be againe restored as is implyed in our Saviour's prophecy Luk. 1. ver 24. and exprest Jer. 31. ver 38. and Isa chap. 60. and 62. and in many other places This is your first parallell for which you had no ground in the text The rest are these Christ is called the salvation of the Lord and Simeon saith My eyes have seene thy salvation The Messiah is called a light unto the Gentiles and Simeon saith a light to lighten the Gentiles Christ is called the glory of Sion and Jerusalem and Simeon saith the glory of thy people Iseael And will it follow from this that Isaiah's prophecies were at that time fulfilled surely no more then it will that they were fulfilled when Isaiah spake the same words but this will follow that these texts of Isaiah and Simeon's prophecy are one in their contents and that thefore Simeon's words doe no more shew that Isaiah's prophecies were fulfilled at Christ's first comming then Isaiah's doe that Simeon's prophecy was then fulfilled Which doe Indeed shew that Christ is to be the glory of his people Israel at his next appealing and not before For seeing to be the glory of his people implies a greater happines to belong to the Iews of whom the Redeemer came then to the Gentiles to whom he is said to be a light is it likely that this should be fulfilled when now and then a Jew should seeke God amongst the Gentiles or rather when the Gentiles in generall should seeke God amidst the whole Nation of the Jewes or rather I say when as Isaiah speakes the Tribes of Iacob shall be raysed up and the preserved of Israel restored when they shall come from the North and from the West and from the land of Sinim When the waste and desolate places and the land of their destruction shall be even now too narrow by reason of the inhabitants and they that swallowed them up shall be far away When the Lord shall feed them that oppresse them with their owne flesh and they shall be drunken with their owne blood as with sweet wine and all flesh shall know that the Lord is their Saviour and their Redeemer the mighty one of Jacob. When the glory of the Lord is risen upon Sion and the Gentiles shall come to their light and Kings to the brightnes of her rising When the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto her and the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto her When the multitude of Camels shall cover her the Dromedaries of Midian and Ephah and all they from Sheba shall come and shall bring gold and incense and shew forth the praise of the Lord. When all the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto her and the Rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto her when they shall come up with acxceptance on God's altar and God shall glorify the house of his glory When the glory of Lebanon shall come unto her the firre tree the pine tree and the boxe tree together to beautify the place of God's Sanctuary and when God shall make the place of his feet glorious When the Natiâ—n and Kingdom that will not serve Sion shall perish yea shall be utterly wasted When violence shall no more be heard in her land wasting nor distruction within her borders but she shall call her walls salvation and her gates praise When the Gentiles shall see her righteousnes and all Kings her glory when she shall be called Heph-Zibah ' and her land Beulah In a word when the Jewes shall be cal'd The holy people The redeemed of the Lord and Sion shall be called Sought out a City not forsaken When the time comes wherein all this and much more which is revealed in the chapters of Isaiah cited by you shall come to passâ—â— them and not til then shall our Saviour declare himselfe to be the glory of his people Israel as Simeon hath foretold And so by the testimony of these prophecies that part of Simeon's prophecy which concernes the glory of the Jewes is to be referred wholly to our Saviour's second comming when as well the residue of men the Gentiles that are yet uncal'd as the Gentiles on whom God's Name is already cal'd shall all goe up to worship the Lord at Ierusalem shall all seeke salvation amongst the Iewes and not the Iewes amongst the Gentiles And therefore when the Iewes and Gentiles shall be so united as these and many other prophecies doe foreshew there is to be no disagreement at all betwixt the Iewes or betwixt them and any other nation in the practise of religious duties Which thing too this marginall note doth so clearely prove out of the prophecy of Amos alledged by Sâ— Iames that you could make no better reply to it then to call it a long tailed note and a frivolous discourse And whereas you say that there was an unanimous consent in the true worship of God betwixt the Jewes and other Nations when they did conveen in the generall Synode Act. 15. Surely there was not one whole City and much lesse was there any one Nation of the Gentiles at that time converted And if a few Turks should become Christians you might as well infer from this that there were an unanimous consent in the worship of God betwixt Christians and the Turkish Nations as you can conclude from that meeting or from all that were then converted that the Jewes and any much lesse all other Nations were united in the true worship of God And indeed the uniting of the Jewes and Gentiles into one Church so often and so plainly foretold by the Prophers and confirmed by our Saviour Ioh. 10. ver 16. is not of some Jewes and Gentiles onely as it was in the first dayes of the Gospel nor of some Nations of the Gentiles and a few Jewes as it hath been since the conversion of the substituted Nations of the Gentiles nor of all the Jewes and some Gentiles as it was under the Law nor of all the Jewes and a part of the Gentile Nations but of all the Tribes of the Jewes and all the Nations of the Gentiles The marginall Note But it matters not much which of the two is here spoken of for seeing the Prophet doth plainly shew a future restoring of the Jewes and yet the intent of the Apostle was onely to prove that God had then cal'd the Gentiles it cannot otherwise be but that the words after this in the prophecy being applyed to the foresaid visiting of the Gentiles by the preaching of the Gospel must needs conclude that the extraordinary restauration of the Jewes foreshewne by the Prophet was to follow the calling of the Gentiles then begun by the Apostles Mr. Petrie's Answer The Prophet Amos in that chap. before ver 11. speakes not of the ealling of the Gentiles and the Apostle cites the same words of ver 11. for the calling of the Gentiles neither hath the Prophet these words after this but in these dayes and howbeit the Apostle cite
captivity amongst and subjection to other Nations Israel's Redemption The next prophecy shall be that of Joel who mentions the very fignes which our Saviour said should be the immediate fore-runners of the Jewes Redemption And it shall come to passe afterwards saith he in his 2. chap. at the 28 ver that I will powre out my spirit upon all flesh and your sonnes and your daughters shall prophecy your old men shall dreame dreames and your young men shall see visions and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those dayes will I powre out my spirit and I will shew wonders in the Heavens and in the earth blood and fire and pillars of smoake the Å¿ Isa 24. v. 23. Mat. 24. v. 29. Rev. 6. v. 12. Sun shall be turned into darkenesse and the Moone into blood before the * Great not onely in regard of the strangenesse and dreadfulnes of events of things then to come to passe but great also in regard of the long continuance and tract of time which God in his revelations hereafter to be fulfild doth by the word Day as well without this epither as with it frequently import great and terrible t Bezk 39.8 Mal. 4.5 sude 6. Rev. 16.14 Day of the Lord come And it shall come to passe that whosoever shall call on the Name of the Lord shall be delivered for in Mount Zion and in Hierusalem shall be deliverance as the Lord hath said and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call And in the 3. chap. at the 1. ver Behold in those daies and in that time when I shall bring againe the captivity of Judah and Hierusalem I will also gather all Nations and will bring them downe into the valley of Jehosaphat which in the 14. verse is called the valley of decision and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel whom they have scattered among the Nations and parted my Land And at the 15. verse againe The Sun and the Moone shall be darkened and the starres shall withdraw their shining the Lord also shall roare out of Zion and utter his voyce from Jerusalem and the u Isa 2.19 c. Ezek. 38.19.20 Hag. 2.22 Mat. 24.29 Rev. 16.18 ch 6.13.14 Heavens and the earth shall shake but the Lord will be the hope of his people and the sirength of the children of Israel Mr. Petrie's Answer The Apastle Peter not onely makes use of these words but expones them and shewes the accomplishment of them in some degree as it is said in the sixth rule before for Act. 2.16 he saith This is that which was spoken by the Prophet Ioel And it shall come to passe in the last daies c. And verse 22. Ye men of Israel heare these words Jesus of Nazareth a man approved of God among you by miracles wonders and signes which God did by him in the midst of you as ye your selves know Reply The Apostle repeats but expounds not the Prophets words and consequently shewes not the accomplishment of ought that the Prophet affirms shall be done All that he shewes is this That the thing which then happened to the Apostles was the worke of the same spirit which Joel spake of but he saith not that it was the same worke The same spirit indeed was then powred out but it was not the same powring out of the spirit And for want of distinguishing betwixt the effusion of the same spirit and the same effusion of the spirit you affirme that those things which the Prophet saies the spirit shall doe not long before the Lord's second comming were then done at his first comming And the reason you bring from St. Peters words Act. 2. verse 22. to shew that the prophecy of Joel was then fulfild in part is a very strange one For the Prophet shewes what others shall doe through the extraordinary inspiration of the Spirit before the Day of the Lord comes and the words you have alledg'd doe shew what works Christ himselfe did when he was come Israel's Redemption I am not ignorant that the darkening of the Sun and Moone is sometimes taken allegorically and by way of allusion but that therefore it should be so understood here it doth not follow for where it is figuratively applyed it signifies the judgement it selfâ— which is to befall those people of whom it is spoken but where it is literally used it is put onely for a signe of an eminent destruction which shall suddenly follow it as the great and terrible Day of the Lord shall doe at the accomplishment of this prophecy Mr. Petrie's Answer Where the darkenesse of the Sun and so it may be understood of the Moone is used properly it is not put onely for a signe of an eminent and imminent destruction as it is manifest Luke 23.45 which was a Testimony from Heaven of Christ's innocency for conviction of the murtherers and chap. 21.25 the signes in the Sun and Moone and in the starres and the distresse of Nations upon the earth with perplexity and the roaring of the sea and waves are all to be understood properly as signes before the great and terrible Day of the Lord. So what is promised in the 28. and 29. verses of the second chap. of Joel was truely albeit not altogether fulfilled in the daies of Peter even how-beit the words of the 30. and 31 verses be properly understood and not wholly fulfilltil the time immediately preceding the last comming of Christ Reply That the darkning of the Sun or of the Moone properly taken especially if supernaturall as this here is a signe of an eminent and imminent destruction you confesse but that it is onely so you deny And were this true I have not spoken much out of the way But the instance you bring of the darkning of the Sun at the time of our Saviours passion makes nothing for you For whereas you say it was a testimony from Heaven of Christ's innocency for conviction of the murtherers the historie of the Gospel tels you no such thing and interpreters are against you Sicut enim Deus tenebris involvebat terram Aegyptum sicetiam nunc totam Judaeam in signum iraâ—i Dei et futurae poenae saith Pareus on the 27. chap. of Mat. at the 45. verse that is As God did once bring darknesse on the land of Egypt so likewise did he now on the land of Judea as a signe of his wrath and their ensuing punishment So Chrysostome too It was an undoubted signe of Gods anger for that which they did against him And Origen It was a presage of the future darknesse which should over-spread the whole Jewish Nation To which Dr. Mayer consents and with Origen concludes from the time of the darknesse continuance being three houres that the Jewish Nation should be in darknesse till about the Evening of the world Although then Christ's innocency may well be gathered from it yet for ought I can finde you goe alone in
comming of Christ nor immediately at his comming for that battle is in the time of the sixt vial after which follows another vial and time of trouble mentioned in the rest of that chap. of the Revel 2. We may be perswaded that the gathering of the Nations Joel 3.2 is not to be understood of a battle after the comming or at the comming of Christ if we consider the words of the first verse for behold in these dayes and in that time c. He knitteth this chap. with the preceding and shewes the contents of both to be at the same time which is not any particular yeare or age but comprehends the whole deliverance of Israel or people of God which was begun when the captive Jews were brought from Babylon and continues til Christ's second comming as if the Prophet had said When the Lord shall deliver his people it shall not be a short and moment any deliverance but this protection shall continue til he have avenged him of all the enemies of his Church As for the Name of the valley of Jehoshaphat there is no necessity to understand thereby the valley of blessing 2 Chro. 20.26 seeing that valley never hath this name in the Scripture neither is it possible that all the Nations of the world can conveen in that place but the name may rather be taken appellatively for the valley of God's judgement as the Hebrew word imports and the words following allude thereunto whereby the Prophet teacheth us to consider the etymologie of the Name and neverthelesse he would have us to consider the gracious deliverance of Jehoshaphat that he will as certainly deliver his people in all ages as he did Jehoshaphat And this is a more glorious trophee then if any one Nation were kept a thousand yeares in worldly prosperity Reply 1. My words doe shew that this prophecy of Joel cannot be meant of the time of Christ's Judging the dead when they shall be all called out of their graves as it is commonly expounded and that because it speakes of the gathering together of a great Army against the Jews but not after Christ's comming which opinion you falsely attribute to me although against his comming as the parallel prophecy Rev. 16. at the 12 13 14. ver doth shew for that Army is to be gathered into Armageddon in the time of the sixth vial and to be destroy'd at the powring out of the seventh vial by our Saviour and his Heavenly Host as the 15. ver of the same chap. and the latter part of the 19. chap. of the Rev. from ver the 11. c. doe plainly declare 2. That which you here begin with was the ground of the former part of your answer but on what ground I know not for I deny that this prophecy doth speake of a battle after Christ's comming albeit I doe affirme that our Saviour's comming shall be when this great Army is gathered together against the Jews as ready to destroy them And your shewing the coherence of this chapter with the precedent doth make more against you then you are aware of for it is remarkeable that you rightly conclude from hence that the Prophet shewes the contents which I have urged out of both being in the Hebrew all in one chapter to be at the same time And yet you say presently after that this same time is not any particular yeare or age but comprehends all the time from the Jews returne from Babylon to the second comming of Christ which is as if you had said This particular time is not a particular time but many particular times yea thousands of particular times This same time is not the same time but more then the same time yea as much more then the same time as is from the Jews returne from Babylon to this same time For the text in the originall points emphatically to one particular time as the seperate pronounes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 subjoyn'd to their substantives with the praefix 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doe shew So that it is as if the Prophet had said In those selfe same dayes and in that very time in which I shall bring againe the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem I will also gather all Nations c. And besides how I pray can the signes that are to be shewed more often then any man knows or in any part of so large a time as you speake of all which your exposition grants foreshew the neernesse of the terrible Day of the Lord which yet is the onely end of the wonders that Joel saith shall be shewed in the Heavens and in the earth at that time For our Saviour Mat. 24. Luk 21. speaks of the same darkening of the Sun and Moone that the Prophet doth and if his word may be taken these signes shall as infallibly shew the neere approach of his second comming as the shooting forth of the leaves of the figgtree doth shew that the summer is nigh at hand And thus the emphasis of the Hebrew text and our Saviour's intimation of the true extent of the time betwixt these signes and his appearing the accomplishment of which signes you confesse to be at the time of the deliverance which the Prophet foretels doth both discover how notoriously false your exposition of the same time is And therefore the sense which you by this means would thrust upon the prophet must needs be your owne likewise and not the Prophet's For the Prophet speakes here but of one Army and the parallel prophecy Rev. 16. speakes but of one Army and Ezek. who foreshewes the same battle speakes but of one Army and they all say that the Iews onely are to be opposed by this Army and that a sudden destruction shall come on this Army and consequently the deliverance here spoken of is to be short and sudden and the people to be delivered by it are the Jews And so here is nothing at all touching God's special protection of his Church in all ages or of many deliverances but here is an extraordinary Judgement foreshewing the dreadfull overthrow and downefall of all the enemies of the Jews and the then faithfull Christians And as concerning the place where this Army is to be gathered together this is chiefely to be taken notice of that the prophecy speaking but of one Army it can be meant but of one place and that to be in the land of Judea whither the Nations shall come up against the Jews shortly upon their returne as the valley of Jehoshaphat here doth intimate and Ezek. doth plainly declare Neither is the doubt you bring about the possibility of so many Nations meeting together in one place of any consequence For it is not usuall for a people wholly to leave their owne countrey when they invade their enemies land for that were the ready way to lose their owne land and to starve themselves but to send forth such a strength as they may well raise and maintaine and
wealth then they themselves which would be a hard matter for you to prove And that you may not thinke you have any interest in it by reason of this prophecy you must know that the gathering together of the wealth spoken of in Zech. is against the time when the Lord shall descend and all the Saints with him Which being at the time of the victory there foretold shewes your application of this prophecy to the spirituall and corporal victories of the faithfull Gentiles to be a meere wresting of the Scriptures Israel's Redemption And if this be not to cry Peace peace when there is no peace If this be not to call evil good and good evil to put darkenesse for light and light for darkenesse bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter What is Mr Petrie's Answer This is a pitifull exclamation if it were true but exclamations are not alwaies victorious When we teach it shall be well unto the children of God and there is no peace unto the wicked and set your hearts on things above and not on things on earth is this to cry peace when there is no peace or to call good evil or is it not rather to put darkenes for light when spirituall promises are restrained to a temporal prosperity of a carnal people and when God teacheth faith by sense that because we cannot understand heavenly things til he insinuate them into our affections by pleasing and knowne things should we thinke that God hath no higher sense in these promises All the earth belongeth unto Christ and in the midst of Scythia some have liv'd happily even more happily then many have done in Judea The promises then are not tied to Judea but belong unto all them who are mentioned Joh. 11.51 he prophecied that Jesus should die for that Nation and not for that Nation onely but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad that is through the world as the same Apostle expones himselfe 1 Joh. 2.2 But it may be that this exclamation was made against the conjecture of Cornelius a Lapide then he should distinguish the persons Reply Having spent your store and your stomack so vainly that any one may perceive your wilfull mistake you are forc't in the close to shift it off with this pitifull excuse but it may be that this exclamation was mape against the conjecture of Cornelius à Lapide then he should distinguish the persons How it may be and he should distinguish the persons Surely there is no other Commentatour spoken of and almost a whole page is spent to shew that he is out in his exposition of the Prophecies of Zech. which I have rehearst and so contrary to the true meaning of the Prophecie which I have alledg'd out of Zeph. that he interprets the pouring out of Gods fierce anger on the Nations of his great mercy in sending the Gospel to be preach't unto them upon which groundlesse exposition I have inferr'd the words you are so much offended with And it may be you had more reason to be so then you will be knowne of however in stead of confirming that exposition which perhaps you may too much favour you take occasion to tell us how conscionably you dispence the word of God And may we believe you what made you then so scornfully to call that remnant of the Jewes whose temporall prosperity the Prophets have so frequently foretold a carnall people when as God himselfe saith of them I will bring it health and cure and I will cure them and I will reveale unto them abundance of peace and truth and againe I will put my feare into their hearts that they shall not depart from me and the remnant of Israel shall not doe iniquity nor speake lies c. Yea the regeneration of their persons is almost as often foretold as the restauration of their Land their deliverance from captivity or their Lord-ship over other Nations And when you call them carnall whom God so oft calls spirituall yea spirituall in a farre greater measure then we Gentiles are doe you not put evill for good darknesse for light and bitter for sweet And to what purpose doe you tell us that some have liv'd more happily in the midst of Scythia then many have done in Judea Doth this prove that these Prophecies shall not be historically fulfill'd or that when they are fulfill'd the Jewes shall not live so happily in Judea as the Nations shall in other Countries And it is to as much purpose that you tell us out of the 11. ch of John at the 31. ver that Caiaphas prophecied that Christ should die for the Jewes and not for them onely but that he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad through the world for doth any one deny this or doth this prove that the Prophecies touching the Jewes are not to be understood of the Jewes doubtlesse it doth rather prove that they can be no otherwise understood seeing the Jewes cannot be made partakers of the benefits of Christs death till they be call'd out of the darknesse of unbeliefe in which they have liv'd so many hundred yeares into the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ by the effectuall working of Gods Spirit in them as the Prophets have said Israel's Redemption But enough of the perplexity which shall happen to other Nations when the Jewes returne Now againe of their returne and of the prosperity which shall then happen to themselves And it shall come to passe in that day saith Isa chap. 11. ver 11. c. that the Lord shall set his hand againe the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left from Assyria and from Egypt and from Paphros and from Cush and from Elam and from Shinar and from Hamath and from the Islands of the Sea and he shall set up an Ensigne for the Nations and shall assemble the out-casts of Israel and f Isa 49. ver 12.25 ch 30. uer 18 19. chap. 62. ver 10 11 12. Ezek. 20. ver 32 33 34. c. gather together the dispersed of Judah from the foure corners of the Earth the envy of Ephraim shall depart and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off Ephraim shall not envy Judah and Judah shall not vexe Ephraim and the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian Sea and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river and shall smite it in the seven streames and make men goe over dry-shod and there shall be an high-way for the rennant of his people which shall be left from Assyria g Mic. 7. ver 15. c. like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt You see here that the Prophet speakes plainly of a miraculous recovery of Gods people of the recovery I say of Judah not from Bâ—bylon but from the foure h Jer. 16.
understood 3. The 25. ver may be more easily understood in the spiritual then earthly sense to wit the land that I have given unto Jacob and they shall dwel therein for ever and my servant shall be their Prince for ever for that land was not given unto Jacob neither doe the Millenaries say that the Jews shall dwel for ever in Jerusalem but for a 1000 yeares and then Christ's Kingdom shall cease But expone that one word land typically for the thing typified thereby and all the other words goe currently even to the end of the chap. as we see the Apostle expones the 27. ver of the Corinthians as a part of these people 2. Cor. 6.16 Now seeing certainly Christ is the King and Shepherd and the people are the Jewes and Gentiles who were strangely divided but now are one Church by faith in Christ therefore the people of Israel and Ephraim who after the division were alwaies idolatrous may well be exponed typically for the Gentiles and so the union is easily understood which otherwise very hardly or scarcely can be conceived seeing now through many ages Ephraimites are not knowne in any part of the earth As for that text of Hosea it is exponed of the Gentiles Rom. 9.25.26 and therefore the Prophet changeth the word Israel into Jezreel that is the seed of God signifying that the time wherein the Lord shall gather his seed or the faithfull in all Nations from the bondage of the Devil shall be very great and wonderful to all the world Reply 1. Surely your further clearing is no other then a further clouding as the very reading of this prophecy and that which our Saviour hath said Joh. 10. ver 14 and 16. is of it selfe sufficient to discover For Ezek. speaks of uniting the Jews together under one King in their owne land and our Saviour speaks of uniting the Jews and Gentiles into one Church after a certaine number of elect Gentiles should be cald Other sheepe saith he I have which are not of this fold that is other elect servants which are not of this Nation them also I must bring and there shall be one fold and one Shepherd Where it is to be noted by the words them also I must bring that he speaks onely of such elect Gentiles as were to be cald before the Jews and Gentiles should make one sheepfold and not after they were one sheepfold For when they are all brought then it is that there shall be one sheepfold and not while they are bringing No the words of our Saviour Mat. 21. at the 43. ver will not admit of such a meaning for The Kingdom of God saith he shall be taken from you and given to a Nation bringing forth the fruit thereof Whereby it is evident that the Other sheepe he speaks of in the 10 chap. of St. Iohn should be brought to the faith when the Nation of the Iewes should be deprived of the meanes of salvation and consequently when it could not possibly be one Church And therefore in saying that the Iewes and Gentiles are at this time one sheepfold you contradict our Saviour and affirme that the Iewes are now saved without the ordinary meanes of salvation For this they have not but shall have it when the time comes in which the Jews and Gentiles shall be one sheepfold And then also the Jews shall be one Kingdom agane in their owne land and Christ shall reigne over both Jews and Gentiles together And thus our Saviour's words doe neither expound Ezek. prophecy nor shew that the Jews and Gentiles are now one sheepfold But rather point out the time when Ezek. prophecy shal be fulfilled to wit when the Jews and Gentiles shal be one fold under one Shepheard So much have you mist your aime in alledging these propheticall words of Christ 2. The words David King and Shepheard will no more prove that the temporal prophecies or temporal part of the prophecies in which they are used are to be spiritually and figuratively understood then Gods words to David Thou shalt feed my people Israel 2 Sam. 5. ver 2. will prove that David's Kingdom was not a temporal Kingdom nor he a temporal King Or then David's owne words of his people But these sheep what have they done will prove that the whole Kingdom of the Jews were all faithfull persons 3. Being conscious that all which you have said before to make men take these prophecies in a mysticall sense will nought availe you if the word land in the prophecies should be properly understood of the land of Canaan you now endeavour to perswade them to take this figuratively also and your first reason to induce them to it is like to that by which Jereboam dissuaded the Israelites from going up to Jerusalem because it may be more easily understood you say in the spiritual then an earthly sense But what is that spiritual sense which may so easily be understood and yet was so hard to be described that you could not tell us what it was But sure I am that God hath told us by the Prophet what land he minds to joyne the Tribes together in even in their owne land ver 21. in the land upon the mountaines of Israel ver 22. in the land that he gave unto Jacob his servant ver 25. which circumstances doe infallibly manifest that it can be meant of no otherland or place but Judea And therefore the second reason you bring to shew that it is best to take the word land spiritually is both false and impious For that land you say was not given to Jacob. No did not God say to Jacob in a dreame The land whereon thou liest to thee will I give it and to thy seed c. Gen. 28.13 and hath he not said here in this prophecy the land that I gave unto Jacob my servant no marvel thâ—n that you can so lightly reject all the plaine texts of Scripture that speake for us when as you dare thus affront God himselfe and tell him to his face that he did not doe that which he saith he did doe Neither will the words for ever in the text any whit excuse you seeing the Lord saith plainly that he gave That land to Jacob of which he saith that they and their children and their childrens children should dwell in it for ever And yet the very next words wherein your Fathers have dwelt doe put it out of doubt that it is meant of Judea and consequently the dwelling of their childrens children in it for ever is to be understood of their dwelling in it successively and the word for ever is to be taken finitely for a long time to wit as long as men shall succeed each other on the Earth as it is in many other places of Scripture and not infinitely for time without end And whereas you say that St. Paul in the 2 Cor. 6.16 expounds the 27. verse of this Prophecie of the Corinthians as a part of the People
these words And contrarily unto this rule the Jewes and others expone the descriptions and prophesies of the glory and power of Christ and his Church after an earthly manner and so straying from the true meaning they transforme his spiritual Kingdom into an earthly and temporary which as it is ungodly so it is repugnant unto Scripture testifying plainly that his Church is all glorious within and not of this world and therfore these comparisons that are taken from earthly Kingdomes must be understood figuratively and in a spiritual sense at least it must be diligently observed what portion of every passage is to be understood properly and what figuratively seeing many times that which is spoken figuratively is exponed by the words preceding or following and all figurative speeches have some tokens of the use unto which they are directed or another text may be found where the fame matter is more clearely handled These general rules being premitted it shall be easier to expone all the promises of Christ's Kingdom and especially that text Amos 9.15 They shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them faith the Lord thy God For these words may be cleared by the words Jer. 4.1 If thou wilt put away thy abominations out of my fight then thou shalt not remove Where we have the same promise but expressed with a condition and it is usual in the Scriptures that earthly promises are expressed sometimes with a condition and sometimes without it but alwaies are understood conditionally 2. By the acceptions of the word land which as it is not alwaies exponed of the earth so sometimes it is put for the grave as Iob 10. verse 21. The land of darknesse and shadow of death And for Heaven Psa 27.13 I had fainted unlesse I had beleeved to see the goodnesse of the Lord in the land of the living And especially that land was a type of the Kingdom of Christ as it is said in the first rule and of the true inheritance of the Saints and true gift of God Deut. 4.1.38 And so whether the word land be taken properly or typically the promise is manifestly true both before and after the comming of Christ to suffer for they were brought againe into their land and they who were brought were not pulled out of their land and they are planted in their true land whence they shall no more be pulled out and hereby the large note on the margine of Page 9. is frustrate◠Answer Let this rule then which is a compound of several rules laid downe by others for the right interpreting of the Scriptures decide the matter in controversie betwixt us And doe not say but shew that the proper expositiō of the prophesies which cōcerne our Saviouts and the Saints visible reigne on earth the conversion deliverance and establishment of the Jewes in their owne land the destruction of their opposers and subjection of all other Nations unto them in a word which reveale unto us the chiefest events and alterations that shall come to passe over the whole world til the world it selfe shall passe away doth teach things contrary to the analogy of faith to honesty of manners to other cleare texts things frivolous and not belonging to godlinesse For surely if our proper exposition of these predictions doth teach ought of all this we may well be accounted for publishers of a new Gospel but if it doth teach nought of this you your selfe are worthy to be accounted but a partial preacher of the Gospel a preacher but of a part of the Counsell of God tel us therfore what article of faith or plaine text of Scripture or moral duty is destroy'd or oppugned by the beliefe of our Saviours coming with the Saints to reigne on earth or of the Jewes conversion and returne or of the calling of all Nations to the faith of Christ and the knowledge of God And tel us too whether the knowledge of these things be a frivolous and unnecessary knowledge or a knowledge not belonging unto godlinesse Certainly we cannot conceive how the personal reigne of Christ on earth should any way abridge 〈◊〉 weaken his spiritual power or abbreviate his Kingdom or that his Church should be lesse glorious when he comes into the world unto it then it hath been since he departed out of the world or can be as long as he is absent from it And we know that by our proper exposition of these prophecies we doe make a just distribution of the word of God that we give unto the Jew whatsoever belongs unto the Jew and to the Gentile whatsoever belongs unto the Gentile whereas you by your proper interpretation of the prophecies which concerne the Gentiles and your figurative exposition of the prophecies which concerne the Jewes doe keepe your owne things to your selfe and make the mercies prepared for others to be common mercies yea to be as much or more yours then theirs And as you hereby impose a figurative sense upon the spiritual part of the promises made unto the Jewes so you impose a double figurative sense upon the temporal part of the promises made unto them For first you interpret those outward and earthly promises as you call them of spiritual blessinges too and being so interpreted you understand them of the Gentiles as wel or rather then of the Jewes And thus you make figurative speeches where you finde none and may indeed as easily make a figurative speech of any speech as thus interpret these prophecies But it is not the figurative and metaphorical expression of a prophecy that doth make the prophecy to carry a figurative sense for both temporal and spiritual promises may be figuratively and metaphorically exprest but yet they are not to be figuratively understood that is prophecies of temporal things however exprest are not to be understood of spiritual blessings neither are prophecies of spiritual or temporal things whether figuratively or properly exprest to be understood of any besides those of whom they are plainly prophecied In a word prophecies however exprest are to be understood of what they speake where they speake of temporal things they are to be understood onely of temporal things and where they speake of spiritual things they are to be understood onely of spiritual things And of whom they speake where they speak plainly of Christ they are to be understood of Christ onely and where they sptake plainly of the Jewes they are to be understood of the Jewes onely and where they speake plainly of the Gentiles they are to be understood of the Gentiles onely and where they speake generally and indifferently of both they are to be understood of both And in like manner where they speake plainly of Canaan and Jerusalem or Sion they are to be understood of them onely Thus much for your rules which whosoever shall embrace he will doubtlesse be no better friend to the truth we hold then you your selfe are that which follows is your explication
that is fallen and close up the breaches thereof and I will raise up his ruines as in the dayes of old that they may possesse the remnant of Edom and of all the heathen that are called by my Name saith the Lord that doth this I will bring againe the captivity of my people Israel and they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them and they shall plant vineyards and drinke the wine thereof they shall also make gardens and eate the fruit of them and I will plant them upon their land and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them saith the Lord God Now although this prophecy tooke no effect on the ten Tribes at their transplantation began by p 1 Chro. 5.6 2 King 15.29 ch 16. 9. Tiglah Pileser King of Assyria and ended by q 2. King 17.5.6.24 ch 18.58 Shalmaneser his successour who also brought up strange Nations and placed them in their stead which people were from Samaria the ancient metropolis of that Province called r Ioh. 4.9 Samaritans yet who is able to maintaine that it was fulfilled on the other two for not the house of Joseph nor the house of Judah onely but the house of Jacob wholly is here spoken of And why else is the Tabernacle of David afterwards exprest as a prime agent in the restauration if it were not before included as a succeeding patient in the dispersion of Israel who then I say is able to maintaine that this prophecy was fulfill'd on Judah and Benjamin untill their overthrow by the Roman Emperour Vespasian ever since which time they also remaine forsaken scattered and despised captives yea who dares affirme it when God hath said that at their returne from this universal captivity he will so plant them in their land that they shall no * The usual answer of a conditionall promise will take no hold on this or the like places of Scripture For as God hath here past his word that he will no more pull them up out of their land so in the 32. chap. of Ier. at the 39 ver and 50. chap. at the 20. ver in the 36. of Ezâ—k at the 27. ver in the 37. chap. at the 23. ver in the 39. chap. at the 7. ver and in the 3. chap. of Zeph. at the 13. ver all which prophecies doe iâ— the times of their sulfilling concurre with this he hath likewise promised To give them one way and one heart that they may feare him for ever Never to turne away from them to doe them good but to put his feare into their hearts that they shall not depart from him That the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for and there shall be none and the finnes of Iudah and they shall not be found That he will put his spirit within them and cause then to walke in his statutes and to keepe his judgements and doe them That they shall defile themselves no more with their idoles nor with their detestable things nor with any 〈◊〉 their transgressions That he will make his holy Name known in the midst of his people Israel and will not let them pollute his holy Name any more And that the remnant of Israâ—â— shall not doe iniquity nor speakelies neither shall a deceitfull tongue be found in their mouth And therefore God having thus equally ingaged himselfe as well to keepe the Iewes from sin as to free them from bondage it is as impossible that the accomplishmeâ—â— of this propheey should be frustrated and the fruition of these blessings forfeited for waâ—â— of obedience as that God should either forget or not regard or be unable to fulfill his word and consequently the appointed time for the finishing of such prophecies is yet 〈◊〉 be expected more be pulled up out of it which yet should not be true if it had been spoken of any deliverance before our Saviours comming to suffer Mr. Petrie's Answer It is a like ground for such a Kingdom 1. How can it be denied that the house of Judah was destroyd when their Kings and people wen caried out of the land 2. How can the Tabernacle of David be calleâ— a prime agent in the restauration it is said I will raise up the Tabernacle of David and not the Tabernacle of David shall raise up it is 〈◊〉 patient and not an agent And none denieth that it is included in the dispersion of Israel and therefore that part of the prophecy was fulfilled even before the overthrow by the Roman Emperour and so before the overthrow was restored againe and afterwards also were they scattered But that promise of restauration is not of the house of Judah but 〈◊〉 the people of Israel verse 14. and who these be wee have a sufficient interpreter Act. 15.16 where the Apostle Iames expones these word of the enlarging Christ's Kingdom by the calling of the Gentiles which was begun at that time by the preaching of the Apostle and Râ—â— Stephanus in his notes on this text of Amos saith Almost all the Hebrews doe consent That this is meant of the time of Messias and especially of the calling of the Gentiles and by bodily houses and benefits the Prophet understands spirituall and these who are begotten unto this lively hope are kept most safely through faith unto salvation 1 Pet. 1.5 so that the gates of Hell shall not prevaile against them Mat. 16.18 Whereas it is asked who dares affirme it Zacharias hath not spared to affirme it Luke 1.68 saying Blessed be the Lord God of Israel for he hath visited and redeemed his people and hath raised up an horne of salvation in the house of David his servant as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets c. Dare any Millenarian contradict this testimony Reply 1 This prophecy of Amos speakes of a deliverance of the Jews out of a captivity after which they should no more be pulled up out of their land And therefore cannot be meant of the returne of Judah and Benjamin from Babylon since which they have fallen into a greater captivity then that was but of their returne from the captivity they are now in This you saw to be the necessary consequence of the proper sense of the prophecy and therefore you wrest that part of it which concernes the deliverance of the Jewes to another meaning But first you cavill and aske how it can be denied that the house of Judah was destroied when their Kings and people were carried out of their land Surely that they were in a sad condition it cannot be denied but that they were destroyed it may for how else could they have return'd yet this thing too Haman sought to bring to passe on the Jewes in his time and you know how well he and his adherents sped in the device But what of all this who denies that they were carried captives into Babylon I say onely that this prophecy was not fulfill'd in Judah's captivity there but in
the Prophet here calls for their men of war and their mighty men but not for all the men of these Nations much lesse for all the people of these Nations and who knows not that many hundred thousands may against the time of a battle be drawne together within the space of a few miles and at once to overthrow so mighty an Army as the Prophets speake of and thereupon to make all that are left of the Nations willingly to submit themselves as tributaries to the Jews and to settle not onely one Nation but the whole world in a godly peace and prosperity for a thousand yeares after will doubtlesse set forth the Justice mercy and power of God in a more glorious and wonderfull manner then all the victories of Christians or Protestants put together can doe Yea it will even abolish the memory of all the miraculous victories and benefits which God hath wrought for the Jews themselves since the time that they grew up into a Nation And yet you feare not to say that this generall and extraordinary deliverance and exemption from future calamities will not so much declare Gods glory as their particular deliverances in former ages doe Israel's Redemption Now how can wee forsake the literal interpretation of these prophecies if we doe but consider that the Jews are here distinguished from all other Nations of which we Gentiles who are now converted were then a part and are by this name in the writings of the Evangelists and Apostles still distingushed from them If we consider what grosse absurdities would follow from the tropical construction of these or the like propheticall revelations wherein the event of things is so plainly and distinctly attributed to the Jews who I am sure did never since the prophets dayes returne from any captivity with such an high hand and with such a wonderfull victory over their enemies as is here foretold And as for the Church that now is let the lamentable experience of all ages witnesse whether she hath not been more often crown'd with Martyrdom then victory whether the blood-thirsty Mahometan hath not gotten much ground upon her Yea whether He who claimes to be her Head hath not and doth not most of all waste and devoure her According as it is written of him in the 13. of the Rev. at the 11. ver And therefore these prophecies can have no relation to the times of the Gentiles nor so much to the time of the Maccabees as Cornelious a Lapide endeavours to make these of Zechariah to have for neither were their enemies smitten with such plagues nor brought into such subjection as is here foretold neither was the house of David then so highly exalted as is here promised and Judas and his brethren who did then beare the chiefest sway were not of the Tribe of Judah but of Levi neither was the wealth of all the Heathen round about then gathered together neither did the Lord then e Zech. 14.5 descend and all the Saints with him Unlesse we will say as our Commentatour doth that this was fulfilled when the five comely men upon horses appeared unto the enemies from Heaven as 't is in the 2. of the Maccab. the 10. chap. at the 29. and 30. ver Which apparition doth as well expound these words as he doth that other prophecy of Zephaniah by which he would have us to understand God's calling the Gentiles to repentance by the preaching of the Gospel when as the text saith plainly that God's determination is to gather the Nations and to assemble the Kingdoms that he may powre upon them his indignation even all his ee Lam. 4.11 fierce anger Mr Petrie's Answer 1. We forsake not the literal interpretation of these prophecies for that is the literall interpretation which is principally intended whether it be proper or figurative but we forsake that restricted interpretation as onely belonging to a temporall Monarchy of the Jews 2. The Jews are not to be understood in these promises in way of opposition to all Nations for then all other men without exception shall be consumed in the valley of Jehoshaphat but the Jews and Israel are to be exponed of the elect people of God according to the fift rule mentioned before and the Gentiles are all the enemies of the Church And the faithfull are called Jews not onely typically but likewise for the speciall comfort of the Jews because they were hated of all Nations every where which might have been unto them occasion of despaire and therefore the Lord saith unto them to this purpose How many or great soever your enemies shall be I will judge them And for the same are the Jews oft named in the promises of the new Testament to shew their particular interest in the Kirke of Christ notwithstanding their unworthinesse and contempt of the Gospel at the first preaching thereof Now if the prophecies be exponed this way as they must be of beleevers whether Jews or Gentiles and their enemies whatsoever the enemies of the faith in any age none of these absurdities shall follow which are rehearsed here as in a catalogue Reply 1. You doe not onely forsake the literal sense which as it is opposed to a figurative is alwayes meant of a proper sense and is by Divines commonly used for this where no other sense is mentioned but in forsaking this sense you forsake also the sense principally intended in these prophecies And that it is not a restricted interpretation which understands prophecies onely of what and of whom they speake but that is a loose and licentious interpretation which understands them of what and of whom they speake not 2. The onely reason that you bring to prove that in these prophecies the Jews are not to be taken by way of opposition to all other Nations is because then without exception all other men should be consum'd in the valley of Jehoshaphat But though God saith in the prophecy I will gather all Nations c. yet he saith not I will gather all of all Nations and consequently it is to be understood onely of some of every one of these Nations and not of all the men of all these Nations as the words in the 9. ver of the same chap. and the parallell prophecy of Ezek. chap. 38. doe shew And some few of these also are to escape as we may see Isa 66. ver 19 20. And so we have no need to seeke out a figurative sense to solve this argument although it be your chiefest drift to make us doe it And therefore had rather take paines to obscure what is plainly delivered then to open what is doubtfully spoken as by your words following we may perceive For if these prophecies say you be expounded of beleevers whether Jews or Gentiles then none of these absurdities shall follow which are here rehearst and so you take them in this figurative sense without any other warrant for it but your sic volo or so it must be for
knowne every where even as sensibly as when be brought Israel out of Egypt Reply 1. In this first part of your answer you say that whereas there had been contentions twixt the Tribes one against another and both against the Gentiles and the Gentiles against them both under Christ shall be an end of that malice All which is very true and here the Reader may see you at once confesse all that we affirme for you take Ephraim and Judah properly and affirme that they are againe to be united under Christ and not onely one with another but with the Gentiles too all malice being laid aside And is not this to say with us that it is not yet fulfill'd for can you prove that the twelve Tribes are already converted and united or that all malice is at an end twixt Jewes and Gentiles certainly you cannot and what need we then any further witnesse for habemus confitentem reum your owne mouth hath condemned you and quitted us 2. This part of your answer hath no relation to the objection but is a quarrell against us for omitting the 14. ver in the citation of this Prophecie which we did you say because we saw that it could not be verified of the peaceable Kingdome which wee imagine But this Kingdome is plainly held out unto all in the word of God and is not the fruit of our imagination which is nothing worth but as it is enlightned from hence And though the 14. ver will not consist with the peace of this Kingdome yet it will very well consist with the returne of the Iewes before this Kingdome who in their passage to their Land may have many particular victories over their Enemies as well in this returne as in that out of Egypt onely and this is all that the 14. ver doth shew with which the verses preceding and following speaking onely of their returne and alledgd to shew their returne doe better agree then with the Apostles preaching of the Gospel to severall Nations whereof there is not a word spoken in this verse nor in any other that I have alledg'd and seeing you have interpreted Judah and Ephraim in the 13. ver of the Iewes in opposition to the Gentiles hâ—â— could you expound the 14. verse where the same persons are meant of the Apostles or understand by their spoyling them of the East the preaching of the Gospel 3. That the tongue of the Egyptian sea shall be utterly destroyed and the river give a passage to the Iewes as Iordan did in time past is the expresse word of God in this chapter and is the hand of the Lord shortned thinke you that he cannot doe such Miracles now as he did heretofore or is his mind changed that he will not doe what he hath said or hath he forgotten what he spake by the Prophets so long agoe I know you dare not affirme ought of this and yet surely some such impious thought doth seeme to be the best ground that you have for the strange metamorphosis that you make of this Prophecie by your mysticall application of it For what kind of Miracle say you shall that be shall the Jewes who are scattered into all corners of the Earth have a dry passage through every river and the Egyptian or Red-sea be dryed up But you forget your selfe for the text saith River not Rivers and the the River is in the Scripture by way of excellency put for Euphrates and yet admit it were in the Text as you say it were but the reiteration of the same Miracle and cannot God as well make all rivers yield them a drie passage as any one river hath he power to doe it once and hath he not power to doe it againe yea as oft as he pleaseth or can he not doe greater Miracles then any here foretold or then any that he hath hitherto done Why then should your Faith straine thus at a gnat at the drying up of a river or the destroying of the tongue of the Egyptian Sea when as it can so easily swallow a Camel in destroying the plaine history of Gods word by incredible allegories and incongruous interpretations Israel's Redemption Such another Prophecie is that of Ezek. in his 37. chap. at the 19. ver Thus saith the Lord God I will take the stick of Joseph which is in the hand of Ephraim and the Tribes of Israel his fellowes and will put them with him even with the stick of Judah and make them one stick in my hand and at the 21. ver Behold I will take the children of Israel from among the Heathen whither they be gone and will gather them on every side and will bring them into their own Land and I will make them one Nation in the Land upon the Mountaines of Israel and one King shall be King to them all and they shall be no more two Nations neither shall they be divided into two Kingdomes any more at all neither shall they defile themselves any more with their Idols nor with their detestable things nor with any of their transgressions but I will fave them out of all their dwelling places wherein they have sinned and will cleanse them for they shall be my people and I will be their God And in Hosea 1. ver 10. Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea which cannot be measured nor numbred and it shall come to passe that in the place where it was said unto them Ye are not my people there it shall be said Ye k Ier 24. v. 6 7. c. 32. ver 37.38 Zech. 13. ver 9. are the Sons of the living God Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together and appoint themselves one Head and they shall come up out of the land for great shall be the Day of Jezreel In both which Prophecies the Lord hath promised that the Jews shall againe live under one King onely as they had done before the division of the Tribeâ— and that in their owne land too which hath not been yet performed and therefore the time of these Prophecies is yet to come Mr Petrie's Answer 1. The like Prophecy is likewise exponed but for further clearing of these I add That of Ezek. 37. is exponed by Christ Joh. 10.14.16 I am the good Shepherd and know my sheepe and other sheepe I have which are not of this fold them also I must bring and they shall heare my voice and there shall be one fold and one Shepherd Where you see that Christ is the Shepherd and by consequence the King too unlesse they will understand the 24. ver of Ezek. 37. of two different persons and the people over whom he reigneth are his sheepe not onely of the Jews but of another fold whom Christ bringeth into the same fold that is into the same Church 2. The same words speaking of Christ and calling him David and King and Shepherd shew that they must be spiritually
of the Israelites as he pleased Israel's Redemption And besides how can that belong to the Gentiles which was prophecied onely of the Jewes as is declar'd by the Prophets wife of whoredomes and children of whoredomes which he tooke of purpose to upbraid the Idol-worship and spirituall whoredomes of the Israelites ver 2 and therefore when she conceived and bare him the second sonne Call his name said God Loammi for ye are not my people and I will not be your God the Israelites then they were to whom this Prophet was sent and of whom it was said Ye are not my people Mr. Petrie's Answer It was not prophecied of the Jews onely for it is plaine that Hosea speakes of the Israelites as well vs of the Jews and generally the Apostle speaks Rom. 10.12 there is no difference between the Jew and the Greeke for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him So that albeit the Prophet was sent personally unto the Israelites yet his words were no lesse true and meaned of the Gentiles who then were not the people of God but now through Christ are the people of God for whosoever shall call upon the Name of God shall be saved Reply I have here cal'd the ten Tribes Jews in opposition to the Gentiles and you say that this was not prophecied of the Jews onely for it is plaine that Hosea speaks of the Israelites as well as of the Jews A wild exception for are not these Israelites Jews certainly Israelites and Jewes are the proper names of that Nation And though after the division of the Tribes Israel and Judah were often used to distinguish the two Tribes from the ten and the ten from the two yet the word Jews was never thus us'd For by this Name all the Tribes are cal'd in the History of Hester and in many other places and in that instance that you bring out of the Rom. chap. 10. ver 12. the word Jew is taken indifinitely for any Jew And wherefore it it that you urge these words of the Apostle doe you think that it proves the name Jew to be indifferently taken for a Jew or a Gentile surely these words shew that the beleeving Gentile is as acceptable to the Lord as the beleeving Jew and that there is nothing in the Jew which can move God to bestow grace on him father then on the Gentile as the following words conâ—â—â—me but they shew not that God takes a faithfull Jew for a faithfull Greeke nor a faithfull Greeke for a faithfull Jew And therefore you cannot conclude from hence that albeit the prophet was sent personally unto the Israelites yet his words were no lesse true and meaned of the Gentiles for though through Christ all beleevers are the people of God yet through Christ a beleever of one Nation is not made a beleever of another Nation though every one that confidently cals upon the name of the Lord shall be saved yet every one that cals on the name of the Lord shall not thereby become a Jew And how can you take Israelite for Gentiles who are of different Nations from them and yet will not take Israelites for Jews which is a Name belonging equally to all the Tribes But you herein condemne St Paul who sometimes calls himselfe a Jew and sometimes an Israelite and could he be both if these Names doe not equally belong to the same Nation Israel's Redemption And the place where they were told so was their owne land and therfore in that place it shall againe be said unto them Ye are the sonnes of the living God ver 10. And this Piscator grants to be the meaning of it here in the Prophet but withall he holds that it is applyed in the 9. of the Rom. to the conversion of the Gentiles because the Israelites being thus rejected of God were become like unto the Gentiles who until the preaching of the Gospel were not his people but notwithstanding this reason me thinkes it is very unlikely that the Apostle should borrow a prophecy from the Jews to prove Gods mercy towards the Gentiles which is in sundry places of the Scripture so properly and distinctly foreshewne as you may see by the authorities which are urged to this purpose in the l v. 19.20 10. and m v. 9.10 11.12 15. chap. of the same Epistle Mr Petrie's Answer 1. Where it is said ver 10. in that place ye may reade on the margine in stead of that it was said c. and therefore that word proves nothing 2. It is no lesse true that the Gentiles are the people of God even in the same lands where they did not serve God 3. This is no applying by way of similitude but accommodating as Piscator speaks to another particular that as the Israelites by Idolatrie became like unto the Gentiles so the Gentiles receiving the Gospel are Jews or the people of God And this exposition is not onely likely but very certaine seeing the Apostle expones these prophecies of God's mercy towards the Gentiles as you may see by the authorities which are urged to this purpose in the 10. and 15. chap. of the Epistle to the Rom. and elsewhere Reply 1. Arias Montanus renders the original Et erit in loco quo without any such marginall note at all And the Septuagint reads it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and it shall come to passe that in the place where c. And this expression agrees best with the scope of the Prophecie which foretells their returne againe to their owne Land in which it had been said unto them yee are not my people yea the Apostle too alledgeth these words agreeable to the translation in the text and in the latter part of the sentence relates to them with an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 illic vocabuntur there they shall be call'd c. And therefore this proves so much that of force you must grant the accomplishment of the Prophecie in its proper sense 2. And what though the Gentiles are the people of God even in the same Lands where they did not serve God shall not therefore the Jewes be call'd againe the people of God in the same Land where once they forsooke God or shall this Prophecie be therefore understood of them to whom the Prophet was not sent to say as he did to the Israelites Ye are not my people 3. I thinke not that the Apostle did apply this Prophecie by way of similitude to the Gentiles and much lesse that he did accommodate it to them as to those of whom it was meant by the Holy Ghost For the Holy Ghost fore-shewes not the calling of the Gentiles under the name of the Israelites but in their own name And surely if it cannot be prov'd that the Apostle expounds these Prophecies of Gods mercy towards the Gentiles till the Authorities alledg'd in the 10. and 15. chap. of this Epistle to the Rom. doe shew it it will never be prov'd for those
texts not of the Jews onely but of the Christian Church and it may be easily understood that these have written according to their consciences and therefore if these be Judges this authour hath lost the cause Reply 1. Had not these prophecies been to the same purpose you might well have thought that I had had as little regard what sense I wrested the Scriptures to as you your selfe have And seeing they are all to the same purpose you had the lesse reason to quarrell at the number of them But it was a great eye-soare unto you to see such and so many witnesses together all maintaining the truth we hold and you oppose And because you could not reply unto them by any credible interpretation in your allegorical way you slide from them with no more nor weightier words then these but number prevaileth not in this case Surely it is a poore case that you who have laboured all this while to perswade the reader that we can bring no plaine proofes for what we say should now be affraid to let him heare what God hath said for us and what you could answer for your selfe But you saw very well that these prophecies were too cleare to be obscured with the vaile of a figurative sense and too eminent to be put on the roll of conditionall prophecies because many of them doe as well containe spiritual blessings as temporal blessings and there can be no doubt of their doing God's will to whom that Spirit and those graces are promised by which alone men are inabled to doe it And for a taste of what I have said take the prophecy of Jeremiah chap. 32. at the 37. ver Behold I will gather them out of all countries whither I have driven them in mine anger and in my sury and in great wrath and I will bring them againe unto this place and I will cause them to dwell safely Here is an outward and temporal promise And they shall be my people and I will be their God and I will give them one heart and one way that they may feare me for ever for the good of them and their children after them And I will make an everlasting Covenant with them that I will not turne away from them to doe them good but I will put my feare into their hearts that they shall not depart from me Here is an inward and spiritual promise after which it follows yea I will rejoyce over them to doe them good and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soule For thus saith the Lord like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised c. And the like prophecy is in the 33. chap. of Jer. at the 6. ver c. and in the 36. chap. of Ezek. at the 24. ver c. and in the 39. chap. at the 25. ver c. And in the 36. chap. at the 8. ver this prophecy is made to the Mountaines of Israel O yee mountaines of Israel ye shall shoot forth your branches and yeeld your fruit to my people of Israel for they are at hand to come for behold I am for you and I will turne unto you and ye shall be tilled and sowen and I will multiply men upon you all the house of Israel even all of it and the Cities shall be inhabited and the wastes shall be builded and I will multiply upon you man and beast and they shall increase and bring fruit and I will setle you after your old estates and I will doe better for you then at your beginning and ye shall know that I am the Lord. Yea I will cause men to walke upon you even my people Israel and they shall possesse thee and thou shalt be their inheritance and thou shalt no more benceforth bereave them of men c. Now as none of the former prophecies will beare the title of conditional prophecies so neither will this for the land it selfe could neither doe any thing for which God should make such a promise unto it nor for which he should refuse to fulfill unto it what he hath promised And I am perswaded that he who will deny that these prophecies are to be understood of the prosperity and happinesse of the Jews onely that will deny I say that they are properly and historically to be taken or that they are as yet to be fulfilled will not sticke to say any thing 2. If they affirme that these prophecies were partly though not onely accomplisht in the time of the plagues that I say their accomplishment did continue as well then as at other times they affirme that which is altogether inconsistent with the uninterrupted prosperity of these prophecies which shew that none of the people of whom they are spoken shall be left in captivity among the Heathen or be a prey any more to the Heathen but that they shall dwell safely in their owne land without feare and without sorrow And that they shall have such increase of cattle corne and other fruits of the earth that there shall come no more famine upon them And who seeth not by this that these prophecies cannot possibly belong to the troublesome and distressed state and condition of the Christian Church or to any other people but the Jews who alone live dispersed in captivity But you deny that the plagues spoken of in the Rev. were to be continued plagues you should then have shewed what intervalls of joy the Church hath had from the time that the Dragon began to persecute the woman which brought forth the man child And went to make warre with the remnant of her seed Rev. 12.13.17 For doubtlesse persecution hath bin a constant attendant on the servants of God ever fince the first preaching of the Gospel T is true indeed that the Gospel at the first made a great conquest on the Gentiles but how was it done surely not by the contentious hearts bloody hands of the Apostles and their successours but by a constant lifting up of their hearts and hands in prayer and by an undanted offering up of their lives in persecution And it is hard to say when all Christian Churches together have had rest from open persecution But grant that there had bin no such persecution at all in any Christian Kingdome unto this time yet doubtlesse that maxime of St. Paul in the 2 Tim. at the 12. ver Yea and all they that will live godly in Christ Iesus shall suffer persecution had stood firme and passed still for an undoubted truth For the servants of God might neverthelesse have bin mockt reviled hated and opprest albeit they had not bin haled to prisons tortures and death it self and yet let that Hell on earth the devillish Inquisition witnesse whether this also might not have bin effected in a more cruell barbarous manner in a secret then in an open persecution You
not at the first ver but this verse was quoted in the margent of your Bible in the 2 Cor. chap. 6. at the 18. ver and that was enough to make you say that the whole chap. of Jeremiah is meant of the Gentiles and yet the words in Jer. 31. at the 1. verse are not the same with those in the 2 Cor. chap. 6. verse 18. and what if they were what though that which is common to the faithfull in generall as that God should be their Father and their God and they his people Sonnes and daughters and the like be applied as well to the Gentiles as to the Jews it will not follow from hence that where God saith he will be a God to the Jews and they shall be his people he meanes in that place the Gentiles and not the Jews or the Jews and Gentiles both And much lesse will it follow that any thing which is prophecied as proper to the Jews in particular or as opposed to other Nations should yet be understood of other Nations For doubtlesse if such prophecies belong not to the Iews onely no promises can be so properly distinctly and plainly made to any Nation which can assure that Nation that they belong to it and to no other You say next that the prophecy Ier. 31. at the 31. verse is exponed in Heb. 8. ver 8. c. There indeed it is wholly repeated but expounded it is not unlesse the same prophecy doth expound it selfe which is to make it both the text and the comment such poore shifts are you put to whilst you had rather say any thing to winne the unstable or to hide the truth from the unlearned then acknowledge it for a truth And to whom did the Apostle alledge this prophecy but to the Jews of whom it was spoken by the Prophet and why did he alledge it to them but to shew that Christ Jesus was the Mediator of the new Covenant which God had promised to make with them and that the ordinances of the old Covenant were by his death become voyd and unprofitable that hereby he might at once establish the faith of the beleeving Jews and if it had been possible have moved the whole Nation at that time to embrace the Covenant of the Gospel of which this prophecy doth plainly witnesse they shall be one day partakers even the whole house of Israel and Judah together And as this prophecy cannot expound it selfe and is indeed so plaine that it needs no exposition so it doth no more expound the other prophecies which you say are the same with it as it is repeated by the Apostle then it doth as it is delivered by the Prophet And they being all to be accomplisht to the Jews at the same time at the restoring of their Kingdom this prophecy is as much expounded by the others as the others are by this if not more For whereas this containes spirituall benefits onely those Jer. 32. at the 37. ver c. chap. 33. at the 6. ver c. and chap. 50. at the 19. ver c. doe containe spirituall and temporal benefits both for they foreshew the Jews withall their returne unto and prosperity in their owne country and so declare both where and when the new Covenant shall be made with them It follows and that of Ezek. 34. at the 12 c. is exponed by our Saviour Iohn 10. ver 11.16 These words of our Saviour you have before alledged as an exposition of the prophecy Ezek. chap. 37. at the 19. ver c. because our Saviour prophecieth of uniting two sorts of people the Jews and Gentiles into one Church after the calling of the substituted Gentiles and the Prophet of uniting the Kingdoms of Judah and Israel which were one people into one Kingdom againe in their owne land And you will have our Saviour's words to expound this prophecy too because our Saviour and the Prophet doe use the same Metaphor to wit the word sheepe to expresse men by But the sheepe the Prophet speakes of are the scattered Jews and none else and the sheepe our Saviour spake of were the Jewes impli'd in the words of this fold and the substituted Gentiles exprest in the words other sheepe and all Nations together intimated in the words one fold for after the calling of the other sheepe the substituted Gentiles there shall be one fold and one shepheard that is one Church and Kingdome over all the world under one King to wit Christ Jesus and therefore when you can prove this prophecie in Ezekiel to be meant of Jewes and Christians and all other Nations you may have some colour to say that our Saviour's words Joh. the 10. doe expound it And that of chap. 39. is correspondent you say with the prophecies of Jeel c. And therefore it is not yet accomplished for I have shewed before that the prophecies cited out of Iâ—el are not to be fulfilled til the great and terrible Day of our Saviours comming to wit that in the 2 chap. at the neere approach of that Day And that in the 3. chap. partly immediately before and partly at the very time of Christ's descending and this prophecy of Ezek. doth so plainly declare the returne of the whole Nation of the Iewes to their owne land none excepted that you could neither prove it to be already fulfilled nor deny that it shall be fulfilled because God who hath promised so to powre out his Spirit upon them that he may no more hide his face from them hath therein promised both their conversion from sin and continuance in obedience And that of Zech. 10. at the 6. v. c. is one you say with Jer. 23. at the 6.8 v. you should have said at the 3. 4. v. But doth it prove that they are therefore fulfill'd already because they have one meaning because they were to be fulfill'd to the same people at the same time then you may say too that the Prophecies which concerne our Saviour's comming or the day of Judgement are already accomplished because they foreshew the same thing And thus it appeares by the three Prophecies which you have barely referr'd to three passages in the New-Testament whereof the first is mistaken the second the selfe-same Prophecie that is referred and the third neither spoken of in the Text to which it is referr'd nor of any affinity with it in the contents thereof by this I say it appeares that being unable to give a considerable answer to any of these Prophecies you had no other way to hold up your credit amongst your friends but by a subtle pretending that the greatest part of these Prophecies are exponed to their hands in the writings of the Apostles but whatsoever the rest may doe I presume the learned of your opinion will be ashamed of the few and meane instances which you have brought to make good your assertion for doubtlesse by such references with which you have answered these Prophecies you may shun
the force of any Argument and expound any text of Scripture as you list Now in the last place you taxe me for omitting the 12. and 13. ver in the testimony of Jer. chap. 33. and for overslipping likewise the 18. and 22. ver But not one of these verses was in that part of the chapter which I have cited and therefore they were neither overslipt nor purposely omitted as you have purposely omitted in the 12. verse these words againe in this place which is desolate without man and without beast and in the 13. verse these and in the places about Jerusalem shall the flocks passe againe under the hands of him that telleth them that so you might make way for your mysticall interpretation in the entrance whereof you doe so sawcily flour at the glory of Christs Kingdome saying what is this the glory of Christs Kingdome that sheep shall lie in his Cities certainly the chiefest glory of Christs Kingdome is that mercy and truth shall meet together and peace and righteousnesse kisse each other but yet the promised fertility and pleasantnesse of the Land of Canaan and the encrease and prosperity of man and beast upon it shall help set forth the glory thereof also seeing the glory of a Kingdome on earth doth as well consist in the abundance of outward and temporall blessings whereby the evills that would come through want and povert are prevented as in the abundance of inward and spirituall blessings whâ—reby the evills that would follow upon riches and plenty are avoided yea it is more glory for the servant of God to keep himselfe holy and righteous in the midst of prosperity and delight then when there is a scarcity of the creatures which conduce to the pleasure and welfare of his body And whereas you say further that the Lord understands here the spirituall sheep of Christ c. as he expoundeth it Ezek. 34. v. 31. Ye flock of my pasture are men I am your God You doe herein apparently bely God for although God doth in that chapter of Ezek. call the Jewes his sheep and his flock yet it doth not therefore follow that by flocks in this chap. of Jer. he understands men also yea the words which you have omitted doe cleerly shew that this word is here to be taken properly for why doth God say in the 12. verse Againe in this place which is desolate without man and without beast and in all the Cities thereof shall be an habitation of shepheards causing their flocks to lie downe but to shew that there should be againe an increase of men and of beasts in that land and what doth God meane when he saith in the 13. ver that in the Land of Benjamin and in the places about Jerusalem and in the Cities of Judah shall the flocks passe againe under the hands of him that telleth them Doth he meane that Ministers should tell their Congregations as Shepherds tell their flocks or rather that there should be againe both flocks and men to looke to them and to tell them as formerly they had done and so the concealing of these words doth plainly witnesse against you that you made the foresaid impious flourish against your owne Conscience And as you could not be ignorant that by flocks here cattell are meant and not men so you had no ground in the Text wherefore you should conceit that sheep shall lie in the Cities as the inserting of the words there even c. into the Text doth declare for the Lord saith In this place and in all the Cities thereof shall be an habitation of Shepherds causing their flocks to lie downe Whereby it is manifest that Shepherds shall dwell in the Cities but not that their flocks shall have their folds there but by the Cities where their feeding shall be and in that there shall then be Shepherds as well is the cities as in other places it shewes what a great increase of cattle shall then be and besides who knowes not that cattell may be driven into Cities to be sold there or for some other occasion and so may passe under the hands of him that telleth them in the cities themselves But suppose that these words in Jer. were mystically to be understood what would you gaine by it when 〈◊〉 is expressely said that for the Shepherds of these flocks shall be an habitation in this place that is in the Land of Judea and afterwards more particularly in the Cities of the Mountaines in the Cities of the Vale and in the Cities of the South and in the Land of Benjamin and in the places about Jerusalem and in the Cities of Judah doth not this prove that these faithfull Congregations if the Prophecie were to be mystically taken must needs be Inhabitants of Judea and not of other Countries And yet you can shew no reason wherefore we should take spirituall promises in these Prophecies for spirituall blessings and not temporall promises for temporall blessings and must we thinke neverthelesse that when God saith I will strengthen the house of Judah and will save the house of Joseph and I will bring them againe to place them and they shall bee as though I had not cast them off And I will cause you to dwell in the Cities and the wastes shall be builded and the desolate land shall be tilled whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by and they shall say This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden and the waste and desolate and ruined Cities are become fenced and inhabited And I will cause the showre to come downe in his season then shall be showres of blessing and the tree of the field shall yield her fruit and the Earth shall yield her increase and they shall be safe in their land and shall know that I am the Lord when I have broken the bands of their yoke and delivered them out of the hands of those that served themselves of them and they shall no more be a prey to the Heathen neither shâ—â— the beasts of the Land devoure them but they shall dwell safely and 〈◊〉 shall make them afraid Must we thinke I say that in these and such like promises God hath the same meaning as he hath where he saith I will cleanse them from their iniquitie whereby they have sinnes against me and I will pardon all their iniquities whereby they have sinned against me and whereby they have transgressed against me And is those dayes and in that time the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for and there shall be none and the sinnes of Judah and they shall not be found for I will pardon them whom I reserve I will sprinkle cleane water upon you and ye shall be cleane from all your filthinesse and from all your Idols will I cleanse you and I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walke in my Statutes and you shall keepe my judgements and doe them Hath God in those
become one bodie with the believing Gentiles doubtlesse he would not And therefore First I may say that these words who hath made both one are to be referr'd to the meriting cause or purchase of their union alreadie wrought on Christ's part by the shedding of his blood for them and not to the actuall accomplishing of this purchased union in them which was to be performed in the time fore-appointed by God for it For as in the 6. ver of this chapter where the Apostle saith likewise in the pretertense And hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus The words could not be meant de facto of the actuall possessing of these heavenly places by the Saints then on earth but de jure of their right unto them by Faith in Christ in like manner he might say that Christ had made the Jewes and Gentiles one by purchasing their union by paying the price of their reconciliation with God and amongst themselves although it were not to be fulfill'd by an actuall dispensation of it unto them untill the fulnesse both of the Jewes and Gentiles should come in as it is Rom. 11. ver 12.25 Or secondly I may say as you your selfe determine of the union betwixt the two people in your answer to my next words that the union the Apostle here speakes of is not to be understood of an actuall union betwixt the Jewes and Gentiles then living but of an actuall union betwixt the Church of the Gentiles then begun under the New Testament and the Church of the Jewes formerly gathered under the Old Testament both which were to make one new man that is that one glorified Assembly and mysticall bodie of Saints which shall come with Christ their head at his next appearing Whereas the union which wee treat of and which is fore-shew'd by the preceding Prophecies is to be of all Nations on earth in one visible Church And thirdly as I say not that all the Jewes but all the Tribes were concluded in unbeliefe so I denie not that the first fruits of the Jewes under the Gospel are joyned unto the Church of the Gentiles but I denie that this is such an uniting of the Jewes and Gentiles as the preceding Prophecies doe reveale or that it is any more an uniting of them into one Church then the calling of the believing Gentiles before Christs comming was an uniting of the Jewes and Gentiles into one Church and therefore I thus retort your following Argument against your selfe Who will denie that the believing Gentiles living amongst the Jewes before Christs comming yea before the foresaid Prophets dayes were members of the same bodie and Church universall whereof Abraham Jacob David and others were members also then therefore by this Argument even then the Jewes and Gentiles were one fold Israel's Redemption And as for those which were converted at the first preaching of the Gospel and at other times since they are but the first fruits and roote as I may say of the branches and lump which shall follow after them by a generall conversion and therefore the calling of these can no more be accounted a conversion of the Iewes then the calling of those Gentiles which were gathered to the Church before Christs nativitie can be taken for the conversion of the Gentiles who were as time hath shewne us but the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the forerunners and pledge as it were of all those Nations which were a long time after converted by the ministry of the Apostles and their successours Mr. Petrie's Answer These who were converted at the preaching of the Gospel howbeit they may be called the first fruits of the Gospel preached since the incarnation of Christ yet they cannot be called the first fruits of the sheepfold seeing the Patriarchs are the roote and members of the same bodie of Christ as they are expressely call'd Rom. 11.16 being conferred with ver 28. They are beloved for the Fathers sake Next there is a vast difference twixt the calling of the Gentiles under the Old Testament and the calling of the Jewes under the New for very few Gentiles were converted even nothing in comparison of the converted Jewes and albeit not so many 1000. have been converted as may be converted yet that is no impediment of the union twixt the two people which consists in the union of the Church under the Old and New Testament even albeit never a Jew were converted Reply In the first words of this answer you say with â—e that the Jewes which were converted at the preaching of the Gospel may be cal'd the first fruits of the Gospel but whereas you adde yet they cannot be callâ—d the first fruits of the sheepfold you speake of your owne howbeit in such a manner as if I had affirmed that they were the first fruits both of the Gospel and Sheepfold which had been a meere contradiction You say next that there is a vast difference betwixt the calling of the Gentiles under the Old Testament and the calling of the Jewes under the new because the Gentiles then converted were very few even nothing in comparison of the converted Jewes since the Gospel And suppose the Jewes were more yet seeing no one Tribe of the Jewes hath been converted since the incarnation of Christ as no one Nation of the Gentiles was before the incarnation why should these first fruits of the Jewes though more be taken for the conversion of the Jewes rather then those first fruits of the Gentiles though fewer be taken for the conversion of the Gentiles But yet it is but suppos'd by me and but said by you that the Jewes converted under the Gospel are more then the Gentiles converted under the Law were For most of the Jewes converted under the Gospel are mention'd in the Acts and besides the many Gentiles that became Proselytes in the flourishing and powerfull estate of the Jewes wee read Hester the 8. ver 17. that in the very time of their captivitie many of the people of the Land did Judaize as the originall hath it that is did turne to the Jewes Religion and these many must needs be a great multitude seeing the Land which Ahasuerus reigned over was divided into an hundred and seven and twenty Provinces in all which the Jewes inhabited as the Letters sent into these Provinces by Haman for their destruction and by Mordecai for their deliverance doe witnesse and it is not unlikely that as in all these Provinces the feare of the Jewes fell upon them so in all these Provinces some were converted unto them And in the very last dayes of the Jewish Church the multitude which came together to heare the Apostles speake with other tongues were partly Jewes and partly Proselytes Acts 2.10 And therefore doubtlesse the number of the converted Gentiles before Christs comming doth not come so much short of the number of the Jewes converted since Christs comming as you pretend yea for ought that you
the man that uttered this selfe-conceited query Whether doe they understand the differences betwixt Jewes and Christians pag. 1. This is one untruth to wit That I have granted that Christ hath executed his Kingly office The next is That I have said that he sits on a Throne in beaven as man which though it be in it selfe a truth for Christ himselfe saith of himselfe and am set downe with my Father in his Throne Rev. 3. ver 21. Yet it is not true that I have said these words for thus I have said that the place where he now sits is the Fathers Throne a Throne in which he hath no proper interest but as God These are your misreports of what I have idsa to which we may adde your affirming that it hath not been proved that the Prophets have spoken of a Kingdome on earth when as the Prophecies which I have alledged for it are so plame that you left them as one afraid to behold their evidence Now your contradictions follow for having also falsely affirmed that this Proposition Christ sits on a Throne in heaven as man is one thing about which we disagree you thus descant on it If these words as man be understood according to the Logicall acceptation it may be granted Thus farre you affirme that according to the Logicall acceptation Christ fits on a Throne in heaven as man and yet you subjoyne presently for what agreeth unto any man as man belongeth unto all men and indeed it belongeth not unto all men to sit on the throne of Majesty Whereby you deny that according to the Logicall acceptation Christ fits on a throne in heaven as man It so lowes and neverthelesse Christ sits at the right hand of the Father as God-Man or Mediatour Here likewise you affirme that Christ sits on a Throne in heaven as man though not onely as man but as God too and yet you immediately subjoyne and in this sense we deny this assertion to wit that Christ sits on a Throne in heaven as man as it seemes this Author takes it But surely this Author haâ—h not spoken the words and yet he will not deny that Christ doth sit there as man 〈◊〉 he should deny what Christ himselfe and the Apostles have said neither will he affirme that Christ sits there any otherwise then as God-man or Mediatâ—ur although his sitting doth properly belong unto him as man onely But you have said that Christ both sits and fits not there in a logicall acception and that be sits there as God-man and yet not as man Thus contrary are you to your selfe and withall as contrary to the truth in misapplying your distinction For whereas you say It may be granted that Christ sits on a throne in heaven as man if these words be understood according to the logicall acceptation of them it is notoriously false for the words as man in this sense doe imply somewhat essentially belonging unto man which cannot be affirmed of Christs sitting on a Throne in heaven to wit that it doth essentially belong unto his humane nature for then it should inseparately belong unto him and to all other men besides this then you should have deny'd and affirm'd onely that he sits there as such a man as Mediatour But you out of your great skill in Logique in which you will allow me no insight have first affirmed both members of your distinction and presently deny'd both such a subtile or rather simple discourse have you extracted out of your logicall principle And that the Reader may see how unseasonable and unreasonable you have alledged this Philosophicall rule as well as the Propheticall and Apostolicall writings and revelations he must know that this maxime what agreeth unto any man as man belongeth unto all men is generally true onely of meere man in opposition to other creatures and not of our Saviour who is both God and man and so as well distinguisht by his humane properties from his divine nature and by his essentiall attributes from other creatures as by his mediatory offices from other men Wherefore it followes not that what belongs unto Christ as man belongs unto all men because we usually say that all that belongs to Christ as man which belongs not to him as God which appertaines to his humane and not unto his divine nature Whether it be proper to him as man in opposition to other creatures as to laugh and to be borne of a woman or common also to other creatures as to be hungry and thirsty to eate and drinke to walke to weepe to groane c. Or proper to him as such a man as Mediâ—tour in opposition to other men As to be borne of a Virgine to dye for our sinnes to rise againe for our justification to sit on a Throne in heaven and to reigne visibly on earth overall Nations These and such like we say doe not in propriety of speech belong unto Christ as God but as man because they are the properties of his humane nature As on the contrary it belongs unto him as God and not as man to be equall with the Father to be infiâ—â—ite omnipotent omniscient â—c And thus much for your answer in grosse which is indeed a very grosse answer You goe on to catch at particulars which you thus alledge The 1. Particular That the Jewes are yet to receive a Kingdome in which they shall hold them captives whose captives they are Mr. Petrie's Answer Here a little change of a little word makes a great difference for the text saith whose captives they were And now they say they are The Prophet is speaking by name of the Assyrians whose Monarchy is now destroyed and the Interpreters shew the accomplishment of that Prophecy according to the Propheâ—s meaning but that prophecy speakes not of them whose captives the Jewes now are neither know we whose captives they are seeing they live as free Subjects wheresoever they live Reply It is true that the text saith whose captives they were but seeing the deliverance which the Prophecy foreshewes hath not been hitherto accomplished we may truely say whose captives they are and therefore there is no such great difference in this change as you pretend For unlesse you can prove that the whole Nation of the Jewes whose redemption this Prophecy doth concerne as these words for the Lord will have mercy upon Jacob and will yet chuse Israel doe shew Vnlesse I say you can prove that the whole Nation that all the Tribes have been set in their owne Land and at their returne thither have brought strangers with them whom they have possessed there for servants and handmaids and have ruled there over their oppressours over those who formerly ruled over them which I am sure you cannot doe it is not very materiall whether we say whose captives they were or whose captives they are And if there be any difference in the change it is onely because the Prophets expression doth seeme to point to that last generation of
the true Throne of David Reply This answer is a double confession of the truth you oppose for first in saying That these texts prove something against Mr. Archer who thinks that Christ after he hath put the Jewes in possessionof their Monarchy shall ascend againe into the heavens you plainely acknowledge that they prove his abode amongst them to governe their restored Kingdome And consequently that you your selfe are in an errour in denying the restauration of their Kingdome as well as Mr. Archer was in denying Christs personall and immediate government of it And secondly in saying That they prove nothing against you who hold that Christ reigneth on the true Throne of David You acknowledge likewise that these prophecies doe prove that our Saviour was to reigne on the true Throne of David and consequently that seeing he hath not yet he shall hereafter reigne over the whole Nation of the Jewes in their owne d Ier. 33.15 16 17. land The Throne of Israel on which David reigned being the true Throne of David and no other But to say that Christ now reigneth on the true Throne of David is to affirme that he is now reigning over the Jewes in the Land of Judea and what can be further from truth then this Israel's Redemption For neither did Christ at his first comming sit on Davids Throne nor any other of Davids linage or of that Tribe or of the other Tribes For the Scepter was then departed from Judah and a Law giver from between his feete Mr. Petrie's Answer He fits on the right hand of the Throne of Majesty in heaven Heb. 8.1 which was typified by the Throne of David Reply You told us even now That Christ reigneth on the true Throne of David And you tell us here That he sits on the right hand of the Throne of Maj sty in heaven which was typified by the Throne of David And doth he reigne then on both these Thrones at once on the true Throne of David the type and on the Throne of God the antitype too But I pray what scripture doth teach you to call the Throne of David a type of the Throne of God Surely if this were so Christ must needes have reigned on the Throne of his Father David before he could have been exalted to the right hand of the Throne of Majesty on high Because the possession of the typicall Throne must needes proceede the possession of the typified Throne This therefore is an unwarrantable conceit and we know that these prophecies speake onely of his reigning on the Throne of his Father David and not of his reigning on the Tarone of God And if by the Throne of David which is promised to Christ is meant the Throne of God what then is meant by the Throne of the House of Israel which is promised to him Jer. 33.17 Is not this all one with the Throne of David if it be then by the Throne of David cannot be meant the Throne oâ— God unlesse you will say that by the Throne of Israel the Throne of God is meant also And if the Throne of Israel be not meant of the Throne of David then tell us what it is and why you take it to be all one with the Throne of David pag 26. where you alledge this text of Jeremiah to shew that the promises of the Priesthood and of the Kingdome are conjoyned and mixed after the same straine And tell us too what is meant by the Kingdome of David upon which Christs government is said to be as well as upon the Throne of David Isai 9.7 And besides what reason can you alledge wherefore we should not as well take that part of these prophecies in a proper sense which speakes of our Saviours reigning on the Throne of David as that part which speakes of his being borne of the seede of David the one being revealed unto us in as plaine termes as the other Israel's Redemption Neither were Judah and Israel then in the Land together Mr. Petrie's Answer There is neither Jew nor Greeke neither bond nor free neither male nor female but we are allone in Christ Jesus and if ye be Christs then are ye Abrahams seed and heires according to the promise Gal. 3.28 Reply In the 23 chap. of Jer. we reade this prophecy Behold the dayes come saith the Lord that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch and a King shall reigne and prosper and shall execute judgement and justice on the earth In his dayes Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely and this is his name whereby he shall be saved The Lord our righteousnesse In which words there are these particulars foretold first that Christ should be borne of the seede of David I will raise unto David a righteous Branch Secondly that he should reigne And a King shall reigne and prosper Thirdly how he should reigne to wit civilly as other Kings which is set forth first by the quality of his administration And shall execute judgement and justice Secondly by the place where he should doe it On the earth Thirdly by the people amongst whom the Jewes the Tribes of Judah and Israel And fourthly by the time when to wit when the Jewes should be redeemed out of captivity and setâ—ed in their land When Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely Now of all these particulars there is but one already accomplisht which is that touching our Saviours incarâ—ation and the rest remaine to be fulfilled at his next appearing Amongst which I have alledged onely the last to prove that our Saviours reigning here foreshewed was not fulfilled at his first appearing to wit because Israel was not then in the land with Indah To which you give no other answer but this There is neither Jew nor Greeke neither bond nor free nor male nor female but we are all one in Christ Jesus and if we be Christs then are we Abrahams seed and heires according to the promise And what then doth this make the prophecies of God of none effect may the reader conclude from hence Therefore Iudah and Israel shall not dwell safely in the land together nor Christ be sent to reigne over them on the Throne of David Surely he may as well conclude Therefore amongst Christians there are no men nor women no masters nor servants no Iewes nor Gentiles But the Apostles words will countenance no such contradictory inferences for his meaning is That grace doth conjoyne and assimulate those whom naturall and civill respects doe difference and div de For they that have put on Christ are not distinguisht in him he saith as they are in the world by nation sexe and condition but they are all one They are one in denomination and title being all Christians they are one in ranke and society being all of one mysticall body they are one people being all Abrahams seed and they have one inheritance being fellow-heires according to the promise And what though the beleeving Gentile be