History of the Work of Redemption in Vol I of the Works - Edwards - V - Period I continued

Required readingHistory of the Work of Redemption in Vol I of the Works by Jonathan Edwards (Available from Amazon or free here) - Read Part V of Period I.

My summary.

This week we look at the history of redemption from David to the Babylonish Captivity.  

The notable points of redemption in this period are:

(i) God's anointing that person who was to be the ancestor of Christ, to be king over his people;

(ii) God's preserving David's life, by a series of wonderful providences;

(iii) the written word of God, or the canon of Scripture, was augmented by Samuel;

(iv) God's inspiring David to show forth Christ and his redemption in divine songs;

(v) God's actually exalting David to the throne of Israel;

(vi) God proceeded to choose a particular city out of all the tribes of Israel to place his name;

(vii) God's solemnly renewing the covenant of grace with David;

(viii) It was by David that God first gave his people Israel the possession of the whole promised land;

(ix) God by David perfected the Jewish worship, and added to it several new institutions;

(x) The canon of Scripture seems at or after the close of David's reign to be added to by the prophets Nathan and Gad;

(xi) God's wonderfully continuing the kingdom of his visible people in the line of Christ's legal ancestors;

(xii) The building of the temple was a great type of three things, viz. of Christ, especially his human nature; of the church; and of heaven;

(xiii) In Solomon's reign, after the temple was finished, the Jewish church was risen to its highest external glory;

(xiv) The glory of the Jewish church gradually declined more and more till Christ came; yet the work of redemption went on;

(xv) The additions which were made to the canon of Scripture in or soon after the reign of Solomon;

(xvi) God wonderfully upheld his church and the true religion through this period;

(xvii) God remarkably kept the book of the law from being lost in times of general and long-continued neglect of it;

(xviii) God remarkably preserved the tribe of which Christ was to proceed, from being mined through the many and great dangers of this period;

(xix) In the reign of Uzziah, and the following reigns, God was pleased to raise up a set of eminent prophets, who should commit their prophecies to writing, and leave them for the use of his church in all ages.

What grabbed me

I enjoyed the points about God's preservation of the line of David and the word of God.

For example: 'God remarkably kept the book of the law from being lost in times of general and long-continued neglect of it. The most remarkable instance of this kind was its preservation in the time of the great apostacy, during the greatest part of the long reign of Manasseh, which lasted fifty-five years, and the reign of Amon his son. This while the law was so much neglected, and such a careless and profane management of the affairs of the temple prevailed, that the book which used to be laid up by the side of the ark in the Holy of Holies, was lost for a long time; and nobody knew where it was. But yet God preserved it from being finally lost. In Josiah's time, when they came to repair the temple, it was found buried in rubbish. It had been lost so long that Josiah himself seems to have been much a stranger to it. (See 2 Kings xxii. 8., &c.)'

The discovery of 'a book' at the time of Josiah is one of my favourite passages in Scripture.

May more people today discover that 'book' and be convicted as Josiah was many years ago.

Next week's reading

Read Part VI of Period I.

Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.