PERIOD IV., OR TIME OF THE THEOCRACY,1 396 YEARS.

THE age of theocracy was that time during which God was himself King and Ruler of His chosen people. It begins

with the date at which He led them forth from their house of bondage in Egypt.

And God now saw fit to give special laws to His people, the following of which was to insure them God's blessing and protection. Moses was commanded to assemble all the tribes at the foot of Mount Sinai, which was covered with a thick darkness, out of which came thunderings and lightnings; and the voice of God spake to them, and said

"I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, and out of the house of bondage.

I. Thou shalt not have strange gods before me, &c.

II. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.

III. Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath-day.

IV. Honour thy father and thy mother.

V. Thou shalt not kill.

VI. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

VII. Thou shalt not steal.

VIII. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. IX. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife.

X. Nor anything that is thy neighbour's."

1 Theos, God; cratia, government; krateo, I rule.

2 Pente, five; teuchos, a book. The five books of Moses; in the New Testament called the Law. 3 Unctio, oiling.

These precepts,1 with their developments, 2 were heard by all the people, who, seized with fear, said to Moses, "Speak thou to us, and we will hear; let not God speak to us, lest we die."

The Lord then said unto Moses, "Come up to me into the mount; and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law and commandments which I have written, that thou mayest teach them." And Moses was on Mount Sinai forty days and forty nights; and when God had made an end of communing with Moses, He gave unto him two tables of testimony-tables of stone-on which the decalogue3 was written with the finger of God, which Moses brought down with him from the mountain. But during the time Moses was on Mount Sinai, the people had offended God.

They thought Moses would not come back to them; and they remembered the idols 4 they had seen in Egypt, and obliged Aaron to make them a golden calf, unto which they offered sacrifice.

And God was very wroth with the people; but Moses interceded 5 with God for them, and after the most guilty had been punished, he obtained their pardon.

Moses began to carry out the commands which God had given him respecting the building of the tabernacle, in which the ark of the covenant7 was to be kept.

The

The tabernacle was divided into two compartments. first of these contained the altar of incense,8 the seven-branched candlestick, with lamps, and all the instruments used in the sacrifices.

The second, or inner chamber, was the holy of holies, containing the ark of the covenant a box made of precious 9 wood, covered within and without with plates of pure gold, in which were preserved the tables of the law, or of the testimony, 10 Aaron's rod, and a measure of manna-that miraculous bread with which God fed His people during forty years in the desert. The lid of the ark was called the mercy-seat. It was made entirely of pure gold, and golden cherubim overshadowed it with their wings.

1 Pra, before; capio, to take.

3 Deka, ten; logos, a word, a treatise. From the Greek, eidolon, object.

2 De, from; volvo, I fold.

5 Inter, between; cedo, I go.

• Tabernaculum, Latin for tent-hence (Eng.) tavern.

7 Con, together; venio, I come. Covenant, agreement.

Incendo, to burn. From in, into; candeo, I become shining, I glow.
From pretium, value, price.

10 Testis, witness.

CHAPTER XV.

AARON was appointed the high priest by Moses, and the whole of the tribe of Levi was attached2 to the service of the tabernacle. The high priest was to instruct the people, as well as to consult3 God on all emergencies.

After the many murmurings and revolts which had so often angered the Lord against the children of Israel, they added the crowning sin of despising 4 the Land of Promise to which they were being led.

They complained5 of the difficulties and the dangers of invading Canaan; for though they knew it was a land flowing with milk and honey, yet the inhabitants, they said, were giants, and they feared them; and so the people murmured, and God said they should not go into Canaan; that they should wander forty years in the wilderness, and die in it, but that their children should possess the land.

And God continued to feed His people, during the forty years they journeyed in the wilderness, with manna, which fell with the dew upon the camp in the night, and the people gathered it up and made cakes of it, and the taste was as the taste of fresh oil; and when the time of their probation was over, and they had entered Canaan, then the manna ceased falling.

Josue, the successor of Moses, was appointed by God to lead His people into Canaan, and to disperse the wicked inhabitants. When this was accomplished, the Land of Promise was divided amongst the twelve tribes of Israel, according to the number of the sons of Jacob. Thus was the promise of God unto Abraham fulfilled—“Unto thee and to thy seed will I give the land (of Canaan) for ever." The tribe of Levi alone had no land apportioned9 to it, because it was devoted to the

1 Ad, to; pono, I place. Syn.-put forward.

2 Ad, to; tango, I touch. Syn.-belonging to.

3 Consulo, I think over.

* De, down; spicio, I look.

5 Con, together; plango, I weep, lament.

• Possedio, hold, settle in.

Joshua, the same name as Jesus-God is my salvation; or, Whose help is Jehovah.-Gesenius. • Ad, to; portio, a part,

Di, apart: spergo. I scatter.

service of the tabernacle; "for the priesthood of the Lord was their inheritance."

The posterity of Joseph was divided into the two tribes of Ephraim and Manasses, according to the wish of Jacob.

After Josue, the Israelites were governed for more than 300 years by inspired1 men, called judges, who defended the Israelites against the neighbouring tribes, nearly all of whom were enemies.

The judges are usually reckoned twelve, of whom Othoniel2 (Otho-ni-el) was the first, and Samuel3 the last, from B.C. 1405 to 1095.

Othoniel, the first judge, delivered the people from the servitude of Chusan, king of Mesopotamia.

Ehud, the second judge, released them from the power of Eglon, king of Moab; and Deborah, third judge, a prophetess, was the principal cause of their deliverance out of the hands of Jabin, king of Canaan.

Gideon, fourth judge, subdued the Madianites.

Jephte, seventh judge, was the deliverer of the Israelites from the Ammonites. About this epoch, Troy was taken by the Greeks, B.C. 1184.

The Philistines (Phi-lis'-tines) were vanquished and driven back by Samson,5 under the high priest Eli.

The high priest Eli was the eleventh judge; but he governed too feebly to repress 6 either the boldness of the enemies of Israel or the misconduct of his sons.

Samuel, twelfth judge, succeeded7 Eli; and the Lord was with him, and he was established to be a prophet of the Lord. But when Samuel was old, he made his sons judges over Israel, and they walked not in his ways. Then the Israelites asked for a king to judge them, like all the nations,8

And the Lord said to Samuel, "Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king."

1 In, into; spiro, I breathe.

3 Samuel, Heard by God; or, The name of God.

4 De, from, libero, I free.

5 Samson, Sunlike; or, Like the sun.-Gesenius. 6 Re, back; premo, I press.

8 Natus, born.

2 Lion of God.

7 Sub, after; cedo, I go.

PERIOD V., OR TIME OF THE KINGDOM OF ALL ISRAEL,

SAMUEL anointed Saul, of the tribe of Benjamin, first king of Israel. And Saul1 reigned forty years; but, for his repeated disobedience to God's commands, his posterity was excluded from the throne.

David,2 of the tribe of Juda, was next chosen by God, and anointed king by Samuel. Then began the fulfilment of Jacob's prophecy, who, in foretelling to each of his sons the destiny of his posterity, had said, "The sceptre 3 shall not depart from Juda until Shiloh 4 come." The Messiah5 was born of the race

of David.

After a glorious reign of forty years, David was succeeded by his son Solomon.6 This young prince asked of God wisdom to judge his people, and he became the wisest, the greatest, and the most powerful king of any age; but, when he was old, he fell into sin, and his enemies rose up against him, and God announced to him that his kingdom would be divided.

1 Saul, Asked.

2 David, Beloved.

3 Sceptre, means a Rod. Shiloh, of doubtful etymology-the most probable meaning is, The Desired One.

5 Messiah, means the same as Christ, The Anointed; The Prince.

6 Solomon, means the Pacific. This name is still used in Arabia as Solyman.