LIBRARY

OF THE

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA.

OF"

Mrs. SARAH P. WALSWORTH.

Received October, 1894.
Accessions NoJTfr~/*7. Class No.

SERIES OF SERMONS

ON THE

XXXIII. CHAPTER OF DEUTERONOMY.

BY WM. PARKINSON, A. M.

PASTOR OF THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, NEW-YORK.

PUBLISHED AT THE REQUEST OF SAID CHURCH.

Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed ; thou hast guided them
in thy strength unto thy holy habitation. Exo. xv. 13.

In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the Angel of his presence saved them ;. in his love
and in his pity he redeemed them ; and he bare them, and carried them, all the days of old.
la. Ixiii. 9.

Moreover, I will endeavor that ye may be able, after my decease, to have these things always
in remembrance. 2 Pet. i. 15.

IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. I.

NEW-YORK:
J. M. MORGAN & Co. No. 4 BOWERY.

G. F. Sunce, Printer.

1831.

U1TJ7SRSITF

ENTERED ACCORDING TO ACT OF CONGRESS,

la the year 1831, by William Parkinson, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court
of the Southern District of New-York.

TO THE READER.

WHEREAS the spelling of several words in this work is different
from the common orthography, it is thought expedient, by way
of defense, to mention a few instances of it, with the authorities
for them. They are chiefly the following :

1. The termination er is preferred to re, as in scepter. Bailey's
and Martin's Dictionaries prefer that form which makes a regular
derivative as sceptered. So Milton and the best writers generally
of the last century. Webster's Great Dictionary also, has all
these words in this form.

2. Or is preferred to our, as in labor, vigor, <fcc. Walker's
Principles, 314 his decision on honor, and his Rhyming Dic-
tionary. Also Ash's Dictionary, and the best modern practice.

3. Final e is preferred to two vowels before a consonant, as pro -
cede and lothe, rather than proceed and loath, or loathe. Analogy.

4. When useless, e final is rejected, as in elicit, deposit, &c.
Dyche and Webster.

5. C final is preferred to ck as in sceptic. Thirteen standard
Dictionaries and the best practice.

6. S is preferred to c soft, as in expense, defense, &c. Bai-
ley, Johnson in his derivatives, and Webster.

7. In derivatives, the final consonant, when not under the ac-
cent, is not doubled ; as worshiped, from worship; traveler, tra-
veling and traveled, from travel. See Perry's Rule, p. 15, 8vp.
Dictionary.

For an illustration of the grounds of these and some other va-
riations, from common practice, which will be found in the spel-
ling throughout this Series of Sermons, (mistakes excepted,)
the reader is referred to "PRACTICAL ORTHOGRAPHY, by WILLIAM
BEARCROFT, late Master of the Academy, Kirky Mooreside ;" and
especially to the late edition of it "Revised" (by a comparison of
twenty-five STANDARD Dictionaries) "and greatly enlarged by
DANIEL H. BARNES, one of the Principals of the New- York High
School." From the color of its cover, this valuable Work, so
deserving of the studious perusal of the rising generation, is now
commonly known by the name of THE RED BOOK.

A Note from the learned DR. MITCHILL, (lately deceased,)
respecting the first two Sermons of this Series.

REV. WM. PARKINSON.

Dear Sir,

I have read the two published Sermons on the Ministry of
Moses, which you were good enough to send me a few days
ago. I am greatly pleased with the classical research and
biblical erudition with which they abound.

That Hebrew lawgiver, was, as you observe, " truly an ex-
traordinary character ;" and I scarcely know which to admire
most your literal or typical account of him. Though perhaps
I should not be greatly mistaken in ascribing to the former
more profound learning, and to the latter more ingenious elu-
cidation.

You seem to be fully possessed of your subject ; yet there
can be no harm in offering you my wishes for its complete
execution, according to your enlarged and instructive plan.

I am pleased to find you have adopted the orthography of
Bearcroft ; and that you have made a respectful reference to
Barnes's revised and enlarged edition of his publication, under
the name of the Red Book. A short time ago, he gave me an
interesting discourse upon the performance ; and in a subse-
quent conversation, very lately, the able principal of the High
School, made very respectful mention of you.

Truly and with respectful and friendly feeling yours,

SAMUEL L. MITCHILL.

New-York, Oct. 19th, 1828.

PREFACE.

UffJVBRSXf]

IT was not till more than half my Sermons on the Thirty-
third chapter of Deuteronomy were delivered, that I had a
thought of issuing them from the press. And, when individu-
als, whose judgment I respected, expressed a wish that they
should be published, I shrunkfrom the undertaking, assured
that, to write them out from the short notes I had made, to
govern my studies, preparatory to preaching them, must cost me
much labor, and that all the time requisite thereto, I should
need for making successive preparations for the pulpit, and
for discharging my other pastoral duties.

At that stage of the work, too, I had become more fully
convinced than I was at the commencement of it, that the
chapter on which I was sermonizing, is a very abstruse portion
of sacred Writ, and that a Preacher or Writer, to be qualified
to give a just interpretation of it, and to make a judicious and
profitable use of it, must have much more knowledge of Jewish
antiquities than I possessed ; and therefore, that however ac-
ceptable my sermons thereon might be, as delivered viva voce,
to render them at all worthy of a place in the library of an
intelligent Christian, and especially in that of a biblical stu-
dent, I must be at the pains of much additional research ;
for which I felt a great deficiency of time of books and of
oriental learning.

Besides, from the progress then made, I perceived that, in
regard to several things expressed or alluded to in the chap-
ter before me, I must conscientiously differ in opinion, from
certain Commentators and Critics, who are generally thought
to be almost infallible, and from those Writers on the types,
also, who are the most generally received and admired. This,
I well knew, would expose me, however unjustly, to the im-
putation of arrogance and the affectation of novelty.

IV PREFACE.

I was also fully aware, that those types of which I should
have occasion to treat, if faithfully traced in accordance
with the New Testament, must lead to such views of Christ
. of his atonement, righteousness, and intercession and, of
x his church, ordinances, and government, as would render the
work unpopular, even among the generality of processed
Christians, and especially, as being devoid of those embellish-
ments of style, by which some authors unhappily eclipse truth,
and others wickedly conceal error.

At length, however, I consented that the question on the ex-
pediency of publishing these Sermons, should be submitted to
the church I serve ; whose members, after hearing all my ob-
jections to engaging in the work, and being distinctly appris-
ed, that, should I engage in it, they must relinquish, for a
considerable time, their claim to my accustomed visits, proceed-
ed, notwithstanding, to pass the following resolution :

"Having heard; with interest, and, we trust, with some
spiritual benefit, the Sermons preached by our pastor, from the
Thirty-third chapter of Deuteronomy, we are of opinion that it
would contribute to the diffusion of Evangelical Truth, and
to our own edification and that of other Christians, to have
them published ; wherefore, Resolved, That brethren Graves,
Barnard, Conrey, Skellorn, Lyon, Whitney, and Gould, be a
Committee to confer with our Pastor on the Expediency of the
measure, and, if it meet his approbation, to solicit him to pre-
pare the work for the Press, as soon as convenient.

"R. GRAVES, Ch. Clerk."

Supported and encouraged by the above Resolution, and
remembering that, with such gifts as the Lord had bestowed
upon me, I was the servant of the people who had passed
it, 1 commenced writing ; and, by employing in that way,
such intervals as, by extra exertion, I could redeem from the
time usually appropriated to other studies, or to needful re-
pose, I have, by slow degrees, in some manner completed
the Fint Volume.

PREFACE. V

According to my Proposals, the Work was to be comprised
in twenty-six Sermons, averaging 24 pages each ; but, having
. had to make two sermons on The Ministry of Moses, and two
on The Urim and Thummim and anticipating the like ne-
cessity on some other subjects, I am convinced, that if I
should stop with the twenty-sixth discourse, several of the
best would remain unpublished. Nor (if the sermons ara
worth having) can it be any matter of regret to subscribers,
to receive a few more of them than expected especially as
the expense is too small and gradual to be felt.

Those subscribers who heard the Sermons of this volume
preached, and who thought them valuable then, must readily
perceive that they are much more so now ; for, in preparing
them for the press, without divesting them of a single idea,
which they originally embraced, I have variously illustrated
and confirmed many ideas, which then were only suggested.
Besides, the NOTES, some of which cost me much research
and study, are entirely additional and which, by the most
competent judges, among those who have read them, are
supposed to contain much important and useful information.

Neither have my subscribers, like many who have subscrib-
ed for new Works, reason to complain of deficiency in the
.quantity of matter promised. This volume, consisting of xvii..
Sermons, at the proposed average of 24 pages each, would
contain only 408 pages ; whereas it contains (exclusive of the

Title, the Preface, and the Table of Contents) 554 pages .

and therefore a surplus of 146 pages, or 6 sermons, at my own
expense,

A critical reader of these Sermons, will probably feel dis-
gusted at the frequent recurrence of the same ideas nay, of
the same terms and phrases. But, when he considers how
many persons and things herein treated of, were types of
Christ and that, not only Israel, as a whole, but each tribe
thereof also, in certain respects, was a type of the church, he
will perceive that to have avoided altogether what he is dis-

Vi PREFACE.

gusted at, would have been a very difficult and rare attain-
ment.

Some, it is understood, complain of the' Hebrew words and
phrases, occasionally employed in this work. But certainly
this is a groundless objection. To the Hebrew scholar, it
must be grateful and, to the mere English reader, it pre-
sents no obstacle ; as the Hebrew is always translated, and
generally even the pronunciation of it is given in roman let-
ters.

On reviewing the Sermons contained in this volume, I ob-
serve in them many defects, both in arrangement of matter,
and in perspicuity of diction and doubt riot, that, in these re-
spects as well as others, better judges will discover in them,
many more. And though it is due to the Printer, to ac-
knowledge that what belongs to his department, is, generally
speaking, well executed, I nevertheless, to my great regret,
find in the Work some typographical inaccuracies, which, in
reading the proofs, escaped his eye, as well as my own. But,
as these, whether in Orthography, in Punctuation or in
References, are all (so far as noticed) such as any reader,
likely to detect them, can easily correct, I think it unnecessary
to note them, by giving a list or errata.

In applying such of the types as I had occasion to treat of,
to Christ and his church, I have endeavored, as much as pos-
sible, to follow the light of the New Testament ; when this
did not (to my observation) furnish the needful clue, I avail-
ed myself, whenever I could, of Old-Testament prophecy,
regarding the Messiah and his kingdom ; and if, in some
instances, I have suggested thoughts without supporting them
by any reference to Scripture, they are either such as are
obviously true, or such as relate to points not decided by ex-
press revelation, and on which, I, like others, have ventured to
offer mine opinion.

The METHOD OP SALVATION, kept in view in these Ser-
mons, is that on which my helpless soul has constantly, and,

PREFACE. Vll

at times, with great satisfaction and delight, exclusively re-
lied, for more than thirty-five years and which, for about
thirty-three of these years, I have been publishing and ex-
plaining to others. And though favored, I trust, during
that time, with some growth of knowledge in the Holy
Scriptures, I am not conscious of a shade of change in my
doctrinal views, since I commenced preaching: Nay, so as-
sured am I of the divine authority of the doctrines I have
uniformly labored to inculcate, that my primary object in
consenting to the publication of this Work, is, that the dearly
.beloved church and congregation, whom I have served nearly
twenty-seven years, and all others, among whom I have, at
any time, gone preaching the kingdom of God, may be able,
after my decease, to have these things always in remembrance.

That these Sermons, in the hand of the Holy Spirit, may
be instrumental, in comforting believers in awakening sin-
ners and in directing inquiring souls to Christ, is the desire
and prayer of

THE PREACHER,

WM. PARKINSON.

New-York, Oct. 27, 1831.

CONTENTS OF VOLUME I.

SERMON I.

THE MINISTRY OF MOSES.

DEUTERONOMY xxxiii. 1. And this is the blessing wherewith Moses,
the servant of God, blessed the children of Israel before his
death Page 144

SERMON II.

THE MINISTRY OF MOSES SPIRITUALIZED.

DEUT. xxxiii. 1. And this is the blessing wherewith Moses tht
servant of God, blessed the children of Israel before his
death. ... . . p. 4596

SERMON III.

THE DELIVERY AND AUTHORITY OF THE LAW.

DEUT. xxxiii. 2. And he said, The Lord came from Sinai, and
rose up from Seir unto them ; he shined forth from mount Pet-
ran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right
hand went a fiery law for them. . . . p. 97 138

SERMON IV.

THE LOVE OF GOD MANIFESTED TO ISRAEL.

DEUT. xxxiii. 3. Yea, he loved the people: all his saints are in
thy hand: and they sat down at thy feet, every one shall receive
of thy words. ...... p. 139 164

SERMON V.

THE MOSAIC LAW AN INHERITANCE TO ISRAEL.

DEUT. xxxiii. 4. Jdoses commanded us a law : even the inherit-
ance of the congregation of Jacob. . . p. 165 192

X CONTENTS.

SERMON VI.

MOSES WAS KING IN JESHURUN.

DEUT. xxxiii. 5. And he was king in Jeshurun, when the heads
of the people and the tribes of Israel were gathered toge-
ther p. 193216

SERMON VII.

THE BLESSING OF REUBEN.

DEUT. xxxiii. 6. Let Reuben live, amd not die ; and let not his
men be few p. 217237

SERMON VIII.

THE BLESSING OF JUDAH.

DEUT. xxxiii. 7. And this is the blessing ofJudah : and he said,
Hear, LORD, the voice of Judah ; and bring him unto his peo-
ple : let his hands be sufficient for him : and be thou an help to
him from his enemies. .... p. 238 266

SERMON IX.

THE BLESSING OF LEVL HIS URIM AND THUMMIM.

DEUT. xxxiii. 8 II. And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummimand
thy Urim be with thy Holy One, whom thou didst prove at
Massah, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meri-
bah; who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not
seen him ; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew
his own children ; -for they have observed thy word, and kept thy
covenant. They shall teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel
thy law : they shall put incense before thee, and whole burnt
sacrifice upon thine altar. Bless, LORD, his substance, and ac-
cept the work of his hands : smite through the loins of them that
rise against him, and of them that hate him, that they rise not
again. - p. 267286

SERMON X.

THE BLESSING OF LEVL HIS URIM AND THUMMIM.

CONSIDERED MYSTICALLY.

DEUT. xxxiii. 8 11. And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummim
and thy Urim be with thy Holy One, $c. . p. 287334

SEKMON XL
THE BLESSING OF LEVI CONTINUED.

HIS DEPORTMENT AND SERVICE.

DEUT. xxxiii. 8 II . P- 335382

SERMON XII.
THE BLESSING OF LEVI CONTINUED.

HIS SUBSTANCE BLESSED, AND HIS ENEMIES VANQUISHED.

DEUT. xxxiii. 8 11. ... . p. 383 408

SERMON XIII.

THE BLESSING OF BENJAMIN.

DEUT. xxxiii. 12. And of Benjamin he said, The beloved of the
LORD shall dwell in safely by him ; and the LORD shall cover
him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoul-
ders. . . . . p. 409 432

SERMON XIV.

THE BLESSING OF JOSEPH.

JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST.

Deut. xxxiii. 13 17. And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the Lord
be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and
for the deep that coucheth benealh. And for the precious fruits
brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth
by the moon. And for the chief things of the ancient mountains^
and for the precious things of the lasting hills. And for the pre-
cious things of the earth and fulness thereof; and for the good-,
will of him that dwelt in the bush. Let the blessing come upon
the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that
was separated from his brethren. His glory is like the firstling
of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns; with
them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earths
and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are
the thousands of Manasseh. p. 433 484

Xll CONTENTS.

SERMON XV.

THE BLESSING OF JOSEPH CONTINUED.

JOSEPH'S LAND A TYPE OF CHRIST*S CHURCH.

DEUT. xxxiii. 1317 p. 485512

SERMON XVf.
JOSEPH'S BLESSING CONTINUED.

THE GOOD-WILL OF HIM THAT DWELT IN THE BUSH.

DEUT. xxxiii. 1317 p. 513532

SERMON XVII.

JOSEPH'S BLESSING CONTINUED.

JOSEPH'S . PRE-EMINENCE.

DEUT. xxxiii. 1317. . . . . p. 533554

SERMON I.

THE MINISTRY OF MOSES*

DEUT. xxxiii. 1. And this is the blessing wherewith Moses, the
man of God, blessed the children of Israel before his death.

AMONG the Jews, each book of the Pentateuch was
primarily and most commonly called by the first
word or two of its original. Accordingly, with
them, the primary name of this book was Elleh Ha-
debareem, These are the words. In process of time,
however, their writers, with more propriety, distin-
guished these sacred books by names suggested by
their respective contents. Thus, for instance, this
book has been called Sepher Tochachoth, The book
of Reproofs, because it contains so many reproofs
of Israel, for their idolatry and other sins ; and
Mishneh Ha-torah, A repetition of the Law, be-
cause of this it chiefly consists. This very appro-
priate name of it, is found in the book itself: (a)
"And it shall be when he (the king of Israel) sit-
teth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall
write (ft lo) for him, for his own use and direction
minn rwD-r\K eth mishneh ha-torah, which we trans-
late a copy of the law, but which literally means the
or this repetition, duplicate, or doubling of the law ;
Mishneh being from nr# shanah, to repeat or double;
and which, by the way, shows that the law which
the king was required to write out, was this very
book. From the same source it has its Greek name,

(a) Chap. xvii. 18.
1

Deuteronomy; for the LXX. or LXXII. Jews, who
translated the Old Testament into Greek, having
rendered Mishneh Ha-torah by JWt/>fljmov, adopted
it, (as their fathers had the corresponding phrase in
Hebrew,) as the title of the book, and manifestly
for a like reason ; for $tvTtfwtu,i<H Deuteronomy, from
2fvT ( pas second and W* law, with the article prefixed,
signifies the or this second law. Neither the Jewish
translators, however, nor our own, by calling this
book Deuteronomy, meant thereby to imply that it
is another law revoking the former, but merely that
it is a second publication of the same law moral,
ceremonial and judicial ; accompanied with explan-
ations and exhortations, and indeed with some ad-
ditional injunctions to be observed by the Israelites,
in the land whither they were going. (5)

Nor was this recapitulation without obvious and
important reasons. The law was not then common
in the hands of the Israelites, as the Bible is now
in the hands of Christians: the autograph, proba-
bly, was the only copy of it in being ; and, with very
few exceptions, the generation of the Jews then liv-
ing consisted of persons who, at the time the law
was delivered on Sinai, were either unborn, or, at
least, too young to understand and remember it, to
much advantage, (c) Besides, on their literal ob-
servance of the law depended their continuance and
temporal prosperity in Canaan, the possession of
which they were just about to receive ; wherefore,
both for their instruction and well-being and to
manifest the* equity of his own future procedings in
regard to them, it behoved God to cause this expli-
cit statement to be made to them of the terms of
the charter, by the observance of which they might
hold and upon the breach of which they must forfeit

(1) Ch. i. 1 ; iv. 1 ; vi. 1 ; & Ch. xxvii. (c) Ch. i. 39 & ii. 1416.

the promised inheritance, (d) Happy is it for the
heirs of grace and of glory, that their inheritance
does not, in like manner, depend on the defective
basis of their own obedience, (e)

That this rehearsal of the law to the Israelites,
might make the more awful and lasting impression
upon them, Moses, no doubt by divine direction,
prefaced it with an account of the calamities which
had already befallen their nation for the neglect and
transgression of it, and with an assurance that " for
their sakes ;" (they having provoked him to the use
of unadvised expressions ;) (/) he himself was un-
der the divine displeasure, and must be taken from
them, without entering the earthly Canaan, (g)
And still further to awaken them to a sense of their
obligations and to excite them to perseverance in
watchfulness and well-doing, he accompanied the
rehearsal, as he advanced in it from time to time,
with the most pathetic exhortations, the most solemn
cautions, and the most fearful threatenings ; and
these interspersed with recitals of what God had
already done for them, and of his promises which,
on condition of their obedience, remained to be ful-
filled to them. (Ji) Moreover, all these laws which
he thus carefully rehearsed, explained and incul-
cated, he committed to writing for their future di-
rection and benefit, (i) And, recollecting that all
this was performed by him in the last month of his
life, we can readily believe the inspired assertion,
that though he was a hundred and twenty years old,
" his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abat-
ed." (K)

(b) xxviii. 58, &c. Comp. Is. i. 19, 20. (e) Psal. ixxxiv. 11,
Rom. x. 4. Col. iii. 3. (/) Num. xx. 1012 and Psal. cvi. 32, 33.
(g) Chapters i. ii. and iii. (h) From the iv. to the xxx. Chap,
(i) Chap. i. 5 and xxxi. 4, 9, 24. (k) Chap. i. 3 and xxxiv. 7.

That Moses wrote this book and that he wrote it
under divine inspiration, is testified both in the Old
Testament and the New, by other inspired writers ;
who refer to it, not only as the work of Moses, but
also as the word of God. (/) From this book our
Lord himself took all the passages by which he re-
pelled and vanquished the prince of darkness, (m)
In short, the numerous and explicit prophecies con-
tained in it, and especially their undeniable fulfil-
ment, both in the Jewish nation and in its antitype,
the Christian church, (w) unanswerably demonstrate
that it came from Him who " declares the end from
the beginning, and from ancient times the things
that are riot yet done." (0)

Of this inspired book, the chapter before us is an
important portion. It is important as it concludes
the labors of Moses, so eminent among the ancient
servants of God ; but much more so, as it confirms,
by his dying testimony, the all-important fact, that
the law, in the manner he had before asserted, and
recorded, was through him delivered to Israel from
Mount Sinai, and as it contains his valedictory bene-
diction, both general and special, pronounced upon
the beloved people of his charge ; in which we have
a prophetical history of national Israel and a typical
history of spiritual Israel.

Between this chapter and the preceding one, there
is an obvious contrast. In the preceding chapter,

(/) 1 Kings ii. 3, 4. 2 Chron. xxv. 4. Dan. ix. 11, 13. John
i. 45. Acts iii. 22 and vii. 37. Rom. x. 6, 8. 1 Cor. ix. 9.
Gal. iii. 10 43. (m) Matt. iv. 4, 7, 10. compared with Deut.
viii. 3. and vi. 16, 13. (n) See chap, xxviii. comp. ver. 32 and
41 with Lam. v. 7 13 and Matt, xxiii. 37, 38 ; and ver. 36, 37,
49, 50, with 2 Kings xvii. 6 23 and xxiv. 11 16; Psal. xliv.
9 14 and Luke xxi. 20 24. Also chap, xviii. 15 with Acts iii.
22. and chap. vii. 68 with 1 Pet. ii. 9. (o) Is. xlvi. 10.

Moses, divinely inspired, had thundered out the ter-
rors of the Almighty against Israel for their sins ; in
this, guided by the same inspiration, he reminded
them of the favors which, notwithstanding their
ingratitude and rebelion, God had conferred upon
them, and foretold blessings which he still had in
reserve for them.

If, therefore, in the former chapter he might seem
to upbraid them, yet in this, being permitted to as-
sume a milder tone, he let them know that nothing
he had said proceded from ill-will that in all things
he aimed at their good ; and thus, leaving his peace
with them, terminated for ever his labours among
them.

That the subject of this chapter is a blessing, is
announced in the title of it, which is our present
text; And this is the blessing wherewith Moses, the
man of God, blessed the children of Israel before his
death. This blessing includes both his solemn re-
cognition of what the Lord, through him, had done
for Israel, and his prophetic enunciation of what the
Lord had further revealed to him concerning Israel ;
the former of which is recorded in the four verses
succeding the text, and the latter from thence to the
end of the chapter. The particulars of each will
receive attention, in their respective places, as we
advance in the proposed Series. In the mean time,
however, that the divine inspiration of the Penta-
teuch, and therefore of the chapter before us, may
be the more evident, I design to give a compendium
of the whole Ministry of Moses; by which it will
appear that he acted under a divine commission,
had special intercourse with God, and wrote as he
was " moved by the Holy Ghost."* This compendium

1 The importance of this compendium, as a foundation for my
subsequent labors on this chapter t it is hoped will, in some measure,

will be found amply to support the following propo-
sitions : Moses, as the gift of God, was a great bless-
ing to Israel, during his public life and, as the man
of God, he pronounced upon them, the blessing ex-
pressed in this chapter, just before his death.

1. Moses, as the gift of God, was a great blessing
to Israel, during his public life. Of this, the sacred
records furnish many and very extraordinary instan-
ces.

Through Moses, as his chosen and qualified in-
strument, God redeemed and delivered Israel. I say
he redeemed arid delivered them, because their re-
demption and their deliverance were two distinct
favors : the former from liability to death ; the latter
from continuance in bondage. And though both
were accomplished through the agency of Moses,
yet by different means ; their redemption, by a sacri-
fice; their deliverance, by a rod. Each deserves
further notice.

First, Their redemption. " Israel," said the Lord,
" is my son, even my first-born ; (p) but this son was
found in Egypt, every first-born of which was doom-
ed to judicial death; (q) therefore, that God's heir
might escape, he must be redeemed. For this pur-
pose, through Moses, the paschal sacrifice was ap-
pointed ; not to redeem the Israelites and the Egyp-
tians in common ; but the Israelites exclusively ; nor
yet to redeem Egypt for the sake of Israel, but to
redeem Israel from the fate of Egypt. For although,
by the residence of Joseph and his brethren among
them, the Egyptians had received many mercies;

serve as my apology for drawing the matter of this and the
following sermon from the history of Moses, rather than from the
text to which these two Sermons are appended,
(p) Exo. iv. 22. (q) Ibid. xi. 5.

yet, in the redemption of Israel, they had no inte-
rest. This is evident. The sacrifice was specially
appointed and designed for Israel, even for all of
them, " according to the number of the souls ;" they
all and they only were to concur in slaying it, and
to be protected by the blood of it. Thus saith the
word of the Lord: "The whole assembly of the
congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening,"
or between the two evenings, as the words [o^^-n pa
beyn ha-arbayim] literally mean; that is between
noon and sunset ;* " And the blood shall be to you
for a token upon the houses where you are : and
when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the
plague shall not come upon you, to destroy you, when
I smite the land of Egypt." (r)

Secondly, Their deliverance. For being redeem-
ed from the fate of Egypt, they were thereupon deli-
vered from the yoke of Egypt. In this, too, the in-
strumentality of Moses was very apparent and very
important. With this he was charged when he re-
ceived his commission: "I," said the Lord to him,
" will send thee to Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring
forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt ;
certainly I will be with thee ; and this shall be a

* Exo. xii. 6. The Jews divided the day into morning aud even-
ing; the former continuing from six o'clock till twelve, and the latter
from then till dark. The evening, however, they divided into
two ; the first computed from the time the sun began to decline
from his meridian altitude ; and the second from the time of his
descent below the horizon ; and between these two evenings, (pro-
bably at about three o'clock, P. M.) the passover was to be killed
and oifered ; and to which the time when Christ, the antitype of
the passover, expired upon the cross, exactly answers ; the ninth
hour of the day, counting from six in the morning, being three
in the afternoon. Matt. xxvi. 46. See Ainsworth, on the place ;
and .Lew, Ling. Sacra, under aijr, and Ceremonies of the Jews,
p. 45, &c. (r) Exo. xii. 13.

token unto thee, that I have sent thee ; When thou
hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall
serve God upon this mountain, Horeb, where the
Lord was then speaking to him. (s) And having
silenced all his objections and fears, the Lord sent
him, with no visible armor but a rod in his hand, to
conquer Pharaoh and to rescue Israel. This rod,
however, though naturally a mere shepherd's staff,
was supernaturally more than a scepter, a rod of
wonders ; it was the chosen symbol of divine power,
and was, therefore, emphatically called The rod of
God. (t) By means of this, both Moses and Aaron
were enabled to perform such miracles as demon-
strated their divine mission : (u) " The people" of
Israel " believed," and even the magicians of Egypt,
unable any further to imitate or withstand, said to
Pharaoh, " This is the finger of God." (w) Never-
theless, Pharaoh hardened himself and was harden-
ed ; he hardened his own heart wilfully, (x) and God,
by leaving him to the influence of his corrupt pas-
sions/ and the instigations of Satan, hardened it ju-
dicially, (y) Hence, though often under some judg-
ment, he consented, yet as often he again "refused to
let the people go." (z)

The privilege which the Israelites entreated Pha-
raoh to grant them, was that they might " go three
days' journey into the wilderness, to sacrifice to the
Lord their God." (a) Three days were mentioned,
because in that time, by the direct way and at the or-
dinary rate of traveling, they might have gone from

(s) Exo. iii. 10. 12. (t) Ibid. iv. 2. 17, 20. (u) Ibid. vi. 26,
27; vii. 9, 10, 19, 20; viii. 16, 17; ix. 8, 22 ; x. 12, 13,21.
(w) Exod. viii. 19; ix. 11. (x) Ibid. v. 2; viii. 15, 32; comp.
Acts xxviii. 26, 27. (#) Ibid. vii. 1113 ; viii. 19 ; ix. 12. (z)
Ibid. viii. 8, 15, 25, 28, 32 ; ix. 28. 35 ; x, 24, 27. (a) Ibid. v. 3.

the borders of Egypt to Horeb, the mountain on
which, according to promise, they were to serve the
Lord. By this, however, cannot be ascertained the
exact distance of that journey. For although, ac-
cording to Herodotus,* a day's journey was a hun-
dred and fifty furlongs, making about nineteen miles,
and, according to some Jewish writers, ten parsas,\
amounting to forty miles, neither of these estimates
can be admitted here ; it being certain, that, in those
times, distances were not measured by chains and
links, but by the days and hours required to pass
over them. (&) And, indeed, to the present period,
in the journals of eastern travelers, we rarely find
any mention made of miles and furlongs, but fre-
quently of so many days or hours journey.

In making this request, the Israelites, it must be
admitted, sought an opportunity of doing more than
they expressed ; for while they asked leave merely
to go three days journey, they manifestly aimed at
making a complete escape. Of this, too, it should
seem Pharaoh was apprehensive ; for at one time,
having said " I will let you go," he added, by way
of stipulation and restraint, " ye shall not go very
far away." (c) Nor was there any thing reprehensi-
ble in their design ; for, being by divine authority
entitled to freedom, they were unrighteously and ty-
rannically held in bondage. Moreover, as the man-
agement of the case was wholly according to divine
direction, it must, in them, have been perfectly just
and innocent : and being recorded under the guidance
of divine inspiration, it serves to show, that when
God's people have to contend with oppressors and

* Terpsichore, Sive 1. 5. c. 53. f T. Bab. Pesachim, fol. 94. 1.
(6) Gen. xxxi. 23. Numb. xi. 31. Deut. i. 2. 1 Kings xix. 4.
(c) Exo. viii. 28.

persecutors, they may lawfully combine the wisdom
of the serpent with the innocence of the dove ; by
which, however, is not meant the wisdom of " the old
serpent, the devil," which consists in lying and pre-
varication ; nor that of venomous serpents, which lies
in terrifying their adversaries, with their fearful hiss-
ings, or in destroying them, with their deadly stings ;
but the allusion is simply to that instinctive faculty
of self-preservation, by which the Creator made the
serpent more " subtil, or prudent [oiy, Prov. xiv.
15, 18 ; xv. 5.] than any beast of the field ;" and which
may be observed in the adroitness by which many
serpents and especially those which are called innox-
ious or harmless, elude the weapons of their assail-
ants and effect their escape. To this, in some re-
spects, may be likened that prudence which God be-
stows on his people when they are assailed by ene-
mies : this is that wisdom which is profitable to di-
rect" that " wisdom that is from above," and by
which the saints are often enabled, in a very remark-
able manner, to baffle satan and his agents, and to
escape the mischief of their designs, (d)

Directed by this wisdom, the Israelites prudently
requested only what Pharaoh and his predecessors
had been accustomed to grant to others. For, ac-
cording to historians and travelers most conversant
in oriental usages, it had been customary with the
kings of Egypt, from the very origin of that mon-
archy, to permit, annually, a caravan (subsequently
imitated by that of Mahomet) to pass through their
dominions to the Kaaba, the temple of Ishmael, at
Mecca ; also to authorize several different portions

(d) Exo. iii. 7, 8, 18. Comp. 1 Sam. xvi. 2. Gen. iii. 1. Matt.
x 16. Luke xxi. 15. Acts xxiii. 17 24. James iii. 15, 17.

of their own subjects, both statedly and occasional-
ly, to go beyond the bounds of the kingdom, to per-
form the ceremonies of their respective religions, in
places which they deemed peculiarly sacred.* Why,
then, should Israel be denied the like privilege]
Their request was as plausible as that of any other
people; and impartiality toward his subjects, requir-
ed Pharaoh to grant it. But, how often, alas ! un-
der kingly, papal and ecclesiastical tyranny, have
idolaters been protected in their " abominable idola-
tries," and antichristians, in the observance of their
popish traditions, while the spiritual worshipers of
the true God and the obedient disciples of his dear
Son, have been denied the rights of conscience, and
exposed, not only to the power of lawless mobs, but
also to the consequences of legal prosecutions ; such
as imprisonment, fines, banishment, nay, death itself.
And all this commonly under pretence of great re-
gard for religious purity ; an authorized herald pro-
claiming, "It is commanded that ye fall down and
worship the golden image;" or a thousand voices
crying " Great is Diana of the Ephesians ;" or a sanc-
timonious priesthood, zealously vociferating, "The
temple of the Lord! the temple of the Lord!"(tf)
But, to precede.

Pharaoh, overcome by the judgments of God upon
himself and his nation, at length consented that Israel
should depart, and that without imposing any stipu-

* See Calmet's Diet. Vol. iii. Frag. 39. Also, Rees's Cyclop,
under Caaba ; and comp. Gen. xxxvii. 27, 28. (e) Instead of citing
human authorities to prove this, I refer to the narratives and pre-
dictions of sacred writ : See Dan. iii. 15. vii. 7. Acts xviii. and
xix. chapters. Heb. x. 32 34. Rev. i. 9. Gen. iii, 15. Is. Ix,
15. Matt. xxiv. 9. 2 Thess. ii. 212. Rev. xiiL 18.

lation or reserve ; nay, both he and his people, that
they might suffer no further on their account, urged
and hastened their departure, (f )

Here a transaction took place between the Israelites
and the Egyptians, in regard to which, the former
have been charged with great injustice toward the
latter, in having borrowed of them many valuable ar-
ticles without intending to return them ; and which
our translation, copying that of Becke, published in
1549, unhappily very much countenances ; and by
reason of which illiterate Christians have been much
perplexed and inveterate infidels greatly imboldened.
That the Israelites, at that time, obtained many valu-
able articles of the Egyptians, and that they did not
intend to return them, is apparent from the face of
the history ; but that, properly speaking, they borrow-
ed them, is not supported by the original, and that
they were guilty of any injustice in the affair, is ren-
dered utterly inadmissible by obvious facts.

That the Israelites, properly speaking, borrowed
those articles of the Egyptians, is not supported by the
original. Had borrowing and lending, in the ordinary
acceptation of these terms, been the nature of the
transaction, we have much reason to suppose it would
have been noted by the appropriate word rn 1 ? lavah ;
(g) whereas the word employed is ^ shaal, which
primarily and principally signifies to ask by way of
inquiring, examining, requiring or demanding ; (Ji)
and though it occurs in the Bible more than eighty
times, yet only twice as meaning to borrow, (i) Be-

(/) Exo. xii. 3133. (g) Neh. v. 4. Deut. xxviii. 12, 44.
Psal. xxxvii. 21 and cxii. 5. (h) Gen. xliii. 7 ; xliv. 19. Deut.
iv. 22. Josh. xix. 50. 2 Sam. xi. 7. (i) Exo. xxii. 14. (heb. v.
13.) and 2 Kings vi. 5.

sides, it is used where, to admit the idea of bor-
rowing would be both absurd and impious. What,
pray, had Job to lend to God 1 Yet once and again,
God said to him, j'wffK eshalcha, / demand of thee,
&c. (K) That, in the places which relate the oc-
currence in question, (7) this word signifies to ask
or demand, is the concurrent testimony of, confess-
edly, the best versions, both ancient and modern.
The Syriac, Chaldee, Samaritan and Persian, being
in this place the same as the Hebrew, yield indeed
no assistance on either side.* But the SEPTUAGINT
has airyitrsi she shall ask; and the Vulgate has POSTU-
LABIT, she shall demand. Luther renders the word
by fordern, which also signifies demand; and in
the Geneva Bible and in that of Barker, published
in 1615, it is translated ask.

Nor were the Israelites, in this affair, guilty of
any injustice. This charge, though often brought,
is, as was observed before, rendered utterly inad-
missible by obvious facts. God, indeed, said to Is-
rael, a 9< re D n nnV^j nitsaltem eth mitzrayim ; which
we translate, "Ye shall spoil the Egyptians;" but,
as to SPOIL primarily signifies to plunder, to take by
rapine or violence, the original word ^ natsal can-
not, in this instance, have that meaning ; for it is
manifest, that all the Israelites obtained of the
Egyptians, the latter, moved by the unknown influ-
ence of God upon their consciences, and without
any constraint on the part of Israel, readily gave
up or delivered to them. In this way only, "they
spoiled the Egyptians;" (o) or stripped them, as

(k) Job xxxviii. 3 and xl. 7. Comp. Rom. xi. 35. (/) Exo.
iii. 22 ; xi. 2; xii. 35. * Lond. Polyg. (w) Exo. iii. 22. (o) Exo.
xii. 36.

the word also signifies, (p) This word, too, is the
more appropriate, as it denotes the equity of the trans-
action ; for it is elsewhere used to signify the recove-
ry of property that had been unlawfully taken away :
" Because they went not with us, we will not give
them ought of the SPOIL that we have RECOVERED.*"
And to this sense of the word, the case before us
exactly corresponds ; for, in this event, the Israelites
obtained their wages long withheld, together with
their freedom, wrongfully taken away by the Egyp-
tians. They had served the Egyptians more than
two hundred years, and much of that time under the
most rigorous oppression, without receiving any equi-
valent ; wherefore, on the eve of their departure, God
the righteous Judge, determined that justice should
be done to them, constrained their oppressors to
compensate them, in "such things as they required."
So this transfer of property from the Egyptians to
the Israelites, was anciently understood by Epipha-
niw,who reckoning the services of the latter to have
been 215 years, asks "Was it not just before God
and man, that their wages should be paid them be-
fore they left the country 1"f And the same judg-
ment on the case was given by the author of the
Book of Wisdom, who speaks of it as an instance
in which Wisdom rendered to the righteous, the re-
ward of their labor s.^ On this article, I beg leave
to add a story contained in the Gemara, which,
true or false, serves happily to illustrate the fact
under consideration. It runs thus: In the time
of Alexander the Great, the Egyptians brought an

(p) Exo. xxxiii 6. * l^VD TOK esher hitzalnu. 1 Sam. xxx.

22. f XK rjv hKaiov KOI vapa 0c KCLI av0/>;rot?, &C. ApCOratUS, Num. Cxii-

cxiii. | Chap. x. 17.

action against the Israelites, demanding the land of
Canaan, in satisfaction for what they had borrowed
of them when they went out of Egypt. Gibeah ben
Kosam, who was advocate for the Jews, replied,
that before they could sustain this demand, they must
prove what they alleged, namely, that the Israelites
had really borrowed such and such things of the
Egyptians.

The Egyptians thought it sufficient to refer the
Jews to the account of the matter in their own books.
Well then, said the advocate, look into the same books
and you will find that the children of Israel lived four
hundred and thirty years in Egypt ;* Pay us for all

* By thus making an advantage of the opposit party's igno-
rance of the law, the Jewish advocate, it is true, rendered his
argument the more overwhelming and silencing ; but he was as
disingenuous in his retort, as the Egyptians were in their charge ;
for he must have well known, that the books referred to, no where
state that the children of Israel lived 430 years in Egypt, but
only that " the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in
Egypt) was 430 years ;" Exo. xii. 40 ; which must necessarily be
understood to include the sojourning of their ancestors, (to wit,
that of Abram from the time of his calling till he entered Canaan,
commonly estimated at five years, and that of him and his posteri-
ty in Canaan, Gen. xxxvii. 1, which, though promised to his seed,
was not transferred, and which, therefore, was to them a strange
land, wherein they were evil treated,) as well as their own so-
journing in Egypt, after Jacob's descent thither. Accordingly,
both in the Samaritan Version and in the Alexandrian copy of the
Septuagint, which many learned men esteem the purest records
of the Pentateuch, this chronicle reads thus; "Now the sojourn-
ing of the children of Israel, and of their fathers, which they
sojourned in the land of Canaan and in the land of Egypt, was
430 years." And that this has been the current opinion among
the Jews, is plain from both their Talmuds; one reading " in Egypt
and in all lands ;" T. Hieros. Megillah, fol. 71, 4 ; arid the other, " in
Egypt and in the rest of the lands." T. Bab. Megillah, fol. 9, 1.

Thus understood, the chronology is clearly demonstrable. From

the labor and toil of so many thousand people as
you employed all that time, and we will restore what,
(as you say) we borrowed. To which the Egyptians
had not a word to answer.

But (this story aside,) we leave even the candid
infidel to judge whether his brethren are not guilty of
great injustice to the sacred history, when they say y
" Moses represents the just God as ordering the Is-
raelites to borrow the goods of the Egyptians under
the pretence of returning them, whereas he intended

the time of Abram's call to leave Ur of the Chaldees, in Mesopo-
tamia, till he entered Canaan, we compute to have been five
years ; [Gen. xi. 31 and xii. 1, compared with Acts vii. 2, 3 ;]
from his entrance into Canaan, till the birth of Isaac, we know
was twenty-five years ; [Gen. xii. 4 and xxi. 5 ;] Isaac was sixty
years old when Jacob was born ; [Gen. xxv. 26 ;] and Jacob was
a hundred and thirty years old when he went into Egypt. [Gen.
xlvii. 9.] These four periods together make 220 years ; and ad-
ding to these, the 210 years, which all Jewish writers of note say
their nation sojourned in Egypt, we have the exact number of 430
years ; at the expiration of which, " even the self-same day all the
hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt." Exo. xii. 41.
In nearly the same manner, the apostle Paul seems to have calcu-
lated these years ; that is, from the giving of the promise to Abram,
which was at the time of his calling, [Gen. xii. 1 3,] to the de-
livery of the law on Sinai ; and which term, though it included a
few weeks more, [Exo. xix. 1.] he expresses by the round number
of 430 years. Gal. iii. 17. And, as serving at once to confirm
the calculation just made, and to reconcile what infidels call a
contradiction, let it be recollected, that, in the sense of the pro-
mise, Abraham had no seed till Isaac was born, in whom his seed
was to be called ; [Gen. xxi. 12.] and that, deducting his own
journeying of five years at Haran and twenty-five more in Ca-
naan, before Isaac's birth, it will plainly appear, that the sojourn-
ing and affliction of his seed in a strange land, alike true of Ca-
naan and of Egypt, was exactly 400 years. See Gen. xv. 13 and
Acts vii. 6.

that they should march off with the booty." For so
far is this from being true, that there was no borrow-
ing in the case ; and, as Dr. Clark justly observes,
" If accounts were fairly balanced, Egypt would be
found still in considerable arrears to Israel" Leav-
ing this matter, we advance with the inspired narra-
tive.

God having compelled Pharaoh to release the Is-
raelites, and the Egyptians, to pay them, in some
measure, for their services, they commenced their ex-
odus. "And the children of Israel journeyed from
Rameses to Succoth." (n) Rameses, we know, was
another name for the land of Goshen ; (o) yet here it
seems rather to denote a city, and probably the trea-
sure city of this name, which the Israelites had built
for Pharaoh ; (p) at or near which, they rendezvous-
ed preparatory to their departure; and Sitccoth, which
signifies booths, tents, or tabernacles, no doubt, had
its name from their encampment there, in such ac-
commodations ; it having, till then, been a nameless
spot in the desert. Here, supplied with water from
the fountain now called the Pilgrim's Pool, and hav-
ing convenient pasturage for their flocks and herds,
they waited till joined by those of their brethren who,
on receiving notice of their design, had to come from
distant parts of the land.* For this purpose, they
might find it necessary to tarry a week or two, or per-
haps a month ; for although, by the direct way, it was
but three ordinary days journey from thence to the
wilderness of Sinai, yet, by reason of a circuitous
route and indispensable delays, (of which this might
be the principal one,) they did not arrive there till in

(w)Exo.xii.37. (o).Gen.xlvii.6,ll,27. p)Exo.i. 11. *Forthe
probability of this, see Calinet's Diet. vol. iii. Frag. 39.

the third month of their pilgrimage, (q) During
this stay, they also procured the bones of Joseph,
without which it would have been perjury in them to
leave Egypt. For although Egypt was indebted to
Joseph, as the instrument, for its preservation from
the ravages of famine, and for most of its subse-
quent policy and opulence, it was, nevertheless, a
country so undesirable to him, that he sought no per-
manent inheritance in it, either for himself or his
family ; nay, such was his holy contempt of it, that by
the last act of his life, he solemnly adjured his
brethren not even to leave his remains there : yes,
in the full assurance of faith that God, according to
his promise, would visit and deliver them, Joseph,
just before he died " Took an oath of the children of
Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall
carry up my bones from hence." (r) This instance
of faith in Joseph, is confirmed by the testimony of
an apostle : " By faith Joseph, when he died, made
mention of the departing of the children of Israel ;
and gave commandment concerning his bones." (s)

Accordingly, "Moses took the bones of Joseph
with him, and they (the Israelites) took their journey
from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of
the wilderness ;" that is the wilderness of Etham, and
which bears the same name, on both sides of the Red
sea. (i) A part of it is also called "the wilderness of
Shur." (u) According to Bunting's computation, it is
eight miles from Rameses to Succoth, and the same
distance from thence to Etham.*

Here it becomes requisite to notice, that the route

(q) Exo. xix. 1. (r) Gen. 1. 25. (s) Heb. xi. 22. (t) Exo. xiii.
19. Numbers xxxiii. 8. (u) Exo. xv. 22. * Travels, Page 81.

of the Israelites depended not on their own choice
but the choice of God ; and that the one which he
chose for them was the safest, though not the short-
est, to the promised land. In favour to them, "God
led them not through the land of the Philistines,
though that was near;" lest seeing war, in which
they were yet inexperienced, they should be tempted
to "return to Egypt; but God led them through the
way of the wilderness of the Red sea : and the chil-
dren of Israel went up harnessed," not with armor,
but with girdles and in regular squadrons, "out of
the land of Egypt." (w) The manner, too, in which
they enjoyed the divine leading, is expressly record-
ed : " The Lord went before them by day in a pillar
of cloud, and led them in the way ; and by night in a
pillar of fire to give them light : to go by day and by
night. He took not away the pillar of the cloud by
day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the
people." (x) Thus led, they left Etham, probably
expecting in a few days to reach Horeb : but, lo !
the cloud turns another way, and the voice of the
Lord, preceding from it, comes to Moses, saying,
" Speak unto the children of Israel, that they TURN"
short off to the right, " and encamp before Pi-ha-hi-
roth,* between Migdol and the sea, over against
Baal-zephon." (y) How strange this order! In the
way they were taking, there was no garrison to mo-
lest them no sea to obstruct their passage. Truly
God's thoughts are not our thoughts, nor his ways
our ways. Designing typically to illustrate two im-
portant facts, namely, that salvation is of the Lord,

(w) Exo. xiii. 17, 18. comp. Psal. cvii. 2 7. (x) Exo. xiii. 21,
22. * Sixteen miles from Etham. Bunting's Travels, p. 82. (y)
Exo. xiv. 1.

and that the destruction of those who perish is of
themselves, he brought Israel into straits, from which
none but himself could deliver them, and left Pha-
raoh to follow the dictates of his carnal reason and
the passions of his corrupt nature, to his own con-
fusion and ruin.

Justly to conceive of the straits into which God
brought Israel, we must consider the relations of the
place in which, by his order, they were encamped.
Hiroth (properly Chiroth,rrrn,) was the original name
of a valley or gullet, along which the Israelites pass-
ed in going from Etham toward the Red sea.* This
was the conclusion at which the learned and labori-
ous Dr. Shaw arrived, by examining the place itself
and the traditions of the Arabs respecting the matter
in question.f Consequently, by the compound word
Pi-hahiroth, the mouth of the chiroth, must be meant
the mouth or opening of that Valley on or near the
banks of the sea. A little short of this opening, on
their left, stood Migdol, the Tower, no doubt a for-
tress strongly garrisoned ; and a little ahead, on their
right, appeared Baal-zephon, probably a temple or
a fortress, in which stood a conspicuous image of
Baal, to signify that he presided over it and over the
garrison stationed there ; nay, over all the fortresses
and garrisons of Egypt ; the word signifying The
Lord or Master of the watch. This is the more pro-
bable, as in destroying the Egyptians, the Lord also
executed judgment upon their gods ; thus showing
them to be lying vanities, and utterly unable to pro-
tect their worshipers, (z)

* This gullet, the Arabs call Tiah beni Israel, the road of the
children of Israel; and Baideali, in memory of the" miracle
wrought near it. t See his travels, p. 307, 309, 2d ed. (z) Exo.
xii. 12. Num. xxxiii. 4.

Informed that the Israelites were thus environed,
and ignorant of the divine direction by which they
were so situated, Pharaoh seems to have thought they
had lost their way: he said "They are entangled
in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in ;" and,
in the hardness of his heart he pursued them with
all his forces, resolved, it should seem, if they utter-
ly refused to return to his service, either to cut them
off by his arms, or to starve them to death by a block-
ade, (a) How exposed and distressing was their
condition ! With no means of defence, they had
Pharaoh and his armed host in close pursuit of
them ; encumbered with children and superannuated
men and women, and shut in on each side by an
Egyptian fortress, to escape was impracticable ; and
having the Red sea immediately before them, with-
out a single boat or transport of any kind prepared
for their passage, to advance was equally impossible.
In this extremity, convinced that nothing but divine
power could deliver them, "the children of Israel
CRIED OUT unto the LORD." (ft) And Moses, though
they, at least many of them, murmured against him,
said unto the people, " Fear not, STAND STILL (for
what else could they do?) and see THE SALVATION
of the LORD the Lord shall fight for you, and ye
shall hold your peace. And," the appointed time"
having arrived, "the Lord said unto Moses Speak
unto the children of Israel, that they go forward.
But (that they might go forward) lift thou up thy
rod," the same by which such wonders had been
wrought before, "and stretch out thine hand over the
sea, and divide it." Astonishing command ! But is
any thing too hard for the LORD to do ] For their

(a) Exo. xiv. 59. (b) Ibid. ver. 10.

safety in the meantime, "the Angel of God, which
(ordinarily) went before the camp of Israel, removed
and went behind them ; and the pillar of the cloud,"
the visible symbol of the Angel's presence, " came
between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of
Israel : and it was a cloud of darkness to those, but it
gave light by night to these: so that the one came not
near the other all the night. And Moses," obedient
to the divine command, " stretched out his hand,"
with the rod in it, " over the sea, and the LORD (not
Moses) caused the sea to go back by a strong east
wind," a miraculous current of it blowing across that
particular part of the sea, " all night ;" by means of
which its waters were divided, and its bed dried and
rendered passable ; so that, before morning, " the
children of Israel went into the midst of the sea," that
is, across the very channel of it, " upon dry ground ;
the waters" thereof, which had been their obstacle
and their dread, becoming " a wall" of defence " unto
them, on their right hand and on their left." The in-
fatuated Egyptians pursued them, even into the midst
of the sea ; where, to their inconceivable perplexity,
they soon found that the Lord still fought for Israel,
and would have fled ; but while in the attempt, Moses,
divinely commanded, stretched out his hand again,
and the waters returned and overwhelmed them. Thus
"the LORD saved Israel ;" yet by the hand of Moses ;
"and the people feared the Lord, and believed the
Lord and his servant Moses, (c) Nor should it be
forgotten, that the people whom God, in his mercy, led
forth and thereby delivered from Egyptian bondage,
were identically and numerically the same whom he
had redeemed by the paschal sacrifice, (d)

Here, for a little, they suspended their journey,
while in the use of two inspired songs, one by Moses
and the other by Miriam, they celebrated the praises
of God for their great deliverance, (e)

Their respite, however, was very short: "Moses
brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out
into the wilderness of Shur," the same with the wil-
derness of Etham ; (f ) " and they went three days
in the wilderness, and found no water." A great trial
both to faith and to sense ! And, as if to aggravate
their affliction, when they found water, it was such
as they could not use; "when they came to Marah,
(a place afterward known by this name,) they could
not drink of its waters for they were bitter." And
bitter indeed they must have been when intolerable to
persons suffering for drink! "Wherefore the name
of it is called Marah, bitterness." Here again, Moses,
though the object of their murmuring, was the instru-
ment of their relief: "He cried unto the Lord, and
the Lord showed him a tree, which when he had cast
into the waters, the waters were made sweet." (g)

Thence " they came to Elim, where were twelve
wells of water and threescore and ten palm-trees ; and
they encamped there by the waters." (A) A pleasant
encampment; but of short duration.

For in the very next chapter, we find them, in "the
wilderness of Sin," (the name of a desert between
Elim and Sinai,*) destitute of bread, and murmuring,
not only against Moses and Aaron but also against the
Lord himself; nay, commending their condition in
Egypt and regretting that they had left it. " Then

(e) Exo. xv. from the 1 25 verse. (/) Num. xxiii. 8. (g) Exo.
xv. 2225. (h) Ibid. ver. 27.

the Lord said to Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from
heaven for you," meaning the manna ; of which, as a
trial of their faith and obedience, the people were to
gather daily a requisite quantity, and on the sixth day,
preparatory to the Sabbath, a double portion. The
daily gathering of each was to be an omer, which, ac-
cording to Dr. Cumberland, is three quarts ; and
which being made into bread, must have been an
ample supply for the sustenance of an individual.*
The Lord also promised to give them flesh to eat.
In both he fulfilled his word ; and the manna was
continued " until they came unto the borders of the
land of Canaan." Yet, in the duty of gathering it,
they discovered much unbelief and disobedience ; (i)
and in the privilege of using it, much irreverence and
ingratitude, saying, " There is nothing at all, besides
this manna, before our eyes," and " our soul loatheth
this light bread" (K)

How rapid was the succession of their troubles ! In
Rephidim, though their journey thither was "accord-
ing to the commandment of the Lord," we find them
a second time in distress for the want of water. And,
instead of being suitably humbled on account of their
former sins and entreating Moses to use, as he had so
often and so successfully done, his interest with the
Lord on their behalf, they tempted the Lord, by sug-
gesting that he was not (according to his promise)
with them, or that he was either unwilling, or, in that

* What a vast quantity must have fallen every day, to supply so
many ! It has been reckoned at 94,460 bushels ; and which, during
the 40 years it was continued, amounted to 1,379,203,600 bushels.
Scheuchzer, Physic. Sacra, vol. 2. p. 177, 178. (i) Exo. xvi. ch.
(k) Num. xi. 6. xxi. 5.

sandy waste, unable, to supply them with water ; and
hence, chid with Moses, for bringing them thither.
How merciful the Lord ! how meek his servant !
Moses, notwithstanding all their ill treatment of him,
" cried unto the Lord, saying, What shall I do unto
this people '\ They be almost ready to stone me :"
And the Lord," whose goodness is sovereign as well
as abundant, " said unto Moses, Go on before the
people, and take with thee," as witnesses of the in-
tended miracle, "the elders of Israel : and thy rod
wherewith thou smotest the river,* take in thine hand
and go. Behold I will stand before thee," in the
cloud, the symbol of his presence, " upon the rock in
Horeb," the rock which he had chosen for that pur-
pose, " and thou shalt smite the rock," with the rod,
" and there shall come water out of it, that the people
may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the el-
ders of Israel. And he (probably Moses) called the
name of the place Massah," temptation, " and Meri-
bah," strife or chiding ; the latter, " because of the
chiding of the children of Israel," and the former,
" because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord
among us, or not 1" (Z) This happened early in the
first year of their pilgrimage ; and about 39 years
later, in the first month of the fortieth year after their
exodus from Egypt, another very similar instance oc-
curred among them ; in which the then existing gene-
ration proved themselves to have inherited all the un-
belief, ingratitude and rebelion of their fore-fathers ;
and in which, though the power and goodness of the

* Either that in Egypt ; Exo. vii. 20 ; or the Red sea ; that
arm of it which he smote being comparable to a river. (/) Exo.
xvii. 1 7. and Psal. Ixxxi. 7.

Lord were evinced to be unchanged, the meekness
of Moses failed, and the faith, both of him and of Aa-
ron, faltered ; and for which they were denied the
honor of bringing Israel into Canaan, or of entering
that land themselves, (in) That this event was not
the same that is recorded in the seventeenth chapter
of Exodus, is evident ; Sin and Zin being different
wildernesses, and Rephidim and Kadesh, different
places, and at considerable distance from each
other, (n) But, to return :

No sooner were the Israelites supplied with water,
than they were assailed by a formidable enemy.
" Then came Amalek,"* a sort of vagrant ruler com-

(m) Num. xx. 1 13, and from 24 29, and xxviii. 12 14.
Deut. iii. 23 27, and xxxiv. 5. (n) Num. xxxviii. 11, 14, 36.

* Commonly understood to mean the Amalekites collectively ; but
whereas, in ver. 13, mention is made of " Amalek and his people,"
I understand Amalek to have been a name or title common to the
kings of that people, as Pharaoh was to the kings of Egypt. To
interpret " Amalek and his people," as many do, of the Amalekites
and their confederates, seems to me forced and awkward.

Nor were these Amalekites (as generally supposed) the de-
scendants of Amalek, the grandson of Esau, mentioned Gen.
xxxvi. 12 ; but of some other AmaJek, who lived much earlier,
and whose posterity were a numerous and warlike people in
the time of Abram ; Genesis xiv. 7, compare Numbers xxiv.
20. Moses does rot, that I can find, give any account of
their extraction ; but the Arabian writers, according to Reland,
represent them to have descended from Ham, and probably in the
line of Cush. If so, though not Canaanites, they were, (accord-
ing to the stile of Scripture,) their brethren, and may well be
thought to have been confederate with them, for mutual preserva-
tion. Hence, on hearing that the Israelites were on their way to
take possession of Canaan, they sallied forth against them, and,
according to Deut. xxv. 18, cut of the hindmost of them. Pro-
bably, too, they had heard of the treasure which the Israelites
brought out of Egypt, and intended to take it from them. Their

mantling a numerous host of similar character, " and
fought with Israel in Rephidim." Here again, the
miraculous agency of Moses was eminently manifest-
ed. Having given directions in regard to the battle,
he with " the rod of God" in his hand, ascended a
chosen hill ; and while, in either of his hands, he held
up the rod, Israel prevailed, and when he let it down
Amalek prevailed ; and his hands through weariness,
becoming heavy, " Aaron and Hur," one on each
side of him, " stayed them up," and they were " steady
until the going down of the sun." Hence during the
day, Joshua, to whom Moses had confided the man-
agement of the battle, " discomfited Amalek and his
people with the edge of the sword."* The Lord
having doomed the name of Amalek to obliteration,
and authorized perpetual war against him, for that
purpose, commanded Moses to write it for a memori-
al and to rehearse it in the ears of Joshua, under
whom that war, in Canaan, was chiefly to be conduct-
ed. Moreover, Moses built an Altar and called the
name of it JEHOVAH Nissi, the Lord is my banner, (o)

unprovoked attack upon Israel, however, was so offensive to God,
that he threatened " utterly to put out the remembrance of them
from under heaven," and that, for this purpose, he would cause
the Israelites to be at " war with them from generation to genera-
tion." Exo. xvii. 14 16. Of this the Israelites were reminded,
Deut. xxv. 17 19. Successive instances of this war are also
upon record. See 1 S-am. xiv. 48 and xv. 2, &c. xxvii. 8 ; xxx.
1, J7 20, and 1 Chron. iv. 43. But as they were not Canaanites,
and as their land (if indeed they possessed any) was not given to
the Israelites, I shall pursue their history no further.

* Their armor, no doubt, the Israelites procured by stripping
the armed Egyptians, whom they found dead on the sea-shore.
Exo. xiv. 30. (o) xvii. 816.

Under Moses, too, and amid unquestionable evi-
dences of his intercourse with God, the Israelites
enjoyed their signal victories over the two kings of
the Amorites, Sihon and Og ; and were avenged of
the Midianites, for the injuries done them, and of
Balaam, a great promoter of those injuries, (p)

Another and a very remarkable instance of the use-
fulness of Moses to Israel, occurred when in compass-
ing the land of Edom, " the soul of the people was
much discouraged because of the way ;" the rough-
ness of the road, their retrograde course, and espe-
cially the barrenness of the country through which
they had to pass. Then, as on former occasions, the
people spake against God and against Moses ;" re-
gretted that they had left Egypt, and despised the
manna, as light food. " And the Lord," to convince
them of their sin and of their entire dependence up-
on his favour, " sent serpents among them, which bit
them, and much people of Israel died. The end de-
signed was answered ; " Therefore the people came
to Moses, and said, We have sinned: for we have
spoken against the Lord and against thee : Pray un-
to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us."
How sensible were they now, that their life depend-
ed on the mere mercy of God ; and that, being rebels
against him, they had no ground of hope but in the
mediation of Moses. "And Moses," their constant
and ever availing friend and intercessor, " prayed for
the people." And the Lord, though he did not im*
mediately " take away the serpents," as they had re-
quested ; yet prescribed, through Moses, an effectu-
al remedy against their deadly poison : " The Lord
said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent," one si-

(/>) Num xxi. 21 35 and xxxi. 18. comp. 2 Pet. ii. 15, 16.

and Jude, ver. 11.

milar in appearance to those sent, but free from their
venom, " and set it upon a pole," exposed to public
view ; " and it shall come to pass, that every one that
is bitten, when he looketh upon it shall live. And
Moses," obedient to the divine direction, " made a
serpent of brass ;" a suitable material for the purpose ;
for being burnished and exposed to the rays of the
sun, it acquired the resemblance designed ; " and it
came to pass," as the Lord had promised, " that if a
serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the ser-
pent of brass, he lived," he was healed and happy, (q)

The instrumentality of Moses, in favour of Israel,
was very conspicuous in the delivery of the law to
them ; but as this will be embraced in following dis-
courses, we only mention it now.

A circumstance, however, occurred in connexion
with the delivery of the law, which claims present and
special notice ; and in which Moses was eminently a
blessing to Israel. During his first stay of forty days
and nights with God in the mount,* the Israelites fell
into " a great sin," that of idolatry ; they made and
worshiped a calf. Hereupon, the wrath of God broke
out against them all were in danger of immediate
death ; yet, through the mediation of Moses, who
plead the honor, the promise and the oath of God in
their favor, and tendered his own life for their ran-
som, they were reprieved, and the destroying judg-
ment was stayed ; after, by the divine order, three

(q) Num. xxi. 9. * Moses went into the mount three several
times ; and twice certainly, and probably thrice, stayed there forty
days and nights. See Exo. xxiv. 18 ; xxxiv. 28. Deut. ix. 9, 18,
25; and Dr. Lightfoot's Works, Vol. 1, p. 715, 716.

thousand, as an example and warning to the nation,
were cut off by the sword of the Levites. (r)

To show, however, that it is only through the me-
diation of HIM, of whom Moses was but a type, that
sin is so forgiven as not to be remembered, (s) there
was, in that case, a remembrance of it. " Neverthe-
less," said God to Moses, " in the day when I visit, I
will visit their sin," their idolatry, " upon them." (t)
Hence that metaphorical saying among the Jews ;
" No affliction has ever happened to Israel in which
(alluding to Exo. xxxii. 20) there was not some par-
ticle of the dust of the golden calf." Compare with
this the sentence against David. (11) " And," accord-
ingly, " the Lord plagued the people," from time to
time, with the pestilence and one calamity or another,
" because they made the calf which Aaron made." (w)
Strange expression ! It is commonly understood to
signify merely, that the people furnished the materi-
als, and that Aaron, at their instigation, formed the
calf. This, indeed, is true ; but it is far from being
all that is meant. The people, (probably after much
unsuccessful persuasion of Aaron to this act,) became
clamorous and peremptory in their demand ; saying,
" Up, make us Elohim," gods, or a god, as the word
is often translated ; that is, some visible object, as a
symbol of the divine presence, "which shall go be-
fore us," (x) to supply the place of the cloud, which,
it should seem, was taken up when Moses ascended
the mount, (y) So this demand of the Israelites has

(r) Exo. xxxii. 1 33 ; particularly, vcr. 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 11 14,
and 2033. (.s) Is. xliii. 25. Jer. 1, 20. Hcb. viii. 12. (t) Exo,
xxxii. 34. (u) 2 Sam. xii. 1014. (w) Exo. xxxii. 35. (x) Ibid,
ver. 1. (y) Ibid. xxiv. 16; xxxiii. 9.

T>een understood by the best commentators of their
own nation ; who have paraphrased it thus : " They
(the Israelites) said to Aaron, The Egyptians extol
their gods, they sing and chant before them ; for they
behold them with their eyes ; Make us such gods as
theirs are, that we may see them before us."* Again :
" They desired a sensible object of divine worship to
be set before them ; not with an intention to deny
GOD, who brought them out of Egypt, but that some-
thing in the place of GOD might stand before them,
when they declared his wonderful works. "f Or, as.
Ebcn Ezra interprets it, " Some corporeal image in
which God may reside."

Many have been of opinion, that Aaron in making
the golden calf, designed to imitate the Egyptian Apis.
To me, however, this opinion seems highly improba-
ble, for the following reasons : 1. The ablest sup-
porters of it, such as Vossius, Julius Maternus, Ruf-
finus and Suidas, have considered the Apis a symbol
of the Patriarch Joseph ;{ but if he had been deified in
Egypt, is it probable that a king could have arisen
there who knew not Joseph ? (z) 2. Aaron having just
witnessed the execution of the divine judgment upon
all the idols of Egypt and consequently upon Apis,
(if then among them) the imitation imputed to him is,
on this account, very improbable, (a) He certainly
could not have supposed that JEHOVAH, to whom he
proclaimed the feast, would be pleased with being re-
presented by any of those idols on which he had so
recently taken vengeance ; or even, that the Israelites

* Pirke Eliezer, c. 45. f Jehudah in the book Cosri, P. I.
Sect. 97. | Gale's Court of the Gentiles, pp. 92, 93, 94. (z) Ex.
L 8. Acts vii. 18. (a) Exo. xii. 12.

themselves, with all their infatuation, could possibly
imagine their God to resemble any thing worshiped
by the Egyptians, who abhorred the sacrifices which
HE required.

But, (improbabilities aside,) this opinion is incon-
sistent with chronology and therefore evidently erro-
neous. Dr. Tenison, afterward Archbishop of Can-
terbury, has very satisfactorily proved, that the wor-
ship of Apis in Egypt, was not commenced till long
after the times of Moses and Aaron.* And the learn-
ed Jablonski, in his Pantheon ^Egyptiorum, fixes the
consecration of theirs/ Apis at the year 1171 before
Christ ; but, according to our received chronology,
the Israelites, led by Moses and Aaron, left Egypt in
the year 1491 before Christ, and consequently 320
years before the worship of Apis was introduced.!

* Book of Idolatry, chap. vi. part iv., v., &c.

f That many authors have so extravagantly antedated the wor-
ship of Apis, has been owing to its having become confounded with
that of the Sun ; and which occured in this way. The Egyptian
astronomers having discovered, that the course of the sun occa-
sioned the seasons of the year, and the Academy of Heliopolis
having (1325 years B. C.) established the solar year at 365 days,
[which before had been computed at 360 days, Gen. vii. 11, 14,
and viii. 3, 4.] the priests, who till then had honored the sun under
his proper name Phr6, bestowed on him the title of Osiris, which
Jablonski says comes from OscA-Iri, he who makes time. In like
manner and at the same period, the Egyptian priests having per-
ceived that the moon which they had worshiped under its proper
name Joh, has a direct influence on the atmosphere, in producing
winds and rains, regarded it, like the sun, as one of the sources of
the inundation. Hence they sought for it a name expressive of this
effect ; and accordingly, honored it with the title of Isis, which,
in the Egyptian language, (according to the above learned Ety-
mologist) signifies the cause of abundance ; this depending, in that

Rejecting, therefore, as entirely groundless, the
opinion that Aaron designed to imitate the Apis, I
think it somewhat probable, that he borrowed his
idea of the divine resemblance from the cherubim,
one face of which is supposed to have been that of
an ox. (b)

But whencesoever he took the resemblance, his
motive seems to have been self-preservation. Per-
ceiving that the people were set on mischief or in this
icickcdmss, (c) and thinking his life in danger if he
did not comply ; to pacify them, HE indeed made a
calf, or an ox, (d) which being an emblem of strength,
might serve as a faint symbol of HIM who is ^K el,
strength itself; but THEY made it a god, by acknow-
ledging and worshiping it as such : " These," said

country, on the overflowing of the Nile, which the moon, as
well as the sun, is supposed greatly to augment. But whereas the
sun seemed to withdraw his favor during the winter, and the moon
to desert them at every change, it was thought expedient to have
them represented by present and significant symbols. Accordingly,
Syncellius, in his chronography, says that during the reign of Aseth,
the thirty-second Pharaoh, " a calf [a bult] was placed amongst
the gods and called Apis," and according to Eustathius (Commen-
tary on Dion. Perigetes) and Lucian (Dialogue of the gods,
book I.) at or about the same time a cow was deified, as a sym-
bol of the moon and called Joh. But the sun having received
the appellation of Osiris, and the moon that of Isis, their repre-
sentatives, respectively, were honored with the same titles. Thence-
forward, the Sun and the Apis were alike mentioned, by Egyptian
writers, under their common name Osiris ; and hence the preva-
lence of that erroneous opinion that the worship of the bull Apis
was as ancient as that of the sun, and therefore long before the
time of Moses. See Savory's Letters on Egypt ; Vol. II. Let. Ixi,
Also, Rees's Cyclopaedia, under Osiris and Isis.

(6) Exo. xxv. 1820. Comp. chap.xxiv. 10, 11, and Ez. I, 10,
(c) wnjna berang hu, Exo. xxxii. 22. (d) Paul, cvi. 19, 20.

they, " be thy gods" or, as Nehemiah (c) expresses
it, " This is thy god, O Israel, which brought thee up
from the land of Egypt." (/) That this was all Aaron
meant, (and a shocking all too,) is evident ; for al-
though he erected an altar before the image, he
proclaimed the "feast," the sacrifice, to JEHOVAH. (g)
How contemptible then, is the effort which infidels
make, to disprove the inspiration of the Scriptures,
by asserting that "they represent the just God as
having acted most unjustly, in punishing many of the
people with death, while he exempted Aaron, the
greater sinner in the affair." The charge is false,
and only serves, like every other they bring, to prove
their ignorance of, and their enmity against, both the
BIBLE and its AUTHOR. Aaron, it is true, was high-
ly culpable ; yet he was not, like the people, guilty
of idolatry at heart. His sin, like that of Abraham
and Isaac, in denying their wives, (Ji) and like that of
Peter, in denying his Lord, (i) was a sin of infirmity,
preceding from weakness of faith and " the fear of
man, which bringeth a snare." (k) Nor was it con-
nived at, either by Moses or by the Lord. Moses,
having expressed his abhorrence of the wickedness of
both, by melting the idol in the fire, grinding or filing
it to powder and strewing it upon the water, of which
he made the Israelites to drink ; (/) preceded to exam-
ine and accuse Aaron, before he did the people ; (m)
and, in his rehearsal of the unhappy occurrence
and of his successful intercession for the people, he
expressly says, " The Lord was very angry with Aa-
ron, to have destroyed him, and I prayed for Aaron

(c) Chap. ix. 18. (/) Exo. xxxii. 4. (g) Ibid. ver. 5. (k) Gen.
xx. 2. and xxvi. 7. (i) Matt. xxvi. 70. (&) Prov. xxix. 25. (/) Exo.
xxxii. 20. (m) Ibid. ver. 21. 30.

also," as well as for the people, " the same time." (n)
Aaron, therefore, as well as the people, was in im-
minent danger of temporal death, and like them, was
exempted from it, not by any connivance at his sin,
nor by any act of partiality toward his person, but
by an act of mercy common toward him and them*
granted upon the intercession of Moses.*

Passing, for the sake of brevity, many instances in
which Moses was evidently a blessing to Israel,! shall
conclude this outline of his usefulness among them,
by remarking, that he received from God, the pattern
of the Tabernacle and of all things relating to it, and
faithfully superintended the execution of the whole
design. This pattern included the materials, the
structure and all the furniture of the sacred building ;
also the qualifications and even the apparel of all
those who were to officiate in it, and the rules and
directions to be observed by them, in their respective
stations and services. (0)

The pattern of all these things, Moses received
while he was with God in the mount ; and with a
solemn charge most strictly to observe it : " Accord-
ing to all that I show thee," said God to him, " after
the pattern of the Tabernacle, and the pattern of the
instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it." (p)
This important pattern, accompanied with explana-
tions, seems to have been given to Moses in a vision ;
for, in repeating the charge, the Lord said to him,
" Look that thou make them after the pattern which
was showed thee," or, as it is in the Heb. " which

(n) Deut. ix. 20. * Some respect also might be had to Aaron's
office. See Num. xii. xvi. and xvii. Chap, (o) Exo. from the
xxv. to the xl. chap, inclusive, (p) Ibid. xxv. 9.

thou wast called to see." (q) A question on reminis-
cence is, in this case, inadmissible ; for HE who gave
the vision could with equal ease renew it, or bring the
particulars of it to the recollection of Moses, when-
ever required ; the Holy Spirit being the same then
as when our Lord said to his disciples, " HE shall
bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I
have said unto you." (r)

Moses, too, was faithful in his superintendence of
the whole design. For, when Bezaleel, Aholiab and
others, chosen and inspired of God for the purpose, (s)
had accomplished the work, Moses looked upon it,
and "behold." (difficult as was the task,) " they had
done it as the Lord had commanded, even so had they
done it: and Moses blessed them." (t) "And he rear-
ed up the court round about the Tabernacle and the
altar, and set up the hanging of the court-gate : So
Moses finished the work." (u) And whatever, to the
contrary, has been said by profane skeptics, the tes-
timony of an inspired apostle to the fidelity of Moses,
is full and decisive : "Moses," saith he, "was faith-
ful in all his house." (v)

These things considered, how apparent is it, that
Moses, as the gift of God, was a distinguished bless-
ing to Israel ; and that constantly, from the time he
was called to be their leader and commander, till the
time of his death. Moreover, at that awful juncture

II. As the man of God, he pronounced a blessing

(q) Exo. xxv. 40 iri3 ntna march bahar. compare Ezek. xl. 2.
Heb. viii. 5. and Acts vii. 44. (r) John xiv. 26. (s) Exo. xxxi.
26. (t) Ibid, xxxix. 43. (u) Ibid. xl. 33. (v) Heb. iii. 2.

N. B. The analogy between Christ and Moses, will be found
in the next sermon.

upon them : " And this is the blessing" that is, what
follows throughout the chapter, is an expression
of the blessing, both general and special, " where-
with Moses, the man of God, blessed the children of
Israel before his death." This was a blessing of
blessings ; a blessing full of blessings ; a blessing
upon the posterity of Jacob in common, yet one that
comprised in it the characters and conditions of his
several tribes, in their future generations. The
matter of this blessing, both common and special,
will come under consideration in subsequent dis-
courses of our Series ; at present, therefore, we have
to do, only with the manner in which, the title under
which, and the time at which, Moses pronounced it.
FIRST, the manner in which he pronounced it.
This was both by invocation and prediction ; and
which gave the utmost assurance, that it would be
granted and realized. As prayed for, by one under
divine inspiration, the blessing could embrace only
what it was the will of God to bestow ; for " HE"
(God) " that searcheth the hearts," of prophets as
well as of others. " knoweth what is the mind of the
Spirit," in them when they pray, " because He (the
Spirit) " maketh intercession for the saints accord-
ing to the will of God." (w) " And knowing this
first, (x) that no prophecy of the Scripture (as are
those of human device) " is of" or from any man's
own proper* impulse^ or motion, as Fulke trans-

(w) Rom. viii. 27. (x) 2 Pet. i. 20. * Suus, proprius, one's
own, proper. Parkh. under t 3*, No. 1. f ewtWif has two general
meanings ; explicatio, explication, interpretation, or declaration ;
and liberatio, a deliverance, a making free; or egressio, an egression^
or going out. Hederici et Schrevelii. In the place referred to, the
latter sense of this word is required by the context : for, so under-

lates it ; knowing this, I say, it follows, as unques-
tionably true, that this prophecy of Moses concern-
ing Israel, did not procede from any passionate de-
sire in him for their good, nor the diversity which it
makes among the tribes and the adversity which it
assigns to some of them, from any natural foresight
which he possessed, or any partialities which he felt ;
but from the sovereign will of God, according to
which he was moved to speak and write ; and con-
sequently, that all the events included in it, were in-
cluded in "the determinate counsel and foreknow-
ledge of God," and to be accomplished through his
influence or his sufferance : " For the prophecy came
not in old time by the will of man," by the volitions
and inventions of those who delivered it ; " but holy
men of God," (among whom was Moses) " spake as
they were moved," or impelled, " by the Holy Ghost."

SECONDLY, the title under which he pronounced it ;
that of the man of God. Under this title, Moses was
a prophet, a pastor, and apolitical father, to Israel;
and in this threefold relation he blessed them. Hence

1. As a prophet. That God had sent him to de-
liver Israel, was now proved by the success of his
embassy ; that he enjoyed special intercourse with
God, had been abundantly evinced, by the numerous
instances of it, noticed under the former head ; and
that he possessed the Spirit of prophecy, could be no

stood, it assigns a reason why prophecy is called a sure word, v. 19,
and proves that it came not by the will of man, v. 21. So far, in-
deed, were the prophets from inventing their predictions, that im-
pelled by divine influence, they often spake and wrote, what they
themselves desired, in vain, to understand. 1 Pet. i. 10 12.
Not the interpretation, then, but the delivering out of the Scripture,
is intended in the passage in question.

longer questioned ; many things which he had fore-
told having already occurred ; as, for instance, the
obduracy of Pharaoh and the consequent plagues of
Egypt ; (10) the means by which the Egyptians should
remunerate the Israelites for their services ; (x) that,
in their extremity at the Red sea, God would deliver
them, (y) and that, being brought out, they should
serve the Lord in Horeb. (z) Thus, in the mission
of Moses, as afterward in that of Ezekiel, God
caused Israel, though " a rebelious house," to know
that he had sent a prophet among them, (a) And
being a prophet, Moses had the appropriate title, the
man of God ; a title common to the Old Testament
seers, such as Samuel, (&) Elijah, (c) Elisha, (cT) and
others, (e) As a prophet, Moses, as we have seen
already, was a great blessing to Israel, by his success-
ful intercessions on their behalf. And truly it is a
great blessing for any person or people to have an
interest in the prayers of those who have an interest
with God : even though they be men of like passions
with those for whom they intercede. (/) This is
what our Lord had in view, when he said " He that
receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet, shall
receive a prophet's reward, and he that receiveth a
righteous man, (though not a prophet,) shall receive
a righteous man's reward," which is an interest in
their supplications to God. (g) Chiefly, however, in

(>) Exo. iii. 19. 29. (x) Ibid. ver. 21, 22. Ch. xi. 2, 3 and
xii. 36. (y) Exo. xiv. 1322. (z) Ibid. iii. 12, 18 and xix. 1.
() Ezek. ii. 5. comp. Dcut. xviii. 21, 22. (b) 1 Sam. ix. 6, 18,
19. ( c ) 2 Kings i. 8, 9. (d) Ibid. ix. 8, 25. (e) I Sam. ii. 27.
1 Kings xii. 22; xiii. 1. (/) Acts xiv. 15. Jas. v. 17. (g)Matt.
x. 41.

the character of a prophet, Moses blessed Israel, as, by
the spirit of prophecy, he foretold blessings that await-
ed them, in their future generations. Thus in the text
and from the 26th to the 29th verse he blessed them
collectively, and from the 6th to the 25th verse,the tribes
of them severally. And his former predictions having
been so evidently accomplished, he might, by an in-
fallible rule, challenge the faith of Israel in those
which he now delivered. (K), The same did Isaiah :
" Behold," said he, " the former things are come to
pass, and new things do I declare : before they spring
forth I tell you of them." (i)

2. As a pastor. For though he was eminently a
prophet to Israel, yet he was not, like the other pro-
phets, sent to them with occasional messages only ;
but like a pastor, a shepherd, a bishop, he lived among
them, sojourned and fared with them, and had a con-
tinual care over them and concern for them.* As

(h) Deut. xviiL 22. (i) Isaiah xlii. 9.

* Under the gospel, there is a similar difference between the
labors of stated pastors and those of visiting ministers. The
preaching and conversation of a visiting minister, who comes " in
the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ," may be to the
members of a church and to their pastor also, (like a prophet sent
with a special message to Israel, or like the coming of Titus to
Paul and other brethren,) the transient means of much comfort
and encouragement ; but the presence and labors of a duly quali-
fied pastor, are, to a church, like those of Moses to Israel, a more
constant and lasting blessing. Jer. iii. 15. Eph. iv. 11, 12.
A gospel minister, too, is called a man of God. 1 Tim. iv. 11,
and 2 Tim. iii. 17.

While thus digressing to embrace this subject, it is hoped, that
a word of caution, both to pastors and churches, will not be
deemed obtrusive or assuming. Pastors, like Moses, compared
with visiters, have great advantages. If upright and useful in

such, too, he was a man of God, and a blessing to
Israel ; and in this character, as well as in that of a

their stations, and especially if possessed of distinguishing talents,
they gradually obtain a very strong interest in the united affec-
tions and confidence of those to whom they minister, and, by
consequence, in process of time, they acquire a great influence
among them. How careful, then, should pastors be, not to
abuse their influence, by making it the means of introducing
among their respective flocks, any dogmas of their own, not sup-
ported by sacred writ, or by urging or exacting any thing oppres-
sive or burdensome ; but to improve it, to promote truth and
righteousness ; each endeavoring to be, like Moses, " faithful in
all his house," in ail the duties of his charge. But while pastors
have advantages, they also labor under disadvantages, of which
the churches they serve ought to be apprised. All men have their
imperfections and faults. Pastors are at home, where theirs are
all known ; visitors are abroad, where theirs are all unknown. The ,
former having to meet the same people very frequently, must
sometimes meet them with little or no preparation, or in a dark
and uncomfortable frame of mind ; the latter may never happen to
come among them under such circumstances : the former, bound
in the course of their ministry, to aim at illustrating all parts of
divine truth, must necessarily, at times, dwell on subjects in which
many of their hearers take but little interest ; the latter, while on
visits, may confine their labors to subjects calculated to excite
the most general interest and the most agreeable sensations nay,
may enrich a few sermons with the cream of all they know : the
former, that they may preserve a profitable variety, must devote
much of their time to study, and so may seem barren and churl-
ish; the latter, as they can preach discourses which they have
often preached, using either the same or similar texts, may
seem to be always ready, and therefore much at liberty to gratify
the people with visits and conversation. That a pastor has
preached many animated and refreshing discourses, is forgotten ;
while one or a few preached by a visiter, may be remembered and
extolled : the ministry of a pastor being a common privilege, some
sit under it, with a slumbering indifference, while the same things
are delivered, which, if delivered by a visiter they listen to and

prophet, he pronounced this blessing upon them ; the
affections of the pastor, however, being herein " sub-
ject to the spirit of the prophet." And

3. As apolitical I father: For although not proper-
ty, yet virtually, " he was king in Jeshurun ;" (&) and
being so by the special call and appointment of God,
he was, as such also, a man of God. Thus David,
being in his kingly office "a man after God's own
heart," (7) was not only as a prophet and as a pastor,
but likewise as a king, stiled a man of God. (m)
And, like every good ruler to his subjects, Moses was,
in this station, a great blessing to Israel ; and though,
in all he foretold of them, he was entirely governed
by the Spirit of prophecy, yet in pronouncing this
prophetic blessing upon them, he acted in the exalt-

admire as new and wonderful. Besides, pastors, like Moses, hav-
ing occasionally to " reprove, rebuke and exhort," are, like him,
less acceptable to some, than transient visiters, from whom duty
may not require such addresses. Hence it has often occurred,
that while other ministers, in no respect superior, have been fol-
lowed and caressed, faithful, watchful and laborious pastors have
been, comparatively, neglected and depreciated. " These things
ought not so to be." Nor has it ever been found that those persons
who either, on the one hand, thus degrade their pastor, or, on the
other, idolize him, to the neglect of every other minister, are the
more stable and perseveringly useful members of a church. The
correct course is this : The members of a church should receive,
with affection and gladness, the person and labors of every minis-
ter of Christ, who comes among them : yet, in doing so, they
should studiously avoid whatever, in conversation or conduct,
might tend to discourage the heart, weaken the hands, or lessen
the influence and usefulness of their pastor, whose life and labors
are devoted to their service, as those of Moses were to the service
of Israel.

(k) Context, ver. 5. (/) 1 Rings xv. 5. Acts xiii. 22. (m) 2
Chron. viii. 14, 15. Neh. xii. 24, 36.

ed relation and character of their national father.
Nor must we, in conclusion, overlook,

THIRDLY, the time at which he pronounced this
blessing just before his death" In this there was
a peculiar jfitness, as well as a peculiar solemnity.
Jacob, the natural father of the twelve patriarchs,
had, when dying, prophetically and separately bless-
ed them ; but whereas it might be apprehended, that
the conduct of some of them had cut off the entail
from their posterity, Moses, as the political father of
the latter, and moved by the same Spirit, renewed
the prediction. His enunciation too, of this bless-
ing upon the tribes, like that of Jacob upon their
progenitors, was at the approach of his dissolution ;
it being the last act of his public life ; and therefore
when, humanly speaking, it was likely to make the
most abiding and profitable impression. For, if the
admonitions, instructions and benedictions of a be-
loved parent or friend, given on a death-bed ; and if
those of a beloved and long useful pastor, given in
his last sermon or conversation, are usually remem-
bered to lasting advantage, what durable and happy
effects might justly ifeve been expected to result to
Israel, from the communications and instructions de-
livered to them in the last sermon, the valedictory
address of the inspired Moses, that eminent man of
God 9 whose faithfulness, friendship, and usefulness,
they had so long witnessed and so variously enjoyed !
Besides, having informed them, that he was under
a divine injunction, as soon as he should end his
sermon to ascend mount Nebo and die, (n) it was im-
possible for them to attribute to him any sinister mo-
tives ; they must have deeply felt, that in a few mo-

(M) Deut. xxxii. 4852.

ments, their censure or their applause would, to him,
be for ever indifferent; and therefore that, in pro-
nouncing this blessing upon them, he could be influ-
enced by nothing but the Spirit of prophecy, and a
heart overflowing with desire and prayer for their
greatest good, temporal and eternal.

SERMON II.

THE MINISTRY OF MOSES.

DEUT. xxxiii. 1. And this is the blessing wherewith Moses, the
man of God, blessed the children of Israel before his death.

HAVING, in the preceding discourse, traced the
Ministry of Moses literally, we now procede to con-
sider it typically. Moses was truly an extraordina-
ry character.

In some respects, he may be regarded as a symbol
of the law, delivered through him ; the moral part of
which, however old, remains like him, undiminished
in natural vigor ; its " eye is never dim" in detecting
sin, nor its "natural force abated" in condemning
sinners; "by the law," now as much as ever, "is the
knowledge of sin ;" and hence it remains and will for
ever remain true, that "by the deeds of the law, no
flesh living can be justified in the sight of God ;" yea
that, on the contrary, "as many as are of the works
of the law," relying on their imperfect obedience to it
for justification, " are under the curse." (a)

In other respects, he seems to have been a sort of
vicegerent or representative of God himself. To as-
sure him of this, and thereby to silence his fears of
appearing before the Egyptian monarch, " The Lord
said unto Moses, See I have made thee a god unto

(a) John v. 4547. Acts xv. 21. Rom. iii. 20. Gal. iii. 10.

Pharaoh:" (#) not, indeed the object of his worship,
but of his dread ; Moses being authorized to demand
of him the release of Israel, and endued with a mi-
raculous power to punish him in the event of his re-
fusing to let them go. Hence, all he said and did to
Pharaoh, was as if God himself had said and done it.
The same mystical relation, Moses also seems to have
sustained, with reference to Aaron and to Joshua. In
reply to his excuse, that he was " not eloquent but
slow of speech," the Lord said " Is not Aaron the le-
vite thy brother 1 I know he can speak well and he
shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth,
and thou shalt be to him instead of God ;" and again,
" Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet," interpreter
or spokesman, as the word then signified, (c) Hence
let us learn the distinction originally made between
crao roeem, seers, and rzr*r:u nebieem, prophets ; the
former had visions of future times and events, and an-
nounced them ; the latter only enjoyed extraordinary
familiarity and prevalence with God in prayer, as did
Abraham, who was the first to whom this title was
given ; (d) or a remarkable fluency and gracefulness
of utterance, on which account it was given to Aaron,
as plainly appears from the places just referred to, in
the book of Exodus. Nor was there, originally, any
thing more imported in the word WM nabi, which both
R. Solomon and David Levi derive from aw nub, to
bring forth, as an orator does his speech.*

My principal object in noticing this distinction, is
to expose the fallacy of an argument much relied on
by deists in their attempts to prove that the Penta-

(b) Exo. vii. 1. (c) Ibid iv. 10, 14, 16 and vii. 1. (d) Gen.
xx. 7. * Lingua Sacra under K3J.

teuch was not written by Moses ; namely, that the
word prophet occurs in it, which, from a wrong un-
derstanding of 1 Sam. ix. 9, they say was not in use
till after the times of Moses. Samuel indeed said,
" nabi, aprophet,w&s before-time called roeh, a Seer :"
yet, not as denying that the word prophet had been
used at all, but that agreeably to the distinction just
noticed, it was not originally used as synonymous
with seer, as it then was. Nor can any one, without
offering great violence to the words of Samuel, un-
derstand him to mean, that the word prophet had
never till his day, been applied to one that foretold
events ; but merely that, in times then ancient it had
not been so applied, and that it had acquired this ap-
plication by degrees, until, in his day, it had become
common. Accordingly, although Moses, in writing
the book of Genesis and that of Exodus, used it only
in its primitive meaning, that is, to denote one re-
markable either for prevalence in prayer, or for flu-
ency of speech: yet in the book of Deuteronomy
which he wrote in the last month of his life, he used
it to denote persons who, in earlier times, would have
have been called seers ; as for instance, himself, who
is often mentioned by other inspired writers as hav-
ing spoken and written by the Spirit of prophecy,
'and as having foretold events; Also to denote the
Messiah, that great prophet who was to be raised up
like unto Moses, who, like him, predicted many
events that have already occurred ; and which is the
very sign Moses gave of a true prophet, (e) To return.
That Moses, as before remarked, acted with refer-
ence both to Aaron and to Joshua, as God's vicege-

(e) Deut. xviii. 1521.

rent or representative, appears by his divinely au-
thorized induction of them into their respective offi-
ces, and by the authoritative instructions and charges
which he gave them. (/)

In his ministry, however, Moses is chiefly to be
viewed as a type of Christ.*

First, in his call to the peculiar station which he
filled. As Moses, to that station, so Christ, to his me-
diatorial office, received his call from God the Father ;
who "called him in righteousness," and promised him
succor, as man, and success as Mediator, (g) As
Moses received his call and commission, while alone
with God in mount Horeb ; so Christ, when no crea-
ture was present, yea before any existed, received his
call and appointment from the Father, in the mount of
glory in the council of heaven. (Ji) Hence, in acts of
love for his people and in covenant engagements on
their behalf, " his goings forth have been from of old,

(/) Exo. xxviii. and xxix. Deut. xxxi. 7, 8, 14, 23, and xxiv. 9.

* This obvious and instructive analogy would, indeed, have ap-
peared to much greater advantage, could it, in a methodical man-
ner, have accompanied the history of Moses under the first head of
the former discourse ; but, being desirous there to answer some ob-
jections raised by skeptics, against the inspiration of the Penta-
teuch, and to show the harmony of some supposed inconsistencies
in the Mosaic narrative, I was aware, that the analogy so conducted,
would often occasion interruption and obscurity; and therefore,
reserved it for separate consideration. Nor must the reader even
here, expect to find all the particulars regarding the ministry of
Moses applied to Christ : some of them, it might not be proper so
to apply, and others are either but slightly touched or entirely omit-
ted, that they may receive due attention when required in the future
discoures of our Series.

(g) Is. xlii. 6, 7 ; xlix. 813. (h) Exo. iii. 1, 12. Prov. viii.
2231.

.or everlasting." (i) And accordingly, he received
for them, the promise of eternal life and the gift of all
grace needful to prepare them for it and to bring them
to it," before the world began." (k)

Secondly, in the work he was called to accomplish ;
namely, the redemption, the deliverance, and the sub-
sequent government of Israel ; also the erection of the
tabernacle for their accommodation.

1. Their redemption.

Israel, the people whom Moses was called and
sent to redeem, were previously in a peculiar relation
to God, as his first-born, and therefore as his heir ; (I)
to them, in a national sense, "belonged the adoption"
to ceremonial privileges and to the inheritance of Ca-
naan ; (m) so the elect, whom Christ was called and
sent to redeem, though " scattered abroad" among all
nations, were, by adoption "the children of God," and
consequently his heirs heirs of grace, of spiritual
privileges and of eternal life ; (ri) yet being like Israel,
in bondage, like them, they must be redeemed, that
they might receive their bequeathed inheritance, (o)

Moses redeemed Israel, not with silver and gold,
but by the blood of lambs ; (p) so an apostle ad-
dressing those whose redemption was made manifest
by their calling, reminds them that they were re-
deemed, not by precious metals, but by precious blood ;
" ye were not redeemed," saith he, " by corruptible
things, as silver and gold but by the precious blood
of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish and without
spot ; who verily was fore-ordained before the foun-

(i) Micah v. 2. (k) Titus i. 2. 1 Tim. i. 9. (/) Exo. hv32 ;
xxxiv.20. Deut. xxi. 1517. (m) Rom. ix. 4. 5. (n) Johnxi. 52.
Heb. ii. 14. (o) Rom. vi. 23- (p) Exo. xii.

dation of the world, but was manifest in these last
times for you." (c)

The lambs slain for Israel, were " according to the
number of the souls," the persons to be redeemed and
nourished by them. So by covenant arrangement, the
atonement made by Christ was correspondent to the
number of God's elect, the antitype of national Israel;
and who, being redeemed by him, are, in the order of
time, all brought to live on him, the true passover. (/)
Yet, as the redemption of Israel was by a common price,
one costing no more than another, it is thereby strong-
ly suggested, that such also is the redemption of the
elect, by Christ.* Indeed the contrary supposition, as
it implies that his sufferings for them were as various
as their personal guilt, is highly improbable. More-
over, it naturally occasions such questions as these :
Whom does Christ love most] Those for whom he
suffered most or those for whom he suffered least 1
Nay, does not this hypothesis imply as great a diver-
sity in his love to his redeemed, as there was in his
sufferings for them 1 And, if so, Will he not, even in
the heavenly state, make a correspondent difference
in favour of the greater or smaller sinners among
them, as he may love the one or the other most I
To assert this view, therefore, of the Redeemer's suf-
ferings, seems to me, unwarrantable. Nevertheless,
as will presently be made to appear, the sacrifice of
Christ, like that of the paschal lambs, was to redeem
and feed a definite people.

Here, however, we should carefully distinguish be-

(e) 1 Pet. i. 1820. comp. Heb. ix. 14. (/) Exo. xii. 1 Cor. v.
7 and Gal. ii. 20. * The elect constitute the one mystical body, ef
which Christ is the Head and Saviour the one church, which he
redeemed, not member by member, but as a whole, by one sacrifice,
He "loved the church and gave himself for it" Eph. v. 23 27.

tween the sacrifice itself, and the extent of the atone-
ment for which it was designed and accepted. For as
a learned divine of this city, has justly observed, " The
sacrifice is intrinsically of infinite worth ; but, the
atonement produced by it, is defined by previous com-
pact."* To deny that a compact between the divine
persons previously existed, is, in effect, to deny that the
death of Christ, in a way of atonement or satisfaction
to divine justice, was of any avail at all ; for, as the
acceptance of every typical sacrifice, for its specified
end, so the acceptance of the sacrifice of Christ, as an
atonement and satisfaction to divine justice for sin, de-
pended wholly upon the antecedent stipulation or de-
clared will of God, as the lawgiver, to accept it, for
that purpose. And admitting such compact, which
necessarily implies a specification both of the satisfac-
tion required and of the reward promised, it becomes
impossible, without denying divine prescience and ad-
mitting divine fallibility, to conceive of the atonement
made by Christ, as being either indefinite in its extent,
or uncertain in its result.

Those professors of Christianity, who deny the ex-
istence of a compact, or covenant agreement between
the divine persons respecting the salvation of sinners,
reason thus : If, say they, such a covenant was entered
into by the sacred Trinity, why was it not more for-
mally revealed I We answer No doubt for reasons
worthy of infinite wisdom ; and, perhaps, among
others, for that which follows : If this sacred and eter-
nal compact had been revealed in the Bible, in the for-
mal manner in which a covenant between two or more
men is produced by a scrivener, infidels would have
brought against it their usual imputation : they would

* Dr. McLeod on True Godliness, Ser. I. p. 22.

52 **.

have said " It bears evident marks of human contri-
vance and therefore of imposture." Wherefore, in the
wisdom of God, this incomparable covenant, is re-
vealed in a manner not at all liable to that impious
charge ; for regardless of forms, such as men devise,
the mutual stipulations and confidence of the cove-
nantees, and the blessings secured to those covenanted
for, are to be found in the Scriptures of truth, merely
as the occasions on which they are mentioned, the
connexions in which they stand, and the circumstan-
ces of believers, required. Yet, in this way, the ex-
istence of the compact under consideration is so clear-
ly and abundantly revealed, that it is very difficult to
conceive how any who believe the inspiration of the
Bible, and consequently, the incarnation, death and
resurrection of Christ, to redeem sinners, and the
grant and operations of the Holy Ghost, to regene-
rate and sanctify them, can possibly deny it, or even
admit a question upon it.

Nevertheless, as in this case, the covenantees are
such as cannot lie, the object of revealing their secret
transactions and causing them to be placed upon the
sacred records, could not be, like that of two or more
fallible men, in causing the articles of an agreement
adjusted between them, to be reduced to writing and
entered upon the public records ; which is to bind the
parties to each other and thereby to secure their mu-
tual performance ; to suppose this would be blasphe-
mous ; but, that the existence of this covenant between
parties absolutely infallible, and which therefore must
be " a covenant ordered in all things and sure," being
made known to us, we might have strong consola-
tion, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the
hope set before us." Heb. vi. 17, 18.

The stipulations and provisions of this EVERLASTING
COVENANT of GRACE and REDEMPTION, settled be-
tween the ETERNAL THREE in the COUNCIL of PEACE,
are found, when collected from the Holy Scriptures,
to run summarily thus : Jointly agreed in the sovereign
purpose, that a chosen and definite people should in-
herit grace and glory, the Son " engaged his heart to
approach unto" the Father, the lawgiver, on their
behalf; that is, to answer all the demands of his law
and justice against them, that so their salvation and
glorification might be agreeable to the principles of
eternal righteousness ; (K) the Father engaged, there-
upon, to remit their sins and justify their persons, by
an act, indeed, of his mere grace toward them, yet,
with reference to his justice, " through the redemption
that is in Christ ;" (i) and the Holy Spirit, in like
manner, engaged to regenerate them, to lead them to
Christ, by a faith of reliance on him, and to prepare
them for the holy and heavenly inheritance, (j) Chief-
ly, however, the revelation made on this subject, re-
lates to the mutual stipulations and mutual confidence
of the Father, the lawgiver, and of the Son, the law-
fulfiller ; the Spirit concurring, and freely preceding
from both. (&)

The stipulations of the Son, may be concluded from
what the Father relied on him to accomplish : " The
Lord, (Jehovah the Father) is well pleased," said
an ancient prophet, " for his righteousness' sake,"
meaning the righteousness of the Son as a divine per-
son, which rendered it impossible for him to fail of

(h) Jer. xxx. 21, 22. Dan. ix. 24. Rom. iii. 25, 26. (i) Is.
xlv. 25. Rom. iii. 24. (j) Is. xliv. 36. Ezek. xxxvi. 26.
2 Thess. ii. 13. 1 Pet. i. 2. (k) John xiv. 26 ; xv, 26.

perfectly accomplishing all he had stipulated to do ;
and hence it is added, "he will" though he had not
yet done it " he will," at the appointed time, " mag-
nify the law and make it honorable." (/) And ac-
cordingly, "when the fulness of the time," agreed on
in the divine council, " was come, God sent forth his
Son, made," as to the flesh in which he was manifest-
ed, " of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them
that were under the law, that we might receive the
adoption of sons," that is, the Spirit of adoption,
which is given to none but those who, by adoption,
are sons before ; for the apostle adds " because ye
are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son
into your hearts, crying Abba, Father, (in) Christ
being both holy and harmless (n) the law found no
fault in him ; yet having voluntarily taken the law-
place of the elect, and having, by imputation, all their
iniquities laid upon him, he was treated accordingly :
"It pleased the Lord," Jehovah the Father, " to bruise
him; he hath put him to grief;" he "bare our sins,"
the punishment due to us for them, " in his own body
on the tree;" he "suffered for sins, the just for the
unjust, that he might bring us to God." (o) Thus it
was that he " made reconciliation for iniquity and
brought in everlasting righteousness," for all whom he
represented in his life, and his death and resurrec-
tion ; and hence it is, that we are reconciled to God,"
that is, to his, justice "by the death of his Son, and
" redeemed from the curse of the law," by him who
was " made a curse for us." (p) But, to precede

(?) Is,xlii. 21. (m) Gal. iv. 46. (n) Heb. vii. 26. (o) Is.
liii. 610. 1 Pet. ii. 24 and iii. 18. (p) Dan. ix. 24. Rom. v.
10. Gal. iii. 13.

Whatever advantages the Egyptians enjoyed, by the
long residence of the Israelites among them, they had
no interest in the redemption of Israel, by the paschal
lambs ; so, although the destruction of the world, like
that of Egypt and of Jerusalem, is delayed " for the
the elect's sake," till they shall all be born, and born
again ; (q) and though the church is " the salt of the
earth and the light of the world ;" (r) yet the non-elect
have no part nor lot in the vital ransom, the stipulat-
ed price, which Christ paid for all the elect, of all na-
tions, generations and conditions, "to be testified"
to the world in the gospel, and to the elect, by the
Spirit, " in due time."* For, as the lambs were not
slain for the Israelites and the Egyptians in common,
but exclusively for the former ; so Christ, the Lamb
of God, laid down his life, not for the sheep and
the goats in common, but exclusively "for the
sheep ;" (f) and as the lambs were not slain to re-
deem Egypt for the sake of Israel, but to redeem
Israel from the fate of Egypt; so although in a pro-
vidential way, Christ, as Mediator, sustains the pil-

(q) Matt. xxiv. 22. 2 Pet. iii. 9. (r) Matt. v. 13, 14.

* The vital ransom, the stipulated price.] AvnXvrpov, from avn in
return or correspondency, and Arpov a ransom, certainly signifies
something more than simply " a ransom," as in our version.
Parkhurst renders it " a correspondent ransom," and Leigh, " a
counter-price." According to Hyperius, "it properly signifies a
price by which captives are redeemed from the enemy, and that
kind of exchange in which the life of one is redeemed by the life
of another." So Aristotle (in Scapulu) uses the verb avnXvrpow
for redeeming life by life. See Parkhurst, G. & E. Lex. and
Leigh's Crit. Sacra. The word occurs no where in the N. T. but
in 1 Tim. ii. 6. Comp. Matt. xx. 28.

(0 John x. 15. Matt. xxv. 31 46.

iars of the earth and preserves mankind upon it, till
the mystery of grace shall be accomplished ; (u) and
which may be one reason why he is called " the Sa-
viour of the world :" yet he died, not to redeem the
world for the sake of his people, but to redeem his
people from the fate of the world. He " gave him-
self for our sins, that," as a matter of consequent
right " he might deliver us," in conversion at death
and at the resurrection, "from the present evil
world, according to the will of God and our Fa-
ther." (w)

To evade the force of evidence, which this type af-
fords in favor of particular redemption, it has been
said, " The paschal lambs, as they were not offered
upon an altar, were not properly a sacrifice ;" but this
circumstance served only to render them a more com-
plete and appropriate type of Christ ; who also was
not offered on a material altar, but who, nevertheless,
as testified by an apostle, " hath given himself for us
an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling
savor ;" (x) besides, the same apostle expressly as-
asserts, that " Christ our passover," and therefore as
the antitype of the paschal lambs, " is sacrificed for
us." (y) It is further objected, " That it was not the
death of the lambs but the sprinkling of their blood
that secured Israel." Granted : but their blood was
sprinkled as well as shed ; and all for whom it was shed
were, by the sprinkling of it, secured from temporal
death. " How much more shall the" infinitely precious
" blood of Christ," by its atoning and purifying effi-
cacy, deliver all for whom it was shed " from the
wrath to come," and render their persons and servi-

(u) Psal. Ixxv. 3. (w) Gal. i. 4. (x) Eph. v. 2. (y) 1. Cor.
v. 7.

ces acceptable to God ! (z) The sacrifice of Christ
was either a complete satisfaction to divine Justice
for the sins of those for whom it was offered, or it was
not ; if not, it furnishes no security, that even one of
them shall be saved ; and if it was, it renders it im-
possible that, consistently with divine justice, even one
of them can be lost. But, that the sacrifice of Christ
was a complete satisfaction to divine justice for all
the sins of all for whom it was offered, even God the
Father, by whom he " was delivered for our offenses,
has openly acknowledged and declared, in raising him
from the deadjfor our justification, (a) Indeed, an
unsatisfactory atonement, is virtually no atonement ;
and how the notion of it ever gained admission among
men of science, is really difficult to conceive. Yet
" Somehow," as Dr. McLeod observes,* " it has come \
to pass, that very discerning men have made them-
selves familiar with ideas of an atonement which they
revere as complete, although it neither satisfies jus-
tice nor procures reconciliation But," continues he,
" sure I am, that no man will, in the common concerns
of life, in the courts of law, or in the public transac-
tions of nations, consider that atonement complete,
which is not satisfactory, nor that satisfactory, which
does not set future controversy aside, produce recon-
ciliation, and exclude further punishment."

Nor are the covenant-stipulations of the Father,
securing to the Son his promised reward, any less
clearly revealed. The evangelical prophet, fore-see-
ing that the Messiah would be personally innocent,
and " yet that it pleased the Lord," Jehovah the Fa-

(z) Heb. ix. 14. x. 14. Col. i. 2022. 1 Pet. ii. 5. (a) Rom.
iv. 25. * Ser. I. p. 21, 22.

ther, " to bruise him," might be tempted to think
the act unjust and cruel ; which, without a previous
compact, it must have been ; wherefore, to remove his
temptation, and to manifest to him, and, through him,
to mankind in all future generations, the equity and
benevolence of the divine procedure, in regard to this
awful transaction, God further revealed to him, that
the innocent sufferer, by his own antecedent and vol-
untary engagement, stood in the law-place of a guilty
people; and that, in bearing their dreadful right, he
was animated by the prospect of a certain and satisfac-
tory reward : " When his soul, his life, shall make an
offering for sin,* he shall see his seed," his spiritual
offspring multiplying in all ages and among all na-
tions, according to the tenor and provisions of the
covenant ; " he shall prolong his days ;" the days of
his mediatorial station and procreative influence,

* This version is substituted instead of the common one, not
merely because it has been preferred by many learned commenta-
tors and critics, but chiefly because, in my opinion, it refers the
words to the true speaker and conveys their true meaning, while
the other does not. According to the common version, the speaker
is the prophet, addressing God the Father; whereas, on the con-
trary, it seems evident from the following context, that here and
to the end of the chapter, the speaker is God the Father addressing
the prophet ; for who but he could say of the Messiah, as in ver.
11. " My servant, &c." and in ver. 12. "Therefore will I divide
him a portion," &c.

" For CTS?r\ shall make, a MS. has Ot?r, which may be taken
passively shall be made." Dr. Lowth's Notes on Is. liii. 10. But,
to adopt this reading upon the authority of one MS. instead of the
standard Hebrew text, supported by many MSS. as well as ancient
versions, would be unsafe. Nor does it comport with fact ; for al-
though, in his death, Christ was passive, his submission to it was
voluntary. John x. 17, 18. and xii. 24.

throughout all generations, " and the pleasure of the
Lord," the work which it was the pleasure of the Fa-
ther to assign to him, "shall prosper in his hand."
" He shall see of the travail of his soul," the issue of
his sufferings, " and shall be satisfied," and which he
can never be, till all for whom he travailed shall be re-
generated, sanctified and glorified. " By his know-
ledge," adds the Father " shall my righteous servant,"
the Messiah, "justify many; for," in order thereto,
"he shall bear their iniquities." The knowledge of
the Messiah, here intended, is either subjectively, that
knowledge of the curse which he received, when, as
the substitute of those he represented, "he learned
obedience," the bitter effects of it in his human nature,
during " the days of his flesh" in common, and espe-
cially in the garden and on the cross ; Heb. v. 7 9 ;
or objectively, that knowledge of him, which his re-
deemed receive, by the Holy Spirit, who, to them, is
" the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowl-
edge of him;" Eph. i. 17. Indeed both seem to be
included; the former, as the meritorious cause, the
latter, as the believing apprehension of our justifica-
tion. In both senses, therefore, the words unequi-
vocally assert, that through Christ, all whose iniqui-
ties he bare shall be justified. And these are many ;
Christ " gave his life a ransom for many ;" (Matt. xx.
28. Mark x. 45.) and accordingly many shall be
justified in him; even all the millions of God's elect,
from the beginning to the end of the world ; and who
are " a great multitude which no man can number,- t>f
all nations, and kindreds, and people and tongues.':'
Rev. v. 9 and vii. 9. But many as they are, they were
all in a way of special love, individually and distinctly
fore-known to the Father who had chosen thega, jo

the Lamb who has redeemed them, and to the Holy
Ghost who regenerates and seals them. Rom. viii;
29, 30 and 1 Pet. i. 2. In a civil sense, however, they
are, in common with others, subjects of the rulers of
their respective nations ; " therefore," saith the Fa-
ther concerning the Messiah, " Iwill divide him a por-
tion with the great," the kings and other rulers of
the earth; a portion of whose respective subjects
shall become the subjects of Christ, who is King of
kings ; " and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,"
meaning Satan, " the strong man armed," who made
a spoil of all mankind ; but from whom, Christ " a
stronger than he," wrests and delivers all who, by
the Father's original gift, and by his own redemption
of them after they had fallen, belong to him ; Luke
xi. 22 ; and that "because he hath poured out his
soul," his life, "unto death, and was," though per-
sonally innocent, " numbered with the transgressors,"
with the vilest criminals, of which his crucifixion
between two thieves was an emblem ; " and," while
thus suffering, " he bare the sins of many, and made
intercession for the transgressors," whose sins he
bare. (5)

To all, therefore, who in this case, talk of obsta-
cles and contingencies, and of sinners for whom
Christ died, going to hell because they will not re-
pent and believe ; no more appropriate answer can
be furnished than that of Christ to the Sadducees
who denied the resurrection : " Ye do err, not know-
ing the Scriptures nor the power of Godi" (c) Could
not he that created the body, raise it from natural

(b) Is. liii. 1012. Luke xxiii. 34. John xvii. 6, 20. Rom.
viii. 34. Heb. vii. 25. 1 John ii. 1, 12. (c) Matt. xxii. 29.

deathl And cannot he that created the soul quick-
en it from a state of moral death 1 IN or do the Scrip-
tures any more clearly show, that it is the purpose of
God to raise the dead at the last day, than that it is
his purpose to regenerate and convert all his elect in
the present life: "I," saith he, "will give them an
heart to know me, that I am the Lord : and they shall
be my people, and I will be their God : for they shall
return unto me with their whole heart." (d) Indeed,
his bestowment upon them, of the remedy itself, the
richest of all his gifts, argues incontrovertible/ his
purpose to bestow upon them whatever is requisit to
render this remedy effectual to their present and eter-
nal salvation, and therefore, the regenerating grace
of the Holy Spirit, of which faith and repentance, are
never-failing effects. So reasoned an apostle ; who,
speaking in the name of the whole redeemed family
and for the comfort of those in every age, who, being
called, are manifestly of this family, exultingly said,
" HE that spared not his own Son, but delivered him
up for us all, how shall HE not with 7iim also freely
give us all things ;" including not only all blessings
spiritual and temporal, requisit for believers during
their pilgrimage, and the kingdom of glory at their
journey's end, but also quickening and enlightening
grace, to those of the redeemed, yet dead and blind, (e)
These things considered, it becomes evident, that
the sacrifice of Christ, like that of the paschal lambs,
was "according to the number of the souls," the per-
sons to be redeemed ; that is, it was a complete satis-

(d) Jer. xxiv. 7. John v. 2529; vi. 37, 39, 45. Eph. ii. 1,
4, 5. C^l. i. 13 ; ii. 13. Acts xiii. 48. (e) Rom. viii. 3234.
Phil. iv. 19.

faction to divine justice for the sins, and an ample
provision for the souls of all whom he covenanted to
redeem and save ; and who are defined, both collect-
ively and individually ; collectively, they are " the
general assembly and church of the first-born," the
heirs of God, " which are written in heaven ;" and
individually; they are those whom God designed to
reserve and pardon, and " whose names" agreeably
to that design, " were written" (as those of others
were not) "in the book of life of the Lamb slain,"
in purpose and effect, " from the foundation of the
world." (/) Hence it was, that the elect, who lived
before the incarnation of Christ, were saved upon
his suretiship-engagements, which, for them as well
as for the elect under the present dispensation, he
fulfilled in due time, (g) Accordingly, the blood
which Christ shed is " the blood of the everlasting
covenant," the blood which from everlasting, he cov-
enanted to shed, and which being shed, avails to
everlasting, as the meritorious cause of the pardon
and cleansing of all for whom it was shed. (Ji) To
procede.

As Moses was a type of Christ in the redemption
of Israel, so also

2. In their deliverance.

Did Moses, at first, instead of delivering the Is-
raelites, only awaken the apprehensions of Pharaoh
concerning them, and thereby bring upon them ad-
ditional burdens'? So when Christ, by the Spirit
operating in his name, begins a work of grace in the
souls of his people, Satan, afraid of losing them, la-

(/) Heb. xii. 23. Rev. xiii. 8; xx> 12, 15. Jer. L 20. (g)
Rom. iii. 25, 26. Heb. ix. 15. (h) Heb. xiii. 20; ix. 14.
1 John i. 7, 9.

bors to terrify them, and, by legal teachers, compa-
rable to Pharaoh's task-masters, further to burden
and discourage them ; by reason of which, like the
Israelites, they are tempted to view their condition as
rendered worse instead of better, and themselves as
injured rather than benefited, (i)

Besides, even when the Israelites had consented to
go, instead of being led immediately into liberty, they
were led into greater straits ; for Moses, or rather
"God," by him, "led the people about through the
wilderness of the Red sea," and, thereby, into further
embarrasment, and apparently into greater danger ;
for being, by divine order, encamped before Pi-ha-hi-
roth, while they had Migdol,an Egyptian fortress, on
their left, and JBaal-zephon, a fortified temple, on their
right, they had Pharaoh, with his armed host, in
close pursuit of them, and the Red sea, without any
possible means of crossing it,immediately before them.
Their case was desperate indeed : they could neither
retreat, nor turn aside, nor advance ; but seemed to be
their enemy's certain prey. Here again, they mur-
mured and regretted that they had not been let alone
in Egypt, (k) How similar is the case of awakened
sinners ! For although " made willing in the day of
the Redeemer's power," to forsake the Egypt of the
world, they are not immediately led into liberty,
through faith in him ; but are made to hear and learn
of the Father (1) of him as the lawgiver and Judge,
requiring of them perfect obedience to his law and
satisfaction to his justice for their past transgressions.
Satan, too pursues them, as Pharaoh did the Israel-
ites, with claims and threatenings ; and, while on one

(i) Exo. v. 421. Lam, iii. 2. (k) Exo. xiv. 11, 12. (/)
John vi. 45.

hand, "the sons of Belial," like the soldiers in Mig-
dol, " bend their bows to shoot at them their arrows,
even bitter words" of reproach and slander, on the
other hand, the priests of antichrist, like those of
Baal-Zephon, stand ready to persuade them to em-
brace some false ground of hope,* and, on their re-
jecting it, to revile them, as heretics or fanatics, while
the avenging justice of God, to which they can ren-
der no satisfaction, like an impassable sea or gulf,
appears immediately before them. How much does
their condition resemble that of the Israelites, when
they were " entangled in the land and shut in by the
wilderness." And, driven like them to despair of
deliverance, like them, they wish they had been per-
mitted to remain undisturbed in their former state ;
then, say they, we had some comfort, but now we
have none, and fear we never shall have any again.
(n) Like the Israelites, however, they are shut up,
not to destruction, but to salvation; they are "shut
up unto the faith," the object of faith, "afterwards
to be revealed." (0) Here therefore, despairing like
the Israelites of all creature-aid, like them, they are
constrained to CRY OUT unto the LORD." Nor do

* If not the hope of pagans nor that of papists, yet some other
equally fallacious ; such as reliance on past morality, or on pre-
sent or intended repentance and reformation ; or on the general
mercy of God, through a mediator admitted to be a mere creature ;
or, according to others, one through whom all mankind are going
to heaven, irrespective of any meetness for that holy state, to be
wrought in them by the Holy Spirit : whereas, " Except a man
be born again," or from above, " he cannot see the kingdom of
God ;" and so essential is HOLINESS, that we are exhorted to it as
that " without which no man shall see," that is, enjoy " the Lord."
John iii. 3. Heb. xii. 14.

(n) Jer. iii. 35. (o) Gal. iii. 23.

they cry in vain. For, as when Moses, by divine order,
stretched forth the marvelous rod over the Sea, the
Lord caused the waters thereof to separate and even
to become a wall of defense to Israel ; so when Christ,
in compliance with the Father's will, employs his
gospel, "the rod of his strength sent forth out of Zi-
on," ( p) in revealing to sensible sinners, how by his
obedience and sacrifice, he hath answered, for them,
all the demands of law and justice, they see every ob-
stacle removed, and, in due time, enter into joy and
peacein believing: "by faith we have peace with God,
through our Lord Jesus Christ." (q) Nay more, that
very justice, which, guarding the law we had trans-
gressed, cried for our blood, becomes to us as believers,
like the waters of the Sea to Israel, a wall of defense ;
for it would be as inconsistent with divine justice,
that a soul found in Christ should be lost, as that
one found -out of him, should be saved, (r)

Nor should it be overlooked, that the same people,
identically and numerically, whom the Lord redeem-
ed by the lambs, he delivered by the rod. For, ad-
dressing him, Moses saith " Thou in thy mercy hast
led forth the people, which tliou hast redeemed;" nor
was this all; he guided them afterward: "thou hast
guided them in thy strength unto," or toward " thy
holy habitation," Canaan and the holy mount on
which the temple was to be erected, (s) Can it then
be reasonable to suppose, that Christ will not deliver
by his grace, all whom he redeemed by his blood ?
Or, that having delivered them, he will not afterward
preserve and guide them? Obstacles are, in this case,

(p) Psal. ex. 2. (q) Rom. v. 1. (r) Rom. iii. 1926. 1 John
i. 9. (s)Exo. xv. 13.

of no consideration. For it is the same " Arm of the
Lord," (Christ himself, Is. liii. 1.) that cut Rahab,"*
and wounded the dragon,"f that " dried the Sea and
made the depths of it a way for the ransomed to pass
over," that is to accomplish the conversion and sub-
sequent preservation and guidance of all his redeem-
ed. "Therefore," indubitably, "the redeemed of
the Lord shall return," shall be converted, " and come
with singing to Zion ;" and though not, in all instan-
ces, to the visible Church on earth, yet, without a
single exception, to the Zion of God above ; where
"everlasting joy shall be upon their head," and where
"they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and
mourning shall flee away." (f) Virtually, the ene-
mies of the LORD'S redeemed, like those of Israel,
are " all dead upon the shore." For the elect, Christ
has fulfilled the law and satisfied the .demands of
justice ; and thereby deprived sin of its strength and
even death of it sting. Believers, therefore, amid
all their troubles, may triumphantly sing " The sting
of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law ;
but thanks be to God which giveth us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ." (u) Let sensible
sinners, then, like the Israelites " between Migdol
and the Sea," stand waiting for the SALVATION of the
LORD, and, like the Israelites on the banks of delive-
rance, let believers, remembering " this grace wherein
we stand, rejoice in hope of the glory of God." (w)

The change of mind, too, which was produced in
the Israelites by their deliverance, serves justly toil-

* Egypt ; Psal. Ixxxvii. 4. t Pharaoh; Ezek. xxix. 3. (t) Is.
li. 911. and liii. 1. and John v. 25. (u) Col. ii. 15. 1 Cor. xv.
56, 57. (w) Exo. xiv. 13. Rom. v. 2.

lustrate that which is produced in the minds of sin-
ners by the Holy Spirit in regeneration ; for as, upon
their deliverance, "the people" of Israel "feared the
Lord and believed the Lord and his servant Moses ;"
(x) so all who are delivered from bondage through
faith in Christ, possess, as an effect of regenerating
grace, a filial fear of God, and believe both the Fa-
ther and the Son. (y)

But we must not dismiss this article without remark-
ing that the destruction of the finally impenitent, like
that of the Egyptians, is of themselves ; for as the
Egyptians madly rushed into the sea, so impenitent
sinners, " strengthen themselves against the Almighty
and presumptuously run upon the thick bosses of his
bucklers ;" (z) and hence, as the same Sea which,
through faith in the word and power of God, proved
"a wall" of defense to Israel, overwhelmed the
Egyptians ; so the same justice which, to believers in
Christ, affords infallible protection, exposes and dooms
unbelievers, as such, to inevitable destruction: "He
that believeth on the Son, hath everlasting life ; and
he that believeth not the Son shall not see life ; but
the wrath of God abideth on him." (a) Moses was
a type of Christ,

3. In his subsequent government of Israel.

In the short time of solace and singing which he af-
forded to Israel after their deliverance, we behold a
type of that period of repose and rejoicing which Christ
affords to young converts ; "We which have believed
do enter into rest ;" and " believing we rejoice with
joy unspeakable and full of glory." (&)

(x) Exo. xiv. 31. (y) Jer. xxxii. 40. Matt. xvi. 16. John v.
24. (%) Job. xv. 25, 26. (a) John iii. 36. (b) Heb. iv. 3,
1 Pet i. 8.

Soon, however, the case of the Israelites was chang-
ed. " Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and
they went into the wilderness of Shur ;" where they
thirsted for water, and found none but what was bitter.
The application to young converts is perfectly easy.
They, too, must travel ; and in the wilderness of this
world, through which they pass, they soon begin to
realize a want of spiritual comfort, and many bitter
disappointments and trials. But as Moses, by means
of a tree, which by the order of God he cast into those
waters, sweetened them ; so Christ, by the doctrine of
his meritorious death upon the tree of the cross, and
to which he submitted in obedience to his heavenly
Father's will, renders all the afflictions and sorrows
of believers, not only tolerable, but eventually con-
ducive to their edification and comfort, (c)

While we read of Israel, led by Moses to Elim,
where were twelve wells of water and seventy palm-
trees ; how pleasant is it to think of the primitive
Christians, who by the favor of Christ, enjoyed the
ministry of the twelve apostles and seventy disciples,
and of believers in all ages, led by his Spirit, to the
pure fountains of apostolic doctrine, which are the
wells of salvation flowing from Christ, and where,
under the shadow of his word and ordinances, the in-
stituted signs and memorials of his and their victory,
they enjoy seasons of great satisfaction and delight,
even while in the wilderness, (d) And though, like
the Israelites at Elim, "we have here no continuing
city," let us recollect and rejoice, that we " have a
city not made with hands, eternal and on high"

that every moment brings us nearer to it, and that
when arrived there, " the Lamb which is in the midst
of the throne, will lead us to living fountains of wa-
ters" and put into our hands " palms of everlasting
victory." (e)

Pursuing the sacred history, we presently find Israel
" in the wilderness of Sin," a place between Elim and
mount Sinai ; where they were destitute of bread and
apprehensive of famishing for the want of it. Let this
remind us that, as a chastisement for their neglect
of means while afforded, and as a trial of their faith,
when these are withdrawn, the churches and indivi-
duals of spiritual Israel, are sometimes left to suffer a
want of gospel-ministers, and thereby, " a famine of
hearing the word of the Lord." (/) Did the Israelites,
thus circumstanced, instead of crying to God for bread,
murmur against him and his servants, Moses and
Aaron 1 How often, alas ! do churches and individu-
als, instead of " praying the Lord of the harvest that
he would send forth more laborers," indulge in mur-
muring and complaining against him, for leaving them
destitute; or, having the word but not being benefited
by it, overlook all causes of their barrenness, existing
in themselves and their lives and, instead of imploring
the influence of his Holy Spirit, to mortify their cor-
ruptions, and to revive their souls, spend much of their
time in listless dejection, or in finding fault with their
ministers, as though the application and success of
the word depended on them ! To return

In this case, observe, Moses could afford Israel no
relief; and in which, as in many other instances, he
was a figure of the law, which can neither give life to

(e) Heb. xiii. 14. Rev. vii. 9, 17. (/) Amos viii. 11.

the dead, nor food to the living, (g) God, however, of
his mere bounty, without their asking it, and even
without the intercession of Moses for it, rained bread
from heaven for them, to wit, the manna. And ex-
actly similar was his original gift of Christ, to his un-
deserving and ill-deserving people ; for, unsought by
them, and " without the law," and, therefore, accord-
ing to his own sovereign grace and electing love, he
bestowed upon them Ms unspeakable gift. The same
also was asserted by Christ himself: who " in the
days of his flesh" informed the Jews, that it was not
Moses, as they suggested, but God who had given them
the manna ; and that, in bestowing that favor upon na-
tional Israel, he had illustrated his eternal design to
bestow the true bread, the antitype of the manna, upon
the true Israel, the antitype of that chosen nation :
" Moses," said he, "gave you not that bread from
heaven," meaning the manna, " but my Father," who
gave that, now, under the gospel, " giveth you," in com-
mon with other nations, " the true bread from heaven.
For the Bread of God is he which cometh down from
heaven, and giveth life unto the world." (K) In their
fallen state, the world of mankind are all morally and
legally dead ; (i) and as Christ is the life of all, in every
age and nation of the world, that have ever lived or
that ever will live a life of grace and of justification, (&)
it is obviously true, that he " giveth life to the world,''
though not to all the individuals of it: for some
remain in unbelief and " the wrath of God abideth
upon them." (Z) And although in Christ, " all

(g) Rom. viii. 3. Gal. ii. 19, 20. (h) John vi. 32, 33. () Rom. v.
12, 18. (k) John v. 25. Rom. i '. 2126. Col. iii. 3, 4. (I) John
iii. 36.

the nations of the earth are blessed ;" yet when he
shall come in his glory, and all nations shall be gath-
ered before him, " he shall separate them," not nation-
ally but individually, " as a shepherd divideth his
sheep from the goats ; and he shall set the sheep on
his right hand but the goats on his left, and shall say
to them on his right hand, Come ye blessed, &c. and
to them on his left hand, Depart ye cursed, &c. " And
these shall go away into kolasin aionion, punishment
eternal ; but the righteous into zoen aionion, life eter-
nal, (m) Nor does the type admit of any other ap-
plication : God, indeed, rained the manna in the open
wilderness ; yet for none but his chosen Israel, nor did
any but Israelites live by it ; so, although he sent his
Son into the world, and gave him power over all flesh :
yet none but the elect have grace in him, or live
through him. (n) It is only to the sheep that he gives
eternal life, (p) Believing the Scriptures, none can
believe that all the individuals of national Israel will
be saved, and much less that none of other nations
will be saved ; yet " in the Lord," the Lord Christ,
" shall all the seed of Israel be justified and shall glo-
ry;" (p) by whom, therefore, must be meant the
true Israel of all nations, and who are the spiritual off-
pring of Christ, the antitype of Jacob, the progeni-
tor of national Israel.

Chiefly, however, the manna was a type of Christ,
as he is granted to his people and enjoyed by them,
in the use of instituted means.

The clouds from which the manna was rained, were
a fit emblem of the word and ordinances, from which

(m) OeD. xxii. 18. Matt. xxv. 3134, 41, 46. (n) 2 Tim. i.
9. 1 John iv. 9. (o) John x. 28. and xvii. 2. (p) Is. xlv. 25.
Rom. iv. 16.

we receive our knowledge of Christ, and by means
of which, though mysteriously, he becomes the sus-
tenance of our souls, (q)

The manna seems to have been furnished to the
Israelites through the instrumentality of angels ; (r)
so, in the gospel and its ordinances, Christ is exhibit-
ed to believers through the instrumentality of his
ministers, whom he expressly calls angels, or messen-
gers, as the word signifies, (s) By them, according
to promise, he feeds his people "with knowledge and
understanding" of himself and his fulness ; and there-
by comforts and edifies them, (f) " We" said Paul,
"are helpers of your joy." 2 Cor. i. 24. Apollos
"helped them much who had believed through grace."
Acts xviii. 27. And, by the record of the injunction
delivered to Peter, Christ is still saying to every gos-
pel-minister, Feed my sheep feed my lambs, (u)

The Israelites, though redeemed by the paschal
lambs, never lived on manna, till they were brought
out of Egyptian bondage. So the elect, though re-
deemed by Christ, never live by faith upon him, as he
is the Bread of life, till, being regenerated, they are
delivered from the tyranny of Satan and the bondage
of the law, as a covenant of works : " The life," said
Paul, " which I now live" Now, observe, after his
conversion " I live by the faith of the Son of God,
who loved me and gave himself for me." Gal. ii. 20.

To exercise the faith of the Israelites, and to teach
them their continual dependence upon the favor of
God, the manna, though in store, was not all dispen-

(q) Is. v. 6. Hosea ii. 21, 22. Deut. xxxii. 2. Psal. Ixxii. 6. Eph.
iii. 1619. (r) Psal. Ixxviii. 25. (s) Rev. i. 20. (t) Jer. iii. 15.
Is. xl. i. 2. Eph. iv. 11, 12. (u) John xxi. 1517.

sed to them at once, nor even by the year, or month,
or week, but by the day; and, that spiritual Israelites
may learn to walk by faith, and under an abiding sense
of their needy and dependent condition, their supplies
from Christ are dispensed in a similar manner ; for,
although, " It pleased the Father that in him should
all fulness dwell ;" (w) it is nevertheless, only day by
day, that "our inward man is renewed" from that
fulness, (x) If a surplus of the manna bred worms in
the vessels of the Israelites, how much more would a
super-abundance of gifts and knowledge, or of tem-
poral riches, tend to breed and nourish pernicious
worms in the vessels of our depraved hearts ! Gifts
alone make a man only as sounding brass and a tink-
ling cymbal; 1 Cor. xiii. 1, 2; knowledge puff eth up ;
Chap. viii. 1 ; and the care of this world and the de-
ceitfulness of riches choke the word and render the
hearer unfruitful. Matt. xiii. 7, 22. From the suc-
cess of the Israelites, however, in gathering the man-
na, believers are encouraged to hope, that, in the dili-
gent use of means, God will bestow upon them such
a measure even of temporal blessings, as in their seve-
ral stations, will best promote their real comfort and
usefulness in the church and in the world : " As it is
written, He that gathered much had nothing over ;
having to distribute a part to those who were deficient ;
and he that gathered little had no lack ;" his deficien-
cy being supplied from the abundance of others.
2 Cor. viii. 14, 15. Exo. r xvL 1720.*

To prove their faith and obedience, though the
manna was freely given, the Israelites were required
daily to go out to gather it ; (z) the doing of which im-

(w) Col. i. 19. (x) 2 Cor. iv. 16. * Superior gifts and knowledge,
too, are bestowed on some, for the benefit of others. 1 Cor. xiv.
1 6. Eph. iii. 1 9. and many other places, (z) Exo. xvi. 4.

plied faith in the power and promise of God to furnish
it, and was an act of obedience to his revealed will ;
so although Christ is freely given, God has appointed
means, in the use of which we are to enjoy him ; such
as reading the icord, hearing the gospel, attending or-
dinances, prayer, &c. ; and if our faith is of the right
kind and in proper exercise, it leads us daily to the
Bible and to the Throne, seeking spiritual supplies
from Christ, and, as opportunities are afforded, to pub-
lic means also, believing that God has appointed them,
and that he has connected our growth in grace and in
the knowledge of Christ, with the diligent and prayer-
ful observance of them, (a) Yet, how necessary, alas,
are the exhortations " Search the Scriptures Pray
without ceasing Not forsaking the assembling of
yourselves together, as the manner of some is." (6)
And how deplorably languid, must be ihe faith and
hope and zeal of those professors who, on slight pre-
tenses, can stay at home, time after time, while the
sacred manna is dropping within their reach, and es-
pecially at their own respective places of worship,
where, by church-relation and covenant-obligation,
they are solemnly engaged to be found ! It is, in ef-
fect, saying of Christ, or, at least of his word and
ordinances, as the ungrateful Israelites said of the
manna, "our soul lotheth this light bread." (c)

On the sixth day, preparatory to the Sabbath, there
fell a double portion of the manna, and the people
gathered accordingly, (d) Did this typically signify,
that believers, at the close of life, and the church, in
her latter day glory, should have a double portion

(a) Is. xl. 31, 1 Pet. ii. 2. and 2 Pet. iii. 18. (b) John v. 39.
1 Thess. v. 17. Heb. x. 25. (c) Num. xxi. 5. (d) Exo. xvi. 2226.

a very abundant knowledge of Christ and very large
communications of grace from him, preparatory to the
heavenly, the eternal sabbath '! (e) During the Sabbath,
indeed, as well as other days, the Israelites lived on
manna, yet without the labor of gathering it ; so
" Christ who is our life" on earth, will be our life in
heaven, yet there without any use of means, or efforts
of faith. To signify this, Christ in heaven, is likened
to the golden pot of manna> which, by divine order,
was deposited in the holy of holies. (/)

The Lord also gave the Israelites flesh, and that to
satiety, (g) This likewise has been considered by
some as a type of Christ, whose " flesh is meat indeed
and whose blood is drink indeed ;" but, as the quails
were not, like the manna, from above, and as their
flesh is never, like that bread, called "spiritual
meat," (A) I understand them to have been an emblem
of worldly things, such as riches, honors and sensual
gratifications, of which God, in his Providence, (and
sometimes in a way of chastisement) suffers his peo-
ple to partake, according to their carnal appetites ;
and which, being so granted, like the quails to Israel,
prove, in the end, a plague rather than a comfort a
curse rather than a blessing. At best, they can only
feed the body and gratify the carnal mind ; and, in
many instances, like the residue of the quails, "they
take wings and fly away," while, like the Israelites,
we are yet in the wilderness, (i)

No sooner were the Israelites supplied with bread,
than we find them again in distress for the want of

(e) Psal. xxxvii. 37. Is. xxx. 26. (/) Exo. xvi. 33, 34. Heb,
ix. 4, 24. Rev. ii. 17. (g) Psal. Ixxviii. 29. (A) 1 Cor. x. 3,
(i) Psal. Ixxviii. 30, 31.

water ; and as full, too, as ever of murmuring against
God and against Moses. Yet Moses cried unto the
Lord on their behalf, and the Lord having specified a
certain rock, directed him to smite it with the rod
in his hand, assuring him that water should flow
from it. (&) And, that the miracle, according to pro-
mise, was wrought that water in great abundance
flowed from the rock when smitten, is asserted by the
inspired Psalmist. (/) In this instance, Moses sus-
tained a twofold character: in his intercession, he
typified Christ interceding on behalf of his guilty
people ; but in smiting the rock, he represented God
the Father, smiting with the rod of Justice, the hu-
man nature of Christ, in which, as our substitute, " he
was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for
our iniquities ;" (m) and who, being crucified, became
"a fountain open for sinanduncleaness," and thereby,
a fountain of life and of all grace and spiritual conso-
lation, (n) That such is the mystical signification of
this rock, we have the testimony of an apostle ; and
who also seems to concur with many Rabbinical wri-
ters in asserting, that, as a constant miracle, this rock
itself as well as the water flowing from it, followed
the Israelites through the wilderness ; "they drank,"
saith he, " of that spiritual," that mystical " rock, that
followed them ; and that rock was Christ ;" not liter-
ally, but mystically, as the water flowing from it, was
a type of the gospel and of all spiritual blessings,
flowing from Christ and accompanying the church
during her pilgrimage in the wilderness of the gen-
tiles, (o)

(k) Exo. xvi. 36. (/) Psalm cv. 41. (m) Is. liii. 5, 6, 10.
(n) Zech. xiii. 1. John vii. 37 39. (o) 1 Cor. x. 4. comp. Hosea
ii. 14, 15.

This transaction took place at Rephidim, soon af-
ter Israel left Egypt ; (p) but the water, on account of
their unbelief and rebelion, being stayed, in the first
month of the fortieth, the last year of their wilder-
ness-journey, the same was repeated at Kadesh. (q)
But, as Christ was not literally crucified a second
time, I understand this as typifying that second, that
new opening up of the way of salvation through him,
which will be granted to the Jews in the latter day ;
when the gospel, which, for their unbelief and con-
tempt of the Messiah, has long since been taken from
them, will be restored ; and when he shall pour upon
them " the spirit of Grace and of supplication and they
shall look upon him whom they have pierced and
mourn, (r) And, as the Israelites at Kadesh, witness-
ed those faults and imperfections in Moses and Aaron,
for which God denied them the honor of bringing the
people into Canaan, nay, soon removed them by death ;
so at the time of their calling, the Jews, regenerated
and enlightened by the Holy Spirit, will discover the
incompetency of the Mosaic covenant and the Aaronic
priesthood to bring them to heaven ; and, abandon-
ing both, as being divinely abrogated, will " seek the
Lord their God and David their king," their long
despised Messiah ; " and shall fear the Lord and
his goodness in the latter days." (s)

Next we find Israel attacked by Amalek, a formi-
dable enemy, (t) Amalek, as remarked in the former
discourse,* seems to have been a kind of wandering
monarch, followed by a large host and committing out-

(p) Exo. xvii. 1 7. (q) Num. xx. 1 11. comp. chap, xxxiii.
14, 36. (r) Matt. xxi. 43. Zech. xii. 1014. (s) Num. xx. 12, 13,
24, and xxvii. 1214. Hosea iii. 5. (t) Exo. xvii. 8, &c. * Page 26.

rages wherever he went.* May he not justly be view-
ed as an emblem of Satan, who being " the prince of
the devils," and " the god of the world," has in his
train and under his influence, a large host both of
fallen angels and of wicked men, and who as a ra-
venous lion, walketh about seeking whom he may de-
vour f Hence Amalek, in his attack upon Moses and
Israel in the wilderness of Rephidim, might typify
Satan assaulting Christ in the days of his flesh, and
the church, in the days of her pilgrimage, in the wil-
derness of this world. But as Christ, in person, van-
quished him, the church, by consequence, is secure
of victory over him. (u) This is strongly set forth in
the type, in which Moses and Joshua are strange-
ly united. Moses having given directions for con-
ducting the war, ascended an eminence, with the mi-
raculous rod in his hand, leaving Joshua to fight the
battle. In this remarkable occurrence, therefore, we
have a twofold type of Christ : In Moses we behold
him, as making known his will concerning the spiri-
tual warfare of the church, and then ascending to
heaven, to act as our intercessor there; and though
he has withdrawn the rod of miracles, yet, in Joshua
we behold him, as by his Spirit and Providence, he
is nevertheless, "the leader and commander" of his
spiritual Israel upon earth ; and having all gospel-
ministers and other saints under his direction all the
holy angels, as " ministering spirits," at his command
and "all principalities and powers" whether on
earth or in hell, under his control he cannot possibly
fail of complete and everlasting victory. The suc-

* The author of Dibre, Hajamin makes the army of Amalek to
have consisted of an immense number, all exercising divinations
and enchantments. See Bp. Patrick on Exo. xvii. 8. (u) Matt,
jv. 1 11. Rom. xvi. 20.

cess of Israel depended on the lifting up of the
hands of Moses, on the chosen hill ; and much more
does that of spiritual Israel depend on the lifting up
of the hands of our divine intercessor, on the hea-
venly mount. In Moses, indeed, there was weakness ;
and when, through weariness, his hands hung down,
Amalek prevailed ; which being discovered, he was
placed upon a rock and stayed by Aaron and Hur ;
" so that his hands were kept steady until the going
down of the sun," when the victory in favor of Is-
rael was complete. But Christ, with untiring strength
as well as inflexible fidelity, " ever liveth to make
intercession for us ;" and hence, till the sun of natu-
ral life, in every saint, shall go down in death, and
till the whole day of the church in this world shall
end, his intercession will avail in heaven, while upon
earth, his infinite w r isdom shall conduct the war in
which we are involved, and his almighty grace and
providence fight every battle, in which we shall be
engaged ; for in these he will neither intermit nor
relax, till Satan shall be chained in hell, (w) and
Zion glorified in heaven. (x)

Admitting Amalek to have been an emblem of Sa-
tan, the two kings of the Amorites, Sihon and Og,
maybe viewed as emblems of the world and ihefiesh,
and the Midianites, a set of mungrel Israelites, (y)
with the mercenary Balaam on their side, as prefigu-
ring mystical Babylon, consisting of nominal chris-
tians and encouraged by a venal priesthood; But as
those enemies of national Israel were all conquered
by Moses ; (z) so all the correspondent enemies of

(w) Rev. xx. 110. (x) Eph. v. 27. (y) Gen. xxv. 2. I
Chron. i. 32. (z) Exod. xvii. 1013. Numb, xxi, 2127, and
Chap. xxxi. 1 &

spiritual Israel shall be conquered, nay, destroyed by
our Lord Jesus Christ ; (a) and, as upon the conquest
of their enemies, Israel entered into their promised
inheritance, so, upon the destruction of their body
of sin, "the spirits of the just are made perfect," (b)
and, upon the destruction of mystical Babylon, the
church shall enter into her millenial, and, eventual-
ly, into her heavenly glory, (c)

As with Amalek and with every other enemy, the
Israelites were divinely authorized to maintain per-
petual war, (d) so both the saints individually and
the church collectively are divinely authorized, yea, re-
quired to maintain an unceasing war with Satan
sin the world the flesh, and with all antichristian
principles and practices, till the contest shall issue in
our everlasting victory and triumph, (e)

What if Satan,like Arad,(jf ) succede in taking some
of the camp prisoners 1 They are either hypocrites
whom he may devour, (g) or saints whom, for their
good, he is permitted to buffet. (Ji) And, what if ? like
Amalek, he is suffered to smite and fell some of the
lingering 1 (') Let this remind us that we are in an
enemy's land and excite us to greater diligence ; (&)
or, if some must die by the hand of persecution, they
will only, as were the martyrs before them, be taken
away from the evil to come, and be brought the
sooner to that " rest which remaineth for the people
of God." (I)

(a) Heb. ii. 14. 1 John iii. 8. Rom. vi. 13, and vii. 24/25.
John xvi. 33. Rev. xi. 18. and xviii and xviii. chapters, (b) Heb.
xii. 23. (c) Is. xxv. 7, 8. and xxiv 1, 2. Rev. xix. 7, and chap. xxi.
(d) Exo. xvii. 16. Num. xxi. 33, 35. Deut. vii. 2. (e) James iv.
7. Rom. vi. 12, 13. xii. 2. xiii. 14. 1 Tim. iv. 7, 8. Rev. ii. 10.
(/) Num. xxi. 1. (#) 1 Pet. v. 8. (h) 1 Cor. v. 5. 2. Cor. xii. 7.
(i) Deut. xxv. 18. 2 Pet. iii. 17. {k) 2 Pet. i. 510. (I) Is. Ivii.
1. Htib. iv. 9.

Another and a very instructive instance in which
Moses was a type of Christ, is recorded in the twen-
ty-first chapter of the book of Numbers. Here we
find the Israelites, while compassing the land of Edom,
becoming greatly discouraged, and outrageous in
their murmurings against God and against Moses, for
bringing them out of Egypt, to die, as they supposed,
in the wilderness. Their course was retrograde and
their way rough. "There is," said they, "no water
and our soul lotheth this light bread," meaning the
manna. How similar, alas, are sometimes the condi-
tion and complaints of professors, yea of real saints,
under the present dispensation ! We seem, at times,
to be going backward rather than forward ; our way
is rough full of stumbling stones and unexpected
trials ; the water of comfort fails, and, having lost our
spiritual relish, our souls almost lothe the gospel
itself; yea, like Asaph, we are tempted to think that
even the Egyptians of this world are better off than
we. (ra)

To convince the Israelites of their sin and of their
dependence upon divine favor, " The Lord sent fiery
serpents among the people, and they bit the people,
and much people of Israel died."

In a typical point of view, this historical fact has,
in my humble opinion, been constantly misunderstood.
As far as my reading and hearing on the subject have
extended, it has always been understood as designed
to illustrate the moral depravity infused into our first
parents by the old serpent, the devil, and which, by
ordinary generation, has infected all their posterity
with the mortal poison. This, in itself, is indeed an

(m) Psal. Ixxiii. 3.
11

awful and lamentable truth ; (n) yet not what Is herein
typically illustrated. It is not supported by analogy.
The venom of the old serpent is, in Adam's family,
hereditary ; that of the Jury serpents was only in
those who were personally bitten of them ; the bite
of the old' serpent infused sin ; that of these serpents
was a punishment for sin. Wherefore, I understand
the fiery serpents to have been an emblem of the curse,
including all the evils, temporal and eternal, to which
mankind are liable in consequence of sin; (0) and
their fiery slings as intended to illustrate the effects
of the curse in common, but especially the stings of a
guilty conscience; which, in many instances, are ex-
ceedingly fiery and distressing ; the law is called a
fiery laio, and is said to work wrath ; (j?) the guilt of
having transgressed it, lying upon the conscience, is
" a burden too heavy" for a poor sinner to bear, and
fills him with fearful apprehensions of everlasting
burnings, (q) Conviction, therefore, like the sting of
the fiery serpents, does not communicate sin, but
gives keen distress on account of it. (r)

Convictions are of two kinds ; those which carnal
persons may have, and those which are peculiar to the
regenerate.

The convictions of the carnal may be such as arise
entirely from the light of nature : such are those of
the heathen, who, though they have not the written
law, show the work of the law of nature written in
their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness
whether their conduct, according to that law, be right

(n) Gen. vi. 5. Psal. li, 5. Rom. v. 12. Job. xiv. 4. (o) Gen.
ii. 16, 17. iii. 1619. Prov. iii. 33. Zech. v. 3, 4. Job. xxi. 17.
Prov. xxvi. 2. (p) Context, ver. 2. Rom. iv. 15. (q) Psal. xxxviii.
4. Is. xxxiii. 14. (r) Actsii. 37.

or wrong, and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing
or else excusing, both themselves and one another ; (s)
or they may be such as are produced partly by the
light of nature and partly by the testimony of the Holy
Spirit ; for, as the Spirit strove with [not in] the an-
tediluvians, in the ministry of Noah, and with [not
in] the Jews, in the messages of Moses and the pro-
phets, () so, in the written word and in the labors
of all whom He qualifies to preach, He strives with
[not in] mankind under the present dispensation.
Thus he testifies to them their guilt and condemna-
tion as transgressors of the law ; (u) their aggravated
criminality in disbelieving the record that God has
given of his Son, (to) and that unless born again and
brought to experience " repentance toward God and
faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ," they must perish
for ever, (x) This external testimony of the Spirit,
however, is a very different thing from his internal
work of regeneration. The former, when alone, al-
ways has been and always will be resisted ; (y) but
the latter never has been and never can be rendered
ineffectual. It is a work in which he quickens the
dead, enlightens the blind, and makes the rebelious
willing ; in a word, it is that good work, which having
begun, he will perform, (z)

This will more fully appear while we notice those
convictions which are peculiar to the regenerate.
These, while they include all that is discovered by
the light of nature, and are greatly promoted by the

(5) Rom. ii. 14, 15. (t) Num. xi. 2529. Neh. ix. 30. Zech.
vii. 12. (u) Rom. iii. 19, 23. (w) John iii. 19. 1 John v. 10.
(x) John iii. 7. Acts xx. 21. Luke xiii.3, 5. (y) Ger. vi. 3, 5. Acts
vii. 5153. (z) Eph. ii. 1, 5. 2 Cor. iv. 6. 1 Thess. i. 5, 6. Psai.
ex. 3. Philip, i. 6.

external testimony of the Spirit, arise, nevertheless,
chiefly from a knowledge and experience which, in
the former case, do not exist. Quickened and en-
lightened by the internal operations of the Holy Spi-
rit, the regenerate understand and realize spiritual
things as others neither do nor can. (a) While the
carnal, discovering only the letter of the law, feel con-
victed merely of their actual sins ; the regenerate
discovering its spirituality, perceive, that it requires
purity within as well as without holiness of nature
as well as of life ; and that for their want of confor-
mity to it, as well as for their transgressions of it, they
are under its curse. (&) " By the law" of God, thus
understood, "is the knowledge of sin," and of the
revealed fact, that " by the deeds of the law there shall
no flesh be justified in his sight." (c) Nor does this
knowledge of the law lead a sinner to blame it, as
being too strict, but to commend it and to take all
the blame of his condemnation by it, to himself.
Like Paul, he says, "the law is holy, just, good, and
spiritual, but I," as to my fallen nature, " am carnal ;"
and, being unable to answer the demands of divine
justice against me, like an insolvent debtor or a pro-
scribed criminal, I am " sold under sin." (d) Most
clearly, however, the regenerate discover the excel-
lence of the law in the glass of the gospel. Herein
they behold the Son of God, in human nature, "made
under," and obeying that very law which they have
transgressed and dishonored : and while they learn
the holiness of its precepts from the perfection of his
life, they learn, equally, the righteousness of its pen-
alty, together with the inflexibility of divine justice,
the infinite evil of sin and the wonders of sovereign

(a) 1 Cor. ii. 10, 14. (b) Gal. iii. 10. (c) Rom. hi. 20. (d) Rom.
vii. 12, 14.

LOVE, from his agonizing prayer in Gethsemane and
his dying groans on Calvary, (e)

" The luster of that holy law,
Thus honored, fills our minds with awe ;
And Calv'ry's scenes at once reveal,
More love and wrath than heaven and hell."

As the convictions of the carnal and those of there-
generate, differ in their causes, so also in their results.
Those of the carnal, either prove like the goodness
of Ephraim which was " as a morning cloud and the
early dew" that " goeth away ;" (/) or they drive their
subjects to despair, and in some instances to suicide,
as in the case of Judas. Thus, as under the stings
of the fiery serpents, "much people of carnal Israel
died," and without any knowledge of the typical
remedy ; so, it is to be feared, that many under mere
natural and legal convictions, and after having felt
them more or less, for months or perhaps for years,
at length die without any saving knowledge of Christ,
and consequently under the curse. " The sorrow of
the world worketh death." (g) But the result of those
convictions of sin, which the regenerate feel, is not so :
these indeed, also produce death, but it is a death
which is in order to life ; a death to the law, to all
hopes of salvation by their obedience to it ; and which
is indispensable to an experimental life of justifica-
tion in Christ. (]i) Thus " godly sorrow worketh re-
pentance unto salvation not to be repented of. ({)

The same also further appears in the course taken
by the surviving Israelites ; for seeing that many of
their nation had died under the bite of the serpents,

(e) Matt. xxvi. 36 46. Luke xxii. 39 47. John xix. 30 37.
Rom. iii. 25, 26. 1 Pet. iii. 18. (/) Hosea vi. 4. (g) 1 Cor. x. 9.
2 Cor. vii. 10. (h) Rom. vii. 9. Gal. ii. 1921. (t) 2 Cor. vii. 10.

and sensible, that, as to any thing they could do to
prevent it, they must share the same fate, "the peo-
ple came to Moses," their national mediator with God,
"and said, We have sinned; for we have spoken
against the Lord and against thee; pray unto the
Lord that he take away the serpents from us." So
all truly sensible sinners, informed that Christ is the
only Mediator between God and men, go to him with
similar language : Lord Jesus, say they, we have sin-
ned against the Father, by transgressing his righte-
ous law, and against thee, by hitherto trusting in our-
selves, to the contempt of thy precious blood and
perfect righteousness ; yet now, even now, intercede
for us on the ground of what thou hast done and suf-
fered for guilty, helpless sinners, such as we. "Lord
save we perish 1"

Nor is the type any less appropriate, in regard to
the remedy prescribed. " The Lord said unto Moses,
Make thee a fiery serpent and set it on a pole," a ban-
ner or ensign, as the word signifies ; or on a high
place, as it is rendered in the Targum of Jonathan.
" Moses," obedient to the divine order, " made a ser-
pent of brass," a suitable material for the purpose ; for
being burnished and elevated, when shone upon by the
sun and moved by the wind, it acquired a great likeness
to the fiery flying serpents ; at least, reminded the
Israelites of them and might be seen from all parts
of the camp. That, in furnishing this remedy for
Israel, Moses was a type of Christ, who for the sake
of his people " sanctified," prepared or denoted him-
self, (&) that he might be an effectual remedy against
the deadly curse due to them for their sins, admits of
no doubt ; Christ himself having made the application :
"As Moses," saith he, "lifted up the serpent in the
(k) John xvii. 19. Eph. v. 2.

wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,"
upon the cross, and in the preaching of the gospel ;
"that whosoever believeth on him should not perish,
but have eternal life." (7)

Moses, in preparing this remedy, typified Christ,

1. In his assumption of human nature : for, as the
brazen figure which Moses made, had the form, with-
out the poison of a serpent ; so Christ, though made
in the likeness of sinful flesh, was without sin. (m)

2. In his vicarious sufferings: for, as the brazen
serpent, on the pole, was exposed to the scorching
beams of the sun and to all the effects of beating
storms and tempests, as the means of saving the Is-
raelites from temporal death; so Christ, on the tree
of the cross, was exposed to the fiery curse of God's
righteous law and to the beating storms and tempests
of Satan's last and most rageful assaults, to save his
guilty people from death eternal, (n) Nor was the
form of a serpent chosen for this purpose, without de-
sign : for, being an emblem of the curse, it most fitly
typified him, who (strange to tell) was made " a curse
for us." (o) And,

3. In the exhibition of him in the gospel. Was the
serpent to be exhibited in the wilderness ? In the wil-
derness of this world, Christ was crucified and is to be
preached. Was the serpent exhibited in the most
public manner ; it being raised on a pole and that on
an eminence, where all that had eye-sight might be-
hold itl So Christ is to be preached in the most pub-
lic and explicit manner possible, that all who have
spiritual eye- sight, however weak or small, may see
that he and he only is "the end of the law for right-

(0 John iii. 14, 15. xii. 32, 33. (m) Rom. viii. 3. Heb. iv. 15.
(n) Matt, xxvii. 3944. 1 Pet. ii. 24. iii. 18. (o) Gal. iii. 13.

eousness to every one that believeth." (o) Did the ser-
pent appear the more briliant and manifest by means
of the sun and wind 1 So Christ becomes the more con-
spicuous and attractive, when exhibited in the light of
the gospel, and presented to the understanding of sin-
ners by the ruach, the wind of the Holy Spirit, who
is " the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the know-
ledge of him." (p) Looking to the serpent, implied
a sense of danger and faith in the remedy ; so does
looking to Christ, (q) Did every bitten Israelite, on
looking at the serpent live, that is, receive health and
comfort 1 So every sinner, stung by the guilt of hav-
ing transgressed the law and conscious of deserving
its dreadful penalty, on looking to Christ by faith, re-
ceives spiritual health and unutterable consolation,
(r) Did the remedy thus prepared and exhibited
seem to invite the bitten Israelites to look to it for a
cure 1 So Christ is constantly saying to all capable
of seeing (and which is true only of the regenerate)
" Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the
earth" an invitation applicable to sensible sinners
of all nations, wherever the Bible is sent or the gos-
pel preached, (s) And as there is no evidence in the
history, that any of those who confessed their sins
and for whom the remedy was exhibited, failed of
looking to it and living by it ; so there is no instance
upon sacred record of one, even one, in whom the
good work of regeneration was wrought, who was
not also enabled, by faith, to look to Christ, or who,
looking to him, perished. ()

But while such is the general use proper to be made

(o) Mark xvi. 15, 16. Rom. x. 4. (p) 2 Tim. i. 10. Eph. i. 17.
comp. 1 Kings xix. 11. John iii. 8. (q) Matt. viii. 2. Mark v. 25
28. John vi. 45. (r) Jer. xxxiii. 6. 1 Pet. 1.8. (s) Is. xlv. 22. Matt,
xi. 28. (t) Zech. xii. 10. John vi. 40. 1 Pet. ii. 7.

of this type in public preaching, it has, nevertheless, a
primary and most pertinent and important application
to the visible church in gospel times, of which national
Israel was an illustrious type, (u)

To the murmurings of national Israel, as noticed at
the commencement of this article, the murmurings of
New-Testament professors,those of true believers not
excepted, lamentably correspond.

To the bite of the judicial serpents, answer those
legal convictions and terrors, as also all other distress-
ing visitations which God brings, or suffers to come,
upon his professing people,to awaken them to a sense
of their evil ways, and that they may feel more deeply
their dependence upon his favor in Providence, and,
especially, upon his pardoning and sanctifying grace
in Christ Jesus, (w)

And as " much people of Israel died" under the
judgment of the serpents, there is great reason to be-
lieve, that many of God's own children, though par-
doned and saved through Christ, are, nevertheless, for
their unworthy conduct their worldly mindedness
their ungrateful murmurings and, especially for their
distrust of Christ and their neglect or abuse of his or-
dinances, taken away, by temporal death, as a token
of God's displeasure and as a warning to others. In
this way, even Moses and Aaron, those eminent min-
isters of God, were removed, (x) And for such rea-
sons, many of the Church at Corinth, were "weak
and sickly" in their bodies as well as their souls, and
many slept, not only as sleep denotes spiritual lethar-
gy, but also as it denotes corporal death, (y)

(u) 1 Pet. ii. 9. (w) Psal. Ixxxviii. 1416. 1 Pet. iv. 1718.
Rev. iii. 1420. (x) Numb. xx. 12, 2329, and xxvii. 1214.
(y) 1 Cor. xi. 3032. John xi. 1113.

In the awakening which took place among the sur-
viving Israelites, we have a striking illustration of what
commonly follows in the church, or in any branch of
it, when God, in that judicial manner, calls some
professors away. " When his judgments are abroad
in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn
righteousness ;" and by whom are meant his own
people, who, though not of the world, yet inhabit it ;
and from whom, in the next two verses, the wicked
are distinguished, (z)

As the Israelites considered and confessed their
sins against the Lord and against Moses ; so the
saints, thus awakened, reflect upon and confess their
sins, both against the Father and the Son the law
and the gospel ; and remembering from whence they
are fallen, " They repent arid do their first works." (a)

And as, thereupon, the divinely appointed remedy
was exhibited under a new type, and the penitent
Israelites reprieved and pardoned ; so, to awakened
and penitent saints, the same remedy, Christ crucifi-
ed, is anew revealed, and, for his sake, they are par-
doned and spared for further comfort and usefulness
in the church upon earth : " If we confess our sins,
God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (#)*

(z) Is. xxvi. 911. 2 Cor. vii. 11. (a) Rev. ii. 5. (6) 1 John
i. 9. Comp. Eph. iv. 3032, and v. 14.

* In taking leave of this article, let us learn something even from
the subsequent conduct of the Israelites in regard to the brazen
serpent. That they took it with them, was commendable ; God
having rendered it so eminently useful to them ; but, instead of
preserving it merely as a memorial, " the children of Israel did
burn incense to it." Thus their posterity have not merely pre-
served the letter of the ceremonial law with a commendable care,
but, alas, have pertinaciously continued in the observance of its

Of the law delivered through Moses to Israel, we
take no notice here, as it will be considered in fu-
ture discourses.

In connexion with the delivery of it, however, we

rites ; and which, (the antitype being come and that law being
abolished,) is in God's account no better than idolatry and abomi-
nation. Is. Ixvi. 3. Philip, iii. 3 10. Thus also the papists,
instead of consistently embracing the doctrine of the cross, super-
stitiously idolize the supposed splinters of it; and instead of re-
garding the host as an emblem of Christ crucified, worship it as if
it were Christ himself. But as Hezekiah called the idolized
serpent Nehushtan, apiece of brass, and nothing else ; Paul called
the ceremonial law " a shadow ^of good things to come," and
nothing else; (2 Kings xviii. 4. Col. ii. 17. Heb. x. 1.) and,
in like manner, we affirm of the splinters and of the host idolized
by the papists They are, the former wood, and the latter a wafer ,
and nothing else ; yea, rejecting both transubstantiation and con-
substantiation, we hesitate not to say even of the elements divinely
appointed to be received by communicants at the Lord's table
They are, in their nature, nothing but bread and wine, and, in
their use, nothing but commemorative symbols of the sacred body
and precious blood of our blessed REDEEMER. Matt. xxvi. 26 29.
1 Cor. xi. 2326.

Ner can the words used by our Lord when instituting the Sup-
per, bear any but a similar interpretation. To understand him as
literally saying, This (the broken bread) is my body, when his
body was not yet broken ; and This (the wine in the cup) is my
blood which is shed for many, while it was not yet shed, but was
flowing in his veins, is to understand him (shocking to mention)
as asserting manifest untruths. But, understood as spoken figu-
ratively and by anticipation, his affirmations were just and his
meaning was obvious ; the broken bread was a fit emblem of his
body broken, and the wine a fit emblem of his blood shed, as they
were shortly to be. Compare Ezek. v. 5 ; where God says of the
prophet's shaven head, or rather of a lock of his hair, This is
Jerusalem ; and Luke xxii. 20 ; where Christ says of a vessel, then
in his hand, This cup is the new testament; also Gal. iv. 24 ; where
Paul says of Hagar and Sarah, These are the two covenants. Who
ever understood these assertions literally 1

While on this subject, let it be further observed, how our Lord,

find a part of Israel's history, that must not escape
present remark I mean their lamentable fall into the
idolatry of making and worshiping a calf. Herein
they manifested the basest ingratitude to God and the
highest rebelion against him ; who had said to them,
lam the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out
of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage :
Thou shalt have no other Gods before me. (jf) And
the conduct of Aaron, in particular, in regard to this
affair, was such as abundantly demonstrated both his
own imperfection and that of his priesthood ; also that
whereas the law, the ceremonial law, made men high
priests which had infirmity, sinful infirmity, there was
a necessity for the true High Priest, " who is holy,
harmless and undefiled," and "who needethnot daily,
as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his
own sins, and then for the people's." (g) Here, to
express God's indignation at idolatry, as in the pre-
ceding case, to mark his displeasure at murmuring,
many were judicially cut off; and in both instances,
as a warning to survivors ; yet upon the intercession
of Moses, who, in their behalf, plead their peculiar
relation to God how much the honor of his name
was concerned in their preservation, and especially
his promise and oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
that he would bring their posterity into the land of
Canaan ; nay, tendered his own life for theirs upon
his thus interceding for them, I say, the wrath was
stayed and the residue of the nation spared. (A) How

under a fore-sight of the popish practice of withholding the euchar-
istic wine from the people, solemnly enjoined the contrary : Pre-
senting the bread, he simply said, Take eat ; but, presenting the
wine, he was more explicit, saying, Drink ye ALL of it. Matt.
xxvi. 26, 27.

(/) Exo. xx. 2. (g) Heb. vii. 27, 28. (A) Exo. xxxu.

much, alas, does Idolatry prevail among spiritual Is-
raelites ! And if God had not respect to his own cove-
nant and to our relation to him in it; and especial-
ly, if we had not "an advocate with the Father, Jesus
Christ the righteous," what must be our fate 1 " If
thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O LORD, who
shall stand I But there is forgiveness with thee, that
thou mayestbe feared." (i)

But Moses was also a type of Christ in the erection
of the tabernacle. This, which of itself might fur-
nish matter amply sufficient for a sermon, we must
necessarily treat with great brevity ; other subjects,
less understood,having already enlarged this discourse
to nearly double the length of our prescribed limits,

That the tabernacle, as well as the temple, besides
typifying Christ in his human nature, was a figure of
the church, both on earth and in heaven, is so plainly
revealed and so generally admitted, as to need no
proof. Nor is the analogy here between Christ and
Moses, either doubtful or obscure. See Ser. I. p. 35,36.

As Moses received the pattern of the tabernacle and
of all things relating to it, from God in the mount, and
made it known on his descent ; so Christ having re-
ceived the model of the church in the mount and
council of heaven, in person and by his Spirit in the
prophets and apostles, has revealed it upon earth, (fc)

As all the persons chosen of God either to build
the tabernacle or to officiate in it, were placed under
the direction of Moses ; so all gospel ministers and
all private Christians are to perform their various ser-
vice under the direction of Christ, who is Lord of
all. (I)

(i) Is. liv.7 10. 1 John ii. 1. Psal. cxxx. 3, 4. (k) Dan.
ii. 44. John xviii. 36. Is. Ixii. 12. Matt. v. 14. Gal. vi. 10.
(0 Acts x. 36. Eph.i.32,23.

Again ; as Moses was faithful in executing all his
charge, so is Christ, (n) Hence, as in regard to the
tabernacle, " Moses finished the work," so will Christ
in regard to the church. What was said of Zerubba-
bel concerning the material temple, may well be said
of Christ concerning the spiritual temple ; for having,
by his obedience and sacrifice, "laid the foundation of
this house" in a complete satisfaction to divine justice,
"his hands shall also finish it," in sanctification and
glorification, (o) The chosen materials, though dead
and rough in the quarry of nature, are, by his grace,
all raised and polished and so made " lively stones,"
fit for the spiritual building ; ( p) and thus, although
earth and hell oppose, "he shall bring forth the head-
stone," the last of God's elect, "with shoutings, crying
Grace, grace unto it." (q) And, as Moses had much
honor from his work, Christ shall have much more
from his ; (r) He, " even he shall build" this " temple
of the Lord and he shall bear the glory;" and "when
Christ who is our life shall appear, we also shall appear
with him in glory," and that in the view of the whole
intelligent universe ; for " he shall come to be glorifi-
ed in his saints and to be admired in all them that
believe, (s)

HITHERTO we have considered Moses as a type of
Christ only in the history of his usefulness to Israel,
give nunder the first head of the former discourse ; but,
in conclusion, we must in the same way briefly notice
the interesting manner in which he took his final leave
of them, namely, by pronouncing upon them, the
blessing intended in the text ; it being " the blessing
wherewith Moses, the man of God, blessed the chil-
dren of Israel before," just before "his death."

(n) Numb. xii. 7. Heb. iii. 13. (o) Zech. iv. 9. Eph. v
2527. (p) Is. li. 1. 1 Pet. ii. 5. (?) Zech. iv. 7. (r ) Heb. iii.
3. (s) Zech. vi. 13. Col. iii. 4. 2 Thess. i. 10.

Did Moses pronounce this blessing upon Israel in a
way of prayer 1 Let us remember the mediatory
prayer of Christ for his disciples then living, and for
all who should believe on him through their word, (i)

Did Moses pronounce this blessing upon Israel as a
prophet 1 We have his own testimony, that, as such,
he was but a type of Christ: "The Lord thy God,"
said he to Israel, " will raise up unto thee a prophet
from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me ;
unto him ye shall hearken :" (u) and that this Prophet
is Christ, was revealed both to Peter and to Stephen.
(w) As Moses, in pronouncing this blessing, foretold
the various conditions of the chosen tribes, through-
out the Jewish dispensation ; so Christ in his own
personal ministry, and by his Spirit in the prophets
and apostles, foretold the successive changes of the
Church, hoth prosperous and adverse, to the end of
the world. Of this, any one must be convinced who
reads and believes the scriptures ; and, especially, the
predictions of Isaiah and Daniel ; the twenty-fourth
and twenty-fifth chapters of Matthew ; the Epistles
of Paul to the Thessalonians, and the Revelations
made to John the divine.

Did Moses pronounce this blessing in the character
and with the affection of a pastor ? Let us think of
him who is the true pastor of the Church " the great,
the chief Shepherd and Bishop of our souls." (x)

Was Moses also King in Jeshurun, when he pro-
nounced this blessing ? Let Christians never forget,
that he who is their Intercessor and Teacher, is also
their King ; and that, as God enjoined upon national

(t) John xvii. 20. (u) Deut. xviii. 15. (w) Acts iii. 22. vii. 37.
(z) 1 Pet. ii. 25, v. 4.

Israel, obedience to Moses, so, and much more, he
enjoins upon spiritual Israel, obedience to CHRIST;
saying, " This is my beloved Son, hear him" that
is, hearken to his instructions and obey his precepts.

Finally; As Moses in pronouncing this blessing,
confirmed to Israel what Jacob, by the same Spirit of
prayer and prophecy, had uttered concerning them,
long before ; so all the glorious things, which, by in-
spiration, had been spoken of Zion from the begin-
ning, were renewed and confirmed to her, in the pro-
mises, predictions and prayers of Christ, arid espe-
cially when,like Jacob and like .Moses, he was about to
depart by death. The truth of this remark will force
itself upon every one who carefully reads the four-
teenth and the three following chapters of the Gospel
by John.

Here the parallel ceases. Moses could do no more ;
but Christ could and did : he blessed his people in
his death ; he " was delivered for our offenses ;" and
in his resurrection ; he " was raised again for our jus-
tification." Nay, blessing them, " he was parted from
them, and carried up into heaven." where, as a con-
tinual blessing, " he ever liveth to make intercession
for them." His resurrection, too,was a certain pledge
of the resurrection of all that fall asleep in him. In
this respect he is the first fruits of them that slept.
Moreover, his resurrection was the pattern of ours ;
he shall change our vile body, that it may be fashion-
ed like unto his glorious body. Nor is this all ; for
having transformed his redeemed in soul and body
into his own likeness, he will introduce them into the
kingdom that was prepared for them from thefoun-
dation' of the world, and will there be the medium
both of their glory and of their blessedness to all

ETERNITY.

SERMON in.

THE DELIVERY AXD AUTHORITY OF
THE L.AW.

DEUT. xxxni. 2. And he said. The Lord came from Sinai,
and rose up from Seir unto them ; he shined forth from mount
Paran y and he came with ten thousands of saints : from his rig Jit
hand went a fiery law for them.

HERE begins the subject of the chapter, the title
of which we had in the preceding verse. The sub-
ject consists of two parts : a solemn recognition of
what the Lord had done for Israel, and a prophetic
enunciation of blessings, special and general, which
he designed thereafter to confer upon them ; the for-
mer extending to the end of the fifth verse, and the
latter from thence to the end of the chapter.

In the text, Moses recognizes the Majesty of the
Lawgiver, and asserts three things concerning the
law.

I. He recognizes the Majesty of the Lawgiver.
I say he recognizes it, because in this place he mere-
ly acknowledges or declares what he had seen and
heard of that Majesty on Sinai's awful summit, near
forty years before. It was the Majesty of JEHOVAH
himself: The LORD came from Sinai ; not by loco-
motion, or change of place, for he is omnipresent ;
but by a visible manifestation of his presence. This
was,

98 THE DELIVERY AND [SER. III.

1. Very dreadful. "It came to pass on the third
day in the morning," (as the Lord had said to Mo-
ses,) "that there were thunders and lightnings, and
a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the
trumpet exceding loud ; so that all the people that
was in the camp trembled. And mount Sinai was
altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descend-
ed upon it in fire ; and the smoke thereof ascend-
ed as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount
> quaked greatly." a

By allusion to this, the psalmist in celebrating the
Majesty of God, says "He looketh on the earth
and it trembleth ; he toucheth the hills and they
smoke." b Then it was, that, as related in the
text, The Lord came from Sinai, that is, manifest-
ed himself from thence to Israel : for " Moses brought
forth the people out of the camp to meet with God,
and they stood at the nether part of the mount. And
the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top
of the mount," and that " in the sight of all the peo-
ple." How awful the sight ! One should think the
Israelites could never have lost the impression which
it must have made upon them ; and that it would
for ever have blasted their unbelief suppressed their
murmurings and eradicated every vestage of their
inclination after other gods. Nay if, for a moment,
we could forget the deep depravity of human nature,
and the strength of Satan's instigations, we should
suppose that even the inspired record of that tre-
mendous scene, wherever granted, would have con-
founded arid silenced atheists and deists, and " gain-
sayers" of every description, to the end of time.

a Exo. xix. 9, 16, 18. b Psal. civ. 32. c xix. 17, 20. comp.
v. 11.

SER. III.] AUTHORITY OF THE LAW. 99

And this, indeed, is the very reason which God
himself assigned for thus manifesting his Majesty to
Israel : " The LORD said unto Moses, Lo, I come
unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear
when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever. d
This thick cloud might be designed as an emblem
both of the legal dispensation, which is dark and
threatening, and of that awful obscurity which con-
ceals the divine essence from human ken, and for-
bids our curious pryings into what, of himself or
his decrees, God has not seen fit to reveal. " No
man hath seen God at any time." " Secret things
belong unto the LORD our God ; but those things
which are revealed belong unto us and to our chil-
dren &c." e In himself, God is light ; f yet, with refer-
ence to men, "he holdeth back the face of his
throne, and spreadeth his cloud upon it ;" and " giv-
eth not account of any of his matters."* He came
down in the sight of all the people of Israel ; he
caused them to see and hear what convinced them,
that of a truth his dread Majesty was there : " The
LORD spake" to them " out of the midst of the fire ; 1)
they " heard the voice of the words, but saw no si-
militude." 11 " He made darkness his secret place ;
his pavilion round about him was dark waters, aad
thick clouds." '

Chiefly, however, this vision was designed to estab-
lish the oracular authority of Moses ; which, though
abundantly evinced in Egypt and at the Red sea,
might need this farther confirmation to repress that
unbelief which was the besetting sin of Israel. In

d Ibid. Ver. 9. e John i. 18 and Deut. xxix. 29. 1 John i. o.
* Job. xxvi. 9. and xxxiii. 13. h Deut. iv. 12. 'Psal. xviii. 11.

100 THE DELIVERY AND [SER. HI.

their audience, therefore, and before their eyes, such
an intercommunity occurred between God and Mo-
ses, as bid defiance to unbelief itself. "When the
voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed loud-
er and louder, Moses spake ;" and though what he
then said, was not recorded by him, it was revealed
to an apostle is preserved in the New Testament
and well agrees with the circumstances of the case.
The people had already trembled at the ordinary
sound of the trumpet ; ver. 16. but this waxing loud-
er and louder, became at length, together with the
vision, so terrible, that Moses himself said, " I ex-
cedingly fear and quake." k "And God answered
him by a voice" not " a small still voice," as
most commentators have supposed, but by a very
sonorous and articulate one a voice that might be
heard and understood by all the people ; it being not
only audible, but also intelligible "the voice of
words." 1 None but such a voice could have com-
ported with the promise and design of the vision and
communication ; the LORD having said unto Moses,
Loj I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people
may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee
for ever. Thus addressing him, " the LORD," in the
hearing of all Israel, " called Moses up to the top of
the mount," which neither man nor beast might
touch on pain of death ; " and Moses," in full view of
the people, " went up," which, without such an ex-
plicit call, neither he, nor any other man could have
presumed to do. m And having had these sensible
and indubitable demonstrations of his intercourse
with God, well might his nation thencefonvard regard

k Heb. xii. 21. 'Ibid. ver. 19. m Exo. xix. 19, 20.

SER. III.] AUTHORITY OF THE LAW. 101

him as God's living oracle to them, and believe him
and his writings for ever.*

To believers, it is highly grateful and confirmato-
ry, to find the oracular authority of Moses, and con-
sequently of his writings, thus indubitably established

* The designation too of the seventy elders, who acted in subordi-
nation to Moses, was established in a similar, though less magnifi-
cent manner: " The LORD," agreeable to his antecedent promise to
Moses, " came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of
the Spirit that was upon him," that is, a measure of the same Spi-
rit which more abundantly rested upon Moses, and gave it unto the
seventy elders ; and it came to pass, that when the Spirit rested up-
on them, they prophesied," that is, they immediately possessed and
manifested such wisdom and eloquence as altogether transcended
their natural capacities ; and which was intended as a sign to the na-
tion, that they were chosen and qualified of God to act as coadjutors
to Moses in matters of government. It is added, " and did not
cease," that is, from prophesying. Herein, however, our translation
follows the Chaldee paraphrase, (ppD2 ^Sl) and not the original ; for
the Hebrew (iSD 11 N 1 ?) literally signifies, they did not add ; and which
is favored by the LXX. who render it, OVK en arpooceevTo and they did
not add any more. Hence this clause has generally been interpret-
ed to mean, that they prophesied that day and never afterward.
But as the gift of wisdom, to answer its design; must have re-
mained in them to qualify them for their official work ; it is high-
ly probable that the gift of prophecy, in its kind, remained in them
also, for the purpose of re-confirming the authority by which they
acted, whenever that authority was called in question. Wherefore,
I understand the clause they did not add, to mean, either, that
they did not affect or exaggerate ; but that, in singing, speaking or
acting, however much they were transported above themselves, they
never exceded, as the word also signifies, (2 Chron. ix. 6.) the
impulse of the Holy Spirit upon them ; or, that their prophesying,
aside from the record of the fact itself, added nothing to the pro-
phetic writings ; it being designed merely to show that their call to
the station they were to fill, was of God, and not a pretence of
their own, to secure aggrandizement, nor a device of Moses, to
lessen his own labor. And, accordingly, what they uttered, was not
added to the inspired volume. See Numb. xi. 16, 17, 25.

102 THE DELIVERY AND [SER. III.

by the intercourse which God held with him at Sinai.
How much more, then, should our faith and hope
be confirmed in the gospel, and therefore in Christ
as THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, while we consider
the intercourse which he enjoyed with heaven, and
the testimony thence given of him, at his baptism
and at his transfiguration. Rising from the waters
of Jordan, in which he was baptized, he received
the most illustrious demonstrations of heavenly ap-
probation, in his thus ratifying this ordinance for
the observance of believers in all subsequent gene-
rations, and of the concurrence of the Father and
of the Holy Spirit with him, in all the objects of his
Mission, as the Messiah ; yea more the highest
possible attestation to his divine Sonship, and conse-
quently to his proper divinity : In the sight, not only
of John, the administrator,* but also of the thousands
then and there assembled,f the Spirit, like a dove,
descended upon him,J and in the audience, no doubt,
of all present, the Father, from heaven, proclaimed,
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. 1 "

* This being the sign by which he was to know him. John. i.
3234.

fFor herein he was made manifest to Israel. John i. 31. Comp.
Luke iii. 21, 22.

J Why, in the interpretation of this passage and its parallels, so
many efforts have been made, to exclude the form and retain only
the motion of the dove, I am unable to perceive. Luke says, " The
Holy Ghost descended w/*amtf ItSei, Vei ntptseptv in a corporeal form,
like a dove upon him." That the divine Spirit, on that occasion,
assumed some visible form is evident, and why not that of a dove,
the well-known emblem of innocence 1 Grotius and Dr. Owen,
with much probability, supposed that what was visible was a
bright flame in the shape of a dove.

"Matt. iii. 1517. Mark i. 911. and Luke iii. 21, 22.
omp. John xii. 2830.

SER. III.] AUTHORITY OF THE LAW. 103

The same testimony also was repeated at his trans-
figuration ; when, having taken with him Peter and
James and John, a competent number of credible
witnesses, "into a high mountain apart,* he was"
suddenly metamorphosed " before them ;" so that his
face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white
as the light ; and, behold there appeared unto them,
(that is, unto the three disciples,) Moses and Elias
talking with him, (Christ,) and who, according to
Luke, appeared in glory, in the glory of their heav-
enly forms, and spake of his decease, which he should
accomplish at Jerusalem. The sight so enraptured
Peter, that he seems to have thought it would be
heaven enough to remain there : he " said unto Je-
sus, Lord it is good for us to be here ; if thou wilt,
let us make here three tabernacles : one for thee, and
one for Moses, and one for Elias." " For," accord-
ing to Mark, " he wist not what to say," and, accord-
ing to Luke, he spake, " not knowing what he said,"
so powerful were his mingling sensations of fear and
joy. But, how short the vision ! The glory of heav-
en cannot be sustained by the church on earth the
glorified saints have no need of tabernacles made
with hands nor must the most eminent of them be
trusted in or worshiped. Therefore, while he yet
spake, behold a bright cloud, denoting the divine
presence, overshadowed them, that is, Jesus, Moses,
and Elias, the two latter of whom the disciples saw
no more ; and behold a voice out of the cloud, the
voice of God the Father, which, repeating the testi-

Matt. xvii. 19. Mark. ix. 210. and Luke ix. 2836.

* Doubtless one of the mountains of Israel, but whether Tabor
or Hermon, or any other of those pitched upon by different wri-
ters, is neither certain nor material.

104 THE DELIVERY AND [SER. III.

mony given of Christ at Jordan, said, This is my be-
loved Son, in whom lam well pleased, HEAR YE HIM
him in whom the dispensation of Moses " is abolish-
ed," 1 ' and the predictions of the prophets, repre-
sented by that distinguished one, Elias, are ful-
filled;" 1 and who was thenceforth to be heard, be-
lieved, and obeyed, as the sole oracle and sovereign
of the church. r Wherefore, as that thick cloud,
which appeared on mount Sinai, might be designed
to symbolize the dark and threatening dispensation,
through which God spake to national Israel, by Mo-
ses, this bright cloud, which appeared on the mount
where our Lord was transfigured, might, in like man-
ner, be designed as an emblem of the luminous and
glorious dispensation of the gospel, through which
God speaks to spiritual Israel, by his Son.*

Upon this incontrovertible and unequivocal testi-
mony borne to the divine Sonship of Christ, the
apostle Peter, as one of those who heard it deliver-
ed, still confidently relied, when, in prospect of his
approaching dissolution, he recommended to surviv-
ing saints, an unwavering steadfastness in the faith
of the gospel : " I will endeavour," said he, " that ye
may be able, after my decease, to have these things
always in remembrance. For we have not followed
cunningly devised fables, when we made known un-
to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ, but were eye-witnesses of his majesty. For
he received from God the Father, honor and glory,
when there came such a voice to him, from the excellent
glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased. And this voice which came from heaven

P2Cor. iii. 13. 1 Matt, v. 17. r Psal. ii. 6. xlv. 11. arid
Mark ix. 7. 8 Heb. i. 2.

SER. III.] AUTHORITY OF THE LAW. 105

we heard, when we were with him in the holy
mount." l

From Him, to whose divine Sonship God the Fa-
ther bore this unequivocal testimony, all the writers of
the New Testament received their call to the apostol-
ic office and the instructions and gifts requisit to the
performance of their apostolic work. Paul excepted,
they were all of the original twelve whom He ordain-
ed and sent forth to preach, endued with power to
work miracles, in confirmation both of their mission
and their doctrine. u With the above exception, it
can scarcely be doubted, that they were all among
those who were converted under the ministry and
baptized by the hands of John the baptist, whom
God sent to preach and baptize, w and thereby, in-
strumentally, to make ready a peo2}le prepared for
the Lord, the Lord Christ, x and whom, as soon as he
was made manifest to Israel, they followed. 3 " Nay,
comparing Matt. iii. with chap. iv. 18 22, and Luke
iii. 21, 22, it must seem highly probable, that (ex-
cepting as above) they were all present at the bap-
tism of Christ, and of course that they heard the
voice of the Father proclaiming Him to be his Son ;
and three of them we know heard this proclamation
when it was repeated at the time of his transfigura-
tion. Are they, then, to be charged with unreason-
able credulity for believing that he was THE SON OF
GOD ? It is certain, too, that they were of those
among whom " The LORD JESUS went in and out,"
during the whole of his public ministry, and "to
whom also he showed himself alive after his passion,

1 2 Peter i. 1418. u Mark. iii. 1319. Comp. Matt. x. 14.
and Luke ix. 1, 2, 10. w John i. 6, 7, 33. * Luke i. 17.
y John i. 3549.

106 THE DELIVERY AND [SER. III.

by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty
days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the
kingdom of God." 55 Now, having had such advan-
tages of intimacy with Christ, and having " left all "
their worldly interests, and hazarded their lives for
his sake and in his cause and service, was not their
oral testimony concerning him worthy of credit,
wherever they delivered it? And is not their writ-
ten testimony concerning him equally credible,
wherever it is granted 1

That they did not understand some things spoken
to them by their divine Master while he tabernacled
on earth, is indeed manifest from their own books.
But this, instead of weakening, greatly strengthens
the evidence that they wrote under the infallible
guidance of divine inspiration; for, without such
guidance, they would have remained under those
mistakes, and would have written accordingly ; be-
sides, had they been left to the common dictates of
proud reason, even when their mistakes were made
known unto them, they would not have recorded
them. While, therefore, their mistakes serve to
show that they had no more natural sagacity than
other men, nay, that in some instances they were
specially dull of apprehension and " slow of heart
to believe," their record subsequently made of these
mistakes and of their own and one another's faults,
serves equally to prove, that when they wrote their
books, and which was not till after Christ was glo-
rified, they were under the enlightening, directing,
and constraining, as well as sanctifying influence of
the Holy Spirit. To this, the history of their illu-

2 Acts i. 3. 21.

oER. III.] AUTHORITY OF THE LAW. 107

mination exactly corresponds. For Christ, in human
nature, " being iby the right hand of God exalted" to
heaven, and "having," as Mediator, "received of
the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost," that is,
having received the Holy Ghost according to the
Father's promise, a He, agreeably to his own promise
made to his apostles, b " shed forth" the same up-
on them ; and which was, in .them, the Spirit of
truth, to guide them into all the truth* to ena-
ble them to understand, as well as to remember all
things which he had spoken unto them, 6 to guide
them into the true design and reference of Old Tes-
tament types and predictions, which, therefore, can
only be gathered with certainty from the New Tes-
tament ; f and, especially to reveal to them whatever,
in regard to doctrine, ordinances, Christian duties or
church-discipline, was farther requisit, to complete the
sacred canon, the only Rule of our faith and prac-
tice ; s also as a Spirit of prophecy, to show them
and to foretell by them, things to come, even to the
end of the world.*

a Psal. Ixviii. 18. b John xv. 26, and xvi. 7. c Acts. ii. 33.
dJohn xvi. 13. c Ibid xiv. 26. f Luke xxiv. 44 46. Acts iii.
21, and the Epistle to the Hebrews. * 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17.

* Hence appears the great mistake of those who interpret this
promise with reference to all the regenerate under the present dis-
pensation. For if they were all guided by the Spirit into all the
truth, they would, of course, all understand every part of revealed
truth exactly alike ; whereas, not to speak of different denomina-
tions of professed Christians, even in any one denomination of
them, scarcely can two individuals be found, either among
public teachers or private professors, who thus perfectly agree in
their understanding of the doctrine and precepts of revelation.
But, understood as it was meant, that is, with reference to the
writers of the New Testament, this promise was evidently verified :
for although, being all men of like passions with others, (Acts xiv,

108 THE DELIVERY AND [SEE III.

Nor should it be overlooked, that the Holy Ghost
thus shed down on the day of Pentecost, and given
to the apostles to guide them into all the truth, was
also at the same time given to them, and probably to
all the rest of the hundred and twenty disciples, (then
specially according in faith and hope of the promise,)
in his miraculous gifts, by which the donation was
rendered visible and mdubitable. As a sign to them-
selves and to one another, the Spirit, in the likeness of
fire, and in the form of cloven tongues, (an emblem
of the divers languages in which they were to preach
the gospel) sat visibly on each of them. And they
were all jilled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak
with other tongues tyc.* And, as a sign to the

15.) they, as such, differed sometimes in opinion, and in some cases,
adopted measures dictated by carnal policy, by which they vainly
hoped to serve the cause of Christ, (Acts. xvi. 3.) or, at least, to
secure themselves from reproach and persecution ; (Acts. xxi. 22
26. and Gal. ii. 11 14 ;) yet, in writing their respective histories
and epistles, while, in divine sovereignty, their stile and manner
were preserved sufficiently distinct while some recorded facts
which others, for this reason, were caused to omit and while, as
occasion required, one enlarged more on this doctrine, duty or privi-
lege, and another on that, they were all, in regard to matter, so con-
stantly under the infallible guidance of the Spirit of truth, that we
hazard nothing in affirming, that, rightly interpreted, they never,
on any subject, contradict themselves or one another. The
judgment which Paul, on a matter of difficulty in the church at
Corinth, gave without commandment or revelation from the Lord,
only furnishes additional evidence, that he was guided by the
spirit of truth ; for though he inserted it in his inspired epistle, he
carefully excepted it from what he wrote by inspiration. 1 Cor.
vii. 6. 25.

* Whether this is said of the twelve only, or of the seventy
also, or of all the hundred and twenty mentioned, Chap. i. 15, has
been a question among commentators and critics. The context

SEC. III.] AUTHORITY OF THE LAW. 109

multitude, whom the rumor thereof presently brought
together, this miraculous gift of tongues then con-
furnishing no clue in favor of the second opinion, we pass it with-
out farther remark. For restricting this miraculous afflatus to the
twelve, a plausible argument has been raised from the verbal con-
nexion between the last verse of the preceding chapter and thejirst
verse of this; proceding on the assumption that the apostles, re-
stored to their original number of twelve, by the accession of Mat-
thias, are exclusively meant by the all, here said to have been with
one accord in one place. But the subject of the sacred historian
being manifestly the assembly of the disciples, which, including
others with the eleven and the seventy, consisted of about a hun-
dred and twenty, the account concerning Matthias, is but a part
of their continued history ; he being added to them^ by being added
to the eleven who were of them. The farther narration, therefore,
(Chap. ii. 1 &c.) that " when the day of Pentecost was fully
come they were all with one accord in one place," and that the
Spirit, assuming a visible appearance, sat on each of them, must
be understood, not of the twelve only, nor yet of all the disciples
then at Jerusalem, but of the hundred and twenty, specially treated
of by the historian.

Hence, although this number included more than the twelve
and the seventy, it does not follow that it included women,
as supposed by Dr. Gill, on verse 4, and by Dr. Doddridge,
on verse 3, note d. For, although at the place where they
abode, from the ascension of Christ, till the day of Pentecost,
the apostles, (ver. 14.) " all continued with one accord in prayer
and supplication with the women," those godly women who
followed Christ from Galilee, and were at his cross and at his
grave, among whom was Mary the mother of Jesus.. . and with his
brethren, his kinsmen after the flesh, who being converted from
their former prejudices, (John vii. 5.) were among his disciples ;
yet the hundred and twenty to whom Peter addressed his speech
concerning the election of one to supply the place of Judas, were
evidently all males ; for in ver. 16, he calls them men and bre-
thren ; and indeed the 15th verse itself, on which those of the con-
trary opinion chiefly rely, may safely be so interpreted as to con-
tribute to the support of our argument ; for, as Dr. Lightfoot ob-
serves, the names there mentioned may justly be taken, not only
for persons, as all agree, but for men, (as in the Syriac version,) nay,

110 THE DELIVERY AND [SEC. III.

ferred by the Spirit, was immediately employed in
their hearing and to their great amazement : They

for men of name, or distinction, (as suggested by the Arabic,) and so
as denoting, besides the apostles, emphatically the seventy, and other
brethren already distinguished by grace and gifts ; probably all min-
isters of the word, who had companied with the apostles, all the time
the Lord Jesus went in and out among them, ver. 21 ; and of whom,
he gave Peter to know, that one must be chosen to the apostleship,
and on whom, as on the Apostles, (making in all about a hundred
and twenty,) he then, by the Spirit, conferred the gift of tongues,
that they might preach the gospel intelligibly to all the nations among
whom he designed to send them. For the same purpose, and in
like manner, that is, without human instrumentality, he bestowed
the gift of tongues, in the first instance, upon gentiles also. Acts
x. 46. Afterward, it was given by the laying on of the apostles'
hands. Acts. viii. 15 17, and xix. 6. Thus, as by the miracu-
lous confusion of tongues, the seed of the Jirst Adam were scat-
tered to people the world ; Gen. xi. 7, 8, and Deut. xxxii. 8 ; so,
by the doctrine propagated by this miraculous gift of tongues, the
seed of the second Adam are gathered to people the church. John
xvii. 20. and Eph. i. 1 0. The former, in point of fact, defies in-
Jidelity itself; for none can deny that language, originally one, has,
according to Gen. xi. 1. 9. become multiplied into many. But the
latter, as a miracle, is no greater than the former, and therefore
is equally credible.

Concerning this famous hundred and twenty, let it be farther
observed

1. That they were not, as some have thought, all the disciples of
Christ then living; for, of " above five hundred brethren," to
whom, after his resurrection, he appeared at once in Galilee, " the
greater part remained" even down to the time when Paul wrote
his first epistle to the Corinthians ; Chap. xv. 6, compared with
Matt, xxviii. 10.

2. That they (the 120) were not only distinguished among the
disciples, by a remarkable steadfastness in the truth and devoted-
ness to God, but favored also with an extraordinaiy faith in the
promise of the Spirit's descent, and probably, too, with some in-
timations that the approaching day of Pentecost was the time ap-
pointed for its fulfilment; and hence, on that day they were
all in one place, waiting for it, with an accordance in faith

SEC. III.]. AUTHORITY OF THE LAW. Ill

said one to another, Behold, duly observe this strange
fact are not all these which speak Gallileans I all

and hope and prayer, peculiar to themselves. See Luke xxiv. 49.
and Acts i. 4, 5. And,

3. That to suppose, as some do, that they (the 120) were all the
disciples of Christ then- at Jerusalem, is utterly unreasonable ; for
the promise of the Holy Ghost being commonly known among
them, and the time being the first day of the week, when they
were accustomed to meet together, nay the great day of Pente-
cost, when specially the expectation of its fulfilment, however faint-
ly, might prevail among them, they no doubt, male and female, as
generally as possible, repaired to Jerusalem, where the favor was
to be granted, and convened with the hundred and twenty, though
inferior to them in their faith and hope of the promise, and in the
part which they shared in the donation. Probably others also,
both citizens and foreigners, from motives of curiosity, attended
the meeting : for otherwise, how came the wonder to be poised
abroad ? Unless, indeed, " the sound from heaven," that came
"like a rushing mighty wind" announced it.

Nor does the number of the assembly hereby supposed, imply
any objection ; for the place in which they met, was not any pri-
vate mansion in the city, but the temple, the house of God ; for
had they not met there on that day, how could their meeting
there on successive days be called, as in verse 46, a continuing
daily in the temple ? The suggestion of some, that the Jews would
not have permitted it, vanishes at the recollection that HE whose
" dominion ruleth over all," could with infinite ease restrain
their opposition, that the transactions of that notable day, by their
occurring at the temple, might be the more public and the less lia-
ble to contradiction. Thereby also, he literally fulfilled his an-
cient promise, " My house shall be called a house of prayer for all
people ;" Is. Ivi. 7 ; there being at that time some devout persons
in it " out of every nation under heaven," or of the then known
world. Acts ii. 5.

To this general view of the case, (and in my opinion to no oth-
er,) all the recorded events of that memorable day harmoniously
correspond. The apartment of the temple then occupied, was
not the upper room, mentioned Acts i. 13 ; for admitting that to
have been a room of the temple, (and which, from Luke xxiv. 53,

112 THE DELIVERY AND [SEC. III.

men of the same province and illiterate men too,
knowing, heretofore, no language but their own, and

is probable,) it was, as the context shows, the place where the apos-
tles, and some other disciples of both sexes abode during
the interval of ten days between the ascension of Christ
and the descent of the Spirit, and not the place of their assem-
blage on the day of Pentecost. Indeed, recollecting that in
the language of scripture, the temple sometimes denotes any
or all of the buildings that were within its surrounding wall ;
(see Matt. xxi. 12 14, and John viii. 2, 3 ;) it is not neces-
sary to understand that the meeting in question, was held in any
room of the temple, properly so called, or that any one of them
was large enough for the purpose ; but probably in " the great
court," the court of Israel, which included " the court of the
priests ;" the two being separated only by a low partition, which
although it served for distinction, was no obstruction to sight or
hearing ; and which together, according to Joseplms and the Tdl-
mudic writers, extended a hundred and eighty-seven cubits, from
east to west, and a hundred and thirty-Jive from north to south ;
that is, allowing, as is commonly done, 21.889 inches, or about
21 f inches to the cubit, it formed a vast oblong of near 400 feet
by about 244. See 2 Chron. iv. 9. and Dr. Lightfoot's works, Vol.
1. p.p. 1088. 1090. Also " Antiquities of the Jews," by Wm.
Brown, D. D. Vol. 1. p. 49.

This spacious inclosure being under the care of the Levites, the use
of it might the more readily be granted to the disciples through the
influence of Barnabas, generally believed to have been one of the
seventy, and who was a Levite, Acts iv. 36. Moreover, its adjacency
to the still larger court, commonly called the outer court, or the
court of the Gentiles, easily accounts for the convenient approach
of the multitude, where, in divers languages, they heard the mi-
raculous gift exemplified, at which those who understood the lan-
guages spoken, were amazed, while others, in their ignorance,
mocked and subsequently, in their native language, the sermon
preached by Peter, under which three thousand of them were con-
verted. And the gifts of the Spirit being excedingly various,
(1 Cor. xii. 4 11.) while the hundred and twenty, by the mira-
culous gift of divers tongues, were enabled intelligibly to address
those present of whatever nation, the other disciples, male and fe-

SER. III.] AUTHORITY OF THE LAW. 113

that but imperfectly And how hear we every man
of us, one or more of them speaking correctly in
our own tongue, wherein we were born. Nay, hav-
ing admitted that although, by descent, they were all
Jews, yet that, by nativity and language, they were
of fifteen different countries, they repeat and there-
by confirm the matter of their amazement, saying,
We, diversified as we are in our languages, do se-
verally hear them, with a correspondent diversity,
speak in our respective tongues, the wonderful works
of God. Astonishing indeed ! But they spake as the
Spirit gave them utterance. Others," neverthe-
less, "mocking said, These men are full of new
wine." What, a fit of drunkenness give them the

male, were so filled with the consolations and so increased in
the ordinary gifts of the Spirit, that in the sense of Joel's predic-
tion, these sons and daughters of Israel these servants and hand-
maidens of the Lord, all prophesie d. Of the males, some preach-
ed and others exhorted, each of which is prophesying ; 1 Cor. xiv.
3 ; and of the rest male and female, probably some, like Deborah,
(Judges iv. 4.) like Simeon, (Luke ii. 25 35.) like the four virgin
daughters of Philip, (Acts xxi. 9.) and, like Agabus, (ver. 10, 11.)
foretold events; others, like Miriam, (Exo. xv. 20, 21.) and, like
some in the church at Corinth, (1 Cor. xiv. 2, 5.) might have
the gift of extemporizing in poetry ; some, like Anna, (Luke ii.
36 38.) might in a rapturous manner give thanks, and in an
edifying way talk of Jesus ; and others, nay, at intervals, all to-
gether, might sing and pray in the Spirit, which, in males or fe-
males, is to prophesy. 1 Chron. xxv. 1 3. and 1 Cor. xi. 4, 5.
Similar meetings, in regard to the abundant consolations and or-
dinary gifts of the Spirit, have occasionallly been enjoyed by the
saints in ail successive generations, and such will be more frequent
in the latter days. See Joel ii. 28, 29, which only began to be
fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. Acts. ii. 16 18.

An honest desire to silence gainsayers to check fanatics and
to assist Christians, it is hoped will be considered a sufficient apology
for the inconvenient length of this note.

114 THE DELIVERY AND [SER. III.

knowledge of languages ! A short way, to be sure,
for a man to become a linguist ! Yet this is but a
genuine instance of infidel wisdom ; which often ad-
mits the grossest absurdities, rather than the probable,
nay, well authenticated facts of divine revelation.
In palliation, however, of their offense, let it be re-
collected, that these mockers were not of those Jews,
convened from the several countries, in the respec-
tive languages of which the disciples spake, but oth-
ers, natives of Judea, who understood no language
but that which was then common among themselves,*
and to whom, therefore, the foreign languages mira-
culously spoken by the disciples, were wholly unin-
telligible, and so might be taken, by them, for the
mere cant and gibberish of men intoxicated, perhaps
too, they had, at that moment, forgotten the hour,
by adverting to which the apostle Peter refuted and
silenced the calumny. " These," said he, " are not
drunken as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour
of the day," that is, nine o'clock in the morning ;
whereas, no Jew making any pretensions to religion,
or even to common decency, used any inebriating li-
quor till after morning prayer, the stated time of
which ended at the fourth hour, ten o 'clock. ,f

Hitherto, (save in notes) we have excepted Paul;
he not being converted till after the ascension of
Christ to heaven and the descent of the Spirit on
the day of Petecost. But although he was not, like
the original ticelve, called to the apostleship while
Christ was upon earth ; and therefore spake of him-
self as, in this respect, "one born out of due time,"

* Which is generally supposed to have been the Syriac OF
Chaldee.
f Chaldee Paraph, on Eccl. x. 17.

SER. III.] AUTHORITY OF THE LAW. 115

an abortive ; b he, nevertheless, had all the qualifica-
tions of an apostle, nay, in one particular exceded all
the rest. They indeed saw Christ after his resurrec-
tion, and at the time of his ascension, c but Paul saw
him after he was glorified : and who said to him, " I
have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make
thee a minister and a witness," that is, of his resur-
rection ; a minister, a preacher of the word, he might
have made him, by bestowing on him grace and
gifts, without appearing to him in person ; but not a
competent witness of his resurrection, and therefore
not an apostle/ To this Paul had respect, when,
to silence those who denied his apostolic authority,
he said, Am I not an apostle ? Have I not seen
Jesus Christ our Lord ? e That in spiritual gifts, he
was not inferior to any of the rest, must be evident
to every one who attentively reads THE ACTS OF
THE APOSTLES, written by Luke. And though, in
consideration of his former blasphemy of Christ and
persecution of the church, he accounted himself " the
least of the apostles," yea, "not meet to be called
an apostle;" yet, in commendation of the grace of
God bestowed upon him, he said, " I labored more
abundantly than they all," that is, more than any
one of them all probably he traveled and preached
more, and the number and length of his epistles
prove that he wrote more. f

How absurd, then, as well as impious are all the
attempts of deistical writers, to reduce the credibility
of Moses and the prophets, and of Christ and his
apostles, (the latter constantly referring to the for-

. l Cor. xv. 8. c Matt, xxviii. 16, 17. Luke xxiv.
5052; and Acts i. 3. a Acts x. 41. e 1 Cor. ix. 1. f 1 Cor.
xr. 9, 10.

116 THE DELIVERY AND [SER. HI.

mer, as inspired of God,) to a par with that ofNuma,
Mahomet, the pope of Rome, and other impostors.
Both Numa and Mahomet claimed, indeed, to have
intercourse with God, the former by the nymph Ege-
ria, and the latter by the angel Gabriel, but neither
had or even pretended to have, either an eye or an ear-
witness to the fact ; whereas the intercourse which
God held with Moses at Sinai the testimony which
he bore to the divine Sonship of Christ at Jor-
dan and the exemplification of the gift of tongues
conferred on the apostles, with others, at the day of
Pentecost, were all witnessed and acknowledged by
thousands. And though the pope has claimed to be
the vicar of Christ, and to possess infallibility, all
the pretended miracles by which he and his legates
have endeavoured to establish his credibility, have
been useless trifles have been performed either in
private, or among groups of his credulous devotees,
or, at least, only in countries subject to his jurisdic-
tion, where, to avow a scruple, or even to examine a
case, would have been to hazard life ; wherefore
they are justly believed to have been all mere
juggles, or " lying wonders" as they are called by
an inspired apostle ; 2 Thess. ii. 9. But the mira-
cles of Moses in Egypt, at the Red sea, and in the
wilderness those of Christ in the land of Judea
and those of his apostles, performed in his name,
both there, and afterwards in the gentile world, were
all important and useful and though wrought in
public, and, therefore, open to the investigation both
of the friends and foes of the Christian cause, the
reality of them was never denied by either. On the
contrary, even the chief priests and pharisees, those
bitterest enemies of Christ, said of him, "This

5ER. III.] AUTHORITY OF THE LAW. 117

man doeth many miracles ;" John xi. 47 ; and of
his apostles, Peter and John, " What shall we do to
these men 1 for that a notable miracle (the healing
of the impotent man) hath been done by them is man-
ifest to all them that dwell at Jerusalem, and we
cannot deny it." Acts iv. 16. Nay more, their fool-
ish and blasphemous attempt to account for the mir-
acles of Christ, by imputing to him a collusion with
Satan, was itself admitting the actual occurrence of
the miracles, and that they were the effects of super-
human power. g But, could Satan himself raise the
dead 1 Let modern infidels, then, like ancient magi-
cians, confess This is the finger of God. Exo. viii. 19.

Having thus considered some of the internal evi-
dences of the inspiration of the scriptures, without
offering any other apology for this long digression,
than the importance of the subject which it embra-
ces, I return to the text, confirmed in the belief, that
it is not only the language of Moses, but of Moses
speaking as he was moved by the Holy Ghost.

The manifestation of the divine Majesty [herein
recognized, was not only very dreadful, but

2. Very glorious : The Lord who came from Si-
nai, rose up from Seir, alluding to the rising of the
Sun ; he shined forth from mount Par an, like the
Sun pursuing his course and shining in his strength.

For these expressions, The Jerusalem Targum,
as noticed by Bp. Patrick, accounts thus : " When
God," saith the Targumist, " came down to give the
law, he offered it on mount Seir to the Edomites ;
but they refused it because they found in it, Thou
shalt not kill ; they being much given to war and

8 Matt. xii. 22 32.

118 THE DELIVERY AND [gER. III.

blood-shed. Then he offered it on mount Paran to
the Ishmaelites, who also refused it because they
found in it, Thou sJialt not steal, a vice very com-
mon among them. And then he came to mount
Sinai and offered it to Israel, and they said, "All
that the LORD shall say we will do." Now, although
this gloss is merely a strange and unauthorized con-
ceit, I have thought proper to mention it, partly for
its antiquity, but chiefly because it so aptly serves to
illustrate the true reason why such multitudes of
mankind, on one pretence or other, reject the Bible;
namely, because it forbids vices, to the pursuit of
which they are strongly inclined, and enjoins du-
ties, to the observance of which they are decidedly
opposed. And though many, while filled with dread
under alarming sermons, like the Israelites, when
they heard the book of the covenant," say, "All
that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient ; h
yet, like them, they soon relapse into former sins ;
and so, like the Scribes and Pharisees in the days of
Christ, " they say, and do not." i It is certain how-
ever, that these manifestations were made, not to the
Edomites, nor to the Ishmaelites, but to the chil-
dren of Israel. Of them Moses had spoken in ver. 1 ;
and here, continuing their history, he says, " The LORD
came from Sinai and rose up from Seir unto them"
unto them, observe, and not to some other people.

The words plainly evince that at each of the pla-
ces named, God had appeared to Israel in some mag-
nificent manner, or in some marvellous work. The
facts, too, are upon record. At Sinai, as noticed
already, he gave them very terrible, and yet very

h Exo. xxiv. 7. 'Matt, xxiii. 3.

SER. III.] AUTHORITY OF THE LAW. 119

glorious indications of his presence. The thick
cloud in which he descended, the fearful thunders
and lightnings which proceded from it, and the
convulsion of the whole mountain beneath it, all de-
clared that God was there. At Seir when they were
compassing the land of Edom, his providential pre-
sence with them was manifested, both in the judicial
death of many and in the miraculous preservation of
the residue, equally liable the former by the stings
of fiery serpents, sent among them as a scourge for
their murmurings, and the latter by a sight of the-
brazen serpent prescribed as the sovereign and only
remedy. k And at Paran, he granted them repeated
manifestations of his presence and tokens of his fa-
vor. There the cloud first rested when they had re-
moved from Sinai, 1 there the Lord instituted the
order of the seventy elders, as helps to Moses, and
descending in a cloud, conferred on them their re-
quisit qualifications, m and from thence, by his com-
mand, the spies were sent to reconnoiter the pro-
mised land. n Moreover, between Paran and To-
phel, and probably at the foot of the former, Moses,
led by divine inspiration, rehearsed the law to them
that is, delivered to them what is contained in this
book.

Nevertheless, it is not improbable, that in these
figurative expressions, Moses referred to something
which, at the giving of the law, was common to all
those places ; for, as the rising Sun, to which there
is a manifest allusion, instantly illuminates distant
hills, so God manifesting his glory on Sinai, might

k Numb. xxi. 49. See Ser. I. p. 28, 29. and Ser. II. p. 8191.
1 Num. x. 11, 12. m Ibid. xi. 16, 17, 25. " Ibid.xiii. 3. Deut.
i. 1,3. also chapters iv. and v.

120 THE DELIVERY AND [SER. III.

extend its refulgence to those neighbouring moun-
tains, and in their reflection of it, might seem to rise
up from Seir and to shine forth from Par an. Comp.
Hab. iii. 3, 4.

Nor must we forget his tributary glory, arising
from his retinue on that solemn occasion ; he came
with ten thousands of saints, holy ones, by whom
are meant the myriads of angels who then attended his
presence and subserved his design : for they were
not only his attendants, but his ministers also, at the
delivery of the law the laic was given by the dispo-
sition of angels, and ordained by them,* in the hand of
a mediator, namely Moses* p It is worthy of remark,
too, that, HE who only descended on mount Sinai,
DWELLS in mount ZION, and that here, in token of su-
perior favor, he employs twice the former number of
his angelic ministers : " This is the hill which God
desireth to dwell in ; yea the LORD will dwell in it for
ever." And here, as if to signify, that, compared
with national Israel, the gospel church is more hon-
orable and more secure, " The chariots of God are
twenty thousand, even thousands of angels :" nor
have they the charge alone : the LORD is among them,"
to direct their ministrations, " as in Sinai, so in the
holy place," the church. q

Moses having recognized the Majesty of the Law-
giver, manifested at the time of his descent on mount
Sinai,

II. Asserts three things concerning the law which
heathen delivered.

* They being employed in preparing and setting in order the ta-
bles on which the law was written, as we are assured they were in
the articulation of its words. Heb. ii. 2.

P Acts vii. 53. Gal. iii. 19. 1 Psal. Ixviii. 16, 17.

SER. III.] AUTHORITY OF THE LAW.

First, whence it preceded, to wit, from the hand,
the right hand of God -from his right hand went a...
law. It was conceived, indeed, in his mind, and was
given as an expression of his moral perfections ; yet,
by allusion to a man's writing or engraving with his
right hand,, this law is said to precede from the right
hand of the Law-giver, because by him it was writ-
ten or engraven upon tables of stone ; " the tables
were the work of God, and the writing was the writ-
ing of God graven upon the tables." r Moreover, as
the right hand is the more powerful and honorable, 8
the law might be said to emanate from the right hand
of God, to denote its supreme authority and moral
excellence; for although, to fallen man, it is "the
ministration of death and condemnation," yet, in refer-
ence to its author and matter, it is emphatically glori-
ous.*

By these remarks, all must perceive that I under-
stand the term law in this place, with restriction to what
is eommonly called the moral Iaw 9 the law consist-
ing exclusively of the decalogue, the ten command-
ments ; that being all that was written or engraven
on the tables, that were delivered from the hand of
the Law-giver. Deut. v. 22. and x. 4.*

r Exo. xxxii. 16. 8 Ibid. xv. 6. Psal. xliv. 3. * 2 Cor. iii. 7. 9.

* The Judgments given in the Judicial law, and the rites en-
joined in the ceremonial law, were, it is true, also from God, and
by his authority were binding upon Israel. Of the former, which
are chiefly recorded in the book of Exodus, he said to Moses,
These are the judgments which thou shalt set before them ; Exo.
xxi. 1 ; and of the latter, most of which are contained in the
book of Leviticus, Moses having written them, bears this testimo-
ny These are the commandments which the LORD commanded Mo-
ses for the children of Israel in mount Sinai ; Levit. xxvii. 34 ;
mount Sinai here and in chap. xxv. 1. meaning, however, not

122 THE DELIVERY AND [SER. III.

Secondly, for whom this law, at that time, went
forth from the hand of God ; to wit, for the peo-

strictly the mountain so called, from which the commandments of
the moral and the judgments of the judicial law were delivered,
but the wilderness in which that mountain stood ; see Numb. i. 1 ;
for these ceremonial commandments were not given till after the
Tabernacle was erected, out of which they were delivered, and to
the service of which they belonged. Levit. i. 1. Nevertheless,
these Judgments and Rites were not, like the ten commandments,
written by the finger of God, Exo. xxxi. 18 ; nor, like* them,
spoken out of the midst of the fire. Deut. v, 22. They were writ-
ten by Moses, as he received them from the mouth of God ; Exo.
xxiv. 4. xxxiv. 27. and Levit. i. 1 ; and though, in Exo. xxiv. 7.
the judgments, (probably with the moral precepts,) and, in 2 Kings
xxiii. 2, 21. these arid the ceremonial Rites together, are called
the book of the covenant, the obligation of Israel to observe the
whole, was, notwithstanding, founded in the moral part, by which
they were bound to acknowledge JEHOVAH alone as their God, and
consequently to obey him in all he should require of them.

The moral law was the first that God delivered to Israel at Sinai.
It was on their literal (not spiritual) observance of this law, that he
suspended his grant of all the temporal blessings, by which he
promised to distinguish them as a nation, and to the enunciation
of which they replied, " All that the LORD hath spoken we will do."
And these mutual declarations considered, (all that has been said
to the contrary notwithstanding,) this law is justly called a cove-
nant. Exo. xix. 5, 8. and Deut. v. 2. Comp. Is. i. 19, 20. Nay,
the very words which God himself wrote upon the tables of stone,
are expressly denominated the words of the covenant, the ten com-
mandments, (Exo. xxxiv. 28) arid the tables themselves, the tables
of the covenant which the LORD made with Israel. Deut. ix. 9.
While therefore, by divine appointment, the judicial law, adapt-
ed to the civil state of Israel, and the ceremonial law equally
adapted to their ecclesiastical state, became appendages to the ori-
ginal covenant, the moral law inviolably remained the basis, to
which, without the repeal or infraction of any of its injunctions,
the judgments certainly, and, by consequence, the ceremonies
also, in the tenor of their words, or precepts, harmoniously cor-
responded. Exo. xxxiv. 27. And accordingly, thenceforward the
whole constituted the book of the covenant which God made with
that people, and by which they were to be governed in morals, pol-

SER. 111.] AUTHORITY OF THE LAW. 123

pie of Israel ; " from his right hand went forth a. . .law
for them." To account for this restrictive clause,

itics, and religion. See 2 Chron. xxxiv. 30, 31. and comp. Mai.
i. 6 14. ii. 1 17.iii. 7 14. andiv. 4: also Heb. viii. 9. and ix. 1.
Hence it may be inferred with certainty 1. That while this com-
plex and temporary covenant remained in force, no Israelite, by right-
ly observing any precept of the judicial or of the ceremonial law,
violated any command in the moral law, rightly understood. 2.
That whereas the moral law, like the perfections of God of which
it is a transcript, remains for ever immutable, no covenant-engage-
ment which persons may have entered into, nor any human injunc-
tion, as that of a parent, master or magistrate, to do what is con-
trary to that law, can be binding on the parties so engaged or
commanded. See Acts. v. 29. And 3. That an oath itself, taken
contrary to the tenor of the moral law, or, either to do or to abet
and protect others in doing what that law forbids, can, in God's
account, impose no obligation on any person or persons so com-
mitted. To take such an oath is indeed horribly wicked ; but de-
clining to comply with it, is only forbearing to commit the still
greater wickedness of acting in conformity to it. Thus, for in-
stance, if the more than forty Jews, who wickedly bound them-
themselves by an oath, not to eat or drink till they had killed Paul t
had been permitted actually to perpetrate the bloody deed, and
thereby to have violated the divine command Thou shalt not kill t
they would certainly have added greatly to their wickedness of tak-
ing the oath; whereas, if they had repented of their oath and
voluntarily abandoned their murderous design, they would, so far,
have been in the way of duty. Acts, xxiii. 12, 13. And who will
presume to deny, that it would have been a virtue in Herod to have
violated his iniquitous oath by which he had bound himself to give
to the dancing daughter of Herodias whatsoever she should ask,
rather than to have violated the law of Go4, as he did, by com-
mitting murder, that he might give her the head of John the Bap-
tist? Matt. xiv. 612. and Mark vi. 21-29.

Let none, however, construe these observations into an apology
for the shocking crime of perjury. For whoever understandingly
and willingly comes under the obligation of an oath to do or suffer
anything which is not inconsistent with the revealed will of God, is
most sacredly bound to compliance with the tenor of it ; nay, hav-

124 THE DELIVERY AND [SER III.

most commentators have understood the law here
intended to be the whole Sinaic dispensation ; this
being given only to Israel and exclusively for them.
But the scriptures referred to in the preceding article,
and in the note annexed to it, forbid us to adopt that
interpretation, however conveniently it may seem to
accord with the clause for them, and compel us to
adhere to the interpretation already given ; and by
which we include nothing under the term law, as
here used, but the decalogue, commonly called the
moral law.

Nor is the term law, taken in this limited sense, at
all inconsistent with the restrictive clause under con-
sideration. For this law, as delivered to Israel at
Sinai, was specially, nay exclusively for them. By
their own confession it was only to them, and there-
fore, as then spoken, only for them that God uttered the
words of it ; " for who is there of all flesh" said they,
" that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking
out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived ?" u
For them, exclusively for their use, God inscribed the
commandments of this law on the tables of stone
which he delivered to Moses ; who, addressing Israel,
said, "the LORD delivered unto me two tables of
stone, written with the finger of God ; and on them
was written according to all the words which the

ing taken such oath, even though he should afterward discover
that to comply with it must tend to his own hurt, his loss of repu-
tation, or property, or both, he cannot violate it, but at the most
awful peril that of exclusion from the kingdom of heaven. Psal.
xv. 4. Nevertheless, perjury is not the unpardonable sin; for this,
as well as for other crimes of high degree, God may subsequently
grant to the criminal repentance unto life. Acts. xi. 18, and remit
his sin, through the redemption that is in Christ. Matt. xii. 31,
32. Luke xxiv. 47. Rom. iii. 24. Comp. 1 Cor. vi. 911.
u Deut. v. 26.

SER. III.] AUTHORITY OF THE LAW. 125

LORD spake with you in the mount, out of the midst
of the fire, in the day of the assembly." w And
though, to express his holy indignation at their mak-
ing and worshiping the molten calf, and to signify,
that thereby they had broken the law, Moses cast
those tables, out of his hands, and brake them be-
fore their eyes ; x yet God, in like manner, wrote the
same commandments upon two other tables, which
Moses, by his direction, deposited in the ark, where
they were preserved inviolate, and which, as thus
engraved and preserved, were, like the former ta-
bles, only for them, for their use. y Chiefly, how-
ever, this law, as then delivered in the form of a co-
venant, was /or them; it being, as such, specially for
their observance and for their benefit. See Exo. xix.
5 8. and xxxiv. 28.

Here, however, we must carefully distinguish be-
tween this special promulgation of the moral law, and
the extent of its obligation. For the obligation which
the Israelites were under to observe it, was none
other than that which is universal and perpetual.
This obligation is founded in the relation necessari-
ly subsisting between God as the Creator, and his
intelligent creatures ; he possessing an underived au-
thority to require of them whatever he thought fit
and proper, and which could be nothing but what
was agreeable to his holy nature and holy will ; and
they being indispensably bound to a perfect compli-
ance with all his revealed requirements, on pain of
enduring the penalties respectively annexed to them.
Under this obligation he brought both the angelic
nature and the human, into being. Nor was there

w Dent. ix. 10. x Ibid. ver. 17. y Ibid. x. 4, 5.

126 THE DELIVERY AND [SER. III.

in either, as they came from the hand of God, any
thing incongruous to this obligation. That he cre-
ated angels holy, has never, that I know of, been
called into question ; and that he so created man, is
clearly revealed ; God made man upright. z As
such, therefore, both must have been naturally able,
yea naturally inclined, to comply with the obligations
they were respectively under. Immutability, how-
ever, belonged to neither. This would have been
inconsistent with' their ^tate of probation, nay, with
,their creaturely existence and continual depend-
ence upon their Creator. Wherefore, being left to
the freedom of their own respective wills, and with-
out any provision or promise of additional strength
in case of trial, they both transgressed and fell.

What was the teat of angelic obedience is not re-
vealed, and therefore we cannot precisely determine
wherein their original sin consisted.* All we certainly

2 Eccl. vii. 29,

*By several inspired allusions, however, to the fall of angels, it
seems highly probablathat their original sin was pride. Thus, for
instance, the fall of the haughty, aspiring king of Babylon, is liken-
ed to the fall of Lucifer from heaven. Isa. xiv. 4 17. Paul cau-
tioned Timothy not to promote a novice to the office of a bishop, a<
pastor,, "lest, being lifted up with pride, he should fall into the
condemnation of the. devil ;" that is, like him be condemned for
pride. \ Tim. iii. 6. And the war in heaven, of which John had a
vision, though it respects the war between Christ and Satan, car-
ried on through the instrumentality of their respective angels, or
ministers, in the church on earth, is, nevertheless, described in
terms denoting an evident allusion to the original rebelion in heav-
en, and to the fall and ejection of the rebels from their former ho-
ly and happy condition. Rev. xii. 7 9.

The innocent occasion of that rebelion, in those once holy Spir-
its, might be God's commanding them to worship his Son ; Heb.
i, 6 : and whieh^if^it be provoked by a proclamation in heaven,

SER. III.] AUTHORITY OF THE LAW. 127

know of them, is that there were elect-angels, which
implie^ the non-election of others ; a and that the lat-
ter are called the angels that sinned, and the angels
that kept not their first estate, and that, by the au-
thority and act of God, they are reserved in chains of
darkness unto the judgment of the great day. b The
elect-angels we suppose were confirmed in Christ as
their Head of conservation, and that they are all
ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who
shall be heirs of salvation. c

The first penal injunction which God delivered to
man was only prohibitory forbidding him, on pain

that the Son, whom they were required to worship, would assumef
not their nature, but the human; Heb. ii. 16; and that he would
exalt the elect of the human family above them in nearness to God
and communion with him. Rev. vii. 9 12. Perhaps, too, it was
announced among them, that God had confirmed the standing and
secured the happiness of some of them in his Son, while he had
left the rest dependent on their own freewill. Hence one of them,
it should seem, and probably one who was distinguished above
others while in a state of rectitude, felt the origin of pride proposed
rebelion against the Son of God and those of theangelic spirits,declar-
ed to be confirmed in him ; and, being followed in the rebelion by
all the non-elect angels, he is called Beelzebub, the prince of the de-
vils, and he and they are called the devil and his angels. Markiii. 22.
Matt. xxv. 41 . Now what but the same principle of pride, imbibed
from Satan, provokes the rebelion of Arians, Socinians, and Deists,
against the revealed requirement, that oilmen should honor the Son
even as they honor the Father? John v.23. And whence but from
the same source, is all that enmity manifested by self-justiciaries
against the sovereign discrimination which God, in election, has
made among the human family? Rom. ix. 11 24.

That pride, had proved fatal to Satan, may be concluded from
his care to beget the same principle in our first parents ; Gen. iii.
5; nay, from his horrid, but fruitless attempt on Christ himself
Matt. iv. 89.

a 1 Tim. v. 21.' b 2 Pet. ii. 4. and Jude, ver. 6. c Heb. i. 14.

128 THE DELIVERY AND [SER. III.

of death, to eat of the fruit of a specified tree ; " The
LORD GOD commanded the man, saying, Of every
tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat, but of the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt
not eat of it ; for in the day thou eatest thereof thou
shalt surely die," or dying, die, as it is in the He-
brew ; d for, dying a legal death, by transgression, he
must, by consequence, die a moral death, that is,
become unrighteous and unholy, and, as such, be
subject to corporal death, and liable to death eter-
nal. c Nor did the effects of his transgression ter-
minate in himself; human nature in him became
guilty and totally depraved, and as such, with all
the consequent liabilities, he transmitted it to all his
posterity ; for, by one man sin entered into the world
and death] by sin; and so death passed upon all
men, for that all have sinned. f

Man's obligation to obey God, nevertheless remain-
ed and must for ever remain undiminished : and the
rule of his obedience is the will of God, however
made known to him. The will of God, thus under-
stood, consists of two parts his moral requirements
and his positive injunctions emanating, the former
necessarily from his moral perfections, the latter ar-
bitrarily from his sovereign authority. His moral
requirements, as they necessarily procede from his
moral perfections, so they declare him to be a holy
and righteous being, as clearly as the rays of light
which necessarily procede from the Sun, declare that
to be a pure and luminous body; and as the rays of
light necessarily preceding from the Sun, can nei-

d man nin moth tamuth. Gen. ii. 16, 17. e Ibid. iii. 19. and
Rom. vi. 23. f lbid. v.12. 18.

SER. III.] AUTHORITY OF THE LAW. 129

ther cease nor change, but with the cessation or
change of the Sun itself; so the moral requirements
of God can never cease nor change, unless his own
BEING should cease or change ; but as he is the eter-
nal God and changeth not, his moral requirements
are necessarily eternal and immutable. Not so his
positive injunctions. These, emanating arbitrarily
from his sovereign authority, he might multiply or
diminish, modify, supplant or repeal, at pleasure,
without undergoing any change in his perfections,
essential or moral, and without intermitting, or in-
fringing any of his moral requirements. Hence the
successive accumulation of positive institutions under
the Old Testament, and the comparative paucity of
them under the New. Hence also the cessation of
circumcision the change of the Sabbath from the
seventh to the first day of the week the supplant-
ing of the legal, by the evangelical dispensation
and the consequent abrogation of Mosaic ceremonies,
and the institution of gospel-ordinances.

The subject before us, however, claims our atten-
tion only to God's moral requirements. These he
expressed in the decalogue, the ten commandments ;
and though, as delivered to Israel at Sinai, these
commandments were emphatically for them, they,
nevertheless, (excepting the fourth*) constitute a
law, which, in its moral tenor, exactly corresponds
to the law of nature, which God originally inscribed

* " All the laws of the decalogue," saith Eben Ezra, " are accord-
ing to the dictates of nature, the law and light of reason, and
knowledge of men, excepting this. Wherefore no other has the
word remember prefixed to it ; there being somewhat in the light
of every man's reason and conscience, to direct and engage him,
in some measure, to the observation of them." In Dr. Gill's Expos,
on Exo. xx. 8.

130 THE DELIVERY AND [sER. III.

on the heart of man ; and which, however marred and
obscured by the fall and consequent total depravity
of our nature, is not thereby entirely obliterated ; but
remains so far legible in every rational human being,
as to be read by the scrutinizing eye of conscience ;
and is the rule by which this faculty of the soul, (if
not judicially scared?) always, according to the light
of evidence received, necessarily determines what is
morally right, and what is morally wrong, and this
whether in our own conduct or in that of others.*

This law, too, like that of the revealed command-
ments corresponding to it, has respect both to God
and to man 1. To God. By the light of reason, ex-
ercised according to this law, mankind without any
revelation but that made in the volume of nature,
may discover that there is one God, and essentially
but one, and that he, as their Creator and the Cre-
ator of all the works of nature they behold, justly
claims their supreme love, and exclusive worship,
adoration and dependence. This is plain from the
case of the heathen, who have no law but that of na-
ture, and no light of evidence, but what comes through
the medium of nature ; and yet are criminal in not
acknowledging the Supreme Author of nature ; "be-
cause that which may be known of God is manifest
in them," in their own existence, or to them, to
their rational apprehension, through his visible
works ; " for God hath showed it" (that which
may be known of him) "unto them. For the in-
visible things of him, from the creation of the world
are clearly seen, being understood by the things that
s 1 Tim. iv. 2.

* That such knowledge may consist with total moral depravity,
is evident in fallen angels. See Job i. 6 12. ii. 1 10. and Mark
i. 23-26.

SER. III.] AUTHORITY OF THE LAW. 131

are made, even his eternal power and Godhead ; so
that they are without excuse ;" and not the less so,
on account of the darkness and stupidity to 'which
they were subjected for their impiety arid ingrati-
tude ; "because that when they knew God," by the
light of nature, " they glorified him not as God, nei-
ther were thankful; but became vain in their ima-
ginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Professing themselves to be wise, they became
fools." And hence the abominable idolatries and
unnatural sensualities which follow in their history.
See Rom. i. 19 32. And, as the law of nature
respects the duty of mankind towards God, so also
2. Their duty toward each other ; and which, in mat-
ters of moral equity and purity, may generally be
known by this law. Hence the universal idea of
meum et tuum, mine and thine, in regard to hus-
bands, wives and children houses, lands and chat-
tels of every kind ; and which is clearly perceived
and strictly observed by many of the heathen tribes
and nations. Thus too, is brought to light the agree-
ment between the injunctions of the moral law and
the dictates of the law of nature ; " For when the
Gentiles, who have not the law, do by nature the
things contained in the law, these, having not the
law, are a law unto themselves ;" having within
themselves a law correspondent to that which is re-
vealed. By thus acting they also " show the work
of the law," the inscription of the law of nature,
"written in their hearts, their conscience also bear-
ing witness," to the moral right and wrong of their
lives, " and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing
or else excusing one another," as well as themselves,
Rom. ii. 14, 15

132 THE DELIVERY AND [SER. III.

The moral law, therefore, whether as delivered to
Israel at Sinai, or as contained in the book of the
covenant written for the immediate use of that peo-
ple, or as it is variously incorporated with the whole
of the inspired volume, is, strictly taken, nothing
but a verbal copy of the law of nature, which God
concreated with man. Wherefore, the standard by
which the heathen, as such, shall be judged, is es-
sentially the same with that by which the Jews and
all others favored with the Scriptures, shall be
judged ; "for as many as have sinned without law,"
that is, without the written law, and dying impeni-
tent, " shall also perish without (that) law ; and as
many as have sinned in the law, shall be judged by
the law." Rom. ii. 12. Yet with this difference in
the sentence ; the latter, and especially those under
the New Testament, having had the standard of trial
more clearly revealed to them, and so having sinned
against more light and knowledge, will (if not brought
to repentance, and pardoned through Christ,) in the
strictest justice, as the greater sinners, receive the
greater punishment. 11 Not, however, as a necessary
consequence of their having these sacred writings,
which to have, is, in itself, a great blessing ; but as a
merited consequence of their presumptuous trans-
gressions of the law thus clearly revealed their stu-
pid insensibility to the providential goodness and long
forbearance of God manifested toward them their
impious disregard of all his threatenings and warn-
ings so plainly made known to them and their wil-
ful contempt of his Son and disbelief of the record
which he has given concerning him. *

This law, then, either as written or unwritten, is

h John xix. 11. Matt. x. 15. ' Rom. ii.5 9. John iii. 19. and
1 John v. 10.

[SER. III. AUTHORITY OF THE LAW. 135

the universal standard of trial ; and every son and
daughter of Adam, tried by it, whether as it is con-
tained in their nature, or as it is revealed in the Bible,
is found wanting wanting both in holiness of heart
and rectitude of life. Upon law ground, therefore,
every mouth must be stopped, and all the world be-
come guilty before God. Rom. iii. 19. Hence

Thirdly, the distinguishing characteristic of this law
of God " from his right hand went a fiery law." By
thus characterizing this law, Moses might only design
to commemorate the terrible manner of its delivery*
Preparatory thereto, " The LORD descended upon
mount Sinai in fire, and in the actual promulgation
of it, his voice was heard speaking out of the midst
of fire. k But the Holy Ghost in the prophet, by giv-
ing the fearful epithet fiery to this law, doubtless
designed more namely, to imply some of its dis-
tinguishing properties and principal uses. The per-
tinence of the epithet to this design, may easily be
seen in the following instances.

Fire is a common emblem of purity, and therefore

a fit emblem of this law, which is a mere blaze of

moral purity ; " the commandment of the LORD is

pure, 1 and in it, God is revealed as a consuming

fire to impenitent transgressors." 1

Like fire, this law gives light ; not sight, but light
to those who have sight. What is said of its entrance
at mount Sinai, m'ay justly be said of its entrance
into the conscience of a regenerate sinner : " The law
entered that the offence might abound," not that it
might become more abundant, but that it might the

* Deut. iv. 12, 13. ! Psal. xix. 8. comp. Rom. vii. 12. m Deut.
iv. 24.

134 THE DELIVERY AND [SER. III.

more abundantly and clearly appear. Thus it is,
that by the law is the knowledge of sin.

Like^/m?, this law gives distress and creates alarm.
Such were its effects upon the Israelites, when it
was delivered to them from Sinai p ; and its tenden-
cy is the same in the conscience of every awakened
sinner : the law worketh wrath, that is, threatens wrath,
and fills the sinner with apprehensions of it. q

As fire is useful or hurtful, according as it is right-
ly or wrongly employed ; so is this law. The law is
good if a man use it lawfully* to show his fallen
and helpless condition, and as a rule of moral duty;
but, if he rely on it, that is, on his obedience to it,
for life, it must inevitably prove his death, his ever-
lasting ruin ; for as many as are of the works of the
law are under the curse, &/c. s and the command-
ment, the law, which, had human nature remain-
ed in conformity to it, was ordained to life, such
life as Adam enjoyed in paradise, is found, as
a violated covenant, to be unto death legal and moral,
temporal and eternal. So every regenerate sinner
finds it to be, when under conviction by it; 1 and so
must every finally impenitent sinner find it, when
sinking under its sentence to that death which is
the wages of sin, yand which, as it is opposed to eter-
nal life, can be none other than eternal death. u

From our subject, we infer

1. That fallen mankind are not, as many suppose
them to be, in a state of probation, that is, on trial,
whether they will secure their salvation or not. If so,
it must be with reference either to the law or to the

nRom. v.20. Ibid. iii. 20. P Exo. xix. 16. xx. 18 and Heb. xii.
19,20. 9 Rom. iv. 15. r 1 Tim. i. 8. s Gal. iii. 10. tRom.vii. 10.
Ibid. vi. 23.

SER III.] AUUHORITY OF THE LAW. 135

gospel. Not, surely, with reference to the law ; for
by this, whether considered as innate or as revealed,
they are all condemned already. And to suppose
them in a state of probation with reference to the
gospel, is to suppose that salvation by Christ is at
their own option, and dependent on their own exer-
tions ; whereas, " it is not of him that willeth, nor
of him that runneth ; but of God that showeth mer-
cy ." x Nay, Christ himself hath said, " No man can
come to me, except the Father who hath sent me
draw him." y

2. That none can escape the penalty annexed to
the violation of the covenant of works, in the guilt
of which all are involved, but by an act of God's
mere grace ; and as such act can never pass but
in harmony with divine justice, it is impossible it
should pass in favor of any, but in consideration of
the satisfaction made to divine justice by Christ ;
who, for all he represented in his obedience and
death, " magnified the law and made it honora-
ble," and ' put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." 2
And accordingly, although all whom God justifies,
are justified freely by his grace; yet, with reference
to law and justice, they are justified through the re-
demption that is in Christ Jesus*

3. That the unregenerate can have no communion
with God, nor render any acceptable worship to
him.

They can have no communion with God. Com-
munion implies agreement ; but there can be no
agreement between God and unregenerate sinners.

w John iii. .18, * Rom. ix. 16. y John vi. 44. z Isa. xlii. 21.
Heb. ix. 26. a Rom iii. 2426.

136 THE DELIVERY AND [SER. III.

He is the living God, but they are dead in trespass-
es and sins ; b he is LIGHT, but they are darkness ; c
he is holy, but they are filthy? he is LOVE, but
they are enmity ; e unless, therefore, there can be
communion between life and death light and dark-
ness holiness and wickedness love and enmity,
there can be no communion between God and unre-
generate sinners ; there being nothing in either that
can hold communion with the other. And as there
can be no communion between God and unregene-
rate sinners in time, so, by consequence, not in eter-
nity. God, we are assured by revelation as well as
reason, changeth not : and though death makes a
great change in the condition of sinners removing
them from time to eternity from the society of men
to the society of devils from temporal comforts, to
hell-torments, and from the prospects of cheering
hope, to the horrors of black despair it, neverthe-
less, makes no change in their moral character ; their
carnal mind remains, and will for ever remain, enmi-
ty against God. Rom. viii. 7. Nay more : While
here, the events of Providence and the example and
admonition of the godly yea, their own respect for
society their desire ^ of " that honor which cometh
from men" their regard to worldly interest, and
even their vague hopes of divine mercy, all unite
so to restrain their corruptions, that the turpitude of
their satanic disposition is not fully developed ; John
viii. 44. Eph. ii. 2, 3. ; but all these means of restraint
ceasing in death, their disembodied souls thereupon
become, like fallen angels, utterly hopeless, and

b Josh, iii. 10. Eph. ii. 1. c 1 John i. 5. Eph.- v. 8. d PsaL
xcix. 9. and liii. 3. e 1 John iv. 8. Rom. viii. 7.

SER III.] AUTHORITY OF THE LAW. 137

therefore infernally rageful. " They that go down
to the pit, cannot hope &c." Is. xxxviii. 18. " There
their worm" of a guilty conscience " dieth not, and
the fire" of divine wrath, preying upon them, " is not
quenched." Mark ix. 43 48.

Nor can the unregenerate render any acceptable
worship to God. " God is a Spirit, and they that
worship him, must worship him in Spirit and in
truth ;" John iv. 24 ; but of such worship the unre-
generate are incapable. They may present their
bodies in his house and at his throne ; but their souls
are dead in sin and their hearts are far from him. Is.
xxix. 13. Ezek. xxxiii. 30 32. Again; to worship
God acceptably, we must have that faith which re-
nounces all self-confidence, and looks alone to Christ
for the acceptance of our persons and services. But
this faith is not in the unregenerate. It is not a fruit
of nature, but of the Spirit ; Gal. v. 22 ; and conse-
quently is in none but those who are the temples of the
Holy Ghost. 1 Cor. vi. 19. None therefore but the re-
generate can say, with John, " Our fellowship is with
the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ ; 1 John i.
3: or, with Paul, "We are the circumcision, who
worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ
Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." Philip,
iii. 3. Let none marvel, then, that Christ hath said,
"Ye must be born again." John iii. 7.

Nevertheless, there is nothing in our subject, nor
in any part of God's word, that is in the least calcu-
lated to discourage any sensible sinner from looking
to Christ for salvation, nor any true believer in him,
from drawing near to God in acts of worship. To
the former, Christ is saying " Come unto me all ye
that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you

138 THE DELIVERY, &C. [SER. IIT.

rest;" Matt. xi. 28; and the latter, however con-
scious of their own unworthiness and of the imper-
fection of their worship, are divinely assured, that,
in the exercise of their graces and in the presenta-
tion of their prayers and praises, they " offer up
spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus
Christ." 1 Pet. ii. 5.

SERMON IV.

THE LOVE OF GOD MANIFESTED
TO ISRAEL.

DEUT. xxxiii. 3. Yea, he loved the people : all his saints are
in thy hand: and they sat down at thy feet ; every one shall re-
ceive of thy words.

AWARE of the acceptance which Dr. Kennicott's
emendations of the Hebrew text, in the second,
third, fourth and fifth verses of this chapter, have
obtained with some learned men, I carefully exam-
ined them and the arguments by which they are sup-
ported ;* but, (persuaded that commentators, and es-
pecially preachers, should be sacredly scrupulous
about departing, in any instance, from the standard
original of the Holy Scriptures,) I have not ventured
to follow them ; lest I should thereby give the ark
an unhallowed touch. So far, indeed, as the Dr's
emendations relate to the verse now before us, I was,
at first sight, inclined to adopt them ; but, on ma-
ture deliberation, the very reasons which had pro-
duced that inclination, produced a contrary decision ;
namely, his substituting "pa barach, he blessed, for TT:J
beyadecha, in thy hand, and affixing the pronouns
of the third person for those of the second, in the

* See his first Dissertation, jx 422 <fce.

140 THE LOVE OF GOD [SER. IV.

subsequent clauses thereby making these members
of the text to read thus : And he blessed all his saints ;
for they fell down at his feet, and they received of
his words.

The object, no doubt, of these emendations, was
to remove from the text what, in the standard Hebrew
copy, appeared to the learned emendator abrupt and
ungramniatical. But might not his apprehension of
such faults in this part of that standard, have been
occasioned by an oversight of the manner in which
the words are introduced, and of one important fact
which they were designed to recognize 1 The words,
though most happily adapted to the subject treated
of, were not uttered in literal construction with the
context, but by way of admirative exclamation.
Whelmed in admiration of God's marvelous and dis-
tinguishing goodness manifested to Israel, the pro-
phet exclaimed D^ nr\ *\x aph chobeb ammim, Yea,
or rather, Surely he loved the people ; and, specially
affected with that evidence of it which God had given
in committing them to the never-failing protection
and guidance of the iricreated Angel the Angel in
whom his name is, in whom his nature and perfec-
tions dwell ; a specially affected; I say, with this
evidence of God's love to Israel and of the Angel's
constant care of them, b and probably enjoying, at the
time, much communion with God through this Angel
of his presence, Moses gratefully acknowledges all ;
for, not by any rudeness of speech or violation of
grammar, but, as I understand him, by an elegant
apostrophe, and as moved thereto by the Holy Ghost,
he directs his address to this divine Angel, say-
ing of God's Israel, "All his saints are in THY
* Exo. xxiii. 21. Col. ii. 9. b Exo. xiv. 19. xxiii. 20, 21.

SER. IV.] MANIFESTED TO ISRAEL. 141

hand they sat down at THY feet, every one of them
shall receive of THY words.*

This change, therefore, of the pronoun from the
third to the second person, is not an instance of " ver-
bal confusion," but a special evidence of divine in-
spiration ; the Holy Ghost thus leading the prophet
to recognize the important fact, that God, in order
to render the Israelites the more evidently and emi-
nently a type of his elect, had committed them to
the providential hand of his divine Son. And the
passage, so understood, instead of being " obscure
and equivocal," is one of the most perspicuous illus-
trations of God's favor to his Israel, both national
and spiritual.

In conformity, then, to this view of the disputed
address, I shall consider the several members of the
text in .their natural succession ; with reference,

* This interpretation of the address in question, though confes-
sedly original, is no vain conceit. It is amply supported by the
Mosaic history ; see the places just referred to, and Deut. xxxii.
"9 12 ; by the writings of the prophets ; See Psal. Ix. 4. 5. Ixxx.
17, 18 ; and Is, Ixiii. 9 ; and by the testimony of " Stephen, a man
full of faith and of the Holy Ghost." See Acts vii. 30, 35 and 38.
Nor is this the only passage of scripture in which we find a pro-
noun of the 2d. or 3rd. person, used without an antecedent. Da-
vid, rapt in holy meditation on God's foundation, laid in Zion,
with a similar abruptness, begins the Ixxxvii. Psalm " His foun-
dation is in the holy mountains." In like manner the church, ar-
dently desiring some new manifestations of the love of Christ,
without naming him, exclaims, " Let him kiss me with the kisses
of his mouth: for" (then directing her address to him) " THY love
is better than wine." Cant. i. 2. And Mary, absorpt in thought
about her blessed Lord, and intensely solicitous to find his sacred
body, said (as she supposed to the gardener,) " Sir, if thou have
borne HIM hence, tell me where thou hast laid HIM, and I will
take HIM away." John xx. 15.

142 THE LOVE OF GOD [SER. IV.

I. To national, and

II. To spiritual Israel.

I. With reference to national Israel. Admiring
the divine favor to that nation, Moses

1. Declares the moving cause of it, namely God's
love set upon them ; Yea, or Surely he loved the
people. By this declaration, the prophet manifestly
designed to account for the manner in which God
by his word and providence had distinguished that
people. That the reason of their being so distin-
guished was not in themselves, he had assured them
before ; d and, that they were no better in nature, and,
when left to themselves, no better in practice than
other nations, is evident from the whole tenor of
their history. Nevertheless, that they so enjoyed the
divine protection and patronage as no other nation
did, was so obvious that even their enemies confess-
ed it. e The reason, therefore, of all God's acts of
kindness towards them, must have existed in him-
self he must have been self-moved to do them good
he must have loved them with a love which, in its
kind, was absolute and discriminating ; Surely he
loved the people not as an acknowledgement of any
-excellence in them or in their doings, but as an ex-
pression of his own sovereign good-will ; he loved
the people because he would love them and so lov-
ing them, he had distinguished and would distin-
guish them.

We must not forget, however, that while God
found no reason in the Israelitish nation, why he
should favor them above other nations, he, neverthe-
less, in all the expressions of his kindness to that

d Deut. ix. 5, 6. e Ibid, xxxii. 31 and Psal. cxxvi. 2.
\

SER. IV.] MANIFESTED TO ISRAEL. 143

people, had respect to their fathers, Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob, and to his covenant antecedently made
with those fathers concerning their posterity/

In those eminent patriarchs, God chose the nation
that should descend from them, to be a peculiar peo-
ple unto himself; " The Lord," said Moses to Israel,
" had delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose
their seed after them ; even you, above all people, as
it is this day." g

In their fathers also he blessed them : for all his
promises respecting their increase and their inher-
itance, were originally made to those patriarchs. h

Accordingly, God's deliverance of them out of
Egypt, though an evidence of his love to them, was in
compliance with his antecedent asseveration made to
their famous ancestors : " Because the Lord loved
you," said Moses to them, " and because he would
keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers,*
hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand,
and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from
the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt." k

Moses, continuing his admiration of the divine
favor to Israel,

2. Recognizes that eminent instance of it, which
God had given in committing them to the hand of the
divine Angel here addressed : all his saints, all God's
Israel, (O Angel of the covenant) are in thy hand.
The angel supposed to be here addressed, we call
divine, not as Arians and Socinians admit him to be
such, that is, merely by virtue of a divine call and

f Gen. xxii. 16, 17. xxvi. 3, 4. Exo. ii. 24. Lev. xxvi. 42.
1 Chron. xvi. 16, 17. g Deut. x. 15. h Gen. xvii. 7, 8. xxvi. 35.
and xxviii. 13, 14. * Exo. xxxii. 13. Psal. cv. 810. k Deut.

vii. 8.

144 THE LOVE OF GOD [SER. IV.

delegation to office ; but because, upon revealed au-
thority, we confidently believe him to be such by
nature. " My name," said God the Father, " is in
him ;" and by which, as noticed in the introduction,
he could mean nothing less than that he possesses
the same divine nature and perfections, which are
possessed by the Father himself. l Besides, it is
manifest that this Angel, who, in Exo. xiv. 19,
is called the Angel of God, is the same person who,
in the original of Chapter xxiii. 21, is called JEHO-
VAH, a name which, from rrn or mn to be, denotes
essential Being Being underived, independent and
eternal ; and which, therefore, is a name applicable
to no nature but the divine. m Moreover, the same
person whom the Israelites tempted at Massah and
when compassing the land of Edom, and whom Mo-
ses, in Num. xxi. 5. calls God, and, in Exo. xvii. 2. 7.
JEHOVAH ; and of whom in Deut. vi. 16, he said to
Israel, JEHOVAH your God, the apostle Paul,in ICor.
x. 9, expressly calls CHRIST. Well, therefore, might
Moses rejoice that the people who lay so near his
heart, and to whom he himself belonged, w r ere in the
hand of this Angel, this Holy One of Israel, who
possessed all divine perfections to preserve and di-
rect them.

We must not dismiss this article, however, with-
out endeavoring to settle two points. 1. In what
sense the Israelites are here called saints. No doubt
many of them, including Moses, were saints by in-
ternal sanctification. But that all of them were such,
their general character forbids us to believe, On the

lExod. xxiii. 2023. John x. 30, and Col. ii. 9. Psal.
Ixxxiii. 18.

SER. IV.] MANIFESTED TO ISRAEL. 145

contrary, what Paul said of that nation, long after-
wards, Moses, with equal truth, might have said of
them in his day : They arc not all Israel, who are
of Israel ; that is, they are not all spiritual Israel-
ites, who are the natural descendants of Jacob. u
Wherefore the appellation of saints, as it is here and
elsewhere given to the nation of^ Israel in common,
is not to be understood with respect to internal sanc-
tification at all ; but merely with respect to their
separation, in the counsel and by the providence of
God, from all other nations, and to the obligation of
that peculiar covenant, which they, as a nation, were
brought under, to acknowledge and worship the true
God, to the rejection of heathen idols ; and to which
they had solemnly assented. And 2. How, as a
nation, they were in the hand of Christ. To sup-
pose, that as a divine person simply considered, He
had them in his hand, would be to suppose of them
only what is true of all nations, yea, of all creatures ;
for the divine nature, in Christ, as in the Father and
in the Holy Ghost, is over all, God blessed for
ever. p In his official capacity, therefore, Christ must
have had them in his hand. This indeed is implied
in the words ; by which it is evident that they were
in his hand by an act of God the Father, whose they
were : all his saints, said Moses to Christ, are in thy
hand. Christ, however, in his official capacity sus-
tains a twofold character: He is the Mediator of
the covenant of grace, q and the Administrator of
divine Providence/ As the Mediator of the cove-
nant of grace, He is able to save them to the utter-

n Rom. ix. 6. Comp. Chap. ii. 28. Exo. xix. 58. xxiv. 3, 7.
Deut. v. 27, 28. vii. 6. P Rom. ix. 5. q Heb. viii. 6. r Psal Ixxv.
2, 3. Is. ix. 36. Micah iv. 3, 11, 12, 13.

146 THE LOVE OF GOD [SER IV.

most that come unto God by him ; s and, as the Ad-
ministrator of divine Providence, he says, All power
is given unto me in heaven and in earth.* Now,
that the Jewish nation, as such, was not in his hand
as he is the Mediator of the covenant of grace, is
manifest; for if so, all the individuals of it must
have received that grace from him which would have
brought them to God by him ; u whereas, in every gene-
ration, multitudes of them have utterly denied and re-
jected him, and have sought to come to God " by the
works of the law ; w and consequently (dreadful to
think) must, according to his threatening, have died
in their sins. x Nevertheless, they were in his hand
as he is the Administrator of divine Providence ; and
that, not merely as the Father hath given him pow-
er over all flesh, y but as he confided to him, the ad-
ministration of that special Providence which he had
purposed to observe, in relation to that peculiar peo-
ple. Nor did God's promise of the Angel's presence
with them imply any thing more : " Behold," said he,
" I send an Angel before thee to keep thee in the way,
and to bring thee into the place which I have pre-
pared." 2 Being thus in the official hand of Christ,
they were required to obey and revere him : " Beware
of him," said God to them, " and obey his voice ;
provoke him not, for he will not pardon your trans-
gressions ;" that is, he would not wink at or excuse
their rebelion, any more than the Father who sent
him would. Here let it be recollected, that if the
person spoken of had been a mere creature, human
or angelic, JEHOVAH would not have said he will not,

8 Heb. vii. 25. l Matt, xxviii. 18. u Psal. ex. 3. John vi. 37
39. w Rom. ix. 31 33.x. 3. x John viii. 2124. ylbid. xvii.
2. z Exo. xxiii. 20.

SER. IV.] MANIFESTED TO ISRAEL. 147

but he cannot pardon your transgressions; and
much less, to account for the assertion, would he
have added, for my name is in him ; a whose name we
are assured consists of his perfections, and is the de-
fense of his people. b Accordingly, Moses precedes
3. To recognize the subjection of Israel to this
Angel : they sat down at thy feet. The word
isn tucchu, here rendered they sat down, occurring
nowhere else but in Is. i. 5, where it evidently means
stricken or smitten, has occasioned some diversity of
opinion respecting the reference and meaning of this
sentence. Dr. Kennicott, understanding it with ref-
erence to the position of the Israelites when they
received the law, took the word in its latter mean-
ing, and rendered it they fell down, struck pros-
trate, as it should seem he supposed they were, at
seeing the Majesty and hearing the voice of the di-
vine Law-giver. But this makes the recognition to
contradict the history; for although Moses, by di-
vine order "brought forth the people out of the
camp to meet with God" at Sinai, he does not say
that they fell down, nor even, as in our text, that
they sat down, but, " that they stood at the nether
part of the mount." Wherefore, I understand
Moses, in the text, as recognizing the position of
the Israelites, not at the foot of the mount, but at
the foot of the cloud ; by which and from which they
received all their journeying directions. And so un-
derstood, the recognition exactly corresponds to the
history. For, as all their removes and courses were
governed by the removes and courses of the cloud ;
so where the cloud rested, they sat down, that is,

*Exo. xxiii. 21. blbid. xxxiv. 6. Pfeal. xx. 1. c Exo. xix. 17.

148 THE LOVE OF GOD [SER. IV.

pitched their tents and remained stationary, till it
again removed ; and as the cloud stood over them,
they (figuratively speaking) sat at the feet of the
divine Angel, who dwelt in it. d Nor did they merely
sit down at his feet ; they also received their orders
from him. Hence,

4. Moses said to him ymais *&* yissa middabbero-
theycha, he, or every one shall receive of thy words.
But, instead of xir yissa, he or every one shall receive,
Dr. Kennicott reads iKtsr .yisseu, they shall receive;
and which, as it best agrees with the context, bids
fair to be the true reading ; though we cannot admit
his change of the pronoun affixed to the following
word, from the second to the third person, because
it does not agree with the context in the standard
copy.

In the preceding sentence, Moses gratefully ac-
knowledged the divine influence which the Israelites,
prone as they were to rebel, had been mercifully un-
der, during the times to which he referred. Sub-
missive to the Angel, they had come out of Egypt
and, observant of the cloud in which the Angel resi-
ded, they had alternately journeyed and rested, till,
thus conducted, they had reached the borders of the
promised land : and in this sentence, moved by the
Spirit of prophecy, he foretold their subjection to the
same infallible Guide for the time to come : they
shall receive of thy words.

Those who understand the preceding sentence to
respect the position of the Israelites when they re-
ceived the law, understand this prediction to have
been fulfilled in them, when they received the words

d Num. ix. 1523.

SER. IV.] MANIFESTED TO ISRAEL. 149

of the law, as recapitulated to them by Joshua, who
succeded Moses, as the visible representative and
type of CHRIST. e To me, however, it seems much
more probable, because much more agreeable to
what had preceded, that this prediction respected the
directions which the Israelites, under Joshua, should
receive from Christ, by means of the ark. f For as
the cloud, during the ministry of Moses, so the ark,
ever afterward, was the instituted symbol of Christ's
presence with national Israel. Thus understood, a
typical harmony also is preserved. For, as Moses
died and the cloud disappeared, preparatory to the
ushering in of Joshua and the directive use of the
ark, in which the tables of the law were deposited ;
so the Mosaic dispensation, of which the cloud might
be an emblem, was abolished in Christ, the antitype
of Joshua ; g and the use of the ark, an emblem of
Christ, in whom the law is kept inviolate, ceased be-
fore the commencement of the gospel dispensation
and its ordinances, in which he is more evidently set
forth, as the fulfilling end of the law for righteous-
ness to everyone thatbelieveth.* And as, not under
Moses but under Joshua, Israel was brought into
the promised land; so, not through the law but
through Christ, the Church is brought into her
promised inheritance, both of grace here, and of
glory hereafter/ Thus, while types and symbols
have been successively varied, the substance under
all dispensations has remained the same ; Jesus
Christ, the same yesterday, to-day and for ever.*

The literal interpretation which I have given of
the text, happily coincides with the Targum of On-

e Josh. viii. 34, 35. f Josh. iii. 3. iv. 11. g 2 Cor. iii. 13.
h Rom. x. 4. Gal. iii. 1. * John i. 16. Rom. vi. 23. k Heb. xiii. 8.

150 THE LOVE OP GOD [SER. IV.

kelos, which the learned, both Jews and Christians,
have constantly regarded as the best Chaldee version
and paraphrase of the Pentateuch; and which, on
our text, runs thus : Surely he loved the tribes, all
his holy ones of the house of Israel : in his might he
led them out of Egypt: and they were conducted
under thy cloud; and went forward at thy com-
mand.* I procede to consider the words,

II. With reference to spiritual Israel. That God,
by his favor manifested to national Israel, designed to
illustrate his richer favor toward a people of whom that
nation was but a type, is, among Christians, univer-
sally admitted. And this people, most comprehen-
sively taken, I understand to be all the elect of every
nation and of every generation, from the beginning
to the end of the world. These, consisting partly
of Jews and partly of Gentiles, constitute that
Israel who shall be saved in the Lord, the Lord
Jesus, with an everlasting salvation, and who shall
not be ashamed nor confounded, world without
end. l

How aptly the favor by which God distinguished
national Israel, serves to illustrate that greater favor
by which he has distinguished and will for ever distin-
guish the people of whom that nation was a type, may
be seen,

1. In the source of it; and which is here declared
to be LOVE : Surely he loved the people, the people
of national Israel. In his love of them, and his love
of their antitype, there is an obvious resemblance,
yet a no less obvious difference. A resemblance in
manner, but a difference in kind. For, as he loved

* Lond. Polyg. i Is. xlv. 17. Rom. xi. 26.

SER. IV.] MANIFESTED TO ISRAEL. 151

Israel, as he loved no other nation ; m so he loved his
elect, as he loves no other people ; n and as his love
for Israel was sovereign, they being in nature no bet-
ter than other nations ; so is his love for his elect ;
they being by nature dead in sin and children of
wrath even as others. p Yet, in kind, the love with
which he loves his elect, differs as essentially from
that with which he loved national Israel, as the love
which a temporal prince feels for his children, dif-
fers from that which he feels for his subjects. To
national Israel, God stood in the relation of a king ; q
but to spiritual Israel, he stands in the relation of a
Father. T For, although in some passages of scrip-
ture, he is spoken of as acting the part of a Father
to national Israelites ; those passages, when exam-
ined, will all be found to respect, either merely his
providential kindness to them and care over them, or
his treatment of those among them, who, being cir-
cumcised in heart, were Israelites indeed. 8

Correspondent to this difference in God's love for
national Israel, and his love for the people of whom
they were a figure, is the difference in the favors by
which he has respectively distinguished them. This
appears 1. In election: both were indeed objects
of God's choice ; but in different relations and to
different conditions ; the former he chose in relation
to their natural ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Ja-
cob ;* but the latter, in relation to Christ, of whom
those patriarchs were only types ; u the former, to
civil and temporal -distinction: 17 but the latter, to

m Deut. vii.6 8. n l John iv. 9, 10. Deut. ix. 6. PEph. ii.
13. i 1 Sam. xii. 12. r Matt. vi. 8, 9. 2 Cor. vi. 18. s Is. i. 2.
Jer. iii. 4. *Deut. iv. 37. "Num. xxix. 17, 19. Rom. iv. 13.
Gal. iii. 16. Heb. xi. 1719. w Deut. xxviii. 114.

152 THE LOVE OP GOD [SEE. IV

spiritual and eternal distinction. x 2. In the inherit-
ances bequeathed to them ; to the former, the earthly
Canaan ; y but to the latter, the heavenly, even that
inheritance which is incorruptible and undefiled, and
that fadeth not away, &c. z 3. In sanctification :
that of national Israel, as such, was only relative and
external ; a but the sanctification of spiritual Israel-
ites is personal and internal; 13 though, in the present
state, not universal andperfect, c And 4. In adop-
tion. To the former, as God's first-born, or national
heir, pertained the adoption to a correspondent pro-
motion in civil arid ceremonial privileges-/ but the
adoption of the elect is to the filial relation and the
heavenly patrimony. e All these blessings, by which
God has so eminently distinguished the objects of
his electing love, the apostle Paul, with thanksgiving,
enumerates together, in a few words: "Blessed,"
saith he, "be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual bless-
ings in heavenly places in Christ ; according as he
hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy and without blame be-
fore him in love ; having predestinated us unto the
adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, ac-
cording to the good pleasure of his will." f

A like difference, too, is evident in the covenants
which God made respecting national Israel, and that
which he made respecting his elect. And 1. In the
persons with whom he made them. Those which
respected national Israel, he made with men as that

x Rom. viii. 2834. y Gen. xiv. 57. xv. 18. ^Heb. xi. 16. 1 Pet.
i. 3__5. a Lev xi 45 D ellt iv 32__35. b Rom ^ 2 8, 29. Philip.

iii. 3. c Rom. vii. 18, 25. d Exo. iv. 22. Rom. ix. 4. e Gal. iv. 6.
Jas. ii. 5. f Eph. i. 35.

SER. IV.] MANIFESTED TO ISRAEL. 153

which he made with Abraham,* and renewed to
Isaac? and to Jacob ;* and the Sinaic covenant,
which, through Moses, he made with the Israelites
themselves ; k but the covenant of grace respecting
the elect, he made with Christ, their divine Cove-
nanteeand Surety. 1 2, In the blessings which they
respected. Those which he made with the Israel-
itish patriarchs concerning their natural posterity,
as such, respected only temporal things ; to wit, their
redemption and deliverance from Egyptian bondage,
and their possession of Canaan and civil prosperity
there ; ra but the covenant of grace, which he made
with Christ concerning the elect, respects both grace
and glory, and which, as provisions of this covenant,
were given to them in him before the world began. a
Accordingly, as God's national heir, when liable to
judicial death from the. hand of the destroying angel,
was redeemed by the sacrifice of the paschal lambs ;
so his heirs of grace and glory, when liable to eter-
nal death, as the just punishment for their sins, were
redeemed by the sacrifice of Christ, who appeared
in their law-place and suffered the just for the un-
just ; p and as the nation of Israel, thus redeemed
from the fate of Egypt by sacrifice, were delivered
from the yoke of Egypt by power ; q so, the elect be-
ing all redeemed from the fate of this world by the
sacrifice of Christ, are, in the order of time, all de-
livered from the course of this world by the power
of divine grace. T These favors, too, in both cases,

g Gen. xv. 18. xvii. 24. h Gen. xxvi. 3, 4. 'Ibid, xxviii.
13, 14. k Exo. xxiv. 27. Deut. v. 24. iPsal. Ixxxix. 19.
3437. Luke i. 32, 33. m Deut. vii. 8, 9. Psal. cv. 811. n John
vi.39. 2 Tim. i. 9. Comp. Psal. Ixxxiv. li. Exo. xii. 6. 13.
p Gal. iv. 4, 5. 1 Pet. iii. 18. i Exo. xv. 13, r Gal. i. 4.

154 THE LOVE OF GOD [SEE. IV.

depended on covenant-relation. For, as God, in all he
did for national Israel, had respect to his covenant in
one form or another made with their fathers ; s so, all
he has done or will do for his elect, is but the fulfil-
ment of his covenant-stipulations with Christ, their di-
vine Surety and the antitype of those fathers ; l More-
over, as the covenants concerning national Israel, and
that concerning the elect, differed in the persons with
whom they were made, and in the blessings which
they respected ; so also 3. In the tenor of their
promises. The promises respecting the entrance of
national Israelites into Canaan, and their continuance
and prosperity there, were all conditional ; the fulfil-
ment of them being suspended upon their obedi-
ence ; u and hence many of them, for their disobedi-
ence, died in the wilderness ; and though the nation,
as such, however reduced, did enter the land, yet, for
their idolatries they were suffered to be carried out
of it into Babylon, where they remained in a state of
captivity seventy years ; and though, by divine favor
they were restored to it, yet again, for their rebelion,
and especially for their ill-treatment of the Messiah,
they were ejected from it, and have ever since been
dispersed among other nations. But the promises
respecting the elect, were all made to Christ ; and
therefore the fulfilment of them depended, not
upon their obedience but upon his faithful compli-
ance with his covenant-engagements ; and the
Father having acknowledged his entire com-
pliance with these engagements, by raising him
from the dead and receiving him to heaven ; w it
follows that the fulfilment of all the promises thus

el Chron. xvi. 1322. 'Psal. Ixxxix. 2737. Is. xlii. 6. 7.
Num. xxxii. 11. Is. i. 19, 20. w Rom. iv. 25. Acts ii. 33.

SER. IV,] MANIFESTED TO ISRAEL. 155

made to him, concerning the people whom he repre-
sented in his obedience and death, must be just as
certain as it is that the power and faithfulness of God
are infallible. Thus the apostle Paul distinguish-
ed the promises made in Christ from those that were
made out of him : " For," said he, " all the promises
of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the
glory of God by us. x Compared, therefore, either
with Moses, who was a political mediator for Israel/
or with Aaron, who was their ceremonial mediator, 1
" Christ hath obtained a more excellent ministry, by
how much also he is the Mediator of a better cove-
nant, which was established upon better promises." a *
As in its source, so

II. In the special instances of it here specified,
the favor of God to the national Israelites serves to
illustrate his greater favor toward the people of whom
they were a type. And

1. In his separation of them, on account of which
they are here and elsewhere called saints or holy.
He separated them by his purpose of providence,
when he chose them in their patriarchs to be a holy
and a special people unto himself, above all other na-
tions ; b yet, in this, they were only a type of his more
beloved people, whom, by his purpose of grace, he
separated in Christ, according as he chose them in
him before the foundation of the world, that they

x 2Cor. i. 20. yExo, xxxii. 1114. z Num. xvi. 4648
aHeb. viii. 6.

* That many of the national Israelites received grace on earth
and glory in heaven, are facts clearly revealed ; Heb. xi. 13 ; but
they received them, not according to the national covenants but
according to the covenant of grace, and as they themselves be-
longed to the election of grace. Rom. xi. 1 7.
b Lev. xx. 24. Dent. xiv. 2.

156 THE LOVE OF GOD [SER. IV.

should be holy and without blame before him in
love. c He separated the Israelites in redemption
by the paschal sacrifice ; d but much more the elect
in redemption by Christ, who, that he might sanc-
tify the people [whom he represented] with his
own blood, suffered without the gate. e More visi-
bly, however, God separated the Israelites, when he
delivered them from the iron yoke of Pharaoh and
brought them forth out of the house of bondage/ A
great favor indeed ; yet, merely a type of that greater
favor which he confers on his elect in their effectual
calling ; in which he delivers them from the stronger
yoke of Satan, and brings them from under the more
absolute bondage of the covenant of works. g Herein
also, he gives them a new heart and puts within
them a new spirit; whereby he enables them in some
good degree, to walk in newness of life. 11 Thus,
even in the present state, they are made free from
sin; riot, indeed, from its hatefid indwelling, but,
from its ruinous dominion^ For, being purified in the
eye of divine justice, by the precious blood of Christ,
and renewed in their minds, by the regenerating
and sanctifying operations of the Holy Ghost, they
become manifestly a peculiar people, zealous of good
works works which God had before ordained that
we should walk in them ; that thereby we might show
forth the praises of him who hath called us out of
darkness into his marvelous light. k

Farther to promote the visible separation of his
national Israel, God gave them laws, which even their
enemies confessed were diverse from those of all

Eph. i. 4. d Exo. xi. 7. e Heb. xiii. 12. f Lev. xxvi. 13.
Luke. xi. 21, 22. Rom. vi. 14. h Ez. xxxvi. 26, 27. Rom. vi.
i_4. i Ibid. ver. 22. k Titus ii. 14. Eph. ii. 10. 1 Pet. ii. 9.

SER. IV.] MANIFESTED TO ISRAEL. 157

other people;* and to which correspond the gospel,
the law of faith its ordinances its code of church-
discipline, and all its precepts respecting holy and
useful living, which he hath specially given to his
spiritual Israel, the gospel-church ; and by which he
separates and distinguishes her, both from mystical
Babylon, and from "the world that lieth in wicked-
ness." "The grace of God," the gospel, "which
bringeth salvation," that is, the report concerning
the way of salvation, " hath" indeed " appeared unto
all men," to Gentiles as well as Jews, the preaching
of it to all nations being authorized by the commis-
sion; yet, to the elect only, whether among Jews
or Gentiles, it is rendered the power of God unto
saltation; and by which discriminating influence,
their election is made manifest, both to themselves
and to one another : " Knowing," saith an apostle to
believers, " your election of God ; for our gospel
came not unto you in word only," as it does to
others ; "but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost,
and in much assurance." p The observance of its
ordinances is a duty peculiar to believers, q its code
of discipline extends only to the household of faith,*
and its precepts constitute specialty the rule for the
deportment of Christians ; it being to them, and not
to the world, that the apostle is saying, " Only let your
conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ." "
Spiritual Israelites, moreover, like the national
Israelites, are relatively and professedly separated

Esther iii 8. m Rom. iii. 27. n l John v. 19. Rev. v. 36.
Titus ii. 11, 12. Matt, xxviii. 19. Rom. i. 16. Acts xiii. 48.
P 1 Thess. i. 4, 5. 1 Matt, xxviii. 19. Mark xvi. 16. Acts ii.
3741. 1 Cor. xi. 2329. 'Matt, xviii. 1517. 1 Cor. v. 12.
Philip, i. 27.

158 THE LOVE OF GOD [SEE IV.

from the rest of mankind ; and therefore, like them,
though in a higher sense, are required to be holy,
that is, to be practically saints. 1 For, as the national
Israelites, according to the legal dispensation, to
which they voluntarily acceded, avouched God to be
their God, to the rejection of idols and of idolatrous
worship ; u so all that are in reality spiritual Israelites,
in embracing the gospel, have received Christ, to the
rejection of every other object of trust, and his in-
stitutions, to the rejection of all human traditions;
and have acknowledged God in him to be their God,
to the rejection of all " the lying vanities" and idola-
trous ceremonies, both of heathens and of papists. *
Accordingly, my believing hearers, when in our dis-
tress under conviction, God revealed himself to us
in Christ, we gladly said, " Lo this is our God ; we
have waited for him, and he will save us ; this is the
Lord ; we have waited for him, we will be glad and
rejoice in his salvation. y Lord, thou wilt ordain
peace for us : for thou also hast wrought all our
works in us. O Lord our God, other lords besides
thee have had dominion over us : but by thee only
will we make mention of thy name. z For this God
is our God for ever and ever : he will be our guide,
even unto death." a

2. In the guardianship to which God committed
the national Israelites, who are here called his saints :
" all his saints," said Moses to Christ, " are in thy
hand." To the same hand, indeed, because it is in-
fallible, he committed his elect ; yet under circum-
stances infinitely more advantageous. He commit-

l Lev. xi. 45. 1 Pet. i. 15. "Josh. xxiv. 24. *Col. iii. 11.
1 Thess. i. 9. 2 Thess. ii. 717. * Is. xxv. 9. z Ibid. xxvi. 12,
13. aPsal. xlviii. 14.

SER. IV.] MANIFESTED TO ISRAEL. 159

ted national Israel to the hand of Christ, as his cho-
sen Administrator of that peculiar Providence which
he designed to observe in regard to that nation ; but
his elect, he committed to the hand of Christ, as he
had chosen him to be their Representative trusted
in him as their Surety b and constituted him the De-
pository and Medium of all that grace which he had
resolved to employ and display in their spiritual and
eternal salvation.

The preservation of the national Israelites, and
their entrance into the promised Canaan, under the
providential care of Christ, depended upon their
own obedience ; d and hence, in perfect consistency
with his official faithfulness, many of them, as noticed
before, died by the way, and the nation, though
eventually brought into the land, found reason to la-
ment their ejection, saying to God, "The people of
thy holiness have possessed it but a little while : our
adversaries" (the Chaldeans) " have trodden down
thy sanctuary." 6 But all who are truly spiritual
Israelites are of those who were sanctified, set apart
by God the Father, in eternal election, preserved in
Jesus Christ ; not from falling in Adam, but from fall-
ing into hell ; and called ; { and being called, they are
manifestly justified ; and being justified, they shall
assuredly be glorified ; g and being glorified, they
shall never, like the national Israelites, be disinhe-
rited ; they shall go no more out. h The two people
then were committed to the hand of Christ, in very
different relations to God ; the former, as his adopted

b Eph. i. 6. 1 Pet. iii. 18. Comp. Is. xlii. 21, Jer. xxx. 21,
and Heb. vii. 14. c Col. i. 19. 2 Tim. i. 9. Rom. v. 21, and
vi. 23. <*Exo. xxiii. 2023. Num. xxxii. 11. e ls. Ixiii. 18.
f Jude, ver. 1. g Rom. viii. 30. h Rev. iii. 12.

160 THE LOVE OF GOD [SER. IV.

nation ; * the latter as his adopted children ; k the for-
mer, as his subjects, the latter, as his heirs ;* the for-
mer, as the objects of his temporal favor ; the latter as
the objects of his everlasting love. m Christ also re-
ceived them with very different regards : the former,
merely as his providential charge ; but the latter, as
the members of his mystical body and the constitu-
ents of his chosen spouse. n His interest, therefore,
in the former, was only official; but, his interest in
the latter, is sympathetic and conjugal. The for-
mer he calls Lo-ammi, not my people ; p but the
latter Hephzibah, my delight is in her. q Nor did
God the Father resign his interest in the elect, or at
all relinquish his care of them, when he committed
them to the hand and possession of his Son : " all
mine" said Christ to the Father, " are thine, and
thine are mine ; and I am glorified in them." The
Father and the Son, have a common interest in them
and a common care over them/ Hence, Christ not
only confidently says, " I give unto them eternal life,
and they shall never perish ; neither shall any pluck
them out of my hand ;" but triumphantly adds, " My
Father which gave them me is greater than all, and
none is able to pluck them out of my Father's
hand." 8

3. In the station which God assigned to the na-
tional Israelites. They, said Moses to the divine
Angel, sat down at thy feet ; and which they did as
he was in the cloud that stood over them. See pp.

1 Rom ix. 4. k Gal. iv. 6. J Rom. viii. 17. m Jer. xxxi. 3.
Zeph. iii. 17. n 1 Cor. xii. 12. Eph. v. 25, 26, 27, 32. Ibid,
ver. 30. Cant. iv. 8, 9, 10. Rev. xxi. 9. P Hosea i. 9. 1 1s. Ixii.
4. r John xvii. 10. s Ibid. x. 28, 29.

SER. IV.] MANIFESTED TO ISRAEL. 161

147, 148. This might be designed to imply their de-
pendence upon him, as a providential preserver. 1
And thus, in the dispensation of the fulness of times,
which God hath appointed for the purpose, he brings
all his elect to the feet of Christ, acknowledging
their dependence upon him, as a spiritual Saviour.
Accordingly, It is written in the prophets, (Is. liv,
13.) And they shall be all taught of God. Every
man, therefore, saith Christ, that hath heard and
learned of the Father cometh unto me" Convinced
of their lost estate, they come to him for salvation.
According to prophecy, they fall down before
him, and make supplication unto him, saying,
Surely God is in thee; yes, God is in Christ,
reconciling the world, the Gentiles, unto him-
self, not imputing their trespasses unto ihem.^
Realizing their pollution and nakedness, they come
to him for cleansing and clothing. Nor do they
come in vain ; for, to such, his precious blood is a
fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness ; and by
him, all that believe, (in doing which, coming to him
consists) are justified from all things* Sensible of
spiritual hunger and thirst, they come to him, who,
for their encouragement, is saying, / am the Bread
of life eat ye that ichich is good and, If any man
thirst, let him come unto me and drinkJ Thus saved,
and cleansed, and justified and nourished, like the
man out of whom the legion was cast, they are found
sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in their
right mind. z

Still addressing the divine Angel and speaking of
the Israelites, Moses adds,

' Num. x. 3336. "John vi. 45. * I s . x lv. 14. 2 Cor. v. 19.
x Zechxiii. 1. 1 John i. 7. Acts xiii. 39. yJohnri. 48. It.
ly. 2. John vii. 37. Mark r. 15.

162 THE LOVE OF GOD [SER. IV.

4. They shall receive of thy words. From the
cloud, they had received of his words, at the time of
their exodus from Egypt, a and repeatedly, during
their journey in the wilderness ; b but here, Moses
foretold that they should enjoy the same favor, in
times then future ; though in a somewhat different
manner, as noticed and explained before. See pp. 148,
149. The same also, is true of spiritual Israelites.
They have received of the words of Christ, and ac-
cording to promise and prophecy, shall still receive
of them. They received of his words, at their con-
version. Herein, the elect receive his quickening
word, and live, c his enlightening word, and see*
his inviting word, and come to ' him, e and, his com-
forting word, and rejoice in him ; having no longer
any confidence in the flesh.* Thus it is, that he calleth
his own sheep l)y name and leadeth them out, that is,
out of all the refuges of lies in which they had trust-
ed before, into a state of faith and hope in himself/
Hence, though all the elect belong to him by the Fa-
ther's gift and by his own redemption of them from
under the curse,* 1 yet only the regenerate, are the
called of Jesus Christ. 1 And being thus effectually
called by him, they receive of his words, when they
acknowledge him as their Lord and Master, by sub-
mitting to baptism, according to his command and
example ; k by uniting with some branch of his
Church, in gospel order ; ! by partaking at his table,
in commemoration of his death ; m and by maintain-

Exo. xiii. 21,22. and xiv. 1 4. b Num. ix. 15 23. c John
v. 25. d Psal. cxix. 130. Rev. Hi. 18. Matt. xi. 28. John vi.
37. f Philip, iii. 3. e John x. 3. h John vi. 39. xvii. 6. Eph. i. 7.
Rev. v. 9. 'Rom. i. 6. k Matt. xxviii. 19. Mark i. 9. Acts ii.
41 . xviii. 8. ' 2 Cor. viii. 5. m I Cor. xi. 24.

SER. IV.] MANIFESTED TO ISRAEL. 163

ing a life and conversation correspondent to their ho-
ly vocation. Moreover, during the whole course of
their pilgrimage on earth, they receive of his words,
in a way of instruction and comfort ; and this, not
only as they read the Scriptures or hear the gospel
preached, but as the Holy Ghost, acting in his name,
presents to their faith the things of Christ, such as
his righteousness, his atonement, his fulness of grace,
and his advocacy with the father on their behalf,
and brings to their remembrance and applies to their
cases, whatsoever he hath spoken for their edifica-
tion and comfort. p Hence, many a time, all the true
disciples of Jesus, like the two whom he accompanied,
as they were going from Jerusalem to Emmaus,
have reason to say, Did not our heart burn within
us, while he talked with us by the way and while
he opened to us the Scriptures. q Favored with
his company and converse, every believer may say
with Newton,

" My road is safe and pleasant too;"

and, reviewing seasons of special interest, under his
word or at his table, each may adopt the grateful
language of the church, saying, / sat down under
his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was
sweet to my taste* Happy, indeed, is that people,
that is in such a case ; yea, happy is that people
whose God is the Lord. 3 Yet, in these privileges,
we have but a foretaste of those richer enjoyments
which our ascended Lord has in store for us in
heaven.

1 Thess. ii. 12. P John xiv. 26. xvi. 14. q Luke xxiv. 32.
r Cant. ii. 3. Psal. cxliv. 15.

164 THE LOVE OF GOD, &C. [SER. ir

" These are the joys he lets us know,
In fields and villages below ;
Gives us a relish of his love,
But keeps his noblest feast above."

And soon, my believing hearers, he will call us to it ;
yes, soon we shall receive his word from heaven, say-
ing Come up hither? O welcome message ! O bless-
ed hour of sweet release ! Then shall our happy
souls, removed from these tenements of clay dis-
charged from this war in the members and, de-
livered for ever from all sin, temptation and sorrow,
be associated with "the spirits of the just made per-
fect," and enjoy that "rest which remaineth for
the people of God." u Nor shall our bodies, though
for a season left behind, be lost or forgotten in the
dust ; but, at the appointed time, shall hear his
awakening voice and in his glorious image rise. w And
thus prepared in soul and body for the heavenly in-
heritance, we shall finally receive his word saying
to us, Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world* EVEN so, LORD JESUS.

tRev. xi. 12. Heb. xii. 23. and iv. 9. w Philip, iii. 21.
x Matt. xxv. 34.

SERMON V.

THE MOSAIC LAW AN INHERITANCE TO
ISRAEL.

DEUT. xxxiii. 4. Moses commanded us a law : even the inheri-
tance of the Congregation of Jacob.

THESE words, with those of the next verse, seem
to stand unconnected with the context. Hence it
is somewhat doubtful by whom they were spoken.
Most commentators, both Jewish and Christian, in-
terpret them as being the words of the children of
Israel ; and two of the Chaldee Paraphrases, to wit,
the Jerusalem and that of Jonathan go so far as to
preface the text thus : " The children of Israel
said, Moses commanded us a law, &c." But, with
all this mass of opinion to the contrary, I cannot
help believing with Bp. Patrick, that the language
of our text is the language of Moses, speaking of
himself in the third person, and including himself
with the people of Israel. That it was no unusual
thing for Moses thus to speak of himself, must be
obvious to every one, in reading the Five Books
which he wrote. Among the numerous instances
thereof which occur in these books, we have one
that cannot be disputed, in the first verse of the
chapter before us ; This is the blessing wherewith

166 THE MOSAIC LAW [SEE. V.

Moses, the man of God, [not I] blessed the children
of Israel before his death [not my death].

By thus speaking of himself, Moses happily com-
bined modesty with dignity, and meekness with autho-
rity. If he had said, / commanded us a law, it would
have sounded harsh and haughty ; and if he had
said to Israel, / commanded you a law, he would
have seemed to declare himself exempt from obli-
gation to that law. But, by speaking of himself in
the third person and by name, he modestly accounted
for his act referred to, by reminding the people, that
it was the act of one whom God had condescended
to employ for that purpose ; and, by using us instead
of you, he plainly acknowledged himself to be,
equally with his brethren, under the law which he
officially delivered. Thus he maintained authority
and dignity, without arrogance and ostentation. In
like manner, the prophets prefaced most of their
Visions, and the apostles most of their Letters.

Justice to our subject requires, that, in the discus-
sion of it, we consider

The concern which Moses had in the giving of the
law,

The people to whom the law, through him, was
given, and

What the law was to the people to whom it was
thus given.

1. The concern which Moses had in the giving of
the law. That he was not the author and enactor
of it, must be evident to all ; for then the transgres-
sion of it would have been merely an offense against
him ; whereas the whole tenor of divine revelation
shows it to be an offense against God. Of this the
record of David's confession, furnishes the clearest

SER. V.] AN INHERITANCE TO ISRAEL. 167

possible proof and illustration ; for although he had
greatly injured Uriah and disgraced Israel, he con-
sidered the sinfulness of his conduct as being only
against God; " I have sinned against the LORD,"
said he ; and addressing him, he said, " Against
thee, thee only have I sinned and done this evil in
thy sight : that thou mightest be justified when thou
speakest, and be clear when thou judgest." a But
the sin which he deplored was an actual transgres-
sion of the law, delivered on Sinai ; of which law,
therefore, God, and not Moses, must have been the
author and enactor. b Besides, that the moral law*
did not receive its origin in any thing in which the
ministry of Moses was concerned, is manifest ; for,
in its nature and obligation, it existed coeval with
man, and therefore more than two thousand years
before its promulgation, through Moses, on mount
Sinai. This appears both from reason and from
revelation.

It appears from reason. For if man when
created, had been left, for any given time, without
being under moral obligation to his Creator, you
must all perceive, that during that time, he must
have been, in a moral sense, as independent of his
Creator, as his Creator was of him ; that is, man
could have been no more accountable to God, for
his thoughts, words, and deeds, than (shocking to
say) God, for his own thoughts, words, and deeds,
would have been accountable to man. Thus cir-

a 2 Sam. xii. 13. Psal. li. 4. b Exo. xx. 14.

* We call this law moral, because it takes cognizance of the

thoughts and intents of the heart, (Heb. iv. 12. Matt. v. 22. 28.)

which human laws cannot, and because it is, to mankind, the

standard of their moral duty, both toward God and one another.

168 THE MOSAIC LAW [SER. V.

cumstanced, our first parents might have cursed one
another, or even their Maker or Adam might have
murdered Eve, or Eve him ; or both might have
committed suicide, without committing, in either
case, any moral evil. In short, it would have been
impossible for them, or any of their posterity, while
in that lawless state, to have sinned at all ; " for
where no law is, there is no transgression." 6

" But," says one, " our first parents were under
a positive injunction not to eat of the fruit of a
certain tree." Granted : but who does not per-
ceive, that if they were not previously under moral
obligation to obey God, that injunction itself, in re-
gard to moral obligation, must have been perfectly
nugatory a command wholly without force even
as much so, as that of one free man saying to an-
other equally free, Thou shalt not eat of this or
that ; the man commanded being, in such case,
under no obligation to obey the man commanding
him. That any command may be equitably binding
on the person to whom it is delivered, that person
must be under prior obligation, natural or relative,
to obey the authority from which it comes. Such,
for instance, are the obligations of children, to
obey their parents, those of Servants, to obey
their masters, and those of subjects or citizens, to
obey their sovereigns or magistrates. From reason
itself, therefore, we are constrained to believe, that
the obligation of the moral law was binding on man
as soon as he existed that this objigation was in-
separable from his relation to God, as his Creator,
and that he had the requisit knowledge of it by
the light of nature. Hence the obligation which

c Rom. iv. 15.

SEK. V.] AN INHERITANCE TO ISRAEL. 169

Adam was under to obey the positive command not
to taste nor even to touch the fruit of a certain tree,
on pain of death his great criminality in transgress-
ing that command, and the fatal consequences there-
of, to himself and to all his posterity. See Ser. iii.
pp. 127133.

The same also appears from revelation. For by
this infallible light, we perceive, not only that Adam
personally was made under the law, but likewise, that
in and with him, all his natural posterity were made
under it ; they being all seminally and representative-
ly in him. That seminally all Adam's natural poste-
rity were under the law in him and became depraved
with him, is evident from the condition in which
they descend from him. For, " as by one man sin
entered into the world, and death by sin ; so death
passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Rom.
v. 12. And, that representatively they were all un-
der the law in him 9 is equally evident from the re-
vealed fact, that with him they were all involved
in condemnation by his original offense : by the
offense of one judgment came upon all men to con-
demnation, Rom. v. 18.* Moreover, that the moral

* Rightly to understand this chapter, (Rom. v.) it must be
noticed, that the apostle herein treats of Adam as " the figure of
him that was to come," namely Christ ; ver. 14 ; and that he
elsewhere speaks of Adam and Christ, as, in certain respects,
the only two men that ever existed, or, that properly, at least
immediately received their being from God ; the former, as the
first Adam, the latter as the second and last Adam. See 1 Cor.
xv. 4549.

The analogy between the two was founded in the public and
relative stations respectively assigned to them. For, as God con-
stituted Adam the federal and natural head of all his posterity, as
such ; they being all representatively and essentially in him ; so

170 THE MOSAIC LAW [SER. V.

laic was in force before its promulgation on Sinai,
and that it took cognizance of natural as well as

he constituted Christ, as Mediator, the federal and spiritual Head
of all the elect ; according as he chose them in him, and in him
endowed them with grace and glory before the world began. Prov.
viii. 2331. Eph. i. 4. 2 Tim. i. 9. Titus i. 2. John xvii. 2.
Comp. Eph. i. 22, 23. iv. 15, 16. Col. i. 18, 19. Hence, by
obvious consequence,

1. As all Adam's posterity, being represented in him when he
transgressed, were, by his original offense, involved in condemna-
tion with him ; so all the elect, being represented in Christ when
he obeyed and died as their Surety and Substitute, were, thereby,
virtually justified in and with him. For, " as by the offense of
one" (Adam) " judgment came upon all men," of every age and
nation, " to condemnation ;" " even so, by the righteousness of
one," (Christ) " the free gift," the imputation of righteousness,
". came upon all men," that is, upon all of every generation, na-
tion and condition, that were represented in him, and that, not
conditionally but effectually, it being " unto justification of life."
Rom. v. 18. Comp. 1 Pet. iii. 18, and Rom. iv. 25. Many, I
am aware, contend that in the latter as well as in the former part
of this passage, the phrase all men must necessarily be understood
to mean all the individuals of mankind. But if so, " justification
unto life," must through Christ, have come upon them all ; and
consequently, either some justified persons must be lost, or all the
individuals of mankind must be saved; neither of which comports
with the tenor of revelation ; not the former, for whom God jus-
tifies, he glorifies ; Rom. viii. 30, 33, 34 ; and not the latter, it
being contrary to the plainest accounts of the final judgment.
Matt. xxv. 34, 41, 46. John v. 28, 29, and Rev. xx. 1115.
Besides, that the phrase all men, in the latter part of the text in
question, is to be understood as above explained, is evident from
the song which the saved will address to Christ, saying, " Thou
art worthy," &c. " for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to
God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people,
and nation." Rev. v. 9, and vii. 9, 10.

2. As all Adam's posterity receive moral depravity from him
their natural head, Rom. v. 12, and, as such, are morally dead ;
Eph. ii. 1 1 so all the elect of every generation, receive quickening

SER. V.] AN INHERITANCE TO ISRAEL. 171

practical obliquity, the apostle proves by the exist-
ence of sin and the consequent reign of death, during

grace from Christ, their spiritual Head, John i. 16 ; and so be-
come spiritually alive. John i. 4. iv. 10, 14, and v. 25.

Correspondent to this design of the analogy in question, is the
whole scope of the apostle's reasoning, in Rom. v. concerning justi-
fication. For while he constantly keeps his figure in view, his
chief object is to show the speciality and excellence of the life
which comes through Christ, compared with that which was lost
through Adam. " Not as the offense, so is the free gift ;" ver. 15.

1. Not in extent. It does not, like Adam's offense, extend to
all mankind, but only to all represented in Christ. Nor

2. In kind. For, it is not (as some think) a mere restoration
to the elect, of what they, with the rest of mankind, lost in Adam ;
but the free gift of what is infinitely more valuable ; and for which
the apostle intimates there is a sufficient reason in the amplitude
of the provision made for them in Christ. " For if through the
offense of one," that of Adam, " many," even all his natural pos-
terity, as such, " be dead," morally and legally, and therefore liable
to death eternal, Is it not, as if the apostle had said, equally, yea
" much more" evident, that " the grace of God, and the gift by
grace," (that is, the gift of justifying righteousness, and this im-
puted by an act of grace,) " which is by one man, Jesus Christ,
hath abounded unto many," the many whom he covenanted to
save the many for whom, according to Matt. xx. 28, he gave his
life a ransom and therefore, that, through these aboundings of his
grace, God hath granted to them a safer standing and a better life
than Adam lost 1 So saith Christ of his sheep : " I am come that
they might have life, and that they might have it more abund-
antly." John x. 10. Neither,

3. Is the guilt which is removed from those who are justified in
Christ, like that by which mankind were condemned in Adam the
guilt of a single offense : " Not as it was by one that sinned, so is
the gift ;" ver. 16 ; " for the judgment," the sentence of it, " was"
incurred " by one," that is' by Adam's one original offense, " t to con-
demnation ; but the free gift," that of justifying righteousness, to
all actual sinners on whom it is bestowed, " is of many offenses unto
justification." Comp. Acts xiii.39, and 1 Cor. vi. 11. Moreover,

4. The life which the heirs of grace receive through Christ,
is not, like that which they had in Adam, perishable and

172 THE MOSAIC LAW [SEE. V.

the long range of time between Adam and Moses.
" For," saith he, " until the law," that is, constantly

loscable ; but immortal and secure. " For," verse 18, " if
by one man's offense, death reigned by one," by one man
and by his one original offense; " much more," when com-
pared with Adam's short life in paradise, " they who receive
abundance of grace," as all who are saved do, at their conversion
and afterward, " and of the gift of righteousness," imputed for
their justification, " shall reign in life" life immortal and hea-
venly, " by one, Jesus Christ." " For," ver. 21, " as sin," with-
out any help, " reigned unto death, even so might grace reign
through righteousness," through a righteous medium, " unto
eternal life" all the way from eternal election to eternal glorifi-
cation, " by Jesus Christ our Lord."

With the same figure in view, (1 Cor. xv. 47 49.) the apostle
reasons in like manner respecting the resurrection. For though
(exemptions admitted; Gen. v. 24. Heb. xi. 5. 2 Kings ii. 11.
1 Thess. iv. 15 17. 1 Cor. xv. 51, 52.) all Adam's descendents,
by reason of his guilt imputed and his depravity transmitted to
them, became liable to corporal death ; Gen. iii. 19. Heb.
ix. 27, and Romans viii. 10 ; yet the Spirit of God, who
raised up the natural body of Christ, and, at his ascension,
formed it a spiritual body, not only quickens the souls of the elect
in this life, but will also, at the appointed time, quicken their mor-
tal bodies, and fashion them like unto the spiritual and glorious
body of Christ. Rom. viii. 11. Philip, iii. 21. Thus, " as we
have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image
of the heavenly Adam. 1 Cor. xv. 49. Comp. Rom viii. 29.

The resurrection of the dead, by the authority and voice of
Christ, as the Head of the Church and the Judge of the world,
will indeed be universal. " For," 1 Cor. xv. 22, " as in Adam
all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive," as it regards the
body. " But every man in his own order," both as to time and
rank; (compare Num. ii. 17, where the LXX. use the word ray^a,
in the same sense ;) " Christ the first fruits,'* with reference to all
that sleep in him ; ver. 23 ; " afterward they that are Christ's at
his coming" his coming to judge the world Yet, not these only,
but the wicked also shall be raised : for The multitude (as tzrai rab-
beem is rendered, Psal. xcvii. 1.) of them that sleep in the dust of
the earth shall awake ; but in very different conditions ; some in

SEK. V.] AN INHERITANCE TO ISRAEL. 173

from the beginning, until the law was given on
Sinai, as well as afterward, " sin was in the world,"
brought in by Adam's transgression, and continued
in the nature and manifested in the lives of his de-
praved posterity: " but," adds he, " sin is not im-
puted where there is no law ;" and therefore, could
not then have been imputed if there had been no
law. " Nevertheless," as a clear proof that the law
icas then in force, and that sin, a transgression of it,
was imputed, " death," the wages of sin, " reigned
from Adam to Moses" and that not only over prac-

tlieir sins, (John viii. 21,) and others justified in Christ; (Luke
xiv. 14 ;) and therefore, to very different destinations ; some to ever*
lasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Dan.
xii. 2. Comp. John v. 28, 29. " Then," continues the apostle,
" cometh the end," the end of the world, the end of time,
" when he" (Christ) " shall have delivered up the kingdom," the
mediatorial kingdom, " to God, even the Father," from whom
he received it; " when he shall have put down all rule and
authority and power," of every kind that is inimical to him
and his church. "For," (according to prophecy, Psal. ex. ],)
" he must reign," as Mediator, " till he hath put all enemies
under his feet. The last enemy" to his people, and obstacle to
their complete happiness, " that shall be destroyed, is death."
Herein will be accomplished what is recorded, 1 Cor. xv. 54 57.
This entire subjugation of all his and his people's enemies, was
secured to Christ, as Mediator, by the Father's purpose and dis-
position of things. " For," ver. 27, " He" (the Father) " hath"
(by covenant-engagement) " put all things under his feet," the
feet of Christ, Psal. viii. 6. " But when He," (the Father) " saith
all things are put under him," (Christ) " it is manifest that He"
(the Father) " is excepted, who did put all things under him,"
(Christ.) " And," ver. 28, " when all things," according to pur-
pose, " shall be" actually " subdued unto him, then shall the Son
also himself," in regard to his official reign, " be subject unto him,
that put all things under him, that God," subsisting in the CO-
ESSENTIAL, CO-EQUAL, and CO-ETERNAL TRINITY, may be ALL
in ALL.

174 THE MOSAIC LAW [SER. V

tical sinners, but also over infants, " even over them
that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's
transgression," that is, practically ; but who, not-
withstanding, in consequence of having derived a
depraved nature from him, were subject to natural
death ; yea, being shapen in iniquity and conceived
in sin, and so morally and legally dead, they, in
themselves considered, were liable, by the law, to
death eternal.**

d Rom. v. 13, 14. Psal. li. S.

* For holding this plainly revealed truth, I and many others
have been charged with holding, that those of the human family
who die in infancy, are necessarily consigned to future misery.
But if this consequence is involved in the above doctrine, I am
not aware of it ; and certain I am, that the opinion imputed, has
never entered my heart, and that I have never heard it avowed by
any person of any denomination. Many, indeed, believing that
the- Scriptures leave the question undecided, think we ought to be
silent on the subject. That the Scriptures are less explicit on this
article than on many others, is admitted ; yet, in my humble opi-
nion, they say enough in relation to it, to authorize the comfortable
conclusion, that all dying in infancy are saved. And, as this is
my decided belief, and what I have often avowed, I take this op-
portunity of submitting to the public, some of my thoughts in
regard to the matter in question.

1. Then, I am not driven to this belief, by indulging the com-
mon idea, that it would be cruel or unmerciful in God, to execute
the penalty of his righteous law upon those of Adam's depraved
and guilty posterity, whom he is pleased to call hence in a state
of infancy. For believing, as I do, that it is agreeable to justice,
divine as well as human, that punishment should be proportionate
to crime, I believe that the future punishment of those who die in
their sins, will be, though in every instance endless, yet, by many
degrees, various ; according to the advantages under which they
will have lived, and the degrees and aggravations of their iniquity
See Ser. iii. p. 132.

Now, whatever we suppose salvation to depend on whether
upon the absolute grace of God, or, in whole or in part, on the
will and efforts of creatures;, unless we have the atheism to deny

. V.] AN INHERITANCE TO ISRAEL. 175

Now, with these facts in view, it must be evident
to all, that Moses had no concern in the origination

the certain foreknowledge of God, we must necessarily believe,
that he foreknew all that would be saved, and, consequently, all
that would be lost. In regard to the latter, therefore, so far
would it have been from cruelty in Him, to have executed the
penalty of his law upon them in all generations, before they had
added actual transgression to natural depravity, and, especially,
before they had aggravated their condition, by " treasuring up
wrath against the day of wrath," (Rom. ii. 5.) that it would have
been a great instance of his mercy toward them; as it would
have prevented the accumulation of their iniquity, and thereby, the
augmentation of their endless misery.

2. I do not cherish this pleasing hope concerning those who
die in a state of infancy, because 1 believe (as many do) that
mankind are born sinless; for, from the passages referred to,
(Psal. li. 5. and Rom. v. 12.) and many others, the contrary is
evident. Besides, if they were born sinless, they could have no
interest in salvation by Christ ; seeing he " came into the world
to save sinners" lost sinners. 1 Tim. i. 15. Luke xix. 10. Nor
-do I believe,

3. That the salvation of those who die in a state of in-fancy,
has any dependence upon the character of their parents : that is.,
whether they descend from believers or unbelievers ; Matt. iii. 9,
10. viii. 11, 12. John i. 13; or upon any parental or ministerial
dedication of them or ceremony performed on them ; which would
necessarily imply, that these things have in them a cleansing and
saving virtue, and that they are essential to salvation ; whereas it
is the blood of Jesus Christ alone, that cleanseth from all sin.
1 John i. 7. Moreover, to suppose the contrary, is to suppose that
millions dying in infancy are excluded from the kingdom of hea-
ven, merely because descended from heathen, unbelieving, or
negligent parents. But

4. I believe, that all who in holy Providence are called hence
in a state of infancy, are of those whom God blessed with all
spiritual blessings in Christ, according as he hath chosen us in him
before the foundation of the world ; and therefore that they are of
those whom Christ redeemed by his precious blood. Eph. i.
3 7. That the chosen and redeemed of the Lord, are such while
infants, nay before born, is unquestionable; Rom. ix. 11; why

176 THE MOSAIC LAW [SER. V.

of the law. Not, surely, in the origination of the
moral laic ; for it was in force from the creation of

then, may not those who die in infancy, be of that number?
Nevertheless,

5. It does not follow, that those who die while infants, any
more than those who live to adult age, can go to heaven without
regeneration. For " that which is born of the flesh is flesh," that
is, carnal ; John iii. 6 ; but " the carnal mind is enmity against
God," Rom. viii. 7, and therefore must be changed by regenerating
grace, or it never can enjoy God ; yea, unless born again, the
creature, whether called hence in infancy or afterward, cannot see
the kingdom of God. John iii. 3. Nor is the necessity of the
new birth any obstacle to the salvation of those who die in in-
fancy; for, as in this gracious change, the creature, infant or
adult, is entirely passive, the former may as well be the subject of
it as the latter ; the regenerating grace of the Holy Spirit, like
the blowing of the wind, having no dependence upon the will or
co-operation of creatures. John iii. 8. It is therefore the de-
nial, (not the belief,] of eternal election, particular redemption,
and sovereign regeneration, that implies the exclusion, of in-
fants and of idiots also (dying such) from the kingdom of hea-
ven ; for if an interest in Christ, or a participation in regenerating
grace, depend upon some condition to be performed by creatures,
it necessarily follows, that, whereas neither infants nor idiots are
capable of performing any such condition, they must either be
taken to heaven without an interest in Christ, and without regene-
ration, or they must inevitably perish.

The grounds upon which I believe the salvation of those who
die in a state of infancy, are chiefly the following.

1. It is highly probable that pome are made partakers of the
Holy Spirit, in his regenerating and sanctifying influence, before
they are born. See the case of Jeremiah, chapter i. 5, and that of
Jo hn the baptist, Lukei. 15; who were also then sanctified to office.

2. That some, in their infancy, are taken to heaven, is evident
from the words of Christ, spoken on the occasion of infants being
brought to him, that he should lay his hands on them and pray;
for when the disciples objected to the act, he said, " Suffer little
children, and forbid them not, to come unto me : for of such is
the kingdom of heaven ;" by which he could not have meant the
kingdom of the gospel church ; for none, of right, can be added te

SER. V.] AN INHERITANCE TO ISRAEL. 177

man, and so many ages before Moses was born ; nor
in that of either the judicial or the ceremonial law ;

this, but on a profession of faith, (a profession of which infants are
incapable,) but the kingdom of glory ; which therefore, in part,
must consist of infants. Matt. xix. 13 15. I cannot think with
those commentators who interpret this passage as of the same
import with Matt, xviii. 2 6, and Mark ix. 36, 37, 42, where a
little child is made an emblem of a humble and unoffending be-
liever. Here nothing of this kind is suggested.

3. The saying of David respecting his deceased child, " I
shall go to him, but he shall riot return to me," implies his belief
of the child's happiness ; for he could not have meant simply, that
his body should be associated with the body of the child in the
dust, but also that his soul should be associated with the soul of
his child in a future state of being ; but having received an infal-
lible assurance that God had put away his sin, (2 Sam. xii. 13,
23.) David rejoiced in the belief, both that his soul in its separate
state, should enjoy the open vision, and that, at the resurrection,
his body should awake with the likeness of his blessed Lord. Psal.
xvii. 15. Consequently he must have believed the same concern-
ing his child to whom he expected to go.

4. The case of Rachel, who on account of her passionate de-
sire and love of children, is introduced as representing the Jewish
women, whose children from two years old and under, to include
the child Jesus, were put to death under the edict of Herod. In
this representative capacity, Rachel is mentioned as mourning
and inconsolable ; but the Lord said to her, " Refrain thy voice
from weeping and thine eyes from tears ; for thy work," the
pains, toil, and solicitude of the mothers she represented, " shall
be rewarded," that is, in the future blessedness of those children
whom, it might seem to them, they had borne and so far nourished,
in vain ; " for they" (the murdered children) " shall come again
from the land of the enemy," the empire of death, the last enemy
that shall be destroyed. " And," therefore, " there is hope in
thine end, saith the Lord," that is, in the end or issue which, in
regard to this distressing affair, was embraced in the divine coun-
sel ; or there is hope for thy posterity, as the words may be ren-
dered, to wit, the posterity of the women of whom she was a
figure ; " that thy children shall come again to their own border, 1 '
as they will when raised from the dead in the place where they

178 THE MOSAIC LAW [SER. V.

for the statutes of the former and the ceremonies of
the latter were all delivered to him from the mouth

were massacred. But could it at all have assuaged the grief of
the mothers thus cruelly bereaved, to be assured merely that their
children should participate in the general resurrection ? Or would
it be any comfort to them, at the day of Judgment, to see their
children raised from the dead, if they must also see them cast into
hell 1 The design of the prophecy, therefore, must have been,
that, at the requisit time, it might be explained and applied, as
it was by the Evangelist Matthew^ to comfort those weeping mo-
thers in Israel, with an assurance that their martyred children
would be not only raised from the dead, but raised to live and
reign with the blessed Jesus, for whose sake they were thus hor-
ribly murdered. See Jer. xxxi. 1517. Matt. ii. 17, 18. But,
5. And specially, my belief that all who die before they become
conscious of moral right and wrong, and that whether in Christian
or in heathen lands, will be saved, is founded upon the inspired
descriptions of the final condemnation of the wicked, in every
instance of which, it is declared or implied that the sentence will
pass against them according to their works. Matt. xxv. 44 46.
John v. 28, 29. Rom. ii. 1215. Rev. xx. 1113. But in-
fants, however depraved in nature, have, properly speaking, no
works, no actual transgressions, for which to be judged ; and
therefore do not answer the character of those who shall be finally
condemned.

The only argument at all plausible, that I have ever heard
raised from Scripture, in favor of the contrary opinion, is that
which supposes there were many infants in Sodom when it was
destroyed, and who, if saved, must have been righteous ; whereas,
it is revealed, that if only ten righteous had been in the place it
would have been spared. Gen. xviii. 32. To this I reply 1.
That, considering the horrible and unnatural abominations to
which the men of Sodom had become abandoned, it is highly
probable, that there were, at that time, no infants in that city.
See Gen. xix. 4 8, and Rom. i. 27. And 2. Admitting that
there were many hundreds or thousands of infants there at that
time, and supposing them all to have been regenerated and justi-
fied in Christ before their death, and so that they were righteous
and saved, they nevertheless did not answer the character of the
ten for whose sake G?d would have spared the city; for the sense

. V.] AN INHERITANCE TO ISRAEL. 179

of God, as may be seen in the books of Exodus and
Leviticus.

The concern, then, which Moses had in the giving
of the law, must be restricted to his instrumentality
in the promulgation of it to Israel, and which con-
sisted chiefly in the following things.

1. Moses, through the ministry of angels, received
the law from its divine author and enactor the
moral part, " on two tables of stone, written with
the finger of God ;" f and the judicial and ceremo-
nial parts viva voce from the mouth of God, and
wrote them in a book/

2. He delivered the whole to Israel, though at
successive times, and that both verbally and in
writing. h The law, therefore, came through Moses,
though not from him. 1

3. He inculcated upon Israel the observance of

is, that if ten persons practically righteous, were found in -it,
he would spare it. It was the practical wickedness of the inhabi-
tants of Sodom, already referred to, that brought the shower of
fire and brimstone upon them, even as it was " the great wicked-
ness of man upon earth" that before had brought the flood of
waters upon the inhabitants of the old world. Gen. vi. 5 7.

To these remarks, no objection can be fairly raised from the
case of Nineveh. For although, in suspending the judgment
threatened against that city, God considered the infants in it,
consisting of more than 120 thousand, yet not in regard to their
eternal state, but merely as a reason for his temporal forbearance
and mercy toward the Ninevites, in a providential way ; in which
he also had respect to the " much cattle" in the place. See Jo-
nah iv. 11, and comp. Psal. xxxvi. 6. From the divine proce-
dure therefore, in that case, nothing can be inferred /or or against
the spiritual and eternal salvation of infants.

eExo. xxi. 1, xxiv. 3. Lev. i. 1, xxvii. 34. f Exo. xxxi. 18.
g See the places referred to by the letters e and /, and Exo. xxiv.
4, 7, and xxxiv. 27. h Ibid xix. 7, xxiv. 3, 4, 7. Deut. i. 1, 3.
and xxxi. 1, 9, 24. ' John i. 17.

180 THE MOSAIC LAW [SER. V.

the law, which God, by him had delivered to them.
And this seems to be chiefly what he meant when he
said Moses commanded us a law ; for the law which
God commanded, Moses, by his authority, com-
manded also ; that is, he exhorted and admonished
the Israelites to obey it. k

We precede to consider

II. The people to whom the law, through Moses,
was given. This people are here called the con-
gregation of Jacob, after him from whom they de-
scended. But, as their progenitor is more frequently
called by his new name Israel, 1 they, in correspon-
dence therewith, are more commonly styled the con-
gregation of Israel. m These names were given them,
not only to distinguish them from every other people,
but also to signify that God had begun to fulfil his
promise of giving to Jacob a numerous seed. n Ja-
cob had left his father's house alone, but lo ! he is
become a congregation, and a very large one too, a
nation. " With my staff," said he, meaning with
that only, having neither wife, nor friend, nor pro-
perty, " I passed over this Jordan," near to which
he might be standing, and which he had in his
mind, at least, if not in his sight, " and now I am
become two bands ;" referring to the two branches
of his family, by his two wives Rachel and Leah.
And, as with reference to him, this people are called
the congregation of Jacob, and more frequently
after his new name, the congregation of Israel, so
with reference to his twelve sons, each of whom was

k Exo. xxxv. 1, 4. Deut. iv. 40. ' Gen. xxxii. 28 r xxxv. 10,
xlvii. 27, 31. " Exo. xii. 6, 19, 47. Lev. iv. 13. Num. xvi. 9.
2 Chron, v. 6. xxiv, 6. n Gen. xxviii. 14. <? Gen. xxxii. 9 12,

SER. V.] AN INHERITANCE TO ISRAEL. 181

a patriarch, the father of a tribe, they are called the
twelve tribes of Israel, and simply the twelve tribes. p

Now, to these tribes, as a nation or people, God,
by Moses, gave the law at Sinai. For, although
the moral part was the same under which Adam
was made, and which, as it has constantly been,
must for ever remain, binding upon all his posterity,
as such, yet the legal dispensation, (including the
judicial and ceremonial laws, with the moral law,
and given, through Moses, in the form of a cove-
nant^) was delivered exclusively to the congregation
of Jacob, the nation of Israel. q

Our subject requires that we consider

III. What this law was to the people to whom it
was thus given, to wit, an inheritance even the in-
heritance of the congregation of Israel. Some, in-
deed, understand the inheritance here intended, to be
the people of Israel themselves, who are called The
Lord's portion, and the lot of his inheritance.
Deut. xxxii. 9. Much more commonly, however,
and much more naturally, the term inheritance is,
in this place, understood to denote the law given to
that people. Moses commanded us a law. And
what was it to them \ An inheritance ; even the
inheritance of the congregation of Jacob. See
Psal. cxix. 111. Nor is there any want of fitness
in the metaphor.

" The law," like a rich inheritance, " is good if
a man use it lawfully." 1 Tim. i. 8. And, as far
as Israel so used it, the law, the whole legal dispen-
sation was a rich and valuable inheritance to them.
The moral law was, to them in general, an infallible

p Gen. xlix. 38. Jas. i. 1.. <* Exo. xx. 1, &c. Lev. xxvi. 46.

182 THE MOSAIC LAW [SER. V.

rule of moral duty both toward God and one ano-
ther ; arid, to the regenerate among them, it served
to discover their sinfulness of nature and life, and
their need of the righteousness and atonement of
the Messiah, the promised Seed ; Is. Ixiv. 6 ; the
ceremonial law, in its sacrifices and ablutions, typi-
fied Him who, in purpose and effect, was " the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world," and illus-
trated, to believers, the manner of their pardon and
cleansing through his precious blood ; r and the ju-
dicial law, in its statutes and judgments, was to them,
as a nation, an appropriate directory in all their ci-
vil procedings. 8

The law, too, like an inheritance in a family,
was given to the congregation of Jacob in perpet-
uum, for ever, that is, to descend with them from
generation to generation, till the coming of the Mes-
siah. * In this sense the ceremonies and statutes of
it, were to be in force for ever" *

rPsal. xxxii. 1,2. Rom. iv. 68. Heb. xiii. 20, 21. Rev.
xiii. 8. 8 Exo. xxi. 1 , <fcc. Gal. iii. 19, 20. u Exo. xii. 14, 24.
xxix. 28. Numb, xviii. 19.

* ohy or oSij? 61am (which our translators have sometimes
rendered of old, of long time, &c. but most frequently for ever
or everlasting) is from oSy 3.1am to hide or conceal, and denotes
duration hidden or concealed from man, whether past or future,
and whether finite, indefinite, or infinite. See Buxtorf, Taylor,
and Parkhurst. The word that generally answers to it in the
LXX. and in the N. T. is atuv or its derivative atwiov ; the former
of which is equivalent to act v always being, and the latter is, in
our version, commonly rendered by everlasting or eternal See
Trommius, Henry Stephens, and Leigh ; also Hedericus, Schre-
vlius, Parkhurst, Eioing and Jones.

These words, therefore, and their versions for ever and ever-
lasting, as they occur in the Holy Scriptures, denote duration as
various as the subjects to which they are applied. As I. The

8ER. V.] AIN T INHERITANCE TO ISRAEL. 183

Moreover, the law might be called the inheritance
of Israel, because to their observance of it, their
inheritance was annexed ; that is, their entrance
into Canaan and their continuance and prosperity
there were promised on condition of their legal
obedience. *

Such I conceive to be the literal meaning of the

whole, or the remaining duration of a man's natural life. Exo.
xxi. 6. 1 Sam. i. 22. Comp. ver. 28 and chap, xxvii. 12 ; also
Luke xx. 34. 2. The duration of the Jewish dispensation.
Gen. xvii. 13. Exo. xxvii. 21. 3. The duration of what will last
to the end of the present world Gen. xlix. 26. Rev. xiv. 6.
Hence 4. The duration of the world itself. Eccl. i. 4. Matt,
xxviii. 20.

Nevertheless 5. These words also denote infinite duration.
This is placed beyond dispute ; seeing that they are often used
to express the duration of the Being and perfections of God him-
self. Exo. xv. 18. Deut. xxxii. 40. xxxiii. 27. Is. xl. 28.
Matt. vi. 13. Acts xv. 18. Eph. iii. 11. Rom. xvi. 26. 1 Tim.
i. xvii. Such, too, must certainly be their meaning when used to
denote duration after the Great day of Judgment. For 1. That
will be the last day; John vi. 39, 40, 44, 54, xi. 24. With that
day, therefore, time, with all its revolutions and measurements,
must for ever cease, when no duration can follow, but that of vast
eternity. And 2. On that great day will take place, the last
Judgment; John xii. 48. Acts xvii. 31, and Jude, ver. 6; and
which, on this account, is called eternal Judgment ; Heb. vi. 2.
The decisions of that Judgment, therefore, and, by consequence,
the respective portions of the righteous and of the wicked, to be
thereby determined, will necessarily be final and irrevocable, and
therefore eternal. And how any who believe that the happiness
of the righteous will be endless, can believe that the misery of
the wicked will be limited, I am unable to conceive ; the two being
placed in direct opposition both being after the cessation of time
and the duration of each being expressed by the same word,
both in Hebrew and in Greek. Dan. xii. 2. Matt. xxv. 46.
Comp. John v. 28, 29. See the- note, p. 172, and Ser. ii. p. 71,
w Num. xxxii. 11. Is. i. 19, 20.

184 THE MOSAIC LAW [SER. V.

text. But there is also, in every part of it, a typical
meaning, and which we must not overlook.

First, Moses, as a law-giver, was a type of Christ,
of whom believers are taught to say, The Lord is our
law-giver. Is. xxxiii. 22. He hath given us a law, not
from Sinai but from Zion ; nor is it, like that of
Moses, a law of works, but a law of faith ; the rule
according to which God justifies sinners by faith in
Christ, without the deeds of the laic, Rom. iii. 27, 28.
This law is none other than the gospel, the tor ah,
the doctrine of Christ, for which it was foretold, the
isles of the Gentiles should wait.*

These two dispensations are clearly contradis-
tinguished, by the two eminent persons through
whom respectively they came : " The law," the legal
dispensation, "was given through (/*) Moses, but
grace and truth came through (JW) JESUS CHRIST."
John. i. 17. "By grace is meant the absolute favor
of God, by which he grants to believers in Christ,
the free, and full, and everlasting remission of all
their sins of nature and life, which were against
the moral law, and for which they were condemn-
ed by it; y and by truth is meant the true and
satisfactory atonement made by Christ for the sins of
the elect, corresponding to all the typical sacrifices
of the ceremonial law, offered for national Israel. z
The latter, indeed, may also include the verification
of all the promises and prophesies respecting the
incarnation, life, and death of Christ, and respecting
his resurrection and glorification. a

x Is. xlii. 4. y Rom. iv. 16. Eph. ii. 8. Gal. iii. 22. Jer. xxxi.
33. 34. Heb. viii. 12. z Heb. ix. 13, 14. 26. x. 114. a Micah
v. 2. Matt. ii. 5, 6. Is. vii. 14. Luke i. 34, 35. Matt. v. 17.x ii. 40-
Psal. Ixviii. 18. Luke xxiv. 50, 51. Eph. iv. 812.

SER. V.] AN INHERITANCE TO ISRAEL. 185

Both dispensations, it is true, came from the same
authority : the law was the law of God; Neh. x. 28 ;
and the gospel is the gospel of God, Rom. i. 1. And
accordingly, as Moses constantly referred to God
for the authority of the law, so did Christ for the
authority of the gospel. Hence, when the Jews,
taking him to be a mere man, and knowing that he
had not been bred a scholar, marveled at his learning,
he, to suggest to them, that his knowledge was not ac-
quired, and that he had not, like their doctors, learn-
ed from men what he delivered, replied, My doctrine
is not mine but his that sent me; for though, as a
divine person, he was concerned equally with the
Father and the Holy Ghost, in devising the plan of
salvation which is reported in the gospel ; yet as in
his official capacity, he acted under a commission
received from the Father, the gospel, which in this
capacity he delivered, was emphatically the doctrine
of the Father who had sent him. b

That Moses, in regard to the authority by which he
acted, was a type of Christ, will farther appear by
the following considerations. Moses, however eleva-
ted in his station, was constantly, in his public as
well as private capacity, controlled by the will of God. c
So Christ ; for though, by nature, he is the Son of
God, and therefore, in essense, will and purpose, ONE
with the Father-/ yet, in his official capacity, he is
the Father's Servant ; e and accordingly, in his advent
and in all he did and suffered, as Mediator, he acted
in subordination to 'his Father's will; / came down
from heaven, said he, not to do mine own will, that

b Johnvii. 15, 16. c Exo. iii. 1416. xix. 2125. xxxii. 7,
11, 33, 34. xxxiv, 1, 27. Lev. i. 1. Num. i. 1. Deut. xxxii. 48
52. d Matt. iii. 17. John x. 30, e Is. xlii. 1. Philip, ii. 6 S.

186 THE MOSAIC LAW [SEK. T.

is, separately and only, but the will of him that sent
me; f which, nevertheless, was also his own will; it
being what he had voluntarily covenanted to do, and
what he greatly delighted in. g Again, as Moses was
subject to the ordinances of the law, which he deliver-
ed ; so, as man, and to set an example to his disciples,
Christ was subject to the ordinances of the gospel,
which he delivered. In regard to baptism, he said
to John, whom God had sent to baptize, 11 Thus it be-
cometh us, you, as a pattern to all authorized adminis-
trators of this ordinance, and myself, as a pattern to
all the qualified subjects of it, to fulfil all righteous-
ness-, not justifying righteousness; for this Christ
fulfilled alone; but the righteousness of practical
obedience to God's revealed precepts. 1 And as Moses,
with his brethren, partook of the paschal Supper, so
Christ, with his disciples, partook of the eucharistical
Supper. k

We must, however, not omit to notice also a few
of the many instances of disparity between these
two law-givers. Moses, as you have heard already,
.had no concern in originating the law which he
delivered; but Christ, as the wonderful counseller,
and as the covenantee of the elect, was, as hinted be-
fore, concerned with the Father, in devising as well
as in publishing the plan of their salvation ; and hence
the gospel, in which this plan is brought to light, is the
result and proclamation of "the counsel of peace be-
tween them both, Zech. vi. 13 ; and the Holy Spirit,
as freely revealing and applying it, is likened to " a
pure river of water of life, clear as crystal preceding
out of the throne of God and of the Lamb." Rev.

f John vi. 38. John x. 18. * Psal. xl. 710 h John i. 6, 33,
34. l Matt. iii. 15. k Matt, xxvi 26, 27.

SER. V.] AN INHERITANCE TO ISRAEL 187

xxii. 1. John xv. 26 and xvi. 14, 15. Moreover,
though Christ and Moses were both under the
law, as a covenant of works, yet they were un-
der it in very different respects. Moses was un-
der it of necessity, but Christ by his voluntary
consent. Moses, like every other child of Adam,
was under the law merely for himself, and if his obe-
dience to it had been perfect, he could thereby have
secured none but himself from its penalty ; Psal. xlix.
7, 8. but Christ was made under it as the Surety and
Substitute of all the elect, they being represented in
him ; and whom, therefore, by his obedience and
death, he redeemed from its curse. He was made
under the law, that he inight redeem them that were
under the law. Gal. iv. 4. 5.

Secondly, the congregation of Jacob, to which
Moses delivered the law, was a type of the con-
gregation of Christ, to which he delivered the gospel.
The analogy, however, between the two, I shall notice
at present, only in a few leading particulars.

The congregation of spiritual Israelites, like that
of the national Israelites, constantly consists of
those who had a being in their progenitor before
their visibility in the world. For, as the congrega-
tion of Jacob had a representative and seminal being
in him, before their involvment in Egyptian bondage,,
the elect had a similar being in Christ, before they
fell in Adam and under the bondage of the broken
covenant of works. They had a representative being
in HIM " according as they were chosen in him ;" and
a seminal being in HIM, as all that grace which, in
the order of time, gives them their spiritual existence
and character, was given to them, in HIM, as their
federal and vital HEAD ; and both, before the world

188 THE MOSAIC LAW [SER. V.

began. Eph. i. 4, and 2 Tim. i. 9. This grace
when communicated, is that seed which remaineth
in them, and in consequence of which they cannot
live in sin. 1 John. iii. 9, 10.

The congregation of Jacob consisted of his natu-
ral posterity; and the congregation of Christ consists
of his spiritual posterity ; with reference to whom
he is called The everlasting Father ; they having
had a seminal being in him from everlasting, and
he sustaining this relation to them, unto everlasting.
Seels, ix. 6 and Heb. ii. 13. And, as the congrega-
tion of Jacob were his descendants naturally, by his
twelve sons, the congregation of Christ under the New
Testament, are his descendants, mystically, by his
twelve apostles ; they having all received his Spirit,
according to the gospel which the apostles preached.
This is evident from the mediatorial prayer of Christ ;
in which, having prayed for his twelve apostles, he
added, " Neither pray I for these alone, but for them
also which shall believe on me through their word."
John xvii. 20. Hence, to signify how the doctrine
and memory of the apostles should be perpetuated,
the church, considered either in her latter-day-
prosperity, or in her heavenly glory, and perhaps in
both, is said to have twelve foundations, and in them
the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. Rev.
xxi. 14. Comp. Eph. ii. 20. Nor must we forget,
that Jacob, having passed over Jordan with his staff,
became two bands; for so Christ, having passed
over the Jordan of death on the staff of his cross,*
thereupon united believing Gentiles with believing
Jews, in one common household, the gospel-church.
" For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and
hath broken down the middle wall of partition be-
* McEwen on the types.

SER. V.] AN INHERITANCE TO ISRAEL. 189

tween us," meaning the ceremonial law. See Eph.
ii. 1422, and iii. 6.

Once more. As it was to the congregation of
Jacob, who were called out of Egyptian bondage,
that Moses delivered the law ; so it was to the con-
gregation of the disciples, who were called by grace
out of the world and from under the bondage of sin
and Satan, that Christ delivered the gospel. Of
them it was, that he said to his heavenly Father,
" I have given unto them the words which thou gav-
est me; and they have received them, and have
known surely that I came out from thee, and they
have believed that thou didst send me." John xvii.
8. And, as the legal dispensation, though the means
of some information to the Gentiles, was neverthe-
less intrusted with national Israel, to whom the
Oracles of God were committed ; Rom. iii. 2 ; so,
although the gospel is to be preached in all the
world, and to every creature ; yet, as a deposit, a
charge, it is committed to spiritual Israel, the gos-
pel-church. Accordingly, it is not out of " the world
that lieth in wickedness," but "out of Zion, the
perfection of beauty," that " God hath shined," in
the dispensation of the gospel. Psal. 1. 2. Here,
by grace and gifts, he qualifies men for the gospel-
ministry ; and who, being recognised and sanctioned
by the church, as thus qualified, go forth, riot from
the world, but into the world. Out of Zion, said
the evangelical prophet, shall go forth the law, and
the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Is. ii. 3.
Compare Luke xxiv. 47, and Acts i. 4. No man,
therefore, without a regular standing in some branch
of the gospel-Zion, and an official License therefrom,
to preach the gospel, can be duly authorized for this

J90 THE MOSAIC LAW [SER. V.

sacred work. The same also appears from Eze-
kieVs vision ; for the gospel and the Holy Spirit ac-
companying it, seem evidently to be designed by
the waters which he saw issuing, not from the desert
and the sea to the sanctuary, but from the sanctuary
to the desert and the sea ; and, as wherever those
waters came, every thing that had life was caused
to live; so wherever the gospel comes, accompanied
by the Spirit's influence, all that have life in Christ,
are made partakers of it in their souls, and those
who, being subjects of grace before, are fallen into
a backslid en and languishing state, are revived and
strengthened. For, as at Antioch, under the preach-
ing of the apostles, " as many as were ordained un-
to eternal life believed ;" Acts xiii. 48 ; so, under the
ministry of the same gospel, it has constantly been
and will continue to be, till all the elect shall
" obtain the salvation which is " in Christ Jesus ;"
2 Tim. ii. 10 ; and, according to prophecy, They
that dwell under his shadow shall return, that
is, from their backslidings, and shall revive as the
corn, and grow as the vine. Hosea xiv. 7. But,
(dreadful to think !) the non-elect, whether profane
sinners, or formal professors, like the miry places
and marshes in the prophet's vision, shall not be
healed. See Ezk. xlvii.l 11, and compare John
x, 26, arid Jer. xvii. 5, 6.

Nor must we forget,

Thirdly, That the law itself, as given to the
congregation of Jacob, was, as a dispensation, ty-
pical of the gospel, which, as a dispensation, was
given to the congregation of Christ, the New Testa-
ment church.

If the law, much more the gospel, like a valuable

SER.V.] AN INHERITANCE TO ISRAEL. 191

inheritance, is vastly enriching ; it comprehends and
publishes the unsearchable riches of Christ. Eph.
iii. 8. According to it, the Holy Spirit communi-
cates the riches of grace, Rom. v. 17, and, in it, re-
veals the riches of glory; 2 Cor. iv. 17. As it is
extended among the nations, it is the riches of the
world; Rom. xi. 12 ; because it is the richest bless-
ing that is in the world, the richest and most en-
riching blessing granted to any nation. And rich
indeed is that person in whom the icord of Christ
dwells richly. Col. iii. 16.

Again ; as the law, like an inheritance, descended
with the posterity of Jacob, so does the gospel, with
the posterity of Christ. It is emphatically the ever-
lasting gospel ; Rev. xiv. 6 ; and in it, the right-
eousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, and
his salvation published from generation to genera-
tion. Rom. i. 17, and Is. li. 8. And

Finally, as an apostle assured the carnal Jews,
who vainly trusted in hearing the law read to them
in the Synagogue every sabbath-day, that " not the"
mere " hearers of the law, but the" perfect " doers
of the law" (if any such there were) should be jus-
tified by it " before God;" Rom. ii. 13 ; so, let it be
remembered by all, that it is not those who merely
hear the gospel, however constant and orderly they
may be in their attendance upon it, but those who
so hear it as to live so hear it, as to believe in the
Lord Jesus Christ, to the rejection of every other
object of dependence yea, so hear it, as to be ef-
fectually taught by it to deny themselves of all un-
godliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly,
righteously, and godly, in the present evil world,
that are authorized by the Scriptures, to con-

192 THE MOSAIC LAW, &C. [SEE. V.

elude that they are justified in the sight of God.
John iii. 36. Acts xiii. 39. Titus ii. 11, 12. Such are
those, to whom the gospel has come, not in word
only, but also in power > and in the Holy Ghost, and
in much assurance ; and who, in consequence there-
of, have turned from dumb idols to serve the living
and true God; and, in faith and hope, to wait for
his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the
dead, even Jesus who delivered us from the wrath
to come. 1 Thess. i. 6 10.

SERMON VI.

MOSES WAS KING IX JESHURUff.

DEUT. xxxiii. 5 And he was king in Jeshuntn, when the heads
of the Tribes of Israel were gathered together'

As in the preceding verse, Moses speaks of himself
as a law-giver, so, in this verse, he speaks of himself
as a King ; And he was king in Jeshurun, &,c.
Under this title, therefore, I am now to treat of him ;
and in doing which, accompanied with some spiritual
improvement, I shall consider

The name here given to the people among whom
he was king

The manner of his promotion and reign, as their
king and

When, in particular, he appeared to be their king.

1. The name, here given to the people among
whom Moses was king : " And he was king in Jesh-
urun" That Jeshurun is but another name for
Israel, is sufficiently evident from the text itself, and
which is confirmed by each of the three other places
in which only it occurs ; to wit, in verse 26th of this
chapter in verse 15th of the preceding chapter
and in Is. xliv. 2. It was first given to that people,
to denote what they had been, both in privileges and
in character, and to imply their abuse of the former

194 MOSES WAS [SER. VI.

and their declension from the latter : Jcshurun, amid
special advantages enjoyed, waxed fat, and kicked
.... then he forsook God who made him, and lightly
esteemed the rock of his salvation, the MESSIAH. Deut.
xxxii. 15. To this design, the signification of the
name, whether derived from *w shur or from ISJT ya-
shar remarkably corresponds. Coeceius* followed by
Bp. Patrick and others, derives it from ^w shur, the
principal significations of which, as may be seen in
all our Hebrew Lexicons, and by its uses in the Bible,
are to behold and to sing.\ So derived, this name,
when given to Israel, suggested

1. That they were a people who had been distin-
guished by special visions and indications of the
divine presence. Such were the wonders they
beheld in Egypt and at the Red sea. Such were
the awful manifestations of the divine Majesty which
they witnessed at the giving of the law ; when, in a
thick cloud " The LORD came down upon mount
Sinai, upon the top of the mount," and when they
heard his voice speaking to them out of the midst of
thejire. And such, too, were those seasonable and
marvelous tokens of his presence and kindness,
which God favored them with, during their subsequent
pilgrimage ; as, for instance, in prescribing a sight
of the brazen serpent, prepared by his order, as their
sovereign remedy, when liable to judicial death, from
the fatal stings of the fiery serpents in giving them
manna from the clouds, when suffering with hunger
in supplying them with water from a smitten rock,
when parched with thirst and in sweetening for

* Ultima Mosis. Sect. 973. f "W Shur, in the fut. pi. makes
msr Jeshuru, which, with j nun paragogic. forms { W Jeshurun.

SER. VI. J KING IN JESLIURUN. 195

them, by means of a tree, the bitter waters other-
wise intolerable. See Ser. 1. p. 23 26.

How easy and appropriate the reference to spirit-
ual Israel ! Has not the church, under the present
dispensation, been distinguished by visions and favors,
equally, nay much more, remarkable and astonish-
ing 1 Which of all the wonders beheld by ancient
Israel, can bear a comparison with the manifestation
of the Son of God in our nature with the descent
and operations of the Holy Ghost on the day of
Pentecost or with the progress and victories of the
gospel in the gentile world]

The same also may be said of spiritual Israelites
individually. For " the eyes of their understand-
ing being enlightened" by the Holy Spirit, they
have, through the glass of the word, such views of
God of his law of themselves of the Lord Jesus
Christ and of future glory and happiness, as the
unregenerate have not, and in that state, cannot
receive. It is written, saith Paul, (alluding to Is.
Ixiv. 4.) Eyehath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have
entered into the heart of man, the things which God
hath prepared for them that love him. But, adds
he, God hath revealed them unto us, to believers in
common under the gospel, and eminently to the
writers of the New Testament, by his spirit. &

In regard, however, to the visions and indications
of the divine presence with ancient Israel, there are
some things which claim our more particular notice
and improvement.

As upon seeing the wonders wrought in Egypt
and at the Red sea, the Israelites "believed the

a 1 Cor. ii. 914. Eph. iii. 5. CoL i. 26, 27.

19(5 MOSES WAS SER. VI.]

Lord and his servant Moses ;" b So the disciples of
Christ, on beholding the miracles which he perform-
ed, were convinced, not only of his divine mission, but
also of his divine sonship ; We believe and are sure,
said Peter, that thou art that Christ, that Messiah
of whom Moses and the prophets wrote, the son of
the living God. c The miracles of Christ, too, being
recorded by those who witnessed them, were inten-
ded as a ground of faith in him, to all generations :
These things, said John, are written, that ye might
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God ; and
that believing ye might have life through his name.^
The manifestations, likewise, which God made of
himself to Israel, when he delivered the law to them,
are very instructive to us ; and particularly in their
effects, which serve very aptly to illustrate those of
the manifestations which God makes of himself to
sinners at their effectual calling. Like the Israelites,
when they saw the Majesty and heard the voice of
the divine lawgiver, sinners under conviction, realiz-
ing the character of God and understanding his re-
quirements in the law, are filled with terror and trem-
bling. 6 And as the Israelites, shrinking from what
they saw and heard at Sinai, " said to Moses," their
national mediator, " Speak thou with us, and we will
hear : but let not God speak with us, lest we die; f
so awakened sinners, unable to endure the voice of
God, or to answer his demands in the law, have re-
course to Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant,
desiring him to speak for them, as their advocate
with the Father, and to them, as their counsellor in

b Exo. xiv. 31. c John vi. 69. d Ibid. xx. 31Comp.
Exo. xix. 9. c Exo. xix. 16 and Acts xvi. 29. f Exo. xx. 18,
19.

SER. VI.] KING IN JESHURUN. 197

the gospel; he only having the words of eternal life." 8
The awful manifestations, moreover, which God in
the law, makes of himself to sensible sinners, like
those which he made of himself to the Israelites at
Sinai, are designed to work, not their destruction, but
their conversion; they are to prove them; to exhibit
to them in the light of divine purity, their abomina-
tions of heart and life, and to show them, by
the standard of the divine law, their guilt and
condemnation. And, thus instructed, each says, with
Job, Behold I am vile, and with Paul, / through the
law, that is, through the knowledge of it now re-
ceived, am dead to the law, to all hopes of obtaining
justification by obedience to it. h

Thus circumstanced, sinners realize their need, and
thereupon, receive the enjoyment, of all those bless-
ings, in a way of grace, that were typified by the bless-
ings conferred on the Israelites, in a way of miracle.
Conscious of their liability to eternal death, the just
penalty annexed to the broken covenant of works, their
views are directed, not to a brazen serpent raised on a
pole, but to the antitype thereof, the Lord Jesus Christ,
exposed on the cross, as their substitute, and exhibi-
ted in the gospel as their remedy ; and believing, feel
the healing virtue of his atoning blood, and say, with
an apostle, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of
the law, being made a curse for ns. { Realiz-
ing, like the prodigal, that they had been living
on husks, and hungering for spiritual sustenance,
they receive, not manna from the clouds, but the

g Exo. xx. 18, 19. John vi. 68. Comp. Psal. Ixxx. 17, 18.
h Exo. xxl 20. Job xl. 4. Gal. ii. 19. * John iii. 14, 15. xii. 32,
33. Gal. iii. 13.

198 MOSES WAS [SER. VI.

true bread from heaven even Christ himself, who
is the bread of life, and on whom, as such, be-
lievers live. k Bewailing their vileness and thirsting
for comfort, they are led by faith, not to a smitten
rock, but to a crucified Jesus, in whom they behold a
fountain opened for sin and undcanness, and drink
the consolations of pardon, justification, peace with
God, and the hope of eternal life, all flowing, as so
many streams, from that fountain. 1 And though, in
the course of their pilgrimage, they find many bitter
waters, bitter trials, arising from indwelling sin the
temptations of Satan the perfidy of hypocrites
the reproaches of the world, and the cares of life :
yet all are sweetened, at least rendered tolerable, by
the tree of the cross, that is, by the doctrine of HIM
who died upon that tree. " For as the sufferings of
Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abound-
eth by Christ." In the light, too, of this doctrine,
we enjoy a glimpse of our celestial inheritance, in
comparison of which the sufferings of our pilgrimage
dwindle into nothing. " I reckon," said " Paul, that
the sufferings of the present time, are not worthy
to be compared with the glory which shall be reveal-
ed in us." n Moreover, by the same light, we are en-
abled to see, that all our present sufferings, and
which, compared with our deserts and the endless mi-
series of the wicked, we esteem small and moment-
ary, are instrumental in ripening us for future bless-
edness : " For our light affliction, which is but fora
moment, workcth for us" (as it worketh us for) " a

k John vi. 32, 33, 48. Gal. ii. 20. ! Zech. xiii. 1. Eph. i. 7.
Rom. Hi. 24. v. 1,2, m 2 Cor. i. 5. 2 Thess. ii. 16. n Rom.
viii. 18.

SER. VI.] KING IN JESHURUN. 199

far more excecling and eternal weight of glory : while
we look not at the things which are seen, but at things
which are not seen : for the things which are seen
are temporal : but the things which are not seen are
eternal." 11 But to procede.

The name in question, as derived from w shur,
which also signifies to sing, suggested,

2. That Israel, to whom it was given, were a singing,
a rejoicing people, or that they had reason to be such.
And what people on earth have sung and rejoiced so
much, or have had so much cause and so many occa-
sions for singing and rejoicing, as spiritual Israeli

What a sweet and expressive song of thanksgiving
to God, did the Israelites sing when, through the
Red sea, they were brought out of Egypt, and saw
their enemies dead on the shore ! See it upon record
in the xvth chapter of Exodus. Yet much more rap-
turous is the song of young converts, when delivered
from the bondage of the law, of sin, and of Satan,
and enabled to see that all their spiritual enemies
are virtually dead through the death of Christ. At
every recollection of this great deliverance, each,
like David, says, " I waited patiently for the LORD ;
and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He
brought me up also out of the horrible pit, out of
the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock and
established my goings. And he hath put a new song
into my mouth," one that I could never cordially sing
before, " even praise unto our God." p

In that inspired song recorded in Deuteronomy

a 2 Cor. iv. 17, 18. Rom. viii. 1, 2, 3, 4, 3239. Col i.
12, 14, ii. 1315. P Psal. xl. 13.

200 MOSES WAS [SER. VI.

xxxii, the Israelites recounted and celebrated the
mercies and blessings they had received from God,
and expressed their hopes in him, for those which
they might need in time to come. Nor are spiritual
Israelites less grateful or less hopeful. The Psalm-
ist, speaking of them, says to the LORD, " They shall
abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness,
and shall sing of thy righteousness. They shall
speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy
power." And, to animate their hope and'confidence
in God, he adds, " the LORD shall reign for ever, even
thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the
LORD.""

The Israelites indeed had their troubles ; yet even
these they turned into a song. See the cxxxviith
Psalm. And much more reason have spiritual Is-
raelites to do likewise. We, it is true, have many
afflictions and much tribulation ; yet also many com-
forts and many occasions for singing. Our afflictions,
however numerous, amount to no evidence against our
gracious state : " Many are the afflictions of the
righteous, (mark that :) nor is a righteous man forsa-
ken in his afflictions ; "but the LORD delivereth him
out of them all." r Blessed ground of hope ! " In the
world," said Christ to his disciples, "ye shall have
tribulation." Sad truth! But notice what he adds
"Be of good cheer ; I have overcome the world." 8 "We
must," saith an apostle, " through much tribulation
enter into the kingdom of God."* Observe the word
musty for though we must pass through much

* Psal. cxlv. 7, 11 and cxlvi. 10. See also Philip, iv. 19.
* Psal. xxxiv. 19. " John xvi. 33. * Acts xiv. 22.

SER. VI.] KING IN JESHURUN. 201

tribulation by the way, we must enter into the king-
dom of God. These things considered, well may
we, my believing hearers, like the afflicted Israel-
ites, turn our sorrows into songs ; and, like Paul,
"take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in ne-
cessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's
sake."" Better times await us ; therefore, "Rejoicing
in hope," let us " be patient in tribulation ;" v and, as
the grounds of our hope, and the sources of our com-
fort, are always the same, let us "rejoice evermore,"
and " in every thing give thanks. " w This is to sing
of judgment, as well as of mercy.* Nor shall such
singers ever be wanting in Zion : Singers shall be
there ; y even singing men and singing women*

Others, however, among whom are Vitringa,
Parkhurst, and Dr. Adam Clark, derive Jeshurun
from IBT yashar, right, straight, plain, &c.* And if
so derived, this name might be given to Israel.

1. To signify to them, what they ought to be, to
answer to their distinction and profession, namely,
an upright, a righteous, and a plain people. And
such, to comport with their profession and their priv-
ileges, ought the members of the gospel-church to
be. This church is the household of faith : a and,
therefore, none but believers are entitled to a place
in it. " False brethren," it is true, have in all ages
"crept in unawares :" but when discovered, like the

uNiim. xxi. 17. 2 Chron. xx. 1722. 2 Cor. xii. 10. T Rom.
xii. 12. w 1 thess. v. 16, 18. x Psal. ci. 1. y Psal. Ixxxvii. 7.
2 Chron. xxxv. 25.

* Hence the adjectives 1BT yeshar, upright, Prov. xxix. 27.
onir yeshareem, righteous, Num. xxiii. 10, and WD, meeshore,
plain, Psal. xxvii. 11. a Gal. vi. 10.

202 MOSES WAS [SER. TI.

man who intruded himself among the Lord's guests,
not having on a wedding-garment, the imputed right-
eousness of Christ, received and trusted in by faith,
they are to be bound "hand and foot," to be de-
prived of all the privileges of the family, " and cast
into outer darkness ; there shall be weeping and

gnashing of teeth."*

* Matt. xxii. 12, 13. That " the kingdom of heaven," illustra-
ted in the parable referred to, is the gospel dispensation, all com-
mentators are agreed. Primarily ^therefore, the coming of the king to
inspect the guests, and his order for the binding and ejection of the
intruder, fitly represent the notice which God takes of hypocrites in
the gospel-church his influence in bringing them to light and
the authority which he has given to his churcli, in a way of disci-
pline, to put them away. Matt, xviii. 1517. 1 Cor. v. 13. In
this event, too, commonly " weeping and gnashing of teeth" occur
weeping on the part of the church, at seeing any of her members
prove to be of such character, and " gnashing of teeth," on the
part of the excluded hypocrites and their ungodly associates. Re-
spect also, may be had to God's coming at certain times, to judge
his church in a way of Providence ; when, by severe trials, he awa-
kens his saints from their slumbers, reclaims them from their wan-
derings, and effects a separation between them and graceless pro-
fessors, who, under such visitations, become manifest. See 1 Pet.
iv. 17, 18. ICor. xi 19, 32. Eph. v. 14. Rev. iii. 1922. Matt,
xiii. 21. Ultimately, however, the parable under consideration, no
doubt, regards the final separation of all false professors from the
kingdom of Christ. Compare Matt. xiii. 36 43.

Adverting to this parable, some have taken occasion to say, If the
doctrine of election, or that of particular redemption were true, a
sinner found without a wedding-garment would not need to be
speechless, but might justly excuse himself, by saying to God, No
such garment was prepared for me. Shocking presumption ! But
it should be recollected, that the question the king puts to the man
in that condition, is not Why hast thou not on a wedding- gar-
ment? But, "Friend," (or companion, as Era^f, the word used,
properly signifies,) " how earnest thou in hither" how couldst thou

SER. VI.] KING IN JESHURUN. 203

None, however, are clothed in the wedding-gar-
ment, that is, none have a justifying faith in Christ,
but the regenerate ; and such are not only righteous,
in his righteousness imputed to them, but upright
also, through his grace implanted in them. They are
upright in their hearts.* They are the assembly of
the upright* They possess an integrity of heart, both
toward God and man, which they cannot abandon. 6
They are more excellent than their neighbor s, { and
therefore, the excellent of the earth. 5 Like Jacob,
they are plaint that is, honest and undisguised, 11 and
like Nathanael, Israelites indeed, in whom there is no
guile, noallowe 1 fraudulence-or dissimulation. 1

But, admitting the name under consideration to
have been thus derived, it must be evident that God
gave it to Israel.

2. To remind them of what they had been in the

presume to intrude thyself among the guests, " not having on a
wedding-garment V 3 See ver. 12. The members of the church
are companions of Christ and one another. Cant. viii. 13. Hence
hypocrites, being among the members of the Church, are
called companions also. Cant. i. 7. Compare Matt. xx. 13.
and xxvi. 50, in each of which places the same compella-
tion is given to a similar character. The design, therefore, in
this part of the parable before us, is not to illustrate the sin of unbe-
lief, but that of persons making a hypocritical profession of religion
and thereby getting into the visible church, while they are not
regenerated, and consequently have no true faith in the justifying
righteousness of Christ ; also to remind them, that however they
may, for a time at least, deceive the church, they cannot deceive
God, who knows their hearts, and who, (if he do not renew them,)
will most assuredly, sooner or later, separate them from among
his children, and consign them to hell. See Luke xiii. 23 28.

c Psal. cxxv. 4. d Ibid. cxi. 1. e Job xxvii. 5. t Prov.
xii. 26. * Psal. xvi. 3. h Gen. xxv. 27. ' John i. 47.

204 MOSES WAS [SER. VI.

days of their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who
were righteous, upright, and faithful men, and
through whose example and influence, the profession
of faith in the promised seed had been preserved, and
the prevalence of iniquity suppressed in the nation.
That a great declension had occurred among them,
not only in practice but also in doctrine, was, as notic-
ed before, plainly intimated when this name was first
given to them : Jeshurun had waxed fat, and kicked
he had forsaken God who made him, and hence
had lightly esteemed the rock of his salvation, the
promised MESSiAH. k Let this remind Christians of
the sad decline which has occurred in the gospel
church. In the days of her fathers, the apostles, she
was a city set on a hill Jerusalem, then above and
free and like a woman clothed with the sun, having
the moon, the world, under her feet, and upon her
head a crown of twelve stars. But alas ! how is the
fine gold become dim ! How are her doctrines, or-
dinances, and discipline, corrupted by the traditions
of men ! And, to what a lamentable degree has she
acquired the likeness of a worldly sanctuary !

In Jeshurun, however, Moses was king, that is,
chief ruler under God ; and we precede to consider,

II. The manner of his promotion and of his reign
or administration as their king.

First, The manner of his promotion. And he
was king in Jeshurun not by right of succession, for
he had no predecessor in office : nor by popular
election, no reference being had, in the case, to the
will of the people ; but, in an extraordinary way, by
the sovereign choice and appointment of God:

k Deut. xxxii. 15. i Matt. v. 14. Gal. iv. 26. Rev. xii. 1.

SER. VI.] KliNU L\ JESMITRUN. 205

from whom, accordingly, he received his commis-
sion : This Moses whom they, his national breth-
ren, at first, refused saying, Who made thee a
ruler and a judge ? the same did God send to be a
ruler and a deliverer, by the hand of the angel icho
appeared to him in the bush. n He delivered the
people whom afterward he ruled. His promotion,
too, was the more remarkable, in that he possessed
the qualifications, and, as occasion required, exerci-
sed the functions both of a prophet and of a priest, as
well as those of a ruler. That he was eminently
endued with the spirit of prophecy, has been noticed
already.* Being " of the house of Levi," and with-
out any corporal blemish, he possessed the qualifica-
tions afterward required in a priest ; p and in the pub-
lic solemnities of the nation, he was, in some sense,
a kind of high priest, or, as Eben Ezra calls him, a
priest of priests, until this office, by divine direction,
was assigned to Aaron and restricted to his descend-
ants.* 1 And being no stranger, but a descendant of
Jacob, and being chosen of God to rule among
his brethren, he answered the character subsequently
required in a ruler of Israel, till the royalty came to
be limited to the tribe of Judah and the house of Da-
vid/

In the official promotion of Moses, therefore, we
behold a most happy illustration of the official pro-
motion of Christ. In his divine nature, indeed,
Christ, in common with the Father and the Holy
Ghost, "is over all, God blessed for ever." 8 But 'our

n Acts vii. 35. Comp. Exo. iii. 10. * Ser. 1. p. 3840.
Exo. ii. 1, 2. pLevit. xxi. 1723. qExo. xxiv. 5, 6, 7.
xxviii. 1. Num. iii. 38, xvi. 40. r Deut. xvii. 15. 1 Chron. v.
2. xxviii. 4. 8 Rom. ix. 5.

206 MOSES WAS [SER. VI~

subject, recollect, respects him only in his official
capacity. In this capacity, though typified by many,
he had, like Moses, no predecessor. As Mediator
he was, of God the Father, chosen and " set up from
everlasting ;"' and therefore, his exaltation as king
in Zion, which was involved in his exaltation as Me-
diator, was, like that of Moses in Jeshurun, without
the concurrence of his brethren whom he was to rule,
and even without their knowledge of his appoint-
ment to that office. He is that Ruler in spiritual
Israel, whose goings forth, in love to them and in cov-
enant-engagements for them, have been from of old,
from everlasting? Like Moses, he unites with the
authority and qualifications of a Ruler, those of a
Prophet and a Priest. He is that Prophet whom
God would raise up like unto Moses, w and that
Ruler who is a Priest upon his throne? As Moses,
when he came into Egypt, Christ, when he came into
the world, found his brethren under subjection to a
foreign power, nay, disposed to remain under that
subjection ; and hence, as the brethren of Moses at
first refused him, saying, Who made thee a prince
and a judge over us ? y So the brethren of Christ
have refused Him. The carnal Jews, his brethren
after the flesh, said of him, We will not have this man
to reign over us : and even the elect of all nations,
though by adoption, the children of God, and there-
fore the brethren of Christ, 25 do, while in their carnal
state, like the rest of mankind, refuse him; thatis r
they refuse audience to his counsel, as a Prophet

*Prov. viii. 23. Micah v. 2. w Deut. xviii. 15. Acts iii. 22.
vii. 37. x Zech. vi. 13. y Acts vii. 35. z John xi. 52. Heb. ii.
14. 17,

ll. VI.l KING IN JKSHURUN.

dependence upon his atonement, as a Priest, and
subjection to his authority, as a king. Like Moses,
therefore, Christ, that he might rule his people, must
redeem and deliver them. And as Moses having re-
deemed the Israelites by the paschal sacrifice, deliv-
ered them by the wonder-working rod, so Christ
having redeemed the elect by the sacrifice of himself,
the true passover, a delivers them by the rod of his
strength, the Gospel ; b which coming to them attend-
ed by the quickening and enlightening influence of
the Holy Ghost, proves the power of God to their
experimental salvation their salvation from the do-
minion of Satan and of sin. c Thus it is, that they
are made willing in the day of his power? to forsake
their false hopes and evil ways, and to acknowledge
him, not only as their Saviour, but also as their
Sovereign, their Leader and Commander*

How Moses was king in Jeshurun will more fully
appear, while we consider,

Secondly ', the manner of his reign, or rather of his
rule or administration.* This, like that of his pro-
motion, was extraordinary. The Government of
Israel was properly a theocracy: its constitution
and its laws being wholly of God. In the adminis-

a 1 Cor. v. 7. b Psal. ex. 2. c Rom. i. 16. vi. 14. 1 Thess. i. 5.
d Psal. ex. 3. e Is. Ix. 4,

* For Moses, though called "j^D a king, was not so in a
proper, but a figurative sense. See Gen. xxxvi. 31. Dr. Kenni-
cott, indeed, and after him, % Dr. Clark and others, by rejecting, as
spurious, the word Moses^n the preceding verse, make the title of
king in our text to belong to JEHOVAH ; but, to me, it seems much
safer to leave the standard original, so long received by Jews and
Christians, untouched, and to consider this title as here given to Mo-
ses, to denote his dignified station, as God's Vicegerent, and which,
as explained, well comports with the character of his administration*

208 MOSES WAS [SER. VT.

tration of it, therefore, Moses acted, not as a civil ruler
merely, but as God's Representative; for in all the
messages and mandates which, in his public capacity,
he delivered to Israel, God, in effect, spake through
him, requiring their audience and obedience by him. f
Hence their rebelion against him, was rebelion
against God ; g just as their subsequent rejection of
Samuel, who, for a time, occupied a similar station,
was the rejection of God. h

In his administration, then, as well as in his pro-
motion, Moses was a shadow of Him that was to
come. Christ was not only, like Moses, God's Repre-
sentative on earth, but IMMANUEL, God with us. And
though by nature he is the Father's equal, yet by
office, he is, like Moses, the Father's servant,* and,
as such, is governed by his will : / am come down
from heaven, said Christ, not to do mine own will, but
the will of him that sent me. k Hence his messages
and mandates, delivered to ( spiritual Israel, like
those which Moses delivered to national Israel, are
from God : " For," saith he, " I have not spoken
of myself; but the Father who sent me, he gave me a
commandment what I should say, and what I should
speak." 1 Consequently, as we reject or acknowledge
him, we reject or acknowledge God the Father ; m
who says of him, " I have set my king on my holy
hill of Zion ;" D by which is meant the gospel-church,
the mystical Zion and Jerusalem. Hence, by an
evident allusion to the assemblage of the national

f Exo. iii. 13 17. Deut. iv. 1, 2, 4. *Deut. ix. 7, 24. xxxi.
27. h 1 Sam. viii. 7. * Philip, ii. 6, 7. Comp. Is. xlii. 1.
k John vi. 38. i Ibid. xii. 49. m Mark ix. 37. Luke xi. 6.
Comp. John xii. 48. " Psal ii. 6.

SER. VI.] KING IN JESHtJRUN. 209

Israelites at the material places so called, believers,
by their accession to the gospel-church, are said to
have come to mount Zion, and unto the city of the
living God } the heavenly Jerusalem" Here, in the
name and by the authority of the Father, Christ, as
Mediator reigns ; and though, in Providence, his del-
egated dominion is universal : all power in heaven
and in the earth being given unto him ; yet, in grace,
his administration extends only to spiritual Israel,
God's elect people, as the civil administration of Mo-
ses extended only to literal Israel, God's chosen na-
tion. By the special constitution and appointment of
God the Father, Christ is emphatically king in Zion
Lord and Law-giver, Judge and Defender there. p

In some things, it is true, the administration of
Moses was deficient in typifying that of Christ. Of
this deficiency a few instances follow :

1. The administration of Moses terminated at his
death. Not so that of Christ. He was indeed put
to death in the flesh ; but in dying he virtually con-
quered his greatest enemies. Through death he
destroyed, for his people, him that had the power of
death, that is, the devil ; nay, spoiled also principal-
ities and powers and made a show of them openly,
triumphing over them ( *?) in himself.* Nor was
his flesh suffered to see corruption : but was quick-
ened by the Spirit* Moreover, by his resurrection he
was declared to be the Son of God with power, that
is, with regal authority. 8 Him hath God exalted to
be a PRINCE, as well as a Saviour, to give repentance
to Israel and forgiveness of sins*

Heb. xii. 22. Gal. iv .26. Comp. Psal. cxxii. 24. P Is.
xxxiii.22. Eph.i.82. Rev. xix. 16. iHeb. ii. 14. Col. ii 15.
r Acts ii. 27. 1 Pet. iii. 18. Rom. i. 4. 4 Acts v. 31.

MOSES WAS [SER. VI,

2. The administration of Moses was of short du-
ration ; but that of Christ is unceasing. He shall
reign over the house of Jacob, the house of God's
spiritual Israel for ever ; and of his kingdom there
shall be no end. u

3. The government of Moses was only external ;
but that of Christ is both external and internal. He
governs his people externally by his word, and inter-
nally by his grace. Thus he reigns over a willing
people ; they being made willing in the day of his
power And,

4. To the national Israelites, Moses was an object,
rather of dread than of love ; but, to spiritual Israel-
ites, Christ is an object rather of love than of dread ;
" whom having not seen ye love ;" and " in whom,
though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice
with joy unspeakable and full of glory ."* I hasten
to consider,

III. When, in particular, Moses appeared to be
king inJeshurun, namely, when the heads of the peo-
ple, and the tribes 'of Israel were gathered together.

1. When the heads of the people were gathered to-
gether. This appellation was, indeed, sometimes
given to all the principal officers of Israel, whether
civil or military ; y yet, in our text, I understand it to
denote jirimarily, the twelve, (one out of each tribe)
whom the Lord chose by name, to be in a special
mariner with Moses, 2 and secondarily, the seventy
whom the Lord also chose, though in a somewhat
different manner ; making his choice of them manifest
by bestowing upon them a measure of the Spirit which
more abundantly rested upon Moses, under whose di-

u Luke i. 33. Comp. Dan. ix. 6, 7. w Psal.cx. 3. x 1 Pet. i. 8.
y Exo, xviii. 25. 1 Chron. xii. 32. z Numb. i. 416.

SER. VI.] KING IN JESHUUUN.

rection, they were thenceforward employed in the in-
struction and government of Israe!. a Now, when
these heads of the people, either the twelve or the se-
venty, or both together, were convened, Moses was, in
effect, king among them ; they being all subordinate
to him. The authority, in fact, by which they acted,
was originally delegated to Moses, and the Spirit of
wisdom which they possessed, was, as just noticed,
but a measure of that Spirit, which previously rested
on him. Through him, in a word, they received their
call and their charged How naturally do these
things in the history of Moses, lead our thoughts to
correspondent things in the history of Christ ! To
the twelve representatives and seventy elders, who,
under Moses, were " the heads of the people," answer
the twelve apostles and seventy disciples, who, under
Christ, were the heads or principal men in the New-
Testament Israel. And though He ordained the
twelve, (whom he had chosen by name) to be, in a
special manner, with him in his public ministry, and
employed the seventy only as evangelists ; yet the
spiritual qualifications of both were alike from him,
and were but so many various measures of the same
Spirit, which God gave to him, not by measure, but
in all the fulness of his gifts. d Hence, Christ having
received gifts for men* has constantly, according to
covenant-purpose, bestowed them upon men : He
gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists,
and some pastors and teachers ; for the perfecting of
the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edify-
ing of the body of Christ. 9 Like Moses, therefore,
among "the heads" of national Israel, and muchmore

Numb. xi. 16, 17, 24, 25. b Ibid. i. 117, xi. 1629, and
Deut. i. 1517. c Mark iii. 1419. Luke vi. 1216. d John
iii. 34. Psal. Ixviii. 18. f Eph, iv. 11, 12.

212 MOSES WAS [SER. VI,

eminently, Christ was always king among " the
heads" of spiritual Israel. He claimed and they
acknowledged him, to be their Lord and Master,
while he tabernacled among them/ And after his
ascension, on the day of Pentecost, the descent of
the Spirit in his name proved, and an apostle speak-
ing by that Spirit declared, that God had made, that
is, manifested HIM to be "both LORD and CHRIST." 11
Is his authority any less among ordinary ministers \
Have they, in their conventions, a power which even
the apostles had not a power to invent doctrines, or-
dinances and codes of discipline, for the church, and
to impose them upon her 1 Let this question be duly
considered by all who are liable either to the tempta-
tion or the imposition. But,

2. Moses was king in Jeshurun, when the tribes of
Israel also, as well as when the heads of the people
only, "were gathered together." And being their king,
not by their own election, but by God's appointment,
neither the heads alone, nor they and the tribes to-
gether, had power either to substitute another in his
place, or to alter any part of the law which came to
them through him, or any of the statutes or ceremo-
nies which were delivered to them by him. The
same is equally and more evidently true of spiritual
Israel, the gospel-church. For whether her heads,
her officers only, or, with them, her tribes, her seve-
ral branches also are convened, Christ is Lord of all.
Nor have they themselves (and much less have other
conventions on their behalf,) ever had a right to set
over them any ruler in the room of Christ, whom
God the Father, without consulting their will, consti-
tuted king in Zion ; or to change, in any respect,

Matt, xxiii. 8, 10. John xiii. 13. h Acts ii. 33. 36.

SEK. vi. J KLM; UN JESHUIIU^. 213

that gospel of grace and truth, which came through
him or those ordinances and rules of discipline, which,
either in person, or by his Spirit in the apos-
tles, were delivered by him. 1 Let the ministers and
churches of Christ remember, that to change his laws
is the work of antichrist : k " he," said the prophet,
" shall speak great words against the Most High, and
shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think
to change times and laws: and they shall be given
into his hand," so far as to render his changes of
them popular, "until a time, and times, and the divid-
ing of time.* But the judgment shall sit, and they shall
take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it
unto the end. And (thereupon) the kingdom and
dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under
the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the
saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an ever-
lasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and
obey him." Comp. Rev. xi. 15. Lift up your heads,
then, ye saints of the Most High, for your rcdemp-

1 John i. 17. Gal. i. 76. Acts xv. 28, 29. xvi. 4, 5. k Dan,
vii. 25 27. Comp. 2 Thess. ik 3 12, and Rev. xviith, xviiith,
and xixth chapters.

* In this prophecy, a TIME, TIMES, and the DIVIDING OF TIME,
or HALF A TIME, as expressed in Rev. xii. 14, mean a year two
years and half a year. These three and a half years, therefore,
note the same duration which, in Rev. xiii. 5, is noted by 42 months.
And whereas in the calculations of the ancient Jews, a month con-
sisted of 30 days and a year of 360, either notation amounts ex-^
actly to the 1260 days designed in Rev. xii. 6. In these prophetic
notations, however, a farther mystery is involved ; for each day, (as
in Ezekiel iv. 6.) is put for a year; God thus showing, that, by his
decree, the dominion of antichrist was limited to 1260 years. Who-
ever, therefore, can ascertain when it began, may easily ascertain
when it will end. Admonished, however, by the mistakes of oth^
ers, I forbear, at present, to oft'er any opinion on the subject.

214 AIOSEP WAS [SEIJ. VI.

tion from mystical Babylon and the dominion of anti-
christ draweth nigh. Luke xxi. 28.

By way of conclusion, let us briefly review and im-
prove the subject.

Is the true Jeshurun a seeing and an upright peo-
ple I* Let each ask, Am I one of that people '! What
have I seen of myself of the law of the gospel of
Christ, or of God in him, more than the carnal world
see'! or that amounts to a scriptural evidence that
the eyes of my understanding have been enlightened?
And what testimony do I feel what evidence do I
give, that I am one of those who, through grace, are
upright in their hearts, and hence labor, in worship
and in practice, to have always a conscience void of
offense toward God and toward men ? Psal. cxxv.
4, and Acts xxiv. 16.

Is Christ king in Zion ? Let all who inhabit this
holy hill examine whether they are indeed his loyal
subjects. Do we cordially receive his doctrine which
is according to godliness? 1 Tim. vi. 3. Do we man-
ifest our love to him, by keeping his commandments ?
John xiv. 15. And are we, in our transactions, civil
and ecclesiastical, governed by his royal injunction
delivered to his disciples all things whatsoever yc
would that 'men should, do to you, (changing
conditions) do ije even so to them. Matt. vii. 12.
Let sinners in Zion be of raid \Qlfearfulness sur-
prise the hypocrites- Is. xxxiii. 14. Again,

Is Christ king in Zion, whether the heads only or
the tribes also be gathered together ? O that the
consideration of this may always have its due influ-
ence upon both ! Then neither Conventions of Min-
isters, who, in some sense, are heads of the people,
being leading men among them nor Associations of

* See p. 194, dec.

SEK. VI. J KING IN JESHURU1V.

Churches, however useful as advisory councils, will
ever assume a legislative authority in Zion ; but, re-
membering their subjection to Christ, as Lord and
Law-giver there, will endeavor to maintain, inculcate,
and transmit unaltered, the doctrine which he hath
delivered, and the ordinances and government which
he hath instituted. Again,

Is Christ king in Zion ? Let all his cordial sub-
jects exult in it. No king is like ours. He is KING
of kings and LORD of lords. Many are mighty,
but he is Almighty. All our enemies, within and
without, on earth and in hell, are under his control :
and all our friends, human and angelic, are in his
keeping and under his direction. With all blessings
temporal and spiritual in his gift, he makes this ani-
mating proclamation, " They that seek the Lord
shall not want any good thing ;" he being judge,
however, of what is good for us. In our militant
state, indeed, " It is given to us, not only to believe in
him, but also to suffer for his sake." Yet even this
is more than counterbalanced by the promise and
the prospect of future glory ; for " If we suffer with
him, we shall also reign with him." Our life, in a
word, both spiritual and eternal, is bound up in his
life as Mediator : wherefore he saith to his subjects,
" Because I live ye shall live also ;" and an apostle
speaking in his name, assures us, that "when Christ
who is our life shall appear, we also shall appear with
him in glory." Let the children of Zion, then, be
joyful in their king.

But while the sovereignty of Christ is delightfully
interesting to his friends, it is no less fearfully so to
his enemies. For though, in the administration of
grace, he reigns only in Zion, yet in the administra-
tion of Providence and the execution of Judgment,

MOSES WAS, &C. [sER. VI.

his dominion is universal. By covenant arrangement,
ttZ/ power in heaven and in earth, is employed by
him, and all judgment, special and general, is commit-
ted to him. In his reign, therefore, God the Father
reigns, both in heaven and on earth. Consequently,
from his righteous decisions, rebels can make no ap-
peal, nor from his incensed wrath, find any shelter.
Unqualified subjection, or inevitable perdition, is
their only alternative. Of those who persevere in
their rebelion, God the Father says to Christ, " Thou
shalt break them with a rod of iron ; thou shalt dash
them in pieces, like a potter's vessel." Nor will he
defer judgment or respect persons. " Be wise now,
therefore, O ye kings," as well as others ; "be instruc-
ted ye judges of the earth," who have hitherto spurn-
ed at instruction. Be admonished, O sinners, great
and small, to consider now your danger, and, as the
last resort, as the only possible means of escape/row
the wrath to come, repair to the sceptre of IMMANUEL,
who is JESUS, as well as Christ a SAVIOUR, as well
as a king ; and who " is able to save them to the
uttermost, that come unto God by him." Condemned
and helpless, " kiss the'Son," acknowledge him to
be the Son of God and trust in him as the only Sa-
viour of sinners," lest," for your contempt of him, "he
be angry, an<$ ye," like the rebelious Jews, " perish
from the way" the way of means," "when his
wrath is," comparatively, " kindled but a little," and
so be left to die in your sins and sink into hell, where
his wrath, thus aggravated, burns in all its dreadful
and eternal fury. Blessed are they that put their
trust in him. Psal. ii. 9 12.

>Matt. xxviii. 18. John v. 22. Acts x. 42. n Matt. xxi. 43.
Acts xiii 4648, and xxviii. 2328.

SERMON VII.

THE BLESSING OF REUBEN,

Deut. xxxiii. 6. Let Reuben live, and not die ; and let not
his men be few.

THE subject of this chapter, as. asserted, ver. 1,
is a blessing. This blessing consists of three parts :
a declarative a prophetic and an admirative
part. The declarative part, is a recognition of fa-
vors which God had already conferred upon Israel,
and on account of which Moses pronounced them
blessed. It extends from the second to the fifth
verse, inclusive ; and has been considered in the
last/o^r Sermons; the first two being appropriated
to the title of the chapter. The prophetic part be-
gins with our present text, and continues to the end
of ver. 25th. And the admirative part, beginning
with ver. 26th, concludes the chapter. That the
second part is wholly prophetic admits of no doubt;
for, in it, Moses speaks only of things which were
then future, and of which therefore, he could have
had no certain knowledge, but by the Spirit of
prophecy. Nor is this part of the chapter distin-
guished merely by its being prophetic, but also by
its being special ; for, whereas in each of the other
parts, the people of Israel are treated of collectively,

218 THE BLESSING OF REUBEN. [SER. VII.

in this part, the several tribes of that people are
treated of separately.

Having thus briefly analized the chapter, and
characterized that part of it on which we are about
to enter, I beg leave, as farther preparatory to the
work before me, to make a few general remarks.
These are 1. That the several tribes which are
to come under our consideration, were not so many
different and distinct people, but so many constituent
portions of the same people; who both before and
afterward, are treated of en masse, as the congrega-
tion and the fountain of Jacob. See verses 4th and
28th: 2. That as the whole nation of Israel, which
descended from Jacob, was evidently a type of the
whole family of Spiritual Israel, descending, in the or-
der of time, from Christ, the Antitype of Jacob; so the
several tribes, which descended from Jacob, by his
twelve sons, may justly be viewed as typical of the nu-
merous branches of spiritual Israel, all descending
from Christ, by means of the gospel, preached by his
twelve eminent sons, the apostles, and from the
original apostolic-church, that Jerusalem, which was
above and free, and which is the mother of us all ;
that is, of all true believers and of all legitimate
gospel-churches. See John xvii. 20. Gal. iv. 26. and

Rev. xii. 1 4. 3. That, as in the blessings which

Jacob, by the Spirit of prophecy, pronounced on his
twelve sons, and those which Moses, by the same
Spirit, pronounced upon their respective tribes, there
is a manifest and distinguishing variety; so, in the de-
grees of grace, and gifts, and knowledge in the civil
and religious privileges nay, even in the means of
temporal sustenance, bestowed on the particular
branches and individual members of spiritual Israel,

SER. VII.] THE BLESSING OF REUBEN. 219

there is a correspondent and equally obvious variety.
See Eph. iv. 7. Rom. xii. 6. 2 Cor. viii. 715,
and Rom. xv. 26, 27. And 4. That Moses prayed
for, as well as predicted the blessings which he pro-
nounced upon the tribes of Israel. Let this remind
us, that the richer blessings of grace, which Christ
in the gospel, pronounces upon spiritual Israelites,
(Matt. v. 3 12.) flow to them through his media-
tion, who ever liveth to make intercession for them,
as well as according to what he hath spoken by his
Spirit in the prophets. 1 Pet. i. 11. and Heb. vii.
25.

With these remarks in constant recollection, let
us, by divine permission and relying on divine di-
rection, humbly attempt to investigate the blessings
thus prophetically and prayerfully pronounced upon
the tribes of Israel. t

At present our attention will be devoted to Reu-
ben. For here, among the tribes of Jacob, as in
Gen. xlixth, among his sons, Reuben is very naturally
first named and first blessed ; he being the first
born. Jacob having called his sons together, to
bless them before he died, began thiis : " Reuben,
thou art my first born, my might and the beginning
of my strength ;" that is, a son born to him in the
vigor of his days. And in like manner, Moses, in
announcing the prophetic blessing wherewith he
blessed the children, the tribes of Israel before his
death, began with the same branch, saying, Let Reu-
ben live, and not die; and let not his men be few.

This prophetic prayer requires a twofold con-
sideration.

I. Literal. In this sense it respected, at least
primarily, the preservation and temporal prosperity

220 THE BLESSING OF REUBEN. [SER. Vlt

of this tribe, as such ; Let Reuben live, and not die,*
&c. Nor was the assurance hereby given them, that
they should enjoy the favors intended, any the less,
because the blessing was uttered in the form of a
prayer, rather than in that of a direct prediction :
for as the Holy Ghost in the prophet could not de-
ceive, by foretelling a blessing, which it was not the
will of God to bestow, so neither, by inditing a peti-
tion, which it was not the will of God to answer.
He maketh intercession for the saints according to
the will of God* Moses, too, might be moved by
the Spirit, to predict these blessings by asking them
of God, that the tribes should thereby perceive the
deep interest which he took in their welfare ; of
which his praying for them, was the strongest proof;
as also to remind them, that the blessings he pre-
dicted were not in his gift, but in the gift of God,
and that, to Him therefore, in faith and prayer, they
should be looking for them. Thus, as in a subse-
quent instance, what God had given assurance of by
prophecy, he would, nevertheless, for this be in-
quired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them. 1 '
Moreover, to encourage them in this duty, he be-
sought the Lord to hear them : he said, " Hear,
LORD, the voice of Judah/' meaning when the voice
of that tribe should be lifted up in prayer on behalf
of Israel. In this, as in many other things, Moses
was a type of Christ, through whose intercession,

The Chaldee paraphrasts, indeed, refer the words to the future
state, as well as to the present ; and explain them as a prayer, that
the Reubenites, besides enjoying temporal prosperity, might in-
herit eternal life ; and so not die the second death. Comp, Rev-
xx. 6. and xxi. 8.

a Rom. viii. 27. b Ezek. xxxvi. 37. c Context, ver. 7.

SEE VII.] THE BLESSING OF REUBEN. 221

spiritual Israelites have audience with God and re-
ceive all their answers to prayer. d

In the case of the Reubenites, however, there ex-
isted special reasons why the prophet was led to
pronounce the blessing upon them in the form of a
supplication to God, rather than as a mere predic-
tion concerning them.

First, This tribe would be among the most ex-
posed, in the wars to be engaged in for the conquest
of Canaan. For, as a condition 6f having their por-
tion in Gilead, east of Jordan, " the children of Reu-
ben ;" with " the children of Gad," and those of
" the half tribe of Manasseh," had volunteered to go
over the River, ready armed before their brethren,
and the Lord, through Moses, had taken them at
their word and required them to perform their
promise. 6 Of this their engagement, Joshua re-
minded them, when marshaling his forces prepara-
tory to the war ; " and they," far from shrinking,
" answered him, saying, all that thou commandest
us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us we
will go." f O that the soldiers of Christ, both in
public and in private stations, were ever thus obedient
to him ! Pursuant to promise, when the time for the
important adventure arrived, " the children of Reu-
ben, and the children of Gad, and half the tribe of
Manasseh, passed over armed before the children of
Israel," that is, before the other tribes, " as Moses
had spoken unto them." g Of the tribes in common,
therefore, these two and a half, and of these, the
Reubenites in particular, were the most exposed :

d John xiv. 16. 17. xvi. 23. c Num. xxxii. 1632. f Josh i.
1216. Ibid. iv. 12.

222 THE BLESSING OF REUBEN. [SER. VII.

for, as they are first named, they seem to have been
first ranked in the order of military procession ; and
so were the vanguard of all the army, at its entrance
upon the shore of the promised, but disputed land.
What opposing force they might have to encounter,
even at the onset, was unknown to them. In pro-
phetic prospect, therefore, of their imminent danger
and awful suspense, Moses, to teach and encourage
them to hope in God, was moved to intercede with
HIM on their behalf. How appropriate his prayer !
Let Reuben live, and not die. Believer, at every
time of danger or of conflict, remember Him who
hath said I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail
not. h

Secondly, The fate of this tribe might be thought
specially doubtful, on account of the enormous crime
fallen into by their progenitor ; Reuben having com-
mitted incest with Bilhah, his father's concubine;
and the more so, because of the severe notice taken
thereof by Jacob, in his prediction concerning this
son. Addressing him, Jacob said, " Unstable as
water, thou shalt not excel, because thou wentest
up to thy father's bed," &C. 1 Well therefore, might
Moses, who knew that God had threatened to " visit
the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, unto
the third and fourth generation" well, I say, might
Moses feel great apprehensions for this tribe ; and
thus impressed, deliver his prediction concerning it
in the form of a prayer to God, saying, Let Reuben
live, and not die ; and let not his men be few. The
last clause, as it reads in our version, is a prophetic

h Luke xxii. 32. * Gen. xlix. 4.

SEE. VII.] THE BLESSING OF REUBEN. 223

petition, that the men of this tribe might be nume-
rous ; but, as it stands in the original, it is a prophetic
concession of the contrary ; namely, that the men
of this tribe would be few. For, in the Hebrew, the
word not is wanting, and the prefix i van, which is
here rendered and, may as well be rendered though,
as it is in some other places ; k and then the whole
text runs literally thus : Let Reuben live, and not
die, though his men be few. To this reading, I
the rather incline, because, it agrees with, and
serves to confirm and illustrate, the prophecy of
Jacob concerning Reuben, that he should not excel,
that is, in numbers. Now, so read, the literal sense
of the prayer is, " Let the men of Reuben, though
greatly exposed though deeply stained by their
father's crime and though comparatively few in
number, be nevertheless preserved and prospered :
let them not be cut off by the enemy, nor by any
judgment; but let them survive every battle escape
every calamity, and be returned to their families and
possessions in peace." Such, too, was the event:
for though this tribe, in the number of its warriors,
long waned,* it still lived and sustained a military cha-
racter ;* and the men of it, who adventured their lives
in Canaan, having, (according to the received opinion
of the Jews,) spent seven years in the war and seven
more in dividing the land, were dismissed by Joshua,
with expressions of kindness and approbation, and
returned from the enterprise greatly enriched by

k Among which are Ezk. xiv. 14, 18. * During Israel's jour-
ney in the wilderness, the men of Reuben, able for war, were re-
duced from 46500, to 43730 : a decrease of 2770. Compare the
muster-roll in Num. i. with that in Num. xxvi. } 1 Chron. xii. 42,
xxvi. 32.

224 THE BLESSING OF REUBEN. [SER. VII.

their share in the spoils of the conquered nations. 111
But this prophecy requires

II. A mystical consideration. To prepare our
minds for this, let it be recollected, that as many
types were employed to set forth the various proper-
ties of Christ, so many were also employed to set
forth the correspondently various properties of his
mystical body, the church. Considered either as cho-
sen in Christ^ or as called by the Spirit, the church is
but one; n and, as such, is the antitype of the one
national Israel, chosen in Jacob and called out of
Egypt; yet, considered with reference to her parti-
cular branches, she was also fitly typified by that
one Israel, as consisting of particular tribes, all dif-
fering in number, location, character, gifts, and other
circumstances. 1 * Like the members, therefore, of a
natural body, or those of a common family, the
several branches of the church, in general, and
the several members of each branch, in particular,
instead of envying, depreciating, and injuring each
other, ought to be mutual helpers and comforters ;
and the rather so, because " whether one member
suffer, all the members suffer with it ; or one
member be honored, all the members" have occasion
to " rejoice with it." q In the history, moreover, of
each tribe of Israel, may be traced, some character-
istic peculiarities, both good and bad, which serve to
set forth, in some respects, the whole church, and, in
others, certain of her branches, as also particular
descriptions of members, occasionally found in all
her branches. At present, however, we are required

m Josh. xxii. 19. n Col. i. 18. Heb. xii. 23. Cant. vi. 9.
Eph. iii. 21. Is. xli. 8. 1 Pet. ii. 19. P Hosea ii. 14, 15.
Acts ix. 31. xvi. 4. * 1 Cor. xii. 1227. Eph. ii. 19.

SER. VII.] THE BLESSING OF REUBEN. 225

to notice only the peculiarities which distinguished
the tribe of Reuben. This tribe, then, served to
typify the church,

1. As the household of faith. This may be
gathered from the name of its progenitor. For, as
the names of the patriarchs are all significant as
they were evidently given, to commemorate or to
foretell important events and all descended with
their respective tribes, we must not overlook them
in the mystical consideration of these prophetic
blessings. Reuben, from run raah to see and p ben
a son, signifies See or Behold a son, or a sight or
vision of a son. In giving him this name, Leah,
his mother seemed exultingly and thankfully to call
upon all around, to behold with admiration, the gift
of God to her, who had been long barren; for she
said, " Surely the Lord hath looked upon mine afflic-
tion."' Thus the church, after her long barrenness
during the latter part of the old dispensation," was
favored with her famous Son, the Messiah ;* when,
for better reasons and with greater emotions of ex-
ultation and gratitude, than those of Leah nay, in
the very language of inspiration, adapted to the oc-
casion, she might have exclaimed, " Unto us a child
is born, unto us a Son is given,'' &c. u If, indeed, as
is commonly believed, Leah supposed her first-born
to be the Messiah, and therefore, that in seeing him,
she and others saw that eminent Seed that was to

r Gen. xxix. 32. Is. liv. 1. Gal. iv. 27.

* For though literally he was born of the virgin Mary; yet
figuratively the church is said to have brought him forth ; his mani-
festation in the flesh and his manifestion in the souls of sinners
at their conversion, being both in answer to her desires and prayers.
See Cant. viii. 5. Rev. xii. 1, 2, 5, 6, u Is ix. 6, 7.

226 THE BLESSING OF REUBEN. [SEE. VII.

bruise the Serpents head, she was under a great
mistake.* But not so the church; for she that tra-
vailed, in desire and prayer, crying, " Oh that the
Salvation," (the Saviour) "of Israel were come out of
Ziori," hath eventually brought Him forth ; w yes, the
long promised long expected Son is verily born ;
and though the mere national Israelites, the carnal
Jews, beholding him only with their bodily eyes,
received him not* yea, according to prophecy, re-
jected him with abhorrence and disdain ; y yet spi-
ritual Israelites, even all that are born of God,
whether Jews or Gentiles, having seen him by faith,
which is like an eye to the soul, have received him,
and therein have received from him power to become
the sons of God, that is, they have received, through
him, the Spirit of adoption, whereby they have been
enabled to realize and enjoy their filial relation.*
Thus it is, that believers while on earth, see the Son,
though, by his ascension, he is become invisible to
the eye of sense : " Yet a little while," said he to
his disciples, " and the world seeth me no more ;
but ye see me," meaning that they should continue
to see him by faith. This is the special excellence
and peculiar blessedness of all true believers ; they
see the Son as others neither do nor can ; they, in a
word, have that sight of him, to which, according to
his own testimony, the counsel of God hath annexed
the assurance of everlasting life : This, saith he,
is the will of him that sent me, that every one who
seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have ever-

* Probably Eve was under a like mistake when she brought
forth Cain, and said: I have gotten m'rp-nx ZTK eesh eth yehovah
a man, the Lord. Gen. iv. 1. w Psal. xiv. 7. Micahv. 2. x John
i. 1 1. y Is. xlix. 57. liii, 27. and Mark iv. 3. z John i. 12. 13.

SER. VII.] THE BLESSING OF REUBEN. 227

lasting life ; adding, and I will raise him up at the
last day*

2. In her infirmities and imperfections. In these
how much, alas, does the church resemble Reuben,
whom Jacob pronounced unstable as water !

Like water, the members of the church are, in
themselves, weak so weak as to be incapable
of any thing spiritually good. Without me, said
Christ to his disciples, ye can do nothing* Without
Christ, as the way, no man cometh to the Father,
so as to be justified in his sight. Without a con-
tinual " supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,'' d be-
lievers can make no effectual resistance against
temptation render any acceptable service to God
or endure any affliction or trial with becoming resig-
nation. Successfully to resist Satan and the course
of this world, we must be found stedfast in the faith,*
even iha.t faith which is in Christ J To know what
we should pray for as we ought, we are dependent
on the Spirit, who, as " the Spirit of grace and of
supplication," helpeth our infirmities^ . And, that we
may run with patience the race that is set before us,
we must run looking unto Jesus, the Author and
Finisher of our faith. 11 In him is our doing and
suffering strength, as well as our justifying righteous-
ness. "In the Lord," saith a believer, "have I
righteousness and strength." 1

In ourselves, nevertheless, we are all unstable as
water ; we are not only, like that, weak in nature ;
but, like that, soon become lukewarm', and moreover,
like that, are prone to run the downward, because,

a John vi. 40. t>Ibid xv. 5. c Ibid. xiv. 6. d Philip, i. 19
el Pet. v. 9. 1 John v. 4. ^Acts xxvi. 18. * Rom. viii. 26,
*Heb.xii, 1,2. * Is. xlv. 24,

228 THE BLESSING OF REUBEN. [ER. VII,

to nature, the easier course. Happy, therefore, is it
for us, that grace, dwelling in our souls, is "a well of
water springing up into everlasting life." k

Hence a perpetual warfare between nature and
grace, flesh and spirit; 1 and by reason of this war-
fare, we are also, like water, inconstant; easily agita-
ted exceedingly changeable in our frames and
often wavering in our resolutions. If, in the lively
exercise of faith, a believer can say, with David,
" Lord by thy favor thou hast made my mountain to
stand strong;' 5 perhaps darkness ensues, and the
next thing the Lord hears from him is David's com-
plaint; "thou didst hide thy face and I was troub-
led."" 1 What if a believer in the vigor of grace, can
say of God, as Job did, "Though he slay me yet
will I trust in him ;" n it may not be long till, by rea-
son of spiritual languor and outward trouble, he
may, like the same saint, feel as if the object of his
trust had abandoned him to the will of his enemies,
and say, "God hath delivered me to the ungodly,
and turned me over into the hands of the wicked."
The believer who, at one time, may be so crucified to
all the endearments of human society, and so delight-
ed in God, as to exclaim, "Whom have I in heaven
but thee ? and there is none upon earth that I desire
besides thee ;" p may, at another time, under affliction
and dejection, covet so ardently the society and sym-
pathy of kindred ones, as to esteem a providential
denial thereof, a bitter privation ; nay, may be tempt^
ed to complain thereof to God himself, saying,
" Lover and friend hast thou put far from me, and
mine acquaintance into darkness." q

k John iv. 14. 'Gal. v. 17. Rom. vii 1823. n Psal. xxx. T.
"Jobxiii. 15. Ibid. xvi. 11. P Psal. Ixxiii. 25. ' Psal. Ixxxviii. 18.
Comp. Jobxix, 13, 14, 21,

8ER. VII.J THE BLESSING OP REUBEN. 229

With flowing tears, Lord, we confess
Our folly and unsteadfastness; .
When shall these hearts more fixed be!
Fix'd by thy grace, and fix'd for thee?

BEDDOME.

Imperfections, too, as well as infirmities, attend
the saints in the present life, and render them un-
stable as water. Though in general, a believer,
like HezeMah, may "trust in the Lord God and
cleave to him, and so " God may be with him," both
graciously and providentially; yet, in some things,
God, as to his enlightening, restraining, and direct-
ing influence, may leave him, as, in the business of
the Ambassadors, he left Hezekiah, "to try him, that
he" (not God, but Hezekiah,) " might know all that
was in his heart," and particularly that pride which
lurked there, unobserved by him before/ Thus
"the people that know their God," while sustained
by him are strong and do exploits," 8 but when, by
way of chastisement, they are for a time forsaken
of him, they become tremulous and are readily dis-
couraged; "all hands' 5 are then feeble, and all knees
are weak as water .'

3. In her comparative smallness. For, like the
tribe of Reuben, the church has never excelled in
numbers. On the contrary, compared with mystical
bdbylon, and with "the world that lieth in wicked-
ness,'' the church of true believers has constant-
ly appeared like a little flock? Nevertheless, such are
the provisions of the everlasting covenant, that when
all the chosen and redeemed of the Lord shall be
called by grace, they will be "a multitude which
no man can number, of all nations, and kin-

r 2 Kings xviii. 5 7. and 2 hron. xxxii. 31. "Dan. xi. 32.
'Ezek.vii. 17. "Lukexii. 32.

230 THE BLESSING OF REUBEN. [sER. VII.

dreds, and people and tongues ;" and, to denote their
personal justification and complete victory, "through
him that hath loved them and given himself for
them," they shall stand "before the throne and be-
fore the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms
in their hands." w Hence,

4. In her preservation. According to the pro-
phetic prayer of Moses, in the text, the Reuben-
ites, though greatly exposed to danger though,
as a consequence of their father's sin, they were
unstable as water, and though comparatively few
in number, yet lived, and did not die did not
become extinct, as a tribe. So the church. For,
though her members, having to contend with the
world, the flesh and the devil, are exposed to many
dangers within and without though, by reason of
depravity derived from Adam, the common progen-
itor of mankind, they are all, like water, weak and
inconstant, and though she has never excelled in
numbers, and therefore not in worldly influence ; she,
nevertheless, according to the word of Christ, ex-
pressed in his own preaching, and by his Spirit in
the discourses of the prophets and apostles, has
lived and must continue to live, and not die; yes,
she remains and must for ever remain, a seed to serve
him* and an inheritance to reward him/ Christ
and his church, in covenant and in vital union, con-
stitute one mystical person; he the head and she the
body\ z therefore, while Christ, the head lives, the
church, which is his body, cannot die ; and, in this
case, what is true of his body is true of its constituent
members ; to whom, therefore, he is saying, Because

Rev. vii. 9. *Psal. xxii. 30. and Ixxxix. 36. ^Is. liii. 11.
and Heb. xii. 2. * Eph i. 22, 23. ii. 15. v. 30. Col. i. 18. ii. 19.

SER. VII.] THE BLESSING OF REUBEN. 231

/ live ye shall live also.* Ye shall live 1. A life of
grace ; which has its source in Christ, and is perpetu-
ated by supplies of grace from him : He giveth more
grace.* 2. A life of justification; "By him all that
believe are justified from all things, and shall not
come into condemnation." 3. A life of communion
with God: "For through him (Christ) we both
(believing Jews and believing Gentiles) have access
by the Spirit to the Father ; and truly our fellow-
ship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus
Christ." d Yet, 4. I understand him chiefly to
mean, that the members of his mystical body, in
conformity to those of his natural body, shall be
raised from the dead, and live, with him, a life of
ineffable glory and blessedness in heaven. " This"
saith he, " is the Father's will who hath sent me,
that of all which he hath given me, I should lose
nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day."

We have, therefore, the utmost assurance, that, like
the Reubenites literally, all true believers spiritually
shall live and not die that however numerous their
foes within and without, and however agitated by
the winds of temptation and shaded by the clouds
of reproach, they shall survive every conflict and
every storm ; and that, having finished their course
of labor and warfare, their divine Joshua will dis-
charge them with honor, and secure to them a safe
conveyance over the Jordan of death, and a peace-
ful admittance into the heavenly inheritance.

From the subject let us learn,

First, Some of the sad effects of sin, especially

"John xiv. 19. b 2 Tim. i. 9. Jas. iv. 6. c Acts. xiii. 39. and
John v. 24. d Eph. ii. 18. and 1 John i. 3. c John vi. 39. Camp,.
Philip, iii. 21. and Col. iii, 4.

THE BLESSING OF REUBEN. [sEK. Vlf,

of gross sin, fallen into by professors of religion.
Such was the sin of Reuben. By birth and privileg-
es, he was one of God's national Israel. His odious
crime, therefore, was a reproach both to Israel and
to Israel's God : for he that docth aught presump-
tiously, reproacheth the Lord.* Whether, according,
to the opinion of many, Reuben was a believer in
the Messiah, and therefore, through him, received
the grace of repentance and the gift of eternal life,
I shall, with the Holy Scriptures, leave undecided.
But certain it is, that his iniquity was strongly mark-
ed in his subsequent condition. For,

1. He was unstable as water. How striking
and how awful the typical design! It is to re-
mind spiritual Israelites, that if, in any instance,
they should be left so far to themselves and to
the power of temptation, as to fall into any gross
transgression, the consequences must be fearful.
For, though preserved by Jesus Christ? from fall-
ing into hell, they must, nevertheless, fall under
a sad decline of spiritual vigor ; their faith must
waver, their hope must stagger, and their great
strength, like that of Sampson when his hair
was cut, must depart from them ; and which, like
his, may never return till at death. h And though,
like the fallen Corinthians, such, in all generations,
are made to experience that godly sorrow which
worketh repentance unto salvation ;' yet, like them,
they "are chastened of the Lord, that they should
not be condemned with the world. 3 ' Hence, under a
sort of judicial consumption, " many are weak and
sickly, and many sleep. 11 These things observed by

f Num. xv. 30. Comp. Neh. v. 9. *Jude Ver. 1. b Judges
xvi. 1930, * 2 Cor. vii. 9. 10. k 1 Cor. xi. 3082.

Vll.j THE BLESSING OP REUBEN. 233

their brethren, should excite in them, as the divisions
of Reuben excited in the other tribes, great thoughts
nay, great searchings of heart}

For his gross sin, Reuben was not only weakened,
but,

2. Degraded: His birthright was given to the
sons of Joseph."" 1 Happy is it for the saints, that,
being children of God, their spiritual birthright
can never be forfeited ; and that, being heirs of God
and joint heirs with Christ, their heavenly inherit-
ance can never be alienated. 11 Nevertheless, such is
God's abhorrence of evil, that while, if any of his
children be falsely accused, he will, as exemplified in
Joseph, deliver and exalt them; yet when any of
them, and especially of those in public stations in
his church, fall into gross transgression, he usually
suffers them, with regard to reputation and condi-
tion, to sink below their brethren, and often below
such as, in gifts and knowledge, and perhaps in grace
also, are far inferior to them. With such instances
in recollection, let believers in common, and espe-
cially those distinguished by eminence in the gospel
ministry, be apprised that no abilities, however bril-
liant, nor any condition, however exalted, in the
church militant, can secure them from Satanic snares,
or (in case of compliance) from providential re-
bukes ; and hence be stimulated to -watchfulness and
prayer : Watch and pray, said Christ to his disciples,
that ye enter not into temptation. Matt. xxvi. 41.

Still more. Reuben, for his vile transgression, be-
sides being weakened and degraded, was

3. Placed upon prophetic record, as a notorious

4 I.Judges, v. 15. 16. Comp. 2 Cor. vii. 11. m l Chron. v. 1.
Rom. viii. 17. 1 Pet. i. 35. Gen. xli. 3538.

234 THE BLESSING OF REUBEN. [SER. Tit,

offender in Israel . p Hence, let spiritual Israelites
remember, that although false reports concerning
them, even though confirmed by a pretence to spe-
cial revelations, as those which Sanballat and his
party invented and caused to be circulated against
Nehemiah, were confirmed by the prophetess Noadia
and the rest of the false prophets, that would have
put him in fear? must all vanish before the force
of truth ; yet, that should they indeed be surprised
and hurried into any scandalous offenses, they would
have reason to expect the reproach thereof to follow
them. Such has been the common lot of fallen
saints. Thus, the drunkenness of Noah, the equivo-
cation of Abraham, the adultry of David, and the
idolatry of Solomon, though all forgiven/ are to
their shame, all recorded by the pen of inspira-
tion. Nor have the New-Testament saints escap-
ed. Would the disciples, contrary to the Spirit of
their blessed Master, have called for fire from
heaven, to destroy their enemies ? Did Peter, through
fear, deny his Lord ? And, did Paul and Barnabas,
long companions in travel and labor, contend sa
sharply about Mark, that they separated? Their
offenses, though, like those of the Old-Testament
saints, all pardoned through the atonement and
mediation of Christ, are nevertheless, like theirs, all
" written," not for our imitation, but for " our admoni-
tion, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
Wherefore, let him that thinketh he standeth, take
heed lest he fall." 8

Secondly, Something of the sufficiency and the
victories of grace. Did Reuben, in a temporal sense,

P@O. xlix. 4. iNeh. vi. 214. r Heb. xi. '1 Cor x. 11,

in.

. VII.] THE BLESSING OP REUBEN. 235

live through the mediation of Moses'! How much
more shall the heirs and subjects of grace, live
spiritually and eternally through the mediation of
Christ 1 In themselves, it is true, they are like
Reuben, unstable as water, that is weak and incon-
stant; yet, in regard to their safety, they are, like
Timothy, strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus ;
and are therefore, like him, exhorted to be so in the
exercise of faith and hope in that grace. 1

Hence, when satan, either by his immediate sug-
gestions, or by any instrument he employs for the
purpose, is permitted to buffet them, by opposing the
truth which they believe or the hope they entertain,
or by exciting their indwelling depravity, to the
distress of their souls, his effort, though designed for
their ruin, is overruled for their good; it serves
happily to prevent them from being exalted above
measure; and though painful indeed, even like a
thorn in thejlesh, Christ, to support and encourage
them under it, verifies to each what he affirmed to
Paul, when thus assaulted My grace is sufficient for
thee; for my strength is made perfect in weakness"

Nor is the Adversary any more successful when
he desires to have us so far in his power, that
he may sift us as wheat For though his desire is
sometimes granted, his design is always frustrated.
He may be permitted to shake us by temptation, till,
both to ourselves and others, the evidences of our
gracious state may become greatly obscured by our
rising corruptions, even as the grains of wheat, in
the shaken sieve, become covered by their chaff.
Thus sifted, a believer, like David, may in his haste,
say to the Lord, / am cut off from before thine
1 2 Tim. ii. 1. $ Cor. xiL T 9.

236 THE BLESSING OF REUBEN. [sER. VII*

eyes ; v and his friends, like those of Job, may suspect
him to be but a hypocrite ; w nevertheless, an inter-
est in the advocacy of Christ, secures his victory ;
for what Christ said to Peter when in this condition,
is equally true of every tempted saint I have prayed
for thee, that thy faith fail not . x

Nor is victory all: for in this trial of our faith,
which is much more precious than that of gold, we
are not only conquerors, but much more than con-
querors, through hint that hath loved us. y This
trial itself, though under it we may be confused and
agitated almost to distraction, is among the all things
that icork together for good to them that love God.
By it, like Peter, we come to know more of our-
selves ; and hence, like him, are converted from the
pernicious snare of self-confidence, and better pre-
pared to strengthen our brethren*

The grace that is in Christ Jesus, moreover, pro-
vides a remedy against the deadly malady of sin
itself. With this malady every child of God re-
mains infected while in the body ; but the blood of
Jesus Christ his Son, with reference to divine Jus-
tice, cleanseth us from all sin* Nor must a believer,
even though unhappily fallen into actual sin, either
yield to a continuance therein or despair of divine
mercy ; but, with abhorence of the former, and by
faith in the fountain of atonement, the sovereign
antidote to the latter, have immediate recourse to
the throne of grace; recollecting that if, among
believers, any man sin, we have an advocate with
the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

v Psal. xxxi. 22. w Job. xi. 3. xv. 4. x Luke xxii. 31. 32.
Comp. John xvii. 9. 15.20. yRom. viii. 37. 2 Luke xxii. 32,
and 3 Pet, iii, 17, 18. a l John i. 7, 8. b lbid. h7J.

SEH. VII.] THE BLESSING OF REUBEN. 237

Such, in a word, is the perfection of God's plan
of salvation, that the same grace which laid its foun-
dation in purpose, secures its completion in glory ;
that, "as sin alone reigned unto death, even so
might grace reign through righteousness unto eter-
nal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord. c "

Finally, How far the privileges of Spiritual Israel-
ites surpass those of mere national Israelites. When
Joshua discharged the Reubenites from their literal
warfare he sent them from him ; but Jesus, when he
discharges his soldiers from their spiritual warfare
receives them to be with him : " I will receive you to
myself," said he to his disciples, " that where I am
there ye may be also." d To the Reubenites, Joshua
assigned an inheritance in Gilead; but to believers,
Jesus assigns an inheritance in heaven. The in-
heritance of the Reubenites was temporal ; but that
of the saints is eternal. John xvii. 2.

c Rom. v. 81. d John. xiv. 3.

SERMON VIIL

THE BLESSING OF JUDAH,

Deut. xxxiii. 7.* And this is the blessing of Judah : and he said,
Hear, LORD, the voice of Judah; and bring him unto his people :
let his hands be sufficient for him : and be thou an help to him
from his enemies.

IN the record itself of these blessings pronounced
by Moses on the tribes of Israel, there are two
things remarkable; namely, that no mention is made
of the tribe of Simeon, Jacob's second son, and that
the tribe of Judah, though he was Jacob's fourth
son, occupies the second place. Both may be ac-
counted for by adverting to revealed facts. In
the division of Canaan, " the second lot," indeed,
" came forth to Simeon ;" but, as his children had
"their inheritance within the inheritance of the
children of Judah," Moses, led by inspiration, bless-
ed them together. See Joshua xix. 1. And where-
as, in a national sense, the royalty is m'ore honorable
than the priesthood) the tribe of Judah, to which
God, by the prediction of Jacob, had assigned the
former, is here placed before that of Levi, to which,
in this prediction of Moses, he assigned the latter.
See. Gen. xlix. 10, and Context, ver. 8.

And this is the blessing of Judah ; which Moses
uttered, not only by a Spirit of prophecy, but also,

SEtt. VIII.] THE BLESSING OF JUDAH. 239

as he uttered most of the blessings respecting the
other tribes, in a way of prayer: "and he said,
Hear, LORD, the voice of Judah, &c." Neverthe-
less, for the reason given in the preceding Sermon,
page 220, the blessings which he prayed for by the
Spirit of prophecy, were as certain to be granted
as those which he directly foretold by that Spirit.
Our text therefore, though uttered in the form of a
prayer, is entirely prophetic; and its accomplish-
ment may be traced both literally and typically.

1. LITERALLY. Hear, Lord, the voice of Judah~\
This tribe, by reason of its great eminence among the
tribes of Israel, was often exposed to great danger ; a
but, as a mark of God's distinguishing favor, it al-
ways had, in it, a succession of praying persons ;
whose voice, according to this prediction of Moses,
the Lord heard and answered. "The Lord was
with Judah and he drave out the inhabitants of the
mountain." b Nay, at the worst of times, " in Judah
things went well." Nor was the praying voice of
this tribe lifted up for themselves only, but also for
the whole nation. The king himself, who was con-
stantly to be of this tribe, d was usually a praying
man, and whose cries, with those of his praying
subjects, ascended to God, in behalf of Israel when
in distress, and were answered by seasonable direc-
tions and deliverances. This was eminently true
in the times of David* of Asa,* of Jehoshaphatf
and of Hezekiah. h

And bring him unto his people] Judah being a
military tribe, the men of it were often abroad and

* Judges i. 1, 2. b lbid. Ver. 19. C 2 Chron. xii. 12. d 1 Chron.
Y. 2. 2 Sam. ii. 1. xxi. 1. f 2 Chron. xiv. 915. elbid xx. 2
13. h 2 Kings xix. 14. &e.

THE BLESSING OF JUDAH. [SEE. Vllfv

engaged in war, in which it is common for many to
be slain; wherefore, in this clause of the text,
Moses, influenced by the Spirit of prophecy, prayed
for, and so predicted, their safe return from every
campaign : Hear, Lord, the voice of Judah, when
engaged in battle, or otherwise in danger, and bring
him unto his people, each to his family, and all to
those of the nation, who did not appertain to the
army; and which implies the preservation of those
at home, as well as of those abroad; or the latter
could not have been returned to the former. 1 Hence,
let all who have returned from the dangers of war
or of the seas, learn to attribute their own preserva-
tion and that of their families, friends and possess-
ions, to the providential care of God. " Salvation,
temporal as well as spiritual, belongeth unto the
LORD."

Let his hands be sufficient for him] This tribe,
on account of its great importance to all the rest,
would have much to do both internally and relatively,
and hence, by this prophetic prayer was assured of
sufficient ability : Let his hands, which are the sym-
bols of action, be sufficient for him ; sufficient to
provide for him, to fight for him, and to defend him.
The fulfilment of this prophecy is apparent in sacred-
history. See 2 Sam. iii. 1. v. 1 12; 2 Chron,
xvii. 12 19. By this, let individuals and commu-
nities, whose locations and relations devolve upon
them, much care, much labor, and much expense
in the cause of Christ, be encouraged to hope that
as their day, their strength shall be ; and let those to
whom much is given, remember that of them muck
is required*

i 1 Sam xxx. 2325. k Luke xii. 48.

SER. VIII.] THE BLESSING OF JUDAH. 241

And be thou an help to him, from his enemies]
Policy, as well as power, would be employed against
Israel. By this prophecy, therefore, Judah was an-
imated with the assurance of divine aid both in
counsel and in battle. In counsel, making them
wiser, and, in battle, making them stronger, than
their enemies, however artful or powerful. Of this,
even the mercenary Balaam became convinced,
though to his great regret ; and of which, constrain-
ed by the Spirit of prophecy, he made proclamation,
though to his own loss. "Surely," said he, "there
is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there
any divination against Israel : according to this time
it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath
God wrought ! Behold the people shall rise up ?as
a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion : he
shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink
the blood of the slain." 1 That God helped Judah
and all who adhered to him, was specially manifest
under the reign of David and that of Jehoshaphat.

But I hasten to trace the accomplishment of this
prediction,

II. TYPICALLY. In this sense, it requires a twofold
application.

1. To Christ ; who, according to the flesh, descen-
ded from this tribe. "For Judah prevailed above
his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler;"
not merely David, Solomon, &c. in succession, but
eventually the Messiah himself, who is emphatically
the chief Ruler" The same also is expressly assert-
ed in the New-Testament : "For it is evident," saith
an apostle, "that our Lord sprang out of Judah."

! Num. xxiii. 23, 24. m 1 Chron xii. 22. and 2 Chron. xvii. 12
19. and xx. 430. "1 Chron. v. 2. Comp. Micah v. 2. Heb.
vii. 14.

242 THE BLESSING OF JUDAH. [sEK. VIII.

That Judah was eminently a type of Christ, will
appear in every part of this prophecy.

Like Judah, Christ had a prevalent voice in prayer.
"I knew," said he to the Father, "that thou nearest
me always." p

The Father heard him, when, in the eternal coun-
cil, he, as Mediator, asked for his chosen people
for all the blessings they would ever need and for
official authority to claim them as his own, and
to deliver and defend them from all their enemies.
Hence the correspondent grants which Christ, in
person and by his spirit in the apostles, acknowledges
the Father to have made to him. Speaking of the
people, he says, " This is the Father's will who hath
sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should
lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last
day." And again, " Thine they were and thou gavest
them me." Yet, that all might know that the Father
did not, by this grant, resign his own interest in them,
the Son adds, "All mine are thine, and thine are
mine; and I am glorified in them." q Would this
people need grace, to renew, to sanctify, to strength-
en and to comfort them ? This was given to them
in Christ, before the world began/ Would they
need spiritual gifts, and especially gifts qualifying
men for the ministry, who should be employed in
their edification? These Christ received, that, in
all generations, he might communicate them to men,
chosen for this important purpose. 8 Would they
need a suitable portion for a future state? Such
is that "eternal life, which God, who cannot lie,
promised before the world began." 1 And to whom

PJohn xi. 42. q John vi. 39. and xrii. 6. 10. r 2Timi. 9
Peal. Ixriii. 18. and Eph. ir. 11, 13. * Titus i. 2.

SER. VIII.] THE BLESSING OF JUDAH. 243

could he then have promised it, but to Christ,
as the Covenantee of his people! Would they
have many enemies, and so need continual protec-
tion! This is made certain to them in Christ,
who, in his official capacity and for their safe-
ty, received universal dominion: "All power," said
he, "is given unto me in heaven and in earth.""
Thus qualified, "he shall deliver the needy when he
crieth, the poor also, and him that hath no helper." w
"Neither," saith he, "shall any pluck them out of
my hand." x

More properly, however, the voice of Christ was
lifted up in prayer while he tabernacled in human
nature upon earth.

As man, he was, poor and needy? a man of sor-
rows and acquainted with grief* yea, in temporal
accommodations, more destitute than the foxes of the
forest, or the birds of the air; a and being, withal,
abhorred by his nation b and assailed by the tempter,
he greatly needed the protection and succor of his
heavenly Father, and which he fervently implored.
For this purpose, he often retired to some solitary
place, a mountain or desert ; d and, in one instance at
least, continued all night in prayer to God. Q Then

" Cold nights and the midnight air
Witnessed the fervor of his prayer ;
The desert his temptations knew,
His conflict and his victor) 7 too."

His conflict was severe, but his victory was complete :
"The devil," foiled by the sword of the Spirit,
which is the word of God, "leaveth him, and, be-
hold, angels" sent by his Father, who always heard

"Matt, xxviii. 18. John xvii. 2. w Psa1. Ixxii. 12. x John x.
28. y xl. 17. z Is. liii. 3. * Matt. viii. 20. b ls. xlix. 7. Matt.
iv. 110. d Ibid. xiv. 33. Mark i. 35. and vi. 46. Luke vi. 12.

244 THE BLESSING OF JUDAH. [SER. VIII.

him, " came and ministered to him." f They prob-
ably brought him, besides cheering messages, some
convenient food, which, by divine order, they had
prepared, to nourish his natural body and to revive
his animal spirits, in which he had suffered great
exhaustion by fasting and temptation. See this
strikingly typified in the case of Elijah. 1 Kings
xix. 5 8.

Still more, however, did the human nature of Christ
shrink from the ignominious death, and especially
from the fearful curse, which, therein, he had coven-
anted to endure for his guilty people. Hence his
agonizing conflict in the garden, when he fell on his
face and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possi-
ble, let this cup pass from me ; nevertheless, not as I
will, but as thou wilt ; which prayer, in the fervor of his
soul, he repeated a second and a third time ; g nay, in
the last instance, being in an agony, he prayed more
earnestly than before, and his sweat was as it were
great drops of blood falling down to the ground. 11

From the prayer of Christ in the garden, thus
fervently and repeatedly offered, we learn 1 . That,
as man, he has a will, distinct from his will as a
divine person ; and which proves that he has a truly
human soul. Hence, though his divine will is always
in perfect accordance with the Father's will ;* yet,
when his human nature shrunk at approaching suffer-
ings, his human will desired exemption from them.
As man, therefore, he prayed to the Father, saying,
If it be possible, let this cup pass from me ; never-
theless, (his holy soul being quiescent in his heaven-
ly Father's will,) he added, not as I will but as thou

' Matt. iv. 11. e Matt. xxvi. 3944. h Luke xxii. 44. j PsaJ.
ad. 7, 8. and John vi, 38.

SER. VIII.] THE BLESSING OF JUDAH. 245

wilt. O for a like resignation to the will of God, in
all our supplications at his throne! 2. That the
mutual stipulations of the Father and the Son, in
the covenant of redemption, are unalterable that
Christ, as the substitute of his people, was "delivered
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God" and, that without it the scriptures could not
have been fulfilled, nor a single sinner, consistently
with law and justice, have been saved. k For these
and other reasons, it was not possible that this cup
should pass from him. Nevertheless, it is evident 3.
That the Father, who heard him always, heard
him when in this distressing condition ; for though he
did not take away the cup itself, yet he took away
that amazing terror, which, in view of it, had fallen
upon his human nature ; and, in this nature, strength-
ened him to drink it up. Then it was, that, accord-
ing to prophecy, the Father said unto him, " In an
acceptable time have I heard" thee, and in a day of
salvation," that is, while he was suffering to obtain
the salvation of sinners, "have I helped thee. 1 Thus
it was, that "in the days of his flesh, when he had
offered up prayers and supplications with strong
crying and tears, unto Him that was able to save
him from death," (had it been agreeable to the
divine counsel,) "and was heard," and so was
delivered (* T ****$) from the fear, that is,
of death." 1 For this purpose angelic instrumentality
was again employed: There appeared an angel
unto him from heaven strengthening him* Perhaps
this angel, as supposed of those mentioned, page 243,
administered some appropriate nourishment to his

k Acts ii. 23. Matt. xxvi. 54. 1 Pet. iii. 18. ! Is. xlix. 8. Heb.
r. 7. See Parkhurst, under ** < n Luke xxii. 43.

246 THE BLESSING OF JUDAH. [SER. VIII.

body ; but chiefly, no doubt, he strengthened him in
his human soul ; by reminding him of the Father's
promises, by which, as man, he was assured of all
needful support during the conflict that his body,
though it must die, should be raised without seeing
corruption and especially, by setting before him
the glorious results of his humiliation and death ;
namely, that, thereby, the divine perfections would be
glorified the prophetic writings be fulfilled the
divine law be magnified and made honorable the
infinite evil of sin be clearly demonstrated, and
innumerable millions of lost sinners be redeemed,
to ascribe their salvation to him for ever and ever.
Accordingly, " for the joy that was set before him,
he endured the cross, despising the shame, &c."
Hence, the holy composure with which he left the
garden p the intrepid manner in which he treated
the officers as well as the mob, when they came to
take him q the magnanimity which he displayed in
the Judgment-Hall 1 " and the full confidence of
victory and glory which he manifested while hang-
ing on the cross ; for even then he said to the pen-
itent thief, To-day shalt thou be with me in para-
dise. 3 And 4. That all dependence which sin-
ners place upon their prayers and tears, to satisfy
divine Justice for their sins, must necessarily fail ;
for, as the prayers and tears of Christ, though all
immaculate, could not atone for sin, how much less
can ours, which are all morally polluted I In like
manner, we may perceive the folly of trusting in
our obedience to the law, to procure the pardon of

oHeb. xii. 2. P Matt. xxvi. 45, 46. qlbid. Ver. 5256.
Luke xxii. 52, 53. John xviii. 39. r Ibid. Ver. 3337. and
xix. 10. 11. Luke xxiii. 43.

SEE. VIII.] THE BLESSING OF JUDAH. 247

our transgressions of it; for even the obedience of
Christ, in life, though perfect, and though indispen-
sable to the justification of his people, did not, could
not procure the pardon of sin. Can, then, the im-
perfect obedience of sinners procure it 1 Christ
satisfied divine Justice for sin, not by his obedient
life, but by his vicarious death; 1 he "put away sin
by the sacrifice of himself ;' ju and, accordingly, it is
through his blood, that his people have redemption
and forgiveness* Look, therefore, poor legalist
look upon Christ in the garden. Consider the
manner in which he, though personally innocent,
was treated by his righteous Father, when he found
him in the law-place of sinners ; and, having duly
pondered the awful subject, ask thyself such questions
as these : Am I more holy, or more worthy of
divine favor than he ? If the demands of divine
Justice could not be relinquished to iavor him, even
though he sought it with "strong crying and tears,"
can I expect they will be relinquished to favor me ?
If, then, I should be found at last, not under the
covert of the righteousness and atonement of Christ,
but accountable to God in my own person, for my
want of conformity to his law, in nature, and for my
transgressions of it, in life, what can I expect but
its fearful penalty! Thy reasoning, sinner, is just;
and living and dying a legalist, the doom thou ap-
prehendest is inevitable : " for as many as are of the
works of the law are under the curse." Gal. iii. 10.

Christ, moreover, as Mediator, prayed for his

people : / pray, said he to the Father, for them;

adding, I pray not for the world, hut for them which

thou hast given me ; for they are thine, by special

1 1 Pet. iii. 18. u Heb. ix. 26. w Eph. i. 7.

248 THE BLESSING OF JUDAH. [sER. VIII.

love and choice ; and which was the strongest plea
that could have been used on their behalf/ He
prayed both for all who were then believers in him,
and for all who, according to covenant-purpose, were
thereafter to become such; God having from the
beginning chosen them to salvation, through sanctifi-
cation of the Spirit and belief of the truth. 2 Thes.
ii. 13. For those who were then believers in him,
he prayed that the Father would keep them from the
evil, especially from the evil one, Satan, and that he
would sanctify them through the truth. , y Neither,
continued he, pray I for these alone, but for them
also which shall believe on me through their word ;
that is, through the gospel, which the apostles preach-
ed. Christ, therefore, prayed for all true believers to
the end of the world. 2 Nor did he merely pray that
his people might be called and kept, but likewise that
ultimately they might be glorified : Father, said he,
I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be
with me where lam; that they may behold my glory,
which thou hast given me; meaning that glory
which, by covenant-compact, belonged to him, as
Mediator. 3 And that the Father heard and answer-
ed the supplications which he, as Mediator, made for
his people, must necessarily be concluded from the
promise which he had given him, that he should
see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied* and
from the grant of the Holy Ghost to him, which, after
his exaltation, he received and shed forth, for the
accomplishment of that promise.

Hence also it is evident that Christ, though ascend-
ed to heaven, still pleads the cause of his militant

'Johnxvii. 9. y Ibid. Ver. 15 17. z Ibid. Ver. 20. a lbid.
Ver. 24. b ls. liii. 11. c Acts ii. 33. Comp. Psal. ex. 3. and
Titus iii. 6.

Ell VIII.] THE BLESSING OF JUDAli. 249

people: He there appears in the presence of God
(the Father) for us. d And though to suppose, as
some do, that he prays for his people in heaven, as
he prayed for them upon earth, is absurd; yet his
approved appearance there, is a perpetual and an
ever availing plea on their behalf; it demonstrates
that he has perfected all that he had covenanted to
do and suffer, as the condition of their salvation ; and
therefore, that, on principles of inflexible righteous-
ness, he is entitled to all that the Father, on that
condition, promised to him, for them. Consequent-
ly, they must all receive grace here, and eternal life
hereafter. 6 But to procede.

Like Judah, Christ was brought back to his
people. He engaged in dreadful conflict with all
the powers of darkness ; and though he conquered
it was by dying; and while, according to covenant-
stipulation, he remained under the dominion of death
and the grave, his disciples were in awful suspense.
But God raised him from the dead, and so brought
him back from the war, and restored him to his
people, his family, his friends and that to their
exceeding joy. Then were the disciples glad when
they saw the Lord! Nay, their very sorrow, accord-
ing to promise, icas turned into joy;* that which
had occasioned it, namely, their Master's crucifixion,
becoming to them, when they were led to under-
stand the design of it, matter of joy, such as they
had never known before. 11 Nor was that joy intend-
ed for them only ; it is the common privilege of all
true believers to rejoice in him that was dead and

d Heb. ix. 24. Comp. Chap. vii. 25. and 1 John ii. 1. 2
Tim. i. 9. and T itus i. 2. Uohnxx. 20. *Ibid. xvi. 20.
h Luke xxiv. 25, 26. 32.

250 THE BLESSING OF JtfDAH. [sER. Vltt~

is alive in him, who was delivered for our offenses,
and was raised again for our justification^ And
though our believing views and embraces of Christ,
are sometimes interrupted by sin, or temptation, or
unbelief, in so much, that, for a season, he withdraws
himself and is gone* yet, such is his love for us,
that he never utterly nor entirely leaves or forsakes
us; 1 and, having brought us to understand and bewail
those evils in our hearts and lives, which had occasion-
ed him to withdraw, he kindly and seasonably re-
turns. Thus it is, that, in promises, in meditations,
under Sermons, and at ordinances, he manifests
himself to us, and not unto the world. m In this
way, though ascended to heaven, he still visits his
believing ones upon earth : /, said he to his disciples ,
will come and see you, (which includes their seeing
of him by faith,) and your heart shall rejoice, and
your joy no man takethfrom you?

In due time also, he comes in a providential way r
to remove them, by death, from the sorrows of earth
to the joys of heaven: / will come again, saith he,
and receive you unto myself; that where I am there
ye may be also. Herein, he visits his Church to
gather lilies? And, finally, he will return in person ;
in which he will appear a second time ; though in a
character and for a purpose very different from those
of his first appearance. At his incarnation, he ap-
peared as the substitute of his guilty people, and to
make satisfaction to divine justice for their sins,
which, by covenant-stipulation, were all placed to
his account ; but, at his second coming, he will
appear as the Judge of quick and dead; and

'Rom. iv. 25. k Cant. v. 5. ] Heb. xiii 5. m John xiv. 22.
Ibid ifi. 23. * Ibid. xiv. P Cant. vi. 2.

SER. VIII.] THE BLESSING OF JUDAH. 251

though to decide the fates of all mankind, yet special-
ly to claim his people, as his due reward for what
he did and suffered on their behalf at his former ad-
vent, and to put them into the full possession of
their heavenly inheritance ; preparatory to which, by
raising the bodies of the dead saints and changing
those of the living, he will fashion both like unto
his own glorious body, and therein complete their
salvation. 9 Accordingly, the different objects of
his first and second appearance on earth, are briefly
expressed and distinguished thus : " Christ" (at his
first coming) "was offered to bear the sins of many,''
even of all the millions of God's elect ; " and unto
them that look for him,'' as all true believers do,
"shall he appear the second lime, WITHOUT SIN
unto SALVATION/

The hands of Christ, too, like those of Judah,
have always been sufficient for him.

Hand is put for strength or ability to perform
any specified work. Exo. iv. 1. The hands of Judah,
therefore, might typify the ability of Christ to accom-
plish the salvation of God's elect, which, by cove-
nant-engagement, devolved upon him. Is. xlii. 6.

Being "the Son of man, whom the Father made
strong for himself," he had sufficient ability to satis-
fy divine Justice for their sins; he "bare our sins,"
that is suffered for them, "in his own body on the
tree ;" and so " redeemed us from the curse of the
law, being made a curse for us." s Being, by the
right hand of God exalted, and having received
of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he
has sufficient ability, as well as authority, to regen-

* Philip, iii. 21. 1 Cor. xv. 5157. and 1 Thes. iv. 1517.
r Heb. ix. 28. Comp. Matt. xx. 28. and Rev. v. 9. e Psal. Ixxx. 17.
1 Pet. ii. 24. Gal. iii. 13.

252 THE BLESSING OF JUDAH. [sER. VIII.

erate and convert them. Hence his people are made
willing in the day of his power* As he is " full of
grace, 5 ' his hands arc sufficient 'to supply us with all
spiritual blessings, with which the Father hath bless-
ed us in him. Accordingly, " Of his fulness have
we (believers) all received."" Nor can his sufficien-
cy ever 'fail. "It pleased the Father that in him
should all fulness dwell," commensurate to all our
necessities: "wherefore he is able also to save them
to the uttermost that come unto God by him." w And
having, in his official capacity, as well as in his
divine nature, " All power in heaven and in earth,"
his hands are sufficient to preserve all whom the
Father hath committed unto him : " I give unto
them," saith he, " eternal life, and they shall never
perish; neither shall any pluck them out of my
hand." x

Hand denotes also possession, with a right to
govern and employ at will, whatever is possessed.
See 1 Kings xi. 12. Thus understood, the hands
of Judah might typify all persons and things that
Christ, by right of possession and disposition, would
employ as instruments to promote the welfare of
his Kingdom. And that, in this sense too, his
hands are sufficient for him, can admit of no doubt;
for the Father hath given to him, as Mediator, pow-
er over all flesh, and hath delivered all things unto
him. y Hence,

If, for the benefit of his church, He is pleased
to employ the instrumentality of earthly rulers,
their hearts, and consequently their means and their

t Acts ii. 33; and Psal. ex. 3. u John i. 14. 16. Eph. i. 3
w Col i. 19. Heb. vii. 25. * Matt, xxviii. 18. and John x. 28 > John
xviK 2. Matt xi. 27.

SER. VIII.] THE BLESSING OF JUDAH. 263

influence, are under his control. " The king's heart
is in the hands of the Lord, as the rivers of water:
he turneth it whithersoever, he will." Prov. xxi. 1.
To him, therefore, Ezra and Nehemiah justly
ascribed the favor shown to Israel, by the success-
ive Kings of Persia. See Ezra vii. 27, 28. and
Neh. iv. 4 18. And thus, in the latter day, either
as renewed by grace or as constrained by Provi-
dence, Gentile Kings shall become nursing fathers
and their Queens nursing mothers to the gospel
church. Is. xlix. 23.

If, to prostrate monarchs or to revolutionize
governments, adverse to the extension of His gos-
pel and His visible kingdom, He choose to call
into requisition armed hosts and distinguished
generals, both are His own and must subserve
His design. All, in this sense, are his servants.
Psal. cxix. 91.

Thus, through the instrumentality of Constantine
and his armed forces, He accomplished the down-
fall of pagan Rome; in doing which He is supposed
to have opened the sixth apocalyptic seal. Rev. vi.
1217.

In like manner, He has greatly diminished and
will utterly destroy the civil authority of MYSTERY
BABYLON, that great city that reigneth [Now per-
haps we might rather say that did reign] over the
kings of the earth. Rev. xvii. 5 18.

By similar means, too, He is reducing and will
finally exterminate the Turkish empire, probably
denoted by the great river EUPHRATES, upon which,
in John's vision, the sixth angel poured out his vial.
If so, by the waters of that river, which, thereby,
were dried up, may be meant the Ottoman armies

254 THE BLESSING OF JUDAH. [sER. VlH.

and resources, and perhaps their Mahometan relig-
ion also; that, continues the vision, the way of the
kings of the east might be prepared; that is, that
the way might be opened for the gospel to be sent
into the eastern nations. Rev. xvi. 12. Herein, too,
the way will be prepared for the Jews to return to
their own land; where many promises respecting
both their spiritual and their temporal prosperity
remain to be fulfilled. 2 In evacuating their land,
however, preparatory to their repossessing it, the
hand of the Lord will be so evident, that the event
is predicted by an allusion to the dividing of the
Red sea, called the tongue of^the Egyptian sea, for
their safe passage across its channel; and, to the
draining of the Euphrates by seven canals, for the
entrance of Cyrus into Babylon, that, taking it, he
might favor Israel. Is. xi. 15. For, although the
latter was a work of art, it was, nevertheless, perform-
ed according to prophecy, and therefore, no doubt,
by divine direction. 8

Nor are the angels of heaven any less at his com-
mand. "Are they not all ministering Spirits sent
forth," under Christ their Head, "to minister for
them who shall be heirs of salvation ?" b

The elect, as such, are all heirs ; wherefore, the
words "who shall be heirs of salvation,'' must re-
spect their calling and open justification, wherein
they are said to be made heirs, that is manifested to
be such, according to the hope of eternal life. Titus
iii. 7. It would seem, therefore, that the ministry of
angels is employed for their preservation while in a
carnal state. By this agency probably it is, that

z Ezek. xxxvi and xxxvii chapters ; and Amos ix. 14, 15. a Is.
X!T. 27. Jer. 1. 38. b Heb. i. 14.

JBER. VJI1.J THE BLESSING OF JUDAU. 255

many of them, in childhood or afterward, and even
amid a course of infidelity or immorality, are, as
it were, miraculously snatched or unexpectedly rais-
ed from threatening death.

The saints, during their pilgrimage on earth, are
constantly liable to innumerable injuries ; but " the
angel of the Lord," Christ himself, by the ministry
of created angels, "encampeth round about them
that fear him, and delivereth them." Psal. xxxiv. 7.
Comp. Is. Ixiii 9. By an angel, Peter was deliver-
ed out of prison. And probably the earthquake,
by means of which Paul and Silas experienced a
like deliverance, was produced by angelic agency . d
By the ministry of angels, the host sent by the king
of Syria to take Elisha, were smitten with blindness;
whereupon the prophet led them into the midst of
Samaria, where, their eyes being opened, they saw
themselves entirely in the power of Israel ; but were
spared through the counsel of that very prophet,
whose life they had sought. 2 Kings vi. 11 23.*

By angels, too, the souls of the saints, whom they
have attended during life, are conveyed to heaven, at
death : " The beggar" (Lazarus) " died, and was
carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom." Luke
xvi. 22.

It is probable also, that, by the ministry of angels,

God, in many instances, destroys the lives of those

who obstinately persevere in their efforts to injure

his people. Thus when Herod stretched forth his

8 Acts xii. 711. d Ibib . xvi .

* What a mercy it is when God opens the eyes of persecutors
any where short of hell! And when he does so, let those whom
they have persecuted, after the example of the prophet, show
them favor.

THii BLESSING OF JUDAH, [sK. VIII*

hand to vex certain of the church, though permit-
ted to kill James, and to imprison Peter, and though
afterward idolized by his admirers, yet, thereupon
immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, with
some foul disease, and he was eaten of worms and
gave up the Ghost. Acts xii. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. 23.
Thus also, when the Assyrians were about to be-
siege Jerusalem, that night, the very night, it should
seem, before the contemplated attack, the angel of
the LORD went out and smote in the camp of the
Assyrians an hundred, four score and five thousand :
and when they (the survivors) arose early in the
morning, behold, they (the 185 000) were all dead
corpses. 2 Kings xix. 35. Let persecutors tremble.

Angels, too, are employed, and especially in times
of persecution, to influence rulers and deliberative
bodies to favor those whom God will favor, and to
comfort those whom he loves. Thus the angel
Gabriel was employed twenty-one days at the court
of Persia to incline the king and his nobles to favor
the Jews, and that he might bear a consoling mes-
sage to the beloved Daniel. In his labor, and as the
occasion of its prolongation, Gabriel was withstood
by the prince of the kingdom of Persia, that is, by
Satan, the prince of this world ; " but lo," saith the
angel, " Michael, one (or the first*) of the prin-
ces" Christ himself, who is the Head and Lord
of angels, " came and helped me." Hence complete
success. Dan. x. 2 21. Compare Chap. viii. 15 19.

There is also another description of instruments
employed by Christ, to wit, gospel-ministers. By
these chiefly, he propagates his doctrine gath-
ers his redeemed and enlarges his visible em-
See Parkhurst, under nrv, No. 2.

SEH. Vlll.] THE BLESSING OF JUDAH. 257

pire.* Nor can he, in these, ever be deficient ; for,
having all grace and all gifts, both natural and
spiritual, in his possession, he constantly qualifies as
many for this work, as he is pleased to employ in it.
Hence, when about to do much in this way, he raises
up an adequate number of these workmen. Accord-
ingly, under a prophetic view, both of the early and
the latter times of the gospel, the psalmist exclaimed,
" The Lord gave the word :" great was the compa-
ny of those that published it. Psal. Ixviii. 11. Never-
theless, for this, as for every other favor, he will
be inquired of by the house of Israel, the church,
to do it for them : " Pray ye therefore the Lord of
the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his
harvest." Matt. ix. 38.

Means too, as well as agents, are all at the com-
mand of Zion's King. " The silver is mine and the
gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts." Hagg. ii. 8.
And by his sovereign Providence, the occasions and
means of national intercourse are all rendered sub-
servient to his cause. For while the rulers and
merchants of all nations are accomplishing their
respective objects, their ships serve as transports to
convey the missionaries of the cross and the Scrip-
tures of truth to destitute millions. Thus, whatever
was the object of Hezekiah's embassy to Nebuchad-
nezzar, it occasioned an opportunity for the pro-
phet Jeremiah to send an inspired letter to the cap-
tives in Babylon. See Jer. xxix. 1 3.

Now all these things taken into view, who can
doubt that the hands of Christ, as Mediator, are
sufficient for him ?

Like Judah, moreover, Christ had the Father's

* These are the angels, or messengers, meant in Matt. xxiv. 31.

258 tHE BLESSING OF JUDAH. [SER.

assurance that he would be a help to him from his
enemies ; and which, in his human nature, he receiv-
ed and realized, while, " in the days of his flesh,"
he was subject to innocent infirmities, and was
assailed by Satan and wicked men. 6 In a word, he
had the Father's concurrence at all times and in all
things: "I am not alone," said he, "because the
Father is with me." f

But, as this prophecy, in its typical signification,
is applicable to Christ, so also,

II. To his church. Here/ as well as in regard
to the Reubenites,

1. The name of the progenitor, descending with
the tribe, claims a thought. Judah, from nr Yadah,
to praise and rv Yah, the Lord, signifies the praise
of the Lord. Such is the church. That she is
chosen, redeemed and sanctified, is all To the
praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath
made us accepted in the Beloved.* His design in
giving her a visible existence in the world, was the
promotion of his own declarative glory: This people,
saith he, have I formed for myself; they shall show
forth my praise* And hence the reason of that
apostolic doxology, "Unto him be glory in the
churchy by Jesus Christ, throughout all ages, world
without end ;" and to which, with the apostle, all the
saints devoutly respond, " AMEN." 1

The descent of the progenitor's name with his
tribe, suggests also another thought ; namely, that
so, under the gospel, believers are justly called
Christians, after CHRIST, their spiritual progenitor ;
and that for a better reason than is common to

e Is. 1. 79. xlix. S. and Heb. V. 7. f John xvi. 32. Comp.
Chap. viii. 16. g Eph. i. 6. h Is xliii. 21. i Eph. iii. 21.

SEE. Vllf.] THE BLESSING OP JUDAH. 259

nominal Christendom. CHRIST signifies anointed,
as ho was with the oil of gladness* the Holy
Spirit which He, as Mediator, received in all his
fulness of grace and gifts j 1 and "of his fulness have
we" (believers) "all received," 1 and, therefore, are
anointed also. " Ye," saith an apostle to believers,
"have an unction from the Holy One," that is, the
Spirit from Christ; and again, "the anointing which
ye have received of him abideth in you &c. m *
This anointing constitutes persons Christians, and
an open profession of the doctrine and a consistent
walk in the precepts of Christ, manifests them to be
such. The former gives the being, the latter ex-
hibits the character of Christians. Without the
former, none can be saved ; without the latter, none
are entitled to membership in a gospel-church. 8

k Psal. xlv. 7. i John iii. 34. m 1 John ii. 20 27.

* CHRIST (Xf IO-TOS) in the N. Test, answers to MESSIAH, (rrtBro) in
the Old Test. See Dan. ix. 25, 26. Accordingly, Messias, (Mtr<r/*<)
which is evidently the Heb. Messiah, (rp#o) with a greek termina-
tion, is interpreted to be The Christ, (o Xgtrroe.) John i. 42. (Eng.
Transl. Ver. 41.) The root of each (Heb. n^D mashach, Gr.
Xpiu chrio) means to annoint. The word, therefore, in either
language, signifies anointed, and, when used as a proper name
and with the article, THE ANOINTED, or ONE ANOINTED. As given to
the divine MEDIATOR, it imports his being anointed with the
reality of the typical oil, even with the Holy Ghost and with
power. Acts. x. 38. Comp. Psal. ii. 2. xlv. 7, 8. Is. Ixi 1. Luke
iv. 18. and Heb. i. 9. Moreover, as the ceremony of anointing
with oil was used in the inauguration of kings, prophets and priests,
(1 Sam. xvi. 12, 13. 1 Kings xix. 15, 16. Exo. xl. 1215.) the
Father's unction of the Mediator with the Holy Ghost, implies
that, by covenant-compact, these three offices are eminently
united in him. See Psal. ii. 2. 6. Deut. xviii. 15. Acts iii. 20
23. Heb. i. 1, 2 Ibid. iii. 1. iv. 14.

n John iii. 3, 7. Acts ii. 41. 47. 1 Cor. v. 13. Titus iii. 10.

260 THE BLESSING OF JUDAH. [SER< vm,

2. Like the tribe of Judah, the church is a praying
people. The Holy Spirit, which all her living mem-
bers have received from Christ, her Head, is in them
the Spirit of grace and of supplications. Taught by
this Spirit to know their wants and made to realize
their unworthiness and their dependence upon the
favor of God in Christ, they live in some good de-
gree, a life of thanksgiving, for blessings received,
and of prayer, for blessings needed. And though
our heavenly Father perfectly knows all our neces-
sities and has made a correspondent provision for us
in Christ and though his revelation of this provi-
sion and his promises assuring us of seasonable sup-
plies from it, should relieve us from all distressing
anxiety, he, nevertheless, will have us to come to
him in prayer, declaring our wants and pleading his
promises. Accordingly, an inspired apostle, ad-
dressing believers, says, " Be careful for nothing ;
but in every thing," temporal as well as spiritual,
" by prayer and supplication,"* "with thanksgiv-
ing," (for the fulness treasured up in Christ, for
access to the throne by him, and for the many
great and precious promises encouraging their
hope,) "let your requests be made known unto
God." p Nor can their prayers and supplications
thus offered, be unavailing. Their voice, like
that of Judah, finds audience with the LORD. "Ask"
said Christ to his disciples, "and it shall be given
you ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock, and it shall
be opened unto you." q

Moreover, as the tribe of Judah always had some
who were specially praying persons, the same may

* By prayer may be meant the petitions made, and by suppli-
cation, the pleas and entreaties used.

Zech. xii. 10. P Philip, iv. 6. q Matt, vii< 7.

SER. VIII.] THE BLESSING OF JUDAIt. 261

be said of the church. She has always had some,
even in the worst of times, who have sighed and
cried on account of abominations committed within
her enclosures, and for her purification and pros-
perity. And such are marked for safety, whatever
may become of those who are at ease in ZionJ

3. Was the tribe of Judah almost constantly en-
gaged in war! So is the church.

She is so by reason of that internal conflict, which
she almost incessantly feels between nature and
grace, flesh and spirit ; s and hence, though, in
relative dignity she is the Shulamite,* yet in herself
and in her own esteem she is crjnnn nSriDD chim-

r Ezek. ix. 4. 2 Tim. ii. 19. Rev. ix. 4. and xiv. 1. Amos vi. 1.
. Rona. vii. 23. Gal. v. 17.

Shulamith, of which shulamite is formed, is derived from
Shalem or Salem, an ancient name of Jerusalem. See
Gen. xiv. 18. and Psal. Ixxvi. 2. The church, therefore, as being
the people of Spiritual Jerusalem, may be called the Shulamite, as
the woman of Shunem is called the Shunammite. 2 Kings iv. 12.
She is comely as Jerusalem. Cant. vi. 4. Compare Gal. iv. 26.
and Heb. xii. 22. Rather, however, I think rva 1 ?^ Shulamith is
the feminine of HD 1 ?^ Solomon, and that the church bears this
name because she is the spouse of Christ, the antitype of Solo-
mon. For like reasons, she is also called by some of his other
names. 1 Cor. xii. 12. and Jer. xxxiii. 16. Compared with Chap.
xxiii. 6. The same, too, has obtained in civil communities.
Among the Romans, for instance, if a man's name was Caius his
wife was called Caia. See Durham, on the place, and Calmet,
under Shulamite.

It is worthy of notice also, that as both names, Solomon and
Shulamith, are from one root, aSt? Shalom, so "both He
(Christ) that sanctifieth, and they (believers) that are sanctified
fied are all of one one God and Father, (John xx. 17.) one
election, Is. xlii. 1. Eph. i. 3, 4.) one covenant, (Psal. 1. 5.)
one family, (Eph. iii. 14, 15.) one Spirit, (1 Cor. vi. 17.) and
one inheritance, the elect being heirs of God and joint-heirs with
Christ. Rom. viii. 17. See Heb. ii. 11.

262 THE BLESSING OF JUDAH. [sER. VIII*

cholath hamahanaim,] as it were the company of
two armies engaged in battle. Compare Gen.
xxxii. 2. (In Heb. ver. 3.) where the word Mahanaim
is used in the same sense, and to which the speaker,
in this place, probably had an allusion. 4

The true church is also continually opposed by
hosts of mere nominal professors. These carna-
lists, being like Ishmael, born only after the fleshy
that is, having no religion but what they have
by fleshly descent from members of the visible
church, or have acquired by exertion of their own
fleshly or natural abilities, constantly persecute
those, who, like Isaac, are born after the spirit?

This evil world, too, is full of enmity and opposi-
tion to the saints : " If ye were of the world," said
Christ to his disciples, " the world would love his
own ; but because ye are not of the world, but I
have chosen you," and, accordingly, have called you
by grace, " out of the world, therefore the world
hateth you." w

And especially the devil, who is styled the God
of this world, and who is the father of lies the
patron of hypocrites and the exciter of corrupt
nature in believers, is constantly employing his pol-
icy and his influence against the church. As a
roaring lion he walketh about, in the persons of
seducers and persecutors, seeking whom he may
devour, and whom, therefore, we are exhorted to
resist stedfast in the faith* He is emphatically the
accuser, that is of the saints ; and a false one, as the
word implies. He charges them with the guilt of
those evil thoughts, which he injects into their minds,

- 'Cant, vi. 13. In the Heb. Chap vii. Ver. 1. "Gal. iv 29.
w John xv. 19. * 1 Pet. v. 8, 9.

SER. VIII.] THE BLESSING OF JUDAU. 263

but which they abhor ; and burdens their consciences
by accusing them of sins, for which they have had
the manifestation of pardon. But chiefly he bears
this name, because, by means of false witnesses, he
accuses the saints of crimes and misdemeanors of
which they were never guilty. In this way, he pro-
cured the crucifixion of Christ himself/ and the
martyrdom of his servant Stephen : z and, persisting
in his rage against Christ, has, in the same way,
procured the martyrdom of thousands of his disciples
under pagan and papal Rome. Nor can it be just-
ly ascribed to any thing but the restraints of civil
government, providentially prohibiting it, that any of
the undisguised advocates of sovereign grace have
escaped a similar fate. For that satanic malice
which moves the tongue and the pen of slander
against us, would, if not restrained, consign us to
prison and to death.

Satan, observe, is the accuser, not of unbelievers >
whom God, in his law, accuses and condems, but of
believers, whom God, in his Son, justifies freely by
his grace.* And as this adversary brings his false
accusations against believers, by witnesses who im-
piously appeal to God for the truth of their allega-
tions, so he is said to accuse them BEFORE GoD. b
His accusations, however, though for a time they
may answer his purpose, so far as to worry those
whom he accuses to furnish infidels and profligates
with matter for scoffs and songs c to keep weak-
minded professors in painful suspense and, to
affright many of the world from attending where the

xxvi. 5962. z Acts vi. 1115. and vii. 5460.
Gal. iii. 10. Rom. iii. 24. b Rev. xii. 10. c 3 Pet iii. 37. Psal.
Ixix. 12.

264 THE BLESSING OF JUDA11. [sER. VIII-

truth is preached yet, eventually, must all be over-
ruled for God's glory and Zion's good. " Surely,"
said the Psalmist to God, "the wrath of man," thus
excited by Satan, " shall praise thee : the remain-
der of wrath shalt thou restrain." d

4. Was the tribe of Judah by this prophecy,
assured of hands sufficient for them ? In like man-
ner, the church is assured of ministerial laborers,
and of all needful strength, both numerical and
spiritual. By promise and prophecy the Lord has
assured her that he will give her pastors according
to his own heart, who shall feed her with knowledge
and with understanding? that he will increase her
with men like aflocR? and that he will abundantly
Hess her provision, and satisfy her poor with bread.*
Her supplies of grace and strength are all treasured
up in Christ, her mystical Head, from which all the
body, by joints and bands, having nourishment
ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the
increase of God. h With him on her side, who has
all blessings, temporal and spiritual, in his gift, and
all agents, good and bad, under his control, what
can she want what need she fear?

5. Was this tribe encouraged, by the prophecy
before as, to expect, that, trusting in God, they should
find him a help to them from their enemies ? Much
more is the church encouraged to expect the same
favor. "Fear thou not," saith her covenant-God
to her ; " for I am with thee : be not dismayed, for
I am thy God : I will strengthen thee ; yea, I will help
thee ; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of
my righteousness. Behold, all they that were in-

rf Psal. Uxvi. 10. e Jer. iii. 15. *" Ezek. xxxvi. 37. *Psal.
cxxxii. 15. h Col. ii. 19.

SER. VIII.] THE BLESSING OF JUDAH. 265

censed against thee, shall be ashamed and confound-
ed : they shall be as nothing ; and they that strive
with thee shall perish." Is. xli. 10, 11, &c. See also
Chap, xliii. 2. and li. 1215. The Lord of hosts
is with us ; the God of Jacob is our refuge." Psal.
xlvi. 11. And, "If God be for us, who" or what,
with success, "can be against us?" Rom. viii. 31.
Help from God, however, against our enemies with-
in or without, can be justly expected only in the
diligent use of appointed means. It is, recollect,
" they that wait upon the Lord," in prayer, in read-
ing and hearing his word, and in the exercise of faith
in his perfections and promises, that " shall renew
their strength &c." Is. xl. 31.

Concerning the church, behold, in the light of our
subject,

1. Her unity as the one mystical body of Christ,
her mystical Head. For as typical Judah, though
but one, had many members, so is mystical Christ.
1 Cor. xii. 12.

2. The excellence of her condition, when com-
pared with that of the tribe of Judah. This tribe
had, by death, lost its head. Not so the church.
Her Head, indeed, was put to death in the flesh;
yet He was not, like Judah, left under the power of
death ; but was quickened by the Spirit ; and being
raised from the dead, he dieth no more; death hath
no more dominion over him. Hence the assurance
of grace and glory, which he, the Head, gives to
believers, his members : Because I live, saith he
to them, ye shall live also. 1 Pet. iii. 18. Rom. vi. 9.
and John xiv. 19.

3. Her certain perpetuity, by the accession of
converts. She is the household of faith, the family

266 THE BLESSING OF JUDAH. [SER. Vili.

of believers in Christ ; but Christ is SHILOH, and
unto him SHALL the gathering of the people be.
Gen. xlix. 10. Comp. Is. xi. 10. and li. 11.

4. The indubitable defeat of all her enemies ;
for all who are the enemies of the church are the
enemies of Christ who is the LION of the tribe of
Judah. Rev. v. 5. And

Finally, the animating prospect of all her living
members. For, however poor and afflicted, tempted
and tried, hated and persecuted, they may be during
their warfare, yet, at the end of the war, the end of
their militant state, like the men of Judah, they re-
tire from the field, crowned with victory, and return
to their people, to those of the heaven-born family,
gone home before them. Thus encouraged, let us,
my beloved brethren and sisters, not be slothful, but
followers of them, who through faith and patience
inherit the promises. Heb. vi. 12.

SERMON IX.

THE BLESSING OF LEVI. HIS URIM AN0
THUMMIM.

DEUT. xxxin. 811. And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummim
and thy Urim be with thy Holy One, whom thou didst prove at
Massah, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meri*
bah; who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not
seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew
his own children: for they have observed thy word, and kept thy
covenant. They shall teach Jacob thy Judgments, and Israel
thy law: they shall put incense before thee, and whole burnt
sacrifice upon thine altar. Bless, Lord, his substance, and ac
cept the work of his hands : smite through the loins of them
that rise against him, and of them that hate him, that they rise
not again.

THE tribe of Levi, like that of Judah, made a
very conspicuous figure among the thousands of
Israel. From Judah preceded their kings; from
Levi, their priests.

The blessing here pronounced upon this tribe, as
you must have observed in hearing it read, is rich
and various, including many honors and privileges ;
and though it implied, that the Levites in common,
and the priests in particular, would have much labor
to perform and much opposition to encounter, it also
assured them, that their services should be divinely
accepted and their enemies divinely vanquished,

At present, however, we can attend only to so
much of this blessing as is expressed in the first

268 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [sER. IX.

verse of the text, which reads thus: And of Levi he
said, that is, Moses, in a way of prayer to God, and
in a way of prophetic instruction to Israel, said, Let
thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy Holy One,
whom thou didst prove at Massah, and with whom
thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah.

The literal interpretation which I may be enabled
to give of this part of the text, will necessarily
accompany the investigation proper to be attempted,
respecting the THUMMIM and URIM. These are
first mentioned in Exo. xxviii. 30. where the words
stand in the contrary order URIM and THUMMIM, as
they also do in Levit. viii. 8. Ezra ii. 63. and Neh.
vii. 65 ; and which, besides our text, are the only
places in which the words occur together. Twice,
however, we find URIM put for both. See JNum. xxvii.
21 and 1 Sam. xxviii. 6.

Now, concerning the Urim and Thummim, (for in
this order I shall consider them,) let us inquire,

First, What they were. Here it becomes us to
procede with great modesty; these sacred articles
being confessedly buried in the depths of antiquity
and covered with the lumber of talmudic tradition.
The Talmudists say that king Josiah (I suppose
they mean in prospect of troubles then coming upon
the nation) hid the Urim and Thummim under
ground, in a cave before prepared by Solomon, and
that the Jews on their return from Babylon, could
not find them;* and accordingly the same writers
mention them as one of Jive things which they affirm
to have been wanting in the second temple ;f to wit,

* See Cunseus, De Republica Hebraorum, 1. 1. c. 14.
f Lightfoot's Works, Vol. 1. p. 408.

SKR. IX.] MIS UKIM AND TMUMMIM. 269

1. The Ark with the Mercy-seat and Cherubim
2. The Shecheenah* 3. The fire from heaven which
consumed the sacrifices. 4. The Holy Ghost, as the
Spirit of Prophecy. And 5. The Urim and Thum-
mim-

What became of the Urim and Thummim, we
cannot satisfactorily ascertain ; but whether they
were hid by Josiah, or any other person, or burnt or
otherwise destroyed or lost, during the invasion of
Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple by the
Chaldeans, it is manifest from Ezra ii. 63, that the
Jews were without them when they returned from
Babylon ; nor does it appear by any inspired record,
that they were ever used under the second temple.

Hence, in process of time, the Jews lost the true
idea of them. This is evident from the diversity of
opinion respecting them, which has obtained among
their learned men. Several of their distinguished
Rabbies, among whom are David Kimclii\ and
Aben Ezra,\ have candidly confessed, that they did
not know what they were ; and their less diffident
brethren have been much divided in opinion on the
subject. Most of them, it is true, after the Targum
of Jonathan, have supposed that the Urim and

from p# Shakan to dwell, denotes the Divine Presence,
or Majesty dvVelling in a luminous cloud in the tabernacle and
temple, and which gave to them a peculiar sanctity. Exo. xxix.
43. 1 Kings viii. 10, 11. This cloud, though it occasionally ap-
peared in other places, usually hovered over the Mercy-seat, the
lid of the Ark. Hence JEHOVAH, of whose presence it was the
symbol, promised to appear between the two cherubims, one of
which stood upon each end of the Mercy-seat, upon the Ark. Exo.
xxv. 17 22. and Levit. xvi. 2. Thence also Moses heard his
directive voice. Num. vii. 89. See Ling. Sacra, under pp.

fin lib.Shorash. f On Exo. xxviii. 5. 30.

270 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. sER. IX.

Thummim were nothing other than the awful name
JEHOVAH, engraven on a piece of beaten gold and
put into the Breast-plate.* And those of them
who, on this question, have differed from Jonathan,
have differed no less from each other.

Nor have Christian interpreters, on this subject,
been any more harmonious. Those of them, whose
opinions respecting these articles, have been most
extensively adopted, it may be proper to mention.
Calving it would seem, thought the Urim and Thum-
mim were two remarkable characters in the breast-
plate, of whose properties or uses, these two names
were expressive. Cornelius & Lapide supposed
them to be simply the two words Urim and Thum-
mim engraven on a stone or a plate of Gold, and
placed in the pectoral, that is, in the breast-plate. J
Christopher de Castro and Spencer \\ imagined
they were two little images, such as the Teraphim ;

* This name of the divine Being, the Jews think could never
be lawfully pronounced by any but the high-priest, nor by him,
any where but in the holy of holies. Hence, in reading the Bible,
they substitute for it, Adonai, Lord, or Elohim, God. And when
occasion requires that they be understood to mean the name
JE-HOVAH, they call it KH3DH OJ? Shem-hamphorash, that is, the
name manifested, or the name distinguished, or the name explana-
tory. The Hellenists, those Jews who speak the Greek language,
instead of Shem-hamphorash, use the Greek name rrrf <ey^n^aTd
Tetragrammaton, the name of four letters; Jehovah, in Hebrew*
Consisting only of four letters ; to wit, yod, n he, i vau, n Ae

f In Exo. xxviii. 4

$ See in Rivet, in Exo. xxviii. 30. Lapide was a learned Jesuit,
Who devoted himself to the critical elucidation of the Scriptures,
and whose works amount to 10 Vols. folio. He died at Rome, in
1637, aged 71. Moferi's Histor. Diet.

In ftivet, in Exo. *xviii. 30. II De Urim & Thummim.

X.'J HIS URIM AND THUMMIM. 271

which, being placed in the folds of the breast-plate,
gave articulate answers to the questions put to them
by the high-priest. Arias Montanus, Willtt, and
others, adopted the opinion of Rabbi Menachem*
that the IJrim and Thummim, whatever might be
their form or matter, were the immediate work of
God ; and that Moses received them from his hand,
as he did the tables on which the law was written,
and put them into the breast-plate.

Finding both Jews and Christians, thus divided
in opinion respecting the Urim and Thummim,
Junius\ and Diodati,\ like David Kimchi and Aben
Ezra, thought it most safe to leave them as things
unknown, without even conjecturing what they
were. This, however, is making a sacrifice to the
confusion and uncertainty of human opinion, in
which I cannot conscientiously concur.

Leaving, therefore, the mists of tradition and
conjecture, both Jewish and Christian, let us resort
for information, to the Oracles of God. And in
these, although we find indeed no positive assertion
of what the Urim and Thurnmim were, we find
grounds for a pretty satisfactory conclusion, that

* See Ainsworth, on Exo. xxviii. 30.

f Born at Bourges, in 1545. He studied at Geneva. In 1565
he became minister of the Walloon church, at Antwerp. He
Was afterward chaplain to the prince of Orange, and finally pro-
fessor of divinity at Leyden, where he died of the plague in 1602.
He is chiefly known by a latin version of the bible with notes, in
which he was assisted by Tremellius. Watkins's Biog. Hist, and
Chron. Diet.

| A protestant divine, born at Lucca in 1589. He became
professor of divinity at Geneva, where he died in 1652. He
translated the bible into Italian, in 1607, and into French in 1644.
Moreri's Hist. Diet.

272 THE BLESSING OF LEVJ. [SER. IX,

they were the twelve stones in the breast-plate, on
which were engraven the names of the twelve tribes
of Israel. This may be concluded,

1. From the signification of the words. CD-IIK Urim
is the plural of IIN Ur light) and CTDH Thummim
is the plural of an tarn, perfect or perfection. The
two words, therefore, literally signify lights and per-
fections. Now, the twelve precious stones in the
breast-plate might be called lights because they
were clear, lucid and transparent; and perfections,
either because they were perfect in their respective
kinds, having no blemish nor defect in them, or be-
cause they were full and complete in number one
for each of the twelve tribes.

2. From the evident fact, that the high-priest,
when he had on the breast-plate, with the Urim and
Thummim in it, represented all the tribes, even all
the children of Israel upon his heart, before the
Lord ; a but there was nothing attached to him which
properly denoted this, save the twelve stones on
which their names were engraven. See Exo. xxviii.
21. And,

3. Because Moses mentions the twelve stones and
the Urim and Thummim in such manner as seems to
identify them, that is, in such manner as supposes
them to be the same. Against this suggestion, it is
true, a plausible objection has been raised from the
face of the record made by Moses of the original
instructions which he received respecting the articles
in question. According to this record, the Lord
having specified the materials, the form, and the
dimensions of the breast-plate, said to him, " Thou
shalt set in it settings [Heb. fill in it fillings] of stones,

* Exo. xxviii. 29.

8ER. IX.] HIS CRIM AND THUMMIM. 273

even four rows of stones,'* eacty row consisting of
three, and the whole comprising twelve. See Exo.
xxviii. 15 21. Yet, in the thirtieth verse, the Lord
farther said unto him, " Thou shalt put in the breast-
plate, the Urim and the Thummim ;" which, there-
fore, many suppose must have been things different
from the twelve stones. But the two injunctions,
though understood with reference to the same arti-
cles, may be harmonized thus: By thej^rsf, Moses
was required (according to ver. 20.) to set the twelve
stones in gold in their inclosing* ; that is, in the
ouches or sockets made for them in a plate of gold ;
and by the second, he was directed to put this plate
(thus set with the four rows of stones) into the
breast-plate. And, without interfering with the
question whether the plate with the four rows of
stones upon it, being placed in the pectoral, remain-
ed there constantly, or was put there whenever oc-
casion required it, the design of its being placed
there is obvious, namely, to constitute the pectoral,
(according to ver. 15.) the breast-plate of judgment,
which, without the sacred articles intended, it could
not be. Hence the injunction in ver. 30, continues
thus : " And they," the Urim and Thummim, (a new
name given to the twelve stones, to denote their na-
tural effulgence and oracular purpose,) " shall be
upon Aaron's heart, when he goeth in before the
Lord ; and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the
children of Israel upon his heart before the Lord
continually," that is, whenever he approached the
divine Majesty, to perform service, or to ask counsel
in the name and on the behalf of Israel, he must
have the breast-plate of Judgment upon his heart.

274 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [SER. IX.

That Moses himself so understood the above in-
junctions, delivered to him respecting the articles
under consideration, seems evident from two subse-
quent records which he had occasion to furnish in
relation to them.

In Exo. xxxixth, where he records his compliance
with those divine instructions, though he minutely
describes the breast-plate and its appendages, even
to its rings, chains, and lace, he says not a word about
Urim and Thummim. It would seem, therefore,
that either the twelve stones which he there speaks
of having set in the breast-plate, [see from ver. 10 to
ver. 14,] were the Urim and Thummim, or that he
did not put them into the breast-plate at all, but
wholly neglected the divine injunction, recorded
Exo. xxviii. 30. The latter is utterly inadmissible ;
and consequently, the former is highly probable.
Besides, in Exo. xxxix. 21, Moses particularly men-
tions that all things in relation to the breast-plate,
were completed and united, as the Lord had com-
manded him.

And, in Levit. viiith, where he speaks of having
attired Aaron with all the pontifical vestments, pre-
paratory to his consecration, he expressly asserts,
(ver. 8.) that " he put the breast-plate upon him ;
also, that he put in the breast-plate the Urim and
Thummim ;" but makes no mention of the four rows
of stones ; yet, without the latter, we know the
breast-plate was incomplete. See Exo. xxviii. 15
21. The inference, therefore, is almost irresistible,
that Urim and Thummim, as noticed before, were
only another name given to the twelve stones, to
signify, that their luster and perfection, of which this

SER. IX.] HIS UR1M AND THUMMIM. 275

name is expressive, were emblematic of their myste-
rious character and oracular uses.

Nor is this opinion concerning the Urim and
Thummim, either novel or singular. It was the
opinion of Josephus* who lived while the second
Temple yet stood, and who, " being by sect a phari-
see, by office a priest, and by descent, of the blood-
royal," had the best means and opportunities of gain-
ing information in regard to matters of this kind. It
was avowed by Maimonides, a famous Rabbi of the
twelfth century ,f and has been adopted by several
Christian commentators, distinguished by oriental
learning and research. Among these, are Dr.
Lightfoot,% Bp. Patrick^ and Dr. Gill.\\ I procede
to inquire

Secondly, What were the uses of the Urim and
Thummim. Here \ve have more light. For,

1. It is evident they served to secure to all the
tribes of Israel, a representation in the person of the
high-priest. This is plain from the direction which
God gave to Moses, saying, " Thou shalt put in the
breast-plate of Judgment the Urim and the Thum-
mim ; and they shall be upon Aaron's heart, when
he goeth in before the Lord ; and Aaron shall bear
the Judgment," (the cause) "of the children of Israel

* Antiq. 1. 3. c. 8.

f The Jewish writers commonly call him Rabbi Moses the son
of Maimon ; or, by abbreviation, Rambam, the consonants of
which, R M B M, being the initials of Rabbi Moses Ben
Maimon. Lingua Sacra, under n^D.

t Works, vol. 2, p. 1067.

On Exo. xxviii. 30.

|| Levi's Urim and Thummim found with Christ.

276 THE BLESSING OF LEV!. [SEK. IX.

upon his heart before the Lord continually," meaning
whenever he officiated with these on his breast, b

As the representative, therefore, of all the congre-
gation of Israel and of them only, the high-priest, on
the great day of atonement, offered the sacrifices for
sin, on the brazen altar.* Even in perform ing this work,
the priest might be said to go in before the Lord ; be-
cause, in order thereto, he went into the outward court,
where on the day of atonement, as on the day of his
consecration, he might be said to kill the sacrifice
before the Lord. Exo. xxix. 11. Nevertheless, by
his going in before the Lord, (Exo. xxviii. 30,) seems
chiefly to be meant his going in before the Lord to
peform his service in the two apartments within the
tabernacle, properly so called.

Accordingly, on the day of atonement, and as the
representative of all the congregation of Israel, he
entered into the most holy place. And though he is
said to have entered there once every year, the sense
is not that he entered there only " once every year,"
but, that the day of atonement on which he entered,
occurred only once every year. See Exo. xxx. 10, and
Levit. xvi. 34. For the history of the matter plainly

b Exo. xxviii. 30.

* Levit. xvi. 11. 15. 24. Comp. Chap.ix. 7,8, 9. 15, 16. 18. This
altar is called the brazen (Exo. xxxix. 39.) because the wood of it, ac-
cording to Chap, xxxviii. 1, 2, was overlaid with brass. It is also
called the altar of burnt offering, (Exo. xl. 6, 29,) because the bodies
of the animals offered upon it, (after their blood was drawn and dis-
posed of,) were burnt partly upon the altar itself, and partly without
the camp. Levit. xvi. 25, 27 Heb. xiii. 11. It stood in the open
court, near the door of the tabernacle, that is, the hanging or cur-
tain, through which was the door of entrance into the holy place, called
also the first tabernacle, Exo. xxvi. 36, 37, xl. 6, 29. Heb. ix. 2.

SEE. IX.] HIS URIM AND THUMMIM. 277

shows, and the best commentators, Jewish and Chris-
tian, are all agreed, that on the day of atonement,
annually, the high-priest entered that sacred place
three several times.

The inspired account of his work on that day runs
thus. He commenced it by bringing the bullock to
the altar of burnt-offering, where he killed and offer-
ed it as a sin-offering for himself and his house.
This done, 1. He entered into the most holy place,
taking with him " a censer* full of burning coals of
fire from off the altarf before the Lord, and his hands
full'' (either each separately filled, or what we call a
double handful) " of sweet incense." According to
the Mishna,l he put the incense into a cup, which he
carried in his left hand, while he carried the censer
full of burning coals in his right hand, till he came
within the vail, where he put the incense upon the
burning coals, and the smoke of it, like a cloud,
covered the mercy-seat, that he might not die by
looking upon the symbol of God's presence which there
appeared/ Having returned for the blood of the
bullock, 2. He entered taking that with him in a
bason, out of which, with his finger, he sprinkled
some of it upon the mercy-seat eastward. This

Levit. xvi. 6. 11.

* That of gold, the use of which, on the day of atonement, be-
longed to the holy of holies* Heb. ix. 4.

f By which is meant the brazen altar of burnt-offering, on which
the fire was kept constantly burning. Levit. vi. 9, 12, 13.

f C. 5. Sect. 1.

d Levit xvi. 12, 13. Comp. ver, 2. e Ver. 14.

278 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [sER. IX.

sprinkling, Aben Ezra says, according to their inter-
preters, was upwards and not upon the mercy-seat,
but over against it. Of the same opinion were Bp.
Patrick and Dr. Gill, supposing, with the Jewish
interpreters, that it would have been inconsistent with
the sacredness of the mercy-seat, for the blood to
have fallen upon it. To me, however, (this trivial
objection notwithstanding) it seems most safe to
abide by the Hebrew text, according to the literal
version of which, the blood, though indeed sprinkled
upward, as the word dl imports, yet fell upon the
face of the mercy-seat,* then covered with a cloud of
incense. Hence also the proper distinction between
this sprinkling and that which followed : "and before
the mercy-seat, shall he sprinkle of the blood with
his finger seven times ;" which, according to the same
Jewish authorities, was sprinkled downwards.^ And
3. Having come out again, and killed the goat,
which by lot was the sin-offering for the people, he
took the blood of it within the vail, and did with it
as he had done with that of the bullock/

Thus the high-priest, according to Levit. xvi. 16,
was required to "make an atonement for the holy
place ;J because of the uncleanness, transgressions,

f See Bp. Patrick, on the place.
f Levit. xvi. 15.

J By which, as in ver. 2, 3, is meant the most holy place ; the
word kodesh, holy, denoting in these instances, the same place
which is elsewhere called kodesh hakodasheem, the holy of holies.
Exo. xxvi. 34. 1 Kings, vi. 16, and vii. 50. So, in the epistle to
the Hebrews, ta hagia (Chap. ix. 25, and xiii. 11.) and ton hagion
(Chap. ix. 8, and x. 19) denote the same place, which, in chap. ix

SEE. IX.] HIS URIM AND THUMMIM. 279

and all the sins of the children of Israel," meaning
those which occurred in their civil or common life.
Hereby it was signified, that although the Israelites
themselves did not enter into that most holy place,
yet that, in some sense, their iniquities did that is,
that they came before the Lord in heaven, of which
that place, in the tabernacle and temple was a figure ;
Heb. ix. 24 ; and that they could not be pardoned
without an expiatory sacrifice. Compare Rev. xviii.
5. But they were likewise often ceremonially un-
clean when they entered into the tabernacle for wor-

3, is called hagia hagion, the Jioly of holies. This most holy place
was separated from the holy place, by a vail made of blue, purple,
and fine twined linen ; and the holy place was separated from the
court of the people, by a hanging, or curtain, made of the same
materials ; the two, however, differing in the following respects :
the vailhad on it the figures of cherubims, and was of choscheb, "of
cunning work," which, according to Maimonides (Kele Hammikda,
C. 8.) the Jewish interpreters say means " the work of a weaver,"
showing the colors on both sides ; while the hanging was without
cherubims and of rokem, " of needle- work," which showed the
colors, upon the linen, only on one side. See Exo. xxvi. 31 36.
Within the vail, in the most holy place, stood the ark, having in it
the two tables of the law, and upon it the mercy-seat, with the two
cherubims. Here also were the golden pot that had manna and
Aaron's rod that budded. Exo. xxvi. 33, 34, 1 Kings viii. 6 9,
and Heb. ix. 4, 5. Without the vail, in the holy place, stood the
table of shew-bread, the golden candlestick, and the golden altar
of incense. Exo. xxvi. 35, xxx. 1 6, and Heb. ix. 2. And
without the hanging, in the open court, stood the brazen altar of
burnt-offering and the brazen laver. Exo. xl. 6, 8. Here, in
view of the people, the priests slew and offered the sacrifices ;
Levit. i. iii. iv. v. and vi. chapters ; in the holy place also, they
performed a daily service ; Exo. xxvii. 21 ; but into the most holy
place, none might enter but the high-priest, nor he save on the day
of atonement, and in the manner divinely prescribed. Levit. xvi.
2, &c.

280 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [sER. IX.

ship, and moreover, were chargeable with many sins
while there, both of omission and commission.
See Levit. xv. 31. And hence the priest was farther
required to "do for the tabernacle of the congrega-
tion," as he had done for the most holy place ; that is,
to make an atonement for it by the blood of the sin-
offering; which probably, as on other occasions, he
sprinkled upon and round about the brazen altar of
burnt offering, which, as noticed already, stood in the
open court, wherein the people assembled, and which
was defiled by their uncleanness. See Levit. iv. 18,
ix. 18, and xvii. 6. This service, as all must per-
ceive, the priest could not perform, till, having come
out of the holy of holies and passed through the holy
place, he entered into the court of the people, called
"the tabernacle of the congregation;' 5 yet, being here
enjoined, and the manner of it being noted by the
injunction "so shall he do for the tabernacle of the
congregation," that is, as he had done for the holy of
holies, the particulars of it are not afterwards speci-
fied.

In preceding from the holy of holies to the
court of the people, in which he performed the ser-
vice last mentioned, the high-priest had also a ser-
vice to perform in the holy place, through which he
passed. Here stood the golden altar of incense, for
which he was required to make an atonement, by
putting some of the blood of the bullock and of the
goat upon its horns, and by sprinkling thereof seven
times upon it generally ; whereby he cleansed and
hallowed it " from the uncleanness of the children of
Israel." g Upon this altar, he likewise burnt sweet

' Levit. xvi. 18, 19. Comp. Exo. xxx. 10.

SER. IX.] HIS URIM AND THUMM1M. 281

incense daily, both morning and evening, when he
dressed and trimmed the lamps. 11

Here, let it be carefully noticed, that ceremonial
atonement involved ceremonial reconciliation ; for it
is evident, that whomsoever and whatsoever the high-
priest thus atoned for, he thereby reconciled ; J and
which, with the holy of holies, the tabernacle of the
congregation and the altar, both that of incense and
that of burnt- offering, included the priests and all
the congregation, that is, of the people or children of
Israel ; the atonement being made " for all their
sins." k

Nor should it be forgotten, that while the high-
priest performed this expiatory work, the whole
tabernacle was to be evacuated of all other persons :
" There shall," said God, " be no man," and there-
fore not even a levite or an ordinary priest, " in the
tabernacle," in any apartment of it, "when he," the
high-priest, " goeth in to make an atonement for the
holy place," meaning as before the holy of holies,
"until he come out, and have made an atonement for
himself, and for his household, and for all the congre-
gation of Israel ; ! all which he did on the day of
atonement and within the tabernacle.

2. It is no less manifest, that by means of the
Urim and Tlmmmim, the high-priest consulted the
Lord, and obtained from him infallible answers to
important inquiries, which he had occasion to make
respecting the national affairs of Israel. "And he''
(Joshua) " shall stand before Eleazarthe priest, who
shall ask counsel for him, after the judgment of

h Exo. xxx. 7, 8. * Levit. xvi. 20. k Ver. 33, 34. Ver. 17.
m Ver. 14, 15, 16, 34.

282 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [sER. IX.

Urim before the LORD : at his word (that of the
Lord) shall they go out, and at his word they shall
come in, both he, and all the children of Israel with
him, even all the congregation." 11 Moreover, to
their asking counsel of God in this way, the presence
of the high-priest was indispensable ; for, as none
but he might have on the Urim and Thummim, so
answers thereby, could be obtained by none but him.
Nor did he, in this manner, ask counsel of God for
private persons or in relation to trivial things, but
only for public persons and respecting very impor-
tant matters ; as every instance of such consultation,
upon record, plainly shows. And, as it was a distin-
guished expression of God's favor to Joshua, David,
and others, that they were permitted, on emergent
occasions, thus to ascertain his will concerning
Israel ; so it was a great mark of his displeasure at
Saul, when he refused to answer him, by dreams, or
by Urim, or by prophets. See 1- Sam. xxviii. 6. I
pass to inquire,

Thirdly, How God was pleased to return answers
by Urim and Thummim. Here, instead of detain-
ing you with an account of the various opinions which
have been offered in reply to this inquiry, I shall
mention only that, which to me seems the most pro-
bable, to wit, That God gave the answers by a dis-
tinct and articulate voice. This seems best to agree
with the direction by which Joshua and Israel were
to be governed, whenever Eleazar, in this way, should
ask counsel of the Lord on their behalf: at his word
(the word of the Lord) shall they go out, and at his
word they shall come in, both he (Joshua) and all the

"Num. xxvii. 21.

SER. IX.] HIS URIM AND THTJMMIM.

children of Israel with him, tyc. Numb, xxvii. 21.
And accordingly, in all instances of such consulta-
tion, whether implied or expressed, the answers ap-
pear to have been given in this way; for it is always
observed, that the Lord said, that is, spoke what he
gave as his answer. See Judges i. 1, 2. xx. 18. and
1 Sam. xxiii. 2, 4, 12.

Fourthly, It remains requisit, that we inquire into
the meaning of what Moses here says of the person
with whom he prayed, that the Urim and Thummim
might abide. And of Levi he said, (that is, to God,)
Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy Holy
One, ichom thou didst prove at Massah, and with
whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah.

This prayer was evidently made with an allusion
to Aaron, and, indirectly, on behalf of the Aronic
priesthood. Every high-priest of that order, if legit-
imately descended and legally consecrated, was
ceremonially holy ; but Aaron was more; he was
not only anointed with the oil of consecration,
but also, it would seem, with the oil of grace,
and hence is emphatically stiled, The saint of
the Lord. Psal. cvi. 16.* He, too, was divinely
proved and striven with : whom thou (the Lord)
didst prove at Massahfy and with whom thou

Levit. xxi. 15.

* See the vindication of Aaron's character, Ser. 1, pp. 30 35.

t nDDi bamassah, here rendered at Massah, from 3 heth in or
with and fiDD Massah temptation, literally means in or with a
temptation ; and so, as noticed by Bp. Patrick, it was understood
by the ancient interpreters, and not as the name of a place, as our
version represents it to be. Their interpretation of this passage is
also favored by Psal. xcv.8. It is certain, however, that Massah,
temptation, as well as Meribah, strife, is elsewhere used as the
name of a place, and to commemorate, by its signification^ what

284 Tin-.: uLLs.si.NG OF LEVI. [SER. ix

didst strive at the waters of Meribah. The Lord
proved, that is, 'tried him at Massah, (where the
Israelites were apprehensive of death from the want
of water to drink,) and found him faithful and stead-
fast ; he stood in the trial ;* for, while the people (his
own tribe not excepted) chid with Moses and doubt-
ed whether the Lord was among them, Aaron, be-
lieving that God according to his promise would
supply them, remained silent, and, in that instance,
received no reproof; his name not being even mention-
ed in the record of the matter. Bee Exo. xvii. 1 7,
And at Meribah,^ where also " there was no water
for the congregation," the Lord strove with him; and

there occurred. See Exo. xvii. 7. and Num. xx. 13. It is also
certain, from the passages just referred to, that Moses was- accus-
tomed to use the words Massah and Meribah, as the names of two
places, very memorable both to himself and to Israel, and which
renders it highly probable that he so used them in this prayer. So
we know Meribah is used in Psal. Ixxxi. 7. "Wherefore, with our
translators, I think it best to retain them both as such, in our text.
HDJ nissah, the verb here rendered prove, means to prove or try,by
experimerit, what a person is, or what, under trying circumstances
he will do. Taylor. See Deut. xiii. 3. and 1 Kings x. 1. It is
often rendered tempt or try. Thus, for instance, " God did tempt
Abraham ;" Gen. xxii. 1 ; and " God left him" (Hezekiah) " to
try.lriw." 2 Chron. xxxii. 31.

* So the Targum of Jerusalem.

t Not the Meribah mentioned with Massah, Exo. xvii. 7, which,
as appears from ver. 1 of the same chap, was in Rcphidim, in the
wilderness of Sin ; but a place which, from a like occasion (a strife
about water) received the same name ; Num. xx. 13; and which,
as it was in Kadcsh, in the wilderness of Zin, is, by way of dis-
tinction from the Meribah in Rephidim, called Meribah- Kadesh.
Deut. xxxii. 51. And, that this Mcribali lay remote from the
other and had its name from a strife which occurred near forty
years after that which gave name to the other, may be seen by
comparing Num. xx. 22 29, with Chap, xxxiii. 11, 14. 30, 38,

SER. IX.] HIS UK1M AND THUMMIM. 285

that, not only by suffering the people to strive with
him, as well as with Moses, but also by rebuking both
him and Moses, for not having duly sanctified, that is,
acknowledged and honored him, before the people :
nay, so great was his displeasure at their behaviour
on that occasion, that he said to them, "Because ye
believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the
children of Israel, ye shall not bring this congrega-
tion into the land which I have given them." Num>
xx. 12*

, With this awful sentence in recollection, and
knowing that his brother was already dead, p and that
he himself must shortly die, q Moses seems to have
apprehended, that the entail of the priesthood was
likely to be cut off from the house of Aaron, and even
from the tribe of Levi ; yet, hoping that God would
have a merciful respect to Aaron's fidelity under his
former trial, and to that of the Levites in com-
mon, on another occasion, 1 " ventured to offer this hum-
ble, though prophetic supplication : And of Levi he
said, (that is, to God in prayer,) Let thy Thummim
and thy Urim, which none but the high-priest might
wear, be with thy Holy One, and which, so far as it
respected Aaron who was of that tribe, was a petition

* Wherein Moses and Aaron thus highly provoked the Lord, has
been a question among interpreters. Was it not by saying to the
congregation, as in ver. 10, " Must we fetch you water out of this
rock ?" Did they not thereby insinuate that the favor depended
on themselves, and so tempt the people to trust in them for it,
rather than in God 1 And if so, they could scarcely have offered a
greater insult to the divine Majesty. Let gospel-ministers hence
learn to pray, and preach, and converse, under the recollection of
1 Cor. iii. 5 7, and 2 Cor. iv. 7.

p Num. xx. 28. qDeut, xxxii. 4951, 'Exo. xxxii. 2628.

286 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [SER. IX.

that the high-priesthood, and so the right of wearing
the Thummim and Urim, might remain with him, by
remaining with his descendants.

The mystical signification of the words thus literal-
ly explained, will be considered in the next sermon.

SERMON X.

THE BLESSING OF L.ETT. HIS URIM AN1>
THUMMIM.

DEUT. xxxni. 8 11. And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummim
and thy Urim be with thy Holy One, whom thou didst prove at
MassaJi, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meri~
bah, <$c.

HAVING in the preceding discourse given what I
understand to be the literal import of the Urim and
Thummim, and of the prophetic prayer respecting
them, I precede, in this discourse, to consider them in
their mystical signification.

And here we shall find CHRIST to be ALL and in
ALL.

To him belong the characteristics here given of the
high-priest.

With him are found the excellencies imported by
the words Urim and Thummim and

In him, believers realize all that was done by the
high-priest, while he had these mysterious articles on
his breast.

1. To CHRIST belong the characteristics here
given of the high-priest. For,

First 9 He is eminently the Holy Owe, both of God
and of God's Israel. Of him, therefore, Moses ad-

288 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [SKtl. X*

dressing God, might well say, Thy Holy One. Nor
should it be concealed, that, by anticipation, the
Spirit of prophecy thus early called him a man,
thereby intimating his future incarnation ; for the
original, literally rendered, is the man thy Holy
One* And, that he, by assuming human nature after
it was fallen and depraved, should become a man and
still be essentially holy, must be miraculous, and
therefore might well be a subject of prophecy .f Yet,
in him, this was perfectly verified : for his human na-
ture, conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, is
that holy thing mentioned, Luke i. 35 ; nor was
there any moral blemish in his human life ; he did
no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. 1
Pet. ii. 22. And being thus holy in nature and life,
he is a most suitable person to wear the Urim and
Thummim, and to be the High-priest of spiritual
Israel ; for such an High-priest became us, who is holy,
harmless, $?c. Heb. vii. 26. Nevertheless, that he
existed prior to his incarnation, and that he is natu-
rally possessed of supreme divinity, will appear,
while we notice,

Secondly, That he was, and under what name he
was proved, that is, tried or tempted, at Massah and
striven with at Meribah. For, God permitting it, the
Israelites not only tempted and strove with Moses
and Aaron, but they also tempted and strove with the
LORD himself. " Wherefore," said Moses to them,
" do ye tempt the Lord ?" 8 And, to perpetuate the
memory thereof, "he called the name of the place
Massah, temptation, and Meribah, strife, because of
the chiding of the children of Israel, and because

* ITDH KTS. t A new thing &c. Jer. xxxi. 22* 'Exo. xvii. 2,

SER. X.] HIS UR1M AND TtlL'MftHM. 289

they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among
us or not?" 1 Such was their conduct, when in dis-
tress for water, in Repkidim; nor did they behave
any better when, about forty years after, they were
in distress from the same cause at Kadesh ; hence,
of the water here procured for them, Moses said,
" This is the water of Meribah," strife, " because the
children of Israel," as in the former instance, "strove
with the LORD." Num. xx. 13.*

Now, that the Lord whom the Israelites tempted,
and with whom they strove, was none other than the
LORD JESUS CHRIST, is as certain as it is that the
apostle Paul wrote by divine inspiration ; for this
apostle having admonished his Jewish brethren not
to imitate their fathers in certain other acts of wick-
edness, added, " Neither let us tempt Christ, as some
of them also tempted" [him] " and were destroyed
of serpents."" And, as a farther and more conclu-
sive proof of the supreme divinity of Christ, it should
be recollected, that, in every instance referred to, of
his being tempted and striven with, his name, though
rendered LORD, is in the original JEHOVAH ; which
name, as it is expressive of the divine essense,
is utterly inapplicable to any creature. CHRIST,
therefore, was tempted and striven with, not merely
as typified in Aaron, but as being personally present.
And though the prayer under consideration, was SQ

'Exo. xvii. 7.

* How affecting to see that the Israelites were as depraved at the
end of their journey in the wilderness, as when they commenced
it ! Thus, alas ! depraved nature, in a believer, is no belter at the
end of his pilgrimage than it was when he first cried, God be
merciful to me a sinner ? See Rom. vii. 18.

u l Cor. x. 9. Comp, Num. xx. 2. 4. 13. xxi. 5,6. "Psal.
Ixxxiii. 18.

290 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [sER. X.

far answered in behalf of Aaron, that the Urim and
Thummim, during the literal use of them, (which
terminated at the captivity,) 'remained with him, thai
is, with a succession of high-priests of his order and
lineage ; yet when the Holy Ghost, in Moses, said to
God the Father, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim
be with thy Holy One, I doubt not that he spoke di-
rectly of CHRIST. Hence,

II. With HIM are found the excellencies imported
by the words Urim and Thummim. These words,
as already shown, (page 272,) signify lights and per-
fections ; and which, of all kinds, and in the richest
abundance are in Christ : his understanding is infi-
nite* and in him, as Mediator, it pleased the Father
that all fulness should dwell?

First, The Urim, lights, are found with Christ; all
kinds of light being in him and from him. Accord-
ingly, by a most happy allusion to the luminary of
nature, he is called " the sun of righteousness." 2 For,
as all material light is in the natural sun, so all in-
tellectual light is in Christ ; and as all the light
reflected by other bodies, either celestial or terres-
trial, is from the sun, so all the true knowledge, natu-
ral or supernatural, possessed or exhibited by crea-
tures, whether in heaven or on earth, is from Christ ;
"in whom (till communicated) are hid all the
treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 3 " From Christ,
therefore, comes,

1. The light of reason. In this respect, He is the
true, light, which lighteth every man (generally
speaking) that cometh into the world}' For the light
of reason (a few idiots notwithstanding) is common

* Psal. cxlvii. 5. ^Col. i. 19. z Mai. iv. 2. a Col. ii. 3. b John. i. 9.

SER. X.] HIS URIM AND THUMMIM. 291

to the human family of all nations and of all gene-
rations. And this, though it never was sufficient to
lead mankind to eternal life, and though it; was
greatly diminished by the fall, is nevertheless suffi-
cient to leave them "without excuse," in the event
of their falling into idolatry or the denial of the
Being and perfections of God ; for "the invisible
things of him, from the creation of the world are
clearly seen, being understood by the things that
are made, even his eternal power and Godhead." 8
By this light, too, mankind may discover the differ-
ence between moral right and wrong, and conse-
quently, all their mutual obligations in every natural
and civil relation. See Rom. ii. 14, 15.

2. The light of revelation. " Prophecy came not
in old time by the will of man : but holy men of God
spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." d But
the Holy Ghost by which those men prophesied,
was the Spirit of Christ speaking in them. 6 And
by the same Spirit came the books of the New
Testament; for "the testimony of Jesus," in his
apostles, as well as in the writers of the Old Testa-
ment, " is the Spirit of prophecy ." f His testimony is
the Spirit of Prophecy also, as it contains an infal-
lible interpretation and application of the types and
predictions of the Old Testament, and is therefore,
the very spirit) soul and substance, of the Mosaic
and prophetic writings. g Thus it is evident, that
" All Scripture is given by inspiration of God,' 5 and
that it was given by him, through the medium of his
Son. h And though under the former dispensation,

c Rom. i. 20. d 2 Pet. i. 21. e 1 Pet. i. 11. f Rev. xix. 10.
* Luke xxiv. 27. 44. Acts iii. 22. xxvi. 22, 23. Gal. iv. 21 31.
Col. ii. 16. 17. Heb x. 1. &c. h 2 Tim. iii. J6. Heb. i. 2.

292 THE BLESSING OP LEVI. [SER. X.

the oracles of God were granted only to the Jews,
it is not so now ; for Christ, having " broken down
the middle wall of partition" between that nation
and others, hath thereby opened the way for those
oracles to come to us Gentiles ; and, that we might
the better understand them, he hath superadded the
writings and ministry of the New Testament. Well,
therefore, might he say, as he did, / am the light of
the world? for as the rays of light preceding from
the one natural sun, to which he alluded, extend to
all the world, so the rays of external revelation and
of the gospel-ministry, preceding from himself,
the one "Sun of righteousness," are destined to
beam upon all the nations of the earth. Thus,
according to promise, Christ will become the light of
the Gentiles, as well as the glory of Israel*

Nevertheless, as the rays of light preceding from
the sun, do not give natural life and eyesight to those
who are literally dead and blind, so neither does the
external light of revelation and of gospel-preaching,
granted to the world, give spiritual life and under-
standing to carnal sinners, who are all morally dead
and blind. Hence, "the natural man," even with
the Bible in his hand and the gospel sounding in his
ears, "receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God:
for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he
know them, because they are spiritually discerned.'' 1
In Christ, however, provision is also made to give
this requisit discernment. For

3. In and from him is the light of grace. Thisis the
light of life, a light springing from life, and, like that,
emanating from Christ : In him was life and the

* John viii. 12. k Is. xlii. 6. Luke ii. 32. J 1 Cor. ii. 14.

SER. X.] HIS UR1M AND THUMMIM. 293

life was the light of men. m It is by the Spirit of
life and light, preceding from Christ, that the souls
of sinners are quickened, and the eyes of their
understanding enlightened." Thus, whereas the
first Adam, the natural head of all his posterity,
was only made a living soul, that is, a living man,
whose life terminated in himself, the last Adam,
who is Christ, the Lord from heaven, was, as Medi-
ator, made a quickening Spirit ; that is, he was
constituted the mystical Head of all the elect, with
life in himself to communicate to them ; and as
this life, in all to whom it is communicated, is pro-
ductive of mental illumination, so Christ from whom
it precedes, is also said to open the blind eyes? Now
follows the special use of external revelation and of
ministerial instruction. For, as persons w r ho had
been literally blind, on having their eyes opened,
are enabled, by the light of the sun, to behold nat-
ural objects, which before they could not; so regen-
erate sinners, having the eyes of their understanding
opened, are enabled, in reading the Bible and hear-
ing the gospel, tp see and understand spiritual
things, which, in their carnal state, they could not
know nor discern, and which, therefore, they did not
receive or realize as true ; at least, not in relation to
themselves. The Holy Scriptures now appear to
them in their divine authority and majesty ; and the
truths of them, attended by the Spirit's influence,
reach and search their hearts, and bring to their view
the abominations that are there. The entrance of
thy words, said David to the Lord, giveth light, the
light of information and instruction ; it giveth under-

m John i. 4. Eph. i. 17, 18. ii. 1. 4, 5. 1 Cor. xv. 45. 47.
John v 21. 25, 26. Col ii. 19. Pis. xlii. 7.

294 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [SER. X.

standing to the simple.* For, saith another inspir-
ed writer, the icord of God is quick and powerful,
and sharper than any two-edged sivord, piercing
even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and
of the joints and marrow , and is a discerner of the
thoughts and intents of the heart.* But to be more
particular.

By the light of revealed truth, thus shining into
their understanding, the regenerate behold them-
selves in the glass of the divine law, and realize
that they are fallen, polluted and guilty creatures,
and, as such, justly condemned before God: for by
the law is the knowledge of sin. 3 And though, at
first, they may hope to gain divine acceptance
by a reformation of life and a round of perform-
ances; yet eventually, by their very exertions for
this purpose, they learn the fallacy of their hope;
for they find that they are riot able even to keep the
law perfectly for the time being, and much less
to satisfy its demands for the time past. Besides,
Who can say I have made my heart clean, I am pure
from my sin f Prov. xx. 9. To a sinner thus la-
boring, how terrible are these appropriate words :
Though thou wash thee with niter, and take thee
much soap, that is, though thou employ all the means
which, to thee, seem most likely to accomplish thy
cleansing, yet is thine iniquity, both of nature and
life, marked before me, saith the Lord God. Jer. ii.
22. By their own experience, therefore, as well as
by Scripture-testimony, the regenerate are made so
to realize the holiness and justice of God, as to be-
come convinced that "by the deeds of the law there
shall no flesh be justified in his sight ;" 8 and hence,
* Psal. cxix. 130. r Heb. iv. 12. Rom. iii. 20.

SER. X.] HIS URIM AM) THUMMIM. 295

through the law become dead to the law, to all
hopes of obtaining acceptance with God by their
obedience to it." Nevertheless, they are not left to
perish in their sins. For, all who receive quickening
arid enlightening grace from Christ, have also, in
him, justifying righteousness. See Rom. v. 17
21. And therefore,

By the same light, the light of the Holy Scriptures,
understood by the internal light of grace, communi-
cated to them in regeneration, they are led to be-
hold CHRIST in the glass of the gospel. Herein
they behold him, as the brightness of his Father's
glory and the express image of his person as the
one Mediator between God and men x as Jesus Christ
who came into the world to save sinner s y as having,
in order thereto, been made under the law, that,
through his obedience and sacrifice he might redeem
them that were under the law, and so become the
end of the law for righteousness to every one that
believeth. z Herein, consequently, they farther dis-
cover, that Christ having magnified the law and
made it honorable, and put away sin by the sacri-
fice of himself, is able also to save them to the utter-
most that come unto God by him ; a likewise, that he
is as willing as he is able ; for, addressing such, he
says, Come unto me all ye that labor and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest? and, to silence
all their fears, he proclaims Him that cometh to me,
however laden with guilt and deserving of wrath,
I will in no wise cast out* Thus encouraged, they
are enabled to come to him, that is, to believe on

u Gal. ii. 19. w Heb. i. 3. * 1 Tim. ii. 5. y Ibid. i. 15. z Gal.
iv. 5. Rom. x. 4. a ls. xlii. 21. Heb. vii. 25. b Matt. xi. 28.
'John. vi. 37.

296 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [flER. X.

him, by that faith which is the gift of God, and
thereby receive, through him, the light of comfort ;
for, " by faith we have peace with God, through our
Lord Jesus Christ." Rom. v. i.

And, as all the light which the regenerate receive at
first conversion, comes from Christ, so likewise does
all that, which they afterward receive, in the course
of their pilgrimage. Light, both of instruction and
comfort, is sown for the righteous in the rich fields
of promise and prophecy ; d but till Christ, by his
Spirit, opens their understandings, as he did those
of his disciples, to understand the Scriptures, they
cannot receive and enjoy it. e Many consoling truths,
too, are wrapped in parables and dark sayings ; but
he gives us to know the mysteries of the kingdom?
And though his renewed people, as exemplified in
the church at Ephesus, are liable not only to get into
darkness, but even to fall asleep there, he is, never-
theless, mindful of them still: "Wherefore," by the in-
spired record of what he said to that church, he is
constantly saying to every church and to every be-
liever, in the like deplorable condition, "Awake
thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, 5 ' from
conformity to the dead world, " and Christ shall give
thee light." Eph. ii. 14.* Moreover,

d Psal. xcvii. 11. e Luke xxiv. 45. f Mark iv. 11.

* That the Ephesians were not here addressed as being in the
darkness of a carnal state is evident, for they were before called
out of that state and made light in the Lord, ver. 8 ; nor, as being
dead in trespasses and sins, for they had been quickened, Chap. ii.
1, 4, 5. The common application, therefore, of these words to
the carnal world is a perversion of them ; but, as addressed to be-
lievers, in a slumbering, slothful conformity to a dead world, they
are very pertinent ; such conformity being, in them, as inconsistent

SEB. X.] HIS URIM AND THUMMIM. 297

4. The light of glory is with and from Christ.
Heaven is the inheritance of the saints in light ; g but
this inheritance comes to them through Christ:
u The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ
our Lord." h And as we receive it through Christ
so we shall enjoy it with Christ: "When Christ
who is our life shall appear, then," said Paul to
believers, " shall ye also appear with him in glory. 1
How transporting the prospect ! When arrived at
home, dear brethren and sisters, all our darkness of
ignorance and reproach, of sadness and unbelief,
will instantly vanish, "as if it had never been," and
our souls, illuminated with beams of glory emana-
ting from Christ, will be filled with pleasing wonder
and ineffable delight. There, believer, thou shalt
never, as here, need either the luminaries of nature
or the privileges of the gospel, sometimes signified
by them : the sun shall be no more thy light by day,
neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto
thee. Nor shall thy felicity, thus consumated, ever
cease or ever wane : but the LORD shall be unto thee
an everlasting Light, and thy God thy Glory.
Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy
moon withdraw itself; for the LORD shall be thine
everlasting Light, and the days of thy mourning
shall be ended* But to procede. As the URIM, lights,
so

Secondly, the THUMMIM, perfections, are found
in CHRIST. In him are,

1. All the perfections of the divine nature. For

with propriety and duty, as it would be for living persons to lie
down and sleep among dead corpses. Comp. Cant. v. 2. Rom.
xiii. 11. and 1 Thess. v. 6. Be not conformed to this world &c.
Rom. xii. 2.
g Col. i. 12. h Rom. vi. 23. * Col. iii. 4. k Is. Ix. 19, 20.

298 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [sER. X.

in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bod-
ily" that is, personally or substantially* Those
perfections by which the Godhead, or essential
Deity is chiefly revealed, are eternity, omnipotence,
omniscience, omnipresence, and immutability; all
which are found in Christ. He is 1. Eternal He

'* Zap* body, denotes literally that part of man which consists of
flesh and bones ; Matt. x. 28 ; yet, by a grecism, it also denotes
the whole man, and so a person ; Rom. yi. 12. and xii. I ; as, by
a hebraism, *y^jj soul (answering to tpsa) does in Chap. xiii. 1.
So Josephus (Ant. Lib. 14. Cap. 12, Sect. 5.) uses ru^ala for
captives or slaves. Comp. Rev. xviii. 13. In the same sense, too,
we use the English word body, when we say some body, any body,
every body, no body, by which we mean some person, any person,
every person, no person. S<iu*7<*s$, the Adj. from rupee, is the
word properly rendered bodily, as denoting what appertains or re-
lates to the body, or is done in or by it. See 1 Tim. iv. 8. But
the word in question, is <ruu.ttlty.ws, the Adv. formed from the Adj.
and which, according to Parkhurst, may be rendered 'in the body ;
the apostle thereby signifying, (as that Lexicographer suposed,)
that the Godhead, in the person of Christ, dwells in his body, of
which the tabernacle and temple, in which the Schecheenah resi-
ded, were evidently typical; See Heb. viii. 2. and John ii. 19;
meaning, nevertheless, not that the Godhead dwells in Christ,
merely by inspiration, as it dwelt in the prophets and apostles;
nor by endoivment for official purposes, as supposed by Socinians ;
nor only effectively, as in the saints; 2 Cor. vi. 16; but essentially
and hypostatically and by an inexplicable union to his humanity,
even as the soul dwells in the body. " Grent," therefore indeed, " is
the mystery of godliness ; God was manifested (e(pve^a6t)) in the
flesh." 1 Tim. iii. 16. Comp. 1 John iii. 5. But, while 1 admit this
interpretation of the passage to be agreeable to the analogy of
faith, and that which is received by many learned men, I am, not-
withstanding, strongly inclined to think, with Leigh, (Crit. Sacra,
under c^^*?**^,) that the apostle, in this text, does not speak of
the human nature of Christ at all ; but that, as he used C-^.M.* to
denote a person (see above) so here he used raftalixaxi as meaning
personally 4 or substantially. The word in question being so
understood, the pussage, freed from many difficulties, reads thus :
In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead personally or sub-
stantially. Col. ii. 9,

SER. X.] HIS URIM AND THUMMIM. 299

is the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the
beginning and the end ; which is, and which was, and
which is to come.* 2. Omnipotence: "All things
were created by him; in a word, He is the Almighty*
3. Omniscient: He needed not that any should testify
of man for he knew what was in man.* Therefore
Peter appealed to him as the searcher of hearts, say-
ing, Lord thou knowest all things; thou knowest
that I love thee. k 4. Omnipresent. This he as-
serted in a way specially calculated to encourage
those who believe in him to assemble in his name,
for worship : Where two or three, said he, are ga-
thered together in my name, and which might be in
thousands of places at the same time, there am I in
the midst. 1 And 5. Immutability: He is Jesus
Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and for
ever Nor can there be any perfection, essential or
moral, in the Godhead, which is not in Christ ; for
he is the true God and eternal life

2. A perfection of all spiritual blessings for the
chosen of God : Blessed be the God and father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places (or things) in
Christ, according as he hath chosen us in him before
the foundation of the world, that we should be holy
and without blame before him in love. Among
these blessings are adoption, redemption, pardon,
justification, and a title to eternal life ; all which, in
Christ, are perfect and irreversible. 1. All whom
God chose in Christ, he also adopted as his children

* Rev. i. 8. h John i. 3. Col. 1. 16. Psal. xci. 1. * John
ii. 25. k Ibid. xxi. 17. ' Matt, xviii. 20. m Heb. xiii. 8,
;1 1 John v. 20. Eph. i. 3, 4.

300 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [gtER. X,

and heirs. As such they were considered, when
Christ, that he might become their near-kinsman,
assumed human nature : as the children are parta-
kers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took
part of the same. As such, too, they were considered
when he died to redeem them : for he died, that,
consistently with law and justice, he might gather
together in one, in himself and in one family, both
on earth and in heaven, the children of God that
were scattered abroad among all nations and in a
lost condition. 11 Consequently, while yet uncalled,
yea, unredeemed, they were, in some sense, children,
and which must have been by adoption. Hence it
is, that all who, by personal, eternal election, are
written in heaven, are denominated first-born, that
is, heirs.* 1 2. Their redemption by Christ is perfect ;
no additional sacrifice being required, nor any fail-
ure in the design being possible; for by one offer-
ing he perfected for ever them that are sanctified,
(set apart in him, Jude ver. 1.) having obtained
eternal redemption for us. r 3. In Christ, divine jus-
tice finds a perfect satisfaction for all their sins.
Hence, as in him we have redemption through his
blood, so also the forgiveness of sins. s God, saith
Paul to believers, for Christ's sake hath forgiven
you* And, as forgiveness precedes on the ground of
the complete satisfaction rendered by Christ to di-
vine justice for all the sins of all he represented, so
it is perfect and irreversible. It is perfect, that is,
full and entire; it being the pardon of all their sins
of nature and life, both before and after their calling :

o Heb. ii. 1315. P John xi. 51, 52. Comp. Eph. i. 10.

q Heb. xii. 22. Rev. xiii. 8. Comp. Exo. iv. 22. Deut. xxi. 1517.
r Heb. x. 14. ix. 12. * Eph. i. 7. Ibid. iv. 32.

SER. X.] HIS LRI31 AND THUMMIM. 301

I will cleanse them, saith God, from all their iniqui-
ty whereby they have sinned against me, and I will
pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned
and whereby they have transgressed against me"
Nor is it merely full and entire, but also irreversible.
God never renews the charge against them : For
saith he, I will forgive their iniquity and remember
their sin no more* And, the more abundantly to
comfort believers, he assures them that he has cast
their sins behind his back, and into the depths of
the sea ; T nay, that as far as the east is from the west,
so far hath he removed our transgressions from
us; thus signifying, that, as what is behind our backs,
or in the depths of the sea, is unseen by us, so will
He not, with an eye of Justice, behold our sins ; and
that, as the eastern point in the heavens can never
come to the western, so neither can the sins of those
whom He has pardoned ever be charged against
them, to their condemnation, in His sight/

But while the meritorious cause of their pardon is
complete in Christ, the manifestation of it is never
given to them, till, by the Holy Spirit, they are made to
feel the bitterness of their sins to mourn over them,
and to realize that they must be pardoned for Christ's
sake, or sink to hell under the sentence of the law.
This they realize at conversion ; when, their under-
standings being enlightened, they are pricked in their
hearts with keen distress for sin ; z and the same they
realize in subsequent experience ; their sins always
becoming the lothed and lamented diseases of
their souls, before they receive that discovery of

u Jer xxxiii. 8. w Ibid. xxxi. 34. Heb. viii. 1.2. x. 17. * Is.
xxxviii. 17. Micah vii. 19. y Psal. ciii. 12. z Acts ii. 37.

302 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [SER. X.

pardon, which is their healing: Bless the Lord, O
my soul, and forget not all his benefits ; who for-
giveth all thine iniquities, and thereby healeth all thy
diseases*

And though God never precedes against them
according to the covenant of works, from the
curse of which Christ has redeemed them ; b yet, for
their good and as a provision of the covenant of grace,
he remembers their sins in a way of fartherly chas-
tisement ; /, saith he, will visit their transgressions
with a rod, and their iniquity with stripes.* He
chasteneth us for our profit, that we might be par-
takers of his holiness. The smart, too, must precede
the benefit : no chastening for the present seemeth
to be joyous, but grievous : nevertheless AFTERWARD
ityieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto
them icho are exercised thereby. d To believers, there-
fore, chastisements are medicinal, or, in other words,
they are among the all things that work together
for their good. 6 Hence, 4. In Christ, the elect are
all blessed with a perfection of justifying righteous-
ness. Christ, being found holy in nature and harm-
less in life, was delivered an acceptable sacrifice for
our offenses, and (as the fullest possible evidence of
the entire satisfaction which he thereby rendered to
divine justice, for all the sins of all he represented)
was raised again for our justification* Herein is
founded the apostolic challenge on our behalf:
Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's
elect ? It is God that justificth. Who is he that
condemneth ? It is Christ that died, yea, rather
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of

a Psal. ciii. 2, 3. xxxviii. 18. b Gal. iii. 13. c Psal. Ixxxix.
3133. a Heb. xii. 10, 11. e Rom. viii. 28. f Rom. iv. 25.

SER. X.] HIS UR1M AND THUMMlM. 303

God, who also makelh intercession for us. s In a
word, Christ is THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS ; b
and for the comfort of every true believer, it is re-
vealed that God is just and the justifier of him
that believeth in Jesus* that Christ is the end of
the law for righteousness, to every one that believeth^
and that by him all that believe are justified from all
things. 1 And 5. The chosen of God are blessed
in Christ with an indefeasable title to the heavenly
inheritance. This is that eternal life, which God
who cannot lie promised before the world began.
And to whom could he then have promised it but to
Christ, as the Head and Representative of the elect 1
Accordingly, Christ is the First-born, that is, the
HEIR among many brethren." By their adoption,
however, as his brethren, and by their federal union
to him and representation in him, their title is involv-
ed in his and rendered inseparable from it : For if
children then heirs : heirs of God, and joint-heirs
with Christ. And, as the title is vested in him, to
him belongs the honor of conferring on them the in-
heritance; for he, as Mediator, possesseth a delegated
power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life
to as many, of all nations, as the Father hath given
him*

3. There is a perfection of Spiritual influence in
Christ : for God giveth not the Spirit by measure
unto him, as he gave it to the prophets and apostles,
but in all the fulness thereof stipulated in the ever-
lasting covenant. 4 And having thus granted the Holy
Spirit to Christ, as the vital Head of the elect, he

s Rom. viii 33, 34 h Jer. xxiii. 6. J Rom. iii. 26. k Ibid. x. 4.
1 Acts xiii. 39. m Tit. i. 2. n Rom. viii. 29. Ibid. ver. 17.
p John xvii. 2. q Ibid. iii. 34. Acts ii. 33.

304 THE BLESSING OF LEVI, [SER. X.

communicates to them, through him, such measures
of that Spirit as' are requisit to all the purposes of
their experimental salvation. By the Spirit thus
given, 1. He regenerates them : Not by works of
righteousness which we have done, said Paul, but ac-
cording to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of
regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost ;
which he shed on us abundantly, through Jesus Christ
our Saviour.* By the Spirit so communicated. 2.
He gives to them arid increases in them, the
knowledge of Christ; the Holy Ghost being the
Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge
of him. 1 Thus, 3. We have all the understand-
ing we possess of spiritual things and of covenant-
bequests : God hath revealed them unto us by his
Spirit ; and we have received the Spirit ichich
is of God, that we might know the things that are
freely given to us of God." 4. By the Spirit, given
to us by the Father, through the Son, we have all
our consolation, as new creatures. Thus we receive
the knowledge and consequently the* comfort of our
adoption. For the Father having predestinated us
to the adoption of children, in due time sends the
Spirit of his Son into our hearts crying, Abba,
Father. Herein, The Spirit itself, beareth witness
with our spirit, that we are the children of God ;
we being such before, by adoption and regeneration.
J3y the Spirit, we are strengthened with might in
the inner man; and every refreshing season we en-
joy, is given by a supply of the Spirit of Jesus
Christ. K The Spirit also receives of whatever there

r Titus iii. 5, 6. Eph. i. 17. u I Cor. ii. 10. J2. w Eph. i.
5. Gal. iv. 6. * Rom. viii. 15, 16. Eph. iii. 16. Phil. i. 19.

SER. X.] HIS URIM AND THUMMIM. 305

is in Christ, which is designed for our comfort, and
shows it unto us ; as for instance, his justifying right-
eousness, his pardon-procuring blood and his ever-
availing intercession/ He likewise interprets to
our understandings and applies to our cases, the
great and precious promises of God, and is there-
fore stiled that Holy Spirit of promise, whereby
believers are sealed unto the day of redemption*
In short, every thing in our hearts or lives, from
which we are authorized to conclude that we are in a
gracious state, is of the Spirit. Are we enabled to
look upon him whom ice have pierced and mourn
with a godly sorrow for sin ? It is because the
Spirit of grace has been poured upon us. a Are we
filed icith joy and peace in believing, and hence
caused to abound in hope ? It is through the pow-
er of the Holy Ghost. b And, if our tribulation work-
eth patience, our patience experience, and our expe-
rience hope that hope which maketh not ashamed,
it is because the love of God is shed abroad in our
hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. c
Moreover, all those graces, the practical exemplifica-
tion of which evinces regeneration and adorns the
Christian life, namely, love, joy, peace, long-suffering,
gentleness, faith, (or fidelity,) meekness, and temper-
ance, are called the fruit of the Spirit, because the
principles whence they spring, were implanted by
his operation, and are cherished by his influence. 6
Let us then, my Christian hearers, be sacredly care-
ful never to grieve the Holy Spirit, who, to us, is
emphatically ho PARACLETOS, the COMFORTER. John

y John xvi. 14. z Eph. i. 13. iv. 30. a Zech. xii. 10. b Rom.
xv. 13. Ibid.v. 3 5. c Gal. v. 22, 23.

306 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [SKR. X.

xv. 26. Eph. iv. 30. Thus it is evident, that as the
title of the elect to eternal life, is vested in Christ, so
their meetness for it is produced by the Holy Spirit,
given to them through Christ ; they being chosen in
him to salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit
and belief of the truth. 6 And their meetness, as
well as their title, is indispensable to their enjoy-
ment of the inheritance ; for without holiness no
man shall see the LordJ Let believers, therefore, so
live as to be habitually Giving thanks unto the
Father, who, by the influence of the Spirit, hath
made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of
the saints in light ; having delivered us from the
power of darkness, and translated us into the king-
dom of his dear Son. s

4. In Christ, there is a perfection of all spiritual
gifts gifts appropriate to all the members of his
mystical body, to qualify them severally for the vari-
ous stations they were designed to occupy. Accord-
ingly, as, to confirm his mission and dispensation,
"He gave some apostles, some prophets and some
evangelists, and bestowed upon them, and, in their
time, upon some others, extraordinary gifts, by
which they were enabled to work miracles foretell
events speak with tongues, interpret tongues,
and the like ; so, for ordinary purposes, he gave and
continues to give pastors and teachers, and exhorters
also, h and bestowed and continues to bestow upon
all the regenerate, those gifts of the Spirit which
are requisit for them ; such as the gift of spiritual
discernment, by which to detect false teachers 1 the
gift of prayer, by which to make known, that is, to

e 2 Thess. ii. 13. f Heb. xii. 14. * Col. i. 12, 13. !' Eph.
iv. 11. 12. Rom. xii. 8. ' 1 John ii. 1827. ir. 16.

SER. X.] HIS URIM AND THUMMIM. 307

express (at least in private) their requests unto God k
and ,the gifts of mutual admonition and exhortation. 1
Truly "there are diversities of gifts, but the same
Spirit ;'' and "differences of administrations," minis-
tries or services, "but the same Lord." m Thus, as
the precious ointment poured on Aaron's head, ran
down to the skirts of his garments; so the Holy Spirit,
given without measure to Christ, descends from him,
the Head, to all the members of his mystical body,
from the first of them to the last, and from the most
eminent of them to the most obscure. 11 Moreover,

5. There is in Christ a perfection of new-coven-
ant promises. These were all so made to him,
that they were to be fulfilled in the elect, on condition
of his complying with his covenant-stipulations on
their behalf. And that he has done so, the Father
has acknowledged, in raising him from the dead
and receiving him to heaven : wherefore, all the
promises of God, thus made to Christ, are in him
yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by
us. These promises include all good things for
the heirs, and are appropriate to all conditions and
cases among the regenerate : My God, saith Paul,
shall supply all your need, according to his riches
in glory by Christ Jesus. p

In the light of these revealed facts, it must be
evident to us, my believing hearers, that Christ is
indeed full of grace and truth, q and that of his ful-
ness have all we received; also, that the communication
made to us, is not of debt, but of grace ; it being
grace for grace ; r that is, favor flowing from

k Philip, iv. 6. l Rom. xiv. 14. Heb. x. 25. m 1 Cor. xii. 4,
5. n Psal. cxxiii. and Rom. xii. 2 Cor. i. 20. p Philip, iv. 19.
Comp. Ps. xxxiv. 10. Ixxxiv. 11. John i. 14. r Ibid. ver. 16.

308 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [sER. X.

favor favor for the sake of Christ, who is God's
first and greatest gift, and the pledge and me-
dium of every other : or, grace upon grace,* Christ
the Spirit pardon j ustification consolation, &c.
all in succession : or, one communication of grace
after another ; for he who gives regenerating grace,
giveth more grace; even constantly grace to help
in tim,e of need. 6 Well, therefore, might Christ say
to Paul, (and the same is applicable to every believ-
er,) My grace is sufficient for tfiee my strength is
made perfect in weakness ;* and well may all, who
through grace have believed, say, with Peter, We
believe, that through the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ we shall be saved"

Thus we perceive, that THUMMIM perfections, as
well as URIM lights, are with CHRIST. And,

III. In him, believers realize all that was done by
the high-priest, while he officiated with these sacred
articles upon his breast. For,

First, As the high-priest, when he had on the
Urim and Thummin, bore the names of the children
of Israel near his heart/ so the persons of all the
elect, by name, lie near the heart of Christ. There
they lay, when, in the eternal council, He engaged
his heart to approach unto God on their T>ehalf ;*
and there they lay, while, as their Representative, he
obeyed, and died, and rose again/ Nor can sin, or
death, or hell remove them thence: He will rest in
his love* Truly they are a people near unto him.*

Secondly, As the high-priest, in his intercourse

* See this version of %*e i *m %* tros defended by Blackwall,
Sac. Class. Vol. 1. p. 126, 127.

Jas. iv. 6. Heb. ir. 16. * 2 Cor. xii. 9. u Acts xv. 11.
w Exo. xxviii. 30. x Jer. xxx. 21. * John xiii. 1. z Zeph. iii. 17.
51 Ps. cxlviii. 14.

SER. X.] HIS URIM AND THUMMIM. 309

with God, represented none but the children of
Israel, (their names only being upon his breast-
plate ; b ) so Christ, in his mediatorial capacity, rep-
resents none but the elect, (they only being chosen
in him to this privilege ; c ) and therefore, as the high-
priest, on the day of expiation, offered the atoning
sacrifices only for national Israel ; d so Christ, the
antitype, offered himself only for the elect, the true
Israel of God : He loved the church and gave him-
self for it*

Thirdly, As the high-priest, having covered the
mercy-seat with a cloud of sweet incense/ entered
the most holy place with the blood of the slain sa-
crifices; so Christ having given himself for us, an
offering and a sacrifice to God, for a sweet smelling
savor, g by his own blood entered once into the holy
place, heaven itself, having obtained eternal re-
demption for us. h

The manner, too, in which the high-priest, by di-
vine order, disposed of the blood of the sin-offering,
when he had brought it within the vail, is full of
instruction. 1. He sprinkled of it upward. See p.
278. Thus the precious blood of Christ, shed for
his people, first had reference to heaven, as a satis-
faction to divine justice for their sins : He suffered
the just for the unjust to bring us to God. 1 2. The
high-priest sprinkled of the same blood downward.
See also p. 278. This he did seven times ; k which might
typify the successive applications of the cleansing
and peace-speaking virtues of the richer blood of
Christ, to be made by the Holy Spirit, to the elect

b Exo. xxviii. 21. 29. c Eph. i. 4. d Levit. xvi. 11. 15.
e Epb. v. 25. f Levit. xvi. 12. 13. g Eph. v. 2. h Heb. ix.
12. 24. i 1 Pet. iii. 18. k Levit. xvi. 14, 15.

310 THE BLESSING OF LEVI, [SER. X.

of all nations and of all generations. 1 And accord-
ingly, when arrived in heaven, their song will be,
Unto him that loved us and washed us from our
sins in his own blood ; for, (addressing him,) thou
wast slain and hast redeemed us unto God by thy
blood out of every kindred and tongue and people
and nation. Rev. i. 5. v. 9.*

The various uses, likewise, which, on the day of
expiation, were made of the blood of the sin-offer-
ings, are very instructive to us.

With this blood, the high-priest, having taken it
within the vail where resided the Shecheenah, the
symbol of the divine presence, made an atone-
ment for the holy place, that is, for the holy of ho-
lies^ called also the holy sanctuary ; m whereby was
signified, that through the expiatory sacrifices offered
for the children of Israel, on the day of atonement,
they were ceremonially accepted before God. And
with the residue of the blood, the high-priest, hav-
ing brought it with him out of the holy of holies,
made an atonement for the tabernacle of the con-
gregation, meaning the court of the people, defiled

1 Heb. ix. 1922. x. 22. xii. 24. xiii. 20. 1 Pet. i. 2. 1 John i. 7.

* As seven days complete a week, and as one day is with the
Lord as a thousand years; 2 Pet. iii. 8; it is not an improbable
conjecture, that seven thousand years will complete the duration of
time. If so, the sevenfold sprinkling of the blood of atonement
might mystically signify, that the atonement of Christ, who, in
God's account, was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the
world, Rev. xiii. 8, will remain in full virtue to the end of the
world. Then will the whole redeemed family be presented a glo-
rious church without spot or wrinkle or blemish or any such thing.
Eph. v. 27.

t See Note on p. 278, 279.
m Levit. xvi. 16.33.

SER. X.] HIS UR1M AND THUMMIM. 311

by their sins for the altar, the golden altar of in-
cense, in like manner defiled p and for the sins of
the priests, part of whose daily service was perform-
ed at that altar q and for all the sins of all the
children of Israel.'

How similar, yet how much more efficacious is the
atonement of Christ ! Having suffered the just for
the unjust, his entrance into heaven by his own blood,
denoted the Father's acceptance of his obedience
and sacrifice, as a perfect satisfaction to law and
justice for all whom, in his obedience and death, he
represented. 8 Hence, in particular, his atonement
avails 1. To procure their pardon when, under
conviction of their lost estate, they go to God plead-
ing what Christ hath done and suffered. Such is
the tenor of God's covenant with his Son on their
behalf: / will, saith he, be merciful to their unright-
eousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I
remember no more.* 2. To procure the pardon of
the sins and imperfections with which they are
chargeable as believers. The visible church is the
antitype of the tabernacle of the congregation, and,
like that, is variously defiled. Believers, however
consciencious and watchful, are guilty, not only of
many faults in private, domestic and civil life, but
also of much sin even in their solemn assemblies.
They severally carry with them a body of sin and
death, to the house of God. Hence, what pride of
heart ! what swarms of vain and evil thoughts !
what wanderings of mind and affection ! what dull
formality and stupid insensibility ! nay, what a want
of godly sincerity and true engagedness of soul,

Levit. xvi. 16. * Ver. 18, 19. <i Exo. xxvii. 21. r Levit.
xvi. 33, 34. * Eph. i. 6. * Heb. viii. 12.

312 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [sER. X.

often attend them in their public devotions ! By
reason of these effects of their depravity, believers
are sometimes tempted to " neglect the assembling
of themselves together ;" thinking it impossible that
their services, mingled with so many imperfections,
can be acceptable to a heart-searching God. But
let them remember, that Christ, as typified in Aaron,
bears the iniquity of their holy things. u

Of this all-important fact, a striking illustration
was given in the defilement and cleansing of the
golden altar of incense. This altar, I understand
to have been a figure of the throne of grace. It
stood, not in the most holy but in the holy place, to
signify, that, not heaven but a state of grace upon
earth, is the place of prayer. And, as nothing
intervened between it and the shecheenah, the sym-
bol of [the divine presence, but the vail, before
which it stood, it was said to be before the Lord.
Thus, when believers come to the throne of grace,
they come before JEHOVAH, and must conceive of
nothing as intervening between him and them but
Christ, the one Mediator between God and men,
whose human nature was the antitype of the vail,
and by the sacrifice of which he hath rent the vail,
and consecrated for us a new and living way of
access to God. x But the golden altar itself, at
which the priests officiated, was, by their daily
approaches unto it, rendered ceremonially unclean.
Therefore the high-priest was required to make an
atonement for it annually, with the blood of the sin-
offerings, that he might hallow it from the unclean-
ness of the children of Israel 7 Did not this typi-

Exo. xxviii. 38. w Levit. xvi. 18. x Heb. x. 19, 20.
it. xvi. 18, 19. Comp. Exo. xxx. 10.

SER. X.] HIS URIM AND THUMMIM. 313

cally signify, that believers, though made priests
unto God,* are chargeable with sin even in their
daily approaches to the throne of grace and yet,
that through Christ, the true High-Priest, who -hath
made an atonement for all their sins, they may come
to that throne with safety and success 1 ! We enter
into the holiest by the blood of Jesus* Let us there-
fore come boldly, that is, with an authorized free-
dom, to the throne of grace, that we may obtain
mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. b

Upon the golden altar, moreover, the high- priest
daily, both morning and evening, burnt sweet in-
cense, kindled with fire taken from off the brazen
altar, on which he offered the sacrifices for sin."
And, by a manifest allusion thereto, an Angel y
even Christ, the Angel of the covenant, is said to
offer much incense with the prayers of the saints
upon the golden altar before the throne ; d by which
incense is meant nothing less than the rich and
fragrant perfume of his own meritorious sacrifice
and ever-availing intercession, whereby the devo-
tions of believers, though imperfect as preceding
from them, obtain a gracious acceptance with their
heavenly Father : they offer up spiritual sacrifices,
acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.*

And farther, as the high-priest, on the great day
of expiation, made an atonement for the priests,
and for all the people, even for all the children of
Israel, and that for all their sins? so, at the ap-
pointed time, Christ, by the offering up of himself,
made an atonement satisfactory to divine Justice,
for all the sins of all the elect, the mystical Israel

z Rev. i. 6. a Heb. x. 19. b Chap. iv. 16. c Exo. xxx. 7, 8.
d Rev viii. 3, 4. e 1 Pet. ii. 5. ' Levit. xvi. 33, 34.

314 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [SER. X*

of God, both those who were called before his
death arid those who remained to be called after-
ward, and whether chosen to public or to private
stations in the church. s Hence all true believers,
however obscure, are built upon the foundation of
the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being
the chief corner-stone; and receive like precious
faith with them. h

The extent and efficacy of the Redeemer's atone-
ment, may also be illustrated by this type, in a some-
what different manner; yet without contradicting
any thing I have said in relation to it-
Did' the high-priest with the blood of the sin offer-
ings, make an atonement for the holy of holies,
whereby he purified the patterns of things in the
heavens ? So Christ, with his own bloody by which
he entered into heaven, purified the heavenly things
themselves, that is, met the requirements of divine
justice and of the holiness of the place, by making
an atonement for the sins of those, i who under the
former dispensation had been received there upon
his suretiship ; they having all died in faith. 1 Here-
in God declared his righteousness in requiring a
perfect satisfaction to his justice, for the remission,
or passing over, of sins that were past, called also
the transgressions that were under the first testa-
ment. 1 '

Did the high-priest, on the same day and by the
same blood, make an atonement in the holy place
for the sins of the priests, who there officiated at
the golden altar ? So Christ, at the same time he

* Rom. iii. 25, 26. h Eph. ii. 1922. 2 Pet. i. 1. 'Heb. ix.
23. xi. 13. k Rom. iii. 25. Heb. ix. 15.

SER. X.] HIS URIM AND THUMiHIM. 315

atoned for the sins of those who were then in heav-
en, and by the same sacrifice, atoned also for the
sins of believers then on earth, who by him had
access to the throne of grace, of which the golden
altar was a type : For their sakes, said he of his
believing disciples, I sanctify, that is, devote my-
self. 1 Thus God declared his righteousness, that
then and ever afterward, he might be manifestly
just, though the justifier of him that believeth in
Jesus But who are they, of every generation,
that believe in Jesus ? Even the same that were
chosen in him and ordained to eternal life"

And, as the high-priest, on the day of expiation,
made an atonement, not only for the holy of holies,
a figure of the heavenly state, and for the holy place,
in which the priests officiated, and which was the
figure of a believing state, but also for all the people,
even for all the children of Israel, and that for all
their sins ; so Christ, by the one offering up of him-
self, atoned not only for all the sins of those who
were then in heaven, and for all the sins of all be-
lievers then on earth, but equally for all the sins of
all the millions of God's elect, then remaining to be
called into being and to be called by grace. Such
an atonement God required, That in the dispensa-
tion of the fulness of times, according to his good
pleasure which he hath purposed in himself, he might
gather together in one, that is, in one glorious fam-
ily, all things in Christ, meaning the souls and bod-
ies of all whom he hath chosen in him before the
foundation of the world ; both which are in heaven,

'John xvii. 19. Rom. iii. 26. n Eph. i. 4. Acts xiii. 48.
6 Levit. xvi. 16. 18. 33, 34.

S16 THE BLESSING OP LEVI. [SEE. *.

(the spirits of the just, already made perfect,) and
which are on earth, (whether called or uncalled,
born or unborn,) even in him, in whom the whole
elect family are alike beheld and loved redeemed
and represented and shall be alike sanctified and
glorified. , p To precede.

As whomsoever and whatsoever the high-priest,
by the blood of the sin- offer ings, made an atone-
ment for, he thereby ceremonially reconciled ; q s&
all for whom Christ shed his precious blood, as an
atonement for sin, are thereby effectually reconciled
to divine Justice : we are reconciled to God by the
death of his Son. r This was done at once. But, in
consequence thereof, God, through Christ, com-
municates his Spirit to the elect, and thereby pro-
duces in them a mental reconciliation to himself,
You, saith an apostle to believers, that were some-
time alienated, and enemies in your mind by wicked
works, yet now hath he reconciled* In this sense,
God was and still is, reconciling the world unto him-
self that is, by his Spirit, convincing sinners, Gen-
tiles as well as Jews, of their condemned and help-
less condition, according to the covenant of works,
and leading them by faith to Christ, who is the end
of the law for righteousness to every one that believ-
eth ; and this he does not imputing their trespasses
unto them? for by him (Christ) all that believe are
justified from all things" and, as such, blessed with
the non-imputation of sin: Bhssed is the man to
whom the Lord will not impute sin"

p Eph. i. 9, 10. Comp. ver. 3, 4, 5. Chap. ii. 4. 5. John xi.
52, Heb. xii. 23. Acts xx. 32. Rom. viii. 17, 18. 29, 30. 1 Cor.
xv . 4958. q Levit. xvi. 20. Comp. ver. 33, 34. and 2 Chron.
xxix. 24. r Rom. v. 10. 8 Col. i. 21. * 2 Cor. v, 19. u Acts
xiii. 39. w Rom.iv.8.

ER. X.] HIS URIM AND THUMMIM. 3l?

Nor should it be forgotten, that the high-priest
performed his piacular work alone that no man,
and therefore, not even a Levite or an ordinary
priest to help him, was suffered to be in the taberna-*
cle, in any of the holy apartments thereof, when he
went in to make the various atonements specified ; x
for even so Christ had no assistance from any of
his people in making satisfaction to divine Justice
for their sins. " He" alone " was wounded for our
transgressions and bruised for our iniquities" He
alone " put away sin" and that " by the sacrifice of
himself" yea, " His own self bare our sins in his
own body on the tree." y Nor will he employ his
saints in destroying their personal enemies, but will
do it himself. Speaking of this, by anticipation,
he says, " I have trodden the wine-press alone; and
of the people," the saints, " there was none with me :
for I will tread them," the antichristian enemies of
the church, " in mine anger and trample them in my
fury ; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my
garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For the
day of vengeance is in mine heart and the year of
my redeemed is come.' jz

To the memorable day of annual atonement, be-
longed also the singular ordinance of the scape-
goat.* For the record of the directions, which the
Lord gave to Moses concerning what the high-priest
should do on that day, contains the following. "He
shall take of the congregation of the children of
Israel, two kids of the goats for a sin offering ... he

Levit. xvi. 17. rls. liii. 5. Heb. ix. 26. 1 Pet. ii. 24.
* Is. Ixiii. 3, 4. Comp. Chap. lix. 1416. and i. 2628.

* This ordinance, however, bears a strong resemblance to that
in Chap. xiv. 4953.

318 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [SER/X.

shall take the two goats, and present them before the
Lord, at the door of the tabernacle of the congre-
gation. And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two
goats ; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for
the scape-goat. And Aaron shall bring the goat
upon which the LORD'S lot fell, and offer him for a
sin-offering. But the goat on which the lot fell to
be the sca/pc-goat, shall be presented alive before
the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let
him go for a scape-goat into the wilderness. 5 '*

Accordingly, the high-priest having slain the goat,
which by lot was devoted to the LORD, as a sin-offer-
ing for the people,* and having with the blood there-
of completed the work of ceremonial reconciliation, 1 *
proceded to comply with this additional injunction :
"Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of
the live goat ; and confess over him all the iniqui-
ties of the children of Israel, and all their transgress-
ions in all their sins," that is, all their sins of every
kind, " putting them," by imputation, "upon the
head of the goat, and shall send him away by the
hand of a jit man\ into the wilderness. And," as a

* Levit. xvi. 5. 7, 8, 9, 10. That a goat, in many respects of-
fensive, and even a scripture-emblem of a wicked person, was for
either of these purposes, chosen as a type of the holy Jesus, may
seem strange. But it served mystically to signify 1. That
He would be manifested in the likeness of sinful flesh. Rom. viii. 3.
And 2. That having the sins of the elect placed to his account,
He would be numbered with the transgressors and treated as their
substitute. Is. liii. 6. 12. 1 Pet. iii. 18. Besides, as a goat,
however offensive, was legally clean ; Deut xiv. 3 ; so Christ,
though despised and rejected of men, is chosen of God and precious.
Is. liii. 3. 1 Pet. ii. 4.

a Levit. xvi. 15. b Ibid. ver. 20.

f T\y t?'X Eesh Itti, literally signifies An opportune man. Levi,
under ny Eath, time. Or A man of opportunity ; that is, a suita-
ble man Providentially present.

SER. IX.] HIS URIM AND THUMMIM. 319

special favor to Israel, " the goat shall bear upon
him all their iniquities unto a land not inhab-
ited ;* and he," the fit man, "shall let go the goat
in the wilderness."

What was typified by the goat that, by lot, ("the
whole desposing" of which " is of the Lord," d ) was
devoted as a sin-ofiering for Israel, is not disputed
among Christians ; all are agreed, that it prefigured
Christ, who " being delivered by the determinate
counsel and fore-knowledge of God," fell an inno-
cent victim to avenging Justice for his guilty people, 8
But what was mystically signified by Azazel the
scape-goat, is far from being obvious ; and therefore
has been the subject of various conjectures.f My

* mn pK Erets gezerah may justly be rendered A land of cut*
ting off, or a land of separation, where their iniquities, by the
atonement, should be entirely cut of, or separated from them ;
rpTJ gezerah, being from 11-1 gazar, to cut off or separate. See
Parkhurst andBate under "in. And comp. Ezek. xli. 12, 13, 14, 15.

c Levit. xvi. 21, 22. d Pror. xvi. 33. e Acts ii. 23.

t Among Biblical Criticks, some of high distinction, contend
that SlKTy azazel, which we renders or the scape-goat does not
mean the goat itself, but either some mountain of that name, to
which the goat was sent ; So Le Clerk ; or some demon, to which
it was delivered ; So Spencer ; the prefix h lamed signifying to or
unto, as well as for. Accordingly, Bp. Patrick and Dr. Gill, per-
haps led by Spencer, supposed the live goat to typify Christ, as ex-
posed to the temptations of Satan in the wilderness. But, as the
live goat was not sent into the wilderness, till after the other was
slain, and its blood was carried within the vail, their application of
the type implies, that the temptations of Christ did not occur till
after his resurrection and ascension, whereas we know, that they
occurred before his crucifixion.

Bochart, not much amiss, affirms that SfKty azazel signifies
departure or removal. De animal. Sacr. P. I. lib. 55. The
literal signification of the word, however, including its prefix, must
be gathered thus : h lamed for, \y az a goat, and STK azal to go
away or wander about ; which together, may be rendered for the

320 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [SER. X.

own opinion is, that it was chiefly designed to typ-
ify the effect of Christ's vicarious death, and the
illustration thereof, which he would give in the doc-
trine of the gospel. 1. The effect of Christ's vica-
rious death ; for, as all the sins of national Israel,
ceremonially expiated by the blood of the slain goat,
were, by the other, borne away into a land of cutting
off, or ofseperation ; so all the sins of mystical Israel
being laid on Christ, and effectually expiated by his
precious blood, shed as a satisfactory atonement to
divine Justice, are, by consequence, virtually "re-
moved from them, as far as the east is from the
west." f And 2. The illustration thereof, which he
would give in the doctrine of the gospel: for, as
the high-priest, having made an atonement for the
people by the blood of the slain goat, sent the live
goat, ceremonially laden with their sins into the
wilderness ; g so Christ, " being delivered for our
offenses and raised again for our justification," there-
upon sent the report thereof, by the gospel, into the
gentile world, called the wilderness of the people*
To make this illustration, the preaching of the
gospel is eminently adapted ; it is the ministry of
reconciliation, the scope of which is to show, that
God by imputing the sins of the elect to Christ,
" hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin ;
that," by his imputing to us what Christ hath done
and suffered, " we might be made the righteousness
of God in him ;" that is, that we might be constitu-

f Is. liii. 6, 10, 11. Psal. ciii. 12. * Levit. xvi. 21. h Ezek.
xx. 35.

goat that goetk, or is sent away and wandereth about. See Tay-
lor's Heb. Lex. under \y. Our received version of the word, there-
fore, is not exceptionable.

SEE. X.] HI UR1M AND THUMM1M. 321

ted righteous in God's account, and in a manner
agreeable to the righteousness and holiness of his
nature and his law. 1

The scape-goat, however, in bearing away the
sins of national Israel, atoned for by the blood of
its fellow, typified the effect of Christ's vicarious
death, in removing the sins of mystical Israel, not
only virtually, but also experimentally. For God
having accepted the death of Christ as a satisfac-
tion to his Justice for our sins, through him, gives
his Holy Spirit unto us, by whose regenerating and
enlightening operations we are caused to feel and
bewail the evil of sin nay, are enabled by faith, a
fruit of the Spirit, to look upon him whom we have
pierced and mourn, and then grants to us the mani-
festation of pardon, by which the guilt and burden
of sin are removed from our troubled consciences,
and we have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ*

Nor was it without a typical design, that azazel,
the scape-goat, after being conducted by afit man
into the wilderness, was there let go. For so the
ceremonial law, which required that such animals
should be bound and offered, is done away in Christ; 1
and the gospel-report thereof, long confined among
the Jews, is made free to all nations. 1 " And though,
in the mystical sense, &fit man for this purpose, is
any one qualified and sent by Christ to preach the
gospel, yet, primarily and eminently, such a man
was found in Paul, who was specially ordained a
preacher, an apostle, a teacher of the gentiles* and

i 2 Cor. v. 31. k Acts ii. 33. 37. Titus iii. 5, 6, Zech. xii.
10. Rom. v. i. 12 Cor. iii. 14. Heb. x. 5. m Matt. x. 5. compared
with Matt, xviii. 19. and Mark xvi. 15. n 1 Tim. ii. 7.

322 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [SER. X-

who, understanding Judaism to be abolished? "was
determined not to know," that is, to make known
among his hearers, " any thing" as a ground of hope
for lost sinners, "save Jesus Christ and him cru-
cified."'

But while the above may justly be esteemed, what
was chiefly prefigured by the uses made of the two
goats respectively, on the day of expiation, we can
scarcely read their history, without beholding, as, in
the slain goat, a type of Christ put to death in the,
flesh, so, in the live goat, a type of him, as quicken-
cd by the Spirit ; or rather, as remaining alive in
his mediatorial office, even while his body was un*-
der the power of death/ Nor is it well possible for us,
to contemplate those two animals brought before the
Lord, by whose decision one of them must inevita-
bly die, without thinking of Christ and his church,
the latter as the offender, the former as her Surety,
on one of whom, divine Justice, required that the
penalty of the law should be executed, nor without
perceiving, that the lot, " by the determinate counsel
of God," falling upon HIM she thereby escaped. To
have required both to suffer, would have been in-
consistent with justice, human or divine. " If there-
fore ye seek me," said Christ to the officers, sent
to take him, "let these," pointing to his disciples,
" let these go their way." 8 And accordingly, it is
written, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse
of the law, being made a curse for us.' H

While, however, we thus contemplate Christ as
the antitype of the Jewish high-priest, we must

P 2 Cor. iii. 13. q 1 Cor. ii. 2. r 1 Pet. iii. 18. John iii-
13. Luke xxiii. 43. * John xviii. 8. l Gal. iii. 13.

SER. X.] HIS UR1M AND THUMMIM. 323

never forget, that in all things he has the pre-emi-
nence" This he has,

1. Personally. He is not, like the Jewish high-
priest, a mere man, but " the Son of God," clothed
in human nature. w And though he assumed real
humanity, and is therefore truly man, the man
Christ Jesus;* yet he is not, like the Jewish high-
priest, a man of sinful infirmities ; y but is holy,
harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners*
Hence,

2. In the matter and manner of his offering.
The Jewish high-priest offered beasts ; but Christ
offered himself. And even the beasts were com-
paratively favored: they were put to death in the
ordinary way ; but Christ, by crucifixion , r and though
their " bodies were burned without the camp," yet
not till after they were dead and their blood was
carried into the sanctuary ; but Christ, at the same
time that he was bleeding away his immaculate life,
under exquisite torture upon the cross, was also ex-
posed to the fire of divine wrath due to his guilty
people ; he was made a curse for us.*

3. In the efficacy of his sacrifice. He needed not,
like those high-priests who had infirmity, "daily
and yearly" to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins,
and then for the people's," never for his own sins, for
he had none nor repeatedly, to atone for the sins
of his people ; " for this he did once, when he offer-
ed up himself;" having by this " one offering perfect-
ed for ever them that are sanctified" 5 them that

u Col. i. 16. w Heb. iv. 14. x 1 Tim. ii. 5. r Ibid. vii. 28.
z Ibid. ver. 26. a Ibid. xiii. 1 1 , 12. Gal. iii. 13. b Heb. vii. 27. x.
1. 14.

324 THE BLESSING OF LEVl. [SEE. X.

are set apart in eternal election, " by God the Father,
preserved by Jesus Christ, and called."

4. In the sanctuary and tabernacle in which he
officiates. The Jewish high-priest "entered only
into " a worldly sanctuary," the holy places of which
were but " figures of the true," and performed his
service in a literal tabernacle, which was only a type;
but Christ hath entered into the true Sanctuary,
"heaven itself," and there performs his intercessory
office, as here he did his sacrificial, in his appro-
priate body, "the true tabernacle," which, both in
its conception and in its resurrection, "the Lord
pitched and not man." d The comparative advan-
tages hence arising to the church are obviously
great. For, whereas the Levitical high-priest could
only represent national Israel before the Shccheenah,
the symbol of the divine presence, Christ represents
mystical Israel before the real and immediate pre-
sence of God :" e thus securing to us acceptance in
Ungracious presence on earth/ and admission to his
glorious presence in heaven. Christ is already glo-
rified, and when he shall appear, his people shall
appear with him in glory. , g

5. In the dispatch and perfection of his work.
The Jewish high-priest performed his work by de-
grees ; and though, on the day of atonement, he en-
tered, at least, three several times into the holy of
holies, he was not suffered to abide, nor even
to sit down there ; h but had to go out, to make still

c Jude Ver. 1. d Heb. ix. 1. 24. viii. 2. x. 5. Luke i. 35. Acts
xvii. 31. Heb. ix. 24. f Ibid. iv. 16. * Col. iii. 4. h Heb. x.
11.

SER. X.] HIS UR1M AND TIIUMMIM. 325

additional sacrifices. But Christ, having offered up
himself as an atoning sacrifice for the sins of his
people, "by his own blood entered once into the
holy place," heaven itself, "having obtained eternal
redemption for us;" 1 and, instead of having to go
out to repeat the sacrifice or to offer any additional
ones, he "for ever sat down on the right hand of
God." k And even on the sacred day of expiation,
the high-priest, as an evidence of the imperfection
and sin which mingled both with his own services
and with those of the people, was required, in con-
cluding the solemnities of the occasion, to wash his
flesh and change his garments, and then offer his
burnt-offering and the burnt offering of the people,
to make an atonement for himself and for them." 1
But, as there is no imperfection in Christ, so not in
his sacrifice; "he offered himself without spot to
God ;" m and though believers, in the eye of God's
omniscience, are chargeable with much imperfection
in worship, and with many sins in life, both of omis-
sion and of commission, yet, -in the eye of his aveng-
ing justice, " the blood of Jesus Christ his Son,"
once shed, "eleanseth us from all sin. n Nay more,
the types being imputatively charged with sin, and
having no virtue really to atone for it, defiled rather
than purified those who touched them. Hence, even
her that led away the scape-goat, and they that car-
ried forth and burnt the bodies of the beasts that
were slain as sin-offerings, were thereby rendered
ceremonially unclean, and had to wash their clothes
and bathe themselves in water, before they might

i Heb. ix. 12, k Ibid. x. 12. Levit. ,xvi. 24. m Heb. ix. 14.
n 1 John i. 7.

326 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [sER. X.

come into the Jewish camp. But, on the contrary,
Christ having put away sin by the sacrifice of him-
self, all who are enabled to lay the hand of faith on
HIM, as crucified, risen, and set forth in the gospel,
instead of being defiled thereby, are effectually
cleansed; "by him all that believe are justified from
all things ;" p for, although " it is not possible that the
blood of bulls and of goats should put away sin ;" q
yet the precious blood of Christ, vicariously shed for
us, and by the Holy Ghost applied to us, can and
does " purge our consciences from dead works, to
serve the living God." r

6. In the order of his priesthood. He is that
" Priest that should rise after the order of Melchiz-
edec, and not be called after the order of Aaron;"
he not being of the tribe to which the Aaronic priest-
hood appertained ; iC for it is evident that our Lord
sprang out of Judah, of which tribe Moses spake
nothing concerning the priesthood. 8 Like Melchiz-
edec, he is both a Priest and a King " a Priest
upon his throne." 1 Besides, the Aaronic order was
abolished with the Jewish dispensation, to which
only it was appropriate ; u but the order of Melchiz-
edec is perpetuated in the priesthood of Christ,
"who is a Priest for ever after the order of Melchiz-

7. In the duration and excellence of the cove-
nant of which he is Mediator. The covenant to
Aaron, when confirmed to Phinehas, his descendant
by Eleazar, is indeed called "the covenant of an ever-
lasting priesthood," yet not an everlasting covenant ; x

o Levit. xvi. 26. 28. P Heb. ix. 26. Acts xiii. 39. * Heb. x. 4.
r Ibid. ix. 14. 8 Ibid. vii. 11. 13, 14. l Zech. vi. 13. u Heb.
vii. 12. 18, 19. w Psal. ex. '4. Heb. vii. 21. * Num. xxv. 13.

SER. X.] HIS URIM AND THUMMtM. 327

and the Aaronic priesthood itself, is called everlast-
ing merely as it was originally given to Aaron and
his house for an inheritance, and afterward, upon the
tacit condition of good behaviour, restricted and con-
firmed to Phinehas, son of Eleazar, 7 and to his seed,
throughout all their generatians, to the end of the Mo-
saic economy and,' as it was a shadow of the priest-
hood of Christ, which is incessant and interminable.
The grant to Aaron suffered no interruption, and
though, no doubt for some abuse of the office in the fa-
mily of Phinehas, the priesthood was transferred from
the house of Eleazar, Aaron's third son, to that of
Ithamar, his fourth son, 2 and remained there from Eli
to Abiathar, inclusive, a lapse of about 120, some
say 150 years yet, in Zadok it was restored to the
house of Eleazar, and continued among the de-
scendants of Phinehas his son,* until the cap-
tivity, and even down to the days of Herod and
so to the times of the Messiah.^ But the COVE-
NANT OF GRACE, of which CHRIST is the MEDI-
ATOR, is absolutely everlasting. As the covenantee
of the elect, He was " set up from everlasting"* in
his love to their persons, and in his covenant-engage-
ments on their behalf, his goings forth have been
from of old, from everlasting ; b and accordingly, the
blood which, in fulfilment of that ancient compact, he
shed for them, is emphatically the blood of the ever-
lasting covenant. 6 Compared, therefore, either with

* 1 Chron. vi. 4. z Exo. vi. 23. I Sam. ii. 11. 2734. iv. 18.
1 Chron. xxiv. 3.

* Who must not be confounded with Phinehas the son of Eli.
1 Sam. ii. 34.

t 1 Kings ii. 35. 1 Chron. vi. 4 15. Ezra. vii. 1 5. iii. 2.
See also Ludovicus Capellus, Chron. Sacra. Tab. xiv. and Selden,
de Success, ad Pontiff. L. i. c. 5.

Prov. viii. 23. b Micah v. 2. e Heb. xiii. 20.

328 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [gER. X.

Moses or with Aaron, " He obtained a more excellent
ministry, by how much also he is the Mediator of a
better covenant, which was established upon better
promises"* promises of better things than the earth-
ly Canaan and temporal prosperity promises full
of grace and of glory ; and which, being made to an
infallible covenantee, are all infallibly absolute
even "yea and Amen, unto the glory of God by
us." 6 And,

Once more, In the peculiarity and perpetuity of
his station. In Aaron's order, there was a numerous
and rapid succession particularly in the latter part
of it. " They truly were many priests," mean-
ing high-priests, " because," as a proof of their
imperfection, personal and official, and to make room
for the Messiah, "they were not suffered to con-
tinue by reason of death ;* but this Priest, because

d Heb. viii. 6. e 2 Cor. i. 20.

* According to Calmet (Diet, under Priest,) there were eighty-
one Jewish high-priests ; and who may be arranged as follows.
Under the tabernacle, eleven, beginning with Aaron, Exo. xxviii.
1, and ending with Abiathar, 1 Sam. xxii. 20 23. and xxiii. 9.
Under the first temple, fifteen, beginning with Zadok, the son of
Ahitub and father of Ahimaaz, 1 Chron. vi. 8 ; [a different person
from the after-mentioned Zadok, the father of Shallum or Me-
shullum; I Chron. vi. 12. ix. 11. and Neh. xi. 11; the former was
under Solomon, the latter under Jotham;] and ending with
Seraiah, (son of Azariah and father of Jehozadak ; 1 Chron. vi.
14 ;) who was taken by Nabuzaz-adan, and, by the authority of
Nebuchadnezzar, put to death at Riblah. 2 Kings xxv. 18 21.
and Jer. lii. 24 27. [Calmet, Brown, and others say that Zadok
was made high-priest by Saul and that he officiated, as such, in
the reign of David ; but they cite no text for either, nor have I
been able to find one to support 'either. I therefore, with the
Chald. Parap. on 1 Chron. xviii, 16, believe that Zadok, as well
as Ahimclech or Abimelech, the son of Abiathar, was only a sagan,

SER. X.] HIS URIM AND THUMM1M. 329

he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.
Wherefore, he is able also to save them to the
uttermost, that come unto God by him, seeing he
ever liveth to make intercession for them." Heb.
vii. 2325.*

or deputy under Jlbiathar,i\\\ Solomon " put him in his room.*'
[1 Kings ii. 27. 35. Comp. 2 Sam. viii. 17. 1 Chron. xviii. 16.]
During the captivity, one, namely Jehozadak, son of Seraiah; that
is, he was high-priest of right; but whether he ever officiated, as
such, is justly doubted. 1 Chron. vi. 14, 15. And, under the
second temple fifty-four, beginning with Jeshua, more commonly
called Joshua, (son of Jehozadak called also Jozadak,) who
returned from the captivity; Ezra ii. 1, 2. iii. 2. and Zech.iii. 1 ;
and ending with Phannias, whose character Josephus represents to
have been little better than brutal. He became high-priest about
A. D. 68, only two years before the temple was destroyed by the
Romans, and the Jewish priesthood abolished for ever. See
Josephus, de bello, 1. iv. c. 5. and Antiq. 1. xx. c. 8. Of the high-
priests under the second temple, CaiapJias, so often mentioned in
the New Testament, was the forty-first. Matt. xxvi. 3. 57. John
xi. 49 52. xviii. 14. 28. Acts iv. 6.

* In reference to the work of the high-priest, on the day of
atonement, many, no doubt, will think my remarks prolix, and in
several things irrelative to my subject. Both may be true. Yet
I am persuaded, that whoever carefully reads the sixteenth chapter
of Leviticus, will excuse my efforts (even if esteemed unsuccessful)
to facilitate the understanding of it ; and, that no lover of Christ
will think it a waste of time to read the instances noticed of hia
comparative pre-eminence.

Some too, following Patrick and Gill, will pronounce me wrong,
in supposing that the high-priest, on the day of atonement, had
on the Ephod, to which appertained the breast-plate with the
Urim and Thummim. But, it is evident, that he acted, on that day,
as the representative of Israel ; both when he offered their sacri-
fice for sin; Levit. xvi. 15. 33, 34; and when, [for them, he
entered into the holy and most holy places ; Ver. 2. 12 16 ; yet,
that he might represent them, he was required to have the breast-
plate, with their names in it upon his heart, when he went in be-
fore the Lord continually. SeeExo. xxviii. 21. 29,30. Therefore,
highly as I respect the judgment of Commentators and Critics,

330 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [SER. X.

Having dwelt so long on the sacerdotal services
appertaining to the day of atonement, I shall be the
more brief in showing,

Fourthly, That believers realize in Christ, what
the high-priest, with Urim and Thummim on his
breast, did for the Israelites, in asking divine coun-
sel on their behalf. For,

1. As none but the high-priest might wear the
Ephod with the Urim and Thummim, so none but
he could ask counsel of God in this way. Even
Joshua, as noticed (p. 281) had to stand before
Eleazer the priest, that he might ask counsel for him,
after the judgment of Urim before the Lord. h Thus
none, however dignified either in civil or religious
life, can obtain the knowledge of God, or of his
will, or have access unto him, through any other
medium than Christ : no man knoweth the Son, but
the Father ; neither knoweth any man the Father,
save the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him*

who think otherwise, I feel bound to believe, that, on the day of
atonement, the high-priest wore the Ephod and its appendages
over the linen garments ; Ver. 4 ; as, on other days, he wore them
over different garments, while officially employed. The typical
design of his work required it. For, the holy linen garments, in
which, as the representative of national Israel, he officiated on
the day of atonement, and which he left in the tabernacle of the
congregation ; Ver. 23 ; fitly typified the holy and innocent human
nature of Christ, in which, as the Representative of mystical
Israel, he was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross ;
Philip, ii. 8 ; and which, for a time, he left in Joseph's tomb ;
Matt, xxvii. 57 60 ; also his perfect righteousness, as Mediator,
which he Jinished in his death ; John xix. 30 ; and which he left
for his church, (mystically the congregation of Israel,} to whom,
in the eternal council, it was granted, that she should be arrayed in
fine linen> clean and white ; for the jine linen is the righteousness of
the saints. Rev. xix. 8.

h Nnm. xxvii. 21. ' Matt. xi. 27.

SER. X.'J HIS URIM AND THUMIVIIM, 331

No man, saith Christ, cometh unto the Father, but by

me*

2. As the high-priest, by means of Urim and
Thummim, asked divine counsel only for God's Israel,
or, on their behalf, for their kings, or for their
house of judgment ; so Christ acts as a Counsel-
lor and Intercessor, not for mankind in common, but
for those whom the Father hath given him 1 those
for whom He laid down his life those whom, as
called, He makes kings and priests unto God? and,
as baptized, admits into the gospel-church ; which,
under the New Testament, is the House of Judg-
ment? " I pray for them," said He to the Father ;
adding, " I pray not for the world, but for them
which thou hast given me." q

3. The high-priest, by Urim and Thummim, ask-
ed divine counsel only in relation to matters of great
importance matters in which the glory of God and
the welfare of Israel were greatly concerned. And
such, pre-eminently, are the matters to which the
intercessions of Christ relate. As, for instance, the
effectual calling of his redeemed : Ask of me, said
the Father to him, and I will give thee the heathen

for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of
the earth for thy possession.* The comfort and in-
struction of believers : / will pray the Father, said
Christ to his disciples, and he shall give you another
Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even
the Spirit of truth, $fc. B That they may be kept from
the evil that is in the world, and be sanctified through
the truth. 1 That their faith fail not. u And, that
ultimately they may be with him in heaven to behold
his glory. Moreover,

, Johnvi. 39. m Ibid. x. 15. n Rev. i. 6. Acts ii. 41. PMatt.

iviii. 1517. 1 Cor. vi. 15. iJohn xvii. 9. 20. * Psal. ii. 8.

John xiv. 16, 17. l Ib. xvii. 15. 17. "Lukexxiii. 32. w John xvii. 24.

THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [sfiR. X

4. As the responses which God, by Urim and
Thummim, returned to Israel, were never, like those
returned to the heathen by the lying oracles of Sa-
tan, equivocal and false, but always explicit and true ;
so are all the answers which He returns to believers
through Christ, who knoweih all things,* and who is
the faithful witness. 1

From our subject, we learn,

1. The obligations which all the race of Adam
are under to Christ, for their various kinds and de-
grees of light. The natural sun in the heavens,
and the rational soul in man, are both among the
all things created by him u From him are all divine
communications: patriarchs, prophets, and apos-
tles, were only organs of utterance ; the oracle was
Christ speaking by his Spirit in them. w Hence, the
solar rays and the light of reason, common to man-
kind the light of revelation, wherever granted, and
the light of grace, to whomsoever given, are alike
from HIM, with whom are the URIM, that is, lights.
All effectual knowledge of the divine perfections,
which the saints on earth enjoy, they receive by the
internal light of the Spirit, enabling them, by the
external light of revelation, to behold the face of
HIM, who is the brightness of the Father's glory, and
the express image of his person : x " For God," saith
an apostle, " who commanded the light to shine out
of darkness, hath shined into our hearts," (riot, as
some think, to stir up a latent light supposed to be
in all by nature, but) " to GIVE the light of the knowl-
edge of the glory of God in the face, the manifes-
tation, of Jesus Christ." 7 Let us then, my believ-
ing hearers, in all our times of darkness and sad-
John xxi. 17. ' Rev. i. 5. John i. 3. Col. i. 16. w 1 Pet.
i. 11. x Heb. i. 3. corap. John xiv. 3. y 2 Cor. iv. 6.

SER. X.] HIS URIJVI AND THUMMIM. 833

ness, look to Christ for light the light of instruc-
tion and the light of comfort ; remembering that he
hath said, / am come a light into the world, that
whosoever believeth on me, should not abide in dark-
ness. 2 Moreover, the light of that ultimate and eter-
nal glory, which the saints shall enjoy in heaven,
will emanate from Christ ; it will be his glory that
shall be revealed in us ; and by which we shall be
like him, and so appear with him in glory* What
manner of persons, then, ought we to be in all holy
conversation and godliness / b

2. The blessedness of all true believers. They
are experimentally as well as federally in Christ,
with whom are also the THUMMIM, perfections. United
to him, they have all the perfections of the divine na-
ture engaged and employed for their safety, temporal
and eternal. In him, however destitute in them-
selves, they are blessed with all spiritual blessings 9
and, therefore, with all requisit grace and gifts
with the irreversible pardon of all their sins
with a perfect and everlastingly justifying righteous-
ness with a perfection of new-covenant promises
and, to crown all, with an irrevocable title to eter-
nal life. See pp. 299 303. Besides, under his dis-
pensation, the church is blessed with a perfection
of gospel doctrines, ordinances and discipline ; and,
therefore, is neither required nor allowed, either to
borrow from abolished ceremonies, or to adopt from
human traditions.* In a word, believers, Ye are
complete in him. A

3. To whom we, who through grace have believed,
should commit our cause, when disputed by Satan,
by legalists, by sensualists, or by unbelief; namely,

z John xii. 46. a Rom. viii. 17, 18. 29. 1 John iii. 2. Col. iii. 4.
*2 Pet. iii. 11. c Col. ii. 1622. d Ibid. ver. 10.

334 THE BLESSING OP LEVI. [sER. X.

to him, who is our Advocate and Counsellor, even
JESUS CHRIST THE RIGHTEOUS, whose propitiatory
sacrifice offered for our sins, is, on our behalf, an
ever-availing plea before the throne. In his name,
therefore, let us believingly and hopefully present all
our petitions with him, let us leave all our cares,
knowing that he carethfor us and, to him, let us bring
all our hard questions, assured that his understanding
is infinite that he has interest enough in heaven to
obtain whatever is best for us, and that, to us, as to
his disciples of old, he is saying, Whatsoever ye shall
ask the Father in my name, he will give it you*

4. The deplorable darkness and wretchedness of
the unbelieving Jews ; the true Urim and Thummim
being no longer with Levi, but with CHRIST, whom
they reject and blaspheme ! Nor is the condition
of unbelieving gentiles, who neglect and despise
him, any better. Let both therefore, consider that
fearful admonition which the apostle addressed to
such at Antioch : Beware lest that come upon you
which is spoken of in the prophets, Behold ye des-
pisers, and wonder, and perish. { And,

Finally, The great superiority of the evangelical
dispensation compared with the legal. The law made
nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope
did. g The law had indeed a shadow of good things
to come* but, in the gospel, these good things, even
life and immortality are brought to light. 1 Under
the former, Christ was vailed in ceremonies, but un-
der the latter, he is evidently set forth* Therefore,
even that ichich was made glorious, had no glory in
this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth.*

8 John xvi. 23. 1 Pet. v. 7. Comp. 1 Kings x. 1. &c. f Acts xiii.
40, 41. Hab. i. 5. Job xxxvi. 18. Mark xvi. 16. *Heb. vii. 19.
hlbid.x.l. ^Tim.i.lO. k 2Cor.iii. 14. Gal.iii. 1. ! 2 Cor.iii.10.

SERMON XL

THE BLESSING OF LEVI.
HIS DEPORTMENT AND SERVICE,

DEUT. xxx. 8 11. And of Levi ht said, Let thy Tkummim
and thy Urim be with thy Holy One, whom thou didst prove at
Massah, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Mcri-
bah ; who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not sein
him ; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own
children: for they have observed thy word, and kept thy covenant.
They shall teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law : they
shall put incense before thee, and whole burnt-sacrifice upon thine
altar. Bless, LORD, his substance, and accept the work of his
hands : smite through the loins of them that rise against him, and
of them that hate him, that they rise not again.

IN blessing the tribe of Levi, Moses is ample and
diffuse ; not, however, because he was of that tribe,
and, as such, ambitious to aggrandize himself; for,
of his relation thereto he takes no notice, nor had
he any control over the Spirit of prophecy ; but speak-
ing as he was moved by the Holy Ghost, he thus dis-
tinguished the tribe which God delighted to honor.

The Urim and Thummim, with the prophetic
prayer respecting them, being already considered,
your attention is now invited to the next part of Levi 's
blessing, and which is expressed in the words fol-
lowing : Who said unto his fatJier and to his mo-
ther, I have not seen him ; neither did he acknowledge
his brethren, nor knew his own children : for they
observed thy word> and kept thy covenant.
45

336 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [gER. XI.

They shall teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel
thy law: they shall put incense before thee, and
whole burnt- sacrifice upon thine altar.

These words respect, partly the high-priest, partly
the inferior priests, and partly the common Levites ;
and describe both

Their deportment, and

Their work.

1. Their deportment. This was strictly impar-
tial : who said unto his father and to his mother, I
have not seen him, neither did he acknowledge his
brethren, nor knew his own children, fyc*

Thus, in effect, the high-priest emphatically said
and did, in discharging some of his official duties:
yet, not from any want of filial, fraternal, or parental
affection, but in obedience to a positive divine in-
junction. For the Lord, speaking by Moses, said,
" He that is the high-priest among his brethren, up-
on whose head the anointing oil was poured, and
that is consecrated to put on the garments," those
peculiar to his station, " shall not," as might a com-

* The literal obscurity in the former part of this declaration, is
occasioned by a wrong version of the prefix h lamed ; which,
thouuh most frequently used as the sign of the dative case, is
used here to form the genitive preposition ; and which, therefore!
instead of being rendered unto, as before his father, and to, as be-
fore his mother, should, in both instances, be rendered of, or con-
ccrning,or about. See Ling. Sacra, Vol. 1, p. 142. This parti-
cle being so rendered, the words, rid of that obscurity, read thus :
" who said 0/his father and of his mother, I have not seen him,"
or her, as the ease might be ; that is, I have not become defiled by
going in to see any dead body, not even that of my father or
mother, but have, in this respect, treated parents, brethren and
children as if strangers. So this particle is rendered in Gen. xx.
13. " say of me, He is my brother ;" and in Chap. xxvi. 7. " the
men of the place asked him of his wife.

SER. XI.] HIS DEPORTMENT AND SERVICE. 337

mon Israelite, or, in certain cases, an ordinary priest,
" uncover his head, nor rend his clothes," that is, in
token of mourning at the death or at the funerals of
his nearest relations. "Neither" (so strict was the
injunction) "shall he go in to any dead body," that
is, into an apartment where any dead body lay,
" nor defile himself," by so doing, " for his father
or his mother," when lying dead ; and therefore
much less for one of his brethren, one of his own
nation, or tribe, or even one descended from the
same parents ; nor might he, in this way, know his
own children. Moreover, to complete the divine re-
strictions under which, in these respects, the high-
priest was laid, and withal to suggest the reasons of
them, it was added, " Neither shall he go out of the
sanctuary," that is, out of the tabernacle or temple,
while bis attendance there was required no, not
even to pay his last respects to a dying parent, or to
see the corpse, or attend its interment; "nor pro-
fane the sanctuary of his God," by returning thither
before purified, after having touched a dead body, or
even a grave, by which a man was rendered cere-
monially unclean, and so unfit to enter the sanctuary,
for seven days. See Levit. xxi. 10 12. Comp. Chap.
x. 7. and Num. xix. 11 14.

For an obvious reason, there was a difference
made in the law between the high-priest and ordinary
ones, in regard to mourning for the dead, &c. To an
ordinary priest, it was permitted to attend the funeral
of one near of kin to him ; because, though he thereby
became defiled, (Levit. xxi. 2, 3.) his place, during his
defilement, might be supplied by another priest who
was clean, or even by a clean Levite ; 2 Cor. xxix.

338 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [sER. XI*

34 ; but, to the high-priest, this was not permitted,
because in the event of his becoming ceremonially
defiled, there was no substitute the service of the
sanctuary must be suspended, till he was purified,
or till another was consecrated.*

The ordinary priests, however, were likewise re-
quired to observe the strictest impartiality in the dis-
charge of their official duties ; as, for instance, in the
examination of witnesses ; Deut. xix* 15 21 ; in
the trial of a suspected wife, by the waters of jealousy ;
Num. v. 11 31; and in all cases of ceremonial
uncleanness, in regard to which they were required,
without partiality, to separate between the clean
and the unclean among the children of Israel. See
Levit. xv. 31.

But the testimony given in the text, concerning the
fidelity and impartiality of Levi, seems to respect the
tribe in common, and was often very remarkably veri-
fied in them ; for in the execution of judgment upon
bold offenders, they knew neither parent, brother, nor
child. When " there went out a fire from the Lord"
and slew Nadab and Abihu, for their unauthorized
offering, Aaron their father held his peace, he did not
murmur, nor was he allowed to mourn; Levit. x.
1 6 ; when Phinehas beheld a brother-Israelite in
crime, he thrust him through with a Javelin ; Num.

* Hence, to provide the more effectually against so unhappy an
occurrence, this distinguished officer of the sanctuary, had, within
the sacred precincts, a small but commodious house, called Lisck-
catli cohen gadol, the parlor of the high-priest. In this he spent
the intervals between the times of his official services, and so re-
mained all day within the consecrated inclosure. At night he went
to his own dwelling-house, and nowhere else, and which, after the
erection of the temple, was always in Jerusalem. So Cunseus
(out of Mass. Midoth, Lib. ii.) De Repub. Hebr. Cap. iii.

SER. XI.] HIS DEPORTMENT AND SERVICE. 339

xxv. 7, 8 ; and the sons of Korah, who were Levites,
(Exo. vi. 19 >-21.) refused to join in the gainsaying
of their wicked father, and so perished not withfo'ra,
Dathan and Abiram, when the earth opened her
mouth and swallowed them up," nor when "the fire de-
voured" his company of " two hundred and fifty men,
and they became a sign," an example, to deter
others from a like offense : the children of Korah
died not*

Chiefly, however, the Levites exemplified the
character given of them in the text, in the execu-
tion of judgment upon the worshipers of the golden
calf: " Then Moses stood in the gates of the camp,
and said, Who is on the LORD'S side 1 let him come
unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered them-
selves together unto him." In thus siding with Mo-
ses, they sided with the LORD. " And he" (Moses)
" said unto them, Thus saith the LORD GOD of Israel,
Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and
out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay
every man his brother, and every man his companion,
and every man his neighbor." Nor did they hesi-
tate to execute the fearful injunction. For, "the
children of Levi did according to the word of Moses,"
it being according to the word of the Lord : " and
there fell of the people that day about three thou-
sand men." b

The Levites, in performing these acts of seeming
cruelty, might appear more like ferocious barbarians,
than like the ministers of righteousness ; neverthe-
less, they herein complied with the revealed will of

Num. xxvi. 911. Comp. Chap. xvi. 16 40. and Jude, ver.
11. b Exo. xxxii. 26 29.

340 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [sER. XI.

God ; to whom Moses, in the text, bears this farther
testimony concerning them: "They have observed thy
word and kept thy covenant ;" they observed his
word of command, and kept his covenant delivered
to Israel at Sinai ; and especially that part of it
which forbad idolatry. Hence, in consideration of
these acts, God confirmed to this tribe the covenant,
or promise, of the priesthood ; saying of Phinehas,
11 Behold I give unto him my covenant of peace, and
he shall have it and his seed after him, even the
covenant of an everlasting priesthood" d called ever-
lasting, because it was to continue as long as the
legal dispensation, and was a type of that priesthood
which is absolutely everlasting.*

The Levitcs, in the character given of them in this
part of our subject, were variously typical.

First, they were typical of CHRIST, and particu-
larly in the person of the high-priest.

As the high-priest, according to the obligations
he was under, might not leave the service of God,
out of affection or respect, even for his father or
mother ; so Christ, being bound by covenant-stipu-
lation, could not, and did not neglect the work as-
signed to him by his heavenly F'ather, even whesi
respect to the anxieties and wishes of his nearest
fleshly connections seemed to require it. Of this
he gave a remarkable instance at the age of twelve
years, when his mother Jfar^and his reputed father
Joseph, after having anxiously sought him for three
days, found him in the temple, sitting in the midst
of the doctors, both hearing them and asking them

e Exo. xix. 5 8. and xx. 5. d Num. xxv. 12, 13.
* Heb. vii. 2124. SeeSer. x. p. 327.

SER. XI.] HIS DEPORTMENT A#D SERVICE. 341

questions ; for, when his mother said unto him, Son
why hast thou thus dealt with us ? behold thy father
and I have sought thee sorrowing he, designing to
give a thus early intimation of his divine Sonship
and mission, merely replied, How is it that ye
sought me ? wist ye not that I must be about my
Father's business 1 C The same course he also ob-
served after he had entered upon his public minis-
try ; for when, at a certain time while he was
preaching, one said unto him, Behold thy mother
and thy brethren stand without desiring to speak
with thce, he would not suspend his labor to gratify
their request ; but, happily a turning the occurrence in-
to a lesson of instruction, took occasion therefrom, to
show that fleshy relation to him was comparatively
of little account. Who, said he, is my mother ? and
who are my brethren? Thus speaking, he might
design to intimate, that by nature they were no bet-
ter than others, and that, without faith in him as the
Messiah, they must perish as well as others. Or he
might put these questions merely to excite attention ;
intending to show, as he preceded to do, that he es-
teemed those as the nearest of kin to him, who had re-
ceived of his Spirit had believed in him and, as an
evidence of it, were observant of his Father's revealed
willthat such, in a word, he regarded as allied to him-
self, by every endearing relation : " And he stretched
forth his hand toward his disciples and said, Behold
my mother and my brethren ! For whosoever shall
do the will of my Father who is in heaven, the same
is my br other , and sister, and mother. rf Let be-
lievers hence learn, that the church of Christ, and

Luke ii. 4152. f Matth. xii. 4650.

342 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [SER. XI.

his members individually, ought to be dearer to them
than even a natural mother, or mere natural brothers
and sisters, or fleshly relations in any degree. And, if
thus united and interested in Zion, our hearts are de-
voutly set upon seeking her good : the resolution of
each thus affected, is well expressed in the following
lines

" My soul shall pray for Zion still,

While life or breath remains ;
There my best friends and kindred dwell,

There God my Saviour reigns."

Were the levitical priests, without respect of
persons, to pronounce individuals clean or un-
clean according to law and fact, g to determine causes
according to evidence, the witnesses being duly ex-
amined, 11 and, to execute judgment upon presumptu-
ous offenders without partiality I 1 the same is mani-
fest in the procedure of Christ. In his doctrine, he
separates between believers and unbelievers, without
any respect to national or civil distinction ; pronounc-
ing the former clean* and the latter in their
sins; 1 the former, saved, and the latter condemned
already 11 nay, dying so, lost inevitably and for ever.
In his discipline he has provided that causes shall
be decided according to evidence ; requiring that
every word or charge shall be established by two or
three witnesses.* And, in the execution of Judg-
ment upon obdurate rebels, he observes justice with-
out connivance or partiality. The Jews themselves,
for instance, though his own nation, when the day

? Levit. xv. 31. h Deut. xix. 15. ifixo. xxxii. 27. k John xv. 3
1 Ibid viii. 24. m Luke vii. 50. John v. 34. n Ibid iii. 18, Ver. 36.
PMath:xviii;l5 17,

SER. XI.] HIS DEPORTMENT AND SERVICE. 343

of their judicial visitation arrived, received no favor
at his hand : for wrath is come upon them to the
uttermost.* Can it then be doubted, that pur-
suant to the divine decree, he will execute the threat-
ened vengeance upon mystery babylon, including
the beast and the false prophet?* Or, that at the
appointed day, he will say to the finally impeni-
tent, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire,
prepared for the devil and his angels ? Matt. xxv.
46. Comp. John v. 28, 29.*

Did the levitical priests, moreover, in rightly per-
forming their work, observe the word and keep the
covenant of God ? How much more perfectly did
Christ, as Mediator, observe the word of God the
Father, and keep the covenant into which he had
entered with him, as the covenaiitee of the elect ! /
came down from heaven, said Christ, not to do mine
own will separately, but, in concurrence therewith,
the will of him that sent me ; K I do always, said he,
those ihings that please him 1 and to which the
Father himself bare record, saying, This is my be-
loved Son in whom I am well pleased. 11 And, as up-
on the zeal manifested by Phinehas, God, by Moses,
confirmed to him the covenant of the Aaronic priest-
hood, so when Christ had manifested his meditator-
ial zeal, not by executing vengeance upon trans-
gressors, but by magnifying the law and putting
away sin by the sacrifice of himself, God, by Paul,
renewed and confirmed to him the declaration, Thou

<U Thess. ii. 16. r Rev. xvii. 1. xviii. 21. xix. 20.
* On the word everlasting see Ser. ii. page 71, and Ser. v. p. 182,
note.

John vi. 38.Mbid viii. 29. "Matt. iii. 17.
46

344 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [SER. XI.

art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchis-
idec.

Secondly, The Levites, in the character here given
of them, were in some respects, typical of Christ's
ministers.

These, like the Levites, and in imitation of their
blessed Master, must not neglect the work of the
ministry out of respect to the persons or wishes of
their nearest relations or dearest friends. When
one whom Christ had called to this work, begged
leave only to go first and bury his father, (i Jesus
said unto him, Let the dead lury their dead,
but go thou and preach the kingdom of God"*

w Heb. vii. 21. Comp. Psal. ex. 4.

* Let the dead bury their dead] This singular injunction, seems
to imply, that the father of the man addressed had died in a carnal
state that he had relations and friends enough in the same state,
to take the charge of his interment and therefore, that this man,
whom Christ had called by his grace, and called to preach the gos^
pel, and whom, moreover, at that particular time, and probably on
some special occasion, he required to follow him, was, by this in^
junction, excused even from attending his father's funeral; to
attend which, under different circumstances, would have been, not
only his lawful privilege but his filial and bounden duty. Extra-
ordinary commands, however, are not to be plead as general rules*
See Gen. xxii. 2. and Matt. xix. 21. Nevertheless, *t may hence
be inferred, that the ministers of Christ, having the everlasting gos*
pel to preach to them that dwell on the earth, (Rev. xiv< 6.) are jus-
tifiable in omitting, not only many civilities, which from other men
are due to society, but also some relative duties, the omission of
which would in others be reprehensible.

This strange injunction suggests also another thought. The
deceased might have been not only a man of the world but rich ;
and, if so, there were many who esteemed it an honor to attend
his funeral. The rich man died and was buried, no doubt, with
great pomp and followed by a long and splendid procession. Luke

SER. XI.J HIS DEPORTMENT AND SERVICE. 345

And when " another" who, it should seem, had already
engaged in the work, said " Lord I will follow thee ;
but let me first go bid them farewell who are at my
house," even this was denied : " Jesus said unto
him, No man having put his hand to the plough,
and looking back, is jit for the kingdom of God*
Truly the king's business requireth haste. 1 Sam.
xxi. 8.

To gospel-ministers, even worldly conveniencies
and domestic comforts, however desirable, may
prove impediments ; they may occasion interruptions
in their studies, and thereby diminish their heavenly
mindedness and official usefulness. May not this
be the principal reason why it is so ordered in the
providence of God, that so many of Christ's minjs-

xvi. 22. Hence, let Christians in common, and especially gospel-
ministers, learn that, however lawful to them, they are under no
special obligation to attend the funerals of the rich and great of
the world ; there being always enough ready to seek this honor ;
and that rather it becomes them to be careful to attend the funerals
of the poor, and especially of the poor saints, who, in death as well
as during life, are, in many instances, shamefully neglected. The
righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart. Is. Ivii. 1.

Perhaps it will be said, that the assemblage at the funeral of a
distinguished worldling, is usually of such character as renders it the
more desirable that a gospel minister should be there to preach to
them. Granted : but how rarely, on such an occasion, is the oppor*
tunity for it given ! How often does it happen, that, at such a fu-
neral, though many ministers are collected, not one is asked to open
his mouth either to God or to the people ; and, unasked, no one
ventures to officiate, lest he should be thought to offend against the
yules of fashionable etiquette ! Not so at the funerals of the saints
whether rich or poor, and especially the latter. Here no such re-
straints are imposed ; on such an occasion, a minister, even linh
solicited, feels at liberty to speak a word in season,
? Luke fc. 5962.

346 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [SER. XI

ters have fewer attractions and more crosses in their
families, than other men ? and why, in so many in-
stances, they are called to suffer more than private
Christians, from the deception, intrigue and perfidy
of professed friends ? Their experience, in these re-
spects, though .extremely afflicting, is often over-
ruled for their own and Zion's good. A minister
thus circumstanced, finds his affections and his
confidence the more withdrawn from all creatures,
and in regard both to his comforts and his useful-
ness, is enabled the more cordially to say, Now,
LORD, what wait I for? my hope is in thee. y

Nor must a minister of Christ, from the love of lucre
or of ease, involve himself in secular pursuits, to the
neglect of his sanctuary labors or preparatory studies :
No man that warreth, entangleth himself with the
affairs of this life ; that he may please him who hath
chosen him to be a soldier. z How many ministers,
alas ! have become entangled in mercantile and civil
avocations! Those who have become thus entan-
gled to gratify a thirst for wealth or worldly distinc-
tion, are verily and highly censurable ; but many, it
must be admitted, have been driven to it of necessi-
ty ; the churches they have served having been
either unable or unwilling to support them.

How a minister, so far as his health and other cir-
cumstances permit, ought to employ his time, in pri-
vate as well as in public, may safely be gathered
from the following counsel, given by the aged Paul,
to Timothy, his son in the gospel : Give attendance
to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. By reading

. xxxix. 7. a 2 Tim. ii. 4.

SER. XI.] HIS DEPORTMENT AND SERVICE. 347

and comparing the Holy Scriptures, a minister
should become well versed in them ; that so, both
his exhortations to duty and his statements and il-
lustrations of doctrine, may be agreeable to them,
and that he may not (a^ many do) contradict in ex-
hortation what he teaches in doctrine. Neglect not,
adds the apostle, the gift that is in thee meditate
upon these things, the things contained in the sacred
books which he had counselled him to read, and the
ministerial duties he had enjoined him to perform
Give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting
may appear unto all. Take heed unto thyself, in
principle and practice, and to thy doctrine, that it
be scriptural ; continue in them, that is, in the faith-
ful discharge of all the duties specified ; for in do-
ing this, thou shalt instrumentally both save thyself
and them that hear thee. z Study to show thyself
approved unto God, a workman that needeth not
to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."
And, that Timothy and every gospel-minister might
be the more deeply affected with the authority, use-
fulness and sufficiency of that word, the apostle
adds, All Scripture is given by inspiration of God,
and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for cor-
rection, for instruction in righteousness, that the man
of God, both as a Christian and a minister, may be
perfect, in the knowledge of what he should teach,
being thoroughly furnished with an inspired direc-
tory unto all good works, devotional and ministerial,
without any addition either from Jewish tradition
or from his own invention. 15 And having thus assur-
ed Timothy of the divine authority, and perfect ful-

* 1 Tim. iv. 1316. 2 Tim. ii. 15. b 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17,

348 THE BLESSING OF LEV]. [SER. Xl

ness of the icord of truth, the apostle most solemn-*
ly enjoined him to publish it : I charge thee there-
fore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who
shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing
and his kingdom Preach the word, that word,
and that only, which is given by inspiration of God ;
be instant in season, be always ready at every usual
and stated time for preaching, also out of season -
be so conversant with your Bible and so disentan-
gled from the world, as to be prepared and at liberty
to embrace all occasions and opportunities for mi-
nisterial usefulness, however unexpected and out of
the ordinary way; and, in performing this work, re-
prove, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering, toward
the impenitent and refractory and with doctrine
also, which must never be forgotten by a minister
amid his highest strains of experimental and prac*
tical preaching.

To precede. As the ministers of Christ must
not be drawn from their work by the flatteries and
allurements of the world, so neither must they be
driven from it, by the reproaches and persecutions
of the world. These, by divine appointment, fall to
their lot: ye shall be hated of all nations for my
name's sake, said Christ to his apostles. d And
when he would assure Ananias that Paul was a
chosen vessel unto him, to bear his name before the
gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel, he
made no mention of any worldly riches, honors or
preferments, by which he should be distinguished,
but of the great sufferings he should endure ; these,

* % Tim. iv, 1, 2, &c. d Matt, xxiv. 9,

SKR. XI.] HIS DEPORTMENT AND SERVICE. 349

as it were, should be the evidence of his calling and
the badge of his apostleship : For, said his Master,
I will show him how great things he must suffer for
my name's sake.* Aware of this, Paul expected
great sufferings in his Master's cause, and was fear-
less and tranquil in the prospect of them : None of
these things move me } said he, neither count I my,
life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my
course with joy, and the ministry which I have re-
ceived, not of men, nor at the schools, but of the
Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of
God. { In Paul we behold strongly exemplified, the
happy effect of a minister's faith in God's personal
election of his people to grace and glory : I endure
all things, said he, for the elects sake, that they
may also, as well as himself, obtain the salvation
which is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory ; that is,
he would at all hazards, preach the gospel to Jews
and gentiles, and thereby encourage others to do
likewise, that the elect might be called to the know-
ledge of their interest in Christ, and that, being
called, they might be encouraged and advanced in
their heavenly journey/ For strength, however,
thus to labor and suffer, the apostle relied not on
himself but on his Lord and Master: I can do all
things, said he, through Christ who strengthened
me. h And accordingly, when he would exhort Ti-
mothy to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus
Christ, he wisely prefaced the exhortation with this
needful and encouraging direction : My son, be
strong in the grace that is in Christ JesusS

e Acts ix. 15, 16. t Ibid. xx. 24. * 2 Tim. ii.10. h Philip.
iv. 13. i2Tim.ii. 1.3.

350 THE BLESSING OF LEV1. [SER. XI.

Again. Gospel-ministers, in declaring and doing
the will of God, must, like the levitical priests, be
strictly impartial. In faithfulness to the nnregenerate,
whether rich or poor, noble or ignoble, and whe-
ther, to us, known or unknown, friends or foes, we
must show from the Scriptures, that however diver-
sified in other respects, they are all dead in tres-
passes and sins that, as such, they are under the
condemnatory sentence of God's righteous law, and
that they must be born of his Spirit and justified in
his Son, or perish for ever : for by one man sin en-
tered into the world and death by sin ; and so death
passed upon all men, for that all have sinned ; nay
more, by the offense of one, judgment came upon all
men to condemnation^ Except, therefore, a man
be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God ;
and except he be justified in Christ, he cannot be
saved ; there being no salvation in any other} And,
in addressing delinquent professors, we must not
palliate the faults of some, because they are our
fleshly relatives or particular friends, or because they
are distinguished by wealth, talents or influence ;
nor aggravate the faults of others, because they have
no such claims or advantages ; but must deal with
the consciences of all according to divine direction,
without prefer ing one before another ; doing nothing
by partiality. m Nor can gospel-ministers, without
incurring their Master's displeasure, and forfeiting
the promise of his presence and sanction, withhold
from their hearers, Jews or gentiles, any thing which
He hath commanded them to teach : " Go ye," saith

k Rom. v. 12. 18. i John iii. 3. 7 and Acts iv. 12. m 1 Tim.
F. 21.

SER. XI.] HIS DEPORTMENT AND SERVICE. 351

he, " and teach all nations," that is, publish to them,
according to the Scriptures, their lost condition arid
the only way of salvation; "baptizing them" (not
all the individuals of all nations, as such, but
them, among all nations, whom they should find giv-
ing evidence of having received the truth with faith
and love) " in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Ghost : teaching them to ob-
serve all things whatsoever I have commanded
you ; arid lo," (they continuing to do so,) " I am with
you alway, even unto the end of the world. " n

Thirdly, In certain respects, moreover, the sons
of Levi were typical of the saints in common, under
the gospel-dispensation.

Like the Levites, all the regenerate are of those
whom God hath chosen and taken as his first-born,
or heirs ; and being (as believers) justified freely by
his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus, they are openly made heirs according to the
hope of eternal life. p

As the Levites, by divine order, were given to
Aaron and his sons, q so, by divine influence, the
elect, at their conversion, become visibly the proper-
ty, and willingly the disciples of the Lord Jesus,
the great High-priest of our profession, and cheerful-
ly and cordially the adherents and helpers of his sons,
his gospel-ministers. So saith the apostle concerning
believers in Macedonia : they Jirst gave their own
selves to the Lord, the Lord Christ, and [then] to us
by the will of God. Hence the riches of their lib-

"Matt, xxviii. 19. 20. Num. iir. 12. Heb. xit. 23. Comp.
Rom. viii. 17. P Rom. iii. 24. Titus iii. 7. i Num. vrii. 19;

THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [sKR. Xf,

erality toward the cause of Christ, and especially
in ministering to the relief of his needy members/

Were the children of Lem all carefully numbered?'
Let this remind us of the care which God takes, that
all whose names he wrote in the Lamb's book of life,
from the foundation of the world, 1 are, in the order
of time, by effectual vocation, written among the
living in Jerusalem" that so they may all be reck-
oned as such, when he shall make up his jewels at the
last day. Nor can one be lost or missing : ior the
LORD himself shall count, when he writeth t*p the
people that, to the last individual of them, thi; man
was born there"

Did God require that the Levites should bo cere-
monially clean?* How much more doth he roquire
that all whom he hath called to be saints should be
morally clean: Be ye holy, saith he,/or I am holy. 7
We are not only Levites, but also priests unto God f
and though, as believers under the gospel, whether
ministers or private Christians, we are not forbidden
to approach dead bodies or to attend funerals, which
(with certain exceptions) were unlawful to the leviti-
cal priests; 3 yet we are most solemnly cautioned
against whatever those deadly things mystically sig-
nified; as any unnecessary association with those
dead in sin conformity to the world that licth in
wickedness, and all moral pollutions, which, as well
as abolished ceremonies, are called dead workn. b

In their administration of justice, too, the Lovites

r 2 Cor. viii. 1 5. Num. iii. 15. * Rev. xiii. 8. "Is. iv. 3.
wpsal. Ixxxvii. 6. *Num. viii.6, &c. y 1 Pet. i. 15, 16. Levit.
xi. 44. Rev. i. 6. Levit. xxi. 13. Ezek. xliv. 25. b Heb.
ix. 14. Rom. xii. 2. 2 Cor. vi. 1418*

ER. XI.] HIS DEPORTMENT AM) SERVICE.

fitly typified the members of the gospel-church, in
the conduct which they ought to observe in the ad-
ministration of ecclesiastical discipline. Herein the
saints are judges ; c and all, both ministers and pri-
vate members, should seek to be governed by that
wisdom which is from above, and which is without
partiality toward relatives or friends, rich or poor. d
In she rt, we should endeavor, like the Levites, to
observe the word of the Lord in all things, as the rule
of our procedure, and to keep his covenant, by which
we arc bound to him and to one another. This is to
keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Eph. iv. 3.

Having considered the deportment of the Levites
both literally and typically, I proceed, in like manner,
to consider,

II. Their work. Much of this, indeed, has been
necessarily anticipated in exhibiting their deport-
ment. What remains consists of two parts teach-
ing and offering.

FIRST, teaching: " They shall teach Jacob thy
judgments and Israel thy law. 5 ' The patriarch Ja-
cob having received the new name of Israel? his
posterity, the more certainly to identify them, are
called both Jacob and Israel. This people, the Le-
vites were to teach the judgments and the law of
God. By his judgments, in this place, are evidently
meant those rules which he gave for the civil govern-
ment of Israel, and which constitute what we com-
monly call the judicial law ; b and by his law, as
here distinguished therefrom, I understand his com-
mandments, both moral and ceremonial, by which

c 1 Cor. vi. 13. d Jas.iii. 17. Gen. xxxii. 28. b Exo.xxi.l.

354 THE BLESSING OF LEV*. [SER. XI*

he expressed and defined his will respecting their
moral and religous obligations to him. c These judg-
ments and commandments, the levitical priests, by
divine authority explained to Israel, arid solemnly
urged their observance of them ; they taught all Is-
rael? and thereby caused the people to understand
the law. 6

Among the levitical teachers, the high-priest was
pre-eminent. Of him especially, it was said from
heaven, The priests lips should keep knowledge, and
they (the people) should seek the law at his mouth ;
for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts J In his
work, therefore, as well as in his deportment, the
high-priest was manifestly a type of Christ ; in whom
are hid all the treasures of ivisdom and knowledge f
who, not only as a Saviour but also as a Teacher, is
eminently The Messenger of the Lord of hosts, to his
people, and who are required to seek and receive the
law, the revealed will of God, at his mouth; for
more than once was it proclaimed from the excellent
glory, " This is my beloved Son ; hear him" h As a
preacher, during his public ministry, Jesus went
about all Galilee, teaching in their Synagogues, and
preaching the gospel of the kingdom ; nay, was ac-
cused by his nation, of doing the same throughout
all Jeiory. 1 But he is a teacher in a higher sense
than merely as a preacher ; He is the Lord who gave
the word* He gave, and still gives all inferior
teachers 1 and from him comes the unction of the

* Exo. xxxiv. 28. Levit. xxvii. 34. Comp. Num. xxxvi. 13.
d 3 Chror. xxxv. 3. e Neh. viii. 7. Comp. Levit. x. ii. f Mai. ii.
7. Co1. ii. 3. h Matt. hi. Mark ix. 7. ' Matt. iv. 23. Luke
xxii : . 5 k Pral. Ixviii. 11. Eph. iv. 11.

M;R. XI.] HIS DEPORTMENT AND SERVICE. 355

Spirit, by which sinners are made wise unto salva-
tion. 111 Thus, according to promise, He emphatically
teacheth lost sinners to profit, and Icadcth them in
the way they should go.*

The other priests, however, were also teachers ;
though as under the keeping and direction of the
high-priest. p And as thus employed, they were types
of gospel-ministers, who are teachers, by the au-
thority and direction of Christ, our great High-
priest. Matt, xxviii. 19.

As the levitical priests were required to teach, not
any inventions or discoveries of their own, but the
judgments and the law of God : so gospel-ministers
are not authorized to originate any doctrine or or-
dinance, or to omit or alter any of those revealed, but
to Preach the word ; remembering that all Scrip-
ture is given by inspiration of God. q

The word which gospel-ministers are to preach,
consists of two general branches, the legal and the
evangelical ; the former called the law of works, the
latter, the laic of faith. 1 But, preparatory to their
teaching these, they must necessarily have an under-
standing of them; for otherwise, like the Jewish doc-
tors, they will be found desiring to be teachers of the
law, understanding neither what they say, nor
whereof they affirm, 3 and, like the false apostles,
preaching another gospel, and laboring to pervert
the gospel of Christ. 1 Nor is it sufficient for them
to have an understanding of law and gospel merely
in theory ; this the unregenerate may have ; they

w Uohn ii. 20. 27. * Is. xlviii. 17. Levit. x. 11. P Num.
viii. 19. 12 Tim. iii. 16. 17. iv. 1. 2. r R om . iiit 27 . . j Tim> j 7>
' Gal. 1. 68.

356 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [SER. Xt.

may collect it from the letter of Scripture and the
writings of men ; and so may hold the truth in un-
righteousness , <u but they must have an understanding
of both law and gospel in experience ; through the
law, they must have become dead to the law, to all
hopes of obtaining justification by their obedience to
it, and must have realized in their own souls, that
the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to
every one that believeth

Now, men who have so learned the truth, and who
are endued with such gifts of the Spirit as ren-
der them apt to teach, (and none but such are di-
vinely called to this work,) are qualified to preach
the word in both its branches, and should do it as in
the sight of God, to whom they must give an account
of their stewardship.

In preaching the legal branch of the word, they
should, as occasion offers, show

1. That the moral duties, which God by the writ-
ten laic requires of mankind, both toward himself
and one another, are essentially the same that he
required by the law of nature, which he originally
inscribed on the heart of man* that the written law,
nevertheless, by corroborating and enforcing the law
of nature, makes these requirements the more man-
ifest, and thereby renders transgression and rebelion
the more criminal ; also that the final judgment of
those who die in their sins, will be in just proportion
to the light they shall have had, as having lived un-
der the written law, or without it. Rom. ii. 12*

Rom. 1. 18. w Ibid. ver. 16. * See Ser. iii. p. 129133.

SER. XI.] HIS DEPORTMENT AND SERVICE. 357

2. That God's moral requirements, like his per-
fections whence they emanate, are necessarily im-
mutable and eternal ; and that his positive injunctions,
as they procede from his sovereign will, can never,
of right, be changed or dispensed with, but by a new
revelation of his will. Consider Gen. xxii. 2. 12. and
Col. ii. 14. 16. 17*. And hence,

3. That although the ceremonial law is abolished
and done away in Christ? and the judicial law, at
least suspended till the return of the Jews to their
own land nay, though the whole Jewish economy
is supplanted by a new dispensation, yet, that God's
moral requirements remain the same ; for, as they
were not originated with the Sinaitical dispensation,
so they underwent no change by its abrogation ; and,
tried by these, as a standard of moral perfection,
every mouth, both as to pleas and excuses, must be
stopped, and all the world become evidently guilty
before God*

Thus understanding God's moral requirements
and the condition of mankind in relation to them,
and having felt the condemnatory sentence of his holy
and righteous law in their own consciences, minis-
ters of the word can never encourage those they
address, to trust in their own obedience to that law
for justification before God ; but, on the contrary,
both according to the word and their own experience,
must assure them, that the law entering into the en-
lighted understanding, worketh, not peace, and
hope, and life, but distress, despair and death yea
wrath) that is, alarming apprehensions of the wrath

* See Ser; Hi. p. 129. * 2 Cor. iii. 13, 14. z Rom. iii. 19.

358 THE BLESSING OF LEV1. [sEU. XI.

of God ; a and hence, they labor to convince them, that
by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified
that by the law, rightly understood, is the know-
ledge of sin, in heart and life ;*> and that as many as
are of the works of the law, that is, are seeking to
be justified by their legal performances, are under
the curses

The law of works, thus explained and understood,
makes way for the entrance and reception of the law
of faith, that is, the gospel ; which is so called be-
cause therein is the righteousness of God revealed
from faith to faith d from one degree of faith to
another ; or rather, from the faithfulness or veracity
of Go.d, (sometimes called his faith, Rom. iii. 3.) to
the grace of faith wrought in the soul by the Holy
Spirit. By the righteousness of God, thus revealed,
is meant that righteousness which is the result of
Christ's obedience and sacrifice ; e and which is
stiled the righteousness of God, not only because
Christ, the author of it, is God, but because it is that
righteousness which God the Father accepts as sat-
isfactory to his law and justice, and which, to all in
whom he works faith to receive it, he imputes for jus-
tification in his sight. Thus it is, that the righteous-
ness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ, is
unto all and upon all them that believe, whether
Jews or Gentiles ; for, in this national sense, there
is no difference ; all having alike sinned and come
short of the glory of God, and all believers being
(alike) justified freely by his grace, through the re-
demption that is in Christ Jesus. {

* Rom. iv. 15. vii. 913. b Ibid. iii. 20. c Gal. iii. 10.
d Rom. i. 17. Philip, iii. 9. f Rom. iii. 2126.

SER. XI.] HIS DEPORTMENT AND SERVffcE. 359

In preaching the word, however, Gospel-ministers,
knowing that God's moral requirements of mankind,
as shown above, remain the same under the present
dispensation that they were under the former, should
faithfully urge them upon the unregenerate, in all
their extent and spirituality; showing, nevertheless,
that all who are saved, are saved by absolute grace
grace reigning through righteousness unto eternal
life, by Jesus Christ our Lord.s Some ministers ap-
pear to be afraid of doing the former, lest they should
thereby seem to eclipse the latter. But this is a
groundless apprehension; for, on the contrary, the
more clearly God's moral requirements are exhibited,
and thereby man's total non-conformity to them de-
monstrated, the more absolute and illustrious does
that grace appear, by which any are saved.

Now God's moral requirements of mankind, man-
ifestly include the following.

1. That they should love him with all their heart,
and soul, and strength, and mind, and one another
as themselves ; which implies that they should
honor, adore and worship God with all their powers,
and severally desire, and endeavor to promote, the
good of each other, even as their own. h On these
two commandments, said Christ, hang all the law
and the prophets. 1 Nor can it be reasonably doubted,
that human nature, as it came from the Maker's
hand, was able and disposed to comply with these
moral duties ; for God made man upright* In
their fallen state, however, mankind, while unregen-
erate, are the very reverse of what they are re-

* Rom. v. 21. h Luke x. 27. l Matth. xxii. 40. * Ecc. viL
291

360 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [SER. XI.

quired to be ; the carnal mind is enmity against
God? and all, as under its dominion, are hateful
and hating one another. God, therefore, most
justly requires of them,

2. That they should repent, that is, return to him
from whom they have so basely revolted. This he has
constantly required of all to whom he has granted
his written word, or sent his public servants. Of
the Jews, to whom he granted his Oracles and sent
his prophets, he required this under the old dispen-
sation ; saying to them, Repent, and turn yourselves
from your idols ; and turn away your faces from
all your abominations ; turn ye, turn ye, from your
evil ways ; for why icill ye die, O house of Israel?
The Gentiles, it is true, during that dispensation, were
not so called ; for though, having abused the light of
nature, their foolish heart was darkened, they were
left in their stupidity, to debase themselves more and
more : the times of this ignorance in them, God
winked at, that is, overlooked, as *w*f J, the word
used, properly signifies ; and the sense is, that hav-
ing giving them no revelation, nor sent any pro-
phets among them, he did not thereby call them
to repentance, nor exact of them an improvement of
such means ; but now, having sent his Son into the
world, and having, through him, broken down the
partition wall between Jews and Gentiles, and au-
thorized the extention of the Scriptures and the
preaching of the gospel to all the world, God herein
commandeth all men, men of all nations, every where
to repent.? Meravoaiv, the word here rendered Repent,

1 Ram. viii. 7. m Titus iii. 3. n Eze. xiv. 6. xxxiii. 11. Rom.
i. 2L 4& P Acts xvii &).

SER. XI. J HIS DEPORTMENT AND SERVICE. 361

is the same with which the SAVIOUR, as well as the
Baptist, began his public ministry .q It signifies Re-
form, that is, change your mind and your practice.
That it imports a change of mind, producing a
change of conduct, is plain from the use of oru ni-
cham, the Hebrew word to which it often corresponds
in the Septuagint. See Jer. xxxi. 19, and compare
Ezk. xviii. 30.

Such was the repentance which God required of
the Jews : For thus saith the Lord to the men of
Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground
and sow not among thorns. Circumcise your hearts
to the Lord, fyc. lest my fury come forth like fire,
and burn that none can quench it, because of the
evil of your doings, r Rtpent and turn yourselves
from all your transgressions ,* so iniquity shall not
be your ruin. Cast away from you all your trans-
gressions whereby ye have transgressed; and make
you a new heart : for why will ye die, O house of
Israel ? 8 Turn ye even to me with all your heart,
and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourn-
ing : and rend your heart and not your' garments,
and turn unto the Lord your God. 1

Nor could either Christ or John have meant any
thing less by the injunction, Repent ye; for the
kingom of heaven, the gospel-church, is at hand,
into which they could not of right enter, without
such repentance ; nor the apostle, when he said,
God commandcth all men every where to repent, un-
der the awful consideration of a general judgment:
Because he hath appointed a day in the which he

* Matth. iii. 2. iv. 17. r Jer. iv. 3, 4. * Ezels. xviii. 30, 31.
* Joel & 12,13.

362 THE BLESSING OF LEV1. [sER. XI.

will judge the world in righteousness, &$c. Acts xvii.
30, 31. Moreover, God requires of mankind,

3. That they should believe what he has revealed.
Like Adam and Em, all their posterity dishonor
God, by disbelieving Him who cannot lie," and be-
lieving Satan, who has been a liar and a murderer
from the beginning ; w nothing therefore could be
more right and reasonable, than God's requirement
that mankind should believe, according to the de-
grees of revelation with which he has favoured them.
Nor has he required this, but upon sufficient evi-
dence. The heathen may read in the volume of
nature, all that, as such, they are required to be-
lieve.* And though all who live under the light of
revelation are required to believe in this light; yet
they are not required to believe in it upon the author-
ity of men, but upon the authority of God. The
writings of Moses are to be believed, because of the
miracles which God wrought by him, in Egypt, at the
Red sea, and in the wilderness, and especially on ac-
count of the intercommunity which He held with him,
before the eyes of the Israelites, on mount Sinai.i
The prophetic writings are to be believed, because
God spake by his Spirit in the prophets. 2 And much
more abundantly is the divine authority of the New
Testament-writings established, by the record of
miracles wrought by Christ and his apostles : These
tire written 9 that ye might believe that Jesus is the
Christ, the Son of God.*

To deny the truth of the Holy Scriptures,
therefore, is to deny the veracity of God, and to

u Heb. vi. 18. w Gen. iii. 46. John viii. 44. * Rom. i. 19, 20.
y Exo. xix* 9. 1626. * JNeb. ix.30 Zech. vii. 1& * John x* 31,

SER. XI.] HIS DEPORTMENT AND SERVICE. 363

treat with contempt the only method of Salvation
which he has provided and revealed : He that be-
lieveth not God, hath made him a liar; because he
belicreth not the record that God gave of his Son.*
The disbelief of divine revelation, then, must be
highly provoking to God and injurious to sinners.
Condemned already according to 'the law, mankind
increase their guilt and augment their future punish-
ment, by their contempt of the gospel : This is the
condemnation, that is, the aggravation of it, that
light is come into the world and men loved darkness
rather than light, because their deeds were evil.* To
the Jews, under the old dispensation, the consequen-
ces of their disbelief of God arid distrust of his pro-
mised salvation, were exceedingly calamitous : afire
was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up
against Israel ; because they believed not in God,
and trusted not in his salvation; meaning, either that
they trusted "not in God for his providential salvation
of them, but leaned on their national allies, the
Egyptians and others, or, that they trusted not in the
MESSIAH, who is God's salvation, but in the rites
and ceremonies which only prefigured him, or in the
oral law, consisting of the traditions of their elders. 4
How terrible, then, must be the fate of gospel-des-
pisers, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from
heaven taking vengeance on them that know not God
and obey not the gospel 1 e

Faithful heralds of the cross, therefore, knowing
the terror of the Lord, persuade men, to credit the

b 1 John v. 10. c John iii. 19. d Psal Ixxviii. 21, 22. Comp.
Numb. xi. 13, Nahum. i. 6. Psal. xcv. 8. 11. Heb. iii. 17
19. 2Thess.i. 7.

364 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [sER. XI.

sentence of condemnation under which they lie,
and warn them to flee from the wrath to come;* yes,
when duly affected with their deplorable condition,
we labor, as opportunities offer, to convince them of
their guilt, and danger, and helplessness, and to ex-
cite them to abandon every other refuge, and to look
for salvation alone by Christ ; whom we preach, warn-
ing every man, and teaching every man, in all wis-
dom ; that we may present every man we address
perfect in Christ Jesus.% For, if a minister had be-
fore him some out of every nation under heaven, he
must consider them all alike undone and helpless
could preach to none of them any other than the com-
mon salvation and, relying on the Holy Spirit to
apply the word according to covenant design, would
endeavor to bring every one to an unreserved de-
pendence upon Christ for acceptance with God.
See Acts iv. 12. Rom. x. 12. and Jude, Ver. 3.

Thus Christ himself preached : Repent ye, said he,
and believe the gospel ; Mark i. 15. Thus his disci-
ples preached : They went out andpreached that men
should repent ; Ibid. iv. 12. And the ministerial
labors of Paul consisted in testifying both to the Jews
and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God and
faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Acts xx. 21.

Gospel-ministers, however, while they should faith-
fully proclaim and inculcate repentance toward God
and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, should be
careful always to do it consistently with the follow-
ing revealed facts : viz.

1. That repenting and believing are not conditions
for the performance of which we are to be justified
'2 Cor. v. U. Matth, iii 7, a * Col. i. 28.

SER. XI.] HIS DEPORTMENT AND SERVICE. 365

before God. So understood, they would occupy the
place of Christ, who alone is THE LORD OUR RIGHT-
EOUSNESS. h But they are duties which, saved or lost,
we owe to God, as being the subjects of his moral
government. In his law, as noticed before, he re-
quires that we should love him with all the heart, &c.
and consequently, that having wickedly revolted from
him, and denied his veracity, we should penitently and
cordially return to him, and believe as certainly true,
whatever he has revealed ; thus casting ourselves
upon his mercy in Christ Jesus. See Luke xxiv. 47
and Acts xxvi. 20.

2. That so repenting and believing, though not
conditions, are indispensable characteristics of an
experimentally saved state. For the stout hearted,
the impenitent, are far from righteousness ;i and
the unbelieving are among the characters, who, dy-
ing such, shall have their part in the lake that burn-
eth with fire and brimstone* He that believeth not
shall be damned. Mark xvi. 16. And,

3. That such repentance toward the divine Majesty
and faith in the divine record, as God requires of all
to whom he grants his word or sends his minis-
ters, none are capable of, in their carnal state; for,
as the carnal mind is enmity against God, it is im-
possible that any, while under its dominion, should
cordially return to him, or, with love and approbation,
receive his revealed truth, either in the law or in the
gospel. See Col. i. 21. and 2 Thess. ii. 10.
Nevertheless,

4. That neither the divine requirement of these
duties, not the ministerial inculcation of them, is

k Jer xxiii. 6. * I* xlvi 12. * Rev. xxi. a

366 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [SER. Xf,

vain or unprofitable. They serve 1. To apprize
mankind of the moral obligations which they are
under to their Creator, and to admonish them, that
while persisting in their rebellion against him, they
are, after the hardness and impenitence of a carnal
heart, treasuring up to themselves wrath against the
day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judg-
ment of God. 1 2. To restrain and moralize the
wicked, and thereby to promote their own good and
the good of the commonwealth : Righteousness ex-
alteth a nation; but sin is a reproach to any peo-
ple. 3. To assure sinners, that they must be regen-
erated in order to be happy ; *for without this gra-
cious change, they can never become reconciled to
God, and without reconciliation to Him, they must
necessarily be miserable both here and hereafter.
They must be so here : The wicked are like the
troubled sea^ ichen it cannot rest. There is no
peace to the wicked? And they must be infinitely
more so hereafter : He that believeth not the Son shall
not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
And 4. To excite those in whom the good work of
grace is begun, to labor after compliance with these
requirements; and, in thus laboring, they, being
spiritually illuminated, discover more fully their de-
pravity and impotency, and thereby their entire de-
pendence upon divine influence, to enable them to
exercise true repentance toward God, and an appro-
priating faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Nor do God's moral requirements of mankind sug-
gest any thing inconsistent with his absolute grace in

l Rom. ii. 5. Prov. xiv. 34. B Is. Ivii. 20, 21. John iii. 36.

SER. XL] HIS DEPORTMENT AND SERVICE. 367

the effectual calling of his elect. To suppose, as
many do, that a divine command, necessarily implies
an innate ability in those commanded, to comply is
to suppose, that all the miracles of Christ and his
apostles were mere tricks or pious frauds, produced
by concert with their patients. For instance : when
Christ said, Lazarus come forth? if Lazarus had an
innate power to comply, he was not dead, though he
had lain four days in the grave ; and his coming
forth was not miraculous, but natural. Again ;
when He said to the man sick of the palsy, Arise
take up thy bed and go thy way? if the man had an
innate power to do so, he w r as not a paralytic, but
a hypocrite, who might as well have risen and walked
before as then. But the truth is, that in each case,
and in every similar one, nothing depended upon
the patient, but all upon the divine energy which ac-
companied the word of him who spake. Hence it
was that dead Lazarus lived and came forth, and
that the helpless paralytic, rose and walked. Happy
illustration of what the same Lord Jesus, in a way
of grace, accomplishes in the spiritual resurrection
of morally dead and helpless sinners ! The dead,
said he, shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and
they that hear shall live. T

The same also, may be observed of the miracles
wrought in the name of Christ, by his apostles : He
commanded them, saying, " Heal ^the sick, cleanse
the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils." 8 Now,
whoever supposed that they possessed a natural
ability to do these things 1 Yet, by the command,

p Johnxi. 43. <iMarkii.il. John v. 25. Matt. x. 8.

368 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [SER. XI.

they were assured that divine power would accom-
plish them, through their instrumentality. Herein,
Christ gave a most pertinent illustration of the use
which he makes of his ministers in the calling of
his people. Accordingly, having by a parable set
forth the vain excuses made by many of the Jews,
for not attending his gospel, and the success which,
nevertheless, it had among that nation, he said unto
the servant (a representative of gospel-ministers,) Go
out into the high ways*and hedges, that is, among
the Gentiles, and compel them to come in* not
by force of arms, but by the power of the Holy
Ghost, which gospel-ministers are hereby assured
will attend their labors and render them effectual to
this end. So the event proved. For the ministers
of the word being dispersed abroad, and employed
in preaching the Lord Jesus the hand, the Spirit
of the Lord was with them, and a great number
believed, and turned unto the Lord. Acts xi. 21.

After all, therefore, the heralds of salvation should
labor chiefly to make known and to illustrate the un-
searchable riches of Christ, and the absolute grace
of God in him, toward the chief of sinners. By
God's absolute grace, I mean his pure, unconditional
f avor his favor, which has no dependence upon any
good thing as prerequisite in the nature or the lives
of its objects ; and which, therefore, is favor toward
them, considered not only as undeserving, but as
ill- deserving yea as hell-deserving."

As such the elect of God were considered, when
Christ paid the ransom price for them : for when we

Luke xiv. 1624. u Rom. iii. 927. 1 Thss. i. 10.

SER. XI.] HIS DEPORTMENT AND SERVICE. 369

were yet without strength, to repent, to believe, to
love, or to obey, in due time, the time stipulated in
the everlasting covenant, Christ died for the un-
godly. v

As such, too, they are found at the time of their
effectual calling : When I passed by thee, saith the
Lord, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I
said unto thee, ichen thou wast in thy blood, Live*
The same, likewise, is acknowledged by an apostle
for himself and the called whom he addressed : God,
saith he, who is rich in mercy, for his great love
wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in
sins, hath quickened us, SfcJ This, as observed by
the same apostle, God accomplishes by his Spirit,
granted through the Mediator: Not by works of
righteousness which we have done, but according to
his mercy he saved us by the washing of regenera-
tion, and renewing of the Holy Ghost ; which he
shed upon us abundantly, through Jesus Christ our
Lord.* Him hath God exalted with his right hand,
to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give, through
him, repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.*
For the Holy Spirit, granted through Christ to his
redeemed, produces in them that faith by which they
look upon him whom they have pierced and mourn
with a godly sorrow for their sins ; yet, believing,
they receive the manifestation of forgiveness, and
rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.
1 Peter i. 8. *

Thus, what God requires in the law, he freely be-
stows in Christ and reveals in the gospel. In the

w Rom. v. 6. 8. * Ezek. xvi. 6. 7 Eph. ii. 4,*5. * Titus iii. 5, 6.
a Acts v. 31.

370 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [sER. XI

law he requires a perfect righteousness : in the
gospel, he reveals such a righteousness even the
righteousness of Christ ; and his imputation there-
of to believers, is called the gift of righteous-
ness.* According to the covenant of works, he re-
quires of man, a new heart and a new spirit ; c and,
according to the covenant of grace, brought to light
in the gospel, he graciously bestows these very bless-
ings, nay, bestows them upon the very people of
whom he demanded them. d According to the law,
he requires us to love him ; and according to the
gospel, he enables us to love him 4ie sheds abroad
his love in our hearts, by the Holy Ghost given unto
us.* Hence, We love him because he first loved us.*
Nor are we any less dependent on absolute grace
after called, than before. In our fallen nature,
there still dwelleth no good thing ; and hence when
we would do good, evil is present with us.* The
world, the flesh, and the devil, are constantly engaged
against us ; and though eventually we are conquer-
ors and more, yet we are so only through him that
hath loved us and given himself for us. h Our per-
petual standing before God, is in the finished and
everlasting righteousness of Christ. 1 The pardon
of our daily faults is for Christ's sake ; whose aton-
ing blood, in reference to divine justice, cleansethus
from all sin. k Having no resources of our own, we
are every moment entirely dependent on the grace
that is in Christ Jesus. 1 All we have hitherto re-
ceived, has emanated from him: Of his fulness

*> Rom. v. 17. c Ezek. xviii. 31. d Ibid, xxxvi. 2532.
Rom. v. 5. f 1 John iv. 19. e Rom. vii. 1821. h Ibid, viii,
37. Epli. v. 2. ' Rom. v. 2. k 1 John i. 7. l 2 Tim. ii. 1.

SER. XI.] HIS DEPORTMENT AND SERVICE. 371

have all we (believers) received ; m and, blessed be his
name, we are encouraged to hope that from the same
fulness we shall continue to receive ; He giveth
more grace," even grace to help in every time of
need.* Hence we have all our strength for doing
and suffering the will of God : Without me, saith
Christ to his disciples, ye can do nothing ; p but,
strengthened by him, we can do all things.* The
church, like ancient Israel, at every stage of her
pilgrimage, may raise her Ebenezer and say, Hitherto
hath the Lord helped us ; r and every member thereof,
with the grateful apostle, may exclaim, By the grace
of God I am what I am.* Nor can the provisions
of grace in Christ ever fail ; for it pleased the Fa-
ther, in a perfect prevision of whatever his people
would need, that in Him should all fulness dwell. 1
In Him provision was made, not only for our requi-
site supplies during our militant state, but also for
our safety in death, and our happy and glorious set-
tlement in heaven. At death, we fall asleep in
Jesu*," and our ransomed souls become associated
with the spirits of just men made perfect ?* and at
the resurrection, our vile body shall be changed, and
fashioned like unto his glorious body? and we shall
be settled in the full enjoyment of that eternal life,
which has no dependence upon our worthiness, but
is t he gift of God, through our Lord Jesuit Christ.*
Gospel-ministers, moreover, must teach the obe-
dience of faith 1 that obedience, which is the fruit

m John i. 16. n Jas. iv. 6. Heb. iv. 16. ,PJohn xv. 5. 1 Philip,

iv. 13. r 1 Sam. vii. 12. 1 Cor. xv. 10. * Col. i. 19. 1 Thess.

iv. 14. w Hcb. xii. 23. * Philip, iii. 21. 7 Rom. vi. 23. * Ibid,
xvi. 26.

372 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [sER. XI.

and evidence of a living faith. The faith of God j s
elect distinguishes its subjects, by leading them to
the acknowledging of the truth which is after godli-
ness. 9 - It is that faith, which God, in all to whom he
gives it, renders effectual to the purifying of their
hearts from evil motives, as well as from legal hopes b
that faith, which, in all who possess it, overcometh
the world,* and worketh, not by terror, but by love A
love to Christ, his truth and his church. Loving
Christ, they cheerfully obey him ; the love of Christ
constraineth us ; e loving his truth, they abide and
walk in it; ! and, loving his church, they desire
to dwell in it all the days of their life, to behold the
beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.*
The obedience of faith is the evidence which Christ
requires of our love to him : If ye love me, saith he,
keep my commandments ; h by which are meant, not
only his gospel-ordinances, but also all his gospel-
injunctions, respecting holy and useful living ; even
all chrislian duties comprehended under the terms
work of faith and labor of love. 1 While, therefore,
the ministers of Christ should constantly remind be-
lievers of gospel-promises, to promote their com-
fort/ they should, with equal constancy, remind
them of gospel-precepts, to promote their obe-
dience. 1 * But,

a Titus i. 1. b Acts xv. 9. c 1 John v. 4. d Gal. v. 6.
e 2Cor. v. 14. f 2 John, verses 4. 9. ePsal. xxvii. 4. Comp:
2 Cor. viii. 5. h John xiv. 15. ' 1 Thess. i. 3. Comp. Gal. vi.
10. Heb. xiii. 16. Titus, ii. 11, 12. k Is. xl. 1, 2. Rom.
viii. 2839. Eph. i. 3. 2 Cor. i. 20. Philip, iv. 19. i 1 Tim.
iv. Titus Hi. 1 Pet. iv. and 2 Pet. i. and iii. chapters.

* To harmonize God's moral requirements of mankind, with

SER. XI.] HIS DEPORTMENT AND SERVICE. 373

SECONDLY, Offering also belonged to the official
work of the Levitical priests. This was of two
kinds incense and sacrifice.

1. Incense: " They shall put incense before thee,''
that is, before the Lord ; for the golden altar, upon
which they were to put the incense, though, situated
in the holy place, "without the vail," stood imme-
diately facing the ark, (situated in the most holy
place, "within the vail,") upon the lid of which,
called the mercy-seat, appeared the Shecheenah, the
symbol of the divine presence : and, standing before
that, it was said to be before the Lord. Levit. xvi.
18.f

This altar has commonly been considered as a
type of Christ. In this I cannot concur. For the
altar itself became defiled by the sins of Israel, and
the high-priest was required to make an annual
atonement for it, by the blood of the sacrifices
offered on the day of expiation ; m but, if Christ

his sovereign grace in the effectual calling of his elect, and to ex-
hibit both in agreement with the general tenor of his word, are
difficulties, for the solution of which, many volumes have been
written by the most distinguished polemics. To reflecting readers,
therefore, it will not seem strange, if, in this humble effort thereat,
made in a mere branch of a Sermon, they should discover many
deficiencies and some discrepancy. Yet, the importance of any
light on a subject, confessedly much embarrassed with knotty ques-
tions, it is hoped will plead my excuse for having extended this
branch of the discourse, to a length so disproportionate to its other
members.

f See Ser. ix. Note on p. 269, and that on pp. 278, 279. Also
Exo. xxvi. 33 35. and Levit. xvi. 2.

m Levit. xvi. 18, 19. 33. Comp. Exo. xxx. 10.

374 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [SER. XI*

himself could become morally defiled, by whom
could an atonement be made for him I In the altar
of incense therefore, I behold a figure of the throne
of grace ; which, like the altar of incense, by the
sins of national Israelites, becomes defiled by the
sins of spiritual Israelites, and especially, by their
irreverence, legality, insincerity, and wanderings of
thought and affection, during their attempts to pray;
but for which, as well as for all their other sins,
Christ made an atonement, when by the one offering
up of himself, he perfected for ever them that are
sanctified*

That the altar of incense typically implied a Media-
tor, is indeed evident ; for, in this relation to Israel, the
high-priest officiated before it ; burning incense there-
on daily, morning and evening even a perpetual in-
cense in all their generations ; and in doing which,
he typified Christ, the Mediator of spiritual Israel,
in whose name and mediation, believers, in all their
generations, being made priests unto God, present
to him their supplications at the throne of grace,
not only morning and evening, but at all times, and
find a gracious audience and acceptance. 1 * No man,
perhaps, has ever understood the typical design of
the offering of incense upon the golden altar, better
than David did ; and it is manifest that he contem-
plated it as an emblem of prayer ; for addressing
the Lord, he said, Let my prayer be set forth before
thee as incense ; and the lifting up of my hands as
the evening sacrifice.* And accordingly, while the

* Heb. x. 14. Exo. xxx. 7, 8. P John xvi. 23; Rev. i. &.

iPsal. cili. 2.

SKR. XI.J HIS DEPORTMENT AND SERVICE. 375

priest was burning incense in the holy place in the
temple, "the whole multitude of the people were
praying without," in the court Israel/

The high-priest, however, burnt incense also in
the holy of holies, within the vail ; s in which he was a
type of Christ, who entered into heaven itself, of
which that most holy place was a figure, there to ap-
pear before God for us, and that as our intercessors
There, with the much incense of his acknowledged
merits, he perfumes and recommends the prayers of
the saints, and renders them odors before the
throne."

Moreover, on an extraordinary occasion, when
a pestilence had begun to rage in the camp of Israel,
the high-priest, by divine order, and in great haste,
took jire from the attar, that of burnt-offerings, and
kindled incense in the midst of the congregation ;
whereby the plague was stayed. w Thus, when the
church, on account of the prevalence of heresy, or
immorality, or schism, among her members, is in im-
minent danger, Christ interposes his mediation, which,
in virtue of his vicarious sufferings, typified by the
fire taken from the altar, is ever effectual on her be-
half. Hence, the threatened judgment is averted,
or, if begun, it is stayed. See Dan. xii. 1. Zech.
iii. 2. 1 John ii. 12.*

r Luke i. 9, 10. * Levit. xvi. 12, 13. * Heb. ix. 24; u Rev. v.
8. viii. 3, 4. w Num. xvi.46 48.

* In regard to the offering of incense, it may be useful, by the
way, to remark the following particulars : to wit,

I. That [wherever presented, it was to be burnt; and that the
fire for this purpose, though the injunction is not in every instance

376 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [sER. XI.

But the evangelical instruction, directly to be ga-
thered from this type, is 1. That, as the Levitical

specified, was always required to be taken from off the altar ;
[see Exo. xxx. 7, 8. Levit. xvi. 12. Num. xvi. 46. and 2 Chron.
xiii. 11 ;] by which altar is meant that whereon the sin-offer-
ings were burnt ; hence called the altar of burnt- offerings. See
Exo. xxxviii. 1. and xl. 6. 29. Hereby we are taught, that when-
ever or wherever we pray, the success of our petitions depends up-
on the sacrifice of Christ, who was exposed to the fire of incensed
Justice due to us for our sins ; yea, that the intercession of Christ
himself in our behalf, derives its efficacy from his vicarious suffer-
ings in our law-place : he is our availing Advocate, because he is
our propitiatory sacrifice ; 1 John ii. 1,2. By this type we are also
taught, that to pray with fervor and hope, we must first, like the
priests, go to the altar of burnt-offering; that is, meditate on the
sufferings of Christ, as our substitute. Here, having our hearts
softened by the fire of the cross our minds humbled under a
sense of our sins for which Christ, in that fire, atoned and our
faith strengthened by the consideration of the greatness and effi-
cacy of his sacrifice our mouths become filled with arguments
arguments drawn from his person, his offices, his relations, his obe-
dience, and his death and especially, from his resurrection and
ascension ; whereby the atonement which he made for the sins of
his people, was recognized in heaven, as satisfactory to divine Jus-
tice. Thus we come to have boldness and access with confidence,
by the faith of him ; knowing that we enter into the holiest by the
blood of Jesus. Eph. iii. 12. Heb. x. 19.

2. That incense was never burnt, either on the golden altar or
within the vail, to satisfy the claims of incensed Justice. This
could be done only by sacrifice, and that such as God had ap-
pointed. Hence, let us learn never to think of our prayers at the
throne of grace, nor even of the intercession of Christ for us in
heaven, as the meritorious cause of our pardon ; but of our prayers,
as the ordinary means, and of the intercession of Christ, as the in-
stituted medium, through which we receive forgiveness, as an effect
of that peace, which He, as the appointed and accepted sflert-
fice, made for us, by the blood of his cross. Col. i. 20. Accord-
ingly no burnt-sacrifice was to be offered on the altar of incense ;

SER. XI.] HIS DEPORTMENT AND SERVICE. 377

priests were required daily and repeatedly to put in-
cense upon the golden altar; so gospel-ministers
should be often and with sacred fervor, engaged at
the throne of grace. And 2. That, in their preach-
ing and exhortations, they should labor to excite

Exo. xxx. 9. The place appointed for this, was the altar of burnt-
offering. Exo. xl. 29. How abhorent to God, then, must be the
Romish mass, in which it is pretended, that the " elements of the
eucharist, transubstantiated into the body and blood of Christ, are
offered as an expiatory sacrifice for the quick and dead."

3. No strange incense was allowed to be offered on the golden
altar ; Exo. xxx. 9. By such incense, is meant any that was not
prepared according to the divine prescription, given in the same
chapter ; see ver. 34 38 ; also any that was kindled with strange
fire fire not taken from the altar of burnt-offering. Levit. x. 1.
Such are prayers not dictated by the Holy Spirit, who maketh in-
tercession for the saints according to the will of God ; Rom. viii.
26, 27 ; and which, consequently, are not made with fiducial re-
liance on the sacrifice of Christ for acceptance. Such prayers ob-
tain no audience in heaven ; for it is only through Christ, and by
the Spirit, that we have access to the Father. Eph. ii. 18.

4. Both meat-offerings and drink-offerings, were excluded from
the altar of incense ; Exo. xxx. 9. Thus the prayers of those who
expect to live by the merit of them, are rejected at the throne of
grace. Is. i. 15. Ixv. 5. Luke xviii. 9 14. The priests, recollect,
had their living, not from the altar of incense, but from the altar
of burnt-offering. Levit. vi. 8 29. vii. 1 9. Comp. 1 Cor. ix.
13. x. 18. So believers live, not on their prayers, or by the merit
of them ; but on Christ crucified, received and trusted in by faith.
Gal. ii. 20. The flesh and blood of Christ, so received, are meat
and drink indeed. John vi. 55. Comp. Heb. xiii. 10. And,

5. That it pertained to none but priests, to offer incense upon
the golden altar. This is evident from the case of Korah and his
company, and that of Uzziah the king. Num. xvi. 40. and 2 Chron.
xxvi. 16 21. So the throne of grace, (be it recollected,) is ac-
cessible to none but believers in Christ; by whom they are made
priests unto God ; Rev. i. 6. No man, saith Christ, cometh unto
the Father, but by me. John xiv. 6.

378 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [SER. XI*

and encourage their believing hearers, to be in like
manner engaged at the same throne. Such a min-
ister, and most eminently such, was the Great High-
Priest of our prof ession. Christ, while he taberna-
cled on earth, spent much of his time in prayer. *
As man, he prayed for himself ; y and, as Mediator,
he prayed for his people. * And, as in these charac-
ters, he prayed much, so, in the character of a
teacher, he frequently and pathetically excited and en-
couraged his disciples thereto, and gave them many
directions therein. a Such ministers, too, were his
apostles. They, as appears by their History and
Epistles, were much employed in offering the in-
cense of prayer, both socially, 5 and privately ; c and,
like their blessed Master, in faithfully exciting and
encouraging believers to pray, and in giving them
directions for the acceptable performance of this
duty. d In these exhortations and directions given
by Christ and his apostles, in relation to prayer, we,
my Christian hearers, are all deeply interested. And
being thus exhorted, encouraged and directed, Let
us come boldly unto the throne of grace, that, offer-
ing there our incense of prayer, we may obtain
mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. e

The priests, however, were to offer to the Lord,
not only incense, but likewise,

* Matth. xiv. 23. Markxiv. 46. Luke vi. 12. 7 Psal. xxii. Matth.
xxvi. 3644. Heb. v. 7: z John xvii. a Matth. vii. 7 11. xxvi.
41. Luke xviii. 18. Matth. v. 44. vi. 515. b Acts i. 1214.
ii. 42. iv. 31. vi. 4. c Acts iii. 1. ix. 11. x. 11. xxii. 17. d Col. Hi.
17 Rom.viii. 26, 27. Jas. v.16. 1 Pet. iii. 12. Philip, iv. 6. 1 Thess.
v. 17. 2 Thess. iii. 1. Eph. vi. 18. 1 Tim* ii. 1, 2. 1 Pet. iv. 7. Jude,
Ver.20. e Heb. iv. 16.

SER. XI.] HIS DEPORTMENT AND SERVICE. 379

2. Sacrifice : " And whole burnt-offering upon
thine altar." In the order of time, the sacrifice
was to precede the incense, and is more commonly
mentioned before it. See Levit. xvi. 11 13, and
2 Chron. xiii. 11. This order, too, was required, by
divine Justice, both in the type and in the antitype ;
for, as the acceptance of the incense depended upon
the prior acceptance of a sacrifice ; (Psal. Ixvi. 15.)
so the success of Christ's intercession for his people,
and, of course, the success of their supplications in
his name, were, in the economy of grace, made
dependent upon the antecedent acceptance of his
sacrifice in their behalf, either as stipulated in the
covenant, or as actually offered upon the cross. See
Is. xlii. 21. liii. 6. 11. Rom. v. 1. 10. Col. 1. 20.
Nevertheless, in noticing these articles, as mentioned
in the text, I thought proper to follow the natural
order of the words.

Answerably, then, to the whole burnt-sacrifice)

1. Christ offered his whole human nature, soul and
body, as a sacrifice for all the sins of all whom he
represented. For, though he was put to death only
in the flesh, his holy soul also, under a sense of the
curse, the penalty of the law, due to his people, was
exceeding sorrowful, it being filled and overwhelmed
with the bitterest anguish, and which he knew
could only terminate in its seperation from his body.
In a word, he gave himself for us, and suffered the
just for the unjust. {

2. His ministers should preach him as such ; to
wit, as a whole and sufficient sacrifice for sin ; not

f Matth. xxvi. 38. 1 Pet. iii. 18.

380 THE BLESSING OP LEV1. [sER. XI.

knowing, that is, not making known any thing among
sinners, as a ground of their hope, save Jesus Christ
and him crucified* They should also preach him
in his whole character ; showing from the Scriptures,
that, in his divine nature, he thought it not robery to
be equal with God, that is, the Father h that, in his
human nature, he was holy, harmless, undefiled,
that, as the Substitute and Representative of the
elect, he was made under the law, and, for them,
magnified it, in his perfect life, and made it hon-
orable, by enduring its righteous penalty, in his vi-
carious death 1 and that, being raised and glorified,
he is proclaimed the only Head of the churchf and
the final Judge of the world. 1 As such, therefore,

3. He should be received, trusted in, and acknow-
ledged. Without attempting to add any thing to
his whole sacrifice, or, to his perfect righteousness,
we must, fas guilty and naked, rely exclusively on
the former for pardon, and, on the latter for justifi-
cation, before God. And, while we trust in him as
our complete REDEEMER and SAVIOUR, we should ac-
knowledge him as our rightful SOVEREIGN, and fol-
low him, as our revealed GUIDE and EXAMPLE ; for
he is the LEADER and COMMANDER of the people ;
and hath left us an example, that we should follow
his steps. Is. Iv. 4. 1 Pet. ii. 21.

To conclude. By the light of this subject, it must
be evident,

1. That impenitent sinners have no reason to be
offended at gospel ministers, when they pronounce

e 1 Cor. ii. 2. h Philip, ii, 6. * Gal. iv. 4. 5. Is. xlii. 21. Gal. iii.
13. k Eph. i. 1923. Col. ii. 19. l John v. 22. 27. Acts x. 42.

SER. XI.] HIS DEPORTMENT AND SERVICE. 381

them, as tried by the standard of God's perfect law,
unclean and unrighteous ; and, as such, condemned
already. We only proclaim to them, what God in
his word declares them to be. a We cannot altar his
law, nor better the case of those who are found un-
der its condemnatory sentence. To cry peace, peace
to them, in a state wherein there is no peace, but
certain destruction, 11 would serve only to deceive
their precious souls, and to bring guilt on our own.
See Ezek. iii. 18, 19. Besides, our addresses to
them, however pointed and alarming our descrip-
tions of their guilt and danger, however vivid and
fearful, are all accompanied with desires and prayers
to God, for their conversion and salvation. There
is, we know, a peradventure that God will give them
repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;* and
therefore we preach to them, hoping and praying
that our labors may be the means, in the hand of the
Holy Spirit, of turning them from the error of their
way, and of exciting them, in view of the wrath to
come, to flee for refuge to Christ Jesus, who came in-
to the world to save sinners, even the chief; and who
is able also, to save them to the uttermost that come
unto God by him. 1 Tim. i. 15. Heb. vii. 25.

2. How mild, compared with the government of
national Israel, is the discipline of the gospel-church.
Under the former, an offending Israelite was liable
to fines and scourging yea, in many cases, to death
itself, and that by stoning,* or burning, f or by the

a Psal.. xiv, 13. John iii. 18. b Jer. vi. 14: 1 Thess. v. 3.

Rom. x. 1, 2. Cor. v. 11. Col. i. 28. 1 Tim. iv. 16. d 2 Tim. ii.

25. Num. xv. 35, 36. Deut. xiii: 611. f Josh. vii. 25. Ltvit.
xx. 14. xxi. 9.

382 THE BLESSING OF LEVI. [SEE. XI.

sword of a brother, companion or friend.* But un-
der the latter, a delinquent is only to be admon-
ished* rebuked^ and, at most, to be put away. k
Moreover, a member of the gospel-Israel having been
overtaken in a fault nay, even one having grossly
fallen, is, upon satisfactory evidence of repentance
and reformation, to be restored to the fellowship
and communion of the church. 1 These things, how-
ever, relate only to church-discipline. Members of
churches, if they violate civil law, must, like other
men, be accountable at the bar of civil justice; and
hypocrites in Zion, dying such, must finally perish
with a world that lieth in wickedness.^ And,

3. Persons standing in church-relation, if they
walk disorderly, have no just cause of complaint
when gospel-discipline is exercised toward them
and especially, when they consider the lenient mea-
sures and salutary objects of this discipline, and
that the ministers and members of gospel-churches,
like the priests and Levites of ancient Israel, are
bound to observe the word of the Lord, and to
keep his covenant.

s Exo. xxxii. 27. h Rom. xv. 14. 1 Thess. v. 12. 2 Thess. iii.
15. * Luke xvii. 3, 4. 1 Tim. v. 20: Titus i. 13. Rev. iii. 19.
M Cor. v. 13. Gal. vi. 1. 2 Cor. ii. 611. m Is. xxxiii. 14.
Matth. xxiv. 4851. 1 John v. 19.

SERMON XII*

LEVFS BLESSING CONTINUED.

DEUT xxxiii. 8 11. And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummitn
and thy Urim be with thy Holy One, whom thou didst prove at
Massah, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meri-
bah ; who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen
him ; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own
children: for they have observed thy word, and kept thy covenant.
They shall teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law : they
shall put incense before thee, and whole burnt-sacrifice upon thine
altar. Bless, LORD, his substance, and accept the work of his
hands : smite through the loins of them that rise against him, and
of them that hate him, that they rise not again.

OF this rich and diversified blessing, all that re-
mains to be considered, is expressed in the eleventh
verse, which reads thus ; Bless, Lord, his substance,
and accept the work of his hands : smite through
the loins of them that rise against him, and of them
that hate him, that they rise not again.

In these words, Moses, on behalf of Levi, prayed
for three things ; viz.

For a blessing on his possessions,

The acceptance of his services, and

The effectual conquest of his enemies.

1. For a blessing on his possessions : Bless, Lord,
his substance.

This was peculiar. For, in the division of the
land of Canaan among the Israelites, no share was
assigned to the tribe of Levi : The Lord spake

384 LEVl'g SUBSTANCE BLESSED [SER. XII

unto Aaron, who stood at the head of this tribe,
saying, Thou shall have no inheritance in their land,
the land of Israel, neither shalt thou have any part
among them, that is, of the land, which was to be
divided by lot among the other tribes : It shall be
a statute for ever throughout your generations, that
among the children of Israel they (the Levites) have
no inheritance.*

For this exclusion of the Levites from any share
in the land given to their nation, two reasons are ap-
parent on the face of the history.

1. Their employment ; which did not admit of
their cultivating fields and vineyards,* or engaging
in secular pursuits of any kind. The Levites, said
the Lord, shall do the service of the Tabernacle of
the congregation, and, shall bear their iniquity,
their guilt and punishment, if they neglected the
service, required of them, either stated or occasional. 1 *
In this service, the high-priest was to have the in-
ferior priests and all the common Levites united
with him and under him, to serve him, and, with him,
to serve the Lord. So said God to Aaron: Thy
brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy
father, bring thou with thee, that they may be joined
unto thee* and minister unto thee : but thou and
thy sons (the priests) with thee shall minister be-
fore the tabernacle of witness.^ And they (the Le-

Num. xviii. 20. 23. b Ibid. ver. 23.

* Joined unto thee] Herein there is a happy allusion to the
name of their patriarch ; for 'iS Levi signifies joined. See Gen.
zxix. 34.

t By this tabernacle is meant the holy of holies ; called the
tabernacle of witness, or of testimony, because within it stood the

SER. XII.] AND HIS ENEMIES VANQUISHED. 385

vites) shall keep thy charge, whatever he committed
to their charge, or charged them to do. And I, be-
hold, I have taken your brethren the Levites from
among the children of Israel; to you they are given
as a gift for the Lord, to do the service of the Taber-
nacle of the congregation.*

2. The provision otherwise made for their sup-
port and accommodation. This was such as rendered
husbandry, and therefore farms and vineyards, un-
necessary for them. To the high-priest, for him-
self, for his sons in the priest's office, and for all his
family, belonged a large portion of all the obla-
tions or sacrifices all the heave and wave offerings
all the first-fruits of every kind every thing
absolutely devoted in Israel and the first-lings of
all animals all these were given to him, his sons and
his daughters, by a statute for ever ; that is, they
were assigned to the high-priest for the use of him-
self and his family as long as the Aaronic order
should be continued. d And, to the inferior priests
and common Levites also, belonged an ample sup-
port, even a tenth of all the increase of Canaan :
Behold, said the Lord, / have given the children of
Levi all the tenth in Israel, for an inheritance, in-
stead of a share in the land, for the service, which

Jlrk which contained the tables of the law. Deut. x. 4, 5. Comp.
Exo. xxv. 21. xxxviii. 21. And thougli none but the high-priest,
and he only on the day of atonement, might enter that awful apart-
ment and officiate immediately at the mercy-seat, yet the other
priests also ministered before it, when they officiated at the golden
altar, which stood in the holy place, opposite to it, and was sepa-
rated from it only by the vail. See Exo. xxvii. 21. xl. 21.

Num. xviii. 26. d Num. xviii. S 19-.

386 LEVl's SUBSTANCE BLESSED [sER. XII.

they serve, even the service of the Tabernacle of the
congregation*

Besides, although the tribe of Levi were to have
no part in the original division of the land ; yet the
other tribes were divinely ordered to assign to
them by gift, certain portions for cities, that is,
villages for them and their families to dwell in, with
suburbs for their cattle, &c. f In some instances too,
in the course of Providence, fields devoted fell into
their possession. Moreover, they might have prop-
erty by donation, by legacy, or by purchase, as had
Jeremiah and Barnabas, who were both of the tribe
of Levi. e

But what chiefly enriched and distinguished Aaron
and all the priests and Levites, was that God himself
was in their portion : /, said he to Aaron, as the re-
presentative of the rest, / am thy part and thine in-
heritance among the children of Israel*

Now, the prayer of Moses, that the Lord would
bless the substance of the Levites, may be under-
stood as a prayer,

1 . That he would make their portion abundant or
sufficient ; for it was to come by such means as
rendered it wholly and evidently dependent on his
will and providence. And,

2. That he would make this abundance or suffi-
ciency a blessing to them ; and so give them a com-
fortable as well as a plentiful subsistence ; for other-
wise even their blessings might have involved a
curse, as did those of the wicked priests in the days
of the latter prophets. 1

e Numb. ver. 7. 21. f Ibid. xxxv. 1 5. Lev. xxvii. 21. s Jer.
i. 1. xxxii. 29. Acts iv. 36, 37. b Num. xviii. 20, * Mai. ii. 1, 2

SER. XII.] AND HIS ENEMIES VANQUISHED. 387

The things mentioned concerning the possessions
of the priests and Levites, were doubtless generally
typical ; but satisfactorily to apply them is consider-
ably difficult. In making the attempt, let us notice,

1. Those respecting the high-priest.

Had the high-priest himself no inheritance in the
earthly Canaan ? How, in this, could he typify Christ,
who is heir of all things ? Besides, the difficulty
seems increased when we recollect that Canaan is
called Immanuel's land. k Neverthelss, this circum-
stance in the condition of the high-priest, may re-
mind us 1. That Christ, as man, neither owned
nor claimed any portion of this earth : The Son
of man, said he, hath not where to lay his head.*
And 2. That as a king, his subjects are not of an
earthly or worldly character : My kingdom, said he,
is not of this world. The riches of the glory of
his inheritance is in the saints.*

Was the high-priest charged and privileged to
bring all his brethren, that is, all the Levites, (priests
and others,) into the sanctuary, to minister to him,
and with him to wait upon God 1 Let us be hereby
reminded, that the elect are all of the same chpsen
family with Christ, and therefore his brethren ; and
that, as Mediator, he is officially authorized and
charged by his heavenly Father, to bring them all,
both into a state of grace here and into a state of
glory hereafter. The obstacles, in reference to his
Father's law and justice, he has removed through
his obedience unto death? Herein he magnified the

k Is. viii. 8. l Matth. viii. 20. m John xviii. 36. n Eph. i. 18.
Heb. ii. 11. P Philip, ii. 8.

388 LEVl'S StTBSTANCE BLESSED [sER. XII,

law and made it honorable ; and suffered the just for
the unjust, that he might bring us to God. q But
our calling, as well as our redemption, was, by
covenant-arrangement, confided to him. Hence,
believers are styled, The called of Jesus Christ.*
And having spoken of his called sheep among the
Jews, he said, other sheep I have which are not of
this fold ; meaning elect Gentiles : them also I must
bring; and (in order thereto) they shall hear my
voice ; and there shall be onefold, one gospel-church
state, including believing Gentiles with believing
Jews, and one shepherd, even himself.' Nor may
he abandon them after called ; but is charged with
the safe-keeping of their souls, and with the glori-
ous resurrection of their bodies. At their conver-
sion, they are returned to him as the Shepherd and
Bishop of their souls; and this, saith he, is the Fa-
ther's will who hath sent me, that of all which he
hath given me I should lose nothing, but should
raise it up again at the last day.*

The portion, too, which fell to the high-priest,
suggests an important thought. Was he to share
largely in all the oblations or sacrifices offered to
God ? How much more, does the Lord Jesus, our
divine and adorable High-priest, share in all the
spiritual sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving offered
by the saints. In offering these, both on earth and
in heaven, they were revealed to John, as standing
before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with
white robes, and palms in their hands, and crying

1 1s. xlii. 21. 1 Pet. iii. 18. r Rom. i. 6. John x. 16. Com.
Eph. ii. 14. 19. iii. 6. 1 Pet. ii. 25. * 1 Pet. ii. 25. John vi. 39.
x.28.

8KR. XII.] AND HIS ENEMIES VANQUISHED. 389

with a loud voice, saying, " Salvation to our God
who sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb"*

2. Those respecting the ordinary priests.

Like them, gospel-ministers (of whom they were
typical) are required to give themselves wholly to
their official work. w Like them, therefore, they can-
not, consistently with their sacred ministry, cultivate
fields and vineyards for their support ; and accord-
ingly, for them, as for the priests, God has made no
provision, that by virtue of their office they should
be entitled to landed estates. For although, like the
priests, they may lawfully have land, by donation or
legacy, or by means thus falling into their hands,
they may purchase land, as Jeremiah, though a
priest as well as a prophet, purchased the field of
his uncles's son in Anathoth ; x yet, nowhere in the
New-Testament, is it commanded or even suggested
that gospel-churches should thus enrich their pastors,
as a compensation for their services. Nevertheless,
as God expressly enjoined, that all the other tribes,
in proportion to their respective possessions, should
cede to the Levites cities to dwell in, with suburbs
for their cattle, and alloted to them and their house-
holds an ample supply of provisions, by tithes, offer-
ings and first-fruits ; so He has plainly revealed it
to be the duty of gospel-churches, according to their
circumstances, to provide for their pastors and their
families, if they have any. Toward this, what is
commonly called a parsonage, a tenement owned
by a church for the use of her pastor, is very con-
venient especially one adapted to a country situa-
tion, where a minister needs to keep a horse and

Rev. vii. 10. * Acts vi. 4. 1 Tim. iv. 15. * Jer. xxxii. 9, &c.

390 LEVIES SUBSTANCE* BLESSED [sER, XII.

some other animals. Country-churches, therefore,
especially, would do well, if they can afford it, to
provide such accommodations for their pastors, or to
enable them to hire such for themselves. It should
be recollected, however, that pastors of churches,
like the Levitical priests, need not only habitations
for themselves and their families, but also, at least,
food and raiment convenient for them ; and that
gospel-churches, like the tribes of Israel, should, by
their liberality, enable those whose lives are devoted
to their service, to procure for themselves and fami-
lies, these requisites to comfort and decency. This
is reducing the expectations of gospel-ministers to
the mere necessaries of life. But are they not, from
the churches they serve, entitled to more 1 As their
ministry is not, like that of the priests, hereditary,
and, as usually they have no estates to leave to their
children, should they not be enabled to give them
the requisite opportunities for acquiring a good
education, and the knowledge of such employments,
professional, mercantile or mechanical, as they sever-
ally choose that so, by industry and economy, they
might obtain an honest living and a reputable stand-
ing in society 1

That men called of God to devote their whole
time to the work of the ministry, are entitled to
a comfortable maintenance from those they serve,
is evident from the observations of Paul in relation
to this matter. He, it is true, for reasons which he
specified, declined such support for himself; yet, by
various allusions and appropriate similies, he most
clearly and forcibly illustrated the duty of churches
to furnish it, and the right of ministers to receive it.

SER. XII.] AND HIS ENEMIES VANQUISHED. 391

Are ministers soldiers 1 Who, asks the apostle, goeth
a warfare any time at his own charges ? Are they
instrumental in planting or increasing churches,
which are comparable to vineyards I Who, inquires
he, planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit
thereof '? Are they feeders of their respective flocks,
over the which the Holy Ghost hath made them over-
seers 1 Who, demands he,feedeth a flock, and eateth
not of the milk of the flock ? Suggesting that faith-
ful ministers, in studying the Scriptures, and in open-
ing up and preaching the truths contained in them
to their hearers, resemble oxen, employed in plow-
ing the ground and treading or threshing out the
corn for their owners, the apostle argued their right
to a support, even from the law in favor of oxen : It
is written in the law of Moses, (Deut. xxv. 4.) Thou
shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth
out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen ? Or
saith he it altogether for our sakes ? for our sakes,
no doubt, this is written : that he that ploiceth should
plow in hope : and that he that thresheth in hope,
should be partaker of his hope. The apostle, too,
considered the temporal maintenance due from the
churches of Christ to their ministers, as a very small
matter compared with the spiritual benefit which
they enjoy through their instrumentality : If, saith
he, we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a
great thing if we shall reap your carnal things 1 He
reminded them also, that false teachers were receiv-
ing more than they who taught the truth : If others,
meaning the false apostles, be partakers of this power
over you, (while disseminating error among them,) are
not we, (himself and Barnabas,) entitled to it, rather

392 LEVl's SUBSTANCE BLESSED [sER. XIK

than they 1 Nevertheless we have not used this power ;
but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel
of Christ. Thus, to the present day, and even in
lands called Christian, there are places where
only to name, and much more to urge, the duty of
the people to contribute toward the support of those
who preach to them, would hinder the acceptance of
the gospel among them ; and where, therefore, gos-
pel-ministers, (unless supported by other churches, as
Paul was while he preached at Corinth, 2 Cor. xi. 8.)
must maintain themselves and families by manual
labor. The right, however, of gospel-ministers to a
maintenance from those whonf they serve a the apostle
precedes to show from the very type before us, that is,
the maintenance of the Levitical priests : Do ye not
know, saith he, that they who minister about holy
things live of the things of the temple 1 and they
who wait at the altar are partakers with the al-
tar ? Even so, continues he, hath the Lord ordained,
that they who preach the gospel should live of the
gospel. See 1 Cor. ix. 7 14. and comp. 1 Tim.
v. 18.*

3. Not only the priests, but the other Levites al-
so, were to be constantly employed in the service of
the sanctuary, and therefore had their portion, not
in land but in things sacred.

Hence, private Christians, of whom these Levites
were typical, should remember 1. That they, as
well as ministers, ought to be constant in waiting

* On this subject I always speak the more freely, because it is
well known that I am not speaking for myself; the church I serve
having constantly and sufficiently provided for me and mine.

[SER. XII. AND HIS ENEMIES VANQUISHED. 393

upon God, not only in private and in their families,
but also in the sanctuary. 2. That they, as well as
their ministers, are required to take a habitual, a spe-
cial and always a primary concern in promoting the
welfare of Zion. So said Christ to his disciples :
Seek first the kingdom of God. And 3. That,
although they are not, like the Levites, and, like
gospel-ministers, prevented, by their station, from
pursuing husbandry or other avocations for a liveli-
hood ; yet, that they should not be earthly minded,
nor anxious to accumulate earthly things as their
portion : Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon
earth, 8fc. As the portion of the Levites consisted
not in land, but in things holy ; so the portion of
the saints consists, not in earth and earthly things,
but in grace and glory. Psal. Ixxxiv. 11. The in-
heritance to which they are heirs, is incorruptible,
undefiled smdfadeth not away. 1 Pet. i. 4.

But, my believing hearers, the better to reconcile
us to our temporal conditions, let us take another
view of the portion of the priests and Levites.

1. The high-priest, as noticed before, had all the
inferior priests and all the Levites, given to him ;
see Num. xviii, 6 ; so, for our comfort, let us recol-
lect, that, if true Kelievers, whether gospel-ministers
or private Christians, we are of those whom God the
Father gave to Christ, as his peculiar treasure, and
that we are his special and perpetual care. Christ,
indeed, is Heir of all things ; yet the riches of the
glory of his inheritance is in the saints. Eph. i. 18.
Nor can he be deprived of them; I give unto them,
eternal life, saith he, and adds, they shall never per-

394 LEVl's SUBSTANCE BLESSED [SER. XII.

ish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand.
John x. 28.

2. The priests and Levites in common, had a
portion in the sacrifices, both by way of atone-
ment and of nourishment; see Levit. xvi. and Num.
xviii. So, let ministers and all other believers recol-
lect, that they are interested in the great Antitype
of all the sacrifices, Christ himself that through
him all their sins are atoned for and blotted out, and
that, as believers in him, they live upon him; to
them, his flesh is meat indeed and his Hood is drink
indeed. John vi. 55. What if God, then, see fit
to bestow the larger share of temporal things upon
the men of the world, that have their portion in this
life, he has, nevertheless, bestowed upon his people
what is infinitely better, even his dear Son, and has
thereby given us the strongest assurance possible,
that he will not withhold from us any real good :
for He that spared not his own Son, but delivered
him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also
freely give us all things ? Rom. viii. 32.

3. The priests had one portion peculiar to them-
selves : they had a tythe out of the tythes of the Le-
vites ; which being offered to the Lord, fell to the
priesthood. Num. xviii. 26 28. Thus gospel-min-
isters indirectly share in all that God's people receive
under their ministry ; for, both in their calling and in
their subsequent edification, we behold that, as instru-
ments, our labor is not in vain in the Lord ; we are
ministers, brethren, by whom ye believed* we are

* 1 Cor. iii. 5.

SER. XII.] AND HIS ENEMIES VANQUISHED. 395

comforted in your comfort? and we live, that is, we
are animated and joyful, if ye stand fast in the
Lords But,

4. To remove all occasion for murmuring or dis-
pondency, in Aaron in the inferior priests, or in the
common Levites, God let them know that he himself
was in their portion ; for, to Aaron, as personating
the whole tribe, he said, I am thy part and thy in-
heritance.* The same is true of Christ and the
church. The Father having by an everlasting
covenant, become the God of Christ, as man and
Mediator, says of the elect, as represented in him,
/ will be their God, and they shall be my people.*
The called among them, know and acknowledge
him as such : This God, say they, is our God for
ever and ever : he will be our Guide, even unto death.
And, though they have many enemies to encounter,
and, in this life, when compared with other men,
may seem to be under some disadvantages ; yet their
covenant-interest in God, makes them secure of
victory and of infinite gain : God is their shield from
every foe, and their exceeding great reward^ To
the church, nay to every believer, He is saying,
Fear thou not ; for lam with thee ; be not dismayed,
for I am thy God : I, even /, am he that comforteth
you : who art thou, that thou shouldst be afraid of a
man that shall die, and of the son of man that shall
be made as grass, and jforgettest the Lord thy
Maker, &c. h In this covenant-relation to God,
Christ, both for himself and his people, rejoiced;

b 2 Cor. vii. 13. ' 1 Thess. iii. 8. d Num. xviii. 20. Jer.
xxxi. 33. * Psal. xlviii. 14. e Gen. xv. 1. h Is. xli. 10. li. 12, 13.

396 LBVl'a SUBSTANCE BLESSED [SER. XII.

saying to his disciples, I ascend unto my Father and
your Father ; and to my God and your God. 1

It remains to be shown, under this head, how God
according to the prophetic prayer of Moses, blesses
the substance of Levi, mystically considered. In
this view of the subject, as noticed already, the high-
priest, the head of the sacerdotal tribe, was a type
of Christ, who is the Head of the church, and by
whom all true believers are made priests unto God;
wherefore, in blessing the church, both ministers
and private members, God blesses the substance, the
portion of Christ.*

For this he made ample provision, when he blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places, or
things, in Christ, according as he hath chosen us in
him before the foundation of the world, that, by his
gracious influence upon us, ice should be holy and
without blame before him in love. k

1 John xx. 17.

* As the nation of Israel, in common, so each tribe thereof, in
certain respects, was a type of the church. See Ser. vi. p. 224, &c.
Thus, for instance, while the chosen nation, as such, was a figure
of God's elect, (see Dent. vii. 6. Is. xlv. 25. and Rom. xi. 26.) the
tribe of Levi in particular, as separated and consecrated to pecu-
liar service, may justly be viewed as a type of the regenerate; who
are separated and devoted to God, and of whom, ministers answer
to the priests, and private Christians, to the other Levites. See Is.
Ixvi. 21. So, in the New Testament, believers are styled the catted
of Jesus Christ, in distinction from his redeemed, remaining in a
etate of nature, Rom. i. 6. Nor is it any objection to this distinc-
tion, that the whole nation, as called out of Egypt, is alluded to as
a type of those called out of darkness into marvelous light; 1 Pet.
ii. 9; for, in the dispensation of the fulness oj times, this will be
realized in all the elect. Eph. i. 10.

k Eph. i. 3, 4.

SER. XII.] AND HIS ENEMIES VANQUISHED. 397

But he blesses us experimentally, when, by his
Spirit, he reveals Christ, with all these blessings in
him, as by covenant made over to us. By this mani-
festation of Christ to our souls, whether at first con-
version or at an after period, we discover, that in
having him we have alt things richly to enjoy ; that
he is of God made unto us Wisdom, and Righteous-
ness, and Sanctification, and Redemption ; l that he
is THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS"" the sacrifice
for our sins" the fountain open for our cleansing
the source of our life p and the depository of all
our supplies. i Thus God blesses the church, which
is the substance or portion of Christ, by making
Christ, who is the substance or portion of the church,
a blessing unto her ; and which he does indeed, by
revealing and applying his fulness to her members.
Herein, according to his gracious promise made to
the church, He abundantly blesses her provision, and
satisfies her poor with bread/

To procede. Moses, in behalf of Levi, prays,
II. For the acceptance of his services : And ac-
cept the work of his hands ; that is, the work of
Aaron and of all the priests, in offering sacrifices
and presenting incense, and the work of the other
Levites also, in all their services pertaining to the

I Tabernacle and Temple. The priests and Levites,
like all other men, were imperfect ; yet Mosey prayed
and thereby predicted, that God would accept their
work, their various service, performed in an official
way, by his appointment. The answer, too, of this

1 1 Cor. i. 30. m Jer. xxiii. 6. n Heb. x. 10. Zech. xiii. 1.
P Col. iii. 4. i 1bid. i. 19. ' Psal. cxxxii. 15.

398 LEVl's SUBSTANCE BLESSED [SER. XII.

prophetic prayer is manifest from the sacred records ;
which abundantly show, that the work of the priests
and Levites in common, though it consisted in car-
nal ordinances, was, nevertheless, to the ends for
which it was designed, acceptable to God, when
performed agreeably to his direction. 8

Here the typical design is obvious and full of en-
couragement. For,

1 . The work) the offering of our great High-priest,
the Lord Jesus Christ, was acceptable and grateful
to his heavenly Father ; even an offering and a sa-
crifice to Gody for a sweet-smelling savor. That
the sacrifice of Christ was accepted of the Father,
as a satisfactory atonement for the sins of the elect,
is manifest in that he raised him from the dead and
received him to glory. Him, " who was delivered
for our offenses and raised again for our justifica-
tion,' ?t hath God exalted to be a Prince and a Sa-
viour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgive-
ness of sins." The same is also apparent from the
intercession of Christ ; which, being made in behalf
of those for whom he died and rose again, is ever-
availing. Who, then, shall lay any thing to the
charge of God's elect ? It is God that justifieth.
Who is he that condemneth ? It is Christ that died,
yea rather that is risen again, who is ever at the right
hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us. w

2. The work of gospel-ministers is acceptable to
God. This appears by the sanction which he has

Exo. xl. 34. 1 Kings viii. 10, 11. Mai. iii. 4. 'Rom. iv. 25.
Acts v. 31. w Rom. viii. 33, 34.

SER. XII.] AND HIS ENEMIES VANQUISHED. 399

given to the gospel, as preached by them. The
apostles preached it with the power of the Holy
Ghost sent down from heaven* And, as then, so
ever since, the hand of the Lord being with the
faithful preachers of it, many have believed, and
turned unto the LordJ Often too, our poor labors
are rendered the means of refreshing those who
have tasted that the Lord is gracious. Directed
and animated by the Holy Spirit, like Paul and
others, we are helpers of your joys But whether
the messages of truth we deliver, be believed or dis-
believed on earth, our work, if faithfully performed,
is acceptable in heaven: for we are unto God a
sweet savor of Christ, both in them that are saved,
and in them that perish* And,

3. The work of all private Christians, no less than
that of gospel-ministers, when rightly done, is ac-
cepted. Such their scriptural worship : herein they
offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God, by
Jesus Christ.* Such their various liberality toward
the cause and the poor of the Lord : For God, saith
the apostle to believers, is not unrighteous to forget
your icork and labor of love, which ye have showed
toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the
saints and do minister ; and, the more to excite and
encourage us therein, he adds, to do good and to
communicate, forget not ; for with such sacrifices
God is well pleased.^ Nay, even our civil avoca-
tions, pursued from right motives and in proper de-
grees, meet the divine approbation and blessing:

* 1 Pet. i. 12. y Acts xi. 21. 2 Cor. i. 24. a 2 Cor. ii. 15.
* 1 Pet. it 5. c Heb. vt 10. xiii. 16.

400 LEVI'S SUBSTANCE BLESSED [SER. XII.

for we are exhorted not to be slothful in business,
that we may provide things honest in the sight of all
men; d and are reminded, that it is more blessed to
give than to receive.* Nor should it be forgotten,
that, as the acceptableness of our worship does not
depend on the splendor of our gifts ; so neither does
the acceptableness of our contributions depend on
the abundance we may have it in our power to com-
municate ; but on the disposition with which we
give ; for if there be Jlrst a willing mind, it is ac
cepted according to that a man hath!

In behalf of Levi, Moses moreover prays,
III. For the effectual conquest of his enemies ;
saying to God, Smite through the loins of them that
rise against him, and of them that hate him, that
they rise not again. The priests and Levites were
appointed of God, to officiate in sacred service, for
the honor of his name and the welfare of his chosen
nation. Nevertheless, this prophetic prayer im-
plies,

1. That they would have opposers them that
would rise against them. Such had been the com-
panies of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram ; who,
though Israelites themselves, and chiefly Levites,
were ambitious of undue preferment ambitious of
the priesthood ; and therefore rose up against, not
only the ordinary priests, but against Aaron, the
high-priest, under whom the inferior priests and Le-
vites were employed; nay, against Moses also, and
thereby against God himself, whom Moses, in some
instances, represented. See Num. xvi. And in

/
* Rom. xii. 11, 17. Acts xx. 35, '2 Cor. viii. 12,

SER. XII.] AND HIS ENEMIES VANQUISHED. 401

like manner, at divers times and places under the
present dispensation, companies of professors have
risen up in contempt of the divine institution of the
gospel-ministry, all claiming an equal right with
them, to officiate in preaching the word and admi-
nistering ordinances, a work which God hath as-
signed to men, whom he specially qualifies for it
and calls to perform it. Such professors, in effect,
say to the Lord's ministers, as Korah and his asso-
ciates said to Moses and Aaron, Ye take too much
upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every
one of them, and the Lord is among them : where-
fore then lift ye up yourselves above the congrega-
tion of the Lord ?e All the congregation of Israel,
it is true, were relatively holy, God having chosen
that nation, and by covenant taken it, as such, into
a peculiar relation to himself ; h nevertheless, the
charge and service of the sanctuary, he had speci-
ally assigned to the tribe of Lev?, and of them,
had chosen and separated the house of Aaron ex-
clusively, to the office of the priesthood. 11 And so,
although all the elect were sanctified, or set apart
from the rest of mankind, by God the Father^ and
preserved by Jesus Christ, and, in due time, are all
called and made partakers of true holiness ; l and
though all the called are spiritual Israelites, and, as
such, are entitled to the privileges and bound to take
an interest in the charge and worship of the New^
Testament sanctuary, the gospel-church ; yet, in all
generations, comparatively but few of them are ma-
nifested to be divinely chosen, qualified and called

* Num. xvi. 3. h Exo. xix. 5 8 Deut. vii. 6. 9. * Num. xviii*
23. k Exo. xxviii. 1. ! Jucle ver. 1, and Eph. iv. 24.

402 Lfctl'S StfcSTANCE BLE&SEb [SER. Xll.

to officiate in the gospel- ministry. Are all apostles ?
are all prophets ? are all teachers ? m Certainly not.
2. That they (the priests and Levites of regular
deportment) would have enemies as well as oppo-
sers them that would hate them. Yet the ill-will
which any felt toward their persons, was on account
of their work ; and as their work was assigned -to
them of God, all opposition made to them, in the
performance of it, was rebellion against Him, by
whose authority they acted.* Thus all the ill-will
that Satan and those influenced by him, have, at any
time or in any way, manifested against gospel-min-
isters, has not been so much against their persons as
against their official work, or rather against the doc-
trine which they have professed and preached. This
doctrine, however, is not theirs but Christ's, even
that doctrine which he, as Mediator, received from
the Father who sent him ; John vii. 16. Christ,
therefore, regards all the persecutors, both of his min-
isters, for preaching his doctrine, and of his other
disciples, for believing it, as being influenced by ha-
tred against himself and his Father : If they have
persecuted me, said he to his followers, they will
persecute you but all these things will they do unto
you for my name's sake, because they know not him
thai sent me. He that hateth me, hateth my Father
also. The secret of all is, that the carnal mind,
whether in hypocrites or in non-professors, is enmi-
ty against God p against God both essential and
personal ; and therefore, against Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost. q

01 Cor. xii. 29. a Num. xvii, 10. Q John xv, 2023. P Rona*
tii. 7. t Matt. xii. 24. 31, 32.

feER. XII.] AND HIS ENEMIES VANQUISHED. 403

Prompted by this enmity against the Son, the gen-
eration among whom he tabernacled on earth, spake
all manner of evil against him. The rabble, to re-
proach him among their equals, said of him, Be-
hold, a man gluttonous, and a wine-bibber* the
Pharisees, to lesson the fame of his miracles, accu-
sed him of being in collusion with Beelzebub, the
prince of the devils 5 and the chief priests, to give
vent to their satanic rancor, called him, That deceiv-
er*

The same enmity, too, was felt and manifested by
many, against the apostles and other ministers of
Christ, because they espoused his interest and preach-
ed his doctrine. To excite popular prejudice against
them, and especially against the gospel itself, many
said of them, These men that have turned the world
upside down are come hither also as though wher-
ever they came, they were the disturbers of the pub-
lic peace, and, as such, the pests of the common-
wealth. 11

Nor could even private Christians, because they
acknowledged Christ and received his doctrine, es*
cape the serpentine tongue of slander : concerning
this sect, the Christian community, ice know, said the
Jews to Paul, that every where it is spoken against.*
And who that has read the subsequent history of the
church, and observed the movements of the enemy
in our own times, does not know, that the name, the
gospel, the ministers, and all the consistent disciples
of Christ, have, in like manner, been maligned and

r Matt. xi. 19. Ibid, xii* 24. Ubid. xxvii. 63. u Acts xvii<
6. w Acts xxviii. 22.

404 LEVl's SUBSTANCE BLESSED [SER. XII*

vilified ever since, and especially by false brethren,
carnal professors, unawares brought in ?* Nor is this
any more than we ought to expect ; Christ and his
apostles having foretold it ; Ye shall be hated of all
nations, said Christ to his disciples, for my name's
sake,y If ye suffer for righteousness 1 sake, said Peter,
happy are ye, adding, be not afraid of their terror,
neither be troubled* Yea, all that will live godly in
Christ Jesus, said Paul, shall suffer persecutions
Many, it is true, are excellent moralists, and seem
to live godly, who, nevertheless pass under general
favor ; but, alas, they are not in Christ Jesus, and
therefore not objects of Satan's envy ; but " all that,"
from a principle of grace wrought in them, will, that
is, desire and strive, to live godly, being in Christ
Jesus, by vital union to him and a true faith in him,
shall suffer persecution, in one way or another.
This prayer, however, must be understood,
3. As a prediction of the effectual conquest of all
Levi's opposers and enemies ; for the Spirit by which
Moses prayed was the Spirit of prophecy, by which
he could pray for nothing but what God designed to
grant. Now, moved by this Spirit, Moses, in behalf
Levi, prayed to God, saying, smite through the loins
of them that rise against him, and of them that
hate him, that they rise not again. Among the suc-
cessive instances in which this prophetic prayer was
answered, a remarkable one occured in king Saul;
for when he rose up as the opposer and enemy of
the Lord's priests, he thereby filled the cup of his

* 2 Cor. xi. 26. Gal. ii. 4. y Matt. xxiv. 9. z I Pet. iii. 14,
* 2 Tim. iii. 12.

WBR. XII.] AND HIS ENEMIES VANQUISHED. 405

iniquity and hastened the approach of his own ruin ;
he was presently abandoned of God overcome by
the Philistines and suffered, at the instigation of
Satan, to thrust himself though with his ownsword. b

Nor did this prophecy any less respect, the oppo-
sers and enemies of Christ, his ministers and his
church. These also, God would eventually smite
through, in such manner, that, as opposers, they
should not rise again.

This God does, in some instances, in a way of
grace ; for when he is pleased to regenerate the
greatest opposers and persecutors, he thereby so
effectually smites them through, that they never
again rise up as the enemies, but become the friends
of Christ and his people. Witness Saul of Tarsus.

More generally, however, he smites them through
in a way of wrath. In this view of the prophecy, it
contains an allusion to the ruin of Korah, Dathan,
and Abiram; for as God had awfully destroyed
them, so he would destroy the future enemies of Le-
vi, and especially the enemies of Christ and his
church. Such was the fate of the persecuting Jews,
when, at the destruction of Jerusalem, wrath came
upon them to the uttermost* Such will be the fate
of 'mystical Babylon, when, like the mill-stone which
a mighty angel cast into the sea, she shall be thrown
down, and shall be found no more at aU. d And such,
ultimately, must be the doom of all who live and die
enemies to the ministers and church of Christ ; for
all such Christ regards as enemies both to himself

b 1 Sam. xxii. 17. 18. and xxi. 16. c 1 Thess. ii. 16. Re?,
xviii. 21. Comp. Jer. li. 63, 64.

406 LEVIES SUBSTANCE BLESSED [sER. XII.

and his Father. He, saith Christ to his disciples,
that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that dcspii-
ethmc, despiseth him that sent me. Luke x. 16.
From the subject,

1 . Let us, my believing hearers, learn that, what-
ever of a worldly nature may be denied us, we have
a goodly heritage : God himself, as heretofore shown,
is our inheritance.

2. Let us, whether ministers or private Christians,
be excited cheerfully to engage in the duties and pri-
vileges of our respective stations ; recollecting that
our persons being made accepted in the Beloved,
our various services also are accepted and acceptable
through him. 1 Pet. ii. 5. And,

3. Let us, my ministering brethren, and let all
that have obtained like precious faith with us, learn
not to be discouraged by the persecutions and revi-
lings of enemies. Sufferings for Christ's sake are
inseparable from that faith in him which is the gift
of God : unto you, saith Paul, to those who possess
this faith, it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only
to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake.*
And the more to reconcile us thereto, the same apos-
tle exhorts us to recollect, that Christ himself was
treated in like manner : Consider him that endur-
ed such contradiction of sinners against himself,
lest ye be wearied, and faint in your minds. e

Nor should we meditate revenge on those who
injure us, but leave them at the disposal of him who
hath said, vengeance is mine I will repay ; and who,
in his own time and way, will smite through their

Philip, i. 29. * Heb. xii. 3.

SER. XII.] AND HIS ENEMIES VANQUISHED. 407

loins, that they rise not again to annoy us. Thus ac-
ting, we shall imitate Christ ; who, when he was revi-
led, reviled not again ; and when he suffered, though
his enemies were all in his power, he threatened not ;
but committed himself to him that judgeth right-
eously.*

Recollecting how much better it is to be persecu-
ted than to be persecutors, let us rejoice in our
lot. Christians ! think how unhappy your enemies
are, and you will not try to make them more so.
They are trudging from house to house from post
to pillar, and from village to village, burdened with
fabricated stories and vilifying pamphlets, and dis-
tracted with the ravings of malice, envy, and disap-
pointment. Truly the wicked are as the troubled
sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire
and dirt.z Think, too, how deluded some of them
are ! They talk of a fire within, and would have
their readers and hearers to suppose it is the fire of
a holy jealousy for the Lord of Hosts ; but, alas, there
is much reason to fear, it is what an apostle calls the
fire of hell. h It is a fire by which they are working,
and, if grace prevent not, must accomplish their own
ruin, temporal and eternal ; it disturbs their repose,
exhausts their strength, impairs their health, sears
their conscience, and thus hurries them on toward
death and destruction. The fire of thine enemies,
saith Isaiah to the Lord, or rather, to the church,
shall devour them. 1 It devours their present com-
forts. Often, too, it breaks out in such fury as to
manifest its true character to all who behold its

f 1 Pet. ii. 23. B Is. Ivii. 20. h Jas. iii. 6. * Is. xxvi. Ill 1

408 LEVl's SUBSTANCE BLESSED. [SER. Xlt*

flashes ; and thereby, to their deep regret, it defeats
the object both of him who kindles it and of those
who emit it. Or if, in other instances or in other
persons, it acts with more moderation, it, neverthe-
less, prompts them to the adoption of such measures,
as, for art and cunning, for intrigue and deception,
cannot be distinguished from the wiles of the devils
Nay, though it may assume a pretence to prophecy
yea, may excite its possessors to be at the expense of
hiring prophets far and near, to confirm its oracular
authority, or though the prophets, partaking of the
same fire, may volunteer their services, for the luxury
of doing evil; still, poor creatures, they must fail; for
there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is
there any divination against Israel, that can pre-
vail. 1 Surely they are not to be envied, but pitied.
Their labour, however arduous and however zeal-
ously pursued, is to them only an evident token of
perdition, but to us of salvation, and that of God
All our hope concerning them is, that/ in some in-
stances, God, with whom we leave them, strikes
through the loins of such in a way of grace. O that
this, my brethren, may be the happy lot of my ene-
mies and yours ! But, if the Judge of all see pro-
per to deal with them in a way of penal retribution,
it becomes us to acquiesce in his will ; seeing that it
is a righteous thing with God, to recompense tribu-
lation to them that trouble his people." Just and
true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Rev. xv. 3.

k Eph. vi. 11. * Num. xxiji. 23. Comp. Isa. liv. 1517. PhiL
i. 28. n 1 Thess. i. 6.

SERMON XIII.

THE BLESSING OF BENJAMIN.

DEUT. xxxiii. 12. And of Benjamin lie said, The beloved of the
Lord shall dwell in safety by him ; and the Lord shall cover him
all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders*

HERE, as in verse seventh, we perceive, that the
Spirit of prophecy in Moses, when pronouncing these
blessings upon the tribes of Israel, did not always
follow the order in which their respective patriarchs
descended from their common progenitor. For,
as among Jacob's sons by Leah, Judah, though the
fourth, is placed next to Reuben, the first ; so here,
of his sons by Rachel, Benjamin, the younger, is
placed before Joseph, the elder.

The reasons, however, in the two cases are dif-
ferent. In the former, respect was had to compara-
tive dignity. And as, in a civil point of view, the
honors of royalty, which belonged to Judah, were
superior to those of the priesthood, which belonged
to Levi, the tribe of Judah, the fourth in descent
from Jacob, is mentioned before the tribe of Levi,
the third in that descent. But in the latter case,
respect is had 1, To the adjacency of posses-
sions in the land of Canaan. For, as the land was
to be divided among the tribes by lot, the whole dis-
posing whereof is of the Lord,* it well became Him
whose understanding is infinite, to influence the
prophet, to mention the tribes in the same order in

Rw.zvi.33.

410 THE BLESSING OF BENJAMIN. [sER. XIII.

which He designed, by the lot, to divide and arrange
their portions ; that, by thus coinciding, the prophecy
and the lot, though at least fifteen years apart, might
serve mutually to confirm and illustrate each other,
and that it might thereby be evident, that both were
from HIM, who is in one mind, and cannot be
turned. b Accordingly, Levi having, as you have
lately heard, no landed inheritance in Canaan, Ben-
jamin, among the tribes which had such inheri-
tances there, is mentioned next to Judah, and im-
mediately before Joseph ; because his inheritance lay
between the inheritance of Judah and that of Joseph,
and contiguous to each. See Josh, xviii. 10, 11. 2.
To the site of the temple ; which, if not within the
lot of Benjamin, was very near it, in the lot of Judah.
The latter is the more probable. See Psal. Ixxviii.
68. 69.* Either supposition, however, furnishes an
obvious reason why Benjamin is mentioned before
Joseph. And 3. To the city of Jerusalem; upon
which, as it was the holy city and a type of the
church^ God would bestow more honor than upon
Samaria, the capital of the ten tribes, fallen into
idolatry . d Now Jerusalem stood partly on the por-
tion of Judah and partly on that of Benjamin ; and
accordingly, was reckoned, sometimes to the for-
mer* and sometimes to the latter;* whereas Sa-
maria was in the inheritance of Ephraim, a branch
of the house of Josephs Hence another and a very

b Job. xxiii. 13. c Neh. xi. 1. Gal. iv. 26. Heb. xii. 22. Rev.
xi. 2. d Is. vii. 9. Hosea viii- 5, 6. e Josh. xv. 8. 63. f Ibid,
xviii. 28. Judg. i. 21. Is. ix. 9. Josh. xiv. 4.

* Dr. Lightfoot, upon the authority of talmudic authors, referred
to in his Works, (Vol. I. p. 1050,) says of the sacred buildings,

SER. XIII.] THE BLESSING OF BENJAMIN. 411

important reason why Benjamin, in this prophetic
chapter, is mentioned before his elder brother Jo-
seph, and (among the land-holding tribes) next to
Judah, with whom he was interested in the chosen
city. Besides 4. When the ten tribes followed
Jeroboam and his idolatrous worship, Benjamin and
Judah, under Rehoboam, cleaved to each other, and
to the temple and worship of God. Most fitly,
therefore, were these two tribes, in commendation of
their loyalty, fraternal affection, and persevering
piety, thus honorably associated in their portions
and their privileges ; having both the holy city and
the temple itself upon their adjoining borders, with
none but the landless priests and Levites residing
between them, and these adhering to them, and offi-
ciating for them. See 2 Chron. xi. 1,11, 12, 13, 14.

In discoursing on the blessing of Benjamin, I shall,
in my usual way, consider it,

I. LITERALLY. And of Benjamin he said, that
is, Moses, speaking by the Spirit of prophecy, said
of him, The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety
by him ; and the Lord shall cover him all the day
long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders.

The tribe of Benjamin, is here called The beloved
of the Lord, either as The Lord loved the people of

14 most part of the courts was in the portion of Judah, but the al-
tar, porch, temple, T and most holy place, were in the portion of Ben-
jamin." And again, referring to authorities of the same class,
(Vol. II. p. 21,) he says, " The distinguishing line," (meaning that
between Judah and Benjamin) " went through the very court of
the temple;" leaving to Judah, " the mountain of the temple, the
chambers of them that kept it, [and] the courts ;" and to Benjamin,
" the porch of the temple, and the temple; and the holy of holies."

412 THE BLESSING OF BENJAMIN. [gER XIII*

Israel in common, 11 or rather, with reference to the
special love wherewith Jacob loved Benjamin his
son, the head of this tribe ; Jacob's love for him,
being not merely natural and paternal, but also su-
pernatural and prophetical ; and therefore an indica-
tion that the Lord loved him. 1

Benjamin, " The beloved of the Lord," or, being
beloved of the Lord, as some, after the Septuagintfi
choose to render it, " shall dwell in safety by him,"
that is, by the Lord. The literal meaning seems to
be this : the temple, as already noticed, stood if not
within the border of Benjamin, yet very near it, upon
the adjacent border of Judah, or perhaps on the very
line between the two ; and, as the Shecheenah, the
special symbol of the Lord's presence, dwelt in the
temple, Benjamin, as dwelling by that, dwelt by the
Lord. Hence his safety; for all that dwell near the
Lord, are safe as well as happy : The Lord of hosts
is with them, the God of Jacob is their refuge.
Psal. xlvi. 7.

" And," farther to account for the safe-keeping of
Benjamin, " the Lord," (adds the prophet,) " shall
cover him all the day long" meaning, either "all the
day" literally, or " all the day" figuratively, and this
whether a day of prosperity or a day of adversity, each
having its appropriate dangers ; or, more generally,
all the day long of the Jewish dispensation.

" And," to complete the clim ax of Benjamin's safe-
ty, " he shall dwell between," or upon " his shoul-
ders." They who suppose that the temple was erect-

h Context, ver. 3. ' l Gen. xliv. 20. 30. and xlix. 27.

* 'HyoMr"/)|xs'vo utfo

SER. XIII.] THE BLESSING OF BENJAMIN. 413

ed within the lot of Benjamin, explain this clause of
the Lord's dwelling between or upon the shoulders
of Benjamin. " The temple, the Lord's habitation,"
say they, " stood upon Benjamin's hills, like a man's
head upon his shoulders." Thus, poetically, shoul-
ders are ascribed to mount Atlas. The words, how-
ever, much more naturally suggest the very contrary ;
namely, that Benjamin should dwell between, or
upon the Lord's shoulders ; and which, no doubt, is
the true sense of the prediction. And, so under-
stood, our text serves happily to illustrate and con-
firm the prophecy of Jacob, delivered more than two
hundred years before, concerning this tribe : Benja-
min, said he, shall ravin like a wolf; in the morning
he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide
the spoil. Gen. xlix. 27. Benjamin, therefore, was
to be preserved day and night. And accordingly,
Moses in the text, says, The Lord shall cover him,
that is, protect him all the day long, meaning the
whole natural day of twenty-four hours, and which
is to be understood as an emblem of the whole
Jewish dispensation. On this subject, then, the
Spirit of prophecy in Jacob and in Moses, evidently
designed the same thing ; to wit, that the tribe of
Benjamin, covered by the Lord, and secured and sup-
ported between or upon his shoulders, should,
whether engaged in battles or participating in spoils,
be preserved, with Judah, through all the changes,
and, with him, partake in all the advantages, of the
Jewish state. The history, too, of this tribe, mani-
festly corresponds to the prophecy respecting it.
For, after the defection of the ten tribes, we find
Benjamin constantly associated with Judah till the

414 THE BLESSING OF BENJAMIN. [sER. XIII.

time of the captivity ; k and, the ten tribes being first
taken captive by Shatmaneser,^ the two tribes, Ju-
dah and Benjamin, by the authority of Nebuchadnez-
zar, were together carried into Babylon" 1 together
they suffered the reproaches and sorrows of the
seventy years appointed for their continuance there*
together they were authorized by the edict of Cy-
rus, and stirred up by the Spirit of the Lord, to return
to their own landf together they endured the toils
of rebuilding the temple and the city of Jeru-
salem" and together they shared in the comforts
and privileges, as well as in the wars and ca-
lamities, which succeeded their restorations Not
only Judah, therefore, but Benjamin also, remained
a distinct tribe till the coming of Shiloh? for the re-
jection of whom, wrath came upon them to the utter-
most, through the instrumentality of the Romans.
See Luke xxi. 2024. and 1 Thess. ii. 16.

k 1 Rings xii. 21, 23. 1 Chron. xii. 16. 2 Chron. xi. 12. xv. 2.
xxv. 5. xxxiv. 9. * 2 Kings xvii. 3 24. m 2 Kings xxv. 18 21.
2 Chron. xxxvi. 1020. Jer. lii. 2830.

* Which years are to be reckoned as commencing in the fourth
year of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, which corresponded to the first
year of Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon ; Jer. xxv. 1 ; though
the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar -, the father and prede-
cessor of the said Nebuchadrezzar, began a year sooner ; it being
in the third year of Jehoiakim. Dan. i. 1. According to Usher,
it was the year of the world 3397, and before Christ 607.

f This was in the first year of Cyrus ; that is, in the first year
that he reigned over Babylon ; Ezra i. 1 5 ; for he had then, it
is believed, bee,n king of Persia about twenty years.

n Ezra, vi. 1, to the end of chapter vii. and Neh. i. 1. to vi. 16.
Neh. xi. 4. xii. 34. p Gen. xlix. 10. Heb. vii. 14. Rom. xi. 1.
Philip, iii. 5.

J5ER. XIII.] THE BLESSING OF BENJAMIN. 415

But I hasten to consider the blessing of Benja-
min,

II. TYP.ICAI.LY. In this view of the subject, our
thoughts must be transferred from Benjamin,

First, To Christ. Of him, this patriarch was a
type,

1. In each of his two names. Rachel, his mother,
in her painful hour, nay. " as her soul was in de-
parting, (for she died,) called his name Ben-Oni,"*
The son of my sorrow. But Jacob, not willing that
the anguish of his beloved Rachel, should rc-pierct
his heart, at every call of this son, changed his name
" his father called him Benjamin,"f Son of the
right hand. See Gen. xxxv. 18. The whole, no
doubt, involved a mystical design. Thus the Old-
Testament Zion travailed in desire and prayer, for
the coming of Christ 1 * and, on his manifestation in
the flesh, presently expired ; that is, came under the
threatened Lo-ammi, Not my people, and conse-
quently ceased from being the visible people of
God. s And though the Messiah, in the days of his
flesh, was indeed a Ben-oni, a son of sorrow, yea,
emphatically " a man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief,'' his heavenly Father changed his con ?
dition, and therewith changed his name ; he hath
given him a name that is above every name ;* where-
by, like Benjamin, he is become The Son of his Fa-

* 'Jtorp; compounded of p Ben a son, p&* on pain , sorrow, or
affliction, and the postfix ' yod, forming the poss. pron. my.

t PD'33 ; from p Ben a son, and pD'' yamin, or jamin the right
hand.

r Psal. xiv. 7. liii, 6. Is. lix. 20. Micah v. 3. s Hosea. i. 9.
Matt. viii. 11, 12; Rom. ix. 2533. xi. 715. * Philip. ii. 9.

416 THE BLESSING OF BENJAMIN. [SER. XIII.

therms right hand. As such he was announced at
his resurrection ; wherein he was declared to be the
Son of God with power ^ with right-hand dignity
and dominion." And having ascended to heaven,
he " is set down at the right hand of the throne of
God." w He is the man of God's right hand, and the
Son of man, whom, in regard to his official capacity,
" he made strong for himself," that is, furnished with
all fulness of grace and strength requisite to the ac-
complishment of the great work, to which he had
chosen and appointed him. To Christ, therefore,
both God the Father and his believing children have
a fiducial and steadfast respect, in all their federal
intercourse. God the Father has a constant respect
to Him and to his obedience and sacrifice, while he
communicates to the elect, those blessings which, in
the COVENANT of GRACE, made with Him in their be-
half, he stipulated to confer upon them.* And be-
lievers, in like manner, have respect to Him, as their
Covenantee and Advocate, in all they hope for, and,
therefore, in all they pray for. We hope for all
needful grace by the way, and for eternal life at our
journey's end, because God, that cannot lie, hath
given the former to the elect in Christ, and promised
the latter to them, through Christ, before the world
began.* And we draw nigh to God in prayer, remem-
bering that ice have an Advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous that he is the Propitia-
tion for our sins and that he hath said to his disci-

u Rom. i. 4. Matt, xxviii. 18. w Heb. xii. 2.
* See Sejr. 11. p. 3 <fcc. x % Tim. i. 9. Titus i. 2.

SER. XIII.] THE BLESSING OF BENJAMIN. 417

pies, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my
name, he will give it you. y Hence, conscious of
our personal guilt and utter inability to make any
atonement to divine justice for it, our cry to God is,
Let thy hand (meaning his hand of requirement)
be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the Son of
man whom thou madest strong for thyself: so will
we not go lack from thee we will not shrink, dis-
mayed at the consideration of thy holiness and righ-
teousness but, in the name and worthiness of the
Mediator, the Day's man betwixt us, we will come
to thy throne of grace with humble confidence ; and,
when sensible of languor and stupidity, and that
nothing can revive us, but the animating influence of
the Holy Spirit, which God sheds upon his people
through Christ, we farther cry, Quicken us, and we
will call upon thy name. 1

This patriarch, however, was a type of Christ, not
only in his names, but,

2. In his distinction, as an object of God's dis-
criminating love. Was Benjamin 77^6 beloved of
the Lord ? How much more so is Christ ! He is
" the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the
Father,"* and is hence called his dear Son, nay, more
emphatically, the Son of his love, as it is expressed
in the Greek.* As such, too, the Father himself
proclaimed him, both at his baptism and at his trans-
figuration ; saying, This is my beloved Son adding,

y 1 John ii. 1, 2. John xvi. 23. z Psal. Ixxx. 17, 18. Job ix.
33. Rom viii. 26, 27. a John i. 18.

. Col. i. 13.

418 THE BLESSING OF BENJAMIN. [SER. XIII*

on the former occasion, in whom I am well pleased,
to signify his entire approbation of him in all he
said and did ; and, on the latter, It-ear him; thereby
enjoining attention to his doctrine and obedience to
his precepts. b And,

3. In the signal instances of God's kindness to-
ward him. Of Benjnmin, Moses said, The beloved
of the Lord shall dncll in safety by him. And the
same, nay, much more, is true of Christ; who,
speaking of himself in his filial relation and under
the character of Wisdom, says, " The Lord," Jeho-
vah the Father, " possessed mo in the beginning of
his way, before his works of old." And, in reference
to his appointment as? Mediator, he adds, " I was set
up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the
earth was. When there wore no depths I was
brought forth ; when there were no fountains abound-
ing with water. Before the mountains were settled,
before the hills was I brought forth : while as yet
he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the
highest part of the dust of the world. When he
prepared the heavens, I was there : when he set a
compass upon the face of the depth : when lie estab-
lished the clouds above : when he strengthened the
fountains of the deep : when he gave to the sea his
decree, that the waters should not pass his com-
mandment : when he appointed the foundations of
the earth : Then I ivas by him, as one brought up
with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicingal-
ways before him; rejoicing" prospective ly, " in the

h Matt. ft. 17. Mark ix. 7.

SER. XIII.] THE BLESSING OF BENJAMIN. 419

habitable part of his earth : and my delights were
with the sons of men.*

Nor was lie then with the Father, merely as an
admiring Spectator, or as a fore-seeing Prophet;
but as " the wonderful COUNSELLOR'' the efficient
WORD and the anointed SAVIOUR. As the omni-
scient Counsellor, " his understanding is infinite ;" d
as the essential Word, " all things were made by
him;" 6 and, as the appointed Saviour, "all the na-
tions," and therefore, all " the habitable parts of the
earth," in the prevision of which he was then " re-
joicing, 5 ' were, by covenant-interest, " blessed in
him." f As such, his goings forth have been from of
old, from everlasting. Micah v. 2.

Nevertheless, " being in the form of God," that is,
existing in the essence and glory of the divine na-
ture, and therefore, thinking it not robery not any
derogation from that nature, " to be" esteemed and
worshipped by angels and men, as " equal with God,"
even the Father, he voluntarily " made himself of no
reputation," or emptied himself '; not of his divine
perfections, which are essential to his Being, nor of
his mediatorial fulness, which it pleased the Father
should dwell in him ; but, of the emanations of his
personal glory, which, if they had shone forth upon
the world, must have struck mankind, not only with
awe and reverence, but, with terror and consterna-
tion. Of these, therefore, to human vision, he made
himself void or destitute ; he " took upon him the
form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of
men;" that is, being, as Mediator, the Father's ser-

Prov. viii. 2231. a Psal. cxlvii. 5. 'John i. 3. Col. i* 16.
f Gen. xxii. 18.

420 THE BLESSING OP BENJAMIN, f SER. xnr,

vant elect / by his advent into the world, he became so
in fact; and, his official service being to redeem
men, as a prerequisite thereto, he " was made in the
likeness of men," was made a partaker of real hu-
man nature ; yet, not by ordinary, but by miraculous
generation ; andfhence, even in this nature, is holy ; h
and "being in fashion," in manner and condition,
(sin excepted,) " as a man, he humbled himseli" ac-
cordingly ; " and," as the Surety and Substitute of all
chosen and represented in him, " became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross." Philip, ii.
68.*

s Is. xlii. 1. h Luke i. 35. Heb. yii. 26.

* Mo<pij form, in this place, does not (as in Mark xvi. 12.)
mean a mere external appearance ; and much less an image., or
picture, or pretence, as (joo^wtfjg seems to do, in Rom. ii. 20. and 2
Tim. iii. 5 ; but an internal, ESSENTIAL form, or being. Ac-
cording to Phavorinus, the word denotes " That which hath a
being of itself, and needs not the assistance of another to its being."
See Dr. Hammond, on the place. So, in verse 7, f*o<pjv dx\x the
form of a servant, means that Christ, as Mediator, was really the
Father's Servant, and acted in that capacity. And if, in ver. 8,
(f-Xypan svgs&sis &s av^wtfos being found in fashion as a man, do not
imply that he was truly a man, it must follow that he did not as-
sume real human nature, but a mere show or appearance of it. If,
in a wordj his being sv f*o(pj sS in the form of God, do not mean
that he was God and, if his being found o^pari w av^w<?ro? in
fashion as a man, do not imply that he was man, the apostle must
have authorized the conclusion, that he was neither God nor man ;
whereas, elsewhere, he affirms him to be both, even God manifest
in thejlesh. 1 Tim. iii. 16.

If Christ be not God^ by nature, he must be a mere creature ;
and, if so, how could he think it not robery to be equal with God,
meaning the Father? If Christ be a mere creature, whether hu-
man, angelic or super-angelic, all worship rendered to him must be

SER. XIII.] THE BLESSING OF BENJAMIN. 421

While, therefore, it is evident that Christ, in his
divine nature, is the Father's equal, 1 and that, in per-
sonal distinction and covenant-transaction, he was
with him from everlasting, or, from the days of eter-
nity ;* it is no less evident, that, as Mediator, he is
the Father's chosen Servant, and, as man, his depen-
dant creature.

This view of the Redeemer's mysterious person
and condition, accounts for the Father's promises to
uphold him during his toils and sufferings, and to
render him successful in his work, and triumphant in
his warfare ; k also, for his own confident reliance on

idolatry. But we know it to be the divine will, " that all men
should honor the Son even as they honor the Father." John v.
23. And " when he (God the Father,) bringeth in the First-be-
gotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God wor-
ship him." Ileb. i. 6. Accordingly, without ever receiving a di-
vine rebuke for it, both saints and angels have honoured him with
such titles and such worship as are due to none but God. His dis-
ciples thus worshipped him " in the days of his flesh;" Matt. xiv.
33. Thomas, by no means credulous, honored him with the title
of My Lord and my God. John xx. 28. And the angels that
never sinned, and the spirits of just men made perfect, worship
him in heaven ; " saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the LAMB
that was slain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and
strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing," Rev. v. 8 12.

Unless, therefore, we can admit the absurdity, t 1 ^t God himself,
contrary to his own express command, (Exo. xx. 2 5.) has sanc-
tioned idolatry both on earth and in heaven, Christ must possess
that nature, which, in Him, as in the Father and the Spirit, is
" over all, God blessed for ever." Rom. ix. 5.

1 John x. 30. Zech. xiii. 7. * ^fxsgwv awvo . Septuagint;
di v. 2. Comp. John i. 18. k Is. xlii. 17.

422 THE BLESSING OF BENJAMIN. [SER. XIII.

these promises,! and his fervent and fiducial plead-
ings for their accomplishment.''" 1

Accordingly, as Christ, in his official capacity, has
ever been the object of the Father's highest confi-
dence and approbation," so, in his dependent miture,
he has ever enjoyed the Father's covenanted protec-
tion and sustentation. For, being by filial relation,
superlatively The beloved of the Lord, lie constantly
dwells in safety by him; the divine perfections
being the Shield that covers him, and the shoulders
that uphold him, as man and Mediator.

Thus he was covered and sustained all the day
long, even perpetually, while, as the Antitype of Ben-
jamin, 1 ' he ravened his prey, to wit, his own and his
people's enmies ; and which he did, not by devouring
them, but by foiling and despoiling them; and
" having spoiled principalities and powers, he made
a show of them openly, triumphing over them in
himself?* And though, in the conflict, Satan was
permitted to " bruise his heel," his inferior nature ;
(for through his instigation, Christ was put to death
in the flesh;**) yet even this, " by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God," was the ap-
pointed means of Satan's defeat, and the stipulated
condition of phrist's victory and of the church's sal-
vation ; for, * through death," Christ (for all he
represented) virtually " destroyed him that had the
power of death, that is, the devil ;" and was, thereupon,

1 Is. xlix, 513. 1. 49. ra Psal. xxii. and Ixix. Matt. xxvi.
3644. Heb. v. 7. Is. xlii. 31. xlix. 3. Zech. vi. 12, 13.
Is. lii. 13-15. p Gen. xlix. 27. * v o*r*. Col. ii. 15. <* 1 Pet.
iii. 18.

SfiR. XIII.] THE BLESSING OF BENJAMIN. 423

" exalted to be a PRINCE and a SAVIOUR, to give re-
pentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins." r

In like manner, too, Christ enjoys the Father's
protection, support, and concurrence, in his cause and
reign ; while, by the word and Spirit, he is dividing the
spoil with the strong, that is, with Satan, the strong
man armed. 11 For reasons known only to Him who
alone could have prevented it, Satan was suffered to
procure the fall of Adam and of all his posterity in
him ; whereby, in effect, he made a spoil of all man-
kind ; having destroyed in the human heart the prin-
ciple of obedience to God, and established there his
own throne of iniquity. Hence, by usurpation, he is
" the god of this world w the spirit that now work-
eth in the children of disobedience" 1 and, as such,
" keepeth his palace," the deceived and deceit-
ful heart, " and his goods,'' the faculties of the cap-
tured soul, " are in peace," as to any anxiety or ef-
fort to regain its release from his dark dominion ;
" but when a stronger than he," namely Christ,
" cometh upon him, and overcometh him," by the pow-
er of his Spirit, thereby quickening the soul, enlight-
ening the understanding, changing the heart, and
renewing the will of the hitherto voluntary slave,
" he taketh from him (the usurper) all his armor
wherein he trusted," consisting of moral death,
blindness and stupidity, together with mental enmity
and rebellion against God, and wilful ignorance and
disbelief of his word the means by which Satan
maintains his throne in the unregenerate, and there-

r Gen. iii. 15. Acts ii. 23. Heb. ii. 14. Acts v. 31. u Is. liii. 12.
w 2 Cor, iv. 4. * Eph. ii. 2.

424 THE BLESSING OF BENJAMIN. [SER. XIII.

fore, the armor in which he trusteth for retaining his
subjects. These removed, the charm is broken and
the captive liberated. Herein, Christ sees of the
travail of his soul and is satisfied ; his people being
made willing in the day of his power/ Thus " he
divideth the spoils," 2 that is, makes a division among
the fallen sons and daughters of Adam, the spoils of
Satan, calling and claiming, as his own, those of all
generations and of all nations, who, by covenant-
grant, and redemption-price, belong to him. a These,
he purifies unto himself, a peculiar people, zealous
of good works? and in the great day of his and
their mutual triumph, b will present them to himself, a
glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or
any such thing. Eph. v. 27.

Our thoughts, therefore, being thus transferred
from Benjamin to Christ, must be extended,

Secondly, To the Church, the mystical body of
Christ. For, of the body, as well as of the Head, Ben-
jamin was variously typical.

1. Like Benjamin, all the members of Christ's
mystical body, whether considered collectively or
severally, are The beloved of the Lord. They were
such from everlasting and must remain such unto
everlasting : for He, the Lord who loves them, will
rest in his love. c Nor can any reason be assigned
why he thus loves them, but his own sovereign will.
Hence the extraordinary manner in which he loves
them : " Behold, what manner of love the Father
hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the
sons of God !" d It is a manner of love, which has

y Is. liii. 11. Psal. ex. 3. * Luke xi. 2t, 22. a John vi. 3740.
Rev. v. 9. b 2 Thess. i. 10. ' Zeph. iii. 17. d 1 John iii. 1.

SER. XIII.] THE BLESSING OF BENJAMIN. 425

no parallel among creatures ; for, as no creature can
love whom he will, so no creature, strictly speaking,
can bestow his love upon another. Yet, after this
manner God hath loved, and will for ever love his
people. 6 And, as his love for them is wonderful in
its manner, so atao in its effects. Among these, are
his choice of them in Christ* his redemption of
them by Christ^ his calling and drawing of them
to Christ* his justification, pardon and sanctifica-
tion of them through Christ^ and his final glorifica-
tion of them with Christ*

2. As typified in the Israelite under consideration,
the beloved of the Lord, in their successive genera-
tions, become severally distinguished by a'new name.
God, it is true, had, from eternity, chosen and predesti-
nated them to the adoption of children to himself; 1 ne-
vertheless, in their descent from Adam, they are all by
nature children of wrath even as others. m By our
natural birth, every one is a Benoni, a child of sor-
row. Nay, the world into which we are born is a
Bochim,* a place of weeping; and the carnal, as being
enemies to God in mind, and manifesting this en-
mity by wicked works," are, to the saints, objects of
sorrow and mourning, and not of joy and rejoicing.
Did Rachel call her son Benoni, on account of the
anguish and sorrow which he had occasioned her 1
Let it remind us of the anguish and sorrow felt by
the church, for those who are born only after the

e Jer. xxxi. 3. <" Eph. i. 4. ff Psal. cxi. 9. I John iv. 9, 10.
h Eph. ii. 4, 5. John vi. 44. J Rom.iii. 24. Acts x. 43. 1 Cor.
i. 30. k Rom. viii. 30. Col. iii. 4. * Eph. i. 4, 5. * See Judges
ii. 4, 5. m Eph. ii. 3. n Col. i. 21.

426 THE BLESSING OF BENJAMIN. [SER. XIII.

flesh, and of the solicitude and ardor with which she
travails, in desire and prayer for the new-birth of
God's elect. In this travail, gospel-ministers are
deeply exercised : My heart's desire and prayer to
God for Israel, said Paul, is that they might be
saved.* And having once believed that his minis-
terial labor, in answer to his many prayers, had
been blessed to the saving conversion of the Gala-
tian professors, when he found them, through the
influence of judaizing teachers, greatly drawn
away from the simplicity of the gospel, the same
agonizing pangs, which he had felt for them in their
heathenish state, returned upon him; exciting him
to pray for them and write to them, hoping to be
instrumental in re-forming Christ in them ; that is,
in reclaiming them to a cordial embrace of Christ,
a consistent profession of his doctrine, and a due
observance of his pre.cepts. Thus moved, how pathet-
ically did he address them! My little children, said
he, of whom I travail in birth again, until Christ
be formed in you. I desire to be present with you
&c. q O for more of this travailing spirit in the
church and in her ministers ! Then might we hope,
in more instances, to see Christ formed in sinners,
and re-formed in professors.

But, to return. Jacob, the father of Benoni,
changed his name into Benjamin ; and, answerably
thereto, Jehovah, the adoptive Father of the elect,
at their effectual vocation, makes known to them
their filial relation to himself. For, having convin-

Is. Ixvi. 8. Ezek. xxxvi. 37. p Rom. x. 1. < Gal. iv. 19.

SER. XIII.] THE BLESSING OF BENJAMIN. 427

ced them, that by nature and desert they are chil-
dren of wrath, and having made them partakers of
a new and holy principle, called the divine nature ; T
he, thereupon, sends forth the Spirit of his Son into
their hearts, crying Abba, Father. 5 Herein he gives
to each a white stone, that is, open acquital, and in
the stone a NEW NAME written, to wit, the evidence of
adoption, which always accompanies the evidence
of pardon ; and which name no mu/t knoweth, saving
he thatreceivethit. Rev. ii. 17. Comp. 1 Johniii. 1.
And, as Rachel's son, after the change of his name,
is never called Benoni, but always Benjamin; so
the elect, after their calling and faith in Christ, are
never, as before, called children of wrath, but con-
stantly the children of God. 1 The reasons are ob-
vious : Being children, they are heirs, heirs of God
and joint-heirs icith Christ;" God hath sworn, that
he will not be wroth with them ; w they are justified
from all things,* and shall not come into condemna-
tion* They are become visibly God's Benjamins,
his right-hand ones heirs to the right-hand bles-
sings of his grace on earth, and to a place at his
right hand in heaven, where are pleasures for ever-
more.* And,

3. Like Benjamin, the members of Christ's mys-
tical body are all the constant and peculiar care of a
covenant-keeping God. They dwell safely by him.
They dwell in Christ and therefore by, that is, near
the Father ; near his heart ; being always interested

* 2 Pet. i. 4. 8 Gal. iv. 6. Rom. viii. 16. Gal. iii. 26. Rom.
viii. 17. w Is. liv. 9, 10. * Acts xiii. 39. y John v. 24. * Psal.
xvi. 11.

428 THE BLESSING OF BENJAMIN. [SER. XIII.

in his love, from which nothing can separate them.
See Rom. viii. 38, 39. They dwell in Christ, and
therefore dwell safely, though so near to God, who
is a consuming fire!" They dwell in Christ, and
therefore are as secure as He ; their life being hid
with Christ in God. b The Lord shall cover them,
as he is said to cover Benjamin, all the day long.
In point of Justification, Christ himself, who is the
same yesterday, to-day, and for ever, c is perpetually
our covering, as he is unchangeably THE LORD OUR
RIGHTEOUSNESS.* As found in him, even the attri-
bute of divine Justice pleads our cause ; for God is
just, and the Justifier of him that believeth in Jesus*
And, in point of safe-keeping from enemies, the
church, by the provisions of a covenant ordered in
all things and sure, is rendered absolutely invulner-
able. Her foundation bids defiance to the gates of
hell f her bulwarks are salvation itself^ And the
very perfections of her Founder, are both her defense
and her glory : " For I, saith JEHOVAH, will be unto
her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory
in the midst of her." Zech. ii. 5. This multiform
favor, too, in all its amplitude and efficiency will be
continued to the church all the day long during all
the course, and amid all the changes of her militant
state : for, " as the mountains are round about Jeru-
salem, so the LORD is round about his people. ...even
for ever." Psal. cxxv. 2. Nay, like Benjamin, they
shall dwell between his shoulders; each shall enjoy
the protection, the supports, and the supplies, both

a Heb. xii.29. b Col. iii. 3. c Heb. xiii. 8. d Jer. xxiii. 6.
Rom. iii. 26. f Matt. xvi. 13. s Is. xxvi. 1.

SER XIII.] THE BLESSING OF BENJAMIN. 429

of his grace and his providence ; He shall dwell on
high : his place of defense shall be the munitions of
rocks : bread shall be given him ; his waters shall be
sure. Is. xxxiii. 16. Happy, of a truth, is that peo-
ple that is in such a case ; yea, happy is that people,
whose God is the Lord. Psal. cxliv. 15.

But the all-important question, with each of us,
my dear hearers, should be, Am lone of that people ?
Am I among the beloved of the Lord?

Now, to excite you to self-examination, and to assist
the anxious in pursuing it, I shall, by way of

CONCLUSION,

briefly advert to some of the scripture-evidences of a
gracious state. If in this state, we may know it,
and thereby our election,

1. By the peculiar manner in which the gospel
has come to such, and the change thereby produced
in their lives ; these being characteristic fruits of
effectual calling, and effectual calling being a demon-
strative evidence of antecedent election. Accord-
ingly, from these facts, the apostle Paul taught be-
lievers to infer their election : knowing, brethren be-
loved, your election of God How 1 Not by reading
the record thereof in the book of life, nor by a voice
proclaiming it from heaven ; but, by the influence of
the gospel upon their hearts and lives ; -for our gos-
pel (that which he and the other apostles preached)
came not unto you in word only, but also in power,
and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance as-
surance of its divine authority, and of their personal
interest in the Salvation which it reveals ; where-
upon, (having reminded them of apostolic example

430 THE BLESSING OF BENJAMIN. [sER, XIII,

among them) he declares their conversion in con-
formity to it: ye became followers of us and of the
Lord, Sfc. I Thess. i. 410.

2. By our disposition of mind toward God* The
carnal mind is enmity against him; Rom. viii. 7 ;
if, therefore, we love him, it is because he, according
to his covenant of grace, hath given us a new hearty
and put a new Spirit within us. Ezek. xxxvi. 26-
" But," says one, " may I not love God, though not
interested in his love to his people" ? No. You may
love a creature who does not love you ; but none
ever loved or ever will love God, but they who are
loved of him. For none can love him while unre-
generate, and regeneration is of God, and is an
effect of his great love wherewith he loves his cho-
sen, even while dead in sin. Eph. ii. 4, 5. We love
him, therefore, (if at all,) because he first loved us.
1 John iv. 19. Among the evidences of love to God,
are 1. A desire after communion with him: As the
hartpanteth after the water brooks, so panteth my
soul after thee, O God, 8$c. Psal. xlii. 1, 2, and Ixiii.
18. 2. A preference of his courts and worship,
above all other places and employments : Lord, I
have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place
where thine honor dwelleth. For a day in thy courts
is better than a thousand, any where else upon earth.
I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God,
than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. Psal. xxvi.
8. Ixxxiv. 10. 3. A holy delight experienced in
meditating on him and his ways : In the multitude
of my thoughts within me, thy comforts delight my
soul. Psal. xciv. 19. 4. A habitual association with
those devoted to him : lam a companion of all them

SER. XIII.] THE BLESSING OF BENJAMIN. 431

that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts.
Psal. cxix. 63. 5. A sadness of soul when deserted of
his gracious presence : Thou didst hide thy face, and
1 was troubled. Psal. xxx. 7. And 6. A careful ob-
servance of his holy precepts : This is the love of God,
that is, the effect and evidence of it, that we keep his
commandments. 1 John v. 3. If in a gracious state
it may be known,

3. By our love to the saints : We know that we
have passed from death unto life, because we love the
brethren. Every one that so loveth, is born of God
and knoweth God. 1 John iii. 14. iv. 7.

4. By our choice of teachers. For an apostle,
speaking of carnal teachers, says, They are of the
world : therefore speak they of the world, and the
world heareth them. But, of himself and his minis-
tering brethren, he adds, We are of God : he that
knoweth God heareth us ; he that is not of God
heareth not us. Hereby know we the Spirit of truth
and the spirit of error; both in teachers and in
hearers. 1 John iv. 5, 6.

5. By the esteem we are in with the carnal world :
If ye were of the world, said Christ to his disciples,
the world would love his own ; but a because ye are
not of the world, but I have chosen you, and, pur-
suant thereto, called you out of the world, therefore
the world hateth you. John xv. 19.

6. By those very things which most grieve and dis-
courage us ; as, for instance, a law in our members
warring against the law of our mind ; Rom. vii. 23 ;
vain thoughts, which we hate, knowing that the
thought of foolishness is sin; Psal. cxix. 113, and

432 THE BLESSING OP BENJAMIN. [sER. XIII.

Prov. xxiv. 9 ; the imperfection of our best endea-
vors to do the will of God ; Rom. vii. 15 21 ; and
especially a sense of that body of sin, which we carry
about with us : hence, we that are in this tabernacle
do groan, being burdened ; 2 Cor. v. 4. For, in a
spiritual as well as in a natural sense, even a groan
is a sign of life, and in the latter, a sign of indwelling
grace ; it being peculiar to those who have received
the first fruits of the Spirit, thus to groan within
themselves. Rom. viii. 23.

7. By a persevering trust in God, under all his
most afflicting and trying dispensations : Though he
slay me, yet will I trust in him. Job xiiL 15. And,

8. By aspirations, occasionally at least, after the
holiness and happiness of the heavenly state : we
groan earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our
house which is from heaven ; having a desire to de-
part and to bewith Christ, which is far better. 2 Cor.
v. 2. and Philip, i. 23.

Thus the Holy Spirit, by giving, in the Scriptures,
the marks of a gracious state, and the requisite di-
rections for a life of faith, hath furnished us, my be-
lieving hearers, both with a clew to self-examination 9
and a rule for all holy and useful living ; and as many
as possess those marks, and walk according to this
rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Is-
rael of God. h Amen.

h Gal. vi. 16.

SERMON XIV,

THE BLESSING OF JOSEPH,

JOSEPH A TYPE OF CH&IST.

Deut. xxxiii. 13 17. And of Joseph he, said, Blessed of the
LORD be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew,
and for the deep that coucheth beneath. And for the precious
fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put
forth by the moon. And for the, chief things of the ancient
mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills. And
for the precious things of the earth and fullness thereof; and
for the good-will of him that dwelt in the bush ; let the blessing
come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of
him that was separated from his brethren. His glory is like
the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of
unicorns ; with them he shall push the people together to the
ends of the earth : and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim,
and they are the thousands of Manasseh.

" PROPHECY," saith an apostle, " came not in old
time by the will of man ;* but holy men of God," of
whom Moses was one, " spake as they were moved
by the Holy Ghost." a Prophecy, therefore, was
God's declaring the end from the beginning, and
from ancient times the things that are not yet done,
saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all
my pleasure* Hence the evident agreement be-
tween the predictions of Scripture and the history
both of the church and of the world.

But, waiving this general view of the subject, let

* See Ser. 1. Note on p. 37. 2 Pet. i. 21. b Is. xlvi. 10.

434 JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. SEK. XIV.

us notice the truth of the remark in relation to the
case immediately before us. Canaan, as I have
.heretofore reminded you, was divided among the
tribes of Israel by lot ; the result of which could be
nothing less than the developement of the divine
purpose in relation thereto ; for the whole disposing
of the lot is of the LORD. C

By this division the portion of Benjamin lay be-
tween the portion of Judah and that of Joseph.
See Josh, xviii. 11. The portion of Joseph, there-
fore, as a matter of course, lay next to that of
Benjamin; both commencing at Jordan, and the
southern part of the former joining the northern
part of the latter near Jericho, which belonged to
Benjamin. See Josh. xvi. 1. and xviii. 12. Ac-
cordingly, the Holy Spirit, who searcheih all things,
yea, the deep things of God, moved Moses, as
appears from our text, to assign the same relative
situation to this tribe, by prophecy, which God would
assign to it by lot.

In blessing Joseph, as in blessing Levi, Moses is

unusually diffuse : his heart being filled to over-

flowing, his lips, which he had complained were

uncircumcised, became eloquent to admiration. And

of Joseph he said, Blessed of the LORD be his land,

for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and

for the deep that coucheth beneath. And for the

precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for

the precious things put forth by the moon; fyc. $$c.

In three subsequent discourses, I design, as the

Lord may give ability, to explain this blessing, both

literally and spiritually, according to the terms in

which it is expressed. At present, my sole object

c Prov. xvi. 33.

SER. XIV.] JOSEPH A TYPE OF CIIRIST._ 435

is to show that Joseph was a type of Christ. This,
I am aware, some have doubted, because, say they,
Christ is no where in the New Testament, likened
to Joseph, as he is to Judah, to Benjamin, and to
some others among the patriarchs. But, if this
omission proves any thing, it is that the resemblance
of Joseph to Christ, is so strongly marked in his
history, as not to require any such clew to the dis-
covery of the fact.

His very name suggests it: Joseph is from ao*
yasaph to add, to increase Sfc. ; which can hardly
fail of leading our thoughts to HIM who, in his hu-
man nature, increased in wisdom and stature, and
in favor with God and man d of whom, as to his
fame and followers, the Baptist said, He must in-
crease* and of the increase of whose government
and peace, as Mediator, not only the prophet Isaiah
but the angel Gabriel also, affirms There shall be no
end. f

Who, among those who have received an unction
from the Holy One, can read the history of Joseph,
and especially the numerous evidences therein re-
corded of the special interest which he had in his
father's love/ without being reminded of Christ;
concerning whom his heavenly Father once and
again proclaimed from "the excellent glory, This
is my beloved Son, in whom lam well pleased?" 11

Was Joseph, according to Gen. xxxix. 6, a goodly
person, and wellfavoredl and did he, according to
Gen. xxxvii. 2, excel all his brethren in filial love and
moral virtue? Let us remember, that in all this, he
was but a shadow of HIM who is the chiefest among

d Luke ii. 52. .'John iii. 30. f Is. ix. 7. and Luke i. 32, 33.
B Gen. xxxvii. 3. h Matt. iii. 17. Mark ix. 7.

436 JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. [sER. XIV.

ten thousand, yea, altogether lovely. 1 Christ, con-
sidered only as a man, had no moral blemish ; in
nature, he was holy and undefiled, and in life, he
did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.*
Well, therefore, might the Psalmist, addressing him,
say, Thou art fairer than the children of men, of
whom all have sinned; 1 yea, he is fairer than any of
those upon earth whom he deigns to call his breth-
ren; for, If we say we have no sin, we deceive our-
selves, and the truth is not in us.*

Joseph being richly endued with the Spirit of wis-
dom and revelation, Pharaoh, whose supernatural
dreams he interpreted, called him Taphnath-Paan-
eah,* that is, One to whom hidden things are re-
vealed, or A revealer of secrets, an expounder of

1 Cant. v. 10. 16. k Heb. vii. 26. 1 Pet; ii. 22. 1 Psal. xlv. 2.
Rom. iii. 23. m Heb. ii. 11. n 1 John i. 8.

* n^3 r033f Tsapenath-pangneach ; which some consider a
mere title of honour and authority, conferred on Joseph, by
Pharaoh ; but Moses calls it a name. See Gen. xli. 45. Whether
the words of which this name is compounded are Hebrew or Coptic,
is uncertain.

If Hebrew, r033f, from |3 tsephan, to hide or conceal may
mean things or persons that arc hidden or secret. See Psal. xvii.
14. and Ixxxiii. 4. And my3 from JJ3" yaphang, to shine, to irradiate
or enlighten, (Job. iii. 4.) and HJ noach, rest or comfort t (an abbrevia-
tion of CDnj necham, to comfort by giving rest and tranquility,)
may signify To illuminate with comfort. See Gen. v. 29. Is. lix.
13. inter al. Hence the name in question, compounded of the
two words thus derived and defined, may import One who gives
comfort, quietness and satisfaction, by revealing and explaining
things hidden and mysterious. To the same purport this name
has been interpreted by many. The Targums of JONATHAN and
ONKELOS define it so nearly alike, that the definition of the one
implies that of the other: according to JONATHAN, it means A re-
vealer of secrets, and according to ONKELOS, 'One to whom hid-
den things are revealed ; without which he could not be a revealer

SER. XIV.] JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. 437

mysteries. Herein Joseph was obviously a type of
Christ ; in whom (till revealed by him) are hid all
the treasures of icisdom and knowledge, and who,
as such, was counted worthy to take the book, the
roll of the divine decrees, and to open the seals
thereof. Rev. v. 9.

Joseph, though innocent, was accused of very base
conduct, and suffered many hard things. Distin-
guished by tokens of his father's love, his brethren
envied and hated him and could not speak peaceably
unto him. p When he visited them in the wilderness,
though sent by his father and on an errand of kind-
ness, they reviled him, at his approach, and conspired
to slay him, on his arrival;* 1 and though prevailed
on by Reuben, not to execute the bloody design ; yet,
at the instance of Judah, they sold him to a caravan
of Arabs, chiefly Midianites and Ishmaelites who,
by divine providence, were at that juncture passing
by on their way to Egypt, whither they took him and
" sold him to Potapher, an officer of Pharaoh's, and

of them. LEVI renders the words A revealer of hidden things.
Linga Sacra under HJya. JEROM, indeed, renders it The Saviour
of the world; though without etymon or reason.

But, as the name under consideration was given by Pharaoh,
there is much reason to believe, that he gave it in his own lan-
guage, the Coptic or Egyptian. Of this opinion was that great
linguist, Atha. Kircher; who asserts that the name is Egyptian
and signifies a Prophet or Foreteller of events. See Prodromns
Cap. v. p. 124 &c. If so, there must, in some respects, be
a remarkable affinity between the Hebrew and the Coptic
languages ; which, nevertheless, cannot be general, at least not
universal; for while Joseph, to conceal himself from his he-
brew brethren, used the Egyptian tongue, he spake unto them
by an interpreter, Gen. xlii. 23. Some have thought that Pharaoh
gave this name to Joseph out of respect for Baal-Zephon,one of the
Egyptian idols. Exo. xiv. 2. Comp. Dan. i. 7. and v. 12.

Col. ii. 3. P Gen. xxxvii. 4. 11. <J Ibid. ver. 1220.

438 JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. [SEE. XIV.

captain of the guard. "* And who that reads the
New Testament, does not know that when Christ
commissioned by his heavenly Father, visited his
wretched family in the wilderness of this world, he
was treated in like manner? The Jews, though " after
the flesh" they were his own brethren, reviled and
rejected him: he was 'that HOLY ONE whom his
nation abhorred ; s and whom, at his manifesta-
tion on earth, they treated accordingly: He came
unto his own, and his own received him not; 1
nor did they merely reject him and his dominion,
saying, We will not have this man to reign over us; u
but, abhorring him, they conspired also to take away
his life : This is the heir y said they, Come let us kill
him. And though it was so ordered in Providence,
that the power of doing this directly, had previously
been taken from them, x they, nevertheless, accom-
plished it indirectly; for, having pronounced him
worthy of death, theydelivered him into the hands of
the Romans, who, being gentiles, were in a nation-
al sense, as much strangers to him as the Arabians
were to Joseph ; and who by their accusations of him
at a heathen tribunal, procured his condemnation
and crucifixion.

To effect their murderous design, "the chief
priests, and elders, and all the council," the assem-
bled Sanhedrim, "sought false witness against
Jesus, to put him to death." What a council! It
consisted of men, who (with the exception of Joseph
of Aramathea*} were all filled with jealousy and

r Gen. xxxvii. 36. s ls. xlix.7. * John i. 11. "Luke xix. 14.
w Matt. xxi. 38. x John xviii. 31. Comp. Chap. xix. 15.

*Nicodemus probably was not present, or he would have ob-
jected also. See Luke xxiii. 50 52. and John xix. 38, 39.

SEU. XIV.J JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. 439

rancor against the person they were to try, and, un-
der the influence of these demoniac principles, had
prejudged his cause;* nay, men who, under the
sanctimonious mask of religion, could not only
tolerate but even seek after false witness, and receive
it with greediness. Such witness they sought ; " but,"
for a time, "found none; yea, though many false
witnesses came, yet found they none ;" either the
charges brought were so evidently void of truth, or
the witnesses who brought them were so despicable
and so discordant, that the Sanhedrim durst not
risk their own reputation so far as to pass sentence
of condemation on the accused, while they were
sustained by no better testimony. "At the last,"
however, "came two false witnesses" two that
were agreed" And said, This fellow said, I am
able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it
in three days." Well, said Christ, speaking in Da-
vid, They wrest my words. Psal. Ivi. 5. His words
to which they referred, are Destroy this temple and
in three days I will raise it up ; which he spake, not
of their famous temple at Jerusalem, but of the tem-
ple of his body, John ii. 19. 21. "And the high-
priest," elated at receiving the testimony of the two
false witnesses against Jesus, " arose and said unto
him, Answerest thou nothing 1 what is it which these
witness against thee? But Jesus held his peace ;"
leaving them to work their own ruin, and to fulfil
the counsel of God in the salvation of his people.
See Matt, xxvi.^59 63. and Acts ii. 23.

* This is evident from the history of their conduct ; though
some of them perhaps, forbore to express any private opinion on
the case, that they might seem to be the more impartial and can-
did in their official judgment.

440 JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. SER. XIV*

The high-priest, not satisfied with the silence of
the innocent prisoner, whom he and the council
were resolved to condemn, presumptuously laid
him under the solemnity of an oath; saying, "I
adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us,
whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God ; x ' that
is the true Messiah.* In reply, " Jesus saith unto him,
Thou hast said :f nevertheless I say unto you, Here-
after shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right
hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.''
Mark the effect which this solemn declaration had
upon the high-priest! Did it satisfy him and make
him cease from his efforts to criminate Christ 1 Not
in the least. Nor was that his object in demanding
it ; but, on the contrary, that he might accuse him
of blasphemy for declaring that he was the Son of
God, and, implicitly, with perjury also ; the declara-
tion being made under oath. "Then the high-priest
rent his clothes," saying, of him who is the Holy
One and TRUTH itself, " He hath spoken blasphemy;
what further need have we of witnesses'! behold,

* Hence it appears that the Jews of that degenerate age, hav-
ing lost the true idea of the Messiah, which their patriarchs had
entertained, regarded him just as Socinians do now, that is, they
admitted that he he was the Son of God yet, not by nature but
merely by office.

f Which, in Jewish style, was equivalent to a concession, nay,
to an affirmation, that what the speaker replied to, had said, was
true ; wherefore the above reply of Jesus to the high-priest, was
the same, in meaning, as if he had directly answered, / aw, as it
is expressed in Mark xiv. 62. From among the many instances,
which Jewish writings furnish of this form of expression, take
one from the Jerusalem Talmud, Kilaim, fol. 32. 2: Some having
said to one, *' Is Rabbi dead? He replied to them pmn jIDK
ye have said; and they rent their clothes;' 1 knowing from the
answer received, that the Rabbi was dead.

SER. XIV.] JOSEPH A TYPE OP CHRIST. 441

now ye have heard his blasphemy. What think
ye?" said he to the Council; and "They," (pro-
bably all present except Joseph) "answered and said
He is guilty of death. Then did they," either some
of the counsellors themselves, or some of the keep-
ers, under their sanction, " spit in his face, and buf-
fetted him ; and others smote him with the palms
of their hands, saying, Prophecy unto us thou Christ,
Who is he that smote theel" for they had covered
his face, or blindfolded him, as the other evangelists
say. See Matt. xxvi. 63 68. and Luke xxii. 63
65. This having occurred at nig^t, " When the
morning was corne, all the chief-priests and elders
of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him
to death. And," not having a civil or legal author-
ity to do it themselves, " when they had bound him
they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius
Pilate the governor."

Thus "of a truth," O God, "against thy holy
child JESUS, whom thou hast anointed, both He-
rod and Pontius Pilate, with the gentiles ; and the
people of Israel, were gathered together, for to do
whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined
before to be done." 7 Astonishing event ! an event,
in which the sovereignty of heaven and the malig-
nity of hell, were equally displayed an event, in
which the kindest design of God was accomplished
by the wickedest combination of men a combina-
tion of men, both rulers and people, who though
they had long been inveterate enemies to each other,
on that occasion, became friends ; z and, hence, coad-
jutors in fulfilling that divine decree, of which, they

yActs iv. 27, 28. * Luke xxiii. 12. Is. Ixv. 5. Acts x. 28.

442 JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. [3ER.

were totally ignorant,* and in the execution of which
they were prompted by the worst of motives : Yes,
the innocent Jesus, "being delivered by the deter-
minate counsel and foreknowledge of God,'' was
taken by Jews and Romans, and by their wicked
hands was crucified and slain. b And (more aston-
ishing still !) though Jews and gentiles were combined
in crucifying the Lord of Glory; yet millions of
them were redeemed and shall be saved, by Him
they crucified : for thou, blessed Jesus, wast slain)
and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, OUT OF
every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.
Rev. v. 9.

It is worthy of remark, that, as among Joseph's
brethren, there was one, namely Reuben, who sought
to rescue him ; c so in the Sanhedrim, the council of
Christ's national brethren, there was one, to wit, the
Aramatheari counsellor, who had not consented to
the counsel and deed of them against him. d More-
over, as Reuben, who favored Joseph, was Jacob's
first-born^ and whose name signifies See the Son ;*
so all the favor shown to Christ or his cause among
men, is shown by the saints, who are manifestly
God's first-born/ and who, being called out of dark-
ness into light, See the Son and believe on him. s

Nor is it any less worthy of remark, that the sale
of Joseph, for twenty pieces of silver, was at the
importunity of Judah, h whose name, turned into
Greek, is Judas, the very name of the traitor, who

a ICor. ii. 8. b Actsii. 23. c Gen. xxxvii. 21,22. xlii. 22.
d Luke xxiii. 51. e Gen. xlix. 3.
* Explained, Ser. VII. p. 225.
f Heb. xii. 23. John vi. 40. h Gen. xxxvii. 2628.

SER. XIV.] JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. 443

sold Christ for thirty ^pieces of the same metal ;*
which not only corresponded to the type in Joseph,
but fulfilled also a notable prophecy.*

To procede. As Joseph was a type of Christ in his
sufferings, so also in his subsequent promotion. For,
as Joseph, after patiently enduring affliction and
degradation, even to imprisonment in a dungeon,
was providentially delivered, and honorably distin-
guished nay, advanced next to the king and made
lord of all the land of Egypt ;f so Christ having, as
Mediator, finished his sufferings on the tree of the
cross, and his humiliation in the dungeon of the grave,
was raised with power discharged with honor

1 Matt, xx vi. 14, 15.

* Comp. Matt, xxvii. 9, 10. with Zech. xi. 12, 13. The Evan-
gelist, indeed, refers to Jeremy ; yet was readily understood in his
day ; nor will any learned Jew object to the citation on this account;
for he must well know that the reference is agreeable to their own
most ancient division of the Hebrew Scriptures into three parts;
1. The Laic, containing the five books of Moses : 2. The Pro-
phets, containing the former and the latter prophets : the former
beginning with Joshua, aud the latter with Jeremy: And 3. The
Hagiography, or Holy Writings, beginning with the Psalms, and
including with them, the Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Canticles, Job,
Ruth, Hester, fyc. Hence, in citing from any of the books of
Moses, they referred to the Law in citing from any of the former
prophets they referred to Joshua in citing from any of the latter
prophets, they referred to Jeremy, as our Evangelist did when cit-
ing from Zechariah ; and in citing from any of the other books,
they referred, either to the Hagiography, or to the Psalms, the first
book thereof. This ancient division Christ himself observed, say-
ing, all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of
Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning me.
Luke xxiv. 44. See the Bah. Tal. in Bava Bathra, fol. 14. facie 2.

f Gen. xli. 41 44. Joseph was thirty years old when he stood
before Pharaoh ; Gen. xli. 46 ; the rery age at which Christ en-
tered upon his public ministry; Luke iii. 23. How long Joseph
was a prisoner before he interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh's but-
ler and baker, we know not ; but it is evident he remained such

444 JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. [SER. XIV.

exalted to glory and invested with universal domi-
nion. 1 " And as, by the authority of Pharaoh, appointed
heralds cried before Joseph, Bow ye the knee; 1 so,
by the authority of God the Father, proclamation is
made in the Holy Scriptures and by gospel-heralds,
That at the NAME of JESUS every knee should bow,
of things in heaven, and things in earthy and things
under the earth. Philip, ii. 10. Which, however,
is not to be understood of a mere literal genuflection,
or bending of knees, common among the papists, at
hearing that sacred name pronounced; nor, by any
means, as implying that, eventually, there will be a
universal submission of intelligent creatures to the
gracious scepter of Christ, as a Saviour; but of that
universal subjection to his authority and decisions,
which shall be rendered to him, as a Judge, in that
day when all must appear before his judgment- seat.
See Rom. xiv. 1012.

In token of Joseph's high promotion, Pharaoh
himself directed to him, every applicant for either
counsel or provision : Go, said he, unto Joseph; what
he saith to you do. m So, to every sensible sinner
to every anxious inquirer, and to every distressed
believer, God, in his word and by his ministering
servants, is, in effect, saying, Go to Jesus; " This is
my beloved Son ; hear him"* To him is given the

two full years afterward. Gen. xli. 1. It is strange that in the
history of his release and subsequent life, no notice is taken of how
he came to be imprisoned. If (as commonly believed) the wicked
woman, under whose false accusation he suffered, had in the mean
time deceased, it is fearfully probable that, to maintain her credit,
she died impenitently persisting in the iniquitous charge. If so,
she was more hardened than Judas. Matt, xxvii. 3, 4. O that
God would bring such accusers to repentance !

k Rom. i. 4. Acts ii. 24. 33. v. 31. Matt, xxviii. IS. John xvii. 2.
1 Gen. xii. 43. m Ibid. ver. 55. a Mark ix. 7.

SEE. XIV.] JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. 445

tongue of the learned, that he should know how to
speak a word in season to him that is weary It
pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dicell 9
Wherefore, he is able also to save them to the utter-
most that come unto God by him, seeing he ever linelh
to make intercession for them* Believe, then, in the
Lord Jesus Christ, O trembling sinner, and thou
shall be saved.*

Nor was Joseph, however highly promoted, for-
getful of his brethren, ungrateful and cruel as they
had been to him, nor inattentive to their distressing
wants.

Preparatory, indeed, to making himself known to
them, he seemed to treat them as strangers, and
with awful reserve and appalling austerity ; neverthe-
less, he acted from the kindest motive, and with the
tenderest compassion ; he turned himself about from
them and wept;* and though he gave them much
trouble of mind by returning their money, and es-
pecially by causing them to be charged with the theft
of his cup, yet each was done because he would show
them unexpected favor the former, because he would
supply them gratis, and the latter, because he would
bring them back, that he, who knew them while they
knew not him, might reveal himself to them, and
introduce them to acceptance with the royal majesty.*
How similar the knowledge and the conduct of our
divine Joseph, in reference to his chosen but guilty
and impoverished brethren ! He who knoweth all
things? perfectly knows them and their forlorn estate,
while they are yet ignorant of him and of their secret

Is. 1. 4. P Col. i. 19. qHeb. vii. 25. r Acts. xvi. 31. Gen.
xlii.*4. t ibid. Ver. 7, 8. 26, 27, 28. Chap. xliv. 117. xlv. 16 &c.
u John xxi. 17.

446 JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. [SER. XIV.

relation to him. w Nor is he, though exalted and en-
throned in heaven, forgetful of them or of their ne-
cessities, degraded, depraved and guilty as they are
become, by their fall in Adam and by their own actual
transgressions." Indeed, they are so proud and self-
sufficient, that they never would come to him, were
they not caused, by divine grace, as Joseph's brethren
were, by divine providence, to experience a famine
in their own land a famine in their souls a sense
of want, which all the stores of nature cannot supply
a hungering and thirsting after righteousness,
under which all their former gratifications become
husks and not bread; as illustrated in the parable of
the returning prodigal. y And even when thus made
to feel their wants, they come to Christ, at first, as
Joseph's brethren came to him not to beg but to
buy ; that is, vainly hoping to obtain from him what
they need, in consideration of the penitent hearts, the
good desires, the reformed lives, and the sincere pro-
mises, with which they come. So coming, however,
they receive no more regard from Christ than Naa-
man the leper received from Elisha the Seer, when,
taking with him, "ten talents of silver, six thousand
pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment," he
appeared, in his chariot, before the prophet's door.
See 2 Kings, chapter v. While they apply to Christ
under these legal views, he treats them as Joseph
did his brethren; instead of comforting them, he
speaks roughly to them, and proves them with search-
ing questions nay, puts them in prison, and keeps
them, for a time, in ward, under the bondage and
menaces of the law. z Yet his design in all is kind

^Prov. viii. 31. John xvii. 9, 10. 20. 24. * Rom. v. 12, 18.
Eph. ii. 16. y T.uke xv. 1 1 &c. z Gen. xlii.7 30. Matt.xv. 2227.

SER. XIV.] JOSEPH A TYPE OF C1I1UST. 447

and gracious it is, that through the law, they may
become dead to the law, and in the end, enjoy a
good hope through grace*

Moreover, as Joseph's brethren, when they stop-
ped at an inn to take refreshment, were suddenly
thrown into a consternation, at finding their money re-
turned in their sacks ; so awakened sinners, being yet
under the influence of a legal spirit, when they enter a
place of public worship, where the oracles of God are
faithfully explained, instead of being refreshed and
comforted, are unexpectedly overwhelmed in disap-
pointment and trouble ; the sacks of their depraved
hearts being laid open before the light of divine
truth, they find all their self-dependent pleas rejected
and all their self-flattering expectations blasted ;
their hearts, like those of Joseph's brethren, fail
them, and they are afraid God is about to destroy
them ; yea, finding that neither their reformation of
life, nor their tender feelings, nor their good inten-
tions, nor all combined, can be admitted as a condi-
tion of their acceptance, they are ready to exclaim,
Who then can be saved ? b Perhaps, indeed, on a
little reflection, or by means of some false instruc-
tion, they conclude their disappointment has arisen,
not because the grounds of their reliance were wrong
in kind, but because they were defective in extent
and sincerity ; and hence, as Joseph's brethren "took
a present and double money," they resolve that,
with a present of thanks for past mercy, they will
double their diligence and faithfulness in repenting
and doing. Still, however, coming with opened eyes

a Matt. xv. 28. Gal. ii. 19. 2 Thess. ii. 16. b Gen. xlii. 27,
28.- Matt. xix. 25. c Gen. xliii. 15. Exo. v. 17. Matt xix. 20.
Mark x. 21. Luke xviii. 22.

448 JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. [gER. XfV,

to the Bible, and, with opened ears under a search-
ing ministry, they find all they can do or suffer, while
conceived of as a price for what they need, is divinely
condemned and rejected as filthy rags." 1 They are
told that salvation is not of works, lest any man
should boast* that it is not of him that willeth, nor
of him that runneth* in short, that it is to be had,
if at all, without money and without priced Nay
more ; Christ, like Joseph, charges his brethren with
the guilt of his cup, the cup of all his sufferings 11
they shall look upon me whom they have pierced,
saith he ; and, looking upon him, they shall mourn
for him, as one mournethfor his only son, and shall
be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for
his first-born. Nevertheless, eventually, like Joseph
also, he makes himself known to his brethren, in his
mediatorial and fraternal relations to them ; in doing
which, he shows them, that by the very cup where-
with he charges them, he has redeemed them from
under the curse ; and, giving them the cup of salva-
tion, 1 " he causes them to know, that more, infinitely
more than they had vainly expected to purchase,
He, as their Friend and Brother, freely bestows
upon them; the Father having in him blessed us

with all spiritual blessings according as he hath

chosen us in him before the foundation of the
world, that (when renewed by his grace) we should
be holy and without blame before him in love.i

The coming, however, of Joseph's relations to him,
and their becoming dependant upon him, require a
more distinct consideration.

a Is. Ixiv. 6. e Eph. ii. 9. f Rom. ix. 16. Is. Iv. 1. h Matt,
xxvi. 39. 42. * Zech. xii. 10. k Psal. cxvi. 13. 'Eph. i. 3, 4.

-SER. XIV.] JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. 449

FIRST, His prophetic dreams concerning them
were herein fulfilled: "The sons of Israel," (in
that instance ten of them only, 1 ") "came to buy corn
among those that came : for the famine was in the
land of Canaan," as well as mother lands. "And
Joseph was the governor of the land, and he it was
that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph's
brethren came, and bowed down themselves before

him with their faces to the earth And Joseph

knew his brethren, but they knew not him. And
Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed
of them ;" the first of which, the obeisance which
their sheaves made to his sheaf, being herein evidently
fulfilled. See Gen. xlii. 5 9, compared with Chap,
xxxvii. 5 7. Hereby, too, he was reminded of his
other dream, in which " the sun, and the moon, and
the eleven stars, made obeisance to him ;" an emblem
of that civil reverence, which, at a future time, his
father, and his mother, and all his eleven brethren,
should render unto him. So Jacob himself under-
stood the dream ; and prudently, to prevent pride
in young Joseph, and to moderate the resentment
of his elder brethren, gently rebuked him for telling
it. See Gen- xxxvii. 9, 10.

In regard to the sun, Joseph's father, this dream
was fulfilled in the profound respect which Jacob
showed to the lord of Egypt, by the presents which
he sent him, while yet he had no thought that the
distinguished person whom he thus honored was
his own son, and especially by his subsequent
recumbence upon him, in the official station to
which Joseph was promoted. With regard to

m Gen. xlii. 3, 4. Gen, xliii. 11, 14. xlvii. 6.

450 JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. [SER.

the moon, however, there is an obvious difficulty;
for Joseph's mother, thereby symbolized, was al-
ready dead ; Rachel having died at the birth of
Benjamin, on the way from Bethel to Ephrath.
Wherefore, it must be understood either of Leah,
Jacob's surviving wife and Joseph's step-mother, or
of Bilhah, Rachel's hand-maid, who, after the death
of her mistress, was as a mother to Joseph ; as
appears by his being with her sons. p And, admitting
that Jacob, at the time to which the dream referred,
had no wife; (and which is highly probable;) the
mother of Joseph, nevertheless, whether understood
of Rachael, of Leah, or of Bilhah, "bowed down
to him," in her posterity.* And whereas, at the
second time Joseph's brethren came to him, Benja-
min, his younger brother, was among them, making
the number eleven, the dream, in relation to them,
was verified when they all, answering to the eleven
stars, "bowed down and made obeisance to him." r

SECONDLY, The coming of the Jews to Christ
was herein specially typified; "they being, after the
flesh," his relations. *

Did Joseph's relations, in their coming to him,
fulfil his prophetic dreams respecting them 1 Let
it be remembered, that the events of prophecy,
though uttered by the prophets, were only such as
the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify .*
and therefore, that the coming of the Jews to Christ,
in the early times of the gospel, was, and that their
coming to him, in the latter day, will be, according to
his predictions concerning them."

Gen. xxxv. 1619. Plbid. xxxvii.2. iJbid. xlvi. 15. 25.
'Ibid, xliii. 26-28 s Rom. ix. 5. Heb. vii. 14. *1 Pet. i. 11.
u Joel ii. 28, 29 and Acts ii. 1618. Jer. xxx. 9. Ezek. xxxiv,
%3. xxxvi. 24, $5. Hosea iii. 5.

ER. XIV.] JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST, 451

Joseph's brethren, after they had sold him to
strangers, were, it would seem, wholly unconcerned
about what they had done, for a long time, at least
twenty years.* How much longer, alas! have the
Jews, the national brethren of Christ, remained im-
penitent, under the guilt of their infinitely more
cruel treatment of Him! The generation of them
among whom he tabernacled in hun>an nature, sold
him and procured his crucifixions-even when Pilate
would have released him, they, still relentless, cried
Crucify him, crucify him ; yet their posterity, dur-
ing a lapse of about eighteen hundred years, have
never lamented, but constantly commended, their
horrid deeds. Nor can we say how much longer
their judicial stupidity will remain. We are certain,
however, that the time will come, when Christ will
pour upon them, the Spirit of grace and of supplica-
tions, and that THEN they shall look upon him whom
they have pierced and mourn ; w for, on their becoming
convinced that he is the true Messiah, they will
deeply bewail their long contempt and * obstinate
rejection of him, saying, We hid as it were our
faces from him ; he icas despised and we esteemed him
not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our

* Joseph was 17 years old when he was sold into Egypt ; Gen,
xxxvii. 2; and 30 years old when promoted in the court of Pha-
raoh ; Chap. xli. 46; consequently he had been 13 years in bon-
dage; the seven years of plenty, added to these, make 20: and
probably one or two of the seven years of scarcity, had also elapsed
before the famine became so great in Canaan as to compel the
sons of Jacob to go to Egypt for corn. All this time they re-
mained insensible of their cruelty to Joseph. By allusion to this,
it was said of their sensual and inconsiderate posterity, in after
times, " They are not grieved for the affliction nj Joseph:' 1
Amos vi. 6.

. xi.

452 vJOSKPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. [SEK. X1VV

sorrows; irct we did esteem him stricken, smitten of
God and afflicted," as an impostor. But (How
affecting to them will be the discovery!) he was
wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for
our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace icas
upon him; and with his stripes ice are healed *
Is. liii. 35.

Joseph's brethren, the ten at first and afterwards
the eleven, came to him, excited thereto by their
father Jacob, who believed the report that there was
plenty with the lord of Egypt. w Did not this typ-
ically signify that the Jews, the national brethren of
Christ, would come to him, moved by the conviction
of his being the Messiah of whom their prophets
spake and wrote, and in whom Jacob and the rest
of their patriarchs believed and trusted I Thus it
was in the first times of the Gospel : the apostles
and other Jews, then called, believed in Christ, as
HE of whom Moses and the prophets wrote, x and
according to the faith of their patriarchal ancestors.*
And the same will be verified again, at the calling
of the Jews in the latter day; for, on perceiving
that Jesus of Nazareth, whom the apostles and
other converted Jews embraced, is indeed the Christy
in whom Abraham, Isaac and Jacob trusted, they
also, being made partakers of like precious faith,
and encouraged by patriarchal and apostolic example,
will look to him and trust in him. Then Jacob, in
his elect posterity, shall return and shall be in rest,
and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid. 7 To
the Jews, thus brought to repentance, the times of

^ Gen. xlii. 1, 2. xliii. 1, 2. * John i. 41. 45. * See Acts
v. 2932. xxvi. 6. 22, 23. xxviii. 23, 24. * Jer. xxx. 9.

SEH. XIV.J JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. 453

refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.*
And so all Israel, meaning all the Jews, or the
greater part of them, who will then be upon earth,
' shall be saved, &c. Rom. xi. 26, 27. Jer. xxxi. 34.

Joseph's brethren, in both instances, came to him
in consequence of famine ; a and so the Jews, the
national brethren of Christ, carne to him at their
former calling, and will come to him, at their latter
calling, under a famine of the word : Behold the
days come saith the Lord God, that I will send a
famine in the land, the land of Judea, not a famine
of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the
words of the Lord, &c. Amos viii. 11, 12. For,
whatever application this prophecy may have to
certain times and sections of the Christian church, it
primarily respects the Jews. During the latter part
of the old dispensation, prophecy ceased among
them ; for, from the times of Malachi, to those of
John the Baptist, a course of about 400 years, they
had no vision ; b and the writings of Moses and the
prophets, though preserved among them, were almost
explained away by the traditions of their elders,
especially in what related to the Messiah. Hence,
there was a famine of the word throughout their
land; for, to them, as lost to the regenerate among^
them, as hungry, what were the law and the prophets,
when so interpreted, that the divine Messiah, the
Saviour of lost sinners and the Bread of Life, was
excluded from them ? And though by the light of
the gospel, which began to shine in the ministry of
John, many of the Jews perceived and embraced

1 Acts iii. 19. a Gen. xlii. 5. xliii. 1, 2. b Micah iii. 6, 7.
Mai. iv. 5. Matt. xi. 13, 14.

454 JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. [feER. XIV*

the Christ of God; yet, their nation generally re-
jecting him, HE, pursuant to his threatening, took
the kingdom of heaven, the gospel-dispensation,
from them, and gave it to another nation, meaning
the gentiles; whereupon commenced that famine of
gospel-preaching among the Jews, which will con-
tinue till the time of their future calling; when, glad
to receive the favor they have so long despised, they
will again &;ay, Blessed is he (a gospel-minister) that
cometh in the name of the Lord. Matt, xxiii. 39.

Moreover, as Joseph's brethren did not go to him,
till after his stores had been opened to other nations ; d
so the Jews, the national brethren of Christ, will
not go to him, till his unsearchable riches shall have
been opened in the gospel, to the nations of the
world: blindness in part is happened to Israel, un-
til the fulness of the gentiles be come in. Rom. xi. 25.

Then, too, the prophetic dream of Joseph, in
which he beheld the sun, the moon, and the eleven
stars, making obeisance to him, will, to the apprehen-
sion of the converted Jews, receive a mystical ful-
filment in CHRIST ; for they will then see, that His
most distinguished progenitors, Abraham, 6 Isaac/
Jacob,g and David h , answering to the sun His mys-
tical mother, 1 (the true Israel under the old dispensa-
tion,) answering to the moon, and the eleven genu-
ine apostles, k answering to the eleven stars, all
believed in HIM and bowed down to HIM. Of the
patriarchs arid others who, under the Old/Testament,
were spiritual Israelites, Paul affirms, These all

c Matt. xxi. 43. d Gen. xli. 56, 57. * Gen. xxii 18. Rom. iv. 3.
'Gen. xxvi/4. Heb. xi. 20. eGen.xxviii. 1017. Heb. xi. 21.
*2 Sam. xxiii. 1 5. Psal. xxxii. 1, 2. Rom iv. 6 8. * Cant. iii.
11. Comp. Psal. liii. 6. and Heb. vii. 14. k Luke xxiv. 9. 52.

SER. XIV.] JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. 455

died in faith ; l and Peter representing all the believ-
ing apostles, said to his Lord and Master, We believe
and are sure (their faith, observe, rose to assurance)
that thou art that Christ, that Christ of whom
Moses and the prophets wrote, the Son of the living
God. m

"The sons of Israel," however, were not ALL, but
only AMONG those that came to Joseph to obtain
corn." "The famine" of bread, to which our sub-
ject relates, "was over all the face of the earth:
.... And all countries," that is, the inhabitants of
them, "came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn;
because that the famine was sore in all lands. * So
the want of spiritual blessings is common to all na-
tions ; nor are they to be had by Jew or gentile, from

1 Heb. xi. 13. m John vi. 69. Gen. xlii. 5. Ibid. xli. 56, 57.

* Herein was illustrated an important fact in relation to our
temporal life and its supplies. By a divine grant, man, in his
primeval state, had a right "to eat freely of every tree of the gar-
den" in which he was placed, excepting only of "the tree of
knowledge of good and evil." Gen. ii. 9. iii 16, 17. Conse-
quently, he had a right to eat, not only of those trees, whose
fruit was intended for his ordinary food, but also, as occasion re-
quired, of the fruit of "the tree of life in tho midst of the garden;"
which tree, it should seem, was both an emblem of his paradis-
iacal life, and the appointed means of rendering that life perpetual,
had he abstained from the tree forbidden.

By his transgression, however, man forfeited this grant. The
earth itself, for his sin committed upon it, was subjected to a curse
of comparative sterility; Gen. iii. 17 19; his future access to
the tree of life, was interdicted and absolutely prevented ; Gen.
iii. 22 24 ; and he and all his posterity, nay, the preservation of
the execrated earth itself, became dependent on the Mediator, the
Antitype of Joseph : " The earth," said Christ, " and all the in-
habitants thereof," (with respect to the original constitution of
things) " are dissolved : I bear up the pillars of it." Psal. Ixxv.
3. Hence as, during the famine, all were dependent on Joseph,

456 JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. [SER. XIV.

any stores but those of Christ, in whom it hath
pleased the Father that ALL fulness should dwell. 1 '
And, as Joseph withheld supplies from none on ac-
count their nation, so neither does Christ ;/or, in this
respect, there is no difference between the Jew and
the Greek, or gentile ; for the same Lord over all is
rich unto all them that call upon him.*

Nevertheless, the family of Jacob, as being all
blessed in Joseph, was a figure of the whole family
of God's elect, among all nations, as being all blessed
in Christ, the Antitype of Josephs Hence, by a
manifest allusion to national Israel, the church is
called a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a
holy nation, a peculiar people nay, emphatically,
the Israel of God.* Therefore,

THIRDLY, Joseph's relations, especially his breth-
ren, in their coming to him and becoming dependent
upon him, were typical of the mystical relations of
Christ, as well among the gentiles as the Jews, in
their coming to him, at their effectual calling, and in
their subsequent reliance upon him and subjection
to him.

The natural relation of Joseph's brethren to him,
recollect, did riot commence at the time of their
coming to him for corn ; they were his brethren be-

and none had a right to expect corn from him, but on condition of
paying for it; so, the earth being cursed for Adam's sin, and with-
holding her spontaneous productions from his posterity, all are
dependent, even for temporal supplies, on the favor of the Medi-
ator, who has all power and all nature in his hands; and none have
a right to expect them, but on condition of enduring toil, and labor,
-and sorrow. Gen. iii. 17 19.

pCol. i. 19. i Rom. [xii. 10. 'Gen. xxii. 18. Eph. i. 3, 4.
* 1 Pet. ii 9.Ga1. vi. 16.

SER. XIV.] JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST* 457

fore. So neither does the mystical relation of the
elect to Christ, commence at the time of their calling,
when they come to him for the Bread of Life ; for,
as early as they were the children of God, they
were the brethren of Christ, the Son of God: but
they were the children of God by ADOPTION and
therefore, MYSTICALLY the brethren of Christ, while
yet scattered abroad uncalled nay, unredeemed*
See John xi. 52. and Heb. ii. 1317.

Yet, as Christ was declared to be the Son of God,
by the resurrection from the dead? so the elect are
made manifest as the adopted children of God, and
therefore, as the mystical brethren of Christ, by
their resurrection from a death in sin ; for, hereupon
God sends forth the Spirit of his Son into their
hearts, crying, Abba, Father; 11 and Christ, (How
amazing his condescension !) is not ashamed to call
them brethren

Having thus particularly considered the coming
of Joseph's brethren to him, I precede to consider
his knowledge of them his conduct towards them
and his making himself known unto them.

First, His knowledge of them. For, when they,
pinched with famine, heard of his abundance, and
came to him for supplies, he knew them, though they
knew not him; 1 and so, when regenerate sinners,
sensible of their spiritual wants, and hearing of
Christ in the report of the gospel, apply to him for
aid, though they know not him, in his covenant-rela-
tion to them, he distinctly knows them, in their
covenant-relation to him. He knows them, as being
of that all whom the Father hath given unto him in

'Rom* i. 4. "Gal. iv. 6. *Heb. ii. 11. *Gen. xlii. 7, 8,

458 JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. [sER. XIV.

safe-keeping, and for whom he is accountable 7 as
being of that peculiar people, whom, according to
covenant-stipulation, he redeemed from all iniquity*
as being of those to whom all needful grace was
given, IN HIM, before the world began* nay, as those
who, "of his fulness," have already received the
life-giving Spirit, convincing them of their lost estate
and exciting them to flee from the wrath to come.

Secondly, His conduct towards them. For Joseph
knowing his brethren, variously distinguished them
even before he made himself known to them.

1. He repeatedly favored them with a sight of his
person and magnificence, that they might hence
infer the greatness of his authority and the plenitude
of his stores.^ So, to regenerate, inquiring souls,
Christ, through the medium of the Holy Scriptures
and the instrumentality of his ministering servants,
gives such discoveries of himself and of his fulness,
as he does not give to the unregenerate. c Joseph's
brethren, however, while ignorant of his relation to
them, conceived of him only as the lord of the land,
and expected nothing from him but for money.*
Nor are the thoughts which regenerate sinners, un-
der their first exercises, entertain of Christ, any
more correct ; for, though they may be overwhelmed
in contemplating his greatness, his authority, and
his glory, they have no just views of his mediatorial
character, and especially not of his covenant-rela-
tion to them. They know him not as their Brother
and Friend. He appears to them only as a HOLY
and a MIGHTY SOVEREIGN as having, indeed, all

y John vi. 39. z Titus ii. 14. Comp. Is. liii. 11. and Heb. xiii,
20. a 2 Tim. i. 9. b Gen. xlii. 6, 7. 30. 33. xliii. 26. xliv.
1420. c Acts xxii. 9. d Gen. xlii. 5.

SER. XIV.] JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. 459

they want at his disposal but, as suspending the
grant thereof upon some supposed condition to be
performed by them. What the imaginary condition
is, they are not agreed one fancying it to be this
and another that ; yet, feeling their perishing need
of his favor, each cries, with Saul of Tarsus, Lord
what wilt thou have me to do ? or, with the trem-
bling Jailor, What must I do to be saved ?

2. Before Joseph made himself known to his breth-
ren, he distinguished them, by directing his servants
both to restore every man's money into his sack and
to give them provision for the way.* He dealt not
so with others who came to purchase. And the
like difference Christ makes between mere legalists
and true penitents ; the former, he leaves depending
upon their legal performances ; f but the latter, he
instructs and sustains ; for though, by his word and
the preaching of his servants, he rejects all they
bring as a price for salvation nay, gives them seve-
rally the witness thereof in the sacks of their own
hearts ; yet, by the same means and instruments, he
also gives them some present nourishment enough
to keep them from starving or despairing, till he
gives them more. He lets them know, that although
salvation "is not of him that willeth nor of him
that runneth," yet, that it is "of God that showeth
mercy'' and that, although "It is not of works,
lest any man should boast," yet, that " it is of faith,
that it might be by GRACE ; to the end the promise
might be sure to all the seed.z Thus they are kept
ruminating, hoping, and seeking.

3. Joseph, while he had not yet made himself

*Gen. xlii, 25. 'Luke x. 2528. sRom. iv. 16. v "*

460 JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. [SKR. XIV.

known to his brethren, caused a feast to be prepared
for them ; the incidents of which are instructive.

" He said to the ruler of his house," who is after-
wards called his steward, "Bring these men" (his
brethren) "home, and slay, and make ready: for
these men shall dine with me at noon." Hence, let
every steward in the house of Christ, that is, every
gospel-minister, learn that, in his studies, he should
always labor to make ready a meal for seeking souls.

"The men," it is true, "were afraid because they
were brought into Joseph's house ;" and, apprehen-
sive of some evil, said, " Because of the money
that was returned in our sacks at the first time are
we brought in ; that he may seek occasion against
us, and take us for bondmen." In like manner,
those in whom a work of grace is begun, though
allured to come under the word, yet, finding the
tenor of the gospel to contradict and condemn their
former views of purchasing the divine favor, they
are filled with apprehensions that Christ, instead of
saving them, will regard them as mere legalists, and
adjudge them to everlasting bondage under the law.

Joseph's brethren, however, in their distress,
communed with his steward ; who, it should seem,
was made acquainted with the reasons why Joseph
had ordered that their money should be returned and
that they should be brought to his house ; and who,
after hearing their ingenuous rehearsal of what had
befallen them in regard to the money, comforted
them, saying, Peace be to you, fear not. What an
advantage it is to sensible sinners, that the stewards
of Christ, his gospel-ministers, are acquainted with
their case ! For, when they commune with them,
or sit under their ministry, they learn that Christ's

SER. XIV.] JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. 461

rejection of their legal pleas, and his granting
to them the privilege of hearing his pure gospel,
however they are thereby stripped and emptied, are
signs of his favor and not of his wrath : This manre-
ceiveth sinners, and eateth with them. Luke xvii. 2.
When dinner time arrived, Joseph said to his
servants, Set on bread ; that is, set dinner in order
upon the table; bread, by a usual synecdoche, being
put for the whole. " And they set on for him by him-
self, and for them," his brethren, " by themselves,
and for the Egyptians by themselves. And they,"
Joseph's brethren " sat before him," in his presence ;
" and the men," thus honored, marvelled one at
another, that they were so distinguished. " And he,"
Joseph, " took and sent messes unto them from be-
fore him ; but," with reference to the ten, "Benjamin's
mess was five times as much as any of theirs."
All had plenty ; but the fivefold portion sent to Ben-
jamin was a token of Joseph's special affection for
him.* And they drank" also, no doubt of Joseph's
best wine, "and were merry with him," that is, at
his house. How similar the conduct of Christ, and
the work of his ministers, under the gospel-dispensa-
tion ! Here Christ himself, by his Spirit, carves for
all the guests ; distributing, of his bounty, to them

* This served to prepare Benjamin for his more than common
share in a then approaching trial : the cup was found in Benjamin's
tack. Gen. xliv. 12. Thus, if some of Christ's brethren, equally
innocent with the rest, have to drink a more than ordinary portion
of the cup of his sufferings, that is, of sufferings for his sake, they
are prepared for it and supported under it, by a correspondent
share in the tokens of his love : As the sufferings of Christ abound
in us ; so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. 2 Cor. i. 5.

462 JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. [SER. XlV,

severally as he will; Matt. xx. 15 and 1 Cor. xii. 11 ;
and his ministers, his faithful stewards, acting under
his direction, give to every class of their hearers a
portion of meat in due season. Luke xii. 42.

Thus preaching, the servants of Christ, while they
assign the first share to HIMSELF, that is, give to him
the glory of being the Provider and the Subject of
the feast, (Luke xiv. 16, 17.) and feed his church,
which is himself mystical ; h they also publish the
gospel to the world, 1 answering to the Egyptians, and
are specially careful to set before sensible sinners
a portion peculiarly appropriate to them.* They
describe their exercises and appetites, as evidences
of a work of grace begun in their souls exhibit
the salvation that is in Christ, as full and free and
therefore, as exactly adapted to them, now convinced
that they can add nothing to it, nor bring any price
for it and, moreover, repeat and illustrate his own
gracious invitations and promises, as addressed in a
peculiar manner to such. With confidence and
affection, they represent him, as saying to them,
Look unto me and be ye saved k Ho every one that
thirsteth, come ye to the waters* If any man thirst,
let him come unto me and drink Come unto me all
ye tha,t labor and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest* Him that cpmeth to me, I will in no wise
cast out Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven Blessed arc they that

* 1 Cor. xii. 12. * Mark. xvi. 15.

* In so doing, gospel-ministers rightly divide the word of truth.
2 Tim. ii. 15.

k ls. xlv. 22. Ubid. IF.' 1. m John vii. 37. "Matt. xi. 28.
Jotin vi. 37,

SER. XIV.] JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. 463

mourn : for they shall be comforted Blessed are
they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness:
for they shall befitted.*

This rich and appropriate portion, true penitents, to
whom it belongs, eat by themselves arid, like Joseph's
brethren, marvel that they should be so highly favor-
ed ; nay more, they also drink wine and milk without
money and without price,* and even begin to be mer-
ry; they almostforget their poverty and their misery,*
while under the proclamations of grace and peace.

Nor did Joseph merely feast his brethren at his
house ; he, moreover, sent them away with as much
food in their sacks as they could carry. 8 Thus
Christ, by the ministry of his servants, not only com-
forts seeking souls at his house, while hearing his
gospel, but sends them away with their hearts as full
of gracious influence and of scriptural matter for
meditation, as, at that stage of experience, they can
bear. Nevertheless, like Joseph's brethren, they
cannot account for the kind treatment they receive ;
being still ignorant of their relation to the bountiful
GIVER. They are astonished rather than instructed ;
and presently relapse into trouble. Clouds, instead
of sun-beams, return after the rain. Eccl. xii. 2.
This will more fully appear while we observe,

4. That Joseph, before he made himself known to
his brethren, distinguished them also by farther trials
trials which, it is true, were great favors ; yet, fa-
vors wrapped in such clouds of mystery, as, at the
time, filled them with anguish and consternation.

Their present, indeed, for aught that appears to
the contrary, he kindly accepted; but their pur-

p Matt. v. 3, 4. 6. * Is. Iv. 1. r Prov. xxxi. 6, 7. Gen. xliv. 1 .

464 JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. [SER. XIV.

chase money, though doubled, he refused and re-
turned : He said to his steward, " Put every man's
money in his sack's mouth," where he could not fail
of seeing it, as soon as his sack was opened.* Thus,
although Christ condescends to accept a thank-
offering from sensible sinners for the favors they
have received from him, He, nevertheless, utterly re-
jects, both their legal performances, and their evan-
gelical exercises, (and so their double money,) while
brought as a price for an interest in his stores of
grace nay, gives them, as observed before, the evi-
dence thereof in the sacks of their own hearts, as
these are more fully opened by his Spirit, and the
selfish motives of them are more clearly exposed to
their view, in the light of his word."

Joseph, however, brought his brethren under a
still severer trial, the charge of having stolen his silver
cup. For, strange as it was, he farther said to his
steward, " Put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack's
mouth of the youngest, and his corn-money ;'' and
which the steward accordingly did. w This stratagem,
though seemingly fraught with injustice and cruelty,
was both equitable and merciful.

Joseph's cup, consisting, no doubt, of refined sil-
ver, which is an emblem of purity, 1 was a fit symbol
of his pure and excellent character ; which was of
much higher value than a silver cup, or than any
other earthly treasure ; for a good name is to be cho-
sen rather than great riches, and loving favor rather
than silver and gold. Prov. xxii. 1. Now of this,
though not of his cup, Joseph's brethren had shame-
fully robbed him ; not, indeed, in his father's

*Gen. xliv. 1. "Jer. ii. 22. xvii. 10. Eph. ii. 8, 9. 1 John
iv. 10. 19. * Gen. xliv. 2. Psal. xii. 6.

SER. XIV.] JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. 465

esteem, but in the esteem of strangers, to whom they
sold him for a slave ; thereby implying that he was
an abandoned miscreant, fit only for the vilest servi-
tude.* And in like manner, the Jews, the national
brethren of Christ, treated him ; for though unable,
in the least, to diminish hirh in the esteem of his
heavenly Father, yet, to the utmost of their power,
they degraded him in the esteem of men. They
riot only denied that he was the Messiah, but even
robbed him of his moral character ; they reviled him,
as being a man gluttonous and a wine-bibber yea,
as one in collusion with satan/ Nor do his mystical
brethren, those who are his brethren by election and
adoption, treat him any better. In their carnal state,
they, like others, regard him as unworthy of their
desire ,** and, after quickened by his grace, and made
to feel their condemnation as sinners, instead of re-
ceiving him as the end of the law for righteousness)
which he is to every one that believcth, they go about
to establish their own righteousness* Nay, such is our
ignorance, as well as our pride, that even when con-
vinced that our best obedience is imperfect, and that
if it were perfect, it could not answer for past de-
fects and transgressions, instead of casting ourselves,
as guilty and helpless, on Him who was delivered for
our offences and raised again for our justification^
we foolishly delay, thinking to exercise such mortifi-
cation, contrition, self-denial &c., as shall render us,
in some measure, worthy of divine acceptance, before

* Gen. xxxvii. 28. 36. Thus individuals, families and nations
may suffer under false accusations, for injuries done to others long
before. See Is. xxxiii. 1.

. yJVfatt. xk 19. xii. 24. *I S . liii. 2 a Rom. x. 3, 4. *>Ibid.
iv. 25.

466 JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. [SER.

we trust in Christ. Thus, as long as possible, we
rob HIM of the glory of being ALL and in ALL
in our salvation. Nevertheless, being reconciled to
God, that is, to his justice, by the death of his Son, c
we are not left to perish through our ignorance and
self-confidence ; but, eventually are cured of both ;
and being, through grace, made to realize that we
are without strength, we are constrained and enabled,
vile as we are, to rely on Christ who in due time
died for the ungodly. d

Joseph's cup, being that out of which he drank, 6
was also a fit symbol of his sufferings. And Christ,
speaking of his own sufferings, and seemingly by
allusion to those of Joseph, said, The cup which my
Father hath given me, shall I not drink it ? John
xviii. 11. Indeed, there is, in several respects, a
striking resemblance between the sufferings of Jo-
seph and those of Christ.

Were the sufferings of Joseph procured by the ill
conduct of his brethren ? Let it never be forgotten
that the sufferings of Christ, were procured by the
sins of his mystical brethren : He was wounded for
our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities.
Is. liii. 5.

Was Joseph, though exposed to sufferings by the
ill conduct of his brethren, ordained of God to be
the instrument of saving their lives by a great de-
liverance ? f The same is true of Christ ; for though
he suffered as the Substitute of his guilty brethren
and by wicked hands was crucified and slain, he was,
nevertheless, " delivered by the determinate coun-
sel and foreknowledge of God," and died that we

c Rom. v. 10. d Ibid. ver. 6. e Gen. xliv. 5. f Ibid. xlv. 7.

SBR. XIV.] JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. 467

might live : He was delivered for our offences and
raised again for our justification. Rom. iv. 25.
As Joseph's sufferings were occasioned by his
brethren, it was fit and requisite, that, by some means,
he should make their ill treatment of him bitter to
them, before he admitted them to his fraternal fel-
lowship. This he had done in some measure, when
he accused them of being spies, and put them
into ward for three days : for then, " They said one
to another, We are verily guilty concerning our
brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when
he besought us, and we would not hear: therefore
is this distress come upon us. And Reuben an-
swered them, saying, Spake not I unto you, saying,
Do not sin against the child ; and ye would not hear ?
Therefore behold also his blood is required." This
conversation passed between them in the presence
of Joseph; but, taking him to be an Egyptian,
" they knew not that Joseph understood them ; for
he spake unto them by an interpreter.''^ Still
more poignantly, however, he brought that great
wickedness to their remembrance by laying his cup,
the symbol of his sufferings, to their charge. For
when the stealth, to all appearance, was undeniably
proved upon them, Judah, in the name of the whole,
said to Joseph, by whose direction the discovery
was made, " What shall we say unto iny lord ?
what shall we speak? or how shall we clear our-
selves?" To confess the charge would have been
a violation of conscience; and to deny it, could
have been of no avail, seeing the cup alleged to be
stolen, was actually found in Benjamin's sack. Ju-

e Gen. xlii. 1423.

468 JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. [sER. XIV.

dah, therefore, wisely understood and admitted, that
the dilemma into which they were brought was a
punishment divinely inflicted upon them for their
past sins ; and every conscience, no doubt, felt that it
was specially for their sin in selling Joseph;
" God," said he, "hath found out," that is, disclosed
the iniquity of thy servants, &c. Gen. xliv. 16. In
like manner Christ deals with his brethren. He
brings, indeed, much of their guilt to their remem-
brance, while he holds them in ward under the law,
and speaks to them by his Interpreter, the Holy Spir-
it : here he shows them that they are rebels against
God, and that they cannot be justified in his sight,
by their obedience to the law ; for by the law is the
knowledge, not of justification, but of sin. See
Rom. iii. 20. and vii. 8 11. But, it is by charging
them with the cup of his sufferings, that he pierces
their hearts and makes them, in the bitterness of
their souls, to cry, What shall we do ? Acts ii. 36, 37.
Joseph, moreover, employed his cup in making
trial of his brethren. His steward, it is true, when
speaking by his direction, is represented by our
Version and several others, as saying of the cup,
" Is not this it in which my lord drinketh ? and
whereby indeed he divineth?" Gen. xliv. 5. But
this cannot be the sense of the original; for, though
it is not improbable that the Egyptians really sup-
posed that Joseph, like the soothsayers of their
own and other nations, practised divination, and that
he thereby interpreted dreams and discovered and
revealed secrets, that supposition is wholly inconsist-
ent with his revealed character; nor is it at all
credible, that he designed to make such an impres
sion on the mind of his steward, and much less, that

SER. XIV.] JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. 469

he was willing, through him, to make that impres-
sion on the minds of his brethren. Wherefore, I
understand the word rendered divincth, to be used
in this place in a different acceptation. Its root, (PHJ
nachash,) signifies not only to divine, but also to ob-
serve, to try, to make an experiment. Thus using the
word, Laban said to Jacob Ym nichashtee, I have
learned by experience. Gen. xxx. 27. Comp. 1 Kings
xx. 33. Now, the word in question being so under-
stood, the interrogatories which Joseph's steward,
by his direction, put to the supposed strangers, im-
ported as much as if he had said Is not this evidently
the cup which my Master appropriates to his own
personal use nay, the cup which you saw him thus
appropriate, when lately you were so kindly and
so bountifully entertained at his house ? And was it
not to make trial of your honesty, of which he was
very doubtful, that he left this valuable article within
your convenient reach, when he withdrew from his
tablel It was: and by the experiment, behold, he
has proved you to be filchers !

This also well comports with Joseph's real design
in the stratagem; which was to make trial of his
elder brethren in different respects. As they had
envied him, whom his father had distinguished, he
thought proper to try whether, in like manner, they
would envy his brother Benjamin, whom he had
distinguished at his table, by sending him a fivefold
mess. And, as envy is sure to manifest itself by a
ready concurrence with any charge, true or false,
brought against its object, Joseph prudently caused
his cup to be put into Benjamin's sack, that his elder
brethren, if so disposed, might have a fair pretence for
delivering him up as a thief; and which the Jews

470 JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. [sER. XIV*

think the rest would have done, but for the opposition
and influence of Judah. By the same means, Jo-
seph also made trial of their filial affection ; they
well knowing how much the life of their father was
bound up in the lad, namely Benjamin. Gen. xliv, 30.

Thus Christ, by the cup of his sufferings, both
personal and relative, tries his called brethren, and
distinguishes them from others.

By Christ's personal sufferings, I mean those
which he endured in his own human nature. By
these he tries 1. Our faith. They who have only
an historical faith in him, though they may be elated
with a notion of being saved by him, feel no broken-
ness of heart nor contrition of spirit, and, there
fore, no sympathy with him in his sufferings; but
his called brethren, being regenerated and made
partakers of \hatfaithwhich is a fruit of the Spirit*
come to him filled with self-abasement and godly
sorrow on account of their sins ; they look upon him
whom they have pierced and mourn.* 2. How we
are affected toward the design of his death ; which
was not only to redeem, but thereupon, to purify
also, those for whom he died : for he gave himself for
us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and
purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of
good works.*

Now, many who talk much about redemption by
Christ, and warmly dispute whether it is particular,
general, or universal, are, nevertheless, strangers to
the purifying efficacy of his precious blood, as ap-
plied to the conscience by the Holy Spirit nay,
live as they list, unconcerned about holiness of

* Gal. v, 22. * Zech. xii. 10. John xix. 37. k Titus ii. 14,

SER. XIV.] JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. 471

heart or life. But the called brethren of Christ,
with the apostles, perceive and realize, that when he
died for all, that is, for all he represented among
all nations, (all being alike dead,) he died for all,
that they who live, being regenerated and justified,
should not henceforth live unto themselves, but un-
to him who died/or them, and rose again. See 2
Cor. v. 14, 13.

By the relative sufferings of Christ, I mean the
sufferings of his mystical body, the church ; that is,
the sufferings which his vital members endure, be-
cause of their relation and union to him, and the
profession of their faith in him. 1 Addressing such,
the apostle says, Unto you it is given in the behalf
of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suf-
fer for his sake. In the present life they are all
imperfect ; n and when they depart from the stan-
dard of God's revealed will, either by omission or
commission, though they come not under the curse ;
Christ having redeemed them from it ; they, ne-
vertheless, come under the discipline of the cove-
nant, as administered by their heavenly Father :
Then, saith he, will 1 visit their transgressions with
a rod, and their iniquity with stripes. p This rod,
however severe its stripes, is applied as the effect of
covenant-love and faithfulness : When we are judg-
ed, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not
be condemned with the world, and that we might be
partakers of his holiness.' 1 Believers, however, suf-
fer much wrongfully from the tongue of slander ; yet
to this also, a blessing is annexed : Blessed are ye,

1 Col. i. 24. 1 Pet. iv. 13. "* Philip, i. 29. n Ecc. vii. 20. 1 John
i. 8. Gal. in. 13. p Psal. Ixxxix. 32. <t 1 Cor. xi. 32. Heb,
xii. 911.

472 JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. [sER. XIV.

said Christ to his disciples, when men shall revile
you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of
evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and
be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in
heaven ; for so persecuted they the prophets which
were before you.* Nay, even when they are overtaken
in faults, the enemies of truth and righteousness
reproach them, not because they have sinned, but
because they are professed disciples of Christ ; for
the same imperfections, which in others pass unno-
ticed, if observed in them, are magnified and made
the occasion of scandal to the Christian name : This
fellow was also with Jems of Nazareth.* Did not I
see thee in the garden with him ?* How careful, then,
should professors be to give no just occasion to the
adversary to blaspheme, or to speak reproachfully / u

And under these relative sufferings also (both un-
der those which they endure from the discipline of
the covenant, because they belong to Christ, and
under those which they endure from the tongue of
slander and the hand of persecution, because they
profess his name) Christ variously tries them.
Hereby,

1. He tries and brings to light their reconcilia-
tion to the will of his and their heavenly Father.
For while others, under afflictive providences, re-
bel and murmur, an afflicted saint, under the rod
of the covenant, says, with ELI, It is the Lord ; let
him do what seemeth him good ; w with DAVID, It is
good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might
learn thy statutes ;* with JOB, Shall we receive good
at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil,

* Matt. v. 11. 12. s Ibid, xxvi, 71. * John xviii. 26. 1 Tim.
vi. 1. Titus ii. 1 11. w 1. Sam. iii. 18. x Psal. cxix. 71.

SER. XIV.] JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. 473

meaning the evil of affliction ! y nay, with him also,
Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him* and, with
PAUL, I reckon, that the sufferings of this present time
are not worthy to be compared with the glory that
shall be revealed in us* Such too, is the tenor of
apostolic exhortation, addressed to believers : We
pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God b
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty
hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. c

2. He tries, and makes manifest, the reality of
their attachment to himself and his gospel. Some
receive his word under the mere influence of
passion, and others under the prospect of worldly
gain. The former, when their gust of passion has
subsided, and the latter when their hope of world-
ly gain is blasted, presently take offence at his doc-
trine or his government, and forsake his cause
and his kingdom. d Not so his true disciples. They,
assured that he is the divine Messiah, and having
received his gospel in the love of it, cannot forsake
him, nor exchange his doctrine for that of another.
When He, observing how hypocrites forsook him,
said to the twelve, Will ye also go away ? Peter
answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go ? thou
hast the words of eternal life. 6

3. He tries their love to each other, and thereby,
their love to God. For every one that lovtth him
that begat, lovcth him also that is begotten of him.*
That the professed disciples of Christ may be tried
in this way, it is so ordered in Providence, that while
some of them are rich, others are destitute and in

y Jobii. 10. z Ibid. xiii. 15. a Rom. viii. 18. b 2 Cor. v. 20.
c 1 Pet. v. 6. d Matt. xiii. 20. John vi. 26, 27. 66. Ibid. ver.
67,68. '1 John v.l.

474 JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. [SEE. XIV.

need of their liberality : But whoso hath this world's
good 9 and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up
his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the
love of God in him ?s In other instances and to
answer the same end, some of God's children are
strangely and unaccountably brought under the
apparent guilt of some immorality perhaps, like
Benjamin, they are charged with theft, or, like Jo-
seph, with unchastity and, though innocent as they,
circumstances may be such, that, like them, they
may be unable, for the time being, to demonstrate
their innocence. Here the feelings of their bre-
thren toward them, are deeply tested. Those who
secretly disliked them before, will readily nay glad-
ly, admit and even abet the accusations against them,
and so leave them to the power of their accusers.
For, however with their lips they may seem to regret
it, the language of their heart is, Ah, so would we
have it. h But they who have cordially loved and
fellowshipped them, as Christians, feel and act very
differently toward them. They call upon them
inquire into the circumstances of the case, and at-
tach that respect to their declarations, which is due
from one Christian to another; and, knowing that Satan
is the accuser, not of the profane, nor of hypocrites,
but of the brethren 1 that he is never at a loss for
agents, ready and qualified to serve him in this
work of darkness that^alse accusations may be so
contrived, in relation to times and circumstances,
as to have a great show of plausibility and that
Christ, to bring to light the enmity of the devil
against the church, and to manifest the strength of

* 1 John iii. 17. * Psal. xxxv. 25. Rev, xii. 10.

SER. XIV.] JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. 475

his own grace in supporting his falsely accused
brethren, in some instances, suffers such accusa-
tions to be loudly rumored and long sustained ;
knowing these things, I say, the cordial friends of
those accused, Judge not according to appearance,
but judge righteous judgment.* Wherefore, influ-
enced by that charity, that Christian love, which
envieth not, and which thinketh no evil, 1 they cannot
abandon their accused brethren to public odium,
but upon unequivocal and undeniable evidence of
their guilt ; and even then, so far are they from ex-
ulting in the facts thus proved, (as the ungodly do,)
that they deeply deplore them, and the case of those
found guilty of them. Their hearts bleed with the
bleeding cause of their dear REDEEMER. They re-
gard the sad affair, as a common wound to the
household of faith as a humiliating stroke to the
whole church and, in bitterness of soul, say to
JESUS, as Judah said to Joseph, God hath found out,
that is, exposed the iniquity of thy servants the
iniquity that had been committed among them. By
such falls among professors, God affects the hearts
of survivors with an a' arming sense of their own in-
dwelling depravity, and mb t' ers to them the remem-
brance of their own past transg essions yea, exem-
plifies before them what they afe all still liable to,
unless his grace preserve them. Thus he that
thinketh he standeth, is admonished to take heed lest
he fall*

Having considered Joseph's knowledge of his
brethren and his conduct toward them while they
knew not him, let us precede to consider,

k John vii. 24. 1 1 Cor. xiii. 4, 5. m Ibid. x. 12.

476 JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. [SER. XIV.

Thirdly, His making himself known unto them.
To this he was moved by the admirable speech of
Judah ;* which, for artless simplicity, pertinent rea-
soning, and humble importunity, we may safely say
has never been exceeded. It is so explicit and so
beautiful, that any human attempt to explain or to
embellish it, must necessarily tend to obscure and
deface it. You are, therefore, left to read it, with-
out comment, as it is found in Gen. xliv. 18 34.

The narrative of its influence upon Joseph, be-
gins with Chapter xlv.

Then (ver. 1.) Joseph could not refrain himself
before all them that stood by him ; and he cried,
probably to his steward, cause every man to go out
from me, meaning every man, except the reputed
strangers, then under examination : and there stood
no man with him, while Joseph made himself known
unto his brethren. And (ver. 2) he wept aloud ; and
the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard ; the
Egyptians, though withdrawn to adjoining apart-
ments, heard him weep, and, through them, the re-
port thereof soon reached the house of Pharaoh,
not far from which, it is presumable, stood the house
of Joseph, his Prime-Minister.

By this precautionary measure, Joseph wisely and
kindly prevented any needless exposure of his bre-
thren's faults ; which, on that interesting occasion,
he must necessarily mention, and they confess.
Nor does it appear from the sacred history, that
their cruel treatment of him, or any of their former
crimes, were ever made known in Egypt. Thus,
our divine Joseph, the Lord Jesus Christ, does not

* Who had become surety for Benjamin. Gen. xJiii. 9. xliy. 32.

SER. XIV.] JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. 477

require that his redeemed, when called and brought
under conviction by his word and spirit, should pub-
lish their particular sins before men. It is enough
that they realize the evil of them in their own souls
confess them before God abhor and forsake
them and that they rely, for the pardon of them,
on the blood of the everlasting covenant, which
alone can satisfy divine justice for sin. And as Jo-
seph, for the honor of his family, provided for keep-
ing the knowledge of their faults between himself
and them, that his .brethren might not be exposed to
contempt in Egypt; so Christ, for the honor of his
name and kingdom, has provided that his brethren,
when overtaken in faults, if penitent and reformed,
should not be exposed to reproach in the world : If
thy brother, says he, trespass against thee, go and
tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he
shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But
if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or
two more, that in the mouth of two or three witness-
es every word may be established. And if he shall
neglect to hear them, tell it to the CHURCH not to
the WORLD ; but if he neglect to hear the CHURCH, let
him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican."
Many godly men, indeed, have been of the opinion,
that Christ will not make known the sins of his
redeemed, even at the last judgment. But if he
does, it will only be to magnify the riches of his Fa-
ther's grace toward them, and the value of his own
sacrifice for them, when he shall come to be glorified
in his saints, and to be admired in all them that be-
lieve? Nay, when arrived in heaven,* the saved, ih-

B Matt, xviii. 1517. 2 Thess. i. 10.

478 JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. [SER. XIV.

stead of particularizing the kinds and degrees of
their guilt, will harmoniously join in the everlasting
song, Unto him that hath loved us and washed us
from our sins in his own blood, &c. p Christ, more-
over, like Joseph, reveals himself to his brethren
alone; for, both at their calling and during their
pilgrimage, He manifests himself to them, as he
does not unto*the world. See John xiv. 22.

The progress, too, which Joseph observed in mak-
ing himself known to his brethren, is worthy of no-
tice and full of instruction.

1. He merely announced himself to them by his
proper name, saying, I AM JOSEPH to which, how-
ever, at once to show his filial affection, and to con-
vince them that he knew who they were and whence
they came, he annexed the inquiry, Doth my father
yet live ? We need not marvel at what followed.
And his brethren could not answer him : for, as
might be expected, they were troubled, yea, terrified,
as the word signifies, at his presence.* For now,
recognizing in the lord of Egypt their long discard-
ed brother, whom, to his own and his father's unut-
terable grief, they had sold to strangers, they were
so stung with remorse confused with shame and
filled with the dread of just retaliation, that, for a
while, they could make no reply. How similar is the
condition of poor sinners, when first they hear the
voice of the Son of God, so as to live, and begin to see
his majesty and his glory, in the light of the gospel!
He, indeed, says to them, I AM JESUS, that is, the
SAVIOUR ; but they, recollecting their long neglect
and contempt of him, and their base requital of his

p Rer. i. 5, 6. * Gen. xlv. 3.

SER. XIV.] JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. 479

Father's kindness, in sending him into the world,
can scarcely even hope that he will save them.
Hence, laden with guilt, and filled with shame and
grief, they know not what to say or do.

2. Joseph, perceiving his brethren to be thus con-
founded and dismayed, and, perhaps, receding from
him, kindly said to them, Come near to me, I pray you.*
What an encouraging invitation ! Yet, much more
so is that of Christ, in which he says to sensible
sinners, Come unto me all ye that labor and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Did the
brethren of Joseph draw near to him, at his call ?
How much more, at the call of JESUS, should heavy
laden sinners be prevailed on to go to HIM !

3. Joseph's brethren having approached him, he
explicitly declared his relation to them, saying, I AM
JOSEPH YOUR BROTHER ; s and though he added,
whom ye sold into Egypt, it was not to reproach
them, but, at once to identify and to endear him-
self to them. Thus when sensible sinners, encou-
raged by the gospel invitation, are enabled to come
to Christ by faith, He graciously reveals himself in
his covenant- relation to them. He, in effect, says,
I AM JESUS YOUR BROTHER ; and though he now
again causes them to look upon him whom they
have pierced and mourn, the affecting sight only
serves to confirm their faith and to increase their
love. Nay, the very imputation of his death proves
that it was for them, and tends to enhance his va-
lue to them : Unto you, therefore, that believe he is
precious. 1 Pet. ii. 7.

4. Joseph, to alleviate his brethren, under the self-
reproach which they still felt at the remembrance of
r Gen. x lv. 4. Ibid.

480 JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. [SEK. XIV.

how they had treated him, instructively adverted to
the concern which God had in the matter. Address-
ing them, he said, Be not grieved nor angry with
yourselves, that ye sold me hither : for God did send
me before you to preserve life. So now it was not
you that sent me hither, but God ; and He, strange
as it is, hath made me . . . . ruler throughout all the
land of Egypt* So Christ, to instruct the minds
and to assuage the sorrows of his penitent diciples,
lets them know that he was delivered by the determi-
nate counsel and fore-knowledge of God that he
suffered for them by covenant-stipulation (which
Joseph did not for his brethren) that the things
which he suffered, being those predicted and typi-
fied of the true Messiah, proved him to be the PERSON
and, that such was the tenor of the covenant, that
his mediatorial sufferings were all prerequisite to
his mediatorial exaltation : Ought not THE CHRIST
(rov %ps"ov) to have suffered these things, and to enter
into his glory ? u that glory which, by covenant- grant,
he had with the Father before the world was. w Jo-
seph's brethren had, indeed, been ill-affected toward
him : As for you, said he to them, ye thought evil
against me ; but God meant it unto good, to bring
to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.*
And so, though Jews and Gentiles were exceeding-
ly ill-affected toward Christ, and took and crucified
him with wicked hands, yet God meant it unto the
highest conceivable good, namely, to save from eter-
nal death, a multitude which no man can number,
of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and
tongues. Rev. vii. 9.

* Gen. xlv. 8. u Luke xxiv. 26. w John xvii. 5. * Gen. 1. 20.

SER. XIV.] JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. 481

5. The coming of Joseph's brethren to him in
Egypt, excited much interest at court: The fame
thereof was heard in Pharaohs house, messengers
and courtiers, saying, Josephs brethren are corner
Let this remind us of the exultation in Zion, the
earthly palace of God, when lost sinners, found and
called by grace, come to Christ and to his church,
THEN ministers and other Christians joyfully con-
gratulate each other, saying, The ransomed of the
Lord are come. Thus, at the return of the prodigal
to his father's house, they (the members of the
household) began to be merry ; z and when many in
Samaria believed, There was great joy in that city?
Nay, the tidings, borne with angelic flight, reach the
courts of Heaven, and gladden all the inhabitants
there : There is joy in the presence of the angels of
God over one sinner that repenteth. Luke xv. 10.

6. Joseph, having made himself known to his bre-
thren, and having thus instructively addressed them,
sealed his love to each with a kiss b made them
all acceptable at court, (Pharaoh himself and all his
servants being well pleased, ) and, hiding all their
faults from the king, procured his royal concurrence
on their behalf. d How similar is the manner in
which our divine Joseph, the Lord Jesus, treats his
redeemed ! On making himself known to them,
he not only kindly instructs them, but also sweetly
discovers his love to them ; and having, by his atone-
ment, covered all their sins from the eye of aveng-
ing justice, he brings them into open acceptance
with the King eternal, immortal and invisible; who,

y Gen. xlv. 16. z Luke xv. 24. a Acts viii. 8. b Gen. xlv. 15,

c Ibid. ver. 1C. d Ib. ver. 1734.

482 JOSKP1I A TYPE OF CHRIST. [sER. XIV

thereupon, shows them his covenant" lets them know
their interest in his great and precious promises, by
which they are assured of all needful good, for time
and eternity f and favors them with his gracious
presence, arid the tokens of his loving-kindness : If
any man love me, saith Christ, he will keep my words ;
and my Father will love him, and we will come un-
to him and make our abode with him. John xiv.
23. Truly, brethren, our fellowship is with the
Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. 1 John i. 3.

REFLECTIONS.

1. Were all the family of Joseph gathered to him
in Egypt ? So all the family of Christ shall be gather-
ed to him in this world. "It is written in the pro-
phets," saith he, And they shall be all taught of God ;
that is, to know their lost condition and the only
way of salvation. Every man therefore, adds he,
that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father ^
cometh unto me. John vi. 45.

2. By the favor and influence of Joseph, his fami-
ly, though in Egypt, were distinguished there.
They dwelt in the land of Goshen, and near to Jo-
sephs Now Goshen, as it abounded with water and
pasture, was the best of the land ; h and therefore a
fit emblem of a state of grace, in which believers
have access to the rills and fountains of living water,
and feed in the green pastures of divine promises
and ordinances. But the best of all is their privilege
of being near to JESUS, their spiritual Joseph: for
they are a people near unto him. 1 The lines, of a
truth, are fallen unto us in pleasant places ; yea, we
have a goodly heritage. Psal. xvi. 6.

Psal. xxv. 14. f 2 Pet. i. 4. 2. Cor. i. 20. Rom. viii. 32.
e Gen. xlv. 10. L Ibid, xlvii. 6. l Psal. cxlviii. 14.

SER. XIV.] JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. 483

3. the family of Joseph, though they dwelt in
Egypt, were not Egyptians, but strangers there.
So the saints, though in the world, are not of the
world, but strangers and pilgrims here. Heb. xi.
13. Hence,

4. As Joseph, before his death, assured his bre-
thren (meaning all Israel) that God would certainly
visit them, and bring them out of that land into the
land of promise, k so Christ, before his crucifixion,
let his disciples know, that God had provided for
them a better home than this world, and a richer in-
heritance than the earthly Canaan : Fear not, said
he, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure
to give you the kingdom. Luke xii. 32.

5. Joseph, in the most solemn manner, charged his
brethren to carry up his bones with them. 1 These
were to accompany them, through all their journey
toward the holy land. And so the everlasting gos-
pel, the doctrine of Him who is raised from the
dead, will accompany the church in all her genera-
tions, and during every stage of her heaven-ward
journey : My words which I have put in thy
mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of
the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of
thy seed's seed, saith the LoRD,/rom henceforth and
for ever. Is. lix. 21. And, as the Israelites, with

the bones of Joseph, entered Canaan, the saints,
with the risen Jesus, shall enter the " better coun-
try." For the Lord himself shall descend from
Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Arch-
angel, and with the trump of God: and the dead
in Christ shall rise first, that is, before the living

k Gen. 1.24. > Ibid. ver. 25.

484 JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST. [SER. XIV.

saints shall be changed : Then ice ichich are alive
and remain, (being suddenly changed,) shall be
caught up together icith them in the clouds, to meet
the Lord in the air : and so, (having entered hea-
ven with him,) shall we ever le with the Lord
Amen. Even so, come, LORD JESUS.

w 1 Thess. iv. 16, 17- Comp. ICor. xv. 5157

SERMON XV.

THE BLESSING OF JOSEPH, CONTINUED,

JOSEPH'S LAND A TYPE OF CHRIST'S CHURCH.*

Deut. xxxiii. 13 17. And of Joseph he said. Blessed of the Lord
be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and
for the deep that coucheth beneath. And for the precious fruits
brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth
by the moon. And for the chief things of the ancient mountains^
and for the precious things of the lasting hills. And for the pre-
cious things of the earth and fulness thereof' and for the good-
will of him that dwelt in the bush. Let the blessing come upon
the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that
was separated from his brethren. His glory is like the firstling
of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns ; with
them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth:
and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are
the thousands of Manasseh.

DAVID, addressing the Lord, said, Open thoumine
eyes that I may behold wonderous things out of thy
law!" With such things our text abounds. And, O
that the Lord would open the eyes of our under-
standing that we might understand them !

That Joseph, in many respects, was a personal
type of Christ, you have heard in the preceding dis-
course ; and if so, it must follow, by consequence,
that his portion was mystically designed to set forth

a Psal. cxix. 18.

486 JOSEPH'S LAND [SKR. xv.

the portion of his great antitype. This will appear,
when, concerning Joseph's land, we consider,

FIRST, The manner of its assignment. Joseph re-
ceived his land by lot? and therefore by divine ap-
propriation; for the whole disposing of the lot is of
the Lord. c And in like manner, Christ received his
portion, the church : The Lord's portion is his peo-
ple ; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance* For,
though the words just referred to, literally under-
stood, respect national Israel, yet that Israel as be-
ing an object of God's providential love and choice,
and as being by him committed to the safe-keeping
and guidance of the Angel of the covenant, in whom
his "name,' 7 his nature dwells,* was eminently a type
of spiritual Israel, whom he loves with an everlast-
ing love, and whom he gave to Christ, not only as
the people of his charge, but as the lot of his in-
heritance. Accordingly, Christ, when speaking to
the Father concerning them, says, Thine they were
and thou gavest them me. Yet, that none might sup-
pose that the Father had thereby relinquished his
own interest in them, Christ farther says to him,
all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am
glorified in them ; f that is, in the equity of their re-
demption and the perfection of their salvation ; he
having redeemed them from all iniquity f arid they
being saved in him with an everlasting salvation*

SECONDLY, The succession of its inhabitants. Jo-
eph's land was inhabited by his natural descerid-
mts, in their successive generations ;' and the church,
he land of Christ, was manifestly designed for the

b Josh. xvi. 1. c Prov. xvi. 33. d Deut. xxxii. 9. e Ibid. vii.
), 7. *Exo. xxiii. 2023. See Ser. iv. p. 143, &c. f John xvii.
J. 10. & Titus ii. 14. Ms. xlv. 17. * Josh. xvi. 4.

SER. xv.] A TYPE OF CHRIST'S CHURCH. ' 487

earthly residence of his spiritual posterity, from ge-
neration to generation. And it is only as sinners
receive regenerating grace from Christ and become
believers in him, that they are qualified to profess
his name, and to unite with his visible family, which
is the household of faith* "This is the heritage
of the servants of the LORD, and their righteous-
ness is of me saith the LORD." Is. liv. 17. Thus
Christ, by communicating grace to his redeemed,
perpetuates a seed to serve him ; and it shall be ac-
counted to the Lord for a generation. Psal. xxii. 30.

THIRDLY, The progress and means of its actual
possession. The inheritance which God, in his
purpose, had assigned to Joseph and his posterity
was very large, as appears from the inspired pre-
diction of Jacob ; see Gen. xlix. 22 26. Yet the
children of Joseph, for a time, possessed but a small
share of the assignment only one lot. So, although
God, in his eternal counsel and by covenant- grant,
had assigned to Christ and his church, an interest
in all nations, their visible interest, nevertheless, for
a time, was only in one nation, the Jewish, and in-
cluded but a few of them a little flock.

The children of Joseph, thus limited in their pos-
sessions, and encouraged by the predictions of Ja-
cob and Moses, and especially by the divine favor
already experienced, desired enlargement and
sought for it. They spake unto Joshua, saying,
"Why hast thpu given me but one lot and one por-
tion to inherit, seeing I am a great people, forasmuch
as the Lord hath blessed me hitherto." 1 Thus the

kGal. vi.10. Acts ii. 3741. viii. 12. 37, 38. xvi. 31 40.
1 Josh. xvii. 14.

488 JOSEPH'S LAND [SER. xv.

chureh, though small for a while, became " a great
people," even among the Jews ; three thousand at
once, were added to her, on the day of pentecost, 111
and soon after, perhaps jive thousand more, or, at
least, two thousand, augmenting the number of them
that believed to about Jive thousand ; n nay, u The
word of God increased, and the number of the dis-
ciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly." At this,
the carnal Jews were filled with envy, contradiction
and blasphemy ; wherefore the apostles, seeing that
the church in Judea was straitened for room, oppress-
ed with persecution, and sighing for enlargement
and understanding by prophecy, that the time was
come for her extension among the nations, said, Lo,
we turn to the gentiles; for so hath the Lord com-
manded us, p * saying, I have set thee (Christ) to be a
light of the gentiles, that thou shouldst be for salva-
tion unto the ends of the earth. q

The children of Joseph, though not denied their
request, were informed that the actual possession of
territory was only to be acquired by labor and war-
fare. Joshua answered them, " If thou be," or where-
as thou art "a great people, get thee up to the
wood-country, and cut down for thyself there, in the
land of the Perizzites, and of the giants" also, " if
mount Ephraim be too narrow for thee." r Fn like
manner, though the request of the church for the
calling of the nations is not, denied, her divine
Joshua, by his spirit in the word, hath abundantly
informed her, that she must do more than merely to
desire it or even formally to pray for it that it is
to be obtained through the instrumentality of her

m Acts ii. 41. n Ibid. iv. 4. Ibid. vi. 7. P Is. xlix. 6. 9 Acts
xiii. 46, 47. r Josh. xvii. 15.

SER. XV.] A TYPE OF CHRIST'S CHURCH. 489

members and ministers, who must "spend and be
spent" in the achievement. 8 She must, at her ex-
pense, send out missionaries, such as the Lord shall
qualify and dispose for the work, and that, not only
among the destitute in civilized countries, but also
into the heathen world, comparable to the wood-
country of the Perizzites and giants. Thus she
must cut down and clear for herself. And as an ex-
ample for the imitation and encouragement of
preachers in all generations, the apostles and other
ministers of Christ, commissioned and encouraged
by him, extended their labors among the gentiles,
and "the hand of the Lord being with them, a great
number believed and turned unto the Lord." 1 Such
a missionary, in an eminent degree, was the apostle
Paul, who could say, " So have I strived to preach
the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I
should build upon another man's foundation.""
Thus acting, the church obeys the divine injunc-
tion, " Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them,
(her ministers) stretch forth the curtains of thine
habitations ; spare riot, lengthen thy cords, and
strengthen thy stakes," and enjoys the fulfilment of
the promise annexed to so doing : " For thou shalt
break forth on the right hand and on the left ; and
thy seed shall inherit the gentiles and make the
desolate cities to be inhabited." Is. liv. 2, 3.

Nor were the children of Joseph satisfied with
permission to range and subdue the wood-country
only; but had an eye to the valleys also; though
they doubted the practicability of conquering their

Psal. Ixxii. 1519. Is. ii. 2, 3. Ixii. 17. 2 Cor. xii. 15
* Acts xi. 21. u Rom. xv. 20.

490 JOSEPH'S LAND [SER. xv.

inhabitants. They said, "The hill," (not mount
Ephraim merely, but all the mountainous region
signified by the wood-country) " is not sufficient
for us; and all the Canaanites that dwell in the
land of the valley," (alas for us!) "have chariots
of iron,* both they who are of Beth-.shean and her
towns, and they who are of the valley of Jazreel.'' w
Beth-shean (compounded of mbeth a house, and
either \w sheen a tooth, or pty shanan, to whet, to
sharpen, as teeth are sharpened, to bite, or edged
tools, to cut) was a fit type of the house, or genera-
tion of persecutors "a generation whose teeth are
as swords, and their jaw- teeth as knives to devour,"
&c.-*-yea, "whose teeth," to imply the variety of
their destructive measures and instruments, " are
spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword;"
and " who," that they may lie and slander the more
effectually, "whet their tongue like a sword, and
bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter
words," &c. x And whereas, in gospel-times, the
greatest persecutors of the church have been found
under the Christian name, it is no wild conceit, to
consider papal Rome and her dependencies, as the
Beth-shean and her towns, of the present dispensa-
tion.

* Not chariots made of iron, but chariots armed with it ; that is,
S^tfavTjtpo^a, drepanephora, bearing hooks, sickles or scythes, pro-
jecting from their axles on each side ; see 2 Mace. xiii. 2 ; and
which, being furiously driven through an enemy's battalions,
produced general confusion, and mowed down the infantry like
grass. Such, it is presumed, were the war-chariots of Pharaoh,
Exo. xiv. 7 of the Philistines; 1 Sam. xiii. 5. and of the Syrians ;
2 Sam. viii. 4 : and such, no doubt, were those of the Canaan-
ites. See Josh, xi. 4. and Judg. i. 19 and iv. 3.

w Josh. xvii. 16. * Prov. xxx. 14. Psal. Ivii. 4, and Ixiv. 3. &c.

SER. XV.] A TYPE OF CHRIST'S CHURCH. 491

Jezrecl, from yni zeruang, seed or sowing, and Sx
El, God, signifies the seed or sowing of God: or,
otherwise, the dispersed of God. And, in either
sense, the appellation is appropriate to the Jews
nay, like Jeskurun* JEZREEL is but another name for
Israel ; z who, by national adoption and federal privi-
leges, were a peculiar seed unto God ; a and whom,
nevertheless, for their disbelief and rejection of the
Messiah, he has expelled from Canaan, and dispers-
ed among all nations, according to prophecy. See
Is. vi. 11, 12; and Jer. xxiv. 9.

Now, both the papists and the Jews have their
chariots of iron their confidences and prejudices,
strong as chariots of war, and, like them, both of-
fensive and defensive serving at once to animate
their unhallowed zeal, and to confirm their unautho-
rized hope. The papists, trusting in popish infalli-
bility, and the Jews, relying on carnal descent from
Abraham, feel alike secure of divine favor, and are
alike unmoved by evangelical attack. Judging, then,
according to carnal reason, we are tempted to say,
" How little encouragement have the church and
her ministers, to take any .jnpasures for their healing
and conversion !"

But, let us hear the animating words of Joshua,
who, addressing the house of Joseph, said, " Thou
art a great people and hast great power; thou
shalt not have one lot only : but the mountain shall
be thine ; for it is a wood, and thou shalt cut it
down: and the outgoings of it," meaning its pro-
ductions and the ways of access to it, " shall be

t. xxxii. 16. z Hosea i. 4. ii. 22. a Exo. iv. 22, Deut.
xiv. i. 2.

492 JOSEPH'S LAND [SER. xv.

thine," the former as a revenue and the latter as an
accommodation ; " for thou shah dri\ 7 e out the Ca-
naanites, though they have iron chariots and though
they be strong." 5

Thus the gospel church, though small at her be-
ginning, is already, by the conquests of grace be-
come " a great people," and, having the Lord of
hosts on her side, and the God of Jacob for her
refuge, she has " great power ;". and as Joshua en-
couraged the exertions of the house of Joseph, much
more does JESUS encourage those of HIS OWN HOUSE
with assurances of additional victories and succes-
sive acquisitions. For him, as for Joshua, "There
remains yet very much land to be possessed ; c and
by his Spirit in the prophets, he is, in effect, saying
to his church, The mountain, the gentile world,
shall be thine ; for, addressing her, he saith, " The
gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the
brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round
about, and see ; all they gather themselves together,
they come to thee ; thy sons shall come from far,
and thy daughters shall be nursed by thy side the
abundance of the seas shall be converted unto thee,
the forces of the gentiles shall come unto thee." d

Nevertheless, the church, like the house of Jo-
seph, must obtain her promised inheritance among
the heathen through the use of appointed means;
"for it is a wood," and she must send laborers,
prepared of the Lord, to " cat it down." Regenera-
tion, indeed, is exclusively the work of the Holy
Spirit ; e yet ordinarily, at least, He opens the eyes

* Josh. xvii. 17, 18. c Ibid. xiii. 1, d Is. Ix. 3, 4. 8. e Rom.
ii. 29. Eph. i. 17 20. ii. 1. 4, 5, 10. Comp. John vi. 63.

SER. XV.] A TYPE OF CHRIST'S CHURCH. 493

of sinners, and turns them from darkness to light,
and from the power of Satan unto God, by the in-
strumentality of gospel-ministers. See Acts xi.
21. xxvi. 18. And it is only as moved by the same
Spirit, that the church obeys the injunction of Christ,
Pray ye the Lord of the harvest that he would send
forth laborers? and complies with the request of
her missionaries, who, from heathen as well as civil-
ized lands, and in apostolic language, are saying
to her, pray for us, that the word of the Lord
may have free course, and be glorified, in the con-
version of sinners, even as it is with you. g " Thus
saith the Lord God : I will yet for this be inquired of
by the house, of Israel, to do it for them ; I will in-
crease them with men like a flock." h

Herein the church of Christ, like the house of
Joseph, shall "have the outgoings of the mountain,''
accessions of converts from the heathen world, and
freedom of intercourse with all the nations of the
earth. With her increase of numbers, her means
also shall be still increased, preparatory to further
expenditures in the Redeemer's cause : " The kings
of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents,
the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts." 1
" Thy gates," saith Christ to her, " shall be open
continually; they shall not be shut day nor night;
that men may bring unto thee the forces of the gen-
tiles," their wealth, as the word implies, as well as
converts from among them, " and that their kings,"
subdued .and drawn by grace, "may be brought,' 7 *
And hence it is added, " Thou shalt also suck the

f Matt. ix. 38. Luke x. 2. e^Thess, iii. 1. h Ezek. xxxvf
37. * Psal. Ixxii. 10.

494 JOSEPH'S LAND [SER. xv.

milk of the gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of
kings ; and thou shalt know that I the Lord am
thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty one of
Jacob." Is. Ix. 11. 16.

Nor is even papal Rome, the same with mystical
Babylon, to be regarded as utterly invincible. As an
enemy to the church, not all her iron chariots of
popish superstition and satanic warfare, nor all her
confederates, ecclesiastical and secular, can preserve
her for a moment beyond the hour of her decreed
and predicted ruin ; " for strong is the Lord God
that judgeth her.'' Rev. xviii. 8. Neither is she,
to us, altogether a hopeless object ; for though, as
typified in literal Babylon, k she is doomed to utter
destruction; 1 the sentence, nevertheless, cannot be
executed, till the elect of God, remaining within her
walls, shall hear his voice, saying, " Come out of her
my people," &c. Rev. xviii. 4. For this, let Zion
hope arid pray.

And as for Jczrccl, or national Israel, though for her
breach of the sinaic covenant and rejection of the
true Messiah, God hath long forsaken her and widely
dispersed her ; yet, according to his covenant of
grace, before confirmed in Christ, and made known
to her fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, he re-
members her for good, and will gather her in
mercy : " I will take you," saith he to the scattered
Jews, "from among the heathen, and gather you
out of all countries, and will bring you into your own
land. THEN" (and not till THEN) "will I sprinkle
clean water upon you," meaning his pure gospel,
especially the doctrine of pardon and justification

k Jer. li. 63, 64. Rev. xviii. 21.

SER. XV.] A TYPE OF CHRIST^ CHURCH. 495

through the atoning blood and perfect righteousness
of Christ, explained and applied to them by his
Spirit's influence ; "And ye shall be clean : from all
your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse
you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new
spirit will! put within you; and I will take away
the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you
an heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within
you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye
shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye
shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers;
and," (the lo-ami being removed,) "ye shall be
my people and I will be your God." See Ezek.
xxxvi. 24 28. and Hosea i. 9.

The Jews, therefore, though blindly trusting in
privileges and ceremonies, long abolished, and
though wickedly armed with traditions and preju-
dices, strong as iron, against Jesus of Nazareth, are
decidedly objects of Christian hope and ministerial
address, and authorized subjects of our fiducial and
persevering supplications to God. The valley of
Jezreel, it is true, has long been " a valley full of
bones" yea, of bones very dry ; yet even these
are not beyond the power of Him who quickeneth
the dead. Is any thing too hard for the Lord?
See Ezek. xxxvii. 1 14.*

* That the gathering of the Jews, promised in Ezek. xxxvitb,
does not simply denote their gathering from the Babylonish cap-
tivity, but ultimately from their present dispersion also, is evi-
dent by some things said of their land and of them, which were
not verified at their return from Babylon. See ver. 14, 15. 29,
30. And much less can their resurrection, described in Chap,
xxxviith, be restricted to their recovery from captivity, but re-
mains to be realized in their conversion in the latter day ; when

496 JOSEPH'S LAND [SER. xv.

Chiefly, however, the land of Joseph was a type of
the church of Christ,

FOURTHLY, In the natural and providential bless-
ings by which it was distinguished : Of Joseph,
Moses said, Blessed of the Lord be his land, &c.

Compared with the lands round about it, the land
of Joseph was remarkable for its richness. It in-
cluded Gilead and Bashan, inherited by Manas-
seh ; m and the rich country of Samaria, which, with
her mountains, 11 her fields and her metropolis, 15 fell
to the lot of Ephraim.* Thus the church of Christ,
consisting of those called out of the world that lieth
in wickedness, is distinguished from all other por-
tions of mankind, by the riches of divine grace.
Hence the diversity of soil, noticed by our Lord in
the parable of the sower. Of the unregerierate, he
likened some to the way-side, some to stony places,
and some to land covered with thorns; but the rege-
nerate he likened to good ground, that is, to ground
duly ploughed and manured ; for, as such ground
is in a good state of preparation to receive the seed
of the sower, and to bring forth a crop for the own-
er ; so the regenerate, having the fallow ground of
their hearts broken up, and the fertilizing princi-
ple of grace imparted, are prepared to receive the
seed of the word and to bring forth fruit, more or
less, unto God. r

The land of Joseph was distinguished by its

'the ten tribes and the two shall be re-united, and David, the true
Messiah, shall be king over them. See ver. 15 28. Comp.
Hosea iii. 5. and Rom. xi. 25, 26.

m Josh. xvii. 1. n Amos iii. 9. Obad. ver. 19. P Is. vii. 9.
"1 Ibid. ix. 9. r Matt. xiii. 58. and from 1823. Comp. 1 Cor.

Y.7.

SER. XV.] A TYPE OF CHRIST'S CHURCH. 497

advantages in water: Blessed of the Lord be his
land, for the precious things of heaven, by which
are meant plentiful and -seasonable rains and dews ;
for although "the dew" only is mentioned, rain
is unquestionably implied : and which are both
precious things, so precious, so valuable, and so
needful, that, without them, no land can be fertile,
no crop can flourish and they are not only precious
things but the precious things of heaven, because
they come from above, and are the gifts of God, by
whom they are generated and caused to descend."
Mystically and typically, however, we are hereby
led to contemplate the spiritual blessings which
come upon the church, the land of our spiritual Jo-
seph. Of these, and especially of the gospel and
the attendant influences of the Holy Spirit, rains
and dews are scriptural emblems ; My doctrine,
said Christ, (speaking by his Spirit in Moses,)
shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil
as the dew ; as the small rain upon the tender herb,
and as the showers upon the grass.* Like the
rain, and snow, and dew, both the gospel and the
Holy Spirit are the free gifts of God, and come by
his appointment, as to time, and place, and degree ;
and, like them, the word of his grace, whenever and
wherever sent, attended by the influence of his Spi-
rit, must^accomplish the end he designs, whether it
be to call, to comfort, to edify or to reprove. " For,"
saith he, " as the rain cometh down, and the snow
from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth
the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it
may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater ; so

8 Job. xxxviii. 28. * Deut. xxxii. 2.

493 JOSEPH'S LAND [SER. xv.

shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth :
it shall not return unto me void ; but it shall accom-
plish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the
thing whereto I sent it.'' Is. Iv. 10, 11.

Nor was "the land of Joseph" favored merely
with rains and dews, but also with springs and
fountains. Wherefore it is added, and for the deep
that coucheth beneath ; from which springs and foun-
tains break out and flow, and which, as welfas rain
and dew, are the precious things of heaven, being the
gifts of God, " who rnaketh the fountains of waters.
Rev. xiv. 7. Neither are these without their mysti-
cal signification. They are fit emblems of the ema-
nations, the breakings forth of divine goodness,
in grace and in providence, all preceding from
the unseen deep of God's everlasting love to his
people; and which spring up and flow according to
the arrangements of his eternal counsel, and the
provisions of his " covenant ordered in all things
and sure." See Eph. i. 11. and 2. Sam. xxiii. 5.
They are also appropriate emblems of the doctrines
of grace, and of the " great and gracious promises"
of God, which, like the former, all rise from the in-
explorable deep of that favor, that unchanging love
and good-will, which he bears to his people. See
Psal. cvi. 4.

Now, according to these covenanted provisions,
CHRIST, " in whom it hath pleased the Father they
should all dwell," becomes to the numerous branch-
es of his church, and to the souls of all believers in-
dividually, as " a Fountain of gardens, a Well of
waters, and streams from Lebanon. Cant. iv. 15.
Comp. Is. Iviii. 11.

The preaching of the gospel, the administration

SEU. XV.] A TYPE OF CHRIST'S CHURCH. 499

of its ordinances, and the special influences of the
Holy Spirit, are, like rain and dew, but occasionally
granted ; and like them, are, in many instances,
long suspended: but the doctrines of grace, exhibit-
ing the method of salvation, and the promises of
God, giving assurance of its completion in all the
heirs, as they are contained in the written word, are,
like springs and fountains, stationary blessings.
To these we may come, even when we have no pub-
lic teachers, nor public ordinances, and, if favored
with the bucket of faith, we may with joy draw
water out of these wells of salvation. Is. xii. 3.
To procede.

As the land of Joseph was distinguished by the
richness of its soil, and the abundance of its waters,
so, as a matter of course, by its great fertility. JAR-
CHI, a Jewish Commentator, who, on this subjecf,
had access to the best means of information, says,
" There was not in the inheritance of the tribes, a
land so full of all good things as 4he land of Jo-
seph." Let this remind us, that there is not, upon
earth, a land so full of all good things as the land of
our spiritual Joseph, the church of Christ, which, be-
ing stored with the blessings of grace, and caused to
abound in practical godliness, is declared to be full
of goodness. Rom. xv. 14. Inj its fertility, the
land of Joseph was remarkable,

Fir st 9 For the precious things or ought forth by
the sun; which lias a wonderful influence in pro-
ducing and perfecting most of the fruits of the earth,
for the good of mankind, and in which fruits the
land of Joseph in particular abounded. Much
more precious, however, are the fruits brought forth
by Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, for his favored

500 JOSEPH'S LAND [SER. xv.

land, his church and people ; I mean the blessed
results of his incarnation, obedience, and death
his resurrection, ascension and intercession, all
which, with the benefits thereby accruing to all repre-
sented in Him, are in accordance with his mediatorial
stipulations in the everlasting covenant. Among
these benefits, are,

1. Our reconciliation to the offended justice of
God : We were reconciled to God by the death of his
Son. Rom. v. 10.

2. Our redemption from the legal penalty incur-
red by sin*: Christ hath redeemed us from the curse
of the law, being made a curse for us. Gal. iii. 10*

3. The regenerating and enlightening grace of
the Holy Spirit, which the Father sheds abundantly,
upon his elect, through Jesus Christ our Saviour.
Titus iii. 5, 6. Comp. Heb. ii. 11. and 1 John ii.
20. 27.

4. The knowledge of our redemption by Christ^
through the remission of our sins, granted, by the
Father, for his sake : In whom we have redemption
through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. CoL
i. 14. Eph. i. 7. and iv. 32. Comp. Luke i. 77.

5. Personal and irreversible justification in the
sight of God; being justified freely by his grace^
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
Rom. iii. 24; yea, justified from all things ; Acts
xiii. 39 ; and justified by Him, from whose decision
there can be no appeal. See Rom. viii, 23, 24.
Hence the church, as found in Christ, is clothed
with the sun. Rev. xii. 1,

6. Peace with God peace procured by the blood
of the cross, and enjoyed by the grace of faith. Col.
i. 20. and Rom. v. 1. Besides,

SER. XV.] A TYPE OF CHRIST'S CHURCH. 501

7. All our supplies come,, in like manner, by this
new and living way : My God shall supply all your
need, according to his riches in glory, BY CHRIST
JESUS. Philip iv. 19. Nay,

8. Even the heavenly inheritance, though not
purchased by Christ, is bestowed upon us through
him : The gift of God is eternal life, THROUGH JE-
SUS CHRIST OUR LORD. Rom. vi. 23. Moreover,

As Christ, the Sun of righteousness, has brought
forth " precious fruits for his people, so He also
brings forth " precious fruits in them. Through
Him, as Mediator, the Holy Spirit, which He hath
received without measure? is given to his redeemed
in measure, implanting graces in them, correspond-
ent to those which adorn his own human soul : Of
his fulness have all we received, (who have passed
from death unto life,) and grace for grace. John i. 16.
Hence are all the precious fruits of the Spirit, such
as faith, love, patience, meekness, &c., which spring
from their respective seeds, or principles, implanted
in the souls of the regenerated And as the fruits of
the earth, moistened by seasonable rains and dews,
are brought forth and caused to flourish by the
kindly and vegetative influence of the natural sun ;
so the fruits of the Spirit in believers, being nourish-
ed by appropriate supplies of grace, are brought
forth and made to abound, by the benign and ex-
hilarating rays of the Sun of righteousness. It is
worthy of remark, too, that, as the " land of Joseph,"
according to the observation of a Jewish commen-
tator before named, " lay open to the sun ;" so the
church of Christ, the land of our spiritual Joseph,

u John iii. 34. w Gal. v. 22, 23.

502 JOSEPH'S LAND [SER. xv.

lies specially open to all the beamings of divine fa-
vor, shining through Him, the Sun of righteousness ;
for Christ having meritoriously put away sin, the sin
of all he represented, by the sacrifice of himself? as
they are regenerated arid enabled to believe in him,
God the Father blots out, as a thick cloudy their
transgressions, and, as a cloud, their sins, y arid gives
them the light of the knowledge of his glory in the
face of Jesus Christ. 2 Thus it is, that believers be-
come filled with the fruits of righteousness, which
are by Jesus Christ, unto the praise of God. Philip,
i. 11.

As the land of Joseph was remarkable for the pre-
cious fruits brought forth by the sun, so also,

SECONDLY, For the precious things put forth by the
moon ; by which, according to this version, must be
meant those fruits which, being digested by the sun,,
during the day, are advanced andj dilated by the
cooling and moistening influence of the moon, du-
ring the night.

Thus understood, this clause of the text, very na-
turally reminds us of the church, as likened to the
moon,* and whose members, having received the
principles of grace from Christ, the Sun, are instru-
mental in bringing forth correspondent fruits, by a
holy and useful life and conversation. These fruits
constitute their work of faith and labor of love, b and
are, on many accounts, precious things. See Cant,
iv. 13, &c. They are precious, because those who
exhibit them are the excellent of the earth, c and
comparatively scarce among meri j also because they
are variously useful in the church and in the world ; e

* Heb. ix. 26. y Is. xliv. 22. z 2 Cor. iv. 6. a Cant. vi. 10.
*> 1 Thess. i. 3. c Psal xvi. 3. d Ibid. xii. 1. e Gal/ yi. 10.
Heb. vi. 10. xiii. 16,

SER. XV.] A TYPE OF CHRIST'S CHURCH. 503

but chiefly they are so, because they serve to promote
the declarative glory of God : Herein, said Christ
to his disciples, is my Father glorified, that ye bear
much fruit. John xv. 8.

This improvement, however, of the clause in ques-
tion, though naturally suggested by our version
though perfectly agreeable to the analogy of faith
though, in itself, useful, and though abundantly sup-
ported by the tenor of scripture, is, nevertheless, in
my opinion, not the true one. For,

1. It does not correspond to the scope of the text,
which is to show, literally, the abundance of tempo-
ral blessings which God would bestow on the pos-
terity of Joseph, and typically, the richer abundance
of spiritual blessings, by which he would distinguish
the posterity of Christ. And,

2. It is supported by a translation and interpreta-
tion of the passage, which assigns to the moon such
an influence on the fruits of the earth as is very
doubtful. Pliny, indeed,* says, that at the increase
of the moon all sorts of corn grow fuller and larger.
Dclechamps\ restricts the moon's influence, in this
way, to melons and onions. And the learned Scheuch-
zer% rejects the opinion altogether. For though
he admits, that many things, as the ebbing and flow-
ing of tides, and the recurrence of epileptic and
convulsive paroxisms, depend on the moon's pressure
upon the globe, yet he denies that the influence of
this pressure extends to plants and fruits; and
therefore, adverting to this text, which might seem
to stand in his way, he considered it as having re-
spect only to monthly fruits.

* Nat. Hist. 1. 18. c. 30. t In his Notes on Pliny, Nat. Hist.
1. 2. c. 41. J Physic. Sacr. vol. 3. p. 437.

504 JOSEPH'S LAND [SER. xv.

The question regarding the moon's influence, I
leave with naturalists ; but as to the literal meaning of
the clause under consideration, I perfectly agree
with the writer last named, and that for obvious rea-
sons. With the Jews, whose months were lunar,
a moon and a month were exactly of the same dura-
tion ; and were commonly noted by the same word,
to wit, HT yarach. In our text, this word is used in
its plural form, DTIY yeracheem ; and therefore,
whether it mean moons or months, it doubtless de-
signs a succession of them. Consequently, by the
" precious things put forth by the moon," must be
meant things put forth moon by moon, or month by
month, that is, monthly, or every month. This opin-
ion is supported by Onkelos, whose Chaldee Para-
phrase on the Pentateuch, is in high esteem among
the Jews, and who, on the clause in question, says
of the land of Joseph, "It produced precious fruits
at the beginning of every month,' 7 also by the Tar-
gum of Jonathan and that of Jerusalem, which say
of the same land, " It yieldeth ripe fruit at the be-
ginning of every month." LEVI, too, understood
this passage in the same way.*

Hence, among the Jews, the " beginning of their
months," were also called their new moons, and by
divine appointment, were successively solemnized
by the offering of sacrifices and the blowing of trum-
pets/

These, their monthly solemnities, however, as well
as their annual feasts and their weekly sabbaths,
God, displeased with their abuse of them, and to
introduce their respective antitypes, has, according to

* Ling. Sac. under JIT.

x. 10. 1 Chron. xxiii, 31. 2 Chron. ii. 4. Ezra. iii. 5.

SER. XV.] A TYPE OF CHRIST'S CHURCH. 505

his word, caused, of right, to cease. g Nevertheless,
in an evangelical sense, they have their appropriate
correspondents under the present dispensation-; and,
to denote this fact, God was pleased, when speak-
ing by the evangelical prophet, concerning the
New-Testament church, to mention her officers and
her solemnities by the same names which he had
given to those of national Israel. Thus, for instance,
in Isa. Ixvith, a chapter which all must admit treats
of the gospel-church, after having promised (ver. 18.)
to " gather all nations and tongues to see his glory,"
he adds, (ver. 21.) " I will also take of them," (that
is either of all nations, or of the converts gathered
out of them,) "for priests, and for Levites ;" and
which cannot be understood literally, or in the Mo-
saic sense of priests and Levites; for, in this sense,
none could be Levites unless of the tribe of Levi, h nor
could any, of right, be priests unless of a specified
branch of that tribe, namely, of " the house of
Aaron," 1 Priests and Levites, therefore, in the
prophecy under consideration, must necessarily
mean those who are such in a mystical sense. Still,
however, it is a question among commentators,
whether by priests and Levites be meant the con-
verts in common, from all nations and tongues, who
should be brought for an offering unto the Lord,
(Ver. 20,) or only those of them, who should be taken
to occupy official stations. If the former, (and which
was Bp. Louth's opinion) the allusion must be to
national Israel, denominated a kingdom of priests f .
and in correspondence to which, mystical Israel,

e Is. i. 13, 14. Hosea ii. 11. * Num. iii. 6. * Exo. xxviii. 1.
xxix. 9. 1 Kings xii. 31. k Exo. xix. 6.

506 JOSEPH'S LAND [SER. xv.

the gospel-church, is styled, a royal priesthood*
And if the latter, (of which opinion were Dr. Gill
and Mr. Henry?) it is no less evident, that the allu-
sion must be to the priests and Levites, properly so
called, who were the officers of the Jewish Sanctua-
ry, and to whom correspond the bishops (that is pas-
tors,) and deacons of the New-Testament sanctuary ;
Philip, i. 1 ; the deacons being, like the Levites, the
more numerous, and being helpers of pastors, as
the Levites were of the priests. See Acts vi. 1 6,
compared with Num. iii. 5 9. and 1 Chon. xxiii.
27 32. Nevertheless, it should not be fogotr-
ten, that, as the blowing of the trumpets made
no part of the arduous service of the Levites; so,
the public preaching of the gospel makes no part
of the useful and various service of deacons, as such :
The sons of Aaron, the priests, said the Lord, shall
"blow with the trumpets ; Num. x. $ ; and it was
only to his ministers that Christ said, Go ye into all
the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
Mark xvi. 15.

Moreover, as the officers of the gospel-church, so
also her solemnities were spoken of in prophecy, by
the names of those observed at the tabernacle and

* 1 Pet. ii. 9. Even upon this supposition, however, a dis-
tinction may be supposed between these mystical priests and Le-
vites. By the priests may be meant gospel-ministers, and by the
Levites, all other true believers, who concur with them, in the cause
and service of God, as the Levites did with the priests. For as all
the priests were Levites, and yet all the Levites were not priests, so,
though all genuine gospel-ministers are Christians, yet all genuine
Christians are not gospel ministers. Are all apostles ? Are all
prophets 1 Are all teachers ? No. See 1 Cor. xii. 29. and Ser. xi.

p. 357,<fcc.

1 Pet. ii. 9.

SER. XV.] A TYPE OF CHRIST'S CHURCH. 507

temple : It shall come to pass, that from OTIC new
moon to another, and from one sabbath to another,
shall all flesh, that is, believers of all nations, come
and worship before, me, saith the Lord. Is. Ixvi. 23.
Now, that the new -moon festivals of the Mosaic dis-
pensation, are abolished, all Christians are agreed ;
and if so, the sabbaths, (both the weekly and the
annual) associated with them, must be abolished
likewise ; m yet, according to the remarkable prophe-
cy before us, the gospel-church, has her new moons
and her sabbaths in constant succession ; and which
I understood to be happily realized in our monthly
solemnity of the Lord's supper, and our iceekly pri-
vileges of evangelical worship on the Lord's day;
By the latter we are joyfully reminded of the rest
that remaineth for the people of God, and at the
former, precious things indeed, even the broken body
and flowing blood of the dear Redeemer, are put
forth, that is emblematically exhibited to the eye of
our faith,* for the nourishment of our souls and
which are thus put forth by the moon, to wit, moon
by moon or every month. Herein the church also,
which, like the moon, undergoes many changes, puts
forth her graces in lively actings upon Christ ; who
is THE TREE OF LIFE, which, to denote the rich va-
riety of his grace, appropriate to all cases and con-
ditions among his people, is said to bear twelve
manner of fruits, and to yield her fruit every
month. Rev. xxii. 2.

Thirdly, "The land of Joseph" was remarkable
for the chief things of the ancient mountains and
the precious things of the lasting hills. Mountains
and hills are alike natural and durable. They are

m Hoseaii. 11.

508 JOSEPH'S LAND [SER. xv.

called ancient, because as old as the earth, and
lasting, bacause they shall endure to the end of the
world. For these, the land possessed by "the
children of Joseph," Manasseh and Ephraim, was
pre-eminently famous; for, to the former belonged
the mountains of Gilcad and Bashan, and to the lat-
ter mount Ephraim and the mountains of Samaria.
These, too, were very fruitful, abounding not only in
grass, but also in vines, figs, olives, &c.

Might not these mountains and hills, which, in
Gen. xlix. 26, are called everlasting, be emblematic
of the perfections of God, which are absolutely
everlasting, and which, in Christ, are all harmoni-
ously and incessantly employed for the safety and
happiness of his chosen and redeemed people 1 n
Might not the springs, and rills, and fruits of these
mountains and hills, be designed as emblems
of that abundance and variety of spiritual bless-
ings, with which God blessed his chosen in Christ
before the foundation of the world and the rather
so, because all these blessings emanate from the lov-
ing kindness and covenant-stipulations of the ETER-
NAL THREE, whose kindness and covenant are more
stable and durable than " the mountains that shall
depart, and the hills that shall be removed ?" p Might
not the same also be emblematical of those elevated
frames of soul, which we sometimes enjoy, in read-
ing the Scriptures, in meditation or in prayer, or un-
der gospel-sermons and at gospel-ordinances, when
from " the shepherd's tents," as Bunyan observes,
" we behold the delectable mountains, and have a
taste of the celestial fruits 1" q Nay, might they not

n Psal. xc. 1, 2. andcxxv. 1,2. Eph. i. 3. Pis. liv. 10
i Jer. xv. 16. Psal. xciv. 19. Dan. ix. 23. Cant. i. 8.

SER. XV.] A TYPE OF CHRIST^ CHURCH. 509

adumbrate the heavenly state itself, which, with all
its blessedness, is the antitype of the good land, yea,
of that goodly mountain, and Lebanon, which Mo-
ses so much desired to see. Deut. iii. 25. Thus
Paul had a desire to depart and to be with Christ.
Philip, i. 23.

Fourthly, " The land of Joseph" was admirable
and famous for the precious things of the earth
and fulness thereof. By the earth, in distinction
from the mountains and hills, must be meant the
lower lands in the portion of Joseph, and by its pre-
cious things and the fulness thereof, are designed
the excellent and plentiful productions of those lands ;
the arable fields yielding grain, the meadows hay,
and the forests timber ; and all in the richest variety,
of the best quality, and in the greatest abundance.
Hence the fame, not only of their wheat and of their
sheep and cattle, with all other means of comfortable
and -even of sumptuous living/ but also of their
oaks for building. 8

These precious things, however, my Christian
hearers, should remind us of the infinitely more- pre-
cious things, which we enjoy in these low lands of
our spiritual Joseph, that is, in his church upon
earth. Here he furnishes to us the best and most
sumptuous fare for our souls even himself sacrificed
for us, and set forth to our believing apprehensions,
in his word and ordinances: My flesh, saith he, is
meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. To
these he also gives us a hearty welcome, saying,
Eat, O friends ; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O
beloved? Nay 'more, he renders the feast, which he

r Deut. xxxii. 13, 14. s Ezek. xxvii. 6. * Cant. v. I.
68

510 JOSEPH'S LAND [SER. xv.

has prepared for his church, effectual to the satisfy-
ing of all her vital members, however impoverished
in themselves : 7, saith he, will abundantly bless her
provision : I will satisfy her poor with bread"
Here, too, he furnishes the best timber, or materials
for building, to wit, those whom, pursuant to electing
love, he redeemed by his blood, and whom he calls
by his grace out of the forests of the world round
about us ; for the earth is the Lord's with the ful-
ness thereof; the world and they that dwell therein."
Speaking of himself, Christ says to the Father, Thou
hast given him power over all flesh, (all nations,)
that he should give eternal life to as many as
thou hast given him* Thus he visits the Gentiles,
to take out of them a people for his name/ and adds
to the church daily such as shall be saved. Acts
ii. 47.

I shall conclude this discourse, by taking some no-
tice of the word IJD megged, which occurs five times
in our text, and is each time rendered precious.

This word signifies what is most excellent; and
being used to denote the several sorts of blessings
which distinguished the land of Joseph, it suggests
that, in their respective kinds, they were all superla-
tively good. Such, too, and pre-eminently such, are
the blessings which distinguish the land, the church
of Christ, our spiritual Joseph. The temporal bless-
ings of the saints, it is true, are the same in kind,
with those bestowed on others, and, in degree, often
much less yet, even these come to them with a
blessing, while those of the wicked come to them

u Psal. cxxxii. 15. w Psal. xxiv. 1. x John xvii. 2.
xv. 14.

SER. XV.] A TYPE OF CHRIST'S CHURCH. 511

with a curse : "In blessing," said God to Abraham,
I will bless thee ;'' z but " the curse of the Lord is in
the house of the wicked." 8 Those blessings, how-
ever, which are peculiar to the people of God, and
by which, therefore, they are chiefly distinguished,
are all in their kinds, emphatically the best. They
are loved with the best love, the love of God, nay,
the love of God, which is in Christ Jcsus. b They
are redeemed by an incomparable price, the precious
blood of Christ.* By their new arid heavenly birth,
they are most nobly descended, being the sons and
daughters of the Lord Almighty. d As such, they
are clothed in the best robe* the Redeemer's righte-
ousness, and adorned with the best jewels, the grac-
es of the Holy Spirit/ They constitute the best so-
ciety among men ; the saints being the excellent of
the earth ; e hence, when the Lord calls sinners by his
grace from the world that lieth in wickedness, he is
said to take them from the dust and the dunghill, and
to set them with princes, even with the princes of his
people.^ But, to crown all, they are heirs apparent
to the best inheritance, an inheritance incorruptible
and undefilcd, and thatfadeth not away*

The word under consideration, however, not only
denotes what is most excellent, but also what is most
freely given. Accordingly, in its plural form, it is
used to express gifts or presents. 1 Such were the
blessings by which God distinguished the land of Jo-
seph, and such, more especially, are all the blessings
of grace and glory, by which he has distinguished, and

1 Gen. xxii. 17. a Prov. iii. 33. b Rom. viii. 39. c 1 Pet. i.

19 . d 2 Cor. vi. 18. e Luke xv. 22. f Cant. i. 10. Gal. v. 22,

23. * Psal. xvi. 3. Ibid, cxiii. 7, 8. k 1 Pet. i. 4. '2 Chroi).
xxxii. 23.

512 JOSEPH'S LAND A TYPE, &c. [SER. xv.

by which he will for ever distinguish the church
of Christ. He hath saved us and called us with
an holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to his own purpose and grace, which
was given us in Christ Jesus, before the world be-
gan And as, according to that provision, we receive
the Spirit, by gift, as the earnest of the inheritance,
so, by gift, we shall receive the inheritance itself;
for the Lord will give, to his heirs, grace and glory. n
In heaven, therefore, for ever, as well as upon earth,
during the time of our pilgrimage, we shall have rea-
son to sing, Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but
unto thy name, give glory, for thy mercy, and for
thy truth's sake. Amen.

m 2 Tim. i. 9. "Psal. Ixxxiv. 11. Ibid. cxv. 1,

SERMON XVI.

THE BLESSING OF JOSEPH, CONTINUED.

THE GOOD-WILL OF HIM THAT DWELT IN THE BUSH.

Deut. xxxiii. 13 17. And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the Lord
be his lan^ for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and
for the deep that coucheth beneath. And for the precious fruits
brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth
by the moon. And for the chief things of the ancient mountains,
and for the precious things of the lasting hills. And for the pre-
cious things of the earth and fulness thereof; and for the good-
will of him that dwelt in the bush. Let the blessing come upon
the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that
was separated from his brethren. His glory is like the firstling
of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns; with
them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth :
and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are
the thousands of Manasseh.

FROM this text, you have already heard of Joseph
as a type of CHRIST, and of his land, with its dis-
tinguishing blessings, as a type of the church, fa-
voured with spiritual blessings peculiar to her ; but
now we are to contemplate that which is the source
of all this distinction and kindness, namely, THE

GOOD-WILL OF HIM THAT DWELT IN THE BUSH.

The history of the fact here referred to, is con-
tained in Exodus iii. 1 6 ; and which, to refresh
your memories with it, I will read in your hearing :
" Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-
law, the priest of Midian : and he led the flock to

514 THE GOOD-WILL OF HIM [SER. XVI.

the back-side of the desert and came to the moun-
tain of God, even to Horeb. And the angel of the
Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the
midst of the bush : and he looked, and behold, the
bush burned with fire, and the bush was not con-
sumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside and
see this great sight why the bush is not burnt. And
when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God
called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and
said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And
he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes
from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou stand-
est is holy ground. Moreover he said, I am the God
of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his' face :
for he was afraid to look upon God."

That these appearances and addresses to Moses
were not illusions of his imagination, but divine re-
alities, is evident, not only from his inspired record
of them, just read, and from his recognition of them
in the language of our text, but also from the New
Testament, wherein they are appealed to by CHRIST
himself, to prove the resurrection, 51 and by Stephen,
to prove the divine mission of Moses to bring Israel
out of Egypt. b

In justice, therefore, to this part of our text, we
must view it in the light of the vision to which it has
respect, and treat it agreeably to the mystical design
of that vision. What this design was, we are not
left to conjecture ; it was revealed to Moses, and
recorded by him for our instruction.

It was primarily to illustrate to Moses the deplor-
able condition of Israel, at that time, in Egypt. In

Mark xii. 26, 27. Luke xx. $7, 38. b Acts vii. 2935.

SER. XVI.] THAT DWELT IN THE BUSH. 515

their civil state, as under the dominion of Pharaoh,
they resembled a bush, starving under the shadow of
a great tree, and, in their suffering state, they were
comparable to that bush as all onfire* The object of
Pharaoh was to diminish them.* To accomplish this,
he adopted various means. 1. He subjected them
to excessive toil. e 2. By his task-masters, he en-
forced their compliance with extreme rlgor.f "But"
(strange as it seemed) " the more they afflicted them,
the more they multiplied and grew." g Therefore, 3.
He enjoined two successive methods to murder all
their male infants. h And, these likewise not an-
swering his expectations, 4. He required of them
what he knew must very soon, at least, become im-
possible that is, to make their accustomed tale or
number of bricks daily, without furnishing them, as
he had done, with the requisite article of straw an
article which, in the Egyptian mode of brick-making,
was in some way indispensable :* " Pharaoh com-
manded the task-masters," who were Egyptians. 1
" and their officers," a kind of overseers under them,
and who were Hebrews,* saying, "Ye shall no
more give the people straw to make brick, as here-
tofore : let them go and gather straw for themselves.
And the tale of the bricks which they did make here-
tofore, you shall lay upon them ; you shall not di-

e Exo. iii.7. d Ibid. i. 8 10. e Ibid. ver. 11. f Ibid. ver. 13, 14.
elbid. ver. 12. h Exo. i. 15, 16. 22. 'Ibid, i. 11. * Ibid. v. 14.

* According to the researches and conclusions of PHILO (Life
of Moses) and of POCOCKE (Observations on Egypt) the bricks in
question were not burnt, but were merely dried in the sun, and
therefore the clay or mortar of which they were made, was required
to be mixed with chopped straw, as a means of binding it together*

516 THE GOOD-WILL OP HIM [sER. XVI*

minish ought thereof." 1 The task-masters promptly
delivered the mandate to the people, and vehement-
ly urged their compliance with it. m " So the peo-
ple were scattered abroad throughout all the land of
Egypt," that is, all parts of it adjacent to their lo-
cation, " to gather stubble instead of straw." n Pha-
raoh's aim in making this cruel and unreasonable
demand of the Israelites, probably was to bring them
under the charge of wilful disobedience to his royal
edict, that, under pretence of their disloyalty, he
might authorize his armed forces to cut them off
with the sword ; and of which, it would seem, they
were apprehensive. See Exo. v. 21. Now, these
things considered, well might Israel be symbolized
by a burning bush.

National Israel, however, was a figure of the true
church of God in all ages, and especially a type of
her in gospel-times ; and which, no less obviously,
corresponds to this similitude. More commonly,
indeed, the church is set forth by something valua-
ble in itself, as a house, a temple, a city, &c.; yet here
she is likened to a thing of naught, a bush, a mere
bramble.

Amid tall cedars and stately oaks, how low, and
mean, and worthless, must, a bush appear ! Such the
appearance of the humble church of Christ, amid
the pompous kingdoms of this world especially
kingdoms including establishments of religion, as ex-
emplified, not only in the ancient kingdoms of Baby-
on, Assyria, and Egypt, but also in the several king-
doms of modern Europe. Compared with them,

*Exod. v. 6, 7, 8. m Ver, 10, II, 13." Ver. 12,

SER. XVI.] THAT DWELT IN THE BUSH. 517

or with any of the splendid branches of mystical
Babylon, the true church, to the eye of sense and
to that of carnal reason, has always appeared like a
shrub, a mere under-growth. See Ezek. xxxi. Zeph.
iii. and Rev. xvii.

Fine and flourishing trees are in great request;
but who cares for a bush? So, while worldly king-
doms and anti-christian societies are highly respect-
ed and admired, it may still be said of the true
church, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.
Nor is it any matter of wonder, that such is the fact.
For, if Christ himself, though, in the eyes of his
church, He is "the chiefest among ten thousand, and
altogether lovely," is regarded, by the carnal, as " a
root out of dry ground, having no form or comeli-
ness wherefore they should desire him," why should
it be thought strange, that the church, though in the
eyes of Christ, she is, through his comeliness, put
upon her, " the perfection of beauty," nay, " all fair
and without spot" why, I say, should it be thought
strange, that she, in the view of the carnal world,
appears as a mere bush, a thing of nought ? It is
abundantly accounted for, by the world's ignorance
both of her and of her Lord : The world knoweth us
not, because it knew him not. p Accordingly, in all
generations, the choicest members of the church,
(the apostles themselves not excepted,) have been
considered and treated, "as the filth of the world, and
the off-scouring of all things unto this day." See 1
Cor. iv. 13.

Hence we are prepared to contemplate the church
in the farther light of this emblem, which is not only

Jer. xxx. 17. P 1 John iii. 1.

6l8 THE GOOD-WILL OF HIM [sER. XVfi

&bush, but a bush on fire. So just and appropriate
was this emblem, that many of Ziori's most illustri-
ous members, in different ages and nations, have li~
terally corresponded to it ; having, upon their open
avowal of the Truth and their persevering adherence
to it, been actually exposed to the flames of martyr-
dom ; in which they have, as it were, offered up their
souls, yea, their whole selves, a willing sacrifice to
God. But, without adverting to such times and such
extremes, a burning bush is no more than a lively
and instructive emblem of the church, amid the
trials and sufferings which more commonly attend
her in the militant state. For, however national and
worldly societies, called churches, have fattened and
flourished under "that honor which cometh from
tnen," the church of Christ has usually consisted of
* 4 an afflicted and poor people, trusting in the name
of the Lord," q because they have realized that no
other object of trust is competent to protect their
persons, or to supply their wants.

The sufferings of the saints from persecution, are
not confined to martyrdom, nor even to fines and
imprisonments by law, but include all those slander-
ous reports, suggestions, and insinuations, by which
our characters, our peace, and our usefulness are
assailed. Fires, very injurious to us, may be kindled
by the tongue as well as by the hand: An ungodly
man diggeth up eml ; and in his lips there is a
burning fire. T This fire, too, is extremely commu-
nicative and spreading ; which made an apostle ex-
claim, Behold how great a matter a little fire kin-
tfleth! Jas. iii. 5. A little yes, a word, a hint
against a person, given to one of the right make, and

^Zeph, iii. l& r Prov. xvi. 2?.

SER. XVI.] THAT DWELT IN THE BUSH. 519

who already feels unfriendly toward the object of
the calumny, is like a spark blown into a bale of cot-
ton it kindles instantly and spreads rapidly. Thug
it is, that a froward man soweth strife ; and a whis^
perer, more frequently than an open railer, sepa*
rateth chief friends.*

This course, however, is not invariably taken by
the promoters of slander; for, as incendiaries, in
some instances, deposit fire in such materials as will
not communicate it till in the night, these sons and
daughters of wickedness more commonly confide
their slanderof%- hints nay, their downright and
ruinous falsehoods, to those only, whom they con-
sider artful enough to conceal them, until the
party accused shall be assailed by others, hoping
that then, in the night of his tribulation, when the
darkness of suspicion has covered his character,,
these, among the host of evil reports concerning
him, will obtain a welcome reception.

Those fires are the most alarming which are
nearest home ; and those, especially, are distressing
and injurious to mankind, which break out in their
own houses. So, to the saints, are those fires of
persecution which are kindled in the churches or
families to which they respectively belong. And
where is the church of Christ, that for any con-
siderable length of time together, has been entirely
exempt from this kind of fire? Neither churches
nor ministers can search the hearts of candidates
for membership ; and " false brethren unawares
brought in," 1 as they do not love the doctrine of

Christ, nor the discipline of his house, are sure,

Prdv. xvi. 28. * Gal. ii. 4.

520 THE GOOD- WILL OF HIM [sER. XVI.

sooner or later, to become restless and troublesome.
Besides, even among real Christians it often hap-
pens, that some, through weakness or jealousies,
conceive evil imaginations of others, and thereupon
hint or whisper correspondent impressions, till, per-
haps far beyond their own intentions at the time*
the mischief spreads and the bush burns. How
needful, then, to the members of every church, nay, to
Christians in common, is that apostolic caution, which
saith, " If ye bite and devour one another , take
heed that ye be not consumed one of another"* It
is also a remarkable fact, that such fires kindled in
churches, almost in every instance, directly or indi-
rectly, extend to their pastors, and often to other
gospel-m nisters. Even the apostles were not ex-
empt : Who is offended, said Paul, and I burn not?*
The same also, in kind, takes place in families.
For it rarely happens in a family, that there is an
Isaac without an Ishmael to mock him a Jacob
without an Esau to hate him or a Joseph without
brethren to envy him. Hence, many a godly wife or
husband, parent or child, brother or sister, or even
domestic or other inmate, is or has been like a burn-
ing bush, by reason of the persecuting disposition
of their ungodly correlatives, or others in the same
household. Probably some now hearing me know
this by sad experience ; for, though you may not be
openly mocked and ridiculed, you may, nevertheless,
see, and mourn while you see, that those about you
hate the God you worship the Christ you love the
Truth you believe and the people with whom you

* As voracious animals are. Gal. v. 15.
u 2 Cor. xi. 29.

SER. XVI.] THAT DWELT IN THE BUSH. 521

are happily and affectionately associated in church-
relation. To account for it, duly consider the words
of our Lord; Luke xii. 49 53; and those of the
apostle; Gal. iv. 28 31.

Persecutions, however, are not the only fires,,
which cause the bush, the church of Christ, to burn.
Real saints are daily annoyed by the corruptions of
their fallen nature, which war against their renewed
souls." Hence those flashes of anger, those risings
of pride, and those heats of discontent, by reason of
which they sometimes burn within, and, on account
of which, they are afterwards caused to mourn in
secret places. They, too, are specially assailed by
the temptations of Satan ; which are justly called
fiery darts* because, like darts, they come sudden-
ly and unexpectedly, and, like fire, occasion pain and
anguish. Besides, it has commonly fallen to the
lot of the saints, to share largely in personal and
domestic afflictions such as sickness, bereavement
and disappointment and, many of them, also, in
poverty, perplexity and oppression ; all which are
likened to fires yet fires in which we are exhorted
to glorify the Lord. See Is. xxiv. 15. How fit an
emblem of the church, then, was that burning bush!

But let us hasten to consider the wonder which the
vision involved. The object exhibited, though a
bush, a thing in itself combustible, and though all
on fire, yet was not consumed. This, as was di-
vinely intended, attracted and fixed the attention of
Moses: "And Moses said," (within himself,) "I will
now turn aside," (for the bush, it seems, stood a

* Gal. v. 17. 1 Pet. ii. 11. * Eph. vi. 16.

52? THE GOOD- WILL OF HIM [sER. XV*.

little off from the course he was taking,) " and see"
(that is, observe and consider) this great sight why
the bush is not burnt. 7 The result of his thoughts on
the vision, and of the instruction he received in re-
lation thereto, may be concluded from his allusion to
it in our text, naniely, that he was enabled to under-
stand that the bush was preserved by the Angel
that dwelt in it ; who in the original of Exo. hi. 2 7,
is called the Angel of Jehovah, nay, expressly JE-
HOVAH, as well as GOD, and who is none other
than the increated Angel, the LORD JESUS CHRIST,
who possesses all the perfections of the divine NA-
TURE or BEING, which, in the SON, as well as in the
Father, and in the HOLY SPIRIT, is over all, God
blessed for ever. Rom. ix. 5.

Now, as the burning bush, of which Moses had a
vision, was primarily an emblem of suffering Israel,
the residence of the divine Angel in it, and his mira-
culous preservation of it, denoted his presence with
that suffering people, and his more wonderful pre-
servation of them, while involved in afflictions, com-
parable to the flames which involved the bush. Even
in Egypt, " he saved them from the hand of him that
hated them," that is, from his destroying power,
" and," at the appointed time, moreover, "redeemed
them from the hand of that enemy,' 5 namely, Pha-
raoh. 2 Moses was but the instrument, by whom
the hand qf this Almighty Angel brought them out. a
In his manifold mercies, he forsook them not in the
wilderness : " the pillar of the cloud departed not
from them by day to lead them in the way ; neither

y Exo. iii. 3. z Fsal. cvi, 10. a Acts vii. 35, 36. Comp. Is.
Ixiii. 9.

SER. XVI.] THAT DWELT IN THE BUSH. 523

the pillar of fire by night, to show them light, and the
way wherein they should go." b Before this symbol
of the Angel's presence, every obstacle to the march
of Israel instantly yielded : The sea saw it, and fled :
Jordan was driven back. The mountains skipped
like rams, and the little hills like lambs. c Nor did
he merely bring them out of bondage and remove
the obstacles to their progress; but he supplied
their wants also during their journey : "He gave
them bread from heaven, and brought forth water
for them out of the rock;" nay, "forty years he
'sustained them in the wilderness ; so that they lacked
nothing ; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet
swelled not ;" d and when they were about to take
possession of the promised land, the same Angel, to
assure Joshua of victory over the Canaanites, ap-
peared to Mm, by Jericho, with his drawn sword in
his hand, and announced himself to be The cap*
tain of the host of the Lord, and therefore, as ready
to fight their battles, and subdue all that might
withstand them. See Josh. v. 13 15.

Another design of this Angel's residence in the
burning bush, might be to prefigure his future incar-
nation; for, while he tabernacled in human nature up-
on earth, he was, in the eyes of the carnal, like a mere
bush, low and mean, compared with the sovereigns
of the world ; yea, like a bush on fire, being exposed
to reproaches from men to fiery temptations frorti
Satan, and even to the flames of incensed justice,
which kindled upon him as the substitute of his

b Nehe, ix. 19. PsaK cxiv. 3, 4. * Neh, ix. 15. 21 .
Deut. ii. 7,

524 THE GOOD-WILL OF HIM [sER. XVI.

guilty people. Truly he was " a man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief," and "suffered the just for the
unjust ;'' yet, like the burning bush that Moses saw,
he was not consumed, his divinity sustained his
humanity; and though, according to covenant-
stipulation, he was " put to death in the flesh," even
in this he saw no corruption, being, on the third
day, " quickened by the Spirit." 1 Pet. iii. 18.

Ultimately and principally, however, this vision, as
noticed before, respected the whole family of God's
elect, of all nations and generations, from the begin-
ning to the end of the world. These constitute
God's one mystical Israel, of which his one national
Israel was a type e and Christ's one mystical body,
of which his one natural body was a symbol/ Ac-
cordingly, Christ, speaking of his Church, says, My
dove, my undefiled, is but one, &c. She is so, as
-the 'object of electing love, and she is so also in
regard to all who, at any given time, are in a called
state, and therefore vitally united to him. h As such
she is that kingdom of his, which is not of this world f
and into which his redeemed are translated at their
effectual calling, wherein they are delivered from
the power of darkness* In other words, as nation-
al Israel were the chosen people of God, and under
the providential care and conduct of the divine
Angel, as well before as after their calling out of
Egypt ; so, all appertaining to mystical Israel were
sanctified by God the Father, that is, set apart by
him in eternal election, and, hence, even in their car-

Gal. vi. 16. 1 Pet. ii. 9. f Eph. i. 22, 23. iv. 16. Col. i. 18.
s Cant. vi. 9. h 1 Cor. x. 16, 17. * John xviii. 36. k Col. i. 13.

SER. XVI.] THAT DWELT IN THE BUSH. 525

nal state, are preserved by Jesus Christ, in whom
they were chosen before the foundation of the world,
and, in due 'time, are called, that is, to be saints.
See Jude i. 1. Eph. i. 3, 4. and Rom. i. 6, 7.

Nor has the non-consumption of the symbolic
bush been any less realized in mystical Israel, than
it was in literal Israel. For, though the church of
true believers, has always been like a mere bush, in
the esteem of the world, and though, by reason of
persecutions, temptations, and afflictions, she has
always resembled a bush on fire; still, to the praise
of victorious grace, she has not been, and she never
can be consumed. Her keeper is JEHOVAH, whose
power and vigilance bid defiance to all the influence
and all the exertions of Satan and all his agents.
He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor
sleep. 1 Of his vineyard, the church, he says, I the
LORD do keep it ; I will water it every moment : lest
any hurt it, I will keep it night and day. m

Hence, even the allegorical smith, Satan himself,
though, by divine sufferance, he blows the coals of
mischief with the breath of his own infernal malice,
and works by thejire that never shall be quenched, is
unable to forge an instrument sharp enough to sever
the church from Christ, or from the love of God which
is in him. For the prophet, addressing her, says, No
weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper,
and every tongue that shall rise against thee in
judgment, thou shalt condemn. To confirm which,
he adds, This is the heritage of the servants of the

1 Psal. cxxi. 4. m Is. xxvii. 3.
70

526 THE GOOD-WILL OF HIM [SER. Xfl

LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the
LORD.

Moreover, that his church might expect tribula-
tion and persecution, and not despair of safety in the
midst of them, he elsewhere says to her, When thou
passest through the waters, I will be with thee ; and
through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee :
when thou walkest through the fir 'e, thou shall not be
burned ; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Is-
-racl, thy Saviour. The immediate cause, too, of the
church's safety, is happily illustrated by the symbol
before us : for, as the bush was preserved by its
dwelling in the fire and the fire in it ; so the church
is preserved by the mutual indwelling of Christ and
believers : we dwell in him and he in us ; p we dwell
in him, as THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS,* and he
dwells in us, as THE HOPE OF GLORY/ And as,
by reason of the former, we cannot come into con-
demnation; so, by reason of the latter, we cannot
relapse into a state of unregeneracy. For seeing that
He who was " delivered for our offences, and was
raised again for our justification," ever liveth to
make intercession for us, we cannot die : Because I
live, saith He to his members, ye shall live also. 9
CHRIST, in a word, is our LIFE : and when Christ
who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also, said
Paul to believers, appear with him in glory.*

The import, nevertheless, of this prophetic prayer
for the children of Joseph, requires a more appro-

Is, liv. 16, 17. Comp. Rom. viii. 17. 3539. Is. xliii. 2, 3.
p 1 John iv. 13. 1 Jer. xxiii. 6. r Col. i. 27. ' John xiv. 19.
' Col. iii. 4.

Ea . xvi.] THAT DWELT IN THE BUSH. 527

priate consideration, both critically and theologically.
It was a prayer, as you must perceive, that, besides
all the temporal blessings assigned to them, they
might especially be distinguished by the good icill
of Mm that dwelt in the bush. Now, whereas the
posterity of Joseph, as noticed in the preceding dis-
course, were typical of the spiritual posterity of
his great Antitype, the Lord Jesus Christ, this
prayer, dictated by the Spirit of prophecy, plainly
shows that all the spiritual blessings by which the
church is distinguished, come through Him, and
precede from his good-will*

The word p*" ratzori, here rendered good-will, is
from njn ratzah, to like, to accept, to favour, &c,
Hence,

1. It denotes a voluntary or free-will offering.
Levit. i. 3. Such is the good-will of Christ toward
his people. Freely he engaged his heart to ap-
proach unto God the Father, to espouse their cause
and become their surety/ Most voluntary was his
advent into the world, when, pursuant to covenant-
stipulation, He, as the antitype and the substance of
all the sacrifices which prefigured him, appeared to
put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. See Psal.
xl. 6 8. and Heb. ix. 26. For being, with his own
consent, made under the law that law which was in
his heart, he voluntarily magnified it, by yielding a
cordial obedience to it in his human life, and made it
honorable, by enduring its righteous penalty in his
vicarious death: He suffered for sins, the just for
the unjust 9 that he might bring us to God. w Nor

* Jer, zxx. .21. Micah v. 2. w Gal. iv. 4, 5. 1 Pet, iiu 1&

528 THE GOOD -WILL OF HIM [SER. XVI.

can either his suretyship-engagements, or his con-
sequent incarnation, obedience and sufferings, be
attributed to any thing but his pme good-tcill toward,
the people for whom be became accountable. See
John x. 1518. and Eph. v. 2.

2. This word denotes the acceptdbleness to the
Lord, of sacrifices offered to him, and of persons
presented before him, according to his revealed will.
Such, for the end designed, was any authorized
and unblemished sacrifice under the law : " It shall
be perfect, to be p^n ratzon, ACCEPTED ; there shall
be no blemish therein." Levit. xxli. 21. How
much more so, then, the sacrifice of Christ, who
hath given HIMSELF, an offering and a sacrifice to
God, for a sweet-smelling savor. K And when
Aaron had made an atonement for the sins of na-
tional Israel, by the appointed sacrifices which he
offered upon the brazen altar, his appearance in the
holy of holies, with the golden plate, on which was
inscribed HOLINESS TO THE LORD, placed upon his
forehead, denoted that ceremonially they were pn
ratzon ACCEPTED before the LORD/ Herein Aaron
was eminently a type of Christ; who, when he had,
by the sacrifice of himself, made a satisfactory
atonement to divine Justice for the sins of mystical
Israel, entered, not into the holy places, made with
hands, those of the tabernacle and temple, which
were figures of the true, but into heaven itself,
now to appear in the presence of God for us. Heb.
ix. 24. He, as our Representative, is, for us, HOLI-
NESS TO THE LORD. He, as typified in Aaron,

* Eph. v, 2. y Exo. xxviii, 3638,

SER. XVI.] THAT DWELT IN THE BUSH. 529

bears the iniquity of our holy things ; that is, he
answers for the imperfection which mingles evrn
with our sanctuary-services ; and hence it is, that
we offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God
by Jesus Christ; our persons being. first made AC-
CEPTED in Him, THE BELOVED. See Exo. xviii. 38.
1 Pet. ii. 5. and Eph. i. 6. And,

3. The word under consideration denotes favor,
even that peculiar FAVOR or LOVE by which God
disting ii; hes his chosen : Remember me, O LORD,
said David, pro birtzon with or in the FAVOR that
thou bearest unto thy people. Psal cvi. 4.

This is covenanted Favor, the FAVOR of Father,
Son, and Spirit, expressed in their respective and
voluntary stipulations in the EVERLASTING COVE-
NANT OF GRACE, that covenant which is ordered in
all things and sure*

In relation, however, to the subject before us, this
Favor requires notice only as it resides in the Son,
and is manifested by him toward the people of his
charge. According to this Favor, he redeemed
them : Christ hath loved us, and hath given him-
self for us, whereby he hath redeemed us from all
iniquity. Eph. v. 2. Titus ii. 14. Comp. 2 Cor.
viii. 9. As an instance of this Favor, his redeemed,
by nature dead in trespasses and sins, are made to
hear his voice and live. John v. .25. Hence the
regenerate are denominated, the called of Jesus
Christ. Rom. i. 6. This Favor is variously appa-
rent in his care over them, and his sympathy with
them, after called : He shall feed his flock like a

1 2 Sam. xxiii. 5.

530 THE GOOD-WILL. OF HIM [sER. XVI.

Shepherd : He shall gather the lambs with his arm,
and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead
those that are with young, (those in whom Christ is
formed by the Spirit) until the time of their deliver-
ance, at the open manifestation of their acceptance
in Him. Is. xl. 11. From this Favor, come all the
under shepherds, or gospel-ministers ; for, with all
their qualifications, they are the gifts of Christ, the
chief Shepherd. See Jer. iii. 15. and Eph. iv. 11,
12. To his Favor, we are indebted for all " the
great and precious promises" of grace and glory ;
for they were all originally made to him, as our
covenantee, and are fulfilled in our experience, upon
his faithful compliance with his covenant-stipula-
tions on our behalf. In him, therefore, they are
all YEA, and in him AMEN, unto the glory of God
by us. 2 Cor. i. 20. Nay more, through his Favor,
we receive the COMFORTER: I will pray the Father,
said Christ to his disciples, and he shall give you
another Comforter, that he may abide with you
for ever ; even the Spirit of truth, &c. John xiv.
16, 17. He is our Comforter, as he is the Spirit of
wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ*
as he bears witness with our spirits, that we are
the children of God b as he maketh inter cession for
the saints, that is, indites petitions in them, accord-
ing to the will of God c and, as he renders the
word and ordinances edifying, refreshing and en-
couraging to our souls. d In the Favor of Christ, in
a word, is life e a life of justification 1 " a life of

a Eph. i. 17. * Rom. viii. 16. c Ibid. ver. 27. d 1 Thess. i.
4, 5. 2 Cor. ii. 10. 12. Gal. v. 5. e Psal. xxx. 5. f Acts xiii. 39.

SER. XVI.] THAT DWELT IN THE BUSH. 531

communion with God* and a life of glory ; h for he
has eternal life to give to as many as the Father
hath given him. John xvii. 2.

Thus understood, our subject plainly suggests,

1. That the great REDEEMER, in accomplishing
the salvation of his people, is moved by pure Favor,
by mere good-will. Let us, then, my believing
hearers, endeavor to know, that is, duly to consider
and acknowledge the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
See 2 Cor. Yin. 9.

2. That, recollecting the emblem alluded to in the
text, none have any reasoji to think it strange, that
the Church of Christ is commonly in little esteem,
and often under much affliction, in this world. She
is like a bush for obscurity, and, by reason of her
sufferings, like a bush on fire. One design, indeed, of
her sufferings, (as of the flame in the bush) may have
been to attract attention, and to excite inquiry. Moses
would not have noticed the bush, if it had not been
on fire ; nor would the Jews residing at Rome, have
been excited to hear Paul, if he had not been sent
thither as a prisoner. 1 The prophet, mystically per-
sonating Christ, said, Behold 7, and the Children
whom the Lord hath given me, are for signs and for
wonders;* and those with mystical Joshua, are men
wondered at. 1 But whatever else the Lord may de-
sign, in causing his church to pass through so many
trials and sufferings, we are certain that her needful
purification and his own declarative glory, are among

g Eph. ii. 18. h Rom. v. 17. Acts xxiii. k Is. viii. 18.
Comp. Heb.ii. 13. ^Zech. iii. 8.

532 THE GOOD-WILL, &C. [SER. XVI.

his specified ends : for, addressing her, he saith,
Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver,
which requires a furnace of material fire; / have
chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. For mine
own sake, even for mine own sake will I do it : for
how should my name be polluted ? and I will not
give my glory unto another. Is. xlviii. 10, 11.
And,

3. That, however creaturs may forsake the
church when she is passing through fiery trials,
Christ will not : /, saith he, will never leave thee, nor
forsake thee. m He is with her, not merely as a visit-
or, but as a resident: This, saith he, is my rest for
ever: here will I dwell ; for I have desired it. To
an eye of faith, his feet like unto fine brass, as if they
burned in a furnace, are seen in the midst of her
during her severest sufferings. ALLELUIA. Amen.

m Heb. xiii. 5. n Psal. cxxxii. 14. Rev. i. 1315-

SERMON XVII.

THE BLESSING OF JOSEPH CONTINUED.

JOSEPH'S PRE-EMINENCE.

Deut. xxxiii. 13 17. And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the Lord
be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and
for the deep that coucheth beneath. And for the precious fruits
brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth
by the moon. And for the chief things of the ancient mountains^
and for the precious things of the lasting hills, .And for the pre<-
cious things of the earth and fulness thereof; and for the good-
will of him that dwelt in the bush. Let the blessing come upon
the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that
was separated from his brethren. His glory is like the firstling
of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns; with
them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth :
and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are
the thousands of Manasseh.

"WHATSOEVER things were written aforetime,"
that is, by the inspired writers of the Old Testa-
ment, "were written," saith an apostle, "for our
learning," 8 who live under the gospel-dispensation.
For our learning, then, my Christian hearers, must
the things which are now before us, have been
written. From these things we have already learn-
ed, that Joseph was an eminent type of Christ
-that his land, with its distinguishing blessings,

a Rom. xv. 4
71

534 JOSEPH'S PRE-EMINENCE. [SER. xvn.

was an instructive emblem of the church of Christ
and, that this church, though comparable to a
bush, nay, to a bush on fire, cannot be consumed, by
reason of the GOOD-WILL of Him who dwells in it.
Nor can I doubt, that, rightly understood, the things
contained in that part of the text which remains
to be considered, are adapted and designed to
afford us lessons equally interesting and edifying.

This part of the text, that you may the more distinct-
ly recollect it, I will now repeat. It begins at about
the middle of the 16th verse, and reads thus: Let
the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon
the top of the head of him that was separated from
his brethren. His glory is like the firstling of his
bullock, and his horns are like the horns of uni-
corns ; icith them he shall push the people together
to the ends of the earth : and they are the ten thou-
sands of Ephraim^ and they are the thousands of
Manas seh.

Moses, led by the Spirit of prophecy, here recalls
the name of Joseph, and speaks of him and his fami-
ly, for purposes and under metaphors which, being
mystically considered, are full of instruction concern-
ing Christ and his kingdom. Joseph is here brought
to view,

1 . To identify the person spoken of, that so he might
never be confounded with any other of the same
name. This, Moses effectually did, by adverting to
a fact in the history of Joseph, which has no paral-
lel in the Old Testament, and which is unequivocal-
ly recognized in these words him that was sepa-
rated from his brethren. He was that Joseph who>
in early life, was separated from his vicious bre-

SER. xvii.] JOSEPH'S PRE-EMINENCE. 535

thren, to a course of strict morality, and was made to
differ from them, by the gift of superior wisdom, and
the privilege of extraordinary intercourse with God.
See Gen. xxxvii. 2 11. He was that Joseph who
was separated from his brethren, by their wickedly
selling him into Egypt, and he Was that Joseph
whom God separated from his brethren, by promot-
ing him above them. They, hating him, separated
him from them, by making him a slave ; but God,
loving him, separated him from them, by making
him a prince.

But, if it was important that the person here called
Joseph, should be thus identified, how much more im-
portant is it that the person called JESUS should be so
revealed, that he might be known and distinguished
from every other. Hence the great care which the
Father took in the manifestation of him. By his
Spirit, in Moses and the prophets, he gave such une-
quivocal characteristics of him, and caused these to
be so conspicuously verified in him, that none, upon
a due comparison of indubitable facts with inspired
predictions and promises, can innocently mistake
the person. b

Upon this authority Jesus himself rested his
claims to Messiahship : Search the Scriptures, said he
to the Jews ; for in them, (meaning in their posses-
sion and synagogue-use of them,) ye think ye have
eternal life, and they are they which testify of me,
in whom alone that life is to be found. 6 And, to
prove the same points to the same people, PAUL,

* Matt. xvi. 13. John xv. 2224. c Ibid. v. 39. and 1 John
v. 11, 12.

536 JOSEPH'S PRE-EMINENCE. [SER. xvn.

as his manner was, went in unto them, and three
sabbath-days reasoned with them out of the Scrip-
tures; opening and alleging that Christ must
needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead :
and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is
Christ^ To prove that SHILOH, whom the ancient
Jews acknowledged to be the MESSIAH,* was come,
the apostle, no doubt, reminded them that, accord-
ing to Genesis xlix. 10, the scepter, the power of
civil government, had departed from Judah, that is,
had ceased among the Jews. To prove, both that the
true MESSIAH was come, and that he had suffered,
the apostle unquestionably showed, as he might
easily do, that ihe seventy weeks, or 490 years,
within which MESSIAH was to come, and to be cut
off, were obviously expired. 6 And, to prove that
Jesus, whom he had preached to them, was Christ,
the distinguished person under consideration, he
probably argued from his being born of a virgin,
according to Isaiah vii. 14, from his being born in
Bethlehem Ephrata, according to Micah v. 2. from
his residence at Nazareth, that in fulfilment of Isa-
iah xi. 1, he might be called -nu Netzer, a Nazarene
and especially, from the contempt in which he
was held by his own nation ; for even their abhor-
rence of him, and all his sufferings endured among
them, proved him to be the promised and predicted
MESSIAH. See Is. xlix. 7. and Luke xxiv. 26.

Christ, therefore, like Joseph, may be distinguish-
ed and known, by his being separated from his

* As admitted in each of the three Targums, and in the Tal-
mud. Sanhedrim, Cap. xi.

d Acts xvii. 2, 3. e Dan, ix. 2427.

SER. xvii.] JOSEPH'S PRE-EMINENCE. 537

brethren after the flesh. But the word -vn nezeer,
which is here rendered separated, signifies also a
Nazarite, one separated from other men and special-
ly devoted to God/ Such in a good degree was Jo-
seph ; but such pre-eminently was his Antitype, the
man Christ Jesus; who was one chosen from
among thepeople% separate from sinners 1 " and, as
noticed before, was expressly called a JVazarene 1 .
Like Joseph, too, He was distinguished by his pre-
mature wisdom. At the age of twelve years, he was
found in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them
and asking them questions ; and all that heard him,
were astonished at his understanding and answers*

Nor was He separated and distinguished merely
in these respects. His fleshly brethren, moreover,
separated him from them, when they sold him (as
the elder sons of Jacob had sold their brother Jo-
seph,) for a few pieces of silver, and delivered Him
to strangers ; yet God the Father separated Him
from them, as he did Joseph from his brethren, by
raising and exalting Him infinitely above them.*

The duration and events, too, of their respective
separations deserve notice. For, as Joseph was
long separated from his brethren, so Christ, in his
gospel and in his gospel-church state, and accord-
ing both to prediction and threatening," 1 has long
been separated from his national brethren, the Jews ;
and, as Joseph, while separated from his brethren,
was doing wonders and becoming great in Egypt,
so Christ, while separated from the Jews, has

f Judges xiii. 5. 7. e Psal. Ixxxix. 19. b Heb.^ vii. 26.
* Matt. ii. 23. * Luke ii. 46, 47. > Philip, ii. 9. m Hosea iii. 4.
Matt. xxi. 43.

538 JOSEPH'S PRE-EMINENCE. [SER. xvn.

been performing wonders of grace, and receiv-
ing accessions of mediatorial fame, in the gentile
world. Besides, as Joseph's brethren, when pinch-
ed with famine and informed of his abundance,
went to him in the land of Egypt for relief; so the
time is coming when the Jews, realizing their
spiritual wants, shall come to Joseph's Antitype, in
the Egypt of the gentiles." Yes, like old Jacob, in
regard to Joseph, the Jews, in regard to Christ, af-
ter much anxiety and many doubts, will be constrain-
ed to say, It is enough the evidence is irresistible,
JESUS, whom our nation sold and crucified, is indeed
alive, and we will go and see him*

That it was all-important, that the Christ of God
should be so revealed as to be clearly distinguishable
from every pretender to this character, who had ap-
peared before him, or might appear after him, is
evident from his own declarations and cautions on
the subject : All, said he, that ever came before me,
that is, pretending to be the MESSIAH, are thieves
and robbers; and, cautioning his disciples against
future impostors, He said to them, Take heed that no
man deceive you :for many shall come in my name,
saying, I am Christ ; and shall deceive many.\

The same also may be concluded from the
method which God has ever taken, to satisfy his
heirs, both that Jesus is the Christ, and that they
have a saving interest in him. To them, he gives
not only the external evidence of revelation, as con-
firmed by miracles, but likewise the internal evi-

n Hosea iii. 5. * See Ser. xiv. p. 449. &c. John x. 8.
p Matt. xxiv. 4, 5. 2326.

SER. xvii.] JOSEPH'S PRE-EMINENCE. 539

dence of a record made in their hearts by the Holy
Spirit, of what he has revealed in his word. Hence
the gospel, whether as written or preached, comes
not to them in ^cord only, as it does to others, but also
in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much as-
surance^ This accounts for the holy confidence
with which the regenerate receive the record and
report of the gospel ; for he that believeth in the Son
of God, with that faith which is of divine operation,
hath the witness in himself? both of the DIVINE SON-
SHIP of Christ, and of his own sonship by adoption
and regeneration. Nor can either be known with-
out the internal operation and revelation of the
Spirit; for, as no man can say, experimentally, that
Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost, s so no
man can be assured that he is a child of God, but by
the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry Abba, Fa-
ther. 1 Wherefore, that "the heirs of promise might
have strong consolation," the Spirit itself, by excit-
ing holy desires in our hearts" by inditing approv-
ed petitions in our souls w by opening the fulness
of Christ to our minds x by bringing what he has
spoken to our remembrance 7 by showing that our
experience, both of sorrow and of joy, accords with
his testimony in the word 2 by enabling us to mor-
tify the deeds of the body, and by acting in us as the
Spirit of adoption, 3 beareth witness with our spirit,
that we are the children of God : and if children, then
heirs ; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ.
Rom.viii. 16, 17.

1 1 Thess. i. 5. r 1 John v. 10. 1 Cor. xii. 3. Rom. viii.
15, Psal. cxlv. 19. w Rom. v iii. 27. * John xvi. 14, 15,
y Ibid. xiv. 26 z 2 Cor. i. 37. a Rom. viii. 1315

540 JOSEPH'S PRE-EMINENCE. [SER. xvn.

Chiefly, however, the importance of Christ's being
clearly revealed and truly distinguished, must ap-
pear from the fact, that to mistake another for
him, is inevitably fatal : No man, saith he, com-
eth unto the Father, but by me ; John xiv. 6 ; nei-
ther, saith an apostle, is there salvation in any
other. Acts iv. 12. How fearful, then, must be the
state of the Arian, whose object of trust is a crea-
ted angel, and that of the Socinian, whose Christ is
a mere man ! See Job iv. 18. and Jer. xvii. 5. Well,
therefore, may every true convert and every true
gospel-church, under an anxious dread of imposition,
say to Christ, Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth,
where thou, the true shepherd, feedesi thy sheep and
lambs, through a true ministry, and where thou mak-
est THY flock to rest at noon, during the heat of
affliction and persecution : for why should I, who by
thy grace am caused to love thee, merely for the
want of additional teaching, be as one that (being
a hypocrite,) turneth aside (of choice) by the flocks
of thy companions, the flocks of imaginary Christs
Christs exhibited by anti-christian teachers, through
the medium of another gospel, ichich, in reality, is
not another, but a flexible accommodating system
falsely called gospel. See Cant. i. 7. Matt. xxiv.
24. and Gal. i. 6 9.

2. The special notice here taken of Joseph was
to designate him as the person on whom the bless-
ing was pronounced, and through whom, in all its
variety, it came to his posterity. Let the blessing,
that which is so diffusively expressed in the pre-
ceding parts of the text, come upon the head of Jo-
seph, and (or even) upon the top (or crown) of the

SER. XVII.] JOSEPH'S PRE-EMINENCE. 541

head of him that was separated from his brethren.
Hereby we are mystically taught the infinitely more
interesting truth, that all the blessings of grace and
of glory were originally conferred upon the great
Antitype of Joseph, the Lord Jesus Christ, and that,
through him, they come to his mystical posterity; to
whom grace was givi,n in him, and for whom eternal
lifewsis promised to him, and both before the world
began. 2 Tim. i. 9. and Titus i. 2. Herein, too,
we may discover why, in relation to them, Christ is
called the everlasting Father ; b which can have no
respect to any relation he sustains in the Godhead,
(wherein the idea of two Fathers would be absurd,)
but simply denotes his relation to the elect, who from
everlasting were representatively and seminally in
him, and who, in the succession of ages, receive of
his fulness that grace through which they are spiritu-
ally generated by him; c and whereas neither He, as
the source of life to them, nor They, as the partak-
ers of life from him, can ever die/ the said rela-
tion between him and them must necessarily be
everlasting in its duration. Besides, He might be
styled Father in relation to them, on account of the
manner of their heirship ; for whereas, by the DI-
VINE COMPACT, their title to eternal life is involved in
his title thereto, as Mediator, 6 and the inheritance
itself is placed in his gift/ they come into the pos-
session of it by his TESTAMENT and through his
DITATH the death of the TESTATOR ; see Heb. ix. 16,
17; a passage which, at least according to our ver-

b Is. ix. 6. c John i. 16. Eph. i. 5. 10. ii. 7. <* John xiv. 19.
e Rom. vii. 17 f John xviii. 2.

542 JOSEPH'S PRE-EMINENCE. [SER. xvir,

sion, cannot be consistently interpreted without ad-
mitting the above relation.

Having noticed the purposes of Joseph's special
identification, I precede to consider the metaphorical
description of him, which follows it. This assigns
to him,

First, Great magnificence : his glory is like the
firstling of his bullock, or bull, as *w shor, the word
used, also signifies. This similitude, however ob-
scure and uncouth it may seem to us, was, in those
early times, and especially among the Jews and the
Egyptians, not only perfectly intelligible, but even
highly elegant. Among the Jews the bulls of Ba-
shan acquired so much fame as to become the com-
mon representatives of great men men most distin-
guished for authority and influence/ And with the
Egyptians, a bull was reckoned so comely and ma-
jectic, that MENES, their first king, as ^ELIANUS
CLAUDUS relates,* preferred it above all animals as
an object of worship. Nay, even the Syrian goddess
ASTARTE, (the same with the Grecian VENUS,) is
said by SANCHRONIATHON,! to have placed a bull's
head upon her own, as a sign of royalty.}

Now, as Bashan was a country possessed by the
posterity of Joseph, the famous cattle bred there are
called his ; and the metaphor was designed to signi-
fy that, in certain respects, Joseph and his posterity

s Psal. xxii. 12. Amos iv. 1.

* Hist. Animal. 1. ii. c. 10. f A Phoenician historian, who
flourished a few years before the Trojan war, which commenced
1193 years before Christ, f See in Eusebius Evangelical Pre-
paration. B. i. p. 38.

. xvii.] JOSEPH'S PRE-EMINENCE. 545

resembled the most excellent and most highly privi-
ledged of those animals, even a firstling, a first-born
among them. Thus employed, the simile carries
in it,

1. A recognition of Joseph's extraordinary jmw0-
geniture, with all its appendant honors and privi-
leges. These, originally belonged to Reuben, Ja-
cob's first-born ; but through his forfeiture of them,
they devolved, by divine appointment, upon Joseph:
The birth-right was Joseph's.* 1 A much greater
mystery, too, was herein designed and illustrated-.
In the order of nature, Adam, who, by the plastic
hand of the Creator, preceded from the virgin earth,
was (of men) God's first born, and is called his son?
nay, according to primogeniture, he was his heir, and,
by delegation, his representative : God said to him,
Have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over
the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that
moveth upon the earth* But when, as illustrated in
Reuben, he forfeited all by transgression, the pri-
mogeniture, and therewith all its prerogatives and
honors, devolved openly (as before they did secretly)
upon our spiritual Joseph, the Lord Jesus Christ,
See Psal. viii. 5 9. Him, therefore, God the Fa-
ther styles his first-born; 1 and Him hath he reveal-
ed as his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all
things. Heb. i. 2.

That none, however, may misapprehend the
above suggestion respecting Adam and Christ, let it
be distinctly understood, that I do not thereby mean

h 1 Chron. v. 2. * Luke iii. 3a k Gen i 27, 28, J Psal.
Ixxxix. 27.

544 JOSEPH'S PRE-EMINENCE. [SER. xvu.

that Adam forfeited, either for himself or his posteri-
ty, any blessing provided in the COVENANT OF GRACE.
This was impossible; ior, as the covenant of grace
was not made with him, but with Christ, the bless-
ings provided in it were not entrusted to him, but to
Christ ; in whom the Father blessed his elect with
all spiritual blessings .... according as he hath
chosen us in him before the foundation of the world ; m
and hence, our salvation and calling of God are, not
according to our works, (the covenant of which was
made with Adam,) but according to his own purpose
and grace, which was given us (not in Adam, but)
in C/irist Jesus, and that, not after Adam fell, but
before the world began. 2 Tim. i. 9. Even Adam
himself, by his natural constitution, was neither a
subject of grace, nor an heir of glory. He was
created a sinless man, but not a gracious man
an heir to the earthly paradise, but not to the heaven-
ly ; and consequently he had neither grace to lose
or to communicate, nor glory to confer or to forfeit.
Not the first Adam, but the LAST was made, that
is, constituted, by covenant-prerogative, A QUICKEN-
ING SPIRIT; 1 Cor. xv. 45; and glory is that eter-
nal life, which God that cannot lie, promised
before the world began, and therefore, not to Adam,
for his natural posterity, but to Christ, for his mys-
tical posterity. See Titus i. 2. and Rom. vi. 23.
To these provisions in the everlasting covenant,
Christ had respect, when he said to his disciples,
/ am come, that ye may have life, and that (com-
pared with all that Adam had and lost) ye might
ham " more abundantly. John x. 10. Thus it is

Epb. i. 3, 4.

SER. xvii.] JOSEPH'S PRE-EMINENCE. 545

that Christ, for all he represented, hath virtually
abolished death, and prospectively brought life and
immortality to light through the gospel. 2. Tim.
i. 10.

2. The simile before us imports the freedom of
Joseph's posterity; for although Joseph himself had
been a slave and a prisoner in Egypt, yet, being
honorably released from prison, and being mar-
ried to a free woman, given to him by the king,*
his posterity were free ; in which they resembled
the firstling of his bullock, which, by divine in-
junction, was exempt from the yoke of labor. See
Deut. xv. 19 The freedom of Joseph's posteri-
ty, however, was but a type of the more illustrious
freedom enjoyed by the mystical posterity of
Christ. For though He was made under the law
and became obedient unto death, nay, was imprison-
ed in the tomb yet, being raised and released, all
his redeemed were representatively raised and re-

* The father of the woman whom Pharaoh gave Joseph to
wife, was not, as some have thought, the same with Pharaoh's
officer to whom Joseph had been sold. For 1. Their names,
especially in the original, widely differ. The name of Joseph's
master was "la'Dia Potapher, and that of his father-in-law ;na '013
Poti-pherah, or, more properly, Poti-pherang. And 2. Their
offices were wholly dissimilar ; the former was an officer of Pha-
raoh's, probably his chamberlain, and captain of the guard, a kind
of chief marshal about Pharaoh's court; Gen. xxxvii. 36; where-
as the latter was a priest, the priest of On, a place which in the
Septuagint is called 'HXi*iroXew Heliopolis, the city of the sun.
Gen. xli. 45. Nor is it at all probable, that Joseph would have
married the daughter of a woman so scandalously wicked as his
mistress, and who had occasioned his degradation and imprison-
ment.

546 JOSEPH'S PRE-EMINENCE. [SER. xvn.

leased with him ; Rom. iv. 25 ; whereby they were
virtually made free and, on believing in him, they
become experimentally so : for whom the Son makes
free, are free indeed See John viii. 36. Besides,
Christ being openly married to the church, given to
him by the King immortal, eternal and invisible,
and she being the allegorical Sarah, the free woman,
all his posterity by her, are legally and eminently
free. See Rom. vii. 4. and Gal. iv. 31. And,

3. This simile suggests the equal and indefeasi-
ble heirship of Joseph's posterity, to all that apper-
tained to his portion ; for, their being "like ihejfirst-
ling of his bullock," denotes that they were in the
rank of a first-born, whose title to the paternal in-
heritance was unequivocal. Deut. xxi. 17. Where-
fore, in their heirship also, as well as in their free-
dom, they manifestly typified the mystical posterity
of Christ, who are all first-born, that is, heirs; Heb.
xii. 23 ; and whereas both their title and their in-
heritance (as noticed before) are in Christ, who is
emphatically the FIRST-BORN or Heir among many
brethren, 1 " they are, by consequence, joint-heirs with
Him. Rom. viii. 1 7.

To procede. This metaphorical description of
Joseph,

Secondly, Assigns to him great power, signified
by the horns attributed to him ; a horn being a
scripture-symbol of power, strength, &c. Such
horns, too, were attributed to Joseph as are the
most powerful : His horns are like the horns of

n Rom. viii. 29. Col. i. 18. Psal. Ixxv. 10. Jer. xlviii. 25.

SER. xvii.] JOSEPH'S PRE-EMINENCE. 547

Unicorns.* Whatever was the beast alluded to, by
its horns Moses evidently meant Joseph's two sons,
Ephraim and Manasseh, the force of each tribe,
when brought into the field, being like a large horn,

* QiO re-earn, the appellative here rendered unicorns, is in the
singular number the plural of which is O'm rem-eem ; Psal.
xxii. 21 ; or O^OfcO re-eameem; Is. xxxiv. 7. But whereas pp
keren horn, both in its construct state, (^p karne horns of,} and
with 1 postfixed (vjlp karnav, his horns,} is in the plural form, our
translators, to avoid the incongruity of attributing a plurality of
horns to a unicorn, a one horned animal, employed the plural
form of the appellative, unicorns. No such accommodation,
however, is requisite. Most probably the animal alluded to, is
the rhinoceros, whose name, from f ^v the nose and xs a horn,
denotes it to be nose-horned. Of this genus there are two spe-
cies the fjt,ovox?W unicornis one horned, and the dwsgog bicor-
nis two horned; the former having one large horn, and the
latter two. The former is very accurately described by Dr.
Parsons; see Philosoph. Transac. No. 470, p. 523, &c. or
Abridg. Vol. ix. p. 94, &c.; and the latter, by Mr. Bruce, in the
History of his Travels, Vol. v. p. 91, &c. See also Shaw's Travels
p. 430, Note 1 ; and Buffon, Tom. ix. p. 334. According to
Bruce, the two horns of this animal grow, not like those of other
horned animals, side by side, on the forehead, but one on the nose,
and the other at some distance above it, on the face ; and though
each is long and strong, the lower one, in these respects, greatly
excels the upper one. Well, therefore, might Moses say of Jo-
seph, His horns, his two tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh, are like
the horns of a rhinoceros, both powerful, but Ephraim greatly ex-
celling.

To this solution of the difficulty, (a difficulty which all commen-
tators have felt,) it is not a sufficient objection to say, as some do,
That " the two horned rhinoceros is found only in the southern
parts ofJlsia and Africa." It may be so now, yet might not be so
in the days of Moses.

The unicorn whose figure is exhibited in heraldry, is now ge-
nerally supposed to be merely fabulous.

548 JOSEPH'S PRE-EMINENCE. [SEE. xvn.

very powerful and terrific. See Judges viii. 1. and
xii. 1. This interpretation of Joseph's horns, is
confirmed by the text itself; at the close of which,
Moses says, They are the ten thousands of
Ephraim, and the thousands of Manasseh. Horn-
ed animals are also symbols of distinguished com-
manders. Thus Darius and Alexander are repre-
sented as running violently at each other with their
horns. Dan. viii. 3 6. Hence it is probable that,
in our text, this symbol designed certain eminent
leaders and warriors that were to be raised up
among the posterity of Joseph ; as, for instance,
Joshua, the illustrious successor of Moses, and
Gideon, a famous deliverer of Israel, and who de-
scended, the former from Ephraim? and the latter
from Manasseh.q

But let us not forget, that, in a national point of
view, the posterity of our divine Joseph, the Lord
Jesus Christ, consists also of two branches, to wit,
Jews and Gentiles; and that, nevertheless, in an eccle-
siastical sense, He hath 'made both one, having bro-
ken down the middle wall of partition between us.
Eph. ii. 14. And as, among the posterity of Jo-
seph, certain leading and principal men were rais-
ed up for warfare in national Israel, so, among
the posterity of Christ, there have been men distin-
guished by grace and gifts, by fortitude and zeal, to
take the lead in fighting the battles of spiritual Is-
rael, by contending earnestly for the faith once de-
livered to the saints. Such, pre-eminently such,

p Num. xiii. 8. 16. Judges vi. 11. 15.

SER. xvn.] JOSEPH'S PRE-EMINENCE. 549

were the apostles and such, in a good degree,
have been many whom Christ has raised up since
their times.

Nor must we omit to notice the pre-eminence
which Moses, by the Spirit of prophecy, here gave
to Joseph's younger son. It was a confirmation of
what Jacob, moved by the same Spirit, had mysti-
cally signified long before; for, when about to pro-
nounce the prophetic blessing on Joseph's two sons y
" guiding his hands wittingly," he laid his right hand
(the more honorable) upon the head of Ephraim,
the younger, and his left hand (the less honorable)
upon the head of Manasseh, the elder. See Gen.
xlviii. 14 19. Accordingly, Ephraim excelled,

1. In numbers. He had his ten thousands, while
Manasseh had but his thousands. And as it was
in the type, so also has it been in the Antitype ; for,
though Christ has indeed had his thousands among
the Jews, answering to Manasseh, the elder brother,
he has had, comparatively, his ten thousands among
the gentiles, corresponding to Ephraim, the young-
er brother : Unto him have the gentiles sought, arid,
to them, his rest has been glorious. Is. xi. 10.
Herein are verified the words of Christ, The last
shall be first, and the first last. Matt. xx. 16. And,
2. In dignity. To EPHRAIM, as a mark of ho-
norable distinction, belonged Samaria, the royal
city of the ten tribes/ And thus, under the present
dispensation, to provoke the Jews to jealousy, " The
city of the great king," the visible church, apper-
tains to another people ; Christ having, agreeably to

r 2 Kings xv. 27.

550 JOSEPH'S PRE-EMINENCE. [SER,XVH,

his premonition,* taken " the kingdom of God" from
them, and given it to us. Hence, among us He con-
descends to keep his palace, to hold his courts, to
deliver his laws, and to dispense his favors. What
an honor is this conferred upon us poor gentiles 1
Let us not be high-minded, but fear. Horn. xi. 20.
This metaphorical description of Joseph^ more-
over,

Thirdly, Assigns to him great victories. It was
not in vain that he had horns like the horns of a
rhinoceros ; for with them, said Moses, he shall
push the people together* to the ends of the earth, or
of the land, meaning the land of Canaan, which an
apostle calls the earth. Rom. ix. 28. Literally,
this was fulfilled in Joshua, a descendant of Joseph,
when he conquered thirty-one kings of that coun-
try ;* but mystically it has been, and more abun-
dantly will be fulfilled in Christ, the Antitype both of
Joseph and of Joshua. And though the victories of
Joseph, achieved by his illustrious descendant,
Joshua, were all in Canaan, (here intended by the
earth,) yet, as Canaan was IMMANUEL'S land," those
literal victories which extended to the ends of it,
were typical of the spiritual victories of Christ,
which must extend to the ends of the earth, under-
stood in the ordinary acceptation of the words ^ for,
to Him shall be given the heathen for his inheritance,
and the uttermost parts of the earth for his pos-
session. See Psal. ii. 8.

Nor should it be overlooked, that correspondent
to Joseph's two horns, Ephraim and Manasseh, both

Matt. xxi. 43. * Josh. xii. 724. Is. viii. 8.

SEE. xvii.] JOSEPH'S PRE-EMINENCE. 551

branches of Christ's militant kingdom, believing
Jews nd believing gentiles, have been employed?
by Him, in extending his spiritual conquests and en
larging his visible empire. By his apostles, raised
up among the former, He not only published his gos-
pel throughout Judea, but ushered it also into the
gentile world and, by his ordinary ministers, suc-
cessively granted to the latter, He has ever since
been extending the same gospel, with various suc-
cess, among the nations ; moreover, we are assured,
by prophecy, that he will continue to do so, till, by
the overwhelming light of the latter day, " the
earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as
the waters cover the sea." Is. xi. 9.

To confirm the church and ministers of Christ
in the hope of all the promised and predicted glory
of his kingdom, they are informed,

1. That, to Him,'ihe Father hath given power over
all flesh, all nations, that He should give eternal
life to as many (among them all) as He (the Father)
hath given Him, whenever and wherever they
should be found on the earth. See John xvii. 2,
And, that his ministers might not be appalled at the
pretensions and menaces of any adverse power,
whether official or popular, Christ prefaced the
commission under which they act, with an assertion
of his universal dominion ; saying to them, ALL

POWER IS GIVEN UNTO ME IN HEAVEN AND IN EARTH :

Go ye therefore^ and teach all nations, &c. Go ye
into all the world, and preach the gospel to evfry
creature. What, then, are earthly sovereigns when
opposed to Him'! Ail kings shall fall down be-
fore him, either penitent, or slain ; and all nations

552 JOSEPH'S PRE-EMINENCE. [SER. xvn.

shall serve him. Psal Ixxii. 11. By Him, even
Satan, the prince of this world is judged. John xvi.
11. Nor can there, in a word, be any possible ob-
struction to his march. At his approach, Every val-
ley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill
shall be made low; The crooked shall be made
straight, and the rough places plain : and the glory
of the Lord shall be revealed, and all jlesh, all na-
tions, shall see it together : for the mouth of the
Lord hath spoken it. Is. xl. 5. Neither can there
be any deficiency of instruments or of means. For,
2. With Christ are all the gifts of the Spirit, and
all the treasures of nature ; and which, at pleasure,
He employs in the accomplishment of his great de-
sign. He, who gave apostles and prophets, and
evangelists, gave also, and still gives pastors and
teachers pastors to feed churches, and teachers, to
preach to the destitute : and of .the latter, He will
continue to give, till, coextensively with the com-
mission He delivered, they shahteach all nations.
Besides, upon his saints in common, He will be-
stow such gifts as shall render them, like well disci-
plined soldiers, expert in handling the sword " the
sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."
Eph. iv. 1 1. and vi. 17. Nor can He be deficient in
means : The silver is mine, and the gold is mine,
saith the LORD of hosts. w And though these pre-
cious metals may be chiefly claimed (as they have
hitherto been) by men of the world, the hearts of
their claimants (those of kings not excepted) are in
his hand, 1 and he can, at pleasure, either by his

w Hag. ii. 8. * Prov. xxi. 1.

SEE. xvii.] JOSEPH'S PRE-EMINENCE. 553

grace turn them to himself, or by his providence
transfer their treasures to his friends, who shall
willingly consecrate their gain unto the LORD, and
their substance unto the LORD of the whole earth.^ y
Then, as renewed by His grace, or controlled by His
providence, " the kings of Tarshish and of the isles
shall bring presents ; the kings of Sheba and Seba
shall offer gifts nay, to HIM shall be given of the
gold of Sheba ; prayer also shall be made for him
continually," that is, for the prosperity of his cause ;
" and daily shall he be praised." 2 And,

3. To crown all, He will pour out of his Spirit
upon all flesh? that is, upon all nations, and his peo-
ple among them all, even all the incalculable millions
that are His, by covenant and by ransom, shall be
made willing in the day of his power willing to
forsake their refuges of lies, to trust in His perfect
righteousness, and their evil ways, to be devoted to
His delightful service. See Psal. ex. 3. and Rev. v.
9. and vii. 9.

Having now to take leave of this important sub-
ject, let us not do it without a few pertinent

REFLECTIONS.

1. Has God been pleased thus carefully and
explicitly to distinguish His Christ from all false
ones 1 Let us remember the kindness of the design :
it was that we might not make the fatal mistake of
receiving another for him ; there being SALVATION
in none other. Acts iv. 12.

y Micah iv. 13. Comp. Josh. vi. 19. 2 Sam. viii. 10, 11. and
Rev. xxi. 24. * Psal. Ixxii. 10. 15. Joel ii. 28. Acts ii. 16.

554 JOSEPH'S PRE-EMINENCE. [SER. xvir.

2. Is Christ the revealed Depository of all spiritu-
al blessings 1 Let us never expect to receive such
blessings from any other source, or through any
other medium ; remembering that it hath pleased
the Father that in him should all fulness dwell ;
and that no man comethunto the Father but by HIM.
Col. i. 19. and John xiv. 6.

3. Must the victories of Christ, according to pro-
mise and prophecy, be numerous and extensive ? Let
us rejoice in hope, and pray without ceasing. Rom.
v. 2. and 1 Thess. v. 17. *

4. Will Christ, like Joshua, show no mercy to the
finally rebellious ? O sinners ! tremble and bow :
he that believeth not the Son shall not see life ; but
the wrath of God abideth upon him. John iii. 36.
And,

Finally, As Christ, like Joshua, receives all
submissive suppliants let penitent, broken-heart-
ed sinners, be encouraged to seek his favor. Let
not the consciousness of your guilt, however accu-
mulated or aggravated, prevent your approach.
The grounds of your hesitancy are all removed, by
his own gracious declaration ; him that cometh to
me, I will in no wise, on no account whatever, cast
out. b EVEN so, LORD JESUS. AMEN.

* John vi. 37.

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