritual culture of so much solitude and of long-continued1 unbroken communion with ,god and of long tried faith1 coupled with the incidental advantage of becoming perfectly familiar with that great wilderness through which he was to lead the hosts of ,israel for forty years4 ,scarcely had he penetrated this desert land in his flight when he made the acquaintance of a priest of ,midian ,jethro1 and of his seven shepherdess daughters1 one of whom became his wife4 ,like the somewhat similar experience of ,abraham1 falling in with the priest of ,salem1 ,melchizedek1 the circumstance suggests the inquiry how much of the true knowledge and worship of ,god existed in those early ages outside the line of ,abraham's family4 ,the historical traces of such piety are certainly very few1 yet they recur so incidentally that we are justified in the hope that these cases are not exhaustive2 stood not altogether alone4 ,when we come to consider the history of ,job we shall take occasion to observe1 that his location is certainly in this great region of ,arabia1 and that his date must in all probability have somewhat preceded this residence of ,moses in the land of ,midian4 ,here ,moses may have found the story in a traditional form2 may perhaps have seen ,job's immediate descendants2 may possibly have put the story in its present form as one of the pastimes of a literary shepherd's life2 and then1 retaining it in his possession during his subsequent years1 may have himself solved the problem,how came this book in the archives of the ,hebrew nation1 on an equal footing as to inspired authority with their historical books8 ,the ,great ,mission of ,moses4 ,of the second forty-year period in the life of ,moses1 little is reported save its first scenes and its last4 ,ex4 #c opens the latter4 ,moses is keeping the flock of his father-in-law1 the priest of ,midian4 ,he has 8led them to the back side of the desert0i4 e4 to the west side of it1 for in designating the points of compass the ,hebrews always turned the face toward the east4 ,the east is in frontbefore2 and of course the west is behind4 ,horeb and ,sinai lay on the western margin of the great ,arabian desert4,here 8the angel of the ,lord appeared to him0 7v4 #b71 called 8angel0 however only as one who comes or is sent with divine manifestations2 for in every subsequent mention he is called 8the ,lord0 and 8,god0 7vs4 #d1 #f1 #g1 #aa1 #ac1 etc47#bh,remarkably this visible manifestation was made by the symbol of fire in a bushthe bush all aflame yet not consumed4 ,this strange sight attracted the attention of ,moses1 and he turned aside to look into it more closely1 when a voice from the bush called him by name2 warned him not to approach in the spirit of mere curiosity1 but to take off his shoes because the place on which he stood was holy ground4 ,the mystery before ,moses' mind is solvedthe ,lord is there6 ,his purpose in this appearing is soon told4 ,he has heard the cry of distress from his oppressed people1 has come down to deliver them and to bring them forth into ,canaan4 ,he has a mission for ,moses in this work4 8,come0 said he1 8,i will send thee to ,pharaoh40 ,moses knew the power and the pride of ,pharaoh1 and saw at a glance the difficulties of this enterprise4 ,no wonder he shrank back saying8,who am ,i that ,i should do this08 ,god replied3 8,i will certainly be with thee0a sufficient answer to any amount of conscious weakness and faintness of heart4 ,the ,lord added8,this shall be a token to thee that ,i have sent thee2 when thou hast brought the people out of ,egypt1 ye shall serve i4 e4 worship ,god in this mountain40 ,from that moment this token was ,god's pledge to ,moses of success in bringing the people forth from ,egypt2 and when it was fulfilled in the scenes of national worship and consecration on ,horeb1 it became doubly a sign to all the people that the ,lord their ,god was in this great movement4 ,moses anticipates that the people will ask for the name of ,god1 and he therefore inquires,what shall ,i answer them8 ,to which the ,lord replies3 8,i am that ,i am02 and then abbreviating the phrase1 adds1 8,thus shalt thou say to ,israel1 ,i am hath sent me to you40 ,what immediately follows should be carefully noted4 ,god said moreover to ,moses 7still reiterating the same thought though in other and more familiar terms73 8,thus shalt thou say to the children of ,israel3 ,the ,lordi4 e4 ,jehovah1 ,god of your fathers1 hath sent me unto you2 this is my name forever and this is my memorial through all generations40 ,this v4 #ae is without doubt the key to the true sense of the names as previously given8,i am that ,i am10 and in briefer form1 8,i am40 ,their true meaning is in the name ,jehovah4 ,this name contemplates ,god as evermore existing1 the same unchangeable ,god1 and therefore ever faithful to his promises4 ,this view of ,god assumes that he reveals himself personally as the ,god of his trustful people1 entering into covenant with them and never failing to remember and fulfill that covenant4 ,in order to see the full force and pertinence of the passage1 it should be considered that by common ,hebrew usage1 the names of persons were significant4 ,they were words with a meaning4 ,this is true of all the names by which the true ,god is made known4 ,and when ,moses suggests that the people will ask for ,god's name1 it is not implied that they had never heard any name for ,god and did not know what to call him2 but this,they would know what new or special feature of his character was to be manifested then4 ,their question was equivalent to asking,what does ,god propose to do now8 ,what new movement does he contemplate8 ,what new development of ,god may we expect8,to the question so understood1 the ,lord made a direct answer3,i have come to reveal my eternal faithfulness to my covenant with your fathers4 ,i pledged myself to ,abraham1 ,isaac and ,jacob that ,i would bring their posterity into the goodly land of ,canaan3 ,i have come down to fulfill that word and to put into your national history an enduring testimony that my name is truly1 8,i am that ,i am0the immutable and eternal ,god1 whose word of promise faileth not forevermore4 ,the same course of thought appears again ,ex4 #f3 #a-h;a passage which should be studied in connection with this4 8,god said to ,moses1 ,i am the ,jehovah4 ,i appeared unto ,abraham1 unto ,isaac1 and unto ,jacob by the name of ,god ,almighty2 but by my name ,jehovah was ,i not known unto them0the meaning of which is1 not that the name ,jehovah was never used by them1 or given of ,god to them2 but that its special significance had not been manifested to them as he was then about to make it manifest4 ,his power ,god had revealedhis power to protect them in their perils1 his power to fulfill to ,abraham the promise of a son2 but such a glorious testimony to his faithfulness in fulfilling promise as was then to be given1 the patriarchs had never seen4 ,the redemption of ,israel from ,egyptian bondage was destined to stand through all the ages of their history as the crowning manifestation of ,god's faithfulnessthe standard and unsurpassed testimony to the significance of his most honored name ,jehovah4 ,by this shall ye know that ,i am ,jehovah your ,god when ,i bring you out from under the burdens of the ,egyptians and bring you into the land given by solemn oath to your fathers and to their posterity for a heritage 7vs4 #g1 #h74 99 99 99 99 99 ,in entering upon this redemption of his people the ,lord understood well the difficulties to be overcome and fully comprehended the situation4 ,if ,moses saw them at a glance1 so did the ,lord also4 ,it was not possible that ,moses could have a deeper sense or a juster view than ,god had of ,pharaoh's great pride1 of his consciousness of power and stubbornness of purpose4 ,the ,lord expected a conflict2 was ready for it2 and by no means disposed to shun it4 8,i am sure that the king of ,egypt will not let you go2 no1 not by a mighty hand0not even under fearful visitations of ,god's supernatural power4 ,the precise sense of this seems to be that ,pharaoh would resist ,god's will for a long time despite the inflictions of his mighty hand and would yield only in the last extremity4 ,in fact he never honestly yielded his will to ,god's will1 but only bent for the moment before the blast1 to rally again with more desperate madness after it had swept by4 ,when at length he saw that the people were really gone1 his unsubdued will rose again in towering hardihood1 to rush more madly than ever before against the uplifted arm of the ,almighty and meet his doom in the bottom of the ,red ,sea6 ,this chapter closes 7vs4 #ba1 #bb7 with directions to the children of ,israel to ask the ,egyptians for gold1 silver1 and raiment4 ,the ,lord promised to give them such favor with the people that they would readily grant them what they asked4 ,our ,english version puts it 8borrow0as if the ,israelites at least tacitly promised to bring these borrowed things back1 or if nothing more1 left the ,egyptians to expect this4 ,but this ,english word 8borrow0 misrepresents the ,hebrew and consequently the sense of the passage4 ,the ,hebrew verb used here never has the sense of borrow1 but means simply to ask4 ,indeed borrowing was out of the question because the ,israelites were not coming back again4 ,it was never ,god's thought that they should come back4 ,he had come down to deliver them from their bondage and to bring them into ,canaan4 ,there is no reason to suppose that the ,egyptians expected them back again4 ,they gave what ,israel asked1 therefore1 not as a loan1 but because the ,lord brought them into such relations to ,israel that they were glad to get them out of the country any way1 and perhaps hoped to avert more fearful plagues by these gifts to ,god's people4 ,the historian in this case says 7,ex4 #ab3 #cc78,the ,egyptians were urgent upon the people that they might send them out of the land in haste2 for they said,we be all dead men02 which the ,psalmist confirms 7,ps4 #aje3 #ch78;,egypt was glad when they departed1 for the fear of them fell upon them40 ,manifestly the ,lord counted it simple justice that ,egypt should pay her slaves for long years of unrequited toil1 and not send them away empty4 ,therefore he took measures to make the old masters but too glad to do this tardy justice4 99 99 99 99 99 ,a new instrumentality of most vital importance now came to view1 designed to bring about the redemption of ,god's people from ,egypt1 viz4 supernatural agenciesmiracles in the legitimate sense of the word4 ,noticeably these miracles were two-fold in character and purpose2 one class designed to identify ,god to the people and be a witness to his present hand1 to confirm their faith in him as their ,deliverer3 the other designed by terrible inflictions of calamity1 to force upon ,pharaoh's hardened heart the conviction of ,jehovah's power and compel him to let ,god's people go4 ,these two objects were to be accomplished2 the ,hebrew people were to be assured that their own ,god had indeed come2 ,pharaoh must be made to know who ,jehovah is2 how fearful the judgments of his uplifted hand are2 and how vain it is for mortals1 though on thrones of human power1 to lift up themselves against the ,almighty4 ,in the list of miraculous signs sent to convince the ,hebrew people1 we have 7,ex4 #d3 #a-h7 the rod of ,moses turned to a serpent and then turned back again to a rod2 then his hand withdrawn from his bosom leprous1 white as snow2 then again withdrawn1 perfectly restored4 ,the narrative gives the reader a strong sense of the reluctance of ,moses to enter upon this new mission4 ,over and over again1 in varying forms1 he pleads his want of adaptation2 that he is slow of speech1 not eloquent2 that he sees no improvement in this regard since the ,lord first spake to him2 and finally he begs the ,lord to send by any body else he pleases1 only 7he implies7 excuse me4 ,plainly he pushed this plea for excuse not merely to the verge of modest propriety but beyond it1 for we read8,the anger of the ,lord was kindled against ,moses40 ,yet he did so far regard the plea of ,moses as to give him ,aaron his elder brother to speak in his behalf4 8,thou shalt speak to him and put words into his mouth2 he shall be thy spokesman to the people10 and to ,pharaoh4 ,the way is now prepared for ,moses and his family to return from ,midian to ,egypt4 ,he took his wife and his two sons and proceeded on his journey4 ,the scenes of the first night at the inn are recorded in these words3 8,and it came to pass by the way in the inn1 that the ,,lord met him1 and sought to kill him4 ,then ,zipporah took a sharp stone1 and cut off the foreskin of her son1 and cast it at his feet1 and said1 ,surely a bloody husband art thou to me4 ,so he let him go3 then she said1 ,a bloody husband thou art1 because of the circumcision40 ,this account is very brief1 leaving various points unexplained4 ,probably the facts were substantially these4 ,of their two sons1 one had been circumcised2 the other had notthe prescribed rite having been disobeyed or at least neglected out of the deference of ,moses to the opposition or reluctance of his wife4 ,but as ,moses is now about to assume the highest responsibilities between ,god and the ,hebrew people1 it is vital that his example in this respect should be spotless4 ,the ,lord therefore called him suddenly to account in this manner1 threatening his very life4 ,the cause is instantly understood2 the wife of ,moses yields and herself performs the rite1 though perhaps not in the most submissive and amiable spirit4 ,after this transaction and the developments attending it1 we must suppose that ,moses 7prudently7 sent back his wife and the two children to remain with her father until the redeemed ,israelites should reach the home of ,jethro4 ,we hear no more of her and her children till the narrative in ,ex4 #ah brings them to view thus3 8,when ,jethro had heard all that the ,lord had done for ,moses and ,israel1 he took ,zipporah1 ,moses' wife1 after he had sent her back1 and her two sons and brought them to ,moses0 etc4,shortly after this scene at the inn1 ,aaron1 sent of ,god for this purpose1 meets ,moses yet in the wilderness and is introduced to his responsibilities in the issues then pending before ,pharaoh and the people4 ,their first introduction to ,pharaoh and the reception he gave to their message 7,ex4 #e7 revealed his character and gave pre-intimations of the conflict4 ,they put their case before him38,thus saith the ,lord ,god of ,israel1 ,let my people go that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness40 8,and ,pharaoh said,who is the ,lord that ,i should obey his voice to let ,israel go8 ,i know not the ,lord1 neither will ,i let ,israel go40 ,am not ,i king over all ,egypt8 ,do you tell me there is some higher king than ,i and bid me obey his command8 ,i know nothing of your ,jehovah3 ,i will never submit to his authority6 ,and as if to show how fearlessly he could resist their summons he at once puts heavier tasks upon the people1 in proud defiance1 daring the vengeance of their ,great ,defender6 ,verily the issues hasten to their crisis6 ,the suffering people are entirely disheartened and evince a painful lack of faith in the ,god of their fathers4 ,when ,moses rehearsed to them the inspiring words recorded ,ex4 #f3 #a-h1 8,they hearkened not unto ,moses for anguish of spirit and for cruel bondage40 ,ah1 how frail is poor human nature6 ,how weak is the faith of this long-oppressed people6 ,but ,god's compassions are a great deep and he does not frown severely upon them1 broken down though they were in their manhood and in their religious trust4,moses too seems to falter before this stern reception from ,pharaoh and this disheartening attitude of ,israel 7#f3 #ab72 but the loving kindness of the ,lord endures1 despite of these sad imperfections in his servants4 ,for the glory of his own name and not for the worthiness or virtue of his people1 he has entered upon this redeeming work and he will carry it through4 ,the narrative pauses a moment more 7,ex4 #f3 #af-bg7 to give us the genealogy of ,levi1 for the obvious purpose of showing the place of ,moses and of ,aaron in this record2 and then proceeds 7,ex4 #g and onward7 with the impressive scenes of the ten plagues on ,pharaoh and on ,egypt4 99 99 99 99 99 ,a brief preliminary explanation of some of these plagues will be in place1 after which the following points will have special attention3 #a4 ,that these ten plagues on ,egypt were really supernatural1 miraculous4 #b4 ,that several of them were very specially adapted to ,egypt4 #c4 ,the case of the magicians4 #d4 ,the divine purpose and policy in shaping the demand made upon ,pharaoh to let the people go4 #e4 ,the hardening of ,pharaoh's heart4 #f4 ,the final result as shown in the last of the ten plagues4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the ten plagues in their historical order stand thus3 #a4 ,water turned to blood 7,ex4 #g3 #ad-be72 #b4 ,frogs 7#h3 #a-ae72 #c4 ,lice 7#h3 #af-ai72 #d4 ,flies 7#h3 #bj-cb72 #e4 ,murrain upon cattle 7#i3 #a-g72 #f4 ,boils 7#i3 #h-ab72 #g4 ,hail 7#i3 #ah-ce72 #h4 ,locusts 7#aj3 #d-bj72 #i4 ,darkness 7#aj3 #ba-bg72 #aj4 ,death of all first-born 7#aa3 #d-h1 and #ab3 #ab1 #bi-cc74 ,references to these plagues by name may be seen in ,ps4 #gh3 #dc-ea1 and #aje3 #bg-ch4 ,by way of preliminary explanation it should be saidthat the turning of water into blood should not be toned down to a mere discoloration of the waters of ,egypta reddening of such sort as customarily attends the annual rise of the ,nile1 only carried in the present case somewhat beyond the ordinary degree4 ,for1 be it noticed1 the record is that the waters were turned to blood2 that fish could no longer live in it but died 7were the fish deceived by the mere appearance1 the color872 that the river became offensive to the smell2 its waters could not be drank2 8there was blood throughout all the land of ,egypt40 ,if this language does not mean far more than a mere discolorationsomething totally different from a visual deception2 in short1 if it does not mean 8turned to blood10 then no language can be found to express it4 ,in the third plague1 the ,hebrew word for 8lice0#bi were better rendered gnats1 yet an insect unknown to our country4 ,herodotus 7,b4 ,c4 #djj7 speaks of the great trouble which they cause and of the precautions used against them4 ,hartmann testifies3 8,all travelers speak of these gnats as an ordinary plague of the country40#cj 8,so small as to be scarcely visible to the eye1 their sting notwithstanding causes a most painful irritation4 ,they even creep into the eyes and nose1 and after harvest rise in great swarms from the inundated rice fields40 7,keil47 ,in the fourth plague1 the word translated 8swarms of flies0#ca does not mean a mixed mass or swarm of various insects as our translators assumed1 but 8a stinging1 scorpion-like insect0 ,fuerst1 8so called from its sucking the blood0 ,gesenius4 ,sonnini 7in ,hengstenberg's ,moses1 p4 #aag7 says8,men and animals are grievously tormented by them4 ,it is impossible to form an adequate conception of their fury when they wish to fix themselves upon any part of the body4 ,if they are driven away they light again the same instant1 and their pertinacity wearies the most patient4 ,they especially love to light in the corners of the eyes or on the edge of the eyelids1 sensitive parts to which they are attracted by a slight moisture40 8,they are much more numerous and annoying than the gnats2 and when enraged1 they fasten themselves upon the human body1 especially upon the edge of the eyelids and become a dreadful plague0 ,keil4,obviously the ,american house-fly gives us no adequate idea of this fourth plague on ,egypt4 ,of the sixth plague1 8boils with blains10 it need only be said that they were inflamed ulcers breaking forth into pustules1 intensely painful4 ,the word for 8boils0 is the same which describes the plague brought by ,satan upon ,job4 ,the seventh plague1 hail with lightning1 was not unknown in ,egypt1 yet was by no means common1 and was specially rare in ,upper ,egyptmore frequent in ,lower4,the other plagues will be readily understood4 99 99 99 99 99 #a4 ,it is now in place to show that these plagues were really supernaturalmiraculous inflictions from the hand of the ,almighty4 7#a47 ,note1 they were wrought in response to ,pharaoh's challenge to ,moses and ,aaron to 8show a miracle for themselves0 7,ex4 #g3 #i74 ,the ,lord accepted this challenge4 ,of course the achievements wrought can be nothing less than miracles4 ,given on the side of the ,lord honesty and power2 then nothing less than miracles can follow4 ,his purpose in these terrible inflictions ,god announces to ,pharaoh in these words3 8,by this shalt thou know that ,i am the ,lord0 7,ex4 #g3 #ai and #i3 #ad74 ,events in the common course of nature do not suffice for this purpose upon such a heart as ,pharaoh's4 ,the case demands real miraclesthings done outside and apart from the ordinary laws of nature4 7#b47 ,the plagues came and went at the behest of ,moses acting under ,god2 in some cases1 at a definite time previously indicated4 7#i3 #e1 #ah1 #bi1 #cc and #aj3 #d72 while some were removed at a time which ,pharaoh himself for his more full satisfaction was allowed to fix 7#h3 #i1 #aj74 ,so ,i construe the somewhat disputed words 7v4 #h72 8,moses said to ,pharaoh,glory over me3 ,when shall ,i entreat for thee10 etc4 ,moses would say,i yield to you the honor of fixing the time3 say when2 and ,i meet your time4,some critics translate simply,explain2 declare yourself 7,gesenius72 or utter plainly1 definitely 7,fuerst72 but the usual sense of the verb1 coupled with the preposition 78over07 which follows1 strongly favors the construction above given4 7#c47 ,most of these plagues if not all discriminated sharply between the ,hebrews in ,goshen1 and the ,egyptians elsewhere in ,egypte4 g4 flies 7#h3 #bb1 #bc7 and murrain 7#i3 #d-g71 etc4 ,this discrimination assumes that the plagues followed no general law of nature1 but were altogether special1 i4 e4 were truly miraculous4 7#d47 ,they surpassed and even totally eclipsed the achievements of the magicians2 in fact1 routed them utterly from the field and showed before all ,egypt that the ,almighty ,god was there6,the case of the magicians will be considered more fully below4 7#e47 ,the conviction was forced upon ,pharaoh and the confession extorted from his lips 7utterly against his will71 that ,god's hand wrought these achievements2 that these calamities came at his command1 and could be removed by his power and not otherwise4 ,hence over and over he begs ,moses to pray to his ,god for their removal4 ,see this in the case of the frogs 7#h3 #h72 of the flies 7#h3 #bh1 #bi72 of the hail 7#i3 #bg-bi72 and the locusts 7#aj3 #af-ah74 ,it is not easy to see how stronger testimony to the reality of miracles can ever exist4 7#f47 ,that these plagues were real miracles1 direct from the hand of ,god1 it is unquestionably the intent of the whole narrative to set forth and affirm4 ,so much1 no candid reader of the account has ever questioned4 ,some may say1 the narrator was himself deceived3 none will deny that he saw ,god's finger there and meant to make all his readers see it4 ,none can deny that according to his account even proud ,pharaoh saw and felt the very finger of ,god in them4 ,in fact the narrative makes this its main purpose1 viz4 to show that these judgments were nothing less than immediate visitations from the hand of the ,almighty4 ,take out this element and there is nothing left4 7#g47 ,or thus3 ,if there is any truth in history1 the children of ,israel were for a long period bondmen in ,egypt4 ,ultimately the day of their deliverance broke and they came forth free4 ,how came this to pass8 ,was it by forcible insurrectionthe uprising of slaves cutting their way out of bondage into freedom with brave hearts and strong arms of their own8 ,or was it achieved by diplomacy8 ,or did ,pharaoh relax his grasp and let the people go1 under the impulses of humanity1 or as a measure of political economy8 ,all suppositions of this sort are not only unhistorical but utterly chimerical4 ,no solution of this great problemthe redemption of ,israel from bondage in ,egyptcan ever find rational support save the one given in this record1 viz4 that the ,almighty wrenched them from the grasp of ,egypt's proud and hardened king by a series of terrible judgments launched upon him and his people in quick and hot succession1 until they were only too glad to hasten and drive the people out lest they should all be dead men4 ,they were made to feel that the battle was against ,almighty ,god and that they could not succumb too soon4 ,the events of this wonderful conflict and victory were stamped into the national life of ,israel2 they reappear all along the course of future ages1 interwoven into the very warp and woof of her national history and into the moral forces which developed the nation's piety4 ,it might as reasonably be maintained that there never was any ,hebrew nation as that ,god did not bring them forth out of ,egypt with a high hand1 first loosing ,pharaoh's grasp by these ten plagues1 and last1 burying his pursuing hosts and himself in the waters of the ,red ,sea4 ,the supernatural character of these plagues will stand out yet more distinctly when we shall place them in contrast with the things done or attempted by the magicians4 99 99 99 99 99 #b4 ,several of these plagues were very specially adapted to ,egypt4 ,this does not mean that they were at all less miraculous than any other supposable inflictions would have been2 but only that they had more or less special fitness to the ends ,god had in view and were made to touch the sensibilities of ,egypt and her king in tender points4 ,thus1 the ,nile was ,egypt's pride and glory1 indeed her very life1 and not improbably 7as some maintain7 was worshiped by the ,egyptians as one of their gods4 ,how terrible then to wake in the morning to find it one vast sea of blood6to have only blood for themselves and their cattle to drink2 blood every-where for the eye to rest upon in place of the glory of the ,nile6 ,how terribly suggestive of their national sinof the male infants of the ,hebrews murdered there1 and of the resources of ,israel's ,god to punish the guilty6 ,so we must suppose that frogs were often inconveniently plenty in ,egyptian waters4 ,this visitation of such masses of them brought an evil by no means foreign to their experience4 ,the miracle lay in their numbers and was none the less a miracle because there had been frogs there before4 ,it must have been excessively annoying and humiliating1if the frog as a near neighbor is as unamiable in that country as in this4 ,essentially the same must be said of the lice gnats2 of the flies2 and of boils4 ,all these were forms of evil not unknown in ,egyptian life2 but yet in the present case were truly miraculous and fearfully afflictive4 ,their cattle were so useful and so highly esteemed that some of them were made objects of idolatrous worship4 ,the golden calf of ,hebrew history was an ,egyptian idea4 ,there was special pertinence therefore in this fearful slaughter among ,egypt's gods6 ,the hail1 with most terrific lightning1 was by far the more appalling because rain rarely falls there2 hail and lightning yet more rarely4 ,in the natural course of events1 locusts are among the fearful visitations of ,oriental countriesnot unknown in ,egypt4 ,in this case the fearfulness of the plague lay in their numbers1 and the miracle was none the less because they had had some experience before of this form of desolation4 99 99 99 99 99 #c4 ,the case of the magicians4 ,the entire account of them is in these words4 ,after ,aaron had cast down his rod before ,pharaoh and it became a serpent1 8,then ,pharaoh called the wise men and the sorcerers1 and they also1 the magicians of ,egypt1 did so with their enchantments4 ,for they cast down every man his rod and they became serpents2 but ,aaron's rod swallowed up their rods0 7,ex4 #g3 #aa1 #ab74 ,again1 after the miracle of turning the water to blood1 8,the magicians of ,egypt did so with their enchantments0 7#g3 #bb74 ,after the miracle of the frogs1 8the magicians did so with their enchantments and brought up frogs upon the land of ,egypt0 7#h3 #g74 ,next1 when all the dust became lice 8the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice1 but they could not3 so there were lice upon man and upon beast4 ,then the magicians said to ,pharaoh,this is the finger of ,god0 7#h3 #ah1 #ai74 ,finally1 under the plague of boils1 8,the magicians could not stand before ,moses because of the boils1 for the boil was upon the magicians and upon all the ,egyptians0 7#i3 #aa74 ,we hear of them in this history no more4 ,the ,hebrew word for 8sorcerers0 involves the practice of magic arts and incantations4 ,the word for 8magicians of ,egypt0 contemplates them originally as writers1 the learned class1 but couples with that the idea of special skill in horoscopythe interpretation of dreams and the doing1 or at least pretending to do1 things beyond the skill of the uninitiated4 ,the word for 8enchantments0 originally suggests secret arts1 things covered1 veiled from the public gaze4,the passage ,deut4 #ah3 #aj-ad1 gives most if not all the nearly synonymous words by which this class of men and their arts were designated1 showing also that they were regarded before the ,lord with most intense abhorrence as an abomination4 ,by the ,mosaic law the practice of these arts was punishable with death 7,ex4 #bb3 #ab74 ,in regard to the case of the magicians as presented in this history1 the point of chief interest will be this,did they really perform miracles8 ,did they in fact turn rods into serpents1 and water into blood1 and produce some frogs in addition to what were there before8,i am not sure that we have data sufficient to determine with certainty whether these things ascribed to them were simply tricks of hand1 arts of jugglery2 or whether there was really some power exerted1 more and other than human4,the cases were of a sort in which deception was at least supposable4 ,all the waters it would seem were turned to blood before their effort was made4 ,if so1 they had to do with what was already blood and had only to make it appear to be water before they began operations4,so of the frogs4 ,when frogs were every-where in such numbers1 it would not be specially difficult to make it appear that they produced yet more4 ,the turning of rods into serpents is not unknown in the tricks of jugglery the world over4 ,of two facts we may be very sure4 7#a7 ,they had no help from ,god4 ,their wonders were not wrought by ,god's power4 ,we may put this denial on two independent grounds37a47 ,the moral purpose of their work utterly forbids the least participation on ,god's part4 ,god never fights against himself47b47 ,their power was infinitely less than divine4 ,compared with ,god's1 it was shown to be simple weakness4 8,aaron's rod swallowed up their rods40 ,before the plague of lice they were compelled to succumb1 and 7utterly against their will and against their interest7 they declare to ,pharaoh8,this is the finger of ,god06 ,it utterly distances all our skill4 ,we can not approach it4 ,before the boils1 they writhed in agony4 ,they could not even screen themselves from the terrible infliction4 ,moreover it is made plain throughout the whole transaction that they were powerless to remove even the slightest of these plagues4 ,if they had possessed this power ,pharaoh would have put them to this service4 ,it is plain they shrank from even the attempt4 ,the whole scene was a competition between ,god's power as manifested through his servants1 ,moses and ,aaron1 and the power of ,egypt's magiciansresulting in most overwhelming proof that the latter had not the first element of ,god's power in it4,it follows therefore that if the magicians had extra-human helpif they had any power beyond human skill1 they obtained it from ,satan4 ,we may readily suppose they were in league with him1 working according to his will4 ,he may have sharpened their wits by his influence1 helped their arts by his suggestions1 and possibly may have given them superhuman aid in the line of physical power4 ,it is not given to us to know the exact limits of his power to aid his servants4 ,it is not essential that we should know precisely where these limits are4 ,we know enough to impress the injunction8,be sober1 be vigilant1 because of your adversary the devil0 7#a ,pet4 #e3 #h74 ,it may always be our consolation that whenever he matches his power or his skill against the ,almighty1 he will come off1 as1 in the case before us1 utterly worsted in the fight1 overwhelmed with defeat and shame4 99 99 99 99 99 #d4 ,some attention should be given to the divine purpose and policy in shaping the demand made upon ,pharaoh to let the people go4,the point of special importance here is one which has been thought to involve the question of strict moral honestyit being claimed that the divine demand at first ran on this wise3 8,let us go three days' journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the ,lord our ,god0 7,ex4 #c3 #ah7leaving ,pharaoh to assume that1 this being granted1 they would return to his service4 ,the facts on this point are3 7#a47 ,it was never promised or even intimated that they would return4 ,if ,pharaoh construed the words of ,god and of ,moses to imply this1 he did so on his own responsibility4 7#b47 ,the demand made upon him that he should let the people go was based in part at least on the religious duty of sacrificing to ,god in the wilderness 7,ex4 #e3 #a1 #c7;an entirely appropriate demandone which ,pharaoh ought to have appreciated1 and one which would be more likely to have weight with him than any other4 ,for he was himself a worshiper of his own gods2 he knew the strength of the religious element in human nature2 he was able to recognize the universal rights of conscience by which every man may claim to worship ,god according to his own convictions of duty4 ,if ,pharaoh would not yield to this request he would yield to none4 ,the policy pursued was1 therefore1 the most hopeful and the least likely to arouse opposition4 7#c47 ,even the severest honesty did not require that the ,lord should put this demand in its most revolting form in the outset4 ,true1 he might have said from the beginning3 8,my people shall never return02 but this would have at once foreclosed all hope of gaining ,pharaoh's consent4 7#d47 ,if the question of the return of the people was thus left a very little openor more correctly1 was not peremptorily closed1 it served the better to test the heart of ,pharaoh4 ,it left the way open to ply him with inducements most likely to be successful2 and at the same time if he proved obstinate and self-willed1 he might show it by bantering over the conditions1 higgling as tradesmen and their customers sometimes do over the price1 negotiating like diplomatists for the most favorable terms4 ,but this was the fault of ,pharaoh1 not of ,god4 7#e47 ,most frequently the demand was made in these significant words3 8,let my people go that they may serve me0 7,ex4 #h3 #a1 #bj1 and #i3 #a1 #ac74 ,israel is my son2 his service is due to me and ,i claim it 7,ex4 #d3 #bb1 #bc74 ,you have no right to his services2 ,i demand therefore that you let my son go that he may serve me4,this is at least sufficiently definite1 and is by no means open to the slightest imputation of lacking in the point of honesty4 #e4 ,the hardening of ,pharaoh's heart4 ,in this topic1 as in the one next preceding1 the point of chief interest is the moral onethat which locates the moral responsibility for the hardening of ,pharaoh's heartthat which defines and places truthfully the really responsible agency in the case4 ,was this hardening the work of ,god1 by his immediate hand8 ,was it wrought by his power so exclusively and in such modes as to overrule and throw out of account ,pharaoh's own responsible agency8 ,or was the responsible agency that of ,pharaoh only1 altogether his and his alone8 ,did he harden his own heart1 in the exercise of his own free will1 in carrying out the purpose and desire of his own soul1 essentially as other sinners and as all sinners do8 ,this question is one of immensely vital moment4 ,let us approach it with both care and candor4 ,we may reach the true answer by studying1 7#a47 ,the history of the case2 7#b47 ,what is said of ,god's purpose in this matter2 7#c47 ,what he has taught us of his character1 and of his agencies in the existence of sin4 7#a47 ,the history of the transaction will doubtless throw light on the question,how came ,pharaoh's heart to be hardened8 ,how was it done8 ,the history of the transaction1 developing the steps of the process1 bears more vitally upon the question1 ,who is responsible8than may at first view be realized4 ,for1 let it be carefully considered3 ,god's ways of working by his immediate1 direct1 exclusive agency will forever be mysterious and inscrutable to us4 ,it is idle for us to ask,how does ,god work a miracle8 ,of course it must be idle for us to inquire after the natural law of such working because the very idea of a miracle is that of a work not wrought according to any known laws of nature4 ,if now the hardening of ,pharaoh's heart were wrought by ,god's miraculous1 direct1 immediate hand1 we shall look in vain for the law of his operations4 ,it would be simply preposterous to inquire after the laws of mind in accordance with which the thing was donethe supposition being that it was done according to no known laws of mind whatever4 ,on the other hand if ,pharaoh hardened his own heart1 there will be no mystery about it4 ,it so happens that we all know but too well how sinners harden their own hearts4 ,there is rarely the least difficulty in tracing the operations of the human mind and the influences of temptation which produce this result4 ,therefore1 if the history of the hardening of ,pharaoh's heart brings out the working of his mind1 according to the common modes of human sinningif we see that his mind worked as the minds of other proud sinners are wont to work under like circumstances1 then the whole question is settled at once and forever4 ,if we can actually see how ,pharaoh hardened his own heart and can identify the whole process as being the very same which occurs in the case of all proud sinners who resist ,god's power and especially resist the appeals of his love and mercy1 what more can we ask8 ,it were worse than idleit were impious to exonerate ,pharaoh from the least portion of the moral responsibility for his hardened heart and to seek to cast it over upon ,god4 ,in entering upon the history of the case1 it is well to note the attitude of ,pharaoh's mind toward the ,god of ,israel in the outset4 ,we have it brought out fully 7,ex4 #e3 #a1 #b73 8,moses and ,aaron went in and told ,pharaoh3 #8,thus saith the ,lord ,god of ,israel2 let my people go that they may serve me4' ,and ,pharaoh said,who is the ,lord that ,i should obey his voice to let ,israel go8 ,i know not the ,lord1 neither will ,i let ,israel go40,this is plain2 he says he does not know this ,god2 he does not recognize his authority or admit his claims4 ,his soul is full of practical unbelief in ,goda fact which commonly lies at the bottom of all the hardening of sinners' hearts in every age4,pharaoh did not at first contemplate crossing swords and measuring strong arms with the ,almighty ,god4 ,if he had taken this view of the case1 he might have paused awhile to consider4,so it usually is with sinners4 ,unbelief in ,god conduces to launch them upon this terrible conflict4 ,once committed1 they become more hardened2 one sin leads on to more sinning till sin becomes incurableshall we say it8 an uncontrollable madness4 ,we may now fitly proceed to give attention to each particular case4 ,the first miracle 7,ex4 #g3 #aj-ac7 that of changing ,aaron's rod to a serpent1 was rather a test than a plague4 ,pharaoh met it by calling in his magicians to try their handhis thought being1 ,my men can do that6 ,they did seem to do it1 and though ,aaron's rod-serpent swallowed up theirs1 yet ,pharaoh did not love to be convinced and therefore was not4 ,under this result1 which perhaps seemed to him a partial victory1 he braced himself against ,god this time4 ,next1 in the turning of water into blood we read 7,ex4 #g3 #bb7 8,the magicians did so with their enchantments1 and ,pharaoh's heart was hardened40 ,this seemed to him a complete success for his side4 ,naturally1 therefore1 his heart is hardened to withstand ,god yet4 ,under the plague of frogsnot by any means one of the most severe,pharaoh seemed to yield2 he at least begged the prayers of ,moses and ,aaron2 and promised to let the people go 7,ex4 #h3 #h74 ,to make ,god's hand the more distinctly visible1 ,moses said,set your own time1 and ,i will pray that this plague may cease4 ,done3 8but when ,pharaoh saw that there was respite1 he hardened his heart and hearkened not unto them0 7#h3 #ae74 ,alas1 how he abused ,god's mercy6 ,god lifted the plagueand up springs the old rebellion of his soul against ,god4 ,perhaps he flatters himself that this is the last1 or he hopes that ,moses will pray the rest away as he has this2 or1 as often happens1 the simple sense of respite without any particular reasoning in the case makes him feel strong again to withstand ,god4 ,not the least sense of gratitude for the favorthe mercy of removing the plague6 ,o how many of the sinners of our world have done this very thing6 ,stricken down with sickness1 have they not begged for life and besought the prayers of all the good1 and promised the ,lord that with restoring mercy they would give him their hearts and their lives8 ,but when the respite came their vows were forgotten2 their hearts were hardened4 ,the plague of lice brings out another element of depraved hearts4 ,the magicians try1 but make an utter failure1 and 7what is to ,pharaoh more provoking still7 they frankly declare to him1 8,this is the finger of ,god40 ,they retire from the contest1 and leave ,pharaoh to fight it out alone4 ,they can help him no longer4 ,he is apparently vexed and maddened1 but not at all subdued4 ,rather1 he rouses himself to greater desperation1 for the record puts these points in the closest connection3 the frank admission1 8,this is the finger of ,god02 and the stiffening of ,pharaoh's rebellious will8,and ,pharaoh's heart was hardened and he hearkened not unto them40 ,the plague of flies brings out yet another element of human nature which not unfrequently comes into play in the hardening of men's hearts against ,godviz4 the habit of banteringshall we say dickering1 driving a bargain and quibbling over the terms and conditions of ,god's requirements4 ,the flies are terribly annoying3 ,pharaoh sees that something must be done2 in fact he concludes he must make some concessions3 so he calls for ,moses and ,aaron and says8,go ye1 sacrifice to your ,god in the land40 ,the last words were emphaticin this land3 stay here1 and you shall have time to offer your sacrifices4 ,i can not let you go three days journey into the wilderness lest ye never come back4,moses insists on the original terms2 and then ,pharaoh concedes yet a little more3 8,i will let you go that ye may sacrifice to the ,lord your ,god in the wilderness1 only ye shall not go very far away4 ,entreat for me0i4 e4 entreat the ,lord to take away these fliesthe same word being used here as in v4 #h4 ,moses entreated3 the ,lord removed the plague1 and according to the record 8,pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also1 neither would he let the people go40 ,allowing himself to make terms with ,god and to banter him upon the conditions1 coupled with the respitethe temporary relief found in the removal of the plagueare manifestly the causes and modes in this case of his hardening his own heart4 ,next is the plague of murraina terrible loss of their cattle4 ,in the antecedent threatening of this plague1 ,moses said to ,pharaoh1 8,the ,lord will sever between the cattle of ,israel and the cattle of ,egypt3 there shall nothing die of all that belongs to ,israel40 ,so it was2 for we read8,pharaoh sent i4 e4 to inquire and lo6 not one of the cattle of the ,israelites was dead4 ,and the heart of ,pharaoh was hardened1 and he did not let the people go0 7#i3 #a-g74 ,this discrimination gave a keener edge to the plague2 it cut the deeper2 but in the result it only maddened him the more4 ,it showed most clearly that ,god's hand was in these plagues and that he was on the side of ,israel2 but ,pharaoh was committed to the contest and seemed to have but the one ruling purposeto fight it out to the bitter end4 ,the plague of boils was a visitation of physical suffering1 perhaps somewhat adapted to make a fretful man irritable4 ,the narrative notes the circumstance that the magicians were completely broken down by this plague3 8,they could not stand before ,moses because of the boils1 for the boil was upon the magicians and upon all the ,egyptians0 not upon the ,israelites4 ,as to ,pharaoh1 all human help fails him2 every man among his people seems to quail and give up the contest2 yet his proud heart is only the more maddened and the more determined6 ,it is said1 8,the ,lord hardened the heart of ,pharaoh and he hearkened not unto them20 but such mad infatuation is wont to appear in depraved human souls without any miraculous infliction of hardness from the hand of ,god4 ,there is not the least occasion to assume any other influences than those of a proud1 maddened human heart1 working out its own obstinate will against ,god4 ,the hail with attendant thunder and lightning 7next in order7 were fearfully appalling4 ,all ,egyptian hearts seemed to quiver with terror under this infliction4 ,pharaoh is brought 7shall we say7 to his knees3 he sends hastily for ,moses and ,aaron and says to them3 8,i have sinned this time2 the ,lord is righteous and ,i and my people are wicked40 ,truly this seems hopeful4 ,for the first time he appears penitent4 8,entreat the ,lord 7for it is enough7 that there be no more mighty thunderings and hail2 and ,i will let you go and ye shall stay no longer40,this seems to be a final victory over the proud heart and the long time inflexible will of ,pharaoh4 ,he confesses sin2 he begs again for prayer2 he promises to yield to ,god's entire demand and let the people go4 ,consequently the plague was removed4 8,and when ,pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder were ceased1 he sinned yet more and hardened his heart1 he and his servants40,alas for man's perverse and false naturehis proud heart and his lying lips6 ,how readily he relapses back into his old and much-loved sin and becomes more hardened than ever6 ,the judgments of ,god extort confessions and tears and prayers2 but ,god's mercies let off this pressure and leave the guilty soul to fly back to its old sins again4 ,so it was with ,pharaoh4 ,god's mercies1 abused1 worked out his ruin4 ,but it were simply monstrous to say that this showing of mercy is on ,god's part a moral wrong and that it throws over upon him the moral responsibility of hardening the sinner's heart4 ,yet it was precisely in this wayperhaps more really and potently than in any otherthat ,god hardened the heart of ,pharaoh4 ,the plague of locusts brings to view a new group of elements4 ,egypt had known something about locusts before3 so when this scourge was announced1 ,pharaoh's servants beg him to yield the contest4 8,how long shall this man0 ,moses 8be a snare unto us8 ,let the men go that they may serve the ,lord their ,god4 ,knowest thou not yet that ,egypt is destroyed08 7#aj3 #g74,pharaoh yields to their entreaty only so far as to send for ,moses and ,aaron1 and again try his hand upon bantering with them and with ,god over the conditions4 8,go serve the ,lord1 said he2 but who are they that shall go08 ,moses answers1 ,every thing must go2 we with our young and with our old2 with sons and with daughters2 with flocks and with herdsall1 absolutely all must go4,no indeed1 replies ,pharaohwith what we must take as his royal oathwith the most fearful threat he could make and the most solemn asseverationhe says1 8,not so2 go ye that are men and serve the ,lord1 for that ye did desire40 ,that was all ye asked at first3 it is the utmost ,i shall give6 8,and they were driven out of his presence40 ,pharaoh is thoroughly mad6 ,this allowing himself to banter them as to the terms of the arrangement helped him to a stronger feeling of his own importance4 ,he seemed to himself to be yet more a king on his throne1 and why should not he dictate the conditions8,soon the plague comes1 and for the moment it quite changes the face of affairs4 8,pharaoh called for ,moses and ,aaron in haste1 and said0 again8,i have sinned against the ,lord your ,god and against you4 ,now1 therefore1 forgive1 ,i pray thee1 my sin only this once1 and entreat the ,lord your ,god that he may take away from me this death only40 ,apparently he remembers that once before he confessed1 and more than once has begged their prayers1 and more than once has promised to let the people go4 ,so he labors to give a little more emphasis to his beseechings this time by confessing his sin against ,moses1 and especially by the limitation8for this once0once more do hear methis time only4 ,but he has been through this very process once before2 most of its points1 many times before2 and it is much more easy for him to turn back upon every promise and break every most solemn vow than it ever has been before4 ,it is safe to predict that any sinner who has broken so many solemn vows of amendment will never do any thing better than break vows when ,god's mercy lifts off the plague4 ,so ,pharaoh's heart is hardened yet again4 ,the statement is8,but the ,lord hardened ,pharaoh's heart0yet the way he did it1 here as before 7#i3 #cd71 was by removing the plague2 by hearing his prayer for relief and apparently trusting his sacred promise to let the people go4 ,this was the way and these the agencies by which the ,lord hardened ,pharaoh's heart4 ,the plague of darkness is next in order4 ,again ,pharaoh sets himself to negotiate as to the terms4 ,he will consent that not only the men may go1 but their wives and their little ones2 but their flocks must be left behind4 ,he must have some hostagessomething left in his hands that will bring his bondmen back4 ,moses says ,no6 we need our flocks for sacrifice2 not a hoof is to be left behind6 ,pharaoh is more mad than ever3 he not only drives ,moses out from his presence1 but adds8,take heed to thyself2 see my face no more2 for in the day thou seest my face thou shalt die40 ,in this case it is said8,the ,lord hardened ,pharaoh's heart02 but these terrible uprisings and outbursts of madness well up from the depths of a depraved sinner's soul4 ,no supernatural miracle of divine hardening is at all needful to create them4 ,pharaoh is too proud a king to bear such confrontings of his will4 ,shall he yield to such a man as ,moses1 or even to the ,god of ,moses8 ,not he4 ,it stirs up all the elements of his pride and madness to have his propositions of compromise so peremptorily rejected4 ,it is this in special that works in this present case to the hardening of his heart4 ,there remains but one more plaguethat awful night on ,egypt when the wailing cry rang out over all the land1 8for there was not a house where there was not one dead06 and that the first-born6 ,under this1 ,pharaoh for the time really broke down2 he called for ,moses and ,aaron by night and said8,go ye and all your people1 and take your flocks and herds as ye have said and be gone1 and bless me also40 ,this conceded everything1 closing off with begging their blessing upon his consciously guilty soul6 ,the ,egyptians too were all astir2 they were urgent upon the people to send them out of the land in haste2 for they said8,we be all dead men40 ,and the people of ,israel do really go4,but strange as it may seem1 when 8it was told the king of ,egypt that the people had really gone1 then the heart of ,pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people and they said,why have we done this that we have let ,israel go from serving us08,forthwith armed chariots are made ready and are off in hot pursuit2till they find themselves battling the mighty waves of the ,red ,sea1 quailing before the awful eye and under the uplifted arm of the ,almighty6,this last instance of hardening the heart seems most like pure and simple infatuation4 ,no doubt ,pharaoh and his servants had a fresh sense of what they had lost in letting go such a host of hard working bondmen4 ,no doubt they also felt the mortification of having been worsted in the long-fought struggle over this national question of letting the people go2 but after all they had seen and felt of ,god's power to curse and to plague and to crush them1 nothing but the most senseless infatuation can rationally account for this last desperate dash upon ,israel with the armed force of the nation4 ,yet no one will say that such infatuation does not often appear in the history of human sinning4 ,in his own sphere many a poor sinner is just as madly infatuated as ,pharaoh and his people wereis altogether as senseless1 as void of wisdom1 as reckless of the hot thunderbolts of the ,almighty6 ,it is an awfully sad fact1 a most humiliating confession as to the manner of human sinning2 but it is only too true6 ,there is no need of assuming any direct supernatural divine interposition to produce it4 ,nothing more seems necessary to complete the argument from the history of the case unless it be to suggest that when we have accounted for the hardening of ,pharaoh's heart satisfactorily on the one principlethe well-known proclivities and activities of a proud1 stubborn human heart1 it is entirely unphilosophical to bring in another principle1 viz4 the miraculous1 immediate1 direct action of ,almighty ,power4 ,when we have proved the former power adequate to produce all the results1 we have virtually precluded the latter4 ,there can be no reason whatever for assuming a joint1 co-ordinate action of both the natural laws of the human mind and of the supernatural power of ,god4 ,if the former suffices1 the latter is uncalled for4 ,miracles are never to be assumed where non-miraculous agency is fully adequate4 ,if it be still argued that the very words declare1 8,god hardened ,pharaoh's heart10 the answer is3 ,god is said to do what he foresees will be done by others and done under such arrangements of his providence as make it possible and morally certain that they will do it4 ,joseph said to his brethren 7,gen4 #de3 #e1 #g1 #h71 8,be not angry with yourselves that ye sold me hither1 for ,god did send me before you to preserve life4 ,so now it was not you that sent me hither but ,god40 ,yet it is simply impious to put the sin of selling ,joseph into ,egypt over upon ,god4 ,god did it only in the same sense in which he hardened ,pharaoh's heart4 ,he had a purpose to subserve by means of the sin of ,joseph's brethren2 and he did no doubt permit such circumstances to occur in his providence as made that sin possible and as resulted in their sinning and in the remote consequences which ,god anticipated4 ,it is of no particular use for us to find fault with the way in which the ,scriptures speak of ,god's hand in the existence of sin4 ,there is no special mystery about it4 ,it certainly does not involve the least moral obliquity on ,god's part2 and it is therefore every way prudent and wise to interpret such language in harmony with the common sense of the case and with the well-known character of ,god4 99 99 99 99 99 #b4 ,we proceed to notice what is said of ,god's purpose in the hardening of ,pharaoh's heart4 ,it is the more important to speak of this because an extreme view is sometimes taken of the central passage 7,ex4 #i3 #ad-af72 8,and in very deed for this cause have ,i raised thee up for to show in thee my power10 etc4 ,the extreme view referred to is that ,god made ,pharaoh a great king1 put him on a high throne1 for the avowed purpose of displaying his own great power in his sin and punishment4 ,by consent of ,hebrew lexicographers1 the verb translated 8raised up0 means in this case preserved alivehave caused thee to stand or continue among the living4 ,the previous context moreover seems not to be quite accurately put in our ,english version4 ,it should rather be thus1 beginning with v4 #ad3 8,for at this very time ,i am sending present tense all my plagues to thine heart and upon thy servants and upon thy people that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth4 ,for ,i might now have stretched out my hand and smitten thee and thy people with pestilence i4 e4 might have smitten you all dead1 and thou wouldest have been cut off from the earth4 ,but truly for this very reason have ,i preserved thee alive to the end that thou mightest show forth make others see my power1 and for the sake of proclaiming my name in all the earth40 ,to the same purport are the words 7,ex4 #ad3 #ag1 #ah7 with reference to the final destruction of ,pharaoh's host2 8,and ,i will get me honor upon ,pharaoh and upon all his host1 etc4 ,and the ,egyptians shall know that ,i am the ,lord when ,i shall have gotten me honor upon ,pharaoh and upon his chariots and his horsemen40 ,the great thought is that ,god turns to account the sin and madness of ,pharaoh for the purpose of making known his power to save his people and to crush their foes4 ,he shapes his ways of providence to this end4 ,he might have swept off ,pharaoh and his people with the same pestilence which destroyed so many of their cattle2 but he had a wiser purpose4 ,he could make a better use of their sin and of their life2 so he spared them till he had wrought all his wonders upon ,egypt before all the nations of the earth2 and then he let them plunge into the mighty waves of the ,red ,sea and make their grave there6,now if wicked men will sin1 who shall object against ,god that he makes the best possible use of it8 ,why may he not reveal his power thereby and exalt his name as one 8mighty to save0 or to destroy8 #c4 ,it only remains to ask,what has ,god taught us of his character as bearing on the question before us1 and of his agencies in the existence of sin8 ,here few words ought to suffice4 ,nothing can be more plain than the revelations of scripture concerning ,god's character as infinitely pure and holyas a ,being who not only can never sin himself but can never be pleased to have others sin1 and above all can never put forth his power to make them sin4 ,god can not be tempted with evil1 8neither tempteth he any man0 7,jam4 #a3 #ac74 ,when he declares so solemnly and so tenderly3 8,o do not that abominable thing which ,i hate06 shall it still be said,but he puts men to sinning2 pushes them on in their sin2 inclines their heart to sin and hardens them to more and guiltier sinning8 ,never6 ,shall it be claimed that with one hand ,god gives his ,spirit to impress the truth on human souls unto their salvation2 and with the other sends his ,spirit to augment the forces of temptation and to harden men's hearts unto their damnation8 ,shall the same fountain send forth both sweet water and bitter8 ,shall the same ,god renew some human hearts unto holiness and harden other human hearts in sinall by the same direct and similarly purposed agency1 each work being done under the same impulses of infinite love8,surely there must be some egregious misconception of ,god's character involved in supposing him capable of acts so fundamentally opposite and incompatiblenot to say1 in supposing him capable of tempting men into more and greater sin6 ,the fact that ,he wisely and mightily over-rules sin to bring good forth from it should never be construed to imply that he abhors sin any the less because he can extort some good results from its existence4 ,,chapter ,,xiii4 ,,the ,,passover4 ,,the first of the three great annual festivals of ,israel1 and the one which above all was commemorative in charactera memorial servicewas the ,passover4 ,it was designed to commemorate the deliverance of ,israel from ,egyptian bondagethe great birth-hour of the ,hebrew nation4 ,especially did it commemorate the scenes of that last eventful night when ,god caused his angel of death to pass over the houses of ,israel as he went through the land of ,egypt1 smiting the first-born in all her households4,the central thing in this institution was the slaying of the paschal lambone for each householdand the sprinkling of its blood upon the two side-posts1 and upon the lintel over the door of each house4 ,this sprinkled blood1 seen by the destroying angel1 became his authority for passing over and by that house1 sparing its first-born1 while he spared not one first-born of all the families of ,egypt4 ,there were numerous collateral points in the institution1 designed to fill it out more completely and make it most impressively a memorial service for all the future generations of ,israel2 e4 g4 the following3 ,as to time2 it was on the fourteenth day of the month ,abib1 corresponding to our ,march or ,aprilthe night next following this day being that of the last plague on ,egyptthe night which broke their yoke of bondage4 ,henceforth1 this was made the first month in the ,hebrew year4 ,the paschal lambs were taken by households4 ,if the family was large1 it stood by itself2 if too small to consume one lamb1 then two or more were united1 the aim being to have the flesh of the lamb eaten entire4 ,if any thing remained1 it was to be burned in the morning4,it was to be roasted with fire1 not eaten raw1 and not boiled in water4 7,ex4 #ab3 #h1 #i47 ,the arrangement by families looked toward the great fact of the original eventthat ,egypt was smitten by familiesthere being not a house in which there was not one dead4 ,its influence must have been precious through all the ages of ,hebrew history in cementing family ties and sanctifying the family relation4 ,it was eaten with unleavened breadthe rule on this point being most stringent4 ,no leaven might be eaten or even seen in their households during the entire feast of seven days4 ,so prominent was this fact that the feast was called interchangeably1 8,the ,passover10 or 8,the feast of unleavened bread40,the original design of this prohibition seems to have been commemorativethe great haste of their departure precluding the preparation of leavened bread for their journey4 ,the allusions to 8leaven0 in the ,new ,testament 7,matt4 #af3 #f1 #aa1 #ab1 and ,luke #ab and #a ,cor4 #e3 #g7 indicate that leaven was associated with 8pride that puffeth up10 and is quite the opposite of that simplicity and purity of heart which ,god loves4 ,it was also eaten with bitter herbs1 the vegetable condiments of the supper suggesting the bitterness of that bondage in ,egypt out of which they came 7,ex4 #ab3 #h74,yet another suggestive memorial usage was to eat with loins girt1 shoes on1 staff in hand 7,ex4 #ab3 #aa71 and in haste1 as men ready to start a journey at a moment's warning4 ,the feast continued seven days 7,ex4 #ab3 #ad-bj71 beginning with the evening of the paschal supper4 ,the first day and the last were specially sacred1 all labor being prohibited except that which was necessary in preparing their food 7,ex4 #ab3 #af74,the object in allowing so much time was to provide for extended religious ceremonial services and for wholesome social communion1 not to say also for cultivating national sympathy and patriotism4 ,as all the males from every tribe in the whole land were required to come together on this great feast to the one place which ,god should appoint1 the convocation was vast1 and its social and religious influences were naturally both wholesome and great4 ,in the original institution it was specially enjoined that the history and purpose of this great festival should be made known to their children4 8,and thou shalt show thy son in that day1 saying1 ,this is done because of that which the ,lord did unto me when ,i came forth out of ,egypt0 7,ex4 #ac3 #g74 8,and it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come1 saying1 ,what is this8 that thou shalt say unto him1 ,by strength of hand the ,lord brought us out from ,egypt1 from the house of bondage10 etc4 7,ex4 #ac3 #ad1 #ae47 ,how naturally would this wonderful story thrill the young hearts around the paschal board6 ,how swiftly would the hours fly away while fathers rehearsed to sons the great national traditions1 or read from the book of the law the narrative1 and sung again and again the song of triumph over ,pharaoh fallen with which this story closes6 ,jewish history has it that in ancient times it became the custom1 after the paschal table was fully spread and the family had taken their places about it1 for the servant suddenly to remove the prepared food away4 ,then when the hungry children opened their eyes wide and eager lips cried out,what does this mean8 the head of the household rehearsed slowly and solemnly the meaning and purpose of the feast1 with the history of its original institution2 then when the curiosity of the little ones had been both aroused and enlightened1 the provisions were replaced and partaken with a freshened sense of the grand significance of the ,passover4 ,closely associated with this festival and fraught with solemn significance as a memorial institution was the consecration to ,god of all first-born males1 both the first-born of man and the first-born of beast 7,ex4 #ac3 #aa-af74 ,of the lower animals the first-born males1 if without blemish and if suitable for sacrifice1 were to be offered in sacrifice to the ,lord4 ,if not suitable 7e4 g4 the ass71 it must be redeemed with a lambin which case the lamb became the sacrifice1 and the ass might be used at the pleasure of its owner4 ,in the family1 the first-born son was consecrated to ,god4 ,in carrying out this principle1 a substitution was made by which the entire tribe of ,levi were put in the place of all the first-born males of ,israel and held to be specially consecrated to ,god4 ,the language 7,num4 #h3 #ad-ah7 is8,thou shalt separate the ,levites from among the children of ,israel1 and the ,levites shall be mine4 ,they are wholly given unto me from among the children of ,israel1 instead of such as open every womb1 even instead of the first-born of all the children of ,israel1 have ,i taken them unto me4 ,for all the first-born of ,israel are mine both man and beast3 on the day that ,i smote every first-born in the land of ,egypt1 ,i sanctified them for myself4 ,and ,i have taken the ,levites for in the place of all the first-born of the children of ,israel40,the law prescribed the rites by which the ,levites were set apart 7,num4 #h3 #e-ae74 ,the original institution of the ,passover is rehearsed quite fully in ,ex4 #ab and #ac2 is referred to again briefly ,ex4 #bc3 #ae1 and #cd3 #ah-bjthis last giving emphasis to the consecration of the first-born4 ,a brief notice of it appears ,lev4 #bc3 #e-h2 the accompanying ritual services and offerings may be seen in ,num4 #bh3 #af-be2 and a brief resume of the institution as given in ,exodus #ab and #ac stands in ,deut4 #af3 #a-h4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the ,paschal ,lamb with its sprinkled blood became a pertinent and impressive illustration of the central idea of the atonement by the blood of ,christ1 the elements common to both beingthe shedding of bloodthe blood of an innocent oneand especially the passing over the sprinkled souls by the destroying angel1 while the unsprinkled were smitten by ,god's angel of death4,it is under the force of these and similar analogies that ,paul speaks of ,christ as being 8our ,passover0rather our ,paschal ,lamb1 and as 8sacrificed for us0 7#a ,cor4 #e3 #f-h74 ,pushing the analogies of the ,passover feast one step further1 he thinks of the exclusion of all leaven2 then of leaven as naturally diffusive1 and so as representing the pernicious influence of bad men in the ,christian church2 and therefore exhorts the ,corinthian church to cast out the man guilty of incest lest his influence work like leaven4,these remoter analogies were forcible to persons familiar with the feast and its usages2 yet we can not say they were properly involved in the typical significance of the ,passover4 ,the easy and natural manner in which ,paul speaks of ,christ as our ,paschal ,lamb shows that so far the resemblance was a well recognized fact1 wrought into the current views of inspired men1 not to say1 of the church of that age4 ,without the shedding of blood there is no remission2 with it and by means of it remission comes to the guilty1 accepting it with penitence and with faith4 ,the long route to ,canaan4 ,scarcely had the ,hebrew hosts set forth for ,goshen before the question of the route to ,canaan must be determined4 ,that ,canaan was their destination was settled long before4 ,the first call of ,abram designated the land of ,canaan as the home of his posterity4 ,every renewal of that original promise specified the country which was given them4 ,now1 for the course of their journey1 the route along the south-eastern shore of the ,mediterranean through the land of the ,philistines was short and direct2 but it must have brought them into contact inevitably with those powerful tribes from whom their descendants suffered so much during all the centuries intervening between ,joshua and ,david4 ,just emerging from a bondage which spanned several generations and which had emasculated them of all national courage and spiritbut slightly trained moreover yet into the moral heroism which comes of living faith in ,godthey were in no condition to encounter such enemies4 ,the record puts these points briefly3 8,god led them not through the way of the land of the ,philistines although that was near1 for ,god said,lest peradventure the people repent when they see war and they return to ,egypt2 but ,god led the people about through the way of the wilderness of the ,red ,sea0#cb 7,ex4 #ac3 #ag1 #ah74 ,the long circuitous route is therefore chosen4,wheeling suddenly to the right they put their faces squarely toward the ,red ,sea1 beyond which lay the vast ,arabian desert4 ,ultimately they entered ,canaan on its ,eastern and not its ,western sidethe quarter most remote from the ,philistines4,in this wilderness route there were great purposes to be accomplished in the moral training and culture of the nation and in the manifestations of the ,god of their fathers before their eyes4 ,that way lay the passage of the ,red ,sea which ,god provided as the burial-place for the proud hosts of ,pharaoh3 that way lay ,sinaithose grand mountain cliffs which ,god was to shake with his thunders and invest with the smoke and the flame of his glorious presence that the law might be written in letters of fire upon the souls of the whole people3 that way lay the long1 breadless1 waterless route of almost forty years wandering and sojourning in which the ,lord fed the people with angels' foodbread from the lower heavensthe manna of the desert1 and with water once and again from smitten rocks1 flowing in dry places as a riverthat they might learn the power and the love of their ,god3that way lay also their long tuition and training into their religious systema wonderful arrangement of sacrifices and ordinances for which the life-time of a generation was scarcely too long4 ,all these great results and yet others were contemplated and provided for in this choice of the wilderness route as their way to the land of ,canaan4 ,the ,march and the ,pursuit4 ,the night of the fourteenth day of the first month was one to be long and gratefully remembered4 ,little sleep was there in the homes of ,israel or in the dwellings of ,egypt on that eventful night4 ,the feast of the ,paschal ,lamb beginning with the early evening2 the dread visitation upon ,egypt of the angel of death at midnight2 the hasty preparation for their journey throughout all the families of the children of ,israel2 the gathering and mustering of their hosts for the march of the next day3such was the work of that memorable night4 ,the stages of their march are definitely chronicled2 one day from ,rameses to ,succoth 7,ex4 #ab3 #cg72 another day from ,succoth to ,etham1 8in the edge of the wilderness0 7,ex4 #ac3 #bj72 another from ,etham to ,pi-hahiroth between ,migdol and the ,sea over against ,baal-zephon 7,ex4 #ad3 #b74 ,the same stages appear in the official record 7,num4 #cc3 #c-h7 in which it is added that 8,israel went out with a high hand in the sight of all the ,egyptians1 for the ,egyptians buried all their first-born whom the ,lord had smitten among them2 upon the gods also1 the ,lord executed judgment0#ccso that the shock of such and so much death and their funeral services for the dead diverted their attention from ,israel and detained them from the pursuit for a season1 giving the slow moving hosts of ,israel time to reach the ,red ,sea before ,pharaoh's swift chariots could overtake them4 ,the guiding ,pillar of cloud and fire4 ,at this stage commenced that striking but most precious manifestation of ,god's guiding presence1 of which the first record is8,and the ,lord went before them in a pillar of a cloud to lead them the way2 and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light2 to go by day and night4 ,he took not away the pillar of the cloud by day1 nor the pillar of fire by night1 from before the people0 7,ex4 #ac3 #ba1 #bb74 ,if the order of the narration corresponds in time to the order of the events1 this manifestation of the pillar commenced on the second day of their march as they moved from ,succoth to ,etham 8in the edge of the wilderness40 ,all through those otherwise dreary days of their marching and halting for forty years in the wilderness1 this pillar was before them1 appearing as a pillar of cloud by day but of fire by nightthe symbol of ,jehovah's presence in all their way1 leading their path as they journeyed2 marking their place of rest where they were to halt and pitch their tents4,subsequent allusions to this pillar of cloud or of fire are somewhat numerous1 e4 g4 ,ex4 #bi3 #dcshowing that in this pillar ,god met his people and sanctified the tabernacle with his glory3 ,ex4 #dj3 #cd-ch1 setting forth that when the tabernacle was in readiness1 the cloud covered it and the glory of the ,lord filled the most holy place1 making that henceforth his special locality4 ,yet the pillar of cloud was lifted above the tabernacle as the signal for striking tents and moving forward4 ,its service as the signal for marching or resting is detailed minutely and beautifully in ,num4 #i3 #ae-bc2 and the prayer of ,moses on these special occasions in ,num4 #aj3 #ce1 #cf4 ,when the ark set forward8,rise up1 ,lord1 and let thine enemies be scattered and let them that hate thee flee before thee02 and when it rested8,return1 ,o ,lord1 unto the many thousands of ,israel40,other allusions may be seen1 ,deut4 #a3 #bc and ,neh4 #i3 #ab1 #ai and ,ps4 #gh3 #ad1 and #ii3 #g1 and #aje3 #ci and ,isa4 #d3 #e4 ,remarkably when the ,egyptian chariots and horsemen drew near toward evening of the third days' march1 8the ,angel of ,god1 embosomed in this pillar which had been in front of their host1 removed and went behind them0putting himself thus between the men of ,israel and the armed hosts of ,egypt8,and it was a cloud and darkness to ,egypt's hosts but gave light by night to ,israel1 so that the one came not near the other all night40 ,thus the angel of ,god in the cloud became1 not their guide only1 but their protector1 their guardian angel4 ,if there were godly men in ,israel who like ,moses could appreciate the salvation and the glory of ,jehovah's presence1 their hearts must have been a thousand times gladdened1 and inspired with inexpressible hope and consolation as they lifted up their eyes in their otherwise deepest darkness to see the pillar of fire ever near1 the witness that ,god was near in all their wanderings4 ,but especially there with the ,red ,sea before them and the chariots of ,pharaoh behindhow safe they might have felt6 for who is not safe under the wing of ,god's pillar of fire8 ,when ,pharaoh's chariots and horsemen came in sight1 rapidly gaining upon the slow-marching footmen of ,israel's host1 the latter were sore afraid and cried unto the ,lord 7,ex4 #ad3 #aj74 ,this crying to the ,lord would have been all right if only they had believed and trusted2 for then they would have honored their great ,protector1 and they would not have chided ,moses for leading them out of ,egypt1 nor would they have thought so readily of turning back to their cruel bondage4,with touching forbearance and grace the reply of ,moses 7from ,god7 breathes scarce a whisper of rebuke3 8,fear ye not2 stand still and see the salvation of the ,lord which he will show to you to day2 for the ,egyptians whom ye have seen to day1 ye shall see no more again forever4 ,the ,lord shall fight for you1 and ye shall hold your peace40 ,the ,lord did not propose to bring the people into direct battle with the trained hosts of ,egypt at this early stage of their new life of freedom4 ,they were in no manner prepared for the conflict of arms4 ,this time the ,lord alone would go into battle against ,egypt4 ,israel might stand still and look on6 ,moses1 it seems1 cried unto ,god2 but whether because there was some implied unbelief in it1 or because there was no time and no further need of prayer1 the ,lord answered8,why criest thou unto me8 ,speak unto the people that they go forward60 ,the time for action and for placid trust in ,god had fully come4,but that deep ,red ,sea lies across thy path2 lift up thy rod and stretch out thy hand over the sea and divide it2 let ,israel march through it dry-shod4 ,the uplifted rod of ,moses was the signal for the uplifted hand of ,god by which he forced the waters from their channel by a strong east wind all that night and made the bed of the sea dry for his people to pass over4 ,the miracle in this case was exerted upon the wind rather than upon the water4 ,god caused the east wind to blow strongly just when its effect was needed for the end in view4 ,he turned the wind and hurried the waters back upon the ,egyptians just when the opportune moment came for burying them beneath its mountain waves4 ,if his wisdom had chosen to do so1 his ,almighty hand could just as easily have annihilated so much of the ,red ,sea waters as lay in the way of his people till they had passed its dry bed1 and then have reproduced them for the destruction of ,egypt4 ,but in his mighty works ,god does not seek display but rather results1 and these ordinarily by using only the least amount of supernatural agency which will suffice4 ,it is of little account to attempt to fix the law of miracles1 yet we may not infrequently observe the same method as is apparent here4 ,the historian alludes to yet another element of divine agency4 ,in the morning watch as the host of ,pharaoh were pressing on through the very midst of the bed of the sea1 8the ,lord looked unto the host of the ,egyptians through the pillar of fire and of cloud1 and troubled rather confounded1 smote with panic their marching hosts2 and took off their chariot wheels that they drave them heavily2 so that the ,egyptians said8,let us flee from the face of ,israel1 for ,jehovah fighteth for them against the ,egyptians40,it may not be possible1 certainly is not specially important1 to draw the line here between the natural and the supernatural4 ,we may suppose that the pillar of cloud which had been darkness to them blazed forth fearfully in their faces1 appalling the stoutest hearts with fear2 that both horses and drivers were confounded2 that wheel crashed into wheel and made advance impossible2 that turning back for flight1 their disorder and confusion became a rout1 and that in this hour of crisis the returning waters surge and dash upon them and bury them en masse beneath the mountain waves6 ,so perished the slave-holders and oppressors of ,god's ancient people6 ,thus signally did ,jehovah exalt his name and win glory to himself as the ,avenger of the oppressed and the faithful ,god of his ,israel4 ,the case falls into the same class with the flood and the fires on ,sodom1 to show before the ages how readily the ,lord can find fit instruments of retributive justice for the swift punishment of the wicked even in this world whenever examples are needed to set forth his displeasure against sin1 and the certainty of his retributions upon the wicked4 ,under a system which normally puts over this retribution till after death1 it might obviously be wise in the early ages of time to give some exceptional cases to stand as illustrations squarely before the eyes of living men1 witnessing to the terrors of that retribution which can not linger long under the government of a just and holy ,god4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the night of doom to ,pharaoh was the night of redemption to ,israel4 ,with the morning light they 8saw the ,egyptians dead upon the sea-shore0men in their armor of battle2 horses in the proud trappings of ,egypt2 broken chariots1 all powerless noware dashed up by the waves of the turbid sea and lie strewn upon the eastern shorememorials at once of the danger that was and of the victory and triumph that are1 and that are to be1 the joy of ,god's redeemed people4 ,most fitly the deep emotions of the people seek expression in song4 ,the oldest song known to history and one of the grandest1 is here before us4 8,i will sing unto the ,lord1 for he hath triumphed gloriously30,ah1 indeed1 it was the ,lord who wrought the victory2 who went down alone into that eventful battle and who came back the mighty conqueror6 8,the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea40 ,over and over this central idea appears3 8,pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea2 his chosen chariots also are drowned in the ,red ,sea40 8,thou didst blow with thy wind2 the sea covered them2 they sank as lead in the mighty waters40 ,let the ,great ,god of ,israel be praised for all this6 ,appropriately this is the burden of the song3 8,the ,lord is my strength and my song1 and he is become my salvation40 8,who is like unto thee1 ,o ,lord1 among the gods8 ,who is like to ,thee1 glorious in holiness1 fearful in praises1 doing wonders08 ,let us hope that the hearts of the saved people were deeply moved in the spirit of this sublime song2 that they saw ,god as never before1 and gave him the homage of their hearts1 grateful1 trustful1 and adoring6 ,it may be noticed that ,moses leads the thought of the people forward to the remote results of this redemption3 8,the nations shall hear and be afraid2 sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of ,palestine2 all the inhabitants of ,canaan shall melt away2 fear and dread shall fall upon them 444 till thy people pass over and thou hast planted them in their promised inheritance40 ,the moral results of this scene1 we may hope1 were really wholesome and effective upon the multitude4 ,it amazes us to find that so soon afterward there were some among them who murmured for water1 rebelled against ,moses1 made and worshiped a calf of gold3 but the young1 less depraved by their ,egyptian life and perhaps more impressible by such manifestations of ,god1 seem to have drank in the solemn lessons of these grand events4 ,the locality of the ,red ,sea crossing has been not a little controverteduntil the researches of modern times4 ,since ,dr4 ,robinson's personal examination of that region1 including the site of ,goshen1 the route of their three days' travel till they reached the sea1 the width of the sea at the various points between which the selection must be made1 there has been a general if not universal concurrence in the conclusions to which he came4 ,the location a little below ,suez where the sea was supposably not far from one mile in width2 where a strong easterly wind would drive out the waters from the channelseems to fulfill all the historical conditions of the problem4 ,see his ,researches in ,egypt and ,palestine1 ,vol4 ,i4 pp4 #gd-hf4 ,,chapter ,,xiv4 ,,the ,,historic ,,connections ,,of ,,moses ,,with ,,pharaoh ,,and ,,egypt4 ,,the thread of our history having now reached a point where we leave ,egypt and have seen the last of that one particular ,pharaoh1 it is in place to take a final review of the questions,who was this ,pharaoh8 ,can he be identified in the annals of ,egyptian antiquities8 ,have any points of chronological contact between the records of ,egypt and the records of ,moses been fixed reliably so that the one system can be laid alongside of the other and positive correspondence be made out8 ,comparing the ,hebrew records with ,egyptian monuments and history1 the following points of coincidence may be regarded as established4 #a4 ,that 7as already observed7 the kingdom of ,egypt was thoroughly organized1 was powerful1 and had1 apparently1 the ripeness of age1 in the times of ,joseph and of ,moses4 ,in all these respects it was far in advance of the adjacent populations of ,northern ,africa and of ,south-western ,asia4 #b4 ,that the state of the arts1 the attainments of the learned in science1 the usages of the people1 the reign of law and of social order1 indicated a state of civilization much in advance of any thing else known in that age4 #c4 ,that all the minute references in sacred history to the common life of the people1 to their occupations1 to their skill in the arts1 to the productions of the country1 to their political relations with outside powers1 are abundantly verified in the numerous monuments and authorities which testify what the ,egypt of that age really was4 ,the reference to many of these points in the history of the ten plagues admits of most ample verification from the ancient ,egyptian authorities4 #d4 ,particularly we find in ,egyptian history the means of explaining how a new king might arise who 8knew not ,joseph0 7change of dynasty being a chronic infirmity72 and how the monarch of an empire so magnificant1 wielding a sway so despotic1 might be tempted to defy ,jehovah and proudly scorn to obey his command to 8let the people go40 #e4 ,yet again as to the sort of labor exacted unmercifully of the ,hebrew people the evidence from ,egyptian antiquities is fully corroborative4 8,they built for ,pharaoh treasure cities1 ,pithom and ,rameses10 and were put to the severest toil in making brick2 in the erection of buildings1 including the transportation of the heaviest materials2 and to 8all manner of service in the field0 7,ex4 #a3 #aa1 #ad74,these treasure cities are identified with a high degree of certainty2 and proximately some of the very kings by whom this service was exacted4 ,mons4 ,chabas#cd thinks he has found the ,hebrews under name in official ,egyptian records4 ,he argues well that it must be in vain to look in the public monuments e4 g4 in their temples for any thing disastrous to the king or to his peoplethose monuments being consecrated to the triumphs and glories of the kingdomofficial bulletins for this very purpose4 ,this consideration rules out the ten plagues2 the escape of the ,hebrews2 the overthrow of the ,egyptians in the ,red ,sea4 ,events so disreputable and disastrous to ,egypt need not be looked for on her sacred monuments4,but the records on papyrus1 consisting of both official and private correspondence1 military reports1 surveys of public works1 financial accounts1 etc41 may furnish their name4 ,the ,hebrews were an important colony1 held forcibly upon the soil of ,egypt1 employed largely upon her public works4 ,consequently some notice of them may be reasonably looked for in the class of documents pertaining to the business of the realm4,mons4 ,chabas maintains very sensibly that we should look for this people under the name 8,hebrews20 not 8children of ,israel0this being rather a religious than an ethnic designation2 not 8,israelites0this name not having then come into use2 not ,jews1 this name being first used many centuries later4 ,three documents have been recently discovered which speak of a foreign race under the hieroglyphic name 8,aperiu40 ,on principles of comparative philology1 ,mons4 ,chabas makes this word the equivalent of ,hebrew4,in the first document the scribe ,kanisar reports to his superior3 8,i have obeyed the command which my master gave me to provide subsistence for the soldiers and also for the ,aperiu who carry stone for the great ,bekhen of ,king ,rameses4 ,i have given them rations every month according to the excellent instructions of my master40#ce,the second is similar3 8,i have furnished rations to the soldiers and also to the ,aperiu who carry stone for the sun of the temple of the sun1 ,rameses ,meriamen1 to the south of ,memphis40 ,furthermore1 ,egyptian records show that they put their prisoners of war to such labors2 for their kings record on the temples the number of captives they have taken to labor upon the temples of their gods4 ,two of these documents on papyri belong to the reign of ,rameses ,,ii1 whom ,mons4 ,chabas assumes to be the king whose daughter adopted ,moses and whose son and successor1 ,mei-en-ptah1 experienced the ten plagues and fell in the ,red ,sea4 7,bib4 ,sacra1 ,oct41 #ahfe1 p4 #fhe47 #f4 ,it is a well-established fact of history that at one periodnot yet located definitely,lower ,egypt was subdued and held by a ,shepherd race1 called by ,josephus1 8,hyksos10 supposed to have come from adjacent provinces of ,arabia or from ,phenicia or both1 and to have held the country from #cej to #ejj yearsa ,vandal race1 savagely desolating the noble monuments of ,egyptian art and civilization1 and known by the native ,egyptians as 8the ,scourge40 ,this ,shepherd race was ultimately driven out by the kings of ,upper ,egypt 7a ,theban dynasty7probably before the age of ,moses2 perhaps before ,jacob went down into ,egypt4 ,it may be considered certain that ,josephus and others err in confounding them with the ,hebrew people4,geo4 ,rawlinson in ,aids to ,faith1 p4 #bic says8,the period of the ,shepherd ,kings is estimated variously as continuing #ejj1 #fjj1 #ijj1 and even #b1jjj years2 that historic monuments were generally destroyed during their dominion2 that no reliable historic records exist older than the beginning of the eighteenth dynasty which expelled the ,shepherd ,kings2 and that previously to their times1 #8,association' in ,royalty was practiced1 two or even three kings sitting on the same throne at the same time1 dividing its labors and its honors between themselves40 ,as to the date of this ,shepherd rule1 the diversity in opinion among the best informed students of ,egyptian antiquity is by no means comforting or assuring4 ,dr4 ,lepsius and others have placed their invasion of ,egypt directly after the twelfth dynasty 7,b4 ,c4 #baja71 and their expulsion about ,b4 ,c4 #aeia4 ,in his chronology1 ,jacob went down into ,egypt ,b4 ,c4 #adad2 ,moses led the people out ,b4 ,c4 #acadneither date having the least regard to the scripture chronology4,mons4 ,mariette dates it in the eighteenth century ,b4 ,c41 i4 e4 between ,b4 ,c4 #agjj and ,b4 ,c4 #ahjj4 ,with this we might compare the sojourn of the ,israelites in ,egypt from ,b4 ,c4 #bjcc to ,b4 ,c4 #afjc2 or on the chronology of ,usher1 from ,b4 ,c4 #agjf to ,b4 ,c4 #adia4;,brugsch dates their incursion ,b4 ,c4 #baae1 and supposes them to have been ,arabs from ,arabia ,petraea4,bunsen's latest recension places their invasion ,b4 ,c4 #aihc2 their expulsion1 ,b4 ,c4 #aedh2 and the ,exodus of the ,hebrews ,b4 ,c4 #acbjthe last date being certainly wide of the truth4,the evidence is conclusive that their expulsion preceded the resplendent eighteenth dynasty whose kings ruled over all ,egypt1 and among whom was the ,pharaoh 8who would not let the people go40 ,dr4 ,thompson argues at considerable length that the entire occupation of ,lower ,egypt by the ,hyksos must have preceded the residence of the ,hebrews there2 but feels the difficulties of the problem4 ,he says8,as yet the terminus a quo remains in obscurity0 the point at which their occupation begins2 8while the terminus ad quem is beginning to take a fixed place in history40 ,the date of their expulsion is mostly relieved of doubt4 ,the war which resulted in their expulsion was begun by ,seneken-,ra1 about the commencement of the #ahth dynasty of ,thebes ,upper ,egypt1 and was prosecuted by ,ahmes ,i1 otherwise called ,nebpeh-,ra1 in whose fifth year they were finally expelled4 ,the reign of ,ahmes ,i is proximately assigned to the #agth century ,b4 ,c41 i4 e4 from ,b4 ,c4 #afjj to ,b4 ,c4 #agjj4;,a curious inscription has recently been discovered by ,mons4 ,dumischen1 referring to a brilliant triumph over the ,lybians1 achieved by a certain king ,menephtahthis war being dated nearly #djj years after the expulsion of the ,hyksos4 ,the scribe appended the remark8,one could not have seen the like in the time of the kings of ,lower ,egypt when the country of ,egypt was held by the #8,scourge1' and the kings of ,upper ,egypt could not drive them out40,this authority seems to prove that the ,hyksos held only ,lower ,egypt2 that ,upper ,egypt was under another dynasty1 for a time unable to expel the ,shepherd race1 but ultimately successful1 and subsequently attaining much greater military power2 also that the ,hyksos people were accounted a savage and barbarous race4 ,in conclusion ,i am constrained to say that the study of ,egyptian antiquities1 though richly remunerative and satisfactory in regard to almost every thing else1 is still very dubious and perplexing in the point of definite chronology4 ,the views of the ablest scholars are widely conflicting2 the original authorities still wait for some master mind to put them into system1 or what is perhaps nearer the truth1 for the discovery of competent data from which a system can be constructed which shall harmonize all the authorities in the case4 ,we want to know the ,pharaoh to whom the ,lord sent ,moses1 whose reign synchronizes with the ,exodus4 ,we find a series of powerful monarchs in the eighteenth dynasty and also in the nineteenth2 but which of them answers to this particular ,pharaoh1 it seems yet impossible to determine with satisfactory certainty4 ,rameses ,,ii1 all agree1 was a powerful king2 built immense public works2 reigned at least sixty1 perhaps sixty-six years2but some authorities place him in the eighteenth and some in the nineteenth dynasty1 and the extreme difference in the assigned dates for his reign is three hundred years4 ,the difficulties that invest ,egyptian dates and dynasties seem at present to be aggravated rather than relieved by the progress of modern discoveries4 ,thus we find in the ,bib4 ,sacra1 ,oct4 #ahfg1 7pp4 #ggc and #ggd7 four parallel lists of the first three ,egyptian dynasties1 viz3 7#a47 ,that of ,manetho2 7#b47 ,the ,turin ,papyrus2 7#c47 ,the ,tablet of ,sethos2 7#d47 ,the ,tablet of ,sakharah or ,memphis4 ,compared with ,manetho1 the last three are of quite recent discovery4 ,they are somewhat defective2 yet it is not specially difficult to discover a striking similarity and in many cases an obvious identity in the names given4 ,but the names in ,manetho's list almost utterly lack even similarity2 much more do they refuse to come into identity4 ,the authority of the last three must1 it seems to me1 be decidedly greater than that of ,manetho4,the same difficulty appears when we compare ,manetho's names in the later dynasties 7e4 g4 #ahth-#bjth7 with names constantly coming to light in recently discovered ,egyptian monuments4 ,i know not how this fact affects other minds4 ,it can not but lessen my confidence in the lists of ,manetho4 ,it certainly goes far to lessen their practical value4,it is somewhat disheartening that these chronological difficulties clear up so slowly4 ,it still remains to be hoped that light will yet break in and that conclusions will be reached in which all important authorities will be shown to concur4#cf ,it would be a very great acquisition historically if we might know what ,egypt was doing while the ,hebrews were wandering in the wilderness forty years4 ,various circumstances conspire to favor the opinion that during this period her king made a vast military crusade upon ,palestine and the regions farther north1 occupying several years and greatly crippling the powerful tribes kingdoms so called then in possession of the land of ,canaan4 ,both ,josephus and ,herodotus give accounts of a great military expedition of this sortleaving1 however1 the main chronological problem ,when8 to be determined4,as to the great power of the kings of ,canaan1 the ,lord said to ,moses1 8,i will send a hornet before you to drive them out10 i4 e4 to break down their power and facilitate the subjection of the country before the arms of ,joshua4 ,the original word translated 8hornet0 does not suggest the insect now commonly known by that name2 but is equivalent to scourge1 yet not precisely defining of what sort4 ,it is supposable that ,egypt and her next kin after the ,exodus1 were more maddened than subdued by the escape of ,israel and by the humbling disaster at the ,red ,sea2 that this great expedition was inspired by the expectation of finding the ,hebrew people in ,canaan and of punishing them there2 that ,god's providence shielded them with perfect protection in the great ,arabian desert where no ,egyptian host could follow them or even subsist2 and then with that marvelous wisdom which so often turns the wrath of man to his own praise1 used their prowess in arms to break down the military strength of ,canaan and prepare that land for easy conquest before the arms of ,joshua4 ,it seems obvious that in point of military strength a great change had come over the tribes of ,canaan between the visit of the spies and the conquest by ,israel4 ,did the ,lord use the chariots and horsemen of ,egypt to produce this result8 ,to have done so would be quite in keeping with that great law of his operations in this sinning world under which he so often turns the wrath of wicked men to account most signally and even gloriously to promote the ends of his own kingdom4 ,,chapter ,,xv4 ,,the ,,events ,,near ,,and ,,at ,,sinai4 ,the ,manna4 ,,the divine plan of leading ,israel to ,canaan by the way of the great desert involved the question of subsistencebread and water for such a host through so long a journey4 ,it was perfectly obvious that the ordinary resources of this desert were entirely inadequate1 so that the alternative was simply1 miracle1 or starvation4 ,in the choice of miracle ,god had in view not only physical subsistence but moral culturethe perpetual impression upon the millions of ,israel that their covenant-keeping ,god was feeding them every day with bread immediately from his own hand4 ,this bread took the name 8manna0 from the question asked by the people when they found it upon the ground in the morning,what is this8 ,their ,hebrew words were,man-hu2 what this8 ,all the ancient versions and most ancient authorities concur in deriving the name 8manna0 from this original question as put in ,ex4 #af3 #ae4 ,our ,english version has the only correct rendering in the margin4 ,the manna fell by night as the dew falls1 and it would seem1 fell with and in the dew so that when the dew evaporated under the morning sun1 there remained this very fine deposit8a small round thing1 as small as the hoar frost upon the ground40 8,it was like coriander seed1 white1 and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey0 7,ex4 #af3 #ac-ae1 #ca74 ,a subsequent description 7,num4 #aa3 #g-i7 adds8,the manna was as coriander seed and the color thereof as the color of bdellium4 ,and the people went about and gathered it1 and ground it in mills1 or beat it in a mortar1 and baked it in pans1 and made cakes of it2 and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil4 ,and when the dew fell upon the camp in the night1 the manna fell upon it40,the gathering1 the preparation of it for cooking1 and the cooking itself1 cost labor1 yet obviously none too much for the health and morals of the million4 ,the physiological facts to be noticed are that it was sufficiently palatable for all practical purposes and had the necessary elements for the real breadthe staff of lifefor a whole nation during forty years of wilderness life1 with its alternations of marchings and encampments2 of labor and of rest4 ,the points which evinced the miraculous hand of ,god werethat it came from no known or possible source of supply in the kingdom of nature2 that it fell in the full amount needed for the thousands of ,israel2 fell on each of six mornings but not at all on the seventh1 the ,sabbath2 that the average amount on five of these mornings was a supply for one day1 while on the morning next preceding the ,sabbath1 a double quantity fell1 being a supply for two days2 that the gathering for the first five days of the week could be kept only one day1 but the double supply of the sixth day remained sweet and pure for two days2 and moreover1 a quantity laid up by ,god's command in the sacred ark remained unchanged for many generations4 ,thus wonderfully did the ,almighty impress his hand upon every feature of this bread from heaven6#cg ,the allusions to manna in the ,scriptures take note of the fact that 8,god suffered them to hunger0 before he sent them this supply 7,deut4 #h3 #c1 #af74 ,the record 7,ex4 #af3 #a7 states that it was already the fifteenth day of the second month since they came out of ,egypt when the whole congregation murmured for bread and seemed to themselves about to perish of hunger in the wilderness4 ,one month and a half must have quite exhausted the hasty and scanty supplies which they brought from ,egypt4 ,the marvel is how they could have subsisted upon this so long1 even though coupled with all the supplies possible in that desert4 ,that 8,god suffered them to hunger0 is however only in harmony with his usual method of dealing with his peoplesubjecting them to a certain pressure of want for purposes of moral trialthe object being to test their faith in himself2 to draw out their soul in prayer for help and in trust under darkness and in straits2 and to make the blessing when given doubly precious4 ,what ,christian has ever lived long under any circumstances of this earthly life without some discipline under this great law of the ,christian life8,he suffered thee to hunger0 and then 8fed thee with angels' food08 ,moses 7,deut4 #h3 #af7 makes a special point of the fact that this bread was such as neither they nor their fathers had ever known before4 ,the ,psalmist 7,ps4 #gh3 #bd1 #be7 takes the lofty poetic view of this great gift of ,god3 8,he commanded the clouds from above and opened the doors of heaven and rained down manna upon them to eat and gave them of the corn of heaven4 ,man did eat angels' food3 he sent them meat to the full40,josh4 #e3 #ab shows that the manna ceased as abruptly as it began1 precisely when it was needed no longer4 ,the people having arrived in ,canaan and supplies being within reach from the old corn of the land1 the manna ceased and fell no more4 ,an article of commerce known under the name of 8manna10 produced in the ,arabian desert and in other ,oriental regions1 has scarcely any points in common with the manna of ,scripture save the name4 ,it exudes from shrubs2 does not fall from the lower heavens in and with the dew2 it is obtained at the utmost only about four months of the year2 is most abundant in wet seasonsfails in the dry2 is somewhat useful as a condiment and a medicine1 but can never take the place of bread2 and never has been known in such quantities as would supply bread for the hosts of ,israel4 ,how long the pot of manna was preserved in the ark of the covenant can not be known definitely4 ,we have the fact that the ,lord directed its preservation there 7,ex4 #af3 #cb-cd72 and the further fact that when the ark was placed in the new temple of ,solomon there was nothing in it save the two tables of stone 7#a ,kings #h3 #i74 ,it was doubtless kept long enough to subserve all the valuable purposes of a memorial to the generations of ,israel4 ,it has been embalmed in the ,christian consciousness of the ,christian age by its symbolical use in the teachings of our ,lord in which it represents his flesh which he gave for the life of the worldthe far more real bread of life from heaven 7,john #f3 #ca-ce1 #dg-eh74 ,water ,supplied by ,miracle4 ,the subsistence of the ,israelites during forty years in the desert of ,arabia involved not only a supply of bread but of water also4 ,on two distinct occasionsthe first at ,rephidim1 close to ,horeb1 during the last half of the second month from ,egypt2 and the second at ,kadesh1 in the northern border of the great desert1 and during the first month of the fortieth year from ,egypt1#ch water was supplied them by miracle4 ,so great a multitude of people1 including their animals1 must have required a large supply of water4 ,nothing therefore is more probable than that the supply should often be short1 and sometimes utterly fail4 ,at ,rephidim the people most unreasonably chode with ,moses as if he alone was responsible for bringing them out of ,egypt and for the lack of water1 and as if their sufferings were so great as altogether to eclipse all the blessings of that great deliverance4 ,moses had no help but in the ,lord his ,god4 ,in answer to prayer the ,lord provided for a miracle1 to be well attested by the presence of a body of the elders of the people4 8,take them with thee10 saith the ,lord1 8and take also thy rod wherewith thou smitest the river0 7the ,nile7 8and go4 ,i will stand before thee there upon the rock in ,horeb and thou shalt smite the rock1 and there shall come water out of it that the people may drink40,the names given were significant8,massah0 of their tempting the ,lord by their unbelief2 ,meribah1 of their chiding and strife as to ,moses4 ,the scenes at ,kadesh 7,num4 #bj7 were almost forty years subsequent1 and consequently involved another generation4 ,the spirit of their complaint was quite the same howeverchiding ,moses most unreasonably1 petulantly wishing they had died before the ,lord as so many of their brethren who had fallen under ,god's judgments in the wilderness since the unbelieving report of the spies and the consequent wrath of ,god upon the people4 ,sadly we must note here that this unreasonable and even cruel reflection upon ,moses stirred his indignation1 excited him unduly1 and found expression in ill-advised words from his lips4 ,the ,lord had told him to take ,aaron his brother1 to gather the people together before the rock1 and then speak to the rock before their eyes and it should give forth water4 ,when the eventful moment came1 ,moses1 instead of saying,ye have sinned against the ,lord your ,god1 yet in his mercy he will give you rivers of water from this rock upon the word of command from his servantsaid as in the record8,hear now1 ye rebels1 must we fetch you water out of this rock08 ,in circumstances where man should be nothing and ,god all in allman only a consciously unworthy instrument1 and ,god the ,supreme and ever to be honored ,power1 it was one of the sad infirmities of the best of men to put himself so prominently forward and thrust the ,great ,god so ungratefully into the back-ground4 ,then1 moved by the same excited passion1 instead of speaking to the rock1 he smote it with his rod1 not once only but twice4 ,yet the ,lord did not rebuke him with failure1 but despite of his bad spirit1 gave forth water abundantly4 ,the rebuke upon both ,moses and ,aaron came shortly after in the form of an absolute prohibition upon their entering the land of promise4 ,they had so dishonored the ,lord in this case at ,kadesh that he must needs express his disapprobation by denying to both of them the long-desired consummation of entering the goodly land4,if the ,lord's rebuke of ,moses seem severe1 let it be considered that his sin was very great because he had been admitted into so near communion with ,godsuch communion as had never been granted to any other man4 ,if the guilt of sin be as the light sinned against1 we are not likely to overestimate the guilt of his4 ,the ,lord speaks of it as rebellion 7,num4 #bg3 #ad74 ,and manifestly his sin was so public as well as so flagrant that it became vital to the honor of ,god's name and government to rebuke it unmistakably4 ,the exclusion from ,canaan fell sorely upon the heart of ,moses4 ,he prayed earnestly that ,god would reverse this decree1 but in vain4 ,the ,lord shut off all hope1 saying1 8,let it suffice thee2 speak no more unto me of this matter0 7,deut4 #c3 #bc-bg74 ,sorrowful are the words of ,moses3 8,i must die in this land2 ,i must not go over ,jordan0 7,deut4 #d3 #ba74 ,the question arises naturally3 ,were these two casesat ,rephidim and at ,kadeshthe only supplies by miracle during those forty years8 ,one of them occurred during the first year of the forty2 the other1 during the last3 was the whole intervening period barren of all miraculous supply8 ,or were these two cases put on record rather as specimens than as exhaustive history8,yet another question comes up3 ,how long did the supply in each of these two cases continue8 ,rephidim was adjacent to ,sinai1 and the hosts of ,israel remained before and near that mountain many days4 ,did the supply from the ,rephidim rock hold good during this entire period8 ,did it follow them along their journey in the wilderness still further8 ,to these questions the first answer isthat the history is silent as to the duration of the supply in either case4 ,moses might have told us definitely1 but he has not4,beyond this it only remains to take note of the allusions to this supply1 made elsewhere in the ,scriptures1 and to suggest the probabilities of the case4,the writer of ,ps4 #gh sings3 8,he clave the rock in the wilderness and gave them drink as out of the great depths4 ,he brought streams also out of the rock and caused waters to run down like rivers0 7vs4 #ae1 #af74 ,in ,ps4 #aad3 #h1 we read8,who turned the rock into a standing water2 the flint1 into a fountain of water40 ,these words imply a great abundance for the time and seem to assume an ample supply so long as the hosts of ,israel remained in those places4 ,they do not necessarily imply that the waters followed them as a river in their journey onward from ,rephidim or from ,kadesh4,the allusions in ,isa4 #dc3 #ai1 #bj1 and #dh3 #ba are decisive as to the temporary supply but indefinite as to its duration4,the words of ,paul 7#a ,cor4 #aj3 #d7 should be noted4 8,our fathers all drank the same spiritual drink 7for they drank of that spiritual ,rock that followed them and that ,rock was ,christ740,in this passage1 drinking of the ,rock can be nothing else than drinking of the waters that issued from the rock4 ,the only question of importance exegetically iswhether the words 8followed them0 refer to the waters or to the presence of ,christ as in the pillar of cloud and of fire4 ,the former seems the more obvious and natural reference1 and1 in so far1 favors the view that these waters1 furnished miraculously1 did follow them to some extent on their journeyperhaps in the way of fresh supplies provided for them in a similar manner4 ,it can not be doubted that the hosts of ,israel had water through all their journeyings2 they could not have subsisted long without it4 ,the natural supply must have been vastly greater in that age than in this if it sufficed for this great host at all other points of their journey save at ,rephidim and at ,kadesh4 ,the fact of a constant supply of bread by miracle favors the assumption of water miraculously provided whenever the supply from natural sources failed to meet their necessities4 ,this is perhaps the utmost we can say in the way of probabilities4 ,the ,battle ,with ,amalek4 ,while ,israel was on the march near ,rephidim1 the ,amalekites fell savagely upon their rear in a dastardly1 unprovoked assault1 described by ,moses 7,deut4 #be3 #ag1 #ah73 8,remember what ,amalek did to thee by the way when ye were come forth out of ,egypt2 how he met thee by the way and smote the hindmost of thee1 even all that were feeble behind thee when thou was faint and weary2 and he feared not ,god40 ,the day following1 ,moses summoned ,joshua to choose men for war and go out against ,amalek1 proposing for himself to take his stand upon a hill adjacent with the rod of ,god in his hand4 ,his uplifted hand and rod became the symbol or rather the visible manifestation of prayer4 ,while held up aloft1 ,israel prevailed2 let down1 ,amalek prevailed4 ,to achieve victory despite of the weariness of ,moses1 a stone was placed for him to sit upon2 then ,aaron and ,hur on either side held up his hands until the going down of the sun4 ,thus victory was achieved2 ,amalek was defeated1 and what is specially to be noted1 a signal illustration was afforded of the power of prayer and a sublime testimony placed on record before all ,israel that in ,god they were mighty against their foes and could have nothing to fear4 ,so important were these great moral lessons that the ,lord directed ,moses to 8write this for a memorial in the book0 not merely a bookthe well-known public record in which the wonderful works of ,god for ,israel were to be permanently preserved4,another reason for the record was that ,amalek was doomed for this outrage1 and the future kings and warriors of ,israel received from time to time their divine commission to execute this sentence of extermination4 7,see ,deut4 #be3 #ai1 and #a ,sam4 #ae1 etc41 etc47 ,there are some differences of opinion as to the history and geographical location of these ,amalekites4 ,the name 8,amalek0 appears 7,gen4 #cf3 #ab7 as the grandson of ,esau2 whence some have found the origin1 genealogically1 of this people there2 but they appear much earlier 7,gen4 #ad3 #g74;,as to their home geographically1 their nomadic habits require a somewhat wide range of territory within which they may be found4 ,the passages #a ,sam4 #ae3 #g1 and #bg3 #h1 locate them in the district lying between the ,philistines and ,egypt1 along the eastern shore of the ,mediterranean in ,arabia ,petrea4 ,we find them repeatedly associated with the ,midianites1 ,moabites1 and ,ammonites in raids upon the children of ,israel during the time of the ,judges and onward to the reign of ,david 7,judg4 #c3 #ab1 #ac1 and #f3 #c1 and #a ,sam4 #cj3 #a74 ,they come to view in the visions of ,balaam 7,num4 #bd3 #bj71 spoken of there as 8the first of the nations0a phrase which can scarcely refer to their high antiquity 7though this construction is barely possible72 more probably it refers to the fact that they were the first to make war upon ,israel after the latter assumed her distinctly national character4 ,so understood1 the description of ,amalek looked historically back to the facts before us ,ex4 #ag4 ,balaam foresaw their early destructiontheir case being in this respect solemnly admonitory to the king of ,moab4 ,let us not pass this historic fragment without a passing allusion to its admirable fitness as the opening scene in ,israel's relation to hostile foreign powers4 ,she had and was destined to have national enemies4 ,it was clearly in the policy of the ,lord her ,god that she should fight these enemies with arms in deadly combat4 ,hence it was vital that she should be taught in the outset where her strength for victory actually lay4 ,this onslaught of ,amalek upon her rear and the ensuing battle1 terminating in victory through prayer without ceasingthe uplifted arms of their ,moses sustained till the sun set upon the victorious arms of ,joshuabecame their standard lessonthe first and the permanent example to show them the fountain of their strengththe ground of assured victory while they lived in obedience to ,god and trusted his arm alone4,it scarcely need be said that all the spiritual conflicts of ,god's people with sin and ,satan fall under the same general lawvictory through prayer sustained and unfalteringvictory in the strength of ,israel's ,god alone4 ,jethro4 ,in ,ex4 #ah1 ,moses narrates a visit from his father-in-law who brought to him his wife and children1 left in his care ever since the scenes of which we read ,ex4 #d3 #ah-bf4 ,jethro is before us here as both a good and a wise mangood in that his heart is shown to be with ,god and with ,god's people1 8rejoicing for all the goodness which the ,lord had done to ,israel whom he had delivered out of the hand of the ,egyptians0 7#ah3 #i72 and wise in that he saw at a glance that the burdens then borne by ,moses in the administration of justice among the people would soon break him down2 and in his admirable suggestions of a better method which from that day became established among the ,hebrew people4 ,for both reasons such a visit deserved a permanent record4 ,it refreshes us to think of that good man who had known ,moses forty years as his worthy son-in-law1 yet moving only in the humble sphere of a shepherd's wilderness life2 but now meeting him ,god's recognized ,leader of the thousands of ,israel and hearing from his lips the wonders ,god had wrought on ,egypt and on ,pharaoh2 the deliverance from national bondage2 the passage of the ,red ,sea and the entrance upon a wilderness march underneath the cloudy pillar2 subsisting on the 8corn of heaven0 and on rivers of water from the rock of ,rephidim2 and withal having just then achieved their first victory over the first foreign power that dared assail them3all this recital from the lips of such a son must have moved the aged father's heart with unwonted emotions4 ,we are not surprised that he should exclaim3 8,blessed be the ,lord0 your nation's own ,jehovah 8who hath delivered you out of the hand of the ,egyptians and out of the hand of ,pharaoh4 ,now ,i know that the ,lord is greater than all gods1 for in the thing wherein they dealt proudly1 he was above them0 7#ah3 #aj1 #aa74,then1 being a priest1 8priest of ,midian0 ,ex4 #b3 #af and #ah3 #a1 he proceeded to offer sacrifices in the manner which had come down traditionally from the earliest fathers4 8,he took a burnt offering and sacrifices for ,god2 and ,aaron came and all the elders of ,israel to eat bread with ,moses' father-in-law before ,god0 7v4 #ab74 ,the term 8burnt offering0 is usually applied to a sacrifice which is burnt entire upon the altar4 ,the phrase 8sacrifice for ,god10 refers here to a peace-offering upon portions of which the worshipers partook in the manner of a religious feastan act at once religious toward ,god and social toward man4 ,the next day ,moses resumed his accustomed routine of labor1 sitting for the administration of justice to the people from morning till evening4 ,the spirit which we see in ,moses where he appears first in active life 7,ex4 #b3 #aa-ac7 would naturally put him to this service4 ,his prestige as the recognized ,leader of ,israel under ,god would turn the eyes of all the people to him as their ,judge4 ,hence naturally this overwhelming burden1 from which relief came through the wise suggestion of ,jethro4 ,this was that a gradation of subordinate courts be instituted so that cases of lesser magnitude and difficulty might be administered by others1 and only the more difficult be brought before ,moses4 ,the guiding principle in the classification was at first both tribal and numericalfollowing their division into tribes and their numbers4 ,after their location in ,canaan the numerical element gave place to the geographical4 ,judges had their province and their responsibility limited1 not by thousands and hundreds directly but by cities and localities4 ,with this modification the system passed into established usage among the ,hebrews4,in a parallel passage 7,deut4 #a3 #i-ah7 ,moses recites the same transaction1 omitting all allusion to his father-in-law1 and giving prominence to the qualities requisite in judges1 and to the principles of justice and righteousness by which they were to be governed4,at the close of this brief interview ,jethro returned to his home and people4 ,his son ,hobab1 brother-in-law of ,moses1 appears in the history somewhat later 7,num4 #aj3 #bi-cb71 and seems to have consented to act as guide to ,moses and ,israel in their march from ,sinai to ,kadesh1 and not improbably until they reached the ,jordan4 ,the home of the family had been on the ,east and ,south of ,horeb4 ,in the period of the ,judges and onward they are in the ,northern border of the great ,arabian desert4 7,see ,judg4 #a3 #af and #d3 #aa and #a ,sam4 #ae3 #f74 ,,the ,,scenes ,,at ,,sinai4 ,the ,national ,covenant and the ,giving of the ,law4 ,events of most vital bearing upon the national life of the ,hebrew people are now before us4 ,no longer one family as in ,abraham and ,isaac and ,jacob2 no longer a mere tribe1 clustering several families under one or more patriarchs1 but a group of many tribes1 enlarging fast toward the proportions of a great nation2and what is more1 a people no longer under the emasculating incubus of bondage1 but emancipated1 and free to rise and assume the duties of self-government with all its possibilities of growth and improvement1 personal and nationalthis great people1 were at this point summoned of ,god to enter into solemn national covenant with himself4 ,in its spirit and significance this covenant differed in no essential point from that which ,god made with ,abraham more than six hundred years before4 ,in that earlier covenant ,abraham spake for himself1 and so far as it was naturally possible1 for his posterity as well2 and ,god on his part promised to be a ,god not to him only but to his seed after him2 yet when this seed of ,abraham became a great people1 there was special fitness in summoning them to renew this covenant for themselves4 ,precisely this was done before ,sinai4 ,the ,lord reminded them most appropriately of what he had so recently done for them4 8,ye have seen what ,i did unto the ,egyptians1 and how ,i bare you on eagle's wings and brought you unto myself40 ,it was as if he had lifted them up from earth toward heaven and borne them forth and out from their national bondageas the eagle might take up her young and bear them aloft beyond the reach of whatsoever hostile power were tied down upon the earth's surface4 ,god had done this for the definite purpose of bringing them to himself4 8,now1 therefore1 7he proceeds7 if ye will obey my voice indeed and keep my covenant1 then ye shall be a peculiar treasure to me above all people1 for all the earth is mine2 and ye shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation0 7,ex4 #ai3 #d-f74 ,in this divine proposal the central word1 translated here 8peculiar treasure10 appears in ,ps4 #ace3 #d translated in the same way2 but in ,deut4 #g3 #f with a different translation8,a special people unto himself1 above all people that are upon the face of the earth40 ,the sense isa special propertya people by the choice of ,god and by their own voluntary consecration1 made peculiarly his own4 ,moses in ,deuteronomy 7as above7 labors to impress upon the people the thought and purpose of ,god in this covenant relation3 8,the ,lord did not set his love upon you nor choose you because ye were more in number than any other people2 for ye were the fewest of all people2 but because the ,lord loved you and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers1 hath the ,lord brought you out with a mighty hand and hath redeemed you out of the house of bondmen from the hand of ,pharaoh king of ,egypt40 ,of kindred significance are the other phrases used to express their new proposed relation to ,god8,a kingdom of priests and a holy nation40 ,this strong language8a kingdom of priests0gives us the thought of a whole peopleevery man in all the nation1 personally consecrated to ,god1 as if the nation were made up of priests and of such only4 ,god would have them understand that the holiness he required of them was not the professional service of a chosen few1 but the free-will offering of every man's own heart and life4 ,the whole peopleevery individual manwas summoned to come into this national covenant4 ,would they come8 ,moses called for the elderswho acted as the representatives of the whole people and 8laid before their faces all these words from the ,lord40 ,at once all the people answered together and said8,all that the ,lord hath spoken we will do40,let us hope that a fair proportion1 including at least many of the representative men of the nation1 were thoroughly sincere in this profession4 ,it would be grateful to our feelings to believe that they all both understood and meant what they said4 ,but1 alas6 subsequent developments forbid this belief4 ,it was however the formal consent of the nation4 ,as a whole people they gave their voice to this definite proposal from the ,lord their ,godthat he would be their ,god and that they would be his people4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the next thing in order1 is the giving of the law4 ,a people who propose to be the ,lord's and to obey his voice1 should be made acquainted with his will in the form of law4 ,they must be informed what he would have them do4 ,rules of heart and life1 precepts defining the reverent homage and worship due to ,god1 and the acts required or forbidden as toward their fellow-men should be made unmistakably plain4 ,preparations are accordingly made for the formal and solemn promulgation of this great moral law4 ,it is noticeable that in these preparations nothing seems to be omitted that might conduce to a deep and solemn impression4 ,the people are specially enjoined to sanctify themselves1 and two full days are set apart for this purpose4 ,they were commanded to 8wash their clothes0significant of the personal purity of heart which ,god required4,then the surroundings were of the most imposing and impressive character4 ,the whole people were gathered in an open plain which lay at the foot of ,sinai4 ,the most stringent precautions forbade all curious1 irreverent approach4 ,not a man or beast might touch the mountain on pain of death4 ,definite bounds were set for the people over which no one might pass4 ,there before them full in view stood the awful mountrugged1 grand1 cleft with fissures1 broken with deep ravines1 towering in sublime height and all enwrapped in thick clouds out of which lightnings flashedthe whole mountain rocking under the footsteps of the ,almighty and reverberating with his awful thunder1 and the voice of trumpet exceeding loud so that all the people in the camp trembled4 ,the written description of this scene gives us a sense of its ineffable grandeur and sublimity4 8,mount ,sinai was altogether on a smoke because the ,lord descended upon it in fire2 and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace1 and the whole mount quaked greatly4 ,when the voice of the trumpet sounded long and waxed louder and louder1 ,moses spake and the ,god answered him by a voice40,essentially the same descriptive points are repeated after the record of the law as promulged from ,sinai 7,ex4 #bj3 #ah-ba74 8,all the people saw the thunderings and the lightnings and the noise of the trumpet and the mountain smoking2 and when the people saw it1 they removed and stood afar off1 and said to ,moses3 ,speak thou with us and we will hear2 but let not ,god speak with us lest we die40 ,see also the renewed mention of this scene in ,deut4 #d3 #aj-ab4ci ,the ,moral ,law as given from ,sinai4 ,passing from the natural surroundings and scenes of ,sinai to the law itself1 let it be observed carefully that this law of ten commandments 7,ex4 #bj3 #a-ag and ,deut4 #e3 #f-ba7 is to be somewhat broadly distinguished from the other 8statutes and judgments10 whether civil or religious1 which the ,lord gave to ,israel by the hand of ,moses2this distinction being apparent in the following points and for the reasons which they suggest3 #a4 ,it was proclaimed by ,god himself in a most public and solemn manner in the hearing not of ,moses alone1 but of the elders of the people at least1 if not of the people en masse1 assembled before and around the glorious mount4 #b4 ,it was given under circumstances of most appalling majesty and sublimitythe mountain being enveloped with clouds and thick darkness1 yet at some moments all ablaze with the lightning's flash and rocking beneath ,jehovah's feet4 #c4 ,it was written by the finger of ,god on two tables of stone 7,deut4 #e3 #bb74 #d4 ,it differed from any and all other laws given to ,israel in that it was comprehensive and general rather than specific and particular4 #e4 ,it was complete1 being one finished whole to which nothing was to be addedfrom which nothing was ever taken away4 78,and he added no more0 ,deut4 #e3 #bb4 ,see also ,mat4 #e3 #ah74 ,the other statutes1 as we shall see1 were subjected to future modification4 #f4 ,the law of the ten commandments was honored by ,jesus ,christ as embodying the substance of the law of ,god enjoined upon man4 ,with a master's hand he grasped and brought out its two great principles1 underlying all the precepts3 ,love supreme to ,god3 love equal and unselfish toward fellow-men4 8,thou shalt love the ,lord with all thy heart1 and thy neighbor as thyself40 7,mat4 #bb3 #cf-dj1 and #ai3 #ah1 #ai and ,mk4 #ab3 #bh-cd74 #g4 ,it can scarcely be doubted that ,jesus had his eye specially if not exclusively on this law 7,mat4 #e3 #ah7 as one never to be repealedfrom which not one jot or tittle should ever pass away4 ,to this great moral law of ten commandments we now give special attention and note,that its introduction 7,ex4 #bj3 #b71 8,i am the ,lord thy ,god which have brought thee out of the land of ,egyptout of the house of bondage0is specialnot general and universal2 is adapted to the circumstances of ,israel1 and gives a special reason why they should honor this law as coming from the ,god of their national covenant1 the ,redeemer and ,savior of their nation4 ,on the one hand this special reason why ,israel should render supreme homage to ,jehovah as their ,deliverer from ,egyptian bondage neither applies specifically to all mankind1 nor does it imply that this law is not binding on other people than ,israel4 ,it was pertinent that as given originally to them it should be preceded and introduced by this special consideration1 so pertinent to their case4 ,yet it should be thoughtfully considered,god might have said most truly to every child of his great human family,i am ,he who gave thee thy being and every good2 and therefore ,i claim thy supreme love and homage4,i see no reason to question that this clause was put on the two tables of stoneits special introduction as given to the children of ,israel4 ,i4 ,in the first precept1 the words 8before me0 are construed variously4 ,the most usual and obvious translation of the ,hebrew words isbefore my face4 ,in some connections the preposition might mean upon or above4 8,my face0 is thought by some to be merely equivalent to myself4 ,keil translates8literally beyond me1 or in addition to me1 equivalent to except me1 or by the side of me40 ,he rejects the construction1 8before me0 7in my presence7 as incorrect1 and also condemns against mein opposition to me4 ,fuerst has it 8above i4 e4 except me40 ,murphy says8before me0 is literally 8upon my face40 ,it supposes those other gods to be set up before the true ,god as antagonists in the eye of ,god and as casting a shade over his eternal being and incommunicable glory in the eye of worshipers4,the two constructionsbeyond me and above meare open to the objection that they seem tacitly to admit other gods provided they are inferior and that ,god is supreme4 ,i prefer as the more obvious and natural constructionbefore my face4 ,thus the precept forbids homage to any other god in the presence of the supreme and omniscient ,jehovah2 and by consequence1 forbids divine honor to any other being or thing whatsoever4 8,thou shalt have no other gods before my face0 seems to imply that the least acknowledgment of other gods is in its very nature an insult to ,jehovah1 as if it thrust those gods into his very faceheld them up before his eye as more worthy of homage than he4 ,moreover1 as no possible worship of other gods can escape his eye1 or be otherwise than thrust up before his face1 the prohibition necessarily shuts off all such worship4 ,you may never worship other gods than the ,one ,supreme ,being1 for it is simply impossible that any such worship can elude his eye1 and you must not put it before his face4 ,,ii4 ,the second command prohibits the making and worshiping of images designed to represent idol godsimaginary powers1 supposed to have more or less control over human welfare4 ,it equally prohibits images designed to represent the true ,god4 ,all such sensuous conceptions of ,god are necessarily debasing4 ,they rest on false views of ,god2 tend to fearful and fatal degeneracy2 and must therefore be forbidden under most stringent penalties4 ,the whole history of our race witnesses to the infinite mischief wrought by such sensuous conceptions of ,god1 as well as by the notion of subordinate powers1 lower than the one supreme yet more than human4 ,this has been one of ,satan's devices to rule ,god out of his universe and transfer to other objects the worship due to ,god alone4 ,this prohibition as it stands here is not enforced by specific penalties1 but in a way far more impressive it bears us back to the very heart of ,god1 revealing his holy jealousy of any rival to his throne who would wrest and steal away from him the supreme love and homage of his creatures1 and give it to supposed gods that are no ,gods at all4 8,for ,i am a jealous ,god1 visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me40,by the very law of the family relation1 the great sins of the father send their curse down upon his children4 ,he makes them heirs to an inheritance of shame and sorrow4 ,he entails calamity upon his offspring4 ,godless and idolatrous himself1 he makes his family also godless and idolatrous4 ,the influence of his sin will naturally and almost inevitably blight the morals and the souls of his children after him1 and of his children's children4 ,let this fact throw its shield like a wall of fire around him and his family1 so that1 if not for his own sake1 at least for the sake of his unborn offspring1 he will most sacredly obey this command and abstain from the least infringement of it in spirit or in letter4 8,visiting iniquity0 and 8showing mercy0 are set over against each otherthe penal visitations of judgment for this sin warning men against it2 and the great promises of mercy to the obedient alluring them to its most diligent observance4 ,judgment is ,god's strange work1 while mercy is his delight4 ,therefore we have here the forceful antithesisthe visiting of the iniquities of fathers upon children to the third and fourth generation1 but the showing of mercy unto thousands of generations of them that love and obey4 ,to a ,hebrew mind this last clause of the second command would naturally suggest ,god's mercies to ,abraham1 the well-known friend of ,god1 upon whose posterity ,god was shedding forth his blessings to thousands of generations4 ,so richly does the loving ,god reward his dutiful and trustful children6 ,so much more grateful to his heart it is to bless even to the thousandth generation than to visit iniquity even so far as to the third and fourth6 ,it should be carefully noted that the visiting of the iniquities of fathers upon sons falls only upon those who hate him4 ,if sons in any future generation turn from their sinning to the love of ,god1 his merciful loving-kindness to them is sure4 ,the curse visits only those who persist in the sin of their fathers despite of all the warning judgments that should admonish them to fear ,god4 7,see ,ezek4 #ah74,this injunction against image-making and worship would naturally suggest to the men of ,israel the idolatrous ,egyptians4 ,their early fathers received from ,noah the knowledge of the one only true ,god4 ,but they did not love this knowledge1 nor the ,god whom it revealed2 therefore1 not liking to retain these views of the pure and holy ,god1 they chose to think of him as being like some of his works and began to worship such imaginary gods2 or they put in his place some lower beings or powers as objects of worship4 ,hence the terrible judgments which the children of ,israel had seen falling upon ,egypt and her idols4 8,upon those that love me0 is delightfully suggestive of the great truth that the essence of all acceptable worship is love4 ,god looks complacently on his human children when they delight in his glory1 love his character1 rejoice in his blessedness1 and make it the best joy of their souls to please him by doing all his will4 ,such love legitimately flows out in reverent worship and adoring homage4 ,over against this the worship of idols in place of ,god is congenial only to the souls that hate ,god4 ,this command assumes that those who worship other gods really hate the one ,supreme ,jehovah4 ,therefore it is that his jealousy burns against them4 ,they withhold from him the love and the homage of their hearts4 ,,iii4 ,in the third command the exegetical question is whether it refers primarily and properly to perjury1 or to profanity1 i4 e4 whether the ,hebrew word for 8in vain0#dj is precisely falsehood1 or emptiness1 a nothing1 a thing of no worth4 ,the current of critical opinion 7,gesenius1 ,fuerst1 etc47 goes for the former1 falsehood2 and makes the precept in its strict sense condemn perjury4 ,thou shalt not take up the name of ,jehovah to a falsehoodshalt not use it to affirm the more solemnly what is false4 ,yet as what is false has no foundation in fact1 and in point of truth is nothingis only an emptinessit comes to pass that this ,hebrew word takes not infrequently this secondary sense2 what is empty1 vain4 ,hence some able critics e4 g4 ,keil construe this precept to prohibit 8all employment of the name of ,god for vain and unworthy objects so as to include not only false swearing1 but trivial swearing in the ordinary intercourse of life and every use of the name of ,god in the service of untruth and lyingfor imprecations1 witchcraft1 or conjuring40,the construction of ,keil1 being the more broad and comprehensive1 and withal being clearly within the established usage of the original word1 is to be preferred4 ,the doctrine of inspiration is8,thy commandment is exceeding broad0 7,ps4 #aai3 #if74,the name of ,god is associated closely with the idea and thought of ,god4 ,hence all irreverent use of this name naturally begets irreverence of spirit toward ,god1 and must be fearfully pernicious4 ,using ,god's sacred name to affirm the more solemnly a falsehood is more than mere irreverence1 and must incur his highest displeasure4 ,the fourth commandthe law of the ,sabbathhas been already treated somewhat fully in connection with the original institution of the ,sabbath in ,eden4 ,i must dissent entirely from those critics who deny the existence of any ,sabbath law prior to ,sinai4 ,to 8bless the seventh day and sanctify it0 7as said in ,gen4 #b3 #c7 has no meaning if it do not mean that ,god required the day to be one of rest from labora day of holy time1 devoted to other than ordinary uses4,fully in harmony with this construction of these words is the allusion to the ,sabbath in the history of the manna 7,ex4 #af3 #bb-cj71 and also the form of the precept here 7,ex4 #bj3 #h71 which is not precisely,thou shalt do all thy work during six days1 but none on the seventh2but it is this3 8,remember the ,sabbath-day to keep it holy40 ,the implied injunction of the words spoken in ,eden wasmake it a holy day4 ,god blessed the seventh day and made it holy3 now1 therefore1 remember that original injunction4 ,to remember a previous day made holy1 must surely imply a precept setting it apart as holy time4 ,as given here the law of the ,sabbath is expanded into its legitimate details4 ,the prohibition of labor is applied to children1 to servants1 to cattle and to strangers4 ,then the reason for the command1 essentially as given in ,eden1 is reiterated2 8,for in six days the ,lord made heaven1 earth1 sea1 and all creatures2 but rested on the seventh day2 therefore he blessed and hallowed this ,sabbath-day40 ,noticeably1 the statement following 8therefore10 uses the same ,hebrew verbs8bless10 and 8sanctify0 or 8hallow0 which are used ,gen4 #b3 #c4;,it seems plainly implied that ,god places before men his own example of creative work during six day-periods and of rest from this work on the seventh as a reason or motive for their observance of the ,sabbathone day of rest after six of toil4 ,a secondary consideration is doubtless that by this arrangement the ,sabbath would be perpetually suggestive of man's relation to ,god as his ,infinite ,creator and ,father4 ,the linking of the ,sabbath to ,god's creative work and rest would naturally make that work a fact ever present to human thoughtblending its influence with the sacredness and with all the employments of this holy day4 ,man desists from labor4 ,why8 ,because ,god did4 ,after what labor8 ,that of making the heavens and the earth and man4 ,therefore let man remember ,god as his ,creator and render him the homage of obedience and the homage of adoration1 gratitude and praise4 ,thus the historic origin of the precept became suggestive of the thoughts1 the words1 and the divine worship appropriate to this holy day4 ,it is scarcely in place here to discuss the ,christian change from the seventh to the first day of the week1 further than to remark that a similar suggestive influence came in as the purpose and objectthe choice of the day suggesting the resurrection of ,christ4 ,the original reference to ,god as ,creator need not be practically lost3 but we may practically gain a second group of suggestive and most vital truthsthose which cluster round the resurrection of our ,lord4 ,v4 ,the fifth command consecrates its strength to the family relation4 ,addressed to children it requires them to honor their father and their mother1 and makes obedience the condition of long life and prosperity in the land of their promised inheritance4 ,as read in ,ex4 #bj3 #ab the command specifies only long life1 but as repeated in ,deut4 #e3 #af1 8that it may go well with thee0is added4 ,general prosperity is however involved and implied in length of days4,obviously this honor carries with it obedience as well as due respect4 ,such honor is vital to the happiness and the value of the family relation4 ,without it no foundation can ever be laid for a useful and worthy after-life4 ,it should not be overlooked that the earliest training of the infant mind ,godward should begin with cultivating the honor and obedience due to father and mother4 ,through all the earliest developments of the infant and youthful mind1 the parent is to the child in the place of ,god4 ,the same qualities of character1 the same obedience1 respect1 and deference1 which ,god requires toward himself are to be first implanted and developed in the mind toward the human parent4 ,failing of their due development in this antecedent relation1 they are almost certain never to be developed toward ,god3 a fatal defect in character is fastened upon the child2 a cast of mind is determined which but too surely ends in hopeless ruin4,it is noticeable that this very association of ideas1 uniting the homage due to parentage and years with the honor due to ,god appears in the ,mosaic law 7,lev4 #ai3 #cb72 8,thou shalt rise up before the hoary head and honor the face of the old man2 and fear thy ,god3 ,i am the ,lord40 ,,vi4 ,the next four precepts are a series beginning with the most vital1 designed to protect the rights of person and life2 of chastity2 of property2 and of reputation4 ,the precepts forbid murder1 adultery1 theft1 false witness1 or defamation4 ,the prohibition of murder must be construed broadly enough to forbid personal injuries on the one hand2 and on the other all those passionshate1 malice prepensewhich naturally lead on toward violence and murder4,the prohibition of adultery in like manner forbids not only all illicit sexual connection1 but even unchaste desire 7,matt4 #e3 #bg1 #bh74 ,so the prohibition of theft devolves the duty of caring for our neighbor's property so far as the law of loving our neighbor as ourself would require4 ,it is not enough that we do not take his property and appropriate it to our own use4 ,we must protect his right to his property as he should ours4 ,in like manner the law forbidding the bearing of false witness against our neighbor involves the duty of protecting and cherishing his reputation4 ,we may never forget that our neighbor's good name is a treasure to him which we not only must not steal away1 but must so far as in us lies guard and defend as if his good were worth as much as our own4 ,the one comprehensive principle which embraces all these points of law toward our neighbor and determines their true interpretation is given in the law of ,moses as well as in the law of ,christ8,thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself0 7,lev4 #ai3 #cd and ,matt4 #bb3 #ci and #ai3 #ai74 ,as to this passage from ,moses it should be noted that in terms it speaks not precisely of one's neighbor but of the strangerone toward whom you are wont to think your obligations less than toward any other human being2 for he is not a brother born of the same fathernot a relative of the same tribenot a citizen of the same commonwealth or nationality2 but an alien1 a foreigner1 a stranger toward whom you recognize no other relation than that of a fellow-being of human kind4 ,of such an one the law holds8,the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you1 and thou shalt love him as thyself2 for ye were strangers in the land of ,egypt3 ,i am the ,lord your ,god0and ,i enjoin upon you this all-embracing love for the lowest of human kind4 ,it should be carefully noted that although this group of four commands 7#f-i7 in each case specifies the extreme form of the sin1 the law by no means limits its prohibition to this extreme form4 ,killing is the extreme of personal violence2 adultery 7strictly the crime of the married7 is the most aggravated form of unchastity2 theft is more than simply being reckless of your neighbor's property2 and false witness naturally contemplates a case in courtpublic1 formal1 and of most grave and momentous consequences2yet in each and every one of these prohibitions it behooves us to remember that ,god looks at the heart2 that the spirit is more than the letter2 that the law which specifies the extreme form of a special sin forbids with its full force all the lower grades and all the less flagrant and revolting forms of the same sin4 ,we wrong ourselves most fearfully when we labor to ease our conscience by limiting the prohibitions of ,god's law to the extreme forms of sin which may be named in the statute4 ,it is always our highest wisdom to deal very honestly with our own conscience as before ,god in the construction and application of his law4 ,the tenth and last commandment is peculiar1 as compared with all others of the second table1 in this pointthat it specifies no external act whatever but lays its prohibition directly upon the heart4 8,thou shalt not covet0shalt not allow thyself to desire in such a way as might tempt thee to try to obtainthy neighbor's house1 wife1 servants1 cattle1 or any thing that he has4 ,this law aims to forestall temptation4 ,it strikes at the root of such sins as theft and adultery by forbidding any such desire as might move you toward the sin4 ,it may be regarded as shielding both of the two parties2 the one who might commit the sin1 and the one against whom the sin might be committed4 ,it throws its shield over him who might otherwise be tempted1 and it also becomes in so far a safeguard around him who holds treasures which lustful eyes might covet4 ,let us not omit to notice that it was this precept which opened the spiritual eye of ,paul and gave him a new view of the breadth and true significance of ,god's law4 8,i had not known sin1 7said he7 but by the law2 for ,i had not known lust except the law had said1 ,thou shalt not covet0 7,rom4 #g3 #g74 ,his ,pharisaic training 7we may suppose7 had been scrupulous over the tenth part of the mint and anise and cumminhad taken even ostentatious care of the external matters of the law2 but1 alas6 had left the heart out4 ,here at the close of the law of ,sinailast among the precepts that treat of duty to our neighborstands one which puts its finger squarely upon the heart4 ,it says8,thou shalt not covet40 ,it not only suggests that ,god looks within the soul of man for sin1 but it demands that every man shall look there too and put his own restraining hand directly upon those rising desires which1 indulged1 would push him into overt sin4 ,moreover1 this one precept may be supposed to have suggested to the mind of ,paul that the whole law of ,god must be construed on this heart-principlethat every precept it contains goes beyond the letter to the spiritpushes its demand deeper than the outward act1 even to the inner thought1 passion1 and purpose of the soul4 ,this view put the law of ,god in a new lightwe might even sayrevealed a new law to his soul4 ,it gave him a new field for self-examination2 brought up new sins never seen or dreamed of before1 and at once demolished hopes of favor before ,god and of salvation on which he had perilously leaned through all his ,pharisaic life48,thy commandment0 7said one of the ,psalmists7 8is exceeding broad0 7,ps4 #aai3 #if74 ,we are not to think of all the ,old ,testament saints as ,pharisees4 ,let us rather hope that many of them read in the law of ,sinai the law of love1 and adjusted to it1 not the outward life only but the very heart as well4 ,progress in the ,revelation of ,god to ,man4 ,the first twenty chapters of ,exodus cover a period eminently rich in point of progress in revealing ,god to the race4,more fully than ever before ,god manifested those special elements of his character which are unfolded in the new name ,jehovah,i am that ,i ,am 7,ex4 #c3 #ad74 ,he had given promises before2 then he came forth to fulfill them4 ,he had talked with the patriarchs about faith1 and had sought to inspire it in their souls4 ,in these great deeds for his people he gave them demonstrations of his eternal faithfulnessa basis on which their faith might rest1 and also the faith of every child of his through all the future ages4 ,god came exceedingly near to his afflicted people in ,egypt1 and never missed any opportunity of suggesting and impressing the idea that these tender testimonies of his love were in proof of his fidelity to promisewere the very acts which his covenant with ,abraham involved and called forcalled for of their covenant ,god not in vain4 ,again1 we see here the possibility of very great intimacy of communion between ,god and man4 ,as bearing on this point the reader will review the scene between ,moses and the ,lord at the burning bush2 in his mission to ,pharaoh2 in the special directions given him in regard to the sending of each several plague1 and usually as to its removal as well4 ,did ever earthly ,potentate stand on more intimate terms with his prime minister8 ,or military chieftain with his subordinate officer8 ,if ,moses was at any point reluctant1 under a conscious sense of capacities unequal to the work and of difficulties he could not surmount1 did he not bring the matter before the ,lord with at least as much freedom as the case could justify8,especially when we think of ,moses coming so near to ,jehovah in his majesty wielding the terrific agencies of flood and storm and fire1 of darkness and lightning and the voice of trumpet exceeding loud,mt4 ,sinai rocking beneath his feet1 and ,moses alone drawing near the ,awful ,presence and talking with ,god face to face therewhat shall we say of the possibilities of communion between man and his ,maker8 ,whatever speculations we may have as to the means and methods by which the thought of ,god was borne to the mind of ,moses and the thought of ,moses to the mind of ,god1 the great fact of communion of mind with mindthought meeting thoughtof command from the superior party1 received and obeyed by the inferioris on the outer face of the whole history and admits of no question4 ,god can speak to man so that man shall know the voice to be his and comprehend perfectly its significance4 ,relations of obedience1 confidence1 and love on the part of man toward his ,maker are established1 and ,god meets them with appropriate manifestations of his favor4 ,this great fact is one of telling significance in the whole province of ,christian experience4 ,its significance can not terminate with the present life but must pass on to be unfolded far more gloriously in the revelations of the eternal world4 8,it doth not yet appear0 in all points 8what we shall be0but it does appear that ,god has made us capable of exceedingly intimate relations to himselfas we shall know more perfectly when we shall see as we are seen and know as also we are known4 ,yet again2 ,this portion of historic revelation abounds with testimonies to the power of prayer and to its place in the relations of ,god to man and of man to ,god4 ,we see these revelations in the history of the plagues on ,egypt4 ,so palpably manifest was the power of ,moses with ,god in prayer that even proud ,pharaoh saw and recognized it4 ,over and over again the king besought the prayers of the man of ,godapparently with unlimited confidence that ,god would grant whatever he should ask4 ,though he never had seen such power in prayer before1 the force of the facts was too great to be resisted4 ,for once he became so far a believer in the communion of man with ,god1 and also in the power of ,god to work wonders which man's power alone could never reach4 ,the war scenes with ,amalek and the prayer which turned the victory to ,israel's side will be readily recalled4 ,as already suggested1 this specimen case1 brought out so perfectly in the first national conflict of arms1 was well adapted to send down to future ages the great secret of success against their national enemies4 ,how happy for ,israel if it had never been forgotten6 ,how well for the ,christian world if the lessons of that scene were faithfully transferred and applied in all spiritual conflicts against foes within and foes without which pertain to this ever militant state6 ,it is scarcely necessary to speak in fuller detail of the revelations of ,god to man through miracle4 ,every page of this history teems with miracles4 ,take the miracles away1 and truly there would be nothing left4 ,the revelations of ,god's will to ,moses2 the judgments on ,egypt2 the redemption of his people from bondage there2 the scenes at the ,red ,sea2 the bread and the water for his needy people2 the pillar of cloud and of fire2 the glories of ,sinai and the giving of his law in voice of majesty3what are all these but miraclesthe ,great ,god over-stepping the ordinary course of nature to impress himself1 the power of his arm1 the mandates of his willupon human minds8 ,no other such chapter on miracles appears in the ,old ,testament4 ,nowhere else do they cluster so grandly2 not elsewhere do they so much supersede the common laws of nature and give character to the entire course of the divine administration4 ,most abundantly do they testify that the arm of the ,lord is equal to any result which his wisdom may devise4 ,if he has purposes to accomplish he can not lack the means or the power necessary4 ,the age of miracles can be brought round again if so he wills it4 ,but more to our purpose is the inference to the adequacy of his resources in general1 whether with or without miracle4,yet let us not miss the more vital truth that this cluster of miracles aimed to witness to ,god's present hand working with ,moses1 endorsing his mission and accrediting his words from the most ,high4 ,god was then specially active in 8making history0 7shall we say87making history to put into his ,bible4 ,the ,bible was growing2 the great crisis which developed into the birth of the ,hebrew nation was then transpiring2 ,god's plans for training a people who should be holy to himselfthe repository of his truththe church of the living ,godwere then rapidly unfolding2 and no vital step in this process could spare the agency of miracle4 ,yet again2 ,in this portion of sacred history much new light has been thrown upon ,god's management of great sinners4 ,pharaoh was a standard case of this sort4 ,as already suggested1 there are many aspects of this management4 ,on one side we see the strong arm1 putting his hook into the jaws of ,leviathancurbing his spirit1 breaking down his power2 burying him and his hosts in the sea4 ,on another side are unfolded the nice relations of even this resistless power to the free moral activities of the great sinner2 the wonderful blending of mercies with judgments2 the patient waitingif possibly these manifestations of ,god's hand may bring the proud king to real submission2 and coupled with this1 the steady purpose on ,god's part to turn all ,pharaoh's pride and guilt and moral obduracy to best possible accountsetting forth his mode of dealing with wicked men in making known his power to save his people and to crush their foes1 and his unfailing wisdom in making the wrath of the proudest of mortals evolve his own glory and praise4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the scenes of ,sinai were a long and magnificent step of progress in the revelations of ,god to men4 ,we may think here not so much of the external surroundingsthe bringing into service of all the grandest agencies of nature to impress men with reverence and fear and awe1 and so to plant the more deeply in their souls the idea of law as emanating unmistakably from the ,infinite ,one2 but we may consider the great fact itself of a revealed law4 ,it is surely a point in the progress of ,god's revelations of himself second to nothing that has gone beforesecond to nothing in all the ages save the greater mission of his ,son for the purposes of redemption4 ,god revealing to man a rule of duty2 expressing it in terms at once so simple and so comprehensive2 including the duties we owe to ,god on the one hand and to fellow-beings on the other2 putting it on permanent record2 accompanying it with demonstrations of majesty and glory1 endorsing it so surely and so sublimely2 adjusting it so nicely in harmony with the intelligent convictions of rational minds1 and so commending it to every man's conscience as intrinsically and eternally right3truly the promulgation of such a law through such agencies is surpassingly grand and glorious2 and1 in the line of our present thought1 is one of the great epochs in the march of ,god's revelations of himself to mortals4 ,we pause before it to take in the value of this revealed law2 the new relations into which the race are brought thereby toward their ,great ,father2 and the bearings of this law upon the whole plan of ,god's moral administration toward our fallen race4 ,,chapter ,,xvi4 ,,the ,,hebrew ,,theocracy4 ,,naturally following the national covenant 7,ex4 #ai7 and the giving of the law from ,sinai 7,ex4 #bj7 and preliminary to the civil code8the statutes and judgments0comes in the ,theocracya term used to designate the system of government established for the ,hebrew people4 ,here we may consider briefly the following points3 ,i4 ,the ,supreme ,power4 ,,ii4 ,the powers of ,jehovah's vicegerentshis chief executive officers4 ,,iii4 ,the general assembly or congregation1 and their elders4 ,,iv4 ,the scope afforded for self-government-democracy4 ,v4 ,the fundamental principles of this entire system4 ,,vi4 ,its union of church and state4 ,,vii4 ,its principles and usages in respect to war1 with a notice of the war-commission against the doomed ,canaanites4 ,i4 ,the ,supreme ,power4 ,god himself was king4 ,in every respect the supreme power was his4 ,precisely this is the sense of the term 8theocracy0a government of ,god4 ,this comprehensive fact appears in the following particulars3 #a4 ,god demanded supreme homage as their king 7,ex4 #ai3 #f and ,deut4 #f3 #d-ae1 and #g3 #f-aa1 and #aj3 #ab-ba1 and #cc3 #d1 #e and #a ,sam4 #h3 #f-h1 and #aj3 #ah1 #ai and ,judg4 #h3 #bc74 #b4 ,god enacted the statutes4 ,he was the ,supreme ,lawgiver4 ,we sometimes speak of the 8,mosaic code10 of the 8statutes of ,moses10 meaning by these phrases only that the statutes came from ,god to the people by the hand of ,moses2 never that ,moses was himself the author of these statutesthe true legislator4 7,see ,ex4 #ba3 #a and ,deut4 #f3 #a74 #c4 ,god nominated the chief executive4 ,he called ,moses 7,ex4 #c3 #aj1 #ab1 and #d3 #af and #a ,cor4 #aj3 #b72 and ,joshua 7,num4 #bg3 #ah-bc and ,deut4 #c3 #bh1 and #ca3 #c and ,josh4 #a and #e3 #ac-ae74 ,the same was true of the ,judges1 raised up for special emergencies 7,judg4 #b3 #af1 #ah1 and #c3 #i1 #ae1 and #d3 #f1 and #f3 #ab1 etc41 etc47 ,god called the kings3,saul 7#a ,sam4 #i3 #ag1 and #aj3 #a72 also ,david 7#a ,sam4 #ac3 #ad1 and #af3 #a and #b ,sam4 #e3 #b and ,ps4 #gh3 #gj1 #ga72 and to name no more1 ,solomon 7#a ,chron4 #bh3 #e74 #d4 ,in all cases not otherwise provided for1 the ultimate appeal was to ,god4 ,in point we have 7,num4 #af and #ag7 a case of resistance to the authority of ,mosesincipient rebellion4 ,god interposed with his supreme authority4 ,we have a case in civil law1 not reached by the statutes1 viz4 the entailment of real estate in a family of daughters only4 ,moses brought it before the ,lord for adjudication 7,num4 #bg3 #e74 ,a special provision respecting the marriage of daughters holding property in land became necessary3 this new law was sought from ,god 7,num4 #cf3 #f74;,a criminal case occurred in which the law was not explicit2 8it was not declared what should be done0 with the criminal 7,num4 #ae3 #cb-cf74 ,the ,lord gave them the law for the case4,in the case of ,achan 7,josh4 #g7 the ,lord interposed1 not so much because there was no law for its decision as because the sin was flagrant and the demand for exemplary punishment was very great4,in cases which would appropriately require the calling of a ,supreme ,council1 the people sought direction from ,god4 7,see ,judg4 #a3 #a1 and #bj3 #ah1 #bg1 #bh and #a ,sam4 #ad3 #cg1 and #bc3 #b1 #d1 #i-ab1 and #bh3 #f1 and #cj3 #h and #b ,sam4 #b3 #a74 ,god made provision through the prophets for a direct revelation of his will to the people in special cases not otherwise provided for 7,deut4 #ah3 #ah74 #e4 ,in later times the demand of the people for a human king seemed to be constructive treason4 ,it might be so understood1 and therefore the ,lord reasserted his prerogative1 although he yielded to their demands 7#a ,sam4 #h3 #f-i1 and #aj3 #ag-be74 #f4 ,it scarcely need be said that ,god bound himself by promise to reward the people with all national prosperity if obedient1 and by threatening1 to punish them with national calamity for disobedience4 ,these points are expanded fully ,lev4 #bf and ,deut4 chapters #bg-cj4,that ,god inflicted these threatened punishments early in their nation's history may be seen ,num4 #aa3 #cc1 and #af3 #a-ej4 ,thus it appears that in every appropriate way and in numerous vital respects ,god manifested his supreme authority over his people ,israel4 ,,ii4 ,the powers of ,jehovah's vicegerent4 ,of this we have illustrations in the cases of ,moses1 ,joshua1 the ,judges1 and the kings4 ,these cases show that they were precisely the ,lord's prime ministers1 commissioned to execute his will4 ,if a law touching the case existed and its application was clear1 they simply adjudicated the case and put the law in force4 ,if no statute touching the case was extant1 they sought one4 ,if the application of the law baffled their wisdom1 they sought counsel from ,god4 ,hence the ,scriptures speak of these prime ministers as the ,lord's 8servants10 to serve him in this high capacity4 7,see ,num4 #ab3 #g and ,heb4 #c3 #b1 #e and ,josh4 #a3 #a1 #b1 and #e3 #ac-ae and #b ,sam4 #g3 #h1 etc47 ,of the officers holding under the chief executive there is no occasion to speak in great detail4 ,the system of subordinate judgeslower courtshas come to view in the history of ,jethro 7,ex4 #ah74 ,in ,canaan they held their courts in the gates of large cities1 and 7for certain criminal cases7 in the cities of refuge which were cities of the ,levitesfrom which tribe judges seem largely to have been drawn4 ,the 8elders08heads of the house of their fathers0held important responsibilitiesa fact due largely to the influence of the patriarchal system which had come down from the earliest times1 the usages of which1 therefore1 had essentially the force of common law in ,israel4 ,it was in great measure due to them that after the death of ,joshua the processes of government went on without any chief executive1 with no king1 and with no ,supreme ,judge except as the ,high ,priest may have performed that function4 ,,iii4 ,the ,general ,assembly or ,congregation1 and the ,elders4 ,we read of great conventions1 congregations1 assemblies1 in which it is not definitely said that all the people were there2 and also of convocations in which 8all the people0 were present4 ,in some at least of the cases of the latter sort1 the elders seem to have acted distinctly from the masses of the people1 being the media of communication 7as the case may be7 between the ,lord or his servant ,moses of the one party and the people at large of the other4 ,thus shortly before the giving of the law from ,sinai when ,god ratified a national covenant with the people1 we read8,moses called for the elders of the people and laid before their faces all these words which the ,lord commanded him4 ,and all the people answered together and said,all that the ,lord hath spoken we will do0 7,ex4 #ai3 #g1 #h74 ,moses spake to the people through their elders4 ,it was naturally impossible that any one human voice could be heard by six hundred thousand men4,so in #a ,sam4 #h3 #d-aj 8the elders gathered together and said to ,samuel1 ,make us a king20 8and the ,lord said unto ,samuel1 ,hearken unto the voice of the people40 8,and ,samuel told all the words of the ,lord unto the people that asked of him a king40,these elderschiefs of the peopleseem to have been a well-defined class4 ,note how they are designated 7,num4 #a3 #af72 8,these are the renowned ,heb4 the called ones of the congregation1 princes of the tribes of their fathers1 heads of thousands in ,israel40 ,also ,num4 #af3 #b3 8,two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly1 famous in the congregation0 ,heb4 the called ones of the congregation1 i4 e4 the men summoned to represent their constituents1 8men of renown40,the question will arise whether these called men1 the recognized heads and representatives of the people1 held specially delegated powers2 whether they were appointed for an occasion and were instructed by the people3 or whether they held the headship1 this representative power1 by virtue of the ancient usages of the patriarchal system4 ,the latter is the true view1 for the patriarchal system had the prestige of common law2 and we find not the least hint of any election of these 8heads of the house of their fathers0 for any special functionno notice of their receiving special instructions to act as delegated representatives of the people4,let it be noted carefully that on all really great occasions when the vital issues of their covenant relation with ,god were pending1 8all the people0the solid masseswere convened1 and of course their elders and high officers with them4 ,we see such a case before ,sinai 7,ex4 #ai72 another1 shortly before the death of ,moses1 in a solemn ratification of their national covenant3 8,ye stand this day all of you before the ,lord your ,god2 your captains of your tribes1 your elders and your officers1 with all the men of ,israel0 7,deut4 #bi3 #aj-ab71 8that thou shouldest enter into covenant with the ,lord thy ,god10 etc4,again2 after they had entered ,canaan in the scene of rehearsing the blessings and the curses of the law from ,mt4 ,gerizim and ,mt4 ,ebal3 8,and all ,israel and their elders and officers and their judges1 stood10 etc4 7,josh4 #h3 #cc74 ,see also ,josh4 #bc3 #b and #bd3 #a and ,judg4 #bj3 #a and #a ,sam4 #h4 ,it was supremely appropriate that every man of ,israel should give his voice and heart in these great national consecrations of themselves to their nation's ,god4 ,the ,lord sought to call into action every mindto make a deep moral impression on every heart4 ,therefore none could be exempted2 no man could be excused for absence4 ,,iv4 ,the scope afforded under this system for self-governmentdemocracy4 ,it is readily obvious that under this theocracy1 the function of legislators was out of the question4 ,the people did not make their own laws3 these were given themmade by the ,lord alone4 ,it only remained for them to say whether they would accept the ,lord their ,god as their ,lawgiver and ,supreme ,king4 ,such assent and consent on their part was appropriate2 and precisely this they gaveas we may see in the case of the moral law of ,sinai 7,ex4 #ai3 #c-h and ,deut4 #e3 #bg1 #bh72 and of all the statutes and judgments of their civil code 7,ex4 #bd3 #c74 ,this national recognition of ,god as ,supreme ,lawgiver was renewed from time to time with subsequent generations of ,israel 7,deut4 #bi3 #aj-ae and ,josh4 #bd3 #ae-bg and ,neh4 #aj3 #bh1 #bi71 etc4 ,thus it appears that the laws under which they lived were not arbitrarily imposed upon them without their consentmuch less1 against their will2 but only with their formal and solemn consent4 ,so far forth1 their government involved an element of freedom and of self-control4 ,they were not tyrannously coerced into subjection to laws which they repudiated4 ,a system of law1 in itself most excellent and entirely unexceptionable1 was presented to them for their adoption or rejection4 ,they adopted itapparently with the warmest approbation4 ,essentially the same principle obtained in regard to their highest human executive officer4 ,they did not nominate and choose ,moses of their own motion4 ,no caucus1 no primary meeting1 no formal election brought out his name as the choice of the people4 ,the ,lord alone raised up ,moses1 prepared him for the position he was to hold and brought him before the people4 ,then they received him as their leader 7,ex4 #d3 #bi-ca and #bj3 #ai and ,deut4 #e3 #bg74 ,in the same manner they accepted ,joshua 7,josh4 #a3 #af-ah74 ,in the case of ,saul1 their first king1 the ,lord nominated1 and the people ratified his nomination 7#a ,sam4 #aj3 #bd and #aa3 #ad1 #ae74 ,the ,lord called ,david also 7#a ,sam4 #af3 #a-ab71 but the people accepted him as king and cordially ratified his divine nomination 7#b ,sam4 #e3 #a-c74 ,through his prophet ,nathan the ,lord gave the kingdom to ,david's posterity 7#b ,sam4 #g7 and prophetically indicated ,solomon 7#a ,chron4 #bb3 #h1 #i and #a ,kings #a3 #ac1 #bi1 #cj72 but the people still gave their full-hearted consent 7#a ,kings #a3 #ci1 #dj74 ,the same powers were asserted by the people in the case of ,rehoboam 7#a ,kings #ab3 #a-bj74 ,it should be specially noted that when the government assumed the form of a human monarchyan earthly king reigning under ,god in this real theocracy1 it was a limited1 not an absolute monarchy4 ,the ,mosaic law anticipated this change and imposed certain constitutional limitations upon the prospective king 7,deut4 #ag3 #ad-bj74 ,he must be one whom the ,lord should choose2 of native and not foreign birth2 must not multiply horses1 nor wives1 nor treasures of silver and gold2 must keep by him a copy of the law given through ,moses1 must read it and regard it as the constitution under which he reigned4 ,when the demand for a king arose ,samuel forewarned the people of the assumptions of power which1 by the usages of mankind1 they must expect in their king 7#a ,sam4 #h3 #aj-ag71 and took the precaution to put in writing 8the manner of the kingdom0the constitutional provisions and safe-guards under which he was to reign 7#a ,sam4 #aj3 #be74 ,no copy of this constitution has come down to us2 but it doubtless corresponded essentially with the limitations made by the law of ,moses as in ,deut4 #ag3 #ad-bj4 ,the voice of the people in self-government appears also in the appointment of the judges who were to administer the law in courts of justice4 ,we have seen how the old patriarchal system was enlarged and modified at the suggestion of ,jethro 7,ex4 #ah3 #ac-bf74 ,this first narrative seems to rest the appointment of these judges entirely with ,moses2 but his own more detailed account 7,deut4 #a3 #i-ah7 shows that the people were heard in the nomination3 8,take you wise men and understanding1 and known among your tribes1 and ,i will make them rulers over you4 ,and ye answered me and said,the thing which thou hast spoken is good for us to do4 ,so ,i took the chief men of your tribes1 wise men and known1 and made them heads over you10 etc4 ,plainly these men had acquired position by merit1 and held their place and power 7before this special appointment7 by the general consent of the people4,the general law in the case runs8,judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates1 etc41 and they shall judge the people with just judgment0 7,deut4 #af3 #ah74 ,self-government is further developed in the independent action which we may notice occasionally in the several tribes4 ,especially in the period from ,joshua to ,saul1 the several tribes acted singly1 or in union with one or more of their fellow-tribes at their option 7,judg4 #a3 #a-c1 #bb and #d3 #aj and #g3 #bc1 #bd and #h3 #bc1 and #bj3 #aa-df74 ,special cases of this independent action appear in #a ,chron4 #d3 #da-dc and #e3 #ah-bc4,on great occasions1 the people convened en masse for deliberation and united action as in ,josh4 #bb3 #ab1 #af and #bc3 #b and ,judg4 #bj and #ba4,obviously they assumed the right to disapprove the action of their princes as in the case of the ,gibeonites 7,josh4 #i3 #ah1 #ai78;,all the congregation murmured against the princes40 ,v4 ,the ,fundamental ,principles of this entire ,system4 #a4 ,jehovah being their ,supreme ,king1 supreme love and worship must be rendered to him4 #b4 ,idolatry was a state offense1 nothing less than high treason1 and therefore a capital crime1 punishable with death4 ,any one of their cities1 given to idolatry1 must be utterly exterminated 7,deut4 #ac3 #a-ah and #ag3 #b-g74 #c4 ,the most stringent laws ordained non-intercourse with idolatrous nations and non-conformity to their customs4 ,inter-marriages with them were strictly prohibited2 trade and commerce were at least discouraged if not forbidden4 ,these laws may be seen in ,ex4 #cd3 #aa-ag and ,deut4 #g3 #a-e1 #af1 #bc-bf2 and cases of their application in ,num4 #be and #ca2 also in ,ezra #i and #aj and ,neh4 #ac3 #bc-ca4 ,sundry customs1 some of which might in themselves be of small account1 were prohibited1 apparently because associated with idolatry in the usages of other nations and in the ideas of the people of ,israel 7,deut4 #ad3 #a-ba and ,lev4 #bj3 #bc- #bf74 ,the distinction between clean and unclean beasts seems to fall under this principle4 #d4 ,this ,hebrew ,theocracy was engrafted upon a previously existing patriarchal government1 and therefore it recognized this previous system as substantially the common law of the land1 to be in force except so far as modified by special legislation under the new regime given from the ,lord through ,moses4 ,this principle is illustrated in the powers and functions of the elders1 known as 8heads of the house of their fathers02 8princes02 8heads of the thousands of ,israel0 7,ex4 #f3 #be1 and ,num4 #c3 #bd1 #cj1 #ce1 and #a3 #af1 and #aj3 #d74 #e4 ,it was manifestly an accepted principle1 underlying the entire system1 to give the people as wide a range of free responsible action as a theocratic government would admit4 ,democracy must of necessity be subordinate to theocracy2 the self-ruling of the people must find its place under the supreme ruling of ,jehovah4 ,consequently the law must come entire from ,god1 not from the people4 ,the chief executive must receive his commission from ,god1 though he might be formally accepted and his appointment in this way ratified by the people4 ,the ,lord sought the willing homage of the peoplethe obedience of their heartand therefore encouraged the most cheerful and hearty expression of their will and of their homage in entering into covenant with himself1 and from time to time in solemnly renewing it4 ,he would have them feel that they were the people of the ,lord by their own real consent and hearty acceptance4 ,so much democracy therefore entered into their scheme of national polity4 ,so much there might be4 ,in the nature of a theocracy1 there could not be more4 #f4 ,as elsewhere shown1 the statutes were within certain limits graduated in moral tone to the moral status of the people1 being as high as they would bearas near theoretical perfection as could be made effectivei4 e4 as could secure a general obedience4 ,,vi4 ,its union of ,church and ,state4 ,by this modern phrase is currently meant the subordination of the church to the civil or state authorities4 ,such a union in the ,hebrew nation was a natural consequent upon a theocratic government4 ,the civil code coming from ,god himself1 the religious code must come from him by obvious fitness1 not to say necessity4 ,in his entire policy with ,israel1 ,god sought the most effective moral culture4 ,we find this purpose underlying the entire civil government with its code of civil laws2 it must of course underlie their religious institutions4 ,hence the church and the state were worked not only by the same hand but for the same general purpose4 ,in practice certain crimes against the religious law were enforced by the state4 ,idolatry was a state offense1 punishable as other state crimes4 ,so of perjury and blasphemy4 7,deut4 #ai3 #af-ai47;,it was due to the common relations of church and state that to a great extent the religious orders were civil judges4 ,in the absence of a king or other chief executive1 the ,high ,priest seems to have held that function4 7,see ,deut4 #ag3 #ab and #b ,chron4 #ai3 #h-aa74 ,the subordinate judges were largely taken from the priests and ,levites 7,deut4 #ba3 #e1 and #cc3 #aj74 ,since the system provided for an ultimate appeal to ,god1 extreme cases were taken up for the sake of such appeal to the one place which was for the time the seat of ,god's special manifestations to his people 7,deut4 #ag3 #h-ac1 and #ai3 #ag74 ,the wisdom of this joint action of the civil law with the religious admits in their case of no question4 ,it may suffice to refer in proof to the omnipresent power of idolatry through all the ages from ,moses to the captivity1 to show the vital need of the civil arm to sustain the true worship of ,god and save the nation4 ,on the other hand the state was the stronger for her religious institutions4 ,the great religious festivals1 bringing the masses of the male population from every tribe three times a year for a sacred week of communion must have been of priceless value in sustaining the national unity and a national patriotism4 ,jeroboam was sharp enough to see that the calves at ,bethel and ,dan must take the place of the festivals at ,jerusalem1 or his kingdom would melt away from under him1 and his people give their civil fealty as well as their religious homage at the old center4 ,hezekiah would have brought the ten tribes back if he could have drawn their people in a body to the great ,passover1 as he sought to do4,hence it is quite safe to say that the state was the stronger for the national religion1 and their religion the stronger for the aid of the state4,yet let none rush to the inference that such mutual relations of church and state are therefore wise and useful in the ,christian age of the world4 ,the providences of ,god shut off from the primitive church the possibility of such union and shut up ,christianity to make her first great conquests under the sturdy opposition of the greatest civil power of the age4 ,experience has long since disproved the inference above referred to4 ,the cases are too dissimilar to admit of any logical reasoning from that age to this4 ,in the ,hebrew economy we are struck with the fact that both the religious and the civil code were enforced chiefly by considerations and influences1 rewards and punishments1 coming in from the present worldnot from the future4 ,let it be supposed that religious duties were in our age enforced by such motives chieflyand we should see at a glance the change that has passed over the world since ,moses uttered the concluding chapters of ,deuteronomy4 ,idolatry1 then the head sin of the ages1 was fitly resisted1 not only by the civil arm1 but by the most fearful array of civil pains and penalties4 ,the capital sins of ,christendom are now of quite other sort2 and the motives to repentance come appropriately from the other worlds yet before us and not from this4 ,it may be difficult for us to realize how stern the necessity was that ,god should in the earlier ages govern the world1 and not least his own people1 by motives from the visible and not from the invisible worldfrom earth and time and the present life1 and not from the eternal1 the future and yet unseen state4 ,this subject will receive further attention near the close of this volume4 ,,vii4 ,the principles and usages of the ,hebrew code in respect to war2 with some notice of the war-edict for the extirpation of the ,canaanites4 ,by their constitution the war-power was with ,god4 ,the power and the right to declare war rested in him alone4 ,he forbade them to make war on ,edom2 he commanded them to exterminate ,amalek and the devoted nations of ,canaan1 and to 8vex the ,midianites and smite them04 7,as to ,edom1 see ,deut4 #b3 #e2 as to ,amalek1 ,ex4 #ag3 #h1 #ad1 #af and ,deut4 #be3 #ag-ai2 as to the ,midianites1 ,num4 #be3 #ag1 #ah1 and #ca374,their rulers were expected to bring the question before the ,lord,shall ,i in this case go up to battle1 or shall ,i forbear8 7,judg4 #a3 #a1 and #bj3 #ah1 #bc1 #bh74;,any one tribe might go out to war alone1 or might call in the aid of another or of all3a fact which shows that the tribes were confederated rather than united and consolidated4 ,on great occasions1 of common danger1 all the tribes associated together1 and1 with certain specified exceptions1 every man able for war was required to go4 ,the exceptions are given 7,deut4 #bj3 #e-h72 viz4 the man who had built a house1 but had not dedicated it2 he who had planted a vineyard but had not eaten of its fruits2 he who had betrothed a wife1 yet had not taken her2 and finally1 every fearful and faint-hearted man2i4 e4 all who had special attractions homeward which might tempt them to desert the ranks1 and they whose timid hearts made them worthless and might be contagious3in the words of the statute1 8,lest his brother's heart faint as well as his heart40 ,personal heroism was of prime accounta heroism inspired by faith in ,israel's ,god4 ,the history every-where shows that such armies1 fired with religious enthusiasm1 strong by faith in the mighty ,god1 were terrible in battle1 and for the most part certain of victory4 ,often as we read these annals of the wars of ,israel1 we can not resist the conviction that they were means of grace as well as of manhoodan illustration of which may be seen in ,david before ,goliath the ,philistine 7#a ,sam4 #ag74,when only a small number of men were needed1 they were chosen1 picked men1 naturally the brave1 skilled1 and renowned4 ,see ,joshua's first battle 7,ex4 #ag3 #i72 his assault upon ,ai 7,josh4 #g3 #g71 and the sifting of ,gideon's army 7,judg4 #g3 #a-h74 99 99 99 99 99 ,the grant of ,canaan to ,israel and the commission to extirpate the ,canaanites4 ,these points call for special examination4 ,it has been objected against the morality of the ,old ,testament ,scriptures that this war-law enjoining the extirpation of the ,canaanites was cruel and unjust2 hence that it either misrepresents ,god and therefore disproves the divine authority of the ,old ,testament2 or if it truly represents the ,god of the ,bible1 then he does not deserve the homage and the love of his creatures4,these are grave charges and should be candidly examined4 ,the grant of ,canaan and the commission to destroy the ,canaanites have been vindicated by ,michaelis and others on the following grounds4 #a4 ,the right of prior possession and occupation4 #b4 ,this right kept good by burial there1 and not by any means relinquished when ,jacob was driven by stress of famine into ,egypt and then detained there by force4 #c4 ,this right protected according to their ability by reassertion1 perpetually holding forth their purpose to return and their recognition of ,canaan as their land of promise4 #d4 ,that no argument prejudicial to their right of war against the ,canaanites can be drawn from the absence of formal manifesto1 setting forth the causes of the war1 inasmuch as such a setting forth of grounds and causes of war is a thing of modern and not of ancient usage4 99 99 99 99 99 ,this course of argument in defense of the war-law in question seems to me defective and quite below the truth in the following points3 #a4 ,its primary positionprior occupancyseems not fully made out4 #b4 ,it makes too little account of ,god's original and perfect title to all the earth1 and his consequent right to give his people any portion of it at his pleasure4 #c4 ,it fails to give due prominence to the moral grounds assigned by ,god himself for the extirpation of the ,canaanites1 viz4 their extreme debasement in character2 their abominable wickedness2 their horrible violations of the common humanities of social life4 99 99 99 99 99 ,as to prior occupation1 ,michaelis says the original home of the ,canaanites was ,arabia2 that ,herodotus testifies that at first they dwelt near the ,red ,sea2 ,justin1 that they had another country before they came to ,palestine2 and ,abulfeda that they dwelt in ,arabia4 ,but in proof that they were in ,palestine before ,abraham was1 ,moses affirms 7,gen4 #ab3 #f7 that when ,abram first passed through1 8the ,canaanite was then in the land20 also that when ,abram and ,lot1 being rich in cattle and 8the land unable to bear them10 8the ,canaanite and the ,perizzite were then in the land0 7,gen4 #ac3 #g72 and further still in his earliest account of the location of primitive families after the flood1 he says8,the border of the ,canaanites was from ,sidon as thou comest to ,gerar unto ,gaza as thou goest to ,sodom and ,gomorrah10 etc4 7,gen4 #aj3 #ai74 ,this is the oldest known historic testimony1 and unquestionably locates the ,canaanites in the original land of ,canaan4,moreover1 it is said that ,abraham went with his flocks and herds wherever he would as if lord of the country4 ,it may be replied,so apparently did the ,canaanites also4 ,if ,abraham dug wells1 so did they2 if he buried his dead there1 so did theywith this incidental fact in their favor2 viz4 that ,abraham bought ground of them and paid money for his cemetery at ,macpelah4 ,this special argument from prior possession can scarcely be sustained4 ,but it may be maintained that ,abram was there very early2 and what is more1 ,god's first call to him to leave his native country named ,canaan as his promised land2 and every successive promise reaffirmed this gift4 ,abraham's title to ,canaan therefore rests on ,god's right to give a perfect title4 ,if the ,lord of heaven and earth1 the ,great ,creator of all lands in all the ends of the earth had not a right to give ,canaan to ,abraham and his posterity1 then he is not ,god4 ,unquestionably he assumed this right and in the exercise of it pledged ,canaan to the posterity of ,abraham with perpetual reiteration and most solemn covenant4 ,this fact is the more significant because it is the first step in a series of acts all of which aimed to reveal himself before the world of mankind as the true ,god and the ,lord of the whole earth4 ,with these ends in view he chose this people and made them his own2 manifested himself among them and before all the world as their covenant-keeping ,god2 gave them ,canaan1 and by manifold miracles helped them to gain possession of it4 ,nor is this argument weakened by the fact that by means of a special series of providences he led them down into ,egypt to dwell there #dcj years2 suffering the ,canaanites meanwhile to hold ,canaan1 not driving them out earlier because 8the iniquity of the ,amorites was not yet full0 7,gen4 #ae3 #af74 ,here is suggested the real ground on which the edict for extirpating the ,canaanites was made to rest4 ,god suffered them to remain there until they had forfeited their title not to ,canaan alone1 but to life itself and to any further national existence4 ,this point is too vital to be passed without careful attention4 ,in ,lev4 #ah we meet with a series of crimes against moral purityviolations of the seventh commandmentculminating in sodomy and bestiality2 and classed with these is the burning of children in the worship of ,moloch 7v4 #ba74 ,then ,god says8,defile not yourselves in any of these things2 for in all these the nations are defiled which ,i cast out before you1 and the land is defiled2 therefore do ,i visit the iniquity thereof upon it1 and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants40,the same sentiments are repeated 7vs4 #bf-cj74 ,unnatural lusts had sunk both men and women not only down to a level with beasts1 but even below them4 ,idolatry had so far quenched the sweet humanities from the parental heart that fathers and mothers could burn their own sons and daughters to ,moloch4 ,these horrible1 unnatural crimes were not only an outrage against the heart of ,god the ,great ,father2 but1 as he forcibly puts it1 they defiled the very land itself4 ,the earth was nauseated with these abominations and spued out such inhabitants4 ,god's fair and much abused world could bear them no longer4 ,nature herself lifted her voice of protest against such wickedness2 or1 as the strong figure suggests1 her stomach sickened even to nausea over such unnatural lusts and such a torturing death of innocent sons and daughters4 ,what could a holy and righteous ,god do with such a people but wipe them out of existence and wash the land they had defiled clean of such pollutions8,lev4 #bj reiterates substantially the same list of abominations against which ,god warns his people28,ye shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my judgments and do them1 that the land whither ,i bring you to dwell therein1 spue you not out4 ,and ye shall not walk in the manner of the nations which ,i cast out before you2 for they committed all these things1 and therefore ,i abhorred them0 7vs4 #bb1 #bc74,perfectly definite and explicit is the repetition of the same point in ,deut4 #ab3 #cj1 #ca4 ,when the ,lord shall have cut off the ,canaanites before thee1 be not snared into their ways2 inquire not after their gods and ways of worship38,thou shalt not do so unto the ,lord thy ,god1 for every abomination to the ,lord which he hateth have they done unto their gods2 for even their sons and their daughters have they burnt in the fire to their gods40 ,no fact could be more telling2 none more damning4 ,a people so given up to devil-worship as to burn their own offspring at his supposed behest1 must be too debased and corrupt to live6 ,the earth itself cries out against them1 demanding their utter extirpation6 ,a more full description of the varieties and forms of the devil-worship and fellowship common among the ,canaanites may be seen in ,deut4 #ah3 #i-ad1 to which it must suffice to refer the reader4 ,i am well aware that some ,jewish doctors1 wishing to vindicate their fathers from crimes so unnatural have sought to prove that 8causing children to pass through the fire0 was a rite of purification and not actual murder4 ,the attempt is futile37#a47 ,because some of the expressions are perfectly unequivocal2 e4 g48,even their sons have they burnt in the fire to their ,gods0 7,deut4 #ab3 #ca74 ,see also the cases in #b ,kings #ag3 #ca1 and #b ,chron4 #bh3 #c1 and ,jer4 #g3 #ca1 and #ai3 #e47b47 ,the phrase8,to make to pass through the fire unto their gods0 is used in the same sense as the phrase8to burn in the fire407#c47 ,that the ,phenicians and ,carthagenians1 closely related to the ancient ,canaanites1 did offer human sacrifices is a well established fact of history4 7,see ,smith's ,bible ,dictionary2 8,moloch407 99 99 99 99 99 ,we have seen that the title of ,israel to ,canaan falls back upon ,god's prior titleupon his right to deed it to whom he would4 ,on the same principle the question whether it was right and just for them to extirpate the ,canaanites falls back upon two prior questions7a47 ,was it right and just for ,god to extirpate them87b47 ,was it wise for ,him to command the ,israelites to do this work of extirpation1 rather than do it himself by miracle1 and without human hands8 ,here are our two great questions4 7a47 ,as to the firstthe right of ,god to destroy them for their crimes and the justice of doing it,i see not how it can be denied or questioned without denying to ,god the right to punish sin at all4 ,has ,god any right to govern his own universeany right to resist the influence of sin and rebellion in his kingdomany right to protect innocent children from being burned to death in homage to the devil8 ,alas for the universe if this doctrine can be maintained6,truly we may say,if ,god has no right to exterminate from the earth any one individual sinner1 or a nation of many thousands who are too corrupt to live1 then he lacks the essential rights of a ,god6 ,if he has not the power to do it1 he lacks the power necessary to a ,god4 ,if he has not the firmnessthe nerve 7shall we say87the sense of justice and right that would forbid his evading the duty1 then he lacks the essential attributes of a ,god4 ,if he has so little love for his offspring that he can see their welfare sacrificed in the worship of the devil and in the sweep of unutterable social pollutions1 then he is incompetent to govern a world of sinners6 7b47 ,but the objector will make his chief stand upon the secondary question,was it wise for ,god to employ ,israel to extirpate the corrupt ,canaanites8 ,the objector will perhaps say,he might have sunk all ,canaan under a second flood like that of ,noah's time1 and no complaint could stand against him4 ,he might have engulfed those cities in fire as he did guilty ,sodom1 and all the living1 cognizant of the moral grounds of the act1 would have said1 ,amen6 ,but that he should set such an example of warthe most horrid of all warsbefore the nations of all historybefore the ages of all time1 giving it his holy sanctionnay more1 setting his own most holy people to the bloody workthis is unpardonable4 ,that he should put them to such barbaritiessubject them to such demoralization of all the finer sensibilities of the human soul1 seems too horrid to be thought of6 ,it is perhaps well to meet this question in its strongest form1 with its objectionable points in their most revolting aspect4 ,i do not feel called upon to say one word to soften down any man's sense of the horrors of war4 ,war is horridbut sin is more horridcertainly such sin as that of the old ,canaanites4 ,in fact war is horridnot mainly because of the suffering but because of the sin that may be in it4 ,and this suggests the true and just reply to be made to the objection now before us1 viz4 that such a war as that of ,israel against the ,canaanites1 waged in obedience to ,god2 waged for the destruction of such sinners and to cleanse the earth from such unutterable abominations and pollutions1 is not demoralizingis not so either necessarily or even naturally2 but if done in honest obedience to ,god and with a due sense of the grounds on which ,god commanded it1 must have been the very opposite of demoralizing2 must have educated the nation of ,israel to a juster sense of the abominations of idolatry and of the righteous moral government of ,god over the wicked in the present world4 ,it can not be doubted that these were the ends which ,god sought to secure in putting this service upon ,israel4 ,a lower object to be reached was to vacate the land of ,canaan for ,israel to occupy2 but the far higher object was to wash the land of its moral pollutions2 to break down and blot out nations too corrupt to live4 ,the ,lord devolved this extirpation upon ,israel that they might thereby get a deeper sense of his abhorrence of such sinnot to say also1 a juster view of the intrinsic abominations which ,god commissioned them to punish4 ,or we may put the argument thus3 ,giventhe great historic fact1 the moral corruption of the nations of ,canaan and the moral purpose of ,god to exterminate those nations for their corruption4 ,the choice of methods lies between miracles on the one hand1 and the war-force of ,israel1 backed up by ,god's providential agencies1 on the other3miracles as in the flood and on ,sodom3 or the war-commission given to his people ,israel4 ,now consider4#a4 ,miracles had already been employed repeatedly before the eyes of mankind1 and the ,lord might for this reason wisely vary his methods1 for the greater and better effect4 #b4 ,as already argued1 the moral effect upon ,israel of being made the executioners of ,god's righteous justice may be presumed to have been naturally wholesome4 ,but not to push this argumentwe may at least maintain1 #c4 ,that seen historicallyestimated in the light of the facts of the case1 this method was morally impressive1 instructive1 elevating1 wholesome4 ,recur to the first warthat against ,amalek2 and to the scope it gave for illustrations of prayer1 and to the sense it inspired of their relations to their covenant ,god4 ,turn to the record of the war against ,moab and ,midian 7,num4 #be and #ca74 ,mark its powerful protest against the lewdness involved in those forms of idol-worship1 and note how ,phineas arose to the sublime grandeur of the emergency and made a record for himself and for his whole tribe indeed in the history of the nation 7,num4 #be3 #aa-ac and ,mal4 #b3 #d-g74 ,study the wars of ,joshua and the moral heroism developed there1 and ask if any generation of ,israel appear on the page of her national history1 exhibiting a truer consecration to ,god or a more conscientious devotion to his will4 ,and what shall we say of ,deborah and ,barak1 and of the heroism that shines and gleams in the record of their achievements1 or of the piety that flavors their triumphal song8 ,the same may be said of the wars under ,david1 ,jehoshaphat1 and ,hezekiah1 and of the songs of praise and of proud triumph in ,israel's ,god which gave expression to the moral results of those wars and victories4 ,that man reads the history of the heroic age of ,israel very imperfectly who does not see in it ample demonstration that staunch obedience to ,god in this matter of war against the idolatrous1 corrupt ,canaanites1 fostered piety1 developed ,christian heroism and toned up the standard of morality4 ,when they compromised1 accepted tribute1 and tried their own policy of living side by side with such idolaters instead of ,god's policy of vigorous extermination1 then came disaster1 religious decline1 and most perilous moral corruption4 #d4 ,the great conflict of those early ages between ,god and ,satan was fought on the point of idolatrythe real question being whether ,god or the devil should have the worship of men2 whether the supremacy and the moral right to rule the world are with ,god or with ,satan4 ,this being the great conflict of the ages1 it should not surprise us that ,god should let ,israel's land of promise be in a sort the battle-ground1 and should bring into play the physical force of arms and let his covenant people come into the fight hand to hand against the hosts of his foes4 ,this arrangement gave scope for his own hand in various providential agenciesthunder1 hail-storm1 the day prolonged miraculously2 panics often smiting the hearts of his enemies1 and victories that witnessed visibly to ,jehovah's present hand4 ,in an age when men were waiting for ,god to manifest himself visibly and tangibly2 when their spiritual perceptions were but dim1 and when of necessity the first step in the process of revealing ,god to men demanded an appeal to the senses1 it was certainly no mistake in wisdom for ,god to suffer this great fight to take on visible form and stand out palpably before human eyes4 ,in the result ,god made it unmistakably manifest that his soul abhorred such unnatural and horrid crimes as those of the men of ,canaan1 and also that he had both the power and the will to inflict on them the extremest and most fearful judgments4 ,,chapter ,,xvii4 ,,the ,,civil ,,institutes ,,of ,,moses2 ,,or ,,the ,,hebrew ,,code ,,of ,,civil ,,law4 ,,in scripture phrase1 the code is most often called 8,the statutes and the judgments0the 8commandments and precepts0 which the ,lord gave by ,moses 7,deut4 #f3 #a and ,ex4 #ba3 #a74 ,i approach this subject with a feeling of regret that the necessary limits of this volume forbid any attempt to make my presentation of this topic exhaustive4 ,the utmost ,i can do within the limits prescribed is to give an outline rather than a full development of this code4 ,i shall aim to make this outline full enough to show the steps and stages of progress in the science of legislation which are obvious in these 8statutes and judgments40 ,i must first call attention to certain points of a general nature1 most of which will need only a brief statement4 #a4 ,this code of laws was given to the ,hebrews by ,god himself1 through the hand of ,moses4 ,for the sake of brevity and to distinguish it from other codes we may speak of it as the code of ,moses and may speak of ,moses as the ,hebrew lawgiver2 yet let it be said once for all that we recognize no authorityno authorship other than that of ,god himself4 #b4 ,this code was built upon the moral law of ,sinaithe ten commandments4 ,it simply expands and applies the general principles expressed or implied in that summary4 #c4 ,it was framed with the purpose of reaching the highest moral standard practicable in the circumstances of the peoplethe highest which it was possible to enforce4 ,this doctrine assumes that any special statute which is so far above the moral status of the people as to be practically inoperative and void may be for this very reason an evil rather than a good inasmuch as it may break down rather than build up the law-abiding spirit of the people4 ,consequently the best statute for any given people may be the best that can be in the main enforcedthe best which they can be brought up to respect and obey4 ,hence it may happen that some of the statutes in the best practicable system will be only second besti4 e4 not theoretically perfect1 but only the best practically for the circumstances4 ,we may illustrate this by the law of divorce1 as to which ,jesus himself remarks that ,moses 8because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives1 but from the beginning it was not so0 7,mat4 #ai3 #h74 ,the provisions for an easy divorce were a concession to a sadly low morality among the peoplethe best under the circumstancesthe best that could be made operative with that people1 but by no means theoretically perfect4,the reader will take note that we had no occasion to apply this principle to the moral law of the ten commandments1 nor indeed to the underlying principles of this code of 8statutes and judgments10 but only to some of its practical applications of these principles4 #d4 ,it is an inference from our last-named point that this code must needs take the people as they were2 must have regard to existing usages1 to the common law under which they had been living1 and perhaps must be compelled to tolerate some undesirable usages until better principles could be inculcated and a higher moral tone of public sentiment could be established4 ,illustrations of this principle appear in the prevalent system of servitude1 and in polygamy4 #e4 ,another inference from the point above made is that this code can not be held responsible for what was in existence before its promulgation2 e4 g4 personal slavery4 ,it can be held responsible only for doing the best that could be done with such a peoplea people so educated1 accustomed to such usages and trained in such ideas4 #f4 ,that this code1 though given by the ,lord himself1 was not theoretically perfect but only the best practicable1 is obvious from the fact that it was from time to time modified4 ,cases of this appear in the law respecting the six years' emancipation of ,hebrew servants 7compare ,ex4 #ba3 #b-g with ,deut4 #ae3 #ab-ag72 the taking of pledges from the poor for the payment of debts3 7compare ,ex4 #bb3 #bf with ,deut4 #bd3 #f1 #aj-ae74 ,see also the law of inheritance in a family consisting of daughters only 7,num4 #cf74 #g4 ,that this code was framed with the design of a special adaptation to the ,hebrew people appears in such facts as these1 viz4 that though it went into immediate effect and continued in force during their wandering life in the wilderness forty years1 yet it anticipated their ultimate residence in ,canaan1 especially in its land-law and its provision for the entailment of real estate4 ,also it anticipated the future demand for a king according to the usage of contiguous nations and provided for this modification in the general government4 #h4 ,at the point where the administration of justice first appears1 the sole responsibility seems to have rested on ,moses 7,ex4 #ah74 ,at the suggestion of ,jethro 7as we have seen7 important modifications were introduced4 ,further modifications were made after the settlement in ,canaan4 ,in consequence of the close connection between the church and the statethe religious law and the civilthe same class of men were to a great extent put in charge of both4 ,the tribe of ,levi became the ministers of religion and the administrators of civil law as well4 ,exempted chiefly from agriculture and from military service1 they became the learned classthe lawyers of the nation4 8,the priests' lips should keep knowledge and they should seek the law at his mouth0 7,malachi #b3 #g74 #i4 ,the question how far this divinely revealed code of law is authoritative upon human legislators and should control legislation in this ,christian age1 should be carefully considered4 ,with no attempt to exhaust this question1 ,i may suggest briefly37#a47 ,that the great principles of this code should underlie every code of human law4 ,these principles must be good for all timefor man in his social and civil relations every-where4 ,for example1 its doctrine of equity2 its law of love2 its regard for the personal rights of life1 chastity1 property2 its doctrine of the essential equality of every man's rights before the law2 and its assumption that the poor1 being otherwise defenseless1 have special need of the protection of law1 and should be regarded therefore as the special wards of government and its officers47#b47 ,as the moral law of the ten commandments is obviously the compend and summary of the great principles which underlie this ,hebrew code1 so should this moral law be the compend and summary of the principles that should underlie every human code of law in whatever age of the world and in whatever stages of civilization47#c47 ,as the ,hebrew code while accepting the supreme authority of the ten commandments and aiming to embody and apply its principles did yet allow to itself a certain latitude in adjusting its 8precepts and statutes0 to the condition of the people1 so may human legislators4 ,lessons of wisdom may be drawn from this code in both these lines of its example2 viz4 its fidelity to the principles and doctrines of the perfect moral law of ,sinai2 and its careful adaptation of these principles to the actual status of the people so as to reach the highest possible amount of practical efficiency in securing the ends of justice and of virtue4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the brief analysis and treatment of the civil code here attempted will follow mainly the same order of subjects which appears in the law of ,sinai2 thus3 ,i4 ,crimes against ,god3 #a4 ,idolatry2#b4 ,perjury2#c4 ,presumptuous sins2#d4 ,violations of the ,sabbath2#e4 ,blasphemy2#f4 ,magic4 ,,ii4 ,crimes against parents and rulers 7,fifth commandment74 ,,iii4 ,crimes against the person and life 7,sixth commandment74 ,,iv4 ,crimes against chastity 7,seventh commandment74 ,v4 ,crimes against property2 laws respecting property 7,eighth commandment74 ,,vi4 ,crimes against reputation2 violations of truth 7,ninth commandment74 ,,vii4 ,hebrew servitude4 ,,viii4 ,judicial procedure4 ,,ix4 ,punishments4 99 99 99 99 99 ,i4 ,crimes against ,god3 #a4 ,idolatry4 ,the laws against idolatry included both the professed worship of the true ,god by means of images1 and the worship of other gods4 ,as the law of ,sinai forbade both these practices with no special discrimination between them1 so did the 8statutes and judgments0the law apparently holding it of small account to attempt any discrimination4 ,in the case of the golden calf 7,ex4 #cb7 ,aaron having more knowledge of the true ,god than the body of the people1 may have thought only of worshiping the ,lord 78,to-morrow is a feast to the ,lord072 but the people bringing their notions from their ,egyptian life1 may have had no thought beyond the calf1 and so may have worshiped it as their ,god4 ,plainly the professed worship of ,god by means of images was a perpetual temptation to let slip all just conceptions of ,god and to worship images only1 or some other object than ,god4 ,no discrimination in point of penalty appears in the law4 ,both forms seem to have been condemned and punished with no attempt to discriminate between them4 ,individual idolaters1 after careful examination and clear proof of guilt1 were stonedthe witnesses casting the first stone 7,deut4 #ag3 #b-g74 ,no man might allow himself to be seduced into the worship of other godsno1 not by a brother1 or a son1 or a wife1 or by friend dear as his own soul1 but must expose the sin of his seducer and spare not his very life 7,deut4 #ac3 #f-aa74 ,a city given to idolatry1 if the case be proven1 must be utterly destroyed and made a perpetual desolation 7,deut4 #ac3 #ab-af74 ,the statutes were absolutely sweeping against any possible form of similitude1 image1 or representation1 made for an object of worship2 and also against the worship of the heavenly bodiesa form of idolatry both ancient and widely diffused 7,deut4 #d3 #ac-ai74,to guard them against temptation in the social line1 they were forbidden to eat in idolatrous festivals 7,ex4 #cd3 #ae74 ,apparently many special usages were forbidden because of their associations with idol worship 7,lev4 #ai3 #bg1 #bh74 ,the prohibition to eat blood or fat may have been in part sanitary1 but probably was also anti-idolatrous4 ,the distinction between things clean and unclean helped to make them a peculiar people1 and may have been so intended4 99 99 99 99 99 #b4 ,perjury4 ,the law of ,sinai tacitly indicates that the ,lord himself would take the perjurer in hand1 would never hold him guiltless1 and would be responsible for his punishment4 ,the statutes touch only a single case8,a false witness rising up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong0ordaining that the case be brought before the judges who are to make diligent inquisition4 ,if found guilty1 the evil he thought to bring upon another must be visited upon himself 7,deut4 #ai3 #af-ba74;,in general the sanctity of the sacred oath was shielded by ,jehovah himself1 searching out and punishing the guilty4 ,oaths seem to have been far less frequent than in the modern administration of lawless frequent1 but more sacred1 this binding force being laid on every conscience and left to the awful sanctions of ,jehovah4 99 99 99 99 99 #c4 ,presumptuous sins4 ,the law against such sins sought to impress due reverence for ,god's authority4 ,a broad distinction was made between sins of ignorance and sins where knowledge of duty was presupposed and the offense involved deliberate contempt of ,god4 ,the external act was of smallest consequence4 ,the law said1 8,the soul that doeth aught presumptuously0no matter what it be4 ,certain cases are specified having these common elementsthat the law was plain2 the duty palpable2 and innocent ignorance not even supposable2e4 g4 the law of the ,sabbath against all needless work 7,ex4 #ca3 #ad1 #ae and #ce3 #b1 #c74 ,the case 7,num4 #ae3 #cb-cf7 of the man who gathered sticks on the ,sabbath1 stands in the closest connection with the law against 8presumptuous sins10 showing that the offense was seen in that light4 ,the most emphatic condemnation of presumptuous sins immediately precedes 7vs4 #cj1 #ca7 in these words3 8,the soul that doeth aught presumptuously1 the same reproacheth the ,lord2 and that soul shall be cut off from among his people0 7i4 e4 by capital punishment74 8,because he hath despised the word of the ,lord and hath broken his commandment1 that soul shall be utterly cut off2 his iniquity shall be upon him40 ,he must bear it himself1 with no atonement provided for his pardon4,other cases specified arethe eating of unleavened bread during the ,passover 7,ex4 #ab3 #ae72 neglect of the ,passover when its observance was practicable 7,num4 #i3 #ac72 eating certain sacrificial offerings while unclean 7,lev4 #g3 #bj1 #ba72 eating fat or blood 7,lev4 #g3 #bc-bg74 ,the reason for laws of this sort1 apparently so stringent and severe1 lies in the factsthat ,god was their king2 that he looked on the heart2 and that whatever acts manifested contempt of his authority and treason against his throne were in their very nature the highest possible crimes4 99 99 99 99 99 #d4 ,laws against violations of the ,sabbath have been indicated sufficiently under the previous head4 ,the statute was so entirely definite2 the line of duty so easily defined and understood1 it seemed to be assumed that palpable violations of the ,sabbath were presumptuous sins1 and they are treated accordingly4 ,the case of the man who gathered sticks was carried up to the ,supreme ,king1 apparently because though the law was clear1 the external act was in itself trivial4 ,god's answer amounted to this2 ,no offense can be trivial if the spirit of it contemns ,god's authority and reproaches his name4 99 99 99 99 99 #e4 ,blasphemy4 ,a case of blasphemy is specially described 7,lev4 #bd3 #aj-af1 #bc74 ,it was referred to ,god1 the ,supreme ,ruler4 8,they put him in ward that the mind of the ,lord might be showed them40 ,the ,lord replied through ,moses3 8,bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp2 and let all that heard him lay their hand upon his head1 and let all the congregation stone him40 ,the law was enacted accordingly3 8,he that blasphemeth the name of the ,lord shall surely be put to death1 and all the congregation shall certainly stone him40 ,the majesty of the ,great ,kingthe infinitely holy ,god1 must be held sacred4 ,no punishment could be too severe for a crime which struck so fatally against the reverence and homage due to ,jehovah4 99 99 99 99 99 #f4 ,magic ,arts4 ,in examining the statutes on this point1 we are struck with the number and variety of names which designate these arts4 ,the standard enumeration 7,deut4 #ah3 #aj1 #aa7 gives at least eight2 viz47#a47 8,he that useth divination0professing to gain knowledge and power more than human and in some sense divine37#b47 8,an observer of times0the ,hebrew word being related to cloud1 perhaps in the sense of covering1 hiding1 as the cloud shuts off the sun's light2 practicing covert arts37#c47 8,an enchanter0the original suggesting the serpent1 and implying either a hissing1 in imitation of the serpent2 or the practice of charming serpents1 yet always connected with the arts of divination37#d47 8,a witch0the ,hebrew word signifying one who mutters incantations1 its cognate words having the sense of praying1 but in ,hebrew only in the bad sense of seeking help from others than ,god37#e47 8,the charmer0a word which suggests binding as with the spell of enchantment8spell-bound02 often used of the charming of serpents37#f47 8,a consulter with familiar spirits02 7,heb47 one who prays to the bottle-manthe ,hebrew word for bottle being applied to the ventriloquist from whose body came forth unearthly sounds as from a second being imprisoned within him4 ,ventriloquism was one of the arts practiced by the ancient magicians to excite the wonder and to command the belief of the credulous4,the ,english phrase8familiar spirit0signifies spirits who stand in such a relation to the performer that they come at his call1 like servants of his family1 he having the power to evoke them at his will4 ,of course it is pretended that these spirits are other than human and greater than human spirits can be while yet in the body4 ,the original ,hebrew ,ob comes down to us in the ,african 8,obe-man0 who still follows the same profession1 by means of similar arts47#g47 8,the wizard0 is one who claims superhuman wisdomthe old ,english accurately translating the ,hebrew3 the distinctively wise one4 ,of course the word is restricted in usage to this sort of superior wisdomthat which is gained by the arts of magic47#h47 8,the necromancer0precisely the spiritist of modern timesor rather1 of all timewho claims to have communion with the spirits of dead men4#da ,i have led the reader through this analysis of the original words1 to aid him toward some just conception of the associated ideas which cluster round the magic arts of the ,hebrew age4 ,their name and their arts are legion4 ,think of so many classesprofessionsof men and women naturally shrewd1 sharp1 cunning2 practicing upon the superstitions1 the fears1 the gullibility of the millions2 gaining an almost unlimited control over them2 working upon their imagination1 haunting them with the dread of unknown powers1 bringing up to them ghosts froth the invisible world1 claiming to give auguries of the future1 playing in every way that may be for their own selfish interests upon their fears and their hopes to extort their money or to make sport of their fears1 or to gratify their own or others' malice4 ,or go still deeper and see all this machinery subsidized by the devil to impress men with his supremacy1 to extort their homage1 or at least their fear of himself2 and perhaps1 most of all1 to turn them utterly away from the true ,god and to displace him from his proper sphere as the supreme hope and joy and trust of mortals4,it will always be an unsettled question,how much help in the line of superhuman knowledge and power does ,satan give to his servants who work the infernal machinery of magic arts8 ,but on the point of his interest and sympathy in these arts1 there need not be the least question whatever4 ,a system so near akin in spirit and influence to idolatrywhich so thoroughly displaces ,god from the hopes and fears of men1 and which seeks so successfully to instal these horrible superstitions in his place2a system which perverts the powers of the world to come to subserve ungodliness and which practically rules out the ,blessed ,god from the sphere of men's homage1 fears1 and hopes2this system has always been worked by wicked and never by good menhas always subserved all iniquity1 but piety and morality never2this has been a master stroke of ,satan's policy and one of the most palpable fields of his triumph through all the ages4,let it not surprise us that ,god's law given through ,moses denounced it unqualifiedly and made it punishable with death4 ,the nations whom ,god drove out of ,canaan were steeped in its abominations and ripened under its influence for their righteous doom4,i am not aware that even one pagan1 idolatrous nation1 known to history since the world began1 has been free from this abominationthe arts of magic4 ,egypt1 ,canaan1 ,babylon1 ,india1 ,africa1 historic ,greece and ,rome2 the old nations of ,northern ,europe1 the savages of ,americaall come up to testify that they have been cursed by its presence and power4 ,the latest edition1 modified slightly to adjust it somewhat to an age of ,christian civilization1 is the 8spiritism0 of our dayof which ,i need at this point to say but two things37#a47 ,that its principles and policy1 its spirit and its influence1 are essentially the old 8necromancy0 of the ages of all history3 and 7#b47 ,that it naturally becomes the nucleus around which chrystallizes whatever elements in society are irreligious and unchristian4,this last remark would not deny that some are attracted toward it temporarily by curiosity2 but it would maintain that the animus1 the soul of the system1 is congenial to those who know not ,god1 and who choose not to know him2who therefore gladly seek a substitute for ,god1 for his ,bible1 for prayer1 and for trust in his providence in these new revelations from the future1 unseen world4 ,passages in the ,old ,testament treating of this subject are ,ex4 #bb3 #ah and ,lev4 #ai3 #bf1 #ca1 and #bj3 #f1 #bg1 and ,deut4 #ah3 #aj1 #aa1 #ad1 and #a ,sam4 #bh3 #g-bj1 and #a ,chron4 #aj3 #ac1 #ad1 and #b ,kings #ba3 #f1 and #b ,chron4 #cc3 #f1 and ,isa4 #h3 #ai1 #bj4 ,,ii4 ,crimes against ,parents and ,rulers2 7,violations of the ,fifth ,command74 ,of crimes against parents1 the statutes of ,moses specify smiting and cursing 7,ex4 #ba3 #ae1 #ag72 the penalty in both cases1 death4 ,the precept forbidding to curse a parent is repeated impressively 7,lev4 #bj3 #i72 8,for every one that curseth father or mother shall be surely put to death3 he hath cursed his father or his mother2 his blood shall be upon him40 ,this crime stands in the list of those that are anathematizedin ,deut4 #bg3 #af3 8,cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother2 and all the people shall say1 ,amen40,in ,mat4 #ae3 #c-f and ,mk4 #g3 #i-ac1 our ,lord seems to give this law forbidding a son to curse father or mother1 coupled with the fifth command1 a construction broad enough to require him to give them an adequate supportof course in their years of infirmity and want4,that ,god had a high regard for this filial duty toward parents is manifest in the place of priority accorded to the fifth command and in the special promise made to those who fulfill its obligations4 ,in ,deut4 #ba3 #ah-ba1 the case is supposed of a son incurably stubborn1 rebellious1 gluttonous1 and drunken1 upon whom parental chastisement is unavailing4 ,the law very considerately provides that his father and his mother shall lay hold of him and bring him before the elders of his city unto its gates 7i4 e4 into open court71 and there1 as a public example and warning1 the men of his city shall stone him with stones that he die38,so shalt thou put evil away from you and all ,israel shall hear and fear40,parental love and partiality would guaranty this law against abuse4 ,it is pleasant to note that no case of its execution is on record4 ,perhaps the severity of the law forestalled its violation4,the spirit of this precept is so fully in harmony with the book of ,proverbs that we naturally expect to find it there4 7,see ,prov4 #bj3 #bj and #cj3 #aa1 #ag47 ,a precept forbidding insult and reproach of magistrates stands in ,ex4 #bb3 #bh3 8,thou shalt not revile the gods ,elohim used probably in the sense of judges1 nor curse the ruler of thy people40 ,the word 8gods0 here can not refer to false gods1 idols 7as the ,english reader might suppose71 for the ,hebrew word can not bear that sense1 nor would it be pertinent4 ,the parallelism with 8ruler of thy people0 favors the sense above suggestedjudgesacting under ,god and in his behalf before the people4 ,their sacred office under ,god is assumed to be good reason for treating them with respect and against offering them insult4,no penalty is attached to the violation of this lawperhaps because the penalty ought to depend so much upon the aggravation of the offense4,under the kings1 it was apparently a capital crime1 for when ,shimei cursed king ,david 7#b ,sam4 #ai3 #ba-bc7 ,abishai assumed that he ought to die2 and his temporary pardon was manifestly due to ,david's sad consciousness of deep personal ill-desert and of ,god's righteous visitations upon him4 ,,iii4 ,crimes against ,person and ,life2 7,violations of the ,sixth ,command74 ,under this head the salient and vital points are3 #a4 ,that the real murderer must be put to death1 and no 8satisfaction0 be ever taken in place of his life4 #b4 ,that the law discriminated with the utmost care and wisdom between real murder1 and homicide1 more or less justifiable4 ,special laws touching injuries done to servants will be treated under the head of ,hebrew servitude4 #c4 ,a special law provided cities of refuge4 #d4 ,another special law met the case of murder by unknown hands4 #e4 ,inexcusable carelessness causing injury or death was punished4 #f4 ,personal injuries not fatal were specially punished by statute4 #a4 ,real murder was punished capitally4 8,he that smiteth a man so that he die shall be surely put to death0 7,ex4 #ba3 #ab and ,lev4 #bd3 #ag74 ,the law appears fully in ,num4 #ce3 #i-cd and ,deut4 #ai3 #d-ac1 #bj1 #ba1 in connection with provisions for the cities of refuge4 ,with firm and solemn tone the law declared 8,ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death1 but he shall be surely put to death4 ,so shall ye not pollute the land wherein ye are2 for blood it defileth the land1 and the land can not be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein but by the blood of him that shed it4 ,defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit wherein ,i dwell1 for ,i the ,lord dwell among the children of ,israel0 7,num4 #ce3 #ca-cd74,this reaffirms and amplifies the doctrine of the law as given to ,noah and to the repeopled world2 8,and surely your blood of your lives life-blood will ,i require at the hand of every beast will ,i require it1 and at the hand of every man2 at the hand of every man's brother such a case as that of ,cain and ,abel will ,i require the life of man4 ,whoso with no exception sheddeth man's blood1 by man shall his blood be shed2 for in the image of ,god made he man40 ,human life is sacred1 and ,god protects it under the sternest possible penaltiesnothing less than the life of the murderer4 ,that ,god intended this law for the whole race1 for the entire repeopled world from and after ,noah1 is too plain to be denied or even doubted4 ,it is not easy to see how another word could be said to make this more plain4 ,the law of ,sinai and the code given through ,moses are intensely emphatic1 indeed1 perfectly decisive4 ,the law does not prescribe the mode of this capital punishment4 ,in various other crimes punishable with death1 the mode is by stoning1 done1 however1 not by any one executioner1 but by many2 in some cases by 8the men of the city40 ,the penalty for murder would often be executed by the blood-avengerthe nearest relative of the murdered man2 and it seems to be assumed that he would use any deadly weapon he might choose 7,num4 #ce3 #ai1 #ba1 #bg and ,deut4 #ai3 #f1 #aa-ac74 #b4 ,the law discriminated with the utmost care and wisdom between real murder1 and homicide1 more or less justifiable4 ,real murder was to be proven as follows3 7#a47 ,by previous hatred and enmity4 ,of course this could be known by human judges only by its manifestations4 7#b47 ,by violent passion in the actwhich ,i take to be the sense of the words in our translation3 8,if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbor2 in ,heb4 if a man boil up with rage against his neighbor to slay him with guile10 etc4 7,ex4 #ba3 #ad74 7#c47 ,by evidence of premeditation8lying in wait0 7,ex4 #ba3 #ac1 and ,num4 #ce3 #ae-bc1 and ,deut4 #ai3 #d-f74 7#d47 ,by the sort of instrument used 7,num4 #ce3 #af-ah74 8,an instrument of iron20 8a stone20 8a hand-weapon of wood10 i4 e4 wood of the hand1 large enough to fill the hand and deal a death-blow4 ,on the other hand it would be in favor of homicide if one had killed his neighbor 8ignorantly08whom he had not hated in time past20 or thrust upon him suddenly without enmity2 without lying in wait2 or cast upon him a stone seeing him not1 nor seeking his harm1 etc4 7,num4 #ce3 #bb1 #bc and ,deut4 #ai3 #d-f74 ,a case for example is giventhe head of a man's ax flying off when he is at work and killing his neighbor4 #c4 ,a special law provided for cities of refuge4 7,see ,ex4 #ba3 #ac and ,num4 #ce1 and ,deut4 #ai and ,josh4 #bj74;,at the era of ,moses it was already a time-honored usage that the nearest blood-relative should avenge the blood of his slain friend4 ,the prevalence and strength of this sentiment were due of course1 primarily1 to the instincts of human nature2 but secondarily to the fact that as an institution for the protection of person and life1 the family was prior to the state4,the ,goel as he was called in ,hebrewthe blood-avenger or ,redeemer1 could not be expected to exercise cool and impartial discrimination over the questions lying between murder in the first degree and homicide4 ,to obviate this evil the ,lord introduced an important modification upon the previously current usages of blood-revenge4 ,it was this4 ,six cities in ,palestinethree on each side of the ,jordan were selected in such convenient geographical position that from any point of the whole country the man-slayer might make the nearest one within less than one day's run4,all these were cities of the ,levites2 hence the leading men of the city would be competent to hold a preliminary investigation4 ,the man-slayer fled for his life to the nearest of these cities4 ,the legal authorities there protected him against the ,goelthe blood-avenger4 ,the elders of his own city1 if the case seemed to demand it1 might send and fetch him2 try him1 and deliver him up to the blood-avenger2 or remand him back to his city of refuge4 ,thus this city shielded him against sudden and indiscriminate vengeance1 and secured for him a trial before the congregation or elders of his own city4 ,if his case was proved to be homicide1 he must remain within the city of refuge till the death of the high priest1 after which the avenger's right to take his life 7outside the refuge-city7 ceased and he could go at large in safety4 ,this provision affixed a limit to his quasi-imprisonment4 ,perhaps it was also significant of the pardon for sin provided for in the death of our ,great ,high ,priest4,if the man-slayer allowed himself to be caught by the blood-avenger outside his city when he should be within it1 the avenger might take his life with impunity4 ,the law was specific on the point that human life must not be taken on the testimony of one witness onlya plurality of witnesses being required 7,num4 #ce3 #cj1 and ,deut4 #ag3 #f1 and #ai3 #ae74;,it was no crime before the law to kill a thief breaking into a house by night 7,ex4 #bb3 #b1 #c74 ,after sunrise1 it became a crime of blood to take his lifeit being assumed that he might be caught and compelled to make restitution1 and that the peril to your own life and that of your family is materially lessened4 ,the law carefully guarded the defenseless hours of sleep by night4 ,if a thief in defiance of this law played the burglar by night1 he must run his own risk of death in the attempt4 #d4 ,a very remarkable statute met the special case of a murder done by unknown hands 7,deut4 #ba3 #a-i74 ,the authorities from all contiguous cities took up the case2 measured carefully to fix upon the city lying nearest to the bloody spot4 ,then the elders of that city were to take a heifer never worked in yoke2 bring her down into a wild1 uncultivated valleythe home of all weird and thrilling associationsand there strike off the heifer's headthe priests coming near and all the elders of that city washing their hands over the headless heifer1 solemnly protesting8,our hands have not shed this blood1 neither have our eyes seen it4 ,be merciful1 ,o ,lord1 unto thy people ,israel1 and lay not innocent blood unto thy people ,israel's charge40 8,and the blood shall be forgiven them4 ,so shalt thou put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the ,lord40,the entire scene was well adapted to make the impression that murder is no trifle1 and that ,god held the whole people responsible to some extent for the safety of every human life4 #e4 ,inexcusable carelessness1 followed by fatal results1 was punishable by law4 ,a supposed case for a specimen appears in ,ex4 #ba3 #bh1 #bi4 ,the goring oxwont to push with his hornsreported to his owner but not 8kept in0 by himkilling man or womanmust be put to death and his owner also1 for his culpable negligence4 #f4 ,personal injuries1 not fatal1 came under special statute4 ,in the case of a mutual quarrel and fight1 personal injuries1 less than fatal1 were punished by requiring their author to pay for the wounded man's loss of time and for his being 8thoroughly healed0 nursing and medical services4,the master who smote his servant unto immediate death1 must surely be punished4 ,but if the servant survived a day or two1 the presumption would be that the master did not intend to kill4 ,his loss in the services of his servant was considered his punishment4,other special cases appear ,ex4 #ba3 #bb and ,deut4 #be3 #aa1 #ab which were better read than rehearsed4,the principle of punishment by retaliation8lex talionis0like for likewas applied in all appropriate cases 7,lev4 #bd3 #ah-ba74 8,if a man cause a blemish in his neighbor1 as he hath done1 so shall it be done unto him3 ,breach for breach2 eye for eye10 etc4 7,ex4 #ba3 #bc-be and ,deut4 #ai3 #ba74 ,,iv4 ,crimes ,against ,chastity2 7,violations of the ,seventh ,command74 ,the necessity for laws on this point at once discriminating1 wise1 and stringent1 will be sufficiently obvious when we consider 7#a47 ,the strength of the passion to be controlledconstitutionally common to all ages of the world37#b47 ,the sacredness of the marriage relation and the inestimable value of moral purity in all human societyalso common to all ages of the world's history37#c47 7,peculiar to the earlier ages7 the necessity of defining the limits of consanguinity within which marriage should be prohibited1 and all sexual connection sternly forbidden4 ,perhaps we need to remind ourselves that the race having sprung from a single pair and the world having been repeopled a second time from one family1 those primitive examples may have sent down for many generations a certain looseness which called for special restraint and a carefully defining law37#d47 ,the crimes of ,sodom1 their polluting influence in so good a family as that of ,lot2 the low morals of ,egyptian life2 some sad manifestations in the early history of ,jacob's family2 the horrible contagion of ,moab and ,midian when the tribes of ,israel came socially near them2these and kindred facts will be readily recalled as in point to show the necessity of vigorous legislation in the ,mosaic code to counteract these untoward influences of their antecedent life and of surrounding society4,the thoughtful student of the ,mosaic code as expanding and applying the seventh commandment will be painfully impressed with the disadvantages under which it labored by reason of the toleration of polygamy1 concubinage1 and domestic servitude4 ,in some points the law bore with special severity upon woman as compared with mana sort of imperfection which was simply an inevitable result of tolerating those ancient evils4,it scarcely need be suggested that the value of this part of the ,mosaic code as a definite model for ,christian legislation is greatly lessened by this class of facts4 ,woman's place in society then was by no means that which the genius of ,christianity has given her4 ,unquestionably this code alleviated her condition as compared with what it had been1 and brought to her relief as large a boon of blessing as the genius of the age would bear4 ,in view1 partly of the difficulty of treating this subject with minute detail in a way to make its discussion really useful1 and partly of its inferior value in some points as an example1 for reasons above indicated1 ,i shall excuse myself from any minute and extended presentation of these laws4 ,in general3 ,the laws accord ample space to the condemnation of the unnatural crimes of sodomy and bestiality 7,lev4 #ah and #bj1 and ,deut4 #bc3 #ag1 #ah1 and #bg3 #ba73 also to incest1 which for historic reasons needed to be thoroughly and stringently defined 7,lev4 #ah and #ai and #bj73 to adultery proper2 to the case of a suspected wife 7,num4 #e3 #aa-ca72to seduction and rape2 aggravated whoredom in the form of public prostitution2 of prostitution to an idol2 of impurity in a priest's daughter2 in a woman betrothed1 etc41 etc4,the study of these laws would impress pure-minded readers with a sense of the great pains taken to lift up and regenerate a sadly low and debased condition of social morals on these points2 and also with a sense of special difficulty arising from the fact that society was quite too low to bear the introduction and enforcement of the ,christian law of marriage as against concubinage1 polygamy1 and the debasement inseparable from even modified slavery4 ,we shall rise from the careful study of this department of the ,hebrew code with gratitude for the wisdom and goodness which attempted so much1 yet with a deeper gratitude that a purer and higher code came to mankind through the law of ,christ and the spirit of an enlightened ,christian age4 ,v4 ,statutes ,protecting ,rights of ,property2 7,expanding the ,eighth ,command74 ,in ,ex4 #bb3 #a-ae1 #be-bh1 and #bc3 #d1 #e1 we have the earliest instalment of statutes on this point4 ,the staple penalty for theft was restitution1 yet varying widely in amount to meet the peculiarities of the case4 ,in pastoral life cattle were specially exposed2 therefore the law ordained that if the thief had killed the animal or sold it1 he must restoreof oxen five for one2 of sheep1 four4 ,but if the animal was found alive in his hand1 the restitution was only doubletwo for one4 ,the law made the charitable supposition that the thief might yet repent and bring back the stolen property1 and purposely favored this result4 ,on the other hand the selling or destruction of the animal would indicate a fixed purpose to have the avails of it1 and also to render detection more difficultboth of which purposes the law punished sharply4,it may well be noted that restitution was a telling1 stinging penalty1 touching the sensibilities of the thief in a very tender point4 ,the indolent or unprincipled man who thought to live upon his neighbor's toil1 would find stealing very unprofitable4 ,the law had the more grip in those times because if a man tried to put his property out of his hands to evade the demand for restitution1 or were in fact too poor to restore four or five fold1 there was always the last resortthe law could take him for a slave 78servant07 and make him work it out4,this was one of the incidental benefits of a hard system3 it could be applied so as to make the penalties for theft very effectually stringent4 ,the law punished trespass upon another's property and want of care for its due protectionon which points1 subsequent1 statutes reaffirm and expand what we first find in ,ex4 #bb4 7,see ,deut4 #bb3 #a-d47 99 99 99 99 99 ,while the law was vigorous1 not to say severe1 against criminal theft1 it was yet exceedingly lenient towards the unfortunate and innocent poor1 e4 g41 7#a47 ,it gave permission to eat another's property for the supply of present want4 ,the specifications are,the grapes of thy neighbor's vineyard2 and his standing corn4 ,thou mayest eat grapes1 but not put one in thy vessel2 mayest pluck the heads of grain in thy hand1 but never move thy sickle against thy neighbor's grain 7,deut4 #bc3 #bd1 #be74 7#b47 ,it regulated thoughtfully and compassionately the whole subject of pledges1 i4 e4 securities for the payment of debt4 ,as first announced 7,ex4 #bb3 #bf1 #bg71 it provided that if the poor man's garment were taken in pledge1 it must certainly be restored to him by sundown1 because it was his bed-covering for the night2 and ,god would surely hear the poor man's cry if he were compelled to lay himself down to sleep with no covering4,as subsequently revised or enlarged 7,deut4 #bd3 #f1 #aj-ac1 #ag71 the statute peremptorily forbade taking the upper or the nether millstone in pledge1 because no oriental family could subsist without these4 ,it also forbade the creditor to go in to the poor man's house to get his pledge lest he fix his covetous eye on something there1 but required him to wait patiently outside for the poor man to bring it outa provision which manifests a specially delicate regard for the feelings of the poor4 ,he was not obliged to expose his deep poverty1 nor to disclose all he had to the greedy gaze of his more wealthy neighbor4,the law also forbade the taking of a widow's raiment in pledge4 7#c47 ,the law was entirely explicit and positive in its prohibition of usury4 ,by 8usury0 the ,hebrew meant1 not merely excessive or illegal interest1 but interest itselfall interestmoney paid for the use of money1 or any thing valuable paid for the use of any other property borrowed4,the first statute 7,ex4 #bb3 #be7 was general1 yet fully covered the principle3 8,if thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee1 thou shalt not be to him as an usurer1 neither shalt thou lay upon him usury40 ,the law contemplated the poor only2 for the rich are presumed to be above the necessity of borrowing money4 ,the borrowing of money as capital to be used in trade1 or in manufacture1 or in the purchase of land1 had no place at all in the business economy of ,israel4 ,the borrowing which the law contemplated was only that of the poor man to meet his imperative necessities4 ,a man who had no accumulations to draw from for a sick day or a casualty1 must borrow or go hungry4 ,god speaks of such poor as 8my people10 and forbids taking interest on what they must needs borrow4 ,in the later books 7,lev4 #be3 #ce-ch and ,deut4 #bc3 #ai1 #bj7 we have perhaps a later and revised form of the statute4 8,if thy brother be waxen poor1 thou shalt relieve him4 ,take thou no usury of him or increase2 fear thy ,god1 that thy neighbor may live with thee4 ,thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury1 nor lend him thy victuals for increase40 ,in ,deut4 7as above7 the law discriminates between 8thy brother0 and a stranger4 8,thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother2 unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury40 ,the ground for this discrimination against the stranger may be a purpose to discourage his residence in the land2 or it may be related to the general fact that foreigners were the men of traffic4 7,the original words for ,canaanite and for merchant were the same47 ,tradesmen1 doing business on borrowed capital1 might afford to pay interest2 and on every principle of right and justice1 ought to do so4 ,but ,god did not encourage the ,israelites in traffic with other nations4 ,it would have been quite too perilous to their morals1 and to their religion4 ,the reader will scarcely need the suggestion that the ,hebrew law against interest applies in our ,christian age only to the case of loans made to the poor to meet their necessities4 ,the spirit of the law unquestionably does apply in such cases1 and does not apply to any other4 7#d47 ,many special statutes contemplated relief for the poor4,the corners and the gleanings of the harvest field2 a forgotten sheaf2 a few clusters of grapes also and some olives on the olive tree1 must be left for the poor and the stranger 7,lev4 #ai3 #i1 #aj1 and #bc3 #cb1 and ,deut4 #bd3 #ai-bb7;each of these successive statutes adding somewhat in detail to the preceding4,the day wages of the poor laborer must be promptly paid1 even on the very same day 7,lev4 #ai3 #ac and ,deut4 #bd3 #ad1 #ae74 ,but especially the sabbatic year 7each seventh7 was designed to be a special benefaction to the poor4 ,this law 7,deut4 #ae3 #a-aa7 uses chiefly the word 8release0 in regard to the debts of the poor4 ,critics are sharply divided over the question whether this release was an entire remission of debts1 or only a stay of collection1 putting it over for this one year4 ,in favor of the latter view1 ,michaelis and others urge that the reason for stay of collection was that no cultivation of land was permitted during this year1 and hence there were no crops of this sort1 and therefore only diminished means of paying debts4 ,also that the law might be so abused as mostly to annihilate all rights of property1 inasmuch as the statute 7v4 #i7 would virtually put the property of the more wealthy within the control of the less wealthy4 ,thou shalt not withhold because the year of release is at hand1 etc4 ,on the other hand1 the arguments for construing the law to mean an actual release of debt in the case of 8thy poor brother0 or neighbor1 are strong1 and in my view1 conclusive2 e4 g4 7a47 ,this is the legitimate meaning of the original word translated 8release40 ,there should never be any deviation from the legitimate sense of the original staple word1 without cogent reasonsa principle which is doubly strong in the words of a law4 7b47 ,this construction is fully in harmony with the genius of the entire code in all its statutes for the relief of the poor4 7c47 ,on this construction the limitations of the statute are precisely in place2 e4 g4to the case of 8thy poor brother40 8,thou shalt release save when there shall be no poor among you03 also8,if there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren1 etc41 thou shalt not harden thy heart nor shut thy hand from thy poor brother1 but shalt open thy hand wide unto him1 and shall surely lend unto him sufficient for his need in that which he wanteth0not all your property3 you are not required to make over every thing you have4 8,beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart1 saying,the year of release is at hand0 and ,i shall never get my money or my grain back again1 8and he cry unto the ,lord against thee1 and it be sin unto thee40 ,this shaping of the statute plainly contemplates a real remission of this sort of debts on each seventh year4 7d47 ,to the same purport is thisthat the law excepts debts against a foreigner3 8,of a foreigner thou mayest exact it40 ,our translators have taken the liberty to add the word 8again10 but without the least authority from the ,hebrew4 ,the word 8again0 seems to come from the theory that this statute required a stay of collection for one year in the case of the foreigner3 but of this there is no proof in the law as it came from the hand of ,moses4,in the time of ,nehemiah 7#e3 #a-ab7 there was unquestionably an entire remission of debts to the poor1 and not the least hint that this was going beyond the ,mosaic law4 ,on the contrary it is implied that 8the fear of our ,god0 7v4 #i7;equivalent to obediencewould require just this4 ,this seventh or sabbatic year had other special features besides the remission of the poor man's debts as in ,deut4 #ae3 #a-aa4 ,these additional features appear in ,lev4 #be1 which provides 7vs4 #b-g7 that this year shall be a ,sabbath of rest to the soilrest from its usual cultivation4,in this chapter we find also a kindred institutionthe ,jubileeeach fiftieth yearnext following each seventh ,sabbatic year4 ,inasmuch as this arrangement would bring two years of land-rest together1 the ,lord gave a special promise that the fertility of the year immediately preceding should suffice against the necessities of these two years of resta fact which testifies that ,god ruled his people ,israel under a system of special providences4 ,if ,moses is to be considered as even in a secondary sense the legislator of the people1 he must have had unbounded confidence in ,god's special direction and counsel in these statutes4 ,the law of the ,jubilee gave personal liberty to all bondmen4 ,of this1 more must be said under 8,hebrew servitude40 ,it also provided for the return of all real estateall the lands of ,canaanto their original possessors4 ,lands could be alienated only till the jubilee4 ,they were sold1 if at all1 subject to this law4 ,consequently a sale of land was only a lease for at longest forty-nine yearsi4 e4 for the years intervening till the next jubilee4 ,they were subject to redemption at any timethe price to be graduated by the years which the lease had to run4 ,houses in walled cities were redeemable only within one year from sale2 but in unwalled cities1 houses followed the law of land1 returning with the land to their original owner at the jubilee4 ,the houses of ,levites were accounted as land4,these statutes had a twofold purpose2 to afford relief to the poor2 and to prevent the entire alienation of the lands of ,canaan from the tribes1 families1 and individuals to whom they were originally given4,the question1 how far these institutionsthe ,sabbatic year and the ,jubileewere observed in the future history of ,israel is foreign from our present purpose4 ,,vi4 ,crimes against reputation2 7the details of the ninth commandment74 ,here are stringent statutes against false accusation and false witness4 ,under this general head fall two distinct cases37a7 ,testimony given to favor the guilty 7,ex4 #bc3 #a1 #c72;and 7b7 allegations designed to condemn the innocent 7,deut4 #ai3 #af-ba74 7a47 ,the former class 7as given ,ex4 #bc3 #a1 #c7 forbids not merely originating 78raise071 but taking up a false report and seconding it by indorsement4 ,it warns men not to be drawn in to help the wicked in their malicious plots to screen each other1 though they be many4 ,the cause of the poor man which you may not favor 7v4 #c7 is certainly supposed to be a bad one4 ,your sympathy for him as poor must not override justice and truth4 7b47 ,false witness1 purposed to condemn the innocent1 is met by the statute 7,deut4 #ai3 #af-ba74 ,the accuser and the accused are to be brought face to face before the ,lord and before the priests and the judges who are to 8make diligent inquisition10 obviously hearing both parties1 and if the accuser is proved to be a false witness1 8,ye shall do to him as he thought to do to his brother2 thine eye shall not pity1 but life shall go for life2 eye for eye10 etc4 ,tale-bearing1 i4 e4 tattling1 retailing scandal maliciously or for a past-time1 needed the force of law to abate and suppress it in those times as in most other ages4 8,thou shalt not go up and down as a tale-bearer among thy people1 neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbor4 ,i am the ,lord0 7,lev4 #ai3 #af-ah78,standing against the blood10 must meantaking ground against the very life1 and must not be construed to forbid truthful testimony against the real murderer4 ,but the informer should constantly remember that his neighbor's interests and life are too precious to be lightly tampered with4 ,thy neighbor may have said or done something wrong4 ,your duty in the case is not to scatter broadcast all you know and more than you know of his misdeeds2 but first of all8,thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart10 but 8love him as thyself0 7v4 #ah72 and next1 8,thou shalt in anywise by all means rebuke thy neighbor1 and not suffer sin upon him40,this last clause has been understood in two ways37a7 ,thou shalt not suffer the sin to lie upon him with no effort on thy part to bring him to repentance3 or 7b7 ,thou shalt not bear on thine own conscience the sin of neglecting to admonish him2 i4 e4 thou shalt not submit to bear this sin on his accounta sin which comes of knowing his crime and of failing in your duty to save him by means of judicious and fraternal rebuke4 ,the latter construction is best sustained by ,hebrew usage of the words4 ,see the same words1 ,lev4 #bb3 #i and ,num4 #ah3 #cb1 and the preposition 8upon him10 in ,ps4 #fi3 #h8;,for thy sake have ,i borne10 etc4 ,the verb in this clause means rather to 8bear0 in your own person1 than to 8suffer0 to exist in another4,the passage1 so interpreted1 assumes it to be your solemn duty to labor to bring your neighbor to repentance if you are cognizant of his wrong-doing1 and implies that you must lie under a load of sin if you fail to do so4 ,but do it in love 7loving him even as yourself7 as well as in all fidelity to his soul1 as also to your own4 ,do this instead of going up and down to scatter this scandal among those who will do nothing to save your erring neighbor1 and nothing to relieve your conscience of your responsibility in his behalf4 ,while this statute bears against giving information about misdeeds of minor sort1 there were two crimes of such magnitude that every man was bound to testify in the proper form against them2 viz4 idolatry and murder4 ,see the case of idolatry in ,deut4 #ac3 #f-ad3 8,neither shalt thou conceal him1 but thou shalt surely kill him3 thy hand shall be first upon him to put him to death1 and afterward1 the hand of all the people40 7,also v4 #ad7,the expiation for murder by an unknown hand included this most solemn protestation3 8,our hands have not shed this blood1 neither have our eyes seen it40 ,of course1 whoever might have seen was most sacredly bound to testify4 ,,chapter ,,xviii4 ,,the ,,civil ,,institutes ,,of ,,moses1 ,,continued4 ,,vii4 ,hebrew ,servitude4 ,servitude existed before ,moses4 ,it was no part of the mission of the ,hebrew code to create it4 ,let it be forever admitted that the laws given of ,god through ,moses can not be held responsible for the existence of slavery4 ,they found it existing and proceeded therefore to modify it2 to soften its more rigid features2 to extract its carnivorous teeth2 to ordain that the slave had rights which the master and the nation were bound to respectin short1 to tone down the severities of the system from unendurable slavery to very tolerable servitude4 99 99 99 99 99 ,by what means was this change wrought8 ,what new elements were introduced to abate the severities of real slavery8 #a4 ,man-stealing was punished with death4 8,he that stealeth a man and selleth him1 or if he be found in his hand1 he shall surely be put to death0 7,ex4 #ba3 #af74 ,the law as recited in ,deut4 #ba3 #g applies to a man stealing one of his brethren of the children of ,israel4 ,as stated in ,ex4 #ba3 #af it is universal1 with no limitation4 ,stealing a man is the crime4 ,i see no reason to doubt that the law was intended to apply to men of every nationalityto men as made in ,god's image of whatever nation4 ,this statute struck at the very root of real slavery4 ,both stealing and selling contemplate propertyassume the fact of a property value4 ,the spirit of the law is,men shall never be degraded into merchandise4 ,every body knows that all ,american slavery began with stealing men from ,africa and selling them4 ,servitude1 involving a certain right to service and property in service1 there might be1 despite of this ,hebrew law2 but real slaveryproperty in man as distinct from property in his services1 there could not be under this law4 ,moreover1 the severity of this penalty must have thrown its shield of protection over the entire system of servitude4 ,it was a very palpable indication of ,god's stern displeasure against the whole system of chattelizing human beings4 #b4 ,the ,hebrew law positively forbade the rendition of fugitives4 8,thou shalt not deliver to his master the servant that has escaped from his master unto thee3 he shall dwell with thee1 even among you in that place which he shall choose in one of thy gates where it liketh him best2 thou shalt not oppress him0 7,deut4 #bc3 #ae1 #af74,observe it was not only impossible to have any law for the reclamation of fugitivesi4 e4 to have 8a fugitive slave law0 of the recent ,american pattern2 but the law was put on the other side4 ,it declared8,thou shalt not deliver him up to his master0shalt not give his master information and help the arrest2 but shalt let him choose his abode by his own free and manly will4 ,if his hardships are such under his bondage that he prefers to take his risk of finding a better living elsewhere1 let him try it4 ,let no man stand in his way4 ,he would not leave his master if his personal rights and interests were properly cared for4 ,but if his master is too selfish1 or too cruel1 or too exacting of labor1 or too stingy of bread or clothing1 who shall judge but the servant himself8 ,therefore let the servant better his own condition if he can1 and let all selfish1 savage-hearted masters take warning6,such laws exorcise the real spirit of slavery with blessed rapidity4 ,it would require but few such ameliorating statutes to tone it down from unendurable slavery to very tolerable servitude4 ,the spirit of this law is altogether the spirit of the ,great ,lawgiver when he found the ,hebrews sorely oppressed in ,egypt2 smote off their chains2 brought them forth from their house of bondage1 and placed them beyond all reclamation4 ,what he required his people now to do in behalf of any oppressed servant was only in spirit what he had done for them4 #c4 ,severe personal injuries gave the slave his freedom4 8,if a man smite the eye of his servant or the eye of his maid that it perish1 he shall let him go free for his eye's sake40 ,so of the tooth 7,ex4 #ba3 #bf1 #bg74 ,the eye and the tooth are but specimen illustrations of the principle4 ,a charge of shot in the leg could not be less under this law than a passport to freedom4,moreover1 the statutes very specifically enjoined clemency and forbade rigor in the treatment of ,hebrew servants 7,lev4 #be3 #ci-dc1 #df74 #d4 ,of wider sweep in its influence and of inexpressible value was the system of periodical emancipation4 ,the term of service for the ,hebrew-born was limited to six years4 ,at the end of this term they went out free4 ,servants of foreign birth 7as we shall see7 went out at the ,jubilee1 each fiftieth year4,the effect of this law was at once to lift from the heart the terrible incubus of a life-long bondagethat sense of a hopeless doom which knows no relief till death4 ,whatever the amount of discomfort or suffering involved in servitude might have been1 the ,hebrew servant had under this law the prospect of his freedom at no distant day4,moreover the accompanying provisions of this law were thoroughly humane4 ,the servant who had sold himself through extreme poverty 7,lev4 #be3 #dg-ee7 might be redeemed at any time by a friend1 or if he could command the means by extra labor or skill1 he might redeem himself4,when his term expired1 his master must not send him away empty1 but must furnish him liberally out of his flock and out of his floor 7grain71 and even out of his wine-pressof any thing and every thing wherewith the ,lord had blessed the master1 he was to impart liberally to his manumitted servant 7,deut4 #ae3 #ab-ae74 ,so the servant would have a fair start in his new self-supporting life4 ,it was a fore-thoughtful provision1 full of the milk of a more than human kindness4 ,apparently this periodic emancipation applied to every class of ,hebrew servantsto him who had sold himself because he had become too poor to provide for his family2 to him who had been taken and sold for debt2 and to him who had been sold into servitude for crime4 ,this latter case1 however1 is doubtful4 ,noticeably1 this law provides for the family rights of the servant4 ,if he had brought his wife with him into this state1 he took her out with himself1 and of course his children also4 ,if his master had given him a wife1 he retained her because of his property interest in her services1 and her children with her for humanity's sake2 for children under six years of age need their mother's care4 ,wives in that age of the world were paid for4 ,let it be noticed1 the law assumes that possibly the servant may love his wife and his children and even his master so well that he chooses not to leave them4 ,very well2 if he will consent to come before the judges and in a solemn judicial manner1 testify to this love of his heart1 and moreover1 will consent to endure the rather uncomfortable operation of having his ear bored through with an awl1 then he may remain foreveri4 e4 during life4 ,but the discomforts of this operation were intended to bear somewhat against this unlimited servitude4 ,the law seemed to say to every servant8,it would probably be better for you to be your own master and live in freedom1 rather than in even this very comfortable servitude40,every provision of this statute had a purpose4 ,the servant must be brought before the judges to express in this public manner his choice to remain in servitude2 for this method would make it impossible for the master to misrepresent the will of his servant4 ,moreover1 it seems probable that boring the ear was no badge of honor but the opposite1 and therefore would bear against the man's choice of perpetual servitude4 ,the law made special provision for the case of female servants4 ,the original statute 7,ex4 #ba3 #g-aa7 put her case on a different footing from that of her brother4 8,she shall not go out as the men-servants do40 ,the language8,if a man sell his daughter to be a maid-servant0may seem at first view to be a case of slave-sale1 involving real property in human flesh and bones4 ,a closer examination will show that it comes under the usage of selling daughters to become wives2 for this purchase 8betrothed her to her master10 or to 8his son10 and the law made special provision for her rights as such2 viz4 that in case her master is not pleased with her1 he shall let her be redeemed1 8and shall have no power to sell her unto a strange nation40 ,if betrothed to his son1 he shall deal with her as with a daughter2 if the son take another wife1 he shall not abate from his duty as a husband toward her2 and if he refuse to do all the law demands1 she is freeredeemed by law1 8without money40,these statutes of course shape themselves to the existing usages in respect to polygamy1 concubinage1 and easy divorce1 sedulously protecting the rights of a female servant under these most unfavorable usages4 ,it seems probable that these kind and considerate provisions failed to protect her rights as fully as the spirit of the law intended1 and therefore a further modification appears at a later period2 for ,deut4 #ae3 #ag declares that the six years' emancipation law shall apply to her also as truly as to her brother28and unto thy maid-servant thou shalt do likewise40 #e4 ,in view of the fact that what we may call 8religious privileges0 included rest from labor and more or less of religious and social festivity1 the law was very specific in stipulating that the man-servant and the maid-servant must share in all these equally with the son and the daughter4 ,we see this in the law of the ,sabbath2 in the feast upon the second tithes 7,deut4 #ab3 #ag1 #ah72 and in two of the great festivals1 viz4 the ,pentecost and the ,feast of ,tabernacles 7,deut4 #af3 #aa1 #ad74,thus they were put religiously and socially upon the same footing as children in the family4 ,no ban of exclusion1 no stigma of caste1 could attach to their condition so long as these statutes were duly observed4 #f4 ,by usage and without the necessity of statute1 ,hebrew servants held property4 ,the old ,american doctrine8,the slave can own nothing0had no place in the system of ,hebrew servitude4 ,the proof is twofold37a7 ,the statutes provided that 8if able he might redeem himself0 7,lev4 #be3 #di74 ,this permission would be only a taunting insult if in fact no ,hebrew servant could hold property47b74 ,the light of history bears witness3 ,ziba was a servant of the house of ,saul2 but he had servants under hima round score2 8fifteen sons and twenty servants0 7#b ,sam4 #i3 #aj and #ai3 #ag71 and seems to have had charge of cultivating ,saul's estates4 ,thus manifold and effective were the humane provisions which softened the severities of slavery1 toning them down to a very tolerable system of servitude4 ,the ,slavery that ,existed before ,moses4 ,we have spoken of ,hebrew servitude as a modified systemwhich raises the question8modified0 from what8 ,what was the pre-existing system upon which these modifications were superinduced8 ,a full answer must include 7a7 ,the patriarchal system as it appears in the case of ,abraham1 ,isaac1 and ,jacob3 and 7b7 ,the system of ,egypt and perhaps other contemporary nations4 7a47 ,in the patriarchal system servitude could not possibly have been compulsory4 ,it must have been voluntary4 ,force1 coercion1 was utterly out of the question4 ,abraham had neither army nor police to hold his slaves in bondage4 ,in fact they were his armed soldiers as against freebooting incursions or any hostile assault whatever4 ,manifestly they lived with him while they choseno longer4 ,some of them rose to bear important responsibilities1 e4 g4 ,eliezer 7,gen4 #bd72 his two young men who went with him and ,isaac to ,moriah 7,gen4 #bb74;,isaac 8had great store of servant0 7,gen4 #bf3 #ad71 but there is not the least intimation that they were entailed as part of his estate to either ,esau or ,jacob2 or that he received them by inheritance from ,abraham4,jacob had many servants 7,gen4 #cj3 #dc71 and in fact must have had to help him in the care of his flocks and herds3 but the history shows that he did not take them with him into ,egypt4 ,joseph's invitation left out the servants 7,gen4 #de3 #aj1 #aa471 and the record specifies all the family except the servants and gives us the actual enumerationall servants omitted 7,gen4 #df3 #e-bf74 ,property in servants in the ,american sense1 there was none4 7b47 ,of ,egyptian slavery enough is known to show that they bought slaves brought in from other nations1 holding therefore a property right in them1 and that they constituted a menial class in society4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the condition of the ,israelites under oppression there was peculiar4 ,manifestly they were not held by individual ,egyptians as their personal property1 but rather by the crown4 ,the king of ,egypt appears as the great slave-holder of the ,hebrew people1 making levies upon them for laborers at his pleasure1 and exacting the severest tasks with no limitations but his own will on the one hand and their possible endurance on the other4 ,the question of letting the people go was 7at least mainly7 personal to himself and to his throne4 ,his merciless severity would naturally tend to make slavery in ,egypt heartlessly cruel4 ,laws to restrain masters from severity could not be thought of under such kings4 ,it is easy to see that when1 at and after ,sinai1 the ,lord came to legislate for the ,hebrew people1 fresh from ,egyptian usages and laws1 there was abundant occasion for statutes to modify the severities of human bondage4 ,with telling force the ,lord could say,never oppress your servants2 ye know how oppression feels6 ,the ,jubilee47,lev4 #be74 ,in this chapter and here only we have an account of this peculiar institution4 ,the following points in it deserve special attention4 #a4 ,its main scope and purpose were manifestly of the same sort with those of the ,sabbatic yeara year of rest from labor1 of recuperation for both the laborer and his lands1 and of joy in the ,god of their mercies4 ,particularly it made provision for restoring lands which had been alienated by any means during the forty-nine intervening years4 ,on this eventful year all lands were to return to the original proprietor and to his estate4 ,the law provided that alienated lands might be redeemed at any time for a price graduated by the years intervening before the ,jubilee4 ,but if the poor man was unable to redeem his land and had no relative or friend to redeem it for him before the ,jubilee1 it then returned to him by the statute with no redemption price4 #b4 ,we must note its bearing upon ,hebrew servants and its relation to the seventh year emancipation law4,it treats of two classes of servants of ,hebrew blood2 those who had sold themselves1 because of their poverty1 to a fellow ,israelite2 and those who for the same reason had sold themselves to a wealthy foreigner residing in the land4 ,as to the former class1 the law enjoins kind treatment2 puts strongly the distinction between the hired and the bond-servantpermitting servants of ,hebrew birth to be held in the former state but not in the latter2 and finally gave him and his children freedom at the ,jubilee4,inasmuch as the seventh year emancipation law applied to this very class of servants1 if it were enforced there could be no ,hebrew servants to go out at the ,jubilee except those who had not yet served six full years4 ,this seems to be the bearing of the law of the ,jubilee upon ,hebrew servants4 ,we can not assume that it superseded the seventh year law and took its place4 ,the historic passage 7,jer4 #cd3 #h-ag7 would quite forbid such a construction4 ,as to the second classthose who had sold themselves to a foreignerthe law gave the right of redemption to any of his friends or to himself1 and fixed the terms1 providing for his freedom at the ,jubilee4 #c4 ,the most difficult point is1 the bearing of the ,jubilee1 if any1 upon servants of foreign birth4 ,did it1 or did it not1 provide for their emancipation8 ,the passage 7,lev4 #be3 #i1 #aj7 seems very strong in favor of universal liberty1 not omitting bond-servants of foreign birth4 ,the words are8,proclaim liberty through all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof40 ,this proclamation was made with sound of trumpet1 ringing out its shrill blast over all the land4 ,now let it be considered3 ,if foreigners were not included1 and if the seventh year emancipation law had been duly enforced1 there could have been but a meager showing of freedmenonly those few ,hebrew servants who had not filled out their six years of service4 ,is it credible that so much proclamation and so much public display could have meant only the emancipation of say one-tenth or one-twentieth of all the servants in the land8,at any point of their history the number of foreign servants ought to have greatly exceeded the number of ,hebrew birthfor two reasons37a47 ,the law encouraged the taking of foreigners into this relation3and 7b47 ,they continued in it at least till the ,jubileetheir maximum service being therefore forty-nine years1 awhile the maximum service of the ,hebrew-born was only six4 ,therefore ,i urge that a proclamation so high sounding and in terms so absolutely universal can not have left out the great majority of bondmen in the land4 ,the opponents of this view rely upon the words 7v4 #df78,they shall be your bondmen forever0which they claim must mean during life4,but it may be replied,one human life is very much short of forever4 ,also1 if the statute had meant during life1 why did it not say so8,again2 the order of the ,hebrew words favors this construction3 8,forever of them shall ye take servants0or somewhat more literally3 ,forever among them shall ye serve yourselves1 i4 e4 provide yourselves with servants4 ,and this construction harmonizes fully with the drift of the context1 the spirit of which is,go to the heathen about you1 or to heathen families living among you for your supply of bond-servants4 ,let this be the permanent arrangement4 ,the ,english phrase8bond-servant0 may perhaps give a stronger sense than the ,hebrew will warrant4 ,the ,hebrew suggests no sort of 8bond0no obligation of law or justice4 ,it expresses a certain degree of emphasis by means of repeating the words for service and servant1 in this way3 7v4 #ci71 ,if thy brother with thee shall become weak 8broken down financially1 and shall sell himself to thee1 thou shalt not exact of him the service of a servant1 or serve thyself in him with the service of a servant40 ,this is all that 8bond-servant0 can mean4 ,it is a somewhat intensified idea of service4,another prohibition in this passage is sufficiently explicit3 8,thou shalt not rule over him with rigor0 7vs4 #dc1 #df71 i4 e4 literally1 with crushing2 shalt not break him down2 or in the ,american slave-holder's phrase 8break him in40 99 99 99 99 99 ,the case of foreign servants demands yet a few more words of explication4 ,it can not be denied that the spirit of the ,hebrew law favored the choice of foreigners for servants1 and the increase of this class of population4 ,this is plainly the doctrine of the passage ,lev4 #be3 #dd-df4;,in connection with this we may profitably study the law of the ,passover in its relation to servants 7,ex4 #ab3 #dc-di74 8,there shall no stranger eat thereof1 but every man's servant that is bought for money1 when thou hast circumcised him1 then shall he eat thereof40,that this law contemplated ,gentile servants is clear on two grounds37a47 ,only such would need circumcisionall ,hebrews being circumcised when eight days old47b47 ,the law 7,lev4 #be3 #dd7 required them to take their servants from the heathen1 and authorized them to 8buy0 such4 ,the buying of a ,hebrew servant was a very different thing4 ,the poor ,hebrew sold himselfi4 e4 his services1 and took pay in advance of doing the work4 ,selling himself is precisely the sense of the ,hebrew in ,lev4 #be3 #ci1 #dg1 though in the former case 7v4 #ci7 our translators made it 8be sold0 and in the latter 8sell himself40 ,the ,hebrew verb is equally reflexive in both verses4,moreover1 no man might steal a ,hebrew and sell him on pain of death4 ,it does not appear that ,hebrew fathers sold their sons4 ,when they took pay for a daughter1 it came under the usage of paying for wives4 ,she was betrothed to her purchaser 7,ex4 #ba3 #g-aa7 and of course had the rights of a wife4 ,hence this 8buying a servant for money0 7,ex4 #ab3 #dd7 contemplates a foreigner4,the law proceeds to say8,a foreigner 7one not a servant7 and a hired servant shall not eat thereof40,furthermore1 circumcision was naturalization2 it brought the servant within the pale of the ,hebrew community4 ,for this law of the ,passover declares that 8when a stranger sojourning with thee1 i4 e4 in thy land1 desires to keep the ,passover to the ,lord1 let all his males be circumcised1 and then let him come near and keep it2 and he shall be as one that is born in the land20 i4 e4 his circumcision is equivalent in force to being born in the land2 it secures his naturalization4 ,hence the buying of foreign servants would be a perpetual process of naturalizing them1 and bringing them into the ,hebrew community4 ,they came to the ,passover and were entitled to all the religious privileges of the children of ,israel4 ,abraham himself circumcised1 not his sons alone1 but 8all that were born in his house or bought with money of the stranger0 7,gen4 #ag3 #bc1 #bg74,thus the system reached forth its arms1 gathered to its genial bosom and blest with religious nurture thousands of alien birth1 some of whom attained renown among the servants of the ,god of ,israel4 ,we have the history of ,rahab and ,ruth1 and to name no more of 8,uriah the ,hittite10 and of 8,ittai the ,gittite0 of ,gath4 ,,viii4 ,judicial ,procedure4 ,under this general head the following topics should receive attention4 #a4 ,judges4 ,the reorganization suggested by ,jethro has been noticed1 and also its further modification to adjust it to the fixed residence in ,canaan4,between ,joshua and ,saul1 there was an irregular series of ,supreme ,judges1 closing with ,samuel of whose circuit court1 taking four cities in rotation1 we have a notice in #a ,sam4 #g3 #ae-ag4 ,the kings manifestly held this function of ,supreme ,judge4 ,in the absence of other ,judges1 the ,high ,priest seems to have served ex-officio4 ,his powers1 under the 8,judges0 above referred to and the kings1 are not sharply defined2 but probably religious and semi-religious questions came before him and his associates4 ,the ,judges between ,joshua and ,samuel were military men4,a special reorganization of the judiciary under ,jehoshaphat 7#b ,chron4 #ai3 #e-aa7 will repay a careful reading4 ,it provides subordinate judges in all the fortified cities2 solemnly admonishes them to administer justice in the fear of ,god2 establishes a supreme court in ,jerusalem1 where 8he set of the ,levites1 priests1 and chief of the fathers of ,israel for the judgment of the ,lord and for controversies when they returned to ,jerusalem0the last clause apparently referring to cases carried up for decision before this supreme court4,it should be noted that we read nothing of cases taken up to a higher court by appeal of a dissatisfied party2 but only as carried up by the lower court itself when the case seemed too hard or too high for its decision4 ,this principle went into operation in the reorganization by ,moses 7,ex4 #ah3 #bb1 #bf and ,deut4 #a3 #ag78,the cause that is too hard for you1 bring it to me and ,i will hear it40 ,it passed into the general law as we may see 7,deut4 #ag3 #h-ac7 which provides for a supreme court at the religious center1 the judges being 8the priests1 the ,levites1 and the judges that shall be in those days40 ,the warnings against partiality and bribery were earnest and solemnthe penalty for these offenses being left1 it would seem1 to be visited upon the offender by the ,almighty 7,ex4 #bc3 #f-h1 and ,lev4 #ai3 #ae1 and ,deut4 #a3 #ag1 and #af3 #ah-bj74 ,they were not even allowed to favor the poor man in his cause against justice 7,ex4 #bc3 #c and ,lev4 #ai3 #ae7there being sometimes a temptation to do this out of sympathy with his poverty and his necessities4 ,but ,god put justice in law above sympathy for even the necessitous poor4,the public anathema fell on him who took a bribe to slay the innocent 7,deut4 #bg3 #be74 #b4 ,the seat of justicethe place for holding courtwas 8in the gates of the city40 ,hence this being with all ,orientals the place of public resort1 the courts were publicopen to all4 #c4 ,the processes of prosecution are not specially described4 ,in cases of a personal1 private character1 the aggrieved party brought suit4 ,in cases of a public nature 8the elders of the city0 bore responsibilities1 as we see in the case of murder by an unknown hand4 ,a remarkable case of appeal to the sensibilities of the whole nation is given ,judg4 #ai3 #be-cj1 under which the people woke to a consciousness of horrible wickedness in ,israel1 and their indignation became irrepressible2 yet they carefully sought counsel of the ,lord in this terrible case4 #d4 ,advocates4 ,we find no notice of professional advocates4 ,the 8lawyers0 of ,new ,testament history were men versed in the law and were teachers of law1 but not by any means the modern advocate4 ,every man might be his own advocate1 and even women were heard before no less a king than ,solomon himself 7#a ,kings #c3 #af-ah74 ,noble-hearted1 disinterested men seem in ,oriental life to have undertaken this service voluntarily for the poor and the fatherless1 of which ,job gives a touching description 7,job #bi3 #g-ag74 ,isaiah exhorts to this duty3 8,plead for the widow0 7#a3 #ag74 ,it was the noble doctrine of this system8,our law judges no man before it hears him and knows what he doeth0 7,jn4 #g3 #ea74 ,moses puts it thus8,ye shall hear the small as well as the great0 7,deut4 #a3 #ag74 8,if there arise a matter in judgment between blood and blood1 between plea and plea10 etc4 7,deut4 #ag3 #h74 #e4 ,of ,witnessesthe points of chief importance are these3 7#a47 ,they testified under oaththe manner of administration being this3 ,the witness listened to the rehearsal of the words1 and gave his oral assent1 8,amen10 or1 8,as thou sayest40 ,the passage 7,lev4 #e3 #a7 describes the case of one who sins in this way1 hearing the voicei4 e4 the words of the sacred oath1 adjuring him to testify whether he has seen or known any thing in this case4 ,then if he will not make known1 8he shall bear his iniquity40,a special statute for the case of a wife suspected of conjugal infidelity shows how she is to be put under this solemn oath 7,num4 #e3 #ai-bb74 ,she listens to the words of the oath and responds1 8,amen1 amen40 7,see also ,prov4 #bi3 #bd and ,mat4 #bf3 #fc74 7#b47 ,that the witnesses were examined separately and in presence of the accused appears probable from a comparison of ,mat4 #bf3 #fa with ,mk4 #ad3 #ee-ei4 ,jesus was present 7,mat4 #bf3 #fb74 7#c7 ,as to the requisite number of witnessesa criminal case of capital crime required two besides the accuser 7,deut4 #ag3 #f and #ai3 #ae74 ,hence the phrase8,in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established0 7,mat4 #ah3 #af74;,a supposed case is stated 7,ex4 #bb3 #aj1 #aa7 in which the complainant and the accused are the only witnesses4 ,both are put under oath2 but the testimony of the accused under oath seems to be accepted as his vindication4 7#d47 ,by another peculiar provision of the ,mosaic statutes1 the witnesses in certain cases must be first to execute the penalty 7,deut4 #ag3 #g1 and #ac3 #i1 and ,acts #g3 #eh1 and ,john #h3 #g74 ,this provision was doubtless morally wholesome4 ,,ix4 ,punishments4 ,a few points not already brought to view deserve a brief notice4 #a4 ,fines4,some were fixed by statute4 ,the highest known to the law 7one hundred shekels of silver7 was laid on the man who falsely accused his wife of previous unchastity 7,deut4 #bb3 #ai74 ,another case among violations of the seventh commandment appears 7,deut4 #bb3 #bh1 #bi74;,in the case of an ox goring some one fatally1 the penalty of death upon his owner might be commuted to a fine at the discretion of the judges 7,ex4 #ba3 #bh-ca7;a wise provision because the real culpability of his owner must vary with circumstances4 ,in another case 7,ex4 #ba3 #bb71 the suffering party and the judge fixed the amount of the fine4 #b4 ,the sin and the trespass offerings sustained a slight relation to fines1 since the party bore the cost of the animal sacrificeda young bullock1 a kid of goats1 etc4 ,these laws may be seen in ,lev4 #d and #e and in ,num4 #ae3 #bg-bi4 ,they pertain to sins of ignorance and of remissness2 never to presumptuous sins4 ,in addition to the cost of the sacrifice the penalty included a public confession of the offense1 and was well adapted to make a good moral impression4 ,the special cases which come under this general head of sin and trespass offerings were7#a47 ,unintentional transgressions of the ,levitical law47#b47 ,the rash oath1 ill-considered and not conscientiously kept 7,lev4 #e3 #d747c47 ,perjury in a witness2not however the case of false swearing to condemn the innocent1 which was punished by retaliation2 but the offense of not testifying what he knew when put under oath 7,lev4 #e3 #a747d47 ,debts due to the sanctuarya failure to pay tithes2 the penalty being1 one-fifth added to the original amount and all paid1 coupled with the trespass offering 7,lev4 #e3 #ad-af747e47 ,denying any thing given in trust1 or retaining another man's lost property which he may have found1 and similar offenses1 coupled with false swearing 7,lev4 #f3 #a-g72 the penalty being1 to restore with one-fifth added and to make his trespass offering47#f47 ,adultery with a slave4 ,the penaltya sin-offering and the punishment of death commuted to stripes4 99 99 99 99 99 #c4 ,stripes were made the penalty of certain specified crimes 7,lev4 #ai3 #bj and ,deut4 #bb3 #ah74 ,the law was careful to limit the number of stripes to forty1 giving as the reason8,lest if thou shouldest exceed0 this number 8then thy brother should seem vile unto thee20 i4 e4 not merely lest the man might lose his self-respect1 but lest he lose the respect of the community1 and be hopelessly degraded4 ,in usage the ,hebrews limited the number to thirty-ninesaid to have been administered by thirteen strokes of a triple cord4 #d4 ,of retaliation 8lex talionis0 notice has been taken already4 #e4 ,excommunication2 excision2 being cut off from his people4 ,when executed by ,god himself1 it meant destruction by some providential agency4 ,compare #a ,kings #ad3 #aj with #ae3 #bi and #b ,kings #i3 #h-aj4,when executed by human agency1 it was capital punishment1 usually by stoning 7,ex4 #ca3 #ad1 and ,lev4 #ag3 #d1 and #bj3 #ag1 #ah74 #f4 ,the customary modes of capital punishment were two3 stoning and the sword4 7,deut4 #ac3 #i1 #aj1 and #ag3 #e1 and ,josh4 #g3 #be47 ,the sword appears in later ages4 #g4 ,disgrace after death in some cases heightened the penalty1 e4 g4 by burning the dead body 7,gen4 #ch3 #bd1 and ,lev4 #bj3 #ad1 and #ba3 #i74 ,that in these cases the death was by stoning and the burning was only that of the dead body1 seems to be sufficiently proved from ,josh4 #g3 #ae1 #be4 8,all ,israel stoned him0 ,achan and his family 8with stones and burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones40 ,their very bodies seem to have been thought of as polluted and polluting4,another method of posthumous disgrace was by hanging on a tree 7,num4 #be3 #d1 #e and ,deut4 #ba3 #bb1 #bc74 ,the body must not remain suspended over night 8that thy land be not defiled2 for he that is hanged is accursed of ,god40 ,see cases of the execution of this law in ,josh4 #h3 #bi and #aj3 #bf1 #bg4 ,several forms of punishment were introduced from other nations in later ages which we may omit as foreign from our subject4 ,in closing this topic let it be noted that judicial procedure and punishment were summaryboth the trial and the execution being carried through with apparently no delay4 ,compared on these points with the most highly civilized countries of our age1 the ,hebrews have greatly the advantage1 and the efficiency of their law must have been for this very reason surpassingly great4 ,their methods afforded but the smallest possible hope of escape4 ,punishment followed close on the heels of detection1 and usually1 we must presume1 of crime4,furthermore1 these punishments1 compared with those of other nations in that age were by no means severe4 ,indeed the modes of capital punishment which come to view in the ,scriptures as existing among other nations were terribly barbarous compared with those of the ,hebrew code2 e4 g4 burning in a fiery furnace2 being torn in pieces by lions2 being sawn asunder2 crucifixion4 ,the design of punishment is put in the plainest terms4 ,in its severer forms it is not the discipline of the criminal but the good of the publicto deter the evil-minded from crime and so to make society safe from outrage4 ,in the case of presumptuous sins we read8,that man shall die1 and thou shalt put away the evil from ,israel1 and all the people shall hear and fear and do no more presumptuously0 7,deut4 #ag3 #ab1 #ac and #ai3 #bj74 ,it is worthy of special notice under this head that we find in this code a considerable number of statutes with no penalty attached which human hands were to inflict4 ,god reserved the infliction of the penalty to himself4 ,the fear of his displeasure1 coupled with his promised rewards for obedience were the only forces coercing obedience to these statutes4 ,they were left upon the conscience of the people1 and upon their fears and hopes under a system in which ,god's hand in providence was often made most palpable4 ,for cases in point ,i may refer to the laws against usury and requiring favors to be shown to the poor2as for example 7,deut4 #ae3 #i1 #aj73 8,beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart1 saying,the seventh year1 the year of release is at hand1 and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother and thou givest him naught1 and he cry unto the ,lord against thee and it be sin upon thee4 ,thou shalt surely give him1 and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him2 because that for this thing the ,lord thy ,god will bless thee in all thy works10 etc4 ,the moral power of this invisible force upon the heart and conscience of the people we shall be able to appreciate more justly if we carefully study the words which stand 7,ex4 #bc3 #bj-be71 i4 e4 at the close of the first catalogue of the 8statutes and judgments40 ,it seems to come in here legitimately as a moral force to induce a conscientious and careful obedience to these statutes4 8,behold0 7calling special attention7 8behold1 ,i send an angel before thee to keep thee in the way1 and to bring thee into the place which ,i have prepared4 ,beware of him1 and obey his voice2 provoke him not1 for he will not pardon your transgressions1 for my name is in him4 ,but if thou shalt indeed obey his voice and do all that ,i speak1 then ,i will be an enemy to thine enemies10 etc4,this angel1 bearing authority to pardon or not pardon sins1 and of whom the very ,god could say8,my name is in him0 could be no less than really divine4 ,name in ,hebrew usage as applied to ,god involves and implies his real naturehis essential attributes4 ,corresponding to this view of 8the angel0 in this passage is the injunction to 8beware of him and to obey his voice02 and also his power to forgive sins8for who can forgive sins but ,god only08 ,this passage therefore affords decisive proof that the personage who manifested himself to ,israel in the pillar of cloud and of fire2 whose presence abode in their tabernacle2 whose voice they heard in this holy lawwas truly divine1 and yet was mysteriously distinct from the speakerthe 8,i0of this remarkable passage4 ,truly he was ,god1 manifestif not precisely in human fleshyet in palpable forms1 in tangible demonstrations1 in voice of power and tongue of flame2 in the luminous pillar2 in perpetual agencies of protection and of supply as to earthly need2 and1 not least1 as their ,ruler and their ,lord whose voice in these statutes it behooved them to hear and obey as they would hope to be blessed in their national life and in any desirable prosperity4 ,hence it was both practicable and wise under this ,hebrew system to leave some statutes upon the naked conscience of the people with no attempt to enforce obedience save the appeal to this invisible ,presence4 ,these remarks will naturally suggest to the thoughtful mind a train of inquiries of this sort3,how can we account for it that the books of ,moses allude so very rarely to the future state of man's beingto heaven and to hell8 ,had even the best men of those times any definite belief in the future life and in its retribution for deeds done in this8 ,how happens it that both the law and the rewards or penalties of their civil code1 and indeed of their religious code as well1 make so much account of present retribution and so little of the future8 ,these points will be treated more conveniently and in a more satisfactory manner after the religious code shall have been examined and after we have surveyed the history of ,israel in the wildernessi4 e4 at the close of the present volume4 ,there are two historic questions pertaining to this civil code of the ,hebrews which have sufficient interest to justify a few moments' attention2 viz4 ,i4 ,how far was this system indebted to ,egypt8 ,,ii4 ,how far have the best civil codes of the most civilized nations of all subsequent history been indebted to this ,hebrew code8 ,i4 ,as to the possible relations of this ,hebrew code to ,egyptian life and jurisprudence1 perhaps the word 8indebted0 is too strong4 ,it is by no means intended to disparage the divine originality of this law or of any and every feature of the system4 ,i assume two things37#a47 ,that ,moses1 8learned in all the wisdom of the ,egyptians10 may have had intimate personal acquaintance with very many things in civil jurisprudence which the ,lord taught him in and through his ,egyptian life rather than by immediate and independent revelation3and 7#b47 ,that the people became familiar with some valuable usages and customs connected with ,egyptian law and ,egyptian life1 and by this means were prepared to receive and adopt them under this new code and in this new style of life in ,canaan1 when1 without this previous culture1 these laws and usage could not have gone into operation so readily if at all4 ,the ,hebrew code and its system of jurisprudenceas also the entire ,hebrew national lifewere benefited by the ,egyptian in the following points3 #a4 ,the example and silent influence of a full civil1 written code of law4 ,that ,egypt had such a code admits of no question4 ,the ,hebrew patriarchs1 prior to the sojourn in ,egypt1 had nothing of the sort4 ,their life in ,egypt therefore gave them their first lessonstheir first ideas1 of a complete code of written law4 ,we shall be in small danger of over-estimating the value of these lessons and ideas in their bearings upon a higher civilization4 #b4 ,egypt gave to the ,hebrew mind the example of a well digested system of judicial procedure1 established courts and forms of trial2 laws put in force by the aid of judges1 witnesses1 and the systematic execution of penalties4,remarkably the last quarter of a century has brought to light documentary evidence of a judicial trial in ,egypt as far back as the age of ,moses1 developing the most finished method2 well digested forms of procedure2 a state trial1 conducted with great dignity and decorum2 and the whole proceeding put on record so carefully that this original document is before the world in perfect preservation at this day4#db #c4 ,egypt gave to the children of ,israel the example of a national life based on agriculture1 as distinct from and indeed opposed to the wandering1 unsettled life of the shepherd4 ,the nomadic mode of life1 perpetuated by necessity to this day in the deserts of ,arabia1 in which individual right to the soil is unknown and no family has a fixed home1 each living for the time where its flocks may chance to find herbage and waterthis had been the style of the patriarchs before ,jacob went to ,egypt4 ,it was not the best for social and mental culture4 ,god had a better life for his people prospectively in ,canaan1 and their residence in ,egypt introduced them to it and gave them a preparation for it4 ,it made subsistence less precarious2 blended the cultivation of the soil with the care of flocks and herds2 provided for a denser population2 greatly enhanced the opportunities for social culture and for such a religious system as that of ,israel4 ,in a word it provided for a much higher ,christian civilization than could have been possible under the strictly nomadic mode of life4 ,to ,egypt1 the nation was indebted for the example and for the training into this agricultural mode of life4 #d4 ,in another important respect1 the example of the national life of ,egypt was a preordained training for their own national life in ,canaan3it was that of a people providing for their own wants2 living within themselves2 maintaining substantially non-intercourse with other nations1 and for the most part excluding foreign commerce4 ,such was ,egypt during the residence of ,israel there1 and such ,god wisely designed ,israel to be in her promised land of ,canaan4 ,as to ,israel in ,canaan1 the purposes of this policy are obviousprotection from the contaminating influences of idolatry1 not to say also from the contaminations of luxury and wealth4 #e4 ,in ,egypt1 the priests were the learned class of the empire1 and held the highest responsibilities in the civil and judicial as well as the religious life of the nation4 ,a system essentially the same was introduced into ,israel1 the priests and the ,levites holding the same place in the nation which they had seen held by the priests in ,egypt4 #f4 ,it is a very noticeable fact in the history of the legal life in ,egypt1 that though magic arts were in a sense tolerated and indeed were resorted to by the king in his emergencies1 yet their influence in society proved to be so pernicious as to demand legal restraint4 ,we have the record of a man indicted 8for many crimes and wickednesses committed through his magic arts and writings1 such as paralyzing limbs1 empowering a slave to do audacious things10 etc4 ,the decision of the court in his case reads8,for his various abominations1 the greatest in the world1 he is condemned to death40,it will be remembered that the ,mosaic law held all practice of magic arts to be a penal offense1 punishable with death 7,ex4 #bb3 #ah and ,lev4 #bj3 #bg74 #g4 ,in some points the spirit of the ,mosaic code was so greatly in advance of the ,egyptian as to stand related to it1 not in the way of imitation or even modification1 but of direct opposition4 ,it held squarely the opposite doctrine and put forth statutes of an opposite character4 ,thus1 the ,egyptian code legalized slavery1 and had its special law for the reclamation of fugitives4 ,among the recent discoveries in ,egyptian antiquities 8,a warrant for the arrest of fugitive slaves0 has been brought to light4 ,from the tone of this warrant and from other evidence1 collateral1 it is inferred that slave-holders were obliged by law to register them in a list kept by government and disputes with regard to ownership must be brought before the judges4 ,the rights of the master in his slave were not absolute4 ,it was not by virtue of orders direct from the owner that search was instituted and arrest made1 but by the authority of a high functionary of government1 to whom the case is reported and who issues his mandate4 ,thus the government itself put forth its hand to recover a slave who had escaped from any citizen4,it was therefore specially pertinent that the law of ,jehovah to ,israel should plant itself on ground precisely the reverse of this3no reclamation of fugitives whatsoever4 ,thou shalt not do what ,egyptian slave-holders were authorized by the highest authority of the kingdom to doforce back the escaped fugitive to his unendurable bondage4 ,in the line of their religious institutions ,israel stood related to ,egypt in numerous particulars1 borrowing some things for the adornment of its tabernacle from ,egyptian art2 and on the other hand1 guarding by stringent prohibitions against many ,egyptian usages associated with idolatry4 ,these points will be in place after we have considered the religious institutions of ,moses4 ,,ii4 ,the second proposed historic question1 viz4 ,how far have the best civil codes of all history and how far has the world at large been indebted to this ,hebrew code8opens a field of inquiry quite too wide to be fully canvassed within our prescribed limits4 ,a few hints may be useful perhaps to guide the further inquiries of the reader4 ,the following points are put comprehensively and suggestively3 #a4 ,moses sought to impress it upon his people that this system far surpassed that of any other nation4 8,behold1 ,i have taught you statutes and judgments1 even as the ,lord my ,god commanded me4444 ,keep1 therefore1 and do them1 for this is your wisdom and understanding in the sight of all the nations who shall hear of all these statutes and shall say1 ,surely this nation is a wise and understanding people1 for what great nation hath their ,god so nigh to them as the ,lord our ,god is to us in all that we call upon him for8 ,and what great nation hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law which ,i set before you this day08 7,deut4 #d3 #e-h47 #b4 ,the ,hebrew system surpassed all others1 especially in thisthat it gave to human government and law the sanction of ,god's authority1 and enforced them upon the human heart and conscience by this most impressive and benign of all influences4 #c4 ,preparatory to this result it maintained against the whole ,pagan world the doctrine of one ,godperfect in character1 supreme in power1 righteous in all his administration of rewards and punishments4 ,only so could it make the idea of ,god a really wholesome power and his authority effective in sustaining civil government4 #d4 ,this divinely given code rested upon justice and equity1 and determined every thing by this standard4 ,so doing1 it ruled out at once a multitude of interests and ends which human laws have often sought to secure4 ,its example therefore1 in so far at least1 was simply and supremely beneficent4 #e4 ,in yet further detail1 it recognized the common and equal rights of all men1 irrespective of condition1 rank1 wealthholding constantly the doctrine1 8,no respect of persons40 #f4 ,it appreciated at their just value the rights of the poor and of all that large class who look only to ,god and to human law for protection4 ,we come now to the question of historic fact3 ,did this ,hebrew code and government send forth its influence upon the nations of ancient history8 ,did it in any perceptible degree leaven the best systems of human law and jurisprudence4,if the proof for the affirmative falls short of positive certainty1 what is its amount of probability8 ,here we may fitly consider 7a47 ,that ,god chose for ,israel the land of ,canaan1 in the center of the ancient world of mind2 immediately between ,egypt on the one hand and ,babylon1 ,assyria1 ,persiaall the great nations of ,western ,asiaon the other2 and closely contiguous to ancient ,greece and ,rome4 7b47 ,that ,david and ,solomon became known to all the great powers of the world of their time4 ,solomon's renown turned largely on the fact that his people were prosperous and happy1 his government well ordered1 and his own wisdom in all affairs of state unsurpassed4,it is simply impossible that such examples should drop powerless upon the nations of the earth4 7c47 ,that at a later period the personal history of ,mordecai1 of ,esther1 and especially of ,daniel in the courts of ,nebuchadnezzar and of ,cyrus show that the ,jews1 their religion1 their ,god1 and their law1 did impress themselves upon the greatest centers of influence and power in their time4 7d47 ,this dispersion of the ,jews at and after their captivity planted them in large numbers in the chief seats of human science and learning2 in ,egypt on the ,south-,west2 in ,babylon1 ,persia1 and adjacent countries of the ,east4 ,it is historically certain that in the age of the ,ptolemies1 a large body of learned ,jews lived in ,egypt2 that the ,old ,testament was translated into ,greek by request of ,ptolemy ,philadelphus2 that the ,egypt of that age was the school of wisdom and jurisprudence for ,ancient ,greece and was herself the pupil of ,moses4#dc,that the best ,greek authors knew ,moses is matter of history4 ,longinus quotes from ,moses 7,gen4 #a3 #c7 in his treatise on ,sublimity2 ,strabo makes honorable mention of him as a law-giver2 and ,diodorus ,siculus acknowledges him to be 8the first of legislators from whom all laws had their origin40 ,numenius a ,greek philosopher of the ,pythagorean school1 speaking of ,plato1 exclaims8,what is ,plato but ,moses ,atticising0i4 e4 teaching in ,attic ,greek8 ,origen believed that ,plato drew largely from ,moses4,the list of eminent ,grecian authors and savans who went personally to ,egypt for wisdom and science is longsuch as ,thales1 ,anaximander1 ,anaxagoras1 ,pythagoras1 ,plato1 ,herodotus4 ,there they came into contact with learned ,jews and not improbably with the writings of ,moses4#dd ,prof4 ,wines 7p4 #cce7 cites the learned ,grotius as saying8,the most ancient ,attic laws1 whence in aftertimes the ,roman were derived1 owe their origin to ,moses' law4 ,that the ,grecians1 especially the ,attics1 took their laws from ,moses is credible4 ,this is the reason why the ,attic laws and the ,roman twelve ,tables which sprang from them so much resemble the ,hebrew laws40,this similarity between the ,attic laws and those of ,moses has been noticed by many other learned men1 e4 g4 ,josephus1 ,clement of ,alexandria1 ,augustine1 ,sir ,matthew ,hale1 ,archbishop ,potter4 ,the last named in his 8,grecian ,antiquities0 has adduced many points of ,grecian law which seem to have been taken from ,mosesviz4 the laws of divorce2 the purgation oath compared with 8the oath of jealousy0 among the ,hebrews2 the harvest and vintage festival2 the law of first-fruits2 the law requiring the best offerings for ,god2 the portion for the priests2 protection to the man-slayer at their altars2 requiring priests to be unblemished2 the agrarian law2 laws regulating descent of property1 and prohibiting marriage within certain degrees of consanguinity4,plato in his ideal 8,republic0 is thought to have drawn largely from ,moses4,clement of ,alexandria accosts him 7by ,apostrophe78,but as for laws1 whatever are true were conveyed to thee from the ,hebrews40 ,these historic facts seem to indicate the definite channel through which the laws of ,moses reached the ,grecian mind in its earliest stages of culture and thus wrought themselves into the great fountains of ,grecian and ,roman civilization and jurisprudence4 7e47 ,there seem to be strong grounds for the general statement that the greatest reformers of all known history have acted upon the ideas of ,moses1 and have probably drawn their doctrines more or less directly from that fountain4 ,i will venture to place in this category ,zoroaster1 ,plato1 ,confucius1 ,buddha1 and ,mahomet4 ,these men were in their time reformers of society1 of morals1 and of jurisprudence4 ,their influence led toward if not fully unto the doctrine of one ,god1 and by natural consequence to a purer morality and juster views of law and equity2 of love to one's neighbor and purity of life4,i regret that my limits forbid any attempt to present the historic evidence which might support more or less fully these broad1 comprehensive statements4 ,the historic evidence that ,zoroaster1 ,plato1 and ,mahomet drew from ,moses is very strong4 ,of the great ,indian reformer and of the ,chinese comparatively little is known4 7f47 ,of ,roman law as finally embodied in the great code of ,justinian1 it has been already suggested that its best things came from ,moses and the ,septuagint through ,greece and the ,egypt of the ,ptolemies4,i add two other remarks37a7 ,that in the age of ,justinian 7first half of the sixth ,christian century7 primitive ,christianity had quite fully leavened the public sentiment and thus the jurisprudence of the then civilized world47b47 ,that when ,justinian created a commission of learned jurists to 8collect the scattered monuments of ancient jurisprudence10 he recommended them in settling any point to regard neither the number nor the reputation of the jurisconsults who had given opinions on the subject1 but to be guided solely by reason and equity4#de 7g47 ,of ,alfred the ,great 7reigned ,a4 ,d4 #hga-ija7 the central testimony of history is that he was severely just4 ,despite of surroundings almost barbarous1 he rose by dint of his irrepressible manliness to become the greatest legislator and scholar of his age1 and so was able to lay the foundations for the best and truest glory of the ,english name4 ,the common law of ,england and of the ,english-speaking world began its development under his hand4 ,one fact is of itself a volume of testimony to the spirit of this ancient law4 ,when after a long struggle ,wilberforce brought the question before the ,english bench,does ,english law sanction human bondage8 the world heard the answer,never4 8,slaves can not breathe in ,england40 ,what moment they take in her pure air1 they are free6 ,the spirit of her law from the days of ,alfred was justice and righteousness between a man and his neighbor4 ,the laws of ,moses were in ,alfred's eye2 the spirit of those laws filled and fired his noble soul4 ,it is currently said that the telling words which describe the needy as 8,god's poor0 are original 7for our mother ,saxon tongue7 with him4 ,moses had reiterated the sentiment long ages before4,sir ,matthew ,hale has traced the influence of the ,bible generally on the laws of ,england4 ,sismondi testifies that ,alfred1 in causing a republication of the ,saxon laws1 inserted several statutes taken from the code of ,moses1 to give new strength and cogency to the principles of morality4 8,thus have the principles of the ,mosaic code found their way to a greater or less extent into the jurisprudence of all civilized nations40 ,winesp4 #ccg4 ,it falls within our plan to speak briefly of the civil code of ,moses as a series of progressive revelations of ,god to man4 ,i have spoken of the law of ,sinai as a manifestation of ,god to man at once sublime in its majesty and most benignly practical in its moral bearings4 ,the civil code8the statutes and judgments0carry out yet more fully the practical unfoldings of ,god's wisdom and of his sense of justice and right as between man and man4 ,it is not easy to select the most striking cases to illustrate this point1 for the whole code is radiant with divine wisdom and aglow with testimonies of his love1 manifesting itself in wisest legislation for human welfare4,confining our attention to the second table of the law of ,sinaiman's relation to his fellow-manwe may consider how much there is here adapted to conserve all the best elements of societyin securing the honor due to parents and rulers2 in guarding human life and providing the means for its protection2 in making the marriage covenant sacred2 on the one hand shielding the sexual relation of the race against abuses most pernicious2 and on the other1 providing agencies which may enrich man's social life with priceless blessings4 ,so also the statutes in detail respecting rights of property and rights of reputation are replete with fresh testimonies to the wisdom and the love of the ,great ,father4,speaking frankly of the impressions made on my mind by this study of the code of ,moses1 ,i must say that no part has seemed to me more deeply imbued with the tenderness and pity of the ,lord than the provisions made for the poor1 and the restrictions and limitations upon personal servitude4 ,in all his utterances on these points the ,lord assumes that no interests of man more need his protection than these1 and he comes promptly to the front to give it4 ,he would have us know that over these interests his watchful eye never sleeps2 his quick ear is never shut to any cry for help4 ,the rich and the mighty may get on without his special aid2 the poor are his own wards and shall never lack his sympathy nor his present hand4 ,human laws are in great part worthlessat least they miss their most important functionunless they make it their chief endeavor to protect the interests and rights of those who1 powerless in themselves1 drop upon the strong arm of law for their defence4 ,society and legislation might as well not be as to forget that they exist as appointed of ,god mainly for the sake of the poor and the otherwise unprotected and unbefriended4 ,such needy ones every human society will have for the moral trial of those who control society1 and ,i may add1 to draw out the sympathy of the ,great ,father4 ,these revelations of himself stand forth in sunlight throughout this ,mosaic code4 ,they are a glorious advance upon all that the world had seen before4 ,the true mission of civil law is brought out here with great fullness2 for it seems to be every-where assumed that if laws protect and befriend the poor1 they protect and befriend all4 ,if the spirit of law faithfully guards their interests1 it can not well fail to guard all interests that need the guardianship of human legislation4 ,it is a priceless boon to the race to have these ideas so beautifully set forth and so substantially embodied in a code of laws fresh from the hand and from the heart of the ,infinite ,father4 ,,chapter ,,xix4 ,,the ,,religious ,,system ,,of ,,the ,,hebrews4 ,,this system contemplates as its ultimate end the obedience1 homage1 and worship due from men to ,god4 ,as a prime means toward this end1 it prescribes modes and forms of worship4 ,it proposes to bring ,god near to men and men near to ,god2 and for this purpose would cultivate in men the spirit of penitence and of faithimpressing them with a sense of their sins and suggesting to them how sin may be forgiven2 and how1 on the basis of ,god's own provision for pardon1 he can accept the humble1 reverent worship of his people4,these fundamental ideas respecting the sinner's acceptance with ,god1 the system now before us sought especially to develop by means of visible symbolsthese symbols constituting the very elaborate and minutely described religious system of the ,hebrews4,this system1 having long since 8waxed old and vanished away0 is no longer in practice1 and therefore can not be useful as a rule of present duty1 but is useful for the light it throws on the great and fundamental questions,how shall mana sinnerbecome just before ,god8 ,is an atonement necessary8 ,what are the fundamental ideas of 8atonement08 ,how were they developed in the ,mosaic system1 and what light does this development bring to the atonement presented to view in the ,new ,testament8 ,with superlative wisdom ,god began to give lessons on this great subject very early in the history of our race4 ,it was wise to give such lessons long and carefully before the ,great ,atoning ,sacrifice came in human flesh4 ,it was also wise to give them largely by visible illustrationsby the aid of a system having so much of the external and the visible that minds not disciplined to abstract thought might see the truth and feel its power by means of sensible manifestations4 ,the reader will now see readily the purpose of the ensuing examination of this religious system4 ,it is not for historic curiosityin which case we might select points amusing or strange or sensational2 it is not to guide the worshiper 7as ,moses sought to do7 in the minutest details of the system that he might make no mistake in obeying it3but it is to gather as best we may its designed moral impression1 to study its underlying assumptions1 and evolve its true doctrine in regard to the great question of the sinner's acceptance before a holy and righteous ,god4 99 99 99 99 99 ,briefly and comprehensively we may classify the leading features of this system viewed externally1 on this wise3 ,i4 ,its prescribed sacrifices and offerings4 ,,ii4 ,its stated times and seasons of worship4 ,,iii4 ,its sacred edifices and apparatus for worship4 ,,iv4 ,the religious ordersclasses designated for sacred service4 ,i4 ,the sacrifices and offerings of this system may be classified variously3e4 g4 7#a47 ,bloody1 or not bloody3terms which will be readily understood4 ,the former were slain animals1 a portion of whose blood was sprinkled4 ,the latter included offerings of flour1 oil1 wine1 etc4,or 7#b47 ,some were specially required3 others were voluntary or free-will offerings47#c47 ,they may be classified with reference to the times and seasons when they were to be made2 some being daily1 as the morning and evening sacrifice2 others for the ,sabbath2 others for the new moons2 others on occasion of the three great yearly festivals2 and1 among the most useful for its suggestive import1 those of the great day of atonement47#d47 ,or we might classify them under the somewhat distinctive names given them in the law1 of which we find a large number4 ,we have 7a47 ,the generic word sacrifice ,heb4 ,zebaha word which implies slaying1 taking life37b47 ,another quite generic term1 8offering10 which is used to translate several ,hebrew words1 and of course with very considerable latitude of meaning37c47 8,burnt-offering0which is the quite constant translation of the ,heb4 8,olah0 signifying what goes up upon the altar and is consumed there4 ,the phrase 8whole burnt-offering0 gives according to the ,hebrew1 the sense of completenessthe whole of the animal being burned on the altar37d47 8,sin-offering0in ,hebrew1 one of the most common words for sinhatta4 ,paul's use of the corresponding ,greek word 7#b ,cor4 #e3 #ba7 follows this usage of the word for sin3 8,god hath made him to be sin0 a sin-offering 8for us who knew no sin10 etc437e47 8,trespass offering02which is another of the ,hebrew words for sin1 offense 8asham037f47 8,meat-offering02 some variety of food or drink other than flesh37g47 8,peace-offering0which seems closely related to the 8thank-offering10 being an expression of gratitude to ,god2 the animal sacrificed being in large part eaten socially by the offerer and his friends2 also by the poor1 the widow1 servants1 etc437h47 ,wave and heave offeringsterms which refer to ceremonies of elevating or waving certain parts of the sacrifice4 7#e47 ,a much more important distinction in the ,mosaic sacrifices lies between those which were expiatory and those which were not specially so1 the former class being slain animals whose fat at least was burned on the altar and whose blood was sprinkled in specified and various ways2 the latter class having somewhat various objects1 but chiefly that of expressing gratitude for blessings or joy in the ,god of their salvation4 99 99 99 99 99 ,two other points in respect to sacrifices are of importance1 viz4 7a47 ,the choice of animals to be slain in sacrifice4 7b47 ,the killing itself1 coupled with the use made of the blood1 of the fat1 and in some cases of the fleshwith the attendant ceremonies4 7a47 ,it should be carefully noted that animals for sacrifice were not taken up at random4 ,it was not merely life and blood that were sought4 ,they were not the wild1 but the tame1 domesticated2 not the savage1 flesh-eating animals1 but the docile1 grass-eating2 not animals mostly or altogether useless to man1 but precisely those which were most useful2 not animals of the sort nobody loves or cares for1 but those most loved and cared for1 between whom and the human family there often arises a special intimacy and affection4 ,in a word they were the representatives of utility1 docility1 and innocence4 ,the ox1 patient of toil1 in his early years invaluable for food2 the goat1 useful for flesh and milk2 the lambthe symbol of affection1 attachment1 innocence3these three classes of animals formed the staple material for bloody sacrifice4 ,of birds1 the turtle-dove and young pigeon1 being less expensive1 were permitted to the poor4 ,as naturally representing innocence and loveliness1 they are quite of the same class4,it sometimes escapes notice that the ,orientals brought these animals much nearer to their hearts and homes than our ,western notions and habits know of4 ,we forget that not infrequently to this day they live under the same roof along with sons and daughters4 ,the prophet ,nathan in that touching verse about the 8one little ewe lamb0 7#b ,sam4 #ab3 #c7 drew not from his imagination but from ,oriental life4 8,the poor man had nothing save one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished up1 and it grew up together with him and with his children3 it did eat of his own meat0 food 8and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom1 and was to him as his daughter40,moreover1 the ,hebrew might not select for sacrifice the deformed1 the torn1 the lame1 the sickly2 but evermore1 the unblemished1 the perfectthose specially lovable and choice pets around which the hearts of the household1 young and old1 were wont to cling3 of these must the worshiper take for the altar4 ,let us think of the scene at that altar of sacrifice4 ,the place is in the front court of the tabernacle1 whose inner sanctuary was made glorious with the visible presence of ,jehovah4 ,the one all-engrossing thought associated with this sacred spot1 was,god is here4 ,i go up to meet ,god4 ,before his face ,i bring this prescribed offering4 ,it is one of my sweet lambs of the flock1 or as the case may be1 a young bullock of one or two years old4 ,i know that the animal must die there4 ,either in my own person or through the priest1 acting in my behalf1 ,i am to lay my hand on the head of the victim and thus confess my sin4 ,from that moment the innocent lamb takes my place and stands before the executioner1 as if guilty of capital crime4 ,the sight and the smell of blood2 the struggle and the recoil2 the outcry of horrorthe only awful1 horrible sound uttered by these animalsgo to make up a scene which1 once witnessed1 can never be forgotten4 ,we of this age might see it in some of its aspects if we would2 we rarely do4 ,we should find it1 not in our worshiping sanctuaries but in the secluded slaughter-house whither no one is ever attractedwhither none ever go save those who must4 ,think of the blood1 the death-groans1 the struggle1 the whole dying scene4 ,is there any meaning in it8 ,is there any thing in it appropriate to the sanctuary of ,god and to his solemn worship8 ,the transaction is by no means so mysterious as it might be4 ,it would be profoundly mysterious were it not that man is a sinner before the holy law of ,goda sinner under condemnation of death4 ,it would be utterly inexplicable if there were not in nature1 in thought1 in fact1 something which we may call substitution1 to which we give the name vicarioussomething which involves1 not indeed an entire exchange of one personality for another1 but something which approximates toward it4 ,one being suffers in the place and stead of another4 ,an innocent being steps into the place of a guilty one and takes upon himself the guilty man's doom4 ,we need not pause here to hunt up analogies of this sort in human life2 suffice it that ,god signifies by these striking symbols that he has found a place for this principle in his great scheme for the pardon of sinners condemned to death by his holy law1 and that he saw fit to fill this ,hebrew religious system absolutely full of illustrative typical representations of this stupendous fact4 ,the elementary facts in this system of sacrifices1 considered as illustrating the scheme of pardon are few and simple2 thus 7a47 ,man has sinned against ,god and stands condemned by his law to eternal death4 7b47 ,god loves this sinning man and longs to save himbut must not break down his law4,so he finds a ,lamb for a sacrifice whose death for sinners will abundantly sustain the majesty of law1 and proceeds thereupon to 8lay on him the iniquity of us all40 ,this done1 it only remains that the sinner repent of his sin1 and humbly1 thankfully accept the death of this ,lamb of sacrifice in place of his own eternal death4,these few and simple elements comprise substantially the essence of this wonderful system4 ,this system seeks a symbolic representation in these bloody sacrifices4 ,the offerer brings forward his lamb of the flock2 he lays his hand upon that innocent head and confesses there his sin3 he in a sort transfers his own personalityor more precisely1 his own sin and guilt1 to that animal victim2 he stands by and witnesses the death-scene with a deepened sense that he deserves a death far worse than that himself4 ,but when the fires from heaven descend and consume his offering1 and he finds himself not only spared but blessed of ,god and bidden to go in peace1 he gets a sense unknown before1 of the peace and joy of pardoned sin4 ,the blood sprinkled upon and around the altar and toward the most holy place and upon himself becomes a memorial of what his salvation cost2 the pardon himself receives testifies how much it is worth1 8speaking better things than the blood of ,abel40 ,if any special argument should seem called for to prove that this is the true significance of these bloody sacrifices1 we shall come to it with better preparation after the main points of the system are more fully before us4 ,as an illustrative system1 there is yet one other point of great significance1 viz4 that in many of these sacrifices a portion of the animal was eaten by the offerer and by his family and friends4 ,this great amount of animal flesh was not all consumed by the fires of the altar4 ,yet we are not to suppose that public economythe saving of so much valuable human foodwas the prime consideration4 ,we must go deeper than this4 ,nor was it that the ,lord would cultivate the social nature of his worshiping people1 and therefore provided these materials for agreeable social feasting4 ,we must go very much deeper than even this4 ,this feasting upon the flesh of the slain animal is in germ what the gospel gives us in full development1 viz4 that the same ,lamb of ,calvary who 8washed us from our sins in his own blood0 8gave us his flesh to eat0 as 8the bread of life40 ,the memorial supper carries in it the same double symbolblood and breadthe blood looking toward pardon2 the bread toward sustenance for the spiritual life4 ,so the pious ,israelite might on the one hand see the blood of his sacrifice gurgling forth1 caught1 sprinkled toward the mercy-seat and upon his own person2 and on the other hand1 might take of the flesh of his slain lamb and sit down1 not merely in peace but in joyful thanksgiving that death brings lifethat sacrificial blood brings after it the new life of the redeemed1 restored sinner1 and sustenance therefor from the very animal whose body and blood became symbols of his pardon4 99 99 99 99 99 ,besides these sacrifices of a general character1 the system provided others of a special and personal character for individuals under peculiar circumstances1 e4 g4 for the case of vows2 of purification from ceremonial uncleanness2 for the restored leper1 etc4 ,of these ,i need say only that they suggest the fitness of recognizing ,god's hand every-where1 in all possible events and under all the various dispensations of providence4 ,these events are never barren of significance4 ,it behooves us to study their meaning and adjust ourselves to ,god's hand with resignation and with gratitudewith a sense of our unworthiness and of ,god's great mercy4,the detailed methods of that ancient system have at this day no vital interest4 ,scarcely of the nature of sacrifice1 yet intensifying the idea of ceremonial uncleanness was the burning of the 8red heifer0the gathering up of her ashes and the preparation from them of 8the water of separation0a purification from sin in the ceremonial sense4 ,num4 #ai gives the details1 specifying the sorts of uncleanness which this purifying water washed away4 ,the writer to the ,hebrews 7#i3 #ac1 #ad7 gave the great moral inference thus3 8,for if the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh1 how much more shall the blood of ,christ who through the eternal ,spirit offered himself unto ,god1 purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living ,god08 ,,ii4 ,,stated ,,times ,,and ,,seasons ,,of ,,worship4 #a4 ,the ,morning and ,evening ,sacrifice4 ,two lambs of one year were offered every day2 the one in the morning and the other at evening ,heb4 8between the evenings02 burnt offerings1 consumed wholly upon the altar4 ,they were accompanied with a small portion of flour1 oil1 and wine4 ,this was a perpetual ordinance1 never to be omitted4 ,the original institution 7,ex4 #bi3 #ch-df7 is accompanied with ,god's very gracious promise to meet with his people and dwell among them1 sanctifying the place of this meeting by his glory4 ,nothing could suggest more pertinently and tenderly that ,god loves to see the face of his worshiping people and to meet them as each day opens in the morning and as it closes with the setting sun4 ,let this communion between ,god and his sons and daughters never be in any wise interrupted4,the usage seems to have led pious ,jews in later times to adopt these hours for their morning and evening prayer1 as we may see in the case of ,daniel 7#i3 #ba71 and in the ,new ,testament history4,the ritual for these sacrifices is given in detail 7,num4 #bh3 #c-h74 #b4 ,the ,sacrifices for the ,sabbath4 ,each ,sabbath had an extra service in addition to the continual morning and evening sacrificetwo lambs of the first year without spot2 with the attendant meat and drink-offerings 7,num4 #bi3 #i1 #aj74 99 99 99 99 99 #c4 ,the sacrifices at each new moon were on a larger scale than either of the preceding1 viz4 two young bullocks1 one ram1 and seven lambs for the burnt-offering2 one kid of goats for the sin-offering4 ,as the ,hebrew months were lunar 7not solar71 these sacrifices upon the appearance of the new moon inaugurated the successive months4 ,it was probably for this reason that they were announced with blowing of trumpets 7,num4 #aj3 #aj74 ,the calendar was thus regulateda matter of special importance1 since it fixed the time of their three great religious festivals as also the great day of atonement4 #d4 ,the ,three ,great ,religious ,festivals4 ,of these the first in order 7the ,passover7 has been considered already4 ,the next in order of time was the ,pentecostotherwise called 8the feast of weeks1 of the first-fruits of wheat-harvest0 7,ex4 #cd3 #bb72 8the feast of harvest1 the first-fruits of thy labors which thou hast sown in the field0 7,ex4 #bc3 #af72 also 8the day of first-fruits0 7,num4 #bh3 #bf74 ,the other passages which treat of it are ,lev4 #bc3 #ae-ba and ,deut4 #af3 #i-ab7,the name ,pentecost is not from the ,hebrew but from the ,greek1 meaning the fiftieth day1 i4 e4 after the great ,sabbath1 which fell during the ,passover week 7,lev4 #bc3 #ae1 #af74,on the first day after that ,sabbath1 the first-fruits of their barley harvest were brought before the ,lord4 ,from that point seven full weeks were numbered1 and on the fiftieth day the feast of ,pentecost occurred4 ,this festival1 unlike the other two in duration1 was of one day onlyat least this is plainly assumed3 8,in the day of the first-fruits0 7,num4 #bh3 #bf71 also in ,lev4 #bc3 #ba1 only one day is spoken of4,it was specially a day of thanksgiving for the first-fruits of the wheat harvest4 ,two loaves made of the new wheat flour were waved before the ,lord on this hallowed day4,the reference 7in ,deut4 #af3 #aj-ab7 gives prominence to the social and joyful character of the day4 8,thou shalt keep the feast unto the ,lord thy ,god with a tribute of a free-will offering of thy hand which thou shalt give according as the ,lord thy ,god hath blessed thee1 and thou shalt rejoice before the ,lord thy ,god1 thou and thy son and thy daughter1 and thy man-servant and thy maid-servant1 and the ,levite that is within thy gates1 and the stranger1 the fatherless and the widow that are among you40 ,as a feast of joyful thanksgiving over the first-fruits of their principal grain harvest1 it was eminently the appropriate occasion for the ,pentecostal scene of the first great ,christian ingathering4 ,how suggestive of the gratitude due to ,god for the shedding forth of the ,holy ,ghost and the glorious fruitage from this gospel power6 ,some have supposed 7not without reason7 that the ,hebrew ,pentecost commemorated the completion of the giving of the laws by the hand of ,moses1 which they suppose was brought within fifty days from the first ,passover4 ,of this however the books of ,moses affirm nothing explicitly4 ,the third and last of the three great festivals was 8the ,feast of ,tabernacles10 otherwise called 8the feast of ingathering at the end of the year when thou hast gathered in thy labors out of the field0 7,ex4 #bc3 #af74,the speciality of this feast was the dwelling in booths or tabernacles1 made of 8boughs of goodly trees1 branches of palm trees and the boughs of thick trees and willows of the brook0 7,lev4 #bc3 #dj74 ,this feast began on the fourteenth day of the seventh month and continued during eight days1 the first and the last being days of special solemnity4 ,it had a double purpose1 viz4 to commemorate the forty years wandering of the fathers in the wilderness1 dwelling in tents2 and to give thanks to ,god for the last harvests of the yearthe fruits of the olive and the grapelast in orderbeing now all gathered in4 ,thus none of these three great feasts omitted the element of thanksgiving for the fruits of the season1 the first barley sheaves being brought with grateful thanks before the ,lord during the ,passover2 the first-fruits of the wheat harvest giving a special thanksgiving character to the ,feast of ,pentecost2 and the latest fruits1 the olive and the grape1 reminding them of ,god's crowning blessing upon the labors of the year at the ,feast of ,tabernacles4 ,what a beautiful training into the service of thanksgiving for the fruits of the earth6 ,this last of the festivals was pre-eminently one of joyful festivity1 and of loud and high praises to the ,lord1 their ,great ,benefactor4 ,the ,jews have a sayingthat 8whoever has not seen the rejoicing of the last great day of the ,feast of ,tabernacles has never seen a day of joy in his life40 ,the principal passages of ,moses that treat of it are ,ex4 #bc3 #af1 and #cd3 #bb1 and ,lev4 #bc3 #cd-dc1 and ,num4 #bi3 #ab-dj1 and ,deut4 #af3 #ac-ae4 ,the celebration of this feast in the age of ,nehemiah 7#h3 #ad-ah7 the reader should not fail to notice4 ,at this time the law was read daily in the hearing of the people4 ,the law of ,moses provided for this public reading on each seventh1 i4 e4 the ,sabbatic year1 during the ,feast of ,tabernacles 7,deut4 #ca3 #aj-ac74 ,the striking allusion 7,jn4 #g3 #cg7 to the scenes on the last great day of the feast will be readily recalled4 ,a custom unknown to the law of ,moses had then come into practicethat of going in vast procession to the fountain of ,siloam for water1 and bearing it with joyful acclaim to the temple to pour it out there before the ,lord4 ,while this procession was passing1 ,jesus lifted up his voice and cried8,if any man thirst1 let him come unto me and drink40 ,may we suppose that possibly the words of ,isaiah were before him38,ho1 every one that thirsteth1 come ye to the waters0to these waters of life which ,i give for the life of the world6 ,upon these three great festivals all the males of ,israel were required to appear before the ,lord at the one place of his choicethe tabernacle or the templeultimately in ,jerusalem 8whither the tribes go up40 ,the women of ,israel manifestly went when they chose and could4 ,according to ,oriental usage they traveled in groupslittle caravansseveral adjacent families1 or as the case might be by households1 the patriarch with his children and children's children together1 moving on with many a song of social cheer and grateful praise till at length they lifted up their eyes to the hills of the goodly city4 ,the so-called 8songs of degrees0 7,ps4 #abj-acd7more strictly songs of the stages or upgoingsare specimens of this free and outflowing worship of the traveling companies1 bound upward to ,jerusalem4 ,the allusion in ,luke #b3 #da-de1 is pleasant to think of4 ,we must not overlook the fact that the ,lord relieved their minds of all fear lest their defenseless homes might be assailed and robbed and perhaps their wives and little ones murdered by foreign enemies while all their able-bodied men were away from their homes in ,jerusalem4 8,neither shall any man desire thy land when thou shalt go up to appear before the ,lord thy ,god thrice in the year0 7,ex4 #cd3 #bd74 ,none but a ,god of universal providence and omnipotent resources could safely make such a promise4 ,in their own ,jehovah they might safely trust4 99 99 99 99 99 ,of sacred seasons1 the most peculiar and striking yet remains to be noticed1 viz4 the great day of atonement4 ,this was one day only2 was not a feast day but a fasta day 8in which ye shall afflict your souls10 i4 e4 subject yourselves to the discomforts and pains of entire abstinence from food for the whole day1 8from even to even40 ,whoever would not afflict his soul on this day must be 8cut off from his people40 ,all labor was forbidden under the same penalty4 ,the passages ,lev4 #bc3 #bf-cb and ,num4 #bi3 #g-aa give these general features of the institution4 ,only in ,lev4 #af do we find a full description4 ,in this chapter it appears that the original appointment of this day stands connected with the sad death of ,nadab and ,abihu1 the two eldest sons of ,aaron for their rash unauthorized offering of strange fire before the ,lord 7,lev4 #aj3 #a-h74 ,that awful scene of death suggested the great necessity of ceremonial purity in the priesthood and of the utmost care and self-control when they came before ,god4 ,there would be sins in the priesthood and sins among the people of which they might not be aware3 hence the propriety of one comprehensive1 all-embracing service for atonement4 ,the points to be specially noted in this service are,that the ,high ,priest washed himself clean2 put on white linen garments1 symbolic of purity1 and then made a special offering for his own sins and for the sin of all the people4 ,the latter had this striking peculiaritythat two goats were taken for a sin-offering1 upon whom lots were cast to select one for the ,lord and one for ,azazel ,eng4 8scape-goat04 ,another still more important peculiarity was that on this day only 7never on any other7 the ,high ,priest went alone into the most holy place1 bearing both the blood of the sin-offering and incense4 ,first he bore into the most holy place the blood of a bullock as a sin-offering for himself1 and sprinkled it with his finger upon the mercy-seat and in front of the mercy-seat seven times4 ,he also bore a censer full of coals from the great altar and upon it burned incense1 the smoke of which enshrouded the mercy-seat4 ,then the goat upon which the lot fell for the ,lord was slain1 and the ,high ,priest bore his blood also into the most holy place and sprinkled it there to make atonement for the whole people4 ,no other man save the ,high ,priest might go in at any time on pain of death4 ,the other goat1 called in our ,english version 8the scape-goat0 was then disposed of thus3 ,aaron 8laid both his hands upon the head of this goat and confessed over him all the iniquities of the children of ,israel and all their transgressions in all their sins1 putting them upon the head of the goat1 and then sent him away by a fit man into the wildernessthe goat bearing upon himself all their iniquities into a land not inhabited40 ,he was then set at liberty in the wilderness 7,lev4 #af3 #bj-bb74,the precise meaning of the word ,azazel 8scape-goat0 and the reason for using this name have been much disputed4 ,our ,english ,bible fails to give a satisfactory translation of v4 #h where by a most obvious antithesis the sacred lot selects one of the two goats for ,jehovah and the other for ,azazel4 ,was it1 as many suppose1 for ,satan1 conceived of as 8walking through those dry and desolate places1 seeking rest but finding none0to whom this goat1 symbolically bearing the sins of the whole people1 is sent8 ,if so1 what is implied and signified in this sending of the goat to him8 ,i must say ,i am not wise on these points4 ,if any ideas were current in that age in respect to ,satan which might illustrate this transaction1 they have not come down to us4 ,it must ,i think suffice for us to see in these two goats for a sin-offering a sort of double figure to indicate the atonementthe first one slain in the usual way and his blood sprinkled before the mercy-seata solemn witness that without the shedding of blood there can be no remission of sin3 the other1 supplementing the great idea of atonement by a most vivid representation of sins borne awayforever away1 to be known and remembered no more4 ,the sins of the whole people were transferred to the head of this second goat2 he takes them away into the unknown desolate wilderness1 never to return4 ,symbolically1 the sins are gone forever6,the prophet ,micah 7#g3 #ai7 gives a turn to the same thought only slightly different8,thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea40 ,jeremiah also 7#ca3 #cd78;,i will remember their sins no more40 ,no symbol could give more precisely1 more unequivocally1 more forcibly1 the great idea of taking away sins4 ,you see them transferred to this second goat by means of hands imposed and formal declaration1 8putting them the sins upon the head of the goat02 and then he is driven away1 bearing his burden into an unknown1 desolate land1 never to be heard from again6,the sacrifice of the first goat for a sin-offering and the sprinkling of his blood before the sacred ,presence of ,jehovah had the usual significance of an innocent animal substituted for the guilty sinnerthe former dying that the latter might not diethus showing how ,god could safely forgive sin4 ,these two goats therefore represent respectively the two great ideas which make up the atonementthe first signifying by what means ,god can testify duly against sin while yet he forgives the sinner2 and the second certifying thatthe innocent victim having been substituted for the sinner and slain in his stead,god does truly take sins forever away4 ,in briefest phrase these coupled ideas stand out before us in the ,new ,testament3 8,behold the ,lamb of ,god who taketh away the sin of the world0 7,john #a3 #bi74 ,,iii4 ,sacred ,edifices and ,apparatus4 ,a system of worship which included altars and sacrifices1 and much more1 one which had the ark of the covenant and the visible manifestation of ,jehovah's presence1 demanded an edifice for its center and home4 ,it was essential to the proper reverence that this edifice should provide a place of seclusion as well as of safe-keeping for its most sacred things4,moreover1 so long as the people were unsettledsubject to removal any daythis structure must be movable1 like the tents of all nomadic people4 ,hence the first structure was the ,tabernacle or ,sacred ,tent4,a general idea of it may be presented to the reader thus3,conceive of an inclosed court1 one hundred cubits long by fifty wide the cubit being eighteen inches2 this inclosure being made by hanging curtains of linen five cubits high1 suspended from horizontal rods which were supported by posts4 ,the entrance to this inclosure was always at its eastern end1 and the eastern section1 forming the outer or first court1 was twenty cubits in depth1 cut off from the rest of the inclosed area by curtains4,in the center of the rear portion stood the sacred tent proper1 thirty cubits in length from east to west1 and ten cubits in width4 ,this also was in two principal apartments1 the eastern being twenty cubits by ten1 known as 8the holy place02 the western1 8the most holy place10 or the 8,holy of holies10 being ten cubits square4 ,the perpendicular walls of this sacred tent were of boards set on end1 ten cubits high1 so supported as to be readily set up1 taken down1 and transported4 ,the covering was four-fold1 of cloth and skins1 and was manifestly arranged like the roof of a house1 the covering passing over a ridge-pole in the center4 ,such briefly was this sacred structure4 ,of its furniture1 the important articles were as follows3 7a47 ,in the open court in front of the tabernacle proper1 were the great altar of burnt-offering and a laveran immense reservoir or tank for water4 7b47 ,in the holy placethe first section of the sacred tentstood the altar of incense2 the table of shew-bread2 and the golden candlestick47c47 ,in the most holy place1 enshrouded in the thick darkness1 stood the ark of the covenant1 containing originally the two tables of stone on which the ten commandments were written1 the pot of manna1 and ,aaron's rod that budded4 ,upon the lid of this ark1 known as 8the mercy-seat10 there reposed the refulgence of the ,divine ,presencea visible brightness and glory1 called by the later ,jews 8the shechinah0itself overshadowed by the wings of cherubic figures which rested upon either end of the ark4 ,the whole structure might be readily taken down and transported from place to place with all its furniture2 parties being designated for this service4 ,in ,num4 #aj3 #ce1 #cf we have the words customarily used by ,moses as a form of prayer1 accompanying the order for striking and pitching tents3 8,when the ark set forward ,moses said1 ,rise up1 ,lord1 and let thine enemies be scattered1 and let those that hate thee flee before thee3 and when it rested he said1 ,return1 ,o ,lord1 unto the ten thousands of ,israel40 ,of the temple built by ,solomon ,i need not say more than thisthat its plan was essentially that of the tabernacle1 differing in the following points3 ,its dimensions were twice as great2 and it was built for a permanent1 immovable edifice1 of the most substantial and costly materials4 ,,iv4 ,the ,sacred ,orders4 ,the tribe of ,levi was chosen and set apart for the services of worship and of religious instruction4 ,out of this tribe the family of ,aaron was selected for the priesthood4 ,the most sacred services devolved upon the priests1 the ,high ,priest only being permitted to enter the most holy place once a year1 as we have seen4 ,the ,levites performed subordinate services1 supplying the requisite wood and water for so vast a system of sacrifices and offerings1 and serving also in the transportation of the sacred tent and its furniture4 ,at a later period the service of song in the house of the ,lord was in their hands4 ,the law provided a full ritual for the induction of the ,high ,priest into his office and for the consecration of all the priests to their work4 ,their robes of office1 their various dress on all occasions1 are detailed with great minuteness4,the law also provided specially for their subsistence4 ,a portion of various sacrifices fell to them as their perquisite4 ,the great expense of the entire ritual service1 including the cost of the animals offered for the people at large2 the support of the priests1 and to some extent of the ,levites1 was provided for by law in the tithes2 the poll-tax of a half-shekel from every man of ,israel2 and from various other sources4 ,in the ultimate settlement in ,canaan1 forty-eight cities with their suburbs were given to the ,levites4 ,they were thus distributed among the entire population of ,canaan both east and west of the ,jordan1 and if true to their mission would fill a very important sphere in both the civil and the religious life of the nation4 ,of their civil and judicial duties ,i have spoken already4 ,they were also teachers of religion4,their suburban territory would afford them a small amount of land for cultivation2 but the divine plan was that they who served at the altar should live from the altar4 ,while religious services were conscientiously performed and the religious spirit was in due strength1 both priests and ,levites would be comfortably fed and clad4 ,idolatry and religious declension would cut their supplies short4 ,the careful reader of those portions of ,exodus1 ,leviticus1 and ,numbers which give the plan of the tabernacle1 the ritual of the priests and ,levites and the minute detail of numerous sacrifices and offerings and purifications1 will not need the suggestion that in many respects the interest and the value of these details have mostly passed away4 ,of prime importance in that age2 vital to the proper construction of the tabernacle2 vital to the due consecration of priest and ,levite and to their instruction in duty2 entirely essential to the ends of a ritual system which was to be the religious law of a great peoplethey were all in place then and were indispensable2 but in most respects this interest and value have long since ceased4 ,whereas in the time of ,moses not one word of this minute detail was superfluous1 not one point could be safely omitted2 now1 it may be passed over with only brief notice4 ,few will care to read all its particulars4 ,yet two points deserve remark3 #a4 ,that this very minuteness of detail is the strongest evidence of the genuineness and antiquity of these books4 ,they were certainly written at the time of the events they record4 ,they never could have been gotten up in any age subsequent to the events4 ,the specifications for the tabernacle and for all its furniture had a purpose then2 but could have had no purpose to justify such minuteness after the construction was finished4 ,it would be the supremest folly to forge such documents ages after the events had passed4 ,no man in his senses ever attempts such a forgery4 ,men never submit to such labor without an object2 and the case precludes the possibility of any object after the tent was built and after the ritual was fully understood and wrought into established usage4 #b4 ,while these minute details neither require nor reward particular investigation in our day1 yet taken in whole they are pregnant with great moral lessons for all time4 7#a47 ,there was a perpetual inculcation of cleanliness1 external purity2 and the most careful avoidance of whatever was defiling4 ,the ceremonial washings and cleansings1 the removal from the camp1 or as the case may be1 the seclusion from the court of the tabernacle for a term of purification1 occur frequently4 ,by a natural law of mind1 sin is associated with uncleanness2 crime is defiling4 ,hence1 with almost infinite pains the ,lord was impressing upon his people the great idea that their ,god who deigned to dwell among them 8was of purer eyes than to behold iniquity40 ,he could not abide with them save as they kept themselves clean and pure4 7#b47 ,on every hand we note the most solemn inculcation of care1 thoughtfulness1 consideration1 especially in their religious worship1 and the most impressive warnings against a rash and inconsiderate spirit4 ,hence wine was forbidden to the priests when about to go to the altar 7,lev4 #aj3 #h-aa74 ,it seemed that ,god could have no patience with the thoughtless and irreverent4 ,at whatever cost1 the fear of the ,lord must be impressed upon the peopleelse all effort for their religious culture would be vain4 7#c47 ,their great thanksgiving festivals2 their numerous thank-offerings2 their vows2 their required tithesall concur in this one ideathe recognition of ,god as the ,giver of all blessings1 their great personal and national ,benefactor4 ,no pains was spared to impress and enforce this great truth4 ,the long course of ,god's redeeming mercies toward their nation2 the rescue from ,egyptian bondage2 the miraculous supplies of bread and water forty years in the desert2 the gift of the goodly land of ,canaan2these were the staple facts of their history which ,god sought to engrave upon the national heart and to work into the living thought of the thousands of ,israel4 ,by every hopeful appliance their religious system was shaped to keep alive and intensify these feelings4 7#d47 ,more important than all the rest were the great moral lessons set forth by the perpetual presence of atoning blood4 ,the ,israelites were never allowed to forget that they were sinners1 and that their approach to ,god must always be through the blood of atonement4 ,no day might begin1 no day might close1 without the shedding of animal bloodthe sacrifice of an innocent animal's life4 ,the great days were great because of the multiplication of these sacrificesevermore distinguished and memorable for the rivers of blood that flowed2 for the struggles and throes of the dying2 for the sprinkling of blood1 blood1 ,,blood1 all round about the hallowed altar1 toward the unseen ,presence within the most holy place1 and upon the assembled hosts of ,israel4,it may cost us a few moments' effort to reproduce those scenes before our mind's eye so as to take in their full significance2 but this effort to comprehend that ancient ritual would bring its reward4 ,what a demonstration it would be in proof that 8without the shedding of blood there is no remission06 that ,god never looks propitiously on guilty sinners save through the bleeding sacrifice of his crucified ,son6 ,as bearing upon the great questionsthe fact and the nature of the atonementthis bloody ritual has a most vital and impressive significance4 ,no questions of deeper and more vital import can ever arise than such as these3 ,was the death of ,christ expiatory8 ,was his blood shed for the sins of men8 ,did he lay down his life1 an innocent victim1 that the guilty sinners who place their hands upon his sacred head and there confess their sins may live and never die8 ,in a word1 was his death foreshadowed and its true significance pre-intimated by the bloody offerings enjoined in this ,hebrew system8 ,argumentatively1 it would seem that these great questions are decided forever by the following considerations3 #a4 ,if the bloody sacrifices of this ancient system do not set forth the atoning death of ,christ1 they mean nothing2 this1 or nothing at all4 #b4 ,the writer to the ,hebrew ,christians testifies that they mean this4 ,to give the proof of this statement in full would repeat entire the seventh1 eighth1 ninth1 and tenth chapters of this epistle4 ,it would be idle to say that this writer does not refer to the sacrificial system of ancient ,israel2 equally idle to claim that he does not speak of the bloody death of ,christ2 more than idle to deny that in his view that old system sought to illustrate this new onethose bloody scenes were foreshadowing pre-intimations of ,christ's death2 that those priests were precursors of this greater ,high ,priest2 that the blood which ,aaron bore once a year into the most holy place meant neither more nor less than that ,jesus was in his time to enter once for all into a yet more holy place with his own blood and thus achieve for us eternal redemption4 ,jesus 8needed not daily as did those priests to offer sacrifice1 first for his own sins and then for the people's2 for this he did once0 for all 8when he offered up himself0 7,heb4 #g3 #bg74 #c4 ,all the ,new ,testament writers were ,jews2 men of ,jewish education1 men of life-long training in religious ideas based on this ,hebrew sacrificial system4 ,they never speak of the purpose or results of ,christ's death save in terms and phrases taken from this system given through ,moses4 ,jesus never speaks of his own death save in these same words and phrases4 ,when he speaks of 8giving his life a ransom for many0 7,mat4 #bj3 #bh72 when he said1 8,this is my blood of the ,new ,testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins0 7,mat4 #bf3 #bh72 when his great forerunner speaks of him as 8the ,lamb of ,god who taketh away the sin of the world0 7,jno4 #a3 #bi72or ,peter 7#a ,eps4 #b3 #bd7 as 8bearing our sins in his own body on the tree20 or ,paul 7#b ,cor4 #e3 #ba7 as being 8made a sin-offering for us that we might be made the righteousness of ,god in him10 it is simply impossible to disprove the reference of these terms and phrases to the ,mosaic systemimpossible to give them any other sense than that which is illustrated in the bloody death of the sin-offerings and burnt-offerings of that ancient law4 ,thus with bands which no sophistry can sever1 the ,old ,testament and the ,new are bound together1 and the atonement prefigured in the former is embodied and made perfect in the latter4 ,the almost ceaseless blood-sheddings and blood-sprinklings of the former culminate in the latter in the one great scene of death-agony and blood on ,calvary4 ,the grand idea of expiatory sufferingof the vicarious death of the innocent in place of the guilty1 which ages of ceremonial sacrifice had been setting forth and working into the minds of all reverent worshipers1 had prepared the way for ,christ's disciples to understand the mystery of his bloody death and to teach the ,christian world in the writings of the ,new ,testament how the blood of ,jesus 8takes away sin40 99 99 99 99 99 ,in closing our notice of this religious system1 let us revert for a moment to the fact that all its important features were so many important steps of progress in the manifestation of ,god to man4 ,these were lessons in advance of all that had preceded on that greatest of all questions,how shall man approach his ,maker1 and how shall he offer acceptable worship8,that ,god deigned to come down and dwell with his obedient people is the precious truth which underlies all these provisions for his worship4 ,how shall man treat this ,heavenly ,guest2 how adjust himself to this pure and majestic ,presence2 with what state of heart2 with what purity and cleanliness of person2 with what offerings and sacrifices and of what significance8,these are the points embraced in these great lessons taught in this religious system4 ,the perpetual inculcation of cleanliness and of conscientious1 scrupulous care2 the practice of perpetual thanksgiving2 but above all1 the copious illustrations of the great idea of bloody sacrifice to take away sin2these have been already named as the salient features in this system1 and all 7it will be noticed7 are points of progress4 ,bloody sacrifices and altars appear in the worship offered by ,abraham1 ,noah1 and even ,abel4 ,but how much more fully is their true import unfolded here8 ,here is confession of sin on the part of the worshiper2 here is the symbolic transfer of sins by imposition of hands upon the head of the victim brought out to die3 here is the sprinkling of his blood all round about the altar2 upon the very mercy-seat and immediately in the presence of the ,holy ,one who sat beneath the cherubim2 upon the worshipers also gathered round the bloody altar3 here are the special solemnities of the great day of atonement in which the whole sacrificial system culminatedall combining their significance to unfold the great idea of the vicarious sufferings of an innocent victim in place of guilty men4 ,,chapter ,,xx4 ,,historic ,,events ,,of ,,hebrew ,,history ,,from ,,sinai ,,to ,,the ,,jordan4 ,the ,golden ,calf4 ,,we dropped the thread of this history at ,sinai to study with undivided attention the civil code of ,moses and also the religious system4 ,we now resume it4 ,moses tarried on the ,mount forty days to receive from the ,lord the civil statutes in detail and also all his instructions in respect to the tabernacle1 the priesthood1 and the ritual4 ,the time seemed long to the restive people4 ,they became utterly impatient2 they lost faith in ,god and in ,moses2 fell back upon their previous ,egyptian notions2 and consequently applied to ,aaron1 saying3 8,up1 make us gods which shall go before us2 for as for this ,mosesthe man that brought us out of the land of ,egyptwe wot not what has become of him40 ,aaron replied3 8,break off and bring to me your golden ear-rings40 ,whether he hoped they would withdraw their request when they saw how much it was to cost them does not appear4 ,but it does appear that their enthusiasm for idol gods was equal to this sacrifice of their golden ornaments4 ,they brought them freely as ,aaron had proposed1 and he made of them a golden calf4 ,strangely enough1 the people greeted this senseless thing with the shout3 8,these be thy gods1 ,o ,israel1 which brought thee up out of the land of ,egypt40 ,what could this mean8 ,did they really believe that this calf was the power that brought those plagues on ,pharaoh2 that rolled away the waters of the ,red ,sea2 bore them safely over1 but hurled destruction on ,pharaoh's host8 ,did they see the ,power that wrought all these wonders in this powerless calf8 ,or did they assume that the ,invisible ,power which achieved this work was well represented by this golden image8,the ineffable folly of idolatry according to either notion staggers us2 we know not what to make of it4 ,if the facts were not so patent the world over and through all the ages of the race1 it would be our first impulse to assume it all a fiction and to say,men never could be so supremely silly and foolish as to suppose the ,great ,god to be like a calf6 or as to suppose that a calf1 whether of gold or of flesh and blood1 could be a ,god6 ,we are tempted to digress1 perhaps too much1 into a discussion of the philosophy of idolatry4 ,on this point it must suffice to say that no philosophy of such a fact can ever be satisfactory save one that assumes and makes large account of human depravitythus3 ,some recognition of superhuman power is inevitable2 it is in man's deepest convictions1 and can not be got out4 ,but men shrink from the near presence of a pure1 sin-hating ,god4 ,any thing else is more endurable4 ,give us 7they say7 some ,god to worship who will not disturb our sinning1 or some way of worshiping the ,supreme which will at least put that pure1 all-searching ,eye farther off4 ,and as to the reasonableness of such notions of ,god1 there is only this to be said3 ,sin makes men think like fools2 sin makes men act like fools6,this philosophy of idolatry1 and this only1 touches bottom and must stand4,in the case before us1 it is noticeable that the people were charmed with this new worship1 for they could sit down to eat and to drink and rise up to play6 ,a fine time they had of it4 ,there was no troublesome sense of a pure1 sin-hating ,god there4 ,the question how this calf could be the same ,god who brought them out of ,egypt was of the least possible concern to them4 ,aaron is swept along in the current of this mad infatuation4 ,when he saw this calf1 he built an altar before it and made proclamation3 8,to-morrow is a feast to the ,lord40 ,full of heart for such a service 8the people rose up early on the morrow and offered burnt-offerings and brought peace-offerings2 they sat down to eat and to drink1 and rose up to play40 ,a view of this scene from another stand-point follows next in the narrative4 ,we are shown what transpired on the ,mount where the ,lord1 ,moses1 and his servant ,joshua were still engaged together4 ,the ,god of ,israel whose eyes are in every place1 apprised ,moses of what the people were doing4 ,in words adapted to make ,moses feel his personal responsibility1 and perhaps to intimate that for himself he must disown such a people1 he said8,go1 get thee down1 for thy people1 whom thou broughtest out of the land of ,egypt have corrupted themselves40 ,they have made and are now worshiping a golden calf as the ,god that brought them out of ,egypt4,the ,lord closed with a proposal which was in many points of view intensely trying to ,moses2 viz4 that ,moses should suffer the ,lord to consume this corrupt people4 ,then he would make the posterity of ,moses a great nation1 in place of rejected ,israel4,did the ,lord say this to prove ,moses in the line of personal pride8 ,however this may have been1 the result was morally sublime4 ,the temptation 7if we may call it such7 made no impression4 ,moses passes it by as a thing not to be thought of4 ,the ,lord seemed to anticipate that ,moses would pray for the people1 and therefore said8,let me alone that my wrath may wax hot against them and that ,i may consume them40,not deterred a moment by this1 8,moses besought the ,lord his ,god and said3 ,why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people not merely #8my people' which ,thou not ,i hast brought forth out of the land of ,egypt with great power and with a mighty hand08 ,he boldly argues the case3 ,why1 ,lord1 shouldest thou give occasion to the ,egyptians to say that thou broughtest forth this people only to slay them in the mountains and consume them from the face of the earth8 ,what will be said of thy solemn oath to ,abraham to multiply his seed as the stars and to give them ,canaan8 ,how will these things bear upon thine own glory before earth and heaven8 ,this is a most remarkable case of prayer4 ,was ever mortal more bold and more persistent1 despite of all the ,lord had said which seemed to shut the door and bar off all entreaty8 ,yet ,moses prevailed1 and it does not appear that the ,lord rebuked him for his persistence or for his boldness4 ,it is simply said8,the ,lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people40,this point being so far gained1 ,moses must go down to the people4 ,with the two stone tablets of the law in hand and ,joshua by his side1 he descends the mount4 ,joshua's ear first caught the sound from the camp4 ,his military antecedents suggest to him a a battle3 8,there is a noise of war in the camp40 ,with juster discrimination ,moses replies3 8,it is not the shout of victors2 it is not the outcry of the vanquished2 but it is the voice of song that ,i hear40 ,they come within sightand true enoughthere was the calf-god1 and the people were dancing and singing around it with wild1 mad enthusiasm4 ,what a scene to ,moses6 ,how is his soul fired with holy indignation6 ,he casts to the earth the two tablets and breaks them at the foot of the mount4 ,next1 he demolishes the calf2 grinds it to powder2 mixes it with water and compels the people to drink it4 ,a million of men are in dismay before himall powerless to resist4,he turns to ,aaron1 his elder brother1 to rebuke him4 ,aaron's defense is both tame and lame1 as that of a man thoroughly ashamed of himself4 8,thou knowest the people1 bent on mischief4 ,they beset me to make them a calf2 ,i told them to bring forward their gold2 they did so4 ,i threw it into the fireand the calf made itself60 ,the more vital movement followed4 ,moses took his stand in the gate of the camp and cried aloud3 8,who is on the ,lord's side8 ,let him come over to me40 ,the sons of ,levi1 his tribal brethren1 responded to the call and came4 ,he bade them take every man his sword and pass to and fro through the camp1 cutting down every man they met4 ,there fell that day three thousand4 ,the sin called for some fearful visitation of ,god's displeasuresomething that should impress the whole people with a sense of ,god's irrepressible indignation4 ,thus closed this fearful day4 ,after one night's reflection1 ,moses convenes the people1 brings their great sin before them again1 and says8,i will go up before the ,lord2 perhaps ,i may make atonement for your sin40 ,his prayer is on recordshort1 but full of meaning4 8,oh1 this people have sinned a great sin and have made them gods of gold4 ,yet now1 if thou wilt forgive their sin3and if not1 blot me1 ,i pray thee out of thy book which thou hast written40,to which the ,lord answers3 8,whosoever hath sinned against me1 him will ,i blot out of my book40 ,the prayer of ,moses 7v4 #cb7 should be read with a strong emphasis on the word 8if10 making it equivalent to ,o that3 ,,if thou wilt forgive their sin1 all will be well4 ,o that thou wouldest6 ,if not1 life is nothing to me2 blot me out from the book of the living4 ,let me rather die than live any longer4,the primary meaning of this 8book0 of life is a register of living menwith reference to the earthly life1 of this world only and not of the next4 ,it is not to be taken here as including the future life4 ,the ,lord's final answer spares the national life1 but subjects the people yet to visitations of judgment for this terrible sin4 ,though the main point seemed to be gained,god could consent to spare the nationyet a qualifying condition troubled ,moses exceedingly4 ,the ,lord said,i will send an angel before thee to drive out the ,canaanite2 but ,i will not go up in the midst of thee myself1 for thou art a stiff-necked people1 lest ,i consume thee in the way4 ,it can not be safe for so wayward a people to have with them the personal presence of a ,god so pure and so sin-hating4,in the settlement of this grave matter1 ,moses was permitted to come very near to the ,god of ,israel1 to talk with him as a man talks with his friend4 ,moses said 7in substance73 ,thou hast made me responsible to lead this people onward to ,canaan2 but thou hast not told me whom thou wilt send with me4 ,yet thou hast very kindly said1 8,i know thee by name1 and thou hast found grace in my sight40 ,if this be so1 show me now thy way that ,i may know thee2 that ,i may find grace in thy sight2 and do not call this people mine1 but consider them thine4 ,let me know what thy way of dealing with me and with thy people is to be and what ,i may depend upon in this thing4,the ,lord graciously answers38,my presence shall go with thee1 and ,i will give thee rest30 this rest being probably the promised rest of the nation in ,canaan1 and not merely rest in the sense of a satisfied mind exempt from harassing vexations4,moses promptly answers8,if thy presence go not with me1 carry us not up hence40 ,if thou art not going with us1 let ,canaan be given up and this whole enterprise be abandoned1 for what can we do unless our own ,god be with us8 ,how have we ever been distinguished from other peoples on the face of the earth1 save in thisthat our ,god1 the great1 the pure1 and the ,holy ,one1 has been personally present with us8,the ,lord graciously yields this point also4 ,moses has still one more request to makethe last and perhaps the greatest3 8,i beseech thee1 show me thy glory40 ,moses had seen the pillar of cloud and of fire2 more than this1 he had been on ,mt4 ,sinai where the ,august ,presence was so grand and awful that he said8,i do exceedingly fear and quake20 and just at this time we are told that the cloudy pillar descended and stood at the very door of ,moses' tent1 and the ,lord talked with ,moses1 speaking unto him face to face as a man speaketh unto his friend 7,ex4 #cc3 #i1 #aa74 ,but this last request asks for something yet more deep and spiritual4 ,these recent developments have made on the mind of ,moses a painful impression that after all he does not yet know ,god fullydoes not really understand him2 and therefore needs to know him more thoroughly4 ,where is the line between his mercy and his wrath8 ,how much can he bear in his covenant people1 and at what point will his mercy surely turn to consuming judgment8 ,when and on what grounds will he forgive his sinning people and blot out their iniquities8,these are the points in the character of ,god which he feels that he must know1 and which he expresses under the one most comprehensive word8thy glory40 ,they belong to the depths of the divine nature4 ,this inquisitive spirit is prompted by one supreme desire in the heart of ,moses1 viz4 to do faithfully and well the work to which ,god has called him1 and to learn how to bear himself toward ,god under these responsibilities4 ,therefore the ,lord yields here also1 the request being not only reasonable but pleasing to him2 for1 does not the ,lord always delight to meet those who long to see more of his glory1 especially when the deepest aim and purpose of this longing culminate in the passion to do the ,lord's work more perfectly8,noticeably1 the ,lord's answer chooses a new word4 ,he does not say,yes1 my servant ,moses1 ,i will show thee my 8glory02 but this3 8,i will make all my goodness pass before thee1 and ,i will proclaim the name of the ,lord before thee40,this is not by any means an evasion of the main question1 for the ,lord comes squarely up to the very point that labors in the mind of his servant ,mosesthe mutual relations in the character and ways of ,god between his mercies and his justice2 his compassion toward his children1 and his fearful severity to the guilty whom no mercy can hold to obedience2 whom nothing can move but terrific judgments4,it can scarcely be necessary to explain the usage of the word 8name0 as spoken of ,god3 8,i will proclaim the name of the ,lord before thee40 ,we have become familiar with the fact that in the ,scriptures1 the name 7usually7 does more than merely distinguish one individual from another 7as in our common parlance71 being significant of nature1 of character1 of some predominant quality4 ,it is not that ,god may be called the ,lord1 the ,lord ,god1 but that he is the ,lord1 i4 e4 the real ,jehovahforever the same1 and forever faithful to his promises4 ,to proclaim his name therefore is to proclaim his nature2 to testify to his real character4 ,the manner and circumstances of this proclamation in the case before us are altogether unique and striking4 ,the ground idea is that1 in human relationships1 we learn the character by seeing the man4 ,we depend on the eye and the sense of sight above the testimony of any other sense1 and we expect to see the character in the face4 ,to 8see the face0 is1 therefore1 the most complete and satisfactory means of learning the characterof knowing the manthat we can have under the limitations of our present mortal state4 ,the language and the whole transaction before us rest on these simple facts of our present life4,the ,lord said to ,moses3 8,thou canst not see my face2 for there shall no man see me and live40 ,to see the very face of ,god would imply a more full revelation of his ineffable glory than mortal man could bear4 ,a softened manifestation of those unutterable glories is all1 therefore1 that can be granted even to the man of ,god1 ,moses2 and this is expressively put by saying3 8,thou shalt see my back parts2 my face shall not be seen40 ,this was the ,lord's proposal3 8,behold1 there is a place by me1 and thou shalt stand upon a rock2 and it shall come to pass while my glory passeth by that ,i will put thee in a cleft of the rock1 and ,i will cover thee with my hand while ,i pass by3 then ,i will take away my hand and thou shalt see my back parts1 but my face shall not be seen0 7,ex4 #cc3 #ba-bc74 ,it will be noted that in this narrative ,moses makes no attempt to describe the scenes of this visible manifestation1 or the impressions it made on his mind4 ,words are too weak for such a service4 ,those glorious views of ,god which sight may give1 and which we may assume that ,moses obtained in this proposed manifestation1 each one must have for himself alone and not for another4 ,they will come to all the ,lord's true children in the day when they shall see even as they are seen and know as they are known4,the matters which ,moses does record at this point are1 that the ,lord bade him prepare two other stone tablets to replace the broken and to appear with them the next morning on the top of the mount2 that he must come alone and let no other man be seen in all the mount1 nor let any animal of the flock or herd feed before the mount2 that then the ,lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there1 and proclaimed the name of the ,lord4 ,the words of this proclamation are recorded38,the ,lord the ,jehovah1 ,jehovah ,god1 merciful and gracious2 long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth2 keeping mercy for thousands2 forgiving iniquity1 transgression and sin1 and that will by no means clear the guilty2 visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and upon children's children unto the third and to the fourth generation40,profoundly awed by these words and by this impressive manifestation2 encouraged by the prominence given in it to the ideas of mercy and loving-kindness1 ,moses made haste1 and bowed his head to the earth and worshiped1 and then lifted up his prayer8,if now ,i have found grace in thy sight1 ,o ,lord1 let my ,lord1 ,i pray thee1 go among us 7for it is a stiff-necked people7 and pardon our iniquity and our sin and take us for thine inheritance40,the same points are prominent here as before 7,ex4 #cb3 #aa-ac7that ,god would forgive the great sin of the people2 that he would go among them again1 and dwell in the midst of them2 and that he would truly take and hold them as his own inheritance4 ,upon all these points the heart of ,moses is intently set1 and he brings them before ,god every time4 ,the ,lord responds,i renew my covenant2 ,i shall go on to work marvelously among this people4 ,the revelations of my great name before them and before all the world by means of them1 are only begun4 ,i will go before this people to drive out the ,canaanite2 but this one thing ,i must insist upon3 ,my people must wash out every stain of idol-worship2 they must destroy all idol-altars1 break down their images1 cut down their groves1 have no associations with corrupt idol-worshipers2 worship no other than the one true and holy ,god1 for the ,lord whose name is ,jealous is a jealous ,god4 ,other requirements follow as may be seen 7,ex4 #cd72 ,moses fills out another forty days on the mount2 the law is again written on two tablets like the former2 ,moses comes down with his face 7unconsciously to himself7 shining as if the reflection of the more shining face of ,god still lingered upon it4 ,when ,aaron and all ,israel saw this1 they feared to come near him4 ,moses called to them 7i4 e4 to come72 ,aaron and the rulers 7not the people7 came and ,moses talked with them4 ,afterward all the people drew near and ,moses rehearsed the recently revealed commandments of the ,lord1 putting a vail on his face while speaking with the people4 ,this glory on his face was the sensible witness that he had been in very deed talking with the all-glorious ,god1 and that it behooved them to accept him as ,god's authorized messenger4 99 99 99 99 99 ,in tracing thus rapidly the general course of thought in these chapters 7,ex4 #cb-cd71 ,i have aimed to bring out the salient points and the spirit of the transactions4 ,some things have been passed which it were well to return and examine more fully4 ,this first great apostacy into idol-worship was doubtless born of their ,egyptian life4 ,there they had seen the ox1 the cow1 and the calf made objects of worship4 ,it is supposable that the leaders in this movement were of that 8mixed multitude0 who came out from ,egypt with them 7,ex4 #ab3 #ch71 and who seem to have led off in the lusting and murmuring at ,taberah 7,num4 #aa3 #d74 ,neither of these factstheir having seen such worship in ,egypt1 nor their being seduced by the ,egyptians among themcan at all excuse their sin4 ,it admits of no excuse4,moses recites the main points of this case again 7,deut4 #i3 #h-ba71 omitting the special manifestation of ,god's name1 but giving prominence to his own anxiety1 not to say agony1 on their behalf lest the ,lord should indeed destroy them4 8,i fell down before the ,lord as at the first forty days and forty nights2 ,i did neither eat bread nor drink water because of all your sin which ye had sinned in doing wickedly in the sight of the ,lord to provoke him to anger 7for ,i was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure wherewith the ,lord was wroth with you to destroy you704 ,he also speaks of his prayer for ,aaron whose sin in this matter had been great 7v4 #bj74;,how much this great apostacy impressed itself upon the nation's history and affected good men in after ages1 may be seen in ,ps4 #ajf3 #ai-bc1 and ,acts #g3 #ci-dc1 and #a ,cor4 #aj3 #g4 ,the fact that ,moses burnt and pulverized the golden calf so that he might compel the people to drink it1 shows him to have been profoundly skilled in the science of metallurgy4 ,he has not told us what solvent he used1 other than fire1 for it was no part of his object to teach this art or to exhibit his skill therein4 ,few men have ever lived in any age who could have done it4 ,the social and moral influence of this festival for idol-worship is expressively put by ,moses3 8,the people sat down to eat and to drink1 and rose up to play40 ,as the subsequent narrative shows1 here was revelrydancing1 shouting1 and song4 ,god was forgotten2 all true sense of his presence and indeed of his nature was ruled out by the very fact that they had exalted a golden calf into his place4 ,by a law of human nature men become like the object they worship4 ,calf-worshipers go down to the level of the calf they worship4 ,alas6 would that they did not sink far lower in passion and in crime6 ,in ,ex4 #cb3 #be we read3 8,when ,moses saw that the people were naked7for ,aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies71 then he took his stand in the gate of the camp and said1 ,who is on the ,lord's side8 let him come unto me40,modern critics for the most part give the ,hebrew words the sense1 not of being naked1 but of being cast loose1 demoralized1 put into the state of being lawless1 without restraint4 ,the principal verb occurs rarely2 it may of itself bear either sense above indicated4 ,the sense 8naked0 does not well suit the context2 for in what sense did ,aaron make them naked8 ,and how could their nakedness be a reason why ,moses should send armed men among them to slay three thousand8,the other sense1 therefore1 should be preferred4 ,aaron had utterly demoralized them4 ,they were powerless1 and only objects of scorn before their enemies4 ,god had in wrath forsaken them4 ,from ,ex4 #cc3 #d-f it appears that the people were mourning over the sad tidings that ,god refused to go with them to ,canaan1 and that they indicated their grief in part by leaving off their usual ornaments1 as ,god had commanded them to do4 ,in v4 #f our translation reads1 8,israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the ,mount ,horeb40 ,the ,hebrew favors the sense1 8from ,mt4 ,horeb0i4 e4 from that point of their history and onward2 signifying that they gave this permanent indication of humility and shame for their great sin4 ,nothing could be more appropriate1 since those ornaments of gold were strongly associated with their awful sin in the matter of the calf4 ,it is pleasant to see that they were so prompt to give this expression of their sorrow and shame4 ,in that most emphatic announcement of the name of the ,lord 7#cd3 #f1 #g71 we must note the reiteration of the ideas of mercy1 grace1 long-suffering1 compassion1 goodness1 truthas if the leading purpose were to inspire hope and comfort in souls contrite and humble for sin4 ,solemn and awful words were indeed spoken of 8visiting men for their iniquity20 and not the fathers only but the children also by the laws of inevitable connection between parent and offspring4 ,nationally and socially1 the children in this nation must suffer for the sin of their parents4 ,the smiting dead of three thousand guilty fathers left many thousand children orphans4 ,if for the sins of the fathers ,god had dropped the nation at ,horeb1 where would have been their promised ,canaan8 ,what could have been the lot of coming generations of ,israel but disasterprivation of good2 accumulation of evil8 ,that ,god should put so prominently in the fore-ground this feature in his threatened retribution implies his hope that he might touch the heart of fathers and mothers in this way when they were fearfully insensible to all other considerations4,as to the bearing of this announcement of ,god's names upon the then pending question,what may the nation hope for from the ,god of their covenant8 we must suppose that it encouraged ,moses greatly4 ,he would say,assuredly ,god would not put his mercies forward so sweetly1 so richly1 so in the front of all his manifestations1 if he had not some blessed thoughts of mercy for us4 ,let us trust his loving-kindness6 ,while we will listen to his solemn words of warning against sin1 we will believe that it is his purpose to forgive this great sin and to grant us still his gracious protecting presence4 ,so he presses his suit once more in prayer4 ,among the greatest lessons of this history are those that relate to prayer4 ,the whole character of ,moses as seen in this transaction is wonderfully pure and true4 ,how unselfishly he casts away1 as not to be thought of1 the divine suggestion8,i will make of thee a great nation06 ,with what solid grasp and singular tenacity did he hold fast to the great ideas of ,god's covenant with ,abrahamto make this nation his own peculiar people2 to abide among them2 to manifest himself in works of power and grace1 and get himself a great name in all the earth6 ,shall ,god forget this covenant2 abandon this people2 drop them midway from ,egypt to ,canaan1 and leave all the nations to exult in their ruin and to put it to the caprice or the impotence of ,israel's ,god8 ,never4,it is wonderful how ,moses holds on upon these strong points in his case and the case of ,israel2 how thoroughly he proves himself to have been raised up of ,god for the great mission of ,israel's ,leader and ,advocate with ,god4 ,with what boldness does he debate the case before the ,lord and set forth his strong reasonsreasons1 not of selfish sort1 not looking so much to the human side as to the divine2 reasons that entered deeply into the greatest of all considerationsthe honor of ,god before all the nations1 and the success of his plans in making ,israel his chosen people4 ,as we search the annals of human history in vain to find a stronger case of power with ,god in prayer1 so we must look far to find a case more instructive in regard to the proper attitude for praying souls before ,god1 and the proper arguments to use in prayer4 ,moses seemed not so much pleading for himself or for his people1 as for ,god4 ,therefore it was that his pleas1 based on the revealed counsels of the ,almighty and fully in sympathy with his designs and with his glory1 took hold of the heart of ,jehovah and could not be denied4 ,the scenes of murmuring and lust2 ,taberah and ,kibroth-hattaavah4 ,these transactions1 recorded ,num4 #aa1 seem to have occurred soon after the people moved onward from ,sinai4 ,in the official record of the halting stations on their march from ,egypt to ,canaan 7,num4 #cc71 8,kibroth-hattaavah0 is next after ,sinai4,the name ,taberah does not designate a station1 but simply indicates the remote quarter of the camp where the fire of the ,lord broke forth upon the murmuring people1 till in answer to the prayer of ,moses it was quenched4,the particular ground of this murmuring is not stated4 ,probably it was the general hardships of their wilderness life2 a shrinking from the march into the depths of the desert1 just then commenced4,in close connection follows an account of a more serious murmuring1 begun by the 8mixed multitude0 of ,egyptian and miscellaneous followers of whom we read ,ex4 #ab3 #ch1 but into which the men of ,israel were drawn4 ,the ground of complaint was their food4 ,they were tired of their manna and longed for the vegetables and fish of ,egypt4,at this point1 as if to show how unreasonable their complaints were1 ,moses gives a full account of the manna1 its appearance1 the way of preparing it for food1 and of its flavor4 7,see what is said on manna in ,ex4 #af47,moses heard the complaints of the people and was greatly displeased4 ,naturally he bore the case to ,god in prayer1 but in the spirit of one whose endurance was overtaxed and whose nerves were but too sensitive to his burdens4 ,noticeably the ,lord does not rebuke him1 but very kindly provides relief by creating a council of seventy elders who shall help him to bear his responsibilities for the people4 ,they were to be endowed with a measure of the same divine spirit which abode with him4 ,having received this spirit it is said 7v4 #be7 that they 8prophesied10 i4 e4 exhorted1 spake under the divine influence1 but added no more4 ,this is obviously the sense of our ,hebrew text2 and not1 as our ,english version has given it8prophesied and did not cease40 ,if they did not cease1 we might expect to hear more of what they said4 ,but the word used by ,moses is decisive4 ,they simply prophesied for once to indicate the presence of the spirit with them1 and added no more4,as to the complaining people1 ,god answered their demands with such a supply of flesh that the surfeit1 by natural law or otherwise1 brought upon the people a fearful plague from which many perished4 ,the vast graveyard which received the dead gave name to this memorable station,the graves of lust1 or the graves of the lustful ones4 ,the ,lord had brought up to them quails to cover the whole region about their camp for a day's journey 7twenty miles7 on every side to the depth of two cubits 7three feet74,the moral of the case is well put by the ,psalmist3 8,he gave them their request1 but sent leanness into their soul0 7#ajf3 #ae72 or as another has it3 8,he gave them their own desire4 ,they were not estranged from their lust1 for while their meat was yet in their mouth1 the wrath of ,god came upon them and slew the fattest of them and smote down the chosen men of ,israel0 7,ps4 #gh3 #bf-ca74,there is danger of being too demanding and persistent for the gratification of any appetite or passion1 lest the blessing we demand may prove a curse4 ,let ,god's wisdom and not our own impulses be our guide1 and rule our life4 ,miriam and ,aaron jealous of the honor given to ,moses4 ,in ,num4 #ab1 we are told that ,miriam and ,aaron speak disparagingly of ,moses because of his ,ethiopian wife1 jealous of the almost exclusive honor shown him by the ,lord4 8,hath the ,lord indeed spoken by ,moses only8 ,hath he not spoken by us also80,miriam seems to have been the moving spirit in this4 ,she had no special love or even respect for her sister-in-law2 but had more than enough of self-conceit and pride4 ,perhaps she thought of her prominence in the song on the hither shore of the ,red ,sea 7,ex4 #ae74,remarkably we find here this verse interposed3 78,now the man ,moses was very meek1 above all men who were upon the face of the earth407,the manner in which this is introduced favors the supposition that it came from some other and later hand1 like the account of ,moses' death 7,deut4 #cd3 #e-ab74 ,yet it is impossible either to prove or disprove this supposition4 ,it is plain that ,moses made no reply to what ,miriam said1 but left the whole matter with ,god4 ,his work was not of his own choosing2 his high position came to him unsought4 ,the event showed that it was perfectly safe for him to leave his fair name and his high position with the ,lord4 ,for the ,lord soon interposed3 8,moses is more than a prophet3 to the prophet ,i make myself known in visions or speak in dreams2 but with my servant ,moses ,i speak mouth to mouth1 and the very similitude of the ,lord shall he behold3 ,wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant ,moses08,all suddenly ,miriam is leprous1 white as snow4 ,the quick and trained eye of ,aaron detects it1 and he cries out to ,moses for pardon and help4 ,moses1 always the man of prayer1 calls upon ,god in her behalf and is heard4 ,after seven days' exclusion from the camp1 she returns sound1 and hopefully1 a wiser and more humble woman4 ,kadesh-barnea and the ,unbelieving ,spies4 ,in ,num4 #ac and #ad stands the record of a series of events of exceedingly vital moment to the children of ,israel4,by a route not definitely ascertainable at this distance of time1 they had come 7eleven days' journey ,deut4 #a3 #b7 from ,sinai to ,kadesh-barnea which most critics concur in locating in the northern part of the wilderness of ,paran1 near 8the mountain of the ,amorites10 and also near the southern border of the land of ,canaan4 ,leaving the wilderness of ,sinai 7,num4 #aj3 #ab1 #ac7 8on the twentieth day of the second month of the second year0 from ,egypt2 spending at least one month 7,num4 #aa3 #bj1 #ba7 at ,kibroth-hattaavah1 they were supposably about two years out from ,egypt when the question came up the second time whether the people were prepared to march into the land of ,canaan4 ,on the former occasion1 as we have seen 7,ex4 #ac3 #ag1 #ah7 the ,lord decided this question at once1 rejecting the short route to ,canaan and heading their hosts through the wilderness1 because1 being then just from bondage in ,egypt1 they were in no condition1 physically or morally1 to enter ,canaan4,now at ,kadesh the question comes up again4 ,as the case is put by ,moses 7,deut4 #a3 #bb7 it would seem that the people suggested the mission of the spies3 8,ye came near unto me1 every one of you1 and said,we will send men before us and they shall search us out the land and bring us word again by what way we must go up and into what city we shall come4 ,and the saying pleased me well1 and ,i took twelve men10 etc4 ,but the more full account in ,num4 #ac ascribes the movement to the ,lord himself3 8,the ,lord spake unto ,moses1 saying1 ,send thou men that they may search the land of ,canaan0 7vs4 #a1 #b74 ,this is probably the more exact account4 ,the people however heartily concurred4,very wisely the explorers designated were thoroughly representative men1 8heads of the children of ,israel10 8every one a ruler among them40 ,thus selected1 they would fairly represent the moral tone of the people on the great point of faith or unbelief2 and moreover were men reliable as judges of the country and of the people of ,canaan4,the points which they were to investigate and report were well defined3 8,to see the land1 what it is2 whether good or bad2 the people1 whether strong or weak1 few or many2 what cities they dwell in2 whether in tents or strongholds2 and whether the land be fat or lean2 and also0 7a point of interest to men so long on the desert7 8whether there be wood therein or not40,in a tour of forty days they traversed ,canaan to the very northern border and seem so far to have done their work well4 ,it being the time of first ripe grapes1 they brought a magnificent specimen cluster from ,eshcol1 so large as to be borne by two men4,their report made two strongly marked pointsthat the land was truly 8flowing with milk and honey0all in this respect that they could desire2 but on the other hand1 ten of their number concurred in saying that the people were strong2 their cities walled and very great1 and some of their warriors1 men of ,anak1 giants of stature1 in whose sight they were only as grasshoppers4 ,their conclusion was8,we be not able to go up against that people1 for they are stronger than we0 7,num4 #ac3 #ca74,two of the spies,caleb representing ,judah and ,joshua of ,ephraimbrought in a minority report1 differing totally in the one only vital point1 viz4 whether ,israel were able to drive out the ,canaanites and take possession of the land4 ,or1 more fundamentally1 they based their conviction upon their faith in ,god2 while the men of the majority report seem to have made not the least account of ,god's help in the case4 ,caleb and ,joshua said8,the land is exceedingly good2 and if the ,lord delight in us1 then he will bring us into this land and give it to us2 only rebel not ye against the ,lord1 neither fear ye the people of the land1 for they are bread for us2 their defense is departed from them1 and the ,lord is with us2 fear them not40,sad to say1 these considerations fell powerless upon the hearts of the ten unbelieving spies1 and also upon the mass of the people4 8,all the people murmured against ,moses and ,aaron2 the whole congregation said unto them3 ,would ,god that we had died in the land of ,egypt1 or would ,god we had died in this wilderness06,they even proposed to 8make themselves a captain and return into ,egypt06,it was inevitable that the ,lord should feel himself dishonored and even insulted4 8,how long10 said he1 8will this people provoke me8 ,how long will it be ere they believe me for all the signs which ,i have showed among them08 ,and again referring to what was most disheartening and cruel of all3 8,those men who have seen my glory and my miracles which ,i did in ,egypt and in the wilderness1 and have tempted me now these ten times1 and have not obeyed my voicethey shall not see the land which ,i sware unto their fathers to give them40 ,ah1 they had seen all the plagues on ,egypt2 they had seen ,pharaoh's proud host buried in the ,red ,sea2 they had seen ,amalek smitten before ,israel while the hands of prayer were upstayed before the ,lordand must all this go for nothing8 ,god had promised to give them ,canaan2 could they not trust him8 ,they had bound themselves by most solemn covenant to follow him as their king2 and shall they go back upon this great covenant2 make another captain2 and return to their old bondage in ,egypt8 ,alas1 for such treachery6 ,alas1 that they will not believe in ,god2 that they have no faith in his power to save2 and apparently no faith in his readiness to attempt it6 ,here again 7as after the sin with the golden calf7 the ,lord proposes to ,moses to smite this whole people with pestilence1 and then make of his posterity a nation greater and mightier than they 7,num4 #ad3 #ab74 ,but in this case as in that1 ,moses listens not a moment to the proposal which might seem flattering to his ambition if he had any2 and turns his plea wholly to the point of ,god's glory before the nations3,what will they say of him if he abandons this whole people as if in despair8,it was well understood that he had promised to bring them into ,canaan2 what will they say if he fails to do it8 ,how will it bear upon the name and the fame of ,almighty ,god if the nations are left to say8,because the ,lord was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them1 therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness40,to this1 ,moses adds an appeal to that blessed name which the ,lord had given him on the former occasion3,let the power of my ,lord be great according as thou hast spoken1 saying3 8,the ,lord is long-suffering and of great mercy1 forgiving iniquity and transgression4 ,o pardon thou the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy and as thou hast forgiven this people from ,egypt until now40,to this prayer the ,lord promptly answers3 8,i have pardoned according to thy word2 but as truly as ,i live1 all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the ,lord07i4 e4 with the glory of his righteous justice72 for of all those men who have seen my glory and my miracles in ,egypt and in the wilderness1 and yet have not believed in me at all1 but have utterly dishonored my name1 not one shall enter into the land of promise4 ,march them back into this great and dreary wilderness2 let them wander there forty yearsas many years as they have spent days in searching out the land of ,canaan4 ,so let their judgment perpetually remind them of their sin1 till all that unbelieving generation1 old enough to bear moral responsibility for this unbelief1 have fallen in the wilderness4,then their children who1 they said1 would fall before the sword of the ,canaanites1 shall go into the land1 drive out those men of ,canaan1 and possess the goodly land of promise4 ,the ten unbelieving spies perish at once by the plague before the wrath of ,god4 ,the people were sorely distressed by this decision4 ,some of them rushed at once to the mad extreme of marching unbidden against the ,canaanitesonly to be smitten before them4 ,thus issued this sad case of strange1 cruel unbelief4 ,the conquest of ,canaan was postponed almost forty years2 the generation of twenty years and over when they came out from ,egypt were doomed to fruitless wandering and an early death in the wilderness2 and that nation and the world had one more lesson on the wisdom of believing ,god1 and on the infinite folly as well as guilt of refusing to believe and trust the ,lord4,moses 7in ,deut4 #a3 #ai-df7 gives a somewhat full recapitulation of these scenes4 ,in ,ps4 #ij he puts in the form of sacred song his meditation and prayer on this sad yet most instructive event4 ,the ,rebellion of ,korah and his ,company4 ,during the period of thirty-seven years intervening between the scenes at ,kadesh last noted and the return to ,kadesh in the last year of the wandering1 one event of most signal and solemn moment occurred1 viz4 the rebellion of ,korah and his company1 recorded ,num4 #af1 and referred to ,num4 #bf3 #i-aa4 ,the leaders were ,korah of the tribe of ,levi1 a near relative of ,moses1 and ,dathan1 ,abiram1 and ,on1 of the tribe of ,reuben2the former ambitious of the distinction enjoyed by ,moses and ,aaron1 and doubtless believing himself at least equally capable and worthy2 the latter probably restive under the loss of that pre-eminence which was normally conceded to the first-born4 ,associated with them were two hundred and fifty leading men of the tribes1 not otherwise distinctly designated4 ,the movement thus assumed formidable proportions in the outset4 ,they seem to have demanded that ,moses and ,aaron should retire from office and give place to themselves2 or at least that they should resign and open the way for another election by the people4,moses wisely referred this matter at once to the ,lord4 ,let him say who shall be the ,leader of this people1 and who shall come near before him as ,high ,priest4 ,take you1 said he1 every man his censer and put fire therein1 and come before the ,lord4 ,let him pass upon this great question4,expostulating with ,korah1 he said1 ,should it not suffice you that ,god has given the whole tribe of ,levi special responsibilities and honors8 ,why should ye murmur against ,aaron because the ,lord hath chosen him to lead in the most holy services8,the ,reubenite faction1 resisting the summons of ,moses1 stood off obstinately4 ,with falsehood and insult they arraign ,moses upon two grave charges3 7a47 that he had brought them out of a land of plenty to kill them in the wilderness2 and 7b47 had utterly failed to bring them into a land of plenty as he had promised4 ,and now1 said they1 8wilt thou put out the eyes of these men08 ,wilt thou dupe them and lead them on blind-fold to their utter ruin8,these were cutting charges4 ,moses was indignant4 ,appealing to ,god he said1 8,respect not thou their offering4 ,i have not taken one ass from them1 neither have ,i hurt one of them40,again ,moses refers the decision of the great question to ,god4 8,the glory of the ,lord appeared 7we read7 unto all the congregation40 ,inasmuch as the pillar of cloud and of fire was always visible to the people1 we must suppose that on this occasion these words imply an unusual brilliancya blaze of glory4,the first words from the ,august ,presence indicated the divine purpose3 8,stand ye aloof from those rebels2 separate yourselves from that whole congregation that ,i may consume them in a moment06 ,suddenly ,moses and ,aaron are on their faces in supplication that ,god would stay his hand2 for they seem to have feared a most sweeping judgment4 8,shall one man sin0 7said they7 8and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation08 ,promptly the ,lord replied3 ,give orders to the people to withdraw from the tents of those leading rebels as they would escape their doom4 ,they did so1 leaving only the leaders and their households in their tents1 awaiting the resultwith what feelings and anticipations we know not4 ,whether their impudent hardihood failed them and terror seized upon them1 or whether they stood boldly or stupidly1 awaiting the issue1 nothing is said to show4,with words inspired of ,god1 ,moses put the great question of ,god's choice of ,leader upon its decision3 8,if those men die only the common death of mortals1 the ,lord hath not sent me2 but if the ,lord create a new creation ,heb41 i4 e4 work a miracle2 do something outside the course of nature2 if the earth open and swallow up those men alive and all that appertain to them1 then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the ,lord40,with not one moment's delay1 as the last word fell from his lips1 the earth opened her mouth beneath their feet and they went down into that awful grave1 and the earth closed over them6 ,they perished from among the congregation4 ,their place was thenceforth vacant forever6,significantly it is added 8all ,israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them0those shrieks of awful horror as they went down thrilled the whole people with terror and they fled from the scene2 for they said1 8,lest the earth swallow up us also40 ,it seems almost incredible that after such a scene of holy judgment on guilty rebels and of such consternation upon the whole people1 we read that on the morrow all the congregation murmured against ,moses and ,aaron1 saying1 8,ye have killed the people of the ,lord40 ,this1 although their prayer had saved the masses of the people 7v4 #bb72 this1 although the hand of ,god only and of no mortal man had wrought their destruction2 this1 although they had seen the whole transaction and fled in horror lest ,god swallow them up also6,it should not surprise us that the wrath of the ,lord broke forth against them and the plague began4 ,moses cried to ,aaron to take a censer with incense 7the symbol of prayer7 and run in among the people1 waving his censer between the living and the dead4 ,only so was the plague stayed4 ,yet fourteen thousand seven hundred fell in that fearful judgment4,we are simply amazed at the perverseness and folly of many of that ,hebrew people4 8,how often0 and with what strange infatuation 8did they provoke their ,god in the wilderness and grieve him in the desert06 7,ps4 #gh3 #dj47 ,the next chapter 7,num4 #ag7 records a special test to show which of the twelve tribes the ,lord had chosen for the priesthood4 ,each tribe brought forward its several rod2 ,aaron's among them for the tribe of ,levi4 ,all were laid up before the ,lord for one night only4 ,in the morning ,aaron's rod had blossomed and was bearing fruit2 all the others were still dry sticks6 ,aaron's was thenceforth laid up in the most holy placea perpetual memorial of ,god's choice of ,aaron and his family for the priesthood4 99 99 99 99 99 ,if it be asked by what means were ,korah and his company destroyed8 ,were the common agencies of earthquake employed in this case8 ,or was the effect produced by the divine fiat with no intervening force of imprisoned steam or explosive gases8 ,all ,i can reply is that the record says nothing on this point whatever4 ,the agencies common in earthquakes have produced similar results often in the world's history4 ,if the ,lord saw fit he could have brought those agencies into action at precisely that moment2 or he might have produced the result miraculously with no intervening physical agency4 ,it would be the ,lord's hand in either case4 ,the question which method ,god employed in this case is of no practical consequence whatever1 and can never be decided save by a special revelation from himself4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the events of history beginning with ,num4 #bj fall within the last of the forty years of wandering4 ,this date is obtained indirectly from the death of ,aaron which is recorded at the close of this chapter 7vs4 #bb-bi7 and was connected with its events4 ,it is definitely dated 7,num4 #cc3 #ch7 in the fortieth year from ,egypt on the first day of the fifth month4 ,of the murmuring for water during this sojourn in ,kadesh and the sad rebuke of the ,lord upon ,moses1 ,i have spoken in connection with the scenes at ,rephidim 7,ex4 #ag3 #a-g74 ,the ,fiery ,serpents and the ,brazen ,one4 ,on the journey from ,mt4 ,hor1 compassing the land of ,edom1 the people became 8much discouraged because of the way40 ,travelers represent this route as abounding unusually in the discomforts of the desert4 ,so ,israel1 weary1 foot-sore1 often suffering for water1 not satisfied with their mannamurmured both against ,moses and against ,god4 ,the ,lord sent fiery serpents among them3 many were bitten and died4 ,burning serpents1 the original calls them1 with reference to the virulent poison of their bite and the fiery inflammation which ensued4 ,when ,moses cried to the ,lord for help1 he was told to make a brazen serpent and suspend it high upon a pole1 with the promise that any man1 bitten of a serpent and looking up to this brazen one1 should live4 ,thus relief required as its condition this act of obedience and of faith toward ,god4 ,the chief interest in this scene turns upon its acknowledged and undeniable character as a type of ,christ4 ,the type 7resemblance7 includes two distinct points3 the lifting up2 and the looking with its results of salvation4 ,the evangelist ,john 7#c3 #ad1 #ae7 has them both3 8,as ,moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness1 even so must the ,son of man be lifted up2 that whosoever believeth in him should not perish1 but have eternal life40 ,in two several cases ,jesus spake of himself as being 8lifted up10 with manifest reference to this historic scene in the wilderness4 8,when ye have lifted up the ,son of man1 then shall ye know that ,i am he0 7,john #h3 #bh74 8,and ,i1 if ,i be lifted up from the earth will draw all men unto me40 ,that his readers might not miss his meaning1 the ,evangelist explains3 8,this he said1 signifying what death he should die0 7,jn4 #ab3 #cb74 ,hence it is plain that ,christ recognized the brazen serpent as a special type of himself to the point of the manner of his death4,it is not less so in the second pointlooking1 the condition of living4 ,nothing can better represent the simple act of faith than looking4 ,in looking1 there is a turning of the mind toward the object2 and there is some degree of expectation4 ,there may be inexpressible longings4 ,we must assume such longings in the case of the bitten1 suffering1 dying ,israelite in the desert4,so let sinners1 stung with a terrible consciousness of guilt1 borne down with a sense of want and woe and ruin1 look with longing heart to the uplifted ,lamb of ,god2 yea to ,jesus considered as lifted up in the agonies of a vicarious deathdying for us that we might live4 ,there is life in such looking6 ,balak and ,balaam4 ,in ,num4 #bb-bd stands a very unique history4 ,the two prominent characters are ,balak1 king of ,moab1 and ,balaam1 a renowned diviner1 magician from the ,east4,moab1 descended genealogically from ,lot1 was not among the doomed nations of ,canaan1 and had nothing to fear from the ,israelites1 provided only that she neither blocked their march nor seduced them into idol-worship4 ,but ,moab1 both people and king1 were 8sore afraid of ,israel because they were many10 and because they had smitten ,sihon of the ,amorites and ,og of ,bashan1 and had taken possession of their respective countries4 ,the near proximity of such a host1 marching and encamping with military precision1 fed as no other people in that wilderness were ever fed2 invincible in arms when their ,god was with them1 and bearing the prestige of victory over ,pharaoh and ,amalek and the ,amorites1 was very naturally the occasion of no small alarm4 ,balak had seen and heard enough to convince him that the unseen power of some ,god was in these strange facts of their history4 ,unfortunately he did not know enough of the true ,godthe real ,god of ,israel to see that he could be none other than the ,one ,infinite ,god1 and therefore that resistance against him and his people was necessarily and utterly vain4 ,his theology was doubtless of the type common among all the nations of antiquity1 not blessed with the light of revelation1 viz4 polytheismgods in unknown numbers2 each nation having its own1 one or manyso that the contest for mastery between hostile nations was supposed to turn on the question which had the mightiest gods for their help4,with this theology1 ,balak's policy was soon determined upon1 viz4 to send for the most renowned diviner of the ancient ,east1 and match the prestige of his divination and of his curse against the blessings which the ,god of ,israel was conferring upon his people4 ,he understood well that the strength of ,israel lay in the strength of her ,god4 ,there was miracle theresuperhuman aid coming in from a higher ,power2 and he had no idea of any thing which he could bring into the field against this save the most potent divination and magic4 ,so he sent for ,balaam to come and curse ,israel4 ,concerning ,balaam2 his residence1 his previous and subsequent history1 and his personal character1 we have 7outside of ,num4 #bb-bd7 three references in the ,old ,testament and the same number in the ,new2 viz4 ,num4 #ca3 #h1 and ,deut4 #bc3 #d1 and ,josh4 #ac3bb3b ,pet4 #b3 #ae1 #af1 and ,jude #aa1 and ,rev4 #b3 #ad4 ,the reference to both ,balak and ,balaam in ,micah #f3 #e adds nothing to their history4 ,these passages locate ,balaam among the ,midianites 7,num4 #ca3 #h72 in ,pethor 7,num4 #bb3 #e72 in ,aram 7,num4 #bc3 #g72 and in ,mesopotamia 7,deut4 #bc3 #d74 ,the ,old ,testament passages describe him as a soothsayer1 practicing divination for reward4 ,the ,new ,testament writers go to the bottom of his character and represent him as 8loving the wages of unrighteousness2 rebuked for his iniquity1 the dumb ass1 speaking with man's voice forbade the madness of the prophet0 7#b ,pet4 #b3 #ae1 #af74 ,they speak of 8going after the error of ,balaam for reward0 7,jude #aa71 and of him as one who 8taught ,balak to cast a stumbling-block before the children of ,israel1 to eat things sacrificed to idols1 and to commit fornication0 7,rev4 #b3 #ad74;,further1 we are told 7,num4 #ca3 #h and ,josh4 #ac3 #bb7 that he was found among the ,midianitesenemies of ,god's people1 and slain with the sword4 ,the narrative by ,moses 7,num4 #bb-bd7 informs us very minutely how ,balak sent and brought ,balaam to curse ,israel1 but failed in every endeavor2 how he plied him with munificent rewards and royal honors1 but ,god would not let ,balaam curse ,israel1 much as he might have wished to do so2 how ,balak took his man to one mountain summit and another and another to show him this strange people1 superstitiously hoping to break the spell of his purpose to bless2 but all in vain4 ,the history taken in whole shows that ,balaam was a godless man2 that he exceedingly desired to please ,balak and get his money1 but that ,god would not let him4 ,his is perhaps a solitary case to show that the ,lord can 7when he pleases7 give some really prophetic visions to an ungodly man1 and yet hold him so firmly under control that no harm can come of a wicked prophet4 ,some points in this case deserve special examination4,in the passage 7,num4 #bb3 #i-ce7 it appears that ,god positively forbade ,balaam's going at all1 yet that the second embassy1 greater in number and of nobler rank and offering richer pay 7v4 #ae7 touched ,balaam in his most sensitive point and made him long to go4 ,so he told the men to tarry and he would see if he could get permission4 ,according to the record 7v4 #bj7 the ,lord said to him that night3 8,if the men come to call thee1 rise up and go with them02 yet the real meaning must be,if you will go1 and if my prohibition avails nothing1 go2 but do when there according to my word4 ,balaam was glad to go2 but 8,god's anger was kindled because he went0 7v4 #bb7;a fact which shows very clearly what sort of permission ,god had given him4 ,it can not well be doubted that ,balaam knew he was going1 contrary to the real mind of the ,lord2 for when did the ,lord ever give a real permission1 and then kindle into anger because his permission was accepted8 ,or when did he ever leave an honest inquirer after the way of duty to follow his supposed permission and then take such offense as in this case at what was in its purpose true obedience8,yet while ,god always deals honestly with the honest inquirer after his will1 he may sometimes1 both in word and in providence1 let men who love their own will better than his take their course and bear their own responsibilities4 ,such ,i take to have been the ,lord's policy in this case4 ,the record sets forth that ,god used the ass on which ,balaam rode to 8rebuke with man's voice the madness of the prophet40 ,the ass saw what ,balaam's dull eye saw notthe angel of the ,lord with drawn sword1 heading him in his waya fact strikingly suggestive of his dull vision in regard to comprehending the spirit of that apparent permission which the ,lord gave him to go4 ,why did he not see that he was led on1 not by ,god's will1 but by his own cupidity1 his own intense and over-mastering covetousness8 ,alas for him2 the eye of his ass could see what his cultured intellect could not discernthat ,god was squarely against him4 ,it was moreover fully the ,lord's purpose1 if ,balaam would go1 to hold him back from ,balak's influence and compel him to bless ,israel4 ,this renewed1 special charge on this point seems to have been one object in this remarkable meeting of the angel1 ,balaam and his ass4 ,does any one ask,how could an ass speak with man's voice8 ,were real words uttered1 words which any other ears within hearing could have heard as well as ,balaam's8 ,or was it simply a miraculous sensation upon his ear1 having no cause whatever in the mouth of the ass8,i answer3 ,it is of small avail to push such inquiries4 ,we can say wisely but two things37a47 ,that ,god could work a miracle as easily in one of these ways as in the other3and 7b47 ,therefore the method which the description most naturally suggests is the most probable2 viz4 that the ass spake audible words1 and ,balaam heard them as men are wont to hear words audibly spoken4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the points of real prophecy in ,balaam's visions should be noticed4 ,observe that in each case1 before ,balaam inquired of ,god he directed ,balak to prepare seven altars and to offer upon each one bullock and one ram4 ,the object in this seems to have been to propitiate the ,lord and secure his favorable consideration4 ,it is remarkable that ,balaam1 coming from the region of the ,euphrates1 should have these ideas as to the sacrifice of clean animals4 ,the fact seems to show that the idea of animal sacrifices was revealed to the race in its infancy and that it prevailed extensively over the ,eastern world4 ,the offerings having been made1 ,balaam retired to 8an high place0 7#bc3 #c7 as our version puts it1 but really to a hill of bare1 naked summit to await the ,lord's presence and word there4 ,such a summit was chosen for its range of view4 ,the ,lord came and gave him his word for ,balak1 put thus3 8,balak1 the king of ,moab1 hath brought me from ,aram1 out of the mountains of the ,east1 saying3 #8,come1 curse me1 ,jacob2 come1 defy in the sense only of curse1 maledict ,israel4' ,how shall ,i curse whom ,god hath not cursed8 ,or how shall ,i defy whom ,god hath not defied08 ,how can ,i gainsay the ,almighty2 how put my word against his8 ,balak asks this of me3 ,i have no power to do it48,from the top of the rocks ,i see him1 and from the hills ,i behold him3 lo6 the people shall dwell alone and shall not be reckoned among the nations40,from his naked mountain top ,balaam saw their encampment spread out before him2 there they were1 a peculiar1 secluded people1 having neither political1 social1 or religious connection with any other nation under heaven4 ,in this most salient feature of their case ,balaam saw a symbol of their whole future historydwelling alone1 a scattered people1 never reckoned as being of or like any other nation of the earth4,their great numbers also were prophetic of their prosperous future3 8,who can count the dust of ,jacob1 and the number of the fourth part of ,israel08the reference to a 8fourth part0 coming of the fact that their encampment was in four parts1 three tribes to each4,his closing words are weighty3 8,let me die the death of the righteous1 and let my last end be like his40,in interpreting these words ,i can by no means assent to the view of many commentators 7largely ,german7 who suppose ,balaam had no ideas of a happy future life1 it being as they maintain far too early in the progress of religious thought for any such ideas4 ,they therefore restrict his meaning to a happy earthly life1 prosperous even to its natural end in death4,i have no faith in such interpretations4 ,they do not come by any fair construction from the text4 ,what ,balaam said was3 8,let my soul die the death of the righteous1 and let my after destiny be like his40 ,after destinythe afterpart of my existence1 is the legitimate sense of the word here used4,besides1 to pray that ,i may die of the same disease1 at the same age1 amid the same surroundings1 as the righteous1 is very tame1 is a very insignificant blessing at best1 and no sensible man could put his soul very earnestly into such a prayer4 ,i see no reason why we should emasculate the prayer even of a ,balaam in this style4 ,let us rather say that he prayed like one 8whose eyes were open2 who had heard the words of ,god and knew the knowledge of the most ,high and saw the vision of the ,almighty0 7#bd3 #ae1 #af7 as he himself said4,as to toning down the sense of his words because their ,christian construction would be so far in advance of the age1 ,i can not accept the assumed fact that they were in advance of the age4 ,i can not believe that ,enoch1 8walking with ,god0 and translated to heaven knew nothing of heaven until he found himself there2 or that ,noah whose faith and whose preaching of righteousness breasted the wickedness of that whole generation had no thoughts as to the blessed world to come2 nor that ,abraham's faith was limited to the hills and to the corn and wine of ,canaan and had never an outlook of longing desire and assured hope of a 8better country even an heavenly one0 7,heb4 #aa3 #af72 nor that ,moses1 8esteeming reproach for ,christ greater riches than the treasures of ,egypt10 had no 8respect to the future recompense of reward40 ,the writer to the ,hebrews reasons far better than the ,neological critics as to the faith and the hopes of those glorious patriarchs4 ,i find my sense of fitness and my convictions of truth far better met in his reasoning than in their speculations4 ,let it be noted that ,balaam spake as one versed in moral distinctions4 ,he understood that the blessed future life falls to the lot1 not of the wicked but of the righteous4 ,when a man comes so near to ,god as he seems to have done in these hours1 this distinction must be seen and felt4,that this most appropriate prayer should have proved in his case utterly unavailing is a sad and mournful fact to which we must give some attention in its place4 ,balak was by no means pleased with ,balaam's 8parable40 ,indeed he retorts sharply3 8,what hast thou done to me8 ,i sent for thee and was to pay thee to curse that people1 and now thou hast blessed them altogether0with blessings and nothing else4,but ,balak proposes to try again4 ,perhaps if the great soothsayer shall see them from the top of ,pisgah1 he may get a different view and may utter the much desired imprecation upon them4 ,the same process is gone through1 of burnt-offerings and of withdrawing for a private interview with ,god2 after which ,balak eagerly inquires3 8,what has the ,lord spoken0 now8 ,has he changed his mind8 ,has he given you leave to curse the ,hebrew people8,the answer is pertinent and very decided1 but not any more to his mind than the former38,god is not a man that he should lie1 nor the son of man that he should repent4 ,hath he said1 and shall he not do it8 or hath he spoken1 and shall he not make it good8 ,behold1 ,i have received commandment to bless2 and he hath blessed1 and ,i can not reverse it4 ,he hath not beheld iniquity in ,jacob1 neither hath he seen perverseness in ,israel2 the ,lord his ,god is with him1 and the shout of a king is among them4 ,god brought them out of ,egypt2 he has as it were the strength of a unicorn4 ,surely there is no enchantment against ,jacob1 neither is there any divination against ,israel2 according to this time it shall be said of ,jacob and of ,israel1 ,what hath ,god wrought8 ,behold1 the people shall rise up as a great lion1 and lift up himself as a young lion2 he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey1 and drink the blood of the slain0 7,num4 #bc3 #ai-bd74 ,at this point of time ,israel was on the threshold of ,canaan4 ,sihon and ,og had fallen4 ,the spirit of a pure and vigorous faith in ,god was never more thoroughly national than in this generation4 ,as between ,moab and ,israel1 the contrast was never greater4 ,god's people as seen by his prophetic eye were on the eve of sublime victories4 ,no enchantment or divination could have force against them4 ,that was the era in their history when it might fitly become a standing exclamation38,what hath ,god wrought08 ,worse and worse for ,balak4 ,curiously his next effort is to shut ,balaam's mouth altogether4 ,since he can not get from him curses against ,israel1 he begs him to hold still and not bless them4 8,neither curse them at all1 nor bless them at all40,balaam replied3 8,did ,i not say to thee1 ,all that the ,lord speaketh1 that ,i must do08,but ,balak has not yet lost all hope4 ,perhaps it was of the ,lord rather than of his hope however that he is in for another trialthis time 8on the top of ,peor that looketh toward ,jeshimon40 ,great faith he must have had in the prestige of new points of visionof other mountain tops4,the altars are set up2 the bullocks and rams are offered as before4 ,but in one respect the course of events changes4 8,when ,balaam saw that it pleased the ,lord to bless ,israel1 he went not as at other times to seek for enchantments1 but set his face toward the wilderness20which seems to imply that on the two former occasions he had pursued his usual methods of divination to obtain messages from the spirit-world1 but now changed his course1 and simply turned his face toward the wilderness where the camp of ,israel lay in full view before him4 ,now we read1 not that the ,lord 8met him0 and 8put a word into his mouth0 7,num4 #bc3 #d1 #e1 #af71 but that 8the ,spirit of ,god came upon him10 giving him prophetic visions in manner quite different from the preceding4 ,his spiritual eye was now opened2 what his natural eye had just seen as he set his face toward the wilderness 7the camp of ,israel71 led his thought in these spiritual visions of ,israel's glorious future1 and his imagery naturally came from the scenes still fresh in his mind4 8,how goodly are thy tents1 ,o ,jacob1 and thy tabernacles1 ,o ,israel06 ,exalted be thy kingdom2 glorious thy king6 ,his own great ,god brought him up from ,egypt2 befriends him still2 will give him assured victory over all enemies in his own time6 ,blessed be all who bless thee2 cursed be all who curse thee6 ,balak is terribly enraged and bids ,balaam flee and begone4 ,balaam with apparent mildness and undisturbed equanimity proposes to give ,balak some further prophetic views of what ,israel should do to ,moab in the coming days4 ,again 8he takes up his parable30 8,i shall see him1 but not now2 ,i shall behold him1 but not nigh3 there shall come a star out of ,jacob and a scepter shall rise out of ,israel1 and shall smite the corners of ,moab1 and destroy all the children of ,sheth0 7v4 #ag74 ,who is 8the star0 and 8the scepter0 of this prophecy8,the leading thought of the passage 7vs4 #ag-ai7 and indeed of the entire prophecy to the end of verse #bd is the supremacy of ,israel1 and the fall of all powers hostile to ,israel and to ,israel's ,god4 ,the key-note is in the words3 8,out of ,jacob shall come he that shall have dominion40 ,the prophetic future 7as usual7 is built upon the visible present1 or perhaps more precisely1 springs out of itis suggested by it1 and takes its phraseology and costume from it4 ,the ,lord forces the truth upon ,balaam's soul that this ,israel whom he was called out from his ,eastern home to curse could not be cursed to any purpose by any earthly divination or power because they were ,god's own people1 and it was his fixed purpose to bless them4 ,to impress this great truth the more deeply1 the ,lord reveals to him in prophetic vision that this present fact is not transient but destined to reach into the remote future2 that it is indeed only a beginning of their supremacya pledge of a far more sovereign ascendency1 to be manifested in future ages4,with this view of the spirit of the prophecy1 we must find here1 not merely ,david in whom as the first conqueror of ,moab and of ,edom 7#b ,sam4 #h3 #b1 #ab1 #ad7 these words receive the first palpable installment of their meaning2 but yet more surely that greater ,son of ,david whose scepter is to rule the nations with a rod of iron4 ,that this broad construction is the true one will appear yet more fully when we compare the use of the word 8scepter0 here with ,jacob's use of it 7,gen4 #di3 #aj72 the 8star0 here with the 8star in the ,east0 7,matt4 #b3 #a7 seen by other wise men magicians from ,balaam's own country2 and not least1 the fact that ,edom and ,seir became in the usage of later prophets symbolic names for the declared and malign enemies of ,christ's kingdom 7,see ,isa4 #cd748;,he shall smite the corners20 better the two sides of ,moab1 i4 e4 ,moab from side to side1 through and through1 laying waste her whole country4,the word 8,sheth0 78all the children of ,sheth07 seems to be used as a common1 not a proper noun1 the sense beingall the sons of tumultall the men of war and strife4 ,her war-power he shall utterly break down4 ,edom and ,seirtwo names for one and the same kingdom1 often affiliated with ,moab1 shall become the possession of their enemies and ,israel shall outmaster them through her valor1 and yet more through the might of her ,godfirst fulfilled by ,david 7#b ,sam4 #h3 #ad74 ,of ,amalek he said3 ,amalek was first among the nations to assail ,israel 7,ex4 #ag3 #h-af72 her end shall be utter annihilation4 7,see the notice of ,amalek on ,ex4 #ag74 ,verses #ba1 #bb1 spoken of the ,kenites1 of whom ,jethro and ,hobab were the earliest representatives1 are not without difficulties1 yet their history places them in marked contrast with ,amalekfriends1 not enemies of ,israel2 and therefore suggestsnot to say demands1 a contrasted prophetic destiny4 ,placing themselves on the side of ,israel1 their dwelling-place was strong2 their nest in the rocks4 ,keil translates the passage8,durable is thy dwelling-place1 and thy nest laid upon the rock2 for should ,kain the ,kenite be destroyed until ,asshur shall carry thee captive08the question in his view having the force of a negative3 ,the ,kenite shall not be destroyed1 etc4 ,but it is not quite clear that the original words will bear this construction4 ,it is however certain that the prophecy assures the ,kenites1 as friends of ,israel1 of long-continued prosperity4 ,again ,balaam 8takes up his parable10 forcibly impressed with the fearful judgments ,god would send upon the enemies of ,israel3 8,who shall endure the day of such judgments on the guilty foes of ,god8 ,great powers from the ,west ships of ,chittim shall sweep over the ancient ,eastern empires and level them with the dust2 and ,god will stand before the nations far down the ages as one mighty to protect his people and to overwhelm their enemies40 ,balaam's oracles are expressed in the purest style of ,hebrew poetrysuch as few can read without a sense of its beauty and majesty4 ,if read with a present sense of the moral status of this prince of divinersof the conflict in his soul between the love of riches and honor on the one hand and some regard to the high behests of the ,almighty on the other1 we can not well suppress a feeling of sadness that one so gifted by nature and so favored of ,god with prophetic revelations1 should1 despite of all1 have yet succumbed to the dominion of the baser impulses of his soul4 ,his final record is dark and distressing4 8,he taught ,balak to cast a stumbling-block before ,israel0 and drew them into idolatry and fornication 7,rev4 #b3 #ad and ,num4 #be74 ,he cast in his lot with the ,midianites1 and 7apparently7 counseled them into the same infernal policy4 ,hence when the ,lord in self-defense hurled down the sword of his people upon ,midian and five of her kings fell1 ,balaam the son of ,beor also was slain 7,num4 #ca3 #a-h74 ,thus he who so plaintively yet so pertinently prayed8,let me die the death of the righteous10 met the death of the wicked4 ,he had seen reason enough for the prayer3 8,let my last end be like his02 and yet he 8died as the fool dieth0in arms against ,almighty ,god4 ,while in imagination and intellect he might have taken rank with the noblest of earth's sons1 yet through the baseness of his impulses and the greed of a covetous soul1 he chose his rank among the meanest and utterly missed the immortality which seemed at one moment so nearly in his grasp6 ,for awhile ,god held him to the utterance of lofty thought1 and apparently of pure and resolute purpose4 ,but no sooner was the ,lord's restraining hand lifted off than ,balaam slumped into the mire of his selfish1 covetous nature and went fast 8to his own place06 ,the question has been raised 7more curious than useful7 how ,moses and the archives of ,israel came into possession of these prophecies of ,balaam4 ,in answer it has been suggested that1 failing to get the pay he expected from ,balak1 ,balaam went to ,moses and laid before him the contents of these chapters 7,num4 #bb-bd7 with the hope of ample reward 7which his covetous heart was loth to forego72 but failing here also1 left in disgust2 threw himself into the arms of ,moab and ,midian2 retaliated with selfish malignity upon ,israel and ,israel's ,god1 and of course hurried himself swiftly to his final doom4,let his example never cease to be a warning6 ,,chapter ,,xxi4 ,,the ,,last ,,four ,,books ,,of ,,the ,,pentateuch3 ,,their ,,method ,,of ,,arrangement ,,and ,,subject-,,matter4 ,,the manner in which the last four of the five books of ,moses are made up is peculiar and should have a moment's special attention4 ,their striking peculiarity is the blending of matters pertaining to the religious system1 to the civil code1 and to the national history with no well defined order or methodthe historic facts taking their place probably as they occurred and came before the writer1 and the other topics being arranged quite miscellaneously4 ,this method obviously indicates that the writer was not an author by professiona mere writer and nothing else2 but one who was pressed with the cares and burdens of public office2 bearing the chief responsibilities for the constitution of the religious system with its elaborate ritual observances2 for the civil codeits exact record and its judicial administration2 and for the general government of the peoplequelling disturbances2 answering their complaints2 supplying their wants2 guiding their desert march1 and directing their wars in defense against assailants4 ,these books answer so perfectly to the circumstances of ,moses as to leave no rational doubt that he was their author4 ,incidentally and most inadvertently they write out his daily history1 showing us how he was occupied during those years when the events he narrates were transpiring4 ,for the most part the record in these four books pertains to the first two years after ,moses entered upon his great mission and the last two years before his death4 ,there was a long interval between these periods of which nothing special is said4 ,passing the first twenty chapters of ,exodus which are history and follow the natural order of the events2 and passing also the thrilling and solemn scenes of ,sinaithe great work of ,moses was to receive and record the statutes of the civil code1 and the directions respecting their religious system1 including the construction of the tabernacle2 the services of the priests and ,levites2 the sacred festivals1 and the whole ritual of worship4 ,we are told how the long sessions of ,moses with the ,lord on the ,mount were interrupted 7,ex4 #cb-cd7 by the sin of the people in the matter of the golden calf2 after which the record of the tabernacleits construction1 etc41 is resumed and continued to the close of ,exodus4 99 99 99 99 99 ,leviticus1 takes its name from ,levi whose tribe furnished the line of priests and the servants for all the religious ritual4 ,the first nine chapters record ritual observances and sacrifices2 then the death of ,nadab and ,abihu1 occurring1 is recorded in its chronological place 7chap4 #aj72 after which the author resumes his main subjectthings clean and unclean2 purifications2 the case of leprosy1 etc4 ,in connection with the consecration of the ,high ,priest and his duties1 we have 7chap4 #af7 the very interesting description of the great day of atonement4 ,statutes of a civil character are interspersed with those which are religious 7chap4 #ai1 and #bj1 and #bd72 the great feasts are described 7chap4 #bc72 the ,sabbatic year and the ,jubilee 7chap4 #be72 a chapter of moral warnings and admonitions 7#bf72 closing with one on special vows and consecrations 7#bg74 ,the book of ,numbers is named from the theme of its first two chaptersthe census of the tribes4 ,another census was made during the last year of their wandering1 viz4 on the plains of ,moab 7chap4 #bf74 ,it has also an itinerary of the journeyings of the people during their entire wilderness life 7#cc74 ,several chapters are devoted to the religious ritual 7none to the civil code72 and several 7more than in ,leviticus7 to historic events2 e4 g4 the murmuring and the consequent plague at ,taberah and ,kibroth-hattaavah 7chap4 #aa72 the envy and sedition of ,miriam 7chap4 #ab72 the case of the spies and the doom of the unbelieving 7#ac and #ad72 ,korah and his doom 7#af74 ,then passing over to the last year of the wandering1 we have the scenes at ,kadeshthe murmuring for water and the sin of ,moses for which ,god forbade his entering ,canaan 7#bj72 a conflict of arms with ,arad the ,canaanite2 the fiery serpents2 the overthrow of ,sihon and ,og 7#ba72 ,balaam and his prophecies 7#bb-bd72 and other matters of miscellaneous character 7#be-cf74 99 99 99 99 99 ,deuteronomythe name meaning the second law1 i4 e4 the law repeatedtakes this name from the fact that the book repeats portions of the civil code and also of the religious system4 ,it also gives a resume 7a brief summary7 of the leading historical events of the ,exodus1 of ,sinai1 of the golden calf1 and of the murmurings of the fathers in the early years of their wanderings4 ,this book was manifestly written within the last one or two years of ,moses' life1 when the scenes of the desert wandering were drawing to a close4 ,moses stood before the people1 almost the only old man of the nation at the age of one hundred and twenty years1 while all the rest 7,caleb and ,joshua excepted7 were under twenty when they came out of ,egypt1 and not exceeding sixty at the writing of this book4 8,the fatherswhere were they06 ,fallen in death2 smitten with the swift judgments of the ,almighty for their murmurings or cut off in middle life during their wanderings1 to which they were doomed for their unbelief upon the report of the spies4 ,the nation1 as they stood before ,moses1 were truly his children4 ,how had he borne them on his parental heart for forty years2 given them line upon line of statute and of ritual2 shaping their civil life and their religious life2 watching with the interest of a patriarch every development of their character2 devoted with the deepest love of his heart to their moral culture4,such was ,moses and such were the people whom he addressed on the plains of ,moab1 with the words of sublime moral power1 recorded in this book4 ,it is not my purpose to repeat the points of this history from ,egypt and ,sinai onward to that hour1 which form the staple of ,deut4 #a-aa4 ,let it suffice to say that ,moses brings them forward here with more or less expansion of the details for the sole purpose of enforcing their moral application4 ,he makes those historic facts the text for this most impressive sermonthe basis of a series of exhortations to holy living which well up from the depths of his parental1 loving heart1 and testify how deeply he sympathized with ,god and with the true interests of his covenant people4 ,most solemnly does he exhort them against the great sin of their timesidolatry2 and implore them to remember the ,god of their fathers2 the ,giver of all their mercies2 the ,god of their national salvation4 ,as a specimen of the historic sermon1 nothing can be more admirable1 complete1 and effective4 ,coming from such a patriarch1 from one who had done and suffered so much for his countrymen2 who had been admitted so freely into the deep counsels and sympathies of ,israel's ,god2 who had been honored of ,god not only as the great law-giver1 but also as the ,savior and ,deliverer of his nationthese words ought to have been listened to with profoundest attention4 ,let us hope they were truly wrought into the very souls of this generation4 ,no one can read them attentively at this day without a quickened sense of the solemn relations which ,god establishes between himself and his covenant people in every age of time4 99 99 99 99 99 ,of the statutes1 mostly civil1 in small part religious1 which chiefly fill chap4 #ab-bf1 there is little occasion for special remark here4 ,they have chiefly come under consideration in my treatment of the civil code of ,israel4 ,some points are much more fully expanded here than in the previous books1 e4 g4 the year of release 7chap4 #ae3 #a-aa71 the case of female captives 7#ba3 #aj-ad74 ,there is some new matter2 e4 g4 the war-law 7#bj72 the expiation for murder by unknown hands 7#ba3 #a-i72 the case of partiality toward sons 7#ba3 #ae-ag7 and to mention no more1 the form of announcement and consecration with which the ,hebrew worshiper was to bring before the ,lord the first-fruits of his land1 and also his tithes of the third year 7chap4 #bf74 ,these forms are instructive as giving us a just idea of the solemnities of ,hebrew worship4 ,let us think of the ,israelite coming up to ,shiloh or to ,jerusalem1 say from the mountains of ,ephraim or the pasture lands of ,gilead1 after the conquest and possession of ,canaan1 in obedience to the law here recorded1 thus3 8,that thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth1 which thou shalt bring of thy land that the ,,lord thy ,god giveth thee1 and shall put it in a basket1 and shall go unto the place which the ,,lord thy ,god shall choose to place his name there4 ,and thou shalt go unto the priest that shall be in those days1 and say unto him1 ,i profess this day unto the ,,lord thy ,god1 that ,i am come unto the country which the ,,lord sware unto our fathers for to give us4 ,and the priest shall take the basket out of thine hand1 and set it down before the altar of the ,,lord thy ,god4 ,and thou shalt speak and say before the ,,lord thy ,god1 ,a ,syrian#df ready to perish was my father2 and he went down into ,egypt1 and sojourned there with a few1 and became there a nation1 great1 mighty1 and populous3 and the ,egyptians evil-entreated us1 and afflicted us1 and laid upon us hard bondage3 and when we cried unto the ,,lord ,god of our fathers1 the ,,lord heard our voice1 and looked on our affliction1 and our labor1 and our oppression3 and the ,,lord brought us forth out of ,egypt with a mighty hand1 and with an out-stretched arm1 and with great terribleness1 and with signs1 and with wonders3 and he hath brought us into this place1 and hath given us this land1 even a land that floweth with milk and honey4 ,and now1 behold1 ,i have brought the first-fruits of the land1 which thou1 ,o ,,lord1 hast given me4 ,and thou shalt set it before the ,,lord thy ,god1 and worship before the ,,lord thy ,god3 and thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the ,,lord thy ,god hath given unto thee1 and unto thine house1 thou1 and the ,levite1 and the stranger that is among you0 7vs4 #b-aa74 ,this offering1 put so impressively upon its great historic groundsthe preservations and mercies with which ,god had crowned their nation in fulfilling the promises made to the national fathers1 became no unmeaning service4 ,all is instinct with life4 ,those children of the old patriarchs reposing under their vine and fig-tree in the land flowing with milk and honey had a wonderful history1 and ,god meant to have their ritual of worship link itself continually with that history and take quickening impulses from those impressive associations4 ,not less pertinent and impressive is the form of announcement and protestation for the service of 8tithing the tithes of their increase the third year0on this wise3 8,when thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year1 which is the year of tithing1 and hast given it unto the ,levite1 the stranger1 the fatherless1 and the widow1 that they may eat within thy gates1 and be filled2 then thou shalt say before the ,lord thy ,god1 ,i have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house1 and also have given them unto the ,levite1 and unto the stranger1 to the fatherless1 and to the widow1 according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me3 ,i have not transgressed thy commandments1 neither have ,i forgotten them3 ,i have not eaten thereof in my mourning1 neither have ,i taken away aught thereof for any unclean use1 nor given aught thereof for the dead3 but ,i have hearkened to the voice of the ,lord my ,god1 and have done according to all that thou hast commanded me40 7,deut4 #bf3 #ab-ae74 ,we must note with pleasure the fraternal and liberal spirit which this service cherished so effectively1 remembering kindly the ,levite1 the stranger1 the fatherless1 and the widow3 the ,levite as the religious servant of the nation2 the stranger as one but too often neglected and forsaken according to the impulses of man's selfish nature1 but one whom ,god remembered out of the depths of his fatherly care for the neglected and forlorn2 the fatherless and the widow as those whose cup of affliction is sore and should commend them to every humane sympathy of the heart4 ,such treatment of the stranger would naturally bring most of them into the ,hebrew communion as proselytes4 ,where else in all the earth could they expect such kindness and such inducements to build their family home8,this inside view of the institutions and usages of ,hebrew thanksgiving worship remind us that ,god's religion has a social side2 forgets not man's social nature1 but provides for fraternal sympathy and for the ministrations of kindness and relief to all the children of want and sorrow4 ,this chapter 7#bf7 closes appropriately with the mutual relations between ,god and his peoplethey having solemnly declared 8avouched0 the ,lord to be their ,god1 and he on his part having in like manner declared them to be his people4 8,the ,prophet like unto ,moses40 ,from this point we turn back to consider a special prophecy 7,deut4 #ah3 #ae-bb71 passed without notice in the rapid and general view taken of those chapters4 ,moses is contemplating the state of the people located in ,canaan2 frequently brought into contact there with diviners1 soothsayers1 and magicians4 ,the devoted nations of ,canaan1 he tells them1 were rotten with those abominations2 and for these sins the ,lord drove them out before ,israel4 ,addressing the ,israelites1 he tells them they shall not have the least occasion to resort to magic arts for superhuman knowledge or help4 8,the ,lord thy ,god will raise up unto thee a ,prophet from the midst of thee1 of thy brethren1 like unto me2 unto him ye shall hearken2 according to all that thou desiredst of the ,lord thy ,god in ,horeb in the day of the assembly1 saying1 ,let me not hear again the voice of the ,lord my ,god1 neither let me see this great fire any more1 that ,i die not4 ,and the ,lord said unto me1 ,they have well spoken that which they have spoken4 ,i will raise them up a ,prophet from among their brethren1 like unto thee1 and will put my words in his mouth2 and he shall speak unto them all that ,i shall command him4 ,and it shall come to pass1 that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name1 ,i will require it of him4 ,but the prophet1 which shall presume to speak a word in my name1 which ,i have not commanded him to speak1 or that shall speak in the name of other gods1 even that prophet shall die0 7,deut4 #ah3 #ae-bj74 ,here the great question will be,is ,jesus the ,messiah predicted here8 ,the supposable theories are three3 #a4 ,that the passage treats of the ,hebrew prophets only1 and not of the ,messiah2 #b4 ,of the ,messiah only1 and not of the ,hebrew prophets2 #c4 ,of the ,messiah primarily1 yet not excluding the ,hebrew prophets4 ,the reasons for including the ,hebrew prophets lie in the connection of thought in which the passage stands2 its relation to the magicians of ,canaan1 and to false prophets4 ,the ,lord says to the people through ,moses3 ,i do not leave you dependent on magicians2 ,i give you prophets as ,i have given you ,moses2 they shall teach you my words from time to time as ye may need words from your ,god4 ,moreover1 there will be counterfeit prophets coming up2 but ,i will give you tests of their character1 take heed to prove and reject them4,this close connection of thought demands some reference to the succession of ,hebrew prophets4 ,on the other hand1 the reasons for including the ,messiah1 and in fact for assuming a primary reference to him1 lie in the use of the singular8a prophet2 one great ,prophet20 and in his being compared to ,moses8like unto me40 ,moses stood in many respects quite above the grade of the future ,hebrew prophets1 having none like him in the obvious sense of this comparison except ,jesus4,this construction is greatly strengthened by the authority of the ,new ,testament writers and of ,jesus himself1 who manifestly found here the real ,messiah4 ,see his words 7,jn4 #e3 #df74 8,he ,moses wrote of me40 7,compare ,luke #bd3 #dd47 ,christ's allusion to his words as having authority 7,jn4 #ab3 #dh1 #di7 seem to refer to this passage 7vs4 #ah1 #ai74 8,he that receiveth not my words hath one that judgeth him2 the word that ,i have spoken1 the same shall judge him in the last day4 ,for ,i have not spoken of myself1 but the ,father who hath sent me1 he gave me a commandment what ,i should say10 etc4,the ,lord said unto ,moses8,i will put my words into his mouth1 and he shall speak unto them all that ,i shall command him1 and whosoever shall not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name1 ,i will require it of him40,the current opinion of the men taught by ,christ finds in these words a prophecy of him4 ,philip 7,jn4 #a3 #de7 said3 8,we have found him of whom ,moses in the law did write,jesus of ,nazareth40 ,peter 7,acts #c3 #bb1 #bc7 cites this very passage as having been spoken truly by ,moses and as being fulfilled in ,christ4 ,so also does ,stephen 7,acts #g3 #cg74 ,the ,samaritans also 7as appears from ,jn4 #d3 #be7 found the ,messiah here1 since they received of the ,old ,testament scriptures the ,pentateuch only4 ,the circumstance that the ,christ whom they expected would 8teach them all things0 points certainly to this prophecy rather than to prophecies from ,genesis 7e4 g4 #c3 #ae or #di3 #aj74;,finally1 the voice from the cloud at ,christ's transfiguration8,hear ye him0 7,mat4 #ag3 #e7 corresponds to the prominent point of this prophecy8,unto him shall ye hearken0 7v4 #ae74 ,moses 7present at the transfiguration7 must have recognized this identity4,these considerations compel us to find here a primary reference to the ,messiah4 ,the full answer to the question3 ,how can these words cover both the one great ,prophetthe ,messiah2 and also the succession of ,hebrew prophets8will be found in these facts3 ,that the spirit of ,jesus was in all the old prophets2 that they were his servants1 bearing his messages2 that he and they were parts of the same great system of divine revelation to men2 and that ,christ's mission was at once the guaranty and pledge of theirstheir work being linked in with his as the natural consequent and adjunct4 ,comprehensively spoken of1 the one great prophet included all the lesser prophets2 the promise of the one embracing and implying the promise of all4 99 99 99 99 99 ,chapter #bg provides for a special service to be performed after they are located in ,canaan4 ,the record of its fulfillment appears in ,josh4 #h3 #cj-ce4 ,the service was two-fold3 first the writing of the law on large plastered stones3 second1 the proclamation of a series of blessings and also of curses in the presence of the whole people4 ,as to the first1 it does not appear definitely how much was to be written upon these stones4 ,somewhat more probably than the ten commandments as written originally on two stone tablets2 yet probably not all the statutes and judgments which appear in the last four books of ,moses4 ,perhaps the writing included the curses and blessings proclaimed from ,mounts ,ebal and ,gerizim4,the stones were great2 the number is not given4 ,the writing was done while the plaster was yet fresh and soft4 ,when hardened it would stand for a considerable time4 ,the purpose was rather present effect than permanent recorda solemn testimony that the people who had now taken possession of ,canaan were in covenant with their ,god to obey this law4 ,moses records in full the manner of the rehearsal of blessings and of curses3 the blessings from ,mt4 ,gerizim2 the curses from ,mt4 ,ebal3 six tribes standing on the former and six on the latter3 the ,levites solemnly and in concert pronouncing the words1 and the people in concert responding1 ,amen4 ,here may be seen the words of these blessings and curses 7,deut4 #bg3 #ad-bf1 and #bh3 #a-f74 ,the 8curses0 specify the sins1 but the announcement of blessings1 assuming in general obedience to ,god1 simply enumerates the various good which the ,lord will bestow4,the curses do not enumerate all the sins which might be committed nor all upon which curses would fall1 but only some heinous crimes as specimens4,this service1 performed with due solemnity1 must have been impressive4 ,the gathered thousands of ,israel overspreading the contiguous mountains2 the priests and ,levites rehearsing with loud voice these fearful curses1 and the people responding to each curse their expressive ,amen3how must every thoughtful heart have been thrilled1 and every sensitive conscience recoiled from the sins thus terribly denounced6 ,moses proceeds to expatiate through chapter #bh upon the blessings which should reward obedience1 but especially upon the curses that must come upon disobedience4 ,it would seem that this catalogue of curses has well-nigh exhausted the possibilities of calamitypersonal1 social1 nationalthat can befall the children of men4 ,alas6 this catalogue was fearfully prophetic of that avalanche of woes which came upon this same people in the destruction of their city and country1 first by the ,chaldeans2 last and most fearfully1 by the ,romans4 ,how were the vials of wrath through those agencies of ,god poured out upon the guilty people for their great iniquities6 ,in the two next chapters 7#bi and #cj7 ,moses seems to gather up all the moral forces of the nation's history into one fervent appeal to induce obedience and to press the people to most earnest consecration to the ,lord their ,god4 ,the great mercies of ,god upon them and their fathers on the one hand coupled with largest promises of good hereafter2 on the other hand1 the fearful curses impending over disobedience1 are spread out to their view3 life on the one hand1 death on the other1 awaiting their choice1 pending upon their decision1 sure to come according to their free election of the one course or the other3,how are these moral forces made to culminate and press upon the conscience of the whole people6 99 99 99 99 99 ,it is a solemn act for even one so holy as ,moses to gather a nation of children about him to say to them his last words and prepare to die 7chapter #ca74 ,there are some last words to be said2 some last things to be done4 ,fully conscious that his days are numbered and that his end is near he must make the public transfer of his responsibilities to ,joshua4 ,the written law upon which he has spent so much thought and labor must be properly committed to the priests the sons of ,levi 7#ca3 #i-ac71 and provision made not only for its preservation1 but for its public rehearsal in each ,sabbatic year at the feast of tabernacles4,not the least important of these last things was the putting of farewell thoughts into the form of song which might be committed to memory1 impressed with all the power of music 7perhaps71 and embalmed in the hearts of the people with the fragrance and impressiveness of its poetic power4 ,there are properly two songs1 one of a general character 7chapter #cb72 the other specific1 in the form of blessing or benediction upon the several tribes 7chapter #cc74 ,the latter follows the patriarchal usage which we have seen in the case of ,jacob 7,gen4 #di74;,as to the first which is distinctively styled 8this song10 ,moses received from the ,lord special directions to write it out and 8teach it to the children of ,israel0 7#ca3 #ai72 to 8put it in their mouths that it might be a witness for ,god against the children of ,israel10 and 8not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed0 7v4 #ba74 ,in this chapter 7#ca3 #af-cj7 the ,lord not only directed ,moses to write out this song but gave him its subject-matter almost entirethe whole current of its thoughtthe facts in the future history of the people upon which it is built3in substance1 thus3 ,the ,lord said to ,moses,thou shalt sleep with thy fathers2 other generations of this people will arise who will depart from me in grievous apostasygoing after the strange gods of the nations2 they will break my covenant with them4 ,my anger will kindle against them in that day2 ,i will forsake them and hide my face from them and bring upon them sore judgmentsuntil they say3 8,are not these evils upon us because our ,god is not among us08,yet more definitely the ,lord gave ,moses some of the inducing causes of this apostasy2 viz4 fullness of bread2 the absence of want and trial2 coming into a land flowing with milk and honey4 ,filling themselves and waxing fat1 they will become sensual1 pleasure-loving1 and lost to the fear of ,god4 ,so they will turn to other gods 7v4 #bj74 ,hence the occasion for this witnessing song1 of solemn forewarning1 pregnant with moral forces against apostasy and rich in suggestions of untold value for those apostate generations to whom it would specially apply4 ,i place this song before the reader with explanations of its dark points and some suggestions as to its line of thought and its moral application4 #a4 ,give ear1 ,o ye heavens1 and ,i will speak2 and hear1 ,o earth1 the words of my mouth4 #b4 ,my doctrine shall drop as the rain1 my speech shall distil as the dew1 as the small rain upon the tender herb1 and as the showers upon the grass3 #c4 ,because ,i will publish the name of the ,lord2 ascribe ye greatness unto our ,god4 #d4 ,he is the ,rock1 his work is perfect3 for all his ways are judgment3 a ,god of truth and without iniquity1 just and right is he4 ,this call upon the heavens and the earth to hear the words of this song must be construed not as a call upon the intelligent beings of heaven to listen to it2 much less1 upon the material sun1 moon1 and stars1 and this globe of ours2 but rather as poetic usage1 due to the lofty inspiration of the poet's soul who feels that the message which burns in his heart is so momentous to his people that all natureabove and beneathmay fitly be summoned to hear4 ,it is his strongest way of saying,let all people of this and future generations give ear and heart to these messages from the ,god of heaven and earth4,the poet-prophets of ,israel in later days adopt the same form of address 7,isa4 #a3 #b1 and ,jer4 #b3 #ab1 and #f3 #ai748,my doctrine0the truths ,i teach8shall drop as the rain02 good for the soul as rain for the grass2 refreshing1 fraught with real life and the beauty of holiness3the reason of its great value being1 8,because ,i am to proclaim the name of the ,lord0i4 e4 his name as significant of his nature4,appreciating this sacred name1 ye will testify to his greatness2 your heart will be impressed with a sense of his excellent glory4 8,their ,rock is he0the writer placing this forcible word first in order4 ,the great elements of his character are stable1 solid1 enduring1 changeless3 every thing in his nature and work is perfect2 all his ways are righteous2 a ,god of truth is he1 whose words of promise or of threatening can never fail4 8,without iniquity0 moreover2 there is nothing in him morally tortuous2 all is on the right line of equity and justice4 ,such is the ,great ,god of our fathersthe ,god of our national covenant4 ,it was pertinent to place these views of ,god at the head of this song because they set the guilt of forsaking ,god in its true light1 and would also vindicate his justice in sending even great calamities upon his apostate people4,in later ages ,david uses this figure7the 8,rock07of ,god with exquisite beauty and force 7,ps4 #ah3 #b1 and #bh3 #a1 and #db3 #i74 #e4 ,they have corrupted themselves1 their spot is not the spot of his children2 they are a perverse and crooked generation4 ,the poet turns suddenly to the great fact of the future apostasy of ,god's people48,their spot0moral defilementthe dark pollution of their souls4 ,that does not indicate my children4 ,my dutiful sons and daughters never carry such stains2 never give their hearts to other gods2 never turn their backs upon their loving and glorious ,father6 #f4 ,do ye thus requite the ,lord1 ,o foolish people and unwise8 is not he thy ,father that has bought thee8 hath he not made thee and established thee8 #g4 ,remember the days of old1 consider the years of many generations3 ask thy father1 and he will shew thee2 thy elders1 and they will tell thee4 ,is it possible that ye can thus requite your own ,jehovah8 ,is this fair treatment of such a ,father8 ,is not the ,god whom ye have forsaken the very same who hath bought thee from bondage2 redeemed thee for himself2 made thee a prosperous and happy nation1 and established thee in permanent strength8 ,go back over the grand ages of your national history2 ask the fathers for their testimony to the great works of your ,god in your behalf4 #h4 ,when the ,most ,high divided to the nations their inheritance1 when he separated the sons of ,adam1 he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of ,israel4 #i4 ,for the ,lord's portion is his people2 ,jacob is the lot of his inheritance4 ,in the original planting of the nations the ,lord reserved ,canaanbest and fairest of all landsfor his people4 ,this refers to those providential agencies by which ,god assigned to the nations descended from ,noah's sons their geographical localities and national home4 ,in this arrangement he reserved sufficient territory for ,israel8according to their numbers02 and in the best locality for their residence4 ,the ,lord accounted them his own people and gave them his own reserved 8lot40 #aj4 ,he found him in a desert land1 and in the waste howling wilderness2 he led him about1 he instructed him1 he kept him as the apple of his eye4 #aa4 ,as an eagle stirreth up her nest1 fluttereth over her young1 spreadeth abroad her wings1 taketh them1 beareth them on her wings3 #ab4 ,so the ,,lord alone did lead him1 and there was no strange god with him4 8,he found him in a desert land40 ,with poetic license the writer touches ,hebrew history where he willin this case at ,sinai where ,god met ,israel visibly1 and called them into special covenant with himself4 ,all through that wilderness he led ,israel about by his guiding pillar of cloud and of fire2 instructed him by precepts and statutes2 kept him from danger even as a man guards the apple of his eye 7which the more poetic ,hebrew called the little man of the eyethat diminutive picture of yourself74,the next figureat once exquisite in beauty and forcible for illustrationcomes from the eagle training his young to fly4 ,when he sees that the time has come for this training1 he stirs up his nestlingswaking them as the father does his sons at the morning hour2 flutters over them as if to show them the exercise2 spreads abroad his wings2 takes them up aloft1 casts them off upon their flying powercoming swift to the rescue if their strength should fail2all to train them into courage1 and strength of wing1 and steadiness of stroke4 ,so the ,lord alonehe and none otherdid lead ,israel4 ,there was no strange god there4 ,in all his wilderness training of forty most eventful yearsthat tender youth-time of ,israel1 there was not the least help from ,baal or ,ashtoreth4 ,but the hand of his own ,god was every-where2 in his daily bread2 in his rock-gushing waters2 in his pillar of cloud and of fire2 in his victories over ,amalek1 ,arad1 and ,midian4 ,this high hand and uplifted arm1 strong as the eagle's pinions1 bore the younglings taken from his nest over and through the roughnesses of that waste howling wilderness1 until at length he set them down in the promised ,canaan4 #ac4 ,he made him ride on the high places of the earth1 that he might eat the increase of the fields2 and he made him to suck honey out of the rock1 and oil out of the flinty rock2 #ad4 ,butter of kine1 and milk of sheep1 with fat of lambs1 and rams of the breed of ,bashan1 and goats1 with the fat of kidneys of wheat2 and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape4 ,the fatness of this fertile land calls out the richest poetic imagery48,he made him ride on the high places of the earth0letting him down just a little yet but a little from the symbol of the eagle's lofty flight4 8,riding on the high places of the land0as if his were a railway path1 stretched from summit to summit1 resting only on mountain peaks1 commanding every magnificent prospect2 or with an eye to his conquest of ,canaan1 the poet sees him sweeping through with the tread of a conquerer1 for the phrase seems to conceive of the hill-tops as the strategic points in war1 commanding the whole country4 ,as we might expect1 ,isaiah admired and adopted this gem of poetry 7,isa4 #eh3 #ad74 ,the richest luxuries of oriental climes lie at the nation's feet2 honey and oil2 butter and milk2 rams and goats2 8with the fat of the kidneys of wheat0 which curiously draws its terms for the best of wheat from the favorite qualities of animal food4,in v4 #ad the ,heb4 word for 8pure0 8pure blood of the grape01 means by its etymologyeffervescing1 bubbling up1 in the process of fermentation4 ,our translators probably supposed it to have worked itself 8pure0 by this process4 ,the word seems to describe the processnot the subsequent state4 #ae4 ,but ,jeshurun waxed fat1 and kicked3 thou art waxen fat1 thou art grown thick1 thou art covered with fatness2 then he forsook ,god which made him1 and lightly esteemed the ,rock of his salvation4 #af4 ,they provoked him to jealousy with strange gods1 with abominations provoked they him to anger4 #ag4 ,they sacrificed unto devils1 not to ,god2 to gods whom they knew not1 to new gods that came newly up1 whom your fathers feared not4 #ah4 ,of the ,rock that begat thee thou art unmindful1 and hast forgotten ,god that formed thee4 ,here is the sad moral result of being over-fed1 over-tempted48,jeshurun10 the upright one2 he who had bound himself by covenant to walk uprightly with ,god4,the ,hebrews constantly associate fatness with moral obtuseness1 insensibility1 and consequent obliquity4 ,the ceremonial distinctions of things clean and unclean assumed thisswine being utterly unclean1 and the fatty portions of sacrificed animals being accounted good only for burning on the altar4 ,hence the figure,jeshurun1 too fat for self-control and self-denial2 too fat for the worship of the pure and holy ,one2 and consequently he forsook the ,god who made and blessed him4,the verb for 8lightly esteemed0 means to regard as dried up2 withered2 of faded beauty4 ,so ,israel thought of their ,god though he had been to them the ,rock of their salvation4 ,the sad fact of their fall into idol-worship is reiterated and made impressively emphatic4 ,they provoked ,god to jealousy2 for how could he be otherwise than jealous when they cast him off and gave their hearts' homage to devils2 to new gods1 unknown to their fathers2 gods that were no gods at all6,the ,hebrew word here for 8devils0 means primarily lordsmighty ones4 ,the ,septuagint and ,vulgate give it demonstrue to the ultimate idea1 for all idol-worship is equivalent to the worship of the devil1 being real obedience to his will4,the blackness of this guilt lies in its forgetting1 disowning ,god1 our ,great ,benefactor2 our only real ,friend4 #ai4 ,and when the ,,lord saw it1 he abhorred them1 because of the provoking of his sons1 and of his daughters4 #bj4 ,and he said1 ,i will hide my face from them1 ,i will see what their end shall be3 for they are a very froward generation1 children in whom is no faith4 #ba4 ,they have moved me to jealousy with that which is not ,god2 they have provoked me to anger with their vanities3 and ,i will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people2 ,i will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation4 ,the most cruel point as to ,god was that this insult came from his own 8sons and daughters40 ,from them he might expect better treatment4,what shall he do8 ,what can he do1 less than to hide his face from them and to leave them to try the friendship of the new gods they had so madly chosen8 8,i will see what their end shall be40 ,they will see in due time6,in v4 #ba there is a play upon the wordsthe same verbs1 8move to jealousy0 and 8provoke10 being used first of their ways toward ,god2 next1 of ,god's ways in retribution toward them4 ,paul 7,rom4 #aj3 #ad7 assumes that this passage at least applies well if indeed it does not refer primarily to ,god's judgments on ,israel by casting her off1 and taking into her place of privilege the ,gentiles whom ,israel had been wont to regard as nobody4 #bb4 ,for a fire is kindled in my anger1 and shall burn unto the lowest hell1 and shall consume the earth with her increase1 and set on fire the foundations of the mountains4 #bc4 ,i will heap mischiefs upon them2 ,i will spend mine arrows upon them4 #bd4 ,they shall be burnt with hunger1 and devoured with burning heat1 and with bitter destruction3 ,i will also send the teeth of beasts upon them1 with the poison of serpents of the dust4 #be4 ,the sword without1 and terror within1 shall destroy both the young man and the virgin1 the suckling also with the man of gray hairs4 ,these are the vials of retributive judgment poured out on ,israel1 first for her persistent idolatries2 last for her murder of her ,king ,messiah4 ,the fire is thought of as burning deep2 not merely skimming the surface but penetrating to the deep foundations of her mountains4 8,hell0 here is not to be taken in its modern usagethe place of future punishmentbut in the early ,hebrew sense as lying below the earth's surfacethe 8pit0 into which ,korah and his company went down48,burnt with hunger0 7v4 #bd7 is more literally exhausted1 their vitality sucked out of them by faminea fearful doom6,the sword abroad and terror at home 7literally1 8in the chambers071 shall bereave ,heb4 both the young man and the virgina calamity well compared to bereavement of most loved offspring4 #bf4 ,i said1 ,i would scatter them into corners1 ,i would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men3 #bg4 ,were it not that ,i feared the wrath of the enemy1 lest their adversaries should behave themselves strangely1 and lest they should say1 ,our hand is high1 and the ,,lord hath not done all this4 #bh4 ,for they are a nation void of counsel1 neither is there any understanding in them4 ,the thought is that for these great sins the ,lord would have utterly annihilated ,israel were it not for the honor of his name before the nations as their recognized ,god4,the word for 8scatter into corners0 means rather1 to blow away as with his powerful breath4,it is not precisely the 8wrath0 of the enemy1 but rather the reproaches1 or the underlying spirit which would manifest itself in insult and haughty exultation4 ,the context shows the true idea4 ,lest they should say 8,israel is down because our hand is high and our power resistless4 ,we have done it4 ,their ,god is far enough from being ,almighty408,behave themselves strangely0 should rather beshould reason strangely2 should make this strange inference1 that the fall of ,israel was due to their own great power1 rather than to ,god's forsaking them for their great sin4 #bi4 ,o that they were wise1 that they understood this1 that they would consider their latter end6 #cj4 ,how should one chase a thousand1 and two put ten thousand to flight1 except their ,rock had sold them1 and the ,,lord had shut them up8 #ca4 ,for their rock is not as our ,rock1 even our enemies themselves being judges4 ,how does the tenderness of a loving ,father's heart pour itself out in these matchless words6 ,o if my people were only wise2 wise to know and appreciate their ,great ,benefactor6 ,wise to render him the homage1 the trust1 and the love of their heart6 ,how would one of them chase a thousand of their foes if only their ,god were on their side2 if he who is their ,rock and ,strength had not sold and disowned them6,expressively ,moses adds,for as they very well knowwe have it on their own admissiontheir ,rock is not as our ,rock2 their gods were never like our ,god4 ,moses did not say this without authority4 ,he remembered how the ,egyptian hosts in the ,red ,sea cried out1 8,let us flee from the face of ,israel1 for the ,lord fighteth for them against the ,egyptians0 7,ex4 #ad3 #be74 ,the testimony of ,balaam was still fresh3 8,god hath blessed2 ,i can not reverse it4 ,the ,lord his ,god is with him1 and the shout of a king is among them4 ,god brought them out of ,egypt2 he hath as it were the strength of a unicorn4 ,surely there is no enchantment against ,jacob1 nor any divination against ,israel4 ,behold1 the people shall rise up as a great lion10 etc4 7,num4 #bc3 #bj-bd74 ,the fame of ,god's wonders for ,israel was already abroad among all the adjacent nations1 as may be seen in the words of ,rahab 7,josh4 #b3 #i-aa74 #cb4 ,for their vine is of the vine of ,sodom1 and the fields of ,gomorrah3 their grapes are grapes of gall1 their clusters are bitter3 #cc4 ,their wine is the poison of dragons1 and the cruel venom of asps4 #cd4 ,is not this laid up in store with me1 and sealed up among my treasures8 #ce4 ,to me belongeth vengeance1 and recompense2 their foot shall slide in due time3 for the day of their calamity is at hand1 and the things that shall come upon them make haste4 ,by a somewhat sudden transition of thought1 8for0 first word of v4 #cb answers the implied question,why then1 if ,israel's ,rock is so mighty1 does not ,israel live and triumph in perpetual victory and prosperity8 ,do ye ask1 ,why not8 ,because they are corrupt like ,sodom2 their 8vine0 being put poetically for themselves morally considered4 ,their heart and life are altogether rotten4,in v4 #cd ,i take the sense to be,do ,i not remember all their sin8 ,is it not laid up before me1 awaiting its time for a fearful retribution1 sealed up as securely as one keeps his choice treasures8 8,vengeance belongeth to me0is my sole prerogative1 and can not fail of its due execution4 #cf4 ,for the ,,lord shall judge his people1 and repent himself for his servants1 when he seeth that their power is gone1 and there is none shut up1 or left4 #cg4 ,and he shall say1 ,where are their gods1 their rock in whom they trusted1 #ch4 ,which did eat the fat of their sacrifices1 and drank the wine of their drink offerings8 let them rise up and help you1 and be your protection4 ,god will arise for judgment and retribution4 ,calamities must scourge the guilty2 mercy will spare the innocent and ultimately save his ,zion4 ,in the latter portion of this song 7vs4 #cf-db71 the divine agency seems to be of a twofold character2 exterminating the hopelessly guilty1 but sparing and restoring the penitent1 and ultimately retrieving the fortunes of his kingdom4,when ,god seeth that his people are powerless and none remain1 either bond or free1 shut up or let go the sense of the ,heb4 words translated 8shut up or left01 he will ask1 ,what has become of the gods to whom my people have apostatized1 with whom they ate their sacrifices in common8 ,since those gods have utterly failed them1 let me call their attention to myself4 ,perhaps now it will not be in vain4 #ci4 ,see now that ,i1 even ,i1 am he1 and there is no god with me3 ,i kill1 and ,i make alive4 ,i wound1 and ,i heal3 neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand4 #dj4 ,for ,i lift up my hand to heaven1 and say1 ,i live forever4 #da4 ,if ,i whet my glittering sword1 and mine hand take hold on judgment2 ,i will render vengeance to mine enemies1 and will reward them that hate me4 #db4 ,i will make mine arrows drunk with blood1 and my sword shall devour flesh2 and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy4 ,they shall know the power of their ,god4 ,when ,i lift up my awful hand to bring down retribution on the guilty apostates among my people1 shall not my arrows be drunk with blood and my sword devour flesh8 ,the guilty must fall2 yet through the fires of these sore judgments ,zion shall be purified and so redeemed4,the last clause of v4 #db were better read8,from the head of the princes of the enemy40 #dc4 ,rejoice1 ,o ye nations1 with his people3 for he will avenge the blood of his servants1 and will render vengeance to his adversaries1 and will be merciful unto his land1 and to his people4 ,this closing strain brings out in unmistakable terms the idea which seems to have been implied since v4 #cf1 viz4 that these great judgments on ,israel will not ultimately break down ,god's cause and kingdom1 but will only cut off the hopelessly reprobate and really bring deliverance1 purity1 salvation to ,zion4 ,therefore let all the nations rejoice with his people4 ,they have a deeper interest than they are yet aware of in this purifying process for the ultimate redemption of ,zion4 ,the prophetic eye of ,moses sees through to the glorious ingathering of the ,gentiles to ,christ1 and seems to trace the connection of this ingathering with the judgments sent on apostate ,israel in the first ,christian age4,the outcome of this song is therefore ultimately hopeful to the real ,zion4 ,it gives a fearfully dark view of the guilty apostasies of ,israelthose which culminated first in the captivity to ,babylon2 last in the fall of their city before the ,romans4 ,in the result ,god vindicates his great name2 purifies his people1 and spreads the glory of his name far abroad among the nations4 ,,deut4 #cc4 ,the blessing of ,moses upon the tribes shortly before his death4 ,this blessing of ,moses follows in general the usage of patriarchal times1 as seen in ,noah1 but especially in ,jacob1 the great tribe-father 7,gen4 #di74 ,it also follows the impulses of the great heart of ,moses1 now a patriarch of one hundred and twenty years1 who had long outlived the associates of his earlier days2 who had suffered and borne every thing for his people and had labored for them more than a father for his sons and daughters4 ,in this parting hour he has some last blessings to bequeathe before his eyes shall close in death4 ,let us listen to his dying benedictions4 ,the first five verses apply generally to all the tribes4 ,the last four also are general rather than special2 while the intervening portion of the chapter 7vs4 #f-be7 is made up of special benedictions upon the several tribes4,note also that while the 8,song0 chap4 #cb is largely in the minor straina sad prophetic vision of the nation's future apostasies and consequent calamities1 this chapter is pure benedictionthe outpouring of hopeful prayers and heartfelt good wishes1 with no shade of anticipated disaster1 no foreseen calamities4 #a4 ,and this is the blessing1 wherewith ,moses the man of ,god blessed the children of ,israel before his death4 #b4 ,and he said1 ,the ,,lord came from ,sinai1 and rose up from ,seir unto them2 he shined forth from ,mount ,paran1 and he came with ten thousands of saints3 from his right hand went a fiery law for them4 #c4 ,yea1 he loved the people2 and all his saints are in thy hand3 and they sat down at thy feet2 every one shall receive of thy words4 #d4 ,moses commanded us a law1 even the inheritance of the congregation of ,jacob4 #e4 ,and he was king in ,jeshurun1 when the heads of the people and the tribes of ,israel were gathered together4 ,the first thing to be noticed was that greatest fact1 equally of the life of ,moses and of the life of all ,israel1 viz4 the coming forth of the glorious ,god in majesty so sublime from the mountains of ,sinai4 ,how did the blaze of his glory illumine her towering summits and flash forth from all her hill-tops6 ,such a comingwhen had the world ever seen before88,rose up from ,seir0 would suggest to a ,hebrew the rising of the sun in his glory48,he came with ten thousands of saints10 says our ,english version2 but the ,hebrew has it fromthe same preposition which is used before ,sinai1 ,seir1 and ,parancertainly implying therefore that ,god came forth from the midst of those ten thousand holy ones in a sense analogous to that in which he shone forth from ,sinai1 ,seir1 and ,paran4 ,he must refer to holy angels to whom in great numbers ,jacob was introduced at ,bethel and ,mahanaim4 ,but whether the ,lord came forth from them1 leaving them in heaven1 or shone forth from among them1 attending him on ,sinai1 can not be certainly determined from the words used here4 ,other scriptures however speak of the law as given by the ministration of angels1 and therefore fully imply their presence on ,sinai at the giving of the law4 ,see ,ps4 #fh3 #ag1 and ,acts #g3 #ec1 and ,gal4 #c3 #ai1 and ,heb4 #b3 #b4,the last clause of v4 #a8;from his right hand went forth a fiery law for them0involves grave difficulties of a sort which can not well be put before the ,english reader4 ,the word translated 8law0 is unknown to the ancient ,hebrewis not the word used for law in v4 #d and in the ,pentateuch generally4 ,the best critical authorities would unite these two words which our translators supposed to mean 8fire0 and 8law10 into one word of quite different signification1 referring perhaps to the pillar of fire ,gesenius2 or to some geographical point ,fuerst2 or to flashes of lightning ,keil4,v4 #c is singularly abrupt1 and consequently the course of thought is obscure4 ,god was loving the people continuous actioni4 e4 all the nations and not the ,hebrews onlyshowing that ,god shone forth from ,sinai in love to the race4 ,all his holy ones are his wards1 upheld by his arm4 ,they lie humbly at his feet2 in filial loving obedience they receive his wordsindicating most beautifully the spirit with which all true souls welcome ,god's uttered words as to moral duty4 ,it is perhaps possible that as ,keil suggests the 8holy ones0 here are holy angels2 yet ,i incline to apply the phrase without restriction to all holy beings1 man certainly not excluded4,moses gave us a law1 as a legacy1 inheritance1 for the whole congregation of ,jacob4 ,he ,god was ,king in ,jeshurun over the upright people1 even over all that great nation with its congregated tribes and their tribal leaders4 #f4 ,let ,reuben live1 and not die2 and let not his men be few4 ,as to ,reuben1 let his tribe be perpetuated and not become extinct2 for some fear on this point might have sprung from the scenes of ,num4 #af2 the fearful death of ,dathan1 ,abiram1 and ,on1 all sons of ,reuben 7,num4 #af3 #a1 #bg74 #g4 ,and this is the blessing of ,judah3 and he said1 ,hear1 ,lord1 the voice of ,judah1 and bring him unto his people3 let his hands be sufficient for him2 and be thou a help to him from his enemies4 ,judah is thought of as leading the tribes in battle1 going forth in advance of all others to war4 ,hence the prayer,bring him back safely to his people from the scenes of battle4 ,let his hand military power be equal to any emergency4 #h4 ,and of ,levi he said1 ,let thy ,thummim and thy ,urim be with thy holy one1 whom thou didst prove at ,massah1 and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of ,meribah2 #i4 ,who said unto his father and to his mother1 ,i have not seen him2 neither did he acknowledge his brethren1 nor knew his own children3 for they have observed thy word1 and kept thy covenant4 #aj4 ,they shall teach ,jacob thy judgments1 and ,israel thy law2 they shall put incense before thee1 and whole burnt sacrifice upon thine altar4 #aa4 ,bless1 ,lord1 his substance1 and accept the work of his hands3 smite through the loins of them that rise against him1 and of them that hate him1 that they rise not again4 ,the blessing on ,levi suggested the insignia on ,aaron's breast-plate1 known as the 8,urim and ,thummim0 described somewhat in ,ex4 #bh3 #bi1 #cjthe words signifying ,light and ,right4 ,these breast-plate insignia were used in some way1 not altogether clear at this day1 in obtaining special directions from the ,lord4,the tribe of ,levi as a whole became in a sense ,god's 8,holy ,one10 bearing in the person of ,aaron these insignia4 ,god had proved them at ,massah and ,meribah where the people murmured against ,moses and ,aaron4 ,it was especially in the scenes of the calf-worship 7,ex4 #cb7 and of the ,midianites 7,num4 #be7 that the tribe of ,levi1 and particularly ,phineas1 proved themselves true to ,god1 with higher regard for him and his honor than for father1 mother1 brethren1 or children2 for they remembered and honored ,god's word and covenant4 ,let them therefore have the functions of the priesthood1 to teach ,jacob thy law and to minister at the national altar4 #ab4 ,and of ,benjamin he said1 ,the beloved of the ,lord shall dwell in safety by him2 and the ,lord shall cover him all the day long1 and he shall dwell between his shoulders4 ,let ,benjamin1 the beloved of the ,lord1 dwell safely by the side of the ,lord1 his protector1 abiding between his shouldersi4 e4 upon his back where fathers are wont to place their children to bear them long distances4 ,this tribe is thought of as ,god's child1 to be borne upon his shoulder4 #ac4 ,and of ,joseph he said1 ,blessed of the ,lord be his land1 for the precious things of heaven1 for the dew1 and for the deep that croucheth beneath1 #ad4 ,and for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun1 and for the precious things put forth by the moon1 #ae4 ,and for the chief things of the ancient mountains1 and for the precious things of the lasting hills1 #af4 ,and for the precious things of the earth and fulness thereof1 and for the good will of him that dwelt in the bush3 let the blessing come upon the head of ,joseph1 and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren4 #ag4 ,his glory is like the firstling of his bullock1 and his horns are like the horns of unicorns3 with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth3 and they are the ten thousands of ,ephraim1 and they are the thousands of ,manasseh4 ,the blessings on ,joseph comprise all good upon his land2 the dew and the shower1 the sunshine and the moonbeams2 all the products of the mountains and of the deep2let all come upon the head of him who was prince among his brethren in ,egyptthis being the sense1 rather than 8separated0 from his brethren4 #ah4 ,and of ,zebulun he said1 ,rejoice1 ,zebulun1 in thy going out2 and1 ,issachar1 in thy tents4 #ai4 ,they shall call the people unto the mountain2 there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness3 for they shall suck of the abundance of the seas1 and of treasures hid in the sand4 ,let ,zebulun and ,issachar rejoice both in their going forth and in their tents2 equally in their labor and in their repose4 ,living on the shore of the great sea1 let their influence go forth upon and beyond the great waters1 calling the nations to the mountain of the ,lord's house for worship with sacrifices of righteousness to the ,god of the whole earth2 and let ,zion under their hand become enriched with the abundance of the seasof all countries beyond the seasbringing their gold and their treasures to the ,god of ,israel4 ,isaiah has the same thought often2 e4 g4 chapters #di1 #fj1 and #ff4 #bj4 ,and of ,gad he said1 ,blessed be he that enlargeth ,gad3 he dwelleth as a lion1 and teareth the arm with the crown of the head4 #ba4 ,and he provided the first part for himself1 because there1 in a portion of the lawgiver1 was he seated2 and he came with the heads of the people1 he executed the justice of the ,lord1 and his judgments with ,israel4 ,the allusion to ,gad seems to be built upon his then recent historyleading the movement for locating the two and a half tribes on the ,east of ,jordan and foremost in battle and in victory over the national enemy2 prompt also to go over ,jordan to execute ,god's righteous judgments on the devoted nations of ,canaan4 #bb4 ,and of ,dan he said1 ,dan is a lion's whelp3 he shall leap from ,bashan4 ,dan is fierce and formidable in war1 to which his border locality on the extreme ,north may have conduced4 ,jacob touches the same tribal characteristic 7,gen4 #di3 #af1 #ag74 #bc4 ,and of ,naphtali he said1 ,o ,naphtali1 satisfied with favor1 and full with the blessing of the ,lord1 possess thou the west and the south4 #bd4 ,and of ,asher he said1 ,let ,asher be blessed with children2 let him be acceptable to his brethren1 and let him dip his foot in oil4 #be4 ,thy shoes shall be iron and brass2 and as thy days1 so shall thy strength be4 ,let ,asher be blessed above the sonsmay be the sensethe favored one among his brethren4 ,may thy castle-bars not 8shoes0 be of iron and brass4 ,but the best authorities on the word 8strength0 prefer rest ,gesenius1 or affluence ,fuerst4 ,the prayer is that this rest or affluence may be life-long4 #bf4 ,there is none like unto the ,god of ,jeshurun1 who rideth upon the heaven in thy help1 and in his excellency on the sky4 #bg4 ,the eternal ,god is thy refuge1 and underneath are the everlasting arms3 and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee and shall say1 ,destroy them4 #bh4 ,israel then shall dwell in safety alone2 the fountain of ,jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine2 also his heavens shall drop down dew4 #bi4 ,happy art thou1 ,o ,israel3 who is like unto thee1 ,o people saved by the ,lord1 the shield of thy help1 and who is the sword of thy excellency6 and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee2 and thou shalt tread upon their high places4 ,these words of unsurpassed sublimity and most exquisite poetry set forth the glories of the ,god of ,israel and the blessedness of the people who enjoy such a ,father and live under such a ,protector4 ,perhaps we can not give them higher praise than to say they are worthy of the pen of ,mosesworthy even to be his last wordshe noblest utterances of one who above any other mere man had communed with ,god face to face as man does with his dearest friend4,the ,english translation is almost faultless1 constituting one of the grandest passages to be found in ,english literature4 ,in the last clause of v4 #bg1 ,i prefer to follow the ,hebrew more closely and say simply ,destroy6 ,the high behest of ,jehovah1 hurling the enemy forth from the land of his people is best expressed in the emphatic word1 ,destroy6,in the last verse1 the clause1 8,thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee10 means that they shall cringe1 fawn1 and flatter with false and lying pretenses to gain if but a little favor from a people so terrible in arms as ,israel with ,god on her side4 ,the case of the ,gibeonites is mostly in point4 ,it was due to the stand-point of ,moses1 looking forth across the ,jordan upon the earthly ,canaan1 beholding the earthly ,israel just then entering there2 ,jehovah the shield of their help1 the sword of their excellency1 the scourge of their foesthis mighty ,god riding sublimely upon the heavens for their help1 his everlasting arms underneath them forevermorethat this view should be primarily of scenes in the present life and not in the future2 of earthly and material relations rather than of spiritual4 ,yet let us not forget that the manifestations of ,god in blessings of earthly sort foreshadow like manifestations in the spiritual life4 ,the ,god who saves his people here in things of earth1 in ways so grand1 with power so transcendant1 in a spirit so parental and so tender1 may surely be trusted to save and shield and bless with his own ,godlike wisdom and power against spiritual foes and for the other world no less than for this4 ,surely there is none like the ,god of ,jeshurun who comes in the tenderness of infinite pity to wipe away the penitent tear2 to bind up hearts broken for sin2 to place underneath all feeble souls his own everlasting arms2 to bid away every spiritual foe with the mandate ,destroy2 and to gather home his redeemed in his own best time to his ,canaan above1 of which that ancient land of promise gives us only some poetic images and some illustrations of ,god's faithfulness and love4 ,it is quite well1 therefore1 to exchange the earthly sense of this sublime passage for its spiritual significance and transfer its imagery to that world whose glories are worthy of sublimer strains than even these4 ,the death and character of ,moses4 ,these benedictions having been uttered1 it remained for ,moses to see the goodly land with his eyes and then close them in death4 ,the record is that his vision from the top of ,pisgah swept the whole country of ,palestine even to the ,mediterraneana statement which implies miraculous power4 ,we must either tone down the statement in extent1 or admit a superhuman extension of sightthe latter being by far most probable4 ,the record assumes that at his death ,moses had no attendant save the ,lord himselfa circumstance which throws a shade of doubt over the ultimate disposition of his body4 ,according to the narrative the ,lord buried him in a valley in the land of ,moab2 yet the place of his burial remained unknown to mortals4 ,was the fact of his being buried at all revealed to some ,hebrew prophet by special inspiration2 or was it merely assumed as the common course of events2 or was his body really translated1 as in the case of ,enoch and ,elijah8 ,in favor of the latter supposition are two circumstances2 viz4 the allusion by ,jude 7v4 #i7 to a dispute over his body between ,michael the archangel and the devil2 and his appearance together with ,elijah at the transfiguration of ,jesus 7,mat4 #ag3 #c74 ,these hints comprise all that is known on the point or can be known at present2 or as we may say1 all that the ,lord thought it important to let us know4 ,altogether in keeping with the masterly vigor of mind manifested in the last exhortation of ,moses 7chap4 #bg-ca72 in the 8,song0 7chap4 #cb71 and in the tribal blessings 7chap4 #cc7;is the statement that although at the age of one hundred and twenty1 8his eye was not dim nor his natural force abated40 ,the ,hebrew word suggests1 instead of natural force1 the idea of freshness1 youthful vigor4 ,how wonderfully were his powers of both mind and body preserved till his great work was done6,the historian who wrote this last chapter says3 8,there arose not a prophet since in ,israel like unto ,moses0which raises the question1 ,how long a period of time is embraced in this comparison8 ,was this remark made in the time of ,samuel1 or in the time of ,ezra1 or at some point between8 ,or was it based upon the belief or the special revelation that the divine policy included but one ,mosesall later prophets down to the coming of the ,great ,anointed being of a subordinate grade8 ,i do not see that the choice between these several alternatives can be made with absolute certainty1 and it is not specially important that we attempt to balance nicely the mere probabilities4 ,we think of ,moses 7as of ,paul1 ,isaiah1 ,daniel7 as a sublime illustration of ,god's marvelous resources for raising up great men for great occasions4 ,where shall we set the limit to these resources8 ,true1 these great men die 7unless they may be translated71 but their names die not2 their work does not die2 their influence travels onward down the ages1 and will1 long as men live on the earth4 ,they are the world's really great men1 belonging to a totally different order from the ,csars1 the ,alexanders1 and the ,napoleons1 or the ,platos and the ,aristotles of the race4 ,it may not be unprofitable to note that all these were modest men2 meek above most other men2 of unaspiring spirit2 true to their divine mission1 and little caring to give their thought to any thing else4 ,the fact in the recorded history of ,moses which seems to me the very gem of his life was that ,god's proposal1 twice made to him1 to cut off all ,israel and make of him a great nation 7,ex4 #cb3 #aj and ,num4 #ad3 #ab7 did not get from him a moment's attention4 ,he never even alluded to it4 ,but as the ,lord seemed to overlook the glory of his own name before the nations1 ,moses took the responsibility 7boldly1 shall we say87 of reminding him as to this point4 ,apparently his soul was so much absorbed in this line of considerationsthe glory of ,god as before the nations of the earththat he could not let it drop from his range of view4 ,hence ,moses was mighty 7almost omnipotent we may say7 in prayer4 ,it would seem to have been the ,lord's special purpose to bring out this prime quality of his religious character and set it in sunlight before all future agesan illustration of the fact that the great men of all time are mighty with ,god in prayer4 ,they know the secret of communion with ,god4 ,they have easy1 unrestricted access to his throne4,one blemishnay rather1 one sin1 stands on the record of his life in his own hand-writing2 one sad1 humiliating fact mars his historyviz4 that at ,kadesh his sensibilities to himself were too keen2 that for the moment1 self threw even his ,god into the shade1 and he cried out3 8,ye rebels2 must we fetch you water from this rock08 ,true1 the complaints of ,israel were severely cruel as against ,moses2 but how much more so against ,god6 ,and if ,moses had thought and felt much less as to himself and much more of ,god1 he had passed through this stern ordeal unhurt4 ,from that point onward this sin could not pass altogether out of his mind4 ,it had been the aspiration of his life to see the goodly land of ,canaan and to plant his childrenthe great ,hebrew nationthere with his own hand and see them with his own eyes in their glorious home6 ,we sympathize in his disappointment and trial in that he must die short of ,canaan4 ,but this is not quite a sinless world4 ,the painful experiences of imperfection force themselves into the best ,christian lives4 ,there is a better life beyond6 ,the ,mosaic system and the future life4 ,the question often comes up in even the most candid and honest minds3 ,why is the ,pentateuch silent1 or at least1 so nearly silent as to the rewards and punishments of the future life8,moreover1 there is a class of critics who are fain to decry the ,hebrew people as almost contemptibly low in point of knowledge1 culture1 and civilization1 and who are wont to deny that the ,mosaic system1 civil or religious1 has any allusion to the future life or even assumes its existence4,from this supposed fact1 they infer that the ,hebrew people and even ,moses himself had no knowledge of the future life4 ,in briefly discussing this subject1 ,i propose1 #a4 ,to qualify somewhat the absolute statement,no allusion to the future life or assumption of its existence4 #b4 ,to give some reasons for placing the ,theocracy mainly on the basis of temporal rewards and punishments4 #c4 ,to maintain that ,moses and the patriarchs knew and believed in the future life as one of rewards and punishments4 #a4 ,i propose to qualify somewhat the absolute statement8,no allusion to the future life and no assumption of its existence40 ,here ,i call attention to the remarkable fact that there are several statutes without penaltiesleft simply upon the consciences of men and upon their sense of the fear of ,god4,as to those who violate the third of the ten commandments1 it is simply said1 8,the ,lord will not hold him guiltless02 but it is not intimated that any due punishment should befall him in the present life4 ,the statutes touching this sin stand also without penalties4 ,correspondingly the statutes forbid perjury2 but they seem to leave the sanctity of the solemn oath upon the conscience and upon men's fear of ,god4 ,so of the precept1 8,thou shalt not revile the judges1 nor curse the rulers of thy people0 7,ex4 #bb3 #bh74 ,now it scarcely need be suggested that human laws without penalties are mere puerilitiesvirtually no laws at all4 ,suppose under any human government1 sundry statutes were left without penalties1 the law saying only1 8he shall bear his iniquity02 8his sin shall be upon him03 ,would not the whole body of lawless1 law-breaking men say in their heart1 ,what of that8 ,what then8 ,every violator of human law knows well enough that there is nothing to fear from it beyond the grave4 ,if human law will only let them have their way in this world1 they would scoff at the thought of its penalties in the next4,now my point is that the ,hebrew statutes did not leave the law-breaker's conscience in this attitude4 ,the man who scorned those statutes because they stood without penalties in this world had something to think of for the world to come4 ,those statutes1 left without penalties for this life were not by any means for that reason powerless4 ,so far from being powerless1 they were in many minds more terrible than any other statutes4 ,was it of no account to them that ,god had said8,his sin shall be upon him0 and 8he shall bear his iniquity08 ,did they not know that 8it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living ,god0fearful1 moreover1 not because he might bring trouble on them in time1 but because there is an after-life and the same dreadful ,god is thereterrible to those who have defied his authority and scorned his law8,therefore the statement that this ,hebrew code did in no manner assume the existence of an after-life and of a ,god terrible to the sinner there1 must be somewhat modified4 #b4 ,i am to assign some reasons for putting this ,theocracy mainly on the basis of temporal rewards and punishments4 7#a47 ,it was to be administered chiefly by human agents4 ,human judges sat upon offenses against it1 and human hands executed their decisions4,i qualify these statements with the words 8mainly10 8chiefly10 stating this as being the case for the most part4,the fact as to human agents being admitted1 there is no need of further reasons for placing the administration of this government mainly on the basis of earthly rewards and punishmentspenalties in this world1 not in the next4 ,how could human judges award judgments for the world to come1 and human hands execute them there8 7#b47 ,god governed ,israel as a nation1 not as an individual man4 ,now since nations as such exist in this life only1 it follows of necessity that all retribution that is truly national must be in time1 not in eternity4 ,the nation as such is not known in the eternal world4 ,the individuals that compose the nation have their own personal account to settle with ,god in the world to come2 but this has no bearing upon the government of ,god over the nation4 ,this national government must be complete in time1 else it remains incomplete forever4 ,it may run on through many human generations2 national life may outlast scores of individual human lives2 but ,god's retribution as to nations must be administered in this world1 no part lying over to the next4 ,hence when ,god made himself king in ,jeshurun over the ,hebrew nation1 he of necessity established a government to be administered mainly in time1 not in eternity2 by the rewards and penalties of this worldnot of the next4,this again would be in itself a sufficient reason for the fact we are accounting for1 even if there were no other4 7#c47 ,this national system of government was intended to be a moral lesson for all other nations of all time4 ,hence the government must be put on the same basis as that of all other nations in the point of providential retribution4 ,as ,god holds every nation on earth to a positive retribution in time1 giving them prosperity for their righteousness1 and adversity for their violation of the common laws of humanity2 and as he would fain make his administration over ,israel a cogent moral lesson to every other nation on this great point1 he must needs govern ,israel in this respect as he governs themi4 e4 administering his retributions in time4 7#d47 ,yet one reason more4 ,distinguishing carefully between ,god's providential government and his moralthe former being of time only2 the latter of both time and eternity2 the former being 7for our present purpose7 over nations as such2 the latter over individuals only and not over nationsit remains to say that ,god manifestly designed his providential government over ,israel to be suggestive1 perhaps we might say typicalcertainly illustrative of his moral government over all men which is not of time only1 but which reaches into the eternal world4 ,in the early ages of the world men needed some proof that ,god would punish sin in the world to come4 ,they needed some illustrations of ,god's character as a righteous1 moral governor4 ,therefore the ,lord planned to put himself at the head of the ,hebrew nation1 and then in that position1 to give to mankind some illustrations in this world of what all sinners are to believe and expect for themselves1 not in this world only or chiefly1 but in the world to come4 ,he would make this limited government illustrate that universal one4 ,he would show in the case of the ,hebrew people under his law what all men have to expect from their righteous ,god when his moral government shall have had full scope and shall have administered its perfect retribution in the world to come4 ,this divine policy is well set forth by ,peter 7#b ,pet4 #b3 #d-i72 8,for if ,god spared not the angels that sinned but cast them down to hell02 and 8spared not the old world1 but saved ,noah02 if he 8turned ,sodom and ,gomorrah into ashes1 but delivered just ,lot02then 7we may infer71 8the ,lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation1 and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished40 ,yes1 the ,lord knoweth how to do this1 and he means to let all living men see that he knoweth how2 and see also that being a holy moral ,governor1 he can not fail to do it4 ,he will give them occasion to see in his ruling over nations in time that his ruling over individual sinners can not be less righteouscan not be less retributive according to deeds done2 and since equal and perfect justice calls for more time than one human life on earth1 there must be an after part to it1 to come in when death has located men in the eternal world4,this designed use of a theocratic government over ,israel to illustrate ,god's moral relations to every individual man1 required an administration mainly in this world1 in time1 before human eyes2 and is therefore another reason for working this theocracy mainly with temporal rewards and punishments4,i do not see that further reasons can be rationally called for4 99 99 99 99 99 #c4 ,i am to rebut the inference made from the fact of a theocracy administered mostly in time1 viz4 that ,moses and the patriarchs did not believe in or even know of a future life4 7#a47 ,the inference is utterly illogical4 ,the rewards and penalties of the ,hebrew system were of time and not of eternity1 for other good and sufficient reasons1 and not necessarily for the reason that the ,hebrew law-giver and his people knew of no future life4 ,to be of any force the argument must assume that if ,moses had known of a future life he would have built this system upon it4 ,but what is the proof of that8 ,by what right is that assumed8,on the contrary there are reasons in abundance1 not to say in excessfar more than would be sufficientwhy the theocracy should be temporal in its penalties1 whether ,moses knew or did not know of a future life4 7#b47 ,that ,moses and the patriarchs assumed and believed in a future life is apparent from their words4 ,moses wrote of ,enoch 7,gen4 #e3 #bd72 8,and ,enoch walked with ,god2 and he was not1 for ,god took him40 8,took him0 where8 ,did not ,moses know where8 8,took him0in what sense8 ,is it even supposable that ,moses thought this was annihilationtaking a godly man out of existence8 ,extinguishing his being because he walked with ,god6 ,is this a credible construction8 ,shall it be assumed that ,moses was so ignorant1 or so misinformed1 or so little versed in logic1 as this8,if the ,lord had made this problem a special studyhow best to teach and impress the doctrine of a future blessed life for the righteous who walk with ,god on earth1 we can not see how he could have improved upon the method he actually adopted1 viz4 to take the godly ,enoch from earth to heaven without dying4 ,again1 ,moses constantly spoke of the death of the godly patriarchs as a being 8gathered to their people40 ,he said this of ,abraham 7,gen4 #be3 #h72 of ,ishmael 7#be3 #ag72 of ,isaac 7#ce3 #bi72 of ,jacob 7#di3 #cc74 ,and he records these as ,jacob's words when he supposed ,joseph to have died3 8,i will go down into ,sheol to my son mourning0 7#cg3 #ce74;,in the face of these facts can it be said that ,moses knew nothing of the future life8 ,did he think the fathersthe righteous peoplehad passed by death into non-existenceinto what was not life in any sense whatever8,again1 when at the bush the ,lord said to ,moses so solemnly3 8,i am the ,god of thy fathers2 the ,god of ,abraham1 the ,god of ,isaac1 and the ,god of ,jacob0 7,ex4 #c3 #f71 is it credible that ,moses was so obtuse as not to see that this implied that ,abraham1 ,isaac1 and ,jacob were yet living1 since the ,lord could not be the ,god of dead things1 but only of living souls8,a sensible view of the case may be obtained thus3 ,suppose that ,moses had replied8,lord1 ,i see not how that can be1 for ,abraham has been dead and out of existence more than two hundred years06 ,if really ,moses had no knowledge of a future life1 he ought frankly to have made substantially this reply at the bush4 7#c47 ,in proof of their faith in the future life1 is another argument1 of greater force if possible than their words2 viz4 their lives4 ,for men sometimes say more than they mean1 or perhaps something other than what they think2 but their lives testify truthfully to their real beliefs4,here we might expand the argument already suggested by the writer to the ,hebrews 7#aa3 #h-af71 calling up to review the actual lives of the patriarchs2 how ,abraham tore himself away from home and kindred1 and went1 obeying a call believed to be from ,god1 to a land before unknown2 how he and his family sojourned as strangers there1 dwelling only in tents but 8looking for a city on beyond which hath foundations whose builder and maker is ,god02 how they lived in the faith of promises to be fulfilled far in the future ages of time2 and how by such a life they 8declared plainly that they were seeking another and better country1 even an heavenly0 one4,but waiving this1 the argument will be more directly in point if made on the case of the man ,moses himself4,born a slave1 it was little of earth that he had at his birth save the faith and consequent heroism of a godly mother4 ,in the providence of ,god it fell to him to be takena beautiful babe of three monthsinto the family of the reigning ,pharaoh4 ,there he lived1 trained in all the wisdom of ,egypt1 till he was full forty years old4 ,of prepossessing person and splendid talents2 of capacities equal to any responsibility1 the honors of all ,egypt lay before himwe might probably saywere pressing upon his acceptance4 ,what did he do8,the writer to the ,hebrews answers our question on this wise3 8,when he was come to years1 he refused to be called the son of ,pharaoh's daughter1 choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of ,god than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season3 esteeming reproach for ,christ greater riches than the treasures of ,egypt40,was not this choice and all this course of conduct unaccountably strange8 ,did any man in his senses1 knowing nothing of the future life1 ever make such a choice before or since8 ,what6 choose affliction before pleasure2 reproach before the highest of earthly honors8 ,what could be in the man to make such a choice and even carry it out in his actual life8 ,the writer of this ,epistle has an explanation to suggest4 ,he says in the outset that ,moses had faitha sort of faith described by himself as 8the evidence of things not seen40 ,quite unlike the doctrine of the critics above referred tonay squarely in the face of their assumptions1 he holds up this ,moses as a special and illustrious example of real faith in the future life4 8,by faith ,moses refused to be called the son of ,pharaoh's daughter02 8by faith he esteemed reproach for ,christ greater riches than ,egypt's treasuresfor he had respect to the recompense of the reward40 ,aye1 he had his eye onward upon that glorious recompense of reward which ,god gives his people when the joys that are transient have all faded outwhen the life that is immortal dawns on the human soul4 ,in his view the pleasures of ,egypt were only for a seasontoo short to be matched against the joys before himfully believed inthat endure forever4 ,of this explanation1 say what else men may of it1 they must admit that it answers the purpose4 ,it accounts for the choice ,moses made of affliction before pleasure2 of shame before the highest of ,egypt's honors4 ,this explanation represents ,moses to be a man of sense1 and not a fool4 ,neological criticism holds him up to the world as void of all senseas playing the part of supreme folly4 ,paul said8,if in this life only we have hope in ,christ1 we are of all men most miserable0 7#a ,cor4 #ae3 #ai74 ,he would have said of ,moses1 ,if his hope and belief as to ,god were of this life onlyif he had no belief in the future life and no knowledge of it1 then he was of all men most foolishmost void of that judgment and good sense which are common to sensible men4,therefore ,i claim that the life of ,mosesthe whole choice and purpose and labor of a life of one hundred and twenty years1 witness to his full and glorious faith in the future life4 ,the men who deny to him this faith stultify not ,moses1 but themselves4 7#d47 ,it can scarcely be necessary to suggest that over and above the logical merits of the facts themselves1 we have the current traditions of ,jewish history and the authority of the inspired ,new ,testament writers4 ,he who wrote the ,epistle to the ,hebrewsa man of sense as his writings show and of surpassing eloquence and powermust have spoken the current voice of ,hebrew traditionto say nothing 7in an argument with ,neologist critics7 of his unquestionable inspiration from ,god4 7#e47 ,still further1 we have collateral proofs that the future life was known in the age of ,moses4,job gave a grand declaration of his faith that after the perishing of his body he should see ,god 7,job #ai3 #be-bg74 ,balaam1 representing the thought of the ancient ,east1 saw and believed in the blessedness of the righteous dead4,and to mention no morethe wise men of ,egypt1 even before the age of ,moses1 believed in the future life of man4 ,with scarcely a doubt they built their pyramids in the faith of man's immortality4 ,sepulchers with them had a special and grander significance because they thought of man1 not as dropping at death into annihilation1 but as having even then a future nobler life before him4 ,it is more than supposable that the art and practice of embalming the bodythus providing for it a sort of immortalitywas really an outgrowth of their belief in the immortality of the soul and of its returning again to its former bodily home4,that the ,egyptians held the doctrine of a future life and of future rewards and punishments according to the deeds of this earthly life1 is not questioned at all by those who are familiar with her ancient mythology4 ,symbolic representations are found which are affirmed to be nothing else but the personification of the grand principle of the immortality of the soul and the necessity of leading a virtuous life4#dg ,also a picture 8representing the trial and judgment which the ,egyptians supposed the soul of a man to undergo before he was allowed to enter the regions of rest and happiness40#dh,r4 ,s4 ,poole 7in ,smith's ,bible ,dictionary on 8,egypt10 p4 #fge7 says3 8,the great doctrines of the immortality of the soul1 man's responsibility1 and future rewards and punishments were taught0 in ,egypt4 8,the ,egyptian religion in its reference to man was a system of responsibility1 mainly depending on future rewards and punishments40 8,every ,israelite who came out of ,egypt must have been fully acquainted with the universally recognized doctrines of the immortality of the soul1 man's responsibility1 and future rewards and punishments40,dr4 ,j4 ,p4 ,thompson1 in supplementing this article on 8,egypt10 refers to ,dr4 ,lepsius as having given the earliest known text of the ,egyptian 8,book of the ,dead0 8which contains the important doctrines of the immortality of the soul1 the rehabilitation of the body1 the judgment of both good and bad1 the punishment of the wicked1 the justification of the righteous and their admission to the blessed state of the gods0 7p4 #fhh74 ,see also ,bib4 ,sacra1 ,oct4 #ahfg1 p4 #gge1 and ,jany4 #ahfi1 p4 #aij4 ,hence we must conclude that even if it were possible that the ,hebrews had no knowledge of the future life before they went to ,egypt1 they must have learned it there4 ,really however1 the fact that this doctrine appears in the oldest records of ,egyptian antiquity proves that it came down from ,noahnot to say from ,adam4 ,it was not indigenous and original with ,egypt4 ,it was there because ,egypt had retained the primitive beliefs of the race4 ,in concluding this argument1 ,i refer to the allusions which appear in the ,psalms to the future life 7e4 g4 ,ps4 #ag1 and #cg1 and #di1 and #gc71which speak of it not as being then a new revelation1 just sprung upon the universal darkness of all foregoing ages1 but distinctly as an old doctrine1 to be learned by 8going into the sanctuary of ,god0 and there hearing the old ,hebrew scriptures publicly read2 and also to be seen as illustrated and assumed in the records of ,god's judgments in time on such sinners as those of the old world1 and of ,sodom1 and as ,egypt's hardened king4 ,let it suffice here to specify ,ps4 #gc1 whose author says of himself3 8,i was envious at the foolish when ,i saw the prosperity of the wicked4 ,it was too painful for me until ,i went into the sanctuary of ,god2 then ,i understood their end4 ,surely thou didst set them in slippery places2 thou castedst them down into destruction408,but all unlike their doom thou wilt guide me with thy counsel and afterward receive me to glory4 ,whom have ,i in heaven but thee8 ,and there is none upon earth that ,i desire besides thee4 ,my flesh and my heart faileth2 but thou art the strength of my heart and my portion forever40,the good men who wrote thus1 and the worshiping congregations who sung these rapturous strains in their temple worship were not in utter darkness as to the final doom of the wicked1 or as to the glorious future life of the righteous4 99 99 99 99 99 ,in closing this volume it only remains to refer in a word to the progressive developments of ,god's truth as manifest in these closing portions of the ,pentateuch4 ,of previous points and periods in this history as developing progress ,i have spoken when the scenes were fresh in our reading and thought2particularly of the age before the flood2 of the scenes in the life of ,jacob and ,joseph2 of the scenes of the ,exodus and at ,sinai2 of the civil code and also of the religious ,institutes4,the few incidents of history during the forty years of wilderness life bring us new lessons1 some exceedingly instructive in regard to the intercessory prayers of ,moses2 many sadly painful1 touching the unbelief1 the murmuring1 the sensuality1 and the idolatrous tendencies of ,israel4 ,if it were not that apostasies from ,god occur in our own age1 not at all less guilty considering the light sinned against1 though less revolting perhaps to the current religious sentiments of the age1 we might perhaps afford to pass these historic developments with little notice4 ,alas1 that they should reveal sins of the human heart which it so much behooves us to study for our own admonition6 ,the book of ,deuteronomy is an acquisition to the moral forces of the ,pentateuch4 ,speaking now specially of its first eleven chapters and of its last nine2 i4 e4 of the review which ,moses gives of the scenes of ,sinai and of his accumulation of predicted woes and of appeals at once tender and terrible in the last chapters1 it is not easy to over-estimate their moral power4 ,let us hope that they thrilled the very heart of that generation and toned up their religious life with impulses not only deep and strong but abiding4 ,that generation1 then about to enter ,canaan under ,joshua1 was unquestionably the best1 morally1 which appears throughout the entire history of ,israel4 ,for proof of this estimate of them it must suffice to refer to the spirit manifested in ,josh4 #a3 #af-ah and in the entire scenes of ,josh4 #bb1 and indeed in the history throughout this book of ,joshua4,leaving ,egypt while yet young or wilderness born2 mostly uncontaminated with her idolatries and pollutions of moral life1 looking upon the scenes of the ,exodus and of ,sinai with young eyes and susceptible souls2 trained under ,moses forty years2 taking the ritual of religious worship in its freshness1 with hearts1 let us hope in a good measure tender to its first strong impressionsthey give us certainly the best fruits of this wonderful moral and religious training4 ,so many fearers of ,godso large a host imbued with the spirit of obedience to ,god's authoritythe world had never seen before4 ,they were prepared of ,god for the conquest of ,canaan4 ,they are living witnesses that the discipline of those desert wanderings was not in vainwitnesses also to the moral and spiritual forces of the new revelations which ,god made of himself during those forty years from ,egypt to ,canaan4 ,advertisements4 ,,cowles',s ,,notes ,,on ,,the ,,old ,,testament ,i4 ,,the ,,minor ,,prophets4 #a vol41 #abmo4 #b4jj4 ,,ii4 ,,ezekiel ,,and ,,daniel4 #a vol41 #abmo4 #b4be4 ,,iii4 ,,isaiah4 #a vol41 #abmo4 #b4be4 ,,iv4 ,,proverbs1 ,,ecclesiastes1 ,,and ,,the ,,song ,,of ,,solomon4 #a vol41 #abmo4 #b4jj4 ,v4 ,,notes ,,on ,,jeremiah4 #a vol41 #abmo4 #b4be4 ,by ,rev4 ,,henry ,,cowles1 ,d4 ,d4 99 99 99 99 99 ,from ,the ,christian ,intelligencer1 ,n4 ,y4 8,these works are designed for both pastor and people4 ,they embody the results of much research1 and elucidate the text of sacred ,scripture with admirable force and simplicity4 ,the learned professor1 having devoted many years to the close and devout study of the ,bible1 seems to have become thoroughly furnished with all needful materials to produce a useful and trustworthy commentary40 ,from ,dr4 ,leonard ,bacon1 of ,yale ,college4 8,there is1 within my knowledge1 no other work on the same portions of the ,bible1 combining so much of the results of accurate scholarship with so much common-sense and so much of a practical and devotional spirit40 ,from ,rev4 ,dr4 ,s4 ,wolcott1 of ,cleveland1 ,ohio4 8,the author1 who ranks as a scholar with the most eminent graduates of ,yale ,college1 has devoted years to the study of the ,sacred ,scriptures in the original tongues1 and the fruits of careful and independent research appear in this work4 ,with sound scholarship the writer combines the unction of deep religious experience1 an earnest love of the truth1 with a remarkable freedom from all fanciful speculation1 a candid judgment1 and the faculty of expressing his thoughts clearly and forcibly40 ,from ,president ,e4 ,b4 ,fairfield1 of ,hillsdale ,college4 8,i am very much pleased with your ,commentary4 ,it meets a want which has long been felt4 ,for various reasons1 the writings of the prophets have constituted a sealed book to a large part of the ministry as well as most of the common people4 ,they are not sufficiently understood to make them appreciated4 ,your brief notes relieve them of all their want of interest to common readers4 ,i think you have said just enough40 ,d4 ,appleton ,company's ,publications4 #ah ,,christian ,,centuries4 ,,by ,,the ,,rev4 ,,james ,,white1 ,,author ,,of ,a ,,history ,,of ,,france4 #a ,vol4 #abmo4 ,cloth4 #ech pages #a4ge4 ,,contents4 ,i4 ,cent4,the ,bad ,emperors4,,ii4 ,the ,good ,emperors4,,iii4 ,anarchy and ,confusion4,growth of the ,christian ,church4,,iv4 ,the ,removal to ,constantinople4,establishment of ,christianity4,apostasy of ,julian4,settlement of the ,goths4,v4 ,end of the ,roman ,empire4,formation of ,modern ,states4,growth of ,ecclesiastical ,authority4,,vi4 ,belisarius and ,narses in ,italy,settlement of the ,lombards4,laws of ,justinian4,birth of ,mohammed4,,vii4 ,power of ,rome supported by the ,monks4,conquests of the ,mohammedans4,,viii4 ,temporal ,power of the ,popes4,the ,empire of ,charlemagne4,,ix4 ,dismemberment of ,charlemagne's ,empire4,danish ,invasion of ,england4,weakness of ,france4,reign of ,alfred4,x4 ,darkness and ,despair4,,xi4 ,the ,commencement of ,improvement4,gregory the ,seventh4,first ,crusade4,,xii4 ,elevation of ,learning4,power of the ,church4,thomas ,becket4,,xiii4 ,first ,crusade against ,heretics4,the ,albigenses4,magna ,charta4,edward ,i4,,xiv4 ,abolition of the ,order of ,templars4,rise of ,modern ,literature4,schism of the ,church4,,xv4 ,decline of ,feudalism4,agincourt4,joan of ,arc4,the ,printing ,press4,discovery of ,america4,,xvi4 ,the ,reformation4,the ,jesuits4,policy of ,elizabeth4,,xvii4 ,english ,rebellion and ,revolution4,despotism of ,louis the ,fourteenth4,,xviii4 ,india4,america4,france4,index4 ,,opinions ,,of ,,the ,,press4 ,mr4 ,white possesses in a high degree the power of epitomizingthat faculty which enables him to distil the essence from a mass of facts1 and to condense it in description2 a battle1 siege1 or other remarkable event1 which1 without his skill1 might occupy a chapter1 is compressed within the compass of a page or two1 and this without the sacrifice of any feature essential or significant4,,century4 ,mr4 ,white has been very happy in touching upon the salient points in the history of each century in the ,christian era1 and yet has avoided making his work a mere bald analysis or chronological table4,,prov4 ,,journal4 ,in no single volume of ,english literature can so satisfying and clear an idea of the historical character of these eighteen centuries be obtained4,,home ,,journal4 ,in this volume we have ,,the ,,best ,,epitome ,,of ,,christian ,,history ,,extant4 ,this is high praise but at the same time ,,just4 ,the author's peculiar success is in making the great points and facts of history stand out in sharp relief4 ,his style may be said to be ,,stereoscopic1 and the effect is exceedingly impressive4,,providence ,,press4 ,a ,complete ,biblical ,library4 ,,the ,,treasury ,,of ,,bible ,,knowledge3 ,,being ,a ,,dictionary ,,of ,the ,books1 ,persons1 ,places1 ,events1 and other matters1 of which mention is made in ,holy ,scripture4 ,intended to establish its authority and illustrate its contents4 ,by ,,rev4 ,,john ,,ayre1 ,m4 ,a41 ,,of ,,gonville ,,and ,,caius ,,college1 ,,cambridge4 ,illustrated with many hundred woodcuts and fifteen full-page steel plates1 drawn by ,justyne1 from original photographs by ,graham1 and five colored maps4 #a thick volume1 #abmo1 #idd pages4 ,price1 ,cloth1 #d4jj2 ,half ,calf1 #e4 ,sent free by mail on receipt of the price4 8,the general object of this work is to promote the intelligent use of the ,sacred ,volume by furnishing a mass of information respecting ,palestine1 and the manners1 customs1 religion1 literature1 arts1 and attainments of the inhabitants2 an account of the countries and races with which the ,hebrews had relations1 together with some notice of all the persons and places mentioned in the ,bible and ,apocrypha4 ,the history and authority of the books themselves are discussed conjointly and severally4 ,i have been anxious to study the best authorities for what is asserted1 and to bring up the information to the most modern standard4 ,i have not written hastily1 therefore1 but have spent some years in the compilation of this volume40,extract from the ,preface4 8,among the books which should find a place in the collection of every ,christian man1 who seeks to have in his possession any thing beyond a ,bible and hymn-book1 we know of none more valuable than #8,the ,treasury of ,bible ,knowledge4' ,it is in all respects the best1 as it is the most convenient manual for the ,biblical student yet published4 ,we hope to see this work in the hands of every ,sunday-school and ,bible-class teacher40,american ,baptist4 899 99 99 ,one of the most valuable publications ever issued by that house40,new ,yorker4 ,d4 ,,appleton ,,company1 ,publishers and ,booksellers1 #edi #eea ,broadway1 ,new ,york4 ,d4 ,,appleton ,,co4',s ,,publications4 ,,bible ,,teachings ,,in ,,nature4 ,by the ,rev4 ,,hugh ,mac,m,i,l,l,a,n #a ,vol41 #abmo4 ,cloth4 ,price1 #a4ej4 ,from the ,n4 ,y4 ,observer4 8,these are truly original and delightful discourses1 in which investigations of natural science are skilfully and often eloquently employed to establish divine revelation1 and to illustrate its truths40 ,from the ,hartford ,morning ,post4 8,this is a work of rare merit in its way1 and may be read with great profit and interest by lovers of ,natureby those who have the gift of insight1 and who can look up #8through ,nature to ,nature's ,god' and see the #8invisible power and ,godhead in the things which ,he has made4'0 ,from the ,eastern ,argus4 8,the healthy mind delights in the beauties and mysteries of ,nature1 and this volume will be found both instructive and interesting40 ,from the ,daily ,enquirer4 8,this is a beautifully written work1 intended to make the studies of the ,bible and of ,nature doubly attractive1 by pointing out the harmony which exists between them as revealed to the earnest students of both40 ,from the ,norfolk ,county ,journal4 8,the author sees ,god everywhere revealed in the development of ,nature1finds ,him in the works of pure and unobtrusive beauty2 in the grand and impressive in scenery1 and in the wonderful manifestations with which the world abounds40 ,musings over the 8,christian ,year0 ,,and 8,lyra ,innocentium40 ,by ,,charlotte ,,mary ,,yonge4 ,together with a ,few ,gleanings of ,recollections of the ,rev4 ,john ,keble1 gathered by ,several ,friends4 ,one small thick #abmo4 ,printed on tinted paper4 ,price1 #b4jj4 8,the #8,christian ,year1' by ,rev4 ,john ,keble1 has found a place in the hearts of pious ,churchmen1 second only to that of the #8,pilgrim's ,progress' among ,christians generally4 ,it consists of poems on all the church-days of the year1 in which the deepest thoughts of a saint1 a poet1 a scholar1 and a pastor1 when stirred with the strongest feelings both of ,christian and of man1 find expression2 and these #8,musings' of ,miss ,yonge will interest every admirer of that famous work4 ,in a series of annotations on these poems1 ,miss ,yonge has sought to seize and express the subtle meaning of the poet1 and explain a few difficulties in their arrangement and allusions4 ,nearly one-third of the book is occupied with recollections of ,rev4 ,john ,keble1 in which is presented with singular distinctness the life of one of the saintliest men of modern times4 ,the style of ,miss ,yonge is one of charming purity and simplicity1 and the entire volume as a book of devotion will be read with profit by all ,christians40,church ,journal4 8,all the principal religious festivals of the year are appropriately alluded to in this volume1 with suitable reflections thereon4 ,the book partakes more of a series of sermons than any thing else1 although prayers are occasionally introduced4 ,all whose religious views coincide with those expressed in the work will find it interesting and instructive40,rochester ,democrat4 ,d4 ,,appleton ,,co41 #edi #eea ,,broadway1 ,,new ,,york4 ,the ,recovery of ,jerusalem4 ,,by ,capt4 ,,wilson1 ,r4 ,e41 and ,capt4 ,,warren1 ,r4 ,e41 ,,etc41 ,,etc4 #a vol41 #hvo4 ,cloth4 ,with ,maps and ,illustrations4 ,price1 #c4ej4 8,this is a narrative of exploration and discovery in the ,city of ,jerusalem and the ,holy ,land4 ,it is a volume of unusual interest to the student of antiquities1 and throws much light upon what was already partially known about the ,holy ,city1 and opens up many curious speculations and suggestions about things that were entirely unknown until the excavations and explorations commenced which the book faithfully records4 ,the maps and illustrations much enhance the interest1 and aid in a thorough understanding of the things described4 ,it is a volume of over #djj pages1 #hvo41 bound in cloth1 and altogether beautifully presented40,springfield ,republican4 ,christ in ,modern ,life4 ,,sermons ,,preached ,,at ,,st4 ,,james',s ,,chapel4 ,by ,rev4 ,,stopford ,a4 ,,brooke4 #a vol41 #abmo1 ,cloth ,price1 #b4jj4 ,the main thought which underlies this volume is1 that the ideas which ,christ made manifest on earth are capable of endless expansion1 to suit the wants of men in every age2 and that they do expand1 developing into new forms of larger import and wider application1 in a direct proportion to that progress of mankind1 of which they are both root and sap4 ,if we look long and earnestly enough1 we shall find in them the explanation and solution not only of our religious1 but even of our political and social problems4 ,all that is herein said is rested upon the truth that in ,christ was ,life1 and that this ,life1 in the thoughts and acts which flowed from it1 was1 and is1 and always will be1 the light of the race of man4 ,d4 ,,appleton ,,co41 ,publishers1 ,new ,york4 ,,lecture-,,room ,,notes4 ,,van ,,doren',s ,,suggestive ,,commentary4 ,d4 ,,appleton ,,co41 ,broadway1 ,new ,york2 ,r4 ,,dickinson1 #gc ,farringdon ,st41 ,london4 ,the following ,scholars are interested in the ,series3 ,,genesis4,professor ,,beecher1 ,auburn ,theological ,seminary4 ,,psalms4,professor ,i4 ,,murphy1 ,d4,d41 ,belfast ,theological ,seminary4 ,,ecclesiastes ,,and ,,proverbs4,l4 ,,young1 ,d4,d41 ,virginia4 ,,isaiah4,professor ,,smythe1 ,d4,d41 ,londonderry ,theological ,seminary4 ,,matthew4,professor ,j4 ,,vernahan1 ,ph4,d41 ,london4 ,,luke4,w4 ,h4 ,,van ,,doren1 ,d4,d41 ,chicago4 #b vols4 7,now ready47 ,,john4,w4 ,h4 ,,van ,,doren1 ,d4,d41 ,chicago4 #b vols4 7,now ready47 ,,acts4,w4 ,r4 ,,gordon1 ,d4 ,d41 ,new ,jersey4 ,,romans4,,thomas ,,robinson1 ,d4 ,d41 ,morpeth1 ,england4 #b vols4 7,now ready47 ,,galatians4,professor ,t4 ,,croskey1 ,londonderry4 ,,philippians ,,and ,,colossians4,,peter ,,doag1 ,d4,d41 ,edinburgh4 ,,hebrews4,rev4 ,,thomas ,,doggett1 ,niagara4 ,,catholic ,,epistles4,j4 ,,demarest1 ,d4,d41 ,new ,jersey4 ,rev4 ,dr4 ,,fausset1 ,york1 ,england1 the ,commentator4 8,i know no exposition of ,scripture so terse1 so suggestive1 and yet so full and so clear40 ,,dean ,,alford1 the ,commentator4 ,after a long1 friendly letter1 he apologizes thus3 8,i have had time only to read sixty pages4 ,it will be a most useful work40 ,rev4 ,,chas4 ,,lee1 ,havestock ,hill4 8,the work of ,dr4 ,van ,doren contains the maximum of thought in the minimum of space40 ,,the ,,homilist1 ,london4 8,the idea of this series is an unusually happy one4 ,it is preminently suggestive40 ,,the ,,freeman1 ,london4 8,this work is much after our own heart4 ,these volumes are among our best helps40 ,,the ,,churchman1 ,london4 8,this work contains under each sentence a few brief1 well-chosen notes1 which will be found of great value40 ,,sword ,,and ,,trowel1 ,spurgeon1 ,editor4 8,this commentary is novel in its arrangement1 and well sustains its title of suggestive40 ,,christian ,,world1 ,london4 8,dr4 ,van ,doren's work is more condensed than ,lange's1 containing the pith and marrow of criticism4 ,it will be prized by all who love the doctrines of the ,reformation40 ,,morning ,,star1 ,london4 8,in this work are condensed the thought and criticism of many volumes4 ,we shall hail with delight a complete work on this admirable plan40 ,j4 ,c4 ,,ryle1 ,d4,d41 ,commentator4 8,a curious and original work4 ,it succeeds in supplying an astonishing amount of thought and criticism in very few lines40 ,rev4 ,,james ,,hamilton1 ,d4,d4 8,i am sure ,dr4 ,van ,doren will have the gratitude of all whose books are few and whose time is precious40 ,rev4 ,j4 ,,jones1 of ,belfast4 8,to ministers and school-teachers ,i would say1 that they will here find an amount of knowledge1 in my judgment1 not to be found in the same space anywhere else40 ,w4 ,l4 ,,alexander1 ,d4,d41 ,edinburgh4 8,i am much pleased with the plan1 and with the success with which it has been carried out40 ,,the ,,forward1 ,london4 8,this work is cheap1 compact1 and suited to this hard-working age4 ,the plan is new and useful40 ,,baptist ,,messenger1 ,london4 8,in ordinary cases we do not consult commentators in two cases out of ten with real advantage4 ,but in the #8,suggestive ,commentary' we have not in a single instance been disappointed40 ,,british ,,quarterly1 ,london4 8,dr4 ,van ,doren1 in the form of short sentences1 brings together the gist of all previous commentators1 and supplies abundance of hints to those who have but little leisure40 ,,english ,,presbyterian1 ,london4 8,to clergymen and students this work is invaluable4 ,we have brought the work under the special notice of our friends in private40 ,,wesleyan ,,times1 ,london4 8,an excellent idea1 admirably worked out4 ,we have tested the work on the ,lord's ,prayer1 and we cordially commend it40 ,,wesleyan ,,methodist ,,times4 8,it is a work to make men think1 and not save them from thinking4 ,these volumes will be welcome to many a student of the ,scriptures4 ,hard-worked ministers and ,bible-class teachers will be well repaid by studying them40 ,,the ,,independent1 ,london4 8,this is a remarkable work1 and valuable as well4 ,if there ever was multum in parvo1 it is here found4 ,the labor in preparing it must have been immense4 ,the work is eminently suggestive1 and will save an enormous amount of time40 ,l4 ,,halsey1 ,d4,d41 ,professor ,theological ,seminary1 ,chicago4 8,every page bears marks of thorough and accurate scholarship1 and of patient1 careful study4 ,it is the most readable commentary we have ever met4 ,it is impossible to say things in quicker time or narrower space than he has said them40 ,rev4 ,prof4 ,,swing1 late of ,miami ,university4 8,in my pulpit preparations1 ,i prefer the #8,suggestive ,commentary' to ,lange40 ,,princeton ,,review4 8,this work has been highly recommended by the journals of ,great ,britain4 ,it certainly evinces thought1 labor1 and learning40 ,footnotes4 #a - #b - ,lay sermons on spontaneous generation2 pp4 #cfd-cff4 #c - ,dr4 ,a4 ,m',caul in 8,aids to ,faith10 page #bda renders it8,and evening happened and morning happenedone day40 ,precisely this is the sense of the ,septuagint and of the ,syriac4 ,see also ,tayler ,lewis in ,lange's ,genesis1 pp4 #acb1 #acc4 #d - ,see the usage in ,david 7,ps4 #ee3 #ag71 8,evening and morning and at noon will ,i pray40 #e - #f - ,the following synoptical view of the passages in which or occurs is given in the ,bibliotheca ,sacra 7,oct4 #ahef1 pp4 #gfc1 #gfd7 by ,prof4 ,e4 ,p4 ,barrows48,it is used1 ,i4 ,of the original creation3 #a4 ,of the world generally1 or parts of it3 ,gen4 #a3 #a and #a3 #ba and #b3 #c1 #d and ,ps4 #hi3 #ab and #adh3 #e and ,isa4 #dj3 #bf and #dj3 #bh and #db3 #e and #de3 #ah 7twice71 ,amos #d3 #ac4 ,also ,isa4 #de3 #g 7twice72 making fourteen times in all4#b4 ,of rational man3 ,gen4 #a3 #bg 7thrice7 and #e3 #a1 #b 7twice7 and #f3 #g and ,deut4 #d3 #cb and ,isa4 #de3 #ab and ,eccl4 #ab3 #a and ,mal4 #b3 #aj4 ,here also we may conveniently place ,ps4 #hi3 #dg2 twelve times4 ,,ii4 ,of a subsequent creation3 #a4 ,of the successive generations of men1 ,ps4 #ajb3 #ah and of animal beings1 ,ps4 #ajd3 #cj4b4 ,of nations under the figure of individuals1 ,ezek4 #ba3 #ce 7,eng4 version v4 #cj7 and #bh3 #ac1 #ae2 three times in ,ezekiel only4#c4 ,of particular men as the instruments of ,god's purposes2 ,isa4 #ed3 #af 7twice74#d4 ,of miraculous events2 ,ex4 #cd3 #aj and ,num4 #af3 #cj and ,jer4 #ca3 #bb4e4 ,of events foretold in prophecy2 ,isa4 #dh3 #g4 ,,iii4 ,of creation in a moral sense3 #a4 ,of a clean heart and holy affections and actions2 ,ps4 #ea3 #aj and ,isa4 #de3 #h and #eg3 #ai4b4 ,of ,israel as ,god's covenant people1 or of a member of ,israel2 ,isa4 #dc3 #a1 #g1 #ae4c4 ,of a new and glorious order of things for ,israel and in ,israel2 ,isa4 #d3 #e and #da3 #bj and #fe3 #ag1 #ah 7twice74 ,an examination of these passages 7half of which relate to the original creation7 will show that in every instance the idea is that of bringing into being by divine power4 ,whether that which is created is new matter1 or something else that is new1 must be determined by the context40 #g - ,see ,bib4 ,sacra1 ,april1 #ahee1 pp4 #cbe1 #cbf4 #h - ,the word1 8generations10 obtains the secondary sense of family history and then the sense of history in general1 from the fact that the earliest written historical records were so largely made up of genealogiesthe records of human generations4 #i - ,darwin's ,origin of ,species1 p4 #dbj4 #aj - 8,the ,quadrumana and all the higher mammals are probably derived from an ancient marsupial animal1 and this1 through a long line of diversified forms1 either from some reptile-like or some amphibian-like creature1 and this again from some fish-like animal4 ,in the dim obscurity of the past we can see that the early progenitor of all the vertebrat must have been an aquatic animal1 provided with branchi gills with the two sexes united in the same individual1 and with the most important organs of the body 7such as the brain and the heart7 imperfectly developed4 ,this animal seems to have been more like the larv of our existing marine ,ascidians than any other known form40 ,darwin's ,descent of ,man1 vol4 #b1 #cgb4 #aa - 8,if my theory be true1 it is indisputable that before the lowest ,silurian stratum was deposited1 long periods must have elapsed1 as long as1 or probably far longer than1 the whole interval from the ,silurian age to the present day2 and that1 during these vast yet quite unknown periods of time1 the world swarmed with living creatures40 ,darwin's ,origin of ,species1 p4 #bfi4 #ab - ,these are his words8,why then is not every geological formation and every stratum full of such intermediate links8 ,geology assuredly does not reveal any such finely graduated organic chain2 and this perhaps is the most obvious and gravest objection which can be urged against my theory4 ,the explanation lies as ,i believe in the extreme imperfection of the geological records40,and again8,he who rejects these views on the nature i4 e4 the defects of the geological record will rightly reject my whole theory4 ,for he may ask in vain3 ,where are the numberless transitional links which must formerly have connected the closely allied or representative species found in the several stages of the great formations8 ,he may ask1 ,where are the remains of those numerous organisms which must have existed long before the first bed of the ,silurian system was deposited80 ,origin of ,species1 pp4 #bdf1 #bii4 #ac - ,see ,thompson's 8,man in ,genesis and in ,geology10 pp4 #hh-ij1 and ,lyell on the ,antiquity of ,man1 pp4 #ag-bi4 #ad - ,lyell's ,antiquity of ,man1 pp4 #dc and #bjd4 #ae - ,see ,report upon the ,physics and ,hydraulics of the ,mississippi ,river by ,capt4 ,a4 ,a4 ,humphreys and ,lieut4 ,h4 ,l4 ,abbott2 #ahfa1 pp4 #dce4 ,the following extract will impress the reader as at once definite and reliable48,if it be assumed that the rate of progress has been uniform to the present dayand there are some considerations connected with the manner in which the river pushes the bar into the gulf each year which tend to establish the correctness of that opinionthe number of years which have elapsed since the river began to advance into the gulf can be computed4 ,the present rate of progress of the mouth may be obtained by a careful comparison of the progress of all the mouths of the river as shown by the maps of ,capt4 ,talbot1 ,united ,states ,engineer1 #ahch1 and of the ,united ,states ,coast ,survey in #aheathe only maps that admit of such comparison4 ,they give two hundred and sixty-two feet for the mean yearly advance of all the passes4 ,this mean advance of all the passes represents correctly the advance of the river4444 ,adopting this rate of progress 7two hundred and sixty-two feet per annum7 four thousand four hundred years have elapsed since the river began to advance into the gulf40 ,bib4 ,sacra1 ,april1 #ahgc1 p4 #cca4 #af - ,hodge's ,systematic ,theology1 vol4 #b1 p4 #cc4 #ag - ,see ,lyell's ,antiquity of ,man1 pp4 #i-aa4 #ah - ,see 8,antiquity and ,unity of the ,human ,race10 by ,rev4 ,ebenezer ,burgess1 pp4 #be-cj4 #ai - ,josephus states explicitly that ,samuel and ,saul combined fill out #dj years4 #bj - ,it is a telling fact that according to ,julius ,africanus1 ,manetho's numbers for the entire reigns of all the kings foot up #edjd years1 while the aggregate duration of all the dynasties 7within the same chronological termini7 is #ceee yearsi4 e4 the sum of all the dynasties is less by #ahdi years than the sum of all the kings' reigns which make up those dynasties4 ,see ,burgess on the ,antiquity of ,man1 pp4 #gj1 #gc4 #ba - ,bunsen is cited not as the best authority1 but as one of the most strenuous for an exceedingly1 not to say excessively1 long duration4 #bb - #bc - ,or this one hundred and twenty years may be the reduced standard duration of human life1 the thought being,so long a probation1 almost a thousand years1 is too much2 my ,spirit shall not prolong his effort in vain to this extent2 ,i reduce the average life-period to one hundred and twenty years4 #bd - ,see ,smith's ,bible ,dictionary1 8,noah10 for numerous traditions of the flood4 #be - #bf - #bg - ,many an ,american reader will be reminded of ,john ,brown striking for the redemption of the ,american slave4 #bh - ,see on the ,scripture usage of 8the angel of the ,lord10 p4 #acj4 #bi - #cj - ,hengstenberg's ,egypt and ,moses1 pp4 #aae and #aaf4 #ca - #cb - ,that this fear was by no means groundless appears in the panic which smote their hearts when they saw ,pharaoh's host pursuing 7,ex4 #ad3 #aj-ab71 and also in the unbelieving fear manifested on hearing the report of ten of the spies returned from their forty days traversing of ,canaan 7,num4 #ac3 #bh1 #ca-cc1 and #ad3 #a-d74 #cc - ,connecting the fact given in profane history that ,egypt worshiped the ox and the cow as gods1 with the fact of sacred historythat all the first-born of their cattle fell in this fearful plague1 we shall understand how signally ,god 8executed judgment on ,egypt's gods40 #cd - ,see ,bibliotheca ,sacra1 ,oct41 #ahfc1 p4 #hha4 #ce - ,the term 8,bekhen0 is used for any kind of buildinga temple1 palace1 or even a common house4 ,descriptions of what they built correspond to the sacred record1 8treasure-cities40 #cf - ,see ,burgess on 8,the ,antiquity of ,man10 pp4 #fh-hd1 on the unreliability of ,manetho's lists and on the relative value of other authorities in ,egyptian chronologies4 #cg - ,the passages which treat of it are ,ex4 #af3 #ad-cf and ,num4 #aa3 #g-i and ,deut4 #h3 #c1 #af and ,josh4 #e3 #ab1 ,ps4 #gh3 #bd1 #be and ,wisdom #af3 #bj1 #ba4 #ch - ,the precise date of the scenes at ,kadesh 7,num4 #bj7 may be inferred from the death of ,aaron which followed shortly after 7,num4 #bj3 #bc-bi71 and is definitely dated 7,num4 #cc3 #ch71 viz4 on the first day of the fifth month in the fortieth year from ,egypt4 ,the 8first month0 therefore1 spoken of ,num4 #bj3 #a must have been that of the fortieth year4 #ci - ,bearing in mind that the ,israelites had lived in the valley of the ,nile1 all unused to mountain scenery1 we may readily understand how these scenes around the base of ,sinai must have impressed them4 ,it is quite in place here to bring before our mind the physical features of this wonderful pile of rocks and cliffs4 ,a modern writer supplies the following sketch3 8,the entire ,sinaitic group presents the most impressive indications of the terrible convulsions by which its labyrinth of mountain heights has been rent and torn since its first upheaval4 ,from the summit of ,mt4 ,serbal1 as from a watchtower in high heaven1 one looks down upon a perfect sea of mountain ridges1 often precipitous1 always intensely steep1 and culminating in a sharp edge at the height of two1 three1 or four thousand feet from their base4 ,the entire line of these mountains is seen to have been rent transversely by clefts from the base to the summit1 filled with injections of basaltic rocks1 striping the mountain on every side with black bands4 ,the whole assemblage is a perfect ganglion of ridges thrown up in wild confusion with its strata dislocated1 disjointed1 dipping in all directions and at every angle from horizontal to perpendicular4 ,the mountains of ,sinai form no system1 no regular ranges1 like the ,alps1 the ,appenines1 the ,pyrenees1 or the mountains of ,america40 7,bib4 ,sac4 ,april1 #ahfg1 p4 #bec74 ,dr4 ,e4 ,robinson gives his impressions from personal inspectionthus3 8,here the interior and loftier peaks of the great circle of ,sinai began to open upon usblack1 rugged1 desolate summits2 and as we advanced1 the dark and frowning front of ,sinai itself 7the present ,horeb of the monks7 began to appear4,the scenery reminded me strongly of the mountains around the ,mer de ,glace in ,switzerland4 ,i had never seen a spot more wild and desolate4,as we advanced the valley still opened wider and wider1 shut in on each side by lofty granite ridges with rugged1 shattered peaks a thousand feet high1 while the face of ,horeb rose directly before us4 ,both my companion and myself involuntarily exclaimed3 8,here is room enough for a large encampment06 ,reaching the top of the ascent1 a fine broad plain lay before us1 sloping down gently toward the ,s4 ,s4 ,e41 inclosed by rugged and venerable mountains of dark granite1 stern1 naked1 splintered peaks and ridges1 of indescribable grandeur2 and terminated at the distance of more than a mile by the bold and awful front of ,horeb1 rising perpendicularly in frowning majesty from twelve to fifteen hundred feet high4 ,it was a scene of solemn grandeur1 and the associations which at the moment rushed upon our minds1 were almost overwhelming40 ,robinson's ,researches ,vol4 ,i4 p4 #acj1 #aca4,this plain stretching out from the foot of this precipitous mount1 is supposed to have been the identical place where the people were gathered to see the mountain all aflameto hear the sound of trumpet long and loud1 and to listen to the voice of ,god proclaiming the words of his law4 #dj - #da - ,the word necromancer comes from the ,greek2 necrosa dead one2 and 8mantis0 divinationgaining superhuman knowledge from the dead4 #db - ,see a 8,state trial in ancient ,egypt10 fully reported in ,bib4 ,sacra1 ,july1 #ahfi1 p4 #egg4 ,this is written in the hieratic text2 is known as 8,the ,judicial ,papyrus02 is now in the museum of ,turin and is presumed to be the official record4 #dc - ,of ,ptolemy ,philadelphus ,prof4 ,wines says8,he was delighted with the laws of ,moses2 pronounced his legislation wonderful2 was astonished at the depth of his wisdom1 and professed to have learned from him the true science of government40,wines' ,commentaries4 ,see also ,josephus against ,apion1 p4 #cjh4 #dd - ,prof4 ,wines' ,commentaries on the ,laws of the ,ancient ,hebrews1 pp4 #cab-chh1 a work which elaborates its theme very fully1 substantiating its points by copious authorities4 #de - ,taylor's ,manual of ,history1 p4 #cce4 ,moses and the ,lord speaking through him 7,deut4 #a3 #af1 #ag and #af3 #ah-bj7 had announced this doctrine more than two thousand years before4 ,it is fair to presume that the earlier promulgation had sent its influence down the ages to ,justinian's time4 #df - ,jacob might properly be called a 8,syrian0 as having lived full twenty years with ,laban the ,syrian in the great ,aram of the ,east4 ,the point of his history where he was 8ready to perish0 was that of the great famine in ,canaan which drove him and his household into ,egypt for bread4 #dg - ,greppo's ,essay1 p4 #bce4 #dh - ,greppo's ,essay1 p4 #bcg4 ,transcriber's ,notes4 ,the following corrections have been made in the text3 ,,toc3 ,sentence starting3 7#g7 ,it is reckless4444 - #8recklesss' replaced with #8reckless' 77#g7 ,it is reckless7 ,page #ce3 ,sentence starting3 ,but these differences4444 - #8discrepances' replaced with #8discrepancies' 7are not discrepancies7 ,page #fa3 ,sentence starting3 ,placing #dej in the above4444 - #8,a4 ,d4' replaced with #8,b4 ,c4' 7,usher's figures ,b4 ,c4 #adia47 ,page #fg3 ,sentence starting3 #h4 ,methuselah4444 - #8,methusaleh' replaced with #8,methuselah' 7#h4 ,methuselah7 ,page #ga3 ,sentence starting3 ,this approximates toward harmony4444 - #8,baylonian' replaced with #8,babylonian' 7also the ,babylonian1 ,b4 ,c4 #faeh17 ,sentence starting3 ,the approach toward harmony4444 - #8,baylonian' replaced with #8,babylonian' 7the ,babylonian and the ,chinese7 ,page #gd3 ,sentence starting3 ,eratosthenes and ,apollodorus1444 - #8,appollodorus' replaced with #8,apollodorus' 7,eratosthenes and ,apollodorus17 ,page #afe3 ,sentence starting3 ,a coincidence so minute4444 - #8befor' replaced with #8before' 7might appear before the king7 ,page #agh3 ,sentence starting3 ,like the somewhat similar4444 - #8,melchisedek' replaced with #8,melchizedek' for consistency 7priest of ,salem1 ,melchizedek17 ,page #bab3 ,sentence starting3 ,if there were godly men4444 - #8iexpressible' replaced with #8inexpressible' 7with inexpressible hope and7 ,page #bad3 ,sentence starting3 ,the historian alludes to yet4444 - #8figheth' replaced with #8fighteth' 7,jehovah fighteth for them7 ,sentence starting3 ,the case falls into the4444 - #8dipleasure' replaced with #8displeasure' 7his displeasure against sin17 ,page #bbb3 ,sentence starting3 ,,the ,,events ,,near ,,and ,,at ,,sinai4444 - ,the header for ,chapter ,,xv was omitted from the text4 ,it has been reproduced from the information in the ,table of ,contents4 7,,the ,,events ,,near ,,and ,,at ,,sinai47 ,page #dab3 ,sentence starting3 ,it was too painful for me4444 - #8sactuary' replaced with #8sanctuary' 7into the sanctuary of ,god27