the glory which Jacob found in Egypt when he was invited thither by Joseph did not make him forget the Right which he claimed upon that Land by virtue of the Sepulchre both of his Father and Grandfather that was there For Moses informs us that he desired to be carried thither after his Death and that he did expresly require this Duty from Joseph and his other Children who paid it in sovery solemn a manner and with a Mourning so very great and famous that the Name of Abel-Mizraim continued to that very place where the Canaanites saw the Solemnization of that Funeral by the Sons of Jacob who were attended by great numbers of Egyptians One see 's that Jacob's Children still entertained the same hope Joseph solemnly engaged his Children to carry his Bones into the Land of Canaan And one may judge that the other Patriarchs were not less solicitous to require the same Office at the hands of their Children Jalkut ex Siphre fol. 311. col 2. as St. Stephen supposes it Acts VII agreably to the common opinion of the Jews All which shews that Abraham's Posterity had their Hearts set upon his Sepulchre as upon the Pledge and security of God's Promise that they should be once possest of that Land where he was Buried And as the carrying the Body of Jacob into Canaan sufficiently shew'd what were the claims of the Israelites so the same was very evident by their care in keeping themselves unmixt with the Egyptians all the time they sojourn'd in Egypt The Splendor of Joseph was a natural engagement for them to settle themselves there for ever besides their vast encrease forced them in a manner to it For a long time the Miseries which they endured invited them to seek the Alliances of the Egyptians by Marriages and to mix themselves with a people who were their Masters and so to renounce hopes which appeared to be so very groundless They seemed to have been warranted by Joseph's Example who had Married an Egyptian However one never finds that they tried that method One see 's on the contrary that there was little correspondence between the Hebrews and Egyptians in their Sacred things For the Hebrews sacrificed to God the abomination of the Egyptians that is those very things which the Egyptians worshipped One see 's afterwards by the great number of Flocks which they drove along with them at their going out of Egypt that they had continued to follow the profession of their Ancestors who were Shepherds a very odious Employment to the Egyptians One see 's at last that after the many Miracles which Moses wrought in the Egyptian Court that this people followed God's Conduct and went out of that Countrey to possess the Land of Canaan which none of them had ever seen and yet they lookt upon the obtaining it as a Blessing they could not miss of There are several things very remarkable upon that Subject The First is That some Egyptians went out with the Israelites to dwell with them in the Land of Canaan which was done not only that there might be some indisputable Witnesses from among the Enemies of God of the truth and greatness of the Miracles which Moses had wrought amongst them which also was a presage of the calling of the Gentiles to the Faith by their insertion into the Body of the Jews but also that there might be some Witnesses of the extraordinary affection which the people of Israel had for the Land of Canaan and of their claims to it by virtue of God's promise that he would put them into possession of it For otherwise it is not a common thing that a Colony of Slaves should be suffer'd to run away much less that they should perswade their Masters to forsake their own Countrey and their settlements at home to go and conquer another for them The Second Remark is That God made the Jews travel for forty years in the Deserts of Arabia not only to make them forget any Tyes they might have had to return again into Egypt and to accustom them to depend wholly upon Divine Providence but also to redouble their desires after the possession of this Land of Promise It was for the same reason that God forbad them so straitly either the mingling with or the setling themselves amongst the Midianites tho Moses had given an Example by Marrying Sephora or the Edomites or the Ismaelites or the Moabites or the Ammonites tho all those Nations were descended from Therah their common Father or from the Patriarchs In execution of which severe prohibition God commanded the Jews to put all those to the Sword who should make any alliance with those Nations as we have instance of it Numb XXIII after the description of Balaam's Prophesies And it could be for no other end that he so straitly charged the Israelites to cut off the Hivites Ammorites and other Nations of Canaan even to the Women and little Children but in pursuance of his first design to prevent all mixture of his People with those Nations which without that extream rigour would infallibly and insensibly have come to pass I know very well that God preserved the Gibeonites by ratifying that Alliance which gave leave to those People tho of the Posterity of Ham to continue amongst his own people in the Land of Canaan but tho God did in effect preserve the Gibeonites amongst the Jews yet he forced them to undergo the Drudgery and Servile Offices of the Tabernacle and that they might be kept as unquestionable Witnesses of the Hebrews pretensions and of their miraculous Conquest of the Land of Canaan for the continuance of that Nation in the heart of the Countrey and their submitting to the drudgery of carrying Wood and Water for the use of the Tabernacle tho they were at first of another Religion was as I have observed already a continual Subject of admiration to the Posterity both of the Jews and of the Gibeonites themselves CHAP. XIX That the Law tied the People of Israel to the Land of Canaan and by several other means established the distinction betwixt Tribes and Families amongst them ONe may say that one of the most effectual means which God used to fix his people to the Land of Canaan was the Law which he gave them to meer thrice a year and Celebrate three Solemn Feasts together which hardly gave them leave to travel far into other Countreys and engaged them every time they met to renewin the publick Acts of their Religion the memory and the Idea's of their hopes And they conduced to this Design of God in this manner Those Feasts were Celebrated at three times which were the most commodious Seasons of the year for Travelling betwixt the Months of March and October The Celebration of the Passover was upon the fourteenth day after the appearance of the Moon in March The Pentecost was fifty days after and the Feast of the Tabernacles lasted from the first to the tenth day of September
of one that was Blind and another that was Lame at Alexandria He that would know the Particulars may consult Tacitus his History And last of all we ought to observe That the Jews do not only agree that this Oracle of Isaiah refers to the Messiah but they also still propose the Power of working Miracles as a Character which would render the Messiah very illustrious and certainly known CHAP. XVII That the Messiah was to be an illustrious Prophet THis Truth I have already asserted in the Reflexions I made on the Prophecy of Moses Deut. XVIII But one ought to explain this Character of the Messiah more particularly God having been pleased further to illustrate this Oracle of Moses First then We say that the word Messiah implies Anointing which was common to Kings Prophets and Priests and since David's time we find nothing more common than this Title in the Books of the Old Testament where we may observe that Moses was dignified with this Gift of Prophecy and that Samuel communicated the same to Saul and David when he anointed them to be Kings Yea the Jews to this day are of opinion that Elias the Prophet shall anoint the Messiah that is initiate him in his Prophetical as well as his Royal Function Secondly God more precisely signifies this Isai XI Vers 1 2 3. where he declares he would communicate all the necessary Gifts of the Prophetical Function to the Messiah There shall come forth a Rod out of the stem of Jesse and a branch shall grow out of his Roots And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding the Spirit of Counsel and Might the Spirit of Knowledge and of the Fear of the Lord. So that he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes neither reprove after the hearing of his ears These words need no Commentary For the Jews refer them constantly to the Messiah and they plainly import that he was to be a great Prophet forasmuch as all the Characters which are there given to the Spirit which was to rest on the Messiah are the same which in the Old Testament we find attributed to the Prophets and may easily be taken notice of in the History of the Prophets especially of David and Solomon And much to the same purpose is that passage Isai XLII vers 1 2 3 4 5 6 and 7. Behold my Servant whom I uphold mine Elect in whom my Soul delighteth I have put my Spirit upon him he shall bring forth Judgment to the Gentiles He shall not cry nor lift up nor cause his voice to be heard in the street A bruised Reed shall he not break and the smoking Flax shall he not quench he shall bring forth Judgment unto Truth He shall not fail nor be discouraged till he have set Judgment in the Earth and the Isles shall wait for his Law. Thus saith God the Lord he that created the Heavens and stretched them out he that spread forth the Earth and that which cometh out of it he that giveth breath to the People upon it and spirit to them that walk therein I the Lord have called thee in Righteousness and will hold thine and will keep thee and give thee for a Covenant of the people for a Light of the Gentiles to open the blind eyes to bring out the prisoners from the prison and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house In which Oracle one ought to take notice particularly of those things which the Jews apply to the Messiah 1. That God proposes the Gifts of the Spirit which he bestowed upon him as an Effect of his Love and the choice he had made of him 2. That the Messiah was to make use of the same as Rules for reforming the Country and propounding Gods Covenant to the Gentiles which clearly suppose the necessity of the Gift of Prophecy to qualifie him for such great Undertakings 3. That contrary to the thundring Character which distinguished the rest of the Prophets who were as so many publick Censors the Messiah was to speak with all meekness and sweetness to the Nations which should receive his Preaching One see 's that Isaiah repeats the same Idea's Chap. LXI vers 1 2 3 4 5 6 and 7. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek he hath sent me to bind-up the broken hearted to proclaim liberty to the Captives and the opening of the Prison to them that are bound To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of Vengeance of our God to comfort all that mourn to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion to give unto them Beauty for Ashes the Oyl of Joy for Mourning the Garment of Praise for the Spirit of Heaviness that they might be called Trees of Righteousness the planting of the Lord that he might be glorified And they shall build the old Wasts they shall raise up the former Desolations and they shall repair the waste Cities the Desolations of many Generations And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks and the sons of the Alien shall be your Plowmen and your Vine dressers But ye shall be named the Priests of the Lord men shall call you the Ministers of our God ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles and in their glory shall ye boast your selves For your shame ye shall have double and for confusion they shall rejoyce in their portion therefore in their Land they shall possess the double everlasting joy shall be upon them In short he represents in this and the former Oracle the Gentiles as a People being in darkness and in the misery of a Prison from whence we may easily infer First That the Messiah was to be a Prophet how vile and abject soever that Character might appear in the eyes of the World as I have shewed that it was where I spake of the Prophets in general Secondly That he was to discharge these Functions during the whole course of his Life and that it was to be his chief Employment here upon Earth David had before signified Psalm XXII verse 22. that the Messiah was to declare the Name of God unto his Brethren viz. the Jews by exercising his Prophetical Function in Judea but the Holy Spirit did something more when he seem'd to point out Galilee as the place where this Sacred Doctor was chiefly to fix his abode This is in effect insinuated when God tells us that he was to begin his Ministerial Functions in the Tribes of Naphtali and Zebulon Isai IX vers 1 2 and 3. Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation when at the first he lightly afflicted the Land of Zebulon and the Land of Naphtali and afterwards did more grievously afflict her by the way of the Sea beyond Jordan in Galilee of the Nations The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light they that dwell in the land
last Objection of Atheists is answered 120 Chap. 22. The Consequences of what we have proved in our foregoing Observations upon the Book of Genesis 126 The Contents of the Chapters of the Second Part of the First Volume Chap. 1. THat it cannot reasonably be doubted but that Moses is the Author of Exodus and of the three other following Books Page 137 Chap. 2. That both the Character of Moses 's person and the nature of the things he relates has always made Men read his Books with attention 146 Chap. 3. That the truth of the Miracles related by Moses cannot reasonably be doubted of 153 Chap. 4. A Continuation of the proofs of the truth of the Miracles wrought by Moses 158 Chap. 5. That Moses 's Description of the manner of God's giving him his Laws is evidently true 164 Chap. 6. Some other proofs that confirm Moses 's Description of the manner how the Law was given and promulgated 169 Chap. 7. 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 173 Chap. 8. That the Testimony of the Jews is a constant proof of the truth of the Oracles related by Moses 177 Chap. 9. That it appears by the nature of his Relations that Moses had the Messias in view when he wrote the Book of Genesis 180 Chap. 10. That the same perswasion appears throughout the whole Conduct of Moses until his Death 185 Chap. 11. That Balaam 's prophesie which Moses relates is a further Argument of the same perswasion in him 188 Chap. 12. That one may see also in Moses 's Law plain Footsteps of God's Design in distinguishing these from whom he would have the Messiah to be Born. 194 Chap. 13. That the manner of God's promulgating his Law amongst the Israelites did much conduce to the distinguishing them from all other Nations 200 Chap. 14. That God seems to have designed to keep up a Spirit of Jealousie in the very Bosom of the Jewish Nation 206 Chap. 15. That Circumcision was a means of distinguishing the Israelites from other Nations 212 Chap. 16. That the Law of Moses engaged the Jews to the study of their Genealogies that they might certainly know that of the Messiah 219 Chap. 17. A Solution of some Difficulties in these Genealogies 223 Chap. 18. That the manner whereby the Law of Moses fixed the people of Israel to the Land of Canaan was to keep them separated from other Nations 228 Chap. 19. That the Law tied the people of Israel to the Land of Canaan and by several other means established the distinction betwixt Tribes and Families amongst them 234 Chap. 20. That the Laws which Moses made coneerning the state of Virginity did principally relate also to the Messiah which holds also as to several other Laws 241 Chap. 21. That it was the design of God by all these Ceremonies and particularly by that Veneration which he inspired the Jews with for the Tabernacle to preserve the Idea's of the Messiah whom he had promised in their minds by distinguishing them from all other Nations 249 Chap. 22. That it appears by the Books of Moses that this whole Model which God had framed was to last but until the coming of the Messiah 256 To the Courteous Reader THE Errata's are so small that they will not disturb the sense any where and so few that we need not trouble the Reader with a Table of them And therefore hope he will take such inconsiderable pains upon himself and excuse the Author REFLEXIONS UPON THE BOOKS OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURE For the Establishing of the Truth OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION CHAPTER I. Concerning the Fundamentals of the Christian Religion WE are to consider three things in the Christian Religion the Matters of Fact it propounds to us for true the Promises it affords us and the Worship it commands The Matters of Fact it propounds to us as true are that God created the World that he formed the first Man from whom the rest of mankind have been propagated that a while after this Man was created he violated the Law God had given him and that whereas he deserved to have perished for this his disobedience God was pleased instead thereof to comfort him with the hopes of a Saviour which was to be born of the Seed of his Wife that God hath actually sent this Saviour into the World which comprehends the whole Oeconomy of Christ viz. His Birth Life Preaching Miracles Death Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven c. The Promises it vouchsafes are the forgiveness of our Sins the Resurrection of our Bodies and a state absolutely happy for ever in Heaven And lastly the Worship or Divine Service it prescribes consists in Obedience to the Law of God in Prayer for the pardon of our Sins and his Protection and in a grateful Acknowledgement of what we owe him for all his Benefits towards us The first of these three parts of the Christian Religion viz. The Truth of the Matters of Fact it relates may be said to be the foundation of the other two viz. The Promises and Commands It is impossible to be perswaded that God hath created this World in which we live and made Mankind of one and the same blood that after the Fall he promised to save Men and did actually redeem them in sending Jesus Christ who suffer'd Death and being rais'd the third day Ascended into Heaven c. I say it is impossible to look upon these Facts as true without being assured that God will accomplish the Promises he hath made to us And it is as evident that we cannot be convinc'd of the truth of these Matters without being sensible of a strong obligation laid upon us to perform all the Duties of the Christian Religion As soon as a Man reflects upon his being Gods Creature he finds himself naturally oblig'd to obey God universally according to his utmost ability but when he comes further to believe that God did not destroy the first Man for his disobedience but was graciously pleased to promise him a Saviour for himself and all his Posterity and when moreover he is assured that God hath really sent this Saviour in the way and manner the Gospel relates to us we cannot conceive but that he must find himself under the highest engagements imaginable of rendring to God a religious obedience and believing his Promises But there is yet another obligation whereby Man is bound to obey God to pray to him and to offer him all manner of Religious Worship God by redeeming him hath obtained a new claim to and right over him and a more indispensable obligation is laid upon Man to submit himself to God in all religious Concerns as being not only created but also redeemed by him Reason acknowledgeth that if the truth of these things be once admitted nothing can be more just and natural than those consequences which the Christians thence infer All the difficulty
that any Messiah really descended from that very Tribe could by establishing his Genealogy put his being of the Tribe of Ephraim beyond all contest Now according to this Notion of things it is visible if we may be allowed to enter into the Counsels of God that he did particularly preserve the Tribes of Levi and Benjamin with the Tribe of Judah which was the only Tribe that was to be preserved of necessity First Because as St. Paul to the Hebrews observes there was nothing ever said as to the Messiah of the Tribe of Levi. Secondly Because God would by that means confound the more effectually all the claims of the Tribe of Ephraim For in short If the Tribe of Ephraim was invested by God with the Kingdom over nine Tribes of the people of Israel so had the Tribe of Benjamin been raised up before to the Soveraignty over all Israel over the Tribe of Judah and even that of Ephraim it self If the Tribe of Ephraim was descended from a younger Brother to whom Jacob had given his Blessing in prejudice of Manasseh his elder Brother which is considerable because God hath almost constantly preferr'd the younger before the elder so the Tribe of Benjamin was descended from him that was both the younger Brother of Joseph himself and the youngest of all Jacob's Children notwithstanding which the Tribe of Benjamin did freely yield to the Tribe of Judah and granted that the glory of giving Birth to the Messiah was wholly due to them Be it as it will there are two Reflexions more which must be made concerning these Genealogies which appear very natural in this place The First is That both St. Matthew and St. Luke do begin their Gospel with the Genealogy of the Messiah The other is That some time after St. Paul condemns the study of Genealogies which was still much in use amongst the Jews as vain Why therefore is there such a different conduct amongst the Disciples of the same Master Certainly whoever shall consider with attention the grounds which I have laid down before must acknowledge that both St. Matthew and St. Luke ought to have begun their Books as they have done with the Genealogy of the Messiah For First of all It was necessary that the descent of the Messiah from Abraham by David should be clearly made out it was requisite therefore that they should set down such a Genealogy as was known by the whole Jewish Nation Now this they have done with very great care and the thing was so easie and so well known that even a Blind-Man of the Neighbourhood of Samaria the chief City of the Kings of Ephraim did publickly call Jesus the Son of David But on the other side St. Paul's forbidding the study of Genealogies does not at all contradict the method of those two Evangelists In short he pursues the very same Notions He saw that the Converted Jews apply'd themselves to the study of Genealogies which was then so great a part of the study of their Nation It is still practised among the Jews to that degree Maimon Praef. ad Jad Chazaka that since their dispersion they gave an exact Relation of all the Doctors and Rabbies amongst them who have preserved the Tradition and who were Proselytes of Justice What therefore was to be done in this case He took it for granted that God had engaged every Jew to study his own Pedigree with care for no other end but only to have that of the Messiah distinctly known whenever he should come But the use of these Genealogies being once over by the Messiah's coming into the World he observes with reason that it was no longer necessary to keep up the vain study of all those Genealogies So that we see he speaks against the study of Pedigrees much upon the same grounds as in other places he inveighs against Circumcision for since the chiefest use of Genealogies as well as of Circumcision was to distinguish Abraham's Posterity from the rest of Mankind till the Messiah was come the use of these two Observations was naturally to cease after he was once come It is no doubt for the same reason that whereas the Jews in the Apostle's time took great care upon all occasions to take notice of the Tribe from which they were descended as well as to set down the Names of their Fathers yet one sees that the Apostles did not all affect it And if St. Paul mentions his being a Benjamite It was for a particular reason for otherwise as he preached down the distinction betwixt Jews and Gentiles so he declared himself with the same Earnestness against the distinctions which were observed amongst their Tribes CHAP. XVIII That the manner whereby the Law of Moses fixed the People of Israel to the Land of Canaan was to keep them separated from other Nations ONe of the chiefest means which God made use of to distinguish his people of Israel from the rest of Mankind was so to fix their Affections upon the Land of Canaan that they should look upon it as a Countrey which belonged to them by a particular concession from God which derogated from the Canaanites right to whom that Countrey fell in the Division of the Earth that was made amongst the Children of Noah or which reestablished the Posterity of Shem in their just Rights Haeres LXVI n. 84. to whom if we may credit the ancient Tradition related by St. Epiphanius this Countrey did really belong by virtue of that Division amongst the three Sons of Noah tho afterwards they were driven out of it by the Posterity of Ham. Moses seems to have expressed this truth when he saith Gen. XII that when Abraham came to Canaan the Canaanite was already in the Land that is he had already invaded it neither can we refer what he relates in the XIV Chapter concerning the War which the Kings from the East came to make against the Kings of Sodom and Gomorrha to any thing else 'T was then for this reason that long before Moses's time God took Abraham out of Chaldea from amongst Shem's Posterity to bring him into Canaan amongst the Hâ—vites the Amorites and other Nations all equally descended from Ham whom God had cursed God could have placed Abraham any where else but he chose to bring him into a Countrey which the Posterity of Ham had seized upon already rather than into a place possessed by the Posterity of Japhet on purpose that the Jealousie might be the greater betwixt Abraham and the Inhabitants of the Countrey into which God had brought him Nevertheless God did not give him at first an entire possession but only promised him that his Posterity should enjoy it and in the mean while invested him beforehand with a Right to it by the purchase of a Field for a Burying place wherein his Wife himself and his Children were Buried by which means he strongly fixed his own mind and the hopes of his Posterity In short it is evident that all
In short the Law which obliged the Jews to assist at the Celebration of those Feasts required the appearance of all the Males of Twenty years of age and upwards so very rigorously that there was no Dispensation for all without exception were then obliged to appear So that even during the Dispersions of their Nation the Jews who lived out of Judea assisted always at the Celebration of those three Feasts with great care This was a visible way of keeping the Tribes of Israel distinct by giving each of them a separate portion in the Land of Canaan and by fixing them inseparably to it as the whole Nation was in like manner distinguished by its being placed in a Countrey entirely by it self We see accordingly that God hath observed that Method by giving a Law which injoyns the Division of the Land of Canaan to be made into as many Portions as there were Tribes only excepting the Tribe of Levi because the Levites as being the publick Ministers of their Religion were dispersed amongst the other Tribes that they might more conveniently attend to the Instruction of the people I shall not here take notice of the Miracle which was evident in that Division which was an exact accomplishment of the Oracle which Jacob and Moses uttered a little before their Deaths But I shall observe First That as the design of God was to divide that people into Tribes that the Tribe of Judah from which the Messiah was to be born might be the better distinguish'd and known so he would for the same reason allot the Cave of Machpelah the Sepulchre of the Patriarchs to the share of the Tribe of Judah as also Ephratah the place where Rachel was Buried which was afterwards call'd Bethlehem the Town where David had his Birth and which was foretold told by the Prophet Micha under the Name of Ephratah as the place where the Messiah should be born in the fulness of time We must besides take notice of two particular Regulations by which God fixed his people in the Land of Canaan and preserved a distinct Idea of this first division of that Countrey The First is the Law of Jubilee The Second is the Law of Lineal Retreats In short by the Law of the Jubilee which returned every fifty years and by which every one that could justifie his Pedigree was reinstated in the possessions of his Ancestors God obliged that people to keep up a distinct-knowledge of the first division made under Joshua Joshua XIV c. and which is described in that Book which contains his History much more effectually than if he had made a Law for that very purpose So that tho the Field of Ephratah had been never so often alienated yet it always returned to the Tribe of Judah and so afterwards into David's Family because it was at first the Lot of his Ancestors This Law of Jubilee preserved a distinct knowledge of the several Tribes and Families and it also kept up a distinct Idea of their Genealogies which must be preserved entire of necessity that they might maintain their right to the inheritance of their Ancestors It would be to no purpose to object against this Observation that it was impossible to know certainly which Tribe and much less which Family every Estate did belong to because one see 's that the first Proselytes who went out with the Israelites shared the Land of Canaan together with them for one see 's on the contrary First That God would not allow any of the Moabites and Ammonites to become Proselytes before the tenth Generation And Secondly That he debarred the Edomites from being admitted to make profession of Judaism before the third Generation which excluded them for ever from any possessions in the Land of Canaan And Thirdly one ought to observe the difference betwixt an Egyptian Proselyte and a Native Jew The Quality of a Proselyte gave permission to an Egyptian to live amongst the Jews and to profess their Religion but it gave him no right to possess any of their Land. And then besides that Massa Biccour c. 1. S. 4 those Egyptian Proselites had a particular way of praying by themselves different from that of the Jews as the Jews still testifie They could not possess any Estate in Land amongst them This is so true Numb XXVII that it was once round necessary to make a particular regulation for the Daughters of Zelophehad that they might have their division which was granted only under certain Conditions because the Land was not to be divided but amongst the Males of the people of Israel But this is very considerable that by this Law of the Jubilee God fixed the Jews to the Land of Canaan by giving the Children a power to look upon themselves not only as the presumptive Heirs of their Parents but to consider their Parents only as Usu-fructuary's since all their Possessions in Land were so Entailed that the Children or right Heirs of any Man could not miss of the Reversion because whatever alienation was made it could last but for a time to the year of Jubilee which restored all the alienated possessions absolutely and entirely to the right Heirs Now that this Law was always lookt upon as a fundamental Law amongst the Jews Leviticus XXV 23. 1 Kings XXI appears clearly from the words in Leviticus and from the History of Naboth which holy Man rather chose to die than to comply with the injust desire of Ahab who would have forced Naboth to sell his Estate absolutely notwithstanding God's express prohibition The exemplary vengeance which God took upon Naboth's Murder and the relation of it recorded in Scripture is a further confirmation of this same truth If a King of Israel durst not at first infringe that Law if it was not violated by any other than Jesabel who was a Forreign Princess If the Transgression of that Law was punish'd in such an exemplary manner who can doubt but that it was particularly observed in the Tribe of Judah as a Fundamental Law by which God tied up his People inseparably to this very Countrey One needs only make some few Reflexions upon those words which God makes use of Ezek. XLVI to agree to what I say if those Reflexions which I have made already upon Naboth's Murther be also added to them One may observe upon the same Subject that tho God had several times subjected the Jews to a Foreign power yet he never suffered the whole Nation to be all carried away out of Canaan at one time nor yet to continue in Captivity for the time of two whole Jubilees they were but seventy years in Babylon which was the furthest place that they were ever carried into From whence we may naturally conclude that their Genealogies could not be confounded in so short a time because many that were at the Consecration of the second Temple had seen the first nor could the distinct knowledge of the several divisions of their Estates be obliterated
it is a very considerable thing That in all the Series of Events foretold by the Prophets there was not one Generation amongst all the Offspring of the People but what saw the Accomplishment of several of these Oracles A little attention and care in comparing the Chronology of the Oracles with that of the Events will sufficiently justifie what I say I shall content my self with observing their different Orders which will satisfie a Judicious Reader since my Design do's not engage me necessarily to do a thing which would carry me too far and which may be done with little Application We may consider four sorts of Oracles 1. Those which have respect to particular Facts nigh at hand 2. Those which have respect to particular Facts but at a greater distance 3. Those which have respect to Facts which belong to the whole Jewish Nation 4. Those which have respect to Facts which belong to Foreign Nations either bordering upon Palestina or further from it Now there is nothing so exactly fulfilled as these four sorts of Oracles You have for particular Facts which were nigh at hand and foretold by the Prophets the Oracle of Moses concerning the advancement of Joshua and the Conquest of Palestine which happened soon after You have Debora's Oracle of the Victory promised to Barak You have Samuel's Oracle of the Advancement and Rejection of Saul You have an Oracle of the same Samuel of the Advancement of David You have Nathan's Oracle concerning Absalom's Revolt You have Ahijah's Oracle concerning the Advancement of Jeroboam and the Division of Solomon's Kingdom into Ten Tribes and into Two Tribes whereof the lesser part was to continue in the Possession of Solomon's Heirs You have Ahijah's Prediction of the Death of Jeroboam's Son. You have a Prediction of the Advancement of Jehu in the place of Jehoram King of Israel You have Elijah's Prediction of the exemplary Punishment of Ahab and Jezabel You have the Prediction of Jehoiakim's Death made by Jeremiah Chap. XXII 18 19. and Chap. XXXVI 30. which happened Ten years after You have the Prediction of Jechoniah's Miseries made by Jeremiah Chap. XXII 3. You have Jeremiah's Prediction of the Death of the false Prophet Ananiah but Seven Months before it happened You have an express Designation of Zorobabel to conclude the Re-building of the Temple made by Zechariah Chap. IV. 9. and which was compleated in Four years It is therefore fully evident That the Prediction of particular Facts which were to happen in a very short time served to establish the Authority of the Prophets And in effect one see 's that they proceeded upon the Authority which those Predictions of nearer Events gave them to foretell other particular Events at a greater distance So you see that Moses foretold after a sort after Jacob the manner how the Land of Canaan was to be divided tho' the thing was to be done by Lot. You see the same Moses foretelling the several Captivities which the People of Israel suffered after the Conquest and the Method of God's raising up several Judges to the number of Fourteen to bring them out of those Calamities You see the same Moses foretelling that the Temple should be built in the Tribe of Benjamin tho it was the least You have Joshua's Prediction of the way how the Re builder of Jericho should be exemplarily punished which was accomplished in Ahab's time I Kings XVI 34 about 570 years after this Prophetical Imprecation of Joshua You have the Prediction of a Prophet who was contemporary to Jeroboam about the Birth of Josiah which was not till 350 years after I Kings XIII and of the manner of his destroying the Altar which Jeroboam built One see 's a Prediction of the overthrow of the Kingdom of Samaria within 65 years by Isaiah in the Reign of Jotham One see 's the Destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar foretold by several of the Prophets One see 's the taking of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar foretold by Isaiah Chap. XXIII 15 17. One see 's the Promise of its Re-establishment Seventy years after its Destruction One see 's the Promise of Cyrus's Birth made by Isaiah Chap. XLIV 45. as of one that should restore Liberty to the Jews and give them opportunities of Re-building their Temple at Jerusalem One see 's the Prediction of the manner how Antiochus Epiphanes would treat the Jews in his Life time and how he should be punished for his Cruelties and Sacriledges One see 's the Prediction of the Courage of the Maccabees who should oppose the Tyranny of that Prince and purifie anew the Divine Worship So that it is plain That the foretelling of these particular Facts which were at so great a distance revived the Memory of these Prophets amongst the Jews in every Age and made them read them with a singular attention One ought also to make the same Reflexion upon those Oracles which have respect to the particular Events of the state of the Jews and its Continuance until the time of the Messiah after which the Prophets foretel its Ruin and Destruction without Remedy In short one may say That there was no Revolution never so little considerable of which we do not find very many and very particular Predictions foretold by several Prophets upon very different Occasions and particular Circumstances One see 's in the Books of Moses exact Descriptions of the Pilgrimages of Abraham's Posterity of their continuance in Egypt of the Oppression they were there to undergo of their prodigious Increase of their robbing the Egyptians at their departure of their methods in conquering the Land of Canaan of the way how Kings should arise from Abraham which was accomplished in the Ishmaelites and Edomites and at last in the Israelites One see 's express Predictions of the several Judges whom God should raise up to the People of Israel One see 's an express Prediction of the Advancement of the Tribe of Juda to the Kingdom One see 's a Prediction of the future Subjection of the Edomites to the power of the Kings of Juda and of their conquering of the Countries which lye along the Banks of Euphrates which was fulfilled in David's time One see 's an express Division of that Kingdom into two very unequal parts One see 's great numbers of Predictions concerning the state of the Kings of Juda and Israel II Kings X. 30. For Instance you have an Oracle concerning the Destruction of Jehu's Family in the Fourth Generation The Destruction of the Kingdom of the Ten Tribes is expresly foretold and the Term is very exactly set down The Ruin of Jerusalem and of its Kings is also expresly foretold The time of the Captivity of the Jews in Babylon and Their Re-establishment by Cyrus after Seventy years are also very distinctly foretold The Desolation of Judea under the Empire of Alexander's Successors is foretold very exactly Their Re-establishment after these Desolations and the way by which they were to be defended by the Maccabees
prescrib'd to them in the other Books of Moses but the occasion and ground of them all is no where to be found but in Genesis to which all these Laws have a natural Relation The Second is That the Book of Genesis taking for granted that the Posterity of Abraham as well as his Ancestors had always observ'd the Sabbath and Circumcision and the Books of Moses ordering the same to be constantly read in every Family to which the Sabbath day was more peculiarly appropriated and the whole to be read over every seventh year as we know the Jews practice was according to the Law of Moses the first of which Injunctions they practice still in all places and have left off the other only because they cannot do it now they are out of their own Land I say supposing all this it is absolutely impossible that any other than Moses could have made this Book to be received The forgery at the beginning would have been palpable even to Children themselves As for Example let us suppose that Solomon had form'd a design of deceiving the People in publishing the Book of Genesis for a Book of Moses Is it possible he should so far impose on his People as to make them to receive the said Book all at once as that which had been constantly read in their Families every seventh day and year and that for 600 years before his time and therefore as a Book that had been so long in all their Families tho' indeed it was never heard of by them before that time If an Impostor can create a Belief in others that he hath some secret Communication with the Deity those who are thus perswaded by him will easily submit themselves to his Laws but it is absolutely impossible that a whole People should all at once forget whatsoever they have learn'd or heard of their Parents and Fore-Fathers and instead thereof admit of Tales forged at pleasure Some Nations have been so ridiculous to derive themselves from a Fabulous Original but they never fell into such Mistakes about those things which were at no great distance from the time in which they lived Besides we know that these Fabulous Originals never made so lively an impression upon the Minds of a whole Nations especially the Learned amongst them as generally to be believed but we rather find that they have endeavoured to reconcile them to truth by shewing something else was hinted thereby as we may see by the Explication the Heathens themselves have given us of all their Fables and utterly rejected those which they could not reconcile to good sense But in this case we find a whole Nation to this very day maintaining all the Matters of Fact related in Genesis and in particular that of the Creation as of Matters whose Memorial they have constantly celebrated every seventh day since the time they first happened Lastly It cannot be deny'd but that this Book was constantly used to be read amongst the Jews especially on the Sabbath day and that under the Name of Moses For instance since the time of Jesus Christ or since that of David Neither can it be denied but this constant reading was observ'd by virtue of a Law contain'd in the said Book Now if this Law has always been in this Book from the first appearing of it which cannot be question'd how was it possible to forge and foist in this Book under the Name of Moses the Founder of the Jewish Government I say this Book which besides all this contains such extraordinary Matters and is the very Foundation of all their Religion I will not repeat here what I mention'd in the third Chapter to make the Vanity of those Men appear who imagine the Book of Genesis and the four that follow it might have been forged by others under Moses his Name Yet I think I ought before I proceed further to remove a seeming difficulty which is often alledg'd by this sort of People For say they it cannot be that these Books were ever read with that care and constancy we speak of because a time can be pointed at wherein the said Book was wholly unknown in the Kingdom of Judah and indeed the History plainly informs us that the Book of the Law was found again in the Reign of Josias from whence they infer that if it were then unknown it might as well be forged But indeed they may conclude from hence that which willingly we allow them that there was a time wherein Ungodliness did prevail and Idolatry was publickly establish'd in the Kingdom of Judah it self yet can they not from this instance draw any other Consequence which might support their pretensions They must needs acknowledge first that the Books of Moses were not only amongst the three Tribes but also amongst the ten since the time of their Revolt under Rehoboam that they who were carried by Salmanassar into the Land of Assyria had the said Books amongst them as well as those of the ten Tribes who were left in their own Countrey Thus we see that when the King of Assyria sent some of the Priests of Samaria to instruct the Colony which he had setled in their Countrey in the Law of God it is not said that those Priests went to borrow the Law of Moses from them of Judah nor that the said Laws was altogether unknown in that Countrey but only that they had formerly violated the Law of God in serving strange Gods as they still did but that withal they kept the Law of God which to this day is yet found among their Posterity Secondly It is evident that tho the wickedness and violence of Manasseh caused a great change in Matters of Religion yet not so great but that his Subjects notwithstanding had still the Books of Moses amongst them the Blood which he shed in Jerusalem was an evident sign that there were some Godly men left amongst them who continued true to their Religion and observed the Laws of God. Besides if we consider his Repentance we must conclude that towards the end of his Reign he did in some degree re-establish the purity of that Religion he had before prophaned a main part of which was the expounding and reading of the Books of Moses according to those Laws before mention'd In the third place it is visible that the reason why Hilkiah having found the Book of the Law in the Temple as they were cleansing and repairing it sent the same to Josiah was not because there was no other such Book left in Judah but because the said Book being written by the hand of Moses himself there seem'd to be something very extraordinary in the finding of it at that very time when they were endeavouring a Reformation and it was this Circumstance which did in a more particular manner excite the Zeal of this good Prince And indeed if we suppose that Josiah had never before seen the Book of the Law how could he have apply'd himself to the reforming of his
we read in the eighth Chapter of Genesis about the Deluge doth refer to this custom where we find Noah sending forth the Dove and the Raven on the seventh day which plainly hints to us his observing of that day for it seems that Noah having in an especial manner on that solemn day implored the assistance of God in the Assembly of his Family he expected a particular Blessing from it And we cannot but make some Reflexion on that which we read in the XXIX of Genesis concerning the term of a Week set apart to the Nuptials of Leah Gen. XXIX 27. where at the twenty seventh Verse Laban thus expresses himself Fulfil her Week and we will give thee this also for the Service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other Years This Week here doth so plainly signifie a Week of days that it cannot be more naturally express'd and indeed all generally understand by this Week of the Marriage Feast of Leah that term of time which in succeeding Ages hath been customary to allot to Nuptial Festivals as appears from the Book of Esther where the Wedding Feast of Vasthi lasted seven days this term of seven days having so long since been Consecrated to Nuptial Rejoycings The same we may also gather from the time which was ordinarily allotted to mourning for the Dead to which we find the Patriarchs allotted a term proportion'd to that of their rejoicing For as we see that the Egyptians mourned ten Weeks for Jacob because of his Quality as being the Father of Joseph so we find that Joseph and those that accompanied him mourned seven days at his Enterment in the Land of Canaan And as we find that this Custom was perpetually afterwards observ'd by the Jews as appears from Ecclesiasticus XXII 12. so likewise we find the same observed by the Asiaticks as may be seen in the History of Ammianus Marcellinus at the beginning of his nineteenth Book De fide Resur in obitu Sat. p. 321. Seven days were fulfilled after that the Lord had smote the River Jalkut in h. l. and from them it passed to the Christians as we find in St. Ambrose Thirdly It appears from Exod. VII 25. that God observed seven days after he had smote the River to change the Waters thereof into Blood from whence the Jews conclude that the three Plagues Viz. that of Blood of Frogs and of Lice abode on the Land of Egypt six days and were withdrawn on the seventh which is the Sabbath We may also gather if we calculate the time exactly that the Jews in Egypt observed the Sabbath We find from the History of their departure out of Egypt that the same happened on a Thursday being the fifteenth of the Month Nisan and the day in which they sung those Hymns of Deliverance was the Sabbath which God had particularly set apart for this Week It is also evident from Exod. XVI that the keeping of the Sabbath was observ'd by the Israelites before the Law was given on Mount Sinai For we find God speaking there concerning the Sabbath not as of a thing newly instituted but as of an antient Law which they wer e not to transgress by gathering the Manna on that day for he orders them to gather a double portion the sixth day and not to gather any on the seventh We see that the Israelites resting on the seventh day is here supposed a known and customary thing prescribed to them by a Law of old They who went forth to gather Manna on the seventh day are represented as Transgressors of a known Law as appears from the words of the Lord to Moses How long refuse ye to keep my Commandments and my Laws Moses also speaks of the Sabbath which was to be the next day as of a thing customary and received amongst them To morrow saith he at v. 23. is the rest of the Sabbath of holiness unto the Lord words which would have been unintelligible to the Israelites and express'd a Law altogether impracticable in case they had been destitute of any further knowledge concerning it and had not been acquainted that it was the very day in which the great work of Creation had been finished My fourth Observation I take from the very words of the Decalogue where first of all we find God speaking in this manner Remember the Sabbath day which words clearly import Exod. XX. 8. that the Law he gave was not a new Law but indeed as old as the World and which had been observed by their Forefathers It seems probable also that God expresses himself in these terms because the Tyranny of Pharaoh had forc'd them to break this Law by obliging them to deliver their Tale of Bricks every day without excepting the Sabbath which before he had allowed them to keep This is explained very distinctly in the fifth of Exodus and seems to have been the occasion of Moses's demanding Straw of Pharaoh for the Israelites to go and Sacrifice in answer to which demand Exod. V. 5. Pharaoh expresses himself in terms which shew that formerly they had observed a rest on that day However it be yet thus much is apparent that God commands them to make their Bond Servants to observe the Sabbath because the Egyptians by their example inclin'd them not to be very careful in exempting them from all labour on that day Moreover in the second place we are to take notice that in the last words of the fourth Commandment God speaks of it as of a thing formerly appointed and determin'd by him saying For in six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth and rested the seventh day wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it which words have a manifest and undeniable reference to that which happen'd the seventh day after the Creation and to the Law then given to Man concerning it We may gather from the fourth Chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews that the sense which we have put upon the third Verse of the second of Genesis is the same which the Jews have always had of it The Apostle discoursing from those words of David Psal XCV To whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest doth suppose a threefold rest the first of which is the rest of the Sabbath of which mention is made in the second of Genesis where we have the first institution of it the second was the rest in the Land of Canaan promised to the Jews upon their enduring all those Tryals in the Wilderness the third the rest in Heaven of which the two foregoing were but the Figures He argues therefore that these words of David could not be understood concerning the Sabbath day forasmuch as from the beginning of the World Men entred into that rest of the Sabbath and he proves this by that passage in Genesis of which he only cites the first words viz. That God rested the seventh day from all his works as supposing that the Jews
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
thing in it self there is no less Absurdity to dispute our Saviour's Resurrection than the Creation of the first Man. Now if this Argument holds as there can be no easier so neither can there be a stronger proof of the truth of the Christian Religion for provided we be once well assured of the certainty of Christ's Resurrection we must acknowledge him to be the true Messiah and consequently embrace his Religion But it seems in the heat of Meditation I was insensibly carried further in my Observations upon the Promise of the Messiah than I thought at first to be Therefore instead of passing now as I proposed in the beginning to the proof of Christ's Resurrection which is a solid and compendious way of demonstrating the truth of his Religion I find my self engaged according to my present Method to continue to make the like Reflexions upon the other Books of Holy Scripture that I may yet more fully demonstrate that Jesus Christ is the true Messiah whom God promised to Man immediately after his sin And this I intend to shew so plainly as will make it evident that God hath really accomplished his first designs and exactly performed all his Promises relating to the Messiah according to the first Idea's he gave of his coming to the Ancient Patriarchs First Then I design to trace up the Method that God was pleased to use to make the Messiah known without mistake when ever he should come into the World. Secondly I will make some Reflexions upon the several Notions he gave of him long before in his Oracles to Characterize his Person his Offices his Actions his Sufferings his Glory c. Last of all I will shew that we have all this whole Project and Design exactly accomplished in the History of the Gospel as it was written by Christ's Disciples Now as this Method which God hath particularly chosen to make the Messiah known appears also in the other Books of Moses So I think it will not be amiss for me particularly to view and examine these Books that I may have occasion to illustrate several things in them which deserve a particular attention especially when they are considered together and as it were at one view For the Prophecies being thus consider'd together in their Connexion and Progress do more plainly evidence God's Design and may better convince or confound the Jews Therefore I intend accordingly to consider those Oracles with attention and to join them together that so they may in their Conjunction cast forth the brighter Beams of Light to the Conviction of all Infidels who may happen to peruse this Book For I am perswaded that after the perusal of my Observations in it an ordinary attention in the reading of the Gospel will be sufficient to convince any Man that Jesus Christ is the true Messiah which is all I intend to prove as the Conclusion of this Treatise Now as the examination of the Patriarchs Religion according to the account Moses hath given us of it in his Book of Genesis hath taken up the first part of it so I design to examine in this second part the Israelites Religion and to follow in my search the account which Moses gives of it in his other four Books And as to effect this it is very important to establish beforehand the Authority of those four Books so I intend to shew first of all that Moses is the true Author of them and that they have Intrinsick Characters of undeniable certainty Then Secondly It will be natural for me to shew that Moses in the writing of them had the Promise of the Messiah in view as particularly promised of God to the Patriarchs of his own Nation and as being consequently the principal if not the sole Object of their hope Thirdly I intend to shew that if we seriously examine Moses's Laws we shall find in them such a Method observed as is both very agreeable to the manifestation of God s design in Genesis and very worthy of his Wisdom especially if we consider what he was pleased to reveal unto us of his Intentions by the Prophets who followed Moses REFLEXIONS Upon the Four Last BOOKS OF MOSES To Establish the Truth OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION CHAPTER I. That it cannot reasonably be doubted but that Moses is the Author of Exodus and of the three other following Books THis is a Truth which may be grounded upon several solid Arguments I might observe That Moses hath always been acknowledged by the very Heathens themselves not only to be the most Ancient Historian but also the most Ancient Legislator in the World. I might likewise observe That there is a particular connexion betwixt the Book of Genesis and the other Books of Moses as well in regard of the general Design of their Author as of the Matters treated of in them For Example We see that the greatest part of the Laws and Transactions which we find written and recorded there derive their Original from those Transactions and Passages that we read of in Genesis Thus we may plainly discern that the pretension of the Israelites upon the Land of Canaan was grounded upon the Promise that God made to Abraham to give it to his Posterity in the fourth Generation Thus we may see That the Amalekites could have no other reason to make War against the Israelites than the old Alliance that was formerly made betwixt Amalek and the Canaanites which without doubt engaged his Posterity to be the first Opposers of the establishment of the Israelites in the Land of Canaan Thus we see that the Seditions of the Israelites against Moses under Corah Dathan and Abiram did proceed from the Order of the Birth of the Children of Israel as it is set down in Genesis because the eldest thinking themselves wrong'd of their Birthright thought they might justly Rebel against Moses in order to recover it But I haste to things more material than these And first it is here observable That those Books were not only religiously kept in every Family of Israel but that they were also once solemnly deposited in the Tabernacle as a publick Record and that by Moses himself a little before his death that they might be a Testimony against that People as we read it Deuteronomy XXXI 26. Secondly It cannot be denied that Moses did straightly charge both Joshuah and the Heads of the People to read them frequently and carefully for it is expresly said so Joshua 1.8 Nay we see about 500 years after the holy Man David who had made during his life Psal I. the supream felicity of a man to consist in the reading the Law of God day and night We see I say that holy Man give in his Death-bed the same Charge to Solomon I Kings Thirdly Moreover it is certain that there were many Laws and Sanctions contained in those Books which are the Foundation of the History of succeeding Times And this is the reason why we read nothing in the Book of
Joshua concerning the several Blessings and Curses which were to be pronounced upon the Mounts Ebal and Gerizim because the form of them was to be borrowed from the Books of Moses which were Publick and Authentick The same Reflexion may be made upon the Law of the First-fruits and upon the Prayer which was to be made upon the Tithes of the third year as likewise upon many other Laws Fourthly It is certain that those Books were read over every seventh Year according to the Injunction of that Law which we find Deuteronomy XXXI 10 11. which was commanded to be done for the instruction of Posterity as it is intimated in the Thirteenth Verse of the same Chapter Whereupon it may not be preposterous to consider here God's Methods to prevent all Forgery and Imposture in this Matter We see that it was during the Longaevity of Human Life a constant and universal Custom amongst all the Patriarch's to Moses's time to put when they lay on their Death beds their Posterity in mind of the most important Truths and of the Fundamental Articles of Religion because as all Admonitions and Exhortations made at such a time are always look'd upon as sincere so they seldom fail of being favourably construed and better entertained than they would be at any other time We have as instances of this ancient Custom the Examples of Abraham of Isaac of Jacob of Joseph c. who in that I make no doubt follow'd the Custom of their pious Ancestors who in all likelyhood derived it from Adam himself That Custom we see was of an admirable use to perpetuate the memory of illustrious Transactions What was then spoken by those pious venerable men was a kind of a publick Sermon because it was delivered before those numerous Families which met then altogether about the Bed of their common Head and Father and that upon such an Occasion as did extraordinarily excite their attention To this Custom succeeded another which was that when the greatest Captains and Judges of the People of Israel were sensible of their approaching Death then they usually called the People together to give them such Exhortations Reproofs and Admonitions as they judged most proper either for their encouragement or for their Reformation nay and that even in some occasions many of them have affected to have their Speeches made publick and deposited in the Tabernacle Thus did Moses and Joshuah and the greatest number of the Judges and Samuel and Solomon c. We know that the Books of Moses were formerly read every Sabbath day as St. James does attest it in Acts XV. And tho there be no express command about it in Moses's Writings yet we find there something equivalent to it in the strict charge given by him to all the People to be continually conversant in his Books and to instruct their Families at all times in the Laws and Doctrines delivered in them for it is plain that if the Israelites were bound by that command of Moses to read his Books every day they were more particularly obliged by the same command to read them on the Sabbath day which was made a day of rest by God particularly on purpose that all Men might the better attend on that day to the reading and meditating God's Laws and the performing all other Religious Duties We know besides that those Books were continually explained both by the Doctors of the Law and the Levites who were on purpose dispersed through the whole Land of Canaan that they might the better attend and perform the Duties of their Ministry We see that Moses in his Writings hath exactly kept a kind of Journal which cannot easily receive any alteration If we read hereupon what relates to the sojourning of the Israelites and the several removals of their Tents in the Desert we shall be easily convinc'd by the very form and stile of those Books as we have them now that they were formerly publickly received and were exactly transcribed out of the Original and that if in Process of time they suffered any alteration it was only as to some Appendices or Postscripts inserted by Esrah or some other Prophet by way of Explication We see in those Books a History written without disguise or partiality exact in relating all Circumstances of Places Times and Persons even in the Narration of things of small importance for the main drift of the Author there are besides some Passages recorded in them which any Author who lived after Moses's time would certainly have left out if for no other reason yet at least to abolish the memory of some actions dishonourable to some great Families and whole Tribes of Israel Again we read in them the Songs and other Publick Monuments which were made upon extraordinary occasions to preserve the memory of them the better I have but three Observations more to make here and then I have done with this Chapter The First is That those Books have been constantly quoted by all the Authors amongst that People who followed Moses and that their Quotations do exactly agree with the Text of those Books as we have them now which is a certain sign as well of the Sincerity as of the Antiquity of that Author They were as much esteemed in Israel as in Juda both People did observe them as their Law The Prophets that arose from time to time did always and upon all Occasions acknowledge and maintain their Authority Thus we find in the Book of Joshua quoted out of them what relates to the Curses and Blessings to the Prophecies and Divisions of the Land of Canaan amongst the Tribes of Israel The whole History of the thirteen Judges whom God raised up amongst the People is nothing in general but an account of the accomplishment of that Promise which God had made formerly by Moses to raise up from among that People such Men in the time of their Afflictions and Captivities as would be the Assertors of their Liberty We see there in particular the Execution of Moses's order concerning Caleb Judg I. 20. Judg. VII 3. Judg. XIII 3. and of that Law in Deuteronomy which prescribes the manner of dismissing from the Army those that are fearful and faint-hearted and of that other concerning the Nazarites c. Thus we see that the Rule and Laws prescribed in those Books continued in force in the time of Ruth David's Great Grand-Mother that appears plainly by their Observation of those Laws which enjoyn'd the next Kinsman to take to Wife the Widow of his Deceased Relation and to redeem his Inheritance As for David and Solomon they are continually alluding to something or other delivered in those Books Nehemiah quotes them in Chap. XIII of his Book and that was in the year of the World 3563 and so does Malachy in the IV. and V. Chapters of his Prophesie in the year 3580. The Second Observation which is very material is that the Author of those Books hath inserted in them an express prohibition of adding
and Unclean Beasts which is observed to this hour amongst the Jews It is clear and evident that there is in all those Laws a deep impression of those several great Miracles which compell'd Pharaoh to let the Israelites go Lastly It is very observable here that the Memory of the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt wrought as by many Miracles so especially by the death of all the First-born of Egypt which was the occasion of the Institution of the Passover continued amongst the Egyptians till after Jesus Christ For till then they used to mark with red their Sheep their Trees their Houses and Lands the day before the Passover as one may see in Epiphanius which Custom could proceed from no other cause than from the Egyptians fear of the like Plague and Mortality that was once inflicted upon their Forefathers and from their hope of preventing it by such a kind of Talisman whereby they thought Moses had formerly saved the Israelites harmless from that great Plague only by sprinkling the Blood of the Lamb of the Passover on the upper Door post of their Houses CHAP. IV. A Continuation of the Proofs of the truth of the Miracles wrought by Moses THese Arguments might be thought sufficient for the evincing the truth of these Miracles which Moses relates but yet something more may be added As those Stupendious Miracles by which the famous deliverance of the Israelites was effected could not be doubted of by those who had been eye-witnesses of them so they were afterwards confirmed by several other Miracles which being as great and almost of the same kind continued for many years in the sight of the whole People of Israel God made a Pillar of Fire and of a Cloud attend upon the Israelites to guide them the one by Day and the other by Night He divided the Red Sea to open a passage through it for his People L. 9. praep Ev. cap. ult the Memory whereof saith Eusebius was preserved to his time by those of Memphis The Israelites took the Spoils of the Egyptians drown'd in the Red Sea as they were pursuing them They made a Song upon the occasion of that wonderful Deliverance they were fed with Manna a kind of heavenly and miraculous Food they drunk of that Brook of Water that was following them wherever they went All those Miracles with many others continued for forty years together without any Interruption and do therefore firmly establish the truth of those other Miracles which Moses relates because there were none of them wherein the people could be imposed upon by any trick or illusion and of the truth whereof every one could not satisfie himself by his own experience I do not speak now of several publick Monuments of those Miracles as for Example the Rod of Aaron which blossom'd in a Night the Manna which was kept in the Tabernacle The Brazen Serpent which having continued to Hezekiah's time was broken down by him only because the People offered Incense to it From all which it must be acknowledged that there was in the whole Series of the Jewish History both many pregnant Evidences of the truth of the first Miracles and a constant Series of Miracles which having been foretold by Moses did the better confirm the truth of those which he relates as done by him on purpose to vindicate and defend the Liberty and Honour of the people of Israel Because I did just now intimate that the Memory of the Jewish Deliverance did continue for many Ages after amongst the Egyptians I think my self obliged to add here some Arguments to prove that neither such a Transaction as that was nor yet any of the like nature and importance could ever be forgotten in the Land of Canaan There is nothing that in outward appearance seems more ridiculous than what is related concerning the Gibeonites coming to Joshuah's Camp their Equipage shew'd that they had a mind to perswade the Israelites that they came from a far Countrey The Treaty which they extorted from Joshuah by fraud is very singular And there can be nothing more remarkable than their subsistence amongst the people of Israel notwithstanding that they were of the number of those Nations which God had commanded to be destroy'd and their being destined by Joshuah's appointment to carry the Wood and the Water necessary for the service of the Tabernacle from whence they were denominated Nethinims and thereby for ever after distinguish'd from the Israelites But after all there could be nothing more agreeable to God's Wisdom than the preservation of that people amongst the Israelites Their Fathers were the Witnesses of Moses and Joshuah's Miracles Those Miracles obliged them to seek the alliance of the Hebrews and to cheat them into it by a fraudulent Treaty because they despaired of compassing their design by any other means Therefore their subsisting amongst the Jews and their Servile Office which exposed them to the eyes of the whole Nation could not chuse but be of an extraordinary use to make that people preserve and cherish up the Memory of those Glorious Actions which every Gibeonite had perpetually before his Eyes The same Remark may be made upon the continuing of Rahab's Family amongst the Israelites after the Destruction of Jericho It is certain that the Jews have always believed that besides those first Miracles related by Moses many others have been done since for their sakes both to possess them of the Land of Canaan and to keep or restore them to the possession of it nay of those latter Miracles many are very like unto the former As for Example the Death of 185000 Men in the Army of Sennacherib the returning of the Shadow backwards ten degrees upon the Sundial of Ahaz the wonderful preservation of the whole Nation by the means of Esther which was the occasion of the Institution of the Feast of Purim amongst them and several other Miraculous Transactions related in the Jewish Authors of which I will only name three which did preserve the Memory of the greatest and most important Miracles related by Moses The first is the continual Miracle of the Urim and Thummim of the High-Priest which by its frequency did confirm the truth of Moses's Relation concerning the several Apparitions of God in order to lead his people and to give them Laws The Second is the Miracle of every seventh year Levit. XXV during which though the People of Israel did neither Sow nor Reap God according to his Promise did supply them with plenty of Provisions by making every sixth year extraordinarily plentiful Now this Miracle was a kind of a Memorial of that other great Miracle whereby God did feed his People with Manna for forty years together in the Desart still doubling the proportion of Manna every sixth day In effect as that Law which commanded a Sabbath of rest unto the Land every seventh year was constantly observed which would never have been done long if that people had not always been fully convinced
probable that a Prince especially of his Temper would have submitted to such a Confinement and meekly resign'd his Crown to his Son if that punishment inflicted upon him had not fully convinced him of the Divinity of that Law which he had transgressed and violated by his Temerity and Presumption The Third Reflexion is that the greatest part of those Laws being intended by God to inspire his people with an Irreconcileable Aversion against all those Nations amongst whom they were going to settle they were so framed as not only to be opposite to the Laws and Customs of Egypt from whence they came but also to those received amongst the Hivites Amorites and other Nations of whose Countries they were going to possess themselves Thus we find in the XVIII of Leviticus Laws against all Incestuous Marriages which without doubt were ordinary amongst the Canaanites and Egyptians who therein follow'd the Examples of the Ancient Patriarchs who Married within those forbidden Degrees there we find also the Sacrifices to Moloch forbidden the practice whereof those Nations in all likelihood defended by the Example of Abraham's Sacrifice Now it cannot reasonably be thought that a whole Nation would of a suddain receive such Laws as deprived them of a Liberty and Freedom they had always hitherto enjoyed and condemn of their own accord those Sacrifices that had the fairest pretence of Religion imaginable and to use many Ceremonies contrary to those received amongst them if they had not had a strong and extraordinary Motive for so doing There is another thing besides that challenges our Consideration viz. the exact Description which God gave to Moses of the Tabernacle of the several parts of the Ceremonial Worship which was to be performed in that Sacred place and of the manner how this Tabernacle with all its Appurtenances Utensils and Ornaments was finished For as this Tabernacle was then the Centre of the whole Jewish Religion as the Temple was afterwards by succeeding to it so it was a solemn proof of the Divinity of Moses's Laws and of the Worship that was performed there Is it conceivable that a whole Nation should contribute to the building of it should see it Consecrated and taken to pieces and set together again every day and should read all the particulars relating to its Construction and not discern whether there was any truth and reality in all that was told them concerning the Religion which their Governour fixed in that place wherein he pretended many Revelations were made CHAP. VI. Some other Proofs that confirm Moses 's Description of the manner how the Law was given and Promulgated BUt if it is so easie to establish the Divinity of the Law of Moses by shewing the truth of the Matter of Fact according to the manner of God's Promulgation as Moses relates it we may further collect the truth of it by joyning these following Reflexions to those already made in the foregoing Chapters Certainly if Moses had been the first Founder of a Kingdom and had been succeeded in it by his own Children and Posterity for many Generations one after another we might perhaps have had some ground to suspect that his Successors consulting their own Interest and Honour would have been very glad to perswade their Subjects that the first Founder of their Kingdom had some Communication with God and that it was from him he received the Laws and Constitutions which he gave them concerning Civil and Religious Matters But it is observable that Moses was so far from investing his own Children with the Supream Authority after himself that he Translated it into another Tribe and Constituted Joshuah of the Tribe of Ephraim for his Successor in the Government as for his Posterity he took little care of it but reduced it to a Rank inferiour to that of Aaron's Family which he preferr'd to the most honourable Functions of the Priesthood leaving to his own the meanest and most inconsiderable Employments all which shews evidently that none of those who came after Moses were moved by any private Interest of their own to defend the Truth and Authority of his Laws and Writings but only by the certain knowledge they had that they were all Divine Neither ought we to omit to consider here the manner how Moses decides beforehand such Questions and determines such Controversies as could not be raised but after the Conquest of Canaan which was made by his Successor only after his Death And how those Laws were constantly observed in all the succeeding Generations of that people and submitted unto by the very Judges and Kings themselves tho there be nothing more common than for a Conqueror such as Joshua was to admit of no other Fundamental Laws in that State he is the Founder of than those which he is the Author of nothing is more usual than for Statesmen to affect the exposing the Conduct of their Predecessors especially when the form of Government is altered and from Democratical or Aristocratical is changed into Monarchical as it happened amongst the Israelites How then could Moses's Laws still keep up their Authority in all Changes and Revolutions How comes it to pass that in all the Successions of Judges and Kings there was never any of them attempted to suspend or annul Moses's Laws much less to enact and give any others contrary to them Again how came it to pass that in all the Divisions and Factions that Nation fell into there was never any Jew endeavour'd with any success to undeceive the rest of his own people so as to make them shake off the troublesom Yoke of Moses's Laws No doubt only because the generality of that Nation never disputed the Divine Origin and Authority of them It were an easie thing to demonstrate by the whole Series of the Jewish History that all those Laws which in Moses's Writings are inlay'd one within another and represented as occasion'd by several Transactions related there have all been equally received of the Jews and have all been put together in a Body by themselves before Moses's Death as it may be proved out of the XXXI of Deuteronomy It appears that those Laws were publick and in great esteem amongst that People to whom God gave them upon whom he laid an indispensable Obligation to read them every day and to consult them upon every emergent business It appears that they were known equally of all degrees of Men Sexes and Ages which were all obliged to pay Obedience to them upon pain of Death It appears that those Laws were not only publickly kept in the Tabernacle but also privately read in every Family We see that a whole Tribe viz. the Tribe of Levi was appointed by God to explain them and in order to that they were dispersed throughout the whole Land of Canaan and exempted from the Cares and Troubles that necessarily attend Husbandry by the plentiful Provision of Tithes and Offerings that was allotted to them We see that God obliged all Jews to read and meditate
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
gave notice by the Prophets of all those Lights which should particularly appear in him In prospect of this God gave by the Ministry of Moses such Characters as would distinguish the true Prophets from those who endeavoured to usurp that Name It appears also that because God was to Communicate to the Messiah a power of working Miracles which Moses intimates by saying that he was to be a Prophet like unto him Therefore Isaiah specifies the Character of those Miracles in XXXV Chapter of his Prophesie and God explains in particular the Laws concerning the Blind and the Lame and for the same Reason he gives an account of all sorts of Leprosie that it might be distinctly known which was incurable It is easie to those who will attend to the Laws of Moses to see that they were subservient to this design of God in pursuance of those Prospects which we have already set down CHAP. XXI That it was the design of God by all these Ceremonies and particularly by that Veneration which he inspired the Jews with for the Tabernacle to preserve the Ideas of the Messiah whom he had promised in their minds by distinguishing them from all other Nations AFter all those Observations which I have made upon the several Laws that God made use of to execute his design of fixing his people to a certain place and there to keep them separate it is natural to judge that the Ceremonial Laws which he gave them for the regulating their outward Worship were also intended for the same end This I must shew in respect of the Holiness which God ascribes to the Land of Canaan and in respect of the whole Service of the Tabernacle of its Misterious Construction in all its parts And in respect also of the raising of the Material Temple afterwards to be as it were the Center of their whole Religion It was certainly for this purpose that he particularly Consecrated several things to himself as the first fruits and the first-born and that he set apart certain times as the first day of the Month and certain Solemn Feasts besides the Sabbath-day which was Celebrated long before And he also Consecrated several places as the Towns of refuge and yet more particularly the Tabernacle and the Temple But it was especially for that reason that he had Consecrated certain Rites and Ceremonies certain Sacrifices both of Animate and Inanimate things and certain Offerings of Gold and Silver Perfumes c. One see 's that he rejected any first fruits that did not grow in the Land of Canaan One see 's that tho some Sacrifices were common to the Jews and their Neighbours yet he distinguish'd them by so many Circumstances that they were much different from the others Thus he forbids them to make use of Statues before which other Nations used to Sacrifice at that time and he commanded them not to Sacrifice upon high places where the Heathens used to make their Offerings very early in the Morning at Sun-rise which gave rise to their Worship of the Rising Sun. But there is nothing more discovers the design of God than the Laws by which he fixed their Worship first to the Tabernacle and afterwards to the Temple at the places where God did particularly reside One may say that it was for that reason God commanded the representations of Angels and of his Law and of the Manna to be preserved there all which besides that they were Memorials of the Ancient Apparitions and favours of God to that people they were express figures of God's Glory of his Will and of his miraculous power he added also a Candlestick with seven Branches a Table covered with Loaves and an Altar of Incense which were figures of the Seven Planets of this visible World of the Blessings which we enjoy by Nature and of those acknowledgments which we owe unto God for all these He commanded also that none should offer Sacrifices in any other place except the Temple He would not permit that any but those who were purified according to the Law should enter into it he excluded all Uncircumcised persons for ever as Moses had formerly been commanded to pull off his Shooes in the Desert at his approaching to the burning Bush so every one that entered into the Temple was to enter barefoot as a mark of that respect which had formerly been exacted of Moses And what other reason but that could oblige him to give both at the Consecration of the Temple and afterwards so many sensible Marks of his presence that Cloud which was called his Glory rested there The Urim and Thummim which was an Oracle for that whole Nation was there there was a daily Sacrifice offered up for the whole People there were celebrated the three Solemn Feasts of the Passover of Pentecost and of Tabernacles he forbid them to Sacrifice any where else and he gave frequent and illustrious Oracles at that place One ought also to observe that after his Temple to which all the glory of the Tabernacle was transmitted was fixed at Jerusalem he ordered it to be such a sensible mark of his presence that when we read the History of Israel's March in the Desart we find that the Tabernacle was the Image of the Temple and built after its Model so that as the Tabernacle stood always in the midst of the Tents of the Levites and the Levites in the midst of the whole Camp of all the Tribes of Israel who were all listed under their proper Standards So one see 's afterwards that the Temple the Levites and the people of Jerusalem were placed according to their different degrees of Holiness as they were to approach to the most Holy place which was the Habitation of his Holiness Certainly one may say that the building up of a Tabernacle or of a Temple seems to be directly contrary to the nature of Religion according to which God who is a Spirit will be Worshipped in Spirit and in Truth So that this seems to have been quitted for a time when he commanded the building of a Tabernacle But really there was nothing more agreeable to the design which God had formed at first as to that people he intended to make it visible and it appears that nothing could be more effectual to make it so than the double necessity to which that whole People was reduced to to meet in a Body several times every year in the same place and to offer all their Sacrifices in the Tabernacle and to be there perpetually employed in the Ceremonial Service which did inseparably draw them thither and fix them there The end of all those visible Assemblies was to perpetuate the knowledge of the principal Verities of their Religion and especially to renew perpetually the hopes of that people as to the Messiah who was promised to them from God. For God having shortned the long Lifes which Men commonly enjoy'd in the beginning before they went out of Egypt so that five or six persons could no
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
flattering themselves that God will one day re-establish them in Judea which they expect by means of the Messiah whom God at first promised to them 'T is now above 1600 years that they have been scattered throughout the World and yet we find not that their condition has made them change their Measures or Hopes and thô they have already been deceived by a great number of false Messiahs yet do not they for all that look upon the condition of their Common-wealth as irrecoverable Now if during so long a Series of Ages they have kept their Laws with so much carefulness if they still religiously observe all those Laws which could be kept without the Bounds of the Holy Land who sees not but that in all probability they must have kept them more exactly at the time of Jesus Christ and before his coming when they could keep them with much more ease than since that time and that for many considerable Reasons For first Their Dispersion then was in one only Nation whereas now they are scattered amongst Heathens Christians and Mahometans 2. They had then Prophets who exhorted them to the observance of these Laws which now they have wanted for so many Ages 3. They had often Princes that were very favourable to them such as Cyrus and Darius who ordered that Sacrifices should be offered for themselves in the Temple at Jerusalem and Pompey afterwards had the same inclinations for them whereas since the time of their Dispersion they have scarcely met with any one Prince that has been favourable to them if we except Julian the Apostate who from an effect of his hatred against the Christians did vainly strive to re-establish them 4. They had a Temple to which the whole state of their Republick was fixed Herod about the time of our Saviour had most magnificently repaired it whereas now for so many Ages they have neither Temple nor Altar 5. They had High-Priests amongst them that were entrusted with the Soveraign Power and were Kings of their Nation whereas now they have neither King nor Prince of their Faith. 6. Their Laws being translated into Greek since the time of Ptolemy Philadelphus it gave occasion to an extraordinary Jealousie between the Jews of Egypt who had the Text of the Scripture in Greek and between those of Jerusalem who had it in Hebrew whereas now all this is altogether ceased all the Jews now for many Ages making use only of the Hebrew Text. Since therefore we find that they without Prophets without King out of their own Country c. have observed these Laws for so many Ages notwithstanding their dispersion throughout all places and amongst all sorts of people how much rather may we conceive they did so since the time of Ezra who placed the Books of the Old Testament in the order in which we have them at this day There are only 542 years from the time of the return of their Captivity which happened in the year 3468 to the Birth of Christ and but 259 years from their return to the translation of the 70 and we know that above 1600 years are past since their general Dispersion Moreover it appears that the Romans had so well preserved the form of the Jewish Government from Pompey's time as well as that of their Religion that a Roman General sent to demand a kind of permission of the Jews to let him pass with the Roman Eagles through Syria We know that those Eagles were never set up at Jerusalem but it was at a time when a Roman Commander intended to stir up the Jews to Sedition and by that means to make the Emperour their Enemy Yea we find that tho' the Romans reserved to themselves the power of the Sword yet they permitred to the Jews the Judgment of Zeal against those whom they called Hereticks whom they tore to pieces to execute the rigour of the Law. If we find that a Roman Proconsul would not concern himself with Questions of their Law arising without the Bounds of their own Country how much rather may we judge that they enjoy'd an entire liberty within Judea And indeed we find the Priests sending their Acts IX 4. Commissioners to Damascus against the Christians without doubt with design to execute the Law against Impostors S. Paul was beaten several times with forty stripes save one which could not be upon any other pretence but to obey the Law in that matter These proofs are sufficient to make out that the Commonwealth of the Jews subsisted still in the same manner as God instituted it And as for what concerns the overthrow of their Religion as God had interwoven the Laws that regulated it with those of their Government so that their Religion was nothing else but a Religious Policy it is evident that their Government continuing at the time of Jesus Christ we cannot doubt but that their Religion notwithstanding the corruption which the Pharisees and Traditionary Jews whom Christ continually censures had introduced did still continue pure enough to answer the Model which God had framed They rejected the Samaritans as appears from the IV of S. John and looked upon them as Hereticks having no Commerce with them They lived in a perfect Alienation from the Heathen 't is with this S. Peter begins his Discourse to the Assembly at the House of Cornelius Acts X. 28. They lived in an exact Observance of the Solemn Feasts which God had prescribed them viz. the Passover Pentecost the Feast of Expiation and of Tabernacles They observed the Feasts which their Ancestors had joyn'd to these upon extraordinary Occasions as that of the Dedication that of Lots and some Fasts which they kept then as they do to this day This appears by the History of the Gospel and by the Acts of the Apostles They assisted at these solemn Festivals with much regularity They did not till their Ground in the Seventh year according to God's Command which made the Heathen Princes which were over them to release them from paying any Tribute that year as may be seen in Josephus and other Authors They taught the Law in their Synagogues and that every Sabbath day They were so scrupulous in their observation of the Sabbath that they accused our Saviour for healing the Sick on that day It appears that Lepers were sequestred and that they observed the distinction of the several kinds of Leprosie according to the Law of Moses We find by the History of the Gadarenes that Swine were looked upon as unclean Beasts It is certain that they paid the Tribute which was appointed for the use of the Temple according to the Law of Moses and the re-establishment of that Custom which we find II Chron. XXIV 5. Josephus tells us that this practise was continued till the destruction of the Temple Antiq. XVIII Ch. XII We meet with the same in Tacitus and other Heathen Authors of that time I acknowledge that at the same time they were extreamly corrupt in their
Doctrines with which Christ upbraids the Pharisees and Saduces but this corruption respected rather their Morals than the Externals of their Religion as appears plainly from hence that Jesus Christ upbraids the Pharisees with their tithing Mint and Cummin that is with their observance of outward Niceties whilst they neglected the very Essentials of Piety They held that Heathens could not pass for their Neighbours from whence it would follow that God did not forbid them to bear false witness against a Heathen Hence also they concluded that it was lawful for them to kill their Enemies and this fomented their hatred and animosity against all other Nations It was on this account that the Disciples of Jesus Christ marvelled that he talked with a Samaritan Woman Their Decisions concerning Adultery were no less corrupt which they declared to be no sin so long as it did not proceed to the outward Act which Opinion of theirs was more gross than that of many Heathens who had a truer Idea of the Purity of Heart which God requires of us as well as that of the Body But yet this did not altogether destroy their Religion tho' it obscured the Excellency and Sublimity thereof As for the Saduces besides that their Errours were only speculative amongst the greatest part of them it is certain that what the Gospel saith of their denying the Existence of Souls and Spirits and the Doctrine of the Resurrection must be understood with some qualification as the Learned have solidly proved and amongst others Dr. Lightfoot on the Gospels And without repeating those things which seeur'd the preservation of their State and which also visibly tended to the preserving of their Religion I shall only observe That the Jews at this day with very little difference are found in the same practices and opinions as to their Religion which they had at the time of our Saviour Seeing then that after so long a time of Sixteen hundred years we find no greater change in their Belief though their Traditions are considerably encreased the Rules whereof they have infinitely multiplyed and thereby encreased this Corruption how can it be imagin'd that the Religion of the Jews was wholly lost or had no being at the time of our Saviour Jesus Christ Let this therefore be established as a certain Truth That the Common-wealth of the Jews subsisting entirely it was easie to know whether the distinctions which were necessary to discover and make known the Messiah were still found in the state of the Jews and their Religion This is that I am now going to make out CHAP. IV. That all the Distinctions necessary for discovering of the Messiah still continued in the State of the Jews at the time of our Lord. I Do not know whether any man can deny that Circumcision which is one of the principal Marks of the Jews was practised at that time if any one should dare to dispute this Truth we need only to represent to him that the main Dispute between the first Disciples of Jesus Christ and the Jews was about the Observation of this Ceremony Neither were the Jews only obstinate in this Belief but we find also that those who first embraced the Christian Religion maintained that the Heathens themselves ought to submit to the Yoke of Circumcision before they could enter into the Divine Covenant and enjoy the Priviledges of Gods People whom Circumcision distinguished from the rest of the World. One see 's that tho' God scattered the Ten Tribes yet some of them still remained in Palestine and were distinctly known as such This appears from the Acts of the Apostles where mention is made of a Widow of the Tribe of Asher and S. Paul boasts of his being a Benjamite They upbraided Herod notwithstanding he was their King with his being an Edomite and not originally a Jew One see 's that about Tyre and Sidon there remained still a distinct knowledge of the Canaanites It is known that Galilee was less esteemed than Judea because many of the Gentiles were settled there by which means the Jews of that Province were obliged to some Commerce with them from which those who lived more distinct thought that they had a right to undervalue those that were settled in Galilee One may also boldly assert That all places were still distinctly known to what Tribe they did belong Thus it is observed that Capernaum was in the Borders of Naphthali and Zebulun that Bethlehem was in the Tribe of Juda which is related as a thing publickly known It is known that the Priests still possess the Cities which Joshua had assigned to them Zacharias the Father of John the Baptist dwelt at Hebron Josh XXI 10 11. a City belonging to the Priests in the Tribe of Juda. One see 's that even the Samaritan Woman had a distinct knowledge of some famous places in the Holy Land as Jacob's Well and the Possession which he gave to his Son Joseph and that those of her Religion took a Prejudice against the Jews because Jacob had built an Altar at Sichem One see 's that they kept up the Practise of Redeeming their First-born which at this day is still observed by the Jews As also the practise of Polygamy which was so common amongst them that S. Paul thought himself obliged to forbid the same to the Pastors of the Christian Church that he might abolish it by little and little amongst those that embraced the Doctrine of Jesus Christ One see 's from the Nineteenth of S. Matthew that Divorces were publickly practised amongst them as they are to this day If one makes any Reflexion upon the Objection the Sadduces made to our Saviour concerning the Woman that successively had seven Brothers for her Husbands we shall perceive that the desire of Posterity being predominant amongst them was the cause of the continuance of this Custom which began in the time of the Patriarch Judah We have elsewhere taken notice of the extream carefulness of the Jews in preserving the marks of their Daughters Virginity which has constantly continued down since the coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ The Gospel which informs us that the Jews were deprived of the power of the Sword doth notwithstanding sufficiently signifie to us not only the extream horrour which the Jews had conceived against Adultery thus we find Jesus Christ upbraiding the Pharisees that Adulterers that is the greatest of sinners entred into the Kingdom of Heaven before them but also that the Laws against Adulterers and Adulteresses were severely executed In short one see 's that by a Judgment of Zeal as they call it they brought a Woman to our Saviour which was taken in Adultery before they went about to stone her for one ought to know that the Law only subjected young Women who were defiled after a Contract to that sort of Punishment because after they were once contracted they were reputed the Wives of those to whom they were betrothed and such an one was she of whom we read