The Holy Land, which had become, about 63 years before the Birth of Christ, a Roman province, through the conquest of Pompey, was, in the time of our Lord, divided on the Western side of Jordan, into Galilee, to the North; Samaria, in the middle; Judea Proper, to the South: and the country on the Eastern side of Jordan was called Peræa. For any particular notice of the cities, towns, or villages, of the Holy Land, see Wigram's Geography of the Holy Land.

8 xi. On the value of some knowledge of Natural History.

Many allusions are made in Scripture, to understand which a knowledge of Natural History is necessary.

Gen. xlix. 14. Jacob compares Issachar to an ass. Now we attach to this the idea of slowness, stupidity, degradation; but in the East, the idea of bodily strength and vigour is suggested by this resemblance; so that though we should say, a bridle for the horse and a whip for the ass, in Prov. xxvi. 3. it is said, a whip for the horse, and a bridle for the ass, the ass of eastern countries going more freely than the horse. This also enables us better to understand the sublime description given in Job, of the wild ass, chap. xxxix. 5, where Jehovah himself is introduced as addressing Job in a speech abounding with references to natural history.

Hab. iii. 19: "He will make my feet like hinds' feet," &c. The hart, or hind, is remarkably swift-footed, and able to walk with ease and safety on the dangerous cliffs of the steep rocks. See, also, Ps. xviii. 33; Isa. xxxv. 6, &c.

Important religious instruction is also derived in Scripture from the instincts and habits of the Ant (Prov. vi. 6; Xxx. 25); the Ostrich (Job xxxix.); the annual migration of the stork, the turtle, the crane, the swallow. Jer. viii. 7: "Yea, the stork, &c., but my people, &c., not," &c.: so, again, Isa. liii. 6, 7: "All we, like sheep, have, &c. ; he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter," &c.

Eagles fly round their nest, and vary their flight, for the instruction of their young; and afterwards, taking them on their backs, they soar with them aloft, in order to try their strength, shaking them off into the air; and if they perceive them to be too weak to sustain themselves, they

will with surprising dexterity, fly under them again, and receive them on their wings, to prevent their fall. The Eagle is supposed to be the only sort of bird endued with this kind of instinct. This serves to explain one of the boldest and most beautiful similes in the Sacred Writings (Deut. xxxii. 11, 12), Moses' description of God's powerful and tender care of the Israelites through the Wilderness. (Bishop Newton.) See, also, Exod. xix. 4, referring to the lofty flight and peculiar affection of the eagle for its young. Also, Isa. xl. 31, "They shall mount up with wings as eagles," &c.

1 Kings xvii. 6. A knowledge of the voracious habits of the ravens, strengthens the force of the miracle, their natural appetites having been so restrained that they brought meat to Elijah. Who can make question, says Bishop Hall, of the means which God possesses of providing for his creatures, when he sees the very ravens forget their own hunger, and bring food to Elijah? Let not our faith be wanting to God, his care shall never be wanting to us.

Ps. xcii. 12: "The righteous shall flourish like the Palm tree." The noble and beautiful palm tree (remarks Dr. Clarke) affords an agreeable shade; its fruit makes a great part of the diet of the East: the stones are ground for camels; the leaves are made into couches, baskets, &c.; the boughs into fences; the fibres of the boughs into ropes and the rigging of small vessels; the sap into arrack; and the wood serves for lighter buildings, and fire-wood. From the same root it produces a great number of suckers, which form, upwards, a kind of forest, by their spreading, (see Judges iv. 5; Deborah). It is, moreover, an evergreen.

The figurative use which the Scriptures thus make of the works of nature, should lead us to view them in the same association. What Paley says of that train of thinking which regards the phenomena of nature with a constant reference to a supreme intelligent Author, applies with more force to that train of thinking by which, from the works of nature, we are reminded of some great revealed truth. "To have made this the ruling, the habitual sentiment of our minds, is to have laid the foundation of every thing religious in our mind. The world, thenceforth, becomes a temple, and life itself one continued act of adoration."

$ xii. Value of Chronology.

The science of computing and adjusting periods of time, is called Chronology. Without chronology there could be no history. The consideration of when such an event happened, as compared with some other event, may be easily shewn to be of great importance in the interpretation of Scripture. For instance:

It is an awful aggravation of the guilt of the inhabitants of Sodom, and Gomorrah, not only that they were the descendants of Noah, but that, when they had become so wicked as is described (Gen. xviii. 20), Noah had not been dead one hundred years. Chronology teaches us this.

1 Sam. iv. 8. When from Chronology we learn that this remark of the Philistines was made more than 300 years after those plagues had been inflicted, it shews the deep impression which the miraculous facts of the Jewish history made on the nations around, and through them, on the Gentile world, in the very centre of which God had placed his people: illustrating what was said by God, Exod. ix. 16. "And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up for to show in thee my power, and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.”

So the date of Paul's First Epistle to Timothy, A. D. 64, i. e. nearly thirty years after his conversion, compared with chap. i. 15. " and of whom I am chief," shews how a good man cherishes to the end of life a deep sense of his sinfulness.

2 Kings xxiii. 13. The high places which Solomon built for Ashtaroth, &c. appear to have remained more than 350 years. Solomon probably died a penitent, but Chronology assists us to shew in his instance, "that they who introduce corruptions into religion, know not how far they will reach, nor how long they will last."

A consideration of the chronological order of the prophetic writings will often suggest important instruction. Thus :

Ezek. xl.—xlviii., perhaps with the single exception of the Book of the Revelation, is the most obscure and difficult portion of Scripture: yet, viewed chronologically, i. e. in reference to the time when it was delivered, it gives a striking illustration how well adapted prophecy was to the moral exigencies of the church. The subject of these

chapters is a prophetic vision, expressed under the figure of a new city and temple. And when was this declared? In the most gloomy season of the captivity, twelve years before Jehoiakin was released from prison by EvilMerodach.

Evidently, therefore, though it was to have its full accomplishment in the times of the Gospel, by the aid of chronology we perceive, that Ezekiel's vision had for its immediate object, the consolation of his brethren, who were then commemorating, by the waters of Babylon, with sighs and tears, the fate of their former city and temple, now for fourteen years lying in utter desolation. The same remark as applying to Daniel's prophecy, has been already hinted at, p. 27.

There are some real difficulties in the adjustment of the dates of the Old Testament; in reference to which, works such as Hales's Chronology, &c. must be consulted; but some are easily explained: for instance, 2 Kings xv. 33, it is said Jotham reigned sixteen years; yet ver. 30 mentions his twentieth year. This chronological difficulty is thus removed: Jotham reigned sixteen years alone; but with his father, Uzziah, four years before.

Sons thus frequently reigned with their father (1 Kings i. Solomon with David, &c.); and the application of this rule will reconcile many seeming differences in the Books of Kings and Chronicles.

1 Pet. ii. 17: "Honour the King." It adds to the force of this command, to learn from chronology that the tyrant Nero was then the Emperor of the world. The same remark applies to 1 Tim. ii., "prayers, &c. for kings." When Christians were everywhere persecuted, they were commanded to pray publicly, and first for civil governors. See also Rom. xiii., enforcing subjection under the same circumstances.

An Epoch is a fixed point, or a certain remarkable date, made use of in Chronology from which to begin or compute years.

Thus the Jews were used to reckon from the Flood, from their coming out of Egypt, from the building of the Temple, &c.; the Greeks reckoned by Olympiads'; the Romans,

1 The first Olympiad was B.C. 776, and 23 years before the building

from the foundation of Rome; and Christians, from the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ.

As an assistance to remembering the order of time in which the several transactions recorded in the Old Testament happened, the following dates are given :

From the Creation to the Flood
From the Flood to the call of Abraham
From the call of Abraham to the deliverance
of the Israelites from Egypt, and the pro-
mulgation of the Law from Sinai

From thence to the foundation of Solomon's

YEARS.

1656

427

430

From thence to the restoration of the Jews by
Cyrus

476

From the restoration of the Jews to the birth of our Lord

536

Making a total, from the Creation to the birth of our Lord, of

4004

The three periods of Jewish history to which Matthew especially draws attention, are: From Abraham to David, 858 years; from David to Babylonian captivity, 475 years; from Babylonian captivity to the birth of our Lord, 588 years.

Genealogies, or lists of ancestors, some may think to be among the least profitable parts of Scripture, seeming little less than a succession of hard names;

But in them is illustrated the most striking fulfilment of prophecy, in enabling us to trace the Messiah's descent. (See p. 30.) In the first part of the Chronicles we have genealogies carried on for more than 3500 years (1 Chron. i. iii. iv).

St. Matthew gives us one of about 2000 years, from Abraham to Christ; and Luke, one of 4000 years, from Adam to Christ. The genealogies of Matthew and Luke differ; but though requiring learning to reconcile, they teach this to the unlearned, that Matthew and Luke were independent writers; for had there been collusion, there would have been, at least on such a subject, obvious agreement. of Rome, in the reign of Uzziah king of Judah, and about 55 years before the Ten tribes were taken captive by Shalmanezer.