And I observe, that this history affords an instance of heathens, placed probably in the most advantageous situation it was possible for heathens to be placed, in order to reclaim them from idolatry; introduced to supply the place of one part of God's chosen people who had been expelled for their idolatries; thus brought into immediate contact with the remaining part, from whom they

could

"served their own Gods, after the manner of the nations "whom they carried away from thence. Unto this day

66

66

they do after their former manners; they fear not the "Lord, neither do they after their statutes, or after their or"dinances, or after the Law and commandment, which the " Lord commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel; with whom the Lord had made a covenant, and charged them saying, ye shall not fear other gods, nor "bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to "them; but the Lord who brought you up out of the land "of Egypt, with great power and a stretched-out arm, him "shall ye fear, and him shall ye worship, and to him shall ye do sacrifice; and the statutes, and the ordinances, and "the Law, and the commandments which he wrote for you, ye shall observe to do for evermore, and ye shall not fear "other gods. And the covenant that I have made with you "ye shall not forget, neither shall ye fear other gods; but "the Lord your God ye shall fear, and he shall deliver you "out of the hand of all your enemies. Howbeit they did "not hearken, but they did after their former manner. "these nations feared the Lord and served their graven

И

So

"images, both their children and their children's children, did their fathers so do they unto this day."

as

could not but learn much of the wonders of Jehovah's power; convinced by their own experience, of the necessity of conciliating him as the supreme guardian God of the country in which they were newly settled, and compelled by their fears to solicit instruction in his Law: they receive that instruction, the books of Moses are placed in their hands, and were from that period uniformly acknowledged by them as of divine

*

authority. Yet so deeply were their idolatrous propensities rooted in their souls, that though thus circumstanced, with examples of divine punishment immediately under their observance, instructed in the tenor, and acknowledging the authority of the divine Law, they could not be taught to discern the folly and impiety, or forsake the practice of associating the worship of the basest idols with that of the great JEHOVAH. "They indeed feared the Lord, (but yet)

they served their graven images, both their "children and their children's children, as "did their fathers so do they, unto this day."

* Vide supra, Vol. i. p. 18.

† 2 Kings, xvii. 41.

But

But though it does not appear, that the Samaritans could at that period be compleatly reclaimed from idolatry; yet the measures employed to enlighten them with the knowledge of the true God, seem gradually to have produced a considerable effect. On the return of the Jews from the seventy years captivity, an event which so clearly proved the inspiration of the Jewish Prophets, and the over-ruling providence of the God of Israel, the Samaritans were extremely desirous to join in rebuilding his temple, and celebrating his worship. *"For they said "unto the chief of the fathers, let us build "with you, for we seek your God as ye

do, and we do sacrifice to him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up hither."

This proposal the Jews steadily rejected, and whatever their motives may have been, we can discern important reasons, in consequence of which, this rejection appears to have been subservient to the purposes of the divine œconomy. The intermixture of the Samaritans with the Jews might have ren

dered

* Ezra, iv. 3.

dered the accomplishment of the prophecies concerning the family and birth of the Messiah, less clear; might have reintroduced idolatry among the restored Jews, now completely abhorrent from it, and in various ways defeated the grand objects of Providence in selecting and preserving a peculiar people. In consequence of this rejection and the alienation it produced, the Jews probably became more vigilant in preserving the strictness, and the Samaritans more zealous in emulating the purity of the Mosaic ritual. They became hostile and therefore unsuspected guardians and vouchers of the integrity of the sacred text, particularly of the Pentateuch. And while the Jews, in general blinded by their national prejudices, could see in the promised Messiah only a national and temporal deliverer; the Samaritans appear to have judged of his pretensions with more justice * and success. And though our Lord

"

visited

* Vide John iv. particularly v. 41 and 42. “ And many more (of the Samaritans) believed because of his own word, "and said unto the woman, now we believe, not because of

thy saying, for we have heard him ourselves, and know "that this is indeed the Christ the SAVIOUR Of the world," a confession of faith higher by some degrees (as Dr. Lightfoot

visised them only as it were incidentally,* yet he was able to declare to them his character and avow his dignity, without that mysterious reserve and jealous caution, which the proneness of the Jewish multitude † "to "take him by force and make him a king,” constantly required. And it seems evident, that the Samaritans were predisposed and prepared to receive and diffuse the light of the Gospel, more than any other description of men, the pious and reflecting part of the Jewish nation only excepted. And thus this circumstance in the progress of the Jewish dispensation, which at first view

might

foot remarks) than the Jews common creed concerning the Messiah, for they held him only for a Saviour of the Jewish nation. And so we may see how deeply and cordially these Samaritans had drunk in the waters of life, so as to acknowledge Christ in his proper character. Vide also the testimonies of St. Chrysostom and Epiphanius to the same effect, as quoted by Kennicot, Dissertation, Vol. II. p. 41 to 47. The expression of the woman, "When the Messias cometh " he will tell us all things," shews that she expected him in proper character of a religious instructor.

his

* Vide John, ch. iv. particularly 26 and 42, on our Lord's reasons for reserve and caution, in avowing his divine character and full dignity, and for his sometimes concealing his miracles. Consult Locke's Reasonableness of Christianity, Watson's tracts, Vol. IV. p. 22 to 39; and why he is thus distinct in his avowal of his being the Messiah, to the Samaritans, ib. p. 30.

↑ John, vi. 15,