(>^^cx!,^. 'j2. PRESENTED TO THE LIBRARY OF PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY BY JVIps. Ale^^ander Ppoudfit. ^-^ .^ y^ /«^. A^^c(fl<> 6^nM^^- f/Y^ The Ufe and Intent 0/ P r o p h e c Y, in the fever aMges of the IVorld: I N S I X DISCOURSES, Delivered at the TEMPLE church; I N April and MaYj 1724. Puhlijhed at the Defire of /^d* 'Masters of the Bench of the, 'Txj^o Honourable Societies. To which are added, Three D i s s e rt at ions. i. The Authority of the Second Epiftleof St, Feter. IL The Senfe of the Antients before Chrlft, upon the Circumfiances and Confeqfuences of the Fall. III. The BleJJing ^/JtJDAH, Gen. xlix; The Second Edition Corrected. ^j'THO. SHERLOCK, T>.T>. "Dean ^/"Chicheiler, and Majier of the Temple. L O N B O N: Printed for J. PEMBERTpNagainft St. Dunftan\ Church ia Fk^t-Street^ 1726. To ihe VVoRSHipruL the Masters of the Bench Of the Two HoNOURABLJi Societies of the Temple, THESE DISCOURSES, Piibhjhed at their Deftre^ Are [nscribed by Their mofl obedient humble Servant, Tho. Sherlock, Preface if ^ the Reader Have nothing more to fay for the Tublicationofthefe^DifcourfeSy than what appears in the Title Tage. Biit^ that the Reader may not be de^ ceived^ it is prosper to tell him here^ that he is not to expeB in the following T>if cotirfes an Anfwer to a Book lately pub- lijhed^ entitled^ Grounds and Reafons, ^c. — That Work was undertaken^ and has been difcharged to the Satis faction of the Tub lick by a much abler Hand. When I entered upon the T)ejign of forming thefe T)ifccurfes^ it was with a View of /hewing the Ufe and Intent of Trophecy^ in the feveral Ages of the World^ and the manifeji Connexion between the Pro- phecies of every Age. They who confix der the Prophecies under the old Tejia- ment^ as fo many TrediBions only^ inde^ pendent of each other ^ can never form a right Judgment of the Argument^ for the Truth of Chrijiianityj drawn from this Topick\ ncr be able to fatisfy themfelves^ when they are confronted with the Ob* A 3 je6tions P R E FA c E to the Reader. jeBlons of Unbelievers. It is an eajy mattir^for Men of Leifnre and tolerable "Tarts^ to find difficulties in particular Tredi^iions^ and in the application of them made by IVriters who lived many hundred Tears ago^ and who had ma7iy anticnt Books and Records of the Jewifli Churchy from which they drewmanyTaf figcs^ and perhaps fome Prophecies ; which Books and Records we have not to enable us to under ft and ^ and to juftify their Jpplications. But 'tis not fo eafy a matter to fhew^ or to perfuade the JVorld to believe^ that a Chain of 'Prophecies^ reaching through fever a 1 1 houf and Tears ^ delivered at different Times ^ yet mani- feftly fubCervient to one and the fame Adminifiration of "Providence^ from Be- ginning to End^ is the P^ffell of Art and Contrivance ^ and religious Fraud: That for Jo many Ages fuccefjively pro- per "Perfons Jhould be found to carry on the Cheat : and that none of them Jhould have any Inter efi to ferve by betraying the Secret^ or fo much Honejiy and Regard to Truth as to difcover it. The Account given in the fourth T)if courfe of the Remifflon of the Curfe an the Ground, by Covenant with Noah and his 'Pofer:ty , may be treated perhaps as the Effect of mere Fancy and Imagina- tion \ Preface to the Reader. tion ; for there are many Trcjtidices which lie in its Way. All that I Jhall fay more upon that Subje£i^ is only this : If you allow the Account it carries on the Series of GocPs T>ifpcnfations to- wards Mankind^ in a natural Gradation^ and opens a new Scene of Trovidence^ where there feems to he great Reafon to expert one^ at the Beginning of the new World: If you rejeB this Account ^ there feems to he a great Gap in the facred Hifiory , and the new 'World fets out^ juft where the old one left off\ and yet who would not expeEi that fo great a Change jhould be attended with fome new degree of Light ^ to comfort and fupport the poor Remains of Mankind ? If the Notion is not approved^ it is at lea ft an innocent one \ and I am not fo fond of it^ as to enter further into the I)efe?ice of it. As to the DiiTertations which I have added^ the Relation they have to the Sub- je6i of the T>ifcourfes will appear to thofe^ who think them worth the Read- ings and there is no Reafon to trouble others with any Account of them. DISCOURSE I 2 Peter i. 19. ffe have alfo a more ftire IVord of Prophecy J whereimto ye do well- that ye take heedy as unto a Light that flotneth m a dark Place ^ un- til the Day dawyi^ and the Day-^ Star ar'tfc m your Hearts. w HERE being evidently ai Comparifon in theTextbej^- tween the Word of TviO- phecy^ and fomething bei- fore mentioned or intend^.d, 'tis neceffary to look back to fee how ^che Relation ftands, and what the Thin-g is B to DISCOURSE I. to which the TVordofTrophecy is com- pared and preferred. At the i6^^' Verle the Apoftle fays, JVe have not followed cnnningly devifed Fables when we made known unto you the Tower and Coming of our Lord J efts Chrift. And after thus difclaiming all Art and Deceit, in fetting forth the Promifes and Expeftati- ons of the Gofpel, he proceeds to declare upon what Evidence and Authority he had raisM fuch ExpeSations in them : But (we) were Eye*witneffes of his Ma- jefty^ for he received from God the Fa- ther Honour and G lory ^ when there came fuch a Voice to him from the excellent Glory ; This is my beloved Son^ in whom I am well]^lcafed. j^7id this Voice which carne fro?n Fleaven we heard^ when we were with htm in the holy Mount. Im- mediately follow the Words of the Text, We have alfo a more fure Word of 'Pro- f^ecy. You fee upon what Foundation their Ii\ference ftands, w^ho affert, That the Evidence which Chriftians have from Pro phecy for the Certainty of their Hopes and ,Expe£lations, comparM with the E- vidence DISCOUPvSE I. Vidence they have from^ the Preaching of the Apoftles, who were Eye-witneffes and Ear-wii-neffes of what they report concerning the Majefty ofChrift, is the greater and the furer Evidence; or in the Words of a late Author, That ^ " Pro- '' phecy is a ftronger Argument than a " Miracle, which depends upon external " Evidence and Tefthnony". This Au- thor has taken great Pains to fhew, that the Argument from Prophecy for the Truths of Chriftianity, as managed and apply 'd by the Writers of the New Tefta- ment, is abfurd and ridiculous ; and that we may not flatter our felves with Hopes of Affiftance from other Arguments, he gives us this Text of St. Teter^ to fliew, by the Authority of our own Scriptures, that Prophecy, as bad an Argument as it is, is neverdielefs the very bell: that our Caufe affords: But his Views be to him- felf; what Truth there is in his Expofiti- on and Application of this Part of Scrip- ture, we fhall foon fee. _ * A Difcourfe of the Grounds and Reafons of the Chrif tian Relig:cf?y printed 1724. p-27. B z Inter- DISCOURSE I. Interpreters diflPer very much in ex- pounding this PalTage; but all, as far as I fee^ agree in rejefting this Senfe, which gives a Superiority to the Evidence of Prophecy above all other Evidence, by which the Truth of the Gofpel is con- firmM; and indeed the Text expounded to this Meaning, contradifts not only the general Senfe of Mankind upon thisSub- je£l, but will be found likewife inconfif- tent with itfelf,and many other Places of Scripture : For, firft, let any Man con- fider, and fay upon what Proof and Evi- dence the Authority of Prophecy itfelf depends : Can any Prophet give greater Proof of his divine Miflion, than the Power of working Miracles? And if this be the laft and the greateft Proof he can give of his being fent by God, can the Evidence of Prophecy ever rife higher than the Evidence of Miracles, upon which it ultimately depends for all its Authority ? When Gideoii was calPd to the Deliverance of Ifrael^ the Angel of the Lord came and faid unto him, The Lord is with thee^ thou mighty Man of Valour \ — go in this thy Mighty a7td thou DISCOURSE I. thou flmlt fave Ifrael fro7n the Hand of the Midiaiiites\ have not Ifent thee? Here now was a Prophecy deliverM by the Angel of the Lord to encourage his Undertaking. What fays Gideon to this? He defires a Sign; If now I have found Favour in thy Sight ^ then /hew me a Sign that thou talkeji with me. A Sign is given him, a miraculous Sign; he is fatisfy'd, and undertakes the Work ap- pointed ; to which he is again encou- raged by two Miracles wrought at his Requeft, Judges vii. What think you now ? The Prophecy deliver'd by the Angel was as much a Prophecy before, as it was after Miracles wrought in Con- firmation of it : But was the Word of Prophecy more fure before the Miracles than after ? If fo, why was a Sign de- fir'd ? And when defir'd, why was it granted? Does God work Miracles to humour Men in their Folly ; or is it to confirm their Faith ? If it be to confirm their Faith, then our Faith in the Pro- phets depends upon the Authority of Mi- racles; and fince the Stream can never rife above the Spring-Head, the Evidence 15 3 of 6 DISCOURSE I. of Prophecy cannot be greater than the Evidence of Miracles. But let us take an higher Inftance ; Mofes was the firfl: and the greateft Prophet of the Law, to whom God fpoke Face to Face: He was calPd by God to deliver the Children of Ifrael out of Egypt^ and commifnonM to affure them of God's immediate Pro- tection. This I fuppofe was fujScient to make him a Prophet to I/rael: But what fays Mofes? Behold^ they will not be- lieve me^ nor hearken to my Voice ; for they will Jay ^ the Lord hath not appear- ed unto thee. Was this a fooliHi Com- plaint in Mofes? If it was, how came God to liften to it, and to furnifh him with an Anfwer above all Exception, by giving him immediately aPower to work Miracles in Confirmation of his Prophe- cy? Does not this Method of God's Proceeding plainly fliew, that Miracles are the Prophets greateft Authority and .-^r^^v, .. Confirmation? What is that fuperior E- /y ^'^Vidence of Prophecy then, which is faid fo much to exceed the Evidence of Mi- "' racles ? But to go on: The Comparifon '2^y^ the Text, with refpefl: to St. Teter ■4rH^./^^^^ ^^^ himftli; J- » ^ ■■^~^^- DISCOURSE I. himfelf, is between the Word of Troche- cy and the immediate Word of God: And according to thisExpofition of the Text, St. Teter who declares, that he heard the Voice of God himfelf in the Mount, is made in his Own Perfon to fay, (for the Words are, We have a more fare fVordofTrophecy^ That the dark Pro- phecies of the Old Teflament were a fu- rer and more certain Evidence, than this immediate Voice of God which he heard with his own Ears. Now what is Pro- phecy, that it flioLild be more furely and certainly to be depended on than the im- mediate Voice of God? Is it polllble to think that St. Tcter^ or any Man in his Wits, could makefuch a Comparifon? But further ; let us confidcr what Ac- count St. Teter himfelf gives of this IVord ofTrophecy^ which we are told, is be- yond Comparifon the bt-ft and the fureft Evidence we have for our Faith: He compares it to a Light jhining in a dark Tlace\ and diftingulfnes it from 2)^)- //^Z?/, and that Brightnefs which is ufber'd in by the T>aj-Star. Tliis IVordofTro- fhecy then is here compared by St. Teter B 4 to DISCOURSE I. to the glimmering Light of a Candle feen at a Diftance in a dark Night ; which tho' it gives fome Direftion, yet is no- things compared to clear Day-light. Is not this now a choice Account of the Evidence of theGofpel; nay, of the very bejl Evidence which we have of the Gof- pel? Are we ft ill furrounded on all Sides with Darknefs,airifted by one only diftant glimmering Light ? Was it thus that Chr'iji came to be a Light to lighten the Gen- tiles^ <^;/<^ to be theGlory of Ifrael? St. Teter m his firft Epiftle tehs all Chrif- tians, that they are called out ofTiark- 7iefs into God's marvellous Light ; how comes he then in this fecond Epiftle to tell them, that they are ftill in Darknefs, and have nothing but a Light glimmering in the Darknefs to direct them? Can the fame Writer poflibly bfjLfupposM to give fuch different Accounts of our Gofpel- State ? Ask St. Taul, what State Chrif- tians are in,, he will tell you, That the Light of the glorious Gofpel of Chrift^ who is the Image of God^ has Jhone un- to them^ 2 Cor. iv. 4. Ask the Evange- lifts, they will tell you, The T>aj'fpring from DISCOURSE I. fro7n on high hath vifited tiSy to give Light to them that Jit in T>arknefs^ and in the Shadow ofT)eath. Ask any, or all of the Apoftles, they will tell you their Commiffion is, To open the Eyes of the Teople^ and to turn them from "Dark- fiefs to Light \ Afts xxvi. i6. agreeably to what our Lord told his Difciples, Te nre the Light of the Worlds Mat. v. 14. How different is this Account from that which St. Teter is fuppos'd to give of the befl Light we have under the Gof- pel, in ContradiQ:ion to himfelf, and al- moft every Writer of the New Tefta- ment? But let us go one Step further, and we fhall find, that St. Teter in the Text is fo far from fpeaking of the Word of Trofhecy^ as of the befl: Light or Evi- dence to be had for the Point in queftion, whatever it was, that he manifeftly fpeaks of it as not the befl ; but as a Light to be attended to only until a better comes : Hear his Words, Wc have alfo a more fure IVord of Trophecy^ where- unto ye do well that ye take heed^ as unto a Light that jhineth in a dark Tlace^ lo DISCOURSE I. Tlace^ UNTIL theT)ay dawn^ and the ^ay^Star arife in your Hearts, This Light you fee is to be attended to only till the Day Light comes, fo far is it from being itfelf the bejl Light, that it muft give Way to a better. What the true Im- port and meaning of this is, we fhall fee hereafter. But furely St. Teter wouM not have limited any Time, for their at- tending to the Word of Prophecy, had he been confidering it as the beft Support of Chriftian Faith ; for in that Senfe it ought ever to be attended to, and to be the conftant Employment of aChriftians Meditation, fo long as Life and Thought • remain with him. Thefe Reafons, I fuppofe, prevaiPd with Interpreters to quit the apparent Senfe of this Text, which feems to pre- fer the Authority of Prophecy, to the Authority of airother Evidence, where- by the Doftrine of theGofpel is confirm- ed ; and to feek for fome other, more conformable to Truth and Reafon. But however they are agreed in rejefting this Senfe, they are far from being agreed in eitablifhing any other. The DISCOURSE I. II TheGr^^/^Expofitors fuppofe the Senfe here to be, That Prophecy is now^ to us Chrijiians^2i more fure and convincing E- videncethan ever it was, having been ve- rified and eftabliflied by the Events. This Interpretation preferves the Force of the Comparifon ; but then it places theCom- parifon where St/P^^^r lias not placed it; he manifeftly compares the Evidence of Prophecy to the Evidence arifing from the Glorification of Chriji^ attefl:ed by thofe, who delivered what they had heard and feen with their ow^n Eyes and Ears : But of the Evidence and Weight of Prophecy before and after the Com- pletion he fays nothing. Gr^^i^/j* thought this Senfe the moft Convenient and has adopted it in his Commentary on the Place. Others ^- fuppofe that theComparativ^e is ufed in this Text, in the Senfe of the Pofitive,to exprefs the great Certainty of the Evidence mentioned. According to them, the meaning is, " That we have " a very fure Evidence in the Words of * Erafmus, Junius and Tremellius. '' Prophecy;'' 12 DISCOURSE I. ^^ Prophecy : " This Expofition introduces a new Ufe of Language into the Text, for which having no fufficient Authority to produce, it can claim no Authority itfelf. The Inftances given to fupport this Conftruftion, as far as I have feen, are not pertinently alledged. Others ; preferving the natural Signifi- cation of the Words, and therefore ad- mitting the Comparifon, will not how- ever allow the Comparifon to be abfolute^ but only relative ; relative to the Opini- nions and Prejudices of the Jews ^ to whom this Epiftle was direfted. Accord- ing to this Interpretation,the Ap oftle does not affert, That Prophecy is in itfelf ^ better Argument than the evangelical Evi- dence ; but only that it is better to Jews^ who being educated in an Efteem and Reverence for the Prophets from their Childhood, and being but new and ten- der Converts to the Gofpel, had a much greater Regard to the Authority of their own Prophets, than to theTeftimony of the Apoftles. But as to this Expofition ; in the firft Place, there is nothing in the Text to countenance it : In the next Place; DISCOURSE I. Place; had this been St. P^/^r's mean- ing, he never wouM have fpoken in the firft Perfon, and joined himfelf in the fameOpinion with his Country-men : /F£ have^ fays he, amorefurelVordofTrO" phecy Now whatever the Jews thought, St. Teter couM not think that the antient obfcure Prophecies , and which he compares immediately to a Light jhtning in a dark "Place^ were a ftronger Evidence than the Miracles of Jefiis^ and the Atteftatlon of God him- felf to the Truth of his MifTion. This . therefore cou'd not be St. Teter's Mean- ing. Thefe are the moft confiderable Expo- fitions, which have been given of this PafTage. 'Tis evident that all Interpre- ters have been fenfible of the Abfurdity of fetting up Prophecy as a fuperior Evi- dence to all other Gofpel Evidence; and that to avoid this Difficulty, they have been driven to feek out other Meanings. And yet without allQueftion, the Words of the Text according to their moft natu- ral Senfe, do import that the Evidence of Prophecy, is a fitrer Evidence than ^ that 13 14 DISCOURSE I. that before mentioned ; which was the Apoftles ownTeftimony of the Glory of Chriji^ which he had feen with his Eyes ; and of the Voice of God declaring Chriji to be his beloved Son; of which the A- poftle was an Ear-witnefs in the Mount. But as natural as this Senfe is, yet they who conclude from hence, that Prophe- cy is a better Evidence of the MiJJion of Chriji\ and t\\QTruth of the Gofpel^ than any other Evidence, draw a Conclufion which the Text will not juftify. For look back and fee what is the Thing to be proved by this more fiire Word of Prophecy; is it the MtJJion ofChrifi? St. Peter fays nothing of it. Is it the Truth of the Gofpel? nothing lefs. The Apoftle tells us in the i6'^' Verfe ; That God declared Chrifl by a Voice from the excellent Glory, To be his beloved Son: But this is not the Thing he wouM prove, for he brings this Declaration to prove fomething elfe: And this Declara- tion is confidered as one of the Proofs to which he compares the Word of Pro- phecy. To clear this Matter, let us confider what DISCOURSE I. ij what it IS that St.?^/^^' intended to prove; for without knowing this, 'tis impoflible to judge of the Comparifon in the Text; for in fome Cafes Trophecy is no Proof, in others it may be our very beft Evidence, notwithftanding that it is a glimmering Light, faintly lliining thro' the Dark. • The fecond Epiftle of St. Teter was written to fupport and maintain the Hopes and Expedations which he had raifed in his firft ; as will be evident up- on a Comparifon of the two togetlier. To the firft Epiftle therefore we muft go, to fee the Foundation and Rife of the Matter to which this controverted Text in the fecond relates. The Chriftians, to whom the firft E- piftle was direfted, were in a State of fe- vereTryal and Perfecution; They were for a Seafoii hi Heavinefs thro' manifold Temptations^ i. 6. They were fpoken a- gaiiiji as evilTDoers^ ii. ii. iii. \6, iv.4. They fuffered for Right eoufnefs fake ^ iii. 14. "Xhty wQ.^QreprOv'iched for the Name of Chrif^ iv. 14. and were made T art ac- kers of his Suffer irigs^ f.13. This being the Cafe, The Apoftle adminifters fuita- ^ ble i6 DISCOURSE L ble Advice to them: He calls upon them to arm themfelves ij^jith the fame Mind^ which was in Chrift^ \v\\o fuffered for MS in the Fie jh^ iv. i. he bids them ac- count it their Happinefs that they vjere reproached for the Name ofChriJi^ iv. 14. and rejoyce that they were Partakers of his Sufferings^ f*iS. He reminds them that this fiery Tryal was no f range or furprizing Event; but what had been foretold, and what they had Reafon to expeQ:, iv. i?.. And that the fame ^ffli- ^ions were accomplijhed in their Bre- thren in the Worlds v. 9. That the Time was come (foretold before) That Judg- ment muji begin at the Houfe of God^ iv. 17. Together with thefe Admonitions he gives the AiTurance of a certain Delive- rance near at Hand. He tells them they were kept by the Tower of God ^ through Faith ^ unto Salvation ready to be reveal- ed^ 1.5-. That their Tryal wouM yield Honour and Glory at the appearing of Jefus Chriji^ f. 7. he bids them have perfeCli/^/^ and Confidence in theGrace^ I or Deliverance, to be brought at the Re- velation^ DISCOURSE I. 17 velation ofChriJl Jefus^ f.i^.in theT>ay of Vi fit at ion ^ ii. 12. For the certainty of this Deliverance, and Salvation now rea* dy (or prepared) ^^^^ revealed^ and of the Share they fliould have in it, he appeals to the antient Prophets, and the Sjpirit ofChriJi in them^ tejltfying before-hand the Sufferijtgs of Chriji and the Glory which fl)Oiild follow^ i. w.^nto whom it was revealed^ that not unto themfelves^ hit unto us they did minifer the things now reported unto you ^ f. 12. The firft Scene, the Sufferings o[ Chriji being over, iv. i. his glory was ready to be reveaPd, which would bring them exceeding Joy^ iv. 13. and be to the Deftruftion of their Perfe- cutors,the ungodly and the Sinners^ }^* i8» All thefe Hopes were founded in this, That Chrift himfelf had already received Glory and Tower ^ and would return in his Glory and Tower to fave true Believers. Our Truft in God is by St. Teter built upon this, that God raifed him (Chrift) from the dead^ and gave him Glory^ i Pet- I. XI, And it is at the Revelation of this Glory^ that Chriftians are taughito ex- peft exceeding Joy ^ hi. 13. You fee C now 8 DISCOUPvSE I. now how much Weight is laid by SuTe- ter in his firft Epiftle upon the Expefta. tion of Chriit's coming in the Tower and Glory of God. It is very probable that the diftreffed Chriftians conceivM at firft great Hopes from thefe AiTurances given them by an Apoftle of Chrift ; and expefted (as it is natm'al for Men in Affliftion to do) that every Day would bring their T>eh^ verance with it. But when one Year af- ter another pafs'd, and no l^eliverance came; when the Scof/crs began to ridi- cule their Hopes, and ask'd in Mockery, Where is the Tromije of his Coming ? 2 Pet. iii. 3, 4. their Hearts grew fick; and their Hopes deferred, inftead of be- ing any Comfort or Support to them, became an Addition of Grief, and filPd them with Fears and Sufpicions, left they had behev'd in vain. Many of them, worn out with Diftrefs and Perfecution, began to give way, and willingly liften'd to the corrupt Teachers, who inftrufted them to keep fair with the World, and to keep their Faith to themfelves ; by Means of which wicked Doftrine, they were DISCOURSE I. \vere led azvaj^ and fell f?'0?n their Sted- fajtnefs^ ^ Ep. chap. iii. f. 17. and to a- void fuffering, denied the Lord that bought them^ Chap. iii. f. i. In this State of Things, and at the Diftance of five or fix Years from the writing of the firil Epiftle^ the Apoftle fends his fecond Letter ; and it anfwers in every Point to tliis Account. In the firlt Chapter the Apoftle endeavours to re-eftabliih and confirm the Hopes of ^^- lievers ; but he docs it with the Air of one who had been reproached for his Dodrine ; IVe have not, fliys he, fol^ lo-ji'ed cunningly devifed Fables^ isuhen "-jve made kno'jvn to yon the Power and C o M I n g of the Lord Jefus^ chap, i. Si* i^. You fee here again the true Point upon which St Veter pkced the Hopes and Expe&ations of true Believ- ers. In the fecond Chapter he takes No- tice o^x\\Qfalfe Teachers isjhQ brought i?i damnable Her e fie '^ denying the Lord that bought them ; thefe he threatens with fji^ft "DeJiruBion^ f, i. and tells them, That, however they might conceive of the Tromife of Chrifl\ fpeedy Comings C z yet 20 DISCOURSE I. yet they would affuredly find, thz.t t^eir own Judgment did not linger^ nor their own ^Damnation Jlumber^ Sf. 3- that it would have been better for them^ not to have known the Way of Right eoufhefs^ than after they have known it to turn from the holy Commandment delivered to them^ i'. 2,1. In the third and laft Chapter he confiders the Scoffers^ and their irreligious Infult, Where istheTro^ mife of his Coming ? f, 4. He enters in- to their Argument, and fliews them from what had already happened in the World, how perverfly they reafonM a- bout future Things. He concluded the whole with proper Cautions to Chrifti- ans, when they confider and endeavour to underftand the Times and Seafons of God's Judgments ; and guards, not only his own, but St. TauPs Doctrine upon this Article, the Coming of Chrift, (fo much was his Mind bent to clear this one Point) againfl: the ferverfe Ufe of the Unlearned and Vnjiable^ f. 15*, i^- You fee now what is the main, the only great Point, in this fecond Epiftle ; it is the Coming of Chriji in Power and Glory, DISCOURSE I. II Glory, to deliver the Faithful, and to take Vengeance of the Ungodly and Un- believers, as foretold by the Prophets under both Teftaments. But this Com- itig of Chrift vj2is future and at a Dif. tance ; and depended entirely (as to any Knowledge that could be had of it) upon the KyxtX^ontjoiTrophecy: For which Reafon St. Teter refers, in his firft Epi- ftle, to the antient Prophets, and to the infpir'd Preachers of the Gofpel, to jufti- fy the Hopes he rais'd ; of which Salva- tion, or Deliverance, fays he, the "Pro- phets have enquired and fearched dili- gently^ who profhejied of the Grace that Jhould come unto you ^ chap. i. lo. which Things are now reported unto you by them that have preached the Gofpel un- to you, with the Holy Ghoft fent down from Heaven, f. 1 2. And for the fame Reafon in his fecond Epiftle he refers a- gain to Trophecy, as being of all others (and in Things ofFuturity it needs muft be) the moji Jure Evidence. This Account of St. "Peter's Epiftles is indeed not mine, but his own : For he tells us exprefsly, That his Intention in C 3 ■ both 2 1 DISGOUPvSE L Aoth his Epiftles was, to make them, to. whom they were fent, mindful of the JVords -juhkh "ji^ere fpoken before of the holy Trophets^ he adds, and of the Com- mandvients of us the Jjjoflks of the Lord and Saviour: z Ep. iii. i^ x. That this lat- ter Part relates to the fame Subjed as the former,will appear by comparing it with the Paffage juft before quoted, i Ep. i 12. where St. Teter confiders the Apottles as Prophets, or Expounders of the Pro- phets, under the Affiftance of the Holy Ghoft, preaching thofe very Things which the antient prophets had tefii/ed beforehand. Take this Key along with you, and fee hov/ it will open this fo much per- plexed Paffage of Scripture now under Confideration : The Apoftle's Reafoning to the faithful Believers, is this, fVe have- not followed cunningly devifed Fables when we made known unto you the Power and Coming of our Lord Jefas Chrift, but were Eye-witnejfes of his Majesty. For he received from God the Father Honour and Glory, when there came fuch a Voice to him from the ^. excellent DISCOURSE L 23 excellent Glory ^ This is my beloved Son^ in isjhom I am well-pleafcd. And this Vc ice which cajne from Heaven we heard ^ when we were with In'm in the holy Mount, We have alfi a more suPvE IFord of Trophecy, 2 Ep. i. 16, &c. 'Tis evident that the P o \v e p. and Coming of our Lord fefits Chrift is the only Point here in Qjieftion ; not a Word is there relating to any other Faft or Doctrine of the Gofpel. To prove this Toint^ the Apoftie tells them he had been an Eye-witnefs of his M a. JE s T Y, or G L o K Y. Wliilft our Saviour livM on Earthy his Condition was mean, and his Fortune low ; this was a great Prejudice againft him in the Opinion of the Jews \ who expected greater Things from their Redeemer, and could not ea- fily hope to fee him return in Glory and Tozver^ who liv'd and dy'd fo meanly and fo mtferably, 'Tis a fufBcient An- fwer to all fuch Prejudices to prove, that, mean as he appeared, he had a real Ma- jefty.^ and was aftually inverted with Honour and Glory from God the Fa-. ther. C 4 But 24 DISCOURSE I. But this Evidence manifeftly extends but to one Part of the Point in Quefti- on, to (liew that Chrift had him/elf ht^n glorified \ what is there then to fhcw that he will ever return again in this Glory znd Tower? For allow all this to be true, might an Objedor fay ; yet how does it prove the Hopes you would raife of his fpeedy Return in Power and Clory^ to deliver his Servants, and to take Vengeajice of his Foes ? For what is pafi Vv^e willingly take your Word ; you are a competent Witnefs of what your Eyes beheld^ and of what your Ears heard : But will your feeing him in Glo- ry on the Mount yj;5^^ Tears ago^ necefl farily hifer, that he fhall come again in Glory fome Tears hence \ and that too, to execute the very Purpofes you de- clare ? Can any Certainty, as to future Events, be coUeOied from paft Eventsl Or, can any thing we fee this Year, af- fure us what will happen to us the next} 'Tis true, (we may fuppofe the A- poftle to anfwer) all future Events are in the Hands of God; to him only are (^hey known, and from him only can ? they DISCOURSE 1. 2j they certainly be learn'd. All other Ar- guments in this Cafe can amount only to Probabilities and Prefumptions ; and a great Prefumption 'tis that Chrift fhall come in Glory ^ that we have already feen him glorified) and it is a further Evi- dence of his Tower to deliver his Ser- vants, fmce God has openly declarM him to be his well-beloved Son : But to affure us, that he will indeed y2 come^ and fo ufe his Power, IV e have a more fur e f Ford of Prophecy : i. e. We have the very Word of God, (fpeaking by his Prophets) to whom all Futurity is known^ to affure us of the Certainty of this future Event. This Interpretation, as it is eafy and natural in itfelf, and renders to every Ex- preffion in the Text its proper and ufual Signification ; fo it is neceffary, I con- ceive, to the Apoftle's Argument, and plainly inforcM by the Context; and ftands clear of all Difficulties. Here is no Pretence to fay, That Trophecy is a better Argument for the Truth of the Gofpel^ than all the Miracles of Chrifl: and his Apoftles ; for the Truth of the Gofpelh not the Point here in Queftion- St. 26 DISCOURSE I. St. Teter fpeaks only of the Coming of Chriji in To--j:;er^ and of a Salvation ready to he revealed ; which being yet to come^ admitted of no fiirer Evidence than the JVordof Trophecy ; which yet, he tells us, was only as a Light fhining in a dark Tlace : But the Gofpel was not a Thing ready to he revealed^ it had long fmce been reveaPd ; the Gofpel was riOt a Light Jioining in a dark Tlace^ but, as he himfelf exprefsly calls it, a mar^ vellous Light ^ into which they had been calPd out oi Darknefs. i Ep. ii. 9. One Word more, and I have done with this SubjeQ: : The more fure Word of Trophecy here mentionM is not to be underftood merely of the Prophecies of the Old Teflament^ for it may refer to the Prophecies of the New^ and proba- bly does, as appears by St. Teter ^ Ap- pealing, not only to the antient Prophets, but alfo to the Preachers of the Gofpel. How unhappily then was this Text made Choice of, to fet up antient Prophecy in Oppofition to the Gofpel-Evidence, fmce the Prophecy here intended is probably itfelf a Gejire of all Nations. Now one of the Charafliers, which our Saviour conftantlyaffumes and claims in the Gofpel, is this, That he is the Perfon fpoken of by Mofes and the Prophets. Whether he is this Perfon or no, muft be tryM by the Words of Pro- phecy; and this makes the Argument from Prophecy fo far neceffary to eftablidi the Claim of the Gofpel; and it has been very 7///? /y, as well as acutely obferved, that the Proof of this Point muft rely entirely on the Evidence of prophecy. Miracles in this Cafe can afford no Help ; If theProphets havenot fpoken oiChrtft^ all the Miracles in the SVorld will not prove that they have fpoken of him (a). ia) Grounds and Reafons, Pag.'^i, E Thefe 4; JO DISCOURSE II. ThefeConfiderations fhew how far the Gofpel is neceffarily concerned in pro- phetical Evidence. Chriji has done the Works which no Man ever did, and given the fuUeft Evidence of a divine Commiflion; but he claims to be the Perfon foretold in the Law and the Pro- phets : and as Truth muft ever be con- fiftent with it felf, this Claim muft be true, or it deftroys all others. This is the Point then to be tryed on the Evi- dence of Prophecy : Is Chriji that Per- fon defcribed and foretold under the Old Teftament, or no? Whether all the Pro- phecies relating to him be plain, or not plain • Whether all the Way$ ufed by the Jews of arguing from the Old Teftament, be convincing to us, or no, it matters little: The fingle Queftion is, Is there enough plain to fhew us that Chriji is the Perfon foretold under the Old Tefta- ment? If there is, we are at an end of our Enquiry, and want no further Help from Prophecy; efpeciallyfince we, toufeSt. jP^r^r's Expreffion, have in this Cafe feen the "Day dawn^ and enjoyed the mar^ 'vellous Light of the Gofpel of God. I am DISCOURSE 11. ji I am not now fpeaking of the great Advantage that may be made of prophe- tical Evidence for convincing Unbeliev- ers of the Truth of the Gofpel ; but am confidering how far the Truth of the Gofpel necejfarily depends upon this kind of Evidence. Thefe are two very dif- ferent Enquiries. It is necejjary for us to fliew that Chrifi is the Perfon promised to be a Saviour to Ifrael\ and when we have fhewM this, noOppofer of the Gof- pel has more to demand. But we may carry our Enquiries much further ; we may contemplate all the Steps of Provi- dence relating to the Salvation and Re- ligion of Mankind in the feveral Ages ot the World, and by a Comparilon of all the Parts may difcern that Chrijl was indeed the End of the Law^ and of all Promifes made to the Fathers : That all the Deliverances given by God to his People were but Shadows, and as it were an Earneft of the 2;reat Deliverance he intended to give by his Son: That all the Cer.monials of the Law were Repre- fentations of the Subftance of the Gof- pel : That the Aaronical Sacrifices and E X PriefthoQd p DISCOURSE II. Pnefthooc! were Figures of better Things to come. But thefe Enquiries do not ftand in the Rank of Things to be ne- cejfarily provM to every Believer, they do not enter into the Trinciples of the T>o^rine ofChriJi^ as the Apoftle to the Hebrews exprefsly tells us ; but belong toxhoftwhogoontoTerfe^ion: Which Diftinftion given by the Apoftle in the fifth and fixth Chapters to the Hebrews is well worth confidering, as being a Key to open the true Ufe of all typical and allegorical Applications of Scrip- ture. DISCOURSE DISCOURSE III. ^;T is neceflary to take this Mat- X j^ ter higher, to look back to the Rife and Progrefs of Divine Prophecy, andtoobfervewhat Ends the Wifdom of God intended to ferve by Means of it. 'Tis no Commen- dation of Prophecy to fay, that 'tis very dark and obfcure ; nor yet can it be a Reproach^ provided it anfwers all the Ends defign'd by Providence, To enable ourfelves therefore to judge of Prophe- cy, we muft enquire to what End Pro- phecy was given : And this is the Sub- jeQ: I now propofe to your Confidera- tion. It will not be faid, becaufe it cannot t)e maintain'd, That we have any Right E 3 to j4 DISCOURSE III. to the Knowledge of Things future. God is not oblig'd either in Wifdom or Goodnefs, and much lefs in Juftice^ to declare to us the Things which fhall be hereafter. In Regard therefore to the Knowledge of Futurity, whether it be little, or much, or nothing that God thinks fit to comniunicate to us, we can have no Reafon to complain ; for having no Right ^ we can pretend no Injury, Since therefore we have no Demand on God for this Sort of Knowledge in any De- gree uhatcver^ 'tis evident that when- ever we have it, we muft afcribe our having it to fome fpecial Riajons of Providence, which Reafons alone can limit the Degree of Light and Knowledge, which ought to atterd upon the Word of Prophecy: For if wchave from Prophe- cy fo much Light as fully anlwers the End of giving the Prophecy, I wouM fain know upon what Reafon we can form a Complaint for want of more? I mean this, to fhew how abfurd it is for Men to take Counfel of their Curiofity when they confider the Ufeand Weight of Pro- phecy: In this View they will find no- thing DISCOURSE III. yj ' thing to fatisfie them : They may go on for ever asking, Why are we not told more, or more diftinftly? Which Que- ftions we may promiie to anfwer, when- ever they inform us upon what Right they demand to be told anything; which if they cannot do, all fuch Complaints muft be laid afide ; and we muft come to the only proper and material Con- fideration *, What End did the JVifdom of God propofe to ferve by the antient 'Frophectes^ and how has this End been ferved by them ? " By Prophecy I underlland all the " Declarations which God hasmadecon- ^' cerning the future State of Mankind '^ in this World, or in the next; confe- " quently, all the Hopes and ExpeOia- '' tions which are grounded on God's " Promifes, and do not refult from Rea- " fon and natural Knowledge, I refer to ^' Prophecy, as their Original.'' If there be any other kind of Prophecy, not comprehended in this Defcription, there may be perhaps, before we take leave of this Subjeft, a proper Place to confi- der it ; but at prefent I Ihall confine my E 4 ¥f j^ DISCOURSE III. felf within the Limits of this Defcrip- tion. It cannot be fuppofed that God has delivered Prophecies, only to fatisfy or employ the Curiofity of the Inquifitive; qr that he gave his Spirit to Men merely to enable them to give forth Predictions for the Amufement and Entertainment of the World. There muft be feme End intended 'isjorthy of the Aitthor. What End can you conceive worthy of God^ but the Promotion of Virtue and Re- ligion, and the general Peace and Hap- pinefs of Mankind? Thefe Things be- long to him, as Creator and Governour pf the World : Thefe Things are his province. ^Tis true, you'll fay, thefe Things do belong indeed to God.; but what has Prophecy to do w^ith thefe Things? God can govern the World without letting us into his Secrets; and as for Virtue and Religion and our ownHappinefs, he has given us a plain Law to w^alk by, the Refult of that Reafon and Knowledge with which he hath endowed us. Prophe« cy can never contradift or over-rule the Light DISCOURSE III. j7 Light of Reafon and Nature; nor can we fuppofe that we came fo imperfeft and unfiniflied out of the Hands of our Creator, as not to have Light enough to fee our own Duty, and to purfue our natural Happinefs, but to want at every turn an Admonifher at our Elbow. Let us allow the original State of Na- ture to be as perfeQ: and compleat as you tdefire. But what if the Cafe fhould be altered ? How will Matters ftand then ? 'Tis no unreafonable Suppofition, this ; for fince Man was created a moral Agent, with Freedom of Will, it was poffible for him to fall ; and confequently, foffibly l]e may have fallen. Let us fuppofe for the prefent this to be the Cafe ; and tell us now from natural Religion, what muft fuch Sinners do? Repent, youMl fay ; for 'tis agreeable to the Goodnefs of God to accept Repentance, and to re- ftore Offenders to his Favour ? Very well ; but how often will this Remedy ferve ? May Sin and Repentance go on for eyer in a perpetual Round ? To al- low this, differs nothing from allowing a Li- 58 DISCOURSE III. a Liberty and Impunity to fin without Re- pentance. If God is Governourand Judge of the World, there muft be a time for Judgment; and Men may, after all reafo- nable and equitable Allowances made, be ripe for Judgment. Let this be the Cafe then, fuppofc a Man, after all equitable Allowances made, to be condemned un- der and by the Law of Nature, and liv- ing in daily Expedation of Execution : I ask, what fort of Religion you would advife him to in the mean Time ? ■ Natural Religion ? To what Pur- pofe ? He has had his Tryal and Condemnation by that Law already, and has nothing to learn from it but the Mifery of his Condition. I do not mean that the Senfe of natural Religion will be loft in fuch a Man. He may fee per- haps, more clearly than ever he did, the Difference between Good and Evil, the Beauty of moral Virtue, and feel the Ob- ligations which a rational Creature is under to his Maker: But what Fruir will all this Knowledge yield? What certain Hope or Comfort will it admiiiifter ? A Man with a Rope about his Neck may 3 fee DISCOURSE 111. J9 fee the Equity and Excellency of the Law by which he dies ; and if he does, he mufl fee that the Excellency of it is, to pro- teft the Virtuous and Innocent ; but what is this Excellency to him who has forfeited the Proteftion of all Law ? If you would recommend naturaL RelU gton exclufively of all other AiTiftance, 'tis not enough to fliew from Principles of Reafon the Excellency and Reafona- blenefs of moral Virtue, or to prove from the Nature of God^ that he muft delight inland reward Virtue: You muft go one Step further, and prove from the Nature of AUn too, that he is excellent-^ ly qualifyM to obey this Law, and can- not well fail of attaining all the Happi- nefs under it, that ever Nature defigned for him If you ftop fhort at this Con- fideration, what do you gain ? What imports it, that the La'm is good^ if the Subje^s are fo bad^ that either they will not, or cannot obey it? When you prove to Sinners the Excellency of natural Re- ligion, you only fhew them how juftly they may expeS: to be punifhM for their Liiquity. A fad Truth which wants no Confir- 6o DISCOURSE III. Confirmation! All the pofTible Hope left, in fuch a Cafe is, that God may freely pardon and reftore them ; but whe- ther he will or no, the Offenders can ne-» ver certainly learn from natural Religion. Should God think fit to be reconciled to Sinners, natural Religion would again become the Rtile of their future Tryal and Obedience ; but their Hopes muft flow from another Spring ; their Confi« dence in God mufl:, and can arife only from the Tromtfe of God ; that is, from the Word of Trophecy ; for which Rea- fon Trophecy mufl: for ever be an ef. fential Part o^fuch a Sinner'^s Religion. This Reafoning agrees exactly with the antienteft and moft authentick Ac- count we have of the Beginning of Pro- phecy in the World. When God had finifh'd all his Works, and Man^ the chief of them^ he viewed them all, and hehold they were very good. How long this Goodnefs lafted we know not, that it did not laft very long, is certain. During the Time of Man's Innocence there were frequent Communications between God and him, but not the leaft Hint DISCOURSE III. 6i Hint of any fFord of Tropbecy deliver- ed to him. The Hopes of Nature were then alive and vigorous^ and Man had before him the Profpefl of all that Hap- pinefs to which he was created, to en- courage and fupport his Obedience. In this State statural Religion wanted no other Affiftance, and therefore it had no other. But when the Cafe was altered by the Traufgreffion of our firft Parents; when natural Religion had no longer any fure Hopes or Comforts in Refer ve, but left them to the fearful Expeftation of Judg- ment near at Hand ; when God came down to judge the Offenders, and yet with Intention jf;^^//)' to refcue and pre- ferve them from the Ruin brought on themfelves : Then came in the Word of Trophecy ; not in Oppofition to natural Religion^ but in Support of it ; and to convey new Hopes to Man, fince his own were irrecoverably loft and extin- guifhed in the Fall. The Prophecy then given being the firft, and indeed, (as I conceive) the Ground- work and Foundation of all that have \ been 6i DISCOURSE III. been fince ; It well deferves our parti- cular Confideration. It may be expefted perhaps that the Way fhould be cleared to this Enquiry, by removing firft the Difficulties which arife from the hiftorical Narration of the Fall ; and cou'd any thing material be added in Support of what is commonly faid upon this Subjefl:, the Time and Pains would be well placed: But the more and the oftner this Cafe is confi- dered in all its Circumftances, the more will the commonly receivM Interpreta- tion prevail ; which is evidently the true antient Interpretation of the Jewifh Church, as appears by the Allufions to the Hiftory of the Fall, to be met with in the Books of the old Teftament. Tofome Unbelievers, if I miftake not their Principles, the Hiftory of the Fall would have been altogether as tncredU ble^ tho' perhaps not quite fo diverting^ had it been told in the fimpleft and flaineft Language. 'Tis to little Purpofe therefore to trou- ble them with Account of the Genius of the Eaftern Teo^le^ and their Language ; for DISCOURSE III. tf 3 for you may as foon perfuadethem, that a Serpent tempted Eve^ as that any evil Spirit did. If you ask, Why the T.)evil might not as well fpeak to Eve under the Form of a Serpent^ as give out Ora- cles to the old Heathen li orld under that and many other Forms*, you gain nothing by the Queftion ; for Oracles w^hether Heathen or Jewijh are to them alike ; they difpute, not their Authority^ but their Reality. This is a Degree of Unbelief which has no Right to be ad- mitted to debate the Queftion now un- der Confideration. As toothers, who are not Infidels with regard to Religion in general, yet are fhocked with the Circumftances of this Hiftory ; I defire them to confider, that the Speculations arifing from the Hiftory of the Fall^ and thelntroduftion of^^ tural and moral Evil into the World, are of all others the moft a bftrufe and furthefti removed out of our reach: That this Dif- ficulty led Men in the earlieft Time to imagine two independent Principles of Good and Evil^ a Notion deftrudive of the Sovereignty ofGod J the Maintenance of 64 DISCOURSE III. of which is the principal End and Defign of the Mofaic Hiftory. Had the Hifto- ry of Man's Fall plainly introduced an invifible evil Being to confound the Works of God and to be the Author of Iniquity^ it might have given great Coun- tenance to this Error, of two Principles; Or, to prevent it, Mofes milft have writ an Hiftory of the Angels Fall^ likewife; a Point, I fuppofe, to which his Commil- fion did not extend, and of which per- haps we are not capable Judges ; andfince this Difficulty might in a great Meafure be avoided by having recourfe to the common Ufage of the E aft em Countries j which was to cloath Hiftory in T^ra- bles and Similitudes^ it feems not im-' probable, that for this Reafon the Hifto- ry of the Fall was put into the Drefs, in which we now find it. The Serpent w^as remarkable for an infidious Cunnings and therefore ftood as a proper Emblem of a ^Deceiver ; and yet being one of the loweft of the Crea- tures^ the Emblem gave no Sufpicion of any Power concerned that might pre- tend to rival the Creator » This DISCOURSE III. 6^ This Method has not fo obfcured this Hiftory, but that we may with great Certainty come to the Knowledge of all that is neceffary for us to know. Let us confider the Hiftory of Mofes^ as we fliould do any other antient Eajiern Hiftory of like Antiquity: Suppofe, for inftance, that this Account of the Fall had been preferved to us out of Sancho- ntatho\ Thmiician Hiftory: We fhould in that Cafe be at a Lofs perhaps to ac- count for every Manner oi Reprefenta- tion^ for every Figure and ExfreJJion in the Story ; but we fhou'd foon agree that all thefe Difficulties were imputa- ble to the Manner and Cujioms of his .^ge and Country) and fhould fhew more Re- fpeft to fo venerable a Piece of Antiqui- ty^ than to charge it with 'want of Senfe^ becaufe we did not underftand e- very minute Circumftance : We fliould likewife agree, that there were evidently four Terfons concerned in the Story; The Man^ the JVoman^ the Terfon re- prefented by the Serpent^ and God: Dis- agree we could not about their feveral Parts. The Serpent is evidently the F Tempter ; 66 DISCOURSE III. Tempt er\ the Man and the Woman the Offenders \ God the Judge of all Three : The Tunijhments inflifted on the Man and Woman have no obfcurity in them; and as to the Serpenfs Sentence^t^o\M. riiink it reafonable to give it fucha Senfe as the whole Series of the Story requires. 'Tis no unreafonable Thing furely to demand the fame Equity of you in inter- preting the Senfe oi Mofes^ as you would certainly ufe towards any other antient Writer. And if the fame Equity be al- lowed, l^h'is plain Fa6t undeniably arifes from the Hiftory : " That Man was *' tempted to Difobedience, and did dif- ^^ obey, and forfeited all Title to Happi- *' nefs^and to Life itfelf ;that God judged " him^ and the 'Deceiver likewife under *' the Form of a Serpent. " We require no more •, and will proceed upon this FaQ: to confider the Prophecy before us. The Prophecy is Part of the Sentence paffed upon the Deceiver ; the Words are thefe : / will put Efimity between thee and the Woman^ and between thy Seed and her Seed ; It Jhall bruife thy Heady and thou Jhalt bruife his Heel: s Gen. DISCOURSE III. 67 Gen. iii. if. Chriftian Writers apply this to our BleiTed Saviour, emphatically fty- led here the Seed of the IVoman^ and who came in the Fullnefs of Time to bruife the Serpent'' s Head\yj deftroying the Works oF the Devil, and reftoring thofe to the Liberty of the Sons of God, who were held under the Bondage and . Captivity of Sin. You'll fay, What un- reafonable Liberty of Interpretation is this ? Tell us, by what Rules of Lan-- guage, the Seed of the IVcman is made to denote one particular Terfon^ and by what Art you difcover the Myftery of ChriJPs miraculous Conception and Birth in this common Expreffion ? Tell us like- wife, how bruifing the Serpent's Head comes to fignify the deftroying the Power of Sin, and the Redemption of Mankind by Chrif ? 'Tis no Wonder to hear fuch Qiieftions from thofe who look no fur- ther than to the third Chapter of Genefis^ to fee the Ground of the Chriftian Ap- plication, As the Prophecy ftands there ^ nothing appears to point out this parti- cular Meaning ; much lefs to confine the Prophecy to it. But of this hereafter. F X Let ^8 DISCOUPv.SE III. Let us for the prefent lay afide all our own Notions, and go back to that State and Condition of Things, which was at the Time of the Delivery of this Pro- phecy ; and fee (if haply we may difco- ver it) what God intended to difcover at that Time by this Prophecy, and what we may reafonably fuppofe our firft Parents underftood it to mean. They were now in a State of Sin, Handing before God to receive Sentence for their Difobedience, and had Reafon to expeft a full Execution of the Penal- ty threatned, /// the ^)ay thou eatefl thereof^ thou j}? alt fnrely die. But God came in Mercy as well as Judgment, purpofmg not only to punifli, but to re- llore Man. The Judgment isr awful and fevere; the Woman is doom'd to Sor- row in Conception; the Man to Sor- row and Travel all the Days of his Life ; the Ground is curfed for his Sake; and the End of the Judgment is, Tjttjl thou art^ and to TDtift thoujhalt return/. Had they been left thus, they might have con- tinued in their Labour and Sorrow for their appointed Time, and at laft return- ed DISCOURSE III. 6() ed to Dull:, without any well-grounded Hope or Confidence in God : They murt have looked upon themfelves as rejeSted by their Maker, delivered up to Trouble and Sorrow in this World, and as having no Hope in any other. Upon this Foot, I conceive there could have been no Re- ligion left in the World ; for a Senfe of Religion without Hope is a State of Phrenzy and Diftraftion, void of all In- ducements to Love and Obedience, or any Thing elfe that is praife-worthy. If therefore God intended to preferve them as Objefts of Mercy, it was abfolutely necelTary to communicate/? inncb Hope to them, as might be a rational Fomida^ tton for their future Endeavours to re- concile themfelves to him by a better O- bedience. This feems to be the primary Intention of this firft divine Prophecy ; and it was neceffary to the State of tlie World, and the Condition of Religion, \Vhich could not poffibly have been fup- ported without the Communication of fuch Hopes. The Prophecy is excellent- ly adapted to this Purpofe, and manifeft- ly conveyed fuch Hopes to our firft Pa- F 3 rents- DISCOURSE III. rents. For let us confider in what Senfe we may fuppofe them to underftand this Prophecy. Now they muft neceffarily underftand the Prophecy, either accord- ing to the literal Meaning of the Words^ or according to fuch Meaning as the whole Circumftance of the Tranfaftion, of which they are a Part, does require. If we fuppofe them to underftand the Words literally \ and that God meant them fo to be underftood, this Paflage muft appear ridiculous. Do but imagine that you fee God coming to judge the Offenders ; Adam and Eve before him in the utmoji lDiftrefs\ that you hear God inflifting Tains and SorroiSDS and Mifery and T>eath upon the Firft of human Race ; and that in the Midft of all this Scene of Woe and great Calamity, you hear God foretelling with great Solemnity a very trivial Accident that fliould fometimes happen in the World : That Serpents would be apt to bite Men by the Heels, and that Men would be apt to revenge themfelvesby flriking them on the Head. What has this Trifle to do with the Lofs of Mankind^ with the Qormftion of the natural DISCOURSE HI. 71 fiatttral and moral World, and the Ruin of all the Glory and Happlnefs of the Creation ? Great Comfort it was to /f- dam^ doubtlefs, after telling him that his Days fliould be lliort and full of Mi- fery, and his End without Hope, to let him know, that he fhould now and then knock a Snake on the Head, but not e- ven that, without paying dear for his poor Viftory, for the Snake fliould often bite him by the Heel Adam^ furely, could not underftand the Prophecy in this Senfe, tho"" fome of his Sons have fo un- derflood it \ a plain Indication how much more fome Men are concerned to main- tain a literal Interpretation of Scripture, than they are to make it fpeak common Senfe. Leaving this therefore as abfolute- ly abfurd and ridiculous, let us confider what Meaning the Circumftances of the Tranfaftion do neceffarily fix to the "Words of this Prophecy. Adam tempted by his Wife, and flie by the Serpent, had fallen from their Obedience, and were now in the Prefence of God expefting Judgment. They knew full well at this JundurCj that their i^^// was the Vt^ory F 4 ' of 72 DISCOURSE III. of the Serpent^ whom by Experience they found to be an Enemy to Godd^^r^A to Man ; to Man, whom hehad r//i^^(^byfeducing him to Sin ; to God, the noblelt Work of whofe Creation h^ had de'aced. It could not therefore but be fome Comfort to them to hear the Serpent firfl: condemned, and to fee that, however hehad prevailed againft them, he had gained no Viftory over their Maker, who was able to affert hisownHonour, and to punifh this great Author of Iniquity. By this Method of God's Proceeding they were fecuredfrom thinking that there was any evil Being e- qual to the Creator in Power and Domi- nion : An Opinion which gained Ground in After-times, thro' the Prevalency of Evil : And is, where it does prevail, de- ftrudive of all true Religion. The Con- demnation therefore of the Serpent was the Maintenance of God's Supremacy; and that it was fo underftood, we have, if Imiftakenot, a very antientTeftimony in the Book of J^^ ; With God is Strejigth and JVifdom^ the T>eceived and the Z)^- ce'ruer are his : i. e. equally fubjeO: to his Command, Job xii» i6o The Belief of God's DISCOURSE III. 73 God's fiipreme Dominion, which is the Foundation of all Religion,being thus pre- ferved, it was ftill neceffary to give theni fucli Hopes as might make them capable of Religion toward God. Thefe Hopes they couM not but conceive, when they heard from the Mouth of God that the Serpent's Vi&ory was not a compleat Vidoryover even themfelves; that they and their Pofterity ftiould be enabled to conteft his Empire; and tho' they were to fufFer much in the Struggle, yet finally they fliou'd prevail and bruife the Ser- pent's Head, and deliver themfelves from his Power and Dominion over them. What now cou'd they conceive this Con- queft over the Serpent to mean? Is it not natural to expeft that we fhall recover that by ViOiory, which we loft by being defeated? They knew that the Enemy had fubdued them by Sin, cou'd they then conceiveHopesofViftoryotherwifethan by Righteoufnefs? They loft thro' Sin the Happinefs of their Creation, could they expeft lefsfrom the Return of Righteouf- nefs than the Recovery of the BlefTmgs forfeited? What elfe but this cou'd they expeft 74 DISCOURSE III. expect ? For the certain Knowledge they had of their Lofs when the Serpent pre- vailed, could not but lead them to a clear Knowledge of what they fliouM regain by prevailing againft the Serpent. The Language of this Prophecy is indeed in Part metaphorical, but 'tis a great Mi- ftake to think that all Metaphors are of uncertain Signification ; for the Defign and Scope of the Speaker, with the Cir- cumftances attending, create a fixM and determinate Senfe. Were it otherwife, there wou'd be no Certainty in any Lan- guage; all Languages, the £"^7?^^;^ more efpecially, abounding in Metaphors. Let us now look back to our SubjeQ:, and fee what Application we are to make of this Inftance. This Prophecy was to our firft Parents but very obfcure ; it was, in the Phrafe of St. Teter^ but a Light fhining in a dark Place: All that they couM certain- ly conclude from it was, that their Cafe was not defperate ; that fome Remedy, that fome Deliverance from the Evil they were under would in Time appear ; but wben^ or where ^ or by what Means they cou'd DISCOURSE IlL 75 couM not underftand : Their ownSentence which return'd them back again to the Duft of the Earth made it difficult to ap- prehend what this Victory over the Ser- pent fhouM fignify, or how they, who were fhortly to be Duft and Afhes, lliou'd be the better for it. But after all that can be urged upon this Head to fet out the Obfcurity of this Promife, I wouM ask one Queftion, Was not this Promife or Prophecy, tho' furrounded with all this Obfcurity, aFoundation for Religion and Truft and Confidence tov/ards God after the Fall, in Hopes of Deliverance from the Evils introduced by Difobedience? If it was, it fully anfwered theNeceffityof their Cafe, to whom it was given, and manifefted to them all that God intended to make manifeft. They cou'd have had towards God no Religion, without fome ^ Hopes of Mercy : It was necefTary there- fore to convey fuch Hopes ; but to tell them how thefe Hopes Ihou'd be accom- pliflied, at what Time and Manner pre- cifely , was not neceflary to their Religion. And what now is to be objefted againft this Prophecy ? It is very obfcure you fay; y6 DISCOURSE III. fay; fo it is ; but ^tis obfcure in the Points which God did not intend to explain at that time, and which were not neceffary then to be known. You fee a plain Rea- fon for giving this Prophecy, and as far as the Reafon for gving the Prophecy extends, fo far the Prophecy is very plain: 'Tis obfcure only, where there is no Reafon why it fhou'd be plain; which furely is a Fault eafily to be forgiven, and very far h'om being a proper Subjefl: for complaint. But if this Prophecy conveyed to our firft Parents only a general Hope and Ex- peftation of Pardon and Reftoration, and was intended by God to convey no more to them ; How come we their Pojfl-erity to find fo much more in this Promife than we fuppofe them to find ? How is it that we pretend to difcover Chrifi in this Pro- phecy, to fee in it the Myftery of his Birth, his Sufferings, and his final Tri- umph over all the Powers of Darknefs? By what new Light do we difcern all thefe Secrets, by what Art do we unfold them ? 'Tis no Wonder to me, that fuch as come to the Examination of the Prophe- cies DISCOURSE III. yy cies applied to Chrift^ expefting to find in each of them fome exprefs CharaCtei* and Mark oiChr'tft^ plainly to be under- ftood as fuch antecedently to his Com- ing, fhoii'd ask thefe, or many other the like Queftions; or that the Argument from anti'ent Prophecy fhou'd appear fo flight and trivial to thofe who know no better Ufe of it. Known unto God are all his Works from the Beginnings and whatever Degree of Light he thought fit to communicate to our firft Parents, or to their Children in After-times, there is no doubt, but that He had a perfeft Knowledge at all Times of all the Methods by which he intended to refcue and reftore Mankind. And therefore all the Notices given by him to Mankind of his intended Salvation, muft correfpond to the great Event whenever the Fullnefs of Time fhall make it mani- feft. No Reafon can be given Vv'hy God IhouMat all Times, or at any Time clear- ly open the Secrets of his Providence to Men ; it depends merely upon his good Pleafure to do it in what Time, and ivi what Manner he thinks proper. But there 3 is 78 DISCOURSE III. is a neceffary Reafon to be given, why all fuch Notices as God thinks fit to give, IliouM anfwer exadly in due Time to the Completion of the great Defign. It is abfurd therefore to complain of the an- tient Prophecies for being obfcure, for 'tis challenging God for not telling us more of his Secrets. But if we pretend that God has at length manifefted to us by the Revelation of the Gofpel, the Method of his Salvation, 'tis neceffary for us to fhew that all the Notices of this Salvation, given to the old World, do correfpond to the Things which we have heardj and feen with our Eyes. The Ar- gument from Prophecy therefore is not to be formed in this Manner. " All the ^' antient Prophecies have exprefsly point- " ed out and c\\2iX2iQitviztdiChriJiJeftis:'^'^ but it muft be formed in this Manner : *' All the Notices which God gave to " the Fathers of his intended Salvation " are perfeMy anfwered by the Coming *^ of Chriji:'^'* He never promifed or engaged his Word in any Particular re- lating to the common Salvation, but w4iat he has fully made good by fending his DISCOURSE III. 79 his Son to our Redemption. Let us try thefe Methods upon the Prophecy be- fore us: If you demand that we fliou'd fhew you a priori Chriji Jefus fet forth in this Prophecy, and that God had li- mited himfelf by this Promife to con- vey the Bleffing intended by fending his own Son in the Flefh, and by no other Means whatever: You demand, what I cannot fhew, nor do I know, who can. But if you enquire, whether this Prophe- cy in the obvious and moft natural Mean- ing of it, in that Senfe in which ourfirft Parents, and their Children after, might eafily underftand it, has been verified by the Coming oiChriJf^ 1 conceive it may be made as clear as the Sun at Noon- day, that all the Expeftation raifed by this Prophecy has been completely au- fwered by the Redemption wrought by Chriji Jefus. And what have you to de- lire more than to fee a Prophecy fulfill- ed exaftly? If you infift that the Prophe- cy fhou'd have been more exprefs; you muft demand of God why hegaveyou no more Light J but you ought at leaft to fufpend 8o DISCOURSE III. fufpend this Demand, till you have a P.eafon to lliew for it. I know that this Prophecy is urged further, and that Chrijftian Writers argue from the ExprelTions of it to fhew that Chriji is therein particularly foretold : He properly is the Seed of a PFoman in a Senfe in which no other ever was; his Sufferings were well prefigured by the Bruifing oftheHeel^ his complete Viflo- ry over Sin and Death, by Brinfing the Serpenfs Head. When Unbelievers hear fuch Reafonings they think themfelves entitled to laugh ; but their Scorn be to themfelves. We readily allow that the Expreffions do not imply neceffarily this Senfe; we allow further, that there is no Appearence that our firft Parents under- ftood them in this Senfe; or that God in- tended they fliou'd fo underftand them : But fmce this Prophecy has been plainly fulfilled in Chriji^ and by the Event ap- propriated to him only ; I wou'd fain know how it comes to be conceived to be fo ridiculous a Thing in us, to fap- pofethat God, to whom the whole Event was DISCOURSE III 8t was known from the beginning,(f)fliould make Choice of fuch Expreffions, as na-. turally conveyed fo much knowledge as he intended to convey to our firft Pa- rents, and yet (hould appear in the FulU nefs of Time to have been peculiarly adapted to the Event which he from the beginning faw, and which he intended the World fliould one Day fee; and which when they fliould fee, they might thd more eafily acknowledge to be the Work of his Hand, by the fecret Evidence which he had inclos'd from the Days of old in the Words of Prophecy. Plow- ever the Wit of Man may defpife this Method, yet is there nothing in it unbe- coming the Wifdom of Godo And when we fee this to be the Cafe, not only in this Inftance, but in many other Prophe« cies of the old Teftament, 'tis not with^ (I) Remember the former things rf old, for 1 am Go/i, and there is none elfe, I am God, and there is none like me: Declaring the End from the Beginningt and frcm aniient Times the Things that are not yti done; fayingy My Ccttnfel (hall fiandy and 1 will do all my Pleafurcy Ifa. xlvi, 9. 10. The i'Vorks of the Lord are done in Jifd^tnent from the Beginning: And from the Time he made them, he dif' pofed the Parts thersofy Eccius. xvi. 2,6. G out iz DISCOURSE III. out Reafon we conclude^ that under the Obfcurity of antient Prophecy there was an Evidence of God's Truth kept inRe- ferve to be made manifeft in due Time. As this Prophecy is the firft, fo it is the only confiderable one, in which we have any Concern, from the Creation to the Days of Noab. What has been dif- courfed therefore upon thisOccafion, may be underftood as an Account of the firft Period of Prophecy. Under this Period the Light of Prophecy was proportioned to the Wants and Neceflities of the World, andfufBcient to maintain Religion after the Fall of Man, by affording fufficient Grounds for Truft and Confidence in God; without which Grounds, which could then no otherways be had but by Promife from God, Rehgion could not have been fupported in the World. This Prophecy was the grand Charter of God's Mercy after the Fall; Nature had no certain Help for Sinners liable to Con- demnation ; her Right was loft with her Innocence: It was neceffary therefore ei- ther to deftroy the Offenders, or to fave them by raifmg them to a Capacity of Salva-^ DISCOURSE 111. 83 Salvation, by giving them fuch Hopes as might enable them to exercife a reafon- able Religion. So far the Light of Pro- phecy extended. By v^hat Means God intended to vi^ork his Salvation, he did not exprefsly declare; and who has Right to complain that he did not; or to pre- fcribe to him Rules in difpenfing his Mercy to the Children of Men? This Prophecy, we, upon whom the later Days are come, have feen fully verify'd ; more fully than thofe to whom it was delivered could perhaps conceive. View this Prophecy then, with refpeft to thofe to whom it was given, it anfwered their Want and the immediate End propofed by God ; view it with refpeft to our felves, and it anfwers our's; and fliall we ftill complain of its Obfcurity ? The bringing in of Trophecy was not the only Change in the State of Religion occafioned by the Pall. Sacrifice came in at the fame Time, as appears by the Courfe of the Hiftory ; and it is liardly poffible it fhould come in, efpecially at the Time it did, any otherwife than up- on the Authority of divine Inflitution. G X It 84 DISCOURSE IIL It is the firft AEt of Religion mentioned in the facred Story to htacceftedhy God-^ which implies ftrongly that it was of his own Appointment; ''for we can hardly fiippofe that fuch a Mark of Diftinftion would have been fet uponamere/;//;z^^:2;^^ Invention. In later Times, when the Account of Things grows clearer, Sa- crifice appears to be appointed by God as an Expiation for Sin-^ and we have noReafonto imagine that it was turned afide from its original Ufe. There is in- deed no cxprefs Declaration of the ^fe of Sacrifice in Religion at its firft Ap- pearance, and yet fomething there feems to be in the Account that may give Light in this matter: We read that Cain brought an Offering of the Fruit of the Ground^ and Abel of the Firft lings of his Flock ^ and the Fat thereof: The Lord had Refpedt tmto Abel and to his Offering ; but tinto Cain and to his Of- fering he had not RefpeEi. Allowing the Maxim of t\\QjewiJh Church to have been good from the firft Inftitution of Sacrifice, That without Blood there is no Remiffion^ the Cafe may poffibly be this ; Abel DISCOURSE III. 8y Abel came a Petitioner for Grace and Pardon, and brought the Atonement ap- pointed for Sin; Cain appears before.God as a jttft Terfon wanting no Repentance ^ he brings an Offering in Acknowledg- ment of God's Goodnefs and Bounty, but no Atonement in Acknowledgment of his own Wretchednefs. The Expoftu* iation of God with Cain favours this Ac- count ; If thou dojl wcll^ /halt thou not be accepted "^^ And if thou doji not well^ Sin lieth at thy 'Door : i. e. If thou art righteous thy Righteoufnefs fliall fave thee ; if thou art not, by what Expiation is thy Sin purged ? It lieth ftill at thy Door. Add to this, that the Apoftle to the Hebrews fays, that AbePs Sacrifice was rendered excellent by Faith: V/hat could this Faith be, but a Reliance on the Promifes and Appointments of God ? Which Faith Cain wanted, relying on his own Well doing. If you admit this Interpretation, it plainly fhews that the true Religion in- ftituted by God has been d?;/^ and thtfame from the Fall of Adam^ fubfilling ever upon the fame Trinciples of Faith ; at G 3 firft 86 DISCOURSE III. firft upon only general and obfcure Hopes ^ which were gradually opened and un- folded in every Age, till the better Days came, when God thought good to- call us into the marvellous Light of his Gof- pel. This Piece of Hiftory is all the Ac- count we have of the Religion of the ante-diluvian World: It was proper to be CQnfidered for the Relation there is between Prophecy and the State 'of Re- ligion ixi the World ; and for this Rea- fon alfo, that Sacrifice may be found to be one kind of Prophecy, or Reprefenta- tion of the one great Sacrifice once o£ fered for the Sin$ of the World. PISCOURSE 87 DISCOURSE IV. ^S55P' E have feen the Beffinnins of ''^' Prophecy, and its nrft Entrance into the World, and what Mea- fure of Light and Hope it brought with it. The next Enquiry is, to examineby what Degrees thisTr omi/e was opened and unfolded in the fucceed- ing Ages of the World ; and to trace the Methods of divine Providence in prepar- ing all things for its Accomplifhment. If we confider the firft Prophecy as the Foundation of thofe Hopes, in which all the Sons of Adam have an intereft; in which the Ages yet to come, as well as the prefent and thofe already pafl-, arc jsoncernedj we fliall not wonder to find G 4 that $$ DISCOURSE IV. that the Adminiftrations of Providence have had in all Ages relation to this Prophecy^ and fhall h^ye, till the End of all things brings vi^ith si the appointed Time for the full AccompliHiment. One thing, I prefume, will be eafily granted becaufe it cannot be eafily de- ny 'd; that if the antient Prophecies which concern the g^eneral State and Condition of Man with regard either to this World or the next^ are indeed divine Oracles, there muft be a Confiftency in the whole • and how dark or obfcure foever fome Part of them might be at the firfl: Deli- very, and for Generations afterwards, yet . muft they in the Event confpu'e and cen- tre in that great End which was always in the View of Providence: Known unto Cod are all his Works from the Begin- fling of the TVorld^ Afts xv. i8. Taking then this prophecy to contain the Purpofe of God wath refpeO: to Man- kind; the Adminiftrations of Providence, together with fuch further Declarations as God thought fit to make, muft needs be the beft Comment to help us to its Meaning. The DISCOURSE IV. 89 The Account \Ve have of the ante- diluvian World is very fliort, and con- veys but little Knowledge to us of the Religion of thofe Times, or of the Hopes and Expeftations then entertain- ed : Yet fomething there is to fhew that the Curfe of the Fall was remember'd and felt during that Period ; and that thofe who preferved a Senfe of Religion, had an Expectation of being delivered from the Curfe; which could be ground- ed, as far as appears, upon nothing but the Prophecy already mentioned. Noah was born in the eleventh Cen- tury after the Fall, and at the Time of his Birth, his Father Lamech^ by the Spirit of Prophecy, declared. This fame jhall comfort us concerning our Work and Toil of our Hands y becaufe of the Ground which the Lord hath curfe d^ Gen. v. 19. This Paffage is a very material one, and, confiderM in all its Views, will give fome Light to the State and Condition of the World during this Period. We may, I think, from hence fairly colleft ; \. That the Curfe upon the Ground fubfifted in all its Rigour to the Days of 5>o DISCOURSE IV. of Lamech \ and that the Work and Toil neceffary to raife from the Ground a fu£. ficient Support for Life^ was a grievous and irkfome Burden. There is no reafon to imagine, but that Lamech had as good a Share of the Things of the World as any other in his Time ; and yet he fpeaks of the Labour and Toil ot Life, much more like a Man reporting what he had felt J than what he had only feen. 1. That there was an Expeftation in his Time, at leaft among thofe who ha4 not quite forgot God, of a Deliverance from the Curfe of the Fall. Lamech\ Prophe- cy does not introduce this Expeftation, but is grounded upon it : He feems to fpeak to fuch as had the fame common Hope with himfelf of a Deliverance to come; and points out to them the Child then born as the Inftrument defigned by Providence to eafe them of their Burden. THIS SAME Jhall comfort us: u e. This is the t^^^^of the Woman^ the Heir of the Tromtfe^ the EfFed of which (hall be feen in his Time- 3» That the an- cient Expeftation, founded on the Pro- phecy given at the FaU^ was not of an immediate DISCOURSE IV. 91 immediate 'MiAfudden Deliverance. Above a thoufand Years were palTed from the Curfe to the Birth oiNoah^ and yet the ExpeSation of Deliverance continued ; whereas, had the Notion been, that the Prophecy was to be immediately fulfill- ed, the Delay had been long enough to tire out their Patience and their Hopes* 4. That the antient Expeftation was not that the World fhould be delivered all at once from the whole Curfe of the Fail. Lamechj who fo well remember'd the Lord's Curfe upon the Grotmd^ cannot be fuppofed to forget the greater Ctirfe upon Man : T)ttji thou art^ and to T>tijl thou Jhalt return. And yet from this ^Part of the Curfe he gives no Hopes of Deliverance; Roah was not that Seed, who fhould bring Life and Immortality to Light \ of him he only foretells, that he fhould fave them from the Labour and Toil of their Hands ; and leaves the Hopes of Deliverance from the ^r^^^^r Curfe to ftand as they did, upon the Taith of the firft Prophecy. This No- tion of a gradual Deliverance from the old Curfe is agreeable to all that has happened DISCOURSE IV, happened fince, and to the prefent State of Things under the Gofpel : It is fre- quently to be met with in the infpir'd Writers, particularly in St. Taul^ who tells us, THE LAST Enemy that Jhall be dejirqyed is "Death. In Confequence of this Expofition of the Predi£i:ion of Lamech^ it muft be maintained, that the Prophecy has been verify'd in the Event : That the Earth has been reftored from the Curfe laid on it at the Fall, and now enjoys the Effed of the Bleffing beftowed on Noah. There will arife many Prejudices, I am fenfi- ble, againft this Notion now advanced. In the firjft Place, the Prophecy which was given at the Fall, has been ufually appropriated to Chrijl Jefus^ and to the Deliverance we expeQ: from him by the Reftauration of Life and Immortality ; and it may be thought perhaps no good Service to give any other Perfon a Share in this Prophecy. in anfwer to this, I have fome few Obfervations to offer, i. That the C^r/^ of the jR?// manifeftly confifts offeveral Parts : Man was doomM to a Life of ^ Labour DISCOURSE IV. Labour and Sorrow here, the Ground curfed for his Sake, and he condemned to feek his Food in the Sweat of his Brow ; and after this Life ended he was fenten- ced to return to the Duft from whence he was taken. 2. The Prophecy given as a Support to Man under this Curfe men- tions no kind of Deliverance particular- ly, but conveys a general Hope ; which is limited to no one Circumftance of the Curfe more than another ; and is there- fore naturally underftood to relate to the Whole. 3 . Should there appear reafon fuiEcient to induce us to think that this Prophecy has already, in Part, had its Completion, and that 07te Tart of the Oitrfe has been already removed; it will be fo far from weakening, that it will mightily fupport and ftrengthen our Hopes of feeing the Whole removed in God's own Tim.e. 4. It ought to be no Objeftion, that this Prophecy is fuppofed to point out more Events, or more Per- fons than one. This is according to the Analogy of antient Prophecies. And why may not this Prophecy mean Noah and Qhr'tji^ as well as many others mean "David 9i P4 DISCOURSE IV. "J^avid and Chriji^ Solomon and Chrtft^ &c? Another Prejudice will arife from the common Notion of the prefent and paft State of the Earth. Inftead of feeing any Alteration for the better, according to the Prophecy of L.?;;^^r/j7, Men think they fee an Alteration for the worfe in every Age: Nature feems to them to be almoft fpent and worn out, and lefs able to pro- vide for her Children now than former- ly. Thefe are the Sentim.ents of the pre- fent Age, and they were fo of thofe paftr We meet with many Reflexions of this Kind in grave and ferious Authors : St. Cyp'ian^ I remember, complains that Things were fenfibly grown worfe even in the Compafs of his own Time; That the Seafons of the Year were not fo plea- fant, nor the Fruits of the Earth fo de- lightful and refrefhing as he remembred them. I wonder not at his Judgment; for I find myfelf every Day growing in- to the fame Opinion. The beft and the choiceft Fruits ferved up at the Tables of the Great, have no fuch Reiifh as tliofe, which they once provided for themfelves DISCOURSE IV. 9j themfelves when they were young: And many there are who can now find but few Days good enough to be abroad, who yet can remember when there were few bad enough to keep them at home. Such obfervations therefore as thefefliew how much men alter themfelves; but they fhew nothing elfe. But this Prejudice has a greater Sup- port from antient Tradition: We read of a Golden Age when Peace and Plenty reigned, when Fraud and Violence were little known. The old Writers to whom we are indebted for this Piece of Know- ledge, fet off the Story by mixing with it great Complaints of their own Times; that Iron Age^ as they call it, in which they lived. From thefe Authorities many have been led to think that the Curje upon the Earth has been ever grov/ing and fhall grow till the End of all Things. But it ought to be confidered, that the moft antient Writers, to whom we are beholden for thefe Accounts, lived at fuch a Diftance of Time from the Flood, that we may very well fuppofe that they had little Knowledge ofany Antiquity beyond 3 ir. ^6 DISCOURSE IV- it. They might well call the Times foon after the Flood antient Times, for fo they were with refpe£l to their own; and there is no Pretence for thinking that they knew any thing of the Manner of Liv- ing before the Flood. They might pof- fibly have fome obfcure Tradition of the Paradifiacal State; but if they had, they confounded it with their Golden Age, which plainly was a very different Thing. Now the Ages next the Flood afforded ground enough for this antient Tradi- tion, without fuppofing any fuch Altera- tions in the State of the Earth as are commonly imagined. The Earth was in a poor Condition indeed after the Flood, if it couM not afford Plenty for the few Inhabitants ; and what Occafion was there for Fraud and Violence when eve- ry Man had more than enough ? When Men encreafed and the Earth was di- vided in Property, the Cafe altered ; fome had more than enough, and fome muchlefs, and every Man grew concern- ed to be rich, and applied to the Arts of Fraud, or to open Violence, as they beft ferved his Purpofe, Here then is th^ DISCOURSE IV- ^7 the Golden Age ; and here is the Iron Age. The fJrft happy State continued even to Abraham\ Time; He and Lot: were Strangers in the Land of Cunann^ they had great Flocks and Herds with them; and yet what Plenty did they en- joy? When their Servants quarrelled about fome Conveniencies in feeding their Cat- tle, Abraham^ as if he had been Lord of the whole Soil, offers Lot his Choice of the Country for his Cattle. Is not the whole Land before thee If thou wilt take the left Hand^ then will I go to the right ; or if thou depart to the right Hand^ then I will go to the left. Such a Difpute in thefe Days wou'd be attended probably with Strife and Violence, with Fraud and Deceit, and perpetual Feuds and Animo- fities between the contending Parties: in Abraham's Time the very Plenty t^o World enjoyed put an end to the Quar- rel ; not that the World is worfe iiow than it was antiently, but Men are now fo multiplied, and the Earth fo divided and fettled in Property, that private Men are not left to their Choice to fettle where they pleafe. Some fmall Parts of the H Earth, c)8 DISCOURSE IV. Earth, lying near Towns, and Places of Habitation, were in^iraham^sTimQ^oC' feffed in Property, as we learn from the Purchafc which he made of a Burying- place. But he was no purchafer or Pro- prietor of the Country where he fed his Cattle, and yet he met with no Diftur- bance. Setting afide therefore thefe Prejudices, let us examine what the Truth of the Cafe is according to the beft light now remaining. If you confult Interpreters for the Meaning of LamecFs Prediction; fome will tell you that Noa/j found out proper Tools and Inftruments of Husbandry, which was a great Abatement to the La- bour and Toil of Tillage: But of this there is no Proof; and 'tis much more likely, that a Defcendent of Cain'*s was thelnventor of fuch Tools, than thatiW- ah was. We read nothingof Noa/is Skill in this way ; but we read oiTubalCatn^ that he was an InfirtiBor of every Arti- ficer in Brafs and Iron: And can it be imagined that there were Artificers in Iron fo early as Tubal Cain^ and no Ap- plica- DISCOURSE IV. 9p plication of the Art to theWorksof Huf- bandry till Noah's Time ? Some will tell you, that Noah firft invented the Art of making Wine; a Liquor that chears the Heart, and makes Men forget Sorrow and Trouble; but neither for this is there any Proof. We read that after the Flood, he ^egan to be an Hufbandman and plajit^ ed a Vineyard^ but as he w^as not tht firjl Hu/handman in the World, fo neither can it be concluded from hence that he was \\\t firjl Vine T>re[fer. Others are of Opinion that there Is nothing prophetical in Lamecb'^s Decla- ration, and that he had no View but to the Circumftances of his own Family* He rejoiced, they fay, to fee a Son born who might in time be affifting to him in the Toil of Cultivating the Ground. Ac- cording to this Interpretation, Noah was fo far from being marked out as the Per- fon who fliou'd alleviate the Labour and Toil of the World, that his Father re- joiced only that he was come to take his Share of it, and to be his Fellow-Labour- er. But is there any thing in this, par- ticular to Noah? Is not every Son born H X to 100 DISCOURSE IV. to aiTift his Father? And may not La- tnech\ Words be applied by every Father at the Birth of every Son? Why then is this Speech reported of Lantech only? Why is 2. peculiar Name, with reference to this Declaration, given to Noah^ if there was no peculiar Reafon for it ? The Je'-jvijh Interpreters are generally agreed to expound the Words oi Lantech^ as importing a Deliverance to be granted from the Labour and Toil of Tillage; occafioned by the Curfe on the Ground : And fome of them fuppofe the Words to have a Regard to the Reftoration of the World through Noah and his Sons. But the Scripture itfelf will be our bell: Guide in this Cafe, thither let us go. Lamech foretells that his Son Noah fliouM comfort them concerning the Work and Toil of their Hands ^ becaufe of the Ground which the Lord had curfe d. When God informs Noah of his Defign to deftroy the World, he adds, But with thee will I eftablijh my Covenant. La. fnech expeQied in Virtue of God's Pro- mife a Deliverance from the Curfe of the Earthy and forefees that the Deliverance 3 wou'd DISCOURSE IV. loi wouM come through his Son. When God threatens to deftroy the Earth and complete the Curfe he had laid on it, he thinks upon his Covenant, and promifes Noah the Benefit of it : What Covenant v^^as this that had fuch immediate relati- on to the Deftruflion of the World? What couM it be but the very Promife which Lamech faw fliouM be made good to Noah ; and which is here actually con- veyed to Noah by a nev/ Promife? The Words ; / "will eftabltjfo my Covenant^ muft relate to a Covenant thenfubfifting, and not to a Covenant afterwards to be made ; as will be evident to thofe who will examine the Import of this Phrafe in Scripture. But to proceed; The Flood being over, God declares^^ / will not again Curfe the Ground any more for Man^s fake. It appears from this Declaration, i. That the Flood was the Effect of that Curfe which was de- nounced againft the Earth for Man's fake. 2. That the old Curfe was fully executed and accomplifhed in the Flood. In Con- fequence of which Difcharge from the Curfe, a /^^le^Bleffing is immediately pro- H 3 nounced 101 DISCOURSE IV. nounced upon the Earth; While the Earth remaineth^ Seed-time and Har- leji^ and Cold and Hcat^ and Summer and Winter^ and T>ay and Night Jhall not ceaje^ Gen. viii. ^^. This is called a ' Covenant between God and the Earth \ Ch. ix, f. 13- And a Covenant with Noah and his Seed, and with every liv- ing Creature^ of the Fowl^ of the Cattle^ ^ndof every Beaf of tb^ Field, y. 8,9,10, and in Truth a Bleffing on the Earth, is properly a Bleffing not only on Man, but on all living Creatures which fubfift on . the Earth : and tis with RefpeO: to this lirft Covenant that the Tfalmiji breaks forth into the Admiration of God's Good- nefs. Thy Mercy ^ O Lord^ is in the Heavens^ and thy Faithfulnefs reacheth tinto the Clouds. Thy Righteoufnefs is like the great Mountains^ thy Judgments are a great "Deep : O Lord^ thou peferv- ejl MAN and BE A ST 1 Pfal.xxxvi. 5,6. When ^<^^;^w^asfirft formed and placed on the Earth, he had feveral Bleffings and Privileges conferred on him by God, Thefe were forfeited by the Fall. What will you fay if you fee thefe very Blef- fings DISCOURSE IV. 103 fings reftored again to Noah and his Po- fterity after the Flood ? Whether this be the Cafe or no, will foon appear upon a Cpmparifon of the Bleffings given to one and the other. To Adam and Eve God faid; Be fruitful^ and mtilt'ij^ly^ and re- flenifl) the Earth: Gen. i. 28. To Noah and his Sons he Hiys, Be fruitful and multiply^ and replenijh the Earth. Gen. ix. I. To our firft Parent it is faid; Have Uominion over the F'ljh of the Sea^ and over the FovjI of the Air^ and over every living Thing that moveth on the Earth: Gen. i. 18. To Noah and his Sons it is faid; The Fear of you^ and the ^Dreadofyou^jhall be upon every Beaf of the Earthy and upon every FowloftheAir^ and upon all that moveth upon the Earthy and upon all Fijhes of the Sea ; into your Hand are they delivered. Gen. ix. 2. To Adam and Eve are granted for Food, every Herb bearing Seed and every Tree^ in the vihich is the Fruit of a Tree yielding Seed: Gen. i. 29. Noah and his Sons have a larger Charter • Every moving Thing that liveth fhall be A: eat for you y even as the green Herby have I H f given 104 DISCOURSE IV. given y Oil all Things. Gen. ix. 3. The Bleffing upon the Earth at the Creation was; Let the Earth bring forth Grafs ^ and Herb yielding Seed^ and the Fruit Tree yielding Fruit after his Kind^whofe Seed is in it fe If up on the Earth: Gen i. II. The BleiTmg after the Flood is; While the Earth remaineth^ Seedtime andHarveflfoall not ceafe. Gen. viii.x^. In the Beginning, The Lights in the Finnament iivere appointed to divide the ^Day from the Nighty and to be— -for Seafons^ and for "Days and Tears : Gen. i. 14. After the Flood the new Bleffing is^ That Cold and Heat^ and Summer and Winter^ and T)ay and Night fl?all not ceafe. Gen. viii. ii. Tell me now what is there beftowcd in the firft Bleffings, that is wanting in the Second? What niore did Adar/i enjoy in his happieft Days, what more did he forfeit in his worft, with refpect to this Life, than what is containM in thefe Bleffings? If he neither had more, nor loft more, all thefe Bleffings you fee exprefsly reftored to Noah and his Pofterity ; and can you ftill believe that the Curfe upon the Earth remains? All DISCOURSE IV. loy All this laid together amounts, I think, to this ; That the old Curfe upon the Ground was finifhedand completed at the Deluge. And when the whole Race of Men, eight only excepted, were deftroy- ed, the Serpent had fufficiently bruifed the Heel of the Woman's Seed ; and the Time was come to relieve the World with refpeft to this Part of the Curfe fo fully executed ; accordingly a Bleffing is once more pronounced on the Earth; and a Covenant of temporal Profperity con- firmed to Noah^ and by him to all Man- kind; making good the Prophecy of his Father at the Time of his Birth; This fame jhall ccmfort us^ &c. You may think perhaps that we fee but little Effeftof this ^^-zs; Bleffing; that the Life of Man is rtill Labour and Toil; that he ftill eats the Bread of Sorrow and Carefulnefs in the Sweat of his Brow ; and that the Earth ftill abounds in Thorns and Thiftles. Such Complaints as thefe are but the EffeQ; of Prejudice: Men fpeak in this Cafe, as if they thought there were no Thorns and Thiftles till after the Fall, but that they were created 04 ro6 DISCOURSE IV. on Purpofe to be a Curfe; for if there were fuch things (as undoubtedly there were) before the Fall, why fliould you expeft to have them removed by the Re- ftoration of the Earth ? For what Employment do you imagine Man was made? For a little Sleepy a little Jlumber^ and a little folding of the Hands to fleep ? Surely this was not the Cafe: Even in Paradife, it wzs^dam^s Bufmefs to drefs and to keep the Garden, how much Labour this required we can- not tell; fome it required without doubt. After the Fall, Labour increafed and mul- tiplied, and continued to be very bur- denfome unto the Time of the Flood : And God's Promife of regular Seafons af- ter the Flood, feems to intimate that they were very irregular and confufed before: Which one Circumftance will account for all the Change we fuppofe. What the Cafe was in the old World during the Curfe, may probably be collected from the Curfe denounced againlt Ifrael when difobe- dient : / will break the Pride of their Tower \ and I will make your Heaven as Irony and your Earth as Brafsy and your Strength DISCOURSE IV. 107 Strengthjhall be fphit in vain : For your Land jh all not yield her Increafe^ neither Jhall the Trees of the Land yield their Fruits^ Levit. xxxvi. 19,20. There are ferious Writers who think that theEar th was very much damaged and rendered lefs fertile by the Flood : But is it not obvious to obferve, that this Judg- ment ought to be grounded ontheKnow- lede not only of the prefent State of the Earth, but alfo of the State before the Flood ; for whoever compares twoThings together, and judges upon that Compa- rifon, muft be fuppofed to know them both ; and yet 'tis certain that we know nothing of the antediluvian State, but this only, that it was a very bad one ; which is not enough to fupport us in judging, that the prefent State is a much worfe. We meet with frequent Allufions to this Covenant with Noah in later Times, and later Books of Scripture: The Son of Sirach tells us, That an everlajiing Covenant in; as made with him^ xliv. iS. 2is^6riKU4 cda>v(^. fGr.J TeJIamenta Seculi^ ( Vulg.) The Covenant of the Jge was giv- en io8 DISCOURSE IV. en him: For Noab was the Father of the Age^ and had the Covejiant of the Age after the Flood, in like manner as Chrijl was the Father^ and brought in the new Covenant of the fucceeding Age. The Prophet 3^^r^;;^/^^ introduces God appealing to his own Fidelity in the Ex- ecution ofthisfirft Covenant, as a Reafon why he ought to be trufted and relied on for the Performance of the Second. If you can break my Covenant of the T^ay^ and my Covenant of the Nighty then may alfo my Covenant be broken with Da- vid my Servant^ that he jhould not have a Son to reigft upon his Throne^ xxxiii. 2o, XI. and 3^ 25'. In like manner the Pro- phet Ifaiah^his is as the Waters of Noah unto me : For as I have fworn that the IVaters of Noah Jhould no more go over the Earth '^ fo have I fworn that I would not be wroth with thee^ nor rebuke thee^ liv. 9. The Ixv'^ Tfalm feems to be a Comment upon God's Covenant with Noah : Thou makeft the Outgoings of the Morning and Evening to rejoice. Thou vi fit eft the Earthy and water eft it : Thou crowneft the Tear with thy Good- DISCOURSE IV. lop uefs^ and thy Taths drop Fatnep, — -=w The Tajiures are cioathed with Flocks"^ . the Vallies alfo are covered over with Corn\ they Jhout for Joy ^ they alfo fing. It feems alfo to be with reference to this Covenant that the Tfalmijl appeals to God's Faithfulnefs in the Clouds^ to his Mercy eftablijh'*d in the Heavens^ and to the Moon the faithful Witnefs in Hea^ ven. Wifdom and Power and Goodnefs are fhewn forth in the Creation, but Mercy and Faithfulnefs relate to God's Dealings with Men: and when we hear of his Faithfulnefs in the Clouds^ it na- turally leads us to think of his Promife for Seed-time and Flarveji^ for the for- mer and tht latter Rain \ Things evident- ly depending upon the Government of th^Clouds. During the ^^ of this Covenant, the Character by which God was known, and applyed to, was relative to this Covenant, and the Bleffings of it ; ■ Vnto God wou!d I commit my Caufe^ which doth great Things and unfe arch able ; marveU lous Things without Number ; who giv- €th Rain upon the Earthy and fendeth Waters no DISCOURSE IV. Waters upon the Fields^ Job v- 8, 9, 10. Sing Traife upon the Harp unto our God ^ who cover eth the Heaven with Clouds^ who prepareth Rain for the Earthy who maketh Grafs to grow upon the Moun- tains. He giveth to the Beafi his Food^ and to the young Ravens which cry^ Pfalm cxlvii. 7, 8, 9. — Let us now fear the Lord our God that giveth Rain^ both the former and the latter in his Seafon: He referveth unto us the appointed Weeks of the Harvefi Jer. v. 24. To the fame Pur pofe and with refpefl: to the fame Times the Apoftles Taul and Barnabas tell the People at Lyjlra^ That God in Times pajl fuffered all Nations to walk in their own Ways^ neverthelefs he left not htmfelf without Witnefs^ in that he did good^ and gave us Rain and fruitful Seafom filling our Hearts with Food and Gladnefs^ Afts xvi. 17. Our bleffed Saviour does likewife commend and ex- tol the Mercy of God in the Works of this firft Covenant : He maketh his Sun to rife on the Evil and on the Goody and fendeth Rain on the Juft and on the %• jufi. Which Words are directly a Com- ment D IS COU R S E IV. Ill ment upon the Terms of Noah\ Cove- nant for fruitful Seafons, which were to continue without being interrupted again forthefake of Man's Iniquity; or as the Text it felf exprefles it, Though the Ima- gination of Marias Heart is evil from his Touth^ Gen. viii. 21. WithRefpeft to this Covenant of temporal Bleffings given to Noah^ and to the fecond Cove- nant of future Glory given to Chriji^ muffc St. Taul be underftood to fpeak, when he fays ; Godlinefs is profitable to all things^ having 'Tromife of the Life that now is ^ andof that which is to come. In any other View the Words are capable of no Expofition confiftent with Ex- perience; or with the Admonitions of the Gofpel, which w^arn the Righteous to expefl: Sufferings in this World: But true it is, that for Godlinefs fake the Tromife of the Life that now is was confirmed with Noah ; and for the fame Reafon was the Covenant of better Hopes confirmed with Chrift. Thefe Allufions, and many more, fup- pofe a Reftoration of the Earth after the Flood, and a new^ Bleffing given to it in z virtue iiz DISCOURSE IV. virtue of God's Covenant ; and without this Suppofition I know not how to ac- count for fome Paflages in Scripture which fpeak of the Goodnefs of the Earth, and the great Plenty it affords. How comes it to pafs that this very Earth cur fed with Barrennefs, and to be aNurfery for Thorns and Thirties, is afterwards repre- fented as flowing with Milk and Honey, abounding with Oil and Wine, and every thing ufefull and pleafant in Life? Can you imagine this Land of Plenty to be Part of the curfed Earth, doomM to bear Thorns and Thiftles, and to weary out its inhabitants with Toil and Labour? Yet this is the Cafe, if no Alteration has happened ; and it will be no eafy Work to reconcile thefe Contradictions* But if the Curfe upon the Earth was expiated at the Flood ; if the Earth has been once more blejfed by its Creator, there wants no Art or Invention to folvethisDifficuU ty : The Thing fpeaks for it felf. I will leave this Point upon thefe Rea- fons: whether they are fufficient to efta- blifh an Opinion fo contrary to the Pre- judices of Mankind^ I know not; they feem DISCOURSE IV. 113 feem to me at leaft to be worth confi- dering. Let us cdnfider now the State of Pro- phecy after the Flood, and upon what Foot the Religion of the new World fubfifted. I find no new Prophecy given to Noah after the Flood, nor to any of his Chil- dren till the Call oi Abraham, The Rea- fon of it feems to be this ; the Power and Sovereignty of God were fo riianifeftly difplayed in the Deluge, and made fo ftrong Impreflions upon the few Pei fons then alive, and came fo well attefted to the fucceeding Generation, that Religion wanted no other Support: When Idola- try prevailed, and the World was in Danger of being quit;e loft to true Reli- gion, without the Interpofition of God, the Word of Prophecy was renewed ; as we fhall find when we come to that Pe- riod. It may feem furprifing perhaps, that after fo great a Revolution in the World, as the Deluge made, God fhould fay no • thing to the Remnant of Mankind, of thePuniflimentsand Rewards of another I Life- 114 D IS COURSE IV. Life; but fliouM make a new Covenant with them relating merely to fruitful Sea- fons, and the Blcflings of the Earth. All that I can (liy to this Difficulty, is this ; I think I fee plainly, a gradual working of Providence towards the Redemption of the World from the Curfe of the Fall; that the temporal Bleffings were firft re- ftored, as an Earneft and Pledge of better Things to follow ; that the Covenant of the Age given to Noah had, ftri6tly fpeak- ing, nothing to do with the Hopes of Futurity, which were referved to be the Matter of another Covenant^ in another ylge^ and to be revealed by him, whofe Province it was to bring Life and Im- mortality to Light through the GoJpeL The Law of Mofes^ though a divine Revelation, and introduced to ferveand advance the sireat Ends of Providence with refped to Mankind, yet being giv- en in they^^^of the firft Covenant, was in all Things made conformable to it; and was founded in no other fx/r^/r Pro- mifes, than thofe of temporal Happinefs and Profperity; in no other exj^refs Threatnings, than thole of temporal Lofs and DISCOURSE IV. II and Mifery. AhrahanP^ temporal Cove- nant was the fame in kind with Noah\ though much enlarged and re-eftabliflied upon further Promifes and Alfurances : As the Curfe upon the Ground for the Wickednefs of Cain^ was of the very fame kind with the Curfe of the Fall ; differing fi'om it not in Kind but in De- gree. But though the firft Covenant given to Noah^ and the Law of Mofes founded upon the Terms of that Covenant, con- tain no exprefs Promifes of future Re- wards, yet is it not to be imagined that all who lived under this Covenant were void of fuch Hopes, and Expeflations. If there were any fuch Hopes before the Flood, grounded upon the Prophecy con- fequent to the Fall, the coming in of the Flood could not deftroy them ; and the Covenant of temporal Bleffings given to Noah was fo far from fupericding bet- ter Hopes, that it did mightily ftrength- en and confirm them. For if Noah and his Forefathers expeftedDelivcrance from the whole Curfe of the Fall, the aftual Deliverance from one Part of it was a I X very ii6 DISCOURSE IV. very good Pledge of a further Deliver- ance to be expeilied in due Time. Man himfelf was curfed, as well as the Ground ; he was doomM to return to Dull; and fruitful Seafons are but a fmall Relief, compared to the Greatnefs of his Lofs; but when fruitful Seafons came, and one Part of the Curfe was evidently abated, it gave great AiTurance that the other lliould not laft for ever. That Noah had fuch Expectations him- felf, and tranfmitted them to his Pofteri- ty feems evident from the peculiar Blef- iing wdiich hebeftows on Shem. Blejfed^ fays he, be the LordGod well as himfelf; and fome of them in fomc ii6 DISCO U RSE V. fome Refpcfts, a much greater; as he muft needs judge, who knows any thing of the ancient or prefent Empires of the^. Eaji and fFe/i. But if we look forward, we fliall fee the Diftinftion between the feveral Promifes grow plain , when God renews the Covenant, and limits the feculiar BleJJing oi Abraham to the Son, which fhould be born oi Sarah his Wife. In the xvii'^' of Genejis the Lord ap- pears to Abraham and fays, " / am the " Almighty God^ walk before me^ and be thouperfe£i\ then follows, I will make " my Covenant between me and thee^ and ^^ will multiply thee exceedingly^ — and " thou Jhalt be a Father of many Nati- ^' ons. " At the 7'^ and 8^^ verfes God promifes to eftablilh an everlajfing Co- venant with him and his Seed after him^ to give him and them all the La7^d of Canaan for an everkjiing Tojfejfion^ and to be their God. Here are either two Covenants, mentioned together in the Compafs of a few Lines, or elfe the fame Covenant repeated with this Difference, that in the laft Place it is ftyled an ever- lofting Covenant, and the Land of C^;/^^/^ 2 is DISCOURSE V. II is aflign'd for an everlafting Tojfejfion ; with this remarkable Addition, that God promifes to be the God of Abraham^ and of his Seed after him. And this is the firfl: time that this peculiar Charafter af- fumed by God, of being the God of A- braham^ and of his Seed, occurs in Scripture, and 'tis evidently connefted to the Promife of the everlafting Co- venant. Which Connexion feems to be the true Foundation of our Saviour's Argument, from this Expreffion, to prove the RefurreOiion of the Dead ; as the Connexion of the Promife of the Land of Canaan to the everlafting Covenant feems to be the Reafon of treating the Land of Canaan as a Type or Sign of Heaven. This Charafter of God, thus connected to the everlafting Covenant, is likewife a plain Intimation, that two diftind Covenants are mentioned in this Place, and not the fame repeated again. Towards the clofe of this Chapter Abra-^ ham receives an exprefs Promife that he fhould have a Son by Sarah his Wife, within the Compafs of a Year, and that the everlafting Covenant ftiould be efta- blifhed 128 DISCOURSE V. bliflied with this Son^ and his Seed after him. — Abraham had at tliis Time a Sort of thirteen Years old, born of Hagar the Egypt tcin\ to whom the Angel of the Lord had appeared when fhe was with Child of tfiis Son, and promifcd to 771111- tiply her Seed exceedingly^ that it Jhould not be ntmbered for multitude. Gen. xvi. lo. This Promife therefore of a nume- rous Pofterity flourifhing in the Earth, though Part of the Promife given to A- braham^ as we have feen before, is no Part of the everlafting Covenant, con- firmed to Ifaac^ exclufively to all the natural Sons oi Abraham. This appears likewife from the very Paffage where this promife is limited to Ifaac: Abraham^ when he received the Promife of a Son by his Wife, puts up a Petition, what- ever the Occafion of it was, for his Son Ijhmael\ " O that Iflimael might live ^' before thee. " To which he receives this Anfwer ; '' As for lilimael, / have " heard thee: Behold I have ble [fed him^ ^* and will make him fruitful^ and will " multiply him exceedingly : Twelve *' Trinces Jhall he beget ^ and I will " makef DISCOURSE V. 12^ " make bhn a great Nation : '^ Imme- diately it follows, '^ But My Covenant " will I eftablijh with Ifaac, whom Sa- " rah jhall bear unto thee : " Can any thing be plainer to lliew that the ever- lajling Covenant^ to be eftabliili'd with Ifaac and his Seed, was of a very dif- fei'entkind, from the Covenant given to IJhmael^ of multiplying his Seed, of mak- ing him Father of Kings and Princes, and of raifing him into a great Nation ? And yet this very Covenant was given ori- ginally to Abraham ; he was to have a numerous Pofterity, to be Father of Kings, and of a great Nation. IJhmael was admitted to the Benefit of this Co- venant, as well as Ifaac ^2lvA yet exprefsly excluded from that which God emphati- cally ftyles MY Covenant, and the ever- lafling Covenant; an undeniable Evi- dence that God's Covenant with Abra^ ham was foijnded on better Hopes than thofe of mere temporal Profperity. This Diftinftion , of two Covenants in the Cafe oi IJhmael 2.nA Ifaac ^ made by God himfelf, is the Foundation of St. TatiP^ Argument to the Galatians: " It is K " written t3o DISCOURSE V. '^ vjritten^ fays he, that Abraham had *' two Sons ; the one by a bond Maid^ the " other bj a free IFoman: But he who ^' was of the bond IVoman was born af- '' ter the Flejh\ bat he of the free !Vo- *' man was by 'Fromife : IVhich things " are an Allegory \ for thefe are the two '^ Covenants : " And whoever is capa- ble of conficlering what is related con- cerning this Matter in the Book of Gene- JiSj will evidently fee that thefe are in- deed two Covenants ; and two fuch Co- venants as fully juftify the Apoftle's Rea- foning upon this Point. Since then the Promifes of temporal Profperity^ made to Abraham and his Seed after him, are evidently diftinft from the SubjeQ: matter of the everlaji- ing Covenant, made with him, and li- mited to Ifiac and Jacob^ and afterwards to the Tribe of Jndah^ and laftly to the Family of F>avid\ it remains to be confidered, what the SubjeQ; of the Covenant fo limited is. If we look back to the Call oi Abraham^ and the Promifes which attended it, there we Ihall find, that after enumerating the temporal DISCOURSE V. 131 temporal Bleflings, which were to de- fcend from Abraham to his Pofterity, one BlciTmg is added, in which all the World has an Intereft, and which was to be conveyed to them through Abra-- ham and his Seed ; " /;/ thee^ lays God, " jhall all the Families of the Earth be blejfed, " Whatever Abraham under- ftood by this, I think verily he could not underftand it as his Children at this Day underftand it, who expeft, in virtue of the Promifes made to the Fathers, to be Lords of the World, and to have Do- minion over all People: A ft range Blef- fing this to all Nations^ that they fhould fall fl'om their natural Liberty, and be- come fubjeft to the Dominion of one People! None but a Je'-d) can fee the Happinefs of fuch a State; the Nations of the Earth, if left to their Choice, would all refufe this great Bleffing for themfelves. But before we enquire in- to the fpecial Meaning of this Bleffing upon all Nations, we muft fee whether this «;/7wr/^/ Bleffing to be revealed in due time, were truly the Matter of God's Jpecial^ his everlajiing Covenant with K 2 Abraham 132 DISCOURSE V. jibraham. We have feen already that: Ijhmael was excluded from this fpecial Covenant, and Ifaac admitted to it ; we have the Covenant of God \v\t\\IJhmacl^ and the Covenant of God as renewed with Ifaac^ both preferved in the Book oiGenefis) and 'tis obfervable that the two Covenants, as to worldly Profpe- rity, are nearly the Hime; but they differ in this, the Covenant with Ijhmael fays nothing of the BleJJhig to all Nations^ the Covenant with Ifaac exprefsly re- news this very Promife: In thy Seed Jhall all the Nations of the Earth he blef- fed: Gen. xxvi. 4. A plain Proof fure- ly, that the fpecial Matter of God's Co- venant, limited from Abraham to Ifaac exclufive of 7/2?;^^^/,confifted in the Pro- mife of this univerfal^XdSs.VL'^^ to be con- veyed through Abraham and Ifaac and their Pofterity to all Mankind. We have the like Evidence from a like Cafe, which happened between the Chil- dren oi Ifaac "^ with this only difference, that Ijhmael 2inA Ifaac were born one of a bond Woman, the other of a Free, but Efau and JafobwQVQ Twins^ of one Birtb, both DISCOURSE V. 133 both born of a free Woman : The Blef- fing oi Abraham was limited to Jacoh^ and denyM to Efati. Yet Efati receiv- ed a temporal Bleffing from his Father, as well as ^acob. The Apoftle to the Hebrews accounts it Trofanenefs in E- fan that he fold his Birth-right; it mud be becaufe he fold the Bleffing of Abra- ham^ and thePromifes of God; upon any other Account there is no room for this Charge, for it was never reckoned Tro- fhanenefs to fell mere temporal Rights; nor was Efau excluded from the Benefit of the temporal Promifes by this fcan- dalous Bargain. If y^^i^^wasbleffedwith the ^Dew of Heaven^ and the Fatnefs of the Earthy and Tlenty of Corn andJVme^ Gen. xxvii. x8. Efatis Bleding in this rcfpcct was not inferiour ; Thy T)weU iing^ faj/s his Father, jhall be the Fatnefs of the E^irth^ and of the T)ew of Hea- ven from above : f* 3 9- I? Nations were to boiv down to Jacob; f. ^9. Efau like^ wife was to live and prevail by his Sword: il. 40. If Jacob's Brethren were to bow down to him^f.-LC). yet the Time would come when Efau fnould have TDominion^ K ? and ^34 DISCOURSE V. and break tvtnthis To ke from off his Ncck^ 3^.40. Thus the Cafe ftands between them, if we interpret the whole Bleffing given to Jacoh^ of temporal Profperity and Dominion; but there is great Rea- fon to limit Part of it to the peculiar Bleffing oi Abraham 2iXi^ Ifaac\ which was undoubtedly conveyed at this Time to Jacob, The conveying the Birth-right in the Family oi Abraham was convey- ing the fpecial Bleffing of Abraham^ which always attended upon the Birth- right, This Birth-right was evidently made over to Jacobs when it was faid, Be Lord over thy Brethren. The fpecial Bleffing was in time to be extended to all Nations^ as v/ell as to the Houfe of Abraham^ for in bis Seed all the Fami- lies of the Earth "duere to he blejfed\ and therefore in Confequence of the Birth- right it is faid to Jacob^ — Let Teofle ferve tbee^ and Nations bo'UD down to thee^ f. X9. It is very evident from the whole Story oilfaae^ Bleffing his two Sons, that the chief Blejfmg^ he had to beftow, fell upon Jacob-^ and 'tis as plain that there are no Words to limit this par- ticular DISCOURSE V. 135 ticular Bleffing to Jacob^ but thefe now under Conficleration; and Ifaac himfelf underllood that he had paflT.d away the Bleffing o'i Abraha n to "Jacob in thefe Words, and therefore he tells Efau that the Bleffing was gone beyond Recovery, / have blcjled him^ yea^ and he jhalL be bkjjed^ il II* But Efau preffed his Fa- ther for a Bleffing on himfelf; Ifaac an- fwered and faid — Behold I have made him thy Lord^ and all his Brethren huve I given to hiyn for Servants-^ and with torn aiid ll'ine have I fujlained him: And ijohat /hall I do now tmto thee^ my Son? y. 37. Efau ftill urges his Father; bltfs ?ne^ even me alfoy O my Father. Upon this Ifaac bleffes him ; and pray obfer ve ; of Corn and Wine and tempo- ral Power he gives him a full and an •equal Share: — Thy T> welling Jhall be the Fatncfs of the Earth , and of the 'Dew of Heaven from above : The only Limitation on the Bleffing is, ThouJJpalt ferve thy Brother. Whatever then was peculiarly given to Jacob was contained in the Grant, of being Lord over his Bre- thren) and what this peculiar Gift was, K 4 we j^6 DISCOURSE V. we may learn from Ifaac himfelf, who in the next Chapter renews the Bleffing on Jacci^^znd gives exprefsly to him and his Seed Tke Blejjing of yihrahcmi^ t\ 4. In the fame Chapter the Bleffing is re- newed and confirmed by God himfelf; In thee and in thy Seed Jlo all all the Fami- lies of the Earth be blejfed^ f. 14. That the Regard of all Nations, t o the Seed in which they were all to be blejfed^ fliou'd be expreffed by their bow- ing down to hira^ is no hard Figure of Speech; that even this Yoke, this Superiority of ^^r^/:?^2;;^'s Family, inouM one Day be broken, as the Promife to Efau fets forth, when fews and Gen- tiles fliou'd be on an equal Foot , aiui equally the People of God, is no more than the original Covenant contains ; for the Day was to come, when all Nations Ihould be equally bleffed. i If you expound this BlefFmg of tem- poral Dominion, fee how the Cafe will fland : Jacob is to rule over Efau •, yet no fooner is the Bleffing given, but he flies his Country for fear of Efau ; Gen, xxvii. 43,^^0 He lives abroad for many Yearsj DISCOURSE V. 137 Years ; and when he returns, the Fear and Dread of his Brother returns with him: YIq was greatly afraid and dijlref- fed. Gen. xxxii. 7. His only refuge in this Diftrefs was to God ; Tie liver me^ I fray thee^ from the Hand of my Brother^ from the Hand of Efau: }^. 11. When he fends a Meflfage to him he ftyles him- felf. Thy Servant Jacob ; f^ 2.0. "When he meets him, he bowed himfelf to the Ground f even times -^ until he came near to Efau; xxxiii. 3. When he fpeaks to him, he calls him Lord\ when he was kindly receivM by Efa74^ he fays, I have feen thy Face^ as though I had feen the Face ofGod^ and thou wert plea fed with 7ne : f. 10. What is there in all this to lliew^ the Rule and Dominion that was gi- ven to Jacoli over his Mother's Sons? If you fuppofe the Prophecy, under- jfto )d of temporal Dominion, to be ful« filled in the Pofterity of thefe two Bro- thers, let us fee how the Cafe ftands up- on this fuppofition : The Family of £7%/^ was fettled in Power and Dominion many Years, before Jacob's Family had any certain Dwelling-place; the Dukes and 138 DISCOURSE V. and Kings of Efaih Houfe are reckoned up, G^^.xxxvi. andtheHiftorian tells us, Thefe are the Kings that reigned in the Land (?/'Edom, before there reigned any King over the Children ^/Ifrael, f. 31. When the appointed Time was come for eftabliHiing the Houfe of T/?-^^/, and giv- ing them the Land and PoiTefTions of their Enemies, the Family o? E/auwQVQy by a particular Decree, exeinpted from the Dominion of 7/r^^/, 77:?^ Lord /pake unto Mofes, Cormnand thou the Teo- : fle^ faying^ Te are to pafs thro' the CoaJI of your Brethren the Children of Efau, winch dwell in Seir, and they Jhall be afraid of you : Take ye good heed unto your felves therefore^ meddle not with them ; for I will not give you of their Land-t '^lo not fo much as a Foot-breadth^ hecaufe I have given Mount Seir unto B&wfor a Toffeffion^ Deut. ii. 4, f- If in the Time of T) avid they ^/Edom be^ came his Servants \ 2 Sam. viii. 14. yet in the Days of Jehoram did they recover again, and made a King over themfelves. a Kings viii. lo. And, in the Time of Ahaz they revenged the Affront, h^ fmi- ting DISCOURSE V. 139 ting Judah, and leading away Captives. 2 Chron. xxviii. 1 7. Can you now fup- pofethat this Variety of Fortunebetween the Children of Jacob and Efau was the Thing intended, or meant to be defcribed, when the Promife was given to Jacob^ that his Mother's children Jhould bow down to him ? If this were the Cafe, Ifaac needed not to be fo fcrupulous in preferving the pecuh'ar Bleffing to Jacob ; he might have given Efau a Share of it; and the Event wouM have anfwered. It appears, I think, from hence, that the Bleffing given to J acob^ andexpreflfed in Words implying a Rule over his Bre- thren^ was truly a Conveyance of the Birth-right to him in the Family of ^^r^z- ham\ that the Birth-right m^brahaTfPs Family refpefted the fpecial Bleffing and Covenant given to Abraham by God ; That Ifaac himfelf calls this Right of Primogeniture in hisHoufe, the Bleffing oi Abraham \ that God himfelf, in Con- firmation of Jacobh Right of Primogeni- ture, affures him, that in his Seed all the Families of the Earth fly all be blejfed. Now 140 DISCOURSE V. Now this Promife being the only fpe- cial Promife made to Ifaac and Jacobin Preference to their Brethren, and in Con- fequence of God's everlalHng Covenant limited to them, this Promife muftnecef- farily be underftood to be the fubjefl: Matter of the everlafting Covenant : And 'tis very obfervable that this Bleffing fo peculiarly belongs to this Covenant, that it is never mentioned with refpeO: to any other Terfon whatever^ than fuch only, to whom the Right of this Covenant, and the Promife of the Land of Canaan de- fcended. Some interpreters have ima- gined that thefe Words require no higher a Senfe than this, that all Nations fliou'd fee the Profperity of Abraham and his Seed fo evidently, that they (houM blefs themfelvesand others in fome fuch Form as this; God make thee as great as Abra- ham, and his Seed. But can we imagine that God's everlafting Covenant^ as he himfelf calls it, was given only to pro- duce a proverbial Form of Speech in the World? That the Prerogative of Ifaac above Ijhmael^ oi Jacob above Efau^ lay in this only, that the Nations fliou'd ufe the DISCOURSE V. 141 the Name of one in their mutual good Willies, and not of the other ? Befides, when was this ever the Cafe, when did all Nations thus blefsthemfelves^or when was there Occafionfor it? The Poller ity of IJhmael was eftablillied in Power much fooner, and w^ere as great and fuccefsful for many Ages, as the Je'ws^ and much larger Empires have fprung from them: So that there was hardly ever any ground to take up this proverbial Speech, which fome make to be the Whole of this fpe- cial Covenant limited ivom Abraham^ to Ifaac and Jacob. What diftin£t Motion Abraham had of theBleffing promifed to all Nations thro' him and his Seed, what he -thought of the Manner and Method by which it ftiouM be effefted, we cannot pretend to fay. But that he underftood it to be a Promife of reftoring Mankind, and de- livering them from the remaining Curfe of the Fall, there can be little doubt. He knew that Death had entred by Sin; he knew that God had promifed Viftory and Redemption to the Seed of the Woman ; Upon the Hcipes of this Reftoration the Reli- 141 DISCOURSE V. Religion of his Anceftors was founded ; and when God, from whom this Blefling on all Men was expe6ied^ did exprefsly /T(?.^//2'aBleffing on all Men ^ and in this Promife founded his everlajiing Cove- nant^ what couM Abraham elfe expeft but the Completion in his Seed ox that antient Promife and Prophecy, concern- ing the ViSory to be obtained by the Woman's Seed ? The Curfe of the Ground was expiated by the Flood, and the Earth reftored with a Bleffing, which was the Foundation of the temporal Covenant with Noah\ a larire Share of which God exprefsly grants to Abraham^ and his Poller ity particularly, together with a Promife, by their Means, to bring a new and further Bleffing upon the whole Race of Men. Lay thefe Things together, and fay what lefs cou'd be expeflied from the new Promife or Prophecy given to A^ braham^ than a Deliverance from that Part of the Curfe ftill remaining on Man, jD///? thou art^ and to T)uji thou /halt return ? In virtue of this Covenant A-^ hraham and his Pofterity had reafon to cxpeft, that the Time wouM come when Man DISCOURSE V. 145 Man {hoxx^dbe called from h t si Hft again \, for this Expeftation they had his Affu- rance who gave the Covenant, That he "would be their God io\: ever. Well might our Saviour then tell the Sons oi Abra- ham^ \\\2Xeven Mofes at theBuJh fliewM the RefurreOiion of the Dead, when he calleth the Lord^ the God M H E Prophecies of the old Tefta« ^"^ ment, generally confidered, re- late either to the temporal State and Condition of the J^'x^j, and were, in order to the Admniiftration and Execution, on God's Part, of the temporal Covenant, given to Abraham and his na- rural Dependents ; or they relate to that great and univerfal Bleffing, promifed to Abraham and to his Seed, tho' not limited to them, but exprefsly defigned and ex- tended, in the Words of the original Co- venant, to all the Nations of the TV or Id. Of thefe, we have already confidered the firft ,58 D IS COURSE VL firll Kind, and endeavoured to fhew the Purport and Defign of Providence, in the many Oracles reducible to this Head. It remains now, that we confider the Pro- phecies of the fecond Kind in the fame Method, not enquiring into the exprefs Meaning and Accomplilliment of every fingle Prophecy, applicable to this Sub- jeft ; but into the general Ufe and De- fign of thefe Prophecies, which being dif- coveredwe fhall be able, with better Sue- cefs, to apply ourfelves to the Examina- tion of each divine Oracle. The Prophe- cies of the feveral Periods, already con- (idered, have been found to correfpond to the State of Religion in the World, at the Time of giving the Prophecy: A great Prefumption that the Cafe is the fame under t\iQjewiJh Difpenfation. We muft therefore in order to our prefent Enquiry, confider the State of Religion under the Mofaick Difpenfation, and ex- amine how far, and to what Purpofes Prophecy was requifite, and whether m izQi thefe Purpofes were ferved by the Prophecies under the Law. As DISC OURSE VI. 1 59 As to the State of Religion under the Law of Mofes^ to fave your Time and myown,I fliallrefer my felf to the Books of the Law, in every Man's Hand. But two Queftions there are, neceffary to be confidered at prefent ; and firft. The Pro- mife to Abraham confifting of two di- ftinft Parts, or including two diftinft Covenants; the one, relating to the tem- poral State and Profperity of his Seed in the Land of Canaan ; the other, to the Bleffing, which thro' him and his Seed» was to be conveyed to all Nat ions of the Earth; theQueftion is, to which of thefe two Covenants the Law of Mofes is an- nexed. If the Law was given in Execu- tion of the T^romtfe^ made to all Nations^ then have the Nations nothing further to expeft; God has fulfilled his Word: The '^ews are right in adhering to their Law; and we in the wrong in rejecting it: But if the Law oi Mofes is built up- on thetemporal Covenant only,and given properly to the Jews only ; then both Jews and Gentiles have further Hopes, and a juft Expectation remaining, to fee God's Promife to all Rations accom- plift'd; i6o DISCOURSE VI. plifliM; which was not accdmplilhed by the giving of the Law. I have already, in the Courfe of this Argument, obfervedtbyou, that the Law oiMofesw^iS given to the y^'zc;^ only, and not to all Nations: For which thefe Rea- fons, among others, may be afligned: Firjij The Obligation of no Law ex- tends beyond the Terms of its PromuU gation; now theLaw of M^y^j was pro- mulged to the Jews only ; the Words are, -Hear O Ifrael-^ whereas, had the Law been intended for all Nations, it ought to have been promulged to all, and the Words jfhould have been, Hear all Nati- ons of the Earth: And thus the ChriJIian Law is promulged ; the Apoftles had it exprefsly in Commi (lion from Chriji " To . ^' teach ALL NATIONS, hapizlng / *^ them in the Name of the Father, and \ *' of the Son, and of the Holy Ghoji^ 1 " teaching them to obferve all things " 'uchatjoever I have commanded you: *' and lo, I am with you ALJVAT, \ ^' even unto the ENT> OF THE '\ '' rrORLT>:'' A Commiffion, which plainly fiiews that the Gofpel Difpenfa- tiorf DISCOURSE VI. id tion extends to all Places, and all Times, even to the End of the World ; and that no other new Law is to be expected. Secondly^ The Law of Mofes relates to the temporal Covenant only, as being eftablilliM exprefsly upon theTerms and Conditions of it. The ten Command-- ments are founded upon this, that God brought them, \\\^Jews^ out of the Land of Egypt ^ out of the Houfe of Bondage : A Reafon which extended to the Peo- ple of the Jews only ; for all other Na- tions were not brought out of the Land of Egypt , and the Houfe of Bondage. The iirft Threatning is temporal, of vi- fiting the Iniquity of the Fathers upon the Children, unto the third and fourth Generation ; the Promife is of the fame kind ; both relative to the temporal Co- venant: as is likewife the Promife of the fifth Commandment, That thy ID ays may be long in the Land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Thirdly^ Many Rites and Performances of the Law were confined to the Land oi Canaan^ and the Temple oSJerufalem: for which Reafon even th^Jews^ in their y!^ Difperfion^ 6i DISCOURSE VI. Difperfion, pretend not to obferve the Law in thefe Points, and they wouM be Tranfgreffors of the Law, if they did. Now 'tis abfurd, if the Law was intend- ed for all People, that the main Perform- ances of it fliould be confined within the Territories of one particular Pe ^ple on- ly: And therefore, when the Chr'iftian Law was to take place, every Country was to be a proper Place of divine Wor- fliip : Which is the true Meaning of our Saviour's Words to the Woman oiSama" rta \ JVoman believe me ^ the hhttr comet h^ when ye Jhall neither in this Mountain^ nor yet at Jerufalem worjhip the Father^ John iv. 21. Now this being the Cafe, 'tis evident that the Promife of a BleiTing to all Na- tions fubO.fted in its full Force and Vigour, during the Continuance of the Law of Mofes\ for as that Promife was not com- pleated by the giving of the Law, in which all Nations were not concern 'd; fo neither could fo general a Promife be annuU'd, or fet afide, by a private Law, given to one People only. And this is the true Senfe and Meaning of St. Taulh Argument DISCOURSE VI. 1(^3 Argument Ga!, iii. " This Ifay^ that the " Coienant that "was cojifirmed before " of God in Chrift, the Law which zva^ '' four hundred and thirty Tears after '^ cannot difannul^ that it Jhould make " the Tromife of n^ne EffeB. " Secondly^ Another Queftion proper to be confider'd with refpeft to the State of Religion under the 7>\i;iy?? Difpenfation, is this : How far the Religion of the 7^^j- was preparatory to that new Difpenfa^ion, which was in due Time to be revealed, in Accompliiliment of the Promife, made to all Nations. Now \i Abraham and his Pofterity were chofen, not merely for their own fakes, or out of any partial Views and Regards towards them, but, to be Inftruments in the Hand of God for bringing about his great Defigns in the World; if the temporal Covenant was given for the fake of the everlafting Covenant, and to be fubfervient to the Introduftion of it \ 'tis highly probable that all Parts oi\\\^Jewijh Difpenfation were adapted to ferve the fame End, and that the Law founded on the temporal Covenant was intended, as the temporal M 1 Covenant 1^4 DISCOURSE VI. Covenant it fe!f was^ to prepare the Way to better Promifes. If this, upon the whole, appears to be a reafonableSuppo- fition, then have we a Foundation to en- quire into the Meaning of the Law, not merely as it is a literal Command to the Je'-jvs^ but as containing the Figure and Image of good Things to come. It can hardly be fuppofed, that God intending finally to fave the World by Chriji and the Preaching of the Gofpel, (hould give an intermediate Law, which had no re- fpeft norRelation to the Covenant,which he intended to eftablilh for ever. And whoever will be at the Pains to confider ferioully the whole Adminiftration of Providence together, from the Beginning to the End, may fee perhaps more Rea« fon than he imagines, to allow of Types and Figures in thtjewi/h Law. To proceed then: The Jewijh Dif. penfation not conveying to all Nations' theBlefling promifed through rbraham^'^ Seed, but being only the Adminiftration of the Hopes and Expeflations, created by the Promife of God; in this refpeft it flood entirely upon the Word of Pro- I phecyj DISCOURSE VL i6j pliecy; for future Hopes and Expeftati- Oils from God can have no other real Foun- dation. In as much then as the J ewijT? Religion did virtually contain the Hopes of theGofpel, the Religion it felf was a Prophecy, and as the Jewijh Church was founded to preferve, and to admini- fter thefe Hopes, the prophetical Office was in fome Meafure neceflary and effen- tial to this Church, to nouriHi and fup« port their Hopes and ExpeSlations from God. In what manner the BleJJing of all Men was eftabliilied with Abraham^ Ifaac^ and Jacoh^ we have already feen. The next Limitation of it is to the Tribe of Ju- dah^ in that famous Prophecy delivered by Jacob ^ juft before his Death, The Sceptre jhall not depart from']w^^\^ nor a Lawgiver from between his Feet until Shiloh come^ and unto him jhall the ga- thering of the Teople be^ Gen. xlix. lo. There are fo many Interpretations of this Prophecy, fomepeculiar tothe J^'oG/'j-, and jTome to Chriftians ; and fo many Difficul- ties to be accounted for, whatever Way we take, that I fhall not pretend to en- M 3 ter i66 DISCOURSE VI. ter into the Decifion of them at prefent* But take the whole Prophecy, relating to the Tribe of Jadah^ together , and there will be enough to anfwer our immediate Purpose, without entring into thefe Ob- fcurities. Jitaah^ fays Jacobs Thou art he whom thy Brethren jhall praife \ thy Hand Jhall be in the Neck of thine Ene- mies: Thy Fathers- Children Jhall bow down before thee* In a Form of Words, not unlike this, the peculiar Bleffing was appropriated \.oShem\ ]2i^\\Qt Jhall dwell in the Tents ofS\\tva^ and Canaan Jhall be his Servant^ Gen. ix. ^(5. And when Jacob himfelf had the BleJJing of Abra- ham fettled on him, by his Father Ifaac^ in preference to his Brother Efau^ the ve- ry Words in which the Grant was made to him, are thefe : Let Teople ferve thee^ and Nations bow down to thee ; be thou Lord over thy Brethren^ ajidlet thy Mo- thers Sons bozo down to thee^ Gen. xxvii. 2.9. Now when Jacob ufes partly thefe veryWords, partly others of like Import, can he be underftood to beftow any other Bleffing on his Son J^^^.^, than that very Bleffing, which he, in this fame Form of 8 Words, DISCOURSr VI. 1^7 Words, received fi'om his Father ? CouM he forget the Import of his own Bleffing when hewas preferred to £yQ//? Orcou'd he ufe this folemn Form of Words, and mean fomething quite different from the Sciife they carried, when his antient Fa- ther pronounced them over him? The other Parts of this Prophecy relate, I think, to the temporal Profperity oijii- dab^ and promife a Continuance of that Tribe till the BleJJi?tg oj Ah.^ham fliou'd come, and be extended to all Nations : bu= I will not enter into this large Field of Controverly. The next and the laft Limitation of this fpecial Promife is to the Family of 2)^- *Vid'^ a Point fo uncontefted, that there is no room to call it inqueftion, without rejefting the Authority of all the Pro- phets; and fo plain withal, that it needs no proving. Here the Promife refted un- til it fell upon him^ for whom it was re- ferved, and :o whom it was ever due; upon him, to whom the Birthright apper- tained, who w^as the Firflhorn of every Creature; and concerning whom the Al- mighty had declared long before^ I will M 4 ^^^^ i6S DISCOURSE VL make him my Firjlborn^ higher than the Kings of the Earth. Here it is fixed^ and here it muft reft, till all Things are ac- €om^Hjhed\ for he mtifi reign till he hath pit all Enemies tinder his Feet \ till "Death itfelf is fuvalloijued up in ViEiory. It is much to be obferved, that the prophecies relating to the Covenant of better Hopes, were given to the People of God, when Religion itfelf feemM to be in Diftrefs, and to want all Helps to fupport it in the World. When Abraham was cal- led to forfake the Country and the Reli- gion of his Fathers, then had he thePro- mife of the bleffed Seed. Ifaac and Ja- ^^^being fusrounded on all fides with Ido- latry, in the midft of a very corrupt and degenerate World, were fuftained by the fame Hopes: When the People oilfrael were in Egypt ^ and under many Temp- tations of following the Gods of the Coun- try, then was the Promife fettled on J^- dah^ and the remarkable Prophecy given of Shiloh\ coming. As foon as God ap- peared manifeftly, and oftentimes mira- culoufly, making good the Promifes of the temporal Covenant to the Children of Abraham J DISCOURSE Vi. i^p ^^r<^Z;^;;^5andthePeoplewantedno other Evidence to keep them ftedfaft in their Obedience, or to fecure them from fall- ing away to the Gods of the Nations round them, we meet with fewlnftances of this fort of Prophecy. Whilft God himfelf was Governour and King of the People, and direSted all their Affairs by the Voice of his Prophets, their Adverfity and their Profperity, which were always in proportion to their Obedience and Dif- obedience, were a fufficient Initruftion to them to cleave to God fl-edfaftly. This was the Cafe ivovaMoJes to T>avid^ who had the Promife of the everlafting Co- venant eftabliilied with him and with his Seed, in Reward of his Conftcmcy and Faith towards God under all the Difficul- ties, thro' which he made Iiis way to the Crown, appointed to him by God. But when the fucceeding Kings fell into Ido« latry, and the People, prone to Evil, fol- lowed their Example, fo that God de- termln'd to remove them out of his Sight, and fcatter them among the idolatrous Nations, whofe Gods they bad chofen before the Lord their Saviour; then, for the I/O DISCOURSE VL the Sake of the few Righteous, were the better Hopes revived, that the Jtiji might live by Fatth^ and that a Remnant might befaved. The Prophet T/S/^^, who fpeaks fo plainly of the Kingdom of Chriji^ en- tered upon his Office not long before the ten Tribes were carried into Captivity, as a Punifhment for their Idolatry : The Prophet Jeremy faw the other Tribes carried away to Babylon : And T)aniel was himfelf one of the Children of the Captivity. This was a Time in which true Faith wanted the Comfort of future Hopes; the prefent Scene was dark and gloomy, the loving Kindnefs of the Lord was hid from his People, and they faw no- thing but Tokens of Anger and Difplea- fure on every fide : In this Time there- fore God thought fit to give more and plainer Intimations of his Purpofe, to eftablifh the Kingdom of Righteoufnefs, than ever had been given before, from the Days of Adam : Now was it that the Seed in whom all Nations were to be bleJfedw^iS manifefl:ly defcribed; that the Time and Place of his Birth were ap- pointed; his great Works, his Glories, and DISCOURSE VI. 171 and his SuflFerlngs, were foretold. Now was it, that God taught his People plain- ly to expeft a new Covenant, a better than that made with their Fathers: In a Word,now was it that all Eyes were open- ed to look for his coming, who was to be the Glory of Ifrael ; the 'T}ejire oj ^11 Nations ; a Light to lighten rZ^^ Gentiles. This great Scenebeing opened, and placed in fo clear a View, the Work of Prophe- cy was finillied, and in a few Years, the Gift itfeif ceafed: A plain Evidence that the Spirit of 'Prophecy is the Tejlimony oiJefus\ and that all the Bleffings and Promifes, given to God's antient People, were to have their final AccomplilTiment in the Manifeftation of the ble£cd Set d. The ten Tribes, which were carried away by the King of /fjfyria^ never more returned to their own Country ; the Tribe of Judah^ after fcventy Yeai s Captivity, cameback to the Land of Canaan ^Qredicd a new Temple, and continued to be a Tribe and a People till the laft Deftrucli- on of Jerupilera by the Romans. If you think all this happened by Chance, there is no room to ask you any Qu^^fti'^as about i7t DISCOURSE VI. about it: But if you allow the Hand of God to be in thefe Events, tell me from whence this Diftinftion, this partial Re- gard to the Tribe oi Judab? Read their Own Prophets, and learn from thence the CharaOier of their Tribe, you'll find no Merit in theiii to juftify this Regard of God towards them : They were as bad as their Neighbours; but they had one Ad- vantagCj they had a Promife which none of the ten Tribes had, That the Sceptre Jhould 7tot depart from Judah till Shilohf^;^^; for the fulfilling of this Pro- mife, and all the Promifes relating to the blejfed Seed^ was this Tribe preferved fome hundreds of Years, after the others had ceafed to be a People. That this Tribe was refettled purely for the AccompliHiment of God's Pro- mifes of a better Covenant, appears from all the Circumfi:ances of their Condition after their Return : They were not re- ftored to enjoy the antient Privileges of the People of God in the Land of G?- naan : Thofe Privileges were forfeited by their Iniquity; Their "Vrim and their Thummim were no more heard of; and after DISCOURSE VI. 173 after they were oace eftabliHied in the Land (a Point in which Providence was nearly concerned) the Gift of Prophecy ceafed, and God appeared not in the Ma- nagement of their temporal Affairs, as formerly he had done: They were often diftrefled, and often brought near Ruine; they fuffered in all the Changes of the Em- pire of the Eaft, and were, as they ex- prefs themfelves, Servants in the Land '-jvhich God gave to their Fathers^ Neh. ix. 36. I mention this particular, to ac- count to you the more clearly for the ceafing of Prophecy fome Ages before the coming of Chrift. Prophecy among the Jews was relative to the two Cove- nants given to Abraham ; when the Jews had forfeited the Bleflings of the tempo- ral Covenant, and God had fully opened and prepared the V/ay for the Coming in of the Second, he recalled his Minifters and Ambaffadors, for whofe Service he had no longer any Occafion. That the Prophecies, relating to the fecond and better Covenant, ^produced a fuitable EffeQ:, and were matter of Com- fort and Confolatioa to the Righteous £- mong 174 DISCOURSE VI. mong the Ijraelitesj may be collefted from fome few Allufions to the Opinions of their own Times, to be found in the Books of the Prophets. That the People of Ifrael had, in the Days 6f the Pro- phet Amos^ a Notion of fome great De- liverance, or Blefling, ftill to come, may be gathered from the Reproof given to thofe, who, though void of the Fear of G' 'H, y r:" expeSed a Share in his Bleffing. Wo unto you that dejire the "Day of the Lord: To what End is it for you 'i the T>ay of the Lord is Darknefs and not L idht. Amos v. i8. As fome waited in Faith for the Confolation of Jfracl^ fo others there were who mocked at all fuch Hopes and Expectations; to thefe the Prophet Ifaiah fpeaks ; fVo unto them, that draw Iniquity with Cords of Vanity ^ and Sin as it were with a Cart-rope: That fay^ Let him make Speed andhajlen his Work^ that we may fee it : And let the Counfelofthe holy One ^/Ifrael draw nigh and come y that we may know ity v. 1 8, 19. Under the Power of thefe irre- ligious Mockers the Righteous (and fuch has ever been their Lot) were wearied and D I S COU RS E VL izy and oppreffed, but the Prophet fpeaks comfort to them; ^-'^ear the Words of the Lord^ ye that tremble at his JVord\yotir Brethren that hated you^ and cajf you ctit for my Name fake^ faid^ Let ihe Lord be glorified: But he fkall appear to your Joy^ and they Jhail be afhawed. Ixvi. 5'. As wicked as the People oHf- rael were, yet in all Times were there fome who waited for the Salvation of God; whole Faith and Hope are well expreffed by the Son oi Sirach\ 'I he To'wer of the Earth is in the hi and of the Lord J and in due lime he will fet o- ver it one that is profitable^ Ecclus.x. 4. That the Prophecy, given at the Time of the Fall, was underftood,in theantient Jewifh Church, to relate to the Times of the Mefjias^ may with great Probabi- lity be inferred from many Paflages, but efpecially from one in Ifatah^ where af- ter a full Defcription of the Kingdom of Chriff^ and the Happinefs of thofe who were the Seed of the Blejfed of the Lor d^ the State and Condition of the Wicked, in the time of that Kingdom, is thus de- fcribed in few Words ; And 'Duji fhall be 176 DISCOURSE VL ' Se the Serpenfs Meat^ Ifa. Ixv. 25'. By what Figure of Speech, or for what Rea- fon is the Serpent here made to fignify thofe, who are diftinguiflied from the Seed oftheBlejfedl And how comes the Punilliment of thefe Reprobates to be fet forth by the Serpent* s eating Tinji"^ Here is nothing in the Prophet to explain this Figure \ but he feems to ufe it as a Saying well known, and perfedly under- ftood by his Countrymen; and from whence could they borrow it, but from the Hiftory of Man's Fall? There you may ^vAxh^SeedoftheBlejfed^ to whom Viftory over the Serpent is promifed; and there may you fee the J^?^^//r doom- ed to eat Tiuji'^ and the Allufion to this anticnt Prophecy, in T/StmA's Defcription of the Kingdom of the AT^^j", fhews in what Senfe it was underftood of old, and for many A ges before the Birth oiChriJi. Thefe Prophecies^ relating to the King- dom of the Meffias^ have ftill a larger and .more extenfive Ufe, not confined to any particular Age, but reaching to every Age of the Qhrtjiian Church : They were given to the "^ew^. of old for the Support DISCOURSE VL 177 of their Faith, and are aftandingReproof to their Children of this Age for their Unbehef: They taught thofe oi old Time to expeO: the Kingdom of Chrift^ and are a Condemnation to thofe of this Time for rejecting it: They are a Support and ian Evidence to the Gofpel, and furnifli every true BeUever with an Anfwcr to give to him^ izho ajketh the Reafon of the Hope that is in him. They who are educated in the Belief oiChrifianity^ and taught to receive the Books of both Teftaments with equal Re- verence, are not apt to diftinguifh be*- tween the Evidence for their Faith, arif- ing from the one, and the other. But if we look back to the earlieft Times of Preaching the Gofpel, and confider how the Cafe ftood as to the Je-juijh Con- verts on one Side, who were convinced of the divine Authority of the old Tefta- ment; and as to the G^;/ri/^ Converts on the other, who had no fuch Perfuafion ; the Diftinction will appear very mani- feftly. The antient Prophecies, though they are Evidence both to the Jew and to the Gentile^ yet are they not fo to N both 1/8 DISCOURSE VI. both in the fame Way of Reafoning and DeduGion, nor to the fame End and Purpofe. For confider; they^ze'was pof- fefTed of the Oracles of God, and jfirmly perfuad^d of the Truth of them ; the very firil: thing therefore which he had to do upon the Appearence of the Mejfiah^ was to examine his Title, by the Cha- racters given of him in the Prophets; he could not, confiftently with his Belief in God, and Faith in thc^ antient Prophecies, attend to other Arguments, 'till fully fa- tisfied and convinced in this : All thePro- phecies of the oMT^ftament, relating to the Office and Charafter of the MeJJiah^ were imxmoveable Ears to all Pretenfi- ons,\ill fulfilled and accompliPned in the Perfon pretending to be thepromifed, and long expeSed Redeemer. For this Rea- fon the Preachers of the Gofpel, in ap- plying to the ^ews^ begin with the Ar- gument from Prophecy. Thus St. Taul^ in his Difcourfe with x}LiQjews2XAntmh mTij7dia^ begins with the Call o{ Abra- ham^ and after a ftort hiftorical Deduc tion ofMattersfrom thence to the Times oiT>avid^ he adds, O/if^/V Man's Seed hath DISCOURSE Vr. I7P hath God according to bis Tromife raifed unto Ifrael a Saviour Jefus, AHs xiii. 23. \ Where you fee plainly that the whole Ar- gument refts upon the Authority of Pro- phecy; and all the Parts of this Apofto- lical Sermon are anfwerable to this Be- ginning, proceeding from one End to the other upon the Authority of the old Pro- phets: But the very fame Apoftle St. 'Fatil^ preaching to the People 01 Athens ABs xvii. argues from other Topicks; he fays nothing of the Prophets, to whofe Million and Authority the Athenians. were perfeft Strangers, but begins with declaring to them, God that made the World and all Things therein ; He goes Qii condemning all idolatrous Practices, and affuring them that " God is not ijiwr- " Jhipped "with Men's Hands^ as though ^' he needed any thing, " He accounts to them for the paft Times of Ignorance at which God winked, and tells them^ that now he calls all Men to Repentance, having appointed Chrijt J ejus to be the Judge of all Men ; for the Truth of which he appeals to the Evidence of Chriji'% Refurredion, " Whereof N X fays i8o DISCOURSE VI. ''^ fays the Apoflle^ he hath given Af- " fiirance unto all Men^ in that he hath ^' raifed him from the T>ead^ " 3^. 3i- Whence conies this Difference ? How comes St. Taulh Argument^ upon one and the fame Subjeft, in J6is xiii. and xvii. to be fa unlike to each ether? Can this be accounted for any other Way, than by confidering the different Chxum- ftances of the Perfons to whom he de- livered himfelf. In ABs xiii. he argues profeffedly with Jews^ to whom were committed the Oracles of God, and who, from thefe Oracles, were well in- ftrucled in the great Marks and Charac- ters of the expefted MeJJlah. It had been highly abfurd therefore to reafon with them upon other Arguments, ''till he had firft convinced them by their Prophets; ■ — and having fo convinced them, it would have been impertinent. To them therefore he urges and applies the Autho- rity of Prophecy only: But to the ^/Z?^- raans\^j\\o knew not the Prophets, or if they knew them, yet had no Reverence or Efteem for them ; it had been quite ridiculous to offer Proofs from Prophe- cies: DISCOURSE VI. 18 1 cles: The Appeal therefore^ before them, is made to the found and clear Princi- ples of natural Religion ; and to the Mi- racles of the Gofpel, the Fame of which probably had, long before, reached to Athens ; and the Truth of which, they being mere Matters of Fa£l:, was capable of undeniable Evidence and Demonftra- tion. 'Tis very obfervable that St. Taul^ in his Sermon at Athens^ goes no further, than calling them to Repentance, and to Faith in Chrifty as the Perfon appointed by God to judge the World: In which Doftrine he had natural Religion with him in every Point, excepting the Ap- pointment oiChriJitoht Judge, for which he appeals to the Evidence, given by God in railing Jefus from the Dead. But to the Jews he fpeaks of a Saviour, of Re- miffion of Sins, of Juftification of all Be- lievers from all Things, from which the Law of il/.SE VL But themoft remarkablejpaffage of this kind, and which defer ves our particular Attention, is the Prophecy oi Alofes him- feh^, recorded in the xwn^^oVDetiterono- my. The Lord thy God will ratfe up unto thee a Trophet from the m'ldft of thee ^ of thy Brethren like unto me^ unto him ye jhall hearken^ f. if. The fame is repeat- ed again, fl 18. with this Addition; And it fl^allcome topafs^ (they are the Words of God) that whofoever will not hearken finto my JVords^ which he (that Prophet) fhall fpeak in my Name^ I will require it of him ^ f. 19. Here now is a plain Declaration on God's Part, at the very Time the Law was eftablifhed, of ano- ther Prophet, like unto Mofes^ to be raif- ed in time, as a new Lawgiver, to whom all were to yield Obedience. I know full well, that great Authorities are pro- duced for interpreting thefe Words of a SuccefEon of Prophets, in the Jewifh Church : But be the Authorities never fo great, the Appeal lies to the Law and to the Teltimony, and thither we muft go. In the firft Place, then, the Text fpeaks of one Prophet only in the Angular Num- ber, DISCOU RS E VI. 187 ber, and not of many. In this Cafe there- fore the Letter of x\\QText is with us; an Argument which ought to be of great Weight with thofe, who make fuch heavy Complaints, whenever we pretend to go beyond the literal Senfe of the old Te- ftament. But, Secondly^ To expound this PaflTage, of a Snccejfion of Prophets, and to fay that they all were to be like Mofes^ contra- dicts God's own Declaration concerning the Manner, in which he intended to deal with other Prophets. In the Twelfth oi Numbers we read, t\\'3itMiriam'^vA Aaron began to mutiny againft the Influence and Authority of Mofes. Hath the Lord fpok'en only to Mofes, fay they, hath he not fpoken alfo by us? This Cont"overfy was like to be • attended with fuchill Confequences, that God thought proper to interpofe himfelf. Hear then his Determination; If there be a Trophet among you ^ /, the Lord^ Will make my fe If known unto him in a Vijion^ and will fpeak unto him in a T^ream. My Servant Mofes is no^ fo^ who is faithful 'in all mine Houfe^ with him zvill 88 D ISC OURS E VL iJi'ill I [peak Mouth to Mouthy even ap- parently^ mid not in dark Speeches ; and the Similitude of the Lord jloall he be- hold: Wherefore then were ye not afraid to fpeak againfl my Servant Mofes ? Here now is a plain Declaration of the great Difference between Mofes and all other Prophets, and as plain an Account wherein that Difference did lie: As to all other Prophets, God declares he would fpeak to them in Vifions and in "Dreams^ but with Mofes he would converfe Mouth to Mouthy or, as it is elfewhere expreffed, Face to Face. Herein then confifted one chief Dignity and Eminence of Mofes \ and in this Refpeft the Prophets oUfrael were not to be like him. Thirdly^ That the likenefs to Mofes . fpoken of in the Paflage under Confide- ration, hadafpecial Regard to this {'m^iu Izx 'Privilege of feeing God Face to Face ^ is evident, partly from the Text it felf, and partly from theClofe of theBook of ^T) enter onomy^ compared with the Text: In the Text it felf, a Promife is given of a Prophet like Mofes ^ which Likenefs in the i8'^^ Verfe is expounded by God's fay- ing, DISCOURSE VI. 185? mg, I willful my JVords in his Mouth : Which imports fomething more than Ipeakifig to him in Vifions and in "Dreams : And that the Likenefs to Alojes was un- derftood to confift in this immediate Com- munication with God, is moft evident from the laft Verfes of the Book; where it is faid: yind there aroje not a Tro- ;phetJiHce in Ifrael like untoyioios^whom the Lord knew Face to Face, Who added thefe Words to the Book of Deu- teronomy 5 it matters not at prefent to enquire ; for, they having been received in the Jewi/h Church, are an authentick Teftimony, firft, how the antient Jews understood thefe Words, like unto Mofes-^ and Secondly^ That the antient Church had feen no Prophet like unto Mofes: And yet they had a Succeflion of Pro» phets immediately from the Death ofMo- fes^ of whom Jojhua was the firft ■^-; and thefe laft Verfes of Deuteronomy^ added after, at leaft in the Time of Jojhua^ ex- clude him from all Pretenfions of beine the Trophet^ or one of the Prophets like unto Mofes: And if this Charader will * Ho[. xii. 13, Ecclus, slvi. i^ not ipo DISCOURSE VI. not fit Jojhiia^ much lefs will it fit thofe who fucceeded him, who were not great- er, nor had greater Employment under God, than ^he: An evident Proof, that thePromife of a Prophet like tmtoMofes^ was not underfl:ood by the antient Jew- ijh Church, to relate to a Succeffion of Prophets among them; fincethey declare to us, that in the Succeffion of Prophets, there had not been one like unto Mo/es. Thelaterj^^ic^j- have not departed from the Opinion of their Anceftors in this refpefl:. They diilinguifli A^^j-from all other Piophets, and the higheft Degree of Infpiration is ftyled by them Gradus Mofncus. The Difference between this Degree and all others, they make to con- fift in four Particulars, i. Mofes had no Dreams nor Vifions. 2. He had Light from God immediately, without the Mi- niftry or Interpofirion of Angels. 3 . His Mind was never difturbed or difmayed by the prophetick Influence, For God [pake to him as a Man fpeaks to his Friend^ 4. He cou'd prophefy at all Times when he wouM 5 whereas others prophefy'd 3 DISCOURSE VI. 191 prophefyM only at particularTimes,whea the Word of God came to them f . Another chief Dignity belonging to Mofcs^ and in which the Prophets un- der the Law were not like unto him, is^ that he was a Law-giver. No Prophet after Mojes was fent with fuch a Com- miffion, during the Time of the Law ; and yet the Prophet here foretold was evidently to refemble Mofes in this par- ticular. " He was to fpeak all that God '' commanded h'lm^ and whoever heark- ^' ened not to him was to be defiroyed. '* Mofes had no greater Authority than this, nor can any Words defcribe a great- er. Befides, there is a Circumftance be- longing to this Prophecy, which ties it down, I think, to tliis Senfe. Alofes fays, God will raife up unto thee a Tro- fhet like unto me^ according to all that j thou dejiredfl of him in Horeb, in the T)ay \ of the Ajfemhly^ faying. Let me fiot hear j again the Voice of the Lord my God-^ neither let me fee this great Fire any more^ that I die not. And the Lordfaid unto me^ they have well fpoken ■ / (t) See Smith': Heie^ Di/ccurjes, Page 261. wiU ipi D I SCOURS E VI. '-jvill raife them up aTrof bet from amon^ their Brethren like unto thee^ and ijuill fut 7ny Words in his Mouthy and he Jhall fpeak unto them all that I Jhall command hi7n^ &c. It is to be obferved, that this Requeft of the People was made at tliQ giving of the Law in Horeb : Mofes had often /r^- p?efiedto them before, and they were not put under any Terror by it; but when theL^^I^^was delivered^ 2.ndGod.defc end- ed in Fire^ and the "uuhole Mount quaked greatly^ they defired, that Mofes might fpeak to them, and not God, left they iliould die: Upon this the Promife is given, / isjill raife them a Trophet like ttnto thee^ and put my JVords in his Mouth* Is it not evident, that this new Prophet was to do that, in a familiar gentle Way, which God himfelf did in the Mount, furrounded with, Majefty and Terror? And was not that, the giving of the Law? To apply this Promife to any thing elfe, is making it to have no rela- tion to the Requeft upon which it was granted. The People XV<^v uu(pi'oxA?^e^ ycc^. Ofigen. apud Eufeb. Lib. 6. cap. 15. I tI'm 'j (pi^^lw dv'Js ^^jV-^'-^i cine <^S'tx9i:Tov ^ (i"xt HhXwi icory^dS-^ 7e^^^». l^ib. 3. cap. 3. vide cap.^s- ^. would joz Dissertation L would have been a ftronger ObjeQiion a- gainft the Authority of the Epiftle, than the antient Sufpicion, and more worthy of the Hiftorian's Notice. What Submiffion is due to the Doubts of Antiquity, when we have only the Doubt tranfmitted to us , without the Reafons upon which it was grounded, I need not enquire; but furely when we liave the Reafons of the Doubt preferv- ed, we have a very good Right to judge and enquire for our felves : And this hap- pens to be the Cafe here: St. Jerom takes notice of this Doubt, and tells us the Reafon of it: The JecofidEfijlle^ fays he, is rejeBed by many^ for by moji^ a plerif- que) becaufe it differs in Style from the Firjl^. The whole Doubt, you fee, is founded upon a Piece of Criticifm, ftarted ^t firfl; probably by fome Man of Learning and Figure, and followed implicitly by others. The Ufage and Authority of the Church, for ought that appears to the contrary, were on the fide of the Epiftle, and pre* * Quarutn fecunda a plerifque rejicitur, propter ftyli cum priore diffonantiam. Catal, Script, E'cclef. vaile^ D I S S E RTAT 1 O N I. 203 yailed at laft agalnft the learned Obfer- yation : Which was the very Cafe of St. Jude\ Epiftle, which, for a like Reafon, was reiefted bymany,butthe general Au- thority of the Church prevailed to efta- blifh it ; ant or it at em vetuftate ^ ufu me- ruit^ \£ inter fan£i as Scripttras compt- tatur'^. That there is a Difference in the Style of the firft and fegond Epiftles ofSt.y^- ter^ is allowed ; but it is not fuch a Dif- ference as ought to create any Doubt of the Genuinenefs of the Epiftle. One Rea- fon is, becaufe this difference of Stylq does not run through the whole Epiftle, but affeGs only on^ Part of it ; another Reafon is, that this Difference may be more probably accounted for, than by fuppofing thefecond Epiftleto come from another Hand than the firft. The fecond Epiftle is divided into three Chapters ; the firft and the third fland clear of this Difficulty, agreeing very well with the Style of the firft Epiftle. The fecond Chapter is full of bold Figures^ c and abounds in pompous Words and Ex- — — ■ — — —— ^ ^ • * Hieron, Catal. Scr.'pt. Ecci. preffions: 204 Dissertation I. preflions: It is a Defer iption of tliefalfe Prophets and Teachers, who infefted the Church, and perverted theDoQirines of theGofpel \ and it feems to be an ExtraQ: from fome antient Jewi/h Writer, who had left behind him a Defcription of the falfe Prophets of his own, or perhaps earlier Times ; which defcription is ap- plied both by St. Teter and ^t.Jude to the falfe Teachers of their own Times* If this be the Cafe, where is the Wonder that a Paffage tranfcribed from another Author, and inferted into this fecond E- piftle, ftiould differ in Style from St. SP^- ters firft Epiftle? efpecially, confidering diat the Style of this Paffage differs as much from all the reft of this fecond E* piftle, as it does from the firft. St. Je- rom ^ fuppofed, and others -f^ have fol- lowed his Opinion, that St. Teter made ufe of different Interpreters to exprefs his Senfein his twoEpiftles; but had this been the Cafe, the Difference of Style would have appeared in the wholeE^ittlGy « and not in one Part of it only, which is * Epift. ad Hedibiam c^u^ft. z, t Eftius, Calmer, CT-c, Dissertation I. 20 y the prcfent State: And I fee no Reafon to think that St. Teter did not write both his Epiftles himfelf. Were this nothing but a ConjeOiure, yet fo reafonable an one it is, that the Doubt raifed againft this fecond Epiftle, merely from this Difference of Style, could hardly ftand before it. But we can go further, and fliew upon very probable Grounds that this was indeed the Cafe. The very Beginning of the fecond Chap- ter, of this fecond Epiftle, fhews that St. y^/^rhad the Image of fome antient falfe Prophets before him, in defcribing the falfe Teachers of his own Time : 7 here were falfe Trophets alfo among theTPeo- jple^ even as there fo all be falfe Teachers among yoti^ f*i> If you confider the Character he gives of thefe falfe Teachers, it will appear to be drawn from the De- fcription of the old falfe prophets; fetch they are^ he tells us, as have forfaken the right JVay^ and are gone aftray^ follcji'- ing the IV ay of Balaam the Son i^/'Bofor, who loved the Wages ofUrirightcoufnefs^ f.\$. A very natural Thought this, and to be expeded, in a Defcription of falfe Prophets o5 D IS SERTATION I. Prophets made by an antient Jewijh Writer; but fuch an one as hardly wouM have occurred in an original Defcriptiofi of the falfe Teachers under the Gofpel ; St. J tide has this Comparifon, and others of the fame kind joined with it : They have gone in the Way of Cain, and ran greedily after the Error ^/Balaam, and ferijhed in the Gain- faying ofCo\:Q.f, i i, Thefe are antique Figures and difcov ertiie Age to which they belong: And St.Jude tells us plainly that thefe falfe Teachers were ^SuclXcu 'Zirpcyif^fA^uivoi elg rinp 7d K^jucty defcribed or fet forth of old for this Con^ demnation ; and 'tis very likely that both St. Teter and he had the old Defcription before them, when they gave the Cha- racter of the falfe Teachers of their own Times. St. Jtide\ Epiftle is fo like the fecond Chapter of St. Teter's fecond E- piftle, the Figures and Images in both are fo much the fame, as likewife the antient Examples and Inftancesmade ufe of, that it has been commonly thought that St. Jtide copied after St. Teter\ Epiftle : And yet the Turn of Words and Ex- prefTions are fo different; the Choice of Matter D I S S E R t A T I O K T. Matter likewife is in Part fo different, fome things being mentioned in one^ and omitted in the other; that 'tis much more probable that both copied from the fame Original, and drew from it according to their own Judgments. I will give fome Inftances of this, and leave the reft to the Reader's own Examination: 20;^ St. Peter, f. 4, ^^6. TloXsig SoJo- ^ojv }i Tof^Lcppag re- i&t'Kcig, St. Jude^ Sf> 6. Tripy,(rctflckg r iciJu]ou^ hvig v]jM(7^.g ^ ^iT(A.oig cl'taioig \szji l^i(pov n- f. 7. '9,g lihuct, ouurdg ^cXetg r c^oicv TiiTOig TfOTTOV C^/.TTOO" vdjG-cta-cUj 5^ dTTiK^^* crou cttIt'm QaoKog iri^ fij-g. J^. II. 2o8 Dissertation I. f .11/ Ay fe^ctl^m f.(). *0 ^ Mi;^A^'A Tc SiwccfA^i f^£i^cv2gQfjegy o'^x^y^^^®^^ orerZ St. Teterf^Q^ks o?th.t Angels th^t Jin- ned^ St. Jtide gives an account of their Sin, that they kept not their firjl EJiate^ but left their oizit Habitation : This Ac- count of the Angels Sin is no where elfe to be found in Scripture, but was, if I may guefs, in the old Book from which St. Jude tranfcribed ; for 'tis very un- likely that he fliould add thefe Circum- ftances, if he had only St. ^P^i^^^^'s dfyihc^jv duct^yjfTclvlctiv^ before him. The very fame Difference may be obferved in fetting forth the Example of Sodom and Gomor- rha^ which is common to both Epiftles ; St. Teter /peaks only of their Judgment, and of their being made an Example to Sinners : St. Jude adds an Account of their Crime : And though, as far as the two Epiftles agree in refpeft to this Inftance, the Images and Ideas are the fame, yet the Turn of Expreflion is very different. Again: Dissertation I. 109 Again, St. Tcter i\ 11. in reproof of the J^refumptuous and Self-willed who j^^j>& Evil of TJignities^ fays, That Angels which are greater in Tower and Might bring not railing Accitfdticns again fi thetn before the Lord; but here St. J/z^V has given us the Hiftory to which this be- longs, Michael the Arch- Angel ^ when contending with theDevil about the Be- dy ccc , yi^VYif^cL cig ciXcvTiv :^ (pi^Qi^Vy c-v oig dyvo^- a ^KciG-^yiiJL^v'jig , cv ddfi^a-ij^o^ug ^ /SAo^O"' Koog ^ ccg ret ccAayct In Dissertation I. m , In thefe Inftances the Language of St. Jude ismach plainer and fimpler than St. Teters^ and reprefents the Meaning com- mon to both Epiftles, much more intel- ligibly; and whoever will be at the Pains to examine the two Epiftles care- fully, will find more InRances of this hind; where the Sentiments and No- tions are the fame, and the manners ot Expreffion very different. Whence can proceed this Agreement and Difagree- ment at once? Had one tranfcribed the other, or had both copied from the fame Greek Author , the Language of one Epiftle v/ould probably have anfwered more nearly to the Language of the o- ther; and yet the Sentiments and Noti- ons of the two Epiftles arc fo much the fame, that we muft needs fuppofe the two Writers to follow one and the fame Copy ; and if we fuppofe this Copy to have been in the y^-ze-i/?;' Language, and that each Writer tranflated for himfelf; this w^ill anfwer the whole Appearence, a:nd account as well for their Difference as their Agreement. The Difference; which appears in the parallel Places, lafl P % quoted/ ail Dissertation I. quoted, may indeed be accounted for up- on the Suppofition that St. Jude tran- fcribed from St. Teter, He might in- tend perhaps to make plain the abftrufe PaiTagcs^ and to that end might make choice of a plainer Way of expreffing himfelf But the former Paffages can- not be thus accounted for, which will appear if we confider further ; That the fubjed Matter, common to thefe two Epiftles, v/as without Doubt taken from fome old Jewijh Author by one or both of thefe Writers. That St, Jude had the old Book before him, and did not merely copy after St. Teter^ is evident, for he exprefsly quotes Enoch^ meaning either a Book under that Name and Title, or, which is more probable, fome antient Book of J^£"ze7y/7 Traditions, in which fome Prophecies oiEuochw^x^ recorded. St. ']ude by telling us whence he had his Defcription ofthefalfe Pro- phets, has informed us, at the fame time, whence St.y^/^r had the Materials of the fecond Chapter of his fecond Epiftle; which is tlie very fame Defcription^ with fuch Varieties, as have already been ob- ^ ferved. Dissertation I. 213 fcrved. It is very remarkable, that, not- withftanding this great Agreement be- tween the two Epiftles, St. 'Peter has an Inftance not to be fomid in ^'^,Jtide\ and St. Jude has another not to be found in ^t.Teter. St. J//^^ quotes the Prophecy oiEnoch^ of which "ii.Teter fays no- thing; ^t.Teter refers to the T reach- ing oi Noah^ of which ^^.Jnde fays no- thing: Suppofing one to be a mere Tran- fcriber of the other, 'tis hard to account for this Variation ; efpecially, confidering that the Preaching referred to by St. Pe- ter ^ under the Name oi Noah^ and the Prophecy referred to by St. Jttdey under the Name of Enoch ^ relate to one and the fame thing, the ^eftru8:ion of the old World. But if you will fuppofe both Apoftles to ufe an antient Je'UL'i/h Book, in which the Prophecies oi Enoch and Noah^ relating to the Flood, were recorded, 'tis eafy to account for the Re- ference to Noah by St. Peter ^ to Enoch by St. J tide. This may ferve to account for thedif- ferent Styles in St. Peter\ two Epillles, obferved of old: I add, and for theDi& fcrence of Style, in the fecond Epiftle it- P 3 fdf ZI4 Dissertation I. felf^ for the Style of the fecond Chapter is no more like to that of the otlier two, than it is to thatof thefirft Epiftle. When a Man expreiTes his own Sentiments, he writes in its own proper Style, be it what it will ; but when he translates froni another, he naturally follows the Genius of the Original, and adopts the Figures and Metaphors of the Author before him. The Eajiern Languages abound in high fwelling W^ys of Expreffion ; and you rnay find in this one Chapter of St- Te- ter\ more Refemblance of this Manner,, than in any other Part of the newTefta- ment; which is a further Confirmation of the Account which I have given. But if this v/ill help to clear one DiiB- culty, w411 it not neceffarily fubjefl: this fecond Epiftle of St, Teter to another % it is an old Objection againft the Autho- rity of St. Jitde'% Epiftle, that he quotes the fpuriousBook oiEnoch^ and, for this yery Reafon,^ -f his Epiftle was placed "; * Ji-i^'is- fr.?tcr Jacob! parvam, qu22 ue leptem CiUiio- licis ell, Epiitolam reiiquir. Et quia de Libro Kncch, qui Apocryphus eO, in eo afTumic teftimonium, a pie- niq; rejiciiur. Tamsn authoritAtem vetiiftatc jam & y.u lueruir, c?c inter San^ias Scripturas compucatur. Dissertation I. 21; among the uvJiMyojuevcou, ov doubttu!, by the Antients. And is not Teteyh fecond Epijftle become liable to the very lame Charge? I will not trouble the Reader with a long Account, or any Account of the fpuriousBook under the Name o^ Enoch^ w^hich made a very early Appearence in the Chriftian Church, and is quoted by Irenaus^ Qrtgen^ and others about the fame Time. Whoever pleafes to know the State of this Book, miay confult Fa- br ictus ^ in his Codex Tfeud, Vet, TeJ}^ But, ''Tis no Wonder that feme antient Chriftians who took it for granted, that St. Jnde quoted the fame Book , which they had under the Name of ^/i;^?^/?, made it an Objeclion againft the Authority of his Epifrle. For this Book Enoch was a mere Romance, and full of the idle In- ventions of fome Helleniftick Jezv, But then, there is not the leaft Evidence that thisfpuriousBook w^as extant in the Days of the Apoftlesj nor indeed any kind of Proof tliat St. Jnde quotes a Book called Enoch \ it is more likely that he quoted P 4, fom^ ii6 Dissertation I. fome antient Book containlno; the Tra- ditions of the Jeisjijh Church which has been long fince loft-, and probably con- tained many things relating to other an- tient Patriarchs and Prophets, as well as to Enoch. The Lqfs of which was mi- ferably fupplicd by forging Books under the Names of the Patriarchs: To this w^e owe the Life ^/Adam, the Book ^/Seth, the Teflamtnts of the Tatriarchs^ and many others of the like Nature, which were fpread abroad in very early Days of the Church. What thetrue antientBookwas^which St, J tide qijoted, by whom penned, or what Authority it had in the 'jew'ijh Church, no Mortal can tell: This only we know J it was not among; their f^;/6';/i- cal Books. But let the Book be fuppofed to have been of as little Aythority as you pleafe.^ yet if it contained a goodDefcrip- tion of the ancient falfe Prophets, why priight not St. Teter and St. Jude make lufe of that Defer iptiqn, as well as St. Tatil quote Heathen Poets? St. Teter plainly piakes no other Ufe of it, and therefore ftands clear of cpuntenancing the Autho- rity Dissertation I. ii^r rity of the Book : St Jude goes further, and quotes a Prophecy out of it, as be- ing an authentick one: and can you tell that it was not an authentick Prophecy? I am fure the Prophecy itfelf, as reported in St. Jndeh Epiiiles, was well founded, and was duly accompliQied; and is in truth but the very Prophecy which came from God to Noah\ and very probably had been communicated before to Eitoch and by him to the old World. Was it ever made an Objeflion againft the Authority of St. TauPs fecond Epiftle to Timothy^ that he quotes fome antient Apocryphal Book for the Story of Jannes and "^mn- bres? Or is it any Diminution to the Au- thority of the Gofpel, that our Saviour (as many learned think) quotes another fuchBook, under the Title oithtfVi/dom QfGod^ ^ and appeals to it, as containing antient Prophecies? If not, how comes it to be an ObjeGion againft St. Jr/de'^s Epiftle^ that he quotes a Prophecy of Enoch from the like Authority ? For thefe Reafons, little regard is due to the Objection of the Antients, againft * Lul;e XI. 4^. the ^ 1 8 Dissertation. I. the Authority of St. 7^/^^'s Epiftle: They fuppofed their fpurious extravagant Book Enoch ^ to be the Book quoted by St. Jude ; and they reafoned upon this Suppofition; for which in the mean time, there was laot the leaft Appearence of Proof, or Evidence; and the Epiftle itfelf was uni- verfally received in the Churches, not- withftanding this Piece of Criticifm, as we are inform'd by St. Jerom^ in the Paflage before quoted. There are indeed fome Notions in wh ich thefe two Epiftles agree, and which could not poflibly be drawn from any antient Jewijh Book ; for thefe Notions, of which Tnowfpeak, '^xtChriJlian^oXA- ons peculiar to the Times of the Got pel. The Paffagcs which fliew this Agree- ment, are thefe chiefly which follow: a Peter ii. Jude, 'Dissertation L 219 3^« 13. S/T^Act >Cj -f dTToUTCUgclvTCO]/^ (TV' Ch.iii. 2, 3. Mv^- tB'yjvcu T 'ZsrcQeipyjf^Si/JMV fyjf^ciTMV xso^ r dyicov 'ZU-pO'prjl^V^ Kj T'T d^o- •73 TTPUTOV yiVci- cv T ctyccTTcoig vfjM dyctTr'Jjjo]^ fA.v^(^'/i^lz v pVilJjccTCdv r 'oU'poeiP'iiA^ vcov xjzji r '^<7rj9oAav X^9^. '''Or; iAifov X^ Tag iavia)y dTZiuvf^i- Ug "l^OpdjQL^JOl T d(Tl- In the firft of thefe PaiTages, the Fk- ^ei(rih(TAv of St. Jtide has a plain Refem- blance and Reference to the YloL^etG-d'z^^^nv of St- Teter-j both Words are formed upon tiie fame Notion, and are meant to defcribe the Craft and fubtlclnfinuation " • ■ ^ " ■ of. 210 Dissertation I. of the new falfe Teachers. The turning X^t/v elg oi(riAfeictv in St. J tide ^ anfwers the cu^iT^g cl7rco.\eicig in St. Teter\ and for the reft, the PafTages are nearly the fame, and refer to Gofpel Notions. If the fecond PaiTage of St. Teter be read, as it ought to be, according to the Alexandrian Manufcript, which has (^.yd- TTc^A^, inftead of dTrclrctig^ it agrees exactly with St. Judes ; and the Feafts peculiar to ChrtjVians are meant in both Places. The third PaiTage relates to the Apoftles oiChrtJi'^ and it is the principal PaiTage to incline one to think that St. Jude had St. Teterh Epiftle before him ; for he feems to take w^hat is proper to his own Purpofe, and the Subieft of his Epiftle; and to leave that which has a peculiar Re- ference, to the former Part oiSt.Teter\ Epiftle, and to which there is nothing in his own to anfwer : ^t. Tete?^ in the firft Chapter of this fecond Epiftle, and likewiiein his firft Epiftle, tells the Chri-: jVians of the ant tent Tro^hecies , fore- fhewing the Deliv^erance near at Hand : He warns them likewife a^ainft the ncjj falfe Teachers in this fecond Epiftle: Therefort^ Dissertation I. in Therefore collecting the Purpofe of his Epiftles, he fays that he wrote to them to remind them, i. Of the JVords '-juhtch iJDere fpoken before by the holy Prophets : a. And of the Command of the Apofiles^ which Command refpeSed the Scoffers in the laft Days. But St. Jtide^ who had faid nothing of the antient Prophecies, and had fpent his whole Epiftle in de- fcribing the Iniquity of the falfe Teach- ers, reminds them only of the Words fpoken by the Jjpojiks of Chrift Jefus, who had, together with theDoftrine de^ livered to them, forewarned them, that there jhotild be Mockers in the laft Time. I fee no Inconvenience m fuppofmg that St. 'Jtide had as well the Epiftle of ^i.Teter^ as the old3^^uy//Z?Book, w^hicli contained the Defcription of the ancient falfe Prophets and the Prophecy oi Enoch concerning them, before him at the fame Time. If thefe laft Paffages prove that he had St. Teter's Epiftle, his exprefs quoting oi Enoch fliews that he liad the other. In following the old Book, and en- larging from thence thelnftances made ufe of by St.Teter^ and expreffing inWords of his own the Sentiments of the ori- ginal Hi Dissertation I. ginal Author, v/ithout confining him- felf to the Verfion of St. Teter^ he did no more than is natural for any Man to to do in a like Cafe. But perhaps there may be another Account to be given of this Agreement between thefe two Epi- ftlesj by referring them to fome further common Source or Original* St. Jtide calls upon the Chrijiians to whom he wrote, to remember r prifjudrajv 'ha-i Xe/9-^; The Words vjhtch "Jijere fpo- ken before oftheJfoJilesofCWA. They, who do not place St. Jude in the Num« ber of Apoftles, are under no Difficulty here; it was natural for one of a lower Rank to refer to the Authority and Pre- diftions of Chrtfi\ Apoftles. But what inufl: we fay for St. Teter^ who makes the fame Appeal, and was undoubtedly an Apoftle ofC/:?ri/?himfelf ? Did lie think that he had lefs Authority, or was lefs to be regarded than other Apoftles ? Or for whatkeafon did he appeal to that Autho-= rity in others, which he had Right to in- fifton himfelf? This Matter is fomething mended by our Englijh Verfion, Be mind-^ . fut Dissertation L tt^ ful of the Commands of VS^ the Apoflles of the Lord and Saviour. But the Order of the Words in our Greek Copies will not bear this rendring; r 'A7ro5"oA<5e;i/ ^[jLmx to anfwer ourVerfion we muft read jf^^i/ r 'KTro^^oKm : Thus St, Taul often fpeaks, lyci^ llaDA©-, / Taitl: but never n^uA@- lyo^^ Tan II. And fince there is evidently a Diflocation of the Word ^_fjLU)v in St. Teter^ and it muft be placed elfewhere, it ought probably to be placed, as St. Jude has placed "it, after Kty^'i^: and then the-fi;/^////? Verfion muft be thus The Commandment of the Apoftles ofoitr Lord and Saviour. There muft be fomething particular in this Cafe ; otherv/ife, for an Apoftle to appeal to the Authority of Apoftles, as fomething fuperior to his own, is not very natural. But ifwefuppofe that the Apo- ftles had a Meeting upon this great Cafe of the new falfe Teachers^ and that they gave jointly, by common Confent and Deliberation, !Pr^f ^/ifj- proper to theOc- cafion, to be communicated to all Church- es, no fingle Apoftle wou'd, or cou'd, in this Cafe^ call the common Injunc- 8 tioa i24 - Dissertation L tion his Cornnidndment , but wouM cer-^' tainly call ii:, in the Language of St. Te- ter^ the Co??j?nandment of the A^ojlles of Gtir Lord. St. Taul\\-?s an Apoftle, yet was it no Difparagement to him to car- ry the Decree of the Council oifenifa- km to the Churches of his Plantation; and, inwritingj or fpeaking, he could not but have called it the T>ecree of the Afo- files. The Cafe might be the fame here. We have fome Evidence to fliew that this was the Cafe. That there was fuch a Tradition, at leaft, in the Church, is evi- dent from the Apoftolical Conftitutions : In which there is mention made of a Meeting of the Apoftles upon the very Account of thefe falfe Teachers, fo parti- cularly defcribed by St. Teter2Si^ 'it.Jtide. In the thirteenth Chapter of the fixth Book, thefe falfe Teachers are defcribed to be fuch as, 'Zoo^sitkcri X^^-^I) ^ 'Nlc^G-eij fight againft Ciwi'ix ^WMofes, pretending, at the fame timiC, to value both: And thus the falfe Teachers, mentioned in both E- piftles, communicated with the Church, whilft they corrupted its Faith : They were, bv ? dydTrcug a^iXcihg^ Sfo'ts in the Churches Dissertation f. 225 Churches Feajis^ Jude, }J^.ii. They arc ordered to be expelled in the Apoftolical Conftitutions that tlie Lambs might be preferved Cyicl ii uooriXay Sound and 'oi'tth-- cut Spot. They are reprefented in the Apoftolical Conftitutions, as the falfe Chrijfians and falfeTrophets foretold in the Gofpel. — Gecv fiAciT(pyifA,Svl€g,K^ r ijov alrrJ' iL(£\ct7rc^T^\i\tq\ which agrees exactly with St. Jude\ Account of them, — that they had been foretold by the Apoftles, and that they denyed the only Lord God^ and our Lord Jefus Chrift. ij, 4. And with St. ^eter'^s likewife, — • JVho bring in da^n- nable Herefies^ denyiiig the Lord that bought theWy Chap.ii. f. i. At this Meeting, 'tis faid, InftruQ:ions were given to be communicated to all Churches by their refpeftive Apoftlesand Bifhops ; there were probably then many circular Letters fent upon this Occafion; the fecond Epiftle of St. Teter and St^ Jfideh Epiftle feem to be of this fort - and being drawn upon the fameOccafion and upon the fame InftruQiions, 'tis no Wonder they agree fo well together. O There t6 Dissertation L There are in the Epiftles themfel^Tesr fome M arks which confirm the foregoing Account: The very Word OvjoX^g'] ufed by St. Teter^ when he makes mention of the Apoftles Authority, points out fome particular and diftinguifhed Precept: For lie does not feem to refer to the general Preaching, or Doctrines of the Apoftles,, but to {omtjpecial Command^ or Form of Doftrine relating to the falfe Teachers. This is that b7oA>J wa^^o^^rra. mentianed in the Clofe of the foregoing Chapter^ the Commandment delivered to the Faith- ful^ to guard them againft the Corrupti- ons of the falfe Teachers^ and to fhew them r ollv '^ liKouoTxjvYig ^ The JVay of Right eotifnefs. This Warning, fa folemn- ly given, would, as the Apoftle infifts, be an Aggravation in the Cafe of all fuch as having been made thus acquainted with the Way of Righteoufnefs,fliould never- thelefs turn afide c/y^ t^ 'uira^a^o&eia-Yig dujotg dylug hloAr^g: From the holy Command-^ ment delivered unto them, St. Jade plainly fays that his Epiftle was wrote purely upon the Account of the falfe Teachers : That his Intentions were Dissertation I. 227 were to have written to them, 't^} -^ Kom,g (ro^y!i/.ctg^ of the common Doctrines of Salvation; but that he had quitted the Defign being necejjitated (^dvdyKlw tvci/) to write to them to ftrive for the Faith delivered to thie Saints, in oppoHtion td the falfe Teachers who had ftollen in a- inong them. The Senfe of this Paffage is loft in our Tranfiation, as it is likewife in both the Interpretations propofed by Erafmtis ^ upon the Place, in which he has been followed by moft of thofe, who came after him. Interpreters have been milled by confounding the '^om^ o-culyj^ot, and thesr^- ^^oS-^gci -zs-i^ig together, as if they meant one and the fame thing; whereas they mean quite different Things. The com- mon Saivation^ here fpoken of, means the Doftrines of the Gofpel publiflied to all the World without refpeft to Diffe- rence of Times or Seafons, or to parti- cular Doftrines of the Corrupters of the Faith : The ^ct^oz(ieia-cL ^i^^g^ is the fame with the 'zocf.^^o'^Hcrci oflohYj in St. Teter^ the Fo7m of found T)o6irine^ fent to all the Churches, by Diredion of the Apo-^ Q- ^ ftle^j^ xiS Dissertation I. ftles, in oppofition to the falfe Teachers. This then is the Meaning of St. 7//^^, and thus it may be paraphrafed: " Beloved, " I was intent upon the Defign of writ- " ing to you upon the common Doc- " trines and Hopes of theGofpel^for the " Improvement ofyour Faith and Know- " ledge in Chrift Jefus ; but I find my ^' felf obliged to lay afide this Defign, ^^ and to warn you againft aprefentDan- " ger, to exhort you to earneftnefs in " contending for that true DoSrine once ^' already delivered to you and all the *-^ Faithful', in Oppofition to the falfe ^^ Teachers, who are crept in unawares " among you " . The Arabkk and Ethiopick Verfions have both preferved this Senfe in fome Meafure; the Arabkk comes very near the true Meaning; the Senfe of which the Latin Interpreter has thus expreffed, O dile5ii mei^ omni Studio adhibit o ut fcriberem vobis de falute perfeEia uni^ 'vcrfali^ at que communis coadius fum fcribere vobis^ deprecans tit foUciti Jit is in fide qua femel tradita eji fan6iis. The Ethiopick Yerfion fpeaks of this Faith once Dissertation I. ii^ mce delivered to the Saints as fuper- added to thc^common Teaching, and con- fequently as diftin^: from th^KOiVijccJl'^^cty the common Salvation. But: to come nearer our Point, the A- greement of the two Epiftles in the De- fcription of the falfe Teachers; it is to be obferved that both St. Teter and St. Jnde profefs to write as reminding their Churches of Things with which they had before been made acquainted. ^ St. Jnde fays exprefsly that the verySubjeft of this Letter had once ah'eady been known unto them : xs^ilc^j^jtui dl vy.a,g(ii^Ko- ^^, eiCCTctg vfxcig ciTfci^ tSto on o }cv^/@^ AcicV or. yr^g 'A:>cJ7r7^, k. r. A. The Word (ctVc^l) ufed here is the fame we met with before; the dyrct.^ Txrct^^ofjeia-ct •sr/^-i^-, and the ei^oTug vy.oig cItto,^ t^td are relative to the fame matter; and it appears that the Warning againft the falfe Teachers, and theprophetickDefcription of them were fent to the Churches together with the (b7cAj;) Commandment. It appears like- v/ife that both St. Teter and St. Jude * Compare i Pet. iii. f ^- with ^nde y, f. 5, CL 3 wrote 230 Dissertation L wrote their Epiftles, after this Corn- mandment had been delivered to the fe- yeral Churches; for they write to them^ remhdmg them of what they had before received. This being the Cafe, there is no Ne- ceffity to fuppofe that ^t.Jtidc tranfcrib- ed St. Y>/^^?''s Epiftle: 'Tis much more probable that both he and St. ^^/^^r wrote: from the common Pian communicated to the Churches ; and drew their Defcrip- tion of the filfe Teachers from the fame ^pochryphal Book. But be this as it will^ yet upon all Views the fecond Epiftle ot St. Teter ftands clear of the old Objec- tion drawn from the Difference of Style between his iirft and fecond Epiftleso DiSSEJo 1^1 D I S S ERT ATIO N II. The Senfe of the A?ittents before Christ ufon the Circumftances and Confeqtiences of the Fall. Y Intention is not to fearch a& ter Paffagesin Heathen Authors, which may feem to bear fome Refemblance to the Mofaick Hiftory of the Fall, but to trace the Senfe of the Je^-jvi/h Church as far as it can be colleded. As there are no Records left, but the Books of the old Teftament, to give Light Xo this Enquiry, and no Book of the old Q, 4 Teftament 2>^% Dissertation IL Teflament, after Mofes^ treats direftly of this Subject; it cannot be expefted that I Ihould produce a full and regular Expo- fition of the Circumftances and Confe- quences of the Fall^ from fo few Re- mains, and in this refpcQ; fo very imper- fect. All that can be done, is to gather up the little which fell from thefe old "Writers, rather accidentally, than pur- pofely ; and to try whether, from their References and Allufions to this Hiftory, we can with any tolerable Degree of Pro- bability, collect their Senfe, or the S^nfe of the Times, in which they lived, upon this Subje£t. The Hiftorical Writers of the old Teftanient were never led within view of this antient Story, by the Oc- currences in v/hich they are concerned ; from them confequently no Light is to be expefted. Moral Writers had fome- times Occafion to reflect upon the State of the World, and to confider how things came into the State and Condition, in which they found them: Prophets like- wife, who were Teachers of Pvcligion, were in the fame Cafe; from thefe we fnay expeft fome Affiftance, Dissertation II. 233 You fee within how narrow a Com- pafs we are reduced; but yet no Help is to be refufed w^hich can be had in fo material a Concern. The moral and theological Difficulties, relating to this point will not be ftated or diicuffed upon the Foot of this Enquiry. It was the Wifdom of Antiquity to bury all fuch Difficulties, in the Abyfs of infi- nite V/ifdom and Power, and there to leave them till God fliould think proper to bring them to Light; and had we fome- thing of the fame Spirit, it would be the better for us. But the moft curious and inquifitive have no Reafon to expeO: a Solution of all the Difficulties of this fori, from the Teachers of the Gofpeh For wdiat has the Gofpel to do with them. ? The moral and natural Evils in the World were not introducedhy the Gofpel; w^hy then mull: the Gofpel be called upon to account for them, rather than any other P.eligion, orSeft of Phiio bphy? If there had never been an old Teftament, never a new one. Mankind wou'd have been at leail as corrupt and miferable as they are at prefent. "What liarm then have the old ^34 Dissertation II. old and the new Teftament done to you, that you perpetually challenge them to account to you for the Evil you fufFer ? You miflike perhaps the Story of Adam and Eve^ and can by no Means digefl the Account of the Serpent's tempting, and prevailing againft our firft Parents : Very well ; let this Account then be laid afide, and what are you now the better? Is there not x\\tfame £1^7/ remaining in the World, whether you believe, or be^ lieve not the Story of the Fall ? And if fo, what Account do Y O U pretend to give of it? for if you pretend to any Re- ligion you are as liable to be called to this Account, as any Profeffor or Teacher of the Gofpel. No Body is exempt in this Cafe, but the Athieft ; and his Privilege comes from hence, that he has no Account to give of any thing ; for all Difficulties are alike upon this Scheme. Leaving then thefe Difficulties, which are common to all Religions, and notpe- culiar to our prefent Enquiry, let us pro- ceed to trace theHiftory of the Fallinthe ^.ntientWriterSv The Dissertation II. 23J The oldeft Book we have remaining, is the Book of Job ; there is all the Ap- pearence, that can arife from internal Characters, that it was yritten before any of the Books of Mofes. TheTeftimony therefore of this Book is diftinftfromthe Authority of Mofis^ fince it was not de- rived from the Books of Mofei^ but was it felf an original Account of the State of Nature and Rehgion in the old World, before Mojes had committed any thing to Writing. I knov/ that fome have endea- voured to bring down this antient Writer to the Times of the Babylonijh Captivi- ty, and fuppofe the Book to have been written for the Confolation of the Cap- tives in their Diftrefs- But if you fuppofe it written for the fake of the Jeii's^ is it not ftrange that there fhould not be in a Difcourfecf fuch a kind, one fmgleWord of the \j3i\Y o? Mofes ; nor fo much as one diftant Allufionto any Rite or Ceremony of the Law, or any one Piece of Hiftory later than Mofes\ nor to any of the Forms of Idolatry, for which the Je'-jus fuffered, at the Time of their Captivity? TheConjefturewouldbeas ingenious and 23^ Dissertation II. as well founded, ihould any Critick fup- pofe, that the /// ds oi Homer werewrit- t^n to celebrate the military Expeditions of the Goths diudVaJidals. Befides, were it proper to enter into the Difcuffion of this Point it might be eafily fhew'd that the Book oV^job had quite another View, than this Opinion fuppofes. The T alienee oijob is much talked of, and we feldom look further for any Ufe of this Book : But in Truth the Book was written in Oppofition to the very antient Opinion, which introduced two independent Prin- ciples, one of Good, the other of Evil. For this Reafon Satan^ the Author of J^^'s Misfortunes, is brought in with a PermifEon from God to afflid Job\ and the Moral of the Hiftory lies in J^^'s Refledion ; The Lord gave ^ and the Lord hath taken away: And again. Shall ^we receive Good at the Hand of God^ and jJoall we not receive Evil ? In all which ^ as the Hiftory exprefsly obferves, 'job did not Jin with his Lips\ intimating how prone Men were to fin with their Lips, when they talked of the Evils of Life and the Author of them. The learn» ed Dissertation II. 237 ed Grot'ms fuppofes this Book to be writ- ten for the Confolation of the Defcen- dents of Efau^ carried away in the Ba^ byloiitjh Captivity ; he faw plainly, I fup- pofe, that the Book cou'd, by no means, anfwer to the Cafe of the Jeiivs^ as well for theReafons already mentioned, as for this likewife, That the j^^ic'x undoubted- ly fuffered for their Iniquity; and the Ex- ample of Job^ is the Example of an inno- cent Man fuffering for no Demerit of his own : Apply this to the Jews in their Captivity, and the Book contradifts all the Prophets, before, and at the Time of the Captivity, and is calculated to harden the Jews in their Sufferings, and to re- proach the Providence of God. But fup- pofe it writ for the Children of Efuu ; they were Idolaters, and yet is there no Allu- fion to their Idolatry in all this Book; and what ground is there to think that they wtvtfo righteous^ as to deferve fuch an Interpretation to be put upon their Sufferings as the Book of Job puts on them, if fo be it was written for their fakes? Orcanit be imagined, that a Book/ writ about the Time fuppofed, for the 3 Ufe 238 Dissertation IT. Ufe of an Idolatrous Nation, and odious to xhtjews^ couM ever have been re- ceived intothey^-zc^i/^^Canon? Whatever therefore v;^e may think of the Book, ill its prefent State :^ there is little doubt but that it was formed upon autbentick i?^- cords ^ of greater ilntiquity than any Book now remaining; The Antiquity of the Book fuppofedj, two Queftions arife to be confideredj I. Whether the Fall of ^<^^;z^ was known to this antient Writer: 2. What Notion he had of the Circumftances and Confe* quences of the FalL The xx'^ Chapter of Job contains the Difcourfe oiSophar the Naamathite^ upori the State and Condition of the Wicked: He takes his Rife from the very Begin- iiing-, His Words, in ourTran{lation,are thefe: Kno'weji thou not this of old ^ fine e Man was placed on the Earthy that the Triumphing of the JVicked is Jhort^ and the Joy of the Hypocrite kit for a Mo-^ fnent? Though his Excellency mount up to the Heavens^ and his Head reach unto the Clouds: Tet he Jh all peri jh for ever like his own "Dung. The firft Verfe might I) I S S E R T A T I O N IL 239 as well have been rendered, Since Adam. "was placed on the Earth. There is no Reafon to doubt but that this Paflage re- fers to the Fall, and the firft Sin of Man : The Date agrees For the Knowledge here taught is faid to arife from Faflis as old as the Firft placing Man on Earth : The fudden Punifhment of the Iniquity correfponds to the Mofaic Account The Triumphing of the Wicked is floort^ his Joy hit for a Moment. Above all, the Nature of the Crime, and of the Pu- nifhment here defcribed, are ftrong Pre- fumptionson this fide: Adam^s Ambition was to be like God^ and he had the Temp- ter's Word to affure him he fhouM be fo: How aptly is this Ambition defcribed in the Paffage before us? Though his Excel- lency mount up to the Heavens^ and his Head reach unto the Clouds : That is (as tliQ Syriac 2ind Arabic YtvCions render the Verfe) " Though in his Pride he afcend *^ up to Heaven yet fhall he perifh for " ever." Adamh Punifltiment was Death. To "TDuft thoujhalt return. The Punifl> ment, as defcribed in the Book oijob h — He Jhall perijh for ever\ but how^ % or ^40 Dissertation IL or in what manner? Why, like bis owfi ^i!ng\ /. e. by returning to Earth again. Tliat the Cbaldee Tarfhraji underftood this whole Paffage to relate to the Fall, feeins evident by his Expofition of the fourth Verfe, where he takes Notice of the Acciifcro\: Tempter, as well as of the Offenders: Gatidium hnpiorum fimtitr ct- to^ & latttta delator is ad momentum. What T^elator^ or Accufer, do we read of at the Time of Adanfs being placed on the Earth, except the Temper"} To whom the Name of the Adverfary^ or Acctifer^ was afterwards appropriated; and it is the Charafter, in this very Book, of the Spirit permitted to plague and tor- ment J<;?^'; which is one Evidence, by the by, that the Taraphraji underftood the fame Perfon to have been concerned in both Cafes ; in the tempting oi Adam^ and in the tormenting oVJcb. Our own Verfion, the Vulgate and Montanus'^s agree in one Senfe; The Joy of the Hy- pocrite is but for a Moment: But who is this Hypocrite^ appearing at the very firft placing of Man on Earth? It was neither Eve xio^Adam\ they were bold and I I D I S S E R T A T I O N II. 2 '4 I and hardly, and diftruftful of God, but Tranfaclion. But the Tempter's Part was all HypocriJy\ he ffiewcd great Concern for the Profperity of thofe, whom J;e meant to deftroy, and well deferves this. Chara&er ; and the Chaldcj 'Pcra])brafl has Reafon in fixing it upon him.. The next Paffage that occurs, is bur a bare Allufion to one Circumftance in the Hiftory of the Fall, and that not a very material one. In the xxxi. Chapter "^ob vindicates his Integrity in many Par- ticulars ; one is, that he was ever ready to acknowledge his Errors. Upon which Occafion his Words are If I covered my Traiifgreffions as Adam^ by hiding my Iniquity tn my Eo/om* ■ The margi- nal reading of our Bible is ^fter the Manner of Men, Other Verfions give the fame Senfe. But the Chaldee Tara- phrafe agrees Vvith ourTranflation. The Allufion to AdanPs hiding hiwfelf is proper and appofite; but if you read^ after the Manner of Men ^ the Paffage is an Accufation of others, and the Vindi- cation of himfelf has a Mixture of Pride R in ij^i Dissertation IT. in it, which does not fuit the CharaSer of the fpeakcr. In the xii. Chapter Jo^ magnifies the Power of God in making and difpofing all things : At f. 16. we have tliefe remark- able Words : ff^'i/h him is Streiigth and JVifdom^ the "Deceived and the "Deceiv- er are his. If nothing more is meant by this, than that the cunning Man^ as well as the weak Man^ is under the Power of God, 'tis an Obfervation that needed not to have been prefaced with an exprefs Declaration of God's great Wifdom and Tower ; nor fliould it be placed, as itis, among the greateft Works of Providence; the Creation of the World \ thedeftroying it by a Flood ; the fettling and enlarging the Nations of the Eartli, and ftraitning them again: In the midft of thefe great Accounts of Provi- dence ftands this Obfervation , the De- ceived and the Deceiver are his. This therefore muft be fomething, relating to the general Condition of Mankind; and muft be underftood to be an Inftance of God's Providence, in the great Affairs of the World. And for this Reafon 'tis very probable Dissertation IT. 24^ probable, that the Words were meant of the Fall of Man through the cunning of the Tempter. It was direftly tothePur- pofe of the Book ol Job to affert and maintain the Superiority of God over the Receiver ^ who, by this very Means of bringingEvil into the World, had grown up, in the Opinion of many, into a Rival of the Power and Majefty of God. There is anothe Paffage, in this Book oijob^ very like to the Former; which, confidered and compared with it, will leave little room to doubt of its true Meaning. The Paffage I mean, is in Chap. xxvi. They are the Words oijob: By his Spirit be (God) hath garnijhed the Heavens ; his Hand hath formed the crook- ed Serpent. How come thefe difagreeable Ideas to be joined together? How comes ^ the forming of a crooked Serpent to be * mentioned, as an Inftance of Almighty ' ' ^ Power, and to be fet, as it were, upon an ,^V\- * equal Foot with the Creation of theHea- f - *"' - " vens, and all the Hoft of them? Read the * '' whole Chapter •, all the Images there of divine Power are great and magnificent: * ^ Hell (we are told) is naked before God^ 244 Dissertation II. and T)eJ}rn£tion hath no cohering ; He Jlretcheth out the North over the empty *Place^ and hangeth the Earth upon no- thing. He bindeth up the Waters in his thick Clouds^ and the Cloud is not rent under them — He hath compared the Wa- ters with Bounds ^ mttil the T)ay and Night come to an end. The Tillars of Heaven tremble^ and are afionijhedat his Reproof. He divideth the Sea with his Tower^ and bj his "Vnderjianding he fmiteth thro" theTroud: Bj his Spirit the Heavens are garnijhed ; his Hand formed the crocked Serpent. Can you pofTibly imagine that the forming the crooked Serpent^ in this Place, means no more, than that God created Snakes dind , 4^^^ ft^ Judders ? Thisfurely cannot betheCafe! ^f iji^ If we confider the State of ReHgion in J my^/ut/C^l^^ World, when this Book was penned, r^^ ^0^ it will help to clear this Matter up. The r^tdlt/t- <^l^^ft Notion, in Oppofition to the Su- iLJ^^C^iJiprem^cy of the Creator, is that of two LXi/j^^^i/^f independent Principles, as has beenalrea- ) , .^(fAly obferved: And the only kind of Ido- i' /^iJi^^'^^^T"^^^^i^"^ythcm judgeth he theTeople. To what antient Piece of Hiftory do all ihefe Allufions re- fer ? We have nothing remaining upon Record, 250 Dissertation. IL Record, to which the Application may be made. This only I find, that when God reftored the Earth, and gave hisBlef- fing to Noahy one Promife is, 7 hat T)ay and Night Jhall not ceafe: A ftrong In- timation that Clouds and Darknefs, Storms and Tempeftshad greatly prevail- ed before, for the Punifhment of the old World. ThefeExpreffions, you'llfayper- haps, were ufed in the Eaftern Countries metaphorically: 'Tis true, I find themfo ufed in this very Book oijob^ Ch. xxii. 1 1. Butwhat was the Foundation of the Me- taphor? Metaphors do not arife out of nothing; and there was fome reafonwhy fealing up of Stars , and darkning the Sun^ w^ere Expreffions made ufe of to de- note a State of Sorrow and Diftrefs. JoPs Affliction is defcribed by one of his Friends, in this manner; Sudden Fear troiibleth thee\ or "Darknefs that thou cajift not fee \ and abundance of Waters cover thee. ThefirftExpreffion is plain; thefe- cond and third are metaphorical. Why the Judgments of God are reprefented by the overM^helmingofWaters, every Man may underftand who knows theHiftory of the Floodo Dissertation II. 251 Flood. But how will you account for the fecond Metaphor? Or why is hefaid to be "uuithout the Stin^ who fuffers un- der Trouble or Affllftion in this Life? In this manner "^ob himfelf complains: The "Days of AffliBton fr evented me^ I went mourning without the Sun^ xxx.z8. The fame Figure is applied in like man- ner by the Prophet Amos — Seek him — that turneth the Shadow of "Death into the Morning^ and maketh the T)ay dark with Night ^Kmos v. 8. And again, I will caufe the Sun to go down at Noon^ and I will darken the Earth in the clear T>ay^ andlwillturnyour Feafis into Mourning^ and all your Songs into Lamentation^ viii. 9. So the Prophet Joel\ The Day of the Lord comet h — a Day ofDarknefs and ofGloominefs ~ The Sun and the Moon fhall be dark^ and the Stars fhall with- draw their Shining^Jod ii. i, x, 10. And the Prophet Ifaiah ; The Stars of hea- ven and the ConfiellatioJts thereof fhall not give their Light ; the Sun fJoall be darkened in his going forth ^ and the Moon fhall not caufe her Light tofhine. And I will pmifh the World for their Evils^ 1^1 Dissertation II. Evilx^ and the Wicked for their Iniqui- ^y, Ifa.xiii. lo, ii. E ut this is not a very - material Point, and therefore I need not enlarge on it. As to the Origin of the general Cor- ruption and Depravity ofMankind, this antitnt Author feems to fuppoie, that all Men are corrupt by Delcent and In- heritance : What is Man that he Jhould be clean ? and he which is born of a IVo- man that he Jhould be righteous ? Jobxv, 14. The fame Queft ion is asked again, Job XXV. 4. In both thefe Places there may be fome Reafon perhaps to think, that ^ncleannefs is charg'd upon Man corn- far at ively only, and with refpefl: to the tranfcendent Purity of God; which is a very different thing fro n the Unclean- nefs derived from the Fall. But there is another Paffage which will not admit of this ConftruGion: In Chapter xiv. Job reprefents the miferable Condition of Man ; Man that is born of a Woman ^ is of few T^ays and full of Trouble \ He Cometh forth like a Flower and is cut down \ he fleet h alfo as a Shadow^ and continueth not. Upon this Reprefentati- on Dissertation II. 253 on he export ulates his Cafe with God; T>oji thou open thine Eyes tipon Jiich an one^ and bringefl me into Judgment with thee 7 JVho can bring a clean thing out of an uncleau ? Thefe lafl: Words plainly refer to the firft; and fliew the. Ground of the other Expoftulations ; fVhat is Man ^ that he Jhould be clean ? and he that is born of a I Toman that he Jhould be righ- teously For in this xiv'^^ Chapter the Queftion is nor, whether a Man is pure compared to God, but whether he has Purity enough left, in his prefent State, to make him a fit Object of Judgment. This feems to be the Senfe of Job's Ex- pojiulation ; '' Why art thou extreme to " mark all my Errors ; is it reafonable to '^ expeft Purity of a Man born of a Wo- '^ man, who is by the very Condition of *^ his Birth unclean? " I fliall be eafily perfuaded that Job had not entered into all the Niceties relating to this Point, but I flmll not eafily believe, that he charged God fooliflily, by imputing Uncleannefs to the Works of his Creation. For tell me upon what Ground this Expoftulation ftands, How jhall Man be clean that is born 2J4 Dissertation II. horn of a Woinan^ Why not clean? Did G^^make J J cm an or Man, uncleaJt at the Beginning? L'he did, the Expoftulation would have been more appofite^and much ftronger, had the trueCaufe been affigned, and Job had faid " Hov/ canft thou ex- " pe£t Cleannefs m Man, whom thou ^^ crcatedft unclean? '' But as the Cafe now {lands, the Expoftulation has a plain Reference to the Introduction oi Vanity and Corrttption^ by the Sin of the JVO'^ man\ and is an evidence, that thisantient Writer was fenfible of the evil -"Confe- quences of the Fall upon the whole Race of Man. Mofes tells us Adam begat a Son in his C'aJn Likenefs ^ after his Image ^^ and St. Tatil^ That we have born the Im- age of the earthy ;thQ Notion is the fame as expreiTed by Job^ Can a clean thing come out of an nnclean ? There is ftill a very material Quefcion behind ; namely, what Hope or Expefta- tion had this antient Writer of a Delive- rance from theEvil and Corruption,which prevailed over the whole Race of Man? In anfwer to this Queftion, I obferve in the firft Place; that the Argument of this Dissertation II. 25 j this whole Book fuppofes a Man to be accountable to his Maker for the Good or Evil of his Aftions. This Point is not difputed between j^^?^ and his Friends; they differ widely fometimes in their No- tions of God's Method of Juftice towards Men^ but 'tis an allowed Principle on all Sides, that God is Man s Judge, as well as his" Maker. 2. That the Wicked often profper in this World, and go down in Peace to the Grave, is aPropofition main- tained hyjob in many Places; but parti- cularly and fully in Chap.xxi. Let us fee then whether his Conclufion be agree- able to thefe PremiiTes. In the xiv^'' Chapter, Job pleads his Caufe with God, reminding him of the infirm State and Condition of Man: He comet b tip as a Flower^ and is cut down. — He giveth up the Ghojl^ and "uvhere is he? — He lieth doitm^ and rifetb not till the Heavens he no more. TheQiieftion here asked, JVhcre is hel. May import that Job did not fuppofe Death to be the final DeftruQ:ion of Man. A like Paffa2;e we find, Chap. xiv. 1 have faid to Corrup- tion^ thou art my Father-^ to the JVormy 3 thou 2^6 Dissertation IL thou art my Mother and my Sijier, And where is now my Hofe? As for my Hope who jhall fee it ? Not the Men of this Generation, for they jhall go down to the Bars of the Tit^ when our Reft together is in the T^uft, But fuch Qiieftions do fometimes amount to Negatives. Where is he? No where. What is my Hope? Nothing. Their determinateSenfe there- fore muft be coUeded from the Con- text. — ^^ When a Man gives up theGhoft, where is he ? The Meaning of which Qiieftion is explained in the following Words, for Man lieth down^ and rifeth 7iot till the Heavens be no more. Where is he then, or what is he in the interme- diate Space? You may reply perhaps, that this Expreffion, 'till the Heavens be no more^ may very well fignify, that Man fhall never rife more ; and to fhew the contrary, it ought at leaft to be proved, that Job had a Notion that the Heavens fliould one Day be deftroyed, and that new Heavens and a new Earth fliould fucceed. But if this Expreffion be doubt- ful in it felf, yet 'tis reafonable to ex- pound it to theSeufe, which antient Tra- dition Dissertation IL 257 dition beftfupports. And this we certain- ly know from Writers both facred and pi'ophane, that it was a very old Opinion, that the prefent Frame of Nature lliould beoneDay diffolvcd, and be fucceeded by a Renovation of all things, by new Hea- vens and a new Earth. And therefore Vatabhis^ a very learned and judicious Commentator, makes no Doubt of refer-, ring this FafTage to Job\ ExpeOiation of a Refurrcction in the Day of God's Vifi- tation. ThisExpofition is fupported by another famous PaiTage, made familiar to tis, by being a part of our burial Office, / knoiL' that my Redeemer liveth^ and that he Jhall Jiand at the latter T>aj ///- 071 the Earth ; and though after 7ny Skln^ u!orms defiroy this Body^yet in my Flejh Jhall I fee God: ^ji'ho?n I Jhall fee for my felf and mine Eyes Jhall behold and not another^ though my Reins be confumed rjuithin me ^ xix. 25", ^c. Many worthy and learned Men have underftood this Place of a temporal Dehverance, expefled hy job : The late pious and worthy Bi- fliop of £/y, Dr. Tatrick^ particularly, has followed this Scnfe in his Tara^hrafe S on- j8 Dissertation II. on the Book of Job. What he fays up- on the 26' Verfe, will fhew his Mean- ing perfeftly, and therefore I need tran- fcribe no more: His Paraphrafe is this; And though he Worms^ ^jvhichhaveeaten my Skiii^ jhoiild proceed to confiime the reji of this isjretched Body\ yet I feel rny ^otil infpired izith a comfortable Be- lief that before I die I Jhall feemy felf rejioredj by the Mercy ofGod^ to a happy Ejiate. y^'^'s Condition indeed was fuch, that the Defcription in the Text, > though ajter my Skin,, IVorms dejlrcy this Body) will fuit his Cafe exaftly, and we cannot necefTarily colleft, from the ExprelFion only, that he thought of the Corruption of the Grave: The other ExpreiTjon (In my Flejh Jhall I fee GodJ may likewife fignify his feeing God before he put off hisFleili, i. e. before he died. And there is ftill another Reafon, which has often weighed with me on the Side of this Ex- pofition, which is this ; That if we ex- pound thisPaiTage in 3'^^ o?2l future Re- furreEiion^ it contains a Degree of Know- ledge in this great Myftery, beyond the proportion of Light communicated to the Age Dissertation IL xjp Age in which he lived. Mofes has nofuch exprefs Promife or Prophecy, nor is there any Evidence that the fe'-ji'ijh Church for many Ages had fuch Knowledge. 'Ti$ the peculiar Charatter of our Saviour, That he brought Life and Immortality to Light through the Gofpel\ and yet what do we know from the Gofpel, more than is contained in this PalTage, if it is indeed a Defcription of a future Refiir^ re^iion^ to be brought to Light by a Re- deemer, who JJoalL fiand upon the Earth at the latter Tiay? Thefe Reafons, I imagine, inclined tXiQjewiJh Interpreters to confine the Senfe of this Paffage to a temporal Deliverance only. For fhould they adm it a future Refur reftion to be here ^ intended, how would it confift with the Preference they give to themfelves, above all other Nations, in the Knowledge of Religion? Can they eafily be pcrfuaded, do you think, that J^^, who was an Alien from the Commonwealth of lirael, had a clearer and more diftinfl: Knowledge of this great Myftery, than God thought fit to reveal to the J^ie-i//? Church? Befides, this Defcription in the Book oijob^ ad- S 2, mitting i6o Dissertation II. mitting that it relates dt all to a futufe Refiirreftion, is lb conibnant to thcDoc- trineofcheGofj^e!, and isindeedfo ftrong a Trophccy of the Office and Chara£i:er of Cbrijl JefiiSj that 'cis no more to be expefted oi-^ijew^ <-hat he fliould fee and acknowledge this Senfe of the Paffage, than that he fliould fubfcribe to the In- terpretation of other antient Prophecies, in the Senfe, in which they are apph/ed in the new Teftament. 'Tis ftrange to me to obferve what Strcfs the very learn- ed Grot his lays upon the Confent of the y^-o^'i/Mnterpreters in this Cafe : they are ^ fays he, inqmfitive after every things that may with any Appear ence be appLy-^ ed to the RefitrreEllon \ hut this Taffage of ^fOh they never fo apply. And Reafon good ; the Jews w^ithout Doubt would be glad to find in their own Law, what- ever appears to them to be excellent in the Gofpcl, that they may Ihew the little Need there was for the Gofpel Revelation. But would they be equally glad to find dearer Knowledge of divine Truth a« mong the antient Arabians^ than among the Dependents oi Abraham? Or to fee a ' 8 plain Dissertation II. l6i flain prophetical Defcription of the grand Article of the Gofpel^ even before the giving of their own Law? The fame learned Perfon has another Objeftion againft thofe, who interpret this Taffage of a Refurreftion. He thinks, with others to whom he refers, that they all depart from the original Hebrew: (coa6iifunt in verfionibus fitis multtimab Hebrao difcederej. 'Tis happy, that this learned Hand has given us, what he judg- es to be, the true Senfe of the Paflage ; for it fhews that no juft Interpretation or Tranflationcan be given of thefe Words, which will exclude the Notion of a Re- furre3:ion. Grotius his own Senfe expref* fed according to the Original^ is fo far from fliuttingout this Notion, thaticcan hardly be made to agree with any thing elfe ^. For what do thofe Words mean, Mine Eye jhall behold and not another y (hi fie * Hebraea fic fonanl: Scio ego Kedemptorem meum 'viverCyZ^ ilium pojiremo Jlaturum in carxfpo. Etiamjinon pelUm tantiim nuAm^ [id cr hoc (nempc arvinam quas fub pelle ell) con/nnnrent (morLi fcilicec) in carve tamen mea Deum v'tdtbo (/. e. propitium experiar). Ego, in- quam, hifce meis oculis: Ego, nonauiem alius pro me, ^— =« Deus Redimi-tor dicitur, quia pios ex muliis nialis S 3 liberat, i6i Dissertation 1L (hi fee oeul'ts meis: eq^o^ non atitem alius fro me). \ijob''s Thought was that he fhould be reflored to his former Health and Profperity in this Life, why does he guard againft the Sufpicion that it might be another^ and not hmfelfwho fhould be reftored ? Had he ever feen a Tranfmutation of Terfons in this World, or heard of any Man who ceafed to be himfelf and became another ? Difeafes may w^afte the Body, and often do, to a great Degree; butwenever areaflaidthat they w^ill deftroy the Terfon^ or change the Man. What is it then that 7^^ guards againft? If you apply thlsTajfage to the Refurreftion, this Circumftance, that he himfelf and not another for him Jhould fee God^ is the moft exprefTi ve of his Hope. Death, to all Appearence, deftroy s the Perfon, the whole Man; and though pof. fibly there may be a Renovation of the World, yet ftill 'tis difficult to conceive liberal. Pf. Ixxviii. 35. F.fa, x'i, 14. xlii. 14. x'lV. 6. xlvii. 4. Pofi^erraim in campo Jiare efl vi(51oris fie De- um div.it vi(fiocm fore aclverlariorunn fuorum. Neq; vero ei elTe mipofiibile corpus ejus putredine prope ex- efum reftttuere in priorem iormam, quod & /ec-jt De- m, Grotiui in Locum, bow i Dissertation II. i6^ how individual Perfons fliall be fo pre- ferved, through all the Changes o. ma- ny Ages, as at the laft Day to find them- felves to be themfelves again. But further ; the Words in the Origi- nal which we render, he jhall jiand at the latter ^Day upon the Earthy are in Grctiush Tranflation thus exprtff.d, //- Itim pojiremo Jiatttrum in campo • by which he means, heJhaUkeep the Field^ (quod vi5foris ejij which is a AJ ark ofLovqueft* Allow this, and what do they fuffer, who apply this PaiFage to the Refurrection ? The reftoringLife to the World is repre- fented as the greateft P'^i&ory and 7r/- umph ; St. Tatd fays, Chriji nniji reign till he hath fttt all Enemies wider his Feet \ the laft Enemy that ftoall be de- ftroyed is T)eath. The Expreflion there- fore, as expounded by Grotius^ has no- thing inconfiftent with an Application of the whole Paflage to the RefurreQion. But the original Word Haphnr is ne- ver ufed, that I can find, to fignify a Field '^ much lefs a Field of Bat tie \ and I very much queftion whether keeping the Field was an Expreflion oi Victory y S 4 of 2,(^4 Dissertation IL of ib old a Date as the Book of "job. Ii feems to me to belong to the Times when War was become more an ^rif^ than it was in the Times of Job : Conque- rors then did not ufe to keep the Fie Id \ and why iliouM they, when one Battle commonly decided the Point, and the Conquered had nothing to do but to fly, and the Conqueror to purfue? And eveti now^ keeping the Field is the lowefl Idea of Vifliory, and fignifies little more than not being routed : And was this a fit I- rnage to reprefent the all vidtorioiis Pow- er of the Almighty ? Does it not convey to the Mind the Notion of a great Strug-- gle for Viftory, of great T>ifficulties in obtaining the Conqueft? And is fuch a Notion agreeable to the Book of Job^ which feems to be written on purpofe to Jhew that God has no Rival in Power? But there is a Circumflauce belonging to this Taffage^ and which ought to be confidered with it, to which Grotius has faid nothing, and which can hardly be re- conciled with the Opinion, that j^^^ ex- peded no more than a temporal Delive- rance. The Cafe is this: Job being tired with Dissertation II. i6^ ^vith the Oppofition of his Friends, and the perverfe Conftruftion they made of his Misfortunes, as if he muft needs be as "ivicked as he was miferablc^ appeals from them to another Judgment. Oh^ fays lie, that my Words were now written / Oh that they were printed hi a Book ! That they were graven with an Iron 7 en andLead^ in the Rock for ever ! For I know that my Redeemer liveth^ and that he Jhalljiand at the latter T)ay np^ on the Earth. You fee how ftrongiy "^ob infifts upon his Plea ; though Men would not receive it, yet he wiflies it WQVQ graven inthe Rock for ever-^ that it might remain till the Time, in which God would come to judge his Caufe, For J know^ fays he, that my Redeemer livetk. Suppofe Job to expe£t a future Time of Judgment, the whole Paffage is exceed- ing beautiful and proper- " I find, fays " hcj that my Complaint is difregardcd " here, that Man has no CompaJ/Ion for me, " and that Gcd in his unfearchable Wif- f dom fuffers the Innocent^ as well as f^ the Guilty^ to be nnfortunate in this ^ Life : But the Time will come wlica '\ my 66 Dissertation II. '' my Plea fliall be heard, and fo fatisfyM '' am I in the Righteoufnefs of it, that I ^' would have it remain as my Monu- ^' ment for ever, graven in the Rock \ '' for though I my felf fliall foon be gone " yet my Redeemer lives, and v^ill at " the lail: Day call me from the Grave, ^' and vi^ith ??7y own Eyes fliall I fee God " my Saviour: " But if you fuppofe 'Job to exped only a temporal Reftitu- tion, within the Compafs of his own Life, to what End or Purpofe does he fo paf- fionately wifh to have his Complaints rendered Immortal? What Senfe is there in faying; " 0/:? that my Complaint which " you defpife may never be forgotten^ '' for I know that within a /it tie Time ^' I fhall be reftored by God to all my ^' Glory and former Felicity, and fliall " have no Caufe to complain anymore ". In one View, the Images are lively, paf- donate, and the Sentiments juft and pro- per; in the other, there is neither Force, nor Vigour, nor Propriety ; nor indeed, hardly any Senfe. As to the Degree of Light and Know- ledge contained in this FaJ/age^znd which feems Dissertation II. 16/ feems difproportionateto the Age of y^/', there is this to be foid : There might pof- libly be among the few Faithful in tlie World, a traditionary Expofition of the Promifes of God, grounded upon more exprefs Revelations, made either before or foon after the Flood, than have come down to our Times ; or, as 7^^ was try- ed in a very extraordinary Manner, he might have as extraordinary a Degree of Light to fupport and maintain him in the Conflifl:. There is nothing in either of thefe Suppofitions, but Vvhat is conform- able to theMethods of divine Providence ; iiothing that intrenches upon our blejQTed Lord's OiIice,who was appointed/^ h'/7/g Life dnd hnmortality to Light through the GcfpeL 'Tis by Chrijl^ and by him a- lone^ that we have God's Covenant oilm^ mortality conveyed to us, but yet the an- tient Prophets had a Sight of theBieffing at a Diltance, as is evident from m.any of their Prediftions f . And why might not 'Job be fo honoured, as well as others who lived before the Days of our Saviour ? Ij. See Dr. C 4ris Di courfe concerninglheCciinexion of the Prophets, C-'^tr, r'a^e ii, 13. But z6)i Dissertation II. But ftill there is fomething that feems very unaccountable in this Matter; for if JoiPs Friends allowed and believed this great Truth of a future Refurreftion, how is itj that they continue to prefs their Argument, and to infift that he was un- doubtedly wicked^ becaufe m'lferablel How is it, that they do not reply to this Argument, and ftiew the reafoning to be falfe, if they apprehended it to be fo ? Or, if this Knowledge was peculiar to Job^ how is it, that they are not furprized ' at fuch new^ fuch/r^/z^^Doftrine? And yet no fuch Marks have been obferved (as far as I have feen) by any Interpreters. The Book of Job is in the Nature of a "Drama^ in which feveral Perfons appear difcourfmg one with another; andhov/ could fuch a material Affertion as this pafs unobferved by all the Speakers? One would imagine, from fuchConduQ:, that Job\ Friends underftood him to fpeak only of his Hope in this Life, which they might entertain as a vain Delufion, and deferving of no Regard. But I am perfuaded the Cafe will ap^ pear otherv/ife upon a ftrid Examination;, Dissertation II. i6^ and that the Circumftances relating to this Taffage^ duly obferved, will caft a great Light upon it, and be a Means to open to us the true and genuine Mean- ing of it. The Argument between J^?^ and his Friends turns upon this Point, whether the Afflifliions of this World are certain Marks of God's Difpleafure, and an Indi- cation of the Wickednefs of thofe who fuffer. Job\ Friends maintain the Affir- mative; and in Confequence of it, charge y^^ with great Iniquity, for no other Rea- fon, but becaufetheyfaw him greatly mi- ferable. This they thought was doing Honour to the Juftice of God; but Job calls It /peaking 'uaickedlyfor God^ajtd talk- ing deceitfully for him\ and acceptingthe y^r/5;/ of God,Chapxiii. as corrupt Judg- es accept the Perfons of great Men, when they give Sentence partially in their Fa- vour. As to himfelf, he refolutely main- tained his Innocence, butftill he depended upon the Juftice and Goodnefs of God, notwithftanding his prefent Diftrefs. His Charafter cannot be better defcribed than in his own Words, Though hejlayme^yet "Will zyo Dissertation II. loillltrttjl in him: But I 'ujill maintain mine own IVays before him^ Chap. xiii. f. 15'. 'Tis plain frona hence, that Jch^ Friends confined the Exercife of God's Juftice within the Scene of this World, and looked no further; but Fle^ vexed with continued Reproaches, ap- plies himfelf to God in certain Expeflation of another time for Juftice, Oh that thou isjQtildejl hide me in the Grave ^ that thou WGuldeft keep me fecret until thy Wrath bepaji^ that thou wouldeji appoint me a fet Time and remember me ! Chap. xiv. f. 13. What Time was it, do you ima- gine, that Jd?^ defired to be appointed for him ? Was it the Time of this Life ? If fo, how could it fucceed his being hid in the Grave? No; he had other Hopes, and expefted to be called from theGrave, and feems allured that God would not de- fert his Creatures even there; Thou /halt call and I will anfwer thee : Thou wilt have a dejire to the Work of thine liands^ f. If. He had before declared his No- tion , That Man lieth down and rifetb mt till the Heavens be no more^ }^^ 12. And prefently he declares, that all Things were I Dissertation II. zyi were drawing to an end, the Earth and the Inhabitants thereof ; i'/zr^/)' the Moun- tain fdlling comet h to nought ^ and the Ro k is removed out of his Tlace, The JVatcrs 'Ujcar the Stones: I hou "Ji'ajheft aivay the things ''jL'hich gro'W out of the IJuJI of the Earthy and thou defroycjl the I ope of Man, Thou prevaileji for ever againji him^ and he pajfeth : ^. i8^ 19, 20. Thus far Job. Let us fee now how this new Argument is entertained by his Friends: The firft who replies is Eli- phaztheTemanite) he appears quite afto- nifhed, and asks Job where he had this Kno'uiledge^whtthtv he had the Secret of God^ and had engroffed all Wifdom to himfelf\ he tells him, they were no Strangers to the Ways of God, but had heard as much from their Fathers as fob had, tho' he pretended to the Know- ledge oi fuch Jecretl^\\m^^. But take his own Words ; Art thou the frft Man that 'Zjiuas born ? Or waji thou made before the Hills ? Hafl thou heard the Secret of God? Anddoji thorn eflrain JVfd>mtothyfelf? What knoisjef thou that ^-^e hiovu not? What iinderflandejt thou^ which is n^t i in i7Z D I S S E R T x4. T I O N 11. iu tis ? fFk/j m are both the grey head-- ed^ and 'very aged Men^ much elder than thy Father. Are the Confolations of God (which we haveinftrufted xhttm) fmall with thee ? Is there anyfecret Thing with thee? Chap. xv. f. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. Af- ter this ftrong Expoftulation, he returns to his old Argument, and offers many Proofs, from antlentTradition, of God's immediate Vengeance upon the Wicked. The next who anfwers Job is Bildadthe ihuhite: He talks in the fame Strain, and reproaches Jeath^ neither fj^th he T lea fur e in the T)eftruEiion of the living. For he created all things^ that they might have their Being\ and the Generations of the World were healthful: And there is no Toifon of DefruBion in them\ nor the Kingdom of "Death upon the Earth. For Righ- teoufnefs is immortal. But ungodly Men with their Works and Words called it to them^ Wifdom i. 13, 14? 15, i<5. And again, That God created Man to be im- mortal^ and made him to be an Image of his own Eternity, Neverthelefs through Envy of the Dev'd came Death into the World : And they that do hold of his Side DiSSFRTATION 11. 28 I Side do find it^ Wifd. ii. 23 , ^4- When the Son of S'lrach tells us, That Error and "Darknefs had their Beginning together "ujith .5/;/;/^rj',Ecclus.xi. 16. ^\\2XT)eath is the Sentence of the Lord over all Flejh^ Ecclus. xli. 3. That the Covenant front the Beginning vuas ^ thou /halt die the ^eath^ Ecclus. xiv. 17. That, of Woman came the Beginning of Sin, and through her iz'e all die^ Ecclus. xxv. 24. That God, at the firft, filled Man with the Knowledge ofVnderJianding^ andjbewed him Good and Evil. Ecclus. xvli. 7. And left him in the Hand of his (own) Coun- /^/, Ecclus. XV. 14. When, I fay, we read and compare all thefe Paffages together, can there be anv reafonable Foundation to doubt in what Senfe the antient^^z^;- iy^ Church underftood theHiftory of the Fall, or what Confequences they afcrib- ed to it? When we find the JVicked^ and the Enemies of God reprefented under the Image o{ a Serpe^it^ Ifa. xiv. 29. xxvii. i. Micah vii. 17. Oi Leviathan the crook- ed erpent\ of a iJragon^ Ifa. xxvii. i. When we hear the Wretchednefs of the Idola^ iSi Dissertation 1L Idolater defcribed by the Prophet in the following Terms, He feedeth of AJhes : A deceived Heart hath turned him afide that he cannot deliver his Soul^ Ifa. xliv, ao. And when we hear "David finging the Triumphs of his Son^ to whom the everlafting Kingdom was promifed, in fuch Strains as thefe, His Name Jh all en- dure for ever: His Name Jhall be con- timted as long as the Sun : And Men Jhall be blejjed in him ; all Nations jhall call him hlejfed^ Pfalm Ixxii. 17. His Enemies foall lick the 'Dujiy f. 9. He Jhall tread upon the Lion and Adder : The young Lion and the Dragon Jhall he trample under Feet^ Pf. xci. 1 3 , He Jhall brmfe his Enemies with a Rod of Iron^ Pf. ii. 9. When we hear likewife the Prophet defcribing the Kingdom, which he foretold, in like Figures, and reprefent- ing the State of the Wicked under that Kingdom, in thefe very Words, andDuJi Jhall be the Serpents Meaty Ifa. Ixv. 25*. Can we give any tolerable Account of thefe Things, but by fuppofingjD^^wVto underftand, that theiy^/^promifed to him, in whofe Time Righteoufnefs and Truth \^ere Dissertation IL 283 were to be eftabliflied, was the very Seed of the TV Oman ., who ihould brulje the Serpenfs Head'i Could the Prophets underftand their Predictions to belong to any other, when the Triumph of his Reign was to be a Yi6to^ y over the Ser-^ ^ent^ ^djhofc Food Jhuld then be TJttJi? Of the fame Perfon 'David and the Pro- phers foretel, that he fliould rule over all Nations, that Men/hould he blrjfed m h'rm^ that aU Natior/s jhould call him blcjfed'^ which is the diftinguiPiung Cha- rader of the bLJfed Seed promifed to jHhraham^ Ifaac y and Jacob, From all which 'tis evident, that the Seed of the IVcmcin^ who fhou'd bruile the Serpent's Head; the Seed promifed to Abraham^ in whom all the Nations of the Earth fhouM be bleffed; the Son promifed to ^Jjavid^ to fit on his Throne for ever; and the Ki^g^ who fhould I'ule out of Sion^ foretold by the Prophets,' is ONE and the SAME Perfon: That the fPurpofe of God, in giving xh^JFordofTro^hecy^ was the fame in every Age; That Chriji has, under different Degrees of Light, t)eenfet forth from the Beginning, as the Hope. 284 Dissertation II. Hope of the World ; That He it was, whofe IDay the faithful in every Age de- fired to fee. He it was, who freferved the fir (I formed Father of the IVorld^ that was created alone^ and brought him out of his Fall. Wiftlom x i. He it is, who fliall reign till all Enemies are put under his Feet^ till T)eath and Hell are cafi into the Lake of Fire. Rev. xx. 14. DlSSER- 28j mitJLEUmJJB WMI Dissertation IIL The Blejfmg ^/ J u d a h, Qen. xlix, ^^|H EN Jacob drew near his End, W^ he called his Sons together, and ^^ bleffed them, every one ^^^^^'^-cen.xiix. ing to his BleJJJng^ benedi^io-'i-'^- fitbiis fuis propriis\ i. ^. giving to each Vuig. a peculiar BlelTing. The Part relating to Judah ftands thus: J^.8. Judah, thoti art he whom thy Bre- thren Jhall praife-, thy Hand Jhall be in the Neck of thine Enemies : Thy Father s Children Jhall bow do'wn before thee. 3 f* 9. Judah 1^6 Dissertation IIL ^.5. Judah is a Lion's Whelp \ from the \u[o\\ come ^ aitd unto him Jhall the gathering of the Teople be. ii. Binding his Fole unto the Vine^ and his AJfes: Colt unto the choice Vine\ he wajhed his Garments in Wine^ and his Qloaths in the Blood of Grapes. There Is no Prophecy in the OldTeJia-^ ment^ that has undergone fo many Inter- pretations, and critical Difquifitions , as this now before us. It wou'd make a Vo- lume to report exactly the various Senti« ments of learned Men upon this SubjeQ:. They who defire to be acquainted with them may confult Huetins ^, Mr. Le Clerc t, and Mr. Saurin %- * Demcnftratio Evangelica, Cap. 4. Prop. 9. I Commenr. in locum. \. Difcourf. Hiftoriques, See. Difc. 41, 8 It Dissertation III. 18/ It may be thought perhaps great Pre- fumption to attempt any thing upon this PaflTage, after fo much Pains beftowedon it by Men of great Figure in Learning; but as I have no Intention to make Shew of much Learning, or much Reading, but only to oflFer a plain, natural Senfe, of the moft important PafTage in this Prophecy, which feems to me to arife from the very State and Circumftances of Things, at the time this Prophecy was delivered ; I hope it will not be thought the Effeft of Vanity, or Oftentation. There is a Paffage in the Book Eccleji- ajlicus^ which will ferve as a Key to open to us the Nature of theBleffingsbeftowed on the twelve Tribes by their Father 3^^?- coL This Author, the Son oiSirach^ ob- "^-^^^i ferves. That God gave his Covenant to c^rff. ^^* Abraham , ejiablijh^d it with Ifaac, and made it reft upon the Head of Jacob. Thus far the entire BleJJing^ and all the Parts of it, vefted m. Jingle Perfons only: But in the next Step there is an Altera- tion; for God divided ]zcoh''s Tortious ^if 23. among the twelve Tribes did he fart them^ There is no queftion, but that this 288 Dissertation. III. thIsPaffage relates to the Settlement^ and the Bleffing^ of the Tribes by Jacob^ in the xlviii^^^ and xlix'^ of Genefis ; and it Hiews us, that the feveral Bleflings gi- ven to the feveral Tribes are but ■ arts^ or Tort tons of the Bleffing, ^A\\z\\ Jacob received from Ifaac ; Ifaac fiom a bra- ham ; and Abraham immediately from God. In this View then the feveral Blef- fings, mentioned in the xlix*^^ of Genefis^ and limited to the feveral Tribes, muft be confidered as an Expofition of the origi- nal Bleffing given to Abraham ; and the Bleffing, from which the others are de- rived, muft limit and determine the Senfe of the Particulars; which cannot be ex- tended beyond the Bounds of the fir ft Pro- mife. Setting afidethe Authority of the Son of Sirach^Ws reafonable to think that this was the Cafe, from theCuftom and Prac- tice in Abrrbam\ Family, in whi^hthe Bleffing of the Father was regularly con- veyed to the Son. And when we {tQ Ja- cob Bleffing all his Children, what can we fuppofeelfe, butthat he is tr?nfmi^^i'^^gto his Pofterity the Bleffing which he him- faf Dissertation IIL 289 feif received. If we look to the Begin- ning of thexlviii '' oiGene/ls^ wliGrtJacoh adopts Ephrahn and Mana(feh^ the two Sons of Jofeuh^ and conftitutes them Heads oi Tribes in his Family, and con- fequently entitles them to a Share, among his own Sons, of the Land oi Canaan \ there w^ill be no room to doubt of this Matter. Vox Jacob founds his Right of allotting the Land olCanaan^ in the Man- ner he does, upon God's Grant of that Land to himfelf. Jacob yS/^/^/z/^^pJofephj God Almighty appeared unto me at Lua in the Land (^/Canaan, and bleffed me^ and faid unto me^ behold I will make thee fruitful^ and multiply thee^ and I '■jj ill make of thee a Multitude ofTeopkj and will give this L^andtothy Seed after thee^ for an everlajiing Tojfejjion. And now thy two 3^(9;/^ Ephraim ^//^Manaffeh, which were born unto thee intheLandof Egypt, before Icameuntothee intoE^^y^t^ are mine: As Reuben and Simeon, they Jhall be mine^ y. 3, 4, y. Jacob prefaces his Grant to Jofeph'^y Family, with *!i E^ecital only of God's Promife to make him fruitful^ and to U give ipo Dissertation HI. give the Land of Canaan to him and his Seed; for his Gift to J^y^/ZA Family went not beyond theTerms of this Grant. But the Bleffing oi Abraham^ derived to his chofen Seed, confifted of two Parts; the Promife of the Land of Canaan^ and the Promife of that Son, in whom all the Nations of the Earth iz'ere to blejfed. Thefe two Promifes went infeparably to- gether from the Beginning, and, wefhall find they continued, in fome Degree, to do fo to the End. Let us fee now in what Terms thefe two Promifes are conveyed. The Land of Cana- The bleffed Seed to an to Abraham. Abraha^n. ' The Lord appear- Thou Jhalt be a ed tmto Abraham, Bleffing^ and I will and faid^ U^ito thy blefs them that blefs Seedwilll givethts thee^ and cnrfe him LandjG^n.xii.j. that ctirfeth thee: And in thee Jhall all Families of the Earth be bleffed^ Gen. xii. x, 3. Lift Dissertation lit. 291 Lift up no'oi) thine AhrdXidLm/hallfure" Eyes^ and look from Ij become a great and the Tlace where mighty Nation^ and thou art J North- all the Nat mis of ward, and South- the Earth Jha II be ward,^7/^Eaft\vard, bleffed in him^ Gen^ and Weftward, for xviii. 18. all the Land which thou feef^ to thee will I give it^ and to thy Seed for ever, and I will make thy Seed as the T>u!i of the Earth. Gen. xiii. 14, ^c. To Ifaac, To Ifaac. Untothee^andun- And in thy Seed to thy Seed I will Jhall all the Nations give all thefe Coun- of the Earth beblef tries ^ and I Jed. G^a.xxv'u i^ will make thy Seed to multiply as the Stars of Heaven^ Gen. xxvi. 3,4' £pZ Dissertation IIL To Jacob* To Jacobs God give thee of the T>ew of Hea- ven^ and the Fat- nefs of the Earthy and Tlentjy of Corn and Wine. Gen. xxvii. 28, With Corn and Wine have I fuf- tained him* Gen» xxvii. n* The Land where- on thou liejt^ to thee 'Will I give ity and The Elder /hall ferve the Tonnger* Gen. XXV. 23. Let the Teople ferve thee ^ and Nations bow down to thee % be Lord over thy Brethren^ and let thy Nlcther'^s Son how down to thee: Ctirfed be every one that curfeth thee andblejfedbe he that blejfeth thee* Gen. xxvii. 29. Behold I have made him thy Lord and all his Brethren have I given to him for Servants. Gen. xxvii. 37. In thee and in thy Seed Jhall all the Rations of the to Dissertation III. to thy Seed. And Earth be blejfed. 293 thy Seed Jl)all be as the T)uji of the Earth ; and thou Jhalt fpread abroad to the Weft, and to the Eaft, and to the North , and to the South. G^;/.xxviii? 13, i4f Gen. xxviii- 14. To the Tribe of Judah. Judah is aLion^s Whelp \ from the Trey^ my Son ^ thou art gone tip : He Jiooped doium , he couched as a Lion^ and as an old Lion ; who Jhall rotife him tip. The Sceptre jhall not depart from Judah, nor a Lawgiver from be- To the Tribe of Jtidah. Judah thou art he whom thy Brethren (l?all praife) thy Hand Jhall be in the Neck of thine Ene- mies: Thy Father^ s Children Jhall bow down before thee. Gen. xlix. 8. Vntil^hWocome^ and unto him Jhall< the gathering of the U 3 tween ^P4 DiSSFRTATTON III, tweeu his Feet^ nn- Teoplebe, Gen.xlix- til Shilo cr-me^ nrd i .. unto him Jhall thi* Gathering of the "People be, Hiiuiiiig his Fole unto -he Vine^hc. Gen, xlix. 9, lo, II. If the Words, which I have here placed as the Conveyance of the Pro- mife of the blcffed Seed to the Tribe of Judah^ be not admitted in that Senfe, there are no others, relating to this, or any of the other Tribes, which make any Mention, much lefs any Settlement of this Part of j cCoFs BlelTing. And yet there never was any Doubt, either in the antient / e'x^ijh Church before Chrij}^ or among the Jews fince the Time of Chriji^ but that the Promife of the Mef- fiah was limited to the Tribe oijudah in this Bleffing : nor is it reafonable to imagine that Jaco(? in dividing his Blef- fmg among his Pofterity, fhou'd forget the chief and principal Part, which had been with fo much Solemnity conveyed from Dissertation III. 295 from Abraham^ through Ifaac^ to hliii- fel£ Befides, the Expreffion here ufed, Thou art he iz)hom thy Brethren jhall fraije^ is equivalent to what was faid to Abraham^ Thou jhalt be a BlcJJing\ and to what was faid to Jacob^ Blejfcd be he that blejfeth thee^ and muft confequcnt- ly mean the fame thing. But of this Part I have already treated in the fore-, going Difcourfes, and will not burden the Reader and my felf, with Repeti- tions. The Promife of the bleffed Seed could not be divided, for a Man can defcend but from one Tribe ; a Son can be born but of ^;/^ Father ; and therefore this Part of Jacob\ Bleffing w ent entire to the Tribe of Judah. All the other Tribes have their fpecial Bleffing affigned them out of the promifed Land ; and Interpre- ters need not be concerned, as fome of them are, to find wherein the peculiar Bleffing of fome of the Sons oi jacoi?^ to w^hom, or of whom, very little is faid, does confift; for the making them /7ew of Heaven^ and the Fatnefs of the Earthy and Tlenty of Corn and Wine. ^'"- ^ There remams Itill to be accounted for, the Paffage relating to the Sceptre of fndah : The "Words are thefe ; The Sceptre Jhall not depart from Ju- dah, nor a Lawgiver from between his Feet J until Shiloh come\ and unto him Jhall the gathering of the People be. The Promife to Abraham was, that he fhould be t\\t Father of many Nations-^ and oi Sarah it is laid, She Jhall be a Mo- Gen.xvii. 8 tktr''^ 2^3 DiSSFRTATION III. ther of Nations^ Kings of Teople Jhall Gen.xs he / her. To Jacob it is faid, God rmUriply thee^ that thou may ft be a Mul- Gen, titude of teople. The Succeffion in the " ^* Houfeof AV^;??^^was preferved infingle Peribns i\\{Jarob\ Time; he is the firft who had a numerous Iffue, and all of them entitled to the Promifes made to their Forefathers. The Sons oi Jacob lived with him,as Children of his Family only, till his going into Egypt -^ for when the Account is given of their Removal to Egypt ^ they are reckoned not as Heads of Tribes, but as fo many Perfons only, belonging to the Family oi Jacob: All the Souls that came "juith Jacob i7ito Egypt, "which came out of his Loins ^ befides Ja- cobV Sons Wives ^ all the Souls 'were Q'tri,\\s\. three fcore and fix ^ to which y^r^^, and Jofeph^ and his two Sons, born in Egypt ^ being added, 'tis {iiA^All the Souls of the Hotife ^/ Jacob, which came into Egypt, lbib.y.17 were threefcore and ten. Hitherto there is no mention of any Tribe^ or of any Houfe^ but the Houfe o? Jacob. This State of Things continued during the fe- venteen Years of Jacobs Life in Egypt ^ in Dissertation III. ip^ in all which Time there is no appearence of any Power or Authority, in any Rii- lers^ or Elders^ or Heads of Tribes, but in Jacob onl}'. And how fliouM there, before any Tribes were appointed, or any Form of Government was fettled? When Jacob drew near his End, he fum- moned all his Family, in order to appoint the Form of Government which fhouM take place after his Death, and continue as long as his Pofterity held Poffeffion o^ tjieLand oi Canaan. The xlix'^ Chapter of Genejis is commonly called , JacobV BleJJing of his Sons-^ but it might as well be called Jacobh Appointment of twelve Rulers or Trinces to govern the Houfc of Ifrael. For tell me, how came this Form of Government, by a Diftributioa of the People into twelve Tribes with Heads and Rulers over them, to be pitch- ed upon rather than any other ? There is no Defignation of this Form of Go- vernment in any other Place of Scripture ; and it cou'd not be fettled tacitly, by a mere Devolution oVJacob\ Power, a- mong his Sons, after his Deceafe; for had that been the Cafe, Ephraim and Manajfeb 300 Dissertation III. Manajfeh couM not have been Heads of Tribes , for their Vdithtv Jo feph was liv- ing, and he muft have been Head of one Tribe, as the reft of his Brethren vi^ere. Nor is it to be imagined, that fo confider- able a Part of the Story, as the founding and fettling the Government of Ifrael^ fliou'd be pafled over by Mofes in filence ; and his Reader left to fupply by Imagi- nation fo material a Part of the Hiftory. It muft therefore be allowed, that the Go- vernment of Ifrael is fettled by Jacob in the xlviii^' and xlix'^' oiGenefis. All the Circumftances reported in thefe two Chapters anfwer to this Idea. In the firft Place Jacob gives the Birthright, as to the temporal Inheritance, ^ojofe^h^ by giving him a double Portion, and rai- fmg out of his Family two Princes, or Heads of Tribes , in If/^ael : Ephraim z?;^^ Manafleh are mine: As Reuben and ^^"•. Simeon, they Jhall be mine. And be- caufe other Iffue from Jofeph wouM have flood upon a Level in point of Defccnt with ^^/Ar^^i;;^ and Manajfeh ^'dind. it might have been doubtful whether they might not claim to be Rulers themfelves , and equal xlviii. Dissertation III. 301 equal to their Brothers, J^z^^^ direftsthat they fliould be reckoned in the Tribes of their two Brothers, They Jloall be called after tbeNmne of their Brethren in their Inheritance. By thisDefignation oija- yX\^\,'G, cob^ the two Sons of Jofefh were ap- pointed, each to be the Head of a fcparate People; hvthis^ Jacob^ fpeaking of thefe two Grandchildren, declares ; He^ Ma- naffeh, fhall become a Teople^ and he alfo /ball be great : But his Brother^ Ephraim, Jhall be greater than he^ and his Seed JJ?all become a Multitude of Nations, In ^^ ^^^^' the following Chapter," j^^f^^ fpeaks'to his Sons as the Refrefentatives of fo many dijlinctTeople ; which is exprefsly remarked by Mofes^ All thefe are the twelve Tribes ukes^ and the Kii^gs of Edom. \ I/lomael was the Son of Abraham^ and Efati was Son oiIfaac\ and their Families could not be much more numerous than Jacob's^ and yet they are reckoned, according to their Princes, and their Dukes, and by their feveral Nations. In truth all the Govern-- * Vicie Clericum in locun;. t Gen. xxxvi. Vide Clericum ad verfum decimam ments DiSSERTAtlON III. 303 ments of the Eajt feem at this Time to have been of this Sort. What were the four Kings, think you, whom Abraham overthrew with three hundred and eigh- teen of his own Servants, and the Af- fiftance of his three Friends, who might perhaps make as many more? What were the thirty two Kings, whofe Country was divided among the twelve Tribes? The Princes of the Tribes of T/r^^/were fure- ly equal in Power and Dignity to fuch Kings; and fuch were the Kings of thofe Days. This Obfervation will teach us to reftrain and limit our Ideas within due Bounds, when we read oi Kings ^ and Trinces^ and Sceptres^ and Judges^ and Nations^ in thefe early Times ; and not to imagine, becaufe the Words are the fame which we now ufe, that they muft neceifarily fignify as high Degrees of Power, as now they do. W^hat kind of Power Jacob fettled up- on thefe Heads of Tribes, may appear from what he himfelf fays of ''Dan\ Dan Jhall judge his Teople^ as o^e cfthe Tribes 6?/Ifrael. All the People oV/'rael J!^' were not^a^is People, and therefore 'tis abfurd 304 Dissertation III. abfurd to imagine any Power given to lZ)^;/,or any of his Deicendents, over the whole Houfe o^ Jacob. Befides nothing peculiar is given to T)dn in this Grant; he was to judge Z^ij own Teo^le indeed; but how? Why as one of the Tribes of Ifrael ^ From whence 'tis evident, that every Tribe had its own Princes and Judges; and that every Prince, or Head of a Tribe, judged his own People ; con- fequently every Tribe had a Sceptre^ and a Law-giver^ as well as the Tribe of Jtidah, That this Power, in the Heads of Tribes, took place immediately upon the Death of Jacob^ may be collected from hence, that from this Time, all Applica- tions and Meffages are, not to the People, Exod. iii. but to the Eldcrs of Ifi'del. The Com- ^^\- ^ mand of God fent to the Hot^fe cfjacoby and th^Children of Ifrael^ mFgyj^t^w^iS delivered by Mofes to the Elders of the rxod.xix. ^^^Z'^'^- The People and their Rulers 3» 7- are diilinguiQied plainly in Exod. xxxiv; * Quia pcnei) ejus !oSo em in commur.i polina oars jruhernationis & imperii erit, ut tribus ifla caput ununa cfficiat. Vdtablns m locum. Aaron Dissertation III. 30 j Aaron and all the Rulers of the Congre- gation returned unto h'tm^ ^//^ Moles Exod. xxxiv, 3' = talked with thc7?7. And afterward all^.^, the Children of Ifrael ca7)ie nigh. TheGo\^ernment, in the feveral Tribes oi Ifrael^ was not Monarchical, but Ari- ftocratical, as appears by comparing the Paffages, referred to in the Margin ; and ^xod. that no one Tribe had a Superiority over x;,,J^^* another, is plain upon the Death of J^^-xv[xiv. 18, fhua-^ for then the People enquire of God, 14.^*^^"^ who fhould go up for them againjl the Canaanites. A Qiieiiion, that would not Judges have been asked, had any one Tribe, or ' Ruler of one Tribe, had the Right of leading and governing the reft. When the Children of Benjamin were guilty in theMatter of the Levites Concubine, no one Tribe, or Ruler of one Tribe, pre- tends to call them to account for it ; but all the Tribes of Ifrael jointly fend to expoftulate with them, and to demand Juftice; and upon Refufal of Juftice, re- courfe is had to Arms immediately. What Authority the Princes of Tribes had among their own People, may be collected from the Song of "Deborah X where M?.trh. xix. 18 30(5 Dissertation III. Judges where they are defcribed, as Governours i// Ifrael, riding on iz^hite Aj[es^ and fiU ting m Jtidgment\ And 'tis with Allu- fion to this Form of Governmeait that oar Saviour promifes his Difciples., that they Jh all Jit on t'uvelve Thrones ^ judging the twelve Tribes ^/'Tfrael. Having now feen the ConfHtution of the Tribes oilfrael^ and the Powers and Authorities incident to a Tribe, as fuch, we may look back to the Prophecy, and try whether this Light will direO: us in the Expofition of it. Jacob having fet- tled twelve TrinceSj or Rulers of Peo- ple, in his Houfe, fummons them to- gether to hear what Jhould befal them in the lafi T>ays \ he fpeaks to them as Heads of People, and not as fingle Per- fons, and what he fays relates to them, and their People coUeftively, and not to them perfonally. Since then he fpeaks to all asTrmces^ and t^^Judah^ in par- ticular, that the SCETTRE Jf.wtild not depart fromY^\M. until Shilob came^wh^t can we underftand by the SceJ^tre^ m this Place, but that very Tower ^ and Right ofGoverjfm en t MOW ktthd and eftablifh'd in Dissertation III. 30*' in the Houfe ofjndah^ and in all the other Tribes; and which J acci? forefaw would depart from the other Tribes long before the coming oi Shiloh^ but would remain with Jtidah until Sk'tloh came? The Promife to Jndabj that his Sceptre Jlootildnot depart^ amounts to a Declara- tion that the dceptres of the other Tribes fliould depart, and plainly iliews that the Sceptre was not a thing peculiar to Ju^ dah'j for the Promife here to Judab is not, that he fliould have a Sceptre^ which none of his Brethren had, or were to have; but that y^/> Sceptre {honlA coH" tinue longer with him, than his Brothers Sceptres fhould continue with them- Moft of the Interpreters, whomi have confulted, take it for granted, and it is the common Notion, that the thing here promised to Judah is the Sceptre \ and that the SCEPTRE was not to be fettled iny^/<^^/A Family, tilljbme/lges after the Death oi Jacob: Which laft Obfervation is grounded upon Jacobs Words That I may tell you that^tn.7.V.T:. "Ujhich jhall befal you in the laft Tjc-js,^' But the firftof theieObfervationshas no X z Ground 308 Dissertation III. Ground in the Text: nay, rather, is abfo- lutely inconfiftent with it. The antient Verfions all agree in one Senfe, the fame which 0Vi\: Englijh Verfion has expreffed, The Sceftre jhall not depart from Judah. Do not thefe Words fuppofe the Sceptre to be already in the Hand oi Judah ? Is there any Senfe in faying, that a thing fhall not depart^ which never yet was in Pof- feffion ? The Prophecy is not a Grant of the Sceptre^ but a Confirmation of it; now a Confirmation of nothiJig^ is nothings and to make it fomething^ the PoiTeflion of the Thing confirmed muft be fuppofed. I know not by what Rules of Language, or Grammar^ thefe Words can be conftrued into a Grant of the Sceptre ; and though fo many Writers, and Interpreters, have followed this Senfe, yet I do not remember to have feen one Paflage, or Parallel Expreffion, from the Scripture, or any other Author, produced to juftify the Interpretation. Yet furely, 'tis no ufual Way of fpeaking, to fay,7i?//r Sceptre Jhall not depart^ when the Speech is directed to one who has no Sceptre^ nor is to have one for many Ages. 3 The Dissertation III. 309 Thefecond Obfervation, when rightly applied, is right; and if theG?//^i;///^//f^ of the Sceptre o? Judah be, as I fuppofe, the Thing foretold, it extends to the z'ery loft "Days oi x\\^^j e^-jvifn State; and in this refpefl: the Interpretation is jufti- fied. Another Thing fuppofed by moft Inter- preters is, that the Sceptre^ here menti- -^ned, is an Emblem of Dominion over all the Tribes oi Jacob. But how can that; be? Had not Jacob fettled a Sceptre in every Tribe, as is evident ii. i (u Dan Jhall judge his People as one of the Scep- tres * (?/Ifrael ? Siippofe a Father had di- vided his Eftate among twelve Sons, and fliou'd fay of one of them, The EJlate jhall not depart from John/Jr many Ages ; Cou'd you poffibly fuppofe him to mean more than the Share of the Eflate given to John? CouM you underftand him to mean , that all the EJiate , the twelve Shares, fhouM come to John^2Sidi continue in his Family? The Cafe is the fame here, twelve Princes are created; of one of * Thz original Word is Schcvet, the faf??e which is rendered ^ceptrem the Prophecy relating to juUY, X 3 them lo Dissertation III. \}^t\^ Jacob fays, The Sceptre Jhallnot depart FROM HIM until Shiloh come. Is it not plain then that the Sceptres are diftinguifned here, and that \is foretold of one, that it fhall long out- lafi: the reft? The Words therefore, The Sceptre fhall not depart fromjuddb^ are equivalent to thefe, JudahV Sceptre Jhall not depart ; and this Senfe is juftified by the Original, the Seventy, the Vulgate, and the Chaldee Paraphraft f , It muft be remembred, that Judah does not, in Ge7^, xlix. mean, what in after-times it came to mean, the v^hole People of the Je'iz^.^ ) but it means diftinitly the Tribe oi Judah only; and the Words, now un- der Confideration,can poffibly import no more than this ; The Sceptre Jhall not be taken from the Tribe ^/ Judah — Confe- qiiently the Sceptre here is an Emblem of Authority in and over a Tribe only-^ and can by no means, in thefe Circumftances^ be made to fignify or denote 2in Authori- ty over all the Tribes <9/Ifrael. t Non aufererur princip;\tum haht'ns a IDomo Judae, C. p. The Hitler jliall tiot be tahn aivAy from the Houfe e/ Judah. The Dissertation III. 3 1 1 The fame Word in the Original fSche- vet J fignifies a Tribe ^ and a Sceptre^ and probably a Trtbe^ becaufe a Tribe is a CoUeftion of People under the Govern- ment of one Sceptre^ or Authority ^. Others, I know, account otherwife for this Signification f . But the Seventy In- terpreters would never have ufed the Greek Word (tk^^ttI^ov^ to denote a Tribe^ had rhey not thought that the original Word was ufed to fignify a Tribe^ upon the Notion of its being a Body under one and the fame Government. When the People were aflembled for the Choice of a King, ^S"^;^//^/ fays to them, prefent your felves before the Lord, by your Tribes ^^ ^^m. 7if rd (TKr/Pi^ i;|W,i^i/,(Seventy) and the Tribe of Benjamin was takcJi^ -^ aa^ct^KYi^^'^^}^'^^-^ cTKijTfJ^Gv BiviUfA^eiVj (Scveuty.) When God * Tradudum vero nomen eft ad figi ificandam tri- bum quod unaquaeq; tribus fuam peculiarem virg^tm haberet, nomine fuo mfcnpt.im, quam triHuum prin- cipes — Macu geftare confueverant — Cum Dominus Aaronem his verbis alloquitur ; fed ^ fratres tuoi de tribu Levi, CT" fceptrum Patris tui fume tecum', intcilige fceptrum ipfum, 61 totam tribum qux fccptro fignifica- batur, & regebatur. Mer.ochius derep. Heb. Lib. i. capn^l \ Schevet ; Tribus, quod ex arbore feu ftirpe uata fit, b. e. e patte. Kuciierus, Concord, in voce. Sche-vet, X 4 threatens XI. I 312 Dissertation III. threatens Solomon to divide his King- dom, he adds, but 1 12; ill give one Tribe T Kings fQ fjjy ^Qjj^ a-KiJTfj^ov tv Sco(ra tm v,^ tri ( Se- venty). Many other Tr fiances there are, but thefe are fufficient to (liew the Re- lation between the Sceptre and the Tribe, and that it is conformable to the Lan- guage and Ufage of Scripture, to under- ftand by the Word Sceptre^ th^ /luihori- ty in, and over 'Sl jingle Tribe. What the true Import of the Word Laijvgiver is, ia this T'lace, can; ot be determined but by reference to the Go- vernment or ConftiiU'-ior'intended.When we know the Fomi o'l Government, we can eafily dermine -wh^t Lawgiver fig- nifies ; but we cannot from the Word Lawgiver determine the Form of Go- vernment intended. The P^eafon is, be- caufe there are as many Kinds oi Law- givers^ as thereare Forms of Government in the World. The Senfe of the Word Lawgiver^ in this Place, muft necelTarily therefore be governed by the Senfe of the Word Sceptre. If Sceptre fignifies here the Authority and Power over a Tribe only, the Word Lawgiver^ joined with it, Dissertation IIF. 313 it, muft necelllirily be confined to mean (uch Lawgivers only, as fingle Tribes had within themfelves. Confequently, what has been faid to fix the Meaning of the Word Sceptre^ ferves equally to fix the Senfe of Lawgiver. The Seventy Inter- preters have rendered the Word Schevet by''A^;^^j/, and Mechokek by 'Hy^'^©-; ^ Mr. loncourt fufpefls that they were led by a kind of national Pride and Vanity to make Choice of thefe Terms, that carry in them fuch grand Ideas of Royal and Trincely Power. But before the paffing of this Cenfure, he ought to have exa- mined whether the Seventy do conftant- ly, or ufually, employ thefe Terms to fignify fo much Power as he fuppofes- ^^Aox^v and ^'A^x^vjig^ are ufed by the Se- venty above an hundred Times, at leaf!:, to fignify the Head^ or Heads^ of the Tribes o?Ifrael, There are twelve In- * Preveniis de toure la pompe dc la fuperiorite & des grandeurs dont je viens de parler, ils ont cru qui: Schevet^ qui fignifie communement F^r^f, doit etre en cet endroitune verge de Commandemmt ; c'elt pourquoi entrainez ce ce beau c6tc, ils ont traduit hardiment Ic Prince ne [era pint oie a Juda, Letters Critiques, ftances 314 Dissertation ill. ftances of this Ufe of the Word in one ^'""^^- "• Chapter of the Book oi Numbers^ and Numb.iv. about fixteen in another. Thelnftances indeed are fo many, that it is quite need- lefs to produce any, the Concordance will furnifh Authorities to every Enquirer. The Cafe is the fame as to the Word 'Hy^fSi/j®-. In X Chron. v. i. we meet with both thefe Words together in the fame Senfe. Solomon ajfembled all the Elders of Ifrael, ii vrdvlAg r^V ^px°fl<^s r So again, i C6r. vii. 4. All thefe were the Children of hS^sx^x^' K^x^^^^ 'itio^ 'zj-ciJ^mv — ^y^fjS/JOi r dpxcflcov r yiv^cLXo^y\(iiv]cov cv r^ ^dcrei rS 'ziroxifA,^, Thus the Sons of EflU who were no other than Heads of Tribes, are called ^HyefjLmg^ Gen. xxxvi. and the Sons of I/hmaeljWho were Princes of the fame Sort, are ftyled. Gen. xxv. '^A^;^oi/7gf. What Reafon is there now to fufpeSt the Seventy of Vanity, Prejudice, or Arti- fice ; or to fuppofe that they mean any higher Degree of Power by the Words in this Place, than they do in many other Places, where they make ufe of them? A LaW'- Dissertation III. 3 i r A Lawgiver from between his Feet : There is no Interpretation of thefe Words, but what fuits with theExpofition of the Prophecy now propofed; and therefore I may refer my felf in this, to the Rea- der's Choice among the feveral Interpre- tations given of this Phrafe. The Words may be conftrued two Ways, for we may either read thus, A Lawgiver from be- tween his Feety /hall not depart from Judah ; or thus, A Lawgiver fhall not depart from between the Feet of Judah. In the firft Way of Reading, the Meaning probably is, That the Lawgivers of Ju- dah Jhould be of his own T)efcendents\ and fo they were; In the fecond Read- ing, the Meaning is, That the Tribe of Judah Jhould have Lawgivers of their own^ to the very laft Times. This is IVa" genfeiPs ^ Senfe of the Words; and it is the Senfe of Onkelos. But fuppofe the original Word to be rightly rendered, in this place, Lawgiver ^ it will afford a ftrong Objeftion againft: any Interpretation, which extends the * Caimmis Lipmanni confutatio, />. 293. Powers ^i6 Dissertation III. Powers here mentioned over all the Peo- pie of Ifrael. For the Tribe of Judah never had a Legtjlative Authority over all the Tribes; no, not even in the Days of "David and Solomon. When the People defired aKing,theyexpreff:^d their Mean- ing very clearly, to have a Judge^ and I Sam. one to go out before them to fight their Battles. And when Sarmel rehearfes to them the Manner of th:iir King^ there isno Appearence that he was tobeaZ^-zc'- giver. And ^^ofes^ who was the only Lawgiver of the People of Ifrael^ had excluded all Kings from this Power, They were to have a Copy of the Law^ and not Deut. to turn ajide from the Commandment^ to ^^' the right Hand cr to the left. And the Ordinances made by T>avid^ relating to the Service of the Temple, were efta- blillied by Authority and Confent of the . . Princes and Rulers of Tribes. So little 2,0. * * Appearence is there, t\\2itJudahw2iS ever Lawgiver to all the Tribes of Jacob. Nor indeed couM this Power, in a proper Senfe, belong to fingle Tribes; for tho' they might, and did make fuch Rules, as we commonly callBy-laws; yet the Law of XVll. 1 Dissertation III. ofil/^jy^j- was their unalterable Law, both for Civil and Ecclefiaftical Affairs. And therefore I rather chiife to underftand "Judge^ (for fo the Word in the Original may be underftood) than Lwjigiver^ in this Place ; and this agrees beft to the Paffage referred to before, 'Dart Jhall Judge his Teo^le^ as one of the Tribes of Ifrael. As to theWordiyZ'i/^/^, Ihave nothing to add to the Expofitions of the Learned. They who are defirous to fee the feveral Ways of accounting for the Signification of this Word, may confult the Authors referred to by Wagenfetl^. Le Clerc f , znASaurin \ If by this Word we under- ftand Tacifictts^ the Teace-maker^ or Re- ftorer of Peace, who can it defign, but him in whofe Time there was to h^abun^ dance of Teace^ and Right eotifnefs for evermore ? If we underftand by it, Mit- tendus^ the Terfon to he fent^ who can that be, but the fame, of whom fo many Promifes and Prophecies had been given ; * Carm. Lip. conf. />. 2.94. t In locum. % Difcourfe 41. p. 519, ^c, even 317 3i8 Dissertation III. even the bleJfedSeed? If we cliufe rather to interpret it Filius ejus^ his Son ; who IS this pecvltar Son oijudah^ but the bleffed Seed; the Promife of which was fettled on Judah? If we take the Ver- fion of the Seventy for our Guide, and render the Word with them, r^ 'ium^LHf^cf. md, or ;?^i/^/j^ Kingdom ef Judah. All who came from other Tribes were confidered but as an additional Strength to Judah^ they preferved no diftincl Polity of their own as belonging to other Tribes. From the Time of the Ajfyrian Captivity, the Cafe is very plain ; there remained, with- out doubt, many privateFamilies and Per- fons in the Land, who efcaped in the ge- neral Confufion ; but they fubfifted not as Parts of diftinO: Tribes, but fell un- der the Dominion and Power o? Judah ; as appears in the Reformation made by King Jofiah^ which reach'd, not only to the Cities oijndah^ but to all the Conn" tries that j^ertain^d to the Children of Ifrael, Dissertation III. 315 Ilraeljto the Cities of Manaffeh ^//^Ephra- im,^^^ Simeon, even unto Naphtali; Ci-^csron. • xxxiv 6 ties, in which the Kings of yW^Z; had no 33. Influence or Authority, fo long as the fe- parate Kingdom of T/r^^^/fubfiflcd. After the Return from the Babylomjb Captivi- ty, we hear of little elfe butj^^-i^'j-, tho' we know, the Benjamites were joinM with them; and the Decree of Cyrus being a general Permiflion for the PvCturn of all the Tribes, many Families of other Tribes return'd to their own Country: But all thefe were gathered to Judah^ and be- 1 Chron; came one People. And m this State and^^* ^* Condition Thin gs continued till the Com- ing oiChriJl, and the laft Deftruftion of^^;^^^^"- the Nation by the Roman Power. a^s xxvi. If we confider how the Event corre-^* fponds to this Interpretation of the Pro- phecy in other Refpe5is, we fhall find that from the Death of /^r^^, there was a Government fettled in the feveral Tribes^ with refpeft to their own diftinfl: People; that the Heads of Tribes together did, by common Confent, adminiller the Af- fairs of the People in general. This ap- pears during the Abode of the Children Y 3 of ^%6 Dissertation III, o? IfraelmEgyP'^ for Af^y^j-and Aaro7i were fent to the Elders of the Teople^-^ thefe Elders v/ere Heads of "Houfes ^ as appears foon after in theHiftoryf, and Rulers of the Congregation \, That the People were form'd into Tribes in Eg ypt is plain; becaufe they are mention'd in that Capacity as foon as they got into the Y/ildernefs. without any new Order or Conftitudon to make them fo. The Stones of the Prleft's Breaft-plate were twelve by the Appointment of God, to anfwer to the Number, and to bear the Levit. Names of the t'welve 'Tribes \ and when God orders an Account to betaken of the Number of the Children ot Ifrael^ foon after their coming out oi Egypt ^ a Man of every Tribe^ and Head of the Houfe of his Fathers^ is appointed to alTift Mofes. Thefe Heads of Houfes are par- ticularly reckoned up and namM ; and their Quality and Dignity in Ifraelis fet- ■* Exod. iii. l6. iv. 29. Tiiv yi^avicfv tJv i^^-i 'ir^y.X. The Senate of the Childre;i of IfraeL LXX. Costum filiormn Jfrasl. Vulg. Exod. xii. 3. I Exod. vi. 14. " 'A^^Tifoi aixuv 'Tru.TO/.OAV ccuruv LXX, Pfincipes domorujn perfamilias fuss. Vujg. forth H'jmb. i. 3- Dissertation III. 317 forth in thefe Words, Thefe ^Jjcre if/:;^'^tiJ.^.i5. renowned of the Congregation^ '^Princes of the Tribes of their Fathers^ Heads of Thoufands in Ifrael. Since then there were Elders ^ and Heads of Hotifes in Egy])t^ who afted with Authority for the People, and to whom, therefore, the Meffage of God by Mofes and Aaron was directed : Since the Diftinftion of Tribes appears plainly as foon as the People came out oi Egypt ^ and Princes of the People appear tranf- afting the Affairs of their People; and wo Appointment or Conftitution to fettle thefe Tribes appears from the Time of Jacob : and fince there is no mention of any Tribe \x\Ifrael^\Xiit\\Jacob\ Appoint- ment of them, juft before his Death: It is manifeft, that this Conftitution owes its Rife to Jacob\ Appointment, and took place from that Time. From this Time to the Time of the Captivity oi Babylon^ there is no Sufpi- cion that the Tribe oijndah wanted Rulers and Princes within themfelves; The Power of the Heads of Tribes fubfifted under the Government of the Y 4 Kings jiS Dissertation III. Kings of Judah and IJrael^ and was fo confiderable, that nothing of Moment was done without their Advice and Con^ fent ^. The ten Tribes, which conftituted the Kingdom o? Ifrael^ were carried into Captivity by Salmanefer about feven hundred Years before Chriji ; and this put an End to the Being of thefe Tribes; they never recovered again , or appeared as a People from that Time to this. And here the Completion of the Prophecy relating to the Continuation o?JiidaFs Sceptre^ after the Removal of the others, has its Commencement. The Divifion of the Kingdom prepared the Way for the Completion of this Pro- phecy. Had all the Tribes continu'd un- der one Head, they would probably have all undergone the fame Fate ; but being * Hi Trihuum Principes Rtipublicac He'or.iicas erant Megiiianes, be Capita, S;: tonus Populi Magiftratui, five jfjdex eilet five Rex, aderanr, ck cum illq fedentes partiia confil'a inibant, partim jus reddehant. Quin- ctiani limul cum fummo Reipublicae Capite, Judice, aut Hegc, fe obligabant, li quid efi'et jurejurando publico l?.ncieridum= Mmoch. de Rep, tieb. Lib. i. cap. 6. divided Dissertation III. 3x9 divided in Intereft, and having different Kings, and confeqiiently not being con- cernM together in Matters of Peace and War, their Fortunes proved very diffe- rent; for iht^^dyria^i Captivity was Ru- in to the ten Tribes, but the Babyloiiijh Captivity u^as only a feventy Years Pu- nifliment to Judah. The feventy Years of the Babylonijh Captivity, is the only Period of Time that can create any Difficulty upon this Scheme. But if we confider that the Jews were not carried to Babylon to be S laves ^hvX were tranfplanted as a Colony^ to people the great, and newly enlarged. City of Babylon ^ ; that they are comman- ded therefore by the Prophet, to bulld^'^-^'^ Houfes^ 2indi^lant Gardens \ and to fee k the "Peace of theCtty^ inv.'hich they were Captives ; Circumftances, which prove them not to have been Slaves in Babylon : That upon the Expiration of the feventy Years, many of them were fo well fet- tled in Eafe and Plenty, that they refusM to return to their own Country again : If * See Dr. Vndtanx^ Connexion of the Old and New Teftanient, Var: I. £, i /?. 96. %vo Edit. WC S» 7 }7,o Dissertation IIL we confider further, that the J^'ie;^ lived at Babylon as a diftinQ: People, and were governM in their own Affairs by their own Rulers and Elders, appointed Feafts and Fafts, and ordered all other Matters relating to their own civil and ecclefi- aftical Affairs within themfelves'l^; it will take oft" the Weight of this Difficulty, and Ihew us, that the Tower 2sA Sceptre of Judah^ relative to the Being and Sub- fiftence of the Tribe, were not removed during this Captivity. And indeed,what Reafon is there to think, that this Con- ftitution was difturb'd by the tranfplant- ing the People to Babylon^ which began under the Power of the Kings of Egypt ^ and fubfifted with all the Forms and Changes of Government, which thePeo- t ihe Decree for dejircjing the Jews, in Apocryphal Elihcf, is founded in this. That they had Laws contra- ry to all Nations, and continually defpifed the Com- mandments of the King c.xm.i^.4. And zvhen the De- cree is revcrjed, they are [aid to live by mofi ju/i Lazvs, c. xv;. y. 15. Either, in her Prayer for the People, fays, Lord, give not thy Sceptre unto them that be no- thing, and let them not laugh at our Fall, c. xiv. 1 r. u^f:d if the Writer of the Hiflory of Sufanna hiezv any Thing of the State of the Jews in Babylon, 'tis plain they had Ru\trs f7«^ Judges of their ozun, who exe- £Htedihcir Laivs eveu m capital Canfes, ^. 41. Sc 62, pie Dissertation IIL 331 pie of 7/?^^/ underwent, from their com- ing out of the Egyptian Bondage,to their going into the Captivity of 5^^y/^/^; fure we are, from the Accounts prefervM in the Books of Ezra and Nehemtah^ that Ezr^y. 5. the Tribes oVJudah and Benjamin fub-,ii. \._ filled as fuch, during the Captivity, and^iii.^i. preferved very regular Accounts of their x. 14/ Genealogies: That they had likewife^;^^f^^* their Chiefs 2ind Elders^ who decided iv. 14.19- their Affairs, there is no doubt; they''*^'" are m.entionM in Ezra and Nekemiah^ as the Perfons managing the great Affairs of the Return, and re-eftablilliing the Ser- vice of God in Jertifakm : That they came back to their own Country as a Teopk 2ii-\d Nation governM by their own Laws, is evident from the Complaint fent againft them to Artaxerxes^ in which they make too great a Figure, and are re- prefented too confiderable to be thought a Set of mere Slaves, fubjeCled entirely to a forei2:n Yoke, without Law or Go-^z. vernment of their own. ^Tis true, that from the Time of the Captivity,the J^ie'j* were never fo free a People again, as they had been formerly; they liv'd under the Sub- IV. 3S I Mac. \ii;. 20. Dissertation III. Subje8:ion of the Terfian Monarch, and under the Empire of the Greeks and Ro^ mans to their laft DeftruQion ; but ftill they liv'd as a dijlin^t Tcofle^ governM by their own Law ^ : And the Authority of the Terjian and other Kings over 'em, deftroy'd not the Rule and Authority of Judah^ which fubfifted with it ; as it had, in its firft Commencement, fubfifted under the Kings oi Egypt ^ and oftentimes under Judges and Kings of their own. How the Cafe flood in the Time of the Hafmonean Princes, may be collefted from feveral Paffages of the Maccabees ; but efpecially from the Preambles of pub- I ick Leagues made by, and with the Jews. Hiftorians oftentimes fpeak loofely, but authentick publick Acls preferve Forms, and fliew in what Hands the Govern- ment refides. The Ambaffadorsfent from Jerufalem to Rome^ fpeak in the Name of Judas Maccabeus and his Brethren, and the 'People of the Jews. The League which followed upon this Application * Arfaxerxcs':? Ccmmiffion to Ezra isexprefs^ that he jhoLild appoi/tt fuch Magistrates and Judges, as know the i-aws of thy God. to Dissertation III. 333 to Rome is ftyPd, A Covenant with the "People of the Jews. "When the League ibid, was made with the Lacedemonians^ the3;xv!i''7* publick Letter was in the following Style, Jonathan the High-prieji and the Elders of the Nation and the "Princes^ and the other People of the Jews. When Simonihid, was their Governour, his Authority was ^^^^'^^ convey'd to him, in the Congregation of the Princes and the People^ and Rulers of the Nation^ and Elders of theCotmtry. Thefe are elfewhere call'd, the Comtcil^'^'^'^'^^' and the reji of the Jews; and the People lUzc. of the Jews. Thefe Inftances are M-^^^l];^^^ ficient to fliew, that the Polity of the Jews^ as a diftinfl: People, under Heads and Rulers of their own, fubfifted in this Period, and was not extinguilhM by the Power of the Hafmonean Princes. That things continued in this State to the very death oiChrif^ maybe evinced from many Paffages in the Gofpel ; fome I fhall produce and clofe this Article. When our Saviour tells the Jews^ the^^^^ Truth Jhall make you free^ they reply, 33"'^^' fFe are AbrahamV Children^ and were never in Bondage to any Man, Surely, they 3 34 Dissertation III. they had not forgot then* Captivity in Babylon^ much lefs could they be igno- rant of the Power of the Romans over them at that time, and yet you fee they account themfelvesfree ; andfo they were; for they lived by their own Laws, and executed Judgment among themfelves. This is plain from the Cafe of the Wo- 3Tian taken in Adultery; MoCes in the Law^ fay the Sc7^ibes and "F bar i fees ^ commanded us that fitch fljotild be floned^ John hut 'what fayeji thou? When our Saviour ^"'" ^' foretels his difciples that they fliould be delivered tip to Comic Us ^ and fcourged Mat.x. j^ Synagogues^ he fliews at the fame time what Power and Authority were exercifed in the Councils and Synagogues of the Je'oDs: When Tilate^ willing to Tohnxix. be deliverM oi Jefus^ fays to xhtjews^ Take ye him and crucify him^ and again, Take ye him and judge him according to J.hn yQjiY^ Qrj^>j^ Law\ he alfo fhews, that the Je'ws lived under their own Law, and had the Exercife of judicial Autho- rity among themfelves^. This was the * See ih:S piov'd at large oy Wa-gien^eii. Car Lip. Condi- Dissertation III. 335 Condition of things at the death of Chriji. By this Deduction It appears evidently, That the Sceptre placed in the Hand of Judah^ by his Father Jacob juft before his Death, continued in his Pofterity till the very death of Chriji. From that time all things began to work towards the De- ftrufliion of the Jewijh Polity, and with- in a fev/ Years, their City, Temple, and Government were utterly ruined; and the Jews^ not carried into a gentle Cap- tivity, to enjoy their Law, and live as a diftinft People in a foreign Country, but they were fold like Beafts in a Market, and became Slaves in the ftriQeft Senfe; and from that Day to this have had nei- ther Prince nor Lawgiver among them. Nor will they ever be able, after all their Pretences, to fliew any figns or marks of the Sceptre among them, till they dif- cover the unknown Country, where ne- ver Mankind dwelt ^ ■ and where the Apo- x Efd. cryphal Efdras has placed their Brethren ^'^^' ^^• of the ten Tribes. Before I take leave of this Subjeft, it is neceflary to obferve, That this Interpre- tation 33<^ Dissertation III. tation of the Prophecy oi Jacob relating to Judah^ is very much confirmed by another Prophecy given by Mofes^ not long before his Death- In the xxxiii. Chap. oiT)€Ut. Mofes blefles the Tribes; and as there are many Paffages in this laft Benedi&ion of Mofes^ v^hich corre- fpond to theBleffings pronounced by j^^- cob^ fo particularly, the Bleffing oi Ju- dab by Mofes feems to relate to the laft State of that Tribe and the continuance of the Sceptre of Judah , after the Dit perfion of the other Tribes. The Words r>€\\\ ^ oi Mofes are thefe; Hear ^ Lord the Voice ^umb. if. turn ivomBahylon^ Judah with Benjamin^ the Levite^y and the Remnant of Ifrael made only 4x360, and in fo weak aRzraii, State they were, that Sanballat^ in great ^^' Scorn faid, "what do thefe feeble Jei:i's? iSithAv.z, And the People themfelves complain as being not fufficient to go thro' the Toil of building the Wall; and Judah fa^d^^^^- J^, the ftrength of the bearers of Burdens is decayedy and there is mtich Rubbijh^ fo that "-jve are not able to build the JVall. Be thou an Help to him from his Ene- mies. The Books Ezra and Nehemiah are convincing Proofs of the great Diffi- culties and Oppofitions which the Jews found in fetting up their Temple and Ci- ty ; once their Enemies had fo prevailed, that Orders came from the Court oiTer- Jia to ftopall their Proceedings ; and even at laft, when Nehemiah came to their Affiftance with a new Commiffion from Artaxerxes y they were fo befet with Enemies, that the Men employed in building the Wall, every one with one of Z i his 17 340 Dissertation III. Neh.iv. his Hands wrought in the Work^ and with the other Hand held a Weapon. Lay thefe two Prophecies now toge- ther ; Jacob foretels that JudaWs Sceptre fhould continue till Shiloh came ; which is in efFeQ: foretelling that the Sceptres of the other Tribes fhould not continue fo long: Mofes in the Spirit of Prophecy fees the Defolation of ^// the Tribes \ he fees the Tribes of the Kingdom oi Ifrael carried away by the Ajfyrians^ the Peo- pie of Judah by the Babylonians-^ he fees that Judah fhould again return, weak^ harajfed^ and fcarcely able to maintain himfelf in his own Country ; for them therefore he conceives this prophetick Prayer: Hear^ Lord^ the P^oice of Judah ^ and bring him unto his Teople: Let his Hands be fttfficient for him^ and be thou an help to him from his Enemies. You'll fay, perhaps, why did not Jacob foretel alio the Continuance o{t\\^ Scep- tre of Benjamin^ for the Tribe oi Benja- min run the fame Fortune with that of Judah \ they went together into Capti- vity, they returned home together, and were both in Being when Shiloh came ? In anfwer to this, I have two things to offer. Dissertation IIT. 341 FirJ}^ it has already appeared that from the Divifion of the Kingdoms after the Death of Solomon^ the Tribe of Benja- mtn^ and the Remnant of Ifrael^ that is part of all the other Tribes adhered to Judah, and formed one People underj^- dah as their Head ; and this was confo- nant unto Jacob'^s Prophecy, ^iito him fljalL the gathering of the Teople be. Secondly^ Though the Continuance of the Sceptre of Benjamin is not foretold (for the Sceptre was to h^'judah'^s) yet the Continuance of the Tribe or People of Benjamin is diftindly foretold both by Jacob and by Mofes. The Bleffing of Benjamin as delivered hy Jacob is thus, Benjamin Jhall ravin as a Wolf: In the Morning he Jfjall devour the Trey^ and at Night he ftoall divide the Spoil : As delivered by Mofcs it is thus , O/Benja- min he faid^ the Beloved of the Lord fhall dwell in Safety by him \ and the Lord Jhall cover hi7n all the T^oy long^ and he Jhall dwell between his Shoulder s^ When Jacob profcifes to declare v/hat fhall befal his Sons in the laR Times, is it hard to fay what muft be underftood by the Morning and Night in jacob\ Prophecy 2 yl ^ D I S 5 F RT A T I O N III. Prophecy concerning Benjamin? The ndttiral Morning and Night cannot pof- fiblybe underllood here; and what other Morning and Night can you fuppofe in- tended, but the Morning and the Night oithQ J ewijh State ^? For this State is the Subje£t of all Jacob'^s Prophecy from One End to the other ; confequently it is here foretold oiBenJafnin^ that helliould continue to the very laft Times of the Jewijh State. And this Interpretation is confirmed hy Mofes his Prophecy, for the Prophecy of Mofes is in T.ruth an Ex- pofition oijacob\ Prophecy. Benjamin^ fays Mofes ^ jhall dwell in Safety ; The Lordjloall cover him all the Day long, he Jloall dwell between his Shoulders, "What is this, all the T)ay long ? You fee how Benjamin is diftinguiflied ; he is to dwell in Safety^ under the Cover of the Lord^ and between his Shoulders all the T>ay long. Does not this import a Pro- mife of a longer Continuance to Benja^ min^ than to the other Tribes? And was It not moft exaftly fulfilled? * Thus [ome]t\\'\'^\ Interpreters referred to by Bochaif, underjiood the Exprejftcn. Klane, id eft primis Ifraelitici regni leniporibiis — Sub vefperam, id ett port Captiviia- irsBabylonlc* lemporA. Hkron. cap, lo. /^r. 828 The I Dissertation III. 345 The learned Bocbart^ upon very flight Grounds fuppofes an Inverfion in the Or- der of the Words in Jacob'^s Prophecy con- cern ing Be7ijan7in\ d^vAhy t\\Q MorniJig and the Nighty he underftands x\\QNighC and Mornhig'^ fo that the Time defcribed, is, in his Senfe, the-x^/j^A^ A^/^/j/^^and not the whole T)ay, All this is built upon the Property of the fVolf^ to which Ben- jamin is compared: 'Tis a Night JVolf^ fays Bochart^ which catches the Prey in the Night, and feeds on it in the Morning- But I very much queftion whether the Style of the Scripture w^ill bear theTeft of fuch Claflick Nicety and Exaftnefs. And tho' this Imagination has been fol- lowed by confiderable Commentators ; yet fmce Mofes^ in his own Prophecy on Benjamin^ has expounded this Morning and Rtgbt-i hy all the 'Day long^ there is no room to make any further queftion about it. I have nothing more to add, but to acquaint the Reader tliat the Interpreta- tion oi Jacobh Prophecy, now advanced is not a mere Invention of my own. It is, as to the main Point, the fame with that, which is xX\q fourth in Huetius^ and by 344 D I S S E R T A T I O A^ ///. by him rejefted ; but for fuchReafons as have been fully obviated in this Account. 'Tis the fame, which Jufiius and TremeU liusj and our own learned Countryman Alnfworth^ efpoufed ; and which not many Years ago was revived and impro- ved by Mr. Joncourt. This lall menti- oned Gentleman publifhed feveral Letters upon obfcure Paflages of Scripture, and among the reft one upon the Scejjtre of Judah, which are very well worth the reading. As to the Letter upon \X\^ Scep- tre of Judah, if I had thought nothing wanting in it to clear this Prophecy, I \vouM not have troubled the World w^ith this DifTertation. 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