Esau, to whom the bordering country of Edom, or Idumæa, belonged, Gen.
xxv, 30; xxxvi, 31–40. It was also called _Yam Suph_, “the weedy sea,”
in several passages, Num. xxxiii, 10; Psalm cvi, 9, &c, which are
improperly rendered “the Red Sea.” Some learned authors have supposed
that it was so named from the quantity of weeds in it. “But in
contradiction to this,” says Bruce, “I must confess, that I never in my
life, and I have seen the whole extent of it, saw a weed of any sort in
it. And indeed, upon the slightest consideration, it will appear to any
one, that a narrow gulf, under the immediate influence of monsoons,
blowing from contrary points six months each year, would have too much
agitation to produce such vegetables, seldom found but in stagnant
water, and seldomer, if ever, found in salt ones. My opinion then is,
that it is from the large trees, or plants, of white coral, perfectly in
imitation of plants on land, that the sea has taken the name ‘weedy.’ I
saw one of these, which, from a root nearly central, threw out
ramifications in a nearly central form, measuring twenty-six feet
diameter every way.” This seems to be the most probable solution that
has been hitherto proposed of the name. The tides in this sea are but
moderate. At Suez the difference between high and low water did not
exceed from three to four feet, according to Niebuhr’s observations on
the tides in that gulf, during the years 1762 and 1763.
REED, אגמון, Job xl, 21; xli, 2, 20; Isaiah ix, 14; xix, 15; lviii, 5;
κάλαμος, Matt. xi, 7; a plant growing in fenny and watery places; very
weak and slender, and bending with the least breath of wind, Matt. xi,
7; Luke vii, 24. Thus it is threatened, “The Lord shall smite Israel as
a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of the
good land which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond
the river, because they have made their idol groves, provoking him to
anger,” 1 Kings xiv, 15. The slenderness and fragility of the reed is
mentioned in 2 Kings xviii, 21; Isaiah xxxvi, 6; and is referred to in
Matt. xii, 20, where the remark, illustrating the gentleness of our
Saviour, is quoted from the prophecy of Isaiah, xlii, 3. The Hebrew word
in these places is קנה, as also in Job xl, 21; Isaiah xix, 6; xxxv, 7;
Ezek. xxix, 6. See CANE.
REFORMATION, usually spoken of the great Reformation in the church,
begun by Luther in 1517. The sad departure from the standard of holiness
which the Romish hierarchy should have placed before them, combined with
the indecency and arrogance with which they trampled upon the rights of
sovereigns, and upon the property and the comfort of all classes of men,
had, for a considerable period, produced a general conviction, that a
reformation of the church in its head and members, to use the expression
which was then prevalent, was absolutely requisite: and some steps to
accomplish this had been actually taken. The celebrated council of
Constance, while, in its efforts to heal the schism which had so long
grieved and scandalized the Catholic world, it set aside the rival
pontiffs who claimed to be the successors of St. Peter, laid down the
important maxim, that a general council was superior to a pope, and that
its decisions can restrain his power; and this doctrine, which might
otherwise have appeared to arise out of the extraordinary circumstances
under which it was declared, was fully confirmed by the council of
Basil, which met several years after, and which decided the point upon
grounds that might at all times be urged. The popes, indeed,
remonstrated against this, but still they were compelled to lower their
tone; and they were often reminded, even within the precincts of their
own court, that the period was fast approaching when the fallacy of many
of their pretensions would be ascertained and exposed. It had become
common, before the election of a new pontiff, to frame certain articles
of reformation, which the successful candidate was required to swear
that he would carry into effect; and although the oath was uniformly
disregarded or violated, the views which led to the imposition of it
indicated the existence of a spirit which could not be eradicated, and
which might, from events that could not be foreseen, and could not be
controlled, acquire a vigour which no exertion of power could resist.
Such, under the beneficent arrangement of Providence, was soon actually
the case. In the progress of the opposition made to some of the worst
abuses of Rome, they who conducted that opposition were guided to the
word of life; they studied it with avidity and with delight; and they
found themselves furnished by it with sufficient armour for the mighty
contest in which they were to engage. They discovered in the New
Testament what Christianity really was; their representations of it were
received with wonder, and read with avidity; the secession from the
church of Rome became much more rapid and much more extensive than it
had previously been, and all possibility of reconciliation with that
church was done away. Of this the popes were fully aware; and as the
only way of counteracting that which was to them so formidable, they
attempted, by various devices, to fetter the press, to prevent the
circulation of the Bible, and thus again to plunge the world into that
intellectual darkness from which it had been happily delivered. The
scheme was impracticable. The “_Indices Expurgatorii_,” in which they
pointed out the works that they condemned, and which they declared it to
be heresy and pollution to peruse, increased the desire to become
acquainted with them; and although some who indulged that curiosity
suffered the punishment denounced by the inquisition against the enemies
of papal superstition, there was an immense proportion which even
spiritual tyranny could not reach; so that the light which had been
kindled daily brightened, till it shone with unclouded lustre through
many of the most powerful and the most refined nations of Europe.
It is worthy of careful observation, that the resistance which
ultimately proved so successful, was first occasioned by practices that
had been devised for establishing the monstrous despotism of the popes;
that when it commenced, it was directed against what was conceived to be
an abuse of power, without the slightest suspicion being entertained
that the power itself was unchristian; that the reformers gradually
advanced; every additional inquiry to which they were conducted
enlarging their views, and bringing them acquainted with fresh proofs of
that daring usurpation to which men had long submitted, till at length
the foundation upon which the whole system, venerated through ages,
rested, was disclosed to them, and perceived to be a foundation of sand.
The consequence was, that the supremacy of the pope was by multitudes
abjured; that he was branded as antichrist; that communion with the
popish church was avoided as sinful, and that the form of ecclesiastical
polity, the essential principle of which was the infallibility of the
bishop of Rome, was for ever renounced. The wonderful manner in which
this signal revolution, so fraught with blessings to mankind, was
accomplished, the various events which mark its history, and the
characters and exertions of the men by whose agency it was effected,
cannot be too often surveyed, or too deeply fixed in the memory. The
whole, even with reference to the illumination of the human mind and the
improvement of the social state of the world, is in a high degree
interesting; and that interest is unspeakably increased by our
discerning the most striking evidence of the gracious interposition of
Providence dissipating the cloud which obscured divine truth, and
restoring to mankind that sacred treasure which is sufficient to make
all who seriously examine it wise unto salvation. It does not, however,
come within the province of this work to give a minute history of the
origin and progress of the Reformation, to trace the steps of Zuinglius
and of Luther, and to detail the circumstances which advanced or
retarded them in the glorious career upon which they had entered. Much
discussion has taken place with respect to the motives by which Luther
was actuated. This point, in reference to what he accomplished, is
really of little moment; but there cannot be a doubt that although he
might, throughout his arduous struggle, be guided occasionally by
inferior considerations, he was eventually, at least, chiefly animated
by the noble and disinterested wish to emancipate his fellow creatures
from what he was convinced was the direct and most infatuated spiritual
oppression; that he looked to Heaven for support, and that such support
he largely received.
REFUGE, CITIES OF. In order to provide for the security of those who,
without design, might happen to kill a person in whatever manner it
should be, the Lord commanded Moses to appoint six cities of refuge,
Exod. xxi, 18; Num. xxxv, 11, &c, that whoever should undesignedly spill
the blood of a fellow creature, might retire thither, and have time to
prepare for his defence before the judges; so that the relatives of the
deceased might not pursue and kill him. Of these cities there were three
on each side Jordan. Those on this side Jordan were Kedesh of Naphtali,
Hebron, and Shechem; those beyond Jordan were Bezer, Golan, and
Ramoth-Gilead, Joshua xx, 7, 8. They served not only for the Hebrews,
but for strangers also that should dwell in their country. These cities
were to be of easy access, and to have good roads to them, and bridges
wherever there should be occasion. The width of these roads was, at
least, to be two-and-thirty cubits, or eight-and-forty feet. When there
were any cross roads, they were careful to erect posts with an
inscription pointing to the city of refuge. Every year, on the fifteenth
of the month Adar, which answers to our February moon, the magistrates
of the city visited the roads, to see if they were in good condition.
The city was to be well supplied with water and provisions. It was not
allowed to make any weapons there, lest the relatives of the deceased
should be furnished with arms for the gratifying of their revenge.
Lastly, it was necessary that whoever took refuge there, should
understand a trade or calling, that he might not be chargeable to the
inhabitants. They were wont to send some prudent persons to meet those
who were pursuing their revenge for the relations, that they might
dispose them to clemency, and persuade them to wait the decision of
justice.
Though the man-slayer had fled to the city of refuge, yet he was not on
this account exempted from the pursuit of justice. An information was
preferred against him, Num. xxxv, 12; he was summoned before the judges,
and before the people, to clear himself, and to prove that the murder
was merely casual and involuntary. If he was found innocent, he dwelt
safely in the city to which he had retired; if otherwise, he was put to
death according to the severity of the law. The following texts of
Scripture are not very explicit whether the affair was under the
cognizance of the judges of the place where the murder was committed, or
of the judges of the city of refuge to which the murderer had fled,
Deut. xix, 11, 12; Joshua xx, 4–6; Num. xxxv, 25; and the commentators
are at variance in this matter. But it appears, from a passage of
Joshua, that the man-slayer was to undergo two trials; first, in the
city of refuge, where the judges summarily examined the affair, and
heard his allegations at his first arrival; secondly, when he was taken
back to his own city, to be judged by the magistrates of the place, who
took the cause under a more strict and scrupulous examination. If the
latter judges declared him innocent, they had him reconducted, under a
strong guard, to the city of refuge to which he had before fled. He was
not, however, immediately liberated; but, to inspire the greater horror
even of involuntary murder, it seems as if the law would punish it by a
kind of banishment; for he was obliged to dwell in the city, without
going out of it, till the death of the high priest; and if before that
time he was imprudent enough to leave the city, the avenger of blood
might safely kill him; but after the death of the high priest, he was at
liberty to go whither he pleased without molestation.
It is a curious fact, that the North American Indian nations have most
of them either a house or town of refuge, which is a sure asylum to
protect a man-slayer, or the unfortunate captive, if they can once enter
it. “In almost every Indian nation,” says Adair, “there are several
peaceable towns which are called old, beloved, ancient, holy, or white
towns: (white being their fixed emblem of peace, friendship, prosperity,
happiness, purity, &c:) they seem to have been formerly towns of refuge;
for it is not in the memory of their oldest people that ever human blood
was shed in them, although they often force persons from thence, and put
them to death elsewhere.” Sanctuaries affording security for criminals
are still known in the east, and anciently were established in Europe.
REGENERATION, a new birth; that work of the Holy Spirit by which we
experience a change of heart. It is expressed in Scripture by being born
again, John iii, 7; born from above; being quickened, Eph. ii, 1; by
Christ being formed in the heart, Gal. iv, 19; by our partaking of the
divine nature, 2 Peter i, 4. The efficient cause of regeneration is the
divine Spirit. That man is not the author of it, is evident from John i,
12, 13; iii, 4; Eph. ii, 8, 10. The instrumental cause is the word of
God, James i, 18; 1 Peter i, 23; 1 Cor. iv, 15. The change in
regeneration consists in the recovery of the moral image of God upon the
heart; that is to say, so as to love him supremely and serve him
ultimately as our highest end, and to delight in him superlatively as
our chief good. The sum of the moral law is to love the Lord our God
with all our heart, and soul, and strength, and mind. This is the duty
of every rational creature; and in order to obey it perfectly, no part
of our inward affection or actual service ought to be, at any time, or
in the least degree, misapplied. Regeneration consists in the principle
being implanted, obtaining the ascendancy, and habitually prevailing
over its opposite. It may be remarked, that though the inspired writers
use various terms and modes of speech in order to describe this change
of mind, sometimes terming it conversion, regeneration, a new creation,
or the new creature, putting off the old man with his deeds, and putting
on the new man, walking not after the flesh, but after the Spirit, &c;
yet it is all effected by the word of truth, or the Gospel of salvation,
gaining an entrance into the mind, through divine teaching, so as to
possess the understanding, subdue the will, and reign in the affections.
In a word, it is faith working by love that constitutes the new
creature, the regenerate man, Gal. v, 6; 1 John v, 1–5. Regeneration is
to be distinguished from our justification, although it is connected
with it. Every one who is justified, is also regenerated; but the one
places us in a new _relation_, and the other in a new moral _state_. Our
Lord, in one instance, uses the term regeneration for the resurrection
state: “Ye which have followed me, in the regeneration, when the Son of
man shall sit on the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve
thrones, judging,” Matt. xix, 28. And, accordingly, Dr. Campbell
translates the passage thus: “At the renovation, when the Son of man
shall be seated on the glorious throne, ye, my followers, sitting also
upon twelve thrones, shall judge.” We are accustomed, says he, to apply
the term solely to the conversion of individuals; whereas its relation
here is to the general state of things. The principal completion will be
at the general resurrection, when there will be, in the most important
sense, a renovation or regeneration of heaven and earth, when all things
shall become new.
REHOBOAM, the son and successor of Solomon; his mother was Naamah, an
Ammonitish woman, whom Solomon had married, 1 Kings xiv, 20, 21. He was
forty-one years of age when he began to reign, and, consequently, was
born in the first year of his father’s reign, A. M. 2990, or the year
before. This prince reigned seventeen years at Jerusalem, and died A. M.
3046. After the death of Solomon, Rehoboam came to Shechem, because all
Israel was there assembled to make him king, 1 Kings xii. Jeroboam, the
son of Nebat, who had headed a sedition against Solomon, and had been
compelled, toward the close of his reign, to take refuge in Egypt, as
soon as he heard that this prince was dead, returned into Judea, and
came to the assembly of the people of Shechem. The Israelites would have
made terms with Rehoboam; but, being a poor politician, and following
the advice of some junior counsellors, he managed his business so
imprudently that he lost the whole house of Israel, save the tribes of
Judah and Benjamin.
RELIGION. See CHRISTIANITY.
REMONSTRANTS have obtained this name, particularly on the continent,
because, in 1610, they presented to the states of Holland a petition,
entitled their Remonstrance, in which they stated their grievances, and
prayed for relief. They are also called Arminians, because they
maintained the doctrines respecting predestination and grace, which were
embraced and defended by James Harmenson or Arminius, an eminent
Protestant divine, and a native of Holland, who was born in 1560, and
died in 1609. He first studied at Leyden, and then at Geneva. While at
the university of Geneva, he studied under Beza, by whom he was
instructed in the doctrines of Calvin; and having been judged by Martin
Lydius, professor of divinity at Franeker, a proper person to refute a
work in which the Calvinistic doctrine of predestination had been
attacked by some ministers of Delft, he undertook the task. On a strict
examination of the reasons on both sides, however, he became a convert
to the opinions which he was employed to refute. The result of his
inquiries on this, and other subjects connected with it, was, that,
thinking the doctrine of Calvin with respect to free will,
predestination, and grace, too severe, he expressed his doubts
respecting them in the year 1591, and at length adopted the religious
system of those who extend the love of God, and the merits of his Son,
to all mankind. After his appointment to the theological chair of
Leyden, in 1603, he avowed and vindicated the principles which he had
embraced; but the prudence and caution with which he published and
defended them could not screen him from the resentment of those who
adhered to the theological system of Calvin, and in particular from the
opposition of Gomar his colleague. After the death of Arminius, the
controversy, thus begun, became more general, and threatened to involve
the United Provinces in civil discord. However, the Arminian tenets
gained ground, and were adopted by several persons of merit and
distinction. The Calvinists or Gomarists as they were now called,
appealed to a national synod. Accordingly, a synod was at length
convened at Dordrecht or Dort, and was composed of ecclesiastical and
lay deputies from the United Provinces, and also of ecclesiastical
deputies from the reformed churches of England, Switzerland, Bremen,
Hesse, and the Palatinate. This synod sat from the first of November,
1618, to the twenty-sixth of April, 1619. The principal advocate in
favour of the Arminians was Episcopius, who was at that time professor
of divinity at Leyden. The religious principles of the Arminians have
insinuated themselves more or less into the established church in
Holland, and imbued the theological system of many of those pastors who
are appointed to maintain the doctrine and authority of the synod of
Dort. The principles of Arminius were early introduced into various
other countries, as Great Britain, France, Geneva, and many parts of
Switzerland; but their progress is said to have been rather retarded of
late, especially in Germany and several parts of Switzerland, by the
prevalence of the Leibnitzian and Wolfian philosophy, which is more
favourable to Calvinism. The distinguishing tenets of the Remonstrants
may be said to consist chiefly in the different light in which they view
the subjects of the five points, or in the different explanation which
they give to them, and comprised in the five following articles:
predestination, universal redemption, the operation of grace, the
freedom of the will, and perseverance. They believe that God, having an
equal regard for all his creatures, sent his Son to die for the sins not
of the elect only, but of the whole world; that no mortal is rendered
finally unhappy by an eternal and invincible decree, but that the misery
of those who perish arises from themselves; and that, in this present
imperfect state, believers, if not vigilant, may, through the force of
temptation, and the influence of Satan, fall from grace, and sink into
final perdition. See ARMINIANISM.
REMPHAN, כיון Ῥεμφὰ, signifies _an idol_, according to the Septuagint.
Amos, v, 26, upbraids the Hebrews with having carried, during their
wanderings in the wilderness, the tabernacle of their Moloch and Chiun,
their images, the star of their god, which they made to themselves,
according to our version of the Bible. St. Stephen, quoting this passage
of Amos, says, “Ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of
your god Remphan,” Acts vii, 43, which has given occasion to a variety
of conjectures. Grotius thinks it to have been some deity, as Rimmon;
and Capellus and Hammond take this Remphan to be a king of Egypt,
deified by his subjects; a late writer is of opinion, that God here
refers to the idolatries to which in succeeding ages the Jews were
gradually given up, after having begun to revolt in the wilderness by
the sin of the golden calf.
REPENTANCE is sometimes used generally for a change of mind, and an
earnest wishing that something were undone that has been done. Esau
found no place for repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears;
he could not move his father Isaac to repent of what he had done, or to
recall the blessing from Jacob and confer it on himself, Heb. xii, 17;
Matt. iii, 2; iv, 17. Taken in a religious sense it signifies conviction
of sin and sorrow for it. But there is, 1. A partial or worldly
repentance, wherein one is grieved for and turns from his sin, merely on
account of the hurt it has done, or is likely to do, him: so a
malefactor, who still loves his sin, repents of doing it, because it
brings him to punishment. 2. An evangelical repentance, which is a godly
sorrow wrought in the heart of a sinful person by the word and Spirit of
God, whereby, from a sense of his sin, as offensive to God, and defiling
and endangering to his own soul, and from an apprehension of the mercy
of God in Christ, he, with grief and hatred of all his known sins, turns
from them to God, as his Saviour and Lord. This is called “repentance
toward God,” as therein we turn from sin to him; and “repentance unto
life,” as it leads to spiritual life, and is the first step to eternal
life, Matt. iii, 2; Acts iii, 19; xi, 18; xx, 12. God himself is said to
repent, but this can only be understood of his altering his conduct
toward his creatures, either in the bestowing of good or the infliction
of evil: which change in the divine conduct is founded on a change in
his creatures; and thus, speaking after the manner of men, God is said
to repent.