22. VISION.

first vision recorded:-Ge. xv.-see p. (5), ver. 18.

God spake in them to Jacob:-Ge. xlvi. 2, And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I.'

visions and dreams:-Nu. xii. 6, And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.'

Baalam:-Nu. xxiv. 4, He hath said, which heard the words of God, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open.'

Daniel:-Da. ii. 19, Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.'

Ananias:-Ac. ix. 10, And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord.' Cornelius:-Ac. x. 3, He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius.'

Paul :-Ac. xvi. 9, And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; there stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.'xviii. 9, Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace.'

25. THUS HATH THE LORD DEALT WITH ME.

Naomi dealt bitterly with, &c. :-Ruth i. 20, And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.'-iv. 15, And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath born him.'-See He. xi.

NOTES.

to take away my reproach:-Le. xxvi. 9, For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you.'-Ps. exiii. 9, He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD.-CXxviii. 3, Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table.'-Is. iv. 1, And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.'

MARK.

ADDENDA.

converted by the instrumentality of Peter:-1 Pe. v. 13, "The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you; and so doth Marcus my son.'

thought to be alluded to at:-Mk. xiv. 51, .2, § 88. 51, And there followed him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body; and the young men laid hold on him: 52, and he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked."

not the Mark mentioned in the Acts :-xiii. 5, 13. 5, 'And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews: and they had also John to their minister. 13, Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem.'-xv. 37..8. 37, And Barnabas determined to take with them John, whose surname was Mark.' 38, But Paul thought not good to take him with them, who departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work.'-Col. iv. 10, Aristarchus my fellowprisoner saluteth you, and Marcus, sister's son to Barnabas, (touching whom ye received commandments: if he come unto you, receive him ;)-2 Ti. iv. 11, Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for be is profitable to me for the ministry.'-Phile. 24, Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my fellow-labourers.'

2

MALACHI IV. For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye 3 shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts.

4

Remember ye the law of Moses, my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.

5

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the 6 LORD: and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

GENESIS XVIII. And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent 2 door in the heat of the day; and he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent 3 door, and bowed himself toward the ground, and said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant: 4 let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash 5 your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree: and I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as 6 thou hast said. And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon 7 the hearth. And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetcht a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a 8 young man; and he hasted to dress it. And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.

9

And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? 10 And he said, Behold, in the tent. And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind 11 him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after 12 the manner of women. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I 13 have pleasure, my lord being old also? And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which 14 am old? Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according 15 to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. Then Saralı denied, saying. I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh.

16

And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them to 17 bring them on the way. And the LORD said, Shall I 18 hide from Abraham that thing which I do; seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed 19 in him? For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judg 20 which he hath spoken of him. ment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and 21 because their sin is very grievous; I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and 22 if not, I will know. And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD.

23

And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also 24 destroy the righteous with the wicked? Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt 25 righteous that are therein? thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the 26 Judge of all the earth do right? And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, 27 then I will spare all the place for their sakes.

And

Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but 28 dust and ashes: peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for 29 five, I will not destroy it. lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty's 30 sake. And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if 31 I find thirty there. And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I 32 will not destroy it for twenty's sake. And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. 33 And he said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake. And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.

PSALM I. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of 2 sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law 3 doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. 4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which 5 the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congre6 gation of the righteous. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

PSALM II. Why do the heathen rage, and the 2 people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, 3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their 4 cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall 5 laugh: the LORD shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them 6 in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon 7 my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day 8 have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the utter9 most parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash 10 them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the 11 earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with 12 trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

PSALM VIII. O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory 2 above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy 3 and the avenger. When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which 4 thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou 5 visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with 6 glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put 7 all things under his feet: all sheep and oxen, yea, and 8 the beasts of the field; the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths 9 of the seas. O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy

name in all the earth!

JEREMIAH II. Moreover the word of the LORD 2 came to me, saying, Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I remember Marg. for thy sake] thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the 3 wilderness, in a land that was not sown. Israel was holiness unto the LORD, and the firstfruits of his increase: all that devour him shall offend; evil shall 4 come upon them, saith the LORD. Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel:

5 Thus saith the LORD, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain ? 6 Neither said they, Where is the LORD that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, 7 and where no man dwelt? And I brought you into [Marg, the land of Carmel,] a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage 8 an abomination. The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.

9

Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, 10 and with your children's children will I plead.

For

pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be 11 such a thing. Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed 12 their glory for that which doth not profit. Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, 13 be ye very desolate, saith the LORD. For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out

cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. 14 Is Israel a servant? is he a homeborn slave? why 15 is he spoiled? The young lions roared upon him, and yelled, and they made his land waste: bis cities 16 are burned without inhabitant. Also the children of Noph and Tahapanes have broken the crown of thy 17 head. Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, when he 18 led thee by the way? And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria, to drink 19 the waters of the river? Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts. For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; thou wanderest, playing the harlot. when upon every high hill and under every green tree Yet I had

20

21

23

25

planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a 22 strange vine unto me? For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much sope, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord God. How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift dromedary 24 traversing her ways; a wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure; in her occasion who can turn her away? all they that seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her. Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst: but thou saidst, There is no hope: no; for I have loved strangers, 26 and after them will I go. As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and 27 their prophets, saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, 28 Arise, and save us. But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble: for according to the 29 number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah. Wherefore will ye plead with me? ye all have transgressed against me, saith the LORD. In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion. O generation, see ye the word of the LORD. Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? a land of darkness? wherefore say my people, [Heb. We have dominion;] We are lords; we will come no more unto thee? 32 Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days with33 out number. Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love therefore hast thou also taught the wicked ones 34 thy ways. Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents: I have not found it by [Heb, digging] secret search, but upon all these. 35 Yet thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me. Behold, I will plead with 36 thee, because thou sayest, I have not sinned. Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way? thou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast 37 ashamed of Assyria. Yea, thou shalt go forth from him, and thine hands upon thine head: for the LORD hath rejected thy confidences, and thou shalt not prosper in them.

30

31

Take

HOSEA XIV. O Israel, return unto the LORD thy 2 God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so 3 will we render the calves of our lips. Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy. 4 I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: 5 for mine anger is turned away from him. I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and 6 cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and 7 his smell as Lebanon. They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the 8 wine of Lebanon. Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me

9 is thy fruit found. Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.

tween whom and Paul it is clear there was reciprocal attachment.-See Philemon 24, Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my fellowlabourers;' and especially at a time when the Acts' history had ceased, and the close of St. Paul's ministry itself, by his martyrdom, was at hand, from 2 Tim. iv. 11, Only Luke is with me.' It is a natural inference from these proofs, that he was either his convert or a favourite disciple. If we may advance a conjecture where there is total absence of positive information to direct us, St. Luke, though he might first become acquainted with St. Paul, and might even be first converted at Troas, was a native or an inhabitant of Philippi, in Macedonia; which was a Roman colony.

Luke enlarges more upon those things which belong to the priesthood of Christ; his receiving sinners, and introducing them into the favour of God, through the forgiveness of sins, by his blood so that we are brought to enjoy the light of our Father's counte

nance.

JOHN (sig. Grace of Jehovah') was the son of Zebedee and Salome. He was called by our Lord to be his disciple while he was following his ordinary calling of a fisherman,-see § 16. He was one of the twelve apostles,-see § 27; and, with James his brother, was surnamed Boanerges'-sons of thunder.'

These two apostles, with Peter, were peculiarly favoured on several occasions,-see § 36, 51, 86, 7; and John is called the disciple whom Jesus loved,- see § 91, 7. He was the youngest of the apostles when called; and is the only one who is supposed to have died a peaceful death. He suffered banishment, under Domitian, in the Isle of Patmos, where he wrote the Apocalypse. He probably resided in Judæa until the Roman war, A.D. 66 or 70, and died at Ephesus, when he was above 100 years old. During his later years he was accustomed to say nothing but Little children, love one another.' This gospel, while it sanctioned the rest, added what was necessary to their completion. The others recorded the miracles and the external evidence of Jesus' divine mission:

John's gospel contains more about Christ, his person, design, and work. He aims to shew that Jesus was

was.

the Messiah, and from Jesus' words what the Messiah The great grace of the Lord that we enjoy, through the adoption that is in Jesus, the Son of God, the word made flesh, that came to give himself for the life of the world, is the subject of this sweetly simple, but truly sublime gospel. John's gospel is said to have been written at Ephesus at the close of his life. He wrote also the three Epistles which bear his name.-See Greswell on the Times and Order of the Gospels, vol. i. Diss. ii.

Mr. Greswell says: The possession of a preface, which is not the case with any other of the gospels; a model of conciseness, and yet of sufficiency; asserting, in the most compendious form, whatsoever an introductory admonition might be expected to assert -the motive which induced the author to undertake the work-his qualifications for its execution-the method which he proposed to observe in it-and the end which he had in view by it. Now prefaces are not commonly premised except to regular histories, and if St. Luke's gospel agrees with a formal and methodical history at the outset, this is some argument that it will be found to agree also with such an history in the subsequent arrangement and distribution of the work.

'His own declaration that he proposed to write in order, and, consequently, to observe the course of time and succession in the detail of events: for what other meaning can be put on the words in question, * Εδοξε καμοὶ παρηκολουθηκότι άνωθεν πᾶσιν ἀκριβῶς καθεξής σοι γράψαι, κράτιστε Θεόφιλε, Ι. 3.

It hath seemed good to me also, having carefully attended to the course of all things from the beginning, to write of them in order for thy sake, most excellent Theophilus.

The natural and obvious construction is clearly to convey the promise of a regular account. For an integral period of the Christian history, and through an integral portion of its contents, the gospel of St. Luke is regular, and consistent with the professions of its preface. For, first, proposing to deduce that history from its earliest point of time, he begins with the conception and the birth of the Baptist, and afterwards passes to the conception and the birth of Jesus Christ; that is, he begins with the private history of each, before he proceeds to the Fublic. Secondly, as far as was practicable, without actually violating the order of events, he manifests a strict anxiety to separate the private history of the Baptist from the private history of Christ. There

were some circumstances connected with the conception, which preceded the birth of Christ, but followed upon the conception of John: these he has related, as historical precision required, between the two. But after the birth of John, when there was nothing in his private history any way connected with the private history of Christ, he despatches that history once for all-summing up in a single sentence-The child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel,' i. 80-the substance of thirty years, before he proceeds to the account of the birth of Christ. Why was this done, except that the course of the history. might be left free to begin, and to continue, in like manner, the account of the birth, the infancy, and the domestic privacy, of Christ? all which are next related, and in a strictly methodical order.

Again, being arrived at the point of time when the public ministry of both the Baptist and Christ of John, and despatches, as before, the ministry of was about to commence, he begins with the ministry Christ; of this there cannot be a clearer proof than John, before he says a word upon the ministry of that, after a regular account of the preaching, the teaching, and the testimonies, of John, he concludes the whole by the history of his imprisonment, before he relates even the baptism of Christ. This was to introduce an anachronism of probably four months in extent; but it is manifestly an anachronism introduced on purpose, to keep the unity of his next and principal subject unbroken; that so the history of our Saviour's ministry might begin and be continued from his baptism forward, without any admixture of the history of John. In this case, then, this exception, instead of weakening, serves rather to confirm our assertion.

From the time of the commencement of this ministry to the end of the gospel, there is no instance of a supposed transposition, which, upon a fair and dispassionate examination, will not turn out to be quite the contrary.'-See Diss. i. vol. I. pp. 6-12.

implies the resurrection of the Lord's people. That which is referred to in the name Elisabeth, the oath of my God,' is given Ge. xxii. 15-.8, and it contains the same three things referred to in the three names mentioned in the memorial of the Lord. Thus, the promise of the seed, numerous as the stars of the heaven or as the sand on the sea-shore, is contained in the name Abraham; and their being made blessed. and the cause of blessing to all the nations of the earth, is expressed in Isaac; and their supplanting power, so as to possess the gate of their enemies, we have in the name Jacob. Christ came to confirm the promises made unto the fathers, and that confirmation seems to have been written in the very names of

[7

the parents of his forerunner, whose name also describes the peculiar character of the dispensation he came to introduce: the word John, meaning the grace of Jehovah,' at whose birth not only his father, but the prophets generally, began to speak according to the prediction of Hab. ii. 3, The vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie!' The name Gabriel means man of God,' a

name whereby Elijah, that had been taken up into glory, was generally designated. The word which here expresses man, is more expressive of power or glory than that whereby Elijah was called before his translation, to stand more immediately in the presence of God, and execute more extensively his commands. There is no true power but of God.— See call his name,' p. 4, Scripture Illustrations.

Aaron. Was a Levite, the son of Amram, and brother of Moses and Miriam. He was born about a year before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, ordered the male infants of the Hebrews to be slain; appointed of God to be spokesman for his brother Moses to Pharaoh and the Hebrews, Ex. iv. 14-.6. Along with his brother, and in the name of God, he demanded of Pharaoh immediate permission for the Hebrews to go into the wilderness of Arabia, to serve the Lord their God.

Shortly after the departure of the children of Israel from Egypt, while the Hebrews fought with Amalek in Rephidim, Aaron and Hur attended Moses, and held up his hands, while he continued encouraging the struggling Hebrews, and praying for victory to their arms, Ex. xvii. 10, .3. At Sinai, he, with his two eldest sons, and seventy of the elders of Israel, accompanied Moses part of his way up to the mount: and had very near and distinct views of the glorious symbols of the divine presence, when the Lord talked with Moses, Ex. xxiv. 1-11.

Soon after, he fell into the most grievous crime. The Hebrews solicited him to make them gods, to be their directors, instead of Moses, who still tarried in the mount. He ordered them to bring him all their pendants and earrings; he caused them to be melted down into a golden calf, in imitation of the ox Apis, which the Egyptians adored. He appointed a solemn feast to be observed to its honour; and caused to proclaim before it, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. While he was thus occupied, Moses descended from mount Sinai, and sharply reproved him for his horrid offence, Ex. xxxii.

Aaron heartily repented of his scandalous crime; and, with his four sons, was, about two months after,

solemnly invested with the sacred robes, and consecrated by solemn washing, unction, and sacrifices, to his office of priesthood, Le. viii. He immediately offered sacrifice for the congregation of Israel; and while he and his brother Moses blessed the people, the sacred fire descended from heaven, and consumed what lay on the brazen altar, Le. ix. His two eldest sons, instead of taking sacred fire from the brazen altar, took common fire, to burn the incense with, on the golden altar: and God immediately consumed them, with a flash of lightning; and ordered, that henceforth no priest should taste wine before officiating in holy things, Le. x.

It was perhaps scarcely a year after, when Aaron and Miriam, envying the authority of Moses, rudely upbraided him for his marriage with Zipporah the Midianitess; and for over-looking them in the constitution of the seventy elders. Aaron, whose priestly performances were daily necessary, was spared; but Miriam was smitten with a universal leprosy. Aaron immediately discerned his guilt, acknowledged his fault, begged forgiveness for himself and his sister, and that she might speedily be restored to health, Nu. xii. It was not long after, when Korah and his company, envying the honours of Aaron, thought to thrust themselves into the office of priests. These rebels being miraculously destroyed by God, the Hebrews reviled Moses and Aaron, as guilty of murdering them; the Lord, provoked herewith, sent a destructive plague among the people, which threatened to consume the whole congregation. Aaron, who had lately, by his prayers, prevented their being totally ruined along with Korah, ran in between the living and the dead, and by offering of incense, atoned for their trespass, and so the plague was stayed.-See Nu. xvi.

The temple. The temple of God, or the temple | dedicated and devoted to the service of God, was built on mount Moriah, on the spot where Abraham offered up his son Isaac. The first temple was built by king Solomon about 1005 years B. C. David, with his princes, provided immense treasures for it, amounting, it is computed, to 939 millions sterling; and in weight to about 46,000 tons of gold and silver. About 183,600 men, Hebrews and Canaanites, were employed in its erection. Every thing was made ready ere it came to the spot; and no tool was heard in its progress. Hiram, king of Tyre, supplied the cedar from Lebanon, which was floated to Joppa, and thence conveyed to Jerusalem. It was seven years in building, 1 Ki. vi. 38. David was not suffered to build it because he had been a man of war, 1 Ch. xxii. 1-19. About eleven months after the building was finished, and just before the feast of tabernacles, this temple was furnished with the ark, and other sacred utensils; and the Shechinah, or cloud of divine glory, entered it, to take up its rest over the ark, between the cherubims; and it was dedicated with a solemn prayer by Solomon, and by seven days of sacred feasting, and by a peace offering of 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep, 1 Ki. viii. 63; to consume which, the holy fire anew came down from heaven, 2 Ch. vii. 1-3. The temple service consisted in sacrifices, songs, prayer, &c., 1 Ch. xxv. xxix. 1-9; 1 Ki. vi.viii.; 2 Ch. iii.-vi. This temple remained but about thirty-four years in its glory, when Shishak, king of Egypt, carried off its treasures, 1 Ki. xiv. 25, 6. After repeated desecrations, its golden vessels were carried to Babylon, and the temple was demolished by Nebuchadnezzar, about 588 years B.C., 2 Ch. xxxvi. 6, 7, 17-20. After the Babylonish captivity it was rebuilt by command of Cyrus, but with vastly diminished beauty. The aged men wept when they compared it with the glory of the former tem

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ple, Ezr. iii. 8-12. This temple was often defiled in the wars, and before the time of Christ had become much decayed. Herod the Great, being exceedingly unpopular among the Jews on account of his cruelties, to gain their affections, and to gratify his own ambition, about B. C. 20, began to build it anew this he did, not by taking it down entirely at once, but by removing one part after another until it became a new temple. He employed 18,000 men upon it, and completed it, so as to be fit for use, in nine years but forty-six years after he began to repair it, when our Saviour had begun his public ministry, it was not quite finished; nay, till the beginning of their ruinous wars, the Jews added to its buildings. The temple itself was 60 enbits high, and as many broad. But in the front Herod added two wings or shoulders, each of which projecting 20 cubits, made the whole length of the front 100 cubits, and the breadth as many; and the gate was 70 cubits high, and 20 broad, but without any doors. The stones were white marble, 25 cubits in length, 12 in height, and 9 in breadth, all polished, and unspeakably beautiful. Instead of doors, the gate was closed with vails, flowered with gold, silver, purple, and every thing rich and curious. At each side of the gate were two stately pillars, from whence hung golden festoons, and vines with leaves and clusters of grapes, curiously wrought. The whole enclosure was about a furlong square, surrounded with a high wall of large stones, some of them above 40 cubits long, and all fastened to one another with lead or iron. wall of the temple, and its roof, being covered with gold on the outside, made a most brilliant appearance in the sunshine. This vast, and splendid, and, apparently, imperishable pile, was destroyed, A.D. 70, by the Romans under Titus, after about only seventy years continuance from the time of its rebuilding by

Herod.

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EZRA III. And when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jeru2 salem. Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and builded the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God. 3 And they set the altar upon his bases; for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries: and they offered burnt offerings thereon unto the LORD, even burnt offerings morning and evening. 4 They kept also the feast of tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the custom, as the duty of every day 5 required; and afterward offered the continual burnt offering, both of the new moons, and of all the set feasts of the LORD that were consecrated, and of every one that willingly offered a free will offering unto the 6 LORD. From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt offerings unto the LORD. But the foundation of the temple of the LORD was not yet 7 laid. They gave money also unto the masons, and to the carpenters; and meat, and drink, and oil, unto them of Zidon, and to them of Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa, according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia.

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Now in the second year of their coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the remnant of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all they that were come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem; and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to set forward the work of the house of the 9 LORD. Then stood Jeshua with his sons and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together, to set forward the workmen in the house of God: the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their 10 brethren the Levites. And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the LORD, after the ordinance of David king of Israel. 11 And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the LORD; because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the 12 house of the LORD was laid. But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy: 13 so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off.

EXODUS XVI. And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of 2 Egypt. And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the 3 wilderness: and the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.

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Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove 5 them, whether they will walk in my law, or no. And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be 6 twice as much as they gather daily. And Moses and Aaron said unto all the children of Israel, At even, then ye shall know that the LORD hath brought you 7 out from the land of Egypt: and in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of the LORD; for that he heareth your murmurings against the LORD: and 8 what are we, that ye murmur against us?

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Moses said, This shall be, when the LORD shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full; for that the LORD heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? your murmurings are not against us but against the LORD.

And Moses spake unto Aaron, Say unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, Come near before the LORD: for he hath heard your murmurings. 10 And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked

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toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud.

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 12, I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in 13 shall know that I am the LORD your God. the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and 14 round about the host. covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness 15 frost on the ground. there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, [or, What is this? or, It is a portion:] It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat.

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This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his 18 thered, some more, some less. 17 tents. And the children of Israel did so, and gaAnd when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating. 19 And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morn20 ing. Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth 21 with them. And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted.

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And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came 23 and told Moses. And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be 24 kept until the morning. And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade: and it did not stink, neither 25 was there any worm therein. And Moses said, Eat that to day; for to day is a sabbath unto the LORD: 26 to day ye shall not find it in the field. Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none.

27 And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they 28 found none. And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my 29 laws? See, for that the LORD hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day. 30 So the people rested on the seventh day. 31, And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.

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And Moses said, This is the thing which the LORD commandeth, Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations; that they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you 33 forth from the land of Egypt. And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for 34 your generations. As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept. 35 And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of 36 Canaan. Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah. PSALM XLVI. God is our refuge and strength, a 2 very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the 3 mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah. 4 There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of 5 the most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right 6 early. The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: 7 he uttered his voice, the earth melted. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. 8 Selah. Come, behold the works of the LORD, what 9 desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth 10 the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.