THE PHILOSOPHY OF SACRED perience of every day, abroad or at home, constitutional party were headed by the alone or in company: I still feel a void. Levites, and able to keep the tyrant at I feel that I want a conformity to God, a bay; now the defection of the priesthood sense of his presence and of his love, to left this party without any organization to make the happiest scenes of life agreeable | oppose the power of the prince, and 'he to me. In proportion as these withdraw, made the streets of Jerusalem to run with or advance, I find myself more or less sa- the blood of its inhabitants.' In the tisfied with myself, and every thing about midst of his casualties the strong arm of me. Now I can well remember when I Esarhaddon dragged him from his throne, had not these desires. I am sure I did and left him to reflect, in the dungeons of not give them to myself, neither can they | Babylon, over all the evils he had brought proceed from evil influence, because their on his country. In his sufferings he redirect tendency is, to destroy sin and pro- cognised, and turned in penitence to the mote holiness, therefore they must be of hand that smote him, and, being restored God: if so, they must be prevalent in the to his throne, he endeavoured to atone for issue, or, as the promise runs, they shall his past errors by an earnest effort to be satisfied, for God is not like the unwise reform the habits of his people. But no builder, who began a work at unawares, repentance could give life to the victims which he was not able to finish. No of his former cruelty; the noblest spirits His hands that laid the foundation, must, of the country had been crushed during and will, bring forth the top-stone with his apostasy, and he now found few likejoy, and give us everlasting reason to cry, minded to encourage him in his repentance, Grace, grace, unto it. God had promised or to aid him in his reformation; so, after to rebuild the second temple: he raised repairing the temple and restoring its up Cyrus on purpose to set the work on worship, he had the mortification to disfoot; he sent his prophets to encourage cover that the people shunned its altars, the people how many difficulties, stops, and preferred the worship of the hills. and oppositions, did that work meet with? Besides, any good impression that may yet it was accomplished in its appointed have been produced was immediately detime. stroyed by his successor, Amon, and the people made the more confirmed in their alienation from the worship of their fathers. The reformation of Josiah gave a temporary check to these evils, and a short respite to the nation; but his death terminated the power of the kingdom, after which it was for eight years the vassal of Egypt, when it was again recovered to Babylon by the arms of Nebuchadnezzar. The interval between the death of Josiah and the captivity was the filling of Jerusalem's cup of iniquity till it was full, red, and dark. Princes, priests, and people vied with each other in their sins, till the temple was defiled, and the whole land polluted. Means after means were tried, and prophet after prophet was sent to reform and warn them; but the means and messengers were alike despised. The greater part of the people had adopted all the abominations of the heathen,' and such as had not had deserted the services of the temple, and resorted to the evil worship of the hills. So general was the falling away that all the families of the Levites, save that of Zadok, had abandoned the temple, either to wait on other gods, or to serve in another worship of the true God, which, being neither according to the form prescribed by the law, nor at the place appointed by the proper authority, was a worship without a religion. Hence the ceremonial worship being destroyed by the princes, disowned by the priests, and deserted by the people, the ends for which the Jews had been HISTORY. THE TIMES OF THE MESSIAH. NO. I.-CONCLUDED. AFTER the rout of Sennacherib there were many ominous signs of evil visible in Judea. Even good Hezekiah erred in the business of the king of Babylon,' and the priests were backward in the work of reformation; but for his sake the gathering storm was stayed, and its fury reserved for the next generation. The record of Manasseh's long half century of sins and sufferings is very brief and expressive. It is said that he shed much innocent blood, which God would not pardon,' and this statement is again and again referred to by the sacred historians and prophets, and spoken of as the chief cause of Judah's decline and fall. It intimates, not only a vigorous effort on the part of the despot to overturn the religion of his country, but also a firm resistance on the part of the people. They had done much in the days of his father to restore order, and they appear to have suffered more in his time in order to preserve it. The spirit of the times had entered the Jew, and error, clad in power and armed with the sword, recklessly cut its way through all opposition. Jehoram, the first apostate, had also drawn the sword, but then the called were subverted, and no other means were left for preserving the truths confided to their custody, save that of banishment for a season from the land they had defiled, and from the temple they had despised. Every other means had been tried and failed, and the last severe remedy must, in mercy to the world, be applied. From the peculiar forms of the Jewish ritual, which made it necessary that all the special services should be performed in Jerusalem, and at the temple, captivity was a suspension of the national worship, and the destruction of the city and temple an evident rejection of the people by their God. The good things which men may despise when they possess them, are often much regretted when lost; and so was it with the Jews and their privileges. In captivity they could no longer mistake their position. They saw their sin in its punishment, and many who, when they dwelt in Judah, thought but little of Jerusalem, and less of its temple, now looked back, weeping as they looked, and longed and prayed for restoration to the house and city of their God. The suspension of the idolatrous and evil worship of the times, and the restoration of the Jews to better feelings and customs, was, we apprehend, one great end to be accomplished by the captivity. The fact that the Jews were weaned from idolatry during the time of their captivity, is frequently noticed, but the means by which they were reformed are not generally understood. It has been often said that they saw so much of its evils amongst the heathen as to become disgusted at its rites and customs; but the idolatry of Palestine was grosser in its nature, and more revolting in its ritual, than the simple heathenism of Chaldea and Persia. Besides, though the Jews were taken out of Judea when it was overrun with every abomination, yet the Israelites were carried out of Samaria after their country had been cleaned from idols. Hence we assume that it was not by a wider exhibition of the atrocities of heathenism, but by a more extensive manifestation of the character of Jehovah, that the Jews were made ashamed of idols, and proud of the God of their father-land. This view of the means used, and of the end to be gained, throws some light on the times and places of the captivity. The Israelites were reformed by the reformation of Hezekiah, and it was well that they should be taken away when the impulse was fresh, and their hatred to idolatry was strong, as these were more likely to be permanent in a strange land than if they had been left exposed to all the evil influences which disgraced their apostate brethren of Judah. Also, as the Jews were taken away in the practice of idolatry, it was well that they should be located in the immediate vicinity of Babylon, to witness the manifestations of God's power and majesty; but as Israel had been turned from idols, they needed fewer manifestations. It was enough for them, in the more remote provinces of the empire, where their lot had been cast, that they heard by the proclamations of the kings what God was doing in the land of the stranger, and were by these edicts permitted and encouraged to worship him without molestation. Both nations had seen, in the ruin of their country, and in the destruction of their temple, that though the Divine patience was long-suffering, it was not everlasting, and they had seen in the lands of their captivity so many evidences, and heard so many confessions of the power of Jehovah, that they turned to him with 'a repentance that needed not to be repented of. Such a reform had been promised to Judah-'I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean, and from all your filthiness and all your idols will I cleanse you;' and it was literally true that 'at that time the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none, and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found; for I will pardon whom I reserve.' The ultimate reference of these prophecies evidently goes beyond the captivity to a better purification, but these immediate references to the extinction of idolatry is too obvious to be mistaken. There are many who speak as if the tribe of Judah only had returned, and still look for a period when the rest of the tribes shall burst from the obscurity of ages, and be again restored to Jerusalem. We know of no ground for such a hope, and are of opinion that all who were to return came back with Judah, and such as did not either perished by the sword, sunk undistinguished amongst the nations, or were joined to the Jews. This is evident from the following circumstances:When the Israelites were carried away, they were placed in the cities of the Medes, and the Jews were planted in the vicinity of Babylon. Now, at the time of the return, both of these districts were under the authority of Babylon, and both were included in the general proclamations inviting all to return. Besides, both before and during the captivity, the prophets had led both parties to expect a union and a mutual restoration. It was the whole house of Israel' that Ezekiel saw revived and restored in his vision of the dry bones; and to make this understood, he was com manded to take two sticks, and by joining them in his hand, give the promise of a time when both parties should be united in one nation,' and under 'one king.' The prophets had also taught them that the house of David was to flourish again, but that the houses of Jeroboam and Jehu were never to be restored, so that any restoration must be accomplished under the supremacy of the tribe of Judah. In conformity with this hope, the tribe of Judah alone preserved its prince and genealogies during the captivity, so that every addition, either from the heathen or Israelites, were added to that tribe, and all previous distinctions were lost in the general designation of Jews. It is in these circumstances -the promise that both would return, and return under the supremacy of Judah and the fact that Judah did not return alone, but as predicted, that we find an answer to the question, Where are the ten tribes? They have gone as it was written been lost amongst the heathen or joined to their brethren. However, although a portion of all the tribes did return, yet a greater number remained. This was only what might have been expected from the circumstances of the captivity; and as these not only affected the numbers of the restoration, but the efficiency of the reformation, a brief explanation of them may so far illustrate the history of the period. The refugees who had fled to Egypt carried with them their love to idolatry, and as they had voluntarily | abandoned both the country and its religion, they could have no sympathy with any effort to re-people the one or to reform the other. No hope of any return was ever held out to them, and they all perished in the desolations of Egypt. Neither can we look for any great number from the cities of the Medes. The ten tribes had been carried there after 'Ephraim said, What have I any more to do with idols;' and they found among the fire-worshippers of the East a feeling of hostility to idols similar to their own. The customs, worship, and creed of the Magians, more especially after these had been reformed by the first and second Zoroasters (if there were two reformers of that name), were all of such a kind as to promote intercourse between the two parties. At least, the Israelites being allowed to worship God in peace, they would in all probability soon settle down in their new homes, and form many ties binding them to the country where their lot had been cast. Hence, when they were invited to go to Judea, after they had been long settled in Media, few would be disposed to go, save such as had acquired no settlement; and from the time and opportunities they had to form a settlement, we fear such a class was not likely to contain many of the best of the Israelites, So, after making every allowance for the patriotic and pious men amongst them, still we find ourselves compelled to look at the company which returned from these regions, rather as a band of restless adventurers seeking a change of place, than as a group of pilgrims travelling to restore the fallen shrine of a ruined temple. In the province of Babylon similar causes had been leading to similar results. There the Jews had been advised by Jeremiah not to believe the false prophets who promised them a speedy return, but to rest assured that the seventy years must pass before they could look for a deliverance. The greater part believed him, and devoted themselves to such pursuits as soon enabled them to procure much wealth. Hence, when the period of restoration came, Palestine had no temptations strong enough to burst the ties which bound them to Babylon. A few who had no such ties might and would return, but these were not likely to be of much service in forwarding the object of the mission, so that the Jews might have good cause for saying, The gold remained and the dross returned. It was owing to such characters as these that the reformation was SO vacillating, and progressed so slowly. It was these, the refuse of the Median and the dross of the Babylonian settlers, that were so ready to form an alliance with the Ammonite and the Moabite, that were so ready to violate, and so unwilling to restore the law, and that went over in such numbers to the apostate Church of Samaria. Turning from these colonies, we look with higher hopes to the river Chebar. The large colony planted there with Ezekiel found a people less favourable to the religion and worship of Judah, for, from the earliest ages, Mesopotamia, the ancient Padan-aram of Scripture, had been inhabited by a race of idolaters, who were sure to insult the feelings and despise the worship of the captives beside them. strong arm of the government might protect the Jews from the more open forms of persecution, but it could not save them from those galling annoyances to which they would be constantly exposed from a people so widely different in their faith and feelings. The antipathy of parties in the provinces' is broadly marked in the fact that in the time of Esther the Jews slew, in their own defence, 75,000 of their enemies in one day; and it was 'beside the river' that their enemies taunted them, and where they wept for Zion. To a people placed in such circumstances, the invitation to return would be hailed as the jubilee of liberty; and we apprehend it was to the company who returned from this quarter that the reformation was indebted for that spirit of stern enthusiasm which gives dignity to some parts of its history. But there, as in other places, The multitudes were left to be witness for God among the heathen; and it is cheering to discover, even after the lapse of many generations, that Egypt, Media, and Mesopotamia had their representatives in the gatherings of Israel-that though the children of the captivity still remained in the place of their birth; yet they had neither forgotten the God of their fathers nor forsaken his worship-that apostasy, however general, was not universal. There are other topics which may be referred to in the history of the West; we have scarcely left space to notice some of the more special instances of God's providence in the history of the East. the severity of conquest, and left room to work out the purpose of Heaven in a way more suited to show God's glory in the good of men. There are also, in the book of Esther, many interesting illustrations of God's providence, in providing a protection for his people. From the style of the book it seems to have been written at the time when the extreme veneration of the Jews for the sacred name prevented them from writing it save when they were transcribing Moses and the prophets. From the matter of the book it is evidently written to record those remarkable providences which the Jews seemed so anxious to commemorate by their feasts. Hence, though the name of God is not in it, still it contains more of 'God in history' than any of the other sacred historical books. We cannot now ascertain with certainty which of the kings of Persia was the Ahasuerus of Scripture; but from the picture given of him there, he appears to have been a prince greatly influenced to good or evil, by his favourite for the time. The Jews were evidently aware of this, for on the disgrace of Queen Vashti, Mordecai endeavours to secure a patroness to his people by introducing his cousin Esther, as one of the candidates for the royal favour, and the beautiful Jewess, concealing her race, was preferred and called to the vacant throne. We read of two other candidates for Court favour-Mordecai the the Jew, and Haman the Amalekite. They were both in the royal household-the one at the gate, the other in some place which brought him nearer the king's person. The Jew has the first advantage, for he discovers and reveals a conspiracy against the king's life; but the deed, though recorded, was not rewarded, and Mordecai, 'more faithful than favoured,' was continued in his outer post till a more suitable time. The Amalekite was a better courtier, and he soon acquired such an ascendancy over the king, that his wish was the princes' will, and he became the first man in the council, and the most powerful in the Court. As he went and returned from the presence all the retain The deportation of the Jews in the time of Nebuchadnezzar was a striking instance of the manner in which God works out his purpose by the agency of second causes, and how apparent obstacles are often made the means of advancing measures which they appear to frustrate. It was the purpose of God to remove the whole of the Jews out of Judea, and that the country might be thoroughly cleaned, he was 'to wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, turning it upside down.' To accomplish this purpose, Nebuchadnezzar was sent to Jerusalem; but he, not apprehending it, only executed it so far as it suited his own plans. It was God's design that the whole of the inhabitants should be removed-it was the will of the conqueror that a portion of them should remain, and thus the unconscious agent rises as a barrier in the way of the power that employed him. The means appear to have failed in accomplishing the end proposed, and yet how easily is that end gained by another means! The bands of restraint over the remnant left are loosened but for a moment, and, by the murder of their governor, a deed is done which fills every heart with terror for the consequences a panic fear speeds the flight of every inhabitant, and sweeps the land of almost every soul of the seed of Abraham. Had Nebuchadnezzar been allowed to execute this purpose with the sword of the conqueror, it would only have been done at a waste of human life more fearful than the final visit of the Romans. Then the deep-ers of the household gave due honour to rooted enmity of the Jews to the Christians made it necessary to crush the former, so as to permit the existence and growth of the latter. Then Judaism had served its purpose, and must of necessity be destroyed, even though that destruction should cause the ruin of every bigoted adherent of the old system. But there was no such necessity at the time of the captivtiy; it was only a temporary suspension, not a final extinction of the system; and the people were to be reformed, not destroyed. Hence, Nebuchadnezzar's cross purpose softened the reigning favourite, save the Jew, who, cherishing all the hostility of his race to the seed of Amalek, gave no homage to one of his line. Haman noticed this, and cherishing a still deeper hatred to the Jews, he despises to strike a blow at so mean an enemy, and determines to extirpate the whole of the race. To find out a propitious day for this he cast the lot, and it fell on the 13th day of the 12th month. As the lot was cast on the first month, this incident postponed his revenge for nearly a year, and gave the Jews time to adopt such precautions as might save themselves. In the interval, the mistakes, the cross-purposes, the plans, and the counterplans of parties, give the sacred narrative all the charm of a novel. As the plot thickens Haman is invited to dine with the king and queen, and, mistaking its object, he retires from the presence, elated with this last finishing touch to his honours; but, passing the Jew, he still receives no salute, and this sours all the sweets of preferment, ruffles his vanity, and stimulates his enmity, till he resolves that his foe must die. He cannot curb his anger to wait for the propitious day fixed by the lot, he cannot even wait till it is dawn, for that very night the instrument of death is ready, and he is early at the palace waiting for a warrant, to place his enemy in his power. It was a pity for Haman that the gibbet was so high, and his visit so early, for the household guessed his errand, and took an unfavourable advantage of his preparations. It was strange that on that particular night the king could not sleep, and that they should bring the chronicles of his reign to divert him during his weary hours. It was still more strange, that the reader should have turned up the very page which recorded Mordecai's forgotten act of loyalty. Nothing could be more opportune-the hasty prince, eager to atone for his neglect, asks if any of the courtiers are at hand, and the waiting Haman is ordered in. The question, 'What shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honour?' was a novel question; and it was but natural for the favourite to imagine that he was the man; and, supposing that he was meting out his own honours, he was too good a courtier to miss the opportunity, and liberally heaped up the measure of the royal bounty, What must have been his mortification to discover that all this grandeur was for the man whom he had come to take to his grave; but even this was but the beginning of his sorrows. With a heavy heart he attended the banquet, and 'found the feast his foy.' The queen accuses him of a conspiracy against her life and race: the king, surprised at the extent of his favourite's misdemeanors, and unwilling to sacrifice him, retires to the garden, and Haman prostrates himself at the feet of the Royal Jewess, and begs hard for his life. In the midst of his importunity the king enters, who, mistaking Haman's eagerness for life for an attempt to dishonour the queen become, enraged. The 'favourite has no friends,' the menials mark their opportunity, and, giving no time for explanations, they hint that Haman had a gallows convenient and ready, and he is led forth to the death he had prepared for his rival. 'And Mordecai the Jew be came next to the king, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren, seeking the wealth of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed.' It was in the favours received from such kings as Darius, Cyrus, and Ahasuerus, and from such queens as Esther, and from such Ministers as Daniel and Mordecai, that the Jews sealed the fulfilment of such promises as 'kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and the queens thy nursing mothers; for I will contend with them that contendeth with thee, and save thy children.' These providences would have been interesting, though they had only been meant to save a captive race, but they acquire a double importance when they are looked on as being also means for strengthening the faith of the Jew, and for spreading the knowledge and fear of God amongst the nations. These deliverances had been so frequent, that the pious Jews, had learned to cherish even in their greatest dangers, an unwavering confidence in God's providence; and the language of Mordecai to Esther is one of the finest instances of this on record, If thou altogether holdest thy peace, then shall enlargement and deliverance to the Jews arise from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed, and who knowest whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this.' Their greatest enemies noticed and acknowledged God's care over them, hence the language of Haman's wife, If Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shall surely fall before him.' Many of the people appear to have also observed this, and became converts to Judaism; for many of the people of the land became Jews, for the fear of the Jews fell upon them.' Thus the preservation of the Jews was the propagation of the truth, and the promise was fulfilled- In those days ten men out of all languages and nations shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.' There is, also, in the restoration and reformation of Judaism, under the patronage of the Persian Court, some coincidences worthy of our notice. Of the four great empires seen in Daniel's vision, the Medo-Persians only did not encourage the worship of idols, and their own mode of worship led them to look with favour on a system of pure monotheism like Judaism, Thus, while the Jews were generally protected by the Chaldean, tolerated by the Roman, and persecuted by the SyroGrecian Governments, they were not only protected, but their religion was promoted by the best princes of the Persian dynasty, |