or beneath it was ineffectual Which is very reasonable to believe because there was no natural efficacy in these things to cleanse a Leper but it depended wholly upon the will and pleasure of God which was punctually therefore to be observed that by the exact performance of all these Ceremonial Signs as Pellicanus speaks in the face of the Church all Men might be satisfied that he was perfectly purified and he might be publickly authorized to associate himself with the rest of God's People and be no longer abominated by them for his impurity For the signification of these Ceremonies some think to have been that he was restored to free Communion with God and with Man See XXIX Exod. 20. And Abarbanel looks upon them as a signification also that the Leprosie began in those parts of the Body which are less fleshy and fat and were now therefore particularly declared clean But whatever the intention of them was there was a just and wise reason no doubt for them though at this distance from those Ages Countries and Customs c. we may not be able to discover it Ver. 15. Verse 15 And the Priest shall take some of the log of oil and pour it into the palm of his own left hand Or as Maimonides saith he might pour some of it into the left hand of the other Priest who sprinkled the Blood at the Altar Ver. 16. Verse 16 And the Priest shall dip his right finger in the oil c. The fore-finger of his right hand as the same Hebrew Doctor observes And shall sprinkle of the oil with his finger seven times before the LORD At every sprinkling he dipt his finger in the Oil and directed it towards the most holy place where God dwelt though if it were not exactly directed to it the same Doctor saith the sprinkling was good Ver. 17. Verse 17 And of the rest of the oil that is in his hand shall the Priest put upon the tip of the right ear c. Then the Priest returned to the Man who was to be cleansed upon the tip of whose Ear and Thumb and Toe he had put the Blood of the Trespass-offering and put some of this Oil upon that Blood Which seems to have been a Token of Forgiveness by the Blood and of Healing by the Oil. Ver. 18. Verse 18 And the remnant of the oil that is in the Priests hand he shall pour upon the head of him that is to be cleansed Which one thing if it were omitted the Leper was not cleansed As for the rest of the Log of Oil which was not all poured into his hand but only some of it v. 15. that was distributed to the Priests as the same Maimonides observes who alone might eat it in the Court of the Tabernacle as they did other holy things But none might taste of it before the sprinkling and other things before-mentioned were performed If any Man did he was beaten as he was who are the holy things before the sprinkling of the Blood For that was a great prophaneness for any Person to take his portion before God had that which belonged unto him And the Priest shall make an atonement for him before the LORD This seems to suppose that the Leprosie was inflicted as a Punishment for some Sin which by this Sacrifice was taken away But the word make atonement doth not always signifie the taking away Sin but sometimes meerly making a thing fit for holy uses Thus Moses is said to make an atonement for the Altar XXIX Exod. 36 37. See there and in the same sense may an Atonement be said to be made for the Leper by this Sacrifice which restored him to be made partaker of the holy things offered at the Altar See below v. 53. Ver. 19. Verse 19 And the Priest shall offer the Sin-offering The other He-lamb mentioned v. 10. which was to be offered after the manner of the Sin-offering for such Offences as Abarbanel understands it as he knew he had committed And make an atonement for him that is to be cleansed His atonement was begun by the Trespass-offering v. 18. and was advanced by this Which Abarbanel thinks was added to make Men more cautious how they contracted any sort of Impurity which would put them to great charges before they were purged from it For he could find no other reason he saith for the like Sacrifices which were offered by him that had an Issue or had meddled with a menstruous Woman or been defiled by the dead or tasted swines-flesh or any creeping thing And afterward he shall kill the burnt-offering This being a Present to God himself was not accepted till by the other Offerings for Trespass and Sin the Man was purified And this I take to be properly the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Gift mentioned by our Saviour VIII Matth. 4. Ver. 20. Verse 20 And the Priest shall offer the burnt-offering and the meat-offering upon the Altar There were so many Offerings made to show the greatness of his Uncleanness and now his perfect Cure We read of no Meat-offering made with the two former Sacrifices but the three tenth deals of fine flour mentioned v. 10. seem to signifie every one of these Sacrifices the Trespass-offering the Sin-offering and the Burnt-offering had its proportion of a tenth deal of Flour offered with it But if we think the whole was appropriated to the Burnt-offering yet it was the same thing to the Leper whose cleansing cost him as dear one way as the other Only by understanding it thus the Priest perhaps had a greater reward for his pains if we suppose he only burnt an handful upon the Altar as the manner was in these Offerings and had all the rest to his own use See Chap. II. v. 2 3. And the Priest shall make an atonement for him and he shall be clean By this his Atonement was compleated and he was made so perfectly clean as to be admitted to be partaker of the Altar when Peace-offerings were sacrificed But this very long Process through so many different Rites and for so many days before Men could be purified from a legal defilement in their Bodies was a plain instruction to all Persons of good sense how much more difficult it would prove to cleanse their Souls from those moral Impurities which they contracted by long habits of sin and what great pains must be taken both by the Sinners themselves and by God's Ministers to root them out and with what repeated Prayers the Mercy of God towards them was to be implored of which they ought not hastily to presume Ver. 21. Verse 21 And if he be poor and cannot get so much The Divine Goodness always made a merciful provision that his Service should not be burdensom to Men and therefore took care the Poor should not be charged with too costly Sacrifices and yet partake of the benefit of them as much as the Rich. See I. 14 17. V. 11 c. He shall take After he
be put in execution at the Evening Sacrifice v. 9. of that Chapter Which is a sufficient Reason to incline one to think that the Celestial Fire now came as I have supposed at the Evening Sacrifice and consumed the Burnt-offering Which when all the people saw they shouted They fled not from it as Men affrighted but shouted for joy or as Abarbanel's phrase is they lifted up their voices with singing and prayed to God or rather praised him Just as they did when the Fire came down at the Consecration of Solomon's Temple When the people saw it they praised the LORD saying for he is good for his mercy endureth for ever 2 Chron. VII 3. And fell on their faces Worshipped God with humble Thankfulness who hereby testified his Presence among them and his gracious Acceptance of them For thus he had of old showed his Respect to Abel IV Gen. 4. and to Noah VII 20. and to their Father Abraham whose Sacrifice was thus accepted in the Evening when the Sun went down XV Gen. 17. And there was great reason that both Priests and People should rejoyce at this sight For as the Author of the Book Cosri discourses Pars III. sect 53. if a Man look only at the foregoing part of the Work of this day the killing of the Sacrifices the Blood running about their hands their slaying of them washing the Entrails rinsing the Pieces of the Flesh sprinkling the Blood laying the Wood in order kindling the Fire they would rather set his Mind further off from God than draw it near to him till after all these things performed orderly he saw the Fire coming down from Heaven testifying God's gracious acceptance of the Sacrifice or felt another Spirit excited in him beyond any thing he was acquainted withal before or had Divine Dreams or Heroical Motions which he believed were the Effects of what he had been doing c. And no doubt all good Men in future Ages felt their Minds raised by the thoughts that the Sacrifices they offered were as acceptable to God as that offered at this time being consumed in some sort by the same Fire which burnt continually on this Altar and after this day was never extinguished till the Captivity Which seems to be the Original of that Expression of the People in their Prayer for their King That God would remember all his Offerings and accept turn to ashes it is in the Hebrew his burnt Sacrifice XXI Psal 3. Such acceptable Sacrifices St. Cyril tells Julian we Christians still offer but infinitely better being Spiritual and Intellectual and consequently nearer to the Divine Nature and that by Fire sent from Heaven viz. the Holy Ghost of whom this Fire was but a Figure 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 illustrating the Church and inabling the Members of it to offer continually the sweet smelling Sacrifices of Faith and Hope and Charity and Righteousness Temperance Obedience perpetual Doxologies and all other Vertues L. X. contr Jul. CHAP. X. Ver. 1. Verse 1 AND Nadab and Abihu the sons of Aaron His two eldest Sons VI Exod. 23. Took either of them his Censer Here are two of their Errors expressed in these words if Abarbanel conjecture aright who supposes this to have hapned on the last day of their Consecration when Fire came down from Heaven First That they adventured without any order from God to go and burn Incense in the Sanctuary For though this did not belong to the Office of the High-Priest alone yet upon this Solemn Day Aaron only was commanded to perform the whole Service as upon the Day of Expiation IX 7. And this account Bochartus gives of their Offence that sine vocatione thus obtulerunt they offered Incense without any call to it Hierozoic P. I. L. II. cap. 49. p. 557. And secondly both of them went about this Work whereas the Incense was to be offered only by one and not by two at a time Procopius Gazaeus adds a third Error that they attempt this out of the due season for it which was only in the Morning and Evening And put fire thereon As the Priests were required to offer no strange Incense XXX Exod. 9. so in all reason they were to think it was not to be offered with strange fire but only with a Coal from that Altar where there was a fire kindled by God himself And offered strange fire before the LORD Here are two sins more if Abarbanel take it right that they brought Fire from another place without the Sanctuary and did not take it from the Altar and then that they attempted to go into the most holy place which he thinks is signified by these words before the LORD The first of these is the Opinion also of Aben-Ezra and other learned Men among the Jews who by strange fire understand fire that did not go out from before the LORD IX 24. that is was not taken from the Altar of Burnt-offering where Fire from Heaven lately consumed their Oblations And so R. Bechai They imagined that the Fire on the Altar of Burnt-offerings was only for consuming Sacrifices and therefore they fetcht some from without for the burning Incense But as to the second thing it doth not seem to me probable for Aaron himself had not yet gone into the Holy of Holies Which he commanded them not This they did saith Aben-Ezra from their own proper Motion and Opinion without any Authority from God for whose order they should have waited if his Mind was not already sufficiently declared as it was fully afterwards XVI 12. How two such excellent Men as these who had had the honour to be called up to God when he appeared on Mount Sinai and to have a sight of him and to eat and drink in his Presence XXIV Exod. 1 9 10 c. came to be so rash and to fall so unadvisedly into so great an Error as this here mentioned cannot be certainly resolved But it seems to me highly probable that at the Feast upon the Peace-offerings they had eaten and drunk too liberally which made them forget themselves and fall into this gross mistake For I can see no other reason why that Command v. 8. of not drinking Wine or strong Drink when the Priests were to go into the Sanctuary is annexed unto this story of their Death and Burial but only this which I have now alledged that their Miscarriage arose from drinking too much Wine before this Office was to be performed Ver. 2. Verse 2 And there went out fire from the LORD As they were entring into the Sanctuary or as they stood at the Golden Altar ready to offer Incense Fire came out from the most Holy Place where the Glory of the LORD was and struck them dead And devoured them It did not reduce their Bodies to Ashes nor so much as burn their Clothes v. 5. but they were killed as Men sometimes are with Lightning which penetrates into the Vital Parts and puts a sudden end to their Life That 's meant
call noctua as the former for that Owl which they call bubo The Pelican That the Hebrew word Kaath signifies a Pelican is not disputed But that it also signifies the Bird we call an Hern is not improbable being joyned with Chos in the CII Psalm 6. which is a Bird that makes an unpleasant noise especially that kind of them that cries like a Bittern and is called by later Writers Butorius And the Gier-Eagle There are many various Opinions about this Bird which the Hebrews call Racham But Bochart hath shown out of the Arabian Writers that it signifies a kind of Eagle or Vulture for sometimes they call it by one of these names sometimes by the other It being of a dubious kind between an Eagle and a Vulture and therefore happily by us translated a Gier-Eagle that is a Vulture Eagle which Aristotle calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 See Hierozoic P. II. L. II. cap. 25 26 27. where Bochart shows it is such a harmless and good natur'd Bird that thence it had the name of Racham and in Arabick of Rachama and was made the Hieroglyphick of Mercy and Tenderness among the Egyptians if Horus Apollo may be believed Ver. 19. Verse 19 And the Stork There are vastly different Interpretations of the word Chasida which imports kindness no less than the foregoing Racham But there is no Reason to depart from the Opinion of the later Hebrews who take it as we do to signifie a Stork The Piety as the Latins call it of which BIrd is celebrated by all Authors and is the very import of the Hebrew word Chasida But it feeds upon Serpents and therefore as Bochart imagines was prohibited to be eaten by the Jews though upon this account it was had in honour by the People of Thessaly and by the Egyptians as he observes in the fore-mentioned Book cap. 29. The Heron after his kind There are at least ten different Interpretations of the Hebrew word Anapha among which ours is one But it being derived from a word which signifies anger Bochartus rather takes it for a Mountain Falcon which is a fierce Bird and very prone to anger And the Lap-wing The Hebrew Doctors take Dukiphath for a Mountain Cock which hath a double Crest and thence hath its name according to R. Solomon Or rather it may be so called from the place where it resorts for Dik in Arabick is a Cock and Kepha a Rock from whence Bochart probably conjectures this Bird had its name because it lives in mountainous places And he thinks the LXX and the Vulgar have rightly translated it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Vpupam which is the sense also of four Arabian Interpreters It is a portentous kind of Bird which hath a Crest from its Bill to the hindermost part of its head and one of the principal Birds used in the ancient Superstitions of the Magicians and Augurs as he observes cap. 31. And the Bat. As Moses begins the Catalogue of Birds with the noblest which is the Eagle so he ends it with the vilest which is a Bat being of a dubious kind as Aristotle observes between a Bird and a Mouse Lib. 4. cap. 13. where he saith it doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. See the famous Bochartus who shows that its name in Hebrew which is Attaleph imports it to be a Bird of Darkness Whence that phrase in the Prophet II Isaiah 20. In that day a man shall cast his Idols of Silver and Gold to the Bats and the Moles i. e. they shall no more appear to delude Men with their glittering brightness but be utterly destroyed Ver. 20. Verse 20 All Fowls that creep The Hebrew word Oph is not well translated Fowls but signifies rather all flying things going upon all four All flying things that go upon four feet are here forbidden such as all kinds of Flies and Wasps and Bees as Jonathan here explains it A Fly indeed is observed to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but though it have six feet yet it goes only upon four as not only Lucian but Aristotle notes the two fore-feet serving for other uses See Bochart in his Hierozoic P. II. L. IV. cap. 9. Shall be an abomination to you It is observed by some that the Birds here forbidden are either rapacious and live on Flesh as Eagles and Hawks c. or are Night-Birds as Owls c. or haunt Lakes and Marshes as the Bittern c. or are heavy and not easily raised from the Earth as the Ostrich or live in Graves or in Dung as the Vpupa and some of those flying things mentioned in this Verse and upon these accounts are forbidden by Moses who allows all those that live upon a cleaner Food as those that follow do Ver. 21. Verse 21 Yet these may ye eat of every flying creeping thing c. In this Verse he excepts such flying Insects as besides their four feet wherewith they go have two legs or thighs which inable them to leap upon the Earth as well as to go Such are all the Locusts mentioned in the next Verse unto which Aristotle ascribes six feet whereas Moses mentions but four In which they do not disagree for Aristotle plainly saith they have six feet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if we take into the number the parts with which they leap L. IV. cap. 6. Which two hinder leaping legs Moses distinguishes from the other four wherewith they go Ver. 22. Verse 22 Even these of them ye may eat There are nine kinds of Locusts mentioned in the holy Books four of which are here permitted to be eaten The Locust after its kind The Hebrew word Arboh is sometimes a common Name for all Locusts but here signifies a peculiar sort of that kind before-mentioned which leapt as well as went The bald Locust after its kind The Hebrew word is Solam so called as Aben-Ezra thinks because it climbs up Roots in which it delights The Beetle after its kind This sort of Locust called Chargol seems to have its name from the vast company wherein they fly together But it is not fitly translated a Beetle for none ever eat Beetles nor are they four-footed with legs to leap withal Therefore Chargol is another sort of Locusts unknown to us in these Countries and so is that which follows for a Grashopper is not a sort of Meat But there were Locusts of that shape which were large and fleshy in the Eastern Countries and very good Food The Grashopper after its kind The Hebrew word Chagab signifies as I said a sort of Locusts the original of whose Name Aben-Ezra intimates may be found in the Arabick Tongue In which Chahageba signifies to cover as with a Vail And in such Troops these Locusts fly that sometimes they seem to darken the Sun it self But by what marks these were distinguished from one another the Hebrews differ so much that it plainly snows they are wholly ignorant in this matter The most that can be made of what they say is
in the Court of the Sanctuary even as the Sin-offerings were For these Peace-offerings being as I before-noted the only Peace-offerings of the whole Congregation were reckoned among the most holy things whereas the Peace-offerings of private Men were less holy as Dr. Lightfoot observes in his Temple Service cap. 8. sect 4. And the true reason why the Priest had all the Flesh of these Sacrifices was because they being for the whole Congregation the Offerers were too many to have any portion of them distributed among them Ver. 21. Verse 21 And ye shall proclaim on the self same day Before the Solemnities began That it may be an holy Convocation to you See v. 4. The reason of this holy Assembly was partly to commemorate God's great Goodness in giving the Law from Mount Sinai on the fiftieth day after their coming out of Egypt which was the chief end of God's bringing them from thence as Maimonides speaks P. III. More Nevoch cap. 43. and partly to thank him for giving them such fair hopes of compleating their Harvest which had been begun at the Passover Ye shall do no servile work therein It was to be observed as the first and the last days of Unleavened Bread v. 7 8. with such a Rest as made it little different from a Sabbath And that great Vision as Maimonides calls it at the giving of the Law lasting but one day was the reason the memory of it was celebrated only for one day in the year whereas one Feast of Unleavened Bread lasted seven days for the day was not sufficient to make them sensible enough of the Affliction they endured in Egypt But perhaps one day only was appointed at Pentecost to be free from all Servile work because of the great Business of Wheat-harvest which was then coming on and could not permit them to be so much at leisure as they were when the Fruits of the Earth were all gathered Then they kept a Feast seven days v. 39. as they did at the beginning of Barley-harvest when the Feast of Unleavened Bread was held At which time Harvest did not come on so fast as it did at Pentecost for the First-fruits then were of green Corn parched and dried and offered to God for the hope they had he would bring the rest to maturity Ver. 22. Verse 22 And when ye reap the Harvest of your Land thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of the Field c. This Precept hath been sufficiently explained before XIX 9 10. Only the occasion of its repetition here ought to be observed which is the mention of Harvest and First-fruits which in gratitude they then offered unto God Of whose Goodness he would have them so sensible as not to be unmindful of the Poor but to be such Benefactors to them that they might still receive more Benefits from God Ver. 23. Verse 23 And the LORD spake unto Moses saying These words are frequently prefixed to a new matter though delivered at the same time with what went before Ver. 24. Verse 24 Speak unto the Children of Israel saying Who as I have often said were all concerned to take notice of such Precepts In the seventh month in the first day of the month ye shall have a Sabbath Such a Sabbath as those mentioned v. 7 8 21. on which no Servile work was to be done as it follows in the next Verse For the seventh Month was the first Month of the year accordding to the ancient computation and continued so still to several purposes particularly with respect to their Jubilee when they were to blow the Trumpet as they did on this day which was the chief New Moon in all the year and the more illustrious because it fell in the time when all the Fruits of the Earth were gathered A memorial of blowing with Trumpets It is not easie to tell of what this blowing of Trumpets was a memorial Maimonides in the place fore-named More Nevoch P. III. cap. 43. will have it to be instituted to awaken the People out of sleep and call them to repentance being to put them in mind of the great Day of Expiation which followed nine days after This he explains more largely in his Jad Chazakah in the Treatise of Repentance cap. 3. where he saith The sound of the Trumpet at this time did in effect say Shake off your drowsiness ye that sleep and being awaked watch to your duty Search and try your ways Remember your Creator and repent You whom the Vanity of the Times hath led into a forgetfulness of the Truth who spend your days wandring after empty things which profit nothing bethink your selves and take care of your Souls Let every one forsake his evil way and his thoughts which are not good And accordingly he saith in the same place the Israelites were wont to multiply Alms and Good Works and to apply themselves to the Precepts as his phrase is from the beginning of the year till the Day of Atonement more diligently than at any other time rising in the night to pray in their Synagogues till break of day c. But though this be very pious I see no ground for it no more then for what they say of Commemorating the Deliverance of Isaac For why should not blowing of Trumpets be ordered for a preparation to other Solemn days and in memory of other Deliverances as well as this of Isaac It seems more probable that all Nations making great shouting rejoycing and feasting in the beginning of the year at the first New Moon as many have observed hoping the rest of the year by this means would prove more prosperous God was pleased to ordain this great rejoycing among his People in honour of himself upon the Day of the first New Moon which was to be continued every first Day of the Month that he might preserve them from the Worship of the Moon and make them sensible that he alone gave them good years and renewed his Mercies daily from Month to Month upon them Bonfrerius imagines that God put an honour upon this Month because it was the seventh that as every seventh day was a Sabbath and every seventh year the Land rested c. so every seventh month of every year should be a kind of Sabbatical Month there being more Feasts in this Month then in any other Months in the Year But all this doth not explain what this blowing of Trumpets was a memorial of which I take to be the Creation of the World which was in Autumn Upon which account it was that they anciently began their year at this time as the Eastern People do at this day They acknowledged also God's Goodness in blessing all the year past and bringing them to the beginning of a new year which they prayed him to make happy to them They began to blow at Sun-rise and continued it till Sun-set He that sounded the Trumpet began with the usual Prayer Blessed be God who hath sanctified us with his Precepts
you have to my Majesty make you obedient to my Laws Ver. 4. Verse 4 Then will I give you rain in due season Here follow the Promises of all things that Men naturally most desire for their happy living here in this World And first he assures them they should have fruitful Seasons which depended upon Rain in due time V Jerem. 24. For Canaan was not a Country like Egypt which was watred and made fertil by the overflowing of their River but without Rain was quite barren And the Land shall yield her Increase Corn for the use of Men and grass for the Cattle And the Trees of the Field shall yield their Fruit. Which was very various every one knows such as Figs Pomegranates Dates Apples c. which he promises they should never want Ver. 5. Verse 5 And your threshing shall reach unto the Vintage c. This is a promise of such plenty of Corn that before they could have reaped it all and threshed it out the Vintage would be ready and call for their labour about it and before they could have pressed out their Wine it would be time to sow again As much as to say they should have such abundance that they should have scarce time enough to receive and lay up one blessing before another came upon them And ye shall eat your bread to the full Have no want of any sort of Provision which is comprehended under the name of Bread but as much as you can desire Which promise may seem to have a peculiar regard to the Command lately given XXV 4 11. though there he took care to secure them by a special Promise that they should not want in those year v. 20 21. and therefore much less in any other And dwell in your Land safely Plenty would have been little satisfaction to them if they had been in danger to lose it or to be disturbed in it and therefore he promises to defend and protect them in the secure injoyment of it See XXV 18 19. Ver. 6. Verse 6 And I will give peace in your Land There shall be no Insurrections or Seditions in your Country which are wont to arise from Poverty and Discontent For this seems to relate to Peace among themselves as the latter end of the Verse to Freedom from the Desolations their Enemies might make among them And ye shall lye down and none shall make you afraid It is a promise to preserve them from House-breakers and Robbers And I will rid evil Beasts out of the land Which as it will appear from v. 22. made lamentable havock when they increased and were let loose upon them but these God promises to extirpate if they would be obedient either by hindering their breed or making them devour one another or driving them out of their Country Neither shall the Sword go through your Land Their Enemies should not be able to penetrate their Country to make any Ravage there Ver. 7. Verse 7 And ye shall chase your Enemies and they shall fall before you by the Sword This supposes their Neighbours might Invade their Country but should fail in their attempt and be driven away with shame Ver. 8. Verse 8 And five of you shall chase an hundred and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight That is a few shall be too hard for a great multitude as it proved in the Conquest of Canaan Insomuch that Joshua saith XXIII 10. One man of you shall chase a thousand Which was fulfilled in the days of Gideon who with three hundred Men put to flight a vast Army VII Judg. 22. And your Enemies shall fall before you by the Sword Which commonly made a greater slaughter in their flight then was made in the battle Ver. 9. Verse 9 For I will have respect unto you The reason of which great Success as well as of the Plenty before mentioned he would make them sensible was God's great kindness and favour towards them as the reward of their obedience This Joshua most thankfully acknowledges XXIII 9. And make you fruitful and multiply you Make you a populous and consequently a powerful Nation And establish my Covenant with you Keep it inviolably and most certainly perform it See VI Gen. 18. Ver. 10. Verse 10 And ye shall eat old store Have a great deal of old Corn left when the new is come in And bring forth the old because of the new Have so much of it left as to want room for it when the new is to be laid up Ver. 11. Verse 11 And I will set my Tabernacle amongst you This is the great promise of all that his Tabernacle wherein he dwelt among them should remain and abide with them For it was set already among them but now he promises it should be fixed that is his Divine Presence should continue with them And my soul shall not abhor you I will not cast you off because of your Offences for which I have appointed an Expiation Ver. 12. Verse 12 And I will walk among you Conduct you from place to place all the time you are in this Wilderness For he dwelling in the Tabernacle in the Cloud of Glory which covered it when that Cloud was taken up the Ark presently moved to go before them and led them to the next Station where they should pitch their Tents X Numb 11 12. See XXV Exod. 8. This is given as the reason why they should keep their Camp from all Impurities See XXIII Deut. 12 13 14. And I will be your God and ye shall be my People Bring you to the Land of Canaan and there continue with you and bless you as my peculiar People Ver. 13. Verse 13 I am the LORD your God which brought you forth out of the Land of Egypt I will not leave my own work imperfect but as I delivered you from the Egyptian Slavery so I will continue to preserve your Liberty and Happiness That ye should not be their Bondmen Remain any longer their Slaves as they intended to make you for ever And I have broken the bands of your yoke When you could not deliver your selves I set you free from the heavy burdens which oppressed you And made you go upright They were so loaded with insupportable burdens in Egypt that they could not look up but hung down their Heads with heaviness till God by setting them free made them go out from thence not with dejected but with chearful Countenances For that 's the meaning of making them go upright as Freemen not bowed down with Oppression but lifting up their Heads for Joy at their Deliverance See XIV Exod. 8. Ver. 14. Verse 14 But if ye will not hearken unto me and will not do all these Commandments After the promise of these extraordinary Blessings as the Reward of their Obedience he threatens them with as extraordinary Plagues and Calamities if they were disobedient And as nothing moves us more powerfully than hope of some Good or fear of some Evil so there
are no greater Blessings in this World than those which God's Promises gave them hope to enjoy nor greater Evils than those of which his Threatnings put them in fear But such is the Divine Goodness he always offers Mercy before he proceeds to Judgment and mingles Judgment with Mercy before he proceeds in rigour of Justice Which will appear in the following Threatnings Ver. 15. Verse 15 And if ye despise my Statutes or if your soul abhor my Judgments They were not thus wicked at the first but disobedience to God's Commands mentioned in the foregoing Verse proceeded to a contemptuous neglect of them and that in time to an abhorrence of them So that ye will not do all my Commandments Though often admonished by his Prophets whose Messages they not only rejected but slighted and despised But that ye break my Covenant By forsaking him and falling to Idolatry For that was the principal thing in the Covenant That they should have no oter God but him alone Ver. 16. Verse 16 I also will do this unto you I will alter the method of my Providence towards you I will even appoint over you Or as it is in the Hebrew upon you causing the following Diseases to seize upon them as the Phrase signifies and arrest them That they might feel the heavy displeasure of him whose Laws they set at naught Terrour Consumption and the burning Ague It is not certain what Diseases are comprehended under these words especially the first Behalah which we translate terrour But coming from a word importing haste and precipitancy I take it to signifie the falling sickness whereby People are so suddenly surprized that they sometimes fall into the fire by which they sit The other two words probably are rightly translated For the next Sachepheth is by Kimchi and a great many others understood to signifie a Consumption or an Hectick Fever though R. Solomon and some others seem to take it for a Dropsie for he says it is a Disease that puffs up the flesh or as David de Pomis makes it to break out in Blotches See Bochart in his Hierozoic P. II. Lib. II. cap. 18. As for the last word Chaddachat it coming from a word denoting great heat may well be translated a burning Fever That shall consume the eyes Make you look ghastly And cause sorrow of heart Take away all the comfort of Life And ye shall sow your seed but your Enemies shall eat it Next to Bodily Sickness he threatens them with the Incursions of their Enemies which was an higher punishment than the former according to that of David it is better to fall into the hands of the LORD then into the hands of Men. Here also it is observable he doth not threaten the worst that their Enemies might do to them but first that they should carry away their Harvest and make a Scarcity among them and in the next Verse speaks of delivering them to be slain by them Ver. 17. Verse 17 And I will set my face against you Be extreamly angry with you See XVII 10. And ye shall be slain before your Enemies The neighbouring Nations oftimes made great slaughter of them and conquered them as we find in the Book of Judges and in the beginning of the first Book of Samuel They that hate you shall reign over you And grievously oppressed them IV Judges 3. VI. 2 c. This made them very contemptible and was a just punishment of their contempt of God's Laws And ye shall flee when none pursueth you Lose all your Courage directly opposite to the promise v. 7 8. Ver. 18. Verse 18 And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me If by these sore punishments they were not reclaimed from their Idolatrous Practises he threatens to send greater Then will I punish you seven times more for your sins The number seven is used for any indefinite multitude and therefore here signifies a great increase of their Plagues which by their continued Provocations became more and more grievous then in former Ages Ver. 19. Verse 19 And I will break the pride of your power That Power wherein you glory Which some understand of the Sanctuary which in the days of Eli was forsaken of the Ark of God's strength as the Psalmist calls it 1 Sam. IV. 10 11. But it seems rather to relate to their numerous Forces which at the first were every where victorious but after sundry Defeats in foregoing times were in the days of Saul reduced to such straits they hid themselves in Caves and Pits and Thickets c. and there was not a Sword or a Spear to be found in any of their hands save Saul's and Jonathan's when they should have fought with their Enemies 1 Sam. XIII 6 7. 22. And I will make your Heaven as iron and your Earth as brass The one he means should afford no Rain and the other for want of moisture bring forth no Fruit which must needs make a sore Famine among them Ver. 20. Verse 20 And your strength shall be spent in vain c This is a further description of that Calamity when after all their labour in ploughing and sowing their Land or digging and dunging their Trees they brought forth nothing for their Sustenance We read in Scripture of such Famines wherein Man and Beast were ready to perish particularly 1 Kings XVII 1 12. XVIII 15. 2 Kings VIII 1. Ver. 21. Verse 21 And if ye walk contrary unto me Go on in your Idolatrous Courses directly contrary to my Commands v. 1. And will not hearken unto me Be obedient to the Admonitions of his Prophets whom he sent to call them to Repentance I will bring seven times mo plagues upon you according to your sins As their Sins increased so did their Plagues for these that follow are more dreadful than the foregoing And it was a high aggravation of their sins that they would take no warning by the severe Punishments which God inflicted upon their Forefathers This augmented his Plagues upon succeeding Generations which as Dr. Jackson speaks usually run by the scale of sevens So that if we call the litteral meaning to a strict Arithmetical Account these later Plagues were Nine and forty times heavier than the former But it is most likely a certain number is put for an uncertain yet denoting a very great increase of their Punishments beyond what had been in preceding times It ought to be observed that there is in the Margin another rendring of the first words of this Verse If ye walk contrary to me which some follow If ye walk at all adventures with me That is live carelesly as if you had no regard at all to me I will have as little regard to you or concern for you But the ancient Translations go the other way Ver. 22. Verse 22 I will also send wild Beasts among you which shall rob you of your Children c. If the terrible famine would not work upon their stubborn hearts no more than the