our Gon shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it.

And the LORD heard the voice of your words, when ye spake unto me: and the LORD said unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken unto thee; they have well said all that they have spoken.

O that there w were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be, well with them and with their children for ever! Go say unto them, Get you into your tents again.

But as for thee, stand thou here by me, and I will speak unto thee all the, commandments, and the sta tutes, and the judgments, which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it.

Ye shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your GOD hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.

You shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your GOD hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that, it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which, ye shall possess.

ANNOTATIONS AND REFLECTIONS.

C Though we cannot form an exact idea of the appearance of the Glory of the LORD on mount Sinai, nor of His voice speaking from the midst of the fire and thick darkness, we may easily conceive, that the scene was very awful and tremendous. Nothing less than this sensible demonstration of the presence of the Deity, would have convinced such a people as the Israelites, that the Commandments were of Divine institution; and, indeed,

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there would have been some ground for suspicion, that Moses was the inventor of them, had not the LORD vouchsafed to speak to the people Himself: and succeeding generations would have rejected them, if the history of their Divine origin had not been recorded. We have, therefore, great reason to be thankful to Gop for affording this undeniable evidence of His existence and providence, and the certainty of Divine revelation.

It was at this time that the Israelites desired to have a Mediator; and this desire was approved of GOD, because He knew it was best for them that it should be so; for we find, that the Israelites were so greatly overcome by this wonderful display of Divine Majesty, that it was their earnest request never to behold the like again We Christians have still more need of a Mediator than the Israelites had, because the LORD is not visible amongst us, as He was with them.

It is our happiness to be assured in the New Testament, that we have à most powerful one in CHRIST, who, instead of appearing to us in a glory which we could not behold and live, maintains an intercourse between GOD and his people invisibly, by means of His Holy Spirit. Let us then transfer our desires of beholding the Glory of the Supreme Being to a future state, when those who have served Him faithfully in this world, will be able to see Him, not only without pain and dread, but with tranquillity and joy.

It must have been a great encouragement to the obedience of the Israelites, to know, that God desired that they might always continue objects of His favour and loving-kindness. This encouragement Christians also have from the Holy Scriptures in an abundant degree. dw bed ad: osal

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SECTION XXVI.

MOSES' EXHORTATION CONTINUED.

From Deut. Chap. vi.

Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it: that thou mightest fear the LORD thy GOD, to keep all his statutes and his commandments which I command thee; thou, thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life, and that thy days may be pro longed.

Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD GOD of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey.

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Hear, O Israel, the LORD our Gop is one LORD: and thou shalt love the LORD thy GOD with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

And these words which I command thee this day. shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.

And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.

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And it shall be when the LORD thy Gop shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give

thee great and goodly cities, which theu buildedst not, and houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not, when thou shalt have eaten, and be full; then beware lest thou forget the LORD which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

Thou shalt fear the LORD thy GOD, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.

Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you; for the LORD thy GOD is a jealous God among you; lest the anger of the LORD thy GOD be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.

Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.

Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your Gon, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee,

And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in, and possess the good land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to cast out all thine enemies from before thee, as the LORD hath spoken.

And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments which the LORD our GOD hath commanded you; then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh's bond-men in Egypt, and the LORD brought us out of Egypt, with a mighty hand: and the LORD shewed signs and wonders, great and sore upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his houshold, bes fore our eyes and he brought us out from thence, that

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he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers.

And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our GoD, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive as it is at this day.

And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our GOD, as he hath commanded us.

ANNOTATIONS AND REFLECTIONS.

This section strongly proves what has been before hinted, "That the Jewish constitution was a scheme for promoting virtue and true religion." In respect to the extraordinary privileges which the Israelites possessed, they were highly, honoured, but they were not to rest in them. These blessings were, in the first instance, the gift of love and mercy, without any merit on their part; but the continuance of them depended on their obedience and righteousness. It is exactly the same with Christian's: The privileges we enjoy as the Church of Christ, are the free gift of GoD; but they will avail us nothing as individuals, unless we add obedience and personal righteousness to them, the righteousness that cometh by Faith.

The duties which Moses here enjoins to the Israelitea are of general obligation to all, who are taken into covenant with GOD; they are parts of the moral law, which will never be abolished, let us, therefore, if we wish for peace and prosperity in this world; if we desire eternal rest and happiness in the next, "Fear the LORD our God, love Him with all our heart and soul, keep His statutes and His commandments ourselves, and teach .. dumyword on ben a wage 1J0 91

See Taylor's Key to the Apostolic Writings.

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