meffengers to Balaam, the fon of Bofor, a noted inchanter of thofe times, with large money in their hands, ftyled in fcripture "the rewards of divination," and "the wages of unrighteoufnefs," and a meffage to this purpose: "Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt: behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me. Come now therefore, I pray thee, curfe me this people; for they are too mighty for me: peradventure I fhall prevail, that we may fmite them, and that I may drive them out of the land: for I wot that he whom thou bleffeft is bleffed, and he whom thou curfeft is curfed."* Thus Providence fulfilled the words of the oracle, pronounced in the fong of Mofes thirty-eight years before, immediately on the paffage of the Red Sea; "Then the dukes of Edom fhall be amazed, the mighty men of Moab, trembling fhall take hold upon them : all the inhabitants of Canaan fhall melt away. Fear and dread fhall fall upon them: by the greatnefs of thine arm they fhall be as ftill as a ftone." Now the perfon to whom Balak applied on this trying occasion, was a man of a very extraordinary character, and of very fingular gifts and abilities. He feems to have united qualities, the most diffimilar and oppofite. He exhibits in his language and conduct, a very uncommon combination and contrast of virtues and vices. What can exceed on the one hand, the generofity and difinterestednefs which he expreffed and put in practice, when repeatedly urged to employ his prophetic fagacity or magical skill against Ifrael? "If Balak would give me his houfe-full of filver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do lefs or more." What can equal on the other, the vile prostitution, for hire, of his great talents in the fervice of an idolatrous prince, against the people whom he knew to be favoured and protected of Heaven? We fee him this day feeking and enjoying the

* Numb. xxii. 5, 6.

+ Exod. xv. 15, 16.

Numb. xxii. 18.

moft

moft intimate communication with the living and true. God; and to-morrow recurring to the practice of infamous and infernal arts, to accomplish a most deteftable and diabolical purpose: proclaiming at one time, in language which the fpirit of wisdom and prophecy alone could infpire, the fecurity, glory and happiness of that people whom God delighted to honour; and, with the very next breath, infidiously fuggefting counfels, which directly tended to deftroy that fecurity, to tarnish that glory, and to diffolve that happiness. In a word, we behold him fully impreffed with the importance of a holy life, in order to a peaceful and happy end, and yet living in the commiffion of the moft flagrant enormities, and prematurely cut off, with all his imperfections on his head; cleaving to the laft to the mammon of unrighteousness, and yet fufficiently impreffed with the lovelinefs of true goodness to pray in thefe words, "Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his !"*

For the farther clearing up of this very fingular character and history, it may be of importance to obferve that though the defcendants of Abraham for many ages after the death of that patriarch, were diftinguished as the peculiar people of God, to whom were committed the lively oracles, and "to whom pertained the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the fervice of God, and the promifes ;"+ yet fcripture permits us not to confider all divine knowledge as confined to that people, previous to their establishment in Canaan. The difperfion from the wild attempt of Babel, neceffarily conveyed in every one of its fragments fome knowledge of the nature, will and worship of the God of their fathers; which, though in process of time, obfcured by tradition and forgetfulness, and disfigured by human invention, must still have retained fomewhat of both its original form and fubftance.

*Numb. xxiii. 10.

† Rom. ix. 4.

The

The example and inftructions of fo good a mafter, and a neighbour fo refpectable as Abraham himself, could not but have a fenfible effect on his numerous domeftics, who were of various countries, and upon the princes with whom he came into connexion; and for this very end probably it was, that Providence kept him wandering from place to place. By means of their intercourfe with Abraham, we know that Pharaoh and Abimelech attained at least a certain degree of acquaintance with the true God. We find, in like manner, Job, at whatever period he lived, and his three friends, in Arabia, and particularly Elihu of the kindred of Ram, difcovering very profound knowledge in divine things; and Jethro, the fatherin-law of Mofes, in the land of Midian, appears evidently to have poffeffed the fame advantage. It is not therefore matter of very great furprise, that Balaam, a ftranger and an enemy to the commonwealth of Ifrael, fhould enjoy this advantage in common with many of his neighbours, and that he fhould have made fuch an indifferent ufe of it: this alas, being the misery of multitudes, who are favoured with a ftill clearer light than he was. Neither will it excite wonder, if we find fuperftitious and idolatrous rites gradually blending with the worship of the great Jehovah. Laban, though not to be fet down as wholly given to idolatry, long before the period now under review, had his Teraphim, or household gods, which he highly prized, either as objects of religious veneration, or on account of the precious materials of which they were compofed. And this too will in part account for that ftrange mixture which we find in the character of Balaam, his fudden transition from the acknowledgment of the God of Ifrael, to a participation in the profane rites employed in the worship of the idols of Balak and Moab.

But, notwithstanding this odious and abominable mixture, we obferve in more than one inftance, the great God winking at these times of ignorance, and condescending

condescending to make known his will, even to men who were daily infulting him by their abominations," as in the cafe of Pharaoh and Abimelech already mentioned, as in the cafe of Nebuchadnezzar, the groffeft of idolaters, many ages afterwards, and in the cafe before us. All this leads to make an obvious and an important distinction, between the extraordinary gifts and the graces of God's Spirit. It is one thing to have a clear, enlightened head, and another, to have an affectionate and obedient heart. It is a bleffed union where they meet, but the former without the latter only renders wickednefs more confpicuous, and condemnation more juft. The charge, alas! does not ftop at wicked, covetous Balaam; it was matter of complaint down to the days of Micah, and of prophets of a different defcription. "The heads" of God's peo· ple judge for reward, and the priefts thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money." And our bleffed Lord, to level all confidence in the poffeffion of the choiceft gifts, affures us, that many fhall fay to him in the great day, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophefied in thy name? and in thy name have caft out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profefs unto them, I never knew you: depart from me ye that work iniquity."*

We obferve farther, that though God was fometimes pleased to bestow the gift of prophecy upon the unworthy, the prediction, though uttered by unholy lips, was the truth of God, which no weakness, perverfenefs, nor difinclination of the prophet was able either to alter or fupprefs. "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God fpake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."+ They fpake under an irrefiftible impulfe; they fpake fometimes what they understood not, and what they would have concealed, if they could. Thus Caiaphas, the avowed enemy of our bleffed Lord, uttered a nota

*Matt. vii. 22, 23.

† 2 Pet. i. 21.

ble

ble prophecy concerning him, not knowing what he faid. Thus Jeremiah, difgufted with the ill fuccefs of his preaching, finding the word of the Lord made a reproach and a derifion daily, by the thoughtless men of his generation, refolved not to make mention of him, nor fpeak any more in his name. "But," fays he, "his word was in mine heart, as a burning fire fhut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay." And Jofephus, in perfect confiftency with the character of Balaam, as drawn by Mofes, puts into his mouth this addrefs to the king of Moab, who upbraided him with breach of agreement, in pronouncing the warmest of benedictions, where he was exprefsly hired to curfe: "Can you imagine, that when prompted by the Spirit of God to disclose futurity, it depends on us to be filent, or to speak out? He makes our voices the vehicles of his will, without permitting us a choice in the matter. I well remember for what purpose the joint entreaties of you and the Midianites have brought me hither. I have undertaken this journey with a fixed determination to favour your earnest wishes: but God is more powerful than the bent of my inclination, which aimed at the gratification of your defires. For when he takes poffeffion of our minds, he occupies them wholly, and leaves us nothing of our own. I had nothing lefs in my intention, than to trumpet the praises of this mighty hoft, or to difplay the bleffings which God has in referve for this favoured race. But being graciously difpofed towards them, and determined to exalt them to the highest pinnacle of glory and felicity, He fuggefted to me the predictions which I could not but

Sometimes the representation of fome dreadful punishment, to be instantly inflicted, if they dared to falfify the oracle committed to them, might ferve as a curb to their own natural and unruly propensities; and, fometimes carried wholly out of themselves, they delivered,

* Jofeph. Antiq. lib. IV. cap. IV.