comes now to set out their portion which they should have as a reward of their Service And first He tells Aaron that for the sake of his Office to which he was anointed and because He and his Sons were separated from worldly Imployments to attend upon holy things therefore they should have a part in every Meat-Offering Sin-Offering Trespass-Offering and in the Court * See Levit. 6.16.26 Lev. 7.6 Ezek. 42 13 14. of the Tabernacle or Tents round about it called here the most holy place comparatively in respect to the Camp of Israel and the great Court for the people which was without the Priests Court they might eat of them 2ly They should have the Heave-Offerings and Wave-Offerings that is the right Shoulder and wave-breast of the Peace-Offerings with all other Gifts that were heaved and waved no part thereof being burnt upon the Altar And of these the Priests Daughters might eat whilst they remained in their Fathers house but being married to strangers they might not eat of the holy things see Levit. 22.12 13. Neither might any unclean person eat thereof 3ly They should have the first-fruits Some of the first-fruits of the Land were brought to the Lord at their three great Feasts as a sheaf of their Barley at the Feast of the Passover Levit. 23.10 And two loaves of their new-Wheat at the Feast of Pentecost vers 17. And the first of their Wine and Oil at the Feast of Tabernacles But these were brought in the name of all the Inhabitants of the Land in general Besides these particular men were of their own Corn and Fruits to bring the first-fruits unto the Lord as is enjoyned Exod. 22.29 23.19 concerning which there is no other direction given but that they should be of the first and of the best the quantity being left to the liberty and discretion of the Owner to bring according as he had found the blessing of God upon his Grounds 4ly They should have all things devoted that is all votive and freewill-Offerings see Levit. 27.28 except such things as were devoted as a Sacrifice unto God 5ly The first-born of men and beasts The first-born * The first-born of men before they were redeemed were to be presented before the Lord in the Temple Exod. 13.12 Levit. 2.22 And that could not be done before the Mother was purified which required forty days time Levit. 12.4 The first-born of the Tribe of Levi were free from this Redemption of men they were to permit to be redeem'd at a month old (d) V. 16. Secundum aestimationem seu ordinationem tuam Refero ad illud post mensem q. d. Constitues diem quando velles eum redimi Hic dies Communi usu erat 40 a partu ut eadem opera mater purificaretur filius redimeretur Bonfrerius for five Shekels see Levit. 27.6 and the firstlings of unclean Beasts they were to permit to be redeemed after eight days at a lower price but the firstlings of Cows Sheep and Goats were not to be redeemed they must be sacrific'd and their blood sprinkled and their fat burnt on the Altar that they may be a sweet savour to the Lord but their flesh should go to the Priests God tells them He had allotted them these things for their Maintenance (e) The Hebrew Doctors write of 24 Gifts which God bestowed on the Priests with the order and use of them See Ainsworth pag. 113. for ever that is whilst this Dispensation lasted by a perpetual and unchangeable Covenant called a Covenant of Salt because firm and incorruptible Salt having a vertue to preserve any thing from corruption God further tells Aaron That when the Land shall be divided by Lot there shall be no lot for the Levites They should have no Inheritance in it He himself would be their part and portion Indeed they had Cities (f) Concerning the 35 Cities and Suburbs of the Levites and 13 Cities and Suburbs of the Priests See Richardson pag. 32. and Suburbs but they were given them by the other Tribes The Lord further tells Aaron That He had given the Levites all the Tenths or Tythes of the Children of Israel (g) V. 24. Which they offered as an Heave-offering that is an Oblation to the Lord and a sign of their homage and subjection and thankfulness to him for his blessings as a reward of their Service Levit. 27.30 And straitly charges that no Israelite that is not of that Tribe presume to come nigh to the Tabernacle to do any part of the Service belonging to the Levites lest they die for it And He tells him That the Levites should bear the punishment of their own Iniquity if they should transgress yea and of the peoples too if by their not watching over the holy things they suffered the people to transgress about them He further injoyns that the Levites shall offer as an Oblation to the Lord and pay a tenth of all the Tythes they receive unto the Priests and this the Lord would accept at their hands no less than if having Lands as others had they should pay Tythe of the increase of them as the rest of the people did to them and hereby they should testifie their homage and thankfulness to God And they were to offer and separate out of the Tythes paid to them for the hallowed part to be paid to the Priests that which was of all the best And the Priests might eat of these Tythes indifferently in any place And He further declares That if the Levites do heave or separate a tenth part of the best of their Tythes for the Priests use they shall not expose themselves to punishment which they would else do if they neglected it In conclusion here is added a general warning that both Priests and Levites should take heed of polluting or profaning the holy things or suffering them to be profaned by others which might be done many ways that so they might prevent wrath from falling on themselves and others Ch. 18. whole Chapter SECT LXVI THe Lord having appointed the Priests and Levites to do the Service of the Tabernacle and to watch over the people that they might not trangress about any of the holy things He here appoints a water of separation to be made that so if any of the people had contracted any legal uncleanness by the sprinkling of this water upon them they might be cleansed and so might come freely again to the Service of God in the Tabernacle without fear of those Plagues which otherwise their pollutions might bring upon them For the making of this water a red Heifer was to be provided and that by the common charge of all the Children of Israel because it was to be for the common good of them all and for the cleansing of any one among them that was by any accident legally unclean It must be an Heifer without spot and upon which never came yoke For they used in those times to
vers 11 12. 15ly He forbids all fraud in buying and selling and commands that they should not have divers Weights and Measures to wit great ones to buy with and small ones to sell with or great ones to shew to the Officers when they come to view and try their Weights and Measures and less to sell their Wares by They are commanded to do just things that so their days may be lengthened in the Land which the Lord giveth them For all that do such things and deal unrighteously are an abomination to the Lord from vers 13. to 17. 16ly He puts them in mind of executing what God had declared against Amalek who smote the hindmost and feeblest of them when they came out of Egypt see Sect. 11. of Ch. 4. which was a great act of inhumanity and cruelty to seek to hurt them that had been lately so horribly oppressed in Egypt and it was a sign the Amalekites feared not God who had so visibly owned that people and so in fighting against the Israelites they fought against God Himself Therefore when they were peaceably setled in the Land which God intended to give them they should blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under Heaven This Judgment God appointed Saul to execute 1 Sam. 15.2 3. but he failed in the performance of it as we may see vers 9. Afterwards God stirred up the Simeonites in Hezekiah's days to do it who smote the rest of the Amalekites 1 Chron. 4.42 43. And what befel Haman and his Sons is largely related in the third Chapter of the Book of Esther from vers 17. to the end Chap. XXVI 17ly He gives directions that when they were come into the Land of Canaan every man should every year bring a Basket of his first-fruits at the Feast of Tabernacles Exod. 23.16 to the Priest to be by Him presented to the Lord as an acknowledgment that the Lord had freely given them this Land as He had promised to their Fathers and that of Him they still held it and therefore to Him as Lord in Chief by way of Tribute they brought these first-fruits testifying also thereby that to him they owed the yearly fruitfulness of their Land And when the Priest hath set down the Basket before the Altar the Offerer shall make this solemn Profession Our Ancestor Jacob was forced to fly into Syria and in respect of his long abode and continuance there with his Uncle Laban he may well be call'd a Syrian though born in the Land of Canaan There he was near lost and ready to perish by reason of the wrongs he received from his hard Father-in-law When he returned thence into the Land of Canaan after a few years by extremity of Famine he was constrain'd to remove into Egypt and there sojourned with a few who afterwards became a great mighty and populous Nation Then the Egyptians evil intreated us and laid upon us hard Bondage but when we cried unto the Lord He looked down with pity upon our Affliction and Labour and Oppression And brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty Hand and an out-stretched Arm and with great terribleness and with Signs and Wonders and hath brought us into this good Land flowing with Milk and Honey And behold I have brought to thee the first-fruits of the Land which thou O Lord hast given me Then leaving his Basket before the Altar for the use of the Priest who with the rest of his Brethren was afterwards to eat of them all first-fruits by Gods appointment appertaining to them Deut. 18.4 and humbly worshipping the Lord He shall depart and after he hath thus testified his thankfulness and done this Service he shall go and feast with the Levites and Strangers upon the Peace-Offerings He had brought thither even as they used to do at all other Feasts rejoycing in every good thing which the Lord hath given them see Deut. 16.11 15. from vers 1. to 12. 18ly He comes now to shew what profession and prayer that man was to make that paid his third years Tythes In the two first years after the Sabbatical year there were only two Tythes to be separated from their Estates The first for the Levites the second to be spent in their Journeys to Jerusalem and in holy feasting there before the Lord. But in the third year they were to separate a third Tythe which was for the Poor in the places where they dwelt The first of these Tythes was wholly the Levites * Out of this the Levitâ—s paid a tenth part again to the Priests Numb 18.24 to 29. Neh. 10.37 38. portion and therefore often called the Lords Inheritance the second or the price of it was to be carried up by the Owners to the Lords dwelling-place and there spent in holy feasting before the Lord but this third Tythe †Therefore this third year was peculiarly call'd the year of Tything because this year they separated three Tythes from their Increase one more than in other years The first was the Levites yearly livelihood the second was to be expended in their Journey to Jerusalem and feasting before the Lord there The third was to be laid up for the Poor see Deut. 14.28 was to be laid up in some publick place in the Towns and Cities where they dwelt and was not only for the use of the Levites but also of the Stranger Fatherless and Widdow as is said vers 12. that they might eat also within their Gates and be filled He that paid this third years Tythe was to make such a profession as this O Lord I have brought away the hallowed things out of my house and have given them to the Levites the Stranger the Fatherless and the Widow according to thy Commandments I have not transgressed thy Commandments nor forgotten them I have not eaten thereof in my mourning that is in my greatest wants and necessities and when I was in the greatest straits I have not ventured to supply my self from them Neither has it caused any mourning * Scil. pressus dolorâ— luctu quod tantum deberem auferre bonis meis aliis elargiri Jansen or repining in me that I was bound to part with so much of my Increase to the Poor Neither have I taken ought thereof for any unclean use that is for any use besides that for which they were appointed nor given ought thereof for the dead that is for the burying of the dead or to be provisions for a Funeral Feast †Non expendi in rem Funebrem Pompum vel Convivium de quo Jer. 16.7 Ezek. 24.17 Hos 9.4 Having made this solemn Protestation that He had not failed in paying his Tythes exactly according to the Law He was then to add this Prayer Lord look down from thy holy Habitation from Heaven and bless thy people Israel and this Land which thou hast given us as thou swearest to our Fathers from vers 12. to 18. 19ly He exhorts them to observe all
Tribe some according as their number was greater or lesser and chose such Cities as they in their Wisdom thought most convenient for the Levites and the people And then dividing the Cities they had chosen into four parts one for the Priests a second for the Levites of the Family of Cohath a third for the Gershonites a fourth for the Merarites it was decided by lot in which of these the Priests should be placed and in which the three Families of the Levites The Priests who were of the Family of Cohah by the special Providence of God were seated partly in the Tribe of Judah and partly in the two neighbouring Tribes of Simeon and Benjamin that so they might be near the Temple Thirteen Cities fell to their lot and herein respect was had to future times when the Posterity of Aaron should be encreased for all present there were but a few Priests not enough to inhabit the half part of one City The Levites that were of the Family of Cohath had by lot their Cities in the Tribe of Ephraim and Dan and the half-Tribe of Manasseh viz. ten Cities * Others no doubt besides the Levites did inhabit these Cities and dwell with them The Gershonites had by lot their Cities in the Tribe of Issachar Asher and Naphtali and out of the half-Tribe of Manasseh beyond Jordan viz. thirteen Cities The Merarites had by lot their Cities in the Tribe of Reuben Gad and Zebulun viz. twelve Cities These Cities with their Suburbs the Children of Israel gave unto the Sons of Levi as God had commanded In all 48 Cities The particular Cities that fell to each division are set down Josh Ch. 21. from vers 9. to 43. Of these six were appointed for Cities of Refuge and Sanctuaries for such as had killed a man unwittingly and not of malice prepense The Cities of Refuge on this side Jordan were Kadesh in Galilee in Mount Naphtali Sechem in Mount Ephraim and Hebron in Mount Judah On the other side Jordan Bezer in the Tribe of Reuben Ramoth-Gilead in the Tribe of Gad and Golan in Bashan in the Tribe of Manasseh see Numb 35. Deut. 19.2 c. Joshua Ch. 20. whole Chapter Joshua 21. from 1. to 43. SECT CXVIII THus God gave unto the Children of Israel all the Land which he had promised to their Fathers to give them For though there remained some part of the Land out of which the Canaanites were not yet expelled yet he had given it them all and by lot had divided it among them which was a kind of actual instating them in it 2. He had put them into the possession of the greatest part of it neither had he promised them otherwise that they should possess it than by degrees see Exod. 23.29 He had actually given them the whole Land and they possessed it and dwelt therein that is in as much of it as they had subdued and was needful for their present use and by degrees they came to possess the rest and they might have enjoyed it sooner than they did had it not been for their sins And the Lord now gave them rest round about and there stood not a man of all their Enemies before them that is they were Victorious in all their Wars and none of their Enemies whom they encountred whilst Joshua was their General were able to stand before them Not any good thing that God had promised them and which he knew to be good for them failed of coming to pass Josh 21. from 43. to the end SECT CXIX THe Land being thus conquered and the Children of Israel setled in a peaceful possession of it Joshua now calls the Companies of the Reubenites Gadites and half-Tribe of Manasseh who came over Jordan to help their Brethren in this Atchievement and had left their Wives and Children so long and had stuck to their Brethren till they had seen them peaceably setled in their Inheritances and commended them for their great faithfulness and obeying of the Lord therein He therefore now permits them to return to their own possessions but first gravely and religiously exhorts them to love the Lord their God and to walk in his Ways and Commandments and to cleave to Him and to serve Him with all their Hearts and Souls and that they be very careful and watchful over themselves that they be not drawn away from doing what he had enjoyned them Then He tells them They had got very much Spoil in the War and would return to their Tents laden with Riches with Silver and Gold and Brass with Iron and very much Rayment and with much Cattel Therefore when they came home they should divide the Spoil they had gotten with their Brethren that is that they that had been engaged in the War should have one half and the rest of their Brethren that stayed behind should have the other as Moses had before ordered it in that War when they went out against the Midianites Numb 31.27 and 't is probable Joshua followed the example of Moses in this direction Then earnestly praying to the Lord to bless them he kindly dismist them They having taken their leave of Joshua and their Brethren began their March home-ward and when they came to the Fords of Jordan they thought fit before they passed the River to build a great Altar there after the pattern of that in the Tabernacle not with any intent to offer Sacrifices thereon but only that it might be in future times a Memorial that those Tribes that dwelt without Jordan were of the stock of Israel as well as those that dwelt within and had a right to come to the Tabernacle and to offer their Sacrifices on Gods Altar there as well as they and that in succeeding Generations it might be known that that Altar was built by the Tribes without Jordan when they returned that way home from helping their Brethren against the Canaanites at the first conquering of the Land The Children of Israel within Jordan hearing of this Altar which their Brethren had built on the banks of Jordan and supposing they had done it with a purpose to offer Sacrifices thereon which would have been a manifest Rebellion against Gods Law whereby all the Tribes of Israel were enjoyned to bring all their Sacrifices to that one Altar that was in the Tabernacle Deut. 12.5 6. And considering that God had enjoyned them that in case any of their Brethren of any City in Israel should fall off from the true Worship of God to the Worship of false gods and consequently to any Idolatrous Worship whatsoever they should then gather themselves together and utterly destroy the Inhabitants of that City Deut. 13.13 c. In pursuance of this Command the Israelites within Jordan unanimously gather themselves together at Shiloh with an intent if they found the matter as they supposed to make War immediately against those Tribes that had built this Altar But they thought it requisite first to send Messengers to enquire concerning what
be taken out of the offerings which were laid up in the Treasuries of the Temple and those being much exhausted by Ahaz and the people being much impoverished by inrodes of enemies Hezekiah for the ease of the people appointed a portion for and towards these sacrifices out of his own revenue He commanded also the people that dwelt at Jerusalem to give to the Priests and Levites the portion and maintenance that by the Law belonged to them that so being freed from distracting worldly cares they might the better attend to their work and might search into and study and meditate on the Law of God and faithfully expound it to the people teaching them to perform the duties therein commanded And the children of Israel in and about Jerusalem when this command was first given brought in abundance of the first-fruits of corn wine and oyl and honey and of the things that grew out of the earth and the tythe of all things that were by the Law injoined And those that dwelt in the Cities of Judah brought in the tythe of oxen and sheep and all other things which were ordained to be set apart from the rest of their goods as being consecrated unto God and given to the Priests and Levites And they brought in so abundantly that they laid them by heaps and they began to make those heaps and to bring in their tythes to the house of the Lord in the third month which was the beginning of their harvest and finished them in the seventh month when they gathered all other fruits of the land and which was counted the last of their harvest And therefore the Feast of Tabernacles which was in that month was called the feast of ingathering in the end of the year Exod. 23.16 When Hezekiah and the Princes came and saw those heaps which were many and great ones they blessed the Lord for stirring up the people to bring in their tythes so chearfully and so plentifully and blessed the people for their forwardness therein Then the King asked the Priests and Levites how it came to pass seeing there were many of them that they had spent no more of the provisions brought in for them Azariah the chief Priest of the house of Zadock made this answer Be Be pleas'd to understand O King that since the people began to bring in their first-fruits and tythes into the house of the Lord we have had enough to eat and have left a great deal besides For God hath so abundantly blessed his people that their offerings have not only yeilded us sufficient provision but this overplus which thou seest here is also left Then the King commanded that they should prepare Chambers and storehouses wherein to lay up what remained for the future and ordered that the tythes and offerings and dedicate things should be laid up in them and appointed Cononiah the Levite and Shimei his brother to be Treasurers and to keep an account of what was brought in and what was delivered out according to the order established 1 Chron. 26.20 Then there are ten set down by name who were overseers under them by the command of the King and the high Priest who had the chief rule over those that belonged to the house of the Lord. And Core who was Porter at the East-gate and six under him had charge to distribute the oblations and tythes to the Priests and Levites and that to all sorts of them as they were set in their several courses both great and small viz. to every one what was sufficient for him And they were to distribute them also to the young ones who were in their Genealogies of males from three years old and upward and to those that were registred in the Genealogies of Priests and Levites from twenty years old and upward who came in their particular courses to do service in the house of the Lord. Nay further they were to distribute them to all their little ones that were registred though under three years and to their wives sons and daughters throughout the whole multitude or congregation of Priests and Levites for they having sanctified themselves in their distinct offices for the holy service of the Temple they had not time or leisure to provide temporal things for themselves their wives and children as others had And besides those persons before mentioned that were to distribute the holy things to those that dwelt at Jerusalem or came up thither in their several courses to perform their service at the Temple there were others also of the Priests chosen that dwelt in the other Cities of the Kingdom that were to give portions to the Priests and Levites whose names were registred according to their Families who were then abiding in those places and not attending at the Temple This care did Hezekiah take throughout all Judah and he did that which was good and right in the eyes of the Lord and he did it in truth and sincerity And in every work that he began relating to the service of the house of the Lord and to the observance of the Moral Law and the ordinances about Divine worship by all which he took care that God might be duly sought unto and honoured and obeyed he did it uprightly and with a fervent zeal and the Lord prospered him therein 2 Chron. 31. from v. 2 to the end About this time as 't is supposed that Copy of Solomon's Proverbs mentioned Prov. 25.1 was found and transcribed by some of Hezekiah's servants out of the old Manuscript which was as 't is like much spotted and soiled with time and neglect Further we are to observe what an excellent character is given of Hezekiah 2 King 18.5 6. viz. that he trusted in the Lord God of Israel so that after him there was none like him among all the Kings of Judah since the rent of the Kingdoms nor before him He excelled those that went before him in removing the high places which neither Jehoshaphat nor any of the good Kings of Judah had hitherto done But as for those that were after him some may object that which is said of Josiah 2 King 23.25 viz. that there was no King before him like unto him But to this we may answer that though Josiah excelled Hezekiah in some things yet in other things Hezekiah excelled him For Hezekiah was the first that removed the high places but when Josiah removed them he had Hezekiah's example to encourage him therein and Hezekiah was more successful in war than Josiah They were indeed both excellent Princes though in some things the one might excell the other 'T is further said of Hezekiah that he clave to the Lord and departed not from following him but kept his commandments And the Lord was with him and he prospered him in all his enterprizes As in particular in his wars against the Philistines against whom he mightily prevailed and took all those Cities from them which they had taken from his father Ahaz see 2 Chron. 28.18 But we
plow and draw their Carts with Heifers and Cows as well as with Oxen see Judg. 14.18 This Heifer was to be given to Eleazar because by doing this Service that was now to be done he was to be unclean and 't was fit that he rather than Aaron should be defiled She must also be carried out of the Camp as an accursed thing figuring Christs being made a Curse and suffering without the City Heb. 13.12 And Eleazar was to sprinkle of her blood seven times turning his face towards the Tabernacle of the Congregation And her skin and her flesh her blood and her dung were all to be burnt in his sight And Eleazar was to take Cedar-wood and Hyssop and Scarlet and to cast them into the midst of the burning of the Heifer to signifie that these things should be used for a sprinkle in sprinkling the unclean with the water of separation see Levit. 14.4 And Eleazar was to wash his Clothes and bath his flesh and to be unclean unto the evening * The like is injoyned to him that burnt this Heifer v. 8. and to him that gathered up the ashes v. 10. and to him that sprinkled an unclean person with the water made of those ashes v. 21. This might intimate to them that it was not so much the water made with the ashes of this Heifer as the thing signified thereby that had vertue in it to purifie those that were spiritually unclean and consequently to shew the imperfection of the legal Priesthood because they that were imployed in preparing this water which was for the cleansing of others were themselves defiled 'T was further injoyned That the ashes of this Heifer should be gathered up by a man that was clean and laid up without the Camp in a clean place (h) As for the place where those ashes were kept when they came into the Land of Canaan it is not expressed Some hold that those ashes were dispers'd into all the Cities that those who were unclean might have wherewith to purifie and cleanse themselves because they were now conseerated to an holy use However the man that gathered them up was thereby made unclean because they were the remainders of an Heifer slain for the sins of the people And the Statute of making and reserving of these ashes for a water of separation was to bind both the Israelite and the Proselyte or Stranger that sojourned with them as long as this Dispensation lasted By this Law it was further injoyned That he that touched the dead body of a man was to be unclean seven days and he was to purifie himself with this water on the third day and on the seventh day vers 19. and then he was to be clean else not And whoever having contracted this kind of uncleanness and doth not make use of this way to purifie himself but cometh in that state into the Court of the Tabernacle he shall be cut off by the Sentence of the Judge if it be proved that he did it presumptuously because he despiseth not only the Ceremonial purifying but the thing signified thereby viz. the spiritual cleansing thorow the blood of the Messias Otherwise if he did it ignorantly he was to bring such a Sacrifice as is injoyn'd Levit. 5.3 6. Further if any man came into the Tent of a dead man it rendred him unclean yea and all that was in the Tent Every open Vessel that takes in the air of the Tent was ceremoniously unclean Or if a man touched a dead body or the bone of a dead man it rendred him unclean And thus hereby was figured the spreading and infectious nature of sin And one of the Priests that was clean was to put running water to the ashes of the burnt-Heifer and with a bunch of Hyssop tied to a Cedar-stick with a Scarlet-thread to sprinkle the person or Tent or Vessels that were unclean and then to be himself unclean until the evening because he had touched the water of separation And whatsoever any unclean person touched was to be held unclean to signifie the contagion of sin spreading from one to another Numb 19. whole Chapter SECT LXVII THe Camp now advanced to Kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin which was near to the Land of Edom in the first month of the fortieth year after their coming out of Egypt and there Miriam died and was buried four months before her Brother Aaron and eleven months before her Brother Moses She was the eldest of the three she attained to the age of 130 see Exod. 2.4 7. she was a Prophetess and by her also God guided the Israelites in their Travels see Mich. 6.4 she in all likelihood was the Girl that was set to watch what would become of Moses when he was expos'd in an Ark of Bulrushes on the River Nile see Exod. 2.4 c. Numb 20. vers 1. SECT LXVIII AT this Kadesh (i) So that in their Travels from Kadesh-barnea where the Spies came back to Moses to this Kadesh in the Desart of Zin there were about 38 years spent and most of their Fathers that were numbred at their coming out of Egypt were in this time dead the people for want of water murmur again against Moses and Aaron With the same want God had tried their Fathers in the first year after their coming out of Egypt Exod. 17.4 and they murmured then as their Children do now and they had water given them out of a Rock But these their Children were worse than their Fathers because the supply their Fathers had from God in that extremity should have been an argument and encouragement to them to rely on his Providence now and not to have distrustfully murmured or wished so desperately as they did Would God say they we had died with our Brethren whom God suddenly destroyed in the Insurrection of Corah and at other times thereby as it were slighting that fearful Judgment of being cut off in Gods firery Indignation in comparison of being pinch'd with a present want of water They highly expostulate with Moses and Aaron for bringing them into that barren Wilderness which was no place to sow seed in or plant Figg-Trees Vines or Pomegranates but a Land of Desarts a Land of Drought and where there was no water a Land thorow which no man passed and where no man dwelt see Jer. 2.6 Moses and Aaron hereupon betake themselves unto the door of the Tabernacle to intercede with God as formerly for this rebellious people And the Lord immediately signified his approach and the actual manifestation of his glorious Presence by the descending of the Cloud to the door of the Tabernacle see Ch. 14.10 and Ch. 16.19 And here He Commands Moses to take the Rod viz. Aaron's Rod which budded out of the Tabernacle * See Numb 20. v. 9. Ch. 17.10 and with that Rod in his hand to speak to the Rock before the Children of Israel and it should give forth water Moses indeed with his miraculous Rod at
seemeth to have been missing ever since the beginning of Manasseh's reign who possibly at first endeavoured to burn all the Books of the Law and so this Book was hid in some secret place of the Temple by some faithful Priest that it might be preserved for future times Hilkiah having found it he sent it by Shaphan the Scribe unto the King who having heard it read all over to him was exceedingly affected therewith and rent his clothes and more especially as 't is likely at those dreadful threatnings against Idolatry which are written in Levit. 26. Deut. 28. Hereupon he immediately sent to (b) Miriam and Deborah and Anna were all Prophetesses Thus the Lord is pleas'd to endue some women with the spirit of Prophesie to shew that he is not tyed to any sex Huldah a famous Prophetess who dwelt in Ierusalem in the suburbs or second part and desired her to ask counsel of the Lord for him Ieremy possibly being not then at Ierusalem but at Anathoth For Iosiah hearing those curses in the Law denounced against Idolatry and knowing how much some of his Predecessors had been guilty thereof he much seared lest the judgments threatned in that Book might fall upon him and his people and desired to know whither there might be any means to pacifie Gods wrath and prevent those judgments Huldah returned this answer Thus saith the Lord Behold I will bring evil upon this place and upon the inhabitants thereof even all the curses written in the Book which the King of Judah hath read because they have forsaken me and burnt incense to other gods and have provoked me to anger with the works of their hands viz. their idols and altars therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place and shall not be quenched intimating the utter extirpation of the Jews out of that good land but to the King of Judah who sent you say to him Thus saith the Lord as touching the words and threatnings which thou hast heard read out of the Book because thy heart was tender and soon moved at the hearing of my threatnings and thou hast humbled thy self before me when thou heardest what I spake against this place and the inhabitants thereof that they should become a desolation and a curse that is have the curses written in this Book executed upon it and hast rent thy clothes and wept before me Behold I will gather thee unto thy pious ancestors in heaven before these dreadful calamities shall fall upon this place and people and thou shalt be gathered unto thy grave in peace This answer of Huldahs being brought to the King his heart was so affected with it that to prevent if it were possible this judgment threatned he called together the Elders of Judah and Jerusalem together with the Priests and Prophets viz. Jeremy Baruck Zephany and Vriah and the people both small and great and caused one of the Levites to read in their ears all the words of the Book of the Covenant * The Law is called a Cove an t because obedâ—ence was therein requir'd on the peoples part and a blessing thereupon promised on Gods part so called because it contained the Covenant that God made with the people of Israel See 1 King 8.9 And the King stood by the Pillar on the Brasen Scaffold or on some Throne erected by a pillar in the Temple for him to stand upon at that time and there solemnly made a Covenant before the Lord in his own name and the name of the people to walk after the Lord that is to observe what he prescrib'd unto them and to keep his commandments testimonies and statutes with all their heart and with all their soul and to perform the words of the Covenant written in that Book and he caused all that were present to give their consent to it and the inhabitants of Jerusalem were the most forward to engage themselves to walk according to the Covenant of the Lord God of their Fathers and did accordingly so walk Then the King commanded Hilkiah the High Priest and the Priests that were next unto him and the Levites to bring forth out of the Temple * Josiah did begin to purge Judah and Jerusalem of Idols in the twelfth year of his reign six years before the Book of the Law was found but upon hearing those dreadful threatnings in the Law against Idolatry he now proceeded further and perfected that reformation which was then begun Therefore the Penman of the Sacred History of the Chronicles relating the Reformation that Josiah wrought in the twelfth year of his reign adds also what was done afterwards when the Book of the Law was found and speaking how he suppressed Idolatry upon the hearing of the Law read to him he joins many things of the same nature that were done in the twelfth year of his reign that all his zealous acts in rooting out Idolatry might he related together all the vessels that were made for Baal and used in his worship or in the Idolatrous worship of the Groves or of the Host of Heaven and he burnt them in the field by which the river Kidron did run and carried the ashes of them to Bethel therewith to defile the prime seat of Jeroboams Idolatry These things had been us'd by Manasseh and Amon but were set aside as it seems in some by-place of the Temple in Josiah's time and seeing still they remained there this good King's zeal would not permit them to be there any longer And he put down the Idolatrous Priests or Chemarim whom the Kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in high places in the Cities of Judah and in places round about Jerusalem He put down those also who burnt incense to Baal or to the Sun Moon and the Planets and host of heaven and he brought out the Image whereon a grove was engraven which it seems was hung up in the Temple and stampt it to powder and cast the dust thereof upon the graves of those that had worshipped Idols and sacrificed unto them 2 Chron. 34.4 And he brake down the Tents of the Sodomites that were in the grove by the house of the Lord and where the women wove hangings for those filthy tents so that in that grove they not only worshipped Idols but as it seems defiled themselves also with all manner of abominable uncleanness And he brought all the Priests that were the Sons of Aaron and had served the true God in high places out of the Cities where they had exercised that false worship and would not suffer them to live there and he defiled the high places even from Geba the North border of the Kingdom of Judah to Beersheba the South-border and beat down their Altars and burned dead mens bones on them v. 14. to make them unclean and brake down the high places that were erected at the entring of the Gates by Joshua the Governour of the City whither it seems many of the people used to
Tent slew 4000 men and giving an alarm to the whole Army at break of the day safely retreated whereupon the King marched towards him next day and they coming to an engagement Antiochus lost several hundreds more but the Jews seeing themselves overpowered retreated The King then returned to the siege and they not being well stored with provision this being the Sabbatical year at last yielded up the Town upon composition Antiochus having herein placed a Garrison marched up to Jerusalem and there made all provision possible for the gaining of it all manner of Engines being raised for the casting of fire and stones but the besieged defended themselves bravely though provisions were very short with them and the famine prevailed so much among them that they were in danger of falling into the Kings hands but before he could finish his work news came that Philip whom his father had appointed to be Guardian being returned out of Egypt was coming with the forces that Epiphanes had left in Persia and Media to recover his right usurped by Lysias Hereupon both he and his Captains were presently perswaded by Lysias because the place was strong and provisions began to fail in the Leaguer and the affairs of the Kingdom required it to make peace with the besieged and with the whole Nation of the Jews upon such terms as they required Then returning to Ptolemais the inhabitants thereof being great enemies to the Jews stickled hard to perswade him to break the League but Lysias so well argued the matter among them that he quieted their minds and confirmed the peace so that the Investiture of the commanding power in the Hasmoneans took its rise from the time of this peace agreed on betwixt Antiochus Eupator and Maccabeus The King hasting thence towards Antioch brought along with him as a prisoner Menelaus the High Priest whom Lysias accused as an Incendiary and the cause of the war whereupon by order from the King he was let down into a Tower filled with ashes and there miserably ended his life ten years after he had first usurped the Priesthood Menelaus being thus taken out of the way the King substituted in his room one Alcimus a man every whit as bad as he Indeed he was of Aaron's progeny but not of the High Priests blood and Lysias perswaded the King to transfer that dignity into another family Onias the Son of Onias the third seeing the High Priesthood conferred on Alcimus went into Egypt and after he had well insinuated himself into the affections of Ptol. Philometor and Cleopatra his wife obtained of them leave to build a Temple to God in the jurisdiction of Heliopolis answering to that at Jerusalem and that they would constitute him High Priest there See more of this in Vsher p. 467. Antiochus coming to Antioch found Philip Master thereof but setting upon it he took it by force and taking Philip therein put him to death and so quickly quieted those stirs being reserved with Lysias his Guardian though but a little time for others more dangerous Demetrius Soter Son of Seleucus Philopator the right heir to the Kingdom now escaping from Rome quickly got the Kingdom and put to death Eupator and Lysias his Guardian Alcimus who had procured from Eupator to be made High Priest being not now receivâ—d nor owned by the people for that in the days of Epiphanes he had wilfully defiled himself came to Demetrius with other Apostates to get the Priesthood confirmed to him He accused his Countrymen especially the Hasmoneans viz. Judas and his Brethren as guilty of cutting off the Kings friends and banishing them out of the Country Hereupon Demetrius sent Bacchides the Governour of Mesopotamia his trusty friend with great forces into Judea and confirmed the High Priesthood to Alcimus whom he sent back with him All their design was being arrived there by fair speeches to get Judas and his Brethren into their hands but they gave no credit to them Many of the Scribes went out to them to seek peace expecting they should have obtained it of Alcimus who was of the seed of Aaron and had now great power in the army but having gotten them into his hands he most wickedly contrary to agreement and his oath put sixty of them to death all in one day by which perfidiousness many being terrified fled from the City Then Bacchides going from Jerusalem caused many that had fled from him and several others of the Jews to be slain and cast into a great pit and so committing the care of the Country to Alcimus for the defence of which he left him some forces he returned unto the King After his departure Alcimus striving all he could to confirm himself in the Priesthood made great havock of the people Hereupon Judas went out through the whole Country taking vengeance on such as had revolted from him and so terrified those that adhered to Alcimus that they were forced to keep themselves within their Garrisons and durst not make any more incursions into the Country Alcimus apprehending danger to himself from these proceedings goes once more to Demetrius carrying along with him a Crown of Gold to present unto him For Judas and his party increasing in power would not suffer him to come near to the holy Altar at which being enraged he eagerly accused them to the King as authors of all the commotions and disturbances in Judea further complaining that he was deprived of the Priesthood the honour as he said of his Ancestors and further affirmed that as long as Maccabeus lived the Kings affairs could not be secure This being seconded by some ill-willers to the Jews and his friends Demetrius was so inflamed that sending for Nicanor one of his chiefest Princes and a bitter enemy to the Jews made him General against Judea giving him order to destroy Judas and disperse his associates the Assideans and to settle Alcimus in the High Priesthood The Jews upon the report of Nicanors approach and the Association of several Gentiles with him cast dust upon their heads and made their Supplication to God And it so happened that after a short skirmish betwixt Simon Judas's Brother and a party of Nicanors near the Village Dessaro Nicanor understanding the Courage and Resolution of Judas and his Party in defending their Country he was unwilling to run the hazard of a Battel but sent to parle with the Jews and to make peace with them upon mutual engagements of fidelity each to other And Articles being agreed upon between them the two Captains met and the Conference proved very successful and closed in a League without the Kings Privity Nicanor after this abode a while in Jerusalem and dismissed the Companies he had collected and was so taken with Judas that he continued with him some time and loved him in his heart and lived so friendly and familiarly with him that he perswaded him to marry a Wife But when that wretched fellow Alcimus observed this Correspondence between them he addressed