rant. A prophet, said he, shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren like unto me: which words are cited by St. Stephen and marked out for special observation: This is that Moses, who said unto the children of Israel, a prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you, like unto me: and from the use he has made of the history of Moses, in the 7th chapter of the Acts, it appears that this likeness extends to his whole character, from his birth to his death as we shall see when we come to examine the particulars. We are likewise taught by St. Paul, that Moses, as a minister and mediator, was faithful in his office, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after when the Son himself, the great and final mediator, should take the direction of the house of God, and accomplish the ministry, which is now witnessed by the ministry of Moses. The circumstances fittest for our purpose in the history of Moses, and most remarkable in themselves, are already selected by St. Stephen: to these, therefore, I shall confine myself; and treat of them in the order in which he has laid them down. But that we may first have a distinct view of the particulars, which will come under consideration, it may be proper to ob 3 serve; serve; that the history of Moses, as here to be applied, comprehends 1. The circumstances of his birth. 2. His qualifications and endowments as the minister of God. 3. His office as the deliverer of his people. 4. The reception he met with from the people he came to deliver. Our blessed Saviour's birth in Judæa was rendered very remarkable by the circumstances that attended it, and the character of the time in which it happened. When the promises of God were about to be fulfilled by the redemption of mankind, and the time foretold by the prophets was drawing near; the nation of the Jews was fallen under bondage to the Roman power, and were subject to Herod, a strange king, jealous of the people he was set over, and apprehensive of a deliverer to be born among themselves. When the report of Christ's birth was brought by the wise men, Herod determined to cut him off; and with this view cruelly flaughtered all the infants in the neighbourhood of Bethlehem. With all this the birth of Moses agrees in every circum stance. For 1. The time of the promise drew nigh which God had sworn to Abraham. It had been foretold, that the seed of Abraham should continue four four hundred years in Egypt, and after that come out with great substance. When this time of redemption was approaching, the Hebrews were fallen into great affliction under a new king who knew not Joseph; who being probably an alien, had no respect to the merits or memory of him who had been a saviour to the land of Egypt; looking with a jealous eye upon all his people, as enemies, and treating them as captives and slaves. He had a suspicion that they would become more powerful, and get them up out of his land. To prevent which, he proceeded with subtilty, (as Herod did afterwards) and resolved upon a massacre of all the male infants of the Hebrews. He first commanded the midwives to kill them; but failing in this, Pharaoh charged all his peo-ple, saying, every son that is born ye shall cast into the river. At this time Moses was born: and a remarkable time it was: a strange new king kept the people of God in subjection, and murdered their infants, to prevent their deliverance. But Moses and Christ, under these wonderful circumstances, were both miraculously preserved, to accomplish the redemption for which they were raised up: and they were both preserved in the land of Egypt. Moses was taken up by Pharaoh's daughter, and es caped caped from the wrath of a cruel king: and the child Jesus was carried into Egypt by his parents to escape the wrath of Herod. The nativity of Christ was dignified by the appearance of a star, and celebrated by an host of angels; though its earthly appearance was in poverty and obscurity. And some unusual circumstances marked the birth of Moses, though the particulars are not related. He was born of a poor oppressed people, the child of a slave, and doomed to death by the circumstances of his birth. But his parents were aware of some distinction, which shewed that he was raised up for some great purpose. St. Paul says, they saw he was a proper child; St. Stephen, that he was exceeding fair; the original is, fair to God; from all which it is most reasonable to understand, that some marks of divine favour and distinction were visible about him at his birth. His qualifications and endowments come next under consideration. He is said to have been learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians *, and to have been mighty in words and in deeds. This character ist given of Christ as a prophet, nearly in the same terms. The two disciples who walked with him to Emmaus described him as a prophet mighty Compare Luke ii. 52. mighty in deed and word before God and all the people. When Moses was grown up, he went forth to vindicate the rights of his people, and gave them a sign of his power by slaying an Egyptian who did them wrong; casting out one of their strong men, to shew that a stronger than he was come upon him, and that God had visited his people. So did Christ give a sign of his power as a redeemer, by rescuing the souls and bodies of men from the bondage of Satan: casting out devils by the finger of God, to shew that the kingdom of God was come upon them. The Egyptian wisdom, according to the ac counts we have of it, delivered all things under signs and figures; speaking to the mind rather by visible objects than by words, and conveying instruction under a hidden form which only the wise could understand. I do not stay to enquire into the reason of this; I only speak of the fact, which is well known to scholars. Moses must therefore have been accustomed early to this mode of delivering science by symbols and hieroglyphics: and we have seen that his whole law is according to the same method, not speaking literally of any spiritual thing, not even of the immortality of the soul (whence some have ignorantly supposed that it was not a doc VOL. IV. |