not fent these Prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophefied. "Tia by DNY But if they had stood in my Council, and had caufed my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings. This connection of the Prophets with the Council of God may ferve to explain Jonah's fleeing from the prefence of, or from before, the Lord, Jon. i. 2. He was fent upon a frightful and dangerous meffage; but as he judged, I fuppofe, that the Council of God was held in no other land, but that of Ifrael, he hoped to break off his connection with it, by removing to a remote country among the Gentiles.

The vifion of Micaiah (1 Kings xxii. 19-24.) will fet this affair in the ftrongest light. And he faid, Hear thou the word of the Lord: I Jaw the Lord fitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him, on his right hand and on his left. And the Lord faid, who fhall perfuade Ahab, that he may go up, and fall at Ramoth Gilead? And one faid on this manner, and another on that manner. And there came forth a fpirit, and food before the Lord, and faid, I will perfuade him. And the Lord faid unto him, Wherewith? And he faid, I will go forth, and I will be a lying fpirit in the mouth of all his Prophets. And he faid, thou shalt perfuade him, and prevail alfo: go forth and do fo. Here the Lord is fhewn in Council, after the manner of men, deliberating upon this affair. Now whether there was any such real confultation is not neceffary for us to enquire. Thus it was represented in all its circumstances to the Prophet, and ftampt upon his mind in vifion; and it was God who directed him to use it in this form, as appears plainly from the folemn introduction, Hear thou therefore the word of the Lord. And though it fhould only be a parabolical vifion, yet the drift and substance of it was a divine infallible truth, namely, that Ahab's prophets prophefied lies; and this by the Divine Permiffion, and the inftigation of the wicked spirit, who was a lyar from the begining, and the father of lyes.

A paffage fimilar to this, is that in the book of Job, chap. i. 6. Now there was a day when the Sons of God, Angels, came to prefent themfelves before the Lord, and Satan came alfo among them. And the Lord faid unto Satan, Whence comeft thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, &c. And again, chap. ii. 1, &c. Here we fee is the fame grand affembly in the cafe of Job, as in the foregoing inftance of Ahab. The fame hoft of heaven, called here the Sons of God, prefenting themselves before Jehovah, as in the vifion of Micaiah they are faid to stand on his right hand and on his left. A wicked fpirit appears among them, here called Satan, an adversary, and there a lying Spirit; both of them bent on mischief, and ready to do hurt, as far as God fhould give them leave. And the meaning in both cafes is the fame, that God in his Wife Providence permitted Satan to afflict Jab, and the lying spirit to deceive Ahab. Only Micaiah delivers his representation as a Prophet, in the exercise of his office, and as he received it, that is to fay, in a vifion; I faw the Lord fitting on his throne, &c. The other, [probably fob himself, who was not unacquainted with the Council of God, as we have feen.] as an hiftorian, inter-weaves it with the history in the plain, narrative ftile, There was a day, &c. The things delivered

F 4

delivered to us by both these facred writers, are in fubftance the fame, equally high, and above the reach of meer human fight and knowledge. Note the reprefentations of this kind are founded in the doctrine of Angels, good and bad, especially the former, as the inftruments of Providence. A point revealed, no doubt, from the begining, and well understood in the earliest ages; witness Jacob's ladder, with the Angels of God afcending and defcending upon it. Gen. xxviii. 12.

Ifaiah alfo in a vifion flood in the Council of God, chap. vi. 1, &c. Where he faw the Lord fitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it ftood the Seraphim, the angelic hoft, &c. The matter in confultation was, verfe 7. Whom shall I fend, and who will go upon the prophetic errand, for us, ufing deliberative language, and the plural number, as in the two texts under confideration, Let us make man Let us go down.Ifaiah readily offered his fervice, verse 8. And the Lord delivered to him his commiffion and meffage, verfe 9. And he said, Go and tell this people, &c.

Ezekiel in the fame manner in vifion stood in the Council of the Lord, chap. i. I. The heavens were (i. e. the temple was) opened, and I faw vifions of God; namely, the four living creatures, or Cherubims, reprefenting the church of God, attending upon the glory of the Lord, or the Shechinah, verfe 28, and seated upon a throne, verse 26. And he faid unto Ezekiel, chap. ii. 3. Son of Man, I fend thee to the children of Ifrael, &c.

Zechariah too, chap. i. 7, 8, &c. to the end of the fixth chapter, is reprefented as converfing with the Lord in his Council, and with an Angel; though the scene is not described fo diftinctly as in the other places.

John alfo in the fpirit, i. e. in a vifion, Rev. i. 10, was present in the fame Council of God, described in the 4th and 5th chapters of the Revelation. chap. iv. 1. A door was opened in heaven, in the temple; John was invited to attend, a throne was fet in heaven, with a majestic Perfonage upon it, attended by the Cherubim, or the Church, and the Angelic Hoft. The matter, which was there very folemnly tranfacted, was the future ftate of the Church to the end of the world.

This is the prophetic way of telling us how a thing was done, which really was done, but in a way to us invifible. Thus things of the greatest importance were reprefented in the strongest images to the mind of the Prophet; and in this way Infinite Wisdom would have them described and represented to us. Nor fhould we quarrel with our Maker for creating us with fuch faculties as are moft affected and impreft with truths, that are conveyed in this manner; for those truths make the deepest impreffion which first enter like a picture into the imagination, and from thence are ftampt upon the memory.

Note-Homer, previously to Events, represents the confultations of his fictitious deities in the fame narrative way, to denote, that all things are fubject to an over ruling Providence. A method practised long before him, and very probably derived from the truly inspired.

I fhall only further obferve, (1.) That TD is fometimes applied to worshiping affemblies, Pfal. Ixxxix. 7. cxi. 1. (2.) Sometimes it fignifies the thing that is tranfacted, commanded, or established in the

Council

Council of God. ftood, Amos iii. 7. his fecret Council unto

Pfal. xxv. 14. Prov. iii. 32. So it may be underThe Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth 1TİD his fervants the Prophets.

CHA P. XXII.

Of the PATRIARCHAL RELIGION.

E fhould now advance to the next Divine Difpenfation, the calWling of Abraham, but before we proceed it may be of use to gain the cleareft notions we are able of the fstate of Religion among the nations after the deluge.

About 425 years after the deluge, and 185 after the difperfion, the Lord faid unto Abraham, (Gen. xii. 1.) Get thee out of thy country, which was Úr of the Chaldees, (Gen. xi. 28.) and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will fhew thee. Compare this with Fafb. xxiv. 2. Joshua faid unto all the people, thus faith the Lord God of Ifrael, your fathers dwelt on the other fide of the flood, [in Mefopotamia be yond the river Euphrates,] in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor; and they ferved other Gods; that is to fay, they were idolaters. Some learned men suppose, that in the days of Reu, i. e. fome time before the year 370. after the deluge, the Egyptians and Babylonians began-to introduce idolatrous principles and practices; which from the fore-quoted place in Joshua, it is certain, crept into the family of Shem; fome, and fome of the principal of his pofterity, growing vain in their imaginations, and worshiping the heavenly bodies, with a divine, or however with an undue honor. For this fpecies of idolatry feems to have been the most ancient, as this, and no other, is mentioned in the book of Job. chap. xxxi. 26, 27, 28. If I have beheld the fun when it fhined; or the moon walking in brightness; and my heart hath been fecretly inticed, or my mouth hath kiffed my hand :—this alfo were an iniquity to be punished by the judge, for I should have denied the God that is above.

The worship of the heavenly bodies is fuppofed to have prevailed among the nations in the days of Mofes, Deut. iv. 19. xvii. 3. and was. continued long after, 2 Kings xxi. 3, 5. xxiii. 4. Jer. xliv. 17, 19. The fplendor and great utility of the heavenly bodies would naturally strike the minds of mankind; and there would not then, any more than at any other time, be wanting artful men, who for their own advantage, and the honour of fuperior wisdom, would supply arguments for this idolatry, as the most effectual mean of fecuring all the enjoyments of life, and inculcate them strongly upon the minds of the weak and credulous, who have always been the moft numerous part of mankind. Maimonides, the learned Jew, (as quoted by AINSWORTH upon Gen. iv. 26.) fuppofes the advocates of this corrupt worship argued after this manner.

They

« They faid-For as much as God hath created these heavenly bodies, "to govern the world, and fet them on high, and imparted honor unte "them, and they are Minifters that minifter before him, it is meet that

men fhould praife, and glorify, and give them honor. For this is the "will of God, that we magnify and honor whomsoever he magnifieth " and honoreth; even as a king would have them honored, that ftand " before him; and this is honoring the king himself. When this thing was come up into their hearts, they began to build temples to hea"venly bodies, and to praise and glorify them with words, and to wor"fhip before them, that they might, in their misguided opinion, obtain "favor of the Creator." Thus you fee, the firft corrupters of Religion had principles and reasons; and perhaps as good as thofe, who have in like manner corrupted Chriftianity, by introducing idolatry into it.

This corruption was not at firft univerfal, it fpread gradually. And therefore, though in Abraham's days it had made a confiderable progrefs, yet even then, and for fome time after, we meet with fome eminent perfons, who were not of Abraham's family, that retained a juft fenfe of God, and the purity of his worship. For inftance, Melchizedeck, king of Salem, Gen. xiv. 18. who was (Heb. vii. 3.) without father, without mother, without defcent, ayevsaλoynes, without a genealogy, having neither beginmg of days, nor end of life, recorded in the hiftory of the Patriarchs from Noah to Abraham. For (verfe 6.) his defcent, or genealogy, was not counted from them, in the Abrahamic line; but for all that, he was a person of great eminence in Religion. Gen. xiv. 18, &c. "For he was a worfhiper of the true God, and a person of the most exemplary justice, and "fincere piety, remaining abfolutely untainted, amidst the general corruption of the country, in which he lived; and who for the better. "promoting of true Religion, was himself a priest, as well as a king, and ❝ performed the facred offices of it among his own people. This great " man came forth to meet, and to congratulate Abraham, and provided him a princely entertainment for himself and his men, for their refreshment, after they had ingaged with, and defeated five kings. And then, as priest, in which capacity he was fuperior to Abraham, (Heb. "vii. 7.) he folemnly gave Abraham his bleffing, or wifh of happiness; "putting up his hearty prayers to the great Creator and Governor of "the world, to confirm the bleffing he had pronounced upon him; as "alfo his humble praises and thanksgivings for the remarkable mercies "of his late victory. And Abraham, on the other fide, paid his ac"knowledgment to the Almighty, by presenting the tenth of what he ❝had taken in the battle to Melchizedeck his priest, by whom he had been "fo devoutly bleffed." PYLE.

NOTE Melchizedeck's priesthood, as it was prior to that of the Jewish priests, fo it was of a diftinct and fuperior order, as the Apoftle argues, Heb. vii. For long after the inftitution of the Jewish priesthood, the Lord, with an oath declares, that the Meffiah should be a priest for ever, ever, after the order [in the Hebrew by fecundum rem, according to the affair, the cafe; which as it relateth to a kind or fort of priesthood, is well translated dia rağı] of Melchizedeck, Pfal. cx. 4. Of

what

what order was Melchizedeck? The Apostle directs us to understand his names appellatively, or as denoting a character of moral excellence; King of Righteousness, or a righteous king; and King of Peace, or blef fing or happiness, as he wifhed well to others, and endeavoured to make them happy, (Heb. vii. 2.) which is the highest character of worth and excellence any moral agent can fuftain. Thus he was the Prieft, or officiated in the service of the most High God. And thus the object of his priesthood, and confequently his priesthood itself, was of an eternal, unchangeable, and universal nature, even righteousness and goodness, not limited to time or family. For the Scripture gives no account of his birth, death, or genealogy. We read of no predeceffor or fucceffor in his office, as in the Jewish priefts. [Note this argument is adapted (ad hominem) to the Jews, who in this way, or by defcent from Aaron and Levi judged of the validity of their priests.] But being of an univerfal unchangeable nature, muft fubfift as long as there are any moral agents, that live in obedience to God.

Thus our Lord was made prieft after the order of Melchizedeck, i. e. not after the law of a carnal pofitive commandment, which confined the of fice to a fleshly, mortal descent, and employed in certain external rites, and ceremonies; but according to that real Power, which is productive of endless, or eternal life, namely, true holiness. For verfe 17, God declared, thou art a priest for ever, after the order of the King of Righteousness. And chap. i. 8, 9. Unto the Son he faith- -Thy throne, O God, is everlafting! A fceptre of rectitude is the fceptre of thy kingdom. Thou haft loved righteoufness, and hated iniquity, therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee king and prieft, with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And ftill nearer to the cafe, chap. v. 8. Though he were a fon, in the highest sense, before he came into the world, yet was he difciplined in obedience, as if he had been a learner, by the things which he fuffered. Verfe 9. And being made perfect, having exhibited a perfect character of all moral excellence, he became the author of eternal falvation to all them that obey him. And it was on this account, verfe 10, that he was called and conftituted of God an high priest after the order of the King of Righteousness. For, as the Apoftle concludes his differtation upon this very fubject, (Heb. vii. 26.) Such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, feparate from finners, and made higher than the heavens, or the Angels, in order to raife us to their happiness.

Melchizedeck was eminently religious. And probably Abraham's neighbours and confederates, Mamre, Efheol, and Amer, Gen. xiv. 13. were good and pious. For though they were Amorites, it was about 400 years after this, before the fins of that nation were full.

The book of Job gives the clearest and most extensive view of the Patriarchal Religion. The reality of his perfon, the eminence of his character, his fortitude and patience in very great afflictions, his preceding and fubfequent felicity, are allowed by all; and it is generally fupposed that he lived a generation or two before Mofes; and, probably, the book was wrote by himfelf, in time of his reftored profperity.

Some learned men indeed, as Grotius, Codurcus, Le Clerc, and others, pretend that this noble performance was written about a thousand years after the time in which Job lived; namely, in or near the time of the

Babylonish