SERMON XXII.

The Prophet like unto Moses.

DEUT. Xviii. 18, 19.

I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.

SERMON XXIII.

Prediction of Future Judgments.

DEUT. XXviii. 65.

And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest; but the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind.

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SERMON XXIV.

God's Favour to his people.

DEUT. Xxxii. 9.

The Lord's portion is his people, Jacob is the

lot of his inheritance.

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SERMON XXV.

The Majesty and Glory of God.

DEUT. XXXiii. 26-29.

There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky. The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms; and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them. Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew. 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.

SERMON XXVI.

The Death of Moses.

DEUT. XXXIV. 4, 5.

And the Lord said unto Moses, this is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither. So Moses

the servant of the Lord died there in the land

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of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. 451

EXPOSITORY SERMONS.

SERMON I.

THE PLAGUE AMONG THE ISRAELITES.

NUMBERS XVI. 41.

But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the Lord.

In our last exposition, of the former part of this chapter, we witnessed a very sinful rebellion of some of the Levites and others against the authority which God had given to Moses and Aaron, and also the very awful judgment which was executed upon them for their sin. In this close of the chapter we have a most extraordinary exhibition of the folly and depravity of the people. It comes upon us, as we read the simple narrative of

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the history, so suddenly, so unexpectedly, so contrary to all that we could conceive of what would be their feelings under such circumstances, that we seem to require time to consider and reflect upon the natural state of the human heart, before we can at all account for it. The circumstances, let us remember, were these. Korah, a Levite, with Dathan and Abiram, of the tribe of Reuben, had brought together a very tumultuous assembly of the people in opposition to Moses and Aaron, with an intent to displace them from the offices of rank and power which they respectively held in the civil and ecclesiastical constitution of the Jewish nation. A display of the Lord's vengeance, signally out of the common course of nature, had cut off the authors and principal abettors of the sedition. The earth had opened, with a vast chasm, immediately under their feet, into which they had fallen, with all that belonged to them, and the earth had immediately again closed over them, while fire from heaven had consumed two hundred and fifty men who were preparing to offer incense. The people

had witnessed this judgment; horror-struck they had fled at the cry of them; they had seen that it was the Lord's doing, a miracle wrought directly by himself, to vindicate his own appointment, and to punish those who rebelled against them. We should have expected that they would have been terrified silenced and humbled, and warned by so terrific an example. We might have expected that they would have retired to their tents, submitting to the rulers whom he had appointed over them. But how great is our disappointment and surprise, when we read, "But on the morrow," so soon after, even

the very next day, "but on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the Lord." Can any thing be conceived more perverse and provoking than this? They say, "Ye have killed," as if this had been the act of Moses and Aaron, whereas it was evidently the immediate act of God himself, as an extraordinary and miraculous judgment upon them for their sin. To account