14. That it was really the voice of G.o.d which p.r.o.nounced the command, and not a delusion, might be made certain to Abraham's mind, by means we do not comprehend, but which we know to be within the power of him who made our souls as well as bodies, and who can control and direct every faculty of the human mind: and we may be a.s.sured, that if he was pleased to reveal himself so miraculously, he would not leave a possibility of doubting whether it was a real or an imaginary revelation: thus the sacrifice of Abraham appears to be clear of all superst.i.tion, and, remains the n.o.blest instance of religious faith and submission, that was ever given by a mere man: we cannot wonder that the blessings bestowed on him for it, should have been extended to his posterity.

15. This book proceeds with the history of Isaac, which becomes very interesting to us, from the touching scene I have mentioned--and, still more so, if we consider him as the type of our Saviour: it recounts his marriage with Rebecca--the birth and history of his two sons, Jacob,--the father of the twelve tribes, and Esau, the father of the Edomites or Idumeans--the exquisitively affecting story of Joseph and his brethren--and of his transplanting the Israelites into Egypt, who there multiplied to a great nation.

_Of Exodus._

16. In Exodus, you read of a series of wonders, wrought by the Almighty to rescue the oppressed Israelites from the cruel tyranny of the Egyptians, who having first received them as guests, by degrees reduced them to a state of slavery. By the most peculiar mercies and exertion in their favour, G.o.d prepared his chosen people to receive, with reverent and obedient hearts, the solemn rest.i.tution of those primitive laws, which probably he had revealed to Adam and his immediate descendants; or which, at least, he had made known by the dictates of conscience, but which time, and the degeneracy of mankind, had much obscured.

17. This important revelation was made to them in the wilderness of Sinai; there, a.s.sembled before the burning mountain, surrounded with "blackness, and darkness, and tempest," they heard the awful voice of G.o.d p.r.o.nounce the eternal law, impressing it on their hearts with circ.u.mstances of terror, but without those encouragements and those excellent promises, which were afterwards offered to mankind by Jesus Christ. Thus were the great laws of morality restored to the Jews, and through them transmitted to other nations; and by that means a great restraint was opposed to the torrent of vice and impiety which began to prevail over the world.

18. To these moral precepts; which are of perpetual and universal obligation, were superadded, by the ministration of Moses, many peculiar inst.i.tutions, wisely adapted to different ends--either to fix the memory of those past deliverances, which were figurative of a future and far greater salvation--to place inviolable barriers between the Jews and the idolatrous nations, by whom they were surrounded--or, to be the civil law by which the community was to be governed.

19. To conduct this series of events, and to establish these laws with his people, G.o.d raised up that great prophet Moses, whose faith and piety enabled him to undertake and execute the most arduous enterprizes, and to pursue, with unabated zeal, the welfare of his countrymen; even in the hour of death, this generous ardour still prevailed; his last moments were employed in fervent prayers for their prosperity, and, in rapturous grat.i.tude, for the glimpse vouchsafed him of a Saviour, far greater than himself, whom G.o.d would one day raise up to his people.

20. Thus did Moses, by the excellency of his faith, obtain a glorious pre-eminence among the saints and prophets in heaven; while on earth he will be for ever revered as the first of those benefactors to mankind, whose labours for the public good have endeared their memory to all ages.

_Of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy._

21. The next book is Leviticus, which contains little besides the laws for the peculiar ritual observance of the Jews, and therefore affords no great instruction to us now; you may pa.s.s it over entirely; and for the same reason you may omit the first eight chapters of Numbers. The rest of Numbers is chiefly a continuation of the history, with some ritual laws.

22. In Deuteronomy, Moses makes a recapitulation of the foregoing history, with zealous exhortations to the people, faithfully to worship and obey that G.o.d who had worked such amazing wonders for them: he promises them the n.o.blest temporal blessings, if they prove obedient, and adds the most awful and striking denunciations against them, if they rebel, or forsake the true G.o.d.

23. I have before observed, that the sanctions of the Mosaic law, were temporal rewards and punishments; those of the New Testament are eternal. These last, as they are so infinitely more forcible than the first, were reserved for the last, best gift to mankind--and were revealed by the Messiah, in the fullest and clearest manner. Moses, in this book, directs the method in which the Israelites were to deal with the seven nations, whom they were appointed to punish for their profligacy and idolatry; and whose land they were to possess, when they had driven out the old inhabitants. He gives them excellent laws, civil as well as religious, which were after the standing munic.i.p.al laws of that people. This book concludes with Moses' song and death.

_Of Joshua._

24. The book of Joshua contains the conquests of the Israelites over the seven nations, and their establishment in the promised land. Their treatment of these conquered nations must appear to you very cruel and unjust, if you consider it as their own act, unauthorised by a positive command; but they had the most absolute injunctions not to spare these corrupt people--"to make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy to them, but utterly to destroy them:"--and the reason is given, "lest they should turn away the Israelites from following the Lord, that they might serve other G.o.ds." The children of Israel are to be considered as instruments in the hand of the Lord, to punish those whose idolatry and wickedness had deservedly brought destruction on them: this example, therefore, cannot be pleaded in behalf of cruelty, or bring any imputation on the character of the Jews.

25. With regard to other cities, which did not belong to these seven nations, they were directed to deal with them, according to the common law of arms at that time. If the city submitted, it became tributary, and the people were spared; if it resisted, the men were to be slain, but the women and children saved.

26. Yet, though the crime of cruelty cannot be justly laid to their charge on this occasion, you will observe in the course of their history, many things recorded of them very different from what you would expect from the chosen people of G.o.d, if you supposed them selected on account of their own merit; their national character was by no means amiable; and we are repeatedly told, that they were not chosen for their superior righteousness--"for they were a stiff-necked people, and provoked the Lord with their rebellions from the day they left Egypt."--"You have been rebellious against the Lord (says Moses) from the day that I knew you." And he vehemently exhorts them, not to flatter themselves that their success was, in any degree, owing to their own merits.

27. They were appointed to be the scourge of other nations, whose crimes rendered them fit objects of divine chastis.e.m.e.nt. For the sake of righteous Abraham, their founder, and perhaps for many other wise reasons, undiscovered to us, they were selected from a world over-run with idolatry, to preserve upon earth the pure worship of the one only G.o.d, and to be honoured with the birth of the Messiah amongst them. For this end, they were precluded, by divine command, from mixing with any other people, and defended, by a great number of peculiar rites and observances, from falling into the corrupt worship practised by their neighbours.

_Of Judges, Samuel, and Kings._

28. The book of Judges, in which you will find the affecting stories of Sampson and Jeptha, carries on the history from the death of Joshua, about two hundred and fifty years; but, the facts are not told in the times in which they happened, which makes some confusion; and it will be necessary to consult the marginal dates and notes, as well as the index, in order to get any clear idea of the succession of events during that period.

29. The history then proceeds regularly through the two books of Samuel, and those of Kings: nothing can be more interesting and entertaining than the reigns of Saul, David, and Solomon: but, after the death of Solomon, when ten tribes revolted from his son Rehoboam, and became a separate kingdom, you will find some difficulty in understanding distinctly the histories of the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah, which are blended together, and by the likeness of the names, and other particulars, will be apt to confound your mind, without great attention to the different threads thus carried on together: The index here will be of great use to you. The second book of Kings concludes with the Babylonish captivity, 588 years before Christ--'till which time the kingdom of Judah had descended uninterruptedly in the line of David.

_Of Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther._

30. The first book of Chronicles begins with a genealogy from Adam, through all the tribes of Israel and Judah; and the remainder is the same history which is contained in the books of Kings, with little or no variation, till the separation of the ten tribes: From that period it proceeds with the history of the kingdom of Judah alone, and gives, therefore, a more regular and clear account of the affairs of Judah, than the book of Kings. You may pa.s.s over the first book of Chronicles, and the nine first chapters of the second book: but, by all means, read the remaining chapters, as they will give you more clear and distinct ideas of the history of Judah, than that you read in the second book of Kings. The second of Chronicles ends, like the second of Kings, with the Babylonish captivity.

31. You must pursue the history in the book of Ezra, which gives the account of the return of some of the Jews on the edict of Cyrus, and of the re-building the Lord's temple.

32. Nehemiah carries on the history for about twelve years, when he himself was governor of Jerusalem, with authority to re-build the walls, &c.

33. The story of Esther is prior in time to that of Ezra and Nehemiah; us you will see by the marginal dates; however, as it happened during the seventy years captivity, and is a kind of episode, it may be read in its own place.

34. This is the last of the canonical books that is properly historical; and I would therefore advise, that you pa.s.s over what follows, till you have continued the history through the Apocryphal Books.

_Of Job._

35. The history of Job is probably very ancient, though that is a point upon which learned men have differed: It is dated, however, 1520 years before Christ: I believe it is uncertain by whom it was written: many parts of it are obscure, but it is well worth studying, for the extreme beauty of the poetry, and for the n.o.ble and sublime devotion it contains.

36. The subject of the dispute between Job and his pretended friends, seems to be, whether the Providence of G.o.d distributes the rewards and punishments of this life; in exact proportion to the merit or demerit of each individual. His antagonists suppose that it does; and therefore infer from Job's uncommon calamities, that, notwithstanding his apparent righteousness, he was in reality a grievous sinner: They aggravate his supposed guilt, by the imputation of hypocrisy, and call upon him to confess it, and to acknowledge the justice of his punishment.

37. Job a.s.serts his own innocence and virtue in the most pathetic manner, yet does not presume to accuse the Supreme Being of injustice.

Elihu attempts to arbitrate the matter, by alledging the impossibility that so frail and ignorant a creature as man should comprehend the ways of the Almighty, and therefore condemns the unjust and cruel inference the three friends had drawn from the sufferings of Job. He also blames Job for the presumption of acquitting himself of all iniquity, since the best of men are not pure in the sight of G.o.d--but all have something to repent of; and he advises him to make this use of his afflictions.

38. At last, by a bold figure of poetry, the Supreme Being himself is introduced, speaking from the whirlwind, and silencing them all by the most sublime display of his own power, magnificence, and wisdom, and of the comparative littleness and ignorance of men.--This, indeed, is the only conclusion of the argument, which could be drawn at a time when life and immortality were not yet brought to light: a future retribution is the only satisfactory solution of the difficulty arising from the sufferings of good people in this life.

_Of the Psalms._

39. Next follow the Psalms, with which you cannot be too conversant. If you have any taste, either for poetry or devotion, they will be your delight, and will afford you a continual feast. The Bible translation is far better than that used in the common prayer-book, and will often give you the sense, when the other is obscure. In this, as well as in all other parts of the scripture, you must be careful always to consult the margin, which gives you the corrections made since the last translation, and it is generally preferable to the words of the text.

40. I would wish you to select some of the Psalms that please you best, and get them by heart; or, at least, make yourself master of the sentiments contained in them: Dr. Delaney's life of David, will shew you the occasions on which several of them were composed, which add much to their beauty and propriety; and by comparing them with the events of David's life, you will greatly enhance your pleasure in them.

41. Never did the spirit of true piety breathe more strongly than in these divine songs; which being added to a rich vein of poetry, makes them more captivating to my heart and imagination, than any thing I ever read. You will consider how great disadvantages any poem must sustain from being rendered literally into prose, and then imagine how beautiful these must be in the original.--May you be enabled by reading them frequently, to transfuse into your own breast that holy flame which inspired the writer!--To delight in the Lord, and in his laws, like the Psalmist--to rejoice in him always, and to think "one day in his courts better than a thousand!"--But may you escape the heart-piercing sorrow of such repentance as that of David--by avoiding sin, which humbled this unhappy king to the dust--and which cost him such bitter anguish, as it is impossible to read of without being moved.

42. Not all the pleasures of the most prosperous sinners, could counterbalance the hundredth part of those sensations described in his penitential psalms--and which must be the portion of every man, who has fallen from a religious state into such crimes, when once he recovers a sense of religion and virtue, and is brought to a real hatred of sin.

However, available such repentance may be to the safety and happiness of the soul after death, it is a state of such exquisite suffering here, that one cannot be enough surprised at the folly of those who indulge sin, with the hope of living to make their peace with G.o.d by repentance.

43. Happy are they who preserve their innocence unsullied by any great or wilful crimes, and who have only the common failings of humanity to repent of, these are suffiently mortifying to a heart deeply smitten with the love of virtue, and with the desire of perfection.

44. There are many very striking prophecies of the Messiah in these divine songs, particularly in psalm xxii. Such may be found scattered up and down almost throughout the Old Testament. To bear testimony to _him_, is the great and ultimate end for which the spirit of prophecy was bestowed on the sacred writers;--but, this will appear more plainly to you when you enter on the study of prophecy, which you are now much too young to undertake.

_Of the Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Solomon's Song, the Prophecies, and Apocrypha._

45. The Proverbs and Ecclesiastes are rich stores of wisdom; from which I wish you to adopt such maxims as may be of infinite use, both to your temporal and eternal interest. But, detached sentences are a kind of reading not proper to be continued long at a time; a few of them, well chosen and digested, will do you much more service, than to read half a dozen chapters together: in this respect, they are directly opposite to the historical books, which, if not read in continuation, can hardly be understood, or retained to any purpose.

46. The Song of Solomon is a fine poem--but its mystical reference to religion lies too deep for a common understanding: if you read it, therefore, it will be rather as matter of curiosity than of edification.

47. Next follow the Prophecies; which, though highly deserving the greatest attention and study, I think you had better omit for some years, and then read them with a good Exposition, as they are much too difficult for you to understand without a.s.sistance. Dr. Newton on the prophecies, will help you much, whenever you undertake this study; which you should by all means do when your understanding is ripe enough; because one of the main proofs of our religion rests on the testimony of the prophecies; and they are very frequently quoted, and referred to, in the New Testament: besides, the sublimity of the language and sentiments, through all the disadvantages of a antiquity and translation, must, in very many pa.s.sages, strike every person of taste; and the excellent moral and religious precepts found in them, must be useful to all.

48. Though I have spoken of these books in the order in which they stand, I repeat, that they are not to be read in that order--but that the thread of the history is to be pursued, from Nehemiah to the first book of the Maccabees, in the Apocrypha; taking care to observe the chronology regularly, by referring to the index, which supplies the deficiencies of this history from Josephus's Antiquities of the Jews.

The first of Maccabees carries on the story till within 195 years of our Lord's circ.u.mcision: the second book is the same narrative, written by a different hand, and does not bring the history so forward as the first; so that it may be entirely omitted, unless you have the curiosity to read some particulars of the heroic constancy of the Jews, under the tortures inflicted by their heathen conquerors, with a few other things not mentioned in the first book.

49. You must then connect the history by the help of the index, which will give you brief heads of the changes that happened in the state of the Jews, from this time till the birth of the Messiah.