of Ifrael to say, The Lord God of your Fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Ifaac, and the God of Jacob, hath fent me; yet in speaking to the King of Egypt, who probably might know little of Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob, his Orders are to fay, The God of the Hebrews hath met us, &c. Exod. iii. 15, 18. and v. 3.

It may appear strange to us to hear the. great God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, affuming to himself a Character that feems to limit the Right of his Dominion: For why does He, who is God of all the World, style himself the God of the Hebrews? Is he not the God of all Nations? Or, why does he appeal to Miracles wrought under the Character of God of the Hebrews, when the great Works of the Creation (of all Miracles the greatest) are a constant and perpetual Evidence of his almighty Power and universal Dominion?

To account for this, you must confider the State of Religion in the World at the Time when God assumed this Character, and fent Mofes to shew Signs and Wonders in the Land of Egypt. All the Nations of the Earth had at that Time their several local Deities; and, as every Nation is naturally

nclined to think their own the best, a

Message

Message delivered in the Name of the Deity of any one People could have no Effect upon another, And therefore, when Mofes delivered a Message to Pharaoh in the Name of the God of Ifrael, Pharaoh's Answer was, Who is the Lord, that I should obey his Voice to let Ifrael go? I know not the Lord; neither will I let Ifrael go, Exod. v. 2. Now the Way which God made choice of to convince Pharaoh was by multiplying Signs and Wonders in the Land of Egypt, that the Egyptians might know that he was the Lord, when he stretched forth his Hand upon Egypt, Exod. vii. 3, 5.

Here the Question plainly was between God under the Character of the God of the Hebrews, and the God of the Egyptians, which of them was fupreme: And this Point could only be determined by a Superiority of Power shewn in Miracles. And, if we attend to the Nature of the Miracles wrought by Mofes, they will appear to be such as plainly pointed out the Hand of the Almighty Creator. The Author of the Book of Wisdom tells us, That the Egyptians, being deceived by the foolish Devices of their Wickedness, worShipped Serpents void of Reafon, Wisd. xi. 15. And the most antient Account we have of that People from profane History confirms the Observation. And therefore the first Miracle

performed performed by Mofes was a direct Conquest over the Deities of Pharaoh: For, when his Rod was changed into a Serpent, and devoured all the Serpents produced by the Magicians, what could Pharaoh reasonably conclude, but that the God, in whose Name Mofes spoke, was God of Gods, and Lord of Lords? And, when the Magicians were compelled to acknowledge the divine Power of Mofes, and openly to declare to Pharaoh that the Finger of God was in it, one would imagine that this Triumph over the Deities and Magicians of Egypt should have furnished a complete Answer to that Demand of Pharaoh, Who is the Lord, that I should obey his Voice? But he continued obftinate.

But the Purpose of God in sending Mofes to shew his Wonders in the Land of Egypt was intended not only for the Deliverance of the Hebrews, but to make his Name known over all the Nations of the Earth: For, as Egypt was at that Time a great and flourishing Kingdom, and was notorioufly the Seat of Superftition and Idolatry, from whence the Infection spread to all the Nations round about, it was of all others the properest Scene for God to exert his Power and Authority for the Conviction of all People. And for this Reason God had connived

at

at the Wickedness and Idolatry of Egypt, and suffered the Kingdom to grow very great, that their Punishment might be the more exemplary: In very deed for this Caufe have raised thee up, for to shew in thee my Power, and that my Name may be declared throughou all the Earth, Exod. ix. 16.

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The Miracles wrought in Egypt were fuck as all the World had a Concern in: Fo they were so near akin to the Works of the Creation, that by a just Comparison they might be known to come from the fame Hand: For who but the Author of Nature could ftir up Things animate and inanimate to punish Offenders? When God flew all the First-born in Egypt in one Night, and preserved the People of Ifrael in Safety; when he led the People of Ifrael through the Red Sea by commanding the Waters to open them a Passage, and drowned Pharaoh and all his Host by bringing the Waters back upon them; did not God by these Signs plainly speak to them, and fay, See now that I, even I am He, and there is no God with me. kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: Neither is there any that can deliver out of my Hand? Deut. xxxii. 39.

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This Use of Miracles appears throughout the History of the Jews. Thus, in the

Conteft

1 1

Contest between Elijah and the Priests of Bral, the Prophet laid before the People this Choice: If the Lord be God, follow him; but i Baal, then follow him, 1 Kings xviii. 21. The People were filent: The Difpute was eferred to be determined by Signs and Wonlers: And, when the People faw the Hand of God made manifest, they fell on their Faces, and faid, The Lord he is the God! he Lord he is the God! Ver. 29.

The Cafe of the Destruction of the Army of the Affyrians in the Reign of Hezekiah, when an hundred and fourfcore and five thousand Men were destroyed in one Night by the Angel of God, feems to carry with It a Severity hard to be accounted for. The King of Affyria with his great Hoft laid Siege to Jerufalem; and fo had other Princes done without falling under so great Calamity: But the Cafe of Sennacherib had this peculiar in it, that he sent a Defiance to God, and boasted himself of many Victories obtained against him. Hear the Message he sent to Hezekiah: Thus faith the great King, the King of Affyria, What Confidence is this wherein thou trustest? Hearken not unto Hezekiah: For thus faith the King of Affyria, Hath any of the Gods of the Nations delivered at all his Land out of the Hand of the King of Affyrla? Who