them forty years without the ordinary means of fowing and reaping; fo Mofes afferts, "The "Lord thy God led thee thefe forty years in "the wildernefs,-and fed thee with manna;"that he might make thee know, that man doth "not live by bread only, but by every word "that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord "doth man live;" Deut. viii. 2, 3. Now, I find promifes of a fimilar import immediately after their converfion, and for the fame end of teaching them an intimate dependence upon God. Thus, "When the poor and needy seek "water, and there is none, and their tongue "faileth for thirft, I the Lord will hear them, "I the God of Ifrael will not forfake them. "I will open rivers in high places, and foun"tains in the midft of the vallies: I will make "the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry "land fprings of water. I will plant in the "wilderness the cedar, the fhittah-tree, and "the myrtle, and the oil-tree; I will fet in the "defert the fir-tree, and the pine, and the box"tree together. That they may fee, and know, "and confider, and understand together, that "the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the "Holy One of Ifrael hath created it;" Ha. xli. et 17.-20. "Remember ye not the former "things, neither confider the things of old. "Behold, I will do a new thing: now it shall ' spring

66

spring forth; fhall ye not know it? I will <c even make a way in the wilderness, and ri"vers in the defert. The beast of the field "fhall honour me, the dragons and the owls: "because I give waters in the wilderness, and ri"vers in the defert, to give drink to my people, 66 my chofen;" Ifa. xliii. 17.-20. "The Lord "hath redeemed his fervant Jacob. And they "thirfted not when he led them through the "deferts: he caufed the waters to flow out of "the rock for them; he clave the rock also, " and the waters gufhed out;" Ifa.xlviii. 20, 21. It will be readily allowed, that these expreffions have much of a figurative meaning; but when we reflect that they are introduced immediately upon the converfion of the Jews, as appears from the context'; that they obviously refer to the support of Ifrael in the wilderness of old; that the Jews at the time of their converfion are in the wilderness of Affyria, ready to perish, we mufl infer, that they have much of a literal meaning likewife; that they imply promises of temporal fuftenance, as well as fpi

ritual

(1) It is faid, in the laft cited paffage, "Go ye forth "out of Babylon," but the term there does not refer to ancient Babylon, any more than it does, Rev. xvii. 5. It fignifies the perfecution carried on by the blafphemous king, the head of the fyftem of fpiritual Babylon.

ritual nourishment, not for a day or a year, but for a confiderable length of time. Were they only to march through the wilderness, in order to take poffeffion of the land, as they came formerly from Babylon, confuming no more time than the distance betwixt the two places required; they might carry their provifions along with them, confequently fuch large and repeated promises of fupport in the wilderness would be unneceffary.

Another reason for continuing their fathers in the wilderness was, to confume the wicked from among the congregation; fo God fays: " And your children fhall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until 66 your carcafes be wafted in the wilderness ;" Numb. xiv. 33. The deftruction of these murmurers was defigned not only as a punishment to them, but likewife as a benefit to the whole congregation, by teaching them the use of dif cipline, and training them by the exercise of difcipline, to form them a pure fociety, previous to their fettlement in the land.

Now that there are 10me wicked individuals a mong the Jews, after the nation is converted in one body, we may infer from expreffions added to the promises juft quoted. "There " is no peace, faith the Lord, unto the wicked;" Ifa. xlviii. 22. These fame expreffions are repeated

peated, Ifa. Ivii. 21. and follow immediately after the promise of their conversion. Still more explicitly, Ezek xi. 19, 20. God promifes, "I "will give them one heart, and I will put a "new spirit within you and I will take the "ftony heart out of their flesh, and will give "them an heart of flesh. That they may walk "in my ftatutes, and keep mine ordinances, "and do them : and they shall be my people, " and I will be their God;" promises that clearly refer to their converfion in the latter day. He further adds, "But as for them whofe heart "walketh after the heart of their deteftable "things and their abominations, I will recom(6 pence their way upon their own heads, faith "the Lord God;" ver. 21. From which I conclude, that after the nation is converted, there will be fome wicked men among them, and confequently it requires time to purge out thefe from among the congregation, by the flow exercife of difcipline.

Accordingly, this is afferted in the most unequivocal manner: "And I will purge out from "among you the rebels, and them that tranf-grefs against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they fojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Ifrael;' Ezek. xx. 38. Every circumftance mentioned is contained in this paffage. There are rebels

and

and tranfgreffors against God in the congregation, after they are admitted into the bond of the co

venant.

They are tranfgreffors in the wilderness after they are brought "out of the country where "they fojourned." Thefe tranfgreffors die in the wilderness 66 ; they shall not enter into the "land of Ifrael."

This is further confirmed, and the nature of their rebellion in fome measure illuftrated; Ezek. xxxiv. 16.-22. God having promised to reftore his people, and to feed them like a flock on the mountains of Ifrael; ver. 14, 15. he proceeds to fhew the previous fteps, by which he prepared them for this good pafture; so that the passage intends his gathering them into the wilderness in which they are converted, and his treatment of them there after their conver fion: "I will feek that which was loft, and

bring again that which was driven away, "and will bind up that which was broken, "and will ftrengthen that which was fick: but "I will deftroy the fat and the ftrong; I will "feed them with judgment. And as for you, "Omy flock, thus faith the Lord God, Behold, "I judge between cattle and cattle, between "the rams and the he-goats. Seemeth it a "fmall thing unto you to have

eaten up the

"good pasture, but ye must tread down with