seven years he was enabled to complete. There is, in the structure of this edifice, one circumstance so remarkable as to deserve very particular attention : the wood and stones were all prepared at a distance, and brought to the place perfectly fitted for the situation in which they were to stand : and with such unerring skill were they all framed, that, during the whole time of building the temple, there was no occasion for an axe or hammer to be used ; and the whole structure was completed without the smallest noise. Now whoever considers the figurative nature of the Jewish dispensation must see, that such an extraordinary circumstance as this could not have happened from mere chance, or have occurred at all without some very important meaning. We doubt not but that it was intended by God to shadow forth some truths for the instruction of his Church in all ages. What these were, we cannot declare with certainty, because no inspired writer has specified them : but we apprehend that, whatever else this circumstance might intimate, it was particularly cal- culated to represent,
I. The perfection of God's designs —
[Every part of the edifice, and every vessel in it, was formed, as it were, in the mind of the Divine Architect, long before Solomon or David ever entertained the thought T)f exe- cuting such a work. Before Moses constructed the tabernacle, there was a model set before him by God, and he was ordered to make every thing according to the pattern shevni to him in the mounts A similar model was given by God to David, and shewai by him to Solomon, for the constructing of the temple^ : so that, as existing in the divine mind, the work was perfect before it was begun.
Now this shews us what is really the case with respect to every thing in the whole creation. As the creation itself was all formed in the divine purpose, though it occupied six suc- cessive days to complete it, so all things to the very end of time are present in the mind of God, having been ordained of him before the foundation of the world.
We are aware that to many this appears " an hard saying :" but it is " a true saying :" for how could so many things have
a Exod. XXV. 40. ^ 1 Chron. xxviii. 11 — 13, 19.