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counts the evil report which they brought up of the land which they had searched; the fatal effect it produced in exciting the congregation of Israel to rebel against their God; the consequent wrath of God, who threatened to cut off the whole nation by the pestilence, and to raise up of Moses a people greater and mightier than they. It relates at full length, the intercession of Moses to avert this dreadful doom, and its being changed into a sentence of condemnation against the adults of that generation, from twenty years old and upwards, that they should never enter into that good land, but should be detained in the wilderness for forty years, and there die. This relation takes up two long chapters. The recapitulation of this event, addressed to the children of that generation at the interval of forty years, is contained in half a chapter. It exhibits a view of the transactions materially different from the original narrative, yet reconcileable with that narrative: and of such a nature, that (as it seems to me) every variation may be accounted for, from the peculiar views and feelings of the Jewish legislator in this address to the people.

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The recapitulation* begins with relating what took place when the people came to Kadesh Barnea, before any idea of sending spies had occurred. Then," says Moses, "I said unto you "Ye are come unto the mountain of the Amorites, which the "Lord our God doth give unto us. Behold the Lord thy God "hath set the land before thee: go up, and possess it, as the "Lord God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither "be discouraged. And ye came near unto me, every one of you, "and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us "out the land, and bring us word again by what way we must "go, and into what cities we shall come. And the saying pleased "me well and I took twelve men of you, one of a tribe, and they "turned and came unto the valley of Eshcol, and searched it "out." Here then the legislator reminds the people of two circumstances omitted in the original narrative: one, that when they had first approached the promised land, he had commanded them to go up at once and possess the land, fearing nothing, for God was with them: the other, that the idea of delaying to do this, and sending spies to search out the land, had originated, not

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* Deut. i. from verse 19, to the end.

with the legislator, but with the people; and that it was in compliance with their own request, that God had commanded Moses to appoint the spies.

This variation is extremely natural: it is not to be wondered at, that Moses should omit these circumstances in the original narrative, where he was more intent upon the final event itself, than the subordinate causes that led to it; but it was highly expedient, when addressing the people, that he should recall these circumstances to their memory, as they so strongly proved that the prime origin of this destructive event was found in their disobedience to the command of their legislator, and that they were themselves the authors of a scheme which terminated so fatally. As naturally can we account for Moses, in his recapitulation of his own conduct on this occasion, omitting altogether the menace of God, to disinherit the Jews, and raise up a nation from himself in their stead; and for his taking no notice of his own successful intercession, on which God had deigned to wave the execution of this awful menace. To dwell on a fact so disgraceful to the people whom he addressed, and so honourable to himself, would have served rather to wound the feelings and kindle the jealousies of his hearers, than to awaken them to piety and repentance, and would not have suited the character of him "who was the meekest of men ;"* though, in recording the dispensations of Providence for the cool reflection of his countrymen, it was a lesson too important to be left out. And that this was the real cause of the omission here, we may be satisfied, from the singular circumstance of Moses sliding into this part of his address to the people, a fact which took place at a quite different time, but which tended to conciliate his hearers by humbling himself in their eyes, and reminding them that he, as well as their fathers, had offended God; so that like them he was condemned never to enter into the promised land. For when he states that God swore saying, "surely, there shall "not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land, "which I sware to give unto your fathers, save Caleb the son of "Jephunneh, because he hath wholly followed the Lord;" he adds, "Also the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, saying, "Thou also shalt not go in thither; but Joshua the son of Nun,

* Vide Numbers, xii. 3.

"who standeth before thee, shall go in thither; encourage him, "for he shall cause Israel to inherit it."*

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The introduction of this his own rejection, and the substitution of Joshua, as the person destined by God to lead the Jews to conquer the promised land, was here peculiarly natural and useful; lest the people recollecting their former defeat, in attempting to invade that land when Moses did not accompany them, should dread a similar defeat now, when they were to be entirely deprived of him. But this awful menace of God to destroy the Jews, and raise from Moses, a nation mightier than they, is introduced on another occasion, when its introduction was indispensably necessary; when he warns that people, Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the Lord thy God "hath cast out this nation before thee, saying, For my righteousness the Lord hath brought me in to possess this land. "Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine "heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations, the Lord thy God doth drive them out "from before thee, and that he may perform the word which "the Lord sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. "Understand therefore, that the Lord thy God giveth thee not "this good land to possess it, for thy righteousness; for thou "art a stiff-necked people. Remember, and forget not how "thou provokedst the Lord thy God to wrath in the wilderness: "from the day that thou didst depart out of Egypt, until ye "came unto this place, ye have been rebellious against the "Lord."+ To inculcate deeply this humiliating, but necessary truth, nothing was more conducive than to state to them, that the greatness of their rebellion had almost induced that God in whom they trusted, totally to disinherit and destroy them, and raise up another nation in their place; and therefore this circumstance is here noticed.‡

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It is observable, that on two occasions, the whole nation had united in rebelling against God, and determining to return into Egypt: the first, when they caused Aaron to set up the golden calf; the second, after the return of the spies from the promised land. And the direct narrative informs us, that on both occasions the divine menace against the Jews was accompanied with the same offer to Moses, to raise up from him a mightier nation ‡ Ver. 14.

* Deut. i. 34-38.

t Ibid. ix. 4-7.

in their place. In reminding the people of their guilt on both these occasions, Moses mentions the great wrath of God against the Jews; but on one of them only does he notice the divine* offer so honourable to himself, while he repeatedly alludes to his offence against God, and his consequent exclusion from the promised land.

Is not all this well worth our attention? In every circumstance which the legislator adds to his original narrative, or omits from it, do we not discern the feelings of nature, and the coincidence of truth?

I might add different similar instances of such natural and undesigned coincidence; but I trust I have adduced enough to confirm my position, so far as relates to the general history of common events.

It shall be the object of my next Lecture to evince, that similar characters pervade the accounts of the miracles which the Pentateuch contains, and connect them with the common events in one uniform and consistent narrative.

* In Deut. ix. compare 14 and 25 with each other; and also Exod. xxxii. 10, and Numb. xiv. 12.

LECTURE IV.

The argument stated in the preceding Lecture applied to the narrative of miraculous events in the four last books of the Pentateuch, in order to show that they are related with the same marks of truth as the common events. Instanced in the manner of referring to the delivery of the Law in Horeb-And to the punishment inflicted for the worship of Baal Peor-And to the delivery of the Decalogue-In the general manner of allusions to different Miracles-In the account of various Miracles wrought to punish opposition to the authority of Moses-Apparent contradiction as to the different statements of circumstances attending the punishment of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram-Its explanation Inference from thence.

DEUTERONOMY, Xi. 2, 7.

"Know ye this day, for I speak not with your children, which have not known and which have "not seen the chastisement of the Lord your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his "stretched-out arm. But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the Lord which he did."

THUS directly does the book of Deuteronomy purport to be the language of an eye-witness to all the miracles recorded in the preceding history of the deliverance of the Jews from Egypt, addressing a nation who were also themselves eye-witnesses to the same great acts. It is on this ground, and this ground only, the legislator claims obedience to his Laws as evidently of a divine authority. If then this character really belongs to the book of Deuteronomy; if the miracles alluded to, were really performed in the sight of Moses, who thus addresses the nation, and in the sight of the entire nation which he addresses; we shall certainly be able to find in the internal structure of this address, and in the nature of the allusions it contains, some proofs of this. We shall be able to perceive in the history of the miraculous events and the allusions to them, the same exact suitableness of the sentiment and language of Moses to the situations in which he is placed; and the same natural and undesigned coincidence between the address to the people in Deu

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