upon this supposition, that the Gentile nations, who have embraced the religion of Jesus, are not the people of God; and that the Jews, who yet wait for the true Messiah, are the only people who can be said to continue in the worship of the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob: i. e. they are, on this hypothesis, still the people of God; for it will not be denied that the true worshippers of God, and those who believe in, and embrace the promises made in his written word, are his people.

It is my design, in this chapter, to examine which of these conclusions is most agreeable to the language of the Hebrew Scriptures, and to the present state of the Jewish nation. But, previous to this, I shall endeavour to show what are the sentiments of David Levi upon this point.

Levi does, in his work on the prophecies, expressly admit, " that it was for their enormous ." wickedness that the Jews were removed from " their own land;" (Vol. I. page 43-62.) yet he elsewhere maintains, (Vol. I. page 266.) "That God hath chosen Israel for his glory; " to hand down the knowledge of his unity among "the nations hitherto; and, at their restoration, "to be the means of bringing all mankind to " the true knowledge of God." And, in Vol. I. pages 52, 53, and 223; and Vol. II. page 235, he represents the Jews as worshipping the one true God-the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and Jacob; and that their dreadful persecutions and massacres have been endured because of their adherence to the doctrine of the pure unity of God, so strongly inculcated in the Mosaic dispensation, in opposition to every other doctrine, and particularly to the Christian doctrine, of a plurality of persons in the Godhead. I therefore understand Levi as maintaining, that, throughout the whole period of their captivity, the Jews have been the only true, worshippers of the God of their fathers: and as all the relations between God and man are mutual, it follows, upon this supposition, that as the Jews have been the only true worshippers of God, He, on the other hand, has

been to them as their God, and they have been his people. It also follows, that the Christian Gentiles, being corrupters of the doctrine of the pure unity, and worshippers of a deceiver or enthusiast, God has never stood in a covenant relation towards them, and they have never been his people. Having thus seen what is the opinion of David Levi, and the consequences of his opinion, I shall proceed to examine how far it is agreeable to the Hebrew Scriptures.

In a preceding chapter, various passages were quoted from the Hebrew Scriptures, to show that the cause of the Jews being led into their present long and dreadful captivity, was their having grievously sinned against the Lord their God. I shall now bring forward such passages as seem most directly to bear upon the question, i. e. whether the Jews have, during their long captivity, been the true worshippers of God? And here I would premise, that, to worship God, to serve God, to seek, or to obey, or love, or know God, are all terms,

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which, in the Scripture language, are nearly synonymous: at least, any one of these actions

or affections certainly implies, in itself, all the rest; and, on the other hand, the negation of any one of them implies the absence of all.

Moses prophesied as follows, in Deuter. xxx. And it shall come to pass, when all these 'things are come upon thee, the blessing and 'the curse, which I have set before thee, and 'thou shalt call (them) to mind among all 'the nations whither the Lord thy God hath ' driven thee; and shalt return unto the Lord 'thy God, and shalt obey his voice, accord'ing to all that I command thee this day, 'thou, and thy children, with all thy heart, ' and with all thy soul, that then the Lord ' thy God will turn thy captivity, &c.' (ver. 6.) And the Lord thy God will circumcise thy ' heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the 'Lord thy God with all thy heart, and all thy 'soul, that thou mayest live.'

The inference I draw from the above passage, is this: as the restoration of the children of

Israel from their long and dreadful captivity, is to take place as soon as they return unto the Lord their God, and not before, it follows, that, during this captivity, they have been afar off from God; for a people that is already near to God, cannot be called upon to return to him. Now, to be afar off from God necessarily includes in it the absence of his true fear, and love, and worship, from the heart of those who are thus afar off. Therefore, as the Jews have been, during their long captivity, and still are, afar off from God, it follows that they have not, and do not, truly love and worship him; and, consequently, they do not know him. And hence we may see the suitableness to their present condition, of the promise contained in Hosea ii. 20, that the children of Israel shall, upon their return from captivity, 'know the Lord.'

From this we may also see the absurdity of the reasoning of David Levi, in Vol. I. page 32, of his Dissertations; for he there represents one party among the Jews as having con

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