and SAVIOUR, JESUS CHRIST, and his APOSTLES, &c: 187 the Jews, when Chrift is reprefented en- tering in triumph into Jerufalem, fitting on an afs. But however contemptible an afs, or a man - riding on that creature may be at prefent, it was not fo from the be- ginning. In many countries, and parti- cularly in Judea, perfons of the higheft dinin&ion ufually rode upon aftes. The governors of Ifrael are defcribed in the Fong of Deborah, as riding on white affes, Judg. v. to. And the thirty fons of Jair, who was judge and prince over Ifrael twenty-two years, are faid to aide on thirty allés, ch. x. 4. And another judge is recorded . to have had forty fóns, and thirty nephews, that rode on feventy afs colts, ch. xii. 14. However, it may be anted, that fup- pofing it was an ufual thing to ride on an afs, why fhould this common praaice be mentioned in relation to the Meffiah, as a mark of diflinftion ? Might not the pro- phet, upon this fuppofition, as well have faid, he fhall coma walking on foot? And would he not have been as well known by one charaEter as by the other? Betides, if we turn to the book ofZechariah, where this prophecy is to be found, we (hall fee the perfon, there defcribed, to be a kings ajun king, and one having falvation : and what is there in this charaáer, ofriding on the foal of anafs, that is peculiar to a king, to a jufl king, and to one who was to bring falvation and deliverance to his people ? However difficult thefe queftions may at fire fight appear, they are eafily anfwer- ed ; not by confidering the ;,late and con- dition of kings in general, but that peculiar to a king of Ifrael, on which is founded the propriety of this charafi:er. We fhall generally find, if we look into the hiftory of the rife and fall of nations, that their profperity and fuccefs were pro- portionable to their forceand power, and to the conduit and ability of their leaders. But with the Jews, who from (laves in Egypt becamea powerful people, the cafe seas very 'different, The ben and greateft of their kings, and he who carried their 3 empire to it's greateft height, has left us another account of theiraffairs : The people, fays he, got not the land in boJeßiion by their own fword, neither did their own arm_Ave them: but thy right hand, and thine aros, and the light of thy countenance, becaufe thou hadjl afavour unto them, Pfalin xliv. 3. We are apt to afcribe thefe and other fimilar paffages, to the piety and devotion of the Pfalmin; to confider them only as acknowledgments of God's general provi- dence in the affairs of the world; and hence are apt to overlook, or not fufficiently confider, the hinorical truths they contain. It is true, indeed, that all fuccefs, in the ftriélen fenfe, may be afcribed to God ; that it.is he who giveth viélory unto kings; but lie generally maketh ufe of natural means, and it is na offence to his provi- dence, that kings lift their thoufands of horfe and. foot to fecure themfelves- and their dominions. But with the. Jews it was very different : they were never fo weak as when they made themfelves nrong ; never fo certainly ruined as when their force was great enough to create a confi- dence in then-,felves. For God had taken the defence of Ifrael upon himfelf: and, the people; were lure to be undone when- ever they took it out of his hands to place it in their own. God was fo tender of his honour in this refpeél, and fo concerned to junify his promife to proteél. Ifrael in the eyes of the world, that he would not always permit natural caufes to interfere in their deliver- ance, left the people fhould grow doubtful to whom they ought to afcribe their vic- tories. And for the fame reafon it was, that he commanded the people to have neither horfes nor chariots of war for their defence : not becaufe they were thought ufelefs in war; for it is well known that they were the flrength of the ancient king- doms ; but becaufe God himfelf had un- dertaken their defence, and he wanted neither horfe nor foot to fight their battles. It is evident from the Jewilh hinory, that this law was obferved for near four hundred years;
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