TESTIMONY OF THE OTHER BOOKS OF THE BIBLE.

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chapter, 2 verse we are told how Josiah assembled the people and read to them "All the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord." Then Josiah commanded the people to "Keep the passover of the Lord your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant." This very scene is sufficient to account for the fact that the law was not observed for hundreds of years,-it explains it.

In 1-Chron. xvi. 40, we read, "As it is written in the law of the Lord,” and in 2-Chron. xii. 1, we read, "The law of the Lord; in xiv. 4, "The law and the commandment." And in 2-Chron, xvii. 9, we read that a company of Levities" Taught in Judah and had the book of the law of the Lord with them, and went about throughout all the cities of Judah, and taught the people. In 2-Chron xxiii. 18, we read, "And Jehoida appointed the offices of the house of the Lord by the hand of the priests, the Levites, whom David had distributed in the house of the Lord, to offer the burnt offerings of the Lord, as it is written in the law of Moses." In chap. xxv. 4 we read, "As it is written in the law of Moses." Chap. xxxi. 3, 4 we read, "Law of the Lord." In Chap. xxxiv. 14, we read that "Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the Lord, by the hand of Moses." And in chap. xxxiii. 8, God says, "So that they will take heed to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses."

In Ezra iii. 2 we find that when the Jews returned from Babylon, they built an altar to the God of Israel, "To offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God." And in vi. 18, we find that, "They set the priests in their divisions, and the Levites in their courses, for the service of God, which is at Jerusalem; as it is written in the book of Moses." In Ezra. vii. 6 we find that Ezra Was a ready scribe in the law of Moses." In Nehemiah i. 7, in the midst of Nehemiah's confession, we read, "We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandest thy servant Moses."

Then in Neh. viii. chap., we read how Nehemiah caused the "The book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded to Israel," to be read and translated to all the people day after day for seven days. Then, in the ix. chapter follows a brief epitome of Jewish history from Egypt to Canaan, and all their Precepts and statutes and laws" are ascribed to Moses. Again, in the xiii. chap. 1-verse we find that they read the book of Moses. Lastly in Dan. ix.

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11-13 we find the last chapters of Deut. ascribed to Moses.

The testimony of the Old Testament from beginning to end is strong and uniform that the Pentateuch was the work of Moses. This belief was at the very foundation of the faith of the whole Jewish and Samaritan peoples.

When we open the New Testament, we find that Christ and the Apostles ascribed the Pentateuch to Moses, and uniformly used it as true, and genuine. Josephus tells us in his history of the Jews which was written a little after Christ's death, that the Jews divided the books of the Old Testament into three divisions, Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms; and that Moses, or the law of Moses denoted the Pentateuch. Christ used this same division, see Luke xxiv. 44. We find Christ, the Apostles, and the Jews uniformly speaking of the Pentateuch as Moses's work, or as written by Moses. As examples of this see, Matt. xix. 7, 8, "They say unto him, why then did Moses command to give a bill of divorcement and to put her away?" Referring to Deut, xxiv. 1. saith unto them, Moses for your hardness of heart suffered you to put away your wives."

"He

Matt. xxiii. 2, "The scribes and the pharisees sit in Moses's seat." Mark. x. 4, 5. "And he answered and said unto them, what did Moses command you, etc." Mark xii. 26, "Have ye not read in the book of Moses etc."

Luke xvi. 29, 31, in the parable, Christ puts into the mouth of Abraham, the words, "They have Moses and the Prophets, let them hear them." If they hear not Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded, if one rise from the dead."

Luke xx. 37. "But that the dead are raised, even Moses shewed, in the place concerning the bush, etc."

Luke xxiv. 27, 44, "And beginning from Moses and the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself." "These are my words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, how that all things must needs be fulfilled, which are written in the law of Moses, and the Prophets, and the Psalms, concerning me." John, vii. 19, 22, 23, "Did not Moses give you the law? For this cause hath Moses given you circumcision, "If a man receiveth circumcision on the Sabbath, that the law of Moses may not be broken;" John i. 17. 'For the law was given by Moses."

etc." etc."

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John v. 46, 47, "There is one who accuseth you, even Moses, on whom ye have set your hope for if ye believed Moses, ye would believe me, for he wrote of me."

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Acts iii. 22, "Moses indeed said, a prophet shall the Lord God raise up unto you from among your brethren like unto me."

Acts xv. 5, 21, "The pharisees said it is needful to circumcise them, and to charge them to keep the law of Moses." "For Moses from generations of old hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath."

Acts xxi. 21, "That thou teachest all the Jews which are among the gentiles to forsake Moses, etc."

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Acts xxvi. 22, Paul, 'Saying nothing but what the Prophets and Moses did say should come.' Acts xxviii. 23, Paul, "And persuading them concerning Jesus, both from the law of Moses, and from the Prophets, from morning till evening." Rom. x. 5, "For Moses writeth that the man that doeth the righteousness which is of the law shall live thereby," quoting from Lev. xviii. 5. 2-Cor. iii. 15, “But unto this day, whensoever Moses is read, a veil lieth upon their heart.' Heb. x. 28, "A man that hath set at naught Moses's law dieth without compassion, etc." Heb. vii. 14, “As to which tribe, Moses spake nothing concerning priests.

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Finally, if anything farther were necessary to be said in regard to the authorship and genuineness of Deut., we might refer to the vivid descriptions, and the many allusions to Egypt, its customs, its bondage, and the deliverance; see, Deut. vi. 21-23; vii. 8, 18; xi. 3, 10; xvii. 16, xxiv. 18, 22; xxviii. 60. Again, the same ancient forms of the Hebrew language are used in Deut. as are found in the rest of the Pentateuch, and still farther, the older prophets, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Isaiah and Micah quote from Deut, as well as from the rest of the Pentateuch. Again, in Deut. chap. xxxi. 24-27, we are told that Moses wrote Deuteronomy up to that point. The ancient Syriac version of the Pentateuch says that from chap. xxxi. to the end of the book was written by Joshua. If we are asked for what purpose Deut. was given, the reply would be that the people had been scattered in the wilderness for about forty years; they had not observed the law; they were even uncircumcised,-(see Josh. v. 5,-), Moses, just before his death gathered the people together, on the borders of the promised land, and recapitulated to them the chief points of the law, and adapted it to suit their national life in Canaan, and gave them his parting counsel and advice. Viewed in this way, as containing a divine revelation to a people whom God had chosen and whom he taught and led, the Pentateuch is in beautiful harmony with itself, and

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AUTHORSHIP OF GENESIS.

with all other parts of scripture.

There remains to be considered the authorship of the book of Genesis. The question of its authorship is not the most important question, however. If we can show that the book of Genesis is a part of God's word, and is to be regarded as of Divine authority, it is of minor consequence who wrote it. The Jews regarded Genesis as of Divine authority; it was a part of the Pentateuch; Christ and the Apostles uniformly use the book of Moses which included Genesis, as God's word, and quote from it as authority, and they uniformly quote from and refer to Genesis as genuine and of Divine authority. As examples of this use of Gen. see, Matt. xix. 4-6; xxiv. 38, 39; Mark x. 6; xii. 26; Luke xi. 51; xvii. 26-32; John iii. 14; vi. 49; viii. 44. 56; Rom. v. 12-15; iv. 1-22; ix. 9-13; 1-Cor. xv. 22; 2-Cor. xi; 3; Gal. iv. 2230; 1-Tim. 11. 13, 14; Heb. vii. 1-10; xi. 3-22; xii; 16, 17; 2-Pet. ii. 5-8; iii. 5; 1-John. iii. 12; Jude. 5, 7. We cannot read these passages without the impression that Christ and the Apostles regarded the book of Genesis as a part of God's word. Coming now to the authorship, it may be asked, 1,-Was Genesis all written by Moses? 2,-Was it simply edited by him? 3,-Was it prepared and written by him, using original documents, or traditions, or both? It seems very likely that such documents and traditions would exist; indeed, it is not conceivable that they should not have existed. We find the remains of such traditions and documents among the traditions of most nations and especially in the Chaldean Genesis, which is older than the time of Moses. We do not know to whom God gave the visions of the creation; it may have been to Adam, or Seth, or Enoch, who walked with God hundreds of years, or to Noah, or to Terah, or Abraham, or Isaac or Jacob, or Joseph; and each one of these may have left in some form a part of that genealogy or history, etc. which form the book of Genesis.

If there were such traditions, or writings of any kind, they would be likely to be preserved and handed down from father to son. Were such traditions or writings in existence among the Israelites in Moses's time, he would most certainly come into possession of them, and what more natural than that he should write them or edit them under the Divine superintendence, during the forty years in the wilderness?

When we look through Genesis, it seems to be divided into parts, or books. For example, 1. From Gen. i. 1 to ii. 3, we have an account of the grand creation. 2. From ii. 4

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to iv. 26, we have an account of primeval man, his original purity, his temptation, fall, and its consequences, to the birth of Seth. 3. From v. 1 to vi. 8, we have the genealogy and brief history from Adam to Noah; and this section begins, "This is the book of the generations of Adam." 4. From vi. 9 to ix. 29, we have an account of the deluge and of Noah's life and death. 5. From x. 1 to xi. 9 we have the genealogical table of the descendants of Noah, -the key to all ancient history, with an account of the dispersion of the peoples. As we read x. 19, we see that it seems to have been written when Sodom and Gomorrah were still existing; and as much room is given to the genealogy of Ham as to those of Shem and Japheth together. 6. In xi. 10-26 we have the genealogy of Shem, through Arphaxad, closing with Abraham. 7. From xi. 27 to xxv. 11 we have the life of Abraham, closing with his death and the transfer of the blessing to Isaac. 8. In xxv. 12-18, we have the very brief genealogy and history of Ishmael. 9. From xxv. 19 to xxxv. 29 we have the history of Isaac and of Jacob and Esau. 10. In chap. xxxvi. we have the genealogy of Esau. 11. In chapters xxxvii. to 1. we have the history of Jacob and Joseph. We find conversations minutely recorded in Genesis, and events described as if an eye-witness wrote them. It seems most likely therefore, that Moses wrote the book of Genesis, or brought it together for the first time as one book, using such documents and traditions as were handed down to him, and that he edited and rewrote the whole under Divine superintendence, changing what was wrong, adding here and there what was necessary to make it plain to the people for whom he wrote it, aud all other matter that was necessary to give such a complete record of those first times and revelations of God to men, as would make this part of God's word "Profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in rightousness." 2-Tim. iii: 16. As examples of some things which Moses may have added, see the last clause of Gen. xiii. 7; also the last clause of Gen. xiv. 2, "Which is Zoar;" and in Gen. xxiii. 2, "The same is Hebron in the land of Canaan."

We believe then that the books of the Pentateuch are genuine; that in general they were written when they purport to have been written; and that Moses was the author of them; that he even re-wrote and edited Genesis so completely that it may be called his work. We do not claim that Moses wrote the account of his own death in the last chapter of Deuteronomy; we do not claim that there