Chap. V. Of the Ceremonial Law of the Jews, Sect. 1. Of the Ceremonies of Purification, Sect. 2. Of the Holy Persons, namely, Priests, Le- vites, Nazarites, Sect. 4. Of the Holy Things, namely, the Ark, Table, Chap. VI. Of the Political or Judicial Law of the Jews, Chap. VII. Of the Sins and Punishments of the Jews in 521 Sect. 1. Of their Possession of Canaan, and destroying Sect. 2. Of the Government of the Jews by Judges, namely, Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah, Chap. IX. Of the Government of the Jews under their Kings; and first of Saul and David, Chap. X. Of the Reign of Solomon and Rehoboam over Chap. XIII. Of the Return of the Jews from Captivity, Chap. XIX. A Continuation of the Jewish History from the End of the Old Testament to the Times of Christ, 137 Sect. 1. Of Nehemiah's further Reformation; of Syn- agogues, Targums, Samaritans, Proselytes, &c.. Sect. 2. Of the Jewish affairs under the Persian and Sect. 5. Of Mattathias the great Reformer, the Father Sect. 6. Of the Jewish Government under the Asmo- neans, or Maccabees; and first of the three Brothers, Sect. 7. Of the Posterity and Successors of Simon, and of the several Sects among the Jews, namely, Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, Herodians, and Kara- Sect. 3. Of the Government of Herod the Great, and Chap. XX. A Prophetical Connection between the Old PAGE. Chap. XXI. Qf John the Baptist, Chap. XXII. Of the Birth and Childhood of Jesus Christ, Chap. XXIII. Of the public Life and Ministry of Christ, Introduction. His Preparation for his public Work, THERE is no history in the world so ancient as the Bible, nor is there any which gives us so early an ac count of things. The Old Testament begins with the creation of the world, brings us into acquaintance with Adam and Eve, our first parents, informs us of their state of innocence, their sin against God, and their being driv en out of paradise; it recounts the first generations of men, and their multiplied iniquities, which provoked God to destroy them by a flood. Then it treats of the character, circumstances and conduct of Noah and Abraham, and of their families after the flood, enlarging most upon the household of Jacob, or Israel, the grandson of Abraham, who, at the invitation of his son Joseph, went down with his family to dwell in Egypt, where they were enslaved by Pharaoh the king. The history proceeds to the deliverance of the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage by Moses and Aaron, and their being set apart to be a peculiar people to God. It rehearses the laws and statutes which were given them, together with their sins and punishments while they were |