that Jehovah, the one true God, the King of Ifrael, had himself an immediate hand in the administration of particular providence; that he had not given it out of his own hands into the hands of any inferior beings whatsoever, which error was the great foundation of idolatry. It further fhewed the power of Jehovah the true God, manifefted in the protection of his people, fuperior to the power of all the idols of the Heathen; and that none of the falfe gods they worshipped could be compared to Jehovah.

Thisi s a question then not to be argued from the common rights of men, and nations; for no fuch rights, either of invafion or conqueft, are fo much as pretended to in the moft diftant manner. We fee the only point in question, is, what are the rights of God's fupreme authority? What is confiftent with the wisdom of his government, how far he may punish the greateft immoralities with temporal evils? Afk the Sacred Hiftory, it will tell you, the Hebrews fet up no title to the land of Canaan, either civil or religious in their own right; it only makes the rights of the Sovereign of the world as extenfive as the rights of the chief magiftrates in every government are allowed by the laws of nature and nations to be over their own fubjects. The Scriptures on this question only affert, that God gave a commiffion to execute his fentence, which was either a forfeiture of lands, or life, for a long commiffion of crimes, that defervedly incurred the forfeiture of both.

Whether the Hebrew nation had really fuch a commiffion from God, or no; whether they were truly directed by divine oracle; whether fuch wonders were really wrought before their eyes, and fuch unquestionable inftances of divine favour and protection in a long feries for many years, as the Hebrew hiftory relates: thefe are all queftions of fact. But in all fuch queftions general and abftract reafonings can have no place, where the facts themselves are naturally and morally poffible, as every one may perceive they are in this cafe. If the fupreme Governour of the world has a right to give fuch commiffion, if it is not unjust to use the hands of men, inftead of a plague or fire from heaven, to punish the wickedness of men, the only queftion that can remain in such a cafe is this, whether in fact the Hebrew nation did really receive fuch a commiflion from Je

hovah, or no: Thus far then the whole will rest upon the evidence of the Mofaic revelation; and there I fhall leave it, it not being the defign of this differtation to enter into an argument, in which many, as I apprehend, have already given so full fatisfaction. Rev. Mofes Lowman.

§ 175. The fulfilment of the Mofaical pro$175. phecies concerning the Jervs an unanfwerable argument for the truth of the Bible.

IT is obfervable that the prophecies of Mofes abound most in the latter part of his writings. As he drew nearer his end, it pleafed God to open to him larger profpects of things. As he was about to take leave of the people, he was enabled to difclofe unto them more particulars of their future ftate and condition. The defign of this work will permit us to take notice of fuch only as have fome reference to thefe later ages; and we will confine ourfelves principally to the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy, the greater part whereof we may fee accomplished in the world at this present time.

This great prophet and lawgiver is here propofing at large to the people the bleflings for obedience, and the curfes for difobedience: and indeed he had foretold at feveral times and upon feveral occasions, that they fhould be happy or miferable in the world, as they were obedient or difobedient to the law that he had given them. And could there be any ftronger evidence of the divine original of the Mofaical law? and hath not the interpofition of providence been wonderfully remarkable in their good or bad fortune? and is not the truth of the prediction fully attefted by the whole feries of their history from their firit fettlement in Canaan to this very day? But he is larger and more particular in recounting the curfes than the bleffings, as if he had a prefcience of the people's difobedience, and forefaw that a larger portion and longer continuation of the evil would fall to their fhare, than of the good. I know that fome critics make a divifion of thefe prophecies, and imagine that one part relates to the former captivity of the Jews, and to the calamities which they fuffered under the Chaldæans; and that the other part relates to the latter captivity of the Jews, and to the calamities which they fuffered under the Romans: but there is no need

of

of

any fuch diftinction: there is no reason to think that any fuch was intended by the author; feveral prophecies of the one part as well as of the other have been fulfilled at both periods, but they have all more amply been fulfilled during the latter period; and there cannot be a more lively picture than they exhibit, of the ftate of the Jews at prefent.

1. We will confider them with a view to the order of time, rather than the order wherein they lie; and we may not improperly begin with this paffage, ver. 49, "The Lord fhall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth, a nation whofe tongue thou shalt not understand ;" and the Chaldeans might be faid to come from far, in comparison with the Moabites, Philiftines, and other neighbours, who ufed to infeft Judea. Much the fame defcription is given of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah, (v. 15.) "Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O houfe of Ifrael, faith the Lord: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whofe language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they fay." He compares them in like manner to eagles. (Sam. iv. 19.) "Our perfecutors are fwifter than the eagles of the heaven: they purfued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness." But this defcription cannot be applied to any nation with fuch propriety as to the Romans. They were truly brought from far, from the end of the earth. Vefpafian and Adrian, the two great conquerors and destroyers of the Jews, both came from commanding here in Britain. The Romans too for the rapidity of their conquests might very well be compared to eagles, and perhaps not without an allufion to the ftandard of the Roman armies, which was an eagle: and their language was more unknown to the Jews than the Chaldee.

"A na

2. The enemies of the Jews are farther characterised in the next verfc. tion of fierce countenance, which fhall not regard the perfon of the old, nor fhow favour to the young." Such were the Chaldæans; and the facred hiftorian faith exprefsly, (2 Chron. xxxvi. 17.) " that for the wickedness of the Jews God brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who flew their young men with the fword, in the houfe of their fanctuary, and had no compaffion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age; he gave

Such alfo were'

them all into his hand." the Romans: for when Vefpafian entered Gadara, Jofephus faith, that he flew all man by man, the Romans thowing mercy to no age, out of hatred to the nation, and remembrance of their former injuries. The like flaughter was made at Gamala, for nobody efcaped befides two women, and they efcaped by concealing themselves from the rage of the Romans. For they did not fo much as fpare young children, but every one at that time fnatching up many caft them down from the citadel.

Their enemies were alfo to befiege and take their cities, ver. 52. "And he fhall befiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedft, throughout all thy land. So Shalmanefer king of Affyria came up against Samaria, and befieged it, and at the end of three years they took it." (2 Kings xviii. 9, 10.) "So did Sennacherib king of Affyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them:" (Ib. ver. 13.) and Nebuchadnezzar and his captains took and fpoiled Jerufalem, burnt the city and temple, "and brake down the walls of Jerufalemn round about.' (Ib. xxv. 10.) So likewife the Romans, as we may read in Jofephus's history of the Jewish war, demolished feveral fortified places, before they befieged and destroyed Jerufalem. And the Jews may very well be faid to have trulted in their high and fenced walls, for they feldom ventured a battle in the open field. They confided in the ftrength and fituation of Jerufalem, as the Jebunites, the former inhabitants of the place, had done before them: (2 Sam. v. 6, 7.) infomuch that they are reprefented faying (Jer. xxi. 13.) "Who fhall come down against us? or who fhall enter into our habitation?" Jerufalem was indeed a very strong place, and wonderfully fortified both by nature and art, according to the defcription of Tacitus as well as of Jofephus: and yet how many times was it taken? It was taken by Shishak king of Egypt, by Nebuchadnezzar, by Antiochus Epiphanes, by Pompey, by Sofius and Herod, before its final destruction by Titus.

4. In thefe ficges they were to fuffer much, and especially from famine, "in the ftraitnefs wherewith their enemies fhould diftrefs them," ver. 53, &c. And accordingly when the king of Syria befieged Samaria, "there was a great faand behold they befieged mine in Samaria;

it, until an afs's head was fold for fourfcore pieces of filver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung for five pieces of filver." (2 Kings vi. 25.) And when Nebuchadnezzar befieged Jerufalem, "the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land." (2 Kings xxv, 3.) And in the laft fiege of Jerufalem by the Romans there was a moft terrible famine in the city, and Jofephus hath given fo melancholy an account of it, that we cannot read it with out fhuddering. He faith particularly, that women fnatched the food out of the very mouths of their husbands, and fons of their fathers, and (what is most miferable) mothers of their infants: and in another place he faith, that in every houfe, if there appeared any femblance of food, a battle enfued, and the dearest friends and relations fought with one another, fnatching away the miserable provifions of life: fo literally were the words of Mofes fulfilled, ver. 54, &c. "the man's eye fhall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bofom, and towards his children, because he hath nothing left him in the fiege, and in the ftraitnefs wherewith thine enemies fhall distress thee in all thy gates," and in like manner the woman's " eye fhall be evil towards the husband of her bofom, and towards her fon, and towards her daughter."

5. Nay it was exprefsly foretold, that not only the men, but even the women fhould eat their own children. Mofes had foretold the fame thing before, Levit. xxvi. 29. "Ye shall eat the flesh of your fons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat." He repeats it here, ver. 53, "And thou fhalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy fons and of thy daughters;" and more particularly ver. 56, &c. The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not adventure to fet the fole of her foot upon the ground, for delicateness and tenderness-fhe fhall eat her children for want of all things fecretly in the fiege and ftraitnefs, where with thine enemies fhall distress thee in thy gates." And it was fulfilled about 600 years after the time of Mofes among the Ifraelites, when Samaria was befieged by the king of Syria, and two women agreed together, the one to give up her fon to be boiled and eaten to-day, and the other to deliver up her fon to be dreffed and eaten to-morrow, and one of them was eaten accordingly. (2 Kings vi. 28, 29.)

It was fulfilled again about

900 years after the time of Mofes, among the Jews in the fiege of Jerufalem before the Babylonish captivity; and Baruch thus exprefleth it, (ii. 1, &c.) "The Lord hath made good his word, which he pronounced against us, to bring upon us great plagues, such as never happened under the whole heaven, as it came to país in Jerufalem, according to the things that were written in the law of Mofes, that a man should eat the flesh of his own fon, and the flesh of his own daughter:" and Jeremiah thus laments it in his Lamentations, (vi. 10.) "The hands of the pitiful women have fodden their own children, they were their meat in the deftruction of the daughter of my people." And again it was fulfilled above 1500 years after the time of Mofes in the laft fiege of Jerufalem by Titus, and we read in Jofephus particularly of a noble woman's killing and eating her own fucking child. Mofes faith, "The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not adventure to fet the fole of her foot upon the ground, for delicateness and tendernes:" and there cannot be a more natural and lively defcription of a woman, who was according to Jofephus illuftrious for her family and riches. Mofes faith, "fhe fhall eat them for want of all things:" and according to Jofephus fhe had been plundered of all her fubftance and provifions by the tyrants and foldiers. Mofes faith, that the thould do it" fecretly;" and according to Jofephus, when he had boiled and eaten half, fhe covered up the reft, and kept it for another time. At fo many different times and diftant periods hath this prophecy been fulfilled; and one would have thought that fuch diftrefs and horror had almost tranfcended imagination, and much less that any perfon could certainly have forefeen and foretold it.

6. Great numbers of them were to be deftroyed, ver. 62. "And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were, as the ftars of heaven for multitude." Now not to mention any other of the calamities and flaughters which they have undergone, there was in the laft fiege of Jerufalem by Titus an infinite multitude, faith Jofephus, who perifhed by famine: and he computes, that during the whole fiege, the number of those who were deftroyed by that and by the war amounted to eleven hundred thoufand, the people being affembled from all parts to celebrate the paffover: and the

fame

fame author hath given us an account of 1,240,490 destroyed in Jerufalem and other parts of Judea, befides 99,200 made priToners; as Bafnage has reckoned them up from that hiftorian's account. Indeed there is not a nation upon earth, that hath been exposed to fo many maffacres and perfecutions. Their history abounds with them. If God had not given them a promise of a numerous pofterity, the whole race would many a time have been extirpated.

7. They were to be carried into Egypt, and fold for flaves at a very low price, ver. 68. "And the Lord fhall bring thee into Egypt again, with fhips and there ye fhall be fold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man fhall buy you." They had come out of Egypt triumphant, but now they fhould return thither as flaves. They had walked through the fea as dry land at their coming out, but now they should be carried thither in fhips. They might be carried thither in the fhips of the Tyrian or Sidonian merchants, or by the Romans who had a fleet in the Mediterranean; and this was a much fafer way of conveying fo many prifoners, than fending them by land. It appears from Jofephus, that in the reigns of the two firft Ptolemies many of the Jews were flaves in Egypt. And when Jerufalem was taken by Titus, of the captives who were above 17 years he fent many bound to the works in Egypt; thofe under 17 were fold; but fo little care was taken of thefe captives, that eleven thousand of them perished for want. And we learn from St. Jerome, that after their laft overthrow by Adrian, many thousands of them were fold, and thofe who could not be fold, were transported into Egypt, and perished by fhipwreck or famine, or were maffacred by the inhabitants.

8. They were to be rooted out of their own land, ver. 63. "And ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goeft to poffefs it." They were indeed plucked from off their own land, when the ten tribes were carried into captivity by the king of Affyria, and other nations were planted in their ftead; and when the two other tribes were carried away captive to Babylon; and when the Romans took away their place and nation; befides other captivities and transportations of the people. Afterwards, when the Emperor Adrian had fubdued the rebellious Jews,

:

he published an edict forbidding them upon pain of death to fet foot in Jerufalem, or even to approach the country round about it. Tertullian and Jerome fay, that they were prohibited from entering into Judea. From that time to this their country hath been in the poffeflion of foreign lords and mafters, few of the Jews dwelling in it, and thofe only of a low fervile condition. Benjamin of Tudela in Spain, a celebrated Jew of the twelfth century, travelled into all parts to visit those of his own nation, and to learn an exact state of their affairs and he hath reported, that Jerufalem was almost entirely abandoned by the Jews. He found there not above two hundred perfons, who were for the most part dyers of wool, and who every year purchased the privilege of the monopoly of that trade. They lived all together under David's tower, and made there a very little figure. If Jerufalem had fo few Jews in it, the rest of the holy land was ftill more depopulate. He found two of them in one city, twenty in another, moft whereof were dyers.. In other places there were more perfons; but in upper Galilee, where the nation was in greatelt repute after the ruin of Jerufalem, he found hardly any Jews at all. A very accurate and faithful traveller of our own nation, who was himself alfo in the holy land, faith that it is for the most part now inhabited by Moors and Arabians; thofe poffefling the valleys, and these the mountains. Turks there be few: but many Greeks with other Chriftians of all feels and nations, fuch as impute to the place an adherent holinefs. Here are alfo fome Jews, yet inherit they no part of the land, but in their own country do live as aliens.

9. But they were not only to be plucked off from their own land, but also to be difperfed into all nations, ver. 25. "And thou fhalt be removed in all the kingdoms of the earth;" and again, ver. 64. "And the Lord fhall fcatter thee among all people, from one end of the earth even unto the other." Nehemiah (i. 8, 9.) confeffeth_that_thefe words were fulfilled in the Babyionish captivity; but they have more amply been fulfilled fince the great difperfion of the Jews by the Romans. What people indeed have been fcattered fo far and wide as they? and where is the nation, which is a ftranger to them, or to which they are ftrangers? They swarm in many parts of the East, are fpread through most of the countries of Europe and Afric, and there are several

families

families of them in the West Indies. They circulate through all parts, where trade and money circulate; and are, as I may fay, the brokers of the whole world.

10. But though they fhould be fo difperfed, yet they fhould not be totally deftroyed, but still fubfift as a diftinct people, as Mofes had before foretold. Levit. xxvi. 44, "And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not caft them away, neither will I abhor them, to deftroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them." The Jewish nation, like the bush of Mofes, hath been always burning, but is never confumed. And what a marvellous thing is it, that after fo many wars, battles, and fieges, after fo many fires, famines, and peftilences, after fo many rebellions, maffacres, and perfecutions, after fo many years of captivity, flavery, and mifery, they are not deftroyed utterly, and though fcattered among all people, yet fubfift as a diftinct people by themfelves? Where is any thing comparable to this to be found in all the hiftories, and in all the nations under the fun?

11. However, they fhould fuffer much in their difperfion, and should not reft long in any place, ver. 65, "And among thefe nations fhalt thou find no eafe, neither fhall the fole of thy foot have reft." They have been fo far from finding reft, that they have been banished from city to city, from country to country. In many places they have been banished, and recalled, and banished again. We will only just mention their great banishments in modern times, and from countries very well known. In the latter end of the thirteenth century they were banished from England by Edward I. and were not permitted to return and fettle again till Cromwell's time. In the latter end of the fourteenth century they were banished from France (for the feventh time, fays Mezeray) by Charles VI; and ever fince they have been only tolerated, they have not enjoyed entire liberty, except at Metz, where they have a fynagogue. In the latter end of the fifteenth century they were banished from Spain by Ferdinand and Habella; and according to Mariana, there were an hundred and feventy thousand families, or as fome fay, eight hundred thoufand perfons who left the kingdom: most of them paid dearly to John II. for a refuge in Portugal, but within a few years were expelled from thence alfo by his fucceffor Emanuel. And in our own time, within thefe few years, they were

banished from Prague by the queen of Bohemia.

12. They should be " oppreffed and spoiled evermore ;" and their houses" and " vineyards," their "oxen" and "affes" fhould be taken from them, and they fhould be only oppreffed and crushed alway," ver. 29, &c. And what frequent feizures have been made of their effects in almost all countries? how often have they been fined and fleeced by almost all governments? how often have they been forced to redeem their lives with what is almoft as dear as their lives, their treafure? Inftances are innumerable. We will only cite an historian of our own, who fays that Henry III. always polled the Jews at every low ebb of his fortunes. One Abraham, who was found delinquent, was forced to pay feven hundred marks for his redemption. Aaron, another Jew, protefted, that the king had taken from him at times thirty thousand marks of filver, befides two hundred marks of gold, which he had prefented to the queen. And in like manner he used many others of the Jews. And when they were banished in the reign of Edward I. their eftates were confifcated, and immenfe fums thereby accrued to the crown.

13. "Their fons and their daughters fhould be given unto another people," ver. 32. And in feveral countries, in Spain and Portugal particularly, their children have been taken from them by order of the government, to be educated in the popith religion. The fourth council of Toledo ordered that all their children fhould be taken from them, for fear they should partake of their errors, and that they should be fhut up in monafteries, to be inftructed in the Chriftian truths. And when they were banished from Portugal, the king, fays Mariana, ordered all their children, under 14 years of age, to be taken from them, and baptized: a practice not at all justifiable, adds the hiftorian, becaufe none ought to be forced to become Chriftans, nor children to be taken from their parents.

14. They thould be mad for the fight of their eyes which they fhould fee,"

ver. 34.

And into what madness, fury, and deiperation have they been puthed by the cruel ufage, extortions, and oppreflions which they have undergone? We will alledge only two fimilar inftances, one from ancient, and one from modern history. After the deftruction of Jerufalem by Titus, fome of the worst

of