the "free Jerusalem, which is above: and which is the mother of us all." (Gal. iv. 25, 26.) The prophetic rule must be carried out,-"The elder shall serve the younger."

The privileges of the elder were undoubtedly vast, and most important-" He also shall become a people; and he also, shall be great: but truly, his younger brother shall be greater than he "--because "his seed shall become a multitude of nations." (Gen. xlviii. 8-19.)

That the real intent of Joseph's birthright was not the mere inheritance by his sons, of a double allotment in the land of Canaan, is evident, from the slight importance attached to that event, when it is alluded to by Jacob at the close of this blessing. It is, as if he had said-" I have now pronounced the great purport of my spiritual blessing. I have confirmed on Ephraim that great decree, which the Almighty pronounced to my mother Rebekah, when I and my brother Esau struggled together in her womb. The Lord said unto her-" Two nations are in thy womb; and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other; and the elder shall serve the younger. This is God's design: and whatever may be its intent, I have now confirmed it in the persons of my two grandsons. Manasseh shall become a people, and be great; but truly, his younger brother shall be greater than he-because, by the

spirit of prophecy, I know that his seed shall become a multitude of nations. But there is yet a matter of less importance, a temporal destiny to be accomplished in favour of my son Joseph's descendants, and this also I will prophetically announce to them, before I die." Thus, as incidental to the conclusion of his blessing, "Israel said unto Joseph-Behold, I die; but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers. Moreover, I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite, with my sword, and with my bow." (Ibid. v. 21, 22.)

In adverting merely to the future territorial possessions of his son Joseph's tribes, Jacob does not even name his two grandsons, Manasseh and Ephraim. He addresses Joseph only-" Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren." Thus, the precedence in favour of the younger Ephraim, which he had so carefully marked in his blessing, was clearly not directed to any temporal or worldly superiority. The result shewed, that Ephraim was, in fact, far inferior to Manasseh as to extent of territory. Manasseh possessed the land of Gilead, beyond Jordan, to the northward of Gad: and also the district to the west of Jordan, between Ephraim on the south, and Issachar on the north, extending from the main river to the seacoast. The portion of Ephraim was scarcely one third so large as that of Manasseh. It extended

from the plains of Jericho, on the east, to the vale of Sharon, on the west. Nevertheless, it clearly marked the spiritual purport of that priority, which Jacob had conferred on the younger of his two grandsons by his blessing. The country of Ephraim inIcluded both mount Shiloh and mount Gerizim. It connected, as it were, the sanctuary of the law with that other rival sanctuary, in which the first germs of Gentile conversion were faintly developed, after the captivity of Israel by Shalmaneser. It comprised that glorious "birthright" of Joseph, namely, the universal promise, through Abraham, to Gentile as well as Jew.

SECTION XXVI.

The same subject further illustrated by Hosea and
Jeremiah.

The selection of scattered scriptural testimonies, and the adaptation of their expressions to an argument, especially by an unskilful hand, will, it is to be feared, appear obscure to those, to whom the ideas, and the truths, which are intended to be illustrated, may perhaps, be new. We shall therefore disregard the imputation of needless repetition, or unreasonable length, and proceed to set forth a brief summary of the points, which we have endeavoured to enforce, with a view to render our meaning as clear as our faculties will allow. It has been our object to shew

1st, That the prophecies, contained in the sacred records of scripture, are sometimes direct in the terms by which they are expressed, (or didactic); and at others typical, or signified by emblematical figures also, that both of these modes of expression

are frequently intended to bear a secondary as well as primary application.

2ndly. That types are intended to be conveyed, not only by figures of speech, but by recorded circumstances and events as in the instances we have adduced analogous to the number of the Apostles, and the seventy disciples; and pecially the two sacraments of baptism, and the Lord's supper: the two latter of which, are clearly so referred to by the Apostle Paul.

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3rdly. That the connection of Joseph, as heir of the birthright and the promise, with the heathen land of Egypt, is a prophetic type, conveyed by actual events and circumstances, of the final calling of the Gentile world (by means of the old covenant) to the new covenant of faith in the true God of Israel, through Christ, his Messiah. In confirmation of this, attention has been called to the ninth chapter of St. Paul's epistle to the Romans. There, the message of God by Moses, to Pharaoh, which in its primary sense clearly refers to the destruction of that king and his people, by the plagues of Egypt, and the submersion of their hosts in the Red Sea, is ascribed by the apostle, in its secondary and prophetic sense, to the demonstration of the power of God by the future declaration of his name throughout all the earth. The inference, which the apostle draws from this gracious dispensation, so prefigured and predicted by the message of God to Pharaoh, is