which was brought to them and to all Mankind by it Thus we see that both the Time and Place of our Saviour's Nativity and the Person of whom he was born are evident proofs of his being the Christ He was to be born whilst the second Temple stood he was to be born at Bethlehem and he was to be born of a Virgin of the Tribe of Judah and of the Lineage of David all which most exactly agree in the Birth of our Saviour II. The Prophecies concerning the Life of the Messias were fulfilled in our Saviour The meanness and obscurity and sorrows of it are exprest Isa liii 23. For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of a dry ground he hath no form nor comeliness and when we shall see him there is no beauty that we should desire him He is despised and rejected of men a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and we hid as it were our faces from him he was despised and we esteemed him not His meekness and patience are described Isai xlii 2 3 4. He shall not cry nor lift up nor cause his voice to be heard in the Street a bruised reed shall he not break and the smoaking flax shall he not quench he shall bring forth judgment unto truth he shall not faâ—â— nor be discouraged till he have set judgment in the earth and the Isles shall wait for his Law His abode was to be chiefly in Galilee Isai ix 1. Matt. iv 14. And accordingly he was brought up at Nazareth and dwelt at Capernaum His miracles are every where inculcated by the Prophets and this was so well understood by the Jews of that time that many of the people believed in him upon the account of his Miracles and said when Christ cometh shall he do greater Miracles than these which this man hath done Joh. vii 31. And when St John Baptist sent two of his Disciples to enquire of our Saviour whether he were the Christ he gives them no other answer but that they should acquaint John with what things they had seen and heard how that the blind saw the lame walked the lepers were cleansed the deaf heard the dead were raised to the poor the Gospel was preached Luke vii 22. which was the literal fulfilling of that Prophecy Isaiah xxxv 5 6. and it was the very character all the Prophets had given of the Messias St. John Baptist whom Josephus gives a high commendation of and whom all men looked upon as a Prophet Matt. xxi 26. had before declared Jesus to be the Christ though he now sent two of his Disciples to enquire of him not for his own buâ— for their satisfaction that they might be witnesses how the Prophecies were fulfilled in him And both the Preaching and Baptism of John was preparatory to that of Christ and was foretold by the Propphets Isa xl 3. Malach. iv 5. But besides the Record of John the Holy Ghost gave witness to Christ visibly descending upon him at his Baptism with a voice from Heaven pronouncing the words prophetically delivered before concerning the Messias which were always understood by the Jews to be meant of him Matt. iii. 13. and this voice was a gain repeated though not so publickly as before at his Transfiguration Mat. xvii 5.2 Pâ—â— i. 17. and at a third time there came a voice to him from heaven in the hearing of all the people Jo. xii 28. By the Hosanna's of the Multitude and even of the Children and by his driving the Buyers and Sellers out of the Temple several known Prophecies concerning the Messias were fulfilled in him Matt. xxi 16. Jo. ii 17. III. The Prophecies concerning the Death of the Messias were fulfilled in our Saviour His Death was foretold both in the writings of the Prophets and by several Types or Actions which did represent and prefigure his Death with the manner and circumstances of it and this was one kind of Prophesying by the resemblance of Actions and Things as well as by descriptions in words Thus Abraham's offering up Isaac was a Type of Christ's being offered upon the Cross and Isaac's carrying the Wood on his Shoulders was a Type of Christs carrying his Cross The listing up the brazen Serpent in the wilderness was a Type of Christ's being lifted up and the Paschal Lamb was a plain Type of the Sacrifice of Christ and our Saviour Christ was sacrificed upon the Cross aâ— the very time of the Passover A bone of him was not broken which was typified of him in the paschal Lamb the breaking of his Legs was prevented by his voluntary giving up the Ghost when he had so much strength and vigour after all his pains as to cry out with a loud voice which by the course of nature a person who had endured so much before and had hung bleeding and languishing for three hours at least upon the Cross till he expired by the force and extremity of his Torments could not have done and his being dead sooner than was expected and sooner than the Malefactors were caused the fulfilling this prophetical Type a Bone of him shall not be broken Exod. xii 46. Numb ix 12. (k) Ligh Harm N. T. Sect. lix p. 243. He died likewise in the year of Jubilee as Dr. Lightsoot proves by which the release and redemption which he purchased for Mankind was typified And as the fulfilling of these several Types concurred in our Saviour so the fulfilling of them was brought to pass by the malice and cruelty of his Enemies and of those very Jews who had ever understood these Types to relate to the Messias The Prophecies in like manner were fulfilled in him not by any design or contrivance of his own but by the mere envy and malice of his Murtherers The thirty pieces of Silver for which he was betrayed were by the Chief Priests given to buy the Potters Field by which waâ— fulfilled a noted Prophecy that stands recorded in the Book of Zachariah but because Jeremiah had Prophesied of the same thing before him or for some other reason it was better known among the Jews by the name of Jeremiah's Prophecy unless as some suppose Jeremy be put for Zachary by a mistake of the Transcriber which was obvious enough in transcribing the Abbreviation of the name of Zachary as it is now to be seen in some of the Ancient MSS. z. not much differing from I. Ouâ— Saviour was buffeted and spit upon according to a Prophecy of Isaiah Is l. 6. He had Vinegar given him to drink mingled with Gall and his Garments were parted amongst the Souldiers by casting of Lots both which were foretold Ps xxii 18. lxix 21. They pierced his hands and his feet Ps xxii 16. They that pass'd by reviled him in the very words of the Psalmist and in his Agony he cried out in the words of the same Psalm v. 1.7 8. His death was voluntary for though it was in the power of his Enemies
of eternal Rewards and Punishments as well as Christians and the eternity of the latter was the great Impediment which Epicurus endeavour'd to remove out of the way to the free Enjoyment of Men's Lusts For whatever some have said in behalf of Epicurus his own word produced (x) Tusc Qu. lib. iii. by Tully too plain to be evaded shew that he did place all Happiness in sensual Pleasures only he was willing to enjoy them as quietly and securely as he could and for this Reason laid down divers Rules by way of expedient to keep the Mind in Peace void of all Auxiety in this Life and of all Hopes or Fears of a future State The prevailing Belief of the eternal Punishments of wicked Men after Death was enough to ruine all his Philosophy and therefore this was by all means to be removed which yet he was never able to effect So that this was a thing sufficiently known to make all men sensible of what they must expect would be the consequence of Sin And what God has threatned so long before and has given Men time and Opportunity and Ability to avoid they cannot fall under but thro' their own Wilfulness and Misbehaviour and can have no reason to complain when it comes upon them 3. It was necessary that the Sanction of the Divine Laws should be by eternal Rewards and Punishments The Sanction of all Laws is by Rewards and Punishments and the Design of appointing Punishments is to affright Men from Sin as the end of Rewards is to invite them to Obedience The only true Measure and just Proportion therefore between the Crime and the Punishment is the suitableness of the Punishment to enforce Obedience to the Law and cause it to be duly observed For if the Law be good and necessary and cannot be so well and so effectually obeyed without a very severe Punishment to enforce it the Severity of the Punishment is so far from Cruelty that it is a just and wise Provision to secure Obedience to the Law and procure all the Good design'd by it Thus we always judge in Humane Laws A man is condemn'd to lose his Life for taking from another that which he perhaps could very well spare but we are all agreed in the Justice of making such Examples because we find that Men can scarce be secure in their Lives and Estates notwithstanding the Severity of such Laws And if the Terrors of everlasting Torments will not frighten Men from Sin what effect would a less Punishment denounced have had upon them If men can but once perswade themselves that the Torments of Hell are not so terrible they freely give themselves up to all Licentiousness and we know how fond Men of wicked Lives are of such Doctrines God therefore perfectly understanding the Temper and Inclination the Stubborness and Perverseness of Mens Hearts so prone to Vice and so backward to all that is good foresaw that a less Punishment threatned would not prevail with Men to forsake their Sins and get to Heaven And with what Face can that Man object that the Torments of Hell are too great and intolerable who as terrible as they are lives still secure and undisturb'd in his Sins If they are so great that he complains of them as unjust Why doth he not leave his Sins If he doth not forsake his Sins they are not too great since they have not attained that End upon him for which the Punishment is denounced viz. his Repentance and Amendment of Life But if he doth not believe their Eternity and therefore continues in his Sins this shews how necessary the Denouncing and how necessary the Belief of eternal Punishments is Out of thine own Mouth will I judge thee thou wicked Servant Thou knewest that I was an austere Man wherefore then didst thou not do as thou wast commanded 4. It is necessary that eternal Punishments should be inflicted upon the Wicked according to the Sanction of the Divine Laws by â—ternal Rewards and Punishments We find by sad Experience how little offect the Punishments now threatned have upon too many Men and if they were less dreadful they would be so much the less regarded So that it appears that the appointment of eternal Punishments was but necessary to keep Men from Sin and what God's Wisdom saw necessary to appoint his Justice and Truth will make it necessary for him to inflict For what he has so often and so solemnly declared he can never depart from but will certainly execute it The Promises and Threatnings relating this Life are conditional and are expresly declared to be so Jer. xviii 7 8 9 10. because in this Life Men are changeable from Good to Bad or from Bad to Good but the Threatnings as well as the Promises concerning the other Life must be absolute and unconditional because they relate to an unchangeable sinal State which will admit of no alteration either in the Wicked or the Righteous It is not therefore because God can recede from his Threatnings rather than from his Promises that Nineveh was spared but because all Threatnings belonging to the State of this Life imply a condition of Repentance upon which they are not to be inflicted as Jonah and the Ninevites themselves well understood but then all Promises too which concern this Life are under the like condition and are not to be performed upon the Disobedience of those to whom they are made as we are assured by God's express Declaration But what is threatned or promised to Men to befall them after this Life is promised or threatned to befall them when they shall be in a fixt unalterable State and therefore must be uncapable of any Condition or Reserve to be implied in it For when Men continue the same they were at the time when God's Promises and Threatnings were declared to them his Promises and Threatnings always take place in this World according to the full extent and importance of the Words in which they were delivered and therefore they must thus take place in the next World into which when Men are once entred they must for ever continue equally fit Objects either of the Divine Promises or Threatnings as they were at the time of their Death The Point is that God never changes but Men are changeable in this Life and both his Promises and Threatnings which concern Men here suppose them such and therefore Rewards are with-held or Punishments remitted in this World as Men fall into Wickedness or become reclaim'd from it But in the other World where the State of Men is unalterable from good or bad vertuous or vicious both the Promises and Threatnings of God must be punctually fulfilled and can admit of no Condition or Reservation God has sworn that those who will not believe and obey him shall not enter into his Rest Heb. iii. 1i and what he has once sworn is irrevocable Heb. vi 17. If we believe not yet be abideth faithful he cannot deny himself 2 Tim.
this Notion of their legal Worship Abraham to whom Circumcision was appointed saw the day of Christ he sore saw his Descent from himself which was thereby prefigured and was glad Joh. viii 56. And Moses by whom the Ceremonial Service was ordained had so clear a Prospect of the Messias and his Kingdom that he esteemed the Reproach of Christ greater Riches than the Treasures of Aegypt Hebr. xi 26. Those places of Scripture which the Apostles apply to Christ out of the Old Testament were at that time by the Jews themselves to whom they Cite them understood of the Messias they always supposed that whatever was great and Excellent among them was but a faint and imperfect Resemblance of that Glory and Excellency which was to be in its full Perfection and Accomplishment under the Messias 4. During this Ceremonial Dispensation there was a sufficient Revelation of the internal and spiritual Part of Religion In the Books of Moses the Love of God with all the Heart and the Love of their Neighbour as of Themselves is expresly commanded the Children of Israel Lev. xix 18. Deut. vi 5. The High Priest's Office was to bless the People Numb vi 23. and the Office of the Priests and Levites besides the Ceremonial Service was to stand every Morning to thank and praise the Lord and likewise at Even 1 Chron. xxiii 30. 2 Chron. xxxi 2. and (x) Vid. Qutr de Sacrific lib. 1. c. 15. S. 9. no Sacrifice was ever offered without Prayers The immortality of the Soul is implied in that Expression which is often used in the Books of Moses that Men when they died were gathered to their People which must be understood of their Souls their Bodies being buried at different places and in divers Countries not where their Ancestors had been buried And tho' this and such like Phrases may sometimes signify no more than their leaving the World as others had done before them as most Words and Expressions are often used improperly and may in some places be applied to ill Men yet there could never have been any Reason or Foundation for such a Phrase but from a Supposition of the Soul's Immortality Balaam wish'd to die the Death of the Righteous and that his last End might be like that of the Righteous Numb xxiii 10. For what Reason but that he might not be miserable but happy after Death A future State was always believ'd by the Jews as revealed to them in the Old Testament and whatever Texts there may be which seem to imply the contrary they are either spoken only by way of Objection as in the Book of Ecclesiastes or else they have no Relation to the State after this Life either to affirm or deny it but are to be understood to proceed from that Desire which pious Men had to honour and glorify God in their several Generations by restoring his Worship where it had been neglected or in propagating his Religion where it had not been yet known Thus that good King Hezekiah says to God in his Thanksgiving The Grave cannot praise thee Death cannot celebrate thee they that go down into the Pit cannot hope for thy Truth The Living the living he shall praise thee as I do this day The Father to the Children shall make known thy Truth Isa xxxviii 18 19. This is spoken with the same Zeal and Spirit by which he was acted in his Reformation And when David said In Death there is no Remembrance of thee in the Grave who shall give thee Thanks Psal vi 5. He cannot be supposed to have any Doubtfulness concerning a future State for in other Psalms he plainly asserts it Psal xvi 11. xvii 15. But his Meaning is explain'd Psal xxx 9. where he says What profit is there in my Blood when I go down into the Pit Shall the Dust praise thee Shall it declare thy Truth In our other Translation it is Shall the Dust give Thanks to thee To give Thanks then to God is in grateful Acknowledgment for his Mercies to praise and magnify his Name and manifest his Truth among Men which is not to be done in the Grave God's Dispensations to the People of Israel being with this Design Pious Men desir'd that their Lives might be prolong'd for this purpose that they might declare his Truth and Vindicate and promote his Honour in this World before they were call'd to the next where there can be no Opportunity for this Service to God and Benefit to Mankind Enoch was taken up alive into Heaven to be an Example of that Happiness which God has prepar'd for those who walk with him and pleaseth him Gen. v. 24. And our Saviour Mark xii 26. proves the Resurrection of the Dead from Exod. iii. 6. Those for whom God has that peculiar Favour as to stile Himself their God and to declare this to be His Name or Title for ever and this to be His Memorial unto all Generations Vers 15. we may be assured are not so dead as utterly to have perish'd and if their Souls have surviv'd their Bodies their Bodies likewise must be raised again forasmuch as the Soul of Abraham without his Body is not Abraham but only one part of him and his Soul could not be stil'd Abraham but with respect not only to its past but to its future Union with his Body For tho' a part be often put for the whole yet it always supposes either the present or future Existence of the Whole but is never put for the whole when it remains alone and the rest is utterly and finally extinct Abraham consists of Soul and Body and therefore God being the God of Abraham is God both of the Soul and Body of Abraham which is an Argument that the Soul of Abraham now lives and that his Body shall live again for All live to God And he would not have given himself a solemn Title and Denomination from a Man who had no longer any Being nor from that Part of him which had utterly perish'd I am the God of thy Father the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Abraham had his Name in Token that he should be a Father of many Nations Gen. xvii 5. and Isaac and Jacob were Heirs of the same Promise and therefore the God of Abraham is the God of that Father of Nations and has a particular Regard to the Bodies from which those Nations were descended as well as to the Souls of Abraham and his Posterity I am the God of Abraham not I was but I am which supposes Abraham yet to be I am the same God still to him that I was during his Life upon earth he is still the Object of the Divine Care and Goodness and therefore shall be rewarded both in Body and Soul God is not ashamed to be call'd their God for he hath prepared for them a City Heb. xi 16. that is an Habitation in Heaven The Children of Israel before the giving of the Law were
is translated Carthage by the Septuagint Isa xxiii 6. but is supposed to be Tartessus in Spain though St. Jerom (z) 〈◊〉 in â—â— c. 1. 〈◊〉 thought it to be in the Indies And Ophir was as many learned Men think in the Indies beyond the River Ganges in Pegu or at least Solomon's Merchants did traffick with the Indian that came from those Parts others have imagined Ophir to be Zephala or Cephala in Africa towards the Cape of Good-Hope some think it to be Ceylon or Sumatra some are of opinion that it was in America all are agreed that it must be in some very distant part of the World and where-ever it were the Traffick and Dealings which the Israelites had there was a great opportunity to the Heathen to become instructed in the True Religion The Traffick and Voyages by Sea and Expeditions by Land in Solomon's Reign rendred the People of Israel highly renowned and caused their Laws and Customs and Religion to be much observed and enquired into and even the Marriages of Solomon with Pharaoh's Daughter and other Strangers questionless through the Mercy of God might prove an happy occasion of divulging the True Religion and regaining many from Idolatry in Aegypt and other Parts of the World For all his Wives were made Proselytes (a) Maimâ—â—â—d de 〈◊〉 §. 1â— 1â— before he married them as Samson's likewise had been though afterwards they not only fell away to their former Idolatries but seduced Solomon himself into them The Gentiles were so forward to become Proselytes (b) Meimâ—â—d 〈◊〉 in the Reigns of David and Solomon that their Sincerity became suspected and the Jews tell us that the Sanhedrim would admit no Proselytes in the days of David lest they should be induced to it by Fear nor in the days of Solomon lest the Glory of his Kingdom should have been the motive to them to profess the Religion of the Israelites Nevertheless great numbers were received privately by Baptism the Sanhedrim neither rejecting nor admitting them It is the Observation of Theodoret and of St. Jerom upon Exek v. 5. that God placed Jerusalem the Seat of the Jewish Government in the midst of the Nations that it might be a Direction to the Heathen in matters of Religion from whence as from the Centre Light might be communicated to the farther Parts of the Earth But the Divisions and Calamities of the People of Israel the Destruction of their City and Dispersion of their whole Nation contributed as much to the propagation of Religion as their greatest Prosperity could do The Division of the Ten Tribes after the death of Solomon and the erection of the Kingdom of Israel distinct from that of Judah with the many Leagues and Wars which these two mighty Kingdoms had with the Kings of Aegypt and Syria and Babylon and with other Nations could not but exceedingly conduce to the divulging the True Religion in the World and give opportunity to the Prophets to declare their Prophecies and work their Miracles among the Heathen as we find they did in many Instances One of the greatest Cities of the World was converted by Jonah's Preaching Hezekiah being distressed by Sennacherib prayed to God for deliverence out of his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord God even thou only and his Prayer was answer'd not only in the Deliverance but in the manner of it which was so wonderful that all must know and be astonished at it for that very night the angel of the Lord went out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand 2 King xix 19. which was the fulfilling of the Prophecy of Isaiah delivered to Hezekiah in a Message to him from God in Answer to his Prayer and afterwards Embassadors came from the King of Babylon to enquire of the Wonder or Miracle that was wrought in his Recovery from his Sickness 2 Chron. xxxii 31. and at last the Captivity of the Jews for Seventy Years in Babylon made their Religion almost as well known there as in Jerusalem it self Jeremiah had foretold the Captivity of the Jews and the Conquest of all the adjacent Countries so long and so plainly before-hand that all the neighbour Nations must be sensible of it as Nebuchadnezzar himself also was for which reason he gave a strict charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan the Captain of the Guard who declares the reason of their Captivity to be their sins against the Lord or Jehovah Jer. xl 3. and as the Jews say he became a Proselyte God professes that he had a regard to the Honour of his Name among the Heathen in his Mercies vouchsafed to the Children of Israel or else he had utterly consumed them Ezek. xx 9. and xxxvi 22 23 36. and the Judgments upon the several Nations prophesied against were to this end that they might know him to be the Lord Ezek. xxv 7 17. xxvi 6. xxviii 22 23 24. xxix 6. xxxv 9. xxxvi 23. xxxvii 28. I am a great King saith the Lord of hosts and my name is dreadful among the heathen Mal. i. 14. The Jews in their Captivity are commanded to make an open Declaration against the Heathen Gods and because they understood not the Chaldee Tongue the Prophet Jeremiah supplies them with so much of the Language as might serve them for that purpose Thus shall ye say unto them Jer. x. 11. that is Ye shall speak to them in their own Language and in the words which I now set down to you to bid Defiance to their False Gods Thus did he fulfil his Commission and Character who was sanctified and ordained a Prophet unto the nations Jer. i. 5. And Jeremiah was put to death in Aegypt and Ezekiel in Babylon for appearing against the Idolatry of those Places During the Captivity Jehoiachin was reconciled to the King of Babylon and in great favour with him His throne was set above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon 2 King xxv 28. The Jews were in great Esteem and in Places of great Honour and Trust and their Religion was extolled and recommended by Publick Edicts to all under that vast Empire The Almighty Power of God was manifested with Miracles and by the Interpretation of Dreams and Prophecies and his Majesty and Honour was acknowledged and proclaimed in the most publick and solemn manner throughout all the Babylonian Empire at the Command of Princes who were Idolaters and were forced to it by the meer convictions of their own Consciences wrought in them by the irresistable Power of God Dan. ii iii iv v vi Daniel had acquainted Cyrus as Josephus says with the Prophecy of Isaiah in which he was so long before mention'd by Name However the Lord stirred up the Spirit of Cyrus by this or some other means to accomplish the Prophecy which he had made both by Isaiah and Jeremiah concerning the Restoration of the Jews
to lose so many Talents and to want their help in the War and to venture the ravage that such an Army who looked upon themselves as affronted made in his Country upon the Prophets assuring him that God would give him the Victory if he would dismiss them but not otherwise and telling him The Lord is able to give thee much more than this and the Event proved the Truth of the Prediction 2 Chron. xxv The Children of Israel likewise at the word of Oded the Prophet sent back Two hundred thousand Persons of the Kingdom of Judah with great spoil which they had taken 2 Chron. xxviii So ready and so general a Compliance in such cases could arise from nothing but a certain Belief and Experience of the Truth of what the Prophets delivered but at other times they were despised and persecuted And the Truth of their Prophecies was not only attested by Miracles and justified by the Event and confessed by the Deference and Respect both of the Kings and People but it was asserted by their Sufferings and sealed by the Blood of the Prophets and was at last acknowledged by the Posterity of those who had slain them they being most forward and zealous to adorn the Tombs of the Prophets whom their Fore-fathers had killed and to die in vindication of those Prophecies for which they had been slain There was a constant succession of Prophets from the time of Moses till the return of the Jews from their Captivity in Babylon some prophesied for many Years Jeremiah for above One and forty Years Ezekâ—el about Twenty Years the least time assigned to Hosea's Prophesying is Forty three Years Amos prophesied about Six and twenty Years Micah about Fifty Isaiah Jonah and Daniel a much longer time so that they lived to see divers of their own Prophecies fulfilled and to have suffered as False Prophets if they had not come to pass And though many Prophecies were not to be fulfilled till long after the death of the Prophets who deliver'd them yet they wrought Miracles or they foretold some things which came to pass soon after according to their Predictions to give evidence to their Authority and confirm their Divine Miâ—â—ion The Prophets committed their Prophecies to writing and left them to Posterity Isa xxx 8. Per. xxx 2. xxxvi 32. Hab. ii 1 2. And the writing of the Histories of the Jews belong'd to the Prophets 1 Chron. xxix 29. 2 Chron. xii 15. xiii 22. xx 34. xxvi 22. xxxii 32. And both in their Prophetical and Historical Books they deal with the greatest plainness and sincerity they record the Idolatries of the Nation and foretell the Judgments of God which were to befall it upon that account and they leave to Posterity a Relation of the Miscarriages and Crimes of their best Princes David Solomon and others who were Types of the Messias and from whose Race they expected Him and looked upon the Glories of their several Reigns to be presages of His are yet described not only without flattery but without any reserve or extenuation They write as Men who had no regard to any thing but Truth and the Glory of God in telling it The Prophets were sometimes commanded to seal and shut up their Prophecies that the Originals might be preserved till the fulfilling of them and then compared with the Event Isai viii 16. Jer. xxxii 14. Dan. viii 26. xii 4. For when the Prophecies were not to be fulfill'd till many Years and in some cases not till several Ages afterwards it was requisite that the Original Writings should be kept with all care but when the time was so near at hand that the Prophecies must be in every one's memory or that the Originals could not be suspected or supposed to be lost there was not the same care required Rev. xxii 10. It seems to have been customary (y) 〈◊〉 Anâ—â—quit l. 11. c. 1. 〈◊〉 l. 6. c. 5 for the Prophers to put their Writings into the Tabernacle or lay them up before the Lord 1 Sam. x. 25. And there is a Tradition (z) Epiphan de Ponderib Measâ—â— c. 4. That all the Canonical Books as well as the Law were put into the side of the Ark. It is certain that the Books of the Law and the Writings of the ancient Prophets were carefully preserved during the Captivity and are frequently referr'd to and cited by the latter Prophets The Pentateuch has been already spoken of and this is as evident of the Books of the Prophets The Prophecy of Micah is quoted Jer. xxvi 18. a little before the Captivity and under it the Prophecy of Jeremiah is cited Dan. ix 2. and all the Prophets v. 6. and so the Prophets in general are mention'd Neh. ix 26 30. And Zechariah not only cites the former Prophets Zech. i. 4. but supposes their Writings well known to the People Should you not hear the words which the Lord hath cried by the former prophets when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity chap. vii 7. The Prophet Amos is likewise cited Tob. ii 6. and Jonas and the Prophets in general chap. xiv 4 5 8. There can then be no reason to question but that Ezra Nehemiah Daniel Zechariah and the other Prophets in the time of the Captivity were very careful to keep the Books of the former Prophets for they frequently cite them and appeal to them and expected Deliverance out of their Captivity by the accomplishment of them And perhaps from the Originals themselves or however from Copies taken by Ezra the Scribe or by some of the latter Prophets or at least acknowledged for genuine and approved of by them the ancient Prophecies and other Inspired Writings were preserved and those of the latter Prophets were added to them and all together make up the Book of the Prophets mention'd Act. vii 42. which was read as well as the Law every Sabbath-day Act. xiii 27. The Books of Joshua Judges Samuel and Kings have the Title of the former Prophets in the Hebrew Bibles to distinguish them from the Books which they set out under the Title of the latter Prophets Isaiah Jeremiah c. The Books of Joshua and Judges have been already spoken of The Books of Samuel were written by Samuel Nathan and Gad 1 Chron. xxix 29. from whence we may conclude that the first Book of Samuel to the 25th Chapter was written by Samuel himself and the rest of that and the whole Second Book by Nathan and Gad but Samuel being a Person so much concerned in the former part of the History and having written so much of it out of respect to him the whole Two Books go under his Name though indeed the Jews anciently reckon'd both the Books of Samuel as one Book and Aquila as Theodorit has observed made no distinction between the First and Second Books of Samuel following the Hebrew Copies of his time and in our Hebrew Bibles though they are distinguished yet they are
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
for what Book is there without 'em or what Book of the same bigness and of any Antiquity has so few various Lections as the Bible and what Book can be Transcribed or Printed but it is liable to have mistakes made in it IV. No difference between the Hebrew Text and the Septuagint and other Versions or between the several Versions themselves is any prejudice to the Authority of the Scriptures nor can prove that the Hebrew Text was ever different in any thing material from what it is now The Translation of the Septuagint * Id. Prolegom ix s â—2 x. s 8. as it hath been observed from St. Jerom and others is in many places rather a Comment or Paraphrase than a strict Version and gives the sense rather than the words of the Hebrew Texts Many times there is supposed to be a difference where there is none for want of a sufficient knowledge of the Original as †Pocock Append. ad Porâ— Mos c. 1 2 3 4. Pears Praef. ad Septuag Edit Cantab Is Voss de lxx Interpret Walt Proleg ix 46. Dr Pocock has shewn in divers Instances and Bp Pearson in others besides what has been written by Isaac Vossius to this purpose and one very skilful in the Oriental Tongues had undertaken to shew the agreement between Hebrew and and the Septuagint throughout and had made a considerable Progress in the work as Bishop Walton informs us Other differences proceed from the mistakes of Transcribers as it must needs happen in Books of which so many Copies have been taken in all Ages and from the rashness of Criticks in making unnecessary alterations or by inserting into the Text such Notes as were at first placed only for explication in the Margin In some things of less consequence the Translators might be mistaken or they might follow a different Copy The Authority of the Text of Scripture is greatly confirmed from the citations of the Greek and Latin Fathers from whence it appears that in the several Ages of the Greek and Latin Churches the Copies which they made use of had no such variations from those we now use as to be of any ill consequence in matters of Religion As to the Imputation that was charged upon the Jews by some of the Fathers that they had corrupted the Scriptures in such places as according to the Translation of the Septuagint and the sense of their Ancestors must prove the Truth of the Christian Religion against them this is to be understood of the Versions of Aquila Symmachus and Theodosian who being all either profest Jews or Judaizing Hereticks designed their Translations to countenance their own errors especially Aquila who undertook his Version purposely to oppose that of the Septuagint For it is now generally agreed that the Jews never deserved the Censure of having corrupted the Hebrew Text tho they perverted the sense of it and where there were various Readings chose to follow that which was most favourable to their own pretences tho it were in contradiction to the Judgment of their Forefathers as well as the Christians Philo in a discourse cited * Euseb Praepar Evang. lib. viii c. 6. by Eusebius who thereby owns the Truth of it said that for the space of above two thousand years there had not been a word altered in the Law but that the Jews would chuse to dye never so many deaths rather than they would consent to any thing in prejudice of it And †Contra Apion lib. i. Josephus declares of the whole Old Testament that it had suffered no alteration from the beginning down to his own Time * Antiqu. Eccl. Orient Epist 38. Morinus himself whatever he hath elsewhere said to the contrary declares in a Letter to Dr Comber Dean of Carlisle that he supposes no man can doubt but that the Jewish Copies caeteris paribus are to be preferred before any Copies of the Samaritans which he in his Writings so highly magnifies It must be acknowledged that the numbring of the Verses and Words and Letters and the observing which was the middle Letter of every Book could signify little to the securing of the Hebrew Text entire because there may be the same number of Verses and Words and Letters in different Books and the same Number of Letters may make up different Words and the same Words diversely placed and apply'd may express a very different sense nor could there be any charm in a word that stood in the midst of a Book to keep all the rest in their proper places But this scrupulous and even superstitious diligence of the Jews in little things is an evidence of their constant study of the Scriptures and of the great value and reverence they had for it so that they would neither corrupt it themselves nor suffer it to be corrupted by others but were careful and zealous to preserve every ever letter and tittle and as I observed before from Josephus they were so well acquainted with it that he thought he could not fully enough express their skill and accuracy but by saying that they knew it better than their own names V. It is evident and confest by the Criticks that neither by these nor by any other means any such difference is to be found in the several Copies of the Bible as to prejudice the fundamental Points of Religion or weaken the Authority of the Scriptures All relating to this controversy has been eagerly debated by contending parties who yet agree in this whatever they differed in besides that the various Lections do not invalidate the authority of the Scriptures nor render them ineffectual to the end and design of a Divine Revelation inasmuch as all the various Lections taken together are no preiudice to the Analogy of Faith nor to any Points necessary to Salvation * Non minus ex ijs quae supra disputata sunt planum est id quod statim libri primi initio monuimus saepius toto opere inculcavimus plerasque omnes quae observari deprehendi in sacris libris possunt varias Lectiones levissimi esse ac pene nullius momenti ut parum admodum intersit aut vero perinde omnino sit utram sequaris sive hanc sive illam Ludovic Cappel Crit. Sacr. lib. 6. c. 2. Ludovicus Cappellus who had studied this subject as much as any man and was as well able to judge of it after the strictest examination he could make found that the things relating either to Faith or Practice are plainly contained in all Copies whatever difference there is in lesser things as in matters of Chronology which depend upon the alteration or the omission or addition of a Letter or in the Names of Men or of Cities or Countreys But the fundamental Doctrines of Religion are so dispersed throughout the Scriptures that they could receive no damage nor alteration unless the whole Scriptures should have been changed Wherefore not only the most learned Protestants but â€
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