not require this at his hand Can we think that he would not take care to see this Rest from all labour observ'd Can we think that Adam and Eve the last Piece of the Divine Work did not call their Creation and Formation to remembrance and praise God for that as well as for his wonderful making of the World Can we reasonably and on good grounds imagine any of these things when the very Sabbath was instituted on purpose to perpetuate the memory of the Creation May we not rather say that it is expresly recorded that God blessed the Seventh Day before Adam's Fall to intimate to us what Adam and Eve were to do the next day after their Formation viz. to sanctify that Day in a solemn commemoration of the Divine Goodness to them Thirdly There are several passages in the Old Testament whence we may gather the early observation of the Seventh Day The keeping of it seems to be intimated in Gen. 8. 10. where we find that Noah divides the Time by Weeks or seven Days And so he doth again ver 12. Which being repeated seems to tell us that the Seventh Day was then observed in a religious way by Noah in the Ark who questionless had it from Adam who receiv'd it from God who instituted it to be a Commemoration of the Birth-day of the World of the Divine Blessings that accompanied the Creation It is not improbably conjectur'd by a Learned Writer that the Day when the Sons of God i. e. Iob's Sons and other Holy Men who are rightly call'd God's Sons or Children came to present themselves before the Lord Job 1. 6. 2. 1. was the Sabbath Day the Day when the Professors of Religion met together in the publick Assemblies for even in the Land of Vz they kept this solemn Day they living near the Hebrews who had it deriv'd to them from the Creation Further I desire it may be observ'd that there is express mention of the Sabbath Day before the Law was deliver'd on Mount Sinai To morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord Faith Moses Exod. 16. 23. And when that Day was come he thus speaks to them To Day is a Sabbath unto the Lord ver 25. And it is plain that it is meant of the Seventh day Sabbath because the Day before was the sixth day as you read in the foregoing Verse but more expresly in ver 26. there is mention of the Seventh Day which is the Sabbath It appears then that this Day was kept before the Decalogue was given and was antienter than the Laws of Moses And indeed the Fourth Commandment which enjoins the keeping holy the Sabbath Day seems to hint no less to us for when the Israelites are bid to remember to do this there is intimated to us in this manner of expression that it was kept holy before for remembrance hath regard to things past and so forgetting respects what hath been heretofore It might be observ'd also that it is call'd in this Commandment Ha Sabbath the Sabbath or that Sabbath which I have enjoin'd you before to keep The Article here seems to imply so much But however from what hath been said it is manifest that there was a day of Rest a keeping of a Sabbath observ'd before the Law of Moses And if before it then it was by virtue of this Primitive Institution which I am now speaking of and consequently the celebrating of this Day was from the beginning of the World In Paradise was given the Law of Sanctifying the Seventh Day as a Day of Rest and holy Worship as some of the ancient Writers of the Christian Church who search'd into this matter further than others have freely acknowledged And therefore those words Gen. 2. 3. God blessed the seventh Day are not proleptick as some groundlesly imagine but acquaint us that that Day was then instituted and was to be observ'd from that very time that they might be settled in the Truth of God's creating the World and not like Pagans think it to have been from Eternity This then must go along with the succeeding Dispensations Fourthly There was a positive Law given to Adam of abstaining from the Fruit of a certain Tree in the Garden of Eden We must know then that in Paradise were divers sorts of Trees but two of them were of more especial not than the rest The first was the Tree of Life which was called so because it was appointed by God to signify that if our first Parents did obey God's Command they should live for ever It was design'd to be a Sacrament of that Immortality which Man should have had if he had retain'd his Innocence This is clear from what is said in Gen. 3. 22. lest he take of the Tree of Life and eat and live for ever This Text proves against the Socinians that our first Parents should not have died if they had not transgressed the Divine Law and it proves that the Tree of Life was give them on purpose to perpetuate their lives The eating of the Fruit of that Tree would have been a means to have kept them from dying and to have made them immortal Yea this Tree was a Symbol of all Happiness as Life is taken in that sense very frequently Wisdom is said to be a Tree of Life to those that lay hold on her Prov. 3. 18. Which is thus explain'd in the next Verse Happy is every one that retaineth her As often then as our first Parents had eaten of the Tree of Life they were to be reminded by it that all manner of Bliss and Happiness was to be entail'd upon them and their Posterity if they continued in their Obedience and broke not the Command of God As long as they â—ed on this Tree they should be void of old Age Sickness Pains Cares and all troubles of Body and Mind till at last they should have been translated from the earthly Paradise to those compleat and eternal Regions of Bliss at God's right hand So that it was a Type of enternal Life and Bliss and a Sign and Seal of these to them if they had not apostatiz'd How long a time this particular course of preserving Health and Life should have continued if Mankind supposing in a state of Innocence had increas'd or whether other Trees of the same nature should have been produced in other Regions of the Earth or whether there should have been some other way of keeping Mens Bodies from decay I am not able to determine nor need we concern our selves about it The other Tree in the Garden which was of more note than the rest was the Tree of Knowledg of Good and Evil. And they were strictly forbidden by God to eat of This they were by no means to taste any part of it It was call'd the Tree of Knowledg of Good and Evil because it was to try Adam whether he would do well or ill or because the observing of that Prohibition was to be
its Magnitude it was just as big again as the Tabernacle for the one was 60 Cubits long 20 Cubits broad and 30 Cubits high but that was but 30 Cubits in length 10 in breadth and 15 in height But when 't is said in 1 Kings 6. 2. that the Temple was 30 Cubits high it must be meant only of the space which reached from the Floor to the first Story for when it is compared with the Tabernacle it is consider'd without a Roof or any Superstructure because the Tabernacle was such But if you take the whole height of the Temple it was no less than 120 Cubits as you read in 2 Chron. 3. 3. Thus then it is from the bottom to the first Roof were 30 Cubits from thence to the second Roof 30 more and from thence to the top 60 Cubits So the height of the Temple from the Floor to the top of all was 120 Cubits Thus the Learned Iewish Antiquary reconciles those Texts in Kings and Chronicles which seem to oppose one another I might add that as the Tabernacle when 't was fix'd in Shiloâ— had Buildings about it for the Priests and Levites to lodg in so likewise it was contriv'd in the spot of Ground where the Temple was erected there were Houses to receive those Sacred Officers of the Temple and in them they lodg'd and resided all the time of their Ministry as our Deans and Prebendaries Houses are round about their respective Cathedrals And about the Temple there were divers Chambers some of which were us'd as Storehoses to lay up the Tithes and Offerings 1 Chron. 9. 26. 2. Chron. 31. 11. Others were Repositories for the Vessels and Utensils and all things belonging to the Service of the Temple Nehem. 1. 39. 13. 5. And some of them were made use of as places of Reâ—ection Ier. 35. 2. So much of this Magnificent Temple at Ierusalem which was the Iews Cathedral as the Synagogues were their Parish-Churches where their Ceremonious Worship was perform'd with the greatest pomp and splendor Fourthly The Sacraments appointed by the Ceremonial Law are here to be taken notice of They were Circumcision and the Passover The former was in use before the Mosaick Dispensation it being appointed as a Sign of the Covenant between God and Abraham It was reestablished by God when he delivered the Ceremonial Law to Moses and it was to continue a Badg and Confirmation of the same Covenant that the Posterity of Abraham the Iews might receive comfort thence It was also to be a remarkable Token to difference the Iews from other Nations tho other People afterwards borrow'd Circumcision from the Israelites as the Idumaeans the Egyptians c. There were other Ends and Designs of this bloody Rite which you will find enumerated under the Abrahamick Dispensation and therâ—â—â—e I will not repeat them here The other Iewish Sacrament was the Passover but because I may more properly speak of it among the other Feasts I refer it thither and accordingly proceed to the consideration of the set Times of Iewish Worship CHAP. VII The Jewish Feasts Sabbaths New Moon Passover The Parallel between the Paschal Lamb and our Saviour shew'd in several Particulars This mystical Way approved of Christ celebrated not the Passover on the same Evening that the Jews did but in the Evening before This represented in a Scheme The Feast of Pentecost The Feast of Tabernacles The Feast of Trumpets Of Expiation Other lesser Feasts not commanded in the Law but appointed by the Jewish Church Fasts kept tho not injoin'd by the Law The difference of Clean and Unclean Animals Why the latter were forbidden to be eaten The chief Reason of the Prohibition was to prevent Idolatry Two Objections answer'd Vows proper to the Mosaick Dispensation They were either Personal or Real The Cherem IN the Fifth place I am to treat of the Solemn Times and Set Seasons of Worship appointed the Iews by the Mosaick Law These by a general Name were call'd Feasts but if you speak properly some of them were Fasts But because the word is sometimes taken by the Iews for a solemn Time of Religious Worship whether it was accompanied with Rejoicing or Mourning that term is applied to them all The Design of these Festivals was to commemorate some great Blessing to maintain mutual Love Friendship and Communion and to join together in the Service of God These Feasts are divided by the Iews into the greater and the lesser The greater Feasts are these 1. The Sabbaths For tho this word be of a larger signification and is applied to all Feasts and Solemn Times of Worship yet it hath a restrained Sense and is particularly applied to these certain Seasons viz. the Sabbaths of Days and the Sabbaths of Years The Sabbaths of Days are the lesser and the greater the lesser are every seventh Day call'd the Sabbath by way of eminence in memory of God's resting or ceasing from the Works of the Creation But it was commanded now with particular reference to the Iewish People and to their resting from their Captivity and Bondage in Egypt I say no more of it here because I am to insist largely upon it when I come to treat of the Fourth Commandment The greater Sabbath of Days was when the Passover â—ell on the sabbath-Sabbath-day as it did that Year when Christ suffer'd Iohn 19. 31. This was call'd the Great Sabbath by the Iews And as there were the Sabbaths of Days so there were the Sabbaths of Years These were two first Every Seventh Year was a Sabbath of Rest to the Land Levit. â—5 4. and then there was no plowing or sowing nor making any the like provision but what the Ground yielded that Year of it self was sufficient and it was in common to all Persons to eat of it It was God's Pleasure to deal thus with this People to bring them to a sense of his Providence in the World that he was able without their Care and Art to sustain them that he was Lord of all things and the Supreme Disposer of them This was the reason why their Land enjoy'd its Sabbaths Secondly There was the Sabbath which was the end of seven times seven Years that is 49 Years Levit. 25. 8. This was the greatest Sabbath of all and was call'd the Iubilee But whether it was kept in the close of that 49 th Year as Scaligâ—r Petaviâ—s Calvisius think or in the Year after viz. the 50 th Year â—s those who follow Iosephus determine I will not dispute at present having said something of it in another place This we are certain of that when the Year of Iubilee return'd all Debts were to be cancell'd and mortgaged Lands were to return to their Owners and every Freeholder repossess'd what was alien'd from him and all Prisoners and Debtors were set free and Captives were released and all Controversies and Suits about Lands Estates Possessions and Properties were ended It is certain likewise that as on every seventh Year so in
of God himself to root up those unprofitable Weeds and other less useful Plants and to apply himself to laborious Agriculture this being now become necessary since his Apostacy and since the denuntiation of the Curse for unto this the word therefore in the beginning of the Verse reâ—ers as much as if it had been said to Adam Seeing the Earth is deprived of its former fruitfulness seeing it will not for the future bring forth Food for Man without painful â—illage and wearisome culture therefore I send thee â—orth c. Here is a plain Instance of the actual inflicting of the Curse in our first Parents time even long before the Universal Deluge Wherefore I hope I shall prevail with this ingenious Author to aker his System of the Earth as to this particular that he may avoid so considerable an Objection as this is viz. That it is repugnant to the Sacred Writings to which I know he pays a great Reverence And besides so far as I apprehend his general Systâ—m can very well be without this particular Hypothesis I take the freedom to suggest this to one who seems to be made for great Discoveries in Natural Philosophy and therefore out of that friendship which I bear to him and which he is pleas'd mutually to honour me with I would not have them tinctured with the least disrespect to the Mosaick Writings for this is enough to blast them in the esteem of those that are wise and sober But tho I cannot yield assent to this Gentleman's Hypothesis as he hath laid It down yet thus far I agree with him that the Sentence before mention'd took not place in the most effectual manner till the time he assigns it was not fully accomplish'd and executed till the Deluge That indeed was the Consummation of the Curse of Barrenness then there was a more general Restraint and Decay of the Fruits of the Earth caused by that destructive Inundation But the Curse commenced before in part as is clear from the express words of the Mosaick History And therefore I take it for an impregnable Truth because it is founded on the Sacred Records that the Earth was immediately curs'd upon Man's Fall and that all the Creatures degenerated when he fell The Earth and Air and other Elements became disorder'd and in some measure unwholesom and sometimes fatal Hence proceeded Dearth Scarcity Pestilences Earthquakes Storms Tempests harmful Thunder and Lightning Conflagrations and all manner of Evils and Calamities Man's Body which was made of the Earth participated of the Curse whence floweth such a variety of Diseases and Distempers that the Masters of Medicks have not yet compleated their Bill of Mortality and given us a perfect Catalogue of the Maladies which infest us Another external Effect of Man's Fall is the labour and trouble of this Life Using Diligence and Labour in a lawful Calling is no Curse for God set Adam to work even in the State of Innocence but afterwards his Labour was attended with faintness and weariness with pain and uneasiness as in that formentioned place In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat Bread Which seems more particularly and especially to have reference to the great labour which accompanies plowing and sowing and gathering in of the Fruits of the Earth For tho it is true part of Adam's employment in Paradise was dressing the Ground yet it cost him not any considerable labour then it was not like the Husbandry which was afterwards and is at present viz. uneasy and toilsome by reason of the barrenness of the Ground But in a larger and more extensive sense these words denote all the fatigue and pains which Men undergo in this World It was the eating of the forbidden Fruit which was the cause of this eating in sorrow and sweat Now innumerable hardships and distresses are the allotment of Man's Life Now Man is born to trouble Job 5. 7. All his days are sorrow and his travel grief Eccles. 2. 23. Now the Earth is truly the Land of Labourers Numberless poor people sweat and turmoil in getting a livelyhood and even their Bodies are bow'd down sometimes with a burden so the erect Figure of Man is partly impair'd Who can recount the various Troubles and Afflictions of this mortal State What a vast number of Calamities and Miseries is a Man liable to daily How strangely is he beset with Crosses and Disasters at home and abroad in his private and relative Capacity in his Body Mind and all his Concerns His Dominion over the Creatures is much diminished Many of them being hard to be tamed and kept in subjection many of them proving hurtful and mortal He may lament the loss of another Dominion which is more considerable I mean that which relates to that Sex over which God and Nature had given him a Command and Authority And on the other side the undue subjection of the Woman to her Husband is the Curse and Punishment of the first Woman's Sin Which I take to be the meaning of those words Gen. 3. 16. Thy dâ—sire shall be to thy Husband and he shall rule over thee It is true she was under his Rule and Command even in Innocency as was suggested before There was then a Power and Preeminence in Man over the Woman as the Apostle informs us 1 Cor. 11. 7 8 9. but they did not dispute this Superiority they did not contend about it for the Man did not exert his Power imperiously and the Woman's subjection call'd here her desire unto her Husband was free and voluntary But afterwards this Obedience was forced and unwilling and the Man's Dominion too often degenerated into an arbitrary unreasonable sway And that this is the meaning of this place is plain from the like words of God to Cain to pacify his Wrath against his Brother Abel unto thee shall be his desire and thou shalt rule over him Gen. 4. 7. that is Abel is thy younger Brother and shall be subject unto thee and thou shalt have the superiority over him So then the import of the foresaid words is this that tho indeed Man as being first created had a superiority and preeminence over the Woman and should have yet had if they had stood in their Intergrity yet now since the Fall the latter is oftentimes too indecently treated whilst the former instead of claiming his just Precedency and Power becomes inhuman and tyrannical A farther Curse on Womankind is that which is mention'd in Gen. 3. 16. I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception in sorrow thou shalt bring forth Children Difficulty in Childbearing bringing forth with pain is the effect of the first Woman's transgression Whereas as Aristotle observes other Creatures have not that uneasiness and torment in bringing â—orth their Young Thus both Sexes partake of the Evil which accrued by the first Apostacy And wheresoever you look you may see the cursed Fruits of it All things are out of order and shatter'd by the Fall That
by them Some Iews lived all their days uncircumcised yea some of their very Priâ—sts ministred at the Altar tho they were never circumcised For if the first second and third Son died of Circumcision as sometimes happen'd the Sons that were born afterwards were not circumcised and yet were accounted true Israelites and true Priests as Dr. Lightfoot informs us For as one of their Rabbins saith Israelites are not bound to perform the legal Precepts where Death will certainly follow for 't is said ye shall keep my Statutes and my Iudgments which if a Man do he shall live in them not die in them 4. Observe how God himself despiseth and vilifieth rejecteth and hateth these legal Rites and Observances in themselves consider'd and as abstracted from real Vertue and Piety The Psalmist brings in the Almighty speaking thus Will I eat the Flesh of Bulls or drink the Blood of Goats offer unto God Thanksgiving and pay thy Vows unto the most High Psal. 50. 13 14. Hear what the Lord saith by the Prophet Isaias To what purpose is the Multitude of your Sacrifices unto me saith the Lord. Who hath required this at your hand Bring no more vain Oblations Incense is an Abomination to me Isa. 1. 11 12 13. and so in chap. 66. ver 1 3. Thus saith the Lord He that killeth an Ox is as if he slew a Man he that sacrificeth a Lamb as if he cut off a Dogs Neck he that offereth an Oblation as if he offer'd Swines Blood he that burneth Incense as if he blessed an Idol God by another Prophet upbraids the Jews â—hus To what purpose cometh there to me Incense from Sheba and the sweet Cane from a far Country Your Burnt-offerings are not acceptable nor your Sacrifices sweet unto me Jer. 6. 20. and again chap. 7. ver 22. I spake not to your Fathers nor commanded them in the Day that I brought them out of the Land of Egypt concerning Burnt-offerings and Sacrifices But this thing commanded I them saying Obey my Voice and I will be your God and you shall be my People and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you That in the Prophesy of Hosea may be here inserted I desired Mercy and not Sacrifice and the Knowledg of God more than Burnt-offerings chap. 6. ver 6. Acts of Charity and Mercy are prefer'd by God before the choicest Performances of the Mosaick Law But that in the Prophet Amos is much higher I hate I despise your Feast-days and I will not smell in your solemn Assemblies Tho ye offer me Burnt-offerings and your Meat-offerings I will not accept them neither will I regard the Peace-offerings of your fat Beasts But let Iudgment run down as Waters and Righteousness as a mighty Stream Am. 5. 21 22 23. Hither are to be referred the Words of the Prophet Micah Wherewith shall I come before the Lord and bow my self before the High God Shall I come before him with Burnt-offerings with Calves of a Year old Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of Rams or with ten thousands of Rivers of Oil He hath shew'd thee O Man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love Mercy and to walk humbly with thy God Mic. 6. 7 8 9. From all which places it appeareth that the Ritual Service of the Iews was in it self of no Worth and Value else it is certain God would not have thus slighted and disregarded yea loathed and abhorred it And if the Ceremonial Observances had no intrinsick Goodness in them if Sacrifices Circumcision difference of Meats c. were not enjoyned for themselves if the Matter of these Laws were not really good we may thence arrive to such a Conclusion as this that there is no such Excellency in the Iewish Religion as to give it a Perpetuity and that it is most reasonable to believe that these Rites and Constitutions were to be repealed and cancelled in due time 5. And Lastly many of the learnedest Rabbies hold that the Law is mutable All Sacrifices shall cease in the Ages to come but the Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving shall never cease saith R. Kimchi on the 100 Psalm It was a Tradition amongst the Jews saith Abarbanel in Rosh Amanah that in the times of the Messias the Jews should feed upon Swine as well as other Animals The Talmud it self acknowledgeth that the Ceremonial Law is to last no longer than till the Messias's coming and that then Swines Flesh shall be lawfully eaten Again they confess that all those Precepts which more immediately respect the Iewish Nation which make up the greatest part of their Law shall not be observed in any other Country Further they say There are six hundred and thirteen Precepts of the Mosaick Law but David came and contracted them to eleven then Isaias brought them down to six afterwards Micah reduced them to three Isaias brought them to two at last Amos contracted all the Law into one Thus they were willing to abate of the number of the Laws they saw there was no need of that Multiplicity of Precepts and Injunctions especially concerning external Rites and Ceremonies And many other Sayings and Intimations there are in the Rabbies which confirm this and which plainly shew that they were of the Opinion that the Mosaick Rites were not immutable but that the time should come when they shall be abolish'd But we are accosted with this Objection The Sacred Scripture it self declareth that the legal Ceremonies and Rites shall be perpetuated for of the Circumcision the Passover the Sabbath and many other observances of the Mosaick Law it is said that they shall be for ever I answer 1. That the Hebrew Words which we translate 〈◊〉 ever do not absolutely and necessarily imply Perpetuity but sometimes they only signify a long Duration Thus of the Jewish Servant it is said he shall serve his â—aster for ever Exod. 21. 6. i. e. till the Jubilee come about as it is interpreted in Lev. 25. So Hannaâ— saith she will bring her Son Samuel to the Temple that 〈◊〉 may appear before the Lord and there abide for ever i. e. all his Life 1 Sam. 1. 22. The Doors of the Temple are said to be everlasting Psal. 24. 7 9. i. e. the Temple it self and its Gates were fixed and permanent in comparison of the Tabernacle and Ark which were removed from place to place and they were a Fabrick that were to last a long time And in many other Texts it might be shew'd that Gnolaâ— signifies a Finite tho a long time Wherefore those places before refer'd to which speak of the Mosaick Rites being for ever must not be understood of an endless Duration but they only signify that that Administration should last a very considerable time and so it did 2. These legal Rites and Ceremonies as to any alteration from the Iews were to be for ever They were not to change
it hath travelled Westward The Church and the Sun as Mr. Herbert hath observed have observed the like Motion And it â—ath crossed the Western Ocean The Americans hear of Christ. We have an Essay in those Plantations to confirm us in the Truth of what is to come afterwards The true Gospel hath been preached and is at this Day in several Places of this New-found World And though the Roman Priests have planted their Perswasion in many Parts of it with vast â—â—fusion of Blood yet Popery may make way for a better Religion afterwards when the Gospel shall be spread even to the utmost Parts of this Western Hemisphere and so in its direct way step into the East again and visit the Islands in the Eastern Seas and then land on the Continent among the Tartars Indians Chinoises Persians c. and so finish its Circuit by returning to the Place where it set out first of all Thus our Saviour's Words shall be verified The Gospel shall be preached in all the World and then shall the End come Mat. 24. 14. This will be a plain Indication that they are come to the last Period of Time design'd for this World and that as soon as this is past the Day of Judgment is at hand Thus much concerning the Conversion of the Gentiles by whom I understand the People of those Nations and Countries that have not had the Knowledge of the True God And therefore they are to be distinguished from the Mahometans who are not to be reckon'd in the Body of the Gentiles and therefore not be Converted but Destroy'd III. The Conversion of the Iews is another Concomitant of the perfect State of Christianity This being a great Controversy among Divines Whether the Iews shall be Converted to Christ before the end of the World I will Inlarge upon it and endeavour to give Satisfaction in the Point By this Conversion we do not mean the Conversion of a Few but a Great and Remarkable a General and National Conversion of the Jews before the Consummation of all Things This was the general Belief of the Ancient Writers of the Church The Holy Scripture hath declared saith Cyril of Alexandria that the Jews in the last Times shall obtain Mercy being justified with us by Grace in Christ. The Jews saith another Godly Father shall turn unto God and believe in Jesus at the end of the World and be saved And that there shall be this Signal Conversion of that People was the Perswasion of several other Christian Fathers Though I find there is some Disagreement among them about this Whether the Iews shall return to their own Countrey Iudaea and there be fixed again and build and inhabit Ierusalem Origen speaking of the Jews affirms confidently that they shall not be restored to their own Land and with him agreeth St. Chrysostom But Iustin Martyr and some others of the Ancients hold that they shall return to the Land of Canaan upon their imbracing the Messias and that they shall be fixed there To prove which they quote Jer. 25. 5. Turn ye every one from his evil Ways and dwell in the Land which the Lord hath given unto you and to your Fathers for ever and ever In the 39 Chap. of Ezekiel there seems to be foretold not only the Destruction of the Turks call'd Gog in the latter Days ver 1. to 23. but immediately after that the Return of the Iews to their own Land v. 23. to the end of the Chapter All the Circumstances of the Prophecy argue it to be spoken of this last Return from their Captivity and Dispersion Which is further evidenced from those remarkable Words in the close of all v. 29. I will not hide my Face any more from them which shews that the Prediction can't be meant of their Return under Cyruâ— from their Captivity in Babylon because they have been Captives since and banished into all Parts of the World Whence I conclude that this Prophetick Promise was never yet accomplished and therefore must be And other Prophecies which are very plain may be alledged out of Isaiaâ— Ioel and Zechariah which forâ—tel that the Messias shall restore the Israelites to their own Land Indeed if we duly weigh some of those Passages we cannot but think it very credible that these poor Vagabonds shall recover again the Holy Land and inhabit there after their long Dispersion Though I will not designedly concern my self in this Dispute yet I think I shall render their Restauration extremely probable whilst I am discoursing of and proving the main Thing which is their Conversion And that this shall be National and General was the common Opinion of the Ancients and the Moderns excepting a Few assent to them in it I deny not that some of the Texts usually cited out of the Old Testament to prove the General Calling and return of the Jews before the last Judgment are to be understood of the Temporal Deliverance of that People from the Captivity and their Returning back to their own Land presently after And other Texts are meant of the Spiritual Deliverance of the Jews who were Godly and Righteous Some of those Prophecies being to be taken in a Mystical and Spiritual Sense Canaan being a Type of the Church And there are some Places also which speak of the Conversion of the Jews which was to be in our Saviour's Time when he chose his Disciples and Apostles out of the Jewish Nation and when afterwards Multitudes of Iews submitted to Châ—istianity and owned Iesus to be the Christ. All this I acknowledge but yet any unprejudiced Person may take notice of other Places of Scripture both in the Old and New Testament which point at the General and National Calling of the Jews and that towards the end of the World And it may be taken notice of further that some of those Texts which foretel their Return from Babylon to their own Land and others which speak of their turning from Judaism to Christianity at the first Propagation of the Gospel are also to be understood of this Universal Recalling of them at the first setting up of the Glorious Kingdom of Christ which we are discoursing of for there is a Twofold Historical Meaning of such Passages in the Prophetical Writings of the Bible one is Primary and Chiefly intended the other Secondary and Included This I am throughly perswaded of from the Style and Tenour of Scripture that there are different Things spoken of in the same Place and Narrative different Occâ—rrences are prophesied of at one time All other Historical Books have but one Sense and Meaning and no more because they refer to one Thing only But it is not so here Any observing and considâ—rate Man must needs see this and it is a Key to a great part of the Bible There is an eminent Passage in Lev. 26. which I don't find taken notice of but in my Opinion it speaks home to the present purpose God after
questionless are to be understood of this Kingdom of the Messias which is yet to come The Close of the Prophecy plainly shews that it is meant of this for 't is said they shall no more be pulled up out of their Land which I have given them They have been pull'd up out of that Land that we are certain of and they are not yet return'd to it But when God shall bring them again to that Place they shall no more be pull'd up they shall remain there 'till the End of the World I will add that famous Prediction of the Prophet Zachariab Ch. 12. v. 10 c. I will pour upon the House of David and upon the Inhabitants of Terusalem the Spirit of Grace and of Supplications and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced and they shall mourn c. That this Chapter is spoken of the Tews is agreed upon by all and that this Portion of it is more especially so appears from that first thing which is said of them viz. that they shall look upon him whom they have pierced for it refers to the piercing of our Saviour's side with a Spear John 19. 37. where upon this Action this Scripture is said to be fulfill'd Upon this Account their looking upon Christ and mourning for him cannot be meant of what they did presently after their return from the Captivity in Babylon of which some imagine most of the Prophets speak for Christ was not then come and therefore they could not pierce him And besides this Zechary prophesied after the Captivity and the Restauration of the Iews and consequently could not speak of these as future things as here they shall look they shall mourn Nor can this Prophecy be understood as some conceive of the Conversion of the Iews in the Apostles Times when several of them imbrac'd the Christian Faith and particularly in one day there were added to the Church about three thousand Souls Acts. 241. some of whom had been Crucifiers of our Saviour v. 36. for this is far different from a National Mourning and Repentance which are here foretold Not only Ierusalem but the Land shall mourn v. 12. the whole People of the Jews Neither is this Prophecy to be interpreted concerning the Day of Judgement as several Expositors have thought telling us that then there shall be a General Mourning and Lamenting for the Crucifying of Christ when they shall look on him whom they have pierced But this Exposition cannot be admitted because these Words speak of the true and hearty Repentance and Conversion of the Iews which no considerate Man can expect shall be at the Last Day If they have not the Spirit of Grace and Supplications poured on them before it is too late then to have it Nor can the Iewish Families mourn apart at that time as is related here Therefore I conclude seeing none of the foresaid Interpretations are well grounded that the Words are to be understood of the Days of the Millennary Reign when there shall be a National and Universal Call of the Jews The whole Land i. e. all the People shall mourn and every Family apart to shew the Sincerity of the Mourning The Spirit of Grace and Supplication shall be bestow'd on these True Penitents they shall be effectually moved by the former to hate their past Enormities and by the latter to beg Pardon for them They shall in a sincere and saving manner bewail the execrable Wickedness of their Forefathers who put the Blessed Iesus to Death and as cordially grieve that they themselves cruciâ—ied him by their Sins This is looking on him whom they pierced Thus on all Accounts this Prophetick Passage is to be interpreted concerning that Last Conversion of the Jews which is one main Ingredient of the Messias's Kingdom toward the World's End when the whole Body of that People disperesed over the several parts of the Earth shall be brought home to the Flock of Christ. Thus it is apparent that this is one of the most considerable Texts in the Old Testament to this purpose I will now pass to the New Testament which chiefly recounts the wonderful Grace of God in the Conversion of Persons to Christianity in the Times of our Saviour and his Apostles and therefore speaks but little of this future Call of the Iews but two or three Places are very Remarkable which I will Produce The first is that of Luke 2. 30 31 c. where we read that Aged Simeon took the Child Iesus up in his Arms and blessed God that his Eyes had seen his Salvation viz. the Saviour whom God had sent into the World whom he had prepared before the Face of all People i. e. whom he had from Eternity decreed and appointed to make known in due time to all the Nations and People of the World And because Gentiles and Iews are a dichotomy of all the People of the World this Great Blessing is more particularly and distinctly expressed thus that he shall be a Light to lighten the Gentiles and the Glory of his People Israel Where we are assured that the Gentiles shall first share in this Blessing of the Messias and then the Iews which manifestly shews that this latter is to be understood of the General Conversion of the Iews for in our Saviour's Time the Iews were first call'd and then the Gentiles It shall be otherwise afterwards the way of Salvation and Happiness shall first be discovered to the Gentiles and then to the Iews But observe how differently this is express'd it is said Christ shall enlighten the former but he shall be the Glory of the latter It is a very high Word and lets us know how great how renown'd how glorious the State of the Jews shall be hereafter For this must necessarily be meant of their future Condition because they have never since these Words were spoken been a Glorious People yea they have been above Sixteen hundred years an inglorious base despised People Therefore there remains a Time when these Words of Simeon shall be fulfill'd viz. when the Gentiles are converted to the Faith then Christ shall be the Glory of his People Israel And it is probable that this is meant by those Words that follow Behold this Child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel that is the Jewish People shall be rejected but they shall afterwards be recovered and restored We have seen the first part of this Prophecy accomplished and at this very day the Truth of it is manifest the Jews are fallen they are cast off and cease to be a Church or Nation The second part of the Prophecy is yet to come when this People shall rise again and be receiv'd to Mercy and Favour The next Text is that which I had occasion to mention partly before but now I will set it down in full Luke 21. 24. where our Saviour after he had been discoursing of the several Fore-runners of those Judgments which were to befal the Iews