LEC. IV.]

Messiah's kingdom,—when the song of salvation shall resound throughout the world. The character of David's powerful mind appears to have been indelibly impressed upon the nation. He was indeed an eminent type of the King of Zion, both in his sufferings and in his triumphs. David, whose name means beloved, seems to have been eminently distinguished for reigning in the affections of his people. When this throne was taken from him, as by Absalom's stealing away the hearts of the people, he refused to remain in his throne at Jerusalem; and withheld himself therefrom, until the people voluntarily called the king back. And the Redeemer shall be given the throne of his father, David, in both respects. His people "shall be willing in the day of his power," when he shall "send the rod of his strength out of Zion."

But the Kingdom of Messiah is to be eminently a kingdom of peace; and wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of His times. The sapphire, the heaven-assimilated throne, in which the King shall reign over the earth, is seated upon a body of brightness, like to the terrible crystal. As if to represent this peaceful light, the true support of powerful love, Solomon, the peaceful prince, and wisest of mortals, is raised up,—to give the widest range to the observing, and the deepest tone to the reflective faculties. He gives a grand example of the temple of knowledge, to be filled with the glory of the Lord: and he is permitted to rear that wondrous type, the temple at Jerusalem; holding forth the great mystery of godliness, and embracing so many lessons of love and of holiness. But, as if to teach the folly—the utter folly of leaning upon an arm of flesh, and putting implicit confidence in any man, in the things of God,—this, their greatest king, and the wisest among men, was allowed to fall into the very dregs of folly; and he leads the way in the spiritual adultery of the nation. He seems, also, by elevating the monarchy, to have lowered the people, as to their standing in the commonwealth;

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and to have oppressed the nation he was given to protect; and whose capital he was gilding with foolish magnificence, making it only the more tempting a prize for the enemy. Thus, also, was his father, the man after God's heart, left to fall into the most base and revolting of crimes. Thus was Moses, the meekest of men, guilty of the greatest impatience. Thus, also, do we find righteous and benevolent Joseph, the preserver of nations, guilty of one of the greatest public wrongs, and sweeping calamities, in leading one of the most highly improved nations into a state of even personal slavery; putting them into such a position, as that any political change would be esteemed by them a gain. Thus was Jacob, so generally without guile, guilty of the grossest deception. And thus was pious and affectionate Isaac guilty of an attempt to frustrate the purpose of God, in a most material point, occasioning thereby, the greatest domestic confusion and bereavement. And thus did faithful Abraham so little trust his God, as even deliberately to deny his bosom companion. And thus was righteous Lot found halting, after being so signally delivered from Sodom. And thus was Noah also an object of shame to his own children, after resisting a world of ungodliness; and being so wonderfully preserved from that destruction which overwhelmed it. How instructive is the history of Israel;— and, indeed, of the world! How incessant in commanding to cease from man, whose breath is in his nostrils." "Trust ye in the Lord for ever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength." And "Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall."

แ

The kingdom of Israel had been rapidly attaining to an elevated position among the nations; and it might have been supposed, had matters so progressed, that now was come the expected glory. Men might have been in danger of mistaking the type, for the thing typified. But in no such danger were they left. It is too plain,

50

that the purposes of God with regard to Israel, were not at all accomplished or consummated, whilst they were under the kings; and the religious state of the people had greatly degenerated before the death of Solomon: and when this was the case, their political happiness could not long abide. Immediately the kingdom divided:—that house, of whom the One promised Seed, Christ, was to come, remaining attached to the family of David; whilst the house of Joseph—that of which the multitudinous seed was to come, erected a new kingdom for themselves, under Jeroboam. An ignoble termination was thus made to so glorious a beginning; plainly intimating, that this people had not yet arrived at that for which they were so long under such a careful course of training. Ephraim was separated from Judah—not only in a political, but also in a religious respect. Both houses were, during the reign of their respective kings, taught many severe lessons, as to the unprofitableness of departing from God. Still God was dealing with them in kindness, and preparing them for their different destinies. The Jews, who were not designed to be a maritime people, but a kind of universal medium of communication among mankind by land, were given an entirely inland position; whilst Israel, who were still more extensively to be a band of union to the human race,—who were to be spread unto the most distant isles, were, before being taken out of their land, and even from the time they entered it, in the most careful manner, taught maritime affairs, not only as possessing the small sea of Galilee, but by their being placed all along the upper border of the great, or Mediterranean sea; and in connection with such perfect masters of those matters as were the inhabitants of Tyre and Sidon, by whom, also, their architectural taste had already been considerably improved. The keeping of cotemporary chronicles of their own and other nations,—the art of war,and the power of making expeditions by sea, and of planting colonies,—

[LEC. IV.

and of keeping up an extensive correspondence with distant parts of the world,,—were especially necessary for them to possess. And all this was, in the kind providence of God, prepared for them before the final breaking up of their nation:--when, for the misimprovement of their many great privileges, they were cast out, and left to become wanderers among the nations. They had been instructed in all that they could receive at home, and had now to go forth on their travels, to learn that, in foreign countries, with toil and trouble, which they would not be taught by more peaceable means at home. Nor should we forget that they were thus to suffer for the good of others. The casting away of them was to be the riches of the Gentiles, and the restoring of them shall be like life from the dead:—

"He will have compassion upon us, He will subdue our iniquities, And thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob,
The mercy to Abraham,

Which Thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old."

The most cursory view of the known history of Israel may convince, that they cannot be found among an inferior, or even stationary people. They were ever in a state of transition —ever passing on from one lesson to a higher, in the school of their Great Teacher. And in them eminently the saying was to be fulfilled, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." Their symbol is the palm tree, that bringeth forth fruit in old age. "They shall be fat, and flourishing; to show that the Lord is upright, my Rock, and no unrighteousness in him."

"This people have I formed for myself, They shall show forth my praise."

They were vessels afore prepared unto glory, and were subsequently to be called, in order that they might be fully fashioned and used, according to the good purpose of God. This was to

pass sea and land for the extension of the divine goodness among men; and the bringing all parts of the world into one grand interchange of blessing. And the provision made for the cultivation of this mental power is abundantly manifest,-when, in reading the books of Moses, we observe the minute attention which was to be paid to every sort of measurement; as in the making of the tabernacle and its contents. It may justly be questioned whether there be a single profession, or trade, or art, or science, with regard to which profit may not be derived, from the diligent perusal, and thorough understanding of the books of Moses. It is short of the truth to suppose that these books had but the inculcation of one truth in view, however important that one truth may be. Israel in the wilderness, was in a grand course of training, with regard to everything requisite; whether belonging to their physical, or moral, or intellectual constitution; in order that they should be eminently a seed to serve the Lord,-and be strong for labour-in diffusing blessings among men.

Having been duly prepared in the wilderness, they are at length brought forward into the land of Canaan. And it is granted them, according as is required, and as they have a heart to take possession. Moses and Joshua are dead; but their King liveth, and is Almighty. They lie exposed to their enemies, who surround them on every side; and who give them continual occasion for the vigorous exercise of their minds in defence, and in the wise management of their national relations. Their enemies have no power, but when Israel themselves give it to them by their rebellion against their heavenly King. They are taught to depend upon the Almighty, who will infallibly protect them in the right, and punish them in the wrong. Their Judges are his officers, raised up for the occasion. To them the nation must not look; but to that God, who hath appointed them. If they look to man, they are

[LEC. IV.

disappointed, and broken. It is now, more especially, that the Lord is training them to go alone. Each individual is, in a great measure, made to think and act for himself. A more powerful or better consolidated government, among them, than that of the Judges, might have given to the body of the people more strength; but it would not, so much, have strengthened the individual character: and it was with a regard to this, that the Lord was training them, much more than for the purpose of giving them present ease as a nation. It was not to make them the useful instruments of one man, as under an absolute monarchy; but to make them a nation of kings and priests unto God, that he had delivered them from their Egyptian task-masters.

But they did not consider their latter end, for which their Lord was preparing them. They grew impatient of this state of things, and required a king, like the nations around them. He warned them of the evils into which they were plunging: but they were importunate,-and he gave them a king in his anger, and took him away in his wrath. They are again taught the folly of trusting in man:--the king who was to combine their scattered energies, and lead them forth successfully to battle, left them in the hands of the enemy.

But the Lord has again a bright course of training for them; and to this, the concentrated form of a kingly commonwealth is better adapted. And David is raised up to execute the purpose of God. It would be difficult to name a single faculty of the human mind, affective or intellectual, which was not remarkably manifested in David; who, from feeding his father's flock, was taken to feed the flock of God-the people of Israel. genius, with regard to music and poetry, was especially remarkable. To the beautiful appointments in the service of God, addressed to the eye, and chiefly administered by Moses; he added those, which were no less necessary and instructive, addressed to the ear: and the songs of rejoicing are sung, which anticipate the glory of

His

LEC. IV.]

Messiah's kingdom,-when the song of salvation shall resound throughout the world. The character of David's powerful mind appears to have been indelibly impressed upon the nation. He was indeed an eminent type of the King of Zion, both in his sufferings and in his triumphs. David, whose name means beloved, seems to have been eminently distinguished for reigning in the affections of his people. When this throne was taken from him, as by Absalom's stealing away the hearts of the people, he refused to remain in his throne at Jerusalem; and withheld himself therefrom, until the people voluntarily called the king back. And the Redeemer shall be given the throne of his father, David, in both respects. His people "shall be willing in the day of his power," when he shall "send the rod of his strength out of Zion."

But the Kingdom of Messiah is to be eminently a kingdom of peace; and wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of His times. The sapphire, the heaven-assimilated throne, in which the King shall reign over the earth, is seated upon a body of brightness, like to the terrible crystal. As if to represent this peaceful light, the true support of powerful love, Solomon, the peaceful prince, and wisest of mortals, is raised up, to give the widest range to the observing, and the deepest tone to the reflective faculties. He gives a grand example of the temple of knowledge, to be filled with the glory of the Lord: and he is permitted to rear that wondrous type, the temple at Jerusalem; holding forth the great mystery of godliness, and embracing so many lessons of love and of holiness. But, as if to teach the folly-the utter folly of leaning upon an arm of flesh, and putting implicit confidence in any man, in the things of God,-this, their greatest king, and the wisest among men, was allowed to fall into the very dregs of folly; and he leads the way in the spiritual adultery of the nation. He seems, also, by elevating the monarchy, to have lowered the people, as to their standing in the commonwealth;

D

49

and to have oppressed the nation he was given to protect; and whose capital he was gilding with foolish magnificence, making it only the more tempting a prize for the enemy. Thus, also, was his father, the man after God's heart, left to fall into the most base and revolting of crimes. Thus was Moses, the meekest of men, guilty of the greatest impatience. Thus, also, do we find righteous and benevolent Joseph, the preserver of nations, guilty of one of the greatest public wrongs, and sweeping calamities, in leading one of the most highly improved nations into a state of even personal slavery; putting them into such a position, as that any political change would be esteemed by them a gain. Thus was Jacob, so generally without guile, guilty of the grossest deception. And thus was pious and affectionate Isaac guilty of an attempt to frustrate the purpose of God, in a most material point, occasioning thereby, the greatest domestic confusion and bereavement. And thus did faithful Abraham so little trust his God, as even deliberately to deny his bosom companion. And thus was righteous Lot found halting, after being so signally delivered from Sodom. And thus was Noah also an object of shame to his own children, after resisting a world of ungodliness; and being so wonderfully preserved from that destruction which overwhelmed it. How instructive is the history of Israel;and, indeed, of the world! How incessant in commanding to cease from man, whose breath is in his nostrils." "Trust ye in the Lord for ever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength." And "Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall."

The kingdom of Israel had been rapidly attaining to an elevated position among the nations; and it might have been supposed, had matters so progressed, that now was come the expected glory. Men might have been in danger of mistaking the type, for the thing typified. But in no such danger were they left. It is too plain,