beasts I pray thee therefore consider what is fit to be done in the case for David is a man of courage and prowess and will never suffer such a gross abuse and injury offered to him to go unchastised For my part I am afraid he will revenge himself on our whole family I thought good to speak to thee of it that thou maist consider of some way to prevent it As for our Master he is such a Son of Belial of such an harsh and churlish temper that a man knows not how to speak to him Abigail being greatly awakened by this representation of her servant she speedily without acquainting Nabal therewith provided and took two hundred loaves and two leather-sacks of wine and five sheep ready dressed and five measures of parched corn and a hundred clusters of raisons and two hundred cakes of figs and laid them on asses and bad her servants go before with them and she would follow after and riding upon her ass attended with her servants who had the charge of the presents on a sudden as she came under the hollow of the hill she met David and his men Seeing David coming she lighted off her ass and bowed her self to the ground and fell at his feet and said Vpon me * Crimen initio transfert ab odiosa persona in favorabilem my Lord upon me let the punishment of this great iniquity (b) Iniquitas hic peccati paenam significat and transgression fall which has so much provoked thee yet I pray thee let thy hand-maid speak a few words in thy ears which may possibly dispose thee to forbear taking revenge upon us Let not my Lord regard this man of Belial this Nabal Nabal is his name and indeed he answers his name for folly is with him it will not be for thy honour to regard his words or actions wise men do not use to regard the words of fools He is not worthy that thou shouldst trouble thy self about him much less that thou shouldst destroy me and my whole family for his sake She spake not thus to disgrace her husband for his folly was too notoriously known but because she had no other excuse to make for him to preserve him from ruin As for me she says I saw not the young men whom my Lord did send Had I seen them or known of their coming I should have treated them more civilly And now my Lord as sure as the Lord liveth and as sure as thou thy self art alive thou oughtest to believe that by my coming to meet thee and to pacifie thy anger the Lord doth intend to hinder thee from coming to shed blood and from avenging thy self with thy own hand and seeing I trust the Lord will by his alwise Providence so over-rule thy heart my earnest prayer is that God would make all thine enemies like Nabal that is as weak and unable to hurt thee as Nabal is And as for the present (c) V. 27. Benedictionem id est munus sive donum sive rem a benedictione Dei profectam that thy handmaid hath here brought to my Lord though it is so mean that it is not worthy of thy acceptance yet do not I pray thee disdain it seeing it may be of some use to thy servants that follow thee And I beseech thee vouchsafe to forgive the trespass of thy handmaid seeing I take the blame of all this miscarriage wholly upon my self I do verily believe the Lord will give thee the Kingdom and that thy Kingdom will be lasting and durable †* Stabile manebit regnum in familia tua and nothing better becomes a a King than clemency and mercy And that which enduces me to believe this is because I see thou fightest the Lords battels and hast often engaged thy self having warrant from him in a just defence of his cause and people and no self-revenge or cruelty hath been found in thee all thy days hitherto therefore I pray thee do not stain thine honour now by shedding innocent blood Indeed Saul is risen up unjustly to pursue thee and seek thy life but all his attempts will be in vain for the Lord will carefully preserve and charily keep thy life as men are wont carefully to bind up those things in bundles which they much value and intend to preserve And that mans rage must needs be vain who seeks to destroy him whom the Lord will preserve and protect But as for the lives of thine enemies them will he by a violent death sling out as men use to sling out stones out of their slings which they value not And it shall come to pass when the Lord shall have performed all his promises which he hath made unto thee and hath setled thee in thy Kingdom and made thee Ruler over all Israel then it will be a comfort to thee to remember that thou didst spare us and thou wilt not be tormented with anguish and trouble of conscience that thou didst shed innocent blood as certainly thou wilt be if thou shouldst proceed to execute thy bloody purpose And when thou art come to thy Kingdom let me find favour in thine eyes when my occasions and necessities shall require me to wait upon thee Abigail having thus spoken David said Blâ—ssed be the Lord God of Israel which sent thee this day to meet me and blessed be thy advice and blessed be thou who hast kept me this day from shedding blood and avenging my self with my own hand for in very deed as sure as the Lord liveth who hath graciously kept me back from hurting thee and thy family except thou hadst thus seasonably met me I had utterly destroyed by the next morning Nabal and all that belonged to him But thou maist now assure thy self that my wrath is appeased and as an evidence thereof I do kindly accept of the present thou hast brought me and will not avenge the wrong offered me by thy husband either upon him or any of his family I have heard thy suit and do grant all that thou desiredst therefore go in peace to thy own house and the Lord be with thee Abigail returning to her husband Nabal behold he kept a Feast that day in his house like the Feast of a King for plenty of provisions and multitude of guests And he had been so merry with his guests that he was very drunk wherefore she said nothing to him more or less of his danger till the morning In the morning when he had slept out his drunkenness and dâ—bauch she acquainted him with the desperate danger he had by his folly run them all into and how near destruction they all were if in the very nick of time it had not been by a wonderful Providence prevented He hearing this was so terrified with the horrour and dread of the danger he had been in that his heart died within him and falling into a swoon he became as a stone and about ten days after the Lord smote him with
Son Shallum having his name changed into Iehoahaz perhaps because of the ill fate of Shallum the Son of Iabesh King of Israel who reigned but one month and was murdered by Menahem 2 King 15.13 was anointed King by the people though he was the youngest of Iosiah's Sons either because he was best affected to the King of Babylon or most warlike and valiant and so most likely to defend them against Necho King of Egypt He was twenty three years old when he began to reign and reigned only three months He quickly fell to do that which was evil in the sight of the Lord and presently set up the Idolatry that his Father Iosiah had suppressed It seems he also grievously oppressed the people and therefore he is compared to a young lion which devoureth men Ezek. 19.2 3 4. The Prophet Ieremy is sent by the Lord to the new Kings Palace earnestly to exhort him and his Courtiers and all the people to repentance and amendment of their lives foretelling them that Shallum or Iehoahaz should be carried away captive into Egypt and bidding the people not to weep for him that is departed meaning Iosiah but for him that is to depart meaning Iehoahaz because he shall return no more to see his native soil Ier. 22. from 1 to 13. Pharoah Necho returning with victory from Charchemish where he vanquished the Babylonians was desirous to revenge the opposition he had received from Iosiah who sought to stop him in his passage through his Country and therefore making use of the dissention that was between Iehoahaz and Eliakim his Elder Brother and getting Iehoahaz or Shallum into his power he presently deposed him as if the Kingdom of Iudea had been at his diposal and set up his Eldest Brother Eliakim changing his name into Iehoiakim and then imposing upon the land a Tribute of an hundred talents of silver and one talent of gold he put Shallum or Iehoahaz into fetters at Riblah and carried him away with him prisoner into Egypt where he ended his life 2 King 23. from 30 to 36. 2 Chron. 36. from 1 to 5. The 18th that reigned in Judah JEHOIAKIM JEHOIAKIM was twenty five years old when he began to reign and reigned eleven years in Ierusalem He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord being an Idolater and a cruel oppresser of the people and possibly the more out of revenge because they had preferred his younger brother before him his oppressions are notably set forth Ier. 22. from 13 to 20. and Ezek. 19. from 5 to 10. But herein he manifested the greatness of his impiety that when the Prophets denounced the judgments of God against him and his people for their evil ways he would not endure it but persecuted them for it as we shall shew afterwards He pays the King of Egypt the hundred talents of silver and one talent of gold which he had imposed upon him but he taxed the land for it and exacted it of the people 2 King 23.35 36 37. 2 Chron. 36. v. 5. In the beginning of his reign Ieremy was commanded by God to stand in the Court of the Temple and there to exhort the people assembled together out of all the Cities of Iudah to repentance it being then the Feast of Tabernacles Thus saith the Lord stand in the Court of the Lords house and speak unto all the Cities of Iudah which come to worship in the Lords house all the words that I command thee to speak unto them diminish not a word If so be they will hearken and turn every man from his evil way that I may repent me of the evil which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings and thou shalt say unto them Thus saith the Lord if ye will not hearken to me to walk in my Law which I have set before you to hearken to the words of my servants the Prophets whom I sent unto you rising up early and sending them * That is continually and carefully sending them a Metaphor taken from careful housholders who with the soonest seek to redress mischiefs causing their servants for that end to rise betimes then will I make this house like Shiloh and will make this City a curse to all the Nations of the earth So the Priests and the Prophets and all the people heard Ieremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. And it came to pass when Ieremiah had made an end of speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak unto the people the Priests and the Prophets and the people took him saying thou shalt surely die Why hast thou prophesied in the name of the Lord saying This house shall be like Shiloh and this City shall be desolate without an inhabitant And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the Lord. When the Princes of Judah heard these things they came up from the Kings house unto the house of the Lord and sat down in the entry of the new gate of the Lords house to understand what the matter was Then spake the Priests and the Prophets unto the Princes and to all the people saying This man is worthy to die for he hath prophesied against this City and ye have heard it with your ears Then spake Jeremiah unto the Princes and to all the people saying The Lord sent me to prophesie against this house and against this City all the words that ye have heard Therefore now amend your ways and your doings and obey the voice of the Lord your God and the Lord will repent him of the evil he hath pronounced against you As for me behold I am in your hands do with me as seemeth good and meet unto you But know ye for certain that if ye put me to death ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon your selves and upon this City and upon the inhabitants thereof for of a truth the Lord hath sent me unto you to speak all these words in your ears Then said the Princes and the people unto the Priests and Prophets This man is not worthy to die for he hath spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God Then rose up certain of the Elders of the land and spake to all the assembly of the people saying Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah King of Judah and spake to all the people of Judah saying Thus saith the Lord of hosts Zion shall be plowed like a field and Jerusalem shall become heaps and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forrest Did Hezekiah King of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death did he not fear the Lord and besought the Lord and the Lord repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them Therefore if we should proceed with that rigour you would have us against Jeremy we might procure great evil against our own souls Vriah also about the same time Prophesied against
Curiosity of men may suggest about this whole matter may easily be answered by a serious consideration and belief of the infinite power and wisdom of God Noah being thus shut up in the Ark the Flood began with the bursting of the Fountains of the great Abyss from benath and a continual showring of rain from above 40 days and 40 nights together The waters encreased and prevailed on the Earth 150 days and rose to such a height that they covered the Mountains and all things that had life on the Earth perished Gen. 7. whole Chap. SECT X. UPon the 17th day of the seventh month the Waters abated and the Ark rested on one of the Mountains of Ararat in Armenia the greater not far from the Caspian-Sea and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the Mountains were seen And 40 days after namely upon the eleventh day of the eleventh month Noah opening the Window of the Ark sent forth a Raven who flew hither and thither fluttering about the Ark and resting on the top of it the waters being not yet dried up For the Raven being accustomed to live at large was weary of the straightness of his Cage and finding as 't is like dead bodies on the Mountains he was ravenous after such prey and would be no more confined to the Ark. Seven days after Noah sends out a Dove to try if the waters were abated but the Dove finding no rest for the sole of her foot the Mountain-tops though bare being yet very muddy returned to him again After seven days more he sent her forth again and in the evening she brought in her mouth an Olive-leaf which was a sign the waters were low and thereby God comforted Noah assuring him that his deliverance out of the Ark was near at hand And herein also the especial providence of God is to be observed in preserving the Olive together with the seminal virtue of other Trees Plants and Herbs though soak'd so long under waters for the replenishing the World with these kinds of Vegetables again there not being any seed of them preserved in the Ark that we read of Noah then staying yet seven days more he sent forth the same Dove (b) Of the sending forth of the Dove and her returning to Noah called by the Heathens Deucalion there is express mention in humane Writers particularly in Plutarch's Dialog de Solertia animalium again a third time which returned not to him any more having found food as it seems now for her self upon the Earth and taking content in the free Air and liberty This Dove no doubt soon after by the providence of God found her own Mate Gen. 8. from 1. to the 13. CHAP. II. The second Age of the World from the Flood to the promise made to Abraham inVr of the Chaldees containing the space of 422 years and ending in the 2078th year of the World SECT I. ON the first day of the first month of the six hundredth and first year of Noahs life he opened the Window that was in the covering of the Ark and looked about him and found that the waters were dried from off the face of the Earth yet so as it still remained moist and dirty having been so long a time soaked with such a quantity of moisture Therefore he stayed yet 55 days more namely to the 27th day of the second month and then he and all that were with him by the Commandment of God went forth out of the Ark having continued therein 375 days or a full (c) The solar year exceeds the lunar 11 days and consists of 365 days commonly though every fourth or leap-year consists of 366 days solar year and ten days more Gen. 8. from 13. to 20. SECT II. NOah when they were come out of the Ark built an Altar * Here is the first mention of an Altar and Burnt-Offerings long before Moses or the Levitical Law See Levit. 6.9 probably of Earth or Turf and offered Sacrifices and whole Burnt-Offerings thereon to the Lord of clean Beasts and Fowls according to that form of Worship which the Lord had before prescribed in a grateful acknowledgment of Gods great Goodness and Mercy to them in their preservation from the Flood And God smelled a sweet savour therefrom that is did graciously accept this Service Noah had performed and was highly pleased and delighted with his Faith and thankfulness And the Lord said He would not again Curse the Ground for man's sake nor destroy every living Creature thereon by a general deluge For he saw That the imagination of mans heart was evil from his youth and though that among other things justly provoked him before to destroy the World yet he saw that the Children of men being so corrupt by Nature if he should proceed against them according to their deserts and not according to the riches of his own Mercy he must be continually punishing and destroying of them therefore though he would deal as he thought fit with particular sinners yet he would not at one stroak destroy all Mankind any more And to confirm this his gracious Decree He promises that while the Earth remains Seed-time and Harvest Cold and Heat Summer and Winter Day and Night should not fail or cease that is generally it should be so but yet this did not hinder but that he might execute particular Judgments upon particular Places or Persons to the contrary Further God now declares That he was resolved to restore and repair the natures of things corrupted by the Flood And then blessing Noah and his Sons he bad them be fruitful and multiply and replenish the Earth And he tells them That the fear and dread of them shall be upon all bruit Creatures even to the taming and over-awing the fiercest and strongest of them either by force or cunning Whence it is that the most savage of them do fear the face of man though sometimes by the just judgment of God they do as it were rebel and rise up against him and hurt him God also now permitteth to Noah and his Posterity to eat Flesh as freely for their food as Herbs which grew out of the ground So that now the Lord restores to Noah and his Children the lawful use of those things which were in a manner taken from them by the Flood yet there was this exception made to his general Grant that though they might freely eat of any of the Creatures that were fit for meat yet they might not eat Flesh with the blood or in the blood but the Beast must first be killed and cleansed of tâ— blood Which restraint was in all probability made to deter them from cruelty and shedding one anothers blood And to inforce the observance of this Command the more upon them he tells them that as to their own life-blood if it were at any time shed by a Beast of a Beast it should be required that is the Beast should be put to death for it See Exod.
by his Horns in a Thicket which he took as sent by God to supply the room and place of Isaac and accordingly offered him up for a Burnt-Offering instead of his Son (a) The main thing hereby signifi'd was this That God the Father would in the fulness of time give his only begotten Son to be a Sacrifice for the sins of Men. And till that time came he would accept of Rams and Lambs and such like Sacrifices which should prefigure and typifie this death of his Son And Abraham called the Name of that place Jehovah-jireh that is the Lord will see or provide And thence came afterwards that Speech to be used proverbially In the Mountain of the Lord it shall be seen that is in due time God will provide help for his Children though they be for the present brought into great straits and difficulties and He will help them in such a manner that they shall plainly see his Hand therein After this the Angel of the Covenant called to Abraham a second time and said By my self have I sworn because thou hast done this thing for I accept of thy Will for the Deed I will greatly bless and multiply thy Seed even as the Stars of Heaven and as the Sand upon the Sea-shore and they shall possess the Gates of their Enemies that is shall subdue them and bring both their strength and policy under their Command the Gates of Cities being the places of greatest strength and places commonly of Consultation where the Magistrates used to meet see Deut. 32.15 Math. 16.18 and in thy Seed shall all the Nations of the Earth he blessed Then Abraham and Isaac and the Servants returned to Beersheba where Abraham dwelt a good while after Gen. 22. from 1. to 20. SECT XIII AFter this Sarah (b) As Abraham is Registred for the Father of the Faithful Rom. 4.11 So is Sarah for the Mother of them 1 Pet. 2.3 upon some occasion as it seems went to Kirjath-arba afterwards called Hebron (c) A City afterwards allotted to the Tribe of Judah not far from the Okefield of Mamre where Abraham had formerly lived being 127 years of Age and there she fell sick and died She is the only Woman whose full and intire Age is recorded in Scripture Abraham hearing of it came thither to weep and mourn for her and having sat sometime as 't is like on the Earth in token of the great sorrow and affliction he was under by reason of her death he at length rose up and took order to have her honourably interr'd Accordingly he applies himself to the Governors and Elders of the Hittites the Inhabitants of Hebron of the Progeny of Cham Gen. 10.6 15. and told them that he being a Stranger among them did humbly desire this favour of them that he might be permitted to buy of them a small piece of ground Namely so much as would make a burying-place that he might bury his dead out of his sight For though he had now liv'd 62 years in Canaan yet he never went about to purchase a foot of Land in it before The Children of Heth answer That he was a mighty Prince among them and he might freely make use of any of their Sepulchres even the choicest (d) Faviliis erant sua singulis distincta seorsim Sepulchreta Ita mortem in vita meditati sunt Ethnici simile quid est Math. 27.60 Anonym in loc of them upon this occasion (e) Abraham would not by any bounty of theirs injoy one foot of that Land which God had given him intire for his possession but the time of possession according to the grant and promise being not yet come without any distrust of Gods promise or renunciation of his own Right he buys a parcel of the Land for his own present necessity But Abraham being willing rather to pay for a piece of Ground that might be his own Propriety than to hold any in Common with the Heathens though it were but by burying his dead among them he humbly bowed himself to them as acknowledging their kindness and requested them that they would intercede with Ephron a chief person among them who sat at that time in their Assembly though Abraham knew it not that he might purchase of him the Cave of Machpelah for a burying-place and he was willing to give him as much money for it as it was worth Ephron being there present (f) V. 10. sic redde And Ephron sat among the Children of Heth. told Abraham in the audience of the Inhabitants of the City that he did freely give him that Cave and the Field belonging to it Abraham bowing himself again in token of thankfulness told him (g) The like striving in kindness is between David and Araunah 2 Sam. 24 21 c. That if he were that Ephron of whom he had before spoken he would willingly pay him for it and did not desire to have it on any other Termes Ephron told him the Land was worth about 400 Shekels (h) The common Shekel was about 1 s. 3 d. of our money amounting to about 25 l. of our money and that was but a trifle between them two Abraham however resolved to pay him a just value for it and accordingly paid him by weight not by tale as is now usual the 400 Shekels and so the Field with the Trees growing thereon and the Cave was made sure to Abraham by payment of the money the Inhabitants of the City being Witnesses without Deeds or Writings which were not then as afterwards in use See Jer. 32.9 10. Abraham having thus bought this Field and Cave he therein buried (i) Afterwards he himself was buried there and Isaac and Rebecca Jacob and Leah Gen. 25.9 Ch. 49.31 50.13 They testifying thereby their Faith in Gods Promises for the Inheritance of this Land and of the heavenly Canaan figured thereby This made Joseph also give charge to have his bones carried thither the body of his beloved Sarah Gen. 23. whole Chapter SECT XIV ABraham being now 140 years old and the Lord having blessed him in all things he began to think of providing a fit Wife for Isaac his Son who was at this time 40 years of age And understanding that his second Brother Nahor whom he had left at Haran in Mesopotamia when he first came into Canaan had by Milchah his Wife eighth Sons whereof one was Bethuel Father of Rebecca and four by Reumah his Concubine I say hearing these tyding of his Brother and of his numerous Off-spring he had a mind to send his chief Servant and Steward supposed to be Eliezer who had the Charge of all his Concerns to his Kindred there to seek a Wife among them for his Son Therefore calling him to him and acquainting him with the business he required him to swear (k) A practice used by Masters of Families in taking an Oath of any of their houshold in token of homage subjection and faithfulness
asks Who among them and how many of them did they desire should go Moses tells him They would go up All with their Old and with their Young with their Wives Sons and Daughters with their Flocks and with their Herds For they must make use of some of them for Sacrifice and of part of these Sacrifices they must keep a Riligious Feast unto the Lord. Pharaoh being angry at this motion that they should desire their Children should go also whom he intended to keep as Hostages for their coming back he said in a passion I wish you might find no more savour from God than you are like to find from me in this your Suit to let your Children go also Look to it if you will presume to go in this manner at your own peril be it I shall never consent that you should All go But as for you that are men grown I care not if I permit you to go For that was all as I understood (t) Pharaoh either mislook or perverted the words of Moses and Aaron For they demanded they might all go but they desiring at first that they might go to Sacrifice to the Lord it seems Pharaoh thought that only the men meant to go and not the Women and Children also that at first you desired Moses and Aaron not accepting of this Pharaoh caused them to be driven out of his presence Then Moses stretched forth his Rod over the Land of Egypt and the Lord sent an East-wind which blew very fiercely all day upon that Land and the next morning it brought a vast Army of Caterpillars and Locusts very grievous such as had never been seen there before nor are like ever to be again and they were so many that they in a manner covered the face of the Earth where there was any Herbage and by flying so many together like a Cloud they in a manner darkned the Air and they devoured all the Corn and Grass and Herbs that the Hail had left See Psal 78.46 and Psal 105.34 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in hast and said to them I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you in using you as I have done However pardon the wrong that I have done you and once more intreat the Lord to be favourable to me and remove this deadly Plague from me which consumes and destroys all and is like to bring a grievous and general Famine upon us And Moses went out and intreated the Lord for Pharaoh and the Lord sent a strong West-wind that carried the Grashoppers and Locusts away and cast them into the Red-Sea where they all perished But though this dreadful Judgment was removed yet Pharaoh's hardness was not for he would not yet let the people go Ch. 10. from vers 1. to 21. The Month Abib otherwise called Nisan answering to part of our March and part of our April which before had been the seventh Month as we shewed before was from this time forward made the first Month (u) In rememberance of their miraculous Deliverance out of Egypt they were appointed to begin the Year with this Month. Yet this account was afterwards kept only in Ecclesiastical Affairs For the Jubilees and such other Civil affairs it began as it had done before Lev. 25.8 9 10. of the year and upon the tenth day of this Month or a little before was instituted the Feast of the Passover In Commemoration of God's passing over them and not involving them in the Common Plague that smote the Houses of the Egyptians Touching which Passover several Laws and Directions are given to Moses 1. Concerning the Sacrifice it self or the matter of the Feast viz. a Lamb or Kid of the first year a Male without blemish 2. This must be set apart on the tenth day (x) No mention made of separating the Paschal Lamb from the Flock four days before the Feast in other places where the Passover is commanded of this Month. Thus it was ordered at this time that it might be in readiness and not to seek when they were encumbered with business about their going away 3. If one Houshold was too little for a Lamb they were to joyn the next Houshold to them and they were to make their account proportionably to the Lamb and to the persons that were to eat of it taking care that there might not be too few nor too many for it (y) Which number Josephus reckons to be ten men besides women and children 4. They were to keep the Lamb to the 14th day of the same Month. 5. Every Master of a Family of all the Congregation of Israel whom it especially concerned was appointed to kill it on the 14th day between the two Evenings (z) About that time our blessed Saviour the true Paschal Lamb was put to death Mat. 27.46 that is between our three a Clock in the Afternoon and Sun-set (a) The natural day from Sun to Sun the Jews divided into four parts The first from Sun-rising to nine in the fore-noon called the third hour The second from nine to twelve called the sixth hour The third from twelve to three in the afternoon called the ninth hour The fourth from three in the afternoon to Sun-setting called the twelfth hour 6. They were to strike and sprinkle with a bunch of Hyssop dipped in the bloud (b) To direct the Faith of the Israelites to the bloud of their great Redeemer thereof the two side-posts and upper door-posts of the door of the House where they did eat it (c) This seems peculiar to the Passover in Egypt 7. None of them were to go out of the House where they did eat it till the morning 8. They were not to break a bone of it 9. They were not to eat it raw or sodden but roasted with fire And they were to rost it whole Head and Leggs with the appurtenance that is the inwards being first taken out and washed 10. They were to eat it with unleavened (d) Leaven haing two Properties to sowr and puff up might well signifie malice and pride which must be laid aside Bread and bitter Herbs 11. They were to eat it with their Loins girded their Shooes on their feet and their Staff in their hand like men in hast and ready to be gone and march out of Egypt (e) These Ceremonies were peculiar to that Passover in Egypt 12. They were to let nothing of it remain unto the morning but if any thing were left after they had eaten it was to be burnt with fire These things being observed by them Moses tells them The Lord intended to pass by all the Houses of the Israelites where the Paschal-Lamb was thus eaten and the doors thus sprinkled but He would smite by his holy Angel all the First-born of the Land of Egypt both of Men and Beasts that remained And he would then execute Judgment on all the Gods of Egypt that is either some such notable Judgment or
See Isa 53.6 And Moses himself who was a Levite till Aaron and his Sons were fully consecrated for the Service of the Priesthood was by extraordinary Warrant from God to perform the Work of the Priest in offering these Sacrifices See Psal 99.6 And he was to take of the bloud of the Bullock and put it upon the Horns of the Altar of Burnt-Offerings which stood in the Court of the Tabernacle to purifie consecrate and sanctifie the Altar it self and make it holy to the Lord and so to set it apart for holy Uses that whatsoever was offered thereon according to Gods Institution might be sanctified made holy and accepted as holy by the Lord. See Ch. 30.29 and Matth. 23.19 And the flesh of the Bullock and his skin and dung were to be burnt without the Camp to shew how destable the sin was that was laid as it were upon this Bullock and that the true Sacrifice for our Sins should suffer without the Gates of Jerusalem Heb. 13.11 12 13. 2ly The Sacrifice for Sin being thus first offered he was to offer one Ram for a Burnt-Offering (y) By the Burnt-Offering some understand the ardent love of Christ quo totus in cruce conflagravit and as the Burnt-Offering ascended up in fire so Christ ascended into heaven to make Intercession for us as a savour of rest that is that God being thereby appeased might cease from his anger Not as though the Lord was affected with Smells but it is said to be an acceptable Savour to Him in regard of their Obedience and willing mind and God is is said to be delighted with it when they offered it with Faith and true devotion 3ly He was to take another Ram for a Peace-Offering These were to be offered either to obtain some Blessing or to give thanks for some Blessing already received In both these respects this was offered at the Priests Consecration both by way of thankfulness for the honour done them in calling them to this Dignity and Office as also by way of Supplication humbly to intreat the Lord that he would prosper them in the execution of it Thus at the Consecration of Aaron and his Sons divers sorts of Sacrifices were to be offered because they were ordained to offer them all In this Eucharistical Sacrifice that was now to be offered Moses was only to have the Breast Exod. 29.26 but the right Shoulder and the fat and one loaf of Bread and one Cake of oiled Bread and one Wafer out of the Basket vers 3. were to be waved or shaken towards all the four Quarters of the World to signifie that God is the Lord of the whole Earth and then to be burnt by Him upon the Altar of Burnt-Offering for a sweet savour before the Lord. And upon this occasion an Ordinance is inserted that in Eucharistical Sacrifices namely such as these whereby Aaron and his Sons were to be consecrated for the future the Priests were to have the shaken Breast and the right Shoulder (z) Hinc humerus pectusque populo destinent Sacerdotes Anonym that was lifted up * The rest of the Peace-Offering besides what was the Priests belonged to the Offerer namely to God as his Right and assigned by Him as a Portion to the Priests Levit. 7.31 whereby possibly they were taught that with all their Heart and all their Strength they should give themselves to the Service of the Lord. Another Ordinance is also inserted That the holy Garments of Aaron shall be his Sons after him that He may be anointed and consecrated in them Thus though the High Priest died yet his Son was to appear before the Lord in the same Garments And as the Consecration of Aaron and his Sons continued seven days vers 35. during which time they were to abide at the door of the Tabernacle day and night to keep the Watch of the Lord Levit. 8.33 35. and as on each day of the seven the same Sacrifices and Ceremonies were to be observed as had been on the first day So this Order of Consecration was to be practised towards their Successors when they came into the Land of Canaan and had a setled state there Lastly It is appointed that that part of the Ram of Consecration which should be left after part had been burnt and Moses had had his portion should be sodden in the Court of the Sanctuary and should be eaten there by Aaron and his Sons with the bread that was left in the Basket vers 2 3. Levit. 8.31 And no Stranger viz. None but a Priest was to eat of it whereas in other Peace-Offerings the Offerer did partake And if any part of the Bread or Flesh remained until the Morning they were to burn it with fire This was required lest by reserving any part thereof either they might grow into contempt of holy things making no difference between them and their ordinary Food which they might reserve at their pleasure or lest that which remained might be abused to Superstition And whereas in ordinary Peace-Offerings they might eat of them the next day but not upon the third day see Levit. 7.18 no part of this must be eaten the second day This was to shew that this Ram of Consecration was a more holy thing than their ordinary Peace-Offerings Exod. 29. from 1. to 38. 13ly Touching the holy anointing Oil and the Ingredients of which it was to be made viz. of principal Spices Myrrh Cynamon sweet Calamus (a) Those sweet Odours signified the joyful Graces of Gods Spirit and the anointing therewith the powring out of the holy Spirit upon Christ his Church and Ministers and Cassia and of Oil-Olive And the things to be anointed therewith to Consecrate them to Gods Service and to separate them from common uses were the Tabernacle the Ark the Table the Candlestick with all their Vtensils the Altar of Incense the Laver the Altar of Burnt-Offerings so that whatsoever was brought as an Oblation if it touched any of the hallowed things of the Sanctuary it should be holy to the Lord. Aaron also and his Sons and Successors were to be anointed with this holy Oil but upon no mans flesh else was it to be powred It was not to be used for any civil use as for delight or the like even by the Priests themselves nor any of it to be powred upon Strangers nor any to be made like unto it for any such purposes under penalty of being cut off Exod. 30. from vers 22. to 34. 14ly Touching the half Shekel that all the Children of Israel from 20 years old and upwards when they were numbred were to pay for the ransom of their Souls acknowledging thereby that they held their lives of God and that he had redeemed them out of the House of Bondage And this they were to do that so the Lord might not be provoked for their Ingratitude to send a Plague among them This Didrachma or half Shekel * The Standard of all
before them the Lords great goodness to them and the several gracious manifestations of his favour towards them as he conducted them along from Egypt to Canaan First He came and appeared to them from Sinai where he gave them his Law 2ly He further manifested Himself to them from Mount Seir when He commanded the brasen Serpent to be set up by which those among them were cured that were mortally bitten with fiery Serpents and thereby He gave them a notable Type of the promised Messiah 3ly He shined forth from Mount Paran that is repeated and explained the Law to them by the Ministry of Moses in the Wilderness of Paran who exhorted them to yield Obedience to it And when the Lord gave them his Law at Sinai He tells them He came attended with Royal Majesty with an infinite number of glorious Angels who are here called Saints because of their purity and holiness see Acts 7.53 From his right hand went a fiery Law for them that is He spake it to them out of the midst of the fire Deut. 5.22 And yet that giving them his Law was a singular effect of his special love to them He thereby testified his great kindness to them and so he did also in His protecting of them from their Enemies and therefore we may truly say All Israels Saints are under thy Care and Protection O Lord. They sat at thy feet they attended upon thee at the foot of Mount Sinai as Scholars at the feet of their Master and all that are true Israelites will receive instruction from thy words And such Israelites will readily declare That God gave them his Law by the ministry of Moses even the Inheritance of the Congregation of Jacob that is which is as dear to them as an Inheritance is to any man They will declare That He gave it them as a rare and precious Treasure and not for their use only but for the use and instruction also of their Posterity after them And they do acknowledge that Moses was King in Jeshurun that is chief King and Magistrate in Israel by Gods own appointment when the Heads of the people and the Tribes were gathered together to receive the Law at Mount Sinai And they acknowledging Him to be a person so extraordinarily favoured guided and assisted by God could not but receive what he delivered unto them as spoken by God himself from vers 1. to 6. He comes now to bless the Tribes particularly He begins with Reuben Let Reuben live and not die and let not his men be few Jacob had prophesied of this Tribe that they should lose the Dignity of the Birth-right and should never come to any eminency among the Tribes either for number of people or any other excellency and that because of Reuben's Incest with his Fathers Concubine see Gen. 49.4 Now therefore for the comfort of this Tribe Moses pronounces this blessing upon them Let Reuben live that is though Reuben by his Incest brough that Curse upon him pronounced by his Father yea though by the sin of the Reubenites in adhering to Corah they deserved that God should utterly destroy them yet says he the Name and Tribe of Reuben shall still continue among the people of God and though for his sin he lost the glory of excelling the other Tribes in number of men which as the first-born he might otherwise have expected however he shall continue a numerous Tribe 2ly He comes next to Judah because the honour of the Birth-right was partly given from Reuben to Judah and in his Tribe the Regal Power was afterwards setled Hear Lord says he the voice of Judah * Audi Domine preces Jehudae scil cum egressus fuerit ad bellum reduc eum scil a bello incolumem ad fratres suos Oleaster that is the Prayers that this Tribe shall make to thee particularly that the promised Messiah may according to thy Promise come of their stock and that they may have Victory over their Enemies and grant them O Lord sufficient strength to stand in the day of battel thou being their Helper and when thou shalt suffer this Tribe with that of Benjamin to be carried by the Babylonians into Captivity bring them back again in thy due time to their people that is to the poor that were left in Judea to husband the Land Jer. 39.10 40.7 52.16 3ly He blesses Levi Let thy Vrim and thy Thummim be with thy holy one that is let the High Priesthood to which appertained the Breast-plate in which was the Vrim and Thummim Exod. 28.30 be continued in Aaron's Posterity and let them be furnished with those Gifts and Graces with that Knowledge and Piety which is requisite for their high Calling and signified by Vrim and Thummim Whom thou didst prove at Massah and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah that is whose Faith thou didst try at Meribah-Kadesh see Numb 20. and sharply reprove both Moses and Him for their Infidelity Who said to his Father and his Mother I have not seen him This may have reference either to the Law forbidding the High Priest to defile himself by mourning for the dead see Levit. 21.11 Neither shall he go into any dead body nor defile himself for his Father or Mother Or else to that notable fact of the Levites Exod. 32. who were so impartial in Gods Cause as not to spare any though nearly related to them who they found had worshipped the golden Calf For they observed thy Word and kept the Covenant which they made with thee Exod. 24.8 Let them therefore teach Jacob that is the Posterity of Jacob thy Judgments or Statutes and Israel thy Laws Let them put Incense before and whole Burnt-Offerings upon thy Altar Bless Lord their substance and accept the work of their hands that is bless them in their outward Estate and accept in good part the Work and Service they do for thee and thy people Smite thorow the loins of those that rise up against them and hate them that is break the Power of those that oppose them in the faithful discharge of their Duty and Office see Jer. 15.10 4ly He comes to Benjamin of whom he saith The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him that is as Benjamin was his Fathers darling when Joseph was supposed to be dead so he is much beloved of the Lord and therefore shall dwell safely by him that is near his Temple which was built in his portion and the Lord shall cover him all the day long that is protect and defend him and he shall dwell between his shoulders that is God will chuse for Himself an Habitation in the chief City of this Tribe For though the South part of Jerusalem where was Mount Sion * God is said to dwell in Mount Sion and thence some conceive his Temple was situate upon it but where it is so said the word Sion must not be taken strictly for the hill Sion but
Thou maist be sure that something is amiss among you that hath provok'd Me to forsake you Know therefore that one of the Children of Israel hath committed a high Trespass against Me He hath reserved a part of the Spoils of Jericho which as accursed things should have been burnt He hath taken of that which I reserved to my Self viz. Gold and Silver and hath done this closely and cunningly carrying the matter so as if he had done no such thing or had not considered or regarded my Omniscience and he hath put what he stole among his own stuff the more to conceal it And this is the cause why the Children * The people being considered here Conjunctim as one intire body that which was done by one of the members is here ascrib'd to the whole body of Israel see Josh 22.20 of Israel could not stand before their Enemies because one of them hath transgressed in the accursed thing And you must know that I have alwayes just cause to punish any of my people for Sin in themselves though I take occasion to strike them sometimes for the sins of those among whom they live Therefore I tell you there is an accursed thing in the midst of you and you cannot stand before your Enemies till it be taken away I will not be with you any more except you destroy from among you the person that is found guilty of stealing the accursed thing and who is thereby become accursed himself He commands Joshua therefore to go and call upon the people to sanctifie themselves by legal Purifications washing their Clothes Abstinence Prayers Devotions and much more by purity of Heart and Affections see Exod. 19.10 that they being thus prepared to appear in Gods presence the Offender might be discovered and punished and the people freed from the Curse which he had brought upon them The Lord further directs Joshua how to find out the Offendor viz. by casting lots first to find out his Tribe then to cast lots upon the several Families in that Tribe to find the guilty Family then to cast lots to find the particular Houshold in that Family and lastly to find out the particular person in that Houshold that had offended whom he orders when discovered to be burnt with fire as the things anathematiz'd and accursed were to be after he hath been stoned as a presumptuous Transgressor of Gods Commandment see Numb 15.30 35. and that he and all that he hath shall be so served because he hath trangressed the Covenant of the Lord viz. the Commandment that he gave them Ch. 6.18 and which they accepted of with a voluntary submission to the punishment therein threatned in case of Transgression and because he had wrought folly and wickedness in Israel And possibly the Lord was pleased to appoint this long way of trial to try whither Achan would come in voluntarily and confess his sin and therefore by his holding out so long even till the lot fell upon his own person there was a notable discovery made how hardly men are brought to confess their secret sins and how prone they are to flatter themselves that their secret sins shall not be discovered Hereby also the Lord made known how the most casual things even casting of lots are governed by his Providence see Prov. 16.33 a truth the fitter to be cleared to this people because the Land was shortly to be divided to them by lot Joshua the next morning calling the Tribes together and proceeding in the way and method before prescribed Achan (a) He is called Achan 1 Chron. 2.7 which signifies a Troubler and the place of his Execution is called the Valley of Achor v. 26. that is the Valley of Trouble He was the Grandchild of Zabdi otherwise call'd Zimri 1 Chron. 2.6 the Son of Carmi the Son of Zabdi the Son of Zerah of the Tribe of Judah was taken Achan being thus taken Joshua said unto him My Son give I pray thee Glory to the Lord God of Israel in acknowledging his Omniscience and make an humble and penitent confession to him of thy sin and tell me truly what thou hast done hide it not from me Achan said I have sinned against the Lord when I saw among the Spoils of Jericho a goodly Babylonish-Garment and two hundred Shekels of Silver and a Wedge of Gold of fifty Shekels then I coveted them and took them and behold they are hid in the earth and the Silver under the Garment Joshua sent Messengers to the Tent and they found the things which Achan had confessed and brought them to Joshua and the Elders of Israel and exposed them to the view of all before the Tabernacle of the Congregation where the Ark was the Emblem of Gods presence among them Then Joshua and the Israelites took Achan with the things he had stolen together with his Children and his Oxen * From hence we may see that he had before a good Estate and did not steal for want but out of covetousness Asses and Sheep his Tent and all that he had and carried them down to the Valley called afterwards upon this occasion the Valley of Achor And Joshua then said to him Why hast thou troubled us the Lord shall trouble thee this day Then they stoned him and his Children who 't is probable (b) Gods judgments are many times unsearchable but always just see Deut. 24.16 see Josh 22.20 Verisimile est Domesticos ejus fuisse Criminis Conscios Estius in loc Besides his Children had sin enough in them otherwise for Gods justice to work upon though they had no hand in this sacrilegious act either assisted him in what He did or living in the same Tent with him knew what he had stolen and hidden and concealed it and so tacitly consented to it and afterwards burnt him and his Children and his Cattel and all that he had stolen and all that he had and they raised over him a great heap of stones as a Monument to warn Posterity not to provoke God by transgressing his Commandments as Achan had done which Monument remained when this History was written And thus the Anger of the Lord was turned away from Israel Ch. 7. whole Chapter SECT C. THe Lord now encourages Joshua and commands him to take the whole Army with him for the better heartning of the people and to go against Ai for he would give the City and the Land belonging to it into his hands And he should utterly destroy it and the King and the Inhabitants thereof as they did to Jericho only the Spoil thereof and the Cattel thereof they should take to themselves And possibly the whole Army was commanded to go up because they were all to participate in the Spoil of the City But God would not have them as yet possess any fortified Towns or Cities lest they should put confidence in the strength of those places and not wholly rest and rely on his Providence Joshua hereupon marched with all
assured of both these I am not discouraged from giving thee this advice to draw on Boaz to marry thee who by the Law ought to do it Ruth follows the advice of her Mother-in-law and when Boaz was gone to take his rest at the end of the heap of Corn she came softly and uncovered his Feet and laid her down by him At midnight Boaz awakes and being much surpriz'd to find that a Woman lay at his Feet He asks Who she was She answers I am Ruth thy Hand-Maid Spread I pray thee thy Skirt (p) A proverbial Speech signifying the taking of One into Protection over me that is accept me for thy Wife and perform to me what so near a Kinsman as thou art ought to do viz. to marry me and so to raise up Seed to my deceased Husband Boaz said Blessed be thou of the Lord my Daughter for thou hast shewed more kindness in the latter end than in the beginning as if he should have said Thou shewedst much kindness to thy Husband whilst he lived and since his death in leaving thy Country and coming along with his Mother hither yet thy present Act of chast love exceedeth all the rest and in thy preferring me an old man before young men who are more suitable to thy age and that out of love to thy deceased Husband to revive his Name among the people of God Therefore fear not I will do what lies in me to satisfie thy desire according to God's Law in procuring for thee such an Husband as it requireth For this whole Town speaks thee to be a vertuous Woman And I must tell thee though I be near of Kin to thee yet there is one nearer than my self who ought to be preferred before me and to marry thee and to redeem the Land thy Mother will sell Therefore in the morning I will inquire whether he will perform that part of a Kinsman to thee and if not then will I do it my self Lie down therefore and take thy rest until the morning and then thou shalt know further concerning this matter But let it not be known that thou camest hither and layest at my Feet For next to the keeping of a good Conscience we must be careful to keep and preserve a good Name Ruth accordingly reposes her self there till towards the morning and then rising to go away Boaz bids her stay a little and bring her Apron and according to the honest plain bounty of those Times he gave her six Measures of Barley as a Token of his love and for a present supply of Hers and her Mothers wants Ruth coming to her Mother-in-law so very early in the morning she hardly knew her at first and therefore asked who she was Ruth relates to her all that had happened Then Naomi bad her rest satisfied with what was already done and quietly expect what issue God would give unto it and to stay within that she might be in a readiness if Boaz should send for her For she believed He would not be quiet till he had brought this business to some issue Ruth Ch. 3. whole Chapter Boaz the next morning went to the Gate of the City and there sitting down he waited for his Kinsmans passing by who was nearest of Kin to Ruths Husband and was like to go forth that way into the Field about his occasions as also that he might meet with such Elders of the City as did usually sit in that place of Judicature and were fit to be called together for the hearing and determining that great and weighty business which he had in hand of which number He called together ten And immediately as he expected this Kinsman came by to whom he applied himself and told him That the Widow Naomi who was lately returned out of Moab had a piece of Land made over to her for a Joynture or Dowry by her Husband Elimelech which she was to enjoy for term of life and then it was to descend to Mahlon her eldest Son but he was now dead He tells him This Joynture Naomi being poor intended now to sell to maintain her self and her Daughter-in-law He acquaints him that the right of Redeeming it belonged to him as next Kinsman to Elimelech but if he refused to redeem it then it belonged to himself as next of Kin after him to Elimelech The Kinsman hearing this said He would buy it of Naomi Boaz told him If he would buy it of Naomi he must buy it of Ruth the Widow of Mahlon the Son of Elimelech who had also a Right in it and so coming in as next Kinsman to buy her Husbands Land he was bound as next Kinsman also to marry her that he might raise up Seed to her deceased Husband and so continue his Name to his Inheritance For as Naomi had enjoyed this parcel of Land as Elimelech's Widow so it seems it was ordered that Ruth should enjoy it after her as Mahlon's Widow and he that would Challenge from Ruth the Priviledge of next Kinsman in the purchase of her Land was also to perform the duty of the next Kinsman to her in marrying of Her The Kinsman hearing this and perceiving whither it tended told Boaz He could not buy this Land clogged with such a Condition If he should he might thereby mar his own Inheritance For his marrying with Ruth a poor Widow would be a great hindrance to his Estate which might be much advanced by a rich Wife and besides if he should marry her and have but one Son by her that Son of his would be called by the Name of Mahlon Ruths former Husband and he should want an Heir begotten by himself to bear his own Name which was Onans fear Gen. 38.9 Therefore he freely renounced his Right which he had as next Kinsman unto Boaz and in token thereof as the manner was in all other Alienations he plucked off his own shoe (q) When the Widow complained to the Elders and the next Kinsman notwithstanding refused to marry her in that case the Woman was to pull off his shoe and spit in his face Deut. 25.9 But here there was no such thing done but the man pulled off his own shoe and gave it to Boaz The ground of which Custom was this the shoe signified the Right that a man had to go and walk at pleasure upon any parcel of Land as his proper Demeans for possessio is quasi pedum positio And the pulling off his shoe and giving it to his Neighbour intimated that he did forgo his own Right and resigned it to his Neighbour and gave him power to go upon the ground as his own see Psal 60.8 and gave it to Boaz thereby signifying that he willingly resigned his Right unto him Boaz as it seems hereupon bought of Naomi the Land before-mentioned and called the Elders there present to be Witnesses thereof and as a Consequent thereof he tells them He had purchased Ruth to himself for a Wife the Widow of Mahlon to
was going to destroy that City David and the Elders thereof being clothed in sackcloth lift up their eyes and saw the Angel standing between Heaven and Earth near the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite with a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem whereupon they fell on their faces and Araunah and his four Sons saw the Angel also and his Sons hid themselves through fear Then Then David spake to the Lord saying It is I O Lord it is I that commanded the people to be numbred It is I that have sinned but as for these sheep what have they done Let thy hand I pray thee be on me and my Fathers house but not on thy people that they should be plagued Then the Angel commanded Gad to speak to David that he should presently set up an Altar in the threshing floor of Araunah and thereon offer sacrifices intimating to him that there was no other way for them to obtain the pardon of their sins and the removal of the present judgment but by faith in that propitiatory sacrifice which their promised Messias was to offer up for them The Tabernacle and the Altar of Burnt-offerings was at this present at Gibeon but David could not now go thither for fear of the slaughter and dreadful execution that might be made by the Angel in the mean time therefore no place at present was fitter to rear an Altar in than that where the Angel appeared with a drawn sword and the Lord it seems would have that place as it were consecrated and endeared to the people by a sacrifice that should procure a very great blessing for them namely the staying of this raging plague because he determined in that very place to have his Temple built See 2 Chron. 3.1 David accordingly went forthwith to Araunah (a) This Araunah or Ornan seems to be descended of the Royal blood of the Jebusites and now was the chief of the Jebusites that enjoy'd Estates in and about Jerusalem under a Tribute who seeing the King come to him attended with his servants went out towards him and bowed himself to the ground and said Wherefore is my Lord the King come unto me The King said I am come to buy of thee thy threshing floor there to build an Altar to the Lord that the plague may be stayed Araunah answered Let the King freely take it and offer up there what sacrifices he pleases Behold here be also my oxen which thou maist take for burnt offerings and take also the wooden instruments which are used in this work which being dry will soon take fire and expedite the business and take wheat also for a Meat-offering I freely give thee all All these did Araunah as free as a Prince profer unto David adding the Lord graciously accept thee and the sacrifices thou art about to offer But the King said Nay but surely I will buy it of thee at a price neither will I offer burnt-offerings unto the Lord of that which cost me nothing So David bought of him the threshing floor and the oxen and materials for sacrifice for fifty shekels of silver and David built an Altar there to the Lord and called upon the Lord and offered burnt-offerings which were miraculously consumed by fire from heaven whereby God testified his acceptance of the sacrifice and granted his desire for the staying of the Plague and the Lord repented (a) That is did as men do when they repent viz. cease to proceed on so the Lord ceased from punishing the people neither was there any change in Gods Decree for he decreed to cease punishing when he had brought David and the people to unfeigned repentance him of the evil and punishment he had brought upon them and said to the Angel It is enough stay now thine hand and put up thy sword into the sheath So the Lord was intreated for the land and the plague was stayed Then David offered Peace-offerings on the same Altar by way of Thanksgiving for so great a mercy And possibly God made known to David by Gad at this time that in that very place (b) This was upon mount Moriah where Abraham intended to have offered up Isaac who was a Type of Christ he would have the Temple built and thereupon David purchased of Ornan the whole place or plot of ground with all the buildings gardens and all things belonging to it containing a large compass and a sufficient circuit of ground for the building of the Temple upon it with all the Courts thereof and for this he gave him six hundred shekels of Gold whereas the meer Threshing-floor with the oxen and materials of Sacrifice cost him but fifty shekels of Silver as we said before And possibly David might give more for it than the real worth out of his Royal bounty 2 Sam. Ch. 24. whole Chapter 1 Chron. Ch. 21. whole Chapter SECT CCV DAvid now knowing that this Threshing-floor of Araunah which he had purchased was the place where the Temple was to be built he said of it This is the house of the Lord and this is the Altar of the Burnt-offering for Israel that is this is the place of which God long since spake by his servant Moses that he would have an house there built which should be the setled place of his Worship and where there should be an Altar not this I have now set up but another whereon only they should offer Sacrifices unto him see Deut. 12.11 Not long after it seems he received from the Lord by the illumination of his Spirit * Except we may suppose that this pattern set down in writing was brought him by some Prophet See 2 Chr. 29.25 the pattern or model whereby the Temple was to be built and this he set down in a draught or plat-form and afterwards delivered it to his Son Solomon as we shall see 1 Chron. 28.11 12 13. In order therefore to the carrying on of this great work David prepared materials in great abundance and called the strangers that were in the land and employ'd them in hewing of stone and timber and such like works He also prepared iron in abundance and brass without weight that is it was so much they would not trouble themselves to weigh it Also abundance of Cedar-trees which he had from the Tyrians and Zidonians And he said Solomon my Son is yet young and tender and the house that is to be built for the Lord must be exceeding magnificent and must excell all others †Thus it was in the service it self and in the ornaments appertaining thereunto It was one of the worlds wonders It was far more excellent than the Tabernacle and in its dimensions far exceeding it There were some greater Buildings in the world yet there was never any that had such costly materials such curious workmanship such divine services such representations of Gods Majesty and mercy and which prefigured such Mystical Spiritual and Caelestial things as this Temple had that
of Naphtali 1 King 7.14 and his Mother of the Tribe of Dan and who was one of my Fathers workmen who is skill'd to work in gold silver iron brass stone timber in purple blue fine linnen or crimson and to grave any manner of graving and one that can work not only according to the pattern set before him but can also invent other curious works fit and proper for the main design I know he will be ready to join with the cunning workmen provided by thy Father and thy self As for the reward thou dost promise my servants for their labour and pains I do willingly accept of it and let my Lord the King be pleased to send it to them But I must make one request to thee for my self viz. that thou wilt grant me liberty yearly to transport out of thy Country a certain quantity of provision viz. of wheat and oyl for my own houshold our Country not being well furnish'd with those things * See Ezek. 27.17 Ezra 3.7 Act. 12.20 Solomon having receiving his Letter agreed to what Hiram desired of him and accordingly gave him twenty thousand measures of beaten wheat †Beaten wheat that is wheat beaten out of the ear and severed from the chaff we call it clean wheat and twenty measures of pure oyl yearly And Solomon and Hiram made a firm league together and Hiram besides allowing Solomon Timber to build with furnish'd him with six score talents of gold towards the defraying of the charge 1 King 9.14 1 King Ch. 5. from v. 1 to 13. 2 Chron. Ch. 2. from v. 1 to 17. SECT CCXX SOlomon also raised a levy (a) The people yielded willingly to this levy for the Temple but when it was still continued by Solomon for his own house and his other buildings it seems they grudged at it as we may gather from what they said to Rehoboam 1 King 12.4 See also 1 King 9.15 among the people towards the building of the house of the Lord and other great buildings he designed See 1 King 9.15 and having provided stones of several sorts and sizes and having obtained leave of Hiram to cut down Timber in Lebanon viz. Cedar-trees Firr-trees and Algum-trees he falls now in hand with the work and employs a vast army of workmen therein 1. For servile work an hundred and fifty thousand whereof fourscore thousand were hewers in the mountains and threescore and ten thousand bearers of burdens all these were strangers that dwelt among the Israelites and submitted to their Laws and had been by David before appointed for this service 1 Chron. 22.2 2ly For plain work thirty thousand Israelites were imployed yet with such alternation that being divided into three parts they stayed ten thousand of them at a time one month in mount Lebanon and the other two at home 1 King 5.13 14. 3ly For carved works the Sidonians only were imployed whose number though not specified must needs be great if we may guess the men by the proportion of victuals allowed to them 2 Chron. 2.10 4ly For overseeing all the former three thousand three hundred Officers were appointed 1 King 5.16 but in the 2 Chron. 2.18 we read of 3600 possibly upon a review 300 might be added for the better carrying on of the business or these last 300 might be appointed as extraordinary to be in readiness in case any of the ordinary should fail by sickness death or any other accident Thus the ordinary overseers would be each man over forty five workmen or thereabout (a) Those Officers viz. 550 1 King 9.23 seem to be the chief of the Officers that were over Solomons other works when he builded his own house and that for Pharaohs daughter and his other buildings besides the Temple ver 15 17 18 19. So that these supervised those that wrought in these works And the 250 2 Chron. 8.10 seem to be the chief of his Officers that bear rule over those Canaanites that Solomon had made Tributaries v. 7 8. and so differed from the former 550. If any wonder at the vastness of this army of workmen let them consider how that thorough scarcity of horses at that time in Judea though plenty was brought out of Egypt towards the latter end of Solomons reign massie timber was to be managed by the main strength of men 2ly All things were before-hand so to be fitted and framed in mount Lebanon which might occasion many chargeable Essays and trials that not so much as the sound of an Ax or Hammer was heard in Jerusalem when the Temple came to be erected 1 King 6.7 that is there was small noise in comparison of so great a work and not obstreperous to a publick disturbance by hewing or squaring of timber or stone the parts being fitted or matched before Besides Solomon in framing this great fabrick that was to be built for the honour of God consulted magnificence and not frugality 1 King Ch. 5. from v. 13 to the end 2 Chron. Ch. 2. v. 17 18. SECT CCXXI SHimei of whom before Sect. 214. had carefully kept himself within the bounds prescribed for about three years But at the end of that time two of his servants it seems ran away from him having as 't is like stollen something considerable from him and fled to Achish King of Gath there being at that time peace between the Israelites and Philistines so that the one might freely pass to the other or possibly they might be native Philistines Shimei being inform'd where they were and being enrag'd at them for so serving him and having an over-covetous desire to regain them and the things they had stollen from him and not imagining that Solomon he having kept himself within his bounds for three years did still strictly watch him or sought an occasion against him to cut him off as his Father had injoin'd him and possibly thinking to go so secretly and to come again so quickly that his going should not be observed or however it was he sadles his Ass and ventures to go to Gath where he met with his servants and brought them back again but the fetching of them cost him dear for Solomon being inform'd that he had gone out of his bounds he presently sent for him and said unto him Did not I protest to thee that if thou didst pass the limits I had set thee thou shouldest surely die didst not thou say the thing I required of thee was but just and reasonable And over and above didst not thou swear to me by the Lord that thou wouldest not transgress why then hast thou violated the oath that thou swarest to me in the presence of the Lord and why hast thou disobeyed the commandment that I so solemnly gave thee under so great a penalty Thou canst not but remember the wickedness of thy heart and how basely thou didst revile my Father in his distress and therefore the Lord will now return thy wickedness upon thy own head And I am not
is like they had brought the Tabernacle with all the things appertaining to it from Gibeon The Priests * 2 Chron. 5.4 'T is said the Levites took up the Ark because the Priests were also Levites that is of the Tribe of Levi. took up the Ark on their shoulders the Levites according to their several appointed ranks carried the Tabernacle with the boards and curtains and the holy vessels belonging thereunto The King and the Elders walked after in a solemn procession to Mount Moriah (a) The Temple to speak properly was not built on Mount Sion but on Mount Moriah but because the whole City of Jerusalem is usually called Sion and Mount Sion from that Mount that was a chief part of it thence it is that the Temple Gods dwelling place is usually said to have been in Sion where the Temple was built whither being come the Priests carried the Ark into the Oracle or most holy place and set it under the wings of the Golden Cherubims But they drew out the staves of the Ark something from under the wings of the Cherubims that they might be seen in the holy place which was before the Oracle but they were not seen as taken out of the Ark 2 Chron. 5.9 And possibly these staves were the rather thus disposed to remember the people that if they brake Gods Covenant the staves yet remained within the rings of the Ark ready to bear away the Symbol of Gods gracious presence from them The Levites also disposed those things which they carried belonging to the (b) The Tabernacle was carried about in the Wilderness forty years it remained in Gilgal about fourteen years it remain'd in Shiloh till Samuels time 1 Sam. 4.4 it then remain'd in Nob till Saul destroyed that place 1 Sam. 22.19 it was in Gibeon all Davids time from thence it was brought into Zion and from thence into the Treasuries of the Temple Tabernacle into the Treasuries of the Temple there to remain as Sacred things not again to be removed When the Priests had set the Ark in its place and were come out immediately an hundred and twenty of them with silver Trumpers and the Levite-singers viz. Asaph Heman and Jeduthun with their Sons and Brethren being arrayed in white linnen and having Cymbals Psalteries and Harps in their hands stood at the East-end of the Altar and the Trumpets sounding and they playing on their Instruments and lifting up their voices with one consent and making one melodious harmony sang as it seems the 136 Psalm the burden of which is For he is good for his mercy endureth for ever Whilst they were thus employed suddenly the house of the Lord was filled with a cloud which was an extraordinary manifestation of the presence of God 2 Chron. 5.14 't is said the glory of God filled the house which intimated that the brightness of his glory was such that if it were not clouded over no mortal eyes could behold it It seems the cloud was such and so amazing that the Priests could not continue to minister in the Sanctuary where the cloud was and by this visible sign of his presence the Lord did sanctifie to himself this place see Exod. 40.34 and shewed his approbation of all that was done Solomon standing upon a Brazen Scaffold made for him in the outward Court right before the door of the Priests Court through which he might look and apprehending this cloud to be a manifestation of Gods gracious presence and acceptance of the house he had built for his service in a rapture of joy he brake out into these words The Lord said he is pleased to dwell in thick darkness Levit. 16.2 and by a cloud he hath usually testified his presence among his people as when he led the Israelites by a cloud Exod. 13.21 In a cloud he appeared at the giving of the Law Exod. 19.16 In a cloud he appeared that covered and filled the Tabernacle as soon as it was reared up by Moses Exod. 40.34 and therefore doubtless in this cloud the Lord doth now appear unto us and testifies his favourable acceptance of our service in building this house for his name Then directing his speech to God he said O Lord I have built a Temple for thee to manifest thy gracious presence in an house not to be removed as the Tabernacle was but a setled place for thee to abide in (c) Officium Templi non est prastare Deo habitationem sed hominibus directionem ad soliâ—m divinum sempiteruâ—â— quod in câ—lo est Cajet to be there ready on all occasions to resolve us in such cases as we shall humbly propound unto thee and to hear such prayers as we shall make unto thee and to grant such blessings as we shall humbly crave of thee and to accept such sacrifices and services as we shall there offer up and present unto thee And O Lord I pray thee accept this house for thine and ever manifest thy gracious presence therein as long as this dispensation we are now under shall last and till the truth of this type shall be exhibited Then the King turned his face to the people standing about him and blessed them and said Blessed and praised be the Lord God of Israel who spake to David my Father that I should build a Temple for his great name and hath by his good hand upon me enabled me to do it The Lord also said since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt I chose no City out of all their Tribes in which I appointed an house to be built that my name might be there in a peculiar manner worshipped But having chosen David to be King over my people it was in his heart to build an house for my name And thereupon I said to him whereas it was in thine heart to build an house to my name I like it well that it was in thine heart to do it Nevertheless thou shalt not build this house for me but thy Son that shall come out of thy loins he shall build it And the Lord hath now graciously performed the word that he spake and I am risen up in my fathers room to sit on the Throne of Israel and have built an house for the Lord as he promised I should do and an abiding place for the Ark wherein are the two Tables of the Law which the Lord gave as a Covenant to his people requiring obedience on their part and promising many blessings on his part to the obedient Then Solomon turned his face towards the Altar of Burnt-offering and towards the most holy place and having stood a while he then kneeled down and spreading forth his hands towards heaven poured forth this Divine Prayer saying O Lord God of Israel there is no God like thee in heaven above or in earth beneath who keepest Covenant and shewest mercy to thy servants that walk before thee in the integrity of their hearts Thou hast kept thy
and wash in Jordan Are not Abana and Pharpar our rivers of Damascus as good nay better and of more sweetness and virtue than any rivers or waters they have and besides can washing the body in a river be a likely means to take away so dreadful and deep rooted a disease as the leprosie is I have taken this long journey to good purpose come let us be gone Thus apt are men in their distresses to prescribe means unto God and to tye him to their own ways and methods of help But though this great man was so highly dissatisfied and displeased yet it seems he had some wise and discreet servants about him who came to him and humbly spake to him saying My Father * A Title usually given to superiours and men of age and dignity if the Prophet had enjoin'd thee some hard and difficult thing which would have required much cost and pains wouldest not thou have done it to be cured Seeing then he injoins thee only such an easie thing as to go and bath thy self in Jordan why shouldest not thou do it without questioning whither it be a likely means of cure or no Naaman being wrought upon by what his servants said consented to go and accordingly went and dipped himself seven times over head and ears in Jordan as the Prophet had prescribed and immediately his leprosie was removed and his flâ—sh that had been much eaten away with it came again like the flesh of a little child full clear and fresh not leaving any scar or mark upon him of his disease and so he was perfectly cured Thus the Lord intending to shew mercy to him and that the word of his Prophet might not fail passed over his former incredulity and distemper and had regard to that weak and small measure of faith he had And this was Elisha's tenth Miracle Naaman having thus to his great joy and comfort found the benefit and efficacy of the Prophets direction he now returns with all his retinue to render him his most hearty thanks * Thus did the tenth Leper to our Savior Luk. 17.15 When he came to the Prophets house he now came out to him though he did not before to whom Naaman addressing himself said Behold now I know that the God of Israel is the only true God (a) Miraculum hoc proprium finem consequutum est nempe confirmationem verae sanaequâ— Doctrinae and that there is none in the world besides him and by his power alone I willingly acknowledg my self cured (b) By this declaration he shewed he was cured in soul as well as in body But I must thankfully acknowledg thee as an instrument under him of my cure and I ought to testifie my deep and grateful sense of thy kindness and therefore I pray thee accept of a small gift (c) Hebraei munus vocant benedictionem quia quicquid boni possidemus habemus ex benedictione Dei Benefacere est benedicere from thy servant which I here present thee with as a testimony of my gratitude Thus the Prophet was more honoured by this Gentile than he had been by the generality of his own people Elisha replied As the Lord lives before whom I stand and whose Minister I am I will receive no gift or reward from thee He designed to shew him that he aimed not at his own profit in what he did It was enough for him that the God of Israel was acknowledged by this Syrian to be the true God He knew that the miracles he wrought were not done by his own power but by the immediate power of God and therefore God alone ought to have the glory of them (d) Elisha had freely received this gift and therefore would freely exercise it Mat. 10.8 Simon Magus was sharply reproved for a conceit contrary thereunto Acts 8.19 20. and if the true Religion and the worship of the true God were by his miracles confirmed he desired no more Naaman urged him again with great importunity to take it but he again refused it For having on so good grounds refused it before he would not be beaten from his principles Naaman when he saw he could not prevail with the Prophet to accept his present he told him he had another request to make to him which was this Let me I pray thee says he with thy approbation have two mules laden of the earth of your land wherewith to build an Altar when I come home to sacrifice thereon to the Lord God of Israel for from henceforth I am resolv'd to sacrifice to no other This shews him to be a true convert and herein he was a type of the calling of the Gentiles He would testifie that he worshipped the God of Israel by erecting an Altar of the earth of Israel to worship him thereon Here was a good zeal exprest in this new convert though he mistook in thinking the God of Israel would be the better pleased with his sacrifices if they were offered on an Altar made of Canaan's mold He further tells Elisha that he had as he must needs confess been an Idolater and had bowed himself to the Idol Rimmon the Idol of the Syrians when the King his Master leaning on his hand went into that Idols Temple to worship but he desired the Lord to forgive him for it he intended to do so no more For thus I suppose 2 King 5.18 ought to be read In this thing the Lord pardon thy servant that when my Master went into the house of Rimmon to workship there and leaned on my hand and I bowed my self in the house of Rimmon that I bowed my self in the house of Rimmon * Non peccati futuri indulgentiam sed elapsi veniam rogare videtur Anonym in loc the Lord pardon thy servant in this thing So Elisha dismissed him with a friendly valediction saying to him Go in peace When he was departed and was going on in his journey Gehazi the Prophets servant began to think with himself that his Master had been too kind and had spared this Syrian too much in not taking of him what he might have done for so great a cure and which he himself was very willing to have given him but as the Lord lives saith he I will not let him go so I will run after him and take something of him So he ran after Naaman who understanding by some of his servants that he was coming in hast after him he lighted out of his Chariot to meet him and askt him if all was well Gehazi replied all is well only my Master hath sent me to thee to acquaint thee that since thy departure there came to him two young men sons of the Prophets and he desires thee to give them a Talent of silver and two changes of garments And thus by his lying and unworthy practice he did that which tended to eclipse the glory of his Master 's free kindness Naaman seem'd very glad of an opportunity to gratifie Elisha and
Prophet had promised from the Lord which was the very next day to be accomplished One of the Kings servants hearing his Master make this construction of the departure of the Syrians replied let us I pray thee take some of the horses that yet remain in the City and go out and see whither the Syrians be indeed fled or no. It will be no great loss if these be taken by the enemy seeing they are already almost consumed by famine as most of the people of the City likewise are The King consenting hereunto they took two of the Kings Chariot-horses and setting riders on them sent them out these scouts rode as far as Jordan and found no enemy between Samaria and it but many evidences of the enemies flight for all the way was full of garments and other furniture which the Syrians had thrown away in their hasty flight So they return'd and brought this word to the King Then the people transported with joy rusht out of the City with all the hast they could make to spoil the Tents of the Syrians and in them they found such plenty of provisions that a measure of fine flower was sold for a shekel and two measures of barley for a shekel as the Prophet had foretold The King understanding that the people ran so violently out of the City he commanded the Lord on whose hand he leaned to take charge of the Gate to keep them from such a tumultuous running out and to see to it that they might not all run out and leave the City naked This Lord accordingly standing there to keep the people back they were so eagerly bent upon the spoil and to get some provisions for themselves that they ran him down and trode upon him so that he died and thus what the man of God prophesied of him exactly came to pass 2 King 6. from 24 to the end 2 King 7. wh Ch. The Shunamite the seven years famine being now ended returns with her family into her own Country and petitions the King for her house and land which in her absence was as it seems seized upon by the Officers of State for the Kings use * Mos hic fuit in decem tribubus qui alibi reperitur ut qui patria exirent eorum bona confiscarentur Grot. at the very time when she came to present her petition the Providence of God so ordered it that she found the King talking with Gehazi Elisha's servant about the miracles his Master had wrought It seems his Leprosie was not of that sort that did render him unclean or unfit to be conversed * Lex non vetabat leprosos adire alloquii consolari Naaman leprosus Regem accessit Alii volunt Gehazi act◠paenitentia sanatum fuisse with or else upon his repentance as some think God revers'd the sentence against him and had now healed him Whilst he was discoursing about his Masters raising one from the dead he sees this woman come to petition the King whereupon he crys out My Lord O King this is the very woman of whom I spake and this is her son that was restor'd to life by my Master The King asking the woman about it she fully confirm'd it and 't is like told him the several circumstances of it whereupon the King gave order that her lands should be restored to her again with all the profits that had arisen from them in her absence 2 King 8. from v. 3 to 7. Elisha now by some special instinct of Gods Spirit went into the Region †In Regionem Damascenam ut apparet ex versu nono Jun. of Damascus to confirm as 't is probable to Hazael by a second prediction what formerly upon Elijahs anointing of him he did not much believe namely that he should be King of Syria Benhadad the present King of Syria was at this time very sick Josephus thinks his sickness was occasion'd by the shameful flight of his Army from Samaria Ch. 7.6 especially understanding it happened through a causeless fear The King therefore hearing of the Prophets arrival in that Region whose fame was so spread among them by the cure of Naaman and other miracles he had wrought he sent Hazael who was now as it seems his chief Minister of State Naaman being either dead or put by his place for professing the true God of Israel with a present to him and to inquire of him whither he should recover of that sickness Hazael accordingly went to meet him with a noble and large present viz. forty Camels lading of the best provisions of the Country and when he came to him he said Thy Son Benhadad who honours thee as a Son doth his Father hath sent me to thee with this present which he desires thee to accept of and to acquaint him Whither he shall recover of his sickness Whither the Prophet accepted the present is not recorded but he return'd him this short answer That he might recover for any danger from his disease yet the Lord had shewed him that he should certainly die though by some other means and not by his sickness Then the Prophet fixt his eyes stedfastly on Hazael until he began to blush to see him look so earnestly on him and Elisha bursting out into tears Hazael said Why weepeth my Lord He answered Because I know the evil thou wilt do when thou art King of Syria to the people of Israel their strong bolds wilt thou set on fire and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword their young childrens brains wilt thou dash out and rip up their women with child Hazael replied Is thy servant a dog that I should ever be guilty of such great horrible barbarity and inhumane cruelty * Fortuna potestat etiam mores ingenium mutant 'T is like he did not think at this time that ever he should do such cruel acts But no man knows the depth of that corruption that is in his heart which will soon discover it self if God leave him to himself See what he afterwards did 2 King 10.32 33. and Ch. 13.3 Elisha replies The Lord hath shewed me that thou wilt be King over Syria and then thou wilt bear the same deadly hatred to the people of Israel which thy Predecessors have done before And the Lord as a just and righteous Judg will permit thee to come into that Throne that thou maist be a scourge to punish the Idolatrous and Rebellious Israelites So Hazael departed from the Prophet and coming to his Master Benhadad told him that the Prophet said He should certainly recover but therein he delivered not to him the true sense of the Prophet Then considering with himself what Elisha had told him viz. that he should be King of Syria and apprehending that if his Master did recover of this sickness it might be difficult for him to attain the Crown and being impatient of delay and unwilling to stay Gods time for the bringing about of that he had promised
them that led them away and God will move their hearts to let them return and come again into their own land For the Lord our God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away his face from you if you turn unto him by true repentance So the Posts passed from City to City through the Country of Ephraim and Manasseh even unto Zebulun but most of them it seems laughed them to scorn and mocked at them for this their message However divers of Asher Manasseh and Zebulun humbled themselves under the hand of God for their former sins and came to Jerusalem But in Judah the hand and power of God eminently appeared in making them unanimous and giving them as it were one heart and one mind to do the commandment of the King and of his Princes which was guided by and grounded on the word of the Lord. And there assembled at Jerusalem very many people to keep the Feast of the Passover in the second month and being there met they arose and took away the Altars that were in Jerusalem viz. those that Ahaz had made both the Altars of burnt-offerings and the Altars of incense and cast them into the brook Kidron Then they killed the Passover on the 14th day of the second month and the Priests and the Levites that had been before backward were now asham'd of their backwardness seeing the forwardness of other Levites and of the people themselves and they sanctified themselves and brought in the burnt-offerings into the house of the Lord and did what belonged to their office And they stood and officiated in their proper places wherein each order was appointed to stand as they were accustom'd to do before Ahaz's time who put them all out of order The Porters stood in their places the Singers in theirs and the Levites that assisted the Priests in theirs according to the ordinances delivered by Moses The Priests also sprinkled the blood of the sacrifice upon the Altar having received it from the hands of the Levites And then there being many of the Priests that were not sanctified the Levites that were sanctified had the charge of killing the Paschal lambs and other sacrifices that were to be offered And this was done to keep the sacrifices from being polluted as they would have been if unsanctified persons had offered them And many of the people that were of the Tribe of Ephraim and Manasseh Issachar and Zebulun had not cleansed themselves according to those rites that were enjoined to such as were to eat of the Passover and yet through ignorance did adventure to eat of the Passover whereupon God gave some visible evidence of his displeasure against them which Hezekiah observing prayed to the Lord for them saying Good Lord pardon every one that setteth his heart in truth and sincerity to seek the Lord God of his Fathers though he hath failed through ignorance in the use of those external rites of cleansing required of him and is not cleansed according to the purification of the Sanctuary nor hath used such means of purifying himself as are prescrib'd to such as come to Gods holy place And the Lord heard the prayer of Hezekiah and remov'd the judgment he had inflicted on them So they kept the Feast of the Passover seven days with great gladness and the Priests and the Levites praised the Lord day by day singing and praising the Lord on loud instruments of musick And Hezekiah encouraged and spake comfortably unto all the Levites that taught the good knowledg of the Lord and the people did eat joyfully every day of the Feast and offered peace-offerings and made confession of their sins to the Lord. And the King Princes and Priests and all the chief of the assembly advising together resolved to keep other seven days to the Lord which though it was besides the Law yet the case being extraordinary God accepted their holy zeal and they did accordingly keep them with great gladness And the King gave to that great assembly and congregation a thousand bullocks and seven thousand sheep and the Princes gave them a thousand bullocks and ten thousand sheep that they might offer part to the Lord and eat the remainder themselves in those days of Feasting and that those of the Ten Tribes that were there present might be the better entertained And a great number of Priests though they were backward before yet now seeing the great need of their pains and beholding the zeal of others they sanctified themselves and put themselves on to forward the service of the Lord. And that vast congregation of all sorts there met together greatly rejoiced and there was such joy in Jerusalum at this time as since the days of Solomon and the division of the Kingdoms there had not been the like And the Priests that descended from Levi blessed the people according to Numb 6.23 c. and their voice was heard and their prayer came up to Gods holy dwelling place even to Heaven and the blessing which the Priests pronounced God was pleased to ratifie 2 Chron. 30. wh Ch. When these things were finished all the Israelites which were there present about the end of the 2d said month being incouraged by the King went forth through all the other Cities of Judah and brake down the Images and cut down the Groves and destroyed the high places and Altars throughout the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and even throughout all the Cities of Ephraim and Manasseh that were under the dominion of the King of Judah until they had finished the work they went about which being done they returned every one to his own home in their several Countries 2 Chron. 31.1 Hezekiah went yet further and brake in pieces the brazen Serpent which Moses had set up Numb 21.9 to cure such as were stung with fiery Serpents which being kepâ— as a monument of Gods grace goodnâ—ss and mercy to them many of the people were so superstitious as to yield to it Divine honour this good King therefore brake it in pieces that God might be no longer dishonoured by it For when things lawful and useful are perverted to Idolatry they may lawfully be destroyed And Hezekiah called it Nehustan that is a little piece of brass intimating to them there was no deity in it and therefore no worship to be done unto it 2 King 18.4 Then King Hezekiah took order that the Priests and Levites should serve every one of them in his office and course and should minister and do the service belonging to their places and praise the Lord in the gates of the tents of the Lord that is within the gates of the Temple which by reason of the several Courts and buildings and Chambers belonging to it were as Tents in a Camp for the several orders of Ministers that belonged to it to lodg in And whereas the morning and evening-sacrifice and the sacri ices appointed for the Sabbaths and New-Mâ—ons and other set and solemn Festivals were ordinarily to
for us Isaiah bids them return this answer to Hezekiah Thus saith the Lord Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard wherewith the servants of the King of Assyria have blasphemed behold I will send a blast upon him which shall blow him out of this land as the dust or chaff is blown before the wind and he shall hear a rumour of the destruction of a vast number of his Souldiers and Commanders in one night and shall return to Nineveh his chief City and there I will cause him to fall by the sword 2 King 18. from v. 13. to the end 2 King 19. from v. 1 to 8. Isai 36. whole Chapter Isai 37. from v. 1 to 8. Rabshakeh finding that he could neither threaten nor flatter the inhabitants of Jerusalem into a surrender leaving his Army before the City he went presently to Sennacherib whom he found risen from before Lachish and besieging Libna to inform him of the state of things at Jerusalem as also perhaps to confer with him about opposing Tirhakah King of Ethiopia who as he understood was now coming with his Army against them Sennacherib therefore that he might use all possible means to terrifie Hezekiah into a speedy surrender that so he might the better attend the motion of Tirhakah's Army he sends other messengers to him who brought a threatning message by word of mouth and spake to him after the same rate that Rabshakeh had done before they did not indeed mention the persidiousness of Egypt nor the weakness of Hezekiab's Army as Rabshakeh had done but understanding that Hezekiah relyed wholly on God therefore they endeavour to affright him from that confidence by telling him with what ill success other Nations had relyed on their gods instancing in Gozan and Haran Rezeph and the people of Eden all as 't is like regions of Mesopotamia and several other people and therefore they would have perswaded him that he had little reason to trust and relye on his God They also brought with them a blasphemous and threatning Letter from the King of Assyria which Hezekiah having received and read he went up to the Temple and there spread it before the Lord and poured forth unto him a most fervent prayer with many tears humbly and earnestly begging his help in this his great extremity He humbly intreats the Lord to take notice of and to revenge the horrible blasphemies of that daring wretch the King of Assyria against his great and glorious Majesty His prayer was after this manner O Lord of hosts God of Israel who dwellest between the Cherubims on the Mercy-seat and thence art wont to manifest thy gracious presence and thy power to thy poor people Thou art God even thou alone and all the Kingdoms of the earth are thine Thou hast made heaven and earth and all things therein are subject unto thee Incline thine ear O Lord and hear the blasphemous words of Sennacherib's Letter which I here present before thee and open thine eyes and see the blasphemies he hath written therein Hear I pray thee and take notice of all these blasphemous railings wherewith he hath blasphemed and reproached thee the living God Of a truth O Lord the Kings of Assyria have laid wast the Nations they warred against and have cast their gods into the fire for they were no gods but the works of mens hands wood and stone and therefore 't is no wonder they destroyed them But thou art the ever living and true God a God of infinite power and might Therefore we pray thee save us save us out of the hands of the King of Assyria that all the Kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art God and thou only Hezekiah having ended his prayer Isaiah sent unto him this message Thus saith the Lord God of Israel whereas thou hast prayed unto me against Sennacherib King of Assyria this is the word which I have spoken concerning him The virgin-daughter of Sion * The inhabitants of any City or Country are call'd the virgin-daughter of it because delicately and tenderly brought up by their mother as a virgin-daughter and because Jerusalem was fair beautiful and comely as a virgin useâ—h to be in regard of the Temple and other excellencies thereof shall (a) Isaiah Ch. 37.22 Hath despised thee Enallage temporis a praeterperfect Tense for a future despise and laugh thee to scorn O King of Assyria and shake her head at thee to wit when she shall see thine Army destroyed And consider O thou blasphemous wretch who it is whom thou hast reproached and blasphemed and against whom thou hast lifted up thine eyes so high and carried thy self so proudly is it not against the holy one of Israel By Rabshakeh and his companions thy servants thou hast reproached the Lord and hast said By the multitude of my Chariots am I come up to the heigth of the mountains as if thou shouldest have said the strongest places of the Kingdom have I subdued and passed through as a conquerour even those that seemed most inaccessible and am come to the sides of * From the famous Forrest of Lebanon Jerusalem is here call'd Lebanon by a Metaphor Lebanon that is to their chief City and strength the City of Jerusalem where the King his Nobles and Princes dwell are like tall cedars and firr-trees in Lebanon and will cut down the tall-cedars and the choice firr-trees thereof that is I will destroy the Nobles and Princes of Jerusalem and will enter into the lodgings of his border that is will possess my self of his frontier-Towns and will enter into the forrest of his Carmel or by an hypallage into the Carmel of his forrest that is his most excellent and pleasant hill viz. mount Sion on which the most pleasant objects in Jerusalem were seated Thou further sayest I have digged and drunk strange waters and with the soles of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places that is when I have come to places destitute of water even there have I digged up new fountains where none were before and where Cities have been invironed with great and deep waters no sooner have I set my foot there to besiege them but with the multitude of my Souldiers I have dried them up †Hereby an intimation is given that he laughed to scorn Hezekiah's policy in cutting off the waters about Jerusalem and in Thrasonical manner seems to boast that there was nothing he could not do by his own strength nor any places he could not subdue by his own power But though thou boastest so much of thy power in subduing Cities and Countries hast thou not heard that I the Lord of Heaven and Earth long ago contriv'd and determin'd what thou shouldst do viz. that thou shouldst lay wast defenced Cities and turn them into ruinous heaps see Isa 10.5 c. And accordingly I have now brought it to pass And thence it was that the inhabitants of those places were of so small