in the resurrection of the dead, when Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, with the rest of the pious dead, should inherit the promised land, restored to more than its pristine glory.

Rabbi David Kimchi, a famous Hebrew writer, in his exposition of the lvith chapter of Isaiah and 6th verse, says, "the observation of the sabbath is the great foundation of faith in God; since no one will observe the sabbath, but he who confesses the world is to be renewed; and that He by whom it shall be renewed, created the world out of nothing, and none other but Him; as if it was said, he who shall observe the sabbath of days, testifies or witnesses, that he believes in that great sabbath, in which God shall renew the world."*

It is very probable, that the Jews being so prone to idolatry before the Babylonish captivity, notwithstanding the severe rebuke and solemn warning of their prophets, with the awful denunciations of God's vengeance on them for it, was in a great measure, owing to their being without public places of worship, except at Jerusalem, so that most of the nation had a great distance to go to worship at the temple, where they were not obliged to appear but thrice in

* Observatio sabbati magnum est fundamentum in fide Dei quoniam sabbatum non observabit nisi qui Confitiatur mundum renovatum iri; quodque eum renovaturus sit, qui creaverit ipsum ex nihilo and non est alius, præter eum. Quasi dicaret, eum qui sabbatum dierum observaret, eo ipso testari se credere abbatum magnum quo Deus mundum renovaturus sit.

the year, and then the males only, the women not being obliged to attend, and it is well known what effect women have on the public manners,-hence we read of the Jews setting up altars to the gods of the nations round about them, on the high places of Israel. It is worthy of a remark, that on their return from their captivity, synagogues were set up in every convenient place throughout their country, wherein the public reading of the law of Moses, and prayers to Almighty God, were attended, if not every day, yet certainly on every seventh day, so that every neighborhood had a place of social worship; after which, we seldom hear of their falling again into idolatry-they were by these means taught to reverence and improve that sacred day to great advantage, and it became a witness for them, that the Lord Jehovah was their God.

The original sabbath was designed undoubtedly to commemorate the works of creating goodness and mercy; or to witness that the universe which we behold, was the workmanship of the almighty hand of God.-Cain and Abel, after the fall, brought their sacrifice at the same time, to make an offering to the Lord, which is said to be at the end of days, or on the seventh day according to the Hebrew phraseology; and the Jewish expositors say, that they brought them to Adam, who acted as a priest in making the offering-Here was a set time-a place, and sacrifices-Melchisedeck, though of the Heathen nation, is said to be a priest of the most high God,

and one to whom Abraham the father of the faithful, paid tythes-Job, who also was a Heathen, is said to have been a prophet-He mentions Adam and Eve-the resurrection and the original corruption of man-He offers burnt offerings for his children after the end of their feasting for seven days, lest they had sinned against God; and this he did coutinually, that is, on every seventh day-He mentions also a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord; this was undoubtedly on the sabbath day; and at public worship; and this obligation on the children of men continued, although the practice of it, and especially the spirituality of it, had fallen into disuse, as the corruption and depravity of the world increased, till the revival of it, in the family of Abraham and the renovation of the command, as a commemoration of the deliverance of the Hebrews from the bondage of Egypt, Deut. v. 15. Here the reason of the creation is left out and it is said, "thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God, brought thee out thence, through a mighty hand and an out-stretched arm, therefore the Lord thy God, commanded thee to keep the sabbath."-So Ezekiel, xx. 20. Hallow my sabbaths, and they shall be a sign (or witness) between me and you, to acknowledge that I Jehovah am your God. The command seems to require positively that one day of seven, or one day after six days labor, should be set apart as a sabbath, dedicated to the service of God in acknowledgment of him as their creator-this was binding on all men, but the particular day, is not

mentioned but in the instance of the cessation of the manna, after their leaving Egypt and passing the Red Sea, then the day we call Saturday was appropriated to the Jews as God's peculiar people, because on the morning of that day, God overwhelmed Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea, and saved Israel with a glorious salvation-therefore the reason of the crea tion, is left out in Deut. v. and the deliverance of Israel on that day was substituted in its room; and therefore that particular day (Saturday) was fixed upon. This was done by God himself, by the raining of manna for six days, and withholding it on the next day-The Jews did not keep this day as a sabbath, before this period, for it is a remarkable fact, that on the Saturday before, they travelled a long march, as appears by the xvi. Exod. and it is the only day on which the day of the month is mentioned, during their whole journey. This seems to have been providentially designed to establish this fact. The day of the cessation of the manna, was the 22d of the month, of consequence the 15th would have been also a sabbath, if that day had been be fore settled. So that it is likely the day of holy rest was altered to suit their deliverance by the destruction of Pharaoh, as the beginning of the year was, as a memorial of their coming out of Egypt. The sabbath was then settled to be held on Saturday, some time before the giving the law at mount Horeb,-by the miraculous supply of manna in a double proportion on Friday, in order that its cessation on Saturday might confirm that day to be their Sabbath, which

would not not have been necessary had it been so established before-The mistake has arisen from God's resting and sanctifying the seventh day, (not of the week, but of the commencement of the creation --for neither sun or moon to reckon weeks by, were formed until the fourth day,) but the creation being completed on the evening of the sixth day, the next day was assuredly the first day of the first week of the world, though the seventh day from the beginning of God's creating energy-It is therefore that the seventh day sabbath is always confined to the children of Israel, while the seventh part of time as a day of holy rest is of moral obligation-and Exod. xxxi. 16. where the institution of the sabbath is repeated and declared with a "wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant-It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever;" and in the v. 15. Deut. the reason of the change is assigned, "remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched-out arm, therefore the Lord thy God commanded Thee to keep the sabbath day"-For this reason, it was always called by the Jews the badge of their profession, as may be concluded from the extract taken from Rabbi David Kimchi ante page 199, by which all men knew that those observing the Saturday as the day of rest, were Jews. But at the coming of Christ when the shadow had passed away, and the substance was come

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