proposition are to be picked out from among many others, and on being brought together by ourselves, they are found to agree together as parts of a system, though they are not contemplated as such, or at least are not produced as such, by the author himself. I am aware that, whilst we are endeavouring to obtain a view of such a Patriarchal Church by the glimpses afforded us in Genesis, there is a danger of our theology becoming visionary: it is a search upon which the imagination enters with alacrity, and readily breaks its bounds -it has done so in former times and in our own. Still the principle of such investigation is good; for out of God's book, as out of God's world, more may be often concluded than our philosophy at first suspects. The principle is good, for it is sanctioned by our Lord himself, who reproaches the Sadducees with not knowing those Scriptures which they received, because they had not deduced the doctrine of a future state from the words of Moses, "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob," though the doctrine was there if they would but have sought it out. One consideration, however, we must take along with us in this inquiry, that the Books of Moses are in most cases a very incomplete history of facts-telling something and leaving a great deal untold-abounding in chasms which cannot be filled up-not, therefore, to be lightly esteemed even in their hints, for hints are often all that they offer. The proofs of this are numberless; but as it is important to my argument that the thing itself should be distinctly borne in mind, I will name a few. Thus if we read the history of Joseph as it is given in the 37th chapter of Genesis, where his brethren first put him into the pit and then sell him to the Ishmaelites, we might conclude that he was himself quite passive in the whole transaction. Yet when the brothers happen to talk toge ther upon this same subject many years afterwards in Egypt, they say one to another, "We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul when he besought us, and we would not hear." All these fervent intreaties are sunk in the direct history of the event, and only come out by accident after all. As another instance. The simple account of Jacob's reluctance to part with Benjamin would lead us to suppose that it was expressed and overcome in a short time, and with no great effort. Yet we incidentally hear from Judah that this family struggle (for such it seems to have been) had occupied as much time as would have sufficed for a journey to Egypt and back2. As a third instance. The several blessings which Jacob bestows on his sons have probably a reference to the past as well as to the future fortunes of each. In the case of Reuben the allusion happens to be to a circumstance in his life with which we are already acquainted; here, therefore, we understand the old man's address"; but in the case of several at least of his other sons, where there are probably similar allusions to events in their lives too, which have not, however, been left on record, there is much that is obscure; the brevity of the previous narrative not supplying us with the proper key to the blessing. Of this nature, perhaps, is the clause respecting Simeon and Levi, “In their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they digged down a wall." 4 As another instance. The address of Jacob on his death-bed to Reuben, to which I have just referred, shows how deeply Jacob resented the wrong done him by this son many years before, and proves what a breach it must have made between them at the moment; yet all 1 Gen. xlii. 21. 2 Ibid. xliii. 10. 3 Gen. xlix. 4. 4 Ibid. xlix. 6. that is reported of it in the Mosaic history is," and Israel heard it," ‚"—not a syllable more. Again, of Anah it is said2, "This was that Anah that found the mules in the wilderness, as he fed the asses of Zibeon his father: " an allusion to some incident apparently very well known, but of which we have no trace in the previous narrative. Once more. The manner in which Joshua is mentioned for the first time, clearly shows how conspicuous a character he already was amongst the Israelites; and how much previous history respecting him has been suppressed. “And Moses said unto Joshua, choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek." And the same remark applies to Hur, in an ensuing sentence, "And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill:" the Jewish tradition being that Hur was the husband of Miriam. Again, it is said, "that Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took Zipporah, Moses' wife, after he had sent her back." The latter clause refers to some transaction, familiar, no doubt, to the historian, but of which no previous mention had been made. When it is told, that "Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod smote the rock twice, and the water came out abundantly;" and it afterwards appears, that he offended God grievously in this transaction, insomuch that he was not permitted to bring the people into the land which God had given them; it is manifest that a great deal is omitted-it being quite a question amongst the critics to determine in what the sin of Moses consisted. It is needless to multiply instances; all that I wish to impress is this, that in the Book of Genesis a hint is not to be wasted, but improved; and that he who expects every probable deduction from Scripture to be made 1 Gen. xxxv. 22. 3 Exod. xvii. 9. 4 4 Exod. xviii. 2. 5 Numb. xx. 11. out complete in all its parts before he will admit it, expects more than he will in many cases meet with, and will learn much less than he might otherwise learn. Having made these preliminary remarks, I shall now proceed to collect the detached incidents in Genesis which appear to point out the existence of a Patriarchal Church, And the circumstance of so many incidents tending to this one centre, though evidently without being marshalled or arranged, implies veracity in the record itself; for it is a very comprehensive instance of coincidence without design in the several parts of that record. 1. First, then, the Patriarchs seem to have had places set apart for the worship of God, consecrated, as it were, especially to his service. To do things "before the Lord" is a phrase not unfrequently occurring, and generally in a local sense. Cain and Abel appear to have brought their offerings to the same spot, it might be (as some have thought)', to the East of the Garden, where the symbols of God's presence were displayed; and when Cain is banished from his first dwelling, and driven to wander upon the earth, he is said to have "gone out from the presence of the Lord; as though, in the land where he was henceforward to live, he would no longer have access to the spot where God had more especially set his name: or it might be a sacred tent, for it is told Cain, “if thou doest not well, sin (i. e. a sin-offering) lieth at the door :"3 and we know that the sacrifices were constantly brought to the door of the Tabernacle, in later times *. Again, when the angels had left Abraham, and were gone towards Sodom," Abraham," we read, "stood yet before the Lord,"5 1 Hooker, Eccl. Pol. b. v. § 11. Bp. Jer. Taylor's Life of Christ, Part ii., Sect. xi. § 7. Vide Mr. Faber's Three Dispensations, vol. i. p. 8; and comp. Wisdom ix. 9. 2 Gen. iv. 16. 3 Ibid. iv. 7. 1 i. e. he staid to plead with God for Sodom in the place best suited to such a service, the place where prayer was wont to be made; and accordingly it follows immediately after, "and Abraham drew near and said;" and again, the next day, "Abraham gat up early in the morning (probably his usual hour of prayer), "to the place where he stood before the Lord," the same where he had put up his intercessions to God the day before; in short, the place where he built an altar unto the Lord" when he first came to dwell in the plain of Mamre3, for that was still the scene of this transaction. Again, of Rebekah we read, that when the children struggled within her, "she went to inquire of the Lord," and an answer was received prophetic of the different fortunes of those children. And when Isaac contemplated blessing his son, which was a religious act, a solemn appeal to God to remember his covenant unto Abraham, it was to be done "before the Lord." The place might be, as I have just said, an altar such as was put up by Abraham at Hebron, by Isaac at Beer-sheba, or by Jacob at Beth-el, where they respectively dwelt ; it might be, as I have also suggested, a separate tent, and a tent actually was set apart by Moses outside the camp, before the Tabernacle was erected, where every one repaired who sought the Lord'; or it might be a separate part of a chamber of the tent; but however that was, the expression is a definite one, and relates to some appointed quarter to which the family resorted for purposes of devotion. Accordingly the very same expression is used in aftertimes, when the Tabernacle had been set up, confessedly as the place where the people were to assemble for prayer and sacrifice. 6 5 "He shall offer it of his own |