chronicles of other nations; nor will it be doubted by the reflecting reader of Scripture, who marks the natural and circumstantial character of the whole narration and the accordance of its several parts. Taking it for granted then, that this history is what it professes to be, a narrative of facts, we may observe one feature in it, which distinguishes it from every other history in the world, and plainly denotes its divine origin. In many of its particulars it is capable of a typical or spiritual application, and through this medium, is fraught with instruction of the most important and enduring nature. This remark applies with peculiar force to the lives and characters of certain individuals.

In Melchizedek, the "king of righteousness" and "of peace," and priest of the Most High, to whom Abraham gave tithes of all his spoil; in the virtuous Joseph who was persecuted and sold, and who, through great affliction arrived at greater glory, so that both his friends and his enemies bent the knee before him; in Moses, the meekest of men, the lawgiver and leader of Israel, the mediator between God and his people; in Joshua, who drove out their enemies from before them, and introduced them to the quiet possession of the land of promise; in David, the man after God's

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own heart," that deep yet patient sufferer, that exalted king, that unconquered captain of the armies of Israel; in Solomon, the " king's son," whose peaceable government extended on every side, and whose wis

dom pervaded the thousand secrets both of grace and nature-the student of Scripture will not fail to trace the types of that Saviour, in whom all these characteristics were afterwards so admirably combined, and perfected. Whatsoever things are good and glorious in the history and character of these real yet typical persons, find a common focus in Christ their antitype.

Again, let such a student reflect on the deliverance of the Hebrews from the land of Egypt, and from the tyranny of Pharaoh; on their long continued wanderings in the wilderness; on the manna from the skies and the water from the rock, by which they were sustained and refreshed; on the fiery cloud which guided them on their journey; on the miraculous passage of the nation over Jordan; and on their final settlement in the land of Canaan flowing with milk and honey. What Christian does not derive from this narrative a delightful kind of instruction, while he is reminded by it, of the deliverance of Christ's followers-the whole nation of believers-from the tyranny of Satan and from the corruptions of the world; of their pilgrimage on the earth; of the spiritual bread which they eat; of the spiritual water which they drink; of the rock which accompanies them; of the light which guides them; of the death through which they must pass; and of the glorious and delightful rest-the heaven of abundant blessedness-into which they shall finally enter?

Historical facts, thus filled with an internal weight of instruction, and pointing to the vast realities of the spiritual world, must have arisen in the peculiar providence of God; and the religion with which they are connected, must be His religion. The accordances of revelation are like those of nature-numerous, unconcerted by man, peculiar, precise. Both bespeak as their only true origin, the wisdom and goodness of God.

SECTION II.

ON PROPHECY COMPARED WITH HISTORY.

THE religion of the Bible is attested by nothing more clearly than by prophecy compared with its fulfilment. Since the whole course of events arises out of the counsels of God, and since those counsels are secret and unfathomable, we may rest assured that an actual knowledge of the future, is an attribute which belongs to Him alone. Prophecies, therefore, which relate to circumstances so distant, peculiar, or complex, as to lie beyond the reach of conjecture, and which nevertheless are exactly fulfilled, can be traced by any reasonable mind, only to the Spirit of our Heavenly Father to whom all things are known, whether past, present, or future. Such prophecies are numerous in the Bible.

In order to take a full view of this branch of evidence, we must be well acquainted with

history, and with the present condition of various places and nations. The student of prophecy, for example, will of course be led to compare the predictions of the Lord Jesus respecting the siege and destruction of Jerusalem, with the relation which the historian Josephus has given of these events; and he will observe that complete agreement between the two, which clearly establishes the divine origin of the prophecy. Evidence equally strong, but still more extensive, arises from a comparison of the descriptions given by modern travellers of Babylon, Tyre, Arabia, Judæa, and many other cities and countries, with the prophecies respecting them contained in the Old Testament. Again, in the scattered condition of the Jews themselves, and in the contempt and persecution to which they have been so long exposed, persons even of very limited information, may find a standing proof that Moses and other holy men of old, who foretold these things, spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.'

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But there are parts of the evidence derived from prophecy which, independently of any extraneous source of information, stand complete in the Bible itself. Thus the promise made to Abraham, that his seed should be like the stars of heaven for multitude, and should inherit the land of Canaan, was ac

1 The particulars of this comparison are admirably unfolded by Alexander Keith, in his little work, entitled "Evidence of the Truth of the Christian Religion derived from the literal Fulfilment of Prophecy." 1 vol. 12mo.

complished in the course of centuries, and the Bible contains a full account of the fact. To substantiate this proof, nothing is required but a comparison of parts of Genesis with the book

of Joshua.

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When Joshua had destroyed Jericho, he said, "Cursed be the man before the Lord that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and hi youngest son shall he set up the gates of t 2 This prophecy was delivered about 140 years before Christ; and the first book of Kings contains an account of its exact fulfilment more than 500 years afterwards. The reign under which the circumstance took place, and the names of all the parties concerned, are there faithfully recorded. 3

When King Jeroboam was sacrificing to his idols in Bethel (B. c. 975), a man of God came and "cried against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord; Behold a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name, and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places, that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee."4 That this prophecy was actually delivered accord

2 Joshua vi, 26.

3 1 Kings xvi, 34.—" In his days did Hiel the Bethelite build Jericho: he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord which he spake by Joshua the son of Nun."

4 1 Kings xiii, 2.