The last household to which I have referred now comes into view, and is, if possible, more conspicuous than the first. If the first resembled Abraham, in leaving their father's house, and travelling into Canaan, the second more closely resembled that patriarch's self-denied residence in the land of promise. To them it never could wear such an aspect as it did to him, and yet we shall see with what high-toned self-denial they dwelt in it.

The children of Israel, it is well known, were so sadly and frequently given to idolatry, that nothing cured them till they were carried away into Babylon. But heresince the kingdom of Christ was not yet set up, which in its purity, when properly administered, is invulnerablehere was one family found strong enough to resist what I believe nothing else, save the invincible power of the family constitution, could have resisted. The name of the Father or Head had been Hemath,* that of his Son or descendant, Rechab, and that of his Son, Jonadab,† now become the Father. Though not by natural descent a child of promise, yet jealous for the honor of the only true God, and foreseeing that the degeneracy, now rapidly increasing, would grow into more ungodliness, Jonadab takes his measures accordingly, and lays his commands upon his children. His advice to them he leaves with all the authority of a law. Abraham, it will be remembered, though the land was promised to his posterity, carefully abstained from laying any claim to it; and, purchasing nothing more than a grave there, he sojourned as in a strange country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. And now, that the whole land is given to his posterity for a possession, here was one man who, though he had no such promise to animate his hopes or those of his posterity, seemed as

* 1 Chron. ii. 55.

+ 2 Kings x. 15.

though he had caught the mantle of the patriarch; at least, like him, revering the purpose of the God of Abraham, he "commanded his children, and his household after him," in a most peculiar strain. Setting the example himself, and succeeding with his family, they rose to such a degree of self-denied morality, even among the Israelites, in their "land of corn and wine," as to abstain from comforts which Abraham himself had been permitted to enjoy. What is very remarkable, these Children not only venerated their Father's authority as long as they lived, but from one generation to another, after several centuries had passed away, their descendants are held up by God himself, as rigidly adhering to their first Father's advice, and even 66 keeping all his commandments." Rejecting all interference with the holy land, they continued to say that they only "sojourned" in it. Tending their cattle on the plains of Naphtali, and never once sowing any seed, they built no house, they planted no vineyard, nor had any, but all their days, like Abraham, they dwelt in tents! What a contrast to every Israelitish family, now so indulged, when, if a Father had built a new house and not dedicated it, or planted a vineyard and not yet eaten of the fruit of it, he was exempted from war, and sent · home to enjoy the fruit of all his labor! But besides all this, in obedience also to their Father's request and injunction, this family had not only no vineyard, but they had entirely abstained from even the use of wine; and driven into Jerusalem by an invading army, when requested by a prophet of God, in the chambers of the Temple, to deviate from their usual habit, they pointedly declined in the following terms:-"We will drink no wine for Jonadab, the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your Sons for ever. Neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any: but all

your days ye shall dwell in tents, that ye may live many days in the land, wherein ye be Strangers.* Thus have

To the Mosaic economy there cannot be a greater injustice done than to represent it as having been unfriendly to the rest of the world. Peculiar in a high degree, and, in most of its observances, exclusive, it certainly was as it required to be, since it was meant to preserve Divine light and love from being entirely extinguished among men. Still, like a city set on a hill, it was intended by its Founder to be seen at a distance; or, as an elevated light, it was expected to convey information far beyond the bounds of Palestine. Foreigners from every quarter would see or hear, and draw near; and all such were to be welcomed. The friendly benevolence of the Jewish theocracy was indeed very conspicuous in the laws respecting the Stranger. Dwelling in Canaan, he found himself incorporated with a protected and highly-privileged order of men. For although a universal religion was no more the genius of that economy than a universal monarchy, the Israelites were commanded, in various ways, to encourage the residence of strangers among them. To enforce an entrance into all the provisions of the covenant made with Abraham upon these strangers was never once imagined or hinted: but though not circumcised, and consequently not entitled to various favors common to every Israelite, still they had their choice and their liberty. At the door of Judaism, indeed, any man might knock, and implore admittance, according to the laws of entrance; and every female might so come and put her trust under the wing of the Lord God of Israel. By intermarriage, therefore, such females became incorporated with the nation, and were even included in the line of the Messiah's ancestry. This was the converse of an Israelite marrying a heathen, without any regard to a change of principle. In reference to this entrance into the congregation, several restrictions were imposed on a few tribes in the vicinity; but the record of such exceptions is an additional proof of the extent to which the privilege was carried. Even these regulations, however, referred to the right of full entrance, and the parties passing beyond the middle wall of partition. To this, after all, no one was compelled, and, retaining his liberty, the stranger in Canaan might avail himself of moral and religious advantages, which could no where else be found. Even at the dedication of the temple, when every remnant of the devoted nations was subdued, and the Jewish economy had reached the acme of its order and beauty, Solomon standing before the altar of the Lord, and imagining not in vain, that the Stranger from a far country, hearing of Jehovah's great name, would come and pray

we obeyed the voice of Jonadab, the Son of Rechab our Father, in all that he charged us, to drink no wine, all our days, we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters; nor to build houses for us to dwell in neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed: but we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed and done according to all that Jonadab our Father commanded us. But it came to pass, when Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, came up into the land, that we said, Come and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of

towards the temple then completed, he offers up a special request for such men as Jonadab and his posterity-the strangers of the land. For them, too, a court had been erected, separated indeed from that of the Jews by the middle-wall of partition,-a distinction which was reserved for the Messiah to break down, not only that the Jew might not "trouble them which, from among the Gentiles, were turned to God," but that these Gentiles might become, in the fullest sense, fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and joint partakers of God's promise in Christ by the gospel. Meanwhile, the stranger belonged to an order of men as highly favored as was possible, in consistency with the theocracy itself not being invaded. Though he could not eat the Passover, nor present other offerings prescribed by the legislator, he could approach the priest with his burnt sacrifice, and, a worshipper of the true God, he of fered it, according to a law laid down by Moses from God.-For these strangers the Sabbatical or seventh year was intended to be a year of joy and instruction equally with all Israel.-The spontaneous produce of the ground that year was as free to them as to any Jew, and, at the reading of the whole law that year, they were intended to be present.-Between the natural posterity of Abraham and these strangers, the civil or criminal judge was solemnly enjoined to hold an equal balance—to them, in case of unintentional death, the gates of the city of refuge stood open equally with the Israelite—and, to crown the whole, they were associated, in numerous passages, with the fatherless, and the widow, and the hoary head, as objects of compassion or tender regard. "If a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him: the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself." Such was the genius of a dispensation which has often been charged, most unwarrantably, with an unrelenting, severe, and unreasonable character, by the superficial and prejudiced observer.

the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the army of the Syrians: so we dwell at Jerusalem."*—That is, only until this calamity is overpast.

Ere this time, often had Judah as well as Israel grieved the Almighty by their dissolute conduct; and, though by Him nourished and brought up as Children, often had they rebelled against their heavenly Father! By this time, alas! they had not only mingled among the heathen, but learned their works; and while Jonadab's posterity thus lived, their Sons and their daughters they had even sacrificed to be devoured in the flames in honor of the idols of Canaan! Amidst all this apostacy and degeneracy, what an example and a contrast of filial regard did these Rechabites exhibit! and, before noticing their Father's deep and judicious concern for his posterity, what a standing reproof were they to the most-highly favored branch of Abraham's Children! Jonadab, with whom these familyrules originated, had long since gone down to the grave: not less than three hundred years had passed away; and now, that we may hear the secret of such rigid virtue, these, his descendants, must be drawn from their obscurity, and that by the prophet of God. Surely, when all the circumstances are observed, we cease to wonder that they should be handed down to the end of time in such terms as these:-" Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Go tell the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction to hearken to my words? saith Jehovah. The words of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, that he commanded his Sons not to drink wine, are performed; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their Father's commandment: notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye hearkened not unto me. I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early

* Jeremiah xxxv. 6-11.