sanctuary. It was a code for practice, not for theory. It
contained the constitution of the state, civil as well as religious; and
God's almighty power and faithfulness were pledged that it should
accomplish in a thorough way the office assigned to it. The theocracy
must therefore have a _history_; and with the record of this the
_historical books_ are occupied.

(3.) God did not leave the development of this history to itself. He
watched over it from the beginning, and directed its course, interposing
from time to time, not only in a providential way, but also by direct
revelation. Sometimes, for specific ends, he revealed himself
immediately _to_ particular individuals, as to Gideon, and Manoah and
his wife. But more commonly his revelations were made to the rulers or
people at large _through_ persons selected as the organs of his Spirit;
that is, through _prophets_. The prophet held his commission immediately
from God. Since God is the author, not of confusion, but of order, he
came to the people _under_ the Law, not above it; and his messages were
to be tried by the Law. Deut. 13:1-5. No prophet after Moses enjoyed the
same fulness of access to God which was vouchsafed to him, or received
the same extent of revelation. Numb. 12:6-8; Deut. 34:10-12.
Nevertheless, the prophet came to rulers and people, like Moses, with an
authority derived immediately from God, introducing his messages with
the words: "Thus saith the Lord." In God's name he rebuked the people
for their sins; explained to them the true cause of the calamities that
befell them; recalled them to God's service as ordained in the Law,
unfolding to them at the same time its true nature as consisting in the
spirit, and not in the letter only--1 Sam. 15:22; Isa. 1:11-20; 57:15;
66:2; Jer. 4:4; Ezek. 18:31; Hosea 10:12; 14:2; Joel 2:12, 13; Amos 5:
21-24; Micah 6: 6-8--denounced upon them the awful judgments of God as
the punishment of continued disobedience; and promised them the
restoration of his favor upon condition of hearty repentance. In the
decline of the Theocracy, it was the special province of the prophets to
comfort the pious remnant of God's people by unfolding to them the
future glory of Zion--the true "Israel of God," and her dominion over
all the earth. From about the reign of Uzziah and onward, as already
remarked (ch. 15. 12), the prophets began, under the guidance of the
Holy Spirit, to reduce their prophecies to writing, and thus arose the