"Bring hither the ark of God; for this could not be the ark of the covenant: for that was then at Kirjathjearim, and never ought to have been removed from its place in the tabernacle to be carried to the wars, or any where else from its proper station, and never was so but once against the Philistines; and then God gave the armies of Israel, and also the ark itself, into the hands of the enemy, for the punishment hereof. It must therefore have been no other ark which Saul called to Ahiah for, than that ark or coffer, in which the ephod and breast-plate were carried; and the end for which he called for it shews the thing; for it was to ask counsel of God, for which the ephod and breastplate served. So that the saying of Saul to Abiah, Bring hither the ark, importeth no more, than the saying of David afterwards to Abiathar in the like case, • Bring hither the ephod. For this ark was the coffer in which the ephod was kept, and with which Abiathar fled to David, when Saul destroyed his father's house. And of the same ark they understand the le exsaying of Uriah the Hittite unto David, when he cused his not going to his house, and lying with his wife. "The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in lord, tents, and my lord Joab, and the servants of my go into are encamped in the open fields; shall I then my house to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife?" For if this be understood of the ark of the covenant, and the tent or tabernacle in which it was kept, what he said would have been a reason for him never to have lain with his wife; for that was always kept in such a tent or tabernacle, till the temple of Solomon was built. It is most likely, therefore, that the ark which he speaks of was the ark, or coffer, in which the ephod and breast-plate were put, which the priest carried with him who was sent to the war.

The priest that was sent on this occasion, that he might be fully qualified to act in the high priest's stead, whenever there should be occasion for him to ask counsel of God by Urim and Thummim, was 9 consecrated to the office by the holy anointing oil, in

n 1 Sam. xiv, 18.

o 1 Sam. xxiii, 9.

p 2 Sam. xi, 11. q Maimonides in Cele Hammikdash, c. 1, sec. 7, and in Melachim, c.7.

the same manner as the high priest was; and therefore he was called, The anointed for the wars. But how he had the answer is the difficulty: for there was no mercy-seat in the camp to appear before, or from whence to receive the oracle, as there was in the tabernacle. And yet that such oracles were given in the camp is certain, from several instances which we have of it in Scripture: for David did, by the ephod and breast-plate only, ask counsel of God three several times, in the case of Keilah; and twice at Ziklag, once on the pursuit of those who had burned that city, and again on his going from thence for Hebron, there to take possession of the kingdom of Judah, on the death of Saul; and on every one of these times he had an answer given him, though it is certain the ark of the covenant was not then present with him. It is most likely, since God allowed that counsel should be thus asked of him in the camp without the ark, as well as in the tabernacle where the ark was, that the answer was given in the same manner by an audible voice. It seems most probable, that the priest anointed for the wars had a tent in the camp, on purpose there erected for this use in which a part was separated by a vail, in the same manner as the holy of holies was in the tabernacle; and that, when he asked counsel of God in the camp, he appeared there before that vail in the same manner as the high priest, on the like occasion, did before that in the tabernacle, and that the answer was given from behind it, though no ark or mercy-seat was there. And the words of Uriah above recited plainly refer us to such a tent. And it cannot be agreeable to a religion of so much ceremony and solemnity, to suppose them to be without it for so sacred an office.

Although this way of asking counsel of God was frequently used during the tabernacle, and no doubt continued afterwards till the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, yet we have no instance of it in Scripture during the whole time of the first temple : and it is most certain, that it was wholly wanting in

r1 Sam. xxiii.

s 1 Sam. xxx, 8. 2 Sam. ii, 1.

the second temple; fort both Ezra and Nehemiah tell us as much. And hence is that saying among the Jews, that the Holy Spirit spake to the children of Israel during the tabernacle by Urim and Thummim, and under the first temple by the prophets, and under the second by u Bath-kol.

They who would have the Urim and Thummim absolutely to have ceased under the first temple, give two reasons for it: 1. That it was an appendent of the theocracy: for as long as God was the immediate governour of Israel, it was necessary, say they, that a method should be established, whereby he might at all times be applied to and consulted with by his people; and, for this reason, they tell us, the oracle by Urim and Thummim was appointed. But when the theocracy ceased, (which, they say, it did, when Solomon the first hereditary king sat upon the throne,) this oracle ceased with it. And, 2dly, they say, that the Urim and Thummim was established to ask counsel only about that which belonged to the common interest of all Israel; and therefore, whenever the high priest asked counsel of God this way, it was with the names of all the tribes of Israel upon his breast, to denote that what was asked was for the common interest of all of them. But that common interest ceasing upon the division of the kingdom, this way of asking counsel of God must, in the nature of the thing, have then ceased also, as being no longer practicable. But how far these arguments may conclude, is left to every one to consider.

IV. The fourth thing wanting in the second temple, which was in the first, was the holy fire, which came down from heaven upon the altar. It descended first upon the altar in the tabernacle at the consecrating of Aaron and his sons to the priesthood, and afterwards it descended anew upon the altar in the temple of Solomon, at the consecrating of that temple. And there it was constantly fed and maintained by the

t Ezra ii, 63. Neh. vii, 65.

u By this the Jews mean a voice from the clouds, such as was heard from thence concerning our Saviour, Matt. iii, 7; xviii, 5. 2 Pet. i, 17. x Spencerus De Urim et Thummim, c. 2, sec. 2.

z 2 Chron. vii, 1.

priests day and night, without suffering it ever to go out, in the same manner as it had been before in the tabernacle, and with this all the offerings were offered that were made by fire. And for using other fire were Nadab and Abihu consumed by fire from the Lord. This, saya some of the Jewish writers, was extinguished in the days of Manasseh. But the more general opinion among them is, that it continued till the destruction of the temple by the Chaldeans. After that it was never more restored; but instead of it they had only common fire in the second temple. For what is said of its being hid in a pit by Jeremiah, and again brought thence, and revived upon the altar in the second temple, is a fable that deserves no regard.

V. The fifth thing wanting in the second temple, which was in the first, was the spirit of prophecy. But this was not wholly wanting there: for the prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, lived after the second temple was built, and prophesied under it. But on their death, which (say the Ribbins) happened all in one year, the prophetic spirit wholly ceased from among them.

C

Besides these five things, there was wanting also a sixth, that is, the holy anointing oil, which was made by Moses for the anointing and consecrating of the king, the high priest, and all the sacred vessels made use of in the house of God. And for this use it was commanded to be kept by the children of Israel throughout their generations. And therefore it was laid up before the Lord in the most holy place. And as the original copy of the law was placed there on the right side of the ark of the covenant; so perchance the vessel containing this oil was placed on the other side of it, and there kept, till the first temple being destroyed, that also was destroyed with it. Every d king was not anointed, but only the first of the family: for he being anointed for himself, and all the successors of his race, they needed no other anointing; only if there arose any difficulty or dispute about the

a Talmud in Zebachim, cap. 6.

c Exod. xxx, 22-33.

Maimonides in Cele Hammikdash, c. 1, sec. 11.

b 2 Mac. i, 18, 19.

succession, then he that obtained it, though of the same family, was anointed anew to put an end to the controversy, and after that no one was to question the title; and this was the case of Solomon, Joash, and Jehoahaz. But every high priest was anointed at his consecration, or first admission to the office, and so also was the priest that went in his stead to the wars. The vessels and utensils that were anointed were the 8 ark of the covenant, the altar of incense, the shew-bread table, the golden candlestick, the altar of burnt-offerings, the laver, and all the other vessels and utensils belonging to them. And as by this h anointing they were first consecrated at the erecting of the tabernacle, by Moses, so in case any of them were afterwards decayed, destroyed, or lost, they could, as long as this anointing oil remained, be again restored, by making and consecrating new ones in their place, of the same virtue and holiness with the former. But this being wanting in the second temple, the want hereof caused a want of sanctity in all things else belonging to it: for although, on the return of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity, and the rebuilding of their temple, they did anew make an ark, an altar of incense, a shew-bread table, a golden candlestick, an altar of burnt-offerings, and a laver, with the other vessels and utensils belonging to them, and did put them all in their former places, and applied them to their former uses; yet, through want of the holy anointing oil to consecrate them, these all wanted that holiness under the second temple, which they had under the first; and their high priest, who officiated in that temple, was no otherwise consecrated, thani by the putting on of his vestments. So that the want of this one thing only in the second temple, caused a great want and defect in all things else that were therein; every thing in it falling short of its former holiness by reason hereof. And therefore this anointing oil might well, under the second temple, have been reckoned among the principal things that were

e Exod. xxx, 30.

g Exod. Xxx, 26-29. f Maimonides in Cele Hammikdash, c. 1, sec.7. ⚫h Exod. xl. i Maimonides in Cele Hammikdash, c. 1, sec. 8.