when his afflictions commenced. He rose above all the sons of the East in riches, in morals, and in wisdom. He sank to the lowest depths of poverty, with an integrity to heaven unshaken and unimpaired by his manifold calamities. The Septuagint addsΤα δε παντα ετη εζησεν διακόσια τεσσεράκοντα—“and all the years he (Job) lived were two hundred and forty." Now, let it be remembered, the writers of the Greek version were seventy-two persons, six persons chosen out of each tribe and sent to Alexandria at the request of Ptolemy, king of Egypt, two centuries and a half before Christ, to translate the Old Testament scriptures into Greek. Any addition, such as that respecting Job's life, made in their version, must be considered as the opinion of themselves and of their countrymen. When we add that our Lord and his apostles quoted from the Septuagint, and that the evangelists and apostles wrote in Greek, it does seem a trespass upon the character of the Septuagint to use the words, If we could rely on the Septuagint." "After this, Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his sons and his sons' sons, even four generations." "So Job died, being old and full of days." At the end of the Syriac version we have the following subscription:-"The book of the righteous and renowned Job is finished, and contains two thousand five hundred and fifty-three verses." 66 66 At the end of the Arabic is the following:-"It is completed by the assistance of the most high God. The author of this copy would record that this book has been translated into Arabic from the Syriac language." Glory be to God, the giver of understanding!" "The book of Job is completed, and his age was two hundred and forty years." Praise be to God for ever."-(See Dr. A. Clarke). I believe that I have given an honest opinion as to the person of Job, and as to the compilation of his remains by Moses. I leave all other opinions on these subjects to the taste of the readers of the book of Job. studies of Moses during the second forty years of his life, when he was tending the flocks of his father-inlaw, may be imagined by every one who studies the book of Genesis and the book of Job. The (4.) Moses receives the "call of God" at the bush.Moses came, in his care of the flocks of his father-inlaw, to Horeb, the mountain of God. He saw a bush on fire; the fire did not consume the bush. He intended to draw near and to examine this great sight; a voice from the bush called Moses. He answered. The voice commanded Moses: "Draw not nigh hither; put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." "I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." Moses hid his face; he was afraid to look upon God. The voice instructed Moses in the intended deliverance of the children of Israel, and in their entrance into and possession of the land then inhabited by the-(1.) Canaanites; (2.) the Hittites; (3.) the Amorites; (4. the Perrizites; (5.) the Hevites; (6.) and the Jebusites. "Come now, therefore, I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt." These are the words of God's call of Moses to the office of deliverer of his brethren, the children of Israel, from Egyptian bondage. Moses pleaded his want of ability for so great an undertaking. God's voice assured Moses of divine assistance. Pharaoh would not let the children of Israel go. God would enable Moses to perform miracles to the overthrow of Egyptian idolatry, and to the effecting of the consent of Pharaoh to the allowing of the children of Israel to go into the wilderness to sacrifice to the Lord their God. Moses asked by what name the God of Israel was to be made known by him to his brethren. "I am that I am; I am hath sent me to you. The God of your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, hath sent me unto you. This is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations." The Jews were not to go empty. Every woman was to borrow of her neighbour jewels of silver and jewels of gold, and raiment. Ye shall put them upon your sons and your daughters; ye shall spoil the Egyptians." (Sept. adλa airηore yvvn-but the woman shall ask:) (kxpw, qui petendum dedit.)—1 Samuel v. 28. Hannah lent her son Samuel to the Lord; the Egyptians lent their ornaments of gold and of silver and their raiment to the Israelites, as Hannah lent Samuel. In neither case was a return expected, therefore there was no dishonesty. "Pharaoh would not let them go-no, not by a mighty hand-―(except by a mighty hand.) He did let them go." Moses asked the Lord for a sign. Moses had a rod in his hand; he cast it on the ground by the command of God; the rod became a serpent; Moses fled. God commanded Moses to take the serpent by the tail; Moses obeyed; the serpent became the rod. God commanded Moses to put his hand into his bosom; Moses did so; he took out his hand, behold, it was leprous as snow. God commanded Moses to put his hand into his bosom again; Moses did as God commanded him; and then, plucking his hand out of his bosom, he beheld it turned again as his other flesh. If Pharaoh would not attend to these signs, God would enable Moses to give greater signs than these. Moses pleaded his want of ability to speak. "Who maketh man's mouth? Have not I, the Lord?" God appointed Aaron to be Moses' spokesman. Aaron was to be as a mouth to Moses, whilst Moses was to be to Aaron instead of God. Moses must take this rod, with which he was to do signs. Moses made all these things known to Jethro, his father-in-law. Jethro said to Moses, "Go in peace." God commanded Moses-"Go, return into Egypt, for all the men are dead who sought thy life." Moses took his wife and his two sons-1. Gershom: stranger-because Moses was a stranger; 2. Eliezer: helper-for the God of my father hath been my help, and delivered me from the hand of Pharaoh. As Moses was returning to Egypt, the Lord met him and sought to kill him by the way in the inn or cara vansary. It is supposed that Moses' son, Greshom or Eliezer, had not been circumcised.-Gen. xlii. 27. The son was in danger of being cut off from amongst his people; Zipporah, understanding the danger, "took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at Moses' feet, saying, Surely a bloody husband thou art to me." The Lord spared the life of the child. Zipporah said, "a bloody husband thou art because of the circumcision." It may be supposed that Zipporah, with her two sons, returned to her father's house.-Exod. xviii. 1, &c., iv. 25. The Lord commanded Aaron to go into the wilderness to meet Moses. Aaron went, and met Moses in the mountain of God and kissed him. Moses told Aaron all things which God had said unto him. Moses and Aaron gathered all the elders of the children of Israel together. Aaron gave to them the necessary information, and the signs which God commanded to be performed in their sight, to convince them of the divine appointment of Moses and Aaron. The people believed; they bowed their heads and worshipped. Certain quotations have been made from classic authors illustrative of certain passages in holy scripture. The custom is good, and should be adopted by all students of the classic authors of Greece and Rome. The heathen authors may be thus made confessors of the truth originally communicated by God to man. We have also proofs in their writings of the truth of St. Paul's statements in his epistle to the Romans, and in all his epistles, of the vices which degraded the moral condition of the heathen. Dr. A. Clarke has quoted from a work by Stanley, an edition of Eschylus, in which are fragments attributed to that poet, p. 647, col. 1 :— δοκει Χωριξε θνητων τον θεον, καὶ μη Ουκ οίσθα δ' άυτον· ποτε μεν ώσπερ φαίνεται "Separate (or distinguish) God from mortals, and do not think that a thing of flesh-το πραγμα σαρκικόν -is (or is constituted or made-Kabeσтevα) like to Him. But thou dost not know Him; sometimes He shines as fire, formless in its impulse, but sometimes (as) water, and sometimes (as) thick darkness— yvodoo." The poet proceeds: Τρέμει δ' όρη, καὶ γαῖα, καὶ πελωριοσ But the mountains tremble-(plural, nom. and verb sing., Grk. Gr.)-and the earth and the monstrous (eλoptoo) depth (Buloo) of the sea; the great height of the mountains (Kwpewv) when the terrible (yopyov) eye of the Master (deσTоTоv) looks upon (them) (επίβλεψη.) Homer represents Mercury taking his rod to work miracles, precisely in the same way as God commands Moses to take his rod :: Ερμησ δε ψυχασ Κυλληνιοσ εξεκαλειτο Odyss. Lib. xxiv. v. "But Cyllēnian Hermes (Mercury) called out th souls of the men, the suitors (μvnoηpov), and too in his hands the ROD (RABAON—¿ paßòoo), al with this he soothes (eλye) the eyes of men, of thos whom (v) he wishes, but again he arouses them even when sleeping (καὶ ὑπνωοντασ.) Cyllene was a mountain of Arcadia, which receive its name from Cyllen, a son of Eletus. Mercury wa born there, hence his surname of Cylleneius. The rod or caduceus of Mercury, and the thyrsu of Bacchus. Cicero reckons five Bacchuses: one o which, according to Orpheus, was born of the rive Nile; but, according to the common opinion, he was born on the banks of that river. Bacchus is expressly said to have been exposed on the river Nile. hence he is called Nilus by Diodorus and Macrobius. In the hymns of Orpheus he is named Myses, because he was drawn out of the water. Moses was so called for the same reason. Bacchus is described as beautiful, and as an illustrious warrior. The poets proceed to describe him as having overrun all Arabia with a numerous army, both of men and women. He is described as an eminent law-giver, always carrying in his hand the thyrsus-a rod wreathed with serpents--by which he, as it is reported, wrought miracles. The fables of the heathen are supposed. by some, to be heathen editions of the persons and circumstances related in the Bible history. Dr. Delaney, of the Dublin University, in Dr. Swift's time (reign of Queen Anne), wrote a book named "Revelation Examined with Candour." He pointed out the likeness between the history of persons in the Bible and the accounts of persons given by heathen authors. He led his reader to the conclusion that heathen fables were merely distorted, or perverted, or ill-remembered, or traditional accounts of the facts related in the Bible. Tradition is the fond parent of fable, both in the ages before and in the ages since the coming of our blessed Lord. Dr. A. Clarke has followed Dr. Delaney in this view of the subject of mythology and revelation. He has adopted, also, Dr. Delaney's life of king David as a guide in the part of the Old Testament in which a history of David's life is found. He has also followed Bishop Lowth in the exposition of the prophets, marking the quotations from Bishop Lowth by the letter L. Dr. Delaney's books are the best of that kind which I have ever seen; they are well suited to young people. I saw them and read them with profit, A.D. 1835, now (1877) forty-two years since. I suppose they are out of print. I now quote these words from Dr. A. Clarke's note on Exod. iv. 17: " Virgil copies Homer, but carries the parallel further, tradition having probably furnished him with more particulars; but in both Homer and Virgil we may see a disguised copy of the sacred history, from which, in his divine worship. The call of Abraham was, in the order of divine providence, designed to oppose the spread of idolatry, or the use of images or pictures, or other representatives in divine worship. The history of the Jews is a history of disobedience to the divine will, the Jews lapsing into idolatry, and God recall ing them to obedience of the holy commandment delivered to them. The Babylonish captivity terminated the Jewish disposition to idolatry. The synagogue worship, and the reading of Moses and the prophets every Sabbath day, must be considered as the cause of this marked repentance in the Jewish character. Images and pictures used in divine worship are supposed to represent beings, real or imaginary, who are believed to have power to kill and to make alive, to curse and to bless, to make happy and to make miserable. The voice of God, in the Bible, cries aloud, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord."-Deut. vi. 4. 14. The Conduct of Abraham.-1. Faithful to God. Called "the friend of God." His steward was Eliezar of Damascus. Abraham was accused of falsehood by Pharaoh, king of Egypt. He was accused of falsehood by Abimelech, king of Gerar. The Egyptian and the Philistine kings had these names through many successive generations. (See Gen. xii. and xx.; change of names, Gen. xvii.) Abraham was fourscore and ten years old when Ishmael, his son by Hagar, was born. 66 Beer-la-hai-roi," the well of him who liveth and seeth me. Hagar's son must be called "Ishmael." Hagar must return to her mistress. "Abram was fourscore and six years old when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram."-Gen. xvi. Kadesh and Bered. Abraham was ninety years old and nine, and Ishmael, his son, was thirteen years old when circumcised. 15. The Three Angels appear to Abraham. He entertains them. The birth of Isaac foretold. The promises made to Abraham: 1. That he should be the father of a numerous offspring, when he had no prospect of a child by Sarah. 2. That his seed should inherit the land of Canaan to which he had no title, for which he had no heir, and which was fully occupied by its own possessors. 3. That in his seed all the families of the earth should be blessed, when he was a private person, without a place to set his foot on, that is, without any possession in the land, without any certain dwelling-place. Abraham prayed to the chief of these three angels who remained with him, whilst the other two went to Lot, on the eastern side of the Jordan. Abraham addressed this angel as God. "Before Abraham was 'I am.'" John viii. 58. "I am."-Exod. iii. 14. The preexistence and deity of our blessed Lord are clearly set forth in these passages of holy writ. 16. The Cities of the Plain.-1. Sodom. 2. Gomorrah. 3. Admah. 4. Zeboim; and 5. Zoar. The four cities were destroyed by fire from heaven. Zoar was spared in answer to Lot's prayer. Lot's wife looked behind, she became a pillar of salt. Lot and his two unmarried daughters arrived safely in Zoar. The four kings invaded the territories of the five kings. The battle was favourable to the invaders. They took Lot and his goods, and were retiring laden with plunder which they had taken from many neighbouring territories. Abraham armed his three hundred and eighteen servants whom he had in his house. No doubt he secured the services of his neighbours. He pursued, overtook, conquered, and spoiled the invaders. He rescued Lot and restored to him and to Lot's friends their property, which the spoilers had been carrying away.-Gen. xiv. B.C. 1913. It has been remarked that at the Council of Nice in Bithynia, A.D. 325, summoned by Constantine to form the true confession of the faith, three hundred and eighteen bishops attended the council. The appearance of Melchisedek, his blessing pronounced upon Abraham returning victorious after his night attack, his receiving from Abraham "tithes of all," his giving to Abraham bread and wine, his being a priest of the Most High God, are matters explained by St. Paul in his epistle to the Hebrews. Melchisedek was a type of Christ. Melchisedek is, historically, without father and mother. His priesthood is without succession. He was greater than Abraham. Our blessed Lord is our high priest. His priesthood has no succession. He is a priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedek. A reference to creation brings to mind the hope of rest in another world, by which Abraham and the Patriarchs were animated. God set apart, for the rest of the human body and for divine worship, a seventh portion of time. The Sabbath was made for man. The Sabbath was instituted to cause mankind to remember, first, the creation, and second, the deliverance of the Jews from Egyptian bondage, (Deut. v. 15;) and third, the resurrection of our blessed Lord. "I (John) was in the spirit on the Lord's day."-Rev. i. 10. "There remaineth, therefore, a rest for the people of God."—Heb. iv. 9. understand these words to mean the rest or Sabbath of the christian church on earth, as well as the rest of the christian church in heaven. Some Genesis i.-(1.) "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." (2.) "The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." (3.) "And God said:" 1. The Father. 2. The Holy Ghost. 3. The Word of God.-John i. 1: "The Word was God." Acts v. 3-4: "To lie to the Holy Ghost. Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God." The deity and personality of the Holy Ghost, and the pre-existence and deity of the Word, are thus made manifest. The union of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, may be seen in Gen. i. 26: “And God said, let us make man." This union of three persons is called the Trinity-tres in uno, three in one. We may discover in the mythology of heathen nations certain opinions which appear to have their origin in these divine instructions given to the patriarchs. 18. Abraham's family.-1. Isaac was born when his father Abraham was one hundred years old. His father circumcised Isaac when the child was eight days old, according to divine command. Hagar, the mother of Ishmael, was an Egyptian. Abraham made a great feast when Isaac was weaned. Sarah saw Ishmael mocking. She said to Abraham, "Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac."-Gen. xxi. 10, Gal. iv. 30. Abraham cast out the bondwoman and her son on the following morning. He gave bread and a bottle of water to Hagar. She and her son wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. The water was spent in the bottle. The child was ready to perish. Hagar had laid him under a shrub, and then sitting at some distance from him, mournfully expected his death. God heard the voice of the lad. The angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven. God opened Hagar's eyes. She saw a well of water. She filled her bottle with the water and gave to the lad drink. The lad grew. God had promised to make him a great nation. The lad dwelt in the wilderness and became an archer. He dwelt in the wilderness of Paran. His mother took for him a wife out of the land of Egypt. Abraham dug a well. He called it Beersheba, the well of the oath. Abimelech and Abraham made a covenant. They swear to keep the covenant. Abraham set seven ewe lambs by themselves. This was the token of the covenant. Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God. And Abraham sojourned in the Philistine's land many days. God did tempt, or try, the faith of Abraham. He commanded Abraham to take his son Isaac, to proceed to Mount Moriah, and on that mount to offer up his son for a burnt offering. Abraham obeyed the command, and on the third day of his journey came in sight of the mountain. God interfered when Abraham was about to slay his son. A ram, caught in a thicket by his horns, was the sacrifice which God accepted in exchange for Isaac. Abraham called the name of the place Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will see or provide. The angel of the Lord called out of heaven to Abraham, and declared that God would bless him and his posterity, "because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son."-Gen. xxii. John, iii. Sarah was a hundred and seven and twenty years old. She died in Kirjatharba, the same is Hebron, in the land of Canaan. Abraham bought the cave of Machpelah from Ephron the Hittite, in the presence of the children of Heth. Ephron wished to give the grave, but Abraham would purchase it. He weighed four hundred shekels of silver, and gave to Ephron this sum as the price of Machpelah; after this Abraham buried his wife in the cave. Eliezer of Damascus (Gen. xv.) was the steward of Abraham's house. Abraham, Gen. xxiv., was old. He would provide a wife for his son Isaac. He made his servant (the oldest servant of his house) put his hand under his (Abraham's) thigh, and swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that he would not take a wife from the daughters of the Canaanites amongst whom "I dwell;" but that the servant would go to Abraham's own country, and to his kindred, and take a wife unto his son Isaac. The faithful servant, trusting in God's direction, succeeded in obtaining Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, as a wife for Isaac. Rebekah and her maids rode on the camels which the servant had brought with him. They followed the servant. Isaac was in the field meditating. Rebekah learned from the servant that the man was his master. She had lighted off the camel. She took a vail and covered herself. Isaac took Rebekah into his mother's tent. She became his wife. Isaac and Rebekah having lived faithfully together, are regarded as examples of conjugal fidelity and happiness throughout all generations. Abraham left to Isaac all his valuable property. He sent into the east country his sons by his concubines, giving to them portions of his property called gifts. Abraham died B.c. 1853. He had lived one hundred three score and fifteen years, (175 years.) The manners and customs of the people of the East do not change. A comparison between the present and the former races may be useful and interesting. 19. The Sacrifice of Abram, Gen. xv., was directed by God. 1. A heifer of three years old. 2. A he goat of three years old. 3. A ram of three years old. 4. A turtle dove. 5. A pigeon. These were the animals appointed for sacrifices in the Law of Moses. The ox, the goat, the sheep, were divided. The turtle dove and pigeon were not divided. The Lord made a covenant with Abraham. The smoking furnace represented Abraham's posterity in Egyptian bondage; the burning lamp represented God. The smoking furnace and the burning lamp passed between the divided victims. This was a form of agreement between the contracting parties. Similar forms existed amongst the nations of antiquity. 20. The Sacrifice of Noah.-Gen. viii. When Noah came out of the ark, "He builded an altar unto the Lord; and took of every clean beast, and every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar." The Lord smelled a sweet savour. Noah's sacrifice was accepted. God promised that he would not again curse the earth with a flood. "While the earth remaineth, seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, Egyptian antiquities it has been proved that human sacrifices were offered by the Egyptians, and from the complexions of the victims during a certain period it has been conjectured that these fairer victims were children of Israel. The paintings of the Egyptians have carried down to us the days of moral darkness of the people who, in all their moral darkness, were the most civilized and refined people in the world. (o.) Ten times.-(Numbers xiv. 22-23).-The Passover celebrated the delivery of the Jews from Egyptian bondage. The Pentecost celebrated the giving of the law. Fifty days (Pentecost) elapsed from the exodus to the arrival at Sinai. One year and a half was the term of the Jewish encampment at Mount Sinai. During this term the law was given, and the tabernacle (a moveable tent) was made for the performance of divine service, according to the law. We have the history of the transactions in this first year and a half. Thirty-eight years of the wanderings are without record. The last half-year has its history. The Lord commanded Moses (Num. xiii.) to send a man out of each of the twelve tribes to search the land of Canaan. Two men of the twelve have made themselves of good memory in the history of the Jews.-1. Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb, the son of Jeph-un-neh: and 2. Oshea, the son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim. Moses called Oshea, the son of Nun, Jehoshua. These men were honourable forerunners of the future greatness of their tribes. They viewed the land of Canaan. They cut down a branch of a vine with one cluster of grapes. and they bore it between two upon a staff. They brought pomegranates and grapes. They called the place in which they had cut down the cluster of grapes Eschol. Two They returned after having completed the search of the land. The time spent in the search was forty days. Ten spies gave an evil report, declaring that it was impossible for the Israelites successfully to invade a land so strongly fortified and so powerfully inhabited as Canaan was. spies, Caleb and Joshua, contradicted the statement of the ten spies. The Jews believed the ten spies, and were filled with anger against Moses and Aaron, and Caleb and Joshua. They cried out, "stone them." The glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle. All the people saw it. The Lord declared to Moses his determination to disinherit the children of Israel, then existing, and to make of Moses a great nation. The love of country was in the heart of this, the most wonderful human character which ever appeared amongst men. Moses earnestly entreated the Lord to spare his people, "as thou hast forgiven this people from Egypt until now." In the idolatry of the golden calf Moses prayed to God for the people; "yet now, if thou wilt, forgive their sin; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.Exodus xxxii. 32. These passages in the life of Moses shew the unselfishness of his nature, which is further manifested in the fact that his children, Gershom and Eliezer, had no better fortune in the distribution of the lands of Canaan than their humbler brethren. A punishment must be inflicted. The ten unfaithful spies must die. All the Israelites, twenty years old and upwards when they left Egypt, must perish in the wilderness. Forty years wanderings in the wilderness were appointed, a year for a day, in the forty days search of the holy land by the twelve spies. Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the sun of Nun, were excepted by the Lord from this calamity which must come upon the faithless and disobedient.-Num. xiv. 30. A promise is made to Caleb, v. 24.-" But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it." The passage from the wilderness of Paran (Num. xii. 16.) to Canaan, and the spying of Canaan, were accomplished, together with a return from Canaan, in forty days. The forty years wandering in the wilderness was a punishment for unbelief and disobedience. Moses is supposed to have written the ninetieth Psalm as a means of consoling the children of Israel under this severe sentence of death pronounced upon them by the God of their fathers. We use this psalm in the burial service as a means of consolation to those who mourn the loss of departed friends. The book of Job had a similar use. The provocations by which the children of Israel had provoked the Lord to swear in his wrath that they should never enter into his rest, are stated thus:-Num. xiv. 22: "Because all these men who have seen my glory, and my miracles which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened unto my voice: " 23. "Surely they shall not see the land which I swear unto their fathers, neither shall any of them who provoked me see it.” The journeys and encampments of the children of Israel in the wilderness are named in Numbers xxxiii. These stations are forty-two in number. The ten times in which God was provoked by his people are the times in which, in the first year and a half, they were encamped in the following stations: |