The Biblical reader; or, Interesting extracts from the Sacred Scriptures; with practical observations, and questions for the examination of scholars, for the use of schools generally, and Sunday schools in particular

Front matter

Jacob wrestling with the Angel ....Genesis xxxii. 25 pmiimiHintmH j^5a!r aiiiannniiiiiiiiii»rttiiaiawifiir^

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Paul preaching at Athens ....Acts xvii 7,

Preface

beneficial. The Compilerhas witnessed the most manifest good ef¬ fects from the reading of the Scriptures at the commencement of morning schools. It quiets that impetuosity of feeling, and the con¬ sequent tendency to bustle and disorder, which seem always to at¬ tend the first meeting together of a large number of young persons ; and, iu doing this, it prepares their minds for the regular business of study and recitation.

It is known that youth and even children may acquire the habit of making reflections when they read, and consequently of receiving the moral impressions which should always be made when the scriptures are read. The Practical Observations, scat^ tered through the Biblical Header, are intended to lead to this habit. These observations generally relate to a single one, or only to a few of the matters contained in the chapters with which they are several¬ ly connected. The most of them are selected from Commentators of acknowledged talents and piety. It may possibly be thought that in some of them there is not that simplicity of style desirable for young persons. The Compiler is aw are of this ; but had he moulded them all into his own phraseology, they would have appeared monotonous. - The plan of this volume was formed several years since ; but srom wemv 9?tl|e execution has been delayed to the present period. Becoming, however, more and more convinced of the excellency of the plan, and encouraged by the favourable notice liis other publications on education have received, he has been induced to carry the design into effect. And never was he so fully sensible how much that is interesting, is contained in the Bible, till making this selection.

The Biblical Reader being designed fer schools, it was the aim of the Compiler, in the Practical Observations, to avoid whatever allu¬ sions or expressions might wound the feelings of serious people of the various religious denominations ; and as all professing Christians would probably be willing to give much the same practical , moral and religious instruction to their children, there seemed no necessity for a different course.

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Boston. Feb. 1, 1826.

J. L. BLAKE

SHtfHODUrCTEOir,

I he subjects of the Books of the Old Testament are truly woncertul and striking, and of such a nature as to surpass all monuments? of profane learning, equally in importance as in antiquity. And of all the parts which compose the sacred canon, none are more curious than trencsis , the first book written by Moses ; because it contains a sketch of the earliest history of mankind. Theie stand recorded' the creation of the world and its inhabitants, the fall of our first parents from their state of innocence and happiness, and their ban¬ ishment from the garden of Eden ; the repeated and signal promises of a future Restorer of the lost blessings of mankind; the history of the Patriarchs, honoured by the Revelations of Jehovah; the de¬ scription of the general deluge ; the dispersion of the progenitors of the human race over all the earth ; the adoption of a particular fam¬ ily to perpetuate the remembrance, and establish the worship of the true God, and their prosperous settlement in Egypt.

In the sacred books ofthe Jews is recorded an account of the descend¬ ants of Israel; a race of men selected from all others, and favoured with successive relations of the divine will. Here are shown the in¬ stances of their infidelity, perverseness, and disobedience; their glo¬ ry, and triumphs ; their disgraces, and their subjection to foreign powers. Hero is seen the superintendance of a divine and especial Providence watching over innocence, suspending wrath, and taking the most signal vengeance upon unrepented offences. Here are de¬ veloped the failings of the most virtuous persons, and the obdurate wickedness of confirmed sinners. Here are displayed the mixed characters even of the most excellent men, the eminent examples of faith and piety, of courage and patience, in the conduct of Abraham, Lot, Job, Joseph, Moses, David, Hezekiak, Josiah, and Daniel. And most interesting is it to observe, that the knowledge of the one true God was communicated to this people, and preserved by them alone ; that they had the most sublime ideas of ids nature and attri¬ butes ; that a magnificent temple was erected to his honour ; a reg¬ ular service was instituted ; holy ceremonies were performed ; an order of priests of one particular family was consecrated ; a pure worship was established by his express command, and regulated by his particular laws. Thus were the Jews enlightened by a knowl¬ edge ofthe true object of divine worship ; and thus were thepurity and holiness of their religious ordinances conducted at a time, when all other nations presented a wide scene of gross superstition and men¬ tal darkness; when the rest of the human race, and even the most intelligent and polished nations of Egypt and Greece, showed the most abject degradation of their nature, by prostrating themselves before idols oftheir own workmanship ; and abused the evidence of sense, and the faculty of reason, by imputing to wood and stone the attri¬ butes of divine power.

We see likewise a succession of prophets raised up among them, to communicate the divine will, to warn them of evils, and to an¬ nounce to them blessings to come. These holy men executed their sacred commissions, unawed by the threats of kings, or thp re¬ sentment ofthe people. They foretold remote events in times when Jhey appeared most improbable ever to take place, and when no lut-

VI

Introduction

man foresight, and no calculation of chances, could guide them to tile discovery of the particular affairs, which fulfilled their predic¬ tions. Moses, in a long and most interesting detail of threats and promises, foretold the exact manner in which his people were or¬ dained to be happy or miserable, according as they followed or diso¬ beyed the divine laws. At a subsequent period, when Jerusalem w as laid in ruins, and the Jews were groaning under the sorrows of the Babylonish captivity, Isiiah solemnly addressed Cyrus by bis name, more than a hundred years before his birth, as the deliverer of Israel, and the new founder of the Holy City. When Babylon was shining in the meridian of her glory, and its monarchs ruled over all the na¬ tions of the East with the most uncontrolled sway, the same Proph¬ et predicted the total subversion of their empire, and the complete desolation of their vast metropolis. That all these and numerous other predictions were exactly verified by the events, are truths con¬ firmed by the evidence of profane, as well as sacred history. The same inspired Prophets had a much more grand and important ob¬ ject in view, than to declare the future dispensations of Providence to one nation in particular ; for they announced in terms, at first dark and mysterious, but progressively more clear and circumstantial, the future birth of a Messiah, a glorious King, a divine Legislator, who was to abolish the sacrifices and religious institutions of the Jews, and proclaim and establish a general Law, for the observance and happiness of all mankind. Here the Evangelists contribute their aid to illustrate the declarations of the Piophets, and unite the history of the Old with that of the New Testament in the most close and indis¬ soluble bonds of union.

The historical books of Scripture, considered from the giving of the Law to Moses, to the reformation in the worship and government by Nehemiah, after the Babylonish captivity, contain a summary ac¬ count of the Jewish affairs for a period of eleven centuries. They were evidently not intended to give a complete detail of national transactions, as their writers had a more sublimp and important end in view. To illustrate the prophecies, by /feinting circumstanceswhich existed at the time when they were -Uttered, and to show their accomplishment; to record varmus-rerelations of the Divine will, and to describe the state of religion among the Hebrews, and the various dispensations of Providence in public as well as in private occurrences, seem to have been their chief objects. Hence it is that the chain of history is sometimes broken into detached parts, and its detail is interrupted by a recital of private transactions. The books of Scripture occasionally assume the form, and comprise the beauties of a very interesting kind of biography. Of this nature are the several accounts of Job, Ruth, and Esther; but they are far from being un¬ connected with the principal design of the sacred writers; inasmuch as they show that the same divine Providence which presided over the nation at large, extended its particular care to individuals, and that the examples of private virtue were insepaiable from the great interests of public welfare and happiness.

The Israelites, for many ages, separated from the rest of mankind by their peculiar institutions, were little acquainted with commerce, and made small advances in those arts, which with a refinement, and a diversity of employments, introduced luxury and corruption of manners. They were governed by equal laws, and possessed nearly equal property. They admitted no hereditary distinction of rank, except in favour of the regal tribe of Judah, and the sacerdotal lain-

INTRODUCTION.

Vll vly of Levi. Their occupations from the earliest times were of the most simple kind, and consisted in pasturage nV)d agriculture. To guide the plough, and tend the flock, were employments which, re¬ commended by length of time, were exercised by kings, prophets, and generals* Moses was called from feeding his flock, to conduct the Israelites to the promised land ; Elisha forsook the plough, to be invested with the mantle of prophecy ; and Gideon left the thresh¬ ing-floor, to lead the army of his country to batde.

The country of Judea presented a scene diversified by fruitful val¬ ues, barren rocks, and lofty mountains, and was watered by numer¬ ous streams. It produced the palm-tree, the balsam, the vine, the olive, the fig, and all the fruits which abound in the East. From the labours of the field, and from cultivating the vine, the attention of the Israelites was regularly called by religious w’orship, which was intimately blended with the civil constitution of the state. The splendour of their public services, the pomp and magnificence of their rites and ceremonies, the stated recurrence of their various fes¬ tivals and sacrifices, the sabbath, the paesover, the celebration of the sabbatical year ; and the jubilee ; and more than all, the constant experience of divine interposition, filled their minds with the most awful and grand ideas, and gave them the deepest impressions of the majesty, power, goodness, and justice of God.

These were the circumstances, which, combining to form their national manners, had the greatest influence upon their writings. The historical style is marked by the purest simplicity of ideas, occa¬ sionally raised to a tone of elevation. In the w'orks of Moses there is a majesty of thought, which is most strikingly expressed in plain and energetic language. In the prophetical -writings, the greatest splendour and sublimity of composition are conspicuous. They are enriched by those glowing images, and raised by that grandeur of diction, which charm the classical reader in the most admired pro¬ ductions of Greece and Rome. The Royal Psalmist is eloquent, dignified, and pathetic. All the beauties of composition unite in Isaiah, such is the majesty of his ideas, the propriety, beauty, and fertility of his imagery, and the elegance of his language, employed upon the noblest subjects which could possibly engage our attention. Jeremiah excels in those expressions of tenderness, which excite with the most pleasing enthusiasm the feelings of compassion.

By such peculiar beauties of composition are recommended the most interesting details of events and the most faithful delineations of characters. The great Creator calls all things into existence with his omnipotent word. The first parents of mankind, innocent and happy, are blessed with his immediate converse, and enjoy the blooming groves of Paradise. Joseph, the pious, the chaste, and the wise, after having undergone great afflictions, and rising by his own extraordinary merit to an office of the highest honour in the court of Pharaoh, discovers himself in a manner the most pathetic to his repentant brethren, and is restored to his aged and affectionate father, whom he invites into Egypt to share his prosperity. The Children of Israel, guided by the divine Power, which veils its glory in a cloud, pass safely through the Red Sea, in which the hosts of the impious Pharaoh are overwhelmed. Upon the lofty summit of Mount Sinai, Moses receives the two tables of the Commandments, amid the thunder, lightning, clouds and darkness, which obscure the great Jehovah from his eyes. "The royal Psalmist sings the wondere -o£ creation, the powers of his God, and his own defeats and tri-

VI11

INTRODUCTION.

umphs. The peaceful and prosperous Solomon, whose renown was extended over all the East, rears the structure of the magnificent Temple ; and amid the multitudes of his adoring subjects conse¬ crates it to the service of the one true God, in a prayer which equally attests his wisdom and piety. In the visions of futurity, Isaiah be¬ holds the deliverance of the chosen People; the complete destruc¬ tion of the great empire of Babylon, by which they were enslaved; and the promised Messiah, the Saviour of Mankind, sometimes de¬ pressed by want and sorrow, and sometimes arrayed in the emblems of divine majesty and power. He predicts the final recal of the Jews to their native land, and the wide diffusion of the Christian faith. Jeremiah sinks a weeping mourner over the ruins of his na¬ tive city, deplores its calamities, and consoles his countrymen by expressly declaring, that they should never cease to be a nation to the end of the world. Daniel explains to Belshazzar the mystic characters inscribed upon the walls of his palace, and views in his wide prospect of future times, the fates of the four great empires of ' the world. Cyrus, long before announced by Isaiah as the great subverter of the Babylonish empire, and the restorer of the glory of Je¬ rusalem, publishes his decree for the restoration of the captive Jews: and the holy City and Temple rise from their ruins with new grandeur and magnificence. The Jews are settled and reformed by the pious care of Nehemiah, and the canon of the Scriptures is closed by Malachi. This last of the prophets enjoins the strict observance of the Law of Moses, till the great Precursor should appear, in the spirit of Elias, to announce the approach of the Messiah, who was to establish a new and everlasting covenant.

In these volumes of sacred history there is an impartiality of nar¬ rative, which is an undoubted characteristic of truth. If we read the Lives of Plutarch, or the History of Livy, we soon discover that these waiters composed their works under the influence of many prejudices in favour of their respective countries. A veil is throw n over the de¬ fects of their heroes, but tlreir virtues are placed in a strong light, and painted in vivid colours. In the Scriptures, on the contrary, both of the Old and New Testament, the strictest impartiality prevails. The vices of David, Solomon, and their successors, are neither con¬ cealed nor palliated. There is no ostentation of vanity, no parade of panegyric ; virtue charms with her native beauty, and vice ac¬ quires no disguise to conceal her deformity. The characters of per¬ sons are sketched, and the effects of the passions are represented without reserve or concealment; and the moral to be drawn from each description is so obvious, as to account for the frequent omis¬ sion of remarks and applications. The abject condition of the Jews, when prohibited the use of weapons of war by the victorious Philis¬ tines; theii relapses into idolatry, their perverseness of disposition, and their various defects and captivities, with every circumstance of private and public disgrace, are recorded without palliation or reserve.

To peruse the Holy Scriptures is one of the first employments of childhood. And it will be found, as life is verging towards its close, when every other book begins to be insipid and uninteresting, that the Holy Bibi.f., which includes the most ancient records of time, the clearest evidences of a divine revelation, and the joyful promises of eternal happiness, will attract us more and more, as old age advances, and will afford us that divine solace and inexpressible sat¬ isfaction which no other writings can give. Selected .

THE

•

jPJ

Chapter I

The History of the Creation. From the first and second Chapters of Genesis. B. C. 4004.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void ; and darkness was upon the face of the deep : and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light that it was good : and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called"Night : and the evening and the morning were the first day.

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament; and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven : and the evening and the morning were the second day.

And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear : and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth ; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas : and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit-tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth : and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind : and God saw that it was a-ood. And the evening and the morning were the third

THE BIBLICAL READER.

And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven, to divide the day from the night : and let them be for signs, and tor seasons, and for days, and years. And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven, to give light upon the earth : and it was so. And God made two great lights ; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night : he made the stars also. And God set them in the firma¬ ment of the heaven, to give light upon the earth : And to rule over the day, and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness : And God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind ; and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind : and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and e?ery thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind : and God saw that it was good.

And God said, Let us make man in our image, aftei our likeness : and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created hp him ; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it : and have do¬ minion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

And God said, Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed : to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the I earth, and to every fowl of the air, and "to every thing | that creepeth upon the eaarth, wherein there is life, I have l

THE BIBLICAL READER.

given every green herb for meat : and it was so. And God saw every thing that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Thus the heavens and the*earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made $ and he rested on the seventh day, from all his work which he had made ; and God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it : because that in it he had rested from all his work which God cre¬ ated and made.

QUESTIONS.

What part of the croaiion was effected the first day ?-What

part on tlie second day ?-What part on the third day ?-What

part on the fourth P-What part on the fifth ?-What part on the

sixth r-What took place on the seventh day ?

Practical Observations.

We are here taught the first truth in religion, viz. that there is a God who created the world and all things that are therein ; that it is lie who has given to all creatures the nature and qualities that belong to them ; and that by his will the world subsists in that admirable order which we observe it. But what we chiefly learn from the his¬ tory of the creation is, that God made man after his own image ; that he gave him dominion over all other creatures, and endued him with a spiritual and immortal soul, capable of knowing and loving his Creator ; and, therefore, it is our duty to acknowledge and adore the power, majesty, and wisdom of God, which are so manifest in all his works ; to celebrate his goodness towards us, and continually to render him the thanks, love, and obedience, which arc so justly due to him.

Chap. II

Man placed in Paradise. From the second Chapter of

Genesis. B. C. 4001.

These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, and every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew : for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life 5 and man became a living soul.

And the Lord God planted a garden eastward m Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food , the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the

f arden of Eden, to dress it and to keep it. And the iord God commanded the man saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone : I will make him an help meet for him. And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air, and brought them unto Adam, to see what he would call them ; and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field : but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof ; and the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh : she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife : and they shall be one flesh.

QUESTIONS.

What is said of the creation of man P-Under what prohibitions

was Adam placed in Paradise ?-Of what had he permission to

eat ?-How was woman formed ?

Practical Observations.

God placed Adam in paradise that he might be happy ; but, to make trial of his obedience, at the same time gave him a law attend¬ ed with severe threatening^ j forbidding him, upon pain of death, to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. In this proceeding of the Almighty, we see the great goodness of God towards man in his state of innocence ; but we see, likewise, that man could not be independent, that he was obliged to submit to the laws ofhis Creator, and that by his obedience alone, he was entitled to the effects of divine love.

VflE BIBLICAL READER.

Chap. III

Adam’s Transgression. From the third Chapter of Gen¬ esis. B. C. 4004.

Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made : and he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden ? And the woman said unto the ser¬ pent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden : but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said. Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die : for God doth know, that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened: and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise $ she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the gar¬ den in the cool of the day : and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called unta Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou ? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden : and I was afraid 5 and I hid myself. And he said, Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee, that thou shouldest not eat ? And the man said, The woman, whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done ? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field : and dust shalt thou eat ail the days of thy life : And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed : it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Unto the woman he said, la sor¬ row thou shalt bring forth children : and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.