to girding with Sack-cloath and behold joy and gladness slaying Oxen and killing Sheep eating Flesh and drinking Wine saying with the Epicurean Drolls of all Ages Let us eat and drink for to morrow we die And it was revealed in my ears by the Lord of Hosts saith the Prophet surely this Iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die saith the Lord God of Hosts Nor do I aggravate the matter here by this Comparison beyond what is Just and Right For whensoever our Governors both in Church and State do by their Laws and Orders call us to Mourning and Fasting and Humiliation we are to look upon it and interpret it as if God himself call'd us by them thereunto See 2 Cor. 5.20 1 Thes 4.8 c. and he expects we should take the warning which they as his Deputies give us and construes our despising of them as a contempt to himself by whose Authority they Act And so also of old he gave the warning to his People according to that of the Prophet Joel ch 2. Blow the Trumpet Sanctifie a Fast Call a Solemn Assembly Gather the People Sanctifie the Congregation Assemble the Elders gather the Children and those that suck the Breasts Let the Bride-groom go forth of his Chamber and the Bride out of her Closet Let the Priests the Ministers of the Lord weep between the Porch and the Altar and let them say spare thy People O Lord This you see is the Truth of the Case we are all herein Transgressors though it may be aggravated in some by their Contumacy and mitigated in others by their Seduction and Inadvertency Beseech we God of his infinite mercy therefore that he lay not this great Iniquity to the Charge of this sinful Kingdom Pray we as Moses did for the Israelites Deut. 9.27 Look not O Lord unto the stubbornness of this People nor to their wickedness nor to their sin Or as we have it our Letany From hardness of heart and contempt of thy Word and Commandment Good Lord deliver us However upon all these Considerations laid together I have purposely diverted unto the Text even now Read that I might meet with those who will not so much as afford their presence at such a Solemnity and give them that account of this part of our Service which may by Gods Grace engage them hereafter to a conscionable frequenting of it And that I may do this with the better success I will First set before you the Law and Practise as it stood among the Israelites what was the Divine institution and Ordinance among them in this matter and then Secondly shew you how far we are still concerned in it or what this observance among them suggests to invite and justifie or vindicate our imitation First It is good to consider the Order which the Lord kept with his People in times pasts T. 6. L. 1. p. 196. as the Nonconformists themselves have sometimes worded it upon other Occasions The First provision about this we Read of Deuter. 11.26 c. Behold saith Moses Augmentatio Boni Diminutio Boni Aben-Ezra I set before you this day a Blessing and a Curse that is Good and Evil Happyness and Misery A Blessing if ye obey the Commandment of the Lord your God which I Command you this day and a Curse if ye will not obey And it shall come to pass saith he when the Lord thy God hath brought thee into the Land whither thou goest to Possess it that thou shalt put the Blessing upon Mount Gerizim and the Curse upon Mount Ebel Are they not on the other side Jordan c Ainsworth in Loc. Thou shalt put or give the Blessing Upon or Towards Mount Gerizim for so the Hebrew Preposition Gnal sometimes signifies that is cause it to be pronounced there and so the Curse in like manner Upon or Towards Mount Ebel Thou shalt see or take care that the Blessing and Curse be given forth by the Priests Dandam curabis operâ scil Levitarum Vatablus the Levites towards these Mountains respectively by the Levites I say whose Office it was to teach Jacob Gods Judgments Deut. 33.10 and Israel his Law by whom God had before ordered the Solemn Blessing ch 10. and the Curses too as afterwards we find it But of this same matter he speaks more particularly and distinctly in This 27th Chapter Psal 12. c. These shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the People when ye are come over Jordan Simeon and Levi and Judah and Issachar and Joseph under which Ephraim and Manasseh and Benjamin These shall stand on Mount Gerizim to Bless the People Vatablus ad audiendam benedictionem to hear the Blessing pronounced on the People for Obedience And these shall stand upon Mount Ebel to Curse Reuben Gad and Asher and Zebulun Dan and Naphtali These on Mount Ebel to Curse or for the Cursing that is in like manner to hear the Curse denounced for Disobedience For the People were not on either Mountain to pronounce the Blessing or the Curse but to hear and witness unto both proclaimed by the Levites as it follows And the Levites shall speak and say unto all the men of Israel with a loud voice Cursed be or is the man that maketh any Graven or Molten Image an abomination to the Lord the work of the hands of the Craftsman and putteth it in a secret place And all the People shall answer and say Amen Cursed is he that setteth light by his Father or his Mother And all the People shall say Amen c. Munster is mistaken who reckon'd but 11. in Twelve particulars in the end of each of which it is prescribed still in words at length And all the People shall say Amen And as this Office was twice prescribed by Moses in the name of God unto them as we have seen so afterwards we find it put in practice under Joshua when he had Conducted them over Jordan to this place Josh 8.33 c. And all Israel and their Elders and Officers and their Judges stood on this side the Ark and on that side before the Priests the Levites which bare the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord as well the stranger that is the Proselite as he that was born among them Half of them over against Mount Gerizim and half of them over against Mount Ebel as Moses the Servant of the Lord had Commanded before that they should Bless the People of Israel And afterwards he Read all the words of the Law the Blessings and Cursings according to all that is written in the Book of the Law there was not a word of all that Moses Commanded which Joshua read not before all the Congregation of Israel with the Women and the little ones and the Strangers that were Conversant among them An august and full assembly we see here of the Rulers and all the People Women and Children too and Strangers who had embraced their Religion
not excepted And when Joshua is said to have read all the Blessings and Cursings according to all that was written in the Law and as Moses had Commanded we must understand that he issued out his Warrant gave forth his Edict to the Priests the Levites herein to do their proper Office and what they did at his Command is ascribed to him as if he had done it And so again though there be no particular mention here of the Acclamations of all the People answering and saying Amen yet there can be no question at all but that so we are to conceive of it because All is said to be done by him according to all that was written by Moses in the Book of the Law about it where he had his Pattern as well as Commission given him and in which it was so often repeated All the People shall say Amen Concerning the place where these two Mountains stood Vide Matium in Josh 8. Non procul â Sicimis Antiq. L. 4. c. ult some difference there is among Cosmographers which I shall not trouble you with Josephus describes them near to Sichem and that is the most common Opinion it being reported by Travellers into those parts that near the Gate of that City was Jacobs Fountain and somewhat above that a Mount arising with two Tops as it were one against the other which the Inhabitants thereabouts take for Gerizim and Ebel the one upon the Right hand the other on the Left supposing the Face turned to the East or Sun-rising Mount Gerizim Southward which was accounted Dextrum mundi latus the Right side of the World and Mount Ebel Northward which hath been ever look'd upon as Male-ominata plaga an ill-bodeing Coast Now in the Valley between these two Mountains as the story tells us was placed the Holy Ark and next to that the Priests the Levites which bore it and all Israel Officers and People in their several Tribes on this side and on that Half of them over against Mount Gerizim and Half of them over against Mount Ebel That is as we are told more particularly Towards Mount Gerizim were the six heads of the Free Tribes with their respective Tribes Liberarum filij ex justis Matribus familiâs Simeon and Levi and Judah and Issachar and Joseph and Benjamin all Children of the Free-Women Rachel and Lea. And Blessedness the Apostle tells us belongs to the Children of the Free-Woman Gal. 4.22.31 Upon this Mount afterwards the Samaritans are said to have Built their Temple taking occasion it seems Ainsworth in Deuteron from what was now done there for a Superstitious conceit of the place it self calling themselves Those that belong to the Blessed Mount. Servarum filij And then for Mount Ebel there were six others the Sons of the Bond-Women Four of them Born of the two hand-maids viz. Gad and Asher the Sons of Zilpah Lea's hand-maid Dan and Naphtali of Bilhah Rachel's hand-maid But then to make up the number even with those on the other side two are added that were Born indeed of the Free Reuben the Eldest by Leah but one that had forfeited his dignity by defiling his Fathers Bed and Zebulun the last of the Sons by Leah also and so the least in Dignity Thus the People are divided into two equal Choires as it were the one on the Right-hand and the other on the Left with all their Faces towards the Ark Ora omnium obversa ad Arcam Matius ut suprâ the Blessings to be pronounced by the Levites towards those on Mount Gerizim and the Curses towards those on Mount Ebel over against them not unfitly declaring as one of the Rabbi's observes Quantum esset inter benedictionem maledictionemque dissidium how great a Distance there is between Obedience and Disobedience the Blessing and the Curse A vast Gulf as it were between them like to that we read of in the Gospel between Abrahams Bosome and the place of Torment They move towards two opposite points and are not possibly to be reconciled so as to meet together in one Well the Congregation thus set we are to suppose that some one or more of the Levites did lift up his voice like a Trumpet and Tanquam fecialis Mat ius ibid. as God Almighty's Herald propound the Articles of his Law and Covenant turning first to the Right that is towards Mount Gerizim to utter the Benedictions and Blessings But what these Blessings were Moses doth not specifie and this silence of his in the Case is look'd upon by some Ainsworth in Loc. as instructive about a Mystery in like manner as the Apostle to the Hebrews interprets his silence concerning the Genealogie of Melchisedec leading the Sagacious Reader to look for them by another which is Christ by whom cometh Grace and Truth and whom God hath sent to Bless us But waving this conjecture though these Blessings are not specified it is not to be question'd but they were rehearsed to the People as well as the Curses nay it is observable where we have the History of the practise in the time of Joshua that the chief if not only mention is made of Benediction as Moses the Servant of the Lord had Commanded before that they should Bless the People of Israel Masius in Loc. Sola Benedictio agebatur It was their Blessing all along that was design'd and aimed at the other was but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a thing as it were by the by Subservient and in order to this Benediction as a likely means to remove the impediments and hindrances of it Those therefore that are versed in the Jewish Antiquities tell us that the Blessings are particularly to be Collected out of the Curses here mentioned answering to each of them A pause being made by the Levite at the end of every Sentence or Period both of Blessing and Curse that the People on both sides might attest their approbation distinctly to every Article as he went along by their joynt Acclamations of Amen only with this difference Those on Mount Gerizim beginning the Amen to the Blessings and their Brethren on the other side against them on Mount Ebel resounding or ecchoing the like after them Those on Mount Ebel again beginning the Amen to the Curses P. Fagius in Denter and their Brethren on Gerizim repeating the same after them And it is not improbable but that the twelve Benedictions on the one side and the twelve Maledictions on the other were pronounced alternatim by turn or Exchange Antiq. L. 4. C. ult in the way of Antiphone or Responsal succinentes sibi invicem as Josephus hath it The Levites suppose first beginning towards the Right with the Blessings thus Blessed is he that worshippeth the true Jehova only and no other Gods besides or with him whereunto All the People answer and say Amen Those on Mount Gerizim beginning the shout and those on Mount Ebel following them therein And then turning
deserve at Gods hands and most justly expose us to and admire the patience and forbearance of God towards us and they are to be as a School-master to lead us unto Christ for deliverance from them and as a Tutor and Monitor of the great obligation we have to him our Redeemer They are also to bring us to a true and serious Humiliation for all our Transgressions and to warn us against them for the time to come For notwithstanding the Blessing of the Gospel we are yet if we take not heed †If any man love not the Lord Jesus Let him be Anathema Maranatha 1 Cor. 16.22 liable to a Curse also if we are wilfully Disobedient to it nay and a greater and sadder Curse and Condemnation than the Law ever pronounced because the Blessing to us is by many degrees greater than what was set before them As we have better promises so we have also a sorer Judgment held forth unto us as the Apostle to the Hebrews more than once intimateth How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation ch 2. And of how much sorer punishment suppose ye shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden under foot the Blood of the Son of God c ch 10. The Gospel is not made up altogether of comforts and promises as some mistake it but hath its Threats and Terrors also knowing therefore the Terror of the Lord we perswade men 2 Cor. 5.11 Both the Baptist Christs fore-runner and our Blessed Saviour himself too call upon us to Repent that we may flie from wrath and tell us that the Axe is now laid to the root of the Trees so that every Tree which bringeth not forth good Fruit is to be hewen down and cast into the Fire and that unless we Repent we shall all perish In that famous Sermon of our Lords upon the Mount we have him not only as it were upon Mount Gerizim uttering the Beatitudes or Blessings to his Disciples St. Matt. 5. Blessed are the poor in Spirit Blessed are they that mourn Blessed are the meek Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after Righteousness Blessed are the merciful Blessed are the pure in heart Blessed are the Peace-makers Blessed are they that are persecuted for Righteousness-sake But if we compare St. Luke ch 6. We find him also as it were upon Mount Ebal to denounce unto others a contrary Wo and Curse But Wo unto you that are Rich. Wo unto you that are full Wo unto you that Laugh now Wo unto you when all men speak well of you As elsewhere we find him uttering many Woes against the Hypocritical Scribes and Pharisees St. Matth. 23. St. Luke 11. St. Matth. 11. St. Luke 10. and those that Repented not at the sight of his mighty works among them And when he vouchsafes to give us an account of the Judgment of the Last day he lets us understand how all men then shall be divided and separated as the Children of Israel now were the Righteous that is the Sons of the Free-Woman the Faithful Disciples of Christ as it were on Gerizim at the Right hand to receive a Blessing but the unrighteous that is the Bond-Slaves of Sin and Satan as it were on Ebal at the Left hand to receive the Curse St. Matth. 25. Then shall the King say unto them on his Right hand Come ye Blessed of my Father ver 34. Then shall he say also unto them on the Left-hand Depart from me ye Cursed ver 41. So that you see the Gospel it self hath its Sentences both of Blessing and Cursing And there is an Amen too St. Mat. 28.20 St. Mark 16.20 St. Luke 24.53 St. John 21.25 you may observe at the end of all the Four Evangelists which relates to all things Contained in them Woes and Curses as well as Blessings to testifie the Certainty of both and the Belief of both in the Church of Christ Amen that is This is the Gospel of Truth We say commonly as True as Gospel And both of them shall be made good to the full at the Day of the Revelation of the Righteous Judgment of God when all Nations shall be gather'd before the Great Judge and he shall separate them one from another as a shepherd divideth his Sheep from the Goats and set the Sheep on his Right hand that is as hath been said on Gerizim and the Goats on the Left that is on Ebal When our Lord shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels in flaming fire taking Vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ but to be glorified in his Saints and admired in all them that believe 2 Thes 1. This Institution therefore among the Jews which gives us a Remembrance and Representation of these things is not any more unsuitable to the times of the Gospel than to those of the Law For we are all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 under the Law to Christ †1 Cor. 9.21 Gal. 6.2 St. Jam. 2.12 It is as fit now as then that we should attend to the whole will of God his Curses no less than Blessings 'T is as fit now as then that we should set the Amen of our Faith to each of them answering unto every Sentence in the Holy word of God Amen and so confessing with our mouths that we believe it unfeignedly in our hearts To the intent as it follows in our Church Service that being admonished of the great indignation of God against sinners we may the rather be moved unto earnest and true Repentance and may walk more warily in these dangerous dayes fleeing from such vices for which we affirm with our own mouths the Curse of God to be due Mark here I beseech you the plain Resolution of our Amen to Gods several Curses It is not uncharitably to Curse our selves or others No all is in order to a Blessing that we may every one carry a share of the Blessing home with us It is only to affirm with our mouths the Truth of the Divine Curses That the Curse is due to such and such Transgressors by Gods appointment That it is most certain all such Sinners are really accursed by God under his Curse while they continue such and have no possibility of removing that Curse but by a speedy Repentance and Return to God for pardon and forgiveness through Jesus Christ that by and in him they may be Blessed for ever Blessed by being first saved from their Sins and turn'd from their iniquities God of old declared his great Indignation against those who hearing the words of his Curses should yet bless themselves in their hearts saying I shall have peace though I walk in the imagination of mine heart to add drunkenness to thirst The Lord saith Moses will not spare such a man but all the Curses in this book shall lie upon him Deuter. 29.18.19 The Prophet Isaiah proclaims it once and again There is no peace saith the Lord
unto the wicked ch 48.22 and ch 57.21 Let no man deceive you with vain words saith the Apostle for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the Children of Disobedience Ephes 5.6 And when they shall say peace and safety then sudden destruction cometh upon them as Travel upon a Woman with Child and they shall not escape 1 Thes 5.3 It is of great concernment to us therefore in time to see and understand and believe and be sensible of the Cursed State which our sins necessarily and unavoidably involve us in and to judge and condemn our selves 1 Cor. 11.31 that we may anticipate the judgment of the Lord that we may not be then condemned by him and that we may be moved effectually to humble our selves in this day of grace and season lent us for Repentance to deprecate all his displeasure against us and obtain acceptance and favour with him through his Beloved It is not we alas that make Obedience a Blessed thing or Disobedience a Cursed thing 'T is all one for that whether we Believe it or not Whether we say and own it or not The Blessing and Curse are both of them already pronounced from God They are the Sentences of his Curse contained in the Holy Scriptures the Infallible word of him that cannot lye and gather'd out thence only for our caution and warning Our Amen added to them is but a fitting declaration that those whom God hath Blessed are certainly Blessed and those whom he hath Cursed are as certainly Cursed saying with our Lips that we believe this in our hearts which we are Damned infidels if we believe not And this way of owning and confessing it is a very probable and likely means to prevent the danger by shewing of it to us to bring us as hath been said to an hearty Repentance for all that is past and a through amendment for the time to come that so we may avoid the Curse and inherit the Blessing that taking this leisurely admonition of Gods fierce displeasure against such and such Sinners viz. Idolaters Disobedient to Parents and Governors Vnjust Cruel Malicious Vnclean Vncharitable Covetous and such-like who do err and go astray from the Commands of God the paths of piety Righteousness and Sobriety and walk in the High-Road to destruction we may the rather be moved to an earnest and true Repentance in all these particulars for the gross miscarriages we have been guilty of and for the future awakened and stir'd up to take greater heed unto our selves and walk circumspectly especially in these dangerous dayes wherein there are so many bad examples in the midst of a crooked and perverse Generation fleeing from those several Vices Ex ore tuo for which we have affirmed with our own mouths and therefore affirmed with our mouths because we believe in our hearts the Curse of God is due as it is clearly and plainly legible in his Holy word There can be nothing of impiety or folly nothing of antiquated Judaism or innovating Popery and Superstition certainly in all this Nay I must pronounce upon the whole that there is nothing which keeps persons from an hearty Compliance with so wholsome a Service but either First the not understanding of it aright Or Secondly some secret love reserved to their own Sins which makes them backward and unwilling thus to enter into a sacred vow and covenant with God under a Curse against them For otherwise the Benefit of this Devotion is most Conspicuous What more prevailing motive can there possibly be both to Repentance and Reformation than this Remembrance of the dreadful Judgment of God hanging over our heads whilst we continue in Sin and alwayes ready to fall upon us prompting of us therefore as the only remedy and way to escape forthwith to return unto God with all contrition and meekness of heart bewailing and lamenting our wicked life acknowledging and confessing our aggravated offences to him and seeking to bring forth Fruits becoming penitents And Thus if we do as the excellent Homily of the Church assures us in the Close Christ will deliver us from the Curse of the Law and from the extreme malediction which will light upon them that shall be set on the Left hand and he will set us at his Right hand and give us the gracious benediction of his Father commanding us to take possession of his most glorious Kingdom Unto which he vouchsafe to bring us all for his Infinite mercy Amen FINIS