different from the heathen governments. The veil concealed the inner sanctuary from view, into which the High Priest entered alone; but all that it contained, and what he was to do there, as well as the particular interest the people had in his oblations, were fully made known to them. The Scriptures of the Old Testament were never intrusted only to the leaders, and kept back from the people, but were open to all, were read to all, and all were commanded to study them. Delivered to them in successive periods of their history, and recording events concerning themselves which that generation who received them witnessed, the Jews never entertained the smallest doubt of the authenticity and divine authority of their scriptures. The care and veneration with which they have preserved them in all the vicissitudes of their wonderful history, in their many captivities and long dispersion, abundantly attest this fact. They have all along admitted the authority of the prophecies, and have constantly applied them to their expected Messiah, while their obstinacy in rejecting him when he appeared is distinctly foretold by the prophets. It is therefore in their misinterpretation of the Scriptures alone, that we are to look for the cause of their rejection of the Messiah. This is a material point, an important link in the chain of evidence of the Divine origin of the Christian religion. Consistently with this view of the matter, and in fullconfirmation of it, a general expectation of the Messiah prevailed among the Jews, at the time of the appearance of Jesus Christ.

CHAP. X.

REVIEW OF THE EVIDENCE ARISING FROM THE HISTORY, THE MIRACLES, THE TYPES, AND THE PROPHECIES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.

IN the foregoing Chapters, a view has been given of the evidence of Divine revelation, arising from the History, the Miracles, the Types, and the Prophecies of the Old Testament Scriptures, as they unitedly bear on the one great subject, the coming of the Messiah. And when we take a retrospect of what we have contemplated in detail, are we not forced to exclaim, "This is the finger of God?" Such a variety of subjects, with such an amazing diversity of particulars, all evidently concentrating in one point, could not have been conducted by human ingenuity. Must it not strike every candid mind, that this converging of the innumerable rays of revelation could have been effected only by the Author of light? What can be more various than the subjects touched on in the Old Testament? yet the most apparently detached and insulated fact never loses sight of Jesus Christ.

While the history is a relation of facts regarding this world, it is utterly dissimilar to all human histories. It commences with the creation, and conveys information that all the writings of antiquity do not contain, but instead of it, transmit only childish fables. The account given by Moses, of the original state of

man and the present, is the only one that corresponds with what is before our eyes; and yet that it is not the invention of man, is clearly seen from the fact, that all men are naturally so averse to this view of themselves, that they deny or pervert it as contained in the Bible.

While this history overlooks those events that are most interesting to the men of the world, and which guide the pen of the human historian, it acquaints us with the government of God, marking the Divine displeasure against sin, which the human historian overlooks or conceals. While the great empires, and mighty men of renown, are passed by in silence, or noticed only in so far as they are connected with the main subject of the history, we have a minute detail of the distinguished individuals to whom the Messiah was promised as a descendant. What human historian is it who acts on such principles? The historians of all nations, both from partiality to their own countrymen, and the desire of recommending their works to general acceptance, always magnify the courage and exploits which they record. Had the historical parts of Scripture been a forgery, or the work of uninspired men, they would have extolled the bravery of the Israelites, and celebrated their victories as the result of unparalleled courage and military skill. This would have flattered the vanity of the nation, and procured from the people a universal reception for the history. Had the design been, not so much to deceive the nation of Israel, as to impose on strangers, the result must have been the same. It is inconceivable that, in such a case, they would not have endeavoured to impress foreigners with the most favourable ideas of their military virtues. Both vanity and interest would have led to this. Nothing is better calculated to give a nation

peace with its neighbours, or victory in case of war, than the impression of their invincible courage and prowess. But in this Moses, and the other sacred writers, differ widely from ordinary historians. The courage of the Israelites is never exalted, nor is victory ascribed to their valour or might. Success is always attributed to the presence of the God of Israel, and they are often represented as shamefully flying before their enemies.

Nor is success represented as the unvaried result of mere partiality in their God. In this there is a most remarkable difference between the representations given by the sacred historians of the victories and defeats of the Israelites, and the accounts by heathen writers, with respect to the interposition of their gods. The gods of the heathen are represented as influenced by a blind partiality for their friends, and if they do not give victory to their favourites, it is owing to fate, or the opposition of other gods, or some unlucky accident that they cannot surmount. The gods range themselves on different sides in every quarrel among men, and throughout the dispute are as sincere in their efforts to serve the cause as any of the human allies. No crime detaches them from the party whose interest they have espoused, and if their friends are defeated, it is because they have not been able to give them victory. On the contrary, both the victory and the defeat of the people of Israel are from their God. Their suc'cess is not owing to mere partiality in Jehovah, but is connected with their respect for his authority, and their punctual observance of all his injunctions. If they sinned, they were beaten and put to shame, even though their God was all-powerful. Such a God is not the

creation of the mind of man, such historians were not influenced by the common principles of our nature.

Human historians are inclined to conceal, to palliate, or to excuse the faults of their favourites. A forged history would have clothed friends with every virtue, and would not have ventured to mar the effect designed to be produced, by representing the defects or vices of its distinguished personages. The Scripture history is a remarkable contrast to this. It paints its characters in the colours of truth and nature. It invests them with no romantic virtues, and hides not their imperfections. The Judges, the Kings, the Prophets, and Priests, as well as the People of Israel, are exhibited to our view with all their defects, their prejudices, their weakness, and their sins. Such a picture was never sketched by a human pencil. Moses and the other sacred historians must have written by divine inspiration.

What can be more powerfully convincing of the inspiration of God than that the facts recorded in the Old Testament are generally designed to illustrate something in the kingdom of the Messiah? Let the facts of this nature, which have been brought together, be viewed in this light, and they will produce the most satisfactory evidence of the truth and inspiration of the Scriptures. Neither accident nor invention is sufficient to account for the innumerable coincidences of resemblance. The nation of Israel itself, its election of God from idolatrous ancestors, and its whole history, is one continued figure of the Church of God. The features of resemblance, pointed out in the Word of God, are inexhaustible. It is impossible to weigh this subject with candour and impartiality without being convinced that God is the Author of the Bible,