for rejecting it? Was it not very proper and advantageous, that such a religion should be attested by a grand apparatus of prophecy, going before it, and conspicuously verified in it? Is there not something peculiarly striking and satisfactory in this testimony? But to give an opening for this, it was requisite that the publication of this system should be long delayed, In every view then we see the wisdom of God in raising up to the Hebrew church a succession of Prophets; whose messages not only instructed the antient Jews but were fitted to communicate the most valuable, exten sive, and lasting benefit to the world. LECTURE XVII. Inquiries and objections relative to the Hebrew prophets answered. The manner in which God revealed to them his will. OUR UR last lecture was occupied with the antient Hebrew prophets. It divided them into two grades viz. those who were divinely inspired with the knowledge of secret and future things, and commissioned to publish them to others; and those in general, who were eminently devoted to sacred studies and exercises. We read of schools or seminaries, composed of persons of the latter description, who are styled sons of the prophets. From these pious nurseries God usually chose the subjects of his extraordinary influence, or the inspired messengers of his will. The addresses and predictions of these hily men were of admirable use to explain and keep alive the religion of Moses, and to prepare mankind for the more perfect dispensation of the Messiah. The wonderful fulfilment of so many Old Testament prophecies in Jesus of Nazereth, affords a distinct and most satisfactory evidence, that he is the promised Savior of the world. We will finish our account of the Jewish prophets by answering some questions, and removing some difficulties, which have been raised on this subject. I. It is natural to inquire, what qualifications were necessary in this distinguished order of men? Or what was prerequisite to a man's receiving the prophetic inspiration? We answer, the first and leading qualification was a holy character. As this is the uniform sentiment of Jewish writers, so it is confirmed by the history and lives of the antient prophets, and by the express testimony of St. Peter," that holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." Though we meet with some instances of wicked men, to whom God, on special occasions imparted his secret counsels, such as the covetous Balaam, and the idolatrous kings, Pharaoh Abimelech, and Nebuchadnezzar; yet we presume, that none but good men were statedly honored with these divine communications; and especially that none but such were employed as penmen of the sacred writings. The declaration therefore of Peter will doubtless apply to all the prophetic writers of the Old Testament. They were all men of real and exemplary holiness. The importance of personal piety and virtue in the extraordinary ministers of Jehovah will account for his withdrawing the spirit of prophecy from the Hebrew nation in the latter stages of their polity, that is, from Malachi to Christ; because during this period their religious and moral state was universally corrupt. The transient vouchsafement of this spirit to bad men, while it answered some special purpose of divine wisdom, admirably displayed the sovereignty of God in using the most unlikely and wicked instruments to serve his own designs, in constraining even his enemies to utter those truths and predictions, which promoted his honor and interest, and sealed their own condemnation and ruin. It magnified his unsearchable wisdom, holiness, and power in compelling the most unhallowed lips to pronounce his pure messages without the least adulteration, yea, with astonishing energy and sublimity. It enforced in the most striking manner the essential distinction between splendid and even miraculous gifts, and sanctifying grace; between the occasional effusions of a prophetic spirit, and the genuine workings of human depravity. These lessons are forcibly taught by the history of Balaam, whom we recently mentioned. This noted magician had been allured by Balak, king of Moab, to come to him, with a view to curse Israel, who then lay encamped on his borders. The heathen nations believed that prophets or diviners could, by religious charms or ceremonies, decoy from their enemies their tutelar deities, engage the celestial powers against them, and thus insure their destruction. Thus Homer represents the capture of Troy as depending on the removal from that city of the sacred image of Minerva. The pagans, previously to a military engagement, usually employed a priest to pronounce, at the head of the army, a solemn imprecation against the adverse power. But though Balaam was invited and fully inclined to perform this office against Israel; infinite goodness, power, and wisdom turned the curse into a blessing, by forcing this malignant enemy of his people to announce, in the most lofty strains, their present and future glory, the triumphs of their divine Leader and future Messiah, and the signal destruction of his and their adversaries. We see, in this and similar instances, the singular beauty of the divine conduct; which, by thus inspiring and controlling the minds of sinful men, turned their counsels into foolishness, and made their wrath and wickedness subservient to his praise. But to return; as true piety was the first prerequisite in a stated prophet of Jehovah, so in the next place The mind of the prophet must be in a serene and composed frame, in order to its receiving the spirit of inspiration. The Jewish doctors tell us that a mind loaded with fresh guilt, oppressed with sorrow, or disturbed with passion, could not duly receive and exercise this heavenly gift. Accordingly, when David, in his penitential Psalm after the affair of Uriah, prays that the "holy spirit might be restored to him," that God would give him "joy and gladness and a free spirit ;" the Hebrew cammentators understand by these expressions that prophetic spirit, which his guilt and distress of mind had banished, and that peaceful and cheerful frame, which would invite its return. To prove that passion unfitted the mind for the prophetic impulse, they plead the story of Elisha ; who being requested by the three kings, of Judah, Israel, and Edom to inquire of God for them in their distress for water during a military expedition, was transported with pious indignation against the wicked king of Israel; but being willing to oblige the good king of Judah, called for a minstrel or musician, for the apparent purpose of calming his passion, and thus preparing him for the spirit of inspiration. Accordingly, while the minstrel played, we are told "the hand of the Lord came upon him." This intimates one important reas on why the prophets and their pupils cultivated sacred music; and also why those who composed and sung divine hymns are sometimes styled prophets; viz. because in many cases this heavenly art was not only assisted by, but wonderfully fitted persons for celestial communications. I will just add, as the nature of harmony and of man is still the same, sacred melody is justly esteemed a noble employment, an excellent mean of composing and elevating the pious mind, and of fitting it for that communion with Deity, which all his children are warranted to seek. This train of thought introduces a II. Question. In what manner did God reveal his counsels to the prophets? To prepare us for a satisfactory an swer to this inquiry, I must observe 1. That the infinite Being, the Father of our spirits, A a |