The sacred mirror; or, Compendious view of scripture history : containing a faithful narration of all the principal events recorded in the Old and New Testaments, from the creation of the world to the death of St. Paul with a continuation from the period to the final destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans

Front matter

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I

OR,

Preface

J\T a period marked by bold innovation, and tinctured with a spirit of infidelity, it is certainly incumbent on every member of, or well wisher to the church of God, to make a vigorous exertion for the promulgation of that Gospel on which the Christian Religion is happily founded, and which demands aur utmost reverence, as the only true guide to eternal life.

Impressed with this idea, and anxious to render ail important service to the rising generation, whose tender minds, and expanding faculties, require the most delicate and unremitting attention, to preserve them from the contagion of vice, I have endeavoured to 'allure them to the study of the Scriptures, by a brief but connected view of the Sacred History ; which, I trust, may not only excite their curiosity, but enlighten their understandings, and influence their conduct. It is generally acknowledged that " example strikes where precept fails," and it is possible that, in perusing the following sheets, my young readers may verify the asser-

|V PREFACE.

tion ; their hearts may probably be interested in the fate of Israel, and their unfeigned gratitude may either lead them to, or establish tHem in the worship of Is-. raers God^

As I have endeavoured to. render my little history perspicuous and entertaining, by dividing it into distinct epochs, or periods of time, and preserving the thread of my narration unbroken, so I have been careful to give the dates of important occurrences, and haves taken every opportunity of obviating such apparent con-^ tradictions as are sometimes brought forward by proflU gate and unthinking Atheists, to invalidate the truth o£ divine revelation.

The chapter which is designed to form a connecting link between the histories of the Old and New Testae ments, and that which carries on the narration from the death of St. Paul to the awful accomplishment of our Saviour's predictions, in the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, have been carefully compiled from Jose-. phus,.Dr. Prideaux, the English Universal History, $nd other works of established celebrity ; and will, I humbly hope, be found of real utility.

Conscious of the necessity of insisting upon the fun* damentals of Christianity in a work of this nature, I have frequently endeavoured to impress my readers with suiU able ideas of the Holy Trinity, the divinity of Jesua

PHEFACK. W

Christ, and the infallible miracles by which our holy faith was first planted in the world ; and I earnestly pray that the Spirit of God may so enlighten theirunderstandings that they may not only read, but mark, learn, and inwardly digest those objects of eternal moment.

Far from wishing to depreciate the labours of my able predecessors, who have written u^on the '.bam of the following work, I cheerfully affirm, that they have deserved the sweet remuneration of public applause ; and 1 sincerely hope that future generations will rise trjf and caH them blessed. But as some of their valuable works are too expensive for the generality of pupils in" small academies, and others are rendered* uninvitiiigi>y" being thrown into the form of a catechism, I have presumed to offer a little work on a different plan, which, from its compressed sise, may be purchased by all ranks 5 and which, it is hoped, may prove equally acceptable to youth, and to persons of maturer age, who wish for a perspicuous and uninterrupted view of the history of the Bible, and the final catastrophe of the Jewish me*- tropolis^

Should it be objected that I have passed over most of the Jewish ceremonies, together with the lives and transactions of many prophets and pious men, in silence, I beg leave to remind my readers, that this omission was indispensably necessary, to avoid frequent digrea*

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sions ; and must not be imputed to carelessness or in* attention.

As my only designs in compiling the " Sacred Mirror," are to fortify our youth against the growing errors of scepticism ; to show them, as in a glass, the portraits of good and wicked men ; to bring them into an intimate acquaintance with the lively oracles of truth ; and to allure them insensibly to the practice of virtue, I certainly hope that it will be perused with impartiality, and judged with candor. The known generosity of a British public, and the general character of our learned and justly esteemed Reviewers, encourages me in this expectation : I have, therefore, only to submit my labours to their examination, and to pray that the Father of Lights may crown them with his holy ben* ediction.

THOMAS SMITH.

Continuation of the Jewish History, from the Death of St. Paul, to the final Destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans^ •» *- * - » 292

THE

SACRED MIRROR.

CHAPTER I. From the Creation to the Deluge

X HE first idea given, by the inspired historian, respecting our habitable globe, is that of a rude chaos. " The earth, 5 ' says he, " was without form, and void ; and darkness was upon the face of the great deep." But, by the operation of the Spirit of God, which is expressly said to have moved upon the face of the waters, this confused mass was gradually separated, harmonized, and wrought into that beautiful variety of appearance which, from the earliest ages to the present period, has filled the breast of every pious individual with sentiments of mingled gratitude, wonder, and admiration .

The Adorable Being, who, in the Old Testament, is designated by the sacred epithets GOD, JEHOVAH, and the great I AM, but who, in later ages, has revealed himself more fully in the person of his coequal and ccttcrnal son Jesus Christ, first commanded the light to shine out of darkness, and, by his eternal fiat, produced a glorious day ; not merely as introductory to his other

2 FROM THE CREATION

great works, or as a symbol of his own purity, but as typical of that radiance which, in the fulness of time, should arise upon the sons of men, and disperse the dark clouds of error and superstition.

Subsequent to this effect of creative power, the firmament, or lower heaven, was expanded to divide the upper from the lower waters ; the floods unanimously rushed into their appointed bed, and received the appellation of seas ; and the dry land (now distinguished by the name of earth,) was suddenly crowned with a verdant man tle,enriched with innumerable trees and shrubs, and embroidered with flowers of every tint and fragrance. The beauteous canopy of heaven was, also, spangled with myriads of stars ; and the sun and moon, those greater luminaries, were so disposed as to enlighten the newly created world, to divide the revolving seasons, and to form a perpetual distinction between day and night.

The waters were next replenished with an abundant variety of fish, and aquatic animals ; the birds of the air, starting into existence, hailed, with mellifluous songs, their Maker's goodness ; and the teeming earth brought forth abundantly her appropriate tribes. Lastly, to complete his e;reat design, and eclipse the glcry of all his preceding works, God created man in bis own image, out of the dust of the ground, and infused into his nostrils the breath of immortality, in consequence of which Moses asserts that M man became a living soul." This favourite of the Deity was immediately invested with unlimited authority over every other created being and substance, and a suitable companion was formed for himself out of his own side, wherefore he gave her the appellation of woman, saying, " this is now bone of my bone,

TO THE DELUGE O

and flesh of my ftesh : she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man."

Thus, by the miraculous operation of the Holy Trinity* were the heavens and the earth created, in the space of six days, when such harmony pervaded each constituent part, and such exquisite beauty glowed upon the universal face of nature, that the Omnipotent Architect pronounced it very good, andf all the morning stars sang together. On the seventh day God rested from all his works, and instituted that sabbath which was ever afterward kept holy by the true worshippers.

Our first progenitors, Adam and Eve, were now placed in the garden of Eden, with instructions to dress and keep it, and with full permission to eat of all the fruits with which it abounded, except of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, from which they were commanded to abstain, on penalty of inevitable death. The Deity himself vouchsafed to honor this delightful abode with his immediate presence ; the fowls of the air, and the beasts of the fkld 3 were here brought to receive their respective names from their highly favoured master ; and the objects of divine love were equally happy in their native innocence, and their total ignorance of evil.

This felicity, however, was soon interrupted and effectually destroyed by Satan ; who, under the form of a

* As we have already observed, that God created the heavens, and the earth, and that the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, it is only necessary to remind our readers, in this place, that the Word (Jesus Christ) was in th« beginning with God ; that all things were made by him, and that without him was not any thing made that was made. See the gospel of St. John, chap i. verses 2, 3,

4~ See Job, chap, xxxviii. verse T-

4 FROM THE CREATION

serpent, persuaded Eve to violate her Creator's injunction respecting the forbidden fruit, and to forfeit her title to immortality in the vain hope of obtaining a superior degree of knowledge. " When the woman," says Moses, " 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 and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat. By this act of disobedience, the dispensation of innocence was annihilated ; virtue forsook the human bosom ; and man, together with his unborn posterity, became obnoxious to the wrath and punishment of an offended God.

B. C- The eyes of our deluded progenitors were now 4004. opened to a humiliating sense of their depravity ; the consciousness of their nakedness overwhelmed them with confusion ; and instead of presenting themselves as formerly, before the Object of their adoration,, they retired, to make themselves aprons of fig leaves, and to elude the anger of their Maker by concealment. This project, however, was of no avail ; for they were immediately alarmed by the voice of the Deity, and palled forth to answer for their transgression. In this exigence Adam attempted to extenuate his fault by charging his wife with the first breach of the commandment, and Eve, with greater justice, accused the serpent as the cause of her misfortune, but at the same time acknowledged her transgression. " The serpent/' said she " beguiled me and I did eat." Hereupon the Almighty proceeded to pass judgment upon the offenders, of whom the serpent was doomed to endure the heaviest curse among beasts, to go upon his belly, to subsist upoa dust, and to maintain a perpetual enmity with the seed

TO THE DELUGE. 5

of the woman,* till the latter should eventually prove victorious ; the woman was condemned to bring forth her helpless progeny in pain and sorrow ; and Adam was sentenced to a life of toil and inquietude, in consequence of a curse which was imposed on the ground for his sake, God having declared that, on account of his disobedience, the earth should henceforth produce thorns and thistles, that in toil and sorrow he should eat the herb of the field, and that his body should finally return to the dust whence it was originally taken. After these awful declarations, the Creator graciously vouchsafed to clothe the unhappy pair with skins, and compelled them to quit the blissful abode of Paradise, lest, by rashly eating of the fruit of the tree of life, they might elude the stroke of death, and entail upon themselves eternal sorrows and infirmities, To obviate the possibility of such a circumstance, Adam was driven out, together with his fallen companion, to till the ground from whence he had been taken ; and a cherubim was placed at the eastern extremity of Eden, with a flaming sword, that turned every way, to guard the tree of life.

To what part of the globe our first parents removed after their expulsion from Paradise, it is impossible to determine : but it is highly probable that Eve brought forth her firstborn, Cain, in the first year of the world, and her second, whom she named Abel, the year fol-

* By this declaration, " 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," the redemption of mankind was clearly predicted to be accomplished by Jesus Christ, who in due time was born of a woman, and who was manifested to destroy the works of the devil See Galatians m- 4, and 1 John iii. 8.

B 3

6 FROM THE CREATION

lowing. These persons, as they advanced to years of maturity, selected employments of a different nature ; the elder applying himself to the labours of tillage, and the younger undertaking the care of the flocks : their dispositions also were diametrically opposite ; for Cain was gloomy, revengeful, and avaricious ; Abel ingenuous and truly pious.

The two brothers, in process of time, brought their respective offerings to the Almighty, but with very different success ; for whilst the oblation of Abel, consisting of the finest* lambs of his flock, was graciously accepted, the fruits of the earth, as offered by Cain, were totally disregarded. This circumstance wrought so powerfully on the mind of the firstborn that his countenance is said to have fallen, and his heart was dilated with wrath. God, however, condescended to expostulate upon the impropriety of this behaviour, and demanded what reason he could adduce in his own justifi-

* It is highly probable that sacrifices were first instituted by the Almighty in the garden of Eden, immediately upon the fall of our progenitors : for as the Deity then vouchsafed to promise a. Saviour, who, in the fulness of time should redeem his people from their sins, we may reasonably suppose that he also instituted those oblations fur sin which were regularly offered m succeeding ages, till the great atonement made by the High Priest of our profession upon Mount Calvary..

I am also inclined to believe that God clothed Adam and Eve witli the skins of those beasts which were then sacrificed* to show the necessity of believers being clothed with the righteousness of Jesus Christ, which himself, in the New Testament, compares to a wedding garment ; and of which St. Paul energetically speaks, in his Epistle to the Philippians^ ehap. iii; ver. 9.

TO THE DELUGE. 7

cation, since if he acted justly he would assuredly be accepted, and he could blame none but himself for the consequence of his own misconduct. The Deity also reminded him that he ought not to be incensed against Abel, who instead of attempting to injure or supplant him, would always pay him such respect as was due to an elder brother. " Unto thee," says the Divine speaker, " shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him." Cain, however, was so far from profiting by his Maker's admonition, that he resolved to murder his brother with the first convenient opportunity, and actually perpetrated the crime of fratricide whilst conversing with Abel in the fields.

B. C. The assassin having thus gratified his revenge?

33/5. anc j being questioned by the Deity respecting his brother, endeavoured to evade a confession of his crime, by asserting that he knew not what was become of him, and churlishly asking, If he was his brother's keeper. But he was soon convinced of the futility of this attempt, and his guilty soul was appalled, not only with a full discovery of his transgression, but with a sentence that doomed him to perpetual inquietude, remorse, and infamy. " Now," saith God, " art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brothers blood from thy hand. When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength ; but a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth." This denunciation, though in reality milder than could have been expected, was deemed insupportable by the criminal, who in the agony of grief exclaimed, " My punishment is greater than I can bear; for thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth ; and from thy face shall I be hid, and-

T FROM THE CREATION

1 shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth, and it shall come to pass that every* one that findeth me shall slay me." However, to obviate this dread of his fellow mortals, God declared that a sevenfold vengeance should fall upon any individual who attacked his life, and at the same time set a peculiarf mark upon him, as a protection against such a circumstance. Hereupon Cain quitted the place of his nativity, and migrated into the land of Nod, where he founded a city which he called, after

the name of his son, Enoch. 33. c. Shortly after thh occurrence another son was 3S74. born, to console our first parents for the loss of

* As the enemies of revelation, and of our holy religion, eagerly embrace every opportunity of pointing out an apparent contradiction in the sacred writings, it seems necessary to observe in this place, that, though Moses has only given the histories of Cain and Abel subsequent to the expulsion of our progenitors from Eden, and previously to the birth of Seth, yet, as a rapid increase of population was naturally attached to the lives of the antediluvians, who began to have children as early, and to leave off as late, in proportion, as men do now, and as manygenerations which are successive with us, were contemporary before the flood, the number of persons living, at once, upon the earth, must certainly have answered any defect that might rise from other circumstances. So that, by a moderate computation on these principles, it will appear, that there was a considerable number of people in the world at the time of Abel's assassination.

t Many persons have supposed, from this portion of sacred history, that Cain's complexion was changed to a hue congenial to the nature of his crime ; and have therefore regarded him as the progenitor of the blacks : but as only one family, viz. that of Noah, was preserved from the deluge, this opinion seems ill founded. Various other conjectures have been formed on the subject, but they axe all unworthy of notice,

TG THE DELUGE. f

their beloved Abel, wherefore Eve called his name Seth, or the appointed, " for," said she, " God hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel whom Cain slew."

The inspired historian confining himself chiefly to the line of Seth, from whom Noah w T as descended, relates but few particulars respecting the posterity of Cain, except that some of them were the inventors of mechanical arts and musical instruments. Josephus, however, and other writers of great respectability have asserted that they were a reprobate and licentious people, totally regardless of their Creator, and wholly addicted to the gratification of their own impure passions, on which account they were designated, in Holy Writ, by the epithets of men, and daughters of men, while the pious descendants of Seth were distinguished with the honorary appeiiation of the sons oj God.

Of Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, and Jared, the progeny of Seth, Mo^es has taken no farther notice than to record their respective oirtns and ages : but Enoch, the son of Jared, appears to have been a person of such exemplary piety, that he is emphatically said to have walked with God, and, after a well spent life of three hundred and sixty live years, he was translated to Heaven, whhout experiencing the bitter pan.us of death. This illustrious character seems to have been blessed with several children, of whom Methuselah, the eldest, attained to the age of nine hundred and sixty nine years. B C. Adam, having seen a numerous progeny issue 3074. from his own loins, was at length obliged to bow before " the king of terrors," whom himself had introduced upon the earth by disobedience ; and, he accordingly, yielded up his soul into the hands of his Creator, after a life of nine hundred and thirty years. Various

ID FROM THE CREATION conjectures have been formed respecting the place of hi sepulture, though none of them can be established, fo want of scriptural authority. Thus, St. Jerome asserts, that his remains were deposited in the cave of Machpelah ; the oriental christains say that he was embalmed by four of his descendants, and buried in a cave, on the summit of a mountain, which was afterward called the cave of Al Konuz ; and most of the primitive fathers suppose him to have been interred near that part of Mount Calvary where Jesus Christ, the second Adam^ made, by his voluntary offering of himself, a full, perfect, and sufficient oblation and satisfaction, for the sins of the world.

Religion seems to have been publicly and zealouslymaintained for some generations in the family of Seth ; but, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and were, in all probability, straitened for want of room, an unfortunate junction took place between the righteous seed of this patriarch and the posterity of Cain, and matrimonial alliances ensued, which gradually estranged the hearts of the true worshippers from the performance of their duty, and eventually brought in a spirit of licentiousness, which provoked the indignation of the Most High, and occasioned the destruction of the old world by a tremendous deluge. " The sons of God," says Moses, " saw the daughters of men that they were fair ; and they took them wives of all which they chose." From these unfortunate marriages issued a generation which seems to have been equally famous for their extraordinary stature and impiety , these were called giatrs, and their descendants, who may be reasonably supposed to have followed the wicked and tyrannic \\ conduct of their fathers, are distinguished by the epithets mighty nun and men of renown.

TO THE DELUGE. ll

In this posture of affairs, while vice and profligacywere daily gaining ground, and every religious duty was rapidly sinking into neglect, the Almighty determined to chastise mankind for their unrighteousness ; but he graciously allotted them one hundred and twenty years for repentance, mercifully observing-, that they were but flesh. As, however, they g ill continued incorrigible, and the friendly admonitions of* N u:i were totally disregarded, God :s emphatically said to hc.ve repented of the formation of such impenitent cr: ar j s, and to have decreed their destruction, together with that of the beasts of the field, and the fowls of the air. The Divine Justice, however, was sweetly tempered with mercy, and a reservation was made, by which the earth might be replenished when the threatened deluge should subside. B. C. At the expiration of the hundred and twenty 2348 f yeaca vhich God had allotted for the pr< bation of rebellious mortals, Noah was commanded to enter the ark, with his wife, his sons and his daughters in law, taking with him ail kinds of beasts, birds and reptiles, by pairs and by sevens, according to their respective natures, and in compliance with the Divine injunction ; wliile the residue of mankind treated the threatenings of their Maker with contempt, and continued in a state of careless security, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that the flood came and destroyed them all ; even to that memorable day

* Amidst this general corruption of morals, Noah retained his integrity, and persevered in the worship of his Creator, wherefore he and his family found grace in the eyes of the Lord, and received instruction to build an ark, or large vessel, for the preservation of his own race, and of every species of living 1 creatures. See Genesis vi. 14.

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12 FROM THE CREATION

when the fountains of the great deep were broken up, the windows of heaven were opened, and those overwhelming torrents began to fall, which continued fortyr days without abatement or intermission. The waters, thus brought upon the earth, from the heavens above and from the depths beneath, augmented gradually for the space of five months, when they rose to a considerable elevation above the tops of the highest mountains, and every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the earth, except Noah and they that were with him in the ark.*

The awful decree of Omnipotence being thus accomplished, a wind was caused to pass over the earth, in consequence of which the flood began to assuage, and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark rested on the mountains of Ararat.

From this period, the waters subsided so rapidly, that, on V'Q first day of the tenth month, the tops of the hills began to appear ; and, towird the latter end of the ensuing month, Noah opened one of the windows in the ark, and let out a raven, which flew to and fro till the earth was dry, but brought him no satisfactory intelligence. He then sent forth a dove three times, intermitting

* This vessel, supposed to have been built in the form of an oblong* square, with a flat bottom, and a sloping- roof elevated one cubit in the middle, is : 1 1 have consisted of three stories, which were divided n to apartments, and properly supplied with light and air, by means of windows. Its dimensions, allowing the script i e cubk to contain 21,388 of our inc 1 ;, were 547.2 Englis] feet long j 91.2 broad, and 54.^2 hii Tl sug] it 1 ad neither sails- nor rudder, it was well adapted for Lying steadily on the water and consequently for. preserving the lives of its numerous inhabitants.

Tfc THE DELUGE. 13

seven days between each excursion. The first time she returned quickly, having found no resting place ; the second time she remained abroad till evening, and then brought an olive leaf in her mouth, as a proof that the waters were greatly subsided ; and the third time she returned no more.

On the first day of the first month, answering to the twenty third of our October, Noah removed the covering of his ark, in order to take a view of the circumjacent scenery, and perceived that the earth was entirely cleared of the waters. He remained, however, on board the ark till the twenty seventh day of the second month, or the eighteenth of December, when he came forth, by his Maker's direction, with his family and all that were with him, having continued, with his various charge, under the especial protection of the Deity, for the space of one year and ten days, according to the antediluvian computation ; or, according to the present, three hundred and sixty five days.

Thus was desolation brought upon the earth by the wickedness and impenitence of mankind : and thus was the love of God manifested in the preservation of the only family, consisting of eight persons, which retained the profession and practice of religion in the midst of universal licentiousness.

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CHAPTER IL

from the Deluge, to the confusion of Languages at Babel.

B.C. A

2347. XX.NXXOUS to express his gratitude for that distinguished act of mercy which had preserved his family from the recent judgment, Noah, immediately upon his debarkation, built an altar, and offered a sacrifice of every clean beast and of every clean fowl. An action which proved so acceptable, that God is said to have smelled a sweet savour, and to have declared that he would no more curse the ground for man's sake ; but that it should enjoy an uninterrupted succession of seasons, till the period of its final dissolution. The patriarch and his family were also honoured with a solemn blessing, and received the Divine permission to appropriate the beasts of the field, the fowls of the air, and the fishes of the sea to their own use, and to eat of them as freely as they had hitherto done of the herbs and fruits of the earth : they were, however, strictly enjoined to abstain from the blood of every living creature, to avoid shedding that of their fellow mortals, and to punish the crime of murder with death.

The Deity, likewise condescended, on this memorable occasion, to make a covenant with the objects of his especial favour, respecting the future safety of the terraqueous globe, and promised as a token of his immutable determination, to set his bow in the clouds when it rained, that the sons of men might look on it, and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature that moveth upon the earth.

TROM THE DELUGE, &C. 15

Noah, having received these inestimable marks of affection from the Great Object of his adoration, descended from the mountains of Ararat, whereon the ark had rested, and applied himself to the labours of husbandry. He also planted a vineyard, where, at the time of the vintage, he drank too freely of the inebriating juice of the grape, and lay carelessly uncovered within his tent. In this disgraceful attitude he was discovered by his son Ham, who instantly ran to apprize his brothers of the circumstance, and to invite them to behold and ridicule the infirmity of their parent. Shem and Japhet, however, were too tenacious of ihe patriarch's honor and their own obedience to comply with so improper a request ; and therefore, having provided themselves with a garment, they walked backwards and covered their father, with filial respect and decorum ; in consequence of which Noah, when he awoke, bestowed a solemn benediction upon them ; but denounced a dreadful curse against Canaan, the fourth sen of the offender, saying, " Cursed be Canaan, a * servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. 5 '