Gen. xxvi. 4; xxviii. 14; who faithfully performed their various duties, taught the true worship of God to their domestics, and left it to their posterity, Gen. xxviii. 20—22; xxxv. 2—7, 9—13; xxxix. 9; 1. 17-20.

These promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the fulfilment of the corresponding duties on their part, form the prominent and fundamental principle, the hinge, as it were, of the ANCIENT COVENANT; and to them, accordingly, every thing which follows is to be referred, and with them also the NEW COVENANT itself is very intimately connected.

§. 303. RESPECting the Religion of the PATRIARCHS. It appears from what has been before stated, that the knowledge of the one true God, which is coeval with the existence of the human race, was originally communicated by revelation. The patriarchs themselves knew God to be the creator, governor, and judge of the whole earth, not by reasoning from philosophical principles, which were then wholly unknown, but because God had revealed himself, as such, to them. The ideas of men in respect to God, which were at first very limited, became extended, in the progress of time, by means of events both ordinary and extraordinary. It is worthy of remark, that the figure anthropopathy was very prevalent at the early period, of which we are speaking; and that men used the same language in respect to God, which they employed when speaking of one another; but there was truth, nevertheless, hidden under the garb of such expressions, Gen. vi. 6, 7; viii. 21; xi. 5-7; xviii. 10-21.

The worship of God was very unconstrained; such as was prompted by conscience and approved by reason; and consisted chiefly in tithes and vows and prayers, in the erection of altars and in sacrifices, Gen. iv. 3, 4; viii. 20; xii. 7, 8; xiii. 4, 18; xiv. 20; xv. 18-20.

With respect to the consecration of the sabbath, it may be observed, that there is no other trace of it than this, in the times of the patriarchs, viz. that a period of seven days occurs several times, Gen. vii. 4, 10; viii. 10, 12; likewise the word y, the Hebrew for week, Gen. xxix. 27.

It may be inferred from these circumstances, that the seventh day was distinguished in some manner from other days, as is represented to be the case in Gen. ii. 2, 3. Many traces of moral

discipline occur, Gen. iv. 6-16; vi. 3-8; xi. 4-7; xiii. 8; xiv. 14-24; xviii. 19. We must not suppose, however, that nothing more of God, and of moral discipline, was known by these pious patriarchs, than is given in the historical fragments of Genesis. For those things only appear to have been selected for insertion, which, more than any others, had a tendency to prepare the way for the introduction of the Mosaic dispensation.

§. 304. RESPECting Moses.

Many of the Hebrews were addicted to the worship of the Egyptian gods at the time that Moses was sent in the character of a divine messenger, to break the chains of their servitude, Exod. iii. 13. In order to rescue the Hebrews, who were destined to be the defenders of the true religion, from their bondage, and to bring them back to that worship which they had lost whilst in Egypt, the most surprising miracles were performed: miracles, which not only compelled Pharaoh to dismiss the Hebrews, and which brought destruction upon his army when he pursued them; but also afforded a new and overwhelming proof to the Hebrews themselves, that there is indeed a God, all powerful and omniscient, and that Moses, by whom these wonderful works had been predicted and performed, was in truth his messenger, Exod. vi. 7; vii. 5; ix. 14—16, 29; x. 2; xiv. 4, 17, 18, 31; xvi. 12; xix. 4, 9; Deut. iv. 35, 39. It was at the same time shown by the miracles, of which we are speaking, that the Egyptian gods, being altogether unable to protect their votaries, were destitute of power; and, in a word, were nothing, Exod. xii. 12. But the Hebrews, after all these demonstrations, if they had not afterwards, when in Arabia, been confirmed in the belief of the divine omniscience and omnipotence by new miracles, would not have persevered in the worship of the true God; and would not have consented to receive those ceremonies and laws, without which, surrounded as they were by nations who regarded idolatry as conformable to right reason, they could not have succeeded in maintaining their religious integrity. This is clear from the fact, that, after all the instructions they had received, and after all the laws which were enacted, they were often led astray by various superstitions and absurdities.

NOTE. Those who attribute the miracles of Moses to legerdemain, and undertake to rank them in the same class with the

tricks of jugglers: also those who contend that the accounts of them are fabulous, and that they should be ranked with the wonders of profane mythology, cannot surely take into their consideration the departure of the Hebrews from Egypt, their subsequent history, nor their sublime notion of a true God, which appears in their early writings. The exodus, the subsequent history, and their ideas with respect to God, all bear testimony, that the miracles were actually performed. Comp. the large German edition of this work, Part III. § 12, Note, and § 13.

§. 305. ON THE QUESTION,

"WHETHER MOSES TAUGHT THE EXISTENCE OF A MERELY NATIONAL GOD?"

That the God of Moses was not merely the tutelary, or national God of the Hebrews, is clear from so many passages of Scripture, that it is wonderful any one should have adopted a contrary opinion. For he calls him by the name Jehovah, who created heaven and earth, Gen. i; Exod. xx. 8—12; xxxi. 17; Deut. iv. 23; and who sent the deluge, Gen. vi. 17. He is addressed by Abraham and Melchizedek as the Most High, the Lord of heaven and earth, Gen. xiv. 18-20; xvii. 1; xviii. 16— 25. He is acknowledged by Joseph to be the all-wise governor of the universe, Gen. xxxix. 9; xlv. 5, 8; 1. 20. He calls himself Jehovah, who is always the same, Exod. vi. 3; who both predicted and performed those wonderful works in Egypt and Arabia, which proved him to be omniscient and omnipotent, Exod. vi. 7; vii. 5; x. 1, 2; xvi. 12; xxix. 46; Deut. iv. 32— 36; x. 21; who is the author of every living thing, Numb. xvi. 22; xxvii. 16; who is invisible, (for the descriptions, which represent him as appearing at times in a bodily form, are symbolic,) Exod. xxxiii. 18-23; Deut. iv. 12—20, 39; who is the Lord of heaven and earth, and every thing in them, and the friend of strangers, as well as of the Hebrews, Deut. x. 14-18. Besides him there is no other God, Deut. iv. 39; vi. 4; xxxii. 39. Moses everywhere exhibits him as the omnipotent, the ruler of all men, who cannot be corrupted by gifts and sacrifices, but who is kind and merciful to the penitent. He teaches, that he is the true God; who is worthy of being honoured by the Hebrews, not only because He alone is God, but because He had promised great mercies

to the patriarchs and their posterity, and had already bestowed them in part; because He led them out of Egypt, furnished them with laws, would soon introduce them into Canaan, and protect them through future ages: finally, because they had chosen God for their king. The whole object of the Mosaic ritual was to preserve the worship of God, as the creator and governor of all, until the time when the true religion should be made known to the rest of the world, for which grand end it had been originally committed to Abraham and his posterity, Gen. xvii. 9-14; xviii. 19.

§. 306. ON THE QUESTION, "WHETHER THE CHARACTER OF JEHOVAH, AS REPRESENTED BY MOSES, IS MERELY THAT OF A BEING INEXORABLY JUST?"

God is often represented by Moses as a just judge, who punishes with severity those who are wicked and disobey his commands. The inconstant, stiff-necked, and intractable people with whom Moses had to deal, could not be restrained from vice, nor brought in subjection to the laws, without holding up such a representation. Such a representation was the more necessary, because Jehovah was not only the God, but in a strict sense the king of the Jews; whom it behoved, consequently, (in order to render due protection to the good,) to condemn transgressors, and to make them objects of punishment. Had it been otherwise; had he not defended the good from the attacks of the bad; or had pardon been offered to the guilty, all his laws would have been useless. Still, although what has now been said be true, the statement, which some have made, viz. that Moses has made God an inexorable Judge, and that only, is utterly false.

The original promises to the patriarchs, which were so often repeated to their descendants; the liberation from Egyptian servitude; the laws enacted in the wilderness; the entrance granted to the Hebrews into the land of Canaan; are deeds of kindness, which prove the beneficence of God, Deut. vii. 6–9; viii. 2-20; ix. 4-8; x. 1—11. Hence it is often inculcated upon the Hebrews to exhibit gratitude towards God; and the fact also, that they are expressly commanded to love God, is at least an implied admission of his kindness and beneficence, Deut. vi. 4, 5, 11, 12, 15, 22. Moses calls God the father of his people,

the merciful, the clement, the benign, the faithful Jehovah, who exhibits through a thousand generations the love of a parent to his good and faithful followers: who forgives iniquity and transgression, but to whose mercy, nevertheless, there are limits, and who visits the sins of the fathers on the posterity to the third and fourth generation, Deut. viii. 5; xxxii. 6; Exod. xxxiv. 6, 7; Numb. xiv. 18; Deut. vii. 9, 10.

The infliction of punishments even to the fourth generation, (i. e. by means of public calamities, the consequences of which would be experienced even by posterity,) a principle which appears even in the FUNDAMENTAL LAWS, Exod. xx. 5, 6, has given offence to many, who are either unable or unwilling to perceive, that the prospect of misery falling on their posterity could be a real source of punishment to the parents, who, it may be observed, were in that age particularly solicitous about the wellbeing of their descendants. We learn, nevertheless, from various passages, that the punishments due to the fathers were not so much designed to be really inflicted on their posterity, as to remain to them warnings, that if they trod in their fathers' footsteps, they would expose themselves to the same evil and fearful consequences; and that when they had done evil their only course was to repent. That such would be the case, the deep and serious evils of the Babylonish captivity gave them so clear a proof, as to preclude all subsequent doubts on the subject: they repented of their evil ways, and, as Moses himself had predicted, became at length the constant worshippers of God, Lev. xxvi. 20-25; Deut. iv. 28-31; xxx. 1-10.

§. 307. RESPECTING THE REGULATIONS WHICH were made IN ORDER TO PRESERVE THE TRUE RELIGION.

That the Hebrews, who, while in Egypt, had to a great extent worshipped idols, and had only by the aid of striking miracles been at length restored to the true worship, might thereafter remain firm, nor be easily led astray by the example of neighbouring nations, God offered himself to them as their king. (See the 214th section.) As such he was accepted; and hence it happened that the obedience which they rendered him as king, became in some measure identified with the reverence to which he had a