be an indifputable proof of their fojourning there; it is as certain, that the going out of that mixed multitude of Egyptians, who so far espoused the Ifraelites intereft, as to leave and forfake Egypt, their own country, to accompany them, could have no other caufe or pretence than the miracles of Mofes, whereof they had been eye-witneffes; fo that the pofterity of thofe Egyptians that were thus incorporated into the body of the people of Ifrael, were in after ages as fo many witneffes of the truth of thofe miracles which formerly perfuaded their fathers to join with Mofes, and fo to fhare fortune with the Hebrews.

Thirdly, it is certain, that the Jews could not fo much as mention. any of the miracles which they pretended were done formerly for the deliverance of their fathers, without expofing themselves to the fcorn of all the world, if all thofe miracles, and their deliverance, had not been certainly and generally known to the Egyptians, and to all the neighbouring nations, by whom they were often fubdued and brought into fubjection after the decease of Mofes and Joshua.

To all these reflexions we may add, that the commemoration of the Ifraelites going out of Egypt, with all the miracles wrought by Mofes, was renewed yearly, not only by the folemnizing the feaft of the paffover, which the Ifraelites did conftantly keep to the time of their difperfion, and which they do ftill keep in all parts of the world, but also by two very fenfible ways.

The firft whereof, was the feparation which God made of the tribe of Levi, in order to confecrate it to his fervice, inftead of the first-born of the people of Ifrael, whom he had fpared and preferved in Egypt, with great folemnity, in regard both of men and beafts, as we read, Numb. iii. fo that every Levite was as a living memorial of that great miracle, wrought at the Ifraelites going out of Egypt.

And the fecond was the law concerning the redemption of every firftborn, both of men and unclean beafts (u); which is obferved to this hour among the Jews. It is clear and evident, that there is in all those laws, a deep impreffion of those several great miracles which compelled Pharaoh to let the Ifraelites go.

Laftly, it is very obfervable here, that the memory of the deliverance. of Ifrael out of Egypt, wrought, as by many miracles, fo efpecially by the death of the firft-born of Egypt, which was the occafion of the inftitution of the paffover, continued amongst the Egyptians till after Jefus Chrift: for till then they used to mark with red their fheep, their trees, their houfes, and lands, the day before the paffover, as any one may fee in Epiphanius; which cuftom could proceed from no other caufe, than from the Egyptians fear of the like plague and mortality that was once inflicted upon their forefathers, and from their hope of preventing it by fuch a kind of talifman whereby they thought Mofes had formerly faved the Ifraelites harmlefs from that great plague, only by fprinkling the blood of the lamb of the paffover on the upper door-post of their houses.

CHA P. IV.

A Continuation of the Proofs of the Truth of the Miracles wrought by MOSES.

HESE arguments might be thought fufficient for the evincing the truth of thefe miracles which Mofes relates; but yet fomething more may be added.

As thofe ftupendous miracles by which the famous deliverance of the Ifraelites was effected, could not be doubted of by those who had been eye-witneffes of them; fo they were afterwards confirmed by feveral other miracles, which, being as great, and almoft of the fame kind, continued for many years in the fight of the whole people of Ifrael.

God made a pillar of fire, and of a cloud, attend upon the Ifraelites, to guide them, the one by day, and the other by night. He divided the Red Sea, to open a paffage through it for his people; the memory whereof (faith Eufebius) was preferved to his time, by thofe of Memphis(x): the Ifraelites took the fpoils of the Egyptians drowned in the Red Sea, as they were purfuing them: they made a fong upon the occafion of that wonderful deliverance; they were fed with manna, a kind of heavenly and miraculous food; they drank of that brook of water that was following them wherever they went. All thofe miracles, with many others, continued for forty years together without any interruption, and do therefore firmly eftablish the truth of thofe other miracles which Mofes relates, because there were none of them wherein the people could be impofed upon by any trick or illufion, and of the truth whereof every one could not fatisfy himfelf, by his own experience.

I do not fpeak now of feveral public monuments of those miracles; as, for example, the rod of Aaron which bloffomed in a night; the manna which was kept in the tabernacle; the brazen ferpent, which, having continued to Hezekiah's time, was broken down by him, only because the people offered incenfe to it,

From all which it must be acknowledged, that there was in the whole feries of the Jewish history, both many pregnant evidences of the truth of the first miracles, and a conftant feries of miracles which, having been foretold by Mofes, did the better confirm the truth of those which he relates as done by him on purpofe to vindicate and defend the liberty and honour of the people of Ifrael.

Because I did just now intimate that the memory of the Jewish deliverance did continue for many ages after amongst the Egyptians, I think myself obliged to add here fome arguments, to prove that neither fuch a tranfaction as that was, nor yet any of the like nature and importance, could ever be forgotten in the land of Canaan.

There is nothing that in outward appearance feems more ridiculous, than what is related concerning the Gibeonites coming to Joshua's camp; their equipage fhewed that they had a mind to perfuade the Ifraelites that

(*) L. 9. prap. Ev. cap. ult.

they

they came from a far country. The treaty which they extorted from Joshua by fraud, is very fingular.

And there can be nothing more remarkable than their fubfiftence amongst the people of Ifrael, notwithstanding that they were of the number of thofe nations which God had commanded to be deftroyed; and their being deftined, by Joshua's appointment, to carry the wood and the water neceffary for the fervice of the tabernacle, from whence they were denominated Nethinims, and thereby for ever after distinguished from the Ifraelites.

But after all, there could be nothing more agreeable to God's wifdom, than the prefervation of that people amongst the Ifraelites. Their fathers were the witneffes of Mofes and Joshua's miracles. Thofe miracles obliged them to feek the alliance of the Hebrews, and to cheat them into it by a fraudulent treaty, because they despaired of compaffing their defign by any other means. Therefore their fubfifting amongst the Jews, and their fervile office which expofed them to the eyes of the whole nation, could not choose but be of an extraordinary use, to make that people preferve and cherish up the memory of thofe glorious actions which every Gibeonite had perpetually before his eyes.

The fame remark may be made upon the continuing of Rahab's family amongst the Ifraelites, after the deftruction of Jericho.

It is certain that the Jews have always believed, that, befides thofe first miracles related by Mofes, many others have been done fince for their fakes, both to poffefs them of the land of Canaan, and to keep or reftore them to the poffeffion of it: nay, of thofe latter miracles many are very like unto the former; as, for example, the death of 185c00 men in the army of Sennacherib; the returning of the fhadow backwards ten degrees upon the fun-dial of Abaz; the wonderful prefervation of the whole nation by the means of Efther, which was the occafion of the inftitution of the feaft of Purim amongst them; and several other miraculous tranfactions related in the Jewish authors, of which I will only name three, which did preferve the memory of the greatest and most important miracles related by Mofes.

The firft is the continual miracle of the Urim and Thummim of the high-prieft, which by its frequency did confirm the truth of Moses's relation concerning the feveral apparitions of God, in order to lead his people, and to give them laws.

The fecond is the miracle of every feventh year (v, during which, though the people of Ifrael did neither fow nor reap, God, according to his promife, did fupply them with plenty of provifions, by making every fixth year extraordinarily plentiful. Now this miracle was a kind of a memorial of that other great miracle whereby God did feed his people with manna for forty years together in the defert, ftill doubling the proportion of manna every fixth day.

In effect, as that law which commanded a fabbath of reft unto the land every feventh year, was conftantly obferved, which would never have been done long if that people had not always been fully convinced, by their own experience, of its divinity; and again, as that miracle was fo publicly known, that God by his Prophets did often threaten the Jews

(x) Levit, xxv.

Jews to deprive them of the fertility of the fixth year, becaufe of their tranfgreffing the fabbath; fo it is plain, that no man can reasonably doubt, or difpute the truth of that continual miracle which that law both fuppofeth and promifeth.

The third is the miracle of a continual protection during the time of those great folemn feafts in which the people were obliged by God's command to attend his fervice in the tabernacle or at Jerufalem. For this law requiring attendance from all the Jews of the age of twenty and upwards, it engaged them to leave the frontiers of their country naked and deftitute of men, and fo exposed to the inroads of their enemies; but at the fame time it gave them occafion to experience the fame Divine protection which, as they had read in Mofes's writings, their fathers had formerly fo often experienced against all their enemies.

It is certain that there was never any commonwealth in the world which had any fuch fundamental law; the danger to which a country is expofed by the observation of it, is too vifible not to be avoided. Therefore the Jews, to be fure, would never have acknowledged that law to be Divine, nor yet fubmitted to it, if they had not been secure of God's protection to prevent all the mifchiefs and inconveniences that might arife from their obfervation of that law: fo that, fuppofe they had been at first so stupid and unwary as to receive it from Mojes, yet they would never have obferved it fo conftantly and fo long, if they had not had a conftant trial of God's protection on all occafions, and if they had not looked upon it as a neceffary confequence and accomplishment of the promises which he had made both to them and their fathers.

However, it is certain, that it was the will of God that the Jews fhould altogether rely upon that miraculous protection of his : nay, the diftrufting of it was fo offenfive to him, that he inflicted an exemplary punishment upon David, for an action which, thought innocent of itself in a prince, did yet directly contradict that truft which the Ifraelites were bound to fet upon God's protection; for when David caused the people to be numbered, God fent a peftilence amongst his people, which abated his pride, and thus taught him effectually to rely more upon for the future, than upon the multitude of his people.

God

СНА Р. V.

That Moses's Defcription of the Manner of God's giving him his Laws, is evidently true.

T is alfo equally easy to fhew the truth of Mofes's defcription of the manner of the promulgation of God's law in the defert, and of the feveral parts of it, moral, political, ceremonial.

I shall not stand to confider here the admirable equity, and moft abfolute perfection of the moral law, and fhew that it could have no other

author

author but God alone; neither will I urge, in this place, the extraordinary care God had to regulate the most minute ceremonies, that there might be nothing left undetermined in all the acts of religion; as alfo the great and Divine wifdom that is difcernible in all thofe ceremonial laws, which, befides their useful oppofition to the then Pagan cuftoms, do most of them either mind men of their duty, or reprefent and typify the things that were to come to pafs under the Gospel.

In fhort, I will not aggravate any farther the confideration of the admirable wisdom that appears every where in the whole body of the poli tical laws which God gave to the Jews, to fettle them into a firm and folid form of government; that wifdom is fuch, and fo vifible, that it plainly demonftrates the divinity of them to any man that will but compare the whole body of them, and their abfolute perfection, with the defects of all human laws, and the feveral changes and alterations they have received from time to time.

But I fhall lay afide thefe remarks, and choose to come to thofe that do not require fo much learning, nor fo great an intention of thought. The firft of which is, that the moral law was given in the fight and hearing of all the people of Ifracl, and that the promulgation of it, upon mount Sinai, was accompanied with extraordinary marks of glory, and made only after many previous purifications prefcribed to the whole congregation in order to receive it.

It is true, indeed, the ceremonial laws which were annexed to it, were not delivered to the people with fo much pomp and majefty; but as they were also given in the fame defert, and in the prefence of the elders of the people affembled together near the tabernacle, after they had earneftly intreated Mofes that God would no more speak to them himself, it is evident that they are no lefs authentic than the moral law: therefore we fee that they were accordingly received by that people, notwithstanding the troubles, expences, avocations, ftraights, and hardships, which they might meet with by it.

Now is it in the leaft probable, that if this people had not been convinced that Mofes did really familiarly converfe with God for forty days and forty nights upon mount Sinai, they would foolishly, without any caufe, of a fudden have fubmitted to such a troublesome yoke of laws, many whereof were oppofite both to their opinions and ancient cuftoms?

It is well known, for example, what jealoufy there was all along amongst the tribes of Ifrael, even from the time of their ancestors; yet we do not fee that in thofe laws there is any notice taken of it, or regard had to it, but that on the contrary they feem to foment that spirit of divifion, when they deprive Reuben of his birthright, in favour of Jofeph's pofterity, and of the priesthood in favour of Levi, and of the kingdom in favour of Judah.

Nay, we fee, that even after Mofes had compofed the difference that was once betwixt the tribe of Levi and the followers of Carah, Dathan, and Abiram, they were hardly brought to acquiefce to his decifion; and how could he then poffibly have raised his own tribe, the tribe of Levi, to fuch prerogatives, and to fuch a plentiful condition above all the other tribes, as he did, by affigning the firft fruits and offerings to the Levites

and