under him the several tribes probably chose their own magistrates and officers, according to the appointment of Moses, Exod. xviii. Deut. i. 13. Josh. xxiv. 1.

Note, These officers, or judges, which were set over the people by Moses at the advice of Jethro, were at first chosen by the people in their several tribes, just after they came out of Egypt. Exod. xviii. Moses says to the people, "Take ye wise men, &c." Deut. i. 13. The seventy or seventy-two elders were the greatest and most venerable of these officers, six out of every tribe; for God says to Moses, "Gather to me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be officers over them." Numb. xi. 16. These were to meet together, and consult upon extraordinary occasions, as when a sort of sedition was raised by the murmurings of the people, Numb. xi., or in such like cases of danger.

The high priest was the chief counsellor, and sometimes a judge; for the oracle of God was with him, and he was supposed to be chiefly skilled in the law, éspecially if he were an elderly man.

The common priests and Levites were also assistants to the judges, by way of council, and in deciding controversies in every tribe, Deut. xvii. 9-12. But still the executive power was vested in the judge of each tribe, and God himself was their king, and the centre of union and government.

But when, through their idolatory and wickedness, God forsook the people, and the officers and judges neglected their duty, the people sustained the miseries and confusion of an anarchy, as it is several times expressed in the book of Judges; "there was no king in Israel, and every one did what was right in his own eyes."

And by their disunion, and want of government, they were weakened, and became an easy prey to their enemies round about them; but at particular seasons God raised them up extraordinary judges to recover them from slavery, and to restore government among them. And these had a dominion over many, or all, the tribes, being raised up eminently by God himself.

That this was the original and appointed method of the governmeut of Israel, as I have described it, we may learn partly from Deut. i. 13, where the officers

are chosen, and Deut. xvii. 8—12. and xix. 16—18. where Moses appoints the business of the priests and the judges; and partly from 2 Chron. xvii. 7-9. and xix. 5-11. where Jehoshaphat makes a reformation throughout the land, and appoints the judges to be executors of justice, the priests and Levites to be the teachers of the people, and counsellors to the judges, and the high-priest to be the chief counsellor; and sometimes he was a judge also, as was before intimated.

37 Q.Was not the high priest the ruler under God? A. The high priest seems to be appointed by God and Moses, to be the chief counsellor in declaring the laws and statutes of God, as the other priests were also counsellors; but the executive power of government was rather vested in those who were called judges, whether they were ordinary or extraordinary, Deut. xvii. 9-12.

38 Q. Did these ordinary officers do justice, and maintain good order in the land after the days of Joshua.

A. We have very little account of them; but it is certain they did not fulfil their duty, because there was sometimes great wickedness among the people, without restraint; much idolatry and mischief, both public and private, and that for want of government, Judg. xvii. 6. and xxi. 25.

39 Q. Why did God, the king of Israel, leave his people under these inconveniences?

A. As they had forsaken God and his laws, so God seemed sometimes to have forsaken the care of them, and given them up for a season to the confusions and miseries which arise from the want of government, and also suffered their enemies, on every side, to make inroads upon them, and bring them into slavery, Judg. ii. 11-15.

40 Q. But did not the great God interpose for their deliverance?

A. Sometimes in the course of his providence, and by special inspiration, he raised up extraordinary

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judges to rescue them from the hand of their enemies, and to restore government among them, Judg. ii. 16-19.

41 Q. Who were some of the most remarkable of these extraordinary judges?

A. Ehud and Shamgar, Deborah and Gideon,, Jephthah, Samson, and Samuel.

42 Q. Who was Ehud?

A. A man of Benjamin, who delivered Israel from the oppression of Eglon, king of Moab, Judg. iii. 12, 15. 43 Q. How did he deliver them?

A. By bringing a present to Eglon, and then stabbing him with a dagger, Judg. iii. 16—21.

44 Q. What did Shamgar do toward their deliverance ?

A. He rescued Israel from the oppression of the Philistines, and slew six hundred of them with an ox-goad, Judg. iii. 31.

45 Q. Who was Deborah?

A. She was a woman, a prophetess, who delivered Israel from the tyranny of Jabin, king of Canaan, who had nine hundred chariots of iron, Judg. iv. 2-4.

46 Q. How did she deliver Israel from his hand? A. She sent forth Barak to battle against him, who routed his army, which was commanded by Sisera his general, Judg. iv. 5, &c.

47 Q. How was Sisera slain?

A. By the hand of Jael, a woman, who, when he came to rest himself in her tent, drove a nail into his temples, Judg. iv. 18—22.

48 Q. Who was Gideon ?

A. The son of Joash; he was called by an angel, or by God himself, to destroy the worship of Baal, and to deliver Israel from the hands of the Midianites, Judg. vi. 11—14.

Note, Gideon had sufficient evidence that this was a message from God himself, for the angel talked with him; and when Gideon had fetched some flesh and cakes to entertain him, the angel bade him lay them upon a rock,

and pour out the broth upon them, then with one end of his rod the angel touched them, and fire arose and consumed them.

49 Q. How did he begin his work?

A. He first threw down the altar of Baal, the idol, by night, and cut down the idolatrous grove, and then offered a sacrifice to the Lord, according to the order he had received from God, Judg. vi. 25-28. 50 Q. What further sign did God give him of

success!

A. At his request God made a fleece of wool wet, when the ground all around it was dry; and again he made a fleece of wool dry, when the ground was wet, Judg. vi. 36–40.

51 Q. How many men did God appoint for Gideon's army?

A. Out of thirty-two thousand he appointed but three hundred men, Judg. vii. 3, 6, 7.

52 Q. How did the three hundred men conquer Midian?

A. Each of them, by Gideon's order, took a trumpet, and a pitcher with a lamp in it, and coming at midnight on the camp of the Midianites, they broke their pitchers, and frighted them with a sudden blaze of lamps, the sound of the trumpets, and loud shouting, Judg. vii. 20-23.

53 Q. Did Gideon reign over Israel after this great victory ? .

A. No, he refused to reign, for he said God was their king, Judg. viii. 23.

54 Q. Did Gideon's sons govern Israel afterwards? A. None of Gideon's threescore and ten sons set up themselves, but Abimelech, the son of his concubine, made himself king, Judg. ix. 1, 2, 6.

55 Q. How did Abimelech advance himself to the kingdom?

A. He slew all his threescore and ten brothers except the youngest, who escaped, Judg. ix. 5. 56 Q. How was Abimelech slain?

A. When he was besieging a city, a woman cast a piece of millstone upon his head, Judg. ix. 51—53. 57 Q. Who was Jephthah?

A. A mighty man of valour, who delivered Israel from the power of the Ammonites, Judg. xi. 1, 32, 33. 58 Q. What was remarkable concerning him?

A. He made a rash vow to sacrifice to God the first thing that came to meet him after his victory, and that happened to be his daughter and only child, Judg. xi. 30, 31, 34.

Note, It is a matter of doubt and controversy among the learned, whether Jephthah, being a soldier, in those days of ignorance, did not really offer his daughter for a sacrifice, according to his vow, as the Scripture seems to express it; or whether he only restrained her from marriage, and bearing children, which, in those days, was accounted like a sacrifice, and as a sentence of death passed on them.

59 Q. Who was Samson?

A. The son of Manoah, and he delivered Israel from the hands of the Philistines, Judg. xiii. and xiv. &c. 60 Q. What was his character ?

A. He was the strongest of men, but he does not seem to have been the wisest or the best.

61 Q. Wherein did his strength lie?

A. He was a Nazarite, devoted to God' from his birth, and so he was bound to let his hair grow, and then God was with him; but when his hair was cut, God left him, Judg. xiii. 7. and xvi. 17.

62 Q. What instances did he give of his great strength.

A. He tore a lion asunder; he broke all the cords with which he was bound; he slew a thousand Philistines with the jaw-bone of an ass; and when he fell in love with a harlot in Gaza, and the Philistines beset the city gates, he carried away the gate and gate-posts of the city with him, when he made his way out and escaped, Judg. xiv. 5, 6. xv. 13, 14. and xvi. 3, 11, 13. 63 Q. What befell him afterwards?