What is meant by swearing to the Lord, (Laihovah,) we learn by 2 Chron. xv. 12, 13, 14, with the context, viz: publicly and solemnly acknowledging God, and devoting themselves to God by covenant. "And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul and they sware unto the Lord with a loud voice." Deut. xxix. 10-15. We also may learn what is meant by swearing to the Lord, by Isai. xlv. "Unto me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear. Surely, shall one say, In the Lord have I righteousness and strength;" together with the apostle's citation and explication of this place, which instead of the word swear, uses confess, in Rom. xiv. 11, and Phil. ii. 10, which, in the apostle's language, signifies the same as making open and solemn profession of Christianity. Rom. x. 9, 10. "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe with thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved; for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." In that place in the xlv. of Isaiah, ver. 23, it is said, "Surely, shall one say, In the Lord have I righteousness and strength." This is the profession of their faith in Christ, and is the same with what is called making mention of God's righteousness. Ps. lxxi. 16. "I will go in the strength of the Lord God, I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only." The phrase make mention, as was observed before, is used for making a public profession; and here in this place in Isaiah glorying in God, and blesssing themselves in him, (or in his righteousness and strength) are joined with swearing to him, as they are in Jer. iv. 2. "And thou shalt swear, The Lord liveth in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness, and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory;" and Isai. Ixiii. 11. “The King shall rejoice in God, every one that sweareth by Him shall glory."

The prefix Beth is put for into as well as in. See innumerable instances of this in places referred to in the Concordance, under these words, enter, put, brought, Judg. ix. 26, went over to Shechem, in the Hebrew Beshechem. To choose other gods, is in Judg. x. 14, expressed by choosing in them, with a prefix Beth. Agreeably to the manner of speaking among the Hebrews, confessing Christ before men, Matth. x. 32, is, in the original, confessing in him. "He that shall confess in me, opodoynosi ev suoi, hefore men, I will confess in him, before my Father, and before his angels."

Judg. xvii." Ask counsel now of God," Belohim, with the prefix Beth.

[144] Deut. xii. 20. "When the Lord thy God shall enlarge thy borders and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh, because thy soul longeth to eat flesh, thou mayest eat flesh, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after." That is, thou mayest so eat it at home, without carrying it to be sacrificed; as appears from the context.

[121] Deut. xxi. 23. "For he that is hanged is accursed by God." The instances we have of those that were hanged, are agreeable to this. Thus the heads of the people that joined themselves to Baalpeor were hung up before the sun, that the fierce anger of God might cease. Numb. xxv. 3, 4. So the seven sons of Saul were hanged, to remove God's wrath from the land. Achitophel, who was cursed by David in God's name, hanged himself. Absalom was hanged in an oak for his rebellion against his father; "For it is written, Cursed is every one that setteth light by father or by mother." The kings of the cursed cities of Canaan were hanged. Haman was hanged, for he was a type of Antichrist. Judas hanged himself, having been declared accursed by Christ before.

[113] Deut. xxxii. 50. "And die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people; as Aaron thy brother died in mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people." God ordered that Aaron and Moses should go up to the tops of mountains to die, to signify that the death of godly men is but an entrance into an heavenly state. It is evident that heaven is sometimes typified by the tops of the mount by Heb. viii. 5, compared with v. 23. So Christ was transfigured in the mount, and appeared in glory with both Old Testament and New Testament saints, and the glory of God in a cloud to be a type of the heavenly state. Vide Note on Exod. xxiv. 18. No. 71.

[173] Josh. vi. 26, and 1 Kings xvi. 34. "And Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the Lord that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his first-born, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it." Jericho herein was a remarkable type of the church of the elect. Jericho was a devoted cursed city, it was devoted to perfect and to eternal destruction. To perfect destruction, in that every man, woman, and child, ox, sheep, and ass, were destroyed by God's command, and it was forbidden ever to be built again. So the elect are naturally under the curse of the law, which devotes those that have broke it to perfect and eternal destruction. However, this city was one very capable of being redeemed from that curse; but that was only by the curse being transferred upon him that built it. So the church of the elect

could have the curse removed no other way but by its being laid upon Christ, who undertook to restore it. So Hiel the Bethelite represented Christ, who is from the time Bethel, or house of God, even heaven. He was to lay the foundation of it in his first-born, and in his youngest son to set up the gates of it. So his eldest son represented Christ who is the first-born of every creature, and is our elder brother. The foundation of the redeemed and restored church is laid in the blood of the first and

only begotten Son of God. The gates of it were to be set up in his youngest son; so after the church is redeemed by Christ, the gates of it are to be set up in the blood of the martyrs. It is in that way the church is to be erected and finished, and brought to its determined glory and prosperity in the world, even through the sufferings and persecutions of believers. Jericho, though once an accursed city of the Canaanites; yet, after it was thus redeemed from the curse, became a school of the prophets. 2 Kings ii., and iv. 38, vi. 1, 2.

[209] Josh. x. 12, 13, 14. Concerning the sun and moon's standing still. This great event was doubtless typical; and as the sun was made to be a type of Christ, and is the most eminent type of him in all the inanimate creation, and is used as a type of Christ in scripture, for he is the "Sun of Righteousness," and "the light of the world," &c. ;-so doubtless the sun here, when it stands still to give the children of Israel light to help them against their enemies, is a type of Christ. The sun did as it were fight for the Israelites by his light; so Christ fights for his people; and the way that he does it, is chiefly by giving them light. Hereby he helps them against the powers of darkness, and overthrows the kingdom of darkness. Christ was at that time actually fighting for Israel as the Captain of the host; he had a little before appeared in a visible shape with a sword drawn in his hand, and told Joshua that as the Captain of the Host of the Lord he was come, Josh. v. 13, 14. And there was now a dou

type of Christ's fighting for his people against their spiritual enemies; Joshua was then fighting as the Captain of the host of Israel, who bore the name of Christ; for Joshua is the same with Jesus, and he was an eminent type of him; and at the same time the sun stood over Joshua fighting for Israel against their enemies. While Joshua or Jesus thus fought, the sun appeared also fighting in the same battle, being a type of the true Joshua or Jesus. It was a great thing for the sun to stand still to fight for Israel, and to help them to obtain the possession of Canaan, but not so great a thing as for Christ, who is the brightness of God's glory, and the express image of his person, the Creator and Upholder of the sun, to appear as he did, to deliver his people from

their spiritual enemies, and to make way for their obtaining the heavenly Canaan. The sun, though so great and glorious an heavenly body, and though so high above the earth, yet did forego its natural course-was greatly put out of the way, and deprived of that which naturally belonged to it, for the sake of Israel, laid aside its glory as the king of heaven, was as it were divested of the glory of its dominion over heaven and earth, which it has by its course through all heaven and round the earth. For it is by its course that nothing is hid from its light and heat, by which it has influence over all, and as it were rules over all. Ps. xix. 6. The influence of the heavenly bodies is called in scripture their dominion. Job xxxviii. 32, 33. But this glory as king of heaven and earth was laid aside to serve and minister unto Israel. But this was not so great a thing as for the eternal Son of God, the infinite fountain of all light, who is infinitely above all creatures, the Sun of Righteousness, in comparison of whose brightness the sun is but darkness, and therefore will be turned into darkness when he appears. I say it was not so great a thing as for him to lay aside his glory as king of heaven and earth, and appear in the form of a servant to serve men, and came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and should even give his life to destroy and confound our enemies, and obtain for us the possession of the heavenly Canaan. The sun, who by his course was wont to fill heaven and earth, now confined itself to the laud of Canaan, for the sake of Israel, so Christ, who, being in heaven filled all things, Eph. iv. 10, by his incarnation confined himself to the land of Canaan, and to a tabernacle of flesh. Hence it is not any way incredible, not at all to be wondered at, that God should cause such a miracle for the sake of the Israelites, or that nature in so great an instance should be made to yield and give place to Israel's interest, when the God of nature did as it were deprive himself of the glory that he had from the beginning of the world, yea, before the world was, even from all eternity, (John xvii. 5,) the glory that naturally belonged to him, and as it were give up all for man, that he should become incarnate and deliver up himself to death for the spiritual Israel.

The moon, which is a type of the church, also stood still at that time to fight against the Amorites for the church; for the church fights with Christ against the spiritual Amorites. The church militant is Christ's army, they go forth with Christ, and under Christ, to fight the good fight of faith, and are soldiers of Jesus Christ. Christ and the church are represented going forth together in battle. Rev. xix. 11, &c. Both the sun and moon stood still at that time, that there might there be a representation of the same thing in heaven that there was on the earth: there was Joshua and Israel fighting God's enemies on earth, and there the

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sun and moon fighting against them in heaven, and both represented Jesus and his church fighting against their spiritual enemies.

[209] Josh. x. 12, 13, 14. Concerning the sun's standing still. This is supposed to give occasion to the story of Phaeton the son of Sol and Clymene, who, desiring his father to let him guide the chariot of the sun for one day, set the world on fire. So we read that it was about the space of one day that the sun stood still, and this in all probability caused an extraordinary scorching and distressing heat in many parts of the world. And Mr. Bedford, in his Scripture Chronology, observes that mention is made of it in the Chinese history that in the reign of their seventh Emperor Yao, the sun did not set for ten days together, and that the inhabitants of the earth were afraid that the earth would be burnt, for there were great fires at that time. This happened in the sixtyseventh year of that emperor's reign, and so the time of it Mr. Bedford observes, according to their account, exactly agrees with scripture history. Scripture Chronology, p. 489. And he observes that it is natural for men in things of great antiquity to enlarge beyond the truth. And what the Chinese history mentions about great fires in many places, agrees with the story of Phaeton's setting the world on fire. And indeed to have the day more than twenty-four hours, for besides the twelve hours that the sun stood still, the time of the sun's course above the horizon was probably more than twelve hours, for it was probably later in the year than the vernal equinox: I say to have the sun so long above the horizon, and twelve hours of it together, so extraordinarily near the meridian, shining down with a perpendicular ray all that time, must needs cause exceeding heat in many places.

[169] Josh. x. 13. "And the sun stood still and the moon stayed." God thereby showed that all things were for his church, all was theirs, the whole earth, and the sun, moon, and stars were made for them.

[117] Josh. x. 13. "The sun stood still and the moon stayed." The moon stayed; not that the moon's staying helped them, but it was because the earth was stopped, and so all the heavenly bodies were stopped, that is, they kept their position with respect to the horizon.

[224] Josh. xi. 8. "And the Lord delivered them into the hand of Israel, who smote them, and chased them even unto great Zidon." Bedford, in his Scripture Chronology, p. 195 and 493, supposes that great numbers of them made their escape