he same principle; the youngest born of
the apostles, one in his own estimation hardly meet to be called an
apostle, laboured more abundantly than they all, and was crowned with
the most glorious success. But these arbitrary selections, as they
appear at first sight, in reality, when we look more closely, are found
to deliver the institution of primogeniture from arbitrariness; and they
show to us that the Will which rules the world maintains its freedom
under the guidance of its wisdom, and remits to no institution, however
useful or honourable, the supreme power in the conduct of human affairs.
It seems as though, knowing man's inherent propensity to formalism, the
Lord had visibly broken through, from time to time, the very forms which
He had Himself established, that He might show decisively that forms can
have noble use alone in the hands of the free. Two singular instances of
this, closely parallel to each other, are to be found in the numbers of
the tribes of Israel and of the apostles of Christ. We talk familiarly
of twelve tribes and of twelve apostles. But were there truly twelve or
thirteen in each case? The question is by no means easy to answer. The
tribe of Joseph was split into two. Theoretically, it is easy to regard
the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh as forming together the one tribe of
Joseph. But, practically, we must remember that the tribe of Ephraim was
the most powerful and masterful of the tribes until the rise of the
house of David. If any tribe might be looked upon as complete, certainly
it would be the tribe of Ephraim. So that, looking at it in the light of
actual history, we should be compelled to reckon thirteen, but for the
fact that the separation of the tribe of Levi for the priesthood reduced
to twelve the number of tribes claiming tribal settlement in Canaan, and
active in the spheres of industry, politics, and war. Similarly, it is
an open question how far the place of Judas among the Twelve was
lawfully filled up by the election of Matthias. It is far from clear
that Peter and the infant Church were not acting hastily in this
election and ordination of a successor to the apostate. We hear the name
of Matthias only, and then he disappears from history. While we soon
meet with an apostle of the Lord's election, who, if Matthias was duly
called, raises the number of the apostles to thirteen. Is not this
uncertainty, this fringe of doubt, left hanging around the numbers in
these important