JOSHUA.

CHAP. III.

V. 7.—And JEHOVAH said to Joshua, This day I will begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know, that as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee. 8. And thou shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye are come to the brink of the water of Jordan, ye shall stand still in Jordan. 13. As soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the Ark of JEHOVAH, the ADONI of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above, and they shall stand in a heap.

JEHOVAH is the person of the Trinity who, it is shown, is always with Joshua, conducting him through the battles with the Canaanites, &c. In the 13th verse JEHOVAH himself declares that he is the ADONI (Judge) of the whole earth. These two facts confirm St. Paul's assertion in the Corinthians.

CHAP. XXIV.

V. 1.-And Joshua gathered all the tribes, and they presented themselves before ELOHIM. And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith JEHOVAH, GOD of Israel. . . And then he recapitulates what JEHOVAH had done. 14. Therefore fear JEHOVAH, and serve him in sincerity and truth. And the people said, 16. God forbid that we should forsake JEHOVAH to serve other gods. 17. For JEHOVAH OUR GOD, he it is that brought us out of the land of Egypt. 26. And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of ELOHIM.

Although the inspired writer is, in the above chapter, eagerly pointing out the mercies of JEHOVAH the Divine Protector, yet he particularly specifies that he shall write them in the Book of the Law of ELOHIM.

JUDGES. ?

CHAP. XIII.

V. 3.-And the angel of JEHOVAH appeared unto the wife of Manoah, and saith; 5. Thou shalt bear a son, and the child shall be a Nazarite unto ELOHIM from the womb. 6. And the woman told her husband, saying, A man of ELOHIM came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of ELOHIM, very terrible. 8. And Manoah entreated JEHOVAH, and said, О ADONI, let the man of ELOHIM teach us what we shall do. 22. And Manoah said to his wife, we shall surely die, because we have seen ELOHIM. 23. But his wife said unto him, if JEHOVAH were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands. 24. And the woman bare a son and called his name Samson. 25. And the Spirit of JEHOVAH began to move him at times in the camp.

Manoah says, We shall die because we have seen ELOHIM, thereby ascribing to the sight of ELOHIм а consequence very different to that occasioned by their frequent intercourse with JEHOVAH, whom the wife represents as having graciously received their offering. Surely this proves that the Jews themselves acknowledged a plurality in the Godhead.

CHAP. XVI.

V. 17.-And Samson told Dalilah, I have been a Nazarite unto ELOHIM from my mother's womb. 28. And Samson called unto JEHOVAH, and said, O ADONI JEHOVAH, remember me, I pray, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O ELOHIM, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes,

Here a distinction of persons is very marked. Samson is dedicated to ELOHIм from his birth. When in distress he invokes JEHOVAH, and wishing punishment to be inflicted on the guilty, he again addresses JKHOVAH as ADONI (or Judge); and, finally, he implores - ELOHIM, or the whole Godhead, for help.

BOOK OF RUTH.

Naomi addresses JEHOVAH, and prays to him that her daughter may find rest, and the people prayed to JEHOVAH to make the woman Ruth like Rachel and Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and JEHOVAH granted the prayer, and she bare a son, and called his name Obed.

It is true that the writer of the Book of Ruth has not introduced all the distinctive names of the Godhead, but an attentive reader cannot fail to perceive that JEHOVAH is addressed with precisely the same meaning as in the preceding books.

FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.

CHAP. III.

V. 2. And it came to pass when Eli was laid down in his place, and ere the lamp of ELOHIM went out in the temple of JEHOVAH, where the ark of ELOHIM was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep: 4. That JEHOVAH called Samuel; this he did three times, and at length Eli called Samuel, and said, 17. What is the thing the Lord hath said unto thee? I pray thee hide it not from me-ELOHIM do so to thee and more also, if thou hide any thing from me. 21. JEHOVAH appears to Samuel, and reveals himself in Shiloh, and smites the Israelites before the Philistines.

'The inspired penman says "the ark of ELOHIM," because it contained the law of ELOHIM, and the records of his mercies, and the appointment of the Paschal Lamb, which was the type of the sacrifice of our blessed Saviour; but he adds, it was placed in the temple of JEHOVAH, because (Exod. xxv.) it is said JEHOVAH gave Moses the directions for building it; thus consistently is the distinction of the divine persons preserved, and yet the unity of the Godhead enforced.

CHAP. IV.

V. 4. So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the Ark of the Covenant of JEHOVAH of Hosts. And the two sons of Eli were with the Ark of the Covenant of ELOHIM. 7. And the Philistines were afraid, for they said ELOHIM is come into the camp. 8. Woe unto us, who shall deliver us out of the hands of these mighty gods, these gods who smote the Egyptians with all the plagues.

The Philistines say "these mighty gods:" is not this a strong proof that, in their opinion, there was a plurality of persons comprised in the one comprehensive word ELOHIM? nor can we doubt but that they must have learnt this from the Jews themselves.

they

CHAP. V.

V. 1.The ark is called the Ark of ELOHIM. 3. The Ark of JEHOVAH. 7. The Ark of the God of Israel by the men of Ashdod, while they are moving it from place to place; and in the 11th verse say, Send away the Ark of the God of Israel, and let it go to its own place again, that it slay not us and our people, for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city, and the hand of ELOHIM was very heavy there.

In this chapter, proof is given of the co-equality of the different persons of the Trinity, and also their unity, in the comprehensive term ELOHIM: for after the persons have been named separately, then at the conclusion of the narrative, it is said, the Philistines are terrified, and declare that ELOHIM (the mighty gods, chap. iv. v. 8.) was punishing them for their presumptuous guilt.

CHAP. XVII.

Goliah comes forward and defies the armies of the living ELOHIM. 43. Then David said to the Philistine, I come to thee in the name of JEHOVAH of Hosts, GoD of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast de

fied. 46. This very day JEHOVAH will deliver thee into my hands, that all the earth may know that ELOHIM is in Israel.

I refer the reader to the conclusion of the introductory chapter for the definition of the word AL, for, in the above quotation, he will perceive that ELOHIM has a much more comprehensive meaning than the word AL, or the GOD of the armies of Israel.

SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL.

CHAP. VII.

V. 18. Then David went in, and sat before JEHOVAH; and he said, Who am I, O ADONI JEHOVAH, and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto? 20. And what can David say more unto thee? for thou, O ADONI JEHOVAH, knowest thy servant. 22. Thou art great, O JEHOVAH ELOHIM, for there is none like Thee, neither is there any ELOHIM beside thee. 24. For Thou hast confirmed to thyself thy people Israel, to be a people unto thee for ever, and thou, JEHOVAH, art become their ELOHIM. 25. And now, O JEHOVAH ELOHIM, the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant, and concerning his house, establish it for ever, as thou hast said. 26. And let thy name be magnified for ever. 28. And now, O ADONI JEHOVAH, thou art ELOHIM, and thy words be true, and thou hast promised this goodness unto thy servant.

David says, "O ADONI JEHOVAH, thou art ELOHIM." This address is often used, and it very emphatically points out a distinction in the persons of the Trinity. Jones of Nayland says, "There are three distinct agents, and yet there is but one and the same divine agency, or, as the Church has more fully and better expressed it, That that which we believe of the glory of the Father, the same we are to believe of the Son and of the HOLY GHOST, without any difference or inequality.''