a Fire from Hâ—aâ—en devoured others there was not a Man of all the Congregation but must be an Eye-witness to this Judgment and there could be no Deceit nor Mistake in a thing of this nature For Men may as well doubt whether those whom they see live are alive as whether those whom they see taken away by so terrible and so visible a death are dead and unless they can know this there can be no Knowledge nor Proof of any thing They saw the Earth first divide it self and then close it self again upon these wicked Men they saw them go down alive into the pit they heard the Cry of them and fled away â—oâ— fear and they saw besides a Fire from the Lord consume no fewer than Two hundred and fifty Men and these the Men that offer'd Incense in opposition to Aaron Princes of the assembly famous in the congregation men of renown whose death was very remarkable upon the account of their Persons as well as for the Manner of it So many Men of that Rank and Character being taken away at once was a thing that would have been much observed and strictly enquir'd into if they had fain by any other death but their dying in this manner was so wonderful and so plain a declaration of the Divine Justice that it could neither be unknown nor forgotten by any Man in the whole Congregation Yet their Discontents against Moses still continued for He and Aaron were charged with killing the people of the Lord ver 41. and the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron and behold the cloud covered the tabernacle of the congregation and the glory of the Lord appeared And God's Wrath was so hot against the People for their Stâ—bbornness and Disobedience that notwithstanding the Intercession of Moses and Aaron in their behalf a Plague from the Lord raged so much amongst them that they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred beside them that died about the matter of Korah ver 49. And there were probably many Families in every Tribe which bore the marks of God's Displeasure and of the Truth of Moses his Mission and then Aaron's Rod alone blossom'd of all the Rods of the Twelve Tribes but by this time the people were weary of their contumacy and cried out â—â—hold we die we perish we all perish Shall we be consumed with dying Num. xvii 12 13. And thus was an end put to a Sedition which was the greatest and the most dangerous as Josephus well observes that was ever known among any People and such as that so dreadful a succession of Miracles was necessary to deliver Moses out of it And I would know of the greatest Infidel whether if he had lived at that time and had been in the Wilderness with Moses and had been of Korah's Conspiracy as it is most likely he would have been I would know of him I say whether he could have done any thing more to put Moses upon the utmost tryal of his power and Authority received from God than these rebellious Israelites did And if he could not as he must needs confess he could not then he ought to be satisfied in the Authority of Moses as they themselves afterwards were unless he has an ambition to shew that some Christians can be more refractary than Jews Yet again when they wanted Water the Peopled quarell'd with Moses and said Would God that we had died when our brethren â—ied before the Lord. And Moses brought Water out of the Rock before the whole Congregation in so great plenty that the whole People and their Cattle just ready to perish with thirst was satisfied with it Num. xx 3 10. At another time after a signal Victory over the Canaanites they made the same Complaints again and for their Murmurings were stung by fiery Serpents and many died till a Brazen Serpent being erected as many as looked on it were miraculously cured Num. xxi 6. And if the delivering the Law in so conspicuous and wonderful a manner if so remarkable Judgments upon those that questioned and opposed Moses his Authority and that transgressed his Law by committing Idolatry if a continual course of Miracles for Forty Years done before the eyes and obvious to every sense of so many thousands of People be not a plain demonstration that the Matter of Fact in all the circumstances of it necessary to prove Moses to have acted by God's immediate Authority and Commission was at first sufficiently attested it is impossible that any thing can be certainly testified We see how impossible it was for Moses to impose upon the People of Israel in things of this nature it he could have been so far forsaken of all Reason and common Sense as to hope to do it But if he had designed to put any deceit upon them he would certainly have taken another course he would have done his Miracles privately and but seldom not in the midst of all the People for Forty Years together he would never have made two Nations at the first Witnesses to them and then have proceeded in such a manner as that every Man among the Israelites must have known them to be false if thy had been so he would have chosen such Instances to shew his Miracles in as should have provoked no body not such as must have enraged the whole People against him by the death of so many thousands so often put to death if they had been slain by any other means than by the Almighty Hand of God And indeed what could destroy so many so irresistibly so suddenly and visibly but the Divine Power And what could be the Design and Intent of such Miracles but to fulfil the Will of God and make his Power to be known and his authority acknowledged in the Laws which were delivered in his Name and which were so often affronted and transgressed by these Sinners against their own Souls At their going out of Aegypt by a miraculous Providence there was not one feeble person among their tribâ—s but upon their transgressions they were punished by Diseases as miraculous We have other Evidence as I have before observed that Moses had no design to delude the People of Israel from the Meekness of his Disposition from his discovering his own Faults and Infirmities in his Writings and from his not advancing his Family but leaving his Posterity in a private condition and putting the Government into the hands of Joshua one of the Tribe of Ephraim But when all the People of Israel were Witnesses to so many Miracles wrought by him and particularly to so strange a Judgment as the cleaving asunder of the Earth and the Fire and Plague by which so many thousands perished we need not insist upon any other Proof to shew that the Miraculons Power and Divine Authority by which Moses acted and wrote was as well attested and as fully known to the whole People of Israel as it is possible for any Matter of
Argument Whereas if Chistians were but throughly acquainted with the Grounds of their Religion and sincerely disposed to believe and practise according to them they would be no more moved with these Cavils than they would be persuaded to think the worse of the Sun if some Men should take a fansie to make that the Subject of their Railery To have the more doubtful and wavering thoughts of Religion because it is exposed to the scorn and contempt of ill Men is as if we should despise the Sun for being under a Cloud or suffering an Eclipse not knowing that he retains his Light and Religion its Excellency still though we be in darkness the Light may be hid from us but can lose nothing of its own Brightness though we suffer for want of it and lie under the shadow of Death The Consideration of the Grounds and Reasons of our Religion is useful to all sorts of Men for if ever we will be seriously and truly Religious we must lay the foundation of it in our Vnderstandings that by the rational conviction of our Minds we may through the Grace of God assisting us bring our Wills to a submission and our Affections to the obedience of the Gospel of Christ and the more we think of and consider these things the more we shall be convinced of them and they will have the greater power and influence in the course of our Lives For tho' the Truth of the Christian Religion cannot without great sin and ignorance be doubted of by Christians yet it is a confirmation to our Faith and adds a new Life and Vigour to our Devotions when we recollect upon what good Reasons we are Christians and are not such by Custom and Education only but upon Principles which we have throughly considered and must abide by unless we will renounce our Reason with our Religion And what Subject can be more useful or more worthy of a rational and considering Man's Thoughts These things which are now made matter of Cavil and Dispute will be the Subject of our Contemplation and of our Joy and Happiness to all Eternity in the other World We shall then have clear and distinct apprehension of the Means and Methods of our Salvation and shall for ever admire and adore the Divine Wisdom in the Conduct and Disposal of those very Things about which we now are most perplex'd THE CONTENTS PART I. CHAP. I. That from the Notion of a God it necessarily follows That there must be some Divine Revelation THE Being of a God evident to Natural Reason p. 3. That there are wicked Spirits Enemies to Mankind p. 6. The miserable Condition of Man without the Divine Direction and Assistance and that God would not leave him without all Remedy in this Condition p. 8. The Judgment of St. Athanasius in the Case p. 15. CHAP. II. The Way and Manner by which Divine Revelations may be suppos'd to be deliver'd and preserv'd in the World The Manifestations of God's ordinary Providence insufficient and therefore some extraordinary Way of Revelation necessary p. 19. The ways of extraordinary Revelation either immediate Revelation to every particular Person or to some only with a Power of Miracles and Prophecies to enable them to communicate the Divine Will to others p. 20. I. It could not be requisite that God should communicate himself by immediate Revelation to every one in particular ibid. II. Prophecies and Miracles are the most fitting and proper Means for God to discover and reveal himself to the World by p. 29. 1. Concerning Prophecies ibid. 2. Concerning Miracles p. 33. III. Divine Revelations must be suppos'd to be preserv'd in the World by Writings p. 43. IV. They must be of great Antiquity p. 44. V. They must be fully publish'd and promulg'd p. 45. PART II. CHAP. I. The Antiquity of the Scriptures THE Antiquity of the Scriptures a Circumstance very considerable to prove them to be of Divine Revelation p. 48. They give an Account of Divine Revelations made from the beginning of the World ibid. What Moses relates of things before his own time is certainly true and must have been discover'd to be false if it had been so p. 50. CHAP. II. The Promulgation of the Scriptures 1. In the first Ages of the World the Revealed Will of God was known to all Mankind p. 58. II. In succeeding Ages there has still been sufficient Means and frequent Opportunities for all Nations to come to the knowledge of it p. 76. 1. The Law of Moses did particularly provide for the instruction of other Nations in the Reveal'd Religion p. 77. 2. The Providence of God did so order and dispose of the Jews that other Nations had frequent Opportunities of becoming instructed in the True Religion p. 90. Testimonies of the Heathen concerning the Jews and their Religion p. 115. There have ever been divers Memorials and Remembrances of the true Religion among the Heathen p. 117. Of the Sibylline Oracles p. 121. The Gospel had been preach'd in China and America before the late Discoveries p. 129. The Confessions both of Protestants and Papists as to this Matter p. 132. Christians in all Parts of the World p. 135. A Sect call'd the Good Followers of the Messiah at Constantinople p. 136. Though great Part of the World are still Vnbelievers yet there is no Nation but has great Opportunities of being converted p. 141. The Case of particular Persons consider'd p. 142. CHAP. III. Of Moses and Aaron The Sincerity of Moses in his Writings p. 146. He was void of Ambition p. 149. Aaron and he had no Contrivance between themselves to impose upon the People p. 151. CHAP. IV. Of the Pentateuch The Pentateuch written by Moses p. 152. The great Impartiality visible in these Books p. 153. The Book of Genesis an Introduction to all the rest p. 154. The principal Points of the History of the Jews confess'd by the Heathen p. 155. CHAP. V. Of the Predictions or Prophecies contain'd in the Books of Moses The Promise of the Messias p. 158. The Predictions of Noah ibid. The Promises made to Abraham p. 159. The Prophecies of Isaac c. p. 160. of Jacob p. 161. of Balaam p. 162. of Moses p. 163. CHAP. VI. Of the Miracles wrought by Moses I. The Miracles and Matters of Fact contain'd in the Books of Moses as they are there related to have been done were at first sufficiently attested p. 170. II. The Relations there set down are a true Account of the Miracles wrought by Moses and such as we may depend upon p. 188. For 1. These things could not be feign'd by Moses and Aaron and others concern'd with them in carrying on such a Design p. 189. 2. The Miracles could not be feign'd nor the Books of Moses invented or falsify'd by any particular Man nor by any Confederacy or Combination of Men after the Death of Moses p. 191. 3. The Pentateuch could not be invented nor falsify'd by the joynt Consent of the whole Nation either in
to himself thereby The greatest Masters of Decency have not thought it always improper for Men to commend themselves either because they supposed some occasions might require it or because it was a more usual thing in ancient Times when Mens Lives and Manners were more natural and sincere and they oftner spoke as they thought both of themselves and others yet we no where find Men speaking so freely in disparagement of themselvs as in the Holy Scriptures Which shews that Moses and the rest of the Inspired Writers little regarded their own Praise or Dispraise but wrote what God was pleased to appoint it being a thing indifferent to them so God might be honoured whether they lost or gained in their own Reputation by it But what we read of Moses Num. xii 3. that he was very meek above all the Men which were upon the face of the Earth which is the only commendable Character that Moses gives of himself may be translated that he was the most afflicted Man according to the Marginal Reading and if he mentions his own Meekness he mentions also his great Anger or heat of Anger Exod. xi 8. and his being very wroth Num. xvi 15. But if Moses had not had more respect to Truth than to his own Reputation he would never have left it upon Record That he so often declined the Message and Employment which God appointed him to undertake Exod. iii. 11 13. iv 1 10 13 14. and that God was angry with him upon other occasions and for that reason would not permit him to enter into the promised Land He would certainly have ascribed Balaam's Prophecy and Jethro's Advice to himself at least he would never have Recorded That by Jethro's Counsel he took up a new and better Method for the administration of Justice If he had been led by Ambition and Vain-glory he would have endeavoured by these things to adorn his own Character and would never have lessen'd it by telling his own Infirmities at the same time when to the diminution of himself he publishes the Excellencies of others The Wonders of the Magicians of Aegypt are not concealed by him and being to give an account of his own Genealogy from Levi he first sets down the Families of Reuben and Simeon the two elder Brothers lest he might seem to arrogate too much to himself and his own Tribe Some have observed that Moses relates his own Birth to have been by a Marriage contrary to the Laws afterwards by himself established which indeed is doubtful by reason of the latitude of signification in the word Sister in the Hebrew Language yet it is certain he was not careful to avoid the being thought to have been born from such a Marriage as he would have been if his Laws had been of his own contrivance lest his own Reputation or the Authority of his Laws or perhaps both might have suffered by it Exod. vi 14 20. He sets forth the Ingratitude Idolatry and perpetual Revolts and Murmurings of his whole Nation and relates the Failings and Faults of their Ancestors the Patriarchs and particularly of Levi from whom he was descended Gen. xxxiv 30. xlix 6. He spares neither his People nor his Ancestors nor himself in what he relates and these are all the Characters of a faithful Historian and a sincere Man that can be desired And as Moses was not ambitious of Praise so neither was he ambitious of Power and Dominion For besides that he entered upon such an Undertaking as no sober Man would have attempted without a Revelation it appearing otherwise impossible to accomplish it his whole Conduct shews that he had no design of advancing his own Interest or Dominion If he had been never so Ambitious he needed not have gone into the Wilderness to seek his Preferment amongst a wandring and stubborn People when he had been bred up to all the Honours and the Pleasures that Aegypt or Pharaoh's Court could afford but he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter chusing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Aegypt Heb. xi 24 25. He undertook to lead the People of Israel for Forty Years through a barren Wilderness where he could promise himself but a very uneasie and inglorious Reign if that had been his Design and by the course of Nature he could not hope to out-live that period of Time and tho' he was preserved in his Old Age in the full strength and vigour of Manhood yet upon their entrance into the promised Land he meekly resigned himself to death in the very sight and Borders of Canaan knowing before-hand that he must not be suffered to possess the Land which he had been so many years in so great dangers leading the People of Israel to enjoy though he doth not conceal how desirous he was to pass over Jordan Deut. iii. 23 c. The History of his Death is like that of his Life related with a peculiar kind of native simplicity He is not said to be taken up into Heaven as Enoch and Elijah were and as the Romans feigned of Romulus but to die and his Sepulchre was hid to prevent the Superstitious and Idolatrous Veneration which might have been paid to the Remains of so great a Person And tho' he had Sons yet they were but private Men no otherwise known to us than as they were his Sons the Government he conferred upon Joshua one of another Tribe Moses therefore was the furthest of any Man from Vain-glorious or Ambitious and Aspiring Designs and could propose no other Advantage to himself but the fulfilling the Will of God in delivering his Commandments to the People of Israel and following his Directions in his Conduct and Government Aaron was of a different Temper from Moses and was envious of him and both Aaron and Miriam murmured against him It is so notorious that there could be no Contrivance between them to deceive the People that it was the immediate and visible Power of God which kept Aaron as well as the rest in Obedience to Moses Upon Moses's Absence Aaron complied with the People in making a Golden Calf and his two eldest Sons offered strange Fire before the Lord which he had not commanded for which they were both destroyed by Fire miraculously issuing out from the Presence of the Lord And Aaron held his peace knowing that this Punishment was inflicted by God himself and having nothing to reply to Moses when he declared to him the Justice of it And both Aaron and his other two Sons are forbidden upon pain of Death to mourn for them Lev. x. 1 2 3 6. At last by the Commandment of God Aaron goes up into Mount Hor to die there not being permitted to enter into the Land of Promise Thus Moses and Aaron were sometimes at disagreement Aaron envying Moses Aaron lost two of his Sons by a
Fact to be known to any single Person 2. Having shewn That the Matters of fact and Miracles contained in the Books of Moses as they are related to have been done were at first sufficiently attested and that if we may credit that Relation all the Miracles there mention'd were certainly wrought by him since they are of that nature that the People of Israel could not be deceived in them I now proceed to shew That the Relations there set down are a true Account of those things and such as we may depend upon For if these Matters of Fact or Miracles are either feigned or falsified this must be done either in Moses's his time or afterwards and if in his time then either by Moses and Aaron with others who were concerned in carrying on the Design or by the whole People of Israâ—l together And if it were done after Moses his death then again it must be done either by some particular Man or by the contrivance of some few or more together or it must have been by the joint Knowledge and consent of the whole Nation I will therefore prove 1. That the Miracles could not be feigned by Moses and Aaron and others concerned with them in carrying on such a Design 2. The Miracles could not be feigned nor the Books of Moses invented or falsified by any particular Man or by any Confederacy or Combination of Men after the death of Moses 3. The Miracles could not be feigned nor the Books invented or falsified by the joint Consent of the whole Nation either in Moses's time or after it 1. These Things could not be feigned by Moses and Aaron and others concerned with them in carrying on such a Design It is plain that they could never invent such an Account as that of their miraculous Escape out of Aegypt and their Travelling in the Wilderness under the conduct and support of the same miraculous Power and then impose it upon the People of Israel for Truth For the People are supposed to be chiefly concerned in the whole Relation Moses appeals to their own sense and experience The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers but with us even with us who are all of us here alive this day Deut. v. 3. And know you this day for I speak not with your children which have not known and which have not seen the chastisement of the Lord your God his greatness his mighty hand and his stretched-out arm and his miracles and his acts which he did in the midst of Aegypt unto Pharaoh the king of Aegypt and unto all his land and what he did unto the army of Aegypt unto their horses and to their chariots how he made the water of the Red-sea to over flow them as they pursued after you and how the Lord hath destroyed them unto this day and what he did unto you in the wilderness until ye came into this place and what he did unto Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab the son of Reuben how the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up and their housholds and their tents and all their substance that was in their possession in the midst of all Israel But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the Lord which he did Deut. xi 2 3 4 5 6 7. Here is a Recapitulation of all the Miracles that had been wrought with an Appeal to their Senses for the Truth of them And Moses would never have made such Appeals as these if they could possibly have disproved him they could never be persuaded that they â—ame out of Aegypt after so many Plagues inflicted upon the Aegyptians to procure their Deliverance if there had been no such thing or that they were so long time in the Wilderness and that so many and so great Miracles were wrought in their sight if they had never been done before them Though Men may perhaps be persuaded to believe that their Ancestors a long time ago saw and heard things which they never saw nor heard yet a whole Nation was never supposed to have been persuaded out of their Senses at once and Moses could not attempt to make so many Men believe what they must all have known to have been false as well as himself if it had been so but he would have lard the Scene at a greater distance of time and not have brought those in as chiefly concerned in the whole business who were then alive and present to convince him of falshood And therefore if the Particulars set down in the Pentateuch be false and as ancient as Moses his time they must be invented with the knowledge and received by the consent of the whole Nation For Moses and Aaron could never so far delude so many thousands as to make them believe such variety of Matter of fact in so many and so wonderful Instances set forth and with such notorious Circumstances and appeal to the Senses of those whom they deceived whether they had not seen and perceived and had the experience of what had been done for so many years if it had been all but Fiction 2. The Miracles could not be feigned nor the Books of Moses invented or falsified by any particular Man or by any confederacy or combination of Men after the death of Moses If the Miracles were feigned after the death of Moses either the Laws must likewise be invented or altered after his death and the Miracles inserted to procure them Authority or the Laws remained as they had been delivered by him and the Miracles only were added For the Books of Moses may be considered either as containing the Laws delivered by him or as relating the Miracles by which these Laws were ratified and established in each of which respects there could be no Forgery or Falsification For 1. The Laws themselves could not be invented nor altered or falsified because the whole Jewish State and Policy was founded upon them and could not subsist without them and therefore they must be as ancient as the Jewish Government which is confess'd on all hands to have been first erected by Moses For not only their Religious Worship but their Civil Rights and Interests depended entirely upon the Laws of Moses their Publick Proceedings and their Private Dealings one with another were all to be regulated and governed by these Laws and when any Laws are brought into constant use and practice in any Nation it is ridiculous to imagine that they can be altered and falsified and a new System of Laws introduced instead of them without the knowledge of the People governed by them or any remembrances of it left amongst them No material Alterations can be made in Laws which are of continual use and which concern every Man's Interest but they must be taken notice of and discovered by such as shall find themselves aggrieved by such Alterations But this was less practicable amongst the Jews than amongst any other People 1. Because the Distinction of their Tribes and the Genealogies which
Nations to report that after so many loathsome and grievous Plagues inflicted upon Pharaoh and his People they came out of Aegypt and at last by the destruction of him and his whole Army in the Red-Sea made their escape and that they forced their way thro' all the other Nations that withstood their passage into Canaan and vanquished and destroyed them as they went and then to proclaim a sacred War against all the Nations whose Land they were to possess and many of whose Posterity were remaining in Solomon's time and probably long after and might have been able to confute great part of what the Israelites affirmed of themselves if it had been false and of a late invention for any People I say to invent such Accounts of Themselves and their Ancestors and then to make such Laws and to have the one believed and the other obeyed is altogether incredible When they had enraged all the neighbouring Nations to their destruction they obliged themselves by their Laws to leave all their Borders naked thrice every year and to give them an opportunity to destroy them and no People could have lived half an Age in such a condition under such Laws unless they had been protected by God himself the Author of them It appears therefore that as neither Moses himself nor any Party of Men either in his time or after it could either invent or change and falsified the Books which are under his Name so it is still more extravagant if possible to conceit that the whole People of Israel should either in Moses's time or afterwards be conscious to such an Imposture and yet that no man should ever discover it but it should to this day be concealed from all other Nations and that neither at the time of the Division of the Ten Tribes when Jeroboam was forced to set up Altars in other Places to keep the People from going up to Jerusalem to worship nor upon any other occasion this Secret if that may be called so which must be known to so many thousands should ever come to light Besides that they could never have invented those Laws by unanimous consent amongst themselves which they were so hardly brought to obey and if they had not been disobedient they would never have pretended they were and have invented Miracles to make it believed and if they had been never so forward in their obedience they could not have lived in the observation of the Law without a perpetual Miracle If then the Miracles of Moses and consequently the Divine Authority by which he gave his Law to the Israelites be sufficiently attested supposing the Matters of Fact to be true which are contained in the Pentateuch and if neither Moses himself could feign the Matters of Fact nor any other Person or Persons either in his time or afterwards could insert them or change the Law and the whole Jewish Nation could not at any time conspire in such a Fiction and Imposture We have all the Assurance that it is possible to have and all that any sober Man can desire both of the Truth of the Miracles wrought by Moses and of the Divine Authority of the Books penn'd by him And it will be found that after all the Reflections made by Infidels upon the Credulity as they esteem it of others there are none so credulous as they for they reject the most certain to believe the most incredible things in the World The Divine Mission and Authority of Moses being sully proved from thence it will follow 1. That God having instituted the Jewish Government was in point both of Wisdom and Honour concerned in the administration of it and that a more especial and peculiar Care and Providence must he watchful over this holy Nation and peculiar People 2 That whatever befell them either by Prophesies or by Miracles and the extraordinary Appointments of God according to the Revelations made in the Law of Moses has besides its own proper and intrinsick Evâ—dence the additional Proof of all the Miracles and Prophesies of Moses So that the Proof of the Divine Authority of Moses his Books is at the same time a Proof of all the other Books of Scripture so far as they are in the Matter and Subject of them consequent to these 3. That the Pentateuch and the other Parts of the Old Testament not to mention the New Testament in this place reciprocally prove each other like the Cause and the Effect the Pentateuch being the Cause and Foundation of These and these the Effect and the Consequence of the Pentateuch and the fulfilling the several Predictions of it CHAP. VII Of Joshua and the Judges and of the Miracles and Prophecies under their Government IT is generally agreed that Joshua himself was the Author of the Book under his Name and some who are of another opinion yet acknowledge that it must be written by his particular Order in his life-time or soon after his death The nature of the thing it self required that the Division of the Land of Canaan amongst the several Tribes should forthwith be committed to Writing for no People can be named who had the use of Letters that trusted the Boundaries of their Lands to Memory and there is no delay to be used in such cases Joshua therefore who did by Lot set out the Bounds of the Tribes at the same time put them down in Writing which he lest upon Record to Posterity to prevent Disputes and to be appealed to in case any Controversie should arise But the bare Distribution of the Land was not to be transmitted without an Account of the miraculous Conquests of it which might dispose them to be conâ—ented with their several Lots and remind them of their Duty in the possesssion and enjoyment of a Land which they were settled in thy the immediate Hand of God The Book of Joshua appears to have been written during the life-time of Rahab Jos vi 25. and to have been written in part at least by Joshua himself and annexed to the Law of Moses chap. xxiv 26. But the five last Verses giving an Account of the Death of Joshua and of what followed after it were added by some of the Prophets probably by Samuel who according to the Jewish Tradition is the Author of the Book of Judges where we find the same things repeated concerning the Death of Joshua Judg. ii 7. The Book of Judges is reckon'd among the Books of the Prophets Mat. ii 23. Judg. xiii 5. and It seems to be entitl'd to Samuel Act. iii. 24. where Samuel is mention'd as the first of the Prophets that is the first Author of the Books written by them That the Book of Judges was peâ—n'd before the Taking of Jerusalâ—â—â— by David we may learn from Judg. i. 22. After the death of Moses Joshua undertakes the Government and Conduct of the People of Israel according to God's Appointment and his Investiture to it by Moses Num. xxvii 22. who also foretold the great Success that
to crucify him yet his Life was in his own power which he resigned in the words of another Psalm Ps xxxi 5. and he caused another Prâ—phecy to be fulfilled by dying at that very point of time which if his death had been deferred a little longer had not been fulfilled for the Soldiers broak the Legs of the two other that were crucified with them but finding him deâ—d they broak not his Legs though one of them suspecting that he could not be so soon dead pierced his side to try whether he were really dead or not by which that Scripture was fulfilled which saith they shall look on him whom they pierced Joh. xix 34. Zach. xii 10. which (l) See Bp. Pearson Text the Ancient Jews interpreted of the Messias The liii Chapter of Isaiah is a clear description of our Saviour's Passion almost in every circumstance of it He was despised and rejected of men a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief he was wounded for our Transgressions and bruised for our Iniquities he was oppressed and he was afflicted yet he opened not his mouth he was brought as a Lamb to the Slaughter and as a Sheep before her Shearers is dumb so he opened not his mouth his Silence being taken special notice of by Pilate himself and his meekness towards Judas his most ungrateful Disciple is wonderful beyond all example He made his Grave with the Rich in his Death though he died in that shameful manner under the imputation of so much wickedness yet Joseph of Arimathea an honourable Counsellor was suffered by Pilate to bury him which he did in his own new Tomb. He was numbred with the Transgressors and in that sense made his Grave also with the wicked being crucified between two Thieves and so was not only reputed a Malefactor and underwent the punishment of Transgressors but was executed at the very time and place with them and buried when they were He made intercession for the Transgressors for the Penitent Thief in particular whom he promised that he should be with him that day in Paradise and for his Persecutors themselves praying that they might be forgiven The Prophecies of this Chapter are so very plainly and directly fulfilled that I have known a Child apply them to the Passion of Christ One of the most glorious Characters by which the Messias was described by the Prophets was that he should be their Prince and King and this led the Jews into that fatal mistake of a Temporal Messias for Messias or Anointed signifies King as well as Prophet or Priest in which three Offices Unction was used and they were all united in our Saviour who was the Messias anointed and inaugurated by the descent of the Holy Ghost upon him in a visible shape and with a distinct and audible voice declaring him to be the Son of God And that all the world might know our Saviour to be the King of the Jews that Title was fixt upon his Cross in three several Languages the most vulgar Tongues then in the world that no Nation might be ignorant that Christ the King of the Jews was then crucified For Pilate would not alter the Inscription but though they had frighted him before by observing to him that it was Treason against Caesar to call any one King besides him yet when they would now have had him change the Inscription and have written only that he said I am King of the Jews Pilate gave a short and resolute Answer what I have written I have written How much soever it were at his Peril to provoke a malicious people in a point wherein they thought the honour and safety of their Nation so much concerned and in a point which could not but be exceeding tender to so jealous an Emperor as Tiberius but Pilate had suffered himself to be carried too far already against his own Conscience and had shewn great aversion to their proceedings in the whole management of his Tryal and the same providence which had ordered every circumstance to the manifestation of the Truth and the conviction both of the Jews and Gentiles now so disposed this remarkable particular that the last period of his Life in opposition to all the spight of the Jews should be adorned and dignified with his true Title and Character under which he had been foretold by the Prophets in Capital Letters upon his Cross Thus were the Prophecies concerning the Birth and Life and Death of the Messias exactly fulfilled in our Blessed Saviour which were so many that they could not be fulfilled by chance and the fulfilling of them depended so much upon the words and actions of others and even of his worst Enemies that it could proceed from no design or contrivance of him or his Disciples They were fulfilled in him by the malice chiefly of his Enemies and according to the interpretation which they themselves were wont to give of them IV. His Resurrection likewise and Ascension were the fulfilling of express Prophecies as the Apostles proved to the face of his Crucifiers Act. ii And these were such Accomplishments of Prophecies as depended upon the sole Will and Power of Almighty God and yet as certainly came to pass as the Birth and Life and death of Christ did As shall be proved in due Place CHAP. XIII Of the Prophecies and Miracles of our Blessed Saviour AS our Blessed Saviour was Prophesied of by all the Prophets who were before him so he was himself the Great Prophet that was to come and was at the time of his being in the world expected of the Jews and he fulfilled that Prediction by the many eminent Prophecies which he spake He foretold the Treachery of Judas and knew from the beginning who it was that should betray him he foretold the manner of his own Death that it was to be by crucifixion though the Jews often sought opportunities to put him to death privately and that was a kind of punishment which the Jews could not inflict but if they had killed him themselves and had not brought him to the Roman Judicature they would have done it by stoning as they murthered St. Stephen He foretold all the circumstances of his sufferings that he should be delivered unto the Chief Priests and unto the Scribes and that they should condemn him to death and should deliver him to the Gentiles and that they should mock him and should scourge him and should spit upon him and should kill him and that he would rise again the third day Mark x. 33 34. which his enemies took such notice of that they used all their vain endeavours to prevent it He assured his Disciples that his Gospel should be preached over the whole world and that one particular action which they were offended at of the Woman who anointed his head should never be omitted wheresoever it should be preached Matt. xxvi 13. He declared that his Religion should prevail against all the opposition which it would meet withal and continue to
to the computation of the Jews in the eight days which they reckoned for the circumcision of their Children and in their other accounts for they computed inclusively any part of the day in which the Child was born for the whole thus the a Annum ita diviserunt ut nonis modo diâ—bus urbanâ—s re usu parent reliquis vii ut rura colerent Vaâ—de Rust lib. ii Prait 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dionys Halicarn Antiqa Rom. lib. vii Romans computed their Nundinae and their Calends c. And the Olypmiads among the Greeks contained 5 years inclusively and thus we call that Tertian Ague which has but one days intermission But the Resurrection of Christ which was the Accomplishment of these Types and Prophecies being matter of fact must be proved as all other matters of fact are by Witnesses and the Apostles in a body offered themselves as Witnesses to testify this great Article of our Faith This Jesus hath God raised up whereof we all are Witnesses Act. ii 32. The thing therefore to be considered is whether they were effectually qualified to be Witnesses in this matter and to prove that they had all the qualifications which can be required in any Witness I shall shew 1. That they had certain knowledge of the thing which they were Witnesses of and could not be deceived themselves in it 2. That they would not deceive others having no temptation to it but acting against all the Interests and advantages of this world 3. That they alledge such circumstances as made it impossible for them to deceive those to whom they testified the Truth of Christ's Resurrection though they had had never so much mind to do it And when Men testify things which they have such means and opportunities of knowing as make it impossible for them to be mistaken in them when they can have no advantage but by telling the Truth and can expect nothing but sufferings from it in this Life when they produce such circumstances as put it out of their own power to deceive and such as those before whom they speak may know to be false if they be so this certainly is all that can be desired in any Witness I. The Apostles who were Witnesses of our Saviour's Resurrection could not be deceived themselves in it They were ever far from being credulous and easy of belief as they shewed upon all occasions and particularly they never could be brought to believe the Doctrine concerning the Resurrection of Christ till their own senses had convinced them but before they had wrong notions and apprehensions of it and either misunderstood and misapplied all that had been said to them about it or whatever they knew or believed concerning it before they had no expectations of it when he was once dead Our Saviour had in express terms foretold his Resurrection upon the third day several times Matt. xvi 21. xvii 23. xx 19. But his Disciples did not rightly apprehend or throughly consider what he said to them though he exprest himself in the plainest words For they were wholly taken up with great thoughts and expectations of an earthly Kingdom and of temporal Power and Honour at one time Peter took him and began to rebuke him saying Be it far from thee Lord this shall not be unto thee Matt. xvi 22. and at another time just before his passion our Saviour had no sooner done speaking to them of his Crucifixion and his rising again the third day but the two Sons of Zebedee Petitioned that one might sit on the right hand and the other on the left in his Kingdom and the rest of the Disciples were moved with indignation against them for preferring such a Request and it appears from our Saviour's discourse to them upon it that their minds were all bent upon the thoughts of temporal Glory and Dominion Matt. xx 20. And after our Saviour had told them that he must be put to death and rise again the third day St. Luke adds that they understood none of these things and this saying was hid from them neither knew they the things which were spoken Luke xviii 34. and we find the same expression before Luke ix 45. Even after our Saviour had eaten the Passover with them and instituted the Sacrament of his Body which was just then to be given up and to be Crucified and of his Blood which was to be shed for them they were still intent upon Temporal things and had expectations of being advanced to places of Authority and Preheminence And there was a â—iâ—fe amongst them which of them should be accounted the greatest Luke xxii 24. At his passion as one of them denied him thrice so all the rest forseek him and fled The Apostles and Evangelists write without any design or any end to serve but that of telling the truth and therefore they conceal nothing of their own failings and faults though they might prove never so disgraceful to them they acquaint us that they were ambitious and had a vain prospect of Temporal Grandeur that they were timorous and of little Faith till the descent of the Holy Ghost upon them which appears in nothing more than in this point of the Refurrection They were Men of no great natural Capacity or quick apprehension and they had sometimes found themselves mistaken in understanding that literally which was spoken to them in Parables and it is natural for Men to run from one extream to another and usual for ignorant and unlearned Men to imagine difficulties where there are none and this meeting with their wishes and longings after temporal Greatness made them take all that was said to them concerning the Passion and Resurrection of Christ in some such sense as might answer their hopes and desires of temporal Felicity but when his Crucifixion had undeceived them in this conceit they were in such confusion and consternation of mind as not to be able â—o recollect themselves or to promise themselves any thing by his Resurrection which they had no hopes or expectation of The Spirits of Men are commonly as low as their Education and their condition and station in the world is and are easily sunk and depressed much lower by any great and sudden calamity and Men who were born in so mean a condition and had entertained a conceit of great and vain hopes and then as unexpectedly fell from them must be so dejected at it that it is no wonder that they thought of nothing but their sorrows and had little heart to imagine any possibility of relief from the reviving of him whom they had seen in that infamous and cruel manner put to Death They were so possest with an opinion of a temporal Kingdom that when they had been convinced of the truth of his Resurrection and had afterwards conversed a long time with him they could not put it out of their minds Acts i. 6. and thetefore it is no strange thing that when they saw him Dead and in the Grave
main they are aâ—â—eed and whoever will be at the pains to consulâ—â—â—em may be greatly confirmed in the Truth of the Prophecies upon this very consideration that there is less difference in the explication of the Principal Prophecies than there is in the Comments upon most Histories and that those who differ in other matters must have the greater evidence for that in which they do agree Tho there be some difficulty and variety of opinion in the calculation of the precise time when some Prophecies were fulfilled because it is disputed where the computation is to begin or how some other circumstance is to be understood yet all Expositors are agreed concerning these very Prophesies that they are fulfilled For instance it is certain that the Scepter is departed from Judah whether that Prophecy be to be understood of the Tribe of Judah or the Jewish Nation denominated from that Tribe it is certain that the City and Sanctuary are destroyed and the Sacrifice and Oblation taken away tho Interpreters do not agree about the precise time and manner of the accomplishment of every particular Plain matter of Fact shews that the Prophecy is fulfilled and there is no difficulty but about a Circumstance and to doubt of the fulfilling of Prophesies because we do not certainly know the exact time when every particular was fulfilled tho we certainly know that they must have been all long since fulfilled is as unreasonable as if a man should question the Truth of History upon the account of Uncertainties in Chronology What man doubts whether there were such a man as Homer because it is uncertain when he lived or whether there ever were a Trojan War because the time of the taking of Troy has been variously determined And yet is there not as much reason to reject this or any other History which has occasioned disputes in point of time as there can be to doubt of the truth of Daniel's Predictions concerning the destruction of Jerusalem because there may be matter of controversy in explaining his seventy Weeks The Prophecy it self is plain and the Accomplishments certain however men may differ in assigning the Epocha of time History relates what has come to pass and Prophecy foretells what shall come and our uncertainty in point of Time no more affects the Credibility of the one than of the other We may be uncertain of the time foretold by the Prophet and as uncertain of the time mentioned by the Historian but when all other Circumstances agree there is no reason why our uncertainty as to the single Circumstance of Time should be alledged against the Credibility of either of them But the Obscurity arising from the difficulties in Chronology is spoken of in the former Chapter 2. Some Prophecies were purposely obscure because they did not so nearly concern the Age in which they were delivered but were designed not so much for the information of preceeding Ages as for the confirmation of Posterity in the Truth of Religion when they see them fulfilled God doth not send Revelations to gratify the curiosity of men in acquainting them with what shall befal their Posterity but rather conceals the knowledge of future events from men because the knowledge of them might have an ill effect in making them proud or careless and negligent or else too sollicitous and concerned about what was to befall their Posterity The Judgments and Afflictions of Parents would be so much abated if they had a clear prospect of the happiness of their Posterity that they would lose that effect which God designs by sending his Judgments And a perfect view of the miseries which were to befal the Posterity of the most happy Parents would render the Blessings of God the less Blessings to them So that both the Rewards and Punishments of this life would very much lose their force and effect if Prophecies were less obscure than they are It is a sufficient Reason for the obscure and mysterious delivering of some Prophecies that they thereby serve to prove the Faith and Patience and excite the Care and Watchfulness of men for which reason the day of Judgment and the day of every man's Death is concealed from us because the particular and distinct Revelation of these things would cause security in some and despair in others and the case is the same as to the destruction of Churches and Nations We are commanded to watch and pray watch ye therefore lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping and what I say unto you I say unto all watch Mark xiii 35. Which in the direct sense of the words concerns Jerusalem but the reason of them will extend to the destruction of any other City or to any other judgment which God has foretold but has concealed the time or other circumstances either by silence or by uncertain and mysterious forms of Speech A full prospect of Prosperity to come oftentimes has proved fatal to men Jeroboam Hazael and Jehu were the worse probably for the Declarations made to them as Achithophel if it had been foretold plainly what would befal him would in all likelihoed sooner have hastened his own death Whether therefore the event be good or bad and whether it concern our selves or our Posterity it is fit most times that it should not be clearly revealed to us because this would in great measure exclude the exercise of the Graces of Faith and Hope and Patience in men under their present condition And at the time of fulfilling the Prophesies which are now most obscure such a continued Train and Series of Aftairs with all their Circumstances and Particularities may appear in so full and undeniable evidence as may convince Infidels and confirm Believers in the truth of the Predictions and of the Religion taught by the Prophets by whom the events were foretold 3. Obscurity was necessary in some Prophesies at the * Euseb Demonst Evan. â—ib vi 〈…〉 Châ—â—â—â—n c. 〈◊〉 Isai 〈◊〉 Theodoret in Ezech Praef. Fathers observe because without a constant Miracle to preserve them they would otherwise have been lost and would never have been delivered down to Posterity Of this Nature are some of those Prophesies which relates to our Saviour's state of Humiliation his Poverty and Crucifixion and Death to the destruction of Jerusalem and the rejection of the Jews which by the Circumstances are manifest to us in the Accomplishment but were written with some obscurity to conceal them from the obstinate and malicious Jews that seeing they might see and not perceive for if they had fully understood the scope and importance of them they would have endeavoured rather to have suppressed and destroyed them than they would have suffered them to remain to be urged against themselves A People who were so wholly possessed with the Notion and Expectation of a Temporal Messias would have rejected those Prophesies which set forth his Humiliation and Crucifixion if they had been expressed in plainer terms They would have spared Christ no more in the
who was not as singular in other things and in his Notions of Religion but he has firmly believed the Divine Authority of the Scriptures It concerns all who have any Doubts about these things to weigh the Objections with the Answers that have been given to them by divers Authors and withal to observe the importance of the Objections and how far they affect the main Cause and still to remember that it is at every Man 's own Peril if he make a rash and partial Judgment If our Faith could be of no Benefit or Advantage to us nor Infidelity any Prejudice we might take the same Liberty to give Credit or no Credit to what we read in the Bible that we use in the Reading all other Books and to receive or reject it as we think fit or to believe only just so much as lies even with our own Understandings and Notions of Things and at the worst this would be but Folly in us But it is madness to reject our own Happiness and make our selves miserable because we do not perceive the Reasons of all the Means and Methods which God has been pleased to use to make us happy or are not able to understand every Word of that Book which contains the Terms of our Salvation This is as if a Son should chuse to live miserably rather than to enjoy a large Estate left him by his Father because he doth not perceive the design and full meaning of every particular in his Will he searches out for all Ways and Arts for cavilling at it and is fond of any pretence to cast it aside as Counterfeit being resolved never to believe it to be his Father's For his Father was a wise Man and if it were his such and such Clauses would not be in it since there is no reason that he can see why they should be inserted several things mentioned in it he believes are mis-timed the Bounds of the Lands are not described by fit Names besides it is interlined and he never will accept of such an Estate conveyed to him by such a Will but chuses rather to be miserable all the Days of his Life This would be such peevishness and perversness as is not to be met withal where our Temporal Interest is concerned But too many are too forward to reject the Tenders and despise the Terms of an everlasting Inheritance in Heaven tho' at the same time they become obnoxious to all the Curses threatned to Unbelievers because the Old and New Testament contain some things which may afford matter of Exception and Cavil to captious Men. God has sent his Prophets to call and admonish us and his Son to reconcile us to himself by his Death and to offer us Eternal Peace and Happiness and he has given us all the Evidence of it that the nature of the things would admit The Jews have asserted the Authority of the Old Testament from the times of Moses and the Prophets and the Christians asserted the Truth of the Gospel when it was impossible for them not to know whether it were true or not without any prospect of Advantage by it in this World but with a certain expectation of all manner of Torments and Deaths and the greatest part of the Known World was converted to the Belief of it and became Christians when in this World Christians were of all Men the most miserable and were supported only by the stedfast hope and expectation of that Happiness which is promised to us in the Scriptures after this Life And all things considered we have as sufficient Grounds for the Authority of the Scriptures as we have not only that any other Book was composed by the Author whose Name it bears but as we have to believe any thing else in the World Now what do these Men How do they receive so great a Blessing Why they overlook all the Evidence that can be brought to prove the Divine Authority of the Scriptures and search up and down for doubtful and obscure Passages to disprove it by not considering in the mean time that nothing can overthrow their Authority but that which can invalidate the Evidence by which it is establish'd It would be the highest Folly and Ingratitude thus to despise God's Mercy and Care over us if there were no danger in it but it being a thing of infinite Danger it is no less than Madness For what milder Term can be found to express the desperate Folly of them who reject a Book which sets before us the means of Salvation but at the same time forewarns us upon pain of the severest effects of God's Displeasure not to neglect them It is madness I say if we rightly consider it to reject such a Book and at once both to affront the Mercy and despise the Threatnings of the infinitely Merciful and the infinitely Great and Powerful God It is a good Caution to the Atheist to forbear his Blasphemies and Contempt of the Divine Majesty for fear it should prove true that there is a God at last and then it will be a dismal thing after all his profane Talking and Arguing to be called before that God whom he has so often denied And it is as good Advice to those who make it their business to find Fault with the Scriptures to consider seriously whether they are sure that these are not God's Word after all that can be said against them and if they be not absolutely certain of this the Name and Title which they bear and which Men as wise and as Judicious as themselves thought to belong to them should methinks keep Men within some bounds of Modesty and Discretion For if they be indeed the Word of God and nothing is capable of being made more evident than how dearly must they pay for a little cavilling Wit and Subtilty The best and most Divine things may be despised and affronted by a bold and Scurrilous Wit but can Men think it a safe or a prudent thing to ridicule and Scoff at those Books which for ought they know may be of Divine Revelation when all the Reason of which they fansie themselves so great Masters can never be able to confute the Arguments brought in Vindication of them Can they value the contemptible Reputation of a little Satyr and Drollery at that mighty Rate as to run the hazard of being damned for it If Men have any real Doubts or Scruples they must needs grant that it is too serious a thing to jest and trifle withal when no less than the Terms of our everlasting Happiness or everlasting Misery is the thing in Controversy And what Wit there may be in it I cannot tell but I am sure it is no sign of a very Wise Man to speak contemptibly of a Book by which he can never prove but that he must be judged at the last Day As a Mad-Man says Solomon who casteth Fire-brands Arrows and Death so is the Man that deceiveth his Neighbour and saith Am not I
in Sport Prov. xxvi 18 19. But what Description or Comparison can be found equal to his Madness who deceiveth and destroyeth himself and that Eternally and yet says Am not I in Sport Is not this the very perfection of Wit and Raillery Wo unto him that Striveth with his Maker Isai xlv 9. Do they provoke me to anger saith the Lord do they not provoke themseves to the Confusion of their own Faces Jer. vii 19. And thou shalt know that I am the Lord and that I have heard all thy Blasphemies Thus with your Mouth ye have boasted against me and have Multiplied your Words against me I have heard them Ezek. xxxv 12 13. Do we provoke the Lord to Jealousy are we stronger than he 1 Cor. x. 22. There shall come in the last days Scoffers walking after their own Lusts 2 Pet. iii. 3. But Beloved remember ye the Words which were spoken before of the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ how that they told you there should be Mockers in the last time who should Walk after their own ungodly Lusts Jude 17.18 If all that I have discoursed be insufficient to convince these Men yet let their own Arguments and even their own Blasphemies convince them for the very worst that they can say or do serves to fulfil the Prophecies and confirm the Authority of the Holy Scriptures FINIS ADDENDA The BOOK having been long ago fitted for the Press and out of the Author's Custody he could not insert the following Additions in their proper places CHAP. IV. p. 112. l. 3. after St. Mark and St. Luke add If either in the Epistle of St. Barnabas or St. Clement it be supposed that the Reasoning is not always just but is sometimes too Allegorical and sometimes founded upon Mistakes in Natural Philosophy yet it is certainly agreeable to the ways of Reasoning and the Philosophy of that Age so that nothing of this kind could then be any hindrance or prejudice to the Reception of these Epistles CHAP. X. p. 222. l. ult after Principles add And besides other Uses which may be found out hereafter one very considerable has been already made of the Satellites for the benefit of the World in rectifying Geography and determining the Longitude of Places Philos Burgund Tom. 5. c. 8. Disseâ—t 3 M. Cassini has drawn up Tables for this Purpose and Written a Treatise on the Subject And the Le Compte's Memoire p. 15. and 505. Missionaries by their Observations have discovered that the Empire of China is Five Hundred Leagues nearer Europe than Geographers have placed it CHAP. XI p. 226. l. 27. * after Opinion add The same Words which Joshua used is Translated to wait upon and wait for Ps LXII 1. LXV 1. So that all which can be Concluded from the Word is that the Sun attended he lengthned the Day and waited for the Victory or waited upon the Army of Israel CHAP. XIII p. 256. l. 24. after Christ's sake add A State of Damnation is a State of Death and the Soul which lies under the Divine Wrath is in that State tho' it be not irreversible during this Life So that the Death Threatned being Twofold viz. of the Soul and of the Body it was accordingly inflicted on both But it was not Threatned that this Death should be to the final Destruction either of Soul or Body but thro' the Redemption of Christ the Body might be recovered from the Death to which it became Subject to a Blessed and Glorious Resurrection and the Soul be restored from the Death into which it had faln to a State of Reconciliation and Favour with God CHAP. XV p. 325. l. 15. after in the New add Of the Assistance of Divine Grace we are Taught Deutr. XXX 6. Psalm XXV 4. XXVII 11. LI. 10 11 12. LXXXVI 11. CXIX 12 26 33 64 66 68. 108. 124. 135. CXLIII 10. Prov. 1.23 Isa XLIV 3. LIX 21 Jer. XXXI 8. XXXII 40. Ezek. XI 19. XXXVI 26 27. CHAP. XVI p. 338. l. 10. after Religion add The Soveraignty was in due time to be placed in the Tribe of Judah which was fulfilled in David's being advanced to the Kingdom and from that time the Scepter and the Lawgiver c. CHAP. XXII p. 391. l. 5. after expected add The Duration of the World is considered in the Scriptures with relation to Christ's coming and all the Time after his coming is stiled the last Days as in the Description of the Different States of Job's Life the space of an Hundred and Forty Years of it after his Sufferings is Stiled the latter end of his Life and all the precedent part is Termed the Beginning of it Job XLII 12 16. CHAP. XXVIII p. 486. l. after Prophet Jonas add Dr. Lightfoot in his Remains lately published has observed as the Reason why the Jews were so importunate for a Sign notwithstanding the many Miracles which our Saviour Wrought before them That their Traditions Taught them to expect these two Signs of the Messias when he came viz. that he should raise the Old Prophets and other Holy and famous Men from the Dead and that he should bring down Manna for them from Heaven In their Old Writings and Records he says they speak much of these Two things of their Expectation I am inclined to believe that these Traditions if they had been rightly understood were not so blind and foolish as that Learned Author Stiles them but had respect to the very Time and Occasion to which our Saviour refers the Jews when they required these Signs of him For at his Resurrection many Bodies of Saints which Slept arose Matt. xxvii 52. And speaking to them of the Manna or Bread which came down from Heaven he puts them in Mind of his Ascension What and if ye shall see the Son of Man ascend up where he was before Joh. vi 62. Whereby he intimates that then would be the time of sending this Manna when upon his Ascension he would bestow the Gifts of the Holy Ghost The time was not yet come for these Miracles to be wrought they were not to be wrought at their Demand it was sufficient that they had Intimations given to expect them and in the mean time they ought to have been contented with others CHAP. XXX p. 519. l. 12. after he pleased add But it seems most of all strange that the excellent Emperour M. Antoninus who had so much of the Christian Morality both in the Speculation and in the Practice of it should not also be of the Christian Faich especially if he owned that a signal Miracle was by the Prayers of the Christians obtained for the deliverance of himself and his whole Army Apol. c. 5. ad Scap. c. 4. as Tertullian who could not be Ignorant of the Truth of it Declares But it should be considered that M. Anteninus was very superstitious in all the Heathen Worship and was so much addicted to the Philostr Vit. Sophist in Herod Hermag Aristid Adrian Sophists of his