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in this idea accustomed to miracles, miracles made no impression on them; or, if they made any, it was so slight that the least temptation, the smallest annoyance, effaced the effect of them altogether. Any one, who is even slightly acquainted with the corruptions of his own heart, will not be surprised at this history of rebellion and disobedience: he will see nothing more in the relation of Moses, than a faithful picture of human nature in an unconverted state.

A miracle may astonish a sinner for a time; it may overcome him for a moment, but it will not convert him. The infidel who scoffs at holy writ, if he saw the wonders of Egypt taking place before his eyes, would be alarmed and uneasy until the effect was gone by; but no sooner would the hand of the Almighty be stayed, than he would pronounce the miracle to be merely the effect of some natural cause, or perhaps he would admit it to be some unusual effort of nature.

If the love of holiness dwell not in the heart, if the hope of eternal life be not sufficient to engage the attention, all proof will be disregarded, all argument will be unavailing. In fact, we must allow every operation of nature to be miraculous, when we properly consider the subject; but even if what we usually mean by a miracle were to come to pass, that too, I am persuaded, would

be unheeded or denied by those, who carelessly or obstinately reject revelation, not only in word but in deed.

The Israelites having been taught the promises of God by those who lived before them, saw the miracles which God wrought in the execution of his word, almost without wonder or awe. If they were astonished, it was only for a moment. If they repented, their repentance passed away like a shadow. It led neither to conversion nor holiness, but ended with the punishment which produced it. And in these very inconsistences we find a further proof of the truth of the whole history; instead of discovering reasons for rejecting it, as infidelity would assert.

The posterity of those rebellious Israelites, who died in the wilderness, were taught by the death of their parents, and their own possession of the land of Canaan, to serve with faithfulness the Lord in whose strength they had conquered; and they continued to do so during the life of Joshua: but very soon after the decease of this leader, into how many abominations did this stiff-necked people fall! What disobedience, and what backslidings do we not read of in Judges! for what reason could an impostor have invented such relations?

David, we learn, was placed on the throne by the command of God, to the exclusion of the fa

mily of Saul; and holy writ teaches us, that he was "a man after God's own heart *;" but we also are told of the faults, and even of the crimes, of David; his deep repentance and selfabasement. Again, I ask, could any thing but truth have led to such a history? In succeeding parts of holy writ, we read of the gross idolatry and wickedness of several of the kings of Judah, and of the many abominations of the kings of Israel, till the captivity of the people, and the destruction of their cities was permitted by God.— This is indeed a dark side to the picture; but the very gloominess of it demonstrates the correctness with which it is drawn.

We cannot follow the Prophets in their various warnings and denunciations to this ungrateful people it must suffice here to bring to our remembrance, that the Law of Moses was the foundation and the guide both of the one and of the other; that their censures, their exhortations and promises, all related to it, and were in perfect unison with it.

Will any one say, that the Holy Spirit did not especially inspire and animate these men? Will any one deny that the very nature of their predictions is a striking proof of their Divine origin? Will any one assert, that they uttered their awful

*Acts xiii. 22.

denunciations unassisted by God? If, after the numerous proofs with which these few chapters supply the reader in favour of revelation, he can still refuse to acknowledge the pages of the Bible to be the words of celestial truth, we pity him, and must leave him to his worse than pagan ignorance, the ignorance of wilful unbelief, devoutly praying the Lord to have mercy upon him, and open the eyes of his understanding to the marvellous light of Divine truth, before the awful summons of death shall put an interminable obstacle to the possibility of so glorious a change.

CHAPTER XIX.

ON THE STYLE OF THE SACRED WRITERS.

It is very difficult, indeed we may say it is nearly impossible, to judge properly of the style of the Old Testament; because the Hebrew, in which it was originally written, has long been what is emphatically termed a dead language; a language which has fallen into disuse, and which is no longer spoken by any of the nations of the earth. Ever since the dispersion of the Jews, the Hebrew may be considered as such; and no book is known to be in existence except the Old Testament itself, which can assist us in forming a correct opinion of it. Notwithstanding this disadvantage, we cannot but discern in the pages of revelation an eloquence of thought, and an eloquence of words, beyond the productions of other authors. And this superiority is very evident, not only in our own language, but in the various other translations of the Bible, which are in this day distributed into almost every country in the world; and so numerous are these that all nations now can truly say, with St. Luke, not only "hear we," but "read we,

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