51. Of dashing the little ones of the daughter of Babylon against the stones. Ps. cxxxvii. 9.

52. Of judges being overthrown in stony places. Ps. cxli. 6. 53. Of sons being as plants, and daughters as corner-stones. Ps. cxliv. 12.

54. Of the rock, the holes of the rocks, the caves of the earth, the clefts of the rocks, and the tops of the ragged rocks, into which the wicked shall go, for fear of Jehovah. Isa. ii. 10, 19, 21.

55. Of the wicked calling upon the mountains and rocks to fall on them, and hide them from the divine presence. Apoc. vi. 16. 56. Of slaying men on rocks and stones. Judg. vii. 25; ix. 5, 18. 57. Of taking up stones to cast at Jesus. John viii. 59; x. 3133; xi. 8.

Isa. v. 2.

58. Of gathering stones out of a vineyard. 59. Of building a house upon a rock. Matt. vii. 24, 25; Luke vi. 48.

60. Of Jehovah as a rock. ii. 2; 2 Sam. xxii. 2, 32, 47; xlii. 9; lxi. 2; lxii. 2, 6, 7; 22; xcv. 1; Isa. xxxii. 2.

Deut. xxxii. 4, 15, 18, 30, 31; 1 Sam. Ps. xviii. 2, 31, 46; xxxi. 2, 3; xl. 2; lxxviii. 35; lxxxix. 26; xcii. 15; xciv.

Deut. xxxii. 31, 37.

61. Of false gods as a rock. 62. Of images or idols of stone. Lev. xxvi. 1; Deut. iv. 28; xxviii. 64; xxix. 17; Judg. xvii. 3, 4; xviii. 14-21, 30, 31; 2 Kings xvii. 41; xviii. 4; xix. 18; xxiii. 14, 24; Ps. lxxviii. 58; xcvii. 7; cvi. 36, 37; Isa. x. 19; xxi. 9; xliv. 9, 10, 15, 17; xlv. 17, 20; xlvi. 1; xlviii. 5; Dan. v. 4, 23; Micah i. 7; Nahum ii. 14; Hab. ii. 18; Apoc. ix. 20; xiii. 14, 15; xiv. 9, 11; xv. 2; xix. 20; xx. 4.

63. Of the body of Jesus being laid in a new tomb hewn out of the rock, and a great stone rolled to the door of the sepulchre, and sealed. Matt. xxvii. 60, 66; xxviii. 2; Mark xv. 46; xvi. 3, 4; Luke xxiii. 53; xxiv. 2; John xix. 41, 42; xx. 1, etc.

64. Of an angel rolling

chre, and sitting upon it.

back the stone from the door of the sepulMatt. xxviii. 2; Mark xvi. 3, 4.

65. Of a paved work of sapphire-stone under the feet of the God of Israel, resembling the body of heaven for clearness. Ex. xxiv. 10; Ezek. i. 26; x. i.

66. Of the appearance of the wheels, seen by Ezekiel, like unto the color of a beryl-stone. Ezek. i. 16; x. 9.

67. Of two onyx-stones on the shoulders of the ephod, having the

names of the children of Israel engraven on them. Ex. xxv. 7; xxviii. 9-12; xxxv. 9, 27; xxxix. 6, 7.

68. Of the precious stones called Urim and Thummim, for the breast-plate of Aaron. Ex. xxv. 7; xxviii. 17-21; xxxv. 9, 27;

Xxxxix. 8-14.

69. Of precious stones presented by the queen of Sheba to Solomon. 1 Kings x. 10.

70. Of precious stones brought to Solomon from Ophir, in the navy of Hiram, king of Tyre. 1 Kings x. 11.

71. Of precious stones for the foundations, the windows, the gates, and the borders of the church to be established among the Gentiles. Isa. liv. 11, 12.

72. Of precious stones for the clothing of the king of Tyrus. Ezek. xxviii. 12–16.

73. Of precious stones for the adorning of the whore of Babylon. Apoc. xvii. 4; xviii. 16.

74. Of precious stones for the wall and foundations of the New Jerusalem. Apoc. xxi. 18-20.

In all the cases above enumerated stones denote, as before observed, truths, either genuine, or apparent, or perverted; which will sufficiently appear from the observations now following on some of the passages already referred to.

CHAPTER VII.

STONES USED FOR ALTARS, PILLARS, WITNESSES, AND MEMORIALS.

Stones for Altars.

(1.) Ex. xx. 24, 25. An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt-offerings, and thy peace-offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen. And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.

(2.) Deut. xxvii. 5, 6. And there shalt thou build an altar unto Jehovah thy God, an altar of stone. Thou shalt not lift up any iron tool upon them. Thou shalt build the altar of Jehovah thy God of whole stones and thou shalt offer burnt-offerings thereon unto Jehovah thy God.

(3.) Josh. viii. 30, 31. Then Joshua built an altar unto Jehovah the God of Israel in mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of Jehovah commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of whole stones, over which no man hath lift up any iron.

(4.) 1 Kings xviii. 31, 32. Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob: and with the stones he built an altar in the name of Jehovah.

As the essential part of worship consists in two things, namely, good and truth, or charity and faith, therefore, in reference to these mention is made of an altar of earth and an altar of stone. Worship from a principle of good, or of charity, was represented by the offerings and sacrifices made upon altars of earth; but worship from the love of truth or from faith, was represented by the offerings and sacrifices made upon altars of stone. The former is the worship of a man already regenerated, or of one who is in charity, and at the same time in faith derived from it: the latter is the worship of him who is undergoing the process of regeneration, and who by faith is led to charity, or by the precepts of truth into the life of good.

The reason why the altar was not to be built of hewn stones, but

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of unwrought or whole stones, was, that the labor of man in hewing and preparing them according to his own skill and judgment, denoted self-derived intelligence, which, so far as it contains anything of merely human life or human merit, is in itself evil, and therefore cannot enter into, or mingle itself with, the pure worship of the Lord without contaminating, defiling, and in a great degree profaning it. All worship, to be truly acceptable, must be derived from the Lord alone by his Word; the truths of which, being in themselves divine, if received by man in sincerity of heart and integrity of life, will bear above him the consideration of selfish and temporal interests, to the contemplation and love of those which are heavenly and eternal.

(5.) Judges vi. 20, 21. The angel of God said unto Gideon, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock. And he did so. Then the angel of Jehovah put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes.

(6.) Judges xiii. 19, 20. Manoah took a kid, with a meat-offering, and offered it upon a rock unto Jehovah. And it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of Jehovah ascended in the flame of the altar.

In both of these instances a natural rock is used as an altar to Jehovah. The rock denotes divine truth, and the fire issuing out of it is divine love: These two concurring in the worship there represented, cause it to become acceptable in the sight of heaven; which is still further confirmed by the circumstance of the angel of Jehovah ascending in the flame of the altar.

(7.) Isa. xxvii. 9. When Jacob shall make the stones of the altar as chalk-stones that are beaten asunder, the groves and images shall not stand up.

Jacob here is the church diverging from what is spiritual into things natural; and the worship of such a church is described by his making all the stones of the altar as mere chalk-stones beaten asunder, and thus liable to be dispersed by every wind. The stones of the altar are divine truths, from and according to which worship ought to be performed: and these are said to become as chalk-stones deprived of their former consistency and durability, when they are perverted, that is, when they are separated from charity, which gives them the power of cohesion, and when consequently they are dissipated, and are no longer to be found in the church in their purity

and integrity. It is therefore written, that, whensoever this shall take place, the groves and images, representative of divine truths, shall no longer stand up.

In the best times of the most ancient and the ancient church, which existed long before the Israelitish people were formed into the representative of a church, groves, gardens and mountains were the places of their worship. Adam, or the most ancient church, worshipped Jehovah in a garden which is called the garden of Eden, Gen. ii. 8. Noah, or the ancient church, which succeeded the most ancient, after the ark had rested on the mountains of Ararat, built an altar to Jehovah, and offered burnt-offerings, on the altar, Gen. viii. 4, 20. Abraham also pitched his tent on a mountain, and built thereon an altar unto Jehovah, Gen. xii. 8. He likewise "planted a grove in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of Jehovah, the everlasting God," Gen. xxi. 33. Every tree in those ancient gardens and groves denoted some distinct perception or knowledge of divine truth, and thus reminded the worshippers of the various divine attributes and perfections, which from time to time they assembled together to acknowledge and commemorate. For the same reason they also set up images, statues and pillars in and near their groves: and this they did, not in the way of idolatrous superstition, but from an enlightened view of the works of nature and of art, knowing that every object which presented itself before their external senses, was representative of something heavenly and divine. Hence the sun, the moon, the starry firmament, mountains, hills, valleys, plains, fields, gardens, groves, woods, trees, rivers, fountains, seas, clouds, rocks and stones, beasts, birds and fishes, in endless variety, all contributed in turn to excite ideas and affections strictly analogous to these different objects, but yet totally distinct from them, just as spiritual things are totally distinct from natural things.

But when, in consequence of a long and universal degeneracy among the men of ancient times, their posterity had altogether lost sight of the things signified by the natural objects above named; and when, instead of leading the mind to devout meditation, those objects became the occasion of an external, criminal adoration, without any reference to what was internal, spiritual and divine, which is the characteristic of mere idolatry; then the people of Israel were raised up, and separated from the other nations, as well for the purpose of checking the superstition which everywhere prevailed, as for the formation of a kind of nucleus for the future improvement and happiness of mankind,