O my God yea thy Law is within my heart I have preached Righteousness in the great Congregation Lo I have not refrained my Lips O Lord thou knowest I have not hid thy Righteousness within my heart I have declared thy Faithfulness and thy Salvation I have not concealed thy loving Kindness and thy Truth from the great Congregation In the XVI Psalm he describes the inviolable stedfastness of the Messiah to the Service of God who had sent him to form a great People with the manner of his deliverance by God from all the powers of the World by raising him up from the dead and afterwards receiving him into Glory Psalm XVI 8. c. I have set the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand I shall not be moved Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoyceth my flesh also shall rest in hope For thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell neither wilt thou suffer thy holy One to see corruption Thou wilt shew me the path of Life in thy presence is fulness of joy at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore In the XXII Psalm he describes the Agonies through which the Messiah was to pass the manner of his Death the Victory which he should obtain over his Enemies and the Conversion of those very Nations which had cast him off In the CIX Psalm he speaks of the Oppressions of the Messiah pronouncing great numbers of Imprecations against that very person who should signalize himself by persecuting his Innocence Hold not thy peace O God of my praise for the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me they have spoken against me with a lying tongue Verse 1 2. Set thou a wicked man over him and let Satan stand at his right hand When he shall be judged let him be condemned and let his prayer become Sin. Let his days be few and let another take his Office Verse 6 7 8. Because that he remembred not to shew mercy but persecuted the poor and needy man that he might even slay the broken in heart As he loved cursing so let it come to him as he delighted not in blessing so let it be far from him As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his Garment so let it come into his bowels like water and like oyl into his bones Verse 16 17 18. In the CXIX Psalm he carries this Argument further in his Description of the Zeal of the Messiah for the House of God and of those insultings which he should meet with and the manner of their giving him Vinegar and Gall to drink with the hardning and rejection of those who had used him in that manner Save me O God for the waters are come in unto my soul I sink in deep mire where there is no standing I am come into deep waters where the floods overflow me Verse 1 2. Let not them that wait on thee O Lord Ged of Hosts be ashamed for my sake Let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake O God of Israel Because for thy sake I have born reproach shame hath covered my face I am beoome a stranger unto my Brethren and an Alien unto my Mothers Children For the zeal of thy House hath eaten me up and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me Verse 6 7 8 9. Reproach hath broken my heart and I am full of heaviness and I looked for some to take pity but there was none and for comforters but I found none They gave me also Gall for my meat and in my thirst they gave me Vinegar to drink Let their Table become a snare before them and that which should have been for their welfare let it become a trap Let their eyes be darkned that they see not and make their loins continually to shake Pour out thy indignation upon them and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them Verse 20 21 22 23 24. In the XCVII and XCVIII Psalms he describes the destruction of Idolatry when the promised Saviour should appear and when God should raise him upon his Throne The Lord reigneth let the Earth rejoyce let the multitude of the Isles be glad thereof Psalm XCVII 1. Confounded be all they that serve graven Images that boast themselves of Idols worship him all ye Gods. Zion heard and was glad and the Daughters of Judah rejoyced because of thy Judgments O Lord For thou Lord art high above all the Earth thou art exalted far above all Gods Verse 7 8 9. O sing unto the Lord a new Song for he hath done marvellous things his right hand and his holy arm have gotten him the Victory The Lord has made known his Salvation his righteousness hath he openly shew'd in the sight of the Heathen He hath remembred his Mercy and his Truth towards the House of Israel all the ends of the Earth have seen the Salvation of our God. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord all the Earth make a loud noise and rejoyce and sing praise Psalm XCVIII 1. 4. In the LXVIII Psalm he explains the glory of the Messiah and his Ascension into Heaven with the effusion of those gifts which he was to spread abroad for the Conversion of the Nations that God might dwell amongst the most rebellious Princes shall come out of Egypt Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God Sing unto God ye Kingdoms of the Earth O sing praises unto the Lord. To him who rideth upon the Heavens of Heavens which were of old lo he doth send out his voice and that a mighty voice Ascribe ye strength unto God his excellency is over Israel and his strength is in the Clouds O God thou art terrible out of thy holy places the God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power unto his people Verse 31 32 33 34 35. The Prophets who lived in the time of David or soon after pursued all his Idea's One see 's that Nathan II Sam. VII foretells Solomon's glory and the honour which he should have in building that Temple of which David had formed the design before in such a manner that he clearly shews three things which will by no means agree with Solomon I. That God should raise up a Son to David after his Death and place him upon his Throne whereas Solomon was born and advanced to the Throne by David himself II. It was promised that his Government should be endless this is not applicable to the Royal Posterity of David who had but Twenty Successors who bore the Title of Kings III. That God particularly promises to be the Father of this promised Son which is not more applicable to Solomon than to David to Josiah or Hezekiah One see 's that Corah's Posterity gave that Account of Solomon's glory upon his marriage with the King of Egypt's Daughter He speaks of a Throne much more august then that Princes was and he represents to us a God consecrated with
expressions of this Psalm the Image of a Death which was equally shameful and cruel The other part of the Psalm gives us an Account of the deliverance of that person who is mentioned in this holy Hymn I. He obliges himself to praise the Name of the Lord in the most numerous Assembly II. He observes it as an effect of this deliverance that all the ends of the World should remember and turn unto the Lord and that all the Kindreds of the Nations should worship before him III. At last he takes notice that the Kingdom of God should spread it self over all the Nations of the World. One may judge by the History of David whe-this Psalm is applicable to him therein we may see all the Crosses which he underwent particularly represented during all the former years of his Reign But there we have no Account that David ever suffered any thing like that which is so exactly described in this Psalm And this may be said further that when David took any Occasion to paint out his Sufferings to us he has put in several stroaks which only relate to the Messiah and which shew us in a very lively manner that he was to pass through much greater Tryals than any of those from which David had been delivered The later Jews who endeavour to verifie this Prophecy in Esther or Mordecai agree with us at the bottom that David carried his views further than barely his own Sufferings And those also who apply it to the poople of Israel must acknowledge the same Truth even against their wills But the more ancient Jews were more equitable in their applications of the XXII Psalm to the Messiah They applyed it to him in earnest even after the time of Jesus Christ when the comparison of these Characters of the Messiah which may be found so exactly in the Death of Jesus Christ led them to an opposition of this Truth And certainly there needs very little equity to acknowledge that this Oracle or rather this heap of Oracles belong'd to the Messiah by the confession and agreement of the Jews in our Saviour's time I. They had not then resolved to make their advantages of the Writer's fault who writ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 like a Lion instead of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they have pierced my feet as they have done since In short Aquila who lived 100 years after Jesus Christ and the other Jewish Interpreters Symmachus and Theodotion translated that passage as we now read it II. The Notion which the Synagogue always had of the Sufferings of the Messiah obliged them to suppose two Messiahs one suffering and the other glorious rather than to contradict that Truth openly which is expressed by these Oracles in soparticular a manner III. Nothing can be imagined to be more ridiculous than to suppose that Jesus Christ should quote the first words of this Psalm upon the Cross thereby to engage all Mankind to take notice of the accomplishment of this ancient Oracle in all his Sufferings if we suppose that this Psalm even by the confession of the Jews had no relation to the Messiah The same Reflexion may be made concerning the Apostles who have quoted so many passages of this Psalm to prove that Jesus Christ was the Messiah because one may find in his Death and in the Circumstances of it such a litteral and exact accomplishment of this ancient Prophecy But if it should be objected That after all this agreement of the Synagogue can make no more than a strong prejudice this may be easily answered by considering that when the Psalmist speaks of the extent of his Kingdom over the whole Earth it was that Circumstance which determined the Synagogue in their application of this whole Psalm to the Messiah because as the Jews themselves acknowledge this extent of Empire is one of those Characters which according to the ancient Oracles is applicable to none but the Messiah In short because it is of great importance I shall repeat it here again common sense led those who considered these ancient Oracles to compare them as naturally they ought with those that went before and to determine the scope and intent of the later ones by the relation which they had to the precedent ones and there was only need of one considerable Clause to make a certain determination after they had made such a comparison This the Jews were certainly convinced of when they acknowledged that the last words of David II Sam. XXIII 1-8 were to be applyed to the Messiah by comparing them with Balaam's Oracle of the Messiah Numb XXIV We may therefore take it for granted That David did not absolutely speak of himself in the XXII Psalm and that he carried his views as far as the Messiah that he gave a great number of Characters to his Posterity whereby they might distinguish notwithstanding the greatness of his Sufferings and even the better by his very Sufferings than which no clearer marks can possibly be given because there is nothing more involuntary than enduring of Miseries nor nothing which depends less upon the choice of the person who is to undergo them than the particular kind of punishment or than the Circumstances which must accompany his Death when it is once left to the unjust power of violent Enemies We come now to the CX Psalm which in a very few words contains several very important Characters of the Messiah which are very distinctly expressed If one considers it exactly it seems to have been composed after that Nathan had acquainted David with the Glory of his Son which God had promised him such a Son who should build a House wherein God should dwell for ever and who should sit upon a Throne which should never be overturned whereas David had only form'd a Design of Building a Temple to the Lord. In short one see 's that the Spirit of Prophecy had given him a view of the Glory of this august King who should be born of his Seed and of the Glory of his Kingdom which should never be destroy'd David advances this King not only above all MEN by calling him his Lord who was himself a King but also above the Angels by making him sit at the right hand of God in the Kingdom of Heaven This is personal He also describes the Glory of his Office by considering him as a Priest of a higher order than that of Aaron from whom Melchisedech received Tithes in the person of Abraham And in a word he acquaints us with the progress of his Kingdom and the greatness of his Victories Let us examine all these Characters by themselves I. He brings in God speaking to the Messiah whom he calls his Lord Sit thou at my right hand until I make thy Enemies thy footstool This points out to us 1. That the Messiah ought to be advanced to Glory 2. That God intended to subdue his Enemies by little and little whilst the Messiah should be in his Glory as it was
of taking to Wife ones own Brother's Widow to raise him up Seed 2. The Sin of Onan is represented so odious only because by it he acted against the belief of the Promise 3. We see the same thing in the action of Thamar Juda's Daughter-in-Law for having been deceived by Judah she in exchange surpriz'd him into an Incest the Commission whereof according to the Observation of a Greek Commentator she sought to perpetuate Theoph. in Mat. c. I. only because she had a vehement desire to get Children out of a Family which she lookt upon as solely intrusted with the Promise of the Messiah and out of which he was accordingly to be born It is necessary to make that Observation because we ought always to remember that she was formerly a Canaanite and that consequently she left off and renounc'd the Impiety and Idolatry of her Kindred when she embrac'd the Religion and hopes of Jacob's Family Therefore we see that particular mention is made of her in our Saviour's Genealogy and of Ruth who likewise gave over all the pretensions of her own People and so forsook her Religion to enter into the Tribe of Judah as well as of Bathshebah who was Wife to a Hittite whereupon an ancient Father hath very well observed S. Hieronym in Tradit Heb ad 1. Reg. 3. according to the Jewish Opinion that Shimei's Revilings against David when he went out of Jerusalem during Absalom's Rebellion reflected upon his Birth out of the Posterity of Ruth the Moabitess as the Jews even to this very day do understand it We may make the same Reflexion upon the Consideration of that implacable jealousie which Joseph's Dreams raised in the Minds of his Brethren 1. We may reasonably conceive that he being the First-born of Rachel and the Wife which Jacob his Father had first made Love to he had been brought up with hopes of the Birth-right as well as Isaac who was but the second Son of Abraham But 2. He might besides very well suppose that the Crimes of his Brethren born of Leah whom in all likelihood he lookt upon as the sole Legitimate Heirs the others being born of Maid-Servants did rank them with Esau whom God had rejected That outragious Fury which Joseph's Brethren shew'd against him because they lookt upon him as preferred of God by those Dreams to those that were born before him is so like that of Cain of Lot of Ismael and of Esau that it had in all probability the same Cause and Original Do we not see afterwards another effect of the same jealousie in the affectation that Jacob and his Family shew'd in the Land of Egypt when they refused to live promiscuously with the Egyptians which were the Posterity of Ham and begg'd of them a Countrey where they might live by themselves as we see on the contrary the Egyptians shewing an extream aversion against Jacob and his Family which was of Sem's Posterity Certainly it cannot be denied that as this separation was an effect of the Antipathy of those Nations so it might also be in some respect the consequence of Jacob and his Childrens pretensions upon the Promise of the Messiah the execution and accomplishment whereof they stood up for as belonging to themselves To all this we may add that the Persecution of the Egyptians against the Israelites obliged them to make particular Reflexions upon the Promise which Jacob on his Death-Bed made to them from God That Persecution was chiefly intended against the Male Children Pharaoh commanding the extirpation of them because he was afraid of the Jews growing too strong for him and of their joyning with his Enemies and perhaps also because the Jews entertaining a certain expectation of the Messiah's coming and so boasting and glorying of it upon all occasions the Egyptians design'd to frustrate and cut off their hope thus by hindering the accomplishment of the Promise However there was no real difficulty to keep up the distinct remembrance of those important Facts Jacob died in the year of the World 2315. Joseph died in the year of the World 2428. There are then but 58 years between Josephs Death and Moses's Birth Moses might have seen not only Amram his own â—â—ther who had seen Levi but also Kohath his Grandfather who had seen Jacob. And it is for that reason Gen. L. 23. that Moses seems to have observ'd that Joseph saw his own Children's Children that is to say the third Generation One cannot imagine any Circumstances more conducible than these to the preserving the distinct knowledge of those important Truths which were the Foundations of Religion CHAP. XVII That the Tradition which gives us an Account of the Perswasion which the Ancients had of the truth of the Creation of the World and of the Promise of the Messiah before Moses cannot be suspected I Have shew'd I think evidently enough that both the Creation and the Promise of the Messiah with all the other things depending upon them might have been known certainly by Adam and his Children and so afterwards be handed down to all his Posterity till Moses's time From Adam to Noah there is but one Man viz. Methusalah who joyned hands with both From Noah to Abraham there is but one Man viz. Sem who saw them both for a considerable time From Abraham to Joseph there is but one Man viz. Isaac Joseph's Grandfather From Joseph to Moses there is 〈◊〉 one Man viz. Amram who might have seen Joseph long enough Those Characters of time which Moses hath so carefully observed do plainly evidence that the Creation and the Promise of the Messiah might be distinctly known For if we suppose a continued succession of Adam's Offspring it was not easie to impose upon Men in that matter and that because every one of those who were Contemporaries with Moses being able to run up his own Pedigree as far as the Flood nay even up to Adam by as compendious a way as Moses could do his own they would have treated those with the utmost degree of scorn who should have attempted to forge any thing contrary to what was publickly and universally known and so it was equally impossible that the truth of things so important as the Creation and the Promise of the Messiah were should be unknown Besides I think I have plainly shew'd that many actions recorded by Moses tho' very strange in themselves and which the Atheists look upon as absurd and ridiculous have proceeded from no other principle than from the strong perswasion of the truth of those Facts according as in a long Series of Ages every one of the Ancients following his own humour and prejudices framed to himself a particular Idea differing from the true sense of the Promise of the Messiah It cannot reasonably be objected that all this is only grounded upon the uncertain authority of Tradition For tho' I grant that Tradition as to Facts of another nature be dubious and uncertain and not to be too much
upon them continually especially every Sabbath day Nay and we see moreover that God every Seventh Year would have them read publickly in a more solemn manner before the whole Congregation of that people who during that Year were obliged to rest from all their ordinary Labours and Employments and so had nothing else to do all that while but to read the Law to examine it and to meditate upon it Lastly It appears that those Laws were yet the more Solemn and Authentick because they obliged the Jews to celebrate three such Feasts as were to be publickly kept by the whole Nation and consequently apt to refresh their Memories and put them in mind thrice a year not only of the surprizing Miracles that God had done for them but also of the manner how he gave and promulgated his Laws the Miracles giving rise to the Laws and those Laws being themselves a means of preserving the Memory of those Miracles because of the frequent Commemoration of them which was therein enjoyned Now these things being so let every one judge whether the truth of Moses's Account of God's giving and promulgating by his means that Body of Laws which he hath inserted in Exodus and the following Books can possibly or at least reasonably be disputed or doubted of But I come now to con-the Oracles recorded in Moses's Writings in order to demonstrate the Truth and Divinity of them CHAP. VII That there is no just Exception can be made against Moses 's History in what relates to the Oracles which he hath recorded in his Books THere are several sorts of Oracles in Exodus and the other three following Books First There are some whereof the accomplishment did soon follow the Prediction The Deliverance of the Jews out of the Egyptian Bondage is of that number Moses does promise and foretel it nay and he executed it himself And all the people to whom it was promised and foretold were themselves Witnesses of the accomplishment of that Prophesie and it was that accomplishment which established the Divinity of his Commission So is the other Prophesie concerning the Conquest of the Land of Canaan and the several Divisions that were to be made of it amongst all the Tribes of Israel Moses foretelling exactly what Lot every one should have and giving besides a Description of the Countrey that every Tribe was to inhabit Those that were Born in the Desert were Witnesses both of the Prediction and the Execusion of it altho it was by the casting of Lots that all the Tribes got their several Partitions But Secondly There are some other Oracles in Moses's Books the accomplishment whereof was not to follow the Prediction till after a long interval of time Such are the Prophesies that foretel the future Subjection of the Israelites to the Canaanites and the several Deliverances out of that Subjection which God was to effect by the hands of Judges whom he was to raise up for that purpose Such again are the Prophesies which relate to the future change of their Common wealth into a Kingly Government Thirdly and Lastly We see that Moses foretells all the Accidents Changes and Revolutions that were to befal the Jews as long as their State should stand At least we see that his Predictions are very plain concerning their several Captivities and Removals and their return into the Holy Land as also the Sieges of Samaria and Jerusalem and the irrecoverable dispersion of the whole Nation which we see at present But whatever difference there may otherwise be betwixt all these Predictions we may say that every one of them hath as pregnant Proofs of its certainty and truth as any thing of that nature is capable of For First As to the first sort of Predictions the accomplishment whereof Moses relates himself It plainly appears that his account cannot in the least be suspected of Imposture because he wrote it amongst a whole Nation which could not possibly be imposed upon in that case seeing he supposes and takes it for granted all along in his Relation that those Predictions were before-hand publickly and generally known of all the people As for the accomplishment of the second sort of Prophesies we have the Relation of it in such other Books as were written after Moses's Death as in the Books of Joshua of Judges and several others which relate the accomplishment of them as of Prophesies written many years and even some Ages before by Moses Besides to this we may add that the account which we find in those Books concerning the accomplishment of Moses's Prophesies is interwoven with such Histories as suppose without any Affectation that his Prophesies as well as his Writings were in the hands of all the World and distinctly known by every Jew And what is further observable is That the Jews have always had Moses's Books in such an Esteem because of these several Illustrious Prophesies that are contained in them that they have always lookt upon him as the most excellent of all their Prophets They assert at this very day that the other Prophets had commonly no other knowledge of future Events than that which was communicated to them by Dreams and Visions whereas Moses had it by an immediate Revelation of God himself who used to speak to him Face to Face without any Enthusiasm when he was perfectly awake Now how could ever the Jews have been so strongly prepossest of that high Opinion both of Moses and his Predictions if we suppose that they never saw the accomplishment of any of them That would certainly be as strange an Illusion as ever was For it is besides observable that those Prophesies of his were not written by themselves and kept secret from the generality of the people but that they were inserted into the several Speeches which he made to all the people some time before his Death and which are written and kept together in the same Volume to be a standing Monument both of his Prophecies and of his Ministry among the Jews Now there is a vast Difference betwixt a Book that is all made up of Prophesies and so kept secret and seldom read as the Books of the Sybils were and a Book wherein the Prophesies it contains are interwoven with a History wherein there is so great a variety of Matters as draws to it and fixes the attention of every Reader and wherein they are mingled with a whole Body of Political and Ceremonial Laws and intermixed with the accounts which Moses gives of all the great Transactions which gave the occasion to so many several Revelations and Prophesies recorded in his Books I am perswaded that it is impossible for any Man to make those Reflexions upon the Opinion which the Jews entertained of Moses's Prerogative and upon the manner that his Prophesies so much reverenced amongst them were exactly accomplished and not be convinced of their Divine Authority CHAP. VIII That the Testimony of the Jews is a constant proof of the truth of the Oracles related
that Prerogative to Seth's Family and excluded Cain's from it then afterwards of all Seth's Family he restrained it to Noah alone and his Family then of Noah's Family to Shem alone then afterwards of all Shem's Posterity to Abraham alone then of Abraham's Sons to Isaac alone and of Isaac's to Jacob alone whose Son Judah was alone invested with that priviledge and all his Brethren excluded It is moreover observable that in those seven forementioned Restrictions which God made he seems to have affected to prefer the youngest to the eldest as it is evident in his choice if not of Noah and Shem who was elder than the other Sons yet certainly in that of Seth who was younger than Cain of Abraham who was the youngest of Terah's Sons of Isaac who was younger than Ismael of Jacob who was younger than Esau and of Judah who was one of the youngest of Leah's Sons So likewise if the Reader would judge of God's design by the event alone he might justly conclude that God by this affected choice intended to raise continual Jealousies betwixt the Eldest who pretended that the priviledge of accomplishing the promise did belong to them because of their Birthright against their youngest Brothers whom they saw preserred by God's immediate choice One may also further add That God seems to have strengthen'd these Jealousies by introducing sometimes a sort of Conformity amongst the pretenders to the execution of this promise Thus for instance as Abraham had two Children so Lot had two as Jacob had twelve Sons so Esau also had twelve and sometimes one may find that those particular persons who are preferred are charged with very severe Accusations Now after all these general Refiexions it is natural for us to consider what care God hath upon all occasions particularly taken to distinguish and protect those whom he had invested with the right of accomplishing the Promise that their state and succession might never be uncertain 'T was this design no doubt which obliged God to make Seth the Depositary of his Service and Worship that he might thereby save Noah from the Flood and so procure to Shem his Father's Blessing 'T was for this Reason that he call'd Abraham out of his own Countrey and made him Travel from place to place to make him thereby famous in the World and to invite Men by that means to inquire after his Profession his Hopes and his Religion Again it was for this that he obliged this Patriarch to the practice of Circumcision which was a real distinction and an indelible Character and that he likewise confined him to a certain place by fixing him in some sort to the Cave of Machpela which he had purchased of the Children of Hamor Lastly It was for that reason that God would have the Posterity of Jacob distinguished from all other Nations of the World and that he prohibited all alliance with them as also all Imitations of the Customs and Religious Ceremonies practised amongst them Now all this being supposed I say that whether we consider the end and principal design of Moses's Laws or whether we examine his several Prophesies which do particularly characterize the Messiah we shall find that God did all along continue in his first design of distinction and consequently of keeping up the Jealousies of those that had any pretensions to the priviledge of accomplishing the Promise or which is all one that he hath prosecuted the same design to Jesus Christ's time in whom Christians do maintain that the first Promise was accomplished God having then and not till then both put an end to all those Differences and Distinctions which were only intended to make the Messiah the better known and the more certainly discerned at his coming and then to cease just as Scaffolds are taken away as soon as the Building is finished And having also on the other hand rectified the Principles from which flowed that Spirit of Jealousie amongst those who had the same pretension We see that accordingly God excluded all other Nations from the right of accomplishing this Promise We see that even in the Family of Judah who was himself the youngest of the first Set of Leah's Children he restrained the execution of it to the youngest Brothers We see that he raised occasions of Jealousies even amongst the Tribes of Israel In a word we see that of all those means which can distinguish any one people from all other Nations of the World or one Tribe from twelve one Family from all other Families of the same Tribe and one particular person from all the rest of his Family none were omitted but on the contrary all made use of by God to follow this his first design This I intend firmly to establish by examining the thing gradually from Moses's time by whose Ministry God enacted and published those Laws by the means whereof he intended the Messiah might certainly be known to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in whom we believe that the Promise was accomplished CHAP. XIII That the manner of God's Promulgating his Law amongst the Israelites did much conduce to the distinguishing them from all other Nations I Do not barely design here at first to observe the several Resemblances which are observable betwixt the things related by Moses in Genesis and those which one finds in the following Books Neither will I meerly establish here that as Jacob's going down into Egypt with all his Children and the protection that they all received there from Joseph did serve to fulfil the Prediction which God made of that Event by Joseph's Dreams so we may say in general that the sending of Moses his Miracles and his whole Ministry to the time of his Death when he entrusted Joshuah with the Conduct of the Jews were a litteral accomplishment of the first part of the Promise which God had formerly made to Abraham to deliver the fourth Generation of his Posterity out of the Captivity which it was to fall into and then to bring it into the Land of Canaan to possess it Moses indeed represents that people according to the Tenour of the Prophesie as groaning under the hard pressure of a cruel Captivity in Egypt when Joseph and his eminent Services were both forgotten Afterwards he tells us how they were miraculously delivered out of that Captivity And then Lastly he informs us that after he had carried them through many difficulties in the Wilderness he brought them at last to the very Borders of Canaan and so left them ready to conquer and possess it according to God's Promises and their pretensions grounded upon those promises which had been so often repeated to them ever since Abraham's time Joshua Moses Successour and in all likelihood the Author of the Description of his Death is he that accomplished the other part of God's promise to Abraham by introducing the Israelites into Canaan and actually possessing them of it So there is nothing can be imagined more precise in this whole matter But
who should become their Kings is likewise foretold In short one see 's express Predictions of the Ruin of Jerusalem and of the whole Nation under the Roman Empire after the coming of the Messiah As the People of Israel had always great quarrels with the Neighbouring Nations so one finds that amongst the Oracles which particularly regard the state of the Jews the Prophets have interwoven a great number which concern those strange People with relation to those Differences which were kept up between the People of Israel and them So one see 's the Egyptians and the Canaanites punished in the Execution of the Oracles pronounced against the Descendants of Cham. One see 's the Prediction of the Ruin of Benhudad King of Syria and of his House foretold to the Tenth Generation One see 's the Prediction of the Ruin of Egypt and Tyre which happened under Nebuchadnezzar One see 's the Prediction of the Ruin of the Moabites which was under the same Nebuchadnezzar after that Kingdom had subsisted almost Fourteen Ages from its first Foundation One see 's frequent Oracles concerning the Ruin of Niniveh and its Empire One see 's Oracles concerning the Ruin of Babylon which happened under Cyrus One see 's Oracles of the Destruction of the Persian Empire by Alexander One see 's Oracles concerning the manner of this Princes conquering the greatest part of the World and of his leaving his Empire divided into four Kingdoms One see 's frequent Oracles concerning the state of the Empire of the Seleucidae and the Ptolemees who had particular Quarrels with the Jewish Commonwealth One see 's the Alliances which were to be between the two Kingdoms foretold and the small Success which should arise thence in terminating their Differences One see 's Predictions of the Treatment which the Jews should meet with in those Kingdoms One see 's a Prediction of the Retreat which Egypt was to give to the Jews and of the Temple they were to build there One see 's an exact Prediction of the manner of the prophanation of the Temple by Antiochus Epiphanes for Three years together One see 's the Prediction of the Ruin of these two Governments by the Arms of the Roman Empire It is very natural to make some Reflexions upon such a various multitude of Oracles I. That there are no Books in the World which are formed like those which we find in the hands of the Jews One finds there a History exactly pursued and in a natural dependance from the beginning of the World for 3500 years One finds there a Series of Oracles which foretel all sorts of Events so inseparably united with the History that it is impossible to find by what means the Prophecies could have been so brought to support the History and the History to support the Authority of the Prophecies One finds Oracles so clear and so particular especially in the Book of Daniel That Porphyry a mortal Enemy to the Christians was forc'd to assert that the Book of Daniel was forged after Antiochus Epiphanes's time a ridiculous Imagination For this Prophecy was translated into Greek more than One hundred years before and was in the hands not only of the Jews but of the Egyptians also mortal Enemies to the whole Jewish Nation This also is very surprizing That since the Jews after their Dispersion preserve these Histories wherever they are as the Accomplishments of the Oracles and these Oracles as Predictions of those Events of which their History is very full they should never think of proposing to us any Books of a like Nature considering that now for One and twenty Ages they have had no paralel Authors who have both writ History and pronounced Oracles II. But as these Reflexions lead us on to others so we ought to enter upon them by considering what the most unreasonable Obstinacy can oppose to the Authority of the Historical and Prophetical Books of Scripture CHAP. IV. That how common soever Oracles may have been amongst the Pagans yet nothing amongst them can justly be compared with those which are found amongst the Jews ONe of the greatest Objections which can in all probability be made against this surprizing Series of Oracles which are found in the Books of the Old Testament is taken from that great number of Oracles which are found amongst the Pagans This Objection deserves to be considered because it will more clearly demonstrate the Authority of the Prophetical Books which are in the hands of the Jews I confess there have been false Prophets And indeed since God has given us Marks to distinguish them from true Ones which may be seen in the Books of Moses it cannot be denied but there have been some false Prophets And that moreover the History of the Prophets discovering to us Impostors frequently we may freely acknowledge that amongst the Pagans and the People bordering upon Judea there have been Men who have boasted of Predictions of things to come as well as amongst the Jews I confess also That some Heathen Writers speak of certain Oracles which in all appearance are very well circumstantiated and of which they relate a very exact Accomplishment But several things ought to be observed upon this Argument which deserve an attentive Consideration I. We see that their most celebrated things have been only an imitation of what was done amongst the Jews The Egyptians imitated the Urim and the Thummim of the Jewish High Priest And they appropriated to him the right of giving Oracles And so we see they are given by a Voice from Heaven which the Jews saw was granted to their Prophets We may see it in the History of Socrates's Life and in Apuleius p. 339. II. We see that the same Pagan Historians take notice that very many even the greatest part of their Oracles were very ambiguous and false The Philosophers and Tully particularly openly laugh'd at them Lib. I. II. de Divinatione They thought it a ridiculous thing that Apollo Delphicus the God of Poetry should give his Answers in very bad Verse and at last be reduced to Prose Eusebius quotes a Discourse of Oenomaus a Greek Philosopher who wrote against Oracles to decry them as Impostures III. We see that those Oracles which had acquired the greatest Reputation by their Accomplishment were borrowed from the Prophets of the Synagogues We have an illustrious Example in the Birth of Cyrus which the Prophet Isaiah had foretold about the Year of the World 3292. and concerning which they pretend to shew Prophecies of Nebuchadnezzar and Craesus Abydenus Herodot Lib. I. cap. 55. 91. about the Year 3492. which shows that if the thing was really known to them they could not have known it but by the Prophetical Writings which were amongst the Jews and which could not have been concealed from them because the Jews read them with care to comfort themselves under that Captivity to which they were reduced by Nebuchadnezzar IV. It is in effect proved by examining their Oracles most of which
were either false or forged This Eusebius has clearly proved de Praepar Evangelicâ Lib. IX cap. 5. The Proverb of the Sibyll's or Delphick Priestess's favouring of Philip is commonly known It was easie for these Heathen Princes to biass their People with such Predictions Lib. IV. de Praeparat Evangel Lib. IV. initiò But what Eusebius says puts the thing beyond all Question for he expresly shews That when the Priests were put to the Rack they confessed the whole contrivance of those Oracles which they pronounced to abuse the Credulity of the People V. We ought to observe That we cannot find great numbers of Oracles upon the same Subject whereas one see 's that the Prophets follow'd as it were Moses's Model of the State of the Common-wealth of the Jews and that they frequently concur in foretelling the same Facts from one Generation to another VI. We ought to remember that these Oracles were not kept within the Limits of one single State or Nation VII It may be said that they were not publickly known having been only proposed in private places before a very few and in short that they were not actually known to the most part of the Neighbouring People whereas one see 's that the Jewish Prophets gave their Oracles in the most solemn Assemblies and when they were committed to Writing they were known to all those who had any Commerce with that Nation So that Isaiah's Prophecies were questionless known to Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus who look'd upon himself as designed by God to restore their Liberty to the Jews We may make the same Judgment of the Book of Daniel which was known to Alexander without all question as one may collect from the favourable Reception the Jews found from him VIII We ought to observe That these pretended Oracles were given for the most part in favour of those Princes who could satisfie the greediness of the Priests Whereas the Prophets among the Jews lived in the most dis-interested manner in the World and usually pronounced nothing but Reproaches and Menaces of cruel Calamities to those Princes who had the Government in their Hands Their Ministry consisted in a couragious opposition to the Corruptions in their Laws and their Religion and in censuring their Princes and Governours with a singular Intrepidity and indeed we see that most of them met with the punishment of their Boldness and made trial of the most cruel Tortures IX Last of all We ought to take notice that as the Oracles which are mentioned in Heathen Authors were only of Facts of small importance to those People amongst whom it is said that they were pronounced so we do not find that they thought themselves much concerned in their preservation whereas one see 's that the Jewish Nation were so perswaded of the Truth of these Oracles with which they were entrusted that nothing to this very day could ever oblige them to discontinue the reading of them whatever Disputes they may otherwise have with the Christians who make use of them to establish their Pretentions notwithstanding all the Claims of the Synagogue When this is laid down it would seem as if I might reasonably conclude That the wonderful variety of Oracles which are to be found amongst the Jews cannot be at all weakned by those Oracles of which we find so frequent mention in Pagan Writers But we ought to go further in explaining two things which will perfectly clear this matter One is That the Historical and Prophetical Books of the Old Testament after Moses can be no Forgeries The other is That in truth those Oracles which we find inserted in those Books could not possibly have been forged after their Completion CHAP. V. That the Books in which we may find these Oracles were never forged I Have observed formerly That it is absolutely necessary that the Authority of those Books in which these Oracles are inserted be established before we can build upon the Authority of the Oracles And indeed if we cannot clearly shew that these Books were written and publickly known before the Things happened which are said to be Accomplishments of those preceding Oracles it would be natural to call in question the Authority of these Oracles But it is very easie to satisfie an equitable Reader herein and to establish in general or severally the Existence of these Prophetical Writings before the times in which those Facts happened which we propose as the Accomplishment of those Prophecies I shall make use of two sorts of Reflexions to establish my Proposition The First consists in general Considerations upon the Books themselves The Second has respect to particular Facts which are uncontested and whence the same Truth very naturally results I. We ought to observe That whereas in Genesis Moses makes use of no other Epocha to fix the time of any Event but the years of the Life of some famous Patriarch As for Instance He fixes the Flood to the 600 year of Noah's Age Exod. XIX Numb XXXIII 38. in Exodus and Numbers he uses the time of their coming out of Egypt for his Epocha in the Books of the following Authors the years from their departure out of Egypt were carefully set down 'till the Fourth year of King Solomon's Reign which was 480 years after their departure This was a Character to fix the time of all those who lived after that Epoch◠II. The Building of the Temple began a new Epocha amongst the Jews as appears from II Chron. VIII 1. tho' they began after that time to reckon by the years of the Kings of Juda and Israel as appears by the Books of the first Prophets Which is a Character sufficiently certain to distinguish those who liv'd after Solomon with the time when they liv'd III. It 's plain That the Babylonish Captivity and afterwards their subjection to the Persian Empire obliged them to fix their Events and to date their Prophecies by the years of the Governments of those Foreign Kings See Daniel Ezechiel Zechariah and Haggai So the Author of the Book of Maccabees refers to the years of the Seleucidae Now that we may the better perceive the force of this Observation we must remember three things 1. That the Authors who lived after the carrying away of the Jews into Babylon make use of some Chaldee Terms which are not to be found in the foregoing Prophets For we may see in the Books of Haggai Ezech. XL. 1. Daniel X. Zach I. Hagg. I. Zechariah and Malachi the same style with Ezra Nehemiah and Daniel 2. The Authors of these Books give names to the Months which they had not before the Captivity The Jews only called their Months Talm. Rosch Hassanah c. 1. First and Second c. and so they gave Names which were unheard of before 3. The Authors of these Prophecies take particular notice of any newly instituted Fasts thus we see that the Prophet Haggai mentioned those Fasts of which we have nothing in the Law but which were
Ben Israel 2. That the Prophet writing in Chaldea followed the Account of the Chaldean Year which consists of 360 days as appears clearly from other passages of this Book where he resolves the Years into Days without regarding the several Days which in a just Calculation were to be intercalated 3. That the Prophet expresses a certain Epocha from whence the counting of these Weeks is to begin viz. an Order to rebuild the Temple which cannot be applyed to that of Cyrus which was in a manner of none effect nor to the Edict of Darius Son of Hystaspes which had regard only to the re-establishing of the Temple nor to that of Artaxerxes given to Ezra in the Seventh Year of the Reign of that Prince because that contained only some particular Priviledges for the Ministers of the Temple but to the Edict which Artaxerxes granted to Nehemiah in the Twentieth Year of his Reign which contains a particular Grant to rebuild the Temple with its Fortifications 4. For though there be but 483 Solar Years from the 20 of Artaxerxes to the first of Cajus Caligula yet we shall find the just Number of 490 Years if we follow the Chaldean way of Calculation in which they reckon 360 Days to a Year And indeed we find just 483 such Years from the 20 Year of Artaxerxes to the time wherein all Judea was in expectation of the Messiah It was then Jesus Christ was baptized He suffer'd Death Three Years and a Half after his Baptism viz. The Nineteenth Year of Tiberius before the Seventh Week was ended and the Term pointed out by Daniel was expired I know that some famous Men begin the Weeks of Daniel from the Second Year of Darius Nothus and make them to end with the Destruction of Jerusalem which happend in the Year 490 accounting from the Second Year of the said Darius and they conceive themselves oblig'd thereto by an Argument they believe invincible because from the Second Year of Darius Nothus to the Thirty Second of Artaxerxes Mnemon they find just Forty nine years that is the Seven Weeks designed by Daniel for rebuilding of the Ruins and fortifying of the City and the rather because Nehemiah return'd to Artaxerxes in the Thirty second Year of his Reign having finished that work Nehemiah XIII 6. But this Opinion cannot stand for these two Reasons which seem to me to be unanswerable The first is Because they suppose that Daniel ends his Seventy Weeks at the Destruction of Jerusalem whereas indeed he saith no such thing but expresly tells us that the Messiah should be cut off in the midst of the Seventieth Week The second is That so without designing it they rob Jesus Christ of the Glory of having determined the Time of the Destruction of Jerusalem as if instead of a Prophecy concerning that Event he had only given us an Explication of that of Daniel Neither will I make any further stop here to observe That that which has given most trouble to Interpreters hath proceeded from the want of making an exact distribution of the different parts of that Prophecy which very distinctly delivers three things 1. The end of the Prophecy which happened after Seven Weeks in the time of Malachy 2. The Death of the Messiah which came to pass in the midst of the last Week of the 490 Years 3. The Peace which was to be made in the midst of one Week that is Three years and an half before the Destructiof Jerusalem which was done not by the Messiah as some have imagined but by the Romans who made Peace with the Parthians Annal. Lib. XV. as is recorded by Tacitus An intelligent Reader will easily judge That this diversity of Opinions concerning the meaning of this Oracle has been occasioned by want of attention to what has been now mentioned Now these Observations being supposed as indeed they are Matters of the greatest Evidence it necessarily follows That the Messiah was to appear before the Destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans The Time is set down so precisely by Daniel as leaves no pretence to doubt of this Truth And indeed tho' the Jews seem presently after the time of our Saviour to have adopted the Opinion I mentioned before as being unwilling to receive the Messiah and therefore carried it to the end of the Seventy Weeks viz. to the Destruction of their Temple notwithstanding Daniel expresly tells us That the Temple was not to be destroyed till after the Appearance of the Messias The Jews I say being convinc'd by the force of this Argument have owned that the Messiah was born at the time of the Destruction of the second Temple but that he has hid himself ever since The second Oracle concerning the Time of the Coming of the Messiah is That of Haggai which expresly tells us that the Messiah was to appear during the second Temple which was begun to be built by the Order of Cyrus finished under Darius Son of Hystaspes and destroyed by Vespasian The Words of the Prophet are as follows Chap. II. vers 7 8 9. And I will shake all Nations and the desire of all Nations shall come and I will fill this House with Glory saith the Lord of Hosts The Silver is mine and the Gold is mine saith the Lord of Hosts The Glory of this latter House shall be greater than that of the former saith the Lord of Hosts and in this place will I give Peace saith the Lord of Hosts It is worth our noting 1. That this Oracle promises a very great change 2. It describes the Messiah as the Expectation of the Gentiles suitable to the Idea God had given of him to Abraham 3. That it fixes the Coming of the Messiah to the Time of the second House that is to say of the Temple built by Zorobabel 4. It makes the Glory of that House to depend upon its being honoured with the presence of the Messiah In short if we would be convinc'd of this Truth we need only consider three things The first is That the Prophets Zachariah and Malachy do represent to us the Coming of the Messiah as near at hand Balaam had said almost Ten Ages before I see him but not nigh which intimated his coming to be then at a great distance But Zechariah speaks thus concerning it Chap. III. vers 8 9 10. Hear now O Joshuah the High Priest thou and thy Fellows that sit before thee for they are men wondred at Behold I will bring forth my Servant the BRANCH For behold the Stone that I have laid before Joshua upon one Stone shall be seven Eyes behold I will engrave the graving thereof saith the Lord of Hosts and I will remove the iniquity of that Land in one day In that day saith the Lord of Hosts shall ye call every man his Neighbour under the Vine and under the Figtree Malachy expresses himself concerning the approaching coming of the Messiah thus Chap. III. verse 1. Behold I will send my Messenger and he
can no way agree with the Prophet that uttered them Thus we find that in the XXII Psalm there are many Expressions which cannot be applyed to David 3. That most of these Prophecies are avowedly attributed to the Messiah by the most ancient Authors of the Synagogue And the modern Jews themselves refer them to some that suffer'd a violent Death as to Rabbi Akiba who died in the second Century 4. That the Apostles unanimously applyed them to Jesus Christ the true Messiah following therein the general consent of their Nation CHAP. XXI That the Messiah was soon after to rise again FOrasmuch as Death entred into the World by Sin and that the Messiah was to take it away we may easily conceive That if the Messiah were according to the Divine disposal to submit to Death that he could not long continue subject to it He who was to restore life to those who were dead could never be confin'd and imprison'd in a Grave and he who was superiour to Enoch and Elias who ascended into Heaven because he alone was exalted to the right hand of God to reign there for ever as the Prophecies concerning him assure us ought certainly to leave his Sepulchre by a glorious Resurrection And this we are positively assured of by the ancient Oracles Psalm XVI vers 10 11. Thou wilt not leave my soul in Hell neither wilt thou suffer thine holy One to see corruption Thou wilt shew me the path of life in thy presence is fulness of joy at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore And to assure us that these and the like passages are applicable to none but the Messiah we find in the same Psalms expressions too high to be applyed to the Authors themselves As for example Psalm XXX vers 1 2 3. I will extol thee O Lord for thou hast lifted me up and hast not made my foes to rejoyce over me O Lord my God I cried unto thee and thou hast healed me O Lord thou hast brought up my soul from the Grave thou hast kept me alive that I should not go down to the pit And Psalm XLI vers 8 9 10. An evil disease say they cleaveth fast unto him and now that he lieth he shall rise up no more Yea mine own familiar Friend in whom I trusted which did eat of my bread hath lift up his heel against me But thou O Lord be merciful unto me and raise me up that I may requite them And Psalm XLIX verse 15. But God will redeem my soul from the power of the Grave for he shall receive me Psalm LVI vers 11 12 13. In God have I put my trust I will not be afraid what man can do unto me Thy Vows are upon me O God I will render praise unto thee For thou hast delivered my soul from death c. Psalm LXXII verse 20. Thou who hast shewed me great and sore troubles shalt quicken me again and shall bring me up again from the depths of the Earth Psalm CXLIII vers 11 12. Quicken me O Lord for thy names sake for thy righteousness sake bring my soul out of trouble and of thy mercy cut off mine Enemies and destroy all them that afflict my soul for I am thy Servant Hosea speaks to the same purpose Chap. XIII vers 14. I will ransom them from the power of the Grave I will redeem them from death O Death I will be thy plagues O Grave I will be thy destruction Repentance shall be hid from mine eyes Isaiah expresses the very same thing Chap. XXV vers 8. He will swallow up death in victory and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces and the rebuke of his people shall he take from off all the Earth for the Lord hath spoken it And yet more expresly Chap. LIII vers 10 and 11. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him he hath put him to grief when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin he shall see his Seed he shall prolong his days and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand He shall see of the travel of his soul and shall be satisfied by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justifie many for he shall bear their iniquities For the better understanding of which passages we are to observe 1. That the Messiah in many or most of them compriseth all Believers with himself according to that Maxim of the Jews who attribute to the Messiah the greatest of all the Prophets whatsoever God vouchsafed to any one of the Prophets and according to this Principle Jesus Christ speaks Matth. XII vers 39 40. An evil and adulterous Generation seeketh after a sign and there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of the Prophet Jonah For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the Whales belly so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the Earth 2. That upon this account the Messiah is represented to us not as rising again alone but as making all his Brethren partakers of the same glory which makes the Prophets speak of him not as a single person but in common with others who by him are made possessors of the same advantages 3. That most of these Texts were quoted by the Apostles who in so doing followed the sense of the whole Nation as appears from Acts II. vers 24 25 26 27 28 and 29. Whom God hath raised having loosed the pains of death because it was not possible that he should be holden of it For David speaketh concerning him I foresaw the Lord always before my face for he is at my right hand that I should not be moved Therefore did my heart rejoice and my tongue was glad moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope because thou wilt not leave my soul in Hell neither wilt thou suffer thy holy One to see Corruption Thou hast made known to me the ways of life thou shalt make me full of joy with thy Countenance Men and Brethren let me freely speak unto you of the Patriarch David that he is both dead and buried and his Sepulchre is with us unto this day And Acts XIII vers 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 and 37. But God raised him from the dead And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem who are his witnesses unto the people And we declare unto you glad tidings how that the Promise which was made unto the Fathers God hath fulfilled the same unto us their Children in that he hath raised up Jesus again as it is also written in the second Psalm Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead now no more to return to corruption he said on this wise I will give you the sure mercies of David Wherefore he saith also in another Psalm Thou shalt not suffer thine holy One to see corruption For David after
doubt whether the Jews were to be rejected at the Coming of the Messiah or no especially since the Apostles and St. Paul in particular have made it appear that the Prophets so plainly did foretel this Truth CHAP. XXV Of the time which succeeded the publishing of these Prophecies till the Coming of the Messiah THus we have seen an Abridgment of the most remarkable Oracles utter'd either by God himself or by Prophets whom he made use of to declare his Designs I might easily have alledged a far greater number but I chose rather to content my self with these to avoid the Confusion which the multiplicity of Citations is apt to occasion And I question not but these I have mention'd will suffice to give us an Idea of God's promise concerning the Messiah sufficiently great and enable us to make a Judgment whether that which the Christians declare to have been the accomplishment of it be so indeed In the mean time for the further clearing of this matter I desire the Reader to make some Reflexions on the whole Matter which seem to me to deserve a serious attention The first is That God hath by degrees put an end to those Divisions that were between some other Nations and the Jews founded on their hopes of the Promise of the Messiah as the time of its accomplishment drew near We hear little now of the enmity of the Ishmaelites against the Jews God having placed them in the Desert of Paran they have indeed continued there in a manner invincible but also without any great communication with their Neighbour Nations As for the Moabites and Ammonites they had their Kingdoms on the Borders of the Holy Land and continued there till the time of Nebuchadnezzar since which we find little mention made of them as being in a manner wholly confounded with other Nations only we meet with some few Memorials of the Ammonites whose pretensions to that promise were the weaker of the two as being the Posterity of Lot's younger Daughter It is worth our observing That most of the Prophecies of David as well as of the following Prophets which thunder forth such terrible Denunciations against the pride of those people threatning them with the Curse of God and final Destruction seem to have an eye to the old quarrel and jealousie their State quarrel which happened afterwards succeeding to this their first Aversion and hatred of the Jews The State and Government of the Edomites as well as their jealousie against Israel continued till after Cyrus who granted them the Liberty of returning to their own Country as well as to the Jews who had been carried away Captives with them by Nebuchadnezzar but contrary to the hope they had of being re-established to their former Estate we find that according to the Prophecy of Malachy they continued in Bondage to their Neighbours yea to the Jews themselves until Herod the Edomite possessing himself of the Throne of Judea was probably flattered by those of his own Nation and by some Jews also into a belief of his being the promised Messiah We must also take notice That the Divine Providence seems to have continued this people so long on purpose that the Spirit of Jealousie which was between them and the Jews might preserve the Notion of the promised Messiah more fresh and lively and to engage men to a more attentive consideration of the Prophecies concerning the same and that God by confounding them afterwards with other Nations intended wholly to take away their pretensions the Service which before they rendred to the Jewish Church being no longer needful after so clear and distinct a Revelation This Reflexion will be owned to be more than a Conjecture if we consider God's dealing with the Ten Tribes God suffers them to be carried away Captives by Salmanassar leaving only the Tribes of Judah Levi and Benjamin to be afterwards the Depositaries of the Divine Oracles The second is That as it appears that God hath kept some distance of time in his Revelation that the authority of the Prophets might be fully and firmly established which as I have observed was done by the accomplishment of some Prophecies respecting some particular Matters of Fact near at hand so it pleased God for above Four hundred years to leave the Jews without the light of Prophecy because that which he had given them till Malachy's time was sufficient to make them know the Messiah when he should appear in the World. The third is That this Cessation of the Gifts of Prophecy among the Jews did serve to increase their desires for the Coming of the Messiah in whose days those Gifts which were the peculiar Glory of their Nation were to be restored in far greater abundance than had ever been granted to them before A fourth Reflexion which is well worth our attentive consideration is That God so ordered it in his Providence that all the Books of the Old Testament were translated into the Greek about One hundred years after Malachy that they might be communicated to all Nations the Greek Tongue being at that time and indeed ever since the Reign of Alexander the Great a Language the most known and generally spoken in the World he having with his power carried it into the South and East It is natural to conceive that the Divine Providence hereby designed these Three things First To establish and confirm the Authority of those Divine Oracles by delivering them into the hands of the Heathen by the publick Authority of the Jewish Nation at the desire of a King of Egypt Secondly To prevent cavilling about the explication of those Oracles Thus for instance we see there is no place left to dispute the Translation of that Prophecy Behold a Virgin shall conceive seeing the LXX Interpreters who were Jews have rendred it so themselves some Ages before any Contests were started about it between the Jews and Christians The third was To prepare and dispose the Heathen for receiving the Religion of the Messiah And indeed we may easily comprehend 1. That it was necessary that the Prophetical Writings should be communicated to the Heathen in order to their ready submitting themselves to the Authority of the Messiah whom they knew by those Characters which had been given of him 2. That it was not fitting that the Heathen should wholly depend on the Authority of the Jews forasmuch as the same Divine Oracles do expresly affirm That the Messiah was to be rejected by the greatest part of them I shall conclude these Reflexions with a short view of the State of the Common-wealth and Religion of the Jews since the last of the Prophets First One finds that this Government subsisted as distinct from all other Nations of the Earth as ever it did before we see the Honour wherewith Alexander the Great treated their High Priest and that when he was appointed Arbitrator of the difference between them and the Samaritans he determin'd the Matter in favour of the Jews One see 's
that Alexander preserved them in the Enjoyment of their Rights and Liberties as they enjoyed them under the Kings of Persia and in particular exempted them from paying any Tribute every seventh year because then they did not sow their Ground and consequently could not reap And if we find that Ptolemy took Jerusalem on a Sabbath day the Jews making Conscience of defending themselves because the Law required their ceasing from all work from whence Agatharcides an Heathen Author takes occasion to blame their Law if we find him carrying a great number of Jews with him into Egypt yet withal we find him treating them with as much kindness as the Macedonians themselves appointing distinct places in Egypt and Lybia for their Habitation If we find that powerful Princes such as Antiochus Epiphanes and some others of his Successors broke the power of the Jews prophaned their Temple and forc'd great numbers of them to abjure their Religion yet we see them also at the same time giving the highest instances of an immoveable constancy and courage in defence of their Law and in enduring the most exquisite Tortures we see others of them encouraged with the love of their Country as well as Religion putting themselves into a posture of defence purifying the Temple and celebrating a Festival which is observed even at this day and lastly obtaining favourable Treaties at the hands of their Enemies as may be seen in the Books of the Maccabees and in the Twelfth Book of Josephus his Antiquities yea we find their name and glory at that time spread as far as Lacaedemon with which Common-wealth they made an Alliance during the High-Priesthood of Onias One see 's them after this so considerable under the Successor of Antiochus their Persecutor that even those Kings sue for their Alliance with great presents One see 's that Ptolomy Philometor granted to Onias the Son leave to build a Temple in Egypt for the convenience of those Jews whom Ptolomy the Son of Lagus had carried thither as well as for those who left their Country for the oppression of the Seleucidae for Judea being situate between Syria and Egypt was ordinarily the Theatre of War between those two States 'T is here worth our noting That the Jews undertook the building of the Temple in Egypt as thinking themselves authoriz'd by that Prophecy Isai XIX 24. it being a thing otherwise forbid by the Law. One sees in the same Prince's Reign a great contest between the Samaritans and the Jews about the pre-eminence of their Temples at Jerusalem and Mount Garizim decided by him in favour of the Jews on which occasion the Jews shewed that Prince their Law and acquainted him with the Series of their History to confute the Samaritans pretensions One see 's after this when the Jews had conferred the Soveraignty and High-Priesthood on Simon that their State became so powerful that under Hyrcanus his Successor they were in a condition to attacque their Enemies in Syria and compel the Edomites to admit Circumcision Aristobulus his Son was crowned his Brother succeeded him in the Royal Dignity and left the State in a flourishing condition notwithstanding the Civil and Foreign Wars he was engaged in We find afterwards That the intestine Divisions among the Successors of those Jewish Princes did by degrees open a gap for foreign power to enter and prevail over them Pompey siding with Hyrcanus took Jerusalem and made the Jews tributary to the Romans but without changing any thing in their Religion Julius Caesar a while after bestowed the Kingdom of Judaea upon Herod the Edomite Augustus after him used the Jews with the same Equity as Pompey before him had done as appears from one of his Declarations publish'd in favour of the Jews of Egypt and Asia recorded by Josephus This Herod and Augustus are the same under whom our Saviour Jesus Christ was born It is evident therefore That the State of the Jews has continued distinct from other Nations and sufficiently known from the time of the Prophet Malachy until Herod We may also truly assert That whatever inclination the Jews of old had for the Idolatries of their Neighbours yet we don't find them given that way during this interval between the last of their Prophets and Herod as if the charge and command of that Prophet Malachy had always sounded in their Ears Mal. IV. verse 4. Remember the Law of Moses my Servant c. One see 's that the Jews under the Maccabees in great numbers suffered Martyrdom rather than abjure their Religion and that they observed the Ceremonial Law with all carefulness of which Augustus himself was witness One see 's that under Strangers and Heathen Kings they exempted themselves from answering any Suit at Law on the Sabbath day from paying Tribute the seventh Year and preserving the Rights and Priviledges of their Temple in spight of all opposition Lastly one finds them during Herod's Government supported by the favour of the Roman Empire in refusing to set up the Emperour's Trophees for fear least some Images might be hid under them which they looked upon as a Crime against their Law. I am not ignorant that since Malachy some Heresies sprung up among the Jews their Commerce with the Greeks who applyed themselves to Philosophical Speculations having contributed to make them much more Disputacious than they were before The Authority likewise of their Kings who were High-Priests also may have had a great stroke in blemishing the Purity of their Religion But yet the Disputes which we find amongst them as that of the Fatality of Events did not at all touch the Substance of their Religion They no sooner found the Spirit of Epicurisme to creep in amongst them but they framed such additions to their publick Liturgy as they thought most proper to eradicate or at least condemn that Corruption I confess also that the Pharisees and Doctors of their Law had greatly alter'd their Morality in making their own Explications by the great Authority which they had amongst the People to pass for Authentick but yet this change and corruption in their Morals as to practice did not go so far as to abolish the Laws themselves which were only wrested from their true meaning This was indeed a great Corruption but not such a one as could make it to be no more the same Religion So that we may boldly assert which is a thing very important to our present purpose That the State and Religion of the Jews have continued sufficiently entire till the time of the appearing of the Messiah in the World for their preserving of whatsoever was necessary viz. as well the Books of the Old Testament as the knowledge of those Oracles which foretold the coming of the Messiah together with the Knowledge of these Principles according to which the Prophets have spoken in their Predictions concerning him REFLEXIONS Upon the BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT To Confirm the TRUTH OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION THE PREFACE I Have shewn in my
calling men to the study of Sanctification this was admirably performed by Jesus Christ 1. In correcting those Abuses which the Jewish Doctors had introduced into the Law. Secondly In declaring that the Effect of Sanctification was to be look'd for in the heart rather than in the eyes or hands One may see afterwards 1. That he knew the heart of man which proved that he made it This he testifies upon several occasions in the answers which he made to those that spoke to him and indeed in all his Discourses which were suited to the dispositions of the heart of those to whom he addrest them 2. That he made use of Parables which are Moral Lessons very easie indeed but withal fitter for the subject than Fables and more worthy of God Parables also which were so ordinary and familiar amongst the Jews that we find most of them at this day in the Writings of the Jews tho' they apply them to another use 3. That he descended to Particulars without using any thing mean which men are apt to do when they divide things minutely 4. That he forgot no one Precept of Morality 5. That he examined all the Duties of Religion and made them infinitely recommendable by suggesting such excellent Motives After all we are to consider four things in the preaching of our Saviour which will fully prove that he was the Messiah 1. That his Doctrine appeared to be wholly Divine he had never been brought up at the feet of any Doctor but had his breeding in a Carpenter's Shop 2. That no Crime was ever objected to him notwithstanding that he upbraided the Pharisees with theirs but he supported his Doctrine by the Holiness of his Conversation 3. That he insensibly disposed the People to receive him as the Messiah by the Characters which God had given of him in the Prophets 4. He prepar'd his Disciples and his Auditors to expect that one day the Gentiles should enter into the Church In short Can any thing be so surprizing as to see a Man who had lived Thirty years as the Son of a Carpenter to declare himself all at once a Doctor to preach publickly to censure the Doctors of his Nation to speak of the Law and Prophets with more depth and authority than all that ever went before him Who can without surprize conceive that a man of the lowest quality should from a Carpenters Shop come and determine Questions about the Law and tread under his feet the Authority of all the great Rabbins every where only by an I say unto you so that none was able to contradict him Certainly when one see 's our Saviour upon the Mount explaining and defending the Moral part of the Law from the Corruptions into which it was fallen he appears not only as great as Moses on Mount Sinai but even as God himself when he published his Laws to that his ancient People Neither ought any one to have less admiration for that perfect Innocence which shone through the whole course of his life What Crime had they to charge him with when they put him to death he who accused his Enemies of so many Who of you saith he accuseth me of sin We find him only accused of words ill understood which they were resolved to misinterpret His saying That if they destroy'd that Temple he would rebuild it in three days was laid to his Charge as a Crime And yet these words could not have been heightned into Crimes if they had been spoken in the same sense which they put upon them This was an essential Character of the Messiah who was to be the Restorer of Holiness according to the Idea which the Prophets gave of him I should take notice afterwards that our Saviour in his Sermons did by little and little dispose the Minds of his Auditors and Disciples to conceive and believe him to be the promised Messiah The first act of his publick Ministry was an effect of his zeal for the Holiness of a Temple consecrated to his Father He drove the Buyers and Sellers out of the Temple at the Feast of the Passover which action of his was a solemn profession that he was the Son of God. Soon after at Nazareth he applies to himself that Prophecy of Isaiah The Spirit of the Lord is upon me c. He explains himself yet more distinctly in Jerusalem at the second Passover which he celebrated during the time of his Ministry that they might understand that he was the Messiah according to the account which the Evangelists give us and he explains himself yet more particularly upon John the Baptists Message to him By which means this Truth became already so illustrious that the Multitudes would proclaim him King that is publickly own him for the Messiah and obey him as their rightful Soveraign And lastly He explains himself in this matter by a Question When he asked his Disciples Matt. XVI What Censures were past upon him in Judea and what they themselves thought of him In short It is certain that Jesus prepared the Minds of his Disciples to look for the Calling of the Gentiles which also was the Character of the Messiah Gen. XLIX 10. Jacob had prophesied of old To him shall the gathering of the People be But I shall pass by the Oracles which foretel this matter What signifies the History of the Prodigal unless it be the Calling and the Return of the Gentiles the eldest Son the Jew being extreamly troubled at it What means that saying of our Saviour That he had other Sheep c. or his Prediction That many should come from the East and West and sit down with Abraham when the Children of the Kingdom should be cast forth I shall take notice in another place of the frequent Repetition of such like Oracles and their exact accomplishment These are sufficient at present to justifie the solidity of this last Reflexion and the truth of this Conclusion at the same time that if one examines the Life and Preaching of our Saviour he may find all those Characters by which the promised Messiah might be known Let us now proceed to the Consideration of his Miracles CHAP. X. That the Miracles wrought by our Saviour clearly prove that he is the Messiah AS the Messiah was to be very clearly distinguished from all others by his Miracles and as the Prophet Isaiah Chap. XXXV sets down the power of working Miracles as one of those Characters by which he was to be known so it is of great importance to us to examine the Miracles of our Saviour with great attention whether they have the Character of Truth and whether they come up to the Idea which the Prophets give us of those wonders which the Messiah was to do The Evangelists who tell us that he wrought almost an infinite number of them have described more than Thirty several sorts of them He changed Water into Wine at the Wedding at Cana he healed the sick Son of a Courtier he
and clearly describe the things which were to happen to the Messiah which was to be so because of the nature of these Events which were so strange and at such a distance from the common Idea's which men have for the most part of such things Our business therefore only is to consider at present whether indeed Jesus Christ died in the same manner as the Prophets had foretold that the Messiah should This Character is a very illustrious one to confirm that Jesus Christ is the Messiah For it is well known that a Prisoner is no longer Master of the things that happen to him neither of the kind of his Death nor of the manner of his Burial In short nothing can be imagin'd more foolish than to suppose that the Disciples of Jesus Christ should apply to their Master that he might pass for the Messiah such Oracles as had not usually been applyed to the Messiah by the Jews amongst whom they lived and whom they endeavoured to dispose for the receiving of Jesus Christ as the promised Messiah Now we cannot conceive any thing more exact than the Agreement which we find between the Prophecies and the Event 1. When Jesus Christ by his triumphant entry into Jerusalem riding on an Ass had put his Disciples in mind of one passage in Zachary he obliged them also to cast their eyes upon another when he foretold his death and their flight as the accomplishment of this Oracle Matth. XXVI 31. I will smite the Shepherd and the flock shall be scattered Zach. XIII 7. 2. He was beset with a Band of Roman Souldiers and the Servants of the principal men amongst the Jews who apprehended him under the conduct of Judas which exactly answers 1. To the Description which we find Psal XXII Dogs that is Heathens whom the Jews treated as such and strong Bulls that is Jews represented by clean Beasts have beset me round And secondly to that other Prophecy He that eats bread with me hath lift up his heel against me 3. He offers himself freely to death according to that of Isaiah That he gave his Soul an offering for sin This appears not only by his going into the Garden where he knew that he should be taken but also by his telling the Souldiers that he was the man they looked for he opposed S. Peter's attempts towards his Rescue and declares that he did not fly from death but was willing to satisfie the intent of the Prophecies 4. He is forsaken by his Disciples as he himself had testified of it as foretold by the Prophets Zach. XIII 7. 5. He is struck on the face before Annas as Jeremiah had foretold Lament III. 30. He giveth his Cheek to him that smiteth him 6. He appears before Caiaphas surrounded by every thing that was great amongst the Jews whether Lawyers or Church-men according to Psalm II. 7. He is silent before his unjust Judges and neglects to answer the Accusations which the false Witnesses deposed against him according to the Prophecy of Isaiah As a Sheep before his shearers is dumb so he openeth not his mouth Isaiah LIII 7. and the description which David gives of him Ps XXXI and XXXIX 8. They opened their mouths against him in accusing him of Blasphemy as David had figuratively expressed it Psal XXII 13. 9. They spit in his face they buffetted and abused him the whole night according to that Oracle of Isaiah XLIX 6. 10. When Judas saw that Jesus Christ was delivered to Pilate by the Jews who demanded his Crucifixion he returned the thirty pieces of Silver wherewith they purchased the Potters field afterwards called the Field of Blood and set apart by the Jews for the burial of Strangers as was foretold by Zachariah XI 12. and by Jeremiah XXXII 25. 11. He is accused before Pilate and brought before Herod without justifying himself of the Crimes laid to his charge as it is Psalm XXXVIII and XXVII 12. 12. Pilate and Herod agree in conspiring the death of Jesus Christ according to the description of Psalm II. 13. Pilate desiring to save Jesus the Jews demand Barabbas might be released and Jesus punished as David had foretold Psalm XXII 14. 14. Jesus Christ was scourged by Pilate's order which was foretold Psalm XXXVIII and LXIX Isaiah LIII vers 5. and Chap. LXIII 15. He is brought forth by Pilate to the People with an Ecce Homo Behold the Man which was foretold by Isaiah When we shall see him there is no Beauty that we should desire him he is despised and rejected of men we did esteem him stricken smitten of God and afflicted 16. He is afterwards delivered to the Souldiers who before they crucified him insulted over him with a thousand Indignities and scourged him again according to the Prophecies so often before alledged 17. They Crucifie him with two Robbers which answers to that Prophecy Isaiah LIII 12. He was numbred with Transgressors 18. They give him Gall and Vinegar to drink as was foretold Psalm LXIX 19. They pierce his hands and feet in nailing him to the Cross which answers to Psalm XXII 17 18. 20. They part his Garments which is represented in the same Psalm verse 19. and cast Lots on his Vesture according to the same Psalm in the very same place 21. He suffers a thousand Reproaches upon the Cross according to what we find Psalm XXII verse 8. and Psalm LXIX ver 8 10. 22. And in particular the Jews and Scribes reproach him in the very words of Psalm XXII verse 8. 23. Jesus Christ cries out applying to himself the beginning of Psalm XXII My God! My God! why hast thou forsaken me as he had before applied to himself the Prophecy concerning the Messiah in the third of Daniel 24. He commends his Soul into the hands of God in the very words which we read Psalm XVI These are the principal Circumstances of the Death of Jesus Christ which one see 's to be exactly agreeable to the Prophecies going before concerning them let us now consider those which followed his death which we shall not find to be less particular 1. The Bones of Jesus Christ were not broken as those of the two Thieves which one may see foretold Psalm XXXIV verse 21. 2. They open'd his side with a Spear according to the Idea of Zechariah Chap. X. verse 12. They shall look upon him whom they have pierced 3. His Body is buried by Joseph of Arimathea in a new Sepulchre which answers to the Prophecy of Isaiah Chap. LIII These Remarks do in my judgment clearly prove that in the death of Christ all the Characters by which the Prophets have distinguished the death of the Messiah are actually found But that we may yet be more sensible how justly these Oracles are applyed to Jesus Christ here are some Reflexions upon the application which the Apostles make of these particular Facts which happened to Christ to those Oracles which I have now mentioned The first is That the relation of these