are to read such a one as that Minister is suppos'd to be to whom our Saviour when he had clos'd the Book gave it again And this Minister has commonly under him another Servant of the Synagogue a Sacristan who looks to it and keeps all things safe and clean § VII TO these Civil and Religious Officers of the Jewish Synagogue Deacons I suppose are answerable Bishops and Deacons or Presbyters and Deacons being join'd together in the New Testament as Judges and Officers were in the old Now in the Christian Use the word Deacon or Minister is very differently applied according as the Services are different in which he is imploy'd Our Saviour is the Minister of Circumcision (a) Rom. 15.8 a King the Minister of God (b) Rom. 13.14 And the Apostles Ministers of Christ (c) 1 Cor. 4.1 But a Minister or Deacon absolutely so call'd in the New Testament is an Officer under the Bishop or Presbyter and the first appointed were the seven (d) Act. 6. Ordain'd by the Apostles with Imposition of hands These were Men of Honest Report who were to ease the Apostles of the Administration of the Charitable Revenue of the Church not to be Gatherers of the Basket I suppose or Servers of Tables for that the Apostles sure did not do before but to be Treasurers and Superintendants such as were the Seven of the Temple or the Goodmen above-mention'd of a City For though the Greek word for Ministring does sometimes signify to wait and serve at a Table yet as we just now noted it is by no means restrain'd to that low sense but is said as well of the Office of our Blessed Lord and of his Apostles and also of Kings that is of any the Noblest Administrations and may therefore answer the word Parnas in its Highest meaning Neither is it at all necessary that the Office of a Deacon should be wholly Oeconomical because it was first erected in the Christian Church on that occasion While the whole Church was yet but as one Family under the immediate Government of the Apostles and they had not yet Created any other Officers the first Officers were indeed instituted upon the first emergent want and were order'd then especially to take care of that and to manage the publick expence but they were also to be as we may well suppose subservient to the Apostles in other administrations and to Publish and Execute all their Orders For the Qualification of them was to be full of the Holy Ghost and Wisdom and certainly a Wisdom beyond that of common managery and a Spirit more than Oeconomical was then understood Though therefore those Deacons were not to give themselves up to Prayer and the word only yet they might have had their part even in those Functions as St. Stephen we find had whose Preaching the Scripture records more than his Good Husbandry and who speaking by that Wisdom and Spirit for which he was but now chosen into his Office became the first Martyr as well as first Deacon of the Gospel These Deacons it should seem were Extraordinary attending Ministerially upon the Apostles as upon the twelve Princes of Israel having been created before the appointment of any Bishops or Subaltern Presbyters But afterwards in every City where Bishops or Presbyters were plac'd the Officers of this Order were constantly subjoin'd So the Epistle to the Philippians is addressed to the Saints there with the Bishops and Deacons and so in the Epistle to Timothy after Directions given concerning Bishops there follow others immediately concerning Deacons Likewise must the Deacons (e) 1 Tim. 3.8 And there we may observe the Qualifications of the lower Office are near the same with those of the Higher and as much almost requir'd in the Deacon enough to induce us to think that some Spiritual Duty was also to be discharg'd by Him So much Reason there is from Scripture to conclude that Christian Deacons did not only Keep and Dispense the Publick Contributions as the Jewish Parnasim but that they serv'd under their Superiors even in the Ministery of the Word and Prayer as we shall certainly find them hereafter (f) Chap. VIII to be Attendant upon their Bishops upon all other Business and particularly employ'd in Assemblies in the Office of a Jewish Chasan § II. a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c Grot. in Matth. c. 10. v. 5. d Epiphan Haeres 30.11 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 d 2 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Epiph. Haeres eâd. § IV. § III. a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Visitavit Praefecit cui respondet Arabicum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Conjugat octav Inquisivit Inspexit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 exponitur per 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l The Chaldee of the Targum is much the same with the Hebrew of Rabbi Salomon m 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 § IV. a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Senatus Seignieur Alderman Vid. Selden de Synedr l. 1. c. 14. c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 k 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 De quibus consuli poterit Rhenfordius Dissertat Philolog 1. de decem Oâ—iosis Synag § 109. c. § VI. a Upon those Words of the Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 R. Salomon expounds the last by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Aben Ezra by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And upon this occasion I would only offer whether the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of St. Paul 1 Cor. 12.28 may not be understood of this Office as it was supply'd by the Deacons of the New Testament according to what is propos'd in the next Section And this the rather because the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mentioned just before these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may well be taken for Presbyters the Word in the Old Testament by which their Duty is express'd and which we translate Bear the Burden with thee Exod. 18.22 Numb 11.17 being in both places render'd in the Septuagint by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 These Offices I would suppose had in the Beginning of the Gospel the Spiritual Gifts of proper Abilities as the first Seventy Elders were endued with a Portion of Moses his Spirit which is judged too by the Jews not to have rested upon them long much less to have continued to the Order For as to the Higher Degrees with which the Apostle there begins of first Apostles secondarily Prophets to which Evangelists are subjoin'd in the Enumeration made Ephes 4.11 and thirdly Doâ—tours these also may well be taken to bear Proportion to the different Distributions of the Holy Spirit which the Masters of the Jews observe to have been made to the Authors of the Old Testament and according to which they are known to divide its Volumes The First consisting of the Five Books of Moses their great Apostle the Next of the Prophets whom they distinguish by the First as Joshua Judges c. and by the Latter as Isaiah Jeremiah c.
from Ephesus were admonished to take care of the Flock over which the Holy Ghost had made them Bishops (o) Acts 20.28 And the Presbyter of whose Ordination St. Paul speaks to Titus is in the next Verse save one stil'd Bishop (p) Tit. 1.5 7. We see therefore that the New Testament has not only taken the Name from the Old but the largeness of its signification too which is all at present I am concern'd to observe Tho' I presume this Word as well as Apostle had now a peculiar Office of which it was properly spoke and to which in the next Age it is known to have been always determin'd (q) See Ch. VIII § IV. THE next that follows for so I take leave to place in the Christian Church what some would set in equal rank is the Presbyter or Elder This Word in the Greek of the Septuagint is known answerably to the Hebrew to signifie not only a Man of Years but Authority as Words of the like import have always done in Ancient and Modern Languages a So the Steward of Abraham's House stil'd by our Translators the eldest Servant of his House who rul'd over all that he had (b) Gen. 24.2 is suppos'd to be call'd by those Interpreters the Presbyter or Elder of his House c In that Sense we have the Elders of Pharaoh's House and of the Land of Aegypt (d) Gen. 50.7 And when it is said Hezekiah took Counsel with his Princes and his mighty Men (e) 2 Chr. 32.3 in the Septuagint it is with his Presbyters and mighty Men. And in like manner by the Presbyters or Elders of the People of Israel Princes and great ones of them are understood at large (f) Num. 11.16 of which the greatest and chief were the Twelve Heads or Princes of the Tribes Of such Elders or Governours there were Seventy we know appointed by Moses at the command of God (g) Num. 11.16 17. to bear part of the burden of the Magistracy with him and to be a Council unto him endow'd therefore with a Communication of the Spirit Of this great standing Council known afterwards by the Name of the Sanhedrim the Jewish Tradition speaks very copiously and though the Scripture says nothing of any Superiority amongst those Seventy yet they tell us expresly what otherwise we must have presum'd That one of them was President of this Council and Vicegerent to Moses the Prince Such a Council as this they say sat at Jerusalem in after Ages and govern'd the whole People consisting of a Chief and Prince for that is the signification of Nasi in the place of Moses and of Seventy more one of whom was the Vicegerent of that Chief or Prince call'd by them the Father of the Council Besides this Sovereign Court sitting in the Temple there were also Inferiour Provincial Consistories according to the appointment of God in these words Judges and Officers shalt thou make thee in all the Gates which the Lord thy God giveth thee (h) Deut. 16.18 And whereas the number of these Judges or Elders is here left undetermin'd Josephus repeating the same Injunction directs them to be Seven (i) Archaeol 4.8 supposing I presume that they were so many in the times near to Moses But the Traditionary Jews will have them in every great City to have been twenty three they too as I also presume speaking from the practice of some later times Of these twenty three they tell us One was stil'd also the Nasi or Prince the Chief of that Tribe or Place and another likewise was his Vicegerent call'd also the Father of that Consistory And the like distinction we may suppose to have been between Josephus his Seven and that Two of them were a Chief and a Deputy and the other Five ordinary Elders These were the Consistories of great Cities but in lesser Districts there was as the Rabbins tell us a Magistracy or Presbytery of Three which Judg'd in lesser Matters And further it seems k there are those who sometimes go by the Name of Elders but whose chief business is to take care of the Goods of the Commnnity and whose Authority extends only to causes of voluntary Jurisdiction and these are call'd the Seven good Men of the place retaining the number though not the Power of Josephus his Magistrates The Talmudists who have been silent concerning Apostles and Bishops are very particular as we may perceive concerning Presbyters and pretend to give us a punctual account of their Creation and Office as we may see at large in Mr. Selden (l) De Syn. l. 2. c. 4 5 6. And an Abstract of what is further necessary here follows out of that very Learned Gentleman's copious Collections on this Subject These Presbyters then were of two sorts the One had a Full and the other a Limited Authority (m) Seld. de Syn. lib. 2. cap. 7. An Elder of the first kind was capable of being call'd up to the Courts of great Cities and Provinces having Authority not only to expound the Law and to resolve Cases of Consciences but to Judge in all Causes both Criminal and Civil And these were call'd Rabbi The other the Limited Elders were either such as had Power to be of one of the inferiour Consistories of Three in lesser Districts and to Judge only of Pecuniary Causes or such who were not capable of Jurisdiction and could only expound the Law or else who were not qualified to direct in the whole Law but were confin'd to particular Cases To this Office of Eldership they were ordain'd by Imposition of Hands with Words signifying the Authority committed or else by Letter-Patent or Missive And every Presbyter of the first sort was they say permitted to Ordain at first but afterwards it was not to be done but by Three and not without the leave of the Prince or Chief or by the Chief and his Vicegerent together Now there are three things concerning these Presbyters which Mr. Selden particularly remarks and which we will not therefore forget but remember as occasion shall offer The first is That no Presbyter with full Power could be Ordain'd by any out of the Holy Land for from that place only Authority in Criminal Causes could proceed and thence only a Faculty could be given that would be good thorough the whole World Whereas those whom the Head of the Captivity himself ordain'd out of that Country had Jurisdiction in none but Pecuniary Causes and were call'd only Mar or Rab and those who were ordain'd by others had Jurisdiction only in the District where they were ordained (n) Seld. Ibid. cap. 7. §. 5. Accordingly as Buxtorf observes (n2) Buxt Syn. I. 46. The Jews of Spain and the Levant do not honour themselves with the stile of Mar or Rab being content to be call'd the Disciples of the Learn'd though in Germany they make bold with those Titles and promote with the old Formality where too they have an
of Faith e though some of them were accused of Sabellianism f but only in some Rigours of Practice which he enjoyn'd as by Divine Command He absolutely forbad all second Marriages condemn'd all declining of Danger in time of Persecution made the Abstinence of the ordinary Stations to be longer and more severe dismissing their Assemblies later and allowing then a very spare Refreshment He ordered the Fast before Easter to consist of Two Weeks f 2 and besides instituted two New Lents or Seasons of Fasting g each of a Week excepting the Saturday for they fasted no Saturday but that before Easter b These and such like Ordinances he pretended to be dictated by the Holy Spirit to him and his two Prophetesses on whom the Comforter had at last according to our Saviour's Promise descended in a more plentiful manner than upon the Apostles and with fuller and more perfect Instructions Consequently those of this Sect from theâ—r pretences to the Spirit and to a stricter manner of Life took themselves to be the only spiritual Persons calling the Catholicks Carnal and Animal Men i and esteem'd the Writings of their two Prophetesses above the other Books of the New Testament k supposing them to be both the Completion and Conclusion of it and admitting afterwards no more l Of this Sect was Tertullian a Man of an austere Life and rigid Temper and a fierce Disputer but excellently Learn'd and after his peculiar fashion very Eloquent His Book concerning Fasting happens to be preserv'd where in Justification of his own Party he summs up the Opinion and the Practice of his Adversaries the Catholicks about that Matter m They accuse us saith he that we keep Fasts of our own that for the most part we prolong the time of our Stations to the Evening and that we use the Dry Diet feeding on no Flesh nor Broth nor any Juicy Fruit neither Eating nor Drinking any thing that is Vinous and that besides we then abstain from Bathing an Abstinence consequent to such a Dry Food This they object to us for an Innovation and conclude it to be unlawful either to be judg'd Heretical if it be a Humane Doctrine or to be condemn'd for false Prophecy if it pretends to be an Ordinance of the Spirit So that we are either way to be Accus'd as those who preach another Gospel For as to Fasts they tell us That certain Days have been appointed by God As when in Leviticus the Lord commands Moses That the 10th day of the 7th Month should be a Day of Propitiation saying * Lev. 2â— 27. It shall be holy to you and you shall afflict your Souls and every Soul that afflicts not it self that day shall be destroyed from among my People And in the Gospel they suppose those Days determined to Fasting in which the Bridegroom was taken away and that those only now are the days appointed in ordinary for Christian Fasts the old Observances of the Mosaical Law and the Prophets being now abolish'd for when they have a mind they can understand what is meant by that the Law and Prophets were unto John and therefore that as for any other time Fasting is to be used according to Discretion and upon particular Occasions and Causes not by the Command of any new Discipline For so did the Apostles not laying upon the Disciple any other Burden of Set Fasts and such as should be observed in common by All and consequently not of Stations neither which have indeed their Set Days Wednesday and Friday but so as that they are to be kept discretionally not by force of any Command nor beyond the last hour of the Day the Prayers then being generally ended by Three in the Afternoon after the example of St. Peter mentioned in the * Acts 10.30 Acts. But the Dry Diet our Xerophagy is they say a new Name for a new affected Duty too like the Heathen Superstition being such an Abstinence as is used to Apis and Isis and the Mother of the Gods This is his Representation of the Catholicks Thoughts concerning the Ante-Paschal Fast from which he argues in the 13th Chapter n You plead says he that the Christian Faith hath its Solemnities already determined by Scripture or Tradition and that no other Observation is to be super-added because of the Vnlawfulness of Innovation Keep to that ground if you can for here I find you your selves both fasting out of the Paschal Season besides those days in which the Bridegroom was taken away and also interposing the Half-fasts of your Stations and sometimes too living on Bread only and Water as every particular Person thinks fit You answer indeed that these things are done at your Liberty and not by Command but then you have quitted your Ground and gone beyond your Tradition when you do such things as have not been appointed you And so in the next Chapter o in answer to those who compar'd them to the Galatians as Observers of Days and Months he replies That they observe not the Jewish Ceremonies but that to the New Testament there belong new Solemnities Otherwise says he if the Apostle has abolished all Religion of Days and Times and Months and Years Why do we both Montanists and Catholicks celebrate the Paschal Season yearly in the first Month Why do we pass the fifty days following in Joy and Exultation Why do we consecrate Wednesday and Friday to Stations and Friday or Good-Friday p to Fastings Although you Catholicks also sometimes continue Saturday a day never to be fasted except in the Week before Easter for a Reason given in another place q And lastly in the next the 15th Chapter r taking notice that the Apostle condemn'd those who commanded to abstain from Meats foreseeing Marcion and Tatian and such Hereticks who would enjoin perpetual Abstinence in contempt of what the Creator had made in Vindication of their own Sect from Heresie he subjoins For how very little is the Prohibition of Meat we have made We offer to our Lord two Weeks of Dry Diet and those not whole Weeks neither Saturdays and Sundays being exempted abstaining then from such Food which we do not reject but only defer To these Testimonies of Tertullian out of this Book we may subjoin another out of his Dissertation about Prayers s Where after he has explained the Lord's Prayer and spoke of some Requisites to Prayer he then comes to censure some superstitious Observances about it and particularly taxes a Custom that had began to prevail Those who were in a Fast towards the Conclusion of their Assemblies and just before the Communion not saluting their Brethren with the Holy Kiss then always us'd on that occasion This declining to salute had been the Fashion of the Jews in their Fasts as a sign of Sorrow and is reprov'd here by Tertullian in Christians as being a kind of Ostentation of their Fasting and contrary therefore to the Direction of our Saviour which commands us not to appear to men to
find and beg the Reader 's leave again to conjecture at them from other similary cases For first a Proselyte new baptiz'd and purg'd from all his former Sin and admitted to the number of Believers but not yet receiv'd into their Station in God's House was very like to a Leper recover'd from the Plague of his Leprosy which with the Jews resembles a Sinful Life whose Flesh was as that of a Child and who being now purg'd and wash'd and restor'd thereby to the Society of his Brethren was at the distance of seven days to be readmitted into his former place in the Temple And that Solemnity was perform'd in the following manner as we know both from the Scripture and Maimonides (b) Lib. de Sacr. Iract 5. Cap. 4. The clean Leper being again wash'd in the Court of the Women and come up to the Door of the next Court the Court of the Israelites offer'd there a Sin and a Trespass and a Burnt-Offering and was then anointed with the Blood of the Sin-Offering on the tip of his Ear on the Thumb and great Toe of his right side Afterwards for this might be done (c) Ibid. cap. 5. sect 4. de Cult Divin Tract 7. Cap. 18. Sect. 8. many days after the other he was anointed with Oyl on the same parts out of the Priest's hand and what remain'd was poured on his Head And further the Purification of a Proselyte to come near to God into that Court was something of the same nature with the Consecrution of a Priest which was nothing else but his Purification to come nearer yet and to pass into another Court and how that was done we learn from Leviticus (d) Lev. 8. There was first a Bullock offer'd for their Sins and a Burnt-Offering and then after a Peace-Offering with the Blood of which Aaron and his Sons were anointed in the same parts in which the Lepers were After this with a mixture of that Blood and the Holy Oyntment they and their Clothes were sprinkled And besides on Aaron's Head if not on his Son 's too the Holy Oyntment was poured and on his Forehead as the Rabbins (e) Maim de Cult Div. Tract 2. Cap. 1. Sect. 9. Seld. de Success in Pont. lib. 2. cap. 9. tell us Moses the Consecrator made with part of it the Sign of a Cross like a Greek X they say or what we call St. Andrew's Cross For tho' the Forehead be not mention'd in the Text to be so mark'd yet it was the place on which the Plate of Gold was wore by Aaron that had on it the Inscription of the Name of God graven in it like the graving of a Signet (f) Exod. 28.36 There too one of the two Phylacteries or as the Jews stile them Praying-Dresses are now always placed hanging down from the top of the Forehead between the Eyes and having on it a Name of God (f 2) Buxt Syn. Jud. cap. 9. And there those were mark'd with a Mark (g) Ezek. 9.4 in Ezekiel who were to be spar'd by the Destroyers and mark'd they were as some of the Rabbins understand (h) Kiâ—chi in locum with the Hebrew Letter Taâ— which St. Jerome tells us was like a Cross in the old Samaritan Alphabet like to which is the last Coptick Letter of the same sound and as probably the old Greek T might be first made when it came from Phaenice the downright Stroke beginning a little higher above the transverse Answerable to this Mark of Ezekiel is that made for the same purpose in the Revelations (i) Rev. 7.2 13.16 by the Seal of the Living God upon the Forehead of the Elect as there were others who had the Mark of the Beast on their Hands or on their Foreheads the two places where the two Phylacteries of the Jews are fasten'd and as it was the Custom of the Eastern Idolaters to be mark'd with the peculiar Mark of their suppos'd Deity and particularly on the Forehead Thus was the Consecration of Aaron and his Sons perform'd and tho' the succeeding High-Priests were for some time Anointed yet as the Rabbins say they ceas'd to be so inaugurated before the first Captivity And as for the ordinary Priests that follow'd they were never admitted to their Office by a new Unction but their Consecration was in this like the Baptism of a Proselyte not to be reiterated and suppos'd to descend down upon them from their first Progenitors The Kings also of the Jews we are to remember were anointed with an Oyntment but not of the Holy Composition and those only according to their Tradition who were the First of their Race or under a question'd Title (k) Selden ut Supra litera e. Now then as the Leper and Priest were Purified much after the same fashion and as the Case of a Proselyre agrees with either of them so I am willing to suppose that his Purification was perform'd in a mix'd manner betwixt those us'd to the other two The Offerings for Sin us'd to both of them a new-born Proselyte did not want and he therefore might be purified by Oyntment as both of them were either alone or mix'd with the Blood of the Burnt-Offering which Oyntment might neither be simple Oyl nor was it to be of the Holy Sort but of another kind as that for Royal Inaugurations was The Oyntment was pour'd on the Heads of the Leper and High-Priest and also of their Kings and so I suppose it was upon the Head of the Proselyte after some parts of him had likewise been anointed with it before For as he was clean from the sinful Leprosy of his former state so he was now admitted to be one of that Holy Nation a Royal Priesthood or Kingdom of Priests and therefore I presume the Oyntment on his Head was accordingly on his Forehead drawn in some such Figure as might mark him to be Holy to God And after all it cannot be doubted but that the Priest laid his Hands upon him and blessed him that God might list up the Light of his Countenance and his Holy Spirit might rest upon him And if this was perform'd upon a Proselyte probably it was not all to be done by an ordinary Priest but the Proselytism was confirm'd by the leave and direction of the High-Priest or his Vicegerent and the Blessing at least receiv'd from a superior Hand I again confess that this Rubrick of Jewish Confirmation is drawn from Conjecture but we are sure of our Ground having their Authority that there was actually such a Confirmation of a Jewish Proselyte and we had reason from the Agreement in other parts of this great Ceremony to presume it here We know too that Things and Persons were Consecruted by Oyntment as well as by Blood that the Oyntment was us'd alone to the Priest and apart to the Leper and that the Forehead was the place with them for a Mark of the Name of God which all the Faithful were suppos'd to
Disorders before spoke of were not only disus'd but forbid The Sacramental Action as hath been said was celebrated after the Morning Prayer beginning with the Oblation of Bread and Wine and the Wine we may observe by the by was ordinarily mix'd with Water For those Creatures they bless'd God the Father through Jesus Christ and then after some Prayers and Hymns He is invok'd to send down his Holy Spirit on the offer'd Bread and Wine to sanctifie it and that it may become to the Worthy Receivers the Body and Blood of his Son m after which it was distributed by the Deacons to the People and sent also to the Absent f § II. This was the Christian Practice undoubtedly in the Primitive Church nor does it want a Jewish Pattern Our Saviour as it hath been premis'd (a) 〈…〉 took occasion from the Paschal Memorial of the Redemption of Israel out of their Egyptian Slavery to institute a commemoration of a new and far greater Deliverance of all Mankind from the enteral Bondage of Satan and â—lell And whereas it has been observ'd (b) 〈…〉 that the first Paschal Lamb of the 〈◊〉 was a Sacrifice of a mix'd extraâ—â—dinary nature being in part Propiâ—â—â—tory in part Federal and partly â—â—charistical It is likewise manifest that the Sacrifice of our Saviour was also of an eminent extraordinary kind It was a Sacrifice for Sin taken in the most strict acception being perfectly Expiatory It was also Federal for in that Blood the New Testament or Covenant was made and in that same respect it was in some sort an Offering of Peace obtaining not only Pardon but Favour for Men. And further as the succeeding Paschal Sacrifices tho' commemoratory of the First yet vary'd something from it being chiefly of an Eucharistical nature and not perform'd with the same Ceremony for neither was the Blood sprinkl'd upon the Doors of the Offerers neither was the Lamb eaten with their Staves in their Hand and in a travelling posture (c) Maim de Sacrif Pasch cap. sect ult so it is not to be wonder'd if the succeeding Commemorations of our Lord's Sacrifice tho' it was chiefly Expiatory were Eucharistical and differing also from the manner in which the first was celebrated by our Lord himself Now such a Change in the nature of the Commemoration from that of the Original Sacrifice tho' not express'd in the words of the Institution may yet be the better admitted if we find cause to suppose it because our Saviour instituting the Memorial of the Action before it was done by himself or so much as understood by the Apostles may therefore be presum'd neither to have held his Supper exactly and altogether in the same manner in which that Sacrament was afterwards to be nor clearly to have express'd its Nature but to have left the more particular Directions for it and Explanation of it to the supervening Instructions of the Holy Spirit Tho' therefore the Lord's Supper was erected out of a Paschal Supper yet the Apostles as it has appear'd did not understand it to be confin'd to that time of the year only or to the use of Unleaven'd Bread neither did they think their Duty discharg'd by an Annual Celebration of it And so in the judgment of their Disciples the Christians of the next Generation it is still more manifest that the one Supper succeeded the other not in its strict but in its general nature and as it was of the Eucharistical kind a solemn Festival kept in Thanks for a great Deliverance and for a most beneficial and gracious Covenant that as our Deliverance was not Temporary belonging to the present Age only and from an Enemy once slain but was to extend to each Person of all Generations to come and to be perpetually afforded against our continual spiritual Enemies so neither should its Recognition be restrain'd to one Season but offer'd unto our God throughout the whole Year as the Sacrifices of Praise and Thanks were us'd to be offer'd by the Jews with very frequent and solemn Devotion This therefore seems to have been the Construction of the Primitive Christians That the Sacrament of our Lord's Body and Blood answer'd to the Jewish Sacrifices of Thanks and that this Correspondence may the better appear we shall do well to recollect a little the nature and manner of such Oblations § III. THE nature of a Peace-Offering in general is well known It was the Oblation of a Sacrifice some certain parts of which were burnt on the Altar others belong'd to the Priests and the rest was return'd to be eaten by the Offerer To this Sacrifice a Meat-offering and Drink-offering were join'd and by it the Offerer pray'd for future Prosperity or thank'd for that he enjoy'd (a) Abarban Exordium Com in Levit. Edente de Viel p. 330 332. In the more solemn kind of Peace-offerings that of Thanks the Bread of the Meat-offering is expresly requir'd and particulariz'd (b) Lev. 7.13 Maim de Cult Div. Tr. 5. cap. 9. §. 17 18. and it consisted half of Unleaven'd and half of Leaven'd Bread tho' Leaven (c) Lev. 2.11 Maim de Cult Div. 4.5.1 was not so grateful to the Altar as ever to be offer'd for a Meat-offering upon it The Unleaven'd half was made into thirty Cakes each ten dress'd a several way and the Leaven'd half into ten The tenth of all that is four Cakes of the several sorts together with the Breast and Shoulder and Inwards were wav'd by the Priest in the Hands of the Offerer before the Lord. Of that Bread so wav'd some was burnt on the Altar with the Inwards and the rest with the Breast and Shoulder all which together was call'd Muram the Separated or Elevated (c2) Maim ut supra §. 12. Rab. Sal. in Exod. 29.27 Portion remain'd to be eat by the Priest and his Domesticks who joyn'd his Thanks to God with the Offerers while He likewise and his Family and Friends feasted before God on the other Nine parts with the Flesh of the Sacrifice remaining to him Portions of which he sent too abroad to his Acquaintance and to the Poor Now this Bread so offer'd being very singular for a Sacrifice by reason part of it was Leaven'd was particularly call'd the Bread of Thanksgiving d and in one case recorded in Scripture e the Bread is suppos'd by the Jews to have stood for the Living Sacrifice and to have supply'd its place And besides it is there conceiv'd that Leaven'd Bread alone was us'd as being the principal part of the Eucharistical Offering and fittest to represent the whole Now the great Entertainments as was now said of the Jews were made of their Peace-offerings on those they feasted together with their Friends at home and of those they made Presents to the absent The Invitation the False Woman makes to the Young-Man in the Proverbs (f) Prov. 7.14 is That she has a Peace-offering at home And with his Sacrifice Jethro entertain'd
and that of our Lord's Pâ—â—sion and Secondly between the Seasons that Precede both the one and the other of those Radical Fasts CHAP. II. § I. The Sacrificial Performance on the Jewish Expiation Day § II. Compar'd with that of our Saviour on His Passion Day § I. THE Day of Expiation or Attonement is with the Jews a very Great Day injoin'd by God under a very severe Sanction and observ'd by them always with a suitable Care It was appointed on the Tenth Day of their Seventh Month just six Months after the day of the Caption of the Paschal Lamb or Kid of the Goats and the Duties of it were Peculiar partly Sacrificial to be perform'd by the High Priest partly Devotional incumbent on the People The Sacrificial Office proper to the Day was proper to the High Priest (a) For this and the whole Section see Levit. 16. and he only and on that day only was allow'd to enter within the Vail into the Holy of Holies Besides the Propitiation he was then to make for himself and his House He was to make an attonement for the People of the Congregation and that was done by two Kids of the Goats for a Sin-Offering These two Goats were to be alike according to the Tradition both by the Jews (b) Maim de Cult Div. Tract 8. Cap. 5. §. 14. and by Barnabas (c) For this and what follows from Barnabas see Repart 1. Ch. 11. §. 2. lit d. and to be presented before the Lord at the Door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation There the High Priest cast Lots upon them one Lot for the Lord and the other Lot for the Scape Goat for Azazel suppos'd by some to be Satan d and the heads of both of them he bound about with two narrow pieces of Scarlet (e) Maim Ibid. 8.3.4 With the blood of that which was offer'd to the Lord he enter'd into the House and within the Vail to sprinkle it before the Mercy Seat and while he was in the House no one else was to be there no not in the space between the Altar and the House as the Rabbins say (f) Maim Ibid. 6.3.3 On the other Goat he laid both his hands and confess'd over him all the Iniquities of the Children of Israel and all their Transgressions in all their Sins in a Form the Misnah pretends to give (g) Codex Joma Sheringhami c. 6.2 putting them on the Head of the Goat and then he deliver'd him bearing all those Iniquities and Accurs'd as the Traditions of Barnabas call him into the hand of a Fit Man Ready and Bold I suppose h or an Executioner who was to be a Stranger not an Israelite says Maimonides (i) 〈◊〉 p. 8â— 7 to be carried into the Wilderness The People therefore spitting upon him and Goading him on as Barnabas tells us they were bid to do and the Misnah says (k) Joma 6.4 there were those who were ready to pluck him by the hair and cry Away be gone though they were kept off from so doing by the contrivance of a narrow passage In this manner he was lead into the land not inhabited to a Rock call'd Zuk l where his Leader they say i dividing the Piece of Scarlet put half of it on some point of the Rock on a Thorn m says Barnabas and ty'd again the other half between the Horns of the Goat and so push'd him down headlong to be broke to pieces by the Fall § II. Such an Annual Expiation Day was appointed for the Jews and its Sacrifice whereby the Attonement was made for the Sins of that Year was so Perform'd There was in like manner a certain Day appointed to come in its due time when an Attonement should be made for the Sins of the whole World not of one Nation only or of one Year or Age by a Priest supereminently High and with a Sacrifice truly singular and extraordinary and of it self deserving to be accepted The Day of our Saviours Passion every good Christian believes to have been the Day of the Expiation of Mankind And that he in that Sacrificial Action was both the Priest and the Sacrifice the whole Tenor of the Epistle to the Hebrews positively avows He is there said to be a merciful and faithful High Priest making Reconciliation for the Sins of the People (a) Hebr. 2.17 the High Priest of our Profession (b) 3.1 our Great High Priest who is pass'd into the Heavens (c) 4.14 Call'd of God as was Aaron after the Order of Melchisedech (d) 5.4 10. invested with an Vnchangeable Priesthood (e) 7.24 a High-Priest who is set on the right hand of the Throne of the Majesty in the Heavens (f) 8.1 And this High Priest was of necessity to have something to offer says the Apostle (g) 8.3 He therefore enter'd once into the Holy Place not by the Blood of Goats and of Calves but by his own Blood having obtain'd eternal Redemption for us (h) 12. and thorough the Eternal Spirit offer'd himself without spot to God (i) 14. For Christ is not enter'd into the Holy Places made with hands which are the Figures of the True but into Heaven it self now to appear in the Presence of God for us Nor yet was He to offer himself often as the High Priest entreth into the Holy Place every year with the blood of others but now once in the end of the World hath he appear'd to put away Sin by the Sacrifice of Himself being once offer'd to bear the Sins of many (k) 9.24 So are we sanctified thorough the Offering of the Body of Jesus Christ once for all (l) 10.10 who after he had once offer'd one Sacrifice for Sins for ever sat down on the right hand of God (m) 12. For by one Offering He hath perfected for ever them that are Sanctified (n) 14. Thus exactly adequate is the Correspondence between the Propitiations of the Old and New Covenant as it stands propos'd to us by the Divine Writer to the Hebrews Our Saviour is asserted to have been the High Priest and on his Passion Day to have officiated for us to have offer'd the Sacrifice of Himself to have bore our Sins in his own Body and with his own Blood to have enter'd into the Holy Place not made with hands and to have appear'd as before the Mercy Seat in the Presence of God Thus much of the Analogy the Apostle has expresly laid down and it may very naturally be carried further The Author therefore of the Epistle ascrib'd to Barnabas (o) Barn Ep. Cap. 7. and Tertullian after him (p) See Repartit 1. Chap. 11. §. 3. lit e. have both took notice that the two Kids of the Goats were chosen alike in as much as both of them were equal representatives of our Blessed Lord and that he was as that clean unspotted one which was offer'd to God and whose Blood was carried