to encourage the people in their work of rebuilding the city and temple; and the main argument they make use of to that end, is the approach of the time of the coming of Christ. Haggai foretold that Christ should be of Zerubbabel's legal posterity; last chapter, last verse. This seems to be the last and most particular revelation of the descent of Christ, till the angel Gabriel was sent to reveal it to his mother Mary.

VI. The next thing I would take notice of, was the pouring out of the Spirit of God that accompanied the ministry of Ezra the priest after the captivity. That there was such a pouring out of the Spirit of God that accompanied Ezra's ministry, is manifest by many things in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Presently after Ezra came up from Babylon, with the ample commission which Artaxerxes gave him, whence Daniel's seventy weeks began, he set himself to reform the vices and corruptions he found among the Jews; and his great success in it we have an account of in the 10th chapter of Ezra; so that there appeared a very general and great mourning of the congregation of Israel for their sins, which was accompanied with a solemn covenant that the people entered into with God; and this was followed with a great and general reformation, as we have there an account. And the people about the same time, with great zeal, and earnestness, and reverence, gathered themselves together to hear the word of God read by Ezra; and gave diligent attention, while Ezra and the other priests preached to them, by reading and expounding the law, and were greatly affected in the hearing of it. They wept when they heard the words of the law, and set themselves to observe the law, and kept the feast of tabernacles, as the scripture observes, after such a manner as it had not been kept since the days of Joshua the son of Nun; as we have an account in the 8th chapter of Nehemiah. And after this, having separated themselves from all strangers, they solemnly observed a fast, by hearing the word of God, confessing their sins, and renewing their covenant with God; and manifested their sincerity in that transaction, by actually reforming many abuses in religion and morals; as we learn from the 9th and following chapters of Nehemiah. VOL. II.

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It is observable, that it has been God's manner in every remarkable new establishment of the state of his visible church, to give a remarkable outpouring of his spirit. So it was on the first establishment of the church of the Jews at their first coming into Canaan under Joshua, as has been observed; and so it was now in this second settlement of the church in the same land in the time of Ezra ; and so it was on the first es tablishment of the Christian church after Christ's resurrection; God wisely and graciously laying the foundation of those establishments in a work of his holy Spirit, for the lasting benefit of the state of his church, thenceforward continued in those establishments. And this pouring out of the Spirit of God, was a final cure of that nation of that particular sin which just before they especially run into, viz. intermarrying with the Gentiles: For however inclined to it they were before,, they ever after shewed an aversion to it.

VII. Ezra added to the canon of the scriptures. He wrote the book of Ezra ; and he is supposed to have written the two books of Chronicles, at least to have compiled them, if he was not the author of the materials, or all the parts of these writ ings. That these books were written, or compiled and com pleted, after the captivity, the things contained in the books themselves make manifest; for the genealogies contained therein, are brought down below the captivity; as 1 Chron. iii. 17. &c. We have there an account of the posterity of Jehoiachín for several successive generations. And there is mention in these books of this captivity into Babylon, as of a thing past, and of things that were done on the return of the Jews after the captivity; as you may see in the 9th chapter. The chapter is mostly filled up with an account of things that came to pass after the captivity into Babylon, as you may see by comparing it with what is said in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. And that Ezra was the person that compiled these books, is probable by this, because they conclude with words that we know are the words of Ezra's history. The two last verses are Ezra's words in the history he gives in the two first verses of the book of Ezra.

VIII. Ezra is supposed to have collected all the books of which the holy scriptures did then consist, and to have disposed them in their proper order. Ezra is often spoken of as a noted and eminent scribe of the law of God, and the canon of scripture in his time was manifestly under his special care; and the Jews, from the first accounts we have from them, have always held, that the canon of scripture, so much of it as was then extant, was collected, and orderly disposed and settled by Ezra; and from him they have delivered it down in the order in which he disposed it, till Christ's time; when the Christian church received it from them, and have delivered it down to our times. The truth of this is allowed as undoubted by divines in general.

IX. The work of redemption was carried on and promoted in this period, by greatly multiplying the copies of the law, and appointing the constant public reading of them in all the cities of Israel in their synagogues. It is evident, that before the captivity, there were but few copies of the law. There was the original, laid up beside the ark; and the kings were required to write out a copy of the law for their use, and the law was required to be read to the whole congregation of Is rael once every seventh year. And we have no account of any other stated public reading of the law before the captivity but this. And it is manifest by several things that might be mentioned, that copies of the law were exceeding rare before the captivity. But after the captivity, the constant reading of the law was set up in every synagogue throughout the land. First, they began with reading the law, and then they proceeded to establish the constant reading of the other books of the Old Testament. And lessons were read out of the Old Testament, as made up of both the law and the other parts of the scripture then extant, in all the synagogues, which were set up in every city, and every where, wherever the Jews in any considerable number dwelt, as our meeting houses are. Thus we find it was in Christ's and the apostles' time, Acts xv. 21. "Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath day." This custom is universally supposed, both by Jews and Christ

ians, to be begun by Ezra. There were doubtless public assemblies before the captivity into Babylon. They used to assemble at the temple at their great feasts, and were directed when they were at a loss about any thing in the law, to go to the priest for instruction: And they used also to resort to the prophets' houses: And we read of synagogues in the land before, Psal. lxxiv. 8. But it is not supposed that they had copies of the law for constant public reading and expounding through the land before, as afterwards. This was one great means of their being preserved from idolatry.

X. The next thing I would mention, is God's remarkably preserving the church and nation of the Jews, when they were in imminent danger of being universally destroyed by Haman. We have the story in the book of Esther, with which you are acquainted. This series of providences was very wonderful in preventing this destruction. Esther was doubtless born for this end, to be the instrument of this remarkable preservation.

XI. After this the canon of scripture was further added to in the books of Nehemiah and Esther; the one by Nehemiah himself; and whether the other was written by Nehemiah, or Mordecai, or Malachi, is not of importance for us to know, so long as it is one of those books that were always admitted and received as a part of their canon by the Jews, and was among those books that the Jews called their scriptures in Christ's time, and as such was approved by him. For Christ does often in his speeches to the Jews, manifestly approve and confirm those books, which amongst them went by the name of the scriptures, as might easily be shown, if there were time for it.

XII. After this the canon of the Old Testament was completed and sealed by Malachi. The manner of his concluding his prophecy seems to imply, that they were to expect no more prophecies, and no more written revelations from God, till Christ should come. For in the last chapter he prophe sies of Christ's coming; ver. 2, 3. "But unto you that fear my name, shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth and grow up as calves of the

stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be as ashes under the soles of your feet, in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts." Then we read in ver. 4. "Remember ye the law of Mose's my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments," i. e. Remember and improve what ye have; keep close to that written rule you have, as expecting no more additions to it, till the night of the Old Testament is over, and the Sun of Righteousness shall at length arise.

XIII. Soon after this, the spirit of prophecy ceased among that people till the time of the New Testament. Thus the Old Testament light, the stars of the long night, began apace to hide their heads, the time of the Sun of Righteousness now drawing nigh. We before observed, how the kings of the house of David ceased before the true king and head of the church came; and how the cloud of glory withdrew, before Christ, the brightness of the Father's glory, appeared; and so as to several other things. And now at last the spirit of prophecy ceased. The time of the great Prophet of God was now so nigh, it was time for their typical prophets to be silent.

We have now gone through with the time that we have any historical account of in the writings of the Old Testament, and the last thing that was mentioned, by which the work of redemption was promoted, was the ceasing of the spirit of prophecy.

I now proceed to show how the work of redemption was carried on through the remaining times that were before Christ In which we have not that thread of scripture history to guide us that we have had hitherto : But have these three things to guide us, viz. the prophecies of the Old Testament, human histories of those times, and some occasional mention made, and some evidence given, of some things which happened in those times, in the New Testament. Therefore,

XIV. The next particular that I shall mention under this period, is the destruction of the Persian empire, and setting up of the Grecian empire by Alexander. This came to pass about sixty or seventy years after the times wherein the