and the instructers of the people. Why may we not suppose Eleazer the high priest, arrayed in his sacerdotal vestments, standing at the head of his tribe to receive the salutation of Moses, and that the appearance of this sacred officer in the splendour of his pontifical garb, might suggest to Moses some of the particulars contained in this blessing, especially the beginning of it? "Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one. "Thy Thummim and thy Urim," that is, being interpreted, "thy perfections and thy lights." They were mysteries, of which we have spoken in a former Lecture, put into the high priest's breastplate, and were designed apparently to signify the graces and office of the priesthood, which was committed to Aaron and his seed, till Christ came, who should obtain and exercise an everlasting and unchangeable priesthood, after a more excellent order than that of Aaron.

According to the different ideas of the mystery of the Urim and Thummim, and the connexion here established between them, and the temptation at Massah, and the strife at Meribah, various turns and interpretations have been given to the words of Moses.

and with Thummim." And it does not ap pear they ever had them more, until by Jesus Christ, our High Priest after the order of Aaron, they were restored in the "light and truth" of the gospel.

The blessing upon Levi thus proceeds: "Who said unto his father, and to his mother, I have not seen him, neither did he acknow. ledge his brethren, nor knew his own chil dren: for they have observed thy word, and kept thy covenant."* This is generally understood to express the devotedness of that tribe to the worship and service of God, which laid them under a necessity of abstractedness from the world, and constrained them, when employed in the order of their course, to suppress all appearance of secular concern, such as mourning for the dead and the like. Thus when "Nadab and Abihu perished by fire before the Lord," Aaron and his two surviving sons were expressly forbid to show any signs of sorrow. "Uncover not your heads, neither rend your clothes, lest ye die." "And Aaron held his peace.' The words are by many interpreters supposed particularly to refer to the judgment executed through the zeal of this tribe on their offending brethren in the matter of the golden calf, which is thus described: "And Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord's side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. And he said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour. And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves to-day to the Lord, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day." And it may perhaps be intended as a warning to the Christian priesthood, that though their profession does not call them wholly to renounce the world, to restrain the workings of natural affection, Or, 3dly, understanding by the "holy one," and cease to be men; yet it does call them to the Christ of God, this will be the sense, Thy a higher degree of heavenly-mindedness, to Thummim and thy Urim (O Levi) is with stricter self-government, to a greater superi(or belongs to) the man thy Holy One, (Mes-ority to worldly attachments and pursuits, to siah, the Christ) the Holy One of God, whom thou temptedst at Massah, and didst strive with at Meribah. In this last interpretation, the weakness, insufficiency, imperfection, and transitoriness of the Levitical priesthood are implied: it retained not long the Urim and Thummim, but lost them in the Babylonish captivity, as we find from Ezra, chap. ii. ver. 63.

1. They are supposed to be addressed to God himself, and the sense to run thus, "Thy Thummin and thy Urim" (O God) be with the man, thy gracious saint, (Aaron and his seed) whom thou temptedst with temptation, or contendedst with (for his sin) at the waters of Meribah, of which we have the history. Numb. xx. "And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel; therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them. This is the water of Meribah, because the children of Israel strove with the Lord; and he was sanctified in them."*

Or, 2dly, they may be addressed to the whole tribe, and with this sense, Thy Thummim and thy Urim (O Levi) be with Aaron and his sons! the holy, chosen, anointed one of thy gracious God, whom thou, in common with the rest of Israel, temptedst in Massah and in the strife at Meribah.

"And the Tirshatha said unto them, That they should not eat of the most holy things till there stood up a priest with Urim

Numb. xx. 12, 13.

have no respect of persons in dispensing the bread of life, to "know no man after the flesh,” to sit looser than others to the things of time.

The next article of their prophet's parting blessing describes their glorious privileges. "They shall teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law: they shall put incense before thee, and whole burnt-sacrifice upon thine altar." The priest's lips should keep knowledge.

66

This then is the first duty of their office; | and the united characters of teacher and to "teach Jacob the judgments of God, and priest in the same person, prefigured and Israel his law." Theirs was to be the distin- pointed out "the Lamb of God, who taketh guished honour of training up every succeed- away the sin of the world."-"The one Meing generation as it arose, in the knowledge diator between God and man, the Man Christ of the God of their fathers, in what he had Jesus." The great Teacher sent from God, done for them, and what he required of them; "who spake as never man spake." "God's of pointing out and inculcating upon them beloved Son, in whom he is well pleased." the connexion between their privileges and their duties, their safety and their obedience, their security and their fidelity. They were still to set before the people "good and evil, the blessing and the curse,' ," the promises which allured to the one, the threatenings which deterred from the other. They were under the necessity, of consequence, of studying the law of God, and the history of his providence themselves, in order to the instruction of others; and to exhibit a decent conformity, in their own deportment, to what was written, as a pattern to their fellow citiA task at once painful, dangerous, and

zens.

honourable.

The conclusion of the benediction is prophetic, and descriptive of their reward, their inheritance, and security. Bless, Lord, his substance, and accept the work of his hands: smite through the loins of them that rise against him, and of them that hate him, that they rise not again."* This is the perfection of creature happiness; ample provision, and the blessing of the Almighty poured down, and resting upon it-works and labours of love cheerfully performed, and graciously accepted-every foe subdued, and every ground of fear for ever removed. Here may we not apply to this tribe in particular, what Moses, in the close, applies to Israel in gene

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."t

The second duty of their station was, "toral? "Happy art thou, O Levi: who is like put incense before God." That sacred perfume was emblematical of the prayers, the praises, and thanksgiving of Israel; and on Levi was conferred the glorious privilege of standing between God and the people, of conveying from him to them the dictates of his Such were the functions, the privileges, will, the promises of his grace, the assu- the honours, and the emoluments of the Levirance of his favour and protection; and, as the tical priesthood. They suggest to the Chrismouth of the people, to reconvey to God the tian ministry, the vigilance, diligence, fidelity, effusions of their gratitude, the acknowledg- and zeal which become those "who must ment of their submission and dependence; give account"-the necessity laid upon them their entire confidence in the truth and faith-"to declare the whole counsel of God"-the fulness of God, their entire hope in his mercy. These the sons of Levi were to present before the Lord as incense; and with this sacrifice of praise from the people, the incense of their own grateful acknowledgments would naturally mingle and ascend.

Finally, the blessing pronounced on this distinguished tribe, imposed on them the of fice of offering up "whole burnt sacrifice upon the altar of God." They not only stood between a gracious God and an indebted people; but a holy and offended God, and a frail, offending people. Hence the necessity of "burnt sacrifice," hence the idea of atonement, hence the shedding of blood for the remission of sin, hence the institution of the Levitical priesthood-" the shadow of good things to come." And thus the daily sacrifice, the intercession of the house of Aaron,

assured support on which they may depend, while they conscientiously aim at doing their duty-the glorious "recompense of reward," which is laid up for "the good and faithful servant," in that day "when they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righte ousness, as the stars for ever and ever." May the power of such motives be felt, and understood by all who bear the sacred and important office, that by them they may be rendered "steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as they know that their labour is not in vain in the Lord."

The farther progress of Moses through the remaining tribes of Israel shall be the subject of the next Lecture.

* Deut. xxxiii. 11. Deut. xxxiii. 29. ‡ Dan. xii. 3.

HISTORY OF MOSES.

LECTURE LXXXI.

And this is the blessing wnerewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death.-DEUTERONOMY Xxxi. 1.

that it was election time; that the term was coming on, that a packet was expected, or a fleet arrived.

THE rich man in hell is represented* as entertaining the fond belief, that the return of one from the dead would certainly be effectual, to the conviction and amendment of Men amuse themselves with crying up the a thoughtless and impenitent generation. advantages of those who saw Christ going And men in general are disposed to ascribe about doing good, "healing all manner of an infallible efficacy to means fabricated in sickness among the people;" of those who their own imagination, while, at the same heard Paul preach, and the like; but the time, they wilfully neglect to use those which faithful and true witness assures us, that JeGod has appointed, whose operation is un- sus frequently wrought miracles, and Paul doubted, and of which they are in the entire preached in vain. Capernaum, Bethsaida, possession. The man of one talent lays it up Jerusalem, remained full of unbelievers; and in a napkin and buries it, because he cannot, apostolic eloquence was called babbling by with one, do the work of five or of ten. One one, it made another to shake under a temman is an infidel, because the miraculous porary fit of trembling, and only" almost perpowers which once accompanied the preach-suaded" a third to be a Christian. ing of the gospel, accompany it no more; The decision of father Abraham then, in another affects to despise all external evi- the passage already referred to, is founded in dence whatever, and looks at Christianity truth and experience. "If they hear not with a suspicious eye, because it called in Moses and the prophets, neither will they be miracles and prophecy to confirm and support persuaded though one rose from the dead." it. The Jews rejected the counsel of God Moses spake from the brink of the grave, and against themselves, saying, "He casteth out was forgotten the moment his voice ceased. devils, by Beelzebub the prince of the devils." God himself thundered from Sinai, “Thou The Greeks accounted the doctrine of the shalt not make unto thee any graven image, cross foolishness, because it belied their vain or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven philosophy, and exposed their worldly spirit. above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that Were it possible for the human race to as-is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt semble in one general council, in order to not bow down thyself to them, nor serve settle a mode of religion which should suit them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous the whole, they would speedily be constrain- God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon ed to separate, without coming to any specific, the children unto the third and fourth genedecisive agreement on a point so essential: ration of them that hate me :"+ and within "a for pride, and selfishness, and the spirit of little month" we see all Israel dancing round contradiction, would instantly raise opposition, a golden calf, and saying, "These be thy and the most salutary idea would be rejected gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of by one party, for no better reason than that it the land of Egypt." The Son of Man came was adopted by another. Were the rich man down from heaven, disclosed the secrets of to come from the dead, commissioned to tell the eternal mind; descended into the grave, the secrets of his prison-house; were Lazarus and returned to the earth and showed himpermitted to leave the bosom of Abraham, in self openly. But did infidelity stop her order to display to men the glories of para- mouth? No. "Some of the watch came dise; what could they say, that has not been into the city, and showed unto the chief repeated a thousand and a thousand times? priests all the things that were done. And The one would be esteemed by a busy, care- when they were assembled with the elders, less, unbelieving world, a poor, moping, me- and had taken counsel, they gave large molancholy wretch, fit for a place in Bedlam; ney unto the soldiers, saying, Say ye his disthe other would be called an enthusiastic ciples came by night, and stole him away visionary and they might, for ought the while we slept. And if this come to the goworld cared, return to the places from whence vernor's ears, we will persuade him, and sethey came, and report that mankind was bet-cure you. So they took the money, and did ter employed than to listen to their dreams; as they were taught: and this saying is con *Luke xvi. 31. † Exod. xx. 4, 5, ‡ Exod. xxxii. 4

Luke xvi. 27, 28,

↑ Matt. xii. 24.

The circumstances in which Moses took his last long farewell of his beloved charge, were such, one would think, as to leave a lasting, an indelible impression on the minds of his hearers; but the sequel shows us, that the impressions of gratitude, sympathy, sorrow, and regret, are "as the morning cloud and the early dew, which passeth away."

sides the innumerable occasional visits made to the metropolis of the whole country, as to the centre of civil government and of religious worship.

On comparing the arrangement of the precious stones in the breastplate of the high priest, with that of the same number and quality of gems which are represented as con stituting the foundation of the New Jerusalem, we find the jasper standing last, with the name of Benjamin engraved upon it, in the breastplate; but the first in the foundation of the holy city, which is the type of the Christian church.

With the aid of Benjamin alone, Judah was enabled to support an independent sovereignty, which considerably outlasted the kingdom of the ten tribes. This, and various other circumstances, in the future history and condition of this tribe, explain the blessing of Moses, which describes him as "the beloved of the Lord," tenderly watched over and protected of Jehovah, as the progenitor of this tribe according to the flesh, was carefully kept at home, and affectionately cherished by his father Jacob; as "dwelling in safety by him," that is, in confidence, in security, there being "none to make him afraid, to whom God was so nigh." There is apparently an allusion to this, and a beautiful one, in the 48th Psalm, from verse 1 to 5. "Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great king. God is known in her palaces for a refuge. For lo, the kings were assembled, they passed by together. They saw it, and so they marvelled; they were troubled, and hasted away." "The Lord shall cover him," adds Moses, "all day long." "Cover." The Seventy translate the word by one that signifies "to overshadow." The Chaldean paraphrase is, "he shall be a shield over him;" it denotes a security, covering, or protection from evil; and the evangelical prophet, Isaiah, beautifully expands the thought in these remarkable words, descriptive of and applied to the same

Having finished his course, and the time of his departure drawing nigh, we behold the man of God making his final progress through the camp of Israel; going from tribe to tribe, from standard to standard, saluting every one by his name, and pronouncing over him the cordial benediction of a dying friend. We have accompanied him from Reuben to Judah, and from Judah to Levi, and heard his dying breath confirm the promise of royal dignity to the one, and entail the sacred dignity of the priesthood upon the other. They have heard his last adieu. Their eyes shall behold him no more. He has now arrived at the encampment of Benjamin. Benjamin, the son of his mother's sorrow, the son of his father's right hand; the last of Israel in the course of nature, not the least in the affection of his sole surviving parent, nor in importance as one of the heads of the holy commonwealth. Benjamin, destined of Providence to support the throne of David, when shaken by the revolt of ten tribes. And what is the blessing of Benjamin? "Of Benjamin he said, The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him: and the Lord shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders." The course in which Moses proceeded in pronouncing the blessing, is supposed by some to be prophetically governed, according to the geographical description of Canaan, and the order and course in which each portion was allotted to every several tribe. Benjamin, therefore, is addressed before his elder brother Joseph, because the lot of his inheritance was to lie between the lots of Judah and Joseph, and to border upon each, and this, by consulting the book of Joshua, xviii. 11, you will find was the case. And we shall afterwards find many circumstances concurring to give a dis-object. tinction and a consequence to Benjamin, among the tribes of Israel. Jebus, that is Jerusalem, fell to them. Of course, the seat of empire and of religion, in process of time, was fixed in the midst of them. Imperial Judah administered the affairs of government in a city belonging to another tribe, and from the day that the temple was built, not only the priests, the sons of Levi, were called to minister in the order of their course, within the confines of their brother Benjamin; but all the males of all the tribes were obliged to appear before the Lord in the same place, at the three great stated festivals every year, be† Deut. xxxiii. 12.

Matt. xxviii. 11-15

"And the Lord will create upon every dwelling-place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence. And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the day time from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain."*"All day long," or "every day;" that is continually. "And he shall dwell between his shoulders;" like the head, the glory of the natural body, rearing itself majestically between and upon "the shoulders," the strength and power of the man. This was the blessing of Benjamin.

* Isai. iv. 5, 6.

same quantity of words, were exhibited such a multitude and variety of beautiful, striking, and sublime ideas. When Joseph is to be blessed, the prophet for him arrays nature in her gayest, richest attire; for him he digs into the mine, and cleaves the flinty rock, and pours jewels and gold at his feet. "For him the roses blow, for him distils the dew." For him golden harvests wave in the fragrant air, and rivers of milk and oil flow down the mountains and through the vallies. For him the swelling clusters of the vine assume a purple hue, the meadows clothe themselves with verdure, and the cedars of God lift their proud heads to the skies; the sun and moon, and eleven stars, do obeisance to him. Nature is then animated, as it were, to do him honour, to give him protection, to extend his

grove becomes vocal, the bullock treads stately through the plain, the unicorn pushes with the horn, nations of enemies melt before him, the ten thousands of Ephraim, and the thousands of Manasseh, cultivate their fertile, peaceful fields, beautify their pleasant villages, fortify their magnificent cities.

Moses seems now to turn to a peculiarly favourite object; he seems to rise above himself; the spirit of dying Jacob seems to revive in him. As if the name of Joseph were the fire put to the train, he kindles, he blazes, he lightens. As if the name of Joseph were the signal to be at once great and sublime, tender and pathetic, approaching his standard, recollecting the history and character of their illustrious progenitor, contemplating their rising greatness and prosperity, he thus breaks out in strains loftier than bard ever sung. "Blessed of the Lord be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dews, for the deep that coucheth beneath; and for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon, and for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the last-empire, to minister to his delight. The ing hills. And for the precious things of the earth, and fulness thereof; and for the good will of him that dwelt in the bush: let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren. His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh."* Isaac had but two sons, and found himself exhausted, when he had bestowed a blessing upon one of them: Jacob has twelve sons, and yet he has a several blessing for each son. Israel at the death of Moses was increased to an innumerable multitude, and yet there are blessings enough, and to spare, and yet there is room. And when God shall have brought back the captivity of Jacob," good will." Moses having thus as a poet when God shall have brought his ancient people within the bond of the gospel covenant, together with the fulness of the Gentile nations, the tide of benediction shall rise, and rise, and swell to the number and necessity of all the partakers. Thus the sacred stream which Ezekiel saw in vision, issuing from the threshold of the house, was at first but a little bubbling fountain; but after a progress of a thousand cubits, became "a brook of water up to the ancles;" after a thousand more, had risen to the height of the loins; and after a thousand more, "the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over."

To go into a detail of the particulars contained in the blessing of Joseph, instead of occupying the place of an evening, might furnish employment for years. I feel myself perfectly at a loss how to represent it to your view; in what light first to consider it, what particular part of it to bring forward-whe ther I should at all presume to attempt an illustration of it, or leave it altogether to your private meditation. Never, surely, in the

Deut. xxxiii. 13-17.

With inexhausted strength, with resistless force, the prophet then hurries us out of the sphere of nature, bears us to the awful regions of religion, places our feet on holy ground. It is the blessing of Joseph, and we feel ourselves transported to the wilderness of Horeb, we behold the bush on fire, we hear the voice of God himself from the midst of the flame. But though it speaks from the midst of fire, to the house of Joseph it speaks nothing but love, it is a fire that consumes not, it breathes

touched every power of imagination, conducted us from one scene of delight to another, and made all Eden rise to view; having as a prophet, unveiled the world of spirits to our astonished sight, and borne us as on eagle's wings up to the throne of God, gently deviates into his character of orator and historian, and sweetly redescends with us into the field of Zoan, and calls forth a tender sigh from our bosom over the hapless youth who was torn from his father's embrace, and sold into slavery. "Let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren.”* But "who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?" Moses, my friends, seems reluctant to break off his subject, he is loth to bid Joseph farewell; as he goes he "casts a longing, lingering look behind," and sighs out another blessing, after his tongue is silent. When Jacob speaks to Joseph, and Moses writes and speaks of him, neither of them knows how to leave off.

We soon find the prediction of Moses ↑ Job xxxiii.&

Deut. xxxiii. 16.