Selected quad for the lemma: book_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	law_n	moses_n	people_n	3,133	5	5.0838	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A29109	A sermon preach'd before the Right Honourable Lord Mayor and Aldermen, and citizens of London, at St. Lawrence Jewry, on Saturday, September the 28th, 1700 at the election of the Lord Mayor, for the year ensuing / by Samvel Bradford ...	Bradford, Samuel, 1652-1731.	1700 (1700)	Wing B4122; ESTC R19662	14,119	30

to the Babylonish Captivity and consequently that the Promise in the Text was to be made good when they should be restor'd to their own Country and the City of Jerusalem should be new Built And if so it was actually fulfill'd when Joshua and Zerubbabel Ezra and Nehemiah had the Direction of their Publick Affairs concerning whom we have in the Sacred Story a very good Character as of Wise and Good Men and Excellent Governors But others and I think with greater probability carry the matter farther referring this Prophecy to the Times of the Gospel These reckon That the Judgment here threatn'd was the great desolation of Judea and Jerusalem by the Romans and that the Promise of purging away their Dross and taking away all their Tin was to be fulfill'd under the Reign of the Messiah and that as Jerusalem which then was was a Type and Figure of the Christian Church so the Promise which was made to that City and in some measure fulfill'd at the end of the Babylonish Captivity was yet to have a more complete accomplishment in the Anti-type And if so then by restoring Judges as at the first and Counsellors as at the beginning must be understood That as the Christian Church should abound with Men of reformed Tempers and Practices so there should be Christian Governors and Magistrates who should prove eminent Instruments in this Reformation And such no doubt there have been in most Ages of Christianity Tho' I think whosoever takes a view of the Christian World and well considers what the state of Things has been and still is therein will judge it reasonable to hope that this Promise is yet to have a more eminent Accomplishment than it has had hitherto But to let that pass I proceed to consider the Words so as may be most proper with respect to the present Occasion and this I shall do in the following Method First I shall enquire into the Character of those Governors with which the People of Israel were blest at the begining who are here made the Patterns of those which should be restored to them Secondly I shall shew how such Governors are a Publick Blessing to the People over whom they are placed insomuch that a City in which they Rule may from them be called The City of Righteousness the Faithful City Thirdly I shall briefly apply what shall be delivered on this Argument to our own Use First To enquire into the Character of those Governors with which the People of Israel were blest at the beginning who are here made the Patterns of those which should be restored to them By those which they had at the beginning I have already observed is to be understood those who rul'd over them in the beginning of their Common-wealth when they were brought out of Egypt and conducted into Canaan Such were a great part of the Judges whom God gave them Acts 13.19 20. as St. Paul speaks from the time of their being settled in Canaan unto the days of Samuel for about the space of four hundred and fifty years these being Men rais'd up by Providence from time to time as there was occasion for delivering them from their Enemies and preserving Peace and good Order amongst them at Home But more especially Moses himself who was their Conductor from Egypt thro' the Wilderness and after him Joshua who led them into the Land of Rest and at the conclusion of their Common-wealth Samuel the Prophet may be suppos'd to be referr'd to in this passage of our Text. These were Persons who by all the account which we have of them appear to have had a sincere and awful regard to God and to his Laws with a fervent desire to promote his Honor and do his Will They were Men likewise of a Publick Spirit possess'd with an hearty Love to their Country and a great Zeal for asserting its Liberties and promoting its Welfare They made it the business of their Lives that to which they devoted themselves and which they preferr'd much before any of their Private Concernments or Interests to guard and defend their People from their Enemies and to propagate Piety and Virtue Truth and Righteousness and Peace amongst them And as this was the just Character of those who were under God their Chief Governors for such all those whom I have now mention'd were so their inferior Magistrates also were at the first Persons of the same Stamp as we may be assur'd by reflecting upon two Passages in the Books of Exodus and Deuteronomy very full and plain to our present purpose where we have an account how those Persons were qualified who were by Moses first appointed to rule the People under him The former Passage is that which contains the Advice of Jethro Moses's father-in-Father-in-law when he observ'd how much too heavy a burden it was for one Man to Judge all that People by himself Upon this he Counsels Moses to appoint others who should be subordinate to him and assist him in that great Work and what sort of Persons they should be he tells him in those remarkable Words Exod. 18.21 Thou shalt provide says he out of all the People able Men such as fear God Men of Truth hating Covetousness and place such over them And we find that Moses did accordingly in the other Passage which I am to produce viz. where he thus declares to the People Deut. 1.9 13 14 15. I spake unto you says he at that time namely when he put Jethro's Advice in execution saying Take ye wise Men and understanding and known among your Tribes and I will make them Rulers over you And ye answered me and said The thing which thou hast spoken is good for us to do So I took the chief of your Tribes wise Men and known and made them Heads over you Now by reflecting upon these two Passages we may clearly discern the Character of those Magistrates with which that People were blest at the beginning They were able men The word in the Original like that in our English Tongue is of a large signification denoting the several kinds of Abilities which are proper in this case So that by able men may be understood either men endued with a competency of bodily Health and Strength or men of Substance Wealthy men or Men of Natural Courage and Fortitude or lastly Men of Judgment and Prudence There is no question but that each of these may be esteem'd able men in some degree qualified for the discharge of Publick Offices A competent measure of Health and Strength enables Men to undergo the fatigue of Publick Business and to dispatch it with ease and pleasure to themselves and others A plentiful Estate qualifies the Owner of it to bear the Charges which usually attend Honor and Publick Employments and to maintain the Post which is highly expedient if not necessary for such Persons Besides that where an Estate is either descended from Ancestors or acquir'd by honest Ingenuity and