The first part takes in all that happened after Moses 'till the establishment of the Kingdom which is related in the Books of Joshua Judges Ruth and the First Book of Samuel The second contains the History of the Kings of Juda and Israel 'till the Destruction of Samaria and Jerusalem The third contains an Account of what passed during the Jewish Captivity and after their re-establishment Now there is not one of these Books which concern the History of this People in one or other of these Epocha's which has not certain Characters of the truth of its Relations by the necessary Connexion which it has either with those Events which went before it or with those which follow'd it and this by a natural and immediate dependance This ought to be confirm'd by some Observations The Book of Joshua which contains the Conquest and division of the Land of Canaan is the Execution of Moses's design who brought the People of Israel out of Egypt to go and make themselves Masters of a Countrey which the Jews pretend that God promised to Abraham The Division of this Land amongst the Tribes is the Title which each Tribe had to its Possessions in it and this Division subsisted a great while very distinct and well known by the several Tribes of this People There happened no considerable Change but only when the Kings of Assyria carried the Ten Tribes into Captivity after the taking of Samaria in the Three thousand two hundred and eighty third year of the World The Country continuing in the same state under the two remaining Tribes without any Change ensuing upon their Transportation into Babylon as I have observed in the Nineteenth Chapter of my Reflexions upon Exodus and the following Books This Book has a very natural Influence upon the following Books as is manifest from the History of the Alliance which the Gibeonites got from the Jews by surprize It serves for a foundation to all that happened for Four hundred and thirty years after in David's Reign under whom the Commonwealth being already changed into a Monarchical Government had in all appearance undergone a great Alteration The Book of Judges has an essential Relation to the Books of Moses and Joshua the most part of the Captivities of the People of Israel being a Consequence of their Quarrels with the Nations which they had subdued or with their Neighbours as the Moabites and Ammonites descended from Lot who were jealous of this People that was descended from Abraham There we may see for Instance the Israelites upon the Defensive part because God forbad them to set upon the Moabites and the Ammonites whereas these last pretended that Israel had usurped some part of their Country It must be granted that there is nothing so remarkable markable as the Actions of these Judges whom God raised up to deliver his People from those different Captivities through which they passed for Three hundred fifty six years together But we may find the Memory of some of them preserved by those publick Hymns which were famous throughout the Nation and by these illustrious Monuments of their Judicial Authority which were preserved amongst them and which kept up a Remembrance of them amongst the Israelites and the Neighbour Nations For this ought to be observed with care That since the Jews could not invent any thing upon this Head which would not be well known by all the Neighbouring Nations as the Tyrians who kept up their own Government 'till Alexander's time who subdued them intirely and the Moabites whose Empire continued for Fourteen Ages after Lot's time until the Destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar it was not easie for any fabulous Relations in this matter to obtain Authority The Book of Ruth seems not to have any thing considerable but the Conversion of Ruth a Moabitess who rely'd upon the hopes of the House of Juda out of which she had marry'd her Husband But we may take notice of three things besides 1. Of the exact Practise of that Law which obliged them to marry the Widow of a Relation who dy'd without Issue 2. Of their lively remembrance of the Deeds of their Ancestors as of Juda's Incest with Thamar which was look'd upon however as a fountain and a pattern of Blessings 3. Of the Lineage of David whom this Author represents as deriving his Pedigree from a Moabitess which not making much for the Honour of a King of Israel do's at the same time confirm the Truth of the Relations which are contained in that Book The First Book of Samuel contains the History of Eli's and Samuel's Judicatures of the change of the Government from a Commonwealth to a Monarchy under Saul of David's Anoynting Saul's Rejection and Death The Second contains the History of David his Victories his design of building a Temple a design which God left to Solomon to execute his Wars with the Ammonites his Crime with Bathshebah his Son Absalom's Insurrection against him and his great Successes against his Enemies There is nothing in these two Books which has not an exact Connexion with what went before and what follows One see 's throughout an exact Relation to the Law of Moses One see 's throughout Monuments set up in several Places to preserve the memory of particular Actions One see 's also in the Wars of the Israelites with their Neighbours a constant Series of those old Differences which were the Fruits of the Jealousie of these Nations against the Children of Israel The Books of the Kings which the Jews reckon but as one Book contain an Abridgment of Solomon's Establishment in the Place of David of the Glory of his Empire which was carried by David to the Banks of Eüphrates according to the ancient Prophecyes of his Marriage with the King of Egypt's Daughter of the Building of the Temple and his own Palace with the help of Hiram King of Tyre One see 's the manner of the Queen of Sheba's visit to Solomon of his Alliances with the Moabites the Ammonites the Edomites the Zidonians and the Hittites thinking by these Marriages to have put an end to the old Quarrels between his People and these Nations who were jealous of the People of Israel All this was done in the Forty years of Solomon's Reign and as there never was so famous a Reign in Judea so never was there any of which there are left so many Monuments as well there as in the Neighbouring Countreys One see 's afterwards in the same Book the Division of Solomon's Empire into two Governments that of Juda which continued from Solomon's Death during the Reign of Eighteen Successors for Three hundred eighty six years to the taking of Jerusalem by Nebuchaanezzar and that of Israel form'd by Jeroboam which lasted Two hundred fifty four years under the Reign of Nineteen Successors until the taking of Samaria the Capital City of the Kingdom of Israel The History of the Chronicles which was written about Twenty six years after that of the Kings carries
of one that was Blind and another that was Lame at Alexandria He that would know the Particulars may consult Tacitus his History And last of all we ought to observe That the Jews do not only agree that this Oracle of Isaiah refers to the Messiah but they also still propose the Power of working Miracles as a Character which would render the Messiah very illustrious and certainly known CHAP. XVII That the Messiah was to be an illustrious Prophet THis Truth I have already asserted in the Reflexions I made on the Prophecy of Moses Deut. XVIII But one ought to explain this Character of the Messiah more particularly God having been pleased further to illustrate this Oracle of Moses First then We say that the word Messiah implies Anointing which was common to Kings Prophets and Priests and since David's time we find nothing more common than this Title in the Books of the Old Testament where we may observe that Moses was dignified with this Gift of Prophecy and that Samuel communicated the same to Saul and David when he anointed them to be Kings Yea the Jews to this day are of opinion that Elias the Prophet shall anoint the Messiah that is initiate him in his Prophetical as well as his Royal Function Secondly God more precisely signifies this Isai XI Vers 1 2 3. where he declares he would communicate all the necessary Gifts of the Prophetical Function to the Messiah There shall come forth a Rod out of the stem of Jesse and a branch shall grow out of his Roots And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding the Spirit of Counsel and Might the Spirit of Knowledge and of the Fear of the Lord. So that he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes neither reprove after the hearing of his ears These words need no Commentary For the Jews refer them constantly to the Messiah and they plainly import that he was to be a great Prophet forasmuch as all the Characters which are there given to the Spirit which was to rest on the Messiah are the same which in the Old Testament we find attributed to the Prophets and may easily be taken notice of in the History of the Prophets especially of David and Solomon And much to the same purpose is that passage Isai XLII vers 1 2 3 4 5 6 and 7. Behold my Servant whom I uphold mine Elect in whom my Soul delighteth I have put my Spirit upon him he shall bring forth Judgment to the Gentiles He shall not cry nor lift up nor cause his voice to be heard in the street A bruised Reed shall he not break and the smoking Flax shall he not quench he shall bring forth Judgment unto Truth He shall not fail nor be discouraged till he have set Judgment in the Earth and the Isles shall wait for his Law. Thus saith God the Lord he that created the Heavens and stretched them out he that spread forth the Earth and that which cometh out of it he that giveth breath to the People upon it and spirit to them that walk therein I the Lord have called thee in Righteousness and will hold thine and will keep thee and give thee for a Covenant of the people for a Light of the Gentiles to open the blind eyes to bring out the prisoners from the prison and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house In which Oracle one ought to take notice particularly of those things which the Jews apply to the Messiah 1. That God proposes the Gifts of the Spirit which he bestowed upon him as an Effect of his Love and the choice he had made of him 2. That the Messiah was to make use of the same as Rules for reforming the Country and propounding Gods Covenant to the Gentiles which clearly suppose the necessity of the Gift of Prophecy to qualifie him for such great Undertakings 3. That contrary to the thundring Character which distinguished the rest of the Prophets who were as so many publick Censors the Messiah was to speak with all meekness and sweetness to the Nations which should receive his Preaching One see 's that Isaiah repeats the same Idea's Chap. LXI vers 1 2 3 4 5 6 and 7. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek he hath sent me to bind-up the broken hearted to proclaim liberty to the Captives and the opening of the Prison to them that are bound To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of Vengeance of our God to comfort all that mourn to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion to give unto them Beauty for Ashes the Oyl of Joy for Mourning the Garment of Praise for the Spirit of Heaviness that they might be called Trees of Righteousness the planting of the Lord that he might be glorified And they shall build the old Wasts they shall raise up the former Desolations and they shall repair the waste Cities the Desolations of many Generations And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks and the sons of the Alien shall be your Plowmen and your Vine dressers But ye shall be named the Priests of the Lord men shall call you the Ministers of our God ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles and in their glory shall ye boast your selves For your shame ye shall have double and for confusion they shall rejoyce in their portion therefore in their Land they shall possess the double everlasting joy shall be upon them In short he represents in this and the former Oracle the Gentiles as a People being in darkness and in the misery of a Prison from whence we may easily infer First That the Messiah was to be a Prophet how vile and abject soever that Character might appear in the eyes of the World as I have shewed that it was where I spake of the Prophets in general Secondly That he was to discharge these Functions during the whole course of his Life and that it was to be his chief Employment here upon Earth David had before signified Psalm XXII verse 22. that the Messiah was to declare the Name of God unto his Brethren viz. the Jews by exercising his Prophetical Function in Judea but the Holy Spirit did something more when he seem'd to point out Galilee as the place where this Sacred Doctor was chiefly to fix his abode This is in effect insinuated when God tells us that he was to begin his Ministerial Functions in the Tribes of Naphtali and Zebulon Isai IX vers 1 2 and 3. Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation when at the first he lightly afflicted the Land of Zebulon and the Land of Naphtali and afterwards did more grievously afflict her by the way of the Sea beyond Jordan in Galilee of the Nations The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light they that dwell in the land
therefore that occurs in this Matter consists in the proof of those Facts which the Christian Religion propounds to us that is to say in proving the Creation of the World the Fall of Man the Promise of a Redeemer his coming into the World his Miracles Death Resurrection Ascension into Heaven c. which are the Foundations of the Christian Religion And indeed these are the very matters of which Atheists and Libertines require a solid proof And it doth the more concern us to satisfie their demands forasmuch as the Jews who are scatter'd throughout the whole World do oppose our assertion that the Promise of sending the Messiah is already accomplish'd tho' they agree upon the matter with us in all other Articles Moreover the performing this Task may very much contribute to the Conversion of a great number of bad Christians whose sall and continuance in vices and licentiousness is to be ascrib'd to their being so weakly perswaded of the truth of these Fundamentals and that because they have never consider'd of them with sufficient attention CHAP. II. That the Christian Religion is founded upon Proofs of Mattter of Fact. FOrasmuch as in order to establish the truth of the Christian Religion we confine our selves at present to those proofs which make out the Matters of Fact it proposes omitting all other arguments which may evidence the truth of it tho' possibly no less convincing it is obvious that the proofs we are to produce in confirmation of them must be such as are proper to evince the truth of things long since past and done If we were treating of the Events of the time we live in it might be justly required that we should produce Eye-witnesses of them but forasmuch as the question here is concerning matters long since past it is natural for us to have recourse to History which furnisheth us with the relations of those who where Eye-witnesses of the same This being the only way left us to confirm our belief of things at so great a distance from us I am beholding to History only for the knowledg I have of a Cyrus an Alexander or a Caesar and yet having read the account they give me of them I find them matters I can no way rationally doubt of I acknowledg that the certainty we have of things long since past is much inferiour to that which we have of matters confirm'd to us by Eye-witnesses Nevertheless because it is evident that the Events of ancient Times cannot be confirm'd but by proofs of this nature it has never entred into the minds of any to account the existence of such men as Cyrus and Alexander for Fables upon the pretence that none now alive did ever see them or because there are scarce any traces left of those Empires of which they were the Founders Indeed the certainty we have of these things is such as nothing can be superadded to it for tho' it be founded on the Authority of Historians who liv'd many Ages ago yet withal we are to consider that the matters related do not only carry the Idea of probability and truth along with them but that they are the very ground and foundation of all the Histories of following Ages which cannot be questioned if we consider the connexion and dependance of the things related according to the light of Sense and the equity of Reason A Matter of Fact then is accounted certain when it is attested by those who were Eye-witnesses of it when recorded by an Historian who liv'd amongst those who had perfect knowledg of it when the Matter is not gainsaid or contradicted by any if we find it pen'd at a time when the things could not be related by any otherwise than indeed they were without exposing themselves to publick derision And last of all when the matter is found to be of that nature as none could be ignorant of it either because it was the interest of every one to be inform'd of it or because the thing was so publick that it could not be hid from any or lastly because of its natural connexion with all those other Events which necessarily depend on it To speak plain it is very unjust to demand either more proofs or such as are of another nature for the confirmation of the Truth of our Religion than are required to verisie any other matters of Fact. Why should not the Testimony of Noahs Children be sufficient to conclude there was such a man as Methusalem in case they assure us that they have seen him Or why should not the testimony of Methusalem be of credit enough to prove there was such a Man as Adam if he avers that he saw him and convers'd with him Do'nt we every day give credit to the account which old men give us of their Predecessors especially when we find that what they relate hath an exact reference and connexion with those things we are Eye-witnesses of But it is an easie thing to make it appear that the proofs which evidence the Truth of the matters which our Religion proposeth are infinitely more strong and convincing All the circumstances we can imagine proper to evince the Truth of any Relation do concur to place the matters recorded in Holy Scripture beyond the Reach of doubt or uncertainty We account the single Testimony of an Historian a sufficient proof that there was once a very famous Temple at Delphos or Ephesus notwithstanding that all the Monuments remaining at this day to confirm his relation be very doubtful and defective Whereas I shall make it appear that an entire Nation yea many Nations do attest the truth of those Matters which the Christian Religion proposes and that all the Actions Discourses and whole Series of Events thereto relating do furnish us with an infinite number of characters which invincibly signalize the Truth of the Holy Scrïptures CHAP. III. Some General Remarks in order to establish the Truth of Holy Scripture FOrasmuch as I have undertaken to prove the truth of the Matters of Fact contain'd in our Religion from the testimony of the Pen-men of the Old and New Testament it will be proper in order to the executing of my design to begin with a general proof of the Truth of the said Books which will not be difficult if one makes the following remarks The First is That it appears from the Five Books of Moses that he wrote the History of the Creation of the World and of the Promise of the Messiah of the Deluge the Rise and Pedigree of the several Nations of the World of the Division of Tongues and in particular the History of the Family of Abraham until the entring of the Children of Israel into Palestina 2552 years after the Creation of the World. The Second is That the following Books viz. of Joshua Judges Ruth the four Books of Kings of Chronicles with the Books of Ezrah and Nehemiah are a Continuation of the said History from the entring of the Jews into Palestina until their
re-establishment in the said Country about the year of the World 3600. Here we read the Conquest of Palestina under the Conduct of Joshua how it was divided amongst the Tribes after they had destroyed drove out or subdued the Inhabitants thereof how often they were brought into bondage by the bordering Nations whose rise and pretensions Moses sets down Here we have recorded the several Names and actions of the Judges which God from time to time raised to the Israelites to restore them to their first estate Here we have an account of the establishment of a Kingly Government amongst them which happened about the year 2909 as likewise of the division of this people into two Kingdomes which for three Ages together were most opposite in their interests and made great wars against each other as well as against their neighbouring States We find here the utter ruin of the most puissant of these two States viz. That of Israel by the Arms of the Kings of Assyria about the year of the World 3283 and after that the destruction of that of Judah by Nebuchadnezar King of the Chaldeans Anno Mundi 3283. And last of all we have an account of the Jews Restoration by Cyrus King of Persia and the State of the Jews under his Successors The Third thing observable is That in the remaining Books of the Old Testament we find several historical Relations relating to both Kingdomes with several prophecies relating to their decay and restoration as likewise many Discourses of Morality and Piety and that all these relations and prophecies appear to have been writ at such a time and with those circumstances which have a natural reference to what the other Books recite to us and an essential Relation to the Books and Laws of Moses which we find to be the foundation of all these prophesies relations and whatsoever else we find there concerning their Government or Religion The Fourth is That the Books of the New Testament contain an exact relation of the Life of Jesus Christ who appeared to the World under the Reign of Tiberius of the establishment of his Religion in the World together with some disputes with the Jews who refused to own him for the Messiah promised by the Prophets and lastly Prophesies declaring what in in process of time was to happen both to the Jews and Christians until the end of the World. These Books take the Truth of Moses's Writings every where for granted as also of all the other Sacred Writings of the Old Testament both Historical Prophetical and Moral These Four particulars do in a manner give us an intire Idea of the Holy Scripture and we shall scarcely stand in need of ought else to manifest the Truth of those Writings if we consider those undisputable matters of fact I am now to speak of and will but make some very natural reflexions upon them The First is That the Christians notwithstanding their being divided into several Sects and Parties presently after our Saviours time have and do still in all places every first day of the Week read the Books of the New Testament translated into their respective Languages so that it appears absolutely impossible that any spurious Writings should have been slipt in amongst them The Second is That as the Christians have had the Books of the Old Testament amongst them in Greek these 1600. years so the Heathens had them in that Language 300. years before being translated by order of one of the Ptolomy's Kings of Egypt whither a considerable party of the Jews were carried after that Alexander the Great had conquered the greatest part of Asia having overthrown the Empire of Persia to which the Jews were in subjection The Third is That tho' the Jews had not all the Books of the Old Testament from the beginning of their Commonwealth they that followed the Party of Jeroboam and formed the Kingdom of Israel having only had the Five Books of Moses amongst them yet notwithstanding their irreconcilable hatred against the House of David they have most religiously preserved the said Books from Anno Mundi 3030. in which the divisions of the two Kingdoms happen'd even until this day The Fourth and last is That as the Jews every where at this day read the Books of Moses and of the Prophets each Sabbath day which is also observed by the Samaritanes and the Christians read them every first day of the week so the Jews have always continued to read them for a long series of Ages as esteeming it a great part of the sanctification of the Sabbath Besides which they also solemnly read them every seventh year in obedience to a Law of Moses as being one of the principal parts of their Religion I say that the sole consideration of these matters of fact which are indisputable are sufficient to prove in general the truth of the Books of the Old and New Testament First then I affirm that it is as ridiculous to maintain that the Books of the Old and New Testament translated into so many Languages cited by an infinite number of Authors and which have been the subject of various disputes from the very times of the Apostles or soon after should be supposititious as to aver that the Books of Justinian or Mahomets Alcoran have been falsly obtruded on the World under their names I speak now only of the Books themselves not of the truth of the History they contain Secondly It is ridiculous to suppose that the Books of the Old Testament were forged since the time of Ptolomy Philadelphus forasmuch as they have been in the hands of the Heathens themselves ever since that time Thirdly It is as inconsistent to suppose them contrived since the time of the separation of the ten Tribes from Judah because we find the Books of Moses among the Samaritanes who have preserved them ever since their Revolt without any other change but what is incident to all Manuscripts that pass through many hands I grant indeed that the Samaritans have none of the other Books of the Old Testament but this being to be look'd upon only as an effect of their departure from the Kingdom of Judah it cannot in the least shake the certainty we have of those Books For first the three other Tribes had them and preserv'd them with the greatest care esteeming them of Divine Authority Secondly there were also reasons of State which made the Kings of Israel not to regard the divisions made by Joshuah of the Land of Canaan nor the authority of the Priesthood which Reasons of State hereafter mentioned where the cause why the ten Tribes would not allow the same authority to some of those Books which were written before their Revolt as those of Samuel and the writings of David and Solomon which they did to the Pentateuch of Moses Most of the others we know were pen'd since the Division of the two Kingdomes and so did more particularly respect the Kingdom of Judah and some them after the
to shew that all their Objections do in effect serve for nothing else but to make a more lively impression of this Argument taken from Matter of fact which I have undertaken to set forth in a full and clear light CHAP. V. That Moses is the Author of the Book of Genesis I Shall in the Sequel of this Discourse make it appear that we cannot with reason contest the Authority of a Tradition which hath those Characters which we find in the Relations contain'd in the Book of Genesis The only thing that can be question'd in this matter is Whether Moses the great Captain of the Israelites and Founder of their Common-wealth be the Author of it This therefore is the thing which we ought solidly to evince Tho it seems that we might dispense with this trouble forasmuch as it is easie to shew that the greatest part of the most considerable Events which are recorded in the Book of Genesis were generally believed by others as well as the Jews At least it must be granted that these Matters have given occasion to most of their Fables viz. To that of the Chaos to that of the Marriage of Peleus and Thetis for the forming of Man to that of Prometheus to that of Jupiter's continued Laughter for the seven first days of his Life which they look'd upon as the Original of the Solemnity of the seventh day known amongst the Heathens to that of the Golden Age and of the Deluge to the Name of Deucalion to the Fable of Janus to that of the Division of the World amongst Saturn's Sons to the Name of Jupiter Hammon to the Fable of the Titans and of the changing of Women into Statues of Stone to the Stories of the Incest the Gods committed with their Daughters to that of the firing of the World by Phaeton and to a great number of other Fictions which cannot be otherwise explained as the learned have shewn at large Whosoever was the Author of Genesis whether Moses or another sure it is that he was exactly inform'd of the Matters he relates and that he lived soon after Joseph First then I say that it appears he was fully inform'd of those matters of which he treats he sets down the Names of the Heads or Fathers of the several Nations of the World and does it so that what he saith doth very well agree with what the most Ancient Historians have left us concerning that matter He speaks of these Nations of the Countreys they possest and their Kings as of things he was perfectly inform'd of He very carefully distinguishes the Original of these several Nations and the same being at that time commonly known no Historian could represent them otherwise than they were without exposing himself to the laughter of all by endeavouring to mix Fables with Relations of this nature In the Second place I say that this Book was writ by a Man that lived soon after Joseph He speaks very exactly of what Joseph did in his place of chief Minister to Pharaoh in particular he sets down the first Original of the fifth Penny which the Egyptians so many Ages after continued to pay to their Kings being a thing which no Egyptian could be ignorant of And Lastly It is visible that this Book serves for an Introduction to Exodus and the following Books which have no other Foundation but the truth of those things which are related to us there and do throughout allude and refer to the several passages of it and that all Matters of Religion and Worship contained in them are founded upon the truth of the Creation and the Promise of the Messiah which we find in Genesis and upon the truth of all those other succeeding Matters of Fact until the coming of the Children of Israel into Egypt when Joseph was chief Favourite and Minister of Pharaoh But we have yet a more easie way to make out that Moses whose History is contain'd in Exodus and the following Books is the Author of Genesis For first it cannot be deny'd that the Heathens themselves have acknowledged Moses for the most antient Law-giver for this we have the Testimonies of Plato Polemus Artapanus Pythagoras Theopompus and Diodorus Siculus who places Moses in the front of Six of the most antient Law givers thus Moses Sauchnis Sesonchosis Bachoris Amasis and Darius Father of Xerxes But further if when the Lacedemonians tell us of the Laws of their Law-giver Lycurgus and the Athenians of those of their Solon we think our selves oblig'd to believe them because naturally every Nation is suppos'd to be a faithful Depositary of the Laws of him who first founded their Government yea if we do not in the least doubt of these Relations though there be no People at this day who live according to the Laws of Lycurgus or Solon can any valuable reason be imagined for us to doubt whether Moses wrote the Book of Genesis when an entire Nation have constantly averr'd that he did so I say when all the Jews who continue at this day do in all places where they are scatter'd throughout the World equally and with one consent maintain that they received this Book from him together with the Laws and Worship therein contain'd Nay when it is notorious that many of them have suffer'd Martyrdom in confirmation of this Truth I omit now to mention the consent of the Christians who tho' they be not descended of Abraham and do not observe the greatest part of the Laws of Moses yet do not cease highly to defend this truth throughout the World the Gospel in their sense being nothing else but the literal accomplishment of that Promise The Seed of the Woman shall bruise the Head of the Serpent I shall shew in the Sequel of these my Reflexions with how much Justice they assent to this Truth but at present I tie my self only to the Testimonies of the Jews and that which confirms the Authority thereof CHAP. VI. That the Book of Genesis could not be forged under the Name of Moses I Should never have done should I go about to set down all the Observations which might be made incomparing this Book of Genesis with other Histories commonly known to the World and whose faithfulness is unquestionable Without entring upon this comparison we may boldly assert that there is no History in the World whose Author we can be so sure of as that Moses was the Pen-man of Genesis But I go further and assert that the Jews could not be mistaken in the Testimonies they give to this Truth which I prove by these two Remarks The First is That their Observations both Civil and Religious are at this day founded upon no other Principles than those which we find in Genesis As for instance they compute the beginning of their day from the preceding Evening they keep the Sabbath they observe Circumcision they abstain from eating the Muscle which is in the hollow of the Thigh c. The Observation of which Laws is indeed
decease as Gods. The third thing we are here to take notice of contains a Demonstration of the Truth of the Book Genesis if that which is recorded in it concerning the time of the Flood be compared with the Dynasties of the Egyptian Kings I will not say that those Egyptians who had any knowledge of the Flood did exactly mark out the time of it as Moses doth But I believe I may be able to shew out of their common opinion's somthing very near equivalent They are all agreed that Menes was the first King of Egypt and lived about Fourteen hundred years before the famous Sesostris as Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus do both relate it Now who should this King of Egypt be whom some call Sesonchosis unless he is the same with Shishak whom the Scripture speaks of in the History of Rehoboam 1 Kings XIV 26. even the same famous Conquerer who took Jerusalem in the fifth year of Rehoboam's Reign If one calculates the time from the Flood to the fifth year of Rehoboam he will find that this Menes the first King of Egypt is no other than the Ham of Moses and on the other side that there is very little difference in respect of that interval of time betwixt the Chronology of the Egyptians and that of the Scriptures Thus the Egyptian Account confirms Moses's Narrative and the Authority of the Holy Writers who are very particular in stating the times of every thing whereas the Egyptians taking all in great could never arrive at that exactness This Observation is of very great use to shew the certainty of Moses's Chronology according to the Hebrew Text For that of the Septuagint reckons up above two thousand years from the Flood to Sesostris whereas the Egyptians did reckon up but a little above fourteen hundred years from Menes the first King of Egypt to Sesostris There is yet less difficulty to answer the Objection which may be made against the Book of Genesis from the pretended Antiquity of the Chaldeans The same Diodorus Siculus who saith Diodor. l. 2. Sect. 30 31. that the Egyptians proposed so great an Antiquity of the World tells us also that the Chaldeans believed it eternal and that they boasted in Alexander's time that they had learnt Astronomy by Tradition from their Ancestors who had all successively made it their study for four hundred seventy two thousand years together But there is nothing vainer than these Pretences I shall not stand to shew here the folly of their Opinions about the Eternity of the World If Aristotle seems to have authoriz'd it yet it is enough to confute that Opinion to consider that it is repugnant to the common notion of all the Nations of the World So that Democritus himself who pretended that the World was made by chance yet durst not oppose the common and general Opinion of the Worlds being new tho' he had the boldness to reject the Author of it and that action by which it was Created Neither do I intend to be prolix here in confuting the supposition of the Chaldeans about their Ancestors following the Study of Astrology for 472000 year successively The impossibility of the thing in it self is apparent by the certainty of the Flood which was acknowledged by all those Nations of whom we have any Antiquities tho' never so little considerable in Pagan Authors But I shall make two Observations whereof one shews the folly of the Chaldean Hypothesis and the other doth invincibly establish the Authority of the Book of Genesis if it be compared with what we know for certain and in the Chaldean History The First is That the most Ancient Authors are of Opinion that the Chaldeans are descended from the Egyptians who lookt upon them as a Colony of their own Diodorus Siculus saith that the Egyptians maintained that they had sent out several Colonies into several parts of the World that Belus the Son of Neptune and Lybia had conducted one into Babylon and that having fixed it near Euphrates he establish'd some Priests among them according to the Egyptian Custom who were free from all publick Charges and Offices whom the Babylonians do call Chaldeans and who according to the Example of the Egyptian Priests Ap. Joseph Antiq. l. 1. c. 5. Pausan Messen P. 261. Philosophers and Astrologers did apply themselves to the observation of the Stars Hestiaeus and Pausanias say the same with Diodorus Now one needs only examine here what the Egyptians do say about the invention of Astrology which they ascribe to Menes that is to say to Ham or to Mizraim who lived after the Flood thereby to discover the Foolish Vanity of the Chaldeans It is plain that the Chaldeans grew so vain by the growth of so considerable an Empire as theirs was that they would be no longer beholding to the Egyptian Astrologers whom all other Nations have lookt upon as the first Inventors of that Science to the inventing and perfecting of which all Men know that the Egyptian Climate where the Skie is always free from Clouds did very much contribute And it is very considerable that both the Chaldeans and the Egyptians began their Year with the same Month according to Censorinus's Observation c. XXI de die Nat. I know very well the Ancient Heathens were mistaken when they pretended that the Chaldeans went out of Egypt as a Plantation There is no doubt a kind of Illusion in this their Opinion but yet the ground and Origine of it is uncontroulable because the Chaldeans are descended from Cush Ham's Eldest Son as Moses tells Gen. X. Therefore tho' we should grant that the Chaldeans were the first Inventors of Astrology yet this would be always certain that it was found out only since Ham's time whom the Egyptians did look upon as the last of their Heroes or as the first of their Kings The other Observation which ought to be well minded here is taken out of the true and genuine Chaldean Antiquities One may prove by the Astronomical Demonstrations of the Chaldeans which the People of Israel was altogether unacquainted with that Moses followed a Calculation which was then generally known Aristotle the first Grecian that ever taught the Eternity of the World contrary to Moses's History is the Man who furnishes us with it He took care to send over into Greece the Astronomical Observations of the Chaldeans by which it appeared Simplic in l. 2. de coelo that Babylon was taken by Alexander about 1903 years after its Foundation Now that Calculation agrees exactly with that of Moses Gen. XI who gives us the Description of the Tower of Babel and explains the Original of the Name of that City which was built some Ages after by the Confusion of Tongues which then happened And truly it would be very admirable that the Heavens in their Motions should have entered into a Confederacy with Moses to justifie a Chronology invented by him in sport without keeping to any Rules but writing
thing in it self there is no less Absurdity to dispute our Saviour's Resurrection than the Creation of the first Man. Now if this Argument holds as there can be no easier so neither can there be a stronger proof of the truth of the Christian Religion for provided we be once well assured of the certainty of Christ's Resurrection we must acknowledge him to be the true Messiah and consequently embrace his Religion But it seems in the heat of Meditation I was insensibly carried further in my Observations upon the Promise of the Messiah than I thought at first to be Therefore instead of passing now as I proposed in the beginning to the proof of Christ's Resurrection which is a solid and compendious way of demonstrating the truth of his Religion I find my self engaged according to my present Method to continue to make the like Reflexions upon the other Books of Holy Scripture that I may yet more fully demonstrate that Jesus Christ is the true Messiah whom God promised to Man immediately after his sin And this I intend to shew so plainly as will make it evident that God hath really accomplished his first designs and exactly performed all his Promises relating to the Messiah according to the first Idea's he gave of his coming to the Ancient Patriarchs First Then I design to trace up the Method that God was pleased to use to make the Messiah known without mistake when ever he should come into the World. Secondly I will make some Reflexions upon the several Notions he gave of him long before in his Oracles to Characterize his Person his Offices his Actions his Sufferings his Glory c. Last of all I will shew that we have all this whole Project and Design exactly accomplished in the History of the Gospel as it was written by Christ's Disciples Now as this Method which God hath particularly chosen to make the Messiah known appears also in the other Books of Moses So I think it will not be amiss for me particularly to view and examine these Books that I may have occasion to illustrate several things in them which deserve a particular attention especially when they are considered together and as it were at one view For the Prophecies being thus consider'd together in their Connexion and Progress do more plainly evidence God's Design and may better convince or confound the Jews Therefore I intend accordingly to consider those Oracles with attention and to join them together that so they may in their Conjunction cast forth the brighter Beams of Light to the Conviction of all Infidels who may happen to peruse this Book For I am perswaded that after the perusal of my Observations in it an ordinary attention in the reading of the Gospel will be sufficient to convince any Man that Jesus Christ is the true Messiah which is all I intend to prove as the Conclusion of this Treatise Now as the examination of the Patriarchs Religion according to the account Moses hath given us of it in his Book of Genesis hath taken up the first part of it so I design to examine in this second part the Israelites Religion and to follow in my search the account which Moses gives of it in his other four Books And as to effect this it is very important to establish beforehand the Authority of those four Books so I intend to shew first of all that Moses is the true Author of them and that they have Intrinsick Characters of undeniable certainty Then Secondly It will be natural for me to shew that Moses in the writing of them had the Promise of the Messiah in view as particularly promised of God to the Patriarchs of his own Nation and as being consequently the principal if not the sole Object of their hope Thirdly I intend to shew that if we seriously examine Moses's Laws we shall find in them such a Method observed as is both very agreeable to the manifestation of God s design in Genesis and very worthy of his Wisdom especially if we consider what he was pleased to reveal unto us of his Intentions by the Prophets who followed Moses REFLEXIONS Upon the Four Last BOOKS OF MOSES To Establish the Truth OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION CHAPTER I. That it cannot reasonably be doubted but that Moses is the Author of Exodus and of the three other following Books THis is a Truth which may be grounded upon several solid Arguments I might observe That Moses hath always been acknowledged by the very Heathens themselves not only to be the most Ancient Historian but also the most Ancient Legislator in the World. I might likewise observe That there is a particular connexion betwixt the Book of Genesis and the other Books of Moses as well in regard of the general Design of their Author as of the Matters treated of in them For Example We see that the greatest part of the Laws and Transactions which we find written and recorded there derive their Original from those Transactions and Passages that we read of in Genesis Thus we may plainly discern that the pretension of the Israelites upon the Land of Canaan was grounded upon the Promise that God made to Abraham to give it to his Posterity in the fourth Generation Thus we may see That the Amalekites could have no other reason to make War against the Israelites than the old Alliance that was formerly made betwixt Amalek and the Canaanites which without doubt engaged his Posterity to be the first Opposers of the establishment of the Israelites in the Land of Canaan Thus we see that the Seditions of the Israelites against Moses under Corah Dathan and Abiram did proceed from the Order of the Birth of the Children of Israel as it is set down in Genesis because the eldest thinking themselves wrong'd of their Birthright thought they might justly Rebel against Moses in order to recover it But I haste to things more material than these And first it is here observable That those Books were not only religiously kept in every Family of Israel but that they were also once solemnly deposited in the Tabernacle as a publick Record and that by Moses himself a little before his death that they might be a Testimony against that People as we read it Deuteronomy XXXI 26. Secondly It cannot be denied that Moses did straightly charge both Joshuah and the Heads of the People to read them frequently and carefully for it is expresly said so Joshua 1.8 Nay we see about 500 years after the holy Man David who had made during his life Psal I. the supream felicity of a man to consist in the reading the Law of God day and night We see I say that holy Man give in his Death-bed the same Charge to Solomon I Kings Thirdly Moreover it is certain that there were many Laws and Sanctions contained in those Books which are the Foundation of the History of succeeding Times And this is the reason why we read nothing in the Book of
any thing to them as we see it Deuteronomy IV. 2. It is then impossible seeing that the whole people of the Jews have always acknowledged the Divine Authority of those Books that they should ever have attempted the alteration of any thing in them Nay we see not without wonder that after the greatest part of the ten Tribes of Israel were transported into Assyria those that were sent from Assyria to inhabit their Countrey did receive that Law and that their Posterity have kept it all along to this day as uncorrupted as the Jews altho' they continue their Mortal Enemies and have been exposed to all the Changes and Revolutions that can befal a Nation during the long interval of 2400 years The Third Observation which deserves a singular Attention is That notwithstanding the great and many Corruptions which the Common-Wealth of Israel fell into yet these Books have still been kept up in the same form that we have them now It appears out of the History of Josiah related 2 Kings XXIII 21. That after the Book of the Law of Moses own writing was found in the Temple the King commanded all the People to keep the Passover unto the Lord as it is written in the Book of this Covenant Now we have the Institution of the Passover Exod. XII which shews that Josiah by the Book of this Covenant meant the Books of Moses such as we have them now adays and such as they were when Moses deposited them into the Sanctuary It is important to consider well all that is related in the forementioned Chapter of II Kings for we may gather out of it that it was according to the Directions of this Law that they began to reform all the Superstitions and Idolatries which had been introduced in their Religion and countenanced by the Royal Authority from Solomon's time to Josiah this Chapter relates and commends the proceeding of Josiah only in opposition to the ill government of his Predecessors and to the publick Monuments of their Superstitions which he abolished in obedience to God's Laws contained in the Books of Moses However it is certain that it was no easie matter to impose herein upon Posterity For First The Transactions recorded in the Books of Moses did not only relate to the People of Israel but also to most of the Neighbouring Nations Secondly The Memory of them continued so lively and universal that almost 1500 years after Moses the Names of those Magicians spoken of Exod. VII 11. were as yet known not only amongst the Jews as we see it by an express Passage of S. Paul who speaks of them Hist Nat. l. 30. c. 1. and mentioneth their Names 2 Tim. III. 8. but also among the Heathens as both Pliny and Numenius do attest it I point only at those general Proofs at present because I have already made use of them and shew'd their force in my Observations upon Genesis and because I intend to repeat and improve some of them hereafter in this Treatise But now in order to follow my present design I must come to the more particular Consideration of the things contained in these Books which will much conduce to the Confirmation of the same Truth CHAP. II. That both the Character of Moses 's Person and the nature of the things he relates has always made men read his Books with attention The Subject of some Books is such as that alone would recommend them to the attention of any Reader tho' their Author had no reputation in the World but when besides the importance of their Subject the Author of them is famous and of great repute then to be sure they never fail to be read with serious attention and preserved with as great a care The Books of Moses have both these advantages so that they cannot reasonably be suspected of the least alteration or Forgery The first Character that we discover in these Books at the first viewing of them is the great singularity and admirable diversity of their Stile and of the Matters they treat of We do not see that other Legislators did ever affect to act the parts of Historians no they content themselves with their absolute power to make Laws without giving any reason for the Sanction of them Therefore we see that there is commonly nothing more dry and sapless than all their Regulations about both Civil and Religious Matters But Moses we see hath followed a more reasonable and more satisfactory method all his Regulations are grounded upon the great Transactions which he relates he enacts no Law of any consequence but he intimates to the Jews at the same time the Reasons which challenge their Obedience and makes them by that means reflect both upon the several Mercies of God bestowed upon them and call to mind the great Miracles they had been eye witnesses of I confess indeed that the use and scope of some of his Regulations is very abstruse especially now that we are ignorant of the several Heathen Customs which God design'd to abolish from among that People newly come out of Egypt where during their Captivity they had complied and accustomed themselves in a great measure to the Rites and Religion of their Masters the Egyptians But yet how abstruse soever the design of some of those Laws may now appear to be We have good ground to affirm that the general scope of them all was to keep that People from Idolatry in distinguishing them from all other Nations as also to quicken their Desires and Expectations of the Messiah the Promise of whose coming had been made by God in the very beginning of the World and renewed several times to the Heads of their Nation However we see in the Books of those Laws Religion and Policy so interwoven together that the latter seems to subsist only by the support and assistance of the former which is contrary to the custom of human Legislators who do not so much regard the establishment of Religion as the preservation and welfare of the State and Common-wealth If any Jew had a mind to be informed about the Tradition of his Ancestors and the transactions of old Moses hath preserved it with such care with so many marks of Fidelity and so clear and plain that there is no other History besides his that can give any satisfactory Information about the Original of things All the Fables of the Heathens which yet make up the most ancient Tradition they have being nothing else but a corruption and depravation of the several Truths that Moses relates in his History If any Jew desired to see the beginnings of that Common wealth of which he was a Member Moses gives an accurate account of them If any Jew desired to know the Original of Mankind or what was the true happiness of Man and what he ought to do in order to be a partaker of that happiness Moses teaches all that with great evidence and exactness If any Jew had a mind to know the occasion of
was chosen by God out of the Family of Abraham because the Author of it decides these Important Questions and Differences without any visible partiality and without being by assed by the pretensions of his Birth Now there are three things in it which clearly prove that it could not be unknown to Moses The First is That immediately after this Prophesie which was as publick and well known amongst the Moabites as any Prophesie could be after the tedious preparation and the many difficulties which Balaam made to come to Balac After the many Ceremonies and Mysteries which he used upon that occasion and notwithstanding the great and panick terror of the Moabites at the approach of the Israelites Nay and notwithstanding the express Threats and Ominous Prophesies of Balaam against that people notwithstanding all this I say we see the Daughters of Moab imitating the carnal prudence of Lot's Daughters and courting the alliance of the Israelites as if they had had a mind to make themselves amends that way for the loss and wrong they had suffered by the Sentence which Balaam pronounced in favour of Israel We see I say that Moses immediately after he had related the Prophecies of Balaam tells us that the Daughters of Moab invited the People of Israel to the Sacrifices of their Gods and that the People of Israel accepted of the invitation and accordingly feasted and began then to defile themselves with the Daughters of Moab Now that such a thing should happen presently after Balaam had uttered his Prophesie shews evidently that there was some Relation betwixt those two Transactions And this may be further made out from the manner and nature of the punishment which God inflicted upon the Israelites for their Criminal Commerce with the Moabites although the pretence of it might be grounded upon the design which the Daughters of Moab had formed according to the Principles of their Education to share in the accomplishment of the Promise by their conceiving and getting Children by those whom Balaam's Prophesie had invested with the right and priviledge of accomplishing that Promise The Second is That accordingly about two hundred years after Moses we see that Ruth the Moabitess left her own Country to settle and live at Bethlehem and affected besides to marry there again one of the Tribe of Judah no doubt because she had got in her own Country a certain knowledge of that famous Oracle which afterwards made her easily yield to the Counsels and receive Instructions both of her Mother in Law and of her own Husband who was of the Tribe of Judah and no doubt had the Books of Moses wherein were inserted both the Prophesie of Jacob in favour of Judah and that of Balaam in favour of the Israelites against the Moabites The Third is That the Jews have now for several Ages constantly maintained I Kings II. 8. that Simei's Curses against David which afterwards he called Maledictionem pessimam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 contained an upbraiding Reflexion as well upon the meanness of his Birth as being descended from a Moabitess as upon his Adultery c. This is related by St. Jerome or some other ancient Author who writ that Discourse de Traditionibus Hebraeorum upon the second Chapter of the third Book of Kings This Jewish Interpretation would be very proâ—â—ble if that was but true what Rabbi Salomon saith upon the II. Chap. of the first Book of Kings v. 19. that when we read there that Solomon caused a Seat to be set for the King's Mother we ought to understand it of Ruth the Moabitess and not of Bathsheba we know the Jews ascribe a much longer Life to Zarah the Daughter of Asher one of Jacob's Sons for they are still of the same Opinion as they were in St. Hierome's time that she was yet alive in David's time No Body can condemn this Reflexion upon Ruth if he will but consider that her Faith having been so rewarded that the Messiah came our of her Posterity she is particularly made mention of in his Genealogy and that on the other hand her History hath been preserved amongst the other Books of the Old Testament as a kind of prescription not only against the Moabites pretensions long before condemned by Balaam's Prophesie but also against those of the Ismaelites and Edomites who had no better claim to the Promise than the Moabites having no other than that of a general Call and of their Birthright before Jacob's Posterity CHAP. XII That one may see also in Moses 's Law plain Footsteps of God's Design in distinguishing these from whom he would have the Messiah to be Born. IT was altogether necessary for the execution of my design to establish well the Authority of Moses's Books upon which I intend to make some Reflexions It was likewise necessary to shew as I think I have done sufficiently that Moses was perfectly acquainted with God's Promise concerning the Messiah Therefore I believe I may now come to shew that both Moses and those that came after him had all an Eye upon the Messiah in their chiefest Regulations But to give a greater insight and understanding into the things that I am to say I think it may not be amiss to remind the Reader and to lay before him once more the several Characters of God's Conduct in that matter that he may be the better able to judge of the whole Series of his design I have heretofore shew'd that Moses's intention was to establish two things in the Book of Genesis The one that all Men have derived their Original from Adam whom God Created The other That Men having sinned God promised to reinstate him by one of his own Posterity The First of these was then solidly proved by a plain matter of Fact when I shew'd that such a Tradition as Moses relates about the Creation of the World cannot reasonably be doubted of As for what concerns the other viz. The Promise of the Messiah which was the chiefest Object of Man's hope and comfort I have also shew'd I think that the Notion and Expectation of it was very strong and lively and the original cause of all the extraordinary Actions recorded by Moses But as this promise was not to be fulfilled for many Ages so God made it only in very general terms and had still reserved to himself the Revelation for after Ages as he thought fit both as to the manner and time of its accomplishment It is therefore absolutely necessary that we should consider also how God preserved all along the distinct knowledge of it amongst men Now in reading my Reflexions upon Genesis one must needs have observed that God even in those early times of the World did restrain the priviledge of accomplishing that promise by little and little to some particular Men till at last he openly declared that he had setled it in the Tribe of Judah as we read it Gen. XLIX Thus we see that God in the very beginning of the World restrained
were either false or forged This Eusebius has clearly proved de Praepar Evangelicâ Lib. IX cap. 5. The Proverb of the Sibyll's or Delphick Priestess's favouring of Philip is commonly known It was easie for these Heathen Princes to biass their People with such Predictions Lib. IV. de Praeparat Evangel Lib. IV. initiò But what Eusebius says puts the thing beyond all Question for he expresly shews That when the Priests were put to the Rack they confessed the whole contrivance of those Oracles which they pronounced to abuse the Credulity of the People V. We ought to observe That we cannot find great numbers of Oracles upon the same Subject whereas one see 's that the Prophets follow'd as it were Moses's Model of the State of the Common-wealth of the Jews and that they frequently concur in foretelling the same Facts from one Generation to another VI. We ought to remember that these Oracles were not kept within the Limits of one single State or Nation VII It may be said that they were not publickly known having been only proposed in private places before a very few and in short that they were not actually known to the most part of the Neighbouring People whereas one see 's that the Jewish Prophets gave their Oracles in the most solemn Assemblies and when they were committed to Writing they were known to all those who had any Commerce with that Nation So that Isaiah's Prophecies were questionless known to Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus who look'd upon himself as designed by God to restore their Liberty to the Jews We may make the same Judgment of the Book of Daniel which was known to Alexander without all question as one may collect from the favourable Reception the Jews found from him VIII We ought to observe That these pretended Oracles were given for the most part in favour of those Princes who could satisfie the greediness of the Priests Whereas the Prophets among the Jews lived in the most dis-interested manner in the World and usually pronounced nothing but Reproaches and Menaces of cruel Calamities to those Princes who had the Government in their Hands Their Ministry consisted in a couragious opposition to the Corruptions in their Laws and their Religion and in censuring their Princes and Governours with a singular Intrepidity and indeed we see that most of them met with the punishment of their Boldness and made trial of the most cruel Tortures IX Last of all We ought to take notice that as the Oracles which are mentioned in Heathen Authors were only of Facts of small importance to those People amongst whom it is said that they were pronounced so we do not find that they thought themselves much concerned in their preservation whereas one see 's that the Jewish Nation were so perswaded of the Truth of these Oracles with which they were entrusted that nothing to this very day could ever oblige them to discontinue the reading of them whatever Disputes they may otherwise have with the Christians who make use of them to establish their Pretentions notwithstanding all the Claims of the Synagogue When this is laid down it would seem as if I might reasonably conclude That the wonderful variety of Oracles which are to be found amongst the Jews cannot be at all weakned by those Oracles of which we find so frequent mention in Pagan Writers But we ought to go further in explaining two things which will perfectly clear this matter One is That the Historical and Prophetical Books of the Old Testament after Moses can be no Forgeries The other is That in truth those Oracles which we find inserted in those Books could not possibly have been forged after their Completion CHAP. V. That the Books in which we may find these Oracles were never forged I Have observed formerly That it is absolutely necessary that the Authority of those Books in which these Oracles are inserted be established before we can build upon the Authority of the Oracles And indeed if we cannot clearly shew that these Books were written and publickly known before the Things happened which are said to be Accomplishments of those preceding Oracles it would be natural to call in question the Authority of these Oracles But it is very easie to satisfie an equitable Reader herein and to establish in general or severally the Existence of these Prophetical Writings before the times in which those Facts happened which we propose as the Accomplishment of those Prophecies I shall make use of two sorts of Reflexions to establish my Proposition The First consists in general Considerations upon the Books themselves The Second has respect to particular Facts which are uncontested and whence the same Truth very naturally results I. We ought to observe That whereas in Genesis Moses makes use of no other Epocha to fix the time of any Event but the years of the Life of some famous Patriarch As for Instance He fixes the Flood to the 600 year of Noah's Age Exod. XIX Numb XXXIII 38. in Exodus and Numbers he uses the time of their coming out of Egypt for his Epocha in the Books of the following Authors the years from their departure out of Egypt were carefully set down 'till the Fourth year of King Solomon's Reign which was 480 years after their departure This was a Character to fix the time of all those who lived after that Epoch◠II. The Building of the Temple began a new Epocha amongst the Jews as appears from II Chron. VIII 1. tho' they began after that time to reckon by the years of the Kings of Juda and Israel as appears by the Books of the first Prophets Which is a Character sufficiently certain to distinguish those who liv'd after Solomon with the time when they liv'd III. It 's plain That the Babylonish Captivity and afterwards their subjection to the Persian Empire obliged them to fix their Events and to date their Prophecies by the years of the Governments of those Foreign Kings See Daniel Ezechiel Zechariah and Haggai So the Author of the Book of Maccabees refers to the years of the Seleucidae Now that we may the better perceive the force of this Observation we must remember three things 1. That the Authors who lived after the carrying away of the Jews into Babylon make use of some Chaldee Terms which are not to be found in the foregoing Prophets For we may see in the Books of Haggai Ezech. XL. 1. Daniel X. Zach I. Hagg. I. Zechariah and Malachi the same style with Ezra Nehemiah and Daniel 2. The Authors of these Books give names to the Months which they had not before the Captivity The Jews only called their Months Talm. Rosch Hassanah c. 1. First and Second c. and so they gave Names which were unheard of before 3. The Authors of these Prophecies take particular notice of any newly instituted Fasts thus we see that the Prophet Haggai mentioned those Fasts of which we have nothing in the Law but which were
instituted during the Captivity We must blind our selves of purpose to conceive that any Impostor could forge Books which have so exact a Relation and such certain Characteristicks to fix them to the time in which every Author lived and to the Circumstances wherein he wrote We must of necessity grant That before such an Impostor could bring about such a Design he must have made himself Master of the whole Prophane History to fix so exactly the History of the Jewish Nation and of those Oracles which have been given in Circumstances which are unintelligible without the help of Prophane Histories of different Nations I come now to Facts which cannot be contested It is sufficient that those Facts be acknowledged as true to establish in general the Truth of those Books whereof we teach I. It cannot be denied that the Jews preserve these Oracles to this day with great fidelity II. It cannot be denied that they are in the hands of Christians who preserve them as well as the Jews since they have been separated from them that is for almost Seventeen Ages III. It cannot be denied that these Prophecies have been exactly read by the Jews because of those Oracles upon which they believe to this day that the whole happiness of their Nation is founded IV. It cannot be denied that the Jews have read these Books exactly to refute the Disciples of Jesus Christ who have pretended from the first Age of their appearing that Jesus Christ is the Messiah mark'd out by these Oracles In short whereas the Christians pretend to prove by the accomplishment of the ancient Oracles that Jesus Christ was the Messiah It is known that the Jews endeavour to this day to wrest the sense of these Oracles and to shew that there are many things which are not literally accomplished and which by consequence cannot be apply'd to Jesus Christ V. It cannot be deny'd that most of the Controversies of the Jews with the Christians only regard the Application of the Text of the Prophetical Authors The Christians explain them in a Mystical Sense the Jews maintain that they ought to be explained Literally VI. It cannot be deny'd that about 300 years before the Birth of our Saviour the Prophetical Books were translated and put into the Hands of the Egyptians having been carried to and translated at Alexandria by a publick Order of the whole Nation for the satisfaction of a King of Egypt The History of that Version which put those Sacred Books into the Hands of the Greeks and the Jews who dwelt in Egypt is the most famous thing in the World and which made those Books perfectly known Here we have now these Books in Hebrew and in Greek that is to say in the Primitive Language of the Jews and the Vulgar Language of the Empire which Alexander founded It is known that from that time the Christians took care to make great numbers of Translations into all the Vulgar Tongues after the preaching of the Gospel and that they preserved those ancient Books as the first Elements of their Religion Now it will be sufficient to acknowledge those Truths to consider That those Oracles were true which foretold things which happened almost four Ages after their Prediction Thus for Instance the Destruction of Jerusalem the Overthrow of the Jewish State the calling of the Gentiles to the Service of the God of Israel the Destruction of the Syrian and Egyptian Monarchies are all contained in the Books of Daniel Haggai Zachariah and Malachi Now there is not more difficulty to conceive that such Authors as Isaiah Amos Joel should have foretold the same thing Eight or Nine hundred years before than there is to believe that they were foretold by those who liv'd but little above Four Ages before they actually came to pass There is therefore no difficulty in conceiving that these ancient Oracles were proposed as we see them and in those times to which we find them fixed But we ought to go further into this matter and to establish the same thing by the consideration of the things themselves I confess that we might have a suspicion of those Oracles which are not related upon the Faith of a publick Volume As for Instance those of Elijah Elisha and Uriah the Son of Shemaiah who seem never to have published any thing But here we are to observe 1. That usually the Authors who publish the Oracles are not the same with those who tell us of their accomplishment 2. That the Oracles of which we now speak were upon Subjects perfectly known and upon very illustrious Exigencies What more illustrious than the Destruction of Ahab's Family foretold by Elijah What more extraordinary than the manner of Jezebel's Death foretold by the same Prophet In short we ought to take notice I. That these Oracles were written for the most part in compleat Volumes We have Sixteen Prophets sufficiently distinguish'd by their proper Volumes II. Each of these Authors has a very different Character from the rest so that some as Daniel for instance write in a peculiar Language one part of his Book being in Chaldee III. Every one has some relation to the rest So those who liv'd together often treat of the same things So Isaiah for instance Joel Amos Hosea But they had separate Idea's and particular Oracles and a turn which perfectly distinguishes them one from another IV. One needs only read their Works to find that they wrote in different places Amos was of Juda and went to prohecy in Israel that appears plainly Ezechiel and Daniel prophesied in Chaldea that 's seen by reading their Works V. There is a natural dependance between the Books of Moses and those of the Prophets in general For the Prophets were continually reproaching the Kings and People with the Crimes which they committed against the Law of God proposed by Moses VI. There is a natural dependance between the Writings of the former and of the latter Prophets Dan. IX 2. So Jeremiah is quoted by Daniel as foretelling the time when the Desolations of Jerusalem were to have an end this he proposes not as if he had learnt it by a Revelation but as a thing which he had found out by an attentive examination of the Prophecy of Jeremiah VII There is an exact Connexion of these Oracles with the History of the time which is often interwoven with the Prophecies One see 's it in the Books of Isaiah Jeremiah and Daniel the other Historical Books not being altogether so particular as these Prophetical Books are VIII In short one see 's that these Books are interwoven with Oracles concerning ancient Events and People which have now no Existence so thaâ— that hinders us from suspecting any Forgery I shall not repeat here the common Arguments which establish the Credit of these Books I brought in most of them when I established the Authority of the Books of Moses I shall only make some Reflexions here to establish the same Truth CHAP. VI. That the
manner of writing the Prophetical Books of the Old Testament shews that those Oracles could not have been forged after their Completion I Have several things to taken notice of to make this Truth more sensible The first is taken from the necessary connexion of all the parts of the History of the Old Testament the truth of which I have proved by several Characters This History is exactly written by several Authors Now the History of the Prophets and of their Oracles is so exactly framed into the History that it is impossible to take it out without confounding the whole The Books of Samuel which were written by Samuel by Nathan and by Gad as appears by I Chron. XXIX 29. contain the History from the Year of the World 2888 to the Year 2987. The Books of the Kings contain the History of the Kings and of the Prophets from the Year 2989. to the Year 3442. The Books of the Chronicles recapitulate the History from the beginning of the World to the Year 3468. Ezra writ his History from the Year 3468. to the Year 3538. Nehemiah continued it from 3550. to 3563. Here is therefore on the one side an uninterrupted Series of History and on the other side a continued Succession of Prophecies David who began to Reign in the Year 2950. with several other Prophets of that time writ the most part of the Psalms which are full of Oracles and which were sung by the People as a part of the Divine Service Isaiah began his Prophecy in 3246. and dy'd in the Year 3306. Hosea Micah and Nahum were contemporary with him Jeremiah begun his Prophecy in the Year 3375. and liv'd at the same time with Zephaniah Daniel was carry'd into Babylon in 3401. and prophesied until 3470. Ezechiel prophecy'd at Babylon in 3509. Haggai and Zachariah prophecy'd in 3590. soon after Ezra in the time of Nehemiah Malachy seems to have lived until the Year 3589. Can we therefore in the least imagine that a History should be so intermixed with Prophesies and Oracles without conceiving at the same time the Truth of both by an invincible necessity But we may make a second Reflexion hereupon There are three general Characters which distinguish Prophets very sensibly from the generality of Authors I. They were publick Censors Let us but read the History of Isaiah's conduct who called all the Heads of the People Rulers of Sodom or that of Jeremiah Chap. XXXVI or of any other of the Prophets in general II. They were Comforters of the People when they had brought them to Repentance by their preaching There are as many Instances of this as there are Prophets III. They foretold remarkable Occurrences happy or unfortunate long before there was any probability that they should happen It is impossible to consider these Characters without seeing that the state of Affairs was that which gave a foundation for their Sermons So that one must of necessity have framed their History of new to give ground for a Forgery This change in the style of the Prophets follows the Circumstances of the Jewish State exactly All that Isaiah or Jeremiah say will hold no longer than whilst you suppose the State of the Jews to be as corrupt as the History of that time represents it But if you suppose it to be as the History do's distinctly explain it nothing can be imagined more forcible than their Sermons For as they joyned Oracles with Promises in their thundring Sermons so one see 's that they cannot be parted One may make another Reflexion upon this matter by shewing that these Oracles and these Books were so famous amongst the Jews that no Forgery can be supposed The times in which they were writ are a great proof for they appeared upon very remarkable Occasions One may rank the Prophets into four Orders according to the several times in which they appeared David and the Prophets of his time Those who lived before the Babylonish Captivity as Jonah Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Isaiah Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Jeremiah Those who prophesied during the Captivity Jeremiah Ezekiel and Daniel Those who lived after their Return from Babybylon Haggai Zechariah and Malachy Now we have an equal Assurance of all these Prophets that they were famous Who can deny the Oracles of David to have been famous when they were preserv'd amongst their publick Hymns One see 's that Micah's prediction sav'd Jeremiah whom they would have condemned for prophecying the Ruin of the Temple under Jehoiakim when Micah had prophesied the same thing under Hezekiah that is to say about One hundred and twenty years before this Prediction of Jeremiah Here 's an Event which assures us without affectation That this Prophecy was very well known were not therefore the other Prophecies which were in the hands of the Jews very well known by the whole Nation The other Prophets lived in very remarkable times Isaiah under Jotham Ahaz and Manasseh impious Princes the last of which put him to a cruel Death for the freedom of his Censures and Predictions There was in the time of every Prophet a great number of Circumstances which may be enlarged upon and which will further prove That their Works must of necessity have been very publick and very famous amongst the Jews We must not here neglect what do's more particularly regard the persons of the Prophets I. Some of them were Priests that is to say publick Ministers of their Religion Jeremiah and Ezechiel were of that number This may be observed in reading of their Works and in observing the nature of their Revelations which were for the most part accommodated by God to those Idea's about which the Prophets were most employ'd II. Some were very illustrious by their Birth Thus David for instance was King of Israel Isaiah was a Prince of the Blood and Daniel was one of the Princes of Judah which may be easily found out by considering the Majesty of their Style and greatness of their Expressions III. Some were very contemptible by their Employment and by their Birth So Amos for instance and those other Prophets whose Father is barely named without joyning to it any honourable Title if the Jews observation has any strength Now it is well known that tho' the gift of Prophecy made him who had it sufficiently famous yet the Character of the Person often made the Prophecy famous Sometimes indeed the meanness of the Person as in Amos made the Work to be more regarded every Body taking occasion from the ancient Profession or the Prophet to consider the Prophecies which he published with more attention One ought to observe with care That those Prophets whose Writings are preserv'd as well as those who did not write were continually struck at by false Prophets who opposed them with great heat Since then we have no Prophecies preserved but of those whose Predictions were accomplished the Event justifying the Truth of their Predictions with regard to particular Facts near the time which they had foretold
and his Asses Colt unto the choice Vine he washed his Garments in Wine and his Clothes in the Blood of Grapes His eyes shall be red with Wine and his Teeth white with Milk. Gen. XLIX 8. 12. I know very well that some of the Jews have pretended that Moses ought to be understood for Shiloh But this is so ridiculous an Opinion that there is not the least probability to maintain it What Scepter had Judah before Moses came How was Moses the Expectation of the Gentiles and the Object of their Hope And indeed the Body of the Jewish Nation are agreed that this Oracle was meant of the Messiah so Onkelos the Chaldee Paraphrast so the Jerusalem Targum and Jonathan's so R. Solomon Jarchi Abenezra and Kimchi are agreed Now these Reflexions may be naturally drawn from this Oracle which Jacob uttered upon his Death-bed I. This Oracle is found amongst a great number of Oracles which concern the other Tribes of the Israelites and which were accomplished as to every Tribe II. This Oracle contains several particular Events which relate to private Transactions in the Tribe of Judah III. This Oracle was as it were Jacob's Will in favour of Judah at a time when he divided amongst his Children their Portions which they were to expect from him IV. This was a Preference of Judah who was but the fourth to Reuben who was the eldest and who by consequence ought to have been the Head of his Family The Scepter and the Authority of Legislator was promised to Judah which did not belong to him by the right of his Birth Jacob therefore prepared his Children to look for an accomplishment of those Promises made to Abraham in Judah as well for the Kings who were to be descended from him as for the Nations of the Earth who were to be blessed in Abraham's Seed But we must go yet further I shall therefore observe I. That this Prophecy particularly regarded the Tribe of Judah as all the preceding and following Oracles concern'd those Tribes whose Heads were then named by Jacob. II. That this Prophecy concerns the Tribe of Judah as settled in the Land of Canaan by a distinct establishment from the other Tribes In short it is certain that the Tribe of Judah had some superiority Thus God for instance commanded that Tribe to march the first Numb II. X. Its Heads offered their presents first Numb VII 11 12 83. In Joshua's time this Tribe took its Division without drawing Lots for it One see 's that God ordered the Tribe of Judah to lead the People out to the Conquest of the rest of the Country One see 's the same Prerogatives in the Book of Judges tho' they were often of other Tribes From David's time to the taking of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar the Kings were all of that Tribe and Zorobabel afterwards headed those who returned out of Chaldea The Book of the Chronicles names the Tribe of Judah first Herod was the first King who was wholly a Stranger III. That Jacob supposed that the Tribe of Judah should be in possession of a Form of Government and of a Community till the coming of the Messiah This was all very proper and indeed we see that this Tribe continued under its own Governours after the other Tribes had been transported II Kings XVII 18. It almost swallowed up Benjamin and Levi who settled in their Country and indeed Josephus assures us That there were but few of the Ten Tribes who came back again into Judea under Ezra for the greatest part of them stayed beyond Euphrates And we see that at last they gave their Name to the whole Country IV. That this Oracle was fulfilled by degrees This I have observed already of the preheminency of the Tribe of Judah before David's time which was a step to the advancement of it to the Throne And the lessening of their Dignity which was to be entirely taken away when the Messiah came had also the same Gradations David was set upon the Throne over all Israel but his House lost the Government over Ten Tribes in his Grandson Rehoboam's time His Successors were Tributary to the neighbouring Princes whereas David carried his Empire to the Walls of Babylon tho' afterwards the Babylonians subdued the Jews and deposed the Kings of Judah At last they absolutely lost all that Authority which they had hitherto kept They recovered a little in the Person of Zorobabel and tho' they were soon after invaded by the Seleucidae yet the Maccabees preserved them a little till Herod and the Romans took away all those Remnants which they had yet left In carrying these Views of this Oracle further we may yet further observe I. That God intended to oblige the Israelites to wait for the Scepter in the Tribe of Judah It must be there before it could depart thence It was natural to conceive that the Jews were to look yet much further than David Those words It shall not depart denote a continuance of the Scepter in the House of David for some considerable time II. It is easie to comprehend a lessening of the Dignity in the term Lawgiver See Judges V. 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which God seems to have made use of as a Mark of the Fall which I have observed in the Person of Zorobabel who as to the time was about the middle of the Oracle III. In a word it is easie to acknowledge that this Oracle assigns the Epocha in gross for the time of the coming of the Messiah viz. the Ruin of that Authority and Power which the Jews properly so called from the Tribe of Judah should enjoy after their re-establishment God could not explain himself more particularly in stating the precise time when this thing should happen There are two other very considerable Oracles one uttered by Balaam in the Year 2553 before the King of the Moabites who had sent for him to curse the People of Israel that lay in the Plains the other uttered the same Year by Moses the famous Legislator of the Jews the first is inserted by Moses in the XXIV Chapter of Numbers the other is in the XVIII of Deuteronomy The first is in these words I shall see him but not now I shall behold him but not nigh there shall come a Star out of Jacob and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel and shall smite all the Corners of Moab and destroy all the Children of Seth And Edom shall be a Possession Seir also shall be a Possession for his Enemies and Israel shall do valiantly Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have Dominion and shall destroy him that remaineth of the City One ought to observe that Balaam's Character the presence of the King and the Elders of Moab and all the Circumstances in which it was uttered do advance its Authority considerably But the turn of his Expressions is equally singular and remarkable I. He speaks of the Messiah as of a Star hinting out to us the Celestial Nature
a new Society which was to be regulated not by the Laws given on Mount Sinai but by those which were to be published from Mount Zion CHAP. XXIII That the Gentiles in the time of the Messiah were to be called to the Knowledge of the true God THis Article being one of the most important and most visible Characters of the Times of the Messiah and also the great effect of his Ministry we see that God had a particular care to divulge the same by a multitude of Prophetical Representations of it For not only had he declared that the Seed of the Woman should bruise the Serpents head Gen. III. 15. that is the Works of the Devil And we can't deny but that the Errors and Idolatries of the Gentiles and their Vices which arise from thence were the Fruits of Sin which this unhappy Spirit brought into the World. It was not only foretold that God would perswade Japhet to dwell in the Tents of Sem Gen. IX 27. by uniting the Posterities of both those Patriarchs in one and the same Religion Not only had he signified that the Messiah should reign over the Children of Seth that is over all the Posterity of Noah the Off-spring of Cham not excepted Not only had he foretold that all Nations Kindreds Gen. XII Ch. XVIII XXII and Families should be blessed in the Messiah But God went much further afterwards for as the Light of the Revelation encreased so the same was declared more distinctly For 1. The Patriarch Jacob tells that the Messiah should be the desire and expectation of all Nations Gen. XLIX verse 10. The Scepter shall not depart from Judah nor a Law-giver from between his feet until Shiloh come and unto him shall the gathering of the people be 2. Moses threatens the Jews that if they despised the Law of God Strangers that is Gentiles should be preferred before them Deut. XXVIII verse 43. The Stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high and thou shalt come down very low The same Prophet menaceth them from God that he would stir up their jealousie by calling a foolish people to his Service and Worship Deut. XXXII verse 21. They have moved me to jealousie with that which is not God they have provoked me to anger with their vanities and I will move them to jealousie with those which are not a people I will provoke them to anger with a foolish Nation Nothing can be said more express and particular than these last words of that great Law giver and Founder of the State of the Jews 3. David sets forth the Empire of the Messiah as that which was to reach over all the Earth Psalm II. verse 8. Ask of me and I shall give thee the Heathen for thine Inheritance and the uttermost parts of the Earth for thy possession And Psalm XXII vers 27 28 29 30. All the ends of the World shall remember and turn unto the Lord and all the Kingdoms of the Nations shall worship before thee For the Kingdom is the Lords and he is the Governour amongst the Nations All they that be fat upon the Earth shall eat and worship all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him A Seed shall serve him it shall be accounted to the Lord for a Generation Psalm LXXII vers 8 9 10 11. He shall have Dominion from Sea to Sea and from the River unto the ends of the Earth They that dwell in the Wilderness shall bow before him and his Enemies shall lick the dust The Kings of Tarshish and of the Isles shall bring presents the Kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer Gifts Yea all Kings shall fall down before him all Nations shall serve him Which Prophecy is the more remarkable because the Promise made to Abraham is there repeated in so many words viz. That all Nations of the Earth should be blessed in the Messiah Psalm-CII verse 15. So the Heathen shall fear the Name of the Lord and all the Kings of the Earth thy Glory And Psalm CX verse 2. The Lord shall send the Rod of thy strength out of Zion rule thou in the midst of thine Enemies One ought to transcribe almost the whole Book of Psalms to take notice of all the passages which are to this purpose The Prophet Hosea declares in general terms That it was not an impossible thing for those who had been God's people to cease to be so or for those that were not his people to become his people Chap. I. verse 10. Yet the number of the Children of Israel shall be as the Sand of the Sea which cannot be measur'd or numbred and it shall come to pass that in the place where it was said unto them ye are not my people there it shall be said unto them ye are the Sons of the living God. Isaiah mentions this so often and in such an emphatical manner that it seems to be the main thing he drives at in all his Writings Chap. II. verse 2 3. he speaks thus And it shall come to pass in the last days that the Mountain of the Lord's House shall be established in the top of the Mountains and shall be exalted above the Hills and all Nations shall flow unto it And many people shall go and say come ye and let us go up to the Mountain of the Lord to the House of the God of Jacob and he will teach us of his ways and we will walk in his paths for out of Zion shall go forth the Law and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem And Chap. XI verse 10. In that day there shall be a Root of Jesse which shall stand for an Ensign of the people to it shall the Gentiles seek And Chap. XVIII verse 7. he makes a manifest allusion to the expectation of all Nations In Chap. XLII vers 1 2 3 4. he repeats the same thing Behold my servant whom I uphold mine elect in whom my soul delighteth I will put my Spirit upon him he shall bring forth Judgment to the Gentiles He shall not cry nor lift up nor cause his voice to be heard in the streets A bruised Reed shall he not break and the smoking Flax shall he not quench he shall bring forth Judgment unto the Earth and the Isles shall wait for his Law. Chap. LV. vers 4 5. Behold I have given thee for a witness of the people a Leader and a Commander to the people Behold thou shalt call a Nation that thou knowest not and Nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the Lord thy God and for the holy One of Israel for he hath glorified thee But one see 's these Truths in their greatest lustre in the LX Chap. of his Prophecies vers 3 4 5. The Gentiles shall come to thy light and Kings to the brightness of thy rising Lift up thine eyes round about and see all they gather themselves together they come to thee thy sons shall
flattering themselves that God will one day re-establish them in Judea which they expect by means of the Messiah whom God at first promised to them 'T is now above 1600 years that they have been scattered throughout the World and yet we find not that their condition has made them change their Measures or Hopes and thô they have already been deceived by a great number of false Messiahs yet do not they for all that look upon the condition of their Common-wealth as irrecoverable Now if during so long a Series of Ages they have kept their Laws with so much carefulness if they still religiously observe all those Laws which could be kept without the Bounds of the Holy Land who sees not but that in all probability they must have kept them more exactly at the time of Jesus Christ and before his coming when they could keep them with much more ease than since that time and that for many considerable Reasons For first Their Dispersion then was in one only Nation whereas now they are scattered amongst Heathens Christians and Mahometans 2. They had then Prophets who exhorted them to the observance of these Laws which now they have wanted for so many Ages 3. They had often Princes that were very favourable to them such as Cyrus and Darius who ordered that Sacrifices should be offered for themselves in the Temple at Jerusalem and Pompey afterwards had the same inclinations for them whereas since the time of their Dispersion they have scarcely met with any one Prince that has been favourable to them if we except Julian the Apostate who from an effect of his hatred against the Christians did vainly strive to re-establish them 4. They had a Temple to which the whole state of their Republick was fixed Herod about the time of our Saviour had most magnificently repaired it whereas now for so many Ages they have neither Temple nor Altar 5. They had High-Priests amongst them that were entrusted with the Soveraign Power and were Kings of their Nation whereas now they have neither King nor Prince of their Faith. 6. Their Laws being translated into Greek since the time of Ptolemy Philadelphus it gave occasion to an extraordinary Jealousie between the Jews of Egypt who had the Text of the Scripture in Greek and between those of Jerusalem who had it in Hebrew whereas now all this is altogether ceased all the Jews now for many Ages making use only of the Hebrew Text. Since therefore we find that they without Prophets without King out of their own Country c. have observed these Laws for so many Ages notwithstanding their dispersion throughout all places and amongst all sorts of people how much rather may we conceive they did so since the time of Ezra who placed the Books of the Old Testament in the order in which we have them at this day There are only 542 years from the time of the return of their Captivity which happened in the year 3468 to the Birth of Christ and but 259 years from their return to the translation of the 70 and we know that above 1600 years are past since their general Dispersion Moreover it appears that the Romans had so well preserved the form of the Jewish Government from Pompey's time as well as that of their Religion that a Roman General sent to demand a kind of permission of the Jews to let him pass with the Roman Eagles through Syria We know that those Eagles were never set up at Jerusalem but it was at a time when a Roman Commander intended to stir up the Jews to Sedition and by that means to make the Emperour their Enemy Yea we find that tho' the Romans reserved to themselves the power of the Sword yet they permitred to the Jews the Judgment of Zeal against those whom they called Hereticks whom they tore to pieces to execute the rigour of the Law. If we find that a Roman Proconsul would not concern himself with Questions of their Law arising without the Bounds of their own Country how much rather may we judge that they enjoy'd an entire liberty within Judea And indeed we find the Priests sending their Acts IX 4. Commissioners to Damascus against the Christians without doubt with design to execute the Law against Impostors S. Paul was beaten several times with forty stripes save one which could not be upon any other pretence but to obey the Law in that matter These proofs are sufficient to make out that the Commonwealth of the Jews subsisted still in the same manner as God instituted it And as for what concerns the overthrow of their Religion as God had interwoven the Laws that regulated it with those of their Government so that their Religion was nothing else but a Religious Policy it is evident that their Government continuing at the time of Jesus Christ we cannot doubt but that their Religion notwithstanding the corruption which the Pharisees and Traditionary Jews whom Christ continually censures had introduced did still continue pure enough to answer the Model which God had framed They rejected the Samaritans as appears from the IV of S. John and looked upon them as Hereticks having no Commerce with them They lived in a perfect Alienation from the Heathen 't is with this S. Peter begins his Discourse to the Assembly at the House of Cornelius Acts X. 28. They lived in an exact Observance of the Solemn Feasts which God had prescribed them viz. the Passover Pentecost the Feast of Expiation and of Tabernacles They observed the Feasts which their Ancestors had joyn'd to these upon extraordinary Occasions as that of the Dedication that of Lots and some Fasts which they kept then as they do to this day This appears by the History of the Gospel and by the Acts of the Apostles They assisted at these solemn Festivals with much regularity They did not till their Ground in the Seventh year according to God's Command which made the Heathen Princes which were over them to release them from paying any Tribute that year as may be seen in Josephus and other Authors They taught the Law in their Synagogues and that every Sabbath day They were so scrupulous in their observation of the Sabbath that they accused our Saviour for healing the Sick on that day It appears that Lepers were sequestred and that they observed the distinction of the several kinds of Leprosie according to the Law of Moses We find by the History of the Gadarenes that Swine were looked upon as unclean Beasts It is certain that they paid the Tribute which was appointed for the use of the Temple according to the Law of Moses and the re-establishment of that Custom which we find II Chron. XXIV 5. Josephus tells us that this practise was continued till the destruction of the Temple Antiq. XVIII Ch. XII We meet with the same in Tacitus and other Heathen Authors of that time I acknowledge that at the same time they were extreamly corrupt in their
the History down to Cyrus the Founder of the Empire of Persia who gave the Jews their Liberty again The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah contain the History of what passed under his Successors to the time of Artaxerxes for almost Eighty two years It was in this Interval that the Deliverance happened which the Jews received under Esther Wife to one of the most powerful Kings of Persia the Memory of which the Jews celebrate every year in all places the Thirteenth and Fourteenth days of the Month Adar which answers to our February by virtue of Esther's Law. After these general Remarks with which I shall content my self at present I ought to make some Reflexions which cannot be omitted without taking away a great deal of force from those Proofs which establish the Truth of this Matter The First is That as these Histories have a necessary Relation to the Laws of Moses so they could not have been neglected by a People who in their Religious and Civil Conduct were absolutely regulated by those very Laws The Second is That all the Actions related in this History have passed altogether in the bosom of a People the Extent of whose Country is not Twenty Leagues in breadth nor Eighty in length The Third is That this People having observ'd the Law of the Seventh year and of the First year or Year of Jubilee which Law you have in the Twenty fifth of Leviticus from their first Conquest and Division of the Country Forty seven years after their coming out of Egypt This Observation has serv'd for a double Cycle to fix the remembrance of those Actions and to make it pass from one Generation to another And so the greatness of that Promise which God made to Hezekiah Esai XXXVII 30. and II Kings XIX 29. may easily be understood that altho' Sennacherib's Invasion would in all probability lay waste all Judea yet they might eat the Fruits of the Earth in quietness the Fourteenth year of Hezekiah and the next year they should eat the Fruits that would grow up of themselves without Tillage and that on the Sixteenth year they should have liberty to till the Ground as formerly which shews without any force upon the words that the Fifteenth year of Hezekiah's Reign was the Sabbathical year in which the Jews were forbidden to Cultivate the Ground The Fourth is That it appears in effect by the Series of this whole Story that things were written so as to agree with the publick Records which were extant amongst the People This is manifest if we consider how often the Sacred Penmen refer us to the Histories and Annals of those Kings of whom they speak and of whom they only quote the principal Stories in short in pursuing their Design which was intirely to bring an Account of the state of the Religion and the Government of the Jews and Israelites under one view Let us go on to other Proofs to establish this Truth CHAP. II. That there is a strict Connexion between the Sacred History and the oldest Monuments which we have of Prophane History AS there was but few very Ancient Writers of Prophane History and as we have but small Fragments of them dispersed here and there preserved for the most part by the care of Josephus the Jewish Historian and of Eusebius in his Books De Praeparatione Evangelicâ so we ought not to be surprized if but few of the more illustrious Passages and Events of the Jewish History be taken notice of by Pagan Writers The People of Israel being otherwise engaged by the Observation of the Mosaick Law to keep close to that Country where it was established this made their Neighbours have less knowledge of their History However there is enough left to shew with how great fidelity and exactness the Sacred Writers penned the History of their own Nation In short we may find amongst the Heathen Historians and Poets who were their first Historians several Relations which shew that the Matters of Fact related by the Sacred Writers were well enough known to them and in the same manner that they are related in those Historical Books which were writ after Moses The Memory of Joshua and his Conquests was famous amongst the Heathens There are ancient Monuments extant which prove that the Carthaginians were a Colony of the Tyrians who escaped from Joshua as also that the Inhabitants of Leptis in Africa came originally from the Zidonians who forsook their Country Procop. Van dalicorum lib. II. c. 10. Polybius Frag. CXIV Salust de Bello Jugurthino because of the Miseries which afflicted it The Fable of the Phoenician Hercules arose from the History of Joshua the overthrow of the Giants and the famous Typhon owe their Original to the overthrow of Og the King of Bashan and of the Anakims who were called Giants The Tempest of Hail spoken of in the Eleventh of Joshua was transformed by the Poets into a Tempest of Stones with which as they say Jupiter overwhelmed the Enemies of Hercules in Arim which is exactly the Country where Joshua fought with the Children of Anak One finds the Memorial of the Actions of Gideon preserved by Sanchoniathon a Tyrian Writer who lived soon after him and whose Antiquity is attested by Porphyry One finds in the manner of Jephtha's Sacrificing his Daughter after his Victory over the Ammonites the Original of the Sacrificing of Iphigenia Variae Historiae Lib. V. cap. 3. it being usual with the Heathens as Aelian judiciously observes to attribute to their later Hero's the Glory of the Actions of those who lived long before We have an Account of a Feast which was observed by the Heathen Romans in April the time of the Jewish Harvest Ovid. Fastorum Lib. IV. in which they let loose Foxes with Torches fastned to their Tails which certainly came from the Story of Sampson and was brought into Italy by the Phoenicians One finds in the same History of Sampson and Dalilah Ovid. Metam Lib. VIII Fab. I. the Original of the Story of Nisus and his Daughter who cut off those fatal Hairs upon which the Victory depended Nicolaus Damascenus has preserved the Account of the Victory which David obtained over the Syrians of Zoba Joseph Antie Lib. VII cap. 6. upon the Banks of the Euphrates as it is described by the Sacred Writers There are Monuments extant which describe the part which Hiram King of Tyre had in the building of the Temple of Solomon almost the same with the Account which the Sacred Authors give us of his part in the Erection of that great Work. One finds in Herodotus an Account of the taking of Jerusalem by Sesostris King of Egypt Joseph Antiq Lib. VII cap. 6. as it is described in the History of Rehoboam One finds the History of the Kings of Syria related by Nicholaus Damascenus in the same manner as it is described by the Sacred Writers when they give us an Account of the Victories which the Kings of