“When Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people." So peaceful was his death.

(14.) Joseph's further history, and death.-"Joseph fell upon his father's face and wept upon him, and kissed him." Joseph commanded the physicians to embalm his father. The physicians obeyed Joseph's command. Israel was embalmed. Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus give an account of the Egyptian process of embalming, in which art of embalming the Egyptians excelled all the nations in the world. Dr. A. Clarke quotes from these authors. The Speaker's Bible refers to these authors, briefly, thus: Herodotus tells us that in Egypt (ii. 84) all places were crowded with physicians for every different kind of disease. The custom of embalming, and the occupation of embalmer, may have existed before the times of Moses and of Joseph. As Jacob was not an Egyptian, perhaps the ordinary embalmers must not be employed to embalm him; and, therefore, Joseph commanded his own physicians to embalm Jacob. Diodorus relates that the embalming lasted thirty days, and more; and that, when a king died, they mourned for him seventy-two days. Herodotus writes of a steeping in natron (sub-carbonate of soda) for seventy days.

Forty days were fulfilled for him (the embalming was completed in these forty days), and the Egyptians mourned for him three score and ten days, forty days for embalming the body, and thirty days the body lay in natron, these periods make seventy days, during which the Egyptians mourned for Jacob.Dr. A. Clarke.

Joseph, when the mourning time was ended, spake to Pharaoh's household, requesting them to obtain the consent of Pharaoh to the burial of his father's remains in the land of Canaan. Joseph promised to come again. Pharaoh said, "Go up and bury thy father, according as he made thee swear." Joseph went up with all his brethren, except those unable to travel-children, and flocks, and herds being left in Goshen. The Egyptians, in great numbers, all Pharaoh's servants, horses and chariots, and horsemen— a very great company-formed an addition to the funeral procession of Jacob. They came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, on the west side of the Jordan, where Moses never was: he wrote the history on the east side of the Jordan. "Beyond Jordan," where John was baptising, is used in reference to the east side of the Jordan, by the writer, who was on the west side of the Jordan. The mourning was very great at this place. Joseph made a mourning for his father seven days. The Canaanites called the place "Abel Mizraim"-"The mourning of the Egyptians." Jacob's sons obeyed their father's command; they carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, before Mamre. Joseph, his brethren, and his Egyptian friends, then returned to Egypt.

Joseph's brethren feared lest, their father being dead, Joseph would punish them for all the evil which

they had done to him. They sent a messenger t Joseph, who stated their mind, and the advice of Joseph's father before his death, that his brethren should ask Joseph to forgive them. Joseph wep when they spake unto him. His brethren fell down before him declaring that they were his servants He commanded them "fear not;" for am I in the place of God? Vengeance belongeth unto God Seek God's forgiveness; or, I am in the place of God, a messenger of God to do you good. Joseph comforted them, and spake kindly unto them. Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he and his father's house Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation; the children also of Machir, the son Manasseh, were brought up upon Joseph's knees were educated by Joseph as if his own children. Such was his duty and privilege as a patriarch. Joseph took an oath of his brethren, the children of Israel, saying, "God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence."

ΟΙ

"So Joseph died, B.C. 1635, being one hundred and ten years old, and they embalmed him; and he was put in a coffin, in Egypt."—Gen. 1. 26.

Jacob shewed greatness of mind under ordinary circumstances. Joseph manifested his greatness of mind under circumstances directed by extraordinary interpositions of Providence. It may be a subject of curious enquiry whether Joseph or his father Jacob may have possessed the greater mental power. And it may be considered a matter of taste to decide in favour of the father or of the son. Jacob was appointed by God to found the Hebrew nation. Joseph was appointed by God to save Egypt from famine, and to save, by his corn-stores in Egypt, both his own family and the neighbouring tribes and nations. The nature and the working of divine Providence is taught in the lives of these men. Jacob certainly manifested, in the last years of his life, an increase of that holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. Joseph, throughout his life, shewed that the fear of God was in his heart. His chastity and honesty, his faithfulness to his employers, his fear of God, and his submission to the Divine will, form the noble example which he has set to all future generations.

The book of Genesis closes with the closing scene of Joseph's eventful life. The book of Genesis is the most ancient book in the world. The creation, the providence, the peopling of the world, the flood, the re-peopling of the world, the revival of that idolatry which caused the flood, the call of Abraham to form a nation which might check the progress of idolatry, the manner in which the founders of the Hebrew race acted their parts as missionaries for God, are the great subjects set forth in the wonderful records contained in the book of Genesis.

A knowledge of the book of Genesis is necessary to a correct understanding of the Old Testament dispensation, and of the New. The Psalms have reference to the facts recorded in the book of Genesis ; and the New Testament refers to the Patriarchs, and to their history, as well as to the history of Moses

"from Adam the fountain head. This one man was "Methuselah, for he was born two hundred and forty"three years before Adam's decease, so that he might "sensibly converse with Adam during the space of two hundred years, and he lived to the beginning "of that very year in which the world was drowned; "at which time Noah, his grandson, was six hundred "years old, so that he was capable of conversing with him five hundred and sixty years."-Reading's Sermons, vol. i., p. 54-6. a.d. 1728.

Shem, the son of Noah, survived the deluge five hundred years. He conveyed the history of the past to Abraham. God's testimony to Abraham assures us of the safe preservation of these ancient records, that God knew Abraham, that he would faithfully teach his children and household after him all things which might dispose them to keep the ways of the Lord. In this manner of tradition, or of handing down from generation to generation, a preservation of some knowledge of past ages was secured. Moses, instructed in all the learning of the Egyptians, and in all the learning of his own people the Jews, was enabled, by the inspiration of God, to put in writing the history of facts and of revelations which is in the book of Genesis.

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6. "The names of deities worshipped by those "nations who departed from the knowledge and "worship of the one living and true God, were given by "them to their heroes and benefactors. The countries "about Carthage, Tyre, and Sidon, these cities and "their colonies worshipped the sun, giving to the sun the highest appellations their language would afford, as Baal-Samen, Lord of heaven, Moloch, "and Melchom, King of heaven, and other titles according to the difference of the Phoenician, Persian, "Arabian, and other eastern languages. They dedi"cated altars and sacred fires and sacrifices even of "their own children to this imaginary deity-the sun. "The name of this deity, Baal, Bel or Belus (for it is the same), is the name of an ancient king of Tyre. 'Tis compounded in Ethbaal and Jezebel, and Han"nibal, Asdrubal, Adherbal, and other Phoenician "names which are met with in common history, "which shews how devoted they were to this idol.' Reading's Sermons, vol. ii., p. 444.

The sacrifice to be consumed by fire from heaven, on Mount Carmel, proposed by Elijah, was to prove whether Baal (or the sun), whom Ahab and Jezebel had introduced into Israel as the national deity, could consume the sacrifice by fire in answer to the prayers of his priests and worshippers. There was no answer. Baal, or the sun, was no God. The God of Israel, who answered by fire, he was God. The sin of man has been a departure from the living God, manifested in a love for idolatry, or atheism. These sins of the human race are set before us in the New Testament as well as in the Old.

CHAPTER III.

The Books of the Old Testament contain records of the old world, from the creation to the commencement

I. Genesis.-The first book of the Old Testament has its name from the word, Teveorio, Genesis, used by the Septuagint or Greek translation of the scriptures by seventy persons. The word l'everu, signifies generation, or production, or creation, and is given as a name to this book, because the book contains a history of the origin or beginning or creation of all things. The book named Genesis includes a period of 2369 years from the creation of the world to the death of Joseph.

II. Exodus.-Eĝodos.-This also is a Greek word which signifies going out or departure. This name is given to the book because it contains an account of the departure of the children of Israel from the land of Egypt. Exodus begins where Genesis ends, at the death of Joseph, and ends with an account of the erection of the tabernacle in the wilderness of Arabia Petræa (called also in English stony or rocky Arabia) at the foot of Mount Sinai.

III. Leviticus.-The word Leviticus is formed from the word Levi, and is given as a name to the book because the book contains a history of the things which relate to the tribe of Levi. The Levites were devoted to the service of God in the tabernacle and in the temple. Aaron and his sons are described as having been consecrated to the priesthood, which service occupied eight days. The matters related in this book are supposed to have been performed in the space of one month.

IV. Numbers.-This book is named Numbers because it contains an account of the numbering of the Israelites when they left Egypt, and afterwards, when they had completed their wanderings in the wilderness. Laws and ceremonies-civil, moral, and ceremonial; sins and punishments; journeyings and conquests of the Jews, are also described in this book. It comprehends a period of forty years.

V. Deuteronomy.-The word Deuteronomy, the name of this book, is Greek (Aevтepovoμoσ), and signifies The Second Law, or the Law Repeated. This book is so named, because it contains the address of Moses to the "children of Israel," in which Moses repeats and explains the law. He was engaged in this work during five weeks. This book contains an account of the death of Moses, which account was, probably, added by Joshua, so that the narrative is continued for thirty days after the death of Moses. This book, therefore, comprehends a period of five weeks and thirty days. These five books, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, were written by Moses, and have received the name Pentateuch, from the Greek (TEVTE) five, and τευχα (plural of τευχοσ—from τευχω) books or volumes.

II. THE HISTORICAL BOOKS.

VI. Joshua.-The book of Joshua is supposed to have been written by Joshua himself, Eleazar and Samuel having added the accounts of things subsequent to the death of Joshua. This book contains a history comprehending a period of 24 years, from 1451 to 1417 B.C., the year in which Joshua died.

VII. Judges. This book receives its name from its contents the history of the Judges-and is supposed to have been written by Samuel, from records which had been preserved. The death of Samson is the last account in the book of any event when taken in the order of time. This book comprehends a period of 305 years, from 1425 to 1120 B.C. The facts related in the last five chapters of this book happened in the year 1406 B.C., or in the first twenty years of the Judges.

VIII. Ruth. This book contains the history of a family which gave origin to the line of the kings of Judah, the descendants of David. The facts recorded in this book are dated at the close of the first century of the history of the Judges, from 1322 to 1312 B.C., a period of ten years. This book was, no doubt, written by Samuel from the records which had been preserved. 1. Boaz became the husband of Ruth. Their son was-2. Obed. Obed's son was3. Jesse. Jesse's son was-4. Darid. Thus David's father was Jesse; David's grandfather was Obed; David's great grandfather was Boaz.

IX. 1st Samuel.-The first twenty-four chapters of this book are supposed to have been written by Samuel. They contain a continuation of the history of the Judges to the election and anointing of Saul, B.C., 1095, thus carrying the times of the extraordinary officers down to a period of twenty-five years later, and making the whole period of the times of the extraordinary officers-the Judges-to be 330, years. Nathan the prophet, and Gad the seer, are supposed to have completed the books.-1st Chron., xxix. 29. This book comprehends a period of 115 years, from 1171 to 1056, B.C. It ends with the death of Saul, who reigned 40 years.

X. 2nd Samuel.-This book contains the history of the reign of David, a period of forty years. Nathan and Gad were, in all probability, the authors of this book.

XI. 1st Kings.-This book contains an account of the Jewish history, properly, down to the death of Ahab, 897 B.C. The succeeding verses of the last chapter (41-53) belong to the narrative contained in the second book of Kings, for they relate to the reigns of Jehoshophat and Ahaziah as being terminated, and these reigns are carried to a close in the second book of Kings. This book contains a period of 118 years, from 1015 to 897 B.c.

XII. 2nd Kings.-This book contains a continuation of the Jewish history to the time of the final captivity of the tribe of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. This book comprehends a period of 308 years, from 896 to 588 B.C. The last four verses of this book contain an account of the kindness shewn to Jehoichin, King of Judah, by Evilmerōdach,

king of Babylon. The king of Judah was taken from his dungeon, and seated at the royal table for the remainder of his life. He had been in the dungeon nearly thirty-seven years. He was released in the thirty-seventh year of his captivity.

XIII. 1st Chronicles.-This book contains several genealogical tables, in its first nine chapters, from the Creation, B.C. 4004, to the year 1200 B.C. There is in the fourth chapter one exception to the dreary waste of uninteresting narrative. The date is 1300, B.C. The words are in the 9th and 10th verses: "And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren; and his mother called his name Jabez (sorrowful), saying, 'Because I bare him with sorrow.' "And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, 'Oh! that Thou wouldst bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast; and that Thy hand might be with me, and that Thou wouldst keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me!' And God granted him that which he requested."

The remainder of the book contains an account of the death of Saul, and of the reign of David to its close, 1015 B.C.

The word "Chronicles" is derived from a Greek word (Xpovoo) signifying time. The books of chronicles, called by the Septuaguit the (Tapaderoμevoi) omitted words Aoyou (or books of words omitted), give a narrative of events according to the time in which the events have occurred.

XIV. 2nd Chronicles.-This book contains a history of the kings of Judah. It relates events nearly in the same manner in which they are recorded in the books of Kings. It is almost silent about the idolatrous kings of Israel. It commences with the reign of Solomon, and ends with the last captivity of the Jews in Babylon, 588 B.C. The last two verses contain an account of the decree of Cyrus (the Elder: Xenophon's Cyropedia contains an account of him) for the building of the temple in Jerusalem, B.C. 536.

XV. Ezra. This book was written by Ezra, whose name it bears. It contains an account of Jewish history from the decree of Cyrus, B.c. 536 to B.C. 456, a period of 80 years.

XVI. Nehemiah. -This book was written by Nehemiah, whose name it bears. It contains a history of the Jews, from B.C. 446 to B.C. 434, a period of twelve

years.

XVII. Esther.-This book contains an account of Esther, a Jewish captive, whose name it bears. The events related in this book happened between B.C. 521 and B.C. 495, a period of twenty-six years. Some have remarked that the word God is not found in the book.

III. THE DEVOTIONAL BOOKS.

XVIII. Job.-This book contains an account of the afflictions of Job, whose name it bears. Job is supposed to have written this history, and Moses is supposed to have copied the manuscript, whilst acting as a shepherd in the land of Midian; and afterwards to have added the book of Job to his own writings. Thus making six books, the founda

tion of the Old Testament scriptures. The book of Job is supposed to have been the means of affording consolation to the Jews in the wilderness. Moses may have written the ninetieth Psalm for the purpose of consoling the Jews in their wanderings in the wilderness, when the Lord decreed the forty years' wanderings as a punishment on account of their belief in the false spies, and of their unbelief in Caleb and Joshua.

XIX. Psalms.-This book contains one hundred and fifty Psalms, of which the larger number are supposed to have been written by David. They are written in poetry in the original Hebrew. Even in our translation, which is prose, the sentiments and language impress us by their great beauty and sublimity. Every good man finds that the reading of this book is profitable to his understanding and

to his heart.

XX. Proverbs.-This book was written by Solomon. The proverbs were spoken by himself principally. He may have collected all the proverbs spoken or recorded as having been spoken by wise men before and during his time. This book may, therefore, contain the collected wisdom of the ancient world, even to the time of Solomon, 1015 B.C. Some of the proverbs have dates B.C. 700, c. 25 to 30, inclusive. The last chapter may have been in Solomon's original collection. It bears date B.C. 1000. The chapter dated B.C. 700 contains proverbs collected by order of king Hezekiah from traditionary sayings of Solomon. And as the men of Hezekiah may mean Isaiah, Shebna, and other inspired men, we may consider these proverbs in c. 25-30 as of equal authority with the other proverbs of Solomon. Solomon may be considered as the author of all the proverbs.

XXI. Ecclesiastes (Greek)—means, the preacher. This book is supposed to have been written by Solomon after his conversion from the sins into which he had fallen. This supposition is the only ground of hope that he was converted. The book shews the vanity of this world, and of all the glory of this world.

XXII. Solomon's Song.-This poem was written by Solomon to celebrate his marriage with the daughter of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Some think that the poem is figurative, that it is an allegory, or continued figurative representation of Christ's love to his Church. Some doubt this latter opinion, and believe the first opinion.

IV. THE PROPHETICAL BOOKS. XXIII. Isaiah.-The prophetical books were written by the prophets. Every prophet wrote his own prophecies, and gave his name to the book containing

Isaiah prophesied in the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. He prophesied from B.C. 760 to 692, a period of 68

years.

The first five chapters are supposed to have been written in the reign of Uzziah, the sixth chapter in the reign of Jotham, the seventh to the fifteenth in the reign of Ahaz, and all the remaining

chapters in the reign of Hezekiah. Isaiah has been called "the Evangelical Prophet," and "the Fifth Evangelist," on account of the clearness of his prophecies concerning the Messiah. Our blessed Lord referred to Isaiah's prophecies on His miracles, in answer to the question put to Him by John the Baptist's disciples, by the direction of the Baptist, who was then in prison. The Baptist ("The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight,") could easily understand the fulfilment of Isaiah's predictions in his own person, and of Isaiah's predictions respecting the Messiah's miracles, and doctrines, and character, and prophecies, as having their fulfilment in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.

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The prophecies of Isaiah are divided into two parts: The early and the later Isaiah." The first part contains thirty-seven chapters. The second part contains twenty-nine chapters-sixty-six in all.

In the end of the forty-fourth chapter, and in the commencement of the forty-fifth chapter, the name of Cyrus is found. Cyrus is called the Lord's shepherd, the Lord's anointed. Xenophon wrote his Cyropædia, or education of Cyrus, in honour of this great man, and as a means of instructing other rulers and governors. This Cyrus is called the elder Cyrus, or Cyrus the elder. Isaiah was sawn asunder by a wooden saw by the command of his nephew, Manasseh.

XXIV. Jeremiah was a priest of the tribe of Benjamin. He prophesied about seventy years after the death of Isaiah His prophesies were uttered between B.C. 629 and B.C. 588, a period of 41 years. He foretold the Babylonish captivity, and witnessed the fulfilment of his prophecies concerning it. His book of Prophecies, written by himself, is a history of his own times. He prophecies little concerning the Messiah. He foretold the return of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity. The remnant of the Jews in Jerusalem would go down into Egypt. They feared the return of Nebuchadnezzar. Jeremiah warned them. He assured them that they should be safe if they remained in their own land, but that if they went into Egypt Nebuchadnezzar would invade Egypt, and overcome Egypt, and lead into captivity the Jewish remnant, and the vanquished Egyptians. The Jews disregarded these warnings. They went into Egypt. They brought Jeremiah with them. When they saw that Nebuchadnezzar was invading Egypt, they stoned to death Jeremiah, whose warning voice intended the safety of his nation.

XXV. Lamentations.-This book contains the lamentations which Jeremiah uttered over the ruins of his city and of his country. Nebuchadnezzar had Egypt for his wages. He had waged a war against Tyre for thirteen years. The Tyrians built a new city on an island very near to the mainland, and removed all their effects to it. They sent the remainder of their population and of their effects into their colonies on the shores of the Mediterranean sea. Nebuchadnezzar had no ships. The Tyrians were safe. Egypt was the reward assigned by Providence. to Nebuchadnezzar.

naked shall I return thither (into the earth, whence he was taken): the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away: blessed be the name of the Lord." "In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly," (nor attributed folly to God-marginal reading). (5.) Satan smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown. Job took a potsherd and scraped himself, and sat down amongst the ashes. Job's wife exhorted him to curse God and die. Job told her: "Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What! Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips. Job's three friends, hearing of the calamities which had fallen upon Job, came to visit him in his affliction. When they saw him they wept. Each of the three friends rent his own mantle: each sprinkled dust on his own headtowards heaven. They sat down with him upon the ground, seven days and seven nights, and did not speak a word unto him; for they saw that his grief was very great. After this Job (c. iii.) curses the day of his birth. His friends thought that God afflicted Job on account of some secret sin. This was their mistake.

Elihu, the son of Barachel, the Buzite, (c. 32) commences his address to Job. Elihu of the kindred of Ram.-Gen. xxii. 20-22. Abraham is informed that Micah had borne children to his brother Nahor: Huz, his first born, and Buz, his brother, and other six sons. All these nations arising out of one family, and connected with Abraham's family, may be supposed to have forms of worship and notions of religion very similar.

Moses must have understood

all these things. Abraham's sacrifice and God's covenant with him, and the animals appointed by God to be offered to God in a sacrifice, and the time of offering sacrifice, were matters understood by all Abraham's descendants, and by the nations round about them. I think that Job must have known his duty to God in the offering of sacrifice.-Job. i. 5. Job's sons had been feasting. When the feasting was ended, Job sanctified them: he rose up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings, according to the number of them all: for Job said, "It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts." Thus did Job continually.

There does not appear to be any necessity for supposing that Job, because of these offerings, must have lived after the law; no more than there is for supposing that Elihu must have been the second person in the Trinity.

6. Job's faith and patience.-God's mercy.-1.) The confidence in the divine mercy which Job continually exercised supported him under the increasing burden of his calamities. In Job xix. 23-27, Job speaks thus: Oh! that my words were now written! Oh! that they were printed in a book! That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever!! "For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though, after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God, whom I shall see for

myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another though my reins be consumed within me." These words express not merely a personal expectation of personal good from God, before Job's death, but most emphatically a full belief in the Redeemer of the world who has abolished death, and has brought life and immortality to light through His gospel 2 Tim. i. 10. Therefore, the words of Job are used in the commencement of the burial service of our church.

(2.) The patience of Job was created and sustained by the living faith which dwelt in him. He endured the contradictions of his three friends, Eliphaz Bildad, and Zophar. They accused him of secret sin, and regarded his calamities as punishments for his hypocrisy. Elihu endeavoured to prove to Job that God must be just in his dealings, and that Job must seek to justify God and not seek to justify himself. The decision of the controversy is effected by the interposition of God, who shows to Job reasons for humiliation before God on Job's part, and reasons for the divine disapproval of the conduct of Job's three friends: 1. the Temanite; 2. the Shuhite: 3. the Naamathite. God ordered Eliphaz, the Temanite (because God's wrath was kindled against him and against his two friends, "for ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, as my servant Job hath,") to take seven bullocks and seven rams (surely Balaam ordered a similar sacrifice, which proves the antiquity of the custom, and the antiquity of the book of Job), to go to his servant Job, to offer up for themselves a burnt offering: • My servant Job shall pray for you; for him will I accept, lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right like to my servant Job," c. 42. So (1.) Eliphaz the Temanite; (2.) and Bildad the Shuhite; and (3.) Zophar the Naamathite, did according as the Lord commanded them; the Lord also accepted Job.

(3.) Job's restoration.-When Job prayed for his friends, the Lord turned his captivity, and gave to him twice as much as he had before. His brethren and former acquaintances came to him and did eat bread in his house. They sympathized with him in all his past sufferings, every one gave to him a piece of money, and every one gave to him an earring of gold. Job's last days were his best days, for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand she asses. He had seven sons and three daughters. He called the name of the first daughter Jemima; of the second Kezia; and of the third Keren-Happuch: 1. Days upon days; 2. Cassia, an aromatic plant; 3. Cornu Copia, the horn of plenty. The Chaldee comment on these names is given by Dr. A. Clarke thus:He called the first Jemima, because she was as fair as the day; the second Kezia, because she was as precious as Cassia; the third Keren-Happuch, because her face was as splendid as the emerald. In all the land no women were found so fair as the daughters of Job. Their father gave to them inheritance among their brethren. We have no account of Job's age