|
2. So they passed two
days in this way of feasting; but on the third day, before the sun was up, a
cloud spread itself over the whole camp of the Hebrews, such a one as none had
before seen, and encompassed the place where they had pitched their tents; and
while all the rest of the air was clear, there came strong winds, that raised
up large showers of rain, which became a mighty tempest. There was also such
lightning, as was terrible to those that saw it; and thunder, with its
thunderbolts, were sent down, and declared God to be there present in a
gracious way to such as Moses desired he should be gracious.
Now, as to these matters,
every one of my readers may think as he pleases; but I am under a necessity of
relating this history as it is described in the sacred books. This sight, and
the amazing sound that came to their ears, disturbed the Hebrews to a
prodigious degree, for they were not such as they were accustomed to; and then
the rumor that was spread abroad, how God frequented that mountain, greatly
astonished their minds, so they sorrowfully contained themselves within their
tents, as both supposing Moses to be destroyed by the Divine wrath, and
expecting the like destruction for themselves.
3. When they were
under these apprehensions, Moses appeared as joyful and greatly exalted. When
they saw him, they were freed from their fear, and admitted of more comfortable
hopes as to what was to come. The air also was become clear and pure of its
former disorders, upon the appearance of Moses; whereupon he called together
the people to a congregation, in order to their hearing what God would say to
them: and when they were gathered together, he stood on an eminence whence they
might all hear him, and said,
"God has received me
graciously, O Hebrews, as he has formerly done; and has suggested a happy
method of living for you, and an order of political government, and is now
present in the camp: I therefore charge you, for his sake and the sake of his
works, and what we have done by his means, that you do not put a low value on
what I am going to say, because the commands have been given by me that now
deliver them to you, nor because it is the tongue of a man that delivers them
to you; but if you have a due regard to the great importance of the things
themselves, you will understand the greatness of Him whose institutions they
are, and who has not disdained to communicate them to me for our common
advantage; for it is not to be supposed that the author of these institutions
is barely Moses, the son of Amram and Jochebed, but He who obliged the Nile to
run bloody for your sakes, and tamed the haughtiness of the Egyptians by
various sorts of judgments; he who provided a way through the sea for us; he
who contrived a method of sending us food from heaven, when we were distressed
for want of it; he who made the water to issue out of a rock, when we had very
little of it before; he by whose means Adam was made to partake of the fruits
both of the land and of the sea; he by whose means Noah escaped the deluge; he
by whose means our forefather Abraham, of a wandering pilgrim, was made the
heir of the land of Canaan; he by whose means Isaac was born of parents that
were very old; he by whose means Jacob was adorned with twelve virtuous sons;
he by whose means Joseph became a potent lord over the Egyptians; he it is who
conveys these instructions to you by me as his interpreter.
And let them be to you
venerable, and contended for more earnestly by you than your own children and
your own wives; for if you will follow them, you will lead a happy life you
will enjoy the land fruitful, the sea calm, and the fruit of the womb born
complete, as nature requires; you will be also terrible to your enemies for I
have been admitted into the presence of God and been made a hearer of his
incorruptible voice so great is his concern for your nation, and its duration."
4. When he had said
this, he brought the people, with their wives and children, so near the
mountain, that they might hear God himself speaking to them about the precepts
which they were to practice; that the energy of what should be spoken might not
be hurt by its utterance by that tongue of a man, which could but imperfectly
deliver it to their understanding. And they all heard a voice that came to all
of them from above, insomuch that no one of these words escaped them, which
Moses wrote on two tables; which it is not lawful for us to set down directly,
but their import we will declare (10)
5. The first
commandment teaches us that there is but one God, and that we ought to worship
him only. The second commands us not to make the image of any living creature
to worship it. The third, that we must not swear by God in a false matter. The
fourth, that we must keep the seventh day, by resting from all sorts of work.
The fifth, that we must honor our parents. The sixth that we must abstain from
murder. The seventh that we must not commit adultery. The eighth, that we must
not be guilty of theft. The ninth, that we must not bear false witness. The
tenth, that we must not admit of the desire of any thing that is another's.
6. Now when the
multitude had heard God himself giving those precepts which Moses had
discoursed of, they rejoiced at what was said; and the congregation was
dissolved: but on the following days they came to his tent, and desired him to
bring them, besides, other laws from God. Accordingly he appointed such laws,
and afterwards informed them in what manner they should act in all cases; which
laws I shall make mention of in their proper time; but I shall reserve most of
those laws for another work, (11) and
make there a distinct explication of them.
7. When matters were
brought to this state, Moses went up again to Mount Sinai, of which he had told
them beforehand. He made his ascent in their sight; and while he staid there so
long a time, (for he was absent from them forty days,) fear seized upon the
Hebrews, lest Moses should have come to any harm; nor was there any thing else
so sad, and that so much troubled them, as this supposal that Moses was
perished.
Now there was a variety in
their sentiments about it; some saying that he was fallen among wild beasts;
and those that were of this opinion were chiefly such as were ill-disposed to
him; but others said that he was departed, and gone to God; but the wiser sort
were led by their reason to embrace neither of those opinions with any
satisfaction, thinking, that as it was a thing that sometimes happens to men to
fall among wild beasts and perish that way, so it was probable enough that he
might depart and go to God, on account of his virtue; they therefore were
quiet, and expected the event: yet were they exceeding sorry upon the supposal
that they were deprived of a governor and a protector, such a one indeed as
they could never recover again; nor would this suspicion give them leave to
expect any comfortable event about this man, nor could they prevent their
trouble and melancholy upon this occasion. However, the camp durst not remove
all this while, because Moses had bidden them afore to stay there.
8. But when the forty
days, and as many nights, were over, Moses came down, having tasted nothing of
food usually appointed for the nourishment of men. His appearance filled the
army with gladness, and he declared to them what care God had of them, and by
what manner of conduct of their lives they might live happily; telling them,
that during these days of his absence he had suggested to him also that he
would have a tabernacle built for him, into which he would descend when he came
to them, and how we should carry it about with us when we remove from this
place; and that there would be no longer any occasion for going up to Mount
Sinai, but that he would himself come and pitch his tabernacle amongst us, and
be present at our prayers; as also, that the tabernacle should be of such
measures and construction as he had shown him, and that you are to fall to the
work, and prosecute it diligently. When he had said this, he showed them the
two tables, with the ten commandments engraven upon them, five upon each table;
and the writing was by the hand of God.
Footnotes
(9) Since this mountain, Sinai, is here said to be the highest
of all the mountains that are in that country, it must be that now called St.
Katherine's, which is one-third higher than that within a mile of it, now
called Sinai, as Mons. Thevenot informs us, Travels, Part I. Ch. 23. p. 168.
The other name of it, Horeb, is never used by Josephus, and perhaps was its
name among the Egyptians only, whence the Israelites were lately come, as Sinai
was its name among the Arabians, Canaanites, and other nations. Accordingly
when (1 Kings 9:8) the Scripture says that Elijah came to Horeb, the mount of
God, Josephus justly says, Antiq. B. VIII. Ch. 13.
Sect. 7, that he came to the mountain called Sinai: and Jerome, here cited
by Dr. Hudson, says, that he took this mountain to have two names, Sinai and
Choreb. De Nomin. Heb. p. 427.
(10) Of this and another like superstitious notion of the
Pharisees, which Josephus complied with, see the note on
Antiq. B. II. Ch. 12. Sect. 4.
(11) This other work of Josephus, here referred to, seems to
be that which does not appear to have been ever published, which yet he
intended to publish, about the reasons of many of the laws of Moses; of which
see the note on the Preface, Sect. 4.
|
