them in their hearts, and confess them to be " a wise and understanding people." This at least was the opinion of Moses, who from that very consideration urged the Jews to contemplate their high privileges, and to walk worthy of thema. To advance the same blessed end in you, we shall state,
I. The peculiar privileges of the Jewish nation —
They were certainly advanced above all the nations upon earth ; as in other respects, so particularly,
1. In their nearness to God —
[Moses had enjoyed such access to God as no man had ever done before : and " conversed with him face to face, even as a man converseth with his friendV That generation to whom he ministered, had seen on many occasions the efficacy of his intercessions, and therefore could appreciate the force of that observation in the text, " What nation is there that hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for ? " Nor was this privilege to be confined to Moses : the high-priest was furnished with an ephod and a breast-plate, by means of which he was to inquire of God in every difficulty, and to obtain answers from him. This was used from time to time, even till the Jews were carried captive to Babylon: and the great privilege of having such means of communion with God may be sufficiently seen in the advantage which David repeatedly derived from it, to learn the intentions of his enemies, and to gain direction respecting his own conduct0. The heathen indeed had their oracles, which they consulted ; but from which they could derive no certain information. The ambiguity of the answers given by them, left room for opposite constructions, and proved that no de- pendence whatever could be placed upon them. Those oracles were a compound of lying priestcraft, and diabolic influence: and were no more to be compared with the oracle of God, than the light of a deceitful vapour with that of the meridian sun.]
2. In the excellence of the dispensation under which they lived —
[" The statutes and judgments" which Moses had delivered to them were altogether "righteous" and good. 'The judicial law, which was given for the regulation of their civil polity, was founded in perfect equity, and conducive in every point to the happiness of the community. The moral law was a transcript
a ver. 5, 6. with the text. b Exod. xxxiii. 11.
c See 1 Scam, xxiii. 9 — 12. and xxx. 7, 8.
190.] MOSES' SOLEMN CHARGE TO ISRAEL. 2l20
of the mind and will of God : it was in every respect " holy, and just, and good," and, if followed in every part, would assi- milate the people to God himself. The ceremonial law also, notwithstanding it was burthensome in many respects, afforded peace and comfort to all who were bowed down with a sense of sin, and desirous of finding acceptance with an offended God. As for the heathen world, they had none of these advantages : they had no such light for the government of their states, no such instruction for the regulation of their conduct, no such consolations under the convictions of guilt or the dread of punishment. They had no better guide than their own weak unassisted reason : and though by means of that they were able to frame laws for the public good, they never could devise a system whereby the soul should be restored to holiness or peace. In these respects the Jews were elevated above all the world. The excellence and authority of their laws were un- disputed ; and every one was made happy by his observance of them.]
But still the Jews themselves had little to boast of in comparison of,
II. The superior privileges which we enjoy — Our access to God is much nearer than theirs —
[They had, it is true, in some respects the advantage. No person now can hope for such special directions as were im- parted by the Urim and Thummim. But it must be remembered that this mode of ascertaining the mind of God was of necessity confined to few : it was not possible for every person to go to the high-priest, and to obtain his mediation with the Deity on every subject that might require light : this liberty could be used by few, and only on occasions of great public importance. But our access to the Deity is unlimited : every person, at all times, in every place, on every occasion, may come to God, without the intervention of a fellow-creature : in this respect every child of God is on a par with the high-priest himself, or rather, is elevated to a state far above him, in proportion as a spiritual approach is nearer than that which is bodily, and an immediate access is nearer than that which is through the medium of an ephod and a breast-plate. Indeed the liberty given to us is unbounded: " In every thing we may make our requests known unto God ;" and we may " ask what we will, and it shall be done unto us." Though therefore the Jews were privileged beyond the Gentiles, whose gods of wood and stone could not attend to their supplications, }ret we are no less privileged above them, and can adopt a language unknown to them, " Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Chi'ist."]