and a figurative sense is the literal or primarily intended sense of 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 it 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 same 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 saith 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 sight 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 somtimes 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 ouâ—â— and hereby the large note on the margine of Page 9. is frustrated 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 expositioÌ„ of the prophesies which coÌ„cerne our Saviours 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 Savâ—ours 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 or 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 spirituall blessinges too and being so interpreted you understand them of the Gentiles as wel or rather then of the Jewes And this 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 oppression 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
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 à 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 made 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 remnant 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 Babylon but from the foure h Jer. 16. ver 14 15. chap. 23. ver 7 8. corners of the
ISRAELS REDEMPTION Redeemed OR The Jewes generall and miraculous conversion to the faith of the Gospel and returne into their owne Land And our Saviours personall Reigne on Earth cleerly proved out of many plaine Prophecies of the Old and New Testaments And the chiefe Arguments that can be alledged against these Truths fully answered Of purpose to satisfie all gainsayers and in particular Mr. Alexander Petrie Minister of the Scottish Church in Roterdam By ROBERT MATON the Author of Israel's Redemption Divided into two Parts whereof the first concernes the Jewes Restauration into a visible Kingdome in Judea And the second our Saviours visible Reigne over them and all other Nations at his next appearing Whereunto are annexed the Authors Reasons for the literall and proper sense of the plagues contain'd under the Trumpets and Vialls To the Law and to the Testimony if they speake not according to this word it is because there is no light in them Isaiah 8. v. 20. LONDON Printed by Matthew Simmons and are to be sold by George VVhittington at the blew Anchor neere the Royall-Exchange 1646. ISAIAH 49. v. 13. c. SIng O Heaven and be joyfull O earth and breake forth into singing O mountaines for God hath comforted his people and will have mercy upon his afflicted But Sion said The Lord hath forsaken mee and my Lord hath forgotten me Can a woman forget her sucking child that she should not have compassion on the Sonne of her wombe yea they may forget yet will not I forget thee Behold I have graven thee upon the palmes of my hands thy walls are continually before me Thy children shall make haste thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall goe forth of thee Lift up thine eyes round about and behold all these gather themselves together and come to thee as I live saith the Lord thou shalt surely cloth thee with them all as with an ornament and bind them on thee sa a Bride doth For thy waste and thy desolate places and the Land of thy destruction shall even now be too narrow by reason of the Inhabitants and they that swallowed thee up shall be farre away The children which thou shalt have after thou hast lost the other shall say againe in thine eares The place is too straight for mee give place to me that I may dwell Then shalt thou say in thine heart Who hath begotten me these seeing I have lost my children and am desolate a captive and removing to and fro and who hath brought up these Behold I was left alone these where had they been c. ROM 11. VER 28. c. As concerning the Gospel they are enemies for your sake but as touching the election they are beloved for the Fathers sake For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance For as ye in times past have not believed God yet have now obtained mercy through their unbeliefe Even so have these also now not believed that through your mercy they also may obtaine mercy For God hath concluded them all in unbeliefe that he might have mercy upon all TO THE READER Courteous Reader THere are two main obstacles which debarre men from the apprehension of Gods word the one a strange language the other a strange interpretation The first is proper to Papists the other is common to Protestants and Papists and is indeed the more dangerous seeing an unknowne tongue doth onely hide the truth from the unlearned and so may somewhat easily be avoyded but a false interpretation doth equally deprive both the wise and the simple of it and so causeth the blind to leade the blinde For whatsoever text of Scripture is expounded any otherwise then God meant by it it is according to its interpretation the word of man and not of God and consequently in adhering to such interpretations we believe not what God saith but what man doth make him say Now of Scriptures that are misunderstood some are so difficult that it is not possible to give a peremptory interpretation of them of which sort are some passages in Daniel in the Revelation and here and there in other parts of the Scripture and in these we should either confesse our ignorance or deliver our thoughts as evidences only of our desire to attaine to the perfect knowledge of Gods word Others againe are so plaine that every common and ordinary understanding if left to it selfe cannot choose but take them in their true sense and not in that which is thrust upon them by a false glosse And of these some have been a long time controverted and others have as long past unsuspected amongst which are the many Prophecies which God hath reveal'd touching the future restauration of the Jewes and the personall reigne of our Lord Jesus Christ on earth And surely whatsoever was the ground of the misinterpretation of these Prophecies at the first whether an hatred of the Jewes whom alone in their proper sense they doe concerne or some sinister and selfe-respects whatsoever I say was the ground of it at the first the continuance of it hath been occasioned by the inconsiderancie of the ungrounded application of the words Jew and Israelite indifferently to the Jewes and Gentiles and of the words Israel Sion and Jerusalem to the Church of the Gentiles when as there is not one text in all the Scripture wherein a Gentile is cal'd a Jew or an Israelite or wherein the Church of the Gentiles is cal'd Israel Sion or Jerusalem Those texts Rom. 2. ver 28. and 29. and chap. 9. ver 6. and 7. are both by Piscator and Pareus understood of the Jewes only And these words Gal. 6. ver 16. upon the Israel of God are both by the ordinary and interlineary glosses understood likewise of the Jewes onely so that it is as if the Apostle had said And as many as walke according to this rule peace be on those Gentiles and mercy and peace and mercy on those Jewes And surely if that text be not thus distinctly understood of the faithfull Jewes and Gentiles there will either be a tautologie in the words or else the last words must be understood of the Israel in blindnesse to whom the Apostle doth here also wish mercy according to that which he saith of them Rom. 10. ver 1. That his hearts desire and prayer to God for Israel was that they might be saved And that the Tribes of the children of Israel Rev. 7. ver 4. are properly to be understood Ribera and others acknowledge and Pareus though he enclines to an allegorical interpretation of them in his commentaries on the Revelation yet in his explication of the 18. doubt of the 11. chap. to the Rom. he thus resolutely determines against it Quod Oraculum ad literam de conversione Judaeorum planè intelligendum videtur quoniam Israelitae signati in frontibus ibi disertè discernuntú◠a signatis gentibus populis linguis reliquis ver 9. Which Prophecie saith he doth plainely seeme to
be understood of the conversion of the Jewes according to the letter because the sealed Iewes are expressely distinguisht from the sealed Nations people and tongues ver 9. To which we may adde and because the sealing of these Jewes all at once before the execution of the ensuing plagues doth imply that they should be all living when the plagues begin and while the plagues continue as we find them at the sounding of the sift Trumpet chap. 9. ver 4. And because also the plagues are not ordinary plagues but extraordinary not such plagues in which the sealed persons are to be any way sharers with the unsealed but such plagues as were brought on Pharaoh and his people when Israel was wholly exempted from them Moreover St. Paul Gal. 4. ver 25. c. is so farre from making Jerusalem that was then Jerusalem in her legall and Mosaicall estate a type of Heaven or of the Christian Church that he plainely affirmes she was an enemy to the children of promise the children of Jerusalem which is above ver 26. that is of Ierusalem which is to be restor'd from above for seeing Interpreters acknowledge that this free Ierusalem is not to be understood of a Ierusalem which is locally in Heaven but of a Ierusalem on earth cal'd Ierusalem which is above in respect of its originall and spirituall endowments from thence as Pareus observes seeing I say they acknowledge thus much they might in my conceit have seene as well that it could not be understood of the Church of the Gentiles the Christian Church that now is First because this could not be cal'd Jerusalem unlesse Jerusalem had been a type of it which the Apostle denies Secondly because the Apostle ver 25. distinguisheth Jerusalem in bondage as well in time as in condition from the free Ierusalem calling her Ierusalem that now is which argueth that the free Jerusalem was not then and consequently could not be meant of the Christian Church then also in being And thirdly the Prophecie which he alledgeth ver 27. out of Isaiah chap. 54. ver 1. * Isa 49. ver 13 14 15 16. c. Rejoyce thou barren that bearest not c. doth infallibly declare that he meant by the free Ierusalem which is the mother of us all the Ierusalem which shall be rebuilt and inhabited by Christ himselfe at his comming from Heaven with all the Saints For first this barren and desolate Jerusalem is oppos'd to the Gentile Nations ver 3. who are not said to be her seed or naturall people but to be inherited by her seed that is to be held tributaries by the Jewes as other Prophecies doe abundantly testifie And secondly this barren Jerusalem ver 6 7. is called a wife of youth when she was refused and said to be forsaken but for a moment in respect of the everlasting and immovable kindnesse with which she shall be received which cannot possibly be meant of the Gentiles to whom the Lord was not married and whom he tooke not for his people till this wife of youth was refused and forsaken And because she was to be a long time barren and desolate after her destruction by the Romans therefore the Apostle Heb. 13. ver 14. saith of her For here wee have no continuing City but wee looke for one to come which City to come is the City the Prophet here speakes of as remarried and more fruitfull after her barren and desolate estate then before and which the Apostle calls Jerusalem which is above and the free Jerusalem and of which also he saith Heb. 12. ver 22. But ye are come unto Mount-Sion and unto the * Psal 46. v. 4. Psal 48. v. 1.2 Psal 87. v. 3. Isa 60. v. 14. Ezek. 48. v. 35. City of the living God the heavenly Jerusalem and to an innumerable company * Mat. 16. ver 27. 2 Thess 1. v. 7. Joh. 1â— v. 51. of Angels to the * Eph. 1. v. 10 11.13 14. Rev. 10. v. 7. Joh. 10. v. 16. generall Assembly and Church of the first-borne which are written in Heaven c. which doubtlesse may well be applyed to the Church triumphant on earth under Christ her Head with whom the Angels shall come and on whom they shall visibly attend at his next appearing but not to the Church now militant on earth as Piscator and Pareus apply this also And this may serve as a Lydius lapis as a touch-stone to shew how unadvisedly the words Jew Israel Sion and Jerusalem are figuratively expounded of the faithfull in generall And indeed seeing the Iewes before the incarnation of Christ did never call the Converts of the Gentiles Iewes but alwayes Proselytes it is not likely that the Apostles would then begin to call them Iewes when the believing Iewes themselves were in respect of their Faith to be called Christians and not Iewes Neither is it likely that the words Israel Iudah Sion Jerusalem c. should have been so often us'd in the Prophets without any intimation of a figurative sense yea with such evident circumstances and contents shewing the contrary if they had been mystically intended this also I say is nothing likely seeing in the Revelation the mysticall sense of Sodom and Egypt but once spoken of and of Babylon but seldome mentioned is plainely intimated unto us in the 11. and 17. chap. And for my owne part I am perswaded that the mysticall interpretation of the plaine Prophecies which concerne the Iewes future restauration in their owne Land and our Saviours and the Saints visible reigne over them and all other Nations hath been the occasion of the various and unsatisfactory interpretations of most part of the Revelation and of some part of Daniels visions and that Divines will neither concurre in Judgement nor come neare the truth in much of these obscure Prophecies till they agree upon the proper exposition of the foresaid plaine Prophecies as Mr. Mede that renowned Author calls them in the 293. and 294. pages of his Comment on the Apocalyps where he commends this to the consideration of them that are learned and able to judge of the mysteries of Divinity to wit Whether it be not the best and easiest way of dealing with the Iewes not to wrest the most cleare Prophecies touching the affaires of Christs second and glorious comming to his first but to perswade them that they are to expect no other Messias to accomplish all those things then that Iesus of Nazareth whom their fore-fathers crucifyed For while we thus wrest those most cleare Prophecies saith he the Iewes deride us and are the more hardned in their unbeliefe And doubtlesse this and the Idolatry of Papists are the principal motives which keep us at such a distance in affection that the ordinary meanes of salvation the preaching of the Gospel is neither exercised by us amongst them nor sought unto by them amongst us But yet these stumbling blocks shall neither hinder nor delay the extraordinary meanes of their salvation at
their generall conversion For the * Isa 32. ver 13 14 15. time is set in which the Spirit shall be poured on them from on high and in which their so plentifully and so plainely foretold deliverance shall be fully accomplished at the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ And therefore beloved Reader seeing thou knowest these things before beware that thou be not still led away with the errour of an unwarrantable and indeed pernicious intepretation by reason whereof the way of truth is evill spoken of but grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to whom be glory both now and for ever Amen Farewell Thine in the service of the Lord ROBERT MATON AN ANSWER TO Mr. PETRIE'S Preface Preface FIrst Some Prophecies speake plainly of Christ and cannot be understood of another Esa 9.6 Unto us a child is borne unto us a sonne is given his name shall be called Wonderfull c. Some are typicall or delivered with covers of things signifying Christ his offices and benefits And of these some are spoken of the type or thing signifying and can be understood onely of the thing signified and some are true both of the type and of Christ either in the same or in a different manner that is some are true of both in a proper sense some are true of both in a tropicall or figurative sense and some are true of the one properly and of the other figuratively All these sorts are manifest in sundry Prophecies here I touch one for all 2. Sam. 7.12 When thy dayes be fulfilled and thou shalt sleep with thy Fathers saith the Lord unto David I will set up thy seed after thee which shall proceed out of thy bowells and I will establish his Kingdome This was true in the person of Solomon and of Christ too properly v. 13. He shall build an house for my name This was true of Solomon in the proper acceptation of the word house and figuratively of Christ who said Matth. 16.18 Upon this rock will I build my Church It followes I will establish the throne of his Kingdome for ever This was not true of Solomon in respect of his person for he died neither of his posteritie from whom Jacob had foretold that the Scepter should depart at the coming of Shiloh Gen. 49.10 but of Christ it is true for his Throne is established for ever and ever Heb. 1.8 v. 14. I will be his Father and he shall be my son This is true of Solomon in respect of adoption and of Christ in respect of eternall generation Fiftly it is said there If he commit iniquity I will chasten him with the rod of man but my mercy shall not depart from him as I tooke it from Saul This is true of Solomon and not of Christ who was free of sinne unlesse we understand his members or their sinnes imputed unto him v. 16. Thy house and thy Kingdome shall be established for ever before thee thy Throne shall be established for ever This cannot be understood of David or Solomons house or Kingdome as experience proves now for the space of 1600. years and more but of Christs house and Kingdome which shall never faile By this one passage it is manifest First how miserable ignorance it is to expone all the Prophecies after one and the same manner or in a proper sense onely Secondly that the Evangelists and Apostles exponing these Prophecies in a spirituall and figurative sense doe not wrest them even albeit these have been fulfilled some way before but according to the intendment of the Spirit they bring them unto Christ who is the end of the Law and scope of the Prophets Answer The Prophecies which we have alledged for the Jewes deliverance and our Saviours reigne on earth are all plaine prophecies and therefore your distinguishing of the prophecies into plaine and typicall prophecies is very unseasonably that I say not craftily applyed against us However in the first place the Reader may observe that we have as much reason to beleeve that the Prophecies which speak plainly of the Jewes cannot be understood of any others as we have to beleeve that the Prophecies which speake plainly of Christ cannot be understood of another and consequently that you doe very erroneously interpret these Prophecies when you understand by them the conversion of the Gentiles And secondly he may observe that having cited 2 Sam. v. 12. When thy dayes be fulfilled and thou shalt sleep with thy Fathers I will set up thy seed after thee which shall proceed out of thy bowles and I will establish his kingdome You say This was true in the person of Solomon and of Christ too properly Which is as much as we say to wit that God shall establish unto Christ a civill and proper Kingdome as he did unto Solomon And indeed it is beyond the force of these words in the 16. verse Thy house and thy Kingdome shall be established for ever before thee thy throne shall be established for ever To prove that Christs reigne and Solomons that the type and thing typified are not both to be understood properly and in the same manner seeing the word for ever is not here to be taken in an unlimited sense for an infinite time but in a limited sense for a long time as we shew in our reply by many instances out of scripture and so doth intimate unto us onely that Christs Kingdome aâ— it is to be the longest that ever was on earth so it is to be the last too it is not to be left to other people as Daniel saith chap. 2. ver 44. but is by Christ himselfe to be delivered up to God even the Father at the last resurrection And that not onely Solomons reigne but his building of an house to the Lord too is to be properly fulfilled in Christ the Prophet Zechariah chapter 6. ver 13. doth plainely reveale Behold saith he the man whose name is the Branch and he shall grow up out of his place and he shall build the Temple of the Lord even he shall build the Temple of the Lord and he shall beare the glory and shall sit and rule upon his Throne and the counsell of peace shall be between them both In which words the Temple of the Lord doth signifie the Temple at Jerusalem as the verses following doe shew and there is no other signification of this phrase in all the old Testament as we have observed in our reply to your answer where you expound our Saviours building of the Temple of the Lord of the raising of his body from the grave and yet here you make it to foreshew the immoveable perseverance of those that were after his incarnation to be called to the profession of his name by a lively faith So unstedfast are you and unresolved in what sense to take his building of an house unto the Lord. And therefore although such typicall prophesies as are compound oracles were to have a
you alledge to shew why the faithfull are called Jews is a very strange one For they are so called you say for the speciall comfort of the Jews because they were hated of all Nations everywhere which might have been unto them an occasion of despaire But what likely-hood is there that the Apostles who try'd all wayes and meanes to winne the Gentiles unto and to confirme them in the faith would call them by that Name which you say was so odious unto them and what comfort could it be to the Jews yea what readier way could there be to make them distrust the truth of the Gospel then to conceive that their Name and the prophecies delivered in their Name did belong to others and not to their owne Nation yet that which you add presently after that the Lord saith unto them How many or great so ever your enemies shall be I will judge them was indeed an effectuall remedy to keepe them from despairing of God's mercy and their future deliverance and consequently too from acknowledging the figurative sense of these prophecies or of the words Jews Israel c. And whereas you say further And for the same are the Jews oft named in the promises of the new Testament to shew their particular interest in the Church of Christ c. you herein in contradict what you say before that the Jews and Israel are to be exponed of the elect people of God For if they are thus to be exponed they are not to be taken properly for the Jews as here you affirme and in which exception onely they doe shew the Jews particular interest in the Church of God And if these words are used both properly and improperly in the new Testament I pray tell us how we shall know when and where they are to be taken properly and literally and when and where improperly and figuratively But 't is time to leave this wavering discourse and to survey your answers to the objections you alledge out of my somer words The first objection The Jews 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 prophecied Mr Petrie's Answer Neither ever shall they returne in such a manner if ye understand a worldly and civil pompe for these promises cannot be understood as I have said of any one exploit nor of any age The promises of God are more glorious and more large Reply But these prophecies as I have prov'd may and must be properly understood and may and must be accomplisht in one age and in lesse then one age too And doubtlesse these Prophets yea is of more weight then your nay Neither will these promises of God be the lesse but the more glorious for being fulfilled in so short a time For is it not more glory for a King to subdue his enemies speedily then to be a long time about it The second objection 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 martyrdome then victory Mr Petrie's Answer This is as bad an opposition as the former for Christ in suffering did triumph over his enemies Col. 2.15 and martyrdome is victory Rom. 8.37 In all these things we are more then conquerours Spiritual victory consists with bodily suffering Next albeit the Church were oftner crown'd with martyrdom then victory yet in severall ages she hath been crown'd with glorious victory and her full glorification is a comming and her enemies have been and shall be smitten and brought into subjection and the house of David is exalted in the person of Christ and his members and all the wealth of the Nations hath been employ'd or shall be imploy'd for the use of the faithfull albeit not in any particular yeare or age and the Lord shall descend and the Saints shall be with him Reply To this objection which saith that the Church of the Gentiles hath not been thus victorious and by consequence is not spoken of in these prophecies you answer that Christ in suffering did triumph And martyrdom is victory and next that albeit the Church were oftner crown'd with martyrdom then victory yet she hath been crown'd with glorious victory So that as before by the Jews and Israel you understood the Gentiles to avoyd the force of that reason so here for the like end you would willingly put a figurative sense too upon the victory mentioned in the prophecies but it may not be for these prophecies doe not foreshew the death and affliction of God's people by their enemies as it is in persecution and martyrdom but their great deliverance and their enemies wonderfull destruction Yea such a destruction as never yet happened to the enemies of God's Church either Jewish or Christian And therefore as your spiritual conquering is very impertinently inferr'd so no glorious outward bodily victory that the Church of the Gentiles hath had will match with this that the Prophets speake of nor indeed all that she hath had To my next reasons which shew that these prophecies of Zecha were not fulfilled in the times of the Maccabees as Cornelious a Lapide expounds them you say nothing but huddle them up together with that which you have said touching the Church of the Gentiles For the house of David you say is exalted in the person of Christ and his members and all the wealth of the Nations hath been employed or shall be employed for the use of the faithfull albeit not in any particular yeare or age and the Lord shall descend and all the Saints shall be with him But by the house of David is meant the linage of David that are in captivity as by its being opposed to the tents of Judah it is manifest and as the faithfull Gentiles are not of the linage of David so though Christ be descended of David as touching his humane nature yet he is not in captivity but in Heaven there to abide til the time of this deliverance of his brethren according to the flesh And so your exposition of the house of David wholly failes for though the faithfull in generall are cal'd in Scripture the seed of Abraham yet neither Gentiles nor Jews are in this respect cal'd the house or seede of David And what made you take the wealth of the Nations in a proper sense when as you take all that is spoken of in the prophecies besides this in a figurative sense doubtlesse had it been the wealth of the Jews you would have so expounded it as well as you did their houses Vineyards and gardens in the 9. of Amos at the 14. ver But though you doe not so expound it yet you understand the text of such heathen onely upon whom Gods Name is not cal'd and by your words too you seeme to conceive that you have a better title to their wealth then they themselves which would be a hard matter for you
the spiritual then earthly sense to wit the land that I have given unto Jacob and they shall'd wel 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 endeavor 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 other land 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 th n that you can so lightly reject all the plaine texts of Scripture that speake for us when as you dare thus affreâ—r 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 〈◊〉 fiâ—iâ—â—ly for time without end And whereas you say that 〈◊〉 in the 2 Cor. 6.16 expounds the 27. verse of this Prophecie of the Corinthians as a part of the People the Prophet here speaks of it is not so for as the
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 is 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 rather then on the Gentile as the following words confirme 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 Israelites 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 Prophecies speake onely of the Gentiles and how then doe they
which or the like words in the premises the word then in the conclusion had beene of little force as the want of it after such a plaine marke and boundary of Israels blindnesse is not considerable for seeing the Apostle saith blindnesse is in part hapned to Israel untill the fulnesse of the Gentiles shall come in and adds presently after and so all Israel shall be saved and confirmes it too with a Prophecy which concernes the pardoning and purifying of the Jewes onely who that calls his wits about him can beleeve that the Apostle meant neverthelesse that blindnesse should never depart from that Nation which doome your expounding of all Israel of none but of the called of Israel and of the Gentiles doth necessarily put upon it For by the words and so all Israel shall be saved you doe not understand a further calling of any but the accomplishment of the whole number of the beleeving Jewes and Gentiles formerly call'd and therefore the blindnesse being to continue untill the fulnesse of the Gentiles shall come in and then according to your opinion the calling of men to salvation to cease it must needs follow that in your sense there is to be no other end of Israel's blindnesse then the eternall condemnation and perdition of almost that whole Nation Whose generall conversion many of the Fathers and the most and most learned men amongst Protestants and Papists doe acknowledge to be both plainely foretold here by St. Paul and abetted by the Prophecy alledg'd out of Isaiah which you grant to be the same in sense with the Prophecies before recited and yet the want of this poore particle then must sway the scales on your side against so many evident authorities of God and man And seeing you prize your conceit so highly you might very well have afforded us a paraphrase of the 25. and 26. verses of this Chapter that so we might have knowne your meaning fully and seene how you could make all St. Paul's words here suite with that mysticall sense which you take Israel in But to say no more of a Text which is one of the maine pillars of the Tenet you so much condemne then therefore the conclusion must be expounded according to the preceding words that is All Israel are the called of Israel and of the Gentiles is to bring the Reader into a wood or labyrinth rather and there to leave him to seeke his way out himselfe For the preceding words are that blindnesse is in part hapned to Israel untill the fulnesse of the Gentiles shall come in and the meaning of them you say is All Israel are the called of Israel and of the Gentiles and the conclusion is and so all Israel shall be saved and the meaning of this also you say is All Israel are the called of Israel and of the Gentiles For the conclusion you say must be exponed according to the preceding words that is All Israel are the called of Israel and of the Gentiles Aâ—ditum admissi risum teneatis amici is this to helpe or hinder the Reader in the understanding of the Apostle And yet for all this stirre about All Israel 't is not your distinction betwixt Israel and all Israel that can prove the word Israel to be mystically taken For besides that there is an apparent opposition betwixt the Jewes and the Gentiles throughout this Chapter and that the Israel which is to be saved hath relation onely to the Israel that is before said to be in blindnesse and not to the words untill the fulnesse of the Gentiles sha 'd come in which are added to shew the distance of time betwixt the blinding and saving of Israel besides all this it is not generally true that all Israel is more then Israel seeing the word Israel alone is more often used for the whole Nation then all Israel is Neither is it true that all Israel here doth comprehend both Jewes and Gentiles for he useth the universall note all in the last place and not in the first because all none excepted were to be converted although all none excepted were not to be blinded And lastly it is not true that all Israel here is more then Israel here for Israel to whom blindnesse is hapned in part comprehends both the beleeving and unbeleeving Israelites and consequently all Israelites and although all Israel be more then the blinded or not blinded part of Israel that is then Israel divisively taken yet it is not more then Israel indivisively taken then Israel to whom blindnesse is hapned in part and in part not hapned for thus Israel in the 25. v. is all Israel too because it contains all beleevers unbeleevers of the Jews together although it be not all Israel as it is appli'd to the beleeving or unbeleeving Jews severally and apart and therfore in saying that all Israel is more then Israel to whom blindnes is hapned in part you do say that all Israel is more then all Israel though it be more then the beleeving or unbeleeving part of Israel yet to argue thus from hence all Israel is more then the blinded part of Israel therefore it comprehends the Jewes and Gentiles both is just such an argument as this all England is more then almost all England therefore it is England and Scotland too or all your wit is more then the greatest part of your wit therefore it is your wit and your folly both And whereas you say that in this signification the proofe following in the cited testimony must necessarily be understood you doe hereby closely endeavour to put the like mysticall meaning upon the words Sion and Jacob in Isaiahs Prophecie but 't is not the delivering of your meaning so darkely nor the pressing of it upon the Readers beleefe with such an irrationall necessity that will ought availe you For Sion doth signifie in this place the people of the Jewes of whom the Deliverer that is Christ our Saviour was to be borne and Jacob is never used but for the person of Jacob or the posterity of Jacob which last acception is the meaning of it in this Prophecie and how then shall the turning away of ungodlinesse from Jacob be understood but of saving all Israel the whole posterity of Jacob by calling them out of the blindnesse in which they are And consequently this Prophecy also doth shew the Nationall conversion of the Jewes after the fulnesse of the substituted Gentiles is come in or when the time comes in which thorough the wonderfull deliverance of the Jewes not a part as now but all that were left of the Gentiles shall together with them serve the Lord. But these conjectures you say destroy one another for if the calling of the Iews shall be after the fulnes of the calling of the Gentiles then all the Gentiles that shal be left cannot be called through the wonderfull deliverance of the Jews Thus no doubt you would have it although you cannot thus apprehend it for I have before
is a restauration after the destruction of Israel and not a Monarchy of the Jewes after the calling of the Gentiles Whereby it is manifest that in this note is a twofold error one inserting the words in the prophecy which are not in it another in misinterpreting the words of the Apostle Reply The Prophet Amos doth neither before nor at the 11. ver speake of the calling of the Gentiles but at the 12. ver where they are exprest And it hath been shewed before that the Apostle cites not the 11. ver for the calling of the Gentiles but for the conversion and deliverance of the Jewes after the calling of the substituted Gentiles For the Apostle having said Simcon hath declared how God at first did visit the Gentiels to take out of them a people for his Name confirmes it by this prophecy of Amos which in the 12. ver shewes that there should be some Nations of the Gentiles upon whom Gods Nune should be cal'd or who should be cal'd by Gods Name whilst David's Tabernacle lay waste whilst the Jewes were to continue in blindnesse And surely seeing there are so many prophecies which shew the generall conversion of the Gentiles at the restoring of the Jewes the Apostle in passing by them and alledging this prophecy to shew that God would at that time take but a part of the Gentiles to be a people for his Name doth to my thinking thereby plainly shew that the Jewes were then to be given up and to be no moâ—e Godâ— people until that day in which he hath appointed to build againe the Tabernacle of David at which time the residue of mâ—n also shall seeke the Lord as well as the Gentiles on whom God's Name is already cal'd You tell us next that the Prophet hath not these words after this but in these dayes But though the Prophet hath not these words yet the prophecy hath as the Apostle cites it who saith to this agree the words of the Prophets iâ— it written After this â— And the prophets words are not in these dayes but in that Day in that Day 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in that great Day of Christs Kingdom Neither is it likely that the Apostle cited the words after this in reference to what the Prophet had said which was not questioned buâ— rather to what he himselfe had said And if wee should referre these words to the foregoeing destruction of Israel how doth this prove that their restauration shall not follow the calling of the substituted Gentiles whenas it is evident that their threatned dispersion and sifting among all Nations after which they should be againe restored was more to be fulfilled upon them in the time of the substituted Gentiles calling then before and seeing you confesse that the preceding destruction was denounced against the Jewes onely how could you beleeve that by the raising of the Tabernacle of David that is fallen and building of it as in the dayes of old is meant the calling of the Gentiles and not the restoring of the Kingdom and people of David whom the foresaid judgement should ruine And yet you seeme to be so confident of the currantnesse of this exposition that you thus peremptorily conclude It is manifest that in this note is a twofold errour one inserting the words in the prophecy which are not in it another in misinterpreting the Apostle's words Certainely it is very manifest what spirit was predominant in you when you penned these bold and lowd untruths For did I insert the words after this into the prophecy or did the same Spirit who revealed the prophecy by Amos rehearse it thus by the Apostle search and see Nay doe you not say before and howbeit the Apostle cite them so whom then doe you here accuse of error me or him And as for misinterpreting the words of the Apostle it is already shewen that you would faine father your misinterpreting of it on the Apostle To which this may be added That the Prophet doth make a plaine distinction betwixt the people meant by the Tabernacle of David and the people meant by the remnant of Edom and all the heathen which are called by Gods Name For he saith that those meant by the Tabernacle of David shall possesse these What can the same people be the possessours and the possessed surely so it must be according to your interpreting of the building of Davids Tabernacle of the calling of the Gentiles seeing in the 12. ver not onely the remnant of Edom but the heathen that were to be called in the Jewes steed are plainly spoken of Or take it as the Apostle delivers it And then in your sense it will be thus After this I will returne and call againe the Gentiles that the residue of men that is the Gentiles which are not yet to be called may seeke the Lord all the Gentiles upon whom my Name is now to be cal'd Or thus that the residue of men that is all the Gentiles that are now to be cal'd may seek the Lord all the Gentiles upon whom my name is already cal'd And what sense is there in either of these interpretations one of which must needs follow upon your interpreting of the building of David's Tabernacle of the calling of the Gentiles by the Apostles seeing the conversion of the Gentiles upon whom God's Name is cal'd in the prophecy was to precede the conversion of the Gentiles meant by the residue of men And besides The building of the Tabernacle of David as in the dayes of old doth infallibly shew the restoring of a people to that estate condition they were formerly in which cannot be said of the Gentiles who were never before God's people The Marginall note And consequently that the Jewes endeavour to hinder the growth of the Gospel 1. Thess 2.14.15 was a sure proofe of the conversion of the Gentiles their owne rejection who unto the death of Christ were the peculiar people of God not wholly cast off until by their wilful unbeleife they forced the Apostles to turne from them to other Nations Act. 13.44 45 46. to whom God had not formerly revealed himselfe therefore could not at that time be said to returne unto the Gentiles whom he had but then receiv'd no nor to the Jewes whom he had then and not til then quite forsaken So that if we consider the Returning of God here mention'd in the prophecy to be appliable only to the Jews to whom alone God had so long before made himselfe known yet that the Jews were shortly after the calling of the Gentiles quite forsaken we must needs grant that their great happines here foretold hath not been yet injoyed but shall be when the fulnesse of the succedaneous Gentiles is come in And wherefore did the Apostle change the Prophet's in that day will I raise up into After this will I returne and build wherefore I say did he or rather the Holy Ghost in him make choyce of this
in saying that the union of the two people of the Jewes and Gentiles consists in the union of the Church under the Old and New Testament You doe herein grant first that the Church under the New Testament is the Church of the Gentiles and so not of the Jewes and Gentiles both as it should be if it did proportionably consist of the Jewes and Gentiles And secondly you doe herein grant that the Apostles words Ephes 2. ver 11. c. are meant of this union for you cannot conceive that the union betwixt the two people consists in the union of the Church under the Old and New Testament unlesse you doe conceive withall that the places which speake of their union are so to be understood And thirdly you doe herein contradict the preceding prophecies which you grant to foreshew the same uniting of the two people for these Prophecies doe plainely declare the uniting of the whole Nation of the Jewes with all the Nations of the Gentiles on the earth and not the uniting of Gentiles under the Gospel with Jewes under the Law not the uniting I say of one part of Christs mysticall bodie the Church then in heaven with another part thereof newly cal'd to the Faith on earth Israel's Redemption And besides how the bringing of the Jewes out of all Nations upon horses and in Litters and in Charrets and upon mules and upon mens shoulders can beare any other but a literall sense or how the vaile that is spread over all Nations can now be said to be destroy'd when as so many of them runne a whoring after their owne inventions I cannot conceive Yea Even unto this day saith St. Paul of the Jewes in his time when Moses is read the vaile is upon their heart Neverthelesse when it shall returne unto the Lord the vaile shall be taken away 2 Cor. 3. ver 15. and 16. But we see not yet Israel return'd yea we see it fallen into more grosse ignorance and superstition and therefore the vaile is not yet taken away and consequently is not yet destroyed from all Nations Mr. Petrie's Answer Whether he cannot or will not conceive it may be doubted many 1000. have conceived both those he gives no reason of his doubting in the former and the cause of his doubting in the other is naught for albeit the vaile be not taken away from all the Jewes and from all of all the Nations in which sense it shall never be taken away seeing the Church on earth is alwayes a mixt company yet certainly it is taken away from the Jewes and all the Nations to wit so many of them as turne to the Lord which are so many as the Starres in heaven that is innumerable to men For the grace of God that brings salvation hath appeared unto all men Tit. 2.11 And God who hath commanded the light to shine out of darknesse hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ so writes a Jew unto the Gentiles 2 Cor. 4.6 Reply The reason of my doubting in the former passage is because neither you nor any other can give a reason sufficient to prove that the bringing of the Jewes for an offering unto the Lord out of all Nations upon horses and in Litters and in Charrets and upon mules and upon swift beasts c. to his mountaine at Jerusalem is not to be taken in a proper sense for the best reason you can shew is as it seemes that many thousands have conceived these words in another sense which is as good a reason to prove that other sense to be the true sense of them as it is to say that Mahomet was no false Prophet because many millions have and doe erroneously conceive him to be a true Prophet And why did you not afford us a sight of that other sense which so many 1000. have taken these words in and of the important reasons that mov'd them so to doe seeing you confesse page 10. that the Scripture is properly to be taken unlesse the proper sense be dissonant from the scope of the text or contrary to the analogie of Faith or honesty of manners neither of which hath been prov'd of the proper sense of these words nor of any of the Prophecies upon which you strive so much to impose a figurative sense And as you have not brought a reason to remove my doubting in this former passage so you have not prov'd the reason of my doubting in the other to be naught For in saying that albeit the vaile be not taken away from all the Jewes and from all of all the Nations in which sense it shall never be taken away c. yet certainly it is taken away from the Jewes and from all Nations to wit so many of them as turne to the Lord c. In saying thus you say nothing to the purpose for was it not thus when the Prophet spake these words was not the vaile then taken away from as many of the Jewes and of other Nations as were then turn'd unto the Lord And when St. Paul said Even unto this day when Moses is read the vaile is upon their heart neverthelesse when it shall returne unto the Lord the vaile shall be taken away were there not then more Jewes converted to the Christian Faith then have been ever since and yet the Apostle saith that the vaile was then upon their hearts and speaks of the removing of it from them as of a thing to be done and not then done although those were then converted which God had appointed to be then converted And therefore the Apostles words are to be understood of the removing of the vaile from all the Jewes and not from some onely And the Prophet saith likewise that God will destroy the Covering cast over all people and the vaile that is spread over all Nations which cannot be fulfill'd when onely a part of the vaile is destroy'd as you understand it but shall be when the whole vaile is destroyed And that it shall be wholly destroyed the Prophecie of Isaiah chap. 2. v. 2 3. which shewes that all Nations shall goe up to the mountaine of the Lords house to be taught in his wayes and the same Prophets words ch 11. v. 9. for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the Sea And the Prophecies which shew that all Nations shal goe up to Jerusalem to worship doe with the preceding Prophecie joyntly testifie and therefore this first clause of your parenthesis doth flatly denie what God doth frequently affirme And the Scripture which you have alledg'd is us'd onely as a daring glasse to dazzle the eyes of the heedlesse or unlearned Reader for that of Tit. chap. 2. ver 11. hath relation to the severall ages Sexes and conditions of men as the preceding verses doe shew so that to all men there is no more then to all sorts of men young and
because you could not shew the accomplishment of this Prophecy touching the Jewes you tell us that Interpreters doe shew the accomplishment of the Prophecy touching the Assyrian at the end of this chapter and that that Prophecy speakes not of them whose captives the Jewes now are No Doe none of the Jewes then continue captives in Assyria surely the reports and writings of Travellers and Traffickers in those parts doe testifie the contrary And what though the Emperiall power hath been translated from one Nation to another since the Jewes were carried captives by the Assyrian yet may we truely affirme that the Jewes remaining in that Countrey are now captives to the Assyrian because by the Assyrian in the Prophecy is meant the Inhabitant of Assyria whither the Jewes were first carried captives of whom the Lord hath said I will breake the Assyrian in my Land and upon my mountaines tread him under foot thâ—â— shall his yoake depart frâ—â—â— off them that iâ— from off the Jewes and his burden from off their shoulders And have Interpreters shewed the accomplishment of this according to the Prophets meaning Me thinkes then you should not have hid it from us for the story is worth the hearing which can shew when the Jewes were in their owne Land wholly set free from the bondage which the Assyrian first brought them into and the Assyrian himselfe made subject to them And what though no Jewes were now captives in Assyriae what were this to the aforesaid Prophecy touching the Jewes redemption which speakes indefinitely of their deliverance from their oppressours and of their taking them captives whose captives they were and not particularly of the Assyrian or of any other Nation It followes neither know we whose captives they are seeing they live as free Subjects wheresoever they are But doe you know that God calls them captives and their dwelling in strange Countreys a captivity this then would have made you account them captives too if you had had but a graine of that divine reverence towards Gods word of which you would make others beleeve that you have no small measure And what was it that made the Jewes captives at first was it not the losse of their Countrey and their living under the dominion of another people and doth not this still continue upon them wherein then are they now lesse captives then they were heretofore what priviledges have they now which they enjoyed not under Nebuchadnezzar Cyrus Dâ—mius Artaxenxes Ahasuerus and others It seemes then that you take them not for captives unlesse they should be put under great slavery under an Egyptian bondage This indeed were to make their captivity more grievous and burdensome unto them but captives they are withâ—ut this and God onely knows how soone also the civill power under which they live may be turned against them The 2 Particular He tooke our nature on him as well to performe his Kingly office therein amongst us as his Priestly or Propheticall the glory of this being c. Mr. Petrie's answer It is manifest that he reigneth in us seâ—ing the faithfull can say with the Apostle Gal. â— 20 The life which I now liâ—â— I live by faith in the Sonne of God and Christ lives in mee but that the glory of an earthly Kingdome is the reward of his contempt and torment we cannot thinke seeing such a glory is not answerable to his sufferings who being equall with God made himselfe of no reputation and humbled himselfe even to the death of the Crosse Wherefore his reward is not deferred so long but now God hath exalted him highly and given him a name which is above every name Phil. 2. And he for the joy that was set before him endured the Crosse and is set downe at the right hand of the Throne of God Heb. 12.2 which is a greater honour then of an earthly throne Reply It is manifest that the faithfull before Christs incarnation could say also as well as we The life which we now live we live by faith in the Sonne of God and Christ lives in us For they were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea and did eate the same spirituall meate and drinke the same spirituall drinke which we doe for they dranke of the spirituall rocke that followed them and that rocke was Christ 1 Cor. chap. 10. ver 2 3 4. So that if you will call the adoption sanctification regeneration and justification of the Saints a reigning which the Apostle calls a living Christ doth no otherwise reigne over them now then he did from the beginning of the world to wit by his holy Spirit But the reigne in quâ—stion is his reigning visibly in his humane nature on earth In which sense it is and for which end it was that he was borne a King an heire apparant to the Throne of David For unlesse he had been to reigne as man on earth and as the Sonne of David over Israel there had been no more necessity of his being borne of that Tribe and Family of the Jewes which had sole interest and title to the Crowne of Israel to qualifie him for the execution of his Kingly office in your spirituall sense for the distributing of his Spirit unto and the guiding of the Church therewith then there was of his being born of the Tribe of Levi to fit him for the execution of his Priestly office in laying down his life for our sine and making intercession for us now unto the Father And as Herods destroying of the Infants of purpose to destroy our Saviour that he might thereby translate the Kingdome of Israel from the House of David and fasten it to himselfe and his Posterity had been a plot as sottish as it was savage if he had not understood that the Scepter did belong onely to our Saviour So doubtlesse if he had not therein truely conceived what King Christ should be the Evangelists would as well have recorded that Herods misapprehension of our Saviours Kingdome was the occasion of his bloudy fact as he hath related his malicious attempt to defeate our Saviour of his right And although we doe not say that this Kingdome of our Saviour on earth is all the reward of that contempt and torment which he hath endured for us yet we say that it is all the reward which he is to have here on earth And we say also that this reward is very agreeable though not equall to his sufferings that I say God hath very righteously appointed that our Saviour should by the Posterity of the same persons be there worshipped and obeyed where by their Predecessours he had been so scornefully despightfully handlâ—de and that at the end of this reigne he shâ—uld there judge those persons also who had formerly adjudged him to death And the scriptures which you have brought doe not gaine say this for that Heb. 12.2 doth shew onely what reward he hath aâ—ready in heaven and so doth the 9 ver of the 2
by the Father and sometimes Christs Kingdome because as man he is to reigne visibly in it and sometimes the Kingdome of God because Gods power shall be revealed after a wonderfull manner at the setting of it up and because none but God Lawes shall be observed in it and sometimes the Kingdome of heaven because the chiefe governours of it shall come from heaven and because it shall be of an heavenly condition in regard of the holnesse and righteousnesse thereof for as our Saviour and the glorified Saints shall then as perfectly doe Gods will on earth as it is now done by them in heaven so shall their righteous judgement occasion a more righteous dealing amongst all others over the whole earth then was ever yet observed in any particular Kingdome Israel's Redemption I know these words are taken by Interpreters for a metaphoricall expression of those joyes which we shall receive in * In heaven where the holy Jerusalem is that great City Rev. 21.10 c. distinguished to Ezek. chap. 4. ver 2. c. chap. 45. ver 1 2 3 4 5 6 7. which I take to be the modell and platforme of the city that is to be built at the Jewes redemption by these and many more differences First because the builder and maker of the one is God Rev. 21.2 but the other men shall build â—er 31.38 Ezek. 40.8 Secondly the materialls of Ierusalem which is above are all gold and precious stones Rev. 21.18 19 20 21. but the materialls of that other Ierusalem shall not be such Ezek. 40.16 17 21 c. Thirdly in this city there is no Temple for the Lord God Almighty and the Lambe are the Temple of it Rev. 21.22 but that city shall have a Temple Ezek. 40.41 c. Fourthly in this city the river of water of life proceedeth out of the Throne of God and of the Lambe Rev. 21.1 but in that city waters not the river of life though endu'd with healthfull and nourishing qualities because of the place whence they are to proceed Ezek. 47.9.12 shall issue from under the threshold of the Temple for the forefront of the house shall stand towards the East and the waters shall come downe from under the right side of the house at the South-side of the Altar Ezek. 47.1 c. Fifthly in this city the tree of Life only grows on either side of the river and beares twelve manner of fruits monethly Rev. 22.2 but by the river that shall issue out of the Sanctuary of that city shall grow all trees for meate Ezek. 47.12 Sixthly in this city there is no night they need no candle nor light of the Sun for the Lord God giveth them light and the Lambe is the light thereof Rev. 21.23.25 ch 22.5 but in that city there shall be night and the light of the Sun shall then be sevenfold Isa 30.26 ch 60.11 Seventhly this city shall descend to the new earth with which there shall be no sea created Rev. 21.1.2 but the waters which shall come from that city shall go into the sea and being brought forth into the sea the waters shall be healed Ezek. 47.8 and therefore that city is to be built before the annihilation of the first earth with which there is a sea heaven but it is a currant axiom in our Schooles Non esse a litera sen propria scripturae significatione recedendum nisi evidens aliqua necessitas cogat scripturae veritas in ipsa litera periclitari videtur That we must not forsake the literall and proper sense of the scripture unlesse an evident necessity doth require it or the truth thereof would be endangered by it and I am sure here is no such cause for which we should leave the naturall interpretation of the place yea we are by many other passages in the scripture rather compelled to sticke to it Mr. Petrie's Answer It may be doubted whether this Author hath been bred in schooles or what he calleth our schooles seeing he so abuseth rhetoricall termes as literall sense for proper sense metaphoricall sense contra-distinguisned to figurative sense and keepes no logicall canons in his arguing and I thinke he did never learne such interpretation of scripture in any approved schoole As for this rule he may see partly by that is said and shall see more hereafter that these words cannot be understood of an earthly Kingdome neither doe these fore cited compell us as he boldly saith to sticke unto the earthly sense of this text in hand Reply It may well be doubted whether pride or choler did most oversway your judgement in this answer For though I willingly confesse my selfe to be a man not worthy to be numbred amongst the learned yet unlesse I should make as little conscience of lying for an advantage as you doe you cannot chuse but know what schools I was bred in for the title page of my Book doth publish it to the world And doubtlesse these schooles have ever yeelded men as eminent for judgement as righteous in their life and as zealous for the truth as those that you have been bred in or any other schooles in Christendome besides But that which you here first indict me for is this Tâ—ar I abuse rhetoric all termes as literall sense for proper sense And I pray what Divine doth not as often or oftner use literall sense for proper sense then for the true sense whether proper or figurative and what is the meaning of literall sense in this approved Axiome but a proper sense For doubtlesse there is no necessity that can compell us to leave the true sense of the scripture although it may to leave the proper sense And yet the axiome runnes thus We must not forsake the literall or proper sense c. which being rendred according to your acceptation of the word literall the true or proper sense what sense will there be in the axiome Your next censure is That I have contra-distinguished metaphoricall sense to figurative sense But it had been honest dealing to have shewed the place or else not to have said so for an accusation without proofe doth onely declare the plaintiffe a slanderer Your third complaint is That I keepe no Logicall canon in arguing No Sir it is not for every one to doe this it is for such as you are for such as are scholars such men will observe a canonicall method in arguing and make as excellent use of logicall maximes as you have done pag. 30. of this maxime What agreeth unto any man as man belongeth unto all men The last censure is That I never learned such interpretation of scripture in any approved schoole Surely the interpretation of scripture is to be learned from God and not from man for that interpretation is most true and infallible when the coherence of the text doth point out the sense or when one scripture doth expound another of the same nature And yet I goe not alone but am accompanied with many approved Authors bred in
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 confitentene reum your owne mouth hath condemened 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 how could you expound the 14. verse there 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 〈◊〉 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 owne 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 save 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 Tribes 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 he spiritually understood 3. The 25. ver may be more easily understood in