CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION, p. 1.

CHAPTER I.

CREATION, p. 9.

Naturally the first fact revealed; Its moral lessons, 9;

The origin of this record and the manner of its revelation to men, 12;

Nature and the supernatural, 13;

Theories on the origin of life, 14;

The sense of the word “day” in Gen. 1: 16; Argued

(1) From the laws of language, 17;

(2) From the narrative itself, 18;

Objection from the law of the Sabbath, 21;

(3) From Geological facts and their bearings on the question, 22;

Prominent points of harmony between Genesis and Geology, 25;

(4) Does “Create” (Gen. 1: 1) refer to the original production of matter? 26;

(5) The relation of v. 1 to v. 2, and to the rest of the chapter, 29;

(6) The work of the fourth day, 31;

(7) The sense of the record as to the origin of life, vegetable and animal, 32;

(8) On God’s “making man in his own image,” 33;

(9) The relation of Gen. 2: 4–25 to Gen. 1, 35;

(10) Invariability of “kind” in the vegetable and animal kingdoms, 37;

The theory of Mr. Darwin, 38;

The issue between Darwin and Moses, 38;

Darwin’s five main arguments, 39;

Brief replies, 40;

Objections bearing generally against Darwin’s scheme, 43;

(1) It requires almost infinite time back of the earliest traces or possibilities of life, 43;

(2) Requires what Nature does not give—a close succession of animal races, differing but infinitesimally from each other, 43;

(3) His argument is essentially materialistic and is therefore false, 45;

(4) It ignores man’s intellectual and moral nature, 46;

(5) It ignores or overrides the law of nature by which hybrids are infertile, 46;

(6) This scheme is in many points revolting to the common sense of mankind, 46;

(7) It is reckless of the authority of revelation, 48.

CHAPTER II.

THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN, 49;

Two main questions:

1. Is the human family older than Adam? 49;

(1) The argument for man’s high antiquity,

From traces of his skeleton, 50;

From his tools and works, 51;

(2) From the traditions and chronologies of the old nations, 59.

CHAPTER III.

HEBREW CHRONOLOGY, 60;

2. How far back was Adam? 60;

From birth of Christ back to the founding of Solomon’s Temple, 60;

First disputed period—that of the Judges, 60;

Second disputed period—that of the sojourn in Egypt, 62;

Third disputed period—between Terah and Abraham, 64;

Fourth disputed period—from the creation to the flood, 66;

Fifth disputed period—from the flood to the call of Abraham, 68.

CHAPTER IV.

ANTIQUITY OF MAN RESUMED, 72;

On the Antiquity of Egypt, 72;

The date of Menes, its first king, and of the pyramids, 74;

Unity of the human race: Were there races of pre-Adamic men, now extinct? 75;

Are the present living races descendants of the same first pair? 75.

CHAPTER V.

THE SABBATH, 77;

As old as Eden; made for man as a race.

CHAPTER VI.

THE EVENTS OF EDEN, 81;

I. Is the description of man’s fall symbolic or historic? 81;

II. The moral trial, 84;

III. The temptation, 87;

IV. The fall, 88;

The curse; the first installment of the penalty for transgression, 89;

The first promise, 90.

CHAPTER VII.

FROM THE FALL TO THE FLOOD, 92;

1. Notes on special passages;

Gen. 4: 1, “I have gotten a man—the Lord,” 92;

Gen. 4: 6, 7—words of the Lord to Cain, 92;

Gen. 4: 23, 24, the song of Lamech, 92;

2. Abel’s offering and the origin of sacrifices, 93;

3. The great moral lessons of the antediluvian age, 95.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE FLOOD, 99;

Its moral causes, 99;

Its physical causes, 101;

Was this flood universal? 102;

As to the earth’s surface, 102

As to its population, 104;

Traditions of a great deluge, 105.

CHAPTER IX.

FROM THE FLOOD TO THE CALL OF ABRAHAM, 107;

1. The law against murder and its death-penalty, 107;

2. The prophecy of Noah, 108;

3. The genealogy of the historic nations, 110;

4. Babel and the confusion of tongues, 112.

CHAPTER X.

ABRAHAM, 114;

His personal history; the divine purposes in the new system inaugurated with him; Concentration of moral forces; a more definite covenant between God and his people; Utilizing the family relation, 116;

Developing a great example of the obedience of faith, 120;

In leaving his country at God’s call, 120;

In waiting long but hopefully for his one son of promise, 120;

In obeying the command to offer this son a sacrifice, 120;

God’s revelations to Abraham progressive, 122;

The missionary idea in this system—blessings to all the nations, 125;

The Messiah included in these promises, 126;

Sodom and Gomorrah, 128;

The angel of the Lord, 130.

CHAPTER XI.

THE PATRIARCHS, ISAAC, JACOB, JOSEPH, 132;

Isaac, 132;

Jacob, 133;

At Bethel, 133;

At Mahanaim, 137;

The struggle of prayer; The points and grounds of this conflict; The law of prevailing prayer, 140;

Jacob and Joseph, 143;

Developments of personal character, 144;

Joseph in Egypt, 146;

The hand of God in this history:

Seen in the sufferings of the innocent, 155;

Seen in overruling sin for good, 158;

The purposes of God in locating Israel in Egypt, 160;

Ancient Egyptian history and life confirms Moses, 162;

Special passages considered:

Going down into Sheol, Gen. 37: 35, 166;

Jacob’s benedictions upon his sons, Gen. 49, 168;

The Scepter of Judah, Gen. 49: 10, 169;

The less readable portions of Genesis, 171;

Close of Genesis, 172.

CHAPTER XII.

EXODUS 173;

The oppression, 173;

Moses, 175;

His great mission, 179;

The ten plagues, 185:

These plagues supernatural, 187;

Several of them specially adapted to Egypt, 189;

The case of the magicians, 190;

The shape of the demand upon Pharaoh to let the people go, 193;

The hardening of Pharaoh’s heart, 194;

History of the case, 194;

What is said of God’s purpose in it, 203;

Light on this case from God’s revealed character, 204.

CHAPTER XIII.

THE PASSOVER, 205;

Consecration of all first-born, 207;

The long route to Canaan, 209;

The march and the pursuit, 210;

The guiding pillar of cloud and of fire, 211;

The locality of the Red Sea crossing, 215.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE HISTORIC CONNECTIONS OF MOSES WITH PHARAOH AND EGYPT, 216.

CHAPTER XV.

THE EVENTS NEAR AND AT SINAI, 222;

The manna, 222;

Rephidim; water by miracle, 225;

The battle with Amalek, 229;

Jethro, 230;

The Scenes at Sinai, 232;

The national covenant; The giving of the law, 232;

The moral law, given from Sinai, 236;

To be distinguished from “the statutes and judgments,” 236;

The commandments considered severally;

1. 238;

2. 239;

3. 241;

4. 241;

5. 243;

6–9. 243;

10. 245;

Progress in the revelations of God to man, 246.

CHAPTER XVI.

THE HEBREW THEOCRACY, 251;

The supreme power, 251;

The powers of Jehovah’s Vicegerent, 253;

The General Assembly and their Elders, 254;

The scope afforded for self-government, democracy, 255;

The fundamental principles of this system, 258;

Its union of Church and State, 259;

Its principles and usages in regard to war, with notice of the war-commission against the doomed Canaanites, 261;

The grant of Canaan, and the command to extirpate the Canaanites, 262.

CHAPTER XVII.

THE CIVIL INSTITUTES OF MOSES, OR THE HEBREW CODE OF CIVIL LAW, 270;

General view of it, 270;

Analysis of the crimes condemned, 273;

Crimes against God:

Idolatry, 273;

Perjury, 274;

Presumptuous sins, 275;

Violations of the Sabbath, 276;

Blasphemy, 276;

Magic arts, 276;

Crimes against parents and rulers, 279;

Crimes against person and life, i. e. crimes of blood, 280;

Cities of refuge, 282;

Murder by unknown hands, 284;

Crimes against chastity, 285;

Statutes to protect rights of property, 286;

Statutes against usury, 288;

Statutes for the relief of the poor, 289;

Crimes against reputation, 292.

CHAPTER XVIII.

CIVIL INSTITUTES OF MOSES CONTINUED;

Hebrew servitude, 294;

Man-stealing, 294;

No rendition of fugitives, 295;

Severe personal injuries entitled to freedom, 295;

Periodical emancipation, 296;

Religious privileges of servants, 298;

The slavery that existed before Moses, 299;

The condition of Israel in bondage in Egypt, 299;

The Jubilee, 300;

Its bearing upon foreign servants, 301;

Meaning of “bond-servant,” 302;

Servants of foreign birth, 302;

Judicial Procedure, 304;

Judges, 304;

The seat of justice, 305;

The processes of prosecution, 305;

Advocates, 305;

Of witnesses, 305;

Punishments, 306;

Fines, 306;

Sin and trespass offerings, 307;

Stripes, 307;

Excommunication, 308;

Modes of capital punishment, 308;

Disgrace after death, 308;

Judicial procedure and punishment summary, 308;

Statutes without penalties, 309;

Two Historic Questions, 311;

How far is this system indebted to Egypt? 311;

How far have the best civil codes of the most civilized nations been indebted to this Hebrew code? 314;

Progressive revelations of God in this code, 319.

CHAPTER XIX.

THE RELIGIOUS SYSTEM OF THE HEBREWS, 321;

Classification of sacrifices, 322;

Choice of animals for sacrifice, 323;

The scenes of sacrifice, 324;

The significance of sacrifices, 325;

Of the portion taken as food, 326;

Special sacrifices, 327;

Sacred times and seasons, 327;

The Morning and Evening Sacrifice, 327;

The Sacrifices for the Sabbath, 328;

The sacrifices at each new moon, 328;

The three great festivals, 328;

The Passover, 328;

The Feast of Pentecost, 328;

The Feast of Tabernacles, 329;

The great day of Atonement, 331;

Sacred Edifices and Apparatus, 334;

The Sacred Orders, 335;

Present value of the Mosaic ritual, 336;

Its lessons on the blood of atonement, 338;

That these lessons are steps of progress in the revelation of God to men, 340.

CHAPTER XX.

HISTORIC EVENTS OF HEBREW HISTORY FROM SINAI TO THE JORDAN, 342;

The golden calf, 342;

The intercession of Moses, 343;

The Lord reveals his name and glory, 346;

Incidents connected with this idol-worship, 350;

Lessons from Moses on prayer, 353;

Taberah and Kibroth-hataavah, 354;

Miriam and Aaron envious of Moses, 355;

Kadesh-barnea and the unbelieving spies, 356;

Rebellion of Korah and his company, 360;

The fiery serpent and the brazen one, 363;

Balak and Balaam, 364;

Balaam’s prophecies, 367;

His prayer, 368.

CHAPTER XXI.

ON THE LAST FOUR BOOKS OF THE PENTATEUCH, 375;

Their method and subject-matter, 375;

Leviticus, 376;

Numbers, 376;

Deuteronomy, 377;

Deut. 12–26, 378;

The prophet like Moses, 380;

The blessings and the curses, 383;

The last words of Moses, 384;

The Song of Moses, 386;

Moses blesses the tribes, Deut. 33, 394;

Death and character of Moses, 401;

The Mosaic system and the future life, 403;

Progressive developments of truth and of God, 412.

Advertisements, 415