..^ f. II .'oS Srom i2)Z %i%vM^ of (professor ^amuef (giiffer in (J^emori? of Jubge ^amuef (gXiffer QBrecfttnribge (preeenfeb 61? ^amuef (QXiffer (]0recfttnr%e feong fo f^e feifirarg of (Princeton C^eofogicaf ^eminarjj \ \ W^f%^ / '^'imamfi THE USE OF SACRED HISTORY; ESPECIALLT AS ILLUSTRATING ANT) CONFIRMING THE GREAT DOCTRINES OF REVELATION. TO WHTCH ARE PREFIXED TWO DISSERTATIONS;' THE FIRST, ON THE AUTHF.NTICITY OF THE HISTORY CON- TAINED IN THE PENTATEUCH, AND IN THE BOOK OF JO- SHUA ; — THE SECOND, PROVING TH vT THE BOOKS AS- CRIBED TO MOSES WERE ACTUALLY WRITTEN BY HIM, AND THAT HE WROTE THEM BY DIVINE INSPIRATION. IN TWO VOLUMES. By JOHN JAMIESON, D. D. F. A. S. S. MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL, EDINBURGH. Vol. II. - EDINBURGH i>RINTED BY A. NEILL AND CO. FOR THE AUTHOR^ ASD SOLD BY W. CREECH, OGLE AND AIRMAN, EDINBURGH; M. OGLE, GLASGOW; MATTHEWS, OGLE, AND HATCHERD, LONDON. 1802. CONTENTS OF VOLUME SECOND. PART III. OF THE USE OF SACRED HISTORY, AS ILLUSTRATING AND CONFIRMING THE GREAT DOCTRINES OF RE- VELATION. Sect. I. On the Being and Unity of God. — His Be- ing mujl be matter of Faith, — His Unity demon- Jlrated ^ — fro?n his wonderful PVorks, for the de- liverance of his people ; — from the Judgmenti ex- ecuted on the gods of the Heathen ; — from the Ac- complifbrnent of Prophecy ; — from the anfwer of Prayer ; — from his Faithfulnefs to his Church ; — • from the whole work of Kedeviption ; — from his Operations on the Heart, - - Page ?, ShCT. II. The dodirine of the Holy Trinity, — Pro- ved from th€ Hiflory of the Creation j — of the Fall ;r—of the Confufion of Tongues ; — of Redemp- tion, --.--. 39 Sect. III. Of the Wifdom of God.— Of his Power. — Of that character, the Lord of Hofls, 55 Sect. IV. Of the Holmefs of God.— Of his Jujlice, as manif^fled *in the Threatening and Cur/e of the Law ; — in the Antediluvian Hijlory ; — /// the D *• luge ; — in the Deflru5lion of the Cities of the Plain ; — in the Rcfemhlance between Sin and Pu- niJJjment ; — in the Mofaic Economy ; — in the Suf- ferings of the Meffiahf - - - 71 Shot, iv CONTENTS. Sect. V. On Divine Jujiice, in 'vijiting the Iniqui- ties of Fathers upon their Children; — Children punijhed for the fins of Parents. — Parents punifh^ ed in their Children. — Iniquity vifited on thofe ef- pecially who continue in the wicked courfes of their Progenitors. — Some fins more remarkably vifited on fucceeding generations^ than others^ — This vijitation extends farther than to temporal punijhments. — Something in human condu6l analo- gous to this procedure of Divine Jiifiice. — Objec^ tions anfweredf _ _ _ Page io8 Sect. VI. On the Deflru6lion of the Nations of Ca- naan. — Preliminary Obfervatiotis. — This Punijh- ment confiflent with Divine Juflice ; — Contained a fignal difplay of Wifdom, and even of Goodnefs. — Objections anfwered^ - - - 153 Sect. VII. Oji Divine Sovereignty ; — in Creation ; in the Management of the Natural World ; — in the tim.e appropriated to the Worjhip of God ; — in the permiffion of the Entrance of Sin ;-^—in the frame of the Covenant of Works ; — in God^s con- dud towards Angels ; — in the Choice of Ifrael ; in the Dijlindtion of Nations with refpeCl t(f ex- ternal Means of Salvation^ - 195 Sect. VIII. On Divine Sovereignty in the Divi- fion of Canaan ; — the Treatment of the Tribes of Ifrael ; — the choice of a Place of Worjfjip ; — the employment of Meafis and Inflruments of Judg- . ment or Mercy ; — the Dijlribution of Gifts j — the Management of our Lot ; — the Affli5lions of the Children of God ; — with refpecl to earthly King- doms ; — in relation to the Church. — Severe Judg- ments CONTENTS. 7 ments injlidled for the denial of this Perfec- tioTiy - - Page 230 Sect. IX. Of Divine Providence. — General Obfer- vations. — jil particular Providence proved^ from the Means employed by God ; — from the concate^ nation of Circumflances ; — the Seafon of Opera- tion ; — the Difcovery of Secret Sin ; — the Re^ femblance between Sin and Punijhment ; — the choice of Inflruments for punijhing Iniquity ^•— — the Circumflances of Punijhment. Events of a Contingent NMture, - - 259 .Sect. X. The Natural Depravity of Man. — Ex- ample infufficie?it to account for the .Symptoms or Univerfality of Human Corruption. — This proved to be natural, from its early appearance ; — from the Hiftory of Seth ; — from the Names given to the Antediluvian Patriarchs ; — from the Death of Children ; — from the Circumflances vuhicb al- lude to the manner in which Sin is tranfmit- ted, - ' igj Sect. XI. The Incarnation of the Son of God. — His frequent Appearance in the likenefs of Man a 'Prelude of this. — Prefigured by the Smoking Furnace and Burning Lamp ; — the Burning Bujh ; — Jacob's Ladder ; — the Cloud of Glory. — Rf' fpedled in the Rights of Primogeniture j — Law of the Leviratej — Circumcijion ; — Patriarchal Mode of Swearing i—Abflinence from the Sinew that Jhrank, - - 315 Sect. XII. The Miraculous Conception^ illufl rated from the HiJlory of Melchizedeck i-^from va- rious vl CONTENTS. rious injlances of Conception., beyond the ordinary courfe of Nature ; — from the Laws given to If- rael concerning Virginity^ - Page ^37 Sect. XIII. On Subflitution and Atonement. — '\the DoElrine of Subflitution, known to the Churcf? from the beginning.- Impofition of Hands on the Head of the ViEiim. — The Viclim legally fubje£l- ed to the Curfe. — Atonement made by Blood, — Confirmed by Sacrifice. — In this the Worjhip of the Church efpecially confified. — T^he Ceremonial Infiitute^ even by its DefeSls, directed to a better Atonement. — This prefigured by the Mercy- Seat. — The Hiflory of the true Expiation, contained in the New Teftament, - - 346 Sect. XIV. The Do£lrine of Imputation illuflrated, — from the Raiment provided for our Yirfi Pa- rents after the Fall ; — from the Guilty being legally accounted Innocent, in confequence of ce- vionial Atonement ; — from the ancient Cufiom of Feafiing on the Sacrifice ; — fro7n the manner in which Salvation was conferred on Believers un- der the Old Teftament, - 370 Sect. XV. The Neceffity of Almighty Power for changing the Heart, illuftrated from the Hifiory of Creation ; — from the Inefficacy of the feverefi Judgments ; — from the Hiflory of the promifed Seed ; — from the nature of the ViElories ob- tained by If rael ; — from their being fiill taught to depend folely on God ; — fromfome Circumftan- ces attending the rebuilding of the Temple ; — from the perfonal Minifiry of Jefus, - 380 Sect. CONTENTS. vii Sect. XVI. The DoSirine of Particular Redemp- tion illujlrated, from the Firjl Promife j — from the Temporal Redemptions of Ifrael ; — from the Limitation of the legal Oblations ; — from the Hiflory of Redemption as accomplijhed by Chrijl, - - Page 401 Sect. XVII. The Confervation of Believers illuf- tratedffrom the Hi/lory of Ifrael. — The Perpe- tuity of God^s Love to the Seed of Jacob. — His Faithfuhiefs. — The Stability of his Covenant. — His Love to David. — Ifrael united to God, as a Peculiar People. — A Precious Seed flill preferved among them. — The Spirit given to them. — Ifrael faved at the Intercejfion of his Ser- vants. — Preferved by a confiant Exercife of Al- mighty Power ^ by the Hand of -the Angel pro- mifed as their Leader, - - 41C Index, - - - 447 ERRATA. Vol. I. Page 50. line 7. and 22. for future >r^^ fubfequent ■ ■ 80. i^j./or refpeds read refpedl ■ 100. ^.from bottoniy deky in his Timaeus, Vol. IL Page 256. line 11 -for better read hitter ' 273. i^'for road read rod i.— ■ 284. I, for }n&.ice read judgment ? THE USE O F SACRED HISTORY. PART III. ON THE USE OF SACRED HISTORY, AS ILLUSTRATING AND CONFIRMING THE GREAT DOCTRINES OF REVELATION. HAVING taken a curfory view of the Hiftory of God's ancient people, as containing ma- ny ufeful lefTons ; we may now turn our attention to Scripture-Hiitory in general, as cojifirming or il- hjlrating the doctrines of revelation. And fo abun- dant is the evidence, which God is pleafed to give us of the truth of thefe, that fcarcely one of them wants this atteflation. — It is only a few of the more important doctrines that we can propofe to illuflrate in this manner. Vol. II. A Sec- 1 ON THE BEING AND SECTION I. On the Being and Unity of God. — His Being muji be matter of Faith. — His Unity demonfirated, from Creation j — from his ivonderful Works, for the deliverance of his People ; — from the Judg- ments executed on the gods of the Heathen ; — from the Accomplijhment of Prophecy ; — from the A?ifwer of Prayer j — from his Faithfid- nefs to his Church ; -—from the whole work of Redemption j — from his Operation on the Heart. ** The Sacred Hiftory," as one jullly obferves, " is the hiftory of God himfelf." It is defigned as a permanent teftimony to his being. This is made known by the light of nature. But it is the will of God, that we Ihould be perfuaded of this do6lrine, fundamental to all religion, not mere- ly by reafon, but by faith ; and that our faith, with refped to this dodlrine, fhould have the fame foundation that it has with refpeft to any other contained in his word. Therefore, it is alfo ^iven as matter of revelation. Nor, in the vo- lume of inspiration, is it merely taught as a doc- trine. It is demonilrated as a fa6t. We learn it not from God's word only, but alfo from his works. How often, in this refped, does he appeal to the works UNITY OF GOD. 3 works of creation ? " The heavens declare the *' glory of God ; and the firmament fheweth his " handiwork ''." " Alk now the beafts, and they *' Ihall teach thee ; and the fowls of the air, and " they fhall tell thee : or fpeak to the earth, and " it fliall teach thee ; and the fifhes of the fea ** Ihall declare unto thee. Who knoweth not in " all thefe, that the hand of the Lord hath wrought " this ? In whofe hand is the foul of every living " thing, and the breath of all mankind ^." In the account given of the creation, we have an ex- hibition of the Creator himfelf; " God created." In the very firft words of the facred volume, the exiflence of God is contralled with that of all other beings. He '* created in the beginning'^," that is, " the beginning of the creature'* or crea- tion ^. This declares that he exifted before ail things, and that he gave being, not only to all the creatures, but to time itfelf. A fimilar appeal is frequently made to the works of providence. " The Lord is known by the " judgment which he executeth ^" It is thus that he replies to thofe fools who fay in their hearts, " No God ;" who, if they do not dilbe- lieve the dodrine of his exigence, wifh that it were not true, and adl: as if aflured that it were falfe, efpecially in perfecuting his Church. God *' fcattereth the bones of him that encampeth *' againft" her. He enables her to ** put them " to fhame, becaufe God hath defpifed them '." A 2 When a Pfal, xix. I. b Ji)b xii. 7. — 10. c Gen. i. i. U Mark xiii. 19. e Plal. ix. 16. f Pu\. liii. i. 5, 4 ON THE BEING AND When he executes upon them the judgment?, written in his book, men are made to fay ; " Ve- " rily there is a reward, for the righteous, verily *' he is a God that judgeth in the earth s." They find it necellary to acknowledge, not only that ** he is," but that he is the " rewarder of all them " that diligently feek him"." Of this, the hif- tory of the church is one continued proof; as appears from the beautiful compend given of it in the chapter of which thefe words are a part. All that they did or fuffered was *' by faith -," and their fuccefs clearly fliows, that their faith was not placed on a nonentity. Next to the do6lrine of the exigence of God, none claims a more diilinguillied place than that of his unity. To deny the unity of the Supreme Being, is in effecl to deny his exiftence : and this may be one reafon why the heathen are called *' atheifts in the world '." Hence there is no doc- trine, that God hath been at more pains to incul- cate and confirm. He feparated one nation from all the refl: of the world, as a peculiar people, for the prefervation of this important truth. He em- ployed them in exhibiting it to others, and by means of them he Gonfirmed it in the fight of the heathen. " Ye are my witneffes, faith Jehovah, *' and my fervant whom I have chofen, that ye ** may know and believe me, and underftand that ^' I am he : before me there was no God formed, " neither fhall there be after me ''." The g Plal. Ivlii. II. h Hcb. xi. (J; i Eph. ii. ii". k Ifa. xliii. lo. UNITY OF GOD. 5 The Saci'ed Hiftory uniformly attefts that there h but one God, and that this is Jehovah the God of Ifrael. The proof that Jehovah is God, and that this God is one, is indeed the fame. In ma- ny paflages of Scripture, thefe two are infeparably conjoined. But even where the unity of God is not exprefsly declared, the revelation of himfelf as Jehovah implies the doftrine of his abfolute unity. This name itfelf excludes every idea of an equal. He will not give the glory of it to an- other : for it denotes his independence and felf- exi Hence, and therefore the unity of his effence. Hence, all thofe operations by which he manifefts that he is Jehovah, equally declare him to be the One God. The law, given to God's peculiar people, is a key to their hiilory, and their hiftory is a prac- tical commentary on their law, and a continued proof of its divine origin. As feveral of the pre- cepts of the moral law, and many of the politive injunctions, teach or guard the dodtrine of the unity •, when God would commit this law to the church, he infolds it in an hiftorical narrative, which throws the greateft light on this fundamen- tal doclrine. I. He would not have the fons of Jacob to con- fider him merely as their Father, who had " made " them, and eftabliflied" them, as a people : for, like other natiouF;, they might have believed this, however inconfiftently, without acknowledging that he was the one true God. He therefore re- A 3 veals b ON THE BEING AND veals himfelf as " Jehovah, the creator of the *' ends of the earth ;" and addreffe^ his pecuir liar people in this language : " Thus faith Je- " HOVAH thy redeemer, and he that formed thee " from the womb, I am Jehovah that maketh all ■* things, and flretcheth forth the heavens alone, *' that fpreadeth abroad the earth by myfeif '^." He accordingly prefaces the volume of revelation with a particular account of the work of creation, which none but himfelf could give : and from this account, as well as from a great many other palTages, it is moft evident that this was wholly the work of One Being. The idolatry of the Gen- tiles coniifted in worlhipping the creatures inllead of God. To prevent the imitation of this ido- latry, and to illuftrate its abfurdity, he enume- rates the various parts of creation, and fliews that they were all the works of his hands. The moft of the heathen nations worfhipped the hoft of heaven, eithei exprefsly, or under the difguife of different proper names or peculiar fymbols. But, in the hiftory of creation, the church is taught that the fun, moon, and ftars were all the work- manfhip of her God. For he wbo *' created the ^' heaven and the earth ' ," ** finiflied all the hoft " of them "." On this fubjed, Bofluet has an ob- fervation, which merits our attention. " It plea- *• fed the great Artificer," he fays, " to create the " light, even before he reduced it to the form he " gave it in the fun and ftars : becaufe he meant " to teach us, that thofe great and glorious lumi- " naries, 1 Ifa. x\. a9. in Ifa, xliv, 24, n Gen. i, i. o Gen. ii. a. UNITY OF GOD. 7 •* naries, of which feme have thought fit to make " deities, had, in themfelves, neither that precious ** and fhining matter, whereof they were compo- '* fed, nor the admirable form to which we fee " them reduced i-." It was held in a great part of the Eaft, that there were two firit principles ; the one, the caufe of good ; the other, of evil ;. the one prefiding over light, and the other over darknefs. But the facred hiflorian declares that light and darknefs are equally under the power of the God of K- rael ^. The language of God in his prophetical addrefs to Cyrus, contains a beautiful illuftration of this hitlory. Its force and beauty efpecially appear, when we reflect that Cyrus was the leader of that very people who zealoufly adhered to the dodrine of two firft principles, and with whom it feems to have originated. '* I am Jehovah, '* and there is none elfe, there is no God befides *' me : I girded thee, though thou hall not known *' me : that they may know from the rifing of the *' fun, and from the weft, that there is none be- " lidcs me, I am Jehovah, and there is none elfe, *' I form the li^bt and create darknefs : I make *'^. ii. "J. t Ifa. xsxvii. i(5, u Pi'ai. Ixxsvi. lo. UNITY OF GOD. 9 '* will take you to me for a people, and I will be " to you a God : and ye fhall know that I am Je- " HOVAH your God, which bringeth you out from " under the burdens of the Egyptians ^" It was his will that his unity fliould appear from thefe works. Therefore he thus addreffes Ifrael: " Hath God af- *' fayed to take him a nation from the midft of ano- " ther nation, by temptations, by ligns and by won- " ders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a " ftretched-out arm, and by great terrors, accord- " ing to all that Jehovah your God did for you *' in Egypt before your eyes ? Unto thee it was " fhewed, that thou mightefl know that Jeho- ** VAH he is God ; there is none elfe bejides him,''^ By the record of thefe illultrious fadts, he would have his people perpetually reminded of this fun- damental doftrine, and confirmed in the belief of it. For he adds : " Know therefore this day, " and confider it in thine heart, that Jehovah he " is God in heaven above, and upon the earth be- " neath : there is none elfe ^^." I. With this view were thofe works recorded, which immediately difplaycd the mercy of God towards his people. For they were recorded for the ufe of the church in all ages, with the very fame deiign with which they were at firfl per- formed. Were the Ifraelites miraculoufly prefer- ved in the defert ? It was to prove, that their God alone was worthy of faith and adoration : " I " h^ve led you forty years in the wildernefs : your " clothes V Exod vj. 6, 7. w Dcut. iv. 34, 35 35?. lO ON THE EEING AND *' clothes are not wa;Kcn old upon you, and thy ** (hoe is not waxen old upon thy foot. Ye have " not eaten bread, neither have you drunk wine, " or ftrong drink : that ye might know that I am *' Jehovah your God *." Did the waters of Jor- dan divide before them, as foon as the feet of the pricfls refled in them ? It w^as that they might know, that " the living God was among them ;" and that the ark which pafTed over before them, was " the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all •* the earth :." 2. His works of judgment have the fame end. When he confounds his enemies, and troubles them for ever ; when he puts them to fliame, and makes them to perifh ; it is that " men may know, *' that he whofe name alone is Jehovah, is the " moft high over .all the earth .'' It is his plea- sure, that even his incorrigible adverfaries may have fuch ample eviacnce of this, that they fliall either acknowledge it, or be left vvjthout excufe. He therefore fays to Pharaoh ; " I will fend all " my plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy fer- *' vants, and upon thy people : that thou mayefl " know that there is none like me in all the *' earth -." Is Nebuchadnezzar driven from his dignity ? Hath he a bcalt's heart given unto him ? It is " to the intent that the living may know *' that the Moft High rulcth in the kingdom of "men V 3. From X Deut. xxix. 5, 6. y Jofli. iii. ro, 11. 2 Pftl. Ixxxiii. »8, a Exod. ix, 14. See alfo Ezek. xxv, 17. b Dan. iv. 17. UNITY OF GOD. II 3. From the wonderful works recorded in Scrip- ture, it is evident, that the power of Jehovah is alike in all the regions of the earth. The hea- then had ftrange ideas of divine power. They not only affixed limits to it ; but fuppofed that the power of one god was confined to one terri- tory, and that of another to another. A people who, according to their vain imaginations, were perfeftly fafe under the protedion of their tu- telar deity, could derive no benefit from one who was a flranger to their country. If worfliip- pcd by a hoitile nation, they frequently viewed him as their enemy. They indeed confidercd their deities in the fame light with tlieir earthly princes, whofe dominions had certain boundaries, and who prote6led their fubjedsat the expence of their neighbours. They feem to have imagi- ned, that the power of particular deities bore an exadl proportion to the comparative ftrength or weaknefs of the people that worfhipped them ; or to the gvandeuv or apparent meannefs of their worfliip. When God fent lions among the hea- then who had been placed in the land of Ifrael by the king of AfTyria, they confidcred the vifita- tjon as a token of his difpleafure, and therefore of his power ; but had no idea that this extended beyond the limits of Palefline. They fuppofed that he had fent thefe lions to " flay them, be- " caufe they knew not the manner of the God *' of the land"":' Why c 2 Kings xvii. a5. 12 ON THE BEING AND Why was the army of Sennacherib deflroyed ; and why was this iignal deftru6tion recorded ? That it might be known, that the God of Ifrael was the only true God. That haughty conqueror, when he came againft Judah, imagined that he had to do with a deity like thofe of the conquered coun- tries. " Who was there," does he fay, " among " all the gods of the nations that my fathers ut- " terly deftroyed, that could deliver his people " out of mine hand, that your God fhould be able *' to deliver you ? As the gods of the nations of *' other lands, have not delivered their people out '^' of mine hand, fo fliall not the God of Hezekiah " deliver his people out of mine hand ''." Jerufa- lem, he concluded, mult become an eafy prey, be- caufe file had not an hoft of images to defend her ; and the ark, the only thing to which he could give the name, feemed unworthy of being com- pared with thofe he had already conquered. " As *' my hands have found the kingdoms of the idols, *' and whofe graven images did excel them of Je- ** rufalem and of Samaria : fliall I not, as I have *' done to Samaria and her idols, fo do to Jerufa- *' lem and her idols ^ ?" He argues, in proof of the imbecility of the God of Ifrael, from his tame fubmilFion to the infults that, as he fuppofed, H.e- •zekiah had offered to him, in overthrowing his images, and impoverilliing his worfhip : evident- ly iniinuating, that if he could not avenge him- felf on fo poor a prince as Hezekiah, one who had vanquillied fo many nations could have nothing to d 1 Chron. xxxii. 14. 17. e Ifa. x. ic, 11. UNITY OF GOD. I3 to fear from him. Thus he impioufly addreffes the fervants of the king : " If ye fay mito me, " We trufl in Jehovah our God : is not that he, " whofe high places, and whofe altars Hezekiah " hath taken away, and hath faid, — Ye lliail wor- *' fiiip before this altar in Jerufalem ' :" Hezekiah, in his folemn addrefs to God, repre- fents this as a controverfy in which the honour of deity is peculiarly concerned. He pleads for de- liverance, and he obtains it, as a proof of the fu- preme dominion of Jehovah, of his abfolute unity as God. He faid, ** O Jehovah God of Ifrael, " which dwelleft between the cherubims, thou " art the God, even thou alone, of all the king- '* doms of the earth, thou haft made heaven and " earth. — Now therefore, — fave thou us out of " his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth ** may know that thou art the Lord God, even *' thou only." And what anfwer did he receive ? ** Thus faith Jehovah God of Ifrael, That which " thou halt prayed to me againft Sennacherib king " of Aflyria, I have heard. This is the word " that Jehovah hath fpoken concerning him, — '' Bccaufe thy rage againft me, and thy tumult is *' come up into mine cars, therefore I will put " my hobk in thy nofe, and my bridle in thy lips, " and I will turn thee back by the way by which " thou cameft s." This arrogant ravager is de- fcribed as a wild beall, muzzled and managed at the will of his keeper : and, as if God would give him the moll humiliating proof of his folly, he is laved f 2 King'? xviii. az. g a Kings xix. ij. jf. 20. 21. aS. 14 ON THE BEING AND faved from the ftroke of the deftroying arigel, and fufFered to return into his own land, that even there he might be a monument of the impotency of his idol, and of the power of Jehovah, the God of Ifrael, whom he had blafphemed. For he was llain by his fons, v/hile " worfhipping in the " houfe of Nifroch his god ''." 4. The fame wonderful works afford a demon- ftration of the unity of God, as they difplay his abfolute power over all nature. The heathen not only divided the nations, but made a parti- tion of nature itfelf among their falfe gods. One prefided over the thunder, another over the wind. The power of one was greateft on earth, the dominion of another was confined to the fea. One was lord of heaven, another reigned in hell. They had their gods of the hills, and their gods of the valleys ; their gods of the woods, and their gods of the waters. But Jehovah hath manifeft- ed his dominion over all the creatures, and made every part of nature obedient to his word. As he had difplayed his fovereignty over the thun- der, in rendering it the inftrument of deftruc- tion in Egypt, he did fo in like manner in caufing it to ceafe. Thus Mofes laid to Pha- raoh ', ** I will fpread out my hands to Jehovah, ** and the thunder fhail ceafe, neither lliall there " be any more hail, that thou mayeft know how " that the earth is Jehovah's '." He deilroyed the frogs which he had iv^nt, and fevered the land of b a KJngs x\x. 37. i Fsod. is, 15, UNITY OF GOD. l5 of Goflien, where his people dwelt, from the reft of Egypt, fo that th^re were no fwarms of flies there ; that he might fhew that the meaneft and minuteft creatures were his hofts, and that the Egyptians might know that there was *' none like " mito Jehovah," that he was " the Lord in the *' midft of the earth • ." The Egyptians learned to their coft that the wand and fea obeyed him. After they ventured into the channel of the Red Sea, they cried out in defpair, *' Let us flee from " the face of Ifrael ; for Jehovah fighteth for " them againfl: the Egyptians V The Syrians, when defeated by the Ifraelites, gave this as the reafon ; " Their gods are gods of the hills, there- ** fore they were ftronger than we ; but let us *' fight againft them in the plain, and furely we " fhall be ftronger than they." But even under the wicked Ahab, God crowned Ifrael with vic- tory, to vindicate his claim to miiverfal dominion. " There came a man of God, and fpake unto the" " king of Ifrael, and faid. Thus faith Jehovah, " Becaufe the Syrians have faid, Jehovah is God *' of the hills, but he is not God of the vallies ; ** therefore will I deliver all this great midtitude *' into thine hand, and ye fhall know that I am ** Jehovah ="." In the antediluvian age, the pofterity of Cain had openly apoftatized from the worftiip of God, and even the profefl()rs of the true religion almoft univerfally lived as if there had been no God. He was therefore pleafed, in the moft awful man- ner, k £xod. viii. lo. •«. 1 Chap. xiv. i j. w i Kings xx. 23. iS. 16 ON THE BEING AND ner, to affert his excluiive claim to the rights of deity, and to difplay his univerfal dominion. This he did by the deluge. No one could deftroy the earth, but its Creator and Lord. " Jehovah " faid, I will deftroy man whom I have created, " from the face of the earth, both man and beaft. " — Behold I, even I, do bring a flood of waters " upon the earth. — Every living fubftance that I '"have made will I deftroy"." This tremen- dous difpenfation was efpecially deligned as a lef- fon to fucceeding generations. Noah and Shem, in whofe line the promife ran, lived for centuries after the flood, as witnefles of the truth of this judgment, and thus of the divine unity and do- minion. They could appeal to this awful proof, in cdntending againft the corruptions of the new world, and particularly againft the firft appear- ances of [idolatry. In fucceeding ages, a fimilar appeal was made, by the profeflbrs of the true re- ligion, to the deluge as a fad: that could admit of no difpute, and as a decifive evidence of the power and providence of the God whom they adored. Did the wicked fay, " How doth God " know ? can he judge through the dark cloud ?" His fervants had this reply in readinefs ; " Haft *' thou marked the old way which wicked men " have trodden ? which were cut down out of *' time, whofe foundation was overflown with a *' flood ; which faid unto God, Pepart from us ; " and what can the Almighty do for them ° ?" 5. By n Cen. vi. 7. 17. ; vlJ. 4. Job jxli. 13. 15.— 17. - UNITY OF GOD, I7 5. By means of thefe wonderful works, even the heathen have been convincedy that Jehovah was the God of heaven and earth. Naaman the Syrian, when delivered from his leprofy, in con- feqiience of ufing the means prefcribed by the prophet of Jehovah, made this confeflion ; *' Be- " hold, now I know that there is no God in all " the earth but in Ifrael ".'* Nebuchadnezzar was a bitter enemy to the God of Ifrael, and a violent perfecutor of his people. He had faid in his heart, " I will afcend into heaven, I will ex- " alt my throne above the ftars of God ; I will " fit alfo upon the mount of the congregation, in " the fides of the north ." He, accordingly, had deftroyed the temple of God, carried off the fa- cred veflTels, and " put them in his temple at Ba- *' bylon '." Ifrael had never known an oppreflbr like him. Others had *' devoured him," by feed- ing on his fiefh. But this, unrelenting adverfary accompliflied a more thorough deflrudiion : " Ne- *i buchadnezzar king of Babylon hath broken his " honest" We no where read of a prouder or more infolent enemy of God. He indeed fet him- felf up as a god to his fubje<^s ; for he would have them all to believe as he did, and to wor- ihip that idol to which he decreed divine ho- mage. But even this haughty adverfary God was " able to abafe." When he faw the mira- culous deliverance of the three faithful witnefles, who would not on any account bow the knee to Vol. II. B the p % Kings V. 15. q Ifa. xiv. 13. r a Chion. xxyvi. 7. 3 J«. 1. 17. i8 ON THE BEING AND the image which he had erefted, he was convinced of the fuperiority of their God to all his idols. " There is no other God," he faid, *' who can de- ** liver after this fort ^" But as his convidion was partial, it feems to have been only of fhort duration. Jehovah would therefore humble him yet more. He mult hirafelf be the monument of almighty power. He was as a beaft before God,' and he had acfhed the part of a wild beaft to his heritage. He is therefore fent to herd with the o beafts, and " a beaft's heart is given unto him," till he Ihould " know that the Moft High ruleth " in the kingdom of men "." After this awful vifitation, we find this once haughty monarch making the following declaration : " Mine un- " derftanding returned unto me, and I bleffed the " Moft High, and I praiied and honoured him " that liveth for ever, whofe dominion is an ever- " lafting dominion, and his kingdom is from ge- " neration to generation. And all the inhabi- " tants of the earth are reputed as nothing j and " he doth according to his will in the army of " heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth ; '* and none can ftay his hand, or fay unto him, *^ Whatdoft thou^"?" Cyrus was a ftranger to' the God of Ifrael. But this God thus addrefles him in prophecy, deliver- ed feveral centuries before he was born ; " I will " loofe the loins of kings, to open before him the " two-leaved gates, and the gates fliall not be '*-ihut, — And I will give thee the treafures of • - ' *' darkneis, t Dar. iii. 2^. n Chap, ir. 25, v Ycr. 34,.35. UNITY OF GOD. ^9 ** darknefs, and hidden riches of fect-et place^v " that thou mayeft know that I Jehovah, which " call thee by thy name, am the God of Ifrael ^v.'* And Cyrus was made to know this, and feems to have had fome fort of petfuafion of the truth of divine revelation. Therefore he ma:de this pro- clamation throughout his dominions : " Thus ** faith Cyrus the king of Perfia, Jehovah the " God of heaven hath given mt all the kingdoms *' of the earth, and he hath charged me to build " him an houfe at Jerufalem which is in Judah. " Who is there among you of all his people ? his " God be with him, and let him go up to Jeru- " falem,— and build the houfe of Jehovah the " God of Ifrael, (he is the God) \" In like manner, when Darius knew the mira- culous deliverance of Daniel from the power of the lions,- he thus proelaimed the power of Jeho- vah to all his fubjeds : " I inake a decree, that " in every dominion of my kingdom, men trem- " ble.and fear before the God of Daniel ; for he " is the living God, and ftedfaft for ever, and his ** kingdom that which fhall not be dellroyed, and *^' his dominion fhall be even unto the end. He " delivereth and refcueth ; and he worketh fii^ns " and wonders in heaven and in earth >'." III. Tht judg?nent that Jehovah hatli executed on the gods of the heathen, affords a flrikmg dcf-- monflration of his being the only true God. Tlicy ; could give no: protection to their' woffhipp^rs, fat ■ B 2 th^y w Ifj. xlv, I. ^. X T.7.x'A i. r. 3. y Dan. Vi, 15.— 27, la ON THE BEING AND they could not deliver themfelves. One bittef ingredient in the tenth and laft plague that God brought upon the Egyptians, was the deflruclion of their idol-deities. This proof would he give his people, that he alone had a claim to the cha- racter of God. " I will pafs through the land of " Egypt this night, and will fmite all the firft- •' born in the land of Egypt, both man and beall, " and againll: all the gods of Egypt I will execute " judgment ; I am Jehovah ^.'* Doubtlefs, it was alfo meant as a reproof to the Ifraelites, for their folly and wickednefs in adopting the im- pure worlliip of Egypt ; and as a warning againft fuch idolatry for the future. For he thus I'peaks concerning IlVael many ages afterwards : *' In the *' day that I lifted up mine hand to bring them " forth of the land of Egypt, — then faid I unto '* them, Caft away every man the abominations *' of his eyes, and defile not yourfelves with the " idols of Egypt : I am Jehovah your God «." Some think that the threatening refers to the de- il:ru6lion of thofe beafts that the Egyptians wor- lliipped. Indeed, as they worfhipped four-foot- ed beafts, and fowls, and creeping things, it is natural enough to fuppofe, that a number of thefe gods would be involved in the deftruc- tion of the firil-born ; for it extended to both man and beaft. But it is fcarcely credible, that all the brute creatures which they v/orlhip- ped were iirfl-born ; and we know that they had deities of another kind. Now, this judgment reached all their gods. It is therefore neceflary to 2 Esod. sii. s:4. a Ezek, xx. 6, 7. UNITY OF GOD. tl to fuppofe, that it operated in various ways. It is probable that the divine vengeance extended to all the brutes which they worfliipped ; and that at the fame time their idols were deftroyed. The Hebrew writers fay, that God " threw down " all the images of their abominations, fo that *' they were broken in pieces i'." According to the Chaldee Paraphraft, the idols of metal were melted, thofe of flone or earth were broken, and thofe of wood were reduced to afhes. In the wri- tings of the heathen, there are various allufions to this event ; although, according to their ufual way, mixed with fables "". Similar was the judgment executed on Dagon the idol of the Philiftines, when they prefumed to bring in the ark, as a captive, into the temple of their god. Their deity fell down proftrate be- fore the ark of God, and was broken in pieces ; fo that his fooliili worfliippcrs were forced to make this acknowledgment to the honour of the Godoflfrael; *' His hand is fore upon us, and *' upon Dagon our god ''." Jehovah pours contempt on the idols of Ba- bylon, when predi6ling their fate : " Bel boweth " down, Nebo floopeth, their idols were upon the " beads, and upon the cattle : your carriages were *' heavy laden, they are a burden to the weary " beaft e." The prophecy refers to the dellrudlion of thefe idols by the Perlians, who becaufe of the precioufnefs of the metals of which they were B 3 made, b Pirks Eliezer. cliap. 48. c Vid. Bocharti Hierozoic. vol. i. P- 343- 616. 644. Witfii Egj'ptiac, p. 2x9. Pol. Synops. in loc. d z Sam. v. 3, 4, 7. c Ifa. shi. i. da ON THE BEING AND made, brake them in pieces, and carried them ar way into their own country, to convert them to other Lifes. Thus he alfo fpeaks by Jeremiah ; *' Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach *' is broken in pieces : her idols are confounded, *' her images are broken in pieces f." And he appeals to the general deftrudion he fhould bring on the idols of the heathen, as a proof of their vanity, and of his own fole dominion. *' Jeho- " VAH is the true God, he is the living God, and '' an everlafling king : at his wrath the earth fhall *' tremble, and the nations fliall not be able to *' abide his indignation. Thus fliall ye fay unto *' them. The gods that have not made the heavens, *' and the earth, even they jQiall perilh from the *' earth, and from under thefe heavens. — They *' are vanitv, and the work of errors : in the time ■ ' of their vifitation they fliall perifli. The por- *' tion of Jacob is not like them : for he is the ^' former of all things ; — Jehovah of hofts is his f name sJ"*- IV. The accompiifhment of prophecy is another proof of the divine unity. This is not merely a proof from facts^ but one of the molt fhriking kind that can polTibly be conceived. We have a two- fold view of the fame f4cl:. We fee it firft in the book of prophecy j and then, perhaps, many cen- turies after, in the book of providence. We view it firfl:, as it exiits in the divine mind and immuta-r |3le decree ; and then, as it is adually brought in- to f Jer I 2. g Jer. x. xg^ii. 15, iC. UNITY OF GOD. 23 to being, with the moft minute conformity to its prototype. Prophecy is thus a living, a perma- nent, a perpetual hiftory, that fhall continue to flied its precious light on the Church, and on the world, till time fliall be no more. Need we wonder, then, that God fliould fre- quently refer to it, in proof of his abfolute and unrivalled perfection ? When he proclaims that peculiar honour which he had conferred on his ancient people, as the witnefles of his unity, he immediately appeals to the prophecies he had de- livered to them, and to their illuftrious anceftors, as verified by the event. " Ye are my witnefles, ** faith Jehovah : — that ye may know and be- " lieve me, and underftand that I am he : before " me there was no God formed, neither fhall there " be after me. — I have declared, and have faved, *' and I have fliewed, when there was no ftrange " god among you : therefore ye are my witneffcs, " faith Jehovah, that I am God '." — " I am'the *' firft, and I am the laft, and beiides me there is " no God. And who, as I, fliall call, and fiiall de- " clare it, and fet it in order for me, fince I ap- " pointed the ancient people ? and the things that " are coming, and fliall come, let them fliew unto " them. Fear ye not, neither be afraid : have not " I told thee from that time, and have declared " it ? ye are even my witnefles. Is there a God " befldes me ? yea, there is no god, I know not " any '."— " Remember, ihe former things of old, " for I am God, and there is none elfe, I am God, B 4 ** and h Ifa, xliii. xo. u. i If.i. xliv, C. — 8, 24 ON THE BEING AND ** and there is none like me, declaring the end " from the beginning, and from ancient times the *' things that are not yet done, faying, My coun- ** fel fhall ftand, and I will do all my plea- « fure ^" We have formerly feen, that God appeals to his power manifefted in creation, in proof of his being the only true God. But, in revealing him- felf to an obftinate and unbelieving people, he does not reft the evidence of his claim in this re- fpedt merely on his own teftimony, or refer to that particular account of the work of creation which no one but himfelf could give. He pro- duces another fpecies of evidence, arifing from his wonderful works in behalf of his Church, ef- pecially in relation to preceding predictions. This is a combined proof of the moft convincing kind. Is it true, that the work of creation clearly de- monftrates that He, to whom it belongs, is God, and God alone ? While the wonderful works of Jehovah afford a difplay of the fame almighty power which was manifefted in creation ; thefe, as verifying his word of prophecy, in which he has aiTerted his claim to creative power, incon- teftably prove the juftnefs of his claim to the charader of Creator, and at the fame time Ihew that there is, that there can be, " no God befides *' him." When, therefore, we find this affertion of creative power mingling itfelf in the prophe- cies concerning the deliverance of the Church, we are not to view it in the light of a parenthe- lis, k Ifa. xlvi. 5, ic. See alfo chap. 2I7. ar, sa. ; xlviii. 3.— S- la- I4' i^« UNITY OF GOD. 25 iis, merely expreffing the dignity of tbe fpeaker. It is indeed a diftingiiiflied branch of that evi- dence, which is exhibited for the prefent confir- mation of the faith of thofe who already believe, as declaring the certainty of the event ; and at the fame time denotes that the event itfelf, when it fhall take place, fliall, in its connexion, afford a fufficient ground of convicStion to thofe who have formerly rejeded the divine teftimony. Of this kind of evidence, we have various examples. " Thus faith Jehovah thy Redeemer, — I am Je- " HOVAH that maketh all things ; that flretcheth " forth the heavens alone ; that fpreadeth abroad " the earth by myfelf : — that confirmeth the word *' of his fervant, and performeth the counfel of " his meffengers ; that faith to Jerufalem, Thou " (halt be inhabited : — that faith to the deep, Be " dry ; and I will dry up thy rivers : that faith of *' Cyrus, He is my ihepherd, and fhall perform " all my pleafure ; even faying to Jerufalem, Thou " llialt be built ; and to the temple, Thy founda- " tion fliall be laidK^^ What a beautiful con- nexion here, between creative power, omnifci- ence, and the completion of prophecy in wonder- ful operations I To the fame purpofe is the fol- lowing language : " Thus faith Jehovah, — Afk " me of things to come concerning my fons. — I " have made the earth, and created man upon it. ** — I have raifed him up," that is, Cyrus, " in " righteoufnefs, and I will dired all his ways '"." In the ufe of this argument, faith may either de- fcend I Ifa. xliv. 24—18. jn Ifa. xlv. 11. — 13. Sec alfo Jer. IL 14, 15. iO ON THE BEING AND fcend fram the creative power of God already be- lieved, to a firm perfuafion of the accomplifliment of the prophecy ; or, as excited by the mani- feflation of God's faithfuhiefs and power in ful- filling the prophecy, it may afcend to a firm per- fuafion of his being the Creator and the only true God. Faith, indeed, as it fliill refpecls the power of God, finds great encouragement in viewing this perfection as manifefted in creation. For there is no work, which it is called to believe, that can be too hard for Him who formed all things of nothing. Hence Abraham, when called to believe againft hope, that he fliould be the fa- ther of a feed like the fand of the fea, found no obftacle to believing this, while he credited the doctrine of creation. " He believed God, — who " calleth the things that be not as though they " were ".'* Hence alfo we are commanded to com- mit our fouls to him, as to a faithful Creator i': where his infinite faithfulnefs and almighty power .are conjoined, as affording a ftrong ground of con- fidence. V. Jehovah hath manifefl:ed that he is the one true God, by anjwering the prayers of his wor- fnippers : and many remarkable infiances of this are recorded, for confirming our faith in this im- ^portant doctrine. Elijah propofed to the people of. Ifrael, that the decifion of the controverfy be- tween Jehovah and Baal fiiould turn on this hinge. He faid to them, " Call ye on the name " of n Roit). iv. 17. o ? Pet. iv. 19. UNITY OF GOD. 1'J *^ of your gods, and I will call on the name of Je- *' HOVAH : and the God that anfwereth by fire, " let him be God." They all approved of this as a moll equitable condition. The falfe pro- phets " called on the name of Baal from morning ^' even until noon, faying, O Baal, hear us. But " there was no voice, nor any that anfivered: — *' When mid-day was pall, and they prophefied " until the time of the offering of the evening fa- " orifice, there was neither voice, nor any to an- **■ fwer, nor any that regarded." For the gods of the nations " have ears, but they hear not." The fire from heaven having confumed the facrifice offered by Elijah, the multitude were convinced, that the God whom he worfhipped was the only true God. " Whea all the people faw it, they " fell on their faces : and they faid, Jehovah he *' is the God ; Jehovah he is the God p." In like manner, the deliverance which God gave the Jews from Sennacherib, when he fent forth his angel, and flew an hundred and eighty-five thou>r fand of the Affyrians, w^as in anfwer to the prayer of Hezekiah. This good king fought deliverance, exprefsly as an evidence that Jehovah alone had a right to adoration. The plea was accepted, and the deliverance was given as the anfwer of his prayers. Hezekiah faid, " O Jehovah our God, " I befeech thee, fave thou us out of his hand^ " that all the kingdoms of the earth may know ** that thou art Jehovah God, even thou only." And this was the gracious anfwer : *' Thus faith ** Jehovah p I Kings rviii. 14. 26. 25. 39. 28 - ON THE BEING AND ^' Jehovah the God of Ifrael, That which thou ** haft prayed to me againft Sennacherib king of <* Aflyria, I have heard 'i." On this ftriking part of the character of her God, that he heareth prayer, the Church grounds her confidence as to the converfion of all nations to the faith : ** O thou ** that heareft prayer, unto thee (hall all flelh " come. — By terrible things in righteoufnefs wilt " thou anfwer us, O God of our faivation ; who ** art the confidence of all the ends of the earth, " and of them that are afar off on the fea ^" Often hath our God vindicated his claim to this charafter, by anfwering the prayers of his Church in the time of her necelfity, even when his operation hath been nowife miraculous. Hence Jeremiah uttered this language, during a famine occafioned by a great drought ; " Are there any "among the vanities of the Gentiles that jcan ** caufe rain ? or can the heavens give fhowers ? ** art not thou he, O Jehovah our God ?" he, ,who alone can giv^e rain ? " therefore we will ** wait upon thee, for thou haft made all thefe " things ^" He fignally manifefted his power in this refpeft, in anfwer to the prayer of Elijah, both in judgment aiid in mercy. " He prayed *' earneftly that it might not rain ; and it rained " not on the earth by the fpace of three years and ** fix months. And he prayed again, and the " heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth " her fruit ^" VI. The q zKings xii. 19, ao. r Pfal. hv. a. 5. s Jer. xiv. aj. t James V, 17, 18, UNITY or GOD. 29 VI. The Lord hath flill manifefted that he is the only living and true God, by his faitbfulnefs to his Church, and by rememhering his covenant, efpecially when fhe hath turned to him. There- fore Solomon thus addreffes him ; " Jehovah God ** of Ifrael, there is no God like thee, in heaven " above, or in earth beneath, who kecpell cove- *' nant and mercy with thy fervants, that walk "before thee with all their heart"." Of this faithfulnefs the Jews were ftanding witnelTes, while they adhered to him. In various refpe6ls, it was facccflively attefted by miraculous opera- tion. As long as the land, according to the divine commandment, enjoyed her Sabbaths, they re- ceived a double harvefl ; and while all the males, who were able to travel, were alTembled at Jeru- falem during the foiemn feafts, the enemy never " defired their land." The heathen could boall nothing of this nature. Their gods made no dif- ference between obedience and difobedience. VII. The hillory of the work of redemption, in its various ftages from the fall downwards, is one continued demonllration of the unity of God. It difplays an evident unity of deiign and operation. The eye, that views the divine difpenfations par- tially, may oppofe one to another. It may oppofe the patriarchal difpenfation to that of the law, and both thefe to the gofpeL Hence fome of the early heretics reprefented the God of the Jews as quite a different being from the God of the Chri- llians. u t Kings viii, ij. ^O ON THE BEING AND Itians, But thofe who view this matter fairly and impartially, difcern the moft beautiful harmony. They perceive that the one illuftrates and con- firms the other ; that while the Mofaic difpenfa- tion derives its perfection from the Chriflian, the Chriftian derives its evidence from the Mofaic ; and that both hinge on that given to the patri- archs. Thus the Church finds the moft abundant reafon for this fong ; " He is the Rock, his work " is perfect \'* " As for God, his way is perfedt. " — For who is God fave Jehovah ? and who is " a rock fave our God '^'^' ?" As there is the molt beautiful harm.ony in all the parts of divine revelation, although written in a great variety of ages ; as they have all one great fubjedt, the redemption of the Church by the Son of God in the nature of man ; as one fpi- rit evidently pervades and animates the whole, uniformxly " teltifying the fufferings of Chrift, and " the glory that Ihould follow ;" a fimilar har- mony is difcernible in the operations of Provi- dence. Of thefe we have an almolt uninterrupt- ed record for more than four thoufand years. But they all evidently concentrate in one point. They are all diredted to the work of redemption. They all confpire towards its accompiifhment ; fome of them immediately, and others more remotely. The firlt gofpel-promife, concerning the feed of the woman bruifing the head of the ferpent, is a key to all the fucceeding hiltory of Providence, in reference to individuals or to nations, to the Church V Deut. xxxU. ^. w J Sam. xxii. 31, a^i. UNITY OF GOD. 3I Church or the world. We fee the earth peopled, and in a little almolt entirely flript of its inhabi- tants ; cities built, and razed ; empires founded* and brought to ruin ; all in relation to that king- dom which fhall never have an end, and that do- minion which fhall not be given to another peo- ple. " When the Moil High divided to the na- " tions their inheritance, when he feparated the " fons of Adam, he fet the bounds of the people, " according to the number of the children of If- " rael ." It was for the fake of his Church, and as her Redeemer and Holy One, that he " fent to *' Babylon, and brought down all their nobles ." When he warns her not to be " afraid of the Af- " fyrian," her intereft in the Meffiah is pointed out as her fecurity and confolation ; " It lliali " come to pafs in that day, that his burden Ihall *' be taken away from off thy flioulder, and his " yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke fliall be " deilroyed becaufe of the anoint ir;^''.''^ It was doubtlefs with a defign to imprefs the Ifraelites with ^a fenfe of the unity, both of his effence, and of his love to the Church, that God fo frequently defigned himfelf from the relation which he bore to their fathers. He was pleafed. K) take fuch names in fuccellion ; as if he meant to inform them, that notwithftanding the lapfe of time, and the change of perfons, he is ftill the fame. When he appeared to Mofes, and gave him a commiflion to proclainj liberation to his daptives in Egypt, he commanded him to deliver X Dcut, xxxii. ?. y Ifa. xliii. 14. 2 Ifa. x. tj. 32 ON THE BEING AND this meffage ; " Jehovah, the God of your fa» " thers, the God of Abraham, the God of Ifaac, *' and the God of Jacob, hath fent me unto you ; " this is my name for ever, and my memorial un- *' to all generations 3." As he ufes this language in the prefent time, efpecially in the ftridleft con- nexion with that wonderful name, I am that I AM ; while it proves the unchangeablenefs of his love to thefe patriarchs, as ftill exilting in a fepa- rate ftate, it proclaims the fame unchangeable love to all their fpiritual feed. The Redeemer of his Church indeed alTumed various defignations of the fame kind, according to her fituation, and the progrefs of his work. When by an awful difplay of his juftice he had feparated the family of Noah from all the other inhabitants of the earth, it appeared proper to his infinite wifdom to feparate one branch of this family from the reft. He therefore took the cha- radler of " Jehovah the God of Shem ^ ;" as the promife was to run in the line of his pofterity. After being known by this chara^er for feveral generations, when all the pofterity of Shem were more or lefs corrupted, he feparated one indivi- dual, not merely from the other families of this race, but from his father's family, as his true wor- Ihipper, and the anceftor of that iiluftrious perfo- nage in whom all the families of the earth Ihould be bleifed. He revealed himfelf as " the God of " Abraham." Only one of all the fons of Abra- ham being the child of promife ; he alfo called himfelf a Exod. iii, 15. b Gen. ix. x6. UNITt OF GOD. 33 himfelf " the God of Ifaac :" and with thefe two he conjoined the name of Jacob, as he loved him, while his brother Efau was rejeded. In the hif- tory of Jacob, we have a ftriking inftance of his zeal for preferving the dodrine of the divine unity. When Laban and he entered into a cove- nant, Laban ufed this form of fwearing ; " The ** God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the " God of their Father, judge betwixt us." But *' Jacob fware by the fear of his father Ifaac %" that is, by the objed: of his fear. Jacob would not fwear in the terms ufed by Laban. For he mentioned " the God of Abraham," as at the fame time the God of Nahor, and of their father Terah. Now, we are told that Terah the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor, '* ferved " other gods, on the other fide of the flood," or great river Euphrates ^. Laban fware by " the *' God of Abraham," before he was feparated from his father's houfe : Jacob would fwear on- ly by that God of Abraham, who was worfliipped by his immediate father Ifaac, who had called Abraham from idolatry, and given him the pro- mife of falvation in the feed of Ifaac *. Vol. II. G When c Gen. xxxi. 53. d Jo'h. xxiv. 2. * Here the remarks of a very ingenious writer merit our attention. Speaking of the pretenfions mack by other nations, allied to the Ilraelitcs, to the promife of the Meffiah, he fays : " It is thefe jealoufies, and thefe « pretenfions,— that gave rife to the cuftom of calling God, the God of " Abraham, the God of Ifaac, and the God of Jacob : for though he might " as well have been called the God of Adam, the God of Enoch, and the " God of Noah, forafmuch as all thefe patriarchs were alfo depofitaries of " the promife of the Mefljajli : yet it is probable that God ww called fo, be- 'i caufe 34 ON THE BEING AND When God had feparated a peculiar people for himfelf, to exprefs the nearnefs of their relation, the pleafure he had in them, efpecially as emblems of his fpiritual feed, and to dillinguifli him.felf from all falfe gods, he took the name of " the ** God of Ifrael." He did not borrow a new de- iignation from any individual among them : for he viewed Ifrael, in their colleftive capacity, as " his fon, his firil-born." He ftill delighted, how- ever, in recognilmg his relation to their pious progenitors ; and in affuring them, that he would '^' perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to " Abraham, which he had fworn from the days of " old ^" Thus was God pleafed to link one revelation with another ; that he might, in the moil expref- live manner, teach his people the importance of the dodtrine of the divine unity, and Ihew their^ the neceffity of being on their guard againft im- pofture ; while he at the fame' time gave them the ' mod fatisfying evidence that they had no- thing of this kind to fear, when addreflcd by the God of their fathers. Such care did he manifell in this refped, that, in different inftances, he in . this manner conneded the diftind revelations that he "' f aiife of the particular promifes thst had been made to Abraham, fe- ♦' condly to Ifaac, and laflly to Jacob, and in oppofitioRto the pretenfions •' of fome people near neighbours to the Ifraelites, and jealous of their " hopes : The God of Abraham, and not of hot, as the Ammonites and " JMoabites, Lot's pofterity, pretended ; the God of IJaac, and not of Ifi- " mael, .,s the Iflimaelites pretended ; the God of Jacob, and not of E/a?*, " as the Eilomites, who were liie offspring of Ei.i'., precended." Allix's Refifdlions upon the Books of the Holy Scriptures, Vol, i. p. So. e Mic. vii. 20, UNITY OF GOD. 35 he made to the fame perfons. When he appear- ed to Abram in the plain of Mamre, he remind- ed him that, although his fituation was changed, he was ftill under the proted:ion of the fame God. He faid to him ; " I am Jehovah that brought ** thee out of Ur of the ChaldeeSy to give thee this " land, to inherit it *." When he commanded Jacob to leave Mefopotamia, and return to his own kindred ; that he might have no doubt as to the certainty of the call, and that he might know that it was the fame God who had " fed him all *' his life long," and that his power was the fame in all places, and at all times, he referred him to what had taken place many years before, faying ; *' I am the God of Bethel^ where thou anointedfl; ** the pillaf, and where thou vowedft a vow unto " mes." Afterwards, he made himfelf known tg Jacob by the fame peculiar character. He faid to him ; " Arife, go up to Bethel, — and make ** there an altar to God that appeared unto thee, ** when thou feddeji from the face of Ei'au thy " brother ^'.'* When the glorious confequences of the afcen- lion of Chrift are foretold, it is in this language : *' The princes of the people are gathered toge* *' ther, even the people of the God of Abraham '." In conformity to this, and to illullrate the unity of the object of worfliip, and the unity of his work for the redemption of the Church, Peter declares to the Jewifli council ; " The God of C 2 " Abraham, f Gen. XV. 7. g Gen. xxxl. 13. h Gen. xxxv. i. i Pl'aU xlvij. 9. 36 ON THE BEIl'TG AND " Abraham, and of Ifaac, and of Jacob, the God ** of our fathers, hath glorified his fon Jefus '^." He had been known, for a long fucceflion of ages, as " the God of Ifrael," and as his Redeem- er. He had claimed this charader, as attefted by- many temporal and typical redemptions •, and ef- pecially as Jehovah, " who brought up the chil- " dren of Ifrael out of the land of Egypt ;" and afterwards, in reference to the deliverance from Babylon, as he " who led the feed of the houfe " of Ifrael out of the north country ^." In the language of prophecy, he had laid to his own Son, as the glorious Antitype, and as the Reprefenta- tive of that fpiritual Ifrael whom he had chofen to be his peculiar treafure ; ** Thou art my fer- " vant, O Ifrael, in whom I will be glorified •"." 'Now although, in the New Teflament, he is call- ed " the God of Abraham, of Ifaac, and of Ja- " cob," and alfo " th-e God of Ifrael"," in order to illuftrate his unity both of elTence and of ope- ration ; yet, the fpiritual redemption being ac- complifhed, he is efpeciaily defigned in relation to this. The God, and the Father, of Ifrael efpe- ciaily delights to be known as " the God and Fa- *" ther of our Lord Jefus Chrift," that true Ifrael jn whom he hath been fo fignally glorified. VIII. That Jehovah is the only true God, hath appeared from a variety of proofs, recorded in Scripture-hillory, of his power in changing the heart. He, even he only *' knoweth the hearts "of X A THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY all-wife God, in our redemption ; and it is evi- dent that he hath ftill kept it in eye, in the rcve-^ iation given to the Church, and elpeciallj in the hiflory of that work, as it is recorded in the gof- pels. We may trace the doctrine of a Trinity in the accounts given of the old creation ; but it ap- pears with far fuperior evidence in the hillory of the new. This correfponds to the fuperior great- ncfs of the work, and to the brighter and more extenfive difplay of divipe perfection. Such was the ftate of the Church, as to admit of a more full manifeftation of this myftery. It was more obfcurely revealed to the patriarch?, and under the Mofaic economy. This was ana- logous to the general character of the revelation then made ; as well as to the ftate of the Church, yet in her infancy, and expofed to conftant temp- tations to polytheifm, from the fituation of all the furrounding nations. But " when the fullnefs of " the time was come," that the gofpcl fhould be preached to every cresiture, and the kingdom of Satan fall as lightning from heaven, in the over- throw of heathen darknefs ; there were no fuch impediments to the more /clear revelation of this myilerious doctrine. The reft of the divine con- duct indeed rendered this neceffary. God had now *' fent forth his Son, made of a woman, made " under the law, to redeem them that were under " the law." The ends of this miffion could not be accompliflied, without a full revelation of the character of this illaftrious Meffenger. He could not other wife receive that homage from the Church, PROVED FROM SACRED HISTORY. 47 Church, which he merited as her Redeemer, and which was neccilliry, in order to her falvation. Now, his character, as elTentially the Son of God, and at the fame time a divine Meffenger, could not be properly unfolded, without a declaration both of the paternity of the Firft Perfon, and of that wonderful difpcnfation according to which the Second, although equal in power and glory, voluntarily " emptied himfelf." Nor could the unity of the work of redemption, as pervading all the difpenfations given to the Church, and the beautiful harmony of the law and the gofpel, be otherwife difplayed. Without a full revelation of this myftery, how could it have been known that he who appeared in the end of ages as fent of God, w^as the very fame perfon who had for- merly led the Church, as the Angel of his face ; that He who now brought fpiritual redemption to his folk, was no other than that Angel-Redeemer who had already fo frequently delivered them from temporal calamities ? If this myftery be unknown or difbelieved, there can be no faith in Chrift as the Mediator between God and men. For he who believes not that the Son is in the Father, and the Father in the Son, as to identity of eflence, while at the fame time there is a diftindion of perfons, denies the voluntary fubjedion of the Son to the Father in the eternal covenant, and thus the whole foun- dation of his merit and of our falvation. In re- lation to the work of our redemption, and in the hiftory given of it, are revealed various internal actings 48 THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY actings of the divine perfons towards each other, as well as thofe of an external nature. The Fa- ther appoints, gives, fends, prepares a human na- ture for his Son : the Son undertakes, gives him- felf, comes, aflumes this nature. From the hiflory given of the conception of Chrift, we find that three divine perfons were en- gaged in the creation of this " new thing in the " earth." The Father appears in the character of " the Higheft ;" the Third Perfon, as " the *' Holy Ghoil," and " the Power of the Higheft ;" and the Second, as " the Son of God ™." When this wonderful Perfon, the incarnate Word, was to be manifefted to Ifrael at his baptifm, each di- vine Perfon concurred in the work. The Father teftified his prefence and approbation by a voice from the excellent glory, announcing Jefus as his beloved Son ; and the Holy Ghoft defcended like a dove, and refted on him ". The hiftory of his death, viewed in its connexion, affords a proof of a fimilar kind. As " it pleafed Jehovah," in the perfon of the Father, fuftaining the character of Judge, to bruife the Son a,s our Surety ; and as he, having power over his own life, commended his fpirit into the hands of his Father, thus pre- fenting unto him a facrifice of a fweet-fmelling favour ; he did fo " through the Eternal Spirit." The fame thing appears from the refurredtioa of Jefus. He was " powerfully declared to be the ** Son of God in his refurredion from the dead^ ;" for he had " power to take again" that life which no m Luke i. 35^ n Mat. iii. 16, 17, Rom. i. 4. PROVED FROM SACRED HISTORY. 49 no one could take from him. This work is fre- quently afcribed to God, where the term evident- ly denotes the Firft Perfon. " God hath raifed *' up Jefus again ; as it is alfo written in the fe- " cond pfalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I " begotten thee i'." As he was " put to dcatli in " the flefh, he was quickened by the Spirit," by that Spirit of holinefs, *' by which alfo he went *' and preached unto the fpirits in prifon ":." Nor is this lefs evident from the account given of the efFufion of the Spirit. This is undoubtedly a di- vine work •, and it is defcribed as belonging to each adorable Perfon. Jefus had foretold that the Comforter fliould come, that himfelf fhould fend him '■, and that he fhould at the fame. time be fent by the Father \ Accordingly, from the account given of this wonderful event by the apoflle Peter, which is left on record for the inflruclion of the Church, we find that each divine Perfon was. en- gaged in accomplifliing it : *' Jefus having re- " ceived of the Father the promife of the Holy " Ghoil, hath Ihed forth this which ye now fee " and hear ^" It is undeniable, that one fpecial end, which Chrifl had in view in his miraculous works, was to confirm his dodlrine with refpedt to his equa- lity with the Father. When he gave thanks at the tomb of Lazarus, before railing him from the dead, it was becaufe of the people who Hood by, that they might believe that the Father had Vox. II. D fent p Arts Kiii. 33.. q I Pet. iii. 18, 19. r John xvi. 7 s Chap. xiv. i6. t Atfls ii. 33. 50 THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY, fent him ; and fent him as a Meffenger invefted with divine power, becaufe eflentially polTeffing divine perfedion. For he had previoufly faid to his difciples : " This licknefs is not unto death, ** but for the glory of God, that the Son of God *' might be glorified thereby ;" and taught Mar- tha, that if Ihe " would believe, fhe would fee the " glory of God," in feeing the manifeftation of that power which eflentiaUy belonged to himfelf, as " the Refurredlion and the Life "." When he cured the man fick of the palfy, it was in order to prove that he had ** power on earth to forgive " fin ;" while he admitted the principle held by the fcribes, that no one could forgive fins but God only \ On different occafions he refers to his miraculous works, as irrefragable evidences of his having the fame efl^ence with the Father ; and of the mutual inexiftence, as fome have expreffed it, of the Father in the Son, and of the Son in the Father, in refped: of this eflential unity, while • there is at the fame time a real diftindion of per- fons. When his enemies accufed him of blaf- phemy, becaufe he faid, " I am the Son of God," " making himfelf God ;" he replied, " If I do ** not the works of my Father, believe me not. *' But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe " the works ; that ye may know and believe that "the Father is in me, and I in him'-'." To Philip, when defiring to fee the Father, he faid, " Believe me, that I am in the Father, and the "•Father u John xi. 4. 35. 40. 4j, corop* v Mark ii. 7. 10, w John X. 33I36— 38, PROVED FROM SACRED HISTORY. 5 I f* Father in me ; or elfe believe me for the very *' work's lake *■■." The Evangelift John, when re- ferring to the figns recorded in the preceding hif- tory, fubjoins this declaration ; " Thefe are writ- " ten, that ye might believe that Jefus is the Son "ofGod>'." That he appropriates this charac- ter to Jefus, as expreffive of fupreme deity, is evi- dent from the uniform tenor of the gofpel which bears his name ^ The dodtrine of the Trinity is peculiarly elu- cidated by the hiftory of redemption ; as it does not merely exhibit all the adorable Perfons as en- gaged in this work, but afcribes a peculiar ope- ration to each Perfon, The contrivance of our redemption is afcribed to the Father ; the pur- chafe of it to the Son ; and the effedual applica- tion of this purchafed redemption to the Holy Spirit. The Father fends his Son as our Surety ; the Son cheerfully comes in this character ; and the Holy Spirit is fent by both. The purpofe of election is more immediately afcribed to the Fa- ther ; the obje(5ls of his love are all chofen in Chrift ; and they, who were thus chofen from e- ternity, are in time chofen out of the world, and feparated for himfelf, by the renewing and fandli- fying work of the Spirit. Nor is this all. The peculiar operation of each Perfon, in the work of our falvation, is per- fedtly analogous to the order of fubfiftence in the Holy Trinity j 'and thus beautifully illuftrates the D 2 mutual X John xiv. ir. y John xx. 31. z See, for a farther iUuflration of this fubjed, Vindication of the Dodrine of Scripture, &c. Book ii. cliap. 6. Q/tke Eiiidence of our Saviour's Di'Vmif)!,/rom his Miracles, 52 the'1)octrine of the trinity mutual relations of the divine Perfons. All the external works of God, indeed, are common to each Perfon ; as the divine nature is the fame in- divifible principle of operation. Yet thefe works are diftindtly afcribed to the three Perfons, be- caufe each Perfon operates according to the order of fubfiftence. In the old creation, the Father called all things into being, by his co-effential Word, communicating life immediately by the Spirit, as exerciling a generating power on the unformed mafs. When God created man, the Firft Perfon formed him by the Second, as his ef- fential Image, giving him life, both natural and moral, by the Third as " the Spirit of life^'." Yet this implies no inferiority, or mere inflru- mentality, in any of the adorable Perfons ; but only the moft perfect order and harmony. The cafe is the fame in the nev/ creation. It feems moft coniiftent with divine wifdom, that he who is firft in the order of fubfiftence Ihould rather fend than be fent ; that the Son, who is " the " image of the invifible God," fhould procure the reftoration of that bleflTed image loft by fin ; and that he, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, fiiould be fent by both, to quicken thofe who are fpiritually dead. This diftind operation indeed, as it correfponds with the order of fub- fiftence, beautifully harmonizes with the diftin- guifiiing charadler belonging to each Perfon. He, who is efl^ntially the Father, aflimies the charac- ter of paternity, in a federal refped, towards thofe a Gen. i. 17. ; ii. 7. PROVED FROM SACRED HISTORY. 53 thofe who are orphans and aliens. The only-be- gotten Son of God is fent forth, made under the law, that they may " receive the adoption of " fons," and appears as " the firft-born among " many brethren." The adorable Spirit, " the *' breath of Jehovah," breathes on the llain, that they may live ; giving them a new heart and a right fpirit. He, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, unites the linner to both. Is it " life eternal to know the only true God, " and Jefus Chrifl whom he hath fent?" Hath no one the Father, who " denieth the Son ?" Can no one honour the Father, " who honoureth not " the Son ?" Is it the Spirit alone who quicken- cth, and who teacheth us to " know the things " that are freely given us of God ?" Can no man " fay that Jefus is the Lord, but by the Holy " Ghoft :" Is it through Chrift that " we have " accefs by one Spirit unto the Father ?" Let us blefs God for the revelation of the myftery of a Trinity in unity ; and efpecially becaufe he hath revealed it fo clearly in the hiflory of our redemption, in relation to that work in which a peculiar operation belongs to each adorable Per- fon, in which the love of a three-one God is fo wonderfully difplayed, in which we difcern fo bleffed a harmony, not only of divine perfedlions, but of divine Perfons I In all our worfhip, let us view God according to this revelation, afcri- bing glory to him " who is, and who was^ and *' who is to come, and to the Seven Spirits which D 3 <' ar(? 54 THE DORTRTNE OF THE TRINITY, &C. " are before his throne, and to Jefus Chrift, who " is the faithful witnefs, and the firft-begotten " from the dead, and the prince of the kings of " the earth." Let us earneftly defire communion tvith this three-one God ; with the Father, in his love as the fpring of our falvation ; with the Son, in all that grace which he hath purchafed by his blood ; and with the Holy Ghoft, in the whole extent of his efficacious operation. In order to this, let us prcfs after union with Chrift, that in him we may be united to the Father by that one Spirit who proceeds from both, and who is con- ferred by both as the Spirit of adoption. Let us cultivate love to the brethren, as members of the fame myftical body, defiring to be " one heart " and one foul ;" that although many, we may be one, and thus be affimilated, in our weak mea- fure, to the blefled Trinity in refped of unity ; as Jefus prays in behalf of his Church ; — " That " they all may be one ^ as thou, Father, art in " me, and I in thee j that they alfo may be one *' in us. — I in them, and thou in me, that they ** may be made perfedl in one ; and that the ^ world may know that thou haft fent me, and ** haft loved them, as thou haft loved me ^." SECT. b John xvii. ai. 43, DIVINE WISDOM ILLUSTRATED, S^C. 55 SECTION III. Of the Wijdom of God. — Of his Power. — Of that cbaraSler, 'The LORD of Hop, In the facred volume, we have an hiftory of the divine perfedions. Thefe arc not only de- clared in a dodrinal way, but alfo hiilorically de- lineated. They are not merely exhibited as ob- jedls of faith ; by their wonderful effeds, they become as it were vifible to the very fenfes of men. Often, in one event, one perfedion ap- pears more confpicuous than others, like an " ap- " pie of gold, fet in pidures of lilver." In ano- ther, different perfections beam forth with dif- tinguifhed luftre. Bu;: whether the difplay be limited to one, or extended to more, fuch are the chara6ters of the work as to proclaim a divine agent.. It might be fliewed, that we have here an hi- ftory of the Wxfdom of God. This perfection is difplayed in the work of creation. All things are declared to be " very good '^," as exadlly corre- fponding to the pattern in the divine mind, and to the end for which they were made. We may therefore juftly fay ; " O Lord, how manifold ** are thy works, in wifdom haft thou made them D 4 " all." C pen. i. 3t. 56 DIVINE WISDOM ILLUSTRATED "•all ^." The fame wifdom is confpicuous in the works of Providence. How often hath God ** brought to nought the counfel of the wicked ;" now, by " making their devices of none effed:,'' although the refult of the moft mature delibera- tion, and difplaying all the craft of the old fer- pent ; then, by turning their very fchemes of de- ftrudlion on their own heads ! Pharaoh faid, in the height of his refentment, and in the infolence of his pride ; ** I will purfue, 1 will overtake, I " will divide the fpoil ; my luft ihall be fatisfied " upon them ; I will draw ray fword, my hand *' fliall dcftroy them ^•' But this very purfuit was overruled for his more fignal overthrow. The Vv'ifdom of God might be illuftrated from the confideration of the means employed for the prefervation of the truth. The great longevity of the antediluvian patriarchs, and of fome of thofe who lived after the flood, was evidently de- figned in fubferviency to the prefervation of that precious doftrine revealed to the Church, while it was only tranfmitted by tradition. A particu- lar family was afterwards feparated for this puv- pofe. At length, when idolatry had overrun the World, revelation was committed to Meriting, and a whole nation were employed as its guardians. As the Sacred Hiftory exhibits the completion of , great part of the prophecies contained in the vo- lume of infpiration, we have another evidence that its author is *' the only wife God," who "* knoweth the end from the beginning.". Did d Pfal. civ, 74. c EsoJ. sv. p. ♦ BY SACRED HISTORY. 5^ Did we particularly confider the hiftory of re* demption, we would at every flep find reafon to admire " the manifold wifdom of God ;" as dif- played in the comprehenfive nature of the firft revelation of grace, which is a beautiful fummary of all that hath fmce been communicated to the Church ; in its being exprefled in a free promife ; in the feafonablenefs of this revelation ; in the choice of that divine Perfon, as the immediate Revealer, who was himfelf to bruife the head of the ferpent ; in the inftitution of facrifices, as a perpetual and feniible teftimony of the way in which (in fhould actually be expiated ; in the fal- vation of the family of Noah by an ark, and by means of Avater, as figurative of the falvation of all who believe ; in the appointment of a typical priefthood and royalty, as well as in railing up prophets, who were at the fame time meflengers employed by the Angel of the covenant, and types of his future appearance in our world ; in the whole frame of the Mofaic difpenfation, as a flia- ^ow of good things to come ; in the gradual in- creafe of the light- of revelation, as the more per* fedl day approached, when " the Sun of righteouf- " ncfs" flioidd himfelf " arife with healing in his *' wings." How wonderful the difplay of divine wifdom, in the conftitution of the mediatory perfon of Je- fus ; in the formation of his body, of the fame fubftance with ours, yet without fin ; in the choice of the time of his appearance, when " the ♦* world by wifdom knew not God j" in the means employed 5§ DIVINE WISI50M ILLUSTRATED employed for the accomplifhment of the prophecy as to his being born in Bethlehem, and for ma- king it legally known that he was of the lineage of David ; in the excitement of a general expec- tation, among Gentiles as well as Jews, of the appearance of an illuftrious and extraordinary perfon about this time ; in the choice of his fore- runner, ill refpeft of the tribe of which he fprung, his immediate parents, the place of his nativity and education, his manner of life, his peculiar minillry, his great acceptablenefs to the people, his eminent faithfulnefs and intrepidity, his want of perfonal acquaintance with the Meffiah, and the occaiion and circumftances of his teftimony to bim I Here we might contemplate this perfedion as difplayed in the dodrine which Chrift taught ; in the character of his miracles ; in the choice of the time and circumftances in which many of them w^ere wrought, and in their peculiar fignifi- cancy as emblems of his fpiritual work ; in the em- ployment of fo unlikely a mean as his own death, for deftroying the power of fin, Satan and death ; in his being betrayed by one of his difciples, the natural confequence of which muft have been, that had the traitor known any thing detrimen- tal to the charader of his Mafter, he would un- doubtedly have publifhed it for his own vindica- tion ; in making the doctrine of the crofs the in- ftrument of fubduing the world to the obedience of faith. — But the nature of this work will not admit of fo particular a difcuffion. We BY SACRED HISTORY. 59 We might alfo take an extenlive view of Di- vine Fower. For the facred volume contains a ilriking and an ample hiflory of this perfedion. Its glory illuminates the records of creation. No language can be imagined, that could fo forcibly exprefs the infinite eafe with which God effeded this work, as that employed by the infpired hifto- rian. " God faid, Let light be, and light was." He " fpake, and it was done : he commanded, " and it flood fall." His providential government is one continued difplay of omnipotence. " Day ** unto day utter eth fpeech." The Sacred Hillory, in a great variety of in- fiances, illuflrates the meaning of that name which God fo frequently ufes, — Jehovah Sabaoth, or the Lord of Hosts, — a name which peculiarly exprclTes his almighty power and univerfal domi- nion. Some have fuppofed, that Sabaoth is one of the proper names of God. But it is evident;, that as the word fignifies hofts or armies, he is called the Lord, or God of hofts, becaufe the va- rious hofls of creatures are all the work of his hands, and obey his will. This is jufl an expref- fion of his omnipotence. Hence we find, that the language of the feraphim, '* Holy, holy, holy is ** the Lord of hofts V* is applied to him by the four living creatures, with a change of expreflion denoting the meaning of the name ; " Holy, holy, '* holy Lord God Almighty s." His f Jfa. vi. 3. f Rev. iv. 8, 6q the lord of hosts. His is " the army of heaven." The different orders of holy angels are all his hofts, his " mini- " flers that do his pleafure." He employs them as minifters botli of providence and grace, and as inftruments either of judgment, or of mercy. By an angel, the vain-glorious Herod is fmitten ^, and by an angel the faithful fervant of Jefus is deli- vered '. Sometimes one of thcfe heavenly mef- fengers fvveeps away embattled hofts with " the ' ** befom of deftrudion." Thus an angel fmote, in the camp of the Affyrians, an hundred four- fcore and five thoufand . At other times, an army of angels is employed as a guard to one man. When the king of Syria fougiit to make Elifha his prifoner, and fent to Dothan " horfes^ " and chariot^, and a great hoft," which compaf- fed the city ; " behold, the mountain," on which it was built, *' was full of horfes and chariots of "fire round about Eliflia." When the angels of God met Jacob on his way to his father's houfe, he faid, " This is God's hoft "." " Are they not " all miniftering fpirits, fent forth to minifter to *^ the heirs of falvation r" He hath alfo legions of devils at his command, whom he employs, either for the trial of his faints, as in the experience of Job " ; or for the punifh- nient of his adverfaries, as we learn from the ac- count given of his judgments on the Egyptians ; " He caft upon them the fiercenefs of his anger, ** wrath and indignation, and trouble, by fending "evil h AcTs xii. 23. • I Ads xii. 7. ir, k 2 King? xix. 35. 1 2 Kings vi, 15. 17, m Gen. xxxii. i, 2. ' ' n Job i. 12, ; ii. 5. THE LORD or HOSTS. 61 " evil angels among them "." Thefc hellifh hofts acknowledged Jefus as their Lord ; confeffing that he had power to torment them, or to fend them whitherfoever he pleafed. Wicked men muft alio be numbered among his hofts. For he *' maketh the wrath of man to " praife him ; the iremainder of wrath fhall he " reftrain." Hence he calls Nebuchadnezzar his fei^vant "^ : and all wicked men are his fervants in the fame fenfe : for he overrules their very wick- ednefs for accomplilliing his own purpofes. " His " fervants they are to whom they obey :" and although difobedient to the precept, they, with- out any intention on their part, as well as without any conltraint on his, fulfil the purpofe. For ac- complifliing his defigns of judgment, often he em- ploys them againft one another. Thus did he te- ftify his difpleafure with the Midianites '^, and af- terwards w^ith the Philiftines'', when they fought the deftrud:ion of his people. He " fet every " man's fword againft his fellow." Often hath he employed them as his inftruments in punifhing a profefling people for their iniquities. Senna- cherib, notwithftanding all his boafting and ftout- nefs of heart againft the God of Ifracl, was only his fword. That God, whom he blafphemed, had fent him, although he knew it not, '* againft an " hypocritical nation." He was merely execu- ting a commiflion, which he could not read ; and fulfdling all God's counfel, although he viewed it as PfHl. Ixxviii. 49. p Jer. xxvii. i. q Ju^l?- vii- ::.. r I Sam. xiv. z^. 62 THE LORD OF HOSTS. as wholly his own % Often alfo have the wicked been employed as inftruments of deliverance to the Church. The kings of the Medes invaded Chaldea, with no other delign than to gratify their ambition or revenge. But it was the pur- pofe of the Moil; High to break in pieces the proud empire of Babylon, that his captives might be delivered. He therefore defcribes the plan, preparations, warlike operations and fuccefs, as proceeding wholly from himfelf : and, to exprefs the abfolute certainty of the event, although at the diftance of fome centuries, he employs fuch language as if he rather declared what was paft, than foretold what was future. He appears as a fovereign leader, iffuing forth his orders to his valTals, which they muit neceflarily execute ; nay, as an invifible, but all-powerful agent, influencing all their counfels. " Make bright the arrows ; " gather the Ihields : the Lord hath raifed up " the fpirit of the kings of the Medes : for his " device is againil Babylon, to deftroy it ; be- " caufe it is the vengeance of the Lord, the ven- " geance of his temple. — The Lord of Holts hath " fworn by himfelf, faying, Surely I will fill thee " with men as with caterpillars. — Set ye up a " ftandard in the land, blow the trumpet among *' the nations, prepare the nations againil her : " call together againft her the kingdoms of Ara- ** rat, Minni and Afhchenaz, appoint a captain " againft her, caufe the horfes to come up as the " rough caterpillars. Prepare againft her the na- " tions s Ifa, X, 5.-7, THE LORD OF HOSTS. 63 " tions with the kings of the Medes, the captains " thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the " land of his dominion ^" Obferve how he de- fcribes the cruel Medes and Perlians, and the other heathen nations whom he was pleafed to employ in this work : — " I have commanded my fandtified " ones, I have alfo called my mighty ones for " mine anger, even them that rejoice in myhigh- " nefs. The noife of a multitude in the moun- " tain, like as of a great people : a tumultuous " noife of the kingdoms of nations gathered toge- " ther : the Lord of hojis multereth the hojls of " the battle. They come from a far country, " even the Lord and the weapons of his indig- " nation to dellroy the whole land"." His own people m.ay juftly be reckoned among his hofts. The typical Ifraelites are denominated *' the hofts of Jehovah '\" This name efpecially refpedis the Church under the New Teftam^nt, conlifting of converts belonging to every kindred ; and therefore called " the goodly heritage of the *' hofts of nations 'f." The Church appears " tejr- " rible as an army with banners." All her ge- nuine members have been " volunteers in the " day of his power." Tliey have enlifted under his banner. He employs them in his wars. He teaches their hands to war, and their fingers to fight. He manages them in a different manner from that in which he exercifes his power over the wicked. He works in them, not in oppofition to their own intentions, but according to the ha- bitual t Jer. li. rr. 14. 77, jg. u Ifa, \uu 3.-5. w Essd. sli. 41. K Jcr. iii. ij. 64 THE tORD OF HOSTS, bitual inclinations of their hearts, as renewed by his grace. They obey his will on earth, in re- femblance of the holy army above. Like the an- gels of blifs, they in their inferior degree are *' his hofts, his minifters, that do his pleafure." It is therefore their daily prayer ; " Thy will be *' done on earth, as it is in heaven." They have " a leader and commander," who condudls them, to certain vidlory. They " overcome Satan, " through the blood of the Lamb, and the word *' of their teitimony." They alfo overcome the world. And, what is more than either ; they are conquerors over themfelves. Employing them as his hofts, he brings glory to his name by the war- fare itfelf, and by its happy termination. This chara6ter is in a peculiar fenfe conferred on his fervants in the miniftry. When the Le- vites were admitted into the fervice of God, they were faid to " enter into the hoft," and to " wat " the warfare >." Hence this very language is adopted by the apoftle Paul, when addrefling Ti- mothy ''■ : and the minifters of the New Tefta- ment, in declaring the glad-tidings of falvation, are defcribed as a great hoft or army : " Jeho- " VAH gave the word : Great was the army of ** thofe that publiihed it ^" The fame defignation is given to the heavetily hodies. Hence are they fo often called " the hoft " of heaven "^ ;" not merely as fignifying their number, but their order, beauty, and conftant obe- dience y Num. iv. 3, ty z i Tim. i. iS. ; % Tinj. ii. 3. 4. aPfal. Ixviij. n ■ b Deut, iv. i<). ; Ifa. xxxiv. a... THE LORD OF HOSTS. 65 dience to the divine command. It deferves our :attention, that as not only the heathen worfhipped the heavenly bodies, but the Ifraelites difcovered a flrong attachment to this fpecies of idolatry, God, in revealing himfelf to his Church, often aflerts his abfolute dominion over this hoft, and alfo occalionally declares the foundation of this dominion. He announces himfelf as their Lord, becaufe they are all the work of his hands : " Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath ** created thefe, that bringeth out their hofl by ** number : he calleth them all by names by the ** greatnefs of his might, for that he is ftrong in " power ; not one faileth. — I, even my hands have " Itretched out the heavens, and all their hofl have *' I commanded ^." He hath made the '' lights " in the firmament of heaven, — for feafons '^ :" and as he is pleafed to difpenfe their influences, he either bleifes the inhabitants of the earth with abundance, or puniflies them with want ; he pre- ferves them in health, or vifits them with fick- nefs. Hence he connects this name with a de- claration of his dominion over the hoft of heaven, in relation to the earth : " Thus faith the Lor:->, " which giveth the fun for a light by day, and " the ordinances of the moon and of the ftars for " a light by night, which divideth the fea when " the waves thereof roar ; The Lord of Holts is *' his name ''." He hath at times given more a- ftonifliing difplays of this dominion. " The fun *' Hood ftill, and the moon flayed, until the peo- Vol. 1L E '' pie b Ifa. 4, %6. ; xlv. n. c Gen. i, 14. d Jet. xsxi. 35, 66 THE LORD OF HOSTS. " plc had avenged themfelves on their enemies : " —for Jehovah fought for Ifrael e." Deborah, it is probable, in her fong of triumph, alludes to Ibme extraordinary circumftances not recorded in the hiftory of the defeat of Jabin's hoft : " They ** fought from heaven ; the ftars in their courfes *'' fought againft Sifera f." The elements are alfo his hofts. " Fire and *■' hail, fnow and vapour, flormy wind fulfil his 'Mvord&." He fwept away an ungodly world with a deluge of water. He deftroyed the Phili- itines with thunder ^ ; and fent fire from heaven on the meffengers of the king of Ifrael, who came to take the prophet Elijah '. He made the earth to open and fvvallovv up the rebellious company of Korah. When the haughty Pharaoh refufed to acknowledge and obey the God of heaven and earth, he armed all the elements in his quarrel. He '* fent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along *' upon the ground'^." He turned their water into blood. That very river, on which Egypt depends for the means of life, became an inftru- ment of death K The earth rofe in arms againft its guiltv inhabitants. Every particle of dull was iiirnifiied with a fting, and caufed at once pain and felf-abhorrence '■'. The atmofphere became too grois a medium for tranfmitting the light of heaven ". That air, which formerly fupported life, was found to be merely a vehicle for the pef- tilence. e Tofli. X. 1,3, 14. f Juflg. V. 10. g Pu. cxlviii. 8. h I'Sam. vii. 10. i 2 Kihifs i. 12. k Exorl ix. 13. 1 Exod. vii. 1^. — 21. in Exod. viii. 16, !-. n Exod. X. 21. — 23. THE LORD OF HOSTS. 67 ttlence ". At length God " did blow with his " wind -3" and Pharaoh, with all his hoft, funk as' lead in the mighty waters. All the irrational creatures are his hofts. '' Beafts and all cattle, creeping things and flying ** fowl, — praife the name of the Lord." To pu- nilli the idolatry of the mingled nations, which the king of Affyria fettled in the land of Ifrael, " Jehovah fent lions among them p." Bears were the inftruments of his vengeance on the children, who mocked his fervant Eliflia '. To the rebellious prophet, the belly of a great fifh is pro- vided, as at the fame time a prifon and a place of prefervation. He puniflied the murmuring of the Ifraelites, by fending fiery ferpents to deftroy them '. At his command, fuch legions of frogs alTaiilted the Egyptians, that the combined power of Egypt was infufficient to vanquilli them ■ . Often hath he poured contempt on the power and on the pride of man, by making the meanefl or the minuteft creatures the meffengers of deftrudion. The ^od Herod is eaten by worms ; as if the true God would, by his end, remind him of tlie mcan- nefs of his origin, and of the contemptible impo- tence of that divinity afcribcd to him by his mi- nions \ When lie would punifli the oppreHbrs of his people, " he fpake, and there came divers forts *' of flies, and lice in all their coalls. — He fpake, " and the locufts came, and caterpillers, and that *' without number ; and did eat up all the herbs . E 2 " in o Exnd. is. 15. ; Pfj{. Ixxviii. 50. ji 1 Kirijs xvii. 25. q 2 Kings ii. 24. r >"i:nib, xxi. G. s Exod. vii. ;, 6. t Ads x;i. 21. — 23, 68 THE LORD OF HOSTS. ** in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ♦* ground "." He dignifies thefe mean creatures, the locufl, the canker-worm, the caterpiller, and the palmer-worm, with the character of his " great " army ;" becaufe, as he fends them for the pu- nifhment of a guilty people, they certainly exe- cute his commiffion \ To convince the Ifraelites, how cafy it was for him to give them the poflef- fion of the land of promife, he informs them that he had a very puny hoft tliat could eafily accom- plilli the work : " I will fend hornets before ** thee, which fhall drive out the Hivite, the Ca- *' naanite, and the Hittite, from before thee j" and his promife was verified in their experience ^^. When we confider thefe things, jullly may we fay with Bildad , *' Is there any number of his ar- "mies^^r" Our God is ftill known as " the Lord of hofts," not only in his conduct towards his Church, but in her. The more fenfible difplays he hath for- merly given of his power, may be viewed as em- blems of his continued, but more fpiritual, ope- ration. As all true Ifraelites are " the hofls *' of Jehovah," he honours his fervants with the name of angels ". Did the ftars in their courfes iight againft Sifera ? He " holdeth the feven " Jiars in his right-hand," and employs them in fighting againft his enemies. Did he caufe the fun to ftand Itill on Gibeon, and the moon in the valley of Ajalon ? In carrying on the work of redemption, u Pfal. cv. 31, 34, 35. V Joel ii. 25. w F.vad. xx ii. a8.; JolL. xxiv. 12. X Job XXV. 3. y Rev. ii 1.8. &(?. THE LORD OF HOStSi 6^ redemption, and for accomplifliing his purpofes of mercy towards the Church, he hath often covered the fun with blacknefs, and converted the moon into blood. He hath made the greateft political luminaries to (land flill, to alter their courfes, or to hide their heads in darknefs "-. To exprefs the honour put on the prophets, called his two wit- Beffes, they are defcribed as exercifing a dele- gated power over the elements. *' If any man *' will hurt them, Jife proceedeth out of their " mouth, and devoureth their enemies. Thefe *' have power to Ihut heaveiiy that it rain not in " the days of their prophecy ; and have power *' over waters to turn them to blood, and to fmite " the earth with all plagues ^" Did God cm- ploy the weakeft and vileft inftruments in punifli- ing the Egyptians and Canaanites ? This fitly re- prefents the wonderful difplay of his almighty power by means of the gofpel, in chooiing ** the " bafe things of the world, and things which are " defpifed, yea, and things which are not, to bring ** to nought things that are." This name affords comfort to the Church in the moft trying and perilous times. This " name of " the God of Jacob defends" her. " Although " an hofl encamp" againft her, in this flie may be confident. He, who is with her, is mightier by far than all that can be againft her. She may be encompalTed, not by one hoft only, but by many. But they are the hofts of Jehovah, under his go- vernment and control, how malevolent foevcr E 3 their t R?v, vi. 11. ; viii. l%. a Rev. si. s, 6, ^C THE LORD OF HOSTS. their defigns. We may therefore ftill ling ; " The " Lord of holts is with us ; tjie God of Jacob is " t)ur refuge." It is a fpecial ground of confolation, that this delignation belongs to Jefus, the Saviour of the Church. That King, who appeared in vilion to Efaias, was the Lord of hofts ^ ; and we know that it was the glory of Chrift, which the prophet faw ^. Jefus is often reprefented as the bride- groom and hulband of the Church : but of this glorious Hulband it is faid, " The Lord of hofts " is his name '^" Chrift is that King and " Lord " of glory," who afcended in the midft of his angels. And " who is this King of glory ? The " Lord of hofts, he is the king of glory ■=." This character conveys a comfortable alTurance of the Church's triumph over all her incorrigible enemies. The Lord comforts his Church with the proclamation of this name,- as her fecurity for victory over ancient Babylon. " Thus faith the *' Lord of hofts, The children of Ifrael, and the " children of Judah, were opprefted together ; " and all that took them captives held them faft ; *' they refufed to let them go. Their Redeemer " is ftrong ; The Lord of hofts is his name : he *' lliall thoroughly plead their caufe, that he may *' give reft to the land, and difquiet the inhabi- *' tants of Babylon *'." As that kingdom of graven images was a type of myftical Babylon, the fate of the one prefigured that of the other. Hence we b Ifa. vi. 5. c John xii. 41. d li.i liv. 5. e James ii. i. ; Pfal. xxiv. lo. f Jer. 1, 33, 34- ON THE HOLINESS, &C. 71 Ive are direfted to the fame almighty power, as the ground of our confidence : " Strong is the " Lord God who judgeth her s." ■ SECTION IV, Of the Holinefs of God. — Of his Juflice, as ma- nifejled in the 'Threatening and Curfe of the Law ; — /// the Antediluvian Hiflory ; — in the' Deluge ; — in the Dejlrudlion of the Cities of the Plain ; — ifi the Kefeniblance between Sin and PuniJ/jment j — in the Mofaic Economy j—in the Sufferings of the MeJJialu According to the nature of this work, it is not necefTary that we fhould nicely diftinguilh be- tween the Holinefs and Juflice of God. As his holinefs is the perfed rectitude of his nature, ac- cording to which he infinitely loves what is mo- rally good, and hates what is evil ; his jultice, as it regards his creatures at lealt, is the adlual dif- play of this efTential holinefs. God hath mani- fcfted his holinefs, indeed, in various refpeds, in" which there was no call for the operation of his juftice. A few of thefe may be mentioned. He difplayed his holinefs in making all things very good. For the evil of fin was not the \vork E4 of g Rev. xviii. S. 72 bN THE HOLINESS AND of God. His rational creatures were endowed with moral goodnefs. As revelation is meant for man, a very particular account is given of his original rectitude. He was created '* after the " image of God, in his likenefs ;" that is> " in *' righteoufnefs and true holinefs ^." To his rational creatures he alfo gave a per- fect law. Man was fubjefted to a politive pre- cept. But we are by no means to fuppofe that the law was confined to this. The moral law was written on his heart by the finger of God : and this, as to the fubftance of it, is the tranfcript of infinite holinefs. In every refpedl, it is holy, jufl and good. It was fo, even in its covenant-form. It is fo, as a rule of life to believers. Although they are in no refpedl juflified before God by their obedience to this law ; yet, fuch is his holinefs, that h^ requires that they fliould be " perfed as *' their Father in heaven is perfecl," and flill prefs forward toward this perfedlion. That law of ceremonies which God gave his ancient people, contains a ftriking reprefentation of his holinefs. Whence did God enjoin fo many wafliings and purifications ? Had they, or could they have, any virtue in themfelves ? Often did ,he alTure them of the contrary. But by the obfer- vation of thefe, according to the imperfect nature of the difpenfation, he would ftill remind them of his infinite hatred of fin. Did the touch of a dead body communicate ceremonial defilement ? Thus the Supreme Lawgiver taught, in the mofl lively Ji Cen, i. 26. ; Eph. iv. 24. JUSTICE OF GOD. 73 lively manner, the contaminating nature of all the actions of a natural man, and the neceffity of being " purged from dead works, that we may " fervc the living God." Why were there fo many perfons, places and things, confecrated by him, as partaking of an external holinefs ? Can mere outward rites render a man well-plealing to God ? Can any place be in itfelf more facred than another, to him who is Lord of the whole earth ? Can irrational or inanimate creatures be the fubjects of true holinefs ? Nothing of this kind was ever meant. But it was the will of God, by thefe fhadows and fenlible reprefenta- tions, daily to inculcate on a grofs and obdurate people the neceffity of purity of heart, of being really devoted to the Lord, of being holy in all manner of converfation. In a great variety of inftances, the hoUnefs of God is practically demonftrated by the opera- tions of his juftice. i. Deeply to imprefs the mind of man with the majejly of divine jujiice, fecms to have been one fpecial defign of the Spi- rit of infpiration, efpecially in the writings of the Old Teftament. This appears as the mofl pro- minent feature in the hiftory given us of the co- venant made with Adam. We have fcarcely had time to contemplate and admire the goodnefs of God in the formation of man, and in the ample provifion made for his fuflenance and comfort ; ere we are made to tremble at the appearance of a more awful perfedion. A promife this cove- nant 74 ON THE HOLINESS AND nant undoubtedly contained ; but it lay hid irl that terrific threatening, " In the day thou eat- " ell, — dying thou fhalt die ».'* How foon is the voice of blefling fucceeded by that of the curfe ! The one would almoft feem to be uttered, only to give tenfold energy to the other. The efFecl of the bleffing, pronounced on the earth, has barely ap- peared, ere we are aroufed by that alarming de- nunciation, ever lince verified in the experience of guilty man ; ". Curfed is the ground for thy *' fake ^" When God had created '' an help " meet" for man, he hlejfed them both, faying, " Be fruitful and multiply.'''' When he pays them another vilit, this very increafe, which originally flowed from the bleiling, is converted into a curfe ; " I will greatly multiply thy forrow, and thy ** conception '." How quickly is the threatening changed into a fatal fentence adlually pronoun- ced ; ^Unto duft fhalt thou return I" No fooner is it pronounced, than it is partly executed ; " So *' he drove out the man," drove him out of that delightful garden, which had been created for his ufe, and in which he had been placed but a fliort time before. • We advance but a lingle Hep further in the hiftory of mankind, when we are arrcfled by ano- ther difplay of divine juftice. The firft man, born of woman, receives from the Supreme Judge a folemn warning as to the neceifary con- nexion between fin and punifhment. To Cain he faid, i Gen. li. 17. k Chap. i. ■24. ; iii. 17. 1 Chap. i. ^%. ; iii. 16, JUSTICE OF GOD. 75 iaid, " If thou doft not well, fin lieth at the door™," that is, it lieth like a beaft of prey, ready to de- vour ; certain punifliment awaits thee. And no fooner had he tranfgreffed, than his fin laid hold of him, in its neceflary confequence. Formerly the earth was curfed for man's fake. But here the curfe feems to expand, and to acquire an increafe of force, with the increafe of human guilt : '* Now *' art thou curfed from the earth ." Man was driven out of paradife before. In this firft-born of man, the curfe is fo forcibly exemplified, that he fpeaks of himfelf as an outcaft from creation : *' Behold thou haft driven me out this day from "the face of the earth"." In this language, however, he only exprclTes the more remarkable execution of the curfe, primarily executed on his parents. For he thus explains it; ".From thy " face fliall I be hid, and I fliall be a fugitive and ** a vagabond on the earth." The hiftory of about fixteen hundred years is next condenfed in a few lines. Here, although the life of man was at its greateft extent, the nar- rative is moft abridged, as if the Spirit of infpira- tion would teach us, that the prcfent life, even at its utmoft ftretch, is but a lliadow ; and that the longeft period, when paft, feems to the mind, equally with the lliorteft, as a tale that hath been told. We are hurried down the flream of time, through eight fuccefllve generations, and are al- lowed no paufe, till we find ourfelves encompaf- fed with the waters of deftrucT:ion. On this aw- ful m Gen. iv. 7. n Cli?.p. iil. j^. ; [\-. u, o Chap. iii. 14. ; iv. 14. y6 DIVINE JUSTICE DISPLAYED IN ful difplay of juflice, the facred hiftorian dwells much longer than on all the events which took place during lixteen centuries before ; as long as on the whole hiftory of man after that of his creation. Such a difplay of divine juftice was this, that in God's condudl towards mere man, there never w^as, and we are affured there never will be, any thing equal to it, while time en- dures. It therefore claims our particular atten- tion. That this event might inconteflably appear the efFefl of punitive juftice, full warning was given. It was preceded by a denunciation of the ven- geance purpofed ; while at the fame time an op- portunity was given for repentance, during the miniftry of Noah, and the exercife of divine long- fufFering, for an hundred and twenty years. When this period was elapfed, God would no longer ftrive with man by his word and Spirit. He proceeded to ftrive with him in another way, by the threatened judgment. Then all nature confpired againft the impenitent rebel. God " call- " ed to the heavens from above, and to the earth, " that he might judge his people," by executing vengeance, in a moft fignal manner, on their ene- mies, according to the threatening previoufly de- nounced. The deftrudtion was fuch as cannot be account- ed for on natural principles. It was immediately the work of God. Every thing that takes place, in refpedt of fupreme agency, proceeds from him. But he aflerts his claim to this work as of an ex- traordinary THE HISTORY OF THE DELUGE. *]*] traordinary kind, " I, even I do bring a flood of " waters upon the earth i\" He claims it as his, confidered as diredly counterading his former operation from the beginning of time. He repre- fents it as fuch a deviation from his ordinary courfe, as fliall have no parallel while " earth re- *' maineth '^." So remarkable w^as this vengeance, that it ex- tended to the earth itfelf, and to its guiltlefs in- habitants and productions. God tellified his in- finite difpleafure at lin, by involving all thofft creatures in the punifliment, that had in any re- fped been the inftruments of human guilt, or the occafions of it ; that had miniflered to man's ne- ceflities, or to his unbridled appetites ; that, in a word, had been formerly fubjeded to his domi- nion. So complete was this deftrudion, that the whole frame of nature was unhinged. Sin had converted the earth into a moral chaos. *' The earth was filled with violence ; it was cor- *' rupt :" for " all flefli had corrupted his way " upon the earth." The profelTors of the true religion were blended into one mafs with the un- godly world. The Supreme Judge therefore ad:- ed in fuch a manner, as if he meant to reduce all things to their primaeval chaos ; in the exe- cution of that awful fentence, " I will deflroy *' them with the earth '"." He feems as if he *' were to undo the glorious work of creation. Tn that work, he had " divided the waters, which " were under the firmament, from the waters " which p Gen. vi. 17, g Chap. viii. 22. r Chap. vi. 12, 13. y8 DIVINE JUSTICE DISPLAYED IN *' which were above it ." Now he brings them together again. " The fountains of the great " deep were broken up, and the windows of hea- " ven were opened *." This dellruftion involved the profeffors of the true religion, as well as the profane ; the pofterity of Seth, that other feed appointed by God inftead of Abel, together with the defcendants of the mur- dering and rebellious Cain. As the Holy Spirit ceafed to ftrive even with ** the fons of God," be- caufe tiiey al/o were ^fl(^J ", under the dominion of carnality, and addicted to every wickednefs ; the defervcd vengeance reached them in common with others. This judgment was as univerfal as it could well be, V, ilhout the total deftrudion of the human race : and both the purpofe and the promife of God prevented fuch an event. Only one fmall family was faved. The vengeance is moft di- ilinclly marked, as contrafted with the difplay at the fame time given of remunerative juftice. *' The Lord faid unto Noah, Come thou and all " thy houfe into the ark : for thee have I feen " righteous before me in this generation ." The wonderful prefervation of this lingle family fliew- ed in the cieareft ir.anner, that the deftruclion of all the world befides was not the efFed of blind chance •, or the work of a fupreme agent, who made no diftindion between the righteous and the ■wicked. When I fpeak of remunerative juftice, however, it is not meant thj.t Noah merited this deliverance by any rightcoufnefs of his own. He " found ! Gen. i. y. t Chap. vii. ii u CInp. vi. 3. v Ciiajj. vii. i. THE HISTORY OF THE DELUGE. 79 *' found grace in the eyes of the Lord '%" as tr lift- ing in a better righteoufnefs ^ : nay, he " found " grace,*' by which he was enabled to make this his confidence. His falvation may be viewed as a reward. But it is no inconfiderable proof of its being a reward of grace, that it extended to his whole family, although we have too much evi- dence that one of them at leaft was a wicked per- fon. This punifliment, dreadful as it was, feems to have been indifpenfably necefTary. So low was the Church reduced before the deluge, that, ac- cording to human apprehenfion, Ihe could not have exifted for another generation. Had fhe not been " faved by water," fhe muft have been fwept away by the flood of iniquity. Thus, the cir- cumftances vindicate the judgment ; and fhew, that God could not have afted otherwife, man- kind continuing in fuch a ftate, without virtually renouncing his claim to the moral government of the world. Such a general impreffion did this judgment make on fucceeding generations, that not only was divine juftice, as manifelted in this difpenfa- tion, celebrated by thofe who adhered to the true religion y ; but even heathen nations retain fome traditionary knowledge of it to this day. In a word, this punifliment took place, and is recorded, as a lively prelude of the future judg- ment. As the world, " being overflowed with " water periflied, the heavens and the earth which " are V Gpn. vi. 8. X Hcb. si. 7. y Job xxii. 15, 16, 80 DESTRUCTION OF THE " are now, — are kept in Here, referved unto fire " againft the day of judgment, and perdition of ** ungodly men .*' The one prefigured the other, in the unexpedlednefs of the event => ; in the final reparation made between the righteous and the wicked ^ ; in the immediate procuring caufes of the dellrudion, the abufe of divine longfuffering, and the rejedion of gofpel-grace ; in the com- pletenefs of the deflruction ; in the comparative paucity of thofe who are faved ^ ; and in the means by which their falvation is accompliflied \ The facred hiftorian gives us a rr greflive ac- count of the manifellation of divine juftice, in the confufion of tongues at Babel ^ ; in the plagues brought on Pharaoh and Ab.melech, becaufe of their condud towards the wife of Abraham ^ ; ia the defl:ru6tion of the cities of the plain s ; in the punifiiment of Efau for his p ofanity ^' ; in the remuneration of Jacob at the expence of the un- righteous Laban ^ ; and in the judgments execu- ted on the Egyptians becaufe of their cruelty to the Ifraelites. But on thefe things we cannot en- large. Only, with refped to the dellruction of the cities of the plain, the following things may be obferved, for iUuftrating the difplay given of di- vine juftice in this event. Their fin is faid to have a cry, — a " cry waxen great before the *' face of the Lord ^•." This is the very meta- phor z 2 Pet. iii. 5.— 7. a :!\Iat. xxiv. 37. — 39. b Mat. xxiv. 40. c Luke xviii. S. d i Pet. iii. ai. e Gen, xi. i.— 9. f Gen. xii. 17, ; xx, iS, g Gen. xix. 24. h Gen. xxvii. 37. ; }ieb. »ii. 16, 17. i Gen. xxxi. 42. k Gen. xviii. 20. ; xix. 13. CITIES OF THE PLAIN. 8l phor ufed by God in addreffing Cain ; " The " voice of thy brother's blood crietji unto me '." This language is by no means exclulively appro- priated to the horrid crime of murder. It is ap- plicable to every lin, as expreflive of the neceffary connexion between lin and punifhment. For every lin hath a voice of crimination againft the linner. Lull firft cries to the linner for gratifica- tion ; and when it " bringeth forth lin," this im- mediately cries to God for vengeance. Its voice may not be heard by the tranfgrelTor himfelf, be- caufe his confcience may be feared •, but it is ftill heard by the Supreme Judge. Defcent is here, in an improper fenfe, afcribed to God : " I will go down now, and fee whether " they have done altogether according to the cry " of it, which is come unto me "\" There can be no change of place with him who is every where prefent ; nor can examination be neceflary to the eye of omnifcience. But God on this occalion appeared on earth, and reprefents himfelf as em- ploying thofe means of inveftigation which are neceffary to man ; to declare that all the adts of his vengeance are in perfedt conformity to jnftice, that he never punillies without a fufficient reafon. The account of his previous difcourfe with Abra-* ham, while it beautifully illuftrates his wonderful condefcenfion, at the fame time teaches us, that, whatever be the objedions of carnal men to the equity of his judgments, they will be approved by all who know divine holinefs. Abraham was a mer- VoL. II. F ciful I Gen. iv. lo. m Gen. xviii. 31. * 52 DESTRUCTIO-N OP THE ciful man, and this part of his chara£ler eminent- ly appears in his condud: on this occalion : but he could carry his interceffion, inbehalf of Sodom, no farther than this, that if there were ten righteous perfons there, it might be fpared for their fake. The holy angels, who fojoiirned with Lot, teftified no reludance to the -fulfilment of their commif- lion, although it was to iffue in the utter deftruc- tion of thefe cities ". That the juftice of God might be fet in the clearell light, the inhabitants of Sodom were per- mitted to manifell their greedinefs, obduracy, and violence, in working, uncleannefs, at the very time that the heavenly viiitors came to their city. No regard to the laws of hofpitality or of decency, no expoftulations or reproofs, could reftrain them. Parents do not conceal their wickednefs from their children \ but feem determined to train them up in their own abominable courfes. All the men of the city, " both old and young," befet the houfe of Lot °. To thefe abandoned wretches, even the holy angels of God are objedts of temptation, and feem a lawful prey. How could ** their judg- " ment linger," or " their damnation llumber?" The circumftances of this deftrudion were moll awful. The punifliment referved for all the wick- ed was anticipated. Hell was kindled on earth, and for this end rained from heaven on thefe atrocious linners. Their deftrudlion comes from that quarter, to which alone they could look for mercy. The windows of heaven are opened a fecond n |ien. xviii. 33. ; xix, 13. o Gen. xix. 4. CITIES OF THE PLAIN. 83 fecond time, and pour out, not a flood of water, but of fire. God appear^ more immediately in this judg- ment, than in the deluge itfelf. In accomplilhing it, one divine Perfon evidently co-operates with another. " The Lord raiaed upon Sodom, and up- " on Gomorrah, hrimftone and fire from the Lord " out of heaven p." It greatly heightens this dif- play of indignation, when we find that he, who afterwards came to fave, on this occafion appear-" ed on earth, and in thelikenefs of our nature, as the deftroyer. The deftru6tion, by means of the deluge, was gradual. But this was fudden andinftantaneous. Sodom was ** overthrown as in a moment, and no " hands ftayed on her ." This circumftance fhews tile fiercenefs of divine rndi^rration j and is a live- ly figure of that fudden defi:ru(5lion which Ihall come on all the ungodly, when that fame Lord, who came down to vifit Sodom, fhall be *' reveal- " ed from heaven in flaming fire '." So urgent are the claims of jufl:ice, that even Lot feems in danger. While he lingered, the an- gels laid hold of his hand, and brought him forth, and fet him without the city. Jehovah himfelf faid to him, ** Efcapc for thy life ; — efcape to the " mountain, lefl: thou be confumed." For, in pu- blic vifitations for fin, even *' the righteous fcarce- ** ly are faved ." Lot had no proper call to take tip his refidehce among thefe wicked men ; and F 2 his 7) Gen. xix. 74. q Lain. iv. 6. t 2 Pet. ii. 6. — (f. 3 : Pjt. i\'. 18. S4 RESEMBLANCE BETWEEN his deliverance is reprefented as wholly the fruit of mercy \ This deftrudion, io fine, was meant as a ftri- king figure of the eternal punilhment of the wick- ed- Hence it is faid, that thefe cities " are fet ** forth for an example, fuffering the vengeance "of eternal fire"." As the manner in which they were punifhed prefigured the fire of hell ;. the perpetuity of their deftrudlion is meant as a • permanent emblem of everlafl:ing defl;rud:ion, in " the lake that burneth for ever and ever." Thefe cities *' fuffer the vengeance of eternal fire." For it is the will of God that they fiiould never be re- built : and not only is the place where they once flood, covered with the Dead Sea, and to the higheft degree fait, although in an inland fitua- tion, whence it is alfo called the Salt Sea ; but, as it fl:ill manifefts the effeds of burning in the extreme barrennefs of the adjacent coimtry, this burning is in fome fenfe continued, in confe- quence of the fulphur, fait, and afphaltus or bitu- men abounding in the fea, or incorporated with the foil. Hence, a country lying under the moft aw- ful effefts of divine vengeance is thus defcribed : " The whole land is brimftone and fait, and burn- " ing ; that it is not fown, nor beareth, nor any •* grafs groweth thereon ; like the overthrow of *' Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim, " which the Lord overthrew in his anger, and in " his wrath ^" 11. The t Gen. xix. \6. 19. u Judfe 7. v Deut. xxix. la. — 14. See Wells's Geography Old Teft. vol. i. p. apo.— 15)7. New Teft. vol. i"». p. 81. SIN AND ITS punishment: 115 II. The juflice of God has been often difplay- ed, in the moft ftriking light, in the remarkable Tt'femblance between the Jin and xht punijlmient. In the old world, iniquity had come in like a flood ; and God fwept away the tranfgrelTors bj^ a flood of waters. The inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah burnt with the fire of unnatural lufl: ; and God deftroyed them by preternatural fire. Pharaoh would not let Ifrael go, although God*s fon, his firft-born ; therefore he flew the firft-born of Pharaoh, and of all Egypt ^, This cruel defpot commanded, that all the male children of the Ifraelites Ihould be drowned ■'' ; and in this very manner God defl:royed him and all the flrength of his kingdom. Nadab and Abihu " offered fl:range " fire before the Lord ; and there went out fire " from the Lord, and devoured them >." Adoni- bezek, although a heathen, was obliged to ac- knowledge the Itridnefs of divine retribution, when his thumbs and great toes were cut off: ** Threefcore and ten kings," faid he, " having " their thumbs and their great toes cut off, ga- " thered their meat under ray table : as I have ** done, fo God hath requited me ^" Samfon did not make a covenant with his eyes, fo that they •proved his fnare : and he w^s chafl;ifed by having them put out ". As the fword of Agag, king of Amalek, *' made women childlefs," fo was his mother made ** childlefs among wonien ." Ab- falom's vanity as to his peribn feems to have been F 3 the w Exod. iv. az, 23. x Exod. i. n. y Lev. x. i. ^ Judg. i. 6, 7. a Judg. xiv. 2. ; xvi. 4. b i Sam. xv. 33. S6 JUSTICE DISPLAYED IN THE the fource of his rebellion, and of his ruin '^. This vanity was efpecially difcovered about the hair of his head ; and by this, as would feem, he was ■entangled in the oak, where he met his merited fete '^. Many other inftances of the fame kind might be mentioned. But I haften to obfcrve, III. That the Mofaic economy fecms to have been efpecially deiigned to give the Church the deepeft impreflions of tXic ptmitive jvjlice of God .; and to prepare her, by awful difplays of feverity, for receiving the doctrine of atonement by the fufTerJngs of a divine Perfon. It had this effect partially on the Church of Ifrael. For the law generated a fpirit of fear, which was occafionally djfcovered even by wicked men. The faith of genuine believers, hovv-ever faintly, difcerned the necelTity of a better fatisfadion than could be made by the blood of bulls or goats. But this inllruction was efpecially meant for the Ncw-Te- ftament Church. Even to the prophets " it was" ** revealed, that not unto therafelves, but unto us V they did minifler the things that are now re- " ported ^" The law could not annul the covenant made with Abraham. It was added in fubferviency to this. It was " a fliadow of good things to come." But in itfelf ccniidercd, and as it affeded the great body of that people to whom it was given, it was the miniftration of death, and of condemnation ^. I. If c 2 Sam. xiv. 25. ; xv. 6. i z Sam. xiv. 26. ; xviii. ^. > I Pet. i. ir, n.. f 2 Cor. iii. 7. REVEL All ON OF THE LAW. 8,7 I. If we confider the matter of the revelation made from Mount Sinai, it will appear that di- vine juftice was eminently brought into view. There was no renovation of the covenant of works made with Adam ; for the Church v.^as under that better covenant revealed to Abraham. But there was an exhibition of the law in its covenant form, that by it might be *' the knowledge of " fin ?." It was revealed in all the ftridtnefs of its precept, and feverity of its threatening. Ac- cording to the tenpr of the Mofaic difpenfation, and particularly of the ceremonial law, the If- raelites were ftill in danger of contracting defile- ment, and of being fet apart as unclean ; and, in various cafes, of being excluded from the camp ; as a prelude of the eternal excommunication of all finncrs from the favour and fellowlhip of God, and of his faints. By their frequent purifications, and by the offerings they had to prefent, in con- fequence of defilement, in many cafes unavord- ably contracted ; as well as by the daily facrifices, morning and evening, and their greater folemni- ties of this kind ; there was a conftant " remem- ^' brance of fins''," and therefore of their liable-. nefs to the fl:roke of jullice. It was the will of the Supreme Lawgiver, that this fliould be the cafe, and the difpenfation was framed to anfwer this defign ; that fin might be reftrained among a rebellious people. By the multiplied penalties with which the law was fenced, death continual- ly ftared them in the face ; fo that we need not F 4 . wonder, g Pvom. iii. aa. h Heb. x. 3. ^8 JUSTICE DISPLA^YEB-IN THE wonder, that through fear of it they Ihould be <' all their lifetime fubjed to bondage." It is no inconfiderable proof of the feverity of this difpenliition, that, notwithftanding the mul- titude of iacrifices appointed for different tranf- greflions, there wei-e fome for which no atone- ment was admitted. This was the cafe in gene- ral as to prefumptuous fins. If a man finned from ignorance, atonement might be made. " But the " foul that doeth ought prefumptuoufly, whether " he be born in the land, or a fliranger, the fame *' reproacheth the Lord ; and that foul fliall be " cut off from among his people. Becaufe he hath *^ defpifed the word of the Lord, and broken his *' commandment, that foul fliall utterly be cut " off; his iniquity fliall be upon him '." In this fenfe it is faid, that " every tranfgreflion and dif- " obedience received a jufl; recompence of re- ** ward ;" becaufe every fl:ubborn difobedience, as the expreflion fignifies, was feverely puniflied, either immediately by the hand of God, or if there were witneffes, by the hand of man '. The law itfelf knew no mercy, and admitted of no mitigation of its fentcnce ; although the Lawgiver might grant a difpenfation, as he did in the cafe of David, who ought to have fuffered death for the crimes of adultery and murder ' '. " He that " finned againil Mofes law, died without mer- " cy "." It was fit that this fliould be the cafe, that the law, under which the Ifraclites were, might i Num. %v. 30, 31, k Heb. ii.s. 1 Deut. xvii. & m 2 Sam. xii. 13. a Heb. x. 28. REVELATION OF THE LAW. 8^ might give a jufl reprefentation of the unforgi- ving character of the law as a broken covenant ; and of the impoffibility of efcaping, unlefs in the way of being faved from its curfe. 2. Let us now attend to the manner in which this law was revealed. This was fuch, as to be evidently meant to fill the Ifraelites with fear of the holinefs and juftice of the Lawgiver ; and to teach them the impoffibility of having any com- fortable intercourfe with him, but through a Me- diator. All thofe circumftances are here combi- ned, that had the mofl dired: tendency to produce thefe efteds. Well may it be called " a fiery " law '^." For as it expreffed the fire of his holy indignation againft fin, God adually fpoke the words of this law " out of the midlt of the fire p." The very manner of its promulgation teftified that " our God is a confuming fire." The Apoftle, when addreffing the believing He- brews with refped; to their diftinguifhed privi- leges under the new difpenfation, particularly enu- merates mofl; of the alarming circumfl:ances which attended the promulgation of the law. *' Ye ai;e " not come to the mount that might be touched, " and that burned with fire, nor unto blacknefs, " and darknefs, and tempefl:, and the found of a " trumpet, and the voice of words, which •voice " they that heard, entreated that the word Ihould " not be fpoken to them any more. For they " could not endure that which was command- <* ed. And if fo much as a bead touch the moun- " tain, Peut. zxsiii. 1. p Deut, v. 22. go JUSTICE DISPLAYED IN THE " tain, it fnall be ftoried, or tbruft through with a " dart. And fo terrible was the fight, that Mo- " fes faid, I exceedingly fear and quake '^." He enumerates thefe circumftances, to imprefs the reader with the deepeft fenfe of the feverity of the law ; and alfo to declare the manner in which God operates on the minds of men by means of it '. •God brought his people to the foot of an high mountain, from the top of which he fpoke to them. For even when he fpeaks to men in the voice of the lav^, he keeps them at an awful dif- tance, as expvefiive of his " terrible majefty." Thi? mountain was abfolutely barren, and fitua- ted in the midft of a defart, deflitute of all the means of life ; and without inhabitants, no one being prefent but God and the people of Ifrael. This is the firfl thing that God effedls by means of the law. He brings the Cnner to a fenfe of his guilt, of his defolate and deftitute fituation, as wandering in the wildernefs, and Iliut up there ; fo that there is no w^ay of efcape, no relief from any quarter, none that can interpofe between him and tlie living God. They came to a mountain " that burned with •' fire ;" or, as the words may be read, " to the V burning fire." The mountain " burnt with fire ** unto the niidfl of heaven ^" This denoted the fire of God's jealoufy, or his holy indignation againft fm. Therefore it was faid to Ifrael ; " The " Lord q Heb. xii. i8..— 21. r See Owen on the pafuige. 9 D(5ut. iv. It. REVELATION OF THE LAW. pi " Lord thy God is a confuming fire, even a jca- " lous God ^" The Church explains the mean- ing of the fymbol, when llie makes this inquiry , " Wilt thou be angry for ever ? fliall thy jea- " loufy burn like lire " ?" This proclaimed his holinefs and juftice, as difplaycd in the punifli- mcnt of fin. " A fire goeth before him, and "burnetii up his enemies round about ^." As God, in a work of conviction, difcovcrs to fin-r ncrs their guilt, he flicws them that they are ex- pofed to the greujt and confuming fire of his juf- tice. " Elacknefs and darknefs" are alfo mentioned among the av/ful circumfiances attending this re- velation. Although the fire burnt with the great- eft violence, the light arifing from it was over- powered by a mixture of blacknefs or thick clouds.; which muft have rendered its appearance truly horrible. The light itfelf was as darknefs ; and emphatically taught, that a finncr convinced or his guilt, and alarmed by a difcovery of the fire of divine juftice, can difcern no ray of confola- tion there. He fees nothing but *' blacknefs " and darknefs," the gloomy prelude of " the " blacknefs of darknefs for ever ;" as to all that the law, confidered as a covenant, can make known. The blacknefs and darknefs were accompanied with *' tempelt '," as in nature they are generally its forerunners, In this term the apoftle feems to include the thunder, and lightening, and earth- quake. t Deut. iv. 24. u Pfal. Ixxix. 5. x Pfal. xcvii. j. ^2 JUSTICE DISPLAYED IN THE quake ■^. This was a lively emblem of that Horm of wrath which fhall " fwecp away the refuge ** of lies ;" and alfo exhibits the progreis of the Spirit's operation, when atSing as a Spirit of convidtion. By means of this law, he raifes a itorm in the confcience ; for '* the law worketh " wrath ^•." They alfo heard *' the found of a trumpet." This was " exceeding loud." It " founded long, *' and waxed louder and louder >'." This pro- claimed the majefty of God as the Lawgiver and Judge of Ifrael. By means of it, they received a folemn futnmons to appear before him ; and to liften to the precepts and penalties of his law. In like manner, when the law is powerfully brought into the finner's confcience, it hath to him " the " found of a trumpet." Convinced that he is a criminal, and worthy of eternal death ; he hears it as his fummons to appear before the tribunal of juftice ; as a prefage of that " trump of God," by which he fhall be fummoned to his bar at the day of judgment. While under the power of the law, he can exped nothing but a fentence of eter- nal condemnation. When he hears this trumpet, it is to him " the alarm of war." " Shall the *' trumpet be blown, and the people not be a- " fraid ?" The longer it is blown, it is ftill the louder. The linner, if confcience be not lulled afleep, inftead of difcovering any ground of hope from the law, the longer he conliders it, the more he w ExoJ. xix, \6. i8. X Rem. iv. 15. y Exod. xix. 16. ig. REVELATION OF THE LAW. 93 he fees his danger ; and is ready to be plunged into defpair. They heard " the voice of words, which voice " they that heard, entreated that the word fhould ** not be fpoken to them any more." This was the voice of God himfelf, pronouncing the words, of the ten commandments, in the hearing of all Ifrael. This is called ** a great voice %" and muft have been very awful ; for it " jfliook the earth ^" The elders came near to Mofes, and faid in the name of the people ; *' If wc hear the voice of " the Lord our God any more, then we (hall *' die '\" This fitly reprefented the killing power of the law, when brought home to the confcience by the Spirit of conviction. Such was the expe- rience of Paul : " When the commandment came, ** —I died <^." " They coyld not endure that which was com- " manded." Thefe words, according to the view . of fome interpreters, refpe6l the whole law. But there is undoubtedly a ipecial connexion ftated with the injundion immediately following, — •* And if fo much as a beaft touch the mount, it *' lliall be ftoned, or thruft through with a dart." This refpedled man as well as bead. But the apoftle particularly mentions it in reference to the latter ; becaufe it contained the greateft dif- play of divine feverity, and was th^t which ef- pecially affedcd the minds of the Ifraelites. Nor can we well imagine a more Itriking difcovery of this feverity, than that even an innocent beaft muft 2 Dcut. V. iz. a Heb. xii. z6, b Dcut. v. 27. c Rora. vii. 5, 94 JUSTICE DISPLAYED IN THE inuft be treated as if morally guilty, if it acci- dentally trefpafled within the bounds fet round the mountain. Nor was this all. It was to be viewed as accurfed ; and therefore to be floned or fhot, that no man might be defiled by touching- it '*. The llridnefs of the precept had the fame efFedl on the Ifraelites, that it has had ever lince. For it has an irritating power on the lufts of men. From the very rellraints that a holy and juft God impofes on thefe, fin appears more delireable. Hence the apoftle teftifies ; " Sin, taking occalion " by the commandment, wrought in me all man- " ner of concupifcence ^.'* Both what was feen and heard was fo terrible, that even Mofes faid, " I do exceedingly tremble '* and quake." When this revelation was fo over- whelming to Mofes, who had formerly heard the voice of God from the burning bufh, and was fo eminently diftinguiflied by his holinefs ; how could it be but dreadful to the guilty Ifraelites, who, deftitute of -faith in God, could view him only as an enemy ? 3. Let us, in the lafl: place, attend to the pu- lujhments adlually inflided, according to the tenor of this law. Thefe were ohtn. fudden. Puniflmient follov;ed hard after fin, to fliew the neceflary connexion be- tween the one and the other. This was efpecially the cafe, when the punifhment was inflidled by the hand of God. When the Ifraelites lulled for flefli,, God gave tl^era their own defire. " But while *' their d Exod, Kiz. 1%. Roffl. vii. S, REVELATION OF THE LAW." 95 ♦* their meat was yet in their mouth5, the wrath " of God came upon them, and flew the fatteft of " them '." When they murmured againll Mofes and Aaron, faying, *' Ye have killed the people *' of the Lord," he threatened to " confume them " as in a moment ;" and although Aaron inftant- ly took a cenfer with incenfe, to make atonement, and " ran into the midft of the congregation," fourteen thoufand and feven hundred had already perilhed f . Thefe punilliments were very awful. In both the inftances juft now referred to, God deilroyed the people by a plague. On different occalions, fure was the inftrument he employed ; a fit inftru- ment indeed, under the adminiftration of that " fiery law." What could be more alarming to the whole congregation, xhan that two brothers, whom they had feen but a little before folemnly confecrated to the office of the priefthood, the ne- phews of Mofes, the eldeft fons of the high-prieft, fhould be confumed by fire from Jehovah ? The earthquake, at the giving of the law, would al- mofl feem to exprefs the nature of its judgments. For, afterwards, the earth opened its mouth, and fwallowed up the rebellious company of Korah. The puniflnncnts, which according to the law were inflicted by the hand of man, were in vari- ous inftances attended with peculiar fclemnityi In the cafe of blafphemy, all who heard it were to lay their^iands on the head of the criminaP'. This denoted their folemn atteftation of the truth of f Pfal. kxvjii, ip.— 31. g Num. xvi. 41.— 49. h Lev. xxiv. 16. 96 JUSTICE DISPLAYED IN THE of the charge brought againft him. But it im- plied more. Thofe, who laid their hands on his head, devolved the guilt, that, in confequence of his crime, might attach to them or to the nation at large, wholly on himfelf ; demanded the exe- cution of the fentence appointed by God, that this iniquity might not be vilited on the congre- gation of Ifrael ; left the blood of the criminal on his own head, and folemnly acknowledged the juftice of the punifhment. This rite is evidently of the fame meaning with that appointed for every man who prefented an offering for his fins. As transferring his guilt to the victim, he was to lay his hands on its head '. Thus was the high- prieft to do on the great day of atonement ^. This ordinance, then, with refpedl to a criminal, dired;- ly tended to imprefs the Ifraelites with a fenfe, both of the condemning, and of the defiling na- ture of fin ; and taught them that its influence was fo great, that even the fin of an individual would contaminate a whole fociety, unlefs it was expiated according to the laws given by the Su- preme Judge. The fame thing appears from another infl:itu- tion. The criminal adjudged to death was to buf- fer without the camp. As it denoted the exclu- fion of all the finally impenitent from the prefence of God, it intimated that the very blood of fuch a perfon carried defilement. In many cafes, the whole people "^txt to take an adive hand in the execution of the fentence. All i Lev. iv. 24. 29. k Chap. xvi. 41. DISPENSATION OF THE LAW. gj All the congregation were to ftone the fabbath- breaker K The hands of all the people were alfo to be on him who Ihould entice to idolatry". Thus were they all folemnly to approve of the punilhment ; and virtually to be vvitnefles againft themfelves, if they fhould ever be guilty of the crime. The fevere temporal punifhments of the law extended to faints, equally with others. Miriam, the prophetefs ", was fmitten with leprofy, be- caufe fhe murmured againft Mofes ". Neither was Mofes " the man of God," nor Aaron, " the holy " one of Jehovah," permitted to bring the Ifrael- ites into Canaan ; becaufe they rebelled at the wa- ter of Meribah, in fmiting the rock, when God had commanded that they lliould fpeak to it ; and in charging Ifrael, in their unhallowed wrath, with that very crime of which they were themfelves at this time guilty p. Uzzah, long afterwards, from mifguided piety, laid his hand on the ark of God, when the oxen in the cart, on which it was borne, fliook it by their unfteady motion. But " the an- " ger of the Lord was kindled againft Uzzah, and " God fmote him there for his error, and there he " dfcd by the ark of God '^." What a damp muft this have brought on the hearts of the Ifraelites, in the midft of their joy on account of the return of the ark I Even the man after God's own heart was difpleafed. But as Uzzah was not a prieft, and therefoi:,e tranfgreffed the law when he touch- VoL. II. G ed 1 Num. XV. 35, m Deut. xiii. 9. n Exod. xv. 20. 9 Num. xij. I.— 10. p Chap, xx, xo.— 12. 24. q 1 Sam. vi. 7. 93 JUSTICE DISPLAYED IN THE ed the ark ^ ; God in this aftefting manner mani- fefted his jealoufy, and taught his people that he would be fandified in all that drew nigh him. Thus alfo he reproved David and the Ifraelites, for fufFering the ark to be drawn on a cart by beafts, when it ihould have been carried on ftaves by the Levites. The fons of Kohath themfelves, though fet apart for bearing the fan^tuary and all the confecrated veffels, might not touch any holy thing, under pain of death ^ Even when God forgave his people, in as far as their fins merited eternal wrath, he ** took vengeance on their in- *' ventions," by temporal judgments extending to death itfelf ' . The deftrudion of this rebellious people was almoft univerfal. All thofe, who came out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, ex- cept two perfons, perillied in the wildernefs. For <" the Lord's anger was kindled in the wildernefs, **■ until all the generation that had done evil in *^ the fight of the Lord was confumed ". For the fin of one, God punilhed the whole con- gregation of Ifrael. Achan took Ibme of the goods of Jericho ; although the city, with all that was in it, had been devoted of God. Thecfime was charged againll the Ifraelites in general, and they were punilhed on this account. " The ^* children of Ifrael committed a trefpafs in the ** accurfed thing. — Therefore the children of If- ** rael could not fl:and before their enemies, — ^be- " ca.O y Num. vv'ii. 3. 4. s Chap. iv. 15. t Pfal xcix. 8, u Num. x.-.xi , io.r-13. DISPENSATION OF THE LAW. 99 ** caufe they were accurfed." They fled before the men of Ai ; and God declared that he would *' not be with them any more," except they de- ftroyed the accurfed perfon from among them ^'. Some of them perhaps knew, but did not reveal, the crime of Achan. God, at any rate, would difplay his juftice in bringing fin to light ; and by the tokens of his difpleafure at the whole camp, would teach them to fear fin, as that alone which expofed them to danger ; to be diligent in fearching it out ; and to be careful that others, as well as themfelves, were obedient to his com- mandments. Thus he figuratively teftified the intimate union among the members of a church ; and the neceflity, not only of purging out error and corruption, when difcovered, but of exer- cifing a holy jealoufy, left it fhould be working in fecret, becaiife " a little leaven leaveneth the *' whole lump." Were the Ifraelites accurfed be- caufe of Achan ? And can any church exped; God's biefling, if fhe is not careful to " take away " the accurfed thing ?" Would an angel of God be accurfed, did he preach another g"ofpel, than that which Chrift hath given ^' ; and can a church efcape the curfe, if Ihe receive it, or '* bear them ** which are evil ^ ?" In a word, God often difplayed the terror of his juftice, by involving, in the deftrudion brought on the tranfgrelTor, every thing that pertained to him. When he would teftify his indignation a- gainft thofe who engaged in the rebellion of Ko- G 2 rah, T Jofb, vii. I. ^, u, w Gal. i, 8. z Rev. ii. a. 100 JUSTICE DISPLAYED IN THE rah, *" the earth opened her mouth, and fwallow- " ed them up, and their houfes, and all the men " that appertained to Korah, and all their goods. " They, and all that appertained to them, went " down alive into the pit, and the earth clofed " upon them >." In the cafe of Achan, by the exprefs commandment of Jehovah, judgment was to be executed by the hand of man, in all this extent. God had faid, " It fhall be, that he " that is taken with the accurfed thing, fhall be ^' burnt with fire, he and all that he hath." — And fuch was the punifliment inflicted. " Jofliua an^ " all Ifrael took Achan the fon of Zerah, and the " filver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, " and his fons, and his daughters, and his oxen, *' and his afles, and his flieep, and all that he had : " — and all Ifrael Honed him with (tones, and " burned them with fire 2." We intend after- wards to confider the viiitation of the guilt of fa- thers on their children ; and therefore fhall not enter on it here. But it deferves our particular regard, that the deltru6tion extended even to things irrational and inanimate. The tents, and all the fubftance that was in the poffefTion of thefe fmners, perifhed with them =•. Thefe could not pofTibly be the fubjefts of moral guilt or pollu- tion. But as, in this punifhment, " they became <* a fign ^^," an enfample not to the Ifraelites only, but to the Church in every age, expreflive of the holinefs and jealoufy of God ; their very fub^ ftance y Num. xvi. 3?, 33. 2 Jufli. vii. 15. 24, 25. a Deut. xi, 6. b Num. XK\'i. 10. DISPENSATION OF THE LAW. ICI ilance is treated as accurfed, that we might hence perceive the contaminating nature of fin, and its contagious influence, as fubjecting even innocent creatures to the effedts of the curfe. This punilh- ment alfo declares the rigorous claims of divine holinefs and juftice ; which demand the utter ex- tinction of fin itfelf, and of every thing that may be a memorial of it. We have already obferved, that the Mofaic economy was defigned to prepare the Church for receiving the dodtrine of atonement by the fuf- ferings of a divine Perfon. Such was its effed: on the Ifraelites, obdurate as they were, that they virtually acknowledged, that finful man can have no comfortable intercburfe with the holy and jufi: God, but through a Mediator. This appears from the very manner in which God fpake the words of the law at firft ; for the Second Perfon, as the Mediator and Angel of the covenant, fpake from Mount Sinai. But this the Ifraelites underftood not. When, therefore, they witneflTed the terrors of this law, they faid to Mofes, as with one voice, *' Speak thou with us, and we will hear ; bi^t let *• not God fpeak with us, left we die ^." God af- fented to this propofal, as it was his will to teach them the neceflity of it '^ ; and to fhew them that his law was *' given in the hand of a mediator." Mofes defcribes the chara(^er of the great Pro^ phet as correfponding with his in this very re- fpca <=. G 3 IV. Notwith- c Exod. XX. 19. d Deut. v. 24. e Chap xviii 15— 13. 102 JUSTICE DISPLAYED IN THE IV. Notwithflanding the terrors of this laWy and the fevere punilhments inflided under it, the" mofl flriking difplay that ever hath been, or pof- Iibly can be^ given of the holinefs and jullice of God, is in t\iQ fufferings of our Redeemer. Here we are firfl to attend to the fpotlefs innocence of the fufterer. " No guile was found in his lips." There was no flain of fin in his heart. From his conception to his death, he was " holy, harm- " lefs, undefiled, and feparate from fmners." " Yet ** it pleafed Jehovah to bruife him ; he hath put *' him to grief." He, " who knew no fin, was *' made fin for us," made a fm-offering, and treat- ed as if he had been the moll atrocious finner that ever appeared on earth. Nor are we to view him merely as an innocent man, but as " the Holy One of God." He is *' the man, the fellow of Jehovah of hofts ;" who, as tp/his divine nature, was infinitely re- mote from fuffering, as well as infinitely above the law, with refpe6t to both its precept and its curfe. Yet the Father, faflaining the charadier of Judge, gave forth this command ; ** Awake, O " fword, againfl my Shepherd, againft the man " that is my fellow ; fmite the Shepherd*"." If the punifliment of one perfedlly innocent, as bear- ing the iniquities of others by imputation, exhi- bits, in a ftriking point of view, the evil and de- merit of fin, the holinefs and juflice of God, and the indifpenfable neceffity of a real atonement ; how much more fully does this appear when we f Zcch, xiii. 7, SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST. lOj w'e view fin as piiniflied in the adorable Perfon of the Son of God I What an affeding thought, that it was ** the Prince of lifcj" who was killed ; '' the juft One," who " fufFered for the unjuft j" " the Lord of glory," who was crucified ! We are further to conlider the feverity of thefe fufferings. As " God fpared not his own Son, *' but gave him up to the death," fo he fpared him not as to the meafure of his fufferings. The human nature was infeparably united to the di-* vine, in one perfon ; yet fo overwhelming was his agony, that he cried out ; " My foul is exceeding' " forrowful, even unto death ;" his fi:rength was dried up as a potflierd j and his heart w^as melt- ed like wax. Although he received uninterrupt- ed fupplies from the Holy Spirit, without mea- fure ; yet fo unfpeakable was his fenfe of wrath, and fo hot was the indignation of God as a judge, that his holy human foul fhrunk back with hor-^ ror from the cup given him to drink. He had been attefted from heaven as God's beloved Son, in whom he was well pleafed ; yet the Father hid his face, and left the glorious Sufferer under fuch darknefs of fold, as was but faintly figured by the preternatural darknefii that covered the earth. " The pangs of hell took hold on him." His foul was made an offering for fin. He fufi:ain* ed infinite wrath without any abatement. If thefe things were done *' in a green tree, what " ihall be done in the dry ?" G 4 From 104 REFLECTIONS ON THE DOCTRINE From the preceding confiderations it is evident, that there is a neceflarj and inieparable connexion between Jin and punijijment. As this is eltablifh- ed by the fupreme Lawgiver, it flows from his nature as God. For he cannot " behold iniqui- •* ty." He necefTarily feeks its deftrudion, with all the energy of his infinite nature. Every fin is an appeal, both to his juftice, and to his power ; and however the finner may flatter himfelf, this is the language in which God addreflfes him ; " Be ** fure your fin will find you out g." Sin adls as an informer againft itfelf. As it brings this in- formation in man's own confcience, it as certain- ly does fo at the bar of juft:ice. Nay, in relation to the necelfary exercife of jufl;ice, fin is here, by u fl:rong figure, reprefented as a meflenger that purfues the finner till it overtake him. We perceive alfo, that the luw affords no com- fort to the finner. It was never revealed with this defign. For *' what things foever the law " faith, it faith to them who are under the law, " that every mouth may be ftopped, and all the ** world may become guilty before God''." We can neither obey its precept, nor bear its curfe. What folly then is it, for man to think of being juftified by a law that utters no fentence, fave that of eternal. condemnation I We learn the necejjity of a complete atonement for iin. This is the great dodtrine taught by the law, as it was revealed from Mount Sinai. It was meant as a fchoolmafl;er to bring men to Chrift. g Numb, xxxii. 23. h Ps.cm iii. rj). OF PUNITIVE JUSTICE. IO5 Chrift. It treated the Ifraelites with all feve- rity. It applied the rod of its threatening and curfe ; that they might fee the neceflity of fleeing from it, to Him who was revealed, although more obfciirely, as the end " of the law for righteoiif- " nefs." By the multitude of its facrifices, as it could never be reafonably believed that God would accept of the blood of a beaft as an atone- ment for the fin of man, it both declared the ne- ceflity of a complete fatisfadion, and diredled them to look for one of this charader in the fuf- ferings of the promifed Mefliah. By the conftant repetition of fuch facrifices, their infufficiency v/as taught, and the neceflity of one that fliould for ever take away fin. The Church is now delivered from the ceremo- nial law. But the law, as a covenant of works, hath the fame language. It teflifies to the finner that it hath nothing in referve for him but eter- nal death. When it comes with power to the heart, man is convinced that except he be faved through the righteoufnefs of a Surety, he mufl: certainly perifli. We may perceive the grace of our God, in providing a remedy, and efpecially in doing it at fuch infinite cxpencc. Many pretend to plead for the riches of grace, at the expence of deny- ing the atonement ? " How does grace appear,'' do they fay, " if complete fatisfadion muft be *' made for fin ? Does it not exhibit this per* ** fcdion in a far more engaging light, if v/e " view God as pardoning fin without requiring " any I06 REFLECTIONS ON THE DOCTRINE " any atonement to juftice ?" But this dodrine, fo flir from illiiftrating, obfcures the grace of God. If a friend confers a favour on us, we efteem the favour in proportion to what it cofl him. Were it confiftent with the nature of God, to pardon •fin without any atonement, - the difplay of his grace would be far inferior. But when we know from his word, that he " will by no means clear " the guilty," that, from his effential and necef- fary love of righteoufnefs, he punilhes the wick- ed ; we fee the higheft reafon to admire the grace of God in the gift of his own Son as a facrifice. This is as much grace to us, as if no atonement had been neceffary ; becaufe all the bleffings of the covenant are given *' without money, and " without price :" and it is commended to us, ex- hibited in the moit engaging point of view, be- caufe *' God fo loved the world, as to give hison- " ly begotten Son." We learn the impojfibility of efcaping the ftroke of divine juftice, if we defpife the remedy. " How " fhall we efcape, if we negled: fo great falva- " tion ?" He that defpifed Mofes' law, died with- ** out mercy. — Of how much forer punifhment " Ihall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden ** under foot the Son of God?" And all tread him under foot, who refufe to put the crown of their falvation on his head. In fine, we perceive the neceflity of reverence in all our Chriilian fervice. In this very way, the apoftle, writing to the Hebrews, applies what he had faid with refped to the terrors of the law, and OF PUNITIVE JUSTICE. IO7 and the fupcrior privileges of the gofpel. " Where- ** fore, we receiving a kingdom which cannot be " moved, let us have grace whereby we may ferve *' God acceptably, Vv^ith reverence and godly fear. *' For our God is a confaming; fire '." He mani- felled himfelf, in this characler, under the law. The difpenfation under which we live, is very different with refpect to immediate temporal tokens of divine indignation. But we Itill ferve the fame God. His holinefs is invariably the fame, even although it is not manifefled by fuch difplays of his juftice. But even thefe have not been want- ing under the New Ttftament. What affeding monuments of divine difpleafure were Judas If- cariot, and Ananias and Sapphira^ 1 God fet them up, in the very dawn of the gofpel-church, as beacons to deter us from tampering with his juf- tice. For even our God is a confuming fire. Such temporal judgments are far lefs frequent under this difpenfation. But for this we may fee a fuf- ficient reafon. The eternal ftate is more clearly revealed: and in this the fire of divine juftice will burn with far greater heat, than ever it did in temporal punifhment. Therefore faith the a- poftle, in the pafTage formerly referred to ; " Seq *' that ye refufe not him that fpeaketh ; for if they " efcaped not who refufed him that fpake on earth, " much more fliall not we efcape, if we turn away *' from him that fpeaketh from heaven ^" SECT. i Heb. xii. 28, 29. k Ads i. 18. ; v. i.— 11. 1 Heb. xii. 25. ' .I08 INIQUITIES OF THE FATHERS SECTION V. On Divine Jiijiicey in Dijiting the Iniquities of Fa- thers upon their Children. — Children punijhed for the fins of Parents. — Barents punifhed in their Children. — Iniquity vifited on thofe efpe- cially who continue in the wicked courfes of their Progenitors. — Some fins more remarkably "vijited on fucceeding generations^ than others. — This vifitation extends farther than to temporal piinifJjment. — Something in human conduci analo' gous to this procedure of Divi?ie Jufliec. — Oh- jeElions anfwered. The Juflice of God, like every other perfec- tion of his nature, is incomprehenfible. We often find reafon to exclaim ; " His judgments are a ** great deep ! — How unfearchable are his }udg- " ments, and his ways pafl finding out !" But we need not wonder that our weak and depraved reafon fhould be lofl in the contemplation of that adorable perfeclion, which is employed in the pu- nifhment of fin ; as there is an extent in its evil, which we cannot comprehend. The divine conduci, in vifiting the iniquities of fathers upon their children, is one of thofe aw- ful dlfplays of juilice, which it feems to be a fpe- cial VISITED ON THEIR CHILDREN. I09 cial defign of revelation to fet before us in the moll confpicuous light. With a lincere defire to difcover " the mind of the Spirit," let us humbly inquire into the dodlrine which the Holy Scrip- tures contain on this important fubjedl. I. It is confiitent with divine juftice, to pu- nifh children/or ih^Jins of their parents, although they have had no hand in thefe. This principle is eftablifhed by a great variety of fads. For the crime of Ham, the curfe was entailed on his po- llerity by Canaan f". Some think that the curfe extended to all the poilerity of Ham, and that Canaan is particularly mentioned, becaufe this hiitory being immediately written for confirming the faith of the Ifraelites, the prophecy of Noah was to them a prelude of vidory over the Ca- naanites, and of the poffeffion of their land. Others fuppofe that Canaan Vv^as lingled out by the Pa- triarch, under the influence of the Spirit of infpi- ration, as having been immediately concerned with Ham in the crime which he committed. But of this we have no evidence whatfoever. Ad- mitting it to be confiftent with juftice to punifh children for the iniquities of their fathers, God, in his adorable fovereignty, might entail the curfe in a fpecial manner upon one branch of the pofte- rity of Ham. It has been faid, that the curfe was not " pronounced upon Canaan for his father " Ham's tranfgreflion j" that " fuch arbitrary *' proceedings are contrary to all our ideas of the " divine pi Gen. ix. 25, no INIQUITIES OF THE FATHERS " divine perfedlions ;" that " the curfe upon Ca- *' naan was properly a curfe upon the Canaanites ; *' that God forefeeing the wickednefs of this peo- " pie, (which began in their father Ham, and " greatly increafed in this branch of his family), ** commillioned Noah to pronounce a curfe upon " them, and to devote them to the fervitude and *' mifery, which their more than common vices " and iniquities would deferve ;" and that " this *' account was plainly written by Mofes, for the *' encouragement of the Ifraelites "," &c. It cannot well be doubted, that the curfe efpe- cially refpefted the pofterity of Canaan, and that it was recorded for encouraging the Ifraelites to obey the command of God, by entering into their land. But we certainly do violence to the lan- guage of Scripture, and afcribe the greatefl im- propriety of condu6l to the Spirit of infpiration, if we deny that the curfe upon Canaan was meant as a punifhment of the crime of Ham. Such is the connexion of the hiftory, as neceffarily to im- ply this. *' And Ham the father of Canaan faw " the nakednefs of his father, and told his two *' brethren without. — And Noah awoke from his " wine, and knew," as would feem, by imme- diate revelation, *' what his younger fon had done " unto him. And he faid, Curfed be Canaan ; a " fervant of fervants fhall he be unto his bre- " thren °." We are not merely to confider the defign with which this account was '* written by " Mofes," but the deiign with which the curfe was n Biflxop Newton on the Prophecies, diflert. r, o Gen. is. 22. 141.35. VISITED ON THEIR CHILDREN. Ill was primarily pronounced by Noah under the im- pulfe of the Spirit. And furely nothing can be more plain, than that the curie was denounced againft the pofterity of Ham, as the punifhraent of his iniquity. It feems totally incongruous to the charafter of " the Spirit of revelation," who is alfo the " Spirit of wifdom," to conned, in the language of prophecy, the punilhment of the po- fterity of Ham with the crime of their anceftor, if there was no connexion of a judicial nature. We do not perceive the propriety of Noah's " pro- *' nouncing a curfe" on this occafion, if it had no prefent efFedt. There is, indeed, juft as much rea- fon for fuppoling, that Shem and Japhet were per- fonally excluded from the bleffing, as that the curfe had no immediate relation to Ham, but wholly refpe(Sted his pofterity. Among the firft-born in the land of Egypt, who were cut off by the deftroying angel, there were doubtlefs many who had never finned in their own perfons. They were immediately puniflied for the unbelief and obduracy of their parents. The children of Achan perilhed with him i'. No one, who believes revelation, can doubt the ac- count given us of the punilliment of the perfidy of Saul to the Gibeonites, firft on the nation, and afterwards on his pofterity. . Nor can it be doubt- ed, that God ap[;roved of the fevere fentence paf- fed, at the inftance of the Gibeonites, on the fe- ven fons of Saul. For it is faid, that, in confe- quence of their execution, ** God was entreated " for p Jo: < vii. a4. ri2 INIQUITIES OF THE FATHEtlS- " for the land '5." Now, there is not the leaft evidence, that any of them concurred in the cruel condud of their progenitor. Yet the defignation of a " bloody houfe" is transferred to them, be- caufe " he flew the Gibeonites." We mull be- lieve that God acted with perfect equity in the whole of the tranfadion. But there is a depth in this judgment v.'hich we cannot pretend to fathom. God hath dealt in this very manner with his own people. He fubjcded the child, that Da- vid had begotten in adultery, to death ; and de- clared, that the fword fhould never depart from his houfe, becaufe he had murdered Uriah \ Thefe fafts, recorded by the Spirit of God, are perfedlly confonant to many dodlrinal teftimonies contained in Scripture on this iiibjed. Speaking of the wicked, Job faith ; " God layeth up his ** iniquity for his children ." He compares it to thofe treafures, which men are eager to amafs for their pofterity. Thus Jeremiah complains, as per- fonating the afflicted Church of God ; " Our fa- " thers have finned and are not, and we have •' borne their iniquities ^" Elfewhere he confi- ders this branch of the divine condu6l as ground of adoration ; '* Thou — recompenfeft the infquity " of the fathers into the bofom of their children " after them : the great, the mighty God, the " Lord of Hofls is his name "." Although men v/ere to difregard the language of Scripture, their own obfervation would fupply them q 2 Sam. sxi. i.-— p. 14. r 2 Sam. xii. ic. 14. s Job x.'xi. ip. ♦ Lam. V. 7. u Jer. x\s\\. 18. VISITED ON THEIR CHILDREN. II 3 them with fufficient evidence of this truth. Arc not children fubjeded to poverty and want, in confequence of the prodigality of their parents ? Do they not derive from them peculiar difeafes, which are the natural confequences of vice ? Do they not often endure great and long-continued fufterings from fuch difeafes ? Do not thefe fre- quently ilTue in premature death ? Now, unlefs it can be proved, that fuffering, or even death, is i-n itfelf no punilliment ; it mult be admitted, that children are puniilied, by fuch hereditary difeafes, for the crimes of their parents, although they have had no hand in them. God vifits none in this manner, who are other- wife abfolutely innocent. When treated as guil- ty, in being fubjeded to fuffering in confequence of the fins of their more immediate anceftors, they are primarily viewed as tranfgreffors in their firft parent. Thus, indeed, God vindicates his jullice in the imputation of Adam's firll fin. While many object to this doctrine, as if it were incon- fiftent with the redtitude of the divine nature, that men fhould fuffer for what was not their per- fona! adt ; let them fhew how, according to this reafoning, it is jult with God to vifit the iniqui- ties of more immediate progenitors on their po- fterity : or let them both fet afide the evidence of inconteftable facts, and fairly deny the truth of the Sacred Hifl:ory in this refped, that they may appear in their real character. Alas I that there is fo much refined deifm among us ; that fo many profefs to believe the truth of revelation, who Vol. II. H notwithfi:andine: fl4 INIQUITIES OF THE FATHERS notwitliftanding difcover the infincerity of their profeflion, by trampling on the authority of the Spirit of infpiration, when his teftimony oppofes their own imaginations I II. The fathers are, according to this proce- dure, puniflied in their feed. Children are view- ed as exifting in their parents, long before they have adlual being ; as Levi paid tithes in the loins of Abraham. In like manner, parents are view- ed as exifting in their children, even after they have themfelves left the ftage of life. This is evident from the very manner in which the blef- ling, or the curfe, was often pronounced. Shem and Japhet were blefled in their pofterity. Ham was curfed in his : for both the blelling and the curfe had a fpecial refpecS; to fucceeding genera- tions. When Jacob received the bleffing, it had alfo a peculiar reference to his defcendants ; while Efau was juftly puniflied by God, not only in his perfon, but in his pofterity, becaufe of his pro- fanenefs in felling his birthright. The bleflings prophetically pronounced by Jacob, on his fons, immediately refpeded their offspring. Yet the blefhng of Jofeph is expreffed as if it had been merely perfonal : " The bleflings of thy father *' have prevailed above the bleffings of my proge- " nitors ; — they fliall be on the head of Jofeph, " and on the crown of the head of him that was " feparate from his brethren." The fame obfer- vation holds true as to the other bleflings. The patriarch views the various tribes as prefent in the VISITED ON THEIR CHILDREN. II5 the perfons of their progenitors ; and the facred hiftorian gives us the very fame reprefentation : " All thefe are the twelve tribes of Ifrael : *md ** this is it that their father fpake unto them, and ** blefied them ; every one according to his blef- " fing he bleffed them ''." Reuben is punifhed in the lot of the tribe which w^as to fpring from him ; ** Unliable as water, thou flialt not excel ; be- " caufe thou wentell up to thy father's bed, then " defiledft thou it : he went up to my couch." Simeon and Levi are punifhed in their feed. Be- caufe " inltruments of cruelty w^ere in their ha- " bitations," their father faid j *' I will divide " them in Jacob, and fcatter them in Ifrael ." The ftain, attending the difperfion of Levi, was indeed afterwards in great meafure wiped away ; as God chofe this tribe to the fervice of the ta- bernacle and temple, and ** fcattered them in Ja- " cob" as inftrudors of the people. But as origi- nally expreffed, it was rather a curfe than a blef- fing ; and Levi was himfelf puniflied in the de- nunciation, efpecially as he had no intimation of the bleffed iffue. This punilhment is inflided in various ways and degrees. Parents fometimes fee the vengeance executed, before their own death. Thus it was with Eli. He " honoured his fons above" God ; for when they '* made themfelves vile, he re- " ftrained them not:" whence he is himfelf char- ged with kicking at God's facrifice and offering \ it was therefore foretold concerning his two fons ; H 2 " Li V Gen. xlix. 16. j8, w Ver. 3. — 7. x i Sam. ii. 29; iii. 13. Il6 INIQUITIES OF THE FATHERS " In one day they fhall die both of them :" and his life was fpared only that he might fee the completion of this awful threatening, as a lign of the future inflidion of the hereditary judgments denounced againfl his houfe. For the Lord had " told him, that he would judge his houfe for " ever, for the iniquity which he knew," and, by giving no proper check to it, virtually appro- ved. Thefe judgments, although properly affect- ing his pofterity, are all defcribed as directed againfl himfelf ; whether inflided during his own life, or in fucceeding generations : " I will per- ** form againji Eli all things which I have fpoken " concerning his houfe : when I begin, I will ** alfo make an end y." The young generation of Ifrael, although not like their fathers, bore their iniquity. Their fuf- ferings, however, were efpecially meant for the punifhment of their rebellious parents. For the children fuffered, only till that generation was ex- tind:, which had come out of Egypt. This is evi- dent from the fentence pronounced by their God : *' As for you, your carcafes, they fhall fall in this " wildernefs. And your children fhall wander in " the wildernefs forty years, and hear your whore- " doviSy'' that is, the punifhment of them, " until " your carcafes be wafted in the wildernefs 2." Parents, although they fee not the vengeance themfelvcs, are fometimes punifhed in their feed, by feeing its certainty in the threatening. When Ahab had, by impiety aild murder, got pofTeflion of y I Sara. iii. u, 13, z Numb. xlv. 32, 33. VISITED ON THEIR CHILDREN. II7 of the vineyard of Naboth, God fent his fervant Elijah to inform him, that he would bring evil upon him, and take away his poflerity, and cut off every male from his houfe. But, in eonfe- quence of Ahab's humbling himfelf, he is inform- ed, that God would not bring the evil in his days *. The total deftrudion, brought on the houfe of Jeroboam the fon of Nebat, is reprefent- ed as the punilhment of his iniquity. For Baaflia " fmote all the houfe of Jeroboam, he left not to " Jeroboam any that breathed, until he had de- " ftroyed him, according unto the faying of the " Lord, which he fpake by his fervant Ahijah " the Shilonite ; becaufe of the fins of Jeroboam " which he finned, and which he made Ifrael "fin^" Nor is this vifitation confined to the wicked. In this manner hath God often tefl:ified his dif- pleafure with his own children. Solomon was af- fured that, becaufe of his apofl:acy, the kingdom ftiould be rent from his fon. Although this judg- ment was not to be inflided in his own days, yet as it was procured by his iniquity, it is fpoken of as inflided on himfelf: *' I will furely rend the " kingdom /ro;w thee, and will give it to thy fer- " vant. Notwithfl:anding, in thy days I will not " do it, for David thy father's fake : but I will " rend it out of the hand of thy fon '^." Hezekiah, after his miraculous deliverance from Sennacherib, and from a mortal difeafe, " ren- " dered not again according to the benefit done H 3 " unto a I Kings xx\. 21, zp, b 1 Kings xv. 39, 30. c i Kings xi. 11, it. Il8 INIQUITIES OF THE FATHERS " unto him." When the ambafladors of the king of Babylon came to congratulate him on his reco- very, he fhewed them all his armour, and his trea- fures. This at firfl view might feem a blamelefs action ; a piece of common civility to Itrangers, who had come from a diftant country, or of re- fped to the fovereign who fent them. But, in judging of adlions, the divine eye is efpecially fixed on the intention. In this refpedl Hezekiah failed. It is therefore faid ; ** God left him, to " try him, that he might know all that was in his " heart." And it is declared, that " his heart *' was lifted up ; therefore there was wrath upon " him." Either he valued himfelf too much on account of the fignal tokens of divine favour he had received, as if they had been merited by his righteous condud: ; or truiled in his riches, as if they could have proved the means of his defence : or perhaps he offended in both refpeds. What- ever might be the particular ground of difplea- fure, God declared by the prophet Ifaiah, that his fons lliould be carri&d away captive, and be " eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon." Wrath was upon him, although it came not in his days '^, For even the fincere repentance of the fervants of God, after great tranfgreffions, has not prevented, although it has fometimcs delayed, the judicial vifitation. As to perfonal guilt and pu- nifhment, the fin of David was taken away ; but not the punifhment as it refpedted his family. God teflified his difpleafure with him, as he had formerly d 2 Chron. xxxii. 25, 26. 31. ; Ifa. xxxix. 7, S. VISITED ON THEIR CHILDREN. II9 formerly done with refpe6l to Eli ; when he fwore that the iniquity of his houfe fhould " not be pur- *' ged with facrifice nor offering for ever •^." He hath obferved this line of condudl in various in- ftances ; that he might give the flrongeft tefti- mony as to the evil and demerit of fin, and his infinite and irreconcilable hatred of it, although the tranfgreflbr himfelf was the obje6t of his fpe- cial and unchangeable love. It may be faid perhaps, that it is eafily concei- vable how parents could thus be punifhed in their feed, when God was pleafed to communicate his will by a fpecial revelation to the individual ; although he fnould not himfelf live to fee the completion of the threatening : but that matters now ftand on a very different footing, as no fuch extraordinary intimations can be expeded. Let it be remembered, however, that " whatfoever ** was written aforetime, was written for our learn- ** ing." Although, therefore, there be now no particular intimation of the divine will by the Spirit of prophecy, the threatenings and punifh- ments, recorded in Scripture, are warnings to us of what we may juftly expect, if we go on in our ' trefpaffes. This is one of the means which God employs for maintaining his moral government : and we mult admire his wifdom in the choice of it. Such is the love which the moft of parents bear to their children, that they would rather fuffer in their own perfons, than that they fliould fyffer. To H 4 how e 1 Sam. iii. 14. I20 INIQUITIES OF THE FATHERS how many fufferings, indeed, do they cheerfully expofe themfelves, for their prefervation and com- fort I Thus, as has been obferved by the Billiop of Meaux, " God fhews parents, that according *^ to the fecret order of his judgments, he conti- " nues their rewards or punifhments after their " death ; and holds them in fubmiffion to his " laws by their deareft tie, that is, by the tie of " their children ^." III. God vifits the iniquities of fathers upon their children, efpecially when they take the fame, or Jimilar courjes. To /uch the commina- tion, annexed to the fecond precept of the law, immediately refers : "I the Lord thy God am ** a jealous God, vifiting the iniquity of the fa- ** thers upon the children, unto the third and " fourth generation of them that hate me s." When God here threatens to vift, the language does not limply fignify to punifh, iniquity ; but de- notes punilhment even after a long, or a conlider- able delay. Although men may fuppofe that he takes no notice of the fins committed againll him, or that he has in effect forgotten them ; he will eventually fhew that they have been accu- rately obferved, and that he hath been trcafuring up vengeance. We have already feen, that God, without any injury to his juftice, may punifh children for the fins of their fathers, although not chargeable with the fame fins ; becaufe he ftill views them as finners. But the threatening re- ferred f Bofluet's Univerfal Hiil. Vol. i. Part 2. Sedl. 4. . g Expd. x;?. 5, VISITED ON THEIR CHILDREN. 121 ferred to marks the more ordinary tenor of his procedure. Succeeding generations are confider- ed as manifefting their hatred of God, by conti- nuing in a courfe of iniquity. They may do it in different degrees. Sometimes, by purfuing the very fame track. The Lord complains of his an- cient people ; " Even from the days of your fa- " thers, ye are gone away from mine ordinan- " ces''.'* Thus the iniquity, for which God vi- fits, is not merely that of their fathers ; but their own, becaufe they have imitated their wicked ex- ample. At other times they become worfe than their anceftors. Their fins, although of the fame kind, are more aggravated. The Jews, under the Old Teftament, killed the prophets : their pofte- rity were the murderers of " the holy and juft " One." Often, the children do not acflually commit the fame crimes, but others of a fimi- lar nature which difcover the fame fpirit. Or, they teftify their approbation of the deeds of their fathers, by juftifying, even while they do not imitate, their condud. ** This their way " is their folly ; yet their pofterity approve their **fayings'." Perhaps their language is; "Where- *' fore hath the Lord pronounced all this great "evil againft us? or what is our iniquity '^^ ?" But pofterity may be fubjeded to the punifhment of the fins of their progenitors, although they do not pradtically imitate them, nor juftify their condud. The jealous God views them as appro- ving, if they do not acknowledge, exprefsly con- demn )^ Mai. iii. 7. , i Pfal, xlis. 13. k Jer, xvi. 10. 122 INIQUITIES OF THE FATHERS demn and mourn over, the iniquities of their fa- thers. Hence he addrefles his Church in this manner ; " Have ye forgotten the wickednefs of " your fathers, and the wickednefs of the kings of " Judah, and the wickednefs of their wives, and *' your own wickednefs, and the wickednefs of your *' wives ? — They are not humbled, neither have " they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my fta- " tutes that I fet before you, and before your fathers. " Therefore thus faith the Lord of hofts, the God ** of Ifrael, Behold, I will fet my face againft " you for evil, and to cut off all Judah '." In the addition to the precept, this vilitation is mentioned, as extending " unto the third and " fourth generation." Bat we are not to view this as an abfolute limitation ; or to conclude, that Gad rellridis the puniihment of the fins of anceftors^to any one particular generation. The contrary appears from the indefinite manner in which the fpecification is made. This puniihment extends fometimes to the third, and fometimes to the fourth generation. In other inftances^ it is carried farther. When the Jews cruci%d the Lord of glory, they cried oiit, *' His blood be up- " on us, and on our children :" and this awful curfe hath been entailed on their pofterity for more than feventeen centuries, or nearly fixty ge- nerations. All this time, they have not only been " (hut up in unbelief," but caft over the hedge of the vineyard, and fet up to all nations as ** an " aftonilhment, a biffing, and a curfe." The quar- yel 1 Jer. xliv. 9.— ir. VISITED ON THEIR CHILDREN. 123 rel at times is not profecuted even to the fourth generation. This fpecification feems to be made, however, that the threatening might have a keener edge to the heart of a parent. As many live to fee the . third and fourth generation of their own defcend- ants, it fignifies that even the bleffing of *' feeing *' their children's children '"," Ihall to them be converted into a curfe ; as they fhall be preferved in life, only to fee their own fin in the punifli- ment of their beloved offspring. In this fenfe is the language of Job, concerning the wicked man, verified ; " God layeth up his iniquity for his *' children : he rewardeth him, and he fliall know " it. His eyes fliall fee his deftrudion, and he " fliall drink of the wrath of the Almighty".'* This limitation alfo marks the remarkable dif- ference between the exercife of judgment and of mercy, in the divine procedure ; and fhows how much " mercy rejoiceth over judgment." For a promife is added, as a bleffed counterpart to the threatening, as a gracious encouragement to chil- dren to cleave to the God of their fathers : — *' And fhewing mercy unto thoufands of them *' that love me, and keep my commandments." But while the threatening flows from juflice, the . promife is wholly the fruit of grace. Whereas the vifitation is continued, in many inflances, to the third or fourth generation ; in others, it is delayed from one generation to ano- ther, to a third, or a fourth. The arch-rebel feems m Pfal. cxxvili. $. J(^b xxi. j\" The cafe is fimiiar, when long-fuffering hath been mingled with all the tokens of divine dif- pleafure ; or when God hath 'f often turned his " anger /Dan. >;, 15. --23. %'i. 30, g PvOiji. ii. 4, 5. h Pfal. Ixxviii. 57-~~59- VISITED ON THEIR CHILDREN. ,131 "anger away, and hath not ftirred up all his " wrath." Thus Nehemiah confefles the guilt of his people : " Our fathers dealt proudly, and har- " dened their necks, and hearkened not to thy " commandments. — Yet thou in thy manifold mer- " cies forfookelt them not in the wildernefs. — " Moreover, thou gavefl them kingdoms and na- " tions.— Neverthelefs, they were difobedient and ** rebelled againft thee. — Therefore thou deliver- *' edft them into the hand of their enemies.-— *' Yet many years didfl thou forbear them, and " teftifiedft againft them by thy Spirit in thy pro- *'' phets ; yet would they not give ear ; therefore " gaveft thou them into the hand of the people of "the lands'." IV. There are fome Jins which God more re- markably vilits on fucceeding generations, than others. The firft we fliall mention is idolatry, or the corruption of his worfliip and ordinances. Hence we find this threatening appended to the fecond commandment. God is efpecially jealous as to his fervice. He profecutcd his quarrel with the feed of Jeroboam, becaufe in this I'efpedt he had " made Ifrael to fin." Whatever excufes men may offer for apoftacy from the true wor- ihip of God, he accounts all idolaters haters of himfelf; for this is the charader given to thofe who break this precept. As this threatening illuftrates the heinous guilt -of idolatry, we may fee the propriety of conned^ I 2 ing ; Neh. ix. 16, — %^ 30. See alfo £zek. xx. 1.— 50. 132 INIQUITIES OF THE FA.THERS ing it with the fecond precept in another refpeft ; becaufe children are fo very apt to follow the ex- ample of their parents in religion. How often do men give this as an apology for a falfe, or what they acknowledge to be a corrupt religion ; how often is it employed as an argument even againft impartial examination, that their religion is the fame which their fathers profelTed ? Breach of covenant is another fin which God efpecially punilhes in the fame manner. Xede- kiah had entered into a covenant, to give his fub- jedls that liberty which God had appointed in the law. But he and his princes afterwards tranf- grelTed it. Wherefore the Lord denounced ven- geance againft them ; ** — Zedekiah king of Ju- *' dah and his princes will I give into the hand of " their enemies." This vengeance was executed in a moft affedling manner. The king of Baby- lon flew the fons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and then he put them out ^ ; as if God would fuffer this wretched parent to retain his fight, only till he had witnefied the mercilefs extermination of the fruit of his body. The fhedding of the blood of his faints is a fin that God remarkably vifits on fucceeding gene- rations. All innocent blood denies the land in which it is fhed. If men fnould make no inqui- fition for it, God will. It hath been a thoufand times remarked, even by thofe who know not the truth, that the providence of God is more fignally feen in the difcovery and punifliment of murder, thaq k Jer. xxxiv. si. ; xxxix. 6, 7. VISITED ON THEIR CHILDREN. 133 than with refped to an^ other crime. The bar- barous heathens of Melita, when they faw the viper faften on Paul's hand, had only one opinion about the matter j and this they formed without helitation. " No doubt," faid they, " this man " is a murderer, whom though he hath efcaped " the fea, yet vengeance fufFereth not to live '." Nor is it furpriling that God fhould efpecially proiecute this fin. We find the reafon of this, in the law given to all the fons of Noah, on the re- floration of the world. He adjudges to death every murderer, becaufe " in the image of God " made he man "'." This crime is an attack on God himfelf, in his only villble image in this lower world. But when it is committed in the way of perfecution, it is Hill more heinous in his light. There is a double attack on the Majelly of heaven j on his image, as it ftill imperfedly remains, in confequence of the firfl creation, and alfo as reftored by the fecond. Nay, when men are " perfecuted for righteoufnefs' fake," God. knows that his image in the new creation, is the; very ground of the perfecution. Need we wonder, then, that " tlie death of his " faints" jQiouid be efpecially *' precious in his " fight ?" Their immediate perfecutors may feem to efcape ; but the guilt defcends to fucceeding' generations. God deals with perfons, families, focieties and nations, in a way peculiar to himfelf. There is a certain appointed meafure of iniquity that he allows them to fill up, before he call, them I 3 to 1 Afts xxviii. 4. m Gen. ix. 6. 134 INIQUITIES OF THE FATHERS to account. When he pi^mifed Canaan to Abra- ham and his feed, he did not give them imme- diate poffeflion. They had to wait for about four hundred years for the accomplifhment of the pro- mife ; becaufe '* the iniquity of the Amorites was " not yet full ." Thus God deals with wicked families* When they have perfecuted his fer- vants, he fulfils his threatening ; " They fliall *• judge thee, — after the manner of women that *' fhed blood ; becaufe — blood is in their hands. " — They fliall flay their fons and their daugh- '* ters °." In this manner did God vifit the blood of his fervant Naboth on the houfe of Ahabc For the crime of this wicked prince was not fimply murder, but perfccution. He Ihed the blood of Naboth, for his ftrid adherence to the divine precept, in refufing to fell, or to exchange, his inheritance P. The vengeance overtook Jeho- ram in the portion of Naboth, in that very field Vv'hich his father had procured for himfelf by the jnurder of a righteous man. So ftrikiug was this difpenfation of providence, that it forcibly brought to the recollection of the wicked Jehu the predidion delivered by Elijah, which he repeated to his captain in thefe words ; ** Surely I have feen yeflerday the blood of Na- ** both, and the blood of his fons, faith the Lord ; " and I will requite thee in this plat, faith the " Lord i." Manafleh " flied innocent blood very " much, till he had filled Jerufalem from one " end n Gen. xv, 16. o Ez'i:. xxi'u. 45. — 47. p i Kings xxi. 2, 3. comp. Lev. xx\% aj. 25. ; Numb, szxvl. 6.— p. q 2 Kings ix. ai. 34.-2^- VISITED ON THEIK CHILDREN". t^^ ** end to another ''." This God vifited on the third generation of his pofterity ; and not on them only, but on the whole nation. For as they had fufFered theml'elv^es to be feduced'by him, " to do more evil than did the nations *' whom the Lord deftroyed before the children " of Ifrael '' ;" God viewed them as having made the blood-guiltinefs of ManaiTeh their own, be- caufe they ufed no proper means for the preven- tion or reftraint of this atrocious wickednefs. The Chaldeans were fent againft Judah *' to deflroy " it ;" and this is the reafon affigned : " Surely " at the commandment of the Lord came this " upon Judah, to remove them out of his light, " for the fins of ManaiTeh, according to all that " he did ; and alfo for the innocent blood that "he Ihed, — which the Lord would not par- " don ^" Thus did the Jews, who rejeded the Son of God, " fill up the meafure of their fathers," as he forewarned them : *' Behold, I fend unto you " prophets, and wife men, and fcribes, and foirre *' of them ye fliall kill and crucify, frnd fome of '* them fliall ye fcourge in your fynagogues, and " perfecute from city to city : that upon you may " come all the righteous blood flied upon the " earthy from the blood of Abel unto the blood of *' Zacharias. — -Verily I fay unto you, all thefe " things fliall come upon this generation "." Ma- ny of their predecelTors had been feverely punifh.- I 4 * ed r 2 Kings xxi. i6i s ^ Kings xxi. 9. t 2 Kinjs xsiii. 26. ; xxiv. 3, 4, See alio Jfr. xv. 3, 4. u Mat. xxiii. 32. 34.-35. 1 36 INK^ITIES OF THE FATHERS ed for this very crime. But the punilhment due to them as a nation had been ftill in a great mea- fure deferred. This generation killed the heir, and thus explicitly fet the feal of their approba- tion to ail that their fathers had done to the fer- va?its ^. They murdered the great Prophet of the Church, and thus pradically vindicated the con- duct of their anceftors, in fliedding the blood of his meffengers. They killed " the juft One,'* and brought on themfelves the guilt of all the righteous blood formerly flied. God was there- fore to vilit them with as much feverity, as if he had never before made inquiiition for blood. As their guilt was accumulated from one generation to another, their punilliment was to be unexam- pled. He would profecute his controverfy with them, with as great feverity as was poflible, with- out utterly deftroying them as a people. Hence the apollle Paul gives this account of their fin and punilhment : They " both killed the Lord ** Jefus, and their own prophets, and have perfe- " cuted us ; — to fill up their fins alway : for," 07 therefore " the wrath is come upon them to the " uttermoll y." * A X Mat. xxi. 35.-41. y x ThelT ii. 15, i5. * The obfervations of a very eminent writer, on the parallel paflage, Luke xi. 50, 51., deferve our attention. " There is in this commination an appearance of feverity beyond th» rule eftabliflied, Exod. xx. 5. — Here the vengeance and punifliment d^ie unto the fins of an hundred genera- tions, is threatened to be inflicted on that which was prefent. — The cafe here is particular. That in the command refpedls the common cafe of all falfe worflnppers, and their pofterity ; but this refpedls the perfecution unto blood and death of the true worlliippers of God. Now, though God VISITED ON THEIR CHILDREN. I37 A fimilar account is given of the guilt and vi- iltation of Rome. In anfwer to the cry of " the *' fouls of them that were flain for the word of " God," during the heathen perfecutions, it is faid, that " they Ihould reft yet for a little fea- " fon, until their fellow-fervants alfo, and their *' brethren, that fhould be killed as they were, " fliould be fulfilled ^" This .undoubtedly re- fpeds thofe that were to fufter under Rome anti- chriitian. The guilt is reprefented as one ; fo al- fo God be v<:ry much provoked witli the fins of falfe worfliippers, yet he can either bear willi them, or pafs over their fins witU lefler puniftments, or at leail for a long feafon ; but when they come to perfecution, and the blood of them who worfliip him in fpirit and in truth, in his appointed feafon he will not fpare them ; their own, and the iniquities of their pve- deceflTors, ihall be avenged on them, which will be the end of the anti- chriftian church (late, after all its prefent triumph. " All thofe who, from the beginning of the world, fuffered unto blood on the account of religicii, fuffered in the caitfe ofChrifl, for their faith in him, and coufeflion of him ; namely, as he was pfomifed unto the Church. Unto him and his office did Abel, by faith, bear teftimony, in the bloody facrifice that he offered. So it is faid that IMofes, in his danger for killing- the Egyptian, bare " the reproach of Chrift," becaufe he did it in faith of the promifed feed, which was Chrift. They were therefore all flain in the caufe of Chrift ; and whereas this generation was to flay Chrift himfelf, and did fo, they did therein approve of, and juftify all the blood that was filed from tlie foundation of the world ; and made tliemfelves juftly liable unto the punilTimcnt due unto it. Hence our Saviour tells themf, that they, the men of that generation, flew Zechariah, who was actually flain many hundred years before. " —•-When a finful church and people have pafled the utmoft bounds of divine patience and forbearance, they fhall fall into fuch abominable crying fiHS and provocations, as fliall render the utmoft vengeance beneath their deferts. So Jofeplius affirms of this generation, after they had rejedl- ed and flain the Lord Chrift, that they fell into fuch an hell of provokin-T abominations, that " if theKomans had not come and deftroyed them, God " would have fent fire and brimftone upon them from heaven, as he did on •' Sodom."— Owen's Humble Teftimony unto the Goodnefs and Severity of Cod, p a, — 4. \ Mat. xniu 35- ? Rev. vi. 9 it. 13^ INIQUITIES OF THE FATHERS fo is the verfgeanee. As the church, of Rome hath adopted almoft all the idolatries of that hea~ thenifm which preceded her, only with a change of names, whence her members are called the Gentiles ^- ; fhe hath alfo in another refped: ap- propriated the guilt of Rome heathen as her own, by carrying on the fame accurfed work of perfe- cuting the faints. Therefore it is faid ; *' In her " was found the blood of prophets, and of faints, " and of all that were llain on the earth ''." The* blood of all that have been flain on the earth; that is, for the fake of religion, is afcribed to her ; becaufe the greateft part of it has been filed either by her immediate agency, by her in- ftigation, or in confequence of adhering to her bloody principles. But perhaps the earth here denotes the extent of the Roman empire ; as the term is moft generally ufed in this prophecy. And indeed, there has fcarcely been any blood Ihed within the limits of the empire, whatever has been the pretence, that may not be traced to the fkirts of this harlot. Even thofe wars, which have not been waged exprefsly under the pre- tence of religion, have generally been owing to her deteftable policy, to the influence of her prin- ciples as intoxicating the nations, or to the fecret machinations of her members. V. The punifhment with which God vifits chil- dren, for the iniquity of their fathers, is not merely of a te7?iporal kind. Not to mention other con- fiderations., % Rev. xj. 3, h Rev, s^-jii. 24. , VISITED ON THEIR CHILDREN. I39 ^derations, this appears from the contrail Hated in the threatening. Surely, the mercy which God keeps for thoufands is not confined to this life : and it is not natural to think, that the judg- ment oppofed to it fhould be limited in this man- ner. But God does not condemn any to eternal punifliment, properly and immediately on the ground of thofe iniquities which their fathers have committed. The utmoft we can fuppofe is, that as the punifliment of guilty parents, he with- holds from their children that grace which he is under no obligation to confer on any, leaves them to the workings of their own corruptions, and thus fuffers them to imitate the wicked conduct of their parents. ' At length the fentence of his wrath goes forth againft them, as having made the fins of their fathers their own. To this pur- pofe that man of God, Calvin, exprefles his fenti- ments : " If the whole nature of man deferves " condemnation, we are allured that defi:ruction *^ is prepared for thofe from whom God witli- " holds his grace. They notwithfl:anding perifh " by their own iniquity, not by any unjuft ha- " tred on the part of God. Nor is there any room " left for demanding, why they are not aided by '* the faving grace of God, as well as others. — If " the vifitation, of which we fpeak, is fulfilled, " when the Lord removes from the pofterity of " the wicked his grace, the light of his truth, and " the other means of fulvation-; fo that the chil- " dren, blinded, and deferted of him, tread in the " footfte^ s of their parents, they fuHain the curfe "on 140 INIQUITIES OF THE FATHER? *' on account of paternal iniquities ; but in their *' being fubjedted to temporal miferies, and at " length to eternal deftruftion, they are thus pu- ** nifhed by the righteous judgment of God, not " for the fins of others, but for their own '^." The obfervations of that eminent light of our own land, Durham, merit our particular attention. They contain an anfwer to this queftion. " How " doth God reach children with eternal plagues " for their parents' fins ? Anfw. He doth it cer- " tainly, and he doth it juitly : therefore the chil- " dren muil not only be confidered as guilty, but " as guilty of the fins of their parents, which we *' may thus conceive ; i. As to the child of a " wicked parent, lying in natural corruption, God *' denieth and withholdeth his renewing and " reftraining grace which he is not obliged to ^' confer ; and the Lord in this may refped: the *' parents' guilt juflly. 2. V\^hen grace is denied, " then followeth the temptation of the parents' " prad:ice ; the devil fl:irring up to the like fin, " and they furthering their children to wicked- " nefs by their example, advice, authority, &c. " So that it Cometh to pafs in God's juftice, that " they are given up to vent their natural cor- *' ruption in thefe ways, and fo come, as it is " Pfal. xlix. 13., to approve their parents' fay- " ings. 3. Upon this followeth God's calling " the child, now guilty of his parent's faults, in- " to eternal perdition with him : and that this is ** the meaning of the threatening, will appear by " the c Inftitut. lib. ii. cap. S, f. zo. VISITED ON THEIR CHILDREN. t^t ** the examples of God's juftice in this matter, " when wicked parents have children that are not *' fo much miferable in regard of temporal things ; ** as they are wicked, curfed, and plagued with *' ungodlinefs. So were Cain*s children, fo were ** the children of Ham, and fo were Efau's ; who ** were all for a long time profperous in the world, " but following their father's fins, (a main part of " their curfe), God afterward vifited them on " them, with fad temporal judgments alfo'^." The learned Dr Barrow, although adhering to a different fyftem, expreffes himfelf on this fub* jedl, in language much of the fame import. He extends the vifitation to fpiritual, as well as tern* poral, judgments ; declaring it to be the mean- ing of the threatening, that on account of the fins of anceftors, God " will withdraw his free fa- " vours from" their children. *' That meafure " of grace and indulgence," he fubjoins, ** which ** otherwife the fon of fuch a perfon (had he not " been a great traitor againft God) might accord- " ing to the general courfe of God's goodnefs '* have received, the which might have more ef- " fedually reftrained him from fin, and confe- ** quently have prevented his guilt and his pu- " nifiiment, God may well (in confidence with " his juftice and goodnefs, to manifeft his detef- " tation of heinous wickednefs), withhold from •' him ^," VI. The d Expofit. Ten Commanclnients, p. X17. C £xpofition of the Decalogue, p. 40O1 401. 142 INIQUITIES OF THE FATHERS VI. The juftice of this procedure is admitted, according to the received principles of equity a- mong ?nen. In almoft all nations, it is accounted juft that children fhould fuffer for the crimes of their parents. Debts defcend with property ; and he who intermeddles with the property, is legally confidered as ferving himfelf heir to all the debt attached to it. Now, he who imitates, who juf- tifies, or who does not lincerely confefs and be- wail the iniquity of his fathers, in like manner ferves himfelf heir to all the debt of guilt which they have contraded towards God. Is it juft in man to fet fo fevere a ftigma on treafon and fome other crimes deeply afteding fociety, as to de- prive the children, although perfonally innocent, of both the honours and the eftates enjoyed by their parents, and otherwife legally defcending to them ? and iliall we fuppofe that fm, as commit- ted againft the Judge of the univerfe, is of fo much lefs importance, as to refufe to him tho right of punifhing it in a limilar manner ? So far from quarrelling with the juftice of God, Ihould we not rather admire his longfuifering and mercy in this procedure ? Often he delays pu- nilhment from one generation to another, giving time for conlideration and repentance. If ** the " heart of the fons of men is fully fet in them to " do evil, becaufe fentence againft an evil work is " not executed fpeedily," the blame is wholly their own, not God's. The riches of his goodnefs fliould produce an effed direftly contrary ; for it *' leads to repentance." It VISITED ON THEIR CHILDREN. I43 It would feem, that at times God puniflies the leligioLis children of the wicked, for the lins of tjbieir parents ; but eventually for their good, both for time and for eternity. For the fins of Jero- boam, God had threatened to *' take away the " remnant of his houfe, as a man taketh away " dung, till it be all gone." When Abijah, the pious fon of fo wicked a father, fell fick, God would not fpare his life, becaufe of the vengeance he had denounced. But his afflidion, we may be af- fured from the tenor of the divine condud to all the heirs of falvation, was overruled in fubferviency to his eternal good. And even an early death was to him converted into a blefling in a tempo- ral refped ; as he was faved from the violence and ignominy that awaited all the reft of Jero- boam's feed. It was therefore foretold concern- ing him ; " He only of Jeroboam fhall conie to *' the grave, becaufe in him there is found fome " good thing toward the Lord God of Ifrael in " the houfe of Jeroboam '." . Here I iliall only add, that in Scripture we have various examples of God's vifiting the ini-r quitiesof one or more individuals, if not duly pu- ni filed, on a whole fociety. This was the cafe as to the tranfgreflion of Aclran, and of Korah. This may affift us in thinking of divine juftice, as dif- played in vifiting the iniquities of fathers on their children. For there is an analogy between the one and the other. A fociety, prefently exifting, is viewed as if individually one, becaufe the vari- ous f I Kings xiv. I. 10. — 13. X44 . INIQUITIES OF THE FATHERS ous merfibers have one common centre of union, are all parts conftituting one wliole, and form one body in a civil or religious refpeft. A family or nation is alfo viewed as one, in its fucceflive ge- nerations ; both becaufe of their natural relations, parents being continued in their pofterity j and alfo btcaufe of their coUediive unity, as they ftill conftitute the fame body, notwithftanding the change of individuals. I Ihall now confider fome objedions that have been made to this dodrine. I. It hath been objedled, that it cannot be true, becaufe it would imply a contradidion in the lan- guage of Scripture ; efpecially as it is faid, " The " foul that finneth, it fliall die ; the fon fhall riot ** bear the iniquity of the father ?:." But there is no contradidiion between this and the precept. The fon here meant is not a wicked perfon ; but one who, being come to years of difcretion, dif- approves and forfakes the unrighteous way of his father. For it is declared ; " When the fon hath ** done that w^hich is lawful and right, and hath *' kept all. my llatutes, and hath done them, he " fhall furely live i^." Now, the threatening add- ed to the fecond commandment, refpeds not righ- teous children, but thofe who, choofing and con- tinuing in the wicked ways of their fathers, plain- ly declare that they are " haters of God :" and, as has been feen, although others have been pu- nifhed, g Ezek. xvili. 20. h Ver. ip. VISITED ON THEIR CHILDREN\ I45 niflied, this is not the ordinary tenor of providen- tial difpenfations. It mull alfo be obferved, that here a reply is made to the unjull and infolent cavils of an obdu- rate people. They prefumptuoufly alleged, that God's ways were not equal. AlTerting their own innocence, they pretended, that all the pimifli- ment brought on them as a nation, efpecially in their captivity, was for the iniquities of their fa- thers. Hence it became a proverb with them, '' The fathers have eaten four grapes, and the *' children's teeth are fet on edge ^" To illu- ftrate the jufticeof his procedure, God informs them, that he fliould proportfon their punii3iment to their perfonal crimes. Here, then, God does iiot deny his right to vifit the iniquities of the fa- thers upon the children ; but declares, that in dealing with this people, for^ome time at leaft, he was willing to proceed with them, as if fuch a threatening had nev^er been made. He docs not tell what he might do, in ftrid juflice ; but what he would do in fad, to lilence their charges of in- juftice. This is not the promulgation of a Handing law, but of a temporary difpenfation for a parti- cular reafon. It is an anfwer to the prefumptuous query of the Jews, " Doth not the fon bear the " iniquity of the father ■' ?" This anfwer at the fame time feems to intimate, that although in their prefent punifhment, God had " recompenfed " into their bofoms their iniquities, and the ini- ** quities of their fathers together," yet as far as Vol. II. K adults i Ezek. xviii. a. 25, 29. k Ver. 19. 146 INIQUITIES OF THE IfATHERS adults at leaft were concerned, they fuftered no more than they would have done according to the demerit of their own crimes. They thought they were themlelves innocent ; but they had made the iniquities of their fathers their own, by tread- ing in their fteps, , 2. It has been aflerted, that this kind of punifh- ment was peculiar to the old difpenfation, and that it is abolifhed under the new. It has been * faid by one learned writer, that " this punifn- *' ment was only to, fupply the want of a future " ftate ;" and that this " is evident from hence, " that towards the conclufion of this extraordi- " nary economy, when God, by the latej: prophets, " reveals his purpofe of giving them a new dif- " penfation, in which a future ftate of reward and ** punifhment was to be brought to light, it is ** then declared in* the liioft exprefs manner, that " he wull absog^te the law of punifhing children " for the crimes of their parents. Jeremiah, fpeak- " ing of this new difpenfation, fays : ** In thofe " days, they fhall fay no more. The fathers have " eaten a four grape, and the children's teeth are " fet on edge : but every one Jhall die for his " own iniquity, every man that eateth the fouf " grape, his teeth fliall be fet on edge. Behold " the days come, faith the Lord, that 1 will make " a new covenant with the houfe of Ifrael, — not " according to the covenant that I made witt " their fathers V &c. The author referred to alfo 1 Warburtou's Divine Legation, vol. iv. p. 327, 5cc. VISITED ON THEIR CHILDREN. I47 alfo quotes that pallage from Ezekiel, which we have ah'eady confidered. This ingenious writer has indeed {trained every nerve, in order to fliew that there was no revela- tion of a future Hate under the Mofaic difpenfa- tion. But on this point, fuffice it to fay, that all the learning he has uifplayed is but a mere vvafte of words, as long as we have the reafoning of Chrift with the Sadducees, in proof of t^ie doc- trine of a refurredion, from the language of God to Mofes". While the foundation of his fyftem is falfe, it is impoflible that the fuperftrudure lliould be folid. Tliat thefe words, " The days come, — that I " will make a new covenant with the houfe of " Ifrael," refer to the New Teftament, there is no ground to doubt ; becaufe they are thus ap- plied by an infpired apoftle. But there is not the fame evidence as to the words preceding '. All that certainly appears is, that they immediately refer to the days fucceeding the captivity, and the reitoration of tlie Jews to their own land ; when they lliould not complain, as formerly, that they fullered for the iniquity of their fathers, be- caufe a great portion of the deferved punifliment lliould be inflided on them in the furnace of Ba- bylon. There is no reference in the eighteenth chapter of Ezekiel to tlie gofpel difpenfation. There is nothing that carries forward the decla- ration, on which the objedion is founded, to the New Teftament. God evidently fpeaks of his condud: towards the very fame people, who had K 2 accufed k Luke zs. 37, 38, 1 Jer. xxxi. 25, 30. 548 Iniquities of the fathers accufed him of injuftice. He fpeaks of it as what Ihould take place, not in any future age, but fron> that day forward : " As I live, faith the Lord ** God, ye lliall not have occafion any more to ufe " this proverb in Ifrael-"'." It mufl be acknowledged, however, that the paffage in Jeremiah has been underflood, by fome of the warmeft friends of the dodrines of the gof- pel, as refpedling New-Teftament times, and as denoting the greater mildnefsof this difpenfation- According to the general tenor of the Mofaic eco- nomy, indeed, God adled M^ith far more feverityt ' *' Every tranfgreffion received a juft recompence ** of reward." This threatening, among others, was executed with more rigour and frequency ', and the tokens of„ divine difpleafure were of a more fenlible and ftriking kind. As temporal re- wards were more fuitable to the character of the difpenfation, fo were temporal punifhments ; when the eternal ftate was more obfcurely revealed, and to be difcerned efpecially through a multitude of Ihadows. But although the threatening is not executed with the fame feverity, it is not therefore abolifhed : although the punifliment is not fo ftri- king to the fenfes, under theNewTeftament, it will not follow- tJiat it was therefore peculiar to the Old. Even admitting that this declaration, *' The fon " fliall not bear the iniquity of the father," refers to the New Teftament, it will not follow, that the threatening affixed to the fecond commandment is abrogated. For with equal propriety, accord- ing ta £zek. xviii. s- VISITED ON. THEIR CHIL-DREN. I49 mg to this rigid mode of interpretation, it might be inferred, that under this new difpenfation no man's own fins fhall be imputed to him : becaufe it follows, " I will remember their fin no more"." It might be argued with confiderable appearance of truth, that if both expreffions refer to the New Tefl:ament, both mufi: refpedl the fame perfons ; and that thefe are fuch only as are truly forgiven of God : and therefore that it no more proves that God will not punilh the iniquities of fathers on their children, than it proves that he will not punifli fin at all. I fhall only add, that Chrill and his own pro- phets muft certainly agree. What they fay, there- fore, mult be underllood in unifon with his de- nunciation againfi: the Jews, which we have al- ready confidered, that upon them fliould " come " all the righteous blood fhed on the earth." This vifitation hath undoubtedly taken place during the new difpenfation. And fimilar is the ven- geance he hath denounced againft Rome. Have we not feen it awfully executed in our own day ? What idea can we form of the dreadful deluge of blood in a neighbouring country, but that it is the vengeance of Jehovah, the vengeance of his temple ? If ever any people have had " blood to " drink," this undoubtedly has been their portion. Had we exa6l regifi:ers of families, we fhould fee, I am perfuaded, the awful retributions of juftice to fucceeding generations, and the fins mofl: legibly exprefiTed in the circumfl:ances of the punifhment. K 3 _This r Jer. xxxi. 34. 150 INIQUITIES OF THE FATHERS This vengeance has eminently purfiied the royal family. On the devoted head of an unfortunate prince, have the crimes of his fathers, and efpe- cially of that vain-glorious tyrant and cruel perfe- cutor Louis XIV., been vifited. " What," may it be faid, ** was he not lefs guilty, nay, a more *< amiable man, and a better prince, than the moil *' of his predecefTors ?" We admit it. But fuch is the myfterious nature of the divine difpenfa- tion. The wicked Ahab was fpared, and Jeho- xam fuffered, who, although he wrought evil, did not do fo " like his father, and like his mother"." Jeroboam, that great tranfgrefibr, was fuffered to die in peace ; and the vengeance laid hold of his pofterity, although not fo infamous as he for per- fonal iniquity. Let it be admitted, that the ene- mies of Louis had no right to take his life ; this does not alter the character of the punifhment, as proceeding from the Supreme Judge. It is per- fectly confiftent w^ith his fpotlefs holinefs, to em- ploy even ** the wrath of man." He hath *' crea- " ted the wafter to deftroy." He, who raifed up a Jehu againfl the houfe of Ahab, hath raifed up wicked and bloodthiifty men as the inftruments of his vengeance againft the houfe of Bourbon. Louis XVL did not fhed the blood of the faints. He even manifefted a fpirit of toleration. But he was not humbled on account of that iniquity com- mitted by his anceftors. Although he did not work evil like unto thern, he " clave tcyfiis. lins of *' Jeroboai»-," by retaining " the mark of the " beaft." <» % Kings iii, 1,. VISITED ON THEIR CHILDREN, I5I ** beail*'* He adhered to the mother of harlots, and thus became a " partaker of her plagues." The vengeance of God hath alfo been eminent- ly difplayed againft the clergy of France, who have, in former ages, been the great inftigators and inftruments of the perfecution of the faints. As to them, there could not be a literal execution of the threatening. But God deals with focieties as with families. As parents are perpetuated in their pofterity, focieties, as has already been feen, are viewed as Hill the fame bodies, notwithftand- ing the change of individuals. God views fuc- cefibrs as adopting the fins of thofe who have pre- ceded them, and fubjeding themfelves to the de- ferved puuilhment ; in as far as they adopt thofe very principles which have naturally produced fuch fins. Now, Popery is always the fame. It is a religion that ftiall be overthrown, but can ne- ver be reformed. Whatever be the condudt or difpofitions of individuals, the general charader of her votaries is, that they ** repent not of their '' deeds p." Parents, mark what a ftriking beacon is here fet up to deter you from fin. Do you love the fruit of your body ? Shew the fincerity of this love, by hating and avoiding fin ; lefl: you fubjed: your children to a judicial vifitation from the righteous Judge. Are you eager to lay up trea- fure for them ? Take heed that it be not a trea- fure of wrath. If you endeavour to accumulate wealth for their behoof, by unrighteous means, K 4 you X Rev. xvi, 9. II. 152 INiqUITlES OF THE FATHERS, &C. yon indeed leave them a wretched inheritance. Are you fhocked at the cruelty of thofe parents who of old devoted their children to the murder- ous Moloch ? Tremble, left you be found charge- able with cruelty ftill more fatal, as terminating in the dellruclion of their immortal fouls. What encouragement have you to love that gracious God, who " keepeth mercy for thou- ** fands I" Let your prayers daily reach the throne in behalf of your beloved children. Let them daily witnefs your holy converfation. Both may be blefied of God, as means of their eternal falvation. What comfort muft it afford you, if you be inftrumental in bringing them to the par- ticipation of that mercy which h," in which parents and children fhare a common fate. Thus the Ifraelites were fore- warned, that if they apofl:ati'z,ed from Go(5, they would fubject, not themfelves only, but their be- loved offspring, to deftruclion. This difpenfation was a practical commentary on the threatening he had pronounced by Mofes, with refped; to the confcquence of difobedience : " The fword with- " out, and terror v/ithin, fliall deftroy both the •* young man and the virgin, the fuckling alfo *' with the man of grey-hairs^." He ufes a fimi- lar argument with his people in the days of Jere- miah : *' Wherefore commit ye this great evil a- " gainft your fouls, to cut off" from you man and " woman, child and fuckling out of Judah, to " leave you none to remain ; in that ye provoke " me u Ifa. xxxiv. C. V Deut. xxxii, 15. 174 ON THE DESTRUCTION OF "*' me unto wrath with the works of your hands, " burning incenfe unto other gods ^ ?" I have no doubt that the deftrudion of thefe nations was commanded by God, as an antidote to a greater evil, even in a natural point of view. Had this command been obeyed, it is highly probable that it would eventually have proved a mean of preferving more lives. For even in this cafe it can hardly be fuppofed, that there would have been fo great an expence of life, as there was in fucceeding generations ; in the im- pious facrifices of children, not by Canaanites only, but by the Ifraelites, imitating their ex- ample ; in the bloody wars between thefe na- tions ; and in the defolating judgments inflidted by God on his own people, becaufe of their con- formity to the heathen amiOng whom they dwelt. The event, indeed, illuftrated both the wifdom and the goodnefs of God in giving this com- mand to Ifrael. They difobeyed it in fparing many of the Canaanites. Thefe proved a fnare to them, and caufed the continuance and propa- gation of the molt abominable crimes, on account of which the Ifraelites were fubjeded to the moll fevere punifhments. The true religion was never altogether loft : but it often feemed to be nearly fo. A very few years after the death of Jofhua» in confequence of dwelling among the nations whofe deftru6tion God had commanded, the If- raelites " took their daughters to be their wives, *' and gave their daughters to their fons, and fer- " ved \v Jer. xliv. 7, S. THE NATIONS OF CANAAN. 175 " ved their gods ;" fo that " the anger of the " Lord was hot againft them ''.'" The Church of Ifrael, when, in a time of reformation, confefling her guilt and punifhment, traces both to this pri- mary acl of difobedience to the command of God. " They did not deftroy the nations, concerning " whom the Lord commanded them : but were *' mingled among the heathen, and learned their " works. And they ferved their idols ; which ** were a fnare unto them. Yea, they facrificed " their fons and their daughters unto devils ; and " Ihed innocent blood, even the blood of their ** fons and of their daughters, whom they facri- " ficed unto the idols of Canaan : and the land " was polluted with blood. — Therefore was the " wrath of the Lord kindled againft his people, " infomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance. " And he gave them into the hand of the hea- " then ; and they that hated them ruled over " them >." It has been objedted, that " it is inconceivable " that God fhould ever have given fuch a com- " mand to the Ifraelites ; as its natural tendency " muft have been to blunt every finer feeling in " their hearts, and to render them fanguinary and " cruel." In reply to this objedion, a variety of confider- ations claim our attention. We are to confider the nature of that difpenfation under which thq Ifraelites lived. It was a difpenfation of terror. God X Tiidg. iii. 5.-^. y Pful. cv% 34.— 41. 176 ON THE DESTRUCTION OF God in his infinite wifdom adapted the dilpenfa- tion to the ftate of fociety in general, and to the national character of the Ifraelites. The nations of the earth were univerfally depraved to a very high degree. The Ifraelites themfelves were a itiibborn and a rebellious people. That peculiar difpeijfation, which he gave them, was efpecially meant for the rellraint of tranfgreffion. From the abounding of wickednefs among the furrounding nations, from the chara6ler of the Ifraelites them- felves, and from the comparatively fmall degree of light which they enjoyed, ftrong meafures be- came necefiary. The more gentle means employ- ed by Providence under the gofpel, when light is more generally diffufed, would have been inade- quate in that period. *' Life and immortality" were not yet " brought to light." The evidence of an eternal ilate, although not entirely with- held, was comparatively obfcure. Hence, rewards and punifliments of a temporal nature, were the molt prominent features of the difpenfation of the law. It was therefore neceflary, that thefe Ihould be ftriking, in proportion to the obfcurity which prevailed with refpec^t to the eternal world. It was neceffary that not only the heathen nations, but the peculiar people of God, fhould be deterred from fin by the molt fignal difplays of God's dif- pleafure in temporal puniiliment. " Even the *' heir," while in a ftate of minority, was treated as " a bond-fervant." There is now far lefs oc- cafion for fuch feverity ; as, befides the fuperior light of the gofpel, God hath given us the great- eft THE NATIONS OF CANAAN. 1 77 cH" pofTible evidence of his hatred of lin, and dif- pleafure on account of it, in the fufFerings of his own eternal Son, as the Surety of his people. The fame objection may be brought, although on a fmaller fcale, againft any great difplay of juflice among men. It would be impoffible to fupport civil fociety without punifhments, and in many cafes without fevere ones. It has been feen, that, according to Scripture, the deftru6lion of the Canaanites was a fignal a6l of divine juf- tice, and that it was meant for the prevention both of fm and of punifhment. It was not intend- ed, like the execution of human laws, merely for exciting terror in the hearts of individuals, or for warning a fingle nation ; but as an awful example to many furrounding nations. It was an example, that, in its extent, bore fome analogy to the ex- tent of that kingdom, which " ruleth over all." This a6l of juftice, however tremendous, was ne- celTary. The nations of Canaan were incorrigible in their fins. When wickednefs comes to a cer- tain pitch, it feems requilite, for the maintenance of God's moral government, that he Ihould mani- feft his difpleafure by judgments of fo remarkable a nature, as plainly to declare the hand of God to the molt ignorant and indifferent. That mercy, which prevents the execution of neceflary adls of juftice, deferves not the name of mercy. It is in fa<5l cruelty. For it eventually proves an encou- ragement to fin, not only to the individuals who are fpared, but to myriads befides. Vol. II. M It I^S ON THE DESTRUCTION Of It is unfair indeed to reafon merely from the fiippofable confequences of fuch a command. But if men will reafon in this way, the proper queftion is ; Whether, upon the whole, the morals of the Ifraelites were more in danger of fuffering from their execution of fuch a fentence, or from ob- ferving the impunity of the Canaanites ? This queftion admits of an eafy anfwer. The objedion is made to the command, from the idea of its eventually affedting one branch of morals only. But had the Canaanites been fpared, the whole fyf- tem of morals would have fufFered. God knew that the Ifraelites would foon become as corrupt as the nations among whom they dwelt. From the im- punity of the Canaanites, they would have had too much ground to promife themfelves a limilar exemption, and to regard all the threatenings of their law as mere bugbears. It may be faid, that if it was neceffary, God could have deftroyed the Canaanites, without em- ploying the Ifraelites in this work. But thus the difpenfation could not have had the fame awful language, either to the Ifraelites, or to the hea- then around. Had ordinary means been employ- ed, the heathen might have afcribed the deftrucr tion to their own offended deities. There is every reafon to believe, that the pre- fervation of the Canaanites would have had a far worfe effedl on the Ifraelites, even with refped: to humanity, than their deftrudlion could have. For they would foon have imitated the wicked ex- ample of thefe nations in its full extent. Their hearts THE NATIONS OF CANAAN. I79 hearts would fooii have been hardened, not only by the horrid influence of human facrifices, but by that of unnatural lulls. Thefe, it is well known, have a brutifying pov^er on the mind of man, and render it callous to all the more gene- rous feelings of our nature. The effedt of fuch abominable practices mult neceffarily have been permanent, becaufe they would have been con- tinued from generation to generation. But what- ever effedl the extermination of the Canaanites may be fuppofed to have had on the immediate agents, its influence could not be fo durable ; becaufe the command was limited, and the de- ftru6tion of confequence only temporary. We are ftill to confider the Ifraelites, as, in the whole of their obedience to this command, called immediately to view the authority of the Su- preme iJudgC; who manifefl:ed his prefence by a continuation of miracles. For we cannot form a right efl:imate concerning this command, unlefs we confider it in its cormexion. Now, there was no room left for the exercife of their own corrupt pafTions. They were to a6l merely as the mini- fters of divine juftice. Such is the perverfenefs of our nature, that the very idea of an abfolute command being interpofed about any thing, makes that work ungrateful which might otherwife be agreeable. That God, who infinitely well knows all the fecret fprings of adtion in the human heart, knew that the Ifraelites, when required to defl:roy the devoted nations, as an indifpenfable duty, would be reludant to the work, and foon flacken M2 JU l8o ON THE DESTRUCTION OF in their obedience. That they did fo, appears from the hiftory. There is not the leaft evidence that they contraded a fanguinary diiJ)ofition, in confequence of their partial execution of the di- vine fentence. In as far as cruelty could be vievt^- ed as a trait in their national charader, it origi- nated in their imitation of the Canaanites, and mufl therefore be confidered rather as the confe- quence of fparing that people. It was only from their being " mingled among the heathen, and " learning their vv^orks," that they " Ihed inno- *' cent blood, even the blood of their fons and " daughters ^'* That fuch a command would neceffarily tend to make the Ifraelites cruel, is an infufficient ar- gument againft its reality, becp.ufe it proves too much. For, admitting that they, in the whole execution of this fentence, were bound to have their eye immediately direded to the authority of the Supreme Judge ; if their obedience tended to "harden their hearts, the very obfervation of God's conduct ip providence mull have a limilar influ- ence on his rational creatures. For we fee in- numerable calamities brought on the human race, and extending even to thofe who have never fin- ned perfonally. Now, it muft either be denied that thefe are the effeds of providential operation, and of confequence that God ruleth among men ; or it muft be granted that the objedion under confideration is a bad one. For what difference foever may be fuppofed as to degree, the perfua- 2 Pfal. cvi. 35. 3?, triE NATIONS OF CANAAN. l8l non of God's intervention by a pofitive precept^ cannot, us to its tendency with refped to us, dif- fer effentially from the perfualion of his operation \i\fa5i. The deftrudtion commanded is never reprefent- ed as a pattern for their general condud:, but ftill as fomething peculiar and extraordinary. It ip called " a terrible thing '." They were to view the fevcn'. nations as adually accurfed of God. Their very goods were accurfed, and fubjedled thofe who fliould take poffeffion of them to a curfe ^. In the deflrudion of thefe nations, the Ifraelites were not called to work by themfelves. They were called to be " workers with God." He claims the work of " cutting off the Canaan- " ites '^.'^ He did every thing that could be done to convince his people that thefe nations were ir- recoverably devoted. He fent deftroying infedis before them '^. He made the walls of Jericho mi- raculoully to fall to the ground, in confequence of the blowing of horns. He made the fun to ftand ftill, and he ** call down great Hones from hea- " ven" on the Canaanites ^^ The Ifraelites, as has been formerly obferved, were not permitted to view any of the other hea- then nations around in the fame light. They were to offer peace to them ; and even although they refufed it, and reduced the Ifraelites to take their cities by ftorm, they were not permitted to kill any but the grown males, that is, fuch as M 3 bore a Exod. xxxiv. lo. b Jofli. vii. 12, 13. X5. c Exod. xsiii. 23. d Deut. vii. 20. ; Jofh. xxiv. ir, c Jofli. %. 10.— 15, l32 CN THE DESTRUCTION OF bore arms againll them. For then, every mati, who was able to carry arms, was a foldier, efpe- cially during a fiege. In a word, this command could not have the effecl of making the Ifraelites cruel, becaufe any abufe of it in this way was prevented by many precepts of a tendency diredlly contrary, which were bound on them by the fame authority. We find no ancient laws fo favourable to the interefts of humanity as tliofe of the Jews. They were to bring back their enemy's afs, if they faw him go allray, and to relieve him, if they faw him ly- ing under his burden ^. They were forbidden to retain the pledge of a poor man for a fingle night ■. Nor were they to confine thefe ads of humanity to their own nation. They were pro- hibited from injuring the Edomites, Moabites and Ammonites, notwithftanding all their unkindnefs. They were not to " abhor an Edomite," becaufe of their confanguinity in their common parent Ifaac ; nor to " abhor an Egyptian," becaufe they were ftrangers in his land >"'. Here there was no room left for the diabolical principle of re- venge. They were even commanded to " love " the ftrangers as themfelves ' :'* and this cha- radler extended to all thofe of other nations, who relided among them, the Canaanites excepted ; although, they did not conform to the rites- of the Jewifli religion. Thefe, and many other pre- cepts of a limilar tendency, they were bound to obey, f Exod. xxiii. 4, 5. g Deut. xxfv. lo. — 13, h Deut. xxiii. 7. i Lev. xix. 34. ys THE NATIONS OF CANAAN. 183 obey, under peril of being given up of God to fuch judgments as were brought by their inflru- mentality on the devoted nations. Nor did thefe threatenings fall to the ground. Saul's cruelty to the Gibeonites, after they had been received into a ftate of friendfliip with Ifrael, was feverely pu- nifhed, both on the nation, and on his own fa- mily. ' One, who has lately profelTed to elucidate the Holy Scriptures, by a new Tranllation, has avow- ed that the only folution that can be given of the difficulty arifing from the command to extermi- nate the Canaanites, is " to acknowledge, fairly " and openly, that the Jewifh hillorians, botl^ " here and in many other places, put in the *' mouth of the Lord words, which he never " fpake ; and affign to him views and motives, " which he never had." This is indeed to cut the Gordian knot ; and, although he pretends the contrary, to unhinge the whole fyftem of infpiration. The objedtion, for removing which he reckons it neceflary to make fo llrange a conceffion, is founded on a fuppofed inconfiftency in the divine Gondudt, according to the account given in facred hiftory. " The affertion," he fays,. *' that God, " after giving fo explicit a precept, and ordering *' theChanaanitestobe extirpated, that they might ** not become a fnare to his people, fhould yet pur- " pofely referve fo great a number of thofe fame " Chanaanites, to be a fnare, feems to affedt both M 4 <* his 184 ON THE DESTRUCTION OF " his wifdom and veracity. — If I be commanded ** to deftroy or remove the caufe of temptation, " left I Ihould yield to it ; and at the fame time " be told that I can neither remove nor deftroy " it ; nay, that it is purpofely left to tempt me ; I " muft doubt of the equity or the truth of the " tale. — Could the God of truth and wifdom fay " to the Ifraelites : " Deftroy thofe idolatrous na- " tions, left they feduce you into idolatry ;" and " yet purpofely referve them, to try whether the ** Ifraelites would be feduced." — " I cannot bring ♦' myfelf," he alfo fays, *' to believe that fuch an " order proceeded from the mouth of God ; per- " haps not even from the mouth of Mofes. I am '' rather willing to fufped, that it is the fabrica- " tion of fome pofterior Jew, to juftify the cruel- " ties of his nation '^." It is evident that this objedion efpecially refts on a fallacy in the interpretation of the word Jnare* This learned writer ufes it, as if it inva- riably fignified a temptation to fin, or caufe of temptation. It would, indeed, be difficult to prove, that it is inconfiftent with the perfedions of God, judicially to leave fome things in the way of finners, which, he knows will, through their own depravity, prove occafions of tempta- tion. This is what he threatens, as the punifli- ment of previous tranfgreflion. But although, as has been feen, the word fnare fometimes denotes that which proves a temptation, it properly and principally fignifies the caufe of deftruclion \ and in k Gcddes's Tranfl. of the Bible, Vol, II. Pref. ii. THE NATIONS' OF CANAAN. I85 in all the places where it is ufed in relation to the point under confideration, it has either an imme- diate or an ultimate reference to the punifhment of fin. The punifhment, as denoted by this word, is fometimes exprefsly diftinguifhed from the lin : " They fhall not dwell in thy land, left they make. " thee lin againft me : for if thou ferve other " gods, it will furely be a fnare unto thee i." Here the lin, and the fnare, are mentioned diftin6tly ; the latter, as denoting the punifhment, and the former, its procuring caufe. For it is undeniable, that the lin meant is that of ** ferving their gods ;" and this lin, it is faid, " will furely be a fnare," becaufe it would certainly expofe them to pu- nifhment. To the fame purpofe, are the follow- ing words : " Thine eye fhall have no pity upon " them : neither fhalt thou ferve their gods ; for *' that will be a fnare unto thee '"." It is not meant that the fervice of their gods could be a ** caufe of temptation ;" becaufe this is pointed out as itfelf the lin, or compliance with the tempta- tion, and fo the caufe of punifhment. In the fame fenfe the Egyptians faid that Mofes was a fnare to them ; as being the caufe of their deftru6tion ". Here, alfo, a falfe reprefentation is given of the matter of faEl, God did not command the If- raelites to deftroy or remove the caufe of temp- tation, left they fliould yield to it ; and at the fame time tell them, that they could neither re- move nor deftroy it, but that it was purpofely left to 1 Exod. xxiii. 33. \ja. Deut. vii. 16. n Exod. x. 7. See alfo t Sam. xviii, %t. 1 86 ON THE DESTRUCTION OF to tempt them. The objedor, whether inten- tionally or not, I will not prefume to fay, con- founds things with refpedl to time, which are kept totally diftincl in the thread of the narrative. The Ifraelites were not informed, that the Canaan- ites were to be left for their puniftiment, till more than fixty years after they received the command to deflroy them. There is nothing here that can in any degree militate againft the veracity of God. The pre- cept was delivered, on their entry into the wil- dernefs, as pointing out their duty ; the decla- ration referred to was made, many years after- wards, as expreffing God's difpleafure with them, becaufe of their neglecl of duty, and the punilh- ment to which, on this account, they were to be fubjedled. Nor was it inconiiftent with the veracity of God, to give an exprefs command to his people, with refped to what they fhould do, and even at the fame time to purpofe in his own mind, that the event fhould be different. For the fecret pur- pofe of God was never intended as the rule of our duty. This is the very dodrine that Mofes taught the Ifraelites, with refpedt to a limilar judgment, that might afterwards be inflided on them, in their being " rooted out of the land," like the nations that were before them. *' The ** fecret things belong unto the Lord our God : *' but thofe things which are revealed belong un- " to us, and to our children for ever, that we may " do THE NATIONS OF CANAAN. I87 ** do all the words of this law "." The will of God's purpofe is often very different from that of his precept, which is the only rule of our duty. It was the will of God's precept, inculca- ted on the Ifraelites for many centuries, and re- peated in a great variety of forms, and by many meffengers, that when the Melliah fhould appear, they fhould hear him in all things. This was enjoined on them under the fevereft penalties. Yet we are equally certain, that it was the will of his purpofe, that they Ihould crucify him. There- fore faid the apollle Peter ; " Him being deliver- ** ed by the determinate counfel and foreknowledge " of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands " have crucified and flain"." Although fie adtually referved thefe nations for the punifhment of his people, there was nothing in this inconfiftent with his veracity. On the contrary, in this very manner was his veracity difplayed. Whatever may be thought by felfifn man, who views the divine condudl merely as it regards the creature ; God finds his honour no lefs concerned in verifying his threatening, than in fulfilling his proraife. When he commanded the Ifraelites to exterminate the Canaanites, he did not tell them, indeed, that he had immutably purpofed that this fhould not be the cafe. But he at the fame time warned them of the danger of difobedience. He faid ; " Take heed to thyfelf, " left thou make a covenant with the inhabitants " of the land, — left it be for a fnare in the midft "of n Deut. xxix. 28, 29. o Afls ii. 13. l88 ON THE DESTRUCTION Ol* " of thee P." He exprefsly threatened, that this fhoiild eventually be a fnare, as fubjeding them to the deferved punifhment ; as in a paflage for- merly quoted, " It will furely be a fnare unto "^ thee '3." When, therefore, he afterwards fpa- red thefe nations, it was an illuftration of his ve- racity, in the fulfilment of the threatening. The whole condu6t afcribed to God in this matter, was not lefs conliftent with divine wif- dom. His judgments are fo myfterious, that we cannot pretend fully to explain them. But fo much is clearly made known, that Wifdom mull be " juftified of all her children." God had in- deed determined, that thefe nations Ihould not be totally exterminated, even before he gave the command to Ifrael to execute his vengeance. But he had determined this, only in a certain con- nexion •, as what fliould eventually prove the juft punifhment of Ifrael's difobedience. It is one of the modes adopted by infinite wifdom, in the ordinary courfe of providential difpenfation, to make the punifhment of the finner to arife from his fin, or from that which hath been the occafion of it. Thus it is faid ; " Thine own wickednefs *' fhall corred thee, and thy backflidings fhall re- " prove thee ^" We cannot conceive that fin could be punifhed in any way, more to the ho- nour of divine wifdom. For as, in this manner, God manifefts that, notwithllanding the atheifti- cal fuggefl:ions of the heart, he marks the fin ; he no p Exod. xxxiv. 12. q Exod. xxiii. 33. r Jer. ii. 19. THE NATIONS OF CANAAN. 1 89 no lefs clearly fhews the defign of the judgment inflidted. Referring to what has been replied to this ob- jection, that it was becaufe of breach of covenant that God would not henceforth drive out the na- tions from before the Ifraelites, this author fur- ther fays ; " The precept, it is confeiTed, was po- " iitive and abfolute ; but the promife of power " to fulfil it, was limited and conditional. It was ** not until after the Ifraelites had forfaken the ** Lord, and worlhipped other gods, that the Lord " would no more enable them to expel the Cha- " naanites. — That is to fay, the Lord would not *' enable them to remove, or break the fnare, un- " til after they had fallen into it ; and when they " have fallen into it, he reproaches them for the " non-execution of his precept : and fays, the fnare " Ihall remain to prove them -." The inference which this writer attempts to deduce, that *' the Lord would not enable them *^ to remove, or break the fnare, until after they " had fallen into it," as it is evidently meant to exhibit the fcriptural hiftory in a ridiculous light, is entirely fophiftical. The author throws dark- nefs on the pafTage, which may thus tend to be- wilder the reader, by the infertion of the particle unti/. He alfo recurs to his fallacy in the ufe of the term Jnare, employing it throughout the fen- tence, as if it mull neceffarily bear the fame mean- ing ; whereas the fnare into which " they had f* fallen," had a relation to fm, and that which was y Geddes's Trtufl. Pref, p. ni. 19^ ON THE DESTRUCTION OF was not to be broken, to punifhment. The infe- rence, indeed, is altogether falfe. For the Lord did Hill " enable them to break the fnare, until *' they fell iato it ;" that is, he gave them fuccefs againfl; the Canaanites, until they wilfully dif- obeyed his commandment, and apoflatized to their idolatrous courfes. Then, indeed, he would no longer " enable them to remove or break the " fnare," becaufe by their fm they had brought this fnare upon them, in refpeft of judgment. This, then, is the only conclulion that can fairly be deduced from the premifes : — God would not remove the punifliment, after they had fallen in- to that lin, with which it was infeparably con- nected, according to the threatening. God had promifed to Mofes, with refpedt to thofe nations ; " No man fhall be able to ftand *' before thee, until thou haft deftroyed them ^" But, according to the Sacred Hiftory, no breach of promife is afcribed to God. For this objedor himfelf acknowledges, that " the promife of " power — was limited and conditional." The ac- complilluTient of it depended on their adherence to the worfhip of Jehovah. This writer adds a queflion, for confirm- ing his objeclion : " Why was it," that is, the fnare, " not completely removed in the days *' of Jofliua, and of his contemporary elders^^ *^ during a period of twenty-five years, when " the people had not abandoned the worfhip " of the Lord ^ ?" It might be a fufficient anfwer to this cavil, to fay, that although God had s Deut. vii. 14. t CeJcks's Tranfl. Pref. p. iii. THE NATIONS OF CANAAN. I9I had feen meet to make trial of their fidelity to him, for the fpace of twenty-five years, before he gave them full pofleffion of the land of pro- mife, no one could juftly have faid that the trial was either long or fevere ; efpecially as he had fo recently attefted the religion given them, by the molt ailonifhing miracles, continued for a longer time than this, and wrought at the expence, not merely of the nations that oppofed them, but alfo of their gods. But, according to the narrative, no room is left for this queftion. Although God had promifed to call out the nations, if his people adhered to him, he had never pledged himfelf to do it all at once. It was his will to call them to the exercife both of faith and patience ; and in this refpedl, his condud was alfo marked with mercy. To Mofes he had faid, " I will not drive them out before " thee in one year, left the land become defolate, ** and the beaft of the field multiply againft thee. *^ By little and little I will drive them out before " thee, until thou be increafed, and inherit the « land "." I fhall only add, that, according to this writer, there is reafon to fufpedl, that what is called the command of God to ei^j^terminate the Canaanites, " is the fabrication of fome poftcrior Jew, to juf- *' tify the cruelties of his nation." But let the Gibeonites reply to this objedlion. If the Ifrael- ites were fo cruel, why did they fpare that people more than the reft ? Did they in this inftance de- viate ;; Exod. xsiii, jp, 30. See alfo Deut. v:i. «i. 192 ON THE DESTRUCTION OF viate from their fanguinary courfe, becaufe the Gibeonites pradifed on them a grofs impofition, not attributed to any of their neighbours ? Or, did they fpare them for Haves ? If fo, how were they fatisfied with fo few ? Why did they pre- fer them collecftively to any individuals of the other nations ? It is impoifible, indeed, to find any good reafon for the prefervation of this peo- ple ; unlefs we admit, according to the fcriptural narrative, that the execution of the precept was fufpended in this fingle inflance, in confideration of the oath taken, in the name of Jehovah, by Jofhua and the princes of Ifrael ^ Did the hiftorian inform us that the Ifraelites were eager to enter on the pofTeflion of Canaan, and to deftroy all the nations faid to be devoted ; did he inform us, that they actually did fo, being more afraid of having fuch dangerous neighbours than of meeting them at once in battle ; we might difcern fome reafon for fuppofing that he had re- courfe to a pretended mandate from heaven for excufing their feverity. But we ape told, on the contrary, that they were very reludant to enter into Canaan ; that their leaders eagerly fwallow- ed an impofture which prevented the execution of the fentence on one body of people ; nay, that the Ifraelites in general did not obey the com- mand of God in deftroying thefe nations, although their difobedience deprived them of the pofTeflion of their lands, and expofed them to many dan- gers. We accordingly find the guilt of this dif- obedience V Jofli. ix. 15.— 2C. THE NATIONS OF CANAAN. I93 obedience often charged upon them by God, and confeffed by themfelves in fucceeding genera- tions ^^ . Had we been informed that the Gibeonites im- pofed on Jofliua and the princes, and that they or the people difregarded the oath as contrary to an exprefs command, and gave up the Gibeonites to the fword ; it might have been argued with fome degree of plaufibility, that this command was a mere pretence for the indulgence of itheir fangui- nary difpolitions. But when we learn that Jofliua and the princes coniidercd their oath as fufpend- ing the execution of the commanded dellrudion, and that the congregation fubmitted to this ; we fee no ground for the charge of cruelty ; we per- ceive the greatefl reafon for crediting the hiftory in all its circumftances. They difcover that dread of a folemn oath which charad:erizes all confcien- tious perfons ; and will rather difpenfe with a pofitive precept than with a moral one ; being more afraid of divine wrath on account of per- jury, than of the confequences threatened in cafe of their not obeying the command to dcftroy the Canaanites '^. The hiftory of the deftruclion of thefe nations, was *' written for our admonition." It exhibits the juftice, the fovereignty, and the wifdom of God, in a very ftriking light. It in a fpecial man- ner points out to us the hatefulnefs of iin to a God of infinite purity ; and teaches us that we ought to hate it *' with a perfedl hatred 1" Were God's Vol. II. N ancient v/ Pfal. cvi. 34, &c. x Jnfl». is- \o. 194 ON THE DESTRUCTION OF ancient people typical of his fpiritual Ifrael ? Their enemies were alfo figures of ours. God hath fet before us all the good of the land of pro- mife. He calls us to go up and inherit it. But he alTures us at the fame time, 'that we mult fight our way through an hoft of powerful enemies. Our lulls, like the nations of Canaan, feek to keep us from that inheritance which the Lord hath given us. But he commands us to defiroy them utterly, to make no covenant with them, to have no mercy upon them ; aflliring us that if we fpare them, they will prove a fnare to us, and lead us allray to ferve their gods. What are the gods which thefe Canaanites ferve ? They ferve Mam- mon, *' this prefent evil world ;" Afhtaroth, the goddefs of Pleafure ; Satan, ** the god of this " world." What is our conduct ? Like the If- raclites, we obey the command of our God only in a partial way. He enjoins us to " crucify the " flefli, with its aftedtions and lults, that the body ^* of fin may be deltroyed, that henceforth we *' m.ay not ferve fin." He gives us Jefus as " the " Captain of our falvation," and promifes Itrength for fighting his battles. But we make little pro- grefs in this war. We often make a truce with our fpiritual enemies. This is our folly and guilt. But God, in his infinite wifdom and holinefs, over- rules our condud: for his own glory and our good. He leaves a remnant of the devoted nations to prove us. He " flays them not" entirely, " left '• his people fliould forget." He " deftroys them *' by little and little." At length, '' there fiiall * ■ " be THE NATIONS OF CANAAN. ip^ '' be no more the Canaanite in the houfe of th'." Does he, who bears the name of Chriflian, refufe to join in the afcription ? Let him go and learn the truth from a heathen. Let him liften to the inftrudions of the wifer Ne- buchadnezzar : " All the inhabitants of the earth " are reputed as nothing : and he doth according " to his will in the army of heaven, and among '* the inhabitants of the earth : and none can Hay " his hand, or fay unto him. What dofl thou ^ ?" As the corruptions of men are moil deeply en- gaged againll the work of redemption, the great- eft oppofition to divine 10 vereignty appears in this quarter. Here it more direfily oppofes the pride of reafon, and the pride of will. Befides, the ene- mies cf t'i- go pel efpecially aim their fhafts ag inft divine fovereignty, as difplayed in our fal- vaiion. Hence are men ftaggered and overpower- ed j y Pfal. esxxv. 6, ? "Dan. iv. 35. ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTV. igj ed ; and perhaps proceed to deny that very per* fedlion, the operation of which they are forced to acknowledge in almoft every other of the works of God. It may, therefore, tend to throw light on this important fubjed, to confider the difplay which is made of the fovereignty of God in other works, befides that of falvation, and in a variety of cir- ciimjlances, evidently recorded in Scripture in fub- ferviency to this. A particular illuftration of this perfe6tion is the more neceffary, bccaufe, unlefs we have jull ideas of it, we cannot think jullly with refpeft to any other perfedion of God. How eager have earth- ly princes been to render themfelves abfolute ! The richnefs of their revenues, the love of their fubjedls, or the extent of their conquefts, have often been viewed as no counterbalance to the want of unlimited authority. Ahab was miferable, be- caufe he met with refiftance from the pofleffor of one poor vineyard : and Jezebel, his wife, feemed to think, that his royalty did not deferve the name, if he could not gratify himfelf in this inltance. *• Doft thou now," fne fays, *' govern the kingdom " of Ifrael ^ p" Has not many a prince cheerfully hazarded his crown for the mere poffibility of en- joying abfolute fway ? This is the groliefl arro- gance in man, who is a worm. But fovereign authority is elTential to the majefty of God. His will is not influenced by any caufe without him- felf. But we are by no means to form our judgment N3 of a I Kings xxi. 7. 198 ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. of divine fovereignty, by comparing it with the arbitrary will of a linful creature. For God ne- ver exercifes his fovereignty without a proper end. He is entirely fovereign in the difplay of his per- fedlions, and in the manner and degree in which he difplays them. But his fovereignty is con- ftantly exercifed according to the rule of his per- fections. It is always in entire conliftency with his holinefs and juftice, wifdom and goodnefs. While fovereignty is Itill regulated by thefe per- fections, it lends them a peculiar luftre. It is the royal fplendour of all the other attributes of God. Suppofe him to be poffelTed of all pofiible perfec- tions, and yet to act neceflarily in the difplay of thefe ; it would greatly derogate from their glory. We could not, indeed, acknowledge him as the Supreme Being. By this, more than by any of his moral perfections, he is diftinguifhed from every creature, even the moft exalted. To " do *' his pleafure," is the higheft honour to which any creature is advanced ^. But the Almighty difplays his felf-exiftence and independence, by Hill doing what pleafes himfelf. When, therefore, the Church teitifies her affurance, ** that the Lord is great^ " and that our Lord is above all gods ;" this is the evidence that fhe immediately produces, He "^ hath done whatfoever he pleafed '^." I. The work of Creation, in various refpeCts, unfolds this attribute. He, who is Being itfelf, was under no necellity of nature to communicate being to any other. He is equally independent of b Pfal. ciri. 21. c Pfal. cxxxv. 5, 6, ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. Ipp of all creatures for his blelTednefs, as for his be- ing. The poffeflion of thoufands of worlds cannot in the leaft enrich him. The praifes of myriads of men or angels can make no addition to his felici- ty. Why, then, did he create the iiniverfe ? Jull becaufe he pleafed. The fovereignty of his plea- fure, as difplayed in the work of creation, is in- feparably connected with the work itfelf, as an equally cogent reafon for the highefl praife. " Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and '' honour, and power : for thou hail created all " things, and /or thy pleafure they are, and were " created^." He did not create, without an end worthy of himfelf. He propofed the manifefla- tion of his infinite wifdom, power and goodnefs. On the fuppofition of his engaging in this work, he could have no other end in view. But ilill his creating, with this very defign, was the refult of a fovereign ad; of his will. For he did not Hand in need of any external manifeftation of his perfec- tions ; his blelTednefs confifting in the eternal con- templation of thefe, in his own infinite mind. Is it inquired, why God did not begin to create, till within lefs than fix thoufand years back from the prefent time, when it was in his power to have given a far earlier difplay of his perfedions ? Or why, when he had exiiled from eternity alone, he in time gave being to creatures formed for fel- lowfliip with him ? It may indeed be faid, that iio finite nature can exifl from eternity ; and that, although the moft remote period, which the mind N4 of d Rev. iv; 11. 200 ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. of man can conceive, had been fixed on by God as the date of creation, it w^ould not have approach- ed nearer to eternity than did the adlual era of creation. But ftill the principal folution is, that tliis was the divine pleafure. Is it aiked, Why did he extend or confine his work to fix days ? Why hath he formed fuch a certain number of creatures, and neither more nor fewer ? Why hath he given being to many, for which we can difcern no ufe ? to many, the exillence of which has moft probably never been learned, that are hid in the abyfles of the fea, and therefore cannot be the means of difplaying his perfections ? To thefe qUeftions, and to others in- numerable which might be propofed, Ave mud ftill give the fame anfwer, '" The Lord hath done *' A'^hatfoever he pleafed, — in the feas, and in all '* deep places." Man and beaft, as to the bodily part, acknow- ledge the fame humble origin. *' God faid, Let " the earth bring forth the living creature after " his kind, cattle and creeping thing, and beaft of ** the earth after his kind. — And the Lord God " formed man of the duft of the ground"." That fame duft of which God formed man, and which he animated with a rational and immortal fpirit, conformed to his own image, might, with equal propriety, had he fo pleafed, gone to the forma- tion of the vileft reptile that crawls on the earth ; and the duft of which that reptile is compofed, might have conftituted the corporeal part of man. Bur e Gen. i, 24. ; ii. *j. ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. 201 But in this reiped the Ahnighty Potter hath raa- nifefted his " power over the clay, of the fame " kirap to make one velTel unto honour, and an- " other unto difhonourf." And fliall we dare to allign limits to his fovereigntj ? Shall we fay to this glorious agent, " Hitherto fhalt thou come^ " and no further ?" Shall we admit his fovereignty in the old creation, and refufe it in the new? Shall we acknowledge his right to do with that, which was negatively innocent, as he pleafed ; and deny him the fame right as to that which had ac- tually olTendcd him ? When the whole lump of our nature is corrupted by lin, fhall weprefume to fay to him ; *' Thou mayell not do according to thy " pleafure ; but mufl: be determined by the will •' of the clay ?" Shall we not rather adopt the acknowledgment of the Church ? ** Now, O Lord, " thou art our father : we are the clay, and thou " our Potter, and we all are the work of thy " hand s." If we refufe this fubmiffion, we may be alTured that he Ihall ** dafh us in pieces as a " potter's veffel." For '' wo unto him that ftri- " veth with his Maker : let the potftierd llrive with " the potfherds of the earth : fhall the clay fay to *' him that fafhioneth it, What makeft thou ? or *' thy work, He hath no hands ? Wo unto him that " faith unto his father. What begetteft thou ? or *' to the woman, What hail thou brought forth ^ ?'* Would fuch queftions, if addrelTed to our earthly parents, argue the moil daring impiety ? What terms fhall we find for exjpreiiing their wicked- nefs, ' f Rom. ix. ai. g If?.. Jiiv. B. h Chap. xlv. 9. lo. 2C2 ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. nels, when diredtcd to the Almighty Parent him- felf ? Of what account is the clay to the potter ? If '' the veffel, that he made of it, be marred in " his hand, he makes it again another veffel, as '■^ Je ems good to the potter to make it." Thus doth the Lord addrefs us : " O houfe of IfraeL " cannot I do with you as this potter ? Behold, *' as the clay is in the potter's hand, fo arc ye in " mine hand, O houfe of Ifrael^." Man is a very important being in his own eye. But doth this increafe his confequence Vv'ith his Maker? On the contrary, " all the inhabitants of the earth are " reputed as.nothing ■^." " Behold, the nations are " as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the " fmall dull of the balance : behold, he taketh " lip the ifles as a very little thing. — All nations ** before him are as nothing, and they are counted ** to him lefs than nothing, and vanity'." 2. This perfection is very apparent in the whole management of the world of nature. Often indeed does God employ the elements as the in- Itruments of his jullice. But in his ordinary ad- miniftration, they are to be viewed as the moni- tors of his fovereignty. " Fire, hail, fnow, va- " pour, ftormy wind, fulfil his word "\" He not only, for judgment, " caufeth it to rain on one " city, and not on another " •" but, becaufe it is his pleafure, he caufeth " it to rain on the earth *' where no man is, on the wildernefs wherein ** there is no man "." " He fendeth forth his com- " mandment i Jer. xviii. 4. — G. k I^an. iv. 35. 1 Ifa. xl. 15. — 17. m PW. Gxlviii. S. n Amos Iv. 7. o Job xxxviii. %^ ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. *10^ *' mandment upon earth ; his word runneth very ♦' fwiftly. He giveth fnow like wool ; he fcat- ** tereth the hoar-froft like aflies. He. cafteth ** forth his ice like mprfels ; who can ftand be- " fore his cold ? He fendcth out bis word, and " melteth them : he caufeth his wind to blow, " and the waters flow." All thefe are effecSts of his fovereignty in the natural kingdom ; and his condud: in the world of grace is Itridly analo- gous. For it immediately follows ; " He fliew- " eth his word unto Jacob, his ftatutes and his ''judgments unto Ifrael. He hath not dealt fo ** with any nation : and as for his judgments, *' they have not known them i'." 3. God hath difplayed his fovereignty in con- fecrating the feventb part of our time to his fer- vice. The worfliip of rational creatures is found- ed on the nature of God. But the limitation of the time, to be devoted to his fervice, depends upon his will. He might have reltricled the la- bour of man to five days, or extended it to feven. He might have claimed fix parts of our time, and allowed us only the fev^nth to ourfelves. In this cafe, we could have had no right to complain ; for he would have ordered matters fo, that, what part of our time foever was devoted to work, would have been fufficient for our fuftenance. The reafon afligned for the confecration of a feventh portion of our time, is God's working fix days, and refting on the feventh". But this is only to be viewed as the immediate reafon. As hi^ p Pfal. cxlvii. 15. — ;.o. q Gen. ii. a, ^^. 204 0^ DIVINE SOVEREIGNXy. « his working exac^lly fix days depended on his fo* vereign pleafure ; to the fame fource mufl the fandtification of a feventh part of our time be ul- timately traced. For he previoully determined, in the immutable counfel of his will, to work only fix days, to reft on the feventh, and there- fore to appropriate this portion of time to his worfiiip. 4. God hath fignally difplayed his fovereignty in permitting the entrance of fin. It would be every way unvrorthy of God, to fuppofe that he could not have prevented this. He, who formed intelligent creatures after his own image, could as eafily have fecured them in the poflTeflion of this ftate of integrity, without a poflibility of fall- ing. Had he pleafed, fin would have been un- known both to angels and to men. We may be af- fured, therefore, that he had a proper end in view in determining the permiflion of this greatefl: of evils. Reafon itfelf teaches us, that whatever ■ is permitted by the moral Governor of the world mufl: be for the beft. Scripture confirms its voice, by informing us that God maketh " the very wrath " of man to praife him." yV^e may therefore reft fatisfied, that, in his infinite wifdom, he faw that he could bring greater glory to himfelf even by means of fin, than if it had never been permitted. He knew that there would be an opportunity for the difplay of perfections, which otherwife, al- though revealed, could never have been exerci- fed ; — for the difplay of juftice in the punifiiment of fin, or of mercy in the pardon of it, or of both with ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. 205 with refpe6l to different objects. But his know- ledge of the poflibility of this, laid him under no neceffity as to the event. Was it an adt of his fovereign will to manifell his perfedtions at all ? It was no lefs a fovereign a6l to determine that they fliould be difplayed in this particular way, as the confequence of the entrance of fin. Had he feen meet to reftridt himfelf to that difplay of his perfedions which was confiftent with a ftate of univerfal innocency, no one could have had a right to find fault. Although millions of intelli- gent creatures fuffer, in confequence of his permit- ting the entrance of fin, no one may dare to com- plain. For, ** who hath enjoined him his way ? '* or who can fay, Thou haft wrought iniquity '." Again, the meafure of this evil is entirely the refult of his fovereign pleafure. He might have fuffered fin to enter among angels, and prevented its introduction into our lower world. Or he might have permitted this rebellion on his foot- ftool, and prevented the poflibility of its raifing its head around his throne. It might have been fo ordered, that only -a part of the human race lliould have been involyed in rebellion ; while the integrity of others might have been fecured, like that of holy angels. Nay, he might have fuf- fered the evil to extend as far in heaven as it hath done on earth, and given it that reftraint on earth which it hath had in heaven. Various conjectures may be offered as to the reafons of the divine condudt in thefe refpeCts j and various reflections may ' I Job xxxvi. 13. 206 ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. may be made, illuflrating its infinite propriety. But all thefe things miift be ultimately refolved into the pleafure of Him who " vvorketh all things " after the counfel of his own will '^." We may add, that one great end for which God hath permitted the entrance of this greateft of evils, is deeply to imprefs rational creatures with a fenfe of this adorable perfection. It might have been manifefted in a variety of inftances, although fm had never entered. It was, as has been feen, a(5tually manifefted before the entrance of fin. But, had not the eternal intercfts of intelligent crea- tures immediately depended on the exercife of this perfeftion, it could never have appeared with fuch glory and majefty. 5." The fbvereignty of God eminently appears infufpending the whole happinefs of mankind on the cotiducl of 07ie perfon. This perfeftion, indeed, is not the only one that may be traced in the fe- deral character given to our common parent. If we take a juft view of it, we fhall perceive a fttiking difplay of divine grace. The carnal heart, which ftill refleds on the ways of God, may be apt to accufe his juftice^ and to inlinuate, that matters had been fet on a better footing for the human race, if the happinefs or mifbry of every individual had depended on his own conduft ; that, in this cafe, although many, *^ like Adam," might " have tranfgrefled the covejiant/' it i^ improbable that all M-ould have done fo ; that, at. any rate, the fall, and the confequent mifej-y of fome, 5 Eph. i. II, ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. lOj feme, would have deterred others from following their example. But every one knows, that there is no tie which more powerfully reitrains man than a regard to his offspring ; that this will in- fluence, when every other coniideration is inef- fedual. And furely, there never was a parent who felt the force of this obligation fo powerful- ly as Adam. He felt it in all its fmlefs purity, and in all its pollible extent. His individual in- tersft was not merely at Hake. He faw countr- lefs millions of his pofterity looking up to him a* the trullee of their happinefs, or as the caufe of their mifery, not for time only, but for eternity. He knew that every one of thefe, in their fuccef- five generations, would either rife up and call him bleffed, or accufe him as the murderer of his oft'spring. But although we have abundant reafon to ad- Oiire the grace of God in this tranfatftion, it alfo bears a ftriking imprefs of fovereignty. It flow- ed from the nature of God, that, when he formed a rational creature, he Ihould give him a law. But his entering into covenant with man was the refult of his plcafure. He might have made $ covenant with Adam, without the idea of repre- fentation ; or he might have extended it to all, fp that the condition fliould have refpeded every one in an individual capacity. He doth not aflc the confent of all whom this covenant concerns. As the Lord of all, he fubjecls them to it jn their common parent. He doth not even require thp iormal confent of the c<)mmon reprefentative. As 208 ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. a fovereign, he promulgates the covenant in the form of a command : " The Lord God command" " ed the man ^" He denies liberty to his crea- tm'e to difpute his authority. He knew that an innocent creature could not do fo. The time, li- mited for probation, depended alfo entirely on his will. He might either make this known to Adam, or conceal it from him, as he pleafed. 6. He fignally difplayed his fovereignty in im- mediately fufpending the happinefs of man on obedience to Vi pojitive precept. *' The Lord God ** commanded the man, faying, Of every tree of " the garden thou mayeft freely eat ; but of the ** tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou " flialt not eat of it ; for in the day that thou " eateft thereof, thou fhalt furely die".'* Had man tranfgreffed any precept of the moral law, his fall would have been no lefs certain. But why make a regard to this politive injundtion the turning hinge of his obedience ? Why not rather reft it on a moral precept, tie reafonablenefs of which would have been more evident to man, as flowing from the nature of his Creator ; while the idea of difobedience might have affected his mind with greater horror ? Here God manifefted his abfolute authority. Had he fixed on a moral, rather than on a pofitive precept, the reafonable- nefs of the thing itfelf might have feemed to be the origin of the obligation. But God would teach his creature, that his will was the formal reafon of obedience ; and that man was equally bound to t Gen. ii, i6. u Gen. ii. i6, 17, ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. 2C^ to obey, where he faw no abflradl reafon for the duty, as where he did. Whence we mayobferve by the way, that moral obligation is not founded on what fome call " the fitnefs of things," but on the will of the Supreme Lawgiver ; and that this can be known to us only in confequence of his being pleafed to reveal it. God makes man lord of the lower creation. But he mufl know, that his dominion is limited, and that abfolute fove- reignty is the prerogative of his Maker alone. He gives him power over all things in this world, but one. A fingle tree Ihows the limitation of his authority. The more paltry the objed, the more ftriking the difplay of divine dominion. This is a tree, not without Eden, or in an obfcure corner of it, but " in the midil of the garden." It muft be Hill in his eye, or in his way, while he is en- gaged about his work ; that it may ftill remind him of the fovereignty of God, and of his own de-» pendence. The authority of the Lawgiver muft be no lefs the reafon of his faith, than of his obe- dience. Nothing in the appearance of the tree could indicate that fatal tendency afcribed to it ; but every thing quite the contrary. For" it was " good for food, and pleafant to the eyes *." Yet man is bound to believe that the tafte of this tree is mortal, becaufe God hath faid it. He muft ra- ther difcredit the evidence of his own fenfes, than that of Gad. His underftanding muft refufe to hear their teftimony, however plaufible, in con* tradidlion to the divine. Vol. H. O 7. The V Gen. iii. 6. 2IO ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. 7. The divine condud: with refpedl to angels contains a ftriking difplay of fovereignty. God, in his eternal purpoie, chofe fome angels, and re- jefted others. We accordingly read of eled an- gels. Thus Paul addreffes Timothy ; *' I charge " thee before God, and the Lord Jefus Chrifl, and ** the eleft angels ••'." On them he determined to confer an eternity of holinefs and felicity ; while he decreed to permit the fall of myriads of others, and to leave them in their ftate of guilt and mifery. Thefe, whom he fuffered to fall, and whom he call off for ever, were by nature as pure and perfed: as thofe who " kept their firft eftate." Hence it is evident, that they were chofen, not becaufe of any fuperior excellency, but merely from diftinguilhing love. Their Handing, while others fell, muft be ultimately refolved into the purpofe of God, pre-ordaining that they fhould •ftand. For nothing takes place in time, but in confequence of an unalterable decree from eter- nity. It pleafcd God to difplay the fovereignty of his will, not merely with refpedt to his creatures as fallen, but with refped to them as innocent. He willed to fhow, not only that, as tranfgreflbrs, they could not make themfelves to ^differ ; but that, as linlefs creatures, their Handing primarily depended on an ad: of his fovereign pleafure. We are bound, indeed, to believe, that both thofe an- gels who apoftatized, and man, had abltradedly a fufficiency of grace for obedience, if they inclined to w I Tim. V. 21. ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. 211 to exercife it. Bat they could not continue in the proper exercife of their freedom of will, unlefs God willed that they fhould do fo. For " in him " we are moved \" As the creature cannot re- liil the divine will, as little can he eft'ecflually will any thing, unlefs it be the pleafure of God that the event fhall certainly take place. It therefore appears, thar. God abfolutely de- creed the permiffion of fin, in order to illuftrate the glory of his own fovereignty and independ- ence, as contrafted with the mere dependence of his moft exalted creatures ; to flicw that, in their moft perfed: ftate, they are indebted to him, not only for their faculties, but for the proper exer- cife of them in every inftance ; and that even when they have happinefs in their own hands, they cannot keep it, except the Supreme Lord efficacioufly will that this fhall be the cafe. He fuffered his moll holy creatures to manifefl their comparative imperfedlion, for the illuflration of his own abfolute and immutable perfection. " Be- " hold, he put no truft in his fervants, and his an- " gels he charged with folly ." Thus he makes it evident, that the greateft glory of the creature confifts, not in his will being independent of God's, but in its being fo determined and influenced by his, that the creature cannot poflibly choofe what is evil. For furely, an eled: angel, who cannot fin, is in a fliate of higher perfection than one, who, although free from fin, might be a devil the next moment. The creature is never fo like his O 2 ' Maker, X A(£ls xvii. a8. y Job iv. x8. 212 ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. Maker, as when, by a fovereign a£t of the divine will, he is unalterably determined to good. That freedom of will which Adam had, and which many of his falkn race lay claim to, although it may feem more remote from dependence, is nearer to iin. It has the femblance of a greater confor- mity to the fovereignty of God. But it has no- thing more. For the abfolute fovereignty of his will is infeparably conne<5led with the immutabi- lity of his nature. While he does whatfoever he wills, he cannot will to do what is inconfiftent with his infinite holinefs. We may obferve, by the way, the abfurdity of the do'." Even the fons of Jacob were llained by envy, cruelty and perfidy. They hated Jofeph, becaufe their father loved him. They firft confpired againfl his life, and after- wards fold him for a Have. Their cruel and per- fidious condu6l to the Shechemites made Jacob *' to ftink among the inhabitants of the land, a- ** mongft the Canaanites, and the Perizzites ^ ;" the very people whom God, becaufe of their wick- ednefs, was to drive out before Ifrael. We have formerly feen, that in Egypt they polluted them- felves with the idolatry of the inhabitants of that land. Afterwards, as if a mere conformity to their . w Deut. xxxii, 6 28. x Jer. iv. la. y Ibid. z Gen. xxxiv. 27. 2fi' ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. 223 their idolatrous neighbours had been too little, they did worfe than all the nations round about =», " worfe than the heathen whom the Lord had de- " llroyed before them ^." The all-wife God knew their character when he chofe them. None can be fo foolifli as to ima- gine that he hoped they would prove better than they did, that they would be awed by his judg- ments, or mollified by his mercies. He forefaw the whole extent of their wickednefs. Thus, he exprefsly teftifies that he knew what they were, and what they would be. He declares that when he fixed his love on them, he difcerned nothing that could in any refpedl or degree prove a re- commendation. He illuflrates their original litu- ation by a mofl ftriking allufion to a child ex- pofed by its unnatural parent, according to a bar- barous cuftom that greatly prevailed among the heathen. Inftead of wealth or power, he faw no- thing but nakednefs and weaknefs I Inftead of wifdom or mioral beauty, all the ignorance of in« fancy and the grolTell pollution ! " Thou wafb " caft'out in the open field, to the lothing of thy •' perfon, in the day that thou waft born '." He alfo declares his certain foreknowledge of their fu- ture condud : " I knew that thou wouldeft deal ** very treacheroufly, and waft called a tranfgreflfor " from the womb ''." Since fuch was the charader of this people,, why did God choofe them ? The fovereignty of his a Ezek. xvi. 46, 47. b a Chr. xxxiii. 9. c Ezck. xvj. 5. i\ Ifa. xlviii. 8» 1 224 ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY, his own will was the only reafon of his choice. He looked for no moving caufe without himfelf. He took care that they fliould be particularly in- formed of this. Therefore Mofes, having in- formed the Ifraelites, that the Lord did not fet his love upon them, nor choofe them becaufe of their number, fubjoins ; — " But becaufe the Lord " loved you, and becaufe he would keep the oath *' which he had fvvorn unto your fathers ^" The faithfulnefs of God, although here conneded with his fovereignty, is not to be confidered as a rea- fon for his love, but for their enjoyment of the fruits of it, in being " brought out," as it fol- lows, " with a mighty hand, and redeemed out of " the houfe of bondmen." For the operation of the faithfulnefs of God, with refpecl to them, was only the fruit of the eternal purpofe of his love. He had " fworn to their fathers," becaufe he had, in abfolute fovereignty, chofen their feed to be his peculiar people. Mofes elfewhere affures them, that God Hood in no need of them as a people : ** Behold, the heaven, and the heaven of heavens ** is the Lord's thy God, the earth alfo with all ** that therein is. Only the Lord had delight in " thy fathers to love them, and he chofe their *' feed after them, even you above all people, as it ** is this day^." And well might the man of God remind Ifrael of the fovereignty of this choice, when he pleads it with God himfelf, as a inore powerful argument in their behalf, than all their unworthinefs could be againfl them : " Look " not (. Dcut. vii. 7, 8. f Deut. x; 14, 15^ •ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. 22^ '' not unto the Itubbornnefs of this people, nor to *' their wickedncfs, nor to their fin. — Yet thej " arc thy people, and thine inheritance "." Now, as, in the choice of literal Ifrael, God had no refped: to any worth in the objed: of his love, this was 2. figure of the fovereign manner in, which he choofes his true Ifrael. They had no merit, when he feparated them as his peculiar people. Thus they fitly prefigured them, who are called, " not for works of righteoufnefs which " they have done, but of his own mercy." Did he know that the future condud: of his chofen people would be equally undeferving ? In this alfo they exhibited the charader of his fpiritual feed. For when he fixed his love on them, he forefaw all their wanderings and apoftacies, their unbelief and ingratitude. But he " loved them, ** becaufe he loved them." If, without any ob- ftacle on the part of his juftice or goodnefs, he might fingle out one nation to the enjoyment of fpiritual privileges, to the exclufion of every o- ther ; who ivill prefume to fay that it is incon- fiftent with any of thefe perfedions, that he ibould feled certain perfons to the enjoyment of ail the benefit arifing from thefe fpiritual privileges, al- though others be excluded ? Indeed, to Ihew us the great defign of this part of the divine condud, we find this national eledion terviinating in a choice of individuals. When God had ferved his ends, by the eledion of a particular nation, when he was about to abolilli this diflindion, we find Vol. II. P ij ^ Drut. ix. %•], 1^, 226 ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. it running into an eledtion of perfons, to the ex- clulion of the body of that once-favoured nation. Were the carnal Jews ready to objedt, that the Chriflian religion could not be true, becaufe in this cafe God muft have reje6ted his people, and broken his promife ? the apolUe Paul could re- ply ; " They are not all Ifrael, which are of If- *' rael : neither becaufe they are the feed of Abra- " ham, are they all children. — They which are ** the children of the flefh are not the children of " God : but the children of the promife are count- *' ed for the feed." Thus he fhews that it could by no means be faid, that " the word of God had " taken none effeft ;" that his promife to the fa- thers had failed ^. He fhews that the promife, although it literally and primarily refpeded the choice of the nation, as fuch, to diftinguifhing pri- vileges, carried in its womb, nay, ultimately and fpecially refpected a further difplay of divine fo» vereignty, in the choice of individuals of that nation to the eflence of thefe privileges ; that, al- though its outward afpedt feemed confined to If- rael according to the flefh, it was inwardly point- ed to all who fhould be the feed of Abraham by faith, " not of the Jews only, but alfo of the " Gentiles '." He even fhews that all along, un- der the old difpenfation, the national eledion to external privileges, was only a figure of a perfo- nal eledlion to thofe which are inward ; that the former was as it were the covering of the other, the cabinet, however precious in itfelf, that con- tained hRom. ix. 6.— 8i iVer. 24. ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. 227 rained the more precious jewel. He therefore applies the hillory of Elius, as a proof of perfonal and particular eledion '\ The prophet imagined that he was *' left alone" in the fervice of Jeho- vah. " But what faith the anfwer of God unto " him ? I have referved to myfelf. feven thoufand '* men, who have not bowed the knee to Baal." Here we have an eledion of individuals, as diftin- guiflied from the nation in general ; an eledtion of a certain number, " feven thoufand men ;" an eledtion to boliiiefs, for they made no compliances with idolatry ; an eledion q^ grace, and termina- ting in efficacious power ; for God claims the work as wholly his own ; " I have referved :'* and an eledion to the praife of the glory of his grace, as the end ; " I have referved to myfelf^ The apoftle alTertsthat he taught no new dodrine ; that when he affirmed a perfonal eledion, he af- firmed no more than what was taught by God himfelf, and exemplified in the hiftory of Ifrael, in the days of Elias : " Even fo then at this pre- *' fent time aJfo, there is a remnant, according to " the eledion of grace." Thus it is evident, that the national eledion of Ifrael, to external privi- leges, typified, terminated in, nay, all along inclu- ded, an eledion of perfons to that faving grace of which thefe were only the means. 10. There never was, and there never will be, any nation fo peculiarly diftinguifhvd as ancient Ifrael. But the fovereignty uf God ftili appears m that diftindion which he makes among nations P a with \ Rom. xi. 2.-5. 228 ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. with refped to the means of falvation. Hovr many nations are there in the world that never lieard of falvation ? How many, that have been deprived of the gofpel during a long feries of ages ? Who hath made us, in thefe illes of the fea, to differ from others, as to the external pri- vileges of grace ? Are we Britons fo much better than the natives of Hindoftan, that we are favour- ed with the gofpel, while they are buried in the darknefs of heathenifm ? Let the hiftory of our condud in that diftant country, for feveral ages, give an anfwer to the queftion. Why hath God left, the Chinefe, perhaps in other refpeds the wifeft people in the world, in grofs obfcurity, and extended his mercy to us ? Did he expedt that we would be more grateful and obedient to him, or more humane and loving to man, than many other nations whom he hath left in darknefs ? To fay fo, would be to arraign the foreknowledge of God. For there are other nations in the world, that never enjoyed the means of falvation, whofe manners would extort a blulh from the generality of profefTed Chriftians, did they ** not refufe to " be afhamed." We muft either deny divine prefcience altogether, or admit that God fore- knew all this ; foreknew that the greateft part of thofe called Chriftians, would " caufe even his *' name to ftink among the inhabitants" of hea- then countries ; that their ungodly condud would prove the greateft obftacle to the propagation of Chriftianity. Why then did he favour fuch na- tions with the gofpel, and deny it to others ? We muft ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. 2^9. mufl undoubtedly refolve it into the fovereignty of his own will. This choice of nations to exter- nal privileges, is as really an ad: of fovereignty, as the choice of individuals to eternal life ; unlefs it can be proved that the enjoyment of the means is not neceflary to the attainment of the end. Let thofe who think fo anfwer thefe queftions j " How fhall they believe in him of whom they " have not heard ? And how fliall they hear " without a preacher ^ ?" But if it be neceflary to hear of Chrill before men can believe in him, and if " there is not another name under heaven, gi- " ven among men by which we mull be faved ;" furely, God difplays the fovereignty of his will, in giving this revelation to fome, and withhold- ing it from others. This difplay may not at firll flrike the eye fo much as that with refped: to the end. But it is for want of attention. For if men cannot be faved without the gofpel of the grace of God, (and there is not one word in the Bible that gives us reafon to fuppofe the contrary), he a£ls no lefs fovereignly in refufing men the means, than in withholding the end ; becaufe the end cannot be attained without the means. P3 SECT. ) Rooi. X. 14. 2^0 ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTT, SECTION VIII. On Divine Sovereignty in the Divijion of Canaan ; — the Treatment of the Tribes of Jfrael j — the Choice of a Place of Worjhip ; — the Employment of Means and Infiruments of Judgment or Mer- cy ; — the Diflribution of Gifts ; — the Manage- ment of our Lot ; — the Affiiciions of the Children of God ; — with refpeEi to earthly Kingdoms j — ■ in relation to the Church — Severe Judgments injured for the Denial of this Perfection, II. The fovereignty of God is illiiflrated by the manner in which he divided the land of Ca- naan among the tribes of Ifrael. This was by- lot, as it was declared by Mofes '" : *' The land " fhall be divided by lot ; according to the names " of the tribes of their fathers they lliall inherit. ** According to the lot fhall the poflTellions thereof " be divided, between many arid few." While by this ordination God taught his people their de- pendance upon his fovereign pleafure for all tem- poral mercies, it had a further and a fpecial refe- rence to thofe which ■' pertain to life anH godli- ** nefs." No tribe, no family could fay, " We ** have obtained from Jofhua a better inheritance *• than fuch another tribe or family, becaufe we "had IP Num. xxvi. 55; 56. ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. 23I " had a fuperior claim by our fervices." For ** the lot was call into the lap, and the whole dif- " pofal thereof was of the Lord." No one could fay, " I fhall dwell here, becaufe it is my choice." For the choice was wholly God's. In this was prefigured the choice of the fpiritual Ifrael ; which is " not of him that willeth, nor of him " that runneth, but of God that ilieweth mercy." This very language is applied to the feed of the antitypical Jacob. Thus in the forty-feventh Pfalm, which contains a celebration of the afcen- iion of our Lord, of the true Jofhua's entering into his reft, and of the blefled fruits of it in the fubjedlion of the nations to th^ faith, the Church adopts this language, as afcribing all fpiritual bleflings to *' the good pleafure of his will ;" " He fhall choofe our inheritance for us ; the ex- " cellency of Jacob whom he loved ^" Nay, that Eledt in whom the foul of the Father de- lighteth, employs the fame language concerning himfelf, in his public charader. " Thou main- ** taineft my lot '^." He acknowledges that his defignation to the work of redemption, and the confequent reward, were primarily to be afcribed to the fovereign choice of the Father, who " hath *' chofen us in him p." The fame language runs through the whole of the New Teftament. Hath God chofen his peo- ple to a glorious inheritance "i It was not for their forefeen faith, good works, or perfeverance. It is as much of fovereignty as the appointment P4 of n Ver. 5. 9 PfaJ. vn, 5. p Eph. i. 4. 1^2 GN DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY". of the tribes of Ifrael to particular inheritances. The Gentiles ai^e, therefore, faid to " receive an " inheritance," literally, ** a lot among them who ** are fandlified"." We are ** made meet to be ** partakers of the lot of the faints in light p." Here creature-merit is excluded on every fide. For the inheritance is not only called a lot, but ■we are faid to be " made meet for" it, which plainly fhews, that we are naturally unmeet, and cannot qualify ourfelves by any thing that we can do. Not only is the inheritance faid to be given to the people of God by lot : but the ex- preflion is reverfed. They are faid to be chofen to it, in the fame manner. For in Chrift " we *' have obtained an inheritance," or, " we have ** been defigned by lot :" and no wonder fuch language is ufed, as it follows, — " being predef- '* tinated according to the purpofe of him who *' worketh all things after the counfel of his own " will '." The latter language fliows the reafon why the former is ufed. It is faid, that we are defigned by lot ; becaufe our enjoyment of the in- heritance depends wholly on the fovereign plea- fure of God. This mode of expreflion does not denote any thing accidental or contingent with refped: to him ; but that he pays as little regard to merit in the objects of his choice, as if they were chofen by lot ; as little, as a creature would do, who fhould decide with refpect to an earthly in- heritance in this way. We receive the inheritance willingly. But it is God who " worketh in us to " will." 9 Adts XJivi. i8. p CcJ. i. 12. q Epl\. i, 11. ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. 2^^ " will.'* We are eventually qualified for it. But this is only as he " worketh in us to do.'* 12. As God manifefted his fovereignty, in the inftance already mentioned, with refped; to the tribes of Ifrael in general, he did fo, in other inftances, as to particular tribes, families and per- fons. It is generally admitted, that before the giving of the law, the firft-born of the different families of Ifrael had adled as priefts. It ap- pears, that for a time God fanclioned this prac- tice, by hallowing the firft-born''. Now, Levi was not the firft-born. Yet his pofterity were fe- parated to God for the work of the priefthood. Was it becaufe of any fuperior worth in their progenitor ? Surely no. For Levi was brother to Simeon in cruelty. His children could not be better qualified than their brethren for the fervice of the altar, becaufe their father had made a fa- crifice of the Shechemites. This defignation is wholly referred to the pleafure of God. " The " Lord feparated the tribe of Levi, to beai^the " ark of the covenant of the Lord, to ftand before " the Lord, to minifter unto him, and to blefs in "his name^" "The priefts, the fons of Levi " fliall come near ; for them the Lord thy God " hath chofen to minifter unto him ^" Neither was Judah the firft-born. But God conferred the fceptre on the tribe which bore his name. He " chofe not the tribe of Ephraim : " but chofe the tribe of Judah "," To it alfo he gave t Numb iii. 13. s Deut, x. 8. t Deut. xxi. g, V Pfal. Ixxviii. 67, 6S. 234 ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. gave the excluiive promife of the defcent of the Mefliah. In this tribe, the regal power was con- fined to the family of Jeffe, although it was not diftinguiflied for wealth or greatnefs. Thence fome fpake contemptibly of David : ** Who is " David ? or who is the fon of Jeffe ^ ?" From this conlideration David himfelf extols divine fo- vereignty : " What am I, and what is my father's " houfe, that thou hafl brought me hitherto ?" Bethlehem was but a mean village. Yet here mud the Melfiah be born ; ** And thou Bethlehem- " Ephratah, although thou be little among the " thoufands of Judah, yet out of thee lliall he *^ come forth unto me, that is to be ruler in If- " rael '^'." The family of Jofeph feems to have been one of the meaneft in the houfe of David, or belonging to Bethlehem. For Jofeph and Mary could find no lodging but in a liable. Yet from this family mull the Meffiah fpring. 13. God fignalized his fovereignty in the choice of that particular place where he would be wor- Ihipped. All places are alike to Him, to whom " the earth belongs, and the fulnefs thereof;" who '* filleth heaven and earth ;" whom " hea- " ven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain." But, under the law, he inculcated the dodrine of his fovereignty on the church, by not only regu- lating the whole manner of worlhip, but by limit- ing the place. That fne might have ftill more reafon for learning unreferved fubmiffion to his will, fhe was long kept in fufpenfe. All that flie . ' was V X Sam. XXV. lo, w Micah v. 2, ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. ^35 was permitted to know, was the certainty of God's choofing fuch a place. But where it might be, or when he might be pleafed to declare his will in this refped, Ihe was abfolutely ignorant. *' There " fhall be a place which the Lord your God fhall " choofe, to caufe his name to dwell there, thi- " ther fhall ye bring all that I command you ^." He dealt with the feed of Abraham as he had done with their father, with refpedl to that very place where he was afterwards to put his name. He commanded him to go and offer up his fon on one of the mountains which he fhould tell him of >■• Here, indeed, was the true Ifaac facrificed. This place, although in itfelf no better, was pre- ferred to every other in the tribe of Judah, nay, in the land of Canaan : " Unto the place which " the Lord your God fhall choofe, out of all your " tribes, to put his name there, — thither thou " fhalt come ." If their ritual worfhip, though conformable to the divine inftitution in every other refped:, wanted this lingle requifite of being offered at this place, they were allured that it would be totally unacceptable ". When the Lord diftinguifhed the tribe of Judah, by putting his name in Jerufalem, it was in the way of rejecting every place in the tribe of Ephraim, within the boundaries of which his tabernacle had flood for many ages. " He refufed the tabernacle of Jo- '' feph, and chofe not the tribe of Ephraim : but " chofe the tribe of Judah, the Mount Zion which "he X Deut. xli. Ti, y Gen. xxii 2. ; 1 Chron. iii. r, ^ Dcut. xii. 5, ^ Deut. xii, 11, 13. 14. 23^ ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. " he loved K" Why did he prefer Judah to E- phraim, Jerufalem to Shiloh ? In Shiloh, indeed, his ordinances had been profaned. But he knew that this would foon be the cafe in Jerufalem alfo. We can give no reafon for the preference, but that which God himfelf gives. This was his own pleafure. " The Lord hath chofen Zion ; he hath " defired it for his habitation. This is my reft *' for ever : here will I dwell, for I have dejired " it ^:' 14, The fame fovereignty appears in the means or injlrmnents which God employs for accomplilh- ing his purpofes either oi judgment or of mercy. It would naturally occur to us, that when God meant to punifh a people for their wickednefs, he would employ inftruments prepared for the work \iy a. love of righteoufnefs ; that the innocent Ihould wield the weapons of his vengeance againft the guilty, the lincere againft the hypocritical, the humble againft the haughty, and the merciful againft thofe " who breathe out cruelty." But " his ways are not our ways, nor his thoughts our " thoughts." He often takes a plan diredly the reverfe of that which would be fuppofed, or ap- proved, by us. He employs the worft of men for the beft of purpofes. He takes inftruments out of the devil's hand for performing his own work. He lets loofe hell, that it may fight the battles of heaven. Short-fighted creatures are in danger of denying the work to be his, becaufe they do not im- mediately difcern his hand ', becaufe they difcerji po b Pfal. Ixxviii. 68, 6p. c Pfal. cxsxii. i^, 14- ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. 437 no hand fave that of his enemies. But they con- fider not, that while the work is as really his own, as if inftrumcnts more apparently fuited to it were employed, there is a more ftriking difplay of his wifdom and power, in making the very wrath of man to praife him, and in reflraining the re- mainder of it. They have not learned, from the Sacred Hiflory, that this is the mofl ordinary me- thod of the divine procedure. When God had » a work of judgment to execute on the devoted fa- mily of the wicked Ahab '^', he employed an in- flrument little better than himfelf % and in one rcfped: worfe '. Jehu, not only an idolater, but a vile hypocrite, is the man lingled out from all the tribes of lirael for accomplifliing God's work of vengeance on the houfe of Ahab. In this very way hath God often punifhed his Church. Was not Sennacherib, an ambitious and blood-thlrfty tyrant, the perfon feledled as the in- itrument by whom Jehovah was " to perform ** his whole work on Mount Zion, and on Jeruia- " lem g ?" Here, we find a heathen employed a- gainll hypocritical profeflbrs ; a blafphemer of the true God ufed as *' the rod of his anger." He, who dared to call the God of Jerufalem an idol, receives a commiflion from him to punifh his own people \ Does he not defign the vain- glorious Nebuchadnezzar his fervant, even when leeking the deilruftion of Judah ? Hear, how he fpeaks by his prophet : " Behold, I will fend and ♦* take d a Kings ii. 7. e i Kings x. 31. f Vcr. 16, g Ifa. X. 12. h Ver. 5.-11. ^3^ ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. " take all the families of the north, faith the " Lord, and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Baby- " Ion my fervant, and will bring them againft " this land, and againft the inhabitants thereof, — " and will utterly deftroy them, and make them " an aftonifhraent, and an hiffing, and perpetual " defolations =." In the fame fovereign way, does he fulfil his purpofes of mercy. Sometimes, he employs good men in the work. He had a branch of his Church even in Sodom. For the deliverance of righteous Lot, Abraham obtains vidory over four kings '\ ** Who raifed up the righteous man from the ** eaft, called him to his foot, gave the nations be- " fore him, and made him rule over kings ? He " gave them as the duft to his fword, and as driven " ftubble to his bow. He purfued them, and paf- " fed fafely, even by the way that he had not *' gone with his feet '." At other times he em- ploys wicked men. He had made heathens the in- ftruments of punifhing his people, and heathens are employed as the inftruments of their deliverance. Cyrus knew as little of the true God as Sennache- rib or Nebuchadnezzar. But God raifes him up, and gives him all his power and fuccefs for this very end, that he might liberate his Church. He had called the king of Babylon his ferijant. But he calls the conqueror of Babylon his anointed ^\ He gives him a more honourable epithet, becaufe he called him to more honourable work, to work typical i Jer. XXV. 9. k Ctn. xiv. 15. 1 Ifa. xli. it 3- m Ifa. xlv. 1,-5. ON DIVINE SOVEllEIGNTY-. 239 typical of that which was to be performed by his true Anointed. He extends this honour to the very army that Cyrus commanded. They were to be the inftruments of accomplilliing his pur- pofes with refpe6l to Babylon. Therefore, al- though an affemblage of heathens, he defcribes them as fandified, or fet apart to this work, by himfelf. Although they knew not that God who ftrengthened them, he calls them his " mighty " ones." He fpeaks of them as " rejoicing in " his highnefs," or " glory," becaufe they rejoi- ced in that work which was to terminate in his glory, although they were ignorant of this ". Notwithftanding the honourable epithets thus beftowed on Cyrus and his army, with refped: to their work ; a very different pidure is given of both, when tVieir own charader and defigns are taken into conlideration. They are exhibited as ** a cruel people, that will not fliew mercy," as " having no pity on the fruit of the womb, and " whofe eye fliould not fpare children^." Cyrus himfelf gets no better charader thsn that of a bird of prey. While Jehovah appeals to the immutability and abfolute fovereignty of his pur- pofe, as an incontrovertible evidence of his being the only true God ; he at the fame proclaims his almighty power in the manner of accomplifhing it. " I am God, and there is none elf€, — decla- *' ring the end from the beginning, and from an- " cient times the things that are not yet done, '' faying, My counfel fliall Hand, and I will do all " my o Ifa. siii. 3.-5. o Ver. 18. ; Jer. I. 41. 246 ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. ** my pleafure : calling a ravenous bird from the ** eaft, the man that cxecuteth my counfel from a " far country : yea, I have fpoken it, I will alfo " bring it to pafs ; I have purpofed it, I will alfo " do 'it P." Behold the fovereignty of God I He who " called the righteous man from the eaft," is the fame who " called a ravenous bird from " the eaft :" and both for the fame work of libe- rating his captives. Both are under his direc- tion, and in the calling of both he difplays equal righteoufnefs. For he faith of Cyrus, " I have ** raifed him up in righteoufnefs '^." Did the Lord deftroy literal Babylon by means of " a ravenous bird ?" Did he do it in righte- oufnefs ? Need we wonder, then, though he fliould obferve the fame courfe, in accomplifliing the de- ftrudtion of myftical Babylon, of which the other was only a type ? though he " cry to all the "fowls that fly in the midft of heaven. Come and " gather yourfelves together unto the fupper of ** the great God ' ?" Although, in the deftrudion of Babylon, God ftiould employ men as irreligious as the heathen, or more fo, as mercilefs as the Medes ; we muft not therefore either deny, or be prejudiced againft his work. The wickednefs of the inftruments is wholly their own. Whatever God does by them, he does it " in righteouf- ** nefs," — Yet mark his language ; " I will ftir " up the Medes againft them : — their bows alfo ** ftiall dafti the young men to pieces, and they ** ftiall have no pity*." " The Lord hath raifed " up f Ifa. xlvi, j>.— II. q Ifa. xlv. 13. t Rev. nix. 17. s Ifa, xiii, 17, ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. 24I ** up the fpirit of the kings of the Medes : for " his defire is againft Babylon, to deflroy it : be- " caufe it is the vengeance of the Lord, the ven- " geance of his temple \" God often gives a ftriking difplay of his fove- reignty in punifhing fin by fin. He does fo in various ways. He makes one fin its own punifh- mcnt. He punilhes one fin by another commit- ted by the fame perfon. Or, he punifiies the fin of one perfon, by means of a fin committed by another. As virtue is its own reward, in as far as " the ways of wifdom are ways of plea- ** fantnefs, and all her paths peace ;" fin often proves its own punifliment, in tliat mifery which it brings along with it, as infeparable from its nature. Ahab's covetoufnefs, in defiring the vine- yard of Naboth, was undoubtedly his fin. But it was as certainly his punifhment. For he " was *' heavy and difpleafed, — and laid him down up- " on his bed, and turned away his face, and would " eat no bread '." The pride of Haman was al- fo its own punifhment. For notwithftanding his great honours, he fays ; " All this availeth me no- *' thing, as long as I fee Mordecai the Jew fitting ** at the king's gate \" Sometimes, he punifhes a former fin by one that fucceeds it. The fin of Judas, in betraying his Mailer, was puniflied by his being left to be- come his own murderer. The Gentiles provoked God by their idolatry, in " changing the glory of ** the uncorruptible God into an image made like Vol. H. Q^ " unto t Jer. li n. u i Kings zxi. i.— 4.' Efth y. 13. 242 ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. " unto corruptible man, and to birds, and four- " footed bearts, and creeping things." Now, mark their punifhment. " Wherefore God alfo gave " them up to uncleannefs." And again \ *' Even ** as they did not like to retain God in their ** knowledge," or, " in acknowledgment, God " gave them over to a reprobate mind '^." He alfo puniflies the lin of one perfon by that of another. The fin of David in the matter of Uriah and Bathfheba, was punifhed by the inceft of Abfalom. Therefore the Lord f^nt this mef- fage to David : " Thus faith the Lord, Behold, " I will raife up evil againft thee out of thine own " houfe, and I will take thy wives before thine " eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and " he fhall lie with thy wives in the fight of this " fun. For thou didil it fecretly : but I will do " this thing before all Ifrael, and before the " fun ^" In a v/ord, the God of infinite holinefs often ufes Satan himfelf as his infl:rument. Thus we read, that, when he was plaguing the Egyptians, he " fent evil angels among them "." He permit- ted him to adt as a lying fpirit in the mouth of the falfe prophets of Ahab, when- he was about to accomplifh the deftrudion of this wicked prince. He even employs him as an inftrument for chaf- tening his own people. Job was .in part fub- jedted to his power. ' We read of a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan had long bound. And the general experience of the Church concurs with the w Rom. i. 23, 24. 2S. X 2 Sam. xii. \x,\%. y Pfal. Ixxviii. 49. ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. 243 the teftimony of infpiration, in afluring us, that when a loving father means to humble and prove his own children, he often fubjeds them to fe- vere difcipline, by means of the temptations of this cruel one. From thefe reflections we may learn, that we ought never to judge of a work merely from the means or inflruments employed. Did we follow this rule, we would be at times in danger of mif- taking God's, work for the devil's, and the de- vil's for God's. Often God is doing his own work, when the carnal eye can perceive nothing but the fad working of human corruptions. And often the devil is doing his, when " transformed into ** an angel of light," and coming with fuch " de- *' ceivablcnefs of unrighteoufnefs," that " even ** the children of God may be in part deceived." It is not to the outward afpect of Providence that we are to look for diredion ; but '* to the law, " and to the teftimony." Let us alfo beware of undervaluing his work, becaufe of the inflru- ments. This is an homage that he claims to his fovereignty, that we lliould not prefume to limit him. For " as the heavens are above the earth, " fo are his ways above our ways, and his thoughts " above our thoughts." 15. The fame fovereignty appears in the dif- tribution of mitural gifts. One " rejoiceth in " his ftrength." The life of another is a con- ftant ftruggle with conftitutional imbecility. One is diftinguiflicd for the gift of prudence ; while indifcretion is the charafteriftic of another. Rea- 0^2 fon, 244 9N BiyiNj: sovereignty. fon, in one, feems to vie with the intelled of an- gels;, in another, it fcarcely equals animal in- ftincl. Whence proceeds this allonifhing differ- ence ? We mud not deny the operation of fe- condary caufes. But it muft be ultimately refol- yed into the fovereign will of that Lord who *' gi- " veth to one five talents, to another two, and tQ " another one .*' 1 6. The fame thing appears from the whole management of our lot. Our very ufe of this word, with refpedl to human concerns, contains a vir- tual acknowledgment of divine fovereignty. Some, indeed, prefer other terms, which as they are more allied to the language of heathens, are too often ufed to convey limilar fentiments. They talk of their luck, or their fortune. But the former is that which is confecrated by the Spirit of God. Thus did David the Type, nay, the glorious An- titype, exprefs himfelf : " Thou maintaineft my " lot /' Nor did either of thefe diftinguifhed perfons confine this language to the great and leading circuraftances of life. For it is added, without any limitation ; *' The lines are fallen " unto me in pleafant places ^." Nothing may feem more to depend on chance, or on the moft trivial caufes, than the place of our refidence on this earth. Yet we are affured that God " hath determined the bounds of our " habitation '." It is wholly the refult of his fovereign will, that one is placed " in the valley " of vifion ," and that another " fits in dark- ** nefs, and in the region and fliadow of death." Scarcely as Matth. xsv. 15. a Pfal. xvi, 5. b Ver. 6. c Afts xvii. 25. ON DIVINE SOVfiREICfNTt. 245 Scarcely in any refpe6t does the exercife of this perfection more remarkably appear, than in the diftribution of the enjoyments of this life. We fee one born a beggar, and another a prmce ; or one, who is born a beggar, advanced " to lit with " princes." On the other hand, one who has had the moft honourable nativity, is fometimes brought down to the loweft ftation in fociety. It is undeniable, that much depends on fecond cau- fes. " The hand of the diligent niaketh rich," while " the foul of the fluggard deiireth, and hath " nothing." But do we not often obferve, that thofe who have equal advantages, and equal in- duftry, have very unequal fuccefs ? Perhaps, you may have marked one, whofe circumftances were originally the fame with thofe of another, who was not inferior in capacity, in diligence, or in frugality, who was employed in the very fame line. Yet with the one every thing has been un- profperous, while riches have flowed on the other. Nay, do we not fometimes fee a perfon who pof- feffes far lefs underftanding, and difcovers far lefs induftry than another, profper in all that he un- dertakes, while every attempt fails with the other ? In common language, men confefs their inability to account for the difference. They call the latter an unfortunate man. But we mull trace matters to another fource, to the overruling pro- vidence of that God who manages all the con- cerns of men as he pleafes. We muft remember that he not only gives the means of becoming rich, but that it depends upon his pleafure to give fuccefs to thefe means ; that while " the rich and 0^3 ** poor 246 ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. " poor meet together ; the Lord is the maker of *' them all ^." The Ifraelites, therefore, arewarn- ed that it would be viewed as an evidence of their ** heart forgetting the Lord their God," if they faid, " My power, and the might of my hand " hath gotten me this wealth." They are com- manded, on the contrary, to ** remember that the " Lord their God gave them power to get " wealth "." Let us liften to the eftimate of the wife man. *' I faw under the fun, that the race ** is not to the fwift, nor the battle to the ftrong, " neither yet bread to the wife, nor yet riches to ** men of underftanding, nor yet favour to men of " Ikiil, but time and chance happeneth to them " all f." Does he here afcribe to mere accident what he denies to fecond caufes ? No, furely : He only calls our attention to what appears as chance to unthinking man, but muil indeed be afcribed to the invilible yet certain influence of the Firft Caufe. The divine pleafure regulates our lot as to' the duration of life. Each of us may fay with the Pfalmift, " My times are in thy hands." For God " hath determined not only the bounds of our " habitation," but " the times before appointed^" One opens his eyes on the light of life, only that he may clofe them in death ; another is cut off in childhood ; a third, amidft all the gaieties of youth. Some are ftruck down in the prime of life ; while others are fpared, till " the grafshopper is a bur- " den." How d Prov. xxii. 2. e Deut. viii. 14. 17, 18. t Ecclef. ix. it. § Pfal. xxxi. 15. h Aiils xvii. a6. ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. 247 H6w much does this fovereignty appear in the manner in which life is terminated I " One dieth " in his full ftrength, being wholly at eafe and " quiet : His breafts are full of milk, and his " bones are moiftened with marrow : and another " dieth in the bitternefs of his foul, and never " eateth with pleafure ." 17. We cannot conlider the affiidiions of the people of God, without admiring his fovereign- ty. This charafter appears written on his con- duel, whether we compare the lituation of one Chriilian with that of another, or the fufferings of the righteous in general with thcfe of the wicked. Do we compare the fituation of one of the children of God with that of another ; we perceive great reafon humbly to adore his fove- reignty. One has a great lliare of profperity. He enjoys the bleffing of health. His family in- creafes. He is favoured, not with abundance on- ly, but with affluence. His " barns are filled with •* plenty, and his prelTes burft with new wine." Another long outlives the rtft of his family, only • to languifh under difeafe, and to ftruggle with the moft abjed: poverty. He is fingled out as an example of what almighty power can accomplifh, in fupporting under the fevereft prelTure of afflic- tion. At his expence, the Supreme Difpofer teaches other Chriftians, what he has a right to do with them, if he pleafes. If we compare the fituation of the wicked with that of the righteous, we muft often obferve, that the former enjoy a far greater fhare of profperity 0^4 than h Job Kxi. 13.-25, 24S ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. than the latter. It is impoffible, at any rate, to judge of a man's ftate for eternity from his exter- nal circumftances. For *' the righteous, and the ** wife, and their works, are in the hand of God : " no man knoweth love or hatred, by all that is " before them. All things come alike to all, there " is one event to the righteous and to the wicked, " to the good, and to the clean, and to the un- " clean '\" While this ordination is an argument for a future ftate of retribution, it at the fame time bears a ftriking imprefs of divine fovereignty. 18. If we attend to the difpenfations of his pro- vidence with refpe(ft to the kingdoms oi this world, we perceive the fame charadler, only on a larger fcale. Nations are difpofed of in the fame man- ner as individuals. God raifes up a nation from fmall beginnings, gives it power and extent of dominion, brings it to the zenith of its glory, and at length hurls it into deftrudlion. His fovereign pleafure is that awful die by which the fate of empires is determined. It is he who ** fpeaks " concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, " to build and to plant it.'* To him it equally belongs to *' fpeak concerning a nation, and con- " cerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull ** down^ and to deftroy it^." What the heathen fabled concerning their Neptune, is true of our God. He " fitteth upon the flood," whether na- tural or political. " The Lord fitteth King for " ever." Indeed, we may Itill perceive the ope- ration of fecond caufes, in one Ihape or another. Wifdom and valour are means of aggrandizement. Luxury, k Ecclef, ix. i, •;. 1 Jer. xviii. 7. 9. ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. 249 Luxury, pride, and the counfels of folly, confpire to accomplifli the fall of a nation. But thefe fe- condary caufes are pre-ordained, managed, and overruled by God, for the fulfilment of his own purpofes. So ftrongiy was Babylon fortified, that it does not appear that Cyrus could have taken it in the ordinary way of attack. But the watchmen negleded to fhut the gates on that night in which Belfliazzar made his feaft ; when, as would feem, diffipation had diffufed its influence over the whole city. This fecondary caufe, however, the negligence of the watchmen, was immediately under the direction of God. For, feveral hun- dred years before, he had faid ; ** The gates fliall "not be fliuf"." Nebuchadnezzar was one of thofe arrogant worms who vie with God for the honour of fovereignty. — He flattered himfelf, in confequence of his extenfive conquefts, that it was his prerogative to difpofe of kingdoms, and of na- tions. But God, to teach this haughty monarch that the work was wholly his own, levels him with the brute creation ; and as he declares the awful event before it takes place, he at the fame time informs Nebuchadnezzar, that it was the de- fign of this judgment, that he might " know that " the Molt High ruleth in the kingdom of men, " and givcth it to whomfoever he will "." 19. As fovereignty is the attribute of our Lord Jefus Chrifl:, he difplays it in the management of h'lH fpiritual kingdom. He feledled three difciples from the reft to be witnefles of his glorious trans- figuration °. The fame difciples alfo had the dif- tinguifliing m Ifa, x!v. i. n Dan. iv. 30.— 3a. o Mat. .wii. i. 2^0 OK DIVINE SOVEllEIGNTr. tinguifliing honour of witnelling his great humi- liation p. The reft had no right to fay to him, Wherefore is this diftind:ion ? They could not accufe him of partiality. For he may difpenfe his favours to whomfoever he will. — He wrought miracles, as the fruit of his fovereign pleafure. When the leper came to him, faying, " Lord, if " thou wilt, thou canft make me clean ;" he ac- knowledged the juftnefs of the afcription, and in confirmation of it accomplifhed his cure. He replied, " I will ; be thou clean n." Now, as all the miracles which Chrift wrought on the bodies of men, are figns of the miracles of grace which he w^orks on their fouls ; the analogy is loft, if he is not equally fovereign in the latter. Is the re- moval of the bodily leprofy a fymbol of the cure of the more fatal leprofy of fin ? And can the latter be the fruit of the finner's will, while the former depends on the will of God } Chriit fovereignly difpenfes ^///j to his Church, whether ordinary or extraordinary. ** He gave •' fome, apoftles ; and fome, prophets ; and fome, " evangel ifts ; and fome, pallors and teachers '." A paftor had no right to complain that he was not an evangelilt ; nor an evangelift, that he was not endowed with the gifts of a prophet ; nor a pro- phet, that he had not an apoftolic million. For faith the apoftle ; " Unto every one of us is given *' grace, according to the meafure of the gift of " Chrift 5 ;" that is, juft as he is pleafed to give. Elfewherc, p Mat. xxvi. 36, 37. q Chap. viii. i, 3. rEph. iv. Ir. s Vcj-. 7. ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. 251 Elfe where, this is attributed to the fovereign dif- penfation of the Spirit of Chrift. " To one is gi- " ven by the Spirit, the word of wifdom ; to ano- " ther the word of knowledge by the fame Spi- " rit ; to another the working of miracles ; to " another prophecy ; to another difcerning of " fpirits ; to another divers kinds of tongues ; to "another the interpretation of tongues. But all " thefe worketh that one and the felf-fame Spi- *' rit, dividing to every man feverally as he will. " — Now hath God fet the members, every one " of them in the body, as, it pleafed him. — And •* God hath fet fome in the Church, iirft apoftles, *' fecondarily prophets %" 8cc. The Head of the Church difplays the fame fo- vereignty in regard to that meafure of fuccefs which he gives his fervants in his work. It has been often feen, that the moll able and laborious have had reafon to complain that they " have la- ** boured in vain ;" while thofe, who have not equalled them in either of thefe refpedls, have been far more fuccefsful. A fchifmatical fpirit early difcovered itfelf in the Church. One pre- ferred Paul to Apollos ; another, Apollos to Paul ; and a third, Cephas to both. Their pretence for fuch a preference, was the benefit they had recei- ved by the miniftry of one or other of thefe. But the apollle fhows the folly of fuch condudt, from a confideration of the fovereignty of God, as the only reafon of the fuccefs of his fervants. " Who *' is Paul, and who is Apollos, but minillers by " whom t I Cor. xii. 8. — ii. iS. zS, 252 ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. " whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to " every man ? I have planted, Apollos watered •, " but God gave the increafe. So then, neither is " he that planteth any thing, neither he that wa- " tereth ; but God \\\2X. giveth the increafe "." 20. God often difplays his juftice in giving up men to obduracy of heart. But this is alfo repre- fented as the effed of his fovereignty. While he " hath mercy on whom he will have mercy, " whom he will he hardeneth '." I do not im- mediately fpeak of that hardening which refpeds the eternal ftate, but of that only which has a refe- rence to temporal calamities. This, as we have formerly feen, is the ultimate reafon given for the condud of the Canaanites, in not making J)cace with Ifrael. With refped to the two fons of Eli, we are informed that " they hearkened not unto *' the voice of their father, becaufe the Lord " would flay them '''." When the Ifraelites ap- plied to Rehoboam for a redrefs of grievances, he refufed it ; and the matter is thus accounted for, in the language of infpiration ; " Wherefore the *' king hearkened not unto the people ; for the " caufe was from the Lord, that he might per- " form his faying, which he fpake by Ahijah the " Shilonite unto Jeroboam the fon of Nebat\" In our meditations on the divine influence on the hearts of men, we muft fl:ill remember that the moral evil of their actions proceeds folely from therafelves. But it is evident that the paflages quoted, u I Cor. iii. 5-— -7. v Rom. ix. jS. w i Sam. ii. 15. X I Kings Kii. x 5. ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. 253 quoted, if they have any meaning at all, exprefs fuch an operation, on the part of God, as renders the event abfolutely certain. Although the man- ner of this operation, in its whole compafs, be in- conceivable to us, we cannot deny the truth of it, without denying that divine revelation is to be underllood according to the ordinary fenfe of lan- guage. It may be obferved, laftly, that fome of the moft fevere judgvients that have ever been in- flidted on men, have been exprefsly inflidted for their denial of divine fovereignty. This, as we have feen, was the caufe of. the unexampled pu- nifliment of Nebuchadnezzar. But he is by no means a lingular inftance. What was it that fo greatly provoked the Lord in the condudl of Ko- rah, Dathan and Abiram ? Wherefore did he " make a new thing," by caufing *' the earth to " open her mouth, and fwallow them up," that they fliould " go down quick into the pit^?" Was it becaufe they merely found fault with Mo- fes and Aaron ? No. It was becaufe they dared to difpute the divine fovereignty, in choojing thefe perfons to the offices affigned them. They faid to Mofes and Aaron, *' Ye take too much upon *' you, feeing all the congregation are holy every " one of them." What did Mofes reply ? To- " morrow the Lord will fliew who are his, and " who is holy ; and will caufe him to come *' near unto him : even him whom he hath chofen ** will he caufe to come near unto him ^." The Lord y Numb. xvi. 30. z Vcr. 3. 5. 254 6n divine sovereignty. Lord knew that the murmurings of thefe rebels, although immediately directed againft Mofes and Aaron, were ultimately levelled againll his own fovereign ordination. Therefore he fays ; *' It " fhall come to pafs, that the man's rod whom I " fhall choofe fhall blofTom : and I will make to " ceafe/roiTz me the murmurings of the children " of Ifrael, whereby they murmur againji you ^'* t Sennacherib was only the ax, the faw, the rod and the ftafF in God's hand. This inftrument, however, prefumed to deny the Supreme Agent. The king of Affyria claimed the work as his own. He faid, " By the ftrength of ray hand I have " done it, and by my wifdom : for I am prudent.'* But obferve how his condudl is defcribed by Je- hovah, and how he determines to punifli it. " Shall the ax boaft itfelf againft him that hew- " eth therewith ? or fhall the faw magnify itfelf *' againft him that fhaketh it ? as if the rod ftiould " fhake itfelf againft them that lift it up, or as if " the ftafF fhould lift up itfelf, as if it were no " wood. Therefore fhall the X^ord, the Lord of ** hofts, fend among his fat ones leannefs, and un- " der his glory he fliall kindle a burning like the " burning of a fire. And the light of Ifrael fliall " be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame : and *' it fhall burn and devour his thorns and his ** briers in one dny b." He trufted in the ftrength of his army, and this prophecy refers to its fiid- den and miraculous deftruclion ^. But this was not all his punifhment. It is farther expreffed in this a Numb. xvii. 5. b Ifa. x. 15. — 17. c Ifa. xxxvii. ^fi. ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. 255 this emphatic language ; ** Becaufe thy rage againfl ** me, and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, ** therefore will I put my hook in thy nofe, and " my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn th£e back *' by the way that thou cameft \" Formerly he was reprefented as a mean inftrument in the hand of the Almighty. Now, becaufe of his refrad:ori- nefs, he appears as a wild beaft, bridled and muz- zled bv his owner, and driven whitherfoever he will. In a word, the punifhment of thofe who have enjoyed the gofpel, feems, in a peculiar manner, .to turn on this hinge. The enemies of the King are .thofe *' who would not that he fhould reign " over them <^." All, indeed, who refufe to obey the law, or to fubmit to the gofpel, in whatever way, are the enemies of Chrifl. But thofe efpe- cially deferve this charadler, who deny the fove- reignty of his will. For the right of difpenfing his gifts to whom, and in what manner he pleafes, of doing according to his will in heaven and in earth, is that branch of his prerogative which eminently entitles him to the defignation of" King " of kings, and Lord of lords." From what has been obferved on this fubje6t, we are taught the reafonahlenefs of fubmitting to the divine will. God is the Supreme Potter, and has an undoubted right to do with the clay as he pleafes. Whatever he does, he does it with his own. We d Ifa. xxxvii. a^. e Luke *ix. 27. 256 ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. We may alfo perceive the wifdom of this fub. million. For " who hath relifted his will." He " worketh, and no one can let him." A linner may fpurn and tofs at divine fovereignty ; but it is onlj as '* a wild bull in a net." It is impof- fible that he can " flee out of his hand." The preceding illuftrations afuire us, that the impotent creature muft eventually fubmit. Like the king of Babylon, he may find it necelTary to confefs this attribute, from that conviclion which is the fruit of better experience. For God " will do all " his pleafure." A due attention to divine fovereignty affords confolation under the greateft adverfities. The Chriftian has Hill reafon to rejoice, that nothing happens to him by chance, or merely by the will of man. He may have reafon to blame himfelf, or to blame others, as fecondary caufes. But he knows that he muft not reft here, left he (hould feem to reflecl on the Firft Caufe. How much foever he may regret any adverfe event, he dif- cerns the propriety of fubmiflion. For he knows that he might as well think of plucking the fun out of the firmament, as of counterading any of the determ.inations of that God whofe " coun- " fel ftiall ftand." The tidings delivered by Sa- muel to Eli muft have been afflidting beyond con- ception. Yet this is all his anfwer ; ** It is the *< Lord, let him do what feemeth him good f." When Paul declared his intention of going up to Jerufalem, Agabus, by the fpirit of prophecy, afr • fure4 ! f I Sam. iii. 18. ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. I57 fared him, that in this cafe he {hould be deliver- ed bound into the hands of the Gentiles. On this predidion, the difciples befought him with tears, that he would relinquifh his delign. But when they found that he perfifted in it, they *' ceafed ; " faying, The will of the Lord be done s." They perceived by his firmnefs, as connetfled with the prophetical warning of Agabus, that his mind was under a fuperior influence. Above all, it af- fords confolation to the Chriftian, that this ir- refiftible will is that of a Father, who can do him no injury, who will affuredly make all things work together for his good. Thus, when we pray that his *' will may be done," we are command- ed to view him as " our Father.'* This doctrine gives us an affecfting view of our own meanncfs in the fight of God. We fee the Supreme Agent, in his fovereign difpenfation, treating men as " duft and alhes." Good reafon have we therefore to abafe ourfelves at his foot- ftool, to entertain the moft humiliating thoughts of all that we are and polTefs, and to join in the confeffion of Nebuchadnezzar : " All the inhabi- " tants of the earth are reputed as nothing." Whence proceeded this language, fo different from what he once held ? Merely from a view of di- vine fovereignty as wonderfully exemplified on himfelf. We alfo learn the neceffity of humble adorU' tion. " With God is terrible majeity :" and it ■ Vol. II. R eminently g Adls xzi. 10.— 14. 358 ON DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. eminently appears in this, that *' he giveth not *' account of any of his matters." In fine, we might fafely conclude, that the fo- vereignty of God could not but fignally appear in the work of our redemption^ even although it were lefs exprefsly revealed. We perceive this charadler indelibly imprelTed on the works of na- ture. It is the turning hinge of the whole work of Providence. What is this, but a continued execution of the fovereign and immutable will of Jehovah ? Is not the whole hiftory of mankind a commentary on this perfection ? Can we fup- pofe, then, that there is a thick veil thrown o- ver it, in the greateft of all the works of God ? The kingdoms of this world have only been mo- numental pillars for recording its glory. Many of them lie in ruins. But the legend is perfedly diftindl. As it was written in their elevation, it is equally written in their fall. This divine cha- ra6ler eminently appears in the typical kingdom of Ifrael ; in its formation, and in its adminiftra- tion. And is -it lofl in the antitype ? Is that kingdom which Ihall never have an end, and .which fhall break down every thing that oppofes it, the only one in which this unalienable attri- bute of its Sovereign is not difcernible ? Thofe who entertain this idea, have a very different view of matters from that illuftrious minifter of this kingdom, the apoftle Paul : *' It is not of " him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but " of God that fheweth mercy." Their ideas of this kingdom run diredly counter to thofe of the glorious ON PROVIDENCE IN GENERAL. 259. glorious Sovereign, who thus addrefTes the Fa- ther : " Thou haft hid thefe things from the wife " and prudent, and haft revealed them to babes. " Even fo, Father ; for Jo it feemed good in thy ''fightr- SECTION IX. Of Divine Providence. — General Obfervations* — A Particular Providence proved^ from the Means employed by God j — frofn the Concatenation of Circiimjlances ; — the Seafon of Operation ; — the Dif cover y of Secret Sin ; — the Refemblance be- tween Sin and Pumjhment ; — the Choice of In- Jiruments for punijhing Iniquity ; — the Circum- Jiances of PuniJIjment j — Events of a Contingent Nature^ We have already feen, that the facred volume contains an hiftory of Providence. This includes fo great a variety of particulars, that, in fo fhort a Iketch as that defigned in this work, I can fcarce- ly enter on it. But as the fubjed^ is of the great- eft importance, it may not be improper to take notice of a few things with refped to the dodrine of Providence in general ; and alfo briefly to fhew, that this providential operation is of a moft parti- cular nature. R2 I 26o ON PROVIDENCE IN GENERAL. I fliall, firjl^ make a few obfervations with re- fpe6t to Providence in general. 1. The Providence of God is merely the exe- cution of his eternal and unalterable purpofe, as to all thofe creatures which he hath brought into being. As the God of Providence, " his kingdom " ruleth over all. — The eyes of all things. wait " upon him.*' Whether his operation refpedl men or angels, individuals or kingdoms ; whatfoever he doth, it is for the completion of his eternal and immutable will of purpofe. ** He doth according *' to his njDill in the army of heaven ; and among " the inhabitants of the earth '\" — He " worketh " all things after the counfel of his own will^." When the ten tribes had withdrawn from their allegiance to the houfe of David, and the men of Judah and Benjamin were affembled to fight againft them, " to bring the kingdom again to " Rehoboam," they received this warning from God ; " Ye fhall not go up, nor fight againft your " brethren the children of Ifrael : return every " man to his houfe, for the thing is, from me ^.*' 2. The infpired hiftory of providential opera- tion difcovers the true caufe of human profpe- rity. Men greatly err on this fubjedl. If, either as individuals, or in a colleclive capacity, they enjoy the fmiles of profperity ; they generally confider thefe as the fruit of their own exertions. They fay, *' Mine own arm hath gotten me all *' this wealth." They arrogate the honour of that Babylon they have built, to " the might of " their h Dan. iv. 35. i Eph. i. xi. k i Kings xii. 21.--24. ON PROVIDENCE IN GENERAL. 261 *'■ their power ;" although as its name is, it often eventually proves their confiijion. Where a natu- ral man would have difcerned no other caufe but human prudence in complying with a favourable propofal, the pious fteward of Abraham's houfe perceived and acknowledged the hand of God. *' The Lord," faid he, " hath profpered my way." We may remark, indeed, that thofe are molt like- ly to obferve the divine operation confequentially, vi^ho are fincerely concerned to acknowledge God in all their ways, and previoully to feek a difplay of his hand. Such was the conduct of this excel- lent fervant. He was eager to know " whether ** the Lord had made his journey profperous or ** not." He accordingly remarked the various iteps of Providence ; his bein^ led in the right way to the houfe of his milter's brethren, the ap- pearance of Rebekah, the cxa(5t correfpondence between her language and condudt, and what had previoully been the matter of his prayer : and on all thefe accounts he blefled the Lord God of his mafter Abraham '-. This is truly a molt beauti- ful, intereiting and indructive hiflory. It con- tains a Itriking pidure of the charader, and a practical demonltration of the worth, of a faithful melTengcr ; who, while he zcaloully ferved man, had his eye principally directed to God. We learn whence Jofeph " was a profperous " man.'* This is the reafon afligned ; " The " Lord was with him '." The hand of God is fometimes fo very evident in this refped, that it R3 is ^ Geo. zxiv. 41.-48. 5$. 1 Gen. xxxix. 2. l62 ON PROVIDENCE IN GENERAL. is obferved even by unrenewed men, or by fuch as are ftrangers to divine revelation. Laban made this acknowledgment to Jacob ; ** I have learned " by experience, that the Lord hath bleffed me " for thy fake m." Pctiphar, Jofeph's mailer, " faw that the Lord was with him, and that the " Lord made all that Jie did to profper in his " hand "." Becaufe the event depends on divine Provi- jdence, means are not therefore to be negledled. For in this, as in his other operations, God is pleafed to put honour on thefe. But while dili- gent in the ufe of lawful means, we muft wholly depend on God for the fuccefs. For his bleffing alone can make them effedluaL 3. We alfo difcover the caufe of adverjity. We find that affliction rifeth not out of the ground ; that trouble fpringeth not from the dull ; that this evil never exifts, " and the Lord hath ** not done it." By the Sacred Hiftory, we are taught to acknowledge the hand of God in every fpecies of adverfity. Even in thofe things which are viewed as the common accidents of life, we are directed to the fupreme caufe. While every thing profpers with one, another is thwarted in all his undertakings, and eventually opprefled with po- verty. Hannah, in her fong of praife, unravels this myftery. " The Lord maketh poor, and maketh *' rich : he bringeth low, and lifteth up. He raifeth " up the poor out of the duft, and lifteth up the ** beggar from the dunghill, to fet them among " priiiccs, and to make the.n inh rit he throne of "glory; m Gen, xxxo 27. n Gen. x^xix. 3. 23. ON PROVIDENCE IN GENERAL. 263 '* glory : for the pillars of the earth are the " Lord's, and he hath fct the world upon them ",^' God hath never meant that the difpenfations of his Providence Ihould be viewed as a certain tefl of his love or hatred. In this refpetft it is faid, that " one event happeneth to all." We ac- cordingly find, that profperity is often fhowered on the wicked, whom the Lord hateth ; while the objefts of his eternal and unalterable love are vilitcd with fevere affliction. At the fame time it appears from particular inftances, that even temporal profperity is fometimes meant as a token of God's approbation of the condud: of perfons or nations, while adverfity hath a contrary lan- guage. Concerning Uzziah king of Judah it is faid, that ** as long as he fought the Lord, God ** made him to profper p." We have many proofs that righteoufnefs alone " exalteth a nation." The children of Ifracl ftill profpered, while they adhered to their God : and when they returned to him, after their apoftacies, he ftill delivered them. In many inftances, we cannot certainly know the defign of affliction with refpedt to indivi- duals. For in this refped, as has been former- ly obferved, the Lord often difplays his fove- reignty ; or he fev^rely chaftifes, becaufe he hath a fecret purpofe of love, and hath determined to make the greateft afflictions " work together for " good." But the defign is often exprefsly de- clared in Scripture, or, as may be feen after- R 4 wards, r SvT). ii. 7, 8. p 2 Chron. xxvi. 5. i64 ON PROVIDENCE IK GENERAL. wards, moft clearly exprefled in the peculiar na^ ture of the difpenfation. As to national calami- ties, we are left in no heiitation. Sin is Hill point- ed out as the procuring caufe. We learn that " fire and hail, fnow and va-^ " pour, llormy wind, fulfil his word ^." But the general dodtrine is illuftrated by many particular inftances. The cities of the plain were deftroy- ed by fire from the Lord. ** Fire and hail" were among the plagues of Egypt -. Hailftoncs were the inftruments of divine vengeance againft the Amorites, when their five kings gathered their forces againfl; Gibeon \ When God " caufeth ** his vapours to afcend," he " proclaims liberty '* to the pefi;ilence ." When he blows with his wind, ** his enemies fink as lead in the mighty ** waters "." When the earth opens her mouth, and like a cruel mother devours her own brood ; whatever be the influence of fecondary caufes, we are taught to view this awful calamity as a vifitation for fin ^ When God " calls for fa- ** mine," or " turneth the fruitful land into bar- ** rennefs, it is for the wickednefs of them that ** dwell therein ' ." Men may philofophically defcant on the rife and fall of empires. They may afcribe thefe to accident, or to caufes merely of a political nature. But although there is a fubordinate operation of fecondary caufes, wc are afliired from the word of God, that thefe events muft: be ultimately afcribed to his operation as "the q Pfal. exlviii 8. r Exod. ix. 3. s Jofli. x. ii. t Jer. xxxiv. 17. w Eiod. XV. 10. V Ifa. xsix, 6. w Pfal. cvii. 34. ON PROVIDENCE IN GENERAL 265 '* the Governor among the nations." We muft not, indeed, lofe fight of divine fovereignty. But we do not recoUetSl: an inftance in which the over- throw of rulers, or the defolation of kingdoms, is not represented as immediately the efFed f ven- geance for fin. As it is God who ** putteth down '* one, and fetteth up another," the reafon is thus affigned ; — " For in the hand of the Lord there " is a cup, and the wine is red ; it is full of mix- ** ture, and he poureth out of the fame : but the *' dregs thereof all the wicked of the earth fhall " wring them out, and drink them ." When God gave a commiflion to Ifrael to exterminate the nations of Canaan, it was, as has been feen, becaufe of their atrocious iniquity. Therefore did " the land itfelf vomit out her inhabitants •'." It was not fo much the power of the Perfians, as the guilt of the Babylonians, that overthrew their extenlive empire. The holy and juft God had faid ; " I will punifh the world for their evil, ** and the wicked for their iniquity •, and I will " caufe the arrogancy of the proud to ceafe, and " will lay low the haughtinefs of the terrible ''." Nor do we merely learn from the facred re- cords, that wickednefs in general procures pu- nifliment from God. We have a particular ac- count of many fins, which bring grievous ca- lamities, or complete deftrudion on a people : and the fatal effeds of thefe are illullrated by fads. Befides 7 Pf?J. lix». 7, 8. y Lev, xviii. ij. 'z Ifa\ xiii. 11. C66 ON PROVIDENCE IN GENERAL. Befides unnatural luft, pride, luxury and idle- nefs are mentioned in the bill of indidlment found againft Sodom, and referred to by the Supreme Judge for alarming Jerufalem : " Behold, this " was the iniquity of thy lifter Sodom. Pride, " fulnefs of bread, and abundance of idlenefs was " in her and her daughters ; — therefore I took " them away as I faw good =>." Similar is the charge exhibited againft Tyrus and her prince. " Take up a lamentation for Tyrus, and fay unto " Tyrus, O thou that art fituate at the entry of " the fea, which art a merchant of the people for *' many iiles, Thus faith the Lord God, O Ty- ** rus, thou haft faid, I am of perfed beauty. — " — Say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus faith the ** Lord God, Becaufe thine heart is lifted up, " and thou haft faid, I am a god, I fit in the feat " of God, in the midft of the fcas. — Behold, " therefore, I will bring ftrangers upon thee, the " terrible of the nations : and they fhall draw " their fwords againft the beauty of thy wifdom, ** and they fhall defde thy brightnefs. They fhall " bring thee down to the pit, and thou fhalt die "the death of them that are flain in the midft of ** thefeas V Carnal confidence is a fin nearly conneded with thofe already mentioned : and is pointed out in Scripture as haftening the deftrudlion of a people. Moab trufted in her works, and in her treafures ; therefore flie was taken, and the fpoilers a Ezek. xvi. 49, 50. b Ezek. xsvii. 2. 3. ; xxviii. 1. 7, *• ON PROVIDENCE IN GENERAL. '267 fpoilers came upon every city ^. Not to mention a variety of other iniquities, uncleannefs, pride, luxury, and carnal confidence , are eminently chargeable againft Britain as a nation : and when we confider both thethreatenings, and the examples of God's feverity recorded in Scripture, we have great reafon to be afraid of his judgments. Our guilt is far more aggravated than that of Moab, of Tyre, or even of Sodom ; becaufe of our un- fpeakably fuperior privileges. The plagues of Egypt, and the deflru6lion of Pharaoh with his hoft, proclaim the danger of un- belief, and of hardening our hearts againft the teftimony of God. They at the fame time dif- play his holy jealoufy with refpeft to his people, and declare the certainty of the deftruftion of thofe who continue to opprefs and perfecute them. The oppreffion of the people of God has often proved the crowning guilt of a nation, that by which the cup of her iniquity was filled, and the immediate caufe of the cup of trembling being put into her hand. This was the cafe with Ba- bylon. Hence this aggravated guilt is mention- ed, as if it had been the only procuring caufe of the deftrudlion of this great empire. God puts this language into the mouth of his opprelTed Church : " The violence done to me, and to my ** flefh, be upon Babylon, and my blood upon the " inhabitants of Chaldea ''." The infpired hiftory of Providence affords light l^y which we may form a true eftimate of thofe wars c Jer. xlviii. 7, 8. d Jer. li, 35. 268 ON PROVIDENCE IN GENERAL. wars that defolate the earth. The reafons aflign- ed for them by nations are generally doubtful, often falfe. They may plead the love of liberty, while the genuine prmciplc is ambition ; or zeal for religion, while they are folely concerned about their temporal intereft ; or urge the plea of felf- defence, while actuated by infatiable avarice, or cruel revenge. But whatever be the motives af- ligned by the contending parties, or by which they are really influenced ; whatever be the caufes from which war more immediately proceeds ; we certainly know, that, as permitted by God, it is a puniijiment inflidled on all who are engaged in it. Some have not blufhed to vindicate 'war, as necef- fary to prevent the too great increafe of the hu- man fpecies. " Wars and fightings" not only proceed from men's lufls, but are defigned by the Supreme Ruler for the punifhment of thefe. This is one of the fcourges that he employs, to remind guilty man of a flate of retribution. We may therefore well " be afraid of the fword ; for wrath " bringeth the punifhments of the fword, that we " may know there is a judgment ^" 4. The providence of God may be viewed as either common or fpecial. His common providence extends to all his creatures without exception ; that which h fpecial, regards rational creatures, men and angels. While men in general are the objedls of his fpecial providence, it is more pecu- liarly exercifed towards the Church, and in a way of eminciice towards all who are her genuine members.. e Job xix. 29. ON PROVIDENCE IN GENERAL. l6g members. The Church is defcribed as God's hufbandry '" ; as his vineyard, which he waters every moment, which, left any hurt it, he keeps night and day ^. While all her members enjoy a fpecial protedion, this in a far higher fenfe is the privilege of believers. '* The eyes of the " Lord run to and fro throughout the whole " earth, to Ihew himfelf ftrong in the behalf of " them whofe heart is perfed: towards him V But on thefe things I do not particularly enter. All that is further intended, is to illuftrate the fdlfity of that idea, which is entertained by many who call themfelves Chriftians, that divine pro- vidence is merely of a general nature. They per- haps go not fo far as the Epicureans, who thought it unworthy of God to trouble himfelf with the affairs of men. But they make great approaches to this fyftem ; as they fuppofe that although God exercife fome care about his creatures in general, he leaves them to the exertion of their own powers, in their adions, without any particular concourfe on his part ; that many events depend merely on chance ; and that many adions are fo infigniflcant as not to merit his attention. In op- pofition to this dodrine, which in fadl involves a total denial of providence, we mean to lhew% from a variety of confiderations, Secondlyj That providential operation is of a moft particular nature, extending to all creatures, even the meaneft, and to all their adlions, how- ever fxCor, iii. 9. g Ifa. x^vii. 3. h i Chron, xvi. 9. 270 A PARTICULAR PROVIDENCE ever infignificant in thfemfelves ; and that all thefe are regulated for the accomplifhment of the divine purpofe, and in fubferviency to the divine glory *. I. This appears from the means that God is pleafed to employ. In the general tenor of his operation, he makes ufe of means. But thefe are often in themfelves fo mjignijicajit, and fo inade- quate to the end, that we could not fuppofe it to be accomplifhed without an immediate operation on the part of God. The Lord had declared by his fervant Elilha, that he would deliver Moab into the hands of the three confederate kings. But how ftrange were the means by which this predidion was fulfilled I At the delire of Elifha, ditches were made in the valley in which the army of the kings of Ifrael, Judah, and Edom, were encamped. Againft morning thefe were fill- ed with water. When the Moabites arofe early, the fun fhone upon the water, and it appeared to them red as blood. They immediately concluded that the allied princes had turned their arms a- gainft each other. They faid, " This is blood ; " the kings are furely llain, and they have fmitten " one another ; now, therefore, Moab, to the *' fpoil. And when they came to the camp of If- " rael, the Ifraelites rofe up and fmote the Moab- " ites, fo that they fled before them '." By fuch unlikely * In this illuftration, I almoft entirely abftain from a confideration of any of thofe works, which may properly be viewed as miraculous ; left it fliould be objedled by the enemies of a particular providence, that from thefe we cm form no juft eftimate of God's ordinary operation. i z Kings iii. 31.-^24. PROVED FROM SACRED HISTORY. 27! unlikely means did the confederated army obtain a complete vidlory, and the prophecy receive its accomplifliment. God is pleaied to employ fuch contemptible means, that his almighty opera- tion may be more clearly difcerned, and that the glory of the work may redound wholly to him- felf. Often he employs means, which in their own nature and tendency are diredtly contrary to the end. God had fworn to Abraham that he would multiply his feed as the fand on the fea-fhore. Yet he calls them into the furnace of Egypt, and fubjeds them to fevere perfecution. But the more they were oppreffed, the more they multi- plied. In an extraordinary dream, he revealed to Jofeph his future exaltation, and the obeifance he fliould receive from the fons of his father. But through what a devious courfe muft he reach the promifed greatnefs ! Only through the deepeft a- bafement, can he attain the dignity awaiting him. He muft be yet more hated of his brethren, ere he can be the objedl of their veneration. He muft be fold as a flave, ere he can be honoured as a m after. He muft lofe all that charadter and confidence that he had even as a flave, and be fhut up in prifon, under the imputation of one of the vileft of crimes, ere he can appear as the moft diftinguiflaed per- fonage in Egypt, next to Pharaoh. He muft be more than once in danger of death, and be dead to his father ; before he can be the inftrument of preferving him and the church in his houfe. Nor was it merely the will of God that this abafement fhould 1']1 A PARTICULAR PROVIDENCE Ihould precede his exaltation. Although in lii own nature diametrically oppofite, it diredly led to this event. Had he not been fold by his brethren, he could never have come into Potiphar's family. Had he not been falfely accufed, he would not in all probability have been caft into prifon. Had not this been the cafe, or had he ferved any one but the captain of the king's guard, although ac- cufed of the fame crime, moft probably he would not have been cad into the king's prifon, but into fome ordinary one. Thus he would have had no opportunity of feeing the imprifoned officers of the court, or of being at length known to Pha- raoh as an interpreter of dreams. Providence accomplifhes its end even by the ivickednefs of man. This is one of the deep things of God, that he can employ the enemies of religion in his work, make ufe of their corrup- tions for the fulfilment of his purpofes, diredl and overrule their condud, and yet ad: in a way perfedly confiftent with his own infinite holinefs ; the immorality of the adion being wholly their own. God overruled the defpicable envy of Jo- feph's brethren for the falvation of the Church. Their intention was wicked and cruel, but his was holy and merciful. They indeed might be faid to fend Jofeph into Egypt, as they fold him to the Iflimaelites when on their way thither. But in all this the pious Jofeph faw an higher hand. " God fent me before you," fays he to his brethren, " to preferve you a poflerity in the *' earth, and to fave your lives by a great deliver- " ance. PROVED FROM SACRED HISTORY. 273 " ance. So now, it was not you that fent me hi- " ther, but God. — As for you, ye thought evil *' againft me, but God meant it unto good ^" Thus did he employ Pharaoh as an inftrument for bringing his people to obey his call in leaving Egypt. They had been fo long fettled in that country, had become fo attached to the carnal gratifications which it afforded, and were fo con- taminated with the idolatry of their neighbours, that, had not Pharaoh been a cruel tyrant, they in all probability, as Mofes feared, would have pofitively refufed to comply with the call of God. They had in a manner forgotten the promife made to their fathers. But he fends the road of perfecution, to drive them out of this land of idols. II. The fame thing is evident from the won- derful concatenation of circumftances, which is often obfervable in fubferviency to fome great event. The various circumflances which led to the exaltation of Jofeph, and to the prefervation of the Church, appear as fo many links in one extenfive chain. Some of them are very mi- nute, and may feem in themfelves of little im- portance. But they are fo clofely conneded with the predicted end, that even in tbefe we cannot but difcern the hand of an all-wife agent. — I en- large not, however, on this proof, having illuftra- ted it fully in another place ^ Vol. II. S What k Gen. xlv. 7, 8. ; 1. ao. 1 Sermons on the Heart, Vol. i. p. 444, 445. 274 ^ PARTICULAR PROVIDENCE What is the book of Either, but an hiftory of the wonderful fteps of divine Providence for the prefervation of the Church, and for giving a fig- nal overthrow to her enemies throughout the greateft part of the known w^orld ? What a tri- vial circumftance paves the way for the great event, and for all thofe which were previoully neceifary in order to its accomplishment I Aha- fuerus, in the midft of a drunken revel, takes one whim ; and Vafhti his queen ads under the in- fluence of another. He thought fit to fend for her, " to fhew" the people and the princes her " beauty ;" but fhe refufed to go, thinking per- haps that it was inconfiftent with her dignity to appear in a company of men ** merry with " wine." She is accordingly difgraced ; and Efther, a Jewifh orphan, whofe lineage was un- known at court, is preferred to all the virgins, colledled from the various provinces of the Per- fian empire, and chofen in the room of Vafhti. The choice of Efther was not the only important link in this chain. There was another, not lefs neceifary. This was the advancement of • Ha- inan, alfo a ftranger, and an hereditary enemy of the whole Jewilh nation. The king " fet his feat ** above all the princes that were with him." The moft prominent feature in the charadter of this Amalekite was pride. Had not his pride been hurt, the wifdom and power of God would not have been difplayed in the deliverance of his people. The king had commanded that all his fervants fhould bow and do reverence to Haman. Mordecai. PROVED FROM SACRED HISTORY. 2.75 Mordecai, the Jew, Efther's coufin, was the only one at the court of Perlia who would not give Haman the commanded reverence ; moft probably becaufe it was of fuch a kind, as in his judgment belonged to God alone. The injured pride of Haman, like a cankered fore, fwelled into the moft cruel refentment. He thought it below his dignity to hngle out Mordecai as his victim. Nay, it feemed a revenge unworthy of his grcat- nefs, that this puny offender fhould be the only fufferer. He determined to glut his refentment, by making a facrifice of the whole Jewifli nation. The bloody, the irrevocable edidl was according- ly paffed, and tranfmitted by exprefs to all the provinces, that the Jewifh name might become cxtindt in one day. Even after the edid: was publiflied, the advcr- fary of the Jews could have no enjoyment of his greatnefs, as long as Mordecai fat in the king's gate. Haman thought, perhaps, that this dread- ful edidl might have a little tamed the fpirit of Mordecai. But he ftill " moved not for him." He therefore changes his refolution ; and deter- mines to anticipate his revenge, as to this ob- noxious individual. He could not reft, therefore, till he got a gallows made for Mordecai, on which he was to be hanged next day. But obferve, how God counterplots Satan ! Now, that Haman can take reft in his bed, the king can find none. " On " that night could not the king fleep, and he " commanded to bring the book of records of the " chronicles ; and they were read before the S 2 *' king. 276 A PARTICULAR PROVIDENCE " king. And it was found written, that Morde- ** cai had told of Bigthana and Terefh, two of " the king's chamberlains, the keepers of the ** door, who thought to lay hands on the king. " And the king faid, What honour and dignity " hath been done to Mordecai for this ? Then " faid the king's fervants unto him. There is no- ** thing done for him ■"." On what a flender thread was the life of this faithful fervant fuf- pended I Had Ahafuerus flept as ufual that night, there is every reafon to believe that Mordecai would have perifhed next day. Although the king's fleep had ** fled away from him," had he called for any entertainment but that of reading, for any other book but the records of his king- dom ; or had his fervants read in any other place, but that which gave an account of the king's prefervation from a confpiracy ; in all probability Haman's fuit would have been granted, and his purpofe fulfilled, before Efther could have heard of his fcheme. For at the very time that Aha- fuerus alked the queftion mentioned above, Ha- man had come into the outer court, " to fpeak ** unto the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows ** he had prepared for him "." How narrow the hinge on which the falvation of the whole Church turned I This was no other than the uncertain humour of a defpot. So well was Efther acquainted with this, and fuch reafon had Vae to fear it, efpecially as fhe had " not been '' called to come in unto the king for thirty days,'* that m Efth. vi. I. — 3. n Ver. 4, 5. PROVED FROM SACRED HISTORY. 277 that when fhe refolved to prefent herfelf before him, flie well knew that her life was at ftake. Had Ahafuerus been in a fretful mood, when Eflher appeared, or had he taken umbrage at her coming without being called ; her fate would have been worfe than that of Vafhti. According to the nature of the Perlian law, Ihe mult have perifhed ; and who would then have ventured to intercede for her people ? It was the will of God, not only to defeat the defigns of the wicked Haman, but to give the Church caufe of triumph in the ruin of this im- placable adverfary. But his difgrace is deferred, till he had attained the greateft honour that could be conferred on a fubjed:. Not only did Aha- fuerus " fet his feat above all the princes," but as Haman himfelf boafted, Queen Eilher permitted no man to enter with the king to her banquet, but himfelf. This new honour fhed a gleam of joy on his rankled heart ". But then, when he had reached the higheft pinnacle of dependent great- nefs, he is hurled into the abyfs of ruin : and it appears from the event, that the gallows, which he had prepared for Mordecai, was defigned by God for himfelf. Although, however, Mordecai was not only fa- ved but exalted ; although Haman was brought to deftrudlion ; there ftill feemed to be one in- fuperable obftacle to the prefervationof the church. This was the irrevocable nature of the laws of the Medes and Perfians. But even this was pro- S 3 videntially n Efth, V. p. 278 A PARTICULAR PROVIDENCE videntially ordered and overruled for the greater triumph and fecurity of the people of God. For had the law been otherwife, their deftrudtion would only have been prohibited. Bat as the king's edid could not, according to the conftitu- tion of the empire, be exprefsly recalled ; ano- ther was publiflied, empowering the Jews not on- ly to Hand on their defence, but to avenge them- felves on all their enemies. It was now more than two months fince the former edid had been publifhed. They had, therefore, full time to know who were their enemies, and who anxioully waited for the day of their deftrudion. Thus alfo they were feconded and fupported in the lawful means they ufcd for their own preferva- tion, by the rulers of the different provinces « : and by the dellrudion of thofe " who fought " their hurt," had a foundation laid for their fafety againfl any attempt of a fimilar kind, when there might be no Mordecai to manage, and no Either to intercede for them. From the whole it is evident, that Mordecai fpoke not in the way of mere conjeclure, when he faid to the queen ; " Who knoweth, whether ** thou art come to the kingdom for fuch a time 'fas this i'r" There was nothing miraculous in all this concatenation of circumftances. But he, who can fuppofe that it could be wholly the ef- fe6l of the operation of fecondary caufes, with- out any fpecial operation of the Firft, is on the high way to atheifm. III. That Eftb. ix, I.— 3. p Efth. iv. 14. PROVED FROM SACRED HISTORY. 279 III. That this operation is of a moft particular nature, frequently appears from the feafon of it. When the Lord is about to work deliverance, he often allows matters to come to extremity ; fo that no rational hope can be formed from the or- dinary operation of fecondary caufes. God had determined to deliver his ancient people from the power of the Philiftines. But he would not do it, till they were reduced to a very abjedl ftate, and deprived of the ordinary means of deliverance. " In the day of battle there was neither fword nor " fpear found in the hand of any of the people *' that were with Saul and Jonathan : but with " Saul and with Jonathan his fon was there *' found "." The deliverance of the Jews from Babylon was an event of fuch importance, that for effedling it, God had purpofed to overthrow the whole Chaldean empire. But it was delay- ed, till his people began to defpair of relief, and exprefled themfelves in this manner ; " Our ** bones are dried, and our hope is loft, we are cut " off for our parts ^" God is pleafed to work in this manner, that the operation may be more evi- dently his own, and that his perfedions may be more fignally glorified. In confequence of fuch deliverances, even the heathen are made to fay ; " The Lord hath done great things for them.'* Can his own people refufe to add, " The Lord " hath done great things for us ?" IV. The particularity of providential operation is often manifefted by the d'lf cover y of iccxtt Jin. S4 As q I Sam. xiii. zj. r Ezek. xxxvii. ii. 2So A PARTICULAR PROVIDENCE As the eyes of God *' are upon the ways of men,'* as *' there is no darknefs, nor Ihadow of death, " where the workers of iniquity may hide them- " felves ^ ;" even in the prefent life he often brings to light the hidden things of darknefs. From the Sacred Hiflory it appears, that long be- fore the giving of the law, it was a divine ordi- nance, that the widow of him who died childlefs Ihould be married by his brother, or by the near- eft of kin. Hence the crime of Tamar was con- fidered as punifhable with death. For fhe was viewed as virtually an adulterefs, being referved for the furviving brother of Er and Onan. But, in the wonderful difpofal of Providence, her con- demnation is overruled as the occafion of the difcovery of Judah's lecret iniquity with her, and alfo of his being brought to a convi^lion and con- fefiion of his guilt in withholding from her his fon Shelah. When flie prefented Judah's bracelets, and fignet, and ilaff, he acknowledged tJ(;iem, fay- ing ; " She hath been more righteous than I *." So remarkable are the ways in which lin is often brought tolight, that even worldly men are laid un- der a neceffity of acknowledging the hand of God. Sometimes the tranfgreffor is moft unaccountably infatuated. All the prudence difplayed in his former conduct feems at once to forfake him ; fo that he ad:s as if he were determined to be his own accufer. At other times, the very fchemes that he has devifed with the greateft art for con- cealing his guilt, prove the occalion of a difco- very. s Job xxxiv. 21, 22. t Gen. sxxviii. a6. PROVED FROM SACRED HISTORY. 281 very. This is efpecially the cafe with refpedl to murder. From the days of Cain till this hour, blood hath had a loud, a powerful cry. In this manner did the fons of Jacob interpret the language of Providence, in the treatment they met with from their unknown brother. Till then they appear to have had no compundion for their crime, which had hitherto been buried in their own breafts. But a duller of circumftances, in their prefent lituation, feems to have flaflied con- viction on their obdurate minds. They were at this time in that very land into which they had fent their brother as a flave. The ruler of it un- der Pharaoh accufed them of not being *' true " men ;" and falfe had they been to him, and to their father. As they had formerly call Jofeph into a pit, they had themfelves been all call into prifon. He refufed to acquit them from the charge he had brought againil them, and to deli- ver up the hoftage he demanded, on any other condition than that of their bringing with them Benjamin, the darling of their father, and as they might imagine, the only furviving child of Ra- chel. Could they hear this requifition, without reflecting on their condudt towards her other fon, whom they had hated, for no other reafon than that which made them defpair of being able to bring Benjamin, — becaufe " his father loved him ♦' more than all his brethren " ?" They had refu- fed to liften to all the entreaties of Jofeph ; and their own, addreffed to this ftranger, are treated with ri Gen. xxxvJi. 4. 282 A PARTICULAR PROVIDENCE with equal difregard. It is not furprifing then, that fheir minds were all at once ftruck with the fame convidion, and that they fpoke with one voice. " They faid one to another. We are verily " guilty concerning our brother, in that we faw " the anguilli of his foul, when he befought us ; •' and we would not hear : therefore is this di- " llrefs come upon us. And Reuben anfwered " them, faying. Spake I not unto you, faying. Do " not lin againft the child ; and ye would not ** hear : therefore behold alfo, his blood is requi- V. Divine providence is often lingularly dif- played in the flriking Jimilarity that may be ob- ferved between Jin and pimiJJjment. A great va- riety of examples might be given from Scripture. But I fhall mention only two or three ; having already made fome obfervations on this head, when treating of the Juftice of God. The Egyptians were " guilty of blood," in ex- ecuting the iniquitous decree of Pharaoh, who commanded that all the male children of the If- raelitcs fhould be drowned in the river Nile : and in the punilhment of this guilt, the plagues of Egypt had their commencement. God turned into blood the waters of this river, which alone fupplied the Egyptians with drink ^^ He " gave " them blood to drink, becaufe they were wor- " thy ;" and this judgment was a ftriking figure of that which fliould be inflided, according to the fame V Gen. xlii. 21, %%. vr Exod. vli. 20. PROVED FROM SACRED HISTORY. 283 iame plan of retribution, on that antichriftian body, which " fpiritually is called Egypt ," which by her corruption has converted the pre- cious waters of the fanduary into blood, and has alfo been made *' drunken with the blood of the faints ".'* David had greatly finned in the mat- ter of Uriah. The blood of tliis juft man called for vengeance. God, in his fovereign pleafure, diipenfed with his own law, in as far as David was perfonally concerned. He intimated to him, that he fliould not die. But he was pleafed to giv'j a perpetual memorial of his difpleafure in declaring that, becaufe he had killed Uriah with the fvvord of the children of Ammon, the fword Ihould never depart from his houfe. David had previouliy raifed up evil againft Uriah in his own houfe, by feducing his wife ; thus robbing the poor man of his " one little ewe lamb." For this reafon God faid to David, " Behold, I will raife " up evil againft thee out of thine own houfe." And in what manner was this threatening to be fulfilled ? The wives and concubines of David were to be defiled by his own fon ^ What a ftridt and awful retribution have we here I blood pu- niflicd by blood, and one fm by another of the fame kind, although far more aggravated, adul- tery by inceft ! Gehazi, the fervant of Elifha, coveted the property of Naaman the leper, and employed fuch means for obtaining it, as involved himfelf in the guilt of falfehood, and fubjeded his mailer to the imputation of having aded dif- honourably, X Rev. xi. 8. y Clup. viii. 8. ; xvii, 6. 22 Sam. xii, 9. — xi. 2S4 A PARTICULAR PROVIDENCE honourably. But in the righteous jullice of God, he is made to pofTefs a part of the former proper- ty of Naaman, that he coveted not. He went out from the prefence of his mafter, a leper white as fnovv \ As God required the blood of right- eous Naboth of the houfe of Ahab, there was one peculiar aggravation of the crime, which mud have been recalled to the recollection of others by a circumftance attending the punifhment. When Ahab determined the deflrudlion of Naboth, at the iniligation of his wicked wife, he ufed reli- gion as a pretence. He proclaimed a faft, and ace ufed the good man of blafphemy. Obferve the wonderful retribution. By a fimilar pretence, and with no more fincerity, Jehu extended the vengeance to the whole posterity of Ahab. When about to execute it, he faid to Jonadab, " Come *' with me, ^nd fee my zeal for the Lord ''.'* VI. The particular operation of Providence is often difcernible in the choice of the injlruments employed for punilliing iniquity. It was the will of God to punifh the cruelty of Haman, the ad- verfary of the Jews ; but he would firit humble his pride, which had fet his cruelty a-working. What inftrument could be fo completely adapted for this end, as that Mordecai whom he hated more than any human being ? This upright Jev/ had ufed no means which could tend to the de- ftrudion of his adverfary. He was merely a paf- five inftrument ; and therefore the hand of God 4 was a ^ Kings V. 27. b i Kings xxi. 6.— 13. ; 2 Kings x. i6. PROVED FROM SACRED HISTORY. 285 was more eminently feen in the whole manage- ment of this matter. What could give fiich a wound to the pride of Haman, who knew the great partiality of Ahafuerus for himfelf, as to learn that Mordecai, that contemptible Jew, whom he had condemned to the gallows, was " the man whom the king delighted to honour ?" The command of Ahafuerus, direded to Haman, muft have inflided a ftill deeper wound. When Haman was afked by his mafter what fhould be done to the man whom the king delighted to ho- nour ; as he had not the leaft hefitation that he was himfelf the favoured perfon, he propofed that very plan that would be moft gratifying to his own pride. " Let the royal apparel," faid he, ** be brought, which the king ufeth to wear, and " the horfe that the king rideth upon, and the " crown-royal which is fet upon his head. And " let this apparel and horfe be delivered to the " hand of one of the king's moft noble princes, " that lie may array the man withal whom the " king delighteth to honour, and bring him on " horfeback through the ftreet of the city, and *• proclaim before him. Thus fhall be done to the " man whom the king delighteth to honour." All this was Haman commanded to do to Morde- cai. The conclufion that his wife men and his wife formed from this event, was foon verified in the experience of Haman. They faid to him. " If Mordecai be of the feed of the Jews, before " whom \hou haft begun to fall, thou Ihalt not pre- *' vail 286 A PARTICULAR PROVIDENCE " vail againil him, but fhalt furely fall before " him ^." It is one flrange character of the operation of God, that he often employs inflruments, whom he finds it necefTary to punifli for the very work they have done. We have feen, that the ufe he makes of them is perfectly coniiftent with hi* own infinite holinefs. But he punifhes them, be- caufe of the wicked motives by which they have been actuated in doing his work. We have for- merly referred to the fevere punifhment of Sen- nacherib. Concerning Nebuchadnezzar, a cele- brated writer makes the following obfervations : " We fee in the perfon of this impious, and at *' the fame time victorious king, what are thofe ** men called conquerors. They are for the moft " part but initruments of the divine vengeance. *' God exercifes his juilice by them, and then " exercifes it upon them." — Judea " totally falls, " is totally deltroyed by the divine juftice, where- " of Nebuchadnezzar is the minifter. He too " fhall fall in his turn ; and God, who employs " the hand of that prince to chaftife his children, " and pull down his enemies, referves him for his " own almighty hand"^." VII. The ciraimjlances of punifhment often de- mand our attention, as- affording a ftriking proof of a particular operation. The time is fometimes very remarkable. God had determined to abafe Nebuchadnezzar, becaufe of his pride and vain glory. c Efther vi. 7. — 13. d Uofl'uei'i Unlverfal Hiftory, Vol. i, p. 235, &c. PROVED FROM SACRED HISTORY, 287 glory. The opportunity which Providence em- braced was fuch as lignally to difplay divine ope- ration ; and, at the fame time, to proclaim the reafoh of the judgment. While the king walked in the palace of Babylon, he " fpake and faid, " Is not this great Babylon that I have built " for the houfe of the kingdom, by the might of " my power, and for the honour of my majefly ?'* Every word that he utters, is fraught with arro- gance and felf- importance. It was folly in him to look, with fuch a temper of mind, on a mafs ot ftone and lime, that might foon be converted in- to a heap of ruins. Not fatisfied, however, with viewing the work with admiration, his thoughts break out into language. Nor does he merely fay, ** Is not this Babylon ?" but it muft be ** great " Babylon." And why great ? Becaufe Nebu- chadnezzar had built it. •* Is not this great Ba- ** bylon, that / have built ?'* as if he could impart his own fancied greatnefs to the work of his ma- fons and carpenters ; or becaufe he wdflied that this greatnefs Ihould be refledled in the extent and fplendour of his imperial city. But the end muft not be forgotten ; — " built, — for the houfe *' of the kingdom,'* for a royal palace, for the me- tropolis of a great empire. By what power was all this effeded ? Docs he acknowledge the true God ? Does he mention even his own Bel or Nebo ? No. This proud monarch feels as if, after fuch a wonderful creation, he were great enough to be a god to himfelf : — " Great Baby- " Ion, that I have built, — by my power." This had 255 A PARTICULAR PROVIDENCE had been V too feeble a mode of expreffion, in de- fcribing fo aflonifhing a work. There muft be a reduplication of the idea, to give a more enlar- ged view of his poffeflion of this attribute. He talks in a fuperlative ftyle, as if entitled to ufe godlike language ; — " by the might of my power." And as if the end formerly mentioned, — " for the " houfe of the kingdom," had been of itfelf un- worthy of the dignity of the agent, or unequal to the importance of the work, he fubjoins ; — *' and for the honour of my majefty." Here he difcovers his laft, his higheft end. As he fpeaks without any regard to God, he declares that his building fuch an elegant metropolis was not for the benefit or comfort of his fellow-men ; or mere- ly, or even principally, for the honour of the king- dom of Babylon. He views the whole, only as it related to himfelf. The language had been arro- gant enough, had he only faid ; — " by my power, *' for my honour." But the end muft be notified by the fame pompous pleonafm as the means. All this is ** for the honour of my majefty." Let us mark the immediate confequence. " While the word was in the king's mouth, there " fell a voice from heaven, O king Nebuchad- ** nezzar, to thee it is fpoken, Thy kingdom is *' departed from thee. And they ftiall drive thee " from men, and thy dwelling fliall be with the " beafts of the field ." He had in effed " fet his " mouth againft the heavens :" and " there fell a " voice" from that exalted throne which he had outraged a Dan. iv. 30. — 33. PROVED FROM SACRED HISTORY. 289 outraged by his arrogance. What a fatal blow to his impious egotifm ! " To thee it is fpoken." In the awful fcntence, he is acknowledged as a king: but only to' remind him, that there is one infinitely above him, who indeed " beholdeth all " high things, and is a king over all the children " of pride ;" and to prepare him for receiving the mortifying intelligence, that his " kingdom is *' departed." He is not only ftript of his royal power, and thruft out from his palace ; but the whole extent of Babylon cannot afford him a flielter. Driven from " the houfe of his king- '* donij'* he mufl have his •' dwelling with the " bealls of the field." He Vv-ho had " come up *' like a lion from the fwelling of Jordan unto the " habitation of the ftrong"," is not permitted, in his abafemcnt, even to retain the character of this monarch of the foreft. So low is " the honour " of his majeiiy" brought, that he is " made to " eat grafs as oxen." As this fentence " fell 1' from heaven," at the very time that " the word " v\^as in the king's mouth," how fudden was its execution 1 " The fame hour was ttie thing ful- " filled upon Nebuchadnezzar." Similar, as to time, was the punifhment of his grandfon Belfliazzar. In the madnefs of a great feaft, he would make an experiment mere daring than any he had ever made in his more fober mo- ments. At his command, " they brought the " golden veffels that were taken out of the tem- " pie of the houfe of God, which was at Jerufa- Vol. II. T '< lem : b Jer. li. 44. 290 A PARTICULAR PROVIDENCE " iem : and the king, and his princes, his wives *' and his concubines, drank in them." As if the impiety of profaning the veffels confecrated to the true God had been too little, they go as far as poffible to make him the minifler of their abominable idolatry. They drank wine, and " they praifed the gods of gold, and of lilver, of " brafs, of iron, of wood, and of flone." But the judgment of this ungodly prince lingered not^ " In the fame hour came forth fmgers of a man's '' hand, and wrote over againft the candleflick," in the raoll confpicuous place of the royal apart- ment. And what was the writing ? Although the vv'ill of God was communicated in a different manner, it was materially the fame with that exprelTed by the voice from heaven, which was dire<5led to his grandfather. The writing was this ; " God hath numbered thy kingdom, and " finifiied it ^." Many fimilar inftances of ih^ fiidden execution of fentence againft evil works are recorded in Scripture. The Ifraelites demanded flefh, to m- tisfy their luft. God gave it, but in anger : and to Ihew in the mod unequivocal manner the caufe of his difpleafure, *' while the flefh was yet be- *' tween their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath •* of the Lord was kindled againft the people ; ** and he fmote them with a very great plague ^'."^ Punifhment overtook both Ananias and his wife Sapphira, as foon as they had finned <^. Of the fame kind was the judgment of King Herod. No fooner c Dan. V. 2.-4, 0,6. d Numb, xi. 2Z- « Afts v. i.— 10. PROVED FROM SACRED HISTORTf. 2gi tboner was his heart fly-blown witli pride^ than he became a prey to worms. He cordially accept- ed the bafe adulation of the peopJe, when they impioufly faid, " It is the voice of a god, and not ** of a man. And immediately the angel of the " Lord fmote him, becaufe he gave not God the ** glory ; and he was eaten of worms, and gave " up the ghoft '." The pliici' of punifliment is often very reitiark- able. When Ahab caufed the juft Naboth to be murdered, God declared, that where dogs had licked Naboth's blood, dogs Ihould alfo lick the l)lood of Ahab ; and that they fhould eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, that is, the very field that had belonged to Naboth ?. How ftridly was this fulfilled I Ahab having been mortally wound- ed in battle, while in his chariot ; when his body was brought to Samaria, '* one wafhed the chariot " in the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up "his blood ." About twenty- four years after- wards, when Jehu alTumed the royal authority, he commanded that Jezebel fhould be thrown down from a window of the palace. After he had fpent fome time in refrefliing himfelf, thinking perhaps that he had treated her with too much indignity, he commanded that fhe fliould be bu- jied, as being a king's daughter. But when they went to bury her, " they found no more of her " than the fkull, and the feet, and the palms of " her hands." It is evident, from the hiftory, that in this inftance Jehu had no defign to co-ope- T 2 rate £ Afls x\'\. sa, 23. g I Kings xxi. 19; 23. h t fLings xxii. 38, 2g2 A PARTICULAR PROVIDENCE rate in the confirmation of prophecy. For till he received this information, he had no recollec- tion of the fentence pronounced againft her. Then indeed it recurred on his mind. *' They came " again, and told him : and he faid, This is the " word of the Lord, which he fpake by his fer- " vant Elijah the Tilhbite, fiiying. In the portion " of Jezreel fliall dogs eat the fleili of Jexebel : f and the carcafe of Jezebel fhall be as dung up- " on the face of the field, in the portion of Je'zreelj " fo that they fhall not fay. This is Jezebel '." As little was it from any preconcerted defign on the part of Jehu, that the defcendants of Ahab were killed in the very place where the blood of Na- both had been v^ickedly fhed. " Joram king of " Ifrael, and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, " each in his cliariot, and they went out againft *' Jehu, and met him in th.Q portion of Nahoth the " Jezreelite '-." It is remarkable indeed, that the vengeance threatened was brought on the houfe of Ahab, at the very time that the king of Judah was on a vifit to Jeroboam ; that he might par- take of the puniiliment, as being a defcendant of the wicked Ahab. Joram, having been wounded in battle againft the Syrians at Ramah, it was providentially ordered that he ftiould go to Jez- reel, rather than to Samaria, to be healed of his .wounds. Thither, his coufin Ahaziah had come to fee him, becaufe he was wounded i. There ia no evidence that Jehu fixed on this time, from a wifli to include the king of Judah in the punilh- ment i 2 Kings 1x, 30.--3(). U a King? ix, ji, I 2 Kings viii. 20, PROVED FROM SACRED HISTORY. 293 ment of the houfe of Ahab. It does not even ap- pear, that Jehu knew of Ahaziah's being then at Jezreeh But all was the refult of the immutable purpofe of God, and accompliflied by a wonderful operation of his Providence. " The deftrudion " of Ahaziah was of God, by coming to Joram : " for, when he was come, he went out v»'ith Je- " horam againft Jehu the fon of Nimflii, whom " the Lord had anointed to cut off the boufe of " ui4bab"\^^ In like manner, it was the will of God, that the fons of his brethren, to the number of forty-two, lliould come from Jernfalem to Sa- maria, at this very time, on a vifit to tlie children of Ahab, who refided there, that, they might be included in the common fate of that devoted fa- mily ". VIII. I fliall only add, that the truth of what we have alTerted appears from thofe events which are of a contingent nature. Events may be called fortuitous or contingent with refpe6l to men, as not being influenced by human forefight, or de- pending on fuch an operation of fccondary caufes that the refult can be matter of rational expeda- tion. But none of thefe can be viewed as contin- gent with refpect to God. As they are all cer- tainly foreknown to him, they are all difpofed and directed by his Providence. Although the iffue of the lot, if fairly managed, depends not on human ikill, and lies beyond the reach of human forefight ; yet we have various inftances of its T 3 being m 3 Cliron. xxii. 7. a a Kings x. 11.— 14. ; x Chroa, xxi. 17. ^94 -A- PARTICULAR PROVIDENCE being fo regulated by God, as clearly to declare his overruling providence, and to proclaim his Avill : as in the cafe of Achan °, of Saul p, of Jona- than 1, and of Jonah ". The unnatural fons of Ja- cob had formed no fixed plan as to the manner in which they were to difpofe of their brother Jo- feph. His being fold, rather than fuftered to pe- rilh in a pit, was a mere contingency to them. Not lefs fo was the appearance of the Iflimaelites at this time. Of the f^me nature was the cir- cumftance of his becoming the flave of Potiphar. But although thefe things were contingent to them, they were neceffary according to the eter- nal purpofc ■ and ail managed, as we have already feen, by a particular providence. Ahab received his death entirely in a fortuitous way, as far as man was concerned. But, as was foretold by Mi- caiah, it was the decree of the Moft High that he fhould fall that day. He ufed every precaution for the prefcrvation of his life. He difguifed hnn- felf, that he might be unknown in battle ; while he ungenproully alked of Jehofliaphat to appear in his royal apparel, and thus expofe himielf to the^ danger he wifhed to avoid. He alfo entered the field in complete armour. The thirty two Syrian captains, at the command of their fovereign, em- ployed the utmofl diligence to difcover Ahab ; but, as would appear, in vain. " A certain man," however, *' drew a bow at a venture, and fmote ** the king of ifrael between the joints of the har- " nefii." o Jofh. vii. i6.— 18. p I Sam. x. ax. q i Sana. xiv. 42, r Jonah i. 7. PROVED FROM SACRED HISTORY. 295 *''nefs^'* There is no evidence that this was one of the captains, appointed to fearch for Ahab. This archer fhot without any particular aim. For he ** drew a bow in his fimplicity," as the words literally fignify, having no apprehenfion that he would hit the king of Ifrael. But the arrow was directed by tbe divine hand, to the very fpot in Ahab's armour by which an arrow might enter, and where he might receive a mortal wound. The doctrine of a particular providence is fraught with confolation. What xeafon have we to rejoice, that nothing in our lot can be the ef- fed: of mere chance ; that every thing which be- fals us " cometh from the Lord, who is wonder- " ful in counfei, and excellent in working ;" and that even thofe events v/hich may be accidental to us, are all the eifeft of infinite wifdom, and produced by the unerring operation of almighty power I Let us ftiil regard and acknowledge the opera- tion of his hand. Do we enjoy profperity ? Let us remember, that it is God alone who maketh rich or great. Are we vilited with adverlity ? We may derive comfort from this conlideration, that " afilidion rifeth not out of the ground, and *' that trouble fpringeth not from the duft." Are we indebted to any of our fellow men as benefac- tors ? Let us not return ingratitude for their kindnefs. But, leafl of all, let us forget the God of our mercy. Well may we imitate the condudl T4 of i 1 Kings sxii. 34. 'Zg6 A PARTICULAR. PROVIDENCE of Ezra, who, M'hile he acknowledged the kind^ nefs of Artaxerxes, efpecially remarked the di- vine hand ; faying, " Bleffed be the Lord God " of our fathers, who hath put fuch a thing as *' this in the king's hearts" Do we fuffer un- juftly from others ? Although we have given them no provocation, we may well fay, " Is there "not a caufe?" Have we not, times and ways W' ithout number, provoked that juft and holy God, who has an indifputable right to employ whom he will as the inftruments of his difpleafure ? Let us imitate the conduct of David, who, when Shi- mei the Benjamite reviled and curfed him with- out a juft reafon, faid to thofe who were eager to take vengeance on this worthlefs man, " Let him *' alone, and let him curfe ; for the Lord hath *' bidden him ' ." Juflly mayeft thou, O Chriflian, take comfort from this precious dodlrine. That God, in whom " all live, and are moved, and have their being," who " giveth life, and breath, and all things," is thy God. Thou art not only, in common with others, under the diredion of a particular provi- dence, in all thy ways : but to thee it is wholly a providence of love. All the ways of the Lord thy God are truth and mercy. They are all truth, as exactly correfponding with his gracious pro- mife ; and all mercy, as direclly tending to its liill accomplifhment. He does not merely com- pafs thy path, and thy lying down ; but he ftill furrounds thee with his favour, as with a Ihield. Thy t Ezra vii. 27. u a Sajm. xvi. u. PROVED FROM SACRED HISTORY. 297 Thy fevereft adverfities " work together for " good," The ways of thy God may now feem covered with darknefs. But in a little thou fhalt fee, that they have been all *' prepared as the " morning." Wait, therefore, on the Lord thy God. Commit thy way to him, and he will bring it to pafs. " Many forrows lliall be to the wick- " ed : but he that trufteth in the Lord, mercy •' fhall compafs him about." SECTION X. 'The Natural Depravity of Alan. — Example infuf- ficient to account for the Symptom^ or Univerfa- lity of Human Corruption. — This proved to be Natural, from its Early Appearance ;— from the Hiflory of Setb ;—from the Names given to the Antediluvian Patriarchs j — from the Death of Children ;—from the Circumjlances which al- lude to the Manner in which Sin is tranfnitted. We have already taken a curfory view of hu- man depravity ; of its rapid progrefs and almoft univerfal dominion, of its influence on the heart, and of its fatal effeas. Let us now trace this to its origin ; and it will appear that man is indeed " a tranfgrefTor from the woitab." From the na- ture oi this work, it would be improper to intro- duce 298 NATURAL UEPRAVITV OF MAN duce thofe proofs that are merely of a doclriiial kind : and I Ihall not even call the attention of the reader to ail the hillorical evidence which the Scripture affords. The doctrine of our original corruption might be proved, from the nature of that federal tranfadlion intQ which God entered with man in a Hate of innocence ; from the cove- nant being made with Adam before the forma- tion of Eve, although it included her as well as her hufband, and on the fame principle, the pof- terity of both ; from the curfe pronounced on the ^vovLiiCiyfor the fake of 7jian, which undoubtedly affedts the defcendants of Adam, no lefs than it did himfelf ; from the circumftance of his calling his wife Eve, that is, '' the mother of all living," not immediately after God had blefled them, fay- ing, " Be fruitful and multiply," nor while they continued in a ftate of integrity, but after the fall. This, as it clearly fliews his perfuafion that all thofe of her pofterity who fliould in a fpiritual fenfe deferve the name of Iwing, fhould be made alive by virtue of that Seed, who, according to the promife, was to fpring from her ; at the fame time teftifies his convidion that they fliould all by nature be under the fentence of fpiritual and eternal death. Without entering into a particu- lar confideration of thefe, and of feveral other proofs of the fame kind, I fliall confine myfelf to u few of a different defer ipt ion. I. It is plain from Scripture-hiflory, that the corruption of man proceeds not merely, or chief- ]y, from example, Imitdtion is indeed a power- ful ILLUSTRATED FROM SACRED HISTORY. 299 ful principle in our nature ; but it cannot pro- duce all the efFedls which have been afcribed to it. If there be no corrupt bias in the heart of man, the principle of imitation muft, where cir- cumftances are equal, have equal effeds, although of an oppofite kind. It muil; operate as power- fully in following a good, as an evil, example. But how far this is from being the cafe, let the experience of mankind declare. The crime of Cain was not only heinous in it- felf, but highly aggravated. It was not merely murder, one of the moft horrid crimes that can be perpetrated by man, but fratricide ; and fratri- cide committed under the form of perfecution for righteoufnefs' fake. Abel had given no provoca- tion to his brother. He had trampled on no law human or divme. He had not direded a lingle word of reproach againfl Cain. But " he flew " him, becaufe his own works were evil, and his *' brother's righteous "." He committed this crime in the very face of God, after being fa- voured with an immediate revelation, warning him of his duty, and encouraging him by a pro- mife of acceptance, as well as of dominion over his brother ^. The wici ednefs of Cain could not proceed from imitation : for he was the tirft murderer. It could not be the effed of a gradual progrefs in guilt, in confequence of a long courfe of perfonal iniquity, or the influence of example in a long fucceflion of ages. Although the firil man born of V I John iii, ij, w Gen. iv, 7. gOQ ,• NATURAL DEPRAVITY OF MAN of woman, he was as wicked as any who have iince exilled. He went as far as he poffibly could, according to the nature of his fm ; and we c^n fcarcely form the idea of one more horrid. His guilt M'as further aggravated by fubfequent arro- gance, obduracy, and impiety. New modes of linning may be devifed, in cou- fequence of the exercife of man's fertile invention in the fervice of Satan. But thefe are only va- ried operations of the fame corrupt principle. Or fin may become more general, from the influence of example and perfuafion. The ways of man may become more flagitious ; but the principle in the heart is continually evil ^, It may be faid perhaps, that the example of Abel, although in the fame family, affords a proof that the corruption of Cain was not hereditary. But let it be obferv/cd, that we find nothing in the hiftory of Cain, which diftinguiflies him as natu- rally a worfe man than his brother. It was only " in procefs of time," when he prefented an ofier- ing to the Lord, that the wickednefs of his heart appeared. V\^e are informed indeed that Abel was righteous, while the character of Cain was quite the reverfe. But did the righteoufnefs of Abel originate from a better nature, or from the exercife of his own powers ? No ; " by faith he " offered unto God a more excellent facrifice than ** Cain, by which he obtained witnefs that he *' was righteous >." Now, as " faith is not of <* ourfelves, but is the gift of God ;" this clearly fhews % Gen. vi. 5. ra. comp, y Heb. 52. 4- ■ ILLUSTRATED FROM SAC^-ED HISTORY. 30X Ihews that righteoufnefs was not more natural to Abel than to his brother, but given him from above. Such is the uni'verfality of this corruption, that we muft neceiTarily conclude that it is born with us. Were not man naturally corrupt, it is incon- ceivable that in the courfe of only nine genera- tions from Adam, corruption fhould be fo univer- fal, that only one man fhould be found righteous in the whole world ; and fo great, as to exhauft the long-fufFering of the God of mercy ; cfpc- cially when we conlider the longevity of the pa- triarchs ; the confequent opportunity afforded to their poitcrity of being inftruded with refped: to the creation, the fall, and the revelation of grace ; and the appearance of at leaft one illufcrious pro- phet during this period. There might be fome groynd to plead the influence of example, did only the children of the wicked follow their ways. But we learn from Scripture, what is confirmed by obfervation in every age, that even the chil- dren of the mofl pious parents, who have been ftriftly educated in the ways of God, and as far as polTible preferved from the company of the wicked, difcover the fame corrupt inclinations with others. I fhall not mention the ungodly and undutiful Ham, left it fhould be faid that he wa$ tainted by the wickednefs of the antedjlitviari world. Did not Abraham receive this fignal tef- timony from God himfelf ? *' 1 know h;m, that " he will command his children and his houfe- ** hold after him \ and they flialb keep," or " that "they 302 NATURAL DEPRAVITY OF MAN ** thej may keep the way of the Lord ^." Was not Abraham feparated from the world around him, feparated from his own kindred ? Yet there • was an Ifhmael in his family, a fcoffer, a perfecu- tor 2. Was not Ifaac the father of that ** profane *' perfon Efau, who for one morfel of meat fold " his birthright '^ !" So wicked were fome of the fons of Jacob, that they '^ troubled him, to make *' him to {link among the inhabitants of the " land ^." Two of them were guilty of incefl;<^ ; two of them were perfidious murderers ; and they almoft all confpired againft Jofeph, and fold him as a Have. II. It is evident that this depravity is natural to man, becaufe it is afcribed to him, and actually appears in his condu6l, from his earliejl years. Here we might appeal to univerfal experience. Where is the parent, who, unlefs wonderfully blinded by fclf-love or prejudice, has not remark- ed in his children the mournful dawnings of pee- vifhnefs, wilfulnefs, difobedience, envy and re- fentment, almoft from the womb ? Who has not feen, that falfehood is their natural language, as foon as they begin to fpeak ? But we appeal to the obfervation of that Witnefs who cannot err. It is his teftimony, that " the imagination of *' man's heart is evil from his youths'' or ** in- ** fancy '^." It is not faid that man's ways are evil, but the aflertion refpeds his heart. Nor is it fimply declared that his heart is evil ; but this depravity z Gen. xviii, 19. a Gen. xxl. 9. ; Gal. iv. 29. b Heb. xii. 16. c Gen. xxxiv. 30. d Gen, xsxv. 22. ; Jcxsviii. 18. e Gen. viii. 21, ILLUSTRATED FROM SACRED HISTORY. 50-3 depravity is afcribed to the imagintition of his heart ; that is, to the very firft figment of thought there. For in us, that is, •' in our flefli," in our nature as childVen of Adam, *• dwelleth no good ** thing ;" and we are not " fufilcient of ourfelves " to think any thing as of ourfelves '." This cor- ruption is not confined to years of maturity. Man is thus depraved from his very infancy. For the original word, as it is fometimes rendered child- hood ?, properly denotes the whole age of man from his conception, till he arrive at the ftate of manhood. It is a derivative from the word which is ufcd to fignify a mere infant, and even an em- bryo in the womb ^'. Do \^'e read of fome, who in their early years have manifefted a difterent propenfity ? We are at the lame time allured that this was entirely the ctTed of divine grace. Thus John the Baptift was " filled with the Holy Ghoft, even from his ** mother's womb '." III. Original depravity is evidently afcribed to that Patriarchy who was to be the progenitor of the Meifiah, as well as of the Church. It has been often obferved, that the language employed by the Spirit of God, concerning the generation of Seth, dcferves particular attention. " Adam " — begat a fon in his own likenefs, after hi^ " image ; and called his name Seth." He mull. be wilfully blind, who, in this phrafeology, ob- ferves not an obvious reference to the language ufed f Rom. vii. 18. ; ; Cjr. iii. 5. ' g i Sam. xii. i. h Exol il. 6. ; Judg. xiii. 7. i Luke i. 15. 304 NATURAL DEPRAVITY OF MAN ufed with refped; to the creation of Adam, and at; the fame time a ftriking antitheiis. " God faid, ^* Let us make man in om' image, after our like- " nefs '^" But left the reader fliould overlook the contraft, becaufe of the pafTage referred to being at fome little diftance in the hiftory, the fame language is repeated immediately before this declaration with refped to Seth : " In the " day that God created man, in the likenep of God " made he him. — And Adam lived an hundred *' and thirty years, and begat a fon in his own " likenefs, after his image 1.'' A very important difference is undoubtedly marked between the likenefs of God and that of Adam. The likenefs of Adam was that of a fallen mortal creature. Adam was now a believer, but he was a linful man. The image of God, which he had lofl by the fall, was indeed partially reftored. But thi:; was not properly his image : and as it was refto- red only by grace, it could not be communicated according to the courfe of nature. Adam could beget no fon in his likenefs, even as partially re- newed. For moral rectitude can only be the ef- fed: of a new creation : and we are thus created, not in the firft, but in the fecond Adam ^■^. Al- though it had been poflible, that our firft parent could have communicated his image as a renew- ed man, ftill there would have been a communi- cation of his remaining corruption 5 and Seth would have inherited original fin. The k Gen. i. a(j, 1 Gen. v. i. 3. m Eph. ii. 10; Col. iii. 10. ILLUSTRATED FROM SACRED HISTORY. 305 The language of the Spirit of God, in this paf- fage, forms fo remarkable an antithefis to that em- ployed concerning the creation of Adam, that the mind inftantaneoully and irrciiftibly recurs to it : and how repugnant foever to the pride of the heart, feels a fecret convidtion that this means fomething very different from being "created in " God's image, after his likenefs." This account is not given vvich refpecl to Cain, although there can be no doubt that it is equally applicable to him. But fome might have indul- ged the vain imagination, that, when Gain re- ceived exiftence, iin retained more of its viru- lence in our firfl parents, than afterwards. Or, it might have been fuppofed, that this was peculiar to Cain, of whom it is {aid that he ** was of that ** wicked one ;" and that although lijiilar de- pravity had been communicated to his poflerity, this had periflicd with them in the univerfal de- luge. Nor is this faid of Abel, who, as far as appears, left no illlie. But this account is refer- ved for the hiftory of that other feed, whom God appointed initead of righteous. Abel. As, after the deluge, the earth was to be peopled folely by the defcendants of Seth ; as the feed of the Church, nay, that feed, in which all the families of the earth lliould be blelTed, was to fpring from him" ; wc are taught, by the Spirit of infpiration, what judgment we ought to form with refpedt to the natural ftate of mankind in general, and even of thofe who are the heirs of glory. Vol. II. U IV. The 306 NATtJRAL DEPRAVITY OF MAN IV. The very names of fome of the patriarchs convey this important leflbn. Among the He- brews and other eaftern nations, the names itti- pofed on perfons, either at their birth or after- wards, were always fignificant. They were mo- numents, of the mod fimple and familiar kind. They either denoted fomething (ingular in te- gard to their birth, or refpedied fome bleffing from God. Thus they were a fort of compen- dious hiftory. For we mud fuppofc, that parents were at pains to explain them to their children ; and they could not be pronounced, without the recolledion of the reafon of their being impo- fed ". But moil of the names given by the antedi- luvian patriarchs are confined to one affeding fub- je(5t. They exprefs the guilt and mifery of our nature ; as if thefe good men had ftill looked back to the entrance of fin, and kept in their eye its deferved punifhment. The name of Abel, as it fignifies 'vanity, or " a vapour that foon vanifh- " eth away," emphatically denoted, not merely the brevity of his life, but that of the life of man in general, who " at his befi: ftate is altogether " vanity." Seth, the fubllitute for Abel, gave a name to his fon, which exhibits man in the fame melancholy point of view. *' He called his name " jEwoj-." This iigm^ts forrowful, grievovjly Jickf miferable. Nor was this name confined to him. Like that of Abely it is extended to all men ; who are often called Enos, or fons of Enas, be- caufe n Fleury, Maurs des liiraelites, Chap, i. ILLUSTRATED FROM SACRED HISTORY. 307 c^.ufe of their fpiritual ficknefs, their forrow and miferv. Hence the Plahnift prays, with refped to the enemies and perfecutors of the Church ; " Put them in fear, O Lord, that the nations may ** know themfelves to be EnoSy miferable men ^." £nos feems to have recoUcdled the meaning of his own name, when he gave one to his fon Cai- nan ; for this may be rendered moiiriiing or la- mentation. The grandfon of Cainan was called Jared ; which may be tranllated defcendingy and has been underftood as referring to the dejcent of the fons of God from that ftate of feparation from the pofterity of Cain, in which they had hither- to continued W In different places of Scripture, the fame word denotes the efFedls of fin ; — as in Jef. xlviii. i8. " Come down from thy glory :" Lam. i. 9. *' She remembereth not her laft end ; *' therefore fhe came down wonderfully." The name Methufelah has been rendered by fome, " He dies, *' and it is fent ;" by others, " He dies, and the ♦' dart coraeth." According to either tranflation, the name is viewed as having a prophetical refe- rence to the deluge, which was fcnt that very year in which this good man died. Enoch, we know, was a prophet ; and it would appear that in giving a name to his fon, he foretold the flood nearly a thoufand years before it came. Methu- felah called his fon Lamecb, that is, poo?; rnade low, or o?ie who is Ji nick. U 2 V. The Pfal. ix. 20. See Ainfw. on Gen. iv. 0,6. p Heidegger. Hiltox. Sac. Vol. i. £t. vi. f. 31. 3C8 NATURAL DEPRAVITY OF MAN V. The corruption of our narure appears from the dominion which death hath exercifed over children. The apoftle Paul, in proving the exift- ence of a law previous to that given from Mount Sinai, and the condemnation of men by this law, obferves, " that death reigned from Adam to Mo- " fes, even over them that had not finned after " the limilitude of Adam's tranfgrefTion ^ ;" that is, over children, who had never fiifned in their own perforis. That death indeed reigned over thefe, or exercifed its full power on them, is evi- dent from the Scripture-hiftory. Vaft multitudes of children muft have periihed in the deluge. The deilrudlion of the cities of the plain extend- ed to perfons of every age. Many thoufands, who had never adiually finned, muil have fufFered in the plague of the firil-born. The command of God, with refpe6l to the extermination of the Amalekites, and other devoted nations, included children as well as adults. But, to ufe the lan- guage of Abraham, when interceding for Sodom and Gomorrah, as God " will not deftroy the *' righteous with the wicked," we may be alTured that the children, over whom death was permit- ted to reign, w'ere not viewed by him as righteous, *' Who ever perifhed, being innocent ?" They " had not finned after the fimilitude of Adam's " tranfgreflion." They could be viewed as guil- ty, therefore, only as having finned in that com- mon parent, who, as a public reprefentative, " is *' the figure of him that is to come ^" To q Rom. Y. 14. r Rom. v. i?., 14. comp. ILLUSTRATED FROM SACRED HISTORY. 309 To pretend that the death of infants is to be conlidered as a mercy rather than a judgment, as taking them away from the evils of this life ; is to beg the queflion in a very ridiculous manner, by fuppofing that they indifcriminately make a change to the better, or, in other words, that they mull of neceffity be free from future punifliment, as being free from fin. This aflertion alfo flatly denies the veracity of God in the threatening and fentence of the law : for it reprefents that as a blefling, which he denounces as a curfe. It is equally repugnant to all the feelings of our na- ture. For we Hill view death as in itfelf, not a benefit, but a calamity. However great the fuf- ferings of life, it is a very rare cafe, if men do not recoil from death with horror : and for reconci- ling the mind to it, all the confolations of religion are requilite. VI. The Scripture-hiftory includes a variety of circumflances which evidently allude to the man- ner in which fin is tranfmitted. The firft didate of Ihame, as felt by the parents of our race, in confequence of the entrance of fin, was to con- ceal thofe parts which are the infi:ruments of ge- neration. All the members of the body are em- ployed as the inftrumcnts of unrighteoufnefs j but fhame is efpecially excited by the nakednefs of thefe ; as if God would fet a fpecial mark of diflionour on them, to remind us that in this way fin, the parent of fhame, is tranfmitted from one generation to another ; and that the human race U 3 is 310 NATURAL DEPRAVITY OF MAN is continued, and fin communicated, by the very fame means. The ordinance of circumcifion had a fimilar reference. Being a painful rite, it i'ntimated that fin merits fuffering, and that man is fubje(3:ed to this by the fentence of his Judge. Was this rite performed in the way of excifion ? It figni- fied that the whole man deferves to be cut off from the fellowfliip of God. From the language frequently ufed in Scripture, it is evident that this ceremony denoted that the heart is depraved and polluted by fin. Therefore we read of the uncircumcifion of the heart, and of its being ne- ceflary that this fliould be circumcifed by divine grace -'. As it was a feal of the covenant of grace, and of " the righteoufnefs which is by ** faith ;" it refpecled man's condemnation by the fuft covenant, and proclaimed his need of jufl:i- fication and falvation by another. It was to be performed on the eighth day, that is, as foon as the child could be fuppofed able to bear it with- out danger, or be cleanied ; to declare that man is corrupted, that he is fubjecled to fuffering, that his heart is depraved, and that he needs to be re- generated and jaflified, even from the womb. The hereditary curfe to which woman is fub- jeded, is a ftriking indication of the manner in which fin is tranfmitted. " Unto the woman *' God faid, I will greatly multiply thy forrow *' and thy conception," that is, " thy forrow in ^* conception ; m forrow thou flialt brmg forth " children." ■5 Lev. Xivi. 41. ; Jer. ix. z6. •, Deut. x. 16. ; xxx. 6. ILLUSTRATED FROM SACRED HISTORY. 3II ** children '." Had this fentence been confined to Eve herfelf, it might have been viewed as merely the punifhment of her perfonal guilt. But it is entailed on her daughters. It fubfifts in its full force, although it is nearly fix thoufai^d years fince it was pronounced. Individuals, in- deed, in almoft every region, from fome peculia- rity of frame, and even the females in general be- longing to fome nations, feel the effeft of the lat- ter part of this fentence in a very irnferior de- gree, having little pain in child-bearing. But this no more forms an objedion to the general law, than does the great fertility of fome parts of the earth to the "curfe pronounced on it for the fin of man. Sorrow in conception and child-bearing is the common lot of women in eve- ry age : and for what end, but to remind man- kind, in their fucceffive generations, of the man- ner in which fin entered into the world ; to teach them alfo that they were " conceived in fin," and that it is jmpofiible that ** he who is born of a ''* woman fhould be righteous ?" This heredi- tary forrow, which is the native fruit of fin, pro- claims to the woman, every time llie conceives or bears a child, that Ihe ** travaileth with ini- " quity, hath conceived mifchief, and brings forth " falfehood." It alio deferves notice, that forrow in thefe re- fpedls is confined to our nature. It is unknown to all other animals, in any fimilar degree, ex- cept in peculiar cafes, or as proceeding from fome U 4 accidental C Gen. iii. 16. 312 NATURAL DEPRAVITY OF MAN accidental caufe : and fuch occafional diverfities cannot enter into the defcription of the fpecies in general. I may add, that the atonement enjoined under the law for every woman ** who had conceived " feed, and born a child," conveys the fame in- ftrudlion. She was not only to continue in a ftate of purification forty days, for a male-child, and eighty for a female ; but it was neceffary that, "when the time appointed was elapfed, flie Ihould ** bring an offering, and that the prieft fliould " make an atonement for her "." VII. The miraculous conception of our Saviour affords a flrong argument in fupport of the doc- trine under confideration. It was promifed that he fhould be the feed of the woman ^'. For had he defcended from Adam in the way of ordi- nary generation, he mull; alfo have linned and died in him ; and thus he could never have bruifed the head of the ferpent. The Mefliah, indeed, could not himfelf be fubjedled to death by means of the firfl Adam ; and yet by dying procure life, as the fecond. As this great promife was made immediately after the entrance of fin, and jufl be- fore the denunciation of the fentence on the wo- man, as to forrow in conception ; with refpedl to the time and the connexion, merits our atten- tion, that God proclaimed deliverance from fin by means of a deviation from the ordinary law which he had eftablifhed for the propagation of our fpecies. The carfe, written in conception, and tranfmitted by means of it, was to be remo- ved U Lev. .\ii. 1. — S. v Gen. iii. 15. ILLUSTRATED FROM SACRED HISTORY. 3I3 ved by a conception of fo extraordinary a na- ture, that " a woman fhould compafs a man"^"'." This " new thing in the earth" took place, when the Virgin Mary conceived by the power of the Holy Ghoft. That the Meffiah might have a right to redeem us, it was neceflary that he fhould be our near kinfman. He muft be of the fame ftock with ourfelves, that he might " not ** be afhamed to call us brethren," and that his obedience and fuffering might be imputed to iin- ners of the fame family. As this was requilite from his character as a Redeemer ; it was equally fo, from the greatnefs of that humiliation which ' was necelTary for our redemption. He muft " be- *' come in all things like unto us," as far as this conformity was attainable ** without fin." When, therefore, he afTumed our nature, without the in- tervention of man ; we may be aflured that the only reaion of this difference was, that he could not otherwife affume it without being fubjecled to fin. While the word was really *' made flefli," he was made only ** in the likenefs of Jinful " flefh." Accordingly, we are exprefsly inform- ed, that this feed of the woman, this *' holy ** thing," is called ** the Son of God," in confe- qiience of the " Power of the Higheft overfha- ** dowing" the Virgin \ What reafon have we for the deepeft humilia-' tion, when we contemplate our natural ftate I Well may we cry out with the leper under the ' law, W Jer. XJtii. a». "- X Luke i. 35. 314 NATURAL DEPRAVITY OF MAN, ot-C. Taw, " Unclean, unclean I" Let us imitate the exercife of David, in his penitential Pfalni, in tracing up our adual tranfgreffions to the corrupt and bitter fountain of original fin. Let us com^- pare our own deformity with that purity which the law requires, and in which we were created in our firft father ; and this will be our language to the Searcher of hearts : " Behold I thou de- ** fired truth in the inward p^rts ;" but " I was *' Ihapen in iniquity, and in fin did my mother ** conceive me." How ill does pride become a fallen, a polluted worm ; efpecially in relation to infinite holinefs I Well may " our mouth be ftop- " ped," in the prefence of that God, in whofe fight " the heavens are not clean." Let us beware of accufing divine jufi:ice, in en- trufting our holinefs and felicity in the hand of one perfon. Let us rather admire his mercy, in providing a remedy. Let us remember that God hath eternally difplayed and vindicated the juf- tice of his procedure in the old covenant, by the plan he purfues in the new : and that if we ob- fi:inately deny his juftice in the imputation of fin, we difclaim any intereft in the imputation of righteoufnefs. We cannot renounce our intereft in the firft Adam, as a reprefentative, without at the fame time renouncing all claim to the fecond. For " as by one man's difobedience many were " made finners ; fo by the obedience of one ftiall "many be made righteous." SECT, ON THE INCARNATION, &C. 3I5 SECTION XI. 'The Incarnation of f^e Son of God.— His frequent Appearance in the likenefs of Man^ a prelude of this. — Prefigured by the Smoking Furnace and Burning Lamp ; — the Burning Biijh ; — Jacob's Ladder; — the Cloud of Glory. — RefpeEled in the Rights of Primogeniture ; — Laiju of the Le- 'virate ; — Circumcifion ; — Patriarchal Mode of Swearing j — Abjiinence from the Sinew that J}jran<. Jesus Christ is the great fubjed: of the Holy Scriptures. ** The fpirit of prophecy is the tef- " timony of Jefus." The myftery of the incar- nation of a divine perfon is " without contro- " verfy great." On this myftery, refts the whole doctrine, revealed in the word of God, concerning our falvation. We need not wonder then, that, while this is the lubjed: of fo many prophecies and promifes, it lliould alfo have been exhibit- ed to the faith of the Church, by various fymbols and prelude; ; or that it was taught, not mere- ly in a dodiiaai way, but by hiftorical illuftra- tion. Before 3lb ON THE INCARNATION Before entering on the confideration of what is chiefly in view, it may be neceffary to obferve, that the foundation of the Church's faith, as to the incarnation of a divine perfon, lay in the firlt promife. In this it was declared, that the feed of the woman fhould bruife the head of the ferpent. The perfon, whofe appearance is here foretold, being called the feed of the 'woman ; faith, in em- bracing the promife, niufl have viewed him as truly man. But fuch is the nature of the work afcribed to him, that there was an equal neceffity for confidering him as God, The old ferpent had already fhewn, that man could not enter the lifts with him. He had deceived, and been the in- ftrument of deftroying our nature ; although he found it in a ftate .f innocency. Now, when it is faid, ** It fball bruife thy head," the meaning is, that the feed of the woman Ihould retort on himfelf the fatal ftroke given by this deftroyer ; that he fhould overthrow that external dominion in the world, which he had acquired in confe- quence of the fall ; nay, that he fhould fubdue his power in the heart of man, by the deftruclion of fm, which, as it is the offspring of the ferpent, is the great fupport of his kingdom. Could faith ever expcd: the accomplifhment of fuch a work by any mere creature ? -If any doubt had remained as to this being the meaning of the firft promife, it muft have^been fully removed by the predi(?lion of Enoch, the ftventh from Adam, >h exprefsly declared who it was that fhould come and " deftroy the works *'of OF THE SON OF GOD. 317 " of the devil." For he " prophelied, faying, Be- ** hold the Lord cometh >' :" and this prophecy is by no means to be confined to Chrifl's fecond coming, although it fliall have its full and final completion in this great event. It has been fuppofed by many learned writers, that our firft parents, after being turned to God, were fo big with expedation of a divine deliver- er, that Eve miftook Cain for him. Therefore they thus render the words that Ihe uttered, on the birth of her firft-born ; " I have gotten a " man the Lord ^" With refped to the preludes of the incarnation of the eternal Word, the following things may be obferved. I. This glorious Perfon frequently appeared in. the likenefs of human nature. His appearance, as the Angel of the Lord, or the Angel-JEHOVAH, ■we have already conlidered, as an evidence that the doclrine of the Trinity was revealed under the Old Teftament. But here it demands our at- tention, that when he revealed himfelf in this charader, he often afTumed the likenefs of man ; and made himfelf known by fuch language, or fuch ads, as clearly exprefled the work that he was to perform, as " the Word made flefli," and refpeded his various fundions, as the Pro- phet, Prieft, and King of his Church. When the Lord, attended by two of his miiiiftering fpirits, appeared to Abraham in the plains of Mamre, they f Jude, YCf. 14. z Get), iv. i. 3l8 ON THE INCARNATION they feemed to be all clothed with humanity. Hence Abraham took them for three ordinary travellers ; and made the fame preparations for them, that he was wont to do, when exercifing hofpitality ^ It was only by the language of one of thefe celeftial vilitors, particularly as foretelling the birth of the promifed feed, and by the dif- covery he made of his heart-fearching power in rebuking Sarah for her fecret ridicule, that Abra- ham was undeceived ^. But during the whole of the interview, this divine perfon retained the fame likenefs ; and when he arofe to depart, was brought on his way by Abraham, as a man is ac- companied by his friend. In the fame manner did he appear unto Jacob, when he was preparing to meet with his incenfed brother Efau. The patriarch " was left alone ; " and there wreftled a man with him until the " breaking of the day =." This expreffion, ** he *' was left alone," efpecially as conne6led with what is previoully mentioned concerning his fend- ing all his family *' over the brook," is plainly meant to inform us, that he, who wreftled with him, was not one of the fons of men. On this oc- cafion, the Son of God not only alTumed the like- nefs of our nature, fo that he might be feen ,• but condefcended to aifume fo near a refemblance of its reality, that he might htfelt. What a won- derful prelude of that grace which was afterwards to be manifefted, when the eyes of the difciples Ihould a Gen. xviii, !> Ver. lo. 13.-15. c Gen. xxxii. 24. 1 OF THE SON OF GOD. 3X9 Ihould not only fee, but handle the felf-fame Word of life d! . Jacob knew that he had wrellled with God ; for the thing for which he wreftled was the blef- ling, which no creature could confer. As the ap- pearance of God in the likenefs of man, efpecially as he made himfelf known both to the fight and to the touch, was a ftriking prelude of the incar- nation ; the tellimony given to Jacob, as to his fuccefs, included no inconfiderable intimation with refped: to the union of the divine and human na- ture in one perfon. The Angel faid to him : " As " a prince ha'l thou power with God, and with " rceiij and haft prevailed." The word 7nen is in the plural, indeed ; as implying-- an aflurance of proteftion wherever he fhould go, and particular- ly of his having power over his enraged brother. But what was the pledge of this ? His prevalence in this aftonifliing interview, when he " had *' power," even in the way of bodily wreftling, " over the angel" who appeared in the form of man ; becaufe *' he had power with" him as *' Go^," by his faith and importunity, his. tears and fupplications ^. To inform Jacob, and the Church in fucceed- ing ages, that the condefceniion of the Son, in af- fuming our nature, fliould nowife impair or dero- gate from his eflential majefty and power j this divine wreftler, during the ftruggle, touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh, fo that it was out of joint. This is underflood of the focket in which the d I John i. 1. e Hof. xli. 4. 320 ON THE INCARNATION" the ball of the thigh-bone moves : and it has beea obferved, that fuch is the lituation of this place, that Jacob muft have been afTured no mere man could have fo touched it in wreftling, as to have ef- fefted a dillocation. In the fame form did he appear unto Jofhua, while he blockaded Jericho. " There flood a " man over againft him, with his fword drawn in " his hand," who faid to him, " As prince of the " hoft of Jehovah am I nov/ come." From this teftim.ony Jofhua muft have known, that this was he who had been promifed as God's Angel, who fliould go before Ifrael, and deliver 'their enemies into their hands ^. By the form he alTumed, it was alfo declared to Jolliua, and by him to the Church, that this Angel fliould afterwards " par- " take of flefli and blood." This appearance, in- deed, was not merely a prelude of his incarnation in general. It " teftified beforehand," that he fliould be manifefted in human nature, as Imma- nuel, as God with us, " for us," and not " for " our adverfaries ?," as the King and Lord of the Church ; that in this nature he fhould conquer the ferpent and his feed, and exercife abfolute dominion over all the enemies of his true Ifrael. For he faid to Jofhua, *' See, /have given into *' thine hand Jericho." It was alfo declared, that He who fhould come in our nature, fhould, even as incarnate, be the objedt of religious adoration. For, as if the homage given by Jofhua, in falling on his face to the earth, and worfhipping, had been f Exod. xxiii. 23. g Jofli. v. 13. OF THE SON OF G0i3. 3^1 been too little ; this man faid to him, " Loofe thy *' fhoe from off thy foot ; for the place whereon ** thou ftandeft is holy ''." That Jehovah appeared in the likenefs of man to Gideon, is evident from the fear that feized him, when, by the miraculous confumption of his facrifice, he perceived that this was a heavenly vifitant '\ That he made a (imilar appearance to the wife of Manoah, is no lefs clear from the ac- count Ihe gave to her hulband of the viiit fhe had received ; from the prayer afterwards prefented by Manoah ; as well as from the queftions he put to the Angel, and the amazement of both when they difcovered that this was a vifion of God ^■. They at firft confidered him only as " a man of *' God," or a prophet. By both thefe apparitions, the divine Word taught the Church, that he fhould at length adlually appear as her great High-prieft. When he confumed the facrifice of Gideon, by caufing fire to rife out of the rock, he fymbolically lignified, that he fhould appear both as her prieft and facrifice ; as her prieft, pre- fenting an offering acceptable to God through the fire of his own Spirit ; as a facrifice for expiating all her guilt, as he fhould himfelf be burnt in the fufferings of his human nature, by the fire of di- vine wrath. His afcending in the flame of the altar, when Manoah had prefented a burnt-offer- ing, might intimate that, as *' the High-priefl of *' our profeilion," he would afcend to heaven, and Vol. II. X enter h Jofli. V. 13.— 15. ; vi. 1, 1. i Judges vi. il. k Judges liii. 6. 8. 21. 17. al, 3i. 322 ON THE INCARNATION enter into the holieil of all, through the merit of his own oblation. When Mofes defired to fee the glory of God, he faid to him, " Thou fnalt fee my back-parts V* Hence it is moft probable that he faw the likenefs of human nature ; as an anticipation of that blef- fed difcovery which was afterwards made to him on the mount of transfiguration. It has been fup- pofed, indeed, with great probability, that in this manner God ordinarily communicated his will to Mofes ; as it is faid that he fpake with him " face " to face, as a man fpeaketh unto his friend "^" By fimilar manifeftations did the Lord comfort his Church, while flie was. in Babylon, and while flie continued in a low llate after her return from captivity. Ezekiel, by the river Chebar, faw the likenefs of a glorious throne •, and " upon the like- *' nefs of the throne was the likenefs as the appear- '* ance of a man above upon it "." No manifefta- tion could tend more to comfort the fouls of belie- vers, in their afflidted ftate in a ilrange land, than fuch a prelude of the future incarnation of their God, and of the glorious majefty of his kingdom. After the return of the captives, when they were fo weak as to be threatened with deftruclion from their enemies, Zechariah was favoured with a vi- fion of Chrift, as " a man — Handing among the **■ myrtle- trees that were in the bottom. Behind *' him were there red horfes fpeckled and white °." While this vilion reprefented the low and mourn- ful llate of the Church, it exprefled her fafety, from 1 Exod, xsxili. 23 . m Ver. 11. u Ezek. i. s5. o Zech. i, £. OF THE SON OF GOD. 32^ from the prefence of Chrift in the mldft of her, as the Lord of all the angels of heaven, -whom he employs as his minifters to fulfil his pleafure in the kingdom of providence, in fubfcrviency to the intercib of his fpiritual kingdom. Many fimi- lar vifions had this prophet. Particularly, the Angel who appeared to him as a man, exprefsly foretold his own million to dwell as the Lord of hofts in the midft of his Church i\ The very character of an Angel or Mejfenger^ under which the Son appeared to the patriarchs, and to the Church under the Old Tcftament, while it declared that he was then fent by the Father, had a fpecial reference to his future mif- fion in our nature, as " the Angel of the Cove-^ *' nant, who fliould come to his temple ^." The many appearances, which he made in the likenefs of man, if not meant as preludes of his adlual in- carnation, and for confirming the faith of the Church in this molt important article, could have no other tendency than to lead her aftray to ido- latry. Thefe appearances, fo fir from confirm- ing her faith in that revelation given to her, mufl have diredly frullrated one great end of it, which" was to preferve the dodrines of the divine unity and fpirituality ; and mult have proved a fnare, inducing her to " change the glory of the uncor- " ruptible God into an image made like to cor- " ruptible man '." But when fhe knew that thefe were the manifeftations of one divine perfon, folc- ly in relation to a future incarnation for the re- X 2 demption p Zech. ii. 3. — ir. qMal. ili, t. r Rom. i. a j. 3'24 ON THE INCARNATION demption of loft man ; ftie was guarded againfl the folly of fuppoling that God had a human form, or that his pure effence had any affinity to grofs matter. II. The vifion that Abraham had of 'a. furnace and lamp^ when God entered into covenant with him, may be viewed as a prelude of the incarna- tion. After he had, according to the divine com- mand, divided the various parts of the facrifice, and " laid each piece one againft another ," when it was dark, he faw a fmoking furnace and a burn- ing lamp pafs between the pieces ^ Thefe have been generally viewed as fymbols of the afflidtion of the pofterity of Abraham in Egypt, and of their deliverance \ efpecially as we are informed in the context, that God foretold both the fuffer- ings and the redemption of Ifrael, and that day entered into covenant with Abraham. Others have underftood xh OF THE SON OF GOD. 325 who was promifed as the feed of Abraham ; and in this point of view, it derived all its confirma- tion from the death of the great Sacrifice. But can there be any thing improper in view- ing thefe fymbols, as referring both to the natu- ral feed of Abraham, and to that one feed, " which "is Chrift";" to the former primarily, to the latter ultimately ? We know that Chrift is the antitypical Ifrael ; and that what is fpoken by one of the prophets ; " Out of Egypt have I call- " ed my Son \" is by an evangelift underftood as referring to the Saviour. We cannot fo well per- ceive the propriety of this application, without fuppofing fuch a double reference. There are other paflages of Scripture, which can fcarcely be otherwife interpreted ; as the language of the Church in the book of Pfalms, which fecms to in- clude the fufferings both of the type and of the an- titype : " Many a time have they afflicted me from " my youth, may Ifrael now fay ; — yet they have " not prevailed againfl me. The plowers plow- " ed upon my back ; they made long their fur- " rows ''■." The laft words undoubtedly allude to Chrift's " giving his back to the fmiters," and to the deep incifions made by the fcourge. III. The burning bujh may be viewed as a fimi- lar emblem. It has, indeed, been generally un- derftood as fiiadowing forth the afflictions of If- rael in Egypt, and at the fame time her prefer- vation by reafon of the divine prefence. With X 3 fully U Gal. Ui. i^. V Hof. xj. I. ; Mat, ii. 15, W Pfal. cxxix. i.— 3- 326 ON THE INCARNATION fully as much propriety may it be viewed as de- noting the fufferings of the Meffiah. " The An- " gel of the Lord appeared unto him (Mofes) in '■'■ a flame of fire, out of the midfl of a bufh : and *' he looked, and behold, the buih burned with ** fire, and the bufli was not confumed. And " Mofes faid,, I will now turn afide, and fee this ** great fight, why the bufii is not burned ''." He, who appeared, M'as the Angel of the Lord, who had often before manifefted himfelf in the likenefs of man. The hiijlj or bramble^ as the word fignifies, was a fit emblem of his humanity, which is repre- fented *' as a root fpringing out of a dry ground." *' The flame of fire" denotes the wrath of God, which burned, but did not confume his human nature. The reafon why this could not be con- fumed, was the inhabitation of the Angel- Jeho- vah. This was indeed " a great fight;" for there was " no forrow like unto his forrow, where- !" with the Lord afflided him in the day of his " fierce anger >'." IV, The ladder^ which Jacob faw in a dream, was a ftriking fymbol of the incarnation. " Be- ** hold, 'a ladder fet upon the earth, and the top ** of it reached to heaven ; and behold the angels *' of God afcending and defcending on it. And, *' behold, the Lord fl:ood above it, and faid, I am *' the Lord God of Abraham thy father '." Our Lord mud himfelf be the befl; interpreter of this yifion ; and he explains it to Nathariael in thefe words, ^ Jlxpd. iii. 2j 3, yLara. i. 12. z Gen. xxviii. I2; 13* OF THE SON OF GOD. ' 327 words, '' Hereafter ye fliall fe6 heaven open, and " the angels of God afcending and defcending on ".the Son of man-'." Heaven was J/jut againft man by his fin. There could be no comfortable intercoLirfe between earth and that better coun- try. But through Chrill; as Mediator, it is open. In his human nature he is as a ladder " fet upon " the earth ;" in his divine, he " reaches to hea- ** ven ;" by his work as God-man, he unites both. As Jehovah '* flood above it ;" this de- notes that God, as judge, is reconciled to man, and admits him through Chriil to the moft inti- mate fellovvfliip. The angels of God afcend and defcend on this ladder. This fignifies, that all things in heaven and earth arc recapitulated in Chrift ; that men are admitted to fellowfliip with angels ; and that thefe blefled fpirits are conllant- ly employed in miniflering to the Mediator, in fubferviency to the interefts of his kingdom, and to the faints through him. Inflead of " aicend- " ing and defcending 0/7," fome incline to read, " to the Son of man '>." But it is evident that the evangelifl ufes the particle s-m, the fame which occurs in the Septuagint *, in reference to the ufe of a ladder ; and if rendered to, the force of the allufion would be loft. X 4 V. Thl^ a John i. 51. ' b Vid. Lampe in John i. 51. * One would almoft think that John, in narrating the larguage of liis Matter, had expreffed himfelt'in conformity to this verfion, which was then commonly ufed by his countrymen. Oi ayyt^ot t» ©f« aviCaiyov x«» xaTiSatio* «*' auTi). Cen. xxviii. 12. Touf ayyiK^i t« ©ta «yjr/3aivovT«f xaet KaT«(/3«i»«vTttf tst tjv ti»v r« «v9fi«^a. John i. 51. 328 ON T«E INCARNATION V. This was alfo prefigured by the cloud of glory, or the glory of the Lord, which dwelt in the tabernacle and temple. When the Ifraelites departed from Egypt, " the Lord went before *' them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them " the way ; and by night, in a pillar of fire, to " give them light '^." He, who thus went before them, was Chrifl ; for he is afterwards called *' the Angel of God ^'." After the eredlion of the tabernacle, " the cloud abode thereon, and the ^' glory of the Lord filled" it ''. This was a live- ly emblem of the incarnation of the Word, to whom this expreffion, ** the glory of the Lord," feems to be appropriated, as a perfonal defigna- tion ^. As the cloud ahode on the tabernacle, and the glory filled it, in this fenfe God was faid to dwell among the children of Ifrael ?. The type received its completion, when " the Word," who is " the brightnefs of glory," " was made flefli, *' and dwelt amorig'''' men " as in a tabernacle," fo that they " beheld his glory-." For the hu» man nature of Chrift is " the true tabernacle *' which God pitched, and not man ." In him ** dwelleth all the fulnefs of the GodFiead bodi- ** ly." That emblematical glory, of which we fpeak, in like manner filled the temple ; and this alfo was a type of Chrill's human nature. We therefore read of " the temple of his body ' ." VI. The c Exod. xiii. %x, d Ezod. xiv. 19. e Exod. xl. 34. f-If-.. xl. 5. g Exod. XXV. 8. b John i. |i|. \ Ifeb. viii. z. k John ii. jp. %x. OF THE SON OF GOD. 329 VI. The rights of primogeniture had a fpecial refpe^l to the incarnation of the Mefllah. Thefe, although confirmed by the law of Mofes, were in force long before. They had the divine fandion from a very early period. For God faid to Cain, with refped: to his younger brother Abel, *' If " thou doeft well, unto thee fliall be his defire, ** and he fhall rule over thee '^." Thus they were nearly, if not abfolutely, coeval with the firfl promife ; as to this they evidently bore a rela- tion. One fpecial honour, reflridled to the firft- born, was that he Ihould be the anceftor of that feed in whom all the families of the earth fhould be blefled. Thus the birthright was appropria- ted to Ifaac, concerning whom God faid to Abra- ham, *' With him will I eftablifli my covenant ;" and, " In Ifaac fhall thy feed be called"." On this account efpecially, is Efau charged with pro- fanity, in felling his birthright. As the primogeniture fecurcd this peculiar ho- nour, and was therefore a perpetual memorial of the promife of the Meffiah ; it was attended with feveral diftindl privileges, which were all expref- live of his character. Had the firfl-born a dou- ble portion of his father's goods ? This prefigu- red him, who is " heir of all things." Had he dominion over his brethren ? This pointed for- ward to him, who was promifed as God's " firfl- ** born, high above the kings of the earth," *' the '* firfl-born among many brethren." Did the firfl-born, as holy to the Lord, confecrate the reft of pi Gen. jv. 7. a Gen, xvii. ai. ; xxi. i». 33^ ON THfe INCARNATION of the family ? It was a prelude of the work of Chrift in our nature, who for our fakes confecra- ted hinifelf in his fufferings, that he might " pu- " rifv us as a peculiar people." VII. The law of the levirate may be viewed in the fame light. According to this law, if a man died without leaving children, his brother next in age, or the nearell of kin, was bound to marry the widow of the deceafed, and raife up a fuccef- for to him. The firfl-born of this marriage was legally viewed as the defcendant of the elder brother, who had died childlefs °. This ordinance was in force before the Mofaic difpenfation, as appears from the hiflory of Judah's family p : and fome carry it back to the days of Shem, or even of Adam. It was undoubtedly enjoined by di- vine revelation ; and afterwards incorporated in- to the law given by Mofes 9. While there was a political reafon for this ordinance, that inheri- tances migb.t be preferved in the different fami- lies to which they belonged, there can be no ground to doubt that there was a far higher one. The honour of the firft-born was thus Angularly guarded, that in their fucceffive generations the Ifraelites might direct their eyie to Him who, as "the firll-botn of every creature,'' muft " in all " things have the pre;eminence '".•' Iii every other cafe, fuch a connexion was exprefsly prohi-' bited ^ When, therefore, there was a pofitive . ■ • law, O" Deut..xxv. 6. p. Gen. xxxviii. 7, 8; &c. q Deut. xxv. 5.— 10. r Col. i. 15. 18. s Lev. xviii. 16. ; xx. 21. OF THE SON OF GOD. 33! }aw, exprefsly difpenfing with another in certain circumftances ; efpecially as this difpeniation re- fpe t^iy hand under my " thigh, — bury me not, / pray thee, in Egypt." X. The cuftom obferved among the pofterity of Jacob, of not eating of thefnew t\iiit.Jhra?iky de- ferves particular notice. This cuftom originated from the wonderful ftruggle that their anceftor had with the Angel-Redeemer, which we have already conhdered. *' The hollow of Jacob's thigh *' was out of joint, while he wreftled with him. — " Therefore the children of Jfrael eat not of the *' finew which llirank, which is upon the hollow *'. of the thigh, unto this day : becaufe he touch- " ed the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the linew " that flirank '^." It has been fuppofed, that Ja- cob, by divine infpiration, enjoined this abfti- nence on his pofterity : and indeed the words may be read, " The children of Ifrael 7nay not " eat a Gen. xlvii. 2t>. — 31. b Heb. sii ^^, c Gen, xxxii. 25. 3* OF THE SON OF GOD. 335 " eat of the linevv which fhrank.'* The mention here made of this rite, if not an exprefs approba- tion of it, at leaft implies no cenfure. It muft at any rate be fuppofed, that there was a fpecial providence of God overruling the obfervance of this rite, as a perpetual memorial of that unparal- leled interview, and of its delign. The children, feeing their fathers carefully abftain from eating of this linew, would as naturally fay, as con- cerning the paffover, *' What mean ye by this ?" They could not but reply, that they did it in re- membrance of Jacob's wreftling with God in the appearance of man : and in as far as their know- ledge or faith reached, they would explain the relation of this manifeilation to the future ap- pearance of the God of Jacob in human nature. Various have been the opinions entertained, as to the reafon of Jacob's receiving the mark of weaknefs in this part of his body. I iliall venture a conjedure, which fcems to arife from what has been already obfcrved, in regard to the lingular mode of fwearing ufed by him, as well as by his grandfather. As the Meffiah, the promifed feed, was to ipring from his thigh ; might not the all- wife God let this fignal mark of human imbeci- lity here, llill to remind Jacob and his pofterity, that, although he had received the promife of this peculiar blejjing, and a renewed confirmation of it on this occafion, it was not his natural birthright, nor procured by his own merit or power, but wholly of grace ? According to this view, it might be the will of God, that Jacob ftiould bear a mark of 336* ON THE INCARNATION of weaknefs, as to that very point in which he was to be honoured above all other men ; and have a perpetual lellbn of humility, in regard to what would be mod apt to excite his natural pride. This great dodlrine, of the incarnation of a di- vine Perfon, was revealed comparatively in an obfcure manner to the patriarchs and under the law. Yet believers, who lived in thefe ages, faw the day of Chrift ; they faw it afar oft', and were glad. The promife of the incarnation of Chrift was the ground of their hope. This, as connect- ed with a perfuafion of his prefence in the Church, as that divine Perfon who ftiould at length actual- ly affume human nature, was the foundation of their triumph over all the enemies who threaten- ed her deftrudlion '^. Is not the ground of our triumph greatly enlarged ? Is not the evidence of our fecurity wonderfully confirmed ? God hath been " manifefted in the flefli." Jefus is known as Immanuel. Are not we, then, under flill ftronger obligations to ling ; " The Lord of hofts is with " uSf the God of Jacob is our refuge ?'* We have fcen, that there were many preludes of the incarnation. Thus he, who from eternity engaged himfelf as our Surety, early manifefted his love to the children of men. Thefe were all tefti monies of the infinite pleafure he had in the profped: of his work of mediation in our world. Thus he anticipated his habitation among men. Did i Ifa. Yii. II. 14. ; viii, 9, 10. ' OT THE SON OF GOD. 337 Did the father delight in him ? He delighted in thofe whom he was in a little to call his brethren. Was he the objedl of the infinite love of the Fa- ther as his elTential image ? He was equally fo, as the Surety of loft man. The Father loved him, becaufe he was to lay down his life. Hence he declares, " I was daily his delights, rejoicing al- " ways before him ; rejoicing in the habitable " parts of his earth ; and my delights were with •' the fons of men^" All the infinite love of the Father to him as the Surety, he as it were transferred towards thofe for whom he had un- dertaken, in the adings of his love to them. What unfpeakable reafon have we, then, to " love him ** who firft loved us I" SECTION XII. "The MiraculGiis Conception illujlrated from the Hi- Jlory of Melchizedek ; — from various inflances of Conception beyond the ordinary courfe of Na- ture ; — from the Laws given to Ifrael concern^ ing Virginity. God did not merely foretell, and in various ivays anticipate, the Incarnation of the Word : the Church was alfo informed, that he fliould par- VoL. II. Y take d Prov, viii. 30, 31. 33^ ON THE MIRACULOUS CONCEPTION. take of our nature in a way different from all mere men. Befides the prophecies concerning his being the feed of the woman, and being born of a virgin, there were various preludes of this won- derful event. I. From an infpired writer we learn, that the hif- tory of Melchizedek had a particular reference to the charader of the Mefiiah. Being " without fa- *' ther, and without mother," he was " made like " unto the Son of God". "^ This language has no re- fpe6l to his natural birth ; for in this refped: the king of Salem was undoubtedly like other men. But it refers to the fdence of Scripture on this head. For it was the will of God there fhould be no ac- count of his defcent, that he might hiflorically re- femble Him, who is without father as man, and without mother as God. The Apoflle, indeed, feems to have the official charadcr of Chrift efpecially in his eye ; as he had no predeceffor in his prieftly office : and hence he proves its fuperiority to that in the family of Aaron. But even thofe who take the words in this view, admit that they alfo regard his perfonal charader. This mufl necef- farily be admitted. For had he not been ** with- *' out father," as man, he would have wanted that perfedion which was requifite according to the nature of the type. " Beginning of days," after the common courfe of nature, would have proved an infuperable bar to his being " a prieft '' after the power of an endlefs life." II. In e Hcb. vii. 3. ON THE MIRACULOUS CONCEPTION. 339 II. In. various inftaiices, God manifeflcd his power, in caufing women to conceive beyond the ordinary courfe of nature. There were two great obflacles to the accomplifhment of the promife made to Abraham, of his having ilTue by Sarah. She was conftitutionally barren;. and v/hen the promife was reftricted to her pofterity, fhe was paft the time of life. Any of thefe was of itfelf a fufficient obftacle. Ahhough fhe had not been barren, no woman had ever proved a mother in her circumflaiices. Hence her fon Ifaac was an eminent figure of Chrifl ; becaufe he was concei- ved, not properly by ftrength of nature, but by virtue of the promife. This wonderful conception could not but greatly allift faith, with refpedt to the promife of " the feed of the woman." It fhewed that there was no abfurdity in believing that a virgin fhould conceive. The deadnefs of Abraham's body, and of Sarah's womb, made the one event naturally as impofhble as the other. Sarah could, no more than Mary, become a mo- ther, but by a miracle. Ifaac was " born after " the Spirit V' i" confequence of his miraculous operation ; and thus in a ftriking manner prefigu- red Him who was conceived by the power of tiie fame divine agent. It is remarkable, that as Sa- rah and Mary both made fubftantially the fame objection, the fame anfwer is given in both cales ; as if the Spirit of infpiration would thus call our attention to the intimate connexion between the two hifl:ories. Sarah faid, *' Shall I ot a furety y ?, ">ear f Gal. iv. 2g, 34<^ ON THE MIRACULOUS CONCEPTION. ** bear a cliild, which am old /"' Mary made a fimilar objedion -, " How fhall this be, feeing / **■ know not a man?'''' Both are founded on the apparent impoffibility of the thing. The reply of the angel to Mary, " With God nothing ftiall " be impoflible," is materially the fame with that given to Sarah, " Is any thing too hard for the **LoRD?" This, as expreffed in the verfion of the Old Tellameiit, generally in ufe among the Jews when the New M^as written, is almofl in the fame words with thofe recorded by Luke : " With *' God lliall any thing be impoflible s ?" In various refpedis was Samfon a type of Chrift; and among others, in the circumilances of his conception. As an angel appeared to the Virgin, foretelling the conception of Him who Ihould fave his people from their fins ; that of Samfon, who was a typical Saviour, was foretold in the fame manner. " There was a certain man of Zorah, ** of the family of the Danites, whofe name was " Manoah, and his wife was barren, and bare not. *' And the Angel of the Lord appeared unto the " woman, and faid unto her, Behold now, thou art " barren, and beareft not, but thou Ihalt conceive " and bear a fon ^\" As God had in ancient times given different difplays of his power in this refpedt, to llrengthen the faith, and excite the expedtation of his people, as to the completion of the great promife ; when the time was at hand, he would awaken their at- tention g M» (itJ'uvaTDo-ti Ttaftt t« ©£» pn/ta 5 Gen, xviii. 14. Oux ctSvyaTr,att irptfa TO ®ia t«» fn/i.a> Luke i. 37. h Judges xiii. 1, 3' ON THE MIRACULOUS CONCEPTION. 34I tention by a new difplay of the fame kind. The wife of Zacharias appears as another Sarah. Nay, both Abraham and Sarah feem to be again brought on the ftage. For he was an old man, and his wife not only barren, but " well ftricken in years.'' There were two myfteries conjoined in the birth of Chrift ; the incarnation of the Angel- Jehovah, and his conception in the womb of a virgin. As thefe things were fo extraordinary, two ligns are aftbrded, which might tend to conciliate the faith of that people to whom he was promifed. For many ages, God had given no immediate revela- tion of his will. But on this occafion, there was the vilion of an angel, and the conception of an aged and barren woman. Divine wifdom appeared in the choice of the parents, and in the character of the fop, as well as in the concomitant circumftances and the feafon of this difplay of divine power. The parents had both been long of the higheft repute for true reli- gion. " They were both righteous before God, ** walking in all the commandments and ordi- " nances of the Lord blamelefs." There could be no reafonable fufpicion, that two fuch perfons would combine in impoling a falfe ftory on the nation, Zacharias being a prieft, what concern- ed him mult have been far better known than if he had been in a private ftation. Elifabcth, be- ' ing a near relation of Mary, the latter had the belt opportunity of knowing all that concerned tliis remarkable manifeftaticn. He, whofe birth was thus diftinguiflied, was no ordinary child. Y3 He 342 ON THE MIRACULOUS CONCEPTION* He was to be the immediate forerunner of the Meffiah. The refped: which his future office bore to the Saviour, marked him out as the moft proper perfon for a fign of his miraculous concep- tion. Was John to " be filled with the Holy " Ghoft from his mother's womb ?" The early appearances of extraordinary wifdom and fandity, would be a permanent atteftation of the truth of the miracles preceding liis birth. Such circuvi- JlaJices attended this lign, that although the pa- rents had been capable of impofture, no room was left for it. Zacharias was at Jerufalem, in the tem- ple, engaged in his miniftration, in the very aft of burning incenfe, while " the whole multitude of " the people were praying without," at the time that he was viiited by the angel. Zacharias did not believe his teftimony, and having demand- ed a iign of the truth of it, himfelf became a fign to all who faw Inm, both of the reality of the vifion, and of the danger of incredulity. For he was " dumb, and not able to fpeak, un- " til the day that thefe things were performed." The people at firft ** perceived that he had feen a " vifion :" and as he continued in the fame Hate till " the days of his miniftration were accom- *' plifhed," and for feveral months afterv-ards ; this well-known and extraordinary facl mull have excited the wonder and expectation of the great body of the nation. The feafon in which this fign was given, was the moll proper that could have been feleded. At this time the people in general " looked for redemption in li'rael." It was ON THE MIRACULOUS CONCEPTION. 343 was alfo only a few months before the appearance of that Jt^n which Jehovah himfelf was to give '. As it prepared the minds of believers, and tend- ed to aroufe the body of the nation j it was efpe- cially a mean of confirmation to the faith of Ma- ry. Hence the angel Gabriel, when removing her objedlion as to the poffibility of the fac"^ pre- didled, refers her to Elifabcth, as a living tefti- mony of the power of God, in removing every natural obitrudlion to the fulfilment of his pro- mife, — of his power in circumilances that bore the greateft refemblance of her own : " And be- " hold thy coufin Elifabeth, flie hath alfo concei- " vod a foil in her old age ; and this is the fixth " month with her that was called barren. For " with God nothing fiiall be impoffible ' ," III. The laws, given to the Ifraelites, concern- ing virginity, feem to have had a fpecial refpecl to the conception and birth of our Saviour. They were of fucli a nature as powerfully to interefi, not only young women themfelves in the prefer- vation of their challity, but alfo their parents. When a woman was married, if it was found that fhe had formerly been feduced ; Ihe was not only to be put to death, but to fuffer at " the door of ** her father's houfe ^" The whole family were thus partly involved in her punifiiment ; becaafe they were all bound to watch over her condud;. This was efpecially incumbent on her father, in wiiofc houfe flie refided till fhe removed to that Y4 of i If?, vii. 14. k Luke i. 5. — 37. 1 Dent. xxii. 20, 21. 344 ON THE MIRACULOUS CONCEPTION". of her hulband. If a damfel was defiled, after being betrothed, before the confummation of her marriage, both Ihe and the man who defiled her were to be put to death "\ That there might be no impofition, certain tokens were to be produ- ced, attefi:ed and examined '■\ The trial by the wafers of jealoufy, by means of which the truth was miraculoully difcovered, was another inftitu- tion which muft have had great influence in de- terring women from a breach of chaftity ". They were alfo fubjedled to a periodical feparation, as unclean. This prevented their being married at this feafon, and put it out of their power to impofe falfe tokens, in confequence of their fitua- tion P. Thefe ordinances were indeed meant for the prefervation of chaftity in general. But they feem to have been defigned to guard the ftate of virginity, in relation to the miraculous concep- tion of the Saviour. Had the flighteft ground of fufpicion remained with Jofeph, he had different ways of putting Mary to trial, and of obtaining fatisfaftion to his own mind. From his character as " a juft man," we may be alTured that he would by no means have retained her, had he not been fully convinced that flie was with child in a fupernatural way. All that the promife, or the iieceffity of the cafe, exprefsly required, was, that Jcfus fhould be born of a virgin. This indeed was m Deut. xxii. 23, 24. n Ver. .15. Num. v. 11. — 31. p See this fubjedl treated at large in Allix's Reflexions on the foui laft ;&,oOks of Mofes, chap. ao. ON THE MIRACULOUS CONCEPTION. 345 was neceflary ; for, as we have formerly feen, he could not otherwife have been free from original depravity. But it was the will of God, that he fhould be born, not merely of a virgin, but of " a " virgin efpoufed." In this, divine wifdom emi- nently appears. For thus God provided means for authenticating the genealogy of Chrift. Be- ing born, after Mary was betrothed, he was le- gally the child of Jofeph ; and among the Jews, the genealogy was efpecially reckoned by the fa- ther. Thus alfo, a guardian was provided for Mary and her child, during the perfecution of Herod. Belides, the circumftance of her being efpoufed, together with that of Jofeph's taking her to his houfe, preferved her from being treat- ed by others as a woman loft to virtue. While, on the one hand, her efpoufals fubjedled her con- dudt to the moft rigid fcrutiny, the reception given her by Jofeph, on the other, was a public ;itteftation of her innocence. We perceive the bleffed concurrence of all the Perfons of the adorable Trinity in the work of our redemption. It appears with the fulleft evidence in the very manner in which Chrift received our nature. The Father " fent forth his Son, made " of a woman." The Son himfelf " took on hin^ " the form of a fervant." The Holy Ghoft ** pre- " pared a body" for him, by fandifying part of the fubftance of a virgin. What a wonderful difplay of love to loft man I How ardently ought we to love that adorable Father who fent his Son ; thil 34^ SUBSTITUTION AND ATONEMENT this co-equal Son, who cheerfully came, who laid, " In the volume of thy book it is written of me ;" that bleffed Spirit, who as it were anew began the work of creation for our fakes I SECTION XIIT. On Snhjlitution and Atonement. — Ihe DoSlrine of Suhjiitution known to the Church from the hegin- ning, — Impofition of Hands on the Head of the ViHim. — The Viclim legally fuhjeded to the Curfe. — Atonement made by Blood. — The Cove- 7iant confirmed by Sacrifice. — In this the IVorJJjip of the Church efpecially confified. — The Ceremo- nial Li/iitute, even by its DefeEls, directed to a better Atonement. — This prefigured by the Mer- cy feat. — The Hifiory of the true Expiation con- tained in the Nezv Teflament. To proclaim the incarnation of a Divine Per- fon, is only part of the defign of the Spirit of in- fpiration. It was a principal branch of his work, to " teftify beforehand the fufferings of Chrift." AH that is written, with refpedi to his afluraption of our nature, relates to the work of redemption, which from eternity he had engaged to accom- Iplifh. The Holy Scriptures, as to their great de- fign ILLUSTRATED FROM SACRED HISTORY. 347 llgn and principal objeft, are juft an hiftory of " the Lunb flain from the foiindation of the *' world ." Before the coming of Chrift to " take away fin " by the facrifice of himfelf ;" there were efpe- cially three different ways in which atonement was made ; by the punifhment of the guilty per- fon, by the payment of a price, or by the fubftitu- tion of the innocent for the guilty. We fometimes read of atonement being made, when the guilty were puni/hed in their own per- fons. Thus, when Phineas flew the daring tranf- greffors, who were committing fornication in the camp, it is faid that he " made an atonement for *' the children of liVael ." But it is to be obferved, that the atonement in this inftance was not made for the lin of the perfons immediately concerned. For they perifhed in their iniquity. It was accept- ed of God for the congregation in general, for a- verting that wrath to which they were fubjeded by this iniquity. For the juft God, as Govcrxior of the worlJ, demands from collective bodies the puniflinient of open tranfgrcffors ; and if this be refufed, he coniiders the fociety at large as charge- able with the guilt. So well plcaled was he with the, zeaj of Phineas in executing judgment on this occaiion, that the plague, which had gone forth agamll liraei, becaufe of their tranfgrellion in the matter ot Peor, was immediately flayed '. It was counted unto Phineas " for righteoulhefs in all generations for evermore ^ ;" and his fa- mily <^ Rev, >:ui. 8. r Num. xxv. 6, 7. 13. s Vci. S, t Pisl. cvi. 31. 34^ SUBSTITUTION AND ATONEMENT. mily was confirmed in the poffeffion of the prieft- hood. In like manner, God did not '* turn from " the fiercenefs of his anger" againft his people, till " the accurfed thing was deftroyed from a- " mong them," in the punifhment of Achan and his family ^^ Atonement was alfo made by the payment of a price. " The Lord fpake unto Mofes, faying, *' When thou takeft the fum of the children of " Ifrael, after their number, then fhall they give ** every man a ranfom for his foul unto the Lord *' when thou numbereft them ; that there be no " plague among them when thou numbereft " *' them." Half a fliekel, according to the lliekel of the fandluary, which was the double of that commonly current, was to be given for every male who was twenty years old and above. This was called " the atonement-money of the chil- " dren of Ifipael ;" and in paying this fum, they " gave an offering vmto the Lord, to make an " atonement for their fouls %" This payment prefigured our being *' bought with a price ^^ ;" although " jiot with corruptible things, as filver *' andjgold, but with the precious blood of Chrift." The rich were not to give more, nor the poor lefs. For all fouls are alike precious in the light of God ; and although fome are greater fmners than others, nothing lefs than an atonement of infinite value can be accepted for any one. This price was to be paid by each individual whofe age cor- refponded, every time the Ifraelites were number- ed, u Jofh, vil, 12. x6. V Escd, xxj:. il. — 16. w i Cor. y\. 20. ILLUSTRATED FROM SACRED HISTORY. 349 ed, under the penalty of his lofing his life by an immediate ftroke of divine juftice. Thus God teftified, that when he makes inquilition, it is im- poffible for the fmner to fland before him without an atonement. But the principal mode of making atonement, was by th^ fiibjlitiition 2iX\dL punijhment of the inno- cent inftead of the guilty ; or, to exprefs it in one word, by facrifice. This kind of expiation being the moft common among the Ifraelites, and con- taining the moft ftriking figure of the true, it de- mands our particular attention. I. The do6lrine oi fiibjluiition was well known to the Church from the earlieft period. As " A- *' bel offered by faith,'* while we know that his offering was ** of the firftlings of his flock," we may fafely infer, that the worfhip of God by fa- crifice was of divine appointment. Now, every facrifice ncceffarily implied the idea of fubftitu- tion. We cannot fuppofe, that the true worfhip- pers of God were fo ftupid as to imagine that the offering of brutes could in itfelf be acceptable to him. They knew, that " if he were hungry, " he would not tell them, becaufe the world is "his, and all the fulnefs thereof j that he would' " not eat the fleffi of bulls, or drink the blood of " goats." Did they offer by faith ? Then they rauft have refpedled not merely the divine infti- tution, but its defign. That God, who required facrifice, would undoubtedly inform them, that tvhat they inflidcd on the innocent vidims, which they 35° SUBSTITUTION A.ND ATONEMENT they prefented to him, was only what themfelves defer ved. When the people tranfgreffed, by worfhip- ping the golden calf, Mofes, the typical Me- diator, who was innocent in this matter, under a deep fenfe of the neceffity both of fatisfac- tion and of fubllitution, propofed himfelf as a victim of divine vengeance, inilead of the guilty congregation. " Yet now," he faid, " if thou *' wilt, forgive their lin : and if not," if there be no other mode of reconciliation, " blot me, I pray ** thee, out of the book which thou haft written ^.\* But a better Mediator was neceflary. As true worihippers could not apprehend that God took pleafure in facrifice for its own fake, they muft have known that no viftim they offer- ed could have any merit ; that there was no pro- portion between the facrifice of a beaft, and the lin of a man. They could not indeed " offer by *' faith," without looking forward to a better fub- llitute. Without the exercife of faith in the furetifliip of the Meffiah, their fer vices could not have been accepted. When it is faid of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham and Sarah, that they " all " died in faith," we learn what this grace prin- cipally refpedted. They had not, as to the fub- ftance, *' received the promifes," but they ** faw *' them afar off, and embraced them y." It was Chrift as a Surety, whom, in the promifes, they " faw afar off." All their facrifices bore a dired relation to his " one offering." For in the firft promife X Exod. xxsii. 32. . (y Heb. xi. 13. ILLUSTRATED FROM SACRED HISTORY. 35I promife he Avas cxprefsly fcvealed as a fufFering Saviour. Hence, when addrefling the Father con- cerning that will, by which we are fandified, through the oflering of liis own body, he fays ; " At the head of the book it is written of me, I *' delight to do thy v/ill ^" II. The impofition of hands on the liead of the vidim, is a circumflancc which particularly de- ferves our attention, as a farther proof of fubfti- tution in making atonement. This was the in- jundion wirli rcfj)e6l to " any man who fliould ** biing an oflering. — He fliall put his hand upon ** the head of the burnt-oflering ; and it fliall be " accepted for him, to make an atonement for " him ^" This was an emblem of his transfer- ring his guilt, as far as this could be done, to the vi<51im. If in any inflance the wl)ole congrega- tion had fmned ignorantly, and their offence was afterwards known to them, the congregation was to offer a young bullock for the lin, and the el-^ ders, as their reprcfcntatives, were to " lay their " hands on the head of the -bullock before the *' Lord''." A fimilar rite was to be obferved by the high-priefl, on the great day of atonement. He was to •* lay both his hands on the head of " the live-goat, and confefs over him all the ini- ** quities of the children of Ifrael, and all their " tranfgrefTions, in all their fins, putting them on " the head of the goat '^." This rite was unwor- thy z Pfal. xl. 7, S. a Lev. i. 4 b.Lsv. iv, 14, 15. c Lev. xvi. 11. 352 SUBSTITUTION AND ATONEMENT thy of the divine iriftitution, and of man's obfef- Vance ; except as typifying that great adt of God's juftice in laying upon Chrift the iniquities of all his people, and the exercife of their faith in cor- dially aflenting to this ad:, and embracing him as their only Surety. III. The vidim was thus legally fubjeded to the curje merited by the traiifgreifor. As an evi- dence of this, all the fin-olTerings, whofe blood was to be carried into the holy place, were to be burned without the camp, that it might not be defiled '^. This prefigured Chrilt's being " made " a curfe for us," when fubltituted as our atoning facrifice. We have already viewed the execution of the feven fons of Saul, becaufe of the guilt of their parent in fraying the Gibeonites, as a ftriking proof of God's vifiting the iniquities of the fa- thers upon the children. The fame event con- tains a remarkable illuftration of the dodlrines of fubftitution and atonement. God fubjeded Ifrael to a temporary curfe, in giving them up to fa- mine for three years, becaufe of Saul and his bloody houfe. According to the will of God, this curfe muft be transferred to feven of the fons of Saul ; a myftical number, expreffive perhaps of the legal perfeftion of the atonement thus to be made. Although, as far as appears, they were perfonally innocent, as to this crime, the curfe was transferred to them. This appears from the defigUy d Lev. vi. 30. ILLUSTRATED FROM SACRED HISTORY. 353 defign, from the confequence, and from the man- ner of their punifhment. The dejign of their pu- nifliment was legally to remove the guilt of in- nocent blood from the nation of tfrael. David, being divinely inftructed as to the caufe of the famine, faid unto the Gibeonites, " What fhall I ** do for you ? and wherewith fhall I make the a- " tenement, that ye may blefs the inheritance of " the Lord ?" The confequence of the execution and interment of the fufferers was, that " God was " entreated for the land.'* He accepted the a- tonement. But there was alfo fomething very rem.arkable in the manner of their punifhment. From God's approbation of this whole affair, there can be no reafonable doubt that the Gibeonites were providentially diredted,, not only as to the atonement that they demanded, but the manner in which they propofed it fhould be made : " Let " feven men of his fons be delivered unto us, and ** we will hang them up — in Gibeah of Saul." They propofe that themfelves fliould adl as priefts in this extraordinary facrifice ; and that the pu- nifhment fhould be hanging, the only one pro- nounced accurfed by the law. Their language is tlill more exprefs. They do not merely fay, " We •' will hang them up ;" but, " We will hang *' them up unto the Lord^^'' as vi6tims offered un- to him, and folemnly devoted to bear that curfe to which the nation had been fubjedted, and le- gally to bear it away. The expreHion is after- wards a little varied, in the narrative of the fact ; but fo as ftill to convey the fame idea. " They Vol. II. Z " hanged 354 SUBSTITUTION AND ATONEMENT " hanged them on the hill before the Lord «." The legal atonement was to be made for Ifrael, by means of their fufFering in the very fame man- ner in which He was to fuffer, who was truly to be made a cnrfe for us, being hanged on a tree ; and who was thus to take away the iniquity of his people in one day. God was not entreated for the land, till thefe men were not only hang- ed, but buried. This having been long delayed., David viewed it as a matter of fuch importance that he engaged in the work himfelf. For ac- cording to the law, he that was hanged, was to be buried on the fame day, as being " the curfe " of God f." This ordinance prefigured that the burial of Chrift fhould be a folemii and pradlical evidence that our fins were covered and removed from God's fight, fo as no more to rife up againfi: us in judgment. IV. It was necefiTary that atonement fhould be made by the fhedding of blood. What rites fo- ever were ufed, without this in ordinary cafes there was no proper expiation. For " without " fhedding of blood there is no remiffion." It was not enough that the vidim was flain : it was neceffary that it fliould be flain by the^ef- fufion of blood. This inflitution referred both to the curfe of the broken covenant, and to the manner in which it fliould be removed. The fentence of the law was, *' Dying thou fhalt die '," " The foul that finneth, it fliall die." Now, it is declared e a Sara. xxi. i.— 14. f Deut. xxi. 23. ILLUSTRATED FROM SACRED HISTORY. 355 declared that " the blood is the foul,'* that is, ^ " the life •" not as if the blood were, ftridlLy fpeaking, either the foul, or the animal life ; but becaufe the animal fpirits, which are the organs of the foul, are in the blood. It, therefore, was the will of God that the blood of the viaim fhould be flied ; not only to fliew the reality of its death, as, when the blood is feparated from the body, the life is gone ; but to declare that the per- fon, for whom it was offered, had forfeited his life, his very foul, to divine juftice, and that the law would not mitigate its fentcnce. In this Ihed- ding of blood there w^as a plain declaration of the fubftitution of the one for the other, as ap- pears from the language of God to the Ifraelites ; '' The life of the flefh is in the blood ; and I have " given it to you upon the altar, to make an atone- " ment for your fouls ; for it is the blood that *' maketh an atonement for the foul ?: ;" literally *' the fo!/l of the flefh i§ in the blood." For the fame word is ufed, as afterwards when we read of " an atonement for the foul." The life or foul of a beaft is not here put on a footing with that of man. But this language is employed to de- clare that when the blood of a bead was fhed, fo that death enfued, all the foul which it poffelTed was given up inftead,of thofe for whom it was of- fered. This mode of offering alfo fitly prefi- gured the work of Chrifl, in " pouring out his ** foul unto death,'* in fhedding his blood for the remifiion of "fins. X 2 There g L«v. xvii. II, 35^ SUBSTITUTION AND ATONEMENT There was but one cafe, in which atonement could be made, for any particular tranfgreflion, without blood. This was merely on the fuppo- fition of abfolute neceffity. If the offerer was fo very poor that he could bring nothing that had bipod, he might prefent a fmall quantity of flour \ " By the law almoft all things were purged " with blood." Not only the tabernacle and all the holy veffels, but alfo the garments of the prieits were fprinkled with it '. Before there could be any acceptable miniflration for others, it was requifite that the prieits Ihould make atonement for themfelves ^. For the altar itfelf an atonement was neceflary ^ V. Sacrifice was the great mean of co?iJir7ning the covenant of grace, as difpenfed before the co- ming of Chrift. When God revealed this cove- nant to Abraham, he commanded him to facri- iice feveral creatures, and to divide them into different parts '". Hence the phrafe often ufed in the Old Teitament, and indeed in the palTage referred to", oi Jlriking or cutting a covenant; becaufe it was made by ftriking the victims, and fometimes by dividing them, as in the facrifice oflered by Abraham. This implied that the par- ties imprecated a fimilar vengeance on themfelves, if they broke th^ir engagement ; efpecially as they fometimes pafTed between the parts of the divided b Lev. V. II. — 13. i Exod. xxix. Ji. k Lev. xvi. 6. 1 Exod, xxix. 36. m Gen. xv. 9, iq. n Ver. iS, PROVED FROM SACRED HISTORV. 357 divided vidims ". When God revealed his co- venant, the efFufion of blood always referred to the facrifice of Chrift ; and fignified that the complete fatisfad:ion, made by this facrifice, was and could be the only foundation of a gracious covenant, and of the rcftoration of tranfgreflbrs to the divine favour. This was the great confirmation of the cove- nant made with the Ifraelites. " For when Mo- " fes had fpoken every precept unto all the peo- ** pie according to the law, he took the blood of " calves and of goats, — and fprinkled both the " book and all the people ; faying, This is the " blood of the covenant which God hath enjoin- " ed unto you p." This prefigured the confirma- tion of the new covenant by blood of infinitely greater value and efficacy. By this blood, it was at length actually con- firmed, in the death of the antitypical Surety. Hence, in " coming to Jefus the Mediator of the ** new covenant," we alfo come " to the blood of " fprinkling :" and the commemorative cup, in the ordinance of the Supper, is called " the new *' covenant in his blood." For as all the faving benefits of the covenant were purchafed, they are all confirmed, by this blood, and made over to us as legacies, which have derived full validity from the death of the Teftator. When men entered into leagues of amity with each other, it was alfo c<\\\Q^Jir iking a covenant ; aiid it would appear, that as they llaughtered Z 3 beafts, Jcr. xx.viv. 18. p Heb. ix. ip, 20, 35^ SUBSTITUTION AND ATONEMENT beafts, it was not merely to feaft on them, but as an ad: of religion ^. The mode enjoined by God, when he entered into covenant with man, feems to have been the pattern they followecj. It is moft probable, indeed, either that this plan was adopted in confequence of divine direction ; or that the believing patriarchs meant to give great- er folemnity to the tranfaition, by invoking that God as their wdtnefs, with whom they had *' made a covenant by facrifice '"." They ac- knowledged him, not only as the Maker of hea- ven and earth, but in that peculiar and federal charadler in which he had made himfelf known to the Church by a revelation of grace. VI. The worjh'ip of the Church, from the be- ginning, efpecially coniifted in facrifice. What- ever other adls were performed, they v/ere unac- ceptable, except in as far as they were conneded with this. No pure offering could be prefented, iinlefs the hands of the worfhippcr were fprinkled with blood. Read the hiftory of the Church, in relation to her religious fervices ; and for four thoufand years it will be found written in the blood of her facrifices. The firfl account given of. acceptable worfhip, js that of the oflering of Abel ; and as his faith was manifefted in this way, we may be afTured that the faith of all the antediluvian patriarchs l^ad the fame evidence. Were further proof ne- cefTary, we have it in Noah's particular acquaint- ance J Geo. xxxi. 5^, I Pfal, 1. ^, ILLUSTRATED FROM SACRED HISTORY. 359 ance with the diftinftion between clean and un- clean beafts or fowls ; which certainly proceeded from the ufe which had been hitherto made of them in the'worfliip of God. Did divine juftice require that the wicked fhould be *' cut down out " of time," that their ^' foundation fhould be over- " thrown with a flood ?" Still God could not look with pleaiure on the earth. An ablution by water was not fufficient. It muft be wafhed with blood. He could not " fmell a favour of reft," till Noah, as the high-priclt of a new world emer- ging from the waters, prefented a facrifice " of " every clean beaft, and of every clean fowl ^" And it was undoubtedly with a view to this, as the principal fervice of the Church, that God preferved in the ark thofe beafts and fowls, which were clean, by fevens ; *' while the unclean were *' admitted only by two '." So fully were the patriarchs convinced of the importance of this" worftiip, that when they took up their refidence in any particular place, they no fooner pitched their tent, than they ereded an altar. Even while on a journey, if they enjoyed any fpecial token of the divine favour, they halt- ed till they had built an altar, and called on the name of the Lord. While the progrefs of thofe, whom the world calls great^ might, even in an early period, be marked by the remains of their encampments, or by the carcafes of thofe whom they had flain ; the various ftations of the patri- archs might be traced by the altars they ereded, Z 4 as 5 Oen. viii. ao, at, t Ch^p. vii. 2, 3. 360 SUBSTITUTION AND ATONE^fENT as monuments of their reconciliation with God, and of their peace with man '. When God made choice of a peculiar people, for the prefervation of his truths and ordinances, the facrifical worfhip of the Church was aug- mented, inftead of being diminifiicd. The Faff- over was not merely to be obferved on that night in which the deftroying angel paffed through, but during the exiftence of the Church of Ifrael. We can fcarcely conceive a more lively emblem of fubflitution, than what took place in its firil celebration. The Ifraelites were to fprinkle the blood of the pafchal lamb on the door-pofts and lintels of their houfes ; and wherever this blood was fprinkled, the firft-born were faved, while thofe of the Egyptians were involved in a com- mon deilrudtion. Here the blood of the lamb was evidently fubftituted and accepted inftead of that of the firft-born of lirael ; and clearly pre- figured the llaying of that " Lamb of God, who *' taketh away the fm of the world," by the ef- ficacy of whofc " precious blood, as of a lamb *' without blemifh, and without fpot," we are re- deemed from eternal deftruction. It was the will of God, that, from the nature of her worfliip, the Church fhould conftantly be taught the ncceflity of an atonement. Blood was perpetually ftreaming before her eyes. The Lamb of God was typically offered every morning, and every evening. On the Sabbath, the oblation was doubled ; two Iambs being offered inftead of one. u Gen. 5Ji. 7, 8. ; xiii. 3, 4. i^. ILLUSTRATED FROM SACRED HISTORY. 361 For, on this day of fpiritiial rcfl, the efficacy of the blood of Jefus is molt eminently manifefted, in the communication of grace to the fouls of men. This facrifice was offered, both morning and evening, for the whole congregation of Ifrael, and in their name '. This denoted the exercife of all the fpiritual Ifrael, in looking daily to Chrift as their facrifice, through whom alone they have accefs to God, and in deriving virtue from hira as -* made unto them fandlification." A diftind fa- crifice was to be offered every new moon ^. When the Ifraelites prefented their firfl-fruits, in the feaft of harveft, they could not be accepted fingly. It was neceffary that blood fliould be offered with them -'■- For however acceptable a facrifice of thanfgiving be to God, it is acceptable only through the meritorious blood of Chrift. Befides the multitude of facrifices, occafionally offered for the tranfgrcflions of individuals, one day every year was peculiarly appropriated to ex- piation. It was therefore diftindtively denomi- nated " a day of atonement >." Such was the fo- lemnity to be obferved on this day, that the high- prieft was previoufiy to offer for his own purifica- tion, in the fame manner as he had done at his firft confecration 2. Notwithftanding the multi- plicity of offerings, many fins muft have been committed during the courfe of a year, for which no atonement had been made. The atonement made on this day was therefore meant, for legally taking V Num. xsviii. i, 3. 9. w Ver. ir. x Lev. xxiii. i8, ip. y Ver. 27, 23. z Lev. xvi. 5, 6. ; ix. 2. 8. 562 SUBSTITUTION AND ATONEMENT taking away the guilt of fins of every kind, which had been formerly committed, and not expiated. But it was not confined to thefe. As the atone- ment was made for the whole congregation, both priefl;s and people ; it would feem to have been meant for all their former fins, for there is no ex- ception of any. Thus it at once proclaimed the imperfedlion of the legal facrifices, and in a very llriking manner prefigured the efficacy of that atonement to be made by the antitypical High- priefi:, when he fliould " remove the iniquity of ** the land in one day ^." VII. Even the defedlive nature of the ceremonial infi:itute directed the worlliippers to a better atone- ment. Sacrifice was appointed for fome fins, and not for others ; appointed for the fmalleft offences, and not for the greateft. Thus, according to the law, no atonement was provided for idolatry or murder. Thefe crimes, indeed, and others of a like nature, admitted of no legal expiation ; be- caufe the tranfgrcfiTor was to be puniflied with death. Eut as God proclaimed that he was mer- ciful and gracious, pardoning iniquities of every kind, and yet appointed no expiation in fome cafes ; it fliewed, that he had a better atonement provided, the efficacy of which might extend even to thofe ,^who could find no mercy from the law. Of this we have an example in the cafe of David. God defired not facrifice or burnt-offering ; be- caufe none had been appointed for the expiation of a Zech. iii. 9, ^ ~ ILLUSTRATED FROM SACRED HISTORY. 363 of fuch crimes. Yet he intimated to him, that he had •* taken away his fin." This intimation being made by Him who *' will by no means clear the " guilty," plainly fignified, that divine mercy w'as exercifed in relation to a better atonement than any the law could provide. VIII. The mercy- feat was a permanent figure of a true atonement. As the ark contained the two tables of the law, its lid or covering was overlaid with pure gold ; and on this the cloud of glory relied. This was called the covering mercy-feat^ from a word which primarily fignifies to cover, or to overlay with pitch ; and in a fecondary fenfe, to expiate, to make reconciliation, and alfo to pardon. As it interpofcd between the glory of God and the tables of teftimony ; it fignified the work of Chrifl:, in covering our breaches of the law from the holinefs and jufcice of God, by in- terpofing himfelf as a Surety. We thus perceive the reafon why the fame word, which fignifies to cover, is ufcd to exprefs the bleCing of forgive- nefs : for when our fins are pardoned, they are co- vered from the eye of God as a condemning Judge, the perfect righteoufnefs of our Elder Bro- ther being call over them. It is perhaps not un- worthy of obfervation, that this word occurs but once in its literal and primary fignification, to de- note the covering of pitch given to the ark in which Noah and his family were favcd '^ As this was necelTary for preferving them from the waters J) Gen. vi. 14, 3^4 SUBSTITUTION AND ATONEMENT waters by which the wicked were deftroyed ; the coverifig given to another ark reprefented the ne- eeffity of a better defence, as it was a type of the fame falvation prefigured by the deliverance of the Church from the deluge ^. The word, ufed to denote the covering of the ark, is by our tranflators very properly rendered mercy-feat. For the .Spirit of infpiration employs a term precifely of this meaning, in the New Te- ftament, when Chriil is called a propitiatory ^ ; the fame term indeed, which often occurs in the Septuagint, 'as expreffing the {^n^t of the Hebrew. The literal mercy-feat was a ftriking emblem of Jiim, " whom God hath fet forth to be a propitia- *' tory." For not only are our tranfgreflions of the law covered by his righteoufnefs ; but as the typical mercy-feat as it were united the law of God and the vifible fymbol of his prefence in the Church, fo in Chrift ** mercy and truth are met *' together, righteoufnefs and peace have kilTed *' each other." On the day of atonement, the mercy-feat was to be fprinkled with the blood of the facrifices ^ This fhews how we are accepted. It is only be- caufe of the atonement which our Redeemer hath made by the facrifice of himfelf. Is he " fet forth " to be a propitiatory," that is, ** a mercy-feat ?" It is only " through faith in his bloody to declare *' God's righteoufnefs in the remiffion of fins." The blood of the legal facrifices was to be fprink- led before the mercy -feat feven times. This be- ing c I Pet. iii. 21. d Rom. iii. ar. e Lev. xvi. 14 ILLUSTRATED FROM SACRED HISTORY. 365 ing ufed in Scripture as a myflical number, ex- prellive of perfedion, it intimated that he, who *' is our propitiation," fliould give complete fatis- fadion to divine juftice. When the high-prieft entered the moll holy place with the blood of the facrifices, the cloud of incenfe was to cover the ark and mercy-feat ^ This tellifies, not only that the facrifice of Chrift is ** of a fweet-fraelling favour;" but that, on the ground of his own oblation, he ftill eft'edual- ly intercedes for his people ; nay, that all the be- nefit they derive from his oblation, is immediate- ly the effed; of his eternal life as an interceding High-prieft. Wherefoever the profeflbrs of the true religion were fcattered, they were ftill to pray towards the mercy-feat ". Thus are we taught, that our prayers and other duties can be accepted only through the antitypical propitiatory. Whatever we alk the Father, it muft be in the name of Chrift; that is, in the exercife of faith in bis facrifice and intcrcefiion. All the fellowftiip with God, which the Church [of Ifrael enjoyed, was in relation to this type, ac- ! cording to his promife ; " There I will meet with '*' thee, and I will commune with thee from above ** the mercy-feat ^^" In like manner, there can be no communion with God, no reception of any covenant blefling, no intimation of his love, but through the one Mediator. Our " fellowftiip is " with f Lev. xvi. 13. g I Kings vi. 16. 19. ; viii. 47, 4S. ; P/iI. xxviii. 2. ; D.;n. vi. lo. h Esod. kki. ai. 366 SUBSTITUTION AND ATONEMENT " with the Father," only as he hath " called uS " to the fellowfhip of his Son Jefus Chrift our « T v^rrl '» Lord.' - IX. As the Old Teftament contains a fymboli- cal reprefentation of the atonement, we have, in the New, a dillindt and complete hiftory of the real expiation made for fin, by the facrifice of Je- fus Chrift. From this hiflory it is evident, that the one correfponds v\'ith the other, as the fubftance with its fhadow. Under the law, the moft ufual fa- Crifice was a lamb, which fitly reprefented the in- nocence and meeknefs of the " Lamb of God," as well as his ufefulnefs to the Church, fupplying her both with food and raiment. Was this offering to be without blemifli ? Jefus was " holy, harmlefs, ** undefiled and feparate from finners." Was it to be taken out of the flock ? Jefus was " raifed " up from among his brethren." Strength and youth were requifite in the typical victim ; and our Saviour fuffered in the prime of life. The facrificCj in the paffover, was feparated for fome time before it was offered. Jefus was feparated or fet apart, as the Surety for finners, in the eter- nal purpofe and covenant, in his miraculous con- ception, and in his folemn inauguration at Jordan. The pafchal lamb w^as thus feparated four days ; and it has been obferved, that Chrift made his fo- lemn entry into Jerufalem, nearly about the fame time before his fuffering'^. Were the facrifices under the law hallowed or fandlified, in their be- ing i Exod. xii. 5, k John xii. i, ii. ILLUSTRATED FROM SACRED HISTORY. 367 ing offered to the Lord ' ? Jefus fanftified him- felf, for the fake of his people, in his one offer- ing ■". Were the hands of the priefls, in name of all the congregation of Ifrael, laid on the victim ? The hands of the priefls were indeed upon him, whom God had delivered up as our Surety. They confpired with the rulers againfl him. He was taken by their officers, and crucified at their in- lligation, the multitude aifenting to his death. Was it requifite that not a bone of the pafchal lamb fhould be broken. In him this type was llridly fulfilled, although in this inftance there was a deviation from the common mode of treat- ing thofe who were crucified. Could there be no typical remiflion " without the fliedding of " blood ?" From the accidental condu(5t of one of the heathen foldiers, no lefs uncommon than the circumflance juit now mentioned, the blood of the great Sacrifice was. adlually (lied. The ^adion of the foldier was accidental as to him, as proceeding from the mere wantonncfs of bar- barity ; though immutably determined in the counfel of God, and neceffary in order to the com- pletion of the prophecies and figures. Was the victim under the law ceremonially accurfed ? Jefus fuftaincd the curfe, bearing the wrath of a holy and fin-avenging God, in our ftead. Was the facrifice, after the blood was fhed, to be con- fumed with that facred fire which came down from heaven, and burned on the altar } The fa- crifice of Chrifl's human nature, as prefented on the i Lev. jLxij. t, z. m John xvii. 19. 358 SUBSTfTUTION AND ATONEMENT the altar of the divine, was fired by that holy flame of love, kindled by the Spirit in the heart of our adorable Surety. Was it neceiTary that incenfe Ihould be offered with the blood of the vi6tim ? Chrift not only entered into the holy place not made with hands, with his own blood ; but even in the very ad of offering, he " made interceffion for " the tranfgreffors." Was the prefer vation of the life of the high-prieft, after he had offered and entered into the prefence of God, a token of the legal acceptablenefs of the facrifice ? The refur- reftion, afcenlion, and eternal life of Jefus, as our interceding High-prieft, afford the moft full and fatisfadory evidence of the perfedion of his obla- tion. From the hiflory of atonement, it is clear that God will not pardcn fin without a fatisfadlion to his jullice. From the beginning he would not be worfhipped without blood, that he might demon- flrate to the Church the indifpenfable neceflity of expiation. As all her facrifices were unaccept- able without faith, flie was taught that they had no worth in themfelves for taking away lin. As the faith required, was that which looked for- ward to the facrifice of" the Prince of life ;" flie was alfo inflru'dled in the neceffity of an atone- ment of infinite value. We have at the fame time a wonderful difplay of the grace o£ God. This might be illuflrated in a variety of refpeds. Let one fuffice at pre- fent. He often informed his worfhippers, that he ILLUSTRATED PROM SACKED HISTORY. 369 he had no delight in the facrifices of (lain beafts. When his defign in appointing them was over- looked, he exprefled his deteftation at thefe very facrifices which he had himfelf required. Yet, for about four thoufand years, he accepted thefe, granting pardon and eternal life to all who offer- ed them in faith. He beftowed all new-covenant bleflings on his people, according to the nature of the difpenfation, on the credit of that real atone- ment which was to be made in the end of ages. The facrifice of Chrift, as it was ncceffary for the adual purchafe of red-emption, was alfo neceffavy for the vindication of the elTential jullice of God. Hence it is faid, that God hath fet forth his Son " to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to ** declare his righteoufnefs for the remillion of fins " that are paft through the forbearance of God ; ** to declare at this time his righteoufnefs, that he *' might be jufl" to the claims of his own adorable perfedions, and yet ** the juftifier of him that be- ** lieveth in Jefus".'* Vol. II. A a SECT. n Rom. iii. 25, if:. 37© THE DOCTRINE OF IMPUTATIOIS' SECTION XIV. The Dodlritie of Imputation illiijlrated, — -frofn the Raiment provided for our Firfl Parents^ after the Fall ; — from the Guilty being legally accounted Innocent, in confequence of ceremonial Atonement ; — from the ancient Cuflom of Feafiing on the Sa- crifice ; — from the manner in which Salvation was conferred on Believers under the Old I'efla- ment. With the dodrines of Subftitution and Atone- ment, which we have already confidered, that of Imputation is moft intimately connected. All the three, indeed, are jufl links of one precious chain.- Guilt is imputed to a fubftitute, that atonement may be made ; atonement is made, that the righ- teoufnefs procured by it may be imputed to him for whom the punifhment was fuftained. Thus the guilt of all the eleft was imputed to Chrift as their Surety. In this eharadler he paid their debt, that his righteoufnefs might be legally ac- counted theirs. Of this important article of our faith, we have not only a dodrinal, but an hifto- rical and fymbolical, exhibition. I. This was taught by the raiment which God provided for our firft parents, after they had fin- ned. ILfitJSTRATED FROM SACRED HlSTC'RY. 57I ned. " Unto Adam alfo, and to his wife, did the "Lord God make coats of Ikins, and clothed *' them "." Here feveral things deferve our at- tention. This raiment was made o^Jkins. It has been generally fiippofed, that the fkins referred to were thofe of the beafts which our common parents of- fered in facrifice, after the revelation of mercy. The paffage indeed has been viewed as a proof of the divine inftitiition of facrifiees, immediately after the fall. There is every reafon for viewing it in this light, when we confider the character of Chrift as " the Lamb flain from the foundation " of the world ;" and what has been formerly obferved concerning Abel's acceptable facrifice. He could not have " offered of the firlllings '* of the flock — by faith," without a divine war- rant ; and it is totally improbable that Abel fhould have been the firft who prefented an offer- ing of this kind. The circumftance of God's making thefe gar- ments for them, is very remarkable. This is the only raiment that God himfelf ever made. But he never works in vain. It was not necefTary, that He fhould deign to perform this work, as if it had been too difficult for them. Although they had needed direction, he could eafily have given it. But they had already manifefted their ingenuity in *' fewing fig-leaves together," for a covering f. We muft conclude, therefore, that thi-8 acTt of divine condefcenfion was meant to con- A a 2 vey Geu. iii. at. p Vt^. 7. 372 THE DOCTRINE OF IMPUTATION vey fpiritual inftrudtion ; that it was a token of his acceptance of their facrifices, and of his ac- counting them as innocent as the vidlims they had offered, as their faith, by means of thefe, ter- minated on the fpotlefs innocence of the promifed feed. We muft view this act of God as a fymbo- lical, but folemn, tellimony, that he had provided for them '* a robe of righteoufnefs, and garments " of falvation." Did " the Lord God make" this covering ? And is not the raiment, provided for us in the gofpel, " the righteoufnefs of God ?" Is it not a righteoufnefs fulfilled by a divine Perfon ? This covering was made by God, injlead of that which our firft parents had themfelves pro- vided, it may thus be viewed as expreffive of the excellency of our Redeemer's righteoufnefs, as oppofed to our own ; and as denoting the gra- cious work which God performs towards the vef- fels of mercy, in bringing them to renounce all their righteoufnelTes as filthy rags. They " made " themfelves aprons'''* only ; but God ** made " them coats.^^ This might be meant to fi^nify both the extent of their guilt, and of the Surety- righteoufnefs of Jefus. They looked only to the bodily nakednefs, and provided a covering for thofe parts alone, over which modefty draws a veil. But God tellifies at once the imperfedion of their views, and of their raiment. He declares^ that the whole man is defiled by fin, and that we cannot appear before him, without raiment that fhall ILLUSTRATED FROM SACRED HISTORY. 373 fhall completely cover us. For any covering, that the finner can provide for himfelf, is " nar- *' rower than that he can wrap himfelf in it'." He therefore cannot fin ** unto death ^" This is an effential charader of the feed of the word, that it pre- ferves from the total corruption in which the un- renewed lie, and from that fmal apoftacy into which they fall. VII. It was one of the diftinguifliing privileges of the Ifraelites, that God gave them his Spirit. Befides a Eph. i. 3. V Ifa. vi. 13. w Ifa. Ixv. 8, x i John iii. 5. y 1 Pet. i. 23. 2 I John v. 16, xS. ILLUSTRATED FROM SACRED HISTORY. 433 Beiides the gracious operations of the Spirit, which were confined to the eledt among them, his influences were communicated, for the bene- fit of Ifrael. in general, in a variety of ways. He was given as a Spirit of infpiration to the pen- men of Scripture, for the inftrudion of the Church, as Nehemiah acknowledges : " Thou gavefl thy *' good Spirit to inflrudl them "." He was com- municated as a Spirit of prophecy, and alfo of mi- raculous operation. Byhim were men fuppliedwith an extraordinary degree of bodily llrength, with wifJom for government, with fortitude for war, with eminent qualifications for works of art ^. They •" rebelled, and vexed his Holy Spirit." Yet he itill continued among them : and this is pointed out as a fpecial ground of confolation under trial, and as an antidote againft fear. When the Jews were di (heartened, becaufe the glory of their fecond temple was fo far inferior to that of the firft, the following meffage was delivered by the prophet Haggai ; " I am with you, faith the Lord of " hods : according to the word that I covenanted '• with you when ye came out of Egypt, fo my "Spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not '^.'^ They enjoyed the prefence of God in this refpecl, as a pledge of preferyation from total dellrudion : *' / a7n with thee, fidth the Lord, to fave thee : "■ though I make a full end of all nations whither " I have fcattered thee, yet will I not make a full " end of thee '1." Vol. H. E e This a Neil. ix. 20. b See Owen on the Spirit, B. ii. chap. i. c Hag. ii. .^, J. tl Jer. \xx. n. 434 consj:rvation of believers This was undoubtedly a bleffed emblem of the fafety of all believers, as " builded up for an ha- " bitation of God through the Spirit." He is conferred on them in all his gifts and graces, ac- cording to the ftate of the Church, or their pecu- liar calls. Pie ads in them all, as *' the Spirit of " wifdom and revelation in the knowledge of *' Chrift." He fupplies them with fortitude in their fpiritual vv^arfare ; and by him they are *' firengthened with all might in the inner man." Some, like Bezaleel a^id Aholiab of old, are fur- riifhed with peculiar gifts for labouring in the xvork of the fantluary ^ Often do his people provoke their gracious God. But he deals v^ith them, as he did with David. He calls them not away from his prefence ; nor takes his Holy Spi- rit from them. On the contrary, he brings them to evangelical repentance, thus reflores to them the joy of his falvation, and upholds them with hX^free Spirit ^ ; with the influences of that Spi- rit, who is no lefs fovereign in all his operations on the renewed foul, than he was in the vjork of regeneration itfelf The very defign of the mif- fion of this gracious Comforter, is that he may abide with them for ever ? ; and " feal" them, as the Lord's peculiar treafure, " unto the day of " redemption ^." vjii. God often faved Ifrael, in the day of their provocation, or of their danger, at the intcrcejfion of g E.vod. xx.vi. r. — 5. f Pfal. li. Ti, iz. g Join xiv, i(J. h Tpl). i. 13 14. ; V. 30. ILLUSTRATED TROM SACRED HISTORY. 435 of his fervants. Thus Mofes interceded for the people, when God threatened to deftroy them be- caufe of their idolatry ; and afterwards, when they murmured at the report of the fpies : and in both inilances his interceflion was fuccefsful '. When they rebelled becaufe of the difplay of di- vine vengeance againfl Korah and his affociates, and the plague brake forth among them, Aaron ran into the midft of the congregation, with his flaming cenfer in his hand, and made atonement. He ** ftood between the living and the dead, and " the plague was flayed '\" David, in like man- ner, after he had himfelf provoked the Lord by numbering the people, made interceflion, as he alfo offered facrifices. ** So the Lord was en- " treated for the land, and the plague was flayed " from Ifrael '.'' Many other inflances might be given of the fuccefs of interceflion in the experience of Ifrael. But it is evident, that thefe three perfons, in all the inflances mentioned, a6l?d exprefsly as types of Chrift ; and as prefiguring both the truth, and the fuccefs, of his interceflion. Mofes a6led as a Mediator between God and his people ; Aaron as " the faint, the holy One, of God ;" David as his Anointed. There was fomething highly emble- matical in the very circumflances of their inter- ceflion. Mofes propofed to make an atonement- for the fln of Ifrael. He, as has been feen in*a former fedion, exprefled his refolution to devote E e 2 himfelf i ExoJ. xxxii. 10. 30. — ^1.; Numb. siv. 11. — io. k Numb, xvi, 47, 4S, 1 ^Sam. xxiv. 17, 25. 43^ COxN'SERVATION OF BELIEVERS himfelf for them. " If thou wilt," he fays, '* for- " give their fin : and if not, blot me, I pray thee, *' out of thy book which thou haft written." The Man of God feems determined either to perifti with, or for, his beloved Ifrael ; unwilling to en- joy any mercy that he might not hold in com- mon with them. Aaron ruihed in between the vengeance of the Almighty and offending Ifrael. He fubftituted himfelf as a mark for the arrows of divine wrath. David did the fame. When he faw the angel that fmote the people, he laid unto the LoKD \ *' Lo, I have finned, andl have " done wickedly : but thefe jQieep. what have " they done ? Let thine hand, 1 pray thee, be ^'' againft me." In all thiSj do we not fee the character, and the conduct, of the good Shepherd, v^ho laid down his life for the fneep, who inter- cedes for them on the ground of the atonement he hath made } " If any man fin, u'e have an " advocate with the Father, Jefus Chrift the righ- *' teous: and he is the propitiation for our fins ." Satan would have us, that he might fift us as wheat : and when he fifts, he wifhes to retain no- thing but the chaff in his ficve. But Jefus prays for us, that our faith fail not". " If, when we " were enemies, we were reconciled to God by *• the death of his Son : much more, being recon- "^' ciled, we fnall be faved by his life%" as our interceding High-prieft. Did the Lord fay to Mofes, " I have pardoned according to thy word?" And may we not be affured, that the Father grants to ta I John ii. i, s, n Luke xxii. 31, 32. Rom. v. jo. ; Heb. vil. 15, ILLUSTRATED. FROM SACRED HISTORY. 437 to the true Mediator " all his heart's defire i" and particularly when he afks in behalf of his people ** life of him, even length of days for ever and ^' everP?" Did he accept of the typical facri- fices, and of the fmoke of incenfe, as making atone- ment ? Were thefo of any worth in his fight ? No, furely ; but in as far as they prefigured the perfe6l atonement and ever-prevalent interceffion of our glorious Surety, IX. The ancient people of God were preferved from deftrudion, by a conllant exercife of al- mighty ^ott/^r, by the hand of that Angel whom he promifed as their leader. This glorious An- gel, as has been formerly obferved, was no other than our Lord Jefus Chrift, afting as " the Mef- ** fenger of the covenant ;'" and, according to . the charader of that difpenfation, figuratively manifeiling the nature of his office with refped to all who are Ifraelites indeed. Concerning him the Father declared ; " Eehold, I fend an Angel ** before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to *' bring thee into the place which I have^r^/)^- " red^y It was this Angel of God's prefence, who " faved them, — bare them, and ca*-ied them " all the days of old ""j" He exercifed unremit- ted watchfulnefs over them. Hence it is faid ; " He will not fuffer thy foot to be moved. — " Behold, he that keepeth Ifrael fliall neither " llumber nor lleep'." His tender care of his people is reprefented under the mod expreffive E c 3 metaphors p Pfal. xxi. 2. 4. q Excxl. xxiii, 20. r Ifa. liiii. 5. s Puil. cxxi. 3. 4. 43^ CONSERVATION OF ^ELIEVERS metaphors. He appeared as the " Shepherd of " Ifrael, who led Jofeph as a flock ^" He had promifed to Abraham that to his feed he would give " all the land of Canaan for an everlafting *' pofTeflion "." — He accordingly ** led them on " fafely, fo that they feared not ; — and he brought " them to the border of his fancftuary, even to " this mountain which his right hand had pur- " chafed ." " He led him about, he intruded " him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. As " an eagle ftirreth up her neft, fluttereth over her " young, taketh them, beareth them on her wings -, " fo the Lord alone did lead him ''." It w^as the privilege of the literal Ifrael, as being externally " an ho/y people," to be prefer ved by Chrift ; as Mofes lings : "Yea, he loved the people ; all his *' faints are in thy hand '^." As really as his mer- cy was confpicuous in their redemption, his power was difplayed in their continued prefervation : *' Thou in thy mercy hail led forth the people *' whom thou hafl: redeemed : thou haft guided *' them in Xhyjlrength unto thy holy habitation >'." Often, as the punifliment of their iniquities, he fuffered them to be for a time led captive by their heathen foes, whom he *' left to prove If- " rael." But when they cried unto him, he ftill delivered them ^. The lamp that God lighted up among them, often became, through their own w^ickedncfs, like " a fmoking flax." But he would t P^al Ixxx. i. u. Gen. xvii. 8. v PlaU Ixxviii. 53. 54. vv Deat. xxxii. 10 — 12. x Deut. xxxiii. 3. y Exod. xv. 13. z Judg. iii. I. 9. 15. vi. 6. 14. &c. ILLUSTRATED FROM SACRED HISTOR.Y. 439 would not fuffer it at any time to be totally ex- tinguiQicd, becaufe it was ordained for his an- nointed. Their preservation, indeed, feems to be folely the effed: of one continued miracle. No- thing but the wonderful operation of divine power could have preferved them in Egypt, when the whole nation confpired for their deftrudtion. During forty years were they miraculoufly fup- ported in the wildernefs. The heavens gave them bread, and the flinty mck fupplied them with water. Had their nourifliing dew been withheld, or the rock been dried up, for a few days ; the whole people muft have perifhed. Al- though fupported by ordinary means, after they were brought to Canaan, their deliverances were often entirely miraculous ; and their continued prefervation, in the midfl of fo many powerful nations, that ftill fought to deftroy them, can fcarcely be viewed in any other light. Now, as we are certain that this tender en re was no ways merited by Ifrael, it is no lefs evi- dent that ail the glory that redounded to God, from the difplays of his mercy and power, in their outward deliverance, cannot reafonably be viewed as an object in itfelf fufficiently worthy of the means employed. If we do not view their won- derful prefervation as Itridly typical of the pre- fervation of a people formed by God for himfelf, in a far fuperior way to ihew forth his, praife ; we muft be for ever at a lofs to perceive infinite wifdom in this fcries of miracles. It would feem to be but a waftc of mercy and of power, if they E e 4 were 440 CONSERVATION OF BELIEVERS were never meant to fubferve fome higher end. But for our fakes efpecially were thefe things done, and for our fakes were they written, that we might know that our help cometh only from the Lord. The very language, which is ufed in the Old Teftament with refpecl to the prefervation of this peculiar people, is in the New, appropriixted to them who believe. The fame Angel of the co- venant ftablifhes his faints, and keeps them from evil \ He could teflify to his Father, that, while he was in the world, he had kept them in his liame ^. While about to leave it, he faid to them ; " I go to prepare a place for you. And — *' I will come again, and receive you unto my- " felf, that where I am, there ye may be alfo c." - As '* the good Shepherd, he callcth his own fheep " by name, and leadeth them out : and when he ** putteth forth his own fJieep, he ^oetb before " them." Concerning them he gracioufly faith ; *' I give unto them eternal life, and they fliall ** never perifli, neither fhalL any pluck them out " of 7?iy haiid^y When they are begotten again, it is " to a lively hope, — to an inheritance " far furpaffing that which was its figure, " an inheri- •* tance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fa- " deth not away, referved in heaven for them, " who are kept by the power of God, through ** faith unto falvation ^." That gift of the Spirit, of which we have already fpoken, is evidently defcribed a 2 Thef. iii. 3. b John xvii. 12. c John xiv. 2. 3. d|John X. 3. 4. 28. e i Pet. i. 3. — 5. iLLUSTRATED FROM SACRED HISTORY. 44I defcribed in language borrowed from the typical mercies of Ifrael. It is " the earneft of our inhe- " ritance, until the redemption of the purchafcd " poilelTion f." All who are " fandlified by God *' the Fatfier," are " preferved in Chrirt Jefus ?.'* He does not entirely deliver them from their fpiritual enemies. He *' flays them not, left his *' people fliould forget'." Paul, as a renewed perfon, thus declares his experience ; *' I fee ano- ** thcr law in my members, warring againft the ** law of my mind, and bringing me into capti- *' vity to the law of fin whicji is in my mem- " bers." Hence his people complain of wretch- ednefs. But by faith they are afllired of deliver- ance through Jefus Chrift their Lord ', Grace in their fouls is often as " a fmoking flax." But fo gracious is their almighty Redeemer, that the " fmoking flax fliall he not quench, till he fend " forth judgment unto vidory ••." If a miracle be fomething entirely beyond the power of nature, what is the prefervation of the children of God but a continued miracle. As they were at firft ** born from above," the whole of thofe fupplies that are neceflary for the fupport 6f this life come from the fame quarter. They feed on *' the hidden manna." They drink of " the pure river of the water of life." They continue in a wildernefs, where there is neither bread nor water for their fouls. They are en- compaffed with pits, and fnares, and beafl:s of prey ; conftantly fighting with enemies, and ef- pecially f Eph. I. 14. g JuJe 1*. h Ffal. lie. it. i Rora. vii._73 —25. k.Matth. xii. ;c. 44^ CONSERVATION OF BELIEVERS pecially with a body of fin in their own hearts* The power that preferves them from perifliing, in fuch circumftances, is entirely fupernatural. The doftrine of divine confervation affords encouragement to the children of God, when la- bouring under a fenfe of guilt that threatens to overwhelm them, or when they may be apt to conclude that fin is about to regain its empire in their hearts. Thofe who never felt the ar- rows of the Almighty, or who ftill continue ftran- gers to the dreadful power of fin in the foul, may depreciate this dodlrine as at belt unprofitable. But it cannot be viewed in this light by any who know what is meant by " a wounded fpirit, or who have been *' tofled with tempeft." In fuch a fituation, a believing view of the eternity and immutability of divine love, of its fovereignty as overlooking our continued unworthinefs, can alone give relief. Hither alfo muil we turn our eye for comfort, when fin rages and threatens to de- llroy. This is the confolation that God himfelf exhibits : " Sin Ihall not have dominion over *' you ; for ye are — under grace. — He that hath " begun a good work, will perform it unto the " day of Jefus Chrift," We may alfo learn, that although the believer is fecured in a fl:ate of grace, no room is left for the indulgence of carnal fecurity, no encourage- ment is given to continue in fin. Many decry this doctrine, as if it were adverfe to the inte- lefts of holinefs. The contrary is clear from the hifiory of God's ancient people. Even while he proclaime-l ILLUSTRATED FROM SACRED HISTORY. 443 proclaimed the eternity of his love, he denoun- ced the fevereft judgments as the punifhment of apoftacy ; and when they adually departed from him, he fulfilled his threatenings. " He deli- " vered his ftrength into captivity, and his glory " into the enemies hand." God would not break his covenant with David, nptwithftanding his great trefpafs in the matter of Uriah. But did the divine condu6t afford any encouragement to him, or to any believer, to fin ? Was not David informed, that therefore the fword Ihould never depart from his houfe : and was not this threaten- ing awfully verified in fucceeding generations ? In a fimilar manner does he deal with the people of his love, when they provoke him by their ini- quities. He withdraws from them the light of his countenance, fuffers them to be led into cap- tivity for a time by the power of their lufts, and to lofe the perfuafion of his covenant-love. They are tried, it may be, ever after with darknefs as to their eternal (late. The Almighty, per- haps, gives" a command to his terrors to " fet *' themfelves in array" againfl them. Or, they are buffeted by Satan, by means of the moil horrid temptations. Or, he chaftens them out- wardly ' by fevere bodily afilidlions, by great temporal calamities, affedting their fubftance or reputation ; by removing their deareft earthly comforts, " the dcfire of their eyes." Can thefe things be viewed as no check to fin ? Is the foul of a Chriftian cafi: in fuch a mould, that nothing, • but 444 CONSERVATION OF BELIEVER* but the fear of eternal perdition can prevail witli him ? Notwithftanding the declarations of the per- petuity of God's love to his ancient people, they had no encouragement to expedl the renewed evi- dences of this love, unlefs they returned to him from whom they had revolted '^. Such is his condudl towards his fpiritual Ifrael. The Lord ftill fays ; " I will go and return to my place, " till they acknowledge their iniquity." Ac- cording to the divine teflimony, they have no rea- fon to expert deliverance from judgments, or the renewed manifeftations of his love, without turn- ing from their evil ways. We may add to thefe confiderations, that when there appeared any thing like true repentance among God's ancient people, it always efpecially proceeded from a fenfe of his love. The great argument, which he employed to enforce, not merely the firfi precept, but the whole law, is founded on the principle of gratitude ; and the very fame which he flill renders effeclual W'ith his children : *' I am the Lord thy God, " which have brought thee out of the land of ** Egypt, out of the houfe of bondage. Thou " fhalt have no other gods before me. Thou " flialt not bow down," &c. The fevereft judg- ments with which they were vilited, never brought them back to a fenfe of duty. When a linccre or general reformation took place, they were principally k Deut. XXX. I. — 3. ; i Kingi-viii. 31. — 54, ILLUSTRATED FROM SACRED HISTORY. 445 principally afFedcd by a difcovcry of federal love '. This is a proof, among many others, that the dodrine we have illuftrated, inftead of be- ing an encouragement to fin, can alone prove a proper incitement to duty. It is thus in the ex- perience of the children of God. When they feel the rod only, they are " as a bullock unac- " cuftomed to the yoke." But the love of Chrilt, when fhed abroad in their hearts, efpecially when manifefled in its glorious fovereignty and immu- tability, conftraineth them. This do6lrine, in a word, fupplies us with con- folation under the greateft advcrfities. The Lord often fcverely afflidted that nation, or that fa- mily, which he had chofen. But he did it in love. This was defigned for our inflruclion. How feverely foever we may be afllicled, let us not for this reafon call in queflion the love of God. Still he faith to us ; ** I will never, never " leave thee. — My love will I not take from him. " When thou paiTeft through the waters, I will *' be with thee, and through the rivers, they fhall '' not overflow thee : when thou walkefl through ** the fire, thou flialt not be burnt, neither fliall *' the flames kindle on thee. For I am the Lord " thy God, the holy One of Ifrael, thy Saviour.^ We may be fully aflTured, that even our afflic- tions, inilead of tending to our deflruclion, are meant in fubferviency to our falvation ; that they ** work 1 2 Chron, XX. '.—9. ; xxx. C. 5. ; E-'ra is. S, 5. i;;. 15. ; N<-h. jx. 7, — ;i. ; L an. ix. ^. 9. 15. iS. 44^ CONSERVATION OF BELIEVERS, &.C. ** work together for good ;" — that " when we are " judged, we are challened of the Lord, that we " Ihould not be condemned with the world ;" that he chaftens us " tor our profit, that we may " be partakers of his holinefs ;" and that he will at length put this fong in our mouths, •' We went " through fire and through water ; but thou " broughteft us out into a wealthy plact," INDEX. INDEX. A. y^BEL, v/hence denominated righteous, Ji. 299. — 301. Im.. port of the name, 306. Abraham, his faith, i. 126, 127. ; ii. 379. Fidelity and piety of his fervant, 261. Vifion of the Furnace and Lamp, 324, Seed promlfed to him, 387. — 389. Abraham^ the God of y reafon of this character, ii. 32. — ^6. Abydenusy his account of the Deluge, i. 94. Achaby remarkable difplay of Providence in his death, Ii. 294, 295. ; in the punifhment of his pollerlty, 291. — 293. Achariy what Is taught by his punifhment, II. 98. — loi, Adombe%ek, his punifhment, II. 85. Adoption, of Ifrael, what It fignlfied, I. 360. — 366. Advantages arifmg from the hlftorical mode of writing, i. 223. — 270. AJlinion, the lot of God's children, i. 375. — 379. Divine fo- vereignty dlfplayed In this, ii. 247. Altar, why only one allowed under the law, i. 307. Angels, good and evil, the hofts of God, Ii. 60. Divine So- vereignty manifefted towards them, 2 1 0.-2 1 7. Someelecl- ed, lb. All who fell, rejeded, 213. Angel of Jehovah, who he is, Ii. 43, 44. His appearances, 3I7-324- Apian, the Egyptian, his teftimony concerning the Jews, I. 61. Artapanus, his teftlmony concerning the Magicians In Egypt, I. '67. concerning Mofes, 68. the divifion of the Red Sea, 69. Ajpl-cdtites, Lake, account cf, i. 87.-89. Atonement, 443 INDEX. jltonmenf, great day cf, i. 454.-458. Neceffity of this, by z Divine Perfon, taught by the Mofaic economy, ii. 86. 10 1. IC4, 105. This doctrine not oppofeJ to the Grace of God, 105, 106. Illuftrated, 346.-369. Made, by the pianifh- ment of the guilty, 347. ; by a price, 348. ; by fubftitution, 349- B. Baal, controverfy between Jehovah and him, how decided, ii. 26. Baal-pcor, wcrfliip of, i. 1 74. Balaam, an unexceptionable witnefs to the trutli of Revelation, i. 185. Beauties of Sacred Hiftory, i. 207.-223. Be'in^ of God, mufl be matter of faith, ii. 2. B^e-l/hazzar, made the fm cf Nebuchadnezzar his own, ii. 125." I27» His guilt, how aggravated, 129, 130. Circumflances of his punifliment, 289, 290. Btrofus, his account of the Deluge, ;. 89.-94. B'^le, the moR: proper book for youth, i. 179, 180. Bondage of man under fm, i. 281. -2 83. B'/JIj burning, what it pi-eiigured, ii. 325, 326. Cam, punitive juftice difplayed as to him, ii. 74. Origin of h.is depravity, 295.-301. Canaar.y the curfe entailed on his pofterity becaufc of the fm of Ham, ii. 109. Canaarij this land typical of a better reft, i. 405.-408. Divi- ded by lot, 409. Canaanltes, fome of them, who fled before Jofhua, faid to have fettled in Africa, ii. 154, 1$$. The wickednefs of thefe nations, 15S. Their obduracy, 163. The command to exterminate them, confiftent with JiilHce, 165. j with Wif- dom, 169.; with Goodnefs, 171. It had no tendency to . render the Ifraelites fanguinary, 175. -183. Carnal confidenca, prohibited, i. 338. tjsrjer:^ ufed by the company of Korah, prefervcd as a me- nitrial, i. 24. Cercn\onial I N. D 'E X." 4^9 Ceremonial Xzysr, illuftrates divine holinefs, ii. 72. Children, the death of, a proof of Original Sin, ii. 308, 309. Clnnefe, their account of an univerfal deluge, i.,.95. Church, her hiftory contained in the Scriptures, i. 185, 186. Her unity, 199, 200. Chrijl, death of, expiatory, i. 194. The whole of Sacred Hiftory refers to him, 215. He taught by Parables, 266; by Ex- amples, 267. Rejedbsd by all in their natural ftate, 287, 288. The Leader and Captain of his people, 334.-338- Divides the heavenly Canaan, 409. The Fruit of the Earth, 413. His Refurreftion, prefigured by the offering of tke Firft-Fruits, 412. His fufferings afford the greateft dii- play of divine Holinefs and Juftice, ii. 102, 103. The Seed of the Woman, 312. 316. His Sacrifice, 366.-369. Circutncifion, what was taught by this ordinance, ii. 310. 331. Cloud of Glory, a Handing memorial of the truth of the Re- velation given to the Ifraelites, i. 26.-30. Pillar of Cloud, typical, 333, 334. 440, 4^.1. Prelude of the Incarnation, ii. 328. Coals of fkins, what they fignified, ii. 370.-375. Concatenation of circumftances, in Providential operation, ii. 271.-278. Conception, the curfe written in this, ii, 310.- 3 12. See Mira- culous. Examples of, beyond the ordinary courfe of na- ture, 339.-343- Cotifervaiion of Believers illi^ftrated, ii, 41 0.-446. Contingent events, a particular Providence manifefled in them, ii, 293.-295. Corinth, church of, corruptions in, i, 391. Corn, an handful of, this expreffion applied by the Jews to the MefTiah, i, 413, 414. N. Covenant, mode of making one, ii, 356.-358. Covenant of Works, both the grace and fovereignty of God manifefled in it, ii, 206.-209. Covenant of Grace, hiftory of, i, 188. Covenant, made at Sinai, whether to be viewed as a mere Dif- penCitlon, i, 350-357. Referred efpeciaily to the Surety, Ihip of Chrift, 356. Vol. ^I. F ^ Qovenani ; 45» T N D :E X. iCovetiant ; of Duty, its nature under the New Teftament, i. 358.-360. Breach of it feverely punifhed, ii. 132. Creation, heathen accounts of, i, 95.-101. Account of it in Scripture, worthy of God, 147.-151. The hiftory of the old creation iUuflrates the new, 153 ; ii, 381. -3 84. God's power difplayed in creation, linked with his miraculous ope- ration, and the completion of Prophecy, a combined proof of his being the only true God, ii, 24.-26. lUuftrates the dodrine of a Plurality of Perfons in the divine effence, 40. Contains various difplays of fovereignty, 198. -202. Cut off from his people, meaning of the phrafe, i, 341-349. Cyrus, why called God's Anointed, ii, 238. His work, 239, 240. D. David, the progreffive and hardening nature of fin, illuftrated from the hiftory of his fall, i, 249.-25 1. Covenant of royal- ty with him, what it lignified, ii, 415. Death, its reign illuftrated from the hiftory of the antediluvian Patriarchs, i, 243, 244. Decrees of God, unfolded in Scripture, i, 181.-183. Means and end infeparably conneded, ii 1 63.-165. J)e!ugc, account of it given by heathen writers, i, 89.-95. Its effefts, 156-163. Striking charafter of the hiftory of it, 235.-241. Contains an awful difplay of divine Juftice, ii, 76.-80. Depravity, human, hidorj o£, i, 169.- 175. Progrefs of, in the world, lb.; in the heart, 177. -179. Fruits of it, 179. Evi- dences, ii, 297.-3 1 3. Its Univerfality, 301. Dlodorus Slculus, his teftimony concerning the divifion of the Red Sea, i, 70. Prawlng of water, in the Feaft of Tabernacles, i, 442. JBarth curfed on account of the fin of man j evidences of this, i, 156..163. ja^ypttanSf INDEX. ji^s^. Egyptians f their Cofmogony, I, 99 ; their ahominatlon, what, lyj. Vilenefs of their Worftiip, ii, 7, 8. EleS'ton, of Angels, ii, 210; of Nations, 227 ; of Individuals, 219. That of Nations, terminating in a choice of Indi* viduals, 225. Elements, God's hoft, ii, 66. Eli, judgments on him and his houfe, ii, 115. Elijah^ his plan for deciding the controverfy between Jehovah and Baal, ii, 26. His hiftory a proof of perfonal eleiftion, 227. Elizabeth, her conception a fign, ii, 340.-343. Enoch, his walking with God, i, 246. 248. Enos, meaning of this name, ii, 306, 307. EJlher, the book of, an hiftory of Providence, ii, 274.-278. Eve, meaning of this name, ii, 298, 375. Example^ infufficient to account for the fymptoms or univerfa- lity of human depravity, ii, 298.-302. Eaithy its nature and exercife taught by example, i, 1 25.-1 27. This the life required of the people of God, 379.-384. They die in faith, 382. It finds great encouragement in God's charafter as a Creator, ii, 26. Faithfulnefs of God, in preferving his people, ii, 413. Fally traditions concerning this among the Heathen^ i. 103.- 106. Families, Societies, and Nations, how God punifhes them, ii, 143, 144, 151. Fathers, their iniquities vifited on their Children, ii, 108. -144, Objedlions anfwered, 144.-152. Feajls among the Jews. See Pajfover, Pentecofty Harvejl, Weeks , Tabernacles, Ingathering. Feajling on a facrifice, ii, 358, 377. Fidelity of the Sacred Writers, i, 208. Recorded their own errors, 210, 211. Firjl-Fniits prefigured the Refurredion of Chrift, i, 412. Forgivenefsy why called a covering of fm, ii, 363. Jpuraacfy liiioking, vifion of, ii, 324. Ff2 G. 452 I N D E X. G. Ceddes, Dr, his doctrine with refpeft to the .Deftruclion of the Canaanites, ii, 183. Refutation of it, 184.-19.3. Genealogies, contained in Scripture, ufe of, i, 191, 192. denefis, book of, the hiftory recorded here neceffary in con- nexion with that of the Ifraehtes, and as laying a founda- dation for, or illuftrating many of the legal ordinances, i, 70.-83. Gibeonites, their prefervation a {landing teftimony of the truth of the hiftory of Ifrael, i, 30.-33.; ii, 191.-193. Saul's pofterity punifhed on account of his conduft towards them. III. Gideon, would not have the judiciary power fecured to him- felf, or his pofterity, i, 311. Appearance of the Angel- Jehovah to him, ii. 321. His vidory typical, 39i)-394» Giving of the Laiv, Feaft of, i. 421,429. Glory of the Lord, ii, 328. See Cloud. God of Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob, reafon of this defignatioiji, "ii, 32.-36. Gods of the Heathen, judgments on them, ii, 1 9.-22. Government of the liraelites, typical, i, 308.-349. Grace of God, not injured, but difplayed, by the dodrine of atonement, ii, 105, 106. Guih, accumulation of, ii, 128. Its aggravation, 129. -131. H. Ham, as the punifhment of his crime, thecurfe entailed on his pofterity, ii, 109. Haman, wonderful difplay of Providence with refpeft to him, ii, 274 -278 ; 284, 285. Hands, why laid on the head of a criminal, ii, 95. j and of a vidtim, 96, 351. ' Har^nfi, Feaft of, i, 421. Heart of Man, hiftory of, i, 175. -179.; its corruption, ibid, Neceftity cf almighty pov/er for changing it, ii, 380.-40 1. Heathen INDEX. 45§ Heathen Nations, hiftory of, calculated for guarding the Ifrael- ites againft imitating their fmTul courfes, i, 255,-258, Mean id^as of the Divine Nature, ii, 11. 14. Judgments on their gods, 19. Heathen Writers, tellimonies of, as to the truth of the Hiftory of Ifrael, i, 52.-70. ^f/-5i^, 'his fin and punifliment, ii, 290, 291. //■fz^if/fl/', his iniquity vifited on his children, ii, it 7, 118. ^ Bifioryy Sacred, its matter adapted for making the deepeft imprcffion, i, 235,-241 Its fortn, 241.-244. HoUnefs of God, how difplayed, ii, 7^-73 Hofanna, meaning of this afcription, i, -145.-44S. Hfilisf the t-ord of, this name explained, ii, 59 -70. Angels atid "devil's are his hofts, 60.; vv-icked men, 61. His oyto. People, 63., efpecially Minifters 'of the Gofpel, 64. ; the heavenly bodies, ib. ; the elements, 66- ; all irrational crea- turijs, 67. Comfort arifmg from this chlraftcr, 69. HumarXt'y, its interefts fecured by the law given to the Jews, c ii. 182. Hycfos, or Shephevd-kings in Egypt, refemblance- between theiii and the Ifraeli'tes, i. 61. -63. ' J o:a. I. yacob, his zeal for the doflrine of the Divine Unity, ii. 33. His wreftling with the Angel, 318-320. The Ladder he faw, 326, 327. yanncs and Jamlres, Magicians in Egypt, i, dS, 67. yao, the name yehovah, ^hus written by Greeks, i, 98. Idolatry, peculiarly offenfive to God, ii, 131, 132. ychovah-SabiXnth, the meaning of tlils name, ii, 59-70. yehu, a remarkable inftrumcnt of Providence in die punifi;. ment of others, ii, 2 91. -293 Punifhcd in his pofterity, for his unhallowed motives in performing this work, 124, 125. yer'icho, deftruftlon of, I, 22. Judgment on Hiel, who rebuilt it, what it proves, i, 24. yerufakm, a type of tlie New-Teftament Church, i,, 31 7.-320. yethro, who, i, 33, 34. F f 3 T^,/.,, 454 INDEX. jfeivSi in crucifying Chrift, brought on them the guilt of all the righteous blood flied by their anceftors, ii, 135-137. Jetvl/lj writers, their view of the language ufed with refpedl to the Creation, Fall, Confufion of Tongues, Promulgation of the Law, ii, 41 -45' Imagination, the hiilorical parts of Scripture admirably- adapt- ed fcM- making an inrprefliou on this power, i, 231. -247. Imputation, this dodrine illuftrated, ii, 370.-380. Juftice of God vindicated in the imputation of the fm of Adam, 113, Incarnation of the Son of God, illuftrated, ii, 315-337. Indians, their do(5trine concerning Creation, i, 100. Ingathering, Feaft of, when celebrated, i, 452. Inheritances, in the land of Ifrael, might not be fold, i, ,jpg,\io^- Iniquity, meafure of, filled up, ii, 133, 134. Intercefion of Mofes, Aaron, and David, ii. 435. Job, book of, has been called a deiilical compofition, r, 83. ; coincides with the hiflory contained in Genefis, 83.-87. Jofeph, difplay of Providence with refpeifl to him, ii, 271.- . 2 73- 29+- Jifvphus, his teftimony concerning the books of Mofes, i 127. y,5/7j;/^, a type of Chrift, i. 328. Conduced Ifrael into Ca- naan, 407. Angel, who appeared to him, ii. 320. Jojhua, book of; evidences of the authenticity of the hiftory contained in it, i, 22.-24. Ifraelites, placed in the moft proper fituartion for difplaying the truths of God, i, 197, 198. Prefigured the fpiritual If- rael, 27 1. -278. Idolaters in Egypt, 280 Bondmen, 279. Chofen of God, 2 S3 Sovereignty of this choice, ii, 217- 229. Redeemed, i, 289. Received the Law, 29'5. Brought into Covenant, 349. Adopted, 360. Separated, 366. So- j.ourners, 370. Called to a life of Trial, 373- ; and of Faith, 379. Their Rebellions, 385. Judgments inflided, 390. Pardoned, 396. Brought into the Promifed Land, 405. Wonderful Prefervation, ii 439. Judgment, day of, prefigured by. the Deluge, ii. 79. Deftruc- tion of Sodom, 84. ; and of the Canaanites, 1 66. Judgments inflifted on the Ifraelites, i, 390 Prefigured thofe ofChriftians, 392. Their infufiiciency to change the heart, ■ ». :i84.-387. . 5lof Sacred Hiflory, i. 186. in its origin, 187; increafe of light concerning it, 189; purchafe, 192; fuccefs, 195. One fpecial end of this work, to manifeft the myHery of the Trinity, ii. 45 -54. Parti- cular redemption illuftratcd, 401. -410. Temporal, of a typical nature, 403. RefurreU'ion of ChriA, prefigured by the offering of the Firft- Fruits, i. 41 2.-420. Revelation, fucceffive evidence of its truth, in the hiftory both of the wicked and of the righteous, i. 259 -365. Reverence neceffary in the worlhip of God, ii. 106, J07- i?07we, her fin and puniftiment, ii. 137, 138. S. Sabbatical year, appointed to give the Ifraelites a proof of the divine origin of their religion, i. 38,-45. Sacrijices, origin of, i. 168. Their ufe in divine woi-fliip, ii. 358.-362. Sancboniatho, his account of Creation, i. 95.-99- ^■W, his Poftericy puniihed for his fin, ii. ill. Doiftrine of Subflitution illuilrated from this faft, 352.-354. Scripture-h'ijlory, iilullrates and confirms Doftrines, i. 2CO, 20l, Supplies us with Patterns, 201, 202, Contains particular accounts of thofe periods to which profane hiilory does tiot reach, 204, 205.^ Seed, of the ferpent, ii. 401 -403. See IFoman. Sennacherib, an inilrument in the divine hand, ii. 61. 264. His impiety and puniihment, ii. 1 2.-14. ; 254,255. Separation of Ilracl, as a people, i. 366.-369. 5"^//;, account given of his genffifcion, ii. 303.-305. Seven, a facred number, i. 451, 452. Shechinah' See Cloud of Glory. Siloam, myftery of this name, L 445. Sin, origin of, i. 154.-156. Its progrefs in the heart, 177.- * 179. Hardening nature, 253.-254., Cries to God for pu- ai ft meat, 46o I N D E X. niOiment, is. 8i. 104. Refemblance between Sin and Pu* nifiiment, 89. 282. Sovereignty of God dilplayed in per- mitting the entrance of fui, 204. Sinni, a proper place for the revelation of the lav/, ii. 9c, Burned with fire, il: Was covered with darknefs, 91. Sinew that fiirank, not eaten by the Ifraehtes, ii. 334-33 ^'