of the heathen, polluting the house of the Lord; and the Lord God of their fathers sent to them

by his messengers, rising up by times, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place: but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy."* This man had the rashness to revolt against a power so much superior to his own, by which he invited his own destruction.

The dreadful period, so frequently predicted, was now arrived. The ages of their independency were passed; and a new epoch succeeded. Jerusalem was sacked and destroyed; the temple which had been so much neglected, and so frequently profaned, was now burnt to the ground, together with the goodly palaces of the great.

The son of Zedekiah was slain in his presence; his own eyes were put out, and he was carried captive to Babylon, together with the chiefs of the people. Gedaliah was made ruler over Judah. During the life, and under the mild administration of Gedaliah, those who remained

in the land enjoyed some degree of tranquillity; but he was murdered by a disaffected party; and all the inhabitants who were able to escape, fearing a severer government, fled into Egypt for safety, in opposition to the advice of the prophet Jeremiah; and in that land they suffered greater calamities than those which they had endea voured to escape.

These distressful events manifested, too late, the dreadful consequences which followed the neglect of their ancestors to obey the injunctions of Moses, utterly to eradicate the practice of idolatry in the land of Judea, lest it should become a snare to them; and they perfectly corresponded with the menacing predictions of that Legislator, announced previous to their entrance into the land of Canaan.

The above epitome of the Jewish history, respecting their religious and moral character as a people, discovers to us their perverse propensities, and the persevering patience of Jehovah. In almost every period there was an opposition to the divine commands which astonishes; and the continued exertions of the Omnipotent, were necessary to counteract the effects of their repeated rebellions. Had not the divine energy

been in perpetual exercise, either by the direction of natural events, or by the more open manifestations of an interference, they would have sunk into all the horrors of idolatry without a remedy; and the whole moral world would have been involved in mental darkness. This energy was finally efficacious, in establishing among a particular people, an acknowledgment of the existence, unity, moral attributes, and exclusive sovereignty of the God of universal nature.

We were taught by the early part of the Jewish history, that no one can disobey the commands of God with impunity; no one can mani, fest a disposition to obey without a recompense: and we perceive from the minuter circumstances in the history of this peculiar people, that their idolatrous propensities constituted the great offence. Under the government that was strictly theocratical, their sovereign ruler considered this as the act of rebellion. When that form of government was discontinued, rewards and punishments, the smiles and the frowns of Providence, were dispensed in exact proportion, as king and subjects opposed or adopted, the impious absurdities of Pagan superstition. Whoever believes in a future state, believes that the moral conduct of individuals will be amenable to a future tribunal. There is also a righteousness which ex

T

alteth a nation; and there are immoralities which conduct to ruin. Under the Jewish œconomy the unpardonable offence was Idolatry. The national virtue consisted in the patronage and observance of true religion. Neglects respecting these were invariably punished, obedience was amply rewarded.

When those persons whose general character and deportment were acceptable and exemplary, lapsed into the iniquities of paganism, they were still punished for this offence. Those who supported the cause of Monotheism were prosperous; notwithstanding many depravities in their character. After a contest with this people, from the days of Abraham to the return of the house of Judah from the captivity of Babylon, comprehending a space approaching to fourteen hundred years, Jehovah at length prevailed, and established his throne in the regions of Judea.

But to produce this effect, the instrumentality of the true prophets of the Lord constituted an essential part of the divine plan. Its influence and importance demand particular consideration.

SECT. VI.

ON THE INSTRUMENTALITY OF THE PROPHETS OF JEHOVAH, IN THE PRESERVATION OF TRUE RELIGION.

In addition to the promises and threats of the Almighty, so frequently repeated in the mosaic law; and with which the whole nation must, in every age, have been made acquainted, as often as the offices of true religion were performed; in addition to the constant experience of rulers and subjects in successive generations, assuring them that" it cannot be well with the wicked;" holy men, and inspired prophets, were repeatedly employed to instruct, direct, exhort, and admonish. These exerted every effort to stem the vast tides of irreligion and infidelity which threatened, at every period, to deluge the nation. Although their success did not equal their zeal, they still prevented depravity from being universal, and irremediable.

To these messengers of heaven, frequent refe rence is made in the historical parts of holy writ. They had different offices, and enjoyed different portions of the divine communication; but the moderns are not agreed respecting their