A. M. 2514. A. C. 1490; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 3764. A. C. 1647. EXOD. xxxiv. 28.— NUM. xviii,

where stood the table of shewbread, the golden candlestick, and the altar of incense. The holy of holies, which was likewise called the sanctuary, was ten cabits long, and ten broad, contained the ark of the covenant, and was separated from the holy place by a veil, or hanging, made of rich embroidered linen, which hung upon four pillars of shittim or cedar wood, that were covered with plates of gold, but had their bases made of brass; and at the entrance of the tabernacle, instead of a door, there was a veil of the same work, sustained by the like pil lars, which separated it from the outward court.

crime; but this being thought too severe, Solon's insti- | The holy place was twenty cubits long, and ten wide, tution was, that every petty larceny should be punished with double restitution, and sometimes imprisonment, but every greater robbery, to the value of fifty drachms, with death. The prohibition of false witness was, 'ratified by the Athenian laws, which not only punished the offenders with fines, confiscation of goods and banishment, but degraded them likewise from all dignity, as persons extremely ignominious, and who, according to the law of the twelve tables, deserved to be thrown from the Tarpeian rock. The prohibition of covetousness of all kinds, which is the tenth and last commandment, nowhere occurs in the edicts of any ancient legislator; for, as a pious bishop well observes, "all the laws that were ever made by any governors upon earth, respected only the words and actions, or the outward carriage and behaviour of their subjects. None ever offered to give laws to the minds or hearts of men, what they should think, or love, or desire, or the like; and it would have been ridiculous and absurd to have done it, because they could never have known whether such laws were observed or no;" so proper is the question, which their great lawgiver puts to the Jews, What nation is there so great that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?' So just the commendation which the royal Psalmist gives of it: The law of the Lord is an undefiled law, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, and giveth wisdom unto the simple. Moreover by them is thy servant taught, and in keeping of them there is great reward.'

CHAP. III.—Of the Jewish Tabernacle, &c.

8

FROM the very first beginning of time, God had always some place appropriated to the solemn duties of religious worship. Even during the small space of his continuance in paradise, Adam had where to present himself before the Lord; and after his expulsion from thence, his sons in like manner, had' whither to bring their oblations and sacrifices. The patriarchs, both before and after the flood, used altars, and 9 mountains, and 10 groves, for the self-same purpose. Here they had their proseucha, or places for prayer, which were certain plats of ground, encompassed with a wall, or some other enclosure, and open above. But since the first place of this kind, that made any considerable figure, was the tabernacle which God ordered Moses to erect in the wilderness, as an habitation for his majestic presence to reside in, it may not be improper, in this place, to give some account of it, and the other holy things appertaining to it.

The tabernacle was a tent covered with curtains and skins, but much larger than other tents. It was in the form of an oblong square, thirty cubits in length, and ten in height and breadth, and was properly divided into two parts, namely, the holy place, and the holy of holies.

The boards or planks whereof the body of the tabernacle was composed, were in all forty-eight, each a cubit and a half wide, and ten cubits high. Twenty of them went to make up one side of the tabernacle, and twenty the other, and at the west end of it were the other eight, which were all let into one another by two tenons above and below, and compacted together by bars running from one end to the other; but the east end of it was open, and only covered with a rich curtain.

The roof of the tabernacle was a square frame of planks, resting upon their basis; and over these were coverings or curtains of different kinds. Of these the first, on the inside, was made of fine linen, curiously embroidered in various colours of crimson and scarlet, and purple and hyacinth; the next was made of goats' hair neatly woven together; and the last of sheep and badgers' skins, (some dyed red, and others of azure blue,) which were to preserve the rich curtains from wet, and to protect the tabernacle itself from the injuries of the weather.

Round about the tabernacle was a large oblong court, an hundred cubits long, aud fifty broad, encompassed with pillars overlaid with silver, and whose capitals were of the same metal, but their bases were of brass. Ten of these pillars stood towards the west, six to the east twenty to the north, and twenty to the south, at h cubits distance from each other; and over these hung curtains made of twined linen thread, in the manner o net-work, which surrounded the tabernacle on all sides except at the entrance of the court, which was twent cubits wide, and sustained with four columns, overla with plates of silver. These columns had their capita and bases of brass; were placed at proportionable di tances, and covered with a curtain made of rich materials.

It was t

In this court, and opposite to the entrance of tabernacle, stood the altar of burnt-offerings in the op air, that the fire, which was kept perpetually upon it, a the smoke arising from the victims that were burnt the might not spoil the inside of the tabernacle. cubits long, as much in width, and three cubits bis was placed upon a basis of stone work, and covered b within and without with brass plates. At the four e ners of this altar there was something like four bor covered with the same metal, and as the altar itself hollow, and open both at top and bottom, from th horns there hung a grate made of brass, fastened four rings and four chains, whereon the wood and sacrifice were burnt; and as the ashes fell through, t were received below in a pan. At a very small dista from this altar there stood on the south side, a bra vessel, which, on account of its extraordinary size, called the brazen sea, in which the priests were use

A. M. 2514. A. C. 1490; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 3764. A. C. 1647. EXOD. xxxiv. 28.-NUM. xviii. wash their feet, whenever they were to offer sacrifice, or to go into the tabernacle.

The ephod was a kind of girdle, made of gold thread, and other threads of divers colours, which being brought In that part of the tabernacle which was called the from behind the neck, and over the two shoulders, holy place, there was on the north side, a table made of was put cross upon the stomach; then carried round the Shittim or cedar wood, covered with gold, two cubits waist, and brought back again about the body, did gird long, one in breadth, and one and a half in length. the tunic like a sash, and so fell down before, and hung About the edge of it was an ornament, or border made as low as the feet. Upon that part of the ephod, which of gold, together with a crown of gold in the middle, came upon the high priest's shoulders, were two large and at each end was placed the offering of the shew-precious stones, whereon were engraven the names of bread, namely, six loaves in a pile to represent the twelve tribes. The bread was changed every Sabbath-day, and not allowed to be eaten by any one but the priests. Over against this table, on the south side, stood the candlestick, which was made of pure gold, upon a basis of the same metal, and had seven branches on each side, | and one in the middle. These branches were at equal distances, adorned with six flowers like lilies, with as many knobs like apples, and little bowls like half almond shells, placed alternately; and upon each of these branches there was a golden lamp, which was lighted every evening, and extinguished every morning. Betwixt the table and the candlestick, was placed the altar of incense, which was but one cubit in length and breadth, and two cubits high; but was covered with plates of gold, and had a crown of gold over it. Every morning and evening, the priest in waiting for that week, offered incense of a particular composition upon this altar, and to this end carried a smoking censer, filled with fire, which he took from the altar of burnt-offerings into the tabernacle, and so placing it upon this other altar, retired.

the twelve tribes of Israel, on each stone six; and where the ephod crossed the high priest's breast, there was a square ornament, called the pectoral, or rational, wherein were twelve precious stones set, with the names of the twelve tribes engraven on them, on each stone one. The mitre was of fine flax: it covered the head; and on the forehead was a plate of gold, whereon were engraved these words, HOLINESS TO THE LORD, which was tied behind the head with two ribbons fastened to its ends.

These were the chief of the solemn ornaments which belonged to the high priest. The other priests had only a simple tunic, a linen mitre, and a girdle; but they all of them wore linen or cotton breeches, which covered their legs and thighs, and reached up to their waist. The Levites had no peculiar habit in the ceremonies of religion; but about the sixty-second year of Christ, they obtained of king Agrippa leave to wear a linen tunic, as well as the priests.

The high priest was at the head of all religious affairs, and the ordinary judge of all the difficulties which related to them. He only had the privilege of entering into the sanctuary once a year, which was on the day of solemn expiation, to make atonement for the sins of the whole people. The ordinary priests attended the service of the tabernacle; they kept up a perpetual fire upon the altar of burnt-offerings; lighted and extinguished the lamps of the golden candlestick; made the loaves of shewbread; offered them on the golden altar in the sanctuary; changed them every Sabbath-day; and every day, at night and morning, carried in a smoking censer of incense, and placed it upon the golden table, which, upon this account, was likewise called the altar of

The persons appointed to officiate about holy things were of three kinds, the high priest, priests, and Levites: and, what is very remarkable, in the first of this order, is the singularity of his vestments, which were the breastplate, the ephod, the robe, the close coat, the mitre, and the girdle. The ephod, the robe, and the close coat were all of linen, and covered the whole body from the neck to the heel. Over these was a purple or blue tunic, which reached not so low, but was curiously wrought all over, and at the bottom of it had pomegranates, and bells, intermixed at equal distances. The pomegranates were made of blue, purple, and crimson | incense. wool, and a the bells of gold.

a What the number of bells worn by the high priest was, the Scripture is silent, and authors are not so well agreed; but the sacred historian has let us into the use and intent of them in these words: And it shall be upon Aaron to minister: and his sound shall be heard when he goeth into the holy place before the Lord, and when he cometh out, that he die not.' The kings of Persia are said to have the hem of their robes adorned, like the

But the chief business of the priests was to offer sacrifices, of which there were four kinds. 1. The burntoffering, which was totally consumed by fire upon the altar, after that the feet and entrails had been washed. 2. The peace-offering, whereof the inward fat, or tallow, made up with the liver and kidneys, was only burnt upon the altar: the breast and right shoulder was the perquisite of the priests, who were obliged to eat them in the Jewish high priest, with pomegranates and gold bells. The holy place; and the remainder belonged to the person ladies who are about his person, and whose business it is to please | who offered the sacrifice. 3. The sacrifice for sin, comand divert him, have little gold bells fastened to their legs, their mitted either wilfully or ignorantly and in this the neck, and elbows, and when they dance, the sound of these make priest took some of the blood of the victim, dipped his a very agreeable harmony. The Arabian princesses wear large bollow gold rings, which are filled with little flints, and make a sound like little bells when they walk; and besides these, they bave abundance of little flat bobs fastened to the ends of their hair; which make a noise as often as they stir, and give notice that the mistress of the house is going by, that so the servants of the family may behave themselves respectfully, and strangers retire, to avoid seeing the person that is passing. It was therefore in all probability, with a design of giving notice, that the high priest was passing by, that he too wore little bells on the hem of his rube; or rather it was, as it were, a kind of public notice, that

:

he was going into the sanctuary; for as in the king of Persia's court, no one was suffered to enter the apartments, without giving notice thereof by the sound of something; so the high priest, out of respect to the divine presence, residing in the holy of holies, did, by the sound of little bells, fastened to the bottom of his robe, desire, as it were permission to enter, that the sound of the bells might be heard, and he not punished with death, for an unmannerly intrusion.-Calmet's Dictionary under the word Bell.

A. M. 2514. A. C. 1490; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 3764. A. C. 1647. EXOD. xxxiv. 28-NUM. xviii.

continually, make the comers thereunto perfect.' In order therefore to illustrate this point, namely, that the Jewish religion was, in a great measure, intended to typify and prefigure the more perfect dispensation of the gospel, we shall instance in some of its particulars already enumerated.

56

finger in it, and sprinkled it seven times towards the | with those sacrifices which were offered, year by year veil of the sanctuary. The same parts of the victim were burnt on the altar in this as in the former sacrifice. The rest, if the sacrifice was offered for the sin of the high priest, or for the people, was carried without the camp, and there burnt; but if it was for a private person, the victim was divided, as we said before, between the priest and the offerer. 4. The sacrifice of oblation was Thus the tabernacle itself was a type of the Redeemer either fine flour, or incense, cakes of fine flour, and oil dwelling in our nature; for so St John tells us, that baked, or the first-fruits of new corn. Oil, salt, wine, the Word was made flesh, and ioxýywoev ev åμi», dwelt The altar of burnt and frankincense went always along with every thing among us,' as in a tabernacle. that was offered. All the frankincense was cast into offerings in the court, pointed out the death and sacrifice the fire; but of the other things the priest only burnt a of our Lord, by the shedding of whose blood our sing part, and the rest he reserved to himself. are pardoned, and we received into mercy and favour, The altar of incense within the holy place denoted our Lord's powerful intercession for us, in his exalted state of glory; and the ark of the covenant in the holy of holies,' was an eminent emblem of him, from whose mouth we received a law, founded upon better promises;' by whose intercession we have access to the throne of grace with all boldness;' and whose satisfac tion to the divine justice is our true propitiatory mercy-seat.

Thus we have taken a cursory view of the Jewish tabernacle, and its utensils; of the Jewish priesthood, and its offices; and have nothing more to do, but to inquire a little for what a ends and uses God was pleased to institute these things. To this purpose St Paul informs us, that the Jewish law was an imperfect dispensation from the very first, and added only because of transgressions, until the seed should come, to whom the promise was made:' that in great condescension, it was adapted to the weakness of the Jewish people, whom he compares to an heir under a tutor or governor; for these are his words: 2 I say then, that an heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all: Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage, under the elements of the world;' so that 3 the law was our schoolmaster, to bring us unto Christ,' having only a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, it could never,

and +<

1 Gal. iii. 19.

2 Gal. iv. 1, &c.
4 Heb. x. 1.

Gal. iii. 24.

6

86

10

What a manifest type the Jewish high priest was of our Lord and Saviour, the author to the Hebrews has declared in more instances than one. The Jewish high priest was the only man who was permitted to enter inte the 'holy of holies ;' and we have such an high priest, says the apostle, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.' The Jewish high priest offered a solemn expiatory sacrifice once a year; our Lor appeared once in the end of the world to put away sa by the sacrifice of himself.' After the expiatory sacri fice, the Jewish high priest went into the holy place a Josephus, having treated of the tabernacle, and the several there to offer incense on the golden altar; our Lor things appertaining to it, makes the use and design of them a 'when he had purged our sins,' sat down on the rig little too mystical and allegorical. "Let but a man consider," says he, "the structure of the tabernacle, the sacerdotal vest-hand of the Majesty on high,' there to appear in t ments, and the holy vessels that are dedicated to the service of presence of God,' and by the incense of his merits, the altar, and he must of necessity be convinced, that our law- make continual intercession for us. giver was a pious man.-For what are all these but the image of In like manner, whether we consider the several qu the whole world? The tabernacle consisting of thirty cubits, lifications of the sacrifices under the law, or the sever and being divided into three parts, whereof two are for the priests sorts of them, we shall find them to be types and prefie in general, and of free access, resembles the earth and the sea; while the third, where no mortal, except the high priest, is per- rations of Christ. The conditions of a Jewish sacrin mitted to enter, is an emblem of heaven, reserved for God alone. were,-That it should be without blemish, publicly p The twelve loaves of shewbread upon the table, signify the twelve sented before the congregation, substituted in the sinne months in the year. The candlestick, which is made up of seventy pieces, refers to the twelve signs of the zodiac, through room, and the iniquities of the sinner laid upon which the seven planets take their course; and the seven lamps, With relation to these properties, our Saviour is said on the top of the seven branches, bear an analogy to the planets be holy, harmless, undefiled, and separated from s themselves. The curtains with the four colours that are wrought ners.' That he might'sanctify his people,' he is s in them, represent the four elements.-By the high priest's linen garment is designed the whole body of the earth; and by the to have suffered without the gate, bearing our violet colour, the heavens. The pomegranates answer to light-proach;' and that "he, who knew no sin, became ning; and the noise of the bells to thunder. The four-coloured for us, that we might be made the righteousness of ephod bears a resemblance to the very nature of the universe, in him.' and the interweaving it with threads of gold, to the rays of the sun, which give us light. The pectoral or rational, in the midde of it, intimates the position of the earth in the centre of the world; the girdle about the priest's body, is the sea about the globe of the earth; the two sardonyx stones, on the shoulders, represent the sun and moon; and by the twelve other stones on the breast, may be understood either the twelve months, or the twelve signs of the zodiac." But all this is too light and fanciful, one would think, for so grave an author as Josephus, had not this way of allegorizing things been the prevailing custom of the age.-Jewish Antiquities, b. 3. c. 7.

And so, if we look to the several sorts of sacrif appointed under the law, we shall soon perceive these equally lead us to Christ. For he was the tresp offering, in that he was made sin for us; the pe offering because 13 he made peace by the blood of

5 John i. 14.
8 Heb. ix. 26.
11 Heb. xiii. 12, 13.

6 Heb. xiii. 10.
Heb. viii. 1, 2
9 Heb. i. 3.
10 Heb. 9. 21.
12 2 Cor. v. 21. 13 Col. i. -

A. M. 2515. A. C. 1489; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 3765. A. C. 1646. NUM. xviii. TO THE END of deut.

that religion, which in its essence is always the same, may, with the good pleasure of God, be changed; even as a careful nurse, to use a scripture comparison upon this occasion, adapts the diet to the strength and constitution of the person she attends: For every one that useth milk,' as the elements of the Jewish dispensation were, is unskilful in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe; but strong meat,' or a religion of a greater perfection, as the Christian is, belongeth to them that are of full age; even those, who, by reason of use, have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.'

с

A. M. 2515. A. C. 1489; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 3765. A. C. 1646. NUM. xviii. TO THE END OF DEUT. the whole nation, they took their route for the present | and twenty-three years old; and when the people underanother way, and so arrived again at Kadesh. stood that he was dead, they bewailed him thirty days. As soon as the days of mourning were over, they removed, and encamped at Zalmanah, which took its name from the image of the serpent, which Moses caused to be set up there. For the Israelites, being tired with the length of their journey, the narrowness of their passes, and the barrenness of the country, began to relapse into their old humour of murmuring and repining, which provoked God to send great swarms of fiery

Here it was that Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, (" who was older than either of them,) in the hundred and thirty-third year of her age died, was buried with great pomp, and by the Israelites lamented for the space of a whole month. Here it was that the people fell again into their old way of murmuring for want of water, which God ordered Moses to supply, by speaking only to a certain rock; but some way or other he deviating from his instructions, either through impatience or diffidence, offended God to such a degree, as to deserve a denunciation, that neither he, nor his brother Aaron, who seems to have been equally in the offence, should be permitted to enter into Canaan. Hence likewise it was, that Moses sent an embassy to the king of Edom, desiring a free passage through his country, and promising to commit no hostilities, nor give the least molestation to any of his subjects. But the haughty Edomite was so far from granting his request, that he came out with a strong army to oppose him; which Moses, no doubt, would have resented as the thing deserved, had not God, whom he consulted upon this occasion, ordered him, for the pre-onomy x. 6. That the children of Israel took their journey from sent, not to engage with the Edomites: so that decamping from Kadesh, he came to Mount Hor, not far from the borders of Edom, where God gave Aaron notice of his approaching death, and not long after, commanded Moses to take him and Eleazar his son, who was to succeed him in the office of the high priest, to the top of the mount, and there to strip Aaron of his sacerdotal robes, and put them upon his son: which when Moses had done, Aaron died on the top of Mount Hor, being an hundred

out if they refused their offer, they were then to be vowed to destruction. Maimonides has taken great pains to prove, that all those nations which were cut off by the Israelites, owed their destruction to their choosing to try the fortune of war, rather than accept of peace upon such terms. There is one objection however, which seems to stand a little in his way, and that is, the stratagem which the Gibeonites made use of to obtain peace from Israel, which would have been needless, had the latter been obliged to offer it before they began any hostilities: but to this the learned Rabbi answers,-That the reason of the Gibeonites' policy was, that they had in common with their neighbours, refused the first offer of peace, and were consequently doomed to the same fate with them; and that, for the prevention of this, their ambassadors feigned themselves to come from a country vastly distant from any of the other seven, and by that means obtained the desired peace.—Maimon. ap. Cunæum; et Basnag. Rep. Heb. vol. i. b. 2. c. 20.

a Miriam was older than either Aaron or Moses. Moses was the youngest: and when he was born she might probably be about

told expressly that the Horims dwelt in Seir before-time; and accordingly we read (Gen. xiv. 6.) that Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, with his confederates, smote the Horites in their Mount Seir. Now it seems very probable, that as places at first were wont to take their names from their inhabitants, both this place, and the people might derive their names from one Hor, whom they descended from, and who in the early ages of the world, inhabited this country; and that though, in process of time, the name of Mount Seir came to be used to denote the same tract, yet the old name of Mount Hor was preserved in that part of it, where stood the mountain here so called by Moses, and on which Aaron died. There seems to be however no small difficulty in reconciling this passage in Numbers xx. 23-28, with what we read in DeuterBeeroth, of the children of Jaakan, to Mosera: there Aaron died, and there he was buried.' So that Moses seems to have forgot himself, when in one place he tells us, that his brother Aaron was buried on Mount Hor, and in another in Mosera. To reconcile this, some have supposed that Mount Hor was so near to Mosera, where the Israelites had their encampment when Aaron died, that either place might, with propriety enough, be called the place of his death and his interment. It seems, however, hers xxxiii. very plain, that Mount Hor and Mosera were two from the account which we have of their encampments, in Numdistinct places; and therefore others have maintained, that the sixth and seventh verses in the tenth chapter of Deuteronomy, in the common Hebrew text, have been extremely corrupted by the ignorance of some transcribers, because the Hebrew Samaritan or old Hebrew text, makes the account in Deuteronomy x. 6, 7, exactly agree with the order of the encampments, mentioned in Numbers xxxiii. 32, 38. and there it is said that Aaron died, and was buried in Mount Hor.-Wells' Geography of the Old Testament, vol. ii.

e The author of Ecclesiasticus, having given us a long commendation of Aaron, and his vestments, comes at last to tell us, that "God chose him out of all men living, to offer sacrifices to the Lord, incense, and a sweet savour, for a memorial, and to make reconciliation for his people; that he gave unto him the commandments and authority in the statutes of judgments, that he should teach Jacob the testimonies, and inform Israel in the laws; that strangers conspired together against him, and maligned him in the wilderness-this the Lord saw, and it displeased him, and in his wrathful indignation, they were con sumed.-But he made Aaron more honourable, and gave him an heritage, and divided unto him the first-fruits of the increase; so that he did eat the sacrifices of the Lord, which he gave unto twelve years of age, because when he was exposed upon the banks him and to his seed," &c. He died in the arms of Moses his of the river Nile, she, we find, had address enough to offer her brother, and Eleazer his son, and successor in the high priestservice to Pharaoh's daughter, to go and fetch her a nurse, which hood. They buried him in some cave belonging to Mount Hor, can hardly be supposed of one younger. Some of the ancient and kept the place of his interment from the knowledge of the fathers are of opinion that she died a virgin, and was the legisla-Israelites, perhaps from an apprehension that in after ages they trix or governess of the Jewish women, as Moses was of the men; but the more probable opinion is, that she was married to Hur, a man of chief note in the tribe of Judah, and on several occasions a person of great confidence with Moses: but it does not appear that she had any children by him. She was buried, as Josephus tells us, with great solemnity, at the charge of the public, and her sepulchre, as Eusebius reports, was extant in his time at Kadesh, not far distant from the city Petra, the metropolis of Arabia Petræa.—Universal History, b. 1. c. 7; and Calmet's Dictionary.

6 The Mount Hor was on the coast of the land of Edom, towards the east, in some part of that tract, which was afterwards denoted by the Mount Seir. In Deuteronomy (ii. 12.) we are

might pay some superstitious worship to him; or rather, that the Arabians, among whom they then dwelt, might not at any time take it in their heads to violate the sanctity of his grave.Ecclus. xiv. 13, &c.

d Some authors are of opinion, that these serpents were only little worms, which bred in the skin, and were of so venomous a nature, that they immediately poisoned those who were infected by them. But it is very evident, that not only the original words, necashim seraphim, signify a burning or winged serpent, but that these creatures are very common both in Egypt and Arabia, insomuch, that there would be no living in those countries, if these serpents had not by Providence been debarred from multiplying as other serpents do. For the Arabians tell us, that after