The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1880-10-06

the elders OF the people and officers over
them, and bring them unto the tabernacIa
OF the congregation that they may stand
there with thee. 'U
And | will come down and talk will
! thee there, and l will take of the Snir;t
which is upon thee and will put it upon
them: and they shall bear the burden 90
the people with thee that thou bear il nv
myself alone The Oath and 25tb
verses OF the record proceeds tins
And Moses went out and told the peonJo
the words Of the Lord, and gathered The
seventy men of the elders Of the people
and set them around about the taber-
nacle, and the Lord came down in cloud
and spake unto him and took of the
Spirit that was upon him and gave it I'm.
to the seventy elders: and it came to pass
that when the Spirit rested upon them
they prophesied and did not cease
1t is to be observed here that the Lord
Himself speaks of the official character Of
the elders of the people of Israel. We Thus
see that the office of elder was approved
ct and recognized by God Himself. In
deuteronomy XIV: 10, we find: "And
II the man like not to take his brothers
wife then let his brothers wife 90 mn 70
the gate unto the elders and saw. NV
husband brother refuseth to raise un
unto his brother name in Israel; he
vii will no, not perform the duty of my hus,
Then the elders of his city shall call
him and speak unto him; and if he stand
to 1t and say, [ like not to take her
then shall his brothers wife come unto
him IN the presence Of the elders and
loose his shoe from off his foot and spf
IN his face, and shall answer and saw, so
shall 1T be done unto that man that will
not build up his brothers house." In
Deuteronomy xxx: 10, we find the follow
ing; Ye stand this day, all of Won. be-
fore the Lord your God your captains of
your tribes, your elders and your officers
with all the men of Israel" These are
the words of Moses in regard to the duties
of elders Again, Deuteronomy xxi. 28
Gather unto me all the elders of your
tribes and your officers, that may speak
these words in their ears, and call heaven
and earth to record against them"
L have given you a few extracts from
the Mosaic law in reference to the powers
and duties of elders.
In l Kings vii and viii, we find that
the elders occupied very high and
important position. In Kings xxi.
we find the Order of Elders mentioned
Book of Ezekiel viii: l, "And it came ia
pass In the sixth year, in the sixth month
in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in
mine house, and the Elders of Judah sat
before me, that the hand of the Lord God
fell there upon me-" From this it is
manifest that an order of men known as
elders had existed from the organization
of the Church of God. The manner of
their appointment is not distinctly set
forth, but that they did not assume to
this office themselves is obvious. The
number of seventy elders shows that
there must have been some rule. exclusive
and inclusive that they were appointed
to fill the Office, and that thew were 50
delegated with public authority as to
command universal respect. Their adj
visory counsel was sought by prophets
princes, and kings, and had weight in
matters OF the highest Importance to the
Church and State in the form of Church
and State government which prevailed
DR.. Witherspoon, in a valuable tract
has contributed to the literature on this
subject.
The Synagogue System: What we
gather from the early writers in reference
to this subject dispels any reasonable
doubt as to the fact that elders were
prominent part of Church Government
AS to the exact time when the synagogue
system of our worship was established is
not known, but that it existed at the time
of our Lords advent and had then been
in existence for considerable period OF
time admits of little doubt. DR.. Miller
has written valuable and comprehen-
sive essay on this subject. He says that
the number CT elders in each synagogue
was not governed by any absolute rule
and that in large cities and populous
places the number was very much greater
than in smaller places, but that they
never aggregated less than three-that
they might never be equally divided. It
would seem to be impossible for any one
to doubt this statement when it is 50
strongly supported, and Bishop Burnet
has added the weight of his opinion to
the foregoing authorities whom 1 have
mentioned.
In the New Testament, also. we find
that the elders are body of men men,
toned IN a manner to indicate that their