the ark, his song written by divine
direction, his blessing upon the twelve tribes, and the account of his
death and burial on mount Nebo.

13. As the book of Genesis constitutes a suitable _introduction_ to the
Pentateuch, without which its very existence, as a part of the divine
plan, would be unintelligible, so does the book of Deuteronomy bring it
to a sublime close. From the goodness and faithfulness of God, from his
special favor bestowed upon Israel, from the excellence of his service,
from the glorious rewards of obedience and the terrible penalties of
disobedience, it draws motives for a deep and evangelical obedience--an
obedience of the spirit and not of the letter only. Thus it adds the
corner-stone to the whole system of legislation, completing it on the
side of the motives by which it challenges obedience, and investing it
with radiant glory. The Pentateuch, then, is a whole. The first book is
inseparable from it as an _introduction_; the last as a _close_. The
three intermediate books contain the legislation itself, and in this
each of them has its appropriate province.

CHAPTER XX.

THE HISTORICAL BOOKS.

1. In the Pentateuch we have the establishment of the Theocracy, with
the preparatory and accompanying history pertaining to it. The province
of the historical books is to _unfold its practiced working_, and to
show how, under the divine superintendence and guidance, it accomplished
the end for which it was given. They contain, therefore, primarily, a
history of God's dealings with the covenant people under the economy
which he had imposed upon them. They look at the course of human events
on the divine rather than the human side, and in this respect they
differ widely from all other historical writings. Human histories abound
with the endless details of court intrigues, of alliances and wars, of
material civilization and progress, and whatever else pertains to the
welfare of men considered simply as the inhabitants of this world. But
the historical books of the Old Testament, written by prophetical men
illumined by the Holy Spirit, unfold with wonderful clearness the mighty
movements of God's providence, by which the divine plan proposed in the
Mosaic economy was steadily carried forward, alike through outward
prosperity and adversity, towards the fulfilment of its high office.
After a long series of bloody struggles, the Theocracy attained to its
zenith of outward power and splendor under