of the church, stood, was Christ, who is elswhere called the angel of the covenant; (Mal. iii. 1,) the same as Jacob spake of. (Gen. xlviii. 16.) So that both the angel of the covenant and the archangel are one and the same; and both spoken of in the nature of the office and character of Christ, for Christ" took not on him the nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham." (Heb. ii. 16.)

From the whole view of this subject, I venture to believe, that, as Scripture speaks but of one archangel, and that officially, that archangel is Christ. For on the supposition, that it be not so, it becomes a matter of greater difficulty to say, who this archangel can be. If it be not Christ, it must be some created angel. And is there a created angel higher than Christ. If, while Jesus is called the angel of the covenant, is there an archangel also, above this angel of the covenant? I leave these questions with any one, not satisfied with my former observations, that the Lord Jesus Christ is the person spoken of twice in Scripture as the archangel. See Malachi and Michael.

ARK. We read in Scripture of the ark which the Lord directed Noah to make. (Gen. vi. 14.) And Moses in the wilderness was commanded to make an ark. (Exod. xxv. 10.) And we read of an ark seen by John in the temple in heaven; but then, this latter was visional. For the same apostle elsewhere saith, that he "saw no temple in heaven." (Rev. xi. 19. with Rev. xxi. 22.) The ark of Noah, as well as that of Moses, were both types of the Lord Jesus Christ. Hence, Noah it is said by the Holy Ghost, (Heb. xi. 7.)" by faith being warned of God, "prepared an ark for the saving of his house." Faith in what? Surely, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And the ark in the wilderness is called the ark of the covenant, intimating Christ

given of JEHOVAH to the people. (See Num. x. 33. Josh. iii. 11; vii. 6. with Isa. xlii. 6. 2 Chron. viii. 11.) We no where read of arks. Never is it said in the word of God of more than one ark; no more than one Lord Jesus Christ. They who talk of arks, like them who talk of archangels, do err, "not knowing the Scriptures, neither the power of God." And it were to be wished, that such men would call to mind the Lord's jealousy in the case of the men of Bethshemesh, (1 Sam. vi. 19.) and also the circumstance of Uzzah, (1 Chron. xiii. 10.) What was the sin of all those but overlooking Christ? And wherein do those differ, who talk of arks instead of one ark, and that expressly, and on no other account valuable, than as it represented the Lord Jesus? (1 Sam. iv. 3. 2 Sam. xv. 24.)

ARM OF THE LORD. In the language of Scripture, this is one of the names of Christ. Thus the prophet calls upon the Lord to arise for his people. (Isa. 1. 9.) And thus the Lord promiseth, under this character, to make bare his holy arm; that is, to reveal Christ. (Isa. lii. 10. Luke i. 51.) ARMIES. The church is called so, and said to be

terrible. (Song vi. 10.) And in allusion to the same, the Lord himself is called the Lord of hosts. And hence, that expression in the hymn, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth, or rather Zebaoth, which signifies, hosts or armies. Beautifully the Lord takes this title to himself, not only to indicate the greatness of his power, but the greatness of his security to his church and people, in his care and government over them. And it is a blessed thing to have this Lord God of Zebaoth for our stay. See Sabaoth.

ARMOUR. In Scripture terms, this word is for the

most part used spiritually, meaning that divine

strength is to be our armour against all opposition, and under all human weakness. (See Rom. xiii. 12. 2 Cor. vi. 7; x. 4. Eph. vi. 11-13.) ARROW. This word is not unfrequently used in Scripture to denote divine judgments, and terrors in the soul from the arrow of the Lord. (See Zech. ix. 14. Job vi. 4. Ps. xxxviii. 7. Heb. iv. 12.) ASCEND and ASCENSION. With peculiar reference to our Lord Jesus Christ, the Psalmist demands, "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?" (Psal. xxiv. 3.) And in answer to the enquiry, we may truly say, that the glorious doctrine of the ascension is never cordially received, nor indeed properly understood, until that we are taught by the Lord the Spirit, to have both a just apprehension of his person who is ascended, and the blessed purposes included in that ascension for his church and people. The personal honour put upon Christ in our nature, and the oneness and interest all his redeemed have in that honour, are among the first and most important views we are called upon everlastingly to cherish in the heart, concerning our risen and exalted Saviour. It is our nature in the person of the man Christ Jesus that is thus exalted. And the purpose of that exaltation is, to receive gifts for men: or, as the margin of our Bibles renders the expression, it is to receive gifts in the man, even the human nature of Christ. (See Ps. lxviii. 18.) Oh! precious, precious truth! For as in the GODHEAD of Christ's nature, no gifts could be received, all things being his, in common with the Father and the Holy Ghost; so when received by Christ, as the Head of his body the church, it is as the Head of communication in "the fulness of Him that filleth all in all." (Eph. i. 22, 23.) And when this blessed doctrine is fully received, and lived upon, and enjoyed,

what unknown blessings are contained in this one view, which the soul hath in this unceasing contemplation of our glorious and ascended Lord Jesus! ASHER. One of the sons of Jacob, by Zilpah. (Gen. xxx. 12, 13.) His name means happy, or blessed; taken from the same word in the root which means blessed. Hence, Jacob, when adying, declared that "the bread of Asher should be fat." (Gen. xlix. 20.) And Moses, when blessing the children of Israel, with his last prophetical benediction, followed up the same in allusion to his name as blessed; "thy shoes (said Moses) shall be iron and brass; and as thy days, so shall thy strength be." (Deut. xxxiii. 24, 25.)

I cannot help remarking upon the name of Asher, that there is in it somewhat of peculiar gracefulness. The noun, which is taken from the root, is never used but in the plural number, blessedness instead of blessed, as in the first word of the first Psalm. And the Hebrews give a very decided reason for it. They say, that blessedness doth not depend upon a single blessing, but upon all. Hence, in allusion to the Lord Jesus Christ, he is the blessedness, the Asher of his people. So that the opening of that Psalm being plural, should be read with an eye to Christ; blessedness is the man, &c. And of none but Christ could this be said; neither to any other but Him, could the things spoken of in that Psalm refer. ASHES. In the language of Scripture, ashes are sometimes spoken of to denote great humility and contrition of heart. Thus Abraham calls himself "dust and ashes." (Gen xviii. 27.) Job saith, that he "abhorred himself, and repented in dust and ashes." (Job xlii. 6. See Dan. ix. 3. Ps. cii. 9. Lam. iii. 16.)

ASP. The holy Scriptures, when speaking of the

venom of asps, mean to convey by figure the awful nature of sin, which, like that deadly poison, hath infused itself into our whole nature. Hence Moses describes it, (Deut. xxxii. 33.) and Job, (xx. 14.) and Paul. (Rom iii. 13.) But how sweetly doth the prophet Isaiah describe, under the same figure, the application of Christ as a balsam, to cure the envenomed poison, and to render the serpent's bite as harmless. "The sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain." (Isa. xi. 8.)

ASS. I have thought it worth while, to stop the reader in this place, in order to make an observation or two on the condescension of the Lord Jesus, respecting his use of this animal, in the unequalled humility of our Lord's character. We read (Matt. xxi. 2, &c.) that the Lord Jesus, to fulfil the prophecy of one of his servants the prophets, made his entry into Jerusalem on an ass. But there seems to be a general mistake in respect to the humbleness of Christ, in what it consisted. Not, I apprehend, in riding on the ass, but in the person of the rider. White asses were among very noble animals in the estimation of the people of the East. Witness what Deborah said of them in her song of triumph, (Judges v. 10.) "Speak ye that ride on white asses,

ye

that sit in judgment. (Judges xii. 14.) And Jacob, in his prophecy concerning Judah, evidently had an eye to Christ: "Binding his foal (said Jacob) unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes." (Gen. xlix.11.) The humbleness of Christ, on this occasion, was the meekness and lowliness of his person, not from the noble beast he rode on.