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had embraced. This privilege had doubtless been continually abused for the people of Israel are frequently upbraided by the prophets for making alliances with the heathen; and in the time of Ezra's government, he obliged them to put away their strange wives. Notwithstanding a reform in this particular had been so forcibly enacted, and during the first government of Nehemiah, had doubtless been adhered to, his absence was the occasion of which many had availed themselves to infringe his regulations. Not only had they married unconverted women of Ammon and Moab, but had taken wives from among the Philistines, with whom they were never, under any circumstances, to make marriages, or any covenant whatever.*

Nehemiah reproved and punished those who had been guilty of this transgression; and exacted an oath of the congregation, that they would in future avoid it: adducing the declension it had caused even to Solomon, who was in other respects reputed the wisest of men; and who had been " beloved of his God.". As this evil was not confined to the people or nobles only, but had even found its way into the family of the high priest, Nehemiah thought proper to make an example of one of the sons of Joiada, who had married a daughter of Sanballat, the Horonite, by expelling him from the congregation. It is surprising that any of the Jewish nation could make an alliance with a man who was so evidently their enemy as Sanballat; and it would be more surprising to find this alliance existing in the family of the high priest, did we not know that he had lost the dignity and authority belonging to his sacred office, by the commission of a similar offence Deuteronomy vii. 1-4. Judges iii. 1-4.

*

himself. Nehemiah tells us that all the "mixed multitude" were at this time separated from Israel; by which it is inferred that they were enrolled in such a manner, according to their descent and the time of their having become proselytes, that it might be clearly ascertained at what period they could be admitted to all the privileges of the children of Israel.*

This act of Nehemiah's is the last he has recorded of his government; but we are not to conclude that this, or the other circumstances related in his thirteenth chapter, took place immediately after his return: as a considerable time would be requisite for bringing them about. The period of his death is uncertain; but he is supposed to have lived more than twenty years after his second commission, and consequently to have survived his royal master, Artaxerxes, which may account for his not being recalled to the Persian court. No mention is made of Ezra after the return of Nehemiah; it is therefore probable that he died during the absence of the governor for we cannot suppose that the neglect of God's worship, and the profanation of the temple, would have been suffered by him, had he been alive. The book of Nehemiah is the last of the historical books of Scripture which can be relied on as authentic.+ The character of the writer shines forth so conspicuously throughout his writings, that we cannot fail to notice and admire his eminent virtues; and it will be well for us if we endeavour to imitate them also: ever remembering, that firm trust in God, and fervent devotion to his service, formed the basis of them. The prophet Malachi is considered to have been contemporary with Nehemiah, because he reproves the Jews for neglecting and profaning the service and temple of God; and ti. e. the last in chronological order.

* See Note I.

especially addresses the priests who had departed from the covenant so recently entered into by them. The vices also from which he exhorts the nation to turn by repentance, are not open rebellion and idolatry; but such as Nehemiah sought to reform; such as belong to a people who retain something like a form of godliness, while they totally neglect the power of it. Malachi predicted the calling of the Gentiles,+ the mission of John the Baptist, who should come in the spirit and power of Elijah, as the messenger of the Lord, to announce his approach, and to prepare the people by repentances for his reception. He also declared that the Lord, the expected Saviour, should suddenly come to his temple, and should establish a glorious kingdom, in which truth and righteousness, mercy and peace, should prevail; in which a holy worship and a pure offering should be offered to the Lord of hosts. 150

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Malachi is the last of the prophets, and his book closes the canonical writings of the Old Testament. Do not let my cursory remarks on it suffice; but read and study it for yourself. Whatever notice I have taken of the prophetical writings has been intended to excite your desire to examine them, and to supply you with? the means of doing so, rather than with a pretext for neglecting them. Make the whole word of God your study, and seek by prayer, for that right understanding of it, which the Holy Spirit alone can impart. Then will Il your perception of its sublimity, beauty, truth, and dignity, correspond with that of the Psalmist :¶ then?! will you have great delight in God's word, and will ben

* Malachi i. 6-10, 12—14. · îî. 1—17. iii. 15—5.

+ Malachi i. 11.

Malachi iv. 6.

¶ Psalm xix. 7-10.

Malachi iv. 5, 6. - iii. 1.

|| Malachi iii. latter part.) iv. 2..

able to declare (though it may be at the end of a long life, replete with trials and sufferings) "Thy word is tried to the uttermost; and thy servant loveth it."*

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As we are now come to the end of the Old Testament, I am desirous of directing your attention to some particulars respecting it, which may be no less profitable in the way of illustration, than gratifying as the source of information. When the Jews, at the time of Nehemiah's first visit, called upon Ezra to bring the book of the law to read to them, it is evident that they had been for a long time deprived of the blessed privilege of hearing the word of God: and that far from having it continually in their hearts, or making it the subject of discourse and instruction in their families,+ they were, for the most part, totally ignorant of it. The neglect into which the word of God had fallen long before the captivity may be inferred from the idolatry and iniquity so continually prevalent in Judah: and the scarcity of: copies of the law is plainly declared by the surprise of Hilkiah, on finding one in the house of the Lord; and by the grief of Josiah, when he heard the words of the law. This prince reigned thirteen years after this event, and it is not to be doubted that he caused copies to be written and distributed among the priests and Levites, that they might teach the people. When the Jews were carried away into Babylon, they were not

* Psalm cxix. 140. “
+ Deuteronomy vi. 6—9.
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#2 Chron. xxxiv. 15-19.

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without copies of all the sacred writings: for Daniel evidently refers not only to the law, but to the historical and prophetical books of scripture; and when they returned from captivity under Zerubbabel and Jeshua, the altar was set up, and the ordinances observed ac'cording to the written law of Moses: the priests also ministered in their courses, as appointed by David king of Israel. These circumstances prove that copies of the holy scriptures were extant before the time of Ezra; but they were not generally accessible to the people, because the number of them was small, and the character in which they were written (the ancient Hebrew) had been disused by them during the captivity. Ezra, who had prepared his heart to teach the law of the Lord, found it needful to collect all the parts of the sacred scriptures, to arrange them, and to write them in the Chaldee character, that they might be brought into general use; and become the means of preserving the people from those miseries, which the neglect of them had brought upon them. A work of so much labour, added to his public administration of the government, must have occupied several years; and it is probable he had not long completed it when Nehemiah arrived; soon after which, by the desire of the people, he began the public reading of it. The priests and Levites, at this time,"caused the people to understand the law, gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading;" and this manner of instructing them was afterwards continued, for Ezra divided the law into fifty-four sections, one of which was appointed to be * Daniel ix. The intercalary year contained fifty-four Sabbaths, for which this provision was made. In the intermediate years two sections

+ Ezra iii. 10.

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