de the pledge of the future, hope was grounded upon memory; all
prayer for favour sent them back to the old mercies of God. "The Lord
_hath been_ mindful of us, He _will_ bless us[5];" this was the form of
their humble expectation. The favour vouchsafed to Abraham and Israel,
and the deliverance from Egypt, were the objects on which hope dwelt,
and were made the types of blessings in prospect. For instance, out of
the many passages which might be cited, Isaiah says, "Awake . . . O
arm of the Lord, _as in the ancient days, in the generations of
old_[6]." Micah, "Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine
heritage, which dwell solitary in the wood, in the midst of Carmel; let
them feed in Bashan and Gilead, _as in the days of old_; according to
the days of thy coming out of Egypt will I show unto him marvellous
things[7]." The Psalms abound with like references to past mercies, as
pledges and types of future. Prophesying of the reign of Christ, David
says, "The Lord said, I will bring again from Bashan, I will bring My
people again from the depths of the sea," and Moses too, speaking to
the Israelites--"_Remember the days of old_, consider the years of many
generations; ask thy father and he will show thee, thy elders, and they
will tell thee[8]." Accordingly, while a coming Saviour was predicted,
still the claims of past times on Jewish piety were maintained, by His
being represented by the prophets under the name and character of
David, or in the dress and office of Aaron; so that, the clearer the
revelation of the glory in prospect, in the same degree greater honour
was put upon the former Jewish saints who typified it. In like manner
the blessings promised to the Christian Church are granted to it in the
character of Israel, or of Jerusalem, or of Sion.

Lastly, as Moses directed the eyes of his people towards the line of
prophets which the Lord their God was to raise up from among them,
ending in the Messiah, they in turn dutifully exalt Moses, whose system
they were superseding. Samuel, David, Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, Daniel,
Ezra, Nehemiah, each in succession, bear testimony to Moses. Malachi,
the last of the prophets, while predicting the coming of John the
Baptist, still gives this charge, "_Remember ye the law of Moses_, My
servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the
statutes and judgments[9]." In like manner in the New Testament the
last of the prophets and apostles de