Fae* ir

 
 iJ/^V-Z^c 
 
 o
 
 OUTLINES 
 
 OF 
 
 SACRED HISTORY: 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 CEEATIOX OF THE WOULD 
 
 TO THE 
 
 DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM, 
 
 PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF 
 
 THE COMMITTEE OF GENERAL LITERATURE AND EDUCATION, 
 
 APPOINTED BV THE SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING 
 
 CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 THE ELEVEN2H EVITION. 
 
 LONDON: 
 JOHN W. PARKER, WEST STRAND. 
 
 M.DCCC.XLVIII.
 
 LONDON : 
 HARBISON AND CO., PRINTERS, 
 
 ST. martin's lane.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 The design of tliis little work mu.st be so manifest, 
 on a slight inspection, that it scarcely needs a formal 
 Preface. It has been the Author's endeavour to 
 supply a summary of Sacred History, which might 
 be used either as a class-book in schools, or for 
 reading in private families ; which would suit the 
 wants and wishes of youth, without being unworthy 
 the notice of persons of maturer age. Many such 
 works have been already published, but none on the 
 plan which experience and meditation hare induced 
 the Author to adopt in the present volume; he has 
 confined himself simjjly to the narration of the facts 
 in that great scheme of Providence which unites the 
 history of Man's creation with that of his redemp- 
 tion, and has left to others the task of stating the 
 doctrines of which these facts form the foundation. 
 
 There is something irresistibly attractive in the 
 contemplation of those wondrous manifestations of 
 Divine wisdom, and power, and goodness, which 
 show how, through a long series of ages, the moral 
 government of the world directly tended to prejjare 
 the way for the jNIessiah.
 
 VI PREFACE. 
 
 Wheu the youthful mind has clearly apprehended 
 the purj)ose of the Old Testament, and has learned 
 that not only the law, but also the history of those 
 who lived under the law, directly lead him to 
 Christ ; when he discovers that in the Son of God 
 both Testaments find their completion, — the Old 
 proclaiming his future advent, the New detailing 
 the blessings with which that advent, was fraught, 
 — he will look to the study of the Bible not as a 
 task, but a pleasure; because he will be stimulated 
 to search for the traces of God's plan, and he has a 
 clue to guide him to the discovery. 
 
 The Ninth Edition has been revised and corrected 
 throughout: several incidents have been inserted, 
 which had been omitted in the former Editions, and 
 the whole work, it is hoped, has been rendered still 
 more useful to those for whose instruction it was 
 designed.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 The Creation . . . , .9 
 
 I'aradise and the Fall . . . .14 
 
 The Death of Abel . . . . .16 
 
 The World before the Flood , . .18 
 
 The Deluge . . . . . .20 
 
 Division of the Earth between the Sons of Noah. — Confusion 
 
 of Languages . . . .23 
 
 The Call of Abraham . . . . .25 
 
 God's Covenant with Abraham . . .28 
 
 The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah . . .30 
 
 The Birth of Isaac. — The Banishment of Hagar and Ishmael 32 
 
 Abraham's Faith. — Death of Sarah. — Marriage of Isaac. — Death 
 
 of Abraham . . . . .35 
 
 The Life of Isaac . . . . .38 
 
 The Life of Jacob, or Israel . . . .41 
 
 The History of Joseph . . . .47 
 
 Bondage of the Israelites in Egypt. — Birth and Education of 
 
 Moses ..... 54 
 
 The Ten Plagues of Egypt.— The Passage of the Red Sea . 58 
 The Wandering in the Desert- — The Encampment at Mount 
 
 Sinai . . . . .63 
 
 The Golden Calf.— The ^^'andering in the Desert . . 66 
 
 The Conquest of Canaan . . . .75 
 
 Israel under the Judges . . . .79 
 
 The History of Samson and of Ruth . . .87 
 
 The Lives of Samuel and of Saul . . .91 
 
 The Life of David . . . .99 
 
 The Life of Solomon ..... 105 
 
 The Revolt of the Ten Tribes.— The History of the Kings of 
 
 Israel . . . .110 
 
 The Kingdom of Judah, to the First Conquest of Jerusalem . 123 
 The Desiruction of the Kingdom of Judah, and Capture of Jeru- 
 salem by Nebuchadnezzar . . . 136 
 The Babylonish Captivity .... 141
 
 Vlii CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 The Rebuilding of tlie Temple autl City of Jerusalem . 155 
 
 The Poetical Books of the Old Testament . . 3 62 
 
 The Four Greater Prophets .... 166 
 The History of Jonah . . . .170 
 
 The Minor Prophets . . . .172 
 
 History of the Jewish People, from the Death of Xehemiah to 
 
 the "Wars of the Maccabees . . . 176 
 
 The Maccabees . - . .186 
 
 The Asmodean Princes. — Capture of Jerusalem by the Romans 193 
 Political and Social Condition of the Jews at the Coming of 
 
 Christ . . . . .198 
 
 The Birth of Christ . . . . .205 
 
 The Preaching of John the Baptist . . . 208 
 
 Christ's Baptism and Temptation . , .211 
 
 The Life of Christ . . . .314 
 
 The Miracles of Christ .... 222 
 
 The Prophecies of Christ . . .229 
 
 The Parables of Christ . . . .231 
 
 TheSufferingsof Christ.— Passion Week . . 237 
 
 Chi-ist's Trials before the Sanhedrim and the Roman Governor 245 
 The Crucifixion ..... 252 
 
 The Burial of Christ . . . .257 
 
 The Resurrection . . . . .259 
 
 The Ascension of Christ . . . .263 
 
 The Descent of the Holy Ghost . . .265 
 
 The Martyrdom of St. Stephen . . .269 
 
 The Conversion of St. Paul . . . .272 
 
 The Conversion of the Gentiles. — The Council of Jerusalem 275 
 The Travels of St. Paul . . . .279 
 
 The History of the Apostles . . . 286 
 
 The Destruction of Jerusalem .... 292 
 
 Chronological Index of Events . ' . . 301 
 
 Index to the Gospel History .... 309 
 Questions for Examination . . . 311
 
 OUTLIXES 
 
 OF 
 
 SACRED HISTORY. 
 
 Chapter I. 
 THE CREATION. 
 
 God called these worlds from uiglit, 
 " Ye sliades, dispel," the Eternal said ; 
 At once the involving darkness fled. 
 
 And nature sprang to light. Ogilvie. 
 
 A.M. 1....B.C. 4001. 
 
 " Ix the beginning God created the heavens and the 
 earth." The Great Creator himself never had a begin- 
 ning. He is from everlasting to everlasting, self-existent 
 ^nd imcreate. But there was a time when the universe 
 ^vhlc•h we see around us, filled with beauty, and order, 
 ■and life, had no existence ; when there was nothing but 
 void and empty space Avhere there are now myriads of 
 worlds. It was by the word of the Almighty that the 
 globe which we inhabit, and the other orbs which we 
 behold pursuing their course through the heavens, were 
 called into being. "He spake the word, and it was done : 
 he commanded, and they stood fast." It pleased tlie 
 Author of all wisdom to divide the time employed in the 
 work of creation into six days, in each of which distinct 
 acts of creative power were displayed. In its first state, 
 "the earth was without form, and void," and darkntss 
 B
 
 10 THE CREATION. 
 
 was upon the face of the great deep. And then the 
 Spirit of God brooded over the face of the waters ; and 
 by an exertion of the divine power, such as we can 
 neither explain nor comprehend, the confused mass was 
 shaped into order and beauty. 
 
 "And God said, Let tliere be h'ght, and there was 
 light." That mysterious substance which pervades the 
 universe, and enables us to perceive the glories of crea- 
 tion, was thus summoned into existence ; 
 
 And at the voice 
 
 Of God, as witli a mantle, did invest 
 
 1'he rising world of waters dark and deep, 
 
 "Won from the void and formless infinite. Milton. 
 
 The separation of the fluids of the air from those 
 that covered the surface of the earth, was the work of 
 the second day. God created a firmament, or expanse, 
 in the midst of the waters, dividing those above from 
 those beneath the air. This firmament or expanse was 
 named " Heaven." 
 
 On the third day, the separation between land and 
 water was made. At the divine command, the waters 
 flowed together into their appointed places, and "the 
 dry land appeared." "And God called the dry land 
 Earth, and the gathering together of the waters called 
 he Seas." 
 
 Thus far creation had been limited to Hfeless matter; 
 but, after the globe had been thus prepared, God created 
 that mj^sterious power which we call Life. At his com- 
 mand, the earth produced all the countless varieties of 
 the vegetable world: the lofty trees of the forest, the 
 beauteous shrubs, the flowers of the field, and all the 
 herbs and grasses that cover the ground with verdure. 
 To these varied tribes were given fruitful powers of 
 increasing their species, and of producing successors to
 
 THE CPvEATION. 11 
 
 flourish in their place; when, after liavinj^- fulfilled their 
 appointed uses, they themselves yield to decay. 
 
 On the fourth day, the sun was appointed to give light 
 to the earth, as it revolved on its axis ; and the moon 
 was given as an attendant satellite, to supply the place 
 of the greater luminary when hidden from sight. At the 
 same time those beautiful bodies that spangle the canopy 
 of night were made to appear in the sky, " when all 
 the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God 
 shouted for joy." Besides suppl^'ing heat and light, 
 the great luminaries served other purposes scarcely less 
 important. They were " for signs, and for seasons, and 
 for days, and for years ;" that is, they were designed to 
 afford the means of measuring time. The revolution 
 of the eai-th on its axis determined the length of a day; 
 the entire course of the earth round the sun marked the 
 year ; and a month was measured by the time in which 
 the moon completed its course round the earth. 
 
 Light, and Life, and INIotion, those wonders, to explain 
 which, even impei-fectly, has strained the utmost powers 
 of human reason, had thus been created by the all- wise 
 jNIaker of the universe. The next act of Almighty power 
 produced a mystery still more wonderful ; beings that 
 not only lived, but felt, whose motion depended not 
 merely on impulse, but choice, filled the air and the 
 water. Fishes swam through the ocean, birds flew 
 tlirough the sky, and to each was assigned such a share 
 of intelligence as suited their rank in the scale of crea- 
 tion. 
 
 Air and water had their inliabitants ; the land still 
 remained untenanted. But on the sixth day God gave 
 the word, and the various tribes of beasts, from the 
 immense elephant to the diminutive mouse ; from the 
 lordly lion to the timid hare ; occupied their several 
 B2
 
 12 THE CREATION. 
 
 habitations in mountain and valley. To all these classes 
 of the animal creation, the same blessing and command 
 were given, " Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish 
 the earth." 
 
 Lastly, God, in his wisdom, resolved to create a bein 
 that should have mastery and dominion over the other 
 creatures of his hand. " And God said. Let us make 
 man in our image, after our likeness;" that is, innocent, 
 upright, and happy, with powers of understanding and 
 will*. And God, having formed this new creature, 
 *' breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man 
 became a living soul." 
 
 The reasoning power of man would have been com- 
 paratively useless without the faculty of speech ; with 
 this faculty Adam, for thus was the first man named, 
 was invested ; and, when all the animals were brought 
 before him, he was able to give them names. Man 
 could no more have taught himself language, than he 
 could have invented the organs of speech. To his great 
 Creator he owes not only the faculty of reasoning, but 
 the means of exercising it; and it is gross ingratitude to 
 pervert either to purposes inconsistent with the will of 
 the Almighty Giver. God also gave man a companion, 
 formed miraculously from his own substance, and she 
 was named Eve, a word signifying life^ for she was to 
 be the mother of all living. 
 
 And God surve3'ed all the works of his creation, and 
 pronounced them to be all very good. 
 
 And on the seventh da}'- God ceased from the works 
 of creation, and sanctified that day as a Sabbath, or day 
 of rest, to be kept holy in grateful remembrance of Him 
 who had bestowed such blessings on the universe that 
 he had made. 
 
 * Bishop Tomline.
 
 THE CREATION. 13 
 
 The worlds which tlie Great Creator tlius called into 
 being still bear testimony to his wisdom, his power, and 
 Jiis goodness : " their sound has gone out into all lands, 
 and their voices into the ends of the world." 
 
 The spacious firmament on high, 
 
 With all the bhie ethereal sky, 
 
 And spangled heavens, a shining frame, 
 
 Their gi-eat Original proclaim. 
 
 The unwearied sun, from day to day. 
 
 Does his Creator's power display; 
 
 And publishes to every land, 
 
 The work of an Almighty hand. 
 
 Soon as the evening shades prevail. 
 The moon takes up the wondrous tale; 
 And nightly, to the listening earth, 
 Repeats the story of l)er birth : 
 "While all the stars that round her burn. 
 And all the planets in dieir turn. 
 Confirm the tidings as they roll, 
 And spread the truth from ]Jole to pole. 
 
 What though, in solemn silence, all 
 
 Move round this dark terrestrial ball ; 
 
 What though no real voice nor sound 
 
 Amidst their radiant orbs be found ; 
 
 In reason's ear they all rejoice. 
 
 And utter forth a glorious voice : 
 
 For ever singing as they shine, 
 
 " The hand that made us is divine," Addison..
 
 14 
 
 Chapter II. 
 PARADISE AND THE FALL. 
 
 Man disobeying, 
 
 Disloyal, breaks his fealty, and sins 
 
 Against the high supremacy of Heaven, 
 
 Affecting Godhead ; and so losing all, 
 
 To expiate his treason hath nought left ; 
 
 But, to destruction sacred and devote, 
 
 He, with his whole posterity, must die. Milton. 
 
 A.M. 1.... B.C. 4004. 
 
 Our first parents were placed by their beneficent 
 Creator in a paradise or garden, named Eden, abounding 
 in everything that could contribute to their pleasures, 
 and affording every innocent gratification of the senses. 
 We are not told what was the exact condition of Adam 
 and Eve in this state of innocence and happiness; but 
 we leavn indirectly that they were not subject to death, 
 and that their personal communications with God were 
 frequent and familiar. As a test and sign of their obe- 
 dience, they were commanded not to eat of the tree of 
 Jcnowledge, which grew in the midst of the garden; and 
 the penalty of death was denounced against the trans- 
 gression : a death consisting not merely in the separation 
 of the soul from the body, but including also banishment 
 for ever from the presence of God, the Author and 
 Source of spiritual life. 
 
 During what length of time Adam and Eve continued 
 to observe the divine prohibition, we are not informed ; 
 but we learn that the Devil, the great adversary of souls, 
 disguising himself under the fonn of a serpent, tempted 
 Eve to disobey, and that she was fatally deceived by his 
 delusions. She listened to his false promises; and, in
 
 THE FALL. 15 
 
 direct opposition to God's express command, slie ate of 
 tlie forbidden fruit, and prevailed on her husband to 
 participate in the crime. But scarcely had it been 
 committed, when its effects began to appear; they disco- 
 vered that they were naked, and hid themselves through 
 shame. Thus it ^vas that shame, the ordinary com- 
 panion of guilt, became joined to the fii'st crime ever 
 committed. 
 
 The delight which our first parents formerly felt in 
 their direct intercourse with their beneficent Creator 
 had now ceased ; they concealed themselves when they 
 perceived the signs whicli announced his presence; and, 
 instead of hastening to acknowledge his wondrous conde- 
 scension, waited until the summons of the Lord brought 
 to light the true cause of their impious delay. But one 
 sin led them to another ; and, by a ready lie, Adam 
 endeavoured to excuse his concealment, declaring that it 
 was caused through shame of his nakedness. Yet this 
 very excuse was conclusive evidence of his guilt. To 
 the question, "Who told thee that thou wast naked?" 
 he could make no answer, but stood silent and self- 
 convicted. When directly charged with the crime, 
 Adam threw all the blame on liis wife ; and she, in 
 her vindication, attributed it to the craft of the serpent. 
 Excuses such as these only increased their guilt ; the 
 awful sentence of condemnation was pronounced, the 
 earth itself was cursed for their sake ; and our first 
 parents were driven from Eden, while a flaming sword 
 was placed at his gate, to prevent all possibility of their 
 return. 
 
 Thus sin came into the world, and death by sin ; but 
 even in the midst of his righteous judgment God remem- 
 bered mercy, and promised a Redeemer, who should 
 atone for Adam's transgression, and avert the penal
 
 16 THE FALL. 
 
 consequences of the falL This gracious promise was 
 announced in the well-known words, " The seed of 
 the woman shall bruise the serpent's head :" a prophecy 
 fulfilled after the lapse of four thousand years, when 
 Christ, the seed of the woman, bruised the serpent's 
 head, by overcoming death, and opening unto us the 
 gate of everlasting life. For, " as in Adam all die, even 
 so in Christ shall all be made alive." 
 
 Chapter III. 
 THE DEATH OF ABEL. 
 
 The unjust the just hath slain, 
 
 For envy that his brother's offering found 
 From Heaven acceptance ; but the bloody fact 
 Will be avenged. Miltox. 
 
 From A.M. 1 B.C. 4003; to A.M. 930.... B.C. 3074. 
 
 When God had driven Adam and Eve from Paradise, 
 he did not leave them destitute, but taught them how 
 to make coverings for their persons, and probably such 
 other arts as were most necessary to their welfare^ 
 Soon after the fall. Eve brought into the world the- 
 first-born of mankind ; and she named the boy Cain, 
 which signifies a gift^ because he had been given to hev 
 by the Lord. Soon after, she bore a second son, who 
 was named Abel, which signifies short continuance^ and 
 lias, probably, a prophetic reference to his early deaths 
 As the sons of Adam grew up, they adopted different 
 employments for their support. Abel was a keeper of 
 sheep ; but Cain was a tiller of the ground. Their tem~ 
 pers were as different as their occupations : Abel was.
 
 THE DEATH OF ABEL. 17 
 
 meek, liumLle, and pious ; Cain was haughty, envious, 
 and revengeful. "When they appeared to offer their cus- 
 tomary sacrifices before the Lord, Abel by faith offered 
 an acceptable sacrifice, and God's favour was made mani- 
 fest by some sensible sign ; but Cain's offering was not 
 respected. Filled with jealous rage at the favour thus 
 shown to his younger brother, Cain, instead of endea- 
 vouring to obtain similar grace by repentance, added a 
 fresh crime to his former guilt: he rose up against his 
 innocent brother, and slew him. 
 
 The Lord from heaven sees the crimes that escape 
 every human eye. Scarcely had the murderer perpe- 
 trated the atrocious deed, when God demanded of him, 
 "Where is Abel, thy brother?" He answered, with 
 falsehood and evasion, "I know not; am I my brother's 
 keeper?" The Almighty then denounced his guilt, and 
 declared its punishment ; while the conscience-stricken 
 Cain exclaimed in the anguish of his soul, " j\Iy punish- 
 ment is greater than I can bear." He then removed 
 from the land where his father dwelt, and became a 
 wanderer and an exile. 
 
 To console Adam for the loss of Abel, God gave him 
 another son, who was named Seth, which signifies placed 
 or siibstituted, because he came in the room of his mur- 
 dered brother. 
 
 Adam outlived tlie fall many years, and had several 
 other children whose names are not recorded. He died 
 at the advanced age of nine hundred and thirt}', — a 
 length of life which only three of his posterity exceeded r 
 Jared, who lived to the age of nine hundred and sixty- 
 two ; Methuselah, who reached his nine hundred and 
 seventieth year; and Noah, who attained the age of 
 nine hundred and fiftv.
 
 18 
 
 Chapter IV. ' 
 
 THE WORLD BEFORE THE FLOOD. 
 
 Crime reigns triumphant in the guilty land ; 
 
 Lust fires the heart, and murder arms the hand ; 
 
 Polluting Vice no longer dreads display, 
 
 But hares her horrors in the face of day ; 
 
 They mock the warning voice, the threatening sign, 
 
 And dare the terrors of the wrath divine. AxoTf. 
 
 From A.M. 930 B.C. 3074; to A.M. 1656 B.C. 2348. 
 
 The descendants of Cain were distinguished for their 
 progress in the arts of civilized life. Jabal was the first 
 who taught men to live in tents and feed herds of cattle ; 
 Jubal invented musical instruments; and Tubal-Cain 
 discovered the art of working in metals. But though 
 they thus advanced in civilization, they neglected true 
 religion altogether : they lived '•' without God in the 
 world," and were generally called " the sons of men." 
 
 The descendants of Seth were a people probably less 
 distinguished in the arts and sciences than the posterity 
 of Cain ; but tliey possessed the best of all knowledge, 
 — a knowledge of their duty to their Creator ; and they 
 seem to have been named, from their piety, " the sons 
 of God." Among the descendants of Seth, Enoch was 
 pre-eminently distinguished for his righteousness and 
 devotedness to God ; and in reward for his piety, he was 
 translated to heaven without suffering the pains of death. 
 In the progress of time, the descendants of Seth and 
 Cain appear to have intennarried, and the allurements 
 of the Cainites seemed to have gradually changed the 
 principles and practice of the pious race." The progress 
 of this corruption was probably rapid ; for, immediately
 
 THE WORLD BEFORE THE FLOOD. 19 
 
 after tlie account of its commencement, we are informed, 
 '* God saw that tlie wickedness of man was great in the 
 earth : and that every imagination of the thoughts of his 
 heart was only evil continually." 
 
 But the true faith was preserved in one family, — a 
 family that maintained its purity in the midst of sur- 
 rounding corruption. A son was bom to the patriarch 
 Lamech, whom he named Noah, a word signifying 
 comfort; for he prophetically anticipated that his son 
 would be a source of comfort, when the consequences 
 of the curse pronounced upon the earth should be fully 
 developed. During at least a hundred years, God's 
 warnings through Noah were disregarded ; but at lengih 
 the measure of the world's iniquity was full. "And 
 God looked upon the earth, and behold it was corrupt : 
 for all flesh had corrupted his way upon earth." Noah, 
 however, was a "just man, and perfect in his generation ; 
 and Noah walked with God." The offended Lord of 
 heaven and earth determined to inflict exemplary pun- 
 ishment on mankind for their wickedness, and to destroy 
 the race of men by a flood ; but he resolved to spare 
 Noah and his family, and directed the patriarch to build 
 an ark, or ship, sufficiently large to contain himself, his 
 children, and their respective families, together with the 
 various birds and beasts, which might stock the earth 
 asrain with livins: creatures.
 
 Chapter V. 
 THE DELUGE. 
 
 Meanwhile the south -wind rose, and, with black wings 
 Wide-hoverin'JT, all the clouds together drove 
 From under Heaven ; the hills to their supply, 
 Vapour and exhalation, dust and moist. 
 Sent up amain : and now the thickened sky 
 Like a dark ceiling stood ; down rushed the rain 
 Impetuous; and continued till the earth 
 No more was seen. Milton. 
 
 A.M. 1656.... B.C. 2348. 
 
 Noah was six hundred years old when the ark was 
 completed. As soon as the vessel was finished, he col- 
 lected ample stores of provisions, and received into it 
 the animals that he had been directed to take with him. 
 With Noah went his wife, his three sons, and their 
 wives, eight persons in all ; and when they had entered, 
 *' the Lord shut them in." Immediately after the 
 deluge began ; " the fountains of the great deep were
 
 THE DELUGE. 21 
 
 broken up, and the Avindows of heaven were opened." 
 We know but little of the hiternal structure of the globe, 
 and cannot tell whence the mass of water necessary to 
 cover the whole earth was derived. Hoio the deluge 
 was caused we may guess, but cannot state with cer- 
 tainty; yet there is no fact in the history of mankind of 
 which we have more decisive evidence, than this awful 
 occun-ence. Not only is it recorded by the inspired 
 writers, but ancient profane historians speak of it as an 
 €vent well known : and the popular legends of almost 
 every nation, both in the Old and New World, nay, tlie 
 traditions of the recently discovered islands in the Pa- 
 cific Ocean, — preserve the memory of this wide-wasting 
 destruction. Natural History lends powerful aid to 
 strengthen these proofs: traces of a time when their 
 summits were beneath the water are to be discovered 
 on the tops of the loftiest hills and the highest moun- 
 tains; andthe bones of animals, now confined to tropical 
 regions, have been found in caverns, both in England 
 and in various parts of the European continent. 
 
 For forty days and forty nights it rained incessantly, 
 and the whole earth became one wide waste of waters, 
 and the tops of the highest mountains were covered, 
 " And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both 
 of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping 
 tiling that creepeth on the earth, and every man; Noah 
 only remained alive, and they that were with him in 
 the ark." 
 
 The flood prevailed over the earth during forty days ; 
 after which, God sent a wind to pass over it, and the 
 waters assuaged. After the end of one hundred and 
 fifty days, the waters were so much abated, that the ark 
 rested on Ararat, a mountain of stupendous height in 
 Greater Armenia. At the end of forty days, Noah
 
 22 THE DELUGE. 
 
 Oldened the window that he had made in the ark, and 
 sent forth a raven, which never returned. He next sent 
 forth a dove, which found no place where she coukl rest, 
 and, therefore, came back to the ark. The same winged 
 messenger was sent forth a second time, and returned 
 with an olive-leaf in her mouth, by which token Noali 
 knew that the waters had abated. After the lapse of 
 seven days, as in the former case, the dove was sent 
 forth a third time ; but the waters were now so much 
 diminished, that she found the eai-th fit for her habita- 
 tion, and returned to the ark no more. 
 
 Noah, now convinced that the waters of the deluge 
 were fast abating, took the covering off the ark, and 
 saw that the surface of the ground was dry. But he 
 waited yet some da3's longer, until he received direc- 
 tions from the Lord to leave the ark, and to let loose 
 the animals he had preserved, " that tliey mJght breed 
 abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful and multiply 
 upon the earth." 
 
 Grateful for his wonderful preservation, Noah, after 
 leavmg the ark, erected an altar to the Lord, and offered 
 up a burnt sacrifice of every clean bird, and of every 
 clean beast. And God entered into a covenant with 
 Noah, that he would not again curse the ground for 
 man's sake, nor send any more a flood to destroy the 
 earth. And the Lord appointed the rainbow to be the 
 sign and token of the covenant that he had made with 
 Noah and his posterity. It is a misrepresentation of 
 Scripture, to say that it asserts the rainbow to have been 
 miraculously created on this special occasion ; we know 
 that this beautiful phenomenon is the necessary effect 
 of the sun's rays on the falling drops of rain : but God 
 set or appointed this natural sign to be a memorial of 
 his compact, because it never appears but when there is
 
 THE DELUGE. 23 
 
 sunshine somewhere, and is generally a sign that the 
 shower is partial, and that the rain will soon abate. 
 
 And faithful to the sacred page. 
 
 Heaven still rehuilds its span, 
 Nor lets the type grow pale Avith age 
 
 That first spoke peace to man. CaxMpeell. 
 
 Chapter VL 
 
 DIVISION OF THE EARTH BETWEEN THE SONS OF 
 NOAH.— CONFUSION OF LANGUAGES. 
 
 So Nirarod stood when he the nations drew 
 To Shinaar's plain, the Godhead to defy. 
 When at his A-oice rebellious Babel grew 
 
 Upward from earth to heaven, — with such an eye 
 He watched it scale the clouds, and brave the attempted sky. 
 
 Tasso. 
 
 From A.M. 1657 B.C. 2347 ; to A.M. 1770 B.C. 2234. 
 
 The history of mankind immediately after the flood 
 is very briefly narrated by the sacred writers : the most 
 important circumstance they relate is, that Ham, the 
 second son of Noali, now above on^ hundred years old, 
 having by a wanton exultation in the disgrace of his 
 father, betra3^ed a hardened disposition, was punished 
 in his children. Canaan, his son, wdio was probably a 
 partaker in his father's deeds, was subjected to a curse ; 
 but a blessing was pronounced upon Shem and Japheth . 
 The posterity of Ham included the most warlike and 
 impious races of antiquity ; liis grandson. Is imrod, by 
 profane writers named Belus, was the first who aspired 
 to empire, and ' ' began to be a mighty one upon the 
 earth." From Japheth were descended the first inhabi-
 
 24 THE CONFUSION OF LANGUAGES. 
 
 tant of the " Isles of the Gentiles," as the European 
 countries are named in Scripture. Shem was the father 
 of the chief nations inhabiting the countries included 
 under the general name of the East. Ham's posterity 
 peopled Egypt and Africa. 
 
 The whole earth was as yet of one language and one 
 speech ; but in process of time, men began to forget their 
 dependence upon God, and in their foolish pride resolved 
 to erect a very lofty tower, whose top, as they boasted, 
 should reach to heaven. The reason they assigned for 
 erecting this edifice was to make themselves a name, 
 and to prevent the dispersion of their families over tlie 
 face of the whole earth. 
 
 But the Lord sets at nought all the works of men, 
 undertaken in opposition to his sovereign* will; he con- 
 founded the language of the workmen, so that they 
 could not understand each other's speech ; and tliey were 
 forced to desist from their labours, and spread themselves 
 over the face of the earth. On this account the name of 
 the place was called Babel, a word signifying confusion, 
 ■*' because the Lord did there confound the language of 
 all the earth." Babel, or, as it is more commonly called, 
 Babylon, became, subsequently, the capital of Ximrod's 
 dominions, and the centre of the first empire established 
 on earth. 
 
 Allusions to this event are numerous in Pagan writers, 
 and the ruins of what is supposed, on good grounds, to 
 have been the tower, built, as the Scripture tells us, of 
 brick and bitumen, exist to this day.
 
 25 
 
 Chapter VII. 
 THE CALL OF ABRAHAM. 
 
 AVitli what faitli 
 
 He leaves his gods, Lis friends, liis native soil ; 
 
 Not wandering poor; but trusting all his wealth 
 
 With God, who called him in a land unknown. — Milton. 
 
 A.M. 20S3....B.C. 1921. 
 
 Our attention must no^Y Le directed to a single family 
 residing in " Ur of the Clialdees," that is, in the level 
 plains north-east of the district that lies above the join- 
 ing of the rivers Tigris and Euphrates. Terah, the head 
 of this family, and probably the chief of a wandering 
 pastoral tribe, had three sons, Abram, Nalior, and Haran. 
 Of tliese, Haran died before Terah; and his share of the 
 family property was transferred to his son Lot. Abrani- 
 was united in wedlock with his half-sister, Sarai, a- 
 marriage of that kind not being deemed unlawful in the 
 early ages of the world. From Ur, the family of Terah 
 moved westward to Haran or Charran, a district adjoin- 
 ing Chaldea; here Terah died, leaving a rich inheritance 
 to his eldest son, Nahor. A brighter destiny was re- 
 served for Abram. Before he departed from Chaldea, 
 God had appeared unto him, and commanded him to 
 leave his father's house, and go into the land that the 
 Lord would show him. A promise had been made at 
 the same time, that he should be the father of a great 
 nation; and a more important prophecy was added, that 
 "in his seed should all the families of the earth be 
 blessed," a plain prediction of the Messiah, who was of 
 the Seed of Abram, and who is the author of etei-nal 
 salvation to all them that obey him. 
 C
 
 26 THE CALL OF ABRAHAM. 
 
 "Abraham," says the Apostle, "believed God, and it 
 was counted unto him for righteousness." In obedience 
 to the Divine command, Abram, having taken his share 
 of the paternal inheritance, proceeded to Canaan, accom- 
 panied by his wife, Sarai, his nephew, Lot, and some 
 faithful servants. He settled, at first, in the valley of 
 Sichem, but, subsequenth% removed to a hill^' country, 
 that lay to the north of Jericho. Abram had not been 
 long in Canaan, when a famine compelled him to change 
 his habitation ; for there was, as yet, but little commer- 
 cial intercourse between different countries. He pro- 
 ceeded to Egypt, probably the first country in which corn 
 was cultivated, and found that in that land a regular 
 form of government had been established, which seems 
 to have been almost purely despotic. Its early kings 
 all bore the title of Pharaoh, which means "the Sun;" 
 ihat heavenly body being one of the greatest objects of 
 Iheir worship, and the kings pretending to be descended 
 from it. Dreading that the fair complexion and superior 
 beauty of Sarai would expose him to some danger, if she 
 should attract the notice of the monarch, Abram desired 
 her to conceal that she was his wife, and pass herself as 
 his sister. What he had foreseen came to pass. Pha- 
 raoh seized the fau' stranger ; but Grod punished his crime 
 by great plagues, and he restored her to her husband. 
 Soon after this occurrence, Abram went back to Canaan, 
 and again established himself in the hilly country. 
 
 Lot had hitherto been the faithful companion of his 
 uncle's travels ; but when their flocks and herds began 
 to multiply exceedingly, the land was not able to bear 
 them together. A quarrel between their herdsmen led 
 to a separation ; they parted on friendly terms, and Lot 
 removed with all his property to the then fertile vale of 
 the river Jordan, where stood the flourishing cities of
 
 THE CALL OF ABRAHAM. 2/ 
 
 Sodom and Gomon-ali. Abram himself soon afterwards 
 moved soutli wards to the j^lains of ^lamre. 
 
 The fertile valley of the Jordan attracted the cupidity 
 of Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, part of ancient Persia; 
 he 1 educed its chieftains to submission, and compelled 
 them to pay tribute during twelve years. The kings of 
 Sodom and Gomorrah at length determined to assert 
 their independence, and confederated with their neigh- 
 bours for the purpose ; Chedorlaomer, on the other hand, 
 assembled his forces and those of his allies to chastise 
 their rebellion. The battle took place in the valley of 
 Siddim: Chedorlaomer was completely victorious, and 
 Lot, and his family, were among the captives. 
 
 A fugitive brought the news to Abram ; he instantly 
 armed his servants and followers, attacked the conquerors 
 by surprise, and though his forces were far inferior, gained 
 a signal victory, and recovered all the captives and all 
 the spoil. This great exploit naturally excited the gra- 
 titude and admiration of the neighbouring tribes. Their 
 chieftains or kings assembled to congratulate him, and 
 among them came Melchizedek, king of Salem, who was 
 a priest of the Most High God; a circumstance very 
 remarkable, as idolatry had then very generally spread. 
 The name Melchizedek signifies king of justice or righte- 
 ousness, and the city, Salem, was so called from a word 
 that means ^j»mce ; it is supposed to be the same as Jeru- 
 salem by many commentators, but on very insufficient 
 grounds. Abram showed that his dependence was upon 
 God only, by refusing to receive any share of the spoils 
 he had recovered ; and returned back to his own dwelling, 
 content with having delivered his nephew from bondage. 
 In the Epistle to the Hebrews (chap, vii.) Melchizedek 
 is spoken of at large as a type of our Saviour. 
 C 2
 
 28 
 
 Chapter VIII. 
 GODS COVEXAXT WITH ABRAHAM. 
 
 God moves in a mysterious way 
 
 His wonders to perform ; 
 He plants his footsteps in the sea, 
 
 And rides upon the storm. 
 Deep in unfathomable mines 
 
 Of never-failing skill, 
 He treasures up his bright designs, 
 
 And works his sovereign will, Cowper. 
 
 A.M. 2093.... B.C. 1911. 
 
 As Abram yet continued childless, lie dreaded lest the 
 name and headship of his family should pass to Eliezer 
 of Damascus, the steward of his household. But God 
 promised that his heir should spring from his own loins, 
 and confirmed the promise by a visible manifestation, 
 when Abram had offered up the sacrifice of faith and 
 gratitude. On the same occasion it was revealed to him 
 that his posterity should be slaves in a strange land 
 for a period, but that God would finally punish tlieir 
 oppressors, and conduct them to the promised land, when 
 *' the iniquity of the Amorites was full." Sarai having 
 learned the promise made to her lord, and despairing 
 of bearing children herself, gave him her handmaid 
 Hagar for a wife. The fruit of this connexion was a 
 child named Ishmael, born when Abram was eighty-six. 
 years old. 
 
 Thil'teen years after this, God renewed his promise, 
 and declared that Abram's heir should be born from his 
 legitimate wife. At the same time the Lord made a 
 change in the names of both, more important in reality
 
 god's covenant with ABRAHAM. 29 
 
 than appearance. Thus Abram, which signifies a Mighti/ 
 Father, -when altered to Abraham, means the Father of 
 a Great Multitude; and Sarai, my Princess, when 
 changed to Sarah, signifies an eminent Princess. As a 
 token and visible sign of this covenant, the right of cir- 
 cumcision was instituted, and Abraham performed this 
 ceremony on his son Ishmael, and all his household. 
 
 Another divine manifestation was afterwards made to 
 Abraham ; three persons, apparently travellers, stood in 
 the door of his tent, and with eager hospitality he hasted 
 to make preparations for their reception. They soon 
 revealed their divine character, and renewed the promise 
 that had been made of Sarah's bearing a son. This 
 promise excited the laughter of Sarah, who was now far 
 -advanced in the decline of life ; but her ridicule was 
 exposed and censured by the heavenly messenger. The 
 angels then proceeded to fulfil another part of their 
 mission, and the Lord announced to Abraham that it 
 was his design to destroy the wicked cities of Sodom 
 tmd Gomorrah. With generous philanthropy, and an 
 anxious desire for the safety of his brother's son, 
 Abraham ventures to plead with God the cause of the 
 ■condemned cities, and to urge the apparent injustice of 
 confounding the innocent with the guilty. He succes- 
 sively asks, whetlier the cities sliould be destroyed if 
 fifty, forty -five, thirty, twenty, or even ten righteous 
 ■should be found within them. He obtains a promise 
 that ten righteous men should avert the dreadful cala- 
 mity, but even that small number was not to be found 
 in the cities of the plain; their guilt was universal, and 
 their ruin inevitable-
 
 30 
 
 Chapter IX. 
 
 THE DESTRUCTION OF SODOM AND 
 GOMORRAH. 
 
 All, all is bushed. Throughout tlie empty streets 
 Nor voice, nor sound. As if the inhabitants. 
 Like the presaging herds that seek the covert 
 Ere the loud thunder rolls, had only felt 
 And shunned the impending horrors. South ey. 
 
 A.M. 2107.... B.C. 1897- 
 
 Two of the angels that had visited Abraham proceeded 
 to Sodom, and were accosted by Lot as he sat at the gate 
 of the city. He received them hospitably in his own. 
 house, affording them shelter from the outrages threat- 
 ened by the wicked inhabitants of Sodom. They pro- 
 tected him from the rage of the citizens, warned him of 
 the destmction which was about to befal the devoted 
 city ; and advised him to retire speedily, lest he should 
 be involved in the general calamity. Lot went to con- 
 vey the tidings to his sons-in-law, but they turned him 
 into ridicule, and refused to share in his flight. Early 
 in the following morning, the celestial messengers roused 
 Lot, and urged him to fly for his life ; he obeyed, and 
 left the city, accompanied by his wife and his two 
 daughters: scarcely had they quitted its walls, wlien 
 the work of destruction began, and Lot's wife, having 
 disobeyed the Divine command by looking back upon 
 the place, was changed into a pillar of salt. 
 
 " Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah 
 brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven ; and he 
 overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the
 
 SODOM AND GOMORRAH. 31 
 
 inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the 
 ground." And when Abraliani " looked towards Sodom 
 and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, 
 and beheld, and lo, the smoke of the country went up as 
 the smoke of a furnace." 
 
 The Asphaltic Lake or Dead Sea occu]nes the site of 
 the cities that were destroyed. Its w^aters are intensely 
 salt, much more so than those of the ocean; careful ex- 
 periments by chemists prove that the saltness of the 
 waters of the Dead Sea is seven times greater than that 
 of the mean saltness of the ocean. "Water thus impreg- 
 nated with salt appears to be incapable of supporting 
 animal life. The coasts are so full of saline matter, that 
 they will not produce plants. Volcanic substances abound 
 in the neighbourhood, and we learn that, for some cen- 
 turies after the Christian era, the eruption of subter- 
 raneous fires was not unfrequent. The memory of this 
 dreadful catastrophe is preserved in many Oriental tra- 
 ditions; among the Arabs, especially, w^e find several 
 legends respecting a rich but wicked nation having been 
 destroyed by the direct interference of the Almighty. 
 
 Lot, after his escape from Sodom, fled first to the little 
 city of Zoar, and from thence afterwards removed to the 
 mountains. His daughters, notwithstanding the solemn 
 Avarning that the destruction of Sodom conveyed, were 
 guilty of great sins. From them were descended the 
 Moabites and Ammonites, two tribes conspicuous in 
 after-times for their hostility to the posterity of Abra- 
 ham.
 
 32 
 
 Chapter X. 
 
 THE BIRTH OF ISAAC— THE BANISHMENT 
 OF HAGAR AND ISHMAEL. 
 
 They sink exliausted in the desert wild, 
 The tender mother and the fainting child ; 
 The springs of life are almost dried away, 
 And death, just hovering, claims the double prey; 
 But God, in mercy, succours their distress, 
 And spreads a tahle in the wilderness. Anon. 
 
 A.M. 2108 B.C. 1896. 
 
 After the destruction of Sodom, Abraham removed 
 southwards to Gerar, and took the same precautions that 
 he had previously done in Egypt, declaring Sarah to 
 be his sister. Consequences precisely similar ensued ; 
 Abimelecli, the king of Gerar, seized upon Sarah, and 
 would have made her his wife ; but being warned by 
 God in a dream of the crime tliat he had unwittingly 
 committed, he restored her to Abraham, and made him 
 large presents as a proof of his repentance. God, at the 
 prayer of Abraham, removed the punisliment which he 
 had inflicted upon the household of Abimelecli; and 
 thus again magnified his prophet in the e3'es of the 
 people among whom he dwelt. 
 
 The promise tliat tlie Lord had made to Abraham of 
 a legitimate son, was at length fulfilled ; Sarah brought 
 forth a son, who was named Isaac, a word signifying 
 laughter y in allusion to Abraham's laugh of joy and con-
 
 THE BIRTH OF ISAAC. 33 
 
 lidence in the Divine promise wlien first liis coming was 
 announced. As he grew up, Ishmael, the son of the 
 bond-maid Hagav, viewed witli a jealous eve the child 
 whose birth had destroyed his hopes of the inheritance. 
 Sarah saw him petulantly mocking at the festival made 
 on the occasion of Isaac's weaning, and demanded from 
 Abraham the immediate expulsion of Hagar and her 
 son. Abraham was unwilling to comply, but God came 
 to his aid, and declared, that though " in Isaac should 
 his seed be called," yet that Ishmael should also become 
 the founder of a mighty nation. Consoled by this pro- 
 mise, Abraham, in compliance with the Divine com- 
 mand, resolved to yield to Sarah's request. In the 
 morning he dismissed Hagar and her son, with a small 
 stock of provisions : the exiles wandered into the wil- 
 derness of Beersheba, which extended along the southern 
 frontier of Judea, and strayed about until their scanty 
 supply was exhausted. 
 
 Seeing no hope of safety, Hagar was unwilling to 
 witness the death of her son by that most painful of all 
 modes, thirst under a sultry sky ; she, therefore, placed 
 him under some shrubs, and retiring to a little distance, 
 in lier utter helplessness, " she lifted up her voice and 
 wept." But in this, the very extreme of misery, God 
 came to her assistance, and sent liis angel, who showed 
 her a well of water, whence she obtained the means of 
 rescuing herself and her son from the horrid fate with 
 which they were threatened. 
 
 From Ishmael descended a great j art of the nation of 
 the Arabs, whose history is a perfect fulfilment of the 
 prophecy delivered at his birth. They are and have been 
 *' a great nation ;" of almost every one in the Arabic 
 peninsula the prophetic character of Ishmael may be 
 given : " he will be a wild man ; his hand will be against
 
 34 
 
 every man, and every man's hand against him ; and he 
 shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren." 
 
 The hand of God was so visibly with Abraham, ex- 
 tending his wealth and increasing his power, that 
 Abimelech, king of Gerar, was filled with awe, and en- 
 tered into a treaty on equal terms with him, perceiving 
 the advantages that would result from the friendship of 
 a man so manifestly aided and protected by the Al- 
 mighty. The peace was ratified near a well, by a solemn 
 sacrifice, after the manner of eastern nations; and the 
 place was called Beersheba, which signifies The Well of 
 SeveUy or The Well of the Oath,
 
 Chapter XI. 
 
 ABRAHAMS FAITH.— DEATH OF SARAH.— MARRIAGE 
 OF ISAAC— DEATH OF ABRAHAM. 
 
 Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, 
 But trust him for his grace ; 
 
 Behind a frowning providence 
 He hides a smiling face. 
 
 His purposes -will ripen fast, 
 
 Unfolding every hour; 
 The bud may have a bitter teiste. 
 
 But sweet may be the flower. 
 
 From A.M. 2133. 
 
 B.C. 1S71 ; to A.M. 2184. . . .B.C. 1S20. 
 
 After some time, when Isaac had almost amved at 
 man's estate, God, to prove the faith of Abraham, and 
 exhibit to all future ages a bright example, both of 
 obedience to the divine decrees, and trust in the divine 
 promises, commanded him to take his beloved son to one 
 of the mountains in the land of Moriah, and there offer 
 him up as a burnt offering. Abraham, without hesita- 
 tion, prepared to obey the difficult command. He pro- 
 ceeded to the mountain, accompanied by his son and two 
 servants. When they approaclied the appointed place, 
 he commanded his servants to wait his return, while he
 
 36 ABRAHAM'S FAITH. 
 
 and ]iis son ascended the mountain to offer a sacrifice to 
 the Lord. As they went up, Isaac expressed his asto- 
 nishment at the absence of the victim ; but was silenced 
 b}'^ the declaration that the Lord would provide a suitable 
 offering. The altar was soon erected, the wood was laid 
 in order, Isaac Avas placed bound upon it, and his father's 
 hand was raised to strike the fatal blow, when the angel 
 of the Lord prevented him. A ram, caught by his horns 
 in a thicket, supplied a fit victim, and this Abraham 
 sacrificed. 
 
 It was assuredly not an undesigned coincidence, that 
 on a part of this very same mountain, the Divine vic- 
 tim, whose sacrifice purchased the redemption of men, 
 subsequently offered himself In every respect, except 
 the actual completion of the sacrifice, Isaac was, on this 
 occasion, a type of Christ ; and it could not have been 
 merely accidental that the type and antitype were ex- 
 hibited on the same spot. 
 
 God again renewed his gracious promises io Abraham, 
 especially that, the most important of all, or rather, in- 
 deed, the end and object of all the rest, which announced 
 that from him the Messiah should be descended. 
 
 Soon after this, Sarah died, in the hundred and twenty- 
 seventh year of her age. As Abraham was a stranger 
 in the land, his family did not possess the right of sepul- 
 ture ; but the neighbouring princes, who both respected 
 and admired him, willingly offered him the use of their 
 family tombs : but as this would, in the East, amount 
 to a union of tribes, Abraham refused the offer, and pur- 
 chased for himself tlie Cave of Machpelah. In another 
 instance, Abraham showed his determination to keep his 
 family distinct from those of his neighbours. He would 
 not permit his son to select a wife from among the Ca- 
 Jiaanites, but sent his steward Eliezer to his old habita-
 
 MARRIAGE OF ISAAC. 37 
 
 tion ill Chavran, to choose, from among the descendants 
 of his hrother Nahor, a wife for his son Isaac. 
 
 The narrative of Eliezer's journey contains some in- 
 teresting particulars of the state of society in the age of 
 patriarchal simplicit}'. The family of Nahor was, as 
 we have already stated, rich in the wealth of that age, 
 flocks and herds; yet, we find Rehekah, the daughter 
 of Bethuel, Nahor's son and successor, going to the well 
 Avith a pitcher to hring water for the household. Eliezer 
 arrived about the hour at which the wonien perforni 
 this part of their daily duty, but before he set about the 
 work for which he was sent, he devoutly prayed to God 
 that lie would direct him to make such a choice as 
 would most contribute to his master's hapj)iness. He 
 furtlier prayed that the damsel, who, when he requested 
 permission to drink from her pitcher, should offer to 
 water his camels also, might be the one whom God had 
 appointed for Isaac. Before he had done speaking, Re- 
 bekah came up from the well bearing her pitcher on her 
 shoulder, according to the custom still prevalent in the 
 East ; and being accosted by Eliezer, she not only cheer- 
 fully allows him to drink, but aids him in watering his 
 camels, and proffers him the hospitality of her father's 
 house. Not until then are any mutual inquiries made 
 respecting name and family ; but when she learns that 
 he is the bearer of a message from Abraham, she hastens 
 home to prepare her father for his reception. The pro- 
 posal of marriage was heard with favour : Rebekah 
 willingly consented to accompany Eliezer on his return. 
 She was united to Isaac, and proved herself a faithful 
 and affectionate wife. 
 
 After the death of Sarah, Abraham married Keturah, 
 by whom he had six children. To these he gave rich 
 gifts, and sent them to establish settlements in the East;
 
 38 DEATH OF ABRAHAM. 
 
 but tlie great bulk of his property he assigned to Isaac. 
 At length the good old patriarch died, having attained 
 the great age of one hundred and seventy-five yeai's. 
 Tshmael must have been previously reconciled to Abra- 
 ham; for he is represented as having joined with Isaac 
 in performing the funeral rites of their common father, 
 and inten-ing his body in the Cave of Machpelah, 
 
 Chapter XII. 
 THE LIFE OF ISAAC. 
 
 O Thou, who redeeraest the weak one at length, 
 And scourgest the sti'ong in the pride of their strength— 
 Who holdest the earth and the sea in thine hand, 
 And rulest eternity's shadowy land. 
 
 To Thee let our thoughts and our oflferings tend, 
 
 Of virtue the Hope, and'of sorrow the Friend ; 
 
 Let the incense of prayer still ascend to the throne, 
 
 Omnipotent, Glorious, Eternal, Alone. — Bishop Ravensceoft. 
 
 From A.M. 2184 B.C. 1820; to A.M. 2245 B.C. 1759. 
 
 The life of Isaac was less eventful than that of his 
 father; he appears to have been the first of his race that 
 practised agriculture; and, in consequence, he led a 
 more settled life, though it scarcely appears that, strictly 
 speaking, he ever had a permanent residence. The place 
 where he dwelt was in the vicinity of Gerar; his great 
 wealth provoked the jealousy of the neighbouring princes, 
 but by the prudence of Isaac the calamities of war were 
 averted, and the peace that had been concluded between 
 Abraham and Abimelech was renewed. 
 
 For many years the divine promise of a numerous 
 progeny seemed unlikely to be accomplished; but at
 
 THE LIFE OF ISAAC. 39 
 
 length Rebekali bare twins, of ^Yllom the elder was 
 named Esau, and the younger Jacob. As the boys 
 grew up, they showed very different dispositions ; Esau, 
 who delighted in hunting and the sports of the field, 
 adopted the ruder manners of the early stage of society ; 
 Jacob, on the contrary, devoted himself to the peaceful 
 occupations of pastoral life, which more accorded w^itli 
 his gentle and timid temper. The hunter Esau was his 
 father's favourite son ; but " Rebekah loved Jacob." 
 Esau's wild and reckless mode of life was badly calculated 
 to foster those dispositions which would lead him to 
 value the sacred privileges of his birth-right ; he prefer- 
 red temporal comfoi-ts to spiritual blessings, and with 
 profane folly, sold his birth-right, with all its advantages, 
 for a mess of pottage. He seemed, indeed, to regard 
 the promises attached to the inheritance of Abraham as 
 uncertain or worthless; for he exclaims, contemptuously, 
 " Behold I am at the point to die, and wdiat profit shall 
 this birth-right do to me?" Thus Esau despised his 
 birth-right, and thus the just punishment of his profane 
 contempt fulfilled the divine prediction. By unfair 
 means he was deprived of his father's dying blessing, 
 which seems to have conve3"ed the formal appointment 
 to be his successor, as lord over his brethren, and over 
 the whole tribe. Before pronouncing the blessing, Isaac, 
 who was old, feeble, and almost blind, wished to taste 
 some venison of his son's procuring, which Esau pro- 
 ceeded to obtain. During his absence, Jacob prepared 
 a kid as venison, and disguising himself, carried it to 
 his father, whom he further deceived by a ready false- 
 hood. Isaac, not without some misgivings, pronounced 
 the solemn benediction, which, when subsequently un- 
 deceived, he did not retract, but to Esau also he gave a 
 blessing, and promised that he should be the founder of
 
 40 THE LIFE OF ISAAC. 
 
 a inighty nation. Esau like all tlioiiglitless impenitent 
 men, saw not in this privation the just chastisement 
 of God for his former profane folly, hut onl^- the injury 
 inflicted upon him hy his hrother; instead of penitently 
 humbling himself before his offended Creator, he vented 
 his rage and disappointment on Jacob, exclaiming, " Is 
 not he rightly named Jacob, — (a name that signifies a 
 supplanier,) — for he has supplanted me these two times; 
 first, he took away m}^ birth-right, and behold now he 
 liath taken away my blessing." 
 
 Rebekah was alarmed for the safety of her fiwourite 
 son, when she heard of Esau's indignation; and she 
 resolved to send him, for security, to the original station 
 of the family in Mesopotamia. Another cause was 
 scarcely less influential ; both Isaac and Rebekah were 
 most unwilling that Jacob should take a wife from 
 among the daughters of the land ; a feeling which had 
 been strengthened by the marriage of Esau with two 
 Canaanitish women. 
 
 On his road to Mesopotamia, Jacob was assured of 
 the divine protection, in a very remarkable vision : he 
 dreamed that he saw a ladder extending from earth to 
 heaven, on which the angels of God ascended and de- 
 scended ; and he heard the voice of the Lord renewing 
 to him the promise made unto Abraham, both of a 
 numerous progeny, and of the future Messiah. In the 
 morning, he erected a stone pillar, as a memorial of this 
 miraculous event, and called the name of the place 
 Bethel, which signifies the house of God. 
 
 Jacob was kindly received by his mother's brother 
 Laban, and entered into a covenant with him to pur- 
 chase his younger daughter, Rachel, as his wife, by a 
 servitude of seven years. At the end of that period, 
 Laban fraudulently substituted his eldest daughter, Leah,
 
 THE LIFE OF ISAAC. 41 
 
 in tlie place of Racliel ; and Jacob was obliged, by the 
 labour of seven additional years, to purchase the hand 
 of her whom he had first chosen. During this time 
 Laban had learned to appreciate the services of his 
 son-in-law, and offered to buy their continuance, by a 
 share in the produce of the flocks. Laban, who was very 
 avaricious, attempted to defraud Jacob of his promised 
 w^ages; but the effort was frustrated by the prudence 
 and skill of Jacob, who was blessed with the favour of 
 his « father's God." 
 
 Chapter XIII. 
 THE LIFE OF JACOB, OR ISRAEL. 
 
 Long the exile's vroe hath lain 
 On thy life a withering chain ; 
 Music from thine own blue streams 
 Wandering through thy fever dreams ; 
 
 Voices from thy country's vines 
 
 Met thee 'midst the alien pines, 
 
 And thy true heart died away, 
 
 And thy spirit would not stay. Mrs. He mans 
 
 From A.M. 2265.... B.C. 17.59; to A.M. 2276. .. .B.C. 1728. 
 
 While dwelling in Mesopotamia, the heai-t of Jacob 
 yearned for a return to his home, with all the longing 
 usual in the natives of a pastoral country. He was 
 anxious once again to behold his aged father, and to 
 seek a reconciliation with his brother, whose anger had 
 been probably abated by time and absence. But, as 
 Lal^n was not likely to consent to a separation that 
 would seriously diminish the wealth and power of his 
 D
 
 42 THE LIFE OF JACOB. 
 
 family, Jacob took advantage of his absence and secretly 
 departed -with his ftunily and property. Rachel stole 
 from her father his teraphim ; that is, either some images 
 that he idolatrously worshipped, or certain amulets to 
 which the superstitious in the East have from the 
 earliest times, ascribed a magical virtue. Laban, on 
 discovering his loss, assembled his servants, and vigor- 
 ously pursued the fugitives ; but on his way he was 
 ^varned by God not to injure his chosen servant. After 
 a vain search for the teraphim, Avliich Rachel had 
 craftily concealed, Laban entered into a treaty with 
 Jacob ; it was confirmed b}^ a solemn sacrifice, and the 
 erection of a stone pillar as a memorial. 
 
 After Jacob had crossed over Jordan, he began to 
 dread the resentment of his brother, and sent to him a 
 messenger to announce his approach, Esau, at the 
 time, dvrelt near Mount Seir, and was become the chief 
 of a powerful tribe. The messenger returned with the 
 alarming intelligence that Esau was approaching in 
 person, at the head of four hundred men. Full of ap- 
 prehension, Jacob resolved to appease his anger by a 
 magnificent present ; and at the same time divided his 
 company into two parts, that, if one should be assailed 
 the other might have an opportunity of escape. The 
 prayer which Jacob offered up on this occasion is given 
 at full length in the S2nd chajDter of Exodus. It is as 
 follows : " O God of my father Abraham, and God of m^-- 
 father Isaac ; the Lord which saidst unto me. Return 
 unto thy countr}^, and to thy kindred, and I will deal 
 well with thee ; I am not worthy of the least of all the 
 mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast showed 
 unto thy servant ; for with my staff I passed over this 
 Jordan, and now I am become two bands. Deliverliie, 
 I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the
 
 D2
 
 THE LIFE OF JACOB. 43 
 
 hand of Esau ; for I fear him, lest he will come and 
 smite me, and the mother with the children. And thou 
 saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as 
 the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for mul- 
 titude." 
 
 During that night, Jacob wrestled with a heavenly 
 messenger in human form, who, by a touch, withered 
 the back-sinew of his thigh : whence his descendants, 
 even to this day, abstain from that part of every animal 
 slain for food. The angel then changed Jacob's name 
 to Israel, which signifies prevailing with God. "And 
 Jacob called the name of the place Peniel ; for I have 
 seen God face to face and my life is preserved." 
 
 Esau's reception of his brother was kind and gene- 
 rous : he refused the proffered gifts, and offered to leave 
 a portion of his followers to guard Jacob's unwarlike 
 train, — a favour which Jacob, with his usual caution, 
 declined. After this interview, the patriarch proceeded 
 to Shalem, where he purchased a field from the inha- 
 bitants, and for a season quietly resumed his pastoral 
 occupations. 
 
 Jacob had, at this time, eleven sons and one daughter, 
 of whom Joseph alone was the offspring of his beloved 
 Rachel : the rest were the children of Leah, or of con- 
 cubines. Now his daughter Dinah, having been dis- 
 honoured by Shechem, the prince of that country, was 
 cruelly avenged by her brothers, Simeon and Levi. 
 By a pretended treaty they threw the Shechemites off 
 their guard, and assaulting them when thus unprepared? 
 ])arbarously slaughtered all the men of the city. This 
 wanton crime greatly grieved Jacob's peaceful heart ; 
 he was forced again to change his habitation, through 
 dread of the resentment of the neighbouring tribes, 
 and he was directed bv God to choose for his new resi-
 
 44 THE LIFE OF JACOB. 
 
 dence Bethel, where he had seen the heavenly vision, 
 on his journey into Mesopotamia. 
 
 At Bethel the covenant was solemnh' renewed between 
 God and the family of Israel. The idolatrous images 
 and superstitious amulets that had been brought from 
 Mesopotamia were collected and destroyed ; and the 
 practice of heathen rites was strictly forbidden. On the 
 other hand, the Lord renewed all the promises that had 
 been made to Abraham, and confirmed Jacob's right to 
 the name of the father of God's chosen people. From 
 thence he removed to Ephrath, a place better known by 
 the name of Bethlehem, given it at a later period ; on 
 his way hither Eachel died in childbirth of her second 
 son, whom she named Benoni, the son of sorrow^ but 
 whom his father called Benjamin, the son of the right 
 hand, or the favoured son. Soon after, Isaac died, at 
 the very advanced age of one hundred and eighty ; he 
 was piously buried by his two sons, Esau and Jacob, in 
 the family sepulchre of Abraham, at Machpelah. 
 
 After the death of his father, Esau "took his wives 
 and his sons, and his daughters, and all the persons of 
 his house, and his cattle and all his beasts, and all his 
 substance, which he had gotten in the land of Canaan, 
 and went into the country from the face of his brother 
 Jacob. For their riches were more than that they 
 might dwell together; and the land wherein they were 
 strangers could not bear them because of their cattle.'* 
 The place which Esau chose for his residence was in the 
 fastnesses of Mount Seir, in the country between Pales- 
 tine and Arabia. As had been foretold by his father 
 Isaac, Esau became the progenitor of a mighty people, 
 the Edomites, or Idumeans. The character of the 
 Edomites perfectly corresponded with Isaac's predic-- 
 tion ; they were a bold and warlike people, maintaining
 
 THE LIFE OF JACOB. 45 
 
 their independence "by the sword;" they were studi- 
 ously attentive to commerce, and tlius made their dwelL 
 ings "the fatness of the earth." 
 
 The sons of Jacob did not imitate the piety and virtue 
 of their father, but disgraced his household by various 
 acts of wickedness. The cruelty and treachery of Simeon 
 and Levi, who massacred all the inhabitants of Siiechem, 
 because the prince of that city had insulted their sister, 
 exposed the patriarch to imminent danger from the 
 vengeance of the other Canaanites ; but Divine Provi- 
 dence watched over the safety of the father of God's 
 chosen people ; "the terror of the Lord was upon all the 
 cities that were round about him." 
 
 After the departure of Esau, "Jacob dwelt in the 
 land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of 
 Canaan." Here his partial fondness for Joseph, the 
 elder so:i of his beloved Rachel, "the child of his old 
 age," provoked the jealous indignation of the rest of the 
 family. Jacob made for his favourite "a coat of many 
 colours," and this, with other marks of parental affection 
 so provoked his brethren, that, "they hated him, and 
 could not speak peaceably unto him." Joseph himself 
 incautiously aggravated their resentment, by relating 
 two dreams which eventually proved to be prophetic :^ 
 one, that while he was binding corn in the field, the 
 sheaves bound by his brethren had bowed in obedience 
 to his sheaf ;— the other, tliat the sun, the moon, and 
 eleven stars, had paid him homage. Both appeared to 
 intimate that he should at some future time exercise 
 sovereignty over his brethren. 
 
 The sons of Jacob having taken their flocks to a 
 distant pasture- ground, Joseph was sent by his father 
 to make inquiries respecting tiieir welfare. When they 
 saw him approach, their hearts were filled with rage,
 
 46 THE LIFE OF JACOB. 
 
 and they conspired against him to slay him. Reuben 
 interfered to prevent the commission of murder, and 
 persuaded his brethren not to shed his blood, but to cast 
 him into a pit, with the intention of returning and 
 rescuing him from his perilous condition. Accordingly, 
 the lad was stripped of his coat of many colours and 
 lowered into a dry cistern which was in the neighbour- 
 hood ; Reuben himself taking no part in the transaction. 
 
 In the mean while a caravan of Ishmaelites, then 
 and for many ages afterwards the principal traffickers 
 of the East, passed by, and to them they resolved to 
 sell their brother as a slave. The merchants purchased 
 him and took him with them to Egypt, where slaves 
 were sold as an article of commerce. To deceive their 
 father the brethren of Joseph smeared his parti- 
 coloured vest with blood, and brought it to Jacob, who 
 at once recognized the well-known garment. The aged 
 man was filled with agony, when he beheld what he 
 deemed the certain sign of his darling son's destruction ; 
 he long rejected all the attempts made by his children 
 to console him, and exclaimed, "I will go down into 
 the grave unto my son mourning." 
 
 Josepli was conveyed to Egypt by his purchasers, and 
 sold to Potiphar, an officer in the service of Phai-aoh, 
 and a captain of the royal guard.
 
 CUAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE HISTORY OF JOSEPH. 
 
 The power above, for purposes unknown. 
 Raises the faH'n, and brings the lofty down; 
 Ebides the vigilance of all our care. 
 Our surest hopes deceives, and mocks despair. 
 
 -Epigoniad. 
 
 From A.M. 227( 
 
 .B.C. 1728; to A.M. 2369 
 
 .B.C. 1635. 
 
 God was with Joseph in his captivity, and gave him. 
 favour in the eyes of his master, who soon made him 
 the chief of his household. So great was Potiphar's 
 confidence in his integrity, that "he left all that he had 
 in Joseph's hand, and he knew not aught he had, save 
 the bread he ate." 
 
 But Potiphar's wife being pleased with the beauty of 
 the youthful Hebrew stranger, tempted him to be guilty 
 of a heinous crime. This he steadfastly resisted, ex- 
 claiming, "HoAv can I do this great wickedness, and
 
 48 THE HISTORY OF JOSEPH. 
 
 sin against God !" Enraged at his refusal, slie accused 
 him of violence and insult, and produced his garment, 
 which he had left behind in fleeing from her, as an 
 evidence of his guilt. Potiphar, without any further 
 inquiry, pronounced sentence of condemnation upon his 
 innocent servant : Joseph was thrown into a dungeon: 
 *^ his feet they made iast in the stocks ; the iron entered 
 into his sduI." 
 
 But his merciful Lord did not desert his servant in 
 the prison : he procured him the favour of his jailer, 
 who employed him as his assistant, and lightened the 
 miseries of his confinement. After some time, the chief 
 butler and the chief baker of the royal household were 
 sent to the same prison ; and mutual sufferings soon 
 brought them acquainted with the young Hebrew. 
 Both being perplexed by extraordinary dreams applied 
 to Joseph for an interpretation. He explained their 
 visions to be predictions of their respective fates ; that 
 the chief baker should perish on the scaffold, and the 
 chief butler be restored to his former honours. 
 
 This explanation was justified by the event ; but the 
 chief butler, in the hour of prosperity, forgot his friend 
 in the prison, until he was recalled to his memory by 
 the state of anxiety into which Pharaoh was thrown by 
 two dreams, which baffled the sagacity of the Egyptian 
 diviners. In this difficulty the chief butler related to 
 his master the wondrous skill wdth which Joseph had 
 interpreted his dream and that of the chief baker in the 
 prison, and the anxious monarch immediately sent for 
 the Hebrew. Joseph soon arrived ; and with pious 
 humility declared, that he could not by his own wisdom 
 satisfy the troul)led king, but that the God whom he- 
 served could alone solve the difficulty. "It is not in 
 me," he said; "God shall give Pharaoh an answer of
 
 TITE HISTORY OF JOSEPH. 49 
 
 peace." The king related Iiis visions : lie dreamed that 
 he had seen seven fat kine devoured hy other seven 
 that were lean and withered ; and seven ears of good 
 corn consumed by seven others that were parched and 
 blasted; Joseph declared, that God, by these dreams, 
 Avhich were in effect but one, had typified what was 
 coming on the land, and explained, that by these sym- 
 bols were prefigured seven years of plenty, which were 
 to be followed by seven years of scarcity and famine ; 
 he therefore advised the king to erect granaries and 
 store-houses, where the superabundance of the plentiful 
 years might be safely kept until the period of barrenness 
 and want. Pharaoh, convinced that a person whom God 
 had thus inspired with wisdom, would be his safest 
 counsellor in the approaching emergency, not only re- 
 stored him to freedom, but took him into his service, and 
 appointed him his chief minister. 
 
 The 3'ears of i)lenty soon passed away, and the season 
 of famine commenced. The distress was not confined to 
 Egypt alone, but spread over the surrounding country ; 
 and Canaan suffered as severely as the rest. The news 
 that there was corn in Egypt reached Israel's family : 
 and ten of the brethren were sent into that country to 
 purchase food. Benjamin, the second son of the beloved 
 Rachel, was kept at home by his father, who consoled 
 himself with him as the nearest in blood and resem- 
 blance to his lost favourite Joseph. 
 
 When the ten sons of Jacob reached Egypt, they pro- 
 ceeded to the place where their forgotten brother pre- 
 sided over the distribution of the royal stores. He knew 
 them at the first glance ; but they could not recognise, 
 amidst all the grandeur of the Egyptian ruler, him 
 whom they had sold to the Ishmaelite merchants. Jo- 
 seph, however, immediately knew his brethren, but dis-
 
 50 THE HISTORY OF JOSEPH. 
 
 guising his feelings, he treated them harshly, affected to 
 believe them spies, and threathened them with punish- 
 ment. In reply to their eager denial of any unlawful 
 design, he declared his resolution to detain one of theb 
 numher as a hostage, until they would produce the 
 eleventh brother of whom they had spoken. Simeon 
 •was the person selected as a hostage ; and the remainder, 
 having received the corn for which they came, returned 
 home. On their way, they discovered that the money 
 which they had paid had been returned to them; each 
 found his portion in the mouth of his sack ; and this 
 inexplicable circumstance filled them with melancholy 
 forebodings for the fate of their brother they had left 
 behind them in Egypt. 
 
 The corn brought from Egypt was soon exhausted ; it 
 was necessary to go for a second supply ; but Jacob was 
 unwilling to part with Benjamin, whom he regarded as 
 the last memorial of his beloved Racliel. At the same 
 time, the others were afraid to venture into the presence 
 of Joseph, after his express command, without bringing 
 the person whom he had ordered them to produce. The 
 earnest supplications of his family, and especially the 
 passionate entreaty of Judah, wrung a reluctant assent 
 from the aged patriarch : he permitted Benjamin to de- 
 part, and sent a rich present to the Egyptian governor, 
 as a means of conciliating his favour. Once more, then, 
 the children of Israel took the road to Egypt. 
 
 When Joseph beheld his brethren, he ordered his 
 servant to make preparations for their entertainment, 
 and directed that they should be brought to his house. 
 Such unusual kindness to strangers, especially when 
 contrasted with his former severity, rendered them sus- 
 picious ; and they begun to fear that the price of the 
 former corn they had purchased, which had been so
 
 THE HISTORY OF JOSEPH. 51 
 
 strangely returned, would be made a pretence for re- 
 ducing them to slavery. They went to the steward of 
 Joseph's household, and related the circumstance, de- 
 claring that they had now brought double money; but 
 he calmed their fears, asserting that he had the price of 
 their former provisions, and restoring to them the captive 
 Simeon. On Joseph's return at noon, his brethren were 
 presented to him, and made their obeisance. But when 
 he beheld his own brother, the beloved Benjamin, Joseph 
 was unable to restrain his feelings, and was forced to 
 retire to give vent to his tears. 
 
 At the feast, a new surprise awaited them ; they were 
 served according to the precise order of their ages, — a 
 circumstance which naturally excited their astonishment 
 in a land where they deemed themselves strangers. 
 Joseph also showed special favour to Benjamin, sending 
 to him a larger portion than to the rest of his brethren. 
 
 When the feast was concluded, Joseph ordered their 
 sacks to 1)6 filled with corn, and their money to be 
 returned ; but he secretly directed his steward to conceal 
 his owTi silver cup in the sack of Benjamin. On the 
 following morning they departed on their journey home- 
 wards, but were soon overtaken by an Egyptian guard, 
 their baggage searched, and the cup was found where it 
 had been previously concealed. Filled with confusion, 
 the brethren were brought back to the presence of Jo- 
 seph, and he, still trying them, declared his resolution 
 to detain Benjamin as a slave. The earnestness with 
 •which they besought him to spare the favourite child of 
 their father, and not " bring down his gray hairs with 
 son-ow to the grave;" the ready devotion with which 
 Judah offered to bear the penalty of the supposed trans- 
 gression, proved to Josepli that his brethren were no 
 longer actuated by the wicked and foolish jealousy of
 
 52 THE HISTORY OF JOSEPH. 
 
 which he had been so nearly the victim. Unable any 
 loiiger to restrain himself, he ordered the Egyptians to 
 leave him, and made himself known to his brethren 
 with many tears. 
 
 The confusion of Israel's sons may be better imagined 
 than described ; they were unable to utter a single 
 syllable ; they were filled with shame and terror at 
 beholding the brother whom they had sold as a slave, 
 now the absolute master of their destiny. Joseph has- 
 tened to relieve tlieir anxiety ; he generously declared 
 that their selling him as a slave was a wise dispensation 
 of Providence, to provide for their support during the 
 years of famine. He then desired them to invite liis 
 father to come down into Egypt with all his family and 
 follov»'ers, promising to give them the good of all the 
 land of Egypt for their support.- 
 
 The unexpected intelligence that his son Joseph was 
 not only alive, but the prime minister of the powerful 
 Egyptian king, was at first scarcely credited by Jacob. 
 But when at length he became convinced of its truth, 
 he readily embraced the invitation that had been sent ; 
 and departed for Egypt, eager to embrace the beloved 
 child whose loss he had never ceased to lament. The 
 meeting between the father and son, after so long a 
 separation, was tender in the extreme. "Now let me 
 die," said the affectionate father, " because I have seen 
 thy face, that thou art yet alive." Pharaoh readily 
 confirmed the promise made by Joseph ; and Israel and 
 his family were put in full possession of the land of 
 Goshen. 
 
 The administration of Joseph was wise and beneficent. 
 •He provided for the strengtli and permanence of the 
 I'oyal power, and at tlie same time secured the comforts 
 of the people, by fixing a stated rent on their lands
 
 THE HISTORY OF JOSEPH. 53 
 
 instead of the arbitrary exactions to which tliey liad 
 been accustomed. His power was strengthened by his 
 alliance with the priestly caste; for he was married to 
 the daughter of the priest of On, a celebrated Egyptian 
 city, known in profane history by the name of Ileliopolis. 
 
 Jacob survived his journey to Egypt about sixteen 
 years ; shortly before his death he summoned his chil- 
 <lren round his bed, and having exacted from them a 
 promise that they would bury him in the grave of his 
 fathers, pronounced the destiny of the several tribes that 
 were to descend from them and the sons of Joseph, in a 
 remarkable prophetic blessing. The most important an- 
 nouncement was that made to Judah ; since it declared 
 that he should be the progenitor of the Messiah. This 
 remarkable prediction was declared in the following 
 terms : " The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor 
 a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh {He ivJio 
 is sent) come." "We shall see hereafter, that the birth 
 of our Saviour Jesus Christ took place just when the 
 sceptre had departed from Judah, and when the Jews 
 liad become permanently subject to a foreign yoke. 
 
 Jacob was buried by his sons in Machpelah, the 
 burying place of Abraham. After their return to Egypt, 
 Joseph's brethren were at first afraid that he would 
 revenge his former ill-treatment upon them ; but he 
 repeated his 'assurances of protection, and promises of 
 favour. He attained his hundred and tenth year, and 
 saw his descendants of the fourth generation. On liis 
 death-bed he prophesied the return of the Israelites to 
 Canaan, the land promised to the posterity of Abraham 
 by the Almighty, and exacted an oath from his children 
 that, when the predicted event should take place, they 
 would cause his bones to be carried to the sepulchre. 
 
 It is worthy of remark, that in the future history
 
 54 THE HISTORY OF JOSEPH. 
 
 of the Israelites, Ephraim, and Manasseh, the sons of 
 Joseph, rank as heads of trihes, on an equality with the 
 elevon sons of Jacob. 
 
 Chapter XV. 
 
 BONDAGE OF THE ISRAELITES IN EGYPT. 
 BIRTH AND EDUCATION OF MOSES. 
 
 The tyrant's vengeance, runs its mad career 
 
 Of hatred, sharpened by suspicious fear : 
 
 Thus, doubly urged, nor age nor sex be spares. 
 
 Deaf to the infant's cries, the mother's prayers. — Anon, 
 
 From A.M. 2427 B.C. 1577: to A.M. 2513 B.C. 1491. 
 
 During the century that succeeded the death of Joseph 
 the Israelites had grown into a nation ; but no particulars 
 of their progress are recorded. Their increasing num- 
 bers provoked the jealousies and fears of the Egyptians, 
 and when, after a change of dynasty, another Pharaoh 
 or king arose, " that knew not Joseph," the new sove- 
 reign became a bitter persecutor of the colony in Goshen. 
 He reduced them to slavery, and compelled them to 
 perform the most laborious tasks. But the more their 
 enemies oppressed them, the more God multiplied the 
 enslaved people ; and Pharaoh, dreading lest on the 
 occasion of a war with an}" foreign nation they should 
 join his enemies, issued orders that all the male children 
 should be destroyed immediately after their birth. 
 
 Soon after the publication of this dreadful edict, a 
 woman named Jochebed, of the tribe of Levi, had a son 
 of surpassing beauty; and in the hope that God intended 
 some great thing through one so highly gifted, trusted 
 in Him, and risked the consequence of disobeying the
 
 THE BIRTH OF MOSES. 
 
 55 
 
 law, and liid him in the house three months. At the 
 end of that time, finding further conceahnent impos- 
 sible, she wove an ark or cradle of bulrushes ; in which, 
 having laid the child, she exposed him on the banks of 
 the river, stationing his sister, Miriam, at a distance, to 
 watch the event. It hajjpened that the daughter of 
 Pharaoh, with her maid servants, came soon after to 
 bathe in the river; and discovering the ark amid the 
 plants that grew luxuriantly on the banks of the Nile, 
 she ordered it to be brought by her attendants. The 
 sight of the helpless infant, whom she at once knew to 
 be one of the victims of her father's cruel edict, moved 
 her compassion ; she sought to save his life, and when 
 she made inquiries for a nurse, the sister of the rescued 
 boy offered her assistance to procure one, and thus the 
 child was given back to his mother. The boy, thus 
 miraculously preserved, was named Moses, which sig- 
 nifies taken out of the water; ^ when weaned, he was 
 brought again to the princess, who educated him as her 
 own son, and had him instructed " in all the wisdom of 
 the Egyptians."
 
 56 BONDAGE OF THE ISRAELITES. 
 
 When INIoses grew up, lie was made acquainted with 
 the secret of his birth, and began to sympathize in tlie 
 sufferings to wliich he saw liis l)retbren subjected. See- 
 ing, one day, an Egyptian cruelly ill-treating a Hebrew, 
 he interfered in his defence, and slew the oppressor, 
 supposing that his brethren would have understood how 
 that God, by his hand, would deliver them. They, 
 however, were so deeply bowed down, and their trust in 
 God was so weak, that they were unable to understand 
 liis meaning; and when Moses, having found a Hebrew 
 injuring one of his own brethren, reproved him sharply, 
 the man replied, "Who made thee a prince and a judge 
 over us ; intendest thou to kill me as thou killedst the 
 Egyptian yesterday?" Moses, finding that the circum- 
 stance was known, fled from the wrath of Pharaoh, and 
 sought refuge in Midian, a district of Stony Arabia. 
 
 For tlie space of about forty years, Moses continued 
 to reside with the hospitable tribes that had afforded 
 him shelter. He married the daughter of Jethro, a 
 Midianite priest, and probably prince, — for in ancient 
 times the civil and religious authorities were rarely dis- 
 united, — and by her had a son, whom he named Gershom 
 (an exile), indicating that he regarded himself as a 
 stranger and sojourner in the land of Midian. Moses 
 had attained the age of fourscore years when God sum- 
 moned him as his chosen instrument to deliver his peo- 
 ple from bondage. While tending his flocks on Mount 
 Horeb, Moses beheld a bush, in the midst of which was 
 a flame of fire burning fiercely, and yet the bush was 
 not consumed. When he approached to investigate the 
 cause of such a strange appearance, a voice from the 
 fire addressed him by name, commanding him to put off 
 the shoes from his feet, for that the ground on which he 
 stood was holy. The Lord then revealed himself to
 
 BONDAGE OF THE ISRAELITES. 57 
 
 Moses, as tlie God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and 
 tlie God of Jacob ; he declared that he had compassion 
 on the Israelites for the miseries they had endured, and 
 that he had selected Moses to effect their liberation. 
 For this purpose the Lord directed him to go to Pha- 
 raoh, and demand permission for the Israelites, in the 
 name of their God, to depart from Egypt. Moses 
 dreaded to appear before Pharaoh with sucli a demand^ 
 and he inquired the name of the awful Being who thus 
 commissioned him as an ambassador to the Egyptian 
 monarch. "And God said, I am that I am. Thus 
 shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I am hath 
 sent me unto you." He further obtained a promise of 
 the divine protection, and was invested with the power 
 cf working miracles : as he complained that he was slow 
 in speech, he was directed to take his brotlier Aaron as 
 his assistant, whose gift of eloquence would supply his. 
 own deficiencies. 
 
 Aaron, divinely warned, met Moses on his journey, 
 and the two brothers detailed their commission to the 
 children of Israel. They next went to Pharaoh, and de- 
 manded from him permission for the Israelites to go out 
 into the desert, and offer a solemn sacrifice to the Lord. 
 Pharaoh listened to them with mingled astonishment 
 and indignation; and so far was he from complying, that 
 he ordered the tasks of the oppressed Hebrews to be 
 increased ; and the Israelites, in their new sufferings, 
 Idamed the interference of ]Moses and Aaron. Moses, 
 in his distress, applied to the Lord, who answered him 
 under his most solemn name, Jehovah ; renewed the 
 promises that had been made to Abraham, Isaac, and 
 Jacob ; and confirmed the wavering faith of Moses, by 
 the most gracious assurances of continued favour, aid, 
 and protection. 
 
 E2
 
 1 1- \ 
 
 ^4 p! ^- 
 
 Chapter XVI. 
 
 THE TEN PLAGUES OF EGYPT.— THE 
 PASSAGE OF THE RED SEA. 
 
 The storm that shimbered till the host 
 
 Of blood-staiued Pharaoh left their trembling coast, 
 
 Theu bade the deep in wild commotion flow. 
 
 And heaved an ocean on their march below. Campbell. 
 
 A.M. 2513. 
 
 ,B.C. 1491. 
 
 Moses, on the renewal of the divine command, again 
 announced his mission to his brethren ; but they, dispi- 
 rited by the additional persecution to which they had 
 been subjected, either disregarded his words, or answered 
 him with complaints and reproaches. He next went to 
 Pharaoh, who demanded a miracle, as a proof of his 
 being a divine messenger. By the direction of Moses,
 
 THE TEN PLAGUES OF EGYPT. 59 
 
 Aaron threw down his rod, which was changed into a 
 serpent ; the Egyptian sorcerers imitated this miracle 
 by their delusive arts, hut Aaron's rod swallowed up 
 theirs, — thus at once demonstrating the superiority of 
 the real miracle over the apparent. But Pharoali's heart 
 was hardened ; he persevered in his obstinate refusal, 
 and thus provoked the righteous vengeance of the God 
 of Israel. 
 
 The first plague affected the great object of the 
 national pride and national worship of the Egyptians, 
 their beloved river Nile. Pharaoh having again refused 
 the required permission, Moses stretched forth his rod 
 above the river, and its waters were turned to blood. 
 Tlie sorcerers, by some means, imitated this miracle 
 also, and Pharaoh again repeated his refusal. The 
 second plague was derived from the same source as the 
 first. At the command of the prophet, the polluted 
 waters brought froth an immense multitude of frogs, 
 which filled the houses and chambers of the Egyptians, 
 and swarmed in the very palace. Again the magicians 
 deluded the monarch by an imitation of the miracle; 
 but the abundance of these loathsome reptiles proved 
 such an intolerable torment, that Pharaoh was fain to 
 solicit Moses for their removal, and promised to permit 
 the departure of the Israelites. 
 
 The frogs were all removed in one day ; but the 
 Egyptian king, yielding again to temptation, as soon as 
 the punishment was withdrawn, retracted his permis- 
 sion; and his obstinacy was punished by a third and 
 more loathsome plague. Vermin covered the garments 
 and persons of the Egyptians, in disgusting swarms; a 
 dreadful punishment to a nation in which scrupulous 
 cleanliness was an essential part of religion. Again, on 
 tlie repentance of Pharaoh, the torment was removed,
 
 60 THE TEN PLAGUES OF EGYPT. 
 
 and again his obstinate pride called down renewed chas- 
 tisements. There came countless swarms of flies, that 
 devastated every part of Egypt except Goshen, where 
 the Israelites dwelt. A dreadful murrain attacked the 
 cattle of the Egyptians; and, as they were worshippers 
 of animals, probably destroyed some of the objects of 
 their adoration, while the flocks and herds of the descend- 
 ants of Abraham remained uninjured. Ulcerous boils 
 spread over the bodies of Pharaoh and his people ; the 
 magicians suffered as severely as the rest, and fled from 
 Moses and Aaron, resigning the contest in despair. A 
 terrific storm of thunder, lightning, and hail, destroyed 
 the harvests throughout the land, broke down the trees, 
 and smote every herb of the field. So great was the 
 desolation, that the people exclaimed, " Already is Egypt 
 destroyed." The wheat and rye, which had not yet 
 grown up, escaped the destructive effects of the hail, but 
 were utterly destroyed by the swarms of locusts that 
 overspread the land at the summons of Moses. Pharaoh 
 now offered to come to an agreement ; he consented to 
 the departure of the adult population, but insisted on 
 retaining the children as hostages : the conditions were 
 rejected, and he yielded the point for a moment; but 
 ■when the locusts w^re removed, he retracted all his 
 concessions. 
 
 The next plague was a darkness over the land, so 
 intense, that it is described in Scripture as "a darkness 
 that might be felt ;" it lasted during three days: "but 
 the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.'* 
 Pharaoh, in great alarm, made another attempt to com- 
 promise; but his demand, that the cattle should be left 
 behind, was rejected, and a tenth plague was fomid 
 necessar}^ to enforce his submission to the will of the 
 J^lmighty. "At midnight, the Lord smote all the first-
 
 THE PASSOVER. 61 
 
 Jjorn in tlie land of Egypt, from the first-horn of Pha- 
 raoh that sat on the throne, unto the fivst-horn of the 
 captive that was in the dungeon; and all the first-born 
 of the cattle. And there was a great cry in the land of 
 Egypt ; for there was not a house where there was not 
 one dead." From this wide-spreading destruction the 
 Israelites escaped ; for, l)y the direction of Moses, tlie 
 head of every family had sacrificed a lamb to the Lord, 
 and sprinkled the blood over the door-posts of his house, 
 and the Destroying Angel passed over every house thus 
 distinguished. In memory of this signal interposition, 
 the feast of the Passover, the most solemn Jewish fes- 
 tival, was instituted. It was designed to be a type of 
 the great sacrifice of Jesus Christ, as appears especially 
 from 1 Cor. v. 7. 
 
 Pharaoh was now for a time thoroughly humbled ; he 
 not only consented to let the children of Israel go, but 
 -exerted himself to hasten their departure, fearing lest 
 further resistance should provoke utter destruction. The 
 Israelites, after an interval of four hundred and thirty 
 years from Abraham's first arrival in Canaan, of which 
 two hundred and fifteen had elapsed since Jacob's descent 
 into Egypt, proceeded towards the land that had been 
 promised to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, the Lord 
 miraculously guiding their course in the day by a pillar 
 of a cloud, and in the night by a pillar of fire. Pharaoh 
 and his subjects soon regretted the loss of such a nume- 
 rous and profitable body of slaves ; and the Egyptian 
 army, headed by their king, marched in pursuit of the 
 Israelites. The pillar of the cloud, which had hitherto 
 preceded the march of God's chosen people, now moved 
 to their rear, and prevented the Egyptians from discover- 
 ing them; but when the fugitives reached the shores of 
 the Red Sea, and found thuir further retreat apparently
 
 62 THE PASSAGE THROUGH THE RED SEA. 
 
 intercepted by its waters, they murmured against Moses, 
 and complained that, instead of effecting their deliver- 
 ance, he had exposed them to certain destruction. Moses, 
 by the direction of the Lord, held his rod over the sea, 
 and its waters miraculously parted in sunder, leaving a 
 passage, through which the Israelites passed uninjured. 
 Pharaoh and his host attempted to pursue them, but the 
 prophet again extended his rod over the sea : the waters 
 rushed back to their accustomed bed, and thus the 
 Egyptians, who dared with impious pride to fight against 
 God, with their horses and chariots, miserably perished.
 
 Chapter XVII. 
 
 THE WANDERINGS IN THE DESERT.-THE 
 ENCAMPMENT AT MOUNT SINAI. 
 
 Ill fare the hapless wanderers, placed 
 
 In Ramah's wilds, or Heber's waste ; 
 
 111, when the scorching sun is high, 
 
 And when the expected fount is drv. — Scott 
 
 A.M. 2511 B.C. 1490. 
 
 After the passage of the Red Sea the Israelites en- 
 tered the parched and arid deserts of Arabia, the desolate 
 aspect of which contrasted sadly with their recollections 
 of the fertile land of Goshen. After a march of three 
 (laj's, they reached the wells of Marah, and hasted to 
 slake their Lurning thirst ; — but they found the water so 
 bitter that they could not drink it, and began to mur- 
 mur against their leader. Moses, by divine direction.
 
 64 WANDERINGS IN THE DESERT. 
 
 threw into the wells the branches of a certain tree, upon 
 which the waters were rendered sweet and wholesome. 
 
 Having rested here for some time, they directed their 
 course, not towards Canaan, but to Mount Sinai, where 
 they were to receive their laws from God. On their 
 journey they began to complain of want of food ; and for- 
 getting all the miracles that had been wrought in their 
 favour, bitterly reproached Moses for having brought 
 them from the fertile land of Egypt, to perish by famine 
 in the wilderness. Again God interfered to aid them, — 
 a miraculous flight of quails was directed to their camp, 
 and fell around them in immense numbers. A more 
 remarkable miracle was the supply of manna. By the 
 beneficence of Jehovah it was constantly afforded to the 
 Israelites in proportions suited to their wants ; none fell 
 on the Sabbath, but a double supply was regularly 
 afforded on the preceding day. 
 
 At Rephidim the want of water again produced dis- 
 content ; but ^Moses by the divine command, smote the 
 rock, and streams flowed forth. Soon afterwards, the 
 camp was attacked by the Amalekites, a tribe of the 
 desert ; Joshua took the command of the fighting-men, 
 while Moses, with Aaron and Hur, viewed the battle 
 from a neighbouring eminence. While Moses held up 
 his hands, the Israelites prevailed: but when, through 
 weariness, they fell languidly down to his side, the tribe 
 ■of Amalek b.ad the superiority. The companions of the 
 prophet observing this, placed him upon a stone, and 
 held up ^his hands, until the Amalekites were totally 
 routed. The fame of this victory brought Jethro to the 
 camp, with the wife and children of Moses; by the 
 advice of his father-in-law, the prophet now made 
 arrangements for the civil and military government of 
 the people, appointing, in regular subordination, leaders,
 
 ENCAMPMENT AT MOUNT SINAI. 65 
 
 of tens, of fifties, of hundreds, and of thousands ; but 
 reserving- to himself the supremacy of the whole, as 
 being tlie authorized interpreter of the divine will. 
 
 In the third month after their departure from Egypt, 
 tlie Israt^ites reached ]\Iount Sinai, where the presence 
 of Jehovah was to be peculiarly manifested. Directions 
 were given that none should presume to touch the 
 mountain, and all were ordered to sanctify themselves 
 against tlie third day, when the Lord was to announce 
 his wondrous presence on the hill. 
 
 " And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, 
 that there were thunders, and lightnings, and a thick 
 cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet 
 exceeding loud, so that all the people that was in the 
 camp trembled. And Mount Sinai was altogether on a 
 smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire ; and 
 the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, 
 and the whole mount quaked greatly." After these 
 awful preparations the Lord summoned Moses to ascend 
 the hill, where he received the sacred code of laws by 
 which God's chosen people was thenceforth to be ruled, 
 iinder his own immediate government ; and which was 
 moreover, designed, by its moral and ceremonial institu- 
 tions, to be " a schoolmaster" to bring men unto Christ.
 
 66 
 
 Chapter XVIII. 
 
 THE GOLDEN CALF.-THE WANDERING IN 
 THE DESERT. 
 
 But yet forgetful of tlieir call sublime, 
 In Siiiai's sight they madly rush to crime. 
 Provoke, in wantonness, God's righteous doom, 
 And the wild desert proves a nation's tomb. Anon. 
 
 From A.M. 2oU.... B.C. 1490; to A M. 2553.... B.C. 1451. 
 
 The outward signs of Jeliovali's presence were still 
 displayed on Mount Sinai ; the cloud rested on its sum- 
 mit, the thunder rolled, and the lightning flashed around 
 its sides; and yet in the midst of these awful appearances, 
 the Israelites were guilty of an act of rebellion, and 
 deserted the worship of the Lord to serve dumb idols. 
 Impatient of their leader's long absence, they came in a 
 tumultuous multitude to Aaron, saying " Up, make us 
 gods, which shall go before us ; for as for this Moses, the 
 man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we 
 know not what is become of him." Aaron yielded his 
 consent, and, having collected the ornaments that had 
 been brought from Egypt, he formed from them a golden 
 calf, an object of idolatrous worship adopted in imitation 
 of the Egyptians, whose deities were frequently repre- 
 sented under the form of animals. "When Moses, who 
 had been now forty days on the mountain, learned from 
 the Lord the crime of which the people had been guilty, 
 he hastily descended towards the camp, bringing with 
 him the two tables of stone on which the ten command- 
 ments had been divinely written. As he approached, the 
 sight of the people dancing around the object of their
 
 THE GOLDEN CALF. 69 
 
 stupid veneration, filled him Avith such wratli, that he 
 " cast the tables of stone out of his hands and brake 
 them beneath the mount. And he took the calf -which 
 they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it 
 to powder and strewed it upon the water, and made the 
 children of Israel drink of it." The tribe of Levi, which 
 seems not to have shared in this breach of the covenant, 
 aided in taking vengeance on the guilty, and slew three 
 tliousand of the criminals. The awful cloud of glory 
 that announced the presence of the Lord was with- 
 drawn from its place ; but, Closes having removed the 
 Hoi}' Tabernacle beyond the precincts of the polluted 
 camp, and made intercession for the people, God was 
 graciously pleased to receive the Israelites once more 
 under his protection. Moses again ascended the Mount, 
 and, after a second absence of forty days, returned with 
 two new tables of commandments in place of those that 
 had been broken. 
 
 The government to which the Israelites Avere now^ 
 subject, may be described as a Theocracy; that is, a 
 government in which God himself was the sovereign. 
 The priests, the legal interpreters of the divine will, were 
 directed to" be chosen from the descendants of Aaron, 
 and all the inferior ministers of religion belonged to the 
 tribe of Levi. All the institutions appointed for the 
 people were directed to one great end, the preservation 
 of the purity of religious worship ; the Israelites were 
 not chosen to be the most healthy or the most powerful 
 of nations, but to be the guardians of the knowledge of 
 the true God, until the arrival of that Divine Saviour 
 who was to unite both Jews and Gentiles in one flock, 
 under one Shepherd. 
 
 At length, the camp at Mount Sinai was broken up, 
 and the people, still under the miraculous guidance of
 
 70 THE WANDERING IN THE DESERT. 
 
 Jehovali, began tlieir march towards the promised land. 
 But notwithstanding all the signs and wonders that 
 had been wrought in their favour, they broke out into 
 frequent acts of rebellion against Moses; and on every 
 trifling occasion provoked, by their seditious murmnr- 
 ings, the righteous anger of the Almighty. At Taberah 
 their unjust complaints were punished by a fire that con- 
 sumed a great portion of their camp, but on the earnest 
 supplication of Moses, the flames were extinguished. 
 Soon after, the manna, miraculousl}- supplied, began to 
 pall upon their sickly appetites, "they lusted for flesh;" 
 a second supply of quails was granted them at Kibroth- 
 hattaavah, but their rebellion was the cause of a grievous 
 pestilence, b^^ which multitudes perished. A domestic 
 disturbance, caused by the jealousy of his sister, soon 
 after troubled the peace of Moses: but the mutinous 
 Miriam was punished with leprosy, and excluded from 
 the camp until she had completed the legal term of 
 purification. 
 
 At length the travels of the Israelites seemed to ap- 
 proach their termination ; tliey arrived at a place called 
 Kadesh-barnea, on the soutliern frontier of Canaan ; and. 
 twelve spies, selected one from each tribe, were sent to 
 explore the promised land. They were absent dui-ing 
 forty days, at the end of which time they returned, 
 bearing specimens of the rich fruits of the country. But 
 ten out of the twelve gave a most alarming account of 
 the strength of the Canaanites, and declared that any 
 attempt to subdue nations so powerful and warlike was 
 utterly hopeless. The remaining two, Joshua and Caleb, 
 spoke in a more encouraging tone; but the Israelites 
 w^ere thoroughly terrified, and exclaimed in the bitter- 
 ness of their souls, " Would to God that we had died in 
 Egypt or the wilderness."
 
 THE WANDERING IN THE DESERT. 'J I 
 
 To punish the act of rebellion, the Lord ordained, 
 that of the existing generation, none should enter the 
 promised land but Joshua and Caleb. Forty years of 
 Avandering in the desert were to expiate the national 
 crime, after which a new generation was to inherit the 
 promises made to Abraham. When these tidings were 
 announced, the people mourned greatly, and passing 
 from one extreme to the other, they proposed an imme- 
 diate invasion. But their rebellion was punished by a 
 severe defeat inflicted on them by the united forces of 
 the Amalekites and Canaanites at Hormah ; after which 
 they directed their course back to the desert. The ten 
 spies, whose unbelief and covrardice had caused the 
 people to disobey the commands of the Lord, and refuse 
 to confide in his promises, were cut off by a pestilence 
 sent by God for their punishment. 
 
 Notwithstanding this remarkable interposition of Pro- 
 vidence, some of the leaders of the people, becoming 
 envious of the authority possessed by Moses and Aaron, 
 rebelled against them, and against Him from whom 
 their authority was derived. Ambition was their mo- 
 tive, respect for the people their pretence : "Ye take too 
 much upon you," they exclaimed, " seeing all the con- 
 gregation is holy;" thus, as is too often the case, endea- 
 vouring to seduce the multitude to sin by appealing to 
 their passions and their pride. The chiefs of this insur- 
 rection were Korah, a Levite, who probably aspired to 
 the office of Chief Priest; and Dathan, Abiram, and On, 
 descended from Reuben, the eldest son of Israel, who 
 seem to have thought that the right of primogeniture 
 gave them a just claim to temporal authority, and who, 
 therefore, puffed up by their fancied title, despised " the 
 authority ordained of God." 
 
 But their rebellion was fearfully punished ; the earth 
 F
 
 72 THE WANDERING IN THE DESERT. 
 
 opened and swallowed up Korah and his company alive ; 
 two hundred and fifty of his associates were destroyed 
 Ly fire. " On the morrow all the congregation of the 
 children of Israel murmured against Moses and against 
 Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the Lord." 
 To punish this fresh act of contumac}^, the Lord sent a 
 pestilence among them, hy which fourteen thousand 
 seven hundred ])erished. This plague would have been 
 even more destructive, had not Aaron, at the command 
 of Moses, hastily taken his censer, filled it with incense, 
 and made an atonement for the people. " And he stood 
 between the living and the dead, and the plague was 
 stayed." 
 
 On its cessation Moses was directed by the Lord to 
 take from the prince or head of each of the tribes a rod, 
 and after having inscribed on it the name of the tribe 
 which it represented, to lay them all up in the taber- 
 nacle, declaring that the man's rod whom He should 
 choose should blossom. This was done, and on the 
 morrow, " Behold, tlie rod of Aaron, for the house of 
 Levi, was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed 
 blossoms, and yielded almonds." By this miracle the 
 people were at length convinced that none but those 
 who were " called of God, as was Aaron," were enti- 
 tled to undertake the priestly office. " Behold," they 
 said, " we die, we perish, Ave all perish, whosoever 
 cometli any thing near unto the tabernacle of the Lord 
 shall die." 
 
 For several years there is nothing recorded of the 
 journeyings of the Israelites. They probably spent the 
 greater part of the time in the valley's of the mountain- 
 chain to wliich Sinai belonged. At length, thirty-eight 
 years after their departure from Egypt, the march to 
 Canaan was resumed, and the Israelites appeared on the
 
 THE WANDERING IN THE DESERT. 73 
 
 frontiers of Palestine, from ^vllich they had formerly 
 retreated. Want of water again excited tlie murmur- 
 ings of tlie ungrateful nation, and Moses, as before, pro- 
 cured it miraculously from the rock; but as, on this 
 occasion, he and Aaron showed a want of confidence in 
 tlie divine power, the sentence of exclusion from the 
 promised land was extended to them. 
 
 Canaan not being easily entered at the side which the 
 Israelites approached, it was resolved to make a circuit, 
 and attack the country more to the East; application 
 was accordingly made to the Edomites for permission to 
 pass through their country. These descendants of Esau 
 not only refused to allow it, but fortified the passes cf 
 the mountains; and Moses was forced to return, in order 
 to pass round the extreme end of the mountain-chain. 
 During this return Aaron died, and was buried at Mount 
 Hor. A still more remarkable circumstance was, the 
 plague of fiery serpents, sent to punish renewed mur- 
 murings ; but when the peo})le repented, Moses, by the 
 Divine direction, erected a brazen serpent on a pole, on 
 which whosoever looked was healed : — a type of Iliin 
 who was similarly "lifted up" on the cross, and wlio 
 heals the spiritual diseases of all who regard Him witli 
 the eye of faith. John iii. 14, 15. 
 
 The army having turned the ridge, again proceeded 
 northwards, and gained decisive victories over Si lion, 
 king of the Amorites, and Og, the giant ruler of Baslian, 
 who attempted to obstruct their passage. Tlie peo[le of 
 ]\[oab, alarmed by these triumphs, sent to solicit the aid 
 of the Midianites ; and, as tliey distinctly saw that the 
 Israelites were protected ])y more than human power, 
 they sought the aid of the prophet Balaam, whose fame 
 was widely diffused through the country. Balak, the 
 king of Moab, sent an embassy to this prophet, whote 
 F2''
 
 74 THE WANDERING IN THE DESERT. 
 
 inconsistent conduct is a fearful warning to those -svho 
 know, and do not act according to their knowledge, 
 offering him the richest rewards if he would come and 
 curse the children of Israel. Forewarned by God, 
 Balaam at first refused ; but his avarice overcame his 
 piety, and the Lord, whose spirit will not always strive 
 wdth man, no longer opposed the will of the prophet. 
 But fearful prodigies appeared on his journey : an angel 
 with a drawn sword stood in the road before him, the 
 beast on which he rode spoke with a human voice, thus 
 manifesting that the power of speech, was given by God, 
 and the ten-ified prophet announced to the king that he 
 could neither curse nor bless, but as it was dictated to 
 liim from on high. Three times did the king bring 
 Balaam to curse the chosen people, and three times was 
 he miraculously compelled to pronounce upon them the 
 most emphatic blessings. 
 
 But, by the advice of Balaam, the Midianites severely 
 injm*ed the objects of their dread. They sent women 
 into the camp, who seduced the Israelites to shai-e in 
 their impure and idolatrous rites. The zeal of Phinehas, 
 •who slew Zimri, a chief of the people, and a prominent 
 actor in the guilty scene, arrested the progress of the 
 evil, and the Lord stopped the raging of the pestilence 
 with which they Avere punished, and in which twenty- 
 four thousand persons died. 
 
 The Midianites also were severely punished. An 
 army, composed of twelve thousand warriors, a thousand 
 selected from each tribe of Israel, laid waste their coun- 
 try', slew all the male population, and all the guilty 
 females, and became masters of an immense booty. In 
 this massacre the sinful prophet Balaam perished; his 
 fate is a terrible example of talents wasted, advantages 
 abussd, and knowledge perverted, followed by exem-
 
 THE WANDERING IN THE DESERT. "5 
 
 plaiy punishment from the God whose gifts he had 
 thus wickedly misapplied. The conquered country was 
 divided between the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and 
 half the tribe of Manasseh, on condition of their permit- 
 ting their warriors to aid in the conquest of Canaan. 
 
 Soon after this conquest, Moses, being admonished 
 that his end approached, assembled the Israelites, and 
 affectionately addressed them in a parting speech. He 
 recapitulated all the blessings they had received from 
 God, declared the blessings that would result from obe- 
 dience to his laws, and tlie awful penalties denounced 
 against their transgressions. Having been gratified with 
 a sight of the promised land from Pisgah, a summit 
 of Mount Nebo, he breathed his last; the place of his 
 burial was carefully concealed, probably lest the Israelites 
 should impiously make his tomb an object of religious 
 adoration. 
 
 Chapter XIX. 
 THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN. 
 
 Warriors of God, by God himself elected, 
 Of his true faith the breaches to restore I 
 Ye, -sYhom his arm has guided and protected 
 From storms bv sea, and ambuscades on shore I 
 So that in those few years that have flown o'er. 
 It has been ours strong monarchies to tame. 
 Realm after realm, rebellious now no more. 
 And through the shaken nations spread the fame 
 Of his triumphant law, and consecrated name. Tasso. 
 
 From A.M. 2.3o3 B.C. 14-51 ; to A.M. 2-561 B.C. 1443. 
 
 For thirty days the children of Israel lamented the 
 death of their great legislator; but at the end of that
 
 76 THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN. 
 
 time, in obedience to the commands of Joshua, on 'svhoni 
 Moses, directed by God, had laid hands as his successor, 
 they made ready for the invasion of Canaan. Some 
 spies were sent to Jericho, a city on the opposite side of 
 the river Jordan. They came to the house of a woman 
 named Raliab, who liad been convinced, by the wonders 
 wliich God had ah-eady wrouglit for his chosen people, 
 that their God was Lord in heaven above and in the 
 earth beneath ! She, therefore, risked the displeasure of 
 her countrymen by protecting tliose whom she believed 
 to be divine messengers; and her faith ensured her 
 future safety. When the spies were exposed to danger 
 from the awakened suspicions of the inhal)itants, she 
 provided them with the means of escape, and obtained, 
 in return, a promise of protection, whenever the city 
 should be stormed by the Israelites. 
 
 After the return of the spies, the descendants of Abra- 
 ham advanced in solemn procession to tlie river Jordan, 
 which alone divided them from the land promised to 
 their patriarchal fathers. The ark of the covenant was 
 borne in their van, and no sooner had the feet of the 
 priests who carried it touched the stream, than the 
 Avaters divided, and all the people passed over dry-shod. 
 One stone for each tribe was taken from the deserted 
 bed of the river, witli which an altar was constructed, 
 and a solemn sacrifice was offered to the Lord when all 
 the people had passed over. Soon afterwards, the mira- 
 culous supply of manna, which was no longer necessar^^, 
 wholly ceased. 
 
 The first operation of the war was a remarkable test 
 of their faith and obedience; Jericho, a strongly-forti- 
 fied town, closed its gates against them ; yet they were 
 ordered to make no military preparations against the 
 city, and at the same time informed that *' Jericha
 
 . THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN. 77 
 
 uith the king tliereof, and the might}' men of valour,'* 
 should be delivered into their hands. Instead of batter- 
 ing the walls, or storming the gates, the army of Israel, 
 as the Lord had commanded, went round the city once 
 a day for six days in solemn procession, making no 
 military display, and preserving strict silence, which 
 was only broken by the sound of the sacred trumpets, 
 blown by the priests that preceded the ark of the cove- 
 nant. On the seventh day, the army rose early, and 
 repeated the religious procession seven times; at the 
 seventh time, Joshua said unto the people, " Shout, for 
 the Lord hath given you the city." The people, as they 
 had been commanded, shouted with a great shout, and 
 the priests blew the trumpets; the walls of Jericho, 
 with their towers and battlements, fell flat on the 
 ground, "so that the people went up into the city, 
 every man straight before him." All the inhabitants 
 of Jericho, with the exception of Rahab and her family, 
 were put to the sword. 
 
 God had commanded that all the plunder of Jericho 
 should be held devoted ; " its silver, its gold, and its 
 vessels of brass and iron, were consecrated to the Lord." 
 Achan, one of the tribe of Judah, alone dared to disobey 
 the divine prohibition, and his crime brought a punish- 
 ment on the people, that proved how complete was their 
 dependence upon divine aid, and how implicit should be 
 their obedience to the divine commands. Whdn they 
 attacked Ai, a city of far inferior strength to Jericho, 
 they were defeated with the loss of thirty-six men. 
 Small as was this loss, it showed that God had deserted 
 them; Israel fled, and even Joshua was discouraged. 
 The Lord revealed to Joshua the cause of his indignation, 
 and appointed the means by which the guilty person 
 should be discovered in the presence of all the people ►
 
 78 THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN. 
 
 Achan's wickedness being thns miraculously detected, 
 he was put to death ; the Israelites were again restored 
 to the divine favour, of which they received a striking 
 proof, in the easy and immediate capture of Ai. Soon 
 afterwards, the Gibeonites, alarmed at the triumphs of 
 the invaders, sought peace from Joshua, and obtained it 
 by pretending to be the natives of some distant country. 
 They brought worn-out raiment and mouldy bread to 
 show the immense distance which they pretended to 
 have travelled ; but their deception was punished by 
 their nation being reduced to a state of servitude ; they 
 were sentenced to be " hewers of wood and drawers of 
 water to all the congregation." 
 
 The submission of the Gibeonites exposed them to an 
 attack of the confederated Canaanitish nations, which 
 seemed to threaten them with total destruction. Five 
 kings led their forces against those whom they consi- 
 dered deserter's : and the alarmed Gibeonites sent hastily 
 to Joshua for succour. The leader of the Israelites 
 marched to their aid, and joined battle with the com- 
 bined kings. A great victory was the result, rendered 
 more decisive by the stupendous miracle of the sun and 
 moon " standing still" at the command of Joshua, while 
 the Israelites pursued the enemies of the Lord. 
 
 During a war of seven years, the greater part of the 
 Canaanitish tribes were subdued; some, however, were 
 allowed to remain in possession of their territory, partly 
 in order that God " might prove the children of Israel, 
 whether they would keep the way of the Lord, to walk 
 therein as their fathers did keep it, or not ;*' and partly 
 that they might learn from them the art of war. 
 
 Soon after the completion of the conquest, Joshua 
 assembled all tlie tribes, and made them renew their 
 covenant with the Lord. He died in a good old age,
 
 THE CONQUEST OF CAN.IAX. 79 
 
 having ruled Canaan as "wisely as he had conquered it 
 hi-avely. It is added as worthy of remark, by the sacred 
 historian, that " Israel served the Lord all the days of 
 Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived 
 Joshua, and which had known all the works of the 
 Lord that he had done for Israel." 
 
 Chapter XX. 
 ISRAEL UNDER THE JUDGES. 
 
 For even with goodness men grow discontent, 
 
 "When states are ripe to fall, and virtue spent. Daniel. 
 
 From A.M. 2561.... B.C. 144.3; to A.M. 2909.... B.C. 109-5. 
 
 The form of government in the Hebrew common- 
 wealth cannot be cleai-ly defined ; the rulers were called 
 Shophetim, or Judges, but it is not easy to determine in 
 what cases their authority was limited to single tribes, 
 and when it was universally acknowledged by the 
 nation. Several waidike entei-prises were undertaken 
 by some of the tribes after the death of Joshua, and 
 important advantages were gained ; but man}" of the 
 people entered into temis with the Canaanites, and 
 intermarried with their idolatrous neighbours.— These 
 unions soon led the way to a community of religious 
 worship ; and the sin of idolatry, one of the most heinous 
 offences which they could commit against Jehovah, pol- 
 luted the generation that succeeded the contemporaries 
 of Joshua. The first recorded transgressor was a man 
 named Micah, who erected a silver image at Mount 
 Ephraim, and appointed a wandering Levite to the office 
 of priest. A party of the tribe of Dan, proceeding in
 
 so ISRAEL UNDER THE JUDGES. 
 
 search of a new settlement, seized both the priest and 
 the idol, and hore them to their new habitation. A 
 more atrocious crime, committed by the tribe of Benja- 
 min, provoked the general resentment of their brethren; 
 and in the war that ensued, tlie ti-ibe was almost extir- 
 pated. But when the Israelites perceived the extent of 
 the calamity they had inHicted, pity took the place of 
 revenge : the survivors of the offending tribe were re- 
 ceived into favour, and Benjamin finally recovered its 
 former strength. 
 
 The idolatry of a people that had received so many 
 jniraculous benefits provoked the Lord to wrath, and he 
 delivered them over to the power of their enemies. The 
 tribes in the eastern part of Palestine were subdued and 
 enslaved by Chushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia, 
 who tyrannized over them for the space of eight years. 
 In their misery they turned to the God of their fathers, 
 wlio raised up Othniel to be their deliverer : he restored 
 their independence, and, in consequence of his victory, 
 the land had jjeace forty years. 
 
 Again the children of Israel did evil in the sight of 
 the Lord, and were punished by being given up to 
 Eglon, king of the ^Moabites, to whom the}^ were in 
 servitude eighteen years. On their repentance they 
 were liberated by the valour of Ehud, whom God raised 
 up as their deliverer ; this victory over the Moabites 
 procured them eight\^ years of tranquillity, internipted 
 only by an invasion of the Philistines, which was easily 
 repelled. Tlie conqueror of the Pliilistines was Sham- 
 gar, who, with no other weapon tlian an ox-goad, slew 
 six hundred of his enemies. 
 
 After the death of Ehud, the ungrateful Israelites 
 again deserted the worship of the living God for the 
 service of idols, and a formidable eneni}' was raised for
 
 ISRAEL LWDER THE JUDGES. 81 
 
 tlieir piinisliment. The descendants of the northern 
 Canaanites, -wlio liad not heen destroyed, were now 
 become a powerful people; Jabin, their king, could 
 bring nine hundred chariots of iron into the field, and 
 for twent}' years he mightily oppressed the children of 
 Israel. A woman was now the chosen instrument of 
 their liberation: the prophetess Deljorah, having ap- 
 pointed Barak her general, declared her divine mission 
 to the tribes, which they unanimously recognised. A 
 small army was speedily raised, which was placed in a 
 strong position on the summit of Mount Tabor. The 
 Canaanites, under the command of Sisera, occupied the 
 level plains beneath. They were discomfited by the 
 special interference of Providence, thrown into complete 
 confusion, though their assailants were far inferior in 
 number, and pursued with great slaughter. Sisei-a, after 
 the loss of his army, fled to tlie tribe of the Kenites, 
 descended from Hobab, tlie father-in-law* of Moses, but 
 was killed by a woman named Jael, in whose tent he 
 had sought refuge. Deborah celebrated the victory in a 
 hymn of triumph, one of the most splendid compositions 
 of the kind on record. 
 
 After the lapse of some years, the Israelites again 
 proved unfaitliful to their Go i ; and their country Avas. 
 delivered over a prey to the wild tribes of the desert, the 
 Jdidianites and Amalekites, who had warred so fiercely 
 against their fathers. " They came up with their cattle 
 and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for 
 multitude : for both they and their camels were without 
 
 * It appears from a comparison ol" Judges iv. 11, -wiili Judges i. 16 ; 
 Numbers x. 29 ; Exodus ii. 29, and iii. 1 ; that the name Hohah was 
 common to Moses' fatber-in-law and brother-in-law, and tliat the 
 former was also called Raguel, Eeuel, and Jethro. Thus the high- 
 priest Jehoiada is also called Burachias.
 
 82 ISRAEL UNDER THE JUDGES. 
 
 number." The Israelites fled before tliem, deserting 
 the plains, and seeking a refuge in the mountain fast- 
 nesses. Gideon, of tlie tribe of Manasseh, was raised up 
 as their deliverer. Being miraculously convinced of the 
 truth of his mission, Gideon began by destroying the 
 idolatrous altar of Baal, in his native city. Having thus 
 signalized his zeal, he levied a large army; but God 
 directed him gradually to diminish his forces, that the 
 Israelites might be taught to ascribe their deliverance 
 to God alone. With three hundred men onh^, Gideon, 
 according to the divine command, approached the camp 
 of the invaders "in the beginning of the middle watch." 
 The thi-ee hundred, bearing each a trumpet and a 
 pitcher, concealing a light, " stood every man in his 
 place round about the camp," and, on a given signal, 
 blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers that were in 
 their hands. The wild tribes, startled by the noise, in 
 confusion turned their arms against each other; and 
 the multitude of their hosts, in which they trusted, 
 was turned by Divine Providence to their destruction. 
 The JNIidianites fled towards the south, vigorously pur- 
 sued by the tribes of Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh, 
 while the men of Ephraim checked their flight, by 
 occupying the passes of Beth-barah beyond the Jordan. 
 The Midianites lost one hundred and twenty thousand 
 M-arriors ; and the fifteen thousand that remained were 
 a second time discomfited, by the chosen three hundred, 
 whom the Lord miraculously strengthened, for they 
 were faint from want of bread. Gideon having thus 
 punished the invaders, and having also inflicted a just 
 chastisement on the ungenerous men of Succoth, who 
 refused to supply his soldiers with food, restored peace 
 and prosperity to his country. The Israelites off"ered to 
 elect him king, but he refused the proff'er; he sullied
 
 ISRAEL UNDER THE JUDGES. 83 
 
 his fame, however, by erecting a place of worship at 
 Ophrah, in opposition to the Divine decrees. 
 
 After the death of Gideon, his son Abimelech, having 
 murdered seventy of his brethren, was elected king by 
 the aid of the men of Shechem. But the Shechemites 
 and their new king did not derive any advantage from 
 their crimes; "God sent an evil spirit between Abime- 
 lech and the men of Shechem ; and the men of Shechem 
 dealt treacherously with Abimelech." A war ensued in 
 which Abimelech destroyed the city, but was himself 
 slain while besieging a tower, in which his enemies had 
 sought refuge. " Thus God rendered the wickedness of 
 Abimelech, which he did unto his father in slaying his 
 seventy brethren. And all the evil of the men of She- 
 chem did God render upon their heads." After him 
 Tola and Jair were successively judges; after the death 
 of the latter, the Israelites again fell into idolatry, and 
 were delivered over to the tyranny of the Philistines and 
 Ammonites; but Jephthah was raised up to be their 
 deliverer. Before engaging in battle, he made a vow, 
 that if victorious, " whatsoever cometh forth of the 
 doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace 
 from the children of Amnion, shall surely be the Lord's*." 
 (Judges xi. 31.) He was triumphant; but the joy of 
 his success was soon changed to sorrow, when his daugh- 
 ter was the first being he met on his return. 
 
 Jephthah was succeeded by Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon, 
 of whose successive administrations nothing remarkable 
 is recorded. The crimes of the obstinate nation were 
 punished by their being delivered over to the Philistines, 
 
 * In the Bible it is also added, " and I •nill also offer it up for a 
 burnt offering." Some critics say that the true meaning is, "I "vvill 
 offer unto Him a burnt offering."
 
 84 ISRAEL UNDER THE JUDGES. 
 
 who oppressed them for forty years. During this period 
 appeared Samson, the most extraordinar}' of the Jewish 
 heroes, whose life we reserve for the following chapter. 
 Eli, tlie high priest, hecame the next Judge, but with 
 foolish fondness, he refused to correct the offences of his 
 children, and their crimes hrouglit down the vengeance 
 of the Lord. In a bloody battle near Aphek, the Israel- 
 ites were completely routed: thirty thousand of tlieir 
 best warriors, with Hophni and Phinehas, were slain; 
 and, above all, the ark of Gud fell into the hands of tlie 
 €nemy. The news of this calamity was fatal to the aged 
 Eli : he no sooner received the intelligence, than he fell 
 from his seat and died. The wife of Phinehas, was 
 seized with the pangs of premature labour, antl, in the 
 moment of national calamity, forgot her own pains, her 
 grief for her husband, her love for her new-born child ; 
 she desired that the infant born under such unhappy 
 auspices should he named Ichabod, a name which signi- 
 fies, t/ie gJory has departed. 
 
 Long 1)efore the events just recorded, Samuel had been 
 recognized by all Israel as a divinely-inspired prophet. 
 While vet a child, he had been remarkably honoured 
 with God's special favour; and as he grew up, bela- 
 boured successfully to extirpate idolatrous practices, and 
 restore the purity of the national worsliip. In the mean 
 time, God sent plagues to punish the Philistines for 
 profaning the ark ; and Dagon, their chief idol, was 
 found prostrate before it. Alarmed at these prodigies, 
 they restored to the Israelites the visible pledge of their 
 covenant with Jehovah, which was joyfully received by 
 the nation. For twenty years the ark remained at 
 Kirjath-jearim, (the city of forests,) and Israel groaned 
 under the Philistine yoke, because the people did not 
 yet serve God with undivided allegiance. At length
 
 ISRAEL U-XDER THE JUDGES. 85 
 
 chastisement produced its proper fruit, "and all the 
 house of Israel lamented after tlie Lord." Samuel, 
 seeing these signs of national penitence, declared, " If 
 ye do return unto the Lord your God, with all your 
 hearts, then put away the strange gods from among you, 
 and serve him only ; and he will deliver you out of the 
 hand of the Philistines. " When the prophet found that 
 his injunctions were obeyed, he directed the tribes to 
 nssemble at Mizpeh, where they humbled themselves 
 before the Lord, fasting and confessing their sins. On 
 the news of the assembly at Mizpeh, the Philistines 
 advanced towards the place with a mighty army, which 
 terrified the Israelites. " Cease not," said they to tlie 
 prophet, " to cry unto the Lord our God for us, that He 
 will save us out of the hand of the Philistines." On 
 the prayers of Samuel, the Lord sent a terrible storm, 
 which discomfited the Philistines ; and the Israelites, 
 thus divinely assisted, obtained a decisive victory over 
 tlieir enemies. The administration of Samuel was wise 
 and prudent; but in his old days he was obliged to employ 
 his sons as his deputies, and their misconduct afforded 
 tiie people a pretext for demanding a change in the 
 government. This was, however, but a plausil)le pre- 
 tence, the real cause of the cry for a king was a want of 
 faith in the God who had wrought such mighty deliver- 
 ances in their favour. Led away by the wicked desire 
 of being like other nations, they demanded that a mo- 
 narch should be appointed "to judge them, and go out 
 before them, and fight their battles." Samuel, having 
 remonstrated with the people, laid their petition before 
 the Lord, who directed him to comply with their re- 
 quest, declaring at the same time that their demand of an 
 earthly king was equivalent to the rejection of himself 
 as tlieir ruler. God also mercifully declared, " I will
 
 86 
 
 ISRAEL UNDER THE JUDGES. 
 
 send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin, and thou 
 shalt anoint him to be captain over my people Israel, 
 that he may save mj^ people out of the hand of the Phi- 
 listines ; for I have looked upon my people, because their 
 cry is come unto me." The person thus chosen was 
 Saul, a young man of the tribe of Benjamin, and he was 
 anointed by Samuel the first sovereign of Israel.
 
 87 
 
 Chapter XXI. 
 THE HISTORY OF SAMSON AND OF RUTH. 
 
 If to jiUujge 
 
 In the mid waves of combat, as tliey bear 
 
 Chargers and spearmen onwards ; and to make 
 
 A reckless bosom's front the buoyant mark, 
 
 On that wild current, for ten thousand arrows; 
 
 If thus to dare were valour's noblest aim, 
 
 Lightly might fame be won ! — But there are things 
 
 Which ask a spirit of more exalted pitch. 
 
 And courage tempered Avith a holier fire. Milton. 
 
 From the Birth of Samson, A.M. 2819 B.C. 1155 ; to his Death, 
 
 A.M. 2887.... B.C. 1117. 
 
 When Israel was suflPering most severely from the 
 Qi^pressions of the Philistines, it pleased God to raise up 
 a champion for his chosen people, whose individual 
 prowess covered their tyrannical enemies with shame 
 and confusion. 
 
 The history of Samson is a remarkable and instruc- 
 tive example of the power of faith, and of the necessity 
 of yielding implicit obedience to the divine commands. 
 He was endowed with miraculous strength, on a con- 
 dition which had no apparent connexion with the en- 
 dowment, namel}', that he should observe the Nazarite 
 vow made by his parents at his birtli, and keep his 
 hair unshorn. While he fulfilled this condition, though 
 lie offended in other matters, God permitted him to 
 retain his strength; but, when he profanely exposed 
 himself to a violation of the condition, his strength 
 departed, and he became the victim of his enemies. 
 His taking care subsequently to preserve his hair, was 
 a proof that he repented of his sins, and had faith in 
 G
 
 88 HISTORY OF SAMSON AND OF RUTH. 
 
 tlie divine promises ; accordingly God heard his prayer, 
 and restored his strength ; thus showing the Israelites, 
 in the person of their dehverer, that reliance upon God 
 was the indispensable condition of their safety and pro- 
 sperity. The circumstances attending the birth of this 
 extraordinary man were likewise very remarkable. An 
 angel appeared unto the wife of Manoah, a leader of the 
 Danite tribe, and declared that the barrenness which she 
 had so long lamented would soon disappear, and that she 
 should bear a child who would be the scourge of his 
 country's enemies. The same heavenly being declared 
 that the child should be a Nazarite from his birth ; that 
 is, dedicated by a vow to the Lord, obliged to let his 
 hair grow, and to observe the most rigid abstinence. A 
 second appearance of the angel was vouchsafed, soon 
 after which the child, thus miraculously promised, was 
 born, and named Samson. 
 
 When he approached the age of manhood, he chose a 
 wife from among the Philistines; a choice to which his 
 parents consented with reluctance. On his journey to 
 see her, he met a young lion, which "he rent as he 
 would have rent a kid," and deemed the circumstance 
 not of sufficient importance to relate to his parents. 
 Passing that way, at a subsequent period, he found that 
 bees had hived in the carcase ; and this suggested to 
 him a riddle for the bridal feast. " Out of the eater 
 came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth 
 sweetness." The Philistine youths, through the influ- 
 ence of the bride, discovered the secret, and Samson 
 paid the lost wager by an attack on other Philistines. 
 Leaving the house in disgust, he came again after some 
 time, and found his wife married to another; to revenge 
 himself he collected three hundred foxes, and coupling 
 them together, placed torches between their tails, and
 
 HISTORY OF SAMSOX AND OF RUTH. 89 
 
 set them loose amid the standmg corn of the Philistines. 
 The}', in return, burned the woman and her father to 
 death ; a crime wliich Samson avenged by a fearful 
 slaughter. 
 
 The Philistines assembled an army to punish the 
 destroyer, and the men of Judah delivered him bound 
 into their hands. But no sooner was he in the midst of 
 his enemies, than he burst his bonds, as if they had been 
 " flaxed burned with fire ;" and seizing the only weapon 
 which chance supplied, the jawbone of an ass, he slew a 
 tli'ousand of his foes. 
 
 Soon after this exploit, he visited Gaza; and the Phi- 
 listines, learning that their enemy was within the walls, 
 shut the gates of the city. But Samson, rising in the 
 night, tore away the ponderous gates, and carried them, 
 "bar and all," to the top of a distant hill. 
 
 His enemies, however, soon wove for him a more 
 fatal snare ; seduced by the artifices of a wicked woman, 
 named Delilah, he revealed the secret of his strength, 
 which depended upon the observance of the Nazarite 
 vow, and was consequently lost when his hair was 
 shorn. In the sleep of sinful pleasure, he was deprived 
 at once of his hair and his strength, and delivered up to 
 his enemies. The Philistines deprived him of sight, 
 bound him in fetters, and placed him to work at the 
 mill, like the meanest slave. 
 
 In the process of time, the strength of Samson was 
 restored to him as his hair grew ; and the Philistines, 
 not knowing of the change, ordered him to be brought 
 into a general assemljly of their people, to afford them 
 sport on a high festival. Samson, eagerly embraced the 
 opportunity of avenging himself upon those who were 
 at once his enemies and the enemies of God : he prayed 
 that God would strengthen him only this once; and 
 G2
 
 90 HISTORY OF SAMSON AND OF RUTH. 
 
 having grasped the two pillars that supported the build- 
 ing in which the multitude was assembled, tore them 
 down with his newly-restored strength, and buried him- 
 self and the Philistines beneath the ruins. 
 
 There is another individual history connected with 
 the period when Judges ruled in Israel, which possesses 
 an interest of a very different character, but of which 
 the precise time cannot be determined. This is the 
 narrative of some particulars connected with the family 
 of David, from whom later prophecies announced that 
 the Messiah should be descended. 
 
 During a severe famine, Elimelech, of the tribe of 
 Judah, with his wife Naomi, and his two sons, removed 
 into the land of Moab, where the young men married. 
 Death soon deprived Naomi of her husband and her 
 sons ; she resolved to return to her native country, and 
 her daughters-in-law generously offered to bear her com- 
 pany. On representing the difficulties they would have 
 to encounter, one of them was disheartened, and turned 
 back ; but the other, named Ruth, persevered, affection- 
 ately declaring to Naomi, " Whither thou goest I will 
 go ; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my 
 God." "' 
 
 On their arrival in Canaan, Naomi found herself for- 
 gotten by her kinsfolk, and was obliged to depend for 
 support on the labour of her affectionate daughter-in- 
 law. While Ruth was gleaning in the lands of a 
 wealthy man of that country, named Boaz, her beauty 
 and modesty arrested his attention ; he sj)oke friendly 
 to her, and ordered his reapers to drop some corn in 
 her way, so as to afford her relief in the most kindly 
 manner. Ruth, on her return home, mentioned the 
 circumstance to Naomi, who recognized in Boaz a near 
 kinsman. A more intimate connexion was soon formed ;
 
 HISTORY OF SAMSON AND OF RUTH. 91 
 
 the virtuous Ruth became the wife of the wealthy Boaz ; 
 and from this union sprang Obed, the father of Jesse, 
 who was the father of David, the royal progenitor of the 
 Messiah. 
 
 Chapter XXII. 
 THE LIVES OF SAMUEL AND SAUL. 
 
 Where one alone commands not, upon whom 
 The cast of parts and offices depend, 
 The dues of honour and decrees of doom, 
 There still the helm to some wrong point will tend; 
 Your separate rights then amicably blend 
 In some one prince of influence, to restrain 
 The rest, — to one alone dominion lend, 
 And leave him free, as wisdom will ordain 
 A king's prescriptive power and semblance to sustain. — Tasso. 
 
 From the establishment of Royaltv, A.M. 2909 B.C. 1095; to 
 
 the Death of Saul, A.M.' 2949. .. .B.C. 1055. 
 
 Hitherto the children of Israel had been governed 
 by God, whose will was made known to them by the 
 priests. This form of government is called a Theocracy. 
 In times of extraordinary peril Judges were raised up, 
 whose jurisdiction varied considerably both in extent 
 and duration. They now, however, demanded a king. 
 Samuel pointed out to them the disadvantages of Orien- 
 tal despotism, and the blessings that w^ould result from 
 remaining as they were, with Jehovah as their only 
 sovereign. Finding that their resolution was not to be 
 shaken, he consulted the Lord, and by the divine direc- 
 tion, anointed Saul, of the tribe of Benjamin, king of 
 Isi-ael.
 
 92 LIVES OF SAMUEL AND SAUL. 
 
 Before receiving the sceptre, Saul joined a company 
 of prophets at the Hill of God, where there seems to 
 have been one of their schools, probably instituted by 
 Samuel. Here, being subjected to the influence of a 
 Divine inspiration, he prophesied with them, and hence 
 originated the proverb, *'Is Saul also among the pro- 
 phets?" Immediately after his accession, Nahash, king 
 of the Ammonites, affbrded the new monarch an oppor- 
 tunity of displaying his military skill. The invaders 
 had besieged Jabesh-gilead, and when the garrison de- 
 manded to capitulate, refused to grant them mercy, un- 
 less each soldier submitted to lose his right eye. Saul, 
 on hearing the news, assembled an army; and, attacking 
 the Ammonites, routed them with great slaughter. The 
 people, delighted with the victory, desired that those 
 who had opposed the young monarch's elevation, sliould 
 be put to death; but Saul as yet obeyed the holy influ- 
 ences which he had lately received; "the Lord," he 
 said, had wrought a mighty deliverance for Israel, and 
 therefore the blood of no Israelite should sully the glory 
 of His triumph. A solemn assembly was summoned to 
 Gilgal, in order that the people should renew their alle- 
 giance. Here Samuel, having appealed to all present as 
 witnesses of his integrity and upright administration, 
 solemnly resigned his office ; while a miraculous stonii 
 of thunder and hail showed the displeasure of the Lord 
 at the ingratitude of the chosen people. 
 
 Saul was aided in the administration of the govern- 
 ment by his son Jonathan, a young man of heroic valour 
 and warm aff'ections. With a thousand followers he at- 
 tacked and carried the Philistine garrison at Geba, and 
 thus provoked the resentment of that powerful people, 
 when the Israelites were badly prepared for war, because 
 the Philistines had in a former invasion driven away
 
 LIVES OF SAML'EL AND SAUL. 93 
 
 the smiths, in order to prevent the manufacture of arms. 
 Terror spread through the hind on the approach of the 
 mighty host of the Philistines; "the people did hide 
 themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and 
 in high places, and in j)its. And some of the Hebrews 
 went over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead." Saul 
 summoned an assembly of the tribes to Gilgal, the usual 
 gathering-place of the children of Israel, "and all the 
 people followed him trembling." They were further 
 disheartened by the absence of Samuel, who was to offer 
 the solemn sacrifice, and began to disperse ; Saul, im- 
 patient of delay, usurped his sacred office, and offered 
 the sacrifice himself; and for this wilful violation of the 
 law, it was announced to him tliat the kingdom should 
 not be hereditary in his famil3\ The Israelites were 
 blockaded in their mountains by the Philistine forces, 
 \)ut they were liberated from their difficulties b}- the 
 Almighty, who employed as a means the enterprising 
 valour of Jonathan. The young prince said to his 
 armour-bearer, "Come, and let us go over unto the gar- 
 rison of these uncircumcised ; it may be that the Lord 
 will work for us, for there is no restraint to the Lord to 
 •save by many or by few." His armour-bearer consented, 
 and Jonathan, firmly relying on divine aid, with a single 
 companion, encountered the Philistine host. Dreadful 
 confusion seized the army, "every man's sword was 
 against his fellow;" the Hebrews that had joined the 
 Philistines hastened to range themselves on the side of 
 their countrymen ; little resistance was made to Saul's 
 advance ; and when the fugitives that had fled for shelter 
 to Mount Ephraim "heard that the Philistines fled, even 
 they also followed hard after them in the battle." The 
 mighty host of the Philistines was utterly ruined, "so 
 the Lord saved Israel that da v." The victor v would
 
 94 LIVES OF SAMUEL AND SAUL. 
 
 have been still more decisive, had not the Israelites been 
 weakened by hunger ; for Saul, with his usual rashness, 
 had vowed, in the first moment of success, that no one 
 should taste food before sunset. The vow was unwit- 
 tingly broken by Jonathan ; for which he would have 
 been put to death by his father but for the interference 
 of the soldiers, who declared that they would not see 
 their deliverer sacrificed. 
 
 Samuel, by the direction of the Lord, ordered Saul to 
 execute divine vengeance on the Amalekites, who had 
 been so long the most bitter persecutors of God's chosen 
 people ; and the king was commanded neither to make 
 captives, nor preserve the spoil. The avaricious mo- 
 narch violated both injunctions; he brought home with 
 him the king a prisoner, and an immense prey of cattle. 
 Samuel himself then executed the command. He put 
 Agag, king of the Amalekites, to death, and announced 
 to Saul, in more decisive terms, that his disobedience 
 should be punished by the transference of the crown to 
 some more worthy person. Remorse and grief seized 
 the monarch's mind, but they produced neither repent- 
 ance nor amendment. The Spirit of the Lord, whose 
 influence he had slighted, " departed from Saul, and an 
 evil spirit from the Lord troubled him." Hence all his 
 evil passions were strengthened, his moral power en- 
 feebled, and his intellect disturbed : from this time he 
 became subject to fits of frenz}- or madness. 
 
 The person whom Samuel was directed by God to 
 choose as Saul's successor, was the youngest son of Jesse, 
 a Bethlehemite of the tribe of Judah. David, who, while 
 yet a youth, was thus appointed to be the future king of 
 the Israelites, had already given striking proofs of his 
 courage, by slaying a lion and a bear that had assailed 
 his father's flocks. He was soon summoned to a nobler
 
 LIVES OF SA:\IUEL and SAUL. 95 
 
 contest; the Philistines having again invaded Palestine, 
 the gigantic Goliath of Gath appeared as their champion, 
 and challenged any Israelite warrior to meet him in 
 single combat. For several days no one could be found 
 sufficiently bold to accept the challenge, when David, 
 who had been sent to the camp by his father, presented 
 himself, and, armed only with a sling, slew the insolent 
 boaster who had, "defied the armies of the living God." 
 This led to a warm and sincere friendship between 
 David and Jonathan ; but fierce jealousy rankled in the 
 mind of Saul, who saw his own fame eclipsed by the 
 valorous deeds of the youthful hero. 
 
 David was promoted by Saul, and soon began to take 
 an active part in public life ; his exquisite skill on the 
 harp enabled him frequently to allay the anxieties by 
 which the king's mind was tortured, and to dispel the 
 gloom that weighed upon his spirits. But this was a 
 service of danger ; the distracted state of Saul's mind, 
 the causes of which have been already described, ren- 
 dered him peculiarly susceptible of jealousy, and twice 
 he assailed the life of his benefactor, whom he probably 
 regarded as an aspiring rival. 
 
 Saul had promised his daughter in mamage to any 
 one who should slay Goliath ; and after having imposed 
 upon David the dangerous service of destroying a huu' 
 dred more of the Philistines, he made him his son-in- 
 law. But this new connexion did not stop the king's 
 enmity : once David was saved by the stratagem of his- 
 wife, and a second time by the ever-active friendship of 
 Jonathan. He now saw that his life would no longer 
 be safe in the court, and resolved to seek safety in exile. 
 On his road, he was hospitably entertained by the 
 priests, whom he deceived by the tale of a pretended 
 mission on public business. They allowed him to par-
 
 96 LIVES OF SAMUEL AND SAUL. 
 
 take of the "shew-bread," wliicli it was not lawful for 
 any but the priests to eat, and permitted him to take 
 Ooliath's sword, which had been preserved as a trophy. 
 Intelligence of this transaction was conveyed to Saul by 
 Doeg, an Edomite, and the jealous monarch exacted 
 fearful vengeance for the unintentional crime. He or- 
 dered the whole of the priestly order to be slaughtered : 
 Abiathar alone escaped, and sought refuge with David. 
 The future sovereign of Israel had now become literally 
 
 A liunted wanderer on tlie wiki, 
 On foreign shores, a man exiled. 
 
 After a brief residence in the land of the Philistines, 
 David returned to his native country, and became the 
 leader of a band of men of broken fortunes. He was 
 closely pursued by the vindictive Saul, and twice had 
 this virulent enemy in his power. But David was too 
 pious and loyal "to lift his hand against the Lord's 
 anointed ;" he remembered that God had appointed Saul 
 to be sovereign of his people, and that obedience was the 
 duty of a subject ; he was indeed aware that he was 
 himself the divinely appointed successor to the crown 
 of Israel, but he would not sinfully anticipate God's 
 appointed time, or profanely attempt to reverse his 
 ordinance. He therefore was content to inform Saul 
 of the dangers he had encountered, and thus prove his 
 innocence to the king. A temporary reconciliation was 
 effected ; but David, still dreading Saul's jealousy, pru- 
 dently withdrew to the court of Achish, the king of the 
 Philistines. 
 
 Saul was now in a most wretched condition ; he found 
 that he was abandoned by the Lord; for "when Saul 
 inquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not, nei- 
 ther by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets." Intel- 
 ligence arrived that Achish, with all the Philistine
 
 LIVES OF SAMUEL AND SAUL. 97 
 
 chiefs, had mvaded the country, and that a battle ^vas 
 necessary to save his crown and kingdom. David was 
 saved from joining in this invasion of his native land by 
 the jealousy of the Philistine chiefs; he was engaged, 
 during the war, in a contest wuth the Amalekites, who 
 had plundered the town assigned to him by Achish as a 
 residence. 
 
 Eager to learn something of his fate, Saul consulted 
 one of those unlawful diviners, whom, in better times, 
 he liad, in obedience to God's commands, put away out 
 of the land. The woman resided in a cave near Endor, 
 and thither Saul proceeded. At first the enchantress 
 refused to obey; but, when more warmly pressed, she 
 evoked, by the king's direction, the spirit of Samuel. 
 An event which her arts could not have produced, and 
 for which she was wholly unprepared, followed. Samuel 
 himself was permitted by the Almighty to aj)pear, and 
 announced to the king the fatal news of his approaching 
 defeat and death. 
 
 On the following morning the battle was joined at 
 Oilboa ; the Israelites were completely defeated ; Jona- 
 than and his brothers fell bravely fighting ; the hapless 
 monarch resolved not to survive his defeat, and after 
 having in vain requested his armour-bearer to slay him, 
 threw himself on his sword. The faithful servant after- 
 wards slew himself on his master's body. 
 
 The Pliilisthies treated the bodies of Saul and Jona- 
 than with great barbarity; having offered them every 
 possible indignity, they hanged the body of the fallen 
 king as a trophy in the city of Beth-shan. The inha- 
 bitants of Jabesh-Gilead, gratefully remembering that 
 their deliverance had been the first exploit of the hapless 
 nionarcli, rescued his body by a gallant enterprise, and 
 lia nourably interred the remains of their benefactor.
 
 98 LIVES OF SAMUEL AND SAUL. 
 
 David was filled with soitow at the news of the fatal 
 battle of Gilboa, and poured forth his grief, in his well- 
 known and most beautiful " lamentation over Saul and 
 over Jonathan his son." 
 
 The beauty of Israel is slain upon the high places: how are the 
 mighty fallen ! 
 
 Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon; 
 lest the (laughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the 
 uncircumcised triumph. 
 
 Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, neither let there 
 be rain upon you, nor fields of offerings ; for there the shield of the 
 mighty is vilely oast away, the shield of Saul, as though he had not 
 been anointed with oil. 
 
 From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of 
 Jonathan turned not back, and the sword of Saul returned not empty. 
 
 Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in 
 their death they were not divided ; they were swifter than eagles, they 
 were stronger than lions. 
 
 p Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet, 
 with other delights, who put on ornaments of gold upon your apparel. 
 
 How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle I O Jonathan, 
 thou wast slain in thine high places. 
 
 I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan : very pleasant hast 
 thou been unto me : thy love to me was wonderful : passing the love 
 of women. 
 
 How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished I
 
 99 
 
 Chapter XXIII. 
 THE LIFE OF DAVID. 
 
 He of a truth was bom for empire : yes ! 
 
 So well he knew to govern and command ; 
 Great as a general, as a king no less, 
 
 Sceptre and sword were fashioned to his hand! Drvden. 
 
 From the Accession of David, A.M. 2949. . . .B.C. 1055 ; to his Death, 
 A.M. 2990 B.C. 1014. 
 
 After the death of Saul, David was immediately 
 saluted king by his brethren of the tribe of Judah ; but 
 a numerous body of the Israelites, at the instigation of 
 Abner, raised Ishbosheth, the only surviving son of 
 Sau], to the vacant throne. After a contest of two 
 years, Abner deserted to David, but was treacherously 
 murdered by Joab, a genei-al of too great influence to be 
 punished. Soon after, Ishbosheth was assassinated by 
 two of his own servants, who brought the news of their 
 own crime to David; but instead of receiving the ex- 
 pected reward, they were deservedly delivered to the 
 executioner. 
 
 After a residence of some years at Hebron, David 
 captured the city of the Jebusites, and its citadel on 
 Mount Zion; this he made the metropolis of his domi- 
 nions ; and the new capital, which was for the future 
 called Jerusalem, soon became the most eminent city of 
 Palestine. 
 
 The following description of Jerusalem, by the poet 
 Tasso, is very accurate, and as it may easily be com- 
 mitted to memory, we inseii it, as we shall have occa- 
 sion fre(j[uent]y to refer to the localities of the " holy 
 city."
 
 100 THE i.irn or david. 
 
 Oil two bold hil'.s. Jonis^vlcm is soon. 
 Of si/.e uiuHjiuil, t'aco tii fac<> op|H>sed ; 
 A wide and ploa&ivnt \-i4Uey lies Wtwwu, 
 Dividing hill frojn hill : thr^e sides, the ct^ast 
 lies cnig^r. ditUoult. and high, disptxscti 
 In steep aecliviiies : the fourth is cast 
 In gentlest nndnlations. and iuckvsed 
 l>y ■« alls of height insnjHjrable and vast. 
 That seem to brave the sky. luid face tlie Arctic blast. 
 
 Cisterns for rain, canals, and living fiHuUains, 
 INrake glad tlie thirsty city : but an>und, 
 Barr»'u and bare, and naked are tlie monntains, 
 And scarcely one solitary flower is found 
 To blossi>m near: uo sy Ivans, siui-euibrowiieti. 
 Shut ont the fervid uo<>u : no valley shines 
 With lapse of lakes, nor falling watejre' suund : 
 One forest yet tl»e blue horizon lines, 
 lUack with the l*auefiil sluides of cypresses and pino^s. 
 
 The ark of the covenant, which had remained at Kir- 
 jath-jearim since its restoration by the Philistines, was 
 borne to Joruscileni with festal liyiuns, and all the pomp 
 of a triumphal prvK^ession. David himself personally 
 aideil in the holy festivities of the occasion, a oii-cum- 
 stance which grievously wounded the pride of his queen 
 Michal, the daughter of Saul. Her impious pivsump- 
 tion called down upon her the anger and neglect of 
 Darid. The pious monarch was also eager to build a 
 suitable temple for the national woi^hip, but was in- 
 formed by the pi\>phet Xatlian, that a warrior, whose 
 hands were stained with blood, was not a proper person 
 to raise a temple to the God of j>eace, and that the 
 glory of erecting the holy editioe was reserv-ed for his 
 successor. 
 
 A series of successful wars ralsevi the Israelites to an 
 eminence that their nation had not yet attaineib In sis 
 years the Philistines were humble.i, and deprived of a
 
 Tin: UTE OF DAVID, 101 
 
 large portion of their territory, including the strong city 
 of Gatli ; Iladad-ezer, the king of the Idumeans, was 
 ^uhdued, driven from his dominions, and forced to seek 
 refuge in Egypt; the Moahites were conquered, and 
 almost exterminated; the Syriaris of Zohali and Damas- 
 cus vanquished, and a successful war waged against the 
 Ammonites, who had insulted David's amhassadors. By 
 these victories, the eastern houndary of the kingdom of 
 Israel was extended to the river Euphrates. 
 
 Thus far had the reign of David been prosperous ; hut 
 during the war with the Ammonites he was guilty of an 
 atrocious crime, the consequences of which were fear- 
 fully calamitous. Having accidentally seen Bathsheba, 
 the wife of one of his captains, his heart was inflamed 
 Avith impure desire; and to conceal the sin which lie 
 had committed, he procured the death of the injured 
 husband. The prophet Nathan was sent to reprove this 
 double crime ; he addressed to the king the beautiful 
 parable of the rich man, who, though possessing nume- 
 rous flocks and herds, plundered his poor neighbour of a 
 favourite lamb. With his natural sense of justice, the 
 king denounced judgment against such a monstrous act 
 of tyranny, but was overwhelmed with confusion when 
 the prophet replied, "Thou art the man !" — *'thou hast 
 taken the wife of Uriah." Conscience-stricken, the king 
 confessed his guilt ; and during a long period of afflic- 
 tions, which were the result of his transgression, he 
 poured forth his sorrow, in some of those beautiful 
 psalms which are called penitential. 
 
 Domestic cala^nity soon pressed heavily on David * 
 the child that Bathsheba bore died. Amnon, the eldest 
 of the royal princes, was slain by his brother Absalom, 
 in revenge for a gross outrage offered to his sister; and 
 David had the weakness not only to pardon the mur-
 
 102 THE LIFE OF DAVID. 
 
 derer, but also to take him again into favour. One 
 crime leads to another ; the ambitious Absalom, aided 
 by a crafty politician, named Ahithophel, plotted against 
 his father, and soon became the head of a formidable 
 conspiracy. He gained the affections of the people by 
 representing to them that the administration of justice 
 under David was imperfect, but that he, if made judge, 
 •would give ample satisfaction to all who had any suit of 
 cause to plead. No sooner did he raise the standard of 
 revolt than the discontented flocked to him in such 
 numbei-s that the aged monarch found himself unable to 
 offer any resistance, and was forced to seek safety in 
 flight. There were some true friends, however, that 
 adhered to his fallen fortunes, and with these he retired 
 beyond the river Jordan. In his retreat from Jerusa- 
 lem, a person named Sliimei poured upon him the most 
 virulent abuse ; but the humbled monarch recognized in 
 his rebellious subject one of the commissioned agents of 
 his chastisements, and when his servant Abishai wished 
 to take immediate vengeance, replied, "Let lihn alone, 
 and let him curse, for the Lord hath bidden him. It 
 may be that the Lord will look upon my affliction, and 
 that the Lord will requite me good for his cursing this 
 day." He then continued his journey, while his cruel 
 enemy, unmoved by his forbearance, pursued him with 
 fresh curses and insult. 
 
 Absalom having neglected the advice of the crafty 
 Ahithophel to pursue David immediately, this evil coun- 
 sellor, foreseeing the disastrous termination of the rebel- 
 lion, committed suicide. His forebodings were verified ; 
 a numerous anny soon assembled round the unhappy 
 monarch, headed by the able but unscrupulous Joab, and 
 Absalom was forced to hazard the chances of a battle. 
 His fond father gave the strongest injunctions to his
 
 THE LIFE OF DAVID. 103 
 
 soldiers that his heloved son should he spared, a com- 
 mand -which Joab was privately resolved to disobey. 
 God did not permit the unnatural rebellion of the sinful 
 usurper to succeed ; Absalom was defeated and fled from 
 the field, but his long and beautiful hair becoming 
 entangled in the boughs of an oak, he remained sus- 
 pended, and in this helpless condition was slain by com- 
 mand of Joab. The aged king lamented the loss of his 
 disobedient child with the most passionate sorrow, and 
 thus exposed himself to the reproachful remonstrances 
 of his victorious general. On the death of Absalom, 
 his partisans returned to their allegiance, and David 
 mercifully granted a full pardon to all concerned in the 
 rebellion. 
 
 The evils of the insurrection, however, were not yet at 
 an end ; Amasa, the general of Absalom, was murdered 
 by Joab, under pretence of having entertained treason- 
 able designs, but really through jealousy of his eminent 
 abilities. Some of the northern revolters still held out 
 under the command of Sheba, but this rebellious chief 
 was slain by some of his own party, and tranquillity 
 restored. A new calamity soon after appeared ; David, 
 sinfully trusting in the strength of his forces, rather than 
 in the protection of God, numbered the people, where- 
 upon the Lord announced his wrath, and gave the king 
 the choice of these punishments, — defeat, famine, or jjes- 
 tilence. The humbled monarch chose rather to fall into 
 the liand of the Lord than into the hand of man. So 
 the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel, in which seventy 
 thousand persons were destroyed. The king was ordered 
 to erect an altar on Mount Moriah, the site of the future 
 temple, and when a sacrifice had been offered, the plague 
 ceased. 
 
 During the latter years of his life, David was chiefly 
 H
 
 104 THE LIFE OF DAVID. 
 
 employed in collecting materials for the temple, to be 
 erected by Solomon, his son and chosen successor. His 
 alliances with the neighbouring sovereigns enabled him 
 to make very extensive preparations. But a conspiracy 
 was formed to render his plans abortive ; Joab, Abiathar 
 the priest, and some other chiefs of influence, resolved 
 to support the cause of Adonijah, the brother of Absa- 
 lom. The plot was disconcerted by the king promptly 
 proclaiming Solomon his successor, and procuring the 
 ratification of his choice by a general assembly of the 
 people. Soon after, David, finding that he approached 
 the end of his career, sent for his son Solomon, and 
 having conjured him to persevere in the worship of the 
 true God, and giving him some general directions for the 
 government of the kingdom, expired after a troubled 
 but glorious reign of forty years. 
 
 David is described in Scripture as a man after God's 
 own heart : his eminent piety appeared in the general 
 tenour of his life, and is expressed in many beautiful 
 Psalms which have been preserved in the Sacred Volume. 
 His whole history is a remarkable example of the con- 
 trol of Divine Providence over the affairs of the world, 
 and of God's especial care of his chosen people ; while 
 the punishment of his sin, in the matter of Uriah, and 
 in numbering the people, is a striking illustration of the 
 truth, that the eyes of the Lord are too pure to behold 
 iniquity with favour or even with indifference. David 
 is, moreover, remarkable as a prophet and type of our 
 blessed Saviour.
 
 Chapter XXIV. 
 THE LIFE OF SOLOMON. 
 
 For Thee, sweet Peace, abundance leads along 
 
 Her jovial train, and bards awake to song; 
 
 On many an altar, at thy glad return, 
 
 Pure victims bleed, and holy odours bui-n. 
 
 And frolic youtb tbeir happy age apply 
 
 To graceful movements, sports, and minsti-elsy. 
 
 Dark spiders weave tlieir web within the shield ; 
 
 Kust eats the spear, the terror of the field. 
 
 And brazen trumpets now no more affright 
 
 The silent slumber and repose of night. — Bland. 
 
 From the Accession of Solomon, A.M. 2990 . 
 Death, A.M. 3029 .... B.C. 
 
 B.C. 1014; to his 
 
 The reign of David though prosperous on the whole, 
 was troubled by wars from without, and commotions 
 from within ; that of his son and successor was an 
 uninterrupted period of tranquillity and prosperity. 
 Immediately after his accession, Solomon had cause to 
 H 2
 
 106 THE LIFE OF SOLOMON. 
 
 suspect that Adonijah was still making attempts on 
 the crown ; he, therefore, resolved to crush the evil in 
 the bud, issued orders for his immediate execution, 
 deprived Abiathar of the priesthood, and put the turbu- 
 lent and cruel Joab to death. David had, in his last 
 moments, advised his son to beware also of Shimei, 
 whose insults in the hour of his adversity had made 
 him deservedly suspected ; Solomon, therefore, forbade 
 him to quit Jerusalem on pain of death. After three 
 years, Shimei broke through the command, and was 
 instantly punished ; thus the kingdom was firmly esta- 
 blished in the hands of Solomon. 
 
 The fame of the Israelites was now spread into distant 
 lands, and Solomon obtained the daughter of the Egyp- 
 tian Pharaoh for his queen. Shortly after, God ap- 
 peared to the young king in a dream, and offered him 
 the choice of any gift he pleased. He piously chose 
 wisdom, saying, "Give thy servant an understanding 
 heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between 
 good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great 
 a people?" 
 
 *-And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had 
 asked this thing." Not only was his request granted, 
 but unbounded riches and honour were added, and a 
 promise of a long life given, on condition of his perse- 
 vering in obedience to the Divine commandments. The 
 first example of the wisdom thus divinely obtained, was 
 displayed by Solomon in the memorable instance of two 
 women contending which of them was the mother of a 
 child that they brought before him. Solomon ordered 
 that the object in dispute should be cut in two, and half 
 given to each. The false claimant consented to the par- 
 tition, while the real mother, with passionate eagerness, 
 resigned her claim, rather than endanger the infant's
 
 THE LIFE OF SOLOMON. 107 
 
 life. This display of maternal tenderness at once decided 
 the question. 
 
 Under the wise administration of Solomon, Palestine 
 enjoyed profound peace and security. Officers were ap- 
 pointed for regulating the internal government ; a fixed 
 rate of revenue was established, and every pretence for 
 extortion removed. Treaties of peace were concluded 
 with the surrounding potentates ; and from Hiram, king 
 of Tyre, he obtained permission to cut cedars of Leba- 
 non, and the aid of Tyrian workmen in erecting the 
 magnificent structure, the plan of which God had given 
 to David. 
 
 Seven years and a half were spent in the erection of 
 the temple. The costliness of the materials could only 
 be exceeded by the beauty of the workmanship ; the 
 remotest East contributed its treasures, the best artificers 
 exhausted all the resources of their ingenuity in fashion- 
 ing the ornaments. So accurately were the stones and 
 timbers prepared, that they were put together without 
 the use of any hammer or noisy implement. 
 
 When the temple was completed, it v>as dedicated 
 to the Lord in a solemn festival, and the Siiechinah, or 
 cloud of glory, that announced the visible presence of 
 Jehovah, filled the entire edifice. 
 
 The following description of the building of tha 
 temple, by the late Bishop Heber, embodies all these 
 remarkable circumstances : — 
 
 For thee his ivory load Behemoth bore, 
 And far Sofala teemed with golden ore; 
 Thine all the arts that Mait on -wealth's increase, 
 Or bask and -wanton in the beam of peace. 
 "When Tiber slept beneath the cypress gloom, 
 And silence held the lonely woods of Home ; 
 Or ere to Greece the builder's skill was known. 
 Or the light chisel brushed the Parian stone;
 
 108 THE LIFE OF SOLOMON. 
 
 Yet here fair Science nursed her infant fire, 
 
 Fanned by the artist aid of friendly TjTe. 
 
 Then towered the palace, then, in awful state. 
 
 The temple reared its everlasting gate. 
 
 No workman steel, no ponderous axes rung; 
 
 Like some tall palm the noiseless fabric sprung. 
 
 Majestic silence ! — Then the harp awoke, 
 
 The cj-mbal clanged, the deep-voiced trumpet spoke; 
 
 And Salem spread her suppliant arms abroad, 
 
 Viewed the descending flame and blessed the present God. 
 
 Opposite Mount Moriah, the site of the temple, 
 Solomon erected a magnificent palace, whose splendour 
 exceeded that of any similar edifice recorded. The fur- 
 niture was worthy of the building. The throne of ivory 
 and gold, with its sculptured lions, would alone have pur- 
 chased the entire dominions of many another monarch. 
 A great portion of this wealth was derived from com- 
 merce, of which Solomon was the distinguished jjatron. 
 His treaty witU, the Tyrian king, Hiram, supplied him 
 with Phoenician mariners, the most celebrated naviga- 
 tors of antiquity. By their means he was able to open 
 a communication with Western Europe, then indefinitely 
 named Tarshish ; while from his ports on the Red Sea, 
 vessels sailed to Ophir, some unknown rich country on 
 the shores of the Indian Ocean. He besides opened a 
 lucrative caravan-trade with Egypt and Arabia. The 
 Scripture adds, that he erected the city of Tadmor, sub- 
 sequently more celebrated under the name of Palm^Ta, 
 for the purpose of facilitating commercial intercoui-se. 
 
 The learning of Solomon was not less conspicuous 
 than his riches ; he vn-ote several treatises on natural 
 history, which have long since disappeared; and the 
 greater part of his poems have shared the same fate. 
 But those parts of Scripture which he wrote, namely, 
 some Psalms, the Canticles, and the Books of Proverbs
 
 THE LIFE OF SOLOMON. 109 
 
 and Ecclesiastes, still remain. So great was his fame, 
 that the queen of Sheba came from the remote extre- 
 mity of Arabia to see his court, and declared that fame 
 had not done justice to its wonders. 
 
 But even Solomon was con-upted by prosperity : led 
 astray by strange women, he practised the rites of an 
 impure and idolatrous worship in sight of the very tem- 
 ple he had raised to the Lord of Hosts, and persevered 
 in his guilt, though repeatedly warned of his danger. 
 Enemies began to appear on every side : Hadad, a prince 
 of the Edomites, who had escaped to Eg\T)t when his 
 native country was subdued by David, returned home, 
 and began to organize a revolt; an independent adven- 
 turer seized on Damascus, and Jeroboam openly aspired 
 to the government of the northern tribes. The prophet 
 Ahijah predicted the future separation of the Israelites 
 and the elevation of Jeroboam, who, thereupon, fled to 
 Egypt, where he was protected by King Shishak, The 
 inteiTuption caused to commerce b}- these revolts dimi7 
 nished the royal revenues, and Solomon was forced to 
 levy heavy taxes on his subjects. In these altered cir- 
 cumstances he wrote the beautiful poem called the Book 
 of Ecclesiastes, which contains the most tender and 
 melancholy reflections on the vanity and instability of 
 human greatness. 
 
 Solomon died after a reign of forty years, and was 
 succeeded by his son Rehoboam.
 
 110 
 
 Chapter XXV. 
 
 THE REVOLT OF THE TEN TRIBES.~THE 
 HISTORY OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL. 
 
 Of all the varied evils that o'erwhelm 
 
 A guilty monarch and a guilty realm, 
 
 Discord is chief, where'er the fury sways, 
 
 The part she severs, and the whole betrays. Epigoniad, 
 
 From the Revolt, A M. 3029 .... B.C. 975 ; to the Capture of 
 Samaria, A.M. 3283 B.C. 721. 
 
 After the death of Solomon, Rehoboam proceeded to 
 Shechem to receive the homage of the northern tribes ; 
 these had suffered severely, both from the loss of trade 
 and tlie pressure of taxation, in the latter years of Solo- 
 mon's reign, and they now deputed Jeroboam to present 
 a violent remonstrance, demanding a redress of griev- 
 ances. Rejecting the advice of his father's aged coun- 
 sellors, and adopting the recommendation of his own 
 youthful and rash associates, Rehoboam not only refused 
 compliance, but threatened fresh oppressions. The sig- 
 nal of rebellion was instantly given, — " To your tents, 
 O Israel," became the general cry ; Rehoboam was 
 forced to take refuge with the tribe of Judah, and his 
 tax-gatherer Adoram was stoned to death. From thence- 
 forward the kingdoms of Israel and Judah were inde- 
 pendent states. 
 
 Rehoboam levied an army to subdue the insurgents, 
 but the Lord sent the prophet Shemaiah to forbid his 
 march, and he was thus forced to be contented with 
 reigning over the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. We 
 shall treat of the history of the two rival kingdoms 
 separately, beginning with that of Israel.
 
 THE KINGS OF ISRAEL. Ill 
 
 Jeeoboam reigned 22 years; died A.M. 3050 B.C. 954. 
 
 Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, was unanimously chosen 
 by the revolted tribes as tlieir sovereign ; indeed he had 
 probably expected this elevation from the time that he 
 was recognized as the leader of the factious in the reign 
 of Solomon. His first object was to break off all con- 
 nection with the kingdom of Judah ; and, as the unity 
 of the national worship was a great impediment to this 
 design, he erected two golden calves, one at Bethel and 
 the other at Dan, as the gods of his kingdom, in imita- 
 tion of the gods of Egypt, where he had lived so long in 
 exile, and selected priests for his new deities from the 
 lowest of the people. A prophet was sent to denounce 
 this act of daring impiety, who announced to Jeroboam, 
 while offering sacrifice at Bethel, that divine vengeance 
 would destroy both the altar and the idol. The enraged 
 monarch extended his arm to arrest the prophet, but the 
 limb was instantly withered, and the altar rent in sun- 
 der. Alanned by these miracles the king requested the 
 prophet's intercession, and the strength of the arm was 
 restored. The prophet himself having disobeyed a por- 
 tion of the divine injunctions, was destroyed by a lion 
 on his return homeward. 
 
 But Jeroboam's repentance was insincere ; he perse- 
 vered in the idolatrous worship he had established, and 
 the speedy extermination of his family was announced 
 to him by the prophet Ahijali. His favourite child 
 Abijah fell a victim to disease, as the prophet declared, 
 an event that filled the new kingdom of Israel with 
 soiTow. A desultory warfare was maintained between 
 the kingdoms of Judah and (Israel during the entire 
 reign of Jeroboam, which lasted twenty-two years. The 
 total defeat of the Israelites by Abijah, son of Rehoboam^
 
 112 THE KINGS OF ISRAEL. 
 
 so grieved Jeroboam, that he never after displayed his 
 former spirit of daring enterprise. 
 
 Nadab reigned 2 years; was slain, A.M. 3054. . . .B.C. 950. 
 
 Nadab succeeded his father Jeroboam, and pursued 
 his evil courses. He was assassinated by Baasha of the 
 tribe of Issachar, while besieging Gibbethon, in the land 
 of the Philistines. Thus early perished the last of Jero- 
 boam's family, as the Lord had spoken by the mouth of 
 his prophet. 
 
 Baasha reigned 23 years ; died A.M. 3074. . . .B.C. 930. 
 Baasha adopted the wicked policy of Jeroboam, and 
 the prophets of the Lord announced that similar ven- 
 geance would ovei-take his family. He erected a fort- 
 ress at Hamah, to intercept those who went up to wor- 
 ship at Jerusalem ; but the new city was destroyed by 
 Asa, king of Judah, who also bribed the S^Tians to 
 invade the territories of his rival. 
 
 El AH reigned 2 years; slain A.M. 3075.. ..B.C. 929. 
 
 Baasha was succeeded by his son Elah, a weak and 
 luxurious prinee. While feasting in the house of his 
 steward, he was assassinated by Zimri, the captain of his 
 chariots. 
 
 ZiMEi reigned 7 days. 
 
 Omri reigned 11 years; died A.M. 3016 B.C. 918. 
 
 The army of the Israelites engaged in the siege of 
 Gibbethon, having heard the news of Elah's mui'der, 
 elected their leader Omri to the vacant throne, who 
 immediately marched against the usurping assassin. 
 Zimri, hopeless of escape, retired to the palace, and, 
 setting it on fire, perished in the flames. Omri was 
 equally successful against another rival named Tibni ; 
 but " he wrought evil in the sight of the Lord, and did
 
 THE KINGS OF ISRAEL. 113 
 
 worse than all that were before him." He removed the 
 seat of government from Tirzah to Samaria, a city which 
 he built on some ground purchased from a person named 
 Shemer. 
 
 Ahab reigned 22 years; died A.M. 3107. . . .B.C. 897. 
 
 To the wicked Omri succeeded a son still more wicked 
 than his father. Ahab commenced his iniquitous reign 
 by marrying a Sidonian princess, named Jezebel, and, at 
 her instigation, introduced the idolatrous worship of 
 Baal, the national god of the Babylonians and Phoeni- 
 cians, among his subjects. By her direction the wor- 
 shippers of the true God were bitterly persecuted, the 
 schools of the prophets dispersed, and many of the 
 teachers murdered. The prophet Elijah, having de- 
 nounced divine vengeance on such iniquity, was forced 
 to fly ; he was miraculously fed by ravens in his con- 
 cealment, and when he fled to Zarephath, or Sarepta, 
 the widow, who, believing the word of God by his 
 mouth, gave him a share of her little store, had her son 
 miraculously restored to life, and her provisions rendered 
 exhaust] ess. 
 
 A fearful famine now devastated the land, and Ahab 
 sent his servant Obadiah to consult Elijah. The pro- 
 phet went to meet the king, and when reproved as " the 
 person that troubled Israel," boldly retorted that the 
 national calamities were caused by royal iniquit}^ He 
 challenged the priests of Baal to appear in the sight of 
 all the people on Mount Carmel, that it might be there 
 determined whether Baal or Jehovah were God. The 
 challenge was accepted ; four hundred and fifty prophets 
 appeared on behalf of Baal, Elijah alone called on the 
 name of the God of Abraham. It was agreed that the 
 test of divine power should be the kindling by fire from
 
 114 THE KINGS OF ISRAEL. 
 
 lieaven of the sacrifices laid on the respective altars. 
 The victim was slain by the priests of the pretended 
 deity, and laid upon the wood, and the four hundred 
 and fifty " called on the name of Baal from morning 
 even until noon, but there was no voice, nor any that 
 answered." Then it was that Elijah mocked them, 
 saying, " Cry aloud, for he is a god, either he is talking, 
 or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure 
 he sleepeth, and must be awaked." Tliey did cry aloud, 
 and cut themselves, according to their barbarous cus- 
 tom, with knives and lancets; but the sun began to 
 descend, and Baal made no sign. 
 
 Elijah than erected an altar of twelve stones, accord- 
 ing to the number of the tribes of Israel ; on this he 
 placed the victim, and ordered water to be thrown on it 
 until the wood was saturated, and the trench round the 
 altar filled. He then prayed to Jehovah ; the holy fire 
 descended, the sacrifice was consumed, and even the water 
 in the trench licked up. Convinced by this stupendous 
 miracle, the whole multitude exclaimed, " The Lord he 
 is the God," and by the command of Elijah, put to 
 death all the false prophets of Baal at the brook Kishon. 
 The curse was soon removed from the land, abundant 
 rain fell, and the famine ceased. 
 
 Jezebel was greatly enraged against the successful 
 enemy of her national deity, and threatened him with 
 her vengeance; Elijah, alarmed, fled into the wilder- 
 ness, where he witnessed some wondrous manifestations 
 of divine power. He was commanded to announce to 
 Hazael, that he should be king of Syria, and to Jehu 
 that he should reign in Israel, and was informed that by 
 these sovereigns the family of the wicked Ahab should 
 be exterminated. Elijah afterwards, by God's com- 
 mand, appointed the prophet Elisha to be his assistant
 
 THE KINGS OF ISRAEL. 115 
 
 and successor. The return of the Israelites to the wor- 
 ship of the true God was rewarded by two remarkable 
 victories of Benhadad, king of Syria. The first was 
 obtained in a hilly country, which led the Syrians fool- 
 ishly to suppose, that the God of Israel had more power 
 in the mountains than on the plains. The second battle 
 at Aphek convinced them of their error. They were 
 routed with great slaughter, and Benhadad was forced 
 to yield himself a prisoner. Contrary to the divine 
 command, his life was spared by Ahab, and a prophet 
 announced to the king the wrath of God against his dis- 
 obedience. 
 
 Ahab was soon guilty of a new crime ; he wished to 
 get possession of a vineyard belonging to a man named 
 iNaboth, and the owner's refusal to sell it filled him with 
 sorrow. His wicked consort, Jezebel, in order to gratify 
 his covetous desires, suborned false witnesses to accuse 
 Naboth of treason and blasphemy; coiTupt judges sanc- 
 tioned the charge, and the innocent man was put to 
 death. But as Ahab was enjoying the sight of the 
 ground procured by so great a crime, he was alarmed 
 by the appearance of the prophet Elijah, who declared 
 that an exemplary punishment awaited both him and 
 Jezebel. 
 
 An alliance had been now formed between the kings 
 of Israel and Jiidah ; Ahab proposed that they should 
 attack the Syrians with their joint forces, but Jehosha- 
 phat, the king of Judah, proposed that the prophets of 
 the Lord should first be consulted. Some false pre- 
 tenders, in order to flatter Ahab, predicted victory, and 
 Micaiah, who alone foretold impending calamity, was 
 sent to prison. Ahab proceeded to battle in disguise ; 
 he was defeated and mortally wounded. His bloody 
 armour and chariot were washed in the pool of Samaria,
 
 116 THE KINGS OF ISRAEL. 
 
 where dogs licked his blood, as the prophet Elijah had 
 predicted. 
 
 Ahazaih reigned 2 years; died A.M. 3108 B.C. 896. 
 
 The death of Ahab was followed by the rebellion of 
 the Moabites, whom Ahaziah, his feeble successor, was 
 unable to subdue. After a brief reign, this weak king 
 fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber ; being 
 grievously wounded, he sent his servants to inquire at 
 the oracle of Baalzebub, in Ekron, the result of his 
 illness. They were met on the road by Elijah, who 
 predicted the king's death, as a punishment for having 
 consulted false gods. Ahaziah sent to arrest the pro- 
 phet ; two captains, with their companies, having made 
 the attempt, were destroyed by fire from heaven ; Elijah 
 returned with the third, and repeated the denunciation 
 to Ahaziah, who soon after expired. 
 
 Jehoram reigned 12 years; died A.M. 3120 B.C. 884. 
 
 Jehoram, the brother of Ahaziah, succeeded, and 
 began his reign by entering into alliance with the kings 
 of Judah and Edom, for the purpose of chastising the 
 rebellious Moabites. Having invaded their territories, 
 his army suffered dreadfully from the want of water. 
 In his distress, and at the'suggestion of Jehoshaphat the 
 pious king of Israel, he applied to the prophet Elisha, 
 by whose direction he dug trenches, which the Lord mira- 
 culously filled with water during the night. The Moab- 
 ites seeing the rays of the sun reflected from the water, 
 mistook it for blood, and, believing that the confederates 
 had quarrelled, advanced to storm the camp. They were 
 easily repulsed, and routed with great slaughter. 
 
 A short time prievously to these occurrences, Elijah, 
 who had so long maintained the cause of God in Israel, 
 was called to receive his rewai'd. He was peculiarly
 
 THE KINGS OF ISEAEL. 11 7 
 
 distinguished from ordinary men by the divine favour, 
 and was translated to heaven in a fiery chariot ; but a 
 double portion of his spirit descended upon Elisha, who 
 caught the prophet's mantle as it fell. Several signal 
 miracles proved the truth of Elisha's mission ; with the 
 mantle of Elijah he divided the stream of the Jordan, 
 and passed over ; he purified the waters of Jericho ; the 
 wicked youths who mocked him at Bethel were torn by 
 bears ; he multiplied a widow's vessel of oil, and restored 
 a child to life. Naaman, the general of the Syrian king, 
 was healed of his leprosy by bathing in the river Jordan 
 as the prophet commanded, and the disease was trans- 
 ferred to the prophet's servant, Gehazi, for fraud and 
 disobedience, aggravated by a wilful lie. Benhadad, the 
 Syrian monarch of Damascus, w^ho had invaded Israel, 
 attributing his ill-success to the prophet, sent a body of 
 troops to surprise him at Dothan, but the Syi'ians were 
 all smitten with blindness and made prisoners. 
 
 A second invasion of the Syrians reduced Jehoram 
 and the garrison of Samaria to the greatest distress ; 
 they were closely blockaded, and made to endure the 
 worst extremities of famine. Jehoram menaced ven- 
 geance against Elisha, but the prophet declared that on 
 the next day provisions should abound in Samaria. On 
 that night, the Syrians, being terrified by miraculous 
 noises, fled in dismay ; and the rich plunder of their 
 camp soon restored plenty to the houses of the besieged. 
 Benhadad died by the hand of his servant Hazael, who 
 usurped the throne of Syria. Hazael again invaded 
 Palestine, and defeated the united forces of Judah and 
 Israel. Jehoram retired to Jezreel, to be healed of the 
 wound he had received in the battle. In the mean time 
 a young prophet, sent by Elisha, had anointed Jehu 
 king of Israel ; and the sovereign thus divinely appointed
 
 118 THE KINGS OF ISRAEL. 
 
 marched from Ramoth to attack Jezreel. Jehoram, not 
 knowing his designs, went out to meet him, hut was 
 shot through with an arrow, and his body cast into the 
 vineyard of Naboth, as the prophet had foretold to his 
 father Ahab. 
 
 Jehu reigned 28 yeai-s; died A.M. 3148 B.C. 856. 
 
 After the death of the king, Jehu advanced to Jez- 
 reel, meeting no one to oppose his passage. As he ap- 
 proached the palace, Jezebel looked out from a window, 
 and reproached him with the murder of his master ; he 
 directed some of the servants to throw her down, a com- 
 mand which was instantly obeyed, and her prostrate 
 body was trampled by the hoofs of the horses. In the 
 evening some persons were sent to bury the body, out of 
 respect to her royal birth ; but they found nothing left 
 but the head, the feet, and the palms of the hands : the 
 rest had been devoured by the dogs and beasts of prey, 
 as Elijah had predicted. 
 
 The people of Samaria, dreading the power of Jehu, 
 slew all the sons of Ahab, who were seventy in number, 
 and sent their heads to the new sovereign ; he soon after 
 killed forty-two of the family of Ahaziah, king of 
 Judah, who had been in alliance with the house of Ahab. 
 On his arrival in Samaria, by pretending great zeal for 
 Baal, he collected all the priests and prophets of that 
 deity together, and destroyed them all without mercy. 
 But his hatred to idolatry was not sufficiently strong to 
 induce him to remove the calves erected by " Jeroboam, 
 the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin." These he 
 thought it for his interest to retain, following the wicked 
 policy of Jeroboam : and thereliy showed that his former 
 ^eal for the Lord was principally directed to serve him- 
 self. The slaughter of his master, and of his master's
 
 THE KINGS OF ISRAEL. 119 
 
 family, thus became sin in him, because, although com- 
 manded by God, it -was not done out of obedience to 
 Him : God, therefore, avenged the blood of Jezreel upon 
 the house of Jehu. 
 
 Jehoahaz reigned 14 years; died A.M. 3163.. ..B.C. 841. 
 
 The Syrians, under Hazael, grievously oppressed 
 Israel during the reign of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu ; 
 but their misfortunes could not induce either prince or 
 people to remove the great cause of the national cala- 
 mities; they still persevered in their impious idolatry. 
 During the latter years of his reigii, this monarch gave 
 his son, Jehoash, a share in the government. 
 
 JiHo.iSH reigned 16 years; died A.M. 3179. . . .B.C. S25. 
 
 Jehoash engaged the Syrians with more success than 
 his father; though he made no effort to remove the 
 great national sin of Israel, he showed a warm attach- 
 ment to the aged prophet Elisha, and bitterly sorrowed 
 over his loss. When the old man of God lay upon his 
 death-bed, the king paid him a visit, and exclaimed with 
 patriotic anguish, "O my father, my father, the chariot 
 of Israel and the horsemen thereof." Elisha desired the 
 king to shoot some arrows, and he shot three. The pro- 
 phet lamented that he had ceased so soon, for each arrow 
 symbolized a victory that the Israelites should gain over 
 the Syrians. The miraculous powers of Elisha ceased 
 not with his life; a dead body was restored to life by 
 touching his bones in the tomb. 
 
 The three promised victories over the Syrians were 
 gained by Jehoash; the Israelites, in consequence, reco- 
 vered the ancient limits of their kingdom, and for some 
 time were restored to their former state of prosperity. 
 They also conquered Amaziah, king of Judah, plundered 
 Jerusalem, and brought the rich spoils to Samaria. 
 I
 
 120 THE KINGS OF ISRAEL. 
 Jeroboam TI. reigned 42 years; died A.M. 3222 B.C. 782. 
 
 The reign of Jeroboam was long and prosperous : he 
 added to his hereditary dominions several districts con- 
 quered from the kings of Syria and Judah ; and made 
 Israel respected among the surrounding nations. His 
 death was followed by a period of confusion, the history 
 of which can scarcely be reduced to any chronological 
 order. 
 
 An Interregnum of 1 1 years. 
 
 Accession of Zachariah; he reigned 6 months; died 
 A.M. 3232.... B.C. 772. 
 
 Zachariah was the last descendant of Jehu that sat 
 on the throne of Israel. The cause of his not immedi- 
 ately succeeding his father Jeroboam is unknown. He 
 was assassinated by Shallum, who usurped the throne ; 
 Shallum was in his turn slain by Menahem after a brief 
 reign of thirty days. 
 
 Menahem reigned 10 years; died A.M. 3243 B.C. 761. 
 
 Soon after his accession, Menahem was attacked by 
 the Assyrian monarch Pul, who is supposed by some to 
 he the same as Sardanapalus ; he purchased safety by 
 l^aying a large tribute, but the conqueror, in retuni, pro- 
 tected him against all other enemies, and the remainder 
 of his reign was peaceful. 
 
 Pekahiah reigned 2 years; slain A.M. 3245 . . . .B.C. 759. 
 
 Of this monarch little is recorded, save that "he did 
 «vil in the sight of the Lord." He was slain by Pekah, 
 one of his generals. 
 
 Pekah reigned 20 years; died A.M. 3265 . . . .B.C. 739. 
 
 Pekah was a wickeed and sanguinary prince ; yet, on 
 account of the sins of Ahaz, God permitted him to pre- 
 vail against the rival kingdom of Judah. Being joined
 
 THE KINGS OF ISRAEL. 121 
 
 by Rezin, king of Damascus, he invaded Southern Pales- 
 tine, and brought away two hundred thousand prisoners. 
 Oded, a prophet of the Lord, remonstrated with the 
 princes of Israel on the cruelty of leading their brethren 
 into captivity, saying, "Because the Lord God of j^our 
 fathers was wrath with Judah, he hath delivered them 
 into your hand, and ye have slain them in a rage that 
 reacheth up unto heaven. And now ye purpose to keep 
 under tlie children of Judah and Jerusalem for bond- 
 men and bond- women unto you ; but are there not with 
 you, even with you, sins against the Lord your Godi 
 Now hear me, therefore, and deliver the captives again 
 wliich ye have taken captive of your brethren ; for the 
 fierce wrath of God is upon you." Many of the princes 
 were deeply affected by this remonstrance ; they dreaded 
 chastisement for the additional transgression, and said 
 to the people, "Ye shall not bring the captives in hither; 
 for whereas we have offended against the Lord abeady ; 
 ye intend to add more to our sins and our trespass, for 
 our trespass is great, and there is fierce wrath against 
 Israel." When the multitude heard this, they were cut 
 to the heart ; they resigned the captives to the princes 
 ■who "took the captives, and with the spoil clothed 
 all that were naked among them, and arraj-ed them, 
 and shod them, and gave them to eat and drink, and 
 anointed them, and carried all the feeble of them upon 
 asses, and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm- 
 trees, to their brethren: then they returned to Samaria." 
 But notwithstanding this single act of disobedience, 
 the iniquities of Israel were fast approaching their com- 
 pletion ; and the threatened punishment was already 
 begun to be inflicted ; the Assyrian hosts swept the ter- 
 ritories of the northern tribes, and ravaged the districts 
 beyond Jordan, leading away numerous captives. The 
 12
 
 122 THE KINGS OF ISRAEL. 
 
 judgments of God were executed by degrees, that the 
 remnant, warned by the sufferings of their brethren, 
 might repent them of their sins, and return in this their 
 day to their merciful Father. 
 
 Pekah was slain by Hoshea, a chief of some note, and 
 his death was followed by a second period of confusion* 
 
 An Interregnum of 9 years. 
 
 Accession of Hoshea. A.M. 3276 B.C. 728; deposeil A.M. 
 
 3285 B.C. 719. 
 
 During the Interregnum, the Israelites had suffered 
 severely from the attacks of the Assyrians, under Tig- 
 lath-pileser, and his successor Shalmaneser. Hoshea, 
 when established on the throne, sought to protect him- 
 self by entering into alliance with So, king of Egypt, 
 but he only accelerated his fate. Shalmaneser invaded 
 his territories with an overwhelming force, captured the 
 city of Samaria, and carried the ten tribes into some dis- 
 tant country beyond the Euphrates. The country was 
 divided among Assyrian colonies, who in consequence 
 of the signs by which the wrath of the Lord against 
 idolatry was manifested, adopted a corrupted form of 
 the true religion. From these settlers the Samaritans 
 descended, between v>hom and the Jews there was 
 always the most bitter national enmity. 
 
 Thus fell the kingdom of Israel, by the sins of its 
 people, after it had lasted two hundred and fifty-four 
 years. "Who," says the prophet Isaiah, "gave Jacob 
 for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? Did not the Lord, 
 lie against whom we have sinned? for they would not 
 walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his 
 law."
 
 123 
 
 Chapter XXVI. 
 
 THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH, TO THE FIRST 
 
 CONQUEST OF JERUSALEM. 
 
 Those who, amid those troubles, had grown gray, 
 Recurred with mournful feelings to the past! 
 
 *' Blest, had we known our blessings!" they would say. 
 
 ""We were not worthy that our bliss should last." — So urn e v. 
 
 From A.M. 3029.... B.C. 975; to A.M. 332S....B.C. 676. 
 
 Kehoboam reigned 17 years; died A.M. 3046. . . .B.C. 9-58. 
 
 After the revolt of the ten tribes, and the prohibition 
 of the Lord against any attempt to subjugate them, the 
 priests and Levites, who were spread through Israel, 
 came thence in great numbers to Judah. Tliey were 
 received as brethren, but soon had the mortification to 
 witness ahnost as great a defection from the national 
 religion in Judah as had taken place in Israel. Relio- 
 boam introduced the worship of idols, and the great 
 body of the people shared in his guilt. As a punish- 
 ment the kingdom was delivered into the power of 
 Shishak, king of Egypt, who stripped the temple and 
 the palace of their richest treasures. On the repentance 
 of the king, the Egyptians were removed ; but when the 
 danger was withdrawn, Rehoboam neglected his pro- 
 mises of amendment, and died in his impiety. 
 
 The truth of this part of Sacred History has lately 
 received a most remarkable confirmation. One of the 
 great palaces of the Egyptian kings at Karnac was partly 
 built by Shishak, or as the Egyptians called him, She- 
 shonk ; and on one of the walls, which is still standing, 
 Champollion, in his visit to Thebes in 1828, discovered 
 a piece of sculpture representing the victories of this
 
 124 
 
 THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH, 
 
 ReholDoam, king of Judah.
 
 TO THE FIRST CONQUEST OF JERUSALEM. 125 
 
 Pharaoh, "who is dragging the chiefs of thirty conquered 
 nations to the idols worshipped at Thebes. Among the 
 captives is one who is represented in the annexed en- 
 graving. The hieroglyphics upon the shield contain 
 the words Ioudaha Malek, which means King of 
 Juddh. The figure therefore represents Rehoboam, the 
 only Jewish king vanquished by Shishak : and thus, 
 after the lapse of two thousand eight hundred years, we 
 have the unexceptionable testimony of an enemy, to the 
 faithfulness of Scripture history. 
 
 Abijah reigned 3 years; died A.M. 3049 B.C. 9.55. 
 
 Soon after his accession, Abijah, the son of Rehoboam, 
 had to defend his kingdom against the usurper of Israel, 
 who opposed him with a vastly superior force. But 
 Abijah was protected by the Lord, in whose cause he 
 fought ; the priests who were present in his army, cried 
 to heaven for aid, and blew their silver trumpets; a 
 sudden panic seized the Israelites, they fled in confusion, 
 and were pursued with great slaughter. This splendid 
 victory raised the glory of Judah ; but before the king 
 could improve his advantages, he was prematurely cut 
 off by disease. 
 
 Asa reigned 41 years; died A.M. 3090 B.C. 914. 
 
 Asa, who succeeded his father, was a wise and pious 
 prince ; he ordered all the idols in Judah to be destroyed 
 and punished those who persevered in their sinful wor- 
 ship. Having restored the national worship, his next 
 care was to secure his dominions b}' erecting fortresses. 
 His piety in extirpating idolatry was rewarded by divine 
 aid in the moment of danger : Zerah the Ethiopian 
 having invaded the country, at the head of an immense 
 army, Asa cried unto the Lord, and said, "Lord, it is 
 nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with
 
 126 THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH^ 
 
 tliem -who Lave no power; help us, Lord, our God; 
 for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against tliis 
 multitude. Lord, thou art our God; let no man 
 prevail against thee." His prayers were answered, "the 
 Lord smote the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah ; 
 and the Ethiopians fled." As he returned, the prophet 
 Azariah met him, and said unto him, "Hear ye me, 
 Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin : the Lord is with 
 you while ye be with him : and if ye seek him he will 
 be found of you : but if ye forsake him, he will forsake 
 you. Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be 
 weak : for your work shall be rewarded." Thus encou- 
 raged, "they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord 
 God of their fathers with all their 1 eart and with all 
 their soul." Asa even removed his own mother from 
 being queen, "because she had made her an idol in a 
 grove, and cut down her idol, and stamped it, and burnt 
 it at the brook Kedron." 
 
 He afforded every encouragement to the worshippers 
 that came from the neighbouring kingdom of Israel to 
 worship at Jerusalem ; a circumstance which provoked 
 the jealous fears of Baasha, who then ruled in that land. 
 With a sinful distrust in the divine power, Asa sought 
 the aid of Benhadad, king of Syria, against the Israelites, 
 and when reproved for his crime by Hanani the prophet, 
 he committed his honest adviser to prison. From that 
 time forwards, his character changed for the worse, and 
 he became tyrannical and oppressive. Being striken 
 with a disease in his feet, "he sought not to the Lord, 
 but to the physicians," and died. 
 
 Jehoshaphat reigned 25 years; died A.M. 3115 B.C. 889. 
 
 To Asa succeeded his son Jehoshaphat, a prince of 
 equal wisdom and greater piety. Having used every
 
 TO THE FIRST CONQUEST OF JERUSALEM. 127 
 
 exertion to root out idolatry, he took the best measures 
 to prevent its future growth, by establishing teachers 
 of the true religion in every principal town. He also 
 reformed the courts of law, and made ample provision 
 for the due administration of justice. Under his wise 
 government Judah enjoyed the utmost tranquillity and 
 happiness; and, so great was Jehoshaphat's celebrity 
 among the surrounding nations, that not only the neigh- 
 bouring Philistines, but the distant Arabians, paid him 
 tribute. With sinful disregard of the consequences that 
 must result from union with idolaters, he entered into 
 close alliance with the wicked Ahab, and allowed his 
 son Jehoram to marry Athaliah, the daughter of the 
 king of Israel, a princess as nearly allied to the infamous 
 Jezebel in character as in blood. In consequence of this 
 alliance, the king of Judah was present as an auxiliary 
 in the disastrous battle of Ramoth-gilead, where he was 
 surrounded by the enemy; in this distress, he called 
 upon the Lord, "and the Lord helped him," and rescued 
 liim from his imminent peril. 
 
 Soon after his return, Judah was attacked by the 
 united forces of the Moabites, the Ammonites, and the 
 Edomites that dwelt around ]\Iount Seir. In his dis- 
 ti-ess, Jehoshaphat called upon the Lord, and a prophet 
 was sent to comfort him with a promise of deliverance. 
 By divine directions the Jewish army remained station- 
 ary, singing hymns of praise to the God of their fathers; 
 while the hostile forces, inspired by a sudden fury, 
 turned their arms against each other, and fell in multi- 
 tudes by mutual skiughter. 
 
 Jehoshaphat renewed with the wicked Ahaziah the 
 treaty that he had formed with his father Ahab, and a 
 fleet was equipped at their joint expense, to open a com- 
 mercial intercourse with Tarshish. But the unhallowed
 
 128 THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH, 
 
 alliance was displeasing to the Lord, and the ships 
 perished in a storm. During the reign of Jehoram, son 
 of Ahaziah, Jehoshaphat, having formed an alliance with 
 Israel, gained a remarkable victory over the Moabites, 
 as has been already related in the history of that king. 
 
 Jehoeam reigned (in all) 8 years; 
 died A.M. 3118 B.C. 886. 
 
 Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat, who had been associ- 
 ated in the kingdom during his father's life-time, was, 
 after his death, sole sovereign. He resembled his wife 
 Athaliah in character and disposition, and was influenced 
 by her to walk in the abominations of her parents Ahab 
 and Jezebel. He commenced his reign with the murder 
 of his brethren, and the legal establishment of idolatry. 
 He was punished by the revolt of the Edomites, and the 
 invasion of his country by the Philistines and Arabians, 
 who carried away his wives and children captives. He 
 was soon after smitten with an incurable and loathsome 
 disease, of wliich he died in great agony. So little was 
 his memory honoured by his subjects, that they refused 
 to his remains the ceremonial of a public funeral, and 
 would not admit them into the royal sepulchre. 
 
 Ahaziah reigned 1 year; slain A.M. 3120. . . .B.C. 884. 
 
 Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, pursued the same 
 career of iniquity as his father. He entered into alliance 
 with Jehoram, king of Israel, and was slain with him in 
 Jehu's insurrection. 
 
 Athaliah's usurpation lasted 6 years; slie was slain 
 A.M. 3126 B.C. 878. 
 
 On Ahaziah' s death, Athaliah, the queen-mother, 
 usurped the royal authority, and to secure her power 
 determined to murder all the posterity of the late king. 
 One infant, Jelioash, was saved by his paternal aunt.
 
 TO THE FIRST CONQUEST OF JERUSALEM. 129 
 
 the wife of Jehoiada, the chief-priest, and concealed for 
 six years in the temple. At the end of that time, Jehoi- 
 ada, aided by the captains of hundreds, gathered the 
 Levites out of all the cities of Judah, and tiie chief of 
 the fathers of Israel at Jerusalem. Into this assembly 
 he mtroduced the young prince, declaring, "Behold, the 
 king's son shall reign, as the Lord hath said of the house 
 of David." The congregation assented; the youthful 
 Jehoash was crowned in the temple, and Athaliah was 
 deposed and put to death. 
 
 Jehoash reigned 40 years; died A.M. 3165 B.C. 8.39. 
 
 The regency of Jehoiada brought back tranquillity 
 and prosperity to the kingdom of Judah. He restored 
 the worship of Jehovah, renovated the temple and rein- 
 stated the priests in their functions. At his death, in 
 a good old age, he was mourned by the people as if each 
 had lost a father, and was buried in the sepulchre of the 
 kings, an honour well merited by such a national bene- 
 factor. After liis death Jehoash hearkened to evil coun- 
 sellors, restored the worship of Baal, and persecuted the 
 prophets who denounced his trangressions. One of hi& 
 earliest victims was the high-priest Zachariah, the son 
 of Jehoiada, or Barachias, as he is called in the Xew 
 Testament, to whom he owed his life and crown, who 
 was slain by the king's orders within the very precincts 
 of the temple. His crime did not long go unpunished ; 
 the Syrians wasted his ten-itories, and forced him to 
 purchase a dishonourable peace, by the sacrifice of aU 
 his treasures. He was soon after murdered by his own 
 servants. 
 
 Amaziah reigned 29 years; died A.M. 3194 B.C. 810. 
 
 Amaziah commenced his reign by punishing the mur- 
 derers of his father : but in obedience to the laws that
 
 ]30 THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH, 
 
 God had given to his people by the mouth of his prophet 
 Moses, he did not extend his vengeance to their families 
 according to the barbarous custom of Eastern nations. 
 He waged war against the Edomites, but being warned 
 by a prophet, he sent back the auxiliaries he had re- 
 ceived from Israel ; a circumstance which so offended 
 his allies that they committed the most savage excesses 
 in their retreat. In the mean time the Edomites were 
 routed with great slaughter, and the districts round 
 Mount Seir subdued. But after his success, Amaziali 
 forsook the worship of the Lord, and was delivered into 
 the power of his enemies. Jehoash, king of Israel, the 
 chosen instrument of his punishment, defeated his forces 
 in a decisive engagement, plundered Jerusalem, and 
 carried away the rich spoil to Samaria. A conspiracy 
 was formed against the unfortunate king, which he was 
 unable to resist; he fled from Jerusalem, but was over- 
 taken by the emissaries of the traitors at Lachish, and 
 -slain. 
 
 UzziAH reigned 52 years; died A.M. 3246. . . .B.C. 758. 
 
 UzziAH, the son of the murdered king, was but a youth 
 wlien raised to the throne ; but he evinced a spirit and 
 wisdom beyond his years. He restored the worship of 
 the true God, and diligently applied himself to correct 
 the evils that had accumulated during the late reigns. 
 While he continued pious, God prospered his under- 
 takings, and enabled him to subdue the Philistines, the 
 Arabians, and the wild tribes that bordered on the desert. 
 Once more the name of Judah became respected among 
 the nations, once more the nation enjoyed external tran- 
 <iuillity and internal happiness. 
 
 But the heart of Uzziah was elated with prosperity ; 
 he attempted to usurp the priestly office, and persevered.
 
 TO THE FIRST CONQUEST OF JERUSALE^r. 131 
 
 in spite of every warning. His impiety "was punislied 
 by a leprous disease, which rendered him nnfit to trans- 
 act public affairs, and he was obliged to associate his son 
 in the government. On his death his disease was as- 
 signed as a cause for refusing his body admission into the 
 ro^'al sepulchre, and he was buried in the adjoining field. 
 In the reign of Uzziah, Rome was first founded. 
 
 JoTHAM reigned 16 years; died A.M. 326-2 B.C. 742. 
 
 Uzziah's son, Jotham, warned by liis father's miser- 
 able fate, devoted himself to the worship of the true God. 
 He was rewarded by being made victorious over the 
 Ammonites, who paid him a large tribute. And thus 
 he '•' became mighty, because he prepared his ways 
 before the Lord his God." 
 
 Ahaz reigned 16 years; died A.M. 327S. . . .B.C. 726. 
 A WICKED king came next to the throne ; Ahaz not 
 only deserted the worship of the true God, but adopted 
 those abominable superstitions which many of the hea- 
 thens themselves viewed with horror. In the narrow 
 valley of Hinnom, which lies at the foot of Mount Sion, 
 was erected the statue of the Phoenician god, Moloch, to 
 which human sacrifices, and especially infants, were 
 offered : — 
 
 Moloch, horrid "king, besmeared with blood 
 
 Of human sacrifice, and parents' tears ; 
 
 Though for the noise of drums and timbrels loud 
 
 Tlieir children's cries, unheard, that passed through fire 
 
 To his grim idol. Miltox. 
 
 From the musical instruments called Tup/i, used to 
 drown the shrieks of the children so barbarously sacri- 
 ficed by the deluded votaries, the place was named 
 Tophet. And from the honors exhibited in the polluted 
 spot, its names, Tophet, Ge-Hinnom, or Gehenna, are 
 frequently given to the place of eternal torments. The
 
 132 THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH, 
 
 worship of this idol was first introduced by the wives of 
 Solomon; but these dreadful rites were added by the 
 wicked Ahaz. The instruments chosen to punish his 
 crime were the kings of Syria and Israel, who devas- 
 tated his territories, and carried multitudes into capti- 
 vity. The people of Israel, however, dismissed the 
 captives, as has been already related : and this was the 
 last instance of friendship displayed by the rival nations. 
 Ahaz purchased the aid of Tif^lath-pileser, the powerful 
 king of Assyria, against Rezin king of Syria and the 
 Edomites, and not only exhausted the royal treasury, 
 but pillaged the temple of its silver and gold. But 
 Tiglath-pileser gave his tributary king little or no assist- 
 ance ; the country continued to be devastated by the 
 Syrians, and Ahaz, uninstructed by calamity, so far 
 from repenting, sunk himself deeper in crime ; he shut 
 up the temple of the Lord, and erected idols in every 
 cit}'^ in Judah. The country was now on the very brmk 
 of ruin, when it was] providentially rescued, for a time, 
 by the death of the impious monarch. 
 
 Hezekiah reigned 29 years; died A.M. 3306 B.C. 698. 
 
 The dark clouds which were rapidly collecting, and 
 which seemed to threaten the destruction of Judah, were 
 dispelled, for a time, by the accession of Hezekiah ; who 
 warned by the calamities which impiety and idolatry 
 had brought on his father Ahaz, hastened to restore the 
 worship of the true God. The national worship was 
 re-established in all its former splendour, the temple 
 cleansed from its pollutions, the priests and Levites 
 reinstated in their functions, and the holy feast of the 
 Passover solemnized with unusual magnificence. All 
 the vestiges of idolatry were destroyed, the idols broken, 
 their shrines and altars demolished, the groves cut down.
 
 TO THE FIRST CONQUEST OF JERUSALEM. 133 
 
 and tlieir sanctuaries desecrated. Even the brazen Ser- 
 pent, which had been preserved in memor}^ of the mira- 
 cles wrought in the wilderness, Avas broken to pieces, 
 because it had become the object of superstitious venera- 
 tion. The chief adviser of the monarch appears to have 
 been the evangelical prophet Isaiah, whose predictions 
 of the Messiah and his kingdom are so clear and plain, 
 as to resemble history rather than prophecy. 
 
 Under the wise government of Hezekiah, the kingdom 
 of Judah had attained such strength, that the king ven- 
 tured to shake off the Assyrian yoke, and set the power 
 of that mighty empire at defiance. Shalmaneser, the 
 Assyrian emperor, was diverted from his attack on Judah, 
 after the subjugation of Israel, by an anxiety to subdue 
 the wealthy cities of Phoenicia, and especially the mag- 
 nificent Tyre, " whose merchants were princes, whose 
 traffickers w^ere the honourable of the earth." But his 
 son Sennacherib, was the heir of his revenge against the 
 revolted Jews, as well as of his power and ambition. 
 He invaded Judea at the head of an enormous force, but 
 Hezekiah prepared to meet the coming storm with equal 
 valour and prudence. He repaired and strengthened the 
 fortifications of Jerusalem, collected immense stores of 
 all the munitions of war, encouraged his people to fight 
 bravely in defence of their homes and altars, and, above 
 all, piously exhorted them to repose their confidence in 
 the Lord of hosts. " Be strong," he said, " and courage- 
 ous, be not afraid or dismayed for the king of Ass^Ti-ia, 
 nor for all the multitude that is with him, for there be 
 more with us than with him. "With him is an arm of 
 flesh ; but with us is the Lord our God, to help us and 
 to fight our battles." But Hezekiah showed that his 
 faith was weak, by giving Sennacherib a large bribe to 
 withdraw his forces. This sinful distrust brought its
 
 134 THE KINGDOM OR JUDAH, 
 
 own punishment, for the Assyrian, from some unex- 
 pected cause, but probably because the bribe stimulated 
 rather than gratified his avarice, renewed the war, and 
 sent his general Rabshakeli with an insolent summons? 
 to demand the instant surrender of Jerusalem. The 
 haughty message was still more insolently delivered, 
 and Rabshakeli spoke it in the Hebrew language in 
 order that it might spread disma}' among the people. 
 But the king and his subjects, encouraged by the sub- 
 lime predictions of Isaiah, refused compliance with the 
 degrading terms, and Rabshakeli returned to his master. 
 The irritated Sennacherib sent Hezekiah a letter full of 
 the most dreadful threats of vengeance and extravagant 
 blasphemies against the God on whose protection he 
 learned that the king relied. Hezekiah entered into the 
 temple, and spreading the letter on the altar before the 
 Lord, supplicated the assistance of the Almighty. Isaiah 
 was commissioned to announce to him that his prayer 
 had been heard, and that night "the angel of the Lord 
 went forth and smote, in the camp of the Ass^a-ians, a 
 hundred and four score and five thousand ; and when 
 they arose early in the morning, behold these were all 
 dead corpses." 
 
 Sennacherib, after this dreadful calamity, returned 
 home, and was assassinated by his own sons, while wor- 
 shipping " in the house of Nisroch, his God." He was 
 succeeded by Esar-haddon. Hezekiah, soon after this 
 mighty deliverance, fell sick ; but on his humble prayer, 
 Isaiah was commanded to predict his recovery, and to 
 confirm his prophecy by the remarkable miracle of the 
 sun's shadow going back ten degrees upon the dial. 
 The news of this wondrous event was spread abroad, 
 and Merodach Baladan, whose Chaldaean subjects were 
 particularly distinguished by their astronomical skill,
 
 TO THE FIRST CONQUEST OF JERUSALEM. 135 
 
 sent ambassadors to congratulate the king on his reco- 
 very, and inquire the j^articulars of the stupendous sign 
 by which it had been confirmed. To these ambassadors 
 Hezekiah, with foolish pride, displayed all his treasures, 
 forgetting that he owed them all to the mercy and kind- 
 ness of Jehovah. Isaiah severely rebuked this instance 
 of presumptuous vanity, and foretold that, in the next 
 reign, it would be visited with exemplary punishment. 
 Hezekiah heard the rebuke with pious resignation to 
 the divine Avill, and submissively yielded himself to the 
 dispensations of Providence. His death was sincerely 
 lamented by all his subjects, and more especially by the 
 inhabitants of Jerusalem, whose city he had strengthened 
 and beautified, and supplied with an aqueduct, to remedy 
 the want of water. 
 
 Manasseh reigned 12 years; carried into captivity A.M. 3328, . .. 
 B.C. 676. 
 
 The impious Manasseh succeeded, and instantly sub- 
 verted all the wise institutions of his father. He 
 exceeded even Ahaz in impiety, and seemed to take an 
 insane pleasure in the very worst abominations of idola- 
 try. The prophets of the Lord remonstrated, and were, 
 in consequence, subjected to the most cruel persecutions. 
 A constant tradition relates that Isaiah was sawn asunder 
 by command of the merciless t^-rant. But an avenger 
 was at hand; Esar-haddon, having re-united the empires 
 of Assyria and Chaldaea, poured his overwhelming forces 
 into Judea, captured Jerusalem, and carried away the 
 imj)ious king a captive to Babylon. 
 
 K
 
 136 
 
 Chapter XXVII. 
 
 THE DESTRUCTION OF THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH, 
 
 AND CAPTURE OF JERUSALEM BY 
 
 NEBUCHADNEZZAR. 
 
 How promllj were frowning thy battled towers, 
 
 O Salem ; how rich thv dwelling ! 
 How sweet from thy groves and thy olive-howers, 
 
 The anthem of praise was swelling! 
 
 But o'er thee came Sin, like a wasting blight ; 
 
 The sun of thy glories was shaded ; 
 And weakness fell on thy battlements' height, 
 
 And the green of thy groves was faded. 
 
 And vengeance followed: — the conqueror came. 
 
 The city to ruin dooming ; 
 And over its roofs went the volleyed flame, 
 
 Both the palace and cot consuming. Anon. 
 
 Manasseh restored; reigned about 40 years; died A.M. 3361.. .. 
 B.C. 643. 
 
 Affliction produced a beneficial effect on the cha- 
 racter of Manasseh; he bitterly repented of the sins he 
 had committed, and humbly besought pardon from his 
 offended God. The Lord heard his prayers ; he was 
 liberated, probabh' on condition of paying tribute to 
 Babylon, and permitted to sit agam on his father's 
 throne. The remainder of his long reign was spent in 
 the observance of God's holy law, and Judah enjoyed 
 an interval of tranquillity to which the wretched state 
 of the unhappy Israel formed a painful contrast. The 
 ten tribes were now strangers in the land of their 
 fathers; barbai-ous and idolatrous colonists, collected 
 from the various Assyrian provinces, occupied the land 
 promised to the seed of Abraham, and polluted every 
 hill with the abommations of impure and lincentious
 
 DESTRUCTION OF THE KINGDOM OF JUDAII. 137 
 
 worship. It is true, that terrified hy prodigies, the 
 colonists had sent to Esar-haddon for an Israelitish 
 priest ; but they only adulterated the pure religion hy 
 uniting it with their own superstitions. Such a picture 
 of the calamities endured by their bretliren was not 
 without its effect on the children of Judah, and during 
 the life of Manasseh no second attempt was made to 
 introduce idolatry. 
 
 Amon reigned 2 years; slain A.M. 33G3 B.C. 641. 
 
 Amon, the son of Manasseh, once more provoked the 
 wrath of the Lord, by leading his people to worshijD 
 false gods. He was assassinated by his own servants ; 
 but his subjects inflicted merited punishment on the 
 murderers, and placed his son Josiah, a child onl^- eight 
 years old, upon the throne. 
 
 Josiah reigned 31 years; died A.M. 3394 B.C. 010. 
 
 A PIOUS and wise prince was once again on the tlirone 
 of Judah. Josiah " while he was yet young began to 
 seek after the God of David his father," and made the 
 most vigorous exertions to extirpate idolatry and restore 
 the worship of the true God. While this reformation 
 was in progress, the original copy of the law was found 
 by Hilkiah the priest, and read to the people, who were 
 terrified by the awful threats denounced against the sin 
 of apostasy. The feast of the passover was once more 
 celebrated with great solemnity, and many worshippers 
 from the ruined kingdom of Israel came up to join in 
 the rite that commemorated the delivery of their fathers 
 from Egyptian bondage. But afterwards, Necho, tlie 
 Pharaoh of Egypt, having invaded the Assyrian terri- 
 tories, Josiah believed himself bound as much by grati- 
 tude as by duty, to lend assistance to the Assyrian king. 
 In despite of the remonstrances of Pharaoh, who declared 
 K2
 
 138 THE DESTRUCTION OF THE 
 
 that he was not come up against him, but against the 
 Assjaians, he attacked the Egyptians at Megiddo, where 
 he was defeated and mortallj^ wounded; his servants 
 brought him to Jerusalem, where he expired, to the 
 great and unfeigned grief of all his subjects. The people 
 raised Jehoahaz, one of Josiah's younger sons, to the 
 throne ; but he was deposed by the victorious Necho, 
 who transferred the crown to Eliakim, also of the royal 
 family, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. 
 
 Jkhoiakim reigned 11 years; died A.M. 3104. . . .B.C. 600. 
 
 The deputy monarch appointed by the king of Egj'-pt 
 was a weak and irreligious prince ; his only virtue, and 
 that proved destructive, was fidelity to the sovereign 
 from whom he had received his crown. In the fourth 
 year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar, the most powerful of 
 the Assyrian monarchs, marched against him, but the 
 feeble king, relying on the promised assistance of Egypt 
 would neither fight nor yield. The prophet Jeremiah, 
 to whom the impending calamities were revealed, in 
 vain recommended submission ; he was brought to trial 
 for treason, and with difficulty saved by the interference 
 of the nobility; but Uriah, another prophet, was mur- 
 dered. In the mean time Nebuchadnezzar approached ; 
 Jerusalem surrendered after a brief and inefficient strug- 
 gle; the wretched king was thrown into chains, but 
 liberated, on condition of paying tribute, and giving 
 hostages for his obedience. The hostages were selected 
 fi'om the most illustrious families ; among them were 
 Daniel, and three other prmces, best known by their 
 Babj'lonian names, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 
 From hence must be reckoned the beginning of the 
 seventy years of the Babylonish captivity foretold by 
 the prophet Jeremiah.
 
 KI^'GDOM OF JUDAII. 139 
 
 Jehoiakim soon revolted, and Nebuchadnezzar return- 
 ing, plundered Jerusalem, removed all the treasures and 
 sacred vessels from the temple, brought them, with the 
 deposed monarch, to Babylon, put Jehoiakim to death 
 as a rebel, and left his unburied corpse a prey to the 
 fowls of the air, and the beasts of the field. He was 
 succeeded by his son Jehoiachin, who, after a brief reign 
 of thi-ee months, was deposed by the imperious Assyrian 
 monarch, and sent bound to Babylon with a multitude 
 of other captives. 
 
 Zedekiah reigned 11 years; deposed A.M. 3416 B.C. 588. 
 
 Zedekiah, the uncle of the deposed monarch, Avas 
 chosen to fill his place, and proved even more weak 
 and wicked than his predecessors. Stimulated by false 
 prophets, and relying on the promised aid of Egypt, he 
 rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, and threw the prophet 
 Jeremiah into a loathsome prison, for remonstrating 
 with him on his folly. But an avenger was at hand ; 
 the Assyrian emperor soon appeared before the walls of 
 Jerusalem, after having totally routed the Egyptian 
 forces. The unfortunate city endured the worst extre- 
 mities of famine, but was finally forced to an uncon- 
 ditional surrender. The degi-aded king was dragged in 
 chains before his cruel conqueror, his children were 
 slain before his face, his eyes put out, and in that state 
 was he sent to terminate his miserable existence in a 
 foreign prison. Thus was fulfilled the remarkable pro- 
 phecy of Ezekiel, " I will bring him to Babylon, to the 
 land of the Chaldseans, yet shall he not see it, though 
 he shall die there." Jerusalem suffered every calamity 
 that barbarous cruelty could inflict ; the temple, that 
 great object of national aff'ection and national glory, was 
 burned to the ground, and its very foundation razed in
 
 140 DESTRUCTION OF THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH. 
 
 triumphant malignity : the lofty places, the courts, 
 public edifices, and private houses, were involved in the 
 same indiscriminate destruction, and, for the appointed 
 time of seventy years, the holy city scarcely existed, 
 save in the memory of a captive people. 
 
 The day on which Jerusalem was taken, and that on 
 which the destruction of the temple was completed, are 
 observed even in our own age, as days of fasting and 
 humiliation, by the scattered remnants of the Jewish 
 nation. The former event occurred on the ninth day of 
 the fourth month, ^lie latter on the seventh day of the 
 fifth month.
 
 Chapter XXVIII. 
 THE BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY. 
 
 O'er Judah's land thy thunders broke — oh, Lord I 
 
 The chariots rattled o'er her sunken gate, 
 Her sons were wasted by the Assyrian sword, 
 
 E'en her foes wept to see her fallen state ; 
 And heaps her ivory palaces became. 
 Her princes wore the captive's garb of shame, 
 Her temple sank amid the smouldering flame. 
 For thou didst ride the tempest cloud of fate. 
 
 O'er Judah's land thy rainbow, Lord, shall beam, 
 
 And the sad city lilt her crowuless head; 
 And songs shall wake, and dancing footsteps gleam. 
 
 Where broods o'er fallen streets the silence of the dead. 
 The sun shall shine on Salem's gilded towers. 
 On Carmel's side our maidens cull the flowers. 
 To deck, at blushing eve, their bridal bowers, 
 
 And angel-feet the glittering Ziou tread. 
 
 Thy vengeance gave us to the stranger's hand. 
 And Abraham's children were led forth for slaves; 
 
 With fettered steps we left our pleasant land, 
 Envying our fathers in their peaceful graves.
 
 142 THE BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY. 
 
 The strangers' bread with bitter tears we steep. 
 And when our weary eyes should sink to sleep, 
 'Neath the mute midnight we steal forth to weep, 
 
 Where the pale willow shades Euphrates' waves. 
 The born in sorrow shall bring forth in joy : 
 
 Thy mercy, Lord, shall lead thy children home: 
 He that went forth a tender yearling boy. 
 
 Yet, ere he die, to Salem's streets shall come. 
 And Canaan's vines for us their fruits shall bear, 
 And Hermon's be&s their honied stores prepare; 
 And we shall kne«l again in thankful prayer. 
 
 Where, o'er the cherub-seated God, full blazed th'irradiate 
 dome. — ^MiLMAN. 
 
 The Captivity endured 70 years, ended A.M. 3457. . . .B.C. 517. 
 
 The history of the Jews during the captivity can 
 only be learned incidentally from biographical accounts 
 of some leading individuals, and brief notices in the 
 books of the prophets. But during this period, short 
 though it was, an extraordinary change took place in 
 their government, condition, language, and every thing 
 aflfecting them, but their religion. Those who had been 
 carried to Babylon were reduced to slavery and dispersed 
 far and wide through that vast empire: and though 
 many of them appear to have attained to stations of 
 comparative affluence, and some few to posts of dignity, 
 yet by far the greater number never rose above the con- 
 dition of slaves. It is, however well worthy of remark, 
 that they never again relapsed into the sin of idolatry, 
 either while they were strangers in a foreign land, or 
 after their return to their own country. The miserable 
 remnant left in Judgea had a person named Gedaliah 
 appointed over them as governor, but he was slain by 
 Ishmael, a youth of royal blood, who was, however, 
 rejected by his countrymen, and forced to seek refuge
 
 THE BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY. 143 
 
 among the Ammonites. Johanan, who was acknow- 
 ledged as a leader by a great number of the Jews, 
 dreadhig the resentment of the Assyrians for the murder 
 of Gedaliah, removed with his followers into Egypt, 
 forcing the prophet Jeremiah to bear him company. 
 There the prophet was put to death, whether by his 
 countr3mien, or the Egyptian king, is uncertain. 
 
 The princes that had been brought as hostages to 
 Bab34on, when first Jerusalem was taken by Nebuchad- 
 nezzar, were treated by their captors with great kind- 
 ness, they received an education suitable to their birth, 
 and were appointed to dignified stations in the royal 
 household. 
 
 These young men were hot elated by prosperity : 
 they refused to partake of the rich viands and costly 
 wines that were sent them from the king's table, but 
 lived on pulse and water, probably through dread of 
 violating the Mosaic laws. This simple food was found 
 more wholesome than luxui-ious dainties; "they ap- 
 peared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children 
 which did eat the portion of the king's meat." "God 
 also gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and 
 wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions 
 and dreams." In the second year of his reign Nebu- 
 chadnezzar was troubled in his sleep b}^ a vision, which 
 seemed to prognosticate some miglity revolution. When 
 he awoke, he found that he had forgotten all the par- 
 ticulars ; and, in the spirit of oriental despotism, threat- 
 ened to slay all the Chaldaean seers, unless they could 
 discover both the dream and its interpretation. Inspired 
 by God, Daniel was enabled to comply with this very 
 unreasonable demand, and was, in consequence, ap- 
 pointed ruler over the province of Babylon. 
 
 After this Nebuchadnezzar ei'ccted a golden image in
 
 144 THE BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY. 
 
 the plains of Dura, and assembled all the princes, poten- 
 tates, and principal officers, to -witness its dedication. 
 Daniel appears to have been absent, either employed in 
 the affairs of his government, or unwilling to counte- 
 nance, by his presence, a crime which he could not pre- 
 vent. The imperious monarch commanded that at the 
 sound of the musical instruments used in the Ass3n-ian 
 ■worship, all persons, of every rank and condition, should 
 bow down and adore the idol that he had erected. Great 
 was his wrath when he learned that three Jewish cap- 
 tives, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, had disobeyed 
 his commands, and he instantly summoned them to his 
 presence. Their repeated refusal, and their reliance on 
 the God of their fathers for deliverance, exasperated the 
 tyrant ; he not only ordered them to be bound hand and 
 foot, and thrown into the midst of the burning fiery fur- 
 nace, but ordered the heat of the furnace to be increased 
 sevenfold. The guards who executed the royal com- 
 mands were destroj'ed by the fury of the flames; but 
 God protected his faithful servants: they passed through 
 the fire uninjured, and a companion, whose "form" was 
 "like the son of God," was seen walking with them in 
 the midst of the conflagration. Astounded by this 
 miracle, Nebuchadnezzar called the three youths ; they 
 came to him from the midst of the furnace, unhurt by 
 the fire, "nor was an hair of their head singed, neither 
 were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed 
 on them." The astonished monarch afterwards raised 
 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, to the highest dig- 
 nities, and issued a decree forbidding blasphemy against 
 their God, under the severest penalties. 
 
 Another terrific dream filled the mind of Nebuchad- 
 nezzar witli horror and dismay, nor could the Chaldaean 
 soothsayers explain its signification. Recourse was had
 
 THE BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY. 145 
 
 to Daniel, who declared that God had mtimated to the 
 king his design of punishing his impiety by a dreadful 
 malady which should drive him to live for seven years 
 Avith the beasts of the field ; but that, at the expiration 
 of the appointed time, he should be restored to his health 
 and kingdom. The prediction was accomplished at the 
 end of twelve months ; at the moment that the king 
 Avas proudly contemplating the magnificence and pomp 
 of the splendid city, and boasting of his grandeur and 
 power, a voice from heaven announced that the time of 
 his degradation had arrived. "The same hour was the 
 thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar ; and he was driven 
 from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was 
 wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown 
 like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws.'* 
 "When the time of his punishment was completed, 
 Nebuchadnezzar, now a sincere penitent, lifted up his 
 heart to the Lord, and sought and obtained forgiveness, 
 
 Belshazzar, the son and successor of Nebuchadnezzar,, 
 continued Daniel in his high office ; but he forgot the 
 signs and wonders which in his father's reign had shown 
 the omnipotence of Jehovah. Babylon was besieged by 
 the united armies of the Medes and Persians; but the 
 king, relying on the vast strength of its fortifications, 
 laughed to scorn the efforts of his enemies. On the 
 occasion of a great annual festival, he gave a magnificent 
 banquet to his nobles and generals, and impiously 
 ordered that the sacred vessels, taken, from the temple 
 of Jerusalem, should l)e brought to grace his un- 
 hallowed festivities. But, in the midst of the mirth 
 and feasting, the king saw on the opposite wall, a hand, 
 tracing certain mysterious characters, which neither 
 he nor his soothsay ei-s could interpret. Daniel being 
 summoned, read the ominous words; Mene, Mexe,
 
 146 
 
 THE BABIXONISH CAPTIVITY. 
 
 TfiKEL, Uphaesin; and thus explained their awful 
 import. 
 
 "Mene; God hath numbered thy kingdom and 
 finished it. 
 
 "Tekel; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art 
 found wanting. 
 
 " Upharsin ; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to 
 the Medes and Persians." 
 
 That same night was the prophecy accomplished : the 
 besiegers, having by a canal drained the waters of the 
 river, entered the city thi-ough the empty channel : the 
 Babylonians, .sunk in wine and sleep, were completely 
 sui-prised ; Belshazzar, having rallied round him a few 
 friends, made a desperate resistance, but finally fell 
 undistinguished amid the heaps of the slain. 
 
 The records of the human race do not present a more 
 w^ondrous contrast than that between the ancient mag- 
 nificence of Babylon, and the desolation for which it has 
 lain for centiu'ies. At the time of its capture by the
 
 THE BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY. 147 
 
 Medes and Persians it was one of the wonders of tlie 
 world; and thougli tlie description given of it by tlie 
 Greek writers may be suspected of exaggeration, tbere 
 can be no doubt that in extent and splendour it sur- 
 passed every city of ancient and modern times. Its 
 walls formed an exact square, each side being fifteen 
 miles in length ; they were built of large bricks, cemented 
 with bitumen, a substance like pitch, found in that 
 country ; they were raised to a vast height, and were so 
 wide that six chariots could drive abreast on them. 
 Ecich wall had twenty-five gates made of solid brass; 
 between everj^ two of them towers were erected, save 
 where the walls were protected by a morass. Outside 
 the walls was a trench, very deep and wide, filled with 
 water from the Euphrates. The streets extended from 
 gate to gate, and thus divided the city into squares, 
 round which the houses were built, not in continuation, 
 but at fixed intervals, each being surrounded by a park 
 or garden. There was but one bridge over the branch 
 of the Euphrates that intersected the city ; at each ex- 
 tremity was a palace; the old on the east side, and tlie 
 new on the west. Not far from the old palace was the 
 celebrated tower of Belus, which was ascended by a 
 winding path on the outside ; giving to the edifice the 
 appearance of eight towers, piled one above the other. 
 On the opposite side of the river were the celebrated 
 hanging gardens : consisting of a succession of terraces, 
 raised on brick arches, covered with earth, and planted 
 with the most beautiful shrubs and floAvers. 
 
 Such was Babylon, when the Lord, by the mouths of 
 Isaiah and Jeremiah, denounced vengeance on the wicked 
 city, and predicted the fearful condition of ruin which 
 should bury all its glories. One hundred and sixty 
 years before the enemy appeared at its gates, was the
 
 148 THE BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY. 
 
 aAA'ful prophecy pronounced, and the commissioned agents 
 of destruction mentioned by name. 
 
 "The burden of Babylon, whicli Isaiah, the son of 
 Amoz, did see. Lift ye up a banner upon the high 
 mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand 
 that they may go in to the gates of the nobles. The 
 noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great 
 people ; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations 
 gathereth together; the Lord of Hosts musteretli the 
 host of the battle. They come from a far country, from 
 the end of heaven, even the Lord, and the weapons of 
 
 his indignation to destroy the whole land 
 
 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which 
 shall not regard silver ; and as for gold, they shall not 
 delight in it. Their bows also shall dash the young men 
 to pieces, and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the 
 womb ; their eye shall not spare children." 
 
 Not less explicit is Jeremiah's prophetic description 
 of the manner in which the destruction of this mighty 
 city should be accomijlished : "I have laid a snare for 
 thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast 
 not aware; thou art found, and also caught, because 
 
 thou hast striven against the Lord Call 
 
 together the archers against Babylon, all ye that bend 
 the bow, camp against it round about, let none thereof 
 
 escape Behold, a people shall come from 
 
 the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be 
 raised up from the coasts of the eai-th. They shall hold 
 the bow and the lance ; they are cruel and will not 
 show mercy; their voice shall roar like the sea, and 
 they shall ride upon horses, every one put in array 
 like a man to the battle, against theCj^O daughter of 
 Babylon." 
 
 The historian does not more accurately pourfcray the
 
 THE BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY. 149 
 
 Medes descending from their mountains north of Baby- 
 lonia, and the mounted archers of the Persians, cele- 
 brated in all antiquity for their skill in archery and 
 liorsemanship, than these wondrous prophecies, deli- 
 vered when the city was at the very summit of its 
 greatness. 
 
 With still more surprising accuracy the inspired 
 prophets have described the present desolation which 
 modem travellers find spread over the ruins of Babylon. 
 Isaiah says, "Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the 
 beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall l)e as when 
 God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never 
 be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from genera- 
 tion to generation ; neither shall the Arabian pitch tent 
 there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold 
 there. But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there, and 
 their houses sliall be full of doleful creatures; and owls 
 shall dwell there, [and satyrs shall dance there. And 
 the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate 
 houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces; and her 
 time is near to come, and her days shall not be pro- 
 longed." 
 
 Jeremiah also denounced the same fearful judgment. 
 *' Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling place for 
 dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an 
 inhabitant." 
 
 The following extract from Sir Robert Ker Porter's 
 Travels, describing the present condition of the ruins of 
 that once proud city, will show how fearfully these pre- 
 dictions have been accomplished. " The whole view 
 was particularly solemn. The majestic stream of the 
 Euphrates, wandering in solitude, like a pilgrim mo- 
 narch through the silent ruins of his devastated king- 
 dom, still appeared a noble river, under all the disad- 
 L2
 
 150 THE BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY. 
 
 vantages of its desert-tracked course. Its banks were 
 hoary Avith reeds, and the grey osier willows were yet 
 there on which the captives of Israel hung up their 
 harps, and while Jerusalem was not, refused to be com- 
 forted. But how is the rest of the scene changed since 
 then! At that time those broken hills were palaces; 
 those long undulating mounds, streets; this vast soli- 
 tude filled with the busy subjects of the proud daughter 
 of the East : — now wasted, with misery, Tier hahitatmis 
 are not to he founds and, for herself, the worm is spread 
 over herJ* This wonderful alteration in the appearance 
 of the country is, without doubt to be attributed, in 
 great measure, to the diversion of the river from its 
 usual channel, described above. The large body of water 
 brought down by the Euphrates, no longer confined by 
 its banks, spread over tlie country, and converted it into 
 a marsh, a character which it has ever since retained. 
 
 Darius*, king of the Medes, having learned the fame 
 of Daniel's wisdom, intrusted him with the same office 
 that he had held under the Assyrian monarchs; a 
 circumstance which gave great offence to the envious 
 parasites of the court. With crafty malignity, they 
 resolved to make his piety the means of his destruction, 
 and procured from the sovereign an edict that no one, 
 under pain of being throwTi into the den of lions, should 
 offer prayers to any one but the king, for the space of 
 thirty days. 
 
 Daniel did not cease from his accustomed devotions; 
 thrice a day he offered up his prayers to the God of his 
 fathers, relying with humble confidence on his Almighty 
 
 * Darius, in Hebrew Daratoesh, is not a proper name, but like 
 Pharaoh, a title of dignity ; it is derived from Dara, which in Persian 
 signifies "a king;'' the prince_ here spoken of is, in profane histoiy, 
 called Cyaxares.
 
 THE BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY. 151 
 
 protection. Information of this disobedience was brought 
 to Darius, who, with great reluctance, was forced to 
 pronounce the threatened sentence, because the laws of 
 the Medes and Persians, thus made, were unalterable. 
 But God " shut the lions' mouths ;" Daniel remained 
 uninjured with the fierce animals in their den, and 
 was released by the astonished monarch. His wicked 
 accusers, the Persian princes, were then thrown to the 
 beasts and instantly torn to pieces. 
 
 The Jews derived from the protection of Daniel some 
 mitigation of the hardships usually inflicted on con_ 
 quered nations ; but nothing could console them for the 
 loss of their beloved Jerusalem. " By the waters of 
 Babylon, they sat down, and wept when they remem- 
 bered thee, O Zion." The Chaldeeans desired to hear 
 some of the melodies for which the Hebrew nation was 
 then celebrated; but the reply of the captives was the 
 pathetic question, " How shall we sing the Lord's son 
 in a strange land ?"
 
 152 THE BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY. 
 
 On the death of Darius, or Cyaxares, Cyrus succeeded 
 to the government of the whole empire. He had been 
 shown the prophecy of Isaiah, which foretold the resto- 
 ration of the temple, and soon after his accession, he 
 issued a decree permitting the Jews to return to their 
 beloved land, and to rebuild their holy city. Great 
 multitudes availed themselves of the decree, but there 
 were many who remained in the territories of Chaldsea, 
 whose history must be briefly noticed before we give an 
 account of the rebuilding of Jerusalem. 
 
 Daniel did not accompany his brethren on their return, 
 but remained in the service of the Persian monarchs, 
 and is said to have been honoured as a prince to the end 
 of his life. 
 
 About eighteen 3'ears after the return from captivity, 
 a change of d3masty took place in Persia, by which the 
 Magiaus, or Persian priests, wlio appear to have hated 
 the Jews for their attachment to their religion, were 
 stripped of political power. This revolution greatly 
 improved the condition both of the Jews who had re- 
 turned to Palestine, and of those who remained in the 
 Persian provinces. 
 
 A remarkable combination of events produced them 
 still greater benefits. Ahasuerus, who was probably the 
 monarch known to western writers under the name of 
 Artaxerxes Longimanus, divorced his wife Vashti, for 
 refusing obedience to his capricious commands. To 
 supply the place of the exiled Vashti, the despot ordered 
 all the fairest ladies of Persia to be assembled, and his 
 choice fell on the pious and amiable Esther, the niece of 
 Mordecai, a Jew. Not long after this, two officers of 
 the palace formed a conspiracy against the king, which 
 was happily brought to light by IMordecai ; and the his- 
 tory of the whole matter was recorded in the public
 
 THE BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY. 153 
 
 i-egisters of the empire. The chief favourite of the 
 king was Haman, descended from the ancient stock of 
 Amalek, and, therefore the hereditary enemy of the 
 Jewish nation. Enraged that Mordecai did not pay 
 him all tlie reverence wliich his imperious pride re- 
 quired, and which Mordecai probably refused to him as 
 being the descendant of Agag king of the Amalekites, 
 the wicked Haman procured from the king an edict 
 sanctioning the extermination of the entire people of 
 the Jews. 
 
 Esther, having learned the dangers that impended 
 over her nation, presented herself unsummoned, to the 
 royal presence, an act punished with death by the Per- 
 sian law, unless the monarch gave the signal of pardon 
 by extending his sceptre. When the queen appeared 
 before Ahasuerus, he instantly gave the sign and assur* 
 ance of her safety ; she invited him and Haman to par- 
 take of a banquet which she had prepared, a request 
 that was instantly granted. During the banquet, the 
 king promised to grant Esther whatever request she 
 should make, even to the half of his kingdom; to which 
 she replied, that if he and Haman would honour her 
 banquet on the following day with their presence, she 
 would then make known her petition. Haman puffed 
 up with pride at the supposed honour conferred on him, 
 and aggravated by the continued neglect of Mordecai, 
 on his return home, ordered a gallows to be built, 
 intending to procure from the king an order for his 
 immediate execution. 
 
 On that night, the king, to while away the tedium of 
 a sleepless night, ordered the records of the kingdom to 
 be brought and read to him. He was struck by heaving 
 the account of the benefits he had received from Mor. 
 decai, and inquired what reward had been given to so
 
 154 
 
 THE BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY. 
 
 great a benefactor? The answer was, "None." The 
 next morning, the king asked his prime minister, 
 " What shall be done nnto the man whom the king 
 delighteth to honour?" Haman, believing that for 
 him such honour was intended, advised that he should 
 be clothed in royal robes, and led on a richly-caparisoned 
 horse by an officer of state through the city, while pro- 
 clamation was made that this was the person whom tlie 
 king delighted to honour. With infinite amazement 
 and mortification, Haman learned that these rewards 
 were designed for his rival Mordecai, and he was forced 
 to conduct the ceremonial of the procession in person. 
 
 At the second banquet, the king renewed his promise 
 of granting Esther her petition, whatever it might be: 
 upon which she earnestly pleaded for herself, and her 
 nation, to the great astonishment of the monarch, who 
 had, probably signed the decree, without being aware of 
 its import. Haman, in the utmost alarm, made a vain
 
 THE BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY. 155 
 
 effort to obtain the queen's intercession; he was dragged 
 away, and hanged on the lofty gallows that he had pre- 
 pared for Mordeeai. 
 
 No Persian decree which had been written in the 
 king's name could be revoked ; but a new edict, per- 
 mitting the Jews to stand on their defence, was issued, 
 and, when the appointed day, which providentially was 
 eleven months distant from the date of the first decree, 
 aiTived, great numbers of their enemies were slain, Ha- 
 man's ten children sharing their father's unhappy fate. 
 
 In memory of this mighty deliverance, the festival 
 named Purim is, even to the present day, celebrated by 
 the Jewish people with great exultation. It derives its 
 name from Pur^ the lot ; the day on which the massa- 
 cre was to have taken place having been decided by lot- 
 
 Chapter XXIX. 
 
 THE REBUILDING OF THE TEMPLE AND 
 CITY OF JERUSALEM. 
 
 God of the Rainbow ! at whose gracious sign 
 
 The billows of the proud their rage suppress; 
 
 Father of Mercies I at one word of thine 
 
 An Eden blooms in the waste wilderness! 
 
 And fountains sparkle in the arid sands, 
 
 And timbrels ring in maidens' glancing hands. 
 
 And marble cities crown the laughing lands, 
 
 And pillared temples rise thy name to bless. Milmax. 
 
 From the return of the Jews, A.M. 3457 B.C. -547; to the com- 
 plete Restoration of Jerusalem, and death of Nehemiah, A.M. 
 3.580 B.C. 424. 
 
 The hereditary reverence felt by the Jews for the 
 royal house of David was not lost even during the
 
 156 THE REBUILDING OF THE 
 
 seventy years of their captivity. Zerubbabel, of the 
 royal race of David, called by the Persians Shesh-bazzar, 
 "vvas recognized as the prince of Judah, 'when the edict 
 of restoration was issued, and to him Cyrus gave charge 
 of the people, and of the sacred vessels that had anciently 
 belonged to the temple. He was joined by Jeshua, the 
 hereditary high-priest, but less than fifty thousand of 
 the people accompanied him ; the rest preferred their 
 new settlements in Chaldgea. 
 
 The first object of the returned exiles was to restore 
 the national worship ; the altar of the Lord was rebuilt 
 on its original foundations; the feast of Tabernacles 
 was celebrated with a hearty fervour more valuable, and 
 scarcely less imposing, than all the magnificence dis- 
 played in the days of Judali's highest fortunes. 
 
 A liberal grant from the Persian king enabled them 
 to make prejjarations for rebuilding the temple ; and by 
 exchanging the produce of their country, they obtained, 
 as Solomon had done, a supply of timber from Lebanon, 
 and the aid of the Tyrian workmen. They were also 
 aided by contributions from their wealthy brethren who 
 remained behind, the number of whom was much 
 greater than of those who returned. The foundations of 
 the sacred edifice were laid under affecting circumstances, 
 which cannot be better described than in the touching 
 language of the Holy Scriptures. "All the people 
 shouted with a great shout wlien they praised the Lord, 
 because the foundation of the house of the Lord was 
 laid. But many of the priests and Levites, and cliief of 
 the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the 
 first house, when the foundation of this house was laid 
 before their eyes, wept with a loud voice, and many 
 shouted for joy : so that the people could not discern the 
 noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping
 
 TEMPLE AND CITY OF JERUSALEM. 157 
 
 of the people ; for the people shouted with a loud shout 
 and the noise was heard afar off." The inferiority of 
 the new edifice consisted not merely in its being less rich 
 and less splendid ; there were other and more important 
 deficiencies, which contributed to call forth this burst of 
 national sorrow\ The ark of the covenant was gone, the 
 mysterious Urim and Thummin, worn by the higli- 
 priest, were lost for ever, and the Shechinah, or visible 
 manifestation of the presence of Jehovah, returned no 
 more. 
 
 During the captivity of Judah, a great change had 
 taken place in northern Palestine ; the remnant of the 
 Israelites had united with the Assyrian colonists, and 
 from their union sprang the nation of the Samaritans; 
 which must, for the future occupy some share of our 
 attention. The Samaritans professed to have adopted the 
 same creed as the Jews; like them they boasted of descent 
 from Abraham, though they could not claim equal purity 
 of race, and the}'- received the five books of ^Moses aa 
 the authorized code of their religious belief. On the 
 restoration of the Jews, the Samaritans proposed a union 
 of both nations; a proposal from which the Jews re- 
 coiled with horror, and thenceforward a fierce hatred 
 arose between the two races, which could never be 
 extinguished. 
 
 Scarcely had the work commenced, when the Sama- 
 ritans claimed the privilege of being associated in the 
 honourable undei-taking. Their request, however, was 
 very properly refused : in consequence of which they 
 did everything in their power to impede the progress of 
 the work, both by open assault, and malicious represent- 
 ations at the Court of Persia. This seems to have been 
 the cause of Daniel's giving himself up to mourning and 
 fasting for three weeks together.— Daniel x. 2, 3. Cyi-us,
 
 158 THE REBUILDING OF THE 
 
 on his death, was succeeded by his son Cambj^ses, or, as 
 he is called by Ezra, Ahasuerus, who issued a decree 
 that the work should be discontinued, in consequence of 
 which it went on but heavily during the remainder of 
 his reign. Darius, soon after his accession to the throne, 
 confirmed the decree formerly granted by Cyrus, upon 
 which the Jews renewed their undertaking with in- 
 creased zeal and activity. They were further encou- 
 raged by the cheering declaration of the prophet Haggai, 
 that "the glory of this latter house" should be "greater 
 than of the former;" a prophecy which was fulfilled 
 when the incarnate God himself, Jesus Christ, stood 
 within its precincts. In the sixth year of the same 
 king the temple was completed, and solemnly dedicated 
 to the Lord, having been twenty years in building. 
 
 The Jews returned from Babylon, an altered, and, in 
 many respects, a better people. They had suffered so 
 severely from the sin of idolatry, that they never again 
 fell into that crime, but became as conspicuous for their 
 devoted attachment to the national faith, as they had 
 been in a former age for their frequent defections. Un- 
 fortunately, theu' zeal was not always regulated by piety; 
 and they sullied their pure religion by the introduction 
 of superstitious and idle observances. "They made 
 void the commandments of God by their traditions." 
 The country in which they had been captive has been 
 remarkable both in ancient and modem times, for the 
 wild and fanciful speculations of its poets, priests, and 
 philosophers, respecting celestial beings and superior 
 intelligences; and, at the same time, for what we always 
 find connected with these perverted imaginations, a 
 countless host of forms and ceremonies ; some innocent, 
 some ridiculous, a few mischievous, and all useless. 
 The example of the influence enjoyed by the ]Magi, or
 
 TEMPLE AND CITY OF JERUSALEM. 
 
 159 
 
 Persian ministers of religion, was not wholly without 
 its effect on the Jewish priesthood ; they displayed, after 
 the return from captivity, a thirst for political power 
 which they had never before manifested, and a ruinous 
 ambition of uniting in their own persons all the powers 
 both of the church and the state. 
 
 In the seventh year of the reign of Artaxerxes, A.M. 
 oo37, B.C. 467, Ezra obtained permission to lead a second 
 division of the Jews from Babylon to Jerusalem. In 
 addition to this permission, Artaxerxes settled a large 
 revenue on the temple, to supply the daily sacrifices, 
 and forbade any insult to the Jewish religion under the 
 severest penalties. 
 
 Armed with this commission, Ezra came to Jerusalem, 
 and eagerly applied himself to refonn the abuses that 
 had crept into the new government. The chief of these 
 arose from the intermarriages of the Jews with the sur- 
 rounding nations ; but Ezra had sufficient influence to 
 procure the breaking of most of these unions, and the 
 
 r- 
 
 r----p" (■' 
 
 
 -3
 
 160 THE REBUILDING OF THE 
 
 putting away of the foreign wives. An uncontradicted 
 tradition also ascribes to him the merit of collecting and 
 revising all tlie sacred books, or of fixing what is termed 
 the canon of Scripture. 
 
 The walls of Jerusalem still remained unfinished, and 
 the Jews dreaded that the machinations of their enemies 
 would prevent them from providing for the security of 
 their city. Intelligence of this danger was brought to 
 Shushan (Susa), the capital of Persia, by Hanani, and 
 was reported to Nehemiah, a Jewish nobleman, who 
 held the important post of cupbearer to the king. 
 Deeply distressed by the news of his nation's misery, 
 Nehemiah appealed to God in prayer, and besought tlie 
 Father of Mercy to give him grace to help him in his 
 time of need. His prayers were lieard ; when he pre- 
 ferred his request to the king, permission was given 
 liim, in the most ample terms, to have the walls of 
 Jerusalem finished, and to go in person to superintend 
 the construction. Few instances of patriotism have 
 been recorded that better merit our admiration than the 
 conduct of Nehemiah on this occasion ; he left the wealth, 
 the splendour, and the luxury of a court, to visit a scene 
 of poverty and desolation, to share in the distress and 
 the danger of his afflicted countrymen. The pious and 
 wise precautions of Nehemiah were, under the blessing 
 of Providence, crowned with complete success ; the walls 
 of the holy city were finished, the bulwarks completed, 
 and the towers set in order. The feast of Tabernacles 
 was again celebrated ; it was followed by a day of solemn 
 fasting and humiliation, in which the people, having 
 mourned over the national offences, and acknowledged 
 how justly they had been punished, solemny renewed 
 their covenant with the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and 
 of Jacob .
 
 TEMPLE AND CITY OF JERUSALEM. 161 
 
 After having faithfully administered the government 
 for the space of eleven years, Nehemiah returned to 
 Persia : he -was again recalled to Jerusalem by rejJorts 
 of evils resulting from the unsettled state of the govern- 
 ment and found that, during his absence, all things had 
 fallen into confusion. The nobles, and among others 
 the high priest himself, had formed matrimonial alliances 
 with the enemies of their nation ; the rich ground down 
 the poor by exacting enormous usury, and the solemn 
 covenant was violated by the open profanation of the 
 Sabbath. Nehemiah diligently applied himself to the 
 remedy of these abuses ; his authority, his persua- 
 sions, and his princely liberality, prevailed ; most of the 
 offenders repented; but a few of the most refractory 
 were banished. Among those thus driven into exile 
 was a priest named Manasseh, who sought refuge with 
 the Samaritan chieftain Sanl)allat, the great enemy of 
 the Jews, and the most violent in the opposition to the 
 rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. Sanballat, by the 
 advice of this renegade, erected a rival temple on Mount 
 Gerizim, which became a place of refuge for all the 
 wicked and licentious Jews, who could not endure the 
 strict administration of the law. This circumstance 
 greatly increased the ancient feud between the Jews and 
 Samaritans, and gave to their mutual hatred a virulence 
 and bitterness, such as rarely existed between other 
 rival nations. 
 
 With the death of Nehemiah, the canon of the history 
 of the Old Testament closes.
 
 162 
 
 Chapter XXX. 
 
 THE POETICAL BOOKS OF THE OLD 
 TESTAMENT. 
 
 Oh, for the harp that David swept, 
 At whose divine, entrancing sound, 
 
 The evil spirit distance kept, 
 
 While holier visions hovered round; 
 
 Oh, for such a harp, in these our days, 
 
 To speak a God's, a Saviour's praise. Anon. 
 
 I. THE BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 There dwelt at a very early period, probably between 
 the time of Abraham and that of Moses, in the land of 
 Uz, or Northern Arabia, a holy man named Job, "who 
 feared God and eschewed evil." His heavenly Father 
 had bountifully blessed him ; he had a large family, 
 numerous flocks, extensive herds, and "a very great 
 household," so that he was regarded as "the greatest 
 man of all the East." The pious patriarch was not 
 ungrateful to his Almighty benefactor; he diligently 
 exerted himself to educate his family "in the nurture 
 and admonition of the Lord;" and when his sons and 
 daughters had feasted together, according to the custom 
 of the East, "Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up 
 early in the morning, and offered burnt-offerings accord- 
 ing to the number of them all." 
 
 Satan, the great adversary of souls, having insinuated 
 that Job "did not fear God for nought," but was influ- 
 enced merely by the prospect of temporal advantages, 
 obtained permission to try and prove the patriarch, and 
 immediately subjected him to a series of the most bitter 
 persecutions. The Arabs from the desert swept away his
 
 THE POETICAL BOOKS. 163^ 
 
 lierds, fire from heaven consumed his flocks, the Chal- 
 daeans drove away his camels and slew his servants, the 
 house in which his sons were feasting fell, and they 
 perished in the ruins. But though Job felt all the 
 sorrow of a tender father, yet lie did not murmur 
 against the dispensations of Providence. lie fell upon 
 the ground and worshipped, and said, " Naked came I 
 out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return 
 thither : the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away : 
 blessed be the name of the Lord." Satan, though baffledj 
 was not quieted : with all the bitterness of disappointed 
 malice, he sought permission to renew his temptations 
 in another form ; and having obtained it, he smote the 
 patriarch with a painful disease, and covered him "with. 
 sore boils from the head to the foot." Even thus Job 
 "did not charge God foolishly;" and when his wife 
 urged him to despair, he piously replied, " What! shall 
 we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not 
 receive evil?" 
 
 Three friends of Job, "probably the chiefs of neigh- 
 bouring tribes, came to comfort him ; overwhelmed with 
 grief at the sight of his great afflictions, they remained 
 with him seven days in silence. They were accom- 
 panied, or perhaps followed by Elihu, the youngest of 
 the company, but one whose mind had been enlightened 
 by the wisdom that is from on high. On the eighth 
 day, Job gave vent to his sorrow, and in the bitterness 
 of his soul cursed the day of his birth. Ills three friends 
 answered him with reproaches, as if his calamities had 
 been the consefjuence of his transgressions, and inflicted 
 upon him as a punishment for some secret sin. Job 
 vindicated his innocence, and asserted his righteousness, 
 in stronger terms than it is permitted to frail, helpless, 
 sinful mortals to use. For this he was rebuked by 
 M
 
 164 THE POETICAL BOOKS 
 
 Elihu, who had been hitherto a silent listener ; he con- 
 victed Job of presumption, and asserted the justice and 
 integrity of all the divine dispensations. Then God 
 himself "answered Job out of the whirlwind," and 
 enumerated the wondrous works of his creation, and the 
 mysterious energies of his sustaining providence; con- 
 cluding in these awful words : " Shall he that conten Jetli 
 with the Almighty instruct himi He that reproveth 
 God, let him answer it." Job, in reply, humbled hhn- 
 self before the Lord, saying, " I have heard of thee by 
 the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee ; 
 wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.'* 
 The Lord also rebuked Job's friends for their un- 
 charitable judgment, and commanded them to make 
 atonement. 
 
 The repentance of Job was followed by his restoration 
 to health and prosperity ; God showered upon him an 
 abundance of blessings, and the latter days of Job were 
 happier than the first. 
 
 A great part of the book of Job is purely poetical in 
 its form ; no description could convey an adequate idea 
 of its sublimity and beauty. It is also remarkable as 
 being, probably, the oldest piece of poetry in the world. 
 It proves to us, that when the spirit of piety is united 
 with the genius of poetry, and both are directed by the 
 divine Spirit of truth, the excellence that results from 
 the combination immeasurably surpasses all that a human 
 theme could inspire, or unaided human genius attain. 
 
 The book, is moreover, peculiarly valuable, as con- 
 taining a proof of the preservation of the promise of a 
 Redeemer in the minds of the faithful before the giving 
 of the law.
 
 OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 165 
 
 II. THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 
 The Book of Psalms is a collection of the sacred 
 songs or hymns, used hy lioly men of old in the puhlic 
 worship of Jehovah. Seventy-one of the Psalms were 
 composed by King David ; the writers of most of the 
 others cannot be satisfactorily ascertained. Though 
 originally designed for the Jews, the Psalms are also 
 applicable to Chinstian worship, since the holy men of 
 old, and the pious of the present day, look for salvation 
 to the same God, through the same Redeemer. The 
 difference is, that we enjoy, the fully-revealed light of 
 the Sun of Righteousness, of which they beheld but 
 the distant dawn. 
 
 III. THE BOOK OF PROVERBS. 
 
 The greater part of the Book of Proverbs was certainly 
 composed by Solomon ; but additions seem to have been 
 made to it by other hands. The scope and design of the 
 book is to supply practical directions for our conduct in 
 life, and afford an outline of that lioly and heavenly 
 wisdom, which is our best aid in this world, and our 
 surest guide to a glorious immortality, 'i'he precepts 
 are conveyed in short pithy sentences, easily retained in 
 the memory, and full of the most valuable moral instruc- 
 tion, profitable not only for this life, but for that which 
 is to come. 
 
 IV. THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES. 
 
 EccLESiASTES, or the Preacher, is supposed to have 
 been written by Solomon in his old age, when he had 
 repented of his transgressions, and learned, by fatal 
 experience, how little wealth and splendour can avail to 
 soothe the pangs of a wounded conscience, or console 
 an immortal spirit, when the scene of this world is fast 
 closing. The design of the poem is to show the vanity 
 M2
 
 1,66 THE POETICAL BOOKS. 
 
 of all earthly things, to teach us that there is no per- 
 manent good in this life, but that all our hopes of hap- 
 piness must be fixed beyond the grave. 
 
 V. THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 This poem mystically describes the union between 
 God and his Church, under the parable of a man-iage. 
 This allegorical form of expression is very common 
 among the eastern writers. 
 
 VI. THE LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAH. 
 
 Though usually reckoned among the prophetical 
 books, this beautiful composition belongs more strictly 
 to the poetical. It is an elegy on the fall of Jerusalem, 
 written by the prophet Jeremiah, who had witnessed 
 the awful catastrophe. There is no poetical conception 
 that can compare with the bold personification of the 
 holy city sitting as a solitary widow, throned in desola- 
 tion, bewailing the loss of her children, and mourning 
 witli equal bitterness, the fate of those who had fallen 
 beneath the murderer's sword, and of those who had 
 survived to be the spoil and the sport of the conqueror. 
 
 Chapter XXXI. 
 THE FOUR GREATER PROPHETS. 
 
 O thou my voice inspire, 
 
 AVlio touched Isaiali's hallowed lips with fire. Popk. 
 
 There are sixteen prophetical books, four of which 
 are named the greater, not on account of their superior 
 authority, but because they are of greater length. Of 
 these, the first in point of importance is the prophecy of 
 Isaiah; whose predictions of the Messiah are so clear
 
 THE FOUR GREATER PROPHETS. 167 
 
 and distinct, that he is generally called the Evangelical 
 prophet. 
 
 I. ISAIAH. From A.M. 3194 B.C. 810; to A.M. 330-5. 
 
 ....B.C. 698. 
 
 The name Isaiah, which signifies "the salvation of 
 Jehovah," is singularly descriptive of that prophet's 
 character, since he is the inspired writer who most 
 clearly foretels the advent of Cin-ist, " through whom all 
 flesh shall see the salvation of God." He discharged 
 the prophetic office through the successive reigns of 
 Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah ; 
 he is said to have been cruelly murdered hy the impious 
 Manasseh. 
 
 The scope of his prophecies is threefold ; first, to con- 
 demn the gross crimes and abominations into which the 
 kingdoms both of Judah and of Israel had fallen, and to 
 warn them of the awful punishment denounced against 
 their daring transgressions. Secondly, to invite all per- 
 sons, of every rank and nation, to repentance, and an- 
 nounce to them the gracious offers of pardon and mercy, 
 made by the Dread Sovereign wliom they liad offended, 
 on condition of their reformation. And thirdly, to com- 
 fort all the truly pious, by predicting to them the future 
 reign of the Messiah. 
 
 The style of Isaiah is bold and sublime, full of magni- 
 ficent imagery and noble sentiments. So great are its 
 merits, that it may be said to have afforded the most 
 perfect model of sacred poetry. 
 
 Isaiah was the fourth of the prophets in order of time. 
 
 IT. Jf:REMIAH. From A.M. 3376. . . .B.C. 028; to 
 
 A.M. 3418 B.C. 586. 
 
 The prophet Jeremiah, the ninth in order of time, 
 entered upon his office during the reign of Josiah, but 
 became more conspicuous under his successors, by the
 
 168 THE FOUR GREATER PROPHETS. 
 
 boldness with which he denounced the increasing depra- 
 vity of his countrymen, and prophesied the fearful chas- 
 tisements, of which he lived to witness the infliction. 
 He is supposed to have been murdered by his country- 
 men in Egypt, for having reproved their transgressions 
 too freely. 
 
 Though the subject of Jeremiah's prophecies, is, for 
 the most part, confined to the fate of the Jewish people, 
 it contains also some remarkable predictions respecting 
 other nations, especially the destruction of Babylon, and 
 two distinct revelations of the Messiah ; one announcing 
 his mediatorial office, the other his miraculous concep- 
 tion. The style of Jeremiah is elegant and pathetic, but 
 is considered inferior in sublimity to that of Isaiah. 
 
 III. EZEKIEL. A.M. 3410 B.C. .594. 
 
 EzEKiEL is usually reckoned the thirteenth prophet in 
 the order of time. He delivered his predictions during 
 the captivity of Judah ; little is known of his personal 
 history, and the time of his death is uncertain. 
 
 The chief design of Ezekiel's prophecy is, to console 
 his brethren in captivity with hopes of future restoration 
 and the return of " the departed glory." With this 
 design, he announces the fearful calamities by which 
 the impiety and profligacy of the Jewish nation should 
 be punished, the judgments that should fall on the false 
 prophets and prophetesses, Avho had deluded both princes 
 and people; but at the same time he announces the 
 destruction of the Ammonites, the Edomites, and the 
 Philistines, who had been so long the enemies of the 
 Jewish people, and who now insolently exulted in their 
 distress. Having thus announced divine judgment, he 
 proceeds to his more pleasing task of proclaiming divine 
 mercy, and predicts the future restoration of Israel and
 
 THE FOUR GREATER PROPHETS. 169 
 
 Judah from their several dispersions; and their ulti- 
 mately happy state after the advent, and under the 
 government, of the Messiah. 
 
 The style of Ezekiel is strikingly sublime; hut the 
 sublimity is of a far different character from tliat of 
 Isaiah. His imagery is wilder and more terrific, his 
 sentiments more fervid and vehement, and his diction 
 more rugged and austere. So many of his prophecies 
 are delivered under the form of visions, that he is gene- 
 rally considered one of the most difficult of the writers 
 of the Old Testament. 
 
 IV. DANIEL. From A.M. 3.398 B.C. 606; to A.M. 3470. 
 
 Daniel's personal history has been alread}^ related ; 
 he was contemporary with Ezekiel, in whose prophecies 
 he is honourably mentioned. His predictions are re- 
 markable for the distinctness and for the chronological 
 order of the events foretold. Like Ezekiel, Daniel 
 received and delivered the greater part of his prophecies 
 in the form of visions. The fate of the four great 
 empires of ancient times forms a prominent feature in 
 these prophecies. The reason of this is, that the histoiy 
 of these empires was intimately connected with that of 
 the Jewish people, and so with the establishment of the 
 Redeemer's kingdom ujDon earth. 
 
 Daniel ranks as the eleventh prophet in the order of 
 time. He is not reckoned among the prophets by the 
 Jews since the time of Jesus Christ, who say that he 
 lived the life of a courtier in the court of the king of 
 Babylon, rather than that of a prophet. Josephus, 
 however, considers him to be one of the greatest of the 
 prophets, a character which he must continue to hold in 
 the minds of all who institute a fair comparison between 
 his predictions and the pages of history.
 
 170 
 
 Chapter XXXII. 
 THE HISTORY OF JONAH. 
 
 Ill fares the bark with tackle riven, 
 
 And ill when on the breakers driven, 
 
 111 when the storm is loud and high, 
 
 And lightnings flash athivart the sky, 
 
 But worse when she conceals w ithin. 
 
 The soul weighed down by secret sin. — Anox. 
 
 About A.M. 3148 .. . .B.C. 865. 
 
 The book of Jonah is almost wholly a narrative, and 
 Tve have, therefore, separated it from the rest of the minor 
 prophets. Jonah, the earliest of the prophets -whose 
 Avorks are collected, Avas an Israelite, and seems to have 
 prophesied to the ten tribes, during the reign of Jehu. 
 The word of the Lord came to him, saying, "Arise, go 
 to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it ; for their 
 wickedness is come up before me." But Jonah, instead 
 of obeying the Divine command, went on board a shij), 
 and sailed for a distant land. A fierce tempest arose, 
 under circumstances that showed it to have been sent by 
 Him " in the hollow of whose hand are the winds :" and 
 the alarmed sailors earnestly inquired, whose was the 
 secret guilt that had brought this calamity upon them? 
 Jonah declared his crime, and was, at his own request, 
 thrown into the sea; the winds were instantly hushed, 
 and the vessel pursued her course in safety. 
 
 But the disobedient prophet did not perish in the 
 M'Btei-s; God sent a great fish, which swallowed him up, 
 and kept him miraculously alive for three days in its 
 belly ; and when he repented, and besought pardon from 
 God, it restored him safe to the shore. In this part of
 
 THE HISTORY OF JONAH. l7l 
 
 liis history the prophet became a remarkable type of 
 our blessed Saviour in his death and resurrection. 
 
 The prophet was again commanded to announce the 
 threatened vengeance to the people of Nineveh, and in- 
 stantly proceeded on his journey. Having entered the 
 city, Jonah announced his awful message, that within 
 forty days Nineveh should be destroyed. The alarmed 
 inhabitants turned to the Lord with sincere repentance, 
 and earnestly besought the pardon of their transgres- 
 sions; and God, "whose tender mercies are over all his 
 works," graciously lent an ear to their prayers, and the 
 threatened calamities were averted. 
 
 Jonah felt grieved that his predictions had not been 
 accomplished, and retired in anger to a place at some 
 distance, where he erected a hut of boughs. And God 
 caused a gourd to grow, whose shade afforded shelter 
 from the sun's rays to the angry prophet, but which a 
 worm was soon commissioned to destroy. And when 
 Jonah felt grieved for the loss of the plant, the Lord 
 said untoliim, "Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for 
 the which thou hast not laboured, neither made it grow; 
 which came up in a night, and perished in a night: and 
 should I not spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are 
 more than sixscore thousand persons which cannot dis- 
 cern between their right hand and their left, and also 
 much cattle?" And with this beautiful illustration of 
 the divine mercy, the history concludes.
 
 172 
 
 Chapter XXXIII. 
 THE MINOR PROPHETS. 
 
 We mourn not that prophetic skill 
 
 Is found on earth no more ; 
 Enough for us to trace thy will 
 
 In Scripture's sacred lore. 
 
 When tongues shall cease, and powers decay. 
 
 And knowledge empty prove, 
 Do thou thy trembling servants stay, 
 
 With Faith, with Hope, with Love! Cowpee. 
 
 I. HOSEA. From A.M. 3194. . . .B.C. 810 ; to A.M. 3279 
 ....B.C. 7-25. 
 
 Rosea, the third of the prophets in the order of time, 
 was nearly contemporary with Isaiah ; but his predic- 
 tions were uttered to the ten tribes of Israel, not to the 
 kingdom of Judah. His prophecies principally relate to 
 his countrymen, whose impieties he denounces, and 
 whose dispersion he predicts. But in him we find clear 
 anticipations of the future blessings of the Gospel, and 
 of the glories of the Messiah's kingdom. Of Hosea's 
 personal history, nothing certain is known. 
 
 II. JOEL. About A.M. 3341. . . .B.C. 660. 
 Joel's personal history is unknown; his prophecies 
 were delivered when the land suffered under a grievous 
 famine ; they contain an exhortation to the priests and 
 people to forsake their evil ways, with a threat that im- 
 penitent obstinacy would bring upon them some more 
 grievous calamity. 2. An exhortation to keep a solemn 
 fast, with a promise that repentance would be followed 
 by the removal of the inflictions under which they suf- 
 fered. And, 3. A prediction of the general conversion 
 and final restoration of the Jewish people.
 
 THE MINOR PROPHETS. 173 
 
 III. AMOS. From A.M. 3194 B.C. 810; to 
 
 A.M. 3219.... B.C. 785. 
 
 Amos, the second of the prophets in time, was called 
 by the Spirit of God from his occupation, to become a 
 prophet of the Lord, in the reign of Uzziah, king of 
 Judah. He denounced the vengeance of the Lord on 
 the suri'ounding Gentile nations, and threatened his 
 countrymen with similar punishment, if they did not 
 forsake the cori-uptions into which they were fast sink- 
 ing. He also typically predicts the triumphant restora- 
 tion of the Church under the Messiah. 
 
 IV. OBADIAH. About A.M. 3416.. ..B.C. 588. 
 The time in which this prophet flourished is uncer- 
 tain, and the circumstances of his life wholly unknown. 
 He predicted the destruction of the Edomites for their 
 numerous crimes, especially for their virulent hatred 
 against the chosen people of God ; he also foretold the 
 restoration of the Jews, and their final triumph over all 
 their enemies. Obadiah was the twelfth prophet in the 
 order of time. 
 
 V. MICAH. From A.M. 3246. . . .B.C. 758; to 
 A.xM. 3305 B.C. 699. 
 
 MiCAH was contemporary with Isaiah, and seems to 
 have been raised by God to aid the patriotic exertions of 
 that prophet. He severely denounces the national sins 
 of Israel and Judah, and distinctly describes the national 
 calamities by which the Lord would punish their trans- 
 gressions; Micah not only foretold the advent of the 
 Messiah, but named Bethlehem as the place of his birth: 
 he was the sixth prophet in the order of time. 
 
 VI. NAHUM. About A.M. 3284 B.C. 720. 
 
 Nahum, the seventh of the prophets in time, is the 
 most poetical of those called the minor prophets. The
 
 174 THE MINOR PrxOPHETS. 
 
 exact time in which he flourished is unknown. He 
 describes with singular power and minuteness, the de- 
 struction of Sennacherib's army, the subversion of the 
 Assyrian empu-e, and tlie total ruin of Nineveh. 
 
 YII. HABAKKUK. About A.M. 0392. . . .B.C. 612. 
 Of Habakkuk, the tenth prophet in the order of time, 
 nothing certain is known. His works consist of two 
 parts. First, a complaint of tlie growth of iniquity 
 among the Jews, and a threat of the Babylonish cap- 
 tivity, as a punishment of their transgressions. And, 
 secondly an humble prayer to God, in the form of an 
 ode or psalm, for the final deliverance and futiu'e resto- 
 ration of his people. 
 
 VIII. ZEPHANIAH. From A.M. 3:^G4. . . .B.C. 640; to 
 A.M. 339.5 B.C. 609. 
 
 Zephaniah, the eighth of the prophets, flourished a 
 little before the time of Jeremiah. He protests against 
 the idolatry of Judah ; exhorts the people to avert ven- 
 geance by speedy repentance, predicts the destruction of 
 the Gentile enemies of God's chosen race, and foretels 
 both the Babylonish captivity, and subsequent restora- 
 tion of his countrymen. 
 
 IX. HAGGAT. From A.M. 3184 B.C. 520: to 
 
 A.M. 34b6 B.C. 518. 
 
 Haggai, the tenth of the prophets, was raised up by 
 God to encourage the Jewish people to renew the build- 
 ing of the temple at a time when, by the opposition of 
 their enemies, they had been prevented from prosecuting 
 the work with steadiness. After reproving the people 
 and the priest for their want of zeal in building the 
 temple, Haggai comforts those who lamented the ab- 
 •sence of the Sliechinah, the visible manifestation of 
 Jehovah's presence, by assuring them that the Messiah
 
 THE MINOR PROPHETS. 175 
 
 coming in person would make the second temple more 
 honoured than the first. He also predicts the future 
 glory of the kingdom of that Saviour, whom he heauti- 
 fully describes as "The Desire of all Xations." 
 
 X. ZECHARIAH. From A.M. 3184 B.C. iiSO; to 
 
 A.M. 348G B.C. 518. 
 
 Zechariah was contemporary with Haggai ; Iris pro- 
 phecy describes the future restoration of the temple, 
 with some allusions respecting the advent of the 
 Messiah ; he then more specifically describes the com- 
 ing of the Redeemer, and predicts the wars of the 
 Romans against the Jews. 
 
 XI. MALACHI. From A.M. 3568. . . .B.C. 436 ; to 
 A.M. 3584 B.C. 420. 
 
 Malachi, the last of the Jewish prophets, delivered 
 his predictions after the return of Nehemiah to Jeru- 
 salem, and seems to have aided that prince in effecting 
 the great reformation of morals and discipline which he 
 accomplished. In his prophecy, the rejection of the 
 Jews is threatened, and the future calling of the Gen- 
 tiles announced. Malachi also predicts the coming of 
 Christ, and the appearance of John the Baptist, as his 
 precursor, with the spirit and power of Elijah. 
 
 It deserves to be remarked, that the writings of these 
 minor prophets (who are so called on account of the 
 comparative shortness of their books,) contain many 
 striking predictions of the Messiah, to which reference 
 is frequently made in the New Testament.
 
 176 
 
 Chapter XXXIV. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE, FROM THE 
 
 DEATH OF NEHEMIAH TO THE WARS 
 
 OF THE MACCABEES. 
 
 We never breathe his name ; 
 
 Like the departed, 
 His memory's dead to fame, 
 
 Traitor, false-hearted! 
 
 He should have been a light 
 
 Shining to bless us, 
 But proved the storm and blight 
 
 Sent to distress us. Scott. 
 
 From A.M. 3580 B.C. 424; to A.M. 3837 B.C. 167. 
 
 We must now, for a time, quit the sure guidance of 
 Scripture to follow uninspired writers, men whose 
 weakness, prejudice, or passion may have led them 
 to disguise the truth, hy palliating the offences of their 
 countrymen, and exaggerating tlie vices of their enemies. 
 Our work also ceases to be a providential history ; by 
 which it is not meant that the great Moral Governor of 
 the universe ever ceased to guide and control the affairs 
 of the Jewish people, but that there occur no longer 
 those direct manifestations of divine power, and special 
 revelations of the divine will, which distinguish the 
 early history of God's chosen people from that of all 
 other nations. Indeed, the remarkable fulfilment of 
 the prophecies delivered by Daniel, relating to the later 
 period of the Jewish affairs, points us especially to the 
 fact, that God, as ruler over allj was bringing his own 
 counsels to pass. Another and equally striking differ- 
 ence will be found in the character of the government: 
 the Jews had ceased to be an independent but continued 
 to be a self-governed people; tbey were, tlierefore, sub- 
 ject to all the evils engendered by provincial ambition; 
 calumny, treacher}'^, and assassination. The guidance
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE. 1^7 
 
 of the administration was usually the result of court- 
 intrigue; and in consequence, the governor was gene- 
 rally the suhservient tool of a foreign despot, and a ci-uel 
 oppressor of his own countrymen. 
 
 During the century that succeeded the death of 
 Neheniiah, the scanty annals of Judah record but one 
 remarkable event, and that an atrocious crime. Eliashib, 
 the high-priest, was succeeded by Joiada, and he again 
 by Jonathan. The latter, suspecting his brother Joshua, 
 or Jesus, as his name is written in Greek, of an intrigue 
 with the Persian governor, Bagoses, murdered him 
 within the very precincts of the temple. Bagoses came 
 to Jerusalem, resolved to punish the crime severely ; he 
 forced his way into the temple, declaring tliat it would 
 be less polluted by the presence of an unbeliever, than 
 b}'- a cruel murder, and levied a tax on the sacrifices, as 
 a penalty for the misdeed. 
 
 But the mild rule of the Persians was rarely inter- 
 rupted by such scenes of violence. During the entire 
 period of their contest with the Greeks, the successors 
 of Cyrus governed the provinces with equity and 
 moderation; a circumstance which ensured the loyalty 
 of their subjects in the fearful struggle that was ap- 
 proaching. A.M. 8671 B.C. 883, Alexander the 
 
 Great entered Asia, at the head of a Grecian army, 
 to revenge the calamities that Darius and Xerxes had 
 caused to Greece more than a century before ; and the 
 descisive victory of the Granicus laid a great part of the 
 Persian dominions at his mercy. Having subdued 
 Tyre, the Macedonian monarch marched against Gaza, 
 and his near approach alarmed the Jews, who had 
 answered his summons to submission with bold defi- 
 ance, and honourable protestations of tlieir grateful 
 allegiance to the Persian monarch. A deputation.
 
 178 FROM THE DEATH OF NEHEMIAH 
 
 headed by the high-priest Jaddua, was sent to deprecate 
 the conqueror's wrath, Alexander received the embassy 
 ■\vitli the utmost respect, and bowed in adoration before 
 the mysterious name Jehovah, inscribed in golden cha- 
 racters on the head-dress of the high priest. He gave as 
 his reason for this unusual mark of respect, that, while 
 he was yet in Macedonia, there appeared to him, in a 
 dream, a person dressed in a strange garb, who advised 
 him to pass over into Asia ; promising that God would 
 be with him, and give him the kingdom of Persia. 
 This person he recognised in the high-priest, and being 
 thus assured of the Divine protection, he paid adoration 
 to God, whose priest he was. He was shown the pro- 
 phecies of Daniel, in which his conquest of the Persian 
 empire was clearly predicted, a circumstance by which 
 he was so pleased, that he received the Jewish nation 
 under his protection, and Palestine remained tranquil 
 during the mighty contest tliat convulsed all the rest of 
 Asia. An exemption from tribute, during the Sabbatical 
 year, was asked and readily granted ; the Samaritans, 
 ever prepared to claim kindred with tlie Jews in their 
 prosperity, and reject them in the hour of adverse for- 
 tune, shared in this boon : but having, on Alexander's 
 departure into Egypt, revolted and slain the Mace- 
 donian governor, they were expelled from Samaria, 
 and forced to seek refuge in Shechem. The death of 
 Alexander, at the moment that he was taking the most 
 judicious measures to strengthen and secure the vast 
 empire he had founded, spread confusion over the whole 
 civilized world. The generals of the deceased monarch 
 hastened to divide among themselves the spoil of his 
 wide dominions, and their rival pretensions produced 
 long and sanguinary wars. Palestine was regarded as a 
 valuable frontier province, by the kings of Syria and
 
 TO THE WARS OF THE MACCABEES. l79 
 
 Egypt : it was alternately subjected to each, and equally 
 oppressed by both. Laomedon, who held the province 
 of Syria for Perdiccas, to whom Alexander, on his death- 
 bed, had given his ring, as a symbol of sovereignty, was 
 defeated and slain by Ptolemy, the satrap of Egypt. 
 -Jerusalem was stormed by the conquerors, who trans- 
 ported an immense number of the Jews to Alexandria, 
 whence they spread into Northern Africa, and even 
 penetrated into Ethiopia. Palestine was again conquered 
 by Antigonus, but when he fell on tlie fatal field of 
 Ipsus, it returned once more under the dominion of the 
 Ptolemies. The dominions of Alexander were finally 
 divided among four of his generals, Seleucus, Ptolemy, 
 Cassander, and Lysimachus ; the four horns of the he- 
 goat, and the four heads of the leopard, described in the 
 prophecy of Daniel, A dynasty of Syrian kings named 
 Seleucidae originated with Seleucus Nicator, mentioned 
 above. Fourth in descent from him was Antiochus the 
 Great, of whom we shall have to speak hereafter. 
 
 During this agitated period the Jews remained under 
 the government of the high priests. Onias I. ruled with 
 great wisdom and moderation for twenty-one 3'ears, and 
 was succeeded by Simon the Just, the favourite hero 
 of the .Jewish traditions. Under his superintendence, 
 the canon of the Old Testament is said to have been 
 arranged in its present order, and schools were appointed 
 for the insti-uction of youth in the divine law ; but also 
 unfortunately, a commencement was made of giving to 
 traditions the authority of revelation. Kis death is said 
 to have been announced by prodigies : but at all events 
 the nation had cause to lament liis loss, when they 
 groaned under the misconduct of his unworthy succes- 
 sors. Onias II. exposed the nation to the dangerous 
 resentment of their Egyptian governers, by withholding 
 N
 
 180 FROM THE DEATH OF NEHEMIAH 
 
 the payment of the annual tribute ; conduct the more 
 unjustiiiable, as the first three Ptolemies showed tliem- 
 selves mild and merciful sovereigns to their Jewish 
 subjects. Terrified by the king's threats of vengeance 
 Onias sent his nephew Joseph to deprecate the royal 
 wrath ; a mission which Joseph contrived to turn to his 
 own personal advantage. He obtained the farming of 
 the royal revenues in Syria and Phoenicia, from which, 
 during twenty-two years, he contrived to amass a vast 
 fortune, without being either faithless to his sovereign, 
 or oppressive to the provinces. 
 
 The first war between Antiochus the Great and 
 Ptolemy Philopator was decided by a battle fought on 
 the confines of Palestine, at a place called Raphia. 
 The victorious Ptolemy attempted to enter the "holy of 
 holies" in the temple of Jerusalem, but was prevented 
 by the remonstrances of the priests, and by a superna- 
 tural terror. The Jewish historians describe, in the 
 most lively terms, the alarm which this attempt to dese- 
 crate the sanctuary, spread through Jerusalem. *'The 
 priests," say they, "fell down in their holy garments, 
 and prayed the most High God to assist them in the 
 present distress, and to avert the violence of him, who 
 was making this wicked attempt upon them; and they 
 filled the temple with cries and tears. And they wiiich 
 were left in the city were troubled, and came running, 
 as thinking the affair to be something new and wholly 
 unexpected. The virgins, also, who were shut up in 
 private chambers, together with their mothers, rushed 
 out, and sprinkling ashes and dust upon their heads, 
 filled the streets with groans and lamentations. And as 
 for the young children, both their mothers and nurses, 
 who had charge of them, left these, one in one place, 
 one in another; some in their houses, others in the
 
 TO THE WARS OF THE MACCABEES. 181 
 
 streets, without any regard, and went in troops together 
 to the most holy temple. And various was the prayer 
 of the whole company on account of this, his unhal- 
 lowed attempt*." Ptolemy, as we have said, desisted; 
 but from this time he became the bitter enemy of the 
 Jews, and persecuted those who had settled in his 
 dominions. 
 
 The Jewish colony in Egypt grew into a flourishing 
 and numerous community ; a temple, on the model of 
 that of Jerusalem, was erected in the district of Heli- 
 opolis, a regular priesthood organized, and, above all, a 
 translation of the Holy Scriptures into the Greek lan- 
 guage, completed. Ptolemy is said to have collected 
 the Jews in the amphitheatre, and sent his elephants 
 to destroy them ; but it was so ordered by Providence, 
 that they turned their anger against the spectators, and 
 the terrified monarch liberated those whom he considered 
 to be under the special protection of the Omnipotent. 
 From thenceforward not only were the Alexandrian 
 Jews tolerated, but many of them attained the highest 
 offices of the state. These events took place while 
 Simon II., son of Onias II., was high-priest. 
 
 A.M. 3802 B.C. 202, Ptolemy Philopator was suc- 
 ceeded by Ptolemy Epiphanes his son, a child only five 
 years old. Autiochus, taking advantage of the unsettled 
 state of the kingdom, renewed tlie war with Egypt; and 
 the Jews, probably irritated by the persecution of their 
 brethren in Alexandria, not only revolted to the Syrian 
 monarch, but aided him in expelling Scopas and his 
 Egyptian garrison. Antiochus gratefully acknowledged 
 the kindness, and issued a decree highly favourable to 
 the Jewish nation. He subsec[uently bestowed Coele- 
 
 * Cotton's Maccabees.
 
 182 FROM THE DEATH OF NEHEMIAH 
 
 Syria, and Palestine, as a dowry on his daughter, whom 
 he gave in marriage to the young king of Egypt. At 
 the time of the death of Antiochus, which took place 
 about ten years after this, these provinces, from some 
 imknown cause, had reverted to the Syrian monarch. 
 
 Internal commotions began to disturb the Jewish 
 commonwealth ; the distribution of the vast inheritance 
 bequeathed by Joseph, the nephew of Onias II., led to 
 a civil war, in which the high-priest, Onias III., acted 
 a conspicuous part. Simon, the eldest son of Joseph, 
 Tvho held the important office of governor of the temple, 
 enraged that Onias had rejected his claims on the 
 treasury, fled to the Syrian court, and declared that in 
 the temple there were vast treasures which rightfully 
 belonged to the monarch. The finances of Seleucus 
 Philopator, the son and successor of Antiochus, had 
 been exhausted by his war with the Romans ; and this 
 unexpected hope of supply was a temptation too great 
 to be resisted. His general, Heliodorus, was sent to 
 plunder the sacred treasury ; but, being deteiTed by a 
 preternatural appearance, the temple on this occasion 
 remained inviolate. The machinations of Simon, how- 
 ever, compelled Onias to seek the interposition of the 
 sovereign. 
 
 Before these matters could be aiTanged, Seleucus was 
 murdered by Heliodorus, who attempted to usurp the 
 throne. The assassin did not long enjoy his elevation; 
 lie was defeated and slain by Antiochus, brother of 
 Seleucus, who was made acquainted with the usurpation 
 of Heliodorus while he was at Athens on his return 
 from Rome. Antiochus had resided for twelve years at 
 Rome, whither he had been sent by his father as a host- 
 age, and had just been released by Seleucus, who sent 
 to that city in his stead his only son Demetrius. 'J'he
 
 TO THE WARS OF THE ^lACCABEES. 185 
 
 Syrians liailed Antiochus as their deliverer; in the first 
 burst of their joy tliey named him Epiphanes, or the 
 Illustrious; an epithet whicli liis subsequent conduct 
 induced them to change into Epiraanes, or the Madman. 
 By a large bribe, Antiochus was induced to depose 
 Ouias, and confer the priesthood on his brother Joshua,, 
 who took the Greek name of Jason, to please the sove- 
 reign. He carried this compliance to a more criminal 
 extent, by introducing the Greek usages and customs 
 into Jerusalem, and even sending contributions to the 
 games celebrated in honour of the heathen deities, A 
 second bribe caused the deposition of Jason, and the 
 elevation to the priesthood of a fourth Onias, who took 
 the name of Menelaus. Tliis wretch exceeded even 
 Jason in depravity ; he stole the sacred vessels from 
 the temple, and sent them to be sold in Antioch, and 
 j)rocured the murder of the deposed Onias, for remon* 
 strating against the profanation. 
 
 A false report of the death of Antiochus in Egypt 
 induced Jason and his partisans to take up arms. They 
 committed the most horrible excesses on the opposite 
 faction, and shut Menelaus himself up in the division 
 of the city called Acra, which they closely besieged. 
 When the news reached Antiochus, in the exaggerated 
 form that the whole Jewish people had broken out into 
 open rebellion, he instantly marched against Jerusalem, 
 captured the city without encountering any serious op- 
 position, slew forty thousand of the inhabitants, and 
 sold as man}' more for slaves. 
 
 But even this cruelty did not satisfy the vindictive 
 Antiochus; he resolved to abolish the religion and 
 exterminate the nation of the Jews. With this hor- 
 rible design, he entered the temple, plundered it of all its 
 treasm-es, and desecrated it by the sacrifice of a sow on
 
 184 FROM THE DEATH OF NEHEMIAH 
 
 the holy altar. It is scarcely necessary to state, that, by 
 the law of Moses, the Jews could not touch the sow, as 
 being an unclean animal, without being polluted. 
 
 Nor was this all; the Syrian general, Apollonius, 
 attacked the congregation on the Sabbath, when, so far 
 from bearing arms, the Jews were not at that time per- 
 mitted to defend themselves; he massacred the unre- 
 risting multitude without mercy, and gave the city up 
 to pillage. Jerusalem was fearfully desolated by the 
 savage soldier}^ ; the walls were thrown down, the 
 houses burned, and all the horrors of its capture by the 
 Babylonians renewed. Apollonius then erected a fortress 
 upon the top of Mount Si on, whence he despatched 
 parties to ravage the country, and injure those who were 
 i-tepairing from distant places to pray in the house of 
 their fathers' God; so that from this time the temple 
 was deserted, and the daily sacrifices omitted. An edict 
 ■was issued for establishing uniformity of worship in the 
 Syrian dominions, and the severest penalty denounced 
 against those who refused to sacrifice in the temples of 
 Grecian idolatry. The Samaritans yielded to the storm, 
 aaid quietly allowed their temple on Mount Gerizim to 
 be consecrated to Jupiter Xenius, or the Protector of 
 Strangers : but Jerusalem was made a desert before the 
 lieutenants of Antiochus dared to consecrate its temple 
 to Jupiter Olympus. In the pathetic words of a Jewish 
 historian*, "Jerusalem was uninhabited as a wilderness; 
 there was none of her children that went in or out; the 
 sanctuary also was trodden down, and aliens kept the 
 stronghold ; the heathen had their habitation in that 
 place, and joy was taken away from Jacob, and the pipe 
 and the harp ceased." A bitter persecution commenced 
 
 Cotton's edition of the Maccahcan Historians, p. 61.
 
 TO THE \yARS OF THE MACCABEES. 185 
 
 cruelties too horrid to be related were inflicted on all 
 ■who refused to apostatize; but the numbers who pre- 
 sented themselves as candidates for the crown of martyr- 
 dom wearied tlie malicious diligence of the persecutors. 
 
 Among this glorious band, two noble examples of 
 steadfast adherence to the true religion, merit our par- 
 ticular attention. Eieazar, an aged man, having refused 
 to partake of swine's flesh, was earnestly solicited by his 
 friends to avoid death by a guilty compliance. He not 
 only refused, but addressed them in the following words: 
 "It becometh not our age in any wise to dissemble, 
 whereby many young persons might think that Eieazar, 
 being four score years old and ten, were now gone to a 
 strange religion : and so they, through mine hypocrisy 
 and a desire to live a little time and a moment longer, 
 should be deceived by me, and I get a stain to my old 
 age, to make it abominable. For though, for the pre- 
 sent time, 1 should be delivered from the punishment of 
 men, yet should I not escape the hand of the Almighty, 
 neither alive nor dead. Wherefore now manfully 
 changing this life, I will show myself such an one as 
 my age requireth, and leave a notable example to such 
 as be young to die willingly and courageously, for the 
 honourable and holy laws." 
 
 Having thus spoken, he voluntarily presented himself 
 to the executioners, and bore, without a murmer, all the 
 torments which the ingenuity of malignant cruelty 
 could devise. 
 
 The second example is that of seven brothers and 
 their widowed mother, condemned to a torturing death 
 for refusing obedience to the tyrant's blasphemous edict. 
 Six had already sunk under the torments, in the sight 
 of the seventh, a boy in the very bloom of youth, when 
 life presents its most joyous prospects, and the mere
 
 186 HISTORY OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE. 
 
 consciousness of existence is a pleasure: for liim, everr 
 the stern executioners felt pity, and besought his mother- 
 to persuade him to the guilty deed that would save his 
 life. But the mother in the sight of the six corpses 
 that lay mangled before her, entreated him, by every 
 fond and tender tie that binds child and parent, to prove 
 himself worthy of the brotherhood of martyrs, by hold- 
 ing fast his faith in the God of Abraham. He went to 
 the scaffold as to a feast, and submitted to an agonizing 
 death without wavering. Last of all, with a cruelty 
 which to her was mercy, the mother was delivered to 
 the executioner. 
 
 These horrors were not long perpetrated with impu- 
 nity: God raised up an avenger for his chosen people^ 
 and rescued tliem at the very moment when tiie destruc- 
 tion of the Jewish religion, and almost of their name 
 and nation, seemed inevitable. 
 
 Chapter XXXV. 
 TIIE MACCABEES. 
 
 My battle vow ! — no minster-walls 
 
 Gave back the burning word; 
 Altar nor shrine the low deep tone 
 
 Of smothered vengeance heard; 
 But the ashes of a ruined home 
 
 Tlailled as it sternly rose. 
 With the mingling voice of blood that shook 
 
 The midnight's dark repose. Mrs. Hemans, 
 
 From A.M. 3836.... B.C. 168; to A.M. 3860.... B.C. 144. 
 
 In the obscure town, or rather village, of Modin, 
 egan the first resistance to the atrocious tyianny of
 
 THE MACCABEES. 187" 
 
 Antioclius. When the deputies of the king arrived 
 there, they attempted, by the most seducing offers, to 
 gain over Mattathias, whose age, wealth, and virtue, 
 had combined to give him influence over his country- 
 men. He w^as the son of John, the son of Simon, the- 
 son of Asmoneus, from whom the family had the name- 
 of Asmoneans. Mattathias spurned their offer ; and, 
 filled with holy zeal, struck to the earth a renegade 
 Jew, who came to offer incense at the unhallowed altars 
 of the heathen ; and then slew the Syrian commissioner. 
 This was a signal for a general revolt ; unable to com- 
 pete with the numerous hosts of Syria in the field, 
 Mattathias led his followers to the fastnesses of the 
 mountains, and from thence maintained a desultory 
 warfare, the effects of which were greater than its fame. 
 A thousand persons, surprised on the Sabbath-day, 
 attempted no defence, and were slaughtered without 
 resistance ; a circumstance which led Mattathias and his 
 followers to relax the strict severity of the law, and. 
 permit defensive warfare on the Sabbath. 
 
 Among other decrees tending to the suppression of the- 
 Jewish religion, Antioclius had issued one commanding- 
 all copies of the law to be destroyed, and threatening" 
 with death all who were found retaining any of them. 
 The Jews, being thus deprived of the law, which they 
 had been accustomed to read in their synagogues, substi- 
 tuted portions out of the Prophets; a custom which they 
 retained even after the free use of the Pentateuch was 
 restored to them. This barbarous edict, however, Mat- 
 tathias disregarded, searching for copies whithersoever- 
 he went. 
 
 The harassing discipline of such a contest broke down 
 the health of Mattathias ; he resolved to transfer the 
 command to another of the Asmonean family, as his was
 
 188: THE MACCABEES. 
 
 called, and chose, as the leader of the insurgents, Judas, . 
 his third and his bravest son. From the letters chosen 
 as a motto for his standard, M.CC.B.I., the hero 
 acquired the name of Maccabee. These letters are the 
 initials of a passage in the law, Mi Camo-Ca Baaleim 
 Jehovah, which signifies, *' Who among the gods is like 
 unto thee, Lordi" 
 
 The enterprises of the brave and pious Maccabee were 
 eminently successful ; Apollonius, the governor of Sa- 
 maria, was defeated and slain, and Seron, the satrap of 
 Coele-Syria, shared the fate he attempted to avenge. 
 Antiochus made hasty preparations to quell what had 
 now become a foranidable insurrection, but his tyranny 
 had excited revolts in his provinces of Armenia and 
 Persia : he was thus obliged to divide his forces ; and 
 he therefore ordered Lysias to punish the revolters in 
 Judeea, while he himself marched against the Persians. 
 A formidable army, under the commaud of the distin- 
 guished generals, Nicanor and Gorgias, entered Pales- 
 tine ; and so confident was Nicanor of success, that he 
 brought in his train a large body of slave-merchants, to 
 purchase his future captives. Ptolemy Macron does not 
 appear to have been present in person. Maccabseus, 
 unable to meet such overwhelming forces in a pitched 
 battle, kept his troops in the mountains that skirted their 
 line of march, waiting a favourable opportunity for an 
 attack. He even diminished his little band, bj permit- 
 ting all who were man-ied, or embarrassad by the care of 
 property, to return home. " Such as were building 
 houses, or liad betrothed wives, or were planting vine- 
 yards, or were fearful, those he commanded that they 
 should return, every man to his own home, according to 
 the law of Moses*." 
 
 * Cotton's J/acca&ees, p. 63; Deut. xx. 5 — 8.
 
 THE MACCABEES. t89 
 
 ' Judas, having received intelligence that Gorgias, ^vith 
 the flower of the Syrian army had been sent to surprise 
 liim in the mountains, resolved to anticipate his enemies, 
 and attack the camp during the absence of the detach- 
 ment. He obtained a complete victory, but a second 
 battle was necessary to secure his fruits. Gorgias and 
 his soldiers returning, sleepy and wearied, from their 
 night march, were astounded at the sight of their own- 
 camp in a blaze ; ere they had recovered their surprise, 
 they were assailed by the victorious Jews, and routed 
 after a faint resistance. The rich spoils of the camp, 
 were divided among the soldiers ; and Nicanor's slave- 
 merchants, b}' a just retribution, were themselves sold 
 into slavery. By a second victory, over Bacehides and 
 Tim.otheus, beyond the Jordan, jVIaccabseus obtained a 
 large supply of arms in which he had been hitherto 
 deficient. He was thus enabled to resist the invasion 
 of Lysias, in the following year, and to gain a victory 
 by which Jerusalem was liberated from the enemy. : 
 The patriot army, entered the holy city, naw ruined' 
 and desolate: grass grew in the silent streets, wild 
 flowers, waved over broken columns and shattered arches, 
 the courts of the temple were filled with shrubs, which 
 formed a dense and scarcely pervious thicket, while on 
 the height of Mount Sion was placed the Syrian garrison, 
 the commissioned agents and guardians of the desola- 
 tion. By the zealous exertions of the Maccabees, the 
 temple was cleansed and purified, the public worship 
 restored, and the feast of dedication celebrated. But 
 the stern observances of war were strangely mingled 
 with the solemnities of religious worship ; the warriors 
 bent before the altar in full panoply, their armour 
 buckled and their weapons grasped ; with the notes of 
 the holy anthem, and the words of the priestly prayer^
 
 190 THE MACCABEES. 
 
 were mixed tlie clang of the trumpet, tlie clash of the 
 soldier's heavy tread, and the watchword of the vigilant 
 sentinels. It was altogether a scene to which history 
 can hardly furnish a parallel ; a scene in which patriotism 
 was ennobled by piety, and the watchword, " God and 
 our country," was not an idle cry, but a sober reality. 
 The anniversary of this festival is still hallowed by the 
 Jews, and deservedly ; for it celebrates a victory that,, 
 humanly speaking, rescued not only their nation, but 
 their name, from certain destruction. Our blessed 
 Saviour himself honoured it with his presence at Jeru- 
 salem, thereby sanctioning the observance of days set 
 apart by the Church for pious purposes. 
 
 The surrounding enemies of the Jews viewed their 
 restoration to political existence with secret wonder, and 
 undisguised hatred. They attempted to crush the rising 
 fortunes of the regenerated state, but the Maccabees ably 
 defended the independence they had achieved, and in 
 many a glorious field beat down the forces of their en- 
 vious foes. 
 
 In the mean time Antiochus died in Persia. Actuated 
 by a persecuting spirit, lie had resolved to establish uni- 
 formity of worship in all the provinces, and he was 
 therefore as eager to destroy tlie religious system of 
 Zoroaster, as to extirpate the worship of Jehovah . In 
 an obscure town he was suddenly stricken by an ulcer- 
 ous disease, wiiich slowly consumed the body, and ren- 
 dered him an object of disgust and horror to his attend- 
 ants. Tlius miserably perished the greatest of the mo- 
 narchs descended from the fortunate Seleucus Nicator. 
 
 Lysias raised the son of the deceased monarch to the 
 throne under the name Antiochus Eupator, and imme- 
 diately prepared to renew the Jewish war, to which he 
 was not a little stimulated by the solicitations of the
 
 THE MACCABEES. 191 
 
 apostates and renegades, who envied the fame of Judas, 
 or felt the restraint of the law too great for their im- 
 moral propensities. After a brave resistance, Judas con- 
 sented to a capitulation, the articles of which were in- 
 stantly violated by young Antiochus, who demolished 
 once more the Avails of Jerusalem. 
 
 Demetrius Soter, the rightful heir to the Syrian 
 crown, as being son of Seleucus Philopator, having 
 escaped from Rome, appeared to claim the kingdom; 
 and having defeated and captured his rival, put him and 
 Lysias to death. Towards the Jews, Demetrius pur- 
 sued a treacherous and fatal policy; he confirmed in 
 the office of high-priest, Alcimus, who had been elevated 
 to that dignity by Antiochus Eupator, and, as he ex- 
 pected, the influence of the sacerdotal authority enabled 
 him to deprive the Maccabees of all their power. Alci- 
 mus proved a monster of cruelty ; he put to death sixty 
 •of the patriot leaders, and encouraged the Syrian general 
 Bacchides in his severities towards the unoffending peo- 
 ple. Judas once more took up arms, and expelled the 
 traitor and the tyrant. Nicanor Avas sent against him, 
 but after being twice defeated was slain. The gallant 
 Maccabee sought to strengthen himself by entering into 
 alliance with Rome, now rapidly advancing towards 
 universal dominion ; but l)efore the treaty was published, 
 Bacchides entered Palestine with an overwhelming force, 
 and^ Judas, disdaining to fly, having ventured wuth a 
 mere handful of men to encounter his. myriads, was de- 
 feated and slain ; " and all Israel made great lamenta- 
 tion for him, and mourned many da^'s, saying, How is 
 the valiant man fallen^ who delivered Israel* V 
 
 History furnishes few heroes whose claim to admira- 
 
 * Cotton's Maccahces, p. 96.
 
 192 THE MACCABEES. 
 
 tion can compete with those of Judas Maccabeus : love 
 of his country, in him identified with the love of his 
 God, led him to dare the mightiest monarch of the East, 
 and to maintain a noble contest, with inadequate means, 
 against an overwhelming superiority from without, and 
 envy and treachery from within. The Jews lamented 
 his loss as the greatest of national calamities. 
 
 The triumphant faction of Alcimus used their victory 
 with the most savage cruelty ; but Jonathan, the brother 
 of Maccabseus, having escaped all pursuit, maintained, 
 in the mountains, the contest of independence. He was 
 eventually successful : on the death of Alcimus, Bac- 
 chides fled from Judsea, and Jonathan became master of 
 the country almost without a blow. Jonathan after- 
 wards entered into a treaty with Demetrius Soter, by 
 whom he was nominated to the high priesthood, thus 
 receiving all the civil and religious authority. He thus 
 became the first of the Asmonean princes. By his 
 prudent conduct during the long wars of disputed suc- 
 cession that distracted Syria, Jonathan not only pre- 
 served Judsea safe, but made it respected as a state suffi- 
 ciently impoi-tant to become the umpire in these con- 
 tests. He was at length treacherously seized by the 
 insurgent Tryphon, and cruelly murdered. He was 
 interred with great magnificence : and his sepulchre, 
 raised on an eminence, was long a noted sea-mark to the 
 navigators who sailed along that coast.
 
 193 
 
 Chapter XXXVI. 
 
 THE ASMONEAN PRINCES.- CAPTURE OF 
 JERUSALExM BY THE ROMANS. 
 
 Thy towering spirit now is broke. 
 
 Thy neck is bended to the yoke: 
 
 What foreign arms could never quell, 
 
 By civil rage and rancour fell. Smollett. 
 
 From A.M. 3860.... B.C. 144; to A.M. 3966.... B.C. 38. 
 
 Simon Maccabeus succeeded his brother Jonathan, 
 and emulated his prudence and ability. He declared 
 war against the perfidious Tryphon, and gave such effi- 
 cient aid to Demetrius Nicator, who still continued to 
 assert his claim to the Syrian crown, that he obtained 
 from that monarch the acknowledgment of his coimtry's 
 independence. Instead of exhausting his resources in 
 foreign wars, Simon steadily applied himself to the in- 
 ternal improvement of the country ; and one of his first 
 objects was to subdue the fortress erected on Mount Sion 
 by Antiochus Epiphanes. He not only destroyed this 
 citadel, but levelled the hill on which it stood ; so that 
 there remained no eminence to command the hill of the 
 temple. Under his wise government, Judaea regained 
 a considerable share of former prosperity, and the fields 
 were at length cultivated in peace. The historian of 
 the Maccabees describes the happy state of the country 
 with beautiful simplicity. " As for the land of Judah," 
 he says, " that was quiet all the days of Simon ; for he 
 sought the good of his nation in such wdse, as that ever- 
 more his authority and honour pleased them well .... 
 Then did they till the ground in peace, and the earth 
 gave her increase, and the trees of the field their fruit.
 
 194 THE ASMONEAN PRINCES. 
 
 The ancient men sat also in tlie streets, communing 
 together of good things, and the young men put on 
 glorious and warlike apparel. He provided victuals for 
 the cities, and set in them all manner of munition, so 
 that his honourable name was renowned unto the end 
 of the world. He made peace in the lands, and Israel 
 rejoiced with great joy ; for every man sat under his 
 vine and his fig-tree, and there was none to fray them; 
 neither was there any left in the land to fight against 
 them ; yea, the kings themselves were overthrown in 
 those days. Moreover, he strengthened all those of his 
 people who were brought low ; the law he searched out, 
 and every contemner of the law and wicked person he 
 took away. He beautified the sanctuary, and multiplied 
 the vessels of the sanctuary*." 
 
 Antiochus Sidetes, brother and successor of Demetrius 
 Kicator, attempted once more to make Judea a Syrian 
 province, but his army suffered a severe defeat. Soon 
 after this victor^', Simon was assassinated by his son-in- 
 law Ptolemy, the governor of Jericho, and his two eldest 
 sons shared his fate. John Hyrcanus, the 3'ounger son 
 of Simon, however, contrived to escape, and soon becom- 
 ing the head of a powerful party, compelled the assassin 
 to seek safety in exile. 
 
 The Syrian king, taking advantage of the confusion 
 consequent on tlie death of Simon, invaded Judaea, and 
 rapidly made himself master of the country. But An- 
 tiochus Sidetes was a more generous enemy than his 
 namesake Epiphanes : even during the war, he permitted 
 the Jews to celebrate the feast of tabernacles, and finally 
 he granted peace, on condition of the payment of a 
 moderate tribute. Antiochus, soon after, was slain in a 
 
 * Cotton's Maccabees, p. 132.
 
 THE ASMONEAN PRINXES. 195 
 
 war witli the Partliians, and Hyrcanus took advantage 
 of his death, to assert the independence of Judsea. He 
 enlarged his territories by the conquest of several ad- 
 jacent districts, and gratified the national hatred of the 
 Jews, by storming Shechem,the capital of the Samaritans, 
 and destroying the temple on Mount Gerizini. 
 
 After the death of Hyrcanus, the Jewish state was 
 dreadfully distracted b}- the violence of factions; the 
 rival sects of the Pharisees and Sadducees hated eacli 
 other with the utmost bitterness. The pretensions of 
 the Pharisees to superior sanctity procured them the 
 favour of the multitude ; the lax morality of the Saddu- 
 cees recommended their party to the wealthy and luxu- 
 rious. Hyrcanus, in the close of his reign, sided with 
 the Sadducees, and thus provoked the bitter hostility of 
 the popular sect. 
 
 To Hyrcanus succeeded his son Aristobulus, a prince 
 equally weak and wicked. He starved his mother to 
 death, threw three of his brothers into prison, and caused 
 the fourth to be assassinated, because he falsely suspected 
 him of meditating usurpation. But remorse for the 
 latter crime preyed upon him so heavily, that he burst 
 a blood-vessel, and suddenly expired. 
 
 Alexander Jannfeus, the next son of Hyrcanus, suc- 
 ceeded, and strengthened himself in the kingdom by 
 putting to death his younger brother who had conspired 
 against him. He was almost constantly engaged in 
 war, and, by his rasli provocation of the Egyptian king, 
 brought his country to the very verge of ruin. Deli- 
 vered from this danger, he did not lay aside his ambi- 
 tion; he besieged Gaza, which he captured and de- 
 stroyed, but not without suffering immense loss. His 
 hatred to the Pharisaic faction provoked a rebellion, 
 which renewed all the calamities of Judaea; Alexander 
 O
 
 196 THE ASMONEAN PRINCES. 
 
 was at first successful; but the insurgents summoning 
 the Syrians to their aid, compelled him to seek refuge 
 in the mountains. Thence he descended, at the head of 
 a brave band; and being joined by a large party, he 
 conquered the rebels, and punished them and their ad- 
 herents with remorseless severit3^ But when his death 
 approached, he exhorted his widow to conciliate the 
 Pharisees, whose opposition could not but prove a se- 
 rious disturbance to the government. 
 
 Alexandra, the widow of Jannseus, observed his pre- 
 cepts, and thus procured the election of her son, Hyr- 
 canus II., to the priesthood. The Pharisees, now at the 
 head of affiiirs, persecuted their rivals with unrelenting 
 cruelty, and the oppressed faction chose Aristobulus II., 
 the brother of H^rcanus, as their leader. The army 
 favoured the pretensions of Aristobulus, and on his 
 mother's death raised him to the head of the govern- 
 ment, which Hja-canus quietly resigned. The chiei 
 adviser of Hyrcanus had been Antipas or Antipater, an 
 Idumean by birth : he urged the deposed sovereign to 
 make an effort to recover his authority, and at length 
 induced him to seek the aid of an Arabian king. A 
 desultory war ensued, which was at length terminated 
 b}^ the interference of the Romans. Pompey the Great 
 being selected as arbitrator, lent a ready ear to the sug- 
 gestions of the crafty Antipater, decided in favour of 
 Hyrcanus, and, advancing into Judaea, captured Jeni- 
 salem, stormed the temple, and sent Aristobulus and his 
 children prisoners to Rome. 
 
 Alexander, the son of Aristobulus, escaping on the 
 road, returned to Judaea, and renewed the war. He had 
 been scarcely subdued, when Aristobulus himself made 
 his appearance and excited fresh commotions. Soon 
 after his second capture, the temple was pillaged by the
 
 THE ASMONEAN PRINCES. 197 
 
 rapacious Crassus, whose subsequent destruction by tlie 
 Parthians was regarded by the Jews as a providential 
 retribution. 
 
 Hyrcanus, or rather the crafty Antipater, under his 
 name, held the government during the great civil war 
 between Pompey and Caesar, and was confirmed in his 
 authority when the latter became finally triumphant. 
 Antipater was appointed procurator of Judaea under 
 Hyrcanus, and was furtlier commissioned to repair the 
 ■walls of Jerusalem which had been thrown down by 
 Pompey. He procured for his son, Herod, the govern- 
 ment of Galilee; and that able but unprincipled man 
 openly aspired to the sovereignty of all Palestine. 
 
 On the triumph of Antony and Augustus over Brutus 
 and Cassius, Herod, who had succeeded his father as the 
 minister, or rather master, of Hyrcanus, secured the 
 favour of the victorious Antony, and used it to strengthen 
 his own powxr. 
 
 A new enemy soon appeared ; Antigonus, the son of 
 Aristobulus, aided by the Parthians, renew^ed the strug- 
 gle for sovereignty, and by treachery obtained possession 
 of the persons of Phasaei, the brother of Herod, and 
 Hyrcanus. Hyrcanus was barbarously mutilated, and 
 thus, according to the Jewisli law, rendered incapable of 
 holding the priesthood ; Phasaei perished in prison by 
 liis own hand. 
 
 Herod fled to Rome, and obtained from Antony and 
 Augustus the crown of Judaea ; he then hastily returned 
 to Galilee, and proceeded, with a Roman army, to take 
 possession of his new kingdom. The siege of Jerusalem 
 lasted six months ; and Sosius, the Roman general, en- 
 raged at the protracted resistance, exacted fearful ven- 
 geance in spite of the interference of Herod, w^ho was 
 anxious to conciliate the affections of his new subjects. 
 02
 
 198 THE ASMONEAN PRINCES. 
 
 The wretched Antigonus, after having endured the 
 most degrading indignities, was sent in chains to An- 
 tony, and at the solicitation of Herod, put to death by 
 the public executioner. Thus was the sceptre departing 
 from Judah, and the time had consequently arrived for 
 the advent of the Messiali, according to Jacob's dying 
 prophecy. 
 
 Chapter XXXVII. 
 
 POLITICAL AND SOCIAL CONDITION OF THE 
 
 JEWS AT THE COMING OF CHRIST. 
 
 At last they seize 
 
 The sceptre, and regard not David's sons; 
 Then lose it to a stranger, that the true 
 Anointed king, Messiah might he bom. 
 Barred of his right. Miltox. 
 
 A.M. 4004. 
 
 The subjugation of Judaea by the Romans was not 
 perfected during the life of Herod ; he was allowed to 
 retain the title and authoi"ity of a king, on condition of 
 paying a stipulated tribute to the emperor. But, in the 
 interval between the birth of Christ, and his entering on 
 the business of his divine mission, the government of 
 Judaea was changed; it became formally and substan- 
 tially a province, committed to the care of a procurator 
 or lieutenant sent from Rome. Both under Herod and 
 the Roman deputies, a great share of power was conceded 
 to the high-priest, and to the Sanhedrim, or Jewish 
 senate. It is supposed that they could not inflict capital 
 punishments, but they possessed certain other preroga- 
 tives which ensured them respect and obedience. They 
 were the authorized interpreters and ministers of the
 
 CONDITION OF THE JEWS. 199 
 
 Mosaic law; the}'- could reject sacrifices, and expel from 
 the congregation ; powers greatly dreaded at all times by 
 the Jewish people. One of Herod's first measures was 
 to put to death all the members of this council, with the 
 exception of two, who during the siege of Jerusalem by 
 Sosius had recommended that he should be received as 
 king. Herod was a great, but not a good, sovereign ; he 
 erected cities, among which was Samaria, he rebuilt the 
 temple, an undertaking which was not entirely com- 
 pleted for forty-six years, he fed starving multitudes 
 during a famine, he suppressed robbers, and subdued 
 enemies; but he disregarded all the obligations of human 
 and divine law that interfered with his ambition, his 
 pride, his passion, or even his caprice. His conduct to 
 his own family exhibits scenes of wanton murder and 
 cruelty that almost exceed belief; so much so, as to 
 draw from the Emperor Augustus, the pointed sarcasm, 
 "that he would rather be one of Herod's swine than his 
 children." He made Aristobulus, his wife's brothe?, 
 high-priest, and soon after dreading lest he should en- 
 gage tlie affections of the people caused him to be mui*- 
 dered. Impelled by groundless jealousy, he caused his 
 wife, Mariamne, the grand-daughter] of Aristobulus, to 
 be publicly executed, an act which he afterwards bit- 
 terly repented. The two children she had left him, 
 naturally dear to the Jews, as the last representatives 
 of the Asmonean Princes, were, by the fraud of their 
 half-brother, Antipater, rendered objects of suspicion, 
 and sent to tlie scaffold by their cruel father. Alex- 
 andra, his wife's mother, was next added to the number 
 of his victims. Finally, Antipater met from Herod the 
 punishment which a long course of iniquity so justly 
 merited, but which no one but such a tyrant would have 
 rejoiced in inflicting on a son.
 
 200 POLITICAL AND SOCIAL CONDITION OF 
 
 One great object steadily pursued by Herod, was the 
 introduction of Grecian customs into Judaea. He felt 
 that to him every national feeling was opposed ; he 
 knew that every Jewish festival made the people im- 
 patient of the rule of an Idumaean usurper, for every 
 such solemnity recalled to their minds the memory of 
 their ancient princes. He probably designed, at first, to 
 assimilate the whole of his subjects to the people of the 
 surrounding nations; but this was beyond his power: 
 the Jews, from the time of their return from Babylon, 
 adhered to their peculiar customs with a resolution 
 which nothing could overcome or even weaken. 
 
 But, although he could not pervert the nation, Herod 
 found it an easy matter to form a very powerful party 
 favourable to his designs ; men ready to sacrifice their 
 consciences to their interests, and to purchase the smiles 
 of the powerful by a compliance Avith all their wishes, 
 however capricious or criminal. With great indignation 
 the more patriotic of the Jews beheld a numerous body 
 of their countrymen deserting their national customs to 
 imitate the manners of Greece and Italj' ; they saw them 
 do so, in the first instance to please Herod, and, there- 
 fore, they named them Herodians. "We should sadly 
 underrate the power of this party, were we to sup2)ose 
 that they consisted merely of the personal partisans of 
 Herod: the faction included all who submitted cheer- 
 fully to a foreign yoke, and sought either promotion or 
 emolument from the rulers of their country. They 
 were, in fact, Jews void of all national feeling; men to 
 whom it was a matter of perfect indifference, whether a 
 descendant of David, or a foreign adventurer, ruled in 
 Jerusalem, and who would certainly prefer the latter, if 
 more likely to advance their interests. It is said that 
 some of the Herodians carried their spirit of guilty com-
 
 THE JE^YS AT THE COMING OF CHRIST. 201 
 
 pliance so far, as to attend gladiatorial shows and public 
 games exhibited in honour of idols. 
 
 The Pharisees were the most bitter enemies of the 
 Herodians; the very name they had taken, which sig- 
 nifies " separatists," shows that they considered them- 
 selves set apart fi'om the rest of the nation, by their 
 superior strictness in religious observances. Tliis party 
 fii-st rose^ into eminence during the Maccabsean wars. 
 The chief assistants of the brave brothers in that memo- 
 rable struggle were the Chasidim, or righteous, whose 
 austere zeal had well prepared tliem for the display of 
 valour and activity in an insun-ection. When the wars 
 ceased, the excitement that had found vent in the field 
 of battle, tended to make them tui'bulent and intractable 
 subjects. They separated themselves from all their 
 countrymen that doubted the authenticity of a single 
 opinion, or the use of a single observance, which it 
 pleased them to maintain. Their religious opinions 
 were not wholly derived from the volume of revela- 
 tion ; they mingled with then- creed much of the gloomy 
 views respecting Fate and Free-will, which their an- 
 cestors had learned from the Persians duiing the capti- 
 vity ; and from the same impure source they learned to 
 sully the doctrine of tlie soul's immortality, by uniting 
 with it the absurdities of the Metempsychosis, or passage 
 of the soul from one body into another. Their most 
 dangerous doctrine was that of their own self-righteous- 
 ness : " trusting in themselves tliat they were righteous, 
 they despised others ;" indeed, they thought themselves 
 defiled by merely coming into contact witli '• publicans 
 and sinners," violators of the national law. The pro- 
 minent article of their belief, however, was that '' the 
 traditions of the elders possessed as much authority as 
 the Scriptui-es themselves;" and they made their rigid
 
 202 POLITICAL AND SOCIAL CONDITION OF 
 
 observance of these traditional rites, an excuse for 
 violating the "weightier matters of the law." Their 
 pretended sanctity, and ostentatious severity, gave the 
 Pharisees great influence both with the priests and 
 the people; and this influence was not in the least 
 diminished by the undisguised contempt with which 
 they treated the humbler classes of their admirers; 
 indeed, they spoke of the mass of the population as 
 "accursed," because they possessed not the same extent 
 of kno\v-ledge as themselves. The Herodians were justly 
 regarded as innovators by this haughty sect, and they, 
 in turn, inspired the Roman governors with suspicions, 
 not wholly groundless, that the Pharisees would em- 
 brace the first opportunity of asserting the national 
 independence. 
 
 The system of the Pharisees, with its pride, ostenta- 
 tion, and hypocrisy, was so diametrically opposite to the 
 doctrines of humility and self-abasement taught by "the 
 meek and lowly Jesus," that we cannot be surprised at 
 their virulent hatred of Christ and Christianity. This 
 animosity even led them to a coalition with the Hero- 
 dians ; and thus the same persons, who held obedience 
 to foreigners little short of a crime, and who were, con- 
 sequently, each of them rebels in heart, appeared at a 
 Roman tribunal, to accuse their Messiah, the promised 
 seed of David, of treason. 
 
 A sect of the Pharisees Avas named Essenes; they 
 resembled, in many particulars, the monastic orders of 
 the Romish church, living in contemplative retirement, 
 and rarely mingling in public affairs. They are not 
 mentioned by name in the New Testament, but allu- 
 sions are made to them and their doctrines on more than 
 one occasion. 
 
 Opposed to the Pharisees, were the Karaites, who
 
 THE JEWS AT THE COMING OF CHRIST. 203 
 
 adhered to tlie strict letter of revelation, and rejected all 
 traditions; hut their name is lost in that of the more 
 powerful faction with which they are politically iden- 
 tified, the Sadducees. Possessing neither the numerical 
 strength nor the popular favour of their Pharisaic rivals,, 
 the Sadducees were still a powerful party, from the 
 wealth and dignity of those who embraced their opinions. 
 Sadok, the reputed founder of the sect, taught that the- 
 liuraan will is absolutely free ; that good and evil actions 
 meet their retribution onl^' in this life: that "there is 
 no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit," and that tradi- 
 tions ought to be rejected. The Sadducees were by no- 
 means anxious to diffuse their doctrines, and in this 
 respect differed very much from the Pharisees, whO' 
 "compassed sea and land to make one proselyte."' 
 
 The Galila&ans were a sect derived from the Pharisees: 
 they taught that tribute Avas due to God alone, and they 
 secretly stimulated the people to throw off tlie Roman 
 yoke. Of the same opinion were the Zealots, some of 
 whom believed assassination to be a justifiable means 
 of extending their influence. Hence, they were called 
 "Sicarii," or dagger-men. 
 
 Connected with the Pharisees, were the Scribes, or 
 Lawyers, a profession rather than a sect. They pro- 
 fessed to instruct the people in the particulars of their 
 legal duties, to explain the doctrines taught, and the 
 observances commanded by Moses, and they were the 
 authorized guardians and expounders of the traditions 
 of the elders. 
 
 We have already given an account of the Samaritans, 
 to which it is here only necessary to add, that at the 
 time of Christ's coming they had greatly declined in 
 political importance, and were not able to retaliate the 
 hatred and contempt of their Jewish rivals.
 
 i.y|;7^Ti]!]irni]^)|!l!r!|])]i})i')]'^;il|[[jijr 
 
 Chapter XXXVIII. 
 THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 
 
 Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace ! 
 
 Hail the Sun of Righteousness! 
 
 Light and life to all he brings, 
 
 Risen with healing on his wings! Christmas Hymx. 
 
 A.M. 4004*. 
 
 When the fulness of time was come, God, who at 
 sundry times, and in divers manners, had spoken by 
 the prophets, sent his Son upon earth ; that Son, whom 
 he had "appointed Heir of all things, b}^ whom also he 
 made the worlds." 
 
 Several distinct prophecies announced the time when 
 the Messiah should appear. Jacob declared that "The 
 sceptre should not depart from Judah, until Shiloh 
 
 * The birth of Christ, according to some chronologers, preceded 
 the vulgar era by four years.
 
 THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 205 
 
 come." That sceptre was now transferred to a foreigner, 
 and the Idumaean Herod was king of the Jews. Haggai, 
 had predicted that "the Desire of all Nations" should 
 descend upon earth while the second temple was stand- 
 ing, and the world enjoying the blessings of universal 
 peace. That peace had been established by the termina- 
 tion of the Roman civil wars, and the temple was yet 
 standing, having been recently repaired and enriched by 
 Herod. Daniel explicitly asserted that when, seventy 
 weeks of years had elapsed from the rebuilding of Jeru- 
 salem, Messiah the Prince should come "to make re- 
 conciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting- 
 righteousness." That time was now arrived, and 
 throughout the East, both Jews and Gentiles expected 
 the appearance of a Mighty Deliverer. 
 
 The Saviour of the World, He to whom the ends of 
 the earth belonged, came not with the gorgeous magni- 
 ficence of an earthly sovereign. His miraculous con- 
 ception was announced by the angel Gabriel to the 
 Virgin Mar}^, who, though a person in humble life, was 
 descended from the royal line of David. Her betrothed 
 husband, Joseph, though also of the same kingly line, 
 was a poor carpenter, residing at Nazareth. Soon after 
 this announcement, a decree was issued by the Roman 
 emperor, that a census should be taken of the population 
 tlirougliout the empire, and Joseph was forced to remove 
 to Bethlehem, his native place, in order to be enrolled. 
 
 When Joseph and Mary arrived in Bethlehem, there 
 was no room for them in the inn, and they were forced 
 to take refuge in a stable. In this humble shelter was 
 the Saviour of the world born. And thus was fulfilled 
 the prophecy given by Micah, that out of Bethlehem 
 should come tlie great Ruler in Israel. 
 
 But though no glories of earthly gi-eatness suiTOunded
 
 206 THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 
 
 the cradle of the "new-born King," the heavens an- 
 nounced the event. Angels proclaimed the glad tidings 
 of great joy to shepherds keeping watch over their flocks 
 by night. And when the glorious announcement was 
 made, there appeared suddenly a multitude of the hea- 
 venly host, praising God, and saying, " Glory to God in 
 the highest, and on earth peace, good-will towards men." 
 In due time the child, whom his parents, in obedience 
 to the divine command, had named Jesus, was presented 
 in the temple, according to the Mosaic law. Joshua, or 
 Jesus, for they are tlie same name, signifies a Saviour, 
 and our Lord was called by that name because he should 
 "save his people from tlieir sins." 
 
 There was in the temple, at this period, an aged pro- 
 phet, named Simeon, to whom it had been revealed that, 
 before his death, he should be so far favoured as to see the 
 Lord's Christ. Messiah, or Christ, signifies "Anointed," 
 and the Redeemer was thus called, because he was to be 
 the Prophet, Priest, and King of his people; into all 
 of which offices anointing with oil was the form of in- 
 stitution, under the Mosaic dispensation. When Simeon 
 saw the promised Saviour, whom he was miraculously 
 enabled to recognise, he burst out into a rapturous 
 hymn of praise, saying, "Lord, now lettest thou thy 
 servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy 
 salvation." The prophetess Anna also saw, in the Infant, 
 Him "to whom all the prophets gave witness," and 
 joined in the holy jo}^ which the accomplishment of 
 God's gracious promises inspired. 
 
 There came soon to Jerusalem some wise men from 
 the East, a name usually given to Arabia by the inspired 
 writers, who had seen the star which announced the 
 birth of the Messiah. They asked, "Where is he that 
 is born king of the Jews?" an enquiry that roused the
 
 fiif '"^ % iri 
 
 
 3 
 
 ,1 
 
 (^..,VC
 
 THE BIHTH OF CHRIST. 20? 
 
 wakeful jealousy of the tyrannical Herod*. He sum- 
 moned an assembly of the chief priests and scribes, from 
 whom he demanded, in what place the Christ should be 
 bom? Being told that Bethlehem was the place speci- 
 fied by the prophet Micah, he sent the wise men thither, 
 with orders to bring him back intelligence. The mira- 
 culous star guided them on their journey to Bethlehem, 
 and at length rested over the house where the young 
 child was. The wise men entering worshipped the 
 Infant Saviour, and made to him their offerings of 
 "gold, and frankincense, and myrrh." Being warned 
 by God in a dream, they retm-ned not to Herod, but 
 went by another route to their own home. Josepli, 
 also, was divinely instructed to fly into Egypt, because 
 Herod was seeking to slay the infant King. He obeyed 
 the divine command, and thus was accomplished another 
 prediction respecting the Messiah, "Out of Egypt have 
 I called my Son." 
 
 Herod, enraged at the escape of the wise men, issued 
 orders for the immediate massacre of all the children in 
 
 * The annexed table will, perhaps, be found useful, in distinguish- 
 ing the particular persons of Herod's family whose names occur in 
 Evangelical histories. 
 
 Antipas, or Antipater, an Idumean, appointed prefect 
 of Judsea and Syria, by Julius Caesar. 
 
 Herod the Great, King of Jud«a. 
 
 , -r -^ 1 1 
 
 Aristobulus, Archelaus. Philip Herod Antipas. 
 
 strangled by order 
 
 of his father. 
 
 1 . 
 
 1 1 
 
 Herod, Herod Agrippa, Herodias, 
 
 King of Chalcis. the Elder. married to Herod Philip, 
 
 j I I 
 
 Bernice. Agrippa, junior. Drusilla..
 
 208 THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 
 
 Bethlehem, "of two years old and under;" a circum- 
 stance mtimated by the prediction of "Rachel weeping 
 for her children ;" for the city belonged to the tribe of 
 Benjamin. The orders of the merciless tyrant were 
 executed, but the object of his fear and hatred was now 
 bej^ond the reach of his jealous rage. 
 
 After the death of Herod, his dominions were divided 
 among his children, none of whom received the royal 
 title. When the news of the wicked monarch's death 
 reached Egypt, Joseph returned homewards with his 
 family; but, "being warned of God in a dream," he 
 did not go into Judsea, where Archelaus reigned in the 
 room of his father Herod, but took up his abode in 
 Kazareth, a city of Galilee. 
 
 Chapter XXXIX. 
 THE PREACHING OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 
 
 Now had the great Proclaimer, with a voice 
 More awful than the sound of trumpet cried 
 Repentauce, and Heaven's kingdom nigh at hand 
 To all baptized. Milton. 
 
 A.M. 4032 A.D,29. 
 
 The last recorded prophecy in the Old Testament 
 announced that a prophet with the spirit and power of 
 Elijah should precede the Messiah; and Isaiah declared 
 that he should cry in the wilderness, "Prepare ye the 
 way of the Lord, make his paths straight." The person 
 thus prophetically described was John the Baptist. Six 
 months before the miraculous conception of the Messiah 
 \Yas announced to the Virgin Mary, an angel was com-
 
 THE PREACHING OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 209 
 
 missioned to declare to Zacliarias, a priest in the temple, 
 that he should hecome the father of the prophet like 
 unto Elijah, of whom Malachi and Isaiah had spoken. 
 The aged priest was incredulous, and as a sign, he was 
 stricken with dumbness until the prediction should be 
 accomplished. 
 
 When the child was born, the relatives remonstrated 
 with his mother on giving him the name of John, as 
 none of his kindred were called by that name. An 
 appeal was made to the dumb father: he made signs 
 for writing materials ; they were brought, and he wrotfr 
 *' His name is John." Immediately his mouth Avas 
 opened and he praised God in a sublime hymn of joy? 
 for the promised deliverance that God had wrought for 
 Israel. 
 
 When John had attained the age of manhood, the 
 word of God came unto him, and the Spirit of the Lord 
 directed him to commence his mission. The place in 
 which John first began to teach his countrymen was the 
 Wilderness of Judiea, called, in the Old Testament, 
 " the Wilderness of Tekoah." The subject of his preach- 
 ing was the duty of repentance ; " Repent ye, for the 
 kingdom of heaven is at hand." His habits were unre- 
 fined and little calculated to attract attention : he wore 
 a garment of camel's hair, fastened round the waist by a 
 girdle; and his food was '* locusts and wild hone}'-," 
 the natural productions of the uncultivated districts 
 where he taught. 
 
 The preaching of this new prophet excited great and 
 immediate attention : " There went out to him Jerusalem 
 and all Judtea, and all the region round about Jordan." 
 Those who became converts, and confessed their sins, 
 were baptized : and from this circumstance, he was 
 named " the Baptist." He was a stern and rigid censor;
 
 210 THE PREACHING OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 
 
 he reproved the vices of the Pharisees and Sadducees 
 with equal boldness and justice, and he gave admonitions 
 to all classes, suitable to the circumstances of their situa- 
 tion. But, at the same time, he disclaimed all preten- 
 sions of being the Messiah, saying,' " I indeed baptize 
 jou with water unto repentance ; but he that cometh 
 after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not wor- 
 thy to bear : He shall baptize you \Yith the Holy Ghost 
 and with fire." 
 
 In the second year of liis preaching, John the Baptist 
 was thrown into prison by Herod Antipas, whom he had 
 reproved for marrying Herodias, the wife of his brother 
 Philip, while that brother was yet alive. After he had 
 been detained several months in a dungeon, Herodias 
 instigated her daughter to obtain an order for his con- 
 demnation from Herod. This impious child of an im- 
 pious mother obej^ed ; she had danced before the king 
 on a day that he had given a great feast ; and when he 
 had foolishly promised to give her whatever she would
 
 THE PREACHING OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 211 
 
 ask, at the desire of her mother she demanded the head 
 of John the Baptist, which Herod, with some reluctance, 
 granted, and the bleeding head was carried in a dish to 
 his revengeful and cruel vrife. 
 
 -Chapter XL. 
 CHRIST'S BAPTISM AND TEMPTATION. 
 
 From Nazareth, the son of Joseph deemed) 
 To the flood Jordan came ; as then obscure, 
 Unmarked, unknown; but Him the Baptist soon 
 Descried, divinely warned, and witness bore. 
 As to his worthier. 
 
 Nor was long 
 His witness unconfirmed ; on him baptized. 
 Heaven opened, and in likeness of a dove 
 The Spirit descended, while the Father's voice 
 From Heaven pronounced him his beloved Son. Milton, 
 
 A.M. 40.33.... A.D. 30. 
 
 .Of the youth of our' Saviour little is recorded, save 
 that " he grew in wisdom as in stature, and in favour 
 with God and man." At the age of twelve years, he 
 was brought by his parents to Jerusalem, and presented 
 in the temple. Three days he continued, unknown to 
 his parents, disputing with teachers of the law, " and all 
 th^t heard him were astonished at his understanding 
 and his answers," In reply to the inquiry of his mother, 
 " Son, why hast thou dealt thus with us?" behold, thy 
 father and I have sought thee sorrowing :" he said unto 
 them, " How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I 
 must be about my Father's business ?" — ^hereby plainly 
 intimating his divine character and mission. After his 
 P2
 
 212 CHRIST'S BAPTISM AND TEMPTATION. 
 
 return to 'Nazareth, lie continued submissive and obe- 
 dient to his eartlily parents, until the time was come 
 when he should enter on his heavenly mission. 
 
 As a preparation for the impoitant career on which he 
 was about to enter, our Saviour presented himself to be 
 baptized by John. The Baptist recognized the Divine 
 Person that stood before him, and said, " I have need to 
 be baptized of thee, and comest thou to mel" but Jesus 
 answered, " Suffer it to be so now; for thus it becometh 
 us to fulfil all righteousness." 
 
 As he ascended from the water, the Spirit of God 
 descended like a dove and lighted upon him ; and there 
 came a voice from heaven, saying, " This is my beloved 
 Son in whom I am well pleased." 
 
 The Spirit of God soon after led our blessed Saviour 
 into the wilderness where he was to be exposed to the 
 temptations of the great adversary of souls. And when 
 lie had fasted forty days and forty nights, he began to 
 feel a desire for food. This circumstance suggested to 
 Satan the subject of his first temptation; at once to 
 tempt him to a want of confidence in the protection of 
 his heavenly Father, and a presumptuous exercise of 
 miraculous power, he advised the Redeemer " to com- 
 mand that these stones be made bread." Christ, who, 
 in his human nature, is our great Example, taught us, 
 on this occasion, how we are to resist and overcome the 
 temptations with which we are assaulted by the wicked 
 one ; proving that God's holy word is not only our surest 
 guide but our best defence. He answered the tempfer 
 by a quotation from the inspired volume, " Man shall 
 not live by bread alone, but by every word that pro- 
 ceedeth out of the mouth of God." 
 
 The second was a temptation to presumptuous sin: 
 the devil placed our Lord on a pinnacle of the temple.
 
 Christ's baptism and temptation. 213 
 
 and endeavoured to persuade him, by a perverted appli- 
 cation of prophetical scripture, to exhibit his miraculous 
 powers. " For," said the tempter, " it is written. He 
 shall give his angels charge concerning thee ; and in 
 their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time 
 thou dash thy foot against a stone." To this crafty sug- 
 gestion, Jesus replied, " It is written again, Thou shalt 
 not tempt the Lord thy God." 
 
 The third temptation was an appeal to ambition : the 
 devil took our Lord to a very lofty eminence, and exhi- 
 bited to him an extensive view of the kingdoms of the 
 earth, their glory, their grandeur, tlieir wealth., and their 
 magnificence. When he believed that this astonishing 
 sight had produced the effect lie desired, he offered to 
 the Saviour instant possession of all these dominions, if 
 he would fall down and worship him. But Jesus, again 
 deriving his weapons from the armoury of inspiration, 
 answered, "Get thee behind me, Satan ; for it is written. 
 Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only 
 shalt thou serve." The baffled tempter then withdrew, 
 and angels came, who gave their services to the trium- 
 phant Messiah.
 
 Chapter XLI. 
 THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 The law of God exact he shall fulfil, 
 
 Both by obedience and bv love. Milton. 
 
 From A.M. 4033 A.D. 30; to A.M. 4036 A.D. 33. 
 
 The Holy Evangelists, who were inspii-ed by the 
 Spirit of God, have left us a full and complete account 
 of our Saviour's public ministry ; we do not propose, 
 therefore, to do more than present our readers with a 
 brief summary of some remarkable particulars, which 
 may serve as a guide to the authentic relations of the 
 Gospels, and aid the memory when the sacred records 
 are studied. It is for this reason that we shall defer 
 the notice of Christ's miracles, prophecies, parables, and
 
 THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 215 
 
 doctrine, for succeeding chapters, and confine ourselves, 
 at present, to the history of his ministerial course. 
 
 After his return from the desert, Jesus began to preach 
 publicly, and to inculcate the great duty of repentance. 
 Having learned that John was cast into prison, he re- 
 moved from Nazareth to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, 
 and thus was the prophecy of Isaiah fulfilled, that " in 
 Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who sat in darkness 
 saw a great light." During this journey Christ met a 
 woman of Samaria, with whom he entered into conversa- 
 tion ; the miraculous knowledge he displayed convinced 
 the woman that she beheld the promised Messiah : she 
 believed upon him ; and several of her townsmen, having 
 seen his miracles, followed her example. 
 
 During his residence in Capernaum, our blessed Lord 
 daily taught the people, and confirmed the truth of his 
 doctrine by many signal miracles. His fame spread 
 abroad through the country, and multitudes flocked to 
 hear his discourses, or to be healed of their diseases, 
 from all the surrounding districts. Near Capernaum, is 
 shown the hill on which Jesus is supposed to have stood 
 while delivering that beautiful summary of his sublime 
 doctrines, called, fi'om the place on which it was spoken, 
 " The Sermon on the Mount." After a brief sojourn at 
 Capernaum, he went up to Jerusalem, and celebrated his 
 first passover. The fame of his preaching had reached 
 the city, but the Jewish nation was too proud to receive 
 instruction, and contemptuously asked, " Can any good 
 thing come out of Nazareth?" 
 
 So powerfully did this feeling operate, that Nicode- 
 mus, a ruler of the Jews, Avas ashamed to make a public 
 profession of his faith, and went only under the cover 
 of night to hear the words of everlasting life. 
 
 When Christ came to worship in the temple, he found
 
 216 THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 its holy precincts crowded with traders and money- 
 changers, whom he drove out, saying, " Make not my 
 Father's house an house of merchandise." The Jews, 
 indignant at this assumption of authority, demanded, 
 " What sign showest thou unto us, seeing that tliou 
 doest these things?" He replied, "Destroy this temple, 
 and in three days I will i-aise it up." The Jews, who 
 understood him literally, were amazed ; but our Lord 
 spoke of " the temple of his body." The remembrance 
 of this conversation tended greatly to strengthen the 
 faith of the disciples after the resurrection. 
 
 After the celebration of the passover, Jesus went to 
 the river Jordan, where his disciples began to baptize 
 in his name. From thence he removed to Nazareth, 
 •where the inhabitants, scorning his lowly birth and 
 humble connexions, refused to receive his instructions. 
 Leaving Nazareth, he returned to Capernaum, where he 
 continued preaching and working miracles until the 
 period arrived for the celebration of another of the 
 Jewish festivals. 
 
 The severity with which our blessed Lord had reproved 
 the vices of the nation, the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, 
 the unbelief of the Sadducees, and the false doctrines of 
 the priests, soon stirred up a host of enemies, bent upon 
 his destruction. Various were the plots and machina- 
 tions devised to effect this wicked purpose, but they 
 were all baffled by Divine Providence. 
 
 Encouraged by the mild and affectionate demeanour of 
 the Divine Teacher, many brought their young children 
 to hear from his lips the simple doctrines of eternal 
 truth, and to receive his blessing. Some of the disciples, 
 however, rebuked the parents who thus wisely showed 
 their affection, and endeavoured to prevent them from 
 approaching the Redeemer. But when Jesus saw it, he
 
 THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 217 
 
 was much displeased, and said unto them, " Suffer the 
 little children to come unto me, and forbid them not : 
 for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto 
 you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as 
 a little child, he shall not enter therein. And he took 
 them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and 
 blessed them." The important lesson of humility thus 
 given to the disciples, — the declaration, that unless they 
 cultivated a lowly teachable disposition, they could derive 
 no benefit from those holy instructions, which, though 
 hidden from many of "the wise and prudent," were 
 " revealed unto babes," — ought also to sink deep into the 
 minds of youth, and teach them how reverently they 
 should listen to the words of divine instruction. Their 
 merciful Saviour is even now ready to embrace them 
 with kindness, and to bestow upon them those blessings 
 which will be their comfort in this life, and their happi- 
 ness in that which is to come. But they must approach 
 Him, as " little children," meekly and humbly, anxious 
 to learn the things that belong to their everlasting peace, 
 and ready to surrender their opinions, their desires, and 
 their will, to the control of God's Holy Spirit, and to 
 the precepts of the divine law. 
 
 The miracles by which Christ proved his divine mis- 
 sion, were predicted by the prophet Isaiah : he declared 
 that at the advent of the Messiah, " the eyes of the blind 
 should be opened, the ears of the deaf unstopped ; then 
 should the lame man leap as the hart, and the tongue of 
 the dumb sing." With equal accuracy did the evange- 
 lical prophet foretel the poverty of his condition and the 
 contempt with which he was to be received by a wicked 
 and perverse generation : *' He (the Messiah) shall grow 
 up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a 
 dry ground ; he hath no form nor comeliness, and when
 
 218 THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should 
 desire him. He is desj)ised and rejected of men : a man 
 of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid, as 
 it were, our faces from him; he was despised, and we 
 esteemed him not." And again, the same inspired pen- 
 man describes the meekness, the merey, and the tender 
 love of the Saviour's character. " Behold my servant 
 whom I uphold, mine elect in whom my soul delighteth, 
 I have put my spirit upon him, and he shall show judg- 
 ment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up nor 
 cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised 
 reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he 
 not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. 
 He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set 
 judgment in the earth, and the isles shall wait for his 
 law." Who, in looking at these astonishing predictions, 
 would not imagine that he saw history rather than pro- 
 jjliecy? Neither are we left to conjecture the applica- 
 tion of this and similar predictions. Christ himself, in 
 the synagogue of Nazareth, read and applied to his own 
 character the following pathetic description given by 
 Isaiah, " The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he 
 hath appointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor : he 
 hath sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach 
 deliverance to the captive, and recovering of sight to the 
 blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach 
 the acceptable year of the Lord." But the people of 
 Nazareth would not yield their faith to one whose 
 humble condition they had known ; and when re- 
 proached for their unbelief, drove him from their city, 
 and tumultuously strove to hurl him from a precipice. 
 *' But he passing through the midst of them went his 
 way," 
 On the approach of another feast of the Jews, Jesus
 
 THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 219 
 
 went up to Jerusalem, and liealed a man at the pool of 
 Bethesda on the Sabbath-day. For this supposed viola- 
 tion of the Sabbath, ^the Jews plotted against his life, 
 but Christ showed by many examples, that works of 
 mercy and charity could not be deemed breaches of the 
 divine law. During the same period the Pharisees were 
 offended by seeing him eat with publicans and sinners, 
 but were silenced by his reply : " They that be whole 
 have no need of a physician, but they that 1)6 sick ; but 
 go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy 
 and not sacrifice, for I am not come to call the righteous 
 but sinners to repentance." 
 
 Soon after this, our blessed Lord ordained twelve 
 apostles to be the ministers and teachers of his people ; 
 several of these had been before called from their vari- 
 ous avocations, to follow their divine Master ; they were 
 chiefly unlearned men, taken from humble life ; for God 
 had chosen the weak things of this w^orld to confound 
 the strong. The fame of Christ's miracles reached John 
 the Baptist in his dungeon; he sent two of his disciples 
 to inquire whether Jesus was the Messiah, in order, 
 probably, to bring them acquainted with the divine 
 Teacher, rather than to strengthen his own faith. 
 The answer was an appeal to the evidence of their own 
 senses : " Go your way and tell John what things ye 
 have seen and heard ; how that the blind see, the lame 
 walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are 
 raised, to the poor the gospel is preached." Soon after 
 this John was beheaded, as has been already related. 
 
 After the second passover, Jesus travelled through 
 Judsea and Galilee, teaching and performing miracles. 
 Before revealing to his beloved disciples the cruel suf- 
 ferings and shameful death which were to terminate 
 his earthly coui*se, he graciously condescended to show
 
 220 THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 three of the number a portion of the " glory which he 
 had with the Father before the world was." For this 
 purpose he took them up to a mountain, and " was 
 transfigured before them;'* a divine radiance beamed 
 from his countenance, his raiment became bright and 
 glorious; and Moses and Elijah, the most celebrated of 
 the ancient prophets, appeared engaged with him in 
 conversation. While the disciples gazed with astonish- 
 ment, a cloud overshadowed tliem, and a voice from 
 heaven proclaimed, " This is my beloved Son, in whom 
 I am well pleased." Tliis was a striking declaration 
 that the dispensation of the law and the prophets iiad 
 come to a close, and w^as succeeded by the more perfect 
 and glorious dispensation of the Son of God. When the 
 cloud passed away, they found themselves alone with 
 their Master, by whom they were enjoined to keep tlie 
 heavenly vision a profound secret. After this, Christ 
 revealed to his followers the persecutions to which both 
 he and they should be exposed. 
 
 The time was now drawing near when the feast of 
 Tabernacles should be celebrated, a festival which com- 
 memorates the wandering of the Israelites in the desert, 
 after their liberation from Egyptian bondage ; and our 
 blessed Lord, who was in all things studiously observant 
 of the law, steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem. 
 He was not accompanied by all his disciples, seventy 
 having been sent to preach the gospel in various parts 
 of Palestine. The Samaritans, ever opposed to the 
 Jews, refused to receive persons professedly going to 
 worship at Jerusalem ; and two of our Lord's disciples 
 angrily inquired whether the}^ might command fire to 
 come down from heaven and consume them. But the 
 mild and merciful Saviour rebuked their intolerant 
 wrath, declaring that he was not come "to destroy men's
 
 Tile Transfiguration,
 
 THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 221 
 
 lives, but to save tliem." It was probaLly to enforce this 
 doctrine of Christian charity, and of forbearance towards 
 those who differ from us in opinion, that Jesus after- 
 wards delivered to his disciples tlie parable of the good 
 Samaritan. 
 
 Between the feast of Tabernacles and the feast of 
 Dedication in the same year, several very remarkable 
 incidents occurred. The seventy disciples returned 
 with intelligence that their mission had been eminently 
 successful. The disciples, at their own request, were 
 taught how to pray, and that most simple and compre- 
 hensive of all forms of devotion, the " Lord's Prayer," 
 was delivered to them. About the same time, Lazarus, 
 a friend of our Lord, sickened and died : and Jesus, who 
 was at the time beyond Jordan, returned to Judgea and 
 restored him to life. Our Lord hereby proved his title 
 to the character which he claimed as " the Resun-ection 
 and the Life ;" and displayed the power which he pos- 
 sesses to raise us up at tlie last day. 
 
 When the period approacbed in which Christ was to 
 celebrate his third and last passover, he called his dis- 
 ciples, and explicitly warned them of his approaching 
 sufferings, saying, " Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and 
 all things which are wi'itten by the prophets concerning 
 the Son of Man shall be accomplished. For he shall be 
 delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and 
 spitefully entreated and spitted on. And tliey shall 
 scourge him and put him to death ; and on tlie third 
 day he shall rise again." But his disciples understood 
 not the declaration, for they w-ere yet under the com- 
 mon delusion that the Messiah would be a temporal 
 sovereign. 
 
 In Jericho, the wealthy Zacchieus, who was the chief 
 of the publicans or tax-gatherers, was converted to the
 
 222 THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 
 
 faith of Christ ; a circumstance which excited the jea- 
 lousy of the bigoted Jews. Having reached the villages 
 of Bethpliage and Bethany, in the immediate vicinity of 
 the holy city, Jesus directed two of his discij)les to a 
 place where they were to procure an ass's colt, on which, 
 according to the prophecy of Zechariah, the Messiah 
 made his triumphant entry into Jerusalem. 
 
 We have now reached the beginning of those awful 
 transactions commemorated by the Church, in every 
 Christian country, during "the Passion Week;" and 
 before relating the history of these days of wondrous 
 suffering, we must give a brief 
 miracles, prophecies and parables. 
 
 Chapter XLII. 
 THE MIRACLES OF CHRIST. 
 
 The Saviour comes ! by ancient bards foretold : 
 Hear Mm, ye deaf: and all ye blind behold! 
 He i'rom thick films shall purge the visual ray, 
 And on the sightless eye-hall pour the day : 
 'Tis he the obstructed paths of sound shall clear, 
 And bid new music charm the unfolding ear: 
 The dumb shall sing, the lame his crutch forego, 
 And leap exulting like the bounding roe. Pope. 
 
 It would be impossible for us to enumerate all the 
 miracles performed by our blessed Lord; indeed, of 
 many the Evangelists have not recorded the particulars. 
 It will be sufficient to mention a few, and to refer our 
 readers to the sacred records for the rest. 
 
 The first miracle mentioned by the inspired writers is 
 the change of water into wine, at the marriage of Cana
 
 
 

 
 THE MIRACLES OF CHRIST. 
 
 223 
 
 ill Galilee ; and in the same place, Jesus healed a noble- 
 man's son, ^vlio lay sick in the distant town of Caper- 
 naum : a miracle that was followed by the conversion 
 of the nobleman and his entire family. 
 
 When Simon Peter was called to become a disciple of 
 Christ, he was following his occupation as a fisherman: 
 but when Jesus, by his divine power, had procured hini 
 a miraxulous draught of fishes, he forsook all to follow 
 the Lord ; and his example was followed hy James and 
 John the sons of Zebedee. 
 
 On several occasions, demoniacs, or persons possessed 
 by evil spirits, were healed ; and the devil.--, when cast 
 out, acknowledged the Almighty power of Ilim whose 
 commands they obeyed. 
 
 ''riie disease of leprosy is a dieadful scourge in hot 
 
 climates, like that of Palestine ; after passing a certain 
 
 stage, it becomes incurable, and the wretched leper 
 
 becomes loathsome both to himself and to the spectators, 
 
 Q 2
 
 224 THE MIRACLES OF CHRIST. 
 
 By the Mosaic law, persons tlius affected were kept 
 strictly apart ; a painful, but wise precaution, by which, 
 in consequence of the disease being contagious, the un- 
 fortunate lepers were cut off from all communication 
 with their fellow-men, and left to bear their sufferings 
 alone. The compassionate Saviour healed many of these 
 miserable beings, and restored them to the bosom of 
 society. On one occasion, ten were healed together, but 
 nine of them proved shamefully ungrateful for the 
 wondrous kindness : it was the more remarkable, that 
 the one who turned back to give glory to God was a 
 Samaritan. 
 
 The restoration of sight to the blind was a miracle 
 frequently performed by the Lord Jesus. In his last 
 journey to Jerusalem, Bartimceus, a blind beggar, who 
 acknowledged Jesus to be the Messiah, had his faith 
 rewarded by the inestimable gift of restored sight. 
 
 To these miracles allusion is made in the following 
 beautiful hymn of Bishop Heber : 
 
 Lord ! we sit and cry to Thee, 
 
 Like the blind beside the way ; 
 Make our darken 'd souls to see 
 
 The glory of thy perfect day! 
 Lord! rebuke our sullen night, 
 And give Thyself unto our si^t. 
 
 Lord ! we do not ask to gaze 
 
 On our dim and earthly sun ; 
 But the light that still shall blaze, 
 
 "When every star its course hath ruu. 
 The light that gilds thy blest abode. 
 The glory of the Lamb of God! 
 
 Paralysis, or palsy, is a disease attended by an utter 
 prostration of the physical powers ; and in order to show 
 how complete was the cure, Jesus generally desired the 
 person that was healed to take up his bed and walk.
 
 THE MIRACLES OF CHRIST. 225 
 
 There is one miracle of this kind recorded in Scripture, 
 which is frequently misunderstood, from not knowing 
 the form in which the ancient Jewish houses were built. 
 It is said that the bearers of the paralytic person not 
 being able to approach Jesus, on account of the press, 
 ascended the house, and lowered the patient through the 
 roof. To understand this, we must bear in mind that 
 the Jewish houses were very low, and built in a square 
 form, with a court-yard in the middle. Over this court, 
 a thick veil or covering was usually drawn, to exclude 
 the heat of the sun; and by opening the roof is probably 
 meant the removal of the veil. 
 
 So great was the superstition of the Jews, that they 
 would not allow works of mercy to be performed on the 
 Sabbath-day; though with strange inconsistency, they 
 permitted cattle that had fallen into a pit to be rescued 
 on that day by their owners. But Christ did not permit 
 their scruples to interfere wdth his works of mercy ; he 
 healed several on the Sabbath, and confuted the hj^^o- 
 critical objections of the Pharisees. 
 
 Nor were the miraculous blessings conferred by our 
 Lord confined to the Jewish nation; besides several 
 miracles performed among the Samaritans, he healed 
 the servant of a Roman centurion, and the daughter of 
 a Syrophoenician woman. It is remarkable that both 
 these Gentiles displayed more humility and more faith 
 than any of the Jews who received similar benefits. 
 
 Twice did Christ show that the great powers of nature 
 obe3'ed Him, who was nature's God. On the first occa- 
 sion, a fierce tempest arose while he was passing the 
 lake of Gennesaret, but he *' rebuked the winds, and 
 suddenly there was a great calm ;" and the astonished 
 mariners naturally inquired, " What manner of man is 
 tliis, that even the winds and the sea obey him?" On
 
 226 TRE MIRACLES OF CHRIST. 
 
 the second occasion, tlie disciples Lad put to sea, leaving 
 Jesus on a mountain, \vhitlier he had retired for the 
 purposes of prayer and private meditation. In the night 
 they beheld their Master walking upon the waters, as 
 if it had been the solid earth, and filled with terror, 
 exclaimed, " It is a spirit." But Jesus answered, " It 
 is I; be not afraid." At liis command, Simon Peter 
 ventured also upon the sea, but natural timidity became 
 too powerful for his faith, and he began to sink : " Save 
 Lord, or I perish," he exclaimed; and his merciful 
 !Master, by a fresh act of Divine power, saved liim from 
 impending destruction. 
 
 Bishop Heber has commemorated this miracle in tiie 
 following hymn : — 
 
 Lord! tliou didst arise and say 
 
 To the troubled waters, "Peace." 
 And the tempest died away, 
 
 Down they sank, the foamy seas; 
 And a calm and heaving sleep 
 Spread all o'er the glassy deep ; 
 All the azure lake serene, 
 Like another heaven was seen .' 
 
 I^rd! Thy gracious word repeat 
 
 To the billows of the proud I 
 Quell the tyrants martial heat, 
 
 Quell the fierce and changing crowd 
 Then the earlh shall find repose 
 From its restless strife and woes ; 
 And an imaged Heaven appear 
 On our world of darkness here. 
 
 On two occasions, also, Christ fed immense multitudes 
 b^' miraculously increasing the small stores that his dis- 
 ciples had supplied. Five small loaves and two fishes 
 were, by the word of the Lord, made sufficient for five 
 tliousand persons: four thousand persons, besides women
 
 THE MIRACLES OF CHRIST. 227 
 
 and children, were fed ])y seven loaves and a few little 
 fishes. On the former of these occasions, the fragments 
 that remained after all were satisfied, very much ex- 
 ceeded the original supply. 
 
 But the greatest exertion of miraculous power, is, 
 confessedly, the restoration of life to the dead : a miracle 
 peculiarly helonging to Him., " in whose hands are the 
 issues of life and death." Thrice was this great test of 
 Almighty power displayed l)y Christ. The first thus 
 restored was the son of a poor widovr, in the town of 
 Nain, whose funeral he had met, while entering the 
 place. Touched with compassion for the desolate state 
 of the mother, whose only son, the prop and support 
 of her old age, had heen thus taken from her, he ordered 
 the bearers of the corpse to stop, and by a word restored 
 the deceased to life. 
 
 The second person thus reanimated was the daughter 
 of Jairus, a ruler of the Jewish synagogue. Application 
 had. been made to Christ to heal her, but she was dead 
 before he reached the house. Amid the mockery of the 
 spectators, he ascended into the room where she lay, 
 and, raising her up, gave her back in full health and life 
 to her afflicted family. 
 
 The third is for many reasons even more worthy of 
 remark. Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, 
 who were both conspicuous for their attachment to the 
 Lord Jesus, fell sick. His sisters sent to Clirist, who 
 was then in the districts beyond Jordan, tlic simple 
 message, " Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.'* 
 — After a daly of two days in the place where the 
 intelligence reached him, Christ proposed to his disciples 
 to return into Judeea; on the road he informed them, 
 first obscurely, and then directly, that Lazarus was dead. 
 When thev reached Bethanv, a village about two miles
 
 22S 
 
 THE MIRACLES OF CHRIST. 
 
 from Jerusalem, where the deceased had resided, they 
 found a number of Jews assembled to console Martha 
 and Mary, whose brother liad been now three days in the 
 tomb. When the merciful Saviour beheld the affliction 
 of these forlorn persons, lie deeply sympatliized with 
 them, and was moved even to tears. He desired to be 
 led to the place where Lazarus had been laid, uttered a 
 short prayer to his Father in heaven, and then with a 
 loud voice, said, " Lazarus, come forth." And he that 
 was dead obeyed the word thus spoken with power, and 
 came forth bound in his grave-clothes, and Jesus said, 
 ** Loose him, and let him go." This stupendous display 
 of omnipotence led many of the spectators to believe on 
 the Lord, but there were others who hasted to convey 
 the news to Jerusalem, and thus still more exasperated 
 the jealous fury of his enemies.
 
 229 
 
 Chapter XLIII. 
 THE PROPHECIES OF CHRIST. 
 
 Moses tnaly said unto the fathers, A Prophet shall the Lord your God 
 raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me. Him shall ye 
 hear in all things -whatsoever he shall say unto you. — Acts iii.22. 
 
 The prophecies delivered by Christ may be divided 
 into three classes. The first contains the miraculous 
 display of foreknowledge, by which he confirmed the 
 faith of his disciples, on their finding the events con-e- 
 spond with what he had previously declared. The second 
 contains his predictions of the circumstances that marked 
 his passion, his death, his resurrection, and his ascension. 
 The third includes his prophetic description of the de- 
 struction of Jerusalem, and the signs that announced its 
 approach. 
 
 Two examples of the first have been recorded. When 
 about to enter Jerusalem, he foretold where the disciples 
 should find the colt on which he was to ride, and the 
 precise words of the conversation they should hold with 
 the owners; the second was a similar revelation of the 
 place where preparations should be made for Christ's 
 last passover, and of the manner in which the persons 
 sent should be received by the master of the house. 
 
 The second class of predictions is remarkably full, 
 clear, and distinct. Not only did Christ predict, gene- 
 rally, that he should be betrayed, but he actually pointed 
 out the traitor; not only did he describe the cowardice 
 of his disciples, but he specially mentioned that Simon 
 Peter, who boasted of his courage and fidelity, should 
 deny him thrice. He actually foretold the circum-
 
 230 THE rr.OPIlECIES OF CHRIST. 
 
 stances, the place, and the manner, of his own death, to 
 the most muiute particular. His first mention of his 
 future suffering's includes, also, an account of their effect. 
 ''As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even 
 so shall the Son of Man he lifted up ;" for as those who 
 looked on the brazen serpent with an eye of faith were 
 relieved from the wounds inflicted upon them by the 
 venomous reptiles, so those who look to the cross of a 
 suffering- Saviour with the eye of faith, shall be healed 
 of the spiritual wounds that their souls have received 
 from sin. 
 
 The first prophecy of Christ, respecting his Resurrec- 
 tion, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will 
 build it up again," is remarkable, as having been made 
 one head of accusation on his trial. Though misunder- 
 stood by the Jews, its true import was not concealed 
 from the disciples ; to whom their Master explicitly 
 declared, that "On the third day he should rise again 
 from the dead." Indeed, so notorious was the predic- 
 tion, that his murderers, in consequence, applied for a 
 guard to watch the sepulchre. 
 
 Christ also foretold, that afcer his resurrection he 
 would revisit his disciples. "A little while, and ye 
 shall not see me, and again a little while, and ye shall 
 see me." — "After I am risen again, I will go before you 
 into Galilee." And he predicted the circumstances of 
 his ascension, and the coming of the Holy Ghost on the 
 day of Pentecost. 
 
 The third class of prophecies are tliose which relate to 
 the fearful destruction of Jerusalem, and the dispersion 
 of the Jews throughout the world. The reader of Jewish 
 history, Avho compares the prophecies with their accom- 
 plishment, will find their coincidence so perfect, that he 
 Diight almost doubt which is the prediction, and which
 
 THE PROPHECIES OF CUEIST. 231 
 
 its fulfilment. But part of tlje prophetic denunciation 
 is actually accomplished in our very sight. Jerusalem 
 continues to be trodden down by the Gentiles; the Jews 
 remain a people scattered over the earth, and yet retain 
 their individualit}'' as a nation. The more, therefore, we 
 contemplate these astonishing facts; the more deeply 
 we investigate the wonderful display of divine power, 
 wisdom, and goodness; the more we shall be disposed 
 to exclaim, with the amazed centurion, "Truly, this 
 was the Son of God." 
 
 CuArxER XLIV. 
 THE PARABLES OF CHRIST. 
 
 Never man spake like this Man. John vii. 4G. 
 
 It is remarkable that the greater part of our Lord's 
 instructions were given in the form of parables, or short 
 histories, admirably illustrating some point of doctrine, 
 or some moral precept. Tliis was a practice familiar to 
 the Jews, in common with many Oriental nations, and 
 was well calculated to veil offensive truths until tlie mind 
 was properly prepared for their reception. By adopting 
 this mode of instruction, our blessed Lord was in many 
 instances enabled to baffle the malice of his enemies, 
 who were constantly on the watch to take advantage of 
 any express declaration which they might pervert to his 
 destruction. 
 
 The parables of the Gospel are for the most part pre- 
 eminently remarkable for their simplicity ; they require 
 no laborious search, no violent exertion of the imagi- 
 nation, to comi)rehend their meaning. They convey
 
 232 THE PARABLES OF CHRIST. 
 
 instructions of the most important nature, and teach us 
 what is essential to our duty and best interests. They 
 please the fancy, direct tlie judgment, enlighten the un- 
 derstanding, aud purify the heart. In many instances 
 they were a narration of circumstances that had occurred 
 in the country ; Avhich were probably familiar to most 
 of his hearers, and of which the application was conse- 
 quently peculiarly forcible and striking. 
 
 Of this we have a striking instance, in the parable of 
 the nobleman who went into a far country. After hav- 
 ing intrusted his servants with the administration of his 
 property he departs, but during his absence his citizens 
 sent a message after him, saying, "We will not have 
 this man to reign over us." On his return he rewards 
 those servants who had disposed of his property to ad- 
 vantage, punishes the negligent, and orders his enemies 
 to be brought before him, that he might slay them in a 
 moment. From history we learn, tliat the person thus 
 alluded to was Arclielaus, the son of Herod, who, having 
 gone to Rome, in order, as Avas the custom, to receive 
 his crown from Augustus Caesar, was opposed by a 
 Jewish deputation, that petitioned the emperor to give 
 another ruler to their nation. On his return to Judgea 
 he lavishly rewarded those who had attended to his 
 interests during his absence, punished his negligent de- 
 pendants, and exacted a severe vengeance on his political 
 opponents. 
 
 But private as well as public life supplied illustrations 
 to the Divine Teacher ; and the two most delightful of 
 the parables, that of the Good Samaritan, and the Pro- 
 digal Son, are probably founded on real occurrences. 
 
 The parable of the Good Samaritan, was related in 
 answer to the question, " Who is my neighbour'?" and 
 as in substance as follows. A certain man went down-
 
 THE PARABLES OF CHRIST. 233 
 
 from Jerusalem to Jericho, a mountainous and uneven 
 road, wliere fastnesses and defiles afforded shelter to the 
 fierce banditti that had become numerous in Judaea dur- 
 ing the long and harassing period of the civil wars. The 
 traveller was assailed by some of these robbers, stripped 
 of all his property, even of his clothes, and left upon the 
 road greviously wounded. A priest and a Levite travel- 
 ling in the same direction saw the wretched man, but 
 instead of offering him the least assistance, passed over 
 to the other side of the road, and pursued their journey 
 with the most heartless indiff^erence. A Samaritan, the 
 political and religious enemy of the sufferer's name and 
 nation, came by the road. The moment he beheld the 
 distress of a fellow creature, the animosity of ancient 
 feuds and rival creeds was forgotten : he hastened to his 
 assistance, bound up his wounds, conveyed him to a 
 place of safety, and placed at the disposal of the host a 
 sum of money sufficient for his support until he should 
 be restored to health. 
 
 The captious Jew who had asked the question which 
 led to tliis narration, in spite of his prejudice could not 
 withhold his admiration from this beautiful instance of 
 universal charity : and Christ immediately applied the 
 example by the precept, "Go and do thou likewise." 
 Show by your conduct, that benevolence should not be 
 bounded by accidental distinctions, but should extend to 
 all mankind. 
 
 The parable of the Prodigal Son is designed to show 
 God's tender mercy in pardoning the penitent, and the 
 joy there is in heaven over a repentant sinner. It relates 
 that a certain man had two sons, and the younger peti- 
 tioned his father to advance him his share of his future 
 inheritance. Having received it he departed into a 
 distant land, and soon wasted the whole in luxury and
 
 234 THE PARABLES OF CHRIST. 
 
 debauchery. Reduced to such a state of ahject poverty 
 that he even fed on liusks, sucli as were eaten by the 
 swine, the thoughts of his former happiness, the scenes 
 of his innocent and happy chihlhood, rushed upon his 
 mind. Deeply and bitterly he regretted his imprudence, 
 his foil}'', and his crimes ; but he still had hopes in 
 paternal love, and said,— "I will arise, and go to my 
 father, and will say unto him, Fathei', I have sinned 
 against heaven and in thy sight, and am no more 
 worthy to be called thy son." In pursuance of this wise 
 resolution, he returned homewards : while he was yet at 
 a distance, the father perceived the returning prodigal, 
 hastened to meet him, welcomed him with the warmest 
 affection, and spoke not a word of reproach. He also 
 prepared a feast to hail the restoration of his lost cliild 
 to the bosom of his family ; and when the brother, who 
 had remained at home, showed some marks of jealousy, 
 the father defended his conduct in the pathetic words, 
 "It was meet that we should make meny and be glad ; 
 for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again ; and 
 was lost, and is found." 
 
 This parable has also a more extensive application, 
 since it shadows forth the calling of the Gentiles, and 
 their sharing with the Jews, once exclusively the people 
 of God, in the glorious privileges of the blessed Gospel. 
 
 Some of the panibles refer to particular Jewish cus- 
 toms; such as that of the guest who was punished for 
 not having a wedding garment. To understand this, it 
 is necessary to know that in Judsea, wlien a man of rank 
 gave a marriage-feast, vestments suitable to the occasion 
 were provided for the guests who chose to wear them. 
 Again, in allusion to the new wine put into old bottles, 
 we must remember that in Eastern countries the wine- 
 bottles are generally made of leather. And thus, also,
 
 THE PARABLES OF CIIIUST. 235 
 
 the parable of the ten virgins must he explained hy a 
 Jewish custom usual at marriages, -svlien the bridegroom 
 went to bring home his bride, attended by his female 
 friends and relations, wlio bore lamj)s to give splendour 
 to tlie nuptial procession. The virgins who were pro- 
 vided with oil, were ready to take tlieir place in the 
 bridal train; but the others who had been negligent, 
 dela^'-ed until the procession had reached the bride- 
 groom's dwelling, when, according to Oriental usage, the 
 doors were closed, and admittance refused to all until the 
 following morning. 
 
 jS^ot a few of our Lord's parables are taken from the 
 occurrences of ordinary life: such as the sower that went 
 out to sow his seed : the fisherman separating good fish 
 from bad ; the anxiety of a shepherd to recover a sheep 
 that had strayed ; and of the woman to find a lost piece 
 of silver. The tendency of these is for the most part 
 sufficiently obvious : that of the sower has been explained 
 by Christ himself. 
 
 There is one of the parables wliich difiln-s from all 
 the rest : and that is the parable of the rich man and 
 Lazarus, in which the state of the soul after death is 
 introduced. It is a very striking description of the con- 
 trast between magnificence and poverty in this world, 
 and happiness and misery in the next. It tells us that 
 there was a certain man who was clothed in purple and 
 fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day. lie pos- 
 sessed all the luxuries that wealth could supply, or 
 power command, and he used them solely for the grati- 
 fication of his own depraved appetites. At the gate of 
 liis lordly mansion was laid a poor beggar, whose weak 
 frame was bowed by poverty and disease ; and who 
 desired, but, it would appear, in vain, to be fed Avitli the 
 crumbs that fell from the rich man's table. But the
 
 236 THE PARABLES OF CHRIST. 
 
 spoiled child of affluence felt no sympathy for the 
 wretched being who pined in want before his door ; and 
 the dogs licked the beggar's sores. At length Lazarus 
 died, and was carried by angels to the regions of celestial 
 bliss, where he was received into Abraham's bosom. 
 The rich man also died and was buried. There was, 
 doubtless, a pompous funeral, with all the display of 
 grief which is often the mockery of woe. "But in hell 
 he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham 
 afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom." He who lately 
 enjoyed all the delicacies that art could invent, or riches 
 procure, begs with agonizing prayer, for a drop of water 
 to cool his burning tongue. When informed that the 
 request cannot be granted, he entreats that Lazarus 
 should be permitted to revisit the earth, for the purpose 
 of warning his five brethren that similar tortures awaited 
 them, unless they forsook their sinful indulgences ; to 
 which Abraham answers, in the powerful language of 
 truth:— *' If they hear not Moses and the prophets, 
 neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the 
 dead." 
 
 Though many of these parables were occasional, and 
 adapted to the circumstances of the immediate audience, 
 yet are they all replete with the most useful instructions 
 for Christians of every age and every nation ; they are 
 so plain that they may be understood by persons of all 
 ranks : but at the same time they are so exquisitely 
 beautiful, as to secure the admiration of the most learned 
 and tasteful reader.
 
 237 
 
 Chapter XLV. 
 
 THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST. 
 
 (PASSION WEEK.) 
 
 For thou didst die for me, O Son of God! 
 
 By thee the throbbing flesh of man was worn ; 
 Thy naked feet the thorns of sorrow trod, 
 
 And tempests beat thy houseless head forlorn ; 
 Thou that wert wont to stand 
 Alone, on God's right hand, 
 Before the ages were, the Eternal, Eldest born. 
 
 Thy birthright in the world was pain and grief, 
 
 Thy love's return ingratitude and hate ; 
 The limbs thou healedst brought thee no relief. 
 The eyes thou openedst calmly viewed thy fate. 
 Thou, that wert bom to dwell 
 In peace, tongue cannot tell, 
 ?s or heart conceive, the bliss of thy celestial state. 
 
 MiLMAN. 
 
 About A.M. 4036 A.D. 33. 
 
 The last week of our Saviour's life is commemorated 
 by tlie Church under the name of Passion week, or the 
 week of suffering. The first day of <^at week, which 
 we now generally call Palm-Sunday, was that on which 
 Christ made his public entry into Jerusalem, in the 
 manner foretold by the prophet Zechariah; "Rejoice 
 greatly, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold thy King 
 cometh unto thee; he is just, and having salvation, 
 lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal 
 of an ass." The disciples, and the multitude that 
 gathered round him, welcomed his entry, as if he had 
 come to take possession of his kingdom. They spread 
 their garments before him, they laid the branches of 
 R
 
 238 THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST. 
 
 palm-trees in his path, and sliouted "Hosanna to the son 
 of David ; blessed is he that conieth in the name of the 
 Lord: Hosanna in the highest !" Alas, only a few brief 
 hours were to elapse, when many of the same fickle 
 multitude that now applauded so loudly, joined as zea- 
 lously and as fiercely in the demand that he should be 
 slain as a malefactor. 
 
 But the Object of tliis applause knew what was in 
 man ; in the midst of these clamours, he reflected on the 
 terrible crime that the Jews were about to perpetrate, 
 and the awful retribution by which it should be avenged. 
 As he drew near the city, he wept over it, saying, "If 
 thou hadst knoAvn, even thou, at least in this thy day, 
 the things which belong unto thy peace ! But now they 
 are hidden from thine e^'es ! For the days shall come 
 upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about 
 thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every 
 side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy 
 children within thee ; and the}- shall not leave in thee 
 one stone upon another, because thou knewest not the 
 time of thy visitation." 
 
 The approach of Christ's triumphal procession fill 'd 
 the envious Pharisees with jealousy and fijar; they 
 called on him to rebuke his disciples; but he replied, 
 "If these were to hold their peace, the stones would im- 
 mediately cry out:" and he desired them to consider tlie 
 meaning of that scripture, "Oat of the mouth of babes 
 and sucklings hast thou perfected praise." 
 
 This triumphal procession is described in the follow- 
 ing hymn of Bishop Heber's : — 
 
 Ride on! ride on in majesty! 
 Hark ! all the tribes Hosanna cry ! 
 Thine humble beast pursues his road 
 With palms and scattered garments strewed.
 
 THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST. 239 
 
 Ivide on ! ride on in majesty ! 
 
 In lowly pomp ride on to die ! 
 
 Oh Christ, thy triumphs now bec^in 
 
 O'er captive death and conquered sin ! 
 
 Ride on ! ride on in majesty I 
 The winged squadrons of the sky 
 Look down with sad and wonderinij ryes. 
 To see the approaching sacrilice! 
 
 Ride on! ride on in majesty ! 
 Tliy last and fiercest strife is nigh ; 
 The Father, on His sapphire tlironc. 
 Expects His own anointed Son ! 
 
 Ride on ! ride on in majesty ! 
 In lowly pomp ride on to die ! 
 Bow thy meek head to mortal pain I 
 Then take, O God! tliy power and reign! 
 
 Having entered Jerusalem, our Lord proceeded to the 
 temple, Avhicli he found filled with traders and mer- 
 chants who carried on their traffic within the sacred 
 precincts. These he expelled as he had done before, 
 sa3^ing, "It is written. My house is the house of prayer, 
 hut ye have made it a den of thieves." 
 
 After leaving the temple, Jesus retired to the village 
 of Bethany, where he lodged. Returning to Jerusalem 
 in the morning, he saw a fig-tree, on ^^hich he sought 
 for fruit, and finding none, he said to it, "Let no fruit 
 grow on thee henceforward for ever." He then pur- 
 sued his wa^', and spent the day teaching in the temple. 
 As they came back in the evening, the disciples l)eheld 
 with astonishment, that the barren fig-tree was witliered; 
 but Christ told them, tliat if they had faith they should 
 be able to work similar miracles: and "that whatsoever 
 they should ask in prayer, believing, they should re- 
 ceive." 
 
 On the third day of his arrival, that is, on the Tues- 
 R2
 
 240 THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST. 
 
 day of the same week, Christ again came to teach in the 
 temple. His enemies, who had probably been too much 
 surprised on the former day to prepare their stratagems, 
 now appeared, and strove to entangle him by captious 
 questions. They first demanded, "Tell us, by what 
 authority doest thou these things ; or who gave thee 
 that authority?" To this insidious fjuestion our Lord 
 replied, by asking, "Whether was the baptism of John 
 from heaven or of men?" They were utterly at a loss; 
 if they said "from heaven," then were they obliged to 
 recognise him as the Messiah whose claims John had 
 unequivocally acknowledged; if they said, "of men," 
 they feared the people, for John was universally regarded 
 as a prophet. They consequently retired in confusion. 
 
 The Herodians came next, with a still more trea- 
 cherous inquiry ; they asked, " Is it lawful to pay tri- 
 bute to Caesar, or not?" An answer in the affirmative 
 would have wounded the national pride of the Jews, 
 who still panted after independence, and believed them- 
 selves insulted by an open acknowledgment of their 
 subjection to a foreign power: — on the other hand, to 
 reply in the negative, would be construed as an act of 
 treason, a refusal of obedience to the ruling powers, 
 which would instantly have furnished a plausible ground 
 of accusation. This difficulty our Lord eluded, by ask- 
 ing to be sho'svn a piece of the cuiTent coin ; it was pro- 
 duced, and he asked, "Whose is this image and super- 
 scription?" They answer, "Csesar's;" he then replied, 
 ''Render unto Ctesar the things that are Caesar's; and 
 unto God the things which are God's." And this reply 
 baffled the artful interrogators. 
 
 After these came the Sadducees, with a difficult ques- 
 tion respecting the resurrection; they were similarly 
 confuted, and the doctrine of the resun-ection demon-
 
 THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST. 241 
 
 strated from that part of the Scripture whose authority 
 they acknowledged to be paramount. When God, after 
 the death of the patriarchs, calls himself the God of 
 Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, he expressly declares 
 that they are in another state of existence; for he is the 
 God, not of the dead, but of the living. 
 
 Christ had on this day not merely triumphed over his 
 opponents, but had taken occasion to recite many appro- 
 priate parables tending to the edification of his hearers. 
 After leaving the temple, he went with his disciples to 
 the Mount of Olives, and delivered to them his remark- 
 able prophecy respecting the destruction of Jerusalem, 
 and the future advent of the Son of God, as the Judge 
 both of the quick and the dead. 
 
 On Wednesday, or the fourth day of the Passion week, 
 Chi-ist again informed his disciples of his approaching 
 crucifixion, and declared that it should occur within 
 two days. While the proj^hecy was being delivered, the 
 enemies of our Saviour were conspiring for its accom- 
 plishment, and a resolution to destroy him was adopted 
 by the conclave of priests and Pharisees, that met at the 
 house of the high priest Caiaphas. In the evening of 
 the day, our blessed Lord was in the house of Simon the 
 leper, whose disease had been healed by his miraculous 
 power; and a woman poured upon his head a box of 
 precious ointment. Judas Iscariot exclaimed against 
 this waste of an article which might have been sold for 
 much, and given to the poor; but Jesus calmly rebuked 
 him, declaring that this was preparatory to his burial. 
 
 Judas Iscariot had now become so far a slave to the 
 delusions of Satan, that he resolved to betray his Lord 
 and Master, as had been foretold by the prophetic 
 Psalmist: "Yea, mine own familiar friend, whom I 
 trusted, who did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel
 
 242 THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST. 
 
 against me." He went to the chief priests, and cove- 
 nanted with them to put Jesus into their hands, for the 
 sum of thirty pieces of silver, the ordinary price of a 
 slave. This circumstance the prophet Zechariah had 
 foretold: "They weighed for my price thirty pieces of 
 silver." 
 
 As tlie evening drew nigh, Christ sent two of his dis- 
 ciples to prepare the passover at a house in the cit}'', 
 liaving accurately descrihed both the house, the employ- 
 ment of its owner, and the manner in which their pro- 
 posal should be received. They found everything as 
 had been predicted; the apostles assembled to celebrate 
 the solemn feast with their Master; and, on this occa- 
 sion, the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was instituted. 
 The circumstances of the institution of this solemn com- 
 memoration of the sacrifice of Christ's death deserve our 
 most earnest attention. 
 
 Christ brake bread, and, after having offered thanks, 
 gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take, eat: this is my 
 body, which is given for you : do this in remembrance 
 of me." Likewise after supper, he took tlie cup; and 
 when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, 
 *'Drink ye all of this; for this is my blood of the Ne^v 
 Testament, which is given for you and for many, for the 
 remission of sins. Do this, as oft as ye shall drink it, in 
 remembrance of me." And when they had sung a 
 liymn, they departed towards the INIount of Olives. 
 
 Two other remarkable circumstances occurred on tliis 
 memorable occasion; Jesus pointed out distinctly, by 
 ■which of his disciples he should be betrayed, while the 
 rest should forsake him, and consult their own safetj^ 
 He also reproved the uncalled for boasts of Simon Peter, 
 predicting that "before the cock crew twice, he should 
 deny his Saviour thrice."
 
 THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST. 243 
 
 Near the Mount of Olives was tlie Garden of Getlise- 
 mane, into Avhich Jesus entered with liis three disciples, 
 Peter, James, and John, the witnesses of his glorious 
 Transfiguration, and now permitted to hehold the suf- 
 ferings of his more than mortal agony. Leaving his 
 companions at a little distance, Christ supplicated his 
 Father, tr.at, if it were possible, this cup, that is, the 
 dreadful sufferings he was about to undergo, should pass 
 from him; but adding with divine resignation, "Never- 
 theless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt." During this 
 scene of horror his frame was so affected, that his sweat 
 was as it were great drops of blood, falling down to the 
 ground ; and his mental sufferings must have been 
 greater than we can conceive, for " God had laid on him 
 the inif[uities of us all." 
 
 Having roused his disciples, Jesus informed them 
 that the traitor was at hand ; and as he spoke, Judas 
 appeared at the head of a company, placed under his 
 guidance by the chief priest. With a degree of wicked- 
 ness unusual even in the worst of characters, the mis- 
 creant had assigned the token of friendship as the signal 
 of treachery. When he beheld Jesus he approached, 
 saying, "Hail, Master!" and kissed him. This was the 
 appointed signal, and our blessed Lord was instantly 
 and rudely made a prisoner. He remonstrated gently 
 against the unnecessary display of force and violence 
 used, and quietly submitted to their will. In the words 
 of the evangelical prophet, "He was led as a lamb to 
 the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is 
 dumb, so he opened not his mouth." 
 
 When he was first seized, Simon Peter attempted to 
 rescue his beloved Master, and with his sword struck 
 off the ear of one of the officers, named Malchus, but 
 the mild and merciful Saviour not only rebuked his
 
 244 
 
 THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST. 
 
 zeal, but by a touch healed the wounded man. Christ 
 was now led towards the house of the high priest; his 
 disciples, filled with terror, forsook him and fled ; even 
 Simon Peter ventured only to follow at a great distance.
 
 24 = 
 
 Chapter XLVI. 
 
 CHRIST'S TRIALS BEFORE THE SAXHEDRIiM 
 AND THE ROMAX GOVERNOR. 
 
 They dragged thee to the Roman's solemn hall. 
 
 Where the proud judge in purple splendour sate; 
 Thou stood'st a meek and patient criminal, 
 Thy doom of death from human lips to wait; 
 Whose throne shall be the -world 
 In final niin hurled, 
 With all mankind to hear their everlasting fate. 
 
 Thou wert alone in that fierce multitude. 
 
 When "Crucify him! " yelled the general shout; 
 No hand to guard thee, mid those insults rude. 
 No lip to bless in all that frantic rout. 
 Whose lightest whispered word 
 The Seraphim had heard ; 
 And adamantine arms from all the heavens broke out. 
 
 They bound thy temples witlrthe twisted thorn. 
 
 Thy bruised feet went languid on with pain ; 
 Thy blood from all thy flesh with scourges torn, 
 Deepened thy robe of mockery's crimson grain; 
 Whose native vesture bright 
 Was the unapproached light. 
 The sandal of whose feet the rapid hurricane Milmax. 
 
 A.M. 4036 A.D 3.3. 
 
 Jerusalem at this time presented the singular specta- 
 cle of two high priests ; Annas, who had been deposed by 
 the Romans, but whose authority was still recognised by 
 his countrjTnen, and his son-in-law Joseph, or Caiaphas, 
 who had been appointed his successor. Before the 
 former, Christ was first brought ; but Annas refused to 
 receive the charge, and sent him bound to Caiaphas. 
 Here the blessed Saviour, after being mocked and
 
 246 CHRIST BEFORE THE SANHEDRIM. 
 
 derided, was detained as a prisoner, until the followinf^ 
 morning-; when the Sanhedrim, or Jewish Senate, as- 
 sembled. In this interval, Simon Peter, who had fol- 
 lowed to witness the event, being suspected of some 
 connexion with Jesus, thrice solemnly denied all know- 
 ledge of the Master for whom, but a few hours before, 
 he had professed his readiness to die. At the last denial 
 the cock crew, and Peter, reminded by the sound, of 
 Christ's prophecy, was filled with sorrow and repentant 
 shame. He went out from the hall of the high priest, 
 and wept bitterly. 
 
 Tiie morning of Friday, tlie sixth day of Passion 
 week, was about to dawn, when the Sanhedrim came 
 together, and ordered Clirist to be brought before them. 
 An unexpected difficulty occurred ; they had made their 
 Lord a prisoner, but they had not found any person thati 
 could bring a charge against him. At length two per- 
 sons were procured, wlio deposed to his having declared, 
 "I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it 
 in three days." The assertion was misrepresented by 
 the witnesses, and their statement was exaggerated. 
 But if neither of these objections existed, the words arc 
 so perfectly harmless, that we may well be surprised 
 how sane men could receive them as a charge. The 
 high priest manifestly felt this difficulty, for he asked 
 a question of our Lord utterly unconnected v/itli this 
 charge, tlie answer to which he designed to torture into 
 a new ground of accusation. He abjured him in the 
 name of the living God, to declare "whether he was 
 the Messiah or not?" To a question thus solemnly put 
 Jesus answered by a simple assertion of his claim: 
 "Hereafter," said he, "shall ye see the Son of Man 
 sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in tlie 
 clouds of heaven ;" and the high priest, having obtained
 
 CHRIST BEFORE THE SANHEDRIM. 2-i'J 
 
 tlie acknowledgment he desired, rent liis clothes, ex- 
 claiming, "What fuitlier need have we of witnesses I 
 heliold now, ye have heard his blasphemy. What tliink 
 yeV* And with one voice they replied, "lie is guilty 
 of death." 
 
 The proceedings of the Sanliedrim had been hitherto 
 marked by an utter disregard of even the forms of jus- 
 tice; but tlieir subsequent conduct resembled more tliat 
 of ferocious beasts, or demons in human shape, tlian the 
 behaviour of men however depraved. Scarcely had 
 these iniquitous councillors pronounced their sentence, 
 Avhen they heaped upon him the most shocking indigni- 
 ties and wanton insults. He was buffeted, struck with 
 the hand, and subjected to even worse barbarity, while 
 with saA^age mockery they asked, "Prophesy unto ns 
 thou Christ, who is he that smote theeV 
 
 But though the Sanhedrim had declared their Lord 
 worthy of death, it w^as not in their power to pronounce 
 a definitive sentence ; this autliority belonged solel^^ to 
 Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor of Judaea, and they 
 now prepared to drag Jesus before his tribunal. They 
 had scarcely formed this resolution, when Judas j)i'e- 
 sented liimself in bitter agony before those Avho Iiad 
 liired him to his destruction, exclaiming, "I have 
 .sinned, in that I have betrayed the innocent blood." 
 Those Avho are the most ready to profit by treachery- 
 are the first to reproach the traitor; those who had 
 given the bribe, replied with taunting sarcasm, to their 
 v.-rctched dupe, " What is that to us ? see thou to that.'' 
 Unable to bear the pangs of a wounded conscience, Judas 
 added suicide to his former crime; he went out and 
 hanged himself; l)ut it seems that, having chosen the 
 edge of a precipice for the purpose, he fell down the 
 steep, and was dashed to pieces. The bribe by which
 
 248 CHRIST BEFORE THE SANHEDRIM. 
 
 lie had been tempted, he threw to his employers, but as 
 it was the price of blood they could not put it mto the 
 holy treasury; and they purchased with it "a potter's 
 field," to be a burial-ground for strangers, as the prophet 
 Zechariah had predicted. 
 
 The sun had risen on the earth, when the chief priests 
 and scribes, with a tumultuous concourse, presented 
 themselves at the tribunal of Pilate, dragging with them 
 our blessed Lord, bound as a criminal, faint and ex- 
 hausted from the barbarous treatment to which he had 
 been subjected on the preceding night. But though 
 these men had now resolved to commit a barbarous 
 murder, yet, with strange inconsistency, they refused to 
 enter the judgment-hall, lest they should pollute them- 
 selves on the eve of the Paschal Sabbath. Pilate was, 
 jn-obably, prepared to expect some violent exhibition of 
 Jewish hatred against a person whose fame must have 
 reached his ears ; but he scarcely could have anticipated 
 that malice itself would have devised an accusation so 
 manifestly false, as, "We found this fellow perverting 
 the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Csesai-; 
 saying, that he himself is Christ, a King." 
 
 Having learned, from the tumultuous accusei-s, the 
 subject of the accusation, Pilate, according to the 
 Roman custom, proceeded to interrogate the accused, 
 and asked him, "Art thou the king of the Jews'?" 
 Jesus replied, " Sayest thou this of thyself, or did others 
 tell it thee of me?" Pilate, who seems to have been 
 greatly at a loss to discover what was the cause of the 
 ferocious violence of the Jews, asked, "Am I a Jew? 
 Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered 
 thee unto me : what hast thou done?" Jesus answered, 
 *'My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom 
 were of this world, then would my servants fight, that
 
 CHRIST BEFORE PILATE. 249 
 
 I should not be delivered to the Jews ; hut now is my 
 kingdom not from hence." After a little further inquiry, 
 Pilate became convinced of the innocence of the accused, 
 and of the malice that had dictated the prosecution ; he 
 went out to the priests and their followers, and declared, 
 " I find no fault in this man." Instantly they broke 
 out in furious tumult, saying-, "He stirreth up the 
 people, teaching throughout all Jewry, beginning from 
 Galilee, to this place." 
 
 Pilate was a man of bad character, and of no moral 
 courage; he dreaded the fury of the Jewish people, 
 whose repeated sanguinary insuiTections had made them 
 the terror of their governors ; and he probably equally 
 feared the effect of their representations upon the mind 
 of the Emperor Tiberius, the most cruel and remorseless 
 of tyrants ; but still he was unwilling to be an accom- 
 plice in the murder of the innocent, and he sought an 
 opportunity of escape. The mention of Galilee, which 
 was under the jurisdiction of Herod Antipas, seemed to 
 afford him the means of avoiding his difficulties; and 
 he sent Jesus to Herod, who had come to Jerusalem, 
 and was that same day reconciled to Pilate. 
 
 Herod had long been anxious to behold the Lord 
 Jesus, not from any motive of piety, but from mere 
 curiosity. When he first heard of his fame, he sup- 
 posed the Saviour to be John the Baptist, whom he had 
 slain, risen again from the dead ; and had more than 
 once requested his presence. Great vras his wrath, when 
 our blessed Lord refused to answer him, or to gratify 
 his profane curiosity ; and he delivered him over to his 
 soldiers. They, with equal cruelty, arrayed him in a 
 gorgeous robe, and made him an object of their mockery 
 and scorn. But no word of complaint or reproach 
 escaped from the lips of the suffering Saviour.
 
 250 CHRIST BEFOnE PILATE. 
 
 Still Herod was unable to discover any cause tliafc 
 "ivould justify liim in ordering Christ to be put to deatli ; 
 lie therefore sent him back again to Pilate. Once more 
 the infuriated multitude crowded round the governor'^ 
 tribunal, and clamoured, " Crucify him ! Crucify him !'» 
 Pilate in vain asked, " What evil hath he done !" — The 
 only reply was the murderous shout, "Crucify liimi 
 Crucify him !" A message from his wife increased the 
 governor's perplexity ; she sent to him saying, " Have 
 thou nothing to do with this just person; for I have 
 suffered many things in a dream, this day, because of 
 him," Two expedients presented themselves ; he could 
 appeal to the superstition of the multitude, and if that 
 failed, he might try to work upon their compassion. 
 
 It was the custom with the Roman governors, in 
 Iionour of the feast of the Passover, to release a prisoner 
 to the multitude, and grant him a full pardon. There 
 v/as a prisoner named Barabbas, a robber and a mur- 
 derer, at that time waiting the punishment of his 
 manifold crimes, and Pilate, probably supposed that no 
 faction, however violent, would prefer such an atrocious 
 criminal to the innocent Jesus. He therefore brought 
 forth Christ as the prisoner to bo pardoned ; but the 
 crowd, instigated by the priests, exclaimed, " Not this 
 man, but Barabbas." The governor asked, " What shall 
 I do with Jesus who is called Clirist ?" And with in- 
 creasing clamour they answered, " Let him be crucified.'* 
 It would seem that, as a last though cruel resource, 
 Pilate said, " I will chastise him and let him go :" and 
 that he then ordered Jesus to be scourged ; thus fulfil- 
 ling Isaiah's prophetic description of the Messiah; '* He 
 was wounded for our transgressions : he was bruised for 
 our iniquities; by his stripes we are healed." Faint 
 and bleeding he was once again produced to his foes;
 
 CHRIST BEFORE PILATE. 251 
 
 but tlieir hearts were steeled against pity, and they 
 raised with fresh violence their frantic clamonr, '• Cru- 
 cify him I Ci-ucify him !" 
 
 AVlien Pilate saw that he availed nothing, and that 
 the tumult became every moment more alarming, he 
 took Avater, and washed his hands before the multitude, 
 saying, '' I am innocent of the blood of this just person, 
 see ye to it." "With an imprecation of fearful import, 
 the maddened crowd replied, " His blood be upon us, 
 and upon our children 1" And Pilate gave sentence 
 that it should be as they required. Then Pilate's sol- 
 diers stripped Jesus, and put on him a scarlet robe; and 
 wlsen they liad platted a crown of thorns, they put it 
 upon his head, and a reed in his right hand; and they 
 bowed the knee before him, saying, " Hail king of the 
 Jewsl" After various other indignities, they put on 
 his own raiment, and led him away to crucify him. 
 
 Pilate's mind, however, seems to have been agitated 
 with remorse for the crime he had sanctioned ; and he 
 readily granted the request made by Joseph of Arima- 
 thea, that he whom he had unjustly condemned should 
 be interred in an honourable gi-ave. History tells us 
 that Pilate, after he had been recalled from tlie govern- 
 ment of Judaea, was banished to Gaul, v.here he com- 
 mitted suicide. 
 
 But thou upou a kingly couch reposed, 
 The judge of Jesus could thy soul conceive 
 That, long as time's recorded truths endure, 
 Thy name united to this awful day, 
 Would live, — when all the Caesars are forgot I
 
 252 
 
 Chapter XL VII. 
 THE CRUCIFIXION. 
 
 They smote ihy clieek with manr a ruthless palm; 
 
 With thy cold spear thy shuddering side they pierced ; 
 The draft of bitterest gall was all the balm 
 
 They gave to enhance thy uTislaking burning thirst; 
 Thou at whose words of peace 
 Did pain and and anguish cease, 
 And the long buried dead their bonds of slumber burst. 
 
 Low bowed thy head, convulsed, and drooped in deatli; 
 
 Thy voice sent forth a sad and waiUng cry ; 
 Slow struggled from thy breast the parting breath, 
 And every limb was wrung with agony; 
 That head whose veilless blaze 
 Filled angels with amaze, 
 When at that voice sprang forth the rolling suns on high. 
 
 MiLMAK. 
 
 A.M. 4036 A.D. 33. 
 
 A MULTITUDE of Crimes had been committed, yet the 
 day was not far advanced; the tortures, the mockery, 
 the scourging, the preference of a robber and assassin to 
 the Lord of life, had occupied but the brief space of the 
 early morning : it was only the third hour, that is, as 
 we reckon, about nine o'clock, when Jesus was led forth 
 to be crucified. It was the barbarous custom of that 
 age to compel the person sentenced to the death of the 
 cross, to caiTy himself, the instruments of his punish- 
 ment. Torture, hoAvever, had so weakened the lacerated 
 frame of the suffering Saviour, that he sank beneath the 
 load ; and the multitude forced a stranger, Simon, a 
 Cyrenian, to convey it to the place designed for the 
 execution. But there were, among this frantic crowd, 
 a few whose hearts were melted by the sight of such
 
 THE CRUCIFIXION. 253 
 
 unmerited agony ; the women that followed bewailed and 
 lamented. Christ addressed them, not in tlie language 
 of complaint, nor even sorrow, at the bitter cup which 
 he was about to drink to its very dregs ; he grieved even 
 at this awful hour, not for his own fate, but for that of 
 others. How wondrously affecting is his simple address : 
 " Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep 
 for yourselves, and for your children." 
 
 North-west of Jerusalem, near, but outside, the walls 
 of the city, was an eminence called Calvary, or Golgotha, 
 that is, " the place of a skull," propably from its fancied 
 resemblance to the human head. It forms part of the 
 chain of Mount Moriah, on which the temple was built, 
 and where Abraham had been directed to sacrifice Isaac. 
 Here the cross was erected, and the hands and feet of 
 Jesus nailed to the " accursed tree." Thus was fulfilled 
 the prophecy of the Psalmist, " The assembly of the 
 wicked have enclosed me ; they pierced my hands and 
 my feet." Two thieves w^ ere crucified at the same time ; 
 one on our Saviour's right hand, and the other on his 
 left; thus literally was the prophecy of Isaiah accom- 
 plished, "he was numbered with the transgressors." 
 Over the cross was placed the accusation, in Hebrew, 
 Greek, and Latin, *' This is Jesus of Nazareth, the king 
 of the Jews." The priests wished the expression to be 
 altered, but Pilate peremptorily refused tlieir request. 
 
 It was customary to give persons condemned to the 
 lingering torture of the cross a stupifying draught, in 
 order that they should be the less sensible of pain ; but 
 Jesus refused this equivocal mercy ; and while he hung 
 in agony, retained his calmness and self-possession. He 
 saw his mother with some of her friends near the cross, 
 and commended her to the care of" the beloved disciple," 
 John. The sacred bequest was well bestowed ; for John 
 
 S
 
 254 TOE CRUCIFIXION. 
 
 immediately took her to his own house, and ever after 
 treated her as a son. 
 
 The garments of the condemned were the perquisites 
 of the executioners, wlio now shared those Avorn by 
 Christ among them ; but his coat being one entire 
 ])iece, they were unvv-illing to tear it, and therefore cast 
 lots who should have it ; thus fulfilling the prophecy of 
 the Psalmist, " They parted my garments among them, 
 and upon my vesture did they cast lots." When Jesus 
 began to feel the bitter thirst of mortal pain, he said, 
 " I thirst." His enemies gave him vinegar mingled with 
 gall; a circumstance also predicted by the Psalmist: 
 " They gave me also gall for my meat, and in my thirst 
 they gave me vinegar to drink." Nor was this tlie only 
 instance of their savage cruelty; the chief priests and 
 rulers stood round the cross, mocking and deriding the 
 patient Redeemer, sa3''ing, " He saved others, himself he 
 cannot save. If he be the king of Israel, let him now 
 come down from the cross, and we will believe. He 
 trusted in God, let him deliver him now, if he will have 
 him; for he said, I am the son of God." Even these 
 minute particulars had been accurately described by the 
 prophetic Psalmist : " They gaped upon me with their 
 mouths as a ravening and roaring lion. All they that 
 see me, laugh me to scorn ; they shoot out the lip, saying, 
 ' He trusted on the Lord, that he would deliver him, let 
 liim deliver him seeing he delighted in him.' " 
 
 With what complicated feelings must we regard the 
 conduct of the Divine Being on whom malice was thus 
 exhausting all its virulence, and all its violence ; whose 
 only notice of the ferocious cruelty of his enemies was a 
 prayer to the God of mercy in their behalf ! " Father, 
 forgive them ; for they know not what they do." 
 
 Even one of the criminals that hung dying beside
 
 S 2
 
 THE CRUCIFIXION. 255 
 
 Jesus joined in the insults of those who stood around ; 
 " f thou be the Son of God, save thyself and us." His 
 penitent companion rebuked this conduct, confessed that 
 they were deservedly punished, asserted the innocence 
 of Jesus, and entreated him saying, " Lord, remember 
 me when thou comest into thy kingdom." The gracious 
 Saviour replied, " To-day thou shalt be with me in 
 Paradise." 
 
 It was then noon, but no longer day; the sun had 
 disappeared from the sky; Jerusalem and the Avhole 
 country were involvod in preternatural darkness. Three 
 hours elapsed, and the gloom still continued. When 
 the ninth hour had almost come, the mortal frame of 
 our Lord began to sink under accumulated tortures. He 
 exclaimed, in the words of the Psalmist, Eli, Eli, lama 
 sahachthani ? that is, My God, my God, ichy hast thou 
 forsaken me? At the ninth hour, Jesus exclaimed, 
 with a loud voice, It is finished; and then saying, 
 *^ Father, into thy hands I commended my spirit," he 
 yielded up the ghost. 
 
 At this awful moment the veil of the temple which 
 separated the " Holy of Holies" from the rest of the 
 building, was rent in twain, from the top to the bottom ; 
 " and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent ; and the 
 graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints 
 which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his 
 resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared 
 unto many," The astonished centurion who witnessed 
 these portents could not avoid exclaiming, " Truly this 
 
 WAS THE Sox OF GoD." 
 
 It was thus that Christ "suffered for sins, the just for 
 the unjust, that he might bring us to God." "His own 
 self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, 
 being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness."
 
 256 THE CRUCIFIXION. 
 
 "We cannot better conclude this chapter than with 
 the following striking enumeration of the circumstances 
 of the crucifixion, designed for the service of Good 
 Frida}', when the Church commemorates this awful 
 event. 
 
 Bound upon the accursed tree, 
 Faint and bleeding, who is He? 
 By the ejes so pale and dim, 
 Streaming blood aud writhing limb ; 
 By the flesli, with scourges torn; 
 By the ci"owu of twisted thorn; 
 By the side so deeply pierced ; 
 By the baffled, burning thirst; 
 By tlie drooping, deatli-dewed brow: 
 Son of Man! 'tis Thou! 'tis Thou ! 
 
 Bound upon the accursed tree, 
 
 Dread and awful, who is He? 
 
 By the sun at noon-day pale, 
 
 Shivering roclcs and rending veil ; 
 
 By earth that trembles at His doom; 
 
 By yonder saints, who burst their tomb; 
 
 By Eden promised ere he died 
 
 To the felon at his side ; 
 
 Lord! our suppliant knees we bow ; 
 
 Son of God! 'lis Thou! 'tis Thou! 
 
 Bound upon the accursed tree, 
 Sad and <lying, who is He? 
 By the last and bitter cry ; 
 The gl.o^t given up in agony; 
 By the lifeless body, laid 
 In the cliamber of the dead; 
 B}- the mourners come to weep 
 Where the bones of Jesus sleep ; 
 Crucified ! we know Thee now ; 
 Son of Man! 'tis Thou ! 'tis Thour 
 
 Bound upon the accursed tree, 
 Dread and awful, who is He? 
 By the prayer for them that slew, 
 " Lord, they know not what they do T
 
 THE CRUCIFIXION. 257 
 
 By the spoiled and empty grave ; 
 
 By tlie souls he died to save ; 
 
 B}' the conquest he hath won ; 
 
 By the saints before his thi'one; 
 
 By the rainbow round his brow : 
 
 Son of God! "tisThou! 'tis Thou I Milman. 
 
 Chapter XLVIII. 
 THE BURIAL OF CHRIST. 
 
 And Thou wert laid within tlie narrow tomb, 
 
 Thy clay-cold limbs with shrouding grave-clothes bound; 
 The sealed stone confirmed ihy mortal doom, 
 
 Lone watchmen walked by desert burial-ground, 
 Whom heaven could not contain. 
 Nor th' immeasurable plain 
 Of vast infinity inclose or circle round. Milmax. 
 
 A.M. 4036 A.D. 33. 
 
 WuEX the evening of this awful day approached, the 
 murderers of the Saviour exhibited another of those 
 superstitious scruples which mingled so strangely with 
 their atrocious crimes. They besought Pilate that the 
 bodies should not be allowed to remain on the crosses 
 during the approaching festival, and rec[uested tliat 
 persons should be sent to put the three sufferers to death 
 by breaking their limbs. Those who were sent to per- 
 form this act of cruel mercy, finding Jesus alread}^ dead, 
 did not break his legs; thus fulfilling the prophecy of 
 the Psalmist : " He keepeth all his bones, not one of 
 them is broken." One of the soldiers, however, seized 
 a spear, and thrust it into Christ's side, and forthwith 
 their issued forth water and blood. Thus was the pre-
 
 258 THE BURIAL OF CHRIST. 
 
 diction of Zechariah accomplished, " And they shall look 
 upon me whom the}^ have pierced." 
 
 In the evening, Joseph, a rich and good man, and an 
 hononrable councillor, from the little town of Arimathea, 
 came secretly to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. 
 His request was granted ; and, aided by Nicodemus, he 
 took down the lacerated corpse from the cross, and laid 
 it in his own sepulchre. Thus was fulfilled the prophecy 
 of Isaiah, "He made his grave with the wicked and 
 with the rich in his death." On account of the near 
 approach of the Sabbath, the rites of sepulture were 
 performed in a hurried and imperfect manner ; but an 
 ample supply of ointment and spices was provided by 
 Nicodemus and by the women, for preparing the body 
 according to the Jewish custom, as soon as the holy 
 Sabbath was over. 
 
 In the mean time a deputation of the chief priests and 
 Pharisees came to Pilate, sa^-ing, "Sir, we remember 
 that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, ' After 
 three days I will rise again.' Command, therefore, that 
 the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his 
 disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say 
 unto the people, * He is risen from the dead;' so the last 
 eiTor shall be worse than the first." Pilate cheerfully 
 gi-anted them the use of a guard ; they went and set a 
 seal upon the mouth of the sepulchre, and stationed 
 sentinels around. 
 
 The Sabbath, or the seventh day of Passion week, was 
 a period of anxious thought rather than of action. 
 
 The disciples were scattered and terrified ; they had 
 forgotten, or knew not how to interpret, Christ's pro- 
 mise of his resurrection ; they felt as persons who had 
 lost their leader, and Avith him every source of futui'e 
 confidence or hope.
 
 259 
 
 Chapter XLIX. 
 THE RESURRECTION. 
 
 And when thou didst arise, thou didst not stand 
 With devastation in thy red bright hand, 
 Plaguing the guilty city's murderous crew; 
 
 But thou didst haste to meet 
 
 Thy mother's coming feet, 
 And bear the words of peace unto the fearful few. Milmax. 
 
 A.M. 4036.... A.D. 33. 
 
 The morning of that great festival of the Christian 
 church, Easter-day, now arrived ; Passion-week, or 
 the week of suffering, was concluded, and the time was 
 at length come when Christ should manifest his glory ; 
 "the glory which he had with the Father before the 
 world was." Early in the morning, before the dawn 
 had yet begun to streak the eastern sky, came some of 
 the women who had been in attendance on the Lord, to 
 complete those funeral riglits which had been left im- 
 perfect in oonsec[uence of the near approach of the 
 Paschal Sabbath. On their road they conversed on the 
 means by which they should remove the ponderous 
 stone from the mouth of the sepulchre, and knew not 
 how tliey should overcome the difficultj^. Great was 
 their astonishment, when they came to the tomb, to 
 find the seal broken, the stone rolled away, and the 
 guard dispersed in supernatural terror and confusion. 
 
 As the inspired Psalmist had predicted, "God did not 
 leave his soul in hell, neither would he suffer his Holy 
 One to see corruption." Midnight had scarcely passed, 
 when the earth was convulsed by an awful earthquake, 
 and the angel of the Lord, descending, rolled back the 
 weighty stone, and sat upon it in white shining gar- 
 ments. The affrighted sentinels '* became as dead men,"
 
 260 THE RESURRECTION. 
 
 and on their recovery from their terror, fled from their 
 posts to the city, to relate the awful manifestations of 
 Divine interference. 
 
 Thus did Christ hurst the barriers of the tomb, and 
 triumph over sin and death; thus was "captivity led 
 captive," and "death swallowed up in victory." The 
 ■women approaching the tomb, were informed by the 
 angels of the stupendous event that had taken place, 
 and directed by them to acquaint the disciples with what 
 had been done. As they returned homewards, Jesus 
 himself met them, and made himself known to them. 
 He soothed their fears and terrors, and desired that they 
 should tell his brethren to meet him in Galilee. The 
 women conveyed the intelligence to Peter and John, who 
 both hurried to the sepulchre, and found, as had been 
 told them, the tomb untenanted, and its guardians absent. 
 
 The aff'righted watchers had in the mean time reached 
 Jerusalem, and treml)lingly related to the chief priests 
 and Pharisees all that they had seen. Justly alarmed, 
 the wicked councillors bribed the soldiers with a large 
 sum of money, and a promise of procuring their pardan 
 from the governor, to say, "While we slept, his disciples 
 came and stole him away." This was, unquestionably, 
 one of the most shameless and inconsistent falsehoods 
 ever devised by fraud to shield impiety. Every circum- 
 stance in the entire nanative, everything we know of 
 human nature, and every evidence of the tale itself, prove 
 this account to be an impossible fiction. 
 
 Moreover, the Jewish account is refuted by its own 
 internal evidence; it makes the soldiers say, "While 
 Ave slept." Now the discipline in the Roman army was 
 the strictest in military annals; it was death for any 
 sentinel to be found asleep on his post; and it is, surely, 
 incredible that the entire company on guard would or 
 could have run such a risk together. But if this tale be
 
 THE FvESURRECTION. 261 
 
 true, though tliey were so soundly asleep as not to be 
 able to give the least alarm, they were able to tell what 
 happened during their repose. These sleeping men pre- 
 tended to know that it was the disciples who stole the 
 body. Even in this monstrous contradiction we find 
 another absurdity almost as glaring. So great was the 
 dread of persecution, that Joseph of Arimathea, though 
 a man of wealth, and Nicodemus, a ruler of the syna- 
 gogue, were afraid openly to ask for the body to give it 
 burial; and is it credible that the timid disciples, who-, 
 at the first appearance of danger, forsook their Master 
 and fled, should have mustered such courage as to hazard 
 an encounter with the armed guard, and expose them- 
 selves to almost certain detection, without the slightest 
 hope of even the smallest remuneration? Enough has 
 been said to prove, not merely the gross falsehood, but 
 the monstrous absurdity, of the Jewish narrative ; and 
 since that tale is so clearly overthrown, nothing remains 
 to impeach the statement of the Apostles; and by their 
 testimony — a testimony which they sealed with their 
 blood, — the most important article of our faith is esta- 
 blished: Christ our Lord is risen indeed. 
 
 During the course of tlie day, Christ appeared to two 
 of his disciples, who were journeying to Emmaus, a vil- 
 lage near Jerusalem ; they did not immediately recognise 
 him ; and, when he addressed them as a stranger, in- 
 quiring the subject of their conversation, tliey, with 
 some expression of surprise at his ignorance, replied by 
 detailing the circumstances of Christ's crucifixion, the 
 strange narrative of the women respecting his resurrec- 
 tion, and its confirmation by the two disciples, who had 
 found the sepulchre empty. Jesus, still remaining un- 
 known, explained to them from the Scriptures that the 
 Messiah should suffer all these things before entering 
 into his glory. When the disciples reached Emmaus,
 
 262 THE RESURRECTION. 
 
 they requested the apparent stranger to remain with 
 them: and he made himself known to them, when "he 
 took bread and blessed it, and gave it to them." After 
 which he vanished from their sight. 
 
 On their return to Jerusalem they were informed b}'- 
 the disciples, that "the Lord was risen indeed, and had 
 appeared unto Simon :" the}', in return, told the occur- 
 rences of their journey; and, while they were yet 
 speaking, Jesus himself appeared in the midst of the 
 assembly. The natural terror of the disciples was calmed 
 "by the benevolent Redeemer, who addressed them in a 
 kind and tender manner, pointing out the true meaning 
 of the prophecies respecting his mission. Thomas was 
 absent from this assembly ; and, when informed of the 
 event, refused to believe it; he declared that nothing 
 but the actual handling of the wounds inflicted during 
 the crucifixion would conquer his incredulity. 
 
 After eight days, again the disciples were assembled, 
 and Thomas with them. Suddenly, Jesus appeared in 
 the midst of them, and condescended to satisfy the doubts 
 of his sceptical disciple, b^^ permitting him to place his 
 fingers in the prints of his nails, and thrust his hands 
 into the wounded side. Overcome by such substantial 
 proofs, Thomas exclaimed, "My Lord and my Godl" 
 Jesus gently rebuked his former doubts, saying, "Tho- 
 mas, because thou hast seen, thou hast believed ; blessed 
 are they that have not seen, and j-et have believed." 
 
 We cannot better conclude this chapter tlian with the 
 words of the beloved disciple, in the conclusion of his 
 narrative of the resurrection. "And many other signs 
 truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which 
 are not written in this book ; but these are written, that 
 ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, and that be- 
 lieving, ye might have life through his name."
 
 263 
 
 Chapter L. 
 THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST. 
 
 Lift up your heads, ye gates, and wide 
 
 Your everlasting doors display; 
 Ye angel-guards, like flames divide, 
 
 And give the King of Glory way. 
 
 Who is the King of Glory ?— He, 
 
 The Lord Omnipotent to save ; 
 Whose own right arm, in victory, 
 
 Led captive Death, and spoiled the grave. Psalms, 
 
 A.M. 4036 A.D. 33. 
 
 During forty days Christ continued to be seen occa- 
 sionally by his disciples, proving the reality of his resur- 
 rection by the most infallible evidence, and conversing 
 with them of the things pertaining to the kingdom of 
 God. When the period drew nigh for his ascension into 
 heaven, he warned the disciples not to depart from Jeru- 
 salem, but to wait there for the fulfilment of the promise 
 of the Comforter. He even specifically mentioned in 
 ■what manner they should receive this new Comforter, 
 saying, "John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be 
 baptized with the Holy Ghost, not many days hence." 
 At the same time, he issued his command for the propa- 
 gation of the Gospel, saying, "All power is given unto 
 me in heaven and in earth: go ye, therefore, and teach 
 all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, 
 and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to 
 observe all things, whatsoever I have commanded you : 
 and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the 
 world." 'J'o Simon Peter, Christ affectionately com- 
 manded that he should feed his flock, and predicted the 
 martyrdom by which he should glorify God.
 
 264 THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST. 
 
 On the fortieth day after the resurrection, Christ led 
 his disciples to that part of the district of Bethany which 
 joins the Mount of Olives, at the distance of a mile from 
 Jerusalem, and recapitulated his former injunctions. 
 There were some among them w^ho still entertained the 
 mistaken notion, that the Messiah should be a temporal 
 sovereign: and they now asked of him, "Lord, wilt 
 thou, at this time, restore the kingdom of Israel?" But 
 Christ rebuked them ; sa^dng, " It is not for you to 
 know the times, or the seasons, wliich the Father has 
 put in his own power." He then renewed his promise 
 to them, of divine aid in promulgating the truths of the 
 glorious Gospel; saying, "But ye shall receive power 
 after tliat the Holy Ghost is come upon you ; and ye 
 shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in 
 all Judsea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts 
 of the earth." 
 
 When he had spoken thus, while they beheld, he was 
 taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. 
 While the disciples stood gazing after him in devout 
 astonishment, two celestial beings appeared amongst 
 them, and thus addressed them: "Ye men of Galilee, 
 why stand ye gazing up into heaven! This same Jesus, 
 which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come, 
 in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." 
 The disciples then returned into Jerusalem, where the}'' 
 had an upper room for the place of their meeting, and 
 where " they all continued with one accord, in pra^'er 
 and supplication." 
 
 Soon after, on the suggestion of Simon Peter, Matthias 
 was chosen by lot to fill the place of the traitor Judas; 
 and tlius the number of the twelve apostles was once 
 more completed.
 
 i: !■ 
 
 ,>r^^-^.n HiW% 
 
 Chapter LI. 
 THE DESCENT OF THE HOLY GHOST. 
 
 Creator Spirit, by whose aid 
 
 The world's foundations first were laid, 
 
 Come, visit everj- pious mind ; 
 
 Come, pour thy joys on human kind ; 
 
 From sin and sorrow set us free. 
 
 And make thy temples worthy thee. Drydex. 
 
 A.M. 403G A.D. .33. 
 
 The da}'' of Pentecost was the second great festival of 
 the Jewish chiircli. It was called by various names in 
 the Holy Scriptures, of which the most remarkable are, 
 Pentecost, from a Greek word, signifying "fiftietli," be- 
 cause it was the fiftieth day after the Passover, or first 
 dvay of unleavened bread; the "feast of weeks," because 
 it was *'a week of weeks," or seven weeks after the same 
 festival ; and '^'the feast of harvests," or tlie "day of first- 
 fruits," because on that day the Jews presented their 
 thanksgiving offerings for the commencement of the 
 •wlieat-harvest. Such a feast may easil}^ be supposed to
 
 266 THE DESCENT OF THE HOLY GHOST. 
 
 have had a typical reference to the miraculous effusion 
 of the Holy Spirit, and the gathering of the first-fruits 
 of the Christian Church. 
 
 The fiftieth day after Christ's triumphant resurrection, 
 and the tenth after his glorious ascension, was that on 
 Avhich the Jewish feast of the Pentecost was celebrated. 
 The disciples were assembled in one place, "when sud- 
 denly there came from heaven the sound as of a rushing 
 mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were 
 sitting, and there appeared unto them cloven tongues, 
 like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they 
 were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak 
 with other tongues, as the spirit gave them utterance." 
 
 Many Jews, who had settled in various foreign coun- 
 tries, had come as worshippers to celebrate the great 
 national festival at Jerusalem. When these men heard 
 the disciples speaking languages which they had never 
 learned, they were filled with astonishment, and asked 
 of each other, "Are not all these men, who speak, Gali- 
 leans? And how hear we them speak every man in our 
 own tongue the wonderful works of God?" 
 
 Part of the multitude, probably not understanding the 
 different languages, said, "These men are drunk with 
 new wine." Simon Peter then arose, and addressed them 
 in a powerful discoui*se; showing that this manifestation 
 of divine power had been predicted by the prophet Joel. 
 He then preached to them the doctrine of a Redeemer 
 crucified and glorified, as the holy prophets had pre- 
 dicted ; and such was the efficacy of his discourse, that 
 three thousand persons were converted, and received, by 
 baptism, into the Christian Church. 
 
 The Christians were now sufficiently numerous to 
 form a large and flourishing community. All that be- 
 lieved were together, and had all things common; the
 
 THE DESCENT OF THE HOLY GHOST. 26? 
 
 wealthy shared their abundance with the poorer brethren; 
 the apostles regulated the distribution of relief according 
 to each person's wants ; and the disciples continued stead- 
 fast in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, worsliipping 
 in the temple and having favour with all the people. 
 
 The first miracle that showed the power conferred by 
 Christ on his disciples was performed by St. Peter, who 
 healed a beggar, lame from his birth, that was accustomed 
 to ask alms at that gate of the temple, which, from its 
 superior workmanship, was denominated Beautiful. 
 Peter said, "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, 
 rise up and walk." The lame man, completely healed, 
 arose, and accompanied them into the temple, " walking 
 and leaping, and praising God." The people, long accus- 
 tomed to see the poor beggar lying helpless at the gate 
 of the temple, hurried in crow^ds to behold the wondrous 
 spectacle of his cure; they filled the court, called Solo- 
 mon's porch, gazing with wonder and astonishment. 
 Peter again embraced the opportunity of preaching the 
 Gospel, thus confirmed by a signal miracle ; and, in spite 
 of priestly and pharisaic hostility, the church again 
 received a considerable increase. 
 
 Nothing could exceed the surprise and indignation of 
 the Jewish rulers, when tiiey learned that the name of 
 Jesus, whom they had crucified, was more celebrated 
 than ever : that signal miracles were wrought in liis 
 name, and that the truth of his resurrection and ascen- 
 sion was openly preached in the streets. Tiiey sent for 
 Peter and John, whom they threatened, if they con- 
 tinued to proclaim the new religion; but the apostles 
 declared that they were bound to obey God rather than 
 man. Fresh accessions were daily made to the church, 
 and each new convert gave up at least some part of his 
 possessions, to form a common stock for the maintenance 
 of the community. 
 
 T
 
 2GS ANANIAS AND SAPPHIRA. 
 
 There were two persons, Ananias and Sapphira his 
 wife, who endeavoured to pervert this rule of the early 
 Ciiristians to their private gain ; they sold their posses- 
 sions, and kept back part of the price. Not content 
 with this crime, they attempted to conceal it by a wilful 
 and deliberate lie ; for wliich tliey were both struck dead 
 by the righteous judgment of the Lord. 
 
 The continual miracles worked by the apostles, and 
 the number of converts they made, soon excited the 
 jealous hatred of the cliief priests and the Sanhedrim. 
 The very foremost in kindling the flame of persecution 
 were the Sadducees; so true it is, that unbelievers are 
 frequently the worst enemies of religious liberty. 
 
 The apostles were arrested and thrown into the com- 
 mon prison: but during the night, they were liberated 
 by the angel of the Lord, and appeared the next day, 
 preaching their obnoxious doctrines in the temple. 
 Again tliey were dragged before the Sanhedrim, and, 
 when they refused to pledge themselves to silence, a 
 proposal was made to put them to death. This was 
 resisted by a councillor named, Gamaliel, a man of great 
 authority, which he had acquired both by his learning 
 and moderation. He enumerated several instances of 
 imsuccessful imposture that had recently occurred, and 
 concluded by saying, " Refrain from these men and let 
 them alone ; for if this counsel or this work be of men 
 it will come to nought ! but if it be of God, ye cannot 
 overthrow it ; lest haply ye be found even to fight 
 against God." This judicious advice was onl^^ partially 
 adopted ; the Jewish rulers, as they were permitted Uy 
 do by the Roman law, punished the apostles witli stripes 
 before they dismissed them ; and these faithful disciples 
 departed "rejoicing that they were counted wortliy to 
 suffer shame for the name of Jesus.'*
 
 269 
 
 Chapter LU. 
 THE MARTYRDOM OF STEPHEN. 
 
 The Son of God goes fortli to '.yar, 
 
 A Idngly crown to gain; 
 His blood-red banner streams afar I 
 
 Who follows in his train? 
 
 Who best can drink his cup of woe, 
 
 Triumphant over pain ; 
 Who patient bears his cross below. 
 
 He follows in his train I 
 
 The martyr first whose eagle eye 
 
 Could pierce beyond the grave; 
 Who saw his Master in the sky, 
 
 And called on him to save. Bishop Hibkk. 
 
 A.M. 40i0 A.D. 37. 
 
 When the converts to Christianity became very nu- 
 merous, the apostles found it impossible to attend both 
 to the duties of religious worship, and the secular affairs 
 of the community. They, therefore, chose seven as- 
 sistants to preside over the distribution of the common 
 stock. Among these new ministers was Stephen, "a 
 man full of faith, and of the Holy Gliost. And the 
 Avord of God increased, and the number of the disciples 
 multiplied in Jerusalem greatly ; and a gi*eat company 
 of the priests were obedient to the faith." 
 
 The enemies of Christianity were filled with rage and 
 disappointment by the rapid progress of the new sect ; 
 they had lately acquired the chief power of the state; 
 for Pilate had been recalled to Rome, and the govern- 
 ment of Judaea was for a time usurped by the local 
 authorities. 
 
 T2
 
 270 THE MARTYRDOM OF STEPHEN. 
 
 As "Stephen, full of faith and power, did great won- 
 ders and miracles among the people," they who rested 
 solely on the people for support, began to fear lest his 
 influence should be destructive of their own. They 
 began first, as was the custom between rival schools, to 
 attack him with difficult questions, and enter into subtle 
 disputations; but this plan totally failed: "They were 
 not able to resist the wisdom and spirit by which he 
 spake." They, therefore, adopted a plan, of which the 
 success was more certain ; witnesses were suborned to 
 accuse him before the Sanhedrim, where they them- 
 selves sat as judges, and wliere they were consequently 
 nearly certain of obtaining the decision they desired. 
 
 The accusation was, "This man ceaseth not to speak 
 blasphemous words against this holy place and the law ; 
 for we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth 
 shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs 
 which Moses delivered us." On this charge Stephen 
 was arraigned before the great council ; when all that 
 sat in it, "looking steadfastly on him, saw his face, as it 
 had been the face of an angel." When the accusers had 
 been heard, the high priest called on Stephen for his 
 defence; formally asking him, "Are these things sol" 
 
 Stephen, in reply, enumerated God's dealings with the 
 Jewish people, from the days of Abraham to those of 
 Solomon, and severely reproached them for imitating the 
 conduct of their ancestors, by always resisting the Holy 
 Ghost ; concluding with the following words, equally 
 galling and true: "Which of the prophets have not 
 your fathers persecuted? And they have slain them 
 which showed before of the coming of the Just One ; of 
 whom ye have now been the betrayers and murderers : 
 who have received the law by the disposition of angels, 
 and have not kept it." The guilty consciences of the
 
 THE MARTYRDOM OF STEPHEN. 2?! 
 
 auditors gave an overwhelming force to this reproach ; 
 they could not make any I'eply, but they gnashed on 
 him with their teeth, displaying all the virulence of 
 implacable malice. Whilst he, being full of the Holy 
 Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the 
 glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of 
 God: and said, "Behold I see the heavens opened, and 
 the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God." 
 
 The enemies of the Christian faith could no longer 
 restrain their rage; they rushed upon Stephen with 
 savage fury, dragged him out of the city, and stoned 
 him to death as a blaspliemer. He commended his holy 
 soul to the Author of all mercy, saying, "Lord Jesus, 
 receive my spirit :" and with a prayer for his ferocious 
 murderers, " Lord^ lay not this sin to their charge," he 
 expired. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, 
 and made great lamentation over him.
 
 Chapter LIU. 
 THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 
 
 And he hath seen from lieaven a light, 
 And Jesus heard, ^vith glory bright, 
 
 His own omnipotence declare; 
 And he hath owned him for his Lord, 
 And sheathed the persecuting sword. 
 
 And sworn tlie cross of Christ to bear. Anon*. 
 
 A.M. 4040 A.D. 37. 
 
 There was a j'oiing man named Saul present at the 
 murder of Stephen, who, thougli he took no active part 
 in the barbarous deed, showed his approbation of it, by 
 guarding tlie clothes of the murderers. He was a 
 person of respectable family born at Tarsus in Cilicia,. 
 brought up at Jerusalem in the strictest discipline of 
 the Pharisees, a disciple of Gamaliel, the most eminent 
 teacher in the rabbinical schools. His zeal in the service 
 of the synagogue not only induced liim to join in the 
 persecution of Stephen, but also to commence an active 
 search after those who had at any time shown attach- 
 ment to the new faith. The bitter havoc thus made of 
 the church dispersed the disciples; but so far was it 
 from destroying Christianity, that it proved one of the 
 chief causes of its extension; for the exiles preached the 
 Gospel of everlasting truth in every place to which they 
 came. By this means a numerous congregation of 
 Christians was formed in Samaria, and attained such 
 importance, that it was deemed necessary for Peter and 
 John to go down and make provision for its future 
 government. Having assembled the members of the 
 new church, and having prayed, and laid their hands
 
 THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 2JS 
 
 upon them, they received the gift of the Holy Ghost. 
 There was, however, among the converts, a deceiver, 
 named Simon, who had previously acquired great popular 
 influence : and he sought to purchase from the Apostles 
 the power, which he saw they possessed, of conferring 
 the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Peter sternly rebuked his 
 impiety; and Simon, convinced of his error, besought 
 the apostles to intercede with God for his pardon. 
 
 The founder of the Samaritan church Avas Philip : to 
 jiim the Spirit of the Lord came, directing him to go to 
 the desert road leading from Jerusalem to Gaza. Philip 
 obeyed the divine command, and met there an Ethiopian 
 nobleman, whom he converted and baptized. 
 
 The diffusion of the Gospel through Judtea and Gali- 
 lee, excited fresh alarm among the Jewish rulers, and 
 they determined to make new efforts for its destruction. 
 The zealous Saul offered them his services, and he was 
 furnished by the chief priests with letters to the rulers 
 of the synagogue at Damascus, authorizing him to seize 
 all the professors of the new faith, and send them bound 
 to Jerusalem. Armed with this authority he set forth, 
 and was already near Damascus, when a light from 
 heaven shone around him; he was struck to the earth; 
 and by a voice from Jesus, whom he had persecuted, he 
 was called to the work of an apostle. 
 
 His companions on the journey, overwhelmed with 
 astonishment, went to raise him from the earth ; they 
 found him stricken with blindness, and in this condition 
 brought him to Damascus. For three days Saul re- 
 mained deprived of sight, and did neither eat nor drink; 
 but, at the end of that time, a disciple named Ananias 
 was sent to heal him, and this bitter persecuter of the 
 faith, became one of its most illustrious advocates. At a 
 later period he changed his name from Saul to Paul,
 
 274 THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 
 
 and, as he is best known by the latter designation, we 
 shall use it in speaking of him for the future. 
 
 Nothing could exceed the surprise of all parties, when 
 Paul first appeared as a preacher of the gospel ; but he 
 did not, on this occasion, appear anxious to become too 
 conspicuous. Soon after his baptism, he removed into 
 Arabia, and remained there until he found himself fully 
 competent to undertake the great work of the Gospel 
 ministry. Three years after his conversion, he returned 
 to Damascus, and preached so boldly, that the Jews 
 sought to kill him. The disciples rescued him with 
 great difficulty, and let him down by night from the 
 walls ill a basket. 
 
 From Damascus, Paul went to Jerusalem, where the 
 disciples, naturally suspecting his sincerity, were unwil- 
 ling to receive him. But Barnabas, having been made 
 acquainted with the occurrences at Damascus, brought 
 him to the apostles, "who received him into full fellow- 
 ship. He continued in Jerusalem only fifteen days; 
 for the boldness with which he preached the Gospel so 
 iri-itated the Jews of the Grecian synagogue, tbat they 
 determined to destroy him ; which, when the bretbren 
 knew, they brought him down to Csesarea, and sent him 
 forth to Tarsus in Cilicia, his native city. 
 
 Peter was, in the mean time, travelling through the 
 southern districts of Palestine; at Lydda he healed 
 -^neas, who had been for eight years sick of the palsy, 
 and at Joppa he raised from the dead a disciple named 
 Dorcas, who had been pre-eminently conspicuous for her 
 charitable actions.
 
 Chapter LIV. 
 
 THE CONVERSION OF THE GENTILES.- 
 COUNCIL OF JERUSALEM. 
 
 -THE 
 
 Can vrp; whose souls are lighted 
 
 With ■wisdom from on high, 
 Can we, to men benighted. 
 
 The lamp of life deny? 
 Salvation ! oh. Salvation ! 
 
 The joyful sound proclaim. 
 Till each remotest nation 
 
 Has learned Messiah's name. 
 
 Between A.M. 4040 A.D. 37 
 
 Waft, waft, ye wind.s his story. 
 
 And you, ye waters, roll; 
 TilJ, like a sea of glory. 
 
 It spreads from pole to pole; 
 Till o'er our ransomed nature, 
 
 The Lamb fcr sinners slain, 
 Redeemer, King, Creator, 
 
 In bliss returns to reign. 
 
 Bishop Heber. 
 37 ; and A.M. 4052 .... A.D. 49. 
 
 There was in Caesarea a centurion named Cornelius^ 
 remarkable both for his piety and cOiarity, who *' gave 
 much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway." 
 To him an angel appeared in a vision, desiring him to 
 send to Joppa for Simon Peter, who should give him 
 instructions in the true faith. Cornelius immediately 
 obeyed the celestial messenger, and sent some of his con-
 
 2"^^ THE CONVERSION OF THE GENTILES. 
 
 fidential servants, as had been commanded. While they 
 were upon the road, Sunon Peter saw a vision, which 
 Avas manifestly designed to connteract his Jev.-ish pre- 
 judices, and show him that the time was come for the 
 Gentiles to share the inheritance of the promises. He 
 belield in this vision a vessel like a sheet, tied at the 
 four corners, containing a promiscuous assortment of 
 animals, let down from heaven, and heard a voice pro- 
 <?lalming:, "Rise, Peter, kill and eiit." With all the 
 feelings of a strict Jew, Peter refused to eat of any un- 
 clean food : hut he was rebuked by the heavenly voice 
 saying, " What God hath cleansed, that call not thou 
 common." While pondering on this strange manifes- 
 tation, the messengers of Cornelius came, and Peter 
 returned with them to Joppa. There the naiTative of 
 the pious centurion revealed the purport of the vision, 
 which was further confiriued, when during Peter's ser- 
 mon, " the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the 
 word." They were in^.mediately baptized, and received 
 into the flock of Christ. 
 
 Those who had been driven from Jerusalem, during 
 the persecution that followed the death of Stephen, had 
 also preached the Gospel, not merely in the Jewish syn- 
 agogues, but also to the Gentiles, in the several cities to 
 which they had fled; a circumstance which excited the 
 wrath of those who had been Pharisees before they were 
 Christians. They blamed Peter for having preached to 
 the uncircumcised ; but he related the circumstances of 
 his vision, with which they were so struck that they 
 assented to the innovation in silence. 
 
 Tidings of the success obtained by the exiles in An- 
 tioch having reached Jerusalem, the Jews sent Barnabas 
 to arrange the affairs of the church in that city ; and he 
 selected as his companion Paul ; who by his subsequent
 
 THE CONVERSION OF THE GENTILES. 2/7 
 
 labours, justly earned the epithet of " the great Apostle 
 of the Gentiles." At Antioch the disciples first received 
 the name of Christians ; a proof that in that city they 
 formed a numerous and flourishing community. Among 
 the disciples who came from Jerusalem to Antioch, was 
 a propliet named Agabus, who predicted an approaching 
 famine, which subsequently prevailed over a great part 
 of the Roman empire. The disciples of Antioch fore- 
 warned of its approach, subscribed liberally for the relief 
 of their poorer brethren in Judsea, and sent their contri- 
 butions by the hands of Barnabas and Paul. 
 
 When Christianity had thus begun to flourish, a new 
 persecution commenced, which caused a second disper- 
 sion of the disciples. Its author was Herod, the third of 
 that name mentioned in the New Testament ; he was the 
 grandson of the Herod who slaughtered the Innocents 
 in Bethlehem, and the nephew of the murderer of John 
 the Baptist. Anxious to ingratiate himself with the 
 Jews, he resolved to persecute the Christians; and his 
 first victim Avas James, the brother of John, who was 
 by the king's command beheaded. Finding the proceed- 
 ing popular, he next arrested Peter, designing to have 
 him executed at the following feast of the Passover ; but 
 God sent his angel, who liberated the apostle, and Peter 
 removed to another city until the fury of the persecution 
 had abated. The tyrant's career was not long ; in the 
 very moment of triumphant pride, he was sti-icken by an 
 angel with a loathsome and incurable disease, of which 
 he died in great torments. 
 
 The second dispersion, caused by Herod's persecution, 
 contributed greatly to the diffusion of the Gospel. Paul 
 and Barnabas went from Antioch to Seleucia; thence 
 they sailed to the Island of Cyprus, where by their 
 preaching, and by the judgment of blindness which came
 
 278 ELYMAS THE SORCERER STRUCK BLIND. 
 
 upon Elymas the sorcerer, who opposed them, they con- 
 verted the proconsul, Sergius Paulns. When Paul and 
 his companion reached Antioch in Pisidia, they began to 
 preach to the Jews; but finding their doctrines resisted 
 by that obstinate people, they addressed themselves to 
 the Greeks, among whom they were eminently success- 
 ful. After some time, however, by the artifices of the 
 Jews, they were forced to quit Antioch ; and they sought 
 shelter in Iconium, from whence they went preaching 
 the gospel through the chief cities of Pisidia and Para- 
 phylia. 
 
 A new evil now arose in the church, in the shape of 
 controversy: some of the warm advocates of Judaism 
 were anxious to impose the ceremonial law on the new 
 converts, which was strenuously resisted by Paul and 
 Barnabas. A general council of the apostles and most 
 eminent disciples was held at Jerusalem (A.D. 50), to 
 decide this important question ; and, after a full discus- 
 sion, it was decided, by the advice of St. James, wiio 
 seems to have been president of the council, that the 
 only matters, in addition to the observance of the moral 
 law, that should be required from the Gentile converts, 
 were abstinence from any matters connected with the 
 polluted and immoral worship of the heathens. 
 
 By this wise decree, which was sent to Antioch by 
 the hands of Paul and Barnabas, peace was restored to 
 the church, and the w^ord of God grew mightily and 
 prevailed.
 
 Chapter LV. 
 THE TRAVELS OF ST. PAUL. 
 
 Home, kindred, friends, and country, — these 
 
 Are ties with which we never part; 
 From clime to clime, o er land and seas, 
 
 We bear them with us in our heart; 
 But oh ! 'tis hard to feel resigned. 
 When these must all be left behind. 
 
 Yet, when the pilgrim's staff we take, 
 
 And follow Christ from shore to shore, 
 
 Gladly for Him, we all forsake, 
 
 Press on, and only look before; 
 
 Though humbled nature mourns her loss. 
 
 The spirit glories in the cross, Montgomeky. 
 
 Between A.M. 4053 A.D. 50; and A.M. 4066 A.D. 63. 
 
 After the council of Jerusalem had temiinated its 
 labours, Paul proposed to Barnabas to take another 
 circuit through the churches they had planted in Asia 
 Minor. Barnabas determined to take as their assistant 
 his nephew, John surnamed Mark ; but Paul, displeased
 
 280 THE TRAVELS OF SAINT PAUL. 
 
 ^vith his desertion of them on a former occasion, thought 
 it not good to do so; and this occasioned such a warm 
 contention that they parted. Barnabas sailed with Mark 
 to Cyprus, to visit the churches which he and Paul had 
 planted ; while Paul, choosing Silas, or Sylvanus, for his 
 companion, undertook a journey for a similar purpose in 
 Asia Minor. At Lystra they were joined by Timothy^ 
 a young man of Jewish descent by his mother's side, 
 but wliose fiither had been a Greek. Under the con- 
 trolling iiifluence of the Holy Spirit they directed their 
 course to Troas, where they were joined by Luke tlie 
 Evangelist, who was also the author of the Acts of the 
 the ApostUs. 
 
 While at Troas, Paul saw a heavenly vision, directing 
 him to go and preach the Gospel in Macedonia. He 
 obeyed the summons ; and, having crossed the sea, 
 reached Philippi, a Roman colony. Here the apostle 
 was the means of converting a wealthy woman, named 
 Lydia; and he dispossessed a damsel that had a spirit of 
 divination. Those who had derived profit from exhi- 
 biting the damsel dragged Paul and Silas before the 
 magistrates, accused them of preaching against the 
 Roman customs, and procured their being beaten witli 
 rods, and thrown into prison. In the night the angel 
 of the Lord tlirew open the doors of their prison-house, 
 and the jailer, believing that his prisoners had escaped, 
 Avas about to commit suicide, Avhen Paul prevented him. 
 Convinced by this signal miracle, the jailer and all his 
 famil}^ ])ecame converts to Christianity. In the morning 
 the magistrates sent their officers to liberate tlie prison- 
 ers ; but Paul refused to depart clandestinely, declaring 
 that he was a Roman citizen, and, consequently, that the 
 magistrates were liable to severe penalties for the treat- 
 ment he had experienced. The alarmed magistrates
 
 THE TRAVELS OF SAINT PAUL. 281 
 
 liasteneJ to the prison and made a projjer apology ; 
 aft^r which Pan! and his companions proceeded to Thes- 
 salonica. 
 
 The Jews at Thessalonica created such a tumult that 
 the apostles were forced to leave the city; they proceeded 
 to Berea, where they met with a very favourable recep- 
 tion ; the inhabitants " received the word with all readi- 
 ness of mind, and searched the Scripures daily, whether 
 these things were so." But the Jews of Thessalonica 
 sent a deputation to excite the Bereans against Paul and 
 his companions; new tumults were raised, and it was 
 deemed prudent to send Paul to Athens. 
 
 In the literary metropolis of the civilized world, for 
 such Athens unquestionably was at that time, a love of 
 novelty, a constant disputation respecting new theories, 
 both of jihilosophy and religion, and incessant wrangling 
 between rival sects, had completely engrossed the atten- 
 tion of the citizens. The boldness which Saint Paul 
 displayed in his controversy Avith the Jews, and the 
 ability he had sho"svn in confuting the Epicurean and 
 Stoic philosophers, induced his opponents to accuse him 
 before the court of Areopagus, on the very same charge 
 that had been fatal to Socrates, that of being " a setter- 
 forth of strange gods." Before this celebrated tribunal, 
 consisting of the citizens most eminent for rank, talent, 
 and intelligence, Paul delivered an apology equally 
 eloquent and convincing. He took advantage of the 
 altar erected in Athens, To the unkngv.'n God, to 
 preach to them the true nature of the being whom they 
 thus ignorantly worshipped. And this masterly oration 
 not only procured his acquittal, but increased the church 
 b^^ a considerable number of converts. 
 
 From Athens, Paul went to Corinth, and preached 
 the Gospel with distinguished success in that city. The
 
 282 THE TRAVELS OF SALNT PAUL. 
 
 jealous rage of the Jews excited fresh disturbances : 
 they dragged Paul before Gallio, the proconsul of 
 Achaia; but that magistrate, refusing to interfere in a 
 religious controversy, which he did not comprehend, and 
 was too indolent to investigate, drove both parties from 
 his tribunal. 
 
 After a delay of about three years in Greece, Paul 
 came by sea to Palestine, and visited Jerusalem, for the 
 fourth time after his conversion. From thence he pro- 
 ceeded to Antioch; and, having remained there for 
 some time, went on a tour through the churches of 
 Galatia and Phrygia. Having provided for the due 
 administration of religious worship in the principal 
 cities, Paul came to Ephesus, were he remained about 
 two years. He first began to preach in the synagogue ; 
 but, finding the Jews obstinate as usual, he afterwards 
 taught in the school of one Tyrannus, witli very great 
 success, God confirming the word by many miracles. 
 Ephesus was remarkable for a temple of Diana, so 
 magnificent, as to be esteemed one of the seven Avonders 
 of the world ; the image of the goddess was said to have 
 fallen from heaven; or as they expressed it, "to have 
 fallen down from Jupiter;" and such was the devotion 
 of its worshippers, that the manufacture of shrines and 
 votive offerings gave employment to a considerable 
 number of jewellers and silversmiths. One of these, 
 named Demetrius, finding that his trade declined in 
 consequence of the rapid progress of Christianity, ex- 
 cited a fearful tumult, and dragged some of the Christian 
 teachers before the multitude assembled in the theatre. 
 Alexander, one of the Christians, made a vain effort to 
 address the assembly; for two hours nothing could be 
 heard but shouts of " Great is Diana of the Ephesians," 
 until at length one of the magistrates interfered, and 
 persuaded the crowd to disperse.
 
 THE TRAVELS OF SAINT PAUL. 283 
 
 From Epliesus, where lie had established a consider- 
 able church, Paul went to Troas, and thence once more 
 to Greece. Having preached there and in Macedonia 
 with great success, he returned homewards, in a coasting 
 vessel, with the contributions of the Macedonian Chris- 
 tians for the relief of their poorer brethren in Judaea. 
 On this voyage he touched at Miletus, whither the elders 
 of the Ephesian church came to greet him. Rarely has 
 there been such an affecting interview; Paul loved them, 
 as his children in the faith, with more than parental 
 tenderness, and they repaid his affection with the purest 
 filial love. He delivered them his farewell charge in 
 terms of the most affecting kindness; and, when he had 
 concluded, offered a fervent prayer to heaven in their 
 behalf. "And they all wept sore, and fell upon Paul's 
 neck and kissed him; sorrowing most of all for the 
 words which he spake, that they should see his face no 
 more." 
 
 At Caesarea, Paul was warned by the prophet Agabus 
 of the dangers which he should encounter in Jerusalem ; 
 but the apostle resolutely persevered in his design of 
 going thither to keep the feast of Pentecost (A.D. 58). 
 Having reached the Holy City for the fiftli time, Paul 
 related to the elders of the church the success that had 
 attended his exertions ; " and when they heard it, they 
 glorified the Lord." 
 
 Shortly after his arrival, Paul having appeared in the 
 temple, was recognised by some of tlie foreign Jews, who 
 excited such a tumult, that Lysias, the commander of 
 the garrison, was forced to interfere, to save him from 
 being torn to pieces. On the following day, Paul was 
 brought before the Sanhedrim, where, by advocating the 
 resurrection of the dead, and declaring himself a Pharisee, 
 he insured the support of that powerful sect. The dis- 
 U
 
 284 THE TRAVELS OF SAINT PAUL. 
 
 pute in the council was so hot, that Lysias was again 
 obliged to enter with a guard ; he rescued Paul, and 
 having learned that there was a conspiracy to kill the 
 prisoner, he sent him off that night to C^esarea. 
 
 Five days after, Ananias the high-priest, a deputation 
 of the elders, and a certain orator, named TertuUus, 
 appeared at Cajsarea, to accuse Paul, before Felix, the 
 governor, of sedition, heresy, and profanation of the 
 temple. The charges were easily confuted ; but Felix, 
 willing to please the Jews, would not liberate the 
 prisoner. Some time after, at the request of his wife, 
 Drusilla, he desired to hear Paul preach : and the 
 apostle reasoned so forcibly concerning righteousness, 
 temperance, and judgment to come, that "Felix trem- 
 bled; and answered. Go thy way for this time, when 
 I have a convenient season, 1 will call for thee." That 
 convenient season never came, Felix was recalled to 
 Rome, and was succeeded in the government of Judaea 
 by Festus. 
 
 Paul had remained more than two years in prison, 
 when Festus proposed to have him brought to trial at 
 Jerusalem : but the apostle, knowing that he could not 
 obtain an impartial trial in that city, exercised his 
 privilege as a Roman citizen, and appealed to the 
 emperor. While Paul remained in prison, awaiting his 
 transmission to Italy, Agrippa, king of Chalcis, the 
 chief representative of the Herodian family, came on a 
 visit to Festus, and before him Paul made such an ex- 
 cellent defence, that the king exclaimed, "Almost thou 
 persuadest me to be a Christian ;" and declared that his 
 own appeal was the only obstacle to his instant liberation. 
 
 The voyage to Italy was exceedingly tempestuous 
 and dangerous ; at length the vessel was wrecked on the 
 island of Melita, or Malta; but the crew and passengers
 
 THE TRAVELS OF SAINT PAUL. 285 
 
 were saved by attending to the inspired directions of 
 Saint Paul. After they came to shore and had lighted 
 a fire, a viper driven from the wood by the heat fastened 
 on the apostle's hand; but he was saved from injury by 
 the interposition of Providence, and shook the venomous 
 creature into the fire. TPaul worked several other mir- 
 acles in the island, and its grateful inhabitants supplied 
 him and his companions with all suitable necessaries for 
 the continuance of his voyage. Arrived at Rome Paul 
 was permitted to remain at large, and preach the Gospel 
 openly ; and during the two years of his residence he 
 made many converts. 
 
 Here ends the scriptural account of this apostle's 
 travels ; but we learn, from other sources, that he paid 
 another visit to Greece and Asia, examining and con- 
 firming the churches ; and that, after his return to Italy, 
 he suffered martyrdom at a village near Rome, on the 
 29th of June, A.D. 66. 
 
 U2
 
 286 
 
 Chapter LVI. 
 THE HISTORY OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 One presses on and Avelcomes death ; 
 One calmly yields his willing breath. 
 Nor slowly, nor hurrying, but in faith. 
 Content to die or live : 
 
 And some, the favourites of their Lord, 
 Play smiling with the flame and sword. 
 And, ere they speak, to his sure word 
 
 Unconscious witness give. Christian' Year, 
 
 The Twelve Apostle chosen by Jesus were: 1. Simon, 
 suraamed Peter, or Cephas, both of Avhicli names signify 
 **a rock, or stone;" 2. Andrew, Peter's hrotlier; 3, 
 James, surnamed the Greater; and 4. John, his brother. 
 These latter were the sons of Zebedee and Salome: 
 from their resolute constancy, they were called by their 
 Divine Master, "Boanerges," which signifies "the sons 
 of thunder ;" they, as well as Andrew, had been among 
 the disciples of John the Baptist, before they were sum- 
 moned to follow Jesus. 5. Philip, who was the first 
 called of the Apostles ; C. Bartholomew, generally sup- 
 posed to be the same as Nathanael, whom Christ de- 
 scribed as "an Israelite indeed;" 7. Levi, or Matthew; 
 8. Thomas, surnamed Didymus, or "the twin;" 9. 
 James, surnamed the Less, the son of Alpheus, or 
 Cleophas, and of Mary, the first cousin of the Blessed 
 Virgin; hence he is frequently called, in Scripture, "the 
 brother of the Lord." 10. Simon, surnamed the Ca- 
 naanite, from Cana, the place of his birth, or from a 
 Syriac word, signifying "zeal;" he is also called "Ze- 
 lotes," probably because he belonged to the sect of 
 the Zealots before he embraced Christianity. 11. Judas
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE APOSTLES. 287 
 
 also called Jiide, brother to James the Less; he was 
 surnamad Lebbseus and Thadda?us. 12. Judas, sur- 
 named Iscariot, that is, Ish Keriot, "a native of 
 Keriot," or, perhaps, Ish Chirret, "the man of the bag 
 or purse," for Judas carried the stock-purse of the 
 Apostles. To these we must add, 13. Matthias, chosen 
 by the eleven in the place of the traitor Judas; and 14. 
 Paul, miraculously called by Christ after his ascension. 
 Two of the Apostles were evangelists, that is, writers of 
 Gospels ; the other two Gospels were written by Mark 
 and Luke, who are not reckoned among the Apostles. 
 
 The holy Apostles were more anxious to diffuse the 
 religion of their blessed Lord, than to preserve the fame 
 of their labours. Consequently, we have but brief, and 
 in some instances uncertain, accounts of them. 
 
 SIMON PETER was the son of Jonah, a fisher- 
 man of Bethsaida, and brother to St. Andrew; he re- 
 ceived the name of Cephas or Peter, which signifies "a 
 stone," because his acknowledgment of Jesus as the 
 Christ was the foundation-stone on which our Lord 
 declared that he would "build his church." Though 
 one of the first that preached to the Gentiles, he was 
 more particularly "the apostle of the circumcision ;" his 
 strong attachment to the rites of Judaism su1)jected him 
 to the rebuke of St. Paul, who zealously supported "the 
 liberty with which Christ had made his followers fi-ee." 
 Peter preached the Gospel through the greater part of 
 Western Asia, and wrote two general epistles to the 
 Jewish converts scattered through the East. He after- 
 wards visited Rome, and preached the Gospel to his 
 countrymen who had settled in that city. He did not 
 however confine himself to the Jews, but instructed the 
 Gentiles also, and sent several of his disciples as mis-
 
 288 THE HISTORY OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 sionaries to the western provinces of the empire. He 
 then returued to Jerusalem, but came again to Rome, 
 where he suffered martyrdom during the reign of the 
 emperor Nero, who had set fire to the city, and cast the 
 blame of his guilt upon the Christians. This apostle is 
 said to hare been crucified with his head downwards, an 
 unusual posture, conceded to his request; for he affirmed 
 that he was unworthy to suffer in the same posture 
 wherein his Lord had suffered before him. 
 
 SAINT JAMES, called the Greater, probably 
 because he was older than the other Saint James, was 
 the son of Zebedee, a fisherman, and Mary, called also 
 Salome, "sister* to Mary the mother of our Lord." 
 He suffered martyrdom in the reign of Herod, as has 
 been already related. 
 
 SAINT JOHN, the brother of Saint James the 
 Great, founded several churches in Asia, but his chief 
 place of residence was Ephesus. In the reign of the 
 emperor Domitian, he was brought to Rome as a pri- 
 soner, and very cruelly treated. He was subsequently 
 exiled to Patmos, where he remained until the accession 
 of Nerva. He then returned to Ephesus, where he died 
 at the advanced age of one hundred years. In addition 
 to his Gospel, Saint John wrote three General Epistles 
 and the Book of the Revelations. 
 
 SAINT ANDREW, the brother of Saint Peter, is 
 said to have preached the Gospel in Scythia ; he after- 
 wards visited Greece, and was put to death by Egidius, 
 
 * That is, cousin-german ; sucli near relationsliip being regEirded 
 as a species of sisterhood by the Jews.
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE APOSTLES. 289 
 
 the proconsul of Achaia, whom he had endeavoured to 
 convert. The cruel Roman ordered him to be ci-ucified, 
 and that his death might be the more lingering, directed 
 that he should be fastened to the cross not with nails, 
 but with cords. 
 
 Little is known of SAINT PHILIFs history; he 
 
 was a native of Bethsaida, and was the first called of 
 the Apostles. After Christ's ascension, he preached the 
 Gospel in Upper Asia, and is said to have suffered mar- 
 tyrdom at Hierapolis, a city of Phrygia. 
 
 SAINT BARTHOLOMEW, supposed to be the 
 same as Nathanael, is said to have been led by his 
 apostolical zeal as far as India, where he preached the 
 saving trutlis of Cliristianity. He returned to Western 
 Asia, where he was cruelly put to deatli by the bar- 
 barous Armenians. 
 
 SAINT MATTHEW, called also Levi, was the son 
 of Alpheus and Mary, a kinswoman to the mother of our 
 Saviour. For eight years after our Lord's resurrection, 
 he continued to preach the Gospel in Judaea; he after- 
 wards visited Ethiopia, where, by his sermons and 
 miracles he mightily triumphed over error and idolatry. 
 In that country he at length suffered martji'dom ; but 
 by w^hat kind of death cannot be accurately determined, 
 
 SAINT JAMES, called both the Less and the 
 Just, was the reputed brother of our Lord, being the son 
 of Joseph by his first wife Escha. After the day of 
 Pentecost, he was principally employed in Jerusalem, 
 of which history tells us that he was the first bishop. 
 His humility, temperance, and eminent piety, procured
 
 290 THE HISTORY OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 him the respect both of the Jews and the Christians. 
 When Saint Paul escaped from the malice of the chief 
 priests, by appealing to Rome, these wicked men sought 
 out another victim, and procured the murder of the holy 
 apostle Saint James in a popular tumult. 
 
 The province allotted to SAINT THOMAS (of 
 whose parentage nothing certain is known) was Central 
 and Southern Asia. He is regarded as the founder of 
 the ancient Christian churches which still exist in the 
 southern parts of India. But some of the Brahmins, 
 enraged at the rapid progress of a religion which con- 
 demned their absurd rites, conspired his destruction, and 
 procured his assassination while he was engaged in pri- 
 vate devotion. 
 
 The history of SAINT SIMON is very uncertain ; 
 he was called the Canaanite, from his having belonged 
 to the sect of the Zealots, called, in Hebrew, Canaanites. 
 
 SAINT JUDE, called also Thaddeeus and Leb- 
 baeus, was, like James the Less, a son of Joseph, and 
 consequently a reputed brother of Christ. After the 
 resurrection he first laboured in Judaea, and wrote a 
 general epistle to the Jewish converts. He subsequently 
 visited Persia, where he was put to death for reproving 
 the idolatrous rites of the Magi. 
 
 The history of SAINT MATTHIAS, like that of 
 Saint Simon, is very obscure. He was elected by the 
 Apostles to supply the place of the traitor Judas, and 
 became a zealous preacher of the Gospel in Jerusalem 
 and the neighbouring towns. It is generally believed 
 that he fell a victim to the vindictive malice of the Jews.
 
 THE IIISTOPvY OF THE APOSTLES. 291 
 
 We have already detailed a great part of the history 
 of SAINT PAUL. After his liberation from imprison- 
 ment, he preached the Gospel in various parts of the 
 Roman empire, and is supposed to have visited the 
 British Islands. He returned to Rome, and was be- 
 headed during the general persecution to which Saint 
 Peter fell a victim. Saint Barnabas, who had been long 
 a sharer in Saint Peter's labours, was murdered by a 
 Jewish mob in the island of Cyprus. 
 
 The Evangelist SAINT MARK Avas tlie friend and 
 companion of Saint Peter, under whose direction he 
 composed his Gospel. He accompained Saint Paul in 
 part of his first journey, but having deserted him with- 
 out due reason, he was not allowed to participate in any 
 of his subsequent labours. He visited Egypt, and was 
 soon murdered by that most superstitious of all ido- 
 latrous nations. 
 
 SAINT LUKE is said to have been both a pliy- 
 sician and a painter; he became a faithful companion of 
 Saint Paul, and joined in many of liis labours. Wliile 
 Saint Paul was detained in prison at Rome, Saint Luke 
 preached the Gospel in Northern Africa and Eastern 
 Europe. He was at length seized in Greece by some 
 bigoted idolators, and hanged on an olive-tree.
 
 292 
 
 Supplementary Chapter. 
 THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. 
 
 The storm prevails, the rampart yields a way, 
 
 Bursts the wide cry of horror and dismay ! 
 
 Hark ! as the smouldering piles with thunder fall, 
 
 A thousand shrieks for hopeless mercy call ; 
 
 Earth shook, red meteors flashed along the sky, 
 
 And conscious Nature shuddered at the cry ! Casipbell. 
 
 A.M. 4074.... A.D. 7u. 
 
 The cruelties of the several Roman governors that 
 succeeded Pilate in the government of Judsea were mon- 
 strous ; nothing was too holy to escape their rapacity ; 
 complaints were received with mockery and insult, or 
 punished as marks of insubordination. But all previous 
 sufferings were as nothing compared to what the wretched 
 people were forced to endure under the tyrannical sway 
 of Gessius Florus. Under the rule of this wicked tyrant, 
 supported as he was by his ally, Cestius Gallus, governor 
 of Syria, the land was filled with mourning. He plun- 
 dered, not merely individuals, but communities ; and 
 extended to his agents the same licence of robbery, on 
 the condition of their giving him a share of the spoil. 
 Entire villages, and even towns, were deserted by their 
 inhabitants, who fled into distant lands from so cruel an 
 oppression. 
 
 Awful prodigies and threatening omens are said to 
 have deepened the gloom that spread over the Jewish 
 people. A comet, shaped like a sword, was seen for an 
 entire year in the sky over Jerusalem. The inner gate 
 of the temple, which required twenty men to move it, 
 flew open spontaneously, and was with difficulty closed
 
 THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. 293 
 
 by the terrified guard. At midniglit, a supernatural 
 liglit illumined the temple and altar, and continued for 
 more than half an hour. Chariots and embattled armies 
 appeared in the air, whose phantom forms seemed to 
 encircle the city. The noise as of a retreating host was 
 heard by several of the priests, when they were about to 
 enter the temple, and a voice of thunder exclaimed from 
 the sanctuary, " Let us depart hence!" The prophe- 
 cies of the destruction of Jerusalem, which were dis- 
 seminated among the Christians, rendered the interpre- 
 tation of these omens easy; it was obvious that some 
 great calamity was impending ; and the Christians fol- 
 lowing the prophetic advice of their Lord, quitted Judaea^^ 
 and retired beyond the Jordan. 
 
 Even before these signs of evil became so distinct, a 
 countryman, named Jesus, the son of Ananias, began to 
 denounce the coming woes. In the midst of peace and 
 prosperity, he proclaimed, "A voice from the east! a 
 voice from the west ! a voice from the four winds ! a 
 voice against Jerusalem and against the temple ! a voice 
 against the bridegrooms and the brides! a voice against 
 the whole people !" By day and by night were these 
 words of melancholy warning heard through the city, 
 mingling with the festive sounds of revelry, and rising 
 high above the hum of business. Some of the leaders 
 ordered the " prophet of ill" to be seized and severely 
 beaten: he made no resistance, asked no merc3% uttered 
 no cry of pain, but still repeated his awful denunciations^ 
 By order of the prefect Albinus, he was flogged until 
 his bones were laid bare ; but he still reiterated, " Woe 
 to Jerusalem!" For four years he continued to repeat 
 his prediction : he reviled not those who struck him ; 
 he thanked not those who gave him food. He thus 
 continued through the subsequent war, until, during the
 
 294 THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. 
 
 siege, he suddenly exclaimed, " Woe to myself!" and 
 fell dead, slain l3y a stone hurled from one of the Roman 
 engines. 
 
 The Jews at length took up arms against the tyranny 
 of Florus. It had been the deliberate purpose of this 
 atrocious despot to provoke an insurrection, for the pur- 
 pose of enriching himself by confiscations ; but he had 
 underrated the strength of the injured people, and had 
 forgotten that no courage equals that Avhich arises from 
 despair. Not only was Florus driven from Jerusalem, 
 but the numerous army which Cestius brought to avenge 
 his cause was ruinously and disgracefully.defeated. The 
 Jews were so intoxicated by this success, that they 
 madly resolved to brave the strength of the whole 
 Roman empire ; and so alarming did the revolt appear, 
 that Nero employed for its suppression, Vespasian, the 
 greatest general of the age. 
 
 Vespasian, who, soon after his arrival, was joined by 
 Titus his son, began tlie war by the invasion of Galilee, 
 but encountered everywhere a more fierce resistance 
 than had been anticipated. Jotapata, defended b}^ 
 Josephus, the celebrated Jewish historian, stood a siege 
 of forty-seven days, and was not reduced without the 
 utmost difficulty and an immense loss of life. The sub- 
 jugation of the little province of Galilee, in fact, occupied 
 an entire campaign ; and if the Jews had been a united 
 people ; if, in this their last and worst crisis, conduct had 
 guided courage, humanly speaking, the fate of their 
 nation might have been averted. But " the hearts of 
 the people had waxed gross; their ears were dull of 
 hearing ; their eyes they had closed that they might not 
 see." Regardless of the overwhelming forces brought 
 against them by the Romans, the Jews were engaged 
 in fierce and bloody civil wars; the streets of Jerusalem
 
 THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALE:\I. 295 
 
 streamed witli the blood of rival foctions, ^vllOse only 
 unity of sentiment was hatred of foreign rule, and whose 
 only unity of action was the persecution of peaceable 
 citizens. A horde of robbers, that took the name, and 
 pretended to adopt the principles, of the sect called the 
 Zealots, had taken possession of the temple and its 
 towers; fi*om thence bands were sent forth daily to 
 assassinate those who were suspected of being lukewarm 
 in the national cause, who had opposed the faction of the 
 Zealots, who had complained of the outrages of the 
 robbers, or, finally, who possessed wealth sufficient to 
 tempt unprincipled cupidit}'. 
 
 Ananus the high-priest encouraged the people to 
 throw off a yoke more intolerable than ever that of the 
 Romans had been; a gi-eat body of the citizens joined 
 him, but when he had the fairest prospect of success, he 
 was joined by a treacherous ally, whose artifices brought 
 down ruin. This was John of Gischala, who had ob- 
 tained a high reputation by the obstinate resistance he 
 made to the progress of the Romans in Galilee. Acting 
 on his advice, the Zealots applied for aid to the Idu- 
 mseans. War was the pastime of this wild tribe. A 
 large army was levied, and sent with astonishing expedi- 
 tion to Jerusalem. During a dreadful storm, the Zealots, 
 sallying from the temple, opened the gates of the city 
 to their allies ; and on that fatal night the ruin of Jeru- 
 salem was sealed. A scene of fearful massacre continued 
 for several days. The chief priests were among the first 
 victims : after them fell all the respectable citizens ; but 
 even poverty now afforded no protection. The ricli 
 •were sacrificed to glut avarice, — the poor cut down in 
 the very wantonness of brutal sport. The Iduma^ans at 
 length departed ; but their place was soon supplied by a 
 •worse enemy,— Simon, the son of Gioras, who obtained 
 possession of the upper city.
 
 296 THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. 
 
 The last winter of Jerusalem's existence was passed 
 in the fierce and sanguinary struggles of rival factions. 
 Eleazar, with a pai-t of the Zealots, seized the inner court 
 of the temple ; John of Gischala, and another division 
 of that faction, occupied the remainder of the sacred 
 edifice ; Simon, vi'ith his friends, had possession of the 
 city, and waged incessant war against the partisans of 
 John. In the desolating contests between these rival 
 parties, the granaries and stores of provisions were 
 destroyed, and famine was raging in the city before the 
 enemy had reach the gates. 
 
 Vespasian had, in the mean time, been raised to the 
 empire, and the conduct of the war was intnisted to his 
 son Titus. He approached Jerusalem with a numerous 
 and well-appointed army, apparently sufficient to conquer 
 merely by its appearance, and encamped about a league 
 from the city. Advancing to reconnoitre the place, he 
 received a foretaste of the desperate valour that he was 
 to encounter ; for the Jews made a sudden sally, threw 
 the squadons of cavalry into disorder, and forced Titus 
 to seek safety in flight. 
 
 The Romans soon advanced to commence the siege 
 in form ; but they suffered severely from the desperate 
 sallies of the Jews, who, prodigal of life, rushed against 
 the hostile lines, and were not repelled without the 
 utmost difficulty. At the same time, John, by an arti- 
 fice, triumphed over Eleazar, and united under his own 
 sway the entire faction of the Zealots. Jerusalem was 
 fortified by three walls: the first encompassed Bezetha, 
 •which had been originally a suburb : the second included 
 Acra, the temple, and the tower of Antonia; and the 
 third guarded the old or upper city on Mount Zion, 
 These walls were of solid masonry, secured by towei-s, 
 and, at the time when the use of gunpowder was un- 
 known, must have seemed almost impregnable.
 
 THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALExM. 297 
 
 There were many difficulties to be overcome before 
 the engines of the besiegers could be so placed as to 
 batter the first wall in breach. Scarcely, however, had 
 the battering-rams began to pla}^, when the Jews made 
 a sally, and nearly succeeded in destroying the engines. 
 They were repulsed ; and soon after, finding themselves 
 exposed to the missiles of the Roman light troops, who 
 were posted in towers cased in iron, they evacuated the 
 suburb Bezetha, and sought refuge within the second 
 wall. Titus at once occupied Bezetha, and brought for- 
 ward his engines against the new line of defence. The 
 difficulties of the besiegers were here greatly increased, 
 for they were exposed to the forces of John in the tower 
 of Antonia, and in the northern cloisters of the temple, 
 as well as to the shot of Simon's forces, who defended 
 the wall. On the fifth da}^ however, the second wall 
 yielded to the force of the battering-rams, and Titus 
 entered the division of the city called Acra. Suddenly 
 the Jews attacked the Romans, entangled in the narrow 
 streets, drove them through the breach, and deprived 
 them of all the fruits of their victory. It was not until 
 the fourth da}' after, that Titus succeeded in forcing a 
 passage for the second time ; warned b^^ experience, he 
 now threw down a great part of the walls, and placed 
 strong garrisons in the towers he alloAved to stand. 
 Two divisions of Jerusalem had been taken ; but there 
 still remained the ancient city of the Jebusites on 
 Mount Zion, the strong fortress of Antonia, and the 
 magnificent temple on Mount Moriah. 
 
 Titus waited a few days to tr}' the effects of fear and 
 famine on his obstinate enemies ; they were proof against 
 both. Every horror tliat the human tongue can utter, 
 or the human imagination conceive, had been j)roduced 
 by want in that wretched garrison ; there were many so
 
 298 THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. 
 
 revolting, that we dare not attempt the description — one 
 may suffice for all; a mother actually feasted on the 
 flesh of her own infant! But in the midst of these 
 horrors the obstinacy of the Jews never wavered ; and 
 what is more strange, the violence of the factions did not 
 abate. Titus was consequently obliged to renew the 
 siege, and it required the labour of seventeen days before 
 the engines could be placed in a position to act efFect- 
 tively. Even then one-half of his labour was rendered 
 fruitless, for John liad mined tlie ground beneath the 
 Roman embankments, and filled tlie cavities with com- 
 bustibles ; so that scarcely were the engines fixed, wlien 
 he fired the train, and the whole was involved in one 
 fierce conflagration. Taking advantage of the confusion, 
 Simon made a sally on his side, and destroyed the re- 
 mainder of the Roman engines. Titus was consequently 
 forced to turn the siege into a blockade. 
 
 A brief interval was now aff'orded to the defenders of 
 the city; they employed it in new discords and new 
 crimes. The high-priest was publicly executed, after 
 having been, by an excess of barbarity, forced to witness 
 the murder of his sons ; countless other victims were 
 sacrificed through suspicion of treachery or from motives 
 of private revenge; the living became unable to bury 
 the dead, and the city was one vast charnel-house. The 
 engines were at length repaired, the walls yielded to 
 their force, and a practicable breach was made. 
 
 It was found that John had erected a new wall just 
 behind the breach ; but this, being built in a hurry, was 
 soon forced, and the Romans rushed against the temple 
 and the tower of Antonia. After ten hours of desperate 
 fighting, they were forced to content themselves with 
 the possession of the latter. The tower of Antonia was 
 levelled with the ground, and on its ruins the engines
 
 THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. 299 
 
 were placed for the attack of the temple. Here for many 
 days the war raged more fiercely than ever, because the 
 combatants fought in a narrow space under the eyes of 
 their companions and commanders. At length the 
 Romans made themselves masters of the outward court, 
 but the strength of the main wall defied the power of 
 the battering engines. Orders were then given to fire 
 the gates, it was done, and the conflagration spread to 
 the adjacent cloisters. The flames continued an entire 
 day, raging through the outer buildings, but the Jews 
 heeded them not. In the evening, Titus gave his sol- 
 diers orders to extinguish the fire ; but, while tliey were 
 thus employed, the Jews made a fierce sally, which was 
 repulsed with great difficulty. The Romans entered 
 the inner court with the fugitives, and one of the soldiers 
 hurling a blazing brand into an opposite chamber, the 
 flames sprung up with renewed violence. Titus, roused 
 from his bed, hastened to save the noble edifice : but 
 while thus employed, a soldier thrust a torch beneath 
 the door of the sanctuary, and the fury of the conflagra- 
 tion became irresistible. The Romans, irritated by the 
 resistance they had encountered, gave no quarter. The 
 Jews fell by thousands around and upon the holy hill ; 
 great numbers perished in the flames; but from none 
 came a lamentation, or even a look of sorrow for their 
 own fate; each turned his dying eye to the blazing 
 temple, and regarded death as a preferable fate to the 
 witnessing of the ruin of his name and nation. The 
 riches of the temple were immense; they now became 
 the prey of the Roman soldiers, who shared them with 
 savage exultation. 
 
 Another month elapsed before the upper city was 
 taken; the soldiers butchered the wretched citizens, 
 until they were forced to cease, from actual weariness, 
 X2
 
 300 THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. 
 
 The rest were then reserved to be sold as slaves. John 
 of Gischala and Simon were made prisoners; the former 
 was condemned to perpetual imprisonment, the latter 
 was reserved to grace the triumph of the conqueror. 
 Jerusalem was razed to the ground ; of the temple, one 
 stone remained not on another; the remarkable predic- 
 tion of Christ was fulfilled to the letter; and the Jews 
 became the by- word and mockery of all other nations. 
 
 During the siege, one million one hundred thousand 
 perished by the sword, by fire, or famine ; ninety-seven 
 thousand of the survivors were sold as slaves, or reserved 
 to butcher each other as gladiators, at the brutal games 
 of the victors. The victory of Titus was celebrated at 
 Rome by a splendid triumph ; a triumphal arch, which 
 still exists, was raised to commemorate the event ; and 
 a medal struck, in which the captured land of Judrea 
 was significantly represented as a disconsolate female 
 sitting beneath a palm-tree, while a soldier standing by 
 laughed at her misery, and mocked at her calamity.
 
 301 
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX OF EVENTS. 
 
 The authority of Archbishop Usher lias been chiefly followed in the con- 
 structiou of the following Tables ; but in some dates, we have fol- 
 lowed later writers, to whom recent researches in ancient history 
 have afforded new opportunities of investigation. The only novelty 
 to which this Index can lay claim is, the insertion of some of the 
 most remarkable events recorded in profane history; they, at least, 
 serve to show that the chosen people of God possessed clear and cer- 
 tain records of periods that preceded, by many centuries, even the 
 traditions of other nations. 
 
 B.C. 
 
 4004 
 
 4003 
 3875 
 3874 
 3074 
 3017 
 2948 
 2468 
 
 2348 
 
 Sacred History. 
 The Creation 
 Adam and Eve expelled from"< 
 
 Paradise . . . . J 
 
 The birth of Cain 
 The birth of Abel 
 The murder of Abel 
 The birth of Seth 
 The death of Adam 
 The translation of Enoch 
 The birth of Xoah 
 Noah commanded by God to"i 
 
 preach repentance to mankind/ 
 Commencement of the deluge . . 
 Subsidence of the waters 
 God's covenant with Noah 
 
 Frofane Ilislorij. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 9 
 
 . 'io 
 
 . 16 
 . 16 
 17 
 17 
 . 17 
 , 18 
 , 19 
 
 . 19 
 
 , 20 
 . 22 
 . 22 
 
 2347 The building of Babel 
 2217 Nimrod's reign .. 
 1996 The birth of Abram 
 
 1921 
 1920 
 
 1919 
 1912 
 
 1911 
 
 The call of Abram 
 
 Abram driven by famine from ) 
 
 Canaan to Egypt — his return j 
 Separation of Abram and Lot . . 
 The rescue of Lot from Chedor- ) 
 
 laomer, king of Elam . . ) 
 
 The birth of Ishmael 
 
 I Supposed era of the fouuda- 
 J tion of the Chinese mon- 
 \ archy 
 
 I Supposed era of the founda- 
 J tion of the Assyrian em- 
 
 l pile 
 
 [ About this time the Hyksos, 
 \ or shepherd-kings, first ap- 
 V peared in Egypt 
 
 24 
 
 23 
 
 2.5 
 25 
 
 26 
 
 26 
 
 27 
 
 28
 
 302 CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX OF EVENTS. 
 
 B.C. Sacred History. Profane History. page 
 
 1897 God's covenant with Abram . . . . . . . , . . 29 
 
 Destruction of Sodom and Go-1 o,^ 
 
 morrah . . . , j 
 
 1896 The birth of Isaac 32 
 
 1891 The banishment of Hagar and) oo 
 
 Ishmael . . . . ) 
 
 1871 Abraham's obedience "when com-) „- 
 
 manded to sacrifice Isaac j 
 
 1859 The death of Sarah . . . . 36 
 
 1856 Abraham s steward sent to pro- ■> t^i i • j ^ * 
 
 cure a wife for Isaac, LJj^^ ^'^"f'^™ f ^^S«^ ,. 
 
 among his own kindred I ^o^^^^ed by Inachus .. 3. 
 
 1853 The marriage of Abraham and) o- 
 
 Keturah .. .. f '*' 
 
 1837 The birth of Esau and Jacob • . . • • • . . . . 39 
 
 1821 The death of Abraham 38 
 
 1760 Jacob compelled to fly from the) About this time the deluge of 
 
 wrath of his brother Esau J Ogyges in Attica . . 40 
 
 1753 Jacob marries Leah . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 
 
 1746 Jacob marries Rachel .. .. .. ., .. ..41 
 
 1732 Departure of Jacob from Laban 42 
 
 Interview between Jacob and Esau . . . . . . . . 43 
 
 1733 The death of Rachel 44 
 
 1728 Joseph sold by his brethren .. .. .. .. ..46 
 
 1717 cast into poison .. .. .. .. ..48 
 
 1715 released to interpret Pha- 1 ^ 
 
 raoh's dreams .. .. ) 
 
 1708 The end of the seven rears of) ^q 
 
 plenty .. .*. / *^ 
 
 1707 Jacob's ten sons go to Egypt ,. .. .. .. ..49 
 
 1706 Joseph made known to his bre-) -o 
 
 thien } ^^ 
 
 1705 Jacob goes down into EgA-pt .. .. .. .. ..52 
 
 1689 The death of Jacob .'. ,. .. .. .. ..53 
 
 3 635 The death of Joseph .. • .. .. . .. ..53 
 
 1574 The Israelites persecuted bv thej ^'-Y' ^^f^ ^^f "' f^' ^^ 
 Egvptian kmg . . ' \ chronology of the Arunde- 
 
 °" ^ ° I ban marbles begins . . o4 
 
 1571 The birth of Moses 54 
 
 1531 Moses forced to fly into Midian 5Q 
 
 1491 God appears to Moses in a burn-) Three years before this,Thebes 
 
 ing bush on Mount Horeb J is founded by Cadmus . . 56 
 
 The ten plagues of Egypt ' .. .,59 
 
 The destruction of the iEgvptiansl on 
 
 in the Red Sea .'. ( ^^ 
 
 1491 The murmurings of the Israelites .. .. .. ..64 
 
 1490 The law given from Mount Sinai .. .. .. ..65 
 
 —— The worship of the golden calf . . . . . . . . . . %G
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX OF EVENTS. 
 
 303 
 
 B.C. 
 
 1490 
 
 1-489 
 1452 
 
 143: 
 
 1444 
 
 1443 
 1405 
 
 1343 
 
 1325 
 1305 
 
 1285 
 
 1252 
 
 1245 
 1233 
 
 1188 
 
 1155 
 
 Sacred History. Profane History. page 
 
 The Israelites discouraged by the j 
 
 spies sent to explore the pro- 1 . . . . . . . . 7<J 
 
 raised land . . . . j 
 
 The rebellion of Korah .. .. .. .. .. ..71 
 
 Moses excluded from the pro-| -, 
 
 mised land . . . . f 
 
 Balak summons tlie prophet Ba- \ Religious rites introduced 
 
 laam to curse the children of I into Greece by the Idsei 
 
 Israel . . . . . . j Dactyli . . . . . . 73 
 
 The death of Moses " J-5 
 
 The siege of Jericho . . • • . . . . . . . . 70 
 
 The sun and moon stand still at ) ,-g 
 
 the command of Joshua j 
 
 The war against the Canaanitesl -o 
 
 ended . . . . . . j 
 
 The death of Joshua 
 
 The Israelites, falling into idola-^ 
 
 Probable era of Minos 
 Crete 
 
 • Kingdom o f My c en se foun ded SO 
 
 SO 
 
 81 
 
 try, are enslaved by the king 
 
 of Mesopotamia ; but, on their 
 
 repentance, are delivered by 
 
 Othniel .. .. J 
 
 The Israelites subdued by the! 
 
 king of Moab . . 
 The Israelites delivered by Ehud 
 Jabin subdues the Israelites 
 Probably about this time the his- ) 
 
 tory of Ruth begins . . J 
 
 Deborah, and her general Barak,) ^^"tt^i^ "^f. ^« ^'^o- 
 deliver the Israelites .. 7 nantac expedition was nn- 
 J dertaken 
 
 '^^drel^'STslaeVT''' "^^ '^^' l^jre founded . . ' .. 
 
 Gideon delivers the Israelites : 
 
 . . The foundation of Carthage 
 
 "I Probable era of tlie Trujan 
 
 j war 
 
 Death of Abimelech 
 Jephthah's rash vow 
 The birth of Samson 
 
 1151 The ill conduct of Elis sons 
 
 1137 
 
 1117 
 1116 
 1096 
 1095 
 1094 
 
 78 
 
 SO 
 
 81 
 
 81 
 
 81 
 
 82 
 83 
 
 83 
 
 81 
 
 (Tliree years after this, the 
 Temple of Diana, at Ephe- 
 sus, is burned by Erostra- 
 tus .. '.. ..87 
 
 Samson slays 1000 Philistines ^^ cjj 
 
 with the jaw-bone of an ass J 
 The death of Samson . . . . . . . . • • . . 90 
 
 The death of Eli 84 
 
 111 conduct of the sons of Samuel . . . . • • . . 8-5 
 
 Saul created king of Israel . . . . . . . • . . 91 
 
 Jonathan surprises a Philistine ) ' 
 
 garrison . . . . J 
 
 02
 
 304 CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX OF EVENTS. 
 
 £} 
 
 B.C. Sacred History. Profane History. page 
 
 1063 Saul rejected for disobedience . . '^ . . . , . . . . 9-4 
 
 Da^-id kills Goliath 95 
 
 1060 David seeks refuge from the hos- " 
 tility of Saul, among the Phi- 
 listines 
 
 1055 The death of Saul and Jonathan 97 
 
 The accession of David . . . . . . . . . . 99 
 
 1053 The murder of Ishbosheth . . 99 
 
 104:7 David captures Jerusalem . . . . . . . . . . 99 
 
 1044 The ark removed to Jerusalem P^'g'^^,^^ ^^/^^^""i^'^ ^«^«- ,.. 
 
 ( nies from Greece . . lOU 
 
 1035 David's criminal conduct to Uriah .. .. .. .. 101 
 
 1025 The revolt of Absalom 102 
 
 1015 Death of David — Accession of| -,,., 
 
 } 
 
 Solomuu 
 
 1012 The temple founded .. .'. 107 
 
 1004 The dedication of the temple . . . . . • . . . . 107 
 
 975 Death of Solomon 109 
 
 , Division of the kingdoms of Israel) -,1/^ 
 
 andJudah .. .. | ^^^ 
 
 974 Jeroboam erects two golden calves .. .. .. .. Ill 
 
 972 Rehoboam falls into idolatry . .Shishak, king of Egypt . . 123 
 
 Jeroboam reproved by a prophet . . . . . . . . HI 
 
 958 The death of Rehoboam 123 
 
 955 The death of Abijah (Judah; 125 
 
 954 The death of Jeroboam .. ,. .. .. ..112 
 
 950 Nadab assassinated (Israel) .. .. .. .. .. 112 
 
 ■ Baasha usurps the crown (Israel) .. .. .. .. 112 
 
 941 Asa, king of Judah, defeats the) -.n- 
 
 forces of Z era the Ethiopian) '" "' " '* ^ 
 
 940 Asa bribes Benhadad, king ofi ( 112 
 
 Svria, to attack the kingdom I . . . . . . \ 
 
 of Israel .... J (126 
 
 930 Death of Baasha (Israel) 112 
 
 929 Murder of Elah, successive usur- 1 
 
 pations of Zimri and Omri ?• .. .. .. .. 112 
 
 (Israel) .. .. J 
 
 918 Death of Omri — Accession ofl The Rhodians gain the com- 
 
 Ahab (Israel) .. .. J mand of the sea .. 113 
 
 914 Death of Asa. — Accession of Je- 1 -.nn 
 
 hoshaphat (Judah) ., / ^^^ 
 
 Ahab persecutes the prophets ofl t , o 
 
 the true God .. .. ) ^^"^ 
 
 900 conquers Benhadad j'^^^iod^' ""^ ^°™''" ^°^ ^'' 115 
 
 897 is slain. — Accession o ) ,,„ 
 
 Ahaziah (Israel) .. f -^^^ 
 
 896 The fleet of Jehoshaphat de j ,^^ 
 
 stroyed (Judab) .. > ** ** ** • • -
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX OF EVENTS. 305 
 
 I 116 
 
 B.C. Sacred History. Profane History. 
 
 896 Death of Ahaziah. — Accession of i 
 
 Jehoram (Israel) 
 895 Jehoram defeats the Moahites . . The age of Lycr.rgus . . 1 IG 
 889 Death of Jehoshaphat. — Accession) -..ja 
 
 ot Jehoram (Judah) . . J 
 
 Elijah translated 117 
 
 886 Death of Jehoram. — Accession of) j^^c 
 
 Ahaziah (Judah) . . . . J 
 
 884 Assassination of Jehoram. — Usur-| . ,g 
 
 pation of Jehu (Israel) . . j 
 
 Murder of Ahaziah. — Usurpation 1 The Olympiads first used as 
 
 of Athaliah (Judah) .. J a measure of time .. 128 
 
 878 Athaliah slain. — Accession of ) , qg 
 
 Jehoash (Judah) . . . . J 
 
 856 Jonah sent to Nineveh .. .. .. .. .. .,170 
 
 Death of Jehu. — Accession of Je-) ,,g 
 
 hoahaz (Israel) . . . J 
 
 841 Death of Jehoahaz. — Accession| .. .. .. ..119' 
 
 of Jehoash (Israel) . . j 
 
 840 Jehoash falls into idolatry (Judali) .. , \%9 
 
 839 is punished by a Syrian] ,^g 
 
 invasion . • . . . . J 
 836 is slain 12^ 
 
 Jehoash of Israel defeats the Sy-l ,,„ 
 
 lians . . . . . . j 
 
 826 plunders Jerusalem .. .. .. .. .. 11^ 
 
 825 dies, and is succeeded By f Theageof Sardanapalus,(the 
 
 T , TT "i last monarch ol the Assv- 
 
 Jeroboam 11. . .. I . • > " ^.^/-k 
 
 .^ciuuucu^ I rian empire) .. .. 120 
 
 810 Amaziah slain. — Succeeded by) ,gg 
 
 Uzziah (Judah) . . . . J 
 
 807 Uzziah defeats the Philistines 130 
 
 785 Amos begins to prophesy .. .. .. .. .. .. 175 
 
 782 Jeroboam II. dies.-An interreg-. oivmpiad dates six 
 
 num in Israel during the elevenj ^..^..^fter thil viz. B.c.776 120 
 
 follo-wing years . . . . ' ' 
 
 772 Zachariali, king of Israel, slain) j^Q 
 
 after a reign of six months j - * ' 
 
 761 Death of ]Menahem, king of Israel . , . . . . . . 120- 
 
 759 Death of Pekahiah, ditto 120 
 
 758 Death of Uzziah, king of Judah . . . . . . . . . . 131 
 
 757 Isaiah begins to prophesy .. .. .. .. .. ..167 
 
 753 Hosea begins to prophesy . . . .Rome founded . . . . 173 
 
 .-^o -r, T 1 1 • e -f ^ 1 • /Nine vears before this, com- 
 
 738 Pekah, k.ng of Israel, slam ; an f ^^-^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^,. ^^^^^_ 
 
 interregnum of nine years \ ^^^^^^ ^.^ ^^^ ,^7 ^ 1.22 
 
 Micah begins to prophesy . . . . . . . . . . . . 17& 
 
 'i'2Q Ahaz, king of Judah, dies, and is) ^^2 
 
 succeeded by Hezekiah
 
 306 CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX OF EVENTS. 
 
 B.C. Sacred History. Profane History. page 
 
 719 The captivity of the ten tribes 122 
 
 Nahum prophesies . . • . ■ • . . . . • . 173 
 
 713 Sennacherib invades Judah .. •• .. .. •• 133 
 
 710 Miraculous destruction of the As-) jo^ 
 
 Syrian army . . . . j 
 
 709 Hezekiah dies, and is succeeded) jor 
 
 by his wicked son Manasseh J 
 
 676 Manasseh carried into captivity .. .. .. .. ..135 
 
 674: is restored on his re- 1 ,„/. 
 
 pentance j 
 
 660 Joel prophesies .. .. .. -• .. .. ..172 
 
 643 Death of Manasseh. — Accession) 107 
 
 of Amon . . . . f 
 
 641 Death of Amon. — Accession ui i i o- 
 
 of J 
 
 Josiah . . . . . . j 
 
 612 Habakkuk prophesies .. .. •• •• •• ..174 
 
 Zephaniah prophesies . . . . . • . . . . . . 174= 
 
 609 Death of Josiah.-Accession of 1 ^he age of Pharaoh Necho 138 
 
 Jehoiakim . . . . J ° 
 
 Jeremiah begins to prophesy .. .. .. .. ..167 
 
 606 Jerusalem taken by Nebuchad-) j^^^^^^^^j^^ ^^^.^^^^^j^ ^^ 138 
 
 nezzar . . . . . . j 
 
 600 Death of Jehoiakim, his son Jehoi--v In the preceding year occur- 
 
 achin succeeds, but is deposed, > red the celebrated eclipseof 
 
 after a reign of three months ■' the sun recorded by Thales 139 
 588 Zedekiah, the last king of Judah,^ 
 
 is made a prisoner, and his! 139 
 
 subjects carried captives to j 
 
 Babylon . . . . J 
 
 586 The death of Jeremiah 168 
 
 Ezekiel prophesies .. .. .. .. .. .. 168 
 
 Daniel begins to prophesy . . . • • - . . . . 169 
 
 570 Nebuchadnezzar erects a golden) , . . 
 
 image in the plains of Dura J 
 560 Death of Nebuchadnezzar ,. Cyrus begins to reign .. 145 
 
 538 The handwriting on the wall — ) -,.- 
 
 Capture of Babylon by Cyrus J 
 
 Daniel cast into the den of lions . . - - .. .. .. 151 
 
 536 Cyrus issues an edict putting an) , -^ 
 
 end to the Jewish captivity j 
 
 520 Haggai and Zechariah prophesy .. .. .. 174, 175 
 
 /Six years previously, Darius 
 
 516 The temple rebuilt ., -j Hystaspes became king of 
 
 ^ Persia 156 
 
 474 Esther rescues the Jews from de-) The second Persian invasion 
 
 struction . . . . j repelled by the Greeks . . 153 
 
 467 Ezra leads a second division of > . • /-n v -^ • 
 
 the Jews from Babylon to Jeru- l^PP^"^ . P '''°'"'''' '''" i -q 
 salem .. ..' .. i cide at Rome .. .. lo9
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX OF EVENTS. 307 
 
 B.C. Sacred History. Profane History. page 
 
 455 Nehemiah rebuilds the walls of 1 The first Dictatorship of Cin- 
 
 Jerusalem . . . . ) ciunatus . . . . . . 160 
 
 420 Death of Malachi, the last of the! The Niciaii peace befrn'een 
 
 prophets . . . . / Athens and Sparta . . 173 
 
 Heee closes the Canon of the Old Testament. 
 
 Jewish History. General History. 
 
 373 Murderof his brother by the high- f-^'';?'^,^';^^^' ^ing of Persia, 
 priest Jonathan .. j Jctates terms of peace to 
 
 ^ '^ the Urecian states .. 1// 
 
 ^^^'^lm'a?s!"^'^"''!.^^'^!.^^''''}The battle of Arbela ' ..178 
 
 ^^^ '"^'prlest'^' .!"'' ^ff '^^"^'f, ^'S^JThe battle of Ipsus. . . . 179 
 
 284 The Septaagint translation of the I The Samnites renew their 
 
 Holy Scriptures begun J wars with the Romans . . 181 
 
 203 The Jews levok to the Syrians 181 
 
 172 The temple plundered by Mene-1 War between the Romans 
 
 laus . . . . . . j and Macedonians . . 183 
 
 170 Jerusalem taken and sacked bv 1 „ 
 
 Antiochus .. .. J ^^^ 
 
 168 The martyrdom of Eleazar I "^^^ ?^^^l'^''"^°^ '^^''"^ ,o> 
 
 "' I subdued by the Romans 185 
 
 Mattathias, the first of the Macca-] Perseus led in triumph by 
 
 bees, takes up arms . . J Paulus /Emilius . . . . 187 
 
 166 Judas Maccabseus expels the Sy- \ Two plebeian consuls for the 
 
 rians from Judtea . . j first time elected at Rome 189 
 
 465 The temple purified . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 
 
 161 Judas Maccabseus slain .. .. .. .. .. .. 191 
 
 144 Jonathan Maccabseus murdered . . . . . . . , . 192 
 
 142 Simon Maccabseus captures the) ,^ 
 
 Syrian fortress on Acra j ' ' ' ' " • • yo 
 
 135 Simon Maccabajus assassinated \ ^ 
 
 by his son-in-law Ptolemy j *' '* ** •• l^i 
 
 194 
 195 
 
 John HjTcanus, the successor of) 
 
 Simon, submits to the Syrians j 
 129 Hyrcanus revolts, and adds Idu-) j^^^^j^ ^^ g j j ^fricanus 
 
 mtea to his dominions . . j ^ 
 
 78 Civil war between Hyrcanus II.)c„„ i ^.r-.i •, .. ,n/^ 
 
 and Aristobulus .. | Second Mithndatic war .. 196 
 
 63 Jerusalem taken by Pompey , . Death of Mithridates . . 196 
 
 /The second reconciliation be- 
 40 Herod appointed king of Judsea j tneen Anthony and Octa- 
 
 ^ vius Csesar . . ..197 
 
 — Herod causes his wife Mariamnel Octavius Caesar takes the 
 
 to be murdered . . . . / title of Augustus . . 199
 
 SOS CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX OF EVENTS. 
 
 A.D. Jewish History. General History. '^''^ tage 
 
 THE BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST* .; .. ..201 
 
 14 . . . . . . . . . . Death of Augustus Csesar 
 
 27 John the Baptist begins to preach {^^Jf^J^^^^PP^^^^^^ go^-ernor of ^^^ 
 
 28 The baptism of Christ 212 
 
 30 Christ's first miracle 222 
 
 31 John the Baptist beheaded 211 
 
 33 Christ betraved and crucified . . . . . . . . . . 243 
 
 — The descent^ of the Holy Ghost 266 
 
 — The death of Ananias and Sapphira . . . . . . . . 268 
 
 — The martyrdom of Stephen . . 27i 
 
 o-r rp, . Pot T) 1 (Death of the emperor Tibe- 
 
 ol The conversion of St. Paul < ^^^^ '■ 273 
 
 41 The conversion of Cornelius . . . . . . . . • . 273 
 
 4i St. James (the less) beheaded by) Judsea made a Roman pro- 
 order of Herod Agrippa . . J vince . . . . . . 277 
 
 50 The council of Jerusalem . . . . Nero adopted by Claudius . . 278 
 
 00 St, Paul arrested in the temple 283 
 
 62 appeals to Caesar . . . . . . . . . . . . 284 
 
 63 sent to Rome 284 
 
 ^^ ^oTjud Ji°'.".' *PP^\''*'^ S^ernorjp^^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^ 292 
 
 67 The Jews driven to revolt by the) 204 
 
 cruelties of Floras . . J 
 
 68 The Zealots garrison the temple 295 
 
 69 Eleazar seizes the inner court of) ^^i , . , nno 
 
 the temple . . . . T^^^ proclaimed emperor . . 29G 
 
 — The conduct of the Jewish warl Vespasian proclaimed era- 
 
 intrusted to Titus . . J peror . . . . . . 296 
 
 70 Titus besieges Jerusalem . . . . . . . . . . . . 296 
 
 — The dreadful sufferings of the) ^o- 
 
 Jews during the siege . . J 
 
 — Jerusalem taken, and the temple) .->qn 
 
 destroyed . . . , . . J 
 
 — The city razed to the ground, and 5 on^) 
 
 the plough passed over its ruins J 
 
 * See Note, p. 20 1.
 
 309 
 
 INDEX TO THE GOSPEL HISTORY. 
 
 Page 
 
 The Annunciation . . . . , . . . . . . . 205 
 
 The birth of John 209 
 
 The birth of Christ 205 
 
 The adoration of the Shepherds . . . . . • • . 206 
 
 The arrival of the wise men from the East . . . . . - 206 
 
 The flight into Egypt 207 
 
 The return of the holy family to Nazareth . . . . . . 208 
 
 Christ's disputation with the doctors in the temple .. .. 211 
 
 Beginning of John's ministry .. .. .. .. •• 209 
 
 Christ's baptism . . . . . . . . . . . • • • 212 
 
 The temptation in the wilderness . . . . . . . • 212 
 
 Beginning of Christ's ministry .. .. .. .. •• 215 
 
 Christ's first passover . . . . . . • • • • . . 216 
 
 The interview of Christ with the Samaritan woman . . . . 215 
 
 Imprisonment of John . . . . . . . . . . • ■ 210 
 
 Ordination of the twelve apostles .. .. .. •• 219 
 
 Death of John the Baptist 211 
 
 The transfiguration 220 
 
 Blind Bartimeeus healed . . . . . . • • • • 224 
 
 Lazarus raised from the dead . . . . . . . ■ • • 228 
 
 The mission of the seventy disciples . . 221 
 
 Christ's arrival at Bethany . . . • 223 
 
 The triumphal entry into Jerusalem . . . . . . . . 237 
 
 The temple cleansed . . . . • • • • • • • • 239 
 
 The miracle on the ban-en fig-tree . . . . . . . . 239 
 
 Christ tempted by the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Hercdians . . 240 
 
 The unction at Bethany . . . . . . • • • • • • 241 
 
 Judas bargains to betray Christ . . . . • • • • 242 
 
 The last supper, and subsequent agony in the garden . . . . 242 
 
 Judas betrays Christ . . . . . • . . • • • • 243 
 
 Christ brought before the Jewish council 246
 
 310 INDEX TO THE GOSPEL HISTORY. 
 
 Page 
 
 Christ brought before Pilate . . . . . . . . • • 348 
 
 Christ brought before Herod . . . . . . . > . • 2-19 
 
 Clirist brought before Pilate a second time . . . . . . 250 
 
 Christ sentenced and led to execution . . . . . . . . 251 
 
 The crucifixion • . . . . . . . . . . . • • 253 
 
 The conversion of the dying thief . . . • . • • • 255 
 
 The burial of Jesus 258 
 
 Christ's resurrection . . . . . . . . • • • • 259 
 
 His interview with his disciples . . . . . . • • • ■ 262 
 
 Christ's ascension into heaven . . . . • . • • . . 264
 
 311 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF PUPILS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 How many days were employed in the work of Creation ? WTiat 
 
 was done on the first three days ? Who were our first parents, and 
 
 when were they created ? Why was the Sahhath instituted ? 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 
 ■\Vhat test of obedience did God require from Adam and Eve ? How 
 
 were our first parents led to transgress the divine command ? What 
 
 punishment was inflicted for this transgression ? 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 "Who was the'jfirst bom of mankind ? "^Tiat was the name of Adam's 
 
 second son ? Of what great crime was Cain guilty? How was he 
 
 punished? What was Adam's age at the time of his death ? Did 
 
 any of his posterity attain a greater age ? 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 How did the descendants of Seth difi'er from the descendants of Cain? 
 What is remarkable of Enoch ? How did God punish the ini- 
 quity of the antideluvian world ? — Who was spared from the flood? 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 How many persons were saved in the ark ? For what length of time 
 
 did the flood prevail ? Where did the ark rest? In what manner 
 
 did Noah learn that the waters had abated ? How did Noah show his 
 
 gratitude for his wonderful preservation ? What did God appoint as 
 
 a sign of his covenant with Noah ? 
 
 CHAPTER YI. 
 
 How did Ham provoke the wrath of his father ? What remarkable 
 
 events occurred at Babel ? For what was Babel subseqsently noted ? 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Where is Ur of the Chaldees ? To Avhich of Terah's family did God 
 
 appear? What promise was made to Abram? In what part of 
 
 Canaan did Abram settle ? Why did he remove to Egypt ? Did 
 
 anything remarkable occur during his stay in Egypt •" Why did 
 
 Abram and Lot separate ? From what danger did Abram rescue Lot ?
 
 312 QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION, 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 What revelation respecting his descendants was made to Abraham ? 
 
 What change was made in the names of Abram and Sarai ? On 
 
 what occasion was the promise of a son renewed to Abram ? 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 ■\\Tiy were Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed ? Did any escape from 
 
 these cities? What lake occupies the site of " the cities of the 
 
 plain ?" What tribes descended from Lot? 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Why did Abram name his son Isaac? For what reason were 
 
 Hagar and Ishmael expelled ? From what dangers were they rescued? 
 
 How doesit appear that Abraham was a person of great importance ? 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 What great proof of his faith did Abraham display? Where was 
 
 Sarah buried ? How did Abraham procure a wife for his son Isaac ? 
 
 • At what age did Abraham die ? 
 
 CHATERXII. 
 
 ^\Tiere did Isaac iisnally reside ? ^^^lat were the names and the 
 
 characters of Isaac's children ? How did Jacob procure the blessing 
 
 intended for his brother? W^hither did Jacob retire trom his 
 
 brother's >vrath ? For what reward did Jacob serve Laban ? 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 WTiy did Jacob wish to return home ? How did Laban act when 
 
 he discovered Jacob's flight ? Were Jacob and Esau reconciled ? 
 
 How did Joseph provoke the jealousy of his brethi-en ? In what 
 
 manner did his brethren treat Joseph ? 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 How did Potiphar treat Joseph ? W^hy was Joseph thro\m into 
 
 prison? When was he liberated? How did Joseph acquira 
 
 Pharaoh's confidence? On what occasion did Joseph's brethren 
 
 visit Egypt ? How did he treat them ? In what manner was 
 
 Joseph made kno^^•n to his brethren ? What part of Egypt was 
 
 given to the children of Israel?— ^ Did Jacob utter any remarkable 
 
 prophecy on his death-bed ? W^hat command did Joseph give his 
 
 children ?
 
 QI'ESTIONS FOR EXAMIXATIOX. .313 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 To what persecutions were the Israelites subjected? What circum- 
 stances attended the birth of Moses ? Why was Moses forced to fly 
 
 from Egypt:' What commands did God give Moses? How did 
 
 Pharaoh receive the divine message ? 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 To what plagues were the Egyptians subjected? MTiat led to the 
 
 institution of the Passover ? How were the Israelites guided in their 
 
 departure from Egypt ? What became of Pharaoh and his host ? 
 
 CHAPTER XYII. 
 
 Why did the Israeli tes murmur in the desert? How were their 
 
 wants relieved? Did anything extraordinary signalize the victory 
 
 over tlie Amalekites ? How did God announce his presence on Mount 
 
 Sinai ? 
 
 CHAPTER XTIII. 
 
 Into what gross act of idolatry did the Israelites fall? Did the 
 
 Israelites show themselves disobedient ? Why did they refuse to 
 
 invade Canaan ? IIow were they punished '^ In what manner was 
 
 the rebellion of Korah punished ? What was there remarkable in 
 
 the plague of serpents ? Can you relate the history of Balaam ? 
 
 AVhat circumstances attended the death of Moses? 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 By what means did Rahab acquire a claim on the Israelites ? 
 
 What was remarkable in the passage of Jordan ? How was Jericho 
 
 taken? In what battle did the "sun and moon stand still?" 
 
 Why was not the conquest of Canaan completed? 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 How were the Israelites originally governed? -When did idolatry 
 
 begin to appear amongst them? How were they punished? By 
 
 whom were they liberated from the king of Mesopotamia? and 
 
 Moab? Over what enemies did Deborah triumph? ^^'hat great 
 
 deliverance was wrought by Gideon ? Is there anything remarkable 
 
 in the history of Jephthah ? How Avere Eli's offences punished ? 
 
 What was the character of Samuel ? 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Was not the birth of Samson miraculous? Did he exhibit any 
 
 remarkable instances of strength and valour ? By whom was Samson 
 
 beti-ayed? How was he avenged on the Philistines? Who was 
 
 Ruth '.'— — "\^"hat remarkable persons were descended from Ruth ? 
 Y
 
 314 QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. 
 
 CHAPTER XXn. 
 
 Why did the Israelites desu-e a king? Who was chosen their first 
 
 monarch ? In what manner did Saul prove himself disobedient to 
 
 God? How was he punished? Who was nominated hia succes- 
 sor ? What Philistine champion did David slay ? Why did Saul 
 
 hate David? Whither did David fly? How did Saul act in his 
 
 difficulties ? In what manner did Saul die? 
 
 CHAPTER XXm. 
 
 Was any resistance made to the accession of David ? VThat city 
 
 did David make the capital of his dominions ? In what wars did the 
 
 king engage ? Of what great crime was he guilty? How was his 
 
 crime punished? What was the event of Absalom's rebellion? 
 
 By what act did David again provoke the, wrath of God ? What plot 
 
 was formed to prevent the accession of Solomon ? 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 How did Solomon pimish Shimei ? "VMiat wise choice did the king 
 
 make? How did Solomon prove his wisdom ? How long was the 
 
 temple being built ? What profitable trade did Solomon open ? 
 
 Did not the king suffer himself to be corrupted by prosperity ? How 
 
 did he express his repentance ? 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 For what reason did the Ten Tribes revolt from Rehoboam ? By 
 
 what means did Jeroboam provoke the Divine %\Tath ? How was he 
 
 punished ? AMio was the last monarch of Jeroboam's family? Did 
 
 Baasha's family reign long? What was the character of Omri ? 
 
 Who was the wife of Ahab ? What crimesdid Jezebel commit ? 
 
 How did Elijah prove the superiority of Jehovah ? Over whom did 
 
 Ahab gain two victories ? A^Tiat great crimes did the wicked king 
 
 commit:^ How did he die? How did Elisha assist Jehoram ? 
 
 AMiat became of Elijah ? By what miracles did Elisha provehis pro- 
 phetic mission ? By whom was Jehoram slain ? How did Jehu 
 
 secure the throne ? To what evils was Israel subject in the reign of 
 
 Jehoahaz ? For what is the reign of Jehoash remarkable ? Did 
 
 not a second Jeroboam reign ? "NMio was the last king of Jehu's 
 
 family? In whose reign did the Assyrians attack Israel? "^^Tiat 
 
 is recorded of Pekahiah ? Was there a friendly feeling between Israel 
 
 and Judah ? Who was the last king of Israel ? By whom was he 
 
 dethroned? How long did the kingdom of Israel last?
 
 QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. 315 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 IIow did Relioboam behave ? How was his wickedness punished ? 
 
 • What recent discoverj' has elucidated this event? What victory 
 
 was gained by Abijah ? How was the piety of Asa rewarded ? Of 
 
 what sin was he guilty? By what error did Jehoshaphat sully his 
 
 reign? What great victory did he gain? How was his alliance 
 
 with the family of Ahab punished ? What was the character of 
 
 Jehoram? ^Miere was Ahaziah slain? By whom was Athaliah 
 
 deposed? \Miat part of the reign of Jehoash merits praise ? Of 
 
 what crimes was he guilty? How was he punished? To what 
 
 calamities was Amaziah exposed ? Is there any difference between 
 
 the early and the latter part of Uzziah's reign ? What was the cha- 
 racter of Jotham? Of what crimes was Ahaz guilty ? How was 
 
 the piety of Hezekiah rewarded ? Into what error did he fall ? 
 
 How was Manasseh pimished? 
 
 CHAPTER XXYII. 
 
 Was the repentance of Manasseh sincere? What was the character 
 
 of Anion? In what manner did Josiah conduct himself? How 
 
 did Josian die ? In what manner was Jehoiakim punished ? How 
 
 long did Zedekiah reign? When was Jerusalem taken ? 
 
 CHAPTER XXVm. 
 
 How were the captive Jews treated ? Can you relate the history of 
 
 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? How was Daniel introduced to 
 
 the notice ol Nebuchadnezzar? What remarkable event occurred at 
 
 Belshazzar 's feast ? How was the prophecy accomplished ? What 
 
 prophets predicted the fall of Babylon ? Have these prophecies been 
 
 fulfilled ? Why was Daniel thrown into the lions' den? How was 
 
 he released ? When did the Jewish captivity end ? What is the 
 
 history of Esther ? 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 How did the Jcws'proceed after their return home !* T^Tiat circum- 
 stance occurred at the rebuiling of the temple?-^ — "SVTio were the chief 
 
 enemies of the Jews? Was the character of the Jewish nation 
 
 changed? What benefits did Ezra confer on them? Did Nehe- 
 
 miah assist his nation ? By whom was the temple on Jloimt Gerizun 
 
 built? 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 • 
 
 WTio was Job ? To what trials was he subjected? ^^^Tiat was 
 
 the conduct of his friends? How did his miseries terminate ? Of 
 
 how many Psalms was David the author? By whom was the Book 
 
 Y 2
 
 316 QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. 
 
 of Proverbs wnitten ? ^Vllo wrote Ecclesiastes? What was the 
 
 design of Solomon's Song ? Are the Lamentations poetical books'.' 
 
 CUAPTER XXXI. 
 
 Why are some of the prophets called Greater? Are any circum. 
 
 stances recorded respecting Isaiah's life ? What is said of Jeremiah? 
 
 For what are Ezekiel's prophecies remarkable ? In what form 
 
 are most of Daniel's prophecies ? 
 
 ClIAPTBR XXXII. 
 
 Can you relate the history of Jonah ? 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 To whom werellosea's prophecies addressed ? What is the purport 
 
 of Joel's work? Wlien did Amos prophesy? What predictions 
 
 were spoken bj' Obadiah? Did ISIicah predict any remarkable event ? 
 
 What is the subject of Nahum's prophecy ? How may the wii- 
 
 tings of llabakkuk be divided? What is the design of Zephaniah's 
 
 writings? Did Ilaggai utter any prediction? What does Zecha- 
 
 riah chiefly describe ? AVho was the last of the prophets ? 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 Of what crime was Jonathan guilty ? How did Alexander treat the 
 
 Jews? To what calamities was Judea exposed after Alexander's 
 
 death? AVhen was the canon of the Old Testament arranged? 
 
 AVhy did Ptolemy persecute the Jews? Wliat civil war arose in 
 
 Judasa? How did Antiochus treat his subjects ? What cai.t.^ did 
 
 he publish ? How did the Samaritans act ? Can you relate Elea- 
 
 zar's martjTdom ? What is told of seven brethren and their mother? 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 Where was the first resistance'made to the Syrians? Who were the 
 
 leaders of the insurgents ? Why were they called Maccabees? Did 
 
 Judas gain any remarkable victories? In what condition did the 
 
 patriot army find Jerusalem? By whom was tlie Jewish war renewed ? 
 
 . How was Judas Maccabaius slain ? How was his death avenged ? 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 What resulted from the government of Simon Maceabaeus ? By 
 
 ■whom was the independence of Judsea re-established ? What was the 
 
 character of Antigonus ? How was the reign of Jannseus disturbed ; 
 
 What war arose between his successors? When was the wi^r 
 
 renewed? How did Herod obtain the crown?
 
 QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. 31? 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 Did the Sanliediim retain any power under the Roman government ? 
 AVhat was the character of Herod ? How did he attempt to per- 
 vert the Jews? With what party did he succeed? "What were 
 
 the principles of the Pharisees? AVho were the Essenes? "NVliat 
 
 was the creed of the Saddueees? WIio were tlie Galilasans? Can 
 
 you tell who were the Scribes? 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII, 
 
 What prophecies determined the time of Christ's birth ? "Where 
 
 was Christ bom? How was his birth announced? Why was our 
 
 Lord named Jesus; and why Christ? By what prophet was Christ's 
 
 divinity acknowledged? How did the "wise men" act? Of what 
 
 cruelty was Herod guilty ? Where did Joseph dwell after his return 
 
 from Egypt ? 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 How was the coming of John the Baptist foretold? What maiked 
 
 his birth ? Where did he preach ? To what did he call the atten- 
 tion of his hearers? Why was John imprisoned? By whom was 
 
 he put to death ? 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 When did Christ dispute in the temple? Did any event occur at 
 
 his baptism? Where was Christ tempted? Can you relate his 
 
 temptation? 
 
 CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 Where did Jesus begin his ministry ? What prophecy was thus ful- 
 filled ? Where was ' ' the Sermon on the ISIount" delivered ? Why 
 
 did the Pharisees hate our Saviour? In what manner did Christ teach 
 
 humility? How were the miracles of Christ foretold? In what 
 
 manner did Isaiah describe Christ's character? What answer did 
 
 Christ give John's disciples? Where did the transfiguration take 
 
 place? When did the Samaritans provoke the disciples? How 
 
 did Christ reprove their wrath? Did Christ predict his sufferings? 
 
 ■ What prophecy did Christ's public entry into Jerusalem fulfil? 
 
 CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 What was Christ's first miracle? By what miracle was Peter con- 
 
 verted? Were the evil spirits subject to Christ? Is there any 
 
 thing remaikable in the cure of leprosy ? Did not Christ restore sight 
 
 to the blind? Were any palsied persons healed? Did not Christ 
 
 show his power over tempests? How often were multitudes miracu- 
 lously fed ? How many persons did Christ raise from the dead ?
 
 318 QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. 
 
 CHAPTER XLIII. 
 
 ■\Vhat instances of Christ's miraculous knowledge are recorded? 
 
 How did Christ foretel his sufferings? In what words was the Resur- 
 rection predicted ? Did Christ promise to revisit his disciples ? 
 
 "What event that occurred after his ascension was foretold by Christ ? 
 
 CHAPTER XLIY. 
 
 What advantage resulted from the use of Parables ? In what par- 
 able does Christ allude to the historj- of Archelaus ? On what occasion 
 
 was the parable of the Good Samaritan spoken ? What is the design 
 
 of the parable of the Prodigal Son ? In what parables does Christ 
 
 allude to Jewish customs '.' ^^'hich of the parables is imaginative ? 
 
 CHAPTER XLV. 
 
 On what day did Christ make his public entry into Jerusalem? 
 
 Did he display any authority in the temple? 'What miracle was per- 
 formed on the following day ? By what means did the Jewish faction 
 
 strive to entrap Jesus? What council was held on the Wednesday? 
 
 How did Judas show his avarice ? What institution did Christ 
 
 make? Did any other remarkable circumstance occur? How 
 
 was Christ betrayed ? 
 
 CHAPTER XLVI. 
 
 WTiere was Jesus first brought by his captors? How did Simon 
 
 Peter act? In what manner did the Sanhedrim behave? AVhat 
 
 became of Judas? Before whom did the Jews bring Christ? ■ 
 
 How did Pilate behave? Why did Pilate send Jesus to Herod? 
 
 How did he strive to mollify the Jews? In what manner did he 
 
 finally pronounce sentence? 
 
 CHAPTER XLVII. 
 
 By whom was Clirist's cross borne ? Where was Christ crucified? 
 
 "\Miat prophecies were fulfilled at his crucifixion? How did 
 
 those crucified with him behave? What were Christ's last words? 
 
 By what prodigies was the moment of his death marked ? 
 
 CHAPTER XLVm. 
 
 ■VSTiy did the soldiers leave the legs of Jesus unbroken ? What pro- 
 phecies were thus fulfilled ? Where was Christ buried ? What 
 
 precautions did the Jews take ?
 
 QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. 319 
 
 CHAPTER XLIX. 
 
 Why did the women come to the sepulchre ? How did Christ rise ? 
 
 ■ To whom did he first appear ? What tale did the JeAvs invent ? 
 
 In what way did Christ reveal himself at Emmaus? How were 
 
 the doubts of Thomas removed ? 
 
 CHAPTER L. 
 
 How long did Christ continue on earth after his resurrection ? ■ 
 
 From whence did he ascend ? How did Christ rebuke his disciples 
 
 for supposing that his kingdom was temporal ? In what manner did 
 
 he ascend into heaven'.' Who was elected among the twelve in the 
 
 place of Judas ? 
 
 CHAPTER LI. 
 
 Why was the feast of Pentecost instituted? How did the Holy 
 
 Ghost descend? AVhat was the effect of this manifestation? 
 
 How did Peter address the multitude ? What was the first miracle 
 
 performed by Christ's disciples ? In what manner did the Jews be- 
 have? How were Ananias and Sapphira punished? "WTiat pru- 
 dent advice was given by Gamaliel? 
 
 CHAPTER LH. 
 
 "Who was Stephen? Why had the Jews at this time the power of 
 
 life and death ? For what reason did the Scribes and Pharisees hate 
 
 Stephen ? Of what did they accuse him ? How did Stephen re- 
 ply ? In what manner was he mart jTcd ? 
 
 CHAPTER LUI. 
 
 Who was Saul? How did persecution serve Christianity? ■ 
 
 What convert did Philip make ? Why did Saul go to Damascus? 
 
 AVhat event occmTed on the road? Did Saul change his name ? 
 
 Where did Paul first begin to preach ? Where was Peter employed 
 
 at this time ? 
 
 CHAPTER LIV. 
 
 W^hat vision did Peter see at Joppa ? How waa it explained ? 
 
 Did any blame Peter? Vilio was called " the Apostle of the Gen- 
 tiles?" Did any new persecution arise ? "\\'hy was Elymas struck 
 
 blind? For what purpose was a coimcil held at Jerusalem? 
 
 AVhat were its results ? 
 
 CHAPTER LV. 
 
 VTho were the companions of Paul? WTaat events occurred at 
 
 Philippi ? How did the Jews of Bersa differ from those of Thessa- 
 
 lonica ? In what manner did St. Paul address the Athenians ?
 
 320 QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. 
 
 Whitlier did he go from Athens? "What strange scene was displayed 
 
 at Ephesus'.' Did not a very interesting meeting take place at 
 
 ISliletus? How was St. Paul treated at Jerusalem? Why did 
 
 Felix refuse to release the apostles:' For what reason did Paul ap- 
 peal to the emperer? \Vliat remarkable events occm-red in his 
 
 voyage to Italy :* 
 
 CHAPTER LVI. 
 
 ^Vho were the twelve apostles? "Were any others reckoned among 
 
 the apostles '' Are there any evangelists who were not apostles? • 
 
 AVhat is recorded of St. Peter? Of St. James the Greater ? Of St. 
 
 John ? Of St. Andrew ? Of St. Philip ? Of St. Bartholomew ? 
 
 Of St. Matthew? Of St. James the Less? Of St. Thomas? 
 
 Of St. Simon? Of St. Jude? Of St. Matthias? Of St. 
 
 Paul? Of St. Barnabas? Of St. Mark ? Of St. Luke? 
 
 CHAPTER LTIL 
 
 Why did the .Tews rebel ? What prodigies foreshowed their niin ? 
 
 — Can you relate the history of the son of Ananias? Did the Jews 
 
 gain any victory? What opportunity did they neglect ? Ifow was 
 
 the last winter of the city spent? By whom Mere the Roman armies 
 
 commanded? In what manner was Jerusalem fortified? After 
 
 what labours was the lower city taken ? Did the Romans sufiFer any 
 
 disappointment? How did the Jews spend this interval of repose? 
 
 llow was the Antonia taken ? By what accident was the temple 
 
 destroyed? Wlieu was the upper city taken? How were the 
 
 captives treated ? 
 
 THE END. 
 
 London : — H.\erison asd Co., Printkrs, St. Martin's Lank,
 
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