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THE PENTATEUCH, IN ITS PROGRESSIVE REVELATIONS OF GOD TO MEN.
THE PENTATEUCH, IN ITS PROGRESSIVE REVELATIONS OF GOD TO MEN.
Transcriber’s Notes The cover image was provided by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain. Punctuation has been standardized. Most abbreviations have been expanded in tool-tips for screen-readers and may be seen by hovering the mouse over the abbreviation. The Table of Contents has been modified by the Transcriber to agree with the text. The original text shows quotations within quotations set off by similar quote marks. The inner quotations have been changed to alternate quote mark
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PREFACE.
PREFACE.
M Y reasons for treating the Pentateuch topically rather than textually will be obvious. Criticism on the original text is rarely needed. There is seldom the least occasion to aid the reader in following the line of thought or the course of argument. The demand here is rather for the discussion and due presentation of the great themes of the book. My plan has therefore aimed to meet this demand, discussing these themes critically so far as seemed necessary either because of their intrinsic natur
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INTRODUCTION. THE REVELATIONS OF GOD TO MEN PROGRESSIVE.
INTRODUCTION. THE REVELATIONS OF GOD TO MEN PROGRESSIVE.
In natural order, the next lesson like this, is God in providence —God administering the agencies of earthly good or ill, making his presence manifest among his intelligent and moral offspring, and even “coming down to see” (as the early record has it) what men were doing and whether the cry coming up to him told truthfully of the guilty violence perpetrated by man upon his fellows. This idea—God ruling over the race in righteous retribution for their good or evil deeds—was obviously one of the
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CHAPTER I. CREATION.
CHAPTER I. CREATION.
2. What is the true idea of nature, and what the line between nature and the supernatural? A reference to familiar facts will best set forth the case. Thus; it is in and by nature that at a certain temperature water becomes vapor; at another temperature, ice; that vapor rises in the atmosphere, water runs downward, and ice abides under the laws of solids. On the other hand it is not in nature that water in any of its forms creates itself. Its elements can not begin to be, save by some power abov
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CHAPTER II. THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN.
CHAPTER II. THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN.
(1.) From traces of man upon the crust of the earth, i. e. in the rock-strata, the drift-deposits, or in caves and lake-dwellings, or in monuments of human labor and skill: And (2.) from the traditions of the most ancient nations and the high antiquity of their existence, civilization, and monuments. Under the first head the traces are either (A.) Remains of the human skeleton ; or (B.) Remains of man’s work and of his tools. (A.) As to the remains of the human skeleton . By universal admission
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CHAPTER III. HEBREW CHRONOLOGY.
CHAPTER III. HEBREW CHRONOLOGY.
In support of this long period for the Judges may be urged— (1.) The authority of Paul as above (Acts 13: 20) which makes this period 450 years. (2.) Josephus makes the interval from the Exodus to the founding of the temple 592 years, and not 480. The Jews of China also make it 592—facts which favor the supposition that the Hebrew text of 1 K. 6: 1, is in error. It can not be supposed that either Josephus or the Chinese Jews adjusted their figures to harmonize with Paul. (3.) The internal dates
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CHAPTER IV. THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN RESUMED.
CHAPTER IV. THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN RESUMED.
(e) It is a significant fact that the Chaldean tradition of the deluge as preserved by Berosus sets forth the special care taken by Noah to preserve and transmit to the new-born nations after the flood the arts and sciences which had been developed before that catastrophe. They say he was admonished to put in writing an account of these arts and sciences and deposit it in a place of safety until the flood should be past. This tradition reveals the fact of a current belief that there was such kno
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CHAPTER V. THE SABBATH.
CHAPTER V. THE SABBATH.
T HE first human pair have their first earthly want met by their Maker in a home —a quiet, beautiful spot (precisely where we know not, but near the source of the great Euphrates) in which trees of beauty for the eye and of nutritious fruitage for subsistence supplied some pleasing occupation for the mind and wholesome labor for the hand; where, happy in each other’s love and blessed with the freest communion with their Maker, not a thing was lacking to fill their cup of joy. If it might only la
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CHAPTER VI. THE EVENTS OF EDEN.
CHAPTER VI. THE EVENTS OF EDEN.
I. The preliminary question as to the character of this record demands a brief notice. In my view it is not to be taken as a symbolic representation of the universal fact that the race yield to temptation and fall before it, but as a historical account of the first human sin—including the person of the tempter and his methods; the working of his temptations upon Eve and then upon Adam and the first group of immediate results.——Under this construction of the narrative, I find here a real serpent,
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CHAPTER VII. FROM THE FALL TO THE FLOOD.
CHAPTER VII. FROM THE FALL TO THE FLOOD.
It did not originate with men —certainly not with good men . Apart from divine suggestion, they could not have supposed that the slaughter of an innocent animal would be pleasing to God. The presumption would be utterly against this. They could not have thought out the divine idea of atonement for sin by the death of Christ, God’s own incarnate Son: the very supposition is absurd, for it supposes that men were able to sound the infinite depths of God’s wisdom and of his love, and to grasp the re
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CHAPTER VIII. THE FLOOD.
CHAPTER VIII. THE FLOOD.
(2.) The withdrawal of the divine Spirit is the second assigned antecedent of this fatal degeneracy. In our English version we read—“And the Lord said, ‘My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.’”——As to the meaning of “My Spirit,” we must reject the sense— animal life —that which God breathed into man to make him “a living soul” ( Gen. 2: 7), as being incongruous with the verb “strive”: also the sense— rational sou
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CHAPTER IX. FROM THE FLOOD TO THE CALL OF ABRAHAM.
CHAPTER IX. FROM THE FLOOD TO THE CALL OF ABRAHAM.
In Gen. 10 the Bible for once departs from its usual method and gives a chapter of universal history —the only one. Elsewhere it traces the history of the one nation which had “the oracles of God,” and in later ages, of the Christian church, touching the nations of the outside world only as they come into relations to the seed of Abraham or to the kingdom of Christ. But here we see the sons of Noah branching out to people the countries of the great Eastern Continent and to found the old historic
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CHAPTER X. ABRAHAM.
CHAPTER X. ABRAHAM.
Here, strange to say, some good men would thrust in a peremptory limitation, asserting that this family covenant is Abrahamic and Jewish only; good for them, but not good for the Christian age; good in the national but not in the family sense and application thereof.——But what is the logic of such a limitation? Was the love of parent for offspring lost out of the human heart at the coming of Christ? Or did the Lord forget at that point how deeply he had implanted this love in human bosoms? Or di
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CHAPTER XI. THE PATRIARCHS.
CHAPTER XI. THE PATRIARCHS.
Of the scenes of his sojourn at Haran there is no occasion to speak particularly. Perhaps the deception in which his mother and himself were the responsible parties came up fresh and clear to him when he found that Laban had taken similar liberties with him, giving him Leah when Rachel was in the bond. A man never gets so sharp and keen a sense of the wrong of these little deceptions as when he becomes the victim and the sting goes deep into his own bosom. This is sometimes the Lord’s way to tes
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CHAPTER XII. EXODUS.
CHAPTER XII. EXODUS.
This oppression began with “a new king over Egypt who knew not Joseph.” It is generally held that these words indicate a new dynasty—one royal line superseded by another, perhaps a foreign power coming in to supplant the former dynasty. The points of historic contact between Egyptian and Hebrew chronology may at some future day be adjusted with reasonable certainty. They are not yet. The subject is undergoing a somewhat thorough investigation with some prospect of ultimate success. At present I
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CHAPTER XIII. THE PASSOVER.
CHAPTER XIII. THE PASSOVER.
Closely associated with this festival and fraught with solemn significance as a memorial institution was the consecration to God of all first-born males , both the first-born of man and the first-born of beast ( Ex. 13: 11 – 16). Of the lower animals the first-born males, if without blemish and if suitable for sacrifice, were to be offered in sacrifice to the Lord. If not suitable ( e. g. the ass), it must be redeemed with a lamb—in which case the lamb became the sacrifice, and the ass might be
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CHAPTER XIV. THE HISTORIC CONNECTIONS OF MOSES WITH PHARAOH AND EGYPT.
CHAPTER XIV. THE HISTORIC CONNECTIONS OF MOSES WITH PHARAOH AND EGYPT.
Three documents have been recently discovered which speak of a foreign race under the hieroglyphic name “Aperiu.” On principles of comparative philology, Mons. Chabas makes this word the equivalent of Hebrew .——In the first document the scribe Kanisar reports to his superior: “I have obeyed the command which my master gave me to provide subsistence for the soldiers and also for the Aperiu who carry stone for the great Bekhen of King Rameses. I have given them rations every month according to the
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CHAPTER XV. THE EVENTS NEAR AND AT SINAI.
CHAPTER XV. THE EVENTS NEAR AND AT SINAI.
Moses ( Deut. 8: 16) makes a special point of the fact that this bread was such as neither they nor their fathers had ever known before. The Psalmist ( Ps. 78: 24, 25) takes the lofty poetic view of this great gift of God: “He commanded the clouds from above and opened the doors of heaven and rained down manna upon them to eat and gave them of the corn of heaven. Man did eat angels’ food: he sent them meat to the full.”—— Josh. 5: 12 shows that the manna ceased as abruptly as it began, precisely
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CHAPTER XVI. THE HEBREW THEOCRACY.
CHAPTER XVI. THE HEBREW THEOCRACY.
VII. Its principles and usages in respect to war , with a notice of the war-commission against the doomed Canaanites. I. The Supreme Power. God himself was king . In every respect the supreme power was his. Precisely this is the sense of the term “ theocracy ”— a government of God . This comprehensive fact appears in the following particulars: 1. God demanded supreme homage as their king ( Ex. 19: 6 and Deut. 6: 4 – 15, and 7: 6 – 11, and 10: 12 – 21, and 33: 4, 5 and 1 Sam. 8: 6 – 8, and 10: 18
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CHAPTER XVII. THE CIVIL INSTITUTES OF MOSES; OR THE HEBREW CODE OF CIVIL LAW.
CHAPTER XVII. THE CIVIL INSTITUTES OF MOSES; OR THE HEBREW CODE OF CIVIL LAW.
6. That this code, though given by the Lord himself, was not theoretically perfect but only the best practicable, is obvious from the fact that it was from time to time modified. Cases of this appear in the law respecting the six years’ emancipation of Hebrew servants (compare Ex. 21: 2 – 7 with Deut. 15: 12 – 17); the taking of pledges from the poor for the payment of debts: (compare Ex. 22: 26 with Deut. 24: 6, 10 – 15). See also the law of inheritance in a family consisting of daughters only
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CHAPTER XVIII. THE CIVIL INSTITUTES OF MOSES, CONTINUED.
CHAPTER XVIII. THE CIVIL INSTITUTES OF MOSES, CONTINUED.
4. Of wider sweep in its influence and of inexpressible value was the system of periodical emancipation . The term of service for the Hebrew-born was limited to six years. At the end of this term they went out free. Servants of foreign birth (as we shall see) went out at the Jubilee, each fiftieth year.——The effect of this law was at once to lift from the heart the terrible incubus of a life-long bondage—that sense of a hopeless doom which knows no relief till death. Whatever the amount of disco
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CHAPTER XIX. THE RELIGIOUS SYSTEM OF THE HEBREWS.
CHAPTER XIX. THE RELIGIOUS SYSTEM OF THE HEBREWS.
I. The sacrifices and offerings of this system may be classified variously:—— e. g. (1.) Bloody, or not bloody:—terms which will be readily understood. The former were slain animals, a portion of whose blood was sprinkled. The latter included offerings of flour, oil, wine, etc. ——Or (2.) Some were specially required: others were voluntary or free-will offerings.——(3.) They may be classified with reference to the times and seasons when they were to be made; some being daily, as the morning and e
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CHAPTER XX. HISTORIC EVENTS OF HEBREW HISTORY FROM SINAI TO THE JORDAN.
CHAPTER XX. HISTORIC EVENTS OF HEBREW HISTORY FROM SINAI TO THE JORDAN.
Thus closed this fearful day. After one night’s reflection, Moses convenes the people, brings their great sin before them again, and says—“I will go up before the Lord; perhaps I may make atonement for your sin.” His prayer is on record—short, but full of meaning. “Oh, this people have sinned a great sin and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin:—and if not, blot me, I pray thee out of thy book which thou hast written.”——To which the Lord answers: “Whosoever hath s
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CHAPTER XXI. THE LAST FOUR BOOKS OF THE PENTATEUCH: THEIR METHOD OF ARRANGEMENT AND SUBJECT-MATTER.
CHAPTER XXI. THE LAST FOUR BOOKS OF THE PENTATEUCH: THEIR METHOD OF ARRANGEMENT AND SUBJECT-MATTER.
This offering, put so impressively upon its great historic grounds—the preservations and mercies with which God had crowned their nation in fulfilling the promises made to the national fathers, became no unmeaning service. All is instinct with life. Those children of the old patriarchs reposing under their vine and fig-tree in the land flowing with milk and honey had a wonderful history, and God meant to have their ritual of worship link itself continually with that history and take quickening i
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Advertisements.
Advertisements.
IV. PROVERBS, ECCLESIASTES, AND THE SONG OF SOLOMON. V. NOTES ON JEREMIAH. By Rev. HENRY COWLES, D.D. From The Christian Intelligencer, N. Y. “These works are designed for both pastor and people. They embody the results of much research, and elucidate the text of sacred Scripture with admirable force and simplicity. The learned professor, having devoted many years to the close and devout study of the Bible, seems to have become thoroughly furnished with all needful materials to produce a useful
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