of a powerful army, to hinder their passage into it. From hence the Israelites journeyed to Mount Hor, which was forty-eight miles from Kadesh, where the second rock was smitten.

On Mount Hor, Aaron died at the commandment of the Lord, four months after his sister Miriam ; and Eleazar his son was invested with the office of high priest in his father's room. The Israelites mourned thirty days for Aaron.

A Canaanitish king, who was either king of Arad, or whose name was Arad, came out against Israel, and is by them defeated. After which they journeyed from Mount Hor, by way of the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom, and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. They spake against Moses and against God, which caused the Lord to manifest his displeasure with them, by sending fiery serpents among the people, which bit them, and much people of Israel died, see Numbers xxi. 6. The people hereupon apply to Moses to intercede with the Lord for them, acknowledging their sin, which he did, and receives orders from the Lord to make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and a promise is given, and that in a way of command, that every one that is bitten, should look upon it, and should live. It was a lively figure of Christ crucified; it is referred unto by our Lord himself in the 3rd chapter of John's gospel, and from which he preached to Nicodemus the necessity of his death. Dr. Goodwin says, 'Christ had no type of his being crucified, but the brazen serpent, which of all worms else God had only cursed.' I conceive it to be the only type ever given of Christ's being made a curse for us.

The prophet Habakkuk celebrates God's praise for this, when he says, “God came from Teman." Teman was a city of the Edomites, whose land the people compassed in the wilderness, when they were stung by fiery serpents, and healed by looking on a brazen serpent, set up to be a type of Christ. Teman is put for the whole land of Edom, and the prophet makes mention of it, for the great deliverance and mercy granted there to the people, when they were almost consumed; this is God's coming from Teman, see Numb. xxi. 5, 6, 7,8,9. When they were destroyed by fiery serpents, he heals them by a type of Christ, giving them corporeal and raising them to a faith of spiritual salvation.' Dr. Owen.

The misery which the Israelites at this time experienced, was the fruit of their murmurings, which so increased, that they slight and despise manna, wherewith the Lord had fed them so miraculously for about thirty-eight years. All which time, though in the wilderness, which was full of fiery serpents, yet the Lord suffered none of them to sting the people: but now he lets loose the fiery serpents upon them, as Amos ix. 3. "I will command the serpent, and he shall smite them." Paul takes notice of it, and of this dispensation of the Lord, 1 Cor. x, 9. saying, " Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents." It was Christ the Lord who was with the people in the wilderness, he it was whom the Israelites tempted.

The joint concern of the Eternal Three, in bringing Israel out of Egypt, and in conducting them in the wilderness, is set before us by the prophet Isaiah. Thus, "in all their afflictions he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them: and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old. But they rebelled and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore, he was turned to be their adversary, and he fought against them.”

The brazen serpent being fixed upon a pole, those who looked on it, or towards it, were healed.

From Zalmona, where they were stung with fiery serpents, they came to Punon, which is reckoned twenty miles; from thence they march to Oboth, twenty-four miles; from thence to Ijeabiram, sixteen miles; from thence to the brook Zered, or Dibon-gad, sixteen miles; from thence they removed and pitched on the other side Arnon, a river on the borders of Moab, which is in the wilderness that cometh out of the coasts of the Amorites. The river Arnon divided between the two countries, and bounded them between Moab and the Amorites. From thence they march to Beer, a place so called from a well which sprung up here.

The Lord spake to Moses, and promised to give them water without their asking for it. The people were gathered together, and they being affected with the mercy of God towards them, sung this song: "Spring up, O well, sing ye unto it." From thence they went to Mattanah, and they came to the wilderness of Kedomoth, see Deut. ii. 26. Moses sends a message to Sihon, king of the Amorites, desiring from him a grant to pass through his country, which he denied, and came forth against Israel to battle; and the Lord delivered him into their hands, and they possessed his country and dwelt therein. The Israelites go from Jaazer, a city that belonged to the Amorites, and went up by the way of Bashan, which was a nearer way to Canaan, a fine country, abounding with oxen, and sheep, and rich pastures, and very famous for oaks. And Og, the king of Bashan, went out against them, and he is destroyed by them, and all his people, and they possess his land.

Having settled some of their tribes in these kingdoms of Sihon and Og, they went forward and pitched in the plains of Moab, which threw Balak the king of Moab into the utmost dread and confusion; who, with the princes of the Midianites, who were equally concerned in the same danger, which they supposed threatened them, as they filled with consternation at it, enter into a mutual consultation; the fruit of which was, they send messengers to invite Balaam, the soothsayer, to come and curse them, i. e. the Israelites. They come to Balaam, and deliver their message, upon which Balaam consulting the Lord, refuses to go with them. Others are sent, more honourable than the former, and Balaam, as he conceives, obtains leave from the Lord, to go if they come to call him. He being impatient to receive the wages of unrighteousness, does not wait for the princes to call him, but arose in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with them. Upon this journey, the Lord manifested his anger against

him for his desire and design to curse the Israelites; he was reproved by his ass, which speaking with man's voice, forbad the madness of the prophet. The angel Jehovah appeared unto him, told him his danger, the danger he had been in, and what would have befallen him, if his ass had not declined him; of which ass, a very wonderful relation is given, which extorts from Balaam a confession of his sin, with an offer to return back, which is not accepted; the Lord intending to turn his curse into a blessing; which accordingly was the case, to the grief of the false prophet, and the great mortifiIcation of Balak.

Many great and glorious things are uttered by Balaam, under the influence of the Holy Ghost, as the Spirit of prophecy, concerning the strength, happiness, safety, and glory of the people of Israel, of the unchangeableness of God, and the irreversibleness of his blessing. He concludes with a panegyric, setting out the many blessings and mercies bestowed upon them, such as a numerous offspring; an exaltation of them above other kings and nations, whom they should conquer, as they did Amalek; victory over the nations of Canaan; peace and security in their own conquered dominions, being a blessing to those who blessed them, and a curse to those who cursed them; all which increases Balak's anger, that Balaam instead of cursing them, had solemnly blessed them three times: and these three several times, which Balaam makes his apology for; and he concludes with a prophecy, foretelling the victory the Israelites would have over their enemies. Though this man had at this time the Spirit of God given unto him, as the Spirit of prophecy, yet he was not a partaker of the Spirit of God, in his life-giving influence, in his soul-quickening and sanctifying operations.

After this, whilst the people of Israel abode at Shittim, in the plain of Moab, (it was so called from the shittim wood which grew here in great abundance) by the cursed advice which Balaam gave to Balak, who was taught to lay a stumbling-block before the children of Israel, they were drawn into the sins of fornication and idolatry, which brought down the wrath of God upon them. Upon which the Lord commands Moses to take all the princes of the tribes to the court of judicature, and order the delinquents to be brought before them: and try and judge and condemn those they found guilty, and cause them to be hanged somewhere near the tabernacle. Moses from the Lord forth the command, which was executed upon one thousand of them, as it seems from Moses and Paul's account together.

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The plague broke forth among them, saith the prophet, Ps. cvi. 29. The apostle speaking of it, I Cor. x. 8. saith," Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand." It seemeth, saith Ainsworth, that one thousand were slain by the judges, see Numb. xxv. 5. and twentythree thousand by the hand of God, of which latter number the apostle speaketh; or one thousand of the chief were hanged, and the rest slain by the sword.

(To be continued.)

ESSAYS. No. C.

ON CHRISTIAN CHARACTERISTICS.

No. X.

THAT the church is the property of the Son of God is undeniably evident, for the Father gave it to him before the world began, and no event that has since taken place could rise high enough to rob him of his interest in her, nor to break the bond of union by which they are held together as head and members, husband and wife. It is true, that sin has robbed man of the perfection of his creation-state, but it could never rise to disturb the order of the heavenly world, and divest the heirs of grace of their interest in eternal love. This is wholly of grace, and it is eternally distinct in its kind from the religion of nature. The creatures of God enter life according to his decision, on principles which are purely physical in their kind; but then as Adam was by divine constitution the root of his family, and a federal head to them in law, there is an absolute necessity that his children should appear on the globe, or where would be his relative fulness? We cannot admit contingency here, for if we do, where shall we look for the election of grace? That the settled order of things as it lays present to the mind of God, and as it will be finally disclosed at the settlement of all his affairs, is replete with mystery to our scanty minds; but because we cannot comprehend the plan of infinite wisdom, and make its numerous parts comport with our views of consistency, are we to turn insolently round upon God, and to affirm, that his ways are disorderly, and that our confusion is perfect concord? We are surrounded in this world with expressions of a wonder-working God, and among other proofs of his wisdom is that of preserving the human house in existence. When we contemplate the nature and effect of sin, we are persuaded that man is placed beneath the control of Omnipotence; for the momentary gratification of an evil passion, or some subsidiary lust, has often been the occasion of destroying animal life. Yet there are laws perpetually in operation which cannot be prevented by man, by which the counsel of God is accomplished, and the whole frame-work of nature is rendered subordinate to the kingdom of grace. It appears to me, that although man is greatly disgraced through his apostacy from God, that all his powers physically considered are substantially the same that they were before he sacrificed his rectitude, by violating the covenant of works, to which he was subjected in Eden. We have not acquired any new physical power of action by sin, but we have lost the right use of our mental and physical powers by the commission of it. "Be fruitful and multiply," was the original law of God to Adam, and it has never been rescinded; therefore, the original mandate of God is still in force, and it is exemplified by the daily multiplication of our species. Hence we see the children of one father entering this proVOL. IX.-No. 114.]

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vince of the empire of God alike corrupted by sin, and in the same condemnation because of it; but the increase of the human family is not a contingency which merely rests upon the use of physical powers, though that is an instrument by which God is accomplishing his will, but God has assigned to Adam a fulness which is rapidly advancing to perfection on physical principles. Now this human household is, by the will of God, separated into two distinct branches; one of them is given to Christ, to be to him in a spiritual manner a fulness, and the other is left by God in the state in which they were created. The whole establishment as descended from the common root of man is corrupted, and they alike have merited by sin the righteous indignation of God. But when the mass of creatures lay before God in a pure state, he then divided it, and gave to Christ his Son the election of grace to be his body, over which he is the appointed head. This grant was conferred upon him by his heavenly Father, and he therefore received them in charge from his hands, and they will be forthcoming in that day when God will appear to judge the quick and dead. The precious Saviour acknowledged this most important truth in his memorable prayer for his brethren, "I have declared thy name to the men which thou gavest nie out of the world; thine they were, and thou gavest them me." We are not to suppose that the great Immanuel was denying or concealing his eternal Godhead when he thus prayed to his Father on the behalf of the church, for he can no more cease to be Jehovah by nature, than he could have become man, had it not been the will of God he should be his complex Son. He continued what he is as by necessity of nature, and became by a creature-nature being united to his eternal person what he was ordained to be, viz. God-man in one mysterious person. Thus Christ has an interest in the church peculiar to himself. As one of the eternal persons or hypostasis in the essence of Jehovah, he, in common with the Father and the Holy Ghost, who are the one God revealed to us in the scriptures, has an undisputed right to the church; but as the nature of the church stands in his person, he is related to her in a spiritual manner, in that way the Father and the Holy Ghost are not related to her. We have above remarked, that the events of time have not affected this establishment of grace, and the sin of the creature man has not robbed him of his interest in eternal love. It is but a just consequence of such causes to conclude, that the Saviour will demand and claim the church as his property. The peculiar interest which God has founded by his love and will, alike comprehends Christ and his members; but there is a pre-eminence seen in the salvation of that very creature that stands in God, for eternal love has raised him to that eminence, and rendered him in a certain sense independent of his brethren.

Now then, we perceive that we are not related to a mere creature, as some men have boldly asserted we are, but we are connected with God in our nature. What an act of sovereignty is this, that worms of earth should be associated with Immanuel, and that he should deno