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<DATE>2013-05-22</DATE>
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<NAME>Lauren Proux</NAME>
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>REFLEXIONS Upon the BOOKS OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURE To E&s;tabli&s;h the TRUTH OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION.</P>
<P>In Two &V;olumes.</P>
<P>Volume I.</P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed for <HI>Richard Chi&s;well</HI> at the <HI>Ro&s;e</HI> and <HI>Crown</HI> in St. <HI>Paul</HI>'s Church-yard. MDCLXXXVIII.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="imprimatur">
<PB REF="2" MS="y">
<P>IMPRIMATUR.</P>
<P>Liber cui Titulus e&s;t, <HI>Reflections upon the Books of the Holy Scriptures,</HI> &amp;c. in II. Vol.</P>
<CLOSER><DATE><HI>The</HI> 12th. <HI>of</HI> January. 1687/8.</DATE>
<SIGNED>H. Maurice R^m^o^. in Chri&s;to P.D. Wil|lielmo Archiep. Cant. &agrave; Sacris.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>TO THE KING.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>Great SIR,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>THe gracious acceptance which your Maje&s;ty was plea&s;ed to allow the fir&s;t Volume of my Re|flexions upon the Holy Scriptures to e&s;tabli&s;h the Truth of the Chri&s;tian Religion, encouraged and almo&s;t ne|ce&s;&s;itated me to the further pre&s;ump|tion of laying the&s;e two Volumes at this time at your Maje&s;ties Feet. Your Maje&s;ty did me the honour to &s;ay, <HI>That you were plea&s;ed to &s;ee Divines apply them&s;elves to the clearing of Sub|jects &s;o important.</HI> And after this Judg|ment
<PB REF="3">given by &s;o great a Prince, which is &s;o evident a Demon&s;tration of your Zeal for the Fundamental Truths of the <HI>Chri&s;tian Religion,</HI> it had been unpardonable in me not to have gone on with the Work; and I had Rea&s;on then to Con&s;ecrate it wholly to your Maje&s;ty, who I was a&s;&s;ured would approve of my Intentions, and for that Rea&s;on would pardon the Imperfections of the Performance. As your Maje&s;ty continues &s;till to give &s;uch illu&s;tri|ous In&s;tances of your Clemency and Royal Protection to tho&s;e of our Nation, &s;o, I confe&s;s, Sir, I thought my &s;elf under an Obligation to lay hold upon this Opportunity of pub|li&s;hing what all tho&s;e who find &s;o &s;ure a Protection in your Maje&s;ties Dominions, feel and think as much as my &s;elf upon the&s;e new Te&s;timo|nies of your Royal Bounty: When
<PB REF="3">your Maje&s;ty had taken us into your particular care, and had granted us &s;everal Priviledges, and &s;o made us &s;harers in all the Advantages, which tho&s;e who live under your Govern|ment enjoy, your Maje&s;ty did yet &s;omething more, and in&s;pired all your Subjects with the &s;ame com|pa&s;&s;ion towards us with which your Royal Brea&s;t was already touched. You &s;aw our mi&s;eries, and re&s;olved to give us ea&s;e, and this generous De&s;ign was executed, and your Roy|al Clemency diffu&s;ed in the hearts of all your Subjects. The whole World, Sir, which has received upon all its Coa&s;ts &s;ome Remainders of our Shipwrack, is fill'd with admiration of the unexampled effects of your Maje&s;ties Clemency. There is no place &s;o barbarous, whither the re|nown of that mercy which has been &s;o gloriou&s;ly extended towards us,
<PB REF="4">has not been carried: and the re|membrance will be ever dear to the remote&s;t Ages of Po&s;terity. We mu&s;t Sir, be wholly in&s;en&s;ible if we had not all of us the highe&s;t &s;en&s;e of &s;o great a Bounty; and we &s;hould ju&s;tly appear to the whole World to be unworthy of this your Maje&s;ties Paternal care, if notwith&s;tanding that low condition to which we are now reduced, we &s;hould not pro|&s;trate our &s;elves before your Augu&s;t Throne with the humble&s;t demon|&s;trations of Thankfulne&s;s. When God &s;how'rs down the greate&s;t Ble&s;|&s;ings upon Mankind, he requires this ju&s;t Tribute, which is al&s;o their greate&s;t honour, by opening to them an acce&s;s unto the Throne of Glo|ry. And this &s;acred Pattern we crave leave to follow, when we &s;olemnly pay the like Tribute to your Maje|&s;ty, who can receive nothing from
<PB REF="4">us again, that can an&s;wer the great|ne&s;s, or the number of tho&s;e Fa|vours which have &s;o very much ex|ceeded all our de&s;ires. I could wi&s;h, Sir, that this Work which I now pre&s;ent to your Maje&s;ty, might be &s;o haypy as to pa&s;s to Po&s;terity with this Character of our acknowledg|ment, and that it might &s;tand as a faithful Record for ever, to per|petuate the memory of that lively &s;en&s;e of your Bounty, which is im|printed on all our hearts: If this could be hoped for, it mu&s;t be wholly owing to your Maje&s;ties glorious Name, which late&s;t Ages will receive with Reverence. But, Sir, tho' I dare not hope that the&s;e <HI>Reflexions</HI> can obtain that honour, yet our Age at lea&s;t may &s;ee, that they bear the&s;e publick Marks of Gratitude for all your Maje&s;ties Royal Favours. This, Sir, is my &s;ole
<PB REF="5">aim in the Dedication of this Work to your Maje&s;ty; and may your Sa|cred Maje&s;ty be plea&s;ed to approve of the&s;e poor Te&s;timonies of our Thankfulne&s;s in general, and to look upon them as In&s;tances of mine in particular, and of that profound Re&s;pect, with which I am,</P>
<CLOSER><DATELINE><HI>London</HI> <DATE><HI>May</HI> the 7th. 1688.</DATE></DATELINE>
<SALUTE>Sir,</SALUTE> <SIGNED>Your Maje&s;ties mo&s;t dutiful and obedient Subject and Servant, P. ALLIX.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="preface">
<PB REF="5">
<HEAD>THE PREFACE.</HEAD>
<P>ONe may divide Men into two general Cla&s;&s;es, &s;ome are without any knowledge of a Diety, or Sence of Religion: Tra|vellers tell us, that in the <HI>We&s;t-Indies,</HI> the Ea&s;tern parts of <HI>Tartary,</HI> and &s;ome places of <HI>Africa,</HI> &s;uch people are to be found. I know this is a Fact which is di&s;puted by others, and <HI>Fabri|cius</HI> a Divine of the Palatinate, pretends that he has &s;olidly confuted it. If this Fact &s;hould be thought doubtful, yet it is known at lea&s;t, that &s;ome per&s;ons may be found here and there in the World who look upon the Exi&s;tence of a Deity, as upon a Fable, and who ridicule all acts of Religi|ous Wor&s;hip what&s;oever: But one may al&s;o &s;ay, that if he compare the&s;e with the re&s;t of the World, they make the lea&s;t and wor&s;t part of Mankind, tho many of them affect to live Morally well.</P>
<PB REF="6">
<P>All the re&s;t of the World make Profe&s;&s;ion that they own a God; that is to &s;ay, a mo&s;t perfect, Eternal, and independent Being; that he go|verns all things by his Providence; that there is a difference between Good and Evil; that Man doth well or ill in tho&s;e Actions which depend on his Liberty: From whence they equally conclude, that Man was de&s;ign'd for the Duties of Reli|gion, that Society without it would be pure Rob|bery: And that, as it is hard to conceive that Men &s;hould be wholly de&s;troy'd by Death, &s;o it is directly contrary to the Sentiments of Con&s;cience to deny all Rewards for Virtue, or Puni&s;hments for Vice after this Life.</P>
<P>All the Diver&s;ities of Religion among&s;t Men are reducible to two kinds.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t is of tho&s;e who &s;uppo&s;e, that there is more than one God, and this is the Belief of all <HI>Pagans</HI> in general.</P>
<P>The Second is of tho&s;e that acknowledge one only God, &s;uch are the <HI>Jews, Chri&s;tians,</HI> and <HI>Mahometans.</HI></P>
<P>Now, as for the cure of different Di&s;ea&s;es, &s;e|veral Remedies are made u&s;e of, &s;o it is vi&s;ible, that to deliver Men of their various prejudices, we mu&s;t take very different Methods.</P>
<P>The ignorance of tho&s;e Barbarous People in the <HI>Indies, Tartary,</HI> and <HI>Africa,</HI> mu&s;t be remo|ved, by teaching them the fir&s;t Principles, and
<PB REF="6">making them apply the little &s;en&s;e they have left them of good and evil, right and wrong, to the fundamental Maxims of Religion.</P>
<P>Athei&s;ts mu&s;t be convinced, by Reflexions upon tho&s;e Principles, which they admit, by &s;hewing, that the Truths which they reject, are the natural Con&s;equences of tho&s;e Principles, which they dare not di&s;pute.</P>
<P>To convince the Heathen, who &s;uppo&s;e many Gods, we mu&s;t examine their Principles, and confute them; which is the ea&s;ie&s;t thing in the World; the Wi&s;e&s;t Men having formerly acknow|ledged, as they al&s;o own to this very day, that there is but one God.</P>
<P>And indeed it &s;eems, that the greate&s;t part of Philo&s;ophers did own a plurality of Gods, only in compliance with the Opinions of the people, which it was dangerous to contradict.</P>
<P>And as for the <HI>Jews,</HI> fora&s;much as they agree with the <HI>Chri&s;tians</HI> and <HI>Mahometans</HI> about the &V;nity of God, we are only to prove to them the truth of that which is the very E&s;&s;ence of the <HI>Chri&s;tian Religion,</HI> in oppo&s;ition to their pre|judices; One may prove this again&s;t the <HI>Jews</HI> without any trouble, becau&s;e they are agreed in mo&s;t of tho&s;e Principles, which the <HI>Chri&s;tian Religion</HI> &s;uppo&s;es. So likewi&s;e it is ea&s;ily e&s;ta|bli&s;hed again&s;t the <HI>Mahometans,</HI> who grant the truth of <HI>Chri&s;tian Religion</HI> in general, but
<PB REF="7">pretend that it ought to give place to <HI>Mahome|tani&s;m,</HI> as the Law ought to give place to the Go&s;pel, preach'd by Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>My de&s;ign is not to pro&s;ecute every one of the&s;e ways in particular. There are Books enough in the World which &s;olidly prove the nece&s;&s;ity of Religion again&s;t all &s;orts of Athei&s;ts, as well tho&s;e, who are &s;o through ignorance, as tho&s;e who pro|fe&s;s them&s;elves &s;uch from Love to Libertini&s;m, and to pa&s;s for Men of a mighty reach.</P>
<P>There are al&s;o &s;everal Famous Authors, who have made it evident, that Rea&s;on alone is &s;uffi|cient to overthrow all <HI>Pagan</HI> Religions what|&s;oever.</P>
<P>I am re&s;olved to follow a more compendious, and &s;ure Method, that is, to demon&s;trate the Truth of the <HI>Chri&s;tian Religion,</HI> con&s;idered by it &s;elf.</P>
<P>In &s;hort, It is impo&s;&s;ible (con&s;idering the op|po&s;ition there is between the <HI>Chri&s;tian Religion,</HI> and all other Religions in the World) that the <HI>Chri&s;tian Religion</HI> &s;hould be the true, but that all others mu&s;t be fal&s;e in tho&s;e Articles wherein they e&s;&s;entially differ from it.</P>
<P>And on the other hand, one cannot explain tho&s;e Arguments which clearly evince the truth of Chri&s;tianity, without convicting all other Religi|ons of fal&s;ehood, becau&s;e they are de&s;titute of tho&s;e proofs, which are peculiar to the <HI>Chri&s;tian Reli|gion.</HI></P>
<PB REF="7">
<P>I know very well, that there are &s;everal ways which lead to the end which I propo&s;e. Men that think much, wi&s;h that a perfect Conformity of the <HI>Chri&s;tian Religion,</HI> with the Con&s;cience of Man might be demon&s;trated, from Reflexions on the Heart of Man, and the Dictates of it, which to them would be a convincing, and demon&s;trative proof.</P>
<P>Others apply them&s;elves to a &s;peculative exa|mination of the Doctrines and Proofs of the <HI>Chri|&s;tian Religion,</HI> to &s;hew their Conformity with the Notions of Rea&s;on: I will not deny but that both the&s;e employ them&s;elves u&s;ually in this &s;ort of &s;tudy, and that Truth finds a con&s;iderable &s;upport from their Meditations.</P>
<P>But how u&s;eful &s;oever they may be, I have rather cho&s;en to follow another cour&s;e, as thinking it of more advantage, &s;olidly to e&s;tabli&s;h the Facts which the <HI>Chri&s;tian Religion</HI> propo&s;eth; which appears to me to be more proper to per&s;wade all &s;orts of Readers, and better levell'd to the ordinary Capacity of tho&s;e, who newly enter upon the examination of this Truth.</P>
<P>And as the nece&s;&s;ity of Revelation is generally owned by Heathens, and by all other Nations of the World: I thought it a thing altogether un|nece&s;&s;ary to enter upon the examination of &s;everal ab&s;tracted Que&s;tions, &s;uch as the&s;e: Whether there be any natural knowledge of God, whether
<PB REF="8">Men are naturally inclined to be Religious, and the like? When I &s;hall have firmly proved, that God revealed him&s;elf, that he pre&s;cribed a Ser|vice to the fir&s;t Men, who left the Rules of it to all their Po&s;terity, from whence all the Religion that ever was, or is yet in the Heathen World, was derived, I &s;hall have prevented many very unprofitable Di&s;putes, and which can only per|plex the mind by their ob&s;curity.</P>
<P>I have therefore confin'd my &s;elf to certain Con&s;iderations, which do &s;o e&s;tabli&s;h the truth of the Books of the Old and New Te&s;tament, as by their &V;nion they firmly prove the truth of the <HI>Chri&s;tian Religion.</HI></P>
<P>I hope, that it will not be thought needful for me to demon&s;trate, that the <HI>Mahometan</HI> Reli|gion ought not to aboli&s;h the Chri&s;tian, as the Chri&s;tians pretend, that the <HI>Chri&s;tian Religion</HI> abrogated the Ceremonial part of the <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Wor&s;hip.</P>
<P>As &s;oon as an under&s;tanding Reader &s;hall make &s;ome Reflexions upon the nature of the Arguments which demon&s;trate the Truth of the <HI>Chri&s;tian Religion,</HI> he may ea&s;ily perceive, that God ne|ver framed the Model of that Religion, which the <HI>Mahometans</HI> would obtrude upon us.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="table of contents">
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="part">
<PB REF="8">
<HEAD>THE CONTENTS OF THE CHAPTERS OF THE Fir&s;t Part of the Fir&s;t Volume.</HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM>Chap. 1. <HI>COncerning the Fundamentals of the Chri|&s;tian Religion.</HI> Page 1</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 2. <HI>That the Chri&s;tian Religion is founded upon Proofs of Matter of Fact</HI> 5</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 3. <HI>Some General Remarks in order to e&s;tabli&s;h the Truth of Holy Scripture.</HI> 8</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 4. <HI>That the Testimony of</HI> Mo&s;es <HI>concerning the Creation of the World, and the Promi&s;e of the Me&s;&s;iah, is unquestionable.</HI> 16</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 5. <HI>That</HI> Mo&s;es <HI>is the Author of the Book of</HI> Gene&s;is. 23</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 6. <HI>That the Book of</HI> Gene&s;is <HI>could not be forged under the Name of</HI> Mo&s;es. 27</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 7. <HI>That it appears from</HI> Gene&s;is, <HI>that the Sab|bath was con&s;tantly ob&s;erved from the beginning of
<PB REF="9">the World until</HI> Mo&s;es. 34</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 8. <HI>That</HI> Adam <HI>was convinced of his Creation by Rea&s;on and Authority.</HI> 44</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 9. <HI>That</HI> Adam <HI>was confirmed by his own Ex|perience, in the per&s;wa&s;ion he had entertain'd con|cerning his Creation.</HI> 49</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 10. <HI>That the Children of</HI> Adam <HI>had rea&s;on to be convinc'd of the Creation.</HI> 52</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 11. <HI>That the Children of</HI> Adam <HI>were actually convinced of the Truth of the Creation, and the Pro|mi&s;e of the Me&s;&s;iah.</HI> 54</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 12. <HI>That</HI> Noah <HI>was fully per&s;waded of the Creation of the World, and the Promi&s;e of the Me&s;|&s;iah.</HI> 61</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 13. <HI>That the Children of</HI> Noah <HI>were convin|ced of the truth of the&s;e Matters.</HI> 64</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 14. <HI>That the Po&s;terity of</HI> Noah<HI>'s Children were per&s;waded of the truth of the Creation, and first Promi&s;e.</HI> 67</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 15. <HI>That we find the Family of</HI> Abraham <HI>and his Po&s;terity till</HI> Jacob <HI>fully per&s;waded of tho&s;e Truths.</HI> 71</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 16. <HI>That this very per&s;wa&s;ion &s;eems to have been kept up amongst the Po&s;terity of</HI> Jacob, <HI>until</HI> Mo&s;es<HI>'s time.</HI> 81</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 17. <HI>That the Tradition which gives us an Ac|count of the per&s;wa&s;ion which the Ancients had of the truth of the Creation of the World, and of the Promi&s;e of the Me&s;&s;iah before</HI> Mo&s;es, <HI>cannot be &s;u|&s;pected.</HI> 86</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 18. <HI>An Explication of</HI> Mo&s;es<HI>'s way of Wri|ting; where it is &s;hew'd, that in writing the Book of</HI> Gene&s;is, <HI>he mentioned nothing but what was then generally known.</HI> 89</ITEM>
<PB REF="9">
<ITEM>Chap. 19. <HI>An An&s;wer to an Objection which may be drawn from the Hi&s;tories of the</HI> Egyptians <HI>and</HI> Chaldeans, <HI>concerning the Antiquity of the World.</HI> 95</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 20. <HI>An An&s;wer to the Objection which may be drawn out of the Hi&s;tory of</HI> China, <HI>again&s;t the Mo&s;aick Hypothe&s;is, concerning the newne&s;s of the World.</HI> 106</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 21. <HI>Wherein the la&s;t Objection of Athei&s;ts is an|&s;wered.</HI> 120</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 22. <HI>The Con&s;equences of what we have proved in our foregoing Ob&s;ervations upon the Book of</HI> Ge|ne&s;is. 126</ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="part">
<PB REF="10">
<HEAD>The Contents of the Chapters of the Second Part of the Fir&s;t Volume.</HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM>Chap. 1. <HI>THat it cannot rea&s;onably be doubted, but that</HI> Mo&s;es <HI>is the Author of</HI> Exodus, <HI>and of the three other following Books.</HI> Page 137</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 2. <HI>That both the Character of</HI> Mo&s;es<HI>'s per&s;on, and the nature of the things he relates has always made Men read his Books with attention.</HI> 146</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 3. <HI>That the truth of the Miracles related by</HI> Mo|&s;es, <HI>cannot rea&s;onably be doubted of.</HI> 153</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 4. <HI>A Continuation of the proofs of the truth of the Miracles wrought by</HI> Mo&s;es. 158</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 5. <HI>That</HI> Mo&s;es<HI>'s De&s;cription of the manner of God's giving him his Laws, is evidently true.</HI> 164</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 6. <HI>Some other proofs that confirm</HI> Mo&s;es<HI>'s De|&s;cription of the manner how the Law was given and promulgated.</HI> 169</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 7. <HI>That there is no ju&s;t Exception can be made again&s;t</HI> Mo&s;es<HI>'s History, in what relates to the O|racles, which he hath recorded in his Books.</HI> 173</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 8. <HI>That the Te&s;timony of the</HI> Jews, <HI>is a con&s;tant proof of the truth of the Oracles related by</HI> Mo|&s;es. 177</ITEM>
<PB REF="10">
<ITEM>Chap. 9. <HI>That it appears by the nature of his Relations, that</HI> Mo&s;es <HI>had the Me&s;&s;ias in view when he wrote the Book of</HI> Gene&s;is. 180</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 10. <HI>That the &s;ame per&s;wa&s;ion appears throughout the whole Conduct of</HI> Mo&s;es, <HI>until his Death.</HI> 185</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 11. <HI>That</HI> Balaam<HI>'s prophe&s;ie, which</HI> Mo&s;es <HI>relates, is a further Argument of the &s;ame per&s;wa&s;i|on in him.</HI> 188</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 12. <HI>That one may &s;ee al&s;o in</HI> Mo&s;es<HI>'s Law, plain Foot&s;teps of God's De&s;ign, in di&s;tingui&s;hing the&s;e from whom he would have the Me&s;&s;iah to be Born.</HI> 194</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 13. <HI>That the manner of God's promulgating his Law among&s;t the</HI> I&s;raelites, <HI>did much conduce to the distingui&s;hing them from all other Nations.</HI> 200</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 14. <HI>That God &s;eems to have de&s;igned to keep up a Spirit of Jealou&s;ie in the very Bo&s;om of the</HI> Jew|i&s;h <HI>Nation.</HI> 206</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 15. <HI>That Circumci&s;ion was a means of distin|gui&s;hing the</HI> I&s;raelites <HI>from other Nations.</HI> 212</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 16. <HI>That the Law of</HI> Mo&s;es <HI>engaged the</HI> Jews <HI>to the study of their Genealogies, that they might certainly know that of the Me&s;&s;iah.</HI> 219</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 17. <HI>A Solution of &s;ome Difficulties in the&s;e Gene|alogies.</HI> 223</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 18. <HI>That the manner whereby the Law of</HI> Mo|&s;es <HI>fixed the people of</HI> I&s;rael <HI>to the Land of</HI> Canaan, <HI>was to keep them &s;eparated from other Nations.</HI> 228</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 19. <HI>That the Law tied the people of</HI> I&s;rael <HI>to the Land of</HI> Canaan, <HI>and by &s;everal other means establi&s;hed the di&s;tinction betwixt Tribes and Fami|lies among&s;t them.</HI> 234</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 20. <HI>That the Laws which</HI> Mo&s;es <HI>made coneern|ing the &s;tate of Virginity, did principally relate al&s;o
<PB REF="11">to the Me&s;&s;iah, which holds al&s;o as to &s;everal other Laws.</HI> 241</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 21. <HI>That it was the de&s;ign of God by all the&s;e Ceremonies, and particularly by that Veneration which he in&s;pired the</HI> Jews <HI>with, for the Tabernacle, to pre&s;erve the Idea's of the Me&s;&s;iah, whom he had promi&s;ed, in their minds, by di&s;tingui&s;hing them from all other Nations.</HI> 249</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 22. <HI>That it appears by the Books of</HI> Mo&s;es, <HI>that this whole Model which God had framed, was to la&s;t but until the coming of the Me&s;&s;iah.</HI> 256</ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="errata">
<HEAD>To the Courteous Reader:</HEAD>
<P><HI>THE Errata's are &s;o &s;mall, that they will not di&s;turb the &s;en&s;e any where, and &s;o few, that we need not trouble the Rea|der with a Table of them: And therefore hope he will take &s;uch incon&s;iderable pains upon him|&s;elf, and excu&s;e the Author.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 N="1" TYPE="part">
<PB N="1" REF="11">
<HEAD>REFLEXIONS UPON THE BOOKS OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURE For the E&s;tabli&s;hing of the Truth OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION.</HEAD>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAPTER I. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>Concerning the Fundamentals of the Chri&s;tian Religion.</HI></HEAD>
<P>WE are to con&s;ider three things in the Chri&s;tian Religion; the Matters of Fact it propounds to us for true, the Promi&s;es it affords us, and the Wor|&s;hip it commands.</P>
<P>The Matters of Fact it propounds to us as true, are; that God created the World, that he
<PB N="2" REF="12">formed the fir&s;t Man, from whom the re&s;t of mankind have been propagated, that a while af|ter this Man was created, he violated the Law, God had given him; and that whereas he de|&s;erved to have peri&s;hed for this his di&s;obedience, God was plea&s;ed, in&s;tead thereof, to comfort him with the hopes of a Saviour which was to be born of the Seed of his Wife; that God hath actu|ally &s;ent this Saviour into the World, which com|prehends the whole Oeconomy of Chri&s;t, <HI>viz.</HI> His Birth, Life, Preaching, Miracles, Death, Re&s;urrecti|on, and A&s;cen&s;ion into Heaven, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>The Promi&s;es it vouch&s;afes, are the forgive|ne&s;s of our Sins, the Re&s;urrection of our Bodies, and a &s;tate ab&s;olutely happy for ever in Hea|ven.</P>
<P>And la&s;tly, the Wor&s;hip or Divine Service it pre&s;cribes con&s;i&s;ts in Obedience to the Law of God, in Prayer for the pardon of our Sins, and his Protection, and in a grateful Acknowledge|ment of what we owe him for all his Benefits towards us.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t of the&s;e three parts of the Chri&s;tian Religion, <HI>viz.</HI> The Truth of the Matters of Fact it relates, may be &s;aid to be the foundation of the other two, <HI>viz.</HI> The Promi&s;es and Com|mands.</P>
<P>It is impo&s;&s;ible to be per&s;waded, that God hath created this World in which we live, and made Mankind of one and the &s;ame blood; that after the Fall he promi&s;ed to &s;ave Men, and did actually redeem them in &s;ending Je&s;us Chri&s;t, who &s;uffer'd Death, and being rais'd the third
<PB N="3" REF="12">day A&s;cended into Heaven, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> I &s;ay, it is im|po&s;&s;ible to look upon the&s;e Facts as true with|out being a&s;&s;ured that God will accompli&s;h the Promi&s;es he hath made to us.</P>
<P>And it is as evident that we cannot be con|vinc'd of the truth of the&s;e Matters, without be|ing &s;en&s;ible of a &s;trong obligation laid upon us to perform all the Duties of the Chri&s;tian Religion.</P>
<P>As &s;oon as a Man reflects upon his being Gods Creature, he finds him&s;elf naturally oblig'd, to obey God univer&s;ally, according to his utmo&s;t ability: but when he comes further to believe, that God did not de&s;troy the fir&s;t Man for his di&s;|obedience; but was graciou&s;ly plea&s;ed to promi&s;e him a Saviour for him&s;elf and all his Po&s;terity; and when moreover he is a&s;&s;ured, that God hath really &s;ent this Saviour in the way and manner the Go&s;pel relates to us, we cannot conceive, but that he mu&s;t find him&s;elf under the highe&s;t en|gagements imaginable of rendring to God a re|ligious obedience; and believing his Promi&s;es.</P>
<P>But there is yet another obligation whereby Man is bound to obey God, to pray to him, and to of|fer him all manner of Religious Wor&s;hip; God by redeeming him hath obtained a new claim to, and right over him, and a more indi&s;pen&s;able ob|ligation is laid upon Man to &s;ubmit him&s;elf to God in all religious Concerns, as being not only created but al&s;o redeemed by him.</P>
<P>Rea&s;on acknowledgeth, that if the truth of the&s;e things be once admitted, nothing can be more ju&s;t and natural, than tho&s;e con&s;equences which the Chri&s;tians thence infer.</P>
<PB N="4" REF="13">
<P>All the difficulty therefore, that occurs in this Matter, con&s;i&s;ts in the proof of tho&s;e Facts which the Chri&s;tian Religion propounds to us; that is to &s;ay in proving the Creation of the World, the Fall of Man, the Promi&s;e of a Redeemer, his coming into the World, his Miracles, Death, Re&s;urrection, A&s;cen&s;ion into Heaven, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> which are the Foundations of the Chri&s;tian Re|ligion. And indeed the&s;e are the very matters of which Athei&s;ts and Libertines require a &s;olid proof.</P>
<P>And it doth the more concern us to &s;atisfie their demands; fora&s;much as the Jews, who are &s;catter'd throughout the whole World, do op|po&s;e our a&s;&s;ertion, that the Promi&s;e of &s;ending the Me&s;&s;iah, is already accompli&s;h'd, tho' they agree upon the matter with us in all other Arti|cles. Moreover the performing this Task may very much contribute to the Conver&s;ion of a great number of bad Chri&s;tians, who&s;e &s;all and continuance in vices, and licentiou&s;ne&s;s is to be a&s;crib'd to their being &s;o weakly per&s;waded of the truth of the&s;e Fundamentals, and that becau&s;e they have never con&s;ider'd of them with &s;uffici|ent attention.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="5" REF="13">
<HEAD>CHAP. II. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>That the Chri&s;tian Religion is founded upon Proofs of Mattter of Fact.</HI></HEAD>
<P>FOra&s;much as in order to e&s;tabli&s;h the truth of the Chri&s;tian Religion, we confine our &s;elves at pre&s;ent to tho&s;e proofs which make out the Matters of Fact it propo&s;es; omitting all other arguments, which may evidence the truth of it, tho' po&s;&s;ibly no le&s;s convincing; it is obvious, that the proofs we are to produce in confirmation of them, mu&s;t be &s;uch as are proper to evince the truth of things long &s;ince pa&s;t and done.</P>
<P>If we were treating of the Events of the time we live in, it might be ju&s;tly required, that we &s;hould produce Eye-witne&s;&s;es of them; but fora&s;much as the que&s;tion here is concerning matters long &s;ince pa&s;t, it is natural for us to have recour&s;e to Hi&s;tory, which furni&s;heth us with the relations of tho&s;e, who where Eye-wit|ne&s;&s;es of the &s;ame. This being the only way left us to confirm our belief of things at &s;o great a di&s;tance from us.</P>
<P>I am beholding to Hi&s;tory only for the know|ledg I have of a <HI>Cyrus,</HI> an <HI>Alexander,</HI> or a <HI>Cae&s;ar;</HI> and yet having read the account they give me of them, I find them matters I can no way ratio|nally doubt of.</P>
<P>I acknowledg that the certainty we have of things long &s;ince pa&s;t, is much inferiour to that
<PB N="6" REF="14">which we have of matters confirm'd to us by Eye-witne&s;&s;es. Neverthele&s;s, becau&s;e it is evi|dent, that the Events of ancient Times cannot be confirm'd, but by proofs of this nature, it has never entred into the minds of any to account the exi&s;tence of &s;uch men as <HI>Cyrus</HI> and <HI>Alexander</HI> for Fables, upon the pretence, that none now alive did ever &s;ee them, or becau&s;e there are &s;carce any traces left of tho&s;e Empires of which they were the Founders.</P>
<P>Indeed the certainty we have of the&s;e things is &s;uch, as nothing can be &s;uperadded to it, for tho' it be founded on the Authority of Hi&s;tori|ans, who liv'd many Ages ago, yet withal we are to con&s;ider that the matters related, do not only carry the Idea of probability and truth along with them, but that they are the very ground and foundation of all the Hi&s;tories of following Ages; which cannot be que&s;tioned, if we con&s;ider the connexion and dependance of the things re|lated, according to the light of Sen&s;e, and the e|quity of Rea&s;on.</P>
<P>A Matter of Fact then is accounted certain, when it is atte&s;ted by tho&s;e who were Eye-witne&s;|&s;es of it, when recorded by an Hi&s;torian, who liv'd among&s;t tho&s;e who had perfect knowledg of it; when the Matter is not gain&s;aid or contradicted by any; if we find it pen'd at a time, when the things could not be related by any otherwi&s;e than indeed they were, without expo&s;ing them|&s;elves to publick deri&s;ion: And la&s;t of all, when the matter is found to be of that nature, as none could be ignorant of it, either becau&s;e it was the
<PB N="7" REF="14">intere&s;t of every one to be inform'd of it, or be|cau&s;e the thing was &s;o publick that it could not be hid from any, or la&s;tly becau&s;e of its natural connexion with all tho&s;e other Events which nece&s;&s;arily depend on it.</P>
<P>To &s;peak plain it is very unju&s;t to demand either more proofs, or &s;uch as are of another na|ture, for the confirmation of the Truth of our Religion, than are required to veri&s;ie any other matters of Fact. Why &s;hould not the Te&s;timo|ny of <HI>Noahs</HI> Children be &s;ufficient to conclude there was &s;uch a man as <HI>Methu&s;alem</HI> in ca&s;e they a&s;&s;ure us that they have &s;een him? Or why &s;hould not the te&s;timony of <HI>Methu&s;alem</HI> be of credit enough, to prove there was &s;uch a Man as <HI>Adam,</HI> if he avers that he &s;aw him, and con|vers'd with him? Do'nt we every day give cre|dit to the account which old men give us of their Predece&s;&s;ors, e&s;pecially when we find that what they relate hath an exact reference and conne|xion with tho&s;e things we are Eye-witne&s;&s;es of.</P>
<P>But it is an ea&s;ie thing to make it appear, that the proofs which evidence the Truth of the matters which our Religion propo&s;eth, are in|finitely more &s;trong and convincing.</P>
<P>All the circum&s;tances we can imagine pro|per to evince the Truth of any Relation, do concur to place the matters recorded in Holy Scripture beyond the Reach of doubt or uncer|tainty.</P>
<P>We account the &s;ingle Te&s;timony of an Hi|&s;torian a &s;ufficient proof that there was once a very famous Temple at <HI>Delphos</HI> or <HI>Ephe&s;us;</HI> not|with&s;tanding
<PB N="8" REF="15">that all the Monuments remain|ing at this day to confirm his relation be very doubtful and defective. Whereas I &s;hall make it appear that an entire Nation, yea many Na|tions do atte&s;t the truth of tho&s;e Matters which the Chri&s;tian Religion propo&s;es, and that all the Actions, Di&s;cour&s;es, and whole Series of Events thereto relating, do furni&s;h us with an infinite number of characters, which invincibly &s;igna|lize the Truth of the Holy Scr&iuml;ptures.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. III.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">Some General Remarks in order to establi&s;h the Truth of Holy Scripture.</HEAD>
<P>FOra&s;much as I have undertaken to prove the truth of the Matters of Fact contain'd in our Religion from the te&s;timony of the Pen|men of the Old and New Te&s;tament, it will be proper, in order to the executing of my de|&s;ign to begin with a general proof of the Truth of the &s;aid Books, which will not be difficult if one makes the following remarks.</P>
<P>The Fir&s;t is, That it appears from the Five Books of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> that he wrote the Hi&s;tory of the Creation of the World, and of the Promi&s;e of the Me&s;&s;iah; of the Deluge, the Ri&s;e and Pedigree of the &s;everal Nations of the World, of the Divi&s;ion of Tongues; and in particular the Hi&s;tory of the Family of <HI>Abraham</HI> until the entring of the Children of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> into <HI>Palestina</HI> 2552 years after the Creation of the World.</P>
<PB N="9" REF="15">
<P>The Second is, That the following Books, <HI>viz.</HI> of <HI>Jo&s;hua, Judges, Ruth,</HI> the four Books of <HI>Kings,</HI> of <HI>Chronicles,</HI> with the Books of <HI>Ezrah</HI> and <HI>Nehemiah,</HI> are a Continuation of the &s;aid Hi&s;tory, from the entring of the <HI>Jews</HI> into <HI>Pa|le&s;tina,</HI> until their re-e&s;tabli&s;hment in the &s;aid Country, about the year of the World 3600. Here we read the Conque&s;t of <HI>Pale&s;tina</HI> under the Conduct of <HI>Jo&s;hua,</HI> how it was divided a|mong&s;t the Tribes after they had de&s;troyed, drove out or &s;ubdued the Inhabitants thereof; how often they were brought into bondage by the bordering Nations, who&s;e ri&s;e and preten&s;i|ons <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> &s;ets down. Here we have recorded the &s;everal Names and actions of the Judges, which God from time to time rai&s;ed to the I&s;raelites, to re&s;tore them to their fir&s;t e&s;tate. Here we have an account of the e&s;tabli&s;hment of a Kingly Government among&s;t them, which hap|pened about the year 2909; as likewi&s;e of the divi&s;ion of this people into two Kingdomes, which for three Ages together were mo&s;t op|po&s;ite in their intere&s;ts, and made great wars again&s;t each other, as well as again&s;t their neigh|bouring States. We find here the utter ruin of the mo&s;t pui&s;&s;ant of the&s;e two States, <HI>viz.</HI> That of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> by the Arms of the Kings of <HI>A&s;&s;yria,</HI> a|bout the year of the World 3283, and after that, the de&s;truction of that of <HI>Judah,</HI> by <HI>Ne|buchadnezar</HI> King of the <HI>Chaldeans, Anno Mundi</HI> 3283. And la&s;t of all we have an account of the <HI>Jews</HI> Re&s;toration by <HI>Cyrus</HI> King of <HI>Per&s;ia,</HI> and the State of the <HI>Jews</HI> under his Succe&s;&s;ors.</P>
<PB N="10" REF="16">
<P>The Third thing ob&s;ervable is, That in the remaining Books of the Old Te&s;tament we find &s;everal hi&s;torical Relations relating to both Kingdomes, with &s;everal prophecies relating to their decay and re&s;toration, as likewi&s;e many Di&s;cour&s;es of Morality and Piety; and that all the&s;e relations and prophecies appear to have been writ at &s;uch a time, and with tho&s;e circum&s;tances, which have a natural reference to what the other Books recite to us, and an e&s;&s;ential Relation to the Books and Laws of <HI>Mo|&s;es,</HI> which we find to be the foundation of all the&s;e prophe&s;ies, relations, and what&s;oever el&s;e we find there concerning their Government or Religion.</P>
<P>The Fourth is, That the Books of the New Te&s;tament contain an exact relation of the Life of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, who appeared to the World un|der the Reign of <HI>Tiberius,</HI> of the e&s;tabli&s;hment of his Religion in the World, together with &s;ome di&s;putes with the Jews, who refu&s;ed to own him for the Me&s;&s;iah promi&s;ed by the Pro|phets; and la&s;tly Prophe&s;ies declaring what in in proce&s;s of time was to happen both to the Jews and Chri&s;tians until the end of the World. The&s;e Books take the Truth of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Wri|tings every where for granted, as al&s;o of all the other Sacred Writings of the Old Te&s;ta|ment, both Hi&s;torical, Prophetical and Moral.</P>
<P>The&s;e Four particulars do in a manner give us an intire Idea of the Holy Scripture; and we &s;hall &s;carcely &s;tand in need of ought el&s;e to manife&s;t the Truth of tho&s;e Writings, if we
<PB N="11" REF="16">con&s;ider tho&s;e undi&s;putable matters of fact I am now to &s;peak of, and will but make &s;ome very natural reflexions upon them.</P>
<P>The Fir&s;t is, That the Chri&s;tians, notwith|&s;tanding their being divided into &s;everal Sects and Parties, pre&s;ently after our Saviours time, have, and do &s;till, in all places, every fir&s;t day of the Week, read the Books of the New Te|&s;tament tran&s;lated into their re&s;pective Lan|guages; &s;o that it appears ab&s;olutely impo&s;&s;ible that any &s;purious Writings &s;hould have been &s;lipt in among&s;t them.</P>
<P>The Second is, That as the Chri&s;tians have had the Books of the Old Te&s;tament among&s;t them in Greek the&s;e 1600. years, &s;o the Heathens had them in that Language 300. years before, being tran&s;lated by order of one of the <HI>Ptolomy</HI>'s Kings of <HI>Egypt,</HI> whither a con&s;iderable party of the Jews were carried, after that <HI>Alexander</HI> the Great had conquered the greate&s;t part of <HI>A&s;ia,</HI> having overthrown the Empire of <HI>Per&s;ia,</HI> to which the Jews were in &s;ubjection.</P>
<P>The Third is, That tho' the Jews had not all the Books of the Old Te&s;tament from the be|ginning of their Commonwealth, they that followed the Party of <HI>Jeroboam,</HI> and formed the Kingdom of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> having only had the Five Books of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> among&s;t them: yet notwith|&s;tanding their irreconcilable hatred again&s;t the Hou&s;e of <HI>David,</HI> they have mo&s;t religiou&s;ly pre|&s;erved the &s;aid Books from <HI>Anno Mundi</HI> 3030. in which the divi&s;ions of the two Kingdoms happen'd, even until this day.</P>
<PB N="12" REF="17">
<P>The Fourth and la&s;t is, That as the Jews e|very where at this day, read the Books of <HI>Mo|&s;es</HI> and of the Prophets each Sabbath day (which is al&s;o ob&s;erved by the Samaritanes) and the Chri&s;tians read them every fir&s;t day of the week; &s;o the Jews have always continued to read them for a long &s;eries of Ages, as e&s;teeming it a great part of the &s;anctification of the Sabbath. Be&s;ides which they al&s;o &s;olemnly read them e|very &s;eventh year in obedience to a Law of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> as being one of the principal parts of their Religion.</P>
<P>I &s;ay, that the &s;ole con&s;ideration of the&s;e matters of fact (which are indi&s;putable) are &s;ufficient to prove in general the truth of the Books of the Old and New Te&s;tament.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t then, I affirm, that it is as ridiculous to maintain, that the Books of the Old and New Te&s;tament, tran&s;lated into &s;o many Languages, cited by an infinite number of Authors, and which have been the &s;ubject of various di&s;putes from the very times of the Apo&s;tles or &s;oon af|ter, &s;hould be &s;uppo&s;ititious, as to aver, that the Books of <HI>Justinian,</HI> or <HI>Mahomets</HI> Alcoran, have been fal&s;ly obtruded on the World under their names. I &s;peak now only of the Books them&s;elves, not of the truth of the Hi&s;tory they contain.</P>
<P>Secondly, It is ridiculous to &s;uppo&s;e, that the Books of the Old Te&s;tament were forged &s;ince the time of <HI>Ptolomy Philadelphus;</HI> fora&s;|much as they have been in the hands of the Heathens them&s;elves ever &s;ince that time.</P>
<PB N="13" REF="17">
<P>Thirdly, It is as incon&s;i&s;tent to &s;uppo&s;e them contrived &s;ince the time of the &s;eparation of the ten Tribes from <HI>Judah,</HI> becau&s;e we find the Books of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> among the Samaritanes, who have pre|&s;erved them ever &s;ince their Revolt, without a|ny other change, but what is incident to all Ma|nu&s;cripts, that pa&s;s through many hands.</P>
<P>I grant indeed that the Samaritans have none of the other Books of the Old Te&s;tament; but this being to be look'd upon only as an effect of their departure from the Kingdom of <HI>Judah,</HI> it cannot in the lea&s;t &s;hake the certainty we have of tho&s;e Books. For fir&s;t the three other Tribes had them and pre&s;erv'd them with the greate&s;t care, e&s;teeming them of Divine Au|thority. Secondly, there were al&s;o rea&s;ons of State, which made the Kings of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> not to regard the divi&s;ions made by <HI>Jo&s;huah</HI> of the Land of <HI>Canaan,</HI> nor the authority of the Prie&s;thood; which Rea&s;ons of State (hereafter mentioned) where the cau&s;e why the ten Tribes would not allow the &s;ame authority to &s;ome of tho&s;e Books, which were written be|fore their Revolt, as tho&s;e of <HI>Samuel,</HI> and the writings of <HI>David</HI> and <HI>Solomon,</HI> which they did to the Pentateuch of <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI> Mo&s;t of the others we know were pen'd &s;ince the Divi&s;ion of the two Kingdomes, and &s;o did more particularly re&s;pect the Kingdom of <HI>Judah,</HI> and &s;ome them after the carrying away of the ten Tribes by the A&s;&s;yrians.</P>
<P>Thus we &s;ee the Truth of the&s;e Books, and more e&s;pecially tho&s;e of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> confirmed till the
<PB N="14" REF="18">time of the revolt of the ten Tribes, and con|firm'd beyond exception; at lea&s;t far beyond the certainty we can have of the truth of any other Book in the World. It remains only now to examine, whether as to the Books of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> we find not the &s;ame certainty, when we look back from the departure of the ten Tribes to the time of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> that is to &s;ay whe|ther there be the lea&s;t probability, that they were forged in any part of that interval of a|bout 580 years.</P>
<P>I &s;ay then in the Fourth place, that it is no le&s;s ridiculous to &s;uppo&s;e them forged during that period. Fir&s;t, becau&s;e it is impo&s;&s;ible, that the&s;e Books &s;hould have been forged in the form we now &s;ee them, but that the Forgery mu&s;t have been apparent to all the World. Nothing could be more notorious, than whe|ther the Jews did read the Law of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> e|very Sabbath day in all their Families or Sy|nagogues, and every Seventh year be&s;ides: No|thing was of more ea&s;ie ob&s;ervation than whe|ther they did keep their three &s;olemn Fea&s;ts, <HI>viz.</HI> that of the Pa&s;&s;over, Penteco&s;t, and of Tabernacles: Nothing could be more apparent than whether the Jews did obey the Laws con|tained in the Pentateuch, whether relating to particular per&s;ons, to Tribes, or their Lands, and the manner of po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ing of them. Indeed nothing can be imagin'd more ab&s;urd than to &s;uppo&s;e an in&s;en&s;ible change wrought either in in the Form of their Civil Government, or the Ceremonies of their Religion.</P>
<PB N="15" REF="18">
<P>Indeed it is an un&s;ufferable peice of bold|ne&s;s to charge the Jews with forging the&s;e Books of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> or adulterating of them in this period of time, when it appears they have kept them without any alteration for the &s;pace of 2700 years, as hath been &s;hewed already: If it be &s;aid, that the Jews being divided into two Kingdomes, and di&s;per&s;ed into di&s;tant Coun|treys, were not in a condition to forge or a|dulterate any of the &s;aid Books, becau&s;e it might ea&s;ily have been di&s;covered; it may be an&s;wer|ed, that the &s;ame rea&s;ons took place in this in|terval of 580 years, for from the time of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> to <HI>Rehoboam</HI> they were not only greatly divid|ed among&s;t them&s;elves, but almo&s;t continually &s;ubject to neighbouring States, who &s;ubdu|ed them by turns, as we &s;ee in the Book of <HI>Judges.</HI></P>
<P>Moreover we are to take notice, Fir&s;t that the&s;e Books of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> are the ri&s;e and foundati|on of the Laws and Cu&s;tomes of the Heathens, as well as of their Fictions, which we &s;hall have occa&s;ion to point at in the &s;equel of this Di&s;|cour&s;e.</P>
<P>Secondly, That the Hi&s;tory contained in the Pentateuch, is evidently confirm'd by the following Books of <HI>Jo&s;huah</HI> and <HI>Judges,</HI> which have an e&s;&s;ential reference to the &s;ame, and contain a relation of the publick acts of many Nations, atte&s;ted, and acknowledged by Hea|then Authors, who were the mortal Enemies of the Jews.</P>
<P>Thirdly, That the &s;aid Books are &s;o clo&s;e|ly
<PB N="16" REF="19">link'd and related to tho&s;e publick and known actions, that it is impo&s;&s;ible to &s;eparate the Laws they contain from the Matters of fact atte&s;ted by Pagan Hi&s;tory, or to be ignorant that the Form of the Jewi&s;h Government, was nothing el&s;e, but an execution of the Laws contained in the Pentateuch, which equally lays down that Platform of their Policy and wor&s;hip.</P>
<P>My bu&s;ine&s;s at pre&s;ent only is to hint the&s;e general Reflexions concerning the Truth of the Books of the Old and New Te&s;tament; tho the &s;e|quel will oblige me to make &s;ome more particular Reflexions upon each Book, when I &s;hall come to con&s;ider the &s;everal Relations they contain.</P>
<P>I now come to the Matter in hand, begin|ning with the Book of <HI>Gene&s;is;</HI> where we find an account of the Creation of the World, the Forming of Man, the Fall, the Promi&s;e of the Me&s;&s;iah, the Propagation of Mankind, the De|luge, with other Matters until the Death of <HI>Jo&s;eph,</HI> which contains the Hi&s;tory of the World for the &s;pace of 2369 years.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="4" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. IV. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>That the Testimony of</HI> Mo&s;es <HI>concerning the Creation of the World, and the Promi&s;e of the Me&s;&s;iah, is unque&s;tionable.</HI></HEAD>
<P>FOra&s;much as among&s;t tho&s;e Matters which <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> relates in the Book of <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> that
<PB N="17" REF="19">of the Creation of the World in &s;even days, and of the Promi&s;e of the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah,</HI> are &s;uch upon which all the re&s;t do depend (as I &s;hall &s;hew hereafter) it is evident, that I mu&s;t make it my bu&s;ine&s;s in a &s;pecial manner to evince the truth of the &s;ame.</P>
<P>Towards the confirmation of which matters of fact, the one of which is, that God Created a fir&s;t Man; the other, that God hath promi&s;ed in due time to &s;end the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah</HI> for Redemption of Mankind from the puni&s;hment of &s;in, I &s;hall pro|po&s;e the&s;e following Remarks.</P>
<P><HI>Mo&s;es</HI> the great Law-giver of the <HI>Jews,</HI> laid the&s;e two Matters of Fact as the Ba&s;is of the Laws he was to publi&s;h; and he relates them to us, as things which were not only known to him, and &s;ome others of the <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Nation, but to all the People of the World; and particularly the whole Nation among&s;t whom he lived.</P>
<P>To under&s;tand the force of this Argument we mu&s;t mind three things; the Fir&s;t is, the Nature of the Matters them&s;elves, the other is the Chara|cter of him that relates them; and the third, the u&s;e <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> makes of them.</P>
<P>For the fir&s;t, nothing was more needful to be known than the&s;e two things before us; they were Matters which <HI>concern</HI> the whole World, and of which every one ought to be informed; they are Matters about which it is not ea&s;ie to be deceiv|ed, every one being in a condition to &s;atisfie him&s;elf about them, and of which con&s;equently they could not but be mo&s;t throughly in|formed.</P>
<P>I dare maintain that there are no Facts in prophane Hi&s;tory of importance, comparable to
<PB N="18" REF="20">the&s;e of the Creation of the World, and the Pro|mi&s;e of the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah,</HI> as <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> has related them.</P>
<P N="2">2. And as for the Author, who relates the&s;e points, it is as plain that his Character did won|derfully contribute to the making of his Book fa|mous. He was a Man Illu&s;trious, as well by rea|&s;on of his Education, as the Rank he held a|mong&s;t Men; a Man equally expos'd to the Judg|ment of Enemies and Friends, and who could not vent thelea&s;t thing contrary to truth, in Mat|ters of great importance, without &s;eeing him&s;elf immediately refuted, or rather without expo&s;ing him&s;elf to publick &s;corn.</P>
<P>Be&s;ides I aver, and am ready to maintain, that we find no Author of &s;o illu&s;trious a Character as <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> was, or who is di&s;tingui&s;h'd with &s;o many e&s;&s;ential marks of Faithfulne&s;s and Veracity, as appears throughout the whole Tenour of his Writings.</P>
<P N="3">3. This will appear more evidently when we con&s;ider the u&s;e to which <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> de&s;igns the&s;e two Relations of the Creation of the World, and the Promi&s;e of the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah.</HI></P>
<P>In a word, his de&s;ign was not in furni&s;hing his Books with the Recitals of the&s;e important Facts to engage others to read them with more attention, or to get him&s;elf reputation, by exci|ting a Curio&s;ity in people for his Books. This would not have been becoming the Gravity and Wi&s;dom of &s;o great a Legi&s;lator, of whom all &s;ucceeding Ages have borrowed their Laws.</P>
<P>It is apparent, that his end in the recording of the&s;e Matters was to in&s;pire with a &s;en&s;e of Piety and Religion, tho&s;e who were committed to his charge.</P>
<PB N="19" REF="20">
<P>This is that which in general we may ob&s;erve a|bout the&s;e Matters; but more particularly it is cer|tain, that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> his end in recording the Oracles by which God promi&s;ed to <HI>Abraham</HI> the e&s;tabli&s;hing his Po&s;terity in the land of <HI>Canaan,</HI> was to repre|&s;ent to the <HI>Jews</HI> the right they had to that Land, according to the de&s;ign and intent of the Divine Wi&s;dom.</P>
<P>But without making this particular Reflexion, it is clear, that the Law took its beginning at the twelfth of <HI>Exodus,</HI> where God pre&s;cribes to his People the manner of celebrating the Pa&s;&s;over; at lea&s;t this is the fir&s;t Law which God gave them through the Mini&s;try of <HI>Mo&s;es;</HI> but fora&s;much as <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> his end was to ju&s;tifie in the minds of his People, the de&s;ign he had to make them leave <HI>Egypt</HI> as well as their preten&s;ions to the Land of <HI>Canaan,</HI> whither he was to lead them; it was na|tural for him to lay before them the ground of tho&s;e Preten&s;ions, which he could not do with|out relating the whole Series of the Hi&s;tory until the time of their Bondage in <HI>Egypt,</HI> which we read in <HI>Gene&s;is;</HI> the greate&s;t part of which only concerns the Ance&s;tors of that People, after that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> had fir&s;t laid down the grounds of Religion, and that which was known to all Nations.</P>
<P>Let us now imagin to our &s;elves a Man endea|vouring all of a &s;uddain to introduce into the World the belief of things &s;o far di&s;tant from common apprehen&s;ion as the&s;e two points mu&s;t needs be, <HI>viz.</HI> That of the Creation, and the Promi&s;e of Chri&s;t, in ca&s;e we &s;uppo&s;e them ge|nerally unknown. Let us yet further conceive a Man not only relating tho&s;e things, but making
<PB N="20" REF="21">them the foundation of a new &s;ort of Laws never before heard of. Is there any Wit, or Judgment in &s;uch an undertaking? Can we therefore &s;up|po&s;e that <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> who&s;e Writings te&s;tifie his great Wi&s;dom, &s;hould ever have entertain'd &s;uch unac|countable thoughts.</P>
<P>I dare aver that there was any never Legi&s;lator &s;o &s;tupid and incon&s;iderate, as to pretend to engage a whole people to &s;ubmit them&s;elves to the yoke of obedience, and to receive a great number of Laws re&s;pecting their Civil Government and Reli|gion, by declaring to them two Fictions, of which they had never before had the lea&s;t Idea.</P>
<P>It is al&s;o very con&s;iderable, that the&s;e things are not recited by <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> as a Preface to the Deca|logue, as if then fir&s;t they had been propo&s;ed to <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> or the People by God; but <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> &s;ets them down as Truths known to them all, and as Principles, univer&s;ally admitted, and &s;uch as the meer mentioning of them could not but &s;trong|ly engage the <HI>Jews</HI> to render a ready obedience to the Laws which God gave to <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> in their pre&s;ence of the Divine Authority, of which their very Sen&s;es were convinc'd.</P>
<P>Let us al&s;o con&s;ider the nature of tho&s;e things, the Relation of which <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> has joined with the&s;e two General Points, to make an impre&s;&s;ion on the Minds of the <HI>Jews.</HI> Let us con&s;ider the account he gives them of their Ance&s;tors, near|er or farther off, whom he repre&s;ents as equally inform'd of the&s;e Matters, as having &s;everally delivered the knowledge of them to their Chil|dren, and having join'd to the&s;e fir&s;t Truths of the Creation, and the Promi&s;e of a Saviour, many
<PB N="21" REF="21">other Notions thereon depending, and which ti|ed their hopes and expectations, to the Land of <HI>Ca|naan.</HI> And now judge whether <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> were not to be accu&s;ed of great folly and &s;en&s;ele&s;ne&s;s, if he had proceeded to make &s;uch a va&s;t People (all of the &s;udden) to receive for Truths publickly and generally owned, what indeed was nothing but the mo&s;t ridiculous and ill cohering Romance that ever was broached.</P>
<P>Now &s;ince as it is vi&s;ible (taking in the Cir|cum&s;tances I have hinted) that the Authority of &s;uch an Hi&s;torian and Law-giver as <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> was, relating &s;uch importent Matters cannot be call'd in que&s;tion; it follows, that the Athei&s;t can have nothing to object again&s;t his Te&s;timony with the lea&s;t &s;hadow or pretence of rea&s;on. So that we may already a&s;&s;ert, that there is nothing better atte&s;ted than the Creation of the World, and the Promi&s;e of Chri&s;t, which are the immoveable Foundations of the Chri&s;tian Religion.</P>
<P>Neverthele&s;s for a more evident Conviction, we are willing, before we draw this Conclu&s;ion, to make it appear how weak and incon&s;iderable all tho&s;e Objections are, which Athei&s;ts can po&s;&s;ibly frame again&s;t what <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> relates concerning the&s;e Matters.</P>
<P>What can they with Rea&s;on object? Perhaps they'l &s;ay, that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> is not the Author of <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> but that it was foi&s;ted in under his Name, and con&s;equently, that what&s;oever is built upon the Authority of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and his evidence, is all without ground. Or they may object, that if <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> be indeed the Author of <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> that he lived at &s;uch a
<PB N="22" REF="22">di&s;tance of time from the things which he relates, that it makes void the authority of his Writings. They may moreover alledge, that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> relates things impo&s;&s;ible, and of which therefore tho&s;e that mentioned them before, the things them|&s;elves being &s;o long &s;ince pa&s;t and done, could not be fully inform'd of, and that they may well be &s;uppos'd greatly changed and alter'd by a Tradition of &s;o many Ages. They may al&s;o alledge, that according to the common Opinion, <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> penn'd not the&s;e things as an Hi&s;torian, but as a Prophet; and that the apprehen&s;ion of mo&s;t concerning his Books are, that he wrote of things, whereof the knowledge before his time, was very ob&s;cure and confu&s;e, or rather were generally unknown.</P>
<P>They may object again&s;t the&s;e relations of <HI>Mo|&s;es,</HI> that which the mo&s;t ancient People, &s;uch as the <HI>Aegyptians, Chaldeans,</HI> and <HI>Chine&s;e,</HI> alledge for their Antiquity, which far &s;urpa&s;&s;eth the date of the World according to <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI></P>
<P>The&s;e are the principal ways to a&s;&s;ault the Truths which <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> relates, either by maintain|ing with the Athei&s;ts on one hand, that the things which <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> relates, are indeed mentioned by other Authors, but that they forged them them|&s;elves; or that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> being an able and refin'd Politician de&s;ign'd by Creating a belief of the&s;e Matters in the <HI>Jews,</HI> to make them more &s;ubmi&s;|&s;ive and obedient to him.</P>
<P>In a Word, it may be &s;aid, that &s;uppo&s;ing the Book of <HI>Gene&s;is</HI> to be writ by <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> it was an ea&s;ie matter for him to dictate what&s;oever he plea&s;ed to a People who were under a Law that made
<PB N="23" REF="22">it Capital to call in que&s;tion the truth of his Relations, or the Authority of his Laws.</P>
<P>This certainly is the farthe&s;t, to which the height of Ob&s;tinacy can carry this matter, and the very la&s;t refuge of the &s;tronge&s;t prejudice. But it is an ea&s;ie matter to confound the Athei&s;ts and Libertines in every one of the&s;e Articles, and to &s;hew that all their Objections do in effect &s;erve for nothing el&s;e but to make a more lively impre&s;&s;ion of this Argument taken from Matter of fact, which I have undertaken to &s;et forth in a full and clear light.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="5" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. V. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>That</HI> Mo&s;es <HI>is the Author of the Book of</HI> Gene&s;is.</HEAD>
<P>I Shall in the Sequel of this Di&s;cour&s;e make it appear, that we cannot with rea&s;on, conte&s;t the Authority of a Tradition which hath tho&s;e Characters which we find in the Relations con|tain'd in the Book of <HI>Gene&s;is:</HI> The only thing that can be que&s;tion'd in this matter is, Whether <HI>Mo|&s;es</HI> the great Captain of the <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI> and Foun|der of their Common-wealth, be the Author of it. This therefore is the thing which we ought &s;olidly to evince.</P>
<P>Tho it &s;eems that we might di&s;pen&s;e with this trouble: fora&s;much as it is ea&s;ie to &s;hew, that the greate&s;t part of the mo&s;t con&s;iderable Events,
<PB N="24" REF="23">which are recorded in the Book of <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> were generally believed by others, as well as the <HI>Jews.</HI></P>
<P>At lea&s;t it mu&s;t be granted, that the&s;e Matters have given occa&s;ion to mo&s;t of their Fables, <HI>viz.</HI> To that of the Chaos, to that of the Marriage of <HI>Peleus</HI> and <HI>Thetis,</HI> for the forming of Man to that of <HI>Prometheus,</HI> to that of <HI>Jupiter</HI>'s continued Laugh|ter for the &s;even fir&s;t days of his Life, which they look'd upon as the Original of the Solemnity of the &s;eventh day, known among&s;t the Heathens; to that of the Golden Age, and of the Deluge; to the Name of <HI>Deucalion,</HI> to the Fable of <HI>Janus,</HI> to that of the Divi&s;ion of the World among&s;t <HI>Sa|turn</HI>'s Sons, to the Name of <HI>Jupiter Hammon,</HI> to the Fable of the <HI>Titans,</HI> and of the changing of Wo|men into Statues of Stone; to the Stories of the Ince&s;t the Gods committed with their Daugh|ters; to that of the firing of the World by <HI>Pha|eton;</HI> and to a great number of other Fictions, which cannot be otherwi&s;e explained, as the lear|ned have &s;hewn at large.</P>
<P>Who&s;oever was the Author of <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> whether <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> or another, &s;ure it is that he was exactly in|form'd of the Matters he relates, and that he li|ved &s;oon after <HI>Jo&s;eph.</HI></P>
<P>Fir&s;t then I &s;ay, that it appears he was fully in|form'd of tho&s;e matters of which he treats; he &s;ets down the Names of the Heads or Fathers of the &s;everal Nations of the World, and does it &s;o, that what he &s;aith doth very well agree with what the mo&s;t Ancient Hi&s;torians have left us concerning that matter: He &s;peaks of the&s;e Nati|ons, of the Countreys they po&s;&s;e&s;t, and their
<PB N="25" REF="23">Kings, as of things he was perfectly inform'd of: He very carefully di&s;tingui&s;hes the Original of the&s;e &s;everal Nations; and the &s;ame being at that time commonly known, no Hi&s;torian could repre&s;ent them otherwi&s;e than they were, with|out expo&s;ing him&s;elf to the laughter of all by en|deavouring to mix Fables with Relations of this nature.</P>
<P>In the Second place, I &s;ay, that this Book was writ by a Man that lived &s;oon after <HI>Jo&s;eph:</HI> He &s;peaks very exactly of what <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> did in his place of chief Mini&s;ter to <HI>Pharaoh;</HI> in particular, he &s;ets down the fir&s;t Original of the fifth Penny which the <HI>Egyptians</HI> &s;o many Ages after, continu|ed to pay to their Kings, being a thing which no <HI>Egyptian</HI> could be ignorant of.</P>
<P>And La&s;tly, It is vi&s;ible, that this Book &s;erves for an Introduction to <HI>Exodus,</HI> and the following Books, which have no other Foundation, but the truth of tho&s;e things which are related to us there; and do throughout allude and refer to the &s;everal pa&s;&s;ages of it; and that all Matters of Religion and Wor&s;hip, contained in them, are founded upon the truth of the Creation, and the Promi&s;e of the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah,</HI> which we find in <HI>Gene&s;is;</HI> and upon the truth of all tho&s;e other &s;ucceeding Mat|ters of Fact, until the coming of the Children of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> into <HI>Egypt,</HI> when <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> was chief Favourite, and Mini&s;ter of <HI>Pharaoh.</HI></P>
<P>But we have yet a more ea&s;ie way to make out that <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> who&s;e Hi&s;tory is contain'd in <HI>Exodus,</HI> and the following Books, is the Author of <HI>Gene&s;is.</HI></P>
<PB N="26" REF="24">
<P>For fir&s;t, it cannot be deny'd, that the Hea|thens them&s;elves have acknowledged <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> for the mo&s;t antient Law-giver; for this, we have the Te&s;timonies of <HI>Plato, Polemus, Artapanus, Pythago|ras, Theopompus,</HI> and <HI>Diodorus Siculus,</HI> who places <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> in the front of Six of the mo&s;t antient Law givers thus; <HI>Mo&s;es, Sauchnis, Se&s;oncho&s;is, Bachoris, Ama&s;is,</HI> and <HI>Darius</HI> Father of <HI>Xerxes.</HI></P>
<P>But further, if when the <HI>Lacedemonians</HI> tell us of the Laws of their Law-giver <HI>Lycurgus;</HI> and the <HI>Athenians</HI> of tho&s;e of their <HI>Solon,</HI> we think our &s;elves oblig'd to believe them; becau&s;e natu|rally every Nation is &s;uppos'd to be a faithful De|po&s;itary of the Laws of him who fir&s;t founded their Government; yea, if we do not in the lea&s;t doubt of the&s;e Relations, though there be no People at this day, who live according to the Laws of <HI>Lycurgus,</HI> or <HI>Solon;</HI> can any valuable rea&s;on be imagined, for us to doubt, whether <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> wrote the Book of <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> when an entire Nation have con&s;tantly averr'd, that he did &s;o? I &s;ay, when all the <HI>Jews,</HI> who continue at this day, do in all places, where they are &s;catter'd through|out the World equally, and with one con&s;ent, maintain, that they received this Book from him, together with the Laws and Wor&s;hip therein con|tain'd? Nay, when it is notorious, that many of them have &s;uffer'd Martyrdom in confirmation of this Truth?</P>
<P>I omit now to mention the con&s;ent of the Chri|&s;tians, who tho' they be not de&s;cended of <HI>Abraham,</HI> and do not ob&s;erve the greate&s;t part of the Laws of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> yet do not cea&s;e highly to defend this truth throughout the World, the Go&s;pel in their &s;en&s;e
<PB N="27" REF="24">being nothing el&s;e, but the literal accompli&s;hment of that Promi&s;e, <HI>The Seed of the Woman, &s;hall brui&s;e the Head of the Serpent.</HI> I &s;hall &s;hew in the Sequel of the&s;e my Reflexions, with how much Ju&s;tice they a&s;&s;ent to this Truth; but at pre&s;ent I tie my &s;elf only to the Te&s;timonies of the <HI>Jews,</HI> and that which confirms the Authority thereof.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="6" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. VI. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>That the Book of</HI> Gene&s;is <HI>could not be forged under the Name of</HI> Mo&s;es.</HEAD>
<P>I Should never have done, &s;hould I go about to &s;et down all the Ob&s;ervations which might be made incomparing this Book of <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> with other Hi&s;tories, commonly known to the World; and who&s;e faithfulne&s;s is unque&s;tionable. Without entring upon this compari&s;on, we may boldly a&s;|&s;ert, that there is no Hi&s;tory in the World, who&s;e Author we can be &s;o &s;ure of, as that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> was the Pen-man of <HI>Gene&s;is.</HI></P>
<P>But I go further, and a&s;&s;ert, that the <HI>Jews</HI> could not be mi&s;taken in the Te&s;timonies they give to this Truth, which I prove by the&s;e two Remarks.</P>
<P>The Fir&s;t is, That their Ob&s;ervations both Ci|vil and Religious, are at this day founded upon no other Principles, than tho&s;e which we find in <HI>Gene&s;is:</HI> As for in&s;tance, they compute the beginning of their day from the preceding Evening; they
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<PB N="28" REF="28">keep the Sabbath, they ob&s;erve Circumci&s;ion, they ab&s;tain from eating the Mu&s;cle which is in the hollow of the Thigh, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> The Ob&s;ervation of which Laws is indeed pre&s;crib'd to them in the other Books of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> but the occa&s;ion and ground of them all, is no where to be found but in <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> to which all the&s;e Laws have a natural Relation.</P>
<P>The Second is, That the Book of <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> ta|king for granted, that the Po&s;terity of <HI>Abraham,</HI> as well as his Ance&s;tors, had always ob&s;erv'd the Sabbath and Circumci&s;ion; and the Books of <HI>Mo|&s;es,</HI> ordering the &s;ame to be con&s;tantly read in every Family, to which the Sabbath day was more peculiarly appropriated, and the whole to be read over every &s;eventh year, as we know the <HI>Jews</HI> practice was according to the Law of <HI>Mo&s;es;</HI> the fir&s;t of which Injunctions they practice &s;till in all places, and have left off the other, on|ly becau&s;e they cannot do it now they are out of their own Land: I &s;ay, &s;uppo&s;ing all this, it is ab&s;olutely impo&s;&s;ible, that any other than <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> could have made this Book to be re|ceived.</P>
<P>The forgery at the beginning, would have been palpable, even to Children them&s;elves: As for Example, let us &s;uppo&s;e that <HI>Solomon</HI> had form'd a de&s;ign of deceiving the People, in pub|li&s;hing the Book of <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> for a Book of <HI>Mo&s;es;</HI> Is it po&s;&s;ible he &s;hould &s;o far impo&s;e on his Peo|ple, as to make them to receive the &s;aid Book all at once, as that which had been con&s;tantly read in their Families every &s;eventh day, and year, and that for 600 years before his time? and therefore,
<PB N="29" REF="28">as a Book that had been &s;o long in all their Fami|lies, tho' indeed it was never heard of by them be|fore that time.</P>
<P>If an Impo&s;tor can create a Belief in others, that he hath &s;ome &s;ecret Communication with the Deity; tho&s;e who are thus per&s;waded by him, will ea&s;ily &s;ubmit them&s;elves to his Laws; but it is ab&s;olutely impo&s;&s;ible, that a whole People &s;hould all at once, forget what&s;oever they have learn'd, or heard of their Parents and Fore-Fathers, and in&s;tead thereof, admit of Tales forged at plea|&s;ure.</P>
<P>Some Nations have been &s;o ridiculous, to de|rive them&s;elves from a Fabulous Original, but they never fell into &s;uch Mi&s;takes about tho&s;e things which were at no great di&s;tance from the time in which they lived.</P>
<P>Be&s;ides, we know that the&s;e Fabulous Originals never made &s;o lively an impre&s;&s;ion upon the Minds of a whole Nations, e&s;pecially the Learned among&s;t them, as generally to be believed; but we rather find, that they have endeavoured to recon|cile them to truth, by &s;hewing &s;omething el&s;e was hinted thereby, as we may &s;ee by the Expli|cation the Heathens them&s;elves have given us of all their Fables, and utterly rejected tho&s;e which they could not reconcile to good &s;en&s;e.</P>
<P>But in this ca&s;e we find a whole Nation to this very day maintaining all the Matters of Fact rela|ted in <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> and in particular, that of the Creation, as of Matters who&s;e Memorial they have con&s;tant|ly celebrated every &s;eventh day, &s;ince the time they fir&s;t happened.</P>
<PB N="30" REF="29">
<P>La&s;tly, It cannot be deny'd, but that this Book was con&s;tantly u&s;ed to be read among&s;t the <HI>Jews,</HI> e&s;pecially on the Sabbath day, and that under the Name of <HI>Mo&s;es:</HI> For in&s;tance, &s;ince the time of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, or &s;ince that of <HI>David.</HI> Neither can it be denied, but this con&s;tant reading was ob|&s;erv'd by virtue of a Law contain'd in the &s;aid Book: Now if this Law has always been in this Book from the fir&s;t appearing of it, which can|not be que&s;tion'd; how was it po&s;&s;ible to forge and foi&s;t in this Book under the Name of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> the Founder of the <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Government. I &s;ay, this Book, which be&s;ides all this, contains &s;uch extra|ordinary Matters, and is the very Foundation of all their Religion.</P>
<P>I will not repeat here what I mention'd in the third Chapter, to make the Vanity of tho&s;e Men appear, who imagine the Book of <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> and the four that follow it, might have been forged by others, under <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> his Name: Yet I think I ought, before I proceed further, to remove a &s;eem|ing difficulty, which is often alledg'd by this &s;ort of People: For &s;ay they, it cannot be, that the&s;e Books were ever read, with that care and con|&s;tancy we &s;peak of, becau&s;e a time can be point|ed at, wherein the &s;aid Book was wholly un|known in the Kingdom of <HI>Judah;</HI> and indeed, the Hi&s;tory plainly informs us, that the Book of the Law was found again in the Reign of <HI>Jo&s;ias,</HI> from whence they infer, that if it were then un|known, it might as well be forged.</P>
<P>But indeed, they may conclude from hence, that which willingly we allow them, that there was a time wherein Ungodline&s;s did prevail, and
<PB N="31" REF="29">Idolatry was publickly e&s;tabli&s;h'd in the Kingdom of <HI>Judah</HI> it &s;elf, yet can they not from this in|&s;tance draw any other Con&s;equence which might &s;upport their preten&s;ions.</P>
<P>They mu&s;t needs acknowledge fir&s;t, that the Books of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> were not only among&s;t the three Tribes, but al&s;o among&s;t the ten, &s;ince the time of their Revolt under <HI>Rehoboam;</HI> that they who were carried by <HI>Salmana&s;&s;ar,</HI> into the Land of <HI>A&s;&s;yria,</HI> had the &s;aid Books among&s;t them, as well as tho&s;e of the ten Tribes, who were left in their own Countrey. Thus we &s;ee, that when the King of <HI>A&s;|&s;yria</HI> &s;ent &s;ome of the Prie&s;ts of <HI>Samaria</HI> to in&s;truct the Colony which he had &s;etled in their Coun|trey, in the Law of God; it is not &s;aid, that tho&s;e Prie&s;ts went to borrow the Law of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> from them of <HI>Judah,</HI> nor that the &s;aid Laws was alto|gether unknown in that Countrey; but only that they had formerly violated the Law of God, in &s;erving &s;trange Gods, as they &s;till did, but that withal, they kept the Law of God, which to this day is yet found among their Po&s;terity.</P>
<P>Secondly, It is evident that tho the wickedne&s;s and violence of <HI>Mana&s;&s;eh,</HI> cau&s;ed a great change in Matters of Religion, yet not &s;o great, but that his Subjects notwith&s;tanding, had &s;till the Books of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> among&s;t them; the Blood which he &s;hed in <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> was an evident &s;ign, that there were &s;ome Godly men left among&s;t them, who continued true to their Religion, and ob&s;erved the Laws of God. Be&s;ides, if we con&s;ider his Repentance, we mu&s;t conclude, that towards the end of his Reign, he did in &s;ome degree, re-e&s;ta|bli&s;h the purity of that Religion he had before
<PB N="32" REF="30">prophaned, a main part of which, was the expound|ing and reading of the Books of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> according to tho&s;e Laws before mention'd.</P>
<P>In the third place it is vi&s;ible, that the rea&s;on why <HI>Hilkiah,</HI> having found the Book of the Law in the Temple as they were clean&s;ing and repair|ing it, &s;ent the &s;ame to <HI>Jo&s;iah,</HI> was not becau&s;e there was no other &s;uch Book left in <HI>Judah,</HI> but becau&s;e the &s;aid Book being written by the hand of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> him&s;elf, there &s;eem'd to be &s;omething very extraordinary in the finding of it at that ve|ry time, when they were endeavouring a Refor|mation; and it was this Circum&s;tance which did in a more particular manner excite the Zeal of this good Prince. And indeed, if we &s;uppo&s;e that <HI>Jo&s;iah</HI> had never before &s;een the Book of the Law, how could he have apply'd him&s;elf to the re|forming of his Countrey, his People, and the Tem|ple, in the manner which is recorded in the Book of Kings? How could a &s;ufficient number of Copies of it be di&s;per&s;ed over all his Kingdom in an in&s;tant, to inform the People about the Ceremonials of the Pa&s;&s;over, which &s;oon after was &s;o Solemn|ly celebrated by them? Or, how is it po&s;&s;ible, that the <HI>Levites,</HI> the Prie&s;ts, and People, could have been all of the &s;uddain in&s;tructed in all the points to be ob&s;erved in the performing of that Holy Solemnity.</P>
<P>It is apparent, that the Sacred Hi&s;torian did for no other rea&s;on take notice of this Circum&s;tance, that the Book found, was of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> own hand Writing, but to make it appear, that their de|vout re&s;pect for this Book, was not wholly &s;tifled, as having been by them carefully hid from the
<PB N="33" REF="30">fury of their Idolatrous Kings, and laid up in &s;ome &s;ecret place of the Temple, where now they had &s;o happily found it again.</P>
<P>Over and above what hath been &s;aid already, we are to ob&s;erve, that how great &s;oever the wickedne&s;s of the Kings of <HI>Juda</HI> and <HI>I&s;rael</HI> was, as well as that of their Subjects, yet the &s;ame generally con&s;i&s;ted in nothing el&s;e, but the imi|tation of the Wor&s;hip of their Neighbour Nati|tions, as to &s;ome particulars, which tho they were forbid by the Law, yet they left the far grea|ter part of their Religion in full force. This we have an in&s;tance of in the time of <HI>Ahab,</HI> where we find <HI>Elijah</HI> reproaching the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> with the Mon&s;trous Alliance they had made betwixt the Wor&s;hip of God, and that of <HI>Baal,</HI> which Queen <HI>Je&s;abel</HI> had introduc'd.</P>
<P>All this clearly proves, that the Book of <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> which is the fir&s;t of the Books of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> was never forged under his Name, &s;ince it was always owned as the Writing of that Famous Author, and is &s;till &s;o acknowledged by the <HI>Jews</HI> at this day.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="7" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="34" REF="31">
<HEAD>CHAP. VII. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>That it appears from</HI> Gene&s;is, <HI>that the Sabbath was con&s;tantly ob&s;erved from the beginning of the World until</HI> Mo&s;es.</HEAD>
<P>THe other Objection of the Athei&s;ts (&s;uppo|&s;ing that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> was the Author of <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> as we have now proved) is this, that it &s;eems ab|&s;urd to give credit to the Relations of a Per&s;on who lived &s;o many Ages di&s;tant from the things he recites. To an&s;wer this Objection we mu&s;t fir&s;t of all declare to them, by what means the Memory of the Fact which <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> relates was pre|&s;erv'd &s;o lively and entire, as to give <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> &s;o di|&s;tinct a knowledge of them, and that it was not in his power to forge or add any thing of his own, it being a thing known to the whole World, as well as him&s;elf.</P>
<P>There is no way whereby we can more &s;olidly evince, that it is impo&s;&s;ible the Creation of the World &s;hould be forged by <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> than by ma|king it appear, that the Law of the Sabbath hath a natural Relation to the Creation of the World, and that it hath been always con&s;tantly ob&s;erved from that time until <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI> The &s;ame al&s;o will help us clearly to conceive after what manner the Memory of the Promi&s;e of the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah</HI> hath been pre&s;erv'd &s;o di&s;tinct among&s;t tho&s;e that lived &s;ince the Creation until <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI> We are no &s;ooner inform'd that the Sabbath is a &s;olemn day, or|dain'd
<PB N="35" REF="31">at fir&s;t to celebrate and perpetuate the Me|mory of the Creation, but we judge it impo&s;&s;ible, that &s;o important an event commemorated every &s;eventh day, by vertue of a Divine Law, &s;hould be an impo&s;ture. But fora&s;much as this impo&s;&s;i|bility is grounded on the&s;e two Propo&s;itions; the one, that God gave this Law of the Sabbath to the fir&s;t Man; the other, that the &s;ame was ob|&s;erved by his Po&s;terity ever &s;ince, till the time of <HI>Mo&s;es;</HI> and that God only renew'd it in the Law given from Mount <HI>Sinai:</HI> the&s;e are the Truths I am now to clear, and it is of more importance to be proved, becau&s;e, tho the generality of Au|thors, Ancient and Modern, <HI>Jews</HI> as well as <HI>Chri&s;tians,</HI> are of this Opinion, yet there are &s;ome of the Chri&s;tian Fathers who &s;eem to deny that the Sabbath was ever ob&s;erv'd by the Patriarchs. But it will be an ea&s;ie matter to prove from <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> that the Antiquity of the Sabbath is &s;uch as I a&s;&s;ert, and at the &s;ame time to demon&s;trate the truth of the Creation, as well as of the Promi&s;e of the <HI>Me&s;|&s;iah,</HI> which in a manner immediately follow'd it.</P>
<P><HI>Mo&s;es</HI> in the &s;econd Chapter of <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. II. 3.</NOTE> ex|pre&s;&s;es him&s;elf thus: <HI>And God ble&s;&s;ed the &s;eventh day and Sanctified it, becau&s;e that in it, he had re&s;ted from all his work, which he had Created:</HI> Which words clearly evince a Solemn Con&s;ecration of the &s;eventh day to God's Service, by its being made a Commemoration of his fini&s;hing the Creation of the Heavens and the Earth.</P>
<P>But becau&s;e it may be &s;aid, that the intent of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> in this place was only to &s;et down the rea|&s;on why God &s;et apart this day, of all others, to his Service, by the Law at Mount <HI>Sinai,</HI> we
<PB N="36" REF="32">are to take notice, that this appointment was made for Man's &s;ake already placed in the Garden of <HI>Eden.</HI> This we may gather from the order <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> ob&s;erves. For he &s;ets down fir&s;t the Formation of Man on the &s;ixth day, and his being plac'd in Paradi&s;e, which he gives a more particular ac|count of in the &s;econd Chapter, and after the&s;e, he relates God's re&s;ting from his Works, and the Con|&s;ecration of the Sabbath with the rea&s;on of that Law which he impos'd on Man; and then adds, <HI>The&s;e are the Generations of the Heavens and of the Earth, when they were Created, in the day that the Lord God made the Heaven and the Earth.</HI> All that precedes the&s;e words, is only a Relation of what pa&s;s'd in the &s;even fir&s;t days, and that which <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> &s;ets down concerning Gods ble&s;&s;ing of the &s;eventh day, and his Con&s;ecrating it, ought as well to be accounted a Law appointing the &s;eventh day for his Service, as tho&s;e other Ble&s;&s;ings, given to the Creatures according to their kinds, are ac|knowledged as inviolable Laws of God, by vir|tue whereof they &s;ub&s;i&s;t, and are perpetuated each according to their kind, by the way of Ge|neration.</P>
<P>In the &s;econd place, it is very remarkable, that the Patriarchs, maintain'd a Publick Wor&s;hip, at lea&s;t &s;ince the time of <HI>Seth;</HI> which it was ne|ce&s;&s;ary &s;hould be determined to &s;ome certain day; and &s;ince we find, that even at this time they di|&s;tingui&s;h'd between Bea&s;ts clean and unclean, with re&s;pect to their Sacrifices (which they could not do but from Revelation) we have much more rea&s;on to conclude, that God had &s;et apart a time for own Wor&s;hip and Service.</P>
<PB N="37" REF="32">
<P>And indeed, there are many evident &s;igns, that even then the 7 day was ob&s;erved.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Kimchi Prae|fat. in P&s;al|mos.</NOTE> I will not here peremptorily a&s;&s;ert that antient Tradition of the <HI>Jews,</HI> which tells us, that the ninety &s;econd P&s;alm, who&s;e Title is <HI>a P&s;alm for the Sabbath,</HI> was made by <HI>Adam</HI> him&s;elf, who was made on the Even|ing of the Sabbath: But this I dare a&s;&s;ert, that it is apparent,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. VIII. 10.12.</NOTE> that what we read in the eighth Chap|ter of <HI>Gene&s;is</HI> about the Deluge, doth refer to this cu&s;tom, where we find <HI>Noah</HI> &s;ending forth the Dove and the Raven on the &s;eventh day, which plainly hints to us his ob&s;erving of that day; for it &s;eems, that <HI>Noah</HI> having, in an e&s;pecial manner, on that &s;olemn day, implored the a&s;&s;i&s;tance of God in the A&s;&s;embly of his Family, he expected a particular Ble&s;&s;ing from it.</P>
<P>And we cannot but make &s;ome Reflexion on that which we read in the XXIX of <HI>Gene&s;is</HI> con|cerning the term of a Week &s;et apart to the Nup|tials of <HI>Leah,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. XXIX. 27.</NOTE> where at the twenty &s;eventh Ver&s;e <HI>Laban</HI> thus expre&s;&s;es him&s;elf. <HI>Fulfil her Week, and we will give thee this al&s;o, for the Service which thou &s;halt &s;erve with me yet &s;even other Years.</HI> This Week here doth &s;o plainly &s;ignifie a Week of days that it cannot be more naturally expre&s;s'd; and indeed, all generally under&s;tand by this Week of the Mar|riage Fea&s;t of <HI>Leah,</HI> that term of time which in &s;ucceeding Ages hath been cu&s;tomary to allot to Nuptial Fe&s;tivals, as appears from the Book of <HI>E&s;ther,</HI> where the Wedding Fea&s;t of <HI>Va&s;thi</HI> la&s;ted &s;even days, this term of &s;even days having &s;o long &s;ince been Con&s;ecrated to Nuptial Rejoy|cings.</P>
<P>The &s;ame we may al&s;o gather from the time
<PB N="38" REF="33">which was ordinarily allotted to mourning for the Dead, to which we find the Patriarchs allotted a term proportion'd to that of their rejoicing. For as we &s;ee that the <HI>Egyptians</HI> mourned ten Weeks for <HI>Jacob,</HI> becau&s;e of his Quality, as being the Fa|ther of <HI>Jo&s;eph,</HI> &s;o we find that <HI>Jo&s;eph,</HI> and tho&s;e that accompanied him, mourned &s;even days at his Enterment in the Land of <HI>Canaan:</HI> And as we find, that this Cu&s;tom was perpetually afterwards ob&s;erv'd by the <HI>Jews,</HI> as appears from <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;ticus</HI> XXII. 12. &s;o likewi&s;e we find the &s;ame ob&s;erved by the <HI>A&s;iaticks,</HI> as may be &s;een in the Hi&s;tory of <HI>Ammianus Marcellinus,</HI> at the beginning of his nine|teenth Book,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>De fide Re|&s;ur. in obitu Sat.</HI> p. 321. Seven days were fulfil|led after that the Lord had &s;mote the River. <HI>Jalkut</HI> in h. l.</NOTE> and from them it pa&s;&s;ed to the Chri|&s;tians, as we find in St. <HI>Ambro&s;e.</HI></P>
<P>Thirdly, It appears from <HI>Exod.</HI> VII. 25. that God ob&s;erved &s;even days after he had &s;mote the River to change the Waters thereof into Blood; from whence the <HI>Jews</HI> conclude, that the three Plagues <HI>Viz.</HI> that of Blood, of Frogs, and of Lice, abode on the Land of <HI>Egypt</HI> &s;ix days, and were withdrawn on the &s;eventh, which is the Sabbath.</P>
<P>We may al&s;o gather, if we calculate the time exactly, that the <HI>Jews</HI> in <HI>Egypt</HI> ob&s;erved the Sab|bath. We find from the Hi&s;tory of their depar|ture out of <HI>Egypt,</HI> that the &s;ame happened on a <HI>Thur&s;day,</HI> being the fifteenth of the Month <HI>Ni&s;an,</HI> and the day in which they &s;ung tho&s;e Hymns of Deliverance, was the Sabbath which God had particularly &s;et apart for this Week.</P>
<P>It is al&s;o evident from <HI>Exod.</HI> XVI. that the keep|ing of the Sabbath was ob&s;erv'd by the <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI> before the Law was given on Mount <HI>Sinai.</HI> For we find God &s;peaking there concerning the Sab|bath,
<PB N="39" REF="33">not as of a thing newly in&s;tituted, but as of an antient Law, which they wer e not to tran&s;gre&s;s by gathering the Manna on that day; for he or|ders them to gather a double portion the &s;ixth day, and not to gather any on the &s;eventh. We &s;ee that the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> re&s;ting on the &s;eventh day is here &s;uppo&s;ed a known and cu&s;tomary thing, pre&s;cri|bed to them by a Law of old.</P>
<P>They who went forth to gather Manna on the &s;eventh day are repre&s;ented as Tran&s;gre&s;&s;ors of a known Law, as appears from the words of the Lord to <HI>Mo&s;es. How long refu&s;e ye to keep my Com|mandments and my Laws? Mo&s;es</HI> al&s;o &s;peaks of the Sabbath which was to be the next day, as of a thing cu&s;tomary, and received among&s;t them. <HI>To morrow</HI> (&s;aith he, at <HI>v.</HI> 23.) <HI>is the re&s;t of the Sab|bath of holine&s;s unto the Lord;</HI> words which would have been unintelligible to the <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI> and expre&s;s'd a Law, altogether impracticable, in ca&s;e they had been de&s;titute of any further knowledge concern|ing it, and had not been acquainted, that it was the very day in which the great work of Creation had been fini&s;hed.</P>
<P>My fourth Ob&s;ervation I take from the very words of the Decalogue, where fir&s;t of all we find God &s;peaking in this manner, <HI>Remember the Sabbath day;</HI> which words clearly import,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. XX. 8.</NOTE> that the Law he gave, was not a new Law, but indeed as old as the World, and which had been ob&s;er|ved by their Forefathers. It &s;eems probable al&s;o, that God expre&s;&s;es him&s;elf in the&s;e terms, becau&s;e the Tyranny of <HI>Pharaoh</HI> had forc'd them to break this Law, by obliging them to deliver their Tale of Bricks every day, without excepting the Sab|bath,
<PB N="40" REF="34">which before he had allowed them to keep.</P>
<P>This is explained very di&s;tinctly in the fifth of <HI>Exodus,</HI> and &s;eems to have been the occa&s;ion of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s demanding Straw of <HI>Pharaoh,</HI> for the <HI>I&s;ra|elites</HI> to go and Sacrifice, in an&s;wer to which de|mand,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. V. 5.</NOTE> <HI>Pharaoh</HI> expre&s;&s;es him&s;elf in terms which &s;hew that formerly they had ob&s;erved a re&s;t on that day: However it be, yet thus much is appa|rent, that God commands them to make their Bond Servants to ob&s;erve the Sabbath, becau&s;e the <HI>Egyptians</HI> by their example inclin'd them not to be very careful in exempting them from all la|bour on that day.</P>
<P>Moreover, in the &s;econd place we are to take no|tice, that in the la&s;t words of the fourth Command|ment, God &s;peaks of it as of a thing formerly ap|pointed and determin'd by him, &s;aying, <HI>For in &s;ix days the Lord made Heaven and Earth, and re&s;ted the &s;eventh day, wherefore the Lord ble&s;&s;ed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it;</HI> which words have a manife&s;t and undeniable reference to that which happen'd the &s;eventh day after the Creation, and to the Law then given to Man concerning it.</P>
<P>We may gather from the fourth Chapter of the Epi&s;tle to the <HI>Hebrews,</HI> that the &s;en&s;e which we have put upon the third Ver&s;e of the &s;econd of <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> is the &s;ame which the <HI>Jews</HI> have always had of it. The Apo&s;tle di&s;cour&s;ing from tho&s;e words of <HI>David,</HI> P&s;al. XCV. <HI>To whom I &s;ware in my wrath, that they &s;hould not enter into my re&s;t,</HI> doth &s;uppo&s;e a threefold re&s;t, the fir&s;t of which, is the re&s;t of the Sabbath, of which mention is made in the &s;econd of <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> where we have the fir&s;t in|&s;titution of it; the &s;econd was the re&s;t in the Land
<PB N="41" REF="34">of <HI>Canaan</HI> promi&s;ed to the <HI>Jews</HI> upon their endu|ring all tho&s;e Tryals in the Wilderne&s;s: the third, the re&s;t in Heaven, of which the two foregoing were but the Figures. He argues therefore, that the&s;e words of <HI>David</HI> could not be under&s;tood, concerning the Sabbath day; fora&s;much as from the beginning of the World Men entred into that re&s;t of the Sabbath; and he proves this, by that pa&s;&s;age in <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> of which he only cites the fir&s;t words, <HI>viz.</HI> That <HI>God re&s;ted the &s;eventh day from all his works,</HI> as &s;uppo&s;ing that the <HI>Jews,</HI> to whom he wrote, had no need of having the following words quoted to them, which tell us, that <HI>God ble&s;&s;ed the &s;eventh day and hallowed it:</HI> that is, he Con&s;ecrated the &s;ame to his wor&s;hip and &s;ervice, fora&s;much as nothing was more publickly and u|niver&s;ally known among&s;t them, the Ob&s;ervation of the Sabbath being a thing generally received, even before the giving of the Law.</P>
<P>And indeed, the <HI>Philo</HI> the <HI>Jew</HI> be of opinion, that the practice of Solemnizing that day, had &s;uffer'd &s;ome interruption; and that for this rea|&s;on, the Law of the Sabbath was given to <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> yet it is well known fir&s;t of all,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Eu&s;eb</HI> praep Evang. l. 13. c. 12.</NOTE> that <HI>Aristobulus</HI> the <HI>Peripatetick,</HI> in a Treati&s;e dedicated by him to <HI>Ptolemy,</HI> &s;urnamed <HI>Philadelphus,</HI> cites &s;everal Pa&s;|&s;ages of <HI>Homer, He&s;iod,</HI> and <HI>Linus,</HI> Heathen Poets, which mention the &s;eventh day as a Fe&s;tival, and Solemn day, becau&s;e all things were fini&s;hed in the &s;ame.</P>
<P>In the next place, it is notorious, that if &s;ome of the Fathers, as <HI>Ju&s;tin Martyr</HI> and <HI>Tertullian</HI> writing again&s;t the <HI>Jews,</HI> have deny'd that the Patriarchs ob&s;erved the &s;eventh day, they did &s;o
<PB N="42" REF="35">rather with regard to the rigor of that Law, which forbad all manner of work on that day upon pain of Death, (which was &s;uperadded by God to the fir&s;t Law of the Sabbath) than to the Ob&s;ervati|on of the Sabbath, as it was a day appointed to make a Solemn Commemoration of the Creation of the World.</P>
<P>In a word, we are to take notice, that the dif|ference which God makes between the Sabbath, ob&s;erv'd by the Patriarchs, and that which he ap|pointed to the <HI>Jews,</HI> did con&s;i&s;t in two things: Fir&s;t, in that God did impo&s;e an ab&s;olute nece&s;&s;ity upon the <HI>Jews</HI> to ab&s;tain from all manner of work, even to the very dre&s;&s;ing of Meat, nece&s;&s;ary for the &s;upport of Life: We find this di&s;tinction clearly expre&s;s'd in the Law which God gave con|cerning the fir&s;t and &s;eventh day of the Fea&s;t of Unleavened Bread, for he ab&s;olutely forbids all manner of work on the&s;e two days, as much as on the Sabbath, even the preparing of nece&s;&s;ary food, which he permits the five other days, forbidding only Servil Laborious Works.</P>
<P>Secondly, In that the working on that day by the Law, is made puni&s;hable with death, which was not &s;o before; which Innovation, and new rigour of the Law, e&s;tabli&s;hed by God, was au|thorized, by the puni&s;hing of him who had ga|thered Sticks on the Sabbath day, whereas we find, that before the Law was given upon Mount <HI>Sinai,</HI> God did not command tho&s;e <HI>Jews</HI> to be puni&s;hed with death, who went forth the &s;eventh day to gather Manna, according to their an|cient Cu&s;tom of dre&s;&s;ing their Meat on that day.</P>
<PB N="43" REF="35">
<P>Let me add this further, that tho the Apo&s;tles had aboli&s;hed the rigour of the Law concerning the Sabbath, introduced by <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> yet they them|&s;elves ob&s;erved it; which practi&s;e of theirs, in all probability, gave occa&s;ion to the Chri&s;tians, for almo&s;t four Centuries, to keep the Sabbath as well as the fir&s;t day of the Week, Solemnizing both tho&s;e days, the one as a Commemoration of the Creation of the World, and the other of the Re|&s;urrection of our Saviour Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>But what ever Judgment may be pa&s;t on this la&s;t Remark, it is very evident from <HI>Gene&s;is</HI> and <HI>Exodus:</HI> Fir&s;t, that the Law of the Sabbath was ob&s;erved before <HI>Mo&s;es:</HI> Secondly, that this Ob|&s;ervation was by the fir&s;t Patriarchs propagated among the Heathens al&s;o, as well as the Idea of the Creation; or as the practice of Sacrificing, with the other parts of Religious Wor&s;hip, the Original whereof, may be &s;een in the Book of <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> as we &s;hall make appear in our following Di&s;cour&s;e.</P>
<P>After all this, we mu&s;t conclude again&s;t the Athei&s;t, that either <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> mu&s;t imprudently have laid a Snare for him&s;elf, in forging a matter of fact, of which, not only the <HI>Jews,</HI> but all the World were able to convince him, &s;ince there were none among&s;t them but mu&s;t needs be Con&s;cious whe|ther they had ob&s;erved the Sabbath in Comme|moration of the Creation, as he relates it, or no; or el&s;e, that the Creation of the World, being a matter of fact &s;o generally known, and the Me|morial of it Solemnized every &s;eventh day by all tho&s;e who preceded him, mu&s;t needs be an un|conte&s;ted and immoveable truth, which I &s;hall
<PB N="44" REF="36">farther evince by tho&s;e Ob&s;ervations which I &s;hall rai&s;e from the dependance and connexion, which the Matters related by <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> in <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> have with the Creation, and the Promi&s;e of the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah.</HI> This is my bu&s;ine&s;s at pre&s;ent, in performing of which I &s;hall make it appear, that nothing can be ima|gin'd more rational and coherent, than the Rela|tions of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> in which the Athei&s;ts imagine, that they di&s;cover &s;o great Ab&s;urdities.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="8" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. VIII. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>That</HI> Adam <HI>was convinced of his Creation, by Rea&s;on and Authority.</HI></HEAD>
<P>THo' it might be thought more natural in the&s;e our Di&s;qui&s;itions about the Hi&s;tory of <HI>Ge|ne&s;is,</HI> to begin with tho&s;e matters which happened near the time of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and from them to pa&s;s to tho&s;e at a greater di&s;tance, yet I have cho&s;en ra|ther to follow the Thread of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> his Di&s;cour&s;e, hoping that this Method will afford more light to the&s;e our Reflexions: At lea&s;t, it will &s;pare me the trouble of frequent Repetitions, which in the other way I &s;hould be nece&s;&s;arily oblig'd to. I begin then with this, <HI>That</HI> Adam <HI>was convinced of his Creation, both by Rea&s;on and Authority.</HI></P>
<P>The Creation of <HI>Adam</HI> being a thing of that na|ture, that he mu&s;t fir&s;t be convinced of it him&s;elf, before he could per&s;wade his Po&s;terity to enter|tain the belief of it, it is worth our enquiry to
<PB N="45" REF="36">know what ways he had to a&s;&s;ure him&s;elf, that he was indeed Created in that manner as <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> re|lates. And, fora&s;much as the certainty of this Tradition depends upon the Authority of <HI>Adam,</HI> whom <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> &s;uppo&s;es to have been the fir&s;t Deli|verer of it: It is plain, that we mu&s;t be a&s;&s;ured that <HI>Adam</HI> could not deceive him&s;elf in this mat|ter, as it is evident enough that he would not de|ceive his Children, when he took care to in|&s;truct them concerning it.</P>
<P>As to his own Exi&s;tence, he could not but be as &s;trongly per&s;waded of it, as we are of ours, all the difficulty lying in the manner how he came to exi&s;t. Now there were two ways by which <HI>Adam</HI> might inform him&s;elf of this, <HI>viz.</HI> by Rea&s;on, and the Te&s;timony of Authority. He could ea&s;ily find out this Secret by a rational Reflexion: Or, he might al&s;o be per&s;waded of it by God him&s;elf, who had Created him, not to mention now any information which he might have from the Angels who were Witne&s;&s;es of his Creation.</P>
<P>It appears, that <HI>Adam,</HI> who&s;e Tradition <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> has recorded, &s;uppo&s;es, that he had learnt of God him&s;elf the manner of his own Formation. God &s;peaks to <HI>Adam,</HI> and Sanctifies the &s;eventh day; that is, obliges <HI>Adam</HI> to keep the Memorial of his Creation, he ties him by a Law to Commemorate his Creation fifty two times a Year, and to render him continual thanks for the Being he had recei|ved.</P>
<P>But, fora&s;much as <HI>Adam</HI> was capable of making Reflexions upon tho&s;e &s;everal matters, which God had made known to him concerning his Creati|on; I &s;ay, it cannot be imagin'd, but that he mu&s;t
<PB N="46" REF="37">have taken the&s;e things into con&s;ideration, and have been convinc'd of the truth of them, by the light of Rea&s;on.</P>
<P>The truth of a Relation con&s;i&s;ting in its Con|formity, with the matter related, it appears clear|ly, that <HI>Adam</HI> could certainly know the truth of what God had declared to him, by examining the things them&s;elves.</P>
<P>We may di&s;tingui&s;h &s;everal Propo&s;itions in the Revelation God made to him concerning the manner of his Creation.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t was, That his Body was taken from the Earth.</P>
<P>The next, That his Soul was not framed before his Body.</P>
<P>The Third, That his Soul had been joyned to his Body to con&s;titute one individual Per&s;on.</P>
<P>The Fourth, That he was Created in a full and perfect Age.</P>
<P>The Fifth, That his Wife was formed of a Rib, taken out of his &s;ide, during the time that he was ca&s;t into a deep Sleep.</P>
<P>The&s;e are the Truths I propo&s;e as in&s;tances, the rather becau&s;e there is not one of them of which <HI>Adam</HI> him&s;elf could be a Witne&s;s.</P>
<P>And yet I affirm, there is none of the&s;e which he could not be a&s;&s;ured of by the light of rea&s;on, being convinc'd of them by the &s;ame means which a&s;&s;ured him of the Exi&s;tence of his Soul and Body. The Con&s;ideration therefore of the&s;e two Mat|ters, was of good u&s;e to confirm the Revelation which God had vouch&s;afed him concerning his Creation, of which he could not be a Witne&s;s him&s;elf.</P>
<PB N="47" REF="37">
<P>That his Body was taken from the Earth, <HI>Adam</HI> might ea&s;ily infer, from the food that maintain'd it; for what is the matter of Man's nouri&s;hment, but a dige&s;ted, and di&s;gui&s;ed Earth? And finding him&s;elf, at fir&s;t, in a perfect e&s;tate, it was natural for him to Judge that his Body had been thus at once framed of the Earth, without pa&s;&s;ing tho&s;e &s;everal degrees of growth, whereby Children ar|rive to their ju&s;t Stature.</P>
<P>And he might as ea&s;ily be a&s;&s;ured, that his Soul was not formed before his Body. The Soul is a Being, con&s;cious of his own Operations and Thoughts, wherefore he needed only make this Reflexion: <HI>My Soul has had neither knowledge nor thoughts before it was united to my Body; therefore my Soul did not exi&s;t before it.</HI> No great &s;tudy was required to make &s;o natural a Conclu&s;ion as this is.</P>
<P>Again, how could he be ignorant of the union of his Soul with the Body? Was it not obvious for him to be a&s;&s;ur'd hereof, by the ready obedi|ence which he &s;aw his Body yield unto his Soul? He had the Idea of a Tree, as well as the Idea of his Foot or Arm, whence it was ea&s;ie for him to reflect thus: <HI>How comes it to pa&s;s, that I command my Feet and my Arms, and that I cannot do the &s;ame to a Stone or Tree, tho' I have the Idea of the one, as well as of the other?</HI> Mu&s;t not this proceed from, a nearer union it hath with the one, than with the other? He knew that this union continued du|ring his Sleep, and was independent of his Will. In a word, he had the &s;ame proofs of this union, which we have of it at pre&s;ent, only they were in him much more lively, becau&s;e our Infancy makes
<PB N="48" REF="38">us in &s;ome &s;ort ignorant of the Nature of our Souls, our Souls accu&s;toming them&s;elves by little and little, to depend upon the Sen&s;es, &s;o as not to be able to rai&s;e them&s;elves, without &s;ome trouble, above their Operations.</P>
<P>Neither was it le&s;s evident to <HI>Adam,</HI> that he was produced at a perfect Age: He &s;aw that his Food maintain'd Life, and he knew a&s;&s;uredly, that he had not taken any but very lately: How then could he attain to that Stature without that help? Or how was it that he found him&s;elf now ready to faint, if he deferr'd to take it, which formerly he had not felt the want of? The&s;e Reflexions made it unque&s;tionable to him that he was formed in a perfect Age.</P>
<P>And La&s;tly, it was yet more ea&s;ie for him to be per&s;waded of the truth of God's Revelation con|cerning the forming of <HI>Eve,</HI> he needed but to count his own Ribs, and tho&s;e of his Wife, for he could not find one le&s;s in him&s;elf than in his Wife, without being fully &s;atisfied in that Matter.</P>
<P>The&s;e Propo&s;itions, with many others of like nature, being &s;uch as <HI>Adam</HI> could be a&s;&s;ur'd of the truth of, by making Reflexion either on him|&s;elf, or on Plants, or living Creatures, greatly confirming his belief in the Divine Te&s;timony, concerning his Creation, we may ea&s;ily infer, that <HI>Adam</HI> could not deceive him&s;elf about that Matter.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="9" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="49" REF="38">
<HEAD>CHAP. IX. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>That</HI> Adam <HI>was confirmed by his own Experience, in the per&s;wa&s;ion he had entertain'd concerning his Creation.</HI></HEAD>
<P>WHen I take for granted, that <HI>Adam</HI> could &s;atis&s;ie him&s;elf concerning the truth of God's Revelation, by &s;ome natural and ea&s;ie Re|flexions, I don't find how any can think &s;trange of this Hypothe&s;is, except &s;ome, perchance, might think that I make <HI>Adam</HI> too Contemplative.</P>
<P>But if any will be pleas'd to make the&s;e follow|ing Ob&s;ervations, they will ju&s;tifie me, that I have attributed nothing to him, but what agrees exact|ly with his Character.</P>
<P>The Fir&s;t is, That <HI>Adam</HI> finding him&s;elf imme|diately upon his Creation, at his full and perfect Age, he was void of tho&s;e Prejudices, which the ignorance and weakne&s;s of his Infancy are the cau&s;e of; his Mind was not tainted with Popular Er|rors, which oft are &s;o great a hindrance to the knowledge of truth: He had not yet received any ill impre&s;&s;ion; and when afterwards he was &s;o credulous as to give way to a Temptation, his Experience prov'd a mo&s;t powerful means to in|form his Rea&s;on, and withdraw him from his Error.</P>
<P>Be&s;ides, we &s;uppo&s;e here, that the Divine Te|&s;timonie, which acquainted him with the parti|cular Circum&s;tances of his Creation, was pre|cedent to the Reflexions <HI>Adam</HI> made, and indeed,
<PB N="50" REF="39">was the cau&s;e of them. If we &s;uppo&s;e &s;ome Coun|trey-man, not capable of di&s;covering of him&s;elf, all on a &s;uddain, the manner how &s;uch a thing came to pa&s;s, yet this is certain, that his Rea&s;on alone will be able to &s;atisfie him, whether the thing happened in that manner which the Relati|on of it imports, he needs but con&s;ult the Rules of Probability to be determin'd in this Matter.</P>
<P><HI>Adam</HI> had not only the advantage of being formed at a perfect Age, of being acquainted by the Mouth of God him&s;elf, about the Creation of the World, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and of living &s;o many Ages, which gave him lei&s;ure enough to con&s;ider the pro|bability of what God had revealed to him, to ex|amine the grounds and certainty of it, and in a word, to judge whether the &s;aid Reflexions were to be rejected as Fabulous, or to be relyed on as of mo&s;t certain and evident truth: But over and above all this, <HI>Adam</HI> could rationally a&s;&s;ure him|&s;elf of the Manner how the things (which he had not &s;een) were done by the experience he had of other Matters, which were comprehended in the Divine Revelation.</P>
<P>The manner how his Body had been formed of the Earth, was, I confe&s;s, a thing difficult to be conceiv'd, but the production of an Infant like to him&s;elf, by the way of Generation, which he af|terwards was a&s;&s;ured of by experience, was &s;uffi|cient to confirm his mind in the belief of the Di|vine Revelation: The way of Generation, being at lea&s;t as much, if not more difficult to compre|hend, as the manner of his Creation.</P>
<P>We have great rea&s;on to &s;uppo&s;e, that as it was <HI>Adam</HI>'s Duty, that &s;o he did really make tho&s;e
<PB N="51" REF="39">Reflexions, I have attributed to him, if we con&s;i|der, that God gave him a Law proportion'd to the &s;tate in which he was Created: For this Law &s;uppo&s;es that <HI>Adam</HI> own'd him&s;elf God's Subject; that he con&s;ider'd God as his great Benefactor, that he hop'd for Rewards from him, and fear'd to be puni&s;h'd by him.</P>
<P>And La&s;tly, If I &s;hould grant that the&s;e Reflexi|ons did not at fir&s;t make &s;o deep an impre&s;&s;ion in his heart, yet at lea&s;t, it cannot be deny'd, but that after his Fall, he was in a manner nece&s;&s;itated to meditate on the&s;e truths: God appeared to him in a vi&s;ible manner, God pa&s;&s;ed Sentence upon him, his Wife, and the Serpent; God condemn'd the Serpent, and afforded his Grace to Man; God made him a Promi&s;e proportion'd to the evil into which he was fallen. The Woman had deceiv'd her Husband, which did naturally tend to di&s;unite them, but God uniting him&s;elf again with <HI>Adam,</HI> made the effect of his Promi&s;e to depend upon <HI>A|dam</HI>'s re-union with his Wife, having a&s;&s;ured him, that the Off&s;pring of his Wife &s;hould be his Re|deemer: God threatned the Woman with extream Pains in Child-bearing, he drave them out of the Garden of <HI>Eden,</HI> and placed a Flame of Fire to guard the entrance there.</P>
<P>All this without doubt, would never &s;uffer <HI>Adam</HI> &s;lightly to pa&s;s over Matters of &s;o great impor|tance as his Creation, and the manner of his being formed out of the Earth. Things being thus &s;ta|ted, it is ea&s;ie to judge whether we have &s;uppo&s;ed <HI>Adam</HI> too Subtil and Contemplative by attribu|ting the fore&s;aid Reflexions to him.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="10" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="52" REF="40">
<HEAD>CHAP. X. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>That the Children of</HI> Adam <HI>had rea&s;on to be convinc'd of the Creation.</HI></HEAD>
<P>IT is apparent, that as &s;oon as the Children of <HI>Adam</HI> were arrived to years of under&s;tanding, they were in a condition to make Reflexions on the manner of their production, according to the information receiv'd of their Parents. They were able to compare the twofold Original of Man; the one, in which the Body was immediately ta|ken from the Earth; the other, in which it was produc'd by Generation, and were able to judge if either of them were improbable; and in parti|cular, whether the formation of their Parents, with other Matters con&s;equent, and depending on it, could be &s;ufficiently proved and confirm'd.</P>
<P>For it was ea&s;ie for them to judge, that their Parents, of who&s;e tenderne&s;s and care they had &s;o great experience, could not have had the lea&s;t de&s;ign to deceive them in what they had deliver'd to them concerning the Creation. They had al&s;o lei&s;ure enough during the long Lives they enjoy'd, to examine the Solidity of tho&s;e Rea&s;ons which per&s;waded their Parents of the truth of their Creation.</P>
<P>For in&s;tance, they could ea&s;ily inform them|&s;elves whether there were any more Men and Wo|men than their Father and Mother, that had been before them, whether they were produced from
<PB N="53" REF="40">the Earth, or by a fortuitous concour&s;e of Atoms, whether there were any other Language be&s;ides that which they &s;pake? Whether there were any Ruins of Buildings, or other remains which &s;igni|fied that Arts had been formerly Cultivated? And in a word, whether there were any rea&s;on to per|&s;wade them, that the World had not its beginning at the time which their Parents a&s;&s;igned for it?</P>
<P>Neither were they only in a condition to judge of the truth of the&s;e things, but their Sen&s;es were able to convince them of it: As for in&s;tance, by &s;eeing the fir&s;t Trees, the production of others from them, and the different degrees of their growth.</P>
<P>But be&s;ides all this, they could experience mo&s;t of the&s;e things in their own Per&s;ons, they could know whether God had a&s;&s;igned to Man the Fruit of Trees, and Grain for their Food, as <HI>Mo|&s;es</HI> has recorded, only by examining their own Mouths, which were formed to chew Fruits, and not to tear the raw fle&s;h of Animals, which re|quires &s;harper and &s;tronger Sets of Teeth, than tho&s;e they found them&s;elves provided with, the eating of fle&s;h not being introduced till after the Deluge.</P>
<P>Thus after the Act of Generation, they &s;aw their Children Born, as it was repre&s;ented to them, that they them&s;elves had been formed.</P>
<P>They had al&s;o before their eyes &s;en&s;ible &s;igns of the truth of the Matters related to them: As for in&s;tance, the continual Miracle of a Flame of Fire, which kept them from entring into Paradi&s;e, was a certain Argument of the fir&s;t &s;in, of which they had not been Eye-witne&s;&s;es.</P>
<PB N="54" REF="41">
<P>The Pains of a Woman in Child-bearing, did the more confirm the truth of the Divine Sen|tence, becau&s;e it was not obvious for them to ap|prehend &s;uch Con&s;equences from an act which was plea&s;ing to their Sen&s;ual Appetites.</P>
<P>And La&s;tly, Fora&s;much as they kept a Solemn day to Celebrate the Memory of the World's Na|tivity, on which &s;eventh day, their Parents re|peated to them no le&s;s than two and fifty times a Year, the &s;ame thing, informing them of the man|ner of their Formation; 'tis impo&s;&s;ible to &s;up|po&s;e, that they &s;hould let the&s;e things pa&s;s with|out making any Reflexion on the truth of them, and the rather becau&s;e we cannot rationally con|ceive, that they &s;hould have been &s;erious in any Duties of Religion, without having fir&s;t examin'd the truth of the Creation, and of the Promi&s;e of a Redeemer, which are the true Grounds of all Religious Acts what&s;oever.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="11" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XI. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>That the Children of</HI> Adam <HI>were actually con|vinced of the Truth of the Creation, and the Promi&s;e of the</HI> Me&s;&s;iah.</HEAD>
<P>I Suppo&s;e it is &s;ufficiently evident, that the im|mediate Po&s;terity of <HI>Adam</HI> could ea&s;ily be a&s;|&s;ured of the manner how their Parents had been produc'd, from whom they deriv'd their Beings. They could likewi&s;e be fully &s;atisfied about the truth of their &s;in, and the Promi&s;e God had made
<PB N="55" REF="41">them, <HI>That one of their Po&s;terity &s;hould de&s;troy the Enemy of Mankind.</HI></P>
<P>My bu&s;ine&s;s therefore next, is to &s;hew that they were actually a&s;&s;ured of the truth of the&s;e Matters: this will appear if we con&s;ider two things.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t is, that as the&s;e Matters were the chief Objects of their Meditation, becau&s;e of their ex|traordinary importance, &s;o it is evident that they acted as Per&s;ons fully &s;atisfied of the truth of them.</P>
<P>The other is, That as they had been in&s;tructed in the&s;e Truths by their Parents, &s;o they deliver'd the &s;ame to their Po&s;terity, to whom they tran&s;|mitted the belief of the&s;e Matters, as of things al|together unque&s;tionable.</P>
<P>I &s;ay then, that they acted as tho&s;e who were fully a&s;&s;ured of the truth of the&s;e Matters, which appears throughout the whole cour&s;e of their Lives, not only when they did that which was good, but when they were overtaken with &s;in: And this alone, methinks, is &s;ufficient to evidence the deep impre&s;&s;ion, the belief of the Creation, and the Promi&s;e of the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah,</HI> had made on their Hearts.</P>
<P>Sacrifices are Acts of Religious Wor&s;hip; and this Cu&s;tom therefore of Sacrificing, which we find among&s;t the Children of <HI>Adam,</HI> was an evident mark of their Piety; and this their Religious Inclination was, without doubt, the effect of their being per&s;waded of the truth of the Creation, and fir&s;t Promi&s;e.</P>
<P>The &s;in of <HI>Cain</HI> in killing his Brother, &s;hews the &s;ame per&s;wa&s;ion: The Divine Oracle, <HI>The Seed of the Woman, &s;hall brui&s;e the Serpent's head,</HI>
<PB N="56" REF="42">being expre&s;s'd in very general terms, was applica|ble, either to the fir&s;t Son of <HI>Eve,</HI> or to his Po|&s;terity; or el&s;e, to &s;ome other who might be cal|led her Seed, becau&s;e born from one of her Po|&s;terity.</P>
<P>It is natural for us, to pa&s;s from one meaning to another, when we are in &s;earch for the true &s;en&s;e of &s;uch <HI>general propo&s;itions</HI> as the&s;e. Now it appears from the Name which <HI>Eve</HI> gave to <HI>Cain,</HI> that &s;he took the words of this Oracle in the fir&s;t &s;en&s;e, that is, &s;he looked upon <HI>Cain</HI> to be the Son that had been promis'd her, as appears from her own words.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. IV. 1.</NOTE> <HI>I have</HI> (&s;aith &s;he) <HI>gotten a Man from the Lord.</HI> And it cannot be doubted, that being in this Opinion her &s;elf, &s;he was not wanting to cheri&s;h and flatter this hope in her Son, that he was to fulfil the fir&s;t Prophecy or Divine Oracle: Neither is it any whit &s;tranger to &s;uppo&s;e this, than to imagine, that <HI>Mandane</HI> did in&s;til into her Son <HI>Cyrus</HI> a&s;piring thoughts for the Empire of <HI>A&s;ia,</HI> from the Dream of his Father <HI>A&s;tyages,</HI> which &s;he look'd upon as a Divine foreboding.</P>
<P>When we read therefore, that <HI>Cain</HI> &s;lew his Bro|ther, &s;eeing him preferr'd of God by a very di|&s;tingui&s;hing mark in the Act of their Sacrificing, through the jealou&s;ie and hatred he had conceived again&s;t him: May we not very naturally con|clude from thence, that as he had never doubted of the truth of the Promi&s;e, &s;o he could not en|dure to &s;ee another come to di&s;pute his Preten&s;i|ons of being the fulfiller of that fir&s;t Oracle.</P>
<P>A like Reflexion we may make upon the Name which <HI>Eve</HI> gave to <HI>Seth,</HI> and indeed, the <HI>Jews</HI> in their antient Commentaries on <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> lead us to
<PB N="57" REF="42">it: <HI>She called his Name</HI> Seth,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rabboth</HI> fol. 27. col. 2. par. 23. <HI>&amp; alibi.</HI></NOTE> <HI>for God</HI> (&s;aid &s;he) <HI>has appointed me another Seed. R. Tanchuma</HI> following the Notion of <HI>R. Samuel,</HI> &s;aith, That &s;he had re|gard to that Seed which was to proceed from ano|ther, or a &s;trange place; and what Seed is that? &s;aith he. 'Tis the King, the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah.</HI></P>
<P>I pretend not to maintain the Solidity of the Reflexions they make upon the words, <HI>Another Seed.</HI> They &s;eem rather to have pleas'd them&s;elves in &s;porting with a word which admits of both &s;ig|nifications, <HI>other</HI> and <HI>strange,</HI> than to give us an exact and di&s;tinct notion of the importance of that word. Thus much at lea&s;t, we cannot deny, but that <HI>Eve</HI> con&s;idering her Son <HI>Seth,</HI> as him whom God had given her in&s;tead of <HI>Abel,</HI> &s;he could do no le&s;s than acquaint him with her hopes; and in|deed, this information was that which not only di&s;po&s;ed <HI>Seth</HI> and his Po&s;terity for Piety and the Spirit of Religion, but did al&s;o in a particular manner incline them to &s;eparate from the Race of <HI>Cain,</HI> as from tho&s;e whom God had bereft of the right of fulfilling the fir&s;t Oracle, to which naturally they might pretend.</P>
<P>It appears from the Example of <HI>Enoch,</HI> that the Children of <HI>Adam</HI> lived in the exerci&s;e of Religi|ous Wor&s;hip: And we know that the &s;aid Wor|&s;hip &s;uppo&s;eth the Creation of the World, and Promi&s;e of the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah,</HI> and that all the Acts of Religion are employ'd either in Commemorating the&s;e Truths every &s;eventh day, or in unfolding the Wonders therein contain'd, or in te&s;tifying our thankfulne&s;s to God for the &s;ame.</P>
<P>We may add here, that the in&s;tance of <HI>Lamech</HI>'s <HI>Polygamy</HI> does in &s;ome &s;ort make out to us the force of this per&s;wa&s;ion.</P>
<PB N="58" REF="43">
<P><HI>Cain</HI> being rejected by God, and di&s;tingui&s;h'd by an exemplary Puni&s;hment, for killing his Bro|ther <HI>Abel,</HI> it is evident, that no man could any longer interpret that Promi&s;e in the fir&s;t &s;en&s;e, by applying it to <HI>Adam</HI>'s fir&s;t Son, or his Po&s;terity. This being &s;o plain, as none could be ignorant of it, it was therefore natural to &s;eek for another meaning of that Promi&s;e, and to place the fulfil|ling of it in a Po&s;terity at a greater di&s;tance, or more numerous.</P>
<P>And indeed &s;o it happen'd; for the Exemplary pu|ni&s;hment which God inflicted on <HI>Cain</HI> during the &s;even fir&s;t Generations, according to tho&s;e words, That <HI>he &s;hould be puni&s;hed &s;evenfold,</HI> made his Po&s;te|rity apprehend, that God (for the &s;in he had com|mitted) had ju&s;tly debarr'd him of the right he might otherwi&s;e have had of fulfilling the Promi&s;e.</P>
<P>But yet at the &s;ame time they conceived al&s;o, that this Right, which belong'd more properly to the elde&s;t or fir&s;t-born, than to the younger Bro|thers, was now to return to his Po&s;terity after the &s;eventh Generation. And in this view it &s;eems, that <HI>Lamech</HI> affected Polygamy, as if by multi|plying his Po&s;terity, he had hoped to &s;ee that Promi&s;e fulfill'd by &s;ome one or other of them.</P>
<P>It cannot be deny'd, but that he imitated the Crimes of <HI>Cain,</HI> and therefore may well be &s;up|pos'd to have been leven'd al&s;o with his fal&s;e Max|ims. But how greatly &s;oever he was corrupted, yet fora&s;much as he had been educated in the hopes of his Father, and in conver&s;e with the Fa|mily of <HI>Seth,</HI> who many Ages before had formed Publick A&s;&s;emblies for Religious Exerci&s;es, we can't well imagine, but that he mu&s;t have had the &s;ame Preten&s;ions.</P>
<PB N="59" REF="43">
<P>It appears therefore, that the Polygamy of <HI>La|mech</HI> may ju&s;tly be e&s;teemed an effect of his Mi&s;|apprehen&s;ions concerning the &s;ence of the fir&s;t Promi&s;e; tho&s;e means which he conceived mo&s;t likely, he made choi&s;e of, to give him a &s;hare in the fulfilling of that Promi&s;e, which pointed at a Son to be Born. So that the irregularity he was guilty of in Marrying two Wives at the &s;ame time, may pa&s;s for a proof of his being per&s;waded not only of the Promi&s;e, <HI>That the Seed of the Wo|man &s;hould break the Serpent's Head,</HI> but al&s;o of the Creation of the World.</P>
<P>It &s;eems, that according to the&s;e Principles, we may give a very plau&s;ible account, as well of tho&s;e Violences which were exerci&s;ed in the old World, and of their &s;trong Inclinations to &s;en&s;uality, as of tho&s;e Alliances between the Family of <HI>Seth,</HI> and that of <HI>Cain;</HI> which did not happen till &s;even Ge|nerations after <HI>Cain;</HI> that is to &s;ay, at a time when the Family of <HI>Cain</HI> pretended to be re&s;tored again to his antient right, from which he had been &s;u|&s;pended during &s;even Generations: The Family of <HI>Seth</HI> by the&s;e Alliances with the Family of <HI>Cain,</HI> &s;eeming de&s;irous to &s;ecure their hopes and preten|&s;ions. It will not be thought &s;trange, that I look upon the Jealou&s;ie of <HI>Cain</HI> towards his Brother (as thinking him&s;elf &s;upplanted by him of his right to accompli&s;h the Promi&s;e) and the Polygamy of <HI>Lamech,</HI> as an effect of this per&s;wa&s;ion; if it be con&s;ider'd, that in all likelyhood this belief was more &s;trong at the beginning of the World, the Idea of the Promi&s;e being more fre&s;h and lively in the minds of Men, as a thing at no great di&s;tance from tho&s;e times: And that we find in the Holy Fa|mily
<PB N="60" REF="44">in general, manifold in&s;tances of this Spirit of Jealou&s;ie, and burning de&s;ire of a Po&s;terity.</P>
<P>We find al&s;o, much about the &s;ame time, ano|ther <HI>Lamech,</HI> the Father of <HI>Noah,</HI> declaring by the Name he gave his Son, the hopes he had that he might probably be the Per&s;on who was to com|fort Mankind concerning all the Mi&s;ery &s;in had brought into the World.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. V. 29.</NOTE></P>
<P>Thus it appears clearly, that for above &s;ixteen Ages from the Creation of the World to the De|luge, we find in all the actions of the Children of <HI>Adam</HI> a &s;trong impre&s;&s;ion of the belief of the Creation of the World, and the Promi&s;e of the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah.</HI> And till this time we find not the lea&s;t in&s;tance which might &s;eem to convince the Relati|on of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> of the lea&s;t Ab&s;urdity. We &s;ee men acting from the per&s;wa&s;ion of the&s;e two Matters of Fact; we mu&s;t conclude therefore, that they were di&s;tinctly inform'd of them; yea, we &s;ee all men in general, acting according to this Per&s;wa|&s;ion: it is evident therefore, they were known to all, and the weekly ob&s;ervance of the Sabbath day continually repre&s;enting tho&s;e Truths to the Eyes and Minds of all, takes away all po&s;&s;ibility of Forgery in the&s;e Matters.</P>
<P>Let us now enquire whether after the Deluge the&s;e Ideas were effaced; or, whether they have not exerted the &s;ame efficacy in the Spirit of <HI>Noah,</HI> and the Actions of all his Po&s;terity.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="12" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="61" REF="44">
<HEAD>CHAP. XII. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>That</HI> Noah <HI>was fully per&s;waded of the Creation of the World, and the Promi&s;e of the</HI> Me&s;&s;iah.</HEAD>
<P>IF we find that the Children of <HI>Adam,</HI> and their Po&s;terity, could be exactly informed of the Creation and the Promi&s;e of the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah,</HI> and that indeed they were &s;o, it will follow that <HI>Noah</HI> could not be unacquainted with the &s;ame Truths.</P>
<P><HI>Noah</HI> was &s;ix hundred Years old when the De|luge came: He had Conver&s;ed with <HI>Lamech</HI> his Father, who had &s;een <HI>Adam</HI> and his Children, as being fifty &s;ix years of Age when <HI>Adam</HI> died; he had Conver&s;ed with <HI>Methu&s;alem</HI> his Grandfather, who died that very year the Flood came, and who being three hundred and forty three years old when <HI>Adam</HI> died, had without doubt in&s;tructed <HI>Noah,</HI> during &s;o va&s;t an interval of time, in like manner as him&s;elf had been in&s;tructed by <HI>Adam</HI> for many Ages.</P>
<P>And as <HI>Methu&s;alem</HI> had lived a long time with <HI>Seth,</HI> who died in the year of the World 1042, &s;o it is evident, that <HI>Noah</HI> who was born in the year 1056, had not only &s;een <HI>Lamech</HI> and <HI>Methu&s;alem,</HI> but many al&s;o of their Ance&s;tors, who&s;e Di&s;cour|&s;es he heard, examin'd their Traditions, and imi|tated their way of Wor&s;hip.</P>
<P>Moreover, <HI>Noah</HI> &s;aw that there were no men in his time, who did not deduce their Genealogy
<PB N="62" REF="45">from <HI>Adam.</HI> All his Contemporaries could con|vince him of it. Every one of them having as ex|act a knowledge of their Ance&s;tors as he could have of his.</P>
<P>Now, that this was a matter which they might be ea&s;ily a&s;&s;ur'd of, appears on the&s;e two accounts: the one is the long life which the men of that Age enjoyed; and the other, the &s;hort interval of time which was between the Creation and the Deluge, the whole amounting only to 1656 years. <HI>Adam</HI> died in the year 930, and the Deluge happened in the 600 year of <HI>Noah</HI>'s Life. <HI>Adam</HI> died 126 years before the Birth of <HI>Noah,</HI> &s;o as <HI>Adam</HI> mu&s;t have been &s;een and known by <HI>Methu&s;alem, Lamech,</HI> and thou&s;ands of others who were Contemporarys with <HI>Noah.</HI></P>
<P>To the&s;e we may add a third Remark, and that is the Jealou&s;ie and Hatred which was between the two Families of <HI>Cain</HI> and <HI>Seth: Cain</HI>'s Po&s;terity were altogether corrupted, and the greate&s;t part of <HI>Seth</HI>'s al&s;o: <HI>Noah</HI> being of the Po&s;terity of <HI>Seth,</HI> had no rea&s;on to call tho&s;e Matters in que&s;tion, which he &s;aw generally own'd and received of tho&s;e to whom their Wickedne&s;s and Crimes &s;ugge&s;ted Objections again&s;t them. And I do not know, whether I might not &s;uppo&s;e that <HI>Noah</HI> had before his eyes Paradi&s;e, with the Cherubims who guarded the entrance thereof, and made it inacce&s;&s;ible, which if &s;o, was an authentick proof of the Truths in que&s;tion: That Garden, as far as we can judge, being not de&s;troy'd, nor the Guardian Angel di&s;charged till the time of the Flood.</P>
<P>Be it as it will, yet <HI>Noah</HI> being a Man fearing
<PB N="63" REF="45">God, was honoured with an extraordinary Call to exhort Men to Repentance, he was command|ed to build an Ark; he &s;aw the Deluge happen|ing, according to what God had foretold, he &s;aw the Bea&s;ts, of their own accord, gather them&s;elves together, to enter into the Ark, in like manner as he had been told that they came to <HI>Adam.</HI> He &s;aw the Deluge cea&s;e according to the Divine Declaration, he &s;aw fire from Heaven con|&s;uming the Sacrifice he offer'd in acknowledg|ment to God, in like manner, as the words of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> &s;eem to imply, that it happened at the Sa|crifice of <HI>Abel.</HI> He &s;aw him&s;elf cho&s;en in a pecu|liar manner, to be the Depo&s;itary of the Promi&s;e which <HI>Adam</HI> had left to his Po&s;terity, tho he never had the &s;atisfaction of &s;eeing it fulfilled him&s;elf, God having re&s;erved the Accompli&s;hment of it for another time, and to one of his Po&s;terity at a great di&s;tance.</P>
<P>It is very evident, that all the&s;e Particulars could not but conduce to pre&s;erve the Memory of the&s;e fir&s;t mo&s;t important Matters of Fact of the Creation and the Promi&s;e of the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah,</HI> and therefore, that <HI>Noah</HI> mu&s;t of nece&s;&s;ity be convin|ced of the certainty and truth of them. Let us now &s;ee whether <HI>Noah</HI>'s Off&s;pring had the &s;ame per&s;wa&s;ion concerning the&s;e things.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="13" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="64" REF="46">
<HEAD>CHAP. XIII.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"> <HI>That the Children of</HI> Noah <HI>were convinced of the truth of the&s;e Matters.</HI></HEAD>
<P>THe Children of <HI>Noah</HI> were an hundred years old when the Deluge happened, and con|&s;equently had conver&s;ed a long &s;pace of time with <HI>Methu&s;alem,</HI> and many other of their Ance|&s;tors and Relations of the old World, and had frequented the Religious A&s;&s;emblies, ob&s;erved eve|ry Sabbath day in the Family of <HI>Seth,</HI> whence they were de&s;cended; and had been in&s;tructed there by tho&s;e who had &s;een <HI>Adam</HI> and his Po&s;terity; it is evident therefore, beyond all conte&s;t, that they could not be ignorant of the Creation, and Promi&s;e of the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah.</HI></P>
<P>Now, that they had a di&s;tinct knowledge of tho&s;e Matters, we may evidently conclude, not only becau&s;e they had &s;een God, when he ble&s;&s;ed them, and a &s;econd time &s;aid to them, as after a new Creation,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen IX. 1.</NOTE> <HI>increa&s;e and multiply:</HI> Nor only upon the account of his giving them a po&s;itive Law, forbidding them to eat the blood of living Creatures,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. IX 5.</NOTE> who&s;e fle&s;h they were permitted to feed on, as he had forbid <HI>Adam,</HI> to eat of the Fruit of the Tree in the mid&s;t of the Garden, when he left the re&s;t to their free u&s;e: Not only, for that he had given the Rainbow, as a new &s;ign of his Covenant with Mankind; nor only becau&s;e they had practis'd tho&s;e Acts of Religion, to
<PB N="65" REF="46">which they had been Educated by their Parents and Ance&s;tors before the Deluge: But becau&s;e the &s;ame may be inferred from that action which drew upon <HI>Cham</HI> his Father's Cur&s;e.</P>
<P>What is the meaning of <HI>Cham</HI>'s deriding the Nakedne&s;s of his Father, and of his Father's ta|king occa&s;ion from thence to Cur&s;e him &s;o &s;o|lemnly, and that in the per&s;on of <HI>Canaan</HI> his Fir&s;t-born? If it were only a piece of irreve|rence in the Father, what rea&s;on had <HI>Noah</HI> to Cur&s;e the Son on that account? Or, was it (as &s;ome have &s;uppos'd) that <HI>Canaan</HI> had given occa|&s;ion fir&s;t to his Fathers Irreverence, by acquain|ting him with the di&s;order in which he had found his Grandfather <HI>Noah?</HI> Without doubt, there is &s;omething more than ordinary in this Hi&s;tory. Sure it is, that the account given us of <HI>Cham,</HI> re|pre&s;ents him as a prophane per&s;on, and deeply tin|ctured with the Maxims of <HI>Cain</HI> and his Po&s;terity, and &s;eems to hint to us, that he &s;uppo&s;ing the Pro|mi&s;e of the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah</HI> either fru&s;trated by the Death of <HI>Abel,</HI> or altogether fal&s;e, he made his Father's Nakedne&s;s the &s;ubject of his Mockery; who &s;eem'd to be incapable of begetting any more Children, and therefore incapable of contributing to the ac|compli&s;hment of the Promi&s;e of the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah,</HI> in hopes of which, he accounted him&s;elf &s;o happy, that he had e&s;caped the Deluge.</P>
<P>What means it al&s;o, that <HI>Noah</HI> pronounceth &s;o terrible a Cur&s;e, again&s;t the Po&s;terity of <HI>Cham</HI> by <HI>Canaan,</HI> who were &s;o far from giving an accom|pli&s;hment to that Promi&s;e, that they were in a manner wholly exterminated by <HI>Jo&s;huah,</HI> when God put the Po&s;terity of <HI>Shem</HI> by <HI>Abraham</HI> in
<PB N="66" REF="47">po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of the Land of <HI>Canaan?</HI> It is very na|tural for us to conceive, that <HI>Noah</HI> con&s;ider'd his Son <HI>Cham</HI>'s deriding of him, not only as contrary to the re&s;pect which was due to him as his Father, but al&s;o as the effect of a horrid Impiety, which attack'd God him&s;elf, as making that Promi&s;e, <HI>The Seed of the Woman &s;hall brui&s;e the Serpent's Head,</HI> a &s;ubject of Raillery.</P>
<P>This Reflexion upon the action of <HI>Cham,</HI> and the Cur&s;e of <HI>Noah</HI> con&s;equent to it, does appear very natural, if we con&s;ider that <HI>Noah</HI> could not but reflect upon the Name his Father had given him, and the &s;pecial favour &s;hewed to him, in being alone pre&s;erved of all the po&s;terity of <HI>Adam,</HI> and con&s;equently, the onely per&s;on in the World, by whom this Promi&s;e was to be fulfill'd.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Herod</HI> lib. 1. <HI>Ju&s;tin Hi&s;t.</HI> lib. 1. <HI>Valer Max</HI> lib. 1.</NOTE> At lea&s;t, it can't be deny'd, but that this Reflexion is as natural as it would have been ju&s;t in reference to the Fact of cruel <HI>A&s;tyages,</HI> if when he had (as he thought) &s;ufficiently cluded his Dream, which pre&s;aged the glory of the Son of <HI>Mandane</HI> his Daughter, he had found her indecently uncovered and had taken thence occa&s;ion, deridingly to re|flect, with his other Children, upon a Dream which &s;eem'd to promi&s;e to the Son of <HI>Mandane</HI> the Throne of all <HI>A&s;ia,</HI> and threaten the ruine of his own.</P>
<P>'Tis a thing worth our noting, that in the time of <HI>Ezra,</HI> the <HI>Samaritans</HI> had &s;o fre&s;h a memory of <HI>Cham</HI>'s &s;in,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezra IV. 14</NOTE> which they &s;uppo&s;ed to be generally pre&s;erv'd among&s;t other Nations, that in their Letter to King <HI>Artaxerxes</HI> again&s;t the <HI>Jews</HI> who rebuilt <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> they declare, they would not di&s;cover the King's Nakedne&s;s; implying, that
<PB N="67" REF="47">they could not con&s;ent to the injury he might re|ceive from the <HI>Jews</HI> in &s;uffering <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> to be rebuilt. It is not needful to repeat tho&s;e other Ar|guments which prove, that the Children of <HI>Noah</HI> had rea&s;on to be, and were actually as much con|vinced of the Creation and fir&s;t Promi&s;e, as their Ance&s;tors were; for &s;eeing that the&s;e Arguments were the very &s;ame which their Fathers had to per&s;wade them&s;elves of the truth of the&s;e things, we had better proceed to the Enquiry, whether their Po&s;terity that follow'd them, had the &s;ame Per&s;wa&s;ion they had? which may ea&s;ily be pro|ved, in making &s;ome Reflexions on the following Ages, and upon tho&s;e who de&s;cended from <HI>Noah</HI> and his Children.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="14" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XIV. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>That the Po&s;terity of</HI> Noah<HI>'s Children were per|&s;waded of the truth of the Creation, and fir&s;t Promi&s;e.</HI></HEAD>
<P>IF <HI>Noah</HI> &s;aw <HI>Methu&s;alem,</HI> who had &s;een <HI>Adam</HI> and his Po&s;terity before the Deluge; <HI>Abraham</HI> &s;aw <HI>Shem</HI> and his Children, who were unque&s;ti|onable Witne&s;&s;es of what had pa&s;&s;ed before and &s;ince the Flood.</P>
<P><HI>Noah</HI> dying 350 years after the Deluge, it ap|pears, that his Death happened in the year of the World 2006; &s;o that <HI>Noah</HI> died only two years
<PB N="68" REF="48">before the Birth of <HI>Abraham,</HI> he being born in the year 2008.</P>
<P><HI>Abraham</HI> lived 150 years with <HI>Shem,</HI> who died in the year 2158, and 88 years with <HI>Arphaxad</HI> the Son of <HI>Shem,</HI> who died in the year 2096, he lived 118 years with <HI>Selah</HI> Son of <HI>Arphaxad,</HI> who died in the year 2126, and 179 years with <HI>He|ber</HI> the Son of <HI>Selah,</HI> who died in the year 2187.</P>
<P><HI>I&s;aac</HI> being born in the year 2108, might &s;ee <HI>Shem, Selah,</HI> and <HI>Heber,</HI> who for &s;ome hundreds of years had conver&s;ed with <HI>Noah</HI> and his other Children; I &s;ay we may &s;uppo&s;e him to have con|ver&s;ed with tho&s;e Patriarchs, or at lea&s;t with tho&s;e who being their Contemporaries, di&s;cour&s;ed of <HI>Noah</HI> as a Man but of ye&s;terday, and from his Relation, and his Children's, were informed of the Creation of <HI>Adam,</HI> his Fall, the Promi&s;e of the Holy Seed, the Death of <HI>Abel,</HI> the Miracle of Pa|radi&s;e, the Preaching of <HI>Noah,</HI> the Deluge, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> And who, in obedience to the Law of God, ob|&s;erved by their Ance&s;tors, did meet together fifty two times every year, to Celebrate the Memorial of the&s;e Wonders, and to teach them to their Po&s;terity.</P>
<P>We may take notice of three things here which conduce much to the pre&s;ervation of a di&s;tinct knowledge of the&s;e Matters.</P>
<P>The Fir&s;t is,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>De Dea Syra</HI> p. 1060.</NOTE> That the Ark it &s;elf might be &s;een by all the World, as a certain Monument of the Deluge, and the &s;aving of <HI>Noah</HI> and his Sons. This Monument continued very many Ages after <HI>A|braham,</HI> and was a means to pre&s;erve the Memory of the Deluge among&s;t the <HI>Pagans,</HI> as <HI>Lucian,</HI> to name no more acquaints us.</P>
<PB N="69" REF="48">
<P>The Second is, That it was as ea&s;ie for any of <HI>Abraham</HI>'s Contemporaries, as for <HI>Abraham,</HI> to deduce his Genealogy from <HI>Noah</HI> and his Chil|dren.</P>
<P>And this was the more ea&s;ie, becau&s;e the fir&s;t Divi&s;ion of the World among&s;t the three Sons of <HI>Noah,</HI> was followed by another Partition among&s;t their Po&s;terity, in the year of the World 1758, a Divi&s;ion which gave them a ju&s;t Title of po&s;&s;e&s;|&s;ion to that part of the Earth, where they were &s;eated, in defence of which, it &s;eems probable, that the War of <HI>Chedorlaomer</HI> (mention'd the XIII of <HI>Gene&s;is</HI>) was undertaken, the Family of <HI>Cham</HI> having invaded the Land of <HI>Canaan,</HI> which was part of the Inheritance of <HI>Shem,</HI> as we &s;hall make appear el&s;ewhere.</P>
<P>The Third and la&s;t thing is, That it was not ea&s;ie to impo&s;e a forgery upon tho&s;e times, becau&s;e their Lives were yet of a great extent, tho' inferi|our to tho&s;e who lived before the Flood.</P>
<P>To the&s;e we may add this further Con&s;idera|tion, that as the Jealou&s;ie which was between the Family of <HI>Seth</HI> and of <HI>Cain,</HI> was a great means to pre&s;erve inviolably the important Truths of the Creation and fir&s;t Promi&s;e; a like Jealou&s;ie now being ri&s;en among&s;t the Sons of <HI>Noah, Cham</HI> be|ing Accur&s;ed of his own Father in the per&s;on of <HI>Canaan,</HI> and the &s;ame being propagated to their Po&s;terity, it could not but effectually contribute to re&s;cue the&s;e important Truths from Oblivion, and particularly the Promi&s;e of the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah,</HI> con|ceived in the&s;e words, <HI>The Seed of the Woman &s;hall brui&s;e the Serpent's head.</HI></P>
<PB N="70" REF="49">
<P>In a word,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Judg. VIII. 23. &amp; IX. 8. <HI>Talm. Hier.</HI> fol. 11 col. 4 <HI>&amp; glo&s;&s;. in h. l. &amp; A|vodazara</HI> c. III. fol. 43. col. 1. <HI>De Dea Syr.</HI> p. 1069.</NOTE> we may not only in reference to the matter in hand, take notice of what <HI>Lucian</HI> relates concerning the Religion of the <HI>A&s;&s;yrians,</HI> which did &s;o lively pre&s;erve the memory of the Deluge, and of what was done to <HI>Noah</HI> by his Son <HI>Cham,</HI> when he &s;coffed at the Nakedne&s;s of his Father; but al&s;o, that the God of the <HI>Sichemites</HI> was called <HI>Baalberith,</HI> who&s;e Symbol was the fi|gure of the Privy parts of a Man, which &s;eems a manife&s;t allu&s;ion to their de&s;cent from the Family of <HI>Cham,</HI> the <HI>Sichemites</HI> being &s;ome of the Po&s;te|rity of <HI>Canaan.</HI></P>
<P>It is al&s;o very natural to conceive, Fir&s;t of all, that it was from tho&s;e old Preten&s;ions that the <HI>Canaanites</HI> took occa&s;ion to prophane the mo&s;t <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">oly things, with &s;uch &s;hameful Idea's.</P>
<P>Secondly, That it was in dete&s;tation of the&s;e Idea's, that God ordered the killing of the Prie&s;ts of <HI>Baal.</HI> And</P>
<P>Thirdly, That it was for the &s;ame rea&s;on, that the <HI>Jews</HI> were commanded to de&s;troy them ut|terly.</P>
<P>Fourthly, This was al&s;o the rea&s;on why the <HI>I&s;|raelites</HI> were &s;o often de&s;irous of imitating their Crimes.</P>
<P>In the Fifth place, As we &s;ee that upon the like account the <HI>Moabites</HI> and <HI>Ammonites</HI> took <HI>Chemo&s;h</HI> for their God, and that the Women of tho&s;e Na|tions were very zealous to propagate their Religi|on, of which we have an In&s;tance in <HI>Jezabel</HI> the Wife of <HI>Ahab,</HI> &s;o God was al&s;o willing to in&s;pire his People with Horrour and Dete&s;tation, for their Religion or any Alliance with them.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, As there does appear a very great Con|formity
<PB N="71" REF="49">and re&s;emblance, between the fir&s;t Birth of the World from the fir&s;t Chaos, and its being born again after the Deluge; between <HI>Adam</HI> the fir&s;t Man, and <HI>Noah</HI> the &s;econd, and between the Jealou&s;ies &s;prung up in both their Families upon the account of the Promi&s;e of the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah:</HI> So this conformity could not but very naturally contri|bute, to pre&s;erve the Memory of tho&s;e Ancient Events which <HI>Noah</HI> and his Children had deliver|ed to their Po&s;terity with all the care which is ta|ken to pre&s;erve the Tradition of the fundamen|tals of Religion.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="15" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XV. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>That we find the Family of</HI> Abraham <HI>and his Po&s;terity till</HI> Jacob <HI>fully per&s;waded of tho&s;e Truths.</HI></HEAD>
<P>IT is no le&s;s ea&s;ie to conceive how the di&s;tinct knowledge of the&s;e Truths, was in proce&s;s of time handed down to <HI>Jacob</HI> and his Po&s;terity. This I &s;hall briefly explain.</P>
<P>I need not take notice here, that the Religion practis'd by <HI>Abraham</HI> and his Po&s;terity &s;uppo&s;e the&s;e Matters as con&s;tantly owned and known.</P>
<P>It cannot be deny'd, but that <HI>Lot</HI> having fol|lowed <HI>Terah</HI> and <HI>Abraham,</HI> when God called the latter out of <HI>Chaldea,</HI> might thence &s;uppo&s;e, that this Heavenly Call did &s;eparate and di&s;tingui&s;h him
<PB N="72" REF="50">from the re&s;t of the Po&s;terity of <HI>Shem,</HI> and gave him a right as well as <HI>Abraham,</HI> to pretend to the priviledge of fulfilling the Promi&s;e of the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah,</HI> or at lea&s;t to &s;ee it fulfill'd in his Po&s;terity. This we may infer from the Ince&s;t of <HI>Lot</HI>'s Daughters; their Crime, which in another view appears very mon&s;trous, doth clearly prove, that they were &s;trongly po&s;&s;e&s;s'd with this hope which their Fa|ther had rai&s;ed in them.</P>
<P>I know that &s;ome Interpreters &s;uppo&s;e,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Lyra</HI> in Gene&s;. XIX.</NOTE> that they were moved to commit this Ince&s;t from a pi|ous intention of pre&s;erving Mankind, as imagin|ing to them&s;elves, that as the Deluge had drowned all Men, be&s;ides <HI>Noah</HI> and his Family, &s;o the Flames which de&s;troy'd <HI>Sodom,</HI> had con&s;umed all Mankind; which they were the more ready to believe, becau&s;e they might have heard from their Father, that the World one day was to peri&s;h by Fire.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Bere&s;. Rab.</HI> part 23.</NOTE> But indeed, it may be con&s;ider'd as pro|ceeding from a very different Motive, the <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Doctors plainly averring, that this was done by them in hopes of bringing forth the promi&s;ed Re|deemer.</P>
<P>And if we look upon this action of theirs in this view, with reference to the Promi&s;e of the <HI>Me&s;|&s;iah,</HI> which was the grand object of the hopes of all tho&s;e that fear'd God; it is natural to conceive, that con&s;idering their Father, as one whom God had peculiarly cho&s;en from among&s;t the Po&s;terity of <HI>Shem,</HI> to execute the Promi&s;e of the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah,</HI> and &s;eeing that their Mother was changed into a Statue of Salt, they conceived them&s;elves in &s;ome &s;ort authoriz'd to &s;urprize their Father in that manner; and the rather, becau&s;e they conceived on the one
<PB N="73" REF="50">hand, that none of the <HI>Canaanites</HI> (upon whom God had now begun to pour forth &s;o hideous a Vengeance, as a beginning of the Execution of the Cur&s;e again&s;t <HI>Cham</HI>) having any part in this chiefe&s;t of Ble&s;&s;ings, could ever Marry them, after that God had &s;o manife&s;tly &s;eparated and call'd forth their Father from among&s;t them; and on the other hand, &s;uppo&s;ing that God would di&s;pence with the irregularity of this action, by rea&s;on of their being reduced to an extremity.</P>
<P>There be three Circum&s;tances which greatly confirm this my remark upon the Motive of their Ince&s;t.</P>
<P>The Fir&s;t is, That they are repre&s;ented to us as tho&s;e who had behaved them&s;elves very cha&s;tly, in the mid&s;t of the Impurities of <HI>Sodom;</HI> and that be&s;ides we find they de&s;ign'd no &s;uch thing, till after the Death of their Mother.</P>
<P>The other is, That we &s;ee them contriving the thing together, and that in a Matter which natu|rally is apt to &s;eparate the greate&s;t Friends, where the Motive proceeds from a Spirit of uncleanne&s;s: Nor indeed, do we find that they continued in this Ince&s;t.</P>
<P>The Third is, That they were &s;o far from be|ing a&s;ham'd of an action, in it &s;elf &s;o criminal, or concealing the knowledge of it from Po&s;terity, that they gave tho&s;e Names to the Children born of this their Ince&s;t, that might perpetuate and divulge the memory of this their action, the one calling her Son <HI>Moab,</HI> as much as to &s;ay, <HI>Born of my Fa|ther,</HI> and the other hers <HI>Benammi;</HI> a Name of a like &s;ignification with the former.</P>
<P>This Ob&s;ervation is very nece&s;&s;ary, becau&s;e
<PB N="74" REF="51">the&s;e two Sons became the heads of two great Peo|ple, the <HI>Moabites,</HI> and the <HI>Ammonites,</HI> who&s;e King|doms la&s;ted above 1300 years, and lived on the Borders of the Holy Land, and were jealous of <HI>Abraham</HI> and his Po&s;terity, as pretending that <HI>A|braham</HI> could not be cho&s;en before <HI>Lot</HI> their Fa|ther, who being the Son of <HI>Abraham</HI>'s Elder Bro|ther, was to be con&s;ider'd as the fir&s;t-born of <HI>Te|rah,</HI> and who were apt, without doubt, to take it for granted, that if God had brought <HI>Abraham</HI> out of <HI>Chaldea,</HI> and re&s;cued him from <HI>Ur,</HI> he had in a more peculiar manner, &s;aved <HI>Lot</HI> alone from the Conflagration of <HI>Sodom,</HI> by the Mini&s;try of Angels, and that <HI>Abraham</HI> and <HI>Lot</HI> being equally de&s;cended from <HI>Terah,</HI> the right of accompli&s;hing the Promi&s;e, did equally belong to them.</P>
<P>And indeed, we find that in all &s;ucceeding times, the&s;e thoughts did predominate with them, as may ea&s;ily be made out from the Hi&s;tory of <HI>Balaam.</HI></P>
<P>We &s;ee therefore, that the <HI>Moabites</HI> who were de&s;cended from the Elde&s;t Daughter of <HI>Lot,</HI> look'd upon the preten&s;ions of the <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI> that the <HI>Me&s;|&s;iah</HI> was to be born of their Seed, in Exclu&s;ion to all others, with great impatience, and it was for this rea&s;on, that they &s;ent for <HI>Baladm,</HI> to decide (by Divine Authority) the difference between them, concerning the right of the promi&s;ed Ble&s;|&s;ing.</P>
<P>We may make very near the &s;ame Reflexions upon the calling of <HI>Ruth</HI> the <HI>Moabite&s;s,</HI> when &s;he &s;aith to <HI>Naomi</HI> her Mother-in-Law, <HI>Thy God &s;hall be my God, and thy People &s;hall be my People;</HI> which &s;ignifies a renouncing of the Preten&s;ions of her
<PB N="75" REF="51">own People, and an acquie&s;cing in the Ju&s;tice of tho&s;e of the <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI> and it was upon this occa&s;i|on, that <HI>Ruth</HI> is more particularly taken notice of in the Genealogy of our Saviour, as I &s;hall have occa&s;ion to &s;hew hereafter.</P>
<P>That which I have hinted concerning the inten|tion and aim of the Daughters of <HI>Lot,</HI> hath been ob|&s;erved before by the <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Rabbins, as we may &s;ee in the mo&s;t ancient of their Commentaries upon the&s;e words of <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> Chap. XIX. v. 32. <HI>Come let us make our Father drink Wine,</HI> &amp;c. Upon which words, <HI>R. Tanchumah</HI> following the foot&s;teps of <HI>R. Samuel,</HI> makes this Reflexion, <HI>That we may pre|&s;erve Seed of our Father;</HI> it is not &s;aid, that we may pre&s;erve a Son from our Father, but that we may renew the Po&s;terity of our Father, <HI>becau&s;e</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>they had regard to that Seed, which was to pro|ceed from a &s;trange place, and what Seed is that? It is the King</HI> Me&s;&s;iah.</P>
<P>After this Ob&s;ervation upon this action of <HI>Lot</HI>'s Daughters, it can no longer rationally be doubted, but that the violent pa&s;&s;ion which <HI>Sarah</HI> had for a Son, proceeded from the very fame impre&s;&s;ion which made her contrary to the Inclinations of that Sex, to deliver her Servant into her Hus|band's Bo&s;om, e&s;pecially if we join to this the par|ticular Promi&s;e God had made to <HI>Abraham,</HI> which &s;he could not be ignorant of.</P>
<P><HI>Sarah</HI> &s;ees her &s;elf de&s;titute of Children, and her Barrenne&s;s having continued &s;o long a time, &s;he had no hopes of ever being a Mother, what re|main'd therefore for her, but to think of adopting a Son of her Bond-woman? And in con&s;ideration of this, &s;he per&s;wades her Husband, who had no
<PB N="76" REF="52">inclination to any &s;uch thing by any thing that appears (at lea&s;t precedent to this de&s;ire of his Wife) to take her unto him. <HI>He &s;ought the Seed of God,</HI> that is, the Seed which God had promi&s;ed, as <HI>Ma|lachy</HI> expre&s;&s;es it, <HI>Mal.</HI> II. 15.</P>
<P>At lea&s;t it is certain,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Yarg. Jo|nath.</HI> in h. l. <HI>&amp; Kimchi</HI> in h. l.</NOTE> that the <HI>Jews</HI> have taken the&s;e words of <HI>Malachy</HI> in this &s;en&s;e for a very long time, as they do &s;till to this day.</P>
<P>We may ea&s;ily perceive, that this was a predo|minant impre&s;&s;ion throughout that whole Family, if to what we have already ob&s;erv'd of <HI>Lot</HI>'s Daughters and of <HI>Sarah,</HI> we do but add the &s;or|row <HI>Rebecca</HI> conceived becau&s;e of her Barrenne&s;s, and the Contentions happening between the Wives of <HI>Jacob,</HI> for their Husband's Company, without which &s;uppo&s;al, the relation of &s;uch a Matter, would be a thing of no importance.</P>
<P>Certainly, as it would be ridiculous to &s;uppo&s;e, that &s;o wi&s;e an Hi&s;torian as <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> was, &s;hould &s;toop to the recital of &s;uch mean and low particu|lars (not to &s;peak wor&s;e of them) without aiming at &s;omething very high and con&s;iderable, &s;o it is rational to believe, that in all the&s;e Relations, he pointed at the Promi&s;e of the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah,</HI> which at that time was the great Object of the Religion of the Faithful, which God in proce&s;s of time did explain by little and little more di&s;tinctly.</P>
<P>The Jealou&s;ie al&s;o which aro&s;e between <HI>I&s;hmael</HI> and <HI>I&s;aac,</HI> is no le&s;s con&s;iderable. <HI>I&s;hmael</HI> was the elde&s;t Son of <HI>Abraham,</HI> and Circumcis'd as well as <HI>I&s;aac;</HI> he was &s;aved from Death by the Mini|&s;try of an Angel; and was the head of a great People, who from that time to this very day, have always been Circumci&s;ed.</P>
<PB N="77" REF="52">
<P>It may be al&s;o of great u&s;e to take notice here, that <HI>I&s;hmael</HI> could not but be in&s;tructed by <HI>Abra|ham</HI> concerning the Promi&s;e God had made to him, to which he pretended, as being the Elder, and therefore mocked at the great &s;tir was made at the weaning of <HI>I&s;aac,</HI> as thinking that he being the Elde&s;t, could not be deprived of the natural right of his Primogeniture. At lea&s;t, it is very probable, that except it had been thus, <HI>Sa|rah</HI>'s anger (approved by God him&s;elf) would not have prov'd &s;o violent, as well again&s;t <HI>I&s;hmael,</HI> as <HI>Hagar,</HI> who flatter'd him in the&s;e preten&s;ions, nor would <HI>Abraham</HI> &s;o far have comply'd with it.</P>
<P>And fora&s;much, as <HI>I&s;aac</HI> on the other &s;ide, was born to fulfil a particular Promi&s;e, was Cir|cumci&s;ed, and &s;aved from death by an Angel; and that be&s;ides all this, <HI>I&s;hmael</HI> and he had been equally educated in the practice of Religion, 'tis impo&s;&s;ible, but that this Conformity of Events (which has been the cau&s;e of &s;uch la&s;ting Conte&s;ts between them and their Po&s;terity) mu&s;t have en|gaged them to inquire into the truth of the Crea|tion, and the Promi&s;e of the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah,</HI> and into all other Matters which did any way concern them.</P>
<P>We have a like in&s;tance, if not &s;tronger for our purpo&s;e, in <HI>E&s;au</HI> and <HI>Jacob,</HI> who were both born of the &s;ame Mother, but <HI>E&s;au</HI> being the fir&s;t-born, we find the &s;ame Jealou&s;ie ari&s;ing between them, as before between <HI>I&s;hmael</HI> and <HI>I&s;aac. Sarah</HI> &s;eem'd &s;omewhat cruel in ca&s;ting out her adopted Son <HI>I&s;hmael,</HI> and here we &s;ee that <HI>Rebecca</HI> preferred <HI>Ja|cob</HI> before <HI>E&s;au</HI> her Fir&s;t-born, and a&s;&s;i&s;ted him in
<PB N="78" REF="53">robbing his Elder Brother of the Ble&s;&s;ing due to him of right: But without que&s;tion, her de&s;ign in all this was to entail this Ble&s;&s;ing on her Family, by making it fall on <HI>Jacob,</HI> as being afraid (and that not without cau&s;e) that <HI>E&s;au</HI> by his Sins and his Marriage with the <HI>Canaanites,</HI> had made him|&s;elf uncapable thereof.</P>
<P>Now as this was the occa&s;ion of a great di&s;pute between the&s;e two Patriarchs educated in the &s;ame Belief and Religion, &s;o it plainly &s;hews us how &s;trong a per&s;wa&s;ion they had of the Creation, and the Promi&s;e of the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah.</HI></P>
<P>And be&s;ides, it is further very remarkable.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, That <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> repre&s;ents <HI>E&s;au</HI> as a prophane per&s;on, for which, not only this rea&s;on may be alledged, that he &s;old his Birth-right for a Me&s;s of Pottage, to which Birth-right the Prie&s;thood was always annexed, but we mu&s;t further take notice.</P>
<P>That he being educated by his Father in the hopes of this Ble&s;&s;ing, he &s;eem'd to laugh at it in all his Actions; for fir&s;t he Married the Daughter of <HI>Heth,</HI> by which he &s;ufficiently intimated, that he neither minded the Ble&s;&s;ing nor the Cur&s;e of God; for <HI>Canaan</HI> and his Po&s;terity had in a very &s;olemn manner been Cur&s;ed by <HI>Noah,</HI> with a par|ticular regard to the Promi&s;e of the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah,</HI> as I hinted before.</P>
<P>In the Second place, he Married a Daughter of <HI>I&s;hmael,</HI> as if he intended to renew the Preten&s;ions of <HI>I&s;hmael</HI> again&s;t <HI>I&s;aac</HI> his Father.</P>
<P>In the Third place we &s;ee, that when he repen|ted of this prophane humor, he was pierced with extream &s;orrow for the Crime he had committed, becau&s;e he could not obtain pardon for it.</P>
<PB N="79" REF="53">
<P>This Jealou&s;ie and difference between <HI>E&s;au</HI> and <HI>Jacob,</HI> is the more con&s;iderable, becau&s;e <HI>E&s;au</HI> was the head of a great Nation, <HI>viz.</HI> the <HI>Edo|mites,</HI> a People Circumci&s;ed as well as the <HI>Jews,</HI> Jealous of the Po&s;terity of <HI>Jacob,</HI> and living up|on the Borders of <HI>Judea,</HI> as well as the <HI>Moa|bites, Ammonites,</HI> and <HI>I&s;hmaelites,</HI> but yet put by their hopes by that Oracle, <HI>The greater People &s;hall &s;erve the le&s;&s;er.</HI></P>
<P>Were it needful to afford a greater Light to the&s;e Reflexions, I might here add a very natural one, from the Oath which <HI>Abraham</HI> made his Servant <HI>Eliezer</HI> take, when he &s;ent him to <HI>Padan Aram,</HI> to procure a Wife for <HI>I&s;aac.</HI> We may ea|&s;ily judge, that he was not willing he &s;hould mar|ry a <HI>Canaanite</HI> as <HI>Lot</HI> had done; and that for fear of forfeiting his hopes, and weakening the ju&s;t Preten&s;ions of <HI>I&s;aac</HI> to the right of accompli&s;hing the Promi&s;e, from whence the <HI>Canaanites</HI> were excluded by the Prophecy deliver'd by <HI>Noah.</HI> But that which made <HI>Abraham</HI> to oblige his Ser|vant to &s;wear, putting his Hand under his Thigh; that is,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">St. <HI>Jerom.</HI></NOTE> touching that part which was the Subject of Circumci&s;ion, and which bore the mark of the Covenant, de&s;erves a further Con&s;ideration.</P>
<P>We find fir&s;t of all, that the Patriarch <HI>Jacob,</HI> ob&s;erves the &s;ame Cu&s;tom, when he made his Son <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> to take an Oath, that he &s;hould not bu|ry him in <HI>Egypt.</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, We find that this Cu&s;tom of behold|ing that Member which received Circumci&s;ion, as a part Con&s;ecrated to Religion, did by little and little take place in the Land of <HI>Canaan,</HI> and gave occa&s;ion to the Wor&s;hip of <HI>Baal Peor,</HI> &s;o fa|mous
<PB N="80" REF="54">among the <HI>Moabites</HI> and <HI>Ammonites;</HI> a very &s;urpri&s;ing and &s;trange Wor&s;hip indeed, and yet Celebrated with Fe&s;tivals, and Hymns, and was the ri&s;e of that Wor&s;hip which the Heathens after|wards gave to <HI>Priapus.</HI> What I have here ob&s;er|ved, hath been in part acknowledged by the <HI>Jews,</HI> where they &s;peak of the Wor&s;hip of <HI>Baal Peor,</HI> and the rea&s;on which made God pre&s;cribe to the Prie&s;t the u&s;e of Linnen Drawers, that their Nakedne&s;s might not appear during the Functions of their Mini&s;try.</P>
<P>After all that I have now &s;aid, concerning tho&s;e Jealou&s;ies which <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> relates with &s;o much care, it &s;eems that the Solidity of the&s;e Ob&s;erva|tions cannot be di&s;puted. E&s;pecially if we con&s;i|der, that it is the&s;e Jealou&s;ies, and the&s;e Preten&s;i|ons to the Promi&s;e of the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah</HI> that gave ri&s;e to the Cu&s;tom of calling God, the God of <HI>Abraham,</HI> the God of <HI>I&s;aac,</HI> and the God of <HI>Jacob:</HI> for tho' he might as well have been called the God of <HI>A|dam,</HI> the God of <HI>Enoch,</HI> and the God of <HI>Noah,</HI> fora&s;much as all the&s;e Patriarchs were al&s;o Depo|&s;itaries of the Promi&s;e of the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah:</HI> Yet it is probable that God was called &s;o, becau&s;e of the particular promi&s;es which had been made fir&s;t to <HI>Abraham,</HI> &s;econdly to <HI>I&s;aac,</HI> and la&s;tly to <HI>Jacob,</HI> and in oppo&s;ition to the preten&s;ions of &s;ome peo|ple near Neighbours to the <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI> and jealous of their hopes: The God of <HI>Abraham,</HI> and not of <HI>Lot,</HI> as the <HI>Ammonites</HI> and <HI>Moabites Lot</HI>'s Po&s;teri|ty, pretended; the God of <HI>I&s;aac,</HI> and not of <HI>I&s;h|mael,</HI> as the <HI>I&s;hmaelites</HI> pretended; the God of <HI>Ja|cob</HI> and not of <HI>E&s;au,</HI> as the <HI>Edomites</HI> who were the Off&s;pring of <HI>E&s;au</HI> pretended.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="16" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="81" REF="54">
<HEAD>CHAP. XVI. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>That this very Per&s;wa&s;ion &s;eems to have been kept up among&s;t the Po&s;terity of</HI> Jacob, <HI>until</HI> Mo&s;es<HI>'s time.</HI></HEAD>
<P>IT is yet ea&s;ier to &s;hew; that the di&s;tinct know|ledge of the Creation, and of the Promi&s;e of the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah,</HI> did continue from <HI>Jacob</HI> to <HI>Jo&s;eph,</HI> and &s;o on to <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI></P>
<P>The following Arguments will clearly demon|&s;trate it.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t of all,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gene&s;. XXVIII.</NOTE> we &s;ee that <HI>Jacob</HI> being po&s;&s;e&s;s'd of the Ble&s;&s;ing, and &s;o Depo&s;itary of the Promi&s;e, obey'd <HI>I&s;aac</HI>'s Command, who forbad him to take a Wife, but out of his own Family; and that ac|cordingly he went to <HI>Padan-Aram,</HI> to &s;eek and get a Wife among&s;t tho&s;e of his Kindred, as <HI>Abraham</HI> had formerly &s;ent for one of the &s;ame Countrey for his Son <HI>I&s;aac.</HI></P>
<P>We &s;ee in the Second place,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gene&s;. XXIX.</NOTE> this Patriarch imi|tated <HI>Lamech</HI> in &s;ome re&s;pect, by his falling into Polygamy: For who can doubt but he, who was con&s;cious to him&s;elf of having &s;urpriz'd, as he thought, the Ble&s;&s;ing de&s;ign'd for his Elder Bro|ther, did act in this occa&s;ion by the &s;ame principle which <HI>Lamech</HI> had formerly acted by? Thus we &s;ee that Barren <HI>Rachel</HI> follows <HI>Sarah</HI>'s Example, and adopts the Son of that Maid Servant, whom &s;he gave to <HI>Jacob;</HI> wherein <HI>Leah</HI> follow'd her,
<PB N="82" REF="55">and gave one of her Maids to her Husband: All this was evidently grounded upon the &s;ame Prin|ciple which afterwards bred tho&s;e Di&s;&s;en&s;ions be|twixt <HI>Jacob</HI>'s Wives about the getting Children by him: For it is very natural to believe, that <HI>Jacob</HI> did not conceal from his Wives his advantages and hopes.</P>
<P>It appears, that <HI>Jacob</HI>'s Children which were born, for the mo&s;t part in <HI>Laban</HI>'s Hou&s;e in <HI>Chal|dea,</HI> where they had &s;een <HI>Abraham</HI>'s Native Coun|trey, and tho&s;e of their own Kindred, from among whom God had commanded <HI>Abraham</HI> to depart, and to go into <HI>Canaan,</HI> did entertain very lively Notions of tho&s;e important Truths, e&s;pecially af|ter they were &s;trengthened and confirm'd by the Cares and In&s;tructions of old <HI>I&s;aac,</HI> to whom they were brought by <HI>Jacob;</HI> and after they began to practice in <HI>Canaan,</HI> the Wor&s;hip and Religion of their own Family, and to compare it with the Doctrine they had learnt in <HI>Chaldea.</HI></P>
<P>Tho&s;e &s;everal Voyages which God obliged the Patriarchs to undertake, as that of <HI>Abraham</HI> out of <HI>Ur</HI> of <HI>Chaldea;</HI> that of <HI>Jacob</HI> out of <HI>Canaan</HI> (we ought to make the &s;ame judgement of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s forty years &s;ojourning among&s;t the <HI>Midianites</HI>) did evidently oblige them to examine more care|fully, what was the Tradition received in the &s;e|veral Countries into which they travelled, and &s;o to imprint the more deeply into their minds the belief of tho&s;e important Truths, which were the Foundation of their Religion. and the &s;ole object of the Meditations of the faithful.</P>
<P>One &s;ees in &s;hort, the effects of the&s;e Impre&s;|&s;ions.</P>
<PB N="83" REF="55">
<P N="1">1. By that Cu&s;tom which &s;eems to have begun in <HI>Jacob</HI>'s time, and which aftrrwards got the authority of a Law, I mean the cu&s;tom of taking to Wife ones own Brother's Widow to rai&s;e him up Seed.</P>
<P N="2">2. The Sin of <HI>Onan</HI> is repre&s;ented &s;o odious, only becau&s;e by it, he acted again&s;t the belief of the Promi&s;e.</P>
<P N="3">3. We &s;ee the &s;ame thing in the action of <HI>Tha|mar, Juda</HI>'s Daughter-in-Law; for having been deceived by <HI>Judah,</HI> &s;he in exchange, &s;urpriz'd him into an Ince&s;t, the Commi&s;&s;ion whereof, ac|cording to the Ob&s;ervation of a Greek Commen|tator, &s;he &s;ought to perpetuate,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Theoph.</HI> in Mat. c. I.</NOTE> only becau&s;e &s;he had a vehement de&s;ire to get Children out of a Fa|mily, which &s;he lookt upon as &s;olely intru&s;ted with the Promi&s;e of the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah,</HI> and out of which he was accordingly to be born.</P>
<P>It is nece&s;&s;ary to make that Ob&s;ervation, be|cau&s;e we ought always to remember, that &s;he was formerly a <HI>Canaanite,</HI> and that con&s;equently &s;he left off and renounc'd the Impiety and Idolatry of her Kindred, when &s;he embrac'd the Religion and hopes of <HI>Jacob</HI>'s Family. Therefore we &s;ee that particular mention is made of her in our Sa|viour's Genealogy, and of <HI>Ruth</HI> who likewi&s;e gave over all the preten&s;ions of her own People, and &s;o for&s;ook her Religion to enter into the Tribe of <HI>Judah,</HI> as well as of <HI>Bath&s;hebah,</HI> who was Wife to a <HI>Hittite;</HI> whereupon an ancient Father hath very well ob&s;erved,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>S. Hieronym: in Tradit. Heb</HI> ad 1. Reg. 3.</NOTE> according to the <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> O|pinion, that <HI>Shimei</HI>'s Revilings again&s;t <HI>David,</HI> when he went out of <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> during <HI>Ab&s;alom</HI>'s Rebellion, reflected upon his Birth out of the Po|&s;terity
<PB N="84" REF="56">of <HI>Ruth</HI> the <HI>Moabite&s;s,</HI> as the <HI>Jews</HI> even to this very day do under&s;tand it.</P>
<P>We may make the &s;ame Reflexion upon the Con&s;ideration of that implacable jealou&s;ie which <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI>'s Dreams rai&s;ed in the Minds of his Bre|thren.</P>
<P N="1">1. We may rea&s;onably conceive, that he being the Fir&s;t-born of <HI>Rachel,</HI> and the Wife which <HI>Ja|cob</HI> his Father had fir&s;t made Love to, he had been brought up with hopes of the Birth-right, as well as <HI>I&s;aac,</HI> who was but the &s;econd Son of <HI>Abraham</HI></P>
<P>But 2. He might be&s;ides, very well &s;uppo&s;e, that the Crimes of his Brethren born of <HI>Leah</HI> (whom in all likelihood he lookt upon as the &s;ole, Legitimate Heirs, the others being born of Maid-Servants) did rank them with <HI>E&s;au,</HI> whom God had rejected. That outragious Fury which <HI>Jo|&s;eph</HI>'s Brethren &s;hew'd again&s;t him, becau&s;e they lookt upon him as preferred of God by tho&s;e Dreams to tho&s;e that were born before him, is &s;o like that of <HI>Cain,</HI> of <HI>Lot,</HI> of <HI>I&s;mael,</HI> and of <HI>E&s;au;</HI> that it had, in all probability, the &s;ame Cau&s;e and Original.</P>
<P>Do we not &s;ee afterwards, another effect of the &s;ame jealou&s;ie, in the affectation that <HI>Jacob</HI> and his Family &s;hew'd in the Land of <HI>Egypt,</HI> when they refu&s;ed to live promi&s;cuou&s;ly with the <HI>Egyp|tians,</HI> which were the Po&s;terity of <HI>Ham,</HI> and begg'd of them a Countrey where they might live by them&s;elves; as we &s;ee on the contrary, the <HI>Egyptians</HI> &s;hewing an extream aver&s;ion again&s;t <HI>Ja|cob</HI> and his Family, which was of <HI>Sem</HI>'s Po&s;te|rity.</P>
<PB N="85" REF="56">
<P>Certainly it cannot be denied, that as this &s;epa|ration was an effect of the Antipathy of tho&s;e Na|tions, &s;o it might al&s;o be in &s;ome re&s;pect, the con|&s;equence of <HI>Jacob</HI> and his Childrens preten&s;ions upon the Promi&s;e of the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah,</HI> the execution and accompli&s;hment whereof, they &s;tood up for as belonging to them&s;elves.</P>
<P>To all this we may add, that the Per&s;ecution of the <HI>Egyptians</HI> again&s;t the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> obliged them to make particular Reflexions upon the Promi&s;e which <HI>Jacob</HI> on his Death-Bed made to them from God: That Per&s;ecution was chiefly intended a|gain&s;t the Male Children, <HI>Pharaoh</HI> commanding the extirpation of them, becau&s;e he was afraid of the <HI>Jews</HI> growing too &s;trong for him, and of their joyning with his Enemies; and perhaps al&s;o, becau&s;e the <HI>Jews</HI> entertaining a certain expectati|on of the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah</HI>'s coming, and &s;o boa&s;ting and glorying of it upon all occa&s;ions, the <HI>Egyptians</HI> de|&s;ign'd to fru&s;trate, and cut off their hope thus, by hindering the accompli&s;hment of the Promi&s;e.</P>
<P>However there was no real difficulty to keep up the di&s;tinct remembrance of tho&s;e important Facts. <HI>Jacob</HI> died in the year of the World, 2315. <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> died in the year of the World, 2428. There are then but 58 years between <HI>Jo&s;ephs</HI> Death, and <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Birth: <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> might have &s;een not only <HI>Am|ram</HI> his own <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters">ther, who had &s;een <HI>Levi,</HI> but al|&s;o <HI>Kohath</HI> his Grandfather, who had &s;een <HI>Jacob.</HI></P>
<P>And it is for that rea&s;on,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. L. 23.</NOTE> that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> &s;eems to have ob&s;erv'd, that <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> &s;aw his own Children's Children; that is to &s;ay, the third Generation.</P>
<P>One cannot imagine any Circum&s;tances more conducible than the&s;e, to the pre&s;erving the di|&s;tinct
<PB N="86" REF="57">knowledge of tho&s;e important Truths which were the Foundations of Religion.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="17" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XVII. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>That the Tradition which gives us an Account of the Per&s;wa&s;ion which the Ancients had of the truth of the Creation of the World, and of the Promi&s;e of the</HI> Me&s;&s;iah, <HI>before</HI> Mo&s;es <HI>cannot be &s;u&s;pected.</HI></HEAD>
<P>I Have &s;hew'd, I think, evidently enough, that both the Creation, and the Promi&s;e of the <HI>Me&s;|&s;iah,</HI> with all the other things depending upon them, might have been known certainly by <HI>Adam</HI> and his Children, and &s;o afterwards be handed down to all his Po&s;terity till <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s time.</P>
<P>From <HI>Adam</HI> to <HI>Noah</HI> there is but one Man, <HI>viz. Methu&s;alah,</HI> who joyned hands with both.</P>
<P>From <HI>Noah</HI> to <HI>Abraham,</HI> there is but one Man, <HI>viz. Sem,</HI> who &s;aw them both for a con&s;idera|ble time.</P>
<P>From <HI>Abraham</HI> to <HI>Jo&s;eph,</HI> there is but one Man, <HI>viz. I&s;aac, Jo&s;eph</HI>'s Grandfather.</P>
<P>From <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> to <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> there is <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 word"> one Man, <HI>viz. Amram,</HI> who might have &s;een <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> long enough.</P>
<P>Tho&s;e Characters of time which <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> hath &s;o carefully ob&s;erved, do plainly evidence, that the Creation, and the Promi&s;e of the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah,</HI> might be di&s;tinctly known: For if we &s;uppo&s;e a conti|nued
<PB N="87" REF="57">&s;ucce&s;&s;ion of <HI>Adam</HI>'s Off&s;pring, it was not ea&s;ie to impo&s;e upon Men in that matter; and that, becau&s;e every one of tho&s;e who were Con|temporaries with <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> being able to run up his own Pedigree as far as the Flood, nay, even up to <HI>Adam,</HI> by as compendious a way as <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> could do his own; they would have treated tho&s;e with the utmo&s;t degree of &s;corn, who &s;hould have at|tempted to forge any thing contrary to what was publickly and univer&s;ally known; and &s;o it was equally impo&s;&s;ible, that the truth of things &s;o important as the Creation, and the Promi&s;e of the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah</HI> were, &s;hould be unknown.</P>
<P>Be&s;ides, I think I have plainly &s;hew'd, that ma|ny actions recorded by <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> tho' very &s;trange in them&s;elves, and which the Athei&s;ts look upon as ab&s;urd and ridiculous, have proceeded from no other principle than from the &s;trong per&s;wa&s;ion of the truth of tho&s;e Facts, according as in a long Series of Ages, every one of the Ancients follow|ing his own humour and prejudices, framed to him&s;elf a particular Idea differing from the true &s;en&s;e of the Promi&s;e of the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah.</HI></P>
<P>It cannot rea&s;onably be objected, that all this is only grounded upon the uncertain authority of Tradition: For tho' I grant that Tradition, as to Facts of another nature, be dubious and un|certain, and not to be too much relyed upon in matter of Belief, yet this hath &s;uch very particular Characters as keep up its own authority.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, it &s;uppo&s;eth a &s;mall number of per&s;ons from <HI>Adam</HI> to <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> who put it in Writing.</P>
<P>Secondly, It &s;uppo&s;eth, that tho&s;e who have pre&s;erved this Tradition, lived very long, and
<PB N="88" REF="58">for the mo&s;t part, for many Centuries of Years.</P>
<P>Thirdly, It relates to &s;uch Facts as every one is de&s;irous to be rightly inform'd of, and which he is particularly concern'd to examine, as rela|ting to his own private Intere&s;t, becau&s;e they are the Principles of his Actions, and the rules of his Conduct both in Civil and Religious Matters.</P>
<P>Fourthly, it &s;uppo&s;eth &s;uch real Marks as &s;erved to keep it up; &s;uch as the pains of Child|bearing, the Paradi&s;e before the Flood, the dura|tion of the Ark after the Flood.</P>
<P>Fifthly, It &s;uppo&s;eth a Publick Service and Wor&s;hip, who&s;e Celebration is repeated fifty two times a year, that the remembrance of it &s;hould be pre&s;erved by all Po&s;terity.</P>
<P>Sixthly, It was pre&s;erved entire by pa&s;&s;ing from Father to Son, and we know that Fathers or Mothers do not naturally engage in a De&s;ign of deceiving their Children.</P>
<P>Seventhly, It &s;uppo&s;eth &s;trange Controver&s;ies betwixt Brothers, the Elder having almo&s;t all been excluded, and the younger, as <HI>Abel, Seth, Abraham, I&s;aac, Jacob, Juda,</HI> cho&s;en to accom|pli&s;h the Promi&s;e of the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah,</HI> which bred great Jealou&s;ies, and tended much to pre&s;erve tho&s;e I|deas of the truth.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, It &s;uppo&s;eth great Conte&s;ts betwixt whole Nations, who all &s;trove one with another for the advantage of being the Heirs of the Pro|mi&s;e, and Depo&s;itaries of tho&s;e Verities; as the <HI>Moabites,</HI> for in&s;tance, the <HI>Ammonites,</HI> the <HI>I&s;hma|elites,</HI> the <HI>Edomites,</HI> and the <HI>Jews:</HI> each of them pretending to a preference before the others, by
<PB N="89" REF="58">God him&s;elf, and &s;o making it a matter of Credit and Honour to them&s;elves. All the&s;e Characters contribute to the di&s;tinct pre&s;ervation of the know|ledge of any truth.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="18" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XVIII. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>An Explication of</HI> Mo&s;es<HI>'s way of Writing; where it is &s;hew'd, that in writing the Book of</HI> Gene&s;is, <HI>he mentioned nothing but what was then generally known.</HI></HEAD>
<P>THis is a truth which at fir&s;t I took for granted, and afterwards proved it, the rea&s;ons where|of I explained particularly as I went on. But it ought to be fixed as &s;olidly as the Matter will bear, becau&s;e it often happens, that tho&s;e who do not fore&s;ee the Con&s;equences which may be drawn from the contrary Opinion, do contradict it before they are aware of it; and that too un|der pretence of exalting the Divine Authority of the Book of <HI>Gene&s;is:</HI> which gives occa&s;ion to the Athei&s;ts to look upon it no otherwi&s;e than as lear|ned Men do, on the greate&s;t part of Legends.</P>
<P>The Prophetical Spirit acts in two manners.</P>
<P>The Fir&s;t is by way of Revelation, in re&s;pect of tho&s;e things the Prophet hath no knowledge of.
<PB N="90" REF="59">Thus the <HI>Evangeli&s;t</HI> St. <HI>John</HI> hath foretold tho&s;e Events, which we read of in the <HI>Revelations:</HI> For tho&s;e Events being all hidden under the &s;hadows of Futurity, it was impo&s;&s;ible for him to have fore|told them, unle&s;s the Spirit of God had immedi|ately revealed them to him.</P>
<P>The Second is by way of direction, in re&s;pect of tho&s;e things with which the Prophet was him|&s;elf acquainted, either becau&s;e he was an Eye-Witne&s;s of them him&s;elf, or becau&s;e he learnt them from tho&s;e who were &s;o.</P>
<P>Now this direction of the Spirit con&s;i&s;ts in the guiding the Prophets &s;o as that he may write of his Subject, ju&s;t as it was either &s;poken or done. Thus the Evangeli&s;ts St. <HI>Matthew,</HI> and St. <HI>John,</HI> drew up an Abridgment of tho&s;e Sermons of our Savi|our, which they had heard, and of tho&s;e Mira|cles which they had &s;een.</P>
<P>And thus St. <HI>Luke,</HI> and St. <HI>Mark,</HI> have writ|ten of tho&s;e things which they had heard from tho&s;e that were Eye-Witne&s;&s;es of them, as St. <HI>Luke</HI> particularly tells us.</P>
<P>Now I affirm, that when <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> wrote the Book of <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> he had only the &s;econd &s;ort of Prophetical Influences, and not the fir&s;t; Although in our Di&s;putes again&s;t Athei&s;ts, to convince them by Arguments from Matters of Fact, we may con&s;ider him only as an Hi&s;torian, who might have written his Book without any other particular direction, and might have pre&s;erved in it the memory of tho&s;e ancient Events which were then generally known.</P>
<P>Now what &s;ide &s;oever Divines may take in their Di&s;putes again&s;t the Athei&s;ts, I may ea&s;ily
<PB N="91" REF="59">e&s;tabli&s;h my A&s;&s;ertion: Fir&s;t, becau&s;e it is not ne|ce&s;&s;ary to &s;uppo&s;e an entire Revelation, where Tradition being di&s;tinct enough, is &s;ufficient to pre&s;erve a clear Remembrance of all tho&s;e Facts.</P>
<P>Now it cannot be denied, but that the Tradition concerning the Creation and the Promi&s;e of the Me&s;&s;iah was of this nature, e&s;pecially if we con|&s;ider the little Extent of it, and the immediate Succe&s;&s;ion of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Ance&s;tors, down to him|&s;elf.</P>
<P>Secondly, If <HI>Abraham</HI>'s and <HI>Jacob</HI>'s Travels through &s;o many places, were, as I have ob&s;er|ved already, very u&s;eful to give them a further view of the common belief of all the &s;everal Nations de&s;cended from <HI>Noah,</HI> and of their a|greement in this Tradition, it were unju&s;t to &s;uppo&s;e that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s forty years &s;ojourning in the Country of <HI>Midian,</HI> and that too when he was forty years old, and con&s;equently had that ripe|ne&s;s of Age and Judgment as is fitte&s;t for &s;uch Ob&s;ervations, did not &s;erve to acquaint him with the &s;everal Pa&s;&s;ages he records of <HI>Abraham,</HI> as well as of the &s;everal Divi&s;ions of his Po&s;teri|ty.</P>
<P>Thirdly, We may ob&s;erve in the Book of <HI>Ge|ne&s;is</HI> a way of writing very different from that which we &s;ee in the greate&s;t part of <HI>Exodus,</HI> and in the following Books; for whereas God &s;peaks to him in tho&s;e latter Books, which he always did <HI>viv&acirc; voce.</HI> (And the <HI>Jews</HI> have wi&s;ely ob|&s;erved, that herein con&s;i&s;ted <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s advantage a|bove the other Prophets to whom God was u&s;ed to &s;peak only in Dreams and Vi&s;ions) He u&s;es
<PB N="92" REF="60">commonly tho&s;e words, <HI>And the Lord &s;pake unto me.</HI> He marks out the place where God &s;poke to him, as well as the time and occa&s;ion of God's &s;peaking to him, which he do's not in his Book of <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI></P>
<P>Fourthly, The Book of <HI>Gene&s;is</HI> is not divided into &s;everal Revelations, as all Prophecies are, wherein the &s;everal returns of the Holy Spirit of God are all exactly &s;et down; which was ab|&s;olutely nece&s;&s;ary, not only to ea&s;e the Reader, who might be tired, if he was to carry a long Series of Predictions in his mind at once, as if it were only one &s;ingle Vi&s;ion or Revelation; but al&s;o to conde&s;cend to the nature of the minds of men: For according to the Rules of probability, we cannot &s;uppo&s;e them to be filled with &s;o ma|ny differing Idea's at the &s;ame time, but a great confu&s;ion mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arily follow.</P>
<P>But &s;uppo&s;ing that the&s;e Ob&s;ervations &s;hould be thought in&s;ufficient, yet tho&s;e that follow will &s;eem capable of convincing the minds of all. There are in the Book of <HI>Gene&s;is</HI> certain Chara|cters of its being written in that way which I &s;pake of. Fir&s;t, one needs only ju&s;t look into that Book, and he will &s;ee that the anciente&s;t Facts, which are tho&s;e of which we mo&s;t de&s;ire a particular account, are there de&s;cribed in a ve|ry &s;hort and conci&s;e manner. The Hi&s;tory of 1656 years is all contained in Eight Chapters; There are no Actions de&s;cribed therein with more Circum&s;tances, than only &s;ome few of the mo&s;t important, the remembrance whereof was &s;till fre&s;h among&s;t them. The Hi&s;tory of <HI>La|mech</HI>'s Polygamy, and the Murders of which he
<PB N="93" REF="60">was guilty, is there &s;et down &s;o compendiou&s;ly, that it is very ob&s;cure.</P>
<P>Secondly, One &s;ees that he &s;peaks more copi|ou&s;ly of all that had been tran&s;acted near his time: He explains and mentions all the particulars and circum&s;tances thereof. He &s;peaks &s;o &s;hortly of <HI>Melchi&s;edeck,</HI> that it is doubted to this day, whe|ther he was not the Patriarch <HI>Sem,</HI> or &s;ome o|ther faithful wor&s;hipper of the true God &s;ettled in the Land of <HI>Canaan;</HI> whereas he &s;ets down at length all the particulars of the Hi&s;tory of <HI>Abra|ham,</HI> of <HI>I&s;aac,</HI> and of <HI>Jacob,</HI> who&s;e la&s;t Oracles which he &s;poke on his Death-bed, he carefully records.</P>
<P>Thirdly, He de&s;cribes with the &s;ame exactne&s;s all the Genealogies of the <HI>Edomites,</HI> their &s;everal Tribes, and the Names of their Heads and Cap|tains, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> As when he &s;peaks of tho&s;e of the people of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> which indeed he could ea&s;ily do, having liv'd forty years of his life among&s;t tho&s;e Nations, as well as he had other forty years a|mong&s;t the <HI>I&s;raelites.</HI></P>
<P>Tho&s;e who maintain the contrary Opinion, mu&s;t of nece&s;&s;ity &s;uppo&s;e, Fir&s;t, That Traditi|on is of no u&s;e at all to pre&s;erve the Idea of a|ny illu&s;trious Action.</P>
<P>Secondly, That in <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s time there were none who knew any particulars of the Hi&s;tory of the Flood, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> of the Tower of <HI>Babel,</HI> of the divi&s;i|on of Tongues; tho' we &s;ee plainly, both by the nature of the Facts them&s;elves, in which all Nations were concern'd, and by <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> his de|&s;cription, that the generality of Mankind were &s;ufficiently in&s;tructed in them already.</P>
<PB N="94" REF="61">
<P>Thirdly, It mu&s;t be &s;uppo&s;ed that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> hath &s;et down the manner how that Tradition was infallibly pre&s;erved &s;o carefully to no purpo&s;e, tho' he took notice of all the Circum&s;tances ne|ce&s;&s;ary for that effect.</P>
<P>Fourthly, They mu&s;t &s;uppo&s;e that <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> whil&s;t he &s;ojourned in the Land of <HI>Midian,</HI> heard no|thing either of their Original and Pedigree, nor yet of the other neighbouring Nations who were de&s;cended from <HI>Abraham,</HI> altho' all the&s;e Nations valued them&s;elves upon their being de&s;cended from that Patriarch, and kept up their &s;everal Pedigrees, by which they could trace their Ori|ginal with the &s;ame care as the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> did theirs, becau&s;e they had the &s;ame preten&s;ions that the <HI>I&s;|raelites</HI> had.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, We mu&s;t ab&s;olutely take away the Authority of the Oracles recorded by <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> in <HI>Gene&s;is.</HI> The&s;e Oracles promi&s;e to <HI>Abraham</HI> the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of the Land of <HI>Canaan</HI> for his Po&s;teri|ty, and threaten the <HI>Canaanites</HI> with &s;everal Cur|&s;es: <HI>Jacob</HI> by his Will bequeathed <HI>Sichem</HI> to the Tribe of <HI>Jo&s;eph.</HI> He expre&s;ly marks out the Country which one of the Tribes was to po&s;&s;e&s;s; he gives a de&s;cription of the Character and Rank of every Tribe. The accompli&s;hment of tho&s;e O|racles, tho' never &s;o exact and admirable, is of no manner of con&s;equence, if we &s;uppo&s;e that the&s;e particular Predictions were ab&s;olutely un|known in <HI>Abraham</HI>'s Family, whereas their ac|compli&s;hment, which he carefully de&s;cribes from time to time, is the mo&s;t &s;olid demon&s;tration which can be de&s;ired, to e&s;tabli&s;h the Divinity of tho&s;e Revelations, as well as of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> his other Books.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="19" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="95" REF="61">
<HEAD>CHAP. XIX. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>An An&s;wer to an Objection which may be drawn from the Histories of the</HI> Egyptians <HI>and</HI> Chaldeans, <HI>concerning the Antiquity of the World.</HI></HEAD>
<P>WHat I have already repre&s;ented is &s;uffici|ent to prove that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> writ nothing in the Book of <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> but what was then generally known by all the World. And I know nothing that can be objected with any probability, but what we read in the mo&s;t ancient Authors con|cerning the <HI>Egyptian</HI> and <HI>Chaldean</HI> Hi&s;tory, and in the Modern ones concerning that of <HI>China.</HI> We mu&s;t then examin both the one and the other with attention, that we may leave no Difficulties in &s;o important a Subject.</P>
<P>All that the Athei&s;ts can object again&s;t the Hi|&s;tory of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> concerning the <HI>Epocha</HI> of the Creation of the World as he hath fixed it, is what <HI>Diodorus Siculus</HI> relates, that in the time of <HI>Alex|ander</HI> the Great, there were &s;ome <HI>Egyptians</HI> that reckon'd up Three and twenty thou&s;and years from the Reign of the Sun to <HI>Alexander</HI>'s time, and that tho&s;e who reckon'd lea&s;t, yet reckon'd &s;omewhat more than Ten thou&s;and years, which account exceeds the Antiquity which <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> a|&s;cribes to the World in the Book of <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> by many Ages, where he repre&s;ents the Creation as
<PB N="96" REF="62">a Fact which happened &s;ome few years more than Two thou&s;and five hundred before he wrote that Book. How then did <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> write of things univer&s;ally acknowledged by all the World? And they may here further aggravate, what the &s;ame <HI>Diodorus</HI> hath ob&s;erved, That the Hi&s;tory of the <HI>Egyptians</HI> was not written like that of the <HI>Greeks;</HI> among&s;t whom, tho&s;e who came fir&s;t wrote their own Hi&s;tories, every man according to his own private humour, which cau&s;ed that great variety among&s;t their Hi&s;torians: whereas among&s;t the <HI>Egyptians</HI> none wrote but by publick Authority; the Prie&s;ts alone having that particular employ|ment re&s;erved for them to write their Hi&s;tories in their &s;everal Generations.</P>
<P>This Objection is ea&s;ily confuted in two words: In &s;hort, How could the <HI>Egyptians</HI> have always had men to write their Hi&s;tories by publick Au|thority in all their &s;ucceeding Generations, &s;eeing there were; as <HI>Diodorus</HI> ob&s;erves, &s;uch a &s;trange and va&s;t Divi&s;ions among&s;t them&s;elves? If there were but two or three Ages difference more or le&s;s, no body would look upon it, as a material Exception again&s;t the Hi&s;tory of &s;uch a long Se|ries of time; But who can imagine that tho&s;e men who differ no le&s;s than Thirteen thou&s;and years in their Accounts of the Duration of the &s;ame in|terval of time, had yet certain Hi&s;tories upon which the&s;e things were grounded.</P>
<P>This &s;hews &s;ufficiently, that as <HI>Varro</HI> the great|e&s;t Scholar the <HI>Romans</HI> ever had, hath divided Antiquity into Fabulous and Hi&s;torical, which he begins from the fir&s;t <HI>Olympiad,</HI> leaving all which went before to the fabulous part; &s;o we
<PB N="97" REF="62">mu&s;t of nece&s;&s;ity make the &s;ame di&s;tinction in the Matter of the Antiquities of <HI>Egypt.</HI></P>
<P>But I intend to do &s;ome thing more, and to con&s;ider this <HI>Egyptian</HI> Hi&s;tory with a little more attention; out of which, I think, I may draw good Arguments to confute the vanity of tho&s;e Pa&s;&s;ages in it oppo&s;ed to <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and to confirm the Authority of his Book of <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> and the truth of the chiefe&s;t Tran&s;actions recorded in it.</P>
<P>I &s;hall not at pre&s;ent take notice, that altho' the <HI>Egyptians,</HI> about their latter times, have main|tain'd that the Elements were eternal, yet they have &s;ufficiently acknowledged that the World had a beginning, &s;eeing they make no mention of any thing before their thirty Dyna&s;ties, which in all, did at the mo&s;t amount to no more then 36525 years.</P>
<P>Neither do I think nece&s;&s;ary to mention here that they have &s;ufficiently acknowledged the be|ginning of Mankind, &s;eeing they held that men were fir&s;t born in <HI>Egypt;</HI> altho' they endeavoured to make good their preten&s;ions by that &s;otti&s;h A&s;&s;ertion of the ea&s;ie production of Frogs out of the mud of their Fen's, as the &s;ame <HI>Diodorus</HI> tells us.</P>
<P>But there are three things which I mu&s;t here take notice of, becau&s;e they do mo&s;t certainly decide the que&s;tion.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t is, That by that long Reign which they a&s;cribe to their Gods and Hero's, there is nothing el&s;e meant but the motion of the Stars, and nothing like a real Kingdom. That prodigi|ous number of years does not relate to the dura|tion of the World, as if it had &s;ub&s;i&s;ted &s;o long;
<PB N="98" REF="63">but to the return of the Sun, and the Moon, and the five other Planets, and of the Heavens, to the &s;ame point from whence, according to the Opini|on of the <HI>Egyptians,</HI> they fir&s;t began their Cour&s;e: In a word, it is only the great A&s;tronomical Year, about which, as <HI>Ari&s;tole</HI> tells us, the An|cients have had &s;o many different Opinions, and the <HI>Egyptians</HI> have &s;o little agreed, as the Hi&s;tory of their Antiquities, related by <HI>Diodorus,</HI> plainly &s;hews. One thing evidently-proves what I here alledge, which is, that they have reckon'd up but fifteen Dyna&s;ties to <HI>Jupiter</HI> the la&s;t of the Heroes, that is to &s;ay, but fifteen per&s;ons to <HI>Jupiter,</HI> who is <HI>Ham</HI> the third Son of <HI>Noah.</HI></P>
<P>This comes very near <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Calculation, who reckoneth <HI>Noah</HI> as the tenth man from <HI>Adam:</HI> for it is very likely, that tho&s;e ignorant people, after a long proce&s;s of time, have joyned <HI>Cain</HI> and <HI>Abel</HI> with <HI>Sem</HI> and <HI>Japhet,</HI> and <HI>Mi&s;raim</HI> the Son of <HI>Ham,</HI> which makes up the &s;ixteen Dyna&s;ties, ex|cept we chu&s;e to &s;ay that the <HI>Egyptians</HI> thought fit to joyn the &s;even Generations of <HI>Cain</HI> to tho&s;e before the Flood, which comes very near to the &s;ame Account. All this, according to the phan|ta&s;tick Notions of tho&s;e ancient people, who de|fied the fir&s;t men, and gave them afterwards the Names of &s;ome Stars, to impre&s;s upon their Po|&s;terity a greater veneration for them; and in par|ticular, according to the groundle&s;s imagination of the <HI>Egyptians,</HI> who were re&s;olved to maintain that the fir&s;t men were formed in their own Country. And in &s;hort, we find that tho&s;e Dy|na&s;ties for the mo&s;t part, if we except tho&s;e of <HI>Vulcan,</HI> and of the Sun, have been but of a very
<PB N="99" REF="63">&s;hort continuance, and even &s;horter than that which <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> a&s;cribes to the lives of the ancient Patriarchs, which we have already &s;et down.</P>
<P>The &s;econd thing that is ob&s;ervable in the con|futation of this fal&s;e Antiquity, if one would take what the <HI>Egyptians</HI> have related of their Dyna&s;ties before <HI>Menes,</HI> and <HI>Jupiter</HI> the la&s;t of their Heroes in a Hi&s;torical &s;en&s;e, is, that there are &s;till &s;uffici|ent marks of the newne&s;s of the World, as <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> hath de&s;cribed it, in the remaining Fragments of the true <HI>Egyptian</HI> Hi&s;tory.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, We &s;ee that <HI>Egypt</HI> hath con&s;tantly carried the Name of <HI>Ham</HI> among&s;t the <HI>Gentiles,</HI> as well as in the Holy Scriptures. It was called &s;o in <HI>Plutarch</HI>'s time: The <HI>Egyptian Thebes</HI> was called <HI>Hammon No Ezech.</HI> 30. which is the Name of the <HI>Egyptian Jupiter,</HI> as the Heathen Authors <HI>Herodo|tus</HI> and <HI>Plutarch</HI> te&s;tifie. Now it is vi&s;ible, that all this was for no other rea&s;on, but becau&s;e <HI>E|gypt</HI> had fallen to the &s;hare of <HI>Ham, Noah</HI>'s third Son, who &s;ettled there, and who&s;e Po&s;terity did afterwards people <HI>Africa,</HI> and gave it their &s;everal Names, as <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> particularly ob&s;erves.</P>
<P>Secondly, One &s;ee's that <HI>Egypt</HI> hath more parti|cularly born the Name of <HI>Mizraim,</HI> which it bares &s;till, and which was given to it, in re&s;pect of one of its parts, becau&s;e of <HI>Mizraim</HI> the Son of <HI>Ham.</HI> And it would be ridiculous for one to imagine that tho&s;e Characters given by <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> had been al|lowed of in the World, except he had had good grounds to de&s;cribe their original in the &s;ame manner as he hath already done.</P>
<P>Thirdly, One &s;ee's that all the Dyna&s;ties of <HI>E|gypt,</HI> that is to &s;ay, all the &s;everal Branches of the
<PB N="100" REF="64">Kings who have reign'd over the &s;everal parts of <HI>Egypt,</HI> did all acknowledge <HI>Menes</HI> for their Common Founder.</P>
<P>This <HI>Menes</HI> being the &s;ame with that <HI>Mizraim</HI> of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> as I &s;hall &s;hew hereafter; It is vi&s;ible that the <HI>Egyptians,</HI> who in all likelyhood have a&s;cribed to <HI>Menes</HI> what they might more ju&s;tly have a&s;cri|bed to <HI>Jupiter Hammon,</HI> becau&s;e they would di|&s;tingui&s;h their Kings from Hero's, have exactly followed the Idea's of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> in repre&s;enting one as the common Father of all the &s;everal Branches of Kings who divided <HI>Egypt</HI> among&s;t them|&s;elves.</P>
<P>Fourthly, One &s;ee's that the Invention of the Arts mo&s;t nece&s;&s;ary to Human Life, have been attribu|ted either to <HI>Menes</HI> the fir&s;t King of <HI>Egypt,</HI> or to his Succe&s;&s;ors. It was this <HI>Menes,</HI> or one of his Suc|ce&s;&s;ors, who invented Laws, Letters, A&s;trono|my, Mu&s;ick, Wre&s;tling, Phy&s;ick, Hieroglyphicks, Anatomy, and Architecture. All this plainly &s;hews that the <HI>Egyptians</HI> had been mi&s;taken, if they had a&s;cribed to the World as great an Antiquity as one would think they did, by the va&s;t extent of time which they a&s;cribed to the Dyna&s;ties of their Gods and Hero's. How could the World have continued above Thirty thou&s;and years without tho&s;e Arts which are &s;o nece&s;&s;ary for the conveni|ence of Human Life? How could men not have found out, during &s;uch a prodigious &s;ucce&s;&s;ion of Ages, tho&s;e Arts, the invention whereof the <HI>E|gyptians</HI> do a&s;cribe to their fir&s;t King, or to one or two of his Succe&s;&s;ors, during a very &s;hort inter|val of time.</P>
<P>Fifthly, One &s;ee's in the Hi&s;tory of <HI>Egypt</HI> the
<PB N="101" REF="64">&s;ame decay in Religion that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> &s;peaks of.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Herod</HI> Lib. II. cap 4. <HI>Lucian</HI> de Dea Syr.</NOTE> The Ancients unanimou&s;ly agree that the <HI>Egyptians</HI> had at fir&s;t neither Statues nor Images in their Tem|ples, which perfectly agrees with what <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> tells us of the times after the Flood: But they tell us al&s;o, That the <HI>Egyptians</HI> afterwards made &s;ome Statues, and con&s;ecrated in their Temples the Fi|gures of great numbers of Animals. Some are of opinion, and that probably enough, that this came from the belief which they entertained afterwards of the Tran&s;migration of Souls into other Animals, an opinion which they thought did nece&s;&s;arily flow from the Doctrine of the Immortality of the Soul.</P>
<P>Sixthly, However, one &s;ees in the &s;ixth place, That as <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> repre&s;ents <HI>Nimrod</HI> one of <HI>Ham</HI>'s Po|&s;terity, as the Founder of an Empire in <HI>A&s;&s;yria,</HI> where he formed the manners of the Inhabitants according to the Platform of the <HI>Egyptian</HI> Princi|ples; &s;o the Ancients have ob&s;erved, That the famous <HI>A&s;&s;yrian Belus</HI> came out of <HI>Egypt;</HI> And it is natural to conceive,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Pau&s;an.</HI> in <HI>Me&s;&s;en</HI> p. 261.</NOTE> that there he planted Ido|latry, which began even before <HI>Abraham</HI>'s time; If it be true as the <HI>Jews</HI> ob&s;erve, that the Tower of <HI>Babel</HI> was a Temple wherein an Idol was con|&s;ecrated to wor&s;hip him. At lea&s;t, that conjecture hath a very &s;olid ground, if we con&s;ider the Idola|try of the <HI>Babylonians</HI> towards this <HI>Bel,</HI> whom they wor&s;hipped as a God, according to the Pagans Cu&s;tom of Adoring the Founders of Kingdoms after their decea&s;e as Gods.</P>
<P>The third thing we are here to take notice of con|tains a Demon&s;tration of the Truth of the Book <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> if that which is recorded in it concerning the
<PB N="102" REF="65">time of the Flood, be compared with the Dyna|&s;ties of the <HI>Egyptian</HI> Kings. I will not &s;ay that tho&s;e <HI>Egyptians,</HI> who had any knowledge of the Flood, did exactly mark out the time of it, as <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> doth. But I believe I may be able to &s;hew out of their common opinion's, &s;omthing very near equivalent.</P>
<P>They are all agreed that <HI>Menes</HI> was the fir&s;t King of <HI>Egypt,</HI> and lived about Fourteen hun|dred years before the famous <HI>Se&s;ostris,</HI> as <HI>Herodo|tus</HI> and <HI>Diodorus Siculus</HI> do both relate it: Now, who &s;hould this King of <HI>Egypt</HI> be, whom &s;ome call <HI>Se&s;oncho&s;is,</HI> unle&s;s he is the &s;ame with <HI>Shi&s;hak</HI> whom the Scripture &s;peaks of in the Hi&s;tory of <HI>Re|hoboam,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Kings XIV. 26.</NOTE> even the &s;ame famous Conquerer who took <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> in the fifth year of <HI>Rehoboam</HI>'s Reign. If one calculates the time from the Flood, to the fifth year of <HI>Rehoboam,</HI> he will find that this <HI>Menes</HI> the fir&s;t King of <HI>Egypt,</HI> is no other than the <HI>Ham</HI> of <HI>Mo&s;es;</HI> and on the other &s;ide, that there is very little difference in re&s;pect of that in|terval of time betwixt the Chronology of the <HI>E|gyptians</HI> and that of the Scriptures? Thus the <HI>Egyptian</HI> Account confirms <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Narrative, and the Authority of the Holy Writers, who are ve|ry particular in &s;tating the times of every thing: whereas the <HI>Egyptians</HI> taking all in great, could ne|ver arrive at that exactne&s;s.</P>
<P>This Ob&s;ervation is of very great u&s;e, to &s;hew the certainty of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Chronology according to the <HI>Hebrew</HI> Text: For that of the <HI>Septuagint,</HI> reck|ons up above two thou&s;and years, from the Flood to <HI>Se&s;o&s;tris,</HI> whereas the <HI>Egyptians</HI> did reckon up but a little above fourteen hundred years from
<PB N="103" REF="65"><HI>Menes</HI> the fir&s;t King of <HI>Egypt</HI> to <HI>Se&s;o&s;tris.</HI></P>
<P>There is yet le&s;s difficulty to an&s;wer the Obje|ction, which may be made again&s;t the Book of <HI>Gene&s;is</HI> from the pretended Antiquity of the <HI>Chal|deans.</HI> The &s;ame <HI>Diodorus Siculus,</HI> who &s;aith,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Diodor.</HI> l. 2. Sect. 30, 31.</NOTE> that the <HI>Egyptians</HI> propo&s;ed &s;o great an Antiquity of the World, tells us al&s;o, that the <HI>Chaldeans</HI> belie|ved it eternal, and that they boa&s;ted in <HI>Alexan|der</HI>'s time, that they had learnt A&s;tronomy by Tradition from their Ance&s;tors, who had all &s;uc|ce&s;&s;ively made it their &s;tudy for four hundred &s;e|venty two thou&s;and years together. But there is nothing vainer than the&s;e Pretences.</P>
<P>I &s;hall not &s;tand to &s;hew here the folly of their Opinions about the Eternity of the World: If <HI>Ari&s;totle</HI> &s;eems to have authoriz'd it, yet it is e|nough to confute that Opinion, to con&s;ider, that it is repugnant to the common notion of all the Nations of the World: So that <HI>Democritus</HI> him&s;elf, who pretended that the World was made by chance, yet dur&s;t not oppo&s;e the common and general Opinion of the Worlds being new, tho' he had the boldne&s;s to reject the Author of it, and that action by which it was Created.</P>
<P>Neither do I intend to be prolix here in con|futing the &s;uppo&s;ition of the <HI>Chaldeans,</HI> about their Ance&s;tors following the Study of A&s;trology for 472000 year &s;ucce&s;&s;ively: The impo&s;&s;ibility of the thing in it &s;elf is apparent by the certainty of the Flood, which was acknowledged by all tho&s;e Nations, of whom we have any Antiquities, tho' never &s;o little con&s;iderable in <HI>Pagan</HI> Authors.</P>
<P>But I &s;hall make two Ob&s;ervations, whereof one &s;hews the folly of the <HI>Chaldean</HI> Hypothe&s;is, and
<PB N="104" REF="66">the other doth invincibly e&s;tabli&s;h the Authority of the Book of <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> if it be compared with what we know for certain, and in the <HI>Chaldean</HI> Hi&s;tory.</P>
<P>The Fir&s;t is, That the mo&s;t Ancient Authors are of Opinion, that the <HI>Chaldeans</HI> are de&s;cended from the <HI>Egyptians,</HI> who lookt upon them as a Co|lony of their own. <HI>Diodorus Siculus</HI> &s;aith, that the <HI>Egyptians</HI> maintained, that they had &s;ent out &s;everal Colonies into &s;everal parts of the World; that <HI>Belus</HI> the Son of <HI>Neptune</HI> and <HI>Lybia</HI> had con|ducted one into <HI>Babylon,</HI> and that having fixed it near <HI>Euphrates,</HI> he e&s;tabli&s;h'd &s;ome Prie&s;ts among them according to the <HI>Egyptian</HI> Cu&s;tom, who were free from all publick Charges and Offices, whom the <HI>Babylonians</HI> do call <HI>Chaldeans,</HI> and who according to the Example of the <HI>Egyptian</HI> Prie&s;ts,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ap. Jo&s;eph. Antiq.</HI> l. 1. c. 5. <HI>Pau&s;an. Me&s;&s;en.</HI> P. 261.</NOTE> Philo&s;ophers, and A&s;trologers, did apply them|&s;elves to the ob&s;ervation of the Stars. <HI>He&s;tiaeus,</HI> and <HI>Pau&s;anias,</HI> &s;ay the &s;ame with <HI>Diodorus.</HI></P>
<P>Now one needs only examine here, what the <HI>Egyptians</HI> do &s;ay about the invention of <HI>A&s;tro|logy,</HI> which they a&s;cribe to <HI>Menes,</HI> that is to &s;ay, to <HI>Ham,</HI> or to <HI>Mizraim,</HI> who lived after the Flood, thereby to di&s;cover the Fooli&s;h Vanity of the <HI>Chaldeans.</HI></P>
<P>It is plain, that the <HI>Chaldeans</HI> grew &s;o vain, by the growth of &s;o con&s;iderable an Empire as theirs was, that they would be no longer beholding to the <HI>Egyptian</HI> A&s;trologers, whom all other Nati|ons have lookt upon as the fir&s;t Inventors of that Science, to the inventing and perfecting of which, all Men know that the <HI>Egyptian</HI> Climate, where the Skie is always free from Clouds, did very much contribute.</P>
<PB N="105" REF="66">
<P>And it is very con&s;iderable, that both the <HI>Chaldeans</HI> and the <HI>Egyptians</HI> began their Year with the &s;ame Month, according to <HI>Cen&s;orinus</HI>'s Ob&s;ervation, c. XXI. <HI>de die Nat.</HI></P>
<P>I know very well, the Ancient Heathens were mi&s;taken when they pretended, that the <HI>Chaldeans</HI> went out of <HI>Egypt,</HI> as a Plantation: There is, no doubt, a kind of Illu&s;ion in this their Opinion; but yet the ground and Origine of it is uncontroulable, becau&s;e the <HI>Chaldeans</HI> are de&s;cended from <HI>Cu&s;h, Ham</HI>'s Elde&s;t Son, as <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> tells, <HI>Gen.</HI> X. Therefore tho' we &s;hould grant, that the <HI>Chaldeans</HI> were the fir&s;t Inventors of A|&s;trology, yet this would be always certain, that it was found out only &s;ince <HI>Ham</HI>'s time, whom the <HI>Egyptians</HI> did look upon as the la&s;t of their Heroes, or as the fir&s;t of their Kings.</P>
<P>The other Ob&s;ervation which ought to be well minded here, is taken out of the true and genu|ine <HI>Chaldean</HI> Antiquities. One may prove by the A&s;tronomical Demon&s;trations of the <HI>Chaldeans,</HI> which the People of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> was altogether unac|quainted with, that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> followed a Calculation which was then generally known.</P>
<P><HI>Ari&s;totle</HI> the fir&s;t <HI>Grecian,</HI> that ever taught the Eternity of the World, contrary to <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Hi&s;to|ry, is the Man who furni&s;hes us with it. He took care to &s;end over into <HI>Greece</HI> the A&s;tronomical Ob|&s;ervations of the <HI>Chaldeans,</HI> by which it appeared,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Simplic.</HI> in l. 2. <HI>de coelo.</HI></NOTE> that <HI>Babylon</HI> was taken by <HI>Alexander</HI> about 1903 years after its Foundation. Now that Calculation agrees exactly with that of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. XI.</NOTE> who gives us the De&s;cription of the Tower of <HI>Babel,</HI> and ex|plains the Original of the Name of that City,
<PB N="106" REF="67">which was built &s;ome Ages after, by the Confu&s;ion of Tongues which then happened. And truly, it would be very admirable, that the Heavens in their Motions &s;hould have entered into a Confederacy with <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> to ju&s;tifie a Chronology invented by him in &s;port, without keeping to any Rules, but writing by chance, and without any certain Prin|ciple.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="20" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XX. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>An An&s;wer to the Objection which may be drawn out of the Hi&s;tory of</HI> China, <HI>again&s;t the Mo|&s;aick Hypothe&s;is, concerning the newne&s;s of the World.</HI></HEAD>
<P>I Come now to the other Objection which may be made again&s;t <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Calculation, accord|ing to the <HI>Hebrew</HI> Text, as we have it now. It is drawn from the Hi&s;tory of <HI>China,</HI> who&s;e uninter|rupted Series runs up the Succe&s;&s;ion of their Em|perors to <HI>Fobius</HI> who Reign'd about four hundred years before the Flood. Some Learned Men have already made u&s;e of that Argument, to di&s;credit the Mo&s;aick Chronology according to the <HI>Hebrew</HI> Text, and to cry up the Calculation of the Sep|tuagint, which exceeds that of the <HI>Hebrew</HI> Text,
<PB N="107" REF="67">in the Hi&s;tory before the Flood, by 800 years, and above 700 in the Hi&s;tory from the Flood to <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI> This Objection appears very &s;trong to tho&s;e who read in the Hi&s;tory of <HI>Martinius,</HI> that there is not the lea&s;t interruption in the Catalogue of the Kings of <HI>China</HI> from <HI>Fobius;</HI> that the Hi&s;to|ry of their actions is &s;o certain, having always been written by a Publick Authority, that no Man can rea&s;onably entertain any doubt about it: And the Mi&s;&s;ionaries in <HI>China,</HI> have thought that there was no other way to reconcile the Mo&s;aick Chronology, with the <HI>Chine&s;e;</HI> but in making u&s;e of the Septuagint's Account; and wherein they agree with all the A&s;iatick Chri&s;ti|ans, and even tho&s;e in <HI>Europe,</HI> who follow the <HI>Septuagint</HI> in their reckoning up the years of the World, for the mo&s;t part: Though St. <HI>Hierome</HI>'s Tran&s;lation, which follows the <HI>Hebrew</HI> Text ex|actly, is received in the We&s;t.</P>
<P>But after all, there is little difficulty in an&s;wer|ing this Objection, and we may hereupon ea&s;ily &s;atisfie, tho&s;e who do not di&s;pute only for di&s;pu|ting &s;ake, but are ready to examine this Que&s;tion, with that equity which is requi&s;ite in the exami|nation of all Que&s;tions of that nature.</P>
<P>I confe&s;s ingeniou&s;ly, that this Hi&s;tory, which is one of the mo&s;t ancient in the World, hath many Illu&s;trious Characters of certainty, e&s;peci|ally if we give credit to all that <HI>Martinius</HI> relates of it.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, It marks out exactly the Series and Suc|ce&s;&s;ion of all the Kings of <HI>China,</HI> from the very beginning and original of that Nation.</P>
<P>Secondly, It records in what Year of each Cy|cle
<PB N="108" REF="68">of three&s;core years, every King began his Reign and did &s;uch or &s;uch an action.</P>
<P>Thirdly, It relates &s;ome A&s;tronomical Ob&s;er|vations, older than any that have been made by the mo&s;t Ancient A&s;tronomers in other Na|tions.</P>
<P>Fourthly, It was written by a Publick Authori|ty, and by &s;uch Authors as lived in the time when the things which they record, were tran&s;acted; the immediate Succe&s;&s;or to the Empire taking al|ways care, that the Hi&s;tory of his Predece&s;&s;or &s;hould be written.</P>
<P>Nay, to all this we mu&s;t add, that the <HI>Chine&s;e</HI>'s way of writing, making no u&s;e of Letters, but of Hieroglyphicks, may have prevented the&s;e altera|tions which might otherwi&s;e have been made in their Hi&s;tory; the whole Life of a Man being hardly &s;ufficient, to attain to the perfect knowledge, of a Tongue which hath above Three&s;core Thou|&s;and Figures which mu&s;t be all learnt before a Man can be able only to Read and Write.</P>
<P>But, be&s;ides that, all this depends upon the &s;ole Authority of <HI>Martinius,</HI> no body el&s;e be&s;ide him having given us, as yet any opportunities of examining tho&s;e ancient Monuments of <HI>China;</HI> we may find out of this very Hi&s;tory &s;ome &s;trong Proofs, to confirm that of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and &s;o ea&s;ily re&s;olve the Difficulties which may be rai&s;ed out of it, again&s;t the Book of <HI>Gene&s;is.</HI></P>
<P>Fir&s;t, <HI>F. Martinius</HI> ob&s;erves, that the common Opinion of the <HI>Chine&s;e,</HI> is, that the World had a beginning: And tho' there be &s;ome of them of <HI>Epicurus</HI>'s Opinion, yet there was never any a|mong&s;t them, that was for the Eternity of the
<PB N="109" REF="68">World, but &s;ince the Incarnation of Chri&s;t, and the Introduction of Idolatry among&s;t them.</P>
<P>Secondly, He tells us, that they commonly ac|knowledge a God, whom they call <HI>Xangti,</HI> which is not the Name, but the Epithet of God, this word &s;ignifying Supream Governour of Heaven and Earth.</P>
<P>Thirdly, He &s;aith that they acknowledge a fir&s;t Man brought forth out of the Chaos, in one Night in the Spring, which opinion &s;ome among&s;t them have made intricate by the addition of their own Fables.</P>
<P>Fourthly, He &s;hews that Sacrifices have been in u&s;e among&s;t them.</P>
<P>Fifthly, That they believe a certainty of Pu|ni&s;hments and Rewards after this Life, for Vice and Vertue.</P>
<P>Sixthly, That they believe the exi&s;tence of good and bad Angels.</P>
<P>Seventhly, That they a&s;&s;ign to &s;ome of them the protection of Cities and Provinces, and pay them great Veneration at the In&s;talment of their Magi&s;trates.</P>
<P>Eighthly, That they acknowledge them to be Incorporeal Beings, and that it is but of late, that they have Erected and Con&s;ecrated Statues to them.</P>
<P>And La&s;tly, That they have a very great knowledge of the Flood, which in their account happened about 3500 years before Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>Here are, we &s;ee many truths which are the grounds of Religion, and which were known to them; from whence we may ea&s;ily judge, in com|paring tho&s;e Truths with the Hi&s;tory of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI>
<PB N="110" REF="69">that the ancient <HI>Chine&s;e</HI> did agree with all other Nations, in the believing the fir&s;t Principles of Re|ligion, laid down by <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI></P>
<P>We may likewi&s;e ob&s;erve, that tho&s;e Antiqui|ties of <HI>China,</HI> for the mo&s;t part, are as like tho&s;e recorded by <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> as a Tradition (which cannot but have received many alterations during &s;uch a long interval of time) can be like to an exact Narrative of Matters of Fact drawn up by an Author who knew very well what he writ.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, It appears that what they &s;ay, concern|ing the Thirteen Succe&s;&s;ors of the fir&s;t man na|med <HI>Puoncuus,</HI> all de&s;cended from him, is agree|able enough to the Hi&s;tory of <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> which &s;ets down the &s;ucce&s;&s;ive Patriarchs from Father to Son. All the difference is, that the <HI>Chine&s;e,</HI> by a foo|li&s;h Ambition of appropriating all to them&s;elves, maintain that tho&s;e Thirteen Kings were all in <HI>China.</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, What they tell us of the World be|ing civiliz'd under the &s;econd of tho&s;e Kings, call'd <HI>Thienhoang,</HI> after the death of the great Dragon that had di&s;turbed Heaven and Earth, a|grees very well with the Hi&s;tory of <HI>Seth,</HI> who be|gan to form Mankind to a right notion of the wor&s;hip of God, when he &s;eparated them from <HI>Cain</HI>'s Family.</P>
<P>Thirdly, It is very probable that when the <HI>Chine&s;e</HI> have reckoned up thirteen Kings lineal|ly de&s;cended from the fir&s;t man, and his Succe&s;|&s;ors, they have included in that number <HI>Cain</HI> and <HI>Abel,</HI> who tho' they were both the Sons of the fir&s;t man, yet were not reckon'd up by <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> becau&s;e his Scope was only to give an Account of the Li|neal
<PB N="111" REF="69">De&s;cent of <HI>Adam</HI>'s Po&s;terity by <HI>Seth.</HI></P>
<P>They believe that under <HI>Ginhohang</HI> there was a kind of Golden Age, the Earth being then fruit|ful to admiration, and that under his Succe&s;&s;or Men being extreamly &s;imple, and altogether ig|norant of the &s;everal Arts nece&s;&s;ary to Human Life, as of Characters and Letters, one <HI>Sujus,</HI> to &s;upply the want of them, contrived a way of keeping up the memory of things, by tying &s;e|veral &s;orts of knots upon a Cord.</P>
<P>All which &s;ufficiently evinces, that the belief of the Worlds being lately created according to <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s De&s;cription, was as much received by the ancient People of <HI>China,</HI> as by all other Nati|ons.</P>
<P>And here it is further ob&s;ervable, That the <HI>Chi|nee&s;e</HI> them&s;elves according to <HI>Martinius</HI>'s account, do &s;u&s;pect all the Hi&s;torical Records of their Em|pire, before King <HI>Fobius,</HI> looking upon them as fal&s;e and ridiculous; and indeed the People of that Country before <HI>Fobius,</HI> living like brute Bea&s;ts, without any &s;ettled Government, Laws, or Arts: This alone is enough to confute tho&s;e among&s;t the <HI>Chine&s;e,</HI> who maintain now adays, that the dura|tion of the World before <HI>Confucius,</HI> who lived about 500 years before <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> was of no le&s;s than Three millions two hundred three&s;core and &s;even thou&s;and years. For hereby it clearly ap|pears, That they have fooli&s;hly affected to &s;ur|pa&s;s the <HI>Chaldeans</HI> in their vanity, who believing the Eternity of the World, pretended in order both to prove their Antiquity, and to give credit to their A&s;trological Ob&s;ervations, that A&s;trolo|gy had been exercis'd among&s;t them for 472000
<PB N="112" REF="70">years before <HI>Alexander</HI>'s entring into <HI>A&s;ia.</HI></P>
<P>After all, it is certain that their Calculation of 3000 years, from <HI>Fobius</HI> to Je&s;us Chri&s;t, is on|ly incompatible with <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Chronology, accord to the <HI>Hebrew</HI> Text, and not at all with that of the <HI>Septuagint.</HI></P>
<P>But moreover, what can be more palpably fa|bulous than the whole Hi&s;tory of <HI>Fobius,</HI> whom the <HI>Chine&s;e</HI> &s;uppo&s;e to have begun his Reign 2952 years before Je&s;us Chri&s;t? Fir&s;t, he is call'd the Son of Heaven, becau&s;e, they &s;ay, he had a Mother and no Father; and that his Mother con|ceived him by the Banks of a Lake near the Town of <HI>Lanthieu,</HI> where as &s;he was walking, &s;he &s;aw the foot&s;teps of a man upon the Sand, and was at the &s;ame time &s;urrounded on a &s;uddain with a Rainbow.</P>
<P>Secondly, The Situation of that Town which is in the We&s;t of <HI>China,</HI> do's demon&s;trate that the fir&s;t Inhabitants of <HI>China</HI> came thither from the We&s;tern parts of the World, and that con&s;equent|ly they were of <HI>Shem</HI>'s Po&s;terity, according to <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s account in the Tenth of <HI>Gene&s;is.</HI></P>
<P>Thirdly, Altho' there be perhaps no incongrui|ty in their a&s;cribing to him the Study of A&s;tro|nomy, and the invention of &s;everal In&s;titutions nece&s;&s;ary to Human Society, as Laws, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> yet what they add, that he was the fir&s;t inventer of &s;everal Figures, which he had &s;een upon the back of a Dragon, &s;ufficiently &s;hews, that either the whole &s;tory is but a Fable, or that he was a Cheat, and impo&s;ed upon the &s;implicity of ignorant peo|ple.</P>
<P>What probability is there (&s;eeing it is &s;uppo&s;ed
<PB N="113" REF="70"><HI>China,</HI> was then all over infe&s;ted and overgrown with Barbari&s;m) that in his time it &s;hould be re|corded in writing, 1. That he invented, in&s;tead of tho&s;e Knots before mentioned, the <HI>Hierogly|phicks,</HI> which are almo&s;t as ob&s;cure. 2. That Men were then di&s;tingui&s;hed from Women by the difference of their Garments. 3. That Mar|riages were then fixed and regulated which be|fore were as promi&s;cuous among&s;t Men as among&s;t Bea&s;ts.</P>
<P>What they &s;ay of his being the Author of a Mu&s;ical In&s;trument of 36 Cords, &s;hews evident|ly the fal&s;hood of the Story; for there is nothing more improbable, than to &s;uppo&s;e that he &s;hould arrive to &s;uch perfection of improvement in Mu|&s;ick as that comes to, when that Art had but very lately been invented. It is all that men could attain unto, after they have long impro|ved this Art, the beginnings whereof, without doubt, as of all other Arts, were very rough and imperfect.</P>
<P>Surely the <HI>Egyptians</HI> were more rea&s;onable when they attributed the invention of the <HI>Lyre</HI> with three &s;trings to <HI>Mercury, Saturn</HI>'s Secretary, who is the &s;ame with <HI>Noah.</HI></P>
<P>The Hi&s;tory of <HI>China</HI> takes notice that the be|ginning of Husbandry and Phy&s;ick was under <HI>Fobius</HI>'s Succe&s;&s;or, it do's not mention whether he was his Son, or no; but it only gives an ac|count of the fir&s;t War, wherein he was routed by a petty King, one of his Subjects, who &s;uc|ceeded him in the Empire.</P>
<P>And what is mo&s;t &s;ingular in that Record, is, that therein is a&s;cribed to that U&s;urper, 1. The
<PB N="114" REF="71">invention of the <HI>Cycle</HI> of 60 years, which &s;erves to fix their Chronology. 2. The method of regula|ting Weights and Mea&s;ures. 3. That it was by his means and encouragement that &s;ome of his con|temporary Subjects found out the Sphere, Arith|metick, Laws, Judicial A&s;trology, &s;everal Mu&s;i|cal In&s;truments, the Art of Dying, and of Coin|ing, the Joyners and Carpenters Trade, &s;o far as to make Boats and Bridges. They pretend that he ne|ver dy'd, but that he was tran&s;lated alive into that place which the <HI>Chine&s;e</HI> do a&s;&s;ign for Eternal Happine&s;s.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lib. II. cap. 7. Hi&s;t. Nat.</NOTE> 'Tis <HI>Pliny</HI>'s ob&s;ervation, that this way and cu&s;tom of Deifying the fir&s;t Inventors of Arts, nece&s;&s;ary to Human Life, is very ancient; but if it be an old Cu&s;tom, it is al&s;o a pregnant &s;ign of the Ignorance that reigned among&s;t tho&s;e ancient people that u&s;ed it. Therefore we may as ju&s;tly &s;u&s;pect the Hi&s;tory of the <HI>Chine&s;e,</HI> among whom it is in u&s;e, as the <HI>Egyptian</HI> Accounts, which were much of the &s;ame nature in <HI>Alexan|der</HI>'s time, as we are informed by <HI>Diodorus Siculu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">.</HI> The Po&s;terity or the Succe&s;&s;ors of tho&s;e famous men have always affected in proce&s;s of time, by &s;uch means, to immortalize their Names, to the end they might rai&s;e up them&s;elves and their Fa|milies as well to Power and Authority, as to Ho|nour and Veneration, above all other men with whom they conver&s;ed.</P>
<P>But however, we may rea&s;onably conjecture that tho&s;e &s;everal pa&s;&s;ages recorded in that Hi&s;to|ry, having for the greate&s;t part of them, a great conformity with the Tran&s;actions related in <HI>Mo|&s;es</HI> Hi&s;tory, which was not unknown to the <HI>Chal|deans,</HI> with whom the <HI>Chine&s;e</HI> had Communica|tion
<PB N="115" REF="71">and Corre&s;pondence; all tho&s;e Pretences and claims of theirs to the invention of the&s;e Arts, is an honour which they have borrow'd from others to lend it to the Founders of their Empire; ju&s;t as the <HI>Egyptians</HI> have appropriated to their fir&s;t Kings, &s;ome Arts which were found out by the Patriarchs before the Flood; or as the <HI>Greeks</HI> have made their fir&s;t Princes the fir&s;t Inventors of tho&s;e very Arts, the Invention of which the <HI>Egyptians</HI> a&s;cribed to their fir&s;t Kings.</P>
<P>And this Reflexion will appear the more proba|ble and natural, if we con&s;ider what they relate, that under the fourth Succe&s;&s;or of <HI>Fobius,</HI> there aro&s;e an Impo&s;tor Famous by his Delu&s;ions, who endeavoured to alter the Religion of the <HI>Chine&s;e,</HI> and to bring in Idolatry among&s;t them; which brought great Misfortunes upon <HI>China.</HI> For here|by it is evident, that the <HI>Chine&s;e</HI> in their Hi&s;tory have di&s;gui&s;ed, and &s;o appropriated to them&s;elves, &s;ome Pa&s;&s;ages which relate to <HI>Nimrod</HI>'s time, &s;ince the Original of Idolatry is to be referr'd to the time of building of the Tower of <HI>Babel,</HI> which was intended for an Idol Temple, if we will be|lieve what pa&s;&s;es for a received Opinion among&s;t the <HI>Jews.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Chuenhious</HI> is &s;aid to have been the Re&s;torer of the Wor&s;hip of one God, and to have annexed the Prie&s;thood to the Kingly Power; and to have re|gulated the <HI>Calendar,</HI> and to have found out the Ephemerides of the five Planets, after an intire Conjunction of tho&s;e five Planets, before the day of the Conjunction of the Sun with the Moon, and to have fixed to that day, the beginning of the year, which agrees with our beginning the year in <HI>January.</HI></P>
<PB N="116" REF="72">
<P>But yet it is to be ob&s;erved,</P>
<P N="1">1. That notwith&s;tanding this pretended A&s;tro|nomical Ob&s;ervation, there have been &s;everal Al|terations made of the beginning of the year ac|cording to the fan&s;ie and plea&s;ure of &s;everal Em|perors, which &s;hews that there was no con&s;tant rule ob&s;erved in that Countrey.</P>
<P N="2">2. That <HI>Martinius</HI> &s;eems to have approved of the Calculation of this Conjunction of five Planets in <HI>Aquarius,</HI> to accommodate the fal&s;e A&s;trologi|cal prejudice of the <HI>Chine&s;e,</HI> with that of &s;everal Authors, who looking upon the Flood as a natural event, have groundle&s;ly imagined, that it was brought to pa&s;s by the virtue and influence of &s;uch a Conjunction, and that it was a certain &s;ign of a Flood. 'Tis this fooli&s;h and whim&s;ical Fan&s;ie which hath made &s;ome <HI>Grecians</HI> prepo&s;terou&s;ly &s;e|dulous in &s;eeking out that dreadful year, the Win|ter whereof, was to drown the World with a Flood, and the Summer to burn it with a general Conflagration, as <HI>Cen&s;orinus</HI>
<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg"><HI>Cen&s;. de die nat. c.</HI> 18</NOTE> and
<NOTE N="&dagger;" PLACE="marg"><HI>Ari&s;t L.</HI> 1. <HI>meteor. c.</HI> 14.</NOTE> <HI>Aristotle</HI> have ob&s;erved it. 'Tis a Judicious Remark which <HI>Origanus</HI>
<NOTE N="&Verbar;" PLACE="marg"><HI>Tom.</HI> 1. <HI>Ephemer. P.</HI> 481.</NOTE> hath made upon the Ob&s;ervations of tho&s;e A&s;trologers, who from the Conjunction of the Planets in Humid Signs, u&s;e to foretel prodi|gious Rains, for he &s;hews, that there is nothing more groundle&s;s and uncertain than &s;uch Ob&s;er|vations: And he gives a famous and remarkable In&s;tance of that uncertainty to the eternal &s;hame of A&s;trology, which is this; <HI>John Staffler,</HI> as <HI>Cardan</HI> tells us, having ob&s;erved &s;uch a Conjunction of all the Planets in <HI>Pi&s;ces,</HI> in the year 1524. foretold that there &s;hould come a general Flood, whereof &s;everal People being afraid, retired to the tops of
<PB N="117" REF="72">high Mountains; but without any cau&s;e, for there was never &s;een a greater Serenity of Weather.</P>
<P N="3">3. <HI>Martinius</HI> was certainly mi&s;taken, when he a&s;cribed to <HI>Chuenhious</HI> the regulating the <HI>Epheme|rides</HI> of the five le&s;&s;er Planets; &s;eeing there are no &s;uch <HI>Ephemerides</HI> in <HI>China,</HI> according to all the Re|lations we have of that Countrey; nor yet any of the Sun and Moon &s;o exact, as we have in <HI>Europe;</HI> a pregnant Demon&s;tration of which, is that the Mi&s;&s;ionary Je&s;uits have been rai&s;ed up to the dig|nity of the chiefe&s;t <HI>Mandarins</HI> in <HI>China,</HI> only be|cau&s;e their skill and learning in A&s;trology, was found to exceed that of any the mo&s;t Learned Men among&s;t the <HI>Chine&s;e,</HI> by many degrees.</P>
<P>The&s;e things I thought fit to ob&s;erve, to &s;hew that there is nothing in the Hi&s;tory of <HI>China,</HI> which they &s;o much cry up, that can any ways invalidiate the Authority of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Accounts in his Book of <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> but what rather confirms it, if it be con&s;idered with attention.</P>
<P>It was not without rea&s;on, that I have &s;uppo&s;ed, that the memory of tho&s;e Ancient Tran&s;actions, was conveyed, tho' confu&s;edly, to the <HI>Chine&s;e;</HI> we have already intimated one of tho&s;e probable means of conveyance of this Tradition, by their Commerce which the <HI>Chaldeans,</HI> who were well informed of the greate&s;t part of tho&s;e &s;everal Tran&s;actions, and who had great intercour&s;e with the remote&s;t Nations of <HI>A&s;ia,</HI> towards the Ea&s;t. To this we may add another Argument, yet more certain and &s;ure; which is the continual Commerce, that hath always been betwixt the <HI>Indies</HI> and <HI>China,</HI> and the Communication which the Inhabitants of the Neighbouring Countries of
<PB N="118" REF="73">the Red Sea, have always had with all the Ea&s;tern Nations of the World. For it is plain, that this Commerce gave a great opportunity of Commu|nicating to tho&s;e Ea&s;tern Nations, the knowledge of all tho&s;e Pa&s;&s;ages which were known to the <HI>Chaldeans:</HI> Ju&s;t as the like Commerce with the We&s;tern Nations of the World, proved a means of conveying to them the knowledge of the mo&s;t part of the &s;ame things, which in proce&s;s of time became the ground of the mo&s;t Ancient Fables a|mong&s;t the <HI>Greeks,</HI> among whom tho&s;e Fables made up the be&s;t part of their Divinity.</P>
<P>But be&s;ides all this, we may mention here ano|ther very likely means of conveyance, <HI>viz.</HI> the Commerce of the <HI>Chine&s;e</HI> with the <HI>Tartars,</HI> a|mong whom the <HI>Jews</HI> of the ten Tribes were di&s;per&s;ed and &s;etled, within a &s;hort time after their Captivity in <HI>A&s;&s;yria.</HI> For as tho&s;e <HI>Jews</HI> had with them the Books of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> &s;o they ea&s;ily gave a great in&s;ight and knowledge in ancient Hi|&s;tory to tho&s;e Nations, that have appropriated it to them&s;elves, as may be made out, by compa|ring their Fabulous Hi&s;tory, with tho&s;e Books of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> which contain in effect, all that relates to the Original of tho&s;e Nations.</P>
<P>But whatever judgment be made of tho&s;e fore|mentioned means of conveying the Ancient Tra|dition to the <HI>Chine&s;e,</HI> I think that I have good ground to affirm.</P>
<P N="1">1. That the Hi&s;torians that have written the Lives of the fir&s;t Emperors of <HI>China,</HI> were not Contemporaries with tho&s;e Emperors, and that con&s;equently they have not recorded things &s;o well known, as it was &s;uppo&s;ed.</P>
<PB N="119" REF="73">
<P N="2">2. That the Fables intermixt in their Hi&s;tories do &s;ufficiently evidence the ea&s;ie and credulous temper of tho&s;e Authors, which takes away from them all credit and belief.</P>
<P N="3">3. That the greate&s;t care of tho&s;e Authors was to per&s;wade the World of the pretended Anti|quity of their Nation, and &s;o to rai&s;e the Honour and Reputation of it by glorious Stories and Fa|bles.</P>
<P N="4">4. That their affectation in giving us an Ac|count of A&s;tronomy and Judiciary A&s;trology, was only to bring into Credit and Reputation tho&s;e Arts, the end and &s;cope of which is to impo&s;e up|on Simple Men; which is a ridiculous Affectati|on, and &s;uch as hath expo&s;ed the <HI>Chaldeans</HI> and <HI>Egyptians</HI> to the ju&s;t Contempt and Deri&s;ion of all other Nations.</P>
<P N="5">5. That there is among&s;t them a Diver&s;ity of Opinions contrary to one another, about their Antiquity; ju&s;t as there were &s;ome among&s;t the <HI>Egyptians,</HI> who reckoned up 23000 years from the Reign of the Sun to <HI>Alexander;</HI> when &s;ome others reckoned b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> a little above 10000 years.</P>
<P N="6">6. That the <HI>Chine&s;e</HI> according to one of their own Opinions, mu&s;t &s;ay, that the Earth was without almo&s;t any Inhabitants for 30000 years together, and above; whereas we &s;ee that in the &s;pace of five or &s;ix thou&s;and years, it is become inhabited as we &s;ee it; and that within a little more, it will be &s;o over&s;tockt, as that it will not be able to yield Provi&s;ions enough for all its Inha|bitants, as a Learned <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Man hath of late proved it by a Mathematical Demon&s;tration;
<PB N="120" REF="74">which &s;hews, that the <HI>Chine&s;e</HI> wanted certain grounds to go upon, in &s;everal Accounts which they give of many Tran&s;actions, and in the rela|ting of which, they are be&s;ides mo&s;t confident.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, That therefore, what is reported, that the&s;e <HI>Chine&s;e</HI> Authors did all write with publick allowance after every King's Decea&s;e, might in|deed be &s;o about the latter times, as it was pra|ctic'd in <HI>Egypt;</HI> but that it is as ab&s;olutely fal&s;e, that the <HI>Chine&s;e</HI> had ever in former times, &s;uch Publick Hi&s;torians, and as it is fal&s;e, that the <HI>Egyptians</HI> had formerly any &s;uch, although they were as confident to &s;ay they had, in <HI>Alexan|der</HI>'s time, as the <HI>Chine&s;e</HI> are now.</P>
<P>But this, I think, is &s;ufficient for the clearing of that matter. We mu&s;t now an&s;wer the la&s;t Objection of <HI>Athei&s;ts</HI> again&s;t the Authority of the Book of <HI>Gene&s;is.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="21" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XXI.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">Wherein the la&s;t Objection of Athei&s;ts, is an&s;wered.</HEAD>
<P>AS I intend to clear all the Difficulties which may ari&s;e about this important Matter, in the Minds of tho&s;e that &s;hall peru&s;e the&s;e Ob&s;er|vations; I think my &s;elf obliged to prevent and
<PB N="121" REF="74">re&s;olve, the only plau&s;ible Objection, I know remaining, after all what I have &s;aid upon this Subject.</P>
<P>Perhaps &s;ome will be apt to reply here that they indeed confe&s;s <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> to be the Author of <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> and that, if that Book had really been Suppo&s;iti|tious, it could never have gone under his Name, nor be received as his, in after Ages. But that yet all this does not prove &s;ufficiently the truth of tho&s;e Tran&s;actions recorded in that Book. Becau&s;e <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> may have forced upon the People of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> the belief of them, by tho&s;e Laws that he enacted among&s;t them, by which it was Death for any Man to dare to conte&s;t the truth of any thing he had written in his Books. This I think, is all, that the mo&s;t Contentious <HI>Athei&s;ts</HI> can think of, to undermine the Authority of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Hi&s;tory.</P>
<P>But this Objection is ea&s;ily an&s;wered, for it con|&s;utes it &s;elf. For,</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, It &s;uppo&s;es the truth of the&s;e great Mira|cles, by which God e&s;tabli&s;h'd <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> the Head and Captain of the People of <HI>I&s;rael;</HI> which Miracles are every whit as hard to believe, as the &s;everal Accounts of other things which we read of, in the Book of <HI>Gene&s;is.</HI></P>
<P>We find accordingly, among&s;t the Heathens them&s;elves many Monuments of tho&s;e Miracles done by the Mini&s;try of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> when he brought the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> out of <HI>Egypt:</HI> As I intend to &s;hew in my Ob&s;ervations upon the other four Books of <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, They mu&s;t at lea&s;t &s;uppo&s;e, that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> hath given a true account of &s;everal Pa&s;&s;a|ges, in which he could not impo&s;e upon other
<PB N="122" REF="75">Nations, which did not acknowledge his Autho|rity, as for example, all that relates to the build|ing of the Ark, the greate&s;t piece of Architecture that was then in the World; and to the rai&s;ing of the Tower of <HI>Babel,</HI> the greate&s;t Building that ever was, and part of which is yet ex|tant, for all the&s;e things were as &s;o many Witne&s;&s;es of the truth of tho&s;e Tran&s;actions which he related.</P>
<P>Thirdly, They mu&s;t likewi&s;e &s;uppo&s;e, that he hath related &s;everal other Pa&s;&s;ages as exactly as he did tho&s;e, as for Example, That of the Divi&s;ion of Tongues, which is an Appendix of the Hi&s;tory of the Tower of <HI>Babel;</HI> that of the De&s;truction of <HI>So|dom,</HI> the Original of the Neighbouring Nations of <HI>Canaan,</HI> that of the <HI>Jews,</HI> of the <HI>Moabites,</HI> of the <HI>Am|monites,</HI> of the <HI>I&s;hmaelites,</HI> and <HI>Edomites;</HI> for it is ri|diculous to conceive, that this Law-giver &s;hould ever hope to per&s;wade other Nations to believe a|ny fal&s;e Stories about Matters &s;o well, and &s;o ge|nerally known, as tho&s;e were among&s;t them|&s;elves.</P>
<P>Fourthly, They mu&s;t &s;uppo&s;e further, that he hath given a true account of the Original of the <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI> who&s;e Head and Governor he was. How great and ab&s;olute &s;oever the Authority of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> might be, it is ridiculous to imagine, that ever he would have derived the Original of the <HI>I&s;rael|ites</HI> from any other, than from their true Ance|&s;tors. This appears the more nece&s;&s;ary in that we &s;ee by the accounts he gives of things, and Pedigrees in <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> that he wrote that Book e&s;pe|cially from the Hi&s;tory of <HI>Abraham,</HI> on to the end of it, only to &s;hew the Rights, and ju&s;t Pre|ten&s;ions
<PB N="123" REF="75">of the <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI> upon the Land of <HI>Ca|naan.</HI></P>
<P>Fifthly, They mu&s;t yet further acknowledge, whither they will or not, the truth of the accounts he gives, concerning the Original of the Preten|&s;ions and Divi&s;ions, which were kept up among&s;t the Twelve Tribes of <HI>I&s;rael;</HI> now the&s;e Preten&s;i|ons having no other ground, than the Oracles which are related in his Hi&s;tory; they &s;ufficiently prove the Authority of tho&s;e Oracles again&s;t all the Preten&s;ions and Objections of the A|thei&s;ts.</P>
<P>What violence &s;oever they may pretend that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> might u&s;e to force an Implicit Belief of his Hi&s;tory and blind Obedience to his Laws, yet no Man of common Sen&s;e and Rea&s;on can ever think, that he would have fill'd the Accounts he gives of things of that nature, with Lies, or that if he had done it, he could ever have expected, that his fal&s;e Accounts of them, &s;hould ever have been credited by the Neighbouring Nations, or even by his own Subjects.</P>
<P>But without urging here &s;everal other Ab&s;urdi|ties, which plainly &s;hew, that there is no di&s;tin|ction to be found, betwixt the Accounts of things which <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> recites as publickly known, and tho&s;e which he relates of his own Head, and private knowledge; there being, as I have already &s;hew'd, betwixt all tho&s;e &s;everal Accounts, &s;uch a natural Coherence, and nece&s;&s;ary Concatenation, that they cannot be divided from one another, without de&s;troying the whole frame of his Hi&s;tory: I &s;ay, that it is impo&s;&s;ible, that the Law, by which he makes it death, for any one to conte&s;t the truth of
<PB N="124" REF="76">his Narration, &s;hould make the &s;incerity of it &s;u|&s;pected.</P>
<P>I do not urge here, that there is an evident Ab|&s;urdity to &s;uppo&s;e, that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> would ever have re|lated together all tho&s;e Tran&s;actions, as the grounds of Religion, if they had been ab&s;olutely unknown in the World before him.</P>
<P>Neither do I mention here, that &s;uppo&s;e <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> had been &s;o imprudent, as to attempt &s;uch an un|dertaking, yet there is no rea&s;on to believe, that a whole Nation, and that a very numerous one, would have long per&s;evered in a Profe&s;&s;ion forced upon them by meer Violence and Ty|ranny.</P>
<P>Nor do I think it nece&s;&s;ary to ob&s;erve here, that the People of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> were neither &s;o pa|tient, nor &s;o ea&s;ily per&s;waded by <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> nor yet &s;o &s;ubmi&s;&s;ive to him, as the&s;e Objectors do imagine.</P>
<P>That is plain, and apparent enough from all their Seditions and Con&s;piracies again&s;t him.</P>
<P>Nor do I judge it nece&s;&s;ary to ob&s;erve here what is plain enough of it &s;elf, <HI>viz.</HI> that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> had no Succe&s;&s;or any ways concern'd, to countenance and defend the&s;e pretended Fictions and Fables of his Hi&s;tory, <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> his immediate Succe&s;&s;or was of another Tribe; and &s;o were all the &s;uc|ceeding Governors of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> until the <HI>Maccabees</HI> came.</P>
<P>But what I think de&s;erves be&s;t to be ob&s;erved here, is, that after <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI>'s Decea&s;e, the People of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> was brought under the Subje|ction of the <HI>Canaanites,</HI> and con&s;equently freed
<PB N="125" REF="76">from the Terror of that Law of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s making, by which it was Death for any one to conte&s;t the Authority of his Laws, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">nd the truth of all his Writings; there is but a little more than forty years interval betwixt the Conque&s;t of <HI>Canaan</HI> by <HI>Jo&s;hua,</HI> and the Bondage of the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> under the Neigh|bouring Nations. Had it not been a fit time then, to ca&s;t off the Yoak of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Laws, and to publi&s;h the pretended Lies and Impo&s;tures of his Hi&s;tory? Was not the Compari&s;on which the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> could ea&s;ily make betwixt the <HI>Mo&s;aick</HI> Writings, and the Tradition generally received in the Countrey of their Captivity, a natural and rea|dy means to undeceive them.</P>
<P>Yet notwith&s;tanding all this, we &s;ee that they ob&s;tinately entertain the belief of the &s;everal Tran|&s;actions recorded by <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and &s;tand firmly to all their Preten&s;ions: Nay, we &s;ee them have re|cour&s;e to the Remedy of Repentance which <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> pre&s;cribed them to u&s;e in tho&s;e &s;ad Misfor|tunes which he foretold &s;hould befal them, and out of which he promis'd, at the &s;ame time, that God would miraculou&s;ly deliver them; which in|deed was done accordingly, even fourteen times within le&s;s than four hundred years, as is manife&s;t from the Book of <HI>Judges.</HI></P>
<P>Can there then be a more pregnant Argument, that if <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> made it Death by one of his Sanctions, for any of the <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI> to conte&s;t the truth either of his Writings, or of his Oracles, and Miracles, it was not to force the belief of them without exa|mination, but rather only to prevent the corrup|tion of that People, and their mingling and con|founding them&s;elves with the Heathens, which
<PB N="126" REF="77">God intended to hinder on purpo&s;e, becau&s;e he would have the Me&s;&s;iah to be born according to his Promi&s;e, out of that Nation, which to effect, he thought fit in his infin<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters">e Wi&s;dom, to employ the rigour of &s;ome Capital Laws, to keep that people unmixt and di&s;tingui&s;h'd from all other Nations of the World, till the Me&s;&s;iah was born.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="22" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XXII. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>The Con&s;equences of what we have proved in our foregoing Ob&s;ervations upon the Book of</HI> Gene&s;is.</HEAD>
<P>THe&s;e &s;everal Ob&s;ervations which I have made upon the Book of <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> are all, I think, very natural and ea&s;ie; and if I am not mi&s;taken, &s;ufficient to prove &s;olidly, the truth of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Ac|count, of the Creation of the World, and of the Promi&s;e of the Me&s;&s;iah, which is the foundation of the Chri&s;tian Religion.</P>
<P>The Conclu&s;ion that I draw out of the Premi|&s;es is, That,</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, I a&s;&s;ert, that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> that famous <HI>Hebrew,</HI> who was de&s;ign'd to be the Heir of <HI>Pharaoh</HI>'s Daughter, is the true and &s;ole Author of the Book of <HI>Gene&s;is.</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, I maintain, that this being once
<PB N="127" REF="77">granted, he could not, according to his way of Writing, record tho&s;e important Tran&s;actions, he relates otherwi&s;e than they really came to pa&s;s.</P>
<P>Thirdly, I maintain, that tho he had not been an Eye. Witne&s;s of the Creation of the World, yet he hath made the De&s;cription of it according to &s;uch an Authentick Tradition, as cannot be rea&s;ona|bly doubted of, becau&s;e it was then the Univer&s;al Tradition, not only of the <HI>Moabites,</HI> of the <HI>Am|monites,</HI> of the <HI>I&s;hmaelites,</HI> and of the <HI>Edomites,</HI> who were all of <HI>Sem</HI>'s Po&s;terity, and among&s;t whom he had been travelling for forty years to|gether; but al&s;o of the <HI>Egyptians,</HI> of his own Peo|ple, and in a word, of all Men then living in the World.</P>
<P>Fourthly, I maintain, that he never was found fault with, nor contradicted, till true Rea&s;on and Sence, if I may &s;ay &s;o, was lo&s;t and bani&s;h'd from among&s;t Mankind, till the <HI>Egyptians,</HI> for example, they who u&s;ed before, to look upon the <HI>Greeks</HI> as meer Children and Ideots, were fallen into &s;o great a Stupidity and Deprivation of Sence, as to be|lieve and maintain, that Men were fir&s;t born in <HI>Egypt,</HI> becau&s;e for&s;ooth, Frogs did naturally, as they thought, breed out of their Muddy Fenns and Mar&s;hes.</P>
<P>Fifthly, I maintain, that for many Ages after <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI> no body did ever publickly declare for the Eternity of the World, nor yet for its Fortuitous Production. The&s;e Opinions are meer Ab&s;urdi|ties and Chimeras, brought forth into the World by the <HI>Chaldeans</HI> and <HI>Greeks,</HI> only about <HI>Alexan|der</HI>'s time, or perhaps an hundred years before
<PB N="128" REF="78">him, <HI>i. e.</HI> about eleven or twelve hundred years after <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Decea&s;e.</P>
<P>Sixthly, I maintain, that &s;eeing there is no par|ticular time to be found, wherein the reading of the Law was interrupted and di&s;continued for any con&s;iderable time among&s;t the <HI>Jews,</HI> &s;eeing it continues &s;till to this very hour among&s;t them eve|ry Sabbath day, in the &s;everal places of the World, wherein they are di&s;per&s;ed; and &s;eeing be&s;ides, that it is certain, that this Law, which enjoyns the Ob&s;ervation of the Sabbath, in remembrance of the Creation, could never be impo&s;ed upon them, without their perceiving and declaring pre|&s;ently the Novelty and Suppo&s;ition of that Ac|count, and con&s;equently of the Book wherein it is related.</P>
<P>Seeing all this is certain, I do po&s;itively main|tain, that the truth of the Creation can never be better proved, than it is by the Book of <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> becau&s;e in it <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> hath followed the Tradition of all the Ages that preceded him, and only recorded in Writing, what was then generally known of all Men in the World; and that in a time when eve|ry Man was able to run his own Pedigree up to <HI>Adam.</HI></P>
<P>La&s;tly, I maintain, that as the certainty of the Creation cannot rea&s;onably be doubted of, with|out rejecting at the &s;ame time all tho&s;e Proofs from Facts which I have brought to &s;trengthen my A&s;&s;ertion. So there is all the rea&s;on in the World to entertain the belief of it, as of a mat|ter of Fact which is indi&s;putable: As being Rela|ted by the mo&s;t Ancient Hi&s;torian, Confirmed by the mo&s;t Ancient Tradition, Believed by the
<PB N="129" REF="78">mo&s;t Ancient People of the World, who did not only believe it, but al&s;o, had always had, ac|cording to God's Command, the Memory of it Celebrated among&s;t them and their Ance|&s;tors, in all their Generations fifty two times in a Year, from the very beginning of the World.</P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="half title">
<PB REF="79">
<PB REF="79">
<P>REFLEXIONS Upon the Four La&s;t BOOKS OF MOSES, To E&s;tabli&s;h the TRUTH OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="preface">
<PB REF="80">
<PB REF="80">
<HEAD>PREFACE.</HEAD>
<P>WHen I began at fir&s;t the&s;e Re|flexions upon the Book of <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> I de&s;ign'd only to demon&s;trate the certainty of the Creation of the fir&s;t Man, and &s;o to &s;hew by Argu|ments from matters of Fact, that neither the Creation of the World, nor yet the Promi&s;e of the Me&s;&s;iah, which God made to Man after his &s;in, can rea&s;onably be di&s;puted or doubted of.</P>
<P>I de&s;ign'd after that, to e&s;tabli&s;h the truth of Chri&s;t's Re&s;urrection, by &s;uch another undeniable Argument, <HI>viz.</HI> by &s;hewing, that the Apo&s;tles, were Eye Witne&s;&s;es of it, and in&s;tituted a &s;olemn Day in every Week, to celebrate and perpetuate the Memory of it, among&s;t Men, from their time down to the end of the World. And this I thought was &s;ufficient to demon&s;trate the truth of the Chri&s;tian Religion: For as the <HI>Jews</HI> by the con|tinual Celebration of the Sabbath, every Week, could ea&s;ily run back to the Creation of the World, which was the occa&s;ion of the In&s;titution of the Sabbath, &s;o the Chri&s;tians may by the Weekly Ob&s;ervation of the Lord's day prove Chri&s;t's Re&s;urrection, which occa&s;ioned the In&s;titution of
<PB REF="81">the Lord's day. If we con&s;ider the thing in it &s;elf, there is no le&s;s Ab&s;urdity to di&s;pute our Saviour's Re&s;urrection, than the Creation of the fir&s;t Man.</P>
<P>Now if this Argument holds, as there can be no ea&s;ier, &s;o neither can there be a &s;tronger proof of the truth of the Chri&s;tian Religion for provided we be once well a&s;&s;ured of the certainty of Chri&s;t's Re&s;urrection, we mu&s;t acknowledge him to be the true Me&s;&s;iah, and con&s;equently embrace his Reli|gion.</P>
<P>But it &s;eems in the heat of Meditation, I was in&s;en&s;ibly carried further, in my Ob&s;ervati|ons upon the Promi&s;e of the Me&s;&s;iah, than I thought at fir&s;t to be. Therefore, in&s;tead of pa&s;|&s;ing now, as I propo&s;ed in the beginning, to the proof of Chri&s;t's Re&s;urrection, which is a &s;olid and compendious way of demon&s;trating the truth of his Religion, I find my &s;elf engaged according to my pre&s;ent Method, to continue to make the like Reflexions upon the other Books of Holy Scripture, that I may yet more fully demon&s;trate, that Je&s;us Chri&s;t is the true Me&s;&s;iah, whom God promi&s;ed to Man immediately after his &s;in.</P>
<P>And this I intend to &s;hew &s;o plainly, as will make it evident, that God hath really accompli|&s;hed his fir&s;t de&s;igns, and exactly performed all his Promi&s;es relating to the Me&s;&s;iah, according to the fir&s;t Idea's, he gave of his coming to the Ancient Patriarchs</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, Then I de&s;ign to trace up the Method
<PB REF="81">that God was plea&s;ed to u&s;e, to make the Me&s;&s;iah known without mi&s;take, when ever he &s;hould come into the World.</P>
<P>Secondly, I will make &s;ome Reflexions upon the &s;everal Notions he gave of him long before in his Oracles, to Characterize his Per&s;on, his Offices, his Actions, his Sufferings, his Glory, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>La&s;t of all I will &s;hew, that we have all this whole Project and De&s;ign exactly accompli&s;hed in the Hi&s;tory of the Go&s;pel, as it was written by Chri&s;t's Di&s;ciples. Now as this Method which God hath particularly cho&s;en to make the Me&s;&s;iah known, appears al&s;o in the other Books of <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI> So I think it will not be ami&s;s for me particularly to view and examine the&s;e Books, that I may have occa&s;ion to illu&s;trate &s;everal things in them, which de&s;erve a particular attention, e&s;pecially when they are con&s;idered together, and as it were at one view.</P>
<P>For the Prophecies being thus con&s;ider'd toge|ther in their Connexion and Progre&s;s, do more plainly evidence God's De&s;ign, and may better convince or confound the <HI>Jews.</HI> Therefore I in|tend accordingly to con&s;ider tho&s;e Oracles with attention, and to join them together, that &s;o they may in their Conjunction ca&s;t forth the brighter Beams of Light, to the Conviction of all Infidels who may happen to peru&s;e this Book.</P>
<P>For I am per&s;waded that, after the peru&s;al of my Ob&s;ervations in it, an ordinary attention in the
<PB REF="82">reading of the Go&s;pel will be &s;ufficient to convince any Man, that Je&s;us Chri&s;t is the true Me&s;&s;iah, which is all I intend to prove, as the Conclu&s;ion of this Treati&s;e.</P>
<P>Now as the examination of the Patriarchs Re|ligion according to the account <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> hath given us of it in his Book of <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> hath taken up the fir&s;t part of it; &s;o I de&s;ign to examine in this &s;e|cond part the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> Religion, and to follow in my &s;earch the account which <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> gives of it in his other four Books.</P>
<P>And as to effect this, it is very important to e&s;tabli&s;h beforehand the Authority of tho&s;e four Books: &s;o I intend to &s;hew fir&s;t of all, that <HI>Mo|&s;es</HI> is the true Author of them, and that they have Intrin&s;ick Characters of undeniable certainty.</P>
<P>Then Secondly, It will be natural for me, to &s;hew, that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> in the writing of them, had the Promi&s;e of the Me&s;&s;iah in view, as particularly promi&s;ed of God to the Patriarchs of his own Na|tion, and as being con&s;equently the principal, if not the &s;ole Object of their hope.</P>
<P>Thirdly, I intend to &s;hew, that if we &s;eriou&s;|ly examine <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Laws, we &s;hall find in them &s;uch a Method ob&s;erved, as is both very agreeable to the manife&s;tation of God&punc;s de&s;ign in <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> and very worthy of his Wi&s;dom, e&s;pecially if we con&s;ider what he was plea&s;ed to reveal unto us of his Intentions, by the Prophets who followed <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 N="2" TYPE="part">
<PB N="137" REF="82">
<HEAD>REFLEXIONS Upon the Four La&s;t BOOKS OF MOSES, To E&s;tabli&s;h the Truth OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION.</HEAD>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAPTER I. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>That it cannot rea&s;onably be doubted, but that</HI> Mo&s;es <HI>is the Author of</HI> Exodus, <HI>and of the three other following Books.</HI></HEAD>
<P>THis is a Truth which may be grounded upon &s;everal &s;olid Arguments.</P>
<P>I might ob&s;erve, That <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> hath always been acknowledged, by the very Heathens them&s;elves, not only to be the mo&s;t Ancient Hi&s;torian, but al&s;o the mo&s;t Ancient Legi&s;lator in the World.</P>
<PB N="138" REF="83">
<P>I might likewi&s;e ob&s;erve, That there is a par|ticular connexion betwixt the Book of <HI>Gene&s;is</HI> and the other Books of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> as well in regard of the general De&s;ign of their Author, as of the Matters treated of in them. For Example, We &s;ee that the greate&s;t part of the Laws and Tran&s;|actions which we find written and recorded there, derive their Original from tho&s;e Tran&s;actions and Pa&s;&s;ages that we read of in <HI>Gene&s;is.</HI> Thus we may plainly di&s;cern that the preten&s;ion of the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> upon the Land of <HI>Canaan,</HI> was grounded upon the Promi&s;e that God made to <HI>Abraham</HI> to give it to his Po&s;terity, in the fourth Generation. Thus we may &s;ee, That the <HI>Amalekites</HI> could have no other rea&s;on to make War again&s;t the <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI> than the old Alliance that was former|ly made betwixt <HI>Amalek</HI> and the <HI>Canaanites,</HI> which without doubt engaged his Po&s;terity to be the fir&s;t Oppo&s;ers of the e&s;tabli&s;hment of the <HI>I&s;|raelites</HI> in the Land of <HI>Canaan.</HI> Thus we &s;ee that the Seditions of the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> again&s;t <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> under <HI>Corah, Dathan,</HI> and <HI>Abiram,</HI> did proceed from the Order of the Birth of the Children of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> as it is &s;et down in <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> becau&s;e the elde&s;t thinking them&s;elves wrong'd of their Birthright, thought they might ju&s;tly Rebel again&s;t <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> in order to recover it.</P>
<P>But I ha&s;te to things more material than the&s;e. And fir&s;t it is here ob&s;ervable, That tho&s;e Books were not only religiou&s;ly kept in every Family of <HI>I&s;rael;</HI> but that they were al&s;o once &s;olemnly de|po&s;ited in the Tabernacle as a publick Record, and that by <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> him&s;elf a little before his death, that they might be a Te&s;timony again&s;t that
<PB N="139" REF="83">People, as we read it <HI>Deuteronomy</HI> XXXI. 26.</P>
<P>Secondly, It cannot be denied that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> did &s;traightly charge both <HI>Jo&s;huah,</HI> and the Heads of the People, to read them frequently and care|fully, for it is expre&s;ly &s;aid &s;o, <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> 1.8. Nay, we &s;ee about 500 years after, the holy Man <HI>Da|vid,</HI> who had made, during his life,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. I.</NOTE> the &s;upream felicity of a man to con&s;i&s;t in the reading the Law of God day and night: We &s;ee, I &s;ay, that holy Man give in his Death-bed the &s;ame Charge to <HI>Solomon,</HI> I <HI>Kings.</HI></P>
<P>Thirdly, Moreover it is certain that there were many Laws and Sanctions contained in tho&s;e Books, which are the Foundation of the Hi&s;tory of &s;ucceeding Times. And this is the rea&s;on why we read nothing in the Book of <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> concern|ing the &s;everal Ble&s;&s;ings and Cur&s;es which were to be pronounced upon the Mounts <HI>Ebal</HI> and <HI>Ge|rizim,</HI> becau&s;e the form of them was to be bor|rowed from the Books of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> which were Pub|lick and Authentick. The &s;ame Reflexion may be made upon the Law of the Fir&s;t-fruits, and up|on the Prayer which was to be made upon the Tithes of the third year; as likewi&s;e upon many other Laws.</P>
<P>Fourthly, It is certain that tho&s;e Books were read over every &s;eventh Year, according to the Injunction of that Law, which we find <HI>Deutero|nomy</HI> XXXI. 10, 11. which was commanded to be done for the in&s;truction of Po&s;terity, as it is inti|mated in the Thirteenth <HI>Ver&s;e</HI> of the &s;ame <HI>Chap|ter.</HI> Whereupon it may not be prepo&s;terous to con&s;ider here God's Methods, to prevent all For|gery and Impo&s;ture in this Matter.</P>
<PB N="140" REF="84">
<P>We &s;ee that it was, during the Longaevity of Human Life, a con&s;tant and univer&s;al Cu&s;tom among&s;t all the Patriarch's to <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s time, to put (when they lay on their Death beds) their Po&s;terity in mind of the mo&s;t important Truths, and of the Fundamental Articles of Religion, becau&s;e as all Admonitions and Exhortations made at &s;uch a time, are always look'd upon as &s;incere, &s;o they &s;eldom fail of being favoura|bly con&s;trued and better entertained, than they would be at any other time. We have as in|&s;tances of this ancient Cu&s;tom, the Examples of <HI>Abraham,</HI> of <HI>I&s;aac,</HI> of <HI>Jacob,</HI> of <HI>Jo&s;eph, &amp;c.</HI> who in that, I make no doubt, follow'd the Cu&s;tom of their pious Ance&s;tors, who in all likelyhood derived it from <HI>Adam</HI> him&s;elf. That Cu&s;tom we &s;ee was of an admirable u&s;e to perpetu|ate the memory of illu&s;trious Tran&s;actions: What was then &s;poken by tho&s;e pious venerable men, was a kind of a publick Sermon, becau&s;e it was delivered before tho&s;e numerous Fami|lies, which met then altogether about the Bed of their common Head and Father; and that upon &s;uch an Occa&s;ion as did extraordinarily ex|cite their attention.</P>
<P>To this Cu&s;tom &s;ucceeded another, which was, that when the greate&s;t Captains and Judges of the People of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> were &s;en&s;ible of their ap|proaching Death, then they u&s;ually called the People together, to give them &s;uch Exhortations, Reproofs, and Admonitions, as they judged mo&s;t proper, either for their encouragement, or for their Reformation; nay, and that even in &s;ome occa&s;ions many of them have affected to
<PB N="141" REF="84">have their Speeches made publick, and depo&s;ited in the Tabernacle: Thus did <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and <HI>Jo&s;huah,</HI> and the greate&s;t number of the Judges, and <HI>Samuel,</HI> and <HI>Solomon,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>We know that the Books of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> were former|ly read every Sabbath day; as St. <HI>James</HI> does at|te&s;t it in <HI>Acts</HI> XV. And tho there be no expre&s;s command about it in <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Writings, yet we find there, &s;omething equivalent to it, in the &s;trict charge given by him to all the People, to be continually conver&s;ant in his Books, and to in|&s;truct their Families at all times in the Laws and Doctrines delivered in them; for it is plain, that if the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> were bound by that command of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> to read his Books every day, they were more particularly obliged, by the &s;ame command, to read them on the Sabbath day, which was made a day of re&s;t by God; particularly on purpo&s;e, that all Men might the better attend on that day to the reading and meditating God's Laws, and the per|forming all other Religious Duties.</P>
<P>We know be&s;ides that tho&s;e Books were conti|nually explained both by the Doctors of the Law, and the <HI>Levites,</HI> who were on purpo&s;e di&s;per&s;ed through the whole Land of <HI>Canaan,</HI> that they might the better attend and perform the Duties of their Mini&s;try.</P>
<P>We &s;ee that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> in his Writings hath exactly kept a kind of Journal, which cannot ea&s;ily re|ceive any alteration. If we read hereupon what relates to the &s;ojourning of the <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI> and the &s;everal removals of their Tents in the De&s;ert, we &s;hall be ea&s;ily convinc'd by the very form and &s;tile of tho&s;e Books, as we have them now, that they
<PB N="142" REF="85">were formerly publickly received, and were ex|actly tran&s;cribed out of the Original, and that if in Proce&s;s of time they &s;uffered any alteration, it was only as to &s;ome Appendices or Po&s;t&s;cripts in|&s;erted by <HI>E&s;rah,</HI> or &s;ome other Prophet, by way of Explication.</P>
<P>We &s;ee in tho&s;e Books a Hi&s;tory written with|out di&s;gui&s;e or partiality, exact in relating all Cir|cum&s;tances, of Places, Times, and Per&s;ons, even in the Narration of things of &s;mall importance for the main drift of the Author; there are be&s;ides, &s;ome Pa&s;&s;ages recorded in them, which any Au|thor, who lived after <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s time, would certain|ly have left out, if for no other rea&s;on, yet at lea&s;t to aboli&s;h the memory of &s;ome actions di&s;honou|rable to &s;ome great Families, and whole Tribes of <HI>I&s;rael.</HI></P>
<P>Again, we read in them the Songs, and other Publick Monuments which were made upon ex|traordinary occa&s;ions, to pre&s;erve the memory of them the better.</P>
<P>I have but three Ob&s;ervations more to make here, and then I have done with this Chap|ter.</P>
<P>The Fir&s;t is, That tho&s;e Books have been con|&s;tantly quoted by all the Authors among&s;t that People who followed <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and that their Quo|tations do exactly agree with the Text of tho&s;e Books, as we have them now, which is a certain &s;ign, as well of the Sincerity, as of the Antiquity of that Author. They were as much e&s;teemed in <HI>I&s;rael</HI> as in <HI>Juda,</HI> both People did ob&s;erve them as their Law: The Prophets that aro&s;e from time to time, did always, and upon all Occa&s;ions ac|knowledge,
<PB N="143" REF="85">and maintain their Authority.</P>
<P>Thus we find in the Book of <HI>Jo&s;hua,</HI> quoted out of them, what relates to the Cur&s;es and Ble&s;&s;ings, to the Prophecies, and Divi&s;ions of the Land of <HI>Canaan,</HI> among&s;t the Tribes of <HI>I&s;rael.</HI> The whole Hi&s;tory of the thirteen Judges, whom God rai&s;ed up among&s;t the People, is nothing in general, but an account of the accompli&s;hment of that Pro|mi&s;e, which God had made formerly by <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> to rai&s;e up from among that People &s;uch Men in the time of their Afflictions and Captivities, as would be the A&s;&s;ertors of their Liberty.</P>
<P>We &s;ee there in particular, the Execution of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s order, concerning <HI>Caleb,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Judg I. 20. Judg. VII. 3. Judg. XIII. 3.</NOTE> and of that Law in <HI>Deuteronomy,</HI> which pre&s;cribes the manner of di&s;mi&s;&s;ing from the Army tho&s;e that are fearful and faint-hearted; and of that other concerning the <HI>Nazarites,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>Thus we &s;ee, that the Rule and Laws pre&s;cri|bed in tho&s;e Books, continued in force in the time of <HI>Ruth, David</HI>'s Great Grand-Mother, that ap|pears plainly, by their Ob&s;ervation of tho&s;e Laws, which enjoyn'd the next Kin&s;man to take to Wife the Widow of his Decea&s;ed Relation, and to re|deem his Inheritance. As for <HI>David</HI> and <HI>Solomon,</HI> they are continually alluding to &s;omething or o|ther delivered in tho&s;e Books: <HI>Nehemiah</HI> quotes them in Chap. XIII. of his Book, and that was in the year of the World 3563, and &s;o does <HI>Malachy</HI> in the IV. and V. Chapters of his Prophe&s;ie, in the year 3580.</P>
<P>The Second Ob&s;ervation, which is very mate|rial, is, that the Author of tho&s;e Books, hath in&s;erted in them an expre&s;s prohibition of adding any
<PB N="144" REF="86">thing to them, as we &s;ee it <HI>Deuteronomy</HI> IV. 2.</P>
<P>It is then impo&s;&s;ible, &s;eeing that the whole peo|ple of the <HI>Jews</HI> have always acknowledged the Divine Authority of tho&s;e Books, that they &s;hould ever have attempted the alteration of any thing in them.</P>
<P>Nay, we &s;ee, not without wonder, that after the greate&s;t part of the ten Tribes of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> were tran&s;ported into <HI>A&s;&s;yria,</HI> tho&s;e that were &s;ent from <HI>A&s;&s;yria</HI> to inhabit their Countrey, did receive that Law, and that their Po&s;terity have kept it all along to this day, as uncorrupted as the <HI>Jews,</HI> altho' they continue their Mortal Enemies, and have been expo&s;ed to all the Changes, and Revoluti|ons, that can befal a Nation, during the long in|terval of 2400 years.</P>
<P>The Third Ob&s;ervation, which de&s;erves a &s;in|gular Attention is, That notwith&s;tanding the great and many Corruptions, which the Common-Wealth of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> fell into, yet the&s;e Books have &s;till been kept up in the &s;ame form that we have them now: It appears out of the Hi&s;tory of <HI>Jo&s;i|ah</HI> related, 2 <HI>Kings</HI> XXIII. 21. That after the Book of the Law, of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> own writing, was found in the Temple, the King commanded all the People to keep the Pa&s;&s;over unto the Lord, <HI>as it is written in the Book of this Covenant:</HI> Now we have the In&s;titution of the Pa&s;&s;over, <HI>Exod.</HI> XII. which &s;hews, that <HI>Jo&s;iah</HI> by the Book of this Co|venant, meant the Books of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> &s;uch as we have them now adays, and &s;uch as they were when <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> depo&s;ited them into the Sanctuary.</P>
<P>It is important to con&s;ider well, all that is rela|ted in the forementioned Chapter of II <HI>Kings,</HI> for
<PB N="145" REF="86">we may gather out of it, that it was according to the Directions of this Law, that they began to reform all the Super&s;titions and Idolatries which had been introduced in their Religion, and coun|tenanced by the Royal Authority, from <HI>Solomon</HI>'s time to <HI>Jo&s;iah;</HI> this Chapter relates and commends the proceeding of <HI>Jo&s;iah,</HI> only in oppo&s;ition to the ill government of his Predece&s;&s;ors, and to the pub|lick Monuments of their Super&s;titions, which he aboli&s;hed in obedience to God's Laws, contained in the Books of <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI></P>
<P>However, it is certain, that it was no ea&s;ie mat|ter, to impo&s;e herein upon Po&s;terity.</P>
<P>For Fir&s;t, The Tran&s;actions recorded in the Books of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> did not only relate to the People of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> but al&s;o to mo&s;t of the Neighbouring Nations.</P>
<P>Secondly, The Memory of them continued &s;o lively and univer&s;al, that almo&s;t 1500 years after <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> the Names of tho&s;e Magicians &s;poken of, <HI>Exod.</HI> VII. 11. were, as yet known, not only a|mong&s;t the <HI>Jews,</HI> as we &s;ee it by an expre&s;s Pa&s;|&s;age of S. <HI>Paul,</HI> who &s;peaks of them,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Hi&s;t. Nat.</HI> l. 30. c. 1.</NOTE> and mentio|neth their Names, 2 <HI>Tim.</HI> III. 8. but al&s;o among the Heathens, as both <HI>Pliny</HI> and <HI>Numenius</HI> do at|te&s;t it.</P>
<P>I point only at tho&s;e general Proofs at pre&s;ent, becau&s;e I have already made u&s;e of them, and &s;hew'd their force in my Ob&s;ervations upon <HI>Gene|&s;is,</HI> and becau&s;e I intend to repeat, and improve &s;ome of them hereafter in this Treati&s;e. But now, in order to follow my pre&s;ent de&s;ign, I mu&s;t come to the more particular Con&s;ideration of the things contained in the&s;e Books, which will
<PB N="146" REF="87">much conduce to the Confirmation of the &s;ame Truth.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. II. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>That both the Character of</HI> Mo&s;es<HI>'s Per&s;on, and the nature of the things he relates has always made men read his Books with attention.</HI></HEAD>
<P>The Subject of &s;ome Books is &s;uch, as that a|lone would recommend them to the attenti|on of any Reader, tho' their Author had no re|putation in the World; but when be&s;ides the im|portance of their Subject, the Author of them is famous and of great repute, then to be &s;ure, they never fail to be read with &s;erious attention, and pre&s;erved with as great a care. The Books of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> have both the&s;e advantages, &s;o that they cannot rea&s;onably be &s;u&s;pected of the lea&s;t altera|tion or Forgery.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t Character that we di&s;cover in the&s;e Books at the fir&s;t viewing of them, is the great &s;ingularity, and admirable diver&s;ity of their Stile, and of the Matters they treat of.</P>
<P>We do not &s;ee that other Legi&s;lators did ever af|fect to act the parts of Hi&s;torians; no, they con|tent them&s;elves with their ab&s;olute power, to make Laws, without giving any rea&s;on for the Sanction of them: Therefore we &s;ee, that there is commonly nothing more dry and &s;aple&s;s than all their Re|gulations,
<PB N="147" REF="87">about both Civil, and Religious Mat|ters.</P>
<P>But <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> we &s;ee hath followed a more rea&s;on|able, and more &s;atisfactory method, all his Regu|lations are grounded upon the great Tran&s;actions which he relates; he enacts no Law of any con|&s;equence, but he intimates to the <HI>Jews,</HI> at the &s;ame time, the Rea&s;ons which challenge their Obedience, and makes them by that means re|flect both upon the &s;everal Mercies of God be|&s;towed upon them, and call to mind the great Miracles they had been eye witne&s;&s;es of.</P>
<P>I confe&s;s indeed, that the u&s;e and &s;cope of &s;ome of his Regulations, is very ab&s;tru&s;e, e&s;pecially now, that we are ignorant of the &s;everal Heathen Cu&s;toms, which God de&s;ign'd to aboli&s;h from a|mong that People newly come out of <HI>Egypt,</HI> where during their Captivity they had complied, and accu&s;tomed them&s;elves in a great mea&s;ure to the Rites, and Religion of their Ma&s;ters the <HI>Egyp|tians.</HI> But yet how ab&s;tru&s;e &s;oever the de&s;ign of &s;ome of tho&s;e Laws may now appear to be: We have good ground to affirm, that the general &s;cope of them all was, to keep that People from Idola|try in di&s;tingui&s;hing them from all other Nations, as al&s;o to quicken their De&s;ires and Expectations of the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah,</HI> the Promi&s;e of who&s;e coming had been made by God in the very beginning of the World, and renewed &s;everal times to the Heads of their Nation.</P>
<P>However we &s;ee in the Books of tho&s;e Laws, Religion, and Policy &s;o interwoven together, that the latter &s;eems to &s;ub&s;i&s;t only by the &s;upport and a&s;&s;i&s;tance of the former, which is contrary to the
<PB N="148" REF="88">cu&s;tom of human Legi&s;lators, who do not &s;o much regard the e&s;tabli&s;hment of Religion, as the pre&s;ervation and welfare of the State and Com|mon-wealth.</P>
<P>If any <HI>Jew</HI> had a mind to be informed about the Tradition of his Ance&s;tors, and the tran&s;acti|ons of old, <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> hath pre&s;erved it with &s;uch care, with &s;o many marks of Fidelity, and &s;o clear and plain, that there is no other Hi&s;tory be&s;ides his, that can give any &s;atisfactory Information about the Original of things: All the Fables of the Hea|thens, which yet make up the mo&s;t ancient Tra|dition they have, being nothing el&s;e but a corrup|tion and depravation of the &s;everal Truths that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> relates in his Hi&s;tory.</P>
<P>If any <HI>Jew</HI> de&s;ired to &s;ee the beginnings of that Common wealth of which he was a Member; <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> gives an accurate account of them.</P>
<P>If any <HI>Jew</HI> de&s;ired to know the Original of Mankind, or what was the true happine&s;s of Man, and what he ought to do, in order to be a parta|ker of that happine&s;s, <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> teaches all that with great evidence and exactne&s;s.</P>
<P>If any <HI>Jew</HI> had a mind to know the occa&s;ion of tho&s;e Songs that were &s;o much in fa&s;hion among&s;t tho&s;e of his Nation; he might ea&s;ily &s;atisfie his Curio&s;ity, by reading <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Hi&s;tory.</P>
<P>If any <HI>Jew</HI> de&s;ired to know what &s;ort of Ex|hortations they were, which the Founder, both of their Religion and Common-wealth, had for|merly made to their Fore-fathers; <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> relates a great many of them in his Books.</P>
<P>If any <HI>Jew</HI> had a mind to receive in&s;truction about the Original, and cau&s;e of tho&s;e Temporal
<PB N="149" REF="88">Ble&s;&s;ings, he enjoyed in the Land of <HI>Canaan,</HI> which God had po&s;&s;e&s;s'd his Nation of, after the Expul&s;ion of tho&s;e People that had been the Inha|bitants of it for many Ages, <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> gives as good account of all that, as can be de&s;ired.</P>
<P>If any <HI>Jew</HI> had a mind to know the Original of the &s;everal Calamities that befel his Nation on &s;everal occa&s;ions; <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> acquainted them both with the Cau&s;e and Remedy of all their Afflicti|ons.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, If the <HI>Jews</HI> de&s;ired to be informed of the future condition of their Common-wealth in after Ages; <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> foretells it in &s;o particular and clear a manner, that they might look upon his Prophe&s;ies, not as certain Prophe&s;ies only, but as a plain Hi&s;tory of future Events, begun and tra|ced out, before their Accompli&s;hment.</P>
<P>All this is &s;o much the more con&s;iderable, to oblige us to read the Books of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> with care, that we may ju&s;tly ob&s;erve three things in his per|&s;on, which as they rai&s;e him above all common Authors, &s;o they cannot but &s;trengthen the belief, and increa&s;e the E&s;teem and Veneration, which we ought to have for his Hi&s;tory.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t is, That whereas all Men are careful to conceal their own Infirmities, and whatever is di&s;honourable to their Familles: <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> on the con|trary &s;eems to have affected to record all the things that could blemi&s;h the memory of his Ance&s;tors, and derogate to his own Reputation. He blemi|&s;hes <HI>Jacob</HI>'s memory by his relating, how he pre|ferr'd <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> the Son of his Beloved Wife, to <HI>Reuben</HI> his Elde&s;t, whom he unju&s;tly deprived of his Birthright, in favour of the other, which inju|&s;tice
<PB N="150" REF="89">is expre&s;ly forbidden by one of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Laws.</P>
<P>Thus he lays an eternal blot and reproach upon the memory of <HI>Levi,</HI> the Head of his own Family, when he mentions his Cruelty and Violence a|gain&s;t the <HI>Sichemites,</HI> and the di&s;per&s;ion of his Po|&s;terity among&s;t the other Tribes of <HI>I&s;rael.</HI></P>
<P>Nay, what is more, he vilifies his own Birth, by forbidding any Marriage betwixt an Aunt and her Nephew, &s;eeing he relates that he him&s;elf was born of <HI>Jocabed</HI> both Aunt and Wife to his Father <HI>Amram;</HI> he de&s;cribes his own Incredulity with all the Ingenuity imaginable, when he repre&s;ents the &s;everal Miracles which God wrought by him, he &s;eems to &s;peak of him&s;elf only to lay open his own failings and &s;ins; &s;uch a &s;incerity and Impartiality we know confirms and increa&s;es mightily the Au|thority of any Author.</P>
<P>The Second thing is, That <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> not regarding the advantage and honour of his own Family, left the Government of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> to <HI>Jo&s;huah,</HI> one of the Tribe of <HI>Ephraim,</HI> and &s;o reduced his own Children, and their Po&s;terity to the low condition of the re&s;t of the <HI>Levites,</HI> who were of an inferi|our Rank to that of Prie&s;ts; for we do not &s;ee that they ever after renew'd the preten&s;ions which they might otherwi&s;e have had to &s;ucceed <HI>Mo&s;es;</HI> now &s;uch neglect of his Family &s;hews, that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Principles were rai&s;ed much above the ordinary pitch of the generality of Law givers, who were ab&s;olute and &s;upream over their People.</P>
<P>The Third thing ob&s;ervable here is, that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> had no &s;hare in the Conque&s;t of the Land of <HI>Ca|naan;</HI> it all was &s;ubdued after his Death: Nay, it was
<PB N="151" REF="89">that Conque&s;t, that fixed, and &s;etled the Com|mon-wealth of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> which was before un&s;etled, and as it were ambulatory in the De&s;art. Now how could &s;uch a &s;ingular de&s;ign, as <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> de|&s;cribes in his Law, be put in execution by any o|ther than by him that formed it. It was <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> that made this Conque&s;t of the Land of <HI>Canaan,</HI> and po&s;&s;e&s;t the <HI>Jews</HI> of it; now, to be &s;ure if that People had not been then fully per&s;waded of the Divine Authority of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Law, they would ne|ver have failed after &s;o great an alteration to make u&s;e of their Power and Liberty in throwing off the trouble&s;om yoak of his Laws; nor yet would <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> and all his Succe&s;&s;ors in the Government, ever have maintain'd the Authority of tho&s;e Laws, if they had not lookt upon <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> not only as an extraordinary Man, but al&s;o as one particularly Commi&s;&s;ionated by God to make that Body of Laws, for the regulating of his People.</P>
<P>We read in tho&s;e Books of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s dying in the Mountains of <HI>Moab;</HI> now that being &s;uppo&s;ed, how is it po&s;&s;ible, that if the People of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> had not been fully convinced that God him&s;elf gave their Law to <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> with all the Circum&s;tances mentioned by him, they would have continued to keep up &s;uch a ridiculous and ill grounded Con|ceit. If he had really by his Tyrannical Authority forced the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> into a compliance to his Laws during his Life, why did they not a&s;&s;oon as he was dead, with the fear of his Authority &s;hake off the yoak of his Laws, and all re&s;pect for his me|mory.</P>
<P>One thing we may remark as very &s;urprizing in the Relation of that Legi&s;lator's Death; which is
<PB N="152" REF="90">that his Body was not found after his Death.</P>
<P>For we do not &s;ee that that People, which o|therwi&s;e kept up and carried about with &s;o much care, the Bones of <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> and his Brethren, in or|der to Bury, and Depo&s;ite them in the Sepulchres of their Ance&s;tors (for both <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> and his Bre|thren were interred in <HI>Judaea</HI>) did ever build a Tomb to their Law-giver, or &s;o much as pretend to &s;hew his Sepulchre.</P>
<P><HI>Jo&s;ephus</HI> was of Opinion, that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> wrote him|&s;elf, the account of his own Death, for fear the <HI>Jews</HI> &s;hould ever imagine, and &s;o give out that God had taken him up into Heaven. I &s;ee, I confe&s;s, no &s;olidity in that Conjecture of his, but yet it may give us occa&s;ion to make a Reflection hereup|on, I think, more natural and ea&s;ie, which is, that God had a mind, as <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> intimates it, to con|firm the many Characters of Divinity that appear|ed in the Law of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> by taking away from be|fore the eyes of the <HI>Jews</HI> his Corps, which they would certainly, if they had not been &s;o prevented, have kept with more care than tho&s;e of all their Patriarchs and Kings. The De&s;cription of the manner of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Death, &s;hews evidently, that he was not only in great e&s;teem during his Life, but that even his Death did much conduce to the increa&s;e of it, and to make Men look upon him, as one gloriou&s;ly rai&s;ed up above the common condition of Men, and in a manner not obnoxi|ous to the Infirmities and Mi&s;eries incident to hu|man nature. But after the&s;e general Reflexions, I mu&s;t come to tho&s;e that are more particular.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="153" REF="90">
<HEAD>CHAP. III. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>That the truth of the Miracles related by</HI> Mo&s;es, <HI>cannot rea&s;onably be doubted of.</HI></HEAD>
<P>WHoever will examine with attention, the four la&s;t Books of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> &s;hall find in them &s;everal Pa&s;&s;ages recorded, which de&s;erve a parti|cular Con&s;ideration.</P>
<P>As Fir&s;t of all, the Miraculous Birth, the ex|traordinary Education, the Heroical Courage, and the Divine Call and Commi&s;&s;ion of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and the &s;everal Miracles which he wrought in <HI>Egypt,</HI> to bring the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> out of it, and lead them to the Borders of <HI>Canaan.</HI></P>
<P>Then Secondly, All the Moral, Ceremonial, and Political Laws which <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> gave to that Peo|ple, from God.</P>
<P>And La&s;tly, <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> his Prophecies concerning their future Condition, their Victories, their Captivities, their Tran&s;portations, concerning the De&s;truction of <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> the coming of the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah,</HI> and the di&s;per&s;ion of their whole Na|tion.</P>
<P>All which Pa&s;&s;ages have as evident and authen|tick proofs of their certainty, as things of that nature are capable of.</P>
<P>Let us fir&s;t begin with the Narration of the Mi|racles recorded in the beginning of <HI>Exodus.</HI></P>
<P>Wherein we &s;ee, that after <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> had repre|&s;ented the Death of <HI>Jo&s;eph,</HI> and of all the gene|ration,
<PB N="154" REF="91">that came down with <HI>Jacob</HI> into <HI>Egypt,</HI> he writes his own Hi&s;tory, and repre&s;ents him&s;elf as another <HI>Noah,</HI> &s;aved out of the Waters, to &s;ave and deliver that Holy Family.</P>
<P>The whole Relation which he makes of all tho&s;e particulars, is very &s;trange, and extraordi|nary; but yet his Circumci&s;ion, and the in&s;truction of his Mother, to whom he was given, by the Daughter of <HI>Pharaoh</HI> to be nur&s;t up, and the Con|ver&s;ation of that Prince&s;s who had adopted him, and made her &s;elf a Pro&s;elyte as the <HI>Jews</HI> endea|vour to prove,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Jalk.</HI> in h. l. <HI>ex Va|iikra Rab.</HI></NOTE> from 1 <HI>Chron.</HI> IV. 18. And his E|ducation in the Court of <HI>Egypt,</HI> and his acquain|tance with all the Grandees of that Court, did concur together to acquaint him with that re|markable pre&s;ervation of his per&s;on, and per&s;wade him of the certainty of it.</P>
<P>For how could either <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> impo&s;e, or be impo&s;|ed upon in that matter? Was not that Barbarous cru|elty of the <HI>Egyptians</HI> by which they compell'd the <HI>Jews</HI> about the time of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Birth, to throw their Children into the River <HI>Nilus,</HI> notoriou&s;ly known of all Men? Were not the Publick Buildings, and &s;trong Cities, <HI>viz. Pythom,</HI> and <HI>Rame&s;es,</HI> &s;o call'd from the Name of King <HI>Rame&s;es Miamum,</HI> &s;tand|ing in the &s;ight of all Men? And was it not pub|lickly known by all the World, that the poor <HI>I&s;ra|elites</HI> were the Slaves and Drudges who were made u&s;e of to erect tho&s;e Buildings.</P>
<P>Neither could the manner of his Education be unknown to him, nor yet to any of the <HI>Hebrews,</HI> for we do not join here to <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Narration, what <HI>Jo&s;ephus</HI> relates of his Per&s;on, of his Feats in <HI>Me|roe,</HI> and of his Marrying an <HI>Aethiopian</HI> Prince&s;s, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<PB N="155" REF="91">
<P>As <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Miracles were done in the pre&s;ence of the <HI>Egyptians</HI> and <HI>Jews,</HI> &s;o they te&s;tifie, that he had really received his Calling, and Commi&s;&s;ion from God in the De&s;ert, and that ju&s;t in the man|ner as he de&s;cribes it him&s;elf.</P>
<P>Now, no Man can di&s;pute the truth of tho&s;e Miracles, if he but minds the following Con&s;ide|rations.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, It cannot be denied, that the People of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> was brought out of <HI>Egypt</HI> by <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI> Their Law, which the pre&s;ent <HI>Jews</HI> do &s;till ob&s;erve, &s;peaks every where of that famous Action of his; there was never any Man di&s;puted the certainty of that Atchievement. All ancient Authors make mention of it,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Jo&s;eph. con|tra App.</HI> l. 1.</NOTE> <HI>Manethon</HI> gives an account of the time, of the manner, and of many other princi|pal Circum&s;tances of that Exploit.</P>
<P><HI>Trogus Pompeius, Ju&s;tinus,</HI> and <HI>Tacitus,</HI> do al&s;o &s;peak of it, only <HI>Tacitus</HI> does groundle&s;ly, I &s;up|po&s;e, of his own head, relate, that the <HI>Jews</HI> were expell'd out of <HI>Egypt,</HI> becau&s;e of their Le|pro&s;ie: I &s;ay groundle&s;ly, for it is known, that on the contrary, Lepro&s;ie was a common Di&s;temper among&s;t the <HI>Egyptians,</HI> and that they infected the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> with it, &s;o that there is no likelihood they &s;hould be expelled by the <HI>Egyptians</HI> for a Di&s;tem|per that they got from them.</P>
<P>We know be&s;ides, that the Law of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> which calls the Lepro&s;ie the Di&s;temper of <HI>Egypt,</HI> did ba|ni&s;h the Lepers out of the Congregation of the People; and then the nature of <HI>David</HI>'s Cur&s;es a|gain&s;t <HI>Joab,</HI> becau&s;e of his murdering <HI>Abner,</HI> &s;hews &s;ufficiently, that the Lepro&s;ie was lookt upon by the <HI>Jews,</HI> as a Di&s;temper mo&s;t commonly &s;ent
<PB N="156" REF="92">immediately from God. Nay, <HI>Trogus Pompeius</HI> him&s;elf,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ju&s;tin.</HI> l. 36.</NOTE> ob&s;erves that the Magicians cau&s;ed <HI>Mo|&s;es</HI> with the People of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> to be expell'd, becau&s;e they them&s;elves were &s;truck with a kind of Scab and Itch; and that they were afraid, lea&s;t the con|tagion of it &s;hould infect the whole Kingdom of <HI>Egypt.</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Eu&s;eb. praep. Evang.</HI> l. 9. c. 8.</NOTE></P>
<P>And here I mu&s;t not forget the mentioning the Te&s;timony of <HI>Numenius</HI> a <HI>Pythagorean</HI> Philo&s;opher, who relates, that both <HI>Jannes</HI> and <HI>Jambres</HI> were cho&s;en by the <HI>Egyptians,</HI> to oppo&s;e <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and hinder the effects of his Miracles and Prayers, which had brought down many grievous Plagues upon <HI>Egypt,</HI> ju&s;t about the time of the <HI>Jews</HI> Ba|ni&s;hment out of that Country.</P>
<P>But Secondly, If the Lepro&s;ie, which the <HI>I&s;ra|elites</HI> brought from <HI>Egypt,</HI> be a indi&s;putable proof of their &s;ojourning there; it is as certain, that the going out of that mixed multitude of <HI>Egyptians,</HI> who &s;o far e&s;pous'd the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> Intere&s;t, as to leave and for&s;ake <HI>Egypt</HI> their own Countrey to accompa|ny them, could have no other cau&s;e or pretence than the Miracles of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> whereof they had been Eye-witne&s;&s;es; &s;o that the Po&s;terity of tho&s;e <HI>Egyptians</HI> that were thus incorporated into the Bo|dy of the People of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> were in after Ages, as &s;o many Witne&s;&s;es of the truth of tho&s;e Miracles, which formerly per&s;waded their Fathers to joyn with <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and &s;o to &s;hare Fortune with the <HI>He|brews.</HI></P>
<P>Thirdly, It is certain, that the <HI>Jews</HI> could not &s;o much as mention any of the Miracles, which they pretended were done formerly for the delive|rance of their Fathers, without expo&s;ing them|&s;elves
<PB N="157" REF="92">to the &s;corn of all the World, if all tho&s;e Miracles, and their Deliverance, had not been certainly and generally known to the <HI>Egyptians,</HI> and to all the Neighbouring Nations, by whom they were often &s;ubdued and brought into &s;ubje|ction after the Decea&s;e of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and <HI>Jo&s;huah.</HI></P>
<P>To all the&s;e Reflexions we may add, that the Commemoration of the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> going out of <HI>Egypt,</HI> with all the Miracles wrought by <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> was renew'd yearly, not only by the &s;olemnizing the Fea&s;t of the Pa&s;&s;over, which the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> did con&s;tantly keep to the time of their di&s;per&s;ion, and which they do &s;till keep in all parts of the World, but al&s;o by two other very &s;en&s;ible ways.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t whereof, was the Separation which God made of the Tribe of <HI>Levi,</HI> in order to Con|&s;ecrate it to his Service, in&s;tead of the fir&s;t-born of the People of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> whom he had &s;pared, and pre&s;erved in <HI>Egypt,</HI> with great Solemnity, in re|gard both of Men and Bea&s;ts, as we read, <HI>Numb.</HI> III. &s;o that every <HI>Levite</HI> was as a living Memorial of that great Miracle, wrought at the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> going forth out of <HI>Egypt.</HI></P>
<P>And the Second was the Law concerning the Redemption of every Fir&s;t-born, both of Men,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Numb. XVIII: 16.</NOTE> and Unclean Bea&s;ts; which is ob&s;erved to this hour among&s;t the <HI>Jews:</HI> It is clear, and evident, that there is in all tho&s;e Laws, a deep impre&s;&s;ion of tho&s;e &s;everal great Miracles which compell'd <HI>Pha|raoh</HI> to let the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> go.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, It is very ob&s;ervable here, that the Me|mory of the deliverance of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> out of <HI>Egypt,</HI> wrought, as by many Miracles, &s;o e&s;pecially by the death of all the Fir&s;t-born of <HI>Egypt,</HI> which
<PB N="158" REF="93">was the occa&s;ion of the In&s;titution of the Pa&s;&s;over continued among&s;t the <HI>Egyptians</HI> till after Je&s;us Chri&s;t: For till then they u&s;ed to mark with red their Sheep, their Trees, their Hou&s;es, and Lands, the day before the Pa&s;&s;over, as one may &s;ee in <HI>Epiphanius;</HI> which Cu&s;tom could proceed from no other cau&s;e, than from the <HI>Egyptians</HI> fear of the like Plague and Mortality, that was once inflicted upon their Forefathers; and from their hope of preventing it by &s;uch a kind of Tali&s;man, whereby they thought <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> had formerly &s;aved the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> harmle&s;s from that great Plague, on|ly by &s;prinkling the Blood of the Lamb of the Pa&s;&s;over, on the upper Door po&s;t of their Hou|&s;es.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="4" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. IV. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>A Continuation of the Proofs of the truth of the Miracles wrought by</HI> Mo&s;es.</HEAD>
<P>THe&s;e Arguments might be thought &s;ufficient for the evincing the truth of the&s;e Miracles which <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> relates; but yet &s;omething more may be added.</P>
<P>As tho&s;e Stupendious Miracles, by which the famous deliverance of the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> was effected, could not be doubted of, by tho&s;e who had been eye-witne&s;&s;es of them; &s;o they were afterwards con|firmed by &s;everal other Miracles, which being as
<PB N="159" REF="93">great, and almo&s;t of the &s;ame kind, continued for many years in the &s;ight of the whole People of <HI>I&s;rael.</HI></P>
<P>God made a Pillar of Fire, and of a Cloud, at|tend upon the <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI> to guide them, the one by Day, and the other by Night. He divided the Red Sea to open a pa&s;&s;age through it for his Peo|ple,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">L. 9. <HI>praep. Ev. cap. ult.</HI></NOTE> the Memory whereof (&s;aith <HI>Eu&s;ebius</HI>) was pre&s;erved to his time, by tho&s;e of <HI>Memphis:</HI> The <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> took the Spoils of the <HI>Egyptians</HI> drown'd in the Red Sea, as they were pur&s;uing them: They made a Song upon the occa&s;ion of that wonderful Deliverance; they were fed with <HI>Manna,</HI> a kind of heavenly, and miraculous Food; they drunk of that Brook of Water, that was following them wherever they went: All tho&s;e Miracles, with many others, continued for forty years together without any Interruption, and do therefore firmly e&s;tabli&s;h the truth of tho&s;e other Miracles which <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> relates, becau&s;e there were none of them wherein the people could be impo&s;ed upon by any trick or illu&s;ion, and of the truth whereof e|very one could not &s;atisfie him&s;elf, by his own ex|perience.</P>
<P>I do not &s;peak now of &s;everal publick Monu|ments of tho&s;e Miracles; as for Example, the Rod of <HI>Aaron</HI> which blo&s;&s;om'd in a Night; the Manna which was kept in the Tabernacle. The Brazen Serpent, which having continued to <HI>Hezekiah</HI>'s time, was broken down by him, only becau&s;e the People offered Incen&s;e to it.</P>
<P>From all which it mu&s;t be acknowledged, that there was in the whole Series of the <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Hi&s;tory both many pregnant Evidences of the truth of
<PB N="160" REF="94">the fir&s;t Miracles, and a con&s;tant Series of Mira|cles which having been foretold by <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> did the better confirm the truth of tho&s;e which he re|lates as done by him on purpo&s;e to vindicate, and defend the Liberty, and Honour of the peo|ple of <HI>I&s;rael.</HI></P>
<P>Becau&s;e I did ju&s;t now intimate, that the Me|mory of the <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Deliverance, did continue for many Ages after among&s;t the <HI>Egyptians:</HI> I think my &s;elf obliged to add here, &s;ome Arguments to prove, that neither &s;uch a Tran&s;action as that was, nor yet any of the like nature and impor|tance, could ever be forgotten in the Land of <HI>Ca|naan.</HI></P>
<P>There is nothing that in outward appearance &s;eems more ridiculous, than what is related con|cerning the <HI>Gibeonites</HI> coming to <HI>Jo&s;huah</HI>'s Camp; their Equipage &s;hew'd that they had a mind to per|&s;wade the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> that they came from a far Countrey. The Treaty which they extorted from <HI>Jo&s;huah</HI> by fraud, is very &s;ingular.</P>
<P>And there can be nothing more remarkable, than their &s;ub&s;i&s;tence among&s;t the people of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> notwith&s;tanding that they were of the number of tho&s;e Nations, which God had commanded to be de&s;troy'd; and their being de&s;tined by <HI>Jo&s;huah</HI>'s appointment, to carry the Wood and the Water, nece&s;&s;ary for the &s;ervice of the Tabernacle, from whence they were denominated <HI>Nethinims,</HI> and thereby for ever after di&s;tingui&s;h'd from the <HI>I&s;ra|elites.</HI></P>
<P>But after all, there could be nothing more a|greeable to God's Wi&s;dom, than the pre&s;ervation of that people among&s;t the <HI>I&s;raelites.</HI> Their Fa|thers
<PB N="161" REF="94">were the Witne&s;&s;es of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and <HI>Jo&s;huah</HI>'s Miracles. Tho&s;e Miracles obliged them to &s;eek the alliance of the <HI>Hebrews,</HI> and to cheat them into it by a fraudulent Treaty, becau&s;e they de|&s;paired of compa&s;&s;ing their de&s;ign by any other means. Therefore their &s;ub&s;i&s;ting among&s;t the <HI>Jews,</HI> and their Servile Office which expo&s;ed them to the eyes of the whole Nation, could not chu&s;e but be of an extraordinary u&s;e, to make that peo|ple pre&s;erve, and cheri&s;h up the Memory of tho&s;e Glorious Actions, which every <HI>Gibeonite</HI> had per|petually before his Eyes.</P>
<P>The &s;ame Remark may be made upon the con|tinuing of <HI>Rahab</HI>'s Family among&s;t the <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI> af|ter the De&s;truction of <HI>Jericho.</HI></P>
<P>It is certain, that the <HI>Jews</HI> have always belie|ved, that be&s;ides tho&s;e fir&s;t Miracles related by <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> many others have been done &s;ince for their &s;akes, both to po&s;&s;e&s;s them of the Land of <HI>Canaan,</HI> and to keep or re&s;tore them to the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of it; nay, of tho&s;e latter Miracles many are very like unto the former: As for Example, the Death of 185000 Men in the Army of <HI>Sennacherib;</HI> the returning of the Shadow backwards ten de|grees upon the Sundial of <HI>Ahaz;</HI> the wonderful pre&s;ervation of the whole Nation, by the means of <HI>E&s;ther,</HI> which was the occa&s;ion of the In&s;tituti|on of the Fea&s;t of <HI>Purim</HI> among&s;t them, and &s;e|veral other Miraculous Tran&s;actions related in the <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Authors, of which I will only name three, which did pre&s;erve the Memory of the greate&s;t, and mo&s;t important Miracles related by <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI></P>
<P>The fir&s;t is the continual Miracle of the <HI>Urim</HI>
<PB N="162" REF="95">and <HI>Thummim</HI> of the High-Prie&s;t, which by its frequency, did confirm the truth of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Rela|tion, concerning the &s;everal Apparitions of God, in order to lead his people, and to give them Laws.</P>
<P>The Second is the Miracle of every &s;eventh year,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Levit. XXV.</NOTE> during which, though the People of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> did neither Sow nor Reap, God, according to his Promi&s;e, did &s;upply them with plenty of Provi&s;i|ons, by making every &s;ixth year extraordinarily plentiful. Now this Miracle was a kind of a Me|morial of that other great Miracle, whereby God did feed his People with Manna, for forty years together in the De&s;art, &s;till doubling the propor|tion of Manna every &s;ixth day.</P>
<P>In effect, as that Law which commanded a Sabbath of re&s;t unto the Land every &s;eventh year, was con&s;tantly ob&s;erved, which would never have been done long, if that people had not always been fully convinced by their own experience of its Divinity.</P>
<P>And again, as that Miracle was &s;o publickly known, that God by his Prophets did often threa|ten the <HI>Jews</HI> to deprive them of the fertility of the &s;ixth year, becau&s;e of their tran&s;gre&s;&s;ing the Sabbath.</P>
<P>So it is plain, that no Man can rea&s;onably doubt, or di&s;pute the truth of that continual Miracle, which that Law both &s;uppo&s;eth and promi&s;|eth.</P>
<P>The Third is the Miracle of a continual prote|ction during the time of tho&s;e three great &s;olemn Fea&s;ts, in which the people were obliged by God's Command to attend his Service in the Tabernacle,
<PB N="163" REF="95">or at <HI>Jeru&s;alem.</HI> For this Law requiring atten|dance from all the <HI>Jews</HI> of the Age of Twenty and upwards, it engaged them to leave the Fron|tiers of their Countrey naked, and de&s;titute of Men, and &s;o expo&s;ed to the Inroads of their Ene|mies; but at the &s;ame time it gave them occa&s;ion to experience the &s;ame Divine Protection, which, as they read in <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Writings, their Fathers had formerly &s;o often experienced again&s;t all their E|nemies.</P>
<P>It is certain, that there was never any Com|mon-wealth in the World, which had any &s;uch Fundamental Law; the danger to which a Coun|trey is expo&s;ed by the Ob&s;ervation of it is too vi&s;i|ble not to be avoided. Therefore the <HI>Jews</HI> to be &s;ure, would never have acknowledged that Law to be Divine, nor yet &s;ubmitted to it, if they had not been &s;ecure of God's Protection to pre|vent all the Mi&s;chiefs, and Inconveniences that might ari&s;e from their Ob&s;ervation of that Law; &s;o that &s;uppo&s;e they had been at fir&s;t &s;o &s;tupid and unwary as to receive it from <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> yet they would never have ob&s;erved it &s;o con&s;tantly and &s;o long, if they had not had a con&s;tant Trial of God's Protection on all occa&s;ions; and if they had not lookt upon it as a nece&s;&s;ary Con&s;equence, and Accompli&s;hment of tho&s;e Promi&s;es, which he had made both to them and their Fathers.</P>
<P>However, it is certain, that it was the Will of God, that the <HI>Jews</HI> &s;hould altogether rely upon that Miraculous Protection of his: Nay, the di|&s;tru&s;ting of it, was &s;o offen&s;ive to him, that he in|flicted an Exemplary Puni&s;hment upon <HI>David,</HI> for an Action, which though innocent of it &s;elf in a
<PB N="164" REF="96">Prince, did yet directly contradict that Tru&s;t which the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> were bound to &s;et upon God's Protection. For when <HI>David</HI> cau&s;ed the People to be numbred, God &s;ent a Pe&s;tilence among&s;t his people, which abated his pride, and thus taught him effectually to rely more upon God for the fu|ture, than upon the Multitude of his people.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="5" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. V. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>That</HI> Mo&s;es<HI>'s De&s;cription of the manner of God's giving him his Laws, is evidently true.</HI></HEAD>
<P>IT is al&s;o equally ea&s;ie to &s;hew the truth of <HI>Mo|&s;es</HI>'s De&s;cription of the manner of the promul|gation of God's Law in the De&s;ert, and of the &s;e|veral parts of it, Moral, Political, Ceremonial.</P>
<P>I &s;hall not &s;tand to con&s;ider here the Admira|ble Equity, and mo&s;t ab&s;olute perfection of the Moral Law, and &s;hew that it could have no other Author but God alone: Neither will I urge in this place, the extraordinary care God had to regulate the mo&s;t Minute Ceremonies, that there might be nothing left undetermined in all the Acts of Religion; as al&s;o the great, and Divine Wi&s;dom that is di&s;cernible in all tho&s;e Ceremonial Laws, which be&s;ides their u&s;eful oppo&s;ition, to the then <HI>Pagan</HI> Cu&s;toms, do mo&s;t of them, either mind Men of their Duty, or repre&s;ent and typi&s;ie the things that were to come to pa&s;s under the Go&s;pel.</P>
<PB N="165" REF="96">
<P>In &s;hort, I will not aggravate any farther the Con&s;ideration of the Admirable Wi&s;dom that ap|pears every where in the whole Body of the Poli|tical Laws which God gave to the <HI>Jews</HI> to &s;ettle them into a firm and &s;olid Form of Government; that Wi&s;dom is &s;uch, and &s;o vi&s;ible, that it plain|ly demon&s;trates the Divinity of them to any Man that will but compare the whole Body of them, and their ab&s;olute perfection, with the Defects of all Human Laws, and the &s;everal Changes and Alterations they have received from time to time.</P>
<P>But I &s;hall lay a&s;ide the&s;e Remarks, and chu&s;e to come to tho&s;e that do not require &s;o much Lear|ning, nor &s;o great an intention of thought.</P>
<P>The Fir&s;t of which is, That the Moral Law was given in the &s;ight and hearing of all the people of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> and that the promulgation of it upon Mount <HI>Sinai,</HI> was accompanied with extraordina|ry marks of Glory, and made only after many previous Purifications pre&s;cribed to the whole Congregation in order to receive it.</P>
<P>It is true indeed, the Ceremonial Laws which were annexed to it, were not delivered to the people with &s;o much Pomp and Maje&s;ty; but as they were al&s;o given in the &s;ame De&s;ert, and in the pre&s;ence of the Elders of the people a&s;&s;embled together near the Tabernacle, after they had ear|ne&s;tly intreated <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> that God would no more &s;peak to them him&s;elf, it is evident, that they are no le&s;s authentick than the Moral Law, therefore we &s;ee that they were accordingly received by that people, notwith&s;tanding the Troubles, Expences, Avocations, Straights, and Hard&s;hips, which
<PB N="166" REF="97">they might meet with by it.</P>
<P>Now is it in the lea&s;t probable, that if this people had not been convinced, that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> did re|ally familiarly conver&s;e with God for forty days and forty Nights upon Mount <HI>Sinai,</HI> they would fooli&s;hly without any cau&s;e, of a &s;uddain, have &s;ubmitted to &s;uch a trouble&s;om yoke of Laws, many whereof were oppo&s;ite both to their Opi|nions and Ancient Cu&s;toms.</P>
<P>It is well known for Example, what Jealou&s;ie there was all along among&s;t the Tribes of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> even from the time of their Ance&s;tors, yet we do not &s;ee that in tho&s;e Laws there is any notice taken of it, or regard had to it, but that on the contrary they &s;eem to foment that Spirit of Divi&s;ion, when they deprive <HI>Reuben</HI> of his Birthright, in favour of <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI>'s Po&s;terity, and of the Prie&s;thood in favour of <HI>Levi,</HI> and of the Kingdom, in favour of <HI>Juda.</HI></P>
<P>Nay, we &s;ee, that even after <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> had compo|&s;ed the difference that was once betwixt the Tribe of <HI>Levi,</HI> and the followers of <HI>Corah, Dathan,</HI> and <HI>Abiram,</HI> they were hardly brought to acquie&s;ce to his Deci&s;ion; and how could he then po&s;&s;ibly have rai&s;ed his own Tribe, the Tribe of <HI>Levi,</HI> to &s;uch prerogatives, and to &s;uch a plentiful Condition a|bove all the other Tribes, as he did by a&s;&s;igning the fir&s;t Fruits and Offerings to the Levites and Prie&s;ts. How could he, I &s;ay, have done that without meeting with &s;ome oppo&s;ition from the re&s;t of the People, except they had all been con|vinced by the Miracle that God wrought to de|cide that Que&s;tion, when it was di&s;puted, that he him&s;elf was the Author of that Con&s;titution.</P>
<PB N="167" REF="97">
<P>Thus we read, that long after, when King <HI>Uz|ziah</HI> boldly pre&s;umed, to act again&s;t <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Law, <HI>Numb.</HI> XXV. and to a&s;&s;ume to him&s;elf the Dig|nity of Prie&s;thood, and to do the Functions of it; he pre&s;ently received the puni&s;hment due to his pre&s;umption: So that being &s;truck with a &s;uddain Lepro&s;ie, he was confined to his Dying Day. Is it any ways probable that a Prince, e&s;pecially of his Temper, would have &s;ubmitted to &s;uch a Con|finement, and meekly re&s;ign'd his Crown to his Son, if that puni&s;hment inflicted upon him, had not fully convinced him of the Divinity of that Law, which he had tran&s;gre&s;&s;ed and violated by his Temerity and Pre&s;umption.</P>
<P>The Third Reflexion is, that the greate&s;t part of tho&s;e Laws being intended by God to in&s;pire his people with an Irreconcileable Aver&s;ion a|gain&s;t all tho&s;e Nations, among&s;t whom they were going to &s;ettle; they were &s;o framed, as not only to be oppo&s;ite to the Laws and Cu&s;toms of <HI>Egypt,</HI> from whence they came, but al&s;o to tho&s;e received among&s;t the <HI>Hivites, Amorites,</HI> and other Nati|ons, of who&s;e Countries they were going to po&s;|&s;e&s;s them&s;elves.</P>
<P>Thus we find in the XVIII. of <HI>Leviticus,</HI> Laws again&s;t all Ince&s;tuous Marriages, which without doubt, were ordinary among&s;t the <HI>Canaanites,</HI> and <HI>Egyptians,</HI> who therein follow'd the Examples of the Ancient Patriarchs, who Married within tho&s;e forbidden Degrees; there we find al&s;o the Sacri|fices to <HI>Moloch</HI> forbidden, the practice whereof, tho&s;e Nations, in all likelihood, defended by the Example of <HI>Abraham</HI>'s Sacrifice.</P>
<P>Now it cannot rea&s;onably be thought, that a
<PB N="168" REF="98">whole Nation would of a &s;uddain receive &s;uch Laws as deprived them of a Liberty and Freedom they had always hitherto enjoyed, and condemn of their own accord, tho&s;e Sacrifices that had the faire&s;t pretence of Religion imaginable, and to u&s;e many Ceremonies contrary to tho&s;e received among&s;t them, if they had not had a &s;trong, and extraordinary Motive for &s;o doing.</P>
<P>There is another thing be&s;ides, that challenges our Con&s;ideration, <HI>viz.</HI> the exact De&s;cription which God gave to <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> of the Tabernacle, of the &s;everal parts of the Ceremonial Wor&s;hip, which was to be performed in that Sacred place, and of the manner how this Tabernacle with all its Ap|purtenances, Uten&s;ils, and Ornaments, was fini|&s;hed.</P>
<P>For as this Tabernacle was then the Centre of the whole <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Religion, (as the Temple was afterwards by &s;ucceeding to it) &s;o it was a &s;olemn proof of the Divinity of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Laws, and of the Wor&s;hip that was performed there.</P>
<P>Is it conceivable, that a whole Nation &s;hould contribute to the building of it, &s;hould &s;ee it Con|&s;ecrated, and taken to pieces, and &s;et together a|gain every day, and &s;hould read all the particu|lars relating to its Con&s;truction, and not di&s;cern whether there was any truth and reality in all that was told them concerning the Religion which their Governour fixed in that place wherein he pretended many Revelations were made.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="6" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="169" REF="98">
<HEAD>CHAP. VI. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>Some other Proofs that confirm</HI> Mo&s;es<HI>'s De&s;crip|tion of the manner how the Law was given and Promulgated,</HI></HEAD>
<P>BUt if it is &s;o ea&s;ie to e&s;tabli&s;h the Divinity of the Law of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> by &s;hewing the truth of the Matter of Fact, according to the manner of God's Promulgation, as <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> relates it, we may further collect the truth of it, by joyning the&s;e following Reflexions to tho&s;e already made in the foregoing Chapters.</P>
<P>Certainly if <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> had been the fir&s;t Founder of a Kingdom, and had been &s;ucceeded in it by his own Children and Po&s;terity for many Gene|rations one after another; we might perhaps, have had &s;ome ground to &s;u&s;pect, that his Succe&s;&s;ors, con&s;ulting their own Intere&s;t and Honour, would have been very glad to per&s;wade their Subjects, that the fir&s;t Founder of their Kingdom, had &s;ome Communication with God, and that it was from him he received the Laws and Con&s;titutions which he gave them concerning Civil and Religi|ous Matters.</P>
<P>But it is ob&s;ervable, that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> was &s;o far from inve&s;ting his own Children with the Supream Authority after him&s;elf, that he Tran&s;lated it into another Tribe, and Con&s;tituted <HI>Jo&s;huah</HI> of the Tribe of <HI>Ephraim</HI> for his Succe&s;&s;or in the Govern|ment; as for his Po&s;terity he took little care of it,
<PB N="170" REF="99">but reduced it to a Rank inferiour to that of <HI>Aa|ron</HI>'s Family, which he preferr'd to the mo&s;t ho|nourable Functions of the Prie&s;thood; leaving to his own the meane&s;t, and mo&s;t incon&s;iderable Employments; all which &s;hews evidently that none of tho&s;e who came after <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> were moved by a|ny private Intere&s;t of their own, to defend the Truth and Authority of his Laws and Writings, but only by the certain knowledge they had, that they were all Divine.</P>
<P>Neither ought we to omit to con&s;ider here the manner how <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> decides beforehand &s;uch Que|&s;tions, and determines &s;uch Controver&s;ies, as could not be rai&s;ed, but after the Conque&s;t of <HI>Canaan,</HI> which was made by his Succe&s;&s;or only after his Death. And how tho&s;e Laws were con&s;tantly ob&s;erved in all the &s;ucceeding Generations of that people, and &s;ubmitted unto by the very Judges and Kings them&s;elves; tho there be nothing more common than for a Conqueror, &s;uch as <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> was, to admit of no other Fundamental Laws in that State he is the Founder of, than tho&s;e which he is the Author of; nothing is more u&s;ual, than for State&s;men to affect the expo&s;ing the Conduct of their Predece&s;&s;ors, e&s;pecially when the form of Government is altered, and from Democratical, or Ari&s;tocratical, is changed into Monarchical, as it happened among&s;t the <HI>I&s;raelites.</HI> How then could <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Laws &s;till keep up their Authority in all Changes and Revolutions? How comes it to pa&s;s, that in all the Succe&s;&s;ions of Judges and Kings, there was never any of them attempted to &s;u&s;pend, or annul <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Laws, much le&s;s to enact and give any others contrary to them?</P>
<PB N="171" REF="99">
<P>Again, how came it to pa&s;s, that in all the Di|vi&s;ions and Factions that Nation fell into, there was never any <HI>Jew,</HI> endeavour'd with any &s;ucce&s;s, to undeceive the re&s;t of his own people, &s;o as to make them &s;hake off the trouble&s;om Yoke of <HI>Mo|&s;es</HI>'s Laws. No doubt only, becau&s;e the genera|lity of that Nation never di&s;puted the Divine Ori|gin and Authority of them.</P>
<P>It were an ea&s;ie thing to demon&s;trate by the whole Series, of the <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Hi&s;tory, that all tho&s;e Laws which in <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Writings are inlay'd one within another, and repre&s;ented as occa&s;ion'd by &s;everal Tran&s;actions related there, have all been equally received of the <HI>Jews,</HI> and have all been put together in a Body by them&s;elves before <HI>Mo|&s;es</HI>'s Death, as it may be proved out of the XXXI. of <HI>Deuteronomy.</HI></P>
<P>It appears, that tho&s;e Laws were publick, and in great e&s;teem among&s;t that People, to whom God gave them, upon whom he laid an indi&s;pen|&s;able Obligation to read them every day, and to con&s;ult them upon every emergent bu&s;ine&s;s.</P>
<P>It appears, that they were known equally of all degrees of Men, Sexes, and Ages, which were all obliged to pay Obedience to them upon pain of Death.</P>
<P>It appears, that tho&s;e Laws were not only pub|lickly kept in the Tabernacle, but al&s;o privately read in every Family.</P>
<P>We &s;ee, that a whole Tribe, <HI>viz.</HI> the Tribe of <HI>Levi</HI> was appointed by God to explain them, and in order to that they were di&s;per&s;ed through|out the whole Land of <HI>Canaan,</HI> and exempted from the Cares and Troubles that nece&s;&s;arily at|tend
<PB N="172" REF="100">Husbandry, by the plentiful Provi&s;ion of Tithes and Offerings that was allotted to them.</P>
<P>We &s;ee that God obliged all <HI>Jews</HI> to read and meditate upon them continually, e&s;pecially every Sabbath day.</P>
<P>Nay, and we &s;ee moreover, that God every Seventh Year would have them read publickly in a more &s;olemn manner, before the whole Con|gregation of that people, who during that Year, were obliged to re&s;t from all their ordinary La|bours and Employments, and &s;o had nothing el&s;e to do all that while, but to read the Law, to exa|mine it, and to meditate upon it.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, It appears, that tho&s;e Laws were yet the more Solemn and Authentick, becau&s;e they o|bliged the <HI>Jews</HI> to celebrate three &s;uch Fea&s;ts as were to be publickly kept by the whole Nation, and con&s;equently apt to refre&s;h their Memories, and put them in mind, thrice a year, not only of the &s;urprizing Miracles that God had done for them; but al&s;o of the manner how he gave and promulgated his Laws; the Miracles giving ri&s;e to the Laws, and tho&s;e Laws being them&s;elves a means of pre&s;erving the Memory of tho&s;e Mira|cles, becau&s;e of the frequent Commemoration of them which was therein enjoyned.</P>
<P>Now the&s;e things being &s;o, let every one judge, whether the truth of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Account of God's gi|ving, and promulgating by his means that Body of Laws which he hath in&s;erted in <HI>Exodus,</HI> and the following Books, can po&s;&s;ibly, or at lea&s;t, rea&s;onably be di&s;puted, or doubted of. But I come now to con|the Oracles recorded in <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Writings in order to demon&s;trate the Truth and Divinity of them.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="7" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="173" REF="100">
<HEAD>CHAP. VII. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>That there is no ju&s;t Exception can be made a|gain&s;t</HI> Mo&s;es<HI>'s Hi&s;tory, in what relates to the Oracles, which he hath recorded in his Books.</HI></HEAD>
<P>THere are &s;everal &s;orts of Oracles in <HI>Exodus,</HI> and the other three following Books.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, There are &s;ome whereof the accompli&s;h|ment did &s;oon follow the Prediction.</P>
<P>The Deliverance of the <HI>Jews</HI> out of the <HI>Egypti|an</HI> Bondage is of that number; <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> does promi&s;e and foretel it; nay, and he executed it him&s;elf: And all the people to whom it was promi&s;ed and foretold, were them&s;elves Witne&s;&s;es of the ac|compli&s;hment of that Prophe&s;ie; and it was that accompli&s;hment which e&s;tabli&s;hed the Divinity of his Commi&s;&s;ion.</P>
<P>So is the other Prophe&s;ie concerning the Con|que&s;t of the Land of <HI>Canaan,</HI> and the &s;everal Di|vi&s;ions that were to be made of it among&s;t all the Tribes of <HI>I&s;rael, Mo&s;es</HI> foretelling exactly what Lot every one &s;hould have, and giving be&s;ides, a De&s;cription of the Countrey that every Tribe was to inhabit.</P>
<P>Tho&s;e that were Born in the De&s;ert, were Witne&s;&s;es both of the Prediction, and the Execu|&s;ion of it, altho it was by the ca&s;ting of Lots, that all the Tribes got their &s;everal Partitions.</P>
<P>But Secondly, There are &s;ome other Oracles in
<PB N="174" REF="101"><HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Books, the accompli&s;hment whereof was not to follow the Prediction till after a long inter|val of time.</P>
<P>Such are the Prophe&s;ies that foretel the future Subjection of the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> to the <HI>Canaanites,</HI> and the &s;everal Deliverances out of that Subjection, which God was to effect by the hands of <HI>Judges,</HI> whom he was to rai&s;e up for that purpo&s;e.</P>
<P>Such again are the Prophe&s;ies which relate to the future change of their Common wealth into a Kingly Government.</P>
<P>Thirdly and La&s;tly, We &s;ee that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> foretells all the Accidents, Changes, and Revolutions that were to befal the <HI>Jews</HI> as long as their State &s;hould &s;tand: At lea&s;t, we &s;ee that his Predictions are very plain, concerning their &s;everal Captivities, and Removals, and their return into the Holy Land; as al&s;o the Sieges of <HI>Samaria</HI> and <HI>Jeru&s;alem;</HI> and the irrecoverable di&s;per&s;ion of the whole Na|tion, which we &s;ee at pre&s;ent.</P>
<P>But whatever difference there may otherwi&s;e be, betwixt all the&s;e Predictions, we may &s;ay, that every one of them, hath as pregnant Proofs of its certainty and truth, as any thing of that nature is capable of.</P>
<P>For Fir&s;t, As to the fir&s;t &s;ort of Predictions, the accompli&s;hment whereof, <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> relates him|&s;elf.</P>
<P>It plainly appears, that his account, cannot in the lea&s;t be &s;u&s;pected of Impo&s;ture; becau&s;e he wrote it among&s;t a whole Nation, which could not po&s;&s;ibly be impo&s;ed upon in that ca&s;e, &s;eeing he &s;uppo&s;es, and takes it for granted, all along in his Relation, that tho&s;e Predictions were before|hand
<PB N="175" REF="101">publickly and generally known of all the people.</P>
<P>As for the accompli&s;hment of the &s;econd &s;ort of Prophe&s;ies, we have the Relation of it in &s;uch other Books as were written after <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Death, as in the Books of <HI>Jo&s;hua,</HI> of <HI>Judges,</HI> and &s;everal o|thers, which relate the accompli&s;hment of them, as of Prophe&s;ies written many years, and even &s;ome Ages before, by <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI></P>
<P>Be&s;ides, to this we may add, that the account which we find in tho&s;e Books, concerning the accompli&s;hment of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Prophe&s;ies, is interwo|ven with &s;uch Hi&s;tories, as &s;uppo&s;e, without any Affectation, that his Prophe&s;ies, as well as his Writings, were in the hands of all the World, and di&s;tinctly known by every <HI>Jew.</HI></P>
<P>And what is further ob&s;ervable, is, That the <HI>Jews</HI> have always had <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Books in &s;uch an E|&s;teem, becau&s;e of the&s;e &s;everal Illu&s;trious Prophe|&s;ies that are contained in them, that they have al|ways lookt upon him as the mo&s;t excellent of all their Prophets. They a&s;&s;ert at this very day, that the other Prophets had commonly no other know|ledge of future Events, than that which was com|municated to them by Dreams and Vi&s;ions; whereas <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> had it by an immediate Revelation of God him&s;elf, who u&s;ed to &s;peak to him Face to Face, without any Enthu&s;ia&s;m when he was per|fectly awake.</P>
<P>Now, how could ever the <HI>Jews</HI> have been &s;o &s;trongly prepo&s;&s;e&s;t of that high Opinion both of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and his Predictions, if we &s;uppo&s;e, that they never &s;aw the accompli&s;hment of any of them?</P>
<PB N="176" REF="102">
<P>That would certainly be as &s;trange an Illu&s;ion as ever was: For it is be&s;ides ob&s;ervable, that tho&s;e Prophe&s;ies of his, were not written by them|&s;elves and kept &s;ecret from the generality of the people; but that they were in&s;erted into the &s;eve|ral Speeches which he made to all the people &s;ome time before his Death; and which are written, and kept together in the &s;ame Volume, to be a &s;tanding Monument, both of his Prophecies, and of his Mini&s;try among the <HI>Jews.</HI></P>
<P>Now there is a va&s;t Difference betwixt a Book that is all made up of Prophe&s;ies, and &s;o kept &s;e|cret, and &s;eldom read, as the Books of the Sybils were; and a Book wherein the Prophe&s;ies it con|tains, are interwoven with a Hi&s;tory, wherein there is &s;o great a variety of Matters, as draws to it, and fixes the attention of every Reader; and wherein they are mingled with a whole Body of Political and Ceremonial Laws; and intermixed with the accounts which <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> gives of all the great Tran&s;actions which gave the occa&s;ion to &s;o many &s;everal Revelations and Prophe&s;ies recorded in his Books.</P>
<P>I am per&s;waded, that it is impo&s;&s;ible for any Man to make tho&s;e Reflexions upon the Opinion which the <HI>Jews</HI> entertained of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Preroga|tive, and upon the manner that his Prophe&s;ies, &s;o much reverenced among&s;t them, were exactly accompli&s;hed, and not be convinced of their Di|vine Authority.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="8" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="177" REF="102">
<HEAD>CHAP. VIII. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>That the Te&s;timony of the</HI> Jews, <HI>is a con&s;tant proof of the truth of the Oracles related by</HI> Mo&s;es.</HEAD>
<P>BUt lea&s;t any Body &s;hould think it &s;trange, that I &s;hould build the truth of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Prophe|cies, upon the Te&s;timony of the <HI>Jews,</HI> I will re|&s;train its authority of it within ju&s;t, and certain Bounds.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, Although the <HI>Jews</HI> bear Witne&s;s in their Sacred Books, that the greate&s;t part of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Prophecies are already fulfill'd, yet they &s;ay &s;ome are not: As for in&s;tance tho&s;e which relate to the Me&s;&s;iah's coming. But their ob&s;tinate blindne&s;s, is not a ju&s;t prejudice again&s;t &s;uch an important truth, to be convinced of which, we need only to compare <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Words, with the Actions of Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>Thus for what relates to the De&s;truction of <HI>Je|ru&s;alem,</HI> we need only compare <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Prophe&s;ie of it, with the De&s;cription <HI>Jo&s;ephus</HI> their own Hi|&s;torian, hath made of the &s;ame in his Hi&s;tory of the Siege and ruine of that City, and of the di&s;&s;i|pation of all the Nations of the <HI>Jews.</HI></P>
<P>But without the <HI>Jews</HI> Te&s;timony, in what re|gards the accompli&s;hment of tho&s;e Prophe&s;ies, whereof the execution was deferred for a very long time, it is ea&s;ie to convince any the mo&s;t Incredulous Man of their Truth and Divinity, if
<PB N="178" REF="103">he plea&s;e but to make this one Reflexion, which is, that when <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> relates among&s;t the Oracles of the Patriarch <HI>Jacob,</HI> a particular Prophe&s;ie concerning the Me&s;&s;iah's coming, and when he mentions that of <HI>Balaam</HI> concerning the ri&s;ing of that Divine Star, he &s;ubjoins al&s;o at the &s;ame time that concerning the Vocation of the Gentiles to the Faith, and brings it in as a certain &s;ign and con&s;equence of the Me&s;&s;iah's being come into the World.</P>
<P>Now if we examine the meaning of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Pre|dictions, about the Vocation of the Gentiles, which the Prophets that came after him did better ex|plain and illu&s;trate, we &s;hall be apt from thence to conclude, that he in effect foretold, that God in the days of the Me&s;&s;iah would follow quite ano|ther Method, than that which he had u&s;ed before until the time of <HI>Mo&s;es, viz.</HI></P>
<P>That whereas God might &s;eem to re&s;train then the Priviledge of his Covenant, to one people a|lone; which was in effect to re&s;train the honour of the Me&s;&s;iah's Birth, to one &s;ole Nation of the World, to one &s;ole Tribe of that Nation, to one &s;ole Family of that Tribe, to one &s;ole Branch of that Family, and &s;o to one &s;ole per&s;on of that Branch: He would (after the Me&s;&s;iah's co|ming) take a contrary Method, and call all men to Salvation in him.</P>
<P>Now that being &s;uppo&s;ed, the truth of all <HI>Mo|&s;es</HI>'s Prophe&s;ies cannot be que&s;tion'd. And what|ever the <HI>Jews</HI> Opinion be concerning the accom|pli&s;hment of &s;ome of them: It is &s;ufficient for us, that they have carefully and faithfully pre&s;erved the Books, wherein tho&s;e Prophecies, which we &s;ee &s;o exactly fulfilled, are contained.</P>
<PB N="179" REF="103">
<P>For, we cannot rea&s;onably &s;u&s;pect <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> or any other <HI>Jew</HI> of forging the Prophe&s;ies which foretold the calling of the Gentiles, not <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> &s;ee|ing all his Laws do tend (as I &s;hall &s;hew hereafter more at large) to e&s;tabli&s;h that re&s;triction, I was ju&s;t now &s;peaking of, which was to continue to the Me&s;&s;iah's coming. Not the <HI>Jews,</HI> &s;eeing that none of them can &s;till endure to hear of the removal of that Re&s;triction, by the calling of the Gentiles; and that they are all po&s;&s;e&s;t with &s;uch a Spirit of Envy and Jealou&s;ie again&s;t all other Nations, that they perfectly hate and abominate them. But be&s;ides, we cannot de&s;ire a better, nor a more authentick accompli&s;hment of tho&s;e Oracles, which are &s;o oppo&s;ite to the <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Prin|ciples and Prejudices, than that which we our &s;elves are Witne&s;&s;es of.</P>
<P>The &s;ame Reflexion belongs to the other Pro|phe&s;ies of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> concerning the total Di&s;&s;ipation of the <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> State; as al&s;o to the dreadful ac|compli&s;hment of them in our days. The mo&s;t re|&s;olved Ob&s;tinacy can &s;ugge&s;t but one Objection in this matter, which is, that either the Chri&s;tians, or the Jews have fal&s;ified <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Writings, and in&s;erted tho&s;e Prophe&s;ies, which we now find there, concerning the Vocation of the Gentiles, and the di&s;per&s;ion of the <HI>Jews,</HI> after tho&s;e things were come to pa&s;s.</P>
<P>But Fir&s;t, The Books of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> which both Chri&s;tians and Jews have, are Written in He|brew, and penn'd in &s;uch a Stile as evidences their Antiquity, and as would be inimitable now.</P>
<P>Secondly, That the&s;e Books have been all Tran|&s;lated
<PB N="180" REF="104" MS="y">into Greek, almo&s;t 300 years before Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and about 350 years before the de&s;tru|ction of <HI>Jeru&s;alem.</HI> Neither the <HI>Jews,</HI> nor yet the Chri&s;tians were any longer &s;ole Ma&s;ters of them, when the Heathens had them al&s;o in their hands.</P>
<P>Be&s;ides, tho&s;e who were Converted to Chri&s;ti|anity from Judai&s;m and Heatheni&s;m, did not only find the&s;e Prophe&s;ies of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> in the hands of <HI>Jews</HI> and Heathens, long before the Conver&s;ion of the Gentiles, and the De&s;truction of <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> but did al&s;o make u&s;e of them to evince again&s;t the <HI>Jews,</HI> that the Me&s;&s;iah was already come.</P>
<P>Thus, I think, I have &s;ufficiently demon&s;tra|ted the Truth and Divinity of all <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Pro|phe&s;ies which we find in <HI>Exodus</HI> and the following Books.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="9" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. IX.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>That it appears by the nature of his Relations, that</HI> Mo&s;es <HI>had the Me&s;&s;ias in view when he wrote the Book of</HI> Gene&s;is.</HEAD>
<P>I Have &s;hew'd in my former Reflexions upon <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> that tho&s;e who lived before <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s time, had a di&s;tinct knowledge that God would certainly rai&s;e up a Deliverer among&s;t them, al|though they were not certain of the manner of his appearance. And I have be&s;ides, I think,
<PB N="181" REF="104">&s;ufficiently proved, that the various Idea's which the Ancients entertained of him upon the fir&s;t Promi&s;e made by God of his coming, were the occa&s;ion of &s;everal Criminal Actions committed by the Patriarchs, and by tho&s;e of other Nations, who had the &s;ame preten&s;ions with them.</P>
<P>I am now to prove that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> him&s;elf had the &s;ame knowledge, and lived in the &s;ame expecta|tion with the Ancients that preceded him. It is of more importance to be &s;hewn, and that henceforth no Body may wonder, if I pretend that the great|e&s;t part of the Laws he gave to the <HI>Jews,</HI> both in reference to Civil and Religious Matters, and the greate&s;t part of his Prophe&s;ies, as al&s;o tho&s;e others mentioned by Prophets that lived after him in that <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Common-wealth, do all &s;uppo&s;e a di&s;tinct relation to the promi&s;ed Me&s;&s;iah.</P>
<P>And to make this evident, I beg leave to offer to the Reader's Con&s;ideration &s;ome general Re|flexions upon <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Hi&s;tory in <HI>Gene&s;is.</HI></P>
<P>Fir&s;t, It cannot be denied that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> was one of the greate&s;t and wi&s;e&s;t Hi&s;torians that ever was: There cannot be a greater de&s;ign, nor a more dif|ficult Task than his was to write the Hi&s;tory of 2400 years: He gives an account of the Creation of the World in general; and in particular, of that of Man, of his &s;in, of the Promi&s;e God made him after the Fall, of the Flood, of the Ori|ginal of all the Nations that were in his time.</P>
<P>His way and manner of Writing is al&s;o very ex|traordinary: The Maje&s;ty of his Stile is tempered with an admirable plainne&s;s; he de&s;cribes all &s;orts of Pa&s;&s;ions to the Life; he is admirable in his Cha|racters of the Men he &s;peaks of, and of God
<PB N="182" REF="105">him&s;elf. To be convinced of this, let any Man read his De&s;cription of <HI>Abraham</HI>'s Sacrifice, and of the &s;everal Pa&s;&s;ions <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> and his Brethren were moved and affected with, when he made him&s;elf known to them. Be&s;ides all that we may ob&s;erve two very &s;urprizing things in the Book of <HI>Gene&s;is.</HI></P>
<P>The Fir&s;t is, That <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> recites there &s;uch things as &s;eem to be unworthy to be taken notice of, by &s;o Grave and Wi&s;e a Hi&s;torian as he was: He gives for in&s;tance, an exact and particular account of all the Circum&s;tances of <HI>Ahraham</HI>'s Purcha&s;e of the Cave of <HI>Machpela,</HI> for a Burying place for his Wife: He &s;ets down all the particulars of the In|ce&s;t of <HI>Judah</HI> with <HI>Thamar;</HI> and he relates the manner how <HI>Leah</HI> with her Sons Mandrakes ob|tained leave of <HI>Rachel</HI> to enjoy her Husband for one Night, with a &s;urprizing exactne&s;s.</P>
<P>The other is, that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> records a whole Series of horrible Crimes, which &s;eem to be as &s;o many blemi&s;hes and odious Reflexions upon the Memo|ry of tho&s;e who&s;e Hi&s;tory he writes.</P>
<P>Now it is not rea&s;onable to &s;uppo&s;e that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> being &s;o prudent, as he is confe&s;&s;ed to be, could have been &s;o injudicious, as to chu&s;e and pick out &s;uch Pa&s;&s;ages and Actions as are in them&s;elves ei|ther trivial and of no moment, or horrible and o|dious, to fill up with them a Book wherein he gives a De&s;cription of the Creation of the World, where he &s;ets down the Oracles of God at every turn.</P>
<P>It is natural therefore to judge, that he had &s;ome particular pro&s;pect in his Eyes, which could be no other than that of the <HI>Promi&s;e,</HI> which alone
<PB N="183" REF="105">ju&s;tifies his recital of trivial things, and of Crimes in &s;uch a &s;erious Hi&s;tory as his is.</P>
<P>I &s;hall not repeat here what I have already ob|&s;erved upon the Crimes which he relates in <HI>Gene|&s;is;</HI> I add only, that he had the &s;ame de&s;ign and pro&s;pect in his Narration of &s;uch &s;mall and in|con&s;iderable Tran&s;actions.</P>
<P>Thus by his account of the purcha&s;e of the Cave of <HI>Machpelah,</HI> his intention was to &s;hew how God intended by this Sepulchre, to affix <HI>Abraham</HI> and his Po&s;terity after him to the Land of <HI>Cannaan:</HI> his Scope and Pro&s;pect was the &s;ame when he re|cords the Burial of <HI>Rachel</HI> at <HI>Ephrathah.</HI></P>
<P>As for the Crimes <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> relates, I have before proved, that he de&s;ign'd thereby to &s;hew, how all the Faithful before his time, had their minds alto|gether taken up with the thoughts and hopes of the accompli&s;hment of the Promi&s;e: And herein we may &s;ay, the Wi&s;dom of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> is very con&s;pi|cuous and di&s;cernable in the choice he made of tho&s;e Actions to perpetuate the Memory of the exce&s;&s;ive de&s;ire which the Ancients had to accom|pli&s;h the Promi&s;e.</P>
<P>And let no Man object here, that it is very &s;trange to &s;ee, that during &s;o many Ages, the Promi&s;e of the Me&s;&s;iah occa&s;ioned no other than wicked actions. For as it appears by all Circum|&s;tances, that tho&s;e Crimes related by <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> were committed in different times, and long after one another, &s;o it is plain, that he hath recorded tho&s;e Actions on purpo&s;e, to &s;hew what impre&s;|&s;ion the true knowledge of the Promi&s;e of the Me&s;|&s;iah made upon the mind of tho&s;e that had it in its perfection and integrity.</P>
<PB N="184" REF="106">
<P>If <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> had in&s;erted in this Book of <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> any long Di&s;cour&s;e as made by <HI>Adam</HI> about that mat|ter upon a Sabbath day, or if he had given us a Relation of what &s;uch an one as <HI>Seth,</HI> or <HI>Enoch,</HI> or <HI>Sem</HI> u&s;ed to teach concerning that Promi&s;e in their Religious A&s;&s;emblies.</P>
<P>It is certain, That be&s;ides the inconvenience of a tedious Repetition which he mu&s;t have made of the &s;ame things in every particular account he gives of the &s;everal Generations that preceded him, he could never have per&s;waded his Readers &s;o well as he may do now.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, Men would have been apt to &s;u&s;pect, that tho&s;e Speeches upon the Promi&s;e of the Me&s;&s;iah, were of his own making, and like tho&s;e Set Ha|rangues we find in <HI>Xenophon,</HI> or <HI>Livy.</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, The Crimes that were committed, to get thereby &s;ome advantage: As for In&s;tance, The Murder of a King committed by his Heir, and Succe&s;&s;or to the Crown, &s;hews in the Murder a much greater Ambition, and Affectation of the Throne; and &s;uppo&s;es in him a di&s;tinct and clear knowledge of his Rights and Preten&s;ions to the Empire.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="10" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="185" REF="106">
<HEAD>CHAP. X.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"> <HI>That the &s;ame Per&s;wa&s;ion appears throughout the whole Conduct of</HI> Mo&s;es, <HI>until his Death.</HI></HEAD>
<P>BUt it is not only by tho&s;e and the like Reflexi|ons which may be made upon the choice, <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> hath made of the things which he recites, that we may gather that he had always the Pro|mi&s;e of the Me&s;&s;iah in view; for he being de|&s;cended from <HI>Abraham,</HI> there is no doubt, but that from his Youth up, he was brought up in the Re|ligion, and con&s;equently in the hopes of that Pa|triarch.</P>
<P>But moreover we have rea&s;on to think, that the Idea of this Promi&s;e of the Me&s;&s;iah, was much more lively and &s;trong in that Family, ever &s;ince <HI>Jacob</HI> on his Death-Bed had foretold, and promi|&s;ed to <HI>Judah,</HI> that it was out of his Tribe he was to be Born. As for <HI>Jo&s;eph,</HI> to whom that Promi&s;e might have been applied by the Children of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> becau&s;e of his Power and Glory in <HI>Egypt;</HI> the <HI>E|gyptian</HI> Per&s;ecution that followed &s;ometime after his Decea&s;e, re&s;olved all Scruples and Mi&s;takes that might otherwi&s;e have been entertained in that matter, and &s;o convinced all tho&s;e poor Sufferers, that their Me&s;&s;iah was as yet to come.</P>
<PB N="186" REF="107">
<P>To all the&s;e &s;trong Pre&s;umptions whereby we may gue&s;s, what the thoughts of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> might be, concerning the Promi&s;e of the Me&s;&s;iah, we may add the Con&s;ideration both of his Words and Actions, which do very plainly e&s;tabli&s;h the &s;ame Truth.</P>
<P>St.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. XI.</NOTE> <HI>Paul</HI> in his Epi&s;tle to the <HI>hebrews,</HI> mentions two particular Actions of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> which, as they challenge our Admiration, &s;o they de&s;erve our &s;e|rious Con&s;ideration, becau&s;e they clearly, I think, evidence, That <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> was fully per&s;waded of the future accompli&s;hment of that Promi&s;e.</P>
<P>The Fir&s;t is, That he refu&s;ed to be called the Son of <HI>Pharaoh</HI>'s Daughter, chu&s;ing rather to &s;uf|fer Affliction with the people of God, than to en|joy the plea&s;ures of &s;in for a &s;ea&s;on, e&s;teeming the reproach of Chri&s;t greater Riches than the Trea|&s;ures in <HI>Egypt,</HI> for he had re&s;pect unto the recom|pen&s;e of the Reward. From whence could a Re|&s;olution &s;o oppo&s;ite to the ordinary prudence, and natural inclinations of other Men proceed in him, if it was not, as St. <HI>Paul</HI> ob&s;erves it, from a very extraordinary Source, <HI>viz.</HI> from that &s;trong Per|&s;wa&s;ion which he had, that how calamitous &s;oever the then pre&s;ent condition of the people of God might be, yet God had cho&s;en it therein to ac|compli&s;h that great promi&s;e which was the Joy of all their Ance&s;tors from <HI>Adam</HI> down to them, the remembrance whereof he renewed, by illu|&s;trating tho&s;e Oracles which <HI>Jacob</HI> pronounced upon his Death-Bed.</P>
<P>The other is, That <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> always adhered to that Mi&s;erable people, and &s;tood by them in all their Calamities and Pre&s;&s;ures. 'Tis true, he left
<PB N="187" REF="107">them, and retired once into <HI>Midian</HI> to &s;ave his Life, and avoid the King's Indignation, but he returned to them into <HI>Egypt</HI> as &s;oon as he had re|ceived his Commi&s;&s;ion from God, to deliver them out of their Mi&s;ery and Bondage: Now he &s;hew'd again, by &s;o doing, that he had a certain know|ledge of that great Promi&s;e of God made to that people, and a full a&s;&s;urance and per&s;wa&s;ion of its future accompli&s;hment.</P>
<P><HI>Mo&s;es</HI> informs us indeed, how he refu&s;ed at fir&s;t the Commi&s;&s;ion God gave him to deliver his peo|ple from the <HI>Egyptian</HI> Slavery, and how he excu|&s;ed him&s;elf upon his own incapacity, and being unfit for &s;o great an undertaking: But yet he makes at the &s;ame time &s;o vi&s;ible an Allu&s;ion to the Prophe&s;ie concerning the <HI>Shiloh</HI> (<HI>i.e.</HI> &s;ent) <HI>O my Lord,</HI> (&s;aid he, to God) <HI>&s;end, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt &s;end,</HI> that he could hardly expre&s;s and declare his mind about it more plainly.</P>
<P>But we &s;hall be the better convinced of his al|lu&s;ion to the &s;ending of the <HI>Shiloh;</HI> if we reflect upon <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s being of the Tribe of <HI>Levi,</HI> of which God had pronounced nothing concerning the fu|ture accompli&s;hment of the Promi&s;e, he could not be ignorant of his being him&s;elf Excluded of that Priviledge, and that after all, what glory &s;oever the Miraculous pre&s;ervation, and Illu&s;tri|ous beginnings of his Life, might &s;eem to pretend and promi&s;e to him, yet he could not expect to ri&s;e much higher than <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> had done before him, altho he would rea&s;&s;ume the former Po&s;t, to which his Adoption by <HI>Pharaoh</HI>'s Daughter had once rai&s;ed him.</P>
<PB N="188" REF="108">
<P>We &s;ee that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> continued always of the &s;ame mind, and entertained &s;till the &s;ame No|tion, and hopes of the Promi&s;e of the Me&s;&s;iah, even after God had revealed to him, that the time of his appearing into the World, was not yet come: This, I &s;ay, we &s;ee by his Speech to the people of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> related in the XVIII. Chap|ter of <HI>Deuteronomy, The Lord thy God</HI> (&s;aith he to them) <HI>will rai&s;e up unto thee a Prophet from the mid&s;t of thee, of thy Brethren, like unto me, un|to him ye &s;hall hearken;</HI> he does not &s;ay a Prie&s;t, or a King, though the Me&s;&s;iah was to be both; but he &s;aith, a Prophet to teach them not to mi|&s;take any of their Prie&s;ts or Kings for the Me&s;&s;iah, but to expect and regard le&s;s in his per&s;on, the external honour of <HI>Aaron</HI>'s Family, and the worldly Grandeur of Kings, than the privi|ledge of Divine In&s;piration, which was ab&s;olutely nece&s;&s;ary to him as the Founder of the True Reli|gion.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="11" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XI.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>That</HI> Balaam<HI>'s Prophe&s;ie, which</HI> Mo&s;es <HI>relates, is a further Argument of the &s;ame per&s;wa&s;ion in him.</HI></HEAD>
<P>AS we ought to &s;hew that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> had a very clear and di&s;tinct knowledge of this Pro|mi&s;e; &s;o I think it will not be ami&s;s to make here
<PB N="189" REF="108">a particular Reflexion upon what he relates <HI>Numb.</HI> XXIII.</P>
<P>The <HI>Moabites</HI> being de&s;cended from <HI>Lot</HI>'s elde&s;t Daughter, it is very natural to conceive, that <HI>Ba|lac</HI> their King was &s;o de&s;irous to have the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> cur&s;ed from God, and by one of his Prophets on|ly becau&s;e he de&s;ign'd thereby to &s;ecure him&s;elf of the Divine Ble&s;&s;ing; or which is the &s;ame thing, of the priviledge of the accompli&s;hment of the Promi&s;e, to which he thought he had a ju&s;t claim and preten&s;ion by his being one of <HI>Lot</HI>'s Po&s;terity.</P>
<P>And this Ob&s;ervation upon <HI>Balac</HI>'s preten&s;ion and action, is the more ju&s;t, and well grounded becau&s;e the Notion of the Cur&s;e which he intend|ed to have had pronounced again&s;t the <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI> is directly oppo&s;ite to the terms of the Promi&s;e which God made to <HI>Abraham, in thy Seed &s;hall all the Nations of the Earth be ble&s;&s;ed,</HI> which words, as I ob&s;erved before, do import a direct oppo&s;i|tion, to <HI>Lot</HI>'s preten&s;ion.</P>
<P>Now all this being &s;uppo&s;ed, one needs only con&s;ider the terms of the Prophe&s;ie &s;poken by <HI>Ba|laam</HI> in favour of <HI>Jacob,</HI> to &s;ee that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> hath re|lated it, only to &s;hew,</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, That altho tho&s;e Neighbouring Nations to <HI>Judea</HI> had degenerated, and corrupted them|&s;elves much by their Communication with <HI>Ham</HI>'s Po&s;terity, yet they pre&s;erved a &s;trong, though confu&s;ed Notion of their Ance&s;tors preten&s;i|ons, and acted according to that prejudice of theirs in all Matters and Occurrences of great moment.</P>
<P>Secondly, That it might be an Authentick De|termination of all the &s;everal Conte&s;ts and preten|&s;ions,
<PB N="190" REF="109">which had divided the Po&s;terity of <HI>Terah</HI> until that time.</P>
<P>It is like a Definitive Sentence; fir&s;t in favour of <HI>Abraham</HI> again&s;t the <HI>Moabites,</HI> and <HI>Ammonites,</HI> who were de&s;cended from <HI>Lot:</HI> Secondly, in fa|vour of <HI>I&s;aac,</HI> again&s;t the preten&s;ion of the <HI>I&s;mael|ites,</HI> de&s;cended from <HI>I&s;mael:</HI> Thirdly, In favour of <HI>Jacob,</HI> again&s;t the preten&s;ion of the <HI>Edomites,</HI> de&s;cended from <HI>E&s;au.</HI></P>
<P>For when he foretels, that there &s;hall come a Star out of <HI>Jacob;</HI> he decides the three forementi|oned Controver&s;ies. <HI>Jacob</HI> having been preferred to <HI>E&s;au, I&s;aac</HI> to <HI>I&s;mael,</HI> and <HI>Abraham</HI> to <HI>Lot.</HI> Now <HI>Jacob</HI> could not be preferr'd to the <HI>Moabites,</HI> but he mu&s;t be &s;o too to the <HI>Ammonites, I&s;maelites,</HI> and <HI>Edomites.</HI></P>
<P>This Prophe&s;ie, as any one may &s;ee, is ab&s;o|lutely nece&s;&s;ary, becau&s;e it re&s;olves all the Que&s;ti|ons and Controver&s;ies, which did excite &s;o many Jealou&s;ies among&s;t all tho&s;e Neighbouring Na|tions.</P>
<P>This Oracle of <HI>Balaam</HI> is yet the more remark|able, becau&s;e, that notwith&s;tanding it was pro|nounced at the entry into <HI>Canaan,</HI> the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ing and inhabiting of which Countrey was one of the chiefe&s;t Characters of the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> di&s;tinction from all other Nations, yet in it <HI>Balaam</HI> makes a very di&s;tinct mention of the future calling of the Gen|tiles to the Faith; he calls them the Children of <HI>Seth,</HI> to intimate that in the time of the Me&s;&s;iah, the re&s;triction made and ob&s;erved by God before that time, was then to cea&s;e, and that there &s;hould be no more di&s;tinction betwixt the <HI>Jews</HI> and Gentiles, who were all the Children of <HI>Noah,</HI> and
<PB N="191" REF="109">all equally de&s;cended from <HI>Seth</HI> by him, becau&s;e then all Nations were to be call'd to the Commu|nion of the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah.</HI></P>
<P>I know that &s;ome by the Children of <HI>Seth</HI> un|der&s;tand the Inhabitants of a certain Town in the Countrey of <HI>Moab,</HI> mentioned in the XV. of <HI>I&s;a|iah,</HI> according to the Septuagint.</P>
<P>But the <HI>Arabian</HI> Interpreter of the <HI>Samaritans,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Abu&s;aid. M.S.</HI> in the <HI>French</HI> King's Li|brary, Note 4. up|on Gen. IV. 26.</NOTE> brings very good Arguments to prove, that that place of Scripture is to be under&s;tood of the Me&s;|&s;iah, and &s;hews that he is call'd the head of the Children of <HI>Seth,</HI> becau&s;e <HI>Seth</HI> was the head, and common Father of all Men &s;ince the Flood, and at the &s;ame time of all the faithful before the Flood; and that tho&s;e words of <HI>Gene&s;is</HI> IV. 26. <HI>Then began Men to call upon the Name of the Lord,</HI> relate to <HI>Seth,</HI> and not to <HI>Enos,</HI> as it is commonly belie|ved.</P>
<P>Be&s;ides, this Prophe&s;ie by the&s;e words, <HI>I &s;hall &s;ee him, but not now. I &s;hall behold him, but not nigh,</HI> determines, that the Birth of the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah</HI> was not near, but was re&s;erved for a further time.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, It is a very &s;ingular thing, that this Oracle &s;hould be repre&s;ented to us, as coming out of the Mouth of a Prophet, who was cho&s;en by God out of the Family of <HI>Abraham;</HI> becau&s;e the Author of it decides the&s;e Important Que&s;tions and Differen|ces, without any vi&s;ible partiality, and without be|ing by a&s;&s;ed by the preten&s;ions of his Birth.</P>
<P>Now there are three things in it which clearly prove, that it could not be unknown to <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI></P>
<P>The Fir&s;t is, That immediately after this Pro|phe&s;ie, which was as publick and well known a|mong&s;t
<PB N="192" REF="110">the <HI>Moabites,</HI> as any Prophe&s;ie could be; after the tedious preparation, and the many diffi|culties which <HI>Balaam</HI> made to come to <HI>Balac:</HI> Af|ter the many Ceremonies and My&s;teries which he u&s;ed upon that occa&s;ion; and notwith&s;tanding the great and panick terror of the <HI>Moabites,</HI> at the approach of the <HI>I&s;raelites:</HI> Nay, and notwith&s;tand|ing the expre&s;s Threats, and Ominous Prophe&s;ies of <HI>Balaam</HI> again&s;t that people; notwith&s;tanding all this, I &s;ay, we &s;ee the Daughters of <HI>Moab</HI> imi|tating the carnal prudence of <HI>Lot</HI>'s Daughters, and courting the alliance of the <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI> as if they had had a mind to make them&s;elves amends that way, for the lo&s;s and wrong they had &s;uffer|ed by the Sentence which <HI>Balaam</HI> pronounced in favour of <HI>I&s;rael.</HI></P>
<P>We &s;ee, I &s;ay, that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> immediately after he had related the Prophecies of <HI>Balaam,</HI> tells us, that the Daughters of <HI>Moab</HI> invited the People of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> to the Sacrifices of their Gods, and that the Peo|ple of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> accepted of the invitation, and ac|cordingly fea&s;ted, and began then to defile them|&s;elves with the Daughters of <HI>Moab.</HI></P>
<P>Now, that &s;uch a thing &s;hould happen pre&s;ent|ly after <HI>Balaam</HI> had uttered his Prophe&s;ie, &s;hews evidently, that there was &s;ome Relation betwixt tho&s;e two Tran&s;actions. And this may be further made out, from the manner and nature of the pu|ni&s;hment which God inflicted upon the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> for their Criminal Commerce with the <HI>Moabites,</HI> although the pretence of it might be grounded up|on the de&s;ign which the Daughters of <HI>Moab</HI> had formed according to the Principles of their Edu|cation, to &s;hare in the accompli&s;hment of the
<PB N="193" REF="110">Promi&s;e, by their conceiving and getting Chil|dren by tho&s;e whom <HI>Balaam</HI>'s Prophe&s;ie had inve|&s;ted with the right and priviledge of accompli&s;h|ing that Promi&s;e.</P>
<P>The Second is, That accordingly about two hundred years after <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> we &s;ee that <HI>Ruth</HI> the <HI>Moabite&s;s</HI> left her own Country to &s;ettle and live at <HI>Bethlehem,</HI> and affected be&s;ides to marry there again, one of the Tribe of <HI>Judah;</HI> no doubt be|cau&s;e &s;he had got in her own Country a certain knowledge of that famous Oracle, which after|wards made her ea&s;ily yield to the Coun&s;els, and receive In&s;tructions both of her Mother in Law, and of her own Husband, who was of the Tribe of <HI>Judah,</HI> and no doubt, had the Books of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> wherein were in&s;erted, both the Prophe&s;ie of <HI>Ja|cob</HI> in favour of <HI>Judah,</HI> and that of <HI>Balaam,</HI> in fa|vour of the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> again&s;t the <HI>Moabites.</HI></P>
<P>The Third is, That the <HI>Jews</HI> have now for &s;e|veral Ages con&s;tantly maintained,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">I Kings II. 8.</NOTE> that <HI>Simei</HI>'s Cur&s;es again&s;t <HI>David,</HI> which afterwards he called <HI>Maledictionem pe&s;&s;imam,</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign"> contained an up|braiding Reflexion as well upon the meanne&s;s of his Birth, as being de&s;cended from a <HI>Moabite&s;s,</HI> as upon his Adultery, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> This is related by St. <HI>Je|rome,</HI> or &s;ome other ancient Author, who writ that Di&s;cour&s;e, <HI>de Traditionibus Hebraeorum,</HI> upon the &s;econd Chapter of the third Book of <HI>Kings.</HI> This <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Interpretation would be very pro<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters">|ble, if that was but true what <HI>Rabbi Salomon</HI> &s;aith upon the II. Chap. of the fir&s;t Book of <HI>Kings, v.</HI> 19. that when we read there, that <HI>Solomon</HI> cau&s;ed a Seat to be &s;et for the King's Mother, we ought to under&s;tand it of <HI>Ruth</HI> the <HI>Moabite&s;s,</HI> and not of
<PB N="192" REF="111">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="193" REF="111">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="194" REF="112"><HI>Bath&s;heba;</HI> we know the <HI>Jews</HI> a&s;cribe a much lon|ger Life to <HI>Zarah</HI> the Daughter of <HI>A&s;her,</HI> one of <HI>Jacob</HI>'s Sons, for they are &s;till of the &s;ame Opinion as they were in St. <HI>Hierome</HI>'s time, that &s;he was yet alive in <HI>David</HI>'s time.</P>
<P>No Body can condemn this Reflexion upon <HI>Ruth,</HI> if he will but con&s;ider, that her Faith ha|ving been &s;o rewarded, that the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah</HI> came our of her Po&s;terity; &s;he is particularly made mention of in his Genealogy; and that on the other hand her Hi&s;tory hath been pre&s;erved among&s;t the o|ther Books of the Old Te&s;tament, as a kind of pre&s;cription, not only again&s;t the <HI>Moabites</HI> preten|&s;ions, long before condemned by <HI>Balaam</HI>'s Prophe|&s;ie, but al&s;o again&s;t tho&s;e of the <HI>I&s;maelites,</HI> and <HI>Edomites</HI> who had no better claim to the Promi&s;e than the <HI>Moabites,</HI> having no other than that of a general Call, and of their Birthright before <HI>Ja|cob</HI>'s Po&s;terity.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="12" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XII.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"> <HI>That one may &s;ee al&s;o in</HI> Mo&s;es<HI>'s Law, plain Foot&s;teps of God's De&s;ign, in di&s;tingui&s;hing the&s;e from whom he would have the Me&s;&s;iah to be Born.</HI></HEAD>
<P>IT was altogether nece&s;&s;ary for the execution of my de&s;ign, to e&s;tabli&s;h well, the Authority of
<PB N="195" REF="112"><HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Books, upon which I intend to make &s;ome Reflexions: It was likewi&s;e nece&s;&s;ary to &s;hew, as I think I have done &s;ufficiently, that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> was perfectly acquainted with God's Promi&s;e concern|ing the Me&s;&s;iah. Therefore, I believe, I may now come to &s;hew, that both <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and tho&s;e that came after him, had all an Eye upon the Me&s;&s;iah in their chiefe&s;t Regulations.</P>
<P>But to give a greater in&s;ight, and under&s;tanding into the things that I am to &s;ay, I think it may not be ami&s;s, to remind the Reader, and to lay before him once more, the &s;everal Characters of God's Conduct in that matter, that he may be the bet|ter able to judge of the whole Series of his de|&s;ign.</P>
<P>I have heretofore &s;hew'd, that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s intention was to e&s;tabli&s;h two things in the Book of <HI>Ge|ne&s;is.</HI></P>
<P>The one, that all Men have derived their Ori|ginal from <HI>Adam,</HI> whom God Created.</P>
<P>The other, That Men having &s;inned, God promi&s;ed to rein&s;tate him by one of his own Po|&s;terity,</P>
<P>The Fir&s;t of the&s;e, was then &s;olidly proved by a plain matter of Fact, when I &s;hew'd, that &s;uch a Tradition as <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> relates about the Creation of the World, cannot rea&s;onably be doubted of.</P>
<P>As for what concerns the other, <HI>viz.</HI> The Pro|mi&s;e of the Me&s;&s;iah, which was the chiefe&s;t Ob|ject of Man's hope and comfort: I have al&s;o &s;hew'd, I think, that the Notion, and Expectati|on of it was very &s;trong and lively, and the ori|ginal cau&s;e of all the extraordinary Actions re|corded by <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI></P>
<PB N="196" REF="113">
<P>But as this promi&s;e was not to be fulfilled for many Ages; &s;o God made it only in very gene|ral terms, and had &s;till re&s;erved to him&s;elf the Revelation for after Ages, as he thought fit, both as to the manner and time of its accompli&s;hment. It is therefore ab&s;olutely nece&s;&s;ary that we &s;hould con&s;ider al&s;o how God pre&s;erved all along the di|&s;tinct knowledge of it among&s;t men.</P>
<P>Now in reading my Reflexions upon <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> one mu&s;t needs have ob&s;erved that God, even in tho&s;e early times of the World, did re&s;train the priviledge of accompli&s;hing that promi&s;e by little and little to &s;ome particular Men; till at la&s;t he openly declared, that he had &s;etled it in the Tribe of <HI>Judah;</HI> as we read it <HI>Gen.</HI> XLIX.</P>
<P>Thus we &s;ee, that God in the very beginning of the World re&s;trained that Prerogative to <HI>Seth</HI>'s Family, and excluded <HI>Cain</HI>'s from it; then after|wards of all <HI>Seth</HI>'s Family he re&s;trained it to <HI>Noah</HI> alone and his Family; then of <HI>Noah</HI>'s Family to <HI>Shem</HI> alone; then afterwards of all <HI>Shem</HI>'s Po&s;te|rity, to <HI>Abraham</HI> alone; then of <HI>Abraham</HI>'s Sons, to <HI>I&s;aac</HI> alone; and of <HI>I&s;aac</HI>'s, to <HI>Jacob</HI> alone; who&s;e Son <HI>Judah</HI> was alone inve&s;ted with that priviledge, and all his Brethren excluded.</P>
<P>It is moreover ob&s;ervable, that in tho&s;e &s;even forementioned Re&s;trictions which God made, he &s;eems to have affected, to prefer the younge&s;t to the elde&s;t; as it is evident in his choice, if not of <HI>Noah</HI> and <HI>Shem,</HI> who was elder than the other Sons; yet certainly in that of <HI>Seth,</HI> who was younger than <HI>Cain;</HI> of <HI>Abraham,</HI> who was the younge&s;t of <HI>Terah</HI>'s Sons; of <HI>I&s;aac</HI> who was youn|ger than <HI>I&s;mael;</HI> of <HI>Jacob</HI> who was younger than
<PB N="197" REF="113"><HI>E&s;au;</HI> and of <HI>Judah</HI> who was one of the younge&s;t of <HI>Leah</HI>'s Sons.</P>
<P>So likewi&s;e if the Reader would judge of God's de&s;ign, by the event alone, he might ju&s;tly con|clude, that God by this affected choice intended to rai&s;e continual Jealou&s;ies betwixt the Elde&s;t (who pretended that the priviledge of accompli&s;h|ing the promi&s;e, did belong to them becau&s;e of their Birthright) again&s;t their younge&s;t Brothers, whom they &s;aw pre&s;erred by God's immediate choice.</P>
<P>One may al&s;o further add, That God &s;eems to have &s;trengthen'd the&s;e Jealou&s;ies, by introducing &s;ometimes a &s;ort of Conformity among&s;t the pre|tenders to the execution of this promi&s;e: Thus, for in&s;tance, as <HI>Abraham</HI> had two Children, &s;o <HI>Lot</HI> had two; as <HI>Jacob</HI> had twelve Sons, &s;o <HI>E&s;au</HI> al&s;o had twelve; and &s;ometimes one may find, that tho&s;e particular per&s;ons who are preferred, are charged with very &s;evere Accu&s;ations.</P>
<P>Now after all the&s;e general Refiexions, it is natural for us to con&s;ider, what care God hath upon all occa&s;ions particularly taken, to di&s;tin|gui&s;h and protect, tho&s;e whom he had inve&s;ted with the right of accompli&s;hing the Promi&s;e, that their &s;tate and &s;ucce&s;&s;ion might never be uncer|tain.</P>
<P>'Twas this de&s;ign, no doubt, which obliged God to make <HI>Seth</HI> the Depo&s;itary of his Service and Wor&s;hip, that he might thereby &s;ave <HI>Noah</HI> from the Flood, and &s;o procure to <HI>Shem</HI> his Fa|ther's Ble&s;&s;ing.</P>
<P>'Twas for this Rea&s;on that he call'd <HI>Abraham</HI> out of his own Countrey, and made him Travel
<PB N="198" REF="114">from place to place to make him thereby famous in the World, and to invite Men by that means to inquire after his Profe&s;&s;ion, his Hopes, and his Religion.</P>
<P>Again, it was for this, that he obliged this Pa|triarch to the practice of Circumci&s;ion, which was a real di&s;tinction, and an indelible Character, and that he likewi&s;e confined him to a certain place, by fixing him in &s;ome &s;ort to the Cave of <HI>Machpela,</HI> which he had purcha&s;ed of the Chil|dren of <HI>Hamor.</HI></P>
<P>La&s;tly, It was for that rea&s;on, that God would have the Po&s;terity of <HI>Jacob</HI> di&s;tingui&s;hed from all other Nations of the World, and that he prohi|bited all alliance with them, as al&s;o all Imitations of the Cu&s;toms, and Religious Ceremonies pra|cti&s;ed among&s;t them.</P>
<P>Now all this being &s;uppo&s;ed, I &s;ay, that whe|ther we con&s;ider the end and principal de&s;ign of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Laws, or whether we examine his &s;everal Prophe&s;ies, which do particularly characterize the Me&s;&s;iah; we &s;hall find that God did all along continue in his fir&s;t de&s;ign of di&s;tinction; and con&s;equently of keeping up the Jealou&s;ies of tho&s;e that had any preten&s;ions to the priviledge of ac|compli&s;hing the Promi&s;e; or which is all one, that he hath pro&s;ecuted the &s;ame de&s;ign to Je&s;us Chri&s;t's time, in whom Chri&s;tians do maintain, that the fir&s;t Promi&s;e was accompli&s;hed, God ha|ving then, and not till then, both put an end to all tho&s;e Differences and Di&s;tinctions, which were only intended to make the Me&s;&s;iah the bet|ter known, and the more certainly di&s;cerned at his coming, and then to cea&s;e; ju&s;t as Scaffolds
<PB N="199" REF="114">are taken away as &s;oon as the Building is fini&s;hed: And having al&s;o on the other hand rectified the Principles from which flowed that Spirit of Jea|lou&s;ie, among&s;t tho&s;e who had the &s;ame preten|&s;ion.</P>
<P>We &s;ee, that accordingly God excluded all o|ther Nations from the right of accompli&s;hing this Promi&s;e.</P>
<P>We &s;ee, that even in the Family of <HI>Judah,</HI> who was him&s;elf the younge&s;t of the fir&s;t Set of <HI>Leah</HI>'s Children, he re&s;trained the execution of it to the younge&s;t Brothers.</P>
<P>We &s;ee, that he rai&s;ed occa&s;ions of Jealou&s;ies, even among&s;t the Tribes of <HI>I&s;rael.</HI></P>
<P>In a word, we &s;ee, that of all tho&s;e means which can di&s;tingui&s;h any one people from all o|ther Nations of the World, or one Tribe from twelve, one Family from all other Families of the &s;ame Tribe; and one particular per&s;on, from all the re&s;t of his Family, none were omitted, but (on the contrary) all made u&s;e of by God, to fol|low this his fir&s;t de&s;ign.</P>
<P>This I intend firmly to e&s;tabli&s;h, by examining the thing gradually from <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s time, (by who&s;e Mini&s;try God enacted, and publi&s;hed tho&s;e Laws, by the means whereof, he intended the Me&s;&s;iah might certainly be known) to the coming of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, in whom we believe, that the Promi&s;e was accompli&s;hed.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="13" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="200" REF="115">
<HEAD>CHAP. XIII.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"> <HI>That the manner of God's Promulgating his Law among&s;t the</HI> I&s;raelites, <HI>did much conduce to the di&s;tingui&s;hing them from all other Na|tions.</HI></HEAD>
<P>I Do not barely de&s;ign here at fir&s;t to ob&s;erve the &s;everal Re&s;emblances, which are ob&s;erva|ble betwixt the things related by <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> in <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> and tho&s;e which one finds in the following Books.</P>
<P>Neither will I meerly e&s;tabli&s;h here that, as <HI>Ja|cob</HI>'s going down into <HI>Egypt</HI> with all his Children, and the protection that they all received there, from <HI>Jo&s;eph,</HI> did &s;erve to fulfil the Prediction which God made of that Event by <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI>'s Dreams; &s;o we may &s;ay in general, that the &s;ending of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> his Miracles, and his whole Mini&s;try to the time of his Death, when he entru&s;ted <HI>Jo&s;huah</HI> with the Conduct of the <HI>Jews,</HI> were a litteral ac|compli&s;hment of the fir&s;t part of the Promi&s;e, which God had formerly made to <HI>Abraham,</HI> to de|liver the fourth Generation of his Po&s;terity out of the Captivity, which it was to fall into, and then to bring it into the Land of <HI>Canaan</HI> to po&s;|&s;e&s;s it.</P>
<P><HI>Mo&s;es</HI> indeed repre&s;ents that people according to the Tenour of the Prophe&s;ie, as groaning un|der the hard pre&s;&s;ure of a cruel Captivity in <HI>Egypt,</HI>
<PB N="201" REF="115">when <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> and his eminent Services were both forgotten.</P>
<P>Afterwards he tells us, how they were miracu|lou&s;ly delivered out of that Captivity.</P>
<P>And then La&s;tly he informs us, that after he had carried them through many difficulties in the Wilderne&s;s he brought them at la&s;t to the very Borders of <HI>Canaan,</HI> and &s;o left them ready to con|quer and po&s;&s;e&s;s it, according to God's Promi&s;es, and their preten&s;ions grounded upon tho&s;e promi|&s;es which had been &s;o often repeated to them ever &s;ince <HI>Abraham</HI>'s time.</P>
<P><HI>Jo&s;hua, Mo&s;es</HI> Succe&s;&s;our, and in all likelihood, the Author of the De&s;cription of his Death, is he that accompli&s;hed the other part of God's promi&s;e to <HI>Abraham,</HI> by introducing the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> into <HI>Ca|naan,</HI> and actually po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ing them of it: So there is nothing can be imagined more preci&s;e in this whole matter.</P>
<P>But it is not all this only that renders both the per&s;on and Mini&s;try of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> &s;o glorious: There are &s;everal other things in <HI>Exodus,</HI> and his other following Books, which do much better de&s;erve our Con&s;ideration.</P>
<P>Tho&s;e Books contain, as I have already ob&s;er|ved an exact Hi&s;tory, of all that God did in or|der to give a certain form to the Common-wealth of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> a fixed place, and a particular Service, that is in order to follow his great de&s;ign of ha|ving the Me&s;&s;iah known without mi&s;take, when|ever he &s;hould be Born among&s;t the <HI>Jews;</HI> and this is my chiefe&s;t aim in the Reflexions upon <HI>Exo|dus</HI> and the other Books of <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI></P>
<P>Fir&s;t, we might &s;ay in general, That the ob&s;er|vance
<PB N="202" REF="116">of the Sabbath, and the u&s;e of Circumci&s;i|on, did di&s;tingui&s;h the <HI>Jews;</HI> but yet, I have &s;hew'd, that the Sabbath was a Law common to all Nations in the World, and that Circumci&s;ion on the other hand was common both to the <HI>I&s;mae|lites</HI> and <HI>Edomites:</HI> And this will oblige us to make &s;ome particular Ob&s;ervations upon that matter; and we mu&s;t con&s;ider how God took care to di|&s;tingui&s;h that people, by giving them his Law.</P>
<P>It is in general evident, that the care which God took to give the Moral Law to that whole people, did eminently di&s;tingui&s;h them from all other Nations, whom he permitted to walk in their own ways, as St. <HI>Paul</HI> expre&s;&s;es it; to be &s;ure it &s;hews them that he re&s;olved to fix them to him&s;elf, and to hinder them from following, both the Ido|latries of other Nations, and tho&s;e Inundations of Vice, which ruine all Societies.</P>
<P>And without doubt, the &s;urprizing pomp which accompanied the promulgation of God's Law, and which was recorded by his order, before tho&s;e that had been the Eye-witne&s;&s;es of it, did much contribute to per&s;wade them that God had a particular regard and kindne&s;s for their Nation, and that he honoured them with his particular Guidance.</P>
<P>We may make the &s;ame Ob&s;ervation upon God's giving them a Political Law, and upon the care that he was al&s;o plea&s;ed to take of regulating their Civil Government, and preventing the dif|ficulties which are commonly occa&s;ioned by &s;uch Accidents as cannot be fore&s;een by any Human Legi&s;lators, which cau&s;e great Revolutions and Changes in all Governments, all which &s;hew &s;uffi|ciently,
<PB N="203" REF="116">that his de&s;ign was to rai&s;e them up to, and to maintain them in as great pro&s;perity and welfare, as po&s;&s;ibly could be procured to a Nati|on by perfect Laws, and a well Con&s;tituted Go|vernment; even the many Ceremonies which God gave them, are a further Demon&s;tration of God's de&s;ign to di&s;tingui&s;h them from other Nations.</P>
<P>It &s;eems not to have been God's intention at fir&s;t to lay upon them &s;uch numbers of Ceremonies: For it was only after the Commi&s;&s;ion of the &s;in of the Golden Calf, that God laid upon them that heavy and trouble&s;ome yoak, on purpo&s;e to imploy all their time, and &s;o keep them from fal|ling into Idolatry again. But however <HI>Tanchuma,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Jalkut.</HI> in <HI>Pent.</HI> fol. 228. Col. 3.</NOTE> a famous <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Author ob&s;erves, that there was nothing left in the World, but what God took care to give the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> &s;ome Laws about; as for In&s;tance, If any <HI>Jew</HI> went out to Plow, he was forbidden to do it with an Ox and an A&s;s: If to Sow, he was forbidden to Sow his Field with &s;everal kinds of Seed: If to Reap, he was forbidden to Reap the whole Crop: If any one went about to Bake Bread, he was commanded to take of out his Dough, &s;o much as to make a Cake thereof to Con&s;ecrate it: If any one did Sacrifice any Animal, he was charged to give away to the Prie&s;t, the right Shoulder of it, with both the Cheeks and Inwards: When any one found out a Ne&s;t of Birds, he was obliged to let the Old one fly away: If any one went a Hunting, he was to &s;hed the Blood of his Game, and then to cover it with Du&s;t: When any one had planted any Fruit-Trees, he was to count the fir&s;t thereof as Uncir|cumci&s;ed for the three fir&s;t years: When any one
<PB N="204" REF="117">found a Sepulchre, even there certain Cautions are pre&s;cribed: If any one Shaved him&s;elf, he was forbidden to <HI>Mar the corners of his Beard:</HI> When any one built a Hou&s;e, he was to take care there &s;hould be Rails, and <HI>Mezouzoth</HI> made to pre|vent all danger: They were obliged to put par|ticular Threads in their Garments, and there are many other things, which were apparently commanded to di&s;tingui&s;h the <HI>Jews,</HI> by obliging them to the practice of the&s;e and &s;uch other Laws as took up all their time. But if we may &s;ay in general, that the whole &s;cope of the Ceremonial Law was to employ the <HI>Jews:</HI> We may yet more ju&s;tly &s;ay, that it was in particular intended by God to in&s;pire into his people a horrour again&s;t all Idolatrous practi&s;es, and an Aver&s;ion again&s;t all Commerce with Idolaters: And this may be fur|ther di&s;cerned, if we examine tho&s;e Laws in parti|cular.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's this perfectly by the manner of God's pronouncing &s;ome Meats unclean, and his forbid|ding to eat the fle&s;h of &s;ome Animals. For we may find, that the greate&s;t part of the&s;e Animals were Wor&s;hipped among&s;t the Heathens. Thus the more Learned among&s;t the <HI>Jews</HI> prove, that the Goat and the Ram were of that number, but &s;o no doubt were all the Animals which were u&s;u|ally offered in Sacrifice to God, as particularly the Bull: Now there is nothing which alienates two Nations from one another more, than when one of them Eats, or Sacrifices, that which the other makes the Object of its Religion.</P>
<P>One of the mo&s;t Learned Authors that ever the <HI>Jews</HI> had, hath diligently ob&s;erved, that
<PB N="205" REF="117">God gave many Ceremonial Laws directly con|trary to tho&s;e Rites which the <HI>Zabij</HI> u&s;ed in their Super&s;titions,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Spencer</HI> de Leg. <HI>Mo&s;.</HI> Lib. 2.</NOTE> and a learned <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Doctor hath lately proved it very largely; as to the Ceremo|nies which God commanded to be u&s;ed in the Sa|crifice of the Pa&s;chal-Lamb, and in the manner of their building of the Altar, and of their going up to it, in the prohibition of &s;eething a Kid in his Mothers Milk, and of offering Honey in their Sa|crifices, in the prohibition of their forcing their Children to pa&s;s through the Fire to <HI>Moloch,</HI> in the Law which prohibited their eating Blood, and rounding the Corners of their Heads; and ma|king any Marks in their Fle&s;h, and in I do not know how many other Laws of that Nature, the de&s;ign of who&s;e in&s;titution is not &s;o evident now &s;ince the Rites of all tho&s;e Ancient Idolaters are utterly aboli&s;hed, and but imperfectly recorded in &s;ome Ancient Authors.</P>
<P>Thus we &s;ee, that we need only make a very little Reflexion upon God's Conduct, in giving all his Laws to the <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI> thereby to judge, that the main &s;cope of tho&s;e Laws, was to put a bar be|twixt the people of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> and all other Idolatrous Nations, which &s;hould be a vi&s;ible, and a con&s;tant di&s;tinction, till the Me&s;&s;iah &s;hould be born, who was to make all tho&s;e Marks of Di&s;crimination to cea&s;e entirely.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="14" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="206" REF="118">
<HEAD>CHAP. XIV.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"> <HI>That God &s;eems to have de&s;igned to keep up a Spirit of Jealou&s;ie in the very Bo&s;om of the</HI> Jewi&s;h <HI>Nation.</HI></HEAD>
<P>WE have &s;een in general, that God by gi|ving his Law to the <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI> intended to di&s;criminate them from all other Nations of the World, and in particular from tho&s;e Nations which had &s;hewed them&s;elves to be jealous of that di&s;tinction; I mean from the <HI>Moabites,</HI> the <HI>Ammo|nites,</HI> the <HI>I&s;maelites,</HI> and the <HI>Edomites,</HI> as I &s;hall hereafter &s;hew. I have likewi&s;e ob&s;erved, that God by his Conduct, and his Oracles, did al&s;o excite a Spirit of Jealou&s;ie among&s;t the &s;everal pretenders to the Promi&s;e. I come now to &s;hew that God hath follow'd the &s;ame de&s;ign in his Law, and that he hath made u&s;e of that Jealou&s;ie as of another means, to make that People, which he had &s;eparated from all other Nations, keep up always among&s;t them&s;elves a lively Notion, and Expectation of the Me&s;&s;iah.</P>
<P>Perhaps the Reader may think, that the&s;e Re|flections may interrupt the Series of the Ob&s;er|vations I have undertaken to make upon <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Law: But be&s;ides that I &s;hall re&s;ume them pre|&s;ently, &s;o one may ea&s;ily di&s;cern, that the&s;e two Remarks concerning the Spirit of Di&s;tinction, and the Spirit of Jealou&s;ie, kept up in the Bo&s;om of this
<PB N="207" REF="118">people, ought to be well con&s;idered by tho&s;e that de&s;ire to know the Genius of God's Laws, and the original Cau&s;es of all the Tran&s;actions related by <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and by the other &s;acred Authors, who a|cted in pur&s;uance of that De&s;ign which appears in tho&s;e Laws which <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> gave to the People of <HI>I&s;rael.</HI></P>
<P>I begin with two general Reflexions, which, I think are very u&s;eful in the explication of God's Conduct upon this Occa&s;ion.</P>
<P>Two things, as I have already ob&s;erved, have conduced to keep up that Jealou&s;ie, whereof <HI>Mo|&s;es</HI> has given &s;o many in&s;tances in the Book of <HI>Ge|ne&s;is.</HI></P>
<P>The fir&s;t is, The Preference which God hath commonly given to the younger Brothers before the elder.</P>
<P>The &s;econd is, The choice which God hath made of &s;uch particular per&s;ons as appeared ab&s;o|lutely unworthy of God's choice.</P>
<P>So that here one &s;ee's a continual Series in the Jewi&s;h Hi&s;tory written by <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and by the Prophets, who made the &s;ame Ob&s;ervations upon that <HI>Model</HI> which <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> had given them.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t of all, The Tribe of <HI>Judah</HI> is preferred before all the other Tribes of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> and particu|larly before the Tribe of <HI>Reuben,</HI> which after|wards occa&s;ioned the In&s;urrection of &s;ome <HI>Reu|benites</HI> in their Sedition again&s;t <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> wherein <HI>Co|rah, Dathan,</HI> and <HI>Abiram</HI> peri&s;hed: Ju&s;t as God's preferring <HI>Abel</HI> offended <HI>Cain,</HI> and as <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI>'s Bre|thren con&s;pired together to put him to death, be|cau&s;e of his Dreams, which foretold his greatne&s;s and their fall.</P>
<PB N="208" REF="119">
<P>Secondly, One &s;ee's that <HI>Phares, Judah</HI>'s young|e&s;t Son, is preferred not only before all the other Children of <HI>Judah,</HI> but even before <HI>Zerah</HI> the elde&s;t of the Twins which <HI>Judah</HI> had by <HI>Thamar;</HI> ju&s;t as <HI>Jacob</HI> was preferred before his Brother <HI>E|&s;au,</HI> tho' they were Twins, and <HI>E&s;au</HI> born the fir&s;t of the two.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's afterwards, That God having cho&s;en <HI>Je&s;&s;e</HI> of all the Po&s;terity of <HI>Phares, David</HI> the younge&s;t of all his Sons, was preferred before his Brethren, when God was plea&s;ed to tran&s;late the Kingdom to the Tribe of <HI>Judah,</HI> and to the Fa|mily of <HI>Je&s;&s;e.</HI> Ju&s;t as we &s;aw before, that, in the Election of the fir&s;t King, whom the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> de&s;i|red to be &s;et over them, that he was cho&s;en by Lot by an extraordinary effect of Providence out of the Tribe of <HI>Benjamin,</HI> tho' the younge&s;t of all <HI>Jacob</HI>'s Children.</P>
<P>Thus one &s;ee's that <HI>Solomon</HI> the younge&s;t of <HI>Da|vid</HI>'s Children, was preferred before his Brothers, and that the &s;ame <HI>Solomon</HI> built the Temple of God in the Tribe of <HI>Benjamin,</HI> tho' he him&s;elf was of the Tribe of <HI>Judah.</HI></P>
<P>We &s;hall afterwards &s;ee, That the Me&s;&s;iah was de&s;cended from <HI>David</HI> by <HI>Nathan,</HI> Son to one of <HI>David</HI>'s younger Children, and by <HI>Re&s;ah Zoroba|bel</HI>'s younge&s;t Son, from whom the Ble&s;&s;ed Virgin drew her Original.</P>
<P>The &s;econd Remark is about the care God hath taken by his choice of &s;ome particular per&s;ons to accompli&s;h the promi&s;e, to furni&s;h tho&s;e with pretences and objections, who might be intere&s;&s;ed, to oppo&s;e the Re&s;trictions which God had made in favour of their equals; for as they &s;erved to
<PB N="209" REF="119">keep up a Jealou&s;ie among&s;t all the pretenders to the Promi&s;e, &s;o they al&s;o &s;erved to pre&s;erve a di|&s;tinct knowledge of it, and to make them inquire more diligently after it.</P>
<P>In &s;hort, as we &s;ee that the <HI>I&s;maelites</HI> might up|braid <HI>Sarah</HI> both with her frequent Rapes, and with her Cruelty to <HI>Agar</HI> and <HI>I&s;mael:</HI> As the <HI>Edo|mites</HI> might upbraid <HI>Jacob</HI>'s Po&s;terity with <HI>Rebec|ca</HI>'s &s;upplanting their Father <HI>E&s;au,</HI> and cheating him of his Ble&s;&s;ing; &s;o likewi&s;e we may ob&s;erve, that God not only cho&s;e <HI>Thamar</HI> to have the Me&s;|&s;iah de&s;cend from her; but al&s;o would have her Ince&s;t with her Father in-Law recorded. What might all the other Tribes of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> &s;ay, were there then no hone&s;t Women in <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> that the Me&s;&s;iah's Ance&s;tors mu&s;t de&s;cend from tho&s;e that were born of an Ince&s;tuous Commerce? What probability is there, that God &s;hould choo&s;e the Tribe of <HI>Judah?</HI> Had not all the other Children of <HI>Judah</HI> a fairer preten&s;ion to this priviledge, than <HI>Phares</HI> could have? And might not their Po&s;terity re|vive again&s;t the Po&s;terity of <HI>Phares,</HI> that &s;evere Law again&s;t Ba&s;tard Children which we read of <HI>Deut.</HI> XXIII.</P>
<P>God cho&s;e in the like manner <HI>Ruth</HI> the <HI>Moabite&s;s,</HI> and had her Hi&s;tory written, and his choice re|corded, as if he had intended to prepare an excu&s;e for tho&s;e of the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> who afterwards would re|fu&s;e to &s;ubmit to <HI>David.</HI> What probability is there might they &s;ay, that God would have the Me&s;|&s;iah to be born of a <HI>Moabite&s;s,</HI> &s;eeing it was by his order, that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> cau&s;ed all tho&s;e <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> to be put to death, who after the pronunciation of <HI>Ba|laam</HI>'s Prophe&s;ie, held any commerce with the
<PB N="210" REF="120">Daughters of <HI>Moab?</HI> Was there any likelihood that &s;uch a thing could be po&s;&s;ible, e&s;pecially &s;ee|ing there was a Law which God would have to be in&s;erted in <HI>Deuteronomy,</HI> which excludeth the <HI>Mo|abites</HI> from the po&s;&s;ibility of ever being admitted in|to the people of God. But at lea&s;t, was not this choice of <HI>Ruth</HI> the <HI>Moabite&s;s,</HI> a fair cau&s;e of Jea|lou&s;ie to all the other Families of <HI>Judah?</HI></P>
<P>God cau&s;ed the Adultery of <HI>Bath&s;heba,</HI> the Mo|ther of <HI>Solomon,</HI> to be carefully recorded, as it were on purpo&s;e to excu&s;e the Rebellion of tho&s;e who afterwards &s;ided with <HI>Jeroboam,</HI> again&s;t <HI>Re|hoboam</HI> and his Authority.</P>
<P>Is it probable, (might the&s;e Rebels &s;ay) that God would have cho&s;en that Bloody Cruel Man <HI>David,</HI> that Adulterer, that he and <HI>Bath&s;hebah</HI> &s;hould beget the Me&s;&s;iah together?</P>
<P>Had <HI>Je&s;&s;e</HI> no other Children be&s;ides <HI>David?</HI> And if <HI>David</HI> mu&s;t needs have been the Man, why &s;hould <HI>Solomon</HI> born of <HI>Bath&s;hebah</HI> be preferred before all his Brothers?</P>
<P>There are three things con&s;iderable in this Matter.</P>
<P>The Fir&s;t is, That God having given to <HI>Jo|&s;huah,</HI> the conduct of the <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI> after he had formerly rai&s;ed <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> &s;o much above his Brethren by his advancement in <HI>Egypt,</HI> and given to his Tribe two portions of the Land of <HI>Canaan;</HI> he permitted, that <HI>Jeroboam</HI> &s;hould ri&s;e up again&s;t <HI>Rehoboam, Solomon</HI>'s Son, and not only &s;o, but &s;hould likewi&s;e, according to the Prophe&s;ie rela|ted, <HI>Gen.</HI> XXVIII. 17. build a Temple at <HI>Bethel,</HI> as being jealous again&s;t <HI>Solomon,</HI> who built one upon Mount <HI>Moriah,</HI> according to the Prophe|&s;ie
<PB N="211" REF="120">we find in <HI>Gene&s;is</HI> XXII. 14.</P>
<P>The Second is, That this &s;eparation, gave a fair pretence to rai&s;e the Reputation of the Pro|phe&s;ies which <HI>Jacob</HI> uttered upon his Death-Bed in favour of <HI>Jo&s;eph;</HI> which Prophe&s;ies ran in terms &s;o very high, that they not only gave colour to <HI>Jeroboam</HI>'s preten&s;ions to the Kingdom, but did al&s;o lead the Ten Tribes into an expectation, that the Me&s;&s;iah &s;hould be born, not in the Tribe of <HI>Judah,</HI> as <HI>Jacob</HI> had expre&s;ly foretold <HI>Gene&s;is</HI> XLIX. but in the Tribe of <HI>Ephraim,</HI> according to the con&s;tant Cu&s;tom of God's preferring the younger Sons of a Family before the Elder, in the matter of this Promi&s;e.</P>
<P>The Third is, That even the greate&s;t part of the two Loyal Tribes received at la&s;t the inter|pretation which the other ten made of that Pro|phe&s;ie. At lea&s;t, it appears, that many of the <HI>Jews</HI> have endeavoured to prove, that the Me&s;&s;iah &s;hould come from the Tribe of <HI>Ephraim,</HI> by interpreting &s;everal Prophe&s;ies that way, which according to their account and their prejudices, were expre&s;&s;ed in &s;uch terms, as could not be under&s;tood of him, that was to be born in the Tribe of <HI>Judah,</HI> and out of the Royal Family of <HI>David.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="15" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="212" REF="121">
<HEAD>CHAP. XV.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"> <HI>That Circumci&s;ion was a means of di&s;tingui&s;hing the</HI> I&s;raelites <HI>from other Nations.</HI></HEAD>
<P>BUt I mu&s;t now re&s;ume my Ob&s;ervations up|on <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Laws. Circumci&s;ion was, without que&s;tion, one of the fir&s;t, and mo&s;t &s;en&s;ible means whereby God did di&s;tingui&s;h <HI>Jacob</HI>'s Po|&s;terity from all other people. I will therefore be|gin with it,</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, The very &s;ignification of the Word Cir|cumci&s;ion, implies a real, and corporeal di&s;tincti|on:
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hi&s;t. l. I.</NOTE> Even <HI>Tacitus</HI> under&s;tood it &s;o when he &s;aith, <HI>Circumcidere genitalia in&s;titu&ecirc;re Judaei ut diver&s;itate no&s;cantur.</HI> But be&s;ides, by it God's Covenant was, as it were, Printed, and Ingraved in the very Fle&s;h of all <HI>Abraham</HI>'s Po&s;terity.</P>
<P>God has explained it thus him&s;elf in &s;everal pla|ces; and one may affirm, that this was very agree|able to God's de&s;ign, which was, as we have in|timated before, to hinder that people, from which the Me&s;&s;iah was to be born, from ming|ling with the other Nations of the World, which would have made the Pedigree of the Me&s;&s;iah &s;u|&s;pected, or at lea&s;t much more difficult to be traced.</P>
<P>I will not relate here, the &s;everal Notions of Divines about the u&s;e of that Ceremony, but only content my &s;elf to make two very natural Reflexi|ons upon it.</P>
<PB N="213" REF="121">
<P>The Fir&s;t of which is, That it was particularly in re&s;pect of the Me&s;&s;iah, that God would have that Mark made upon that part of Man's Body which is in&s;ervient to Generation. As the Me&s;|&s;iah was to come into the World by Generation, according to the words of the fir&s;t Prophe&s;ie con|cerning him, and al&s;o according to the further Re|velations of God to <HI>Abraham,</HI> about that promi&s;e, &s;o God could do nothing more agreeable to the Idea the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> had of the Me&s;&s;iah, and of his Birth, than to di&s;tingui&s;h them, by a Relation to that Ble&s;&s;ed Seed, which he promi&s;ed them; as God de&s;igned, without all que&s;tion, by that means to oblige the <HI>Jews</HI> to remember the fir&s;t pro|mi&s;e made to Mankind; &s;o no doubt, he intend|ed by it to fix their minds upon the con&s;ideration of that favour he had &s;hew'd to them, as well as to <HI>Abraham,</HI> to di&s;tingui&s;h them from all the peo|ple of the Earth, that the Deliverer of the World might be born in their Common-wealth, and from one of their Po&s;terity.</P>
<P>The Second Reflexion is, That it was the &s;ame pro&s;pect of the Me&s;&s;iah, which made God con|demn tho&s;e to death, who &s;hould either remain Uncircumci&s;ed them&s;elves, or leave their Chil|dren &s;o.</P>
<P>Is it not a very &s;urprizing thing, that &s;o much rigour and &s;everity &s;hould be u&s;ed in exacting the Ob&s;ervation of a Ceremony, which was merely indifferent in its nature, and had no Moral good|ne&s;s in it &s;elf? But hereby it appears the more e|vidently, that God de&s;ign'd, that the u&s;e of Cir|cumci&s;ion, by which he di&s;tingui&s;hed <HI>Abraham</HI>'s Po&s;terity from all other Nations of the World,
<PB N="214" REF="122">&s;hould be a kind of immoveable Bar, to hinder the <HI>Jews</HI> from mingling with all Strangers.</P>
<P>Indeed there are three things which may be ob|jected again&s;t the&s;e Reflexions.</P>
<P>The Fir&s;t is, That it does not appear, that this Ceremony was counted &s;uch a proper &s;ign of di|&s;tinction, &s;eeing the u&s;e of it hath been &s;ometimes intermitted: As for in&s;tance, when the whole Nation of the <HI>Jews</HI> left it off for forty years in the Wilderne&s;s.</P>
<P>The Second is, That if the chiefe&s;t end of Cir|cumci&s;ion was to di&s;tingui&s;h that people, with de|&s;ign to make the Me&s;&s;iah known: There was no need that that yoak &s;hould be laid upon all the <HI>Jews,</HI> but only upon the Family from which he was to de&s;cend, or at the mo&s;t upon the Tribe wherein that Family was comprized.</P>
<P>The Third is, That Circumci&s;ion was common both to <HI>E&s;au</HI>'s and <HI>Jacob</HI>'s Po&s;terity; and even u|&s;ed among&s;t the <HI>Egyptians,</HI> and the Inhabitants of <HI>Colchis,</HI> as we may learn from <HI>Herodotus,</HI> and &s;ome other Heathen Authors.</P>
<P>But after all, it is an ea&s;ie thing to &s;atisfie a Man's mind in all the&s;e appearing difficulties. I confe&s;s, that one is &s;urprized to &s;ee that God &s;hould not oblige the <HI>Jews</HI> to be Circumci&s;ed in the Wilderne&s;s, for which &s;everal Rea&s;ons are given.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, That God being di&s;plea&s;ed with that Ge|neration, would not allow, that they &s;hould be honoured with this Token of his Covenant; others &s;ay, that their journying in the Wilderne&s;s gave them a Di&s;pen&s;ation from the ob&s;ervance of that Ceremony. But we may give a better, I think, and more natural account of that matter, if we
<PB N="215" REF="122">do but follow the Idea which occa&s;ioned my &s;e|cond Reflexion.</P>
<P>The going forth of &s;ome <HI>Egyptians</HI> with the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> out of <HI>Egypt,</HI> was a Type of the calling of the Gentiles, as I will &s;hew &s;omewhere el&s;e: It was then nece&s;&s;ary, that as all Ceremonies, and Circumci&s;ion in particular, were then to be abo|li&s;hed, to take away all di&s;tinction from among <HI>Seth</HI>'s Po&s;terity, &s;o the u&s;e of Circumci&s;ion &s;hould at that time be &s;u&s;pended.</P>
<P>However, God would not have the Su&s;pen&s;ion of that Ceremony, to continue till they were en|tered into the Land of <HI>Canaan.</HI></P>
<P>Fir&s;t, To prevent the intruding of &s;ome <HI>Ca|naanites</HI> into the Body of the <HI>Hebrews.</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, To the end that the&s;e <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> who were to enter into <HI>Canaan,</HI> being as well Uncircum|ci&s;ed as the <HI>Egyptians</HI> Children, and being all made afterwards equal by Circumci&s;ion, &s;hould have no occa&s;ion to upbraid them with their <HI>different original.</HI></P>
<P>The Second Objection may as ea&s;ily be an&s;wer|ed: One might think at fir&s;t, that indeed the Me&s;&s;iah had been more ea&s;ily known at his co|ming, if the u&s;e of Circumci&s;ion had been injoyn|ed only to the Family, or at mo&s;t, to the Tribe from which he was to de&s;cend: But be&s;ides that, it had expo&s;ed that Family, or that Tribe to great Per&s;ecutions, it had certainly much dimini&s;hed that Spirit of Jealou&s;ie which was kept up by the Conformity of the &s;everal pretenders, which on the other hand was of mighty u&s;e to pre&s;erve a di|&s;tinct Idea of the Me&s;&s;iah, and a de&s;ire of his coming.</P>
<P>As for the Third Objection, there is no diffi|culty in it: 'Tis true, &s;ome <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Interpreters
<PB N="216" REF="123">imagine, that <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> took occa&s;ion to pre&s;cribe the u&s;e of Circumci&s;ion to the <HI>Egyptians,</HI> after <HI>Pharaoh</HI> had commanded his people to do what &s;o|ever <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> &s;hould bid them to do: But that Con|jecture is groundle&s;s: For it appears, that the <HI>E|gyptians</HI> who went out of <HI>Egypt</HI> with <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> were not Circumci&s;ed. 'Tis true, that Nation did &s;ome Ages after <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> take up the Ceremony of Circumci&s;ion; and it is very likely, that it was &s;ome <HI>Egyptian</HI> Colony which introduced the u&s;e of it into <HI>Colchis:</HI> But the ob&s;ervance of that &s;ole Ce|remony among&s;t tho&s;e Nations could cau&s;e no confu&s;ion, becau&s;e none of them pretended to de|rive their Original from <HI>Abraham,</HI> but had as Hi&s;torians ob&s;erve, quite different Rea&s;ons from tho&s;e which the <HI>Jews</HI> had for their practice of Circumci&s;ion.</P>
<P>As for the <HI>I&s;maelites</HI> and <HI>Edomites,</HI> the greate&s;t part of the <HI>Jews</HI> are of opinion, that God did di&s;criminate their Circumci&s;ion from the Circumci|&s;ion which was practi&s;ed by tho&s;e Nations, by his In&s;titution of what they call the <HI>Perigna</HI> after the Circumci&s;ion; which they endeavour to prove by a pa&s;&s;age in <HI>Jo&s;hua,</HI> wherein it is &s;aid, that God ordered <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> to Circumci&s;e again the Children of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> the &s;econd time. But others of them laugh at that Critici&s;m, becau&s;e it appears that tho&s;e words do relate to the &s;econd &s;olemn Circumci&s;i|on which that People did ob&s;erve after their deli|verance out of <HI>Egypt:</HI> Therefore, without running to this an&s;wer, one needs only follow the Idea we have already made u&s;e of, which is drawn from God's de&s;ign of keeping up a Spirit of Jealou&s;ie, by &s;ome Conformity betwixt the Circumci&s;ion
<PB N="217" REF="123">practi&s;ed by the <HI>Jews,</HI> and the Ceremonies u&s;ed among&s;t tho&s;e Rival Nations.</P>
<P>Why then were &s;ome of the Neighbouring Na|tions of <HI>Canaan,</HI> de&s;cended from <HI>Abraham</HI> Cir|cumci&s;ed? As for Example, the <HI>I&s;maelites</HI> in <HI>A|rabia,</HI> who were Circumci&s;ed at thirteen years of age; the Po&s;terity of <HI>Abraham</HI> by <HI>Keturah, viz.</HI> the <HI>Midianites</HI> who were in the Countrey of <HI>Moab,</HI> and the <HI>Edomites</HI> de&s;cended from <HI>E&s;au,</HI> who did all practi&s;e Circumci&s;ion?</P>
<P>Certainly, It is evident, that as God &s;et the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> in the mid&s;t of all tho&s;e Nations, who by virtue of their Ance&s;tors Birthright, or &s;ome other preten&s;ions, put in their claim with the <HI>Jews</HI> to the execution of the Promi&s;e, on purpo&s;e to excite the attention of this people who were &s;urrounded with the&s;e Rivals. So he did for the &s;ame rea&s;on permit, that the <HI>I&s;maelites,</HI> the <HI>Midianites,</HI> and <HI>Edomites</HI> &s;hould practi&s;e the Ceremony of Circum|ci&s;ion, almo&s;t in the &s;ame manner that the <HI>I&s;rael|ites</HI> did.</P>
<P>But that we may the better apprehend the force of this Reflexion, we need only con&s;ider the Jea|lou&s;ie, which is cau&s;ed among&s;t the &s;everal Sects of Chri&s;tians, by the Conformity of Sacraments, which is &s;o far from uniting them with one ano|ther, as it might ju&s;tly be expected; that on the con|trary, one may &s;ay, that this Conformity in &s;ome things alienates them from one another, and breeds Reciprocal Jealou&s;ies among&s;t their &s;everal Par|ties, e&s;pecially when they come, to reflect upon the other Controverted Articles, that cau&s;e the Separation.</P>
<P>Moreover, it is rea&s;onable to con&s;ider that God
<PB N="218" REF="124">had provided a &s;ufficient di&s;tinction, betwixt that people, and other Nations, by giving them many other Laws, which had no other vi&s;ible u&s;e than that of <HI>Di&s;crimination;</HI> as for In&s;tance, the three great Fea&s;ts which the <HI>Jews</HI> were obliged to keep.</P>
<P>The Fea&s;t of the Pa&s;&s;over, was the memorial of the accompli&s;hment of God's Promi&s;e to <HI>Abraham</HI> to deliver his Po&s;terity out of the Countrey wherein they were to be in Bondage after 430 years; and con&s;equently could not be ob&s;erved by the <HI>I&s;maelites,</HI> nor by the <HI>Edomites</HI> who had ne|ver been Captives in, nor delivered out of <HI>Egypt</HI> in the fourth Generation.</P>
<P>The <HI>Penteco&s;t</HI> was a publick Monument of the Promulgation of the Law, and all its parts, a|mong&s;t the Children of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> and con&s;equently peculiar to that Nation.</P>
<P>Thus the Fea&s;t of Tabernacles pre&s;erved the memory of that &s;olemn action of the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> con|tinuance for forty years in the De&s;ert.</P>
<P>It were needle&s;s, after &s;uch remarkable di&s;tin|ctions, to ob&s;erve here, (which yet was certainly de&s;igned for that end) that God took care to di|&s;tingui&s;h that people by &s;ome Injunctions, which they were to ob&s;erve, in the fa&s;hion of their Cloaths, of their Beard, of their Philacteries, of their Mezouzoth, of their Thaleth, of their Zi|zith, and many the like things, the ob&s;ervance of all which &s;erved to hinder any confu&s;ion of the people of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> with their Neighbours.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="16" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="219" REF="124">
<HEAD>CHAP. XVI.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"> <HI>That the Law of</HI> Mo&s;es <HI>engaged the</HI> Jews <HI>to the &s;tudy of their Genealogies, that they might certainly know that of the Me&s;|&s;iah.</HI></HEAD>
<P>BUt if God took care to di&s;tingui&s;h his people from all other Nations by &s;uch an indelible Mark, in the practice whereof there was no fear of any trick; &s;eeing no Man would Circum|ci&s;e him&s;elf without thinking upon it more than once, as the Hi&s;tory of the <HI>Sichemites</HI> a&s;&s;ures us; &s;o one &s;ees, that he took as great a care to di|vide them into Tribes, and the Tribes into Fami|lies, that they might &s;ub&s;i&s;t and continue in a kind of a Separation from one another, altho they were at fir&s;t but one &s;ingle Family, and one &s;ingle Nation.</P>
<P>Now to what purpo&s;e, I pray, were all tho&s;e Di&s;tinctions, if they had not been de&s;igned, to manife&s;t the Me&s;&s;iah at his coming.</P>
<P>We &s;ee then, that they could have no other u&s;e, for as God had decreed, that the Me&s;&s;iah &s;hould be born out of the Tribe of <HI>Judah,</HI> &s;o it was ne|ce&s;&s;ary, that the &s;everal Genealogies of that Tribe &s;hould be very publickly known.</P>
<P>And therefore one &s;ees that God &s;ecured this, not only with all nece&s;&s;ary care, but even with a Caution greater than could have been rea&s;onably de&s;ired.</P>
<PB N="220" REF="125">
<P>He engages all the Tribes of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> to pre&s;erve with a kind of affectation, their &s;everal Genea|logical Tables; he neglects none of the means that might be u&s;eful to di&s;tingui&s;h the Tribe of <HI>Judah</HI> from other Tribes, and the Family from which the Me&s;&s;iah was to be de&s;cended from all the o|ther Families of the &s;ame Tribe.</P>
<P>Indeed I am not ignorant that anciently one might &s;ee &s;ome other Nations u&s;ing the Di&s;tincti|ons of Tribes among&s;t them&s;elves, much after the &s;ame manner as the <HI>Jews</HI> did, and that they were careful to pre&s;erve their Genealogies in order to derive their Original from the &s;ame common Fa|ther: Thus we ought to under&s;tand what we read in Hi&s;tory of the Tribes among&s;t the <HI>Athenians.</HI> Thus <HI>Hippocrates</HI> runs up his own Pedigree to the twentieth Man of his Ance&s;tors, and <HI>Herodotus</HI> mentions &s;everal In&s;tances of the &s;ame care.</P>
<P>But one &s;ees that this affectation was infinitely greater among the <HI>Jews.</HI></P>
<P>For we &s;ee, that they did not only rank them|&s;elves every one under the Standard of their own Tribe, at their going forth out of <HI>Egypt,</HI> but that God did al&s;o engage every Man to know his Tribe exactly; nay, he compelled them all in a man|ner, to &s;tudy their own Pedigrees, that every one might claim, and reap the benefit of the Law of <HI>Jubilee,</HI> which had the force of an Entail in re&s;pect of every Family, as I am now going to &s;hew.</P>
<P>There are three things ob&s;ervable in that Mat|ter.</P>
<P>The Fir&s;t is, That it was by a &s;uperabundant precaution, that God would engage the Tribes to continue di&s;tingui&s;h'd from one another, and
<PB N="221" REF="125">to pre&s;erve and &s;tudy their &s;everal Pedigrees; namely, he intended by that means to prevent the Objection, which might otherwi&s;e have been made, that it was impo&s;&s;ible for a Tribe, and a Family in that Tribe to continue di&s;tingui&s;hed from the re&s;t of the Nation, for &s;o many Ages; for certainly, if all the Tribes in that Nation, and all the Families in every Tribe, did continue, by God's Providence, &s;o long di&s;tingui&s;hed from one another, there is no doubt to be made, but he could pre&s;erve the &s;ingle Tribe of <HI>Judah,</HI> and the Family of the Me&s;&s;iah di&s;tingui&s;hed from all other Tribes, and Families of the people of <HI>I&s;|rael.</HI></P>
<P>The Second Remark is, That it was for this di|&s;tinction &s;ake, that the Books of the Old Te&s;ta|ment were fill'd with Genealogical Tables; to what purpo&s;e el&s;e had Books of that importance, and which treated of &s;uch great Subjects been filled with Genealogies? <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Books are full of them: The fir&s;t Book of Chronicles re&s;umes tho&s;e Genealogies with all po&s;&s;ible exactne&s;s: There is nothing more con&s;iderable in the Book of <HI>Ruth,</HI> than the Genealogy of <HI>David</HI> and his Family.</P>
<P>The Third Remark is, That if the Genealogy of the Prie&s;ts &s;eem to have been better known, than that of other. Families, by rea&s;on of their being the Publick Mini&s;ters of Religion, which &s;eems to give the advantage of certainty of di&s;tinction to the Tribe of <HI>Levi</HI> above that of <HI>Judah,</HI> in that particular; yet we find, that all the Families of the whole Nation took much the &s;ame care to pre|&s;erve their own Genealogies; &s;o that if after the <HI>Babylonian</HI> Captivity, &s;ome particular per&s;ons
<PB N="222" REF="126">were excluded from the Prie&s;tly order, to which they pretended, becau&s;e they could not make out their Pedigree: So likewi&s;e all were thrown out from the other Tribes, that could not ju&s;tifie their Lineal De&s;cent.</P>
<P>Nay, there is &s;omething further, de&s;erves to be taken notice of, as being very &s;ingular in that of <HI>Judah:</HI> and one ought here to con&s;ider a Mi&s;tery of God's Providence, and admire the Wi&s;dom of his Conduct, in pur&s;uing the de&s;ign which <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> fir&s;t &s;ets down, and upon which one &s;ees, that the whole <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> State was formed; for when God re&s;olved, that the Me&s;&s;iah &s;hould de&s;cend from the Tribe of <HI>Juda,</HI> and the Hou&s;e of <HI>David,</HI> he made it more particularly known and di&s;tingui&s;h'd, than any other Family in the whole Nation, and for that rea&s;on he &s;ets <HI>David</HI> upon the Throne.</P>
<P>Every one knows, that in every Kingdom the Genealogy of a King, and of the Royal Family, is of all others the mo&s;t publickly known.</P>
<P>Now if the Blood Royal alone is always di|&s;tingui&s;hed how much more mu&s;t it be &s;o, when that Supream Dignity is conferred upon &s;uch a Fa|mily, as God had particularly cho&s;en, to have the Me&s;&s;iah, who is &s;et forth as the de&s;ire of all Nations, to be born out of it.</P>
<P>From hence I will boldly conclude, that the only end for which God rai&s;ed <HI>David</HI>'s Family to the Throne, was becau&s;e the Me&s;&s;iah was really to be born out of that Family, reduc'd to a low, and private Condition, which <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> foretold, &s;ay|ing,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. XI.LIII.</NOTE> That <HI>a Rod &s;hould come forth out of the Stem of</HI> Je&s;&s;e, <HI>and a Branch grow out of his Roots;</HI> and in a|nother place, That <HI>he &s;hould grow up as a Root out
<PB N="223" REF="126">of a dry ground,</HI> which was very agreeable to the Character of a Prophet, and to the low &s;tate of Humiliation, in which our Saviour was to appear in the World.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="17" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XVII.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">A Solution of &s;ome Difficulties in the&s;e Genealogies.</HEAD>
<P>INdeed the di&s;per&s;ion of the Ten Tribes &s;eems to be a very Natural Objection to tho&s;e who would di&s;pute the Reflexions which I have alrea|dy made upon the&s;e Genealogies.</P>
<P>But after all, there is nothing in it but what con|firms the more the &s;aid Reflexions.</P>
<P>And we may &s;ay, that the intire di&s;per&s;ion of the whole Tribe of <HI>Ephraim,</HI> and of the others which adhered to it in <HI>Jeroboam</HI>'s Rebellion, is a Mi&s;tery of Providence which challenges our ad|miration, as much as the rai&s;ing up that Family to the Throne, out of which the Me&s;&s;iah was to be born.</P>
<P>To apprehend this the better, we need only call to mind the preten&s;ions of the Tribe of <HI>E|phraim:</HI> This <HI>Ephraim</HI> was the younger Brother of <HI>Mana&s;&s;eh;</HI> but <HI>Jacob</HI> had given him the Birth|right, ju&s;t as <HI>I&s;aac</HI> before had given it to <HI>Jacob,</HI> tho it did of right belong to the elder Brother.</P>
<P><HI>Jacob</HI> had particularly ble&s;&s;ed <HI>Ephraim,</HI> and e|ven
<PB N="224" REF="127">made it a Form of Ble&s;&s;ing for after Ages, as we read in the Book of <HI>Ruth,</HI> that there was one made for <HI>Pharez. Jacob</HI> had given to <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> two Portions in the Land of <HI>Canaan,</HI> and <HI>Ephraim</HI> had the Birthright before <HI>Mana&s;&s;eh,</HI> by God's order; it was then very natural for the Tribe of <HI>Ephraim,</HI> as all Tribes did apply to them&s;elves the &s;everal priviledges promi&s;ed to their re&s;pective heads, to look upon them&s;elves, as having a particular right to God's Ble&s;&s;ing.</P>
<P>And they thought this right of theirs was plain|ly made out, as by <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI>'s Dreams, &s;o e&s;pecially by the Words of that Prediction which <HI>Jacob</HI> gave in favour of <HI>Ephraim,</HI> the words of which run &s;o very high, that after &s;uch a prejudice, there might very well be a fair pretence for the hope which the Tribe of <HI>Ephraim</HI> had once to &s;ee a Me&s;|&s;iah come out of their Tribe, as tho&s;e of <HI>Judah</HI> ex|pected one out of theirs.</P>
<P>If to all this we add, That <HI>Jeroboam</HI>'s Rebelli|on was authoriz'd by a Prophetical In&s;piration, and by a &s;pecial &s;ign of God's Approbation; and that on the other hand he de&s;ired to propo&s;e to his peo|ple the two Calves which he &s;et up in <HI>Dan</HI> and <HI>Bethel,</HI> as Symbols of the Deity, only to pur&s;ue the Idea's of <HI>Pharaoh</HI>'s Dreams, which <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> inter|preted, the repre&s;entation whereof, did clearly &s;hew both the greatne&s;s of <HI>Jo&s;eph,</HI> and the parti|cular care of God's Providence over him.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Talm. in Succa</HI> c. 5. <HI>in Gem.</HI></NOTE> It was then natural, to the Men of <HI>Ephraim,</HI> to feed them&s;elves with &s;uch hopes, as the <HI>Jews</HI> teach us they did, when even to this very day they &s;peak of a Me&s;&s;iah of the Tribe of <HI>Ephraim.</HI></P>
<P>What did God then do, to obviate the&s;e pre|ten&s;ions
<PB N="225" REF="127">of the Tribe of <HI>Ephraim?</HI> He di&s;per&s;ed them, together with the other nine Tribes that &s;ubmitted to the Authority of its Kings, and &s;o confounded them with all tho&s;e Tribes which fol|lowed their fortune, that tho there &s;hould be &s;till &s;ome <HI>Ephraimites</HI> in the World, yet it would be impo&s;&s;ible for any of them to ju&s;tifie his Pedigree &s;o clearly, as that any Me&s;&s;iah really de&s;cended from that very Tribe, could by e&s;tabli&s;hing his Genealogy, put his being of the Tribe of <HI>Ephraim</HI> beyond all conte&s;t.</P>
<P>Now according to this Notion of things it is vi|&s;ible (if we may be allowed to enter into the Coun|&s;els of God,) that he did particularly pre&s;erve the Tribes of <HI>Levi,</HI> and <HI>Benjamin,</HI> with the Tribe of <HI>Judah,</HI> which was the only Tribe that was to be pre&s;erved of nece&s;&s;ity.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, Becau&s;e as St. <HI>Paul</HI> to the <HI>Hebrews</HI> ob&s;erves, there was nothing ever &s;aid as to the Me&s;&s;iah, of the Tribe of <HI>Levi.</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, Becau&s;e God would by that means confound the more effectually all the claims of the Tribe of <HI>Ephraim.</HI></P>
<P>For in &s;hort, If the Tribe of <HI>Ephraim</HI> was inve|&s;ted by God with the Kingdom over nine Tribes of the people of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> &s;o had the Tribe of <HI>Benja|min</HI> been rai&s;ed up before to the Soveraignty over all <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> over the Tribe of <HI>Judah,</HI> and even that of <HI>Ephraim</HI> it &s;elf.</P>
<P>If the Tribe of <HI>Ephraim</HI> was de&s;cended from a younger Brother, to whom <HI>Jacob</HI> had given his Ble&s;&s;ing in prejudice of <HI>Mana&s;&s;eh</HI> his elder Brother, (which is con&s;iderable becau&s;e God hath almo&s;t con&s;tantly preferr'd the younger before the elder)
<PB N="226" REF="128">&s;o the Tribe of <HI>Benjamin</HI> was de&s;cended from him that was both the younger Brother of <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> him|&s;elf, and the younge&s;t of all <HI>Jacob</HI>'s Children, notwith&s;tanding which, the Tribe of <HI>Benjamin</HI> did freely yield to the Tribe of <HI>Judah,</HI> and grant|ed that the glory of giving Birth to the Me&s;&s;iah, was wholly due to them.</P>
<P>Be it as it will, there are two Reflexions more which mu&s;t be made concerning the&s;e Genealo|gies which appear very natural in this place.</P>
<P>The Fir&s;t is, That both St. <HI>Matthew,</HI> and St. <HI>Luke</HI> do begin their Go&s;pel with the Genealo|gy of the Me&s;&s;iah.</P>
<P>The other is, That &s;ome time after St. <HI>Paul</HI> condemns the &s;tudy of Genealogies, which was &s;till much in u&s;e among&s;t the <HI>Jews,</HI> as vain; Why therefore is there &s;uch a different conduct among&s;t the Di&s;ciples of the &s;ame Ma&s;ter?</P>
<P>Certainly, whoever &s;hall con&s;ider with atten|tion the grounds which I have laid down before mu&s;t acknowledge, that both St. <HI>Matthew,</HI> and St. <HI>Luke,</HI> ought to have begun their Books, as they have done, with the Genealogy of the Me&s;&s;iah.</P>
<P>For Fir&s;t of all, It was nece&s;&s;ary that the de|&s;cent of the Me&s;&s;iah from <HI>Abraham</HI> by <HI>David,</HI> &s;hould be clearly made out: it was requi&s;ite there|fore that they &s;hould &s;et down &s;uch a Genealogy as was known by the whole <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Nation: Now this they have done with very great care, and the thing was &s;o ea&s;ie, and &s;o well known, that even a Blind-Man of the Neighbourhood of <HI>Samaria,</HI> the chief City of the Kings of <HI>Ephraim,</HI> did pub|lickly call <HI>Je&s;us</HI> the Son of <HI>David.</HI></P>
<PB N="227" REF="128">
<P>But on the other &s;ide, St. <HI>Paul</HI>'s forbidding the &s;tudy of Genealogies, does not at all contradict the method of tho&s;e two Evangeli&s;ts.</P>
<P>In &s;hort, he pur&s;ues the very &s;ame Notions: He &s;aw, that the Converted <HI>Jews</HI> apply'd them|&s;elves to the &s;tudy of Genealogies, which was then &s;o great a part of the &s;tudy of their Nation: It is &s;till practi&s;ed among the <HI>Jews,</HI> to that degree,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Maimon. Praef. ad Jad. Cha|zaka.</NOTE> that &s;ince their di&s;per&s;ion they gave an exact Relation of all the Doctors and Rabbies among&s;t them who have pre&s;erved the Tradition, and who were Pro|&s;elytes of Ju&s;tice: What therefore was to be done in this ca&s;e? He took it for granted, that God had engaged every <HI>Jew</HI> to &s;tudy his own Pedigree with care, for no other end but only to have that of the Me&s;&s;iah di&s;tinctly known whenever he &s;hould come.</P>
<P>But the u&s;e of the&s;e Genealogies being once o|ver, by the Me&s;&s;iah's coming into the World, he ob&s;erves with rea&s;on, that it was no longer nece&s;|&s;ary to keep up the vain &s;tudy of all tho&s;e Genea|logies.</P>
<P>So that we &s;ee he &s;peaks again&s;t the &s;tudy of Pe|digrees, much upon the &s;ame grounds as in other places he inveighs again&s;t Circumci&s;ion; for &s;ince the chiefe&s;t u&s;e of Genealogies, as well as of Cir|cumci&s;ion, was to di&s;tingui&s;h <HI>Abraham</HI>'s Po&s;terity from the re&s;t of Mankind, till the Me&s;&s;iah was come; the u&s;e of the&s;e two Ob&s;ervations was na|turally to cea&s;e after he was once come.</P>
<P>It is, no doubt, for the &s;ame rea&s;on, that where|as the <HI>Jews</HI> in the Apo&s;tle's time took great care upon all occa&s;ions, to take notice of the Tribe from which they were de&s;cended, as well as to
<PB N="228" REF="129">&s;et down the Names of their Fathers, yet one &s;ees that the Apo&s;tles did not all affect it. And if St. <HI>Paul</HI> mentions his being a <HI>Benjamite:</HI> It was for a particular rea&s;on, for otherwi&s;e as he prea|ched down the di&s;tinction betwixt <HI>Jews</HI> and <HI>Gentiles,</HI> &s;o he declared him&s;elf with the &s;ame Earne&s;tne&s;s again&s;t the di&s;tinctions which were ob&s;erved among&s;t their Tribes.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="18" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XVIII.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"> <HI>That the manner whereby the Law of</HI> Mo&s;es <HI>fix|ed the People of</HI> I&s;rael <HI>to the Land of</HI> Canaan, <HI>was to keep them &s;eparated from other Na|tions.</HI></HEAD>
<P>ONe of the chiefe&s;t means, which God made u&s;e of, to di&s;tingui&s;h his people of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> from the re&s;t of Mankind, was &s;o to fix their Affe|ctions upon the Land of <HI>Canaan,</HI> that they &s;hould look upon it, as a Countrey which belonged to them by a particular conce&s;&s;ion from God, which derogated from the <HI>Canaanites</HI> right, to whom that Countrey fell in the Divi&s;ion of the Earth that was made among&s;t the Children of <HI>Noah,</HI> or which ree&s;tabli&s;hed the Po&s;terity of <HI>Shem</HI> in their ju&s;t Rights,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Haere&s;. LXVI. n. 84.</NOTE> to whom, if we may credit the ancient Tradition, related by St. <HI>Epiphanius,</HI> this Coun|trey did really belong by virtue of that Divi&s;ion among&s;t the three Sons of <HI>Noah,</HI> tho afterwards
<PB N="229" REF="129">they were driven out of it by the Po&s;terity of <HI>Ham.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Mo&s;es</HI> &s;eems to have expre&s;&s;ed this truth, when he &s;aith <HI>Gen.</HI> XII. that when <HI>Abraham</HI> came to <HI>Canaan,</HI> the <HI>Canaanite</HI> was already in the Land; that is, he had already invaded it, neither can we refer what he relates in the XIV. Chapter, concerning the War which the Kings from the Ea&s;t came to make again&s;t the Kings of <HI>Sodom</HI> and <HI>Gomorrha</HI> to any thing el&s;e.</P>
<P>'Twas then for this rea&s;on, that long before <HI>Mo|&s;es</HI>'s time, God took <HI>Abraham</HI> out of <HI>Chaldea,</HI> from among&s;t <HI>Shem</HI>'s Po&s;terity to bring him into <HI>Canaan</HI> among&s;t the <HI>H<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">vites,</HI> the <HI>Amorites,</HI> and other Nations all equally de&s;cended from <HI>Ham,</HI> whom God had cur&s;ed.</P>
<P>God could have placed <HI>Abraham</HI> any where el&s;e; but he cho&s;e to bring him into a Countrey, which the Po&s;terity of <HI>Ham</HI> had &s;eized upon alrea|dy, rather than into a place po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed by the Po|&s;terity of <HI>Japhet,</HI> on purpo&s;e that the Jealou&s;ie might be the greater betwixt <HI>Abraham</HI> and the In|habitants of the Countrey into which God had brought him.</P>
<P>Neverthele&s;s God did not give him at fir&s;t an entire po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion, but only promi&s;ed him that his Po&s;terity &s;hould enjoy it, and in the mean while inve&s;ted him beforehand, with a Right to it, by the purcha&s;e of a Field for a Burying place, where|in his Wife, him&s;elf, and his Children were Bu|ried; by which means he &s;trongly fixed his own mind, and the hopes of his Po&s;terity.</P>
<P>In &s;hort, it is evident, that all the glory which <HI>Jacob</HI> found in <HI>Egypt</HI> when he was invited thither
<PB N="230" REF="130">by <HI>Jo&s;eph,</HI> did not make him forget the Right which he claimed upon that Land, by virtue of the Sepulchre both of his Father and Grandfa|ther that was there. For <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> informs us, that he de&s;ired to be carried thither after his Death, and that he did expre&s;ly require this Duty from <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> and his other Children, who paid it in &s;overy &s;olemn a manner, and with a Mourning &s;o very great and famous, that the Name of <HI>Abel-Mizraim</HI> continued to that very place, where the <HI>Canaanites</HI> &s;aw the Solemnization of that Funeral by the Sons of <HI>Jacob,</HI> who were attended by great numbers of <HI>Egyptians.</HI></P>
<P>One &s;ee's that <HI>Jacob</HI>'s Children &s;till entertained the &s;ame hope: <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> &s;olemnly engaged his Children to carry his Bones into the Land of <HI>Ca|naan:</HI> And one may judge, that the other Patri|archs were not le&s;s &s;olicitous to require the &s;ame Office at the hands of their Children,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Jalkut. ex Siphre.</HI> fol. 311. col. 2.</NOTE> as St. <HI>Ste|phen</HI> &s;uppo&s;es it <HI>Acts</HI> VII. agreably to the com|mon opinion of the <HI>Jews:</HI> All which &s;hews, that <HI>Abraham</HI>'s Po&s;terity had their Hearts &s;et upon his Sepulchre, as upon the Pledge and &s;ecurity of God's Promi&s;e, that they &s;hould be once po&s;&s;e&s;t of that Land where he was Buried.</P>
<P>And as the carrying the Body of <HI>Jacob</HI> into <HI>Ca|naan,</HI> &s;ufficiently &s;hew'd what were the claims of the <HI>I&s;raelites;</HI> &s;o the &s;ame was very evident by their care in keeping them&s;elves unmixt with the <HI>Egyp|tians,</HI> all the time they &s;ojourn'd in <HI>Egypt.</HI> The Splendor of <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> was a natural engagement for them to &s;ettle them&s;elves there for ever; be&s;ides, their va&s;t encrea&s;e forced them in a manner to it. For a long time the Mi&s;eries which they endured,
<PB N="231" REF="130">invited them to &s;eek the Alliances of the <HI>Egypti|ans</HI> by Marriages, and to mix them&s;elves with a people who were their Ma&s;ters, and &s;o to re|nounce hopes which appeared to be &s;o very ground|le&s;s. They &s;eemed to have been warranted by <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI>'s Example, who had Married an <HI>Egyptian.</HI> However, one never finds that they tried that me|thod. One &s;ee's on the contrary, that there was little corre&s;pondence between the <HI>Hebrews</HI> and <HI>Egyptians</HI> in their Sacred things: For the <HI>Hebrews</HI> &s;acrificed to God the abomination of the <HI>Egyptians,</HI> that is, tho&s;e very things which the <HI>Egyptians</HI> wor|&s;hipped.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's afterwards, by the great number of <HI>Flocks</HI> which they drove along with them at their going out of <HI>Egypt,</HI> that they had continued to follow the profe&s;&s;ion of their Ance&s;tors, who were She|pherds, a very odious Employment to the <HI>Egyp|tians.</HI></P>
<P>One &s;ee's at la&s;t, that after the many Miracles which <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> wrought in the <HI>Egyptian</HI> Court, that this people followed God's Conduct, and went out of that Countrey, to po&s;&s;e&s;s the Land of <HI>Ca|naan,</HI> which none of them had ever &s;een, and yet they lookt upon the obtaining it as a Ble&s;&s;ing they could not mi&s;s of.</P>
<P>There are &s;everal things very remarkable upon that Subject.</P>
<P>The Fir&s;t is, That &s;ome <HI>Egyptians</HI> went out with the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> to dwell with them in the Land of <HI>Canaan,</HI> which was done, not only that there might be &s;ome indi&s;putable Witne&s;&s;es from among the Enemies of God, of the truth, and greatne&s;s of the Miracles which <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> had wrought among&s;t
<PB N="232" REF="131">them, which al&s;o was a pre&s;age of the calling of the <HI>Gentiles</HI> to the Faith, by their in&s;ertion into the Body of the <HI>Jews:</HI> but al&s;o that there might be &s;ome Witne&s;&s;es of the extraordinary affection which the people of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> had for the Land of <HI>Canaan,</HI> and of their claims to it by virtue of God's promi&s;e, that he would put them into po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of it. For otherwi&s;e it is not a common thing that a Colony of Slaves &s;hould be &s;uffer'd to run away, much le&s;s that they &s;hould per&s;wade their Ma&s;ters to for&s;ake their own Countrey, and their &s;ettle|ments at home, to go and conquer another for them.</P>
<P>The Second Remark is, That God made the <HI>Jews</HI> travel for forty years in the De&s;erts of <HI>Ara|bia,</HI> not only to make them forget any Tyes they might have had to return again into <HI>Egypt,</HI> and to accu&s;tom them to depend wholly upon Divine Providence; but al&s;o to redouble their de&s;ires af|ter the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of this Land of Promi&s;e.</P>
<P>It was for the &s;ame rea&s;on that God forbad them &s;o &s;traitly either the mingling with, or the &s;etling them&s;elves among&s;t the <HI>Midianites,</HI> tho <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> had given an Example by Marrying <HI>Sephora;</HI> or the <HI>Edomites,</HI> or the <HI>I&s;maelites,</HI> or the <HI>Moabites,</HI> or the <HI>Ammonites,</HI> tho all tho&s;e Nations were de&s;cended from <HI>Therah,</HI> their common Father, or from the Patriarchs.</P>
<P>In execution of which &s;evere prohibition, God commanded the <HI>Jews</HI> to put all tho&s;e to the Sword who &s;hould make any alliance with tho&s;e Nations, as we have in&s;tance of it, <HI>Numb.</HI> XXIII. after the de&s;cription of <HI>Balaam</HI>'s Prophe&s;ies.</P>
<P>And it could be for no other end, that he &s;o &s;trait|ly
<PB N="233" REF="131">charged the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> to cut off the <HI>Hivites, Am|morites,</HI> and other Nations of <HI>Canaan</HI> even to the Women and little Children; but in pur&s;uance of his fir&s;t de&s;ign to prevent all mixture, of his People with tho&s;e Nations, which without that extream rigour would infallibly and in&s;en&s;ibly have come to pa&s;s.</P>
<P>I know very well that God pre&s;erved the <HI>Gibe|onites,</HI> by ratifying that Alliance, which gave leave to tho&s;e People tho of the Po&s;terity of <HI>Ham,</HI> to continue among&s;t his own people in the Land of <HI>Canaan;</HI> but tho God did in effect pre&s;erve the <HI>Gibeonites</HI> among&s;t the <HI>Jews,</HI> yet he forced them to undergo the Drudgery, and Servile Offices of the Tabernacle, and that they might be kept, as unque&s;tionable Witne&s;&s;es of the <HI>Hebrews</HI> preten&s;i|ons, and of their miraculous Conque&s;t of the Land of <HI>Canaan;</HI> for the continuance of that Na|tion in the heart of the Countrey, and their &s;ub|mitting to the drudgery of carrying Wood, and Water for the u&s;e of the Tabernacle, tho they were at fir&s;t of another Religion, was, as I have ob&s;erved already, a continual Subject of admira|tion to the Po&s;terity both of the <HI>Jews</HI> and of the <HI>Gibeonites</HI> them&s;elves.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="19" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="234" REF="132">
<HEAD>CHAP. XIX.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"> <HI>That the Law tied the People of</HI> I&s;rael <HI>to the Land of</HI> Canaan, <HI>and by &s;everal other means e&s;tabli&s;hed the di&s;tinction betwixt Tribes and Families among&s;t them.</HI></HEAD>
<P>ONe may &s;ay, that one of the mo&s;t effectual means which God u&s;ed to fix his people to the Land of <HI>Canaan,</HI> was the Law which he gave them to meer thrice a year, and Celebrate three Solemn Fea&s;ts together, which hardly gave them leave to travel far into other Countreys, and enga|ged them every time they met, to renewin the pub|lick Acts of their Religion the memory and the I|dea's of their hopes: And they conduced to this De&s;ign of God in this manner.</P>
<P>Tho&s;e Fea&s;ts were Celebrated at three times which were the mo&s;t commodious Sea&s;ons of the year for Travelling, betwixt the Months of <HI>March</HI> and <HI>October:</HI> The Celebration of the Pa&s;&s;over was upon the fourteenth day after the appearance of the Moon in <HI>March:</HI> The Penteco&s;t was fifty days after, and the Fea&s;t of the Tabernacles la&s;ted from the fir&s;t to the tenth day of <HI>September.</HI></P>
<P>In &s;hort, the Law which obliged the <HI>Jews</HI> to a&s;|&s;i&s;t at the Celebration of tho&s;e Fea&s;ts, required the appearance of all the Males of Twenty years of age and upwards, &s;o very rigorou&s;ly, that there
<PB N="235" REF="132">was no Di&s;pen&s;ation; for all (without exception) were then obliged to appear. So that even during the Di&s;per&s;ions of their Nation, the <HI>Jews,</HI> who li|ved out of <HI>Judea,</HI> a&s;&s;i&s;ted always at the Celebrati|on of tho&s;e three Fea&s;ts with great care.</P>
<P>This was a vi&s;ible way of keeping the Tribes of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> di&s;tinct, by giving each of them a &s;eparate portion in the Land of <HI>Canaan,</HI> and by fixing them in&s;eparably to it; as the whole Nation was in like manner di&s;tingui&s;hed, by its being placed in a Countrey entirely by it &s;elf.</P>
<P>We &s;ee accordingly, that God hath ob&s;erved that Method, by giving a Law which injoyns the Divi&s;ion of the Land of <HI>Canaan,</HI> to be made into as many Portions as there were Tribes, only ex|cepting the Tribe of <HI>Levi,</HI> becau&s;e the <HI>Levites,</HI> as being the publick Mini&s;ters of their Religion, were di&s;per&s;ed among&s;t the other Tribes, that they might more conveniently attend to the In|&s;truction of the people.</P>
<P>I &s;hall not here take notice of the Miracle which was evident in that Divi&s;ion, which was an exact accompli&s;hment of the Oracle which <HI>Jacob</HI> and <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> uttered a little before their Deaths.</P>
<P>But I &s;hall ob&s;erve, Fir&s;t, That as the de&s;ign of God was to divide that people into Tribes, that the Tribe of <HI>Judah,</HI> from which the Me&s;&s;iah was to be born, might be the better di&s;tingui&s;h'd and known, &s;o he would, for the &s;ame rea&s;on, allot the Cave of <HI>Machpelah,</HI> the Sepulchre of the Pa|triarchs, to the &s;hare of the Tribe of <HI>Judah,</HI> as al&s;o <HI>Ephratah,</HI> the place where <HI>Rachel</HI> was Buried, which was afterwards call'd <HI>Bethlehem,</HI> the Town where <HI>David</HI> had his Birth, and which was fore|told
<PB N="236" REF="133">told by the Prophet <HI>Micha</HI> under the Name of <HI>E|phratah,</HI> as the place where the Me&s;&s;iah &s;hould be born in the fulne&s;s of time.</P>
<P>We mu&s;t be&s;ides, take notice of two particular Regulations, by which God fixed his people in the Land of <HI>Canaan,</HI> and pre&s;erved a di&s;tinct Idea of this fir&s;t divi&s;ion of that Countrey.</P>
<P>The Fir&s;t is the Law of <HI>Jubilee.</HI></P>
<P>The Second is the Law of Lineal Retreats.</P>
<P>In &s;hort, by the Law of the Jubilee which re|turned every fifty years, and by which every one that could ju&s;tifie his Pedigree, was rein&s;tated in the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions of his Ance&s;tors: God obliged that people to keep up a di&s;tinct-knowledge of the fir&s;t divi&s;ion made under <HI>Jo&s;hua,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jo&s;hua XIV, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> and which is de&s;cri|bed in that Book which contains his Hi&s;tory, much more effectually than if he had made a Law for that very purpo&s;e: So that tho the Field of <HI>Ephra|tah</HI> had been never &s;o often alienated, yet it al|ways returned to the Tribe of <HI>Judah,</HI> and &s;o af|terwards into <HI>David</HI>'s Family, becau&s;e it was at fir&s;t the Lot of his Ance&s;tors.</P>
<P>This Law of Jubilee pre&s;erved a di&s;tinct know|ledge of the &s;everal Tribes, and Families, and it al&s;o kept up a di&s;tinct Idea of their Genealogies, which mu&s;t be pre&s;erved entire of nece&s;&s;ity, that they might maintain their right to the inheritance of their Ance&s;tors.</P>
<P>It would be to no purpo&s;e to object again&s;t this Ob&s;ervation, that it was impo&s;&s;ible to know cer|tainly which Tribe, and much le&s;s which Family every E&s;tate did belong to, becau&s;e one &s;ee's that the fir&s;t Pro&s;elytes who went out with the <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI> &s;hared the Land of <HI>Canaan</HI> together with them;
<PB N="237" REF="133">for one &s;ee's on the contrary,</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, That God would not allow any of the <HI>Moabites,</HI> and <HI>Ammonites</HI> to become Pro&s;elytes be|fore the tenth Generation.</P>
<P>And Secondly, That he debarred the <HI>Edomites</HI> from being admitted to make profe&s;&s;ion of Judai&s;m before the third Generation, which excluded them for ever from any po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions in the Land of <HI>Ca|naan.</HI></P>
<P>And Thirdly, one ought to ob&s;erve the diffe|rence betwixt an <HI>Egyptian</HI> Pro&s;elyte, and a Native <HI>Jew:</HI> The Quality of a Pro&s;elyte, gave permi&s;&s;ion to an <HI>Egyptian</HI> to live among&s;t the <HI>Jews,</HI> and to profe&s;s their Religion, but it gave him no right to po&s;&s;e&s;s any of their Land.</P>
<P>And then be&s;ides that,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ma&s;&s;a Bic|cour.</HI> c. 1. S. 4</NOTE> tho&s;e <HI>Egyptian</HI> Pro&s;elites had a particular way of praying by them&s;elves, different from that of the <HI>Jews,</HI> as the <HI>Jews</HI> &s;till te&s;tifie. They could not po&s;&s;e&s;s any E&s;tate in Land among&s;t them: This is &s;o true,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Numb. XXVII.</NOTE> that it was once round nece&s;&s;ary to make a particular regulation for the Daughters of <HI>Zelophehad,</HI> that they might have their divi&s;ion, which was granted only under cer|tain Conditions, becau&s;e the Land was not to be divided, but among&s;t the Males of the people of <HI>I&s;rael.</HI></P>
<P>But this is very con&s;iderable, that by this Law of the Jubilee, God fixed the <HI>Jews</HI> to the Land of <HI>Canaan,</HI> by giving the Children a power to look upon them&s;elves, not only as the pre&s;ump|tive Heirs of their Parents, but to con&s;ider their Parents only as <HI>U&s;u-fructuary</HI>'s, &s;ince all their Po&s;|&s;e&s;&s;ions in Land were &s;o Entailed, that the Chil|dren, or right Heirs of any Man could not mi&s;s
<PB N="238" REF="134">of the Rever&s;ion, becau&s;e whatever alienation was made, it could la&s;t but for a time to the year of Jubilee which re&s;tored all the alienated po&s;&s;e&s;|&s;ions, ab&s;olutely and entirely to the right Heirs.</P>
<P>Now that this Law was always lookt upon as a fun|damental Law among&s;t the <HI>Jews,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Leviticus XXV. 23. 1 Kings XXI.</NOTE> appears clearly from the words in <HI>Leviticus,</HI> and from the Hi&s;to|ry of <HI>Naboth,</HI> which holy Man rather cho&s;e to die than to comply with the inju&s;t de&s;ire of <HI>Ahab,</HI> who would have forced <HI>Naboth</HI> to &s;ell his E&s;tate ab&s;olutely notwith&s;tanding God's expre&s;s prohi|bition.</P>
<P>The exemplary vengeance which God took up|on <HI>Naboth</HI>'s Murder, and the relation of it record|ed in Scripture is a further confirmation of this &s;ame truth: If a King of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> dur&s;t not at fir&s;t infringe that Law, if it was not violated by any other than <HI>Je&s;abel,</HI> who was a Forreign Prince&s;s: If the Tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion of that Law was puni&s;h'd in &s;uch an exemplary manner, who can doubt but that it was particularly ob&s;erved in the Tribe of <HI>Judah,</HI> as a Fundamental Law by which God tied up his People in&s;eparably to this very Countrey.</P>
<P>One needs only make &s;ome few Reflexions up|on tho&s;e words which God makes u&s;e of <HI>Ezek.</HI> XLVI. to agree to what I &s;ay, if tho&s;e Reflexions which I have made already upon <HI>Naboth</HI>'s Mur|ther be al&s;o added to them.</P>
<P>One may ob&s;erve upon the &s;ame Subject, that tho God had &s;everal times &s;ubjected the <HI>Jews</HI> to a Foreign power, yet he never &s;uffered the whole Nation to be all carried away out of <HI>Ca|naan</HI> at one time; nor yet to continue in Capti|vity
<PB N="239" REF="134">for the time of two whole Jubilees; they were but &s;eventy years in <HI>Babylon,</HI> which was the furthe&s;t place that they were ever carried into.</P>
<P>From whence we may naturally conclude, that their Genealogies could not be confounded in &s;o &s;hort a time, becau&s;e many that were at the Con|&s;ecration of the &s;econd Temple had &s;een the fir&s;t, nor could the di&s;tinct knowledge of the &s;everal di|vi&s;ions of their E&s;tates be obliterated; becau&s;e tho&s;e of every Tribe who continued &s;till in the Land, might vi&s;ibly keep them up.</P>
<P>And we here of nece&s;&s;ity ought to ob&s;erve in the fir&s;t place, what we may read in the XXXII. Chapter of <HI>Jeremiah,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jerem. XXXII.</NOTE> concerning the &s;ale of a Field which <HI>Jeremiah</HI> bought.</P>
<P>And Secondly, what we read <HI>Nehem.</HI> the Vth where he is troubled to &s;ee the alienation of their Fields, which was a con&s;equence of their mi|&s;ery.</P>
<P>And Thirdly, The manner how that people were re&s;tored to their E&s;tates, according to the Fundamental Laws of their State.</P>
<P>Another very effectual means to fix that peo|ple to the Land of <HI>Canaan,</HI> and to pre&s;erve their Fa|milies there certainly without confu&s;ion, was the Law of Lineal Retreats, which God in&s;tituted for this very purpo&s;e.</P>
<P>For in &s;hort, when this Rule was once laid down, that upon the failure of an Heir in any Fa|mily, that the next Kin&s;man was the Heir at Law, it appears plainly, that every one was obliged for his own intere&s;t, to inquire with diligence into the Genealogical Lives of his own Tribe, that he might in&s;truct him&s;elf in the &s;tate of the &s;everal
<PB N="240" REF="135">Families of his kindred, and of the &s;everal degrees of Proximity of Blood, whereby they might be related, becau&s;e the exact knowledge of the&s;e Li&s;ts, and of tho&s;e &s;everal degrees of Kindred were ab&s;olutely nece&s;&s;ary to make u&s;e of this Right of Lineal Retreats.</P>
<P>There were two other Laws which contributed al&s;o to this; one whereof regulated all that was to be done, when there were none but Daughters left in a Family: A famous in&s;tance of which, we have in the Hi&s;tory of the Daughters of <HI>Zelophehad</HI> &s;et down twice by <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> on purpo&s;e no doubt, that it &s;hould be the more taken notice of, as I intend to &s;hew particularly in another place.</P>
<P>The other Law regulated all that the next Kin&s;|man of any one that died Childle&s;s, was obliged to do in re&s;pect of the Relict, and of the E&s;tate of the Decea&s;ed, if he intended to redeem it. One finds in the Book of <HI>Ruth,</HI> an illu&s;trious Example of the Execution of this Law, which may be found <HI>Deuter.</HI> XXV.</P>
<P>Now after all this, let any one judge, whether there could be any &s;tronger Ties than the&s;e to oblige the people of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> to continue in the Land of <HI>Canaan,</HI> and whither the divi&s;ion which God made of it, betwixt their &s;everal Tribes and Fa|milies, was not an infallible means to di&s;tingui&s;h them certainly one from another.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="20" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="241" REF="135">
<HEAD>CHAP. XX.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"> <HI>That the Laws which</HI> Mo&s;es <HI>made concerning the &s;tate of Virginity, did principally relate al&s;o to the</HI> Me&s;&s;iah, <HI>which holds al&s;o as to &s;everal other Laws.</HI></HEAD>
<P>HItherto I have &s;hew'd the care which God took to di&s;tingui&s;h his people of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> from all other Nations of the World, and I afterwards &s;hew'd what care he took to keep the di&s;tinctions which he fir&s;t &s;et up among&s;t the Tribes. And I afterwards explained tho&s;e Laws which he gave to oblige every Family in each Tribe to remain di&s;tinct. And I afterwards made it manife&s;t, that the divi&s;ion of the Land of <HI>Canaan</HI> was a very pro|per means to execute this de&s;ign of God.</P>
<P>All which &s;hews, that God intended to make it ea&s;ie for every Man to di&s;tingui&s;h the Me&s;&s;iah, when it &s;hould be once known that he was to be born out of the Family of <HI>Je&s;&s;e,</HI> as it was afterwards foretold by &s;everal expre&s;s Oracles.</P>
<P>But as there ought to be &s;omething &s;upernatural in the Birth of the Me&s;&s;iah, who was to be born of a Virgin, &s;o we ought to &s;ee what care God took in his Laws, that the Birth of the Me&s;&s;iah, e|ven in this very Article, might not be a Fact too difficult to be acknowledged and e&s;tabli&s;hed.</P>
<P>In the Fir&s;t Promi&s;e which God made to Man in the&s;e words, <HI>That the Seed of the Woman, &s;hould brui&s;e the Serpent's Head,</HI> being joyned with <HI>I&s;aiah</HI>'s
<PB N="242" REF="136">Prophe&s;ie, <HI>Behold, a Virgin &s;hall Conceive,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>I&s;.</HI> VII. It is vi&s;ible, that for the accompli&s;hment of the&s;e Oracles, one ought to &s;uppo&s;e, that the Me&s;&s;iah mu&s;t be born of a Virgin, as the Chri&s;ti|ans profe&s;s to believe: Why &s;hould God otherwi&s;e have taken care, to in&s;inuate from the very be|ginning of the World, that the Me&s;&s;iah was to be born of the &s;eed of a Woman, without mention|ing any thing of a Man, if he had not &s;uppo&s;ed, that he &s;hould be born, without the Operation of a Man? And why &s;hould <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> propo&s;e the Con|ceiving of a Virgin, as an Effect wholly Superna|tural?</P>
<P>In &s;hort, God did therefore by his Laws not only &s;ecure the State of Virginity, that this thing might not be ambiguous when it &s;hould be accompli&s;hed, but (as we &s;hall &s;ee here) he has by the&s;e Laws made it extreamly Illu&s;trious.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, Be&s;ides that, God would have the pu|ni&s;hment of Death inflicted upon them that were at any time found guilty of &s;ins again&s;t nature,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. XXII. Deut. XXII. Levit. XVIII. Levit. XX. Deut. XXIII. 17.</NOTE> as al&s;o upon them, that &s;hould be proved to have had any ince&s;tuous Commerce with tho&s;e that were nearly related to them, and to whom either the nearne&s;s of Blood, or of Affinity, gave them a more free, and familiar acce&s;s. He moreover, &s;traitly commanded, that all Pro&s;titutes &s;hould be put to death without any mercy.</P>
<P>Secondly, He is not only contented to forbid Fornication and Adultery in general, by condemn|ing to death,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. XXII. Levit. XX. Deut. XXII.</NOTE> tho&s;e that expre&s;ly &s;hould be convicted of it, and by awarding the &s;ame Sentence again&s;t him that &s;hould happen to corrupt a Contracted Virgin, and the Virgin her &s;elf. But he al&s;o hin|ders
<PB N="243" REF="136">Men by two ways from falling into &s;ins of im|purity, he permitted, on the one hand, a Divorce where the Wife did not plea&s;e her Husband, and on the other hand he allowed of Polygamy. This Toleration made that Virgins on the one &s;ide, not remaining too long Unmarried were not apt to be ea&s;ily corrupted, and on the other &s;ide Men were not very forward to debauch tho&s;e Women whom they did not intend to Marry, or to keep when Married, for he that was compelled to Marry a Virgin whom he had &s;educed,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut. XXII.</NOTE> was expre&s;ly for|bidden to put her away for ever after.</P>
<P>It is natural to ob&s;erve the de&s;ign of tho&s;e Laws among&s;t the people of the <HI>Jews.</HI> In &s;hort,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ma&s;&s;ec. Avoth.</HI> c. 5.</NOTE> the de&s;ire of I&s;&s;ue made them Marry very young; mo&s;t of the Men were Married at eighteen years of Age.</P>
<P>Therefore all Virgins thought it a &s;hame to be unmarried; therefore God makes them &s;peak in the third of <HI>I&s;aiah,</HI> in that manner, when &s;even Women would marry one Man, without asking any thing for Diet, or Cloaths, provided only that he would take away that reproach of living without having Children. 'Twas this de&s;ire of Po&s;terity, which made the Women look upon bar|renne&s;s as a Cur&s;e.</P>
<P>Again, this vehement de&s;ire of Children made Eunuchs to be regarded,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Lucian de Evnuch,</HI> p. 537. <HI>Lucian de Dea Syri&acirc;.</HI> p. 1069.</NOTE> as Men particularly ab|horred of God, not only by the <HI>Jews,</HI> but al&s;o by the Heathens them&s;elves: Altho afterwards they pa&s;&s;ed for Holy Men, becau&s;e they de&s;igned to imitate what (as they were told) had happened to <HI>Noah,</HI> by his Son <HI>Ham,</HI> which introduced the Cu&s;tom among&s;t the <HI>A&s;&s;yrians</HI> of Ca&s;trating
<PB N="244" REF="137">them&s;elves, that they might be Prie&s;ts.</P>
<P>Thirdly,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut. XXII.</NOTE> God commanded, that any Virgin which was Betrothed to a Husband, and was cor|rupted in her Father's Hou&s;e, or that was Ravi&s;hed without calling for help, &s;hould be puni&s;hed with Death; &s;o that all the Virgins were indi&s;pen&s;ably engaged for fear of lo&s;ing both Life and Honour together, to pre&s;erve their Virginity with all po&s;|&s;ible care.</P>
<P>But here is a fourth Law concerning this matter, whereby God obliged the Parents of all contra|cted Virgins to take a more than ordinary care of them, when he commands <HI>Deut.</HI> XXII. 21. <HI>That a Virgin for whom the Tokens of Virginity were not found, &s;hould be brought out to the door of her Father's Hou&s;e, and there be &s;toned to death, by the Men of the City,</HI> for &s;o her Parents were by that means, made partakers of the puni&s;hment of her Crime, and their negligence, was &s;everely puni&s;h'd by &s;uch a &s;hameful Execution as di&s;honoured their whole Fa|mily.</P>
<P>Fifthly, God &s;ubmitted Women to the Exami|nation of their Husbands to whom they were Married: Nay, one would think that he intended to rai&s;e the Jealou&s;ie of Husbands, when he gives them leave to bring their Wives to a publick Tryal, and to puni&s;h them with Death, when they did not pre&s;erve the Tokens of their Virginity.</P>
<P>It was for that rea&s;on that he commanded, that the Parents or near Relations of the young Married Women thus complained of,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut. XXII.</NOTE> &s;hould pro|duce upon all &s;uch occa&s;ions the Tokens of the Virginity of tho&s;e Daughters which they di&s;po&s;ed in Marriage, which was u&s;ually done with many
<PB N="245" REF="137">Solemn Circum&s;tances and Formalities.</P>
<P>And here are three things, which de&s;erve to be attentively con&s;idered.</P>
<P>The Fir&s;t is the Cu&s;tom that was among&s;t the <HI>Jews</HI> for Parents never to let their Virgin Daugh|ters go out of their Hou&s;es, which Cu&s;tom made them be called <HI>Concealed,</HI> in oppo&s;ition to tho&s;e that went abroad; that is, that were Pro&s;ti|tutes.</P>
<P>The Second is another Cu&s;tom which the ju&s;t de&s;ire of pre&s;erving the Virginity of their Daugh|ters again&s;t all Accidents, had introduced among&s;t that People, which was, that all their Virgins did wear a &s;ort of Fetters, which are called in the <HI>Talmud, Cevalim,</HI> which are di&s;cribed by the fa|mous <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> the Son of <HI>Maimon,</HI> in this manner: <HI>Cevalim &s;unt compedes in forma peri&s;celidis,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ad Ma&s;&s;ec. Sabbath.</HI> c. 6. J 4.</NOTE> <HI>inter quos interpo&s;uerunt catenulas, illis compedibus ornabant &s;e Virgines, ut non incederent pa&s;&s;u magno, ne contige|ret ip&s;is damnum in Virginitate &s;ua.</HI> This De&s;cripti|on may be thought to be one of the fooli&s;h phan|cies of the modern <HI>Jews,</HI> if we did not meet with proofs of the practice of that Cu&s;tom in more ancient times. In &s;hort, one &s;ee's in the third of <HI>I&s;aiah,</HI> that Chains are reckon'd up among&s;t other Ornaments of the Daughters of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> which God threatneth to take away from them, when he would force them to go Captives into <HI>Babylon.</HI></P>
<P>The Third is an ancient Tradition mentioned in the <HI>Pirke Eliezer</HI> in the XVI. Chapter, <HI>Solent I&s;raelitae digito educere Virginitatem, ne incidant in dubitationem vel &s;u&s;picionem, juxta illud,</HI> Sumat Pa|ter, &amp; Mater puellae, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>In a word, it &s;eems, that for fear lea&s;t the&s;e To|kens
<PB N="246" REF="138">of Virginity &s;hould be thought to be ob&s;cure and ambiguous by their Husbands, that God has provided for the &s;ecuring of the Virginity of their young Women before Marriage by a Miracle, the experience whereof was ordinary and common a|mong&s;t &s;o jealous a people.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Numb. V. <HI>Jo&s;eph.</HI> l. 3. <HI>Antiq.</HI> p. 95.</NOTE> I mean, the Waters of Jealou&s;ie, which all Women who&s;e Carriage was &s;u&s;pected by their Husbands, were obliged to drink, by which God did either miraculou&s;ly ju|&s;tifie them, or el&s;e he began to inflict a puni&s;hment upon them, which was &s;o much the more dread|ful and exemplary, as it proceeded from the hand of God him&s;elf. This Miracle la&s;ted to the de|&s;truction of the &s;econd Temple, as the <HI>Jews</HI> them&s;elves tells us in that Title of their <HI>Talmud,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Sota</HI> c. 9.</NOTE> which concerns Women &s;u&s;pected of Adul|tery.</P>
<P>However, as God works no Miracles without great rea&s;ons, &s;o he here made a Law, the ob&s;er|vance whereof was very rigorous, which was, that he would not &s;uffer any Women to be Marri|ed when there was the lea&s;t probability, that they had their Cour&s;es, but that they &s;hould be &s;epara|ted at that time, as unclean.</P>
<P>The Rea&s;on of this Law was, becau&s;e it was then almo&s;t impo&s;&s;ible, but that the lewd Women might have impo&s;ed upon their Husbands, in the Marks of their Virginity, which at that time are very uncertain; not to &s;ay, that as a politick Law|giver, he might pre&s;cribe the ob&s;ervation of this Law, lea&s;t the Common-wealth of the <HI>Jews</HI> &s;hould have been over&s;tocked with weak, and &s;ickly people.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, one &s;ee's that God him&s;elf has fa&s;tned
<PB N="247" REF="138">a Blot upon Leprous per&s;ons,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>I&s;idor. Pelus</HI> l. 5. Ep. 117. <HI>Jo&s;eph. An|tiq</HI> l. 3 p. 94.</NOTE> becau&s;e they were &s;uppo&s;ed to have been Conceived when their Mo|thers had their Cour&s;es: And hereupon was that Law of God founded, which debarred Lepers for ever from the Right of coming into the Congrega|tions of his people.</P>
<P>One ought to make the &s;ame Ob&s;ervation upon tho&s;e that were unlawfully begotten, for they were deprived of the Right of entring into the Congregation, and how innocent &s;oever they were, as to the lewdne&s;s of tho&s;e who gave them their Lives; yet they were thus with them made partakers of the puni&s;hment of their &s;in.</P>
<P>If one con&s;iders all the&s;e &s;everal Laws attentive|ly, one &s;hall find on the one hand, that &s;everal of them were of very little moment, except we &s;up|po&s;e, that God intended to &s;ecure the &s;tate of Vir|ginity by them beyond all danger: And on the other hand, one &s;hall find that &s;ome of them are very &s;evere about things, which do not &s;eem to de&s;erve &s;o terrible a rigour.</P>
<P>But if we con&s;ider them according to God's de|&s;ign, as he hath afterwards particularly explained it. They will appear, I am confident, to be all very worthy of the Wi&s;dom of &s;uch a Law|giver.</P>
<P>One needs only reflect upon that method of God, that I have now explained to &s;ee, that no|thing can be conceived to be better managed, than this Model according to the de&s;ign which God him&s;elf had drawn.</P>
<P>One may make the &s;ame Ob&s;ervations, and ex|amine the &s;ame &s;troaks of the Wi&s;dom of God, in &s;everal other precautions, which he made u&s;e of
<PB N="248" REF="139">to make the Me&s;&s;iah be perfectly di&s;tingui&s;h'd ac|cording to the &s;everal Characters under which he was to be propo&s;ed afterwards by the Mini&s;try of the Prophets.</P>
<P>One &s;ees, that the Me&s;&s;iah being to be born of a Virgin, was to be a fir&s;t-born, and for that rea|&s;on, we find many Laws which di&s;tingui&s;h in ge|neral, the priviledges of the fir&s;t-born.</P>
<P>So it appears by the XVIII of <HI>Deuteronomy,</HI> that the Me&s;&s;iah was to be a Prophet; and therefore, God afterwards gave notice by the Prophets of all tho&s;e Lights which &s;hould particularly appear in him. In pro&s;pect of this, God gave by the Mi|ni&s;try of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> &s;uch Characters as would di&s;tin|gui&s;h the true Prophets from tho&s;e who endeavou|red to u&s;urp that Name.</P>
<P>It appears al&s;o, that becau&s;e God was to Com|municate to the Me&s;&s;iah, a power of working Mi|racles (which <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> intimates, by &s;aying, that he was to be a Prophet like unto him.) Therefore <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> &s;pecifies the Character of tho&s;e Miracles in XXXV. Chapter of his Prophe&s;ie, and God ex|plains in particular, the Laws concerning the Blind and the Lame, and for the &s;ame Rea&s;on, he gives an account of all &s;orts of Lepro&s;ie, that it might be di&s;tinctly known which was incurable.</P>
<P>It is ea&s;ie to tho&s;e who will attend to the Laws of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> to &s;ee that they were &s;ub&s;ervient to this de&s;ign of God, in pur&s;uance of tho&s;e Pro&s;pects which we have already &s;et down.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="21" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="249" REF="139">
<HEAD>CHAP. XXI.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"> <HI>That it was the de&s;ign of God by all the&s;e Cere|monies, and particularly by that Veneration which he in&s;pired the</HI> Jews <HI>with, for the Ta|bernacle to pre&s;erve the Ideas of the Me&s;&s;iah, whom he had promi&s;ed, in their minds, by di|&s;tingui&s;hing them from all other Nations.</HI></HEAD>
<P>AFter all tho&s;e Ob&s;ervations which I have made upon the &s;everal Laws that God made u&s;e of to execute his de&s;ign of fixing his people to a certain place, and there to keep them &s;eparate; it is natural to judge, that the Ceremonial Laws which he gave them for the regulating their out|ward Wor&s;hip, were al&s;o intended for the &s;ame end. This I mu&s;t &s;hew in re&s;pect of the Holi|ne&s;s which God a&s;cribes to the Land of <HI>Canaan,</HI> and in re&s;pect of the whole Service of the Taber|nacle, of its Mi&s;terious Con&s;truction in all its parts: And in re&s;pect al&s;o of the rai&s;ing of the Material Temple afterwards, to be as it were the Center of their whole Religion.</P>
<P>It was certainly for this purpo&s;e, that he parti|cularly Con&s;ecrated &s;everal things to him&s;elf, as the fir&s;t fruits, and the fir&s;t-born, and that he &s;et apart certain times, as the fir&s;t day of the Month, and certain Solemn Fea&s;ts, be&s;ides the Sabbath|day, which was Celebrated long before. And he al&s;o Con&s;ecrated &s;everal places, as the Towns of
<PB N="250" REF="140">refuge; and yet more particularly, the Taberna|cle and the Temple: But it was e&s;pecially for that rea&s;on, that he had Con&s;ecrated certain Rites and Ceremonies, certain Sacrifices, both of Animate and Inanimate things, and certain Offerings of Gold, and Silver, Perfumes, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>One &s;ee's, that he rejected any fir&s;t fruits that did not grow in the Land of <HI>Canaan:</HI> One &s;ee's, that tho &s;ome Sacrifices were common to the <HI>Jews</HI> and their Neighbours, yet he di&s;tingui&s;h'd them by &s;o many Circum&s;tances, that they were much different from the others: Thus he forbids them to make u&s;e of Statues before which other Nati|ons u&s;ed to Sacrifice at that time, and he com|manded them not to Sacrifice upon high places, where the Heathens u&s;ed to make their Offerings very early in the Morning, at Sun-ri&s;e, which gave ri&s;e to their Wor&s;hip of the Ri&s;ing Sun.</P>
<P>But there is nothing more di&s;covers the de&s;ign of God, than the Laws by which he fixed their Wor&s;hip, fir&s;t to the Tabernacle, and afterwards to the Temple, at the places where God did parti|cularly re&s;ide. One may &s;ay, that it was for that rea&s;on, God commanded the repre&s;entations of Angels, and of his Law, and of the Manna to be pre&s;erved there, all which be&s;ides, that they were Memorials of the Ancient Apparitions, and fa|vours of God to that people, they were expre&s;s fi|gures of God's Glory, of his Will, and of his mi|raculous power; he added al&s;o a Candle&s;tick with &s;even Branches, a Table covered with Loaves, and an Altar of Incen&s;e, which were figures of the Se|ven Planets of this vi&s;ible World, of the Ble&s;&s;ings which we enjoy by Nature, and of tho&s;e acknow|ledgments
<PB N="251" REF="140">which we owe unto God for all the&s;e: He commanded al&s;o, that none &s;hould offer Sa|crifices, in any other place except the Temple.</P>
<P>He would not permit that any but tho&s;e who were purified according to the Law &s;hould enter into it, he excluded all Uncircumci&s;ed per&s;ons for ever, as <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> had formerly been commanded to pull off his Shooes in the De&s;ert, at his approach|ing to the burning Bu&s;h, &s;o every one that enter|ed into the Temple was to enter barefoot, as a mark of that re&s;pect which had formerly been exacted of <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI></P>
<P>And what other rea&s;on but that, could oblige him to give both at the Con&s;ecration of the Tem|ple, and afterwards &s;o many &s;en&s;ible Marks of his pre&s;ence; that Cloud which was called his Glory re&s;ted there. The <HI>Urim</HI> and <HI>Thummim</HI> which was an Oracle for that whole Nation, was there; there was a daily Sacrifice offered up for the whole Peo|ple, there were celebrated the three Solemn Fea&s;ts of the Pa&s;&s;over, of Penteco&s;t, and of Taberna|cles, he forbid them to Sacrifice any where el&s;e, and he gave frequent, and illu&s;trious Oracles at that place.</P>
<P>One ought al&s;o to ob&s;erve, that after his Tem|ple (to which all the glory of the Tabernacle was tran&s;mitted) was fixed at <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> he ordered it to be &s;uch a &s;en&s;ible mark of his pre&s;ence, that when we read the Hi&s;tory of <HI>I&s;rael</HI>'s March in the De&s;art, we find, that the Tabernacle was the I|mage of the Temple, and built after its Model; &s;o that as the Tabernacle &s;tood always in the mid&s;t of the Tents of the <HI>Levites,</HI> and the <HI>Levites</HI> in the mid&s;t of the whole Camp of all the Tribes of
<PB N="252" REF="141"><HI>I&s;rael,</HI> who were all li&s;ted under their proper Stand|ards: So one &s;ee's afterwards, that the Temple, the <HI>Levites,</HI> and the people of <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> were pla|ced, according to their different degrees of Holi|ne&s;s, as they were to approach to the mo&s;t Holy place, which was the Habitation of his Holi|ne&s;s.</P>
<P>Certainly, one may &s;ay, that the building up of a Tabernacle, or of a Temple, &s;eems to be di|rectly contrary to the nature of Religion, accord|ing to which, God who is a Spirit, will be Wor|&s;hipped in Spirit, and in Truth: So that this &s;eems to have been quitted for a time, when he com|manded the building of a Tabernacle.</P>
<P>But really there was nothing more agreeable to the de&s;ign which God had formed at fir&s;t, as to that people; he intended to make it vi&s;ible, and it appears, that nothing could be more effectual to make it &s;o, than the double nece&s;&s;ity to which that whole People was reduced to, to meet in a Body &s;everal times every year in the &s;ame place, and to offer all their Sacrifices in the Tabernacle, and to be there perpetually employed in the Ceremonial Service, which did in&s;eparably draw them thi|ther, and fix them there.</P>
<P>The end of all tho&s;e vi&s;ible A&s;&s;emblies, was to perpetuate the knowledge of the principal Veri|ties of their Religion, and e&s;pecially to renew per|petually, the hopes of that people, as to the Me&s;|&s;iah, who was promi&s;ed to them from God.</P>
<P>For God having &s;hortned the long Lifes which Men commonly enjoy'd in the beginning, before they went out of <HI>Egypt,</HI> &s;o that five or &s;ix per&s;ons could no longer pre&s;erve the Tradition of 2000
<PB N="253" REF="141">years, as they had done till <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s time, God was of nece&s;&s;ity obliged to make u&s;e of &s;ome other means to &s;upply that defect.</P>
<P>He had already made u&s;e of &s;everal before, a|mong&s;t which, was that which we find pre&s;cribed <HI>Deut.</HI> XXVII. where he ordered the building of an Altar with rough &s;tones, whereupon the Names of the twelve Tribes, and the whole Law were to be ingraved.</P>
<P>He afterwards follow'd other Methods, and thus we &s;ee, that <HI>Samuel</HI> following <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and <HI>Jo|&s;huah</HI>'s Example, repeats before a Solemn A&s;&s;em|bly of the people met at <HI>Gilgal,</HI> for the Con&s;e|cration of <HI>Saul,</HI> the things that came to pa&s;s du|ring the Government of <HI>Bedan</HI> or <HI>Samp&s;on,</HI> of <HI>Jepthah</HI> and his own.</P>
<P>But yet the be&s;t way was to fix this people to one Tabernacle, wherein we &s;ee that be&s;ides the Monuments which pre&s;erved the Memory of the great Miracles that God had wrought at the Foun|dation of the <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Common-wealth, as the Pot of Manna, <HI>Aaron</HI>'s Rod that blo&s;&s;om'd, the Plates of the Altar that had been made out of the Cen|&s;ers of <HI>Corah, Dathan,</HI> and their Confederates.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's, that the Law, and the Books of the Covenant were depo&s;ited there by God's order, and the principal Tran&s;actions and Deliverances that were wrought by God in the behalf of that people, were continually Celebrated with Hymns and other Tokens of publick Thankfulne&s;s.</P>
<P>It was, no doubt, upon this account, that he cau&s;ed the Book of the Law to be laid up there, with many Ceremonies and Expiations; and that he enjoyned it to be read publickly in the pre&s;ence
<PB N="254" REF="142">of the whole Congregation every &s;even years. One &s;ee's, that he commanded, that every Fami|ly &s;hould read this Book continually, and that all &s;hould entertain their Wives and Children from their tendere&s;t years, with the de&s;ign of the Law, Night, and Day, in the Countrey, and in the Town, at all times, and in all places.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's, that God engaged them to it not only by an expre&s;s command, but al&s;o by an in|di&s;pen&s;ible nece&s;&s;ity, becau&s;e he made it death for any Man to violate any of tho&s;e Ceremonial Laws, from a principle of ob&s;tinacy, no pardon could be obtained for the Tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions commit|ted through ignorance, before they were expia|ted by certain Sacrifices, the Forms whereof were &s;crupulou&s;ly pre&s;cribed in the Law, and which could be violated upon no account whatever.</P>
<P>If one con&s;iders tho&s;e things, he may &s;ay, that the <HI>Jews</HI> had &s;carce one moment free in their Lives, &s;o pre&s;&s;ing was the nece&s;&s;ity which lay upon them to con&s;ult the Law of God, the regulations of which were &s;o very exact and particular, that there, no actions publick, or private, could hap|pen, but what were regulated, and determined by tho&s;e Con&s;titutions.</P>
<P>If a Bea&s;t was born, the Owner was to exa|mine whether it was the fir&s;t-born, or no, whither it was clean, or unclean, and whither it was to be Redeemed, with &s;everal other things of this nature.</P>
<P>If a Woman was big with Child, there were many que&s;tions to be asked: When &s;he came to Lie-in, &s;everal very different Ceremonies were practis'd, according as the Child was a fir&s;t-born,
<PB N="255" REF="142">or not. The Law enjoyned various Purifications according as the Woman brought forth, a Son or a Daughter.</P>
<P>God had pre&s;cribed a great number of Laws for all the Accidents of Life, for Marriages, for Succe&s;&s;ions, for Funerals, for Mourning, for un|fore&s;een Accidents, as the Death of a Man that was kill'd without the de&s;ign of his Murtherer, for the &s;everal Crimes that might be committed, in their &s;everal Pollutions, and Seque&s;trations, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>It &s;eems, that this whole people, from the time that they came, to the u&s;e of their rea&s;on, to the time of their Death, was &s;till continually obliged to keep up a Corre&s;pondence with the Prie&s;ts and <HI>Levites,</HI> whom God had for this purpo&s;e di&s;per&s;ed among&s;t all the Tribes of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> and to con&s;ult the Law and the Te&s;timony to be in&s;tructed in the manner of governing them&s;elves: But particular|ly, they were to look upon the Temple and the Tabernacle, as the Center of their whole Reli|gion: And how could they do this, without car|rying their Pro&s;pect at the &s;ame time to tho&s;e great Promi&s;es of the Me&s;&s;iah, of which the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> were Depo&s;itaries: I &s;ay, upon tho&s;e Promi&s;es, which rai&s;ed up &s;o many Jealou&s;ies betwixt their Forefathers, and the Ance&s;tors of tho&s;e Neigh|bouring Nations, with whom they had always &s;ome Controver&s;ie, and were to be con&s;idered as glorious and honourable to the whole Nation.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="22" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="256" REF="143">
<HEAD>CHAP. XXII.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"> <HI>That it appears by the Books of</HI> Mo&s;es, <HI>that this whole Model which God had framed, was to la&s;t but until the coming of the Me&s;&s;iah.</HI></HEAD>
<P>BUt if we find in <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Law a &s;evere re&s;tricti|on in all that belongs to the execution of the Promi&s;e of the Me&s;&s;iah (which &s;hews, that God intended to have that Nation di&s;tingni&s;h'd from all others, till the Ble&s;&s;ed Seed was come;) if we find, that he re&s;trained that Promi&s;e to one Tribe, one Town, one Family, one particular individu|al per&s;on in that Family, that they might not be to &s;eek in a confu&s;ed Crowd of a whole people, made up of &s;everal Millions of per&s;ons, or in a whole Tribe, or even in a City filled up with &s;eve|ral Families: If upon this account his Birth was re&s;trained to one People, one Tribe, one little Town, and one &s;ingle Family which was &s;etled there, the <HI>Jews</HI> could not but ob&s;erve, that it was God's de&s;ign to break all tho&s;e Re&s;trictions, and to follow quite another Method, when the Me&s;&s;iah was once come.</P>
<P>For in the Fir&s;t place, the fir&s;t Promi&s;e of the Me&s;&s;iah, was expre&s;s'd in very general Terms, which mentioned a common benefit to all the Sons of <HI>Adam.</HI> This Promi&s;e was made before God had rejected <HI>Cain</HI>'s Po&s;terity, by preferring that of <HI>Seth;</HI> it was made before the Re&s;triction was made to <HI>Noah</HI> in <HI>Seth</HI>'s Family, and to <HI>Shem</HI> in <HI>Noah</HI>'s Family.</P>
<PB N="257" REF="143">
<P>Secondly, God, who by Circumci&s;ion had di|&s;tingui&s;hed <HI>Abraham</HI> and his Po&s;terity from the re&s;t of the Family of <HI>Sem,</HI> did expre&s;ly promi&s;e to <HI>Abraham,</HI> that in his Seed all the Nations of the World &s;hould be ble&s;&s;ed: This Promi&s;e was made al&s;o, before God had re&s;trained the Promi&s;e to the per&s;on <HI>I&s;aac</HI> in prejudice of <HI>I&s;hmael,</HI> and then afterwards to the per&s;on of <HI>Jacob,</HI> in the prejudice of <HI>E&s;au.</HI></P>
<P>Thirdly, One &s;ee's this &s;ame Truth yet more clearly explained out of <HI>Jacob</HI>'s Oracle concerning <HI>Judah, Gen.</HI> XLIX. wherein <HI>Jacob</HI> expre&s;ly fore|tels, that the Me&s;&s;iah &s;hould be the expectation of the Nations; that is to &s;ay, the Comfort, the Glory, the Hope, and the Joy of all the Nations of the Univer&s;e.</P>
<P>As this was a Capital Truth, &s;o God propo&s;ed it by <HI>Balaam,</HI> at the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> entring into <HI>Canaan,</HI> that they might thus under&s;tand, that all tho&s;e di|&s;tinctions, which their &s;eparation living in <HI>Canaan</HI> from the re&s;t of the World, might keep up, were not always to la&s;t.</P>
<P>But this particularly appears out of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Law, which allows of &s;everal &s;orts of Pro&s;elytes, recei|ving &s;ome without tying them to the ob&s;ervance of all the Ceremonies in the Law, which it would never have done, if it had been ab&s;olutely nece&s;|&s;ary to be a <HI>Jew</HI> before they have a &s;hare in the benefits of the Promi&s;e.</P>
<P>Secondly, It &s;uppo&s;es, that God was to remove that People out of <HI>Canaan</HI> into remote Countreys, and to di&s;per&s;e them, as it were, into the uttermo&s;t parts of the World, which was done by Divine Providence, only to publi&s;h the Promi&s;e of the
<PB N="258" REF="144">Me&s;&s;iah, to e&s;tabli&s;h the Belief in the Prophets&punc; and &s;o to facilitate the calling of the Gentiles to the Faith.</P>
<P>Thirdly, He declares expre&s;ly, as St. <HI>Paul</HI> ob|&s;erves, that he was to call his people, that which was not his people, that he might by that means provoke the people of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> to Jealou&s;ie. This Notion of Jealou&s;ie mentioned by St. <HI>Paul,</HI> de|&s;erves to be taken notice of with very great care, if we reflect upon the Spirit of Jealou&s;ie, which reigned among&s;t the <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI> and their Neigh|bours.</P>
<P>I &s;hall take notice in another place of the great number of Oracles of <HI>David</HI> upon the &s;ame Sub|ject, altho he otherwi&s;e in&s;ults upon the <HI>Moabites,</HI> and <HI>Edomites,</HI> upon all occa&s;ions, and &s;hews as much Aver&s;ion, and Jealou&s;ie again&s;t tho&s;e Nati|ons, as was po&s;&s;ible for one that lived in a conti|nual War with tho&s;e people.</P>
<P>I &s;hall al&s;o make &s;ome Reflexions upon <HI>Solomon</HI>'s Marriage with the Prince&s;&s;es of <HI>Tyre,</HI> of <HI>Sidon,</HI> and of <HI>Egypt;</HI> that is to &s;ay, with the Po&s;terity of <HI>Ham,</HI> which was united to that of <HI>Judah,</HI> to take a part with them in the Ble&s;&s;ing; from whence it came to pa&s;s, that the Song that was written upon that Marriage, was pre&s;erved as a piece divinely in&s;pi|red, and ought to be con&s;idered, as a happy pre|&s;age of the calling of the Gentiles to the Commu|nion of the Me&s;&s;iah.</P>
<P>One may al&s;o joyn here the manner of <HI>Solomon</HI>'s giving to <HI>Hiram</HI>'s Subjects, who had helped him in the building of the Temple, the Countrey of <HI>Chabul,</HI> which was inclo&s;ed within <HI>Judea,</HI> altho tho&s;e people were of the <HI>Canaanites</HI> Po&s;terity, up|on
<PB N="259" REF="144">whom <HI>Noah</HI> had particularly pronounced,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. IX.</NOTE> <HI>Cur&s;ed be Canaan.</HI></P>
<P>One may al&s;o &s;ee, that as God had permitted his people to be Tran&s;ported into <HI>Chaldea,</HI> and <HI>Babylon,</HI> and had rai&s;ed up there Prophets among&s;t them on purpo&s;e to acquaint the World with the glorious hopes of the <HI>Jews,</HI> &s;o he cau&s;ed the Books of Scripture to be Tran&s;lated into Greek about 300 years before our Saviour's Birth, not only to prevent all &s;u&s;picion of fal&s;hood in the minds of the Gentiles, if they were produced of a &s;uddain after the Birth of the Me&s;&s;iah, but al&s;o to in&s;truct the Heathens by little and little of the Right which all Nations had as well as the <HI>Jews</HI> to that Pro|mi&s;e; that they might take their &s;hare in it when|ever they &s;hould be invited to it by God, and e|&s;pecially to take away the Scandal which was to follow upon God's de&s;troying the Form of that Commonwealth by the <HI>Romans,</HI> according to <HI>Da|niels</HI> Prediction.</P>
<P>All the&s;e things, no doubt, engaged the <HI>Jews</HI> who read the Books of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> to make particular Remarks upon them.</P>
<P>But they ought to have ob&s;erved three things e&s;pecially: The Fir&s;t was, That altho God had at fir&s;t cho&s;en their whole Nation, yet he was plea&s;ed to di&s;per&s;e afterwards almo&s;t ten parts of thirteen; which plainly &s;hew'd, that this choice which he had made, was only an Oeconomical choice, and for a particular de&s;ign.</P>
<P>The Second is, That altho he was very &s;evere and punctual in exacting obedience to the Cere|monial Service, yet he had fixed the mo&s;t part of their ob&s;ervances to certain places, to certain
<PB N="260" REF="145">times, and to certain per&s;ons: It was ea&s;ie to judge, that when God bounded them in this man|ner, it was only for an Oeconomical Service pre|&s;cribed only upon a particular pro&s;pect, which was one day to have an end.</P>
<P>The Third is, That experience convinced them that altho God &s;eemed to have fixed his Service to the Temple, yet he &s;uffered the <HI>Chaldeans</HI> to de|&s;troy the fir&s;t, and did not re&s;tore to the &s;econd, the fir&s;t Marks of his pre&s;ence, when it was re|built by the order of <HI>Cyrus.</HI></P>
<P>From whence it was natural to conclude, that &s;uch a glory as retired by little and little from that place which God had cho&s;en, was only de&s;ign'd to be there for a time, till God &s;hould extend his Service, by calling all the World to his Religion, and &s;o making the whole Univer&s;e his Temple, as we &s;ee it done in our days, by the calling of the Gentiles to the Religion of our Saviour.</P>
</DIV2>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="145">
<P>REFLEXIONS Upon the BOOKS OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURE To E&s;tabli&s;h the TRUTH OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION.</P>
<P>Volume II.</P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed for <HI>Richard Chi&s;well</HI> at the <HI>Ro&s;e</HI> and <HI>Crown</HI> in St. <HI>Paul</HI>'s Church-yard. MDCLXXXVIII.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="preface">
<PB REF="146">
<PB REF="146">
<HEAD>THE PREFACE.</HEAD>
<P>IN my Reflexions upon the Book of <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> I have &s;hewed the means God made u&s;e of to imprint the Idea's of the Creation of the World, and the Promi&s;e of the Me&s;&s;iah, during that long Tract of <HI>2500</HI> years, before the Chil|dren of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> departed out of <HI>Egypt,</HI> and before the Hi&s;tory of it was penn'd by <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI></P>
<P>They that con&s;ider that God at fir&s;t pre&s;cribed the Law of the Sabbath, to fix the belief of the Creation of the World, and that this Law hath been con&s;tantly ob&s;erved &s;ince the beginning of the World, until <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and is &s;till to this day ob|&s;erved among&s;t the <HI>Jews,</HI> ea&s;ily apprehend, that this Fact of the Creation, could not be more in|conte&s;tably proved, or more firmly grounded.</P>
<P>In like manner an attentive Reflexion upon the Oracles which I have mention'd, and which alone at first were the foundation and hope of the Re|ligion
<PB REF="147">of the Patriarchs, and were afterwards re|corded in the Book of <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> is &s;ufficient to per&s;wade any one, that it was impo&s;&s;ible, but the memory of the Promi&s;e of the Me&s;&s;iah, &s;hould be deeply engraven in the minds of the <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI> tho' we &s;hould &s;uppo&s;e, that the Spirit of Jea|lou&s;ie, which God had rai&s;ed among&s;t the &s;eve|ral Pretenders to the execution of that great Promi&s;e, did not much contribute to pre&s;erve the remembrance of it; as I have &s;hown very carefully, that it was very u&s;eful for that pur|po&s;e.</P>
<P>I have in my Reflexions afterwards proved upon the four last Books of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> that God pro&s;ecuted the &s;ame de&s;ign in the Laws which he gave to the People of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> as well as in the peculiar Forms and Regulations of their Govern|ment and Religion; the great de&s;ign of which Rules, was only that the Me&s;&s;iah at his ap|pearance in the World, might be unque&s;tionably known.</P>
<P>Whoever &s;hall read the Reflexions which I have made upon this matter, will ea&s;ily per|ceive, that the long Life of the Patriarchs, was of great efficacy, to make &s;o fre&s;h and lively an impre&s;&s;ion of tho&s;e illu&s;trious Facts, the Creation of the World, and the Promi&s;e of the Me&s;&s;iah, that there was no need of very frequent Oracles to confirm the &s;ame, as indeed we find that in
<PB REF="147">the &s;pace of <HI>2553</HI> years, only five or &s;ix prin|cipal Oracles were given, which have a particu|lar Relation to the Me&s;&s;iah, as I &s;hall &s;hew after|wards.</P>
<P>Now this Reflexion being once &s;uppo&s;ed, as the Life of Man was afterwards con&s;iderably &s;hort|ned at the time of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> &s;o one may judge, that this Promi&s;e ought to be more frequently propo&s;ed, and more clearly explained. And we ought to &s;uppo&s;e that in proportion to the delaying of the Promi&s;e, and the &s;hortne&s;s of Mens Lives which di&s;couraged their hopes of ever &s;eeing a Promi&s;e fulfilled, which their Ance&s;tors who&s;e Lives were much longer, could never attain to the more di&s;tinct knowledge which God gave of this great object, was in order to &s;tir up &s;trong de&s;ires in the minds of the <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI> as well as of the <HI>Gentiles,</HI> to whom God was afterwards to renew the Ideas of it: and con&s;equently we find, that a greater number of Oracles and Prophe&s;ies, were required from time to time, to entertain and &s;trengthen the belief of a Promi&s;e, the accompli&s;hment whereof was &s;o con&s;iderably deferred.</P>
<P>And indeed, this was exactly the Method which God followed, the Spirit of Prophe&s;ie having in a mo&s;t illu&s;trious manner been employ'd to pre&s;erve the Idea's of the Promi&s;e of the Me&s;&s;iah, and to increa&s;e them in the minds of the <HI>Jews,</HI> until the time of the accompli&s;hment it &s;elf; and God hath
<PB REF="148">&s;o exactly &s;et down by the Prophets, the &s;everal parts of his de&s;ign, as there needs not be after|wards any difficulty in di&s;cerning the pro&s;ecution of that de&s;ign which he had formed at fir&s;t.</P>
<P>I intend in this Third part of my Reflexions on the Writings of the Old Te&s;tament to explain this Method which God hath followed, in &s;hew|ing how he hath accommodated him&s;elf to the state of the <HI>Jews,</HI> whom he had made the Depo|&s;itaries of his Oracles, and proportioned them to their under&s;tanding and de&s;ires.</P>
<P>For the more happy execution of this De&s;ign, and a clearer di&s;covery of this Conduct of God, which &s;eems &s;omewhat ob&s;cured, by intermixing the&s;e Predictions concerning the Me&s;&s;iah, with a great number of Events, during that Series of Ages, whereof we have the History written by his own order: I think my &s;elf obliged first of all to explain the Rea&s;ons why God was plea&s;ed to interweave the Oracles which relate to the Me&s;|&s;iah, with other Matters, that &s;eem to be of a very different nature; and then &s;hall lay down the Rules which one ought to follow in applying the ancient Prophe&s;ies to the Me&s;&s;iah.</P>
<P>After the&s;e Preliminary Reflexions I &s;uppo&s;e, that in order to a fuller di&s;covery of the Series of God's de&s;ign and a more di&s;tinct knowledge of the Progre&s;s of the Revelation of this Matter, that I ought again to re&s;ume, and to &s;et before the
<PB REF="148">Eyes of the Reader, the five or &s;ix principal Oracles which God hath given concerning the Me&s;&s;iah, from the beginning of the World to <HI>Mo|&s;es,</HI> together with that Oracle which he uttered by the mouth of that illu&s;trious Legi&s;lator.</P>
<P>One will ea&s;ily judge without my undertaking to prove it, that the Idea's of the&s;e Oracles were familiar to the <HI>Jews,</HI> until <HI>David,</HI> during the &s;pace of <HI>400</HI> years, after which God began to di&s;cover the &s;ame more particularly, in choo&s;ing <HI>David</HI> to be the Per&s;on, in who&s;e Family that Prophecy &s;hould be accompli&s;hed, becau&s;e the Me&s;&s;iah was to be born of his Seed.</P>
<P>And &s;o I &s;hall immediately pa&s;s on to the con|&s;ideration of tho&s;e Oracles which <HI>David</HI> him&s;elf uttered on this Subject, which de&s;erve &s;o much the more attention, becau&s;e God, who at that time changed the Government of the <HI>Jews,</HI> did con&s;iderably augment the Idea's which the Anci|ents had concerning the Promi&s;e of the Me&s;&s;iah.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, I &s;hall collect under certain Heads tho&s;e Oracles which were uttered by the Pro|phets concerning the Me&s;&s;iah, &s;ome hundred of years before the Captivity of the <HI>Jews</HI> in <HI>Baby|lon,</HI> and &s;oon after; and fora&s;much as the Light concerning this matter was at that time much en|crea&s;ed, and the Oracles them&s;elves are much more clear and di&s;tinct, as giving many more par|ticular Characters of the Me&s;&s;iah, &s;o I &s;hall con|tent
<PB REF="149">my &s;elf briefly to touch upon them, in follow|ing the principal Characters which they give con|cerning the Me&s;&s;iah.</P>
<P>After which I &s;hall have nothing el&s;e to do, but to make &s;ome Reflexions upon the &s;tate of the <HI>Jews,</HI> from the time of the la&s;t of the Pro|phets, until that wherein the Chri&s;tians pretend that this Promi&s;e and the&s;e Oracles were accom|pli&s;hed in the per&s;on of our Lord Je&s;us Christ.</P>
<P>Tho' the multiplicity of the things which I am to handle, and which I intend to do with the greatne&s;s briefne&s;s that is po&s;&s;ible, might &s;eem to oblige me to omit the examining the &s;ucce&s;&s;ion of the Hi&s;tory of the <HI>Jews;</HI> yet God having been plea&s;ed to intermix the Hi&s;tory of the <HI>Jews,</HI> and many other Tran&s;actions, with the&s;e Prophe|cies, it obligeth me in this third part to make al&s;o &s;ome Reflexions upon the Historical Books of the <HI>Old Te&s;tament.</HI> And indeed, this will be of great u&s;e to prove the truth of the&s;e Oracles, and the manner how God hath con&s;tantly followed that Draught, which he at fir&s;t form'd to him&s;elf; as al&s;o to make it appear, that notwith&s;tanding the different Revolutions of the Jewi&s;h Common|wealth, he hath always continued tho&s;e Means, which he cho&s;e at fir&s;t, to facilitate the di&s;tinct knowledge of the Me&s;&s;iah, whenever he &s;hould ap|pear.</P>
<P>It is very nece&s;&s;ary to explain this Series of the
<PB REF="149">De&s;ign of God, to make the Authority of the&s;e Prophecies more firm and unmoveable; tho&s;e Laws, the ob&s;ervation of which &s;erved to di&s;tin|gui&s;h the Family of <HI>Judah,</HI> and that of the Me&s;|&s;iah, being &s;o many Boundaries and Limits, with|in which God was plea&s;ed to confine him&s;elf, that his Conduct in this matter might be the more ea&s;i|ly ob&s;ervable and known.</P>
<P>And fora&s;much as in my Reflexions upon the Books of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> I have begun by the firm e&s;ta|bli&s;hment of the Truth of tho&s;e Books, on which I made my Reflexions, without which that Work would have wanted all its &s;trength; &s;o I intend al&s;o in this part to follow the &s;ame Rule, and ac|cordingly I &s;hall at fir&s;t e&s;tabli&s;h the Truth of the Hi&s;torical and Prophetical Books of the <HI>Old Te&s;tament:</HI> for if one ought to prove that the&s;e Prophecies were well known and very famous, then it will be expected from me that I &s;hould &s;olidly demon&s;trate the Truth of tho&s;e Books in which tho&s;e Oracles are recorded, before I can of right conclude that the Facts which are related by other Authors, are the accompli&s;hment of the&s;e Prophe|cies.</P>
<P>This de&s;ign would naturally engage me to prove the Truth of every one of the&s;e Books in order particularly; but as I have not only proved the Truth of the Books of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> already, but that moreover I intend in my reflexions on the Books
<PB REF="150">of the <HI>New Te&s;tament,</HI> to demon&s;trate the Truth of them beyond all conte&s;t; and be&s;ides, that the Hi&s;torical and Prophetical Books of the <HI>Old Te&s;tament</HI> are &s;o e&s;&s;entially linked with tho&s;e of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and the Di&s;ciples of Je&s;us Christ, that it is impo&s;&s;ible to acknowledge the Truth of the one, without owning at the &s;ame time the Truth of the others, I believe I may be di&s;pen&s;ed with, as to the proving the Truth of every Book of the <HI>Old Te&s;tament</HI> in particular; And therefore becau&s;e I intend to be very &s;hort, I will confine my &s;elf to &s;ome general Reflexions upon tho&s;e Books of the <HI>Old Te&s;tament,</HI> which were writ &s;ince <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> but &s;uch, as I hope, will be &s;ufficient to &s;atisfie an equitable and intelligent Reader.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="table of contents">
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="part">
<PB REF="150">
<HEAD>THE CONTENTS OF THE CHAPTERS OF THE Fir&s;t Part of the Second Volume.</HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM>Chap. 1. <HI>THat there is in the Historical Writings of the Old Te&s;tament, an uninterrrupted Se|ries of Events, which have a natural and nece&s;&s;ary dependance for more than Ten Ages.</HI> Page 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 2. <HI>That there is a &s;trict Connexion between the Sacred Hi&s;tory, and the olde&s;t Monuments which we have of prophane Hi&s;tory.</HI> 8</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 3. <HI>That there is an uninterrupted Series of E|vents foretold by the Sacred Oracles, of which we may &s;ee a very great number accompli&s;hed in every Age.</HI> 15</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 4. <HI>That how common &s;oever Oracles may have been among&s;t the Pagans, yet nothing among&s;t them can ju&s;tly be compared with tho&s;e which are found among&s;t the</HI> Jews. 24</ITEM>
<PB REF="151">
<ITEM>Chap. 5. <HI>That the Books, in which we may find the&s;e Oracles, were never forged.</HI> 28</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 6. <HI>That the manner of Writing the Prophetical Books of the Old Te&s;tament, &s;hews that tho&s;e Ora|cles could not have been forged after their Comple|tion.</HI> 35</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 7. <HI>For what rea&s;on the Oracles, which relate to the Me&s;&s;iah, were interwoven with other things, which &s;eem to be very widely di&s;tant.</HI> 45</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 8. <HI>General Rules for the under&s;tanding of an|cient Oracles, and for the Application of them to the Me&s;&s;iah.</HI> 51</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 9. <HI>Of tho&s;e Oracles concerning the Me&s;&s;iah which are to be found in the Book of</HI> Gene&s;is. 60</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 10. <HI>Of the Oracles which concern the Me&s;&s;iah in the Book of</HI> P&s;alms. 71</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 11. <HI>Con&s;iderations upon the Sufferings of the Me&s;&s;iah, and upon his glorious A&s;cen&s;ion into Hea|ven, foretold by</HI> David <HI>in the</HI> XXII. <HI>and</HI> CX. P&s;alms. 80</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 12. <HI>That the Me&s;&s;iah was to have a Forerunner, and what was to be his Character.</HI> 89</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 13. <HI>That the Me&s;&s;iah was to be born before the di&s;solution of the Jewi&s;h State, and the de&s;truction of the &s;econd Temple.</HI> 93</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 14. <HI>That the Me&s;&s;iah was to be born of a Vir|gin of the Hou&s;e of</HI> David. 101</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 15. <HI>That the Me&s;&s;iah was to be born at</HI> Beth|lehem <HI>of the Family of</HI> David, <HI>which at that time was reduc'd to a private &s;tate.</HI> 107</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 16. <HI>That the Me&s;&s;iah was to work great Mira|cles, for the e&s;tabli&s;hing of his Mi&s;&s;ion, and of the Truth of his Doctrine.</HI> 111</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 17. <HI>That the Me&s;&s;iah was to be an illustrious
<PB REF="151">Prophet.</HI> 114</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 18. <HI>That the Me&s;&s;iah was to propound a new Covenant from God with all men.</HI> 119</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 19. <HI>That the</HI> Jews, <HI>by a dreadful effect of their blindne&s;s, were to reject the Me&s;&s;iah.</HI> 125</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 20. <HI>That the Me&s;&s;iah was to dye; and an Ac|count of the &s;everal Circumstances of his Death.</HI> 130</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 21. <HI>That the Me&s;&s;iah was &s;oon after to ri&s;e a|gain.</HI> 136</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 22. <HI>That the Me&s;&s;iah was to a&s;cend into Hea|ven, and &s;end down from thence the miraculous Gifts of Prophecy, Languages,</HI> &amp;c. 140</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 23. <HI>That the Gentiles in the time of the Me&s;&s;i|ah were to be called to the knowledge of the true God.</HI> 144</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 24. <HI>That the</HI> Jews <HI>were to be rejected in the time of the Me&s;&s;iah.</HI> 152</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 25. <HI>Of the time which &s;ucceeded the publi&s;hing of the&s;e Prophecies, till the Coming of the Me&s;&s;iah.</HI> 157</ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="part">
<PB REF="152">
<HEAD>The Contents of the Chapters of the Second Part of the Second Volume.</HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM>Chap. 1. <HI>That there appears a very ju&s;t Con|nexion between the Idea's of the</HI> Old Te&s;tament, <HI>and tho&s;e of the</HI> New, <HI>the latter bor|rowing light from the former.</HI> Page 175</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 2. <HI>That the Idea's of the Me&s;&s;iah continued ve|ry fre&s;h in the Minds of the</HI> Jews <HI>at the time of the Coming of our Saviour Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI> 183</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 3. <HI>That the Commonwealth of the</HI> Jews <HI>did &s;till &s;ub&s;i&s;t, and follow the Model which God had formed, in order to the certain knowing of the Me&s;|&s;iah.</HI> 189</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 4. <HI>That all the Di&s;tinctions nece&s;&s;ary for di&s;co|vering of the Me&s;&s;iah, still continued in the State of the</HI> Jews <HI>at the time of our Lord.</HI> 197</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 5. <HI>That the time pointed out by the Prophets for the Coming of the Me&s;&s;iah, is the very time in which Je&s;us Christ appeared to the World.</HI> 202</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 6. <HI>That Je&s;us Chri&s;t had preci&s;ely &s;uch a Fore|runner, as the Prophets had de&s;cribed to precede the Me&s;&s;iah.</HI> 207</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 7. <HI>That Je&s;us Chri&s;t was born of the Family of</HI> David, <HI>then reduced to a mean Condition, as had been aforetold by the Prophets.</HI> 213</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 8. <HI>That Je&s;us Chri&s;t was conceived by the Virgin</HI> Mary, <HI>without any Operation of Man.</HI> 222</ITEM>
<PB REF="152">
<ITEM>Chap. 9. <HI>That Je&s;us Chri&s;t lived and preached after the &s;ame manner as the Prophets had foretold the Me&s;&s;iah &s;hould do.</HI> 229</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 10. <HI>That the Miracles wrought by our Saviour, clearly prove that he is the Me&s;siah.</HI> 237</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 11. <HI>That the Predictions of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, clearly prove him to be the Me&s;siah.</HI> 242</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 12. <HI>That Je&s;us Chri&s;t died preci&s;ely in the &s;ame manner as it was foretold that the Me&s;siah &s;hould dye.</HI> 250</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 13. <HI>That Je&s;us Chri&s;t was rai&s;ed again the third day, according to the Prophets, and afterwards a&s;cended into Heaven.</HI> 258</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 14. <HI>That Je&s;us Christ &s;ent to his Apo&s;tles, and to the primitive Chri&s;tians, the miraculous Gifts of his Holy Spirit, as he had promi&s;ed in the Anci|ent Prophecies.</HI> 270</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 15. <HI>That according to the Prophecies, the Apostles of Je&s;us Christ have called the</HI> Gentiles <HI>to the profe&s;sion of the Chri&s;tian Religion.</HI> 277</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 16. <HI>That the Chri&s;tian Religion is founded on proofs of Fact, and that con&s;equently nothing in the World is &s;o certain as the truth of it.</HI> 284</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 17. <HI>That it cannot be que&s;tioned, Whether the Books of the</HI> New Te&s;tament <HI>were written by the Apo&s;tles.</HI> 292</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 18. <HI>That one cannot doubt of the faithfulne&s;s of the witne&s;s of the Apo&s;tles, concerning tho&s;e Facts which they relate.</HI> 298</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 19. <HI>More Rea&s;ons to manife&s;t the faithfulne&s;s of the Apo&s;tles.</HI> 304</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 20. <HI>That the whole Model of the Religion and Commonwealth of the</HI> Jews, <HI>is at this day &s;o entirely
<PB REF="153">de&s;troyed, that the Me&s;siah could no more be known.</HI> 311</ITEM>
<ITEM>Chap. 21. <HI>That the greatne&s;s of the My&s;teries of the Chri&s;tian Religion, and the Divi&s;ion which is a|mong&s;t Chri&s;tians, cannot be any prejudice to the proofs of the truth of the Chri&s;tian Religion.</HI> 317</ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 N="1" TYPE="part">
<PB N="1" REF="153">
<HEAD>REFLEXIONS UPON THE Hi&s;torical and Prophetical BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, To E&s;tabli&s;h the Truth OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION.</HEAD>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAPTER I.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">That there is in the Hi&s;torical Writings of the Old Te&s;tament, an uninterrupted Series of E|vents, which have a natural and nece&s;&s;ary de|pendance for more than Ten Ages.</HEAD>
<P>THE fir&s;t general Proof which I make u&s;e of to e&s;tabli&s;h the Truth of the Hi|&s;torical Books of the Old Te&s;tament, after <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> may be lawfully drawn from the uninterrupted Series of Events, which are
<PB N="2" REF="154">related by tho&s;e Authors who have written the Hi&s;tory of the State and Church of <HI>I&s;rael.</HI></P>
<P>We may ob&s;erve &s;everal con&s;iderable <HI>Epocha's</HI> of this Hi&s;tory, which takes in about One thou|&s;and and forty years.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t part takes in all that happened after <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> 'till the e&s;tabli&s;hment of the Kingdom, which is related in the Books of <HI>Jo&s;hua, Judges, Ruth,</HI> and the Fir&s;t Book of <HI>Samuel.</HI></P>
<P>The &s;econd contains the Hi&s;tory of the Kings of <HI>Juda</HI> and <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> 'till the De&s;truction of <HI>Samaria</HI> and <HI>Jeru&s;alem.</HI></P>
<P>The third contains an Account of what pa&s;&s;ed during the <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Captivity, and after their re|e&s;tabli&s;hment.</P>
<P>Now there is not one of the&s;e Books which con|cern the Hi&s;tory of this People, in one or other of the&s;e <HI>Epocha's,</HI> which has not certain Characters of the truth of its Relations, by the nece&s;&s;ary Connexion which it has either with tho&s;e Events which went before it, or with tho&s;e which fol|low'd it, and this by a natural and immediate de|pendance. This ought to be confirm'd by &s;ome Ob&s;ervations.</P>
<P>The Book of <HI>Jo&s;hua,</HI> which contains the Con|que&s;t, and divi&s;ion of the Land of <HI>Canaan,</HI> is the Execution of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s de&s;ign, who brought the People of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> out of <HI>Egypt,</HI> to go and make them|&s;elves Ma&s;ters of a Countrey, which the <HI>Jews</HI> pretend that God promi&s;ed to <HI>Abraham.</HI> The Divi&s;ion of this Land among&s;t the Tribes, is the Title which each Tribe had to its Po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions in it; and this Divi&s;ion &s;ub&s;i&s;ted a great while very di&s;tinct, and well known by the &s;everal Tribes of
<PB N="3" REF="154">this People, There happened no con&s;iderable Change, but only when the Kings of <HI>A&s;&s;yria</HI> car|ried the Ten Tribes into Captivity, after the ta|king of <HI>Samaria,</HI> in the Three thou&s;and two hun|dred and eighty third year of the World: The Country continuing in the &s;ame &s;tate, under the two remaining Tribes, without any Change en|&s;uing upon their Tran&s;portation into <HI>Babylon,</HI> as I have ob&s;erved in the Nineteenth Chapter of my Reflexions upon <HI>Exodus,</HI> and the following Books.</P>
<P>This Book has a very natural Influence upon the following Books, as is manife&s;t from the Hi|&s;tory of the Alliance which the <HI>Gibeonites</HI> got from the <HI>Jews</HI> by &s;urprize. It &s;erves for a foun|dation to all that happened for Four hundred and thirty years after, in <HI>David</HI>'s Reign, under whom the Commonwealth, being already changed into a Monarchical Government, had in all appear|ance undergone a great Alteration.</P>
<P>The Book of <HI>Judges</HI> has an e&s;&s;ential Relation to the Books of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and <HI>Jo&s;hua,</HI> the mo&s;t part of the Captivities of the People of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> being a Con&s;equence of their Quarrels with the Nations which they had &s;ubdued, or with their Neigh|bours, as the <HI>Moabites</HI> and <HI>Ammonites</HI> de&s;cended from <HI>Lot,</HI> who were. jealous of this People that was de&s;cended from <HI>Abraham.</HI></P>
<P>There we may &s;ee, for In&s;tance, the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> upon the Defen&s;ive part, becau&s;e God forbad them to &s;et upon the <HI>Moabites,</HI> and the <HI>Ammo|nites;</HI> whereas the&s;e la&s;t pretended that <HI>I&s;rael</HI> had u&s;urped &s;ome part of their Country.</P>
<P>It mu&s;t be granted, that there is nothing &s;o re|markable
<PB N="2" REF="155">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="3" REF="155">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="4" REF="156">markable as the Actions of the&s;e Judges, whom God rai&s;ed up to deliver his People from tho&s;e different Captivities, through which they pa&s;&s;ed for Three hundred fifty &s;ix years together. But we may find the Memory of &s;ome of them pre|&s;erved by tho&s;e publick Hymns which were fa|mous throughout the Nation, and by the&s;e illu|&s;trious Monuments of their Judicial Authority, which were pre&s;erved among&s;t them, and which kept up a Remembrance of them among&s;t the <HI>I&s;|raelites,</HI> and the Neighbour Nations.</P>
<P>For this ought to be ob&s;erved with care, That &s;ince the <HI>Jews</HI> could not invent any thing upon this Head, which would not be well known by all the Neighbouring Nations, as the <HI>Tyrians,</HI> who kept up their own Government 'till <HI>Alexander</HI>'s time, who &s;ubdued them intirely, and the <HI>Moa|bites,</HI> who&s;e Empire continued for Fourteen A|ges after <HI>Lot</HI>'s time, until the De&s;truction of <HI>Je|ru&s;alem</HI> by <HI>Nebuchadnezzar,</HI> it was not ea&s;ie for any fabulous Relations in this matter, to obtain Authority.</P>
<P>The Book of <HI>Ruth,</HI> &s;eems not to have any thing con&s;iderable, but the Conver&s;ion of <HI>Ruth</HI> a <HI>Moabite&s;s,</HI> who rely'd upon the hopes of the Hou&s;e of <HI>Juda,</HI> out of which &s;he had marry'd her Husband. But we may take notice of three things be&s;ides; 1. Of the exact Practi&s;e of that Law which obliged them to marry the Widow of a Relation who dy'd without I&s;&s;ue. 2. Of their lively remembrance of the Deeds of their Ance|&s;tors, as of <HI>Juda</HI>'s Ince&s;t with <HI>Thamar,</HI> which was look'd upon however, as a fountain, and a pat|tern of Ble&s;&s;ings. 3. Of the Lineage of <HI>David,</HI>
<PB N="5" REF="156">whom this Author repre&s;ents as deriving his Pe|digree from a <HI>Moabite&s;s,</HI> which not making much for the Honour of a King of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> do's at the &s;ame time confirm the Truth of the Relations which are contained in that Book.</P>
<P>The Fir&s;t Book of <HI>Samuel</HI> contains the Hi&s;to|ry of <HI>Eli</HI>'s and <HI>Samuel</HI>'s Judicatures, of the change of the Government from a Commonwealth to a Monarchy under <HI>Saul,</HI> of <HI>David</HI>'s Anoynting, <HI>Saul</HI>'s Rejection and Death.</P>
<P>The Second contains the Hi&s;tory of <HI>David,</HI> his Victories, his de&s;ign of building a Temple, a de|&s;ign which God left to <HI>Solomon</HI> to execute, his Wars with the <HI>Ammonites,</HI> his Crime with <HI>Bath|&s;hebah,</HI> his Son <HI>Ab&s;alom</HI>'s In&s;urrection again&s;t him, and his great Succe&s;&s;es again&s;t his Enemies. There is nothing in the&s;e two Books, which has not an exact Connexion with what went before, and what follows. One &s;ee's throughout, an exact Relation to the Law of <HI>Mo&s;es;</HI> One &s;ee's through|out, Monuments &s;et up in &s;everal Places, to pre|&s;erve the memory of particular Actions; One &s;ee's al&s;o in the Wars of the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> with their Neighbours, a con&s;tant Series of tho&s;e old Diffe|rences, which were the Fruits of the Jealou&s;ie of the&s;e Nations again&s;t the Children of <HI>I&s;rael.</HI></P>
<P>The Books of the <HI>Kings,</HI> which the <HI>Jews</HI> rec|kon but as one Book, contain an Abridgment of <HI>Solomon</HI>'s E&s;tabli&s;hment in the Place of <HI>David,</HI> of the Glory of his Empire, which was carried by <HI>David</HI> to the Banks of <HI>E&uuml;phrates,</HI> according to the ancient Prophecyes, of his Marriage with the King of <HI>Egypt</HI>'s Daughter, of the Building of the Temple, and his own Palace, with the
<PB N="6" REF="157">help of <HI>Hiram</HI> King of <HI>Tyre;</HI> One &s;ee's the man|ner of the Queen of <HI>Sheba</HI>'s vi&s;it to <HI>Solomon,</HI> of his Alliances with the <HI>Moabites,</HI> the <HI>Ammonites,</HI> the <HI>Edomites,</HI> the <HI>Zidonians,</HI> and the <HI>Hittites;</HI> thinking by the&s;e Marriages to have put an end to the old Quarrels between his People, and the&s;e Nations, who were jealous of the People of <HI>I&s;|rael.</HI> All this was done in the Forty years of <HI>So|lomon</HI>'s Reign; and as there never was &s;o famous a Reign in <HI>Judea,</HI> &s;o never was there any, of which there are left &s;o many Monuments, as well there, as in the Neighbouring Countreys.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's afterwards in the &s;ame Book, the Di|vi&s;ion of <HI>Solomon</HI>'s Empire into two Govern|ments, that of <HI>Juda,</HI> which continued from <HI>Solomon</HI>'s Death, during the Reign of Eighteen Succe&s;&s;ors, for Three hundred eighty &s;ix years, to the taking of <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> by <HI>Nebuchaanezzar;</HI> and that of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> form'd by <HI>Jeroboam,</HI> which la&s;t|ed Two hundred fifty four years, under the Reign of Nineteen Succe&s;&s;ors, until the taking of <HI>Samaria</HI> the Capital City of the Kingdom of <HI>I&s;|rael.</HI></P>
<P>The Hi&s;tory of the <HI>Chronicles</HI> which was writ|ten about Twenty &s;ix years after that of the <HI>Kings,</HI> carries the Hi&s;tory down to <HI>Cyrus</HI> the Founder of the Empire of <HI>Per&s;ia,</HI> who gave the <HI>Jews</HI> their Liberty again. The Books of <HI>Ezra</HI> and <HI>Nehemiah</HI> contain the Hi&s;tory of what pa&s;&s;ed under his Succe&s;&s;ors, to the time of <HI>Artaxerxes</HI> for almo&s;t Eighty two years.</P>
<P>It was in this Interval that the Deliverance happened which the <HI>Jews</HI> received under <HI>Esther,</HI> Wife to one of the mo&s;t powerful Kings of <HI>Per&s;ia,</HI>
<PB N="7" REF="157">the Memory of which the <HI>Jews</HI> celebrate every year in all places, the Thirteenth and Fourteenth days of the Month <HI>Adar,</HI> (which an&s;wers to our <HI>February</HI>) by virtue of <HI>Esther</HI>'s Law.</P>
<P>After the&s;e general Remarks with which I &s;hall content my &s;elf at pre&s;ent, I ought to make &s;ome Reflexions, which cannot be omitted without ta|king away a great deal of force from tho&s;e Proofs which e&s;tabli&s;h the Truth of this Matter.</P>
<P>The Fir&s;t is, That as the&s;e Hi&s;tories have a nece&s;&s;ary Relation to the Laws of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> &s;o they could not have been neglected by a People, who in their Religious and Civil Conduct, were ab&s;olutely regulated by tho&s;e very Laws.</P>
<P>The Second is, That all the Actions related in this Hi&s;tory, have pa&s;&s;ed altogether in the bo|&s;om of a People, the Extent of who&s;e Country is not Twenty Leagues in breadth, nor Eighty in length.</P>
<P>The Third is, That this People having ob|&s;erv'd the Law of the Seventh year, and of the Fir&s;t year, or Year of Jubilee, (which Law you have in the Twenty fifth of <HI>Leviticus</HI>) from their fir&s;t Conque&s;t and Divi&s;ion of the Country, For|ty &s;even years after their coming out of <HI>Egypt.</HI> This Ob&s;ervation has &s;erv'd for a double Cycle, to fix the remembrance of tho&s;e Actions, and to make it pa&s;s from one Generation to another. And &s;o, the greatne&s;s of that Promi&s;e which God made to <HI>Hezekiah, E&s;ai.</HI> XXXVII. 30. and II <HI>Kings</HI> XIX. 29.) may ea&s;ily be under&s;tood; that altho' <HI>Sen|nacherib</HI>'s Inva&s;ion would in all probability lay wa&s;te all <HI>Judea,</HI> yet they might eat the Fruits of the Earth in quietne&s;s, the Fourteenth year of <HI>He|zekiah,</HI>
<PB N="8" REF="158">and the next year they &s;hould eat the Fruits that would grow up of them&s;elves without Tillage, and that on the Sixteenth year they &s;hould have liberty to till the Ground, as former|ly; which &s;hews, without any force upon the words, that the Fifteenth year of <HI>Hezekiah</HI>'s Reign, was the Sabbathical year, in which the <HI>Jews</HI> were forbidden to Cultivate the Ground.</P>
<P>The Fourth is, That it appears in effect by the Series of this whole Story, that things were writ|ten &s;o, as to agree with the publick Records which were extant among&s;t the People: This is manife&s;t, if we con&s;ider how often the Sacred Penmen refer us to the Hi&s;tories and Annals of tho&s;e Kings of whom they &s;peak, and of whom they only quote the principal Stories in &s;hort in pur&s;uing their De&s;ign, which was intirely to bring an Account of the &s;tate of the Religion and the Government of the <HI>Jews</HI> and <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI> under one view.</P>
<P>Let us go on to other Proofs to e&s;tabli&s;h this Truth.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. II.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">That there is a &s;trict Connexion between the Sacred Hi&s;tory, and the olde&s;t Monuments which we have of Prophane Hi&s;tory.</HEAD>
<P>AS there was but few very Ancient Writers of Prophane Hi&s;tory, and as we have but &s;mall Fragments of them di&s;per&s;ed here and there,
<PB N="9" REF="158" MS="y">pre&s;erved for the mo&s;t part by the care of <HI>Jo&s;e|phus</HI> the Jewi&s;h Hi&s;torian, and of <HI>Eu&s;ebius</HI> in his Books <HI>De Praeparatione Evangelic&acirc;,</HI> &s;o we ought not to be &s;urprized, if but few of the more illu|&s;trious Pa&s;&s;ages and Events of the Jewi&s;h Hi&s;tory be taken notice of by Pagan Writers. The Peo|ple of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> being otherwi&s;e engaged by the Ob|&s;ervation of the <HI>Mo&s;aick</HI> Law, to keep clo&s;e to that Country where it was e&s;tabli&s;hed; this made their Neighbours have le&s;s knowledge of their Hi&s;tory.</P>
<P>However, there is enough left to &s;hew with how great fidelity and exactne&s;s the Sacred Wri|ters penned the Hi&s;tory of their own Nation: In &s;hort, we may find among&s;t the Heathen Hi|&s;torians and Poets, (who were their fir&s;t Hi&s;tori|ans,) &s;everal Relations which &s;hew that the Mat|ters of Fact related by the Sacred Writers, were well enough known to them, and in the &s;ame manner that they are related in tho&s;e Hi&s;torical Books which were writ after <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI></P>
<P>The Memory of <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> and his Conque&s;ts was famous among&s;t the Heathens: There are anci|ent Monuments extant which prove that the <HI>Car|thaginians</HI> were a Colony of the <HI>Tyrians,</HI> who e&s;caped from <HI>Jo&s;hua;</HI> as al&s;o that the Inhabitants of <HI>Leptis</HI> in <HI>Africa,</HI> came originally from the <HI>Zi|donians,</HI> who for&s;ook their Country,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Procop. Van dalicorum</HI> lib. II. c. 10. <HI>Polybius Frag.</HI> CXIV <HI>Salu&s;t. de Bello Ju|gurthino.</HI></NOTE> becau&s;e of the Mi&s;eries which afflicted it.</P>
<P>The Fable of the <HI>Phoenician Hercules</HI> aro&s;e from the Hi&s;tory of <HI>Jo&s;hua;</HI> the overthrow of the Gi|ants, and the famous <HI>Typhon,</HI> owe their Original to the overthrow of <HI>Og</HI> the King of <HI>Ba&s;han,</HI> and of the <HI>Anakims,</HI> who were called Giants.</P>
<PB N="10" REF="159">
<P>The Tempe&s;t of Hail &s;poken of in the Ele|venth of <HI>Jo&s;hua,</HI> was transformed by the Poets into a Tempe&s;t of Stones, with which, as they &s;ay, <HI>Jupiter</HI> overwhelmed the Enemies of <HI>Hercules</HI> in <HI>Arim,</HI> which is exactly the Country where <HI>Jo|&s;hua</HI> fought with the Children of <HI>Anak.</HI></P>
<P>One finds the Memorial of the Actions of <HI>Gi|deon</HI> pre&s;erved by <HI>Sanchoniathon</HI> a <HI>Tyrian</HI> Writer, who lived &s;oon after him, and who&s;e Antiquity is atte&s;ted by <HI>Porphyry.</HI></P>
<P>One finds in the manner of <HI>Jephtha</HI>'s Sacrifi|cing his Daughter after his Victory over the <HI>Am|monites,</HI> the Original of the Sacrificing of <HI>Iphige|nia,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Variae Hi|&s;toriae</HI> Lib. V. cap. 3.</NOTE> it being u&s;ual with the Heathens, as <HI>Aelian</HI> judiciou&s;ly ob&s;erves, to attribute to their later He|ro's the Glory of the Actions of tho&s;e who lived long before.</P>
<P>We have an Account of a Fea&s;t which was ob&s;erved by the Heathen <HI>Romans</HI> in <HI>April,</HI> the time of the Jewi&s;h Harve&s;t,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ovid. Fa&s;to|rum</HI> Lib. IV.</NOTE> in which they let loo&s;e Foxes with Torches fa&s;tned to their Tails, which certainly came from the Story of <HI>Samp&s;on,</HI> and was brought into <HI>Italy</HI> by the <HI>Phoenicians.</HI></P>
<P>One finds in the &s;ame Hi&s;tory of <HI>Samp&s;on</HI> and <HI>Dalilah,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ovid. Me|tam.</HI> Lib. VIII. Fab. I.</NOTE> the Original of the Story of <HI>Ni&s;us,</HI> and his Daughter, who cut off tho&s;e fatal Hairs, upon which the Victory depended.</P>
<P><HI>Nicolaus Dama&s;cenus</HI> has pre&s;erved the Account of the Victory which <HI>David</HI> obtained over the <HI>Syrians</HI> of <HI>Zoba,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Jo&s;eph. An|tie.</HI> Lib. VII. cap. 6.</NOTE> upon the Banks of the <HI>Euphra|tes,</HI> as it is de&s;cribed by the Sacred Writers.</P>
<P>There are Monuments extant which de&s;cribe the part which <HI>Hiram</HI> King of <HI>Tyre</HI> had in the building of the Temple of <HI>Solomon,</HI> almo&s;t the
<PB N="11" REF="159">&s;ame with the Account which the Sacred Au|thors give us of his part in the Erection of that great Work.</P>
<P>One finds in <HI>Herodotus</HI> an Account of the ta|king of <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> by <HI>Se&s;o&s;tris</HI> King of <HI>Egypt,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Jo&s;eph. An|tiq.</HI> Lib. VII. cap. 6.</NOTE> as it is de&s;cribed in the Hi&s;tory of <HI>Rehoboam.</HI></P>
<P>One finds the Hi&s;tory of the Kings of <HI>Syria</HI> re|lated by <HI>Nicholaus Dama&s;cenus</HI> in the &s;ame man|ner as it is de&s;cribed by the Sacred Writers, when they give us an Account of the Victories which the Kings of <HI>Syria</HI> obtained over the Kings of <HI>Sa|maria.</HI></P>
<P>One finds that the Story of <HI>Phaeton</HI> is &s;olely founded upon the Tran&s;lation of <HI>Elijah</HI> in a Cha|riot of Fire.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">II Kings II.</NOTE></P>
<P>All that I have taken notice of happened be|fore the time of the fir&s;t <HI>Olympiad,</HI> from whence the learned <HI>Varro</HI> has ob&s;erved, That the fir&s;t Knowledge of Hi&s;tory began among&s;t the <HI>Greeks;</HI> whence al&s;o it is that they call all the precedent Time fabulous, the <HI>Greeks</HI> having before nothing but Fables, into which they had turned whatever ancient Hi&s;tory they were acquainted with.</P>
<P>Since that time, we do not find fewer Marks of the Truth of the Sacred Hi&s;tories.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's in the Pagan Writers the Reign of <HI>Tiglah-Pile&s;er,</HI> who is the &s;ame with the younger <HI>Ninus;</HI> as al&s;o the de&s;truction of the <HI>Syrian</HI> Mo|narchy by his means, as it is de&s;cribed to us in the Sacred Hi&s;torians. <HI>Nicholas Dama&s;cenus</HI> in <HI>Jo&s;ephus, Antiq. Lib.</HI> VII. <HI>cap.</HI> 6.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's among&s;t the Heathens,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ca&s;tor. in Eu&s;eb.</NOTE> the Succe&s;|&s;ion of <HI>Shalmane&s;er</HI> as it is de&s;cribed in the Scrip|tures.</P>
<PB N="12" REF="160">
<P>One &s;ee's the manner of <HI>Sennacherib</HI>'s conquer|ing the mo&s;t part of the Towns of <HI>Palestina,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Menander</HI> apud <HI>Jo|&s;eph.</HI> Lib. IX. cap. ult.</NOTE> of <HI>Tyre</HI> and <HI>Sidon,</HI> de&s;cribed in Heathen Writers, par|ticularly as we have it in the Scriptures.</P>
<P>The manner of <HI>Sennacherib</HI>'s Succe&s;&s;ion to <HI>Shal|mane&s;er,</HI> of his de&s;olating the Country of <HI>Pale|&s;tine</HI> while he carried on his Victories, is de&s;cri|bed by the Heathens, <HI>Herodot. Lib.</HI> II. <HI>&amp; Bero&s;us in Jo&s;ephus Lib.</HI> X. <HI>c.</HI> 1. exactly as the Sacred Hi&s;torians relate it.</P>
<P>The Memory of <HI>Tirbakah</HI> King of <HI>Aethiopia,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Strabo</HI> Lib. I. &amp; XV.</NOTE> as of a great Conqueror, is pre&s;erved among&s;t the Heathens; for it was his coming, in &s;hort, which obliged <HI>Sennacherib</HI> to ari&s;e from before <HI>Libna,</HI> whence he intended to go and be&s;iege <HI>Je|ru&s;alem.</HI></P>
<P>One finds among&s;t the Heathens the remem|brance of the manner of the De&s;truction of all <HI>Sennacherib</HI>'s Army, for his Bla&s;phemies again&s;t God, which the <HI>Egyptians</HI> di&s;gui&s;ed to appropriate to them&s;elves. <HI>Herodot. Lib.</HI> II. <HI>cap.</HI> 141.</P>
<P>One finds the ruin of <HI>A&s;hdod</HI> by King <HI>P&s;amme|tichus</HI> de&s;cribed by Heathen Authors,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Herodot.</HI> Lib. I. cap. 104. Lib. II. cap. 1. Lib. VII. cap. 10.</NOTE> as we have it in the Sacred Scriptures. <HI>Herod. Lib.</HI> II.</P>
<P>One finds an Account of the ways by which the <HI>Medes</HI> lo&s;t the <HI>Empire</HI> of <HI>A&s;ia</HI> under <HI>Cyaxares,</HI> after his Conque&s;ts over the <HI>A&s;&s;yrians</HI> in the Hea|then Writers, much the &s;ame as it is de&s;cribed in <HI>Nahum.</HI> H. 5.</P>
<P>The Account of the taking of <HI>Ninive</HI> by <HI>Nabo|polla&s;ar,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Alexand. Polyhi&s;tor.</HI> ap. <HI>Syncel|lum.</HI></NOTE> and by <HI>A&s;tyages,</HI> is much the &s;ame in Heathen Authors with the de&s;cription of it in <HI>Nahum, E&s;aiah,</HI> and <HI>Ezekiel.</HI></P>
<P>The manner of <HI>Jo&s;ia</HI>'s undertaking a War a|gain&s;t
<PB N="13" REF="160"><HI>Pharaoh-Necho</HI> King of <HI>Egypt,</HI> when he was overthrown in the Plains of <HI>Megiddo,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Herodot.</HI> Lib. II.</NOTE> as it is de&s;cribed by the Heathens, agrees with the Rela|tion which are given of it in the Holy Scriptures.</P>
<P>The Victories of <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI> over the <HI>E|gyptians</HI> and the <HI>Jews,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">II Kings XXIII. 29, 30.</NOTE> the carrying away of the con&s;ecrated Ve&s;&s;els of the Temple, and of the <HI>Jews</HI> to <HI>Babylon,</HI> are de&s;cribed by the Heathens.</P>
<P>The manner of the yielding up of <HI>Tyre</HI> to <HI>Ne|buchadnezzar,</HI> as they de&s;cribe it,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Annal. Phoe|nicic.</HI> ap. <HI>Jo|&s;eph.</HI> Lib. I. contra <HI>Api|onem.</HI></NOTE> agrees with what <HI>Ezekiel</HI> &s;ays <HI>Chap.</HI> XXVIII. 18, 19.</P>
<P>One finds in Heathen Authors an Account of the &s;tately building of <HI>Babylon</HI> by <HI>Nebuehadnez|zar,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bero&s;. Aby|den.</NOTE> which is de&s;cribed exactly in the Scrip|tures.</P>
<P>One finds al&s;o in them,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Herodot.</HI> Lib. II cap. 163 &amp; 169.</NOTE> That the death of <HI>Pharaoh-Hoptha</HI> or <HI>Vaphres</HI> as they call him, hap|pened according to <HI>Jeremiah</HI>'s Predictions, <HI>Chap.</HI> XL. 30.</P>
<P>One finds al&s;o the taking of <HI>Babylon</HI> by <HI>Cyrus,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Herod.</HI> Lib. I. cap. 178.</NOTE> as it is de&s;cribed by the Prophet <HI>Jeremiah, Chap.</HI> LI. 46.</P>
<P>One finds al&s;o that the Death of <HI>Bel&s;hazzar</HI> happened exactly as <HI>Daniel</HI> had de&s;cribed it,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Xenophon. Hi&s;tor.</HI> Lib. VII.</NOTE> <HI>Chap.</HI> V.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's there an Account of <HI>Xerxes</HI>'s great Undertaking again&s;t <HI>Greece,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Herod.</HI> Lib. VII. capp. 5, 6.</NOTE> as <HI>Daniel</HI> had fore|told it, <HI>Chap.</HI> XI.</P>
<P>Here then is an Agreement which is perfect enough in &s;everal Articles, to which we might add a greater number, if we had a greater num|ber of Pagan Hi&s;torians: But as we cannot find after the Reign of <HI>Artaxerxes Longimanus,</HI> Hi&s;to|ries among&s;t the <HI>Jews</HI> of equal Authority with
<PB N="14" REF="161">tho&s;e which were written by and after <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> as <HI>Jo&s;ephus</HI> the Jewi&s;h Hi&s;torian ob&s;erves; &s;o we cannot compare the Jewi&s;h and Pagan Hi&s;tories together afterwards, in that form we have done hitherto.</P>
<P>But it is ea&s;ie to ob&s;erve four things, which are very con&s;iderable, upon this Head.</P>
<P N="1">I. That the Credit of the Sacred Hi&s;torians may be grounded upon the great number of Re|marks we have made already, or el&s;e nothing will ever e&s;tabli&s;h it. For how can we conceive that all &s;orts of Hi&s;torians, of all Nations and all Ages, <HI>Babylonians, A&s;&s;yrians, Tyrians, Egyptians,</HI> and <HI>Greeks,</HI> could agree &s;o exactly with the <HI>Jews</HI> in tho&s;e Facts they relate, if the Jewi&s;h Authors had not exactly follow'd the Rules of Truth?</P>
<P N="2">II. That as the Prophecies of <HI>Zechariah</HI> and <HI>Daniel</HI> de&s;cribe, with an almo&s;t incredible exact|ne&s;s the con&s;iderable Events which happened in the Countries near to <HI>Judea,</HI> and in <HI>Judea</HI> it &s;elf, in a time which was not expired until the Sacred Writers had given over writing among&s;t the <HI>Jews,</HI> &s;o there was need of almo&s;t nothing el&s;e, but to look over the Books of <HI>Daniel,</HI> to &s;ee what happened from day to day. And here we may ob&s;erve, That the Rea&s;on why <HI>Porphyry</HI> thought the Book of <HI>Daniel</HI> was forged after the time of <HI>Antiochus Epiphanes,</HI> was becau&s;e this Book &s;eem'd to him to be rather a Hi&s;tory than a Prediction, which he ju&s;tify'd in making a &s;ort of Commen|tary upon this Prophecy, by comparing with it the Pagan Hi&s;torians which were then extant.</P>
<P N="3">III. That as the Jewi&s;h Commonwealth came under the Power of the <HI>Greeks,</HI> who were Ma|&s;ters
<PB N="15" REF="161">of Learning, and of the Art of writing Hi|&s;tories, &s;o there is little need of any other Wit|ne&s;&s;es be&s;ide the <HI>Greek</HI> Authors, as <HI>Jo&s;ephus</HI> de|mon&s;trates, in effect, by proving that the <HI>Greeks</HI> were well enough acquainted with the Affairs of the Jewi&s;h Nation.</P>
<P N="4">IV. That we do really find after the time of <HI>Artaxerxes,</HI> a very great part of the Jewi&s;h Hi&s;to|ry compo&s;ed by the care of &s;ome particular Men, with &s;ufficient exactne&s;s, tho' it be not of equal Authority with the Sacred Writers.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. III.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">That there is an uninterrupted Series of E|vents foretold by the Sacred Oracles, of which we may &s;ee a very great number accompli&s;hed in every Age.</HEAD>
<P>AS we may very rea&s;onably &s;ay, That all the Hi&s;tory of the People of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> has a very exact dependence upon the Writings of that fa|mous Legi&s;lator; &s;o we may al&s;o ob&s;erve, That there are &s;carce any con&s;iderable Events which make up the Body of this Hi&s;tory, which do not de&s;erve a particular Remark, either as a fulfilling of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Prophecies, or of tho&s;e other Prophets whom God rai&s;ed up after him to reform the Er|rors of that Nation. And it is a very con&s;idera|ble thing, That in all the Series of Events fore|told by the Prophets, there was not one Genera|tion
<PB N="16" REF="162">among&s;t all the Off&s;pring of the People, but what &s;aw the Accompli&s;hment of &s;everal of the&s;e Oracles. A little attention and care in comparing the Chronology of the Oracles with that of the Events, will &s;ufficiently ju&s;tifie what I &s;ay. I &s;hall content my &s;elf with ob&s;erving their different Orders, which will &s;atisfie a Judi|cious Reader, &s;ince my De&s;ign do's not engage me nece&s;&s;arily to do a thing which would carry me too far, and which may be done with little Application.</P>
<P>We may con&s;ider four &s;orts of Oracles; 1. Tho&s;e which have re&s;pect to particular Facts nigh at hand. 2. Tho&s;e which have re&s;pect to particular Facts, but at a greater di&s;tance. 3. Tho&s;e which have re&s;pect to Facts which be|long to the whole Jewi&s;h Nation. 4. Tho&s;e which have re&s;pect to Facts which belong to Fo|reign Nations, either bordering upon <HI>Pale&s;tina,</HI> or further from it. Now there is nothing &s;o ex|actly fulfilled, as the&s;e four &s;orts of Oracles.</P>
<P>You have, for particular Facts, which were nigh at hand, and foretold by the Prophets, the Oracle of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> concerning the advancement of <HI>Jo&s;hua,</HI> and the Conque&s;t of <HI>Pale&s;tine,</HI> which hap|pened &s;oon after.</P>
<P>You have <HI>Debora</HI>'s Oracle of the Victory pro|mi&s;ed to <HI>Barak.</HI></P>
<P>You have <HI>Samuel</HI>'s Oracle of the Advancement and Rejection of <HI>Saul.</HI></P>
<P>You have an Oracle of the &s;ame <HI>Samuel,</HI> of the Advancement of <HI>David.</HI></P>
<P>You have <HI>Nathan</HI>'s Oracle concerning <HI>Ab&s;a|lom</HI>'s Revolt.</P>
<PB N="17" REF="162">
<P>You have <HI>Ahijah</HI>'s Oracle concerning the Ad|vancement of <HI>Jeroboam,</HI> and the Divi&s;ion of <HI>So|lomon</HI>'s Kingdom into Ten Tribes, and into Two Tribes, whereof the le&s;&s;er part was to continue in the Po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of <HI>Solomon</HI>'s Heirs.</P>
<P>You have <HI>Ahijah</HI>'s Prediction of the Death of <HI>Jeroboam</HI>'s Son.</P>
<P>You have a Prediction of the Advancement of <HI>Jehu</HI> in the place of <HI>Jehoram</HI> King of <HI>I&s;rael.</HI></P>
<P>You have <HI>Elijah</HI>'s Prediction of the exemplary Puni&s;hment of <HI>Ahab</HI> and <HI>Jezabel.</HI></P>
<P>You have the Prediction of <HI>Jehoiakim</HI>'s Death made by <HI>Jeremiah, Chap.</HI> XXII. 18, 19. and <HI>Chap.</HI> XXXVI. 30. which happened Ten years after.</P>
<P>You have the Prediction of <HI>Jechoniah</HI>'s Mi&s;eries made by <HI>Jeremiah, Chap.</HI> XXII. 3.</P>
<P>You have <HI>Jeremiah</HI>'s Prediction of the Death of the fal&s;e Prophet <HI>Ananiah,</HI> but Seven Months before it happened.</P>
<P>You have an expre&s;s De&s;ignation of <HI>Zorobabel</HI> to conclude the Re-building of the Temple, made by <HI>Zechariah, Chap.</HI> IV. 9. and which was compleat|ed in Four years.</P>
<P>It is therefore fully evident, That the Predicti|on of particular Facts, which were to happen in a very &s;hort time, &s;erved to e&s;tabli&s;h the Autho|rity of the Prophets. And in effect one &s;ee's that they proceeded upon the Authority which tho&s;e Predictions of nearer Events gave them, to foretell other particular Events at a greater di&s;tance.</P>
<P>So you &s;ee that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> foretold after a &s;ort, after <HI>Jacob,</HI> the manner how the Land of <HI>Canaan</HI> was to be divided, tho' the thing was to be done by Lot.</P>
<PB N="18" REF="163">
<P>You &s;ee the &s;ame <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> foretelling the &s;everal Captivities which the People of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> &s;uffered af|ter the Conque&s;t, and the Method of God's rai&s;|ing up &s;everal Judges, to the number of Fourteen, to bring them out of tho&s;e Calamities.</P>
<P>You &s;ee the &s;ame <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> foretelling that the Temple &s;hould be built in the Tribe of <HI>Benjamin,</HI> tho it was the lea&s;t.</P>
<P>You have <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI>'s Prediction of the way how the Re builder of <HI>Jericho,</HI> &s;hould be exemplarily puni&s;hed, which was accompli&s;hed in <HI>Ahab</HI>'s time, (I <HI>Kings</HI> XVI. 34) about 570 years after this Pro|phetical Imprecation of <HI>Jo&s;hua.</HI></P>
<P>You have the Prediction of a Prophet, who was contemporary to <HI>Jeroboam,</HI> about the Birth of <HI>Jo&s;iah,</HI> which was not till 350 years after, (I <HI>Kings</HI> XIII.) and of the manner of his de|&s;troying the Altar which <HI>Jeroboam</HI> built.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's a Prediction of the overthrow of the Kingdom of <HI>Samaria,</HI> within 65 years by <HI>I&s;aiah,</HI> in the Reign of <HI>Jotham.</HI></P>
<P>One &s;ee's the De&s;truction of <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> by <HI>Ne|buchadnezzar,</HI> foretold by &s;everal of the Pro|phets.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's the taking of <HI>Tyre</HI> by <HI>Nebuchadnezzar,</HI> foretold by <HI>I&s;aiah, Chap.</HI> XXIII. 15, 17.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's the Promi&s;e of its Re-e&s;tabli&s;hment, Seventy years after its De&s;truction.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's the Promi&s;e of <HI>Cyrus</HI>'s Birth made by <HI>I&s;aiah, Chap.</HI> XLIV. 45. as of one that &s;hould re&s;tore Liberty to the <HI>Jews,</HI> and give them op|portunities of Re-building their Temple at <HI>Jeru|&s;alem.</HI></P>
<P>One &s;ee's the Prediction of the manner how
<PB N="19" REF="163"><HI>Antiochus Epiphanes</HI> would treat the <HI>Jews</HI> in his Life time, and how he &s;hould be puni&s;hed for his Cruelties and Sacriledges.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's the Prediction of the Courage of the <HI>Maccabees,</HI> who &s;hould oppo&s;e the Tyranny of that Prince, and purifie anew the Divine Wor|&s;hip.</P>
<P>So that it is plain, That the foretelling of the&s;e particular Facts, which were at &s;o great a di|&s;tance, revived the Memory of the&s;e Prophets among&s;t the <HI>Jews</HI> in every Age, and made them read them with a &s;ingular attention.</P>
<P>One ought al&s;o to make the &s;ame Reflexion up|on tho&s;e Oracles which have re&s;pect to the par|ticular Events of the &s;tate of the <HI>Jews,</HI> and its Continuance until the time of the Me&s;&s;iah, after which the Prophets foretel its Ruin and De&s;tru|ction without Remedy.</P>
<P>In &s;hort, one may &s;ay, That there was no Re|volution never &s;o little con&s;iderable, of which we do not find very many, and very particular Pre|dictions, foretold by &s;everal Prophets upon very different Occa&s;ions, and particular Circum&s;tan|ces.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's in the Books of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> exact De&s;crip|tions of the Pilgrimages of <HI>Abraham</HI>'s Po&s;terity, of their continuance in <HI>Egypt,</HI> of the Oppre&s;&s;ion they were there to undergo, of their prodigious Increa&s;e, of their robbing the <HI>Egyptians</HI> at their departure, of their methods in conquering the Land of <HI>Canaan,</HI> of the way how Kings &s;hould ari&s;e from <HI>Abraham;</HI> which was accompli&s;hed in the <HI>I&s;hmaelites</HI> and <HI>Edomites,</HI> and at la&s;t in the <HI>I&s;|raelites.</HI></P>
<PB N="20" REF="164">
<P>One &s;ee's expre&s;s Predictions of the &s;everal Judges whom God &s;hould rai&s;e up to the People of <HI>I&s;rael.</HI></P>
<P>One &s;ee's an expre&s;s Prediction of the Ad|vancement of the Tribe of <HI>Juda</HI> to the King|dom.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's a Prediction of the future Subjection of the <HI>Edomites</HI> to the power of the Kings of <HI>Juda,</HI> and of their conquering of the Countries which lye along the Banks of <HI>Euphrates,</HI> which was fulfilled in <HI>David</HI>'s time.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's an expre&s;s Divi&s;ion of that Kingdom into two very unequal parts.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's great numbers of Predictions con|cerning the &s;tate of the Kings of <HI>Juda</HI> and <HI>I&s;rael:</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">II Kings X. 30.</NOTE> For In&s;tance, you have an Oracle con|cerning the De&s;truction of <HI>Jehu</HI>'s Family in the Fourth Generation.</P>
<P>The De&s;truction of the Kingdom of the Ten Tribes is expre&s;ly foretold, and the Term is very exactly &s;et down.</P>
<P>The Ruin of <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> and of its Kings, is al|&s;o expre&s;ly foretold.</P>
<P>The time of the Captivity of the <HI>Jews</HI> in <HI>Ba|bylon,</HI> and</P>
<P>Their Re-e&s;tabli&s;hment by <HI>Cyrus</HI> after Seventy years are al&s;o very di&s;tinctly foretold.</P>
<P>The De&s;olation of <HI>Judea</HI> under the Empire of <HI>Alexander</HI>'s Succe&s;&s;ors, is foretold very exact|ly.</P>
<P>Their Re-e&s;tabli&s;hment after the&s;e De&s;olations, and the way by which they were to be defended by the <HI>Maccabees,</HI> who &s;hould become their Kings is likewi&s;e foretold.</P>
<PB N="21" REF="164">
<P>In &s;hort, one &s;ee's expre&s;s Predictions of the Ruin of <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> and of the whole Nation un|der the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire, after the coming of the Me&s;&s;iah.</P>
<P>As the People of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> had always great quar|rels with the Neighbouring Nations; &s;o one finds that among&s;t the Oracles which particularly re|gard the &s;tate of the <HI>Jews,</HI> the Prophets have in|terwoven a great number, which concern tho&s;e &s;trange People, with relation to tho&s;e Differen|ces which were kept up between the People of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> and them.</P>
<P>So one &s;ee's the <HI>Egyptians</HI> and the <HI>Canaanites</HI> puni&s;hed, in the Execution of the Oracles pro|nounced again&s;t the De&s;cendants of <HI>Cham.</HI></P>
<P>One &s;ee's the Prediction of the Ruin of <HI>Benhu|dad</HI> King of <HI>Syria,</HI> and of his Hou&s;e, foretold to the Tenth Generation.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's the Prediction of the Ruin of <HI>Egypt</HI> and <HI>Tyre,</HI> which happened under <HI>Nebuchadnez|zar.</HI></P>
<P>One &s;ee's the Prediction of the Ruin of the <HI>Moabites,</HI> which was under the &s;ame <HI>Nebuchad|nezzar,</HI> after that Kingdom had &s;ub&s;i&s;ted almo&s;t Fourteen Ages from its fir&s;t Foundation.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's frequent Oracles concerning the Ruin of <HI>Niniveh,</HI> and its Empire.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's Oracles concerning the Ruin of <HI>Babylon,</HI> which happened under <HI>Cyrus:</HI></P>
<P>One &s;ee's Oracles of the De&s;truction of the <HI>Per&s;ian</HI> Empire by <HI>Alexander.</HI></P>
<P>One &s;ee's Oracles concerning the manner of this Princes conquering the greate&s;t part of the World, and of his leaving his Empire divided into four Kingdoms.</P>
<PB N="22" REF="165">
<P>One &s;ee's frequent Oracles concerning the &s;tate of the Empire of the <HI>Seleucidae,</HI> and the <HI>Pto|lemees,</HI> who had particular Quarrels with the Jew|i&s;h Commonwealth.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's the Alliances which were to be be|tween the two Kingdoms foretold, and the &s;mall Succe&s;s which &s;hould ari&s;e thence in terminating their Differences.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's Predictions of the Treatment which the <HI>Jews</HI> &s;hould meet with in tho&s;e King|doms.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's a Prediction of the Retreat which <HI>Egypt</HI> was to give to the <HI>Jews,</HI> and of the Temple they were to build there.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's an exact Prediction of the manner of the prophanation of the Temple by <HI>Antiochus E|piphanes</HI> for Three years together.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's the Prediction of the Ruin of the&s;e two Governments by the Arms of the <HI>Roman</HI> Em|pire.</P>
<P>It is very natural to make &s;ome Reflexions up|on &s;uch a various multitude of Oracles.</P>
<P N="1">I. That there are no Books in the World which are formed like tho&s;e which we find in the hands of the <HI>Jews.</HI></P>
<P>One finds there a Hi&s;tory exactly pur&s;ued, and in a natural dependance, from the beginning of the World, for 3500 years.</P>
<P>One finds there a Series of Oracles which fore|tel all &s;orts of Events, &s;o in&s;eparably united with the Hi&s;tory, that it is impo&s;&s;ible to find by what means the Prophecies could have been &s;o brought to &s;upport the Hi&s;tory, and the Hi&s;tory to &s;up|port the Authority of the Prophecies.</P>
<PB N="23" REF="165">
<P>One finds Oracles &s;o clear, and &s;o particular, e&s;pecially in the Book of <HI>Daniel,</HI> That <HI>Porphyry</HI> a mortal Enemy to the Chri&s;tians, was forc'd to a&s;&s;ert that the Book of <HI>Daniel</HI> was forged after <HI>Antiochus Epiphanes</HI>'s time; a ridiculous Imagina|tion! For this Prophecy was tran&s;lated into <HI>Greek</HI> more than One hundred years before, and was in the hands, not only of the <HI>Jews,</HI> but of the <HI>E|gyptians</HI> al&s;o, mortal Enemies to the whole Jewi&s;h Nation.</P>
<P>This al&s;o is very &s;urprizing, That &s;ince the <HI>Jews,</HI> after their Di&s;per&s;ion, pre&s;erve the&s;e Hi&s;to|ries wherever they are, as the Accompli&s;hments of the Oracles, and the&s;e Oracles as Predictions of tho&s;e Events of which their Hi&s;tory is very full, they &s;hould never think of propo&s;ing to us any Books of a like Nature, con&s;idering that now for One and twenty Ages they have had no para|lel Authors, who have both writ Hi&s;tory, and pronounced Oracles.</P>
<P N="2">II. But, as the&s;e Reflexions lead us on to others, &s;o we ought to enter upon them by con&s;idering what the mo&s;t unrea&s;onable Ob&s;tinacy can op|po&s;e to the Authority of the Hi&s;torical and Pro|phetical Books of Scripture.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="4" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="24" REF="166">
<HEAD>CHAP. IV.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">That how common &s;oever Oracles may have been among&s;t the Pagans, yet nothing among&s;t them can ju&s;tly be compared with tho&s;e which are found among&s;t the Jews.</HEAD>
<P>ONe of the greate&s;t Objections which can in all probability be made again&s;t this &s;urprizing Series of Oracles, which are found in the Books of the Old Te&s;tament, is taken from that great number of Oracles which are found among&s;t the Pagans. This Objection de&s;erves to be con&s;ider|ed, becau&s;e it will more clearly demon&s;trate the Authority of the Prophetical Books, which are in the hands of the <HI>Jews.</HI></P>
<P>I confe&s;s there have been fal&s;e Prophets: And indeed, &s;ince God has given us Marks to di&s;tin|gui&s;h them from true Ones, which may be &s;een in the Books of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> it cannot be denied but there have been &s;ome fal&s;e Prophets. And that moreover, the Hi&s;tory of the Prophets di&s;cover|ing to us Impo&s;tors frequently, we may freely acknowledge, that among&s;t the Pagans, and the People bordering upon <HI>Judea,</HI> there have been Men who have boa&s;ted of Predictions of things to come, as well as among&s;t the <HI>Jews.</HI></P>
<P>I confe&s;s al&s;o, That &s;ome Heathen Writers &s;peak of certain Oracles, which in all appearance are very well circum&s;tantiated, and of which they relate a very exact Accompli&s;hment.</P>
<PB N="25" REF="166">
<P>But &s;everal things ought to be ob&s;erved upon this Argument, which de&s;erve an attentive Con|&s;ideration.</P>
<P N="1">I. We &s;ee that their mo&s;t celebrated things have been only an imitation of what was done a|mong&s;t the <HI>Jews.</HI> The <HI>Egyptians</HI> imitated the <HI>Urim</HI> and the <HI>Thummim</HI> of the Jewi&s;h High Prie&s;t. And they appropriated to him the right of giving Oracles: And &s;o we &s;ee they are given by a Voice from Heaven, which the <HI>Jews</HI> &s;aw was granted to their Prophets. We may &s;ee it in the Hi&s;tory of <HI>Socrates</HI>'s Life, and in <HI>Apuleius, p.</HI> 339.</P>
<P N="2">II. We &s;ee that the &s;ame Pagan Hi&s;torians take notice that very many, even the greate&s;t part of their Oracles, were very ambiguous, and fal&s;e. The Philo&s;ophers, and <HI>Tully</HI> particularly, openly laugh'd at them (<HI>Lib.</HI> I. II. <HI>de Divinatione.</HI>) They thought it a ridiculous thing that <HI>Apollo Delphicus,</HI> the God of Poetry, &s;hould give his An&s;wers in very bad Ver&s;e, and at la&s;t be reduced to Pro&s;e. <HI>Eu&s;ebius</HI> quotes a Di&s;cour&s;e of <HI>Oenomaus</HI> a <HI>Greek</HI> Philo&s;opher, who wrote again&s;t Oracles, to de|cry them as Impo&s;tures.</P>
<P N="3">III. We &s;ee, that tho&s;e Oracles which had ac|quired the greate&s;t Reputation by their Accom|pli&s;hment, were borrowed from the Prophets of the Synagogues. We have an illu&s;trious Example in the Birth of <HI>Cyrus,</HI> which the Prophet <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> had foretold, about the Year of the World 3292. and concerning which they pretend to &s;hew Pro|phecies of <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI> and <HI>Crae&s;us,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Abydenus. Herodot.</HI> Lib. I. cap. 55. &amp; 91.</NOTE> about the Year 3492. which &s;hows that if the thing was really known to them, they could not have known it but by the Prophetical Writings which were a|mong&s;t
<PB N="26" REF="167">the <HI>Jews,</HI> and which could not have been concealed from them, becau&s;e the <HI>Jews</HI> read them with care, to comfort them&s;elves under that Cap|tivity to which they were reduced by <HI>Nebuchad|nezzar.</HI></P>
<P N="4">IV. It is in effect proved by examining their Oracles, mo&s;t of which were either fal&s;e or for|ged. This <HI>Eu&s;ebius</HI> has clearly proved, [<HI>de Prae|par. Evangelic&acirc;, Lib.</HI> IX. <HI>cap.</HI> 5.] The Proverb of the <HI>Sibyll</HI>'s, or <HI>Delphick</HI> Prie&s;te&s;s's, favouring of <HI>Phi|lip,</HI> is commonly known. It was ea&s;ie for the&s;e Heathen Princes to bia&s;s their People with &s;uch Predictions.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lib. IV. <HI>de Praeparat. Evangel.</HI> Lib. IV. ini|ti&ograve;.</NOTE> But what <HI>Eu&s;ebius</HI> &s;ays, puts the thing beyond all Que&s;tion, for he expre&s;ly &s;hews, That when the Prie&s;ts were put to the Rack, they confe&s;&s;ed the whole contrivance of tho&s;e Oracles, which they pronounced to abu&s;e the Credulity of the People.</P>
<P N="5">V. We ought to ob&s;erve, That we cannot find great numbers of Oracles upon the &s;ame Subject, whereas one &s;ee's that the Prophets follow'd (as it were) <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Model of the State of the Common|wealth of the <HI>Jews,</HI> and that they frequently con|cur in foretelling the &s;ame Facts from one Gene|ration to another.</P>
<P N="6">VI. We ought to remember that the&s;e Oracles were not kept within the Limits of one &s;ingle State or Nation.</P>
<P N="7">VII. It may be &s;aid that they were not publick|ly known, having been only propo&s;ed in private places, before a very few, and in &s;hort, that they were not actually known to the mo&s;t part of the Neighbouring People; whereas one &s;ee's that the Jewi&s;h Prophets gave their Oracles in the mo&s;t
<PB N="27" REF="167">&s;olemn A&s;&s;emblies, and when they were com|mitted to Writing, they were known to all tho&s;e who had any Commerce with that Nation. So that <HI>I&s;aiah</HI>'s Prophecies were que&s;tionle&s;s known to <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI> and <HI>Cyrus,</HI> who look'd upon him&s;elf as de&s;igned by God to re&s;tore their Li|berty to the <HI>Jews.</HI> We may make the &s;ame Judg|ment of the Book of <HI>Daniel,</HI> which was known to <HI>Alexander</HI> without all que&s;tion, as one may collect from the favourable Reception the <HI>Jews</HI> found from him.</P>
<P N="8">VIII. We ought to ob&s;erve, That the&s;e pre|tended Oracles were given, for the mo&s;t part, in favour of tho&s;e Princes, who could &s;atisfie the greedine&s;s of the Prie&s;ts. Whereas the Prophets among the <HI>Jews</HI> lived in the mo&s;t di&s;-intere&s;ted manner in the World, and u&s;ually pronounced nothing but Reproaches and Menaces of cruel Calamities to tho&s;e Princes who had the Govern|ment in their Hands. Their Mini&s;try con&s;i&s;ted in a couragious oppo&s;ition to the Corruptions in their Laws, and their Religion, and in cen&s;uring their Princes and Governours with a &s;ingular In|trepidity; and indeed, we &s;ee that mo&s;t of them met with the puni&s;hment of their Boldne&s;s, and made trial of the mo&s;t cruel Tortures.</P>
<P N="9">IX. La&s;t of all, We ought to take notice, that as the Oracles which are mentioned in Heathen Authors, were only of Facts of &s;mall importance to tho&s;e People, among&s;t whom it is &s;aid that they were pronounced, &s;o we do not find that they thought them&s;elves much concerned in their pre&s;ervation; whereas one &s;ee's that the Jewi&s;h Nation were &s;o per&s;waded of the Truth of the&s;e
<PB N="28" REF="168">Oracles, with which they were entru&s;ted, that nothing to this very day could ever oblige them to di&s;continue the reading of them, whatever Di|&s;putes they may otherwi&s;e have with the Chri&s;ti|ans, who make u&s;e of them to e&s;tabli&s;h their Pre|tentions, notwith&s;tanding <HI>all the Claims</HI> of the Synagogue.</P>
<P>When this is laid down, it would &s;eem as if I might rea&s;onably conclude, That the wonderful variety of Oracles which are to be found among&s;t the <HI>Jews,</HI> cannot be at all weakned by tho&s;e O|racles of which we find &s;o frequent mention in Pagan Writers.</P>
<P>But we ought to go further, in explaining two things, which will perfectly clear this matter; One is, That the Hi&s;torical and Prophetical Books of the Old Te&s;tament, after <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> can be no Forgeries: The other is, That in truth, tho&s;e Oracles which we find in&s;erted in tho&s;e Books, could not po&s;&s;ibly have been forged after their Completion.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="5" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. V.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">That the Books, in which we may find the&s;e O|racles, were never forged.</HEAD>
<P>I Have ob&s;erved formerly, That it is ab&s;olutely nece&s;&s;ary that the Authority of tho&s;e Books, in which the&s;e Oracles are in&s;erted, be e&s;tabli&s;h|ed, before we can build upon the Authority of
<PB N="29" REF="168">the Oracles. And indeed, if we cannot clearly &s;hew that the&s;e Books were written, and publick|ly known, before the Things happened, which are &s;aid to be Accompli&s;hments of tho&s;e preceding Oracles, it would be natural to call in que&s;tion the Authority of the&s;e Oracles. But it is very ea&s;ie to &s;atisfie an equitable Reader herein, and to e&s;tabli&s;h in general, or &s;everally, the Exi&s;tence of the&s;e Prophetical Writings, before the times in which tho&s;e Facts happened which we propo&s;e as the Accompli&s;hment of tho&s;e Prophecies.</P>
<P>I &s;hall make u&s;e of two &s;orts of Reflexions to e|&s;tabli&s;h my Propo&s;ition. The Fir&s;t con&s;i&s;ts in general Con&s;iderations upon the Books them|&s;elves: The Second has re&s;pect to particular Facts, which are unconte&s;ted, and whence the &s;ame Truth very naturally re&s;ults.</P>
<P N="1">I. We ought to ob&s;erve, That whereas in <HI>Ge|ne&s;is Mo&s;es</HI> makes u&s;e of no other <HI>Epocha</HI> to fix the time of any Event, but the years of the Life of &s;ome famous Patriarch: As for In&s;tance, He fixes the Flood to the 600 year of <HI>Noah</HI>'s Age;
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. XIX. Numb. XXXIII. 38.</NOTE> in <HI>Exodus</HI> and <HI>Numbers</HI> he u&s;es the time of their coming out of <HI>Egypt</HI> for his <HI>Epocha;</HI> in the Books of the following Authors, the years from their departure out of <HI>Egypt</HI> were carefully &s;et down 'till the Fourth year of King <HI>Solomon</HI>'s Reign, which was 480 years after their departure. This was a Character to fix the time of all tho&s;e who lived after that <HI>Epoch<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"></HI></P>
<P N="2">II. The Building of the Temple began a new <HI>Epocha</HI> among&s;t the <HI>Jews,</HI> as appears from II <HI>Chron.</HI> VIII. 1. tho' they began after that time to reckon by the years of the Kings of <HI>Juda</HI> and
<PB N="30" REF="169"><HI>I&s;rael,</HI> as appears by the Books of the fir&s;t Prophets. Which is a Character &s;ufficiently certain, to di|&s;tingui&s;h tho&s;e who liv'd after <HI>Solomon,</HI> with the time when they liv'd.</P>
<P N="3">III. It's plain, That the <HI>Babyloni&s;h</HI> Captivity, and afterwards their &s;ubjection to the <HI>Per&s;ian</HI> Empire, obliged them to fix their Events, and to date their Prophecies, by the years of the Govern|ments of tho&s;e Foreign Kings. [See <HI>Daniel, Eze|chiel, Zechariah,</HI> and <HI>Haggai.</HI>] So the Author of the Book of <HI>Maccabees</HI> refers to the years of the <HI>Seleucidae.</HI> Now, that we may the better perceive the force of this Ob&s;ervation, we mu&s;t remember three things. 1. That the Authors who lived af|ter the carrying away of the <HI>Jews</HI> into <HI>Babylon,</HI> make u&s;e of &s;ome <HI>Chaldee</HI> Terms, which are not to be found in the foregoing Prophets. For we may &s;ee in the Books of <HI>Haggai,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezech. XL. 1. Daniel X. Zach I. Hagg. I.</NOTE> <HI>Zechariah,</HI> and <HI>Malachi,</HI> the &s;ame &s;tyle with <HI>Ezra, Nehemiah,</HI> and <HI>Daniel.</HI> 2. The Authors of the&s;e Books, give names to the Months, which they had not before the Captivity. The <HI>Jews</HI> only called their Months,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Talm. Ro&s;ch. Ha&s;|&s;anah.</HI> c. 1.</NOTE> Fir&s;t, and Second, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and &s;o they gave Names which were unheard of before. 3. The Authors of the&s;e Prophecies take particular no|tice of any newly in&s;tituted Fa&s;ts; thus we &s;ee that the Prophet <HI>Haggai</HI> mentioned tho&s;e Fa&s;ts of which we have nothing in the Law, but which were in&s;tituted during the Captivity.</P>
<P>We mu&s;t blind our &s;elves of purpo&s;e, to conceive that any Impo&s;tor could forge Books, which have &s;o exact a Relation, and &s;uch certain Characte|ri&s;ticks to fix them to the time in which every Au|thor lived, and to the Circum&s;tances wherein he
<PB N="31" REF="169">wrote. We mu&s;t of nece&s;&s;ity grant, That before &s;uch an Impo&s;tor could bring about &s;uch a De|&s;ign, he mu&s;t have made him&s;elf Ma&s;ter of the whole Prophane Hi&s;tory, to fix &s;o exactly the Hi&s;tory of the Jewi&s;h Nation, and of tho&s;e Ora|cles which have been given in Circum&s;tances which are unintelligible without the help of Pro|phane Hi&s;tories of different Nations.</P>
<P>I come now to Facts which cannot be con|te&s;ted. It is &s;ufficient that tho&s;e Facts be ac|knowledged as true, to e&s;tabli&s;h in general the Truth of tho&s;e Books whereof we teach.</P>
<P N="1">I. It cannot be denied, that the <HI>Jews</HI> pre&s;erve the&s;e Oracles to this day, with great fidelity.</P>
<P N="2">II. It cannot be denied, that they are in the hands of Chri&s;tians, who pre&s;erve them as well as the <HI>Jews,</HI> &s;ince they have been &s;eparated from them; that is, for almo&s;t Seventeen Ages.</P>
<P N="3">III. It cannot be denied, that the&s;e Prophecies have been exactly read by the <HI>Jews,</HI> becau&s;e of tho&s;e Oracles upon which they believe, to this day, that the whole happine&s;s of their Nation is founded.</P>
<P N="4">IV. It cannot be denied, that the <HI>Jews</HI> have read the&s;e Books exactly to refute the Di&s;ciples of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, who have pretended from the fir&s;t Age of their appearing, that Je&s;us Chri&s;t is the Me&s;&s;iah mark'd out by the&s;e Oracles. In &s;hort, whereas the Chri&s;tians pretend to prove by the accompli&s;hment of the ancient Oracles, that Je&s;us Chri&s;t was the Me&s;&s;iah: It is known, that the <HI>Jews</HI> endeavour to this day to wre&s;t the &s;en&s;e of the&s;e Oracles, and to &s;hew that there are many things which are not literally accompli&s;hed, and
<PB N="32" REF="170">which by con&s;equence cannot be apply'd to Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P N="5">V. It cannot be deny'd, that mo&s;t of the Con|trover&s;ies of the <HI>Jews</HI> with the Chri&s;tians, only regard the Application of the Text of the Pro|phetical Authors. The Chri&s;tians explain them in a My&s;tical Sen&s;e, the <HI>Jews</HI> maintain that they ought to be explained Literally.</P>
<P N="6">VI. It cannot be deny'd, that about 300 years before the Birth of our Saviour, the Prophetical Books were tran&s;lated, and put into the Hands of the <HI>Egyptians,</HI> having been carried to, and tran&s;la|ted at <HI>Alexandria,</HI> by a publick Order of the whole Nation, for the &s;atisfaction of a King of <HI>Egypt.</HI> The Hi&s;tory of that Ver&s;ion which put tho&s;e Sacred Books into the Hands of the <HI>Greeks,</HI> and the <HI>Jews</HI> who dwelt in <HI>Egypt,</HI> is the mo&s;t fa|mous thing in the World, and which made tho&s;e Books perfectly known.</P>
<P>Here we have now the&s;e Books in <HI>Hebrew,</HI> and in <HI>Greek,</HI> that is to &s;ay, in the Primitive Lan|guage of the <HI>Jews,</HI> and the Vulgar Language of the Empire which <HI>Alexander</HI> founded.</P>
<P>It is known, that from that time the Chri&s;tians took care to make great numbers of Tran&s;lations into all the Vulgar Tongues, after the preaching of the Go&s;pel; and that they pre&s;erved tho&s;e ancient Books as the fir&s;t Elements of their Religi|on.</P>
<P>Now it will be &s;ufficient to acknowledge tho&s;e Truths, to con&s;ider;</P>
<P>That tho&s;e Oracles were true which foretold things which happened almo&s;t four Ages after their Prediction. Thus, for In&s;tance, the De&s;tru|ction
<PB N="33" REF="170">of <HI>Jeru&s;alem;</HI> the Overthrow of the Jewi&s;h State; the calling of the <HI>Gentiles</HI> to the Service of the God of <HI>I&s;rael;</HI> the De&s;truction of the <HI>Syrian</HI> and <HI>Egyptian</HI> Monarchies; are all contained in the Books of <HI>Daniel, Haggai, Zachariah,</HI> and <HI>Ma|lachi.</HI></P>
<P>Now there is not more difficulty to conceive, that &s;uch Authors as <HI>I&s;aiah, Amos, Joel,</HI> &s;hould have foretold the &s;ame thing Eight or Nine hun|dred years before, than there is to believe that they were foretold by tho&s;e who liv'd but little above Four Ages before they actually came to pa&s;s. There is therefore no difficulty in conceiv|ing that the&s;e ancient Oracles were propo&s;ed as we &s;ee them, and in tho&s;e times to which we find them fixed.</P>
<P>But we ought to go further into this matter, and to e&s;tabli&s;h the &s;ame thing by the con&s;idera|tion of the things them&s;elves.</P>
<P>I confe&s;s that we might have a &s;u&s;picion of tho&s;e Oracles which are not related upon the Faith of a publick Volume. As for In&s;tance, tho&s;e of <HI>E|lijah, Eli&s;ha,</HI> and <HI>Uriah</HI> the Son of <HI>Shemaiah,</HI> who &s;eem never to have publi&s;hed any thing.</P>
<P>But here we are to ob&s;erve, 1. That u&s;ually the Authors who publi&s;h the Oracles, are not the &s;ame with tho&s;e who tell us of their accompli&s;h|ment. 2. That the Oracles of which we now &s;peak, were upon Subjects perfectly known, and upon very illu&s;trious Exigencies. What more il|lu&s;trious than the De&s;truction of <HI>Ahab</HI>'s Family, foretold by <HI>Elijah?</HI> What more extraordinary than the manner of <HI>Jezebel</HI>'s Death, foretold by the &s;ame Prophet?</P>
<PB N="34" REF="171" MS="y">
<P>In &s;hort, we ought to take notice, I. That the&s;e Oracles were written for the mo&s;t part in compleat Volumes: We have Sixteen Prophets &s;ufficiently di&s;tingui&s;h'd by their proper Vo|lumes.</P>
<P N="2">II. Each of the&s;e Authors has a very different Character from the re&s;t; &s;o that &s;ome, as <HI>Daniel</HI> for in&s;tance, write in a peculiar Language one part of his Book being in <HI>Chaldee.</HI></P>
<P N="3">III. Every one has &s;ome relation to the re&s;t: So tho&s;e who liv'd together, often treat of the &s;ame things: So <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> for in&s;tance, <HI>Joel, Amos, Ho&s;ea.</HI> But they had &s;eparate Idea's, and particu|lar Oracles, and a turn which perfectly di&s;tin|gui&s;hes them one from another.</P>
<P N="4">IV. One needs only read their Works to find that they wrote in different places. <HI>Amos</HI> was of <HI>Juda,</HI> and went to prohecy in <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> that appears plainly. <HI>Ezechiel</HI> and <HI>Daniel</HI> prophe&s;ied in <HI>Chal|dea;</HI> that's &s;een by reading their Works.</P>
<P N="5">V. There is a natural dependance between the Books of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and tho&s;e of the Prophets in general; For the Prophets were continually re|proaching the Kings and People with the Crimes which they committed again&s;t the Law of God propo&s;ed by <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI></P>
<P N="6">VI. There is a natural dependance between the Writings of the former, and of the latter Pro|phets.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. IX. 2.</NOTE> So <HI>Jeremiah</HI> is quoted by <HI>Daniel,</HI> as fore|telling the time when the De&s;olations of <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> were to have an end; this he propo&s;es, not as if he had learnt it by a Revelation, but as a thing which he had found out by an attentive exami|nation of the Prophecy of <HI>Jeremiah.</HI></P>
<PB N="35" REF="171">
<P N="7">VII. There is an exact Connexion of the&s;e O|racles with the Hi&s;tory of the time, which is often interwoven with the Prophecies. One &s;ee's it in the Books of <HI>I&s;aiah, Jeremiah,</HI> and <HI>Daniel;</HI> the other Hi&s;torical Books not being altogether &s;o particular, as the&s;e Prophetical Books are.</P>
<P N="8">VIII. In &s;hort, one &s;ee's that the&s;e Books are interwoven with Oracles concerning ancient E|vents and People which have now no Exi&s;tence, &s;o tha<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> that hinders us from &s;u&s;pecting any For|gery.</P>
<P>I &s;hall not repeat here the common Argu|ments which e&s;tabli&s;h the Credit of the&s;e Books, I brought in mo&s;t of them when I e&s;tabli&s;hed the Authority of the Books of <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI> I &s;hall only make &s;ome Reflexions here, to e&s;tabli&s;h the &s;ame Truth.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="6" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. VI.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">That the manner of writing the Prophetical Books of the Old Testament, &s;hews that tho&s;e Oracles could not have been forged after their Completion.</HEAD>
<P>I Have &s;everal things to taken notice of, to make this Truth more &s;en&s;ible. The fir&s;t is taken from the nece&s;&s;ary connexion of all the parts of the Hi&s;tory of the Old Te&s;tament, the truth of which I have proved by &s;everal Characters. This Hi&s;tory is exactly written by &s;everal Authors: Now
<PB N="36" REF="172">the Hi&s;tory of the Prophets, and of their Ora|cles, is &s;o exactly <HI>framed</HI> into the Hi&s;tory, that it is impo&s;&s;ible to take it out, without con|founding the whole.</P>
<P>The Books of <HI>Samuel,</HI> which were written by <HI>Samuel,</HI> by <HI>Nathan,</HI> and by <HI>Gad,</HI> as appears by I <HI>Chron.</HI> XXIX. 29. contain the Hi&s;tory from the Year of the World 2888, to the Year 2987.</P>
<P>The Books of the <HI>Kings</HI> contain the Hi&s;tory of the Kings, and of the Prophets, from the Year 2989. to the Year 3442.</P>
<P>The Books of the <HI>Chronicles</HI> recapitulate the Hi&s;tory, from the beginning of the World, to the Year 3468.</P>
<P><HI>Ezra</HI> writ his Hi&s;tory from the Year 3468. to the Year 3538.</P>
<P><HI>Nehemiah</HI> continued it from 3550. to 3563.</P>
<P>Here is therefore on the one &s;ide an uninterrup|ted Series of Hi&s;tory; and on the other &s;ide a continued Succe&s;&s;ion of Prophecies.</P>
<P><HI>David,</HI> who began to Reign in the Year 2950. with &s;everal other Prophets of that time, writ the mo&s;t part of the <HI>P&s;alms,</HI> which are full of Oracles, and which were &s;ung by the People, as a part of the Divine Service.</P>
<P><HI>I&s;aiah</HI> began his Prophecy in 3246. and dy'd in the Year 3306. <HI>Ho&s;ea, Micah,</HI> and <HI>Nahum</HI> were contemporary with him.</P>
<P><HI>Jeremiah</HI> begun his Prophecy in the Year 3375. and liv'd at the &s;ame time with <HI>Zepha|niah.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Daniel</HI> was carry'd into <HI>Babylon</HI> in 3401. and prophe&s;ied until 3470.</P>
<PB N="37" REF="172">
<P><HI>Ezechiel</HI> prophecy'd at <HI>Babylon</HI> in 3509.</P>
<P><HI>Haggai</HI> and <HI>Zachariah</HI> prophecy'd in 3590. &s;oon after <HI>Ezra,</HI> in the time of <HI>Nehemiah.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Malachy</HI> &s;eems to have lived until the Year 3589.</P>
<P>Can we therefore in the lea&s;t imagine that a Hi&s;tory &s;hould be &s;o intermixed with Prophe&s;ies and Oracles, without conceiving at the &s;ame time the Truth of both by an invincible nece&s;|&s;ity?</P>
<P>But we may make a &s;econd Reflexion here|upon.</P>
<P>There are three general Characters which di|&s;tingui&s;h Prophets very &s;en&s;ibly from the gene|rality of Authors.</P>
<P N="1">I. They were publick Cen&s;ors; Let us but read the Hi&s;tory of <HI>I&s;aiah</HI>'s conduct, who called all the Heads of the People, Rulers of <HI>Sodom;</HI> or that of <HI>Jeremiah, Chap.</HI> XXXVI. or of any o|ther of the Prophets in general.</P>
<P N="2">II. They were Comforters of the People, when they had brought them to Repentance by their preaching. There are as many In&s;tances of this, as there are Prophets.</P>
<P N="3">III. They foretold remarkable Occurrences, happy or unfortunate, long before there was any probability that they &s;hould happen.</P>
<P>It is impo&s;&s;ible to con&s;ider the&s;e Characters, without &s;eeing that the &s;tate of Affairs was that which gave a foundation for their Sermons: So that one mu&s;t of nece&s;&s;ity have framed their Hi|&s;tory of new, to give ground for a Forgery. This change in the &s;tyle of the Prophets, follows the Circum&s;tances of the Jewi&s;h State exactly. All
<PB N="38" REF="173">that <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> or <HI>Jeremiah</HI> &s;ay, will hold no longer than whil&s;t you &s;uppo&s;e the State of the <HI>Jews</HI> to be as corrupt as the Hi&s;tory of that time repre|&s;ents it. But if you &s;uppo&s;e it to be as the Hi&s;tory do's di&s;tinctly explain it, nothing can be imagi|ned more forcible than their Sermons. For as they joyned Oracles with Promi&s;es in their <HI>thun|dring</HI> Sermons, &s;o one &s;ee's that they cannot be parted.</P>
<P>One may make another Reflexion upon this matter, by &s;hewing that the&s;e Oracles, and the&s;e Books were &s;o famous among&s;t the <HI>Jews,</HI> that no Forgery can be &s;uppo&s;ed.</P>
<P>The times in which they were writ, are a great proof, for they appeared upon very remarkable Occa&s;ions.</P>
<P>One may rank the Prophets into four Orders, according to the &s;everal times in which they ap|peared: <HI>David,</HI> and the Prophets of his time; Tho&s;e who lived before the <HI>Babyloni&s;h</HI> Captivity; as <HI>Jonah, Ho&s;ea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, I&s;aiah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Jeremiah.</HI></P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>Tho&s;e who prophe&s;ied during the Captivity; <HI>Jeremiah, Ezekiel,</HI> and <HI>Daniel.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Tho&s;e who lived after their Return from <HI>Baby|bylon; Haggai, Zechariah,</HI> and <HI>Malachy.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>Now we have an equal A&s;&s;urance of all the&s;e Prophets, that they were famous.</P>
<P>Who can deny the Oracles of <HI>David</HI> to have been famous, when they were pre&s;erv'd among&s;t their publick Hymns?</P>
<P>One &s;ee's that <HI>Micah</HI>'s prediction &s;av'd <HI>Jeremi|ah</HI> whom they would have condemned for pro|phecying the Ruin of the Temple under <HI>Jehoia|kim,</HI>
<PB N="39" REF="173">when <HI>Micah</HI> had prophe&s;ied the &s;ame thing under <HI>Hezekiah,</HI> that is to &s;ay, about One hun|dred and twenty years before this Prediction of <HI>Jeremiah:</HI> Here's an Event which a&s;&s;ures us with|out affectation, That this Prophecy was very well known: were not therefore the other Prophe|cies which were in the hands of the <HI>Jews</HI> very well known by the whole Nation?</P>
<P>The other Prophets lived in very remarkable times: <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> under <HI>Jotham, Ahaz,</HI> and <HI>Mana&s;&s;eh</HI> impious Princes: the la&s;t of which put him to a cruel Death, for the freedom of his Cen&s;ures and Predictions.</P>
<P>There was in the time of every Prophet, a great number of Circum&s;tances which may be enlarg|ed upon, and which will further prove, That their Works mu&s;t of nece&s;&s;ity have been very publick, and very famous among&s;t the <HI>Jews.</HI></P>
<P>We mu&s;t not here neglect what do's more particularly regard the per&s;ons of the Prophets.</P>
<P N="1">I. Some of them were Prie&s;ts, that is to &s;ay publick Mini&s;ters of their Religion. <HI>Jeremiah</HI> and <HI>Ezechiel</HI> were of that number: This may be ob|&s;erved in reading of their Works, and in ob&s;er|ving the nature of their Revelations, which were for the mo&s;t part accommodated by God to tho&s;e Idea's about which the Prophets were mo&s;t em|ploy'd.</P>
<P N="2">II. Some were very illu&s;trious by their Birth: Thus <HI>David,</HI> for in&s;tance, was King of <HI>I&s;rael, I|&s;aiah</HI> was a Prince of the Blood, and <HI>Daniel</HI> was one of the Princes of <HI>Judah;</HI> which may be ea|&s;ily found out by con&s;idering the Maje&s;ty of their Style, and greatne&s;s of their Expre&s;&s;ions.</P>
<PB N="40" REF="174">
<P N="3">III. Some were very contemptible by their Employment, and by their Birth: So <HI>Amos,</HI> for in&s;tance, and tho&s;e other Prophets who&s;e Father is barely named, without joyning to it any ho|nourable Title, if the <HI>Jews</HI> ob&s;ervation has any &s;trength.</P>
<P>Now, it is well known, that tho' the gift of Prophecy made him who had it &s;ufficiently fa|mous, yet the Character of the Per&s;on often made the Prophecy famous. Sometimes indeed the meanne&s;s of the Per&s;on, as in <HI>Amos,</HI> made the Work to be more regarded, every Body ta|king occa&s;ion from the ancient Profe&s;&s;ion or the Prophet, to con&s;ider the Prophecies which he publi&s;hed with more attention.</P>
<P>One ought to ob&s;erve, with care, That tho&s;e Prophets who&s;e Writings are pre&s;erv'd, as well as tho&s;e who did not write, were continually &s;truck at by fal&s;e Prophets, who oppo&s;ed them with great heat. Since then we have no Prophecies pre&s;er|ved, but of tho&s;e who&s;e Predictions were accom|pli&s;hed, the Event ju&s;tifying the Truth of their Predictions, with regard to particular Facts near the time which they had foretold to e&s;tabli&s;h their Authority, whereas the Predictions of others, wanting this Character, were neglected, and at la&s;t ab&s;olutely lo&s;t: It appears plainly, That tho&s;e which remain were things of the greate&s;t Reputa|tion among the <HI>Jews.</HI></P>
<P>Be&s;ides, I may add, That one needs only read their Books to &s;ee that they not only foretold ob|&s;cure things, or what particularly concerned their State; but al&s;o things of a more &s;plendid Nature, the overthrow of Kingdoms, of Cities, the De|&s;truction
<PB N="41" REF="174">of whole Nations, the De&s;truction of their own City, with its re-e&s;tabli&s;hment; Mat|ters which would render their Books very illu|&s;trious, and which would cau&s;e them to be read, not only by the <HI>Jews,</HI> but al&s;o by the Neighbour Nations, the <HI>Ammonites, Moabites, A&s;&s;yrians, Per|&s;ians, Egyptians,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>Is not this therefore a very particular thing, and that which made the Prophets very illu&s;tri|ous, That the great lu&s;tre of the Prophets conti|nued but for a certain time: There have been none &s;ince the Year 3553. their Glory appeared in the Hi&s;tory of Eight Ages, but it do's not ex|tend it &s;elf any farther: Now why, I pray, &s;hould there be no Impo&s;tors after <HI>Malachy,</HI> as well as there were Impo&s;tors before him?</P>
<P>One may imagine perhaps, That the Prophe|cies were immediately di&s;per&s;t, &s;ome being utter|ed in one place, and &s;ome in another: Some in the Kingdom of <HI>Judah,</HI> and others in the King|dom of <HI>I&s;rael:</HI> Some in <HI>Babylon,</HI> others in <HI>Egypt,</HI> which might give Opportunites for Impo&s;tors. But,</P>
<P N="1">I. This Objection may be &s;trongly retorted back: For how can we conceive, that in the Divi&s;ion, which &s;eparated the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> from the <HI>Jews,</HI> tho&s;e of <HI>Judah</HI> would charge them&s;elves with the Writings publi&s;hed in a Kingdom &s;o much an Enemy to them, without examination, when every thing which comes from thence, ought to appear &s;u&s;pected.</P>
<P N="2">II. They were all collected into particular Vo|lumes: But the Prophecies of <HI>Ho&s;ea, I&s;aiah,</HI> and <HI>Jeremy,</HI> and the mo&s;t con&s;iderable of the re&s;t,
<PB N="42" REF="175">are pre&s;erved in Books which contain many other things.</P>
<P N="3">III. They are all exactly joyned with the Hi|&s;tory of the &s;ame Nation, each one in a place where there was an equal concern to pre&s;erve, and to gather them together. But be&s;ides, they were all collected into one Body. In &s;hort, the LXXII. Interpreters tran&s;lated them into <HI>Greek</HI> in the Year of the World 3727. and &s;o &s;ubmitted them to the Examination of the <HI>Egyptians;</HI> and this al&s;o keeps us from doubting of their Truth.</P>
<P>This Tran&s;lation was made but One hundred thirty and eight years after <HI>Malachy</HI> the la&s;t of the Prophets.</P>
<P>But what Judgment &s;oever may be made of the&s;e Reflexions, the De&s;ign whereof is only to e&s;tabli&s;h the Reputation of the&s;e Prophecies, and of the Books wherein they are written, that &s;o no room may be left for any &s;u&s;picions of Forgery: I &s;hall add two Con&s;iderations to what I have &s;aid already, which ought to appear convincing to e|very attentive man.</P>
<P N="1">I. One can &s;u&s;pect none but the <HI>Jews</HI> as For|gers of the&s;e Oracles: Now, not to &s;ay any any thing of the Ab&s;urdity of &s;uppo&s;ing that a whole Nation &s;hould have &s;ub&s;cribed to &s;uch an Impo&s;ture; all the <HI>Jews</HI> throughout the World, were after their return from the Captivity, &s;trong|ly prepo&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed with an opinion of the Me&s;&s;iah's being a great Temporal King: and they have the &s;ame belief to this very hour, in all places of the World, wherever they are di&s;per&s;t.</P>
<P>This being once laid down, I affirm it to be im|po&s;&s;ible that the <HI>Jews</HI> &s;hould forge Oracles which
<PB N="43" REF="175">a&s;&s;ert expre&s;ly, That the Me&s;&s;iah &s;hould be put to death in &s;o very odious a manner. For, as I &s;hall afterwards &s;hew, the olde&s;t Doctors attri|buted to the Me&s;&s;iah, all tho&s;e Oracles which &s;peak of the Death of the Me&s;&s;iah according to the Chri&s;tians, and which they them&s;elves in proce&s;s of time were forced to interpret of two Me&s;&s;iah's, one expo&s;ed to a world of Mi&s;eries, and the other only glorious: Or at lea&s;t, I may &s;ay it is impo&s;&s;ible that the <HI>Jews</HI> &s;hould con&s;ent to a Forgery which thwarted their common I|dea's and Preten&s;ions in &s;o very &s;en&s;ible a man|ner.</P>
<P N="2">II. The &s;econd Con&s;ideration e&s;tabli&s;hes the &s;ame Truth with no le&s;s firmne&s;s, which is that the Call of the Gentiles to have a &s;hare in the Ble&s;&s;ings of the Covenant which God made with the People of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> was the thing in the World from which the <HI>Jews</HI> had the greate&s;t aver&s;ation; they looked upon the Ble&s;&s;ings which the Me&s;&s;iah was to communicate, as advantages entirely re|&s;erved for tho&s;e of their own Nation: How then can we conceive that the <HI>Jews</HI> &s;hould forge &s;o ma|ny Oracles which &s;hould thwart their Prejudices &s;o &s;en&s;ibly? or how can we imagine that a whole People would authorize with their approbation an Impo&s;ture &s;o contrary, and &s;o very oppo&s;ite to their own Opinions?</P>
<P>But it is no hard thing to imagine, That when the <HI>Jews</HI> were once per&s;waded of the Authority of their Prophets, either by their Miracles, or by the ready Accompli&s;hment of every Oracle which they had <HI>publickly</HI> pronounced, that they &s;hould receive their Books, with a profound &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion,
<PB N="44" REF="176">and pre&s;erve them with the utmo&s;t care. But it appears to be an incomprehen&s;ible thing, for a People to receive Impo&s;tures contrary to their Prejudices, and Impo&s;tures reiterated &s;o often, without any ground, but what a va&s;t number of Records never before heard of would pro|duce.</P>
<P>But I &s;uppo&s;e the&s;e Reflexions will &s;uffice to e|&s;tabli&s;h the Truth of the Hi&s;torical and Prophe|tical Books of the Old Te&s;tament: So that there will be no need of alledging particular proofs, which might demon&s;trate the Truth of each Book in particular, which would carry me out to too great a length.</P>
<P>I &s;hall now con&s;ider the Oracles them&s;elves, and I &s;hall &s;hew the progre&s;s of the Light of this Revelation, with re&s;pect to the Promi&s;e of the Me&s;&s;iah; That this progre&s;s may be the better ob&s;erved, I &s;hall do three things, as I have for|merly ob&s;erved, without which the mind of a wi&s;e Reader will not receive &s;atisfaction.</P>
<P N="1">I. I &s;hall explain in a few words the Rea&s;on why the&s;e Oracles are interwoven with &s;everal Hi&s;tories, or Prophecies which &s;eem to have no Relation to the Promi&s;e of the Me&s;&s;iah.</P>
<P N="2">II. I &s;hall give &s;uch Rules as will &s;erve to ju&s;ti|fie the Application which both <HI>Jews</HI> and <HI>Christi|ans</HI> have equally made of &s;everal Oracles only to the Me&s;&s;iah.</P>
<P N="3">III. I &s;hall &s;et the Oracles according to the Order of Time, which will manife&s;t the Ad|vancement and Progre&s;s of that Light which is to be found in the Revelation it &s;elf: As indeed, it is natural to conceive that God &s;hould explain
<PB N="45" REF="176">him&s;elf more clearly, in this matter, in propor|tion as the things them&s;elves were nearer to their Completion.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="7" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. VII.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">For what Rea&s;on the Oracles, which relate to the Me&s;&s;iah, were interwoven with other things, which &s;eem to be very widely di|&s;tant.</HEAD>
<P>ONe of the greate&s;t Difficulties which may be rai&s;ed again&s;t the Oracles of the Old Te&s;tament which concern the Me&s;&s;iah, is that &s;urprizing mixture which one &s;ee's of tho&s;e Ora|cles, and of other Subjects which &s;eem to be widely di&s;tant from any Idea of the Me&s;&s;iah.</P>
<P>There are none &s;o prophane, as to deny, that if in the &s;ame Author, and in the &s;ame Chapter, any man &s;hould read in one continued Series Pre|dictions which &s;hould explain the miraculous Birth of the Me&s;&s;iah, his Family, his Preaching, his Miracles, his Sufferings, his Re&s;urrection, his A&s;cen&s;ion into Heaven, the Sending of the Ho|ly Gho&s;t, the Calling of the <HI>Gentiles:</HI> but that the Hi&s;tory of the Go&s;pel would &s;ufficiently ju|&s;tifie Je&s;us Chri&s;t to be the promi&s;ed Me&s;&s;iah.</P>
<P>But they take it to be a very &s;trange thing, that the Apo&s;tles &s;hould apply &s;everal pa&s;&s;ages in ancient Authors to the Hi&s;tory of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, tho'
<PB N="42" REF="177">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="43" REF="177">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="44" REF="178">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="45" REF="178">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="46" REF="179">the whole Contexture of their Books do not &s;eem to oblige us to make any &s;uch Interpretations.</P>
<P>They therefore &s;uppo&s;e that the Apo&s;tles made &s;everal fortunate Allu&s;ions to the more remarka|ble pa&s;&s;ages in tho&s;e ancient Authors, which may pa&s;s for Predictions of tho&s;e Events, which after|wards happened; ju&s;t as <HI>Nonnus</HI> wrote the Hi&s;to|ry of the Go&s;pel in <HI>Homer</HI>'s Ver&s;es; and as <HI>Eu|doxia</HI> made a <HI>Cento</HI> out of <HI>Virgil</HI>'s Poem, which contained the &s;ame Hi&s;tory, tho' neither <HI>Homer</HI> nor <HI>Virgil</HI> had any of the My&s;teries of the Chri|&s;tian Religion then in view.</P>
<P>That this apparent Difficulty may be &s;olved, it will be nece&s;&s;ary to examine Three things: I. The Matter of Fact it &s;elf. II. The Rea&s;ons which gave occa&s;ion for the doing of it. III. The Impre&s;&s;ion which this Fact has produced in the minds of men to this very time.</P>
<P>For the Fir&s;t; Tho' it is well known that com|mon u&s;e do's not allow men to joyn Foreign I|dea's in the &s;ame Di&s;cour&s;e, yet we may ea&s;ily conceive that God might and ought to do it, if we will allow what may be ea&s;ily collected, that he re&s;olved to &s;end the Me&s;&s;iah into the World: Such a practice was the more natural, becau&s;e the ancient Patriarchs before <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> him|&s;elf, who form'd the Commonwealth of the <HI>Jews,</HI> had prepar'd the minds of the People to &s;uch &s;ort of Expre&s;&s;ions as were rai&s;ed above the pre&s;ent Subject.</P>
<P>And certainly if one takes but the pains to con|&s;ider the wi&s;dom and beauty of the Authors who writ the&s;e Prophetical Books on the one &s;ide, and the Character of the Writers of the New Te&s;ta|ment
<PB N="47" REF="179">on the other, he would perceive, that if the&s;e words, <HI>That it might be fulfilled,</HI> were of ne|ce&s;&s;ity to be changed into the&s;e, <HI>As one may per|ceive a &s;ort of Completion of &s;uch or &s;uch Pa&s;&s;ages in the Old Te&s;tament,</HI> yet notwith&s;tanding that, the mo&s;t part of tho&s;e Quotations would evince an exact Accompli&s;hment, and the Oracles which they alledge would bear a ju&s;t proportion to tho&s;e Events which are related by the Evangeli&s;ts in our Saviour's Life.</P>
<P>Can any thing be more &s;ingular than the Pro|phecy in the Seventh of <HI>I&s;aiah,</HI> of the Me&s;&s;iah's being born of a Virgin; of the piercing of his hands and feet <HI>P&s;al.</HI> XXII: of the mixture of Gall which was offered him to drink, hinted at <HI>P&s;alm</HI> LX. 22. of his being &s;old for Thirty pie|ces of Silver: <HI>Zechar.</HI> XI. 3. or then &s;everal o|thers of a like nature, which at pre&s;ent I &s;hall not &s;tand to reckon up.</P>
<P>It mu&s;t be confe&s;&s;ed however, that the&s;e Ora|cles are interwoven for the mo&s;t part with Matters relating to Events happening in the time when each Prophet lived, or which &s;eem to be applica|ble per&s;onally to the Prophets.</P>
<P>Three Orders or Rea&s;ons may be conceived, which will ju&s;tifie the Wi&s;dom of God in the ordering of the&s;e Oracles in a way which &s;eems &s;o contrary to the common practice of the World.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t Order contains Rea&s;ons drawn from the per&s;on of the Me&s;&s;iah him&s;elf of whom we &s;peak.</P>
<P>The &s;econd Order contains tho&s;e which ari&s;e from the con&s;ideration of the People among&s;t
<PB N="48" REF="180">whom the Me&s;&s;iah was to be born.</P>
<P>The third contains tho&s;e Rea&s;ons which re&s;pect other Nations among&s;t whom the Me&s;&s;iah was to be preached. I &s;hall examine the&s;e three &s;orts by them&s;elves, and I hope that we may gather from thence, that the Eternal Wi&s;dom pre&s;ided o|ver this mixture of the&s;e Oracles which relate to the Me&s;&s;iah, with other Idea's which &s;eem to be wholly foreign to the Subject.</P>
<P>In &s;hort, it may be urged, That the belief of a Me&s;&s;iah form'd of &s;o apparent Contradictions, cannot ea&s;ily be received of the &s;uddain. A Me&s;|&s;iah of the Seed of <HI>David,</HI> whom <HI>David</HI> calls his <HI>Lord:</HI> a Me&s;&s;iah, who complains that he is <HI>for&s;a|ken by God,</HI> whom however he ought to adore: A Me&s;&s;iah born with the weakne&s;&s;es of Youth, who at the &s;ame time is called a <HI>mighty God,</HI> and the <HI>Father of Eternity, &amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>However, the&s;e Idea's which &s;eem &s;o oppo&s;ite ought of nece&s;&s;ity to have been &s;o &s;eparated by the Prophets, lea&s;t they &s;hould have been looked upon as Chimerical De&s;criptions, and incompa|tible in one and the &s;ame Subject.</P>
<P>A &s;econd Reflexion which may be made upon this Matter, is, That the <HI>Jews</HI> were bound not only to pre&s;erve their Oracles, but al&s;o to execute them in part; Thus for in&s;tance, there was a ne|ce&s;&s;ity for them to reject the Me&s;&s;iah, to deliver him up to the <HI>Gentiles</HI> to be crucified; there was a nece&s;&s;ity that their puni&s;hment &s;hould be as &s;ignal as their Crime, and that they &s;hould be di&s;per&s;ed over the World, after the De&s;truction of <HI>Jeru&s;a|lem,</HI> as the Prophets have clearly &s;hewn. Now how could all this have ever been effected, if the
<PB N="49" REF="180">De&s;cription of the Me&s;&s;iah by the Prophets had been as Hi&s;torical as that of the Apo&s;tles, or the Evangeli&s;ts, who gave us only a Narrative of Matters of Fact.</P>
<P>In a word, was it not the intere&s;t of the <HI>Gen|tiles,</HI> to whom the Go&s;pel was to be preached, that the&s;e Oracles &s;hould be &s;cattered up and down the Writings of the&s;e ancient Authors? They were to be Called upon the Rejection of the <HI>Jews:</HI> The <HI>Jews</HI> were bound to pre&s;erve the Books of the Old Te&s;tament, after they were ca&s;t off by God, that the Authority of the&s;e Books, and the&s;e Oracles, might be beyond all conte&s;t, as Te&s;ti|monies with which we are furni&s;hed by the ad|ver&s;e Party, which ought to have place, until the fulne&s;s of the <HI>Gentiles</HI> &s;hould profe&s;s Chri&s;tianity. Let any one therefore judge if it was not nece&s;|&s;ary in this &s;tate of Affairs, that there &s;hould be &s;ome ob&s;curity in the Prophetical De&s;criptions, and by con&s;equence that this interweaving of foreign Idea's with tho&s;e which concerned the Me&s;&s;iah, as al&s;o this di&s;per&s;ion of the Oracles through different places of the Sacred Writers was not nece&s;&s;ary, and &s;o much the more as they were uttered upon &s;everal Occa&s;ions by different Authors.</P>
<P>And we may affirm it, as a certainty, That ac|cording to the purpo&s;e of God, this ob&s;curity did not hinder either <HI>Jews</HI> or <HI>Pagans</HI> from perceiving tho&s;e <HI>ruling</HI> Idea's of a Me&s;&s;iah, when they read the Old Te&s;tament. Neither was the di&s;per&s;ion of the&s;e Oracles through &s;o many different pla|ces, any greater hindrance to their application; &s;ince the <HI>Jews</HI> laid it down as a con&s;tant Maxime,
<PB N="50" REF="181">That the accompli&s;hment of every thing which we find to be foretold as great and illu&s;trious by the Prophets, ought to be looked for in the Per&s;on of the Me&s;&s;iah, when the Events of a nearer Date did not an&s;wer to the greatne&s;s or magnifi|cence of the Predictions.</P>
<P>Several Ages had pa&s;&s;ed from the time in which the Prophet had foretold that the Me&s;&s;iah was to be born at <HI>Bethlehem,</HI> and yet we &s;ee that the I|dea of it continued very fre&s;h among&s;t the <HI>Jews,</HI> in our Saviour Je&s;us Chri&s;t's time, as is plain from the An&s;wer which they gave to <HI>Herod.</HI></P>
<P>There are &s;everal other Examples might be given, which &s;hew that the <HI>Jews</HI> in our Saviour's time applyed the very &s;ame Oracles to the Me&s;|&s;iah which we do; and without que&s;tion, if it had not been &s;o, the Apo&s;tles would fir&s;t have proved that the&s;e Oracles had relation to the Me&s;&s;iah, which they took for granted, as a thing con&s;tant|ly acknowledged, whereas now they only endea|voured in the Go&s;pel to ju&s;tifie that Je&s;us Chri&s;t was the Me&s;&s;iah, by &s;hewing one by one that all the Characters which the <HI>Jews</HI> attributed to the Me&s;&s;iah, were to be found in him.</P>
<P>Be&s;ides, it is manife&s;t from our Saviour's ex|plication of the CX <HI>P&s;alm,</HI> that tho' the <HI>Jews</HI> could not conceive the Solution of that Difficulty which naturally appears in tho&s;e words, <HI>The Lord &s;aid unto my Lord, &s;it thou at my right hand,</HI> yet afterwards they immediately applied that Oracle to the Me&s;&s;iah, without &s;eeking after any other Subjects to which they might apply it, as the <HI>Jews</HI> endeavour to do at this day.</P>
<P>But after the&s;e Remarks upon the mixture of
<PB N="51" REF="181">tho&s;e Oracles which relate to the Me&s;&s;iah, with others which &s;eem to be of a more foreign Na|ture, we ought to come to &s;ome general Rules by which we are to apply the ancient Oracles to the Me&s;&s;iah.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="8" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. VIII.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">General Rules for the &V;nder&s;tanding of ancient Oracles, and for the Application of them to the Me&s;&s;iah.</HEAD>
<P N="1">I. AS it appears very natural to conceive, That the mo&s;t ancient Revelations ought to be expre&s;&s;ed in the mo&s;t general terms, be|cau&s;e they were furthe&s;t from the time of their accompli&s;hment, and &s;o one ought to find in them a more imperfect delineation of the De&s;ign of God: yet it is vi&s;ible however, that they ought to contribute very much to the under&s;tanding of tho&s;e later Oracles, becau&s;e if the&s;e later ones do really contain a more particular explication of his De&s;ign in &s;ending the Me&s;&s;iah into the World, yet they ought always to follow tho&s;e Idea's which God at fir&s;t made u&s;e of to make his De&s;ign known in the World.</P>
<P N="2">II. It is natural to grant, That when God had told the <HI>Jews</HI> by <HI>Jacob</HI> and <HI>Balaam,</HI> that the coming of the Me&s;&s;iah was not &s;uddainly to hap|pen, if he intended to bring them to a certain
<PB N="52" REF="182">knowledge of the Me&s;&s;iah after a long Revolution of years, by tho&s;e Ceremonial and Judicial Laws which he e&s;tabli&s;hed, that he ought to breed them up in an expectation of the Me&s;&s;iah, by lively I|dea's, and by Oracles which &s;hould particularly explain the manner and circum&s;tances of his Ap|pearance.</P>
<P N="3">III. It is no le&s;s natural to acknowledge, That when God promi&s;ed &s;ome illu&s;trious Per&s;on, or &s;ome great advantage to the Jewi&s;h Nation, he did it only to entertain the People with an ex|pectation of the Me&s;&s;iah, and upon that account, that he might and ought to joyn the Promi&s;e of the Me&s;&s;iah with it, as the principal Object which the <HI>Jews</HI> ought always to have in view, until it &s;hould actually happen.</P>
<P>In &s;hort, there are two &s;orts of Oracles in the Old Te&s;tament: The fir&s;t are &s;uch as it is impo&s;&s;i|ble to apply to any other be&s;ides the Me&s;&s;iah; as for in&s;tance,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. III. 15. Deut. XVIII. 15. Deut. XXXIV. 10.</NOTE> <HI>The place of his Birth; The &s;eed of the Woman &s;hall break the Serpents head; The Lord thy God will rai&s;e up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy Brethren, like unto me; unto him ye &s;hall hearken.</HI> Whereupon he that added the Relation of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Death, takes notice that after that there aro&s;e up no Prophet in <HI>I&s;rael</HI> like unto <HI>Mo|&s;es.</HI></P>
<P>The &s;econd are &s;uch as &s;eem to agree in part to &s;ome body el&s;e be&s;ides the Me&s;&s;iah, tho' we may find there al&s;o &s;uch particular Characters, that it is impo&s;&s;ible to apply them perfectly; and in their utmo&s;t extent, according to the whole force of their expre&s;&s;ion to any other Subject be&s;ides the Me&s;&s;iah. And &s;o <HI>Balaam</HI> &s;eems to have &s;poken of
<PB N="53" REF="182"><HI>David, Numb.</HI> XXIII. as <HI>Julian</HI> the Apo&s;tate maintains, and of his Victories over the <HI>Moabites</HI> in the &s;ame place where he promi&s;es the Me&s;&s;iah, and where he &s;peaks of the manner of his &s;ubdu|ing the Children of <HI>Seth;</HI> And &s;o <HI>David</HI> in the &s;e|cond <HI>P&s;alm</HI> &s;peaks of the oppo&s;itions which he met with, in his advancement to the Throne, but in Terms too Great and too Emphatical to be ap|ply'd to him alone.</P>
<P>Tho&s;e Principles which I have now e&s;tabli&s;hed, that God promi&s;ed the Me&s;&s;iah in general terms, but without any intention of &s;ending him into the World, until &s;everal Ages had been pa&s;&s;ed, gave ri&s;e to the&s;e two &s;orts of Oracles. On the one &s;ide, there was a nece&s;&s;ity of explaining this Pro|mi&s;e di&s;tinctly from time to time. And on the other &s;ide, there was a nece&s;&s;ity of accommoda|ting him&s;elf to the De&s;ires of the <HI>Jews,</HI> by joyn|ing the&s;e Idea's with every thing that was great and con&s;iderable in tho&s;e Events, and in tho&s;e Per&s;ons to whom the Prophetick Spirit intended to add a lu&s;tre by its Predictions.</P>
<P>The <HI>Jews</HI> are agreed at pre&s;ent, as they were al&s;o in our Saviour's time, in the application of the mo&s;t part of tho&s;e Oracles in the Old Te&s;ta|ment, which the Chri&s;tians apply to the Me&s;&s;iah, and if they di&s;pute &s;ome of them, which they ex|plain in a &s;en&s;e perfectly forced, yet at lea&s;t they cannot di&s;pute the&s;e following Truths.</P>
<P N="1">I. That the mo&s;t part of tho&s;e Oracles which we apply to the Me&s;&s;iah, were apply'd in the &s;ame manner by the Jewi&s;h Doctors in our Saviours time: As the CX <HI>P&s;alm,</HI> for in&s;tance, which has relation to the Nature and Glory of the Me&s;&s;iah;
<PB N="54" REF="183">the II <HI>P&s;alm,</HI> which has re&s;pect to the Con&s;pira|cy of the Princes and the People again&s;t the Me&s;&s;iah; that place in <HI>Micah</HI> which fixes the Birth of the Me&s;&s;iah to <HI>Bethlehem, &amp;c.</HI></P>
<P N="2">II. That as they thought them&s;elves obliged to make two Me&s;&s;iahs, becau&s;e of the apparent Contradictions which are to be found in tho&s;e various Events which are apply'd to the Me&s;&s;iah in tho&s;e Predictions; &s;ome perfectly glorious, and others every way contemptible: &s;o there is no inju&s;tice done, in explaining tho&s;e Oracles which at fir&s;t &s;eem only to have relation to one &s;ingle per|&s;on, of the Me&s;&s;iah, and of &s;ome other per|&s;on.</P>
<P N="3">III. That &s;ince they them&s;elves believe, That their Ance&s;tors might lawfully pa&s;s from one &s;en&s;e to another in their Explications of tho&s;e Oracles, &s;o that they were permitted to apply an Oracle to &s;ome other Subject, which did not &s;eem to agree exactly enough to that Subject which their Ance|&s;tors had fir&s;t in view, as the particular Subject con|cerning which the Oracle treated: So it is not only ju&s;t, but nece&s;&s;ary too, to pa&s;s from one Subject to another as the Apo&s;tles have actually done.</P>
<P N="4">IV. That we ought to pay a much greater defe|rence to the Opinion of the ancient <HI>Jews,</HI> than of tho&s;e, who have been &s;owred by their Mi&s;eries and Di&s;putes to &s;uch a degree, that they have lo&s;t that principle of Equity which keeps Men from de|nying the mo&s;t evident Truths, and which have been the mo&s;t univer&s;ally acknowledged by a whole Nation, that was not prepo&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed with &s;o great a degree of Ob&s;tinacy.</P>
<P>But we ought to ob&s;erve, be&s;ides, That this
<PB N="55" REF="183">&s;eeming Confu&s;ion of tho&s;e Oracles which relate to the Me&s;&s;iah, with other Subjects treated of by the Prophets, aro&s;e from &s;everal Cau&s;es.</P>
<P N="1">I. From the Prophet's often joyning the Idea's of the principal Promi&s;e, the &s;ending of the Me&s;|&s;iah, with the promi&s;e of tho&s;e means which were ab&s;olutely nece&s;&s;ary for the accompli&s;hment of that promi&s;e, as the pre&s;ervation of the <HI>Jews</HI> for in&s;tance. So the Captivity of the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> in <HI>Egypt,</HI> and their departure from thence, with their &s;ettling in the Land of <HI>Canaan,</HI> which he had promi&s;ed them before, were foretold, as ne|ce&s;&s;ary means in the order of Providence, to the Execution of the great De&s;ign of God.</P>
<P>For &s;o the <HI>Babyloni&s;h</HI> Captivity, and their De|liverance there from, which are both foretold, are foretold as &s;teps towards the execution of the pro|mi&s;e of &s;ending the Me&s;&s;iah.</P>
<P>And &s;o likewi&s;e when they foretold the Per&s;e|cutions by <HI>Antiochus,</HI> and the other Neighbouring Nations, they al&s;o foretell the deliverance which God would grant to the <HI>Jews,</HI> and their re-e&s;ta|bli&s;hment until the Birth of the Me&s;&s;iah, which was the accompli&s;hment of that great Pro|mi&s;e.</P>
<P N="2">II. This &s;eeming Confu&s;ion aro&s;e from the wri|ting of the&s;e Books piece by piece, which after|wards were put into this order, without having always a regard to the time in which they were writ, and without taking notice of all the occa&s;i|ons which engaged the Prophets to write. And thus we &s;ee the Prophecies which relate to the Me&s;&s;iah joyned to &s;everal other Tran&s;actions, and to &s;everal other Predictions, who&s;e con|nexion
<PB N="56" REF="184">is not always &s;o very evident.</P>
<P N="3">III. It ari&s;es from the writing of the Prophe|cies each by them&s;elves, &s;o that all tho&s;e of the &s;ame Prophet were put together as they came out, making only a new Chapter in the Work; where|as they ought to be con&s;idered rather with relati|on to the Matter, than to the Order in which they lye in the Book, as we have it at the pre&s;ent. For the Prophets often borrow their Light from what they them&s;elves had &s;aid &s;ome time before, or from what &s;ome other Prophet had foretold, which ought to be ob&s;erved particularly of tho&s;e who lived about the &s;ame time.</P>
<P>But be&s;ides tho&s;e Rules which I propo&s;ed in the beginning of this Chapter, and be&s;ides tho&s;e Ob|&s;ervations of the joyning the Oracles which re|late to the Me&s;&s;iah with other Subjects, I mu&s;t add two Rules more, which may be u&s;eful in deter|mining the &s;en&s;e of great numbers of Oracles which are expre&s;&s;ed in figurative terms. The fir&s;t is, That it is natural to conceive that when the Prophets were to &s;peak of the Me&s;&s;iah, and when they were intent upon the De&s;cription of his Kingdom, they &s;hould make u&s;e of Expre&s;&s;ions which &s;eem'd to foretell a &s;ort of overturning of nature, which &s;hould happen at that time: But then the&s;e Expre&s;&s;ions ought to be under&s;tood in a figurative &s;en&s;e, in the &s;ame Spiritual &s;en&s;e in which the Chri&s;tians under&s;tood them, as the famous <HI>Maimonides</HI> allows in that pa&s;&s;age of <HI>I&s;ai|ah,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lib. de <HI>Re|gibus,</HI> cap. XII.</NOTE> where the <HI>Wolf</HI> and the <HI>Lamb</HI> are &s;aid to feed together.</P>
<P>Secondly, Since the Me&s;&s;iah is de&s;cribed as one who &s;hould unite in his own Per&s;on, the Glory of
<PB N="57" REF="184">the Divinity, and the meanne&s;s of the Human Nature together, we ought to under&s;tand tho&s;e Oracles in &s;uch a manner, that what is <HI>great</HI> in tho&s;e Prophetical De&s;criptions, &s;hould not con|tradict the more contemptible part, when we con|&s;ider the Me&s;&s;iah as cloathed with all the mean|ne&s;&s;es of the Human Nature. The&s;e Idea's which are often joyned in one and the &s;ame Oracles, ought to be exactly applyed to the different con|&s;ideration which the Prophets had of the Me&s;&s;i|ah, or to tho&s;e various States through which they them&s;elves a&s;&s;ures us that the Me&s;&s;iah was to pa&s;s.</P>
<P>An intelligent Reader will ea&s;ily judge, that I might have added a third Rule to the two former; which is, That when a per&s;on, who has all the Characters of a Prophet, applys an old Oracle to any Subject, one cannot rea&s;onably di&s;pute his application. This the Chri&s;tians a&s;&s;ure us was done by the Apo&s;tles in a very great number of Oracles. But becau&s;e this &s;uppo&s;es a Prophetick Character in the Apo&s;tles before it has been e&s;ta|bli&s;hed by &s;olid proofs, I &s;hall wave the propo&s;al of it at pre&s;ent.</P>
<P>After the&s;e general Remarks I &s;hall gather to|gether tho&s;e Oracles in the Old Te&s;tament, which relate to the Me&s;&s;iah; I might here fol|low the order of the Matters, by bringing under each Article tho&s;e Oracles which relate to it, which would give a great Light to the Subject, as <HI>Eu&s;ebius</HI> has rightly ob&s;erved, and as he has pra|cti&s;ed him&s;elf in his Books <HI>de Demon&s;tratione E|vangelic&acirc;.</HI> However, I rather cho&s;e to follow the Order of Time in which the&s;e Oracles were ut|tered,
<PB N="58" REF="185">which did not &s;eem improper to explain tho&s;e Truths which are contained in tho&s;e Ora|cles.</P>
<P>In &s;hort, this is of great importance: I. Be|cau&s;e it is very natural to con&s;ider the Series of God's de&s;ign, and the connexion which may be found in tho&s;e Idea's which are made u&s;e of to ex|pre&s;s it.</P>
<P N="2">II. Becau&s;e of the nece&s;&s;ity of the encrea&s;e of the Light in the Revelations, proportionably as the time drew near; &s;o that, it is of u&s;e to ob|&s;erve how the Divine Wi&s;dom follow'd this na|tural Order in making the later Oracles clearer than the former, and in hinting by little and lit|tle a greater number of Circum&s;tances, by which it was nece&s;&s;ary to explain them.</P>
<P N="3">III. Becau&s;e this &s;erves to give us a very &s;trong proof, That God intended to furni&s;h us from the Scriptures them&s;elves, with that which &s;hould fix us in a Belief of this Capital Truth in our Religi|on. In &s;hort, when the Truth of each of the Books in the Old Te&s;tament is once approved, and their Age &s;et down, it appears that &s;everal Prophets did agree wonderfully without any con|cert, in the explication of the &s;ame Truths at &s;e|veral Times, and in &s;everal Places and Circum|&s;tances, which hinder men for the mo&s;t part from agreeing in the mo&s;t common Matters, which are the Subjects of their Reflexions.</P>
<P>I have already con&s;idered that the Wi&s;dom of God follow'd Rules very conformable to the Con|dition and Inclinations of the Patriarchs, when it &s;poke of the Me&s;&s;iah. We may &s;ee the &s;ame Con|duct in the following times.</P>
<PB N="59" REF="185">
<P>So &s;ince God had promi&s;ed Children to <HI>Adam</HI> in <HI>Abel</HI>'s &s;tead, one may &s;ee that he al&s;o promi|&s;ed <HI>David</HI> a Son who &s;hould &s;et upon his Throne. He explains almo&s;t all the Circum&s;tances of his Coming, his Humiliation, his Exaltation, the Oppo&s;itions he &s;hould meet with, the Victories he &s;hould obtain, and his Offices, Prophetical, Prie&s;t|ly, and Royal.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's afterwards that the Prophets explain in a more particular manner all the&s;e Idea's which <HI>David</HI> had already propo&s;ed. <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> &s;peaks of his Birth by a Virgin, of his Spiritual Gifts, of his Miracles, of his Sufferings, of his Re&s;urrection, of his Calling of all Nations in to his Wor&s;hip, and of his Ca&s;ting off the <HI>Jews.</HI></P>
<P>Tho&s;e who come after point out the place particularly, and the Town where the Me&s;&s;iah was to be born; they de&s;cribe his Covenant, and the Calling of the Gentiles to the Service of the God of <HI>I&s;rael.</HI></P>
<P>In &s;hort, they de&s;cribe both the Character of the Forerunner of the Me&s;&s;iah, and the Empire under which he was to appear, and the very Year in which he was to dye, as <HI>Daniel</HI> particu|larly doth.</P>
<P>I cannot undertake to relate all the Oracles which are contained in the Books of the Old Te&s;tament, they are &s;o very numerous. But I hope at lea&s;t to mark the more principal, and the mo&s;t illu&s;trious ones, and to explain them in &s;uch a manner, that all &s;hall be obliged to ac|knowledge, I. That God de&s;igned to give in|fallible proofs to his Church, of his de&s;ign in &s;ending the Me&s;&s;iah into the World, and to pre|&s;erve
<PB N="60" REF="186">the continual remembrance of him, as of a Per&s;on who was promi&s;ed to give all Com|fort to his Church, and who&s;e coming &s;hould bring Salvation to all Mankind. II. That the care which he took in &s;pecifying all the Cir|cum&s;tances of his coming into the World, &s;hew that he de&s;igned to prevent the Scandal which the abject Life and Death of a Me&s;&s;iah might produce, and the fal&s;e Judgments which Men might form of the Works of a Divine Wi&s;|dom, when they only judge of them by the out&s;ide. III. That he de&s;igned to give an in|fallible proof, that this &s;ending of the Me&s;&s;i|ah, was the Work of his Wi&s;dom and Fideli|ty, which at la&s;t accompli&s;hed a thing, the De|&s;ign whereof had been propo&s;ed to Mankind im|mediately after the Fall.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="9" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. IX.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"> <HI>Of tho&s;e Oracles concerning the Me&s;&s;iah which are to be found in the Book of</HI> Gene|&s;is.</HEAD>
<P>I Begin with tho&s;e Oracles which are con|tained in the Book of <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> &s;ince it is con|venient to touch them all over again in few words.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t Oracle is comprized in the&s;e Terms,
<PB N="61" REF="186"><HI>Gen.</HI> III. 15. <HI>I will put Enmity between Thee and the Woman, and between thy Seed and her Seed; it &s;hall brui&s;e thy Head, and thou &s;halt brui&s;e his Heel.</HI></P>
<P>This Oracle has con&s;iderable advantages, tho' it is expre&s;&s;ed in figurative Terms. God uttered it in the beginning of the World, after he had given Sentence again&s;t <HI>Adam,</HI> and the Woman, and the Serpent in a very &s;en&s;ible manner, even under a Human &s;hape, if we may dare to affirm it. He uttered it before the Head of all Man|kind, which ought to make it con&s;iderable to all his Po&s;terity. He expre&s;&s;es it by an Allu&s;ion to the nature of the Temptation, and to the form of the Serpent, which the Tempter had took upon him. He pre&s;erves thereby the memory of the Temptation, by in&s;piring all Mankind with an invincible Hatred again&s;t all Serpents in general, tho' the Tempter had took the &s;hape but of one particular kind, for an In&s;trument to accompli&s;h his De&s;ign.</P>
<P>In &s;hort, this Oracle clearly &s;hews, I. That it &s;hould be particularly the Seed of the Woman: <HI>Adam</HI> not being touched at. II. That the Seed of the Woman, that is to &s;ay the Me&s;&s;iah, &s;hould de&s;troy the power of the Serpent expre&s;|&s;ed by the Head, that is to &s;ay the power of the Devil. III. That this Seed &s;hould however re|ceive a con&s;iderable wound from the Devil, tho' it &s;hould only touch his Heel, the lea&s;t con&s;ide|rable part of the Me&s;&s;iah. IV. That all the Ble&s;&s;ings which God &s;hould give to Mankind af|ter the Fall, &s;hould be grounded upon the &s;end|ing of this Seed into the World: This is more
<PB N="62" REF="187">clearly expre&s;&s;ed by God's telling <HI>Abraham,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. XXII. 18.</NOTE> <HI>That in thy Seed all the Nations of the Earth &s;hould be ble&s;&s;ed.</HI></P>
<P>That this Oracle <HI>Gen.</HI> III. has relation to the Me&s;&s;iah, is plain: I. Becau&s;e it is the Source and Abridgment of the whole Revelation. II. Be|cau&s;e all the ancient <HI>Jews</HI> in effect under&s;tood it &s;o. III. Becau&s;e the Apo&s;tles, in following the Idea's of the Synagogue plainly referred them to the Me&s;&s;iah,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Targum in h. l.</NOTE> by the Allu&s;ions which they make to them: <HI>John</HI> XII. <HI>Romans.</HI> XVI. II <HI>Cor.</HI> XI. 1 <HI>John</HI> III.</P>
<P>The &s;econd Oracle which relates to the Me&s;&s;i|ah, is contained in the&s;e Terms, when God &s;poke to <HI>Abraham; In thy Seed &s;hall all the Nations of the Earth be ble&s;&s;ed.</HI></P>
<P>This Oracle is very illu&s;trious: I. By the per|&s;on of <HI>Abraham,</HI> whom God made the Depo&s;ita|ry of it, and who made him&s;elf ready to Sacri|crifice his own Son. II. By the frequent Repe|titions which God made to this Patriarch, u&s;ing in effect all tho&s;e ways which he afterwards fol|low'd in his Revelations to the Patriarchs, for fifty years together, from the Year 2083. to the Year 2133. of the World. III. Becau&s;e it was accompanied by the Circumci&s;ion, &s;o that tho' it foretold that the Advantages &s;hould be in common to all Nations, yet it limited the Me&s;|&s;iah to be born of <HI>Abraham</HI>'s Seed.</P>
<P>It al&s;o intimates very clearly, I. That the Ble&s;|&s;ings which it promi&s;es &s;hould be in common to all Nations. II. That this Ble&s;&s;ing &s;hould be quite of another nature from Temporal ones, as the encrea&s;e for in&s;tance, and the power of
<PB N="63" REF="187"><HI>Abraham</HI>'s Po&s;terity, which had been promi&s;ed to him before. S. <HI>Paul</HI>'s Reflexion <HI>Gal.</HI> III. 8. That God &s;pake of Seed in the &s;ingular Number is very remarkable, and &s;o much the more, be|cau&s;e the <HI>Jews</HI> make a like Ob&s;ervation upon a parallel place in the Old Te&s;tament.</P>
<P>As God repeated this Promi&s;e when he &s;poke to <HI>I&s;aac</HI> in the Year 2200, and to <HI>Jacob</HI> in the Year 2245. <HI>Gen.</HI> XXVIII. 14. <HI>And thy Seed &s;hall be as the Du&s;t of the Earth; and thou &s;halt &s;pread abroad to the West, and to the Ea&s;t, and to the North, and to the South: and in thee, and in thy Seed, &s;hall all the Families of the Earth be ble&s;&s;ed,</HI> &s;o one ought to repeat again the &s;ame Reflexions. This ought only to be added, That God re&s;trained the ho|nour of bringing forth the Me&s;&s;iah to <HI>Jacob</HI> the Son of <HI>I&s;aac,</HI> that the <HI>Edomites</HI> might not come in to challenge the right, as I have very particu|larly explained in my Reflexions upon <HI>Gene|&s;is.</HI></P>
<P>We come now to the Oracle which <HI>Jacob</HI> gave in the Year 2315. It is one of the cleare&s;t Predictions in the whole Bible, and it is expre&s;&s;ed in the&s;e Terms: Judah, <HI>thou art he whom thy Brethren &s;hall prai&s;e; thy hand &s;hall be in the neck of thine Enemies: thy Father's Children &s;hall bow down before thee.</HI> Judah <HI>is a Lions whelp; from the Prey my Son thou art gone up: he &s;tooped down, he couched as a Lion, and as an old Lion; who &s;hall rouze him up? The Scepter &s;hall not depart from</HI> Judah, <HI>nor a Law giver from between his Feet, until</HI> Shiloh <HI>come, and unto him &s;hall the gathering of the People be. Binding his Fole unto the Vine, and his A&s;&s;es Colt unto the choice Vine; he wa&s;hed his Garments in Wine,
<PB N="64" REF="188">and his Clothes in the Blood of Grapes. His eyes &s;hall be red with Wine, and his Teeth white with Milk. Gen.</HI> XLIX. 8.&mdash;12. I know very well, that &s;ome of the <HI>Jews</HI> have pretended, that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> ought to be under&s;tood for <HI>Shiloh;</HI> But this is &s;o ridiculous an Opinion, that there is not the lea&s;t probability to maintain it: What Scepter had <HI>Ju|dah</HI> before <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> came? How was <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> the Ex|pectation of the <HI>Gentiles,</HI> and the Object of their Hope?</P>
<P>And indeed, the Body of the Jewi&s;h Nation are agreed, that this Oracle was meant of the Me&s;&s;iah, &s;o <HI>Onkelos</HI> the <HI>Chaldee</HI> Paraphra&s;t, &s;o the <HI>Jeru&s;alem Targum,</HI> and <HI>Jonathan</HI>'s, &s;o <HI>R. So|lomon Jarchi, Abenezra,</HI> and <HI>Kimchi</HI> are a|greed.</P>
<P>Now the&s;e Reflexions may be naturally drawn from this Oracle which <HI>Jacob</HI> uttered upon his Death-bed.</P>
<P N="1">I. This Oracle is found among&s;t a great num|ber of Oracles which concern the other Tribes of the <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI> and which were accompli&s;hed as to every Tribe.</P>
<P N="2">II. This Oracle contains &s;everal particular E|vents which relate to private Tran&s;actions in the Tribe of <HI>Judah.</HI></P>
<P N="3">III. This Oracle was, as it were, <HI>Jacob</HI>'s Will in favour of <HI>Judah,</HI> at a time when he divided a|mong&s;t his Children their Portions which they were to expect from him.</P>
<P N="4">IV. This was a Preference of <HI>Judah,</HI> who was but the fourth, to <HI>Reuben</HI> who was the elde&s;t, and who by con&s;equence ought to have been the Head of his Family. The Scepter, and the Au|thority
<PB N="65" REF="188">of Legi&s;lator was promi&s;ed to <HI>Judah,</HI> which did not belong to him by the right of his Birth.</P>
<P><HI>Jacob</HI> therefore prepared his Children to look for an accompli&s;hment of tho&s;e Promi&s;es made to <HI>Abraham</HI> in <HI>Judah,</HI> as well for the Kings who were to be de&s;cended from him, as for the Nati|ons of the Earth, who were to be ble&s;&s;ed in <HI>A|braham</HI>'s Seed.</P>
<P>But we mu&s;t go yet further; I &s;hall therefore ob&s;erve, I. That this Prophecy particularly re|garded the Tribe of <HI>Judah,</HI> as all the preceding and following Oracles concern'd tho&s;e Tribes, who&s;e Heads were then named by <HI>Jacob.</HI></P>
<P N="2">II. That this Prophecy concerns the Tribe of <HI>Judah,</HI> as &s;ettled in the Land of <HI>Canaan,</HI> by a di|&s;tinct e&s;tabli&s;hment from the other Tribes. In &s;hort, it is certain that the Tribe of <HI>Judah</HI> had &s;ome &s;uperiority; Thus God for in&s;tance com|manded that Tribe to march the fir&s;t, <HI>Numb.</HI> II. &amp; X. Its Heads offered their pre&s;ents fir&s;t, <HI>Numb.</HI> VII. 11, 12, 83. In <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI>'s time this Tribe took its Divi&s;ion without drawing Lots for it. One &s;ee's that God ordered the Tribe of <HI>Judah</HI> to lead the People out to the Conque&s;t of the re&s;t of the Country. One &s;ee's the &s;ame Prerogatives in the Book of <HI>Judges,</HI> tho' they were often of other Tribes. From <HI>David</HI>'s time to the taking of <HI>Je|ru&s;alem</HI> by <HI>Nebuchadnezzar,</HI> the Kings were all of that Tribe; and <HI>Zorobabel</HI> afterwards headed tho&s;e who returned out of <HI>Chaldea.</HI> The Book of the <HI>Chronicles</HI> names the Tribe of <HI>Judah</HI> fir&s;t; <HI>Herod</HI> was the fir&s;t King who was wholly a Stran|ger.</P>
<PB N="66" REF="189">
<P N="3">III. That <HI>Jacob</HI> &s;uppo&s;ed that the Tribe of <HI>Judah</HI> &s;hould be in po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of a Form of Go|vernment, and of a Community till the coming of the Me&s;&s;iah: This was all very proper, and indeed we &s;ee that this Tribe continued under its own Governours, after the other Tribes had been tran&s;ported, II <HI>Kings</HI> XVII. 18. It almo&s;t &s;wal|lowed up <HI>Benjamin</HI> and <HI>Levi,</HI> who &s;ettled in their Country; and indeed <HI>Jo&s;ephus</HI> a&s;&s;ures us, That there were but few of the Ten Tribes who came back again into <HI>Judea</HI> under <HI>Ezra,</HI> for the great|e&s;t part of them &s;tayed beyond <HI>Euphrates.</HI> And we &s;ee that at la&s;t they gave their Name to the whole Country.</P>
<P N="4">IV. That this Oracle was fulfilled by degrees. This I have ob&s;erved already of the preheminen|cy of the Tribe of <HI>Judah</HI> before <HI>David</HI>'s time, which was a &s;tep to the advancement of it to the Throne. And the le&s;&s;ening of their Dignity, which was to be entirely taken away when the Me&s;&s;iah came, had al&s;o the &s;ame Gradations. <HI>David</HI> was &s;et upon the Throne over all <HI>I&s;rael;</HI> but his Hou&s;e lo&s;t the Government over Ten Tribes in his Grand&s;on <HI>Rehoboam</HI>'s time. His Succe&s;&s;ors were Tributary to the neighbouring Princes: whereas <HI>David</HI> carried his Empire to the Walls of <HI>Babylon,</HI> tho' afterwards the <HI>Babylo|nians</HI> &s;ubdued the <HI>Jews,</HI> and depo&s;ed the Kings of <HI>Judah.</HI> At la&s;t they ab&s;olutely lo&s;t all that Authority which they had hitherto kept. They recovered a little in the Per&s;on of <HI>Zorobabel,</HI> and tho' they were &s;oon after invaded by the <HI>Seleuci|dae,</HI> yet the <HI>Maccabees</HI> pre&s;erved them a little, till <HI>Herod</HI> and the <HI>Romans</HI> took away all tho&s;e Rem|nants which they had yet left.</P>
<PB N="67" REF="189">
<P>In carrying the&s;e Views of this Oracle fur|ther, we may yet further ob&s;erve, I. That God intended to oblige the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> to wait for the Scepter in the Tribe of <HI>Judah.</HI> It mu&s;t be there before it could depart thence. It was natural to conceive, that the <HI>Jews</HI> were to look yet much further than <HI>David.</HI> Tho&s;e words, <HI>It &s;hall not depart,</HI> denote a continuance of the Scepter in the Hou&s;e of <HI>David</HI> for &s;ome con&s;iderable time.</P>
<P N="2">II. It is ea&s;ie to comprehend a le&s;&s;ening of the Dignity in the term <HI>Lawgiver,</HI> [See <HI>Judges</HI> V. 14. <GAP DESC="foreign">] which God &s;eems to have made u&s;e of, as a Mark of the Fall, which I have ob&s;erved in the Per&s;on of <HI>Zorobabel,</HI> who as to the time was about the middle of the Oracle.</P>
<P N="3">III. In a word, it is ea&s;ie to acknowledge that this Oracle a&s;&s;igns the <HI>Epocha</HI> in gro&s;s for the time of the coming of the Me&s;&s;iah, <HI>viz.</HI> the Ruin of that Authority and Power which the <HI>Jews,</HI> pro|perly &s;o called from the Tribe of <HI>Judah,</HI> &s;hould enjoy after their re-e&s;tabli&s;hment. God could not explain him&s;elf more particularly, in &s;tating the preci&s;e time when this thing &s;hould hap|pen.</P>
<P>There are two other very con&s;iderable Oracles; one uttered by <HI>Balaam</HI> in the Year 2553; be|fore the King of the <HI>Moabites,</HI> who had &s;ent for him to cur&s;e the People of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> that lay in the Plains; the other uttered the &s;ame Year by <HI>Mo|&s;es</HI> the famous Legi&s;lator of the <HI>Jews;</HI> the fir&s;t is in&s;erted by <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> in the XXIV <HI>Chapter</HI> of <HI>Num|bers;</HI> the other is in the XVIII of <HI>Deuterono|my.</HI></P>
<PB N="68" REF="190">
<P>The fir&s;t is in the&s;e words; <HI>I &s;hall &s;ee him, but not now: I &s;hall behold him, but not nigh: there &s;hall come a Star out of</HI> Jacob, <HI>and a Scepter &s;hall ri&s;e out of</HI> I&s;rael, <HI>and &s;hall &s;mite all the Corners of</HI> Moab, <HI>and destroy all the Children of</HI> Seth: <HI>And</HI> Edom <HI>&s;hall be a Po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion,</HI> Seir <HI>al&s;o &s;hall be a Po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion for his Enemies, and</HI> I&s;rael <HI>&s;hall do valiantly. Out of</HI> Jacob <HI>&s;hall come he that &s;hall have Dominion, and &s;hall de&s;troy him that remaineth of the City.</HI></P>
<P>One ought to ob&s;erve, that <HI>Balaam</HI>'s Character, the pre&s;ence of the King and the Elders of <HI>Moab,</HI> and all the Circum&s;tances in which it was uttered, do advance its Authority con&s;iderably.</P>
<P>But the turn of his Expre&s;&s;ions is equally &s;in|gular and remarkable: I. He &s;peaks of the Me&s;|&s;iah as of a Star, hinting out to us the Cele&s;tial Nature of the Me&s;&s;iah: whereas hitherto God had only de&s;cribed him under the Figure of a bare man: tho' the other was made &s;ufficiently in|telligible, when the De&s;truction of the Empire of the Tempter, and the right of procuring a Ble&s;|&s;ing unto all the Nations of the Earth which he was per&s;onally to enjoy, were attributed to him; things infinitely beyond the power and condition of Mankind to perform, were attributed to him. II. He ob&s;erves, That this Per&s;on of whom he &s;peaks &s;uch magnificent things, ought however to be de&s;cended from <HI>Jacob;</HI> which ratifies <HI>Ja|cob</HI>'s Prophecy in favour of <HI>Judah.</HI> III. Tho' he hints very clearly at the effects of tho&s;e Ble&s;&s;ings and Temporal Victories which <HI>Jacob</HI>'s Po&s;terity was to obtain over their Neighbours, yet at the &s;ame time he infinuates plainly enough, that the be&s;towing of the Ble&s;&s;ing which all the Nations
<PB N="69" REF="190">of the World &s;hould obtain, was to be re&s;erved to <HI>Jacob</HI>'s Seed; when he refu&s;ed to retract tho&s;e Promi&s;es of Ble&s;&s;ing which God had made to <HI>A|braham, I&s;aac,</HI> and <HI>Jacob,</HI> to which Oracles he made a &s;en&s;ible Allu&s;ion.</P>
<P>And it is very important to con&s;ider that the <HI>Jews</HI> always applyed this Oracle to the Me&s;&s;iah, as may be &s;een by their <HI>Chaldee</HI> Paraphra&s;t; and it was acknowledged &s;o generally, that the fa|mous <HI>Achiba,</HI> who lived under the Emperour <HI>Hadrian,</HI> pretended that <HI>Barchocheba</HI> was the Me&s;&s;iah, becau&s;e his name was <HI>Chochab,</HI> which is a <HI>Star</HI> in <HI>Hebrew;</HI> as if God intended to mark that Impo&s;tor for the true Me&s;&s;iah, by foretelling what name he &s;hould be called by.</P>
<P>The Oracle which <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> uttered a little before his Death, is very con&s;iderable. The People be|ing terrified with the manner of God's &s;peaking to them upon Mount <HI>Sinai,</HI> de&s;ired that God would no longer &s;peak as he had done before, but that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> &s;hould give them an Account of whatever God &s;hould command. Hereupon God con&s;ents to their Reque&s;t, and promi&s;ed them by <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> that he would rai&s;e them up a Prophet like unto <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> to whom they ought to hearken, upon pain of being cut off.</P>
<P>He that made the Addition to the la&s;t Book of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> wherein his Death is de&s;cribed, takes no|tice, that there never ro&s;e up afterwards a Pro|phet in <HI>I&s;rael</HI> like to <HI>Mo&s;es:</HI> If it was <HI>Ezra</HI> who made that Addition, then here is a plain and clear deci&s;ion again&s;t the <HI>Jews,</HI> &s;ome of whom a&s;&s;ert that <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> or <HI>Jeremiah</HI> was the Prophet whom <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> promi&s;ed: If it was <HI>Eleazar,</HI> who
<PB N="70" REF="191">liv'd in <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI>'s time, then here <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> at lea&s;t is excluded from this priviledge of being de&s;igned by <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI></P>
<P>But it is to no purpo&s;e to &s;top at &s;uch frivo|lous Objections: One needs only ob&s;erve <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Character to take notice of four certain Marks of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Prophecies, which advance him infinitely above all the other Prophets. I. He had all the &s;orts of Revelations which are generally found among&s;t all the Prophets. II. He was illu&s;trious for great numbers of Miracles. III. He not on|ly reform'd the Errors and fal&s;e ways of Wor|&s;hip then prevailing among&s;t the <HI>Jews,</HI> but he &s;et up a new Wor&s;hip, and a new Form of Religion. IV. He introduced this Law, and this way of wor&s;hipping God, by &s;uch a conver&s;ation with God, as one &s;ee's among&s;t two intimate Friends: In which of the Prophets may the&s;e four Chara|cters be found.</P>
<P>The <HI>Galileans</HI> them&s;elves te&s;tified plainly that the&s;e Characters ought only to be found in the per&s;on of the Me&s;&s;iah, when they &s;aw the Mira|cles of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, <HI>John</HI> VI. 14. and the <HI>Jews</HI> acknowledged the &s;ame in our Saviours time, when they applyed that Oracle to the Me&s;&s;iah, <HI>John</HI> I. 45.</P>
<P>But if the&s;e Oracles were ob&s;curely hinted at in this Oracle, one may &s;ee them clearly apply'd to the Me&s;&s;iah in the following Oracles, propor|tionably as the Revelation encrea&s;ed, and as God unravelled the Idea's of the&s;e ancient Oracles by explaining them more particularly by tho&s;e Pro|phets whom he afterwards rai&s;ed up. This may clearly be &s;een, if we pa&s;s on to tho&s;e Oracles
<PB N="71" REF="191">which were uttered by <HI>David,</HI> and the other Pro|phets who lived about his time.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="10" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. X.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"> <HI>Of the Oracles which concern the Me&s;&s;iah in the Book of</HI> P&s;alms.</HEAD>
<P>THe&s;e were the Oracles which were the &s;ub|jects of the Meditations of the Faithful from the Year of the World 2553, in which <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> dy|ed, until <HI>David</HI>'s time, who was particularly cho|&s;en by God to be the only man of <HI>his Family,</HI> which was al&s;o &s;eparated from all the other Fa|milies of <HI>Judah,</HI> who came from <HI>Pharez,</HI> from whom the Me&s;&s;iah was to be de&s;cended.</P>
<P>I have ob&s;erved in another place, that in all probability God rai&s;ed <HI>David</HI> to the Throne, on|ly to make the Genealogy of that Family better known, from which the Me&s;&s;iah was to &s;pring.</P>
<P>As this double advancement of <HI>David,</HI> one to the Throne of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> the other to be the Father to the Me&s;&s;iah, ought to have in&s;pired him with lively Re&s;entments of Gratitude, and as his Ora|cles would be much more famous, being uttered by a Royal Prophet, and the rather becau&s;e God employ'd him in the making a ju&s;t Regulation of the Service of the Sanctuary; &s;o we &s;ee that <HI>Da|vid</HI> employ'd his Pen in giving more di&s;tinct Idea's of that Me&s;&s;iah which he promi&s;ed them.</P>
<PB N="72" REF="192">
<P>The Name <HI>Me&s;&s;iah</HI> properly &s;ignifies a per&s;on con&s;ecrated by anointing to be King, Prie&s;t, or Prophet. This Name was particularly applyed by <HI>David,</HI> and the Prophets who lived after him, to that holy Seed which God had promi&s;ed to <HI>Abraham</HI>'s Family by <HI>I&s;aac,</HI> by <HI>Jacob,</HI> by <HI>Judah,</HI> and by <HI>David;</HI> and one may ob&s;erve in <HI>David</HI>'s <HI>P&s;alms,</HI> and in the Prophets of his time, that they gave the Name of Me&s;&s;iah to the promi&s;ed Seed, under one or other of the&s;e three Sen&s;es.</P>
<P>The Characters both of a Prophet and a Prie&s;t, tho' each of them are augu&s;t enough, yet yield to that of a King. The&s;e are the different Idea's which <HI>David,</HI> and the Prophets of that time follow'd in all the variety of their De&s;crip|tions.</P>
<P>But it is not my De&s;ign to give a particular Account of all tho&s;e Oracles which de&s;cribe the&s;e different Characters, for fear of being exce&s;&s;ive|ly long: So I &s;hall content my &s;elf with ob&s;erving two things: I. That <HI>David</HI> alone uttered more O|racles than all the Prophets who came before him. II. That the&s;e Oracles of <HI>David</HI> concern|ing the Me&s;&s;iah are clearer than all the precedent ones.</P>
<P>Now, I &s;ay, that <HI>David</HI> alone uttered more Oracles than any one Prophet who came before him; Thus in the XL <HI>P&s;alm</HI> he explains the De|cree by which the Me&s;&s;iah became the Servant of God, and clothed him&s;elf with the form of a Servant, to offer unto God a more perfect Obe|dience than that which had formerly been offered by Burnt-Offerings and Sacrifices. He de&s;cribes the mea&s;ure and the Nature of his Mini&s;try, which
<PB N="73" REF="192">was to con&s;i&s;t in the in&s;truction of the People, in Righteou&s;ne&s;s, Truth, and the Salvation of God. <HI>P&s;alm</HI> XL. 7.&mdash;11. <HI>Sacrifice and Offering thou did&s;t not de&s;ire, mine Ears ha&s;t thou opened: Burnt|offering and Sin offering ha&s;t thou not required. Then &s;aid I, Lo I come; in the Volume of the Book it is written of me: I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy Law is within my heart. I have preached Righteou&s;ne&s;s in the great Congregation: Lo I have not refrained my Lips, O Lord, thou knowe&s;t: I have not hid thy Righteou&s;ne&s;s within my heart, I have de|clared thy Faithfulne&s;s, and thy Salvation: I have not concealed thy loving Kindne&s;s, and thy Truth, from the great Congregation.</HI></P>
<P>In the XVI <HI>P&s;alm</HI> he de&s;cribes the inviolable &s;tedfa&s;tne&s;s of the Me&s;&s;iah to the Service of God, who had &s;ent him to form a great People; with the manner of his deliverance by God from all the powers of the World, by rai&s;ing him up from the dead, and afterwards receiving him into Glo|ry. <HI>P&s;alm</HI> XVI. 8. &amp;c. <HI>I have &s;et the Lord always before me: becau&s;e he is at my right hand, I &s;hall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoyceth; my fle&s;h al&s;o &s;hall rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell; neither wilt thou &s;uffer thy holy One to &s;ee corruption: Thou wilt &s;hew me the path of Life; in thy pre&s;ence is fulne&s;s of joy: at thy right hand there are plea&s;ures for ever|more.</HI></P>
<P>In the XXII <HI>P&s;alm</HI> he de&s;cribes the Agonies through which the Me&s;&s;iah was to pa&s;s, the man|ner of his Death, the Victory which he &s;hould obtain over his Enemies, and the Conver&s;ion of tho&s;e very Nations which had ca&s;t him off.</P>
<PB N="74" REF="193">
<P>In the CIX <HI>P&s;alm</HI> he &s;peaks of the Oppre&s;&s;ions of the Me&s;&s;iah, pronouncing great numbers of Imprecations again&s;t that very per&s;on who &s;hould &s;ignalize him&s;elf by per&s;ecuting his Innocence. <HI>Hold not thy peace O God of my prai&s;e: for the mouth of the wicked, and the mouth of the deceitful are o|pened again&s;t me; they have &s;poken against me with a lying tongue,</HI> Ver&s;e 1, 2. <HI>Set thou a wicked man over him, and let Satan &s;tand at his right hand. When he &s;hall be judged, let him be condemned, and let his prayer become Sin. Let his days be few, and let another take his Office,</HI> Ver&s;e 6, 7, 8. <HI>Becau&s;e that he remembred not to &s;hew mercy, but per&s;ecuted the poor and needy man, that he might even &s;lay the broken in heart. As he loved cur&s;ing, &s;o let it come to him: as he delighted not in ble&s;&s;ing, &s;o let it be far from him. As he clothed him&s;elf with cur&s;ing like as with his Garment, &s;o let it come into his bowels like water, and like oyl into his bones,</HI> Ver&s;e 16, 17, 18.</P>
<P>In the CXIX <HI>P&s;alm</HI> he carries this Argument further, in his De&s;cription of the Zeal of the Me&s;|&s;iah for the Hou&s;e of God, and of tho&s;e in&s;ultings which he &s;hould meet with, and the manner of their giving him Vinegar and Gall to drink, with the hardning and rejection of tho&s;e who had u&s;ed him in that manner. <HI>Save me O God, for the waters are come in unto my &s;oul. I &s;ink in deep mire, where there is no &s;tanding: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me,</HI> Ver&s;e 1, 2. <HI>Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord Ged of Ho&s;ts, be a&s;hamed for my &s;ake: Let not tho&s;e that &s;eek thee be confounded for my &s;ake, O God of</HI> I&s;rael. <HI>Becau&s;e for thy &s;ake I have born reproach; &s;hame hath
<PB N="75" REF="193">covered my face. I am beoome a stranger unto my Brethren, and an Alien unto my Mothers Children: For the zeal of thy Hou&s;e hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee, are fallen upon me,</HI> Ver&s;e 6, 7, 8, 9. <HI>Reproach hath broken my heart, and I am full of heavine&s;s: and I looked for &s;ome to take pity, but there was none; and for com|forters, but I found none. They gave me al&s;o Gall for my meat, and in my thir&s;t they gave me Vinegar to drink. Let their Table become a &s;nare before them; and that which &s;hould have been for their welfare, let it become a trap. Let their eyes be darkned, that they &s;ee not; and make their loins continually to &s;hake. Pour out thy indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them,</HI> Ver&s;e 20, 21, 22, 23, 24.</P>
<P>In the XCVII and XCVIII <HI>P&s;alms</HI> he de&s;cribes the de&s;truction of Idolatry when the promi&s;ed Saviour &s;hould appear, and when God &s;hould rai&s;e him upon his Throne. <HI>The Lord reigneth, let the Earth rejoyce; let the multitude of the I&s;les be glad thereof.</HI> P&s;alm XCVII. 1. <HI>Confounded be all they that &s;erve graven Images, that boast them&s;elves of Idols: wor&s;hip him all ye Gods.</HI> Zion <HI>heard, and was glad, and the Daughters of</HI> Judah <HI>rejoyced; be|cau&s;e of thy Judgments, O Lord: For thou Lord art high above all the Earth: thou art exalted far above all Gods,</HI> Ver&s;e 7, 8, 9. <HI>O &s;ing unto the Lord a new Song, for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm have gotten him the Victory. The Lord has made known his Salvation: his righteou&s;ne&s;s hath he openly &s;hew'd in the &s;ight of the Heathen. He hath remembred his Mercy and his Truth towards the Hou&s;e of</HI> I&s;rael: <HI>all the ends of the Earth have &s;een the Salvation of our God. Make
<PB N="76" REF="194">a joyful noi&s;e unto the Lord all the Earth: make a loud noi&s;e, and rejoyce and &s;ing prai&s;e,</HI> P&s;alm XCVIII. 1. &mdash; 4.</P>
<P>In the LXVIII <HI>P&s;alm</HI> he explains the glory of the Me&s;&s;iah, and his A&s;cen&s;ion into Heaven, with the effu&s;ion of tho&s;e gifts which he was to &s;pread abroad for the Conver&s;ion of the Nations, that God might dwell among&s;t the mo&s;t rebellious. <HI>Princes &s;hall come out of</HI> Egypt, Ethiopia <HI>&s;hall &s;oon &s;tretch out her hands unto God: Sing unto God, ye Kingdoms of the Earth: O &s;ing prai&s;es unto the Lord. To him who rideth upon the Heavens of Heavens, which were of old; lo he doth &s;end out his voice, and that a mighty voice. A&s;cribe ye &s;trength unto God: his excellency is over</HI> I&s;rael, <HI>and his &s;trength is in the Clouds. O God, thou art terrible out of thy holy pla|ces, the God of</HI> I&s;rael <HI>is he that giveth &s;trength and power unto his people,</HI> Ver&s;e 31, 32, 33, 34, 35.</P>
<P>The Prophets who lived in the time of <HI>David,</HI> or &s;oon after, pur&s;ued all his Idea's. One &s;ee's that <HI>Nathan,</HI> II <HI>Sam.</HI> VII. foretells <HI>Solomon</HI>'s glo|ry, and the honour which he &s;hould have in building that Temple of which <HI>David</HI> had form|ed the de&s;ign before, in &s;uch a manner, that he clearly &s;hews three things which will by no means agree with <HI>Solomon.</HI> I. That God &s;hould rai&s;e up a Son to <HI>David</HI> after his Death, and place him upon his Throne; whereas <HI>Solomon</HI> was born, and advanced to the Throne by <HI>David</HI> him&s;elf. II. It was promi&s;ed that his Government &s;hould be endle&s;s; this is not applicable to the Royal Po&s;terity of <HI>David,</HI> who had but Twenty Succe&s;&s;ors who bore the Title of Kings. III. That God parti|cularly promi&s;es to be the Father of this promi&s;ed
<PB N="77" REF="194">Son, which is not more applicable to <HI>Solomon,</HI> than to <HI>David,</HI> to <HI>Jo&s;iah,</HI> or <HI>Hezekiah.</HI></P>
<P>One &s;ee's that <HI>Corah</HI>'s Po&s;terity gave that Ac|count of <HI>Solomon</HI>'s glory upon his marriage with the King of <HI>Egypt's</HI> Daughter; He &s;peaks of a Throne much more augu&s;t then that Princes was, and he repre&s;ents to us a God con&s;ecrated with Oyl of Gladne&s;s above his Fellows. This exact|ly &s;ets forth the augu&s;t Character of the Me&s;&s;iah, and his Anointing to be the King of all Nations, their Prophet, and their Prie&s;t. <HI>P&s;alm</HI> XLV. 1. <HI>My heart is inditing a good matter: I &s;peak of the things which I have made touching the King: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.</HI> Ver&s;e 7, 8. <HI>Thy Throne, O God, is for ever and ever; the Scepter of thy Kingdom is a right Scepter. Thou love&s;t righte|ou&s;ne&s;s and hate&s;t wickedne&s;s; therefore God, thy God hath anointed thee with Oyl of Gladne&s;s above thy Fel|lows.</HI> Ver&s;e 16. <HI>In&s;tead of thy Fathers &s;hall be thy Children whom thou mai&s;t make Princes in all the Earth.</HI></P>
<P>One &s;ee's the &s;ame Prophets inviting all Nati|ons in the XLVII <HI>P&s;alm</HI> to acknowledge the King|dom of God: which <HI>Daniel</HI> afterwards de&s;cribes as that which the <HI>Jews</HI> already knew was to be governed by the Me&s;&s;iah.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's <HI>A&s;aph</HI> de&s;cribing in the L <HI>P&s;alm</HI> the manner of the Me&s;&s;iah's a&s;&s;embling all People, and of his rejecting the ancient and Legal Ser|vice, and pre&s;cribing a Spiritual one, even Sa|crifices of Vows, and of Prai&s;e. <HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. <HI>And the Heavens &s;hall declare his Righteou&s;ne&s;s: for God is Judge him&s;elf. Hear O my people, and I will &s;peak, O</HI> I&s;rael; <HI>and I will te&s;tifie again&s;t thee: I am God, even thy God. I will not reprove thee for
<PB N="78" REF="195">thy Sacrifices, or thy Burnt-offerings, to have been continually before me. I will take no Bullock out of thy Hou&s;e, nor He-goat out of thy Folds. For every Beast of the Fore&s;t is mine, and the Cattle upon a thou&s;and Hills.</HI></P>
<P>One &s;ees the Author of the LXXII <HI>P&s;alm</HI> de|&s;cribing the glory and happine&s;s of <HI>Solomon</HI>'s King|dom in &s;uch a manner, that he carries his views as high as the Me&s;&s;iah at the &s;ame time; He fore|tels the continuance of his Kingdom as long as the Sun and Moon endures; that all the Kings of the World &s;hould bring Pre&s;ents to him, and that all the Nations of the Earth &s;hould wor|&s;hip before him <HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 5. <HI>They &s;hall fear thee as long as the Sun and Moon endure, throughout all Generations.</HI> Ver&s;e 8. <HI>He &s;hall have Dominion al&s;o from Sea to Sea, and from the River unto the ends of the Earth.</HI> Ver&s;e 11. <HI>All Kings &s;hall fall down before him, all Nations &s;hall &s;erve him.</HI> Ver&s;e 17, 18, 19. <HI>His Name &s;hall endure for ever; his Name &s;hall be continued as long as the Sun, and Men &s;hall be ble&s;&s;ed in him; all Nations &s;hall call him ble&s;&s;ed. Ble&s;&s;ed be the Lord God of</HI> I&s;rael, <HI>who only doth wondrous things: And ble&s;|&s;ed be his glorious Name for ever, and let the whole Earth be filled with all his Glory; Amen and A|men.</HI></P>
<P>One &s;ees that <HI>Ethan</HI> the <HI>Ezrahite,</HI> who is re|pre&s;ented to us as the wi&s;e&s;t Man in that Age after <HI>Solomon,</HI> explains the promi&s;e made to <HI>David</HI> of a Son who &s;hould reign for ever, and who&s;e Throne &s;hould be immoveable in the LXXXIX <HI>P&s;alm.</HI> This agrees to none but the Me&s;&s;iah, whom he de&s;cribes as the Fir&s;t-born of the Princes of the Earth, and as the Son of
<PB N="79" REF="195">God in a manner, which is not applicable to any of <HI>David</HI>'s Po&s;terity, except only to the Me&s;&s;iah. <HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 19, 20. <HI>Then thou &s;pake&s;t in Vi|&s;ions, to the holy one, and &s;ay'&s;t, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one cho&s;en out of the people. I have found</HI> David <HI>my &s;er|vant; with my holy Oyl have I anointed him.</HI> Ver&s;e 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29. <HI>My Faithfulne&s;s and my Mercy &s;hall be with him; and in my Name &s;hall his Horn be exalted. I will &s;et his Hand al&s;o in the Sea, and his right hand in the Rivers. He &s;hall cry unto me, Thou art my Father, my God, and the Rock of my Salvation. Al&s;o I will make him my Fir&s;t-born, higher than the Kings of the Earth. My Mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my Covenant &s;hall &s;tand fa&s;t with him. His Seed al|&s;o will I make to endure for ever, and his Throne as the days of Heaven.</HI> Ver&s;e 33.34, 35, 36, 37. <HI>Neverthele&s;s my loving kindne&s;s will I not utterly take from him, nor &s;uffer my faithfulne&s;s to fail. My Covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Once have I &s;worn by my Holine&s;s, that I will not lye unto</HI> David. <HI>His Seed &s;hall endure for ever, and his Throne as the Sun before me: It &s;hall be e&s;tabli&s;hed for ever as the Moon, and as a faithful Witne&s;s in Heaven.</HI></P>
<P>One needs only read over the <HI>P&s;alms</HI> which I have now taken notice of, and which are al|mo&s;t all applyed by the <HI>Jews</HI> to the Me&s;&s;iah, to &s;ee the great Number of Oracles which God gave in <HI>David</HI>'s time, concerning this matter; not to &s;peak of tho&s;e which de&s;cribe the Cal|ling of the <HI>Gentiles,</HI> which fill up the
<PB N="80" REF="196">Book of the <HI>P&s;alms</HI> almo&s;t entirely.</P>
<P>I come now to the proof of the &s;econd Article, which is to &s;hew, That the Oracles which <HI>David</HI> uttered are much clearer, and much more particular than tho&s;e which were given before. This I hope to prove beyond all contradiction, by con&s;idering two <HI>P&s;alms,</HI> the one whereof de&s;cribes the prodigious Hu|miliation of the Me&s;&s;iah; and the other de|&s;cribes his Advancement at the right hand of God; two of the greate&s;t Truths declared by the Prophets, and two the mo&s;t &s;ingular of all the Characters which belong to the <HI>pro|mi&s;ed Me&s;&s;iah.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="11" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XI. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>Con&s;iderations upon the Sufferings of the Me&s;&s;iah, and upon his glorious A&s;cen&s;ion in|to Heaven, foretold by</HI> David <HI>in the</HI> XXII <HI>and</HI> CX P&s;alms.</HEAD>
<P>IT cannot be deny'd, when one reads the XXII <HI>P&s;alm,</HI> but that the per&s;on there &s;poken of, is de&s;cribed figuratively, as one expo&s;ed to the &s;eve|re&s;t Sufferings, from which he is afterwards deli|vered by the Divine a&s;&s;i&s;tance, and advanced to rule an Empire which extends it &s;elf over all the Nations of the World, and afterwards univer&s;ally adored.</P>
<PB N="81" REF="196">
<P N="1">I. He that &s;peaks, cries out as if God had for|&s;aken him, and had &s;topped his Ears unto his Cry.</P>
<P N="2">II. He de&s;cribes him&s;elf as a Worm, and no Man, as the reproach of Men, and one de&s;pi&s;ed by the people.</P>
<P N="3">III. He takes notice, that tho&s;e who were wit|ne&s;&s;es of his Sufferings, made a mock at them, bidding him tru&s;t in God, that he might deliver him.</P>
<P N="4">IV. He ranks his Enemies among&s;t the Bulls of <HI>Ba&s;han,</HI> and raging Lions, who (according to the Prophetical way of &s;peaking) are the chief Men in the Nation. <HI>Amos</HI> IV. 1. <HI>Ezech.</HI> XXII. 25.</P>
<P N="5">V. He joyns the Dogs with them, that is, pro|phane per&s;ons or the <HI>Gentiles.</HI></P>
<P N="6">VI. He repre&s;ents his Hands and his Feet as pierced with Nails.</P>
<P N="7">VII. He &s;hews that he was &s;tretched out be|fore, in &s;uch a manner that they might count all his Bones; this expre&s;&s;es the Idea of a Man fa&s;t|ned to a Cro&s;s, and expo&s;ed to the view of all the World; as he afterwards de&s;cribes him&s;elf to be quite dry'd up, from the lo&s;s of Blood when he was crucify'd.</P>
<P N="8">VIII. He takes notice of their parting his Gar|ments, and</P>
<P N="9">IX. Of their ca&s;ting Lots upon his Ve&s;ture.</P>
<P>In &s;hort, one &s;ee's throughout all the expre&s;&s;i|ons of this <HI>P&s;alm</HI> the Image of a Death which was equally &s;hameful and cruel.</P>
<P>The other part of the <HI>P&s;alm</HI> gives us an Ac|count of the deliverance of that per&s;on who is mentioned in this holy Hymn.</P>
<P N="1">I. He obliges him&s;elf, to prai&s;e the Name of
<PB N="82" REF="197">the Lord in the mo&s;t numerous A&s;&s;embly.</P>
<P N="2">II. He ob&s;erves it as an effect of this delive|rance, that all the ends of the World &s;hould re|member, and turn unto the Lord, and that all the Kindreds of the Nations &s;hould wor&s;hip be|fore him.</P>
<P N="3">III. At la&s;t, he takes notice that the Kingdom of God &s;hould &s;pread it &s;elf over all the Nations of the World.</P>
<P>One may judge by the Hi&s;tory of <HI>David,</HI> whe|this <HI>P&s;alm</HI> is applicable to him; therein we may &s;ee all the Cro&s;&s;es which he underwent particu|larly repre&s;ented, during all the former years of his Reign. But there we have no Account, that <HI>David</HI> ever &s;uffered any thing like that which is &s;o exactly de&s;cribed in this <HI>P&s;alm.</HI> And this may be &s;aid further, that when <HI>David</HI> took any Oc|ca&s;ion to paint out his Sufferings to us, he has put in &s;everal &s;troaks which only relate to the Me&s;&s;iah, and which &s;hew us in a very lively manner, that he was to pa&s;s through much greater Tryals than any of tho&s;e from which <HI>David</HI> had been deliver|ed.</P>
<P>The later <HI>Jews,</HI> who endeavour to verifie this Prophecy in <HI>E&s;ther</HI> or <HI>Mordecai,</HI> agree with us at the bottom, that <HI>David</HI> carried his views further than barely his own Sufferings. And tho&s;e al&s;o who apply it to the poople of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> mu&s;t ac|knowledge the &s;ame Truth even again&s;t their wills.</P>
<P>But the more ancient <HI>Jews</HI> were more equita|ble in their applications of the XXII <HI>P&s;alm</HI> to the Me&s;&s;iah. They applyed it to him in earne&s;t, even after the time of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, when the compari|&s;on
<PB N="83" REF="197">of the&s;e Characters of the Me&s;&s;iah, which may be found &s;o exactly in the Death of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, led them to an oppo&s;ition of this Truth.</P>
<P>And certainly there needs very little equity to acknowledge that this Oracle, or rather this heap of Oracles belong'd to the Me&s;&s;iah, by the con|fe&s;&s;ion and agreement of the <HI>Jews</HI> in our Saviour's time.</P>
<P N="1">I. They had not then re&s;olved to make their advantages of the Writer's fault, who writ [<GAP DESC="foreign">] <HI>like a Lion,</HI> in&s;tead of [<GAP DESC="foreign">] <HI>they have pierced</HI> my feet, as they have done &s;ince. In &s;hort, <HI>Aquila</HI> who lived 100 years after Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and the other <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Interpreters, <HI>Symmachus</HI> and <HI>Theo|dotion,</HI> tran&s;lated that pa&s;&s;age as we now read <HI>it.</HI></P>
<P N="2">II. The Notion which the Synagogue always had of the Sufferings of the Me&s;&s;iah, obliged them to &s;uppo&s;e two Me&s;&s;iahs, one &s;uffering, and the other glorious, rather than to contradict that Truth openly, which is expre&s;&s;ed by the&s;e Oracles in &s;oparticular a manner.</P>
<P N="3">III. Nothing can be imagined to be more ridi|culous, than to &s;uppo&s;e that Je&s;us Chri&s;t &s;hould quote the fir&s;t words of this <HI>P&s;alm</HI> upon the Cro&s;s, thereby to engage all Mankind to take notice of the accompli&s;hment of this ancient Oracle in all his Sufferings, if we &s;uppo&s;e that this <HI>P&s;alm</HI> even by the confe&s;&s;ion of the <HI>Jews,</HI> had no relation to the Me&s;&s;iah.</P>
<P>The &s;ame Reflexion may be made concerning the Apo&s;tles, who have quoted &s;o many pa&s;&s;ages of this <HI>P&s;alm</HI> to prove that Je&s;us Chri&s;t was the
<PB N="84" REF="198">Me&s;&s;iah; becau&s;e one may find in his Death, and in the Circum&s;tances of it, &s;uch a litteral and exact accompli&s;hment of this ancient Prophe|cy.</P>
<P>But if it &s;hould be objected, That after all, this agreement of the Synagogue can make no more than a &s;trong prejudice; this may be ea&s;ily an&s;wered; by con&s;idering that when the <HI>P&s;almist</HI> &s;peaks of the extent of his Kingdom over the whole Earth, it was that Circum&s;tance which de|termined the Synagogue in their application of this whole <HI>P&s;alm</HI> to the Me&s;&s;iah; becau&s;e as the <HI>Jews</HI> them&s;elves acknowledge, this extent of Empire is one of tho&s;e Characters, which accord|ing to the ancient Oracles, is applicable to none but the Me&s;&s;iah. In &s;hort, (becau&s;e it is of great importance, I &s;hall repeat it here again) common &s;en&s;e led tho&s;e who con&s;idered the&s;e ancient Ora|cles, to compare them (as naturally they ought) with tho&s;e that went before, and to determine the &s;cope and intent of the later ones by the rela|tion which they had to the precedent ones; and there was only need of one con&s;iderable Clau&s;e to make a certain determination after they had made &s;uch a compari&s;on. This the <HI>Jews</HI> were certainly convinced of, when they acknowledg|ed that the la&s;t words of <HI>David,</HI> II <HI>Sam.</HI> XXIII. 1-8. were to be applyed to the Me&s;&s;iah, by comparing them with <HI>Balaam</HI>'s Oracle of the Me&s;&s;iah, <HI>Numb.</HI> XXIV.</P>
<P>We may therefore take it for granted, That <HI>David</HI> did not ab&s;olutely &s;peak of him&s;elf in the XXII <HI>P&s;alm,</HI> and that he carried his views as far as the Me&s;&s;iah, that he gave a great number of
<PB N="85" REF="198">Characters to his Po&s;terity, whereby they might di&s;tingui&s;h, notwith&s;tanding the greatne&s;s of his Sufferings, and even the better by his very Suf|ferings, than which no clearer marks can po&s;&s;i|bly be given; becau&s;e there is nothing more in|voluntary than enduring of Mi&s;eries, nor nothing which depends le&s;s upon the choice of the per|&s;on who is to undergo them, than the particular kind of puni&s;hment, or than the Circum&s;tances which mu&s;t accompany his Death, when it is once left to the unju&s;t power of violent Enemies.</P>
<P>We come now to the CX <HI>P&s;alm,</HI> which in a very few words contains &s;everal very important Characters of the Me&s;&s;iah, which are very di|&s;tinctly expre&s;&s;ed.</P>
<P>If one con&s;iders it exactly, it &s;eems to have been compo&s;ed after that <HI>Nathan</HI> had acquainted <HI>David</HI> with the Glory of his Son which God had promi&s;ed him; &s;uch a Son who &s;hould build a Hou&s;e wherein God &s;hould dwell for ever, and who &s;hould &s;it upon a Throne which &s;hould ne|ver be overturned; whereas <HI>David</HI> had only form'd a De&s;ign of Building a Temple to the Lord.</P>
<P>In &s;hort, one &s;ee's that the Spirit of Prophecy had given him a view of the Glory of this augu&s;t King who &s;hould be born of his Seed, and of the Glory of his Kingdom which &s;hould never be de|&s;troy'd. <HI>David</HI> advances this King not only a|bove all MEN, by calling him <HI>his Lord</HI> who was him&s;elf a King; but al&s;o above the Angels, by making him &s;it at the right hand of God in the Kingdom of Heaven. This is per&s;onal. He al&s;o de&s;cribes the Glory of his Office, by con&s;ider|ing
<PB N="86" REF="199">him as a Prie&s;t of a higher order than that of <HI>Aaron,</HI> from whom <HI>Melchi&s;edech</HI> received Tithes in the per&s;on of <HI>Abraham:</HI> And, in a word, he acquaints us with the progre&s;s of his Kingdom, and the greatne&s;s of his Victories. Let us ex|amine all the&s;e Characters by them&s;elves.</P>
<P N="1">I. He brings in God &s;peaking to the Me&s;&s;iah, whom he calls <HI>his Lord; Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thy Enemies thy foot&s;tool.</HI> This points out to us, 1. That the Me&s;&s;iah ought to be ad|vanced to Glory. 2. That God intended to &s;ub|due his Enemies by little and little, whil&s;t the Me&s;&s;iah &s;hould be in his Glory; as it was fore|told in the Second <HI>P&s;alm.</HI></P>
<P N="2">II. He ob&s;erves, That the Empire of the Me&s;|&s;iah was to begin at <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> or <HI>Sion,</HI> which was then to be under the power of his Ene|mies.</P>
<P N="3">III. He expre&s;ly points out the quick extent of the Kingdom of the Me&s;&s;iah, with the Cha|racter of tho&s;e who &s;hould &s;ubmit to him with|out con&s;traint or violence, which was much pra|cti&s;ed under <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s Law.</P>
<P N="4">IV. He po&s;itively a&s;&s;erts, That the Me&s;&s;iah &s;hould be e&s;tabli&s;hed a <HI>Prie&s;t after the order of</HI> Mel|chi&s;edech, which would overturn the whole Le|vitical Prie&s;thood, which then was to have an end: Yet the very &s;ame King who de&s;igned the Draught of the Temple which <HI>Solomon</HI> built &s;ome time after, undermines the Foundations of this material Building, and clearly &s;uppo&s;es that the Levitical Mini&s;try, which was fixed to <HI>Solo|mon</HI>'s Temple, &s;hould la&s;t no longer than until the Coming of the Me&s;&s;iah.</P>
<PB N="87" REF="199">
<P N="5">V. He particularly takes notice, That the Me&s;|&s;iah &s;hould, by the Divine A&s;&s;i&s;tance, de&s;troy all that &s;hould oppo&s;e his power, and &s;hould bring all things under his Dominion, as a Conquerour who &s;hould overturn all things with the utmo&s;t violence.</P>
<P>Nothing can be greater than the&s;e &s;everal Ora|cles; nothing can be more particular than his de|&s;cription of the Glory to which the Me&s;&s;iah was to be advanced after that prodigious Humiliation which is de&s;cribed in the XXII <HI>P&s;alm;</HI> But what can we &s;uppo&s;e to be the rea&s;on of <HI>David</HI>'s &s;peak|ing of the Me&s;&s;iah in this <HI>P&s;alm?</HI> This I am fur|ther to con&s;ider.</P>
<P>One may &s;ay that the <HI>Jews</HI> did not con&s;tantly apply the&s;e Prophecies to the Me&s;&s;iah, before the Coming of Je&s;us Chri&s;t without good grounds: They could not apply them to any of <HI>David</HI>'s Succe&s;&s;ors; none of <HI>David</HI>'s Succe&s;&s;ors was both King and Prie&s;t. <HI>Uzziah</HI> was the only man who dared to u&s;urp the Prie&s;thood; and he was pu|ni&s;hed by God him&s;elf. The <HI>Maccabees</HI> were not of <HI>David</HI>'s Tribe, but were <HI>Levites,</HI> and none of them ever went up into Heaven to &s;et at the right hand of God. Be&s;ides, their Kingdom did not begin in <HI>Sion,</HI> and they never brought any other Kings under their Authority. They applyed it therefore to the Me&s;&s;iah, pur&s;uant to the Maxim which they drew from a frequent meditation up|on the ancient Oracles, that we ought only to look for an accompli&s;hment of tho&s;e Prophecies in the per&s;on of the Me&s;&s;iah, which they could never &s;ind to be fulfilled any where el&s;e, when at the &s;ame time they knew that the exactne&s;s
<PB N="88" REF="200">and truth of tho&s;e Predictions could not be any ways conte&s;ted.</P>
<P>In &s;hort, it plainly appears that they did unani|mou&s;ly apply it to the Me&s;&s;iah before <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t</HI> came into the World, from the manner of their confe&s;&s;ing it to our Saviour, when he pre&s;&s;ed them with the CX <HI>P&s;alm;</HI> tho' they could not explain the manner how <HI>David</HI> &s;hould call the Me&s;&s;iah Lord, when they allow'd him to be his Son, <HI>Matth.</HI> XXII. 48.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's nothing &s;o frequently urg'd by the Apo&s;tles as this CX <HI>P&s;alm;</HI> they u&s;e it upon all Occa&s;ions to prove that Je&s;us Chri&s;t had the Cha|racters of the true Me&s;&s;iah, &s;uch as <HI>David</HI> had given him in the CX <HI>P&s;alm,</HI> &s;uppo&s;ing &s;till, as a thing beyond di&s;pute, that <HI>David</HI> &s;poke of the Me&s;&s;iah in this famous Prophecy.</P>
<P>So that what Eva&s;ions &s;oever the <HI>Jews</HI> may en|deavour to make u&s;e of, yet they cannot deny but that their mo&s;t famous Doctors &s;ince Je&s;us Chri&s;t, have upon &s;everal Occa&s;ions follow'd the old Notions of the Synagogue in this mat|ter. One finds in their Writings great numbers of Te&s;timonies which confirm this Truth. I &s;hall not mention them at pre&s;ent, becau&s;e they are well enough known, and becau&s;e I would make ha&s;te to come to that new degree of Reve|lations which God gave to tho&s;e Prophets who gave new Characters of the Me&s;&s;iah to the Jew|i&s;h Nation for &s;ome Ages after <HI>David</HI>'s time.</P>
<P>They are in too great a number to be &s;poken of, one by one, and I am forced to range them under certain Heads; tho' I intend at the &s;ame time to make more particular Reflexions upon
<PB N="89" REF="200">&s;ome of tho&s;e which give us an account of the mo&s;t remarkable Truths, and &s;o by that means furni&s;h us with the mo&s;t &s;en&s;ible Character where|by we may know more certainly the per&s;on whom God propo&s;ed to his People in &s;uch a manner as the Saviour of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> and whom he had before called <HI>The Expectation of the Gentiles.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="12" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XII.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">That the Me&s;&s;iah was to have a Forerunner, and what was to be his Character.</HEAD>
<P>WE &s;hall make it manife&s;t in the &s;equel of the Di&s;cour&s;e, That the Me&s;&s;iah was to appear in a very de&s;picable &s;tate, and con&s;equent|ly that his Appearance would be very di&s;ta&s;tful to tho&s;e who expected him in the &s;plendour of a great King and Conquerour. To oppo&s;e this preconceived Opinion of theirs, the Divine Wi&s;|dom thought fit to appoint one to be his Fore|runner, who &s;hould call the <HI>Jews</HI> to Repentance, and a Reformation of their Lives, and form in them a true Notion of the Mini&s;try of the Me&s;&s;i|ah, as of a Per&s;on who was to pre&s;cribe to them Laws of the greate&s;t purity and holine&s;s. And indeed, in examining the holy Scriptures, we find,
<PB N="90" REF="201">That the Appearance of the Me&s;&s;iah was to be u&s;her'd in by a Per&s;on thus di&s;tingui&s;h'd; the following Prophecies are very expre&s;s to this pur|po&s;e.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t of the&s;e we find in the XL of <HI>I&s;aiah, ver&s;e</HI> 3. where the Prophet &s;peaks thus, before the De&s;truction of the fir&s;t Temple;
<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;ai. XL. 3.</NOTE> <HI>The voice of him that crieth in the Wilderne&s;s, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make &s;traight in the De&s;ert a High way for our God.</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Abenezra.</NOTE> The <HI>Jews</HI> acknowledge that this Chapter &s;peaks of the comfort the Me&s;&s;iah was to procure for his People, and that the Voice men|tion'd here refers to tho&s;e who were to declare and proclaim his Coming.</P>
<P>We meet with a &s;econd Prophecy in <HI>Malachy,</HI> who prophecied after the Rebuilding of the Tem|ple, and who having &s;hut up the Vi&s;ion, preci&s;e|ly points at the Time wherein he was to appear, <HI>viz.</HI> during the &s;econd Temple, <HI>Chap.</HI> III. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 1, 2, 3, <HI>&amp;</HI> 4. <HI>Behold, I will &s;end my Me&s;&s;enger, and he &s;hall prepare the way before me: and the Lord whom ye &s;eek &s;hall &s;uddainly come to his Temple; even the Me&s;&s;enger of the Covenant whom ye delight in, behold he &s;hall come, &s;aith the Lord of Hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? And who &s;hall stand when he appeareth? For he is like a Refiners fire, and like Fullers &s;ope. And he &s;hall &s;it as a Refiner and Pu|rifier of Silver: and he &s;hall purifie the Sons of</HI> Levi, <HI>and purge them as gold and &s;ilver, that they may offer unto the Lord an Offering in Righteou&s;ne&s;s.</HI></P>
<P>The <HI>Jews</HI> own that the&s;e words al&s;o of <HI>Mala|chy,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">R. Saad.</NOTE> &s;peak of the Forerunner of the Me&s;&s;ias.</P>
<P>But we ought to ob&s;erve in the foregoing Pa&s;|&s;ages, 1. That they have a manife&s;t Relation to
<PB N="91" REF="201">the Time of the Me&s;&s;iah's coming; &s;hould the <HI>Jews</HI> deny this (as indeed they unanimou&s;ly ac|knowledge it) it would be an ea&s;ie matter to con|vince them, 1. By urging the Authority of the Evangeli&s;ts, who apply the&s;e very Pa&s;&s;ages to the Mini&s;try of <HI>John the Bapti&s;t.</HI> Thus we find that St. <HI>Matthew</HI> and St.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. III. 1 Mark I. 2</NOTE> <HI>Mark</HI> make a manife&s;t Allu|&s;ion to the&s;e two Prophecies: <HI>Zachary</HI> al&s;o, the Father of <HI>John the Baptist,</HI> applyes that of <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> to his Son; and his Authority is the more con&s;ide|rable, becau&s;e he was a Prie&s;t. 2. By an atten|tive con&s;idering the Pa&s;&s;ages them&s;elves. 3. By the common con&s;ent of the <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Church, who by a generally received and undoubted Tradition, that <HI>Elijah</HI> the <HI>Ti&s;hbite</HI> (the <HI>Septuagint</HI> in their Tran|&s;lation of that place of <HI>Malachy</HI> telling us as much) was to be the Forerunner of the Me&s;&s;iah; and we find, that in the time of our Saviour, the Multi|tude and his Di&s;ciples &s;uppo&s;ed the &s;ame thing: And the <HI>Jews</HI> at this day have the &s;ame per&s;wa&s;i|on, <HI>viz.</HI> That <HI>Elias</HI> is to come before the Appear|ance of the Me&s;&s;iah; from which Tradition of the <HI>Jews</HI> the <HI>Chri&s;tians</HI> of old did, and many at this day do believe, That <HI>Elias</HI> &s;hall re&s;ume the Functions of his Mini&s;try before the la&s;t coming of Je&s;us Chri&s;t <HI>to Judge the Quick and the Dead.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. We may ob&s;erve, That the Character of the Forerunner of the Me&s;&s;iah, being that which the <HI>Jews</HI> had much in their eye, it was needful for it to be as notable and extraordinary, as was that of the Prophet <HI>Elias;</HI> who&s;e Mini&s;try was without di&s;pute the mo&s;t remarkable and illu&s;tri|ous of all the Prophets &s;ince <HI>Mo&s;es;</HI> which gave the Prophet <HI>Malachy</HI> occa&s;ion to call him <HI>Elias,</HI> much
<PB N="92" REF="202">upon a like account as the Prophet <HI>Ezekiel</HI> calls the Me&s;&s;iah,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezek. XXXIV. 23, 24.</NOTE> <HI>David.</HI></P>
<P>But above all things, we mu&s;t carefully ob&s;erve the &s;everal Marks the Prophets give us of this Fore|runner.</P>
<P>The Prophet <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> gives us the&s;e following par|ticulars: 1. That his Mini&s;try was to be very &s;ig|nal, and attended with general Re&s;pect and Ve|neration. 2. That he was to preach in the Wil|derne&s;s. 3. That he was to call Sinners to Re|pentance. 4. That he was to confound tho&s;e who were mo&s;t eminent in Authority, and to comfort the Poor and Humble. 5. That he was immediately to precede the Me&s;&s;iah. 6. That his Mi|ni&s;try was to u&s;her in that grand Revelation of the Glory of God in the pre&s;ence of all Fle&s;h, <HI>i. e.</HI> before all Nations of the Earth, who were to be called by the Me&s;&s;iah to his Religion, accord|ing to the expre&s;s Declaration of the Prophets.</P>
<P>The Prophet <HI>Malachy</HI> doth mo&s;t di&s;tinctly re|pre&s;ent to us, 1. That the Mi&s;&s;ion of this Fore|runner was not far off, <HI>Behold,</HI> &s;aith he, <HI>I &s;end my Me&s;&s;enger.</HI> He &s;peaks of it as of a thing at the Door. Now it is evident, and the <HI>Jews</HI> them|&s;elves own it, That from the Time of <HI>Malachy,</HI> there was never a Prophet till the Appearance of <HI>John the Baptist.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. It tells us that this <HI>Elias</HI> was to call Sinners to Repentance, and <HI>to prepare the way before the face of the Lord.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. That he was immediately to precede the Me&s;&s;ias; this he expre&s;&s;es by &s;aying, <HI>And the Lord whom ye &s;eek &s;hall &s;uddainly come to his Temple, even the Angel of the Covenant whom ye delight in.</HI> It
<PB N="93" REF="202">is evident that he &s;peaks here of the Me&s;&s;iah, whom he calls,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm II.</NOTE> not only <HI>the Angel or Me&s;&s;enger of the Covenant,</HI> but al&s;o <HI>the Lord; The Lord,</HI> fora&s;|much as God had promi&s;ed him as a King to the Hou&s;e of <HI>David;</HI> and <HI>the Angel of the Cove|nant,</HI> becau&s;e God by him was to make a new Covenant with the Nations of the Earth, as <HI>Je|remy</HI> declares <HI>Chap.</HI> XXXI.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="13" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XIII.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">That the Me&s;&s;iah was to be born before the di&s;|&s;olution of the Jewi&s;h State, and the De|&s;truction of the Second Temple.</HEAD>
<P>THE preceding Mark of the Me&s;&s;iah, leads us to this we are now to &s;peak of, and af|fords it con&s;iderable Light. I will not repeat here what I have already &s;et down concerning that Prophecy, <HI>Gen.</HI> XLIX. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 10. concerning the Time when our Saviour was to appear in the World: It is evident at fir&s;t &s;ight, That that Pro|phecy evidences Three things: 1. That the <HI>Scepter</HI> was to be in the Hou&s;e of <HI>Judah,</HI> before ever the <HI>Shiloh</HI> was to come. 2. That the <HI>Scepter</HI> was to give way to an inferiour Dignity, which the Pro|phet &s;ets forth by the word <HI>Lawgiver;</HI> and which did take place till the time of <HI>Zerubbabel,</HI> and
<PB N="94" REF="203">his Succe&s;&s;ors. 3. There was a nece&s;&s;ity that this la&s;t Dignity al&s;o was to come to an end, which happened not till the Advancement of <HI>He|rod</HI> the Great to the Throne of <HI>Judea.</HI> And it is ea&s;ie to confirm this Truth, by other Oracles which give a further Light to this our Explica|tion.</P>
<P>We have &s;everal that are very remarkable up|on this account: The fir&s;t is that of <HI>Daniel, Chap.</HI> II. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 40, 41, 42, <HI>to</HI> 46. where he fir&s;t takes no|tice of the Succe&s;&s;ion of &s;everal Monarchies, un|til that of the Me&s;&s;iah. 2. The Time in which the Me&s;&s;iah was to appear. I confe&s;s he do's not determine the Time very preci&s;ely, mentioning only the Monarchy during which he was to be manife&s;ted; but to make amends for this, when he comes to explain the particulars of this Pro|phecy, which before he had propos'd in general terms; he doth not only point at the time of his Appearance, but the very Year of his Death, and he do's it with that exactne&s;s, that it is impo&s;&s;i|ble to be mi&s;taken about it.</P>
<P>See what he &s;aith in the IX <HI>Chapter</HI> of his <HI>Re|velations, Ver&s;e</HI> 24, 25, 26, 27. <HI>Seventy weeks are determined upon thy People, and upon thy Holy City, to fini&s;h the Tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion, and to make an end of Sins, and to make Reconciliation for Iniquity, and to bring in Everlasting Righteou&s;ne&s;s, and to Seal up the Vi&s;ion and Prophecy, and to Anoint the mo&s;t Holy.</HI> Ver&s;e 25. <HI>Know therefore, and under&s;tand, that from the going forth of the Commandment to re&s;tore and build</HI> Jeru&s;alem, <HI>unto the Me&s;&s;iah the Prince, &s;hall be Seven weeks, and three&s;core and two weeks, the Streets &s;hall be built again, and the Wall
<PB N="95" REF="260">even in troublous times.</HI> Ver&s;e 26. <HI>And after the Three&s;core and two weeks &s;hall</HI> MESSIAH <HI>be cut off, but not for him&s;elf. And the People of the Prince that &s;hall come, &s;hall de&s;troy the City and the Sanctu|ary, and the end thereof &s;hall be with a Flood, and unto the end of the War de&s;olations are determined.</HI> Ver&s;e 27. <HI>And he &s;hall confirm the Covenant with many for one week, and in the mid&s;t of the week he &s;hall cau&s;e the Sacrifice and Oblation to cea&s;e, and for the over-&s;preading of Abomination, he &s;hall make it de&s;olate, even until the Con&s;ummation, and that de|termined &s;hall be poured on the de&s;olate.</HI></P>
<P>For the under&s;tanding of this Prophecy which is &s;o exact, and all the Events it refers to, &s;o particularized, it is to be ob&s;erved:</P>
<P N="1">1. That by the Weeks <HI>Daniel</HI> here &s;peaks of, Seven Years are de&s;igned, according to the Stile of the Law, <HI>Levit.</HI> XXV. 8. when it &s;peaks of the Year of Jubilee; &s;o that Seventy Weeks make out 490 Years, which is acknowledged by the mo&s;t Learned among&s;t the <HI>Jews, Jachiades, A|barbanel,</HI> and <HI>Mana&s;&s;eh Ben I&s;rael.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. That the Prophet writing in <HI>Chaldea,</HI> fol|lowed the Account of the <HI>Chaldean</HI> Year, which con&s;i&s;ts of 360 days, as appears clearly from o|ther pa&s;&s;ages of this Book, where he re&s;olves the Years into Days, without regarding the &s;everal Days which in a ju&s;t Calculation were to be in|tercalated.</P>
<P N="3">3. That the Prophet expre&s;&s;es a certain <HI>Epocha,</HI> from whence the counting of the&s;e Weeks is to begin, <HI>viz.</HI> an Order to rebuild the Temple, which cannot be applyed to that of <HI>Cyrus,</HI> which was in a manner of none effect; nor to the
<PB N="206" REF="261">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="95" REF="261">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="96" REF="262">Edict of <HI>Darius</HI> Son of <HI>Hy&s;ta&s;pes,</HI> which had regard only to the re-e&s;tabli&s;hing of the Temple; nor to that of <HI>Artaxerxes</HI> given to <HI>Ezra,</HI> in the Seventh Year of the Reign of that Prince, becau&s;e that contained on|ly &s;ome particular Priviledges for the Mini&s;ters of the Temple: but to the Edict which <HI>Ar|taxerxes</HI> granted to <HI>Nehemiah</HI> in the Twentieth Year of his Reign, which contains a particu|lar Grant, to rebuild the Temple with its For|tifications.</P>
<P N="4">4. For though there be but 483 Solar Years from the 20 of <HI>Artaxerxes</HI> to the fir&s;t of <HI>Cajus Caligula,</HI> yet we &s;hall find the ju&s;t Number of 490 Years, if we follow the <HI>Chaldean</HI> way of Calculation, in which they reckon 360 Days to a Year. And indeed we find ju&s;t 483 &s;uch Years from the 20 Year of <HI>Artaxerxes</HI> to the time wherein all <HI>Judea</HI> was in expectation of the Me&s;&s;iah. It was then Je&s;us Chri&s;t was bap|tized. He &s;uffer'd Death Three Years and a Half after his Bapti&s;m, <HI>viz.</HI> The Nineteenth Year of <HI>Tiberius,</HI> before the Seventh Week was ended, and the Term pointed out by <HI>Daniel</HI> was expi|red.</P>
<P>I know that &s;ome famous Men begin the Weeks of <HI>Daniel,</HI> from the Second Year of <HI>Darius No|thus,</HI> and make them to end with the De&s;truction of <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> which happend in the Year 490, accounting from the Second Year of the &s;aid <HI>Da|rius;</HI> and they conceive them&s;elves oblig'd there|to, by an Argument, they believe invincible, be|cau&s;e from the Second Year of <HI>Darius Nothus</HI> to the Thirty Second of <HI>Artaxerxes Mnemon,</HI> they
<PB N="97" REF="205">find ju&s;t Forty nine years, that is the Seven Weeks de&s;igned by <HI>Daniel</HI> for rebuilding of the Ruins, and fortifying of the City; and the ra|ther becau&s;e <HI>Nehemiah</HI> return'd to <HI>Artaxerxes</HI> in the Thirty &s;econd Year of his Reign, having fi|ni&s;hed that work, <HI>Nehemiah</HI> XIII. 6. But this Opinion cannot &s;tand, for the&s;e two Rea&s;ons which &s;eem to me to be unan&s;werable: The fir&s;t is, Becau&s;e they &s;uppo&s;e that <HI>Daniel</HI> ends his Se|venty Weeks at the De&s;truction of <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> whereas indeed he &s;aith no &s;uch thing, but expre&s;ly tells us that the Me&s;&s;iah &s;hould be cut off in the mid&s;t of the Seventieth Week. The &s;econd is, That &s;o, without de&s;igning it, they rob Je&s;us Chri&s;t of the Glory, of having determined the Time of the De&s;truction of <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> as if in|&s;tead of a Prophecy concerning that Event, he had only given us an Explication of that of <HI>Da|niel.</HI> Neither will I make any further &s;top here, to ob&s;erve, That that which has given mo&s;t trouble to Interpreters, hath proceeded from the want of making an exact di&s;tribution of the dif|ferent parts of that Prophecy, which very di|&s;tinctly delivers three things: 1. The end of the Prophecy, which happened after Seven Weeks in the time of <HI>Malachy.</HI> 2. The Death of the Me&s;|&s;iah, which came to pa&s;s in the mid&s;t of the la&s;t Week of the 490 Years. 3. The Peace which was to be made in the mid&s;t of one Week, that is Three years and an half before the De&s;tructi|of <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> which was done not by the Me&s;&s;iah, as &s;ome have imagined, but by the <HI>Romans</HI> who made Peace with the <HI>Parthians,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Annal.</HI> Lib. XV.</NOTE> as is recorded by <HI>Tacitus.</HI> An intelligent Reader will ea&s;ily judge,
<PB N="98" REF="206">That this diver&s;ity of Opinions concerning the meaning of this Oracle, has been occa&s;ioned by want of attention to what has been now menti|oned.</P>
<P>Now the&s;e Ob&s;ervations being &s;uppo&s;ed, as indeed they are Matters of the greate&s;t Evidence, it nece&s;&s;arily follows, That the Me&s;&s;iah was to appear before the De&s;truction of <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> by the <HI>Romans.</HI> The Time is &s;et down &s;o preci&s;e|ly by <HI>Daniel,</HI> as leaves no pretence to doubt of this Truth. And indeed, tho' the <HI>Jews</HI> &s;eem pre&s;ently after the time of our Saviour, to have adopted the Opinion I mentioned before, as be|ing unwilling to receive the Me&s;&s;iah, and there|fore carried it to the end of the Seventy Weeks, <HI>viz.</HI> to the De&s;truction of their Temple, notwith|&s;tanding <HI>Daniel</HI> expre&s;ly tells us, That the Tem|ple was not to be de&s;troyed till after the Appear|ance of the Me&s;&s;ias. The <HI>Jews,</HI> I &s;ay, being convinc'd by the force of this Argument, have owned that the Me&s;&s;iah was born at the time of the De&s;truction of the &s;econd Temple, but that he has hid him&s;elf ever &s;ince.</P>
<P>The &s;econd Oracle concerning the Time of the Coming of the Me&s;&s;iah, is, That of <HI>Hag|gai,</HI> which expre&s;ly tells us, that the Me&s;&s;iah was to appear during the &s;econd Temple, which was begun to be built by the Order of <HI>Cyrus,</HI> fi|ni&s;hed under <HI>Darius</HI> Son of <HI>Hysta&s;pes,</HI> and de|&s;troyed by <HI>Ve&s;pa&s;ian.</HI> The Words of the Prophet are as follows, <HI>Chap.</HI> II. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 7, 8, 9. <HI>And I will &s;hake all Nations, and the de&s;ire of all Nations &s;hall come; and I will fill this Hou&s;e with Glory, &s;aith the Lord of Ho&s;ts. The Silver is mine, and the Gold is
<PB N="99" REF="206">mine, &s;aith the Lord of Hosts. The Glory of this lat|ter Hou&s;e &s;hall be greater than that of the former &s;aith the Lord of Ho&s;ts: and in this place will I give Peace, &s;aith the Lord of Ho&s;ts.</HI> It is worth our noting, 1. That this Oracle promi&s;es a very great change. 2. It de&s;cribes the Me&s;&s;iah as the Expectation of the <HI>Gentiles,</HI> &s;uitable to the Idea God had given of him to <HI>Abraham.</HI> 3. That it fixes the Coming of the Me&s;&s;iah to the Time of the &s;econd Hou&s;e, that is to &s;ay, of the Temple built by <HI>Zorobabel.</HI> 4. It makes the Glory of that Hou&s;e to depend upon its being honoured with the pre&s;ence of the Me&s;&s;iah.</P>
<P>In &s;hort, if we would be convinc'd of this Truth, we need only con&s;ider three things: The fir&s;t is, That the Prophets <HI>Zachariah</HI> and <HI>Malachy</HI> do repre&s;ent to us the Coming of the Me&s;&s;iah as near at hand; <HI>Balaam</HI> had &s;aid, almo&s;t Ten A|ges before, <HI>I &s;ee him, but not nigh,</HI> which intima|ted his coming to be then at a great di&s;tance. But <HI>Zechariah</HI> &s;peaks thus concerning it, <HI>Chap.</HI> III. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 8, 9, 10. <HI>Hear now</HI> O Jo&s;huah <HI>the High Prie&s;t, thou and thy Fellows that &s;it before thee, for they are men wondred at: Behold, I will bring forth my Servant the</HI> BRANCH; <HI>For behold, the Stone that I have laid before</HI> Jo&s;hua; <HI>upon one Stone, &s;hall be &s;even Eyes; behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, &s;aith the Lord of Hosts, and I will remove the iniqui|ty of that Land in one day. In that day &s;aith the Lord of Ho&s;ts, &s;hall ye call every man his Neighbour, under the Vine and under the Figtree.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Malachy</HI> expre&s;&s;es him&s;elf, concerning the ap|proaching coming of the Me&s;&s;iah, thus, (<HI>Chap.</HI> III. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 1.) <HI>Behold, I will &s;end my Me&s;&s;enger, and he
<PB N="100" REF="207">&s;hall prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom ye &s;eek, &s;hall &s;uddenly come to his Temple, even the Me&s;&s;enger of the Covenant whom ye delight in, behold he &s;hall come &s;aith the Lord of Ho&s;ts.</HI></P>
<P>One ought to ob&s;erve two very con&s;iderable things in this Prophecy: The fir&s;t, That the Me&s;|&s;iah was to come &s;uddainly. The &s;econd, That <HI>Malachy</HI> expre&s;ly points to us, that the appearing of the Me&s;&s;iah was to be during the &s;econd Tem|ple; the words of the Prophecy di&s;tinctly ex|pre&s;&s;ing it.</P>
<P>And &s;ure it is, that all who gave any credit to the&s;e Oracles, did under&s;tand them &s;o.</P>
<P>For fir&s;t, Both <HI>Jews</HI> and <HI>Gentiles</HI> looked for the Me&s;&s;iah during the &s;econd Temple. We find a pa&s;&s;age expre&s;s to the purpo&s;e in <HI>Tacitus;</HI> and it was on this ground that <HI>Jo&s;ephus</HI> gave the Title of <HI>Me&s;&s;iah</HI> to <HI>Ve&s;pa&s;ian.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. They expected him at the end of the Se|venty Weeks, which was the Third Year after the Death of Je&s;us Chri&s;t. This was the occa&s;i|on of their being deluded by &s;o many fal&s;e Me&s;|&s;iah's about the time of our Saviour, and a little after.</P>
<P N="3">3. They never de&s;pair'd of his coming (ta|king the Promi&s;e of the Me&s;&s;iah's coming to be conditional, when as indeed it was ab&s;olute) un|til they began to believe that the term &s;et down by God him&s;elf was expired.</P>
<P N="4">4. The rea&s;on of their cur&s;ing tho&s;e that com|pute the times &s;et down &s;o di&s;tinctly and preci&s;ely by <HI>Daniel,</HI> was, becau&s;e they found them&s;elves di&s;appointed in his Calculation, finding that the time which <HI>Daniel</HI> had pointed at for the coming
<PB N="101" REF="207">of the Me&s;&s;iah, &s;eem'd to be already expi|red.</P>
<P N="5">5. 'Tis but of late that they have try'd to e|vade it, by maintaining that the Temple will be built a third time, and that then the Me&s;&s;iah &s;hall appear; but this eva&s;ion is unan&s;werably refuted: 1. Becau&s;e <HI>Daniel</HI> a&s;&s;igns a certain term which is expired 1600 Years &s;ince. 2. Becau&s;e he expre&s;|ly tells us, That the de&s;olation of the Temple was to be for ever, as will appear in the follow|ing Chapters. And 3dly, Becau&s;e <HI>Haggai</HI> in ef|fect calls the Temple of which he &s;peaks, <HI>The &s;e|cond or third Hou&s;e,</HI> by which expre&s;&s;ion he &s;o di|&s;tinctly points out the &s;econd Temple to us, that it would be ridiculous to &s;uppo&s;e it meant, of a third Temple, to be built 1700 Years after the ruin of that of which he prophecied.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="14" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XIV. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>That the Me&s;&s;iah was to be born of a Virgin of the Hou&s;e of</HI> David.</HEAD>
<P>HItherto we have &s;een that the Me&s;&s;iah was to be born of the Po&s;terity of <HI>Abraham</HI> by <HI>I|&s;aac,</HI> of that of <HI>I&s;aac</HI> by <HI>Jacob,</HI> and of that of <HI>Ja|cob</HI> by <HI>Juda.</HI> This hath been &s;ufficiently made out already.</P>
<P>I have al&s;o &s;hew'd from the Oracle in the I <HI>Sam. Chap.</HI> VII. That he was to be born of the Po&s;teri|ty
<PB N="102" REF="208">of <HI>David;</HI> and we find the &s;ame very parti|cularly and fully &s;et down in the LXXXIX <HI>P&s;alm.</HI></P>
<P>The following Prophets have expre&s;t them|&s;elves to the &s;ame purpo&s;e; <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> XI. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 1, 2, 3. and the Prophet <HI>Jeremy</HI> hath pur&s;ued the &s;ame Idea's, <HI>Chap.</HI> XXIII. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 5, 6. and <HI>Chap.</HI> XXXIII. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 15, 16, 17.</P>
<P>Neither do the Prophets only di&s;tingui&s;h the Me&s;&s;iah by his being born of a Virgin, but al&s;o by determining that Virgin to the Hou&s;e of <HI>Da|vid.</HI> Neither need I repeat here what I have al|ready ob&s;erv'd, That this is a Truth, the Grounds whereof God had laid down in his fir&s;t promi&s;e, <HI>viz. The Seed of the Woman &s;hall brui&s;e the Serpents head:</HI> where he makes mention of the Seed of the Woman only, without naming that of the Man, the word of <HI>Seed</HI> or <HI>Posterity</HI> very evident|ly de&s;igning a Man to be born of the Woman, which is acknowledg'd by the <HI>Jews</HI> in another Prophecy, and the &s;ame which the Apo&s;tle St. <HI>Paul</HI> takes notice of as a Maxim generally owned by the Doctors of the Synagogue.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Galat. III.</NOTE> It is al&s;o evi|dent that the word <HI>Woman</HI> plainly denotes the Sex of which this per&s;on was immediately to be born.</P>
<P>It was obvious to judge, That &s;omething mi|raculous was to attend the Birth of the Me&s;&s;iah. We &s;ee <HI>I&s;aac</HI> born of a barren Mother, pa&s;t the Age of Child-bearing: We find al&s;o &s;omething very &s;ingular at the Birth of <HI>Samp&s;on</HI> and <HI>Samuel;</HI> and 'tis well known that the promi&s;e of the Me&s;|&s;iah was &s;omething far greater than the Birth of the&s;e now mentioned, how illu&s;trious &s;oever they
<PB N="103" REF="208">might be; and that therefore probably his Birth was to be attended by a greater Miracle. But becau&s;e this was a thing wholly new, we ought to ob&s;erve in what manner God did particularly foretel it.</P>
<P>The Prophecy of <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> expre&s;&s;eth it thus, <HI>Chap.</HI> VII. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17. <HI>More|over the Lord &s;pake again unto</HI> Ahaz, <HI>&s;aying; Ask thee a &s;ign of the Lord thy God, ask it either in the depth, or in the height above. But</HI> Ahaz <HI>&s;aid, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord. And he &s;aid, hear ye now O hou&s;e of</HI> David, <HI>is it a &s;mall thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God al&s;o? Therefore the Lord him&s;elf &s;hall give you a &s;ign; behold a Virgin &s;hall conceive and bear a Son, and &s;hall call his name</HI> Immanuel. <HI>Butter and honey &s;hall he eat, that he may know to refu&s;e the Evil, and choo&s;e the Good: for before the Child &s;hall know to re|fu&s;e the Evil, and choo&s;e the Good, the Land that thou abhorre&s;t &s;hall be for&s;aken of both her Kings. The Lord &s;hall bring upon thee, upon thy People, and upon thy Father's Hou&s;e, days that have not come from the day that</HI> Ephraim <HI>departed from</HI> Juda, <HI>even the King of</HI> A&s;&s;yria. Where we may ob&s;erve,</P>
<P N="1">1. That the Promi&s;e here is made to a wicked King, but of the Family of <HI>David,</HI> to whom the Prophet particularly addre&s;&s;es him&s;elf.</P>
<P N="2">2. That this Prophecy was given at a juncture of time very capable of awakening their attenti|on to it, at a time when the State of the <HI>Jews</HI> was reduced to the greate&s;t extremity, and the Hou&s;e of <HI>David</HI> in particular in a very great con|&s;ternation.</P>
<P N="3">3. The Prophecy was utter'd by a very illu&s;tri|ous
<PB N="104" REF="209">Prophet, who was of the Royal Fami|ly.</P>
<P N="4">4. It was &s;ealed and confirmed with the Pre|diction of the Birth of a Child, which came to pa&s;s accordingly.</P>
<P N="5">5. It is &s;et forth as a very extraordinary &s;ign, in&s;tead of that which the wicked King refu&s;ed to ask, when <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> offer'd it him, in the Name of God.</P>
<P>I am not ignorant that the Modern <HI>Jews</HI> de|ny that this Character of being born of a Virgin belongs to the Me&s;&s;iah: but it is an ea&s;ie mat|ter to confute them.</P>
<P>For fir&s;t, Would it not have been ridiculous for the Apo&s;tles to go about to apply this Oracle to their Me&s;&s;iah, if it had not been a thing uni|ver&s;ally own'd by the <HI>Jews,</HI> that this was the meaning of <HI>I&s;aiah</HI>'s Prophecy? Is it not evident that this Character, &s;o difficult to gain belief, would rather perplex than &s;trengthen their proofs. And yet certain it is that St. <HI>Matthew</HI> has done &s;o, <HI>Chap.</HI> I. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 23. as likewi&s;e St. <HI>Luke, Chap.</HI> I. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 31.</P>
<P><HI>Ju&s;tin Martyr</HI> ob&s;erv'd, That the Notion of this Oracle, as we under&s;tand it, hath been enter|tain'd among&s;t the Heathens, who built their Fa|ble of <HI>Per&s;eus</HI> upon it, whom they pretend to have been born of a Virgin.</P>
<P N="3">3. It appears that all tho&s;e Laws which I men|tioned in my Reflexions upon <HI>Exodus,</HI> and the following Books, <HI>Chap.</HI> XX. and which have Re|lation to the di&s;tinct knowledge of the &s;tate of Virginity, receive much light from this Notion; and are without it altogether u&s;ele&s;s.</P>
<PB N="105" REF="209">
<P N="4">4. 'Tis evident that the <HI>Jews</HI> did not di&s;pute this Character, till after they &s;aw that the Chri|&s;tians apply'd it to Je&s;us Chri&s;t; and thereupon have fallen upon &s;uch childi&s;h Fancies as may ju&s;t|ly cover them with Confu&s;ion.</P>
<P>But we &s;hall be yet further &s;atisfied hereof, if we add to all the&s;e ju&s;t Prejudices, only the fol|lowing Reflexions on the terms the Prophet makes u&s;e of.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t is, That the LXX Interpreters have in tran&s;lating this Prophecy, made u&s;e of a word that &s;ignifies a Virgin, and not a young Wo|man, as the <HI>Jews</HI> have under&s;tood it &s;ince our Saviour's time. The fir&s;t who rejected the Inter|pretation of the <HI>Septuagint</HI> was <HI>Symmachus,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">In Dialog. cum <HI>Try|phon. Tertull.</HI> cont. <HI>Jud.</HI> cap. 9.</NOTE> who lived in the &s;econd Century, as it is ob&s;erved by <HI>Ju&s;tin Martyr</HI> and <HI>Tertullian,</HI> who for this rea&s;on accu&s;e the <HI>Jews</HI> of having fal&s;ified the Holy Scrip|ture.</P>
<P>The &s;econd is, That the <HI>Hebrew</HI> word expre&s;ly &s;ignifies &s;uch an one, as according to the Law of Virgins, was kept under Lock and Key from the Eyes of Men, according to the cu&s;tom of the Ea&s;tern Nations, and e&s;pecially of the <HI>Jews,</HI> which continues among&s;t them till this day.</P>
<P>The third is, That this word hath been taken by the <HI>Africans</HI> in the &s;ame &s;ignification, as St. <HI>Je|rome</HI> ob&s;erves.</P>
<P>The fourth is, That the Prophet doth &s;et forth this Child-bearing as a Prodigy and Miracle alto|gether unheard of, and as a particular Character, by which the Hou&s;e of <HI>David</HI> was to be &s;trongly confirmed in the hope of &s;eeing the accompli&s;h|ment of the Promi&s;e which God had made of
<PB N="106" REF="210">&s;etling an eternal Kingdom upon it, which could not be accompli&s;hed but by means of the Me&s;&s;i|ah.</P>
<P>The fifth is, That tho' &s;ome <HI>Jews</HI> have applyed this Prophecy to King <HI>Hezekiah,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ra&s;chi</HI> in h. l.</NOTE> which yet to others of them &s;eems very ridiculous, he being Nine years of Age when the Prophecy was ut|tered by <HI>I&s;aiah,</HI> and them&s;elves never making u&s;e of this Eva&s;ion, except in their Di&s;putes again&s;t the Chri&s;tians, and &s;o on this occa&s;ion have dropt a Confe&s;&s;ion which alone was &s;ufficient to con|found them. Yet it hath been a thing &s;o general|ly received among&s;t them, That this Prophecy did re&s;pect the Me&s;&s;iah, that after they had ap|plyed it to <HI>Hezekiah,</HI> one of their mo&s;t famous Doctors concludes,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gemar</HI> in <HI>Sanhed.</HI> Cap. Che|lech.</NOTE> That they ought to look for no Me&s;&s;iah, &s;ince the time of <HI>Hezekiah,</HI> that Prophecy having had its accompli&s;hment in him; an Opinion which tho&s;e that &s;ucceeded him have rejected with the greate&s;t abhorrence.</P>
<P>The &s;ixth is, That the Title of <HI>Immanuel,</HI> given to this Son, who&s;e Birth is here promi&s;ed, is re|pre&s;ented to us <HI>Chap.</HI> VIII. as the Name of him who was Lord of the Land, which is a true Re|pre&s;entation of the Heir promi&s;ed to <HI>David,</HI> to whom <HI>David</HI> &s;aid, <HI>O God, thy God hath anointed thee with the Oyl of Gladne&s;s above thy Fellows.</HI> P&s;al. XLV. 7, 8.</P>
<P>The &s;eventh is; That the Prophet <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> ha|ving alledged and cited two Witne&s;&s;es, <HI>Uriah</HI> the Son of <HI>Shemaiah,</HI> a Prophet, who was put to death by <HI>Jehoiakim,</HI> and <HI>Zechariah</HI> the Son of <HI>Jeberechiah;</HI> the former of which lived long af|ter <HI>Ahaz,</HI> and the latter &s;ince the Captivity, under
<PB N="107" REF="210"><HI>Darius</HI> King of <HI>Per&s;ia,</HI> according to the account the <HI>Jews</HI> them&s;elves give of them, he &s;ufficiently hints by this Circum&s;tance, That the Prophecy concerning the Birth of the <HI>Immanuel</HI> he &s;peaks of, was to be fulfill'd many Ages after, and not in that Age wherein he prophecies.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="15" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XV.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"> <HI>That the Me&s;&s;iah was to be born at</HI> Bethlehem <HI>of the Family of</HI> David, <HI>which at that time was reduc'd to a private &s;tate.</HI></HEAD>
<P>GOD had not only pointed out the time in which the Me&s;&s;iah was to appear, with the miraculous Manner and Circum&s;tances of his Birth; but he had al&s;o named the Family, the Place, with the State and Condition of the Fa|mily in which he was to be born, as a triple Cha|racter by which he might be known.</P>
<P>I &s;ay, fir&s;t, That according to the Divine O|racles, the Me&s;&s;iah was to be born of the Fami|ly of <HI>David,</HI> as will appear if we con&s;ider the following Oracles.</P>
<P N="1">1. God expre&s;ly promi&s;eth as much to <HI>David,</HI> II <HI>Sam. Chap.</HI> VII. a place I have quoted before, which proves that the Me&s;&s;iah was to be born of the Family of <HI>David.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. It appeareth that <HI>David</HI> believ'd this him&s;elf,
<PB N="108" REF="211">from <HI>P&s;alm</HI> CXXXII. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, <HI>and</HI> 18. <HI>The Lord hath &s;worn in truth unto</HI> David, <HI>he will not turn from it; of the fruit of thy Body will I &s;et upon thy Throne.</HI> And after having &s;aid, <HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 12. <HI>That if his Children would keep his Covenant,</HI> that <HI>their Children al&s;o &s;hould &s;it upon his Throne for evermore.</HI> And this <HI>becau&s;e</HI> (Ver&s;. 13 &amp; 14.) <HI>the Lord had cho&s;en</HI> Zion, <HI>and de&s;ired it for his habitation, &amp;c.</HI> and promi&s;ed <HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 15. That he would <HI>abundantly ble&s;s her Provi&s;ion, and &s;atisfie her Poor with Bread;</HI> that he would <HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 16. <HI>Clothe her Priests with Salvation, and make her Saints &s;hout for joy.</HI> He &s;ubjoyns <HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 17 <HI>&amp;</HI> 18. <HI>There I will make the horn of</HI> David <HI>to bud, I have ordained a Lamp for mine Anointed. His Enemies I will clothe with &s;hame, but upon him&s;elf &s;hall his Crown flouri&s;h.</HI> It is very evident, That by this <HI>Horn of</HI> David is to be meant a King, the Me&s;&s;iah, whom he di|&s;tingui&s;hes by that Expre&s;&s;ion from all the re&s;t of <HI>David</HI>'s Children. And <HI>Zachariah</HI> in his Song of Prai&s;e, <HI>Luke</HI> I. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 69. applying it to our Sa|viour, puts the Matter out of all doubt.</P>
<P N="3">3. Hence it was the Prophets took occa&s;ion to give to the Me&s;&s;iah the Name of <HI>David.</HI> So <HI>Ezek.</HI> XXXIV. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 23, 24. <HI>And I will &s;et up one Shep|herd over them, and he &s;hall feed them, even my Ser|vant</HI> David; <HI>he &s;hall feed them, and he &s;hall be their Shepherd. And I the Lord will be their God, and my Servant</HI> David <HI>a Prince among them, I the Lord have &s;poken it.</HI></P>
<P N="4">4. The <HI>Jews</HI> are, and have always been firm in this per&s;wa&s;ion, grounded on the fore&s;aid and o|ther like places of Scripture, which they con|&s;tantly refer to the Me&s;&s;iah.</P>
<PB N="109" REF="211">
<P>I &s;ay in the &s;econd place, That the Divine O|racles expre&s;ly point out <HI>Bethlehem</HI> for the Birth|place of the Me&s;&s;iah. <HI>Micah</HI> the V. <HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 2. <HI>But thou</HI> Bethlehem Ephratah, <HI>though thou be little a|mong the thou&s;ands of</HI> Judah, <HI>yet out of thee &s;hall he come forth unto me, that is to be Ruler in</HI> I&s;rael; <HI>who&s;e goings forth have been from of old, from the days of Eternity.</HI></P>
<P>The <HI>Jews</HI> acknowledge that this Oracle &s;peaks of the Me&s;&s;iah; and indeed the Prophet di&s;tin|gui&s;hing by <HI>Bethlehem</HI> adding the word <HI>Ephra|tah</HI> (whence the Family of <HI>David</HI> was) from that <HI>Bethlehem</HI> which belonged to another Tribe, makes it apparent that nothing could be &s;poke more di|&s;tinctly to determine the Birth-place of the Me&s;|&s;iah. Be&s;ides, we find that all the Jewi&s;h Rab|bies and Prie&s;ts agree in this, That the Me&s;&s;iah was to be born at <HI>Bethlehem,</HI> when being con&s;ul|ted by <HI>Herod</HI> about this Matter, they declared this to be their Sen&s;e, grounded upon the fore|mentioned place of <HI>Micah, Matthew</HI> II. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 4, 5, 6.</P>
<P>In the third place, it appears that the Me&s;&s;iah was to be born in an abject, contemptible, and weak condition, and very different from the greatne&s;s of the Kings of <HI>Judah.</HI> Indeed, &s;hould we only have our eye on II <HI>Sam. Chap.</HI> VII. and <HI>P&s;alm</HI> CXXXII. it would be natural enough to think the contrary; but <HI>Micah</HI>'s Oracle &s;uffici|ently refutes them; for how great things &s;oever the Prophet there &s;peaks of the Me&s;&s;iah, whether as to his Divine Nature, by declaring that his <HI>Go|ings forth were from the days of Eternity;</HI> or to the Maje&s;ty and Glory of his Empire; yet however
<PB N="110" REF="212">he gives us a different Idea, inducing us to con|ceive of him, as of one that was to be born in the &s;tate of a private Per&s;on; for why el&s;e is his Birth determined, not to <HI>Zion,</HI> which was the Place and Seat of the Empire of <HI>Judah,</HI> but to <HI>Bethlehem,</HI> a Town where the Family of <HI>David</HI> lived, whil&s;t they were private Per&s;ons, except for this cau&s;e, to make us conceive that the Me&s;|&s;iah was not to be born in that place where the Fa|mily of <HI>David</HI> po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed the Empire: but in a Condition far di&s;tant from the Glory of Kings, and in a place where the Hou&s;e of <HI>David</HI> was contemptible, and of very &s;mall e&s;teem.</P>
<P>The &s;ame is hinted to us by <HI>I&s;aiah,</HI> in his XI <HI>Chapter, v.</HI> 1. where he calls the Me&s;&s;iah <HI>a Rod,</HI> or &s;hoot <HI>of the &s;tem of</HI> Je&s;&s;e. Now <HI>Je&s;&s;e</HI> was not King, but a private Per&s;on. And on the &s;ame account it is that the Prophet de&s;cribes him, <HI>Chap.</HI> LIII. as having <HI>no form or comline&s;s.</HI></P>
<P>The Prophet <HI>Zachary</HI> al&s;o, <HI>Chap.</HI> IX. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 9. repre&s;ents him, not as King, &s;itting on the Throne in <HI>Zion;</HI> but as riding to <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> on an A&s;s; and he gives him the Title of <HI>Lowly,</HI> which &s;ignifies as well a mean Condition, as the vertue of Humi|lity.</P>
<P>But in &s;hort, this is very con&s;iderable; 1. That tho&s;e who acknowledged Je&s;us to be the Me&s;&s;iah, thought they had the greate&s;t rea&s;on &s;o to do, be|cau&s;e they acknowledged him to be the Son of <HI>David.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. That tho&s;e who deny'd him that Title, thought them&s;elves &s;ufficiently ju&s;tified in &s;o do|ing, by e&s;teeming him a <HI>Nazarene;</HI> as concluding he could not be the Son of <HI>David,</HI> if he were
<PB N="111" REF="212">born at <HI>Nazareth,</HI> as they &s;uppo&s;ed.</P>
<P N="3">3. The Evangeli&s;ts preci&s;ely tell us, That Chri&s;t was born at <HI>Bethlehem,</HI> of the Lineage of <HI>David,</HI> reduced to a very ob&s;cure Condition; and &s;o making this one of the chief Characters which &s;poke him to be the Me&s;&s;iah.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="16" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XVI.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">That the Me&s;&s;iah was to work great Miracles, for the e&s;tabli&s;hing of his Mi&s;&s;ion, and of the Truth of his Doctrine.</HEAD>
<P>HEre is another Character which is very par|ticular, and whereby the Me&s;&s;iah might be certainly known, <HI>viz.</HI> That he was to work great Miracles for the confirmation of his Mi&s;&s;ion and of his Doctrine.</P>
<P>This appears, as I have already hinted, 1. From the conformity which the Me&s;&s;iah was to have with <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> in being the Founder of a new Re|ligious Society, and in propo&s;ing a new Doctrine to Men; upon which account there lay upon him the &s;ame Obligation, as upon <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> to &s;upport his Authority by Miracles, that even in this he might not be inferiour to him.</P>
<P N="2">2. One may gather this al&s;o from the Title of <HI>Prophet,</HI> and <HI>great Prophet,</HI> which are applicable to the Me&s;&s;iah; it being difficult to conceive, That God who vouch&s;afed the Glory of doing
<PB N="112" REF="213">Miracles to mo&s;t of the Prophets, tho' they were barely &s;ent to foretel the Coming of the Me&s;&s;iah, and to give an account of him, &s;hould have deni|ed the &s;ame Glory and the &s;ame Power to the Me&s;&s;iah him&s;elf, of whom all the Prophets were but the Forerunners.</P>
<P>Be&s;ides, it is ea&s;ie to judge from the mean and contemptible &s;tate wherein the Me&s;&s;iah was to appear, That this Glory of doing Miracles was of ab&s;olute nece&s;&s;ity to give him Authority and Re|&s;pect: for &s;ince he was to be born in an ob&s;cure Condition, and not in Royal Grandeur, it is evi|dent that the Gift of Miracles was needful to make him known, and counterbalance that low and opprobrious Condition in which he was to ap|pear in the World.</P>
<P>But this particularly appears from an expre&s;s Oracle which God gave upon this very Subject, in <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> XXXV. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 3, 4, 5, <HI>and</HI> 6. <HI>Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them of a fearful heart, be &s;trong, fear not; behold your God will come with vengeance, even God with a Recompence; he will come and &s;ave you. Then the eyes of the Blind &s;hall be opened, and the ears of the Deaf &s;hall be unstopped. Then &s;hall the Lame man leap as an Hart, and the tongue of the Dumb &s;ing: for in the Wilderne&s;s &s;hall waters break out, and &s;treams in the De&s;ert.</HI> Which Oracle very fully expre&s;&s;es the Power of Miracles wherewith our Saviour was to be dignified, in curing all manner of Di|&s;ea&s;es, of which the Prophet hath named &s;ome only, to give us a <HI>Specimen</HI> of the re&s;t; and it &s;eems as if the Prophet had cho&s;en the&s;e four &s;orts before all others, becau&s;e throughout the whole Scrip|ture
<PB N="113" REF="213">we do not find that ever any Prophet did the like, that &s;o the Character of the Me&s;&s;iah might be particular in his Miracles too.</P>
<P>It is al&s;o worth our noting, in giving a Chara|cter of the Me&s;&s;iah, Fir&s;t, That even tho&s;e who rejected Je&s;us Chri&s;t, yet did at the &s;ame time &s;uppo&s;e that the Me&s;&s;iah when he came, was to work Miracles. Therefore it is that we hear &s;ome of them &s;aying to Chri&s;t, <HI>What &s;ign do&s;t thou?</HI> and others maintaining that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> had wrought greater Wonders than Je&s;us Chri&s;t, in giving them Bread from Heaven, and feeding them miraculou&s;ly for the &s;pace of Forty Years; whil&s;t others affirm'd, That none could work greater Wonders than he wrought: <HI>When the Me&s;|&s;iah &s;hall come, will he do greater Wonders than this Man?</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, One ought to ob&s;erve that Je&s;us Chri&s;t alledges this Oracle of the Prophet <HI>I&s;aiah,</HI> taking it for granted that the accompli&s;hment thereof was mo&s;t vi&s;ibly evident in the Miracles which he wrought, as appears from the An&s;wer he gave to the Me&s;&s;engers of <HI>John the Bap|ti&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>Thirdly, It is al&s;o ob&s;ervable, That tho&s;e who were willing to flatter the vanity of the Emperour <HI>Ve&s;pa&s;ian</HI> (whom <HI>Jo&s;ephus</HI> endeavoured to rai&s;e to a belief that he was the Me&s;&s;iah, becau&s;e he had been proclaimed in the Ea&s;t, applying to that purpo&s;e the words of <HI>Micah,</HI> mi&s;applyed, <HI>Chap.</HI> V. <HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 2. <HI>Who&s;e goings forth are from the East</HI>) were not wanting to attribute to him the Glory of doing Miracles, and &s;uch as <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> a&s;cribes to the Me&s;&s;iah, by attributing to him the cure of
<PB N="114" REF="214">one that was Blind, and another that was Lame at <HI>Alexandria.</HI> He that would know the Particu|lars, may con&s;ult <HI>Tacitus</HI> his Hi&s;tory.</P>
<P>And la&s;t of all we ought to ob&s;erve, That the <HI>Jews</HI> do not only agree that this Oracle of <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> refers to the Me&s;&s;iah; but they al&s;o &s;till propo&s;e the Power of working Miracles, as a Character which would render the Me&s;&s;iah very illu&s;trious, and certainly known.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="17" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XVII.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">That the Me&s;&s;iah was to be an illu&s;trious Pro|phet.</HEAD>
<P>THis Truth I have already a&s;&s;erted in the Re|flexions I made on the Prophecy of <HI>Mo&s;es, Deut.</HI> XVIII. But one ought to explain this Character of the Me&s;&s;iah more particularly, God having been plea&s;ed further to illu&s;trate this Oracle of <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI></P>
<P>Fir&s;t then, We &s;ay that the word Me&s;&s;iah im|plies Anointing, which was common to Kings, Prophets, and Prie&s;ts; and &s;ince <HI>David</HI>'s time, we find nothing more common than this Title in the Books of the <HI>Old Te&s;tament:</HI> where we may ob|&s;erve that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> was dignified with this Gift of Prophecy; and that <HI>Samuel</HI> communicated the &s;ame to <HI>Saul</HI> and <HI>David,</HI> when he anointed them
<PB N="115" REF="214">to be Kings. Yea, the <HI>Jews</HI> to this day are of opinion, that <HI>Elias</HI> the Prophet &s;hall anoint the Me&s;&s;iah; that is, initiate him in his Prophetical, as well as his Royal Function.</P>
<P>Secondly, God more preci&s;ely &s;ignifies this, <HI>I&s;ai.</HI> XI. <HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 1, 2, <HI>&amp;</HI> 3. where he declares he would communicate all the nece&s;&s;ary Gifts of the Pro|phetical Function to the Me&s;&s;iah. <HI>There &s;hall come forth a Rod out of the &s;tem of</HI> Je&s;&s;e, <HI>and a branch &s;hall grow out of his Roots. And the Spirit of the Lord &s;hall re&s;t upon him, the Spirit of Wi&s;dom and Under&s;tanding, the Spirit of Coun&s;el and Might, the Spirit of Knowledge, and of the Fear of the Lord. So that he &s;hall not judge after the &s;ight of his eyes, nei|ther reprove after the hearing of his ears.</HI></P>
<P>The&s;e words need no Commentary: For the <HI>Jews</HI> refer them con&s;tantly to the Me&s;&s;iah, and they plainly import that he was to be a great Prophet, fora&s;much as all the <HI>Characters</HI> which are there given to the Spirit which was to re&s;t on the Me&s;&s;iah, are the &s;ame which in the <HI>Old Te&s;ta|ment</HI> we find attributed to the Prophets, and may ea&s;ily be taken notice of in the Hi&s;tory of the Pro|phets, e&s;pecially of <HI>David</HI> and <HI>Solomon.</HI></P>
<P>And much to the &s;ame purpo&s;e is that pa&s;&s;age <HI>I&s;ai.</HI> XLII. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. <HI>Behold my Servant whom I uphold, mine Elect in whom my Soul delighteth: I have put my Spirit upon him, he &s;hall bring forth Judgment to the</HI> Gentiles. <HI>He &s;hall not cry, nor lift up, nor cau&s;e his voice to be heard in the &s;treet. A brui&s;ed Reed &s;hall he not break, and the &s;moking Flax &s;hall he not quench; he &s;hall bring forth Judgment unto Truth. He &s;hall not fail nor be di&s;|couraged till he have &s;et Judgment in the Earth, and
<PB N="116" REF="215">the I&s;les &s;hall wait for his Law. Thus &s;aith God the Lord, he that created the Heavens, and &s;tretched them out; he that &s;pread forth the Earth, and that which cometh out of it: he that giveth breath to the People upon it, and &s;pirit to them that walk therein. I the Lord have called thee in Righteou&s;ne&s;s, and will hold thine, and will keep thee, and give thee for a Cove|nant of the people, for a Light of the</HI> Gentiles: <HI>to o|pen the blind eyes, to bring out the pri&s;oners from the pri&s;on, and them that &s;it in darkne&s;s, out of the pri&s;on hou&s;e.</HI> In which Oracle one ought to take notice particularly of tho&s;e things which the <HI>Jews</HI> apply to the Me&s;&s;iah.</P>
<P N="1">1. That God propo&s;es the Gifts of the Spirit, which he be&s;towed upon him as an Effect of his Love, and the choice he had made of him.</P>
<P N="2">2. That the Me&s;&s;iah was to make u&s;e of the &s;ame, as Rules for reforming the Country, and propounding Gods Covenant to the <HI>Gentiles;</HI> which clearly &s;uppo&s;e the nece&s;&s;ity of the Gift of Prophecy to qualifie him for &s;uch great Under|takings.</P>
<P N="3">3. That contrary to the thundring Character which di&s;tingui&s;hed the re&s;t of the Prophets, who were as &s;o many publick Cen&s;ors; the Me&s;&s;iah was to &s;peak with all meekne&s;s and &s;weetne&s;s to the Nations which &s;hould receive his Preach|ing.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's that <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> repeats the &s;ame Idea's, <HI>Chap.</HI> LXI. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. <HI>The Spi|rit of the Lord God is upon me, becau&s;e the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek, he hath &s;ent me to bind-up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the Captives, and the opening of the Pri&s;on
<PB N="117" REF="215">to them that are bound. To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of Vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn: to appoint unto them that mourn in</HI> Zion, <HI>to give unto them Beauty for A&s;hes, the Oyl of Joy for Mourning, the Garment of Prai&s;e for the Spirit of Heavine&s;s; that they might be called Trees of Righteou&s;ne&s;s, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. And they &s;hall build the old Wasts, they &s;hall rai&s;e up the former De&s;olati|ons, and they &s;hall repair the wa&s;te Cities, the De&s;o|lations of many Generations. And strangers &s;hall &s;tand and feed your flocks, and the &s;ons of the Alien &s;hall be your Plowmen, and your Vine dre&s;&s;ers. But ye &s;hall be named the Prie&s;ts of the Lord, men &s;hall call you the Mini&s;ters of our God: ye &s;hall eat the ri|ches of the</HI> Gentiles, <HI>and in their glory &s;hall ye boa&s;t your &s;elves. For your &s;hame ye &s;hall have double, and for confu&s;ion they &s;hall rejoyce in their portion: there|fore in their Land they &s;hall po&s;&s;e&s;s the double; ever|lasting joy &s;hall be upon them.</HI></P>
<P>In &s;hort, he repre&s;ents in this and the former Oracle, the <HI>Gentiles</HI> as a People being in darkne&s;s, and in the mi&s;ery of a Pri&s;on; from whence we may ea&s;ily infer, Fir&s;t, That the Me&s;&s;iah was to be a Prophet, how vile and abject &s;oever that Character might appear in the eyes of the World, as I have &s;hewed that it was, where I &s;pake of the Prophets in general. Secondly, That he was to di&s;charge the&s;e Functions during the whole cour&s;e of his Life, and that it was to be his chief Employment here upon Earth.</P>
<P><HI>David</HI> had before &s;ignified, <HI>P&s;alm</HI> XXII. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 22. that the Me&s;&s;iah was to <HI>declare the Name of God unto his Brethren,</HI> viz. the <HI>Jews,</HI> by exerci&s;ing
<PB N="118" REF="216">his Prophetical Function in <HI>Judea;</HI> but the Ho|ly Spirit did &s;omething more when he &s;eem'd to point out <HI>Galilee</HI> as the place where this Sacred Doctor was chiefly to fix his abode.</P>
<P>This is in effect in&s;inuated, when God tells us that he was to begin his Mini&s;terial Functions in the Tribes of <HI>Naphtali</HI> and <HI>Zebulon. I&s;ai.</HI> IX. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 1, 2, and 3. <HI>Neverthele&s;s the dimne&s;s &s;hall not be &s;uch as was in her vexation, when at the fir&s;t he lightly afflicted the Land of</HI> Zebulon, <HI>and the Land of</HI> Naphtali, <HI>and afterwards did more grievou&s;ly af|flict her by the way of the Sea, beyond</HI> Jordan <HI>in Gali|lee of the Nations. The people that walked in dark|ne&s;s have &s;een a great light, they that dwell in the land of the &s;hadow of Death, upon them hath the light &s;hined. Thou ha&s;t multiplyed the Nation, thou ha&s;t encrea&s;ed the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in Harvest, and as men rejoyce when they divide the &s;poil.</HI></P>
<P>I &s;hall afterwards take notice, That the time of the Me&s;&s;iah was to be di&s;tingui&s;hed by an in|credible abundance of Spiritual Gifts: and &s;o this &s;hall &s;uffice at pre&s;ent to prove that the Me&s;&s;iah was to be a very great Prophet.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="18" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="119" REF="216">
<HEAD>CHAP. XVIII.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">That the Me&s;&s;iah was to propound a new Covenant from God with all men.</HEAD>
<P>THis is a Truth which is ea&s;ily gathered, 1. Becau&s;e all Nations, before they could be made partakers of the Ble&s;&s;ing of God by the Me&s;&s;iah (according to the promi&s;e made to <HI>A|braham</HI>) were fir&s;t to be received into the Cove|nant. 2. From the nature of that Covenant it &s;elf, of which <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> was the Mediator, the end of which was, to &s;eparate the <HI>Jews</HI> from other Nations, &s;ome of which were not capable of being received among&s;t them, till after &s;everal Genera|tions, whereas they were to be made partakers of this Ble&s;&s;ing by the Me&s;&s;iah. 3. Becau&s;e in effect all the Ceremonial Law, was only added to the Moral, as it were contrary to God's principal in|tention, and only upon occa&s;ion of the <HI>Jews</HI> wor|&s;hipping the <HI>Golden Calf,</HI> as St.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 3.19.</NOTE> <HI>Paul</HI> ob&s;erves in the Third <HI>Chapter</HI> of his Epi&s;tle to the <HI>Galati|ans.</HI></P>
<P>Be&s;ides, it appears that God at divers times had given &s;ufficient hints concerning this.</P>
<P N="1">1. He had propo&s;ed a new Prie&s;thood of the Me&s;&s;iah, which was to aboli&s;h the Levitical Prie&s;t|hood; and this is the more remarkable, fora&s;|much as <HI>David</HI> who pronounced that Oracle, <HI>P&s;alm</HI> CX. was he who fir&s;t form'd the de&s;ign of
<PB N="120" REF="217">building the Temple, to which all the Levitical Service was annexed.</P>
<P N="2">2. We find him rejecting in &s;ome &s;ort the Le|vitical Mini&s;try, after he had de&s;pi&s;ed it in com|pari&s;on of the Spiritual Wor&s;hip. <HI>P&s;alm</HI> XL. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 6. <HI>Sacrifice and Offering thou didst not de&s;ire, mine ears ha&s;t thou opened; Burnt-offering and Sin-offering ha&s;t thou not required.</HI> And <HI>P&s;alm</HI> L. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 8, 9, 10. <HI>I will not reprove thee for thy Sacrifices, or thy Burnt-offerings which have been continually before me. I will take no Bullocks out of thine Hou&s;e, nor He-goats out of thy Folds; for every Bea&s;t of the Forest is mine, and the Cattel upon a thou&s;and Hills.</HI> And <HI>P&s;alm</HI> LI. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 17. he tells us that <HI>the Sacrifices of God are a broken &s;pirit;</HI> in oppo&s;ition to the Sacrifices which the Law pre&s;cribed, and to &s;ignifie their imperfecti|on; the Law having appointed none for the ex|piation of Murther or Adultery.</P>
<P><HI>I&s;aiah</HI> follows <HI>David, Chap.</HI> 1. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15. <HI>To what purpo&s;e is the multitude of your Sacrifices unto me, &s;aith the Lord? I am full of the Burnt-offerings of Rams, and the fat of fed Beasts: and I de|light not in the blood of Bullocks, or of Lambs, or of He-goats. When you come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hands to tread my Courts? Bring no more vain Oblations, Incen&s;e is an abominati|on unto me, the new Moons and Sabbaths, the calling of A&s;semblies, I cannot away with, it is iniquity even the &s;olemn meeting. Your new Moons, and your ap|pointed Fea&s;ts my Soul hateth; they are a trouble unto me, I am weary to bear them. And when you &s;pread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you; yea when ye make many prayers, I will not hear, your hands are full of blood.</HI> And <HI>Jeremiah</HI> &s;peaks much to the &s;ame purpo&s;e, <HI>Chap.</HI> VII. <HI>v.</HI> 21, 22, &amp; 23.</P>
<PB N="121" REF="217">
<P>But be&s;ides, God directly promi&s;eth this new Covenant by <HI>I&s;aiah, Chap.</HI> XLII. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 6, 7. <HI>I the Lord have called thee in Righteou&s;ne&s;s, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a Co|venant of the People, for a Light of the</HI> Gentiles. <HI>To open the blind eyes, to bring out the Pri&s;oners from the Pri&s;on, and them that &s;it in Darkne&s;s from the Pri&s;on hou&s;e.</HI></P>
<P>It is natural to ob&s;erve, That in this place, where God &s;peaks of the Me&s;&s;iah, as the <HI>Jews</HI> them&s;elves confe&s;s, he expre&s;ly declares two things: 1. That the Me&s;&s;iah &s;hould be a Covenant of the People, that is, that he &s;hould mediate a Covenant be|tween God and the People. 2. That the fruit of this Covenant was to extend to the <HI>Gentiles,</HI> which plainly implyes that it was not the old Covenant, fora&s;much as from it &s;everal were excluded.</P>
<P>The &s;ame Covenant is al&s;o mention'd, <HI>Chap.</HI> XLIX. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 8, 9. <HI>Thus &s;aith the Lord, in an accep|table time have I heard thee, and in a day of &s;alvation have I helped thee, and I will pre&s;erve thee, and give thee for a Covenant of the People, to establi&s;h the Earth, to cau&s;e to inherit the de&s;olate Heritages. That thou mai&s;t &s;ay to the Pri&s;oners go forth; to them that are in dark|ne&s;s &s;hew your &s;elves, they &s;hall feed in the ways, and their pa&s;tures &s;hall be in all High-places.</HI></P>
<P>He pur&s;ues the &s;ame Notion, <HI>Chap.</HI> LV. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 3, 4. <HI>Incline your ear and come unto me, hear and your &s;oul &s;hall live; and I will make an everla&s;ting Cove|nant with you, the &s;ure mercies of</HI> David. <HI>Behold, I have given him for a Witne&s;s to the People, a Leader and Commander to the People.</HI> Than which, no|thing can be more particular.</P>
<P>And to the &s;ame purpo&s;e he &s;peaks, <HI>Chap.</HI> LXI.
<PB N="122" REF="218"><HI>ver&s;.</HI> 8, 9. <HI>For I the Lord love Judgment, I hate rob|bery for Burnt-offering, and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everla&s;ting Covenant with them. And their Seed &s;hall be known among the</HI> Gen|tiles, <HI>and their Off-&s;pring among the people; all that &s;ee them &s;hall acknowledge them, that they are the Seed which the Lord hath ble&s;&s;ed.</HI></P>
<P>It is as clear as the day, That God in the&s;e Oracles promi&s;eth an irrevocable Covenant, becau&s;e he calls it an <HI>Everla&s;ting Covenant</HI> in oppo&s;ition to the former. He takes notice al&s;o in the &s;ame Book, That the &s;aid Covenant was to be propounded in the mid&s;t of the Nations, and that then that Ble&s;|&s;ing of God &s;hould be known according to the ancient Oracles, which was promi&s;ed univer&s;ally to all Nations.</P>
<P>This is that which God more particularly ex|plains afterwards, by the voice and pen of a Pro|phet who was of the order of Prie&s;ts, thereby to prevent all &s;orts of Exceptions.</P>
<P><HI>Jeremiah</HI> in effect &s;peaks to the &s;ame pur|po&s;e, <HI>Chap.</HI> XXXI. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, and 36. <HI>Behold the days come, &s;aith the Lord, that I will make a new Covenant with the hou&s;e of</HI> I&s;rael, <HI>and with the hou&s;e of</HI> Judah: <HI>Not according to the Covenant that I made with their Fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the Land of</HI> Egypt <HI>(which my Covenant they brake, altho' I were a husband to them, &s;aith the Lord:) But this &s;hall be the Covenant that I will make with the hou&s;e of</HI> I&s;rael <HI>after tho&s;e days &s;aith the Lord; I will put my Law in their inward parts, and write it in their heart, and I will be their God, and they &s;hall be my people. And they &s;hall teach no more every man his Neighbour &s;aying, know the Lord;
<PB N="123" REF="218">for they &s;hall all know me from the least of them unto the greate&s;t of them, &s;aith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their Sin no more. Thus &s;aith the Lord which giveth the Sun for a light by day, and the Ordinances of the Moon and Stars for a light by night, which divideth the Sea when the waves thereof roar, the Lord of Hosts is his name. If tho&s;e Ordinances depart from before me, &s;aith the Lord, then the Seed of</HI> I&s;rael <HI>al&s;o &s;hall cea&s;e from being a Nation before me for ever.</HI></P>
<P>Nothing can be de&s;ired more particular than this Oracle; 1. It tells us that God would make a new Covenant with his People, which &s;uppo&s;es an aboli&s;hing of the former. 2. That this Covenant was not to be like the foregoing. 3. That the old Covenant had been made vain, and had been broken by tho&s;e with whom it was made. 4. That this Covenant was to be made <HI>after tho&s;e days,</HI> that is in the time of the Me&s;&s;iah. 5. That this new Covenant was not to be engraven in Tables of Stone, but in their Hearts. 6. That in the &s;ame Covenant full Remi&s;&s;ion of Sin is promi|&s;ed.</P>
<P>The &s;ame thing is al&s;o expre&s;&s;ed, <HI>Chap.</HI> XXXII. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 40. <HI>And I will make an everla&s;ting Covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, and they &s;hall not depart from me.</HI> And <HI>Chap.</HI> L. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 5. <HI>They &s;hall ask the way to</HI> Zion <HI>with their faces thi|therward, &s;aying, Come and let us joyn our &s;elves to the Lord in a perpetual Covenant, that &s;hall not be for|gotten.</HI></P>
<P>To this purpo&s;e al&s;o <HI>Ezechiel,</HI> who him&s;elf was a Prie&s;t, &s;peaks of a Religious Wor&s;hip extended
<PB N="124" REF="219">to all Nations, and of a new Covenant which God was to make with them, <HI>Chap.</HI> XVI. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 60, 61, 62. <HI>Neverthele&s;s I will remember my Covenant with thee, in the days of thy youth, and I will establi&s;h unto thee an everla&s;ting Covenant. Then thou &s;halt remember thy ways, and be a&s;hamed when thou &s;halt receive thy Si&s;ters, thy elder and thy younger, and I will give them unto thee for Daughters, but not by thy Covenant. And I will e&s;tabli&s;h my Covenant with thee, and thou &s;halt know that I am the Lord.</HI></P>
<P>Here is fir&s;t, a Covenant differing from the former. 2. A Covenant wherein other Nations were to be included, clearly intimated by the <HI>elder</HI> and <HI>younger Si&s;ters</HI> of the Synagogue. 3. A Covenant whereby the <HI>Gentiles</HI> were to enjoy the &s;ame Pri|viledges with the <HI>Jews,</HI> and be incorporated with them.</P>
<P><HI>Malachy</HI> follows the &s;teps of the&s;e Prophets, when he calls the Me&s;&s;iah <HI>the Angel of the Covenant,</HI> Chap. III. ver&s;. 1. <HI>Behold, I will &s;end my Me&s;&s;enger, and he &s;hall prepare the way before me: and the Lord whom ye &s;eek &s;hall &s;uddainly come to his Temple; even the Me&s;&s;enger (Angel) of the Covenant, whom ye delight in, behold he &s;hall come &s;aith the Lord of Ho&s;ts.</HI> I know very well that the <HI>Jews</HI> apply the&s;e words to <HI>E|lias,</HI> who&s;e Mini&s;try, as they pretend, was to con|&s;i&s;t in leading the <HI>Jews</HI> to Repentance. But if we read the Text with attention, we &s;hall find two Me&s;&s;engers mentioned; the fir&s;t who prepare the way of the Me&s;&s;iah; and the other is the Me&s;&s;iah him&s;elf, who is called <HI>the Angel of the Covenant,</HI> as being &s;ent of God to make a new Covenant with men.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="19" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="125" REF="219">
<HEAD>CHAP. XIX. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>That the</HI> Jews, <HI>by a dreadful effect of their blindne&s;s, were to reject the Me&s;&s;iah.</HI></HEAD>
<P>THis is a very peculiar Mark which will guide us &s;urely to the knowledge of the Me&s;&s;iah. We find the <HI>Jews</HI> at this day very ready to follow every one that u&s;urps that Augu&s;t Title, and to take him for the only true Me&s;&s;iah that was pro|mi&s;ed them; which is no other than what was infallibly to come to pa&s;s.</P>
<P>Neither will this much &s;urprize us, if we con&s;i|der, 1. That this People, on divers occa&s;ions, have given very &s;trange in&s;tances of a prodigious blind|ne&s;s: We &s;ee them reject <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> notwith&s;tanding God had authoriz'd his Call by great and avowed Miracles. Yea, we find them rejecting <HI>David</HI> al|&s;o, whom God had &s;o &s;ignally appointed to be their King, and the Father of the Me&s;&s;iah, of whom we hear the&s;e Prophecies.</P>
<P N="2">2. That God upbraids them with this blind|ne&s;s by his Prophets, as a &s;in to which they were peculiarly inclin'd; as appears from <HI>P&s;alm</HI> LXIX. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, and 28. <HI>Let their eyes be dark|ned that they &s;ee not, and make their Loins continually to &s;hake. Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them. Let their ha|bitation be de&s;olate, and let none dwell in their Tents: for they per&s;ecute him whom thou ha&s;t &s;mitten, and they talk to the grief of tho&s;e whom thou ha&s;t wounded.
<PB N="126" REF="220">Add iniquity to their iniquity; and let them not come into thy Righteou&s;ne&s;s. Let them be blotted out of the Book of the Living, and not be written with the Righ|teous.</HI></P>
<P>One &s;ee's the &s;ame thing in <HI>I&s;aiah,</HI> Chap. VI. ver&s;. 9, 10, 11, and 12. where the Spirit of God fore|tells that the <HI>Jews</HI> &s;hould &s;hut their eyes again&s;t the mo&s;t evident and convincing proofs imagina|ble. <HI>Go,</HI> &s;aith the Lord to the Prophet, <HI>and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but under&s;tand not, and &s;ee ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and their ears heavy, and &s;hut their eyes, le&s;t they &s;ee with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and under&s;tand with their heart and convert, and be healed. Then &s;aid I, Lord how long? And he an&s;wered, untill the Cities be wa&s;ted without inhabitant, and the hou|&s;es without man, and the Land be utterly de&s;olate: and the Lord have removed men far away, and there be a great for&s;aking in the mid&s;t of the Land.</HI></P>
<P>Nothing can be imagined more particular than this Oracle concerning the <HI>Jews</HI> re&s;i&s;ting the Prophet, which God expre&s;&s;es in terms very u&s;ual among&s;t the Prophets, as if <HI>I&s;aiah,</HI> who was on|ly the foreteller of their being hardned, &s;hould him&s;elf be the cau&s;e of it.</P>
<P>The Prophet <HI>Ho&s;eah</HI> de&s;cribes the very &s;ame Complaints of God again&s;t the <HI>Jews</HI> for their blindne&s;s and ignorance, for which he denounces their de&s;truction. <HI>Ho&s;.</HI> IV. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. <HI>Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of</HI> I&s;rael, <HI>for the Lord has a controver&s;ie with the inhabitants of the Land, becau&s;e there is no truth, nor mercy, nor know|ledge of God in the Land. By &s;wearing, and lying, and killing, and &s;tealing, and committing adultery, they
<PB N="127" REF="220">break out, and blood toucheth blood. Therefore &s;hall the Land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein &s;hall langui&s;h, with the Bea&s;ts of the Field, and with the Fowls of Heaven, yea the Fi&s;hes of the Sea al&s;o &s;hall be taken away. Yet let no man strive or reprove another; for thy people are as they that strive with the Prie&s;t. Therefore &s;halt thou fall in the day, and the Prophet al&s;o &s;hall fall with thee in the night, and I will de&s;troy thy Mother. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; becau&s;e thou ha&s;t rejected knowledge I will al&s;o reject thee, that thou &s;halt be no Prie&s;t to me; &s;eeing thou ha&s;t forgotten the Law of thy God, I will al|&s;o forget thy children.</HI></P>
<P>The Prophet <HI>Jeremy</HI> &s;peaks to the &s;ame pur|po&s;e, <HI>Chap.</HI> V. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 21, 22, and 23. <HI>Hear now this O fooli&s;h people, and without understanding, which have eyes and &s;ee not, which have ears and hear not. Fear ye not me &s;aith the Lord? Will ye not tremble at my pre&s;ence, who have placed the Sand for the bound of the Sea, by a perpetual decree that it cannot pa&s;s it, and tho' the waves thereof to&s;s them&s;elves, yet can they not prevail; tho' they roar, yet can they not pa&s;s over it? But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.</HI> And he reiterates the &s;ame, <HI>Chap.</HI> VIII. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 7. <HI>The stork in the Heavens knoweth her appointed times; and the Turtle and the Crane and the Swallow, ob&s;erve the time of their coming: but my people know not the Judgment of the Lord.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Ezechiel</HI> pro&s;ecutes the &s;ame matter, <HI>Chap.</HI> II. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 5, and 8. calling the <HI>Jews</HI> a Rebellious Hou&s;e. And <HI>Chap.</HI> XII. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 1, and 2. he &s;aith, <HI>The word of the Lord came unto me &s;aying, Son of Man thou dwellest in the mid&s;t of a rebellious Hou&s;e, who have
<PB N="128" REF="221">eyes to &s;ee, and &s;ee not, they have ears to hear, and hear not, for they are a rebellious Hou&s;e.</HI></P>
<P>Neither do the Prophets only repre&s;ent to us in general the blindne&s;s of the <HI>Jews</HI> upon &s;everal occa&s;ions, but they al&s;o very particularly inform us, that he who was the mo&s;t con&s;iderable per&s;on of their State, and the great Mini&s;ter of God, &s;hould be notwith&s;tanding rejected by them.</P>
<P>And here, fir&s;t, It is worth our noting that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> threatens the wor&s;t of Calamities to tho&s;e who &s;hould refu&s;e to hear the great Prophet, like unto him whom God was to rai&s;e to his People, <HI>Deut.</HI> XVIII. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 18.</P>
<P>Secondly, <HI>David, P&s;alm</HI> CXVIII. <HI>v.</HI> 22. expre&s;|&s;es this in the&s;e words, <HI>The Stone which the Builders refu&s;ed is become the Head of the Corner.</HI> From which words it is evident, 1. That the Me&s;&s;iah was to be rejected. 2. That he was to be rejected by tho&s;e who were intru&s;ted with the care of build|ing the Hou&s;e. 3. That this was to be before he &s;hould be acknowledged the great Mini&s;ter of Heaven.</P>
<P>God &s;peaks the &s;ame thing by <HI>I&s;aiah, Chap.</HI> XXVIII. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 6. <HI>Behold, I lay in</HI> Zion <HI>for a foun|dation a &s;tone, a tried &s;tone, a precious corner &s;tone, a &s;ure foundation, he that believeth &s;hall not make ha&s;te.</HI> Which place is to be under&s;tood of the Me&s;&s;iah by the Confe&s;&s;ion of the <HI>Jews</HI> them|&s;elves.</P>
<P><HI>Daniel</HI> follows the &s;ame Notion, <HI>Chap.</HI> II. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 34, 35. <HI>Thou &s;awe&s;t till a &s;tone was cut out without hands, which &s;mote the Image upon his feet, and brake them to pieces: and the &s;tone became a great Mountain, and filled the Earth.</HI></P>
<PB N="129" REF="221">
<P>On all which Prophecies we may make the&s;e Remarks; 1. That Je&s;us Chri&s;t quotes mo&s;t of them, as &s;uch which by the <HI>Jews</HI> them&s;elves were owned to refer to the Me&s;&s;iah. Thus <HI>Matt.</HI> XXI. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 42. he &s;aith, <HI>Did ye never read in the Scrip|tures, the Stone which the Builders rejected, the &s;ame is become the Head of the Corner.</HI> And St. <HI>Peter, Acts</HI> IV. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 11. <HI>This is the &s;tone which was &s;et at nought by you builders, which is become the head of the cor|ner.</HI> St. <HI>Paul</HI> makes the &s;ame allu&s;ion, <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> II. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 20. <HI>And are built on the foundation of the A|postles and Prophets, Je&s;us Chri&s;t him&s;elf being the chief corner &s;tone.</HI> And I <HI>Cor.</HI> III. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 11. <HI>For other foundation can no man lay, than that is laid, which is Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI> And when Je&s;us Chri&s;t him&s;elf &s;aith to <HI>Peter, Matth.</HI> XVI. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 18. <HI>Thou art</HI> Peter, <HI>and upon this Rock I will build my Church,</HI> &amp;c. He al|ludes to that of <HI>Daniel; Then was the Iron, the Clay, the Bra&s;s, the Silver, and the Gold broken to pieces to|gether, and became like the Chaff of the Summer thre&s;hing floors, and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the</HI> Stone <HI>which &s;mote the Image became a great Mountain, and filled the whole Earth.</HI></P>
<P>Our Saviour applyes al&s;o to the <HI>Jews</HI> tho&s;e Pro|phecies which foretel their being offended at the Mini&s;ters of Heaven, in particular that of <HI>I&s;aiah, Chap.</HI> VI. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 9. <HI>Go and tell this people, hear ye in|deed, but under&s;tand not, and &s;ee ye indeed, but per|ceive not.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. We may ob&s;erve that the <HI>Jews</HI> of old ap|plyed tho&s;e Prophecies (as the Apo&s;tles did) to the hardning of their own Nation, as appears from that of St. <HI>Paul, Rom.</HI> X. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 21. <HI>But to</HI> I&s;rael
<PB N="130" REF="222"><HI>he &s;aith, all the day long I have &s;tretched forth my hand unto a di&s;obedient and gain-&s;aying people.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. We mu&s;t take notice, That the &s;ame tem|per which was in the ancient <HI>Jews,</HI> who rejected the Prophets, was found in tho&s;e who lived at the time of our Saviour; and for this we need only to read the de&s;cription which <HI>Jo&s;ephus de Bello Judaico, Lib.</HI> VII. <HI>cap.</HI> 3. gives of them, where he compares them with the <HI>Sodomites,</HI> which is the Compari&s;on <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> makes <HI>Chap.</HI> I. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 10.</P>
<P>And la&s;t of all we may take notice, That <HI>Jo&s;e|phus</HI> acknowledges that this Blindne&s;s of the <HI>Jews</HI> was the cau&s;e of the final de&s;truction of <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> which was to &s;ucceed the Death of the Me&s;&s;iah, according to the expre&s;s Oracle of <HI>Daniel, Chap.</HI> IX. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 26.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="20" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XX.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">That the Me&s;&s;iah was to dye; and an Account of the &s;everal Circum&s;tances of his Death.</HEAD>
<P>TO be convinced of this Truth, we need only prove that what is &s;et down in <HI>P&s;alm</HI> XXII. <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> LIII. <HI>Daniel</HI> IX. and <HI>Zachariah</HI> XIII. and other prophetical pa&s;&s;ages of Holy Scripture, is to be under&s;tood of the Me&s;&s;iah; and the reading of them alone is &s;ufficient to &s;atisfie the meane&s;t
<PB N="131" REF="222">Capacity, that the per&s;on they point at was to lo&s;e his life by violence, with &s;everal very in|famous Circum&s;tances.</P>
<P>Now it is certain that both ancient and modern <HI>Jews</HI> interpret the&s;e places of the Me&s;&s;iah; and it is as evident that the Apo&s;tles under&s;tood them &s;o; and therefore all along applyed them to Je&s;us Chri&s;t, following therein the known explications of the Rabbies of their own Nation.</P>
<P>It is plain al&s;o, That the Death and Suffering of our Saviour would have prov'd a more efficaci ous Argument to refute the Apo&s;tles, than all the Miracles of Je&s;us Chri&s;t could have been to e&s;ta|bli&s;h their Doctrine, if the Prophetical Writings had not &s;o preci&s;ely determined his Sufferings and Death, with the &s;everal Circum&s;tances of them.</P>
<P>It is al&s;o to be noted, That the Prophecies re|ferring to the Death of the Me&s;&s;iah, are general|ly interwoven with Idea's which point to other Prophetical pa&s;&s;ages avowedly owned by the <HI>Jews</HI> to have Relation to the Me&s;&s;iah. Thus if we compare <HI>P&s;alm</HI> XXII. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 28. with <HI>P&s;alm</HI> LXXII. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 8, 9. we &s;hall find the &s;ame Idea &s;et forth in them both.</P>
<P>And becau&s;e this Character was to be the mo&s;t proper and di&s;tingui&s;hing note of the Me&s;|&s;iah, fora&s;much as none with plea&s;ure do preci|pitate them&s;elves into Death, or are Ma&s;ters of the Manner and Circum&s;tances of it, therefore God cau&s;ed the &s;ame to be expre&s;&s;ed by the Pro|phets with the greate&s;t plainne&s;s and exactne&s;s po&s;|&s;ible.</P>
<P>It can't be denied but that &s;ome of the Pro|phets
<PB N="132" REF="223">have been very cruelly per&s;ecuted, and that &s;ome of them have died in the mid&s;t of Tor|ments: But concerning the Death of Chri&s;t, we have many more particulars, <HI>viz.</HI></P>
<P N="1">1. That he was to be for&s;aken by his own Friends, <HI>P&s;alm</HI> XXII. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 11. <HI>Be not far from me for trouble is near; for there is none to help.</HI> And <HI>P&s;alm</HI> LXIX. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 11. <HI>I made Sackcloth al&s;o my Garment, and I became a Proverb to them.</HI> And <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 20. <HI>Reproach has broken my heart, and I am full of heavine&s;s; and I looked for &s;ome to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. That he was to be expo&s;ed to all manner of reproachful u&s;age. <HI>P&s;alm</HI> XXII. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 6, 7, and 8. <HI>But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and de&s;pi&s;ed of the people. All they that &s;ee me laugh me to &s;corn: they &s;hoot out the lip, they &s;hake the head, &s;aying, he trusted in the Lord that he would deliver him; let him deliver him, &s;eeing he de|lighted in him.</HI> And <HI>P&s;alm</HI> LXIX. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 1, 2, 3, 4. <HI>Save me, O God, for the waters are come in unto my Soul. I &s;ink in deep mire, where there is no &s;tanding; I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. I am weary of my crying, my throat is dried, mine eyes fail while I wait for my God. They that hate me without cau&s;e are more than the hairs of my head, they that would de&s;troy me, being my Enemies wrongfully, are mighty.</HI></P>
<P>The &s;ame is repre&s;ented to us <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> LIII. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 4, 5. <HI>Surely he hath born our griefs and carried our &s;orrows; yet we did e&s;teem him &s;tricken, &s;mitten of God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our tran&s;|gre&s;&s;ions, he was brai&s;ed for our iniquities: the cha|&s;ti&s;ement
<PB N="133" REF="223">of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed.</HI></P>
<P>They take notice that he &s;hould be beaten and abu&s;ed, as appears from <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> LIII. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. <HI>He is de&s;pi&s;ed and rejected of men, a man of &s;or|rows and acquainted with grief, and we hid, as it were our faces from him; he was de&s;pi&s;ed, and we e&s;teemed him not. Surely he hath born our grifs, he was wounded for our tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was op|pre&s;&s;ed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; he is brought as a Lamb to the &s;laughter, and as a &s;heep before her &s;hearer, is dumb, &s;o he openeth not his mouth. He was cut off from the Land of the Living, for the tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion of my people was he stricken.</HI></P>
<P N="4">4. They declare that he &s;hould be &s;old. <HI>Zach.</HI> II. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 12, and 13. <HI>And I &s;aid unto them, if ye think good, give me my price, and if not forbear: &s;o they weighed for my price thirty pieces of &s;ilver. And the Lord &s;aid unto me, ca&s;t it unto the potter; a goodly price that I was prized at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of &s;ilver and ca&s;t them to the potter, in the Hou&s;e of the Lord.</HI></P>
<P N="5">5. They make mention of his being condem|ned by the <HI>Jews</HI> and Heathens. <HI>P&s;alm</HI> II. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 2. <HI>The Kings of the Earth &s;et them&s;elves, and the Rulers take coun&s;el together, again&s;t the Lord and again&s;t his Anointed.</HI> And <HI>P&s;alm</HI> XXII. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 16. <HI>For Dogs have compa&s;&s;ed me, the A&s;&s;embly of the wicked have inclo&s;ed me; they pierced my hands and my feet.</HI> And <HI>P&s;alm</HI> LXIX. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 12. <HI>They that &s;it in the Gate &s;peak again&s;t me, and I was the Song of the Drunkards.</HI> And <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> LIII. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 8. <HI>He was taken from Pri&s;on
<PB N="134" REF="224">and from Judgment, and who &s;hall declare his Gene|ration; for he was cut off from the Land of the Li|ving, for the tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion of my people was he &s;tricken.</HI></P>
<P N="6">6. They &s;pecifie his Death on the Cro&s;s. <HI>P&s;alm</HI> XXII. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 16. <HI>They pierced my hands and my feet.</HI> And <HI>Zach.</HI> XII. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 10. <HI>And they &s;hall look upon me whom they have pierced.</HI></P>
<P N="7">7. They intimate his dying between Thieves. <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> LIII. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 12. <HI>Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he &s;hall divide the &s;poil with the &s;trong; becau&s;e he has poured out his Soul unto Death, and was numbred with Tran&s;gre&s;|&s;ors.</HI></P>
<P N="8">8. They take notice of his being mocked be|fore his Death. <HI>P&s;alm</HI> XXII. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 6, 7, 8. <HI>But I am a worm and no man, a reproach of men, and de&s;pi&s;ed of the people. All they that &s;ee me laugh me to &s;corn, they &s;hoot out the lip, they &s;hake the head,</HI> &amp;c. And <HI>P&s;alm</HI> LXIX. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 17, 18, 19. <HI>Hide not thy face from thy &s;ervant, for I am in trouble, hear me &s;peedily. Draw night unto my &s;oul, and redeem it: deliver me becau&s;e of mine Enemies. Thou hast known my reproach, my &s;hame, and my di&s;honour: mine Adver&s;aries are all before thee.</HI></P>
<P N="9">9. That they who put him to death &s;hould di|vide his Garments. <HI>P&s;alm</HI> XXII. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 18. <HI>They part my Garments among&s;t them, and ca&s;t lots upon my Vesture.</HI></P>
<P N="10">10. That the Me&s;&s;iah &s;hould complain that God had for&s;aken him in the hands of his Ene|mies. <HI>P&s;alm</HI> XXII. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 1, 2. <HI>My God, my God, why ha&s;t thou for&s;aken me? why art thou &s;o far from help|ing me, and from the words of my roaring. O my
<PB N="135" REF="224">God, I cry in the day time, and thou heare&s;t not; and in the night &s;ea&s;on am not &s;ilent.</HI></P>
<P N="11">11. That they would give him Vinegar and Gall to drink. <HI>P&s;alm</HI> LXIX. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 21. <HI>They gave me al&s;o Gall for my meat, and in my thir&s;t they gave me Vinegar to drink.</HI></P>
<P N="12">12. They &s;et before our eyes the manner of his death on the Cro&s;s. <HI>P&s;alm</HI> XXII. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 14, 15, 16, 17. <HI>I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax, it is melted in the mid&s;t of my bowels. My &s;trength is dried up like a pot&s;herd, and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou ha&s;t brought me into the du&s;t of death. For Dogs have compa&s;&s;ed me, the A&s;&s;embly of the wicked have enclo&s;ed me; they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones, they look and &s;tare upon me.</HI> And <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> LIII. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 7, 8, 9.</P>
<P N="13">13. That not one of his Bones &s;hould be bro|ken. <HI>P&s;alm</HI> XXXIV. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 20. <HI>He keepeth all his bones, not one of them is broken.</HI></P>
<P N="14">14. That he was to be buried in the Sepulchre of a rich man. <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> LIII. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 9. <HI>He made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, becau&s;e he had done no violence, neither was deceit found in his mouth.</HI></P>
<P>We may make the&s;e following Reflexions on the foregoing Oracles.</P>
<P N="1">1. That here are many very different Events and Circum&s;tances, all meeting in the &s;ame end.</P>
<P N="2">2. That many of the&s;e Pa&s;&s;ages that might be que&s;tioned whether they were particularly appli|cable to the Me&s;&s;iah, are joyned with &s;uch hints, as can no way agree with the Prophet; that utter|ed them. Thus we find that in the XXII <HI>P&s;alm,</HI>
<PB N="136" REF="225">there are many Expre&s;&s;ions which cannot be ap|plyed to <HI>David.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. That mo&s;t of the&s;e Prophecies are avowedly attributed to the Me&s;&s;iah by the mo&s;t ancient Authors of the Synagogue. And the modern <HI>Jews</HI> them&s;elves refer them to &s;ome that &s;uffer'd a violent Death, as to Rabbi <HI>Akiba,</HI> who died in the &s;econd Century.</P>
<P N="4">4. That the Apo&s;tles unanimou&s;ly applyed them to Je&s;us Chri&s;t, the true Me&s;&s;iah, follow|ing therein the general con&s;ent of their Na|tion.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="21" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XXI.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">That the Me&s;&s;iah was &s;oon after to ri&s;e a|gain.</HEAD>
<P>FOra&s;much as Death entred into the World by Sin, and that the Me&s;&s;iah was to take it away, we may ea&s;ily conceive, That if the Me&s;&s;iah were according to the Divine di&s;po&s;al, to &s;ubmit to Death, that he could not long continue &s;ubject to it. He who was to re&s;tore life to tho&s;e who were dead, could never be confin'd and impri&s;on'd in a Grave: and he who was &s;uperiour to <HI>Enoch</HI> and <HI>Elias,</HI> who a&s;cended into Heaven, becau&s;e he a|lone was exalted to the right hand of God, to reign there for ever, as the Prophecies concern|ing him a&s;&s;ure us, ought certainly to leave his Sepulchre by a glorious Re&s;urrection.</P>
<PB N="137" REF="225">
<P>And this we are po&s;itively a&s;&s;ured of by the an|cient Oracles. <HI>P&s;alm</HI> XVI. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 10, 11. <HI>Thou wilt not leave my &s;oul in Hell; neither wilt thou &s;uffer thine holy One to &s;ee corruption. Thou wilt &s;hew me the path of life; in thy pre&s;ence is fulne&s;s of joy, at thy right hand there are plea&s;ures for evermore.</HI> And to a&s;&s;ure us that the&s;e and the like pa&s;&s;ages are applicable to none but the Me&s;&s;iah, we find in the &s;ame <HI>P&s;alms</HI> expre&s;&s;ions too high to be applyed to the Authors them&s;elves: As for example, <HI>P&s;alm.</HI> XXX. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 1, 2, 3. <HI>I will extol thee, O Lord, for thou ha&s;t lifted me up, and ha&s;t not made my foes to rejoyce over me. O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and thou ha&s;t healed me. O Lord thou ha&s;t brought up my &s;oul from the Grave, thou ha&s;t kept me alive that I &s;hould not go down to the pit.</HI> And <HI>P&s;alm</HI> XLI. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 8, 9, 10. <HI>An evil di&s;ea&s;e, &s;ay they, cleaveth fast unto him, and now that he lieth, he &s;hall ri&s;e up no more. Yea, mine own familiar Friend in whom I tru&s;ted, which did eat of my bread, hath lift up his heel again&s;t me. But thou, O Lord, be merciful unto me, and rai&s;e me up, that I may requite them.</HI> And <HI>P&s;alm</HI> XLIX. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 15. <HI>But God will redeem my &s;oul from the power of the Grave, for he &s;hall receive me.</HI> P&s;alm LVI. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 11, 12, 13. <HI>In God have I put my tru&s;t, I will not be afraid what man can do unto me. Thy Vows are upon me, O God, I will render prai&s;e unto thee. For thou ha&s;t delivered my &s;oul from death,</HI> &amp;c. P&s;alm LXXII. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 20. <HI>Thou who ha&s;t &s;hewed me great and &s;ore troubles, &s;halt quicken me again, and &s;hall bring me up again from the depths of the Earth.</HI> P&s;alm CXLIII. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 11, 12. <HI>Quicken me, O Lord, for thy names &s;ake, for thy righ|teou&s;ne&s;s &s;ake bring my &s;oul out of trouble: and of thy mercy cut off mine Enemies, and de&s;troy all them
<PB N="138" REF="226">that afflict my &s;oul, for I am thy Servant.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Ho&s;ea</HI> &s;peaks to the &s;ame purpo&s;e <HI>Chap.</HI> XIII. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 14. <HI>I will ran&s;om them from the power of the Grave, I will redeem them from death. O Death, I will be thy plagues; O Grave, I will be thy de&s;tructi|on: Repentance &s;hall be hid from mine eyes.</HI></P>
<P><HI>I&s;aiah</HI> expre&s;&s;es the very &s;ame thing <HI>Chap.</HI> XXV. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 8. <HI>He will &s;wallow up death in victory, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people &s;hall he take from off all the Earth; for the Lord hath &s;poken it.</HI> And yet more expre&s;ly <HI>Chap.</HI> LIII. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 10, and 11. <HI>Yet it plea&s;ed the Lord to brui&s;e him, he hath put him to grief; when thou &s;halt make his &s;oul an offering for &s;in, he &s;hall &s;ee his Seed, he &s;hall prolong his days, and the plea&s;ure of the Lord &s;hall pro&s;per in his hand. He &s;hall &s;ee of the travel of his &s;oul, and &s;hall be &s;atisfied: by his know|ledge &s;hall my righteous &s;ervant justifie many; for he &s;hall bear their iniquities.</HI></P>
<P>For the better under&s;tanding of which pa&s;&s;a|ges, we are to ob&s;erve, 1. That the Me&s;&s;iah in many or mo&s;t of them, compri&s;eth all Believers with him&s;elf, according to that Maxim of the <HI>Jews,</HI> who attribute to the Me&s;&s;iah the greate&s;t of all the Prophets, what&s;oever God vouch&s;afed to any one of the Prophets; and according to this Principle Je&s;us Chri&s;t &s;peaks <HI>Matth.</HI> XII. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 39, 40. <HI>An evil and adulterous Generation &s;eeketh after a &s;ign, and there &s;hall no &s;ign be given to it, but the &s;ign of the Prophet</HI> Jonah. <HI>For as</HI> Jonah <HI>was three days and three nights in the Whales belly, &s;o &s;hall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the Earth.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. That upon this account the Me&s;&s;iah is repre|&s;ented to us, not as ri&s;ing again alone, but as ma|king
<PB N="139" REF="226">all his Brethren partakers of the &s;ame glory; which makes the Prophets &s;peak of him, not as a &s;ingle per&s;on, but in common with others, who by him are made po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ors of the &s;ame advantages.</P>
<P N="3">3. That mo&s;t of the&s;e Texts were quoted by the Apo&s;tles, who in &s;o doing followed the &s;en&s;e of the whole Nation, as appears from <HI>Acts</HI> II. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, and 29. <HI>Whom God hath rai&s;ed, having loo&s;ed the pains of death: becau&s;e it was not po&s;&s;ible that he &s;hould be holden of it. For</HI> David <HI>&s;peaketh concerning him; I fore&s;aw the Lord always before my face, for he is at my right hand that I &s;hould not be moved. Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad: moreover al&s;o my fle&s;h &s;hall re&s;t in hope: becau&s;e thou wilt not leave my &s;oul in Hell, nei|ther wilt thou &s;uffer thy holy One to &s;ee Corruption. Thou ha&s;t made known to me the ways of life: thou &s;halt make me full of joy with thy Countenance. Men and Brethren, let me freely &s;peak unto you of the Patri|arch</HI> David, <HI>that he is both dead and buried, and his Sepulchre is with us unto this day.</HI> And <HI>Acts</HI> XIII. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, and 37. <HI>But God rai|&s;ed him from the dead. And he was &s;een many days of them which came up with him from</HI> Galilee <HI>to</HI> Jeru|&s;alem, <HI>who are his witne&s;&s;es unto the people. And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the Promi&s;e which was made unto the Fathers, God hath fulfilled the &s;ame unto us their Children, in that he hath rai&s;ed up Je&s;us again, as it is al&s;o written in the &s;econd</HI> P&s;alm, <HI>Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. And as concerning that he rai&s;ed him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he &s;aid on this wi&s;e, I will give you the &s;ure mercies of</HI> David. <HI>Wherefore he &s;aith al&s;o in another</HI> P&s;alm, <HI>Thou &s;halt not &s;uffer thine
<PB N="140" REF="227">holy One to &s;ee corruption. For</HI> David, <HI>after he had &s;erved his own Generation, by the will of God fell a|&s;leep, and was gathered to his Fathers, and &s;aw corrup|tion. But he whom God rai&s;ed again &s;aw no corrup|tion.</HI></P>
<P>In like manner we find St. <HI>Paul</HI> alluding to that of <HI>Ho&s;ea</HI> XIII. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 14. in I <HI>Cor.</HI> XV. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 55. <HI>O Death where is thy &s;ting? O Grave, where is thy victory?</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="22" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XXII. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>That the Me&s;&s;iah was to a&s;cend into Heaven, and &s;end down from thence the miraculous Gifts of Prophecy, Languages,</HI> &amp;c.</HEAD>
<P>THis was a thing which might rationally e|nough be expected;
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut. XVIII. 18.</NOTE> for the Me&s;&s;iah being to re&s;emble <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> who had not only the Gifts of the Holy Spirit him&s;elf, but al&s;o in a manner com|municated the &s;ame to the Heads of the Congre|gation of <HI>I&s;rael:</HI> it was rea&s;onable to infer, That the Me&s;&s;iah was to receive much more eminent Gifts, and to communicate them to far greater numbers.</P>
<P>But be&s;ides this, God had expre&s;ly promi&s;ed it by <HI>David,</HI> P&s;alm CX. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 1, 2. where he repre|&s;ents the Me&s;&s;iah &s;itting at the right hand of God. <HI>The Lord &s;aid unto my Lord, &s;it thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy foot&s;tool. The Lord &s;hall &s;end the Rod of thy &s;trength out of</HI> Zion: <HI>Rule thou in the mid&s;t of thine Enemies.</HI></P>
<PB N="141" REF="227">
<P>It is worth our noting, that <HI>Daniel</HI> repre&s;ents to us the &s;ame Notion where he &s;peaks of the Kingdom of the Me&s;&s;iah, <HI>Chap.</HI> VII. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 13, 14. <HI>I &s;aw in the night vi&s;ions, and behold one like the Son of Man, came with the Clouds of Heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him Dominion and Glory, and a Kingdom, that all People, Nations and Languages &s;hould &s;erve him: his Dominion is an everlasting Do|minion, which &s;hall not pa&s;s away, and his Kingdom that which &s;hall not be de&s;troyed.</HI> Where doth God dwell, unle&s;s in Heaven?</P>
<P><HI>David</HI> expre&s;&s;es him&s;elf in term; which import &s;omething too great to be applyed to the Symbo|lical Ark of the Covenant, <HI>P&s;alm</HI> XXIV. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 7, 8, 9. <HI>Lift up your heads, O ye Gates, and be ye lift up ye everla&s;ting Doors, and the King of Glory &s;hall come in. Who is this King of Glory? the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in Battel,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>He &s;peaks further of the glorious Kingdom of the Me&s;&s;iah, <HI>P&s;alm</HI> XLV. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 5, 6, 7. <HI>Thine arrows are &s;harp in the heart of the Kings enemies; whereby the people fall under thee. Thy Throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the Scepter of thy Kingdom is a right Scepter. Thou love&s;t righteou&s;ne&s;s and hate&s;t wicked|ne&s;s, therefore God thy God hath anointed thee with the oyl of Gladne&s;s above thy fellows.</HI> 'Tis evident that <HI>David</HI> addre&s;&s;es him&s;elf there to the Me&s;&s;iah, be|cau&s;e he &s;tiles him a God anointed above his Fel|lows. And he pur&s;ues the &s;ame Idea, <HI>P&s;alm</HI> LXVIII. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 18. <HI>Thou ha&s;t a&s;cended on high, thou ha&s;t led captivity captive; thou ha&s;t received gifts for men, yea for the rebellious al&s;o; that the Lord God might dwell among&s;t them.</HI> Nothing can be ima|gined
<PB N="142" REF="228">more expre&s;s than the&s;e words, which live|ly repre&s;ent to us the A&s;cen&s;ion of the Me&s;&s;iah, and the pouring forth of Prophetical Gifts, to bring the Heathens to the Service of God.</P>
<P><HI>I&s;aiah</HI> &s;peaks the &s;ame <HI>Chap.</HI> XLIV. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 3. <HI>For I will pour water upon him that is thir&s;ty, and floods up|on the dry ground: I will pour my Spirit upon thy Seed, and my Ble&s;&s;ing upon thine Off-&s;pring.</HI> The waters here &s;poken of, according to the ordinary &s;tile of the Prophets, are nothing el&s;e but the Graces of God's Spirit.</P>
<P><HI>Joel</HI> expre&s;&s;es him&s;elf very plainly in this mat|ter, <HI>Chap.</HI> II. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 28, 29, 30, 31, 32. <HI>And it &s;hall come to pa&s;s afterward, that I will pour out of my Spirit upon all fle&s;h, and your &s;ons and your daughters &s;hall prophe&s;ie, your old men &s;hall dream dreams, your young men &s;hall &s;ee vi&s;ions. And al&s;o upon the &s;ervants, and upon the handmaids in tho&s;e days will I pour out my Spirit. And I will &s;hew wonders in the Heavens and in the Earth, blood and fire and pillars of &s;moke. The Sun &s;hall be turned into darkne&s;s, and the Moon into blood, before the great and terrible Day of the Lord come. And it &s;hall come to pa&s;s that who&s;oever &s;hall call on the Name of the Lord &s;hall be delivered: for in Mount</HI> Zion, <HI>and in</HI> Jeru&s;alem, <HI>&s;hall be deliverance, as the Lord hath &s;aid, and in the remnant whom the Lord &s;hall call.</HI></P>
<P>Nothing can be conceived more particular than this Oracle, concerning the effu&s;ion of the Pro|phetical Gifts upon the Servants of the Me&s;&s;iah, af|ter his A&s;cen&s;ion. For 1. he clearly hints at the &s;everal ways of Prophecy, which &s;hall be be&s;towed upon the Subjects of the Me&s;&s;iah. 2. That this great Event was to be before the De&s;truction of
<PB N="143" REF="228"><HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> which St. <HI>Peter</HI> foretels as a thing at the Door, <HI>Acts</HI> II. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 30, 31, 32. after he had &s;hew|ed that the wonderful effu&s;ion of the Spirit at Pen|teco&s;t, was a litteral accompli&s;hing of the Prophe|cy of <HI>Joel,</HI> he adds, <HI>Therefore being a Prophet, and knowing that God had &s;worn with an Oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the fle&s;h, he would rai&s;e up Chri&s;t to &s;it on his Throne: he &s;eeing this be|fore, &s;pake of the Re&s;urrection of Christ, that his Soul was not left in Hell, neither his Fle&s;h did &s;ee Corruption. This Je&s;us has God rai&s;ed up, whereof we all are wit|ne&s;&s;es.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Ezechiel</HI> goes on with the &s;ame views with <HI>Joel, Chap.</HI> XXXVI. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 26, and 27. <HI>A new heart al&s;o will I give you, and a new &s;pirit will I put within you; and I will take away the &s;tony heart out of your fle&s;h, and I will give you an heart of fle&s;h. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cau&s;e you to walk in my Statutes, and ye &s;hall keep my Judgments and do them.</HI> And <HI>Chap.</HI> XXXIX. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 29. <HI>Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my Spirit upon the Hou&s;e of</HI> I&s;rael, <HI>&s;aith the Lord God.</HI></P>
<P>And <HI>Zachariah</HI> agrees with both the foregoing Prophets, <HI>Chap.</HI> XII. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 10. <HI>And I will pour up|on the Hou&s;e of</HI> David, <HI>and upon the Inhabitants of</HI> Jeru&s;alem, <HI>the Spirit of Grace and of Supplications; and they &s;hall look upon him whom they have pierced, and they &s;hall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only Son, and &s;hall be in bitterne&s;s for him, as one that is in bitterne&s;s for his Fir&s;t-born.</HI></P>
<P>'Tis obvious to make the&s;e following Ob&s;erva|tions upon the&s;e Oracles.</P>
<P N="1">1. That the Me&s;&s;iah was to be rai&s;ed above
<PB N="144" REF="229">the reach of any of his Enemies</P>
<P N="2">2. That he was to a&s;cend to Heaven, and to be in&s;tated there in Glory, in order to his being dignified and glorified above all Nations.</P>
<P N="3">3. That he was from thence to &s;end down Pro|phetical Graces plentifully, which made his en|trance into Heaven a kind of Triumph.</P>
<P N="4">4. That this great Event was to precede the de&s;truction of <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> to which the Prophet <HI>Joel</HI> in the fore-cited place &s;eems to allude. The Me&s;&s;iah was to form a new Society, which was to be regulated, not by the Laws given on Mount <HI>Sinai,</HI> but by tho&s;e which were to be publi&s;hed from Mount <HI>Zion.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="23" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XXIII.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">That the Gentiles in the time of the Me&s;&s;iah were to be called to the Knowledge of the true God,</HEAD>
<P>THis Article being one of the mo&s;t important and mo&s;t vi&s;ible Characters of the Times of the Me&s;&s;iah, and al&s;o the great effect of his Mi|ni&s;try, we &s;ee that God had a particular care to divulge the &s;ame by a multitude of Prophetical Repre&s;entations of it.</P>
<P>For not only had he declared that the <HI>Seed of the Woman &s;hould brui&s;e the Serpents head;</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. III. 15.</NOTE> that is, the Works of the Devil. And we can't deny, but that
<PB N="145" REF="229">the Errors and Idolatries of the <HI>Gentiles,</HI> and their Vices which ari&s;e from thence, were the Fruits of Sin, which this unhappy Spirit brought into the World. It was not only foretold that God would <HI>per&s;wade</HI> Japhet <HI>to dwell in the Tents of</HI> Sem,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. IX. 27.</NOTE> by u|niting the Po&s;terities of both tho&s;e Patriarchs in one and the &s;ame Religion. Not only had he &s;ig|nified that the Me&s;&s;iah &s;hould reign over the Children of <HI>Seth,</HI> that is over all the Po&s;terity of <HI>Noah,</HI> the Off-&s;pring of <HI>Cham</HI> not excepted. Not only had he foretold that all Nations, Kindreds,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. XII. &amp; Ch. XVIII. &amp; XXII.</NOTE> and Families &s;hould be ble&s;&s;ed in the Me&s;&s;iah.</P>
<P>But God went much further afterwards, for as the Light of the Revelation encrea&s;ed, &s;o the &s;ame was declared more di&s;tinctly. For,</P>
<P N="1">1. The Patriarch <HI>Jacob</HI> tells that the Me&s;&s;i|ah &s;hould be the de&s;ire and expectation of all Na|tions. <HI>Gen.</HI> XLIX. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 10. <HI>The Scepter &s;hall not de|part from</HI> Judah, <HI>nor a Law-giver from between his feet, until</HI> Shiloh <HI>come; and unto him &s;hall the ga|thering of the people be.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> threatens the <HI>Jews,</HI> that if they de|&s;pi&s;ed the Law of God, Strangers, that is <HI>Gentiles,</HI> &s;hould be preferred before them. <HI>Deut.</HI> XXVIII. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 43. <HI>The Stranger that is within thee &s;hall get up above thee very high; and thou &s;halt come down very low.</HI> The &s;ame Prophet menaceth them from God, that he would &s;tir up their jealou&s;ie, by cal|ling a fooli&s;h people to his Service and Wor&s;hip. <HI>Deut.</HI> XXXII. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 21. <HI>They have moved me to jea|lou&s;ie with that which is not God, they have provoked me to anger with their vanities, and I will move them to jealou&s;ie with tho&s;e which are not a people, I will provoke them to anger with a fooli&s;h Nation.</HI> No|thing
<PB N="146" REF="230">can be &s;aid more expre&s;s and particular than the&s;e la&s;t words of that great Law giver and Foun|der of the State of the <HI>Jews.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. <HI>David</HI> &s;ets forth the Empire of the Me&s;&s;iah, as that which was to reach over all the Earth. <HI>P&s;alm</HI> II. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 8. <HI>Ask of me, and I &s;hall give thee the Heathen for thine Inheritance, and the uttermo&s;t parts of the Earth for thy po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion.</HI> And <HI>P&s;alm</HI> XXII. <HI>ver&s;</HI> 27, 28, 29, 30. <HI>All the ends of the World &s;hall re|member and turn unto the Lord; and all the Kingdoms of the Nations &s;hall wor&s;hip before thee. For the King|dom is the Lords, and he is the Governour amongst the Nations. All they that be fat upon the Earth, &s;hall eat and wor&s;hip; all they that go down to the du&s;t &s;hall bow before him. A Seed &s;hall &s;erve him, it &s;hall be accounted to the Lord for a Generation.</HI> P&s;alm LXXII. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 8, 9, 10, 11. <HI>He &s;hall have Dominion from Sea to Sea, and from the River unto the ends of the Earth. They that dwell in the Wilderne&s;s &s;hall bow before him; and his Enemies &s;hall lick the du&s;t. The Kings of</HI> Tar&s;hi&s;h <HI>and of the I&s;les &s;hall bring pre&s;ents, the Kings of</HI> Sheba <HI>and</HI> Seba <HI>&s;hall offer Gifts. Yea all Kings &s;hall fall down before him, all Nations &s;hall &s;erve him.</HI> Which Prophecy is the more remarkable, becau&s;e the Promi&s;e made to <HI>Abraham</HI> is there repeated in &s;o many words, <HI>viz. That all Nations of the Earth &s;hould be ble&s;&s;ed in the Me&s;&s;iah.</HI> P&s;alm-CII. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 15. <HI>So the Heathen &s;hall fear the Name of the Lord, and all the Kings of the Earth thy Glory.</HI> And <HI>P&s;alm</HI> CX. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 2. <HI>The Lord &s;hall &s;end the Rod of thy &s;trength out of</HI> Zion: <HI>rule thou in the mid&s;t of thine Enemies.</HI> One ought to tran&s;cribe almo&s;t the whole Book of <HI>P&s;alms,</HI> to take notice of all the pa&s;&s;ages which are to this purpo&s;e.</P>
<PB N="147" REF="230">
<P>The Prophet <HI>Ho&s;ea</HI> declares in general terms, That it was not an impo&s;&s;ible thing for tho&s;e who had been God's people to cea&s;e to be &s;o; or for tho&s;e that were not his people to become his people; <HI>Chap.</HI> I. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 10. <HI>Yet the number of the Children of</HI> I&s;rael <HI>&s;hall be as the Sand of the Sea, which cannot be mea&s;ur'd or numbred; and it &s;hall come to pa&s;s, that in the place where it was &s;aid unto them, ye are not my people, there it &s;hall be &s;aid unto them, ye are the Sons of the living God.</HI></P>
<P><HI>I&s;aiah</HI> mentions this &s;o often, and in &s;uch an emphatical manner, that it &s;eems to be the main thing he drives at in all his Writings, <HI>Chap.</HI> II. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 2, 3. he &s;peaks thus: <HI>And it &s;hall come to pa&s;s in the la&s;t days that the Mountain of the Lord's Hou&s;e &s;hall be establi&s;hed in the top of the Mountains, and &s;hall be ex|alted above the Hills, and all Nations &s;hall flow unto it. And many people &s;hall go and &s;ay, come ye and let us go up to the Mountain of the Lord, to the Hou&s;e of the God of</HI> Jacob; <HI>and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for out of</HI> Zion <HI>&s;hall go forth the Law, and the Word of the Lord from</HI> Jeru|&s;alem. And <HI>Chap.</HI> XI. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 10. <HI>In that day there &s;hall be a Root of</HI> Je&s;&s;e, <HI>which &s;hall &s;tand for an En&s;ign of the people, to it &s;hall the</HI> Gentiles <HI>&s;eek.</HI> And <HI>Chap.</HI> XVIII. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 7. he makes a manife&s;t allu&s;ion to the <HI>expectation of all Nations:</HI> In <HI>Chap.</HI> XLII. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 1, 2, 3, 4. he repeats the &s;ame thing; <HI>Behold my &s;ervant whom I uphold, mine elect in whom my &s;oul delight|eth; I will put my Spirit upon him, he &s;hall bring forth Judgment to the</HI> Gentiles. <HI>He &s;hall not cry, nor lift up, nor cau&s;e his voice to be heard in the &s;treets. A brui&s;ed Reed &s;hall he not break, and the &s;moking Flax &s;hall he not quench, he &s;hall bring forth Judgment unto
<PB N="148" REF="231">the Earth; and the I&s;les &s;hall wait for his Law.</HI> Chap. LV. ver&s;. 4, 5. <HI>Behold I have given thee for a witne&s;s of the people, a Leader and a Commander to the people. Behold, thou &s;halt call a Nation that thou knowe&s;t not, and Nations that knew not thee &s;hall run unto thee, be|cau&s;e of the Lord thy God, and for the holy One of</HI> I&s;|rael, <HI>for he hath glorified thee.</HI> But one &s;ee's the&s;e Truths in their greate&s;t lu&s;tre in the LX <HI>Chap.</HI> of his Prophecies, <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 3, 4, 5. <HI>The</HI> Gentiles <HI>&s;hall come to thy light, and Kings to the brightne&s;s of thy ri&s;ing. Lift up thine eyes round about, and &s;ee; all they gather them&s;elves together, they come to thee, thy &s;ons &s;hall come from far, and thy daughters &s;hall be nur&s;ed at thy &s;ide. Then thou &s;halt &s;ee and &s;hine, and thine heart &s;hall fear and be enlarged, becau&s;e the abundance of the Sea &s;hall be converted unto thee, the forces of the</HI> Gentiles <HI>&s;hall come unto thee.</HI> And <HI>Chap.</HI> LXII. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 2. <HI>The</HI> Gen|tiles <HI>&s;hall &s;ee thy righteou&s;ne&s;s, and all Kings thy glory: and thou &s;halt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord &s;hall name.</HI> And <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 11, and 12. <HI>Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the ends of the World, &s;ay ye to the daughter of</HI> Zion, <HI>behold thy &s;al|vation cometh; behold his reward is with him, and his work is before him. And they &s;hall call them the holy people, the redeemed of the Lord; and thou &s;halt be called, Sought out, a City not for&s;aken.</HI> And <HI>Chap.</HI> LXV. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 1. <HI>I am &s;ought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that &s;ought me not: I &s;aid be|hold me, behold me, unto a Nation that was not called by my Name.</HI> And <HI>Chap.</HI> LXVI. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 18. <HI>It &s;hall come to pa&s;s, that I will gather all Nations and Tongues, and they &s;hall come and &s;ee my Glo|ry.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Amos</HI> (who was contemporary with <HI>I&s;aiah</HI>)
<PB N="149" REF="231">&s;peaks the &s;ame thing, <HI>Chap.</HI> IX. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 11, 12. <HI>In that day will I rai&s;e up the Tabernacle of</HI> David <HI>which is fallen, and clo&s;e up the breaches thereof; and I will rai&s;e up his ruins, and I will build it, as in the days of old. That they may po&s;&s;e&s;s the remnant of</HI> Edom, <HI>and of all the Heathen, which are called by my Name, &s;aith the Lord which doth this.</HI></P>
<P>The Prophet <HI>Micah</HI> al&s;o follows the Prophet <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> &s;tep by &s;tep, <HI>Mich.</HI> IV. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 1, 2, 3. <HI>But in the la&s;ts days it &s;hall come to pa&s;s, that the Mountain of the Hou&s;e of the Lord &s;hall be e&s;tabli&s;hed in the top of the Mountains, and it &s;hall be exalted above the Hills, and people &s;hall flow unto it. And many Nations &s;hall come and &s;ay, Come and let us go up to the Mountain of the Lord, and to the Hou&s;e of the God of</HI> Jacob, <HI>and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the Law &s;hall go forth of</HI> Zion, <HI>and the Word of the Lord from</HI> Jeru&s;alem. <HI>And he &s;hall judge among many people, and rebuke &s;trong Nations afar off, and they &s;hall beat their Swords into Plow &s;hares, and their Spears into Pruning-hooks: Nation &s;hall not lift up a Sword against Nation, neither &s;hall they learn war any more.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Zephaniah</HI> is as clear as any of the re&s;t, <HI>Chap.</HI> II. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 11. <HI>They &s;hall wor&s;hip him, every one from his place, even all the I&s;les of the Heathen.</HI> And <HI>Chap.</HI> III. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 9, 10. <HI>Then will I turn to the people a pure Language, that they may all call upon the Name of the Lord, to &s;erve him with one con&s;ent. From beyond the Rivers of</HI> Ethiopia, <HI>my Suppliants, the daughter of my di&s;per&s;ed &s;hall bring mine offering.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Jeremiah</HI> in the Fourth <HI>Chapter</HI> of his Prophe|cies, <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 2. confirms the &s;ame Truth; as likewi&s;e <HI>Chap.</HI> XVI. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 19. and more expre&s;ly <HI>Chap.</HI> XXXI.
<PB N="150" REF="232"><HI>ver&s;e</HI> 34. <HI>And they &s;hall teach no more every man his Neighbour, and every man his Brother, &s;aying, know the Lord; for they &s;hall all know me, from the lea&s;t of them unto the greate&s;t of them, &s;aith the Lord.</HI></P>
<P>After the return of the Captivity, we find that the Prophets &s;till pur&s;ued the &s;ame Idea's. <HI>Haggai</HI> II. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 7, 8. <HI>And I will &s;hake all Nations, and the de|&s;ire of all Nations &s;hall come: and I will fill this Hou&s;e with Glory &s;aith the Lord of Ho&s;ts. The Silver is mine, and the Gold is mine, &s;aith the Lord of Ho&s;ts.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Zechariah</HI> &s;peaks in like manner, <HI>Chap.</HI> II. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 10, 11. <HI>Sing and rejoyce, O daughter of</HI> Zion; <HI>for lo I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, &s;aith the Lord. And many Nations &s;hall be joyned to the Lord in that day, and &s;hall be my people; and I will dwell in the mid&s;t of thee, and thou &s;halt know that the Lord of Ho&s;ts hath &s;ent me unto thee.</HI> And <HI>Chap.</HI> VIII. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 20, 21, 22. <HI>Thus &s;aith the Lord of Ho&s;ts, it &s;hall yet come to pa&s;s, that there &s;hall come people, and the inhabitants of many Cities: and the inhabitants of one City &s;hall go to another, &s;aying; Let us go &s;peedily to pray before the Lord, and to &s;eek the Lord of Hosts, I will go al&s;o. Yea, many People and strong Nations &s;hall come to &s;eek the Lord of Ho&s;ts in</HI> Jeru&s;alem, <HI>and to pray before the Lord.</HI> And <HI>Chap.</HI> XI. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 10. he expre&s;&s;es the &s;ame thing more di&s;tinctly. <HI>And I will cut off the Chariot from</HI> Ephraim, <HI>and the Hor&s;e from</HI> Jeru&s;alem, <HI>and the Battel bow &s;hall be cut off, and he &s;hall &s;peak peace unto the Heathen, and his Do|minion &s;hall be from Sea to Sea, and from the River unto the ends of the Earth.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Malachi</HI> &s;peaks to the &s;ame purpo&s;e with the greate&s;t clearne&s;s imaginable, <HI>Chap.</HI> I. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 10, 11.
<PB N="151" REF="232"><HI>Who is there among you that &s;huts the doors, or kindles fire on mine Altar for nought? I have no plea&s;ure in you &s;aith the Lord of Ho&s;ts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand: for from the ri&s;ing of the Sun, even un|to the going down of the &s;ame, my Name &s;hall be great among the</HI> Gentiles, <HI>and in every place Incen&s;e &s;hall be offered unto my Name, and a pure offering: for my Name &s;hall be great among the Heathen, &s;aith the Lord of Ho&s;ts.</HI></P>
<P>On all which pa&s;&s;ages one may make the&s;e Ob|&s;ervations:</P>
<P N="1">1. That all this whole Series of Idea's hath as much connexion to one another, as the words of tho&s;e Oracles have which we have now al|ledged.</P>
<P N="2">2. That the&s;e Prophets have &s;et it forth with all its po&s;&s;ible Characters, by the Original of the&s;e People, calling them the Children of <HI>Seth,</HI> by their Countreys, <HI>Egypt, A&s;&s;yria,</HI> the <HI>Ea&s;t</HI> and <HI>We&s;t;</HI> by their Idolatry, by their Aver&s;ion to the <HI>Jews,</HI> their Ignorance, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. That the&s;e Prophecies were generally under|&s;tood by the <HI>Jews</HI> of old, of the Calling of the <HI>Gentiles,</HI> as appears from the u&s;e the Apo&s;tles made of them when they preached to the <HI>Gentiles.</HI></P>
<P N="4">4. That fora&s;much as God had ordered Pro&s;e|lytes to be received into the Jewi&s;h Communion, he &s;eem'd thereby to have hinted to them, that what he had enjoyn'd them as to particulars, ought with much more rea&s;on to be practiced in general to all the Nations of the World, and ought al&s;o to be univer&s;ally de&s;ired.</P>
<P N="5">5. That the Modern <HI>Jews</HI> them&s;elves con&s;tant|ly believ'd, that the Me&s;&s;iah &s;hould lead the <HI>Gen|tiles</HI>
<PB N="152" REF="233">to Repentance. So <HI>Kimchi, Mo&s;es Maimoni|des,</HI> and many other Authors, &s;ince the <HI>Talmu|di&s;ts.</HI></P>
<P N="6">6. That the Opinion which the <HI>Jews</HI> have en|tertained, That the Me&s;&s;iah, as a great Conque|rour, was to &s;ubdue the Nations, proceeds only from the &s;en&s;e of the Oppre&s;&s;ion they have been, and &s;till are, under, which makes them &s;o earne&s;t|ly de&s;ire a temporal deliverance from the power of the <HI>Gentiles,</HI> by means of the Me&s;&s;iah: and the pompous expre&s;&s;ion of &s;ome of the Prophets, have &s;trengthen'd this belief in them; tho' they cannot deny but that the &s;ame Prophetical pa&s;&s;a|ges do imply that the Me&s;&s;iah was to &s;ubject the <HI>Gentiles</HI> by the way of in&s;truction.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="24" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XXIV. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>That the</HI> Jews <HI>were to be rejected in the time of the Me&s;&s;iah.</HI></HEAD>
<P>THere are three things which make this parti|cular very con&s;iderable.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t is, That it &s;eems altogether oppo&s;ite to the De&s;ign of God, who was entred into Cove|nant with the <HI>Jews,</HI> excluding all other Nations of the Earth.</P>
<P>The &s;econd is, That nothing ever was a great|er Scandal to the <HI>Jews</HI> than the thoughts of a
<PB N="153" REF="233">po&s;&s;ibility that God &s;hould ever ca&s;t off their Na|tion.</P>
<P N="3">3. The third is, That the Rejection of the <HI>Jews,</HI> &s;eem'd le&s;s po&s;&s;ible in the time of the Me&s;|&s;iah, than at any other time: The Me&s;&s;iah being, according to their per&s;wa&s;ion, to procure the &s;al|vation of the <HI>Jews</HI> in the fir&s;t place, and before other Nations were made partakers of tho&s;e Ble&s;|&s;ings which he brought along with him.</P>
<P>And it was upon this Account, that God hath forgot nothing which might make tho&s;e Oracles that relate to the Rejection of the <HI>Jews,</HI> in the time of the Me&s;&s;iah, very &s;en&s;ible.</P>
<P>The chief Priviledges which made the <HI>Jews</HI> con&s;ider them&s;elves, as God's peculiar People, were the&s;e.</P>
<P N="1">1. God him&s;elf was in a peculiar manner their King and Soveraign; which gave <HI>Jo&s;ephus</HI> occa&s;i|on to call their State a Theocracy.</P>
<P N="2">2. Their Religious Service did wholly depend upon God; who had in&s;tituted their Order of Prie&s;thood.</P>
<P N="3">3. God had placed them in a Country by them&s;elves, and &s;eparated them from all other Nations.</P>
<P N="4">4. God had given them the <HI>Urim</HI> and <HI>Thum|mim,</HI> which gave them an infallible Re&s;olution in all important Ca&s;es happening to their State; which was an evident Mark of the Divine Pre|&s;ence and Direction.</P>
<P N="5">5. God gave them particular Marks of his Ble&s;|&s;ing, the extraordinary Fruitfulne&s;s which con|tinually u&s;her'd in their Sabbatical Year; the Se|curity which they enjoyed during their three So|lemn
<PB N="154" REF="234">Fea&s;ts; and above all, the Deliverers which he from time to time rais'd up for them, their Four|teen Judges and Kings.</P>
<P>And God al&s;o threatned them with evils oppo|&s;ite to the&s;e Ble&s;&s;ings; and all this is denounced again&s;t them &s;tep by &s;tep.</P>
<P N="1">1. He declares that he would no longer be their God.</P>
<P N="2">2. That he would aboli&s;h and reject their order of Prie&s;thood, which was accordingly executed by degrees.</P>
<P N="3">3. That he would turn them out of their own Country, without recovery.</P>
<P N="4">4. That they &s;hould have no more Prophets or Revelations.</P>
<P N="5">5. That he would take away from them all the Marks of his Protection. The pa&s;&s;ages expre&s;|&s;ing the&s;e &s;everal particulars are here &s;ubjoyn'd, which may be ea&s;ily rang'd under the foregoing Heads, that we may under&s;tand the better that God hath plainly foretold the Rejection of the <HI>Jews</HI> at the time of the Me&s;&s;iah.</P>
<P N="1">1. <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> then threatens them with a terrible De&s;olation, <HI>Deut.</HI> XXVIII. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 28, 29. <HI>The Lord &s;hall &s;mite thee with madne&s;s and blindne&s;s, and asto|ni&s;hment of heart: And thou &s;halt grope at Noon day, as the blind gropeth in darkne&s;s, and thou &s;halt not pro&s;per in thy ways, and thou &s;halt be only oppre&s;&s;ed and &s;poiled evermore, and no man &s;hall &s;ave thee.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Mana&s;&s;eh</HI> acknowledges that God in this pa&s;|&s;age foretels, not only their fir&s;t De&s;olation under <HI>Nebuchadnezzar,</HI> but al&s;o that which happened under <HI>Titus Ve&s;pa&s;ian.</HI> The Eagle mention'd at
<PB N="155" REF="234">the 49th: <HI>ver&s;e</HI> of that <HI>Chapter,</HI> being not only ap|plicable to <HI>Nebuchadnezzar,</HI> whom <HI>Ezechiel, Chap.</HI> XVII. repre&s;ents under that Notion, but more particularly to the <HI>Roman</HI> Emperour <HI>Titus,</HI> who&s;e Eagles gave a literal accompli&s;hment to that Pro|phecy.</P>
<P>This makes it evident, That at the &s;ame time when God threatens them with their fir&s;t De&s;ola|tion, he al&s;o denounces to them the la&s;t; and that con&s;equently we may apply tho&s;e pa&s;&s;ages to the &s;econd Rejection of the <HI>Jews,</HI> which were &s;poken of the fir&s;t.</P>
<P N="2">2. <HI>Ho&s;ea</HI> expre&s;&s;eth the &s;ame in his fir&s;t, &s;econd, and third <HI>Chapters,</HI> where he particularly fortels their being deprived of the Royal Dignity, Prie&s;t|hood and Prophecy.</P>
<P N="3">3. <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> &s;peaks to the &s;ame purpo&s;e in. his fir&s;t, &s;econd, and fifth <HI>Chapters,</HI> as al&s;o <HI>Chap.</HI> XXVIII. XLII, L, and LXVI. and in his XXV <HI>Chapter</HI> he &s;peaks as if no Re&s;toration was to be expect|ed.</P>
<P N="4">4. <HI>Amos</HI> repre&s;ents the &s;ame thing, <HI>Chap.</HI> V. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 16, 17, and 21, 22. <HI>Therefore the Lord the God of Ho&s;ts, the Lord &s;aith thus; wailing &s;hall be in all &s;treets, and they &s;hall &s;ay in all the High-ways, Alas! alas! and they &s;hall call the Husbandman to mourning, and &s;uch as are skilful of Lamentation to wailing. And in all Vineyards &s;hall be wailing; for I will pa&s;s through thee &s;aith the Lord. I hate, I de&s;pi&s;e your Fea&s;t-days; and I will not &s;mell in your &s;olemn A&s;&s;em|blies: though ye offer me Burnt-offerings and your Meat offerings, I will not accept them, neither will I regard the Peace-offerings of your fat Bea&s;ts.</HI> Where he hints that their De&s;olation &s;hall be without re|covery.</P>
<PB N="156" REF="235">
<P N="5">5. <HI>Jeremiah</HI> is very expre&s;s in <HI>Chap.</HI> V, VI, and X. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 11. where he declares that their De&s;tru|ction &s;hould be without remedy: as al&s;o <HI>Chap.</HI> XII. and XXXI.</P>
<P N="6">6. <HI>Daniel</HI> follows their &s;teps, <HI>Chap.</HI> IX. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 25, 26, 27. where he directly points at the De&s;tructi|on of <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> and the Temple. The words are the&s;e; <HI>Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the Commandment, to restore and build</HI> Jeru&s;alem, <HI>unto the Me&s;&s;iah the Prince, &s;hall be &s;even weeks, and three&s;core and two weeks the street &s;hall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after the three&s;core and two weeks &s;hall</HI> MESSIAH <HI>be cut off, but not for him&s;elf: and the people of the Prince that &s;hall come, &s;hall de&s;troy the City and the Sanctuary, and the end thereof &s;hall be with a flood, and unto the end of the War De&s;olations are determined.</HI> 'Tis worth our ob&s;erving, That <HI>Jo&s;ephus</HI> the Hi&s;torian a little after the De&s;tru|ction of <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Antiq. Lib. X.</NOTE> acknowledges that this Pro|phecy of <HI>Daniel</HI> did expre&s;ly foretel the ruin of the Temple of <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> and of the Jewi&s;h Go|vernment, by the Arms of the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire, which him&s;elf was an Eye-witne&s;s of.</P>
<P N="7">7. <HI>Zechariah</HI> &s;peaks after the &s;ame manner, <HI>Chap.</HI> XI. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 9. <HI>Then &s;aid I, I will not feed you, that that dieth, let it die; and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the re&s;t eat, every one the fle&s;h of ano|ther.</HI></P>
<P N="8">8. And <HI>Malachi</HI> follows the&s;e common Idea's, <HI>Chap.</HI> I. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 10, and 11. <HI>Who is there among you that &s;huts the doors for nought? Neither do ye kindle fire on mine Altar for nought. I have no plea&s;ure in you &s;aith the Lord of Ho&s;ts, neither will I accept an Of|fering
<PB N="157" REF="235">at your hand. For from the ri&s;ing of the Sun, even unto the going down of the &s;ame, my Name &s;hall be great among the</HI> Gentiles, <HI>and in every place In|cen&s;e &s;hall be offered unto my Name, and a pure Offer|ing; for my Name &s;hall be great among the Heathen, &s;aith the Lord of Ho&s;ts.</HI></P>
<P>I cannot conceive how any that con&s;ider the &s;ucce&s;&s;ion of the&s;e Idea's, &s;o interwoven one with another, can have the lea&s;t doubt whether the <HI>Jews</HI> were to be rejected at the Coming of the Me&s;&s;iah, or no; e&s;pecially &s;ince the Apo&s;tles and St. <HI>Paul</HI> in particular have made it appear, that the Prophets &s;o plainly did foretel this Truth.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="25" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XXV.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">Of the time which &s;ucceeded the publi&s;hing of the&s;e Prophecies, till the Coming of the Me&s;&s;iah.</HEAD>
<P>THus we have &s;een an Abridgment of the mo&s;t remarkable Oracles utter'd, either by God him&s;elf, or by Prophets, whom he made u&s;e of to declare his De&s;igns. I might ea&s;ily have al|ledged a far greater number, but I cho&s;e rather to content my &s;elf with the&s;e, to avoid the Confu|&s;ion which the multiplicity of Citations is apt to occa&s;ion. And I que&s;tion not but the&s;e I have
<PB N="158" REF="236">mention'd, will &s;uffice to give us an Idea of God's promi&s;e concerning the Me&s;&s;iah &s;ufficiently great, and enable us to make a Judgment, whether that which the Chri&s;tians declare to have been the ac|compli&s;hment of it, be &s;o indeed.</P>
<P>In the mean time, for the further clearing of this matter, I de&s;ire the Reader to make &s;ome Reflexions on the whole Matter, which &s;eem to me to de&s;erve a &s;erious attention.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t is, That God hath by degrees put an end to tho&s;e Divi&s;ions that were between &s;ome o|ther Nations and the <HI>Jews,</HI> founded on their hopes of the Promi&s;e of the Me&s;&s;iah, as the time of its accompli&s;hment drew near.</P>
<P>We hear little now of the enmity of the <HI>I&s;hma|elites</HI> again&s;t the <HI>Jews;</HI> God having placed them in the De&s;ert of <HI>Paran,</HI> they have indeed continu|ed there in a manner invincible, but al&s;o without any great communication with their Neighbour Nations.</P>
<P>As for the <HI>Moabites</HI> and <HI>Ammonites,</HI> they had their Kingdoms on the Borders of the Holy Land, and continued there till the time of <HI>Nebuchad|nezzar,</HI> &s;ince which we find little mention made of them, as being in a manner wholly confounded with other Nations; only we meet with &s;ome few Memorials of the <HI>Ammonites,</HI> who&s;e preten|&s;ions to that promi&s;e were the weaker of the two, as being the Po&s;terity of <HI>Lot</HI>'s younger Daughter.</P>
<P>It is worth our ob&s;erving, That mo&s;t of the Prophecies of <HI>David,</HI> as well as of the following Prophets, which thunder forth &s;uch terrible De|nunciations again&s;t the pride of tho&s;e people,
<PB N="159" REF="236">threatning them with the Cur&s;e of God and final De&s;truction, &s;eem to have an eye to the old quar|rel and jealou&s;ie, their State quarrel which hap|pened afterwards, &s;ucceeding to this their fir&s;t Aver&s;ion, and hatred of the <HI>Jews.</HI></P>
<P>The State and Government of the <HI>Edomites,</HI> as well as their jealou&s;ie again&s;t <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> continued till after <HI>Cyrus,</HI> who granted them the Liberty of returning to their own Country, as well as to the <HI>Jews,</HI> who had been carried away Captives with them by <HI>Nebuchadnezzar;</HI> but contrary to the hope they had of being re-e&s;tabli&s;hed to their former E&s;tate, we find, that according to the Prophecy of <HI>Malachy,</HI> they continued in Bondage to their Neighbours, yea to the <HI>Jews</HI> them&s;elves, until <HI>Herod</HI> the <HI>Edomite</HI> po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ing him&s;elf of the Throne of <HI>Judea,</HI> was probably flattered by tho&s;e of his own Nation, and by &s;ome <HI>Jews</HI> al&s;o, into a belief of his being the promi&s;ed Me&s;&s;iah.</P>
<P>We mu&s;t al&s;o take notice, That the Divine Pro|vidence &s;eems to have continued this people &s;o long, on purpo&s;e that the Spirit of Jealou&s;ie, which was between them and the <HI>Jews,</HI> might pre&s;erve the Notion of the promi&s;ed Me&s;&s;iah more fre&s;h and lively, and to engage men to a more attentive con&s;ideration of the Prophecies concern|ing the &s;ame; and that God by confounding them afterwards with other Nations, intended wholly to take away their preten&s;ions, the Service which before they rendred to the Jewi&s;h Church, being no longer needful, after &s;o clear and di&s;tinct a Revelation.</P>
<P>This Reflexion will be owned to be more than a Conjecture, if we con&s;ider God's dealing with
<PB N="160" REF="237">the Ten Tribes: God &s;uffers them to be carried away Captives by <HI>Salmana&s;&s;ar,</HI> leaving only the Tribes of <HI>Judah, Levi,</HI> and <HI>Benjamin</HI> to be after|wards the Depo&s;itaries of the Divine Ora|cles.</P>
<P>The &s;econd is, That as it appears that God hath kept &s;ome di&s;tance of time in his Revelation, that the authority of the Prophets might be fully and firmly e&s;tabli&s;hed, which, as I have ob&s;erved, was done by the accompli&s;hment of &s;ome Prophecies, re&s;pecting &s;ome particular Matters of Fact near at hand; &s;o it plea&s;ed God for above Four hun|dred years, to leave the <HI>Jews</HI> without the light of Prophecy; becau&s;e that which he had given them till <HI>Malachy</HI>'s time, was &s;ufficient to make them know the Me&s;&s;iah, when he &s;hould appear in the World.</P>
<P>The third is, That this Ce&s;&s;ation of the Gifts of Prophecy among the <HI>Jews,</HI> did &s;erve to increa&s;e their de&s;ires for the Coming of the Me&s;&s;iah, in who&s;e days tho&s;e Gifts (which were the peculiar Glory of their Nation) were to be re&s;tored in far greater abundance, than had ever been granted to them before.</P>
<P>A fourth Reflexion which is well worth our attentive con&s;ideration, is, That God &s;o ordered it in his Providence, that all the Books of the <HI>Old Te&s;tament</HI> were tran&s;lated into the <HI>Greek</HI> about One hundred years after <HI>Malachy,</HI> that they might be communicated to all Nations, the <HI>Greek</HI> Tongue being at that time, and indeed ever &s;ince the Reign of <HI>Alexander</HI> the Great, a Language the mo&s;t known and generally &s;poken in the World, he having with his power carried it into the <HI>South</HI> and <HI>Ea&s;t.</HI></P>
<PB N="161" REF="237">
<P>It is natural to conceive, that the Divine Pro|vidence hereby de&s;igned the&s;e Three things:</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, To e&s;tabli&s;h and confirm the Authority of tho&s;e Divine Oracles, by delivering them in|to the hands of the Heathen, by the publick Au|thority of the Jewi&s;h Nation, at the de&s;ire of a King of <HI>Egypt.</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, To prevent cavilling about the ex|plication of tho&s;e Oracles. Thus, for in&s;tance, we &s;ee there is no place left to di&s;pute the Tran&s;|lation of that Prophecy, <HI>Behold a Virgin &s;hall con|ceive,</HI> &s;eeing the LXX Interpreters, who were <HI>Jews,</HI> have rendred it &s;o them&s;elves, &s;ome Ages before any Conte&s;ts were &s;tarted about it between the <HI>Jews</HI> and <HI>Chri&s;tians.</HI></P>
<P>The third was, To prepare and di&s;po&s;e the Heathen for receiving the Religion of the Me&s;|&s;iah.</P>
<P>And indeed we may ea&s;ily comprehend, 1. That it was nece&s;&s;ary that the Prophetical Writings &s;hould be communicated to the Heathen, in or|der to their ready &s;ubmitting them&s;elves to the Authority of the Me&s;&s;iah, whom they knew by tho&s;e Characters which had been given of him. 2. That it was not fitting that the Hea|then &s;hould wholly depend on the Authority of the <HI>Jews,</HI> fora&s;much as the &s;ame Divine Oracles do expre&s;ly affirm, That the Me&s;&s;iah was to be rejected by the greate&s;t part of them.</P>
<P>I &s;hall conclude the&s;e Reflexions with a &s;hort view of the State of the Common-wealth and Religion of the <HI>Jews,</HI> &s;ince the la&s;t of the Pro|phets.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, One finds that this Government &s;ub|&s;i&s;ted
<PB N="162" REF="238">as di&s;tinct from all other Nations of the Earth, as ever it did before: we &s;ee the Honour wherewith <HI>Alexander</HI> the Great treated their High Prie&s;t, and that when he was appointed Arbitrator of the difference between them and the <HI>Samaritans,</HI> he determin'd the Matter in fa|vour of the <HI>Jews.</HI></P>
<P>One &s;ee's that <HI>Alexander</HI> pre&s;erved them in the Enjoyment of their Rights and Liberties, as they enjoyed them under the Kings of <HI>Per&s;ia;</HI> and in particular exempted them from paying any Tri|bute every &s;eventh year, becau&s;e then they did not &s;ow their Ground, and con&s;equently could not reap.</P>
<P>And if we find that <HI>Ptolemy</HI> took <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> on a Sabbath day, the <HI>Jews</HI> making Con&s;cience of defending them&s;elves, becau&s;e the Law required their cea&s;ing from all work; from whence <HI>Aga|tharcides</HI> an Heathen Author takes occa&s;ion to blame their Law; if we find him carrying a great number of <HI>Jews</HI> with him into <HI>Egypt,</HI> yet withal we find him treating them with as much kindne&s;s as the <HI>Macedonians</HI> them&s;elves, appoint|ing di&s;tinct places in <HI>Egypt</HI> and <HI>Lybia</HI> for their Ha|bitation.</P>
<P>If we find that powerful Princes, &s;uch as <HI>An|tiochus Epiphanes,</HI> and &s;ome others of his Succe&s;&s;ors, broke the power of the <HI>Jews,</HI> prophaned their Temple, and forc'd great numbers of them to abjure their Religion; yet we &s;ee them al&s;o at the &s;ame time, giving the highe&s;t in&s;tances of an im|moveable con&s;tancy and courage in defence of their Law, and in enduring the mo&s;t exqui&s;ite Tortures; we &s;ee others of them, encouraged
<PB N="163" REF="238">with the love of their Country, as well as Religi|on, putting them&s;elves into a po&s;ture of defence, purifying the Temple, and celebrating a Fe&s;tival which is ob&s;erved even at this day, and la&s;tly ob|taining favourable Treaties at the hands of their Enemies; as may be &s;een in the Books of the <HI>Mac|cabees,</HI> and in the Twelfth Book of <HI>Jo&s;ephus</HI> his <HI>Antiquities:</HI> yea, we find their name and glory at that time &s;pread as far as <HI>Lacaedemon,</HI> with which Common-wealth they made an Alliance during the High-Prie&s;thood of <HI>Onias.</HI></P>
<P>One &s;ee's them after this &s;o con&s;iderable, under the Succe&s;&s;or of <HI>Antiochus</HI> their Per&s;ecutor, that even tho&s;e Kings &s;ue for their Alliance with great pre&s;ents.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's that <HI>Ptolomy Philometor</HI> granted to <HI>O|nias</HI> the Son, leave to build a Temple in <HI>Egypt,</HI> for the convenience of tho&s;e <HI>Jews</HI> whom <HI>Ptolomy</HI> the Son of <HI>Lagus</HI> had carried thither; as well as for tho&s;e who left their Country for the oppre&s;&s;i|on of the <HI>Seleucidae;</HI> for <HI>Judea</HI> being &s;ituate be|tween <HI>Syria</HI> and <HI>Egypt,</HI> was ordinarily the Thea|tre of War between tho&s;e two States. 'Tis here worth our noting, That the <HI>Jews</HI> undertook the building of the Temple in <HI>Egypt,</HI> as thinking them&s;elves authoriz'd by that Prophecy <HI>I&s;ai.</HI> XIX. 24. it being a thing otherwi&s;e forbid by the Law.</P>
<P>One &s;ees in the &s;ame Prince's Reign a great conte&s;t between the <HI>Samaritans</HI> and the <HI>Jews</HI> a|bout the pre-eminence of their Temples, at <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> and Mount <HI>Garizim,</HI> decided by him in favour of the <HI>Jews:</HI> on which occa&s;ion the <HI>Jews</HI> &s;hewed that Prince their Law, and acquaint|ed
<PB N="164" REF="239">him with the Series of their Hi&s;tory, to con|fute the <HI>Samaritans</HI> preten&s;ions.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's after this, when the <HI>Jews</HI> had con|ferred the Soveraignty and High-Prie&s;thood on <HI>Simon,</HI> that their State became &s;o powerful, that under <HI>Hyrcanus</HI> his Succe&s;&s;or they were in a con|dition to attacque their Enemies in <HI>Syria,</HI> and com|pel the <HI>Edomites</HI> to admit Circumci&s;ion: <HI>Ari&s;tobu|lus</HI> his Son was crowned, his Brother &s;ucceeded him in the Royal Dignity, and left the State in a flouri&s;hing condition, notwith&s;tanding the Civil and Foreign Wars he was engaged in.</P>
<P>We find afterwards, That the inte&s;tine Divi&s;i|ons among the Succe&s;&s;ors of tho&s;e Jewi&s;h Princes, did by degrees open a gap for foreign power to enter and prevail over them, <HI>Pompey</HI> &s;iding with <HI>Hyrcanus</HI> took <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> and made the <HI>Jews</HI> tri|butary to the <HI>Romans,</HI> but without changing any thing in their Religion.</P>
<P><HI>Julius Cae&s;ar</HI> a while after be&s;towed the King|dom of <HI>Judaea</HI> upon <HI>Herod</HI> the <HI>Edomite. Augu&s;tus</HI> af|ter him u&s;ed the <HI>Jews</HI> with the &s;ame Equity as <HI>Pompey</HI> before him had done, as appears from one of his Declarations publi&s;h'd in favour of the <HI>Jews</HI> of <HI>Egypt</HI> and <HI>A&s;ia,</HI> recorded by <HI>Jo&s;ephus.</HI> This <HI>Herod</HI> and <HI>Augustus</HI> are the &s;ame under whom our Saviour Je&s;us Chri&s;t was born.</P>
<P>It is evident therefore, That the State of the <HI>Jews</HI> has continued di&s;tinct from other Nations, and &s;ufficiently known from the time of the Prophet <HI>Malachy,</HI> until <HI>Herod.</HI></P>
<P>We may al&s;o truly a&s;&s;ert, That whatever inclina|tion the <HI>Jews</HI> of old had, for the Idolatries of their Neighbours, yet we don't find them given that
<PB N="165" REF="239">way during this interval, between the la&s;t of their Prophets and <HI>Herod,</HI> as if the charge and com|mand of that Prophet <HI>Malachy</HI> had always &s;ound|ed in their Ears, <HI>Mal.</HI> IV. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 4. <HI>Remember the Law of</HI> Mo&s;es <HI>my Servant, &amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>One &s;ee's that the <HI>Jews</HI> under the <HI>Maccabees,</HI> in great numbers &s;uffered Martyrdom, rather than abjure their Religion; and that they ob&s;erved the Ceremonial Law with all carefulne&s;s, of which <HI>Augu&s;tus</HI> him&s;elf was witne&s;s.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's that under Strangers and Heathen Kings they exempted them&s;elves from an&s;wering any Suit at Law on the Sabbath day, from pay|ing Tribute the &s;eventh Year, and pre&s;erving the Rights and Priviledges of their Temple in &s;pight of all oppo&s;ition. La&s;tly, one finds them, during <HI>Herod</HI>'s Government, &s;upported by the favour of the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire, in refu&s;ing to &s;et up the Em|perour's Trophees, for fear lea&s;t &s;ome Images might be hid under them, which they looked upon as a Crime again&s;t their Law.</P>
<P>I am not ignorant, that &s;ince <HI>Malachy,</HI> &s;ome Here&s;ies &s;prung up among the <HI>Jews,</HI> their Com|merce with the <HI>Greeks</HI> (who applyed them&s;elves to Philo&s;ophical Speculations) having contributed to make them much more Di&s;putacious than they were before. The Authority likewi&s;e of their Kings, who were High-Prie&s;ts al&s;o, may have had a great &s;troke in blemi&s;hing the Purity of their Religion.</P>
<P>But yet the Di&s;putes which we find among&s;t them, as that of the Fatality of Events, did not at all touch the Sub&s;tance of their Religion.</P>
<P>They no &s;ooner found the Spirit of Epicuri&s;me
<PB N="166" REF="240">to creep in among&s;t them, but they framed &s;uch additions to their publick Liturgy, as they thought mo&s;t proper to eradicate, or at lea&s;t condemn that Corruption.</P>
<P>I confe&s;s al&s;o, that the Phari&s;ees and Doctors of their Law had greatly alter'd their Morality, in making their own Explications (by the great Authority which they had among&s;t the People) to pa&s;s for Authentick: but yet this change and cor|ruption in their Morals, as to practice, did not go &s;o far as to aboli&s;h the Laws them&s;elves, which were only wre&s;ted from their true meaning. This was indeed a great Corruption, but not &s;uch a one as could make it to be no more the &s;ame Re|ligion.</P>
<P>So that we may boldly a&s;&s;ert (which is a thing very important to our pre&s;ent purpo&s;e) That the State and Religion of the <HI>Jews</HI> have continued &s;ufficiently entire till the time of the appearing of the Me&s;&s;iah in the World, for their pre&s;erving of what&s;oever was nece&s;&s;ary, <HI>viz.</HI> as well the Books of the Old Te&s;tament, as the knowledge of tho&s;e Oracles which foretold the coming of the Me&s;&s;i|ah, together with the Knowledge of the&s;e Princi|ples, according to which the Prophets have &s;po|ken in their Predictions concerning him.</P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="half title">
<PB REF="240">
<P>REFLEXIONS Upon the BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, To Confirm the TRUTH OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="preface">
<PB REF="241">
<PB REF="241">
<HEAD>THE PREFACE.</HEAD>
<P><HI>I</HI> Have &s;hewn in my Reflexions upon the Book of <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> That the Facts of the Creation, and the Promi&s;es of the Me&s;|&s;iah, are Truths not to be que&s;tioned, and that the Idea's of this Me&s;&s;iah con|tinued vigorou&s;ly all the time that preceded the Children of <HI>I&s;rael</HI>'s going out of <HI>Egypt.</HI></P>
<P>We have &s;een afterwards in the Remarks which I have made upon the Laws which God gave to <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> that it was the great de&s;ign of God to keep men in the expectation of this Me&s;&s;iah, and to take care that they might cer|tainly know him whenever he &s;hould appear in the World.</P>
<P>I have taken notice in the third part of the&s;e Reflexions of the care which God took to give a great number of Oracles to explain particu|larly all the Characters of this Me&s;&s;iah, the Place and Manner of his Birth, the principal
<PB REF="242">Circum&s;tances of his Life, Death, and Re&s;ur|rection, and to foretel the Effu&s;ion of the Gifts of the Holy Gho&s;t upon the Gentiles, their Call to the Religion of the Me&s;&s;iah, and la&s;tly, the overthrow of the whole Model of the Jewi&s;h Religion and Common-wealth, which was no longer of any u&s;e after the Coming of the Me&s;&s;i|ah, and the Calling of the Gentiles.</P>
<P>My pre&s;ent bu&s;ine&s;s is now to &s;hew, That in the Books of the <HI>New Te&s;tament</HI> we may find an exact accompli&s;hment of this whole De&s;ign, wherein God had with &s;o much care in&s;tructed the World &s;o long before, and there is nothing more ea&s;ie, if we will but take a little pains to read the&s;e Books attentively, and to compare them with the Model which God him&s;elf made, as we have hitherto de&s;cribed it.</P>
<P>To make this Truth yet more evident, I think it will be nece&s;&s;ary to do two or three things which &s;eem to be very important for my pre&s;ent De&s;ign.</P>
<P>And fir&s;t, I am to ob&s;erve that there ap|pears a mo&s;t perfect Coherence between the Idea's of the <HI>Old Te&s;tament</HI> and tho&s;e of the <HI>New,</HI> which is ab&s;olutely nece&s;&s;ary to &s;hew that there is in the&s;e Books a perfect unity of De&s;ign, not|with&s;tanding the va&s;t difference there is between the <HI>Jews</HI> who pre&s;erve the <HI>Old Te&s;tament,</HI> and the <HI>Chri&s;tians</HI> who pre&s;erve the <HI>New.</HI></P>
<PB REF="242">
<P>Secondly, I am to demon&s;trate that the I|dea's of the Me&s;&s;iah were very &s;trong in the minds of the <HI>Jews</HI> at the very time that Je&s;us Chri&s;t appeared in the World.</P>
<P>This was ab&s;olutely nece&s;&s;ary, that they might not have wherewith to accu&s;e tho&s;e who recei|ved Chri&s;t for the Me&s;&s;iah, of being deceived in their choice, for not having had the exact Idea's of the Me&s;&s;iah which God had promi&s;ed.</P>
<P>I &s;hall upon this account &s;hew in the third place, That when Je&s;us Chri&s;t did appear in the World, the Model which God had framed in the Law of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> whereby the Me&s;&s;iah might be plainly known, did then &s;ub&s;i&s;t in the manner wherein God had framed it.</P>
<P>After this I &s;hall endeavour to &s;hew by proo&s;s, which are indeed unque&s;tionable, That in exa|mining all the Characters which the Prophets gave, by which the Me&s;&s;iah might be known; we cannot conceive a more exact execution of God's De&s;ign as to the Me&s;&s;iah, than that which we find in the Per&s;on of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, whereof the Books of the <HI>New Te&s;tament</HI> have given us the Hi&s;tory.</P>
<P>Lastly, I &s;hall &s;hew clearly that this Model which God had framed in giving the Law and in forming the Common-wealth and Religion of the <HI>Jews</HI> in &s;o proper a manner, to make the Me&s;&s;iah certainly known, is not in being at this
<PB REF="243">day; but that it was &s;o de&s;troyed by the total Di&s;per&s;ion of that People, that we &s;hould not be able to know the Me&s;&s;iah if he &s;hould now appear again in the World. And that indeed the principal Events, which according to the Ora|cles were to follow the Coming of the Me&s;&s;iah, are already come to pa&s;s in part, and do &s;till come to pa&s;s every day.</P>
<P>I hope to evince the&s;e Truths beyond all con|test; Indeed the bare reading of the Books of the <HI>New Te&s;tament</HI> plainly di&s;covers the Co|herence which they have with the Books of the <HI>Old.</HI> It &s;hews clearly that the Idea's of the Me&s;&s;iah were at that time very &s;trong in the minds of the <HI>Jews,</HI> and it &s;uppo&s;eth without any affectation that that Model which God had made &s;o nece&s;&s;ary to di&s;tingui&s;h the Me&s;&s;iah, &s;tood at that time intire.</P>
<P>In particular, It is certain that the four E|vangeli&s;ts, by the Relation of unque&s;tionable matters of Fact, have proved that Je&s;us the Son of <HI>Mary</HI> is the Me&s;&s;iah which God had pro|mi&s;ed.</P>
<P>Saint <HI>Luke</HI> &s;hews in the <HI>Acts of the Apo&s;tles</HI> that after the Re&s;urrection of Je&s;us Christ, and the Effu&s;ion of the Gifts of the Holy Gho&s;t, the Go&s;pel was preached to the Heathens.</P>
<P>The Epi&s;tles are a natural Con&s;equence of this Vocation of the Heathens, and of the aboli&s;hing
<PB REF="243">of the Law of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> which the Apostles had undertaken. They unanimou&s;ly con&s;pire to &s;hew that God had re&s;olved to call the Heathens to partake of Salvation, that the <HI>Jews</HI> for the greate&s;t part &s;hould be ju&s;tly deprived thereof, be|cau&s;e they ob&s;tinately rejected the Me&s;&s;iah. Se|veral Que&s;tions are examined, which aro&s;e either from the Calling of the Gentiles, or from the a|boli&s;hing of the Ceremonial Wor&s;hip.</P>
<P>The Succe&s;&s;ion of the Hi&s;tory of the Chri&s;tian Church ju&s;tifies, That after the De&s;truction of <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> all People imbraced the Religion of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, in receiving him for the Me&s;&s;iah whom God had promi&s;ed to the Patriarchs, and to the <HI>Jews.</HI></P>
<P>I &s;hall re&s;ume all the&s;e Articles one by one, in that Natural Order in which I have propo&s;ed them.</P>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 N="2" TYPE="part">
<PB REF="244">
<PB N="175" REF="244">
<HEAD>REFLEXIONS Upon the BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, To E&s;tabli&s;h the Truth OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION.</HEAD>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAPTER I. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>That there appears a very ju&s;t Connexion b&egrave;|tween the Idea's of the</HI> Old Te&s;tament, <HI>and tho&s;e of the</HI> New, <HI>the latter borrowing light from the former.</HI></HEAD>
<P>AS it is not much the Character of Roman|ces, even then when they are mo&s;t tyed up to the Rules of Probability, to borrow either the Stile or Idea's of tho&s;e Authors from whom they take their-Subject, &s;o I &s;uppo&s;e that in this my
<PB N="176" REF="245">Undertaking to &s;hew that the <HI>New Testament</HI> is an exact accompli&s;hment of the <HI>Old,</HI> it is very important to make out, that at the fir&s;t reading of the Go&s;pels and Apo&s;tolical Writings, one finds in them a perfect conformity of Idea's, with the Writings of the <HI>Old Te&s;tament.</HI></P>
<P>One may to this purpo&s;e ob&s;erve in general, That the Go&s;pel &s;uppo&s;eth the Divine Authority of the Book of the Old Te&s;tament, as an unque|&s;tionable Truth. The Go&s;pels and Epi&s;tles have the &s;ame coherence with the Books of the Law and Prophets, which the Writings of the latter Prophets have with tho&s;e of the former, and which the Books of all the Prophets together, have with the Books of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and with the Prophecies, Laws and Hi&s;tories which are contained there|in.</P>
<P>One may take notice afterwards, That all the Books of the <HI>New Te&s;tament</HI> have an e&s;&s;ential re|lation to tho&s;e of the <HI>Old,</HI> in their mo&s;t principal De&s;igns. I have &s;hewed that their de&s;ign was no other, than to rai&s;e men to expectations of the Me&s;&s;iah, and to paint <HI>him</HI> to the life, whom God had promi&s;ed from the beginning of the World; and the only de&s;ign of the <HI>New Te&s;tament</HI> is, to prove that the Me&s;&s;iah is come according to the Prophets. The fir&s;t &s;peaks concerning the Me&s;&s;i|ah as expected, the latter as already come.</P>
<P>But we mu&s;t proceed to a more particular view of this matter. I &s;ay then fir&s;t of all, That the Chri&s;tians have the &s;ame Object of their Faith which the <HI>Jews</HI> had; this Je&s;us Chri&s;t him&s;elf declares, where he &s;aith; <HI>This is life Eter|nal, that they might know thee the only true God, and
<PB N="177" REF="245">Je&s;us Chri&s;t whom thou ha&s;t &s;ent.</HI> Behold here the true Character of the Chri&s;tian Religion, as well as of the Jewi&s;h, to believe one only God, to own a Me&s;&s;iah, and to acknowledge that Je&s;us Chri&s;t is he. The Jews agree with us in the two former Articles, tho' they di&s;pute the la&s;t.</P>
<P>I &s;ay in the &s;econd place, That the Laws of the Go&s;pel, which regulate Religion, and the Conduct of particular per&s;ons in that Society, are exactly the &s;ame with tho&s;e of the old Te&s;tament. Je&s;us Chri&s;t in his Sermon upon the Mount, which contains an Abridgment of his Ethicks, had no other end but to re&s;tore the true &s;en&s;e and mean|ing of tho&s;e Laws God had given upon Mount <HI>Sinai;</HI> and tho' in the matter of Divorces, it &s;eems oppo&s;ite to that Law wherein God had before per|mitted them, yet we may ea&s;ily conceive that he began to abrogate tho&s;e Orders and Di&s;pen&s;ati|ons which were only given to make the Me&s;&s;iah known whenever he &s;hould appear.</P>
<P>The prayer which Je&s;us Chri&s;t taught his Apo|&s;tles, is full of Notions which reigned among the Jews, as &s;everal Expo&s;itors have manife&s;ted. I &s;hall content my &s;elf with alledging the in&s;tance of the petition for our daily Bread, which has an evident regard to the Manna which God gave the Children of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> in the Wilderne&s;s for Forty years.</P>
<P>We know al&s;o that the Sacraments of the Bap|ti&s;m and the Euchari&s;t, are originally Jewi&s;h Ce|remonies, which Je&s;us Chri&s;t hath applied with a very little variation, to much more important Subjects. Bapti&s;m was a wa&s;hing which accom|panied the Sacrifices and Circumci&s;ion of Pro&s;e|lytes.
<PB N="178" REF="246">lites. And the wa&s;hing practi&s;ed under the Law of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> &s;ignified that the Pro&s;elyte, who was ad|mitted to the &s;ame, was re&s;olved to renounce his former Cour&s;es, and for the time to come to follow an oppo&s;ite way of living, according to the Rules pre&s;cribed him by the Mini&s;ters of Heaven, after that they in the Name of God had a&s;&s;ured him of the remi&s;&s;ion of his &s;ins.</P>
<P>The Euchari&s;t was an Appendix of the Fea&s;t of the Pa&s;&s;over, which pre&s;erved the Memory of the Sufferings of the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> in <HI>Egypt,</HI> and the deli|verance he afforded them, in puni&s;hing of the <HI>Egyptians.</HI> This Ceremony did perpetuate the Memory of that Deliverance till the coming of the Me&s;&s;iah. Je&s;us Chri&s;t hath &s;ub&s;tituted to this figure an in&s;tance of the Cur&s;e of God again&s;t the Po&s;terity of <HI>Cham,</HI> the Idea of his Death, by which he hath communicated his Ble&s;&s;ing to all Nations of the Earth according to his promi&s;e. And he hath made it a more full and exact Me|morial of his Death, which he would have us to con&s;ider as the death of the true <HI>Lamb, which takes away the &s;ins of the World.</HI> As the old Covenant was made in the Blood of a Lamb, &s;o Je&s;us Chri&s;t, with regard to the New Te&s;tament or Covenant promi&s;ed by <HI>Jeremiah, Chap.</HI> XXXI. ordains the celebrating the Memorial of the Blood he had &s;pilt, <HI>This is the New Testament in my Blood,</HI> &amp;c. And la&s;tly, whereas the Law ordained the Commemoration of the Pa&s;chal Lamb but once a year, Je&s;us Chri&s;t &s;eems to appoint a much more frequent celebration of the Euchari&s;t, when he &s;aith, <HI>As oft as ye &s;hall eat this Bread,</HI> &amp;c. the rea|&s;on of which, without doubt, is taken from the
<PB N="179" REF="246">greatne&s;s of the benefit which his death confers up|on us.</P>
<P>It is well worth our Ob&s;ervation, That ordina|rily the &s;ame Prophetical Idea's that are found in the <HI>Old Te&s;tament</HI> may be met with in the <HI>New.</HI> The Book of the <HI>Revelations</HI> contains abundance of particulars &s;et down in the Prophecies of <HI>Za|chariah</HI> and <HI>Ezechiel.</HI> Je&s;us Chri&s;t him&s;elf pur&s;ues the Idea's of the Prophet <HI>Joel</HI> in the XXIV of <HI>Matthew,</HI> when he &s;ets forth the De&s;truction of <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> and afterwards he de&s;cribes the &s;ame according to the Notions which <HI>Daniel</HI> gives us thereof.</P>
<P><HI>Daniel</HI> foretels in the VII <HI>Chapter</HI> of his Book, the De&s;truction of the <HI>Roman</HI> Monarchy by the Chri&s;tians, whom he &s;tiles <HI>the People of the mo&s;t High.</HI> St. <HI>Paul</HI> follows the &s;ame Notion, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> VI. 2. where he &s;uppo&s;eth it as a known thing: <HI>The Saints</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>&s;hall judge the World.</HI> And St. <HI>John</HI> in the XX of the <HI>Revelations, ver&s;e</HI> 4. re|pre&s;ents Satan bound, and the Government put into the hands of Believers.</P>
<P>It is al&s;o very remarkable, That the promi&s;es and threats of Je&s;us Chri&s;t are expre&s;&s;ed in terms borrowed from the <HI>Old Te&s;tament.</HI> The&s;e words of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, <HI>He that hears my words, and believes in him that &s;ent me, hath eternal life, and &s;hall not come into Judgment,</HI> &amp;c. have not they a plain re|lation to <HI>Adam</HI>'s unbelief and di&s;obedience, to the judgment he underwent, and the puni&s;hment im|po&s;ed on him? Is it not from this Spirit which pe|netrates both, that the <HI>New Te&s;tament</HI> &s;o oft makes mention of a <HI>New Canaan,</HI> a <HI>New Jeru&s;alem,</HI> a <HI>New Name,</HI> &amp;c. and that Glory is repre&s;ented to us
<PB N="180" REF="247">&s;ometimes under the Notion of Paradi&s;e, &s;ome|times of a Fea&s;t, where <HI>Abraham</HI> (who is called <HI>the Father of the Faithful</HI>) &s;its at the upper end?</P>
<P>Eternal Damnation is repre&s;ented to us under the Notion of the Valley of <HI>Hinnom,</HI> of a Lake burning with Fire and Brim&s;tone, with regard to the Lake of <HI>Sodom,</HI> and to the place where the filth of <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> was wont to be burnt up and con&s;umed. 'Tis upon this account that Believers are exhorted to <HI>remember</HI> Lot's <HI>Wife, Luke</HI> IX. 62. and XVII. 32. and to depart from the mid&s;t of the wicked, <HI>Hebr.</HI> XIII.</P>
<P>If we con&s;ider the Election of the Apo&s;tles, and of the Seventy Di&s;ciples, we &s;hall find the reference they have to the Heads of the Twelve Tribes, and to the Seventy Elders whom <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> cho&s;e, to pre&s;erve the memory of the Seventy Souls <HI>Jacob</HI> brought with him into <HI>Egypt.</HI> The&s;e pa&s;&s;ages, <HI>Ye &s;hall &s;it on Twelve Thrones,</HI> and <HI>your Names are written in the Book of Life:</HI> and the Number of 144000, being the product of 12 times 12, by allu&s;ion to the Twelve Tribes, do all borrow their Light from tho&s;e ancient Hi&s;to|ries.</P>
<P>Throughout the <HI>New Te&s;tament</HI> we find no|thing but a continual allu&s;ion to the &s;tate of the Jews; all tho&s;e Idea's of the <HI>Liberty of the Sons of God</HI> do allude to the Ceremony of their Jubilee. The <HI>Fir&s;t born</HI> mentioned there, and the <HI>Kingdom of Prie&s;ts,</HI> are not to be under&s;tood but by ca&s;t|ing our eye on the <HI>Old Testament.</HI> If Je&s;us Chri&s;t be called <HI>the chief Corner Stone,</HI> if <HI>Peter</HI> be called <HI>a Stone or Rock,</HI> Believers <HI>living. Stones,</HI> and the Apo&s;tles <HI>Foundations,</HI> it is by way of allu&s;ion to
<PB N="181" REF="247">the manner in which the Twelve Princes or Heads of the Tribes did contribute towards the building of the Temple, and to the manner of the building of it. If the Children of <HI>Zebedee</HI> are called <HI>Boanerges,</HI> 'tis with reference to the &s;econd of <HI>Haggai, Yet once, and I will &s;hake the Hea|vens and the Earth.</HI> That the Heathens are de|&s;cribed as a people <HI>afar off,</HI> and what is &s;poken concerning the <HI>Wall of Partition,</HI> hath a vi&s;ible re&s;pect to the <HI>Gentiles,</HI> being prohibited to enter into the holy place of the Temple.</P>
<P>If I would in&s;tance in all the my&s;tical Relati|ons of the one Volume to the other, I might &s;ay that there appears a &s;ingular conformity between them, even in tho&s;e things which &s;eem mo&s;t op|po&s;ite. <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> the fir&s;t and great Mini&s;ter of the Law, had a &s;tammering &s;peech, <HI>Zachary</HI> the Fa|ther of S. <HI>John the Bapti&s;t</HI> was &s;truck dumb, when he was to pronounce the &s;olemn Ble&s;&s;ing to the people; where as Je&s;us Chri&s;t on the contrary has this character given of him, that <HI>never man &s;pake like him.</HI> God &s;aid at the beginning, <HI>Encrea&s;e and multiply,</HI> he repeats the &s;ame to <HI>Noah,</HI> in order to the propagation of Mankind, and repleni&s;hing the Earth; Je&s;us Chri&s;t &s;aith, <HI>Go and teach all Nati|ons;</HI> and the Word is con&s;tantly repre&s;ented to us as the Seed of the Regeneration, and Papti&s;m as the Laver or wa&s;hing whereby we acquire a new Birth. We &s;ee <HI>Noah</HI> receiving the Dove into the Ark with an Olive Branch, as a &s;ign of the peace of Heaven, and Je&s;us Chri&s;t receives a like To|ken.</P>
<P>Fire falls down from Heaven on the Sacrifice of <HI>Abel, Noah, Mo&s;es, David, Solomon,</HI> and <HI>Elijah,</HI>
<PB N="182" REF="248">as a Token that God accepted their Offerings; and God &s;ends the &s;ame Mark of his Favour on the day of <HI>Penteco&s;t,</HI> to declare that the Sacrifice of Je&s;us Chri&s;t was mo&s;t acceptable to him.</P>
<P>God had forbid the High Prie&s;t to rend his Clothes on any occa&s;ion what&s;oever, that rending of Garments involving a My&s;tery, as appears from the Hi&s;tory of <HI>Jeroboam;</HI> and yet we &s;ee, that the High Prie&s;t rent his Cloaths at the Con|demnation of our Saviour, and thereby violated for ever the Authority of his Prie&s;thood, where|as on the contrary we find the Garments of our Lord and Saviour were left whole and entire, to &s;ignifie to us the Eternity of his Prie&s;thood. We &s;ee that the Ear of <HI>Malchus</HI> the High Prie&s;t's Ser|vant was cut off by S. <HI>Peter,</HI> and that Je&s;us Chri&s;t re&s;tored it again, to &s;hew that the Synagogue had lo&s;t the true Faith, and Je&s;us Chri&s;t alone was a|ble to re&s;tore it. We &s;ee the holy place in the Temple opened at the Death of Chri&s;t, by the rending of the Vail, which &s;ignified that the Ce|remonial Law was then to lo&s;e its force and au|thority.</P>
<P>But the Ob&s;ervations already made are &s;uffici|ent to make out what I intend, without having recour&s;e to the&s;e My&s;teries; and I believe no man can make &s;uch Reflexions, without being per|&s;waded that &s;o great a conformity of Idea's, mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arily imply a perfect unity of de&s;ign; now it is impo&s;&s;ible to &s;uppo&s;e, that this unity of de|&s;ign &s;hould be &s;o con&s;tantly ob&s;erved by different Authors, who lived at &s;uch a di&s;tance of times, places, and intere&s;ts, without being convinced of a perpetual Divine guidance.</P>
<PB N="183" REF="248">
<P>I acknowledge that in the <HI>New Testament</HI> there may be found &s;ome Deci&s;ions which &s;eem wholly oppo&s;ite to tho&s;e of the <HI>Old:</HI> For in&s;tance, We find there a total abrogation of the Ceremonial Law; but fora&s;much as all tho&s;e Ob&s;ervations had no other u&s;e, but to di&s;tingui&s;h the <HI>Jews</HI> from all other Nations of the Earth, and by this means to make the Me&s;&s;iah known to the <HI>Jews</HI> a|mong&s;t whom he was to be born; &s;o it is obvious to conceive that all tho&s;e Ceremonies were of cour&s;e to be aboli&s;hed, after that the Me&s;&s;iah was come into the World, and that if we con&s;ider things in this view, we &s;hall find no contradiction at all between <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> who e&s;tabli&s;hed the&s;e Cere|monies, and the Apo&s;tles who aboli&s;hed them.</P>
<P>But before we come to confirm the&s;e Grounds, we mu&s;t make it appear, that the Idea's of the Me&s;&s;iah continued very fre&s;h in the minds of the <HI>Jews,</HI> and this &s;hall be the &s;ubject of the follow|ing Chapter.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. II. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>That the Idea's of the Me&s;&s;iah continued very fre&s;h in the Minds of the</HI> Jews <HI>at the time of the Coming of our Saviour Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI></HEAD>
<P>IT would be an ea&s;ie matter for me here to &s;hew that the Idea's of the Me&s;&s;iah were lively in the Minds of the <HI>Jews</HI> before the coming of Je&s;us
<PB N="184" REF="249">Chri&s;t. This appears from the Fable which the Rabbies told <HI>Origen,</HI> concerning <HI>Zedechiah,</HI> and <HI>Ahiab,</HI> whom the King of <HI>Babylon</HI> burnt, for per&s;wading the Jewi&s;h women, that they were the per&s;ons that were to conceive the Me&s;&s;iah. But I intend to make u&s;e of proofs of a different na|ture.</P>
<P>Now to prove that the Notion of the Me&s;&s;iah was very fre&s;h in the minds of the <HI>Jews,</HI> we need only take notice, that the promi&s;e of God con|cerning him, was the fir&s;t, the mo&s;t important, and repeated with the greate&s;t a&s;&s;iduity in the Books of the Prophets, and con&s;equently it em|ployed them the mo&s;t: God having for this rea|&s;on obliged them to read the Books of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> every Sabbath, to &s;ing the <HI>P&s;alms</HI> of <HI>David,</HI> and to ex|amine the Writings of the Prophets, where the promi&s;e of the Me&s;&s;iah was a thou&s;and times re|peated.</P>
<P>We may add a great deal of light to this Ob&s;er|vation, if we con&s;ider that the Circum&s;tances of the <HI>Jews</HI> at that time, engaged them to give more diligent heed to what the Prophets had declared; and by weighing &s;everal Matters of Fact &s;et down in the Go&s;pel, to &s;hew the Univer&s;al effect of the lively impre&s;&s;ion of this Notion of the Me&s;&s;i|ah on the minds of the <HI>Jews.</HI></P>
<P>Without doubt the E&s;tate of the <HI>Jews</HI> at that time, being equally oppre&s;t by the power of the <HI>Romans,</HI> and that of <HI>Herod,</HI> could not but put them upon a careful examining of the promi&s;es, which God had &s;o often vouch&s;afed them con|cerning the Me&s;&s;iah; and the rather becau&s;e God had often repre&s;ented to them the Kingdom of
<PB N="185" REF="249">the Me&s;&s;iah as a Temporal Kingdom, which was to deliver them from the power of their Ene|mies.</P>
<P>This appears very evident in the Go&s;pel on &s;eve|ral occa&s;ions. We find that the people of <HI>Jeru&s;a|lem</HI> and <HI>Herod</HI> were troubled at the News of the Birth of Je&s;us, as that which would probably cau&s;e great Troubles and De&s;olations before the King|dom of the Me&s;&s;iah could &s;ubdue the <HI>Romans</HI> as well as <HI>Herod:</HI> One &s;ee's that the Multitudes would have taken Chri&s;t and proclaimed him their King, and &s;ubmitted them&s;elves to him as the true Me&s;|&s;iah: One &s;ee's that Chri&s;t's own Di&s;ciples, both before and after his Death, talked agreeably to the&s;e popular Idea's. What el&s;e can we make of that pa&s;&s;age of the Mother of <HI>James</HI> and <HI>John,</HI> when &s;he begs for them the chief places in his Kingdom? When the Apo&s;tles di&s;pute which of them &s;hould be the greate&s;t, was it not an effect of the &s;ame cau&s;e? Did not the Apo&s;tles, when they went to <HI>Emaus,</HI> di&s;cour&s;e at the &s;ame rate? did not they expre&s;s them&s;elves with much grief and trouble, before they were in&s;tructed in the mo&s;t &s;ublime Truths of the Go&s;pel? <HI>But we tru&s;t|ed that it had been he which &s;hould have redeemed</HI> I&s;|rael.</P>
<P>It is al&s;o very ob&s;ervable, That <HI>John the Bap|ti&s;t</HI> appears and admini&s;ters the Sacrament of Bapti&s;m at this time: This his practice gave the <HI>Jews</HI> occa&s;ion to take him for the Me&s;&s;iah; but what ground had they to think &s;o? &s;urely from what they had read in <HI>Ezechiel, Chap.</HI> XXXVI. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 25. And indeed, when the great Councel of the <HI>Jews</HI> deputed &s;ome per&s;ons to him, they
<PB N="186" REF="250">charged them to know of him whether he were the Me&s;&s;iah, or no; and if not, why he exerci|&s;ed a Function, which that Prophecy &s;eem'd to appropriate to the Me&s;&s;iah him&s;elf, in calling him the Angel of the Covenant.</P>
<P>The &s;ame Truth may al&s;o be collected from what is related to us concerning the Opinions of the <HI>Jews</HI> about the Per&s;on of Chri&s;t; <HI>whom,</HI> &s;aith our Saviour, <HI>do people &s;ay I am?</HI> And the Apo&s;tles an|&s;wer, That &s;ome &s;aid he was <HI>John the Bapti&s;t,</HI> others <HI>Jeremiah,</HI> others <HI>Elias,</HI> and others again <HI>that Pro|phet,</HI> that is to &s;ay the Me&s;&s;iah, who is &s;o called by way of Excellence in the XVIII. of <HI>Deuterono|my.</HI> And we find that when Je&s;us Chri&s;t &s;til'd him&s;elf <HI>the Son of Man,</HI> the Multitudes ea&s;ily con|ceived that he alluded to the Seventh of <HI>Daniel,</HI> where the Me&s;&s;iah is &s;o called.</P>
<P>We perceive al&s;o from many other places in the Go&s;pel, That the Multitudes were very well acquainted with tho&s;e pa&s;&s;ages in the <HI>Old Testa|ment,</HI> which were commonly applyed to the Me&s;&s;iah: <HI>The Me&s;&s;iah, when he appears,</HI> &s;ay they, <HI>will he do greater &s;igns than this Man doth?</HI> Others are offended becau&s;e Je&s;us Chri&s;t was of <HI>Nazareth,</HI> arguing from thence that he could not be the Me&s;&s;iah: Others maintain that when the Me&s;|&s;iah &s;hould come, it would not be known whence he was; and others again a&s;&s;erted, that the Me&s;|&s;iah was to continue for ever. All which is an evident &s;ign that the Idea's of the Me&s;&s;iah were very familiar among the <HI>Jews.</HI></P>
<P>This mu&s;t have been &s;o of nece&s;&s;ity, becau&s;e the <HI>Samaritans</HI> them&s;elves were po&s;&s;e&s;t with the &s;ame Idea's, tho' they had not &s;o great an extent
<PB N="187" REF="250">of Light as the <HI>Jews</HI> had. They did not indeed altogether reject the Writings of the Prophets, but rather &s;tudied them with care, their Animo&s;i|ty again&s;t the <HI>Jews,</HI> and their Jealou&s;ie upon ac|count of the promi&s;e, of the place of the Temple, and other things in que&s;tion, do manife&s;tly &s;hew that the Characters of the Me&s;&s;iah were known to them, and that they were exactly informed in that whole Matter.</P>
<P>One ought al&s;o to take notice, That as the A|po&s;tles call that <HI>the fulne&s;s of time,</HI> becau&s;e the times &s;et down by the Prophets were almo&s;t expired, and the Scepter was already departed from <HI>Ju|dah,</HI> the Weeks of <HI>Daniel</HI> were ended, and the Kingdoms of <HI>Syria</HI> and <HI>Egypt</HI> were overturn'd; &s;o there were &s;everal good men, who were filled with an expectation of the Me&s;&s;iah. <HI>Anna</HI> and <HI>Simeon</HI> are repre&s;ented to us, as tho&s;e who by their &s;tudy of the Holy Scriptures, had di&s;cover'd that the time of the coming of the Me&s;&s;iah was near at hand, much in the &s;ame manner as <HI>Daniel</HI> is repre&s;ented to us to have learnt from the Pro|phecy of <HI>Jeremiah,</HI> that the Captivity was almo&s;t expired.</P>
<P>I &s;hall add one Argument more which &s;eems beyond exception, That many per&s;ons were found about the time of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, who were either drawn by others into an opinion of their being the Me&s;&s;iah, or who of them&s;elves de&s;ired to be accounted &s;o. Thus we are told that the Flatte|rers of <HI>Herod</HI> the Great gave him the Title of <HI>Me&s;&s;iah.</HI> Of this number were <HI>Theudas</HI> and <HI>Judas Gaulonites,</HI> with &s;ome others: Thus al&s;o &s;oon af|ter &s;ome applyed the Prophecies concerning the
<PB N="188" REF="251">Me&s;&s;iah to <HI>Ve&s;pa&s;ian</HI> the Emperour, becau&s;e he had been cho&s;en in the Ea&s;t. This is atte&s;ted by <HI>Jo&s;ephus, Tacitus,</HI> and <HI>Suetonius,</HI> who a&s;&s;ure us, that the Notion of the promi&s;ed Me&s;&s;iah, as of a great King, was very common in the Ea&s;t, and not unknown in the We&s;t.</P>
<P>We know that under the Emperour <HI>Adrian Barchochab</HI> was the cau&s;e of a terrible Sedition, by making the <HI>Jews</HI> believe that he was the Me&s;&s;iah: And we cannot be ignorant how many &s;uch like Impo&s;tors have been &s;ince, who have abu&s;ed the Credulity of the <HI>Jews,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rycaut.</HI> Turk. Hi&s;t. Vol. 2. p. 174. &amp;c.</NOTE> even until <HI>Sabatai Sevi,</HI> who deluded them about One and twenty years &s;ince.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, We cannot but think that this Idea of the Me&s;&s;iah was always fre&s;h among the <HI>Jews,</HI> becau&s;e we find that from that time they have continually di&s;puted with the Chri&s;tians about this Matter; becau&s;e they tell us of two Me&s;&s;iah's, one the Son of <HI>Judah,</HI> and the other the Son of <HI>Jo&s;eph;</HI> and becau&s;e in all places of the World whither they are &s;cattered, they &s;peak of the Me&s;|&s;iah in their Commentaries on the Scriptures, in their Sermons, in their publick Prayers, and their common Conver&s;ation.</P>
<P>Surely if any time can be &s;uppo&s;ed, wherein they might have lo&s;t their knowledge and di|&s;tinct hope of the Me&s;&s;iah, it mu&s;t be &s;ince the time appointed for his coming is expired, when by the Chri&s;tians in&s;ulting over their vain Expe|ctations, they have been oblig'd (finding them|&s;elves di&s;appointed by Prophetical Calculations) to &s;et up that ra&s;h Maxim, <HI>Cur&s;ed is he that com|putes the times.</HI> And therefore it is evident, that
<PB N="189" REF="251">the&s;e Notions were much more lively in them, when their hopes were well grounded, and when they might pretend to &s;ee them accompli&s;h|ed.</P>
<P>It is no le&s;s certain, that the Model appointed by God, by means of which the Me&s;&s;iah might be certainly known, did &s;till &s;ub&s;i&s;t in the &s;ame manner as God at fir&s;t had formed it: but that I may give a full light to this Capital Truth; I &s;hall tye my &s;elf to con&s;ider the &s;everal Arguments for it di&s;tinctly; and &s;hall begin with tho&s;e which &s;hew that the Common-wealth of the <HI>Jews</HI> did &s;ub&s;i&s;t according to the Divine Model; and then proceed to others which demon&s;trate, that God had therein pre&s;erved all the Di&s;tinctions nece&s;&s;a|ry to his de&s;ign.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. III. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>That the Common wealth of the</HI> Jews <HI>did &s;till &s;ub&s;ist, and follow the Model which God had formed, in order to the certain knowing of the Me&s;&s;iah.</HI></HEAD>
<P>THere are two things which &s;eem to contra|dict this Propo&s;ition; the one is the over|turning of the Jewi&s;h State, the other is the cor|ruption of their Religion; but it is ea&s;ie to remove both the&s;e Difficulties.</P>
<PB N="190" REF="252">
<P>For, the overturning of the State of the <HI>Jews,</HI> did not draw along with it that of the Scripture, and the Laws on which it was founded, and after|wards governed. Wherefore the ca&s;e of this Re|publick is not the &s;ame with that of <HI>Athens</HI> or <HI>Lacedemon,</HI> which at pre&s;ent &s;ub&s;i&s;t no where, but in Books, becau&s;e there are no people now that follow the Laws of the ancient Legi&s;lators of <HI>Sparta</HI> or <HI>Athens.</HI></P>
<P>But on the contrary, we find the <HI>Jews</HI> in all parts of the World, keeping the&s;e Laws with great carefulne&s;s, &s;tudying them with the great|e&s;t application, and flattering them&s;elves that God will one day re-e&s;tabli&s;h them in <HI>Judea,</HI> which they expect by means of the Me&s;&s;iah, whom God at fir&s;t promi&s;ed to them.</P>
<P>'Tis now above 1600 years that they have been &s;cattered throughout the World, and yet we find not that their condition has made them change their Mea&s;ures or Hopes; and th&ocirc; they have al|ready been deceived by a great number of fal&s;e Me&s;&s;iahs, yet do not they for all that look upon the condition of their Common-wealth as irre|coverable.</P>
<P>Now, if during &s;o long a Series of Ages, they have kept their Laws with &s;o much carefulne&s;s, if they &s;till religiou&s;ly ob&s;erve all tho&s;e Laws which could be kept without the Bounds of the Holy Land; who &s;ees not but that in all probabi|lity they mu&s;t have kept them more exactly at the time of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and before his coming, when they could keep them with much more ea&s;e than &s;ince that time, and that for many con&s;iderable Rea&s;ons.</P>
<PB N="191" REF="252">
<P>For fir&s;t, Their Di&s;per&s;ion then was in one on|ly Nation, whereas now they are &s;cattered a|mong&s;t Heathens, Chri&s;tians, and Mahome|tans.</P>
<P N="2">2. They had then Prophets who exhorted them to the ob&s;ervance of the&s;e Laws, which now they have wanted for &s;o many Ages.</P>
<P N="3">3. They had often Princes that were very fa|vourable to them, &s;uch as <HI>Cyrus</HI> and <HI>Darius,</HI> who ordered that Sacrifices &s;hould be offered for them|&s;elves, in the Temple at <HI>Jeru&s;alem;</HI> and <HI>Pompey</HI> afterwards had the &s;ame inclinations for them; whereas &s;ince the time of their Di&s;per&s;ion, they have &s;carcely met with any one Prince that has been favourable to them, if we except <HI>Julian</HI> the Apo&s;tate, who from an effect of his hatred again&s;t the Chri&s;tians, did vainly &s;trive to re-e&s;tabli&s;h them.</P>
<P N="4">4. They had a Temple to which the whole &s;tate of their Republick was fixed. <HI>Herod</HI> about the time of our Saviour had mo&s;t magnificently repaired it, whereas now for &s;o many Ages they have neither Temple nor Altar.</P>
<P N="5">5. They had High-Prie&s;ts among&s;t them, that were entru&s;ted with the Soveraign Power, and were Kings of their Nation, whereas now they have neither King nor Prince of their Faith.</P>
<P N="6">6. Their Laws being tran&s;lated into <HI>Greek</HI> &s;ince the time of <HI>Ptolemy Philadelphus,</HI> it gave occa&s;ion to an extraordinary Jealou&s;ie between the <HI>Jews</HI> of <HI>Egypt,</HI> who had the Text of the Scripture in <HI>Greek,</HI> and between tho&s;e of <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> who had it in <HI>Hebrew,</HI> whereas now all this is altogether cea&s;ed, all the <HI>Jews</HI> now for many Ages making u&s;e only of the <HI>Hebrew</HI> Text.</P>
<PB N="192" REF="253">
<P>Since therefore we find that they without Pro|phets, without King, out of their own Country, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> have ob&s;erved the&s;e Laws for &s;o many Ages, notwith&s;tanding their di&s;per&s;ion throughout all places, and among&s;t all &s;orts of people; how much rather may we conceive they did &s;o &s;ince the time of <HI>Ezra,</HI> who placed the Books of the <HI>Old Te&s;tament</HI> in the order in which we have them at this day? There are only 542 years, from the time of the return of their Captivity, which hap|pened in the year 3468, to the Birth of Chri&s;t; and but 259 years from their return, to the tran&s;la|tion of the 70, and we know that above 1600 years are pa&s;t &s;ince their general Di&s;per&s;ion.</P>
<P>Moreover, it appears that the <HI>Romans</HI> had &s;o well pre&s;erved the form of the Jewi&s;h Govern|ment from <HI>Pompey</HI>'s time, as well as that of their Religion, that a <HI>Roman</HI> General &s;ent to demand a kind of permi&s;&s;ion of the <HI>Jews,</HI> to let him pa&s;s with the <HI>Roman</HI> Eagles through <HI>Syria.</HI> We know that tho&s;e Eagles were never &s;et up at <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> but it was at a time when a <HI>Roman</HI> Commander intended to &s;tir up the <HI>Jews</HI> to Sedition, and by that means to make the Emperour their Enemy. Yea, we find that tho' the <HI>Romans</HI> re&s;erved to them&s;elves the power of the Sword, yet they permitred to the <HI>Jews</HI> the Judgment of Zeal, again&s;t tho&s;e whom they called Hereticks, whom they tore to pieces, to execute the rigour of the Law.</P>
<P>If we find that a <HI>Roman</HI> Procon&s;ul would not concern him&s;elf with Que&s;tions of their Law a|ri&s;ing without the Bounds of their own Country, how much rather may we judge that they enjoy'd
<PB N="193" REF="253">an entire liberty within <HI>Judea?</HI> And indeed we find the Prie&s;ts &s;ending their.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts IX. 4.</NOTE> Commi&s;&s;ioners to <HI>Dama&s;cus</HI> again&s;t the Chri&s;tians, without doubt with de&s;ign to execute the Law again&s;t Impo&s;tors. S. <HI>Paul</HI> was beaten &s;everal times with forty &s;tripes &s;ave one, which could not be upon any other pretence, but to obey the Law in that matter.</P>
<P>The&s;e proofs are &s;ufficient to make out that the Commonwealth of the <HI>Jews</HI> &s;ub&s;i&s;ted &s;till in the &s;ame manner as God in&s;tituted it.</P>
<P>And as for what concerns the overthrow of their Religion, as God had interwoven the Laws that regulated it, with tho&s;e of their Government, &s;o that their Religion was nothing el&s;e but a Re|ligious Policy; it is evident that their Govern|ment continuing at the time of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, we cannot doubt, but that their Religion, notwith|&s;tanding the corruption which the Phari&s;ees and Traditionary <HI>Jews,</HI> whom Chri&s;t continually cen&s;ures, had introduced, did &s;till continue pure enough, to an&s;wer the Model which God had framed.</P>
<P>They rejected the <HI>Samaritans,</HI> as appears from the IV of S. <HI>John,</HI> and looked upon them as He|reticks, having no Commerce with them.</P>
<P>They lived in a perfect Alienation from the Heathen; 'tis with this S. <HI>Peter</HI> begins his Di&s;cour&s;e to the A&s;&s;embly at the Hou&s;e of <HI>Cornelius, Acts</HI> X. 28.</P>
<P>They lived in an exact Ob&s;ervance of the So|lemn Fea&s;ts which God had pre&s;cribed them, <HI>viz.</HI> the Pa&s;&s;over, Penteco&s;t, the Fea&s;t of Expiation and of Tabernacles.</P>
<P>They ob&s;erved the Fea&s;ts which their Ance|&s;tors
<PB N="194" REF="254">had joyn'd to the&s;e upon extraordinary Oc|ca&s;ions, as that of the Dedication, that of <HI>Lots,</HI> and &s;ome Fa&s;ts which they kept then, as they do to this day. This appears by the Hi&s;tory of the Go&s;pel, and by the Acts of the Apo&s;tles.</P>
<P>They a&s;&s;i&s;ted at the&s;e &s;olemn Fe&s;tivals with much regularity.</P>
<P>They did not till their Ground in the Seventh year, according to God's Command, which made the Heathen Princes which were over them, to relea&s;e them from paying any Tribute that year, as may be &s;een in <HI>Jo&s;ephus</HI> and other Authors.</P>
<P>They taught the Law in their Synagogues, and that every Sabbath day.</P>
<P>They were &s;o &s;crupulous in their ob&s;ervation of the Sabbath, that they accu&s;ed our Saviour for healing the Sick on that day.</P>
<P>It appears that Lepers were &s;eque&s;tred, and that they ob&s;erved the di&s;tinction of the &s;everal kinds of Lepro&s;ie, according to the Law of <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI></P>
<P>We find by the Hi&s;tory of the <HI>Gadarenes,</HI> that Swine were looked upon as unclean Bea&s;ts.</P>
<P>It is certain that they paid the Tribute which was appointed for the u&s;e of the Temple, accord|ing to the Law of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and the re-e&s;tabli&s;hment of that Cu&s;tom, which we find II <HI>Chron.</HI> XXIV. 5. <HI>Jo&s;ephus</HI> tells us that this practi&s;e was continued till the de&s;truction of the Temple.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Antiq. XVIII. Ch. XII.</NOTE> We meet with the &s;ame in <HI>Tacitus,</HI> and other Heathen Authors of that time.</P>
<P>I acknowledge that at the &s;ame time they were extreamly corrupt in their Doctrines, with which Chri&s;t upbraids the Phari&s;ees and Saduces: but this corruption re&s;pected rather their Morals,
<PB N="195" REF="254">than the Externals of their Religion; as appears plainly from hence, that Je&s;us Chri&s;t upbraids the Phari&s;ees with their tithing Mint and Cummin, that is, with their ob&s;ervance of outward Nice|ties, whil&s;t they neglected the very E&s;&s;entials of Piety.</P>
<P>They held that Heathens could not pa&s;s for their Neighbours, from whence it would follow, that God did not forbid them to bear fal&s;e wit|ne&s;s again&s;t a Heathen. Hence al&s;o they conclu|ded that it was lawful for them to kill their Enemies, and this fomented their hatred and a|nimo&s;ity again&s;t all other Nations. It was on this account that the Di&s;ciples of Je&s;us Chri&s;t marvel|led that he talked with a <HI>Samaritan</HI> Woman.</P>
<P>Their Deci&s;ions concerning Adultery were no le&s;s corrupt, which they declared to be no &s;in, &s;o long as it did not proceed to the outward Act; which Opinion of theirs was more gro&s;s than that of many Heathens, who had a truer Idea of the Purity of Heart which God requires of us, as well as that of the Body. But yet this did not alto|gether de&s;troy their Religion, tho' it ob&s;cured the Excellency and Sublimity thereof.</P>
<P>As for the Saduces, be&s;ides that their Errours were only &s;peculative, among&s;t the greate&s;t part of them, it is certain that what the Go&s;pel &s;aith of their denying the Exi&s;tence of Souls and Spi|rits, and the Doctrine of the Re&s;urrection, mu&s;t be under&s;tood with &s;ome qualification, as the Learned have &s;olidly proved, and among&s;t others Dr. <HI>Lightfoot</HI> on the Go&s;pels.</P>
<P>And without repeating tho&s;e things which &s;e|eur'd the pre&s;ervation of their State, and which
<PB N="196" REF="255">al&s;o vi&s;ibly tended to the pre&s;erving of their Re|ligion, I &s;hall only ob&s;erve, That the <HI>Jews</HI> at this day, with very little difference, are found in the &s;ame practices and opinions, as to their Reli|gion, which they had at the time of our Savi|our.</P>
<P>Seeing then, that after &s;o long a time of Six|teen hundred years, we find no greater change in their Belief (though their Traditions are con|&s;iderably encrea&s;ed, the Rules whereof they have infinitely multiplyed, and thereby encrea&s;ed this Corruption) how can it be imagin'd that the Religion of the <HI>Jews</HI> was wholly lo&s;t, or had no being at the time of our Saviour Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>Let this therefore be e&s;tabli&s;hed as a certain Truth, That the Common-wealth of the <HI>Jews</HI> &s;ub&s;i&s;ting entirely, it was ea&s;ie to know, whe|ther the di&s;tinctions which were nece&s;&s;ary to di&s;cover and make known the Me&s;&s;iah, were &s;till found in the &s;tate of the <HI>Jews</HI> and their Religion. This is that I am now going to make out.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="4" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="197" REF="255">
<HEAD>CHAP. IV. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>That all the Di&s;tinctions nece&s;&s;ary for di&s;co|vering of the Me&s;&s;iah, &s;till continued in the State of the</HI> Jews <HI>at the time of our Lord.</HI></HEAD>
<P>I Do not know whether any man can deny that Circumci&s;ion, which is one of the prin|cipal Marks of the <HI>Jews,</HI> was practi&s;ed at that time; if any one &s;hould dare to di&s;pute this Truth, we need only to repre&s;ent to him, that the main Di&s;pute between the fir&s;t Di&s;ciples of Je&s;us Chri&s;t and the <HI>Jews,</HI> was about the Ob&s;er|vation of this Ceremony.</P>
<P>Neither were the <HI>Jews</HI> only ob&s;tinate in this Belief, but we find al&s;o that tho&s;e who fir&s;t em|braced the Chri&s;tian Religion, maintained that the Heathens them&s;elves ought to &s;ubmit to the Yoke of Circumci&s;ion, before they could enter into the Divine Covenant, and enjoy the Pri|viledges of Gods People, whom Circumci&s;ion di|&s;tingui&s;hed from the re&s;t of the World.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's that tho' God &s;cattered the Ten Tribes, yet &s;ome of them &s;till remained in <HI>Palestine,</HI> and were di&s;tinctly known as &s;uch. This appears from the <HI>Acts of the Apo&s;tles,</HI> where mention is made of a Widow of the Tribe of <HI>A&s;her,</HI> and S. <HI>Paul</HI> boa&s;ts of his being a <HI>Benjamite.</HI></P>
<P>They upbraided <HI>Herod,</HI> notwith&s;tanding he was their King, with his being an <HI>Edomite,</HI> and not originally a <HI>Jew.</HI></P>
<PB N="198" REF="256">
<P>One &s;ee's that about <HI>Tyre</HI> and <HI>Sidon</HI> there re|mained &s;till a di&s;tinct knowledge of the <HI>Ca|naanites.</HI></P>
<P>It is known that <HI>Galilee</HI> was le&s;s e&s;teemed than <HI>Judea,</HI> becau&s;e many of the <HI>Gentiles</HI> were &s;ettled there, by which means the <HI>Jews</HI> of that Province were obliged to &s;ome Commerce with them, from which tho&s;e who lived more di&s;tinct, thought that they had a right to undervalue tho&s;e that were &s;ettled in <HI>Galilee.</HI></P>
<P>One may al&s;o boldly a&s;&s;ert, That all places were &s;till di&s;tinctly known to what Tribe they did belong. Thus it is ob&s;erved, that <HI>Capernaum</HI> was in the Borders of <HI>Naphthali</HI> and <HI>Zebulun,</HI> that <HI>Bethlehem</HI> was in the Tribe of <HI>Juda,</HI> which is re|lated as a thing publickly known.</P>
<P>It is known that the Prie&s;ts &s;till po&s;&s;e&s;s the Ci|ties which <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> had a&s;&s;igned to them. <HI>Zacharias</HI> the Father of <HI>John the Bapti&s;t</HI> dwelt at <HI>Hebron,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jo&s;h. XXI. 10, 11.</NOTE> a City belonging to the Prie&s;ts in the Tribe of <HI>Juda.</HI></P>
<P>One &s;ee's that even the <HI>Samaritan</HI> Woman had a di&s;tinct knowledge of &s;ome famous places in the Holy Land, as <HI>Jacob</HI>'s Well, and the Po&s;|&s;e&s;&s;ion which he gave to his Son <HI>Jo&s;eph,</HI> and that tho&s;e of her Religion, took a Prejudice a|gain&s;t the <HI>Jews,</HI> becau&s;e <HI>Jacob</HI> had built an Altar at <HI>Sichem.</HI></P>
<P>One &s;ee's that they kept up the Practi&s;e of Re|deeming their Fir&s;t-born, which at this day is &s;till ob&s;erved by the <HI>Jews.</HI></P>
<P>As al&s;o the practi&s;e of Polygamy, which was &s;o common among&s;t them, that S. <HI>Paul</HI> thought him&s;elf obliged to forbid the &s;ame to the Pa&s;tors
<PB N="199" REF="256">of the Chri&s;tian Church, that he might aboli&s;h it by little and little among&s;t tho&s;e that embraced the Doctrine of Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's from the Nineteenth of S. <HI>Matthew,</HI> that Divorces were publickly practi&s;ed among&s;t them, as they are to this day.</P>
<P>If one makes any Reflexion upon the Ob|jection the Sadduces made to our Saviour con|cerning the Woman that &s;ucce&s;&s;ively had &s;even Brothers for her Husbands, we &s;hall perceive that the de&s;ire of Po&s;terity being predominant among&s;t them, was the cau&s;e of the continuance of this Cu&s;tom, which began in the time of the Patri|arch <HI>Judah.</HI></P>
<P>We have el&s;ewhere taken notice of the extream carefulne&s;s of the <HI>Jews,</HI> in pre&s;erving the marks of their Daughters Virginity, which has con|&s;tantly continued down &s;ince the coming of our Saviour Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>The Go&s;pel, which informs us that the <HI>Jews</HI> were deprived of the power of the Sword, doth notwith&s;tanding &s;ufficiently &s;ignifie to us, not only the extream horrour which the <HI>Jews</HI> had conceived again&s;t Adultery; (thus we find Je&s;us Chri&s;t upbraiding the Phari&s;ees, that Adulterers, that is the greate&s;t of &s;inners, entred into the Kingdom of Heaven before them;) but al&s;o that the Laws again&s;t Adulterers and Adultere&s;&s;es were &s;everely executed.</P>
<P>In &s;hort, one &s;ee's that by a Judgment of Zeal, as they call it, they brought a Woman to our Saviour which was taken in Adultery, before they went about to &s;tone her; for one ought to know that the Law only &s;ubjected young Women, who
<PB N="200" REF="257">were defiled after a Contract, to that &s;ort of Pu|ni&s;hment, becau&s;e after they were once contracted they were reputed the Wives of tho&s;e to whom they were betrothed; and &s;uch an one was &s;he of whom we read in the Eighth Ch. of S. <HI>John,</HI> and not a per&s;on actually married, who&s;e puni&s;h|ment, according to the Law, was to be &s;tran|gled.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's that S. <HI>Paul</HI> &s;uppo&s;eth, That the Law which &s;ubjected a Virgin to the Will of her Father, and gave him power to make void her Vows at plea&s;ure, was &s;till in force.</P>
<P>I will not mention here what the Ancients tell us of the di&s;tinction which they &s;ay was made be|tween Virgins and married Women, as well in the Temple, as in their Synagogues; I &s;hall only &s;ay, that this their Tradition is not without ground.</P>
<P>It is known that the order e&s;tabli&s;hed by <HI>Da|vid</HI> for exerci&s;ing the Prie&s;tly Functions was ex|actly ob&s;erved by them: <HI>Zacharias</HI> was of the Cour&s;e of <HI>Abia,</HI> which was the Eighth in order, as is mentioned I <HI>Chron.</HI> XXIV. 11. and he offer|ed Incen&s;e according to the Law, &s;et down <HI>Exod.</HI> XXX. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 7, 8.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's that the <HI>Jews</HI> would not &s;uffer the dead Bodies to hang upon the Cro&s;s after Sun|&s;et, according to what we find was practis'd at the time of <HI>Jo&s;hua,</HI> in pur&s;uance of that Law which we find <HI>Deut.</HI> XXI. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 23.</P>
<P>I only mention the&s;e Particulars now, intend|ing hereafter, that I may avoid tedious Repetiti|ons, to enlarge more expre&s;ly, when I &s;hall come to &s;hew, as to every Article, the exact accom|pli&s;hment
<PB N="201" REF="257">of the ancient Oracles concerning the Me&s;&s;iah, in the per&s;on of our Saviour Je&s;us Chri&s;t; together with the u&s;e of the&s;e di&s;tincti|ons which bar any other, except Je&s;us Chri&s;t, from attributing that Title to him&s;elf, and from abu&s;ing the credulity of the <HI>Jews.</HI></P>
<P>It would be an ea&s;ie matter for me to make a numerous Li&s;t of the&s;e Characters, according to all the different Oracles which God gave to the <HI>Jews</HI> on this &s;ubject, and to ju&s;tifie the exact ful|filling of them in the per&s;on of Je&s;us Chri&s;t. And indeed it was not without cau&s;e that God fur|ni&s;hed his People with &s;o great a number of Pro|phecies upon this Head, his de&s;ign being thereby to give us &s;uch &s;olid Grounds for our Faith, by granting to it all the&s;e &s;upports, that nothing might be able to &s;hake it.</P>
<P>But becau&s;e all of them may be referred to cer|tain Heads, and that an explication of the chief of them is &s;ufficient to illu&s;trate the re&s;t, I &s;hall &s;top there now.</P>
<P>I begin therefore with the Character of the time in which the Me&s;&s;iah was to appear, and in which Je&s;us Chri&s;t did actually come into the World. And it being utterly impo&s;&s;ible for any man to choo&s;e the time of his Birth, any more than to choo&s;e an illu&s;trious Fore-runner, or a certain place where, or a certain Family of which he is to be born, and much le&s;s of a Virgin for his Mo|ther; the&s;e Characters may &s;atisfie us, That all tho&s;e that ever pretended to the Title of the Me&s;|&s;iah, could not rea&s;onably do it.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="5" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="202" REF="258">
<HEAD>CHAP. V.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">That the time pointed out by the Prophets for the coming of the Me&s;&s;iah, is the very time in which Je&s;us Chri&s;t appeared to the World.</HEAD>
<P>I Have made it appear in the Third Part of the&s;e Reflexions, That the Oracle of <HI>Jacob,</HI> Gen. XLIX. 10. <HI>The Scepter &s;hall not depart from</HI> Judah, <HI>nor a Lawgiver from between his feet, until</HI> Shiloh <HI>come;</HI> contains a formal Character of the time in which our Saviour was to appear. I am therefore at pre&s;ent to &s;hew that the <HI>Jews</HI> at that time had wholly lo&s;t the Authority of which they had been po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed for &s;o many Ages, which will mo&s;t evidently appear from the&s;e four Re|flexions on the Hi&s;tory of the Go&s;pel it &s;elf.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t is on the Birth of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, which happened preci&s;ely at the time when <HI>Augu&s;tus</HI> had ordered that all the Subjects of the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire &s;hould be enrolled; when we find that <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> and the Ble&s;&s;ed Virgin went to <HI>Bethlehem,</HI> their own City, to li&s;t their Names in the Regi&s;ter of the <HI>Roman</HI> Magi&s;trate, which is an authentick proof of the Servitude of that People to the <HI>Ro|mans.</HI></P>
<P>It will not be ami&s;s here to take notice, Fir&s;t, Of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> his numbring the People by Divine Authority: Secondly, Of the numbring which <HI>David</HI> undertook, and for which he was exem|plarily
<PB N="203" REF="258">puni&s;hed by God. Now as God cau&s;ed the People to be numbred, to &s;hew that they were all his Subjects, and as <HI>David</HI> numbred them with the &s;ame re&s;pect, &s;o we mu&s;t con&s;ider this action of <HI>Augu&s;tus,</HI> was a publick Te&s;timony of his Soveraignty over the <HI>Jews,</HI> who were &s;ubdu|ed by <HI>Pompey.</HI></P>
<P>When <HI>Tertullian</HI> appealed to the Publick Regi|&s;ters of the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire, in his Apologetick addre&s;&s;ed to the <HI>Roman</HI> Magi&s;trate, who re&s;ided at <HI>Carthage,</HI> he gave a &s;ufficient evidence that we have no rea&s;on to &s;u&s;pect the relation of the Evangeli&s;ts. One may joyn to this the manner of the Relation of the&s;e Facts which the Evan|geli&s;ts give us; as for in&s;tance in the Bapti&s;m of our Lord, they determine the years in which they were done, not only by the year of the High Prie&s;t, but al&s;o by tho&s;e of <HI>Augu&s;tus</HI> and <HI>Tiberius,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>The &s;econd Reflexion may be made upon the Character of one of the Apo&s;tles of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, <HI>Levi</HI> or <HI>Matthew;</HI> who before our Saviour made choice of him was a Publican, and it &s;eems as if our Saviour had on purpo&s;e taken him from that Employ, to be one of his Di&s;ciples, to give a re|al in&s;tance, and &s;uch a one as went every where along with him, that the <HI>Jews</HI> by paying Tribute to the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire, had wholly lo&s;t their Tem|poral Authority, which was to continue till the coming of the Me&s;&s;iah.</P>
<P>Here al&s;o may be made a third Reflexion, which is very natural, upon a pa&s;&s;age related by the Evangeli&s;ts. They come and ask our Savi|our, Whether it were lawful to yield Obedience
<PB N="204" REF="259">to the <HI>Romans?</HI> For &s;ince God had cho&s;en this People, and had given them Judges and Princes of his own choo&s;ing, they had always an extream aver&s;ion for any Foreign Domination: Of this we have an illu&s;trious Example at the time of the Siege of <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> when notwith&s;tanding the Remon&s;trances by <HI>Jeremy,</HI> yet they could not con&s;ent to &s;ubmit. This is that with which they are upbraided, <HI>Ezra</HI> IV. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 19. neither were they more content with this their &s;tate of Bon|dage, at the time of our Saviour; and &s;ome of their Zealots took this occa&s;ion to tempt our Sa|viour, that they might make him odious, which &s;ide &s;oever he &s;hould take. Their que&s;tion is, <HI>Whether it be lawful to pay Tribute to</HI> Ce&s;ar; to which he an&s;wers with a Divine Wi&s;dom; <HI>Ren|der to</HI> Ce&s;ar <HI>the things which are</HI> Ce&s;ars, <HI>and unto God the things that are Gods;</HI> which words being joyned with the Money that he made them pro|duce, which was &s;tampt with the Emperours I|mage, do evidently &s;hew that the <HI>Romans</HI> were Soveraign Lords in <HI>Judea:</HI> It is known that the coyning of Money is the undoubted Mark of the Soveraignty of that Prince who makes it pa&s;s for Current.</P>
<P>But if we mu&s;t give &s;ome further light to the foregoing Reflexions, we need only ob&s;erve the manner of our Saviour's &s;uffering, as it is de&s;cri|bed to us.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Sanhedr.</HI> fol. 24.2.</NOTE> The <HI>Jews</HI> do agree, as may be &s;een in the <HI>Jeru&s;alem Talmud,</HI> that Criminal Judgment was taken away from them Forty years before the de&s;truction of <HI>Jeru&s;alem;</HI> and the Go&s;pel &s;up|po&s;eth the &s;ame thing; the <HI>Jews</HI> did not put Je|&s;us Chri&s;t to death, but they carried him to <HI>Pi|late,</HI>
<PB N="205" REF="259" MS="y">and demanded that he might be crucified. When <HI>Pilate</HI> &s;aid, <HI>Shall I crucifie your King;</HI> they an&s;wer, <HI>We have no other King but</HI> Ce&s;ar, which Confe&s;&s;ion was the Confe&s;&s;ion of the whole Jewi&s;h Nation, who were a&s;&s;embled at the Fea&s;t of Pa&s;&s;over. In &s;hort, One &s;ees that accord|ingly the <HI>Roman</HI> Magi&s;trate pa&s;t Sentence upon him. He was &s;courged before they led him to be crucified, which was a puni&s;hment among&s;t the <HI>Romans.</HI> His Body is not taken from the Cro&s;s, but by permi&s;&s;ion from <HI>Pilate;</HI> and the <HI>Roman</HI> Souldiers are tho&s;e Dogs, that is, prophane Hea|thens who enclo&s;ed him, and tormented him, ac|cording to the De&s;cription which <HI>David</HI> has made, <HI>P&s;alm</HI> XXII.</P>
<P>The <HI>Jews</HI> have here but one An&s;wer to make, which God's former dealing with that People &s;eems &s;omewhat to countenance; which is, That as their Seventy years Captivity under the <HI>Babylonian</HI> Empire did not hinder the differring of the ac|compli&s;hment of that Prophecy of the <HI>Scepters not departing from</HI> Judah, for &s;ome Centuries after the &s;aid Captivity; &s;o neither is it nece&s;&s;ary to &s;uppo&s;e that the Me&s;&s;iah was to &s;ucceed immediately up|on the ending of the Kingdom of the <HI>Maccabee</HI>'s, and upon the lo&s;s of their Liberty under <HI>Pompey.</HI></P>
<P>But here is a very great difference: For fir&s;t, during the Babyloni&s;h Captivity, God &s;till pre|&s;erved among&s;t them &s;ome form of Government, the great Lords of the Country being chiefly car|ried away Captives, whil&s;t the poore&s;t and mo&s;t mi&s;erable were left behind.</P>
<P>Secondly, The Captivity la&s;ted only 70 years, where<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters"> this la&s;t Di&s;per&s;ion hath la&s;ted above <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters">600.</P>
<PB N="206" REF="260" MS="y">
<P>Thirdly, The fir&s;t Captivity did not at all a|boli&s;h tho&s;e nece&s;&s;ary Marks whereby the lawful Lords of <HI>Judea</HI> might be di&s;tingui&s;hed: tho&s;e that were of the Tribe of <HI>Juda,</HI> as well as tho&s;e of o|ther Tribes, were very well known, tho' they were not in po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of the Kingdom; whereas now every thing is confounded among&s;t them; and if one looks into Chri&s;tian Records, he may find that many of the Kindred of Je&s;us Chri&s;t were put to death, becau&s;e they could pretend to the Throne of <HI>Judea.</HI></P>
<P>Moreover, during the Captivity of <HI>Babylon,</HI> they had Prophets among&s;t them who expre&s;ly foretold the end of it, whereas nothing of that kind has yet been &s;een &s;ince the la&s;t de&s;truction of <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> &s;ince which time no Prophet has ap|peared among&s;t them, that advantage being tran&s;|ferred to the Chri&s;tians, &s;ome of which, who next &s;ucceeded our Saviour, did foretel the mo&s;t re|markable Events that were to follow to the end of the World.</P>
<P>But if any one &s;hould be &s;o nice as to call in que&s;tion the Rea&s;ons of the difference here al|ledged; at lea&s;t the <HI>Jews</HI> will find nothing to ob|ject again&s;t the Prophecy of <HI>Daniel,</HI> concerning the Weeks at the end of which the Me&s;&s;iah was to appear, and afterwards to be out off. In &s;hort, if it be true that Je&s;us Chri&s;t was born under the Empire of <HI>Augustus,</HI> it is no le&s;s certain that he entred upon his Mini&s;try in the fifteenth year of <HI>Tiberius,</HI> and was crucified the Nineteenth year of his Reign, that is in the mid&s;t of the Four hundred eighty &s;eventh year from the Twen|tieth year of <HI>Artaxernes,</HI> that is <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 span">
<PB N="279" REF="203" MS="y">before the end of the la&s;t Week pointed out by <HI>Daniel,</HI> as I have &s;hewed in the Eight Chapter of the Third Part of this Book.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="6" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. VI.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">That Je&s;us Chri&s;t had preci&s;ely &s;uch a Fore|runner as the Prophets had de&s;cribed to pre|cede the Me&s;&s;iah.</HEAD>
<P>ONE will ea&s;ily judge that it was agreeable to the greatne&s;s of the Me&s;&s;iah, and the con|temptible &s;tate wherein he was to appear to the World, that he &s;hould have a Forerunner. Ac|cordingly we find <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> expre&s;&s;ing him&s;elf in his manner, the year of the World 3292, almo&s;t 700 years before the Birth of our Saviour. <HI>Ma|lachy</HI> had expre&s;ly foretold the &s;ame in his Pro|phecy, about 420 years before his Appearance. If this be once granted, it is ea&s;ie to conceive that the Son of a Prie&s;t, living without any worldly &s;pendour, and dying a violent death, tho' very glorious for him, was a proper Forerunner to that Je&s;us, who him&s;elf was to be Crucified.</P>
<P>Our bu&s;ine&s;s therefore is to enquire whether the Characters which the Prophets give to the Forerunner of the Me&s;&s;iah, do agree with <HI>John the Bapti&s;t,</HI> in whom the Chri&s;tians maintain that this Prophecy of <HI>Malachy</HI> was fulfilled. This may be ea&s;ily made out.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, <HI>John the Bapti&s;t</HI> was miraculou&s;ly con|ceived
<PB N="94" REF="204">
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<PB N="280" REF="205" MS="y">at a time when his Parents could not pro|mi&s;e them&s;elves any &s;uch thing: The Angel <HI>Ga|briel,</HI> who had declared to <HI>Daniel</HI> the coming of the Me&s;&s;iah, by pointing out to him the number of Weeks, was the Me&s;&s;enger of the Conception of this Forerunner of the Me&s;&s;iah. Several things pa&s;&s;ed at his Birth, and at the time when they gave him his Name, which were very &s;trange, and which could not but be generally known, as well becau&s;e of the Accident which happened to <HI>Zacharias</HI> in the Temple, as of his quality, being a Prie&s;t.</P>
<P>Secondly, The extraordinary Life which S. <HI>John</HI> led, being a <HI>Nazarite,</HI> ought to be carefully con&s;idered. He liv'd in a &s;olitary place, as the Prophet <HI>Elijah</HI> did before him.</P>
<P>Thirdly, His preaching al&s;o had the Character of that ancient Prophet, being Thundring as his was; he neither &s;pared great men, nor tho&s;e who had the reputation of the greate&s;t &s;anctity, as the Phari&s;ees particularly, who&s;e Pride and Hypocri|&s;ie he touched to the quick.</P>
<P>Fourthly, He &s;et forth the coming of the Me&s;|&s;iah as at the door; <HI>The Kingdom of Heaven,</HI> &s;aid he, <HI>is at hand;</HI> alluding to the Seventh of <HI>Daniel,</HI> where the Kingdom of the Me&s;&s;iah is repre&s;ented as a Kingdom which was to come down from Heaven, whereas the former Empires had their ri&s;e from the Earth.</P>
<P>In &s;hort, nothing could be more illu&s;trious than the Mini&s;try of this great Man.</P>
<P>He Baptized publickly for the &s;pace of one year, &s;uch as came to him, &s;olemnly engaging them to Repentance, in hopes of the &s;uddain ap|pearance
<PB N="209" REF="262">pearance of the Me&s;&s;iah. This Ceremony, which was an imitation of their cu&s;tom of initiating Pro|&s;elytes in the Jewi&s;h Religion, was plainly an E&s;|&s;ay to e&s;tabli&s;h a new Religion, or at lea&s;t to re|form tho&s;e Corruptions which time had introdu|ced into the Jewi&s;h Religion.</P>
<P>In a word, we find him &s;o generally followed, that the great Councel of the <HI>Jews</HI> thought fit to &s;end Deputies to him, to know whether he were not the Me&s;&s;iah they expected: This great Man was &s;o far from abu&s;ing the great Credit he had gain'd, that he &s;olemnly prote&s;ted, That he was only the Forerunner of the Me&s;&s;iah, who was al|ready come, but was as yet concealed in the mid&s;t of them.</P>
<P>His Glory became &s;o illu&s;trious, that it &s;tirr'd up jealou&s;ie in the Mind of <HI>Herod,</HI> who ca&s;t him into Pri&s;on, and at la&s;t cau&s;ed his Head to be cut off in the Ca&s;tle of <HI>Macherom,</HI> to &s;atisfie the lewd <HI>Herodias,</HI> who&s;e Marriage, or rather Ince&s;t, with <HI>Herod</HI> he had reproved.</P>
<P>Before S. <HI>John</HI> was beheaded, he &s;ends his Di&s;|ciples to Je&s;us Chri&s;t, to inform him&s;elf whether he were the Me&s;&s;iah; which our Saviour proves to them by the Miracles which he wrought in their pre&s;ence, and by the Te&s;timony of the Pro|phet <HI>I&s;aiah,</HI> which S. <HI>John</HI> had before alledged as a proof of his Call.</P>
<P>All the&s;e Facts were &s;o illu&s;trious, and &s;o well known, that S. <HI>John</HI> con&s;tantly pa&s;&s;ed for a great Prophet among&s;t the <HI>Jews,</HI> the Phari&s;ees them|&s;elves not daring to que&s;tion it: He received pub|lick Deputations from the <HI>Jews,</HI> who demanded the Rea&s;on of his Mini&s;try, and he him&s;elf &s;ent
<PB N="210" REF="263">one to Je&s;us Chri&s;t, that his Di&s;ciples might be acquainted with him, and that they might give him a &s;econd publick Te&s;timony; and la&s;t of all he dies a glorious Martyr for his Purity, after he had made a va&s;t number of Di&s;ciples, who were &s;o well di&s;per&s;ed in all places, that S. <HI>Luke</HI> tells us in the <HI>Acts,</HI> that &s;ome of them were found in <HI>A&s;ia,</HI> who received the Go&s;pel and the Gifts of the Spirit, in which they had been as it were in|itiated already by the Bapti&s;m of S. <HI>John.</HI></P>
<P>It appears afterwards that S. <HI>John</HI> was look'd upon as the Forerunner of the Me&s;&s;iah; Je&s;us Chri&s;t &s;aith he was the greate&s;t of all the Pro|phets; and when <HI>Herod</HI> heard of the Reputation of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, he &s;uppo&s;ed that S. <HI>John</HI> was rai&s;ed from the dead.</P>
<P>The <HI>Jews</HI> not conceiving that <HI>John the Bapti&s;t</HI> was the Forerunner of the Me&s;&s;iah, becau&s;e they under&s;tood the Prophecy of <HI>Malachy</HI> literally,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mal. IV. 5.</NOTE> which al&s;o made the LXX add to the Text the word <HI>Thisbite,</HI> in the pa&s;&s;age of <HI>Malachy;</HI> there|fore Je&s;us Chri&s;t declares that it was indeed he of whom <HI>Malachy</HI> had &s;poken.</P>
<P>I acknowledge that <HI>John the Bapti&s;t</HI> did not do any Miracle; but then he uttered 1. So plain an Oracle concerning the miraculous effu&s;ion of the Gifts of the Holy Gho&s;t upon the Di&s;ciples, that we find nothing &s;o great or &s;o clear in all the an|cient Prophecies; <HI>He that comes after me,</HI> &s;aith he, <HI>&s;hall baptize you with the Holy Gho&s;t, and with Fire.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. He gave a &s;econd Oracle, tho' not &s;o plain as the former, concerning the de&s;truction of <HI>Je|ru&s;alem; Who&s;e fan is in his hand, and he will through|ly
<PB N="211" REF="263">purge his floor, and will burn up the Chaff with Fire.</HI></P>
<P>The&s;e two Oracles contain the end of the old Di&s;pen&s;ation, and the beginning of the new; the miraculous Gifts of the Spirit were given to facilitate the publi&s;hing of the Go&s;pel among the <HI>Gentiles;</HI> and the de&s;truction of <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> and of the Temple, happened as well to puni&s;h the Crime which the <HI>Jews</HI> had committed when they put the Me&s;&s;iah to death; as to take away all their pretences of believing that the Me&s;&s;iah was not come, who was to appear whil&s;t that Temple &s;tood.</P>
<P>But before I conclude this Chapter, I mu&s;t ob&s;erve three or four things, which are very ne|ce&s;&s;ary to confirm the Authority of the Te&s;timo|ny which this Forerunner of the Me&s;&s;iah hath gi|ven to Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>It is a Maxim among&s;t the <HI>Jews,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Maimonid.</HI> de fundam. legis.</NOTE> That he who is acknowledg'd for a Prophet, may confirm the Authority of another, by atte&s;ting him to be a true Prophet. And this is that which S. <HI>John</HI> did to Chri&s;t; he was generally accounted a Prophet, and he atte&s;ted that Je&s;us Chri&s;t was &s;o. This was that which confounded the Elders of the <HI>Jews,</HI> when they demanded of our Saviour by what Authority <HI>John</HI> acted; Je&s;us Chri&s;t an|&s;wered their que&s;tion with another, Whether S. <HI>John</HI> had a call from God?</P>
<P>The fir&s;t Ob&s;ervation therefore is, That we cannot accu&s;e him of acting underhand with Je&s;us Chri&s;t, for we do not find any corre&s;pon|dence kept up between them; one of them was the Son of a Prie&s;t, the other of a Carpenter's
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<PB N="212" REF="266">Wife; the one dwelt in <HI>Judea,</HI> the other in <HI>Gali|lee;</HI> the one concealed him&s;elf, whil&s;t the others Reputation had got him a great many Di&s;ciples. The Di&s;ciples of the one were very jealous of the Di&s;ciples of the other, and endeavoured to in|&s;pire their Ma&s;ter with the jealou&s;ie that po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed them&s;elves.</P>
<P>The &s;econd is, That the Di&s;ciples of Je&s;us are the per&s;ons that wrote the Hi&s;tory of <HI>John the Bapti&s;t,</HI> which they do as tho&s;e who were con|cern'd for his Glory and Reputation, tho' at fir&s;t they did not &s;tand in the lea&s;t by him, but rather by that means inflamed. <HI>Herod</HI>'s hatred again&s;t them, who contributed to the death of S. <HI>John,</HI> as well as of Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>The third is, That when S. <HI>John</HI> was beheaded, who never had any corre&s;pondence with Je&s;us Chri&s;t, it is extravagant to conceive, that the Di&s;ciples of Je&s;us Chri&s;t &s;hould have forged the Te&s;timony which they &s;ay this great man gave to Chri&s;t, becau&s;e this would have been to employ the Authority of a Man, who never having wrought any Miracles, and being long &s;ince be|headed by the order of <HI>Herod,</HI> &s;eem'd to be quite forgotten.</P>
<P>The fourth is, That it is not probable that they could ever entertain a de&s;ign of impo&s;ing on the World in &s;uch a matter as this, which related to publick Facts known to all <HI>Judea,</HI> to all the Prie&s;ts, yea to the whole Nation a&s;&s;embled at their pub|lick Fea&s;ts, to <HI>Herod</HI> the King, and to the Di&s;ci|ples of <HI>John</HI> them&s;elves, who would not have been wanting to refute and convince them, where|as on the contrary we &s;ee, that by the di&s;po&s;ition
<PB N="213" REF="266">which S. <HI>John</HI> had wrought in them, they were ea&s;ily won to the Faith of Chri&s;t. This is evident from the Example of <HI>Apollos</HI> a Di&s;ciple of <HI>John the Bapti&s;t</HI>'s Di&s;ciples, who became afterwards &s;o ex|cellent a Preacher of the Chri&s;tian Religion.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="7" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. VII. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>That Je&s;us Chri&s;t was born of the Family of</HI> David, <HI>then reduced to a mean Condition, as had been already foretold by the Pro|phets.</HI></HEAD>
<P>WE have con&s;idered the time in which our Saviour was to be born; let us now &s;peak of the Family from whence he was to proceed. It has been proved already, that this promi&s;e was made to the Family of <HI>David</HI> by <HI>Nathan</HI> the Pro|phet, 2 <HI>Sam.</HI> VII. 12. I <HI>Chron.</HI> XVII. 11. in the Year of the World 2959. <HI>David</HI> repeats this his hope, <HI>P&s;alm</HI> LXXXIX. 4. and <HI>P&s;alm</HI> CXXXII. 11. And about the Year of the World 3292 the Prophet <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> adds further, that the Me&s;&s;iah &s;hould be in a de&s;picable condition.</P>
<P>There are four things which fully confirm this Truth.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t is the Kindred which was between <HI>Elizabeth</HI> and the Ble&s;&s;ed Virgin, whence it ap|pear'd that her Relations were of the Tribe of <HI>Ju|da,</HI> and that &s;he was known to be of the Family of <HI>David.</HI></P>
<PB N="214" REF="267">
<P>One ought to ob&s;erve here a thing, which tho' at fir&s;t &s;ight &s;eems to be of &s;mall importance, yet we cannot but think that S. <HI>Luke</HI> wrote it without de&s;ign, and that is the Journey of the Ble&s;&s;ed Virgin to one of the Cities of <HI>Judah,</HI> after her Conception, to vi&s;it <HI>Elizabeth</HI> her Kin&s;woman, the Wife of <HI>Zachariah,</HI> and the Mother of <HI>John the Baptist;</HI> I &s;hall not mention at pre&s;ent any o|ther Rea&s;ons of this Journey, which may &s;eem to be worthy of the Divine Wi&s;dom, and &s;o I &s;hall only ob&s;erve at pre&s;ent, that this vi&s;it was made to <HI>Elizabeth</HI> in a City of <HI>Judah,</HI> which is a demon&s;trative proof that Je&s;us Chri&s;t was of the Family of <HI>David,</HI> and con&s;equently of that of <HI>Judah;</HI> &s;o that this is far from being made u&s;e of as an Objection again&s;t it, as &s;ome have done.</P>
<P>It is well known that the Prie&s;ts had leave to take a Wife of what Tribe they plea&s;ed; But who &s;ee's not at fir&s;t &s;ight that it was natural for a Prie&s;t, dwelling in one of the Cities of <HI>Judah,</HI> to marry in that Tribe among&s;t whom he lived; be&s;ides that, the Prie&s;ts had of a long time af|fected to make Alliances with that Tribe before any other.</P>
<P>The &s;econd thing which ought to be joyned to this, is, the manner of <HI>Elizabeths</HI> expre&s;&s;ing her &s;elf to the Ble&s;&s;ed Virgin, con&s;idering her as bearing the Me&s;&s;iah in her Womb; and upon this account &s;he called her <HI>the Mother of my Lord,</HI> al|luding to <HI>P&s;alm</HI> CX.</P>
<P>The third is, That the Ble&s;&s;ed Virgin in her Song, where &s;he &s;peaks of her &s;elf as the Per&s;on in whom the Promi&s;e made to <HI>Abraham,</HI> was ac|compli&s;hed,
<PB N="215" REF="267"><HI>Luke</HI> I. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 54, 55. which Promi&s;e concerned the Me&s;&s;iah; &s;he &s;ets forth her &s;elf, as Heire&s;s to the Kings of <HI>Judah,</HI> and cho&s;en before any her Ance&s;tors, notwith&s;tanding all their Glo|ry; <HI>He hath put down,</HI> &s;aith &s;he, <HI>the Mighty from their Seats, and hath exalted them of low De|gree.</HI></P>
<P>The fourth is, That <HI>Zachariah</HI> the Prie&s;t, who was well acquainted with the Ble&s;&s;ed Virgin, at who&s;e Hou&s;e &s;he had been during the fir&s;t three Months of her being with Child, and who could not be ignorant of her lineage, alwayes owned her to be of the Family of <HI>David.</HI> It is evident that he look'd upon the Ble&s;&s;ed Virgin as the Mo|ther of the Me&s;&s;iah, as well as <HI>Elizabeth</HI> his Wife. He &s;eems to have con&s;idered the Infant that was to be born of her, as the Redeemer promi&s;ed to <HI>Abraham,</HI> and the Ble&s;&s;ed Virgin as the Heire&s;s of <HI>David;</HI> and therefore &s;aith, <HI>That God had rai&s;ed up an Horn of Salvation for us in the Hou&s;e of his Ser|vant David:</HI> There can be nothing more con|vincing than this Ob&s;ervation; for fir&s;t, <HI>Zachari|ah</HI> was a Prie&s;t, that is, one of tho&s;e to whom the care of the Genealogies of the <HI>Jews</HI> was com|mitted. 2. He appears to have been very well ver&s;ed in the Prophecies which fixed the Me&s;&s;iah to the Family of <HI>David.</HI> 3. He con&s;ider'd his Son as the Forerunner of the Me&s;&s;iah, when he pro|po&s;ed that the Oracle of <HI>Malachy</HI> &s;hould be ful|filled in that Son, whom God had &s;o miraculou&s;|ly be&s;towed upon him. 4. He needed only have examined the Agreements of her Marriage, and he would then certainly know whether the Ble&s;&s;ed Virgin was not of another Tribe; which would
<PB N="216" REF="268">have cured him of any po&s;&s;ible illu&s;ion.</P>
<P>In &s;hort, S. <HI>Luke</HI> ob&s;erves very exactly, that this Journey of the Virgin to her Kin&s;woman, and all the Circum&s;tances which prove the Ble&s;|&s;ed Virgin to have been of the Family of <HI>David,</HI> were things well known throughout all the Hill-Country of <HI>Judea,</HI> that it might not be pretended that this important Fact was any ways ob|&s;cure.</P>
<P>But &s;econdly, this Genealogy of Je&s;us Chri&s;t is carried up to <HI>David</HI> and <HI>Judah;</HI> and it is vi&s;ible that this was a thing exactly known, e&s;pecially &s;ince Je&s;us Chri&s;t always pa&s;&s;ed for the Son of <HI>Da|vid,</HI> blind men them&s;elves calling him &s;o.</P>
<P>A third thing to be con&s;idered is, the Ble&s;&s;ed Virgins going to <HI>Bethlehem</HI> to be there enrolled, according to the Decree of <HI>Augu&s;tus Ce&s;ar.</HI> There had been &s;everal numbrings of the people; the fir&s;t was at the appointment of God him&s;elf; the &s;econd was by an order from <HI>David;</HI> and in both an exact di&s;tinction was made between the Tribes them&s;elves, and the Families of each Tribe: And one &s;ee's that the &s;ame was ob&s;erved in this la&s;t Regi&s;ter which was made by <HI>Augu&s;tus</HI>'s Decree in the 4000 year of the World.</P>
<P><HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> and <HI>Mary</HI> went up to <HI>Bethlehem,</HI> which was the Seat of <HI>David</HI>'s Family: nothing ap|pears here of de&s;ign or affectation; they made no &s;tay at <HI>Bethlehem,</HI> and the occa&s;ion that brought them thither, was ab&s;olutely &s;trange and unlook'd for; and yet it was certainly an accompli&s;hment of that Prophecy of <HI>Micah, Chap.</HI> V. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 2. <HI>But thou</HI> Bethlehem Ephratah, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>This Remark upon the Decree of <HI>Augu&s;tus</HI> is of
<PB N="217" REF="268">great moment, becau&s;e thereby the Virgins being of the Family of <HI>David</HI> appears to be the mo&s;t indi&s;|putable Truth in the World, as having been own|ed fir&s;t by the whole Family of <HI>Judah</HI> for three Months. Secondly, By the Genealogy which &s;ub&s;i&s;ted entire, as the <HI>Talmudi&s;ts</HI> them&s;elves grant in the Treati&s;e <HI>de Spon&s;al. Chap.</HI> IV. <HI>Sect.</HI> 5. where they te&s;tifie that the Genealogy of the Royal Fa|mily was without difficulty. 3. By the publick te&s;timony of all their Kindred, who met in a bo|dy before the <HI>Roman</HI> Magi&s;trate.</P>
<P>The fourth Remark is, That when <HI>Herod</HI> knew of the Birth of the Me&s;&s;iah at <HI>Bethlehem,</HI> where by the confe&s;&s;ion of the <HI>Jews</HI> he was to be born, he would have envolved Je&s;us Chri&s;t in the Ma&s;|&s;acre which &s;wept away the innocent Children, if the &s;ame Providence which brought him to <HI>Beth|lehem,</HI> to demon&s;trate that he was of the Hou&s;e of <HI>David,</HI> had not withdrawn him from thence to pre&s;erve him from that Tyrant, who was afraid of being ca&s;t from his Throne by one of <HI>David</HI>'s Heirs.</P>
<P>The fifth is, That Je&s;us Chri&s;t did not only often allude to the place of his Birth, in calling him&s;elf <HI>the Bread come down from Heaven,</HI> the word <HI>Bethlehem</HI> &s;ignifying the Hou&s;e of Bread; but he con&s;tantly own'd him&s;elf for the Son of <HI>David.</HI> Upon this it is that he grounds the Ob|jection which he makes to the <HI>Jews; How is it that</HI> David <HI>calls the Me&s;&s;iah his Lord?</HI> And indeed this Fact was &s;o con&s;tantly owned by all, that even per&s;ons who were po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed with Devils, did not di&s;pute it, as may be &s;een in the Evange|li&s;ts.</P>
<PB N="218" REF="269">
<P>The &s;ixth is, That tho' two of the Evangeli&s;ts &s;et down the Genealogy of our Saviour with &s;ome difference, yet the <HI>Jews</HI> never took occa&s;i|on from thence to que&s;tion Je&s;us Chri&s;t's de&s;cent from <HI>David;</HI> his Apo&s;tles always building on that Foundation; which may be &s;een as a thing taken for granted in S. <HI>Peter</HI>'s Sermon, <HI>Acts</HI> II. and in the Epi&s;tles of S. <HI>Paul,</HI> where we find our Saviour always &s;tiled <HI>the Son of</HI> David according to the Fle&s;h.</P>
<P>To the&s;e already mentioned we may add the three following Ob&s;ervations; the fir&s;t is, That if the Genealogy of our Saviour had not been di&s;tinctly known, the Apo&s;tles would never have troubled them&s;elves to have &s;et it down; much le&s;s would they have plac'd it in the front of their Books, as knowing that the beginnings of Books are always more examined than the ends, and would certainly be &s;o by a people who always &s;tick very clo&s;e to their Genealogies. In &s;hort, either the Genealogies of the <HI>Jews</HI> were at that time as confu&s;ed as they are at pre&s;ent, and &s;o they could not have &s;erved as Characters to di&s;cover the Me&s;&s;iah by; in which ca&s;e the Apo&s;tles would have contented them&s;elves to have hinted, that Je&s;us Chri&s;t always pa&s;t for the Son of <HI>David,</HI> as they have done in &s;everal places of their Wri|tings, without giving us the whole Series of his Pedigree; or el&s;e they were at that time di&s;tinct|ly known, in which ca&s;e it was the ea&s;ie&s;t thing in the world to have confuted them.</P>
<P>The 2d is, That the differences which are found between the Genealogy of Je&s;us Chri&s;t &s;et down by S. <HI>Matthew,</HI> and that by S. <HI>Luke,</HI> is &s;o far from
<PB N="219" REF="269">giving us an occa&s;ion to doubt of the Apo&s;tles faithfulne&s;s in this matter, that indeed it is a new proof of their exactne&s;s in a matter of &s;o great importance. For it can &s;carcely be imagined but that in &s;o long a Series of Ages, there mu&s;t have been &s;ome of the Ance&s;tors of our Saviour, in whom that Law took place, which obliged the younger Brother to marry the Widow of his el|der Brother decea&s;ed without I&s;&s;ue, and &s;o to rai&s;e up Seed to him, which gave occa&s;ion to a Genea|logy not natural, but legal, the Children bearing the name of the decea&s;ed elder Brother, and po&s;|&s;e&s;&s;ing his E&s;tate. Now the Evangeli&s;te have &s;et down both the&s;e Genealogies exactly, which is an invincible Argument of their care and fideli|ty.</P>
<P>The third is, That it was &s;o much the more nece&s;&s;ary to make this remark in the Genealogy of the Me&s;&s;iah, becau&s;e as we have ob&s;erved el&s;e|where, it was with relation of the de&s;ire of gi|ving Birth to the Me&s;&s;iah, or of having Children which might live under his Empire, that God at fir&s;t permitted this kind of Ince&s;t, with the Wi|dow of a decea&s;ed Brother, which otherwi&s;e was &s;o &s;everely prohibited by the Law.</P>
<P>As to the low E&s;tate to which the Family of <HI>David</HI> was then reduced, it is vi&s;ible that <HI>David</HI> and <HI>Solomon</HI> reigned with great glory, but <HI>Reho|boam</HI> &s;ucceeding them, Ten Tribes fell from him to <HI>Jeroboam,</HI> in the Year of the World 3029. and the Po&s;terity of <HI>Rehoboam</HI> was afterwards dethro|ned by <HI>Nebuchadnezzar,</HI> who carried <HI>Zedechiah</HI> the King into Captivity in the Year 3416.</P>
<P>After their return from Captivity, they were
<PB N="220" REF="270">entirely thru&s;t from the Throne: the Prie&s;ts at fir&s;t governing that Nation; the <HI>Maccabees,</HI> who were of the Family of <HI>Levi,</HI> reigning in <HI>Judea,</HI> from the return of the Captivity of <HI>Babylon,</HI> until <HI>He|rod</HI> the <HI>Edomite,</HI> who was made Ma&s;ter of <HI>Judea</HI> by the favour of the <HI>Romans.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. The Family of <HI>David</HI> was at that time re|moved from their ancient Seat, and was now &s;ix|ed at <HI>Nazareth,</HI> where Providence &s;eems to have removed them from <HI>Bethlehem,</HI> to take away that object of <HI>Herod</HI>'s jealou&s;ie, which would have of|fended him, as we &s;ee it did when the Wi&s;e men acquainted him with the Birth of Je&s;us, which obliged him to make a diligent enquiry after the place where the Me&s;&s;iah was to be born, that Me&s;&s;iah whom he conceived to be a Prince, who would rob him of the Soveraignty to which he was rai&s;ed.</P>
<P>In the third place, the Ble&s;&s;ed Virgin was be|trothed to a Carpenter. <HI>Justin Martyr</HI> tells us that Je&s;us Chri&s;t made Ploughs. See what the Heirs of the Kings of <HI>Judah</HI> were reduced to.</P>
<P>Fourthly, When &s;he came to <HI>Bethlehem,</HI> &s;he lodged in an Inn, her Kindred being not in a condition to afford her better Accommodati|on.</P>
<P>It appears that the Divine Providence was very careful in executing this De&s;ign. There were &s;ome Decays of the Family of <HI>David,</HI> which the Ble&s;&s;ed Virgin expre&s;&s;es in her Song. She was de&s;cended from the younger Brothers of depo&s;ed Princes, and reduced to private &s;tate, &s;he &s;peaks of nothing but of lowne&s;s and meanne&s;s, not on|ly
<PB N="221" REF="270">in a way of Humility, but to demon&s;trate the fulfilling of the Prophecy concerning the Throne of <HI>Je&s;&s;e.</HI></P>
<P>But that this might appear more evidently, and confirm'd by the Law, as it was her Duty to pre&s;ent her Son in the Temple, after the Seventh day, with an Offering; &s;o &s;he does not offer what is pre&s;cribed to the Rich and Wealthy, but an Offering which is appropria|ted by God in the Law to poor people, as appears <HI>Lev.</HI> XII.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's by the Marriage Fea&s;t at <HI>Cana</HI> in <HI>Galilee,</HI> that the Kindred of Je&s;us Chri&s;t were not very Rich, their wanting of Wine on &s;uch an Occa&s;ion, was no great Mark of Plen|ty.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's al&s;o, That Je&s;us Chri&s;t frequently repre&s;ents him&s;elf, as not having where to re&s;t his Head: On the Cro&s;s he recommends his Mother to one of his Di&s;ciples, and was him&s;elf maintained by tho&s;e who followed him.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="8" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="222" REF="271">
<HEAD>CHAP. VIII. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>That Je&s;us Chri&s;t was conceived by the Vir|gin</HI> Mary, <HI>without any Operation of Man.</HI></HEAD>
<P>AS this Article is one of the mo&s;t important of our Religion, &s;o it is well worth our attentive con&s;ideration. We may take notice here, that according to the Ob&s;ervation of <HI>Ju|&s;tin Martyr,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Dial. cum Tryph</HI> p. 297. I&s;ai. 5.</NOTE> that the Fable of <HI>Per&s;eus,</HI> took its ri&s;e from the Prophecy of <HI>I&s;aiah.</HI> However, that Prophecy being very expre&s;s according to the Tran&s;lation of the LXX. we are to con&s;ider how it was accompli&s;hed. It will not be enough here to &s;ay, That ordinarily extream Poverty is a &s;ufficient bar again&s;t the &s;u&s;picion of Adultery; and therefore we de&s;ire the Reader only to call to mind the Ob&s;ervations &s;et down in the Second Chapter of the &s;econd Part of the&s;e Reflexions on the Books of the Law of <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI> For</P>
<P N="1">1. Polygamy and Divorces were very frequent in the time of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, as appears from &s;eve|ral pa&s;&s;ages of the Go&s;pel, where God was plea&s;ed to give us Examples thereof.</P>
<P N="2">2. God was willing to give us In&s;tances of his Severity again&s;t Adultere&s;&s;es, among&s;t which tho&s;e were reckoned who &s;uffered them&s;elves to be de|filed after they were betrothed. We have an Example hereof in the Eighth <HI>Chapter</HI> of the Go|&s;pel according to S. <HI>John,</HI> which I have illu&s;tra|ted
<PB N="223" REF="271">in the Fourth Chapter of this Fourth Part.</P>
<P N="3">3. It appears that the &s;ame Laws which enga|ged Parents to pre&s;erve the Virginity of their Daughters, did continue, and were &s;till ob&s;erved by the <HI>Jews,</HI> as well as tho&s;e other Laws which con&s;tituted the Body of their Religion: When Je|&s;us Chri&s;t upbraids the <HI>Jews</HI> for having changed the true &s;en&s;e of the Law, yet he never reproach|es them upon this account.</P>
<P N="4">4. The Relation &s;et down in the Eighth <HI>Chap|ter</HI> of S. <HI>John,</HI> makes it appear that the Waters of Jealou&s;ie &s;till retained their virtue; that which Je&s;us Chri&s;t writ on the Ground being probably nothing el&s;e but the Cur&s;es which the Law de|nounced again&s;t the Woman that &s;hould violate her Honour.</P>
<P>I have made it very evident in the Twentieth Chapter of my Second Part, what was the u&s;e of tho&s;e Laws concerning the Marks of Virginity, to prevent any Doubts that might ari&s;e concerning the &s;ame: It remains now to con&s;ider the &s;everal pa&s;&s;ages of the Evangeli&s;ts, and to &s;ee what proofs we can find there to confirm this Point, That <HI>Mary</HI> was indeed a Virgin when &s;he con|ceived Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and how we may an&s;wer the Objections which the Enemies of Chri&s;tianity make again&s;t this Truth.</P>
<P>The Evangeli&s;ts tell us that this remarkable Fact was declared by the Angel <HI>Gabriel,</HI> who had before foretold to <HI>Daniel</HI> the coming of the Me&s;|&s;iah, and &s;ignified the exact time thereof. The Conception of <HI>I&s;aac</HI> by a barren Mother, as well as that of <HI>Samuel</HI> and <HI>John the Bapti&s;t,</HI> had been already declared in the &s;ame manner; and one
<PB N="224" REF="272">Miracle ought to &s;erve as a preparation for the be|lief of a greater.</P>
<P>When the Di&s;ciples of Je&s;us Chri&s;t &s;peak of the Fact, they &s;peak of it as a thing known through|out all <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> and which had no Relation to their Ma&s;ter. Be&s;ides, we know the Jealou&s;ie that was between the Di&s;ciples of S. <HI>John,</HI> and tho&s;e of our Saviour.</P>
<P>But we have a further account be&s;ides of the Me&s;&s;age of an Angel to <HI>Jo&s;eph,</HI> after he had per|ceived that his betrothed Wife was with Child; for when he was ready to divorce her, either by expo&s;ing her to the rigour of the Divine Law, <HI>Deut.</HI> XXII. 23. or el&s;e by exempting her from that ex|tremity, he is diverted from his intention by this warning from Heaven. In all which we meet with nothing but what is very probable; for <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> expre&s;&s;es his hatred and di&s;like, as concei|ving her to be debauched, and was re&s;olved not to receive her, but by an Order from Hea|ven.</P>
<P>Moreover it is very remarkable, That we find all things recited in &s;uch a manner, as it was ne|ce&s;&s;ary they &s;hould come to pa&s;s, on &s;uppo&s;ition that the Me&s;&s;iah was to be born of a Virgin of the Hou&s;e of <HI>David.</HI></P>
<P>For fir&s;t, We find this event appeared incredi|ble to the per&s;on her &s;elf, who was de&s;igned to effect it; becau&s;e &s;he could not ea&s;ily make the Application at fir&s;t.</P>
<P N="2">2. It caus'd exceeding joy to the per&s;on who &s;aw her &s;elf cho&s;en by God to fulfil &s;o glorious a promi&s;e, whereby the Family of <HI>David</HI> was to be re&s;tor'd to its ancient Lu&s;tre. This is evident
<PB N="225" REF="272">from the Hymn of the Ble&s;&s;ed Virgin: which if we compare with the <HI>P&s;alms</HI> of <HI>David,</HI> we &s;hall &s;ee that that Family &s;till retained all the Piety of their Ance&s;tors, with all tho&s;e &s;igns of ac|knowledgment which an event of &s;uch a nature did ju&s;tly require.</P>
<P N="3">3. It appears that <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> acquie&s;ced in this Truth, he who otherwi&s;e did not &s;eem very cre|dulous, till he was in&s;tructed from Heaven con|cerning a matter &s;o rare and difficult to be con|ceived. He retires for &s;ome time into <HI>Egypt,</HI> and affords <HI>Mary</HI> and her Son all the &s;ervice they could rea&s;onably expect from him.</P>
<P>S.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Contr. <HI>Hel|vidium.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Jerome</HI> alledges three Rea&s;ons why it was needful for the Ble&s;&s;ed Virgin to be betrothed to <HI>Jo&s;eph.</HI></P>
<P N="1">1. That the Original of the Ble&s;&s;ed Virgin might be proved by the Pedigree of <HI>Jo&s;eph,</HI> to whom &s;he was related.</P>
<P N="2">2. That according to the Law of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> &s;he might not be &s;toned as an Adultere&s;s.</P>
<P N="3">3. That in her Flight into <HI>Egypt</HI> &s;he might have the comfort of a Guardian rather than of a Hu&s;|band.</P>
<P>Neither can any thing be oppo&s;ed to the belief of the&s;e matters, but &s;ome very weak Conjectures: The fir&s;t is, That her being contracted doth &s;omething ob&s;cure the di&s;tinct Notion of Virgi|nity; and &s;econdly, That the Ble&s;&s;ed Virgin did always pa&s;s for the Wife of <HI>Jo&s;eph,</HI> even accord|ing to the &s;tyle of Je&s;us Chri&s;t him&s;elf. And la&s;t|ly, That the Relation which the Evangeli&s;ts give of this matter, was not known till long after the death of Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<PB N="226" REF="273">
<P>But it is an ea&s;ie matter to &s;atisfie the mind of any rea&s;onable Reader in this thing. It was ne|ce&s;&s;ary that the Ble&s;&s;ed Virgin &s;hould be betro|thed:</P>
<P N="1">1. To &s;ecure her Life, which would have been in danger, if &s;he had been delivered whil&s;t &s;he was reputed to be a Virgin; for &s;he would have been accu&s;ed of Whoredom, and con&s;equently have been put to death.</P>
<P N="2">2. It was nece&s;&s;ary &s;he &s;hould be betrothed, and pa&s;s for the lawful Wife of <HI>Jo&s;eph,</HI> that her Son might not be bani&s;h'd from the Congregati|on of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> as a Ba&s;tard in the Rigour of the Law.</P>
<P>As for the other Objection, I ea&s;ily grant that the Ble&s;&s;ed Virgin always pa&s;s'd for the Wife of <HI>Jo&s;eph;</HI> &s;he her &s;elf &s;aith, <HI>I and thy Father &s;ought thee.</HI> But withal, at that very time Je&s;us Chri&s;t unvailed that My&s;tery in the Pre&s;ence of all the <HI>Jews,</HI> maintaining that he was the Son of God, in who&s;e Hou&s;e he was at that time; it was at a &s;olemn Fea&s;t of the <HI>Jews,</HI> where the whole Na|tion was a&s;&s;embled, and in the mid&s;t of an A&s;|&s;embly of their Doctors, that he declared the Temple to be the Hou&s;e of his Father, as he af|terwards con&s;tantly called it.</P>
<P>We find him at another time declaring the &s;ame in the pre&s;ence of his Family at <HI>Cana</HI> in <HI>Ga|lilee,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">John II. 4.</NOTE> <HI>Woman, what have I to do with thee?</HI> &s;aith he to the Ble&s;&s;ed Virgin; to put her in mind of &s;ome pa&s;&s;ages which could not but pre&s;erve in her a ve|ry particular re&s;pect for him.</P>
<P>He gives yet a further degree of light into this matter, when, his Mother &s;eeking to come at
<PB N="227" REF="273">him, he &s;aith, <HI>Who is my Mother, and who are my Brethren,</HI> that is, Kin&s;men. 'Tis probable that <HI>Jo|&s;eph</HI> was dead, before our Saviour entred upon his Mini&s;try; however his making no mention of his reputed Father, &s;hews how careful he was to avoid any thing that might ob&s;cure his mira|culous Birth.</P>
<P>La&s;t of all, it is very con&s;iderable, that this pa&s;&s;age being not the only Character which was to di&s;tingui&s;h the Me&s;&s;iah from all others, but was to be confirmed by the Miracles of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, by his Re&s;urrection, and tho&s;e other proofs of his Divine Nature, it was at fir&s;t not much in&s;i&s;ted on, becau&s;e there was a nece&s;&s;ity that it &s;hould continue vailed for &s;ome time, upon the account of the frequent Apparitions of Angels, and of God him&s;elf in a Human form, that &s;o the truth of his Humanity &s;hould be e&s;tabli&s;hed by his Life and Death, before the publication of his miracu|lous Conception.</P>
<P>For it is certain that the Apo&s;tles preached up this Truth, and that the Evangeli&s;ts had put it in writing before the de&s;truction of the Jewi&s;h Common-wealth; and yet we do not find that it was ever conte&s;ted. The Evangeli&s;ts de&s;cribe the Methods which the <HI>Jews</HI> took to make the Re&s;urrection of Chri&s;t to be doubted of, and to &s;light his Miracles; and do we think they would not as well have given us the Objections of the <HI>Jews</HI> again&s;t a thing, of which till then never a|ny In&s;tance had been known in the World?</P>
<P>I know very well that &s;ome of the Ancients have told us that the <HI>Jews</HI> were offended, that the Ble&s;&s;ed Virgin, after &s;he was delivered of
<PB N="228" REF="274">our Saviour, &s;hould &s;eat her &s;elf in the place ap|pointed for Virgins, and that becau&s;e <HI>Zacharias</HI> the Prie&s;t maintained her in &s;o doing, he was thereupon kill'd by them between the Temple and the Altar, with which our Saviour up|braids the <HI>Jews.</HI> I know al&s;o that they affirm that &s;he was forced to confirm the truth of her Virginity, by &s;ubmitting her &s;elf to a &s;earch of Matrons: yet I cannot believe that &s;he ever un|derwent any &s;uch Examination, of which the &s;i|lence of the Evangeli&s;ts, and S. <HI>Luke</HI>'s in particu|lar, fully convinces me, and therefore am incli|ned to think that no &s;uch Objection was ever made again&s;t her.</P>
<P>In the mean time it is well worth our noting, 1. That the Ble&s;&s;ed Virgin had <HI>Zachariah</HI> the Prie&s;t as an Examiner and Witne&s;s of her behavi|our from the beginning, at who&s;e hou&s;e &s;he abode during the fir&s;t months of her being with Child, and who publickly divulged the miraculous Birth of his own Son, and his leaping in his Mother's Womb at the Salutation of the Ble&s;&s;ed Vir|gin.</P>
<P N="2">2. That the Ble&s;&s;ed Virgin lived many years af|ter the Pa&s;&s;ion of our Saviour, that &s;he might un|dergo and an&s;wer any Accu&s;ations of that na|ture.</P>
<P N="3">3. That &s;he al&s;o had for Witne&s;&s;es of the Mi|racles which attended her Conception, all the Di&s;ciples of S. <HI>John,</HI> as well as tho&s;e of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, tho' the Di&s;ciples of S. <HI>John</HI> did not agree with the Di&s;ciples of Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P N="4">4. That what &s;he declared of her &s;elf, was not a Fact which had no traces whereby it might
<PB N="229" REF="274">be examined in the <HI>Old Te&s;tament.</HI></P>
<P N="5">5. That the <HI>Jews</HI> had thirty years to examin the &s;everal particulars which had relation to the Me&s;&s;iah, and the miraculous manner of his Birth, at the time when &s;he publi&s;hed this particular pa&s;|&s;age of her life.</P>
<P N="6">6. That we cannot call in que&s;tion the vera|city of the Ble&s;&s;ed Virgin in the account which &s;he gives us of what concern'd her &s;elf, of which no witne&s;s could be produced, fora&s;much as the accompli&s;hment of that part of her Prophecy, That <HI>all Nations &s;hould call her ble&s;sed,</HI> clearly &s;hews that &s;he had received the Spirit of Prophecy; no more than we can &s;u&s;pect any Forgeries in the Relations of other Prophets, tho' we have no o|ther Te&s;timony concerning them, but that of the Prophets them&s;elves.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="9" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. IX. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>That Je&s;us Chri&s;t lived and preached after the &s;ame manner as the Prophets had foretold the Me&s;&s;iah &s;hould do.</HI></HEAD>
<P>I Have clearly &s;hewn that Je&s;us Chri&s;t was born of the Po&s;terity of <HI>Adam,</HI> by <HI>Seth,</HI> by <HI>Noah,</HI> by <HI>Abraham,</HI> by <HI>I&s;aac,</HI> by <HI>Jacob,</HI> by <HI>Ju|dah,</HI> by <HI>David,</HI> as it was foretold of the Me&s;&s;iah by the mo&s;t ancient Oracles, the encrea&s;e of which I have already taken notice of in my third part.</P>
<PB N="230" REF="275">
<P>I have afterwards &s;hewed, That Je&s;us Chri&s;t was born of a Virgin,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. III. 15 I&s;ai. VII. 14.</NOTE> whereby tho&s;e Oracles, <HI>The Seed of the Woman &s;hall brui&s;e thy head,</HI> and <HI>a Virgin &s;hall conceive and bear a Son,</HI> &s;eem'd to be clearly accompli&s;hed. Let us now &s;ee, according to tho&s;e Oracles, what kind of Per&s;on the Me&s;&s;iah was to be, from his Birth to his Death, according to tho&s;e Idea's which the Prophets have given us.</P>
<P><HI>Mo&s;es</HI> expre&s;ly tells us, <HI>Deut.</HI> 18. that the Me&s;|&s;iah was to re&s;emble him; <HI>The Lord thy God will rai&s;e up unto thee a Prophet like unto me:</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut. XVIII. 15.</NOTE> which place, as I have ob&s;erved before, has been &s;o con&s;tantly applyed to the Me&s;&s;iah, that it appears that not only <HI>John the Bapti&s;t,</HI> when he &s;ent his Di&s;ciples to Je&s;us Chri&s;t, <HI>Philip</HI> &s;peaking to <HI>Natha|nael,</HI> and the Di&s;ciples when they were asked by our Saviour who he was, but al&s;o the <HI>Samaritan</HI> wo|man under&s;tood it &s;o without the lea&s;t he&s;itation, and &s;aid, that when the Me&s;&s;iah &s;hould come, he would tell them all things.</P>
<P>In &s;hort, one &s;ee's an exact proportion be|tween <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and Je&s;us Chri&s;t. Not only becau&s;e our Saviour was &s;aved in his Infancy from the hand of <HI>Herod,</HI> and from a River of Blood, like another <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> or becau&s;e <HI>Egypt</HI> &s;erv'd for a Re|treat to him, as <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> had hid him&s;elf in <HI>Arabia:</HI> or becau&s;e he was rejected by his Brethren, tho&s;e of <HI>Nazareth,</HI> who would have thrown him head|long from a Rock, becau&s;e he declared him&s;elf to be the promi&s;ed Deliverer and Me&s;&s;iah, by apply|ing to him&s;elf the words of <HI>I&s;aiah, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>Neither &s;hall I now take notice of his being de&s;pi&s;ed and di&s;own'd by his Brethren, and cal|led
<PB N="231" REF="275">a <HI>Galilean,</HI> whereas indeed he was of <HI>Judea;</HI> For indeed the Me&s;&s;iah was to be treated as a <HI>Nazarene,</HI> that is, a contemptible per&s;on, and a Man of no con&s;ideration; for we may find that becau&s;e our Saviour was brought up at <HI>Nazareth,</HI> tho' he was born at <HI>Bethlehem,</HI> he was therefore look'd upon as a per&s;on incapable of any thing that was great;
<NOTE PLACE="marg">John I. 46</NOTE> <HI>Can any good thing come out of</HI> Na|zareth? &s;aid <HI>Nathanael</HI> to <HI>Philip;</HI> and the Phari|&s;ees to the Officers whom they had &s;ent to take Je&s;us, <HI>Search and look, for out of</HI> Galilee <HI>ari&s;eth no Prophet,</HI> much le&s;s the great Prophet, the Me&s;&s;iah, who by way of Eminence is &s;o called. 'Tis up|on this account that he was called a <HI>Galilean,</HI> not only by the Heathens, but by his own Di&s;ciples too; For the word <HI>Galilean</HI> &s;eems to have been a name for one of an impure Extraction, becau&s;e many of other Nations dwelt among the <HI>Jews</HI> in <HI>Galilee.</HI> But I &s;hall take notice of &s;everal other more important Re&s;emblances between them, and &s;uch as have Relation to the Mini&s;try of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> rather than his Per&s;on, by referring all to his Preaching, his Miracles, his Predictions, and &s;ome other Heads of that Nature.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t then, Je&s;us Chri&s;t that he might at fir&s;t maintain the Character of the Me&s;&s;iah, appears in the Temple. <HI>John the Baptist</HI> had heard him called the Son of God, by a very peculiar wit|ne&s;s, a Voice from Heaven. Wherefore we &s;ee that at his fir&s;t Entry upon his Mini&s;try, he drives out tho&s;e that prophaned the Hou&s;e of God, whom he called his Father, with a Scourge;
<NOTE PLACE="marg">John II. 13, 14, 15, &amp;c.</NOTE> and this he did at the Fea&s;t of the Pa&s;&s;over, before the whole Nation of the <HI>Jews.</HI></P>
<PB N="232" REF="276">
<P>Here is another Character of the Me&s;&s;iah; He was to begin the Exerci&s;e of his Mini&s;terial Fun|ctions, in the Tribes of <HI>Naphthali</HI> and <HI>Zebulon,</HI> ac|cording to the Prophecy of <HI>I&s;aiah;</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;ai. IX. 1.</NOTE> and this our Saviour exactly accompli&s;hed by his beginning to preach at <HI>Nazareth,</HI> which was in the Tribe of <HI>Zebulon,</HI> and he conver&s;ed much at <HI>Capernaum,</HI> which was in the Tribe of <HI>Naphthali,</HI> according to the ob&s;ervation of the Evangeli&s;ts.</P>
<P>But I proceed to con&s;ider &s;ome Circum&s;tances of his Mini&s;try. <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> had foretold, that the Me&s;&s;iah was to preach the Go&s;pel to the poor; which Je&s;us applies to him&s;elf in the Synagogue at <HI>Nazareth,</HI> declaring that in his per&s;on that Prophecy was fulfilled;
<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;ai. LXI. 1.</NOTE> <HI>viz. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, wherefore the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>The choice which he made of his Di&s;ciples from among the meane&s;t of the people, and the ba&s;e&s;t of the crowd which follow'd him wherever he went, ought to pa&s;s for a &s;ufficient accom|pli&s;hment of this Prophecy.</P>
<P>The Me&s;&s;iah, according to the repre&s;entation which <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> gives us of him, was to publi&s;h the Tidings of the Remi&s;&s;ion of Sins; and was not this that which Je&s;us Chri&s;t did during the cour&s;e of his Mini&s;try?</P>
<P>The Me&s;&s;iah was to preach the Remi&s;&s;ion of Sin, in &s;uch a manner, as that he might dry up the Fountain of it, at the &s;ame time, in calling men to the &s;tudy of Sanctification; this was ad|mirably performed by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, 1. In corre|cting tho&s;e Abu&s;es which the Jewi&s;h Doctors had introduced into the Law. Secondly, In decla|ring
<PB N="233" REF="276">that the Effect of Sanctification was to be look'd for in the heart, rather than in the eyes or hands.</P>
<P>One may &s;ee afterwards, 1. That he knew the heart of man; which proved that he made it. This he te&s;tifies upon &s;everal occa&s;ions, in the an|&s;wers which he made to tho&s;e that &s;poke to him, and indeed in all his Di&s;cour&s;es which were &s;uited to the di&s;po&s;itions of the heart of tho&s;e to whom he addre&s;t them.</P>
<P N="2">2. That he made u&s;e of Parables, which are Moral Le&s;&s;ons very ea&s;ie indeed, but withal fit|ter for the &s;ubject than Fables, and more worthy of God: Parables al&s;o, which were &s;o ordinary and familiar among&s;t the <HI>Jews,</HI> that we find mo&s;t of them at this day in the Writings of the <HI>Jews,</HI> tho' they apply them to another u&s;e.</P>
<P N="3">3. That he de&s;cended to Particulars, without u&s;ing any thing mean, which men are apt to do when they divide things minutely.</P>
<P N="4">4. That he forgot no one Precept of Mora|lity.</P>
<P N="5">5. That he examined all the Duties of Religi|on, and made them infinitely recommendable by &s;ugge&s;ting &s;uch excellent Motives.</P>
<P>After all, we are to con&s;ider four things in the preaching of our Saviour, which will fully prove that he was the Me&s;&s;iah.</P>
<P N="1">1. That his Doctrine appeared to be wholly Divine; he had never been brought up at the feet of any Doctor; but had his breeding in a Carpen|ter's Shop.</P>
<P N="2">2. That no Crime was ever objected to him, notwith&s;tanding that he upbraided the Phari&s;ees
<PB N="234" REF="277">with theirs; but he &s;upported his Doctrine by the Holine&s;s of his Conver&s;ation.</P>
<P N="3">3. That he in&s;en&s;ibly di&s;po&s;ed the People to receive him as the Me&s;&s;iah, by the Characters which God had given of him in the Prophets.</P>
<P N="4">4. He prepar'd his Di&s;ciples and his Auditors to expect that one day the <HI>Gentiles</HI> &s;hould enter into the Church.</P>
<P>In &s;hort, Can any thing be &s;o &s;urprizing, as to &s;ee a Man who had lived Thirty years as the Son of a Carpenter, to declare him&s;elf all at once a Doctor, to preach publickly, to cen&s;ure the Doctors of his Nation; to &s;peak of the Law and Prophets with more depth and authority than all that ever went before him. Who can without &s;urprize, conceive that a man of the lowe&s;t qua|lity, &s;hould from a Carpenters Shop, come and determine Que&s;tions about the Law, and tread under his feet the Authority of all the great Rabbins every where, only by an <HI>I &s;ay unto you,</HI> &s;o that none was able to contradict him. Cer|tainly when one &s;ee's our Saviour upon the Mount explaining and defending the Moral part of the Law from the Corruptions into which it was fal|len, he appears not only as great as <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> on Mount <HI>Sinai,</HI> but even as God him&s;elf, when he publi&s;hed his Laws to that his ancient Peo|ple.</P>
<P>Neither ought any one to have le&s;s admiration for that perfect Innocence which &s;hone through the whole cour&s;e of his life: What Crime had they to charge him with when they put him to death, he who accu&s;ed his Enemies of &s;o many? <HI>Who of you,</HI> &s;aith he, <HI>accu&s;eth me of &s;in?</HI> We find
<PB N="235" REF="277">him only accu&s;ed of words ill under&s;tood, which they were re&s;olved to mi&s;interpret: His &s;aying, <HI>That if they de&s;troy'd that Temple, he would rebuild it in three days,</HI> was laid to his Charge as a Crime; And yet the&s;e words could not have been height|ned into Crimes, if they had been &s;poken in the &s;ame &s;en&s;e which they put upon them. This was an e&s;&s;ential Character of the Me&s;&s;iah, who was to be the Re&s;torer of Holine&s;s, according to the Idea which the Prophets gave of him.</P>
<P>I &s;hould take notice afterwards that our Savi|our in his Sermons did by little and little di&s;po&s;e the Minds of his Auditors and Di&s;ciples, to con|ceive and believe him to be the promi&s;ed Me&s;&s;iah. The fir&s;t act of his publick Mini&s;try was an effect of his zeal for the Holine&s;s of a Temple con&s;e|crated to his Father: He drove the Buyers and Sellers out of the Temple, at the Fea&s;t of the Pa&s;&s;|over, which action of his was a &s;olemn profe&s;&s;ion that he was the Son of God. Soon after at <HI>Na|zareth</HI> he applies to him&s;elf that Prophecy of <HI>I&s;ai|ah, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,</HI> &amp;c. He ex|plains him&s;elf yet more di&s;tinctly in <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> at the &s;econd Pa&s;&s;over which he celebrated during the time of his Mini&s;try, that they might under|&s;tand that he was the Me&s;&s;iah, according to the account which the Evangeli&s;ts give us; and he explains him&s;elf yet more particularly upon <HI>John the Bapti&s;ts</HI> Me&s;&s;age to him. By which means this Truth became already &s;o illu&s;trious, that the Mul|titudes would proclaim him King, that is, pub|lickly own him for the Me&s;&s;iah, and obey him as their rightful Soveraign. And la&s;tly, He explains him&s;elf in this matter by a Que&s;tion, When he
<PB N="236" REF="278">asked his Di&s;ciples,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Matt. XVI.</NOTE> What Cen&s;ures were pa&s;t up|on him in <HI>Judea,</HI> and what they them&s;elves thought of him.</P>
<P>In &s;hort, It is certain that Je&s;us prepared the Minds of his Di&s;ciples to look for the Calling of the <HI>Gentiles,</HI> which al&s;o was the Character of the Me&s;&s;iah.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. XLIX. 10.</NOTE> <HI>Jacob</HI> had prophe&s;ied of old, <HI>To him &s;hall the gathering of the People be.</HI> But I &s;hall pa&s;s by the Oracles which foretel this matter. What &s;ig|nifies the Hi&s;tory of the Prodigal, unle&s;s it be the Calling and the Return of the <HI>Gentiles;</HI> the elde&s;t Son (the <HI>Jew</HI>) being extreamly troubled at it. What means that &s;aying of our Saviour, That <HI>he had other Sheep,</HI> &amp;c. or his Prediction, That <HI>many &s;hould come from the Ea&s;t and We&s;t, and &s;it down with</HI> Abraham, <HI>when the Children of the Kingdom &s;hould be cast forth.</HI> I &s;hall take notice in another place, of the frequent Repetition of &s;uch like Oracles, and their exact accompli&s;hment. The&s;e are &s;ufficient at pre&s;ent to ju&s;tifie the &s;olidi|ty of this la&s;t Reflexion, and the truth of this Conclu&s;ion at the &s;ame time, that if one exa|mines the Life and Preaching of our Saviour, he may find all tho&s;e Characters by which the pro|mi&s;ed Me&s;&s;iah might be known. Let us now proceed to the Con&s;ideration of his Mira|cles.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="10" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="237" REF="278">
<HEAD>CHAP. X.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">That the Miracles wrought by our Saviour, clearly prove that he is the Me&s;&s;iah.</HEAD>
<P>AS the Me&s;&s;iah was to be very clearly di&s;tin|gui&s;hed from all others by his Miracles, and as the Prophet <HI>I&s;aiah, Chap.</HI> XXXV. &s;ets down the power of working Miracles, as one of tho&s;e Characters by which he was to be known, &s;o it is of great importance to us, to examine the Mira|cles of our Saviour with great attention, whether they have the Character of Truth, and whether they come up to the Idea which the Prophets give us of tho&s;e wonders which the Me&s;&s;iah was to do.</P>
<P>The Evangeli&s;ts, who tell us that he wrought almo&s;t an infinite number of them, have de&s;cri|bed more than Thirty &s;everal &s;orts of them. He changed Water into Wine at the Wedding at <HI>Ca|na;</HI> he healed the &s;ick Son of a Courtier; he delivered one that was po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed in the Synagogue at <HI>Capernaum;</HI> he healed S. <HI>Peter</HI>'s Mother in Law; he cau&s;ed a va&s;t number of Fi&s;h to be caught; he cured a Leper with a word, and with a touch he healed one &s;ick of the Pal&s;ey; he cured a Wo|man of an inveterate I&s;&s;ue of Blood, and rai&s;ed the Daughter of a Ruler of the Synagogue from the Dead; he cured the impotent Man at the Pool of <HI>Bethe&s;da;</HI> he cured him that had a wi|ther'd hand; he deliver'd a po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed per&s;on that
<PB N="238" REF="279">was blind and dumb; he recover'd the Centuri|on's Servant, and rais'd to life the Son of the Wi|dow of <HI>Naim.</HI></P>
<P>Neither are the&s;e that follow any le&s;s con&s;ide|rable; he re&s;tores &s;ight to two blind men, he ca&s;ts forth a dumb Devil, he a&s;&s;wages a Tempe&s;t by his word, he delivers two po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed per&s;ons, and permits the Devil to go into the Herd of Swine of the <HI>Gadarenes;</HI> he feeds above Five thou&s;and per&s;ons with two Loaves and five Fi&s;hes; he walks upon the Sea, and calmeth a &s;econd Tempe&s;t; he ca&s;ts forth a Devil from a Daughter of a Wo|man of a <HI>Canaan,</HI> who was po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed; he cures one deaf and dumb; he feeds Four thou&s;and per|&s;ons with &s;even Loaves; he re&s;tores &s;ight to a blind man of <HI>Beth&s;aida;</HI> he ca&s;ts out a Devil, af|ter his Di&s;ciples had in vain attempted it; he re|&s;tores &s;ight to one born blind; he cured a crook|ed woman; he cures one of the Drop&s;ie on the Sabbath day; he rai&s;es <HI>Lazarus</HI> from the Grave, after he had been dead four days; he heals ten Lepers afterwards; he re&s;tores &s;ight to a blind man at his entring into <HI>Jericho;</HI> and cures the lame and blind in the Temple it &s;elf.</P>
<P>There are &s;everal Characters which a&s;&s;ure us of the faithfulne&s;s of the Evangeli&s;ts in the&s;e their Relations: 1. They wrote the&s;e things to convert the <HI>Jews</HI> before the de&s;truction of <HI>Jeru&s;alem.</HI> 2. They markt the Circum&s;tances very exactly, and none could be ignorant of them, &s;ince they all went thrice a year up to <HI>Jeru&s;alem.</HI> 3. The Facts which they relate were la&s;ting, and &s;uch as might be examined. 4. They &s;peak of Facts which they &s;uppo&s;e that Je&s;us Chri&s;t was willing
<PB N="239" REF="279">&s;hould be beyond all conte&s;t, that they might be the better examined. 5. They &s;peak of tho&s;e Facts which they maintain to be the accompli&s;h|ment of the Oracles concerning the Me&s;&s;iah whom the <HI>Jews</HI> expected.</P>
<P>But there are not fewer Characters of Truth in the Miracles of our Saviour to buoy them up: The fir&s;t is, That mo&s;t of the Di&s;ea&s;es, which Je&s;us Chri&s;t cured, are de&s;cribed as ab&s;olutely in|curable; this Ob&s;ervation is of great moment, as well to di&s;cover to us the infinite power exerted by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, as to make known the extaordi|nary wi&s;dom of the Apo&s;tles, who being men without learning, did notwith&s;tanding &s;et down the &s;ymptomes of the Di&s;ea&s;es which their Ma&s;ter cured, far beyond what might be expected from their Natural Capacities.</P>
<P>The &s;econd Reflexion belongs to the Subjects upon whom the&s;e Miracles were wrought; for we &s;carce find any of them, except his curing S. <HI>Pe|ter</HI>'s Mother in Law, to be wrought upon per&s;ons who had lea&s;t relation to Je&s;us Chri&s;t: He heals the Servant of the High Prie&s;t, the Son of the Ruler of a Synagogue, the Son of a <HI>Roman</HI> Cen|turion, and &s;everal others.</P>
<P>A third Reflexion may be drawn from the places where they were done, and from the wit|ne&s;&s;es that were pre&s;ent. In &s;hort, They were wrought in publick places, in the mid&s;t of Ci|ties and Synagogues; &s;ome in <HI>Judea,</HI> &s;ome in <HI>Ga|lilee,</HI> &s;ome at <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> at <HI>Naim, Sidon,</HI> &amp;c. they were &s;ubmitted to the examination of the mo&s;t implacable Enemies of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, the People of the <HI>Jews,</HI> the <HI>Samaritans,</HI> and the <HI>Gentiles,</HI> who dwelt in <HI>Pale&s;tina.</HI></P>
<PB N="240" REF="280">
<P>One may add al&s;o, That the&s;e Miracles were of very different kinds, wrought in &s;everal pla|ces, and with very con&s;iderable Circum&s;tances, at the mo&s;t &s;olemn Fea&s;ts, the <HI>Pa&s;&s;over</HI> and <HI>Pente|cost.</HI></P>
<P>One ought to con&s;ider al&s;o, That <HI>Pale&s;tine</HI> was full of tho&s;e whom our Saviour had cured; and that all the <HI>Jews</HI> who came up three times in a year to <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> could not but take notice of them.</P>
<P>One ought afterwards to ob&s;erve, That Je&s;us Chri&s;t communicated to his Di&s;ciples the power of working Miracles in the &s;econd year of his Mi|ni&s;try, which none el&s;e had ever done before.</P>
<P>And la&s;tly it mu&s;t be ob&s;erved, That the&s;e Miracles were la&s;ting; The three dead men, whom our Saviour rai&s;ed to life again, were very young, and who in all probability lived longer than de|crepit old men, were in the &s;ight of all <HI>Judea;</HI> and other &s;ick and infirm per&s;ons, that he had healed, enjoyed life and health. 2. In &s;hort, the Relation of Chri&s;t's Miracles which <HI>Pilate</HI> &s;ent to <HI>Tiberius,</HI> &s;ufficiently te&s;tifies that they were Facts generally known. And 3. That the cer|tainty of them could &s;o little be conte&s;ted, that the <HI>Jews</HI> rather cho&s;e to accu&s;e him of doing them by &s;ome Magical &s;ecret, than to di&s;pute the truth of them.</P>
<P>The&s;e Reflexions &s;ufficiently confirm the truth of the Evangeli&s;ts relation, and of the Miracles of Je&s;us Chri&s;t. To agree to what has been &s;aid, we need not refute the folly of tho&s;e, who have compared the Miracles fal&s;ly attributed to <HI>Apol|lonius Tyanaeus,</HI> with tho&s;e of Je&s;us Chri&s;t. One hardly knows at this day whether ever there was
<PB N="241" REF="280">&s;uch a man as <HI>Apollonius;</HI> whereas ever &s;ince the Apo&s;tles there have been Chri&s;tians, who have read the Hi&s;tory of the Miracles of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and who have believed them after a due exami|nation. Which of <HI>Apollonius</HI>'s his Di&s;ciples was ever &s;o bold as to &s;ay to Heathens, as <HI>Tertullian</HI> did in the &s;econd Century, in his Apologetick, <HI>Bring to us what po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed per&s;ons you plea&s;e, and we will heal them in the Name of Je&s;us Chri&s;t?</HI></P>
<P>But we ought al&s;o to add one thing more, That the&s;e Miracles of Je&s;us Chri&s;t were exactly &s;uch as ought to have been made to prove him to be the Me&s;&s;iah.</P>
<P N="1">1. They were exactly &s;uch as <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> had fore|told concerning the Me&s;&s;iah, <HI>Chap.</HI> XXXV. as may be &s;een by comparing them with the Text.</P>
<P>One ought only to ob&s;erve, That this Chara|cter is &s;o peculiar that it di&s;tingui&s;hes the Me&s;&s;iah from all the other Prophets, who went before him; for none of tho&s;e to whom God had given power to work Miracles, had either given &s;ight to the blind, or power to the lame to walk.</P>
<P N="2">2. They perfectly came up to the end of his Mini&s;try, as he was the Me&s;&s;iah; For it was his de&s;ign to a&s;&s;ure his Di&s;ciples of the immortality which he promi&s;ed to them; and the&s;e Cures, and the&s;e Re&s;urrections which were wrought only by his word, were &s;ufficient to convince them, as well of the Soveraign power he had to execute his Promi&s;es, as of his goodne&s;s which was nece&s;|&s;ary to confirm the Faith of his Followers.</P>
<P N="3">3. Some of his Miracles were &s;uch as evinced his likene&s;s to <HI>Mo&s;es;</HI> he changes Water into Wine at <HI>Cana,</HI> he feeds many thou&s;ands in the De&s;ert,
<PB N="242" REF="281">he walks on the Water, and makes one of his Di&s;ciples to walk with him; as <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> changed the Waters to Blood, and had cau&s;ed Manna to rain down upon the <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI> and had opened the Sea for their pa&s;&s;age.</P>
<P N="4">4. One ought to ob&s;erve here, That if Je&s;us Chri&s;t's Miracles were not like tho&s;e of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> two only excepted, <HI>viz.</HI> his cur&s;ing of the bar|ren Fig-tree, and the drowning of the Swine; this was to &s;hew that he was not come like <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> to execute the Judgments of God, but to exerci&s;e Acts of Grace and Mercy; tho&s;e now mention|ed being &s;ufficient to evince it was not for want of power.</P>
<P>If the <HI>Samaritan</HI> Woman argued very ratio|nally when &s;he &s;aid concerning Chri&s;t, <HI>When the Me&s;&s;iah &s;hall come, will he do greater &s;igns than the&s;e;</HI> we may with more rea&s;on urge it now, &s;ince we know not only that Je&s;us Chri&s;t hath wrought &s;uch great Miracles, but al&s;o conferr'd upon his Di&s;ciples a power of doing greater Miracles than him&s;elf ever did.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="11" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XI.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">That the Predictions of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, clearly prove him to be the Me&s;&s;iah.</HEAD>
<P>ONe might have ob&s;erv'd, That <HI>John the Bap|ti&s;t</HI> foretold many things concerning the per&s;on of our Lord, and the glory of his Mini|&s;try;
<PB N="243" REF="281">that <HI>Simeon</HI> foretold that he was to be <HI>a &s;ign which &s;hould be &s;poken again&s;t;</HI> and it is known how exactly the&s;e things were fulfilled. But it will be more for our purpo&s;e to examine tho&s;e Prophe&s;ies which were pronounced by Chri&s;t him&s;elf.</P>
<P>I pretend not to repeat them all here, nor to &s;hew by how many ways, and upon how many occa&s;ions Je&s;us Chri&s;t did reiterate them: this would take up too much time; I &s;hall only &s;et down the chief of them, and add &s;ome few Re|flexions.</P>
<P>When Je&s;us Chri&s;t calls the Fi&s;hers to follow him, he foretels that he would make them Teachers of the World; <HI>I will make you,</HI> &s;aith he, <HI>Fi&s;hers of Men.</HI> He promi&s;es to make them famous by Miracles, and to &s;end them the Gifts of his Holy Spirit, which the People of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> had now for above 400 years been deprived of.</P>
<P>He promi&s;ed to give them an Authority over the con&s;ciences of men, &s;o that what they &s;hould forbid us on Earth, &s;hould be forbidden in Heaven.</P>
<P>He foretels the Calling of the <HI>Gentiles</HI> to his Re|ligion; <HI>Many,</HI> &s;aith he, <HI>&s;hall come from the East and We&s;t, and &s;hall &s;it down with</HI> Abraham, I&s;aac, <HI>and</HI> Jacob <HI>in the Kingdom of Heaven.</HI> Which is the more con&s;iderable, becau&s;e he &s;eemed him&s;elf unwilling to &s;hew any favour to the <HI>Gentiles,</HI> whom he called <HI>Dogs,</HI> according to the Lan|guage of the <HI>Jews.</HI></P>
<P>He foretels the Rejection of the <HI>Jews; The Children of the Kingdom,</HI> &s;aith he, <HI>&s;hall be ca&s;t out into outer darkne&s;s.</HI></P>
<P>He foretels the Per&s;ecutions which were to
<PB N="244" REF="282">happen to his Di&s;ciples from the <HI>Jews,</HI> as well as from the <HI>Roman</HI> Governours; <HI>They &s;hall lay their hands on you, and per&s;ecute you, delivering you up to the Synagogues, and into Pri&s;ons, being brought before Kings,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>He foretels that notwith&s;tanding all the&s;e Per|&s;ecutions, yet his Church &s;hould not only conti|nue, a&s;&s;uring them that <HI>the Gates of Hell &s;hould never prevail again&s;t her;</HI> but al&s;o &s;hould greatly flou|ri&s;h and encrea&s;e, according to what <HI>David</HI> had foretold, <HI>P&s;alm</HI> CX. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 3. alluding to the &s;ud|dain fruitfulne&s;s which is cau&s;ed by Dew.</P>
<P>He above thirty times foretels his Suffering and Death.</P>
<P>He foretels his Re&s;urrection the third day.</P>
<P>He foretels that <HI>Judas</HI> &s;hould betray him, S. <HI>Pe|ter</HI> deny him, that his Apo&s;tles &s;hould be &s;catter|ed, as &s;oon as they &s;hould &s;ee him &s;mitten. He foretels the Martyrdom of S. <HI>Peter,</HI> which he was to &s;uffer for his &s;ake, and to S. <HI>John,</HI> that he was to &s;urvive the de&s;truction of <HI>Jeru&s;alem.</HI> He fore|tels that after his A&s;cen&s;ion to <HI>Heaven,</HI> he &s;hould begin the Call of all the Nations of the Earth; <HI>When I &s;hall be lifted up from the Earth,</HI> &s;aith he, <HI>I &s;hall draw all men unto me.</HI></P>
<P>He often foretels the de&s;truction of <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> and the Temple; <HI>Behold,</HI> &s;aith he, <HI>your Hou&s;e is left unto you de&s;olate.</HI></P>
<P>He foretels that many fal&s;e Me&s;&s;iah's &s;hould come after him, whom the <HI>Jews</HI> &s;hould receive, tho' they had rejected him as an Impo&s;tor.</P>
<P>Several Reflexions may be made upon the&s;e Predictions of our Lord. In &s;hort, one may ob|&s;erve at fir&s;t, That there are three &s;orts of them in
<PB N="245" REF="282">the <HI>New Te&s;tament;</HI> &s;ome of them were fulfilled &s;oon after they were pronounced, as tho&s;e con|cerning the A&s;s which he &s;ent his Di&s;ciples for, tho&s;e of his Death and Re&s;urrection, of S. <HI>Peter</HI>'s denying him, and the flight of his Apo&s;tles, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>The De&s;ign of the&s;e was to e&s;tabli&s;h the belief of tho&s;e which were further off, which is the Method of God him&s;elf the Father of our Lord in the <HI>Old Te&s;tament,</HI> as I have ob&s;er|ved.</P>
<P>Some of them related to matters which were more remote, as the Wars for in&s;tance, which Chri&s;t foretold, the de&s;truction of <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> and the di&s;per&s;ion of the <HI>Jews.</HI></P>
<P>La&s;tly, There were &s;ome who&s;e accompli&s;h|ment was at a very great di&s;tance, after many A|ges, &s;ome of them reaching to the end of the World.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's plainly that this mixture of our Savi|our's Predictions, which are of &s;o very different &s;orts, is of u&s;e to confirm the belief, and a&s;certain the truth of them, the exact fulfilling of the fir&s;t Oracle making way for the belief and expectati|on of the &s;econd, and &s;o on, till all be fulfil|led.</P>
<P>One may ob&s;erve afterwards, That Je&s;us Chri&s;t and his Apo&s;tles, on whom he (according to his promi&s;e) after his A&s;cen&s;ion, poured forth the Spirit of Prophecy, did ordinarily follow the &s;ame Notions and Expre&s;&s;ions which the Prophets of the <HI>Old Te&s;tament</HI> made u&s;e of.</P>
<P>Thus we find Je&s;us Chri&s;t makes u&s;e of <HI>Daniel</HI>'s Notions, where he &s;peaks of the de&s;truction of <HI>Jeru&s;alem;</HI> thus we &s;ee that he imitates the mo&s;t
<PB N="246" REF="283">illu&s;trious Actions of the Prophets, and to make his Predictions the more ob&s;erved, in accompli&s;h|ing the Prophecy of <HI>Zachariah</HI> on <HI>Palm-Sunday;</HI> in the mid&s;t of the acclamations of the People he weeps over <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> as if its de&s;truction were already come. Thus Je&s;us Chri&s;t &s;aith to S. <HI>Peter, When thou &s;halt be old,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. XXI. 18.</NOTE> <HI>another &s;hall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou woulde&s;t not;</HI> thus foretelling his death; Thus he in&s;tructs him in the Calling of the <HI>Gentiles</HI> under a repre&s;entation of all &s;orts of Bea&s;ts, commanding him al&s;o, even as to the im|pure Animals, <HI>Slay and eat.</HI> All the <HI>Revelations</HI> are full of &s;uch Prophetical Idea's taken from the <HI>Old Testament,</HI> from <HI>Gene&s;is, I&s;aiah, Ezechiel, Zacha|riah,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>But here are other Reflexions of as great impor|tance as the former.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t is, That the greate&s;t part of the&s;e Pre|dictions are nothing but a continuance and more di&s;tinct explication of the Oracles of the <HI>Old Te&s;ta|ment,</HI> concerning the Sufferings of the Me&s;&s;iah, the Calling of the <HI>Gentiles,</HI> the de&s;truction of the Com|monwealth of the <HI>Jews;</HI> and be&s;ides, they are con|tinued to the la&s;t day of the World, which is the end of Prophecy.</P>
<P>The &s;econd is, That the&s;e Predictions had not the lea&s;t probability upon which they might rati|onally have been grounded. What likelyhood was there, that Je&s;us Chri&s;t &s;hould be crucified, he who rai&s;ed the dead, who commanded the Sea and Winds, he whom they would have taken by force to make him their King? What likelyhood was there, that the Apo&s;tles, a company of poor mi&s;erable <HI>Jews,</HI> &s;hould bring over the <HI>Gentiles</HI> to
<PB N="247" REF="283">the Religion of a man who was accur&s;ed by the Synagogue of the <HI>Jews,</HI> and crucified like a Slave by the Authority of the <HI>Roman</HI> Magi&s;trate? What probability was there of the de&s;truction of <HI>Jeru|&s;alem,</HI> whil&s;t the <HI>Jews,</HI> accu&s;tom'd to the <HI>Roman</HI> yoke, made it their bu&s;ine&s;s to avoid all manner of occa&s;ions that might &s;tir up the indignation of their Ma&s;ters again&s;t them. <HI>It is expedient,</HI> &s;ay they, <HI>rather that one man peri&s;h</HI> (meaning Je&s;us) <HI>than to hazard the welfare of the whole Nation.</HI></P>
<P>The third is, That the&s;e Oracles were written by the Apo&s;tles, not only among&s;t Di&s;cour&s;es of another nature, but al&s;o linked together in &s;uch a Chain, that their connexion will not permit us to believe that they were contrived after the mat|ters which they relate to, were pa&s;t, and al&s;o that they are con&s;tantly related by three Evangeli&s;ts, long time before the things came to pa&s;s, S. <HI>John</HI> being the only Witne&s;s of the De&s;truction of <HI>Je|ru&s;alem.</HI></P>
<P>The fourth is, That the&s;e Oracles gave the A|po&s;tles as much grounds to expect Calamities and violent Deaths, as to Je&s;us Chri&s;t him&s;elf, &s;o that there is no pretence of doubting that they were not faithfully recorded by the Evangeli&s;ts, and that therefore &s;eeing the Accompli&s;hment has ex|actly an&s;wered to the Oracle, we ought to look upon them as Divine Oracles.</P>
<P>I confe&s;s that the&s;e Oracles, no more than the Books of the <HI>New Te&s;tament,</HI> were ever committed to the publick cu&s;tody of the <HI>Jews,</HI> as formerly the Oracles of the Prophets of old were, but this cannot really dimini&s;h their Authority.</P>
<P>I will not ob&s;erve at pre&s;ent, that becau&s;e the
<PB N="248" REF="284">Temple was to be burnt, it was not proper to de|po&s;e them there; and 'twas for this rea&s;on God thought fit to cau&s;e the Oracles of the <HI>Old Te&s;ta|ment</HI> to be tran&s;lated long before.</P>
<P>Nor yet, that it was very proper that the&s;e Pre|dictions, as well as the Books of the <HI>New Testa|ment,</HI> &s;hould be put into the hands of the <HI>Gentiles,</HI> who thence-forward were to be the People of God, and his Temple.</P>
<P>But this I ob&s;erve, that nothing can be imagi|ned more &s;olemn than the&s;e Prophecies of our Sa|viour and his Di&s;ciples, as well as never any thing was more exactly fulfilled.</P>
<P>Je&s;us Chri&s;t was born at <HI>Bethlehem</HI> according to the Oracles&punc; Now as no man is Ma&s;ter of the place of his Birth, &s;o it is plain that here is no room left for impo&s;ture; neither is a man any more the Ma&s;ter of his Death; wherefore to give a cer|tain Character to his Prophecy, he foretells his dying at <HI>Jeru&s;alem;</HI> which accordingly was ac|compli&s;hed in all its Circum&s;tances; can any thing be more exact?</P>
<P>But one may &s;ay, That it was ea&s;ie for the Di&s;|ciples to forge Predictions &s;uitable to the Event, in like manner as <HI>Virgil</HI> hath done in the &s;ixth of his <HI>Aeneids</HI> of <HI>Marcellus.</HI> One may indeed con|trive an impo&s;ture which &s;hall be po&s;&s;ible, and which may an&s;wer to &s;ome few Oracles; but I &s;hall hereafter &s;hew the folly of that thought, when I come to prove the faithfulne&s;s of the Apo&s;tles and Evangeli&s;ts.</P>
<P>But can we conceive &s;uch a &s;u&s;picion concern|ing the Conver&s;ion of the <HI>Gentiles,</HI> the ruin of Pagani&s;m, the Victory of Chri&s;tianity after Ten
<PB N="249" REF="284">Per&s;ecutions. 'Tis now above 1600 years that the Chri&s;tian Religion &s;ub&s;i&s;ts, whereas, who could have a&s;&s;ured the Di&s;ciples of Je&s;us Chri&s;t that their Doctrine would have had &s;o much as one or two followers after their Death? The greate&s;t Em|pires, that of the <HI>Chaldeans,</HI> of the <HI>Per&s;ians,</HI> of the <HI>Grecians,</HI> and that of the <HI>Romans;</HI> have been overturned, and none of them &s;ingly have been of &s;o long continuance as the Kingdom of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, which neverthele&s;s was attack'd by all that was great and powerful in the World. Who &s;ee's not that this is the Empire whereof <HI>Daniel</HI> &s;peaks in the &s;eventh of his Revelations, <HI>which was never to have end.</HI></P>
<P>Je&s;us Chri&s;t foretold, as it is &s;et down by his Di&s;ciples, according to the Prophecy of <HI>Daniel,</HI> that the Temple of <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> &s;hould be de&s;troy|ed, and never built again: who could tell the A|po&s;tles, if they had forged this Oracle them|&s;elves, that the endeavours of <HI>Julian</HI> to confound this Prophecy, when he began to rebuild the Tem|ple, would be in vain, as indeed they proved by an effect of the Divine vengeance again&s;t the <HI>Jews,</HI> who were engaged in the rebuilding of it,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ammian. Marcellin.</HI> Lib. 23.</NOTE> under the Authority of that Emperour.</P>
<P>Indeed if one reflects on the Oracles of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, one &s;hall find them a thou&s;and times more known than tho&s;e of the <HI>Jews.</HI></P>
<P N="1">1. The greate&s;t part of them were penn'd at one and the &s;ame time.</P>
<P N="2">2. They were writ by &s;everal Authors, who lived in different places.</P>
<P N="3">3. They were read over the whole Earth every Lord's day, they have been explained and com|mented
<PB N="250" REF="285">upon &s;oon after, every one endeavour|ing to take notice of their Accompli&s;hment.</P>
<P N="4">4. They have been alledged in Di&s;putes a|gain&s;t <HI>Jews</HI> and <HI>Gentiles,</HI> and have &s;erved for a Foundation to the Faith of the Chri&s;tian Church, who&s;e Teachers have made it their bu&s;ine&s;s to &s;hew their uniformity with the Oracles of the <HI>Old Testament,</HI> which are in the hands of the <HI>Jews,</HI> tho' the <HI>Jews</HI> have always con&s;idered the Chri&s;ti|ans as their mo&s;t mortal Enemies.</P>
<P>But one may al&s;o find that the&s;e Oracles, be|ing for the mo&s;t part much more clear and expre&s;s, their Accompli&s;hment al&s;o hath been &s;o much the more ea&s;ily di&s;cernible: from whence it evi|dently follows, That Je&s;us Chri&s;t ought to be ac|knowledged <HI>as the Prophet that was like unto</HI> Mo|&s;es, as is mentioned in the Eighteenth of <HI>Deutero|nomy,</HI> that is indeed the <HI>true Me&s;&s;iah.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="12" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XII.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">That Je&s;us Christ died preci&s;ely in the &s;ame manner as it was foretold that the Me&s;&s;iah &s;hould dye.</HEAD>
<P>I Have &s;hewed in my third part, that God had given to his Church &s;everal Oracles to explain di&s;tinctly this great Truth concerning the Me&s;|&s;iah.</P>
<P N="1">1. He had &s;et this up for a Rule by <HI>Mo&s;es, Cur&s;ed is he that hangeth on a Tree.</HI></P>
<PB N="251" REF="285">
<P N="2">2. He had propo&s;ed by <HI>David</HI> the Idea of the Me&s;&s;iah, as having his hands and feet pierced; the <HI>Gentiles</HI> and <HI>Jews</HI> uniting them&s;elves again&s;t him.</P>
<P N="3">3. He had foretold by <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> that the Me&s;&s;iah was to be accounted a Malefactor, and put to death.</P>
<P N="4">4. He had repeated the &s;ame Idea's by the Pro|phet <HI>Zechariah,</HI> who de&s;cribes the manner of his being pierced, which has a natural reference to the notion of Crucifixion.</P>
<P>I have al&s;o &s;et down the Rea&s;ons for which God &s;eparated the &s;everal parts of tho&s;e Prophetical De&s;criptions of &s;o &s;urprizing an Event; the diffi|culty there was on the one hand to make the&s;e I|dea's to be received, which &s;eem full of Contra|dictions; the Me&s;&s;iah having been at fir&s;t &s;et forth as the Fountain of Ble&s;&s;ing: and on the other hand, their &s;eeming incompatibility with the Glory which God had promi&s;ed to the Me&s;&s;iah, and by him to the <HI>I&s;raelites.</HI></P>
<P>And at la&s;t, I have &s;hewed that the&s;e Oracles do exactly and clearly de&s;cribe the things which were to happen to the Me&s;&s;iah, which was to be &s;o, becau&s;e of the nature of the&s;e Events, which were &s;o &s;trange, and at &s;uch a di&s;tance from the common Idea's which men have for the mo&s;t part of &s;uch things.</P>
<P>Our bu&s;ine&s;s therefore only is to con&s;ider at pre&s;ent, whether indeed Je&s;us Chri&s;t died in the &s;ame manner as the Prophets had foretold that the Me&s;&s;iah &s;hould.</P>
<P>This Character is a very illu&s;trious one to con|firm that Je&s;us Chri&s;t is the Me&s;&s;iah. For it is well
<PB N="252" REF="286">known that a Pri&s;oner is no longer Ma&s;ter of the things that happen to him, neither of the kind of his Death, nor of the manner of his Burial.</P>
<P>In &s;hort, nothing can be imagin'd more fooli&s;h than to &s;uppo&s;e that the Di&s;ciples of Je&s;us Chri&s;t &s;hould apply to their Ma&s;ter, that he might pa&s;s for the Me&s;&s;iah, &s;uch Oracles as had not u&s;ually been applyed to the Me&s;&s;iah by the <HI>Jews,</HI> among&s;t whom they lived, and whom they endeavoured to di&s;po&s;e for the receiving of Je&s;us Chri&s;t as the promi&s;ed Me&s;&s;iah.</P>
<P>Now we cannot conceive any thing more ex|act than the Agreement which we find between the Prophecies and the Event.</P>
<P N="1">1. When Je&s;us Chri&s;t by his triumphant entry into <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> riding on an A&s;s, had put his Di&s;|ciples in mind of one pa&s;&s;age in <HI>Zachary,</HI> he obliged them al&s;o to ca&s;t their eyes upon another, when he foretold his death, and their flight, as the ac|compli&s;hment of this Oracle,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. XXVI. 31.</NOTE> <HI>I will &s;mite the Shep|herd, and the flock &s;hall be &s;cattered,</HI> Zach. XIII. 7.</P>
<P N="2">2. He was be&s;et with a Band of <HI>Roman</HI> Souldi|ers, and the Servants of the principal men among&s;t the <HI>Jews,</HI> who apprehended him, under the con|duct of <HI>Judas;</HI> which exactly an&s;wers, 1. To the De&s;cription which we find <HI>P&s;al.</HI> XXII. <HI>Dogs,</HI> that is Heathens, whom the <HI>Jews</HI> treated as &s;uch, <HI>and &s;trong Bulls,</HI> that is <HI>Jews,</HI> repre&s;ented by clean Bea&s;ts, <HI>have be&s;et me round.</HI> And &s;econdly, to that other Prophecy, <HI>He that eats bread with me hath lift up his heel against me.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. He offers him&s;elf freely to death, according to that of <HI>I&s;aiah,</HI> That he <HI>gave his Soul an offering for &s;in.</HI> This appears not only by his going into
<PB N="253" REF="286">the Garden, where he knew that he &s;hould be ta|ken; but al&s;o by his telling the Souldiers that he was the man they looked for; he oppo&s;ed S. <HI>Pe|ter</HI>'s attempts towards his Re&s;cue, and declares that he did not fly from death, but was willing to &s;a|tisfie the intent of the Prophecies.</P>
<P N="4">4. He is for&s;aken by his Di&s;ciples, as he him&s;elf had te&s;tified of it as foretold by the Prophets, <HI>Zach.</HI> XIII. 7.</P>
<P N="5">5. He is &s;truck on the face before <HI>Annas,</HI> as <HI>Jeremiah</HI> had foretold <HI>Lament.</HI> III. 30. <HI>He giveth his Cheek to him that &s;miteth him.</HI></P>
<P N="6">6. He appears before <HI>Caiaphas,</HI> &s;urrounded by every thing that was great among&s;t the <HI>Jews,</HI> whether Lawyers or Church-men, according to <HI>P&s;alm</HI> II.</P>
<P N="7">7. He is &s;ilent before his unju&s;t Judges, and neg|lects to an&s;wer the Accu&s;ations which the fal&s;e Witne&s;&s;es depo&s;ed again&s;t him, according to the Prophecy of <HI>I&s;aiah, As a Sheep before his &s;hearers is dumb, &s;o he openeth not his mouth,</HI> I&s;aiah LIII. 7. and the de&s;cription which <HI>David</HI> gives of him. <HI>P&s;.</HI> XXXI. and XXXIX.</P>
<P N="8">8. They opened their mouths again&s;t him, in accu&s;ing him of Bla&s;phemy, as <HI>David</HI> had figura|tively expre&s;&s;ed it, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> XXII. 13.</P>
<P N="9">9. They &s;pit in his face, they buffetted and a|bu&s;ed him the whole night, according to that O|racle of <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> XLIX. 6.</P>
<P N="10">10. When <HI>Judas</HI> &s;aw that Je&s;us Chri&s;t was de|livered to <HI>Pilate</HI> by the <HI>Jews,</HI> who demanded his Crucifixion, he returned the thirty pieces of Silver, wherewith they purcha&s;ed the Potters field, after|wards called the Field of Blood, and &s;et apart by
<PB N="254" REF="287">the <HI>Jews</HI> for the burial of Strangers, as was fore|told by <HI>Zachariah</HI> XI. 12. and by <HI>Jeremiah</HI> XXXII. 25.</P>
<P N="11">11. He is accu&s;ed before <HI>Pilate,</HI> and brought before <HI>Herod,</HI> without ju&s;tifying him&s;elf of the Crimes laid to his charge, as it is <HI>P&s;alm</HI> XXXVIII. and XXVII. 12.</P>
<P N="12">12. <HI>Pilate</HI> and <HI>Herod</HI> agree in con&s;piring the death of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, according to the de&s;cripti|on of <HI>P&s;alm</HI> II.</P>
<P N="13">13. <HI>Pilate</HI> de&s;iring to &s;ave Je&s;us, the <HI>Jews</HI> de|mand <HI>Barabbas</HI> might be relea&s;ed, and Je&s;us puni&s;hed, as <HI>David</HI> had foretold <HI>P&s;alm</HI> XXII. 14.</P>
<P N="14">14. Je&s;us Chri&s;t was &s;courged by <HI>Pilate</HI>'s order, which was foretold <HI>P&s;alm</HI> XXXVIII. and LXIX. <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> LIII. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 5. and <HI>Chap.</HI> LXIII.</P>
<P N="15">15. He is brought forth by <HI>Pilate</HI> to the People with an <HI>Ecce Homo, Behold the Man,</HI> which was foretold by <HI>I&s;aiah, When we &s;hall &s;ee him, there is no Beauty that we &s;hould de&s;ire him, he is de&s;pi&s;ed and re|jected of men, we did e&s;teem him &s;tricken, &s;mitten of God and afflicted.</HI></P>
<P N="16">16. He is afterwards delivered to the Souldiers, who before they crucified him, in&s;ulted over him with a thou&s;and Indignities, and &s;courged him a|gain, according to the Prophecies &s;o often before alledged.</P>
<P N="17">17. They Crucifie him with two Robbers, which an&s;wers to that Prophecy <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> LIII. 12. <HI>He was numbred with Tran&s;gre&s;&s;ors.</HI></P>
<P N="18">18. They give him Gall and Vinegar to drink, as was foretold <HI>P&s;alm</HI> LXIX.</P>
<P N="19">19. They pierce his hands and feet in nailing
<PB N="255" REF="287">him to the Cro&s;s, which an&s;wers to <HI>P&s;alm</HI> XXII. 17, 18.</P>
<P N="20">20. They part his Garments, which is repre|&s;ented in the &s;ame <HI>P&s;alm, ver&s;e</HI> 19. and ca&s;t Lots on his Ve&s;ture, according to the &s;ame <HI>P&s;alm</HI> in the very &s;ame place.</P>
<P N="21">21. He &s;uffers a thou&s;and Reproaches upon the Cro&s;s, according to what we find <HI>P&s;alm</HI> XXII. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 8. and <HI>P&s;alm</HI> LXIX. <HI>ver.</HI> 8, 10.</P>
<P N="22">22. And in particular the <HI>Jews</HI> and <HI>Scribes</HI> re|proach him in the very words of <HI>P&s;alm</HI> XXII. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 8.</P>
<P N="23">23. Je&s;us Chri&s;t cries out, applying to him&s;elf the beginning of <HI>P&s;alm</HI> XXII. <HI>My God! My God! why ha&s;t thou for&s;aken me?</HI> as he had before applied to him&s;elf the Prophecy concerning the Me&s;&s;iah in the third of <HI>Daniel.</HI></P>
<P N="24">24. He commends his Soul into the hands of God, in the very words which we read <HI>P&s;alm</HI> XVI.</P>
<P>The&s;e are the principal Circum&s;tances of the Death of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, which one &s;ee's to be ex|actly agreeable to the Prophecies going before concerning them: let us now con&s;ider tho&s;e which followed his death, which we &s;hall not find to be le&s;s particular.</P>
<P N="1">1. The Bones of Je&s;us Chri&s;t were not broken, as tho&s;e of the two Thieves, which one may &s;ee foretold <HI>P&s;alm</HI> XXXIV. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 21.</P>
<P N="2">2. They open'd his &s;ide with a Spear, according to the Idea of <HI>Zechariah, Chap.</HI> X. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 12. <HI>They &s;hall look upon him whom they have pierced.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. His Body is buried by <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> of <HI>Arimathea,</HI> in a new Sepulchre, which an&s;wers to the Prophecy of <HI>I&s;aiah, Chap.</HI> LIII.</P>
<PB N="256" REF="288">
<P>The&s;e Remarks do, in my judgment, clearly prove, that in the death of Chri&s;t all the Chara|cters by which the Prophets have di&s;tingui&s;hed the death of the Me&s;&s;iah, are actually found.</P>
<P>But that we may yet be more &s;en&s;ible how ju&s;t|ly the&s;e Oracles are applyed to Je&s;us Chri&s;t; here are &s;ome Reflexions upon the application which the Apo&s;tles make of the&s;e particular Facts which happened to Chri&s;t, to tho&s;e Oracles which I have now mentioned.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t is, That the relation of the&s;e Facts is joyned with an account of the weakne&s;s where|into they all fell: They relate their own flight, and for&s;aking their Ma&s;ter, with S. <HI>Peter</HI>'s denying of him, whil&s;t they &s;et down the courage of tho&s;e women, and that entire love which they &s;hewed to the per&s;on of Je&s;us.</P>
<P>The &s;econd is, That the account of the Ac|compli&s;hment of the&s;e ancient Oracles is inter|woven with the Accompli&s;hment of tho&s;e which were uttered by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, which alone are &s;uf|ficient to make good his claim.</P>
<P>The third is, That our Saviour did never on a|ny occa&s;ion more openly &s;tand to his preten&s;ion of being the Me&s;&s;iah, than when he applyed to him|&s;elf tho&s;e Oracles which by their publick con&s;ent were referred to the Me&s;&s;iah, which the <HI>Jews</HI> at that time more ob&s;tinately conte&s;ted, than e|ver.</P>
<P>The fourth is, That there never was a more exact de&s;cription of all Circum&s;tances which might a&s;&s;ure us of the truth of any Relation, than that which the Evangeli&s;ts have given us of the death of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, in which we find the places,
<PB N="257" REF="288">the time, the per&s;ons, their di&s;cour&s;es, and other things of that nature, &s;et down with extream care.</P>
<P>The fifth is, That as this Fact, with all its Cir|cum&s;tances, is the mo&s;t exactly de&s;cribed of any thing that ever was, &s;o it was a matter, concern|ing which it was &s;carce po&s;&s;ible to impo&s;e upon a|ny one. All was done in the face of the whole Nation, who were met together at their mo&s;t &s;o|lemn Fe&s;tival: All was done in the pre&s;ence of the Soveraign Heathen Magi&s;trate, of the Council of the <HI>Jews,</HI> of <HI>Herod,</HI> and of tho&s;e who follow|ed him to <HI>Jeru&s;alem.</HI></P>
<P>The &s;ixth is, That we find an account of &s;ome Miracles interwoven with this Relation of the E|vangeli&s;ts concerning the death of Chri&s;t, and tho&s;e Miracles as publick, and as little &s;ubject to &s;u&s;picion, as the death it &s;elf of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, if we take the pains to examine them.</P>
<P>They who come to take Je&s;us fall down back|ward to the ground; Je&s;us Chri&s;t re&s;tores the ear of the High Prie&s;t's Servant which was cut off: there was darkne&s;s over all the Land from Nine a Clock in the Morning till Noon; the vail of the Temple is rent. The&s;e are miraculous actions, and &s;uch as the <HI>Jews</HI> might ea&s;ily have refuted, where|&s;oever they had been propo&s;ed, if the truth of them had not been beyond all que&s;tion.</P>
<P>From all the&s;e Remarks it evidently follows, That it is impo&s;&s;ible to di&s;pute the Application which the Apo&s;tles make of the&s;e Oracles which are &s;o particular to the per&s;on of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, as the true Me&s;&s;iah: We find every part of their Re|lation exactly an&s;wering to the Prophe&s;ies; how
<PB N="258" REF="289">then can any one doubt of their being fulfilled in him? e&s;pecially &s;eeing it is evident by &s;o many other proofs that he was indeed the Me&s;&s;iah, and that God has been plea&s;ed &s;o many other ways to confirm the &s;ame truth.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="13" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XIII.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">That Je&s;us Chri&s;t was rai&s;ed again the third day according to the Prophets, and after|wards a&s;cended into Heaven.</HEAD>
<P>HAving &s;hewed in the foregoing <HI>Chapter</HI> that Je&s;us Chri&s;t was crucified under <HI>Pontius Pi|late,</HI> for maintaining that he was the promi&s;ed Me&s;&s;iah, I am now to &s;hew, that according to the Prophecies &s;et down in my third part, he ro&s;e again the third day, and afterwards a&s;cended in|to Heaven. As the&s;e two Facts are the mo&s;t im|portant of all that are contained in the Go&s;pel, becau&s;e if they be denied, all the Divine Wor|&s;hip given to Je&s;us Chri&s;t, by the Apo&s;tles, and a great number of <HI>Jews</HI> and <HI>Gentiles,</HI> who received him for their Ma&s;ter in matters of Religion, is ab|&s;olutely unlawful; &s;o we ought &s;olidly to prove that they are indi&s;putably true. Of which we &s;hall be fully convinced by making &s;ome Ob&s;erva|tions upon the Relation which the Evangeli&s;ts give us concerning them, and we &s;hall ea&s;ily find therein all the Characters of Truth.</P>
<PB N="259" REF="289">
<P>There is no nece&s;&s;ity of ob&s;erving, that a Re|&s;urrection from the dead, is a Fact which can hardly be believed; and that tho the <HI>Jews</HI> did not all of them look upon it as an impo&s;&s;ible thing, yet there were <HI>Sadduces</HI> among&s;t them, who&s;e Doctrine was publickly taught. It is certain, that tho the Di&s;ciples had &s;een Je&s;us Chri&s;t, rai&s;ing three per&s;ons from the dead, and among&s;t others <HI>Lazarus,</HI> a little before his death, yet we find that they were not thereby more di&s;po&s;ed to believe that Chri&s;t was to ri&s;e from the dead.</P>
<P>In &s;hort, tho the Evangeli&s;ts tells us, that Je&s;us Chri&s;t him&s;elf had foretold, that he was to ri&s;e a|gain the third day, which was a thing &s;o com|monly known, that the Prie&s;ts to elude the Pro|phe&s;ie, de&s;ired of <HI>Pilate,</HI> that a Guard might be &s;et on Je&s;us his Grave, yet they expre&s;ly tell us, that the Di&s;ciples, none excepted, were in &s;uch a Con&s;ternation at the death of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, that they had entirely lo&s;t the hopes of &s;eeing the ac|compli&s;hment of that Prophe&s;ie. Some pious Women, who had accompanied him to the Cro&s;s, and were de&s;irous to &s;hew &s;ome Marks of their Veneration after his death; came indeed to his Sepulchre, but with Spices to embalm his dead Body, &s;o far were they from expecting to find him ri&s;en from the dead. Tho the&s;e Holy Women were convinced of the Re&s;urrection of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, by the Apparition of an Angel, by the Di&s;cour&s;e of our Saviour him&s;elf, and by the re|petition of his order, that they &s;hould go to <HI>Galilee,</HI> where they &s;hould &s;ee him, yet the Relation which they give of the&s;e things, is accounted fabulous, &s;o that two only of all the Apo&s;tles had the curio&s;ity
<PB N="260" REF="290">to go to the Grave and inform them&s;elves. Here is a great unbelief among&s;t the Apo&s;tles, which was to be cured: This was a condition wholly in|con&s;i&s;tent, if we &s;uppo&s;e them Impo&s;tors, and that they intended to impo&s;e upon the World.</P>
<P>A Second thing we may ob&s;erve is, That as the Incredulity of our Saviour's own Di&s;ciples was ex|traordinary, &s;o we cannot imagine any more effi|cacious means than were employed to overcome this their doubtfulne&s;s. If one joyns the Relati|ons of the Evangeli&s;ts together, one may find &s;e|veral degrees of evidence, in tho&s;e proofs which confirm the truth of the Re&s;urrection of our Savi|our.</P>
<P>The Fir&s;t is the manner of their being informed of the Re&s;urrection of Je&s;us Chri&s;t; Angels at fir&s;t declare his Re&s;urrection to &s;ome Women; Je&s;us Chri&s;t afterwards appears to <HI>Mary Magdalen,</HI> all alone; afterwards he appears only to two of his Di&s;ciples, then to St. <HI>Peter,</HI> afterwards he appears to &s;even of them at once, then to all his Di&s;ciples except <HI>Thomas,</HI> and &s;oon after to the eleven, <HI>Tho|mas</HI> being one of them. After all this, he appears to a greater number of his Followers, till at la&s;t, having been &s;everal times &s;een of them all, he ap|pears to them all a&s;&s;embled together, and is ta|ken up into Heaven in their &s;ight. It is evident, that as they were informed of this truth one after another, &s;o they were more obliged to examine the Fact more attentively when Je&s;us Chri&s;t ap|peared to them.</P>
<P>The &s;econd degree has relation to tho&s;e Marks and Characters, by which they were a&s;&s;ured, that it was Je&s;us Chri&s;t him&s;elf. The Angels repeat to
<PB N="261" REF="290">the Women the command which Je&s;us Chri&s;t be|fore his death had given to his Di&s;ciples to go in|to <HI>Galilee;</HI> Je&s;us Chri&s;t appearing to <HI>Mary Magde|len</HI> repeats the &s;ame to her, and gives her a parti|cular Commi&s;&s;ion for S. <HI>Peter,</HI> to comfort him in his Affliction, for having denied his Ma&s;ter. Ap|pearing to his Di&s;ciples as they went to <HI>Emmaus,</HI> he refers them to the Prophecies, which &s;poke of his Death and Re&s;urrection; and moreover, when he broke Bread with them, they hear the &s;ame Prayers which he ordinarily u&s;ed at the ble&s;&s;ing of it. He appears to them the &s;ame day the fifth time, and &s;hews them his feet and his hands; he repeats the Grant of the Authority which the Fa|ther had given him; he breathes upon them, &s;ay|ing, <HI>Receive the Holy Gho&s;t;</HI> a week after he lets <HI>Thomas</HI> touch him; he appears afterward to &s;even of his Apo&s;tles upon the Lake of <HI>Tiberias,</HI> where he confirms S. <HI>Peter</HI> in his charge, from which his denying of Chri&s;t might &s;eem to have excluded him, after he had wrought a Miracle in the draught of the Fi&s;hes, which was like &s;ome Mira|cles which he had wrought before his death. Af|terwards he appears upon the &s;ame Mountain in <HI>Galilee,</HI> where in all probability he had been tran&s;|figured before, and is there &s;een of Five hundred of his Di&s;ciples at once. And la&s;t of all he appears to them at <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> after their return from <HI>Ga|lilee,</HI> and from thence goes with them to <HI>Betha|ny,</HI> where after he had told them of the ab&s;olute power which God had given them, he commands them to go and Baptize in his Name, he foretels the Miracles which they &s;hould work, and the Gifts which they &s;hould receive at <HI>Jeru&s;alem.</HI> All
<PB N="262" REF="291">the&s;e &s;o very different Circum&s;tances were only de&s;ign'd to a&s;&s;ure their Eyes, their Hands, their Minds, their Con&s;ciences, that it was the &s;ame Je&s;us whom they had always followed.</P>
<P>It is worth our taking notice of the diver&s;ity of the&s;e Circum&s;tances for the certainty of this Fact, which ab&s;olutely prevent all pretences of doubt|fulne&s;s. Je&s;us Chri&s;t appears ten &s;everal times af|ter his death; he appears five times on the very day of his Re&s;urrection; he appears at &s;everal hours, to different per&s;ons, in &s;everal places, but always to per&s;ons to whom he was familiarly known, to tho&s;e who were not at all credulous; the fir&s;t news they had of his Re&s;urrection &s;eem'd only to rai&s;e their Scruples, if the te&s;timony of their Sen&s;es, which &s;aw him and touched him, had not removed all &s;u&s;picions. Je&s;us Chri&s;t appears to them in places where he had wrought many Miracles, and where he had often before con|ver&s;ed with them.</P>
<P>But one may make another more important Reflexion, upon the time and the day wherein our Saviour ro&s;e again. Of the ten &s;everal times in which he appeared to his Di&s;ciples, he appear|ed five times on the day of his Re&s;urrection; he appeared to them eight days after, and after that, the eighth day, which he &s;ignalized by his frequent appearing to his Di&s;ciples, was con&s;ecrated to ce|lebrate the memory of this Event every week: One finds certain tokens hereof in the Writings of the Apo&s;tles, and it is known that all Chri&s;tians after them did inviolably ob&s;erve this Law. Now let any one con&s;ider whether it would have been po&s;&s;ible to introduce this Cu&s;tom in the time of
<PB N="263" REF="291">the Apo&s;tles, if the Re&s;urrection of Chri&s;t had not been a Fact confe&s;&s;ed of all hands. Can any one conceive that the Apo&s;tles and their Di&s;ciples, who were witne&s;&s;es of the death of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and who celebrated the memory thereof by a Sacra|ment, could have been &s;o &s;tupid to e&s;tabli&s;h a Cu|&s;tom which would put People upon examining the Fact, and have convinced them in a little time, &s;ince none of tho&s;e that followed them would have &s;ubmitted to this practi&s;e, if they had not been convinced by their Eyes, and their other Sen&s;es, and by a thou&s;and other proofs of the truth of &s;o capital a Fact, which was &s;o much di&s;|puted by the <HI>Jews,</HI> of which they were obliged to make a &s;olemn commemoration two and fifty times every year, as long as they liv'd.</P>
<P>Let us add to this Remark, which we have el&s;e|where urged, with reference to the Creation, ano|ther Reflexion upon a Fact which the Evangeli&s;ts tell us: They tell us that tho' the Re&s;urrection of Chri&s;t was accompanied with very peculiar Cir|cum&s;tances, &s;ufficient to convince both <HI>Jews</HI> and <HI>Gentiles</HI> of the truth of it, being u&s;her'd in with an Earthquake, with Apparitions of Angels to the Souldiers that guarded the Sepulchre of Je&s;us, and were frighted thereby, yet the Council of the <HI>Jews</HI> contrived, with the Souldiers, a mo&s;t im|pudent lye to out-face it, and accordingly the Souldiers coming before <HI>Pilate,</HI> tell him that the Di&s;ciples had &s;toln away the Body of Je&s;us whil&s;t they &s;lept, and his Di&s;ciples tell us, that &s;ince this hath been the common Opinion of the <HI>Jews.</HI></P>
<P>I will not &s;o much as take notice here of the palpable fal&s;ity of this Depo&s;ition; for if the Soul|diers
<PB N="264" REF="292">were a&s;leep, how could they depo&s;e concern|ing a Fact which was done at that time: If they were not a&s;leep, why did not they hinder the Di&s;|ciples from taking the Body of their Ma&s;ter away? How could they affirm that Thieves had taken him away, when the Linnen Clothes wherein his Body was &s;hrouded, being left in the Grave, and the Napkin that was about his head, being folded up in a place by it &s;elf, do ab&s;olutely evince that he was not taken away by per&s;ons that were in fear of a &s;urprize? What probability is there, in &s;hort, to &s;u&s;pect that his Di&s;ciples, who for&s;ook Je&s;us Chri&s;t whil&s;t he was yet alive, who fled from him at that time, &s;hould undertake &s;uch a hazardous Attempt to have his Body only?</P>
<P>Neither will I in&s;i&s;t upon a Repre&s;entation of the Apo&s;tles &s;incerity, which made them give us in their Hi&s;tories a plain account of the report which was &s;pread again&s;t the belief of the Re&s;ur|rection of Je&s;us, before ever that the Di&s;ciples had atte&s;ted the &s;ame.</P>
<P>But I ob&s;erve another very particular Character in their Relation, which is, that it was impo&s;&s;ible for them to e&s;tabli&s;h this Fact of the Re&s;urrection, without accu&s;ing thereby the whole Council of the <HI>Jews,</HI> of the mo&s;t &s;hameful and crying im|po&s;ture that ever was; to write a thing of this nature again&s;t the Heads of that Religion, was to &s;acrifice them&s;elves to the hatred of the Publick, and to expo&s;e them&s;elves to inevitable ruin. In &s;hort, let us imagine whether after a charge of this nature, it was ea&s;ie for the Apo&s;tles to publi&s;h their Books, and preach publickly that Je&s;us Chri&s;t was ri&s;en from the dead? And yet this was what
<PB N="265" REF="292">they did with a &s;urprizing diligence when they in&s;erted this terrible Accu&s;ation into their Books and Sermons; which alone is &s;ufficient to demon|&s;trate that they were infinitely convinced of the Re&s;urrection, and al&s;o in a condition to con|vince all Gain&s;ayers, as we &s;hall &s;hew hereaf|ter.</P>
<P>One may add to this proof the Conver&s;ion of S. <HI>Paul,</HI> and the care which he afterwards took to confirm this truth of the Re&s;urrection of Je&s;us Chri&s;t. He was a declared Enemy of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and of the Chri&s;tian Religion, and yet &s;oon after the Death of Chri&s;t he preaches him up for the Me&s;&s;iah: How came this &s;uddain change? He a&s;&s;erts that he had &s;een in Heaven this Je&s;us who was ri&s;en from the dead, and received from him the Apo&s;tle&s;hip; accordingly we find him preach|ing by the&s;e Orders, without any communicati|on had with the fir&s;t Di&s;ciples of Je&s;us Chri&s;t. He relates the&s;e matters in a manner &s;o little affected to advance his Mini&s;try in the minds of the <HI>Galati|ans,</HI> who preferred S. <HI>Peter,</HI> and the other Apo|&s;tles before him, that there is no ground left to doubt of them.</P>
<P>One ought to make a like Reflexion upon the Conver&s;ion of <HI>Cornelius</HI> the Centurion; he was a Pro&s;elyte, that is, a <HI>Gentile</HI> by Birth, but a <HI>Jew</HI> by Profe&s;&s;ion, and by the Imployment he was in, he had occa&s;ion of being more particularly in|formed of the depo&s;ition of the Souldiers, who probably were not unknown to him, for he was in the Garri&s;on at <HI>Cae&s;area,</HI> which was not far from <HI>Jeru&s;alem.</HI> Yet however this <HI>Cornelius,</HI> after he had a vi&s;ion which commanded him to &s;end to
<PB N="266" REF="293"><HI>Joppa,</HI> a place made famous, becau&s;e <HI>Jonah</HI> the Prophet &s;et Sail from thence, who was a Type of the Me&s;&s;iah in his Death and Re&s;urrection; this <HI>Cornelius,</HI> I &s;ay, embraced the Chri&s;tian Religion, becomes the fir&s;t Bi&s;hop of <HI>Cae&s;area,</HI> and dyed a Martyr for the Re&s;urrection of Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>The great affection which S. <HI>Luke</HI> had for S. <HI>Paul</HI> confirms the &s;ame truth. S. <HI>Luke</HI> had never &s;een our Saviour, he was born at <HI>Antioch,</HI> where in all probability he exercis'd his Profe&s;&s;ion of Phy&s;ick, yet he was converted to Chri&s;tianity, and follow'd S. <HI>Paul</HI> in all places, and writ the Hi&s;to|ry of his Miracles and Preaching: who doubts but that the rea&s;on hereof was, becau&s;e he had &s;een the Dead whom Chri&s;t had rai&s;ed to life, and had &s;een S. <HI>Paul,</HI> whom Je&s;us Chri&s;t had dignified with the Apo&s;tle&s;hip, rai&s;e others al&s;o from the dead.</P>
<P>It is certain that tho&s;e who were fir&s;t convinced by the Relation of the Apo&s;tles, mu&s;t needs have had very evident proofs of the truth of it. The <HI>Jews</HI> had <HI>Sadducees</HI> among&s;t them, who denied the po&s;&s;ibility of the Re&s;urrection in general; the Council of the <HI>Jews</HI> e&s;pecially had made it their bu&s;ine&s;s to decry the Conduct, the Doctrine, and the Miracles of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and in particular to make the belief of his Re&s;urrection &s;u&s;pected; and &s;o much the more becau&s;e Je&s;us Chri&s;t had fore|told it, and his Apo&s;tles maintained that it was come to pa&s;s accordingly. If in oppo&s;ition to the&s;e &s;trong prejudices, there had only been the depo&s;ition of two or three per&s;ons to confirm this Fact, there would have been rea&s;on to doubt of it; but we find that this thing, which of it
<PB N="267" REF="293">&s;elf &s;eems hard to be believed, and was otherwi&s;e &s;o much conte&s;ted, is, 1. Proved by ten &s;everal Apparitions; 2. It is atte&s;ted by above five hun|dred Di&s;ciples; 3. It was publickly preached by the Di&s;ciples of Chri&s;t at <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> it &s;elf, and throughout all <HI>Judea,</HI> where it was mo&s;t of all di&s;puted: 4. It was received by the very Ene|mies of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, as S. <HI>Paul</HI> and <HI>Cornelius,</HI> and by thou&s;ands of tho&s;e, who having demanded his Death, were converted by the preaching of the Apo&s;tles: 5. It was confirmed by the Martyrdom of the greate&s;t part of them; and 6. It was not not only authoriz'd by the pre&s;ence of the three per&s;ons whom Chri&s;t had rai&s;ed to life, and who lived one of them at <HI>Bethany,</HI> fifteen furlongs from <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> where Je&s;us a&s;cended to Heaven; another at <HI>Naim, &amp;c.</HI> But it was further verified by &s;everal Re&s;urrections wrought by the Apo&s;tles, to whom Chri&s;t had vouch&s;afed that a&s;toni&s;hing power.</P>
<P>It was al&s;o a very con&s;iderable thing that the Commonwealth of the <HI>Jews</HI> continued near for|ty years after the time that the Apo&s;tles under|took openly to preach up the Re&s;urrection of Je|&s;us Chri&s;t as the capital Article of their Religion; and yet in all that time it was never oppo&s;ed by any publick Writing either of the <HI>Jews</HI> or <HI>Gen|tiles.</HI> If the <HI>Jews</HI> in their unju&s;t intrigues a|gain&s;t Je&s;us Chri&s;t and his Religion, endeavoured to abu&s;e the World in this matter, with calumnia|ting Stories, neither have the Apo&s;tles been wanting to accu&s;e the principal Men of their Na|tion of impo&s;ture, and they have de&s;pi&s;ed the mo&s;t cruel of their Puni&s;hments, to maintain the Ju|&s;tice
<PB N="268" REF="294">of their Charge; and yet none of them would undertake to ju&s;tifie the Calumnies of their Council, tho' they &s;aw Chri&s;tianity &s;preading it &s;elf not only over all <HI>Judea,</HI> but in all parts of the World. To &s;peak of it, as it is, this Conduct of theirs was a manife&s;t betraying of their Cau&s;e, or rather an open acknowledgment that what they had publi&s;hed again&s;t the innocency of the Di&s;ciples, and the truth of the Re&s;urrection of Je&s;us was without all ground.</P>
<P>I fore&s;ee only one probable difficulty which can be oppo&s;ed to the &s;olidity of the&s;e Reflexions. A <HI>Jew</HI> may demand, why Je&s;us Chri&s;t after his Re|&s;urrection did not conver&s;e as openly among&s;t the <HI>Jews</HI> as before, that &s;o he might have been known by tho&s;e who had crucified him, which would have put the truth of the Re&s;urrection out of doubt?</P>
<P>But to &s;peak truth, this Objection is not rea|&s;onable; for 1. Je&s;us Chri&s;t had threatned the unbelieving <HI>Jews,</HI> they &s;hould &s;ee him no more, and he ought to make good his threatning. 2. Who &s;ees not that they would have looked up|on his appearing among&s;t them as a phanta&s;tick Apparition, after they had &s;een him work &s;o ma|ny Miracles, and had attributed them to the De|vil. 3. I &s;ay that &s;uch an Apparition was not a|greeable to our Saviour's Doctrine in the Parable of the Rich man;
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke XVI. 29, 31.</NOTE> <HI>They have</HI> Mo&s;es <HI>and the Pro|phets, if they hear not them, neither will they be per|&s;waded tho' one ro&s;e from the dead.</HI> 4. Je&s;us Chri&s;t having for the mo&s;t part conver&s;ed in <HI>Galilee</HI> at <HI>Nazareth</HI> and <HI>Capernaum,</HI> it was to the <HI>Galileans</HI> and his Di&s;ciples that he was chiefly to &s;hew him|&s;elf,
<PB N="269" REF="294">to be acknowledged by them, as being the per&s;ons who were particularly to bear witne&s;s of this truth. After &s;o &s;trong a pre&s;umption as the Governours of that People had of Chri&s;t's Re|&s;urrection, founded upon the Earthquake which accompanied it, and upon the Depo&s;ition of the Souldiers to whom the Angels had appeared, had not they all the rea&s;on in the World to believe the te&s;timony of the Apo&s;tles concerning this truth, which they heard &s;everal times atte&s;ted by them in full Council, and &s;aw confirm'd by miraculous Cures which they could not que&s;tion in the lea&s;t.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, Is not this Objection the mo&s;t ridicu|lous thing in the World? For let us &s;uppo&s;e that the&s;e Con&s;iderations are not &s;trong enough to ju&s;tifie our Saviour's conduct when he gave the&s;e proofs of his Re&s;urrection, doth it follow that be|cau&s;e he did not make choice of means (in order to per&s;wade the <HI>Jews</HI>) which they preferr'd before others u&s;ed by him, without any &s;olid Rea&s;on, that therefore we mu&s;t reject the depo&s;ition of &s;o ma|ny Witne&s;&s;es who unanimou&s;ly atte&s;t it? Since Je&s;us Chri&s;t had rai&s;ed three per&s;ons to life a|gain, which then lived in <HI>Judea;</HI> &s;ince <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> had continued fourty years after the death of Chri&s;t; &s;ince &s;ixty &s;olemn Fea&s;ts were celebrated in that time, where all the <HI>Jews</HI> had an occa&s;ion to examine the truth of the&s;e Facts, and the truth or fal&s;ity of the Accu&s;ation charged upon the A|po&s;tles by the Council of the <HI>Jews,</HI> and that multitudes of <HI>Jews</HI> and <HI>Gentiles</HI> were converted at the preaching of the Apo&s;tles, who reduced all to this Que&s;tion of the Fact of the Re&s;urrection
<PB N="270" REF="295">of our Saviour, is not this an invincible proof a|gain&s;t all the Accu&s;ations and Su&s;picions of the Synagogue.</P>
<P>Fora&s;much as the Witne&s;&s;es who maintain the Re&s;urrection of Chri&s;t, are the very &s;ame that atte&s;t his A&s;cen&s;ion into Heaven, and that they a&s;&s;ert it with the &s;ame proofs, and the &s;ame zeal, the Reflexions here &s;et down may &s;erve for that al&s;o, and the rather becau&s;e I am next to con&s;i|der the &s;ending of the Gifts of the Holy Gho&s;t, which is an undeniable proof, both of the Re&s;ur|rection of Chri&s;t and his A&s;cen&s;ion; and that the&s;e very Gifts of the Holy Spirit enabled the <HI>Jews</HI> to write, preach, and publi&s;h throughout all the World the truths of that Chri&s;tianity which we now profe&s;s.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="14" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XIV.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">That Je&s;us Christ &s;ent to his Apo&s;tles, and to the Primitive Chri&s;tians, the miraculous Gifts of his Holy Spirit, as he had promi&s;ed in the Ancient Prophecies.</HEAD>
<P>I Have &s;hewn that the Prophecies of the <HI>Old Te|&s;tament</HI> &s;peak very plainly of this &s;ending of the Spirit, as a Preliminary to the Calling of the <HI>Gentiles,</HI> which was the great de&s;ign of God. The Prophet <HI>Joel</HI> &s;peaks of it as &s;uch, and makes this wonder to precede the de&s;truction of <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> as
<PB N="271" REF="295">S. <HI>Peter</HI> ob&s;erves in the &s;econd of the <HI>Acts. I&s;aiah</HI> &s;peaks very particularly of it as &s;uch, in the ele|venth <HI>Chapter</HI> of his Prophecy, where he &s;ufficient|ly intimates that the Spirit of Prophecy &s;hould from thence forward &s;o re&s;t upon Je&s;us Chri&s;t, that it would not be found any longer among the <HI>Jews,</HI> who&s;e City and Temple &s;hould be de&s;troy|ed.</P>
<P>At pre&s;ent my bu&s;ine&s;s is to &s;hew that this thing has been exactly fulfilled, according to the de&s;ign which God had laid down in the Prophets. To be convinc'd of this, we need only make &s;ome? Re|flexions upon the Relation which S. <HI>Luke</HI> gives us of it in the <HI>Acts.</HI></P>
<P>He tells us therefore, that fifty days only after the death of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, the Apo&s;tles having con|tinued at <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> and being a&s;&s;embled there, they received the miraculous Gifts of the Holy Gho&s;t, that is, the power of &s;peaking all &s;orts of Languages, to make them fit to preach the Go&s;pel to all Nations, and to explain the mo&s;t &s;ublime My|&s;teries of our Saviour's Religion.</P>
<P>Every thing is con&s;iderable in this Relation of S. <HI>Luke:</HI> 1. That he relates this Fact as happening fifty days only after the Jewi&s;h Pa&s;&s;over, when Chri&s;t was crucified; the whole Nation of the <HI>Jews</HI> having been witne&s;&s;es of his death. 2. That he relates it as happening in the &s;ame City where Je&s;us Chri&s;t was condemned, that the &s;ame Multitude, who after fifty days were again a&s;&s;embled there at this Fea&s;t, might be Witne&s;&s;es of this miraculous Event. In &s;hort, it plainly appears that this new Law from Mount <HI>Sion,</HI> was &s;olemnly promulg'd in the pre&s;ence of all the <HI>Jews,</HI> who were a&s;&s;em|bled
<PB N="272" REF="296">from all parts of the World, as the old Law was, when all the People a&s;&s;i&s;ted at the foot of Mount <HI>Sinai.</HI> 3. That the&s;e Gifts were granted to all the Di&s;ciples of our Saviour; Gifts, which till that time had been wholly unheard of, and whereof &s;ome part only had been granted to &s;ome Prophets, and to &s;ome Prie&s;ts, and of which none had been made partakers &s;ince the time of <HI>Malachi;</HI> God having &s;o ordered it, that the de|&s;ires of the <HI>Jews</HI> might be the more inflamed for the Me&s;&s;iah's coming, as al&s;o that upon his co|ming he might the more ea&s;ily be di&s;cerned. 4. That this was a Fact openly known among&s;t the <HI>Jews,</HI> and differently interpreted by them; &s;ome &s;aying, <HI>They they were full of new Wine.</HI> 5. That the Apo&s;tles a&s;&s;erted by the mouth of S. <HI>Peter,</HI> that this was an Accompli&s;hment of the ancient Oracles, as well as of the Promi&s;es of Je|&s;us Chri&s;t. 6. That they declared that the Re|&s;urrection of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, his A&s;cen&s;ion into Hea|ven, and this miraculous Donative, had been fore|told by <HI>David</HI> and <HI>Joel.</HI> 'Tis certainly therefore very natural to make the&s;e following Reflexions upon the Relation of &s;o con&s;iderable an Event.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t will confirm the truth of this miracu|lous Fact, if we con&s;ider that it is ab&s;urd to &s;up|po&s;e that S. <HI>Luke,</HI> a wi&s;e man, &s;hould be &s;o ra&s;h, as to relate a matter of this nature, if he had not been fully convinc'd of it; and if it had not been an ea&s;ie thing to have convinc'd his Readers thereof al&s;o; nothing more being required for their conviction, but the pre&s;ence of one of tho&s;e fir&s;t Chri&s;tians, and to make a trial of this &s;uper|natural vertue be&s;towed on them, for which there were frequent occa&s;ions.</P>
<PB N="273" REF="296">
<P N="2">2. We mu&s;t ob&s;erve that this Relation of S. <HI>Luke</HI> is as it were the foundation which he lays down, to make his Book of the <HI>Acts</HI> to appear ju&s;t and rea&s;onable, and to ju&s;tifie the Apo&s;tles conduct in preaching the Go&s;pel to the <HI>Gentiles,</HI> not only contrary to the opinion of the <HI>Jews,</HI> who looked upon them as wholly excluded from the Privi|ledges of the Covenant; but al&s;o contrary to the &s;eeming Maxim of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, who acted only as the Mini&s;ter of Circumci&s;ion; and contrary to the preten&s;ions of many Chri&s;tians, who after the Mi&s;&s;ion of the Holy Gho&s;t, took it very ill that S. <HI>Peter</HI> had preached to the <HI>Gentiles.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. S. <HI>Luke</HI> &s;uppo&s;es that this Fact came to pa&s;s in &s;uch a manner, that it was followed by Con&s;e|quences as illu&s;trious as they were incredible. Twelve poor Fi&s;hermen undertook to go and preach to all the World, that their Ma&s;ter, who fifty days before was crucified at <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> at the pro&s;ecution of the whole Synagogue, and by order of one of the Magi&s;trates of the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire, was not only living, not only a&s;cended into Heaven, but that he al&s;o had given them the power of &s;peaking all &s;orts of Languages, of cu|ring all Di&s;ea&s;es, and even of rai&s;ing the Dead.</P>
<P N="4">4. They go yet further, they boldly maintain that Je&s;us Chri&s;t had given them a priviledge of communicating the &s;ame power to all tho&s;e who would believe that he was the promi&s;ed Me&s;&s;iah, and this without any other my&s;tery but the bare laying on of their hands, after they had received them by Bapti&s;m into the Profe&s;&s;ion of Chri&s;tia|nity.</P>
<PB N="274" REF="297">
<P>Nothing could have been more ea&s;ie than to convince them of the contrary, unle&s;s they had confirmed the truth of their A&s;&s;ertion by the mi|raculous Con&s;equences of that fir&s;t Miracle. The Fact was publickly acknowledged; <HI>Simon Magus</HI> is convinced thereof, and he who had made him|&s;elf &s;o famous by his Sorceries, becomes a Di&s;ci|ple. S. <HI>Luke</HI> in a Hi&s;tory of the Actions of thir|ty years, relates the continual Miracles wrought by the Apo&s;tles, and particularly by S. <HI>Paul,</HI> whom he con&s;tantly followed.</P>
<P>It &s;eems to me that if one con&s;iders the Hi&s;tory it &s;elf, and the per&s;on who made it, that it will ap|pear to be a true and faithful Relation; however there are other te&s;timonies which invincibly e&s;ta|bli&s;h the &s;ame Truth.</P>
<P N="1">1. The Go&s;pel was in effect e&s;tabli&s;hed in mo&s;t of the Provinces and great Cities of the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire. S. <HI>Paul</HI> writes to the Chri&s;tians of <HI>The&s;|&s;alonica, Corinth,</HI> and <HI>Ephe&s;us,</HI> to the <HI>Galatians, Co|lo&s;&s;ians, &amp;c.</HI> which is an evident Argument that there were Chri&s;tians every where, that is, Di&s;ci|ples of the&s;e twelve Fi&s;hermen, who under&s;tood nothing but their native <HI>Syriack</HI> Language; How then were all the&s;e Nations converted, without &s;uppo&s;ing the truth of the Miracle at the <HI>Pente|co&s;t?</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. The Apo&s;tles &s;peak to them of the&s;e mi|raculous Gifts as of a common thing; S. <HI>Paul</HI> em|ploying &s;ome part of his fir&s;t Epi&s;tle to the <HI>Corin|thians</HI> to regulate tho&s;e di&s;orders which aro&s;e in the Church, by rea&s;on of the abu&s;e of tho&s;e Gifts. S. <HI>James</HI> &s;peaks of the power that the Prie&s;ts had to cure the &s;ick; and S. <HI>Paul</HI> wi&s;hes for an oppor|tunity
<PB N="275" REF="297">of going to <HI>Rome,</HI> to communicate tho&s;e Gifts to the <HI>Romans.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. They take occa&s;ion to rai&s;e the Dignity of the Go&s;pel above that of the Law, in calling it the Mini&s;try of the Spirit, in oppo&s;ition to the Letter of the Law, notwith&s;tanding the Tables of the Law had been given to <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> in &s;o very il|lu&s;trious a manner.</P>
<P>It is of great moment here to con&s;ider. Three things, which alone are &s;ufficient to confirm the truth of the Chri&s;tian Religion.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t is, That this Mi&s;&s;ion of the Spirit is alone &s;ufficient to convince Mankind of the Di|vinity of Je&s;us Chri&s;t. God gave to <HI>Adam</HI> a pow|er of &s;peaking one Language, and afterwards he divided the &s;ame to make a confu&s;ion among&s;t the Builders of <HI>Babel;</HI> and Je&s;us Chri&s;t doth the &s;ame thing to confirm the Glory and Belief of his Divi|nity. God vouch&s;afes the power of Miracles to &s;ome, Je&s;us Chri&s;t communicates it to a far great|er number; Miracles not having been &s;o general|ly wrought, becau&s;e no People ever had that power in all the foregoing Ages. The Father wrought &s;o few Miracles, that he might leave to the Son this means of making him&s;elf known. The Son had the glory of pouring forth the Ho|ly Gho&s;t, in a greater abundance than the Fa|ther, thereby to &s;upply the &s;hame of his humilia|tion. This is the true Rea&s;on why the Scripture &s;aith, That <HI>the Spirit was not yet given, becau&s;e Je|&s;us Chri&s;t was not yet glorified.</HI></P>
<P>The &s;econd is, That from this Miracle one ought to infer the&s;e two Conclu&s;ions; The fir&s;t is, That God was fully pacified by the Sacrifice
<PB N="276" REF="298">of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, the Apo&s;tles con&s;tantly repre|&s;enting the Pa&s;&s;ion of our Saviour as a Sacrifice offer'd by him. The other is, That from that time forward Mankind was con&s;cerated to God as his Temple. Je&s;us Chri&s;t in his prayer be|fore his Death expre&s;&s;es him&s;elf much in the &s;ame manner as <HI>Solomon</HI> did at his Dedication of the fir&s;t Temple, and Fire from Heaven falls down on his Sacrifice: Je&s;us Chri&s;t con&s;ecrates his Apo&s;tles to be the living Stones of his Tem|ple, and cau&s;es the heavenly Flames to fall down upon them, as had formerly been grant|ed at <HI>Solomon</HI>'s Dedication of the fir&s;t Tem|ple.</P>
<P>The third is, That the <HI>Jews</HI> them&s;elves can|not conceive a more glorious or magnificent Accompli&s;hment of the ancient Oracles con|cerning the effu&s;ion of the Holy Spirit at the time of the Me&s;&s;iah, than what we find rela|ted by S. <HI>Luke,</HI> whereof the whole World may &s;ee the vi&s;ible Effects, in the Calling of the <HI>Gentiles</HI> to the Chri&s;tian Religion: from whence one may rationally conclude, That Je&s;us Chri&s;t mu&s;t be acknowledged for the Me&s;&s;iah whom God had promi&s;ed.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="15" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="277" REF="298">
<HEAD>CHAP. XV. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>That according to the Prophecies, the Apo&s;tles of Je&s;us Chri&s;t have called the</HI> Gentiles <HI>to the profe&s;&s;ion of the Christian Religion.</HI></HEAD>
<P>WE have already &s;een what was the de&s;ign of God, and that the di&s;tinction which he made of the <HI>Jews</HI> from other Nations, was only that the Me&s;&s;iah might by that means be the more certainly known, in whom all Mankind had a right, as being promi&s;ed to <HI>Adam.</HI></P>
<P>God renew'd the Idea of this truth in a very lively manner, when he a&s;&s;ured <HI>Abraham,</HI> before he gave him the Law of Circumci&s;ion, <HI>That in his Seed all Nations &s;hould be ble&s;&s;ed. Jacob</HI> enlightned by the Spirit of Prophecy on his Death-bed, plain|ly takes this truth for granted, when he &s;ays that the Me&s;&s;iah, whom he calls <HI>Shiloh,</HI> was to be the expectation of the <HI>Gentiles, Gen.</HI> XLIX. Why doth he not &s;ay, That he was to be the expectati|on of the <HI>Jews?</HI> but becau&s;e he &s;uppo&s;eth that they were to be rejected, and the <HI>Gentiles</HI> called in their &s;tead.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's in the <HI>P&s;alms,</HI> and in the Prophets until <HI>Malachi</HI> inclu&s;ively, a thou&s;and Declarations of this future Calling of the <HI>Gentiles</HI> to the Faith of the Me&s;&s;iah, and tho' the mo&s;t part of the Idea's which the Prophets make u&s;e of, &s;eem to be very figurative, de&s;cribing the Me&s;&s;iah as a Conquerour, who was to &s;ubdue the whole
<PB N="278" REF="299">World to his Dominion by the force of Arms; yet we find a great many others interwoven with them which only relate to the Profe&s;&s;ion of the Religion of the Me&s;&s;iah, and which, not being capable of any other Sen&s;e, &s;ufficiently determine the others, &s;o as not to perplex the Reader with tho&s;e &s;eeming Ob&s;curities. But Je&s;us Chri&s;t very di&s;tinctly declares this in divers places, and above all in the XXIV. of S. <HI>Matthew, This Go&s;pel,</HI> &s;aith he, <HI>&s;hall be preached throughout all the World.</HI></P>
<P>Now nothing could ever be more exactly ful|filled than the&s;e ancient Oracles have been; let the <HI>Jews</HI> cavil as long as they plea&s;e about our application of many of the Prophecies of the <HI>Old Te&s;tament</HI> to our Saviour; let them put a &s;en&s;e up|on the Scriptures which treat of this Subject, con|trary to what the <HI>Jews,</HI> who were contemporary with Je&s;us Chri&s;t ever did, and to the mo&s;t of tho&s;e with whom the fir&s;t Chri&s;tians, as <HI>Ju&s;tin, Tertullian,</HI> and others, from time to time di&s;puted, yet at lea&s;t they cannot deny but that the thing has been exactly fulfilled.</P>
<P>It is clearer than the day, that nothing could be more exact: All Chri&s;tians, from one end of the World to another, wor&s;hip the God of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> according to the Prophecy of <HI>Malachi.</HI> Je&s;us Chri&s;t &s;ubjected them to the Moral part of the Law of <HI>Mo&s;es:</HI> The <HI>Mahometans</HI> them&s;elves have learnt of the Chri&s;tians to acknowledge no other God but the God of <HI>I&s;rael.</HI> The multitude of fal&s;e Gods which the World wor&s;hipped, are vani&s;hed from all places where Chri&s;tianity has been planted; and very few are left in compari|&s;on of tho&s;e which are already de&s;troy'd, &s;o that
<PB N="279" REF="299">we mu&s;t con&s;ider the thing as already gone very far. In truth, while things continue thus, one may rea&s;onably maintain again&s;t the <HI>Jews,</HI> that our Je&s;us and his Di&s;ciples have taken away all the Glory which could be re&s;erved for that Me&s;|&s;iah whom they expect. They mu&s;t, if they be jealous for the Glory of him whom they look for, endeavour to make the World for&s;ake the wor&s;hip of the God of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> to make way for the accom|pli&s;hment of tho&s;e Oracles which can have no place in that &s;tate wherein the World is at pre|&s;ent.</P>
<P>But tho' this Reflexion upon the exact accom|pli&s;hment of the Oracles concerning the Call of the <HI>Gentiles</HI> to the Religion of the Me&s;&s;iah may &s;uf|fice; yet I think my &s;elf bound to make &s;ome fur|ther Ob&s;ervations upon this Subject. In &s;hort, e|very thing de&s;erves to be con&s;idered in this Calling of the <HI>Gentiles</HI> to the knowledge of the Go&s;|pel.</P>
<P>I do not take notice at pre&s;ent that the per&s;on fir&s;t employ'd in Calling of the <HI>Gentiles</HI> is S. <HI>Pe|ter,</HI> to whom Je&s;us Chri&s;t had promi&s;ed the ho|nour of founding his Church among&s;t the Nations, and who him&s;elf at fir&s;t thought that the thing was unlawful, and who after a Vi&s;ion given him for that very purpo&s;e, ob&s;erves the Jewi&s;h Cu|&s;toms, and obliges the <HI>Gentiles</HI> to do the &s;ame. Neither do I ob&s;erve that the fir&s;t who was called was <HI>Cornelius,</HI> a <HI>Roman</HI> Officer who re&s;ided at <HI>Cae|&s;area,</HI> where he became a Pro&s;elyte. Behold here a man engaged to examine that, which he had a better opportunity to do than any one el&s;e, by rea|&s;on of the nature of his charge, whether what
<PB N="280" REF="300">the Souldiers had depo&s;ed concerning the Di&s;ci|ples &s;tealing away the Body of our Saviour, were true or no.</P>
<P>I am obliged to confine my &s;elf to &s;ome gene|ral Reflexions upon this matter. I con&s;ider fir&s;t the difficulty which was upon all accounts in this de&s;ign of the Calling of the <HI>Gentiles,</HI> and the pro|digious Succe&s;s which this Call of the <HI>Gentiles</HI> met with according to the Prophets.</P>
<P>To make us under&s;tand this difficulty better, we need only con&s;ider 1. What were the Prejudices of the <HI>Jews,</HI> even tho&s;e who were become Chri|&s;tians. 2. What was the &s;tate of the World at the time of Je&s;us Chri&s;t. The Heathens enjoyed each their &s;everal Religions for a longer time than any Hi&s;tory could trace it. They attributed the hap|pine&s;s of their States and Families to their Gods. 3. We mu&s;t ob&s;erve the nature of that preaching, by which the <HI>Gentiles</HI> were converted: Its Subject was the &s;trange&s;t thing in the World; if the Cro&s;s of Je&s;us Chri&s;t had prov'd the Scandal of the <HI>Jews,</HI> who looked upon the Me&s;&s;iah as the Foun|tain of Ble&s;&s;ing, and the Cro&s;s as an accur&s;ed Pu|ni&s;hment; it was look'd upon no otherwi&s;e than as an heap of Follies by the <HI>Greeks,</HI> (who boa&s;ted them&s;elves to be the wi&s;e&s;t men of the World) as well as by the other <HI>Gentiles.</HI></P>
<P>Yet after all this, one &s;ee's a prodigious Succe&s;s, and a &s;urprizing Extent of this Call. Within a little time the World was fill'd with Chri&s;tians: S. <HI>Paul</HI> writes to tho&s;e that were in <HI>A&s;ia, Greece,</HI> and <HI>Italy;</HI> S. <HI>Peter</HI> to tho&s;e of <HI>Pontus;</HI> S. <HI>John</HI> to tho&s;e who were among the <HI>Parthians.</HI> There were not wanting &s;ome in the very Emperour's Court, even
<PB N="281" REF="300">that of <HI>Nero,</HI> who put S. <HI>Peter</HI> and S. <HI>Paul</HI> to death in the Sixty &s;eventh Year of our Lord.</P>
<P>One cannot attend to a Succe&s;s of this nature, without being extreamly &s;urpriz'd; let us con|ceive of a dozen, or thereabouts, of poor Beg|gars, a dozen of unlearned Men coming out of <HI>Judea,</HI> who &s;hould accu&s;e the whole World of Folly and Impiety; every one oppo&s;ing them, e|&s;pecially the <HI>Jews,</HI> who were incen&s;ed to &s;ee them go about to e&s;tabli&s;h the belief of the Cro&s;s in the World, as a Doctrine which would explain the accompli&s;hment of the Promi&s;es of God concern|ing the Me&s;&s;iah, of tho&s;e Promi&s;es wherewith the <HI>Jews</HI> had filled all the <HI>Ea&s;t,</HI> and which had rendred them at this time doubly ridiculous.</P>
<P>When in&s;tead of per&s;ecuting the Apo&s;tles, they hearken unto them; or even when in the mid&s;t of Chains and Pri&s;ons they are examined, they declare that true Godline&s;s con&s;i&s;ts in knowing Je|&s;us Chri&s;t, even the &s;ame Je&s;us who was crucified in <HI>Judea,</HI> for who&s;e Name's &s;ake they had been publickly &s;courged by order of the Council of the <HI>Jews.</HI> Thus we find S. <HI>Paul</HI> boa&s;ting of his &s;evere u&s;age.</P>
<P>If per&s;ons que&s;tion them more particularly a|bout the Actions of this Je&s;us, they an&s;wer coldly, That the Son of God came down from Heaven; that he took upon him our Fle&s;h in the Womb of a Virgin; that when he was become Man, and yet an Infant, <HI>Herod</HI> &s;ought to kill him, to avoid which he was carried into <HI>Egypt;</HI> that after having lived thirty years ob&s;curely in a Carpenter's Shop, he was taken by the <HI>Jews,</HI> &s;courged, mocked, crowned with Thorns, nailed to the Cro&s;s, where
<PB N="282" REF="301">they gave him Vinegar to drink; that there he cried out, <HI>My God, my God, why hast thou for&s;a|ken me?</HI> that he died, was buried, and ro&s;e a|gain the third day, as he had promi&s;ed before his Death.</P>
<P>But what is it that this JESUS teach|es to tho&s;e that would follow him? His Apo&s;tles in his Name require all Men to renounce the Plea&s;ures of this Life, to abhor Polygamy and Fornication, and in&s;tead of revenging an Af|front, to turn the other Cheek to him that &s;mites us, and to leave our Cloak al&s;o with him who takes our Coat from us; to go two miles with him who con&s;trains us to guide him one; to love our Enemies, and to wi&s;h well, and pray for tho&s;e that de&s;pitefully u&s;e us, and per&s;ecute us.</P>
<P>But what Rewards will he give to his Ser|vants? The Apo&s;tles an&s;wer, That he promi&s;es nothing that is con&s;iderable in this Life, but an everla&s;ting Happine&s;s in the World to come.</P>
<P>It is vi&s;ible that nothing &s;eems to be wor&s;e contrived to gain credit than this Story. The weakne&s;s of Je&s;us Chri&s;t is vi&s;ible, he was cruci|fied; what ground is here to believe that he was able to perform his Promi&s;es? The Service he pre&s;cribes is very rough, the Reward he propo|&s;es is at a great di&s;tance, and moreover, it is &s;uch as appears very doubtful to tho&s;e who are not furni&s;hed with &s;trong impre&s;&s;ions of the immortality of the Soul, and of a life to come.</P>
<P>But on the other hand, the Apo&s;tles &s;olidly demon&s;trate that he is GOD, and not a meer
<PB N="283" REF="301">Man, that he can rai&s;e the Dead, and that he can perform his Promi&s;es. Tho' they do not &s;ay, Bring hither the Blind, the Lame, and the Deaf, and we will heal them in his Name; pre&s;ent your Dead to us, and we will rai&s;e them in the Name of that Je&s;us who is born of <HI>Mary,</HI> of that Je&s;us who died, and cried out on the Cro&s;s, <HI>My God, my God, why ha&s;t thou for&s;aken me.</HI> (For I acknowledge that this miraculous power which they had received, was only exerted upon cer|tain occa&s;ions, which the Spirit of God made choice of.) Yet they did that which was equi|valent, for when blind men were brought to them, they &s;aid, Ye blind, in the Name of Je|&s;us, recover your &s;ight; and in like manner to the Lepers, to po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed Per&s;ons, to the &s;ick of the Pal&s;ey, to the Dead. Upon this all were converted, and the Cro&s;s of Je&s;us Chri&s;t tri|umphs.</P>
<P>There are three &s;orts of People in the World, Wi&s;e men, Men of a middle &s;ort, and &s;uch as are of a lower capacity; and &s;everal of the&s;e three Orders of Men made profe&s;&s;ion of the Chri&s;tian Religion, as well among&s;t the <HI>Jews</HI> as <HI>Heathens.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="16" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="284" REF="302">
<HEAD>CHAP. XVII.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">That the Chri&s;tian Religion is founded on Proofs of Fact, and that con&s;equently no|thing in the World &s;o certain as the truth of it.</HEAD>
<P>THis Reflexion ought to be made more than once, becau&s;e there is nothing &s;o proper to e&s;tabli&s;h the truth of the Chri&s;tian Religion be|yond all conte&s;t, or that will confound Athei&s;ts, prophane Per&s;ons, and <HI>Jews,</HI> who endeavour to oppo&s;e it more effectually.</P>
<P>I &s;ay then, that the chief Articles on which the whole Chri&s;tian Religion is grounded, are confirm'd by proofs of Fact, that is, by Witne&s;&s;es who&s;e Evidence cannot be que&s;tioned, without &s;haking all the certainty which we can have of a|ny thing in this World, and without rejecting all the means whereby we can a&s;&s;ure our &s;elves of the knowledge which we enjoy.</P>
<P>Many particular Events which were perfectly Divine, happened at the Birth of <HI>John the Bap|ti&s;t,</HI> the Forerunner of the Me&s;&s;iah; they were known throughout all the Hill Country of <HI>Judea;</HI> they happened to a Prie&s;t, that is, a publick Per|&s;on; and it was when he was employ'd in his publick Function in the Temple; they are &s;econd|ed by Miracles which were known to the whole Nation of the <HI>Jews;</HI> they are follow'd by the pub|lick Mini&s;try of <HI>John the Bapti&s;t,</HI> a man who cen|&s;ures
<PB N="285" REF="302">all <HI>Judea,</HI> who openly declares him&s;elf the Forerunner of the Me&s;&s;iah, and who hath a great number of Di&s;ciples, who are di&s;tingui&s;h'd from tho&s;e of our Saviour, who were &s;pread throughout all <HI>Judea,</HI> and who continued after the death of our Saviour; the&s;e were Di&s;ciples of a Man, who be&s;ides all this, doth not keep up any corre&s;pondence with our Saviour, and who at la&s;t falls by the hand of <HI>Herod</HI> for cen&s;uring his Ince&s;t and Lu&s;ts.</P>
<P>JESUS CHRIST is born in <HI>Bethlehem</HI> under <HI>Augustus,</HI> a Fact of which the <HI>Roman</HI> Com|mi&s;&s;ioners were Witne&s;&s;es, and which the Re|cords of that Empire pre&s;erv'd as long as they were in being.</P>
<P>That the Angels te&s;tified their Joy at his Birth, is a Fact which was confirm'd by the Shepherds of <HI>Bethlehem,</HI> long before Je&s;us Chri&s;t had any Di&s;ciples.</P>
<P>That a new Star conducted the Wi&s;e men of the <HI>East</HI> to <HI>Bethlehem,</HI> was an illu&s;trious Fact, and of which <HI>Herod,</HI> and the Prie&s;ts, and great men among&s;t the <HI>Jews,</HI> were exactly informed; and the Apo&s;tles would have found it a very diffi|cult matter to impo&s;e this upon them, if the thing had not been di&s;tinctly known.</P>
<P>That the Birth of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and the arrival of the Wi&s;e men affrighted <HI>Herod,</HI> was a publick thing, confirmed by the murther of the Infants of <HI>Bethlehem,</HI> and reported to <HI>Augu&s;tus,</HI> together with the death of <HI>Antipater;</HI> whereof <HI>Macrobius</HI> a Heathen, who was qualified for the know|ledge of &s;uch a Story, hath pre&s;erved the memo|ry. Neither can this Fact be called in que&s;tion,
<PB N="286" REF="303">becau&s;e <HI>Jo&s;ephus</HI> makes no mention of it, &s;ince &s;o famous a Heathen atte&s;ts it. <HI>Augu&s;tus,</HI> &s;aith he, <HI>having heard that among&s;t the Infants which</HI> Herod <HI>the King of the</HI> Jews <HI>had cau&s;ed to be kill'd in</HI> Syria, <HI>under two years of age, he had kill'd his own Son, &s;aid that it was better to be</HI> Herod<HI>'s Hog than his Son.</HI></P>
<P>That Je&s;us Chri&s;t was in <HI>Egypt,</HI> and that he re|turned from thence, is a Fact with which the <HI>Jews</HI> to this day reproach our Saviour, as if he had learnt there the &s;ecret of working Mira|cles.</P>
<P>That he confounded the Doctors at twelve years of Age, is a Fact of which the whole Nati|on of the <HI>Jews</HI> were informed, becau&s;e it happen|ed at one of tho&s;e three &s;olemn Fea&s;ts which brought up the whole Nation to <HI>Jeru&s;alem.</HI></P>
<P>That Je&s;us Chri&s;t was baptized by S. <HI>John,</HI> and that he received a mo&s;t glorious te&s;timony from him, is a Fact of which all tho&s;e <HI>Jews</HI> whom the Mini&s;try of S. <HI>John</HI> had drawn to the River <HI>Jor|dan</HI> were Witne&s;&s;es.</P>
<P>That Je&s;us Chri&s;t cho&s;e for his Apo&s;tles men without Learning, and of the meane&s;t of the Peo|ple, that he lived with them three years and an half, preaching his Doctrine, correcting the Tra|ditions of the <HI>Jews,</HI> working Miracles, and fore|telling things to come, are Facts of which the whole People of the <HI>Jews</HI> were Witne&s;&s;es, and all the <HI>Romans</HI> that were in <HI>Judea</HI> were fully inform|ed of them; yea, they were known to all the World. The <HI>Jews</HI> could not be ignorant of them, who came up to <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> from all parts of the World to celebrate ten &s;olemn Fea&s;ts according to the Law, during the time in which the&s;e things
<PB N="287" REF="303">were acting, and from thence carried the report of them into &s;everal parts of the World where they were di&s;pers'd.</P>
<P>It is evident al&s;o that Je&s;us Chri&s;t laboured to per&s;wade men that he was the promi&s;ed Me&s;&s;iah; this was the mo&s;t con&s;iderable Fact in the World to the <HI>Jews,</HI> and which had relation to the mo&s;t important point of their Religion, and touched them the neare&s;t: a Fact which happen|ed at a time when all were in expectation of the Me&s;&s;iah, as appears by the con&s;ultation of <HI>Herod,</HI> when the <HI>Jews,</HI> who were oppre&s;&s;ed by the <HI>Ro|mans,</HI> did mo&s;t earne&s;tly &s;igh for his appearance; a Fact confirm'd by publick Oracles, and known to the whole Nation, yea to the Heathen them|&s;elves, for near Three hundred years.</P>
<P>That Je&s;us Chri&s;t, notwith&s;tanding all his Mi|racles, was crucified at the pur&s;uit of the <HI>Jews,</HI> and by the order of <HI>Pontius Pilate,</HI> is a Fact of which the whole People of the <HI>Jews</HI> were Wit|ne&s;&s;es, becau&s;e it happened at the Fea&s;t of the Pa&s;&s;over, that is, at a Solemnity where the whole Nation of the <HI>Jews</HI> was a&s;&s;embled; it is a Fact which no Heathens ever went about to deny, they reproached the Chri&s;tians with it, who are &s;o lit|tle a&s;ham'd of it, that according to the orders of the &s;ame Je&s;us, they celebrate the memorial of it in the Sacrament of the Euchari&s;t.</P>
<P>That there was thick darkne&s;s over all the Land at the Crucifixion of Je&s;us Chri&s;t from the third hour till the &s;ixth, that is, from nine of the clock till twelve, according to our way of computing the time, was a Fact of that nature, that the whole Nation of the <HI>Jews</HI> might ea&s;ily have con|vinc'd
<PB N="288" REF="304">the Apo&s;tles of this impo&s;ture, if it had not been as confe&s;&s;ed a truth as the darkne&s;s in <HI>Egypt,</HI> before the departure of the <HI>I&s;raelites.</HI></P>
<P>That Je&s;us Chri&s;t was rai&s;ed the third day, is a Fact atte&s;ted by a great number of Witne&s;&s;es, the memorial whereof they celebrated every eighth day as long as they liv'd, by a con&s;tant Law, becau&s;e they con&s;idered this Re&s;urrection as the Seal of tho&s;e Truths which Je&s;us Chri&s;t had taught them. 'Tis a Fact, the truth whereof they have maintained before Magi&s;trates, before the People, in all parts of the World. 'Tis a Fact which they have publickly preached up, not|with&s;tanding all Prohibitions which have been made: In &s;hort, it is a Fact which they have a&s;|&s;erted in the mid&s;t of the mo&s;t cruel Torments, and even until Death.</P>
<P>That Je&s;us Chri&s;t &s;ent down upon his Apo&s;tles the miraculous Gifts of the Holy Spirit, is a Fact of which all <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> was a witne&s;s fifty days after the Fea&s;t of the Pa&s;&s;over, when Je&s;us Chri&s;t was crucified; it is as remarkable a Fact as ever hap|pened; twelve Fi&s;hermen of <HI>Galilee,</HI> maintain in the face of the whole Jewi&s;h Nation, that the &s;ame Je&s;us whom the whole Nation had demanded to be crucified but fifty days before, and who did actually &s;uffer upon an infamous Cro&s;s, is ri&s;en from the dead, and a&s;cended into Heaven, after he had eaten and drunk with them, and had ap|peared &s;everal times to them after his Re&s;urrecti|on, and that he had given them the power of &s;peaking all &s;orts of Languages, and of healing all manner of Di&s;ea&s;es.</P>
<P>That they &s;poke divers Languages is a Fact
<PB N="289" REF="304">mo&s;t notorious, the truth whereof appears from the Conver&s;ion of the World, which was found to be fill'd with their Di&s;ciples, but a few years after this Fact was done.</P>
<P>That they had the power of healing all Di|&s;ea&s;es as well as their Ma&s;ter, is a Fact the truth whereof is e&s;tabli&s;h'd upon indi&s;putable te&s;timo|nies, in&s;omuch as their Succe&s;&s;ors received the &s;ame Gift by the laying on of their Hands. Two hundred years after <HI>Tertullian</HI> mentions this Gift, as being at that time well known among&s;t Chri&s;ti|ans.</P>
<P>That the Apo&s;tles, after they were rejected by the <HI>Jews,</HI> preached the Go&s;pel to the <HI>Gentiles,</HI> who al&s;o received it, is a Fact of which there are &s;o many proofs in the World, that it cannot be cal|led in que&s;tion.</P>
<P>That the converted <HI>Jews</HI> &s;trongly oppo&s;ed them&s;elves again&s;t the preaching of the Go&s;pel to the <HI>Gentiles,</HI> pretending, as the <HI>Jews</HI> now do, that the Me&s;&s;iah with his Gifts and Graces was confin'd to their Nation, is a Fact &s;o well atte&s;ted, that it cannot be called in que&s;tion, if we con&s;i|der the fir&s;t di&s;pute, which gave occa&s;ion to the fir&s;t Council of the Apo&s;tles, and to the conte&s;ts of S. <HI>Paul</HI> with tho&s;e of his own Nation.</P>
<P>That &s;ince that time the Apo&s;tles and their Di&s;|ciples have maintained by their Writings and Di&s;|putes, and finally by their Martyrdom, that Je&s;us was the Me&s;&s;iah; that they have con&s;tantly &s;tood to this claim, alledging the Facts which the Go|&s;pel propo&s;es, and maintaining that the matters there related were exact Accompli&s;hments of the Promi&s;es of God, and of the ancient Prophecies:
<PB N="290" REF="305">That all this is unque&s;tionable, one needs only read their Sermons and Speeches &s;et down by S. <HI>Luke,</HI> and their Epi&s;tles; one needs only peru&s;e the Hea|then Hi&s;tory, and the Works of tho&s;e that &s;ucceed|ed the Apo&s;tles, who followed their foot&s;teps in e|&s;tabli&s;hing the truth of the Chri&s;tian Religi|on.</P>
<P>That the Apo&s;tles di&s;charged their followers from the Ceremonies which <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> pre&s;cribed, obliging them only to the E&s;&s;entials of Morality: That they annul'd the Law which permitted Di|vorces without &s;ufficient cau&s;e, and Polygamy; the&s;e are things which none, who have read their Writings, or tho&s;e of their fir&s;t Di&s;ciples, can in the lea&s;t que&s;tion.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, That they foretold many things, as well as their Ma&s;ter; that they publi&s;hed their Predi|ctions, which they have extended to the end of the World, and the return of Je&s;us from Heaven to judge the World; and that they have recorded the particulars of many con&s;iderable Events, ob|&s;erved by the Chri&s;tians, which have happened from time to time; the&s;e are Facts as well known, and as inconte&s;table, as any thing can be in the World of &s;uch a nature. Whole Nations are Wit|ne&s;&s;es of it, differing Sects, Interpreters who have &s;everal Opinions concerning the&s;e Prophecies, the Conte&s;ts of the <HI>Jews,</HI> the Oppo&s;ition of Athei&s;ts, the Cavils of Hereticks, the Cruelty of Tyrants, all the&s;e concur to prove clearly that the Chri&s;ti|ans received the&s;e Prophecies from the Apo&s;tles, as well as the truth of them, &s;ince even the&s;e Op|po&s;itions were foretold as well as the Per&s;ecuti|ons.</P>
<PB N="291" REF="305">
<P>Thus I have given you a view of the greate&s;t part of the mo&s;t important Articles which are con|tained in the Chri&s;tian Religion; and I think that they are &s;o &s;olidly grounded upon proofs of Fact, that I can a&s;&s;ert with rea&s;on, That no Facts in the World can be produced, &s;o well e&s;tabli&s;hed as the&s;e are, which are the Fundamentals of our Religion.</P>
<P>What Facts are there which are atte&s;ted by whole Nations, as the Miracles of Je&s;us Chri&s;t were? What Facts are there about which men were &s;o careful to inform them&s;elves, as when a Man pretends to the Title of the Me&s;&s;iah? What thing can we &s;uppo&s;e that requires a &s;tronger con|viction, becau&s;e of the difficulties it involves, than that of the Re&s;urrection of Je&s;us Chri&s;t? for tho&s;e who were Eye-witne&s;&s;es of his Crucifixion, that is, who had &s;een him puni&s;hed by the Magi&s;trate, the horrour of all his own People, and in all ap|pearance for&s;aken of Heaven.</P>
<P>To &s;peak the truth, as there cannot be a great|er in&s;tance of fanatical folly, than to attribute to twelve poor Fi&s;hermen, who&s;e Ma&s;ter was cru|cified at <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> by publick order, and by an effect of the hatred of the whole Nation, I &s;ay, to attribute to them the de&s;ign of per&s;wading that People, and the <HI>Gentiles</HI> al&s;o, that this man was rai&s;ed again from the dead, that he rules in Heaven; that he has be&s;towed upon them the miraculous Gifts of &s;peaking all &s;orts of Languages, and healing all manner of Di&s;ea&s;es; if this Je&s;us had been never rai&s;ed from the dead, nor had be|&s;towed &s;uch Gifts upon them, the mind of Man not being capable of &s;o great folly: So we have
<PB N="292" REF="306">all the rea&s;on in the World to conclude, That &s;ince they have atte&s;ted this Fact, and confirmed it by all the proofs which might convince tho&s;e, who tho' they were not prejudic'd, yet were a&s;toni&s;h'd at the difficulty of the things them&s;elves, &s;o that nothing can be more certain than Facts &s;o con|firmed, as we pretend that the&s;e actually were.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="17" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XVII. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>That it cannot be que&s;tioned, whether the Books of the</HI> New Te&s;tament <HI>were written by the Apo&s;tles.</HI></HEAD>
<P>BEfore we alledge tho&s;e Arguments which will invincibly confirm the truth of the Books of the <HI>New Te&s;tament,</HI> I de&s;ire the Reader to make the&s;e three or four Reflexions, which &s;eem to be very important to our pre&s;ent de|&s;ign.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t is, That we can &s;carcely conceive a more &s;imple and &s;trong way of proving a Fact, than what we find in the Books here mention'd. The de&s;ign of the four Evangeli&s;ts, for in&s;tance, is to prove that Je&s;us, the Son of <HI>Mary,</HI> is the promi|&s;ed Me&s;&s;iah, and that in his Birth, his Life, his Doctrine, his Death, and Re&s;urrection, we meet with all the Characters which the Prophets attri|buted to the Me&s;&s;iah. How do the Evangeli&s;ts execute this their de&s;ign? In the mo&s;t proper way
<PB N="293" REF="306">imaginable to convince others, and mo&s;t propor|tionable to their de&s;ign. They &s;imply relate the Facts; and Facts &s;o clear, that if we do not que|&s;tion the truth of them, we cannot doubt that Je&s;us is the Me&s;&s;iah. They relate the mo&s;t im|portant of the&s;e Facts, as things that happened in the face of the whole Nation of the <HI>Jews,</HI> as I have &s;hewed in the precedent <HI>Chapter:</HI> They re|late them as Facts for the mo&s;t part owned by the <HI>Jews,</HI> from which the Malice of the <HI>Jews</HI> ex|torted other Con&s;equences: They give us an ac|count of the Judgment which the <HI>Jews</HI> made con|cerning the Miracles that he wrought on the Sab|bath day, upon the Di&s;ciples gathering the Ears of Corn, of the an&s;wer which the <HI>Jews</HI> made to <HI>Pilate, We have no other King but</HI> Ce&s;ar.</P>
<P>The &s;econd is, That the Apo&s;tles &s;uppo&s;ing a general expectation of the Me&s;&s;iah, when Je&s;us Chri&s;t appeared, &s;hew that there was a ve|ry great knowledge of the Prophecies that re|&s;pected the Me&s;&s;iah, and a great impo&s;&s;ibility of applying tho&s;e Oracles to particular Facts, if the truth of tho&s;e Facts had not been beyond con|te&s;t. Now we find very few Oracles of which they did not make an application to the Life and Actions of our Saviour. Wee'l &s;uppo&s;e the Apo|&s;tles to have been Men of great Abilities, and who had long &s;tudied the Books of the Prophets, that they might tear out &s;uch &s;mall pa&s;&s;ages as they fancied might be applicable to Je&s;us Chri&s;t: How|ever it cannot be denied, that it does not appear by their Writings that they had &s;uch an exact know|ledge of the Prophecies, whence it might follow that they judged them to be applicable to Chri&s;t,
<PB N="294" REF="307">by comparing them with the Facts which they relate. 2. That they had this knowledge in com|mon with the re&s;t of the <HI>Jews,</HI> who at this day apply the &s;ame Texts to the Me&s;&s;iah, if they are not con&s;trained by their clearne&s;s to wre&s;t them &s;ome other way.</P>
<P>The third Reflexion is, That in the Relation of the&s;e Facts, they give us all the Marks of an extra|ordinary &s;incerity; they repre&s;ent indeed what&s;o|ever was for their Ma&s;ter's Glory; but they do as well relate tho&s;e things which &s;eem to be &s;hame|ful to his memory. They tell us of the Angels that a&s;&s;i&s;ted at his Birth, and at his Death; but tell us withal, That he was tempted of the Devil, and in all appearance for&s;aken by God at his death. They tell us, That the multitudes were re&s;olved to take him by force, and make him their King, as acknowledging him for the Me&s;&s;iah; and they tell us, That the &s;ame multitude &s;ome time after demanded him to be crucified.</P>
<P>The fourth is, That they repre&s;ent very natu|rally all the Judgments of the Synagogue again&s;t Je&s;us: They repre&s;ent him as excommunicated and crucified by them; they de&s;cribe the reports that were current among the <HI>Jews,</HI> That the Di&s;ciples had taken away his Body out of the Se|pulchre; that the Souldiers had depo&s;ed the &s;ame in the forms of Law before <HI>Pilate.</HI> From all which it appears that they were faithful Hi&s;torians, and not at all prepo&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed, and that they u&s;ed no Invectives again&s;t the Authors of the&s;e fal&s;e Re|ports, contenting them&s;elves to e&s;tabli&s;h the truth of the matter, by &s;pecifying the places, the time, the witne&s;&s;es, and other circum&s;tances which are
<PB N="295" REF="307">proper to e&s;tabli&s;h the truth of the Facts they re|late.</P>
<P>The&s;e four Reflexions being once &s;uppo&s;ed, I &s;ay, it is impo&s;&s;ible to di&s;pute the truth of the&s;e Books, or to call their Authority in que&s;tion: To be convinc'd of which, one needs only con&s;ider the&s;e two things; the fir&s;t is, That the Apo&s;tles are the Authors of the Books which pa&s;s under their Names; the other is, That their faithfulne&s;s is not to be &s;u&s;pected by us.</P>
<P>The former of the&s;e is &s;o univer&s;ally received, that nothing will be certain in matters of this na|ture, if this be que&s;tioned.</P>
<P>The four Evangeli&s;ts have publi&s;hed their Wri|tings in populous Cities, where they have been con&s;tantly read every Lord's day in Chri&s;tian A&s;|&s;emblies, as S. <HI>Ju&s;tin Martyr</HI> a&s;&s;ures us in his A|pology, which was writ about the middle of the &s;econd Century.</P>
<P>The Apo&s;tles writ their Epi&s;tles to numerous Churches, to whom their hand, as well as the per&s;ons by whom they &s;ent them, were well known. Can we in&s;tance in any Writing in the World that hath been pre&s;erved with the like carefulne&s;s? Let the <HI>Jews</HI> tell us what they plea&s;e, concern|ing the care and faithfulne&s;s of their Ance&s;tors to pre&s;erve the Books of the <HI>Old Testament,</HI> they can alledge nothing, but we can alledge the &s;ame in favour of the Books of the <HI>New Te&s;tament.</HI> They tells us that <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> under the penalty of a Cur&s;e, had forbid the adding any thing thereto; and do not we read the &s;ame threatning in the la&s;t Book of the <HI>New Te&s;tament?</HI> The Philo&s;ophers of each Sect, have nothing of this weight to alledge as an
<PB N="296" REF="308">Argument that the Books which they a&s;|cribe to their Ma&s;ters are really theirs; we find only a few men in every Age, who made it their bu&s;ine&s;s to &s;tudy the Books of the Philo&s;ophers, Phy&s;icians, and Lawyers; but ever &s;ince the Apo|&s;tles there have been Chri&s;tians who made it their bu&s;ine&s;s to peru&s;e and pre&s;erve their Writings, as con&s;idering that they are the Fountains of Eternal Life.</P>
<P>One may upon this occa&s;ion take notice of two things which de&s;erve &s;ome attention: The one is, That the de&s;ign of &s;ome Hereticks, as of <HI>Marcion</HI> for in&s;tance, to corrupt the Copies of the Writings of the <HI>New Testament,</HI> which were found in the hands of tho&s;e of his Sect, is a good Ar|gument to prove that they could not be corrupted. In &s;hort, we find all the World oppo&s;ed them|&s;elves again&s;t this Corruption, and confuted them by the agreement of all the other Copies in the World which were exempt from this corrupti|on.</P>
<P>The other is, That if there are &s;ome Books who&s;e Authority was doubtful for &s;ome time, by tho&s;e who otherwi&s;e were accounted Orthodox, yet this cannot ju&s;tly prejudice the truth of the <HI>New Te&s;tament;</HI> the rea&s;on is, becau&s;e this hap|pened only to &s;ome few Epi&s;tles which were writ|ten, not to particular Churches, but to whole Nations. And indeed it is plain from common &s;en&s;e, that when Writings are &s;ent to whole Bo|dies (as the Epi&s;tle of S. <HI>Jude</HI>) without commu|nicating the Copy to particular men, that they may with more ju&s;tice be &s;u&s;pected, than tho&s;e who&s;e hand was known by many, and particular|ly
<PB N="297" REF="308">by tho&s;e to whom the Epi&s;tles were &s;ent.</P>
<P>Moreover, The account which the ancient Fa|thers of the Church give us of the uncertainties of this nature, &s;ufficiently &s;hew that they were very careful in examining the&s;e things; and when at any time &s;ome particular men did not u&s;e care e|nough in examining the&s;e Books, as it once hap|pened in the Church of <HI>Ro&s;s,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Eu&s;eb.</HI> Lib. VI. cap. 12.</NOTE> where a Book which was fal&s;ly attributed to S. <HI>Peter</HI> was pre&s;erved, &s;up|po&s;ing it to have been his, the other Churches not con&s;enting to it, that Abu&s;e was &s;oon remedied, the Writings aboli&s;hed, that there is &s;carce a weak remembrance left of them.</P>
<P>One &s;ee's that the&s;e Remarks are &s;ufficient to a&s;&s;ure us that the Apo&s;tles are the Authors of tho&s;e. Books which bear their Names: And if this way of confirming a matter of this nature, be account|ed good and &s;olid, when we &s;peak of the Books of <HI>Ari&s;totle</HI> or <HI>Hippocrates,</HI> it mu&s;t be infinitely &s;tronger when it is applyed to the Writings of the Apo&s;tles.</P>
<P>In &s;hort, The&s;e Books were written to be read by per&s;ons of the meane&s;t Capacities, by Women, by Children as well as by Doctors: And they treat of matters of which the whole World hath rea&s;on to be informed. If &s;ome <HI>Jews</HI> &s;uffer'd Martyrdom under <HI>Antiochus,</HI> to pre&s;erve the Books of the <HI>Old Te&s;tament,</HI> we have like examples, and as numerous, of tho&s;e who have done as much for the pre&s;ervation of the Books of the <HI>New Te&s;tameat.</HI> La&s;tly, If the <HI>Jews</HI> have looked upon tho&s;e as Traitors and Apo&s;tates, who gave up tho&s;e Books to the fury of their Per&s;ecutors, the Chri&s;tians have te&s;tified no le&s;s aver&s;ion for tho&s;e who deli|vered
<PB N="298" REF="309">the Books of the Apo&s;tles to the fury of Heathens, even to the &s;ubjecting of them to the utmo&s;t rigour of Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Di&s;cipline, in the third Century and before.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="18" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XVIII.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">That one cannot doubt of the faithfulne&s;s of the witne&s;s of the Apo&s;tles concerning tho&s;e Facts which they relate.</HEAD>
<P>NEither is it more difficult to e&s;tabli&s;h this &s;e|cond Truth, That the faithfulne&s;s of the Apo&s;tles cannot be rea&s;onably que&s;tioned.</P>
<P>To be convinc'd of this, one needs only con&s;i|der the Character of the Apo&s;tles, the Character of their Writings, of their Sermons, of their Suf|ferings, and of their Martyrdom, and la&s;t of all the Character of tho&s;e among&s;t whom they wrote the&s;e things, and preached them to their death.</P>
<P>As to their Sermons; The Apo&s;tles were con|temporaries with Je&s;us Chri&s;t; they &s;poke of things which they had &s;een, and di&s;tingui&s;hed them care|fully from tho&s;e which they had learnt another way. They were hone&s;t men, &s;imple and with|out Learning, very fit to bear witne&s;s in matters of Fact. They were Per&s;ons that preached no|thing but Love, and the &s;tudy of Truth; they prote&s;ted in the mid&s;t of their Sufferings, that
<PB N="299" REF="309">they could not conceal the things which they had &s;een and heard; they are men without co|vetou&s;ne&s;s or ambition; they for&s;ake all that they po&s;&s;e&s;s in the World; S. <HI>Matthew</HI> leaves his Hou&s;e and Goods to follow Je&s;us Chri&s;t. Their Epi&s;tles &s;peak nothing more than in&s;tances of Chri&s;tian Poverty, of the lo&s;s of their Goods, and of migh|ty in&s;tances of their Charity.</P>
<P>The&s;e witne&s;&s;es are &s;ufficiently numerous, they preach and write in &s;everal places, and yet they agree admirably in their relations of the &s;ame Facts; it appears they had &s;uch lively and di|&s;tinct impre&s;&s;ions, that they frequently make u&s;e of the very &s;ame words. The difference which is found in &s;ome part of their Books, is a manife&s;t argument that nothing but the force of the mat|ter made them agree in their Relations.</P>
<P>And indeed, how is it otherwi&s;e conceivable that four &s;uch Authors as the Evangeli&s;ts, &s;hould agree about &s;o many Opinions, &s;o many Miracles, &s;o many Prophecies, &s;o many Di&s;putes, and in a word, about &s;o many matters of Fact: &s;hall we &s;ay that the &s;econd took his Copy from the fir&s;t, the third from the &s;econd, <HI>&amp;c.?</HI> This appears to be evidently fal&s;e by peru&s;ing of their works, and by the difference of their &s;tile.</P>
<P>And certainly there appears &s;o great ingenuity in their writings, that we cannot accu&s;e them of having had a de&s;ign to deceive the world; they tell you plainly of the meanne&s;s of their condition and original; they &s;incerely di&s;cover their own weakne&s;&s;es, their ambition, their vanity, their di&s;putes, their heats, their murmurings. S. <HI>Mat|thew</HI> tells us that he was a Publican, that is a Ser|vant
<PB N="298" REF="310">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="299" REF="310">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="300" REF="311">of the <HI>Roman</HI> Power, whom the <HI>Jews</HI> look'd upon as an excommunicated per&s;on, and as an Enemy of their own Nation. He relates the ridi|culous preten&s;ion of the Sons of <HI>Zebedee,</HI> founded on the carnal Notion of their Mother concern|ing the Temporal Kingdom of the Me&s;&s;iah. They &s;et down S. <HI>Peter</HI>'s denying of his Ma&s;ter; they do not di&s;&s;emble their common ignorance, which made them expect a Temporal King in Je&s;us Chri&s;t; they frankly publi&s;h their own increduli|ty, when <HI>Mary Magdalen</HI> brought them the news of our Saviour's Re&s;urrection; and they de&s;cribe the ob&s;tinate re&s;i&s;tance of S. <HI>Thomas</HI> about this matter, again&s;t the unanimous te&s;timony of all his Companions.</P>
<P>They do not content them&s;elves with &s;aying in general that &s;ome illu&s;trious Facts have happened; but they punctually &s;et down all the Circum&s;tan|ces, &s;o that it clearly appears their de&s;ign was to have their writings examined, and that after an exact &s;earch men might acquie&s;ce in the conclu|&s;ions which they draw from thence. For in&s;tance, they do not tell us that Je&s;us Chri&s;t rai&s;ed a great many from the dead, they only tell us of three, de&s;cribing the Circum&s;tances of their Re&s;urrecti|on, the time, the place, the age, the per&s;ons, the a&s;&s;i&s;tants, and all the&s;e, with other particulars, which Impo&s;tors care not to enter upon, le&s;t they &s;hould contradict them&s;elves, or be ea&s;ily confu|ted.</P>
<P>I have already &s;hewn, That the nature of the things them&s;elves which the Di&s;ciples of Je&s;us Chri&s;t have written, is &s;uch as will not permit us to accu&s;e them of having had a de&s;ign to impo&s;e
<PB N="301" REF="311">upon the world; they are Facts, and not Di&s;|cour&s;es, which are left upon Record; and Facts relating to the mo&s;t important matter in the world, than which none was ever more through|ly examined; they are Facts which are linked &s;o clo&s;ely, and which have &s;o &s;trict a dependance one upon the other, and &s;o interwoven with the mo&s;t publick Tran&s;actions, either in Civil or Religious Affairs, that it was impo&s;&s;ible for them to form the de&s;ign of &s;uch an impo&s;ture.</P>
<P>In &s;hort, it is very remarkable, that the&s;e Facts were publickly known to the Kings of <HI>Judea,</HI> to the <HI>Roman</HI> Magi&s;trate, to the principal Mini&s;ters of State, and of their Religion, and to the whole Nation of the <HI>Jews</HI> a&s;&s;embled ten &s;everal times at their &s;olemn Fea&s;ts; to the &s;everal Sects of the Jewi&s;h Religion, the <HI>Phari&s;ees, Sadduces,</HI> and <HI>E&s;|&s;ens,</HI> who are attack'd, cen&s;ured, and confuted in the&s;e Books.</P>
<P>One ought to con&s;ider, after all, that the A|po&s;tles at fir&s;t preached and wrote in <HI>Judea,</HI> where were the witne&s;&s;es of tho&s;e Miracles which they related, the Impotent, the Blind, the Deaf, which Je&s;us Chri&s;t had re&s;tored, the Dead whom he rai&s;ed, the <HI>Scribes</HI> and <HI>Phari&s;ees</HI> whom he cen|&s;ured, the <HI>Sadduces</HI> whom he confuted, the Au|ditors who had heard him preach, the Towns wherein he had conver&s;ed mo&s;t familiarly, the &s;ame People that followed him, the &s;ame Enemies that con&s;pired his death, the &s;ame Judges, and the &s;ame Authority which condemned him to death.</P>
<P>S. <HI>Luke</HI> in the relation he gives us of the Speech|es and Apologies which the Apo&s;tles made before Kings, before the great Council of the <HI>Jews,</HI> and
<PB N="302" REF="312">in the mid&s;t of their Synagogues, brings them in &s;peaking of the Facts contained in the Go&s;pel, as of matters publickly known and atte&s;ted by a va&s;t number of witne&s;&s;es. Thus S. <HI>Peter</HI> &s;peaks of them in the Tenth of the <HI>Acts,</HI> and the other Sacred Writers &s;pake of them in the &s;ame manner in their Epi&s;tles.</P>
<P>Here is a new Character which we ought care|fully to ob&s;erve: we find no Temporal Intere&s;t which obliged the Di&s;ciples to adhere to Je&s;us Chri&s;t; and we find yet le&s;s rea&s;on to &s;uppo&s;e, if Je&s;us Chri&s;t had not been rai&s;ed from the dead, and they had not &s;een him after his death, that they &s;hould have had any concern for his Glory; they would certainly have condemned and ana|thematiz'd him as an Impo&s;tor, who by means of &s;ome fal&s;e Miracles, and an affected Holine&s;s, had abu&s;ed them. Whereas indeed we find that they defended the Glory of Je&s;us Chri&s;t with &s;o much heat, and that with &s;o con&s;tant a Te&s;timony to his Re&s;urrection, that they expo&s;ed them&s;elves to all manner of Reproaches, to all &s;orts of Pu|ni&s;hment, and mo&s;t cruel Deaths, to confirm the belief of that Fact. They de&s;pi&s;e the <HI>Anathema</HI>'s of the <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Synagogue, they contemn their publick Obloquies, they value not the hatred of their whole Nation. They preach this crucified Per&s;on in <HI>Judea,</HI> they preach him al&s;o in other Countries, that he might be equally adored by <HI>Jews</HI> and <HI>Heathens.</HI> They leave their Employ|ments to follow this <HI>Je&s;us,</HI> and after they had ac|companied him three years, they depart from <HI>Judea</HI> to go and confound the Idolatry of the world, and within <HI>Rome</HI> it &s;elf to decry the Gods
<PB N="303" REF="312">they wor&s;hipt, obliging them to acknowledge, him whom the men of <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> had crucifi|ed, for their God; him, who had been the dete&s;tation of the <HI>Jews:</HI> him, whom the <HI>Roman</HI> Magi&s;trate had given up to their Fury, in making him undergo the puni&s;hment appointed for Slaves.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, One ought to ob&s;erve it as a thing of great weight in this whole Que&s;tion, That this Te&s;timony of the Apo&s;tles which is &s;o uniform, &s;o &s;olemn, &s;o well confirmed by all manner of means, and &s;ealed with their deaths, is not con|te&s;ted or contradicted by any Hi&s;torian of that time: There was nothing more ea&s;ie, either for <HI>Jews</HI> or <HI>Gentiles,</HI> than to convince the World of the fal&s;hood of the Facts related in the Go&s;pel; they had the Books of the Apo&s;tles in their hands, they were Ma&s;ters of the publick Records; it was a matter of general Concernment to the <HI>Jews,</HI> to oppo&s;e them&s;elves to an impo&s;ture of &s;o terrible a con&s;equence as the Hi&s;tory of the E|vangeli&s;ts was, if it had been entirely fal&s;e; nei|ther was it le&s;s the intere&s;t of the <HI>Romans</HI> to ex|po&s;e a Sect, of whom <HI>Pliny</HI> the younger tells us, that all &s;orts of People joyned with them, tho' they were per&s;ecuted with incredible violence. In the mean time we find no body that hath con|tradicted the Relation of the Apo&s;tles, nor any Author that has writ again&s;t Je&s;us Chri&s;t or his Apo&s;tles. A long time after indeed there was a Book &s;een, call'd <HI>The Acts of</HI> Pilate, publi&s;hed by the Order of the Emperour <HI>Maximian,</HI> which en|deavoured to overthrow the truth of the Facts that are related in the Go&s;pels; but tho&s;e Acts
<PB N="304" REF="313">are contradicted by all the Heathen Hi&s;torians yet remaining that were contemporay with the Apo&s;tles. Finally, a va&s;t number of <HI>Jews</HI> and <HI>Gentiles</HI> were immediately convinced by the Au|thority of the Apo&s;tles, and a Belief in the Go&s;|pel hath pa&s;&s;ed from <HI>Judea</HI> to the Ends of the World, according to the Predictions which God gave by the Mini&s;try of the Prophets, and by the mouth of our Saviour.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="19" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XIX.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">More Rea&s;ons to manife&s;t the faithfulne&s;s of the Apostles.</HEAD>
<P>WHat I have already alledged might be &s;ufficient to e&s;tabli&s;h the faithfulne&s;s of the Apo&s;tles, but for a fuller conviction of the Reader concerning &s;o weighty a truth of our Religion, I &s;hall &s;uperadd &s;ome few more Reflexi|ons.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t of all, It cannot be deny'd that the form of the Writings of the <HI>New Te&s;tament,</HI> is va&s;tly different from tho&s;e which may be &s;u&s;pect|ed as Forgeries. When the four Evangeli&s;ts had related the miraculous Birth of <HI>John the Bapti&s;t,</HI> they next &s;et down that of our Saviour Chri&s;t, with the Actions of his Life, until his Death, which does not comprehend above four or five years.</P>
<PB N="305" REF="313">
<P>S. <HI>Luke</HI> writes the Hi&s;tory of the Apo&s;tles, and in particular that of S. <HI>Paul,</HI> and takes in on|ly the &s;pace of about Thirty years: Now let any one judge whether they who confine them&s;elves to &s;o narrow limits in re&s;pect of time, place, and per&s;ons, have any de&s;ign to impo&s;e.</P>
<P>The remainder of the&s;e Books is compo&s;ed of two &s;orts of Writings, one Epi&s;tolary, and the other Prophetical: For the Prophetical parts, time mu&s;t prove the truth of the Predictions which are contained in the <HI>Apocalyps,</HI> as well as of tho&s;e which are found in &s;ome of the Epi&s;tles of the Apo|&s;tles.</P>
<P>As for the Epi&s;tles, be&s;ides &s;ome Moral In&s;tru|ctions, they are almo&s;t all employ'd in deciding &s;ome que&s;tions, which the Calling of the <HI>Gentiles</HI> to the Go&s;pel, and the aboli&s;hing of the Cere|monial Law had rai&s;ed in the minds of the <HI>Jews,</HI> who were converted to Chri&s;tianity. We know that of all Writings, Epi&s;tles are the mo&s;t certain Monuments, and tho&s;e which men endeavour to forge lea&s;t.</P>
<P>After all, It is certain that the Sacred Writers have with great care &s;et down the time in which every Event happened, as well according to the &s;tile of the <HI>Jews,</HI> in pointing out to us their &s;o|lemn Fea&s;ts, as that of the <HI>Gentiles,</HI> by &s;etting down the year of the <HI>Roman</HI> Emperour, and the Character of the <HI>Roman</HI> Magi&s;trates.</P>
<P>A &s;econd Character which hinders us from ac|cu&s;ing the&s;e Books as Forgeries, is this, That we cannot deny but that the&s;e Books are of a very particular nature; they contain &s;everal con&s;idera|ble Oracles which were to be fulfilled in the &s;ame
<PB N="306" REF="314">Generation, as that of the Pro|phecies of <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI> and <HI>Croe&s;us,</HI> a continued Series of Mira|cles, of which all <HI>Judea</HI> was witne&s;s; they con|tain a great number of Sermons, preached upon &s;everal illu&s;trious Occa&s;ions in the Synagogues, in the Temple of <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> and before thou&s;ands of People in the Wilderne&s;s. Let any one judge whether it would be an ea&s;ie thing to make the&s;e Writings to be received, if we &s;hould &s;uppo&s;e them to be lately forged.</P>
<P>This third Reflexion is al&s;o con&s;iderable: It is certain that the Go&s;pel was preached in the great|e&s;t Cities of the Empire, by the Apo&s;tles, and the Di&s;ciples of Je&s;us: The Hi&s;tory of the Apo&s;tles, and their Epi&s;tles them&s;elves make it evident, that there were numerous Churches at <HI>Rome, Co|rinth, The&s;&s;alonica, Philippi, Ephe&s;us, Antioch,</HI> and in &s;everal other famous places: It is al&s;o known that there were <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Synagogues in the &s;ame places; now if this be the Ca&s;e, what po&s;&s;ibility is there of &s;u&s;pecting the lea&s;t impo&s;ture in the Books of the Apo&s;tles, if we con&s;ider how they were drawn up? The Di&s;ciples of Chri&s;t did not only preach in the Synagogues the &s;ame things which they have put in writing, but they al&s;o engaged the <HI>Jews</HI> to examine them, becau&s;e they affirmed them with a con&s;tancy which the <HI>Jews</HI> could not but look upon as incredible ob&s;tinacy: Fir&s;t of all, That the&s;e were things beyond di|&s;pute, and could not be doubted of. Secondly, That they had been long &s;ince foretold by the Prophets. Thirdly, That they were an exact accompli&s;hment of other Prophecies which had relation to the promi&s;ed Me&s;&s;iah. Fourthly, That
<PB N="307" REF="314">&s;eeing they could not que&s;tion the Facts contain|ed in the Go&s;pel, they ought to renounce Ju|dai&s;m, to receive Bapti&s;m and become Chri&s;ti|ans.</P>
<P>'Tis al&s;o of great importance to ob&s;erve fur|ther, as I have already done, that the Books of the <HI>New Te&s;tament</HI> were penn'd, before the o|verthrow of the Commonwealth of the <HI>Jews.</HI> There are only &s;ome of the works of S. <HI>John,</HI> which were writ after the De&s;truction of <HI>Jeru&s;a|lem.</HI> I have before ob&s;erved that the Divine Pro|vidence order'd it &s;o, that all the <HI>Jews</HI> for five and thirty years together, repairing thrice a year to <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> at their three &s;olemn Fe&s;tivals, might have greater opportunities to inform them|&s;elves of the truth of the Facts contained in the Go&s;pels, and the Acts of the Apo&s;tles.</P>
<P>To this Remark I &s;hall now add two weighty Con&s;iderations; The one is, That the Chri&s;tians for &s;ome years &s;ubmitted them&s;elves to the Cere|monial Law, and repaired with the <HI>Jews</HI> to <HI>Je|ru&s;alem,</HI> and by this means were engaged to ex|amine the Facts contained in the Go&s;pel. The other is, That after the Council of <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> they were di&s;pen&s;ed with as to that Cu&s;tom, as well as the ob&s;erving of all the other parts of the Ceremonial Law, which &s;et the Chri&s;tians in a greater oppo&s;ition to the <HI>Jews,</HI> and &s;o encrea&s;ed the nece&s;&s;ity of examining very &s;crupulou&s;ly on both &s;ides, what&s;oever was for or again&s;t them in tho&s;e matters of Religion.</P>
<P>This Ob&s;ervation leads us naturally to another, That it is ab&s;olutely impo&s;&s;ible that an impo&s;ture of this nature &s;hould not be di&s;covered, when
<PB N="308" REF="315">there ari&s;eth a Difference between tho&s;e, who may be looked upon as the Authors of the For|gery, and tho&s;e who after them endeavoured to gain credit to it. Now if we find that one Di&s;ci|ple of Je&s;us Chri&s;t betrays him, without accu&s;ing him of the lea&s;t Crime or Impo&s;ture; if we have &s;een the Chri&s;tians at fir&s;t united in the &s;ame A&s;|&s;emblies with the <HI>Jews;</HI> and that there were &s;e|veral Conte&s;ts and Di&s;putes between the Apo&s;tles and tho&s;e fir&s;t Chri&s;tians, yet without calling tho&s;e Facts which are continued in the Go&s;pel, in que&s;tion by either &s;ide: S. <HI>Paul</HI> takes notice of the Conte&s;ts which happened betwixt him and S. <HI>Peter;</HI> S. <HI>Luke</HI> relates the heats between S. <HI>Paul</HI> and <HI>Barnabas,</HI> upon very &s;light occa&s;ions, he &s;ets down al&s;o the Di&s;pute which aro&s;e about the di|&s;tribution of Alms to the <HI>Greek</HI> and <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Wi|dows: One &s;ee's that there aro&s;e a Di&s;pute a|mong&s;t the Apo&s;tles them&s;elves, about the Calling of the <HI>Gentiles</HI> to the Go&s;pel; one &s;ee's afterwards the ob&s;tinacy of &s;ome of the <HI>Jews</HI> of the Sect of the <HI>Phari&s;ees,</HI> who maintained the ab&s;olute nece&s;|&s;ity of &s;ubmitting to Circumci&s;ion, and S. <HI>Paul</HI>'s oppo&s;ition &s;et down in his Epi&s;tle to the <HI>Galatians.</HI> We need no more to make it evident, that there could be no concert nor collu&s;ion between them, to deceive or impo&s;e upon tho&s;e to whom they preached the Go&s;pel.</P>
<P>Let us go a little further; a Di&s;pute happens about a Capital Point of Chri&s;tian Religion, about the Re&s;urrection; in&s;omuch that S. <HI>Paul</HI> thinks him&s;elf obliged to write concerning it to the <HI>Co|rinthians,</HI> &s;o that there was a nece&s;&s;ity of exami|ning the truth of the Re&s;urrection of Je&s;us Chri&s;t
<PB N="309" REF="315">again. Now we find that S. <HI>Paul</HI> to confirm this Doctrine in general, chiefly makes u&s;e of the in|&s;tance of the Re&s;urrection of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, which he proves by Arguments taken from the Fact it &s;elf, that is, by witne&s;&s;es whom he produceth. Whereupon I make this con&s;iderable Reflexion, That in comparing this Di&s;pute of S. <HI>Paul</HI> with the Writings of the Evangeli&s;ts, it clearly appears that they did not alledge all the proofs they might have done. None of them relates in particular the number of tho&s;e who &s;aw Je&s;us Chri&s;t in <HI>Ga|lilee</HI> upon the holy Mountain; but S. <HI>Paul,</HI> who had examined the faithfulne&s;s of their Relati|ons, and knew the witne&s;&s;es, &s;pecifies the num|ber, and ob&s;erves that many of them were yet alive, if perhaps any of them were already dead.</P>
<P>I &s;hall add only two Con&s;iderations more, which prove that it was even impo&s;&s;ible for the Apo&s;tles to impo&s;e upon the World on this occa|&s;ion. The fir&s;t is taken from their State and Condition. They are no great Lords, who&s;e Power might terrifie any one from examining their Writings; or who&s;e Reputation could not have been called in que&s;tion without danger: On the contrary, they were men of mean con|dition, employ'd in ba&s;e Profe&s;&s;ions, often ca&s;t into Pri&s;ons, and from time to time oblig'd to appear before Magi&s;trates for the &s;ame Do|ctrine and the &s;ame Facts which they publi&s;hed to the World. Let us con&s;ider then whether it were an ea&s;ie matter for S. <HI>Paul</HI> for in&s;tance, I &s;ay for this S. <HI>Paul,</HI> a maker of Tents, this S. <HI>Paul</HI> without Reputation, without Riches; this S. <HI>Paul</HI>
<PB N="310" REF="316">who was &s;eized at <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> after divers Per&s;ecu|tions, this S. <HI>Paul</HI> who was &s;ent a Pri&s;oner to <HI>Rome,</HI> and impri&s;oned there under the power of the <HI>Ro|man</HI> Magi&s;trate, and who at la&s;t lo&s;t his life by <HI>Ne|ro</HI>'s order to make tho&s;e blindly believe all he &s;aid, who were at liberty to examine, whether all that <HI>Luke</HI> related as happening to him at <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> at <HI>Maltha,</HI> at <HI>Philippi,</HI> at <HI>Athens,</HI> were indeed true, or only a framed Story.</P>
<P>The &s;econd thing we ought to ob&s;erve is, That not only the Books of the Apo&s;tles were publick|ly read every Lord's day, by a con&s;tant Law, of which we have mo&s;t authentick witne&s;&s;es, in the Writings of the Apo&s;tles them&s;elves, and in other ancient Books, which are &s;till extant; but al&s;o that they were all of them written, not in <HI>Hebrew,</HI> which at that time was a dead Tongue; nor in <HI>Syriack,</HI> a Language &s;po|ken in a very few places; but in <HI>Greek,</HI> which at that time was the Language commonly recei|ved throughout all the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire; and be|&s;ides, was the Language into which the Divine Providence had cau&s;ed the <HI>Old Te&s;tament</HI> to be tran&s;lated about three Ages before, that men might compare the ancient Oracles and their ac|compli&s;hment together.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="20" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="311" REF="316">
<HEAD>CHAP. XX. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>That the whole Model of the Religion and Commonwealth of the</HI> Jews <HI>is at this day &s;o entirely de&s;troyed, that the Me&s;&s;iah could no more be known.</HI></HEAD>
<P>WHat I have before &s;et down to e&s;tabli&s;h the truth of tho&s;e Facts which &s;erve for a Foundation to the Chri&s;tian Religion, is cer|tainly &s;ufficient to an&s;wer the de&s;ign which I formed in writing the&s;e Reflexions upon the Books of the Holy Scripture; and I believe I may with ju&s;tice conclude, That as nothing is more unconte&s;table than the truth of tho&s;e Books and of the Facts in them related; &s;o there is nothing more certain than the Truth and Divi|nity of the Chri&s;tian Religion. So that now I have only two things to do, with which I con|ceive it will be nece&s;&s;ary to conclude the&s;e Re|flexions: The one is, to &s;hew the ab&s;olute im|po&s;&s;ibility of conceiving any other accompli&s;h|ment of the ancient Oracles than what is &s;et down in the Go&s;pel: The other is, that con|cerning the Divi&s;ions among&s;t Chri&s;tians, which are a &s;candal to the <HI>Jews,</HI> and e&s;pecially con|cerning the difficulty of the My&s;teries which the Go&s;pel propo&s;es, which are as &s;o many &s;tum|bling Blocks to them which hinder them from di&s;cerning tho&s;e Characters of Truth in the
<PB N="312" REF="317">Go&s;pel, which by the fulfilling of the ancient Oracles, appear therein with &s;o much lu&s;tre. The former of the&s;e &s;hall be the Subject of this, and the latter of the next Chapter.</P>
<P>As the pulling down of the Scaffolds which were only &s;et up to build a Palace, is an infal|lible &s;ign that the Building is fini&s;hed, &s;o one may &s;ay, that the total defacing of the Model, which God had formed in the Law, that the Me&s;&s;iah at his coming might be certainly known, is an unan&s;werable proof that he is already come. It is worth our pains to make &s;ome Re|flexions on this overthrow, that we may con|clude again&s;t the <HI>Jews,</HI> that if the Me&s;&s;iah was yet to appear in the World, it would be impo&s;&s;ible to know him, according to the Cha|racters which God had given of him before his ap|pearing.</P>
<P>In the fir&s;t place therefore, whereas God had confined the <HI>Jews</HI> to the Land of <HI>Canaan,</HI> that they might be vi&s;ible to all the Po&s;terity of <HI>No|ah,</HI> of whom one part, that is, the Off-&s;pring of <HI>Cham,</HI> po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed <HI>Egypt</HI> and <HI>Africa;</HI> the Po&s;te|rity of <HI>Japhet, Europe</HI> and the le&s;&s;er <HI>A&s;ia;</HI> and tho&s;e of <HI>Shem</HI> the re&s;t of <HI>A&s;ia;</HI> the <HI>Jews</HI> at pre|&s;ent are driven from that Country, and far from being re&s;tored to it after Seventy years, as they were by <HI>Cyrus;</HI> they have been for ever bani&s;h|ed thence, by a Decree of the Emperour <HI>Adri|an,</HI> who forbad them &s;o much as to turn their eyes towards <HI>Judea,</HI> which was in the Year of Chri&s;t 135. The Heathen <HI>Cel&s;us</HI> in&s;ults over them in the&s;e remarkable words, <HI>They have no more,</HI> &s;aith he, <HI>either Land or Hou&s;e remaining to them.</HI></P>
<PB N="313" REF="317">
<P>Secondly, So far were they from having any Remainders of a Temporal Power,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Di&s;per&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">. pa|labun<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 word"> coeli, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 span"> &s;ui ext<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 word"> vagant<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters"> per orbe<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">, fine homine, fine Deo Rege, qui|bus nec ad|venarum jure terram patriam &s;altem ve|&s;tigio, &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">lu|tare come|ditur.</HI> Apo|log. cap. 21.</NOTE> that they were then wholly deprived of it. See what <HI>Ter|tullian</HI> &s;aith of them in the Year of our Saviour 204. <HI>They wander up and down the World like de&s;|per&s;ed Vagabonds, bani&s;hed from their Climate and Country, without Man, without God for their King, and are not permitted, as Strangers, to &s;et foot on their Native Soil.</HI> We read a Decree of <HI>Honorus</HI> the Emperour, which deprives them of the Right of nominating their Patriarchs, or of paying them any Tribute; which &s;hews that their Authority whas wholly extinct.</P>
<P>Thirdly, Their Temple at <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> being de&s;troyed in the Seventieth Year of our Lord, as that in <HI>Egypt</HI> called <HI>Onion</HI> was the year fol|lowing, it could never be built again, notwith|&s;tanding that <HI>Julian</HI> the Apo&s;tate, out of his hatred to the Chri&s;tians, favoured that Enterpri&s;e in the year of our Saviour 363. There is a Letter &s;till extant which <HI>Julian</HI> writ to the <HI>Jews,</HI> to a&s;&s;ure them of his Protection, and to encourage them to that work, but it was not &s;o much his death which da&s;hed that undertaking, as a very memo|rable oppo&s;ition from Heaven.</P>
<P><HI>Marcelinus</HI> a Heathen gives us this account of it.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lib. 23. <HI>Imperiique &s;ui memori|am magni|tudine operum ge&s;tiens propagare, ambitio&s;um quondam apud Hiero&s;olymam Tem|plum quod po&s;t multa &amp; interneciva certamina, ob&s;idente Ve&s;pa&s;iano po&s;tea&abque; Tito, aegre e&s;t expugnatum, in&s;taurare &s;umptibus cogitabat immodicis: Negotium&abque; matu|randum Alypio dederat Antiochen&s;i, qui olim Britannias cur averat pro-Praefectis. Cum ita&abque; rei idem fortiter in&s;taret Alypius, juvaret&abque; provinciae Rector, metuen|di globi flammarum prope fundamenta crebris a&s;&s;ultibus erumpentes, fecere locum exu&s;tis aliquoties operatibus inacce&s;&s;um: hoc&abque; modo elemento de&s;tinatius repel|lente, ce&s;&s;avit inceptum.</HI></NOTE> <HI>And being de&s;irous to propagate the Memory of his Government by the Greatne&s;s of his Works, he with
<PB N="314" REF="318">va&s;t expence de&s;igned to rebuild the &s;plendid Tem|ple which was formerly at</HI> Jeru&s;alem, <HI>which after many and bloody Battels, being be&s;ieged by</HI> Ve&s;pa&s;i|an, <HI>and afterwards by</HI> Titus, <HI>was at last taken with difficulty: he committed the care of ha&s;tning the Bu&s;ine&s;s to</HI> Alypius <HI>of</HI> Antioch, <HI>who had for|merly been Pro-praefect of</HI> Britain. <HI>As therefore this</HI> Alypius <HI>was vigorou&s;ly pro&s;ecuting the Work, be|ing a&s;&s;i&s;ted by the Lieutenant of the Province, terrible Balls of Fire frequently breaking forth near the foun|dations, &s;ometimes burnt the Workmen, and made the place inacce&s;&s;ible: Thus the de&s;ign was laid a&s;ide, The Element it &s;elf beating them back on purpo&s;e. Julian</HI> ea&s;ily apprehended that their Religion would peri&s;h; and that it could never be re&s;tored without the Temple.</P>
<P>In the fourth place, The ob&s;ervation of &s;ome of their Laws was ab&s;olutely forbidden, as being contrary to tho&s;e of the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire. Thus they were not &s;uffered to have many Wives.</P>
<P>Upon this overthrow many inconveniences fol|lowed, which it will be convenient to repre&s;ent at one view.</P>
<P N="1">1. They no longer know tho&s;e per&s;ons who at the fir&s;t Divi&s;ion of the Land by <HI>Jo&s;hua,</HI> were Owners of the different parts of the Land of <HI>Canaan.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. Their Families and Tribes are confounded; their Jubilee, which could not be kept but in the Land of <HI>Canaan,</HI> and which obliged them to &s;tudy their Genealogies, having cea&s;ed long &s;ince.</P>
<P N="3">3. The Family of <HI>David</HI> is at this day utterly unknown.</P>
<PB N="315" REF="318">
<P N="4">4. They have no more lawful Prie&s;ts to ob|&s;erve the Primogeniture, to examine the Tokens of Virginity, tho' it appears, that according to God's de&s;ign, the&s;e Laws were given on purpo&s;e to a&s;certain the knowledge of the Me&s;&s;iah, and to be like Inclo&s;ures about this important Truth, in the compa&s;s of which it might be the better examined.</P>
<P>Certainly if the <HI>Jews</HI> were &s;till in po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of <HI>Judea,</HI> if they had their Kings of the Tribe of <HI>Judah,</HI> if they had their Prie&s;ts, if they were a&s;&s;ured of their Genealogies, if they &s;till enjoy|ed all the other nece&s;&s;ary means for e&s;tabli&s;hing the certainty of their De&s;cents, if their Temple had &s;till &s;ub&s;i&s;ted in its former lu&s;tre, and that the Sacrifices appointed by the Laws were &s;till offered there: The <HI>Jews</HI> might boldly an&s;wer that the <HI>Shiloh</HI> was not yet come, that is, they ought not to de&s;pair of &s;eeing the Me&s;&s;iah born at <HI>Bethlehem,</HI> of the Seed of <HI>David,</HI> and entring the Temple of <HI>Jeru&s;alem.</HI> Then the Prophecy of <HI>Daniel,</HI> which determins 490 years for the term in which the Me&s;&s;iah was to appear, and be cut off by a violent Death and Puni&s;hment, would &s;eem to be eluded.</P>
<P>But the term of the Me&s;&s;iah's coming is pa&s;t, the Commonwealth of the <HI>Jews</HI> is overturned, the Temple of <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> is de&s;troyed 1600 years &s;ince; there are no more Genealogies a|mong the <HI>Jews,</HI> they do not know their Tribes, much le&s;s their Families: How then can it be &s;uppo&s;ed that God &s;hould be true in his Oracles (as we mu&s;t acknowledge him to be) if they were never an&s;wered by the Event.</P>
<PB N="316" REF="319">
<P>To &s;peak the truth, it is impo&s;&s;ible to con&s;i|der the Arguments we have alledged to prove that Je&s;us Chri&s;t is the Me&s;&s;iah, and e&s;pecially tho&s;e Demon&s;trations which the Apo&s;tles have given us, without acknowledging the&s;e two things:</P>
<P>The fir&s;t is, That it was very ea&s;ie at the time of Je&s;us Chri&s;t's appearing, to examine whether he who declared him&s;elf to be the Me&s;&s;iah, were &s;o indeed; &s;o it is ab&s;olutely impo&s;&s;ible to exa|mine it, or know it, &s;ince the de&s;truction of that Model, if we &s;uppo&s;e that God at fir&s;t framed it, for the determining of this que&s;tion, as we have no rea&s;on to doubt it.</P>
<P>The &s;econd is, That the Chri&s;tians exactly followed this Divine Model, and being convin|ced of the truth of the Facts which exactly cor|re&s;ponded with it, and which an&s;wered it in all its parts, they had all the Rea&s;on imaginable to believe that Je&s;us Chri&s;t was the Me&s;&s;iah.</P>
<P>In &s;hort, if we con&s;ider it well, we &s;hall find that the whole Chri&s;tian Religion is nothing but a que&s;tion of Fact between the <HI>Jews</HI> and <HI>Christi|ans:</HI> But &s;uch a que&s;tion as the <HI>Jews</HI> at pre&s;ent are not in a condition to maintain again&s;t the Chri&s;tians.</P>
<P>Both <HI>Jews</HI> and Chri&s;tians agree in the Chara|cters of the Me&s;&s;iah, or at lea&s;t about the mo&s;t of them. According to the&s;e Characters the Me&s;&s;iah ought to be come: The Chri&s;tians main|tain that they may be found in Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and they prove it by matter of Fact; wherefore we mu&s;t conclude, That either the&s;e Characters at|tributed to the Me&s;&s;iah, are not proper Chara|cters
<PB N="317" REF="319">to know him by, and &s;o the Wi&s;dom of God will be eluded, and both <HI>Jews</HI> and Chri|&s;tians equally deceived, in taking that for a Character of the Me&s;&s;iah which is not; or el&s;e that both the Me&s;&s;iah is certainly come, and and that He is no other than that Je&s;us whom we wor&s;hip.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="21" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XXI.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">That the greatne&s;s of the My&s;teries of the Chri&s;tian Religion; and the Divi&s;ion which is among&s;t Chri&s;tians, cannot be any preju|dice to the proofs of the truth of the Chri|stian Religion.</HEAD>
<P>I Come now to examine the double &s;tumbling Block which the <HI>Jews</HI> pretend again&s;t the Chri&s;tian Religion. <HI>This Religion,</HI> &s;ay they, <HI>pro|pounds Doctrines that are inconceivable, and contra|ry to Rea&s;on: For in&s;tance, that of the Trinity, that of the Incarnation and the Divinity of the Me&s;&s;iah.</HI> The&s;e are the Doctrines which the <HI>Jews</HI> reject, as ab&s;olutely incompatible with the Books of the <HI>Old Te&s;tament,</HI> which we have received from their hands.</P>
<PB N="318" REF="320">
<P>But it is an ea&s;ie matter to an&s;wer this Objection; 1. It is founded upon a total forgetfulne&s;s of the &s;olidity of tho&s;e proofs of Fact, which I have al|ledged. Je&s;us Chri&s;t is ri&s;en from the dead, this is a Fact confirmed by &s;everal Witne&s;&s;es. It appears from <HI>Tacitus,</HI> that Je&s;us Chri&s;t &s;uffered death under <HI>Tiberius, Pontius Pilate</HI> being Gover|nour of <HI>Judea.</HI> It is known that <HI>Claudius</HI> ba|ni&s;hed the Chri&s;tians from <HI>Rome,</HI> in the Year of our Lord 54. It is evident from <HI>Tacitus,</HI> in his Life of <HI>Nero,</HI> that he accu&s;ed the Chri&s;tians of burning the City of <HI>Rome,</HI> which him&s;elf was the Author of; the Chri&s;tians therefore made a con&s;iderable Body in the Capital City of the Empire, and this happened in the year of our Lord 64. <HI>Suetonius</HI> &s;ays the &s;ame thing. 2. It appears that <HI>Pliny,</HI> in <HI>Trajan</HI>'s time, takes notice of the manner of their Meetings. 3. <HI>Dion Ca&s;&s;ius</HI> &s;ets down the Accu&s;ation brought in again&s;t <HI>Fla|vius</HI> and <HI>Domitilla,</HI> as again&s;t Athei&s;ts; which is the Title <HI>Julian</HI> the Apo&s;tate gives to <HI>Con&s;tan|tine,</HI> becau&s;e the Chri&s;tians rejected the wor&s;hip of the Heathen Gods. 4. It appears by the lat|ter end of the <HI>Acts of the Apo&s;tles</HI> that this Book was writ in the Year of our Lord 63, and yet this Book &s;uppo&s;es the Go&s;pel of S. <HI>Luke</HI> to have been written before it, and S. <HI>Luke</HI>'s Go&s;pel takes it for granted, that &s;ome of the other Go&s;|pels were already publi&s;hed. 5. It appears from the Writings of <HI>Clemens Romanus,</HI> that the Epi|&s;tle to the <HI>Hebrews</HI> was then written, and the &s;ame may be gathered from the Books of S. <HI>Ig|natius, Polycarp;</HI> and S. <HI>Justin.</HI> The&s;e Facts which are certain, are &s;ufficient to prove that
<PB N="319" REF="320">immediately after the death of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, his Apo&s;tles, and their Di&s;ciples, as Eye witne&s;&s;es, maintained the truth of his Re&s;urrection. After this it may indeed be di&s;puted, by what Power he was rai&s;ed, whether by a Divine Power, or by his own; but it is ridiculous to di&s;|pute the Fact by rea&s;onings drawn from preten|ed Ab&s;urdities which one may think to find in the Doctrines of the <HI>Go&s;pel.</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, The&s;e My&s;teries, as for in&s;tance, that of the Trinity, relates to the Divine Nature, which is incomprehen&s;ible, &s;o that it is no &s;trange thing if an Idea of it be propo&s;ed to us, which not being di&s;tinctly known by us, may rai&s;e Dif|ficulties and Perplexities in our Minds. If I would di&s;cour&s;e with one born blind, of the Sun, of its Light and Heat, and &s;hould attribute to the Sun the Production of Light, and afterwards of Heat, he would find an infinite trouble not to imagine three Suns. It is known how the Philo&s;ophers, who agreed about the Unity of the Soul, have notwith&s;tanding been obliged to attribute &s;everal Faculties to it, which the com|mon People look upon as very different things, and which &s;eem to oppo&s;e the Idea's of its Unity and Simplicity.</P>
<P>In the third place, The Chri&s;tians prove very &s;olidly, that the&s;e My&s;teries have been clearly propo&s;ed by the Apo&s;tles, who received their light from Heaven as to the&s;e Truths, and &s;o might ne|ce&s;&s;arily be believed upon their word, for the &s;ame rea&s;on that the Prophets of the <HI>Old Testament</HI> were formerly believed.</P>
<P>Moreover, they a&s;&s;ert that the&s;e Doctrines
<PB N="320" REF="321">were fir&s;t expre&s;&s;ed, tho' not &s;o clearly, in the <HI>Old Te&s;tament,</HI> which is in the hands of the <HI>Jews,</HI> the mortal Enemies of Chri&s;tians.</P>
<P>I add to the&s;e Remarks, that mo&s;t of tho&s;e Facts who&s;e truth is &s;o invincibly e&s;tabli&s;hed, &s;up|po&s;e the&s;e Doctrines; and that the whole frame of the Religion doth &s;o nece&s;&s;arily require them, that we rob it of a con&s;iderable part of its Glory in que&s;tioning or conte&s;ting any of them.</P>
<P>The&s;e Reflexions may &s;uffice in general to re|&s;olve this difficulty of the <HI>Jews;</HI> and for a more particular Satisfaction, we refer the Reader to tho&s;e Books which purpo&s;ely treat of the&s;e My|&s;teries, de&s;iring him to ob&s;erve carefully, that commonly the mo&s;t difficult Objections of Here|ticks again&s;t the&s;e matters, do rather oppo&s;e the terms which are made u&s;e of, or the notions which men follow in &s;peaking of the&s;e truths, than the Propo&s;itions contained in the Writings of the <HI>New Te&s;tament.</HI></P>
<P>At lea&s;t one may be a&s;&s;ured, that the <HI>Jews</HI> are con&s;trained to re&s;olve &s;everal parallel Objections, to which one can &s;carcely give a &s;atisfactory An|&s;wer, without borrowing &s;ome Di&s;tinctions and Notions from the Chri&s;tians.</P>
<P>Neither can the &s;econd Objection of the <HI>Jews</HI> give us any more di&s;turbance. It is true that there have been Divi&s;ions among&s;t Chri&s;tians, and are &s;till to this day; What can we conclude thence? Can we rea&s;onably conclude that therefore the fir&s;t Founders of Chri&s;tianity were doubtful concerning the truth of tho&s;e Facts which are the &s;upport and foundation of it.</P>
<PB N="321" REF="321">
<P>On the contrary, upon an attentive Ob&s;erva|tion one may find,</P>
<P N="1">1. That Here&s;ies have only &s;erved to render the truth of the&s;e Facts more inconte&s;table, by obliging tho&s;e that had con&s;ider'd of them, to examine their certainty with more care and ap|plication. This is the Judgment one ought to make upon all tho&s;e Here&s;ies in the &s;econd Age, about the truth of the Fle&s;h of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, or about the truth of his Death: From thence men took occa&s;ion to take notice of, and collect with great care all the Circum&s;tances that prove the truth of both the&s;e Facts.</P>
<P N="2">2. We find that the greate&s;t part of the&s;e Conte&s;ts do not concern the truth of the Facts, but the &s;everal Con&s;equences drawn from them, the truth of tho&s;e Matters continuing &s;till be|yond di&s;pute. This we find in the Di&s;pute rai&s;|ed about the <HI>Millennium,</HI> the truth of the Pro|mi&s;es of Je&s;us Chri&s;t being equally believed by both the di&s;puting Parties; but differently un|der&s;tood, according to the temper of tho&s;e that con&s;ider'd of them; &s;ome forming gro&s;s and &s;en&s;ual Conceptions concerning them; others ha|ving a more &s;piritual reli&s;h, which they had ac|quired by &s;tudying the Prophecies, and their true &s;en&s;e.</P>
<P N="3">3. We find that this Divi&s;ion which hath &s;prung up among&s;t Chri&s;tians, is one of the mo&s;t &s;olid proofs of the truth of the Books of the <HI>New Testament.</HI> If &s;ome Fools have endea|voured to decry &s;ome of them, or to fal&s;ifie &s;ome particular places, we &s;ee that both Parties unite to repel that violence, by producing their Co|pies,
<PB N="322" REF="322">and beating back the Impo&s;tors with their united &s;trength. One &s;ee's that <HI>Tertullian,</HI> tho' a <HI>Montani&s;t,</HI> writ Pre&s;criptions again&s;t Hereticks; and <HI>Epiphanius</HI> takes notice (without any re|&s;pect to &s;ome that were Orthodox) of their Crime in blotting out of their Copies, that Chri&s;t had wept.</P>
<P>It is known that the Divi&s;ion of the <HI>Jews</HI> in|to <HI>Karaites</HI> and <HI>Thalmudi&s;ts,</HI> the Jealou&s;ie between the <HI>Jews</HI> and <HI>Samaritans,</HI> and the Divi&s;ion be|tween the <HI>Jews</HI> and <HI>Christians,</HI> is a means of pre|&s;erving the Scripture, and hindering its Cor|ruption, each Party being very vigilant to hin|der their Adver&s;aries from attempting any thing to its prejudice, in corrupting a Book which they con&s;ider as common to them all.</P>
<P>I might ob&s;erve many other advantages which accrew to the Truth from the&s;e Human Failings; but I will only in&s;tance in one, which has al|ways &s;eem'd to me very con&s;iderable; and that is, That the&s;e Hereticks di&s;tinctly prove the truth of the Predictions of our Saviour. An impious per&s;on would have rea&s;on to accu&s;e our Oracles as fal&s;e, if there had never been any Here&s;ies. But Truth triumphs in &s;eeing &s;o great a multi|tude of them, who the more they encrea&s;e, the more &s;he &s;ee's her &s;elf confirm'd and e&s;tabli&s;hed. This is the Rea&s;on induced God to permit &s;o great an increa&s;e in the fir&s;t Ages, when the Truth, meeting with the greate&s;t Oppo&s;ition by Per&s;ecutions, &s;tood in the greate&s;t need of &s;en&s;ible Characters, by which it might be known.</P>
<PB N="323" REF="322">
<P>I conclude this Work with de&s;iring my Reader to con&s;ider the&s;e Reflexions upon the Holy Scrip|ture here propounded, with a &s;erious attention, and to examine the Coherence and Indi&s;&s;oluble Connexion of them; and with prayer to God that it may plea&s;e him to make them &s;erviceable to advance the Glory of his Name, which is the only end I have propo&s;ed to my &s;elf in the wri|ting of them.</P>
</DIV2>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</GROUP>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
