during this interval: the names of several are recorded in terms of high commendation; among these, "Enoch walked with God."* "By faith Enoch was translated, that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him for before his translation, he had this testimony, that he pleased God; but without faith, it is impossible to please him; for he that cometh to God, must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."† "Noah was a just man, and perfect in his generation, and Noah walked with God."‡ "And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark, for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation." § By faith, Noah being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark, to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith." It would be equally extravagant to suppose, that these excellent men lived without the celebration and enjoyment of this solemn act of worship, as it would be to imagine, that the instances recorded of Cain and Abel, were those of its first solemnization. These seeming omissions may receive a suf↑ Gen. vi. 9. * Gen. v. 24. 66 + Heb. xi. 5, 6. ficient explanation, from a circumstance entirely distinct from the brevity of the historian, and perhaps on that account, more satisfactory. The ministry of Moses was especially directed to the instruction of one nation: for their benefit he wrote four books:-Exodus, detailing the particulars of their deliverance from Egypt, the first incidents attending their march into the wilderness, the delivery of the moral law, and the construction of the ark and its tabernacle; Leviticus, containing the precepts and regulations of the typical worship, to be exhibited in the celebration of various and diversified solemnities, until the period of their completion, when their abrogation would necessarily follow their fulfilment; Numbers, recording the enumeration and order of the tribes, with particulars of their history during their travel in the wilderness, from the conclusion of the book Exodus; and Deuteronomy, repeating the laws before promulgated, and enforcing their observance with all the energies and impress which the prophet could add to them when contemplating a speedy removal into the presence of that God, whose exalted service he had so long and so faithfully administered. As a system of national law and divinity, these books form a complete whole; but, as a body of gene ral instruction, they are defective. There is a want of the previous history of the nation, for whose use and benefit these transactions had taken place, and these institutions had been established. There is no relation of the cause why such significant services had become necessary. This might be known to the people, but if not committed to writing, there was imminent danger of that knowledge being lost, or forgotten, or obscured. To prevent this, Moses compiled the book Genesis as an introduction to the others, and which, by giving a brief narrative of the antecedent history, might supply so much information as was wanted to display the wisdom, justice, and mercy of that God, who was the Author of their faith and the object of their worship, and whence they might trace the harmony of their established service with the mercies secured to them by the covenant. The religious rites and institutions having been collected and detailed in their appropriate records, became subjects of easy and convenient reference on every occasion; and the inspired historian, when relating any event connected with any of these, would only feel it necessary to make a nominal reference to them. The people for whom he wrote, were habitually acquainted with all the particulars, and if the history fell into the hands of heathens, a circumstance not immediately contemplated, that portion of his writings would hardly go alone; the other books would probably accompany it, and give a sufficient explanation when such was wanted. It must also be recollected that Moses was the minister especially authorized to enact and establish these modes of worship. The Israelites required no further information concerning them, than that which they received from him. The fulness and sufficiency of his authority for that purpose, we shall consider hereafter. These institutions might be coeval with the expulsion of man from paradise; but when reappointed, renewed, or restored by the ministration of a prophet inspired for that purpose, the people looked to his promulgation of them as that issue of the law which bound them to obedience. The legislator, when writing history, would only refer to them as matter of record. The fact will illustrate this. The eleventh chapter of Leviticus explains at some length the distinction of clean and unclean beasts and birds. The use of this detail was evident to every Israelite: it was connected both with their solemn services, and their daily habits of life. The same subject is introduced in Gen. vii. 2; and again, Gen. viii. 20; but no information is there given by which the clean can be distinguished from the unclean; or why such a difference was established. Both these were known from another and later source, and, therefore, the historian refers to it as a well-known fact which required no explanation. The consecration of the sabbath is recorded in Gen. ii. 2, 3. It was the seal of the covenant which God then established with mankind, and the mention of it was necessary. In Exod. xvi. 25, 26, it became the object of historical reference, and no allusion is made to its divine appointment. But in the twentieth chapter of the same book, it is the subject of legislative enactment, and the lawgiver anticipated the reply which would come, in due course, to any enquiry which his reader might make, why that day should be hallowed to the service of the Almighty in preference to any other. And as that particular promulgation, to his own people, superseded every previous command for its general establishment, he only relates in the former passage, as part of his narrative, that the regular supply of manna was withheld on that day, because it was the sabbath. The distinct provinces of the legislator and the historian are as carefully marked on the |