their God. In accordance with this remarkable transaction, and to confirm its provisions by suitable symbols, he directed Moses to prepare a tabernacle in which he might dwell among his people Israel. He gave minute directions as to its form, its size, and its furniture; the priests who should conduct the service to be performed in it, the sacrifices they were to offer, and the rites which they were to observe; the persons who were to be admitted to the privileges of His sanctuary, and those who were to be debarred from them: In a word, he prescribed every thing that was necessary in the worship which he required at their hands: "For, see, he said to Moses, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount," Heb. viii. 5.

By this memorable transaction, the children of Israel, now grown up into a nation, were nationally recognised as the people of God:-a privilege, be it observed, that had for its basis, the covenant of grace, as dispensed to them in their peculiar economy. But we may perceive in it, moreover, a further advancement of the grand scheme of Divine prophecy. We have shown, that the scheme of prophecy, antecedent to the coming of our Lord, points to his advent, as its proper centre. Now, if we follow the light of Divine truth, we shall see in the Sinaic covenant, and in the peculiar economy with which it was connected, a typical fulfilment of the prediction of the great Deliverer; and a striking pledge, that in due time, it should reach its actual accomplishment. The apostle Paul instructs us to regard the Levitical economy, in its splendid ceremonies, and significant rites, as a symbolical representation of the nature and design of Messiah's kingdom; Colos. ii. 17: "Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." Now, just as the appearance of the shadow proves the existence of the substance; so the institution of the types, and ceremonies, and sacrifices of the legal dispensation, indicated most impressively, the appearance of the glorious Person who, in his work and salvation, should combine all which was thereby dimly

shadowed out. How glorious is he, in whom all the the lines of that wonderful economy do meet, and find their full and harmonious consummation! How precious to those who believe:-How terrible to those who despise him!

The tabernacle being constructed and set up, the glory of the Lord, under the visible emblem of a cloud, appeared and covered it: and from thenceforth it directed the movements of the people of Israel, in their wanderings through the wilderness. We might here notice the faithfulness of God to his promise, notwithstanding the frequent rebellions of his people: -His righteous severity, in condemning the rebels to wander forty years in the desert: and the fulfilment of the prediction, that not one of those who came out of Egypt should go into the land of promise but Caleb and Joshua. We must, however, pass over these, and many other interesting points, and hasten to

The next great event, in the history of the children of Israel, to which we are guided by the map of prophecy, namely, their settlement in the land of Canaan. The manner in which the settlement was to be effected, is expressed with great brevity, and with the obscurity in which future events are commonly involved in the sacred writings. To Abraham it was foretold, that his seed should come back to the land of Canaan, in the fourth generation: and the reason assigned for this long interval is, Gen. xv. 16, "for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full." By this expression, viewed in the light which the history throws upon it the best of all interpreters of prophecy-it appears, was meant that the forbearance of God towards the Amorites would be continued up to a given period. But that then the judgments which they had provoked, by their shocking iniquity, would be poured out. In executing these judgments, the Lord saw meet to make use of the people of Israel as instruments. He might indeed have sent upon them plagues, like to those with which he visited the land of Egypt:-or he might have caused the earth to open its mouth and swallow them up alive as he did in the case of Korah

and his company. But he judged it fit to cut them off from the land that groaned beneath their wickedness, by means of those who were to succeed to their possessions. He accordingly charged his people Israel, that they should not spare these idolatrous nations; but that they should utterly destroy them from the face of the earth. The Israelites proceeded to execute the commission which they had received; but not sufficiently zealous for the glory of him, whose name had been so awfully dishonoured by the Canaanites:not deeply enough impressed with the detestable nature of idolatry, and with the abominations to which it led; and too little disposed to dread contamination with their idols: they prosecuted the work with a slack hand, to their no small grief and injury. For they, whom they thus unwisely spared, became thorns in their sides, just as the Lord had threatened, Numbers xxxiii. 55" But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell."

But still, so much was done in extirpating the nations, that in the course of eight years, from the time they crossed the Jordan, the tribes were settled in the country. And here, we may mark the faithfulness of God to his word of prophecy. For, by the mouth of his servant Jacob, he had foretold what should be the different lots of his children in the land of their inheritance. Were we in possession of the requisite information, we have no doubt it might be shown, that in every instance, and to the very letter, the prophetic blessing of the patriarch was verified. We may, however, allude to the tribes of Levi and Judah, as examples of the exact fulfilment which this part of prophecy received. Of Levi, it was said, Gen. xlix. 7, "I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel." Now, such was exactly the condition of this tribe; for we read in the history, that the Lord thus spoke unto, Aaron, Num. xviii. 20: "Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have

any portion among them: I am thy part and thine inheritance among them." Of Judah, it was foretold, Gen. xlix. 8, that his brethren should praise him; that his hand should be in the neck, of his enemies; and that his father's children should bow down before him. Now, though this prophecy, in its full import, points to the Messiah, and was accomplished in him; yet it is worthy of remark, that the tribe of Judah soon rose to the preeminence among the tribes of Israel; and continued to exercise the dominion for many generations. Psal. xxxiii. 11: "The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations."

But we may gather further illustrations of the faithfulness of God in prophecy, from this eventful period of the history of Israel. For the rest which they obtained in the land of Canaan, we are taught to regard, as typical of the rest which remaineth for the people of God, in the kingdom of heaven. To this rest, as the ultimate end of the advent of Messiah, the sufferings he was to endure, and the deliverance he was to accomplish, the faith of the patriarchs had been turned. Heb. xi. 15: " And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly." And the apostle Paul, speaking of the very event to which we now refer, remarks, Heb. iv. 8, "If Joshua had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day." The fact then, that Israel entered into possession of the land, from which the Canaanites were expelled, is a confirmation of the promise, that Abraham and his seed shall be the heirs of the world: and that Satan and his subjects shall be cast out from the possessions which they have so long held: and finally, that in the heavenly Canaan, where nothing that is unclean shall enter, but where the tribes of God shall appear as conquerors over every enemy, they shall enter into endless peace and joy. Rev. xiv. 13: "They shall rest from their labours, and their works shall follow them."

In the period of Jewish history now under review, we have most abundant evidence, that all which the Lord spake concerning his people he fully accomplished. And hence we find Joshua, the successor of Moses, as the leader of the tribes of Israel, appeals to them as witnesses of the faithfulness of God. Josh. xxiii. 14: "And ye know in all your hearts, and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of allthe good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof." On looking back on the wonderful events which mark this period, we cannot but feel, that that people possess no ordinary claims upon our interest, who were visited from on high with such tokens of favour-who were conducted by the Angel of the Divine presence through such variegated scenes; and who, in solemn covenant, were established, as, in a peculiar sense, the people of God. Deut. xxxiii. 29: "Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee, and thou shalt tread, upon their high places."

The second period of Jewish history which falls to be reviewed, in connexion with prophecy, extends from their settlement in Canaan to the building of Solomon's temple. The generation that had come out of Egypt, and who appear to have brought with them much of the idolatrous spirit of the Egyptians, had all fallen in the wilderness, according to the word of the Lord, with the exception of Caleb and Joshua. And there arose another generation, that seemed, in no small degree, weaned from the love of idols which had characterized their fathers. They, therefore, adhered to the worship of God, with much fidelity, for a considerable time. We read, Josh. xxiv. 31, that "Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the Lord, that he had done for Israel." But this general purity and