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Christ had not then appeared to open the door of mercy, God had a just right to send his own covenant people to destroy them, and take their place. And as the dispensations of Divine Providence, under the law, were figurative of future events, under the dispensations of the gospel; so the destruction of the wicked and corrupt inhabitants of the land of Canaan, by God's covenant people, was figurative of the destruction of the old natural man, with all his corrupt propensities, by the new man, who is brought into the true spiritual covenant of Christ.

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But why should Christian professors, of the present day, plead a divine command to make war upon their fellow Christians? Is it because Christian nations bear the character of those impious heathen nations of Canaan, against whom God commanded the Israelites to make war? fortunately, it is to be feared that many of them exceed that character in wickedness. But if any Christian nation is so far sunk in wickedness, as to become a curse to the earth, and incur the Divine vengeance, who is to judge them? and who is to execute that judgment? Is it those who are themselves equally guilty? If they are to be punished by war, it ought to be by the decision of the righteous Judge of all the earth, and by that only.

If Christian rulers choose to take the Mosaic law for their authority, and undertake to execute judgment upon their guilty brethren; they ought not only to know that they themselves are guiltless of the like crimes, but also to know that they are authorized by a special command of God to do it: And even then, they must be considered as under the law of Moses, and not under the gospel of Christ. For tho we readily admit that, under the law, God did sometimes authorize the Israelites to be the executioners of his judgments upon wicked nations; yet we do not find that Jesus Christ ever commissioned his followers to administer judgments, or to destroy men's lives; but to teach the way peace, and administer mercy to all.

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We presume that the plea of God's having authorized the Jewish wars, is advanced merely as a plea of justification, in favor of the wars waged by professed Christian nations. But it ought to be considered that this plea will equally justify the destruction of a whole nation in war, men, women and children, even all in whom is found the breath of life: for concerning the Canaanites, the command of God to the Israelites (6 was, Thou shalt save alive nothing that

breatheth."* And if the advocates of war consider the Jewish wars as any example for them to follow, they must, upon the same principle, admit the command of God concerning the Canaanites, to have its full force, as an example. And they ought also to ascertain, to a certainty, which of the two professed Christian nations going to war, wicked Canaanites, who are to be utterly destroyed, and which are God's covenant people, who are to execute those bloody commands.

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But such commands, at the present day, would probably appear too revolting to humanity to find many advocates, even among the bloodshedding sons of war. And if modern Christians cannot be justified in going to the same extent of destruction against their enemies, they cannot be justified in making war at all: for war is war; and it must be attended with more or less destruction upon the lives and property of their fellow beings, whether it is waged by Christians, Pagans or Turks.

If Christians can be justified in making war upon their fellow Christians, we would ask to what extent of blood and slaughter can they go, without violating the precepts of their Divine Lord and Master? This is a serious question; and Christians ought to know the extent of their Christian authority, before they commence the bloody work of death upon their fellow Christians.

Some of the strenuous advocates of war attempt to justify it by the following argument, namely: "As the nature of man is essentially the same, in all ages, and God is an unchangeable Being; therefore, since it is evident from the records of scripture, that wars were formerly authorized by the command of God, they must have been agreeable to his will. And if they were ever agreeable to the will of God, they must be so now: for being unchangeable in his nature, that which was once agreeable to his will, must still remain so, and must, of course, be just and right in his view.". But it seems that these enlightened reasoners do not consider that the same argument would equally prove the necessity of circumcision, as well as all the injunctions of the Levitical law, upon Christians of the present day. As well might they urge the propriety of enforcing those penalties of the Jewish law of burning and stoning to death, for specific crimes; because the penalties were of Divine authority, and God is unchangeable.

*Deut. xx. 16.

A just and wise lawgiver will give laws according to the circumstances which render those laws necessary; and a change of law argues no change in such a lawgiver. The law of Moses was given in an ignorant and barbarous age of the world, and was designed for wise purposes. And are Christians of the present day advanced no further in human civilization, than the nations and people of that barbarous age? Does it reflect any honor upon Christianity, for modern Christians to shelter themselves under those sanguinary laws, which governed such a savage state of the world? How does this comport with their high pretensions to superior light and knowledge? or with their boasted claims to greater humanity and civilization?

The deliverance of the Israelites from their Egyptian bondage, by Divine Power, was designed as a type, or figure, of the future deliverance of his people from the bondage of sin and Satan, by the power of God. The accom

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plishment of this great work, without the power was an evidence that God needed not an arm of flesh to accomplish his purposes, or to effect any deliverance which was according to his will.

It was also well calculated to show, to all ages, that the protection or deliverance of any people or nation, depends entirely upon the operations of Divine Providence, whether these operations are apparent to man or not. This remarkable deliverance was doubtless designed also, to show the Israelites the necessity of trusting in God, and not in themselves. And it ought to teach all people a lesson of dependence upon God; lest they should be puffed up with pride, and begin to boast that their own arm has saved them; which is the natural consequence of success in war. "These things were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the world are come.' ""*

How easy it might have been, in the order of Divine Providence, calculating upon the strength of human power alone, for six hundred thousand Israelites, "that were able to go forth to war," to have fought their way through, and obtained their freedom! Yet the wisdom of God directed that it should be accomplished through the operations of his Divine Power, without any warlike operations on the part of the Israelites. When this is duly considered, it must appear evident, that the extraordinary manner of this deliverance, and the lesson it is calculated to teach mankind,

must have an important bearing upon the question concerning the policy of war and peace, and whether it is better to trust in an arm of flesh, or in the providence of God.

After the Israelites were established in the promised land, so long as they strictly kept the law, and did not unite nor intermeddle with the neighboring nations, they generally enjoyed the blessings of peace, and were but rarely afflicted with wars. But whenever they turned their hearts to follow the customs and practices of other nations, and transgressed their own laws, they were generally visited by the Scourge of war, and suffered the invasion of their territo ries. But they rarely found any deliverance, or had any success against their enemies, excepting where it was effected by the operations of Divine Providence, rather than by the force of arms.

When the children of Israel were oppressed by the Midianites, and Gideon was raised up for their deliverance, a great army of the Israelites was raised for that purpose.But the Lord said to Gideon, "The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. 99* Such is the boasting nature of the spirit of war. But Gideon, in obedience to the command of God, took only three hundred men, who were selected by a particular sign; and with this number, under the Divine direction, the mighty host of Midianites, who were compared to grasshoppers for their vast numbers, were entirely defeated, without the use of sword or spear, on the part of Gideon and his men, and the Israelites were delivered.

After this remarkable victory, we find the nature and disposition of the war-spirit discovering itself in the Ephraimites, who were highly offended with Gideon, because he did not invite them to the battle. Hence it appears evident that their object was, to acquire honor to themselves, instead of giving the glory to God. And had Gideon gone forth with his whole army, and defeated the enemy by the power of arms, his warriors would undoubtedly have taken the honor of the victory to themselves. This has been the character and disposition of warring nations, in all ages of the world for although they have often, and perhaps generally, pretended to give honor to some deity or other, whom

* Judges vii.

they professed to acknowledge; yet their greatest pride has been to glory in their own exploits.

The Israelites, by their frequent rebellions against the law of God, had so far lost the Divine protection, that the surrounding nations were suffered to overpower them, and many times to chastise them with great severity. And tho they were frequently embroiled in war with the neighboring nations; yet, with all their military bravery and skill in arms, they could not defend themselves in war, without the aid of Divine Providence; but were often reduced by the power of their enemies, to the very brink of ruin. They were in a very critical situation at the time when David, by Divine authority, was anointed their king.

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KING DAVID AND HIS SUCCESSORS.

KING DAVID, for a long time, appears to have possessed great piety and humility. He evidently placed his whole trust in God, and was a strict observer of the law; nor did engage in war, without first consulting the Divine Oracle, and looking to God for direction. By this means, he went forth in the strength of the God of Israel, and was successful in delivering the children of Israel from all their enemies, and extending their borders to the utmost bounds of the land which had been promised to the seed of Abraham.

But by a constant train of successes against his enemies, it appears that, in process of time, he conceived himself invincible in war, and was not so careful, as formerly, to ask counsel of God; but made wars of his own accord, either for conquest or revenge. His ambition and self-confidence seems to have increased upon him, till at length, he was led into crimes which brought the judgment of God upon him, with a threatening denunciation, that "the sword should never depart from his house."

But notwithstanding all the pleas in favor of war, which are drawn from David's example, and the aid and authority he received from Divine Providence, it appears that God would not suffer him to build the house of the Lord; because he was a man of war. In his charge to Solomon, he says, "It was in my mind to build a house unto the name of the Lord my God; but the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made great wars: thou shalt not build a house unto my name; because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth in my sight.