in Ashdod, because he had loft the Palms of his Hands, by falling upon it, 1 Sam. v. 4, 5. And the manner of fending back the Ark, with the TrespassOffering prescribed by their Priests and Diviners, at the Demand of the Lords of the Philistines, was a manifest Atteftation to the Power of the God of Israel. Wherefore then, faid they, do ye harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh harden'd their hearts? when he had wrought wonderfully among them, did he not let the People go, and they departed, I Sam. vi. 6. The Philistines, at last, receiv'd a miraculous Overthrow by Thunder, 1 Sam. vii. 10. And these were fo remarkable Judgments, that they must be left without all excufe, who did not forfake their Idolatries, and turn to the Living God who had thus manifested himself amongst them. The Urim and Thummim was confulted upon any great Undertaking, whereby God return'd his AnIwer, and oftentimes, before the Battel, gave Affurance of Victory. Jofephus fays, the Anfwer was return'd, by the fhining of the Stones in the HighPriest's Breaft-plate, in fuch a manner, as that it was visible to all the People standing by; and that many of the Heathens, who had been Witneffes to it, call'd it the Oracle. The miraculous Victories of Saul, and Jonathan and David; and David's Stay with Achish King of the Philistines, at Gath, and the Favour and Confidence which he gain'd with that King, gave the Canaanites ftill repeated Opportunities and Motives to Converfion and Repentance; and we may obferve Achish, in difcourfe with David, mentioning the Name of the Lord, or Jehovah, and fwearing by his Name, 1 Sam. xxix. 6. Which fhews the infinite Mercy and Compaffion of God towards this People devoted to Deftruction, in that he would not take them away fud Judg. i. 1. and xx. 18, 23, 26. 1 Sam. xviii. 6. and xxiii. 9. and xxx. 7, 8. denly, denly, but by little and little, giving them fpace for Repentance; and turning that, which might feem to rafh Judges a hard Fate, into a Means of Salvation both to themselves and others. David extended his Conqueft far and near, and was renowned throughout all thofe Countries: And the fame of David went out into all lands, and the Lord brought the fear of him upon all nations, 1 Chron. xiv. 17. and when God had deliver'd him out of the hand of all his Enemies, he makes this Refolution, Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the heathen, and will fing praifes unto thy name, 2 Sam. xxii. 50. Pfal. xviii. 49. Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people. Say among the heathen, that the Lord is King, Pfal. xcvi. 3, 10. And when the Ark was brought, with great and folemn Joy, from the Houfe of Obed-Edom, the Pfalm of Thanksgiving on that Occasion has the fame Expreffions; Declare his glory among the heathen, his marvellous works among all nations. Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice, and let men say among the nations, the Lord reigneth, 1 Chron. xvi. 24, 31. He knew this to be the Defign of God, in the Difpenfations of his Providence; and accordingly he made this Ufe of it, with fo good effect, that in the beginning of Solomon's Reign, the Strangers or Profelytes in the Land were found to be an hundred and fifty thousand, and three thousand and fix hundred, 2 Chron. ii. 17. who were all Men fit to be employ'd in the Building of the Temple; and the reft must be fuppofed very much to exceed that Number, reckoning both Sexes, of all Ages. In Solomon's Reign, the Kingdom of Ifrael became yet more famous and flourishing; Hiram King of Tyre held great Correfpondence with him: And πάντας τους άνδρας του Teganλútes, Numeravit omnes viros profelytos. προσηλύτες, Kimchi, r Kimchi, and after him, Dr. Lightfoot understands by 2 Chron. viii. 2. that Hiram gave Cities to Solomon in his own Land, who placed Ifraelites in them; and He, in like manner gave Cities to Hiram, in Galilee, 1 Kings ix. 11. in Confirmation of the League between them. The Letters which paffed between Solomon and Hiram 'were extant in the time of Jofephus; and from his time, down to Theophilus Antiochenus. Hiram blessed the Lord God of Ifrael, that made heaven and earth, 2 Chron. ii. 12. 1 Kings v. 7. which fhews that he had a true Notion and Senfe of Religion. And Tyre was a place of great Trade and Commerce, Ezek. xxvii. from whence the Jews were afterwards fold to the Gracians, Joel.iii.6. there was no place of greater Traffick, nor that fent out more Colonies, or greater, or into more diftant Parts of the World; and therefore none could be more proper to establish a Correfpondence with, from whence Religion might be better propagated. The Queen of Sheba came to fee the Glory of Solomon's Kingdom, 1 Kings ix. 10. and bleffeth the Lord his God, chap. x. 9. who, according to Jofephus, was Queen both of Egypt and Athiopia. His Wifdom was every where magnified: And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom, chap. iv. 34. All the earth fought to Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart, chap. x. 24. His Dominions were exceeding great: He reigned over all the kings from the river (Euphrates) even unto the land of the Philiftines, and to the border of Egypt, 2 Chron. ix. 26. The Trade and Correfpondence of the Ifraelites with foreign Nations was mightily advanced in his time; their Trade extended as far as Tarfhish and Ophir. Tarfhifh is tranflated Carthage, by the Septuagint, Ifa. xxiii. 6. but is fuppofed to be Tarteffus, Lightfoot Chorograph. Decad. on St. Mark, c. 6. §. 2. p. 311. in in Spain, though St. Jerom " thought it to be in the Indies. And Ophir was, as many learned Men think, in the Indies, beyond the River Ganges, in Pegu, or at leaft, Solomon's Merchants did traffick with the Indians that came from thofe Parts; others have imagined Ophir to be Zephala, or Cephala, in Africa, towards the Cape of Good-Hope: fome think it to be Ceylon, or Sumatra fome are of opinion that it was in America: all are agreed that it must have been in fome very distant part of the World; and where-ever it were, the Traffick and Dealings which the Ifraelites had there, was a great opportunity to the Heathen to become inftructed in the True Religion. The Traffick and Voyages by Sea, and Expeditions by Land, in Solomon's Reign, rendred the People of Ifrael highly renowned, and caufed their Laws and Customs and Religion to be much obferved and enquired into; and even the Marriages of Solomon with Pharaoh's Daughter and other Strangers, queftionless, through the Mercy of God, might prove an happy occafion of divulging the True Religion, and regaining many from Idolatry, in Ægypt, and other Parts of the World: For all his Wives were made Profelytes before he married them, (as Sampson's likewise had been,) though afterwards they not only fell away to their former Idolatries, but feduced Solomon himfelf into them. X The Gentiles were fo forward to become Profelytes, " in the Reigns of David and Solomon, that their Sincerity became fufpected; and the Jews tell us, that the Sanhedrim would admit no Profelytes, in the days. of David, left they should be induced to it by Fear; nor in the days of Solomon, left the Glory of his Kingdom should have been the motive to them to profess the Religion of the Ifraelites. Nevertheless, great "Hies. in Jon. c. 1. initio. Maimonid. de Profelyt. §. 15, 16. Maimonid. ib. num numbers were received privately by Baptifm, the Sanhedrim neither rejecting nor admitting them. It is the Obfervation of Theodoret, and of St. Jerom, upon Ezek. v. 5. that God placed Jerufalem, the Seat of the Jewish Government, in the midst of the Nations, that it might be a Direction to the Heathen in matters of Religion; from whence, as from the Centre, Light might be communicated to the farther Parts of the Earth. But the Divifions and Calamities of the People of Ifrael, the Destruction of their City, and Difperfion of their whole Nation, contributed as much to the propagation of Religion, as their greatest Profperity could do. The Division of the Ten Tribes, after the death of Solomon, and the erection of the Kingdom of Ifrael, diftinct from that of Judah, with the many Leagues and Wars which thefe two mighty Kingdoms had with the Kings of Egypt, and Syria, and Babylon, and with other Nations, could not but exceedingly conduce to the divulging the True Religion in the World, and give opportunity to the Prophets to declare their Prophecies, and work their Miracles among the Heathen ; as we find they did in many Inftances. One of the greatest Cities of the World was converted by Jonah's Preaching. Upon the Fafting and Prayer of Jehoshaphat, a very numerous Army of Moabites, and Ammonites, and other Nations, according to the Prediction of Jehaziel, destroyed one another: And the fear of God was on all the Kingdoms of thefe Countries, when they had heard, that the Lord fought against the enemies of Ifrael, 2 Chron. xx. 29. Hezekiah being diftreffed by Sennacherib, prayed to God for deliverance out of his hand; that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord God, even thou only: and his Prayer was anfwer'd not only in the Deliverance, but in the manner of it; which was fo wonderful, that all must know and be aftonished at it; for that very night the angel of the Lord went out, and fmote in the camp |