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A38007
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A farther enquiry into several remarkable texts of the Old and New Testament which contain some difficulty in them with a probable resolution of them / by John Edwards ...
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Edwards, John, 1637-1716.
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1692
(1692)
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Wing E206; ESTC R37315
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201,474
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386
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Madness of Idolatry and Impiety possessed the World and the Knowledg of the True God was banish'd to whom did it belong to instruct the World aright concerning the true worship of the Father but to the Son And in the same place he farther sets forth the vast spreading of Idolatry over the World and Christians more powerful destroying of it And you shall find that this Glorious Atchievement of Christ in crushing Idolatry which was grown so prevalent every where is made the great Proof and Confirmation of the Truth of the Christian Religion and is insisted upon with mighty Force and Reason by all the Antient Apologists for Christianity And that this was one Great Design of our Saviour's manifesting himself in the World is evident from many Promises and Prophecies in the Old Testament concerning the Messias and his Kingdom as that of the Evangelical Prophets * Isâ— 2. â—0 They shall cast their Idols of Silver and their Idols of Gold to the Batts and to the Moles to the Moles fit company you will say for them that have Eyes and see not as Idols are described by the Psalmist The meaning of this Prophetick Writer is that the enlightned and converted Gentiles shall renounce their Beloved Idolatry and with indignation throw their Idols and Images into the dark Corners of the Earth Whereas before they placed them in the Light and set them up to be seen now they shall be ashamed of them and being ashamed of them shall hide them and cast them into those obscure Holes where Bats and Moles lie hid under Ground To the same puâ—pose is that of the Prophet * Jer. 16. 19 20. Ieremiah The Gentiles shall come unto thee from the Ends of the Earth and shall say Our Fathers inherited Liâ—s and Vanities which are terms in the * Isa. 28. 15 44. 20. Jer. 13. 25. Hoâ— â— 1. Am. 2. 4. Rom. 1. 25. Scripture-stile to express False Gods but we will reject them for shall a Man make Gods to himself that are no Gods And in several places both Isaiah and this Prophet insist upon this that the Messias should bring the Gentiles out of the Darkness of Idolatry to the Light of the Gospel and the Acknowledgment of the True God In Ezek. 37. 23. there is another Prediction of the like Nature Israel shall not defile themselvâ—â— any â—ore with Idols nor with their Detestable Things which latter Clause is but an Explication of the foâ—meâ— for Shikkuâ—zim and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which are the words in the Original and the Septuagint are frequently used to signify Idols which are Detestable in the Eyes of God And Zephaniah foretels that * 〈◊〉 2. â—â— the Lord will famish all the Gods of the Earth which is a very remarkable Passage and alludes to the fond Conceit of the Pagans which is mentioned in Deut. 32. 38. that their Gods did eat the Fat of their Sacrifices and drank the Wine of their Drink-offerings To which it is probable God himself was pleas'd to allude in Psal. 50. 13. Will I eat the Flesh of Bulls or drink the Bloud of Goats And in Isa. 43. 24. Neither hast thou filled me with the Fat of thy Sacrifices It was a Notion among the Heathen Worshippers that the God's were nourish'd with the Steam of the Sacrifices and in relation to that the Prophet's Prediction is that those Gods shall be famished they shall not according to the fond Notion of the Gentile World be any longer â—ed from the Altars they shall be starved when Christianity takes place amongst Men for the Pagan Sacrifices shall then be laid aside and Idolatry cashier'd All these Pâ—ophecies were plainly accomplished when our Saviour came and commissioned his Apostles to preach the Gospel to the whole World This threw down the Idolatrous Images and in many places the very Idols themselves â—ell down prostrate on the Ground and as it were worship'd the Holy Jesus But as Christ gave a fatal Blow to Idolâ—trous Worship so I am more particularly to prove under this Head thâ—t he did conâ—ound the Worshipping of Devils which had been a thing very fashionable in the World before Christ came into it I say the Worshipping of Devils the highest Strain of Idolatry was confounded by our Saviour's appearing for it seems the Devil could not be content to cheat the World with his Oracles to enter into Mens Bodies and to make Leagues and Contracts with Persons but as an Effort above all these he affected to be worshipped and adored as a God This is confess'd by Porphyrius in his Book of Abstinence from Animals and Eusebius and St. Augustin and other Fathers make use of what he saith there against the Pagans whom they undertake to confute That the Gods whom the Gentiles sometimes worship'd were Devils is also the acknowledgment of Trismegistus in his Asclepius And it is owned by all the Wise and Understanding Heads among them that the Service paid to many of their Gods was a kind of Adoring the Devil It is well known that these Worshippers could by certain Magick Spells make these Infernal Fiends come to their Images when they pleas'd and when they had brought them thither they worship'd these Wicked Ghosts to appease their Fury and that they might do them no harm Besides the Particulars which I insisted on before do sufficiently evince the present Point for the consulting the Devil when he spake in Oracles and dealing with him by practising Witchcraft and Sorcery were a palpable forsaking of the True God and setting up the Devil for a God These were giving Divine Honour to the Prince of Darkness And which is most convincing do not the infallible Oracles of Scripture expresly tell us that the Idolatrous Jews sacrificed unto Devils not to God Deut. 32. 17. which to confirm the Truth and Certainty of it is repeated in Psal. 106. 37. They sacrificed their Sons and Daughters unto Devils And if I be not mistaken the Psalmist had before refer'd to this abominable Practice ver 28. They ate the Sacrifices of the Dead i. e. as I conceive the Sacrifices that were offer'd to the Manes and to the Stygian Iupiter or Pluto the God of the Dead these are meant here by Zibche methim the Sacrifices of the Dead I know some Writers have lessen'd and minc'd this Idolatry as well as that before spoken of and tell us that the Pagans all along worship'd God though under a false Representation It is partly true that the best of the Heathens did so but others did not and as for those that defend the contrary they are confuted by downright Authority from Scripture which acquaints us that they worship'd even Devils for sacrificing to them is worshipping them If they can evade this let them I could add that the Hebrew Masters were of Opinion that some of the Jews worship'd the Devil in shape of a Goat in Woods and Deserts because the word Sagnir is both Daemon and Hircus Lev. 17.
put and I will write are Synonimous Terms and so in the Greek of the Seventy and the * Heb. 8. 10. 10. 16. New Testament where this place of Ieremiah is quoted 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 answers to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thus you see that according to the Idiom of the Holy Language putting or giving is understood and interpreted of Writing To farther this Notion I could add that Giving hath the same Acception in other Tongues as in the Greek besides what hath been said already 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is equivalent to Scribere according to that of Demosthenes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to prefer a Bill or Writing against one And in the Latin 't is well known that dare literas is meant of writing Epistles or Letters And in our own Language dated or given is the same with written However 't is certain that the Hebrew word Nathan is of a very large Extent in Scripture and is no less applicable to Writing than to many other things Thus in the Text Thou shalt give in the Breast-plate the Urim and Thummim may well be rendred Thou shalt write them in the Breast-plate this being one way of giving for in Writing there is something put or given into the Writing-Table Paper or Book or whatever else the Writing is in 3. We read that This very thing was done in the Pontifical Habiliments Certain Words were Written or Put upon some part of the Holy Garments Exod. 28. 36 Thou shalt make a plate of pure Gold and grave upon it HOLINESS TO THE LORD Observe here These words HOLINESS TO THE LORD were writ on a Plate and put on Aaron's Forehead Why then might not these words URIM and THUMMIM be written on something and put in the Breast-plate of Aaron One Writing is a Pattern of the other the words URIM and THUMMIM in the Breast-plate answered to Those HOLINESS TO THE LORD in the Head-plate or Mitre And though they are not said to be Graven yet it is said they were Put upon which is a large term and comprehends the other 4. We have a Parallel place in Zach. 14. 20 In that day shall there be upon the Bells of the Horses HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD The Prophet here speaks of the Glorious days of the Gospel when True Holiness which was shadowed forth by the Mosaick Purifications and Cleansings shall take place in the Church when Men shall universally turn to God and dedicate themselves wholly to Him and his Service True Sanctity shall then be the Ornament and Lustre of their Lives Yea their very secular and inferior Imployments shall be devoted and made Serviceable to Holiness In that day shall there be upon the Bells or the Bridles so the Hebrew word signifies likewise of the very Horse Holiness unto the Lord Instead of their Curious Harness and Trappings there shall as it were be written or Ingraven upon them these words Holiness unto the Lord the very words which were commanded to be written in the Front of the High Priest's Mitre This shall be their Ornament and Bravery I do not think nor doth any Man else I suppose that these words shall be really written on the Horses Bells or Bridles but I alledge this place for this that 't is spoken and expressed as if such words were written because they were so in effect The manner of expressing the thing is that which I observe here as pertinent to our purpose Mark It is not said there shall be written or ingraven but there shall be upon the Bells of the Horses And it is not said there shall be these words but plainly and simply there shall be Holiness to the Lord. So here it is not said thou shalt write but thou shalt put and it is not said thou shalt put these words but thou shalt put the Urim and Thummim Yet as in the former place Writing and Ingraving is understood so it is here These Individual Words Urim and Thummim are to be written or Ingraven on the High Priests Breast-plate as the words Kodesh Laihovah i. e. Holiness to the Lord were to be seen in effect written or ingraven on the Trappings of the Horses 5. There is another place of Scripture to illustrate this and to let us see that it is probable the words Urim and Thummim were to be Written though it is not said so in express terms The King of Babylon stood at the parting of the way to use Divination he consulted with ‖ Teraphim Hebr. Images at his right hand was the Divination for Jerusalem Ezek. 21. 21 22. The Preposition for is not in the Hebrew Text but only Ierusalem for here is described the Pagan way of Diâ—ination and particularly how the King of Babylon undertook by his Heathen Art to predestine the Slaughter and Destruction of Ierusalem namely as Haman cast Lots in his Divining way to know what days were fittest and best for the Slaughter of the Iews He commanded Pur i. e. the Lot to be cast from day to day Esther 3. 7. This sort of Divining Lottery is used here by the King of Babylon who had a Scheme before him as was the Custom in these cases of what he intended to enquire about and accordingly in his right hand was the Divination Ierusalem so it is in the Hebrew i. e. Ierusalem was the Word which was written on that part of the Lots The meaning then is that the Magical Divination or Lottery went clearly against Ierusalem that City was to be destroy'd This is the short way of Scripture Expression At his right hand was the Divination Jerusalem which more largely should have been expressed thus At his right hand was the Divination which respected Jerusalem and to distinguish it from the rest the word Jerusalem was written upon it So here the like Abbreviating stile is used Thou shalt put the Urim and Thummim in the Breast-plate i. e. Thou shalt distinctly write down these two words Urim and Thummim and then place them conveniently in that part of the Ephod 6. Let this be considered That the Inspired Pen-man of the Book of Exodus is very Exact and Particular about all the Habiliments and Ornaments of the High Priest in the 28th Chapter How Punctual is he about the two Great Onyx stones on the Shoulders of the Ephod from the ninth to the thirteenth Verse And the setting of the twelve Precious Stones in the Breast-plate is precisely described from the seventeenth to the thirâ—ieth Verse But when he comes to speak of the Urim and Thummim he uses no Description at all but only mentions the Bare Names Urim and Thummim whence any Observing Man may perceive that these were some Easie and Plain thing which needed no Explaining and Inlarging If it were not so we should have the manner of the putting of the Urim and Thummim into the Rationale particularly set down as you see other things in that Chapter are punctually described He that hath any