We are now prepared to consider the objections of scepticism adverted to at the beginning of this chapter, and to point out some of the probable reasons why God selected this particular country for the home of his chosen people.

A FIRST reason may be noticed in the ISOLATION of this land. We are expressly told that the Hebrews were to be "a peculiar people," and to be "separate from the nations." "Lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations." It was the purpose of God to keep the seed of Abraham, during their minority, or the period of their training and growth into a nation, a community by themselves; they were to "dwell alone," that they might be preserved as far as possible from imbibing the idolatrous notions, or following the corrupt practices of the nations about them. Now, it would be difficult to find a country, good and pleasant, on the face of the earth, more secluded from all others, and therefore more suitable for the Divine purpose, than Canaan. This land was literally shut out on all sides from the rest of the world. To the east lay the vast Assyrian Desert; on the west was the long and almost harborless coast of the Mediterranean; along the whole southern frontier stretched "the great and terrible Wilderness of Paran;" while on the north it was protected by the stupendous ramparts of Lebanon and Hermon, which left but a narrow gateway open, the Valley of Cole-Syria, which lay between them. Thus in this land "the Vine of God's own planting" "was hedged round about," by sea and desert and

mountain, that neither "the boar of the wood," nor "the beast of the field" should harm it.

A SECOND reason for the selection of Canaan may be seen in the fact, that the physical structure of the country presented a suitable FRAME-WORK or MOULD for enclosing and forming the national character to the will and purposes of God. The history of the world proves that the position, features, and climate of a country, in no small degree, determine both the pursuits and the character of its inhabitants. Of this the Greeks and the Romans in the past, and the Britons and New Englanders in the present, are notable examples. "The physical characters. of a region," says Dr. McCosh, "the nature of its surface, whether flat or hilly, its soil and minerals, the size and flow of its rivers, the mountain chains which cross it, and the bays of the sea which indent it, the clearness or cloudiness of its atmosphere-all these have moulded to some extent the physical peculiarities of man, and determined his tastes, his pursuits and his destiny." Hence when the Lord chose this peculiar territory for the inheritance of his people, He had an eye to something more and something higher than mere means of subsistence; He saw in it conditions that would quicken to industry, surroundings that would stimulate to obedience, and scenes calculated to inspire devotion, and altogether, such as would help to mould the character and shape the history of his people after his own will. The fertile plains, the airy hills, the deep and heated

valley, the wide and blue sea, the towering mountains, the mysterious lake and the dreary desert-were all to be means of inspiring, soothing, awing, interesting, or elevating their hearts and minds. The varied vegetation of the land-the cedar, the palm, the vine, the olive, the fig-tree, the rose and the lily, by the gracefulness of their forms, by the beauty of their tints, by the richness of their fruits or the luxuriance of their foliage, were likewise to contribute their pure and refining influence for the same end. It was with reference, not so much to their bodily wants as to the development of their mental faculties and the elevation of their moral and religious character, that this unique and secluded country was assigned to them for their home-a country in which the distant view of "the wilderness of their wanderings" would ever keep in memory their great deliverance-a country in which from every hill-top the sight of surrounding desert barrenness would serve to inspire them with gratitude for their happy lot-a country of which the blessings would be so evidently the gift of Heaven as to raise their thoughts perpetually to the Great Giver of all, and to bind them in grateful, holy allegiance to Himself through all generations.

A THIRD reason for the choice of Canaan was its preeminent fitness to be the Birth-Land of the Bible-the unequalled variety of its scenery, climate and productions render it a most suitable place for the penning of the Holy Scriptures in a style of expression, figures and illustrations fitted to interest and instruct the human race generally. It is truc-most true, indeed-that those Scriptures were

given by inspiration of God, yet as the truths they embodied were conveyed through human mediums and were addressed to human beings, they had of necessity to be clothed in terms they understood, and illustrated by figures and comparisons with which they were familiar. And no spot on the earth's surface could have been selected which could better have supplied the writers of a Book intended to instruct men of every latitude and climate, with images and illustrations familiar, one or other of them, to the dwellers in every region of the globe. If the Sacred Volume had been written in Borneo or in Greenland, on the banks of the Ganges or of the Amazon, in the heart of Arabia or the heart of Africa, how widely separated it had been from the ideas, sympathies and interests of the great majority of the earth's inhabitants; how limited a measure of their feelings or imaginations had been represented by it. The truths, indeed-the abstract truths-would have been the same; but the forms in which they had been clothed would have been widely different, and the power they possessed to affect us would have been greatly weakened.

But the Bible having been written where and as it has, we have in it scenes and similitudes, transactions and narratives, with which our own experience and observation have so much in common, that they come directly home to every man's bosom, and to every man's business in life. We have the history of a pastoral people, of an agricultural people, of a trafficking and military people, in the several tribes at their various occupations as shepherds, husbandmen, traders or warriors, according as

they occupy the hill-country or the

the sea or the margin of the desert.

plain, the shore of We have scenes of

tropics and of the

land and ocean, the climate of the snow-clad mountains, the productions of India and of Europe. Hence the Holy Book, its parables and predictions, its psalms and spiritual songs, designed to enlighten the minds, to comfort the hearts, and to animate the souls of men in all regions of the world, embrace within their range the natural features and vicissitudes of almost every country.

The devotion of the mariner and of maritime countries finds natural expression in the numerous allusions to the waves and roar and perils of the sea-"The great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts"-" He commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof ”— "Deep calleth unto deep; all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me"-"He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still "—"He bringeth them unto their desired haven "—etc.

The peaceful keepers of flocks and herds among the far inland glens and mountains also find the gratitude and joy that glow within their hearts expressed in hallowed songs abounding in references to the very objects that through life interest their minds, and to scenes that daily delight their hearts-"We are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand "-"All we like sheep have gone astray"-"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want: He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters"-" Though the