Page:The rock of wisdom.djvu/71

 Heb. 3 c. 6, 8 vs.; Exd. 9 c. "Then the Lord said unto Moses go in unto Pharoah and tell him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, Let my people go;" the things that they took goods, oxen, rams, &c. It is the usual stile of the scriptures to call all idols and false gods abominations, to signify how much the people of God ought to detest and abhor them. So it appears that the Lord was with Moses even to the delivery of the children of Israel, and a dark cloud enlightening the night; it was a dark cloud to the Egyptians, but was a guide to the Israelites, by jiving them a great light, and the Lord fed them on their journey with manna; this miraculous food with which the children of Israel were nourished and supported during their sojourning in the wilderness, was a figure of the bread of life which we receive in the blessed sacrament for the food and nourishment of our souls during the time of our mortal pilgrimage, till we come to our eternal home, the true land of promise where we shall keep an everlasting Sabbath and have no farther need of sacraments; and the blessed Lord in his wisdom gave to the children of Israel the law by the hand of his servant Moses, saying in the 20th chapter of Exodus, 3d verse, "Thou shalt have have no other Gods before me," &c. A graven thing, nor the likeness of any thing, all such images or likenesses are forbidden by this commandment, as are made to be adored and served according to that which immediately follows, "Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them," that is, all such as are designed for idols or image gods, or are worshipped with divine honor; but otherwise, images, pictures or representations, even in the house of God and in the very sanctuary, so far from being forbidden are expressly authorised by the word of God. See Exo. 25 c. 15 v. &c; 37 c. 7 v.; Num. 2t c. 8, 9 vs.; "and the Lord said unto Moses, Make a fiery serpent and set it up on a pole." 1st Chron. 28 c, 18, 19 vs.; 2d do. 3 c. 10 v. These passages goes to show us the great design of God in instructing us to do his will and not ours; all these different things here mentioned, that gold and silver was for certain purposes and not for images. I want a God that can hear and answer prayer, and by his mighty power to protect me, while grace preserves my soul. I think that if Daniel while in