statutes" as well as to the covenant by sacrifice. To enter into a discussion as to the authorship of other Psalms, which testify still more strongly as to the existence of the Book of the Law, is not possible here, nor is it necessary. Enough has been said to show, that in the days of David, Samuel, and Eli, the Pentateuch was known; and if so, it must have existed in the days of the Judges, and of its existence there are plain traces in the

BOOKS OF RUTH AND JUDGES.

The nature of these documents forbids us to expect a detailed narrative of the progress of religion, or of the rites and observances of public worship. The book of Ruth is a family record, a sketch from private life. The book of Judges is a collection of memoirs of the remarkable persons, whom the Lord raised up to defend or to deliver the invaded provinces of Israel, not even an outline of the history of the whole nation. Allusion therefore to priests or religious laws, or even to those parts of the land not similarly exposed, must be few and incidental. Those that do occur are the more satisfactory and convincing. The first thing to be observed with regard to these books is, that the fundamental principle of the Pentateuch, the dependence of blessing or cursing on obedience or disobedience, is the hinge

on which every particular history turns. This is the binding principle that holds all these separate narratives together. The prosperity of a poor Moabitish widow and the success of armies are made to depend upon the fear of the true God, and the practice of the true religion. National calamity is the consequence of disobedience. God is the God of Israel, and rewards or punishes: The LORD who revealed himself on Sinai, as Deborah tells us, in that wonderful song, which Ewald and others admit to be the genuine work of the prophetess'. In the next place, we find such a state of things as would naturally have arisen from knowledge of the Pentateuch. There was a congregation (y), also a tabernacle of the congregation, here called the house of God, as in Samuel, Judges xx. 18-and an ark of the covenant of God, ver. 27—and the practice of inquiring of the Lord, ver. 18 and 28-and a priest to make the inquiry, ver. 28-and Levites consecrated to the service of God, xvii. 13, xix. 1—and an ephod, xvii. 4 (Heb.)—and burnt-offerings and peace-offerings, xx. 26, and Nazarites, xiii. 5. 7, and a yearly feast, xxi. 19, where the words used refer to the passover-and the duty of marrying a brother's widow, and the punishment of him who refused, Ruth iv.-and the obligation to redeem, iv. 3-5-and the pro

hibition to marry the heathen (Judges xiv. 3)— and to eat that which is unclean, which caused Samson to conceal from his father and mother whence he got the honey, xiv. 9-and the belief in the inalienability of that which was solemnly devoted to the Lord, xi. 35-and the duty of overthrowing idol-altars, vi. 28;-and all these things mentioned in the language of the Pentateuch, testify to its existence in the days of the Judges, and bring us back to the time of Phinehas the son of Eleazar, who was himself an eyewitness of the giving of the Law, and the Lord's dealings in the wilderness 2.

The book of Joshua also gives the same evidence. But as without it we have traced the existence of the Pentateuch to a contemporary of Joshua and Moses, and as the controversies respecting the Book of Joshua would require much discussion, it is necessary to stop here for the present. The Pentateuch which we possess has been traced from the present time to the days when it was written; it must therefore be genuine. No apparent difficulties are sufficient to shake the testimony of the prophets and the historic books. In a book so ancient there may be many diffi

Concerning these latter chapters Bleek says,-" The liveliness of the representation and unmistakable accuracy of the narratives show that they are based upon trustworthy tradition, and make it probable that they were committed to writing at no very late period."

culties arising from the brevity of the narrative, from our ignorance of all the circumstances, from the errors of transcribers, &c., and some of them may be beyond the power of solution in the present day. But they who urge them as objections against the genuineness, or authenticity, are bound to account for the existence of the testimonies to which we have referred, and satisfactorily to set them aside before they ask us to reject what rests upon such an accumulation of evidence. The testimonies adduced can be examined by every reader of the English Bible. An attentive reader may find many more; and sure I am that he, who will take the trouble of patiently studying the Scriptures, from Malachi to Joshua, in reference to this subject, will arrive at the firm conviction that there never was a time in Israel from the days of Moses on, when the Pentateuch was unknown.

THE NEW TESTAMENT.

But the Christian has still stronger reasons for believing in the genuineness and Divine origin of the Pentateuch. He has the testimony of the Son of God and His inspired Apostles. And here it is to be observed, in the first place, that our Lord and His Apostles speak of the Pentateuch in the language common to the Jews in all times, as The Law." Sometimes this expression was

used of the Old Testament. But when spoken of in connexion with the other portions as, "The Law and the Prophets," or, "The Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms," it means the five books attributed to Moses. In the next place it is to be noted, that our Lord, the Evangelists, and the Apostles regard the Law as a Divine Revelation, and therefore possessing a Divine authority. By St. Luke ii. 23, 24. 39, it is called The Law of the Lord." St. Paul (Romans vii. 22) calls it "The Law of God." He also teaches that obedience to the Law gives life, transgression entails death (Rom. vii. 7-11, compare Gal. iii. 10). Again, when St. Paul cites the words of the Pentateuch, he ascribes them to God; for example, "God hath said, I will dwell in them and walk in them," 2 Cor. vi. 16. compared with Lev. xxvi. 11, 12. In like manner St. John describes sin as the transgression of the Law, "Whosoever committeth sin, transgresseth also the law" (1 John iii. 4, compare James ii. 8). The whole system of New Testament doctrine concerning salvation, the guilt of man, the curse of the Law, and redemption by the blood of Christ, rests upon the supposition that the Law is a Divine Revelation. In like manner the whole argument of the Epistle to the Hebrews con

16.

Matt. v. 17, 18; vii. 12; xi. 13; xxii. 40. Luke xvi.

Luke xxiv. 44.