"and officers, and their judges, stood on this side the Ark and "on that side, before the Priests and the Levites which bare "the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, as well the stranger, 66 as he that was born among them; half of them over against "Mount Gerizim, and half of them over against Mount Ebal, 66 as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded before, that "they should bless the people of Israel. And afterwards he "read all the words of the Law, the blessings and cursings, "according to all that is written in the book of the Law: there was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua "read not before all the congregation of Israel, with the “women, and the little ones, and the strangers that were con" versant among them." 66 Such was the solemn promulgation of the Mosaic Law, at the very commencement of the settlement of the Jews in the land of their inheritance; and in every subsequent transaction of Joshua, we find he acted according to the same Law: * "As the "Lord commanded Moses his servant, so did Moses command "Joshua, and so did Joshua; he left nothing undone of all that "the Lord commanded Moses." Moses had appointed the mode of distributing the land among the tribes, and according to his command was the mode adopted. He commanded that the Levites should have no inheritance in land, and no inheritance was given them: he commanded that six cities of refuge for him who had been unintentionally guilty of manslaughter should be appointed, and they were appointed: he commanded that eight-and-forty cities should be given to the Levites out of the different tribes, by lot, and they were so given. When the conquest of the land was completed, and the people had rest, the soldiers of the two tribes and a half, whom Moses had planted east of Jordan, wished to be dismissed to their families; Joshua dismissed them with this panegyric and this charge: + "Ye have kept all that Moses the servant of the Lord com"manded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that I com"manded you; therefore now return ye, and get ye unto your "tents, and unto the land of your possession, which Moses the sing and cursing in confirmation of the decalogue, contained in twelve verses of that chapter, and to be solemnly pronounced by the twelve tribes assembled for that purpose at the erection of this public monument, of the solemn public reading and recognition of the Mosaic Law. +Joshua, xxii. 2, 4, 5. * Joshua, xi. 15. "servant of the Lord gave you on the other side Jordan. But "take diligent heed to do the commandment and the Law, "which Moses the servant of the Lord charged you, to love "the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep "his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him "with all your heart and with all your soul." And, to close all, when Joshua was old, and was conscious of his approaching death, he "called for all Israel, and for their Elders, and "for their Heads, and for their Judges, and for their Officers;" he recounts the benefits of God, he recapitulates the history and the warnings of the Pentateuch, and commanded them, "Be ye therefore very courageous to keep, and to do all that is "written in the book of the Law of Moses, that ye turn not "aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left. And the "people said unto Joshua, the Lord our God will we serve, " and his voice will we obey: so Joshua made a covenant with "the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance "in Shechem; and Joshua wrote these words in the book of "the Law of God, and set up a monument of the transaction "by the sanctuary of the Lord.” * Now, what was this book of the Law? Undoubtedly the same of which it is said, that "when Moses had made an end of writing the words of the "Law in a book, until they were finished; he commanded the "Levites, and said, take this book of the Law, and put it in "the side of the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God, "that it may be a witness against you." That book which he commanded to be read before all Israel, at the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, at the feast of tabernacles. This surely must have been the same with that which the Jews have received, from the present hour back to the Babylonish Captivity: which must have preceded that event, because it is also received by the hostile Samaritans, who were planted in Judea at the commencement of the Captivity; which must have preceded the division of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel, because it was acknowledged in both; which must have preceded the establishment of the kings, because it supposes no such form of government, but rather condemns it. In a word, that book of the Law, which every writer, and * Joshua, xxii. 2, 6. xxiv. 24—26. Vide the entire twenty-third and twenty-fourth chapters. every sect amongst the Jews have quoted and acknowledged, in every possible form of quotation and acknowledgment, from the present period, back to the immediate successor of Moses himself, who solemnly attests its authenticity and divine original. I trust, therefore, I have sufficiently established the introductory point I wished to prove; even that the Jewish nation has received the Pentateuch, as containing an authentic account of the conduct and institutions of their celebrated legislator, from the very æra when these institutions commenced. LECTURE II. The Authenticity and Truth of the four last books of the Pentateuch, proved from the subject and structure of the history, so far as the facts are not miraculous-Importance and peculiar nature of its various regulations concerning property-Publicity and importance of the main series of facts-Marks of truth in the minute detail of these facts-Simplicity of style and narrative-Selection and arrangement of facts and circumstances, such as is natural if Moses were the writer, unaccountable otherwise-Impartiality-Comparison of the Pentateuch, in this respect, with Josephus. DEUTERONOMY, xxxi. 9. "And Moses wrote all this Law, and delivered it unto the Priests, the sons of Levi, and unto all the Elders of Israel." Ir is the object of these lectures, to prove the divine original of that Law which the Jewish legislator is stated to have thus solemnly delivered to his nation. The four last books of the Pentateuch contain this Law, and the history of the facts on which its authority is founded; it is therefore necessary to prove that these books are genuine, and the history they relate true. The proof of this may be deduced, either from the external testimony by which their truth and genuineness is supported, or from the internal structure of the works themselves. The former topic I have already noticed, and endeavoured to show that these books have been received by the Jews from the very first settlement of their nation, as containing an authentic and faithful account of their lawgiver and his institutions. And if they have been so received, we can scarcely doubt the truth of the facts which they detail; for it must be remembered, that the history does not relate the origin of the Jews as a nation, after a length of time had elapsed, when we might suppose fiction may have been employed to conceal the weakness or the barbarism of its infancy, but that it was published and received while these events were transacting, or immediately after they had taken place, and that it was incorporated with the system of Laws by which the religion of the people. was from the very first regulated; on which their liberties were founded; by which the rights and privileges of every class and every profession were adjusted; and, above all, by which the distribution and the descent of property were determined. We may also remark, that the nature of several Laws concerning property, was such, that if they had not been enacted before its distribution among the people, and established as the tenure and condition on which it was held, their introduction at any subsequent period would have excited a great ferment and great opposition. Such was the Law of release from all debts and all personal servitude every seventh year; * and that Law which ordered, that if the property of any family had been: alienated by sale, it should be restored to the family every fiftieth year, or year of Jubilee. All who know the commotions. which attempts to discharge debts, and change the distribution of property, have always excited, and who recollect the examples of Sparta, Athens, and Rome, in this matter, will be sensible, that a code, containing such regulations as these, could not have been established as the regular Law of the Jewish state, without opposition, except before the distribution of property, and as the condition on which it was held; and therefore, before the settlement of the Jews in the land of their inheritance. Another regulation as to property, occurs in Leviticus, of a singular kind: "When," (says the Lawgiver +) "ye shall come "into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for "food, then ye shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised: "three years shall it be as uncircumcised unto you: it shall not "be eaten of. But in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall "be holy to praise the Lord withal. And in the fifth year "shall ye eat of the fruit thereof: I am the Lord your God.” Now, would such a regulation as this have been observed, if it had not been established on clear authority, before the Jews took possession of the promised land? And if it never had been established and observed, what motive could have induced * Vide Deuteronomy, xv. and Leviticus, xxv. + Leviticus, xix. 23–25. |