faid to have been delayed" becaufe the iniquity of "the Amorites was not full," Gen. xv. 16. We read in Deut. xii. 29. &c. "When the Lord thy "God fhall cut off the nations from before thee, "whither thou goeft to poffefs them, and thou "fucceedeft them, and dwelleft in their land: "take heed to thyfelf that thou be not fnared by "following them, after that they be destroyed from "before thee, and that thou enquire not after "their gods, faying, How did thefe nations ferve "their gods? even fo will I do likewife. Thou "fhalt not do fo unto the Lord thy God; for "every abomination to the Lord which he hateth, "have they done unto their gods: for even their "fons and their daughters they have burnt in the "fire to their gods:" Deut. xii. 2. &c. “Ye "fhall utterly deftroy all the places wherein the "nations which ye fhall poffefs ferved their gods, "upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, "and under every green tree. And you fhall "overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, "and burn their groves with fire, and you shall "hew down the graven images of their gods, "and deftroy the names of them out of that "place."

That their motive for this was not the luft of plunder, is evident from the orders which they received, and with which they complied, not to take the filver and the gold belonging to their idols, but

to

to deftroy it utterly, Deut. vii. 25. "The graven "images of their gods fhall ye burn with fire: e thou shalt not defire the filver or gold that is on "them, nor take it unto thee, left thou be snared "therein for it is an abomination to the Lord "thy God. Neither fhalt thou bring an abomi"nation into thy houfe, left thou be a curfed thing "like it but thou fhalt utterly deteft it, and "thou shalt utterly abhor it, for it is a curfed "thing."

Nor were they the inhabitants of Canaan only who were to be extirpated on account of their idolatry; for the Ifraelites themselves were to have as little mercy fhewn them on the fame account, Lev. xx. I." And the Lord fpake unto Mofes, fay"ing, Again thou shalt say to the children of If"rael, Whofoever he be of the children of Ifrael,

or of the ftrangers that fojourn in Ifrael, that "giveth any of his feed unto Molech; he fhall

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furely be put to death: the people of the land "fhall ftone him with ftones." Deut. xiii. 6. &c. "If thy brother, the fon of thy mother, or thy "fon, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bofom, "or thy friend, which is as thine own foul, en"tice thee secretly, faying, Let us go and ferve "other gods, which thou haft not known, thou, "nor thy fathers: namely, of the gods of the "people which are round about you, nigh unto "thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of

"the

"the earth, even unto the other end of the earth; "thou shalt not confent unto him, nor hearken "unto him, neither fhall thine eye pity him, "neither halt thou fpare, neither fhalt thou con"ceal him; but thou shalt surely kill him; thine "hand fhall be first upon him to put him to death,

and afterwards the hand of all the people. And "thou shalt ftone him with ftones, that he die;

because he hath fought to thruft thee away from "the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of "the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. "And all Ifrael fhall hear and fear, and fhall do

no more any fuch wickedness as this is among 6c you. If thou fhalt hear say in one of thy cities, "which the Lord thy God hath given thee to

dwell there, faying, certain men, the children " of Belial, are gone out from among you, and "have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, "faying, Let us go and ferve other gods (which "ye have not known). Then fhalt thou enquire " and make fearch, and ask diligently and be"hold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that "fuch abomination is wrought among you: "Thou shalt furely fmite the inhabitants of that "city with the edge of the fword, destroying it "utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle "thereof, with the edge of the fword. And thou fhalt gather all the fpoil of it into the midst of "the ftreet thereof, and fhalt burn with fire the

"city, and all the fpoil thereof every whit, for "the Lord thy God and it shall be an heap for

' ever, it shall not be built again. And there "fhall cleave nought of the curfed thing to thine "hand: that the Lord may turn from the fierce"nefs of his anger, and fhew thee mercy, and "have compaffion upon thee, and multiply thee, "as he hath fworn unto thy fathers; when thou "shalt hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, "to keep all his commandments which I com"mand thee this day, to do that which is right in "the eyes of the Lord thy God."

These were certainly fevere and awful measures, but they are abundantly vindicated by the confideration of the evils which they were intended to prevent. Thefe evils were indeed of the moft alarming nature, defeating the very end of the whole Jewish conftitution, which was especially calculated to preferve the knowledge and worship of the one true God amidst a general defection from it, and to put a stop to the progrefs of the most abominable and deftructive vices, which was the neceffary confequence of that defection.

The divine difpleasure at idolatry was likewife expreffed by the utter deftru&tion of all the idolatrous nations of antient times, viz. the Canaanites, Egyptians, Syrians, Affyrians, Babylonians, and Tyrians; and alfo by the repeated captivities, and other awful judgments, which never failed to be inflicted

inflicted upon the Ifraelites themfelves, whenever they revolted from the one true God.

In the New Teftament thefe awful denunciations of the judgments of God against idolatry, are not repeated with refpect to the Jews, because that people had been effectually cured of their proneness to idolatry by the Babylonish captivity; but we fee the fame fentiments kept up, and referred to, upon every proper occafion, and very preffing exhortations and cautions are given to the Gentile churches, refpecting this fubject. Our Lord replies to his tempter, by quoting the books of Mofes, Mat. iv. 10. "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, "and him only fhalt thou ferve." The abftaining from meats offered to idols, was one of the necessary things which all the apostles enjoined upon the Gentile converts, Acts, xv. 29. The apostle Paul most earnestly and affectionately warns the Corinthian converts on this fubject, 1 Cor. x. 7. "Nei"ther be ye idolaters as were fome of them :" (that is the Ifraelites) v. 14. "Wherefore my "dearly beloved, flee from idolatry:" v. 19. "What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or "that which is offered in facrifice to idols is any "thing? But I fay, that the things which the "Gentiles facrificed, they facrifice to demons*,

I

For fo it ought to have been tranflated.

and