we read in the eighth Chapter of Genesis about the Deluge doth refer to this custom where we find Noah sending forth the Dove and the Raven on the seventh day which plainly hints to us his observing of that day for it seems that Noah having in an especial manner on that solemn day implored the assistance of God in the Assembly of his Family he expected a particular Blessing from it And we cannot but make some Reflexion on that which we read in the XXIX of Genesis concerning the term of a Week set apart to the Nuptials of Leah Gen. XXIX 27. where at the twenty seventh Verse Laban thus expresses himself Fulfil her Week and we will give thee this also for the Service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other Years This Week here doth so plainly signifie a Week of days that it cannot be more naturally express'd and indeed all generally understand by this Week of the Marriage Feast of Leah that term of time which in succeeding Ages hath been customary to allot to Nuptial Festivals as appears from the Book of Esther where the Wedding Feast of Vasthi lasted seven days this term of seven days having so long since been Consecrated to Nuptial Rejoycings The same we may also gather from the time which was ordinarily allotted to mourning for the Dead to which we find the Patriarchs allotted a term proportion'd to that of their rejoicing For as we see that the Egyptians mourned ten Weeks for Jacob because of his Quality as being the Father of Joseph so we find that Joseph and those that accompanied him mourned seven days at his Enterment in the Land of Canaan And as we find that this Custom was perpetually afterwards observ'd by the Jews as appears from Ecclesiasticus XXII 12. so likewise we find the same observed by the Asiaticks as may be seen in the History of Ammianus Marcellinus at the beginning of his nineteenth Book De fide Resur in obitu Sat. p. 321. Seven days were fulfilled after that the Lord had smote the River Jalkut in h. l. and from them it passed to the Christians as we find in St. Ambrose Thirdly It appears from Exod. VII 25. that God observed seven days after he had smote the River to change the Waters thereof into Blood from whence the Jews conclude that the three Plagues Viz. that of Blood of Frogs and of Lice abode on the Land of Egypt six days and were withdrawn on the seventh which is the Sabbath We may also gather if we calculate the time exactly that the Jews in Egypt observed the Sabbath We find from the History of their departure out of Egypt that the same happened on a Thursday being the fifteenth of the Month Nisan and the day in which they sung those Hymns of Deliverance was the Sabbath which God had particularly set apart for this Week It is also evident from Exod. XVI that the keeping of the Sabbath was observ'd by the Israelites before the Law was given on Mount Sinai For we find God speaking there concerning the Sabbath not as of a thing newly instituted but as of an antient Law which they wer e not to transgress by gathering the Manna on that day for he orders them to gather a double portion the sixth day and not to gather any on the seventh We see that the Israelites resting on the seventh day is here supposed a known and customary thing prescribed to them by a Law of old They who went forth to gather Manna on the seventh day are represented as Transgressors of a known Law as appears from the words of the Lord to Moses How long refuse ye to keep my Commandments and my Laws Moses also speaks of the Sabbath which was to be the next day as of a thing customary and received amongst them To morrow saith he at v. 23. is the rest of the Sabbath of holiness unto the Lord words which would have been unintelligible to the Israelites and express'd a Law altogether impracticable in case they had been destitute of any further knowledge concerning it and had not been acquainted that it was the very day in which the great work of Creation had been finished My fourth Observation I take from the very words of the Decalogue where first of all we find God speaking in this manner Remember the Sabbath day which words clearly import Exod. XX. 8. that the Law he gave was not a new Law but indeed as old as the World and which had been observed by their Forefathers It seems probable also that God expresses himself in these terms because the Tyranny of Pharaoh had forc'd them to break this Law by obliging them to deliver their Tale of Bricks every day without excepting the Sabbath which before he had allowed them to keep This is explained very distinctly in the fifth of Exodus and seems to have been the occasion of Moses's demanding Straw of Pharaoh for the Israelites to go and Sacrifice in answer to which demand Exod. V. 5. Pharaoh expresses himself in terms which shew that formerly they had observed a rest on that day However it be yet thus much is apparent that God commands them to make their Bond Servants to observe the Sabbath because the Egyptians by their example inclin'd them not to be very careful in exempting them from all labour on that day Moreover in the second place we are to take notice that in the last words of the fourth Commandment God speaks of it as of a thing formerly appointed and determin'd by him saying For in six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth and rested the seventh day wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it which words have a manifest and undeniable reference to that which happen'd the seventh day after the Creation and to the Law then given to Man concerning it We may gather from the fourth Chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews that the sense which we have put upon the third Verse of the second of Genesis is the same which the Jews have always had of it The Apostle discoursing from those words of David Psal XCV To whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest doth suppose a threefold rest the first of which is the rest of the Sabbath of which mention is made in the second of Genesis where we have the first institution of it the second was the rest in the Land of Canaan promised to the Jews upon their enduring all those Tryals in the Wilderness the third the rest in Heaven of which the two foregoing were but the Figures He argues therefore that these words of David could not be understood concerning the Sabbath day forasmuch as from the beginning of the World Men entred into that rest of the Sabbath and he proves this by that passage in Genesis of which he only cites the first words viz. That God rested the seventh day from all his works as supposing that the Jews
Countrey his People and the Temple in the manner which is recorded in the Book of Kings How could a sufficient number of Copies of it be dispersed over all his Kingdom in an instant to inform the People about the Ceremonials of the Passover which soon after was so Solemnly celebrated by them Or how is it possible that the Levites the Priests and People could have been all of the suddain instructed in all the points to be observed in the performing of that Holy Solemnity It is apparent that the Sacred Historian did for no other reason take notice of this Circumstance that the Book found was of Moses own hand Writing but to make it appear that their devout respect for this Book was not wholly stifled as having been by them carefully hid from the fury of their Idolatrous Kings and laid up in some secret place of the Temple where now they had so happily found it again Over and above what hath been said already we are to observe that how great soever the wickedness of the Kings of Juda and Israel was as well as that of their Subjects yet the same generally consisted in nothing else but the imitation of the Worship of their Neighbour Natitions as to some particulars which tho they were forbid by the Law yet they left the far greater part of their Religion in full force This we have an instance of in the time of Ahab where we find Elijah reproaching the Israelites with the Monstrous Alliance they had made betwixt the Worship of God and that of Baal which Queen Jesabel had introduc'd All this clearly proves that the Book of Genesis which is the first of the Books of Moses was never forged under his Name since it was always owned as the Writing of that Famous Author and is still so acknowledged by the Jews at this day CHAP. VII That it appears from Genesis that the Sabbath was constantly observed from the beginning of the World until Moses THe other Objection of the Atheists supposing that Moses was the Author of Genesis as we have now proved is this that it seems absurd to give credit to the Relations of a Person who lived so many Ages distant from the things he recites To answer this Objection we must first of all declare to them by what means the Memory of the Fact which Moses relates was preserv'd so lively and entire as to give Moses so distinct a knowledge of them and that it was not in his power to forge or add any thing of his own it being a thing known to the whole World as well as himself There is no way whereby we can more solidly evince that it is impossible the Creation of the World should be forged by Moses than by making it appear that the Law of the Sabbath hath a natural Relation to the Creation of the World and that it hath been always constantly observed from that time until Moses The same also will help us clearly to conceive after what manner the Memory of the Promise of the Messiah hath been preserv'd so distinct amongst those that lived since the Creation until Moses We are no sooner inform'd that the Sabbath is a solemn day ordain'd at first to celebrate and perpetuate the Memory of the Creation but we judge it impossible that so important an event commemorated every seventh day by vertue of a Divine Law should be an imposture But forasmuch as this impossibility is grounded on these two Propositions the one that God gave this Law of the Sabbath to the first Man the other that the same was observed by his Posterity ever since till the time of Moses and that God only renew'd it in the Law given from Mount Sinai these are the Truths I am now to clear and it is of more importance to be proved because tho the generality of Authors Ancient and Modern Jews as well as Christians are of this Opinion yet there are some of the Christian Fathers who seem to deny that the Sabbath was ever observ'd by the Patriarchs But it will be an easie matter to prove from Moses that the Antiquity of the Sabbath is such as I assert and at the same time to demonstrate the truth of the Creation as well as of the Promise of the Messiah which in a manner immediately follow'd it Moses in the second Chapter of Genesis Gen. II. 3. expresses himself thus And God blessed the seventh day and Sanctified it because that in it he had rested from all his work which he had Created Which words clearly evince a Solemn Consecration of the seventh day to God's Service by its being made a Commemoration of his finishing the Creation of the Heavens and the Earth But because it may be said that the intent of Moses in this place was only to set down the reason why God set apart this day of all others to his Service by the Law at Mount Sinai we are to take notice that this appointment was made for Man's sake already placed in the Garden of Eden This we may gather from the order Moses observes For he sets down first the Formation of Man on the sixth day and his being plac'd in Paradise which he gives a more particular account of in the second Chapter and after these he relates God's resting from his Works and the Consecration of the Sabbath with the reason of that Law which he impos'd on Man and then adds These are the Generations of the Heavens and of the Earth when they were Created in the day that the Lord God made the Heaven and the Earth All that precedes these words is only a Relation of what pass'd in the seven first days and that which Moses sets down concerning Gods blessing of the seventh day and his Consecrating it ought as well to be accounted a Law appointing the seventh day for his Service as those other Blessings given to the Creatures according to their kinds are acknowledged as inviolable Laws of God by virtue whereof they subsist and are perpetuated each according to their kind by the way of Generation In the second place it is very remarkable that the Patriarchs maintain'd a Publick Worship at least since the time of Seth which it was necessary should be determined to some certain day and since we find that even at this time they distinguish'd between Beasts clean and unclean with respect to their Sacrifices which they could not do but from Revelation we have much more reason to conclude that God had set apart a time for own Worship and Service And indeed there are many evident signs that even then the 7 day was observed Kimchi Praefat in Psalmos I will not here peremptorily assert that antient Tradition of the Jews which tells us that the ninety second Psalm whose Title is a Psalm for the Sabbath was made by Adam himself who was made on the Evening of the Sabbath But this I dare assert that it is apparent Gen. VIII 10.12 that what
little more than forty years interval betwixt the Conquest of Canaan by Joshua and the Bondage of the Israelites under the Neighbouring Nations Had it not been a fit time then to cast off the Yoak of Moses's Laws and to publish the pretended Lies and Impostures of his History Was not the Comparison which the Israelites could easily make betwixt the Mosaick Writings and the Tradition generally received in the Countrey of their Captivity a natural and ready means to undeceive them Yet notwithstanding all this we see that they obstinately entertain the belief of the several Transactions recorded by Moses and stand firmly to all their Pretensions Nay we see them have recourse to the Remedy of Repentance which Moses prescribed them to use in those sad Misfortunes which he foretold should befal them and out of which he promis'd at the same time that God would miraculously deliver them which indeed was done accordingly even fourteen times within less than four hundred years as is manifest from the Book of Judges Can there then be a more pregnant Argument that if Moses made it Death by one of his Sanctions for any of the Israelites to contest the truth either of his Writings or of his Oracles and Miracles it was not to force the belief of them without examination but rather only to prevent the corruption of that People and their mingling and confounding themselves with the Heathens which God intended to hinder on purpose because he would have the Messiah to be born according to his Promise out of that Nation which to effect he thought fit in his infinâ—â—e Wisdom to employ the rigour of some Capital Laws to keep that people unmixt and distinguish'd from all other Nations of the World till the Messiah was born CHAP. XXII The Consequences of what we have proved in our foregoing Observations upon the Book of Genesis THese several Observations which I have made upon the Book of Genesis are all I think very natural and easie and if I am not mistaken sufficient to prove solidly the truth of Moses's Account of the Creation of the World and of the Promise of the Messiah which is the foundation of the Christian Religion The Conclusion that I draw out of the Premises is That First I assert that Moses that famous Hebrew who was design'd to be the Heir of Pharaoh's Daughter is the true and sole Author of the Book of Genesis Secondly I maintain that this being once granted he could not according to his way of Writing record those important Transactions he relates otherwise than they really came to pass Thirdly I maintain that tho he had not been an Eye Witness of the Creation of the World yet he hath made the Description of it according to such an Authentick Tradition as cannot be reasonably doubted of because it was then the Universal Tradition not only of the Moabites of the Ammonites of the Ishmaelites and of the Edomites who were all of Sem's Posterity and amongst whom he had been travelling for forty years together but also of the Egyptians of his own People and in a word of all Men then living in the World. Fourthly I maintain that he never was found fault with nor contradicted till true Reason and Sence if I may say so was lost and banish'd from amongst Mankind till the Egyptians for example they who used before to look upon the Greeks as meer Children and Ideots were fallen into so great a Stupidity and Deprivation of Sence as to believe and maintain that Men were first born in Egypt because forsooth Frogs did naturally as they thought breed out of their Muddy Fenns and Marshes Fifthly I maintain that for many Ages after Moses no body did ever publickly declare for the Eternity of the World nor yet for its Fortuitous Production These Opinions are meer Absurdities and Chimeras brought forth into the World by the Chaldeans and Greeks only about Alexander's time or perhaps an hundred years before him i. e. about eleven or twelve hundred years after Moses's Decease Sixthly I maintain that seeing there is no particular time to be found wherein the reading of the Law was interrupted and discontinued for any considerable time amongst the Jews seeing it continues still to this very hour amongst them every Sabbath day in the several places of the World wherein they are dispersed and seeing besides that it is certain that this Law which enjoyns the Observation of the Sabbath in remembrance of the Creation could never be imposed upon them without their perceiving and declaring presently the Novelty and Supposition of that Account and consequently of the Book wherein it is related Seeing all this is certain I do positively maintain that the truth of the Creation can never be better proved than it is by the Book of Genesis because in it Moses hath followed the Tradition of all the Ages that preceded him and only recorded in Writing what was then generally known of all Men in the World and that in a time when every Man was able to run his own Pedigree up to Adam Lastly I maintain that as the certainty of the Creation cannot reasonably be doubted of without rejecting at the same time all those Proofs from Facts which I have brought to strengthen my Assertion So there is all the reason in the World to entertain the belief of it as of a matter of Fact which is indisputable As being Related by the most Ancient Historian Confirmed by the most Ancient Tradition Believed by the most Ancient People of the World who did not only believe it but also had always had according to God's Command the Memory of it Celebrated amongst them and their Ancestors in all their Generations fifty two times in a Year from the very beginning of the World. REFLEXIONS Upon the Four Last BOOKS OF MOSES To Establish the TRUTH OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION PREFACE WHen I began at first these Reflexions upon the Book of Genesis I design'd only to demonstrate the certainty of the Creation of the first Man and so to shew by Arguments from matters of Fact that neither the Creation of the World nor yet the Promise of the Messiah which God made to Man after his sin can reasonably be disputed or doubted of I design'd after that to establish the truth of Christ's Resurrection by such another undeniable Argument viz. by shewing that the Apostles were Eye Witnesses of it and instituted a solemn Day in every Week to celebrate and perpetuate the Memory of it amongst Men from their time down to the end of the World. And this I thought was sufficient to demonstrate the truth of the Christian Religion For as the Jews by the continual Celebration of the Sabbath every Week could easily run back to the Creation of the World which was the occasion of the Institution of the Sabbath so the Christians may by the Weekly Observation of the Lord's day prove Christ's Resurrection which occasioned the Institution of the Lord's day If we consider the
Ben Israel 2. That the Prophet writing in Chaldea followed the Account of the Chaldean Year which consists of 360 days as appears clearly from other passages of this Book where he resolves the Years into Days without regarding the several Days which in a just Calculation were to be intercalated 3. That the Prophet expresses a certain Epocha from whence the counting of these Weeks is to begin viz. an Order to rebuild the Temple which cannot be applyed to that of Cyrus which was in a manner of none effect nor to the Edict of Darius Son of Hystaspes which had regard only to the re-establishing of the Temple nor to that of Artaxerxes given to Ezra in the Seventh Year of the Reign of that Prince because that contained only some particular Priviledges for the Ministers of the Temple but to the Edict which Artaxerxes granted to Nehemiah in the Twentieth Year of his Reign which contains a particular Grant to rebuild the Temple with its Fortifications 4. For though there be but 483 Solar Years from the 20 of Artaxerxes to the first of Cajus Caligula yet we shall find the just Number of 490 Years if we follow the Chaldean way of Calculation in which they reckon 360 Days to a Year And indeed we find just 483 such Years from the 20 Year of Artaxerxes to the time wherein all Judea was in expectation of the Messiah It was then Jesus Christ was baptized He suffer'd Death Three Years and a Half after his Baptism viz. The Nineteenth Year of Tiberius before the Seventh Week was ended and the Term pointed out by Daniel was expired I know that some famous Men begin the Weeks of Daniel from the Second Year of Darius Nothus and make them to end with the Destruction of Jerusalem which happend in the Year 490 accounting from the Second Year of the said Darius and they conceive themselves oblig'd thereto by an Argument they believe invincible because from the Second Year of Darius Nothus to the Thirty Second of Artaxerxes Mnemon they find just Forty nine years that is the Seven Weeks designed by Daniel for rebuilding of the Ruins and fortifying of the City and the rather because Nehemiah return'd to Artaxerxes in the Thirty second Year of his Reign having finished that work Nehemiah XIII 6. But this Opinion cannot stand for these two Reasons which seem to me to be unanswerable The first is Because they suppose that Daniel ends his Seventy Weeks at the Destruction of Jerusalem whereas indeed he saith no such thing but expresly tells us that the Messiah should be cut off in the midst of the Seventieth Week The second is That so without designing it they rob Jesus Christ of the Glory of having determined the Time of the Destruction of Jerusalem as if instead of a Prophecy concerning that Event he had only given us an Explication of that of Daniel Neither will I make any further stop here to observe That that which has given most trouble to Interpreters hath proceeded from the want of making an exact distribution of the different parts of that Prophecy which very distinctly delivers three things 1. The end of the Prophecy which happened after Seven Weeks in the time of Malachy 2. The Death of the Messiah which came to pass in the midst of the last Week of the 490 Years 3. The Peace which was to be made in the midst of one Week that is Three years and an half before the Destructiof Jerusalem which was done not by the Messiah as some have imagined but by the Romans who made Peace with the Parthians Annal. Lib. XV. as is recorded by Tacitus An intelligent Reader will easily judge That this diversity of Opinions concerning the meaning of this Oracle has been occasioned by want of attention to what has been now mentioned Now these Observations being supposed as indeed they are Matters of the greatest Evidence it necessarily follows That the Messiah was to appear before the Destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans The Time is set down so precisely by Daniel as leaves no pretence to doubt of this Truth And indeed tho' the Jews seem presently after the time of our Saviour to have adopted the Opinion I mentioned before as being unwilling to receive the Messiah and therefore carried it to the end of the Seventy Weeks viz. to the Destruction of their Temple notwithstanding Daniel expresly tells us That the Temple was not to be destroyed till after the Appearance of the Messias The Jews I say being convinc'd by the force of this Argument have owned that the Messiah was born at the time of the Destruction of the second Temple but that he has hid himself ever since The second Oracle concerning the Time of the Coming of the Messiah is That of Haggai which expresly tells us that the Messiah was to appear during the second Temple which was begun to be built by the Order of Cyrus finished under Darius Son of Hystaspes and destroyed by Vespasian The Words of the Prophet are as follows Chap. II. vers 7 8 9. And I will shake all Nations and the desire of all Nations shall come and I will fill this House with Glory saith the Lord of Hosts The Silver is mine and the Gold is mine saith the Lord of Hosts The Glory of this latter House shall be greater than that of the former saith the Lord of Hosts and in this place will I give Peace saith the Lord of Hosts It is worth our noting 1. That this Oracle promises a very great change 2. It describes the Messiah as the Expectation of the Gentiles suitable to the Idea God had given of him to Abraham 3. That it fixes the Coming of the Messiah to the Time of the second House that is to say of the Temple built by Zorobabel 4. It makes the Glory of that House to depend upon its being honoured with the presence of the Messiah In short if we would be convinc'd of this Truth we need only consider three things The first is That the Prophets Zachariah and Malachy do represent to us the Coming of the Messiah as near at hand Balaam had said almost Ten Ages before I see him but not nigh which intimated his coming to be then at a great distance But Zechariah speaks thus concerning it Chap. III. vers 8 9 10. Hear now O Joshuah the High Priest thou and thy Fellows that sit before thee for they are men wondred at Behold I will bring forth my Servant the BRANCH For behold the Stone that I have laid before Joshua upon one Stone shall be seven Eyes behold I will engrave the graving thereof saith the Lord of Hosts and I will remove the iniquity of that Land in one day In that day saith the Lord of Hosts shall ye call every man his Neighbour under the Vine and under the Figtree Malachy expresses himself concerning the approaching coming of the Messiah thus Chap. III. verse 1. Behold I will send my Messenger and he
of the shadow of Death upon them hath the light shined Thou hast multiplyed the Nation thou hast encreased the joy they joy before thee according to the joy in Harvest and as men rejoyce when they divide the spoil I shall afterwards take notice That the time of the Messiah was to be distinguished by an incredible abundance of Spiritual Gifts and so this shall suffice at present to prove that the Messiah was to be a very great Prophet CHAP. XVIII That the Messiah was to propound a new Covenant from God with all men THis is a Truth which is easily gathered 1. Because all Nations before they could be made partakers of the Blessing of God by the Messiah according to the promise made to Abraham were first to be received into the Covenant 2. From the nature of that Covenant it self of which Moses was the Mediator the end of which was to separate the Jews from other Nations some of which were not capable of being received amongst them till after several Generations whereas they were to be made partakers of this Blessing by the Messiah 3. Because in effect all the Ceremonial Law was only added to the Moral as it were contrary to God's principal intention and only upon occasion of the Jews worshipping the Golden Calf as St. Gal. 3.19 Paul observes in the Third Chapter of his Epistle to the Galatians Besides it appears that God at divers times had given sufficient hints concerning this 1. He had proposed a new Priesthood of the Messiah which was to abolish the Levitical Priesthood and this is the more remarkable forasmuch as David who pronounced that Oracle Psalm CX was he who first form'd the design of building the Temple to which all the Levitical Service was annexed 2. We find him rejecting in some sort the Levitical Ministry after he had despised it in comparison of the Spiritual Worship Psalm XL. vers 6. Sacrifice and Offering thou didst not desire mine ears hast thou opened Burnt-offering and Sin-offering hast thou not required And Psalm L. vers 8 9 10. I will not reprove thee for thy Sacrifices or thy Burnt-offerings which have been continually before me I will take no Bullocks out of thine House nor He-goats out of thy Folds for every Beast of the Forest is mine and the Cattel upon a thousand Hills And Psalm LI. verse 17. he tells us that the Sacrifices of God are a broken spirit in opposition to the Sacrifices which the Law prescribed and to signifie their imperfection the Law having appointed none for the expiation of Murther or Adultery Isaiah follows David Chap. 1. vers 11 12 13 14 and 15. To what purpose is the multitude of your Sacrifices unto me saith the Lord I am full of the Burnt-offerings of Rams and the fat of fed Beasts and I delight not in the blood of Bullocks or of Lambs or of He-goats When you come to appear before me who hath required this at your hands to tread my Courts Bring no more vain Oblations Incense is an abomination unto me the new Moons and Sabbaths the calling of Assemblies I cannot away with it is iniquity even the solemn meeting Your new Moons and your appointed Feasts my Soul hateth they are a trouble unto me I am weary to bear them And when you spread forth your hands I will hide mine eyes from you yea when ye make many prayers I will not hear your hands are full of blood And Jeremiah speaks much to the same purpose Chap. VII v. 21 22 23. But besides God directly promiseth this new Covenant by Isaiah Chap. XLII vers 6 7. I the Lord have called thee in Righteousness and will hold thine hand and will keep thee and give thee for a Covenant of the People for a Light of the Gentiles To open the blind eyes to bring out the Prisoners from the Prison and them that sit in Darkness from the Prison house It is natural to observe That in this place where God speaks of the Messiah as the Jews themselves confess he expresly declares two things 1. That the Messiah should be a Covenant of the People that is that he should mediate a Covenant between God and the People 2. That the fruit of this Covenant was to extend to the Gentiles which plainly implyes that it was not the old Covenant forasmuch as from it several were excluded The same Covenant is also mention'd Chap. XLIX vers 8 9. Thus saith the Lord in an acceptable time have I heard thee and in a day of salvation have I helped thee and I will preserve thee and give thee for a Covenant of the People to establish the Earth to cause to inherit the desolate Heritages That thou maist say to the Prisoners go forth to them that are in darkness shew your selves they shall feed in the ways and their pastures shall be in all High-places He pursues the same Notion Chap. LV. vers 3 4. Incline your ear and come unto me hear and your soul shall live and I will make an everlasting Covenant with you the sure mercies of David Behold I have given him for a Witness to the People a Leader and Commander to the People Than which nothing can be more particular And to the same purpose he speaks Chap. LXI vers 8 9. For I the Lord love Judgment I hate robbery for Burnt-offering and I will direct their work in truth and I will make an everlasting Covenant with them And their Seed shall be known among the Gentiles and their Off-spring among the people all that see them shall acknowledge them that they are the Seed which the Lord hath blessed It is as clear as the day That God in these Oracles promiseth an irrevocable Covenant because he calls it an Everlasting Covenant in opposition to the former He takes notice also in the same Book That the said Covenant was to be propounded in the midst of the Nations and that then that Blessing of God should be known according to the ancient Oracles which was promised universally to all Nations This is that which God more particularly explains afterwards by the voice and pen of a Prophet who was of the order of Priests thereby to prevent all sorts of Exceptions Jeremiah in effect speaks to the same purpose Chap. XXXI vers 31 32 33 34 35 and 36. Behold the days come saith the Lord that I will make a new Covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah Not according to the Covenant that I made with their Fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the Land of Egypt which my Covenant they brake altho' I were a husband to them saith the Lord But this shall be the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days saith the Lord I will put my Law in their inward parts and write it in their heart and I will be their God and they shall be my people And they shall
teach no more every man his Neighbour saying know the Lord for they shall all know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them saith the Lord for I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their Sin no more Thus saith the Lord which giveth the Sun for a light by day and the Ordinances of the Moon and Stars for a light by night which divideth the Sea when the waves thereof roar the Lord of Hosts is his name If those Ordinances depart from before me saith the Lord then the Seed of Israel also shall cease from being a Nation before me for ever Nothing can be desired more particular than this Oracle 1. It tells us that God would make a new Covenant with his People which supposes an abolishing of the former 2. That this Covenant was not to be like the foregoing 3. That the old Covenant had been made vain and had been broken by those with whom it was made 4. That this Covenant was to be made after those days that is in the time of the Messiah 5. That this new Covenant was not to be engraven in Tables of Stone but in their Hearts 6. That in the same Covenant full Remission of Sin is promised The same thing is also expressed Chap. XXXII vers 40. And I will make an everlasting Covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do them good but I will put my fear in their hearts and they shall not depart from me And Chap. L. vers 5. They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward saying Come and let us joyn our selves to the Lord in a perpetual Covenant that shall not be forgotten To this purpose also Ezechiel who himself was a Priest speaks of a Religious Worship extended to all Nations and of a new Covenant which God was to make with them Chap. XVI vers 60 61 62. Nevertheless I will remember my Covenant with thee in the days of thy youth and I will establish unto thee an everlasting Covenant Then thou shalt remember thy ways and be ashamed when thou shalt receive thy Sisters thy elder and thy younger and I will give them unto thee for Daughters but not by thy Covenant And I will establish my Covenant with thee and thou shalt know that I am the Lord. Here is first a Covenant differing from the former 2. A Covenant wherein other Nations were to be included clearly intimated by the elder and younger Sisters of the Synagogue 3. A Covenant whereby the Gentiles were to enjoy the same Priviledges with the Jews and be incorporated with them Malachy follows the steps of these Prophets when he calls the Messiah the Angel of the Covenant Chap. III. vers 1. Behold I will send my Messenger and he shall prepare the way before me and the Lord whom ye seek shall suddainly come to his Temple even the Messenger Angel of the Covenant whom ye delight in behold he shall come saith the Lord of Hosts I know very well that the Jews apply these words to Elias whose Ministry as they pretend was to consist in leading the Jews to Repentance But if we read the Text with attention we shall find two Messengers mentioned the first who prepare the way of the Messiah and the other is the Messiah himself who is called the Angel of the Covenant as being sent of God to make a new Covenant with men CHAP. XIX That the Jews by a dreadful effect of their blindness were to reject the Messiah THis is a very peculiar Mark which will guide us surely to the knowledge of the Messiah We find the Jews at this day very ready to follow every one that usurps that August Title and to take him for the only true Messiah that was promised them which is no other than what was infallibly to come to pass Neither will this much surprize us if we consider 1. That this People on divers occasions have given very strange instances of a prodigious blindness We see them reject Moses notwithstanding God had authoriz'd his Call by great and avowed Miracles Yea we find them rejecting David also whom God had so signally appointed to be their King and the Father of the Messiah of whom we hear these Prophecies 2. That God upbraids them with this blindness by his Prophets as a sin to which they were peculiarly inclin'd as appears from Psalm LXIX vers 23 24 25 26 27 and 28. Let their eyes be darkned that they see not and make their Loins continually to shake Pour out thine indignation upon them and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them Let their habitation be desolate and let none dwell in their Tents for they persecute him whom thou hast smitten and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded Add iniquity to their iniquity and let them not come into thy Righteousness Let them be blotted out of the Book of the Living and not be written with the Righteous One see 's the same thing in Isaiah Chap. VI. vers 9 10 11 and 12. where the Spirit of God foretells that the Jews should shut their eyes against the most evident and convincing proofs imaginable Go saith the Lord to the Prophet and tell this people Hear ye indeed but understand not and see ye indeed but perceive not Make the heart of this people fat and their ears heavy and shut their eyes lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and convert and be healed Then said I Lord how long And he answered untill the Cities be wasted without inhabitant and the houses without man and the Land be utterly desolate and the Lord have removed men far away and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the Land. Nothing can be imagined more particular than this Oracle concerning the Jews resisting the Prophet which God expresses in terms very usual amongst the Prophets as if Isaiah who was only the foreteller of their being hardned should himself be the cause of it The Prophet Hoseah describes the very same Complaints of God against the Jews for their blindness and ignorance for which he denounces their destruction Hos IV. vers 1 2 3 4 5 and 6. Hear the word of the Lord ye children of Israel for the Lord has a controversie with the inhabitants of the Land because there is no truth nor mercy nor knowledge of God in the Land. By swearing and lying and killing and stealing and committing adultery they break out and blood toucheth blood Therefore shall the Land mourn and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish with the Beasts of the Field and with the Fowls of Heaven yea the Fishes of the Sea also shall be taken away Yet let no man strive or reprove another for thy people are as they that strive with the Priest Therefore shalt thou fall in the day and the Prophet also shall fall with thee in the night and I will destroy thy Mother
can no way agree with the Prophet that uttered them Thus we find that in the XXII Psalm there are many Expressions which cannot be applyed to David 3. That most of these Prophecies are avowedly attributed to the Messiah by the most ancient Authors of the Synagogue And the modern Jews themselves refer them to some that suffer'd a violent Death as to Rabbi Akiba who died in the second Century 4. That the Apostles unanimously applyed them to Jesus Christ the true Messiah following therein the general consent of their Nation CHAP. XXI That the Messiah was soon after to rise again FOrasmuch as Death entred into the World by Sin and that the Messiah was to take it away we may easily conceive That if the Messiah were according to the Divine disposal to submit to Death that he could not long continue subject to it He who was to restore life to those who were dead could never be confin'd and imprison'd in a Grave and he who was superiour to Enoch and Elias who ascended into Heaven because he alone was exalted to the right hand of God to reign there for ever as the Prophecies concerning him assure us ought certainly to leave his Sepulchre by a glorious Resurrection And this we are positively assured of by the ancient Oracles Psalm XVI vers 10 11. Thou wilt not leave my soul in Hell neither wilt thou suffer thine holy One to see corruption Thou wilt shew me the path of life in thy presence is fulness of joy at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore And to assure us that these and the like passages are applicable to none but the Messiah we find in the same Psalms expressions too high to be applyed to the Authors themselves As for example Psalm XXX vers 1 2 3. I will extol thee O Lord for thou hast lifted me up and hast not made my foes to rejoyce over me O Lord my God I cried unto thee and thou hast healed me O Lord thou hast brought up my soul from the Grave thou hast kept me alive that I should not go down to the pit And Psalm XLI vers 8 9 10. An evil disease say they cleaveth fast unto him and now that he lieth he shall rise up no more Yea mine own familiar Friend in whom I trusted which did eat of my bread hath lift up his heel against me But thou O Lord be merciful unto me and raise me up that I may requite them And Psalm XLIX verse 15. But God will redeem my soul from the power of the Grave for he shall receive me Psalm LVI vers 11 12 13. In God have I put my trust I will not be afraid what man can do unto me Thy Vows are upon me O God I will render praise unto thee For thou hast delivered my soul from death c. Psalm LXXII verse 20. Thou who hast shewed me great and sore troubles shalt quicken me again and shall bring me up again from the depths of the Earth Psalm CXLIII vers 11 12. Quicken me O Lord for thy names sake for thy righteousness sake bring my soul out of trouble and of thy mercy cut off mine Enemies and destroy all them that afflict my soul for I am thy Servant Hosea speaks to the same purpose Chap. XIII vers 14. I will ransom them from the power of the Grave I will redeem them from death O Death I will be thy plagues O Grave I will be thy destruction Repentance shall be hid from mine eyes Isaiah expresses the very same thing Chap. XXV vers 8. He will swallow up death in victory and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces and the rebuke of his people shall he take from off all the Earth for the Lord hath spoken it And yet more expresly Chap. LIII vers 10 and 11. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him he hath put him to grief when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin he shall see his Seed he shall prolong his days and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand He shall see of the travel of his soul and shall be satisfied by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justifie many for he shall bear their iniquities For the better understanding of which passages we are to observe 1. That the Messiah in many or most of them compriseth all Believers with himself according to that Maxim of the Jews who attribute to the Messiah the greatest of all the Prophets whatsoever God vouchsafed to any one of the Prophets and according to this Principle Jesus Christ speaks Matth. XII vers 39 40. An evil and adulterous Generation seeketh after a sign and there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of the Prophet Jonah For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the Whales belly so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the Earth 2. That upon this account the Messiah is represented to us not as rising again alone but as making all his Brethren partakers of the same glory which makes the Prophets speak of him not as a single person but in common with others who by him are made possessors of the same advantages 3. That most of these Texts were quoted by the Apostles who in so doing followed the sense of the whole Nation as appears from Acts II. vers 24 25 26 27 28 and 29. Whom God hath raised having loosed the pains of death because it was not possible that he should be holden of it For David speaketh concerning him I foresaw the Lord always before my face for he is at my right hand that I should not be moved Therefore did my heart rejoice and my tongue was glad moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope because thou wilt not leave my soul in Hell neither wilt thou suffer thy holy One to see Corruption Thou hast made known to me the ways of life thou shalt make me full of joy with thy Countenance Men and Brethren let me freely speak unto you of the Patriarch David that he is both dead and buried and his Sepulchre is with us unto this day And Acts XIII vers 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 and 37. But God raised him from the dead And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem who are his witnesses unto the people And we declare unto you glad tidings how that the Promise which was made unto the Fathers God hath fulfilled the same unto us their Children in that he hath raised up Jesus again as it is also written in the second Psalm Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead now no more to return to corruption he said on this wise I will give you the sure mercies of David Wherefore he saith also in another Psalm Thou shalt not suffer thine holy One to see corruption For David after
he had served his own Generation by the will of God fell asleep and was gathered to his Fathers and saw corruption But he whom God raised again saw no corruption In like manner we find St. Paul alluding to that of Hosea XIII vers 14. in I Cor. XV. vers 55. O Death where is thy sting O Grave where is thy victory CHAP. XXII That the Messiah was to ascend into Heaven and send down from thence the miraculous Gifts of Prophecy Languages c. THis was a thing which might rationally enough be expected Deut. XVIII 18. for the Messiah being to resemble Moses who had not only the Gifts of the Holy Spirit himself but also in a manner communicated the same to the Heads of the Congregation of Israel it was reasonable to infer That the Messiah was to receive much more eminent Gifts and to communicate them to far greater numbers But besides this God had expresly promised it by David Psalm CX vers 1 2. where he represents the Messiah sitting at the right hand of God. The Lord said unto my Lord sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool The Lord shall send the Rod of thy strength out of Zion Rule thou in the midst of thine Enemies It is worth our noting that Daniel represents to us the same Notion where he speaks of the Kingdom of the Messiah Chap. VII vers 13 14. I saw in the night visions and behold one like the Son of Man came with the Clouds of Heaven and came to the Ancient of Days and they brought him near before him And there was given him Dominion and Glory and a Kingdom that all People Nations and Languages should serve him his Dominion is an everlasting Dominion which shall not pass away and his Kingdom that which shall not be destroyed Where doth God dwell unless in Heaven David expresses himself in term which import something too great to be applyed to the Symbolical Ark of the Covenant Psalm XXIV vers 7 8 9. Lift up your heads O ye Gates and be ye lift up ye everlasting Doors and the King of Glory shall come in Who is this King of Glory the Lord strong and mighty the Lord mighty in Battel c. He speaks further of the glorious Kingdom of the Messiah Psalm XLV vers 5 6 7. Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the Kings enemies whereby the people fall under thee Thy Throne O God is for ever and ever the Scepter of thy Kingdom is a right Scepter Thou lovest righteousness and hatest wickedness therefore God thy God hath anointed thee with the oyl of Gladness above thy fellows 'T is evident that David addresses himself there to the Messiah because he stiles him a God anointed above his Fellows And he pursues the same Idea Psalm LXVIII vers 18. Thou hast ascended on high thou hast led captivity captive thou hast received gifts for men yea for the rebellious also that the Lord God might dwell amongst them Nothing can be imagined more express than these words which lively represent to us the Ascension of the Messiah and the pouring forth of Prophetical Gifts to bring the Heathens to the Service of God. Isaiah speaks the same Chap. XLIV vers 3. For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground I will pour my Spirit upon thy Seed and my Blessing upon thine Off-spring The waters here spoken of according to the ordinary stile of the Prophets are nothing else but the Graces of God's Spirit Joel expresses himself very plainly in this matter Chap. II. vers 28 29 30 31 32. And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh and your sons and your daughters shall prophesie your old men shall dream dreams your young men shall see visions And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit And I will shew wonders in the Heavens and in the Earth blood and fire and pillars of smoke The Sun shall be turned into darkness and the Moon into blood before the great and terrible Day of the Lord come And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the Name of the Lord shall be delivered for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance as the Lord hath said and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call Nothing can be conceived more particular than this Oracle concerning the effusion of the Prophetical Gifts upon the Servants of the Messiah after his Ascension For 1. he clearly hints at the several ways of Prophecy which shall be bestowed upon the Subjects of the Messiah 2. That this great Event was to be before the Destruction of Jerusalem which St. Peter foretels as a thing at the Door Acts II. vers 30 31 32. after he had shewed that the wonderful effusion of the Spirit at Pentecost was a litteral accomplishing of the Prophecy of Joel he adds Therefore being a Prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an Oath to him that of the fruit of his loins according to the flesh he would raise up Christ to sit on his Throne he seeing this before spake of the Resurrection of Christ that his Soul was not left in Hell neither his Flesh did see Corruption This Jesus has God raised up whereof we all are witnesses Ezechiel goes on with the same views with Joel Chap. XXXVI vers 26 and 27. A new heart also will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you an heart of flesh And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my Statutes and ye shall keep my Judgments and do them And Chap. XXXIX verse 29. Neither will I hide my face any more from them for I have poured out my Spirit upon the House of Israel saith the Lord God. And Zachariah agrees with both the foregoing Prophets Chap. XII verse 10. And I will pour upon the House of David and upon the Inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of Grace and of Supplications and they shall look upon him whom they have pierced and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only Son and shall be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his First-born 'T is obvious to make these following Observations upon these Oracles 1. That the Messiah was to be raised above the reach of any of his Enemies 2. That he was to ascend to Heaven and to be instated there in Glory in order to his being dignified and glorified above all Nations 3. That he was from thence to send down Prophetical Graces plentifully which made his entrance into Heaven a kind of Triumph 4. That this great Event was to precede the destruction of Jerusalem to which the Prophet Joel in the fore-cited place seems to allude The Messiah was to form
a new Society which was to be regulated not by the Laws given on Mount Sinai but by those which were to be published from Mount Zion CHAP. XXIII That the Gentiles in the time of the Messiah were to be called to the Knowledge of the true God THis Article being one of the most important and most visible Characters of the Times of the Messiah and also the great effect of his Ministry we see that God had a particular care to divulge the same by a multitude of Prophetical Representations of it For not only had he declared that the Seed of the Woman should bruise the Serpents head Gen. III. 15. that is the Works of the Devil And we can't deny but that the Errors and Idolatries of the Gentiles and their Vices which arise from thence were the Fruits of Sin which this unhappy Spirit brought into the World. It was not only foretold that God would perswade Japhet to dwell in the Tents of Sem Gen. IX 27. by uniting the Posterities of both those Patriarchs in one and the same Religion Not only had he signified that the Messiah should reign over the Children of Seth that is over all the Posterity of Noah the Off-spring of Cham not excepted Not only had he foretold that all Nations Kindreds Gen. XII Ch. XVIII XXII and Families should be blessed in the Messiah But God went much further afterwards for as the Light of the Revelation encreased so the same was declared more distinctly For 1. The Patriarch Jacob tells that the Messiah should be the desire and expectation of all Nations Gen. XLIX verse 10. The Scepter shall not depart from Judah nor a Law-giver from between his feet until Shiloh come and unto him shall the gathering of the people be 2. Moses threatens the Jews that if they despised the Law of God Strangers that is Gentiles should be preferred before them Deut. XXVIII verse 43. The Stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high and thou shalt come down very low The same Prophet menaceth them from God that he would stir up their jealousie by calling a foolish people to his Service and Worship Deut. XXXII verse 21. They have moved me to jealousie with that which is not God they have provoked me to anger with their vanities and I will move them to jealousie with those which are not a people I will provoke them to anger with a foolish Nation Nothing can be said more express and particular than these last words of that great Law giver and Founder of the State of the Jews 3. David sets forth the Empire of the Messiah as that which was to reach over all the Earth Psalm II. verse 8. Ask of me and I shall give thee the Heathen for thine Inheritance and the uttermost parts of the Earth for thy possession And Psalm XXII vers 27 28 29 30. All the ends of the World shall remember and turn unto the Lord and all the Kingdoms of the Nations shall worship before thee For the Kingdom is the Lords and he is the Governour amongst the Nations All they that be fat upon the Earth shall eat and worship all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him A Seed shall serve him it shall be accounted to the Lord for a Generation Psalm LXXII vers 8 9 10 11. He shall have Dominion from Sea to Sea and from the River unto the ends of the Earth They that dwell in the Wilderness shall bow before him and his Enemies shall lick the dust The Kings of Tarshish and of the Isles shall bring presents the Kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer Gifts Yea all Kings shall fall down before him all Nations shall serve him Which Prophecy is the more remarkable because the Promise made to Abraham is there repeated in so many words viz. That all Nations of the Earth should be blessed in the Messiah Psalm-CII verse 15. So the Heathen shall fear the Name of the Lord and all the Kings of the Earth thy Glory And Psalm CX verse 2. The Lord shall send the Rod of thy strength out of Zion rule thou in the midst of thine Enemies One ought to transcribe almost the whole Book of Psalms to take notice of all the passages which are to this purpose The Prophet Hosea declares in general terms That it was not an impossible thing for those who had been God's people to cease to be so or for those that were not his people to become his people Chap. I. verse 10. Yet the number of the Children of Israel shall be as the Sand of the Sea which cannot be measur'd or numbred and it shall come to pass that in the place where it was said unto them ye are not my people there it shall be said unto them ye are the Sons of the living God. Isaiah mentions this so often and in such an emphatical manner that it seems to be the main thing he drives at in all his Writings Chap. II. verse 2 3. he speaks thus And it shall come to pass in the last days that the Mountain of the Lord's House shall be established in the top of the Mountains and shall be exalted above the Hills and all Nations shall flow unto it And many people shall go and say come ye and let us go up to the Mountain of the Lord to the House of the God of Jacob and he will teach us of his ways and we will walk in his paths for out of Zion shall go forth the Law and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem And Chap. XI verse 10. In that day there shall be a Root of Jesse which shall stand for an Ensign of the people to it shall the Gentiles seek And Chap. XVIII verse 7. he makes a manifest allusion to the expectation of all Nations In Chap. XLII vers 1 2 3 4. he repeats the same thing Behold my servant whom I uphold mine elect in whom my soul delighteth I will put my Spirit upon him he shall bring forth Judgment to the Gentiles He shall not cry nor lift up nor cause his voice to be heard in the streets A bruised Reed shall he not break and the smoking Flax shall he not quench he shall bring forth Judgment unto the Earth and the Isles shall wait for his Law. Chap. LV. vers 4 5. Behold I have given thee for a witness of the people a Leader and a Commander to the people Behold thou shalt call a Nation that thou knowest not and Nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the Lord thy God and for the holy One of Israel for he hath glorified thee But one see 's these Truths in their greatest lustre in the LX Chap. of his Prophecies vers 3 4 5. The Gentiles shall come to thy light and Kings to the brightness of thy rising Lift up thine eyes round about and see all they gather themselves together they come to thee thy sons shall
come from far and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side Then thou shalt see and shine and thine heart shall fear and be enlarged because the abundance of the Sea shall be converted unto thee the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee And Chap. LXII vers 2. The Gentiles shall see thy righteousness and all Kings thy glory and thou shalt be called by a new name which the mouth of the Lord shall name And vers 11 and 12. Behold the Lord hath proclaimed unto the ends of the World say ye to the daughter of Zion behold thy salvation cometh behold his reward is with him and his work is before him And they shall call them the holy people the redeemed of the Lord and thou shalt be called Sought out a City not forsaken And Chap. LXV vers 1. I am sought of them that asked not for me I am found of them that sought me not I said behold me behold me unto a Nation that was not called by my Name And Chap. LXVI verse 18. It shall come to pass that I will gather all Nations and Tongues and they shall come and see my Glory Amos who was contemporary with Isaiah speaks the same thing Chap. IX vers 11 12. In that day will I raise up the Tabernacle of David which is fallen and close up the breaches thereof and I will raise up his ruins and I will build it as in the days of old That they may possess the remnant of Edom and of all the Heathen which are called by my Name saith the Lord which doth this The Prophet Micah also follows the Prophet Isaiah step by step Mich. IV. vers 1 2 3. But in the lasts days it shall come to pass that the Mountain of the House of the Lord shall be established in the top of the Mountains and it shall be exalted above the Hills and people shall flow unto it And many Nations shall come and say Come and let us go up to the Mountain of the Lord and to the House of the God of Jacob and he will teach us of his ways and we will walk in his paths for the Law shall go forth of Zion and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem And he shall judge among many people and rebuke strong Nations afar off and they shall beat their Swords into Plow shares and their Spears into Pruning-hooks Nation shall not lift up a Sword against Nation neither shall they learn war any more Zephaniah is as clear as any of the rest Chap. II. vers 11. They shall worship him every one from his place even all the Isles of the Heathen And Chap. III. vers 9 10. Then will I turn to the people a pure Language that they may all call upon the Name of the Lord to serve him with one consent From beyond the Rivers of Ethiopia my Suppliants the daughter of my dispersed shall bring mine offering Jeremiah in the Fourth Chapter of his Prophecies vers 2. confirms the same Truth as likewise Chap. XVI vers 19. and more expresly Chap. XXXI verse 34. And they shall teach no more every man his Neighbour and every man his Brother saying know the Lord for they shall all know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them saith the Lord. After the return of the Captivity we find that the Prophets still pursued the same Idea's Haggai II. vers 7 8. And I will shake all Nations and the desire of all Nations shall come and I will fill this House with Glory saith the Lord of Hosts The Silver is mine and the Gold is mine saith the Lord of Hosts Zechariah speaks in like manner Chap. II. vers 10 11. Sing and rejoyce O daughter of Zion for lo I come and I will dwell in the midst of thee saith the Lord. And many Nations shall be joyned to the Lord in that day and shall be my people and I will dwell in the midst of thee and thou shalt know that the Lord of Hosts hath sent me unto thee And Chap. VIII vers 20 21 22. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts it shall yet come to pass that there shall come people and the inhabitants of many Cities and the inhabitants of one City shall go to another saying Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord and to seek the Lord of Hosts I will go also Yea many People and strong Nations shall come to seek the Lord of Hosts in Jerusalem and to pray before the Lord. And Chap. XI vers 10. he expresses the same thing more distinctly And I will cut off the Chariot from Ephraim and the Horse from Jerusalem and the Battel bow shall be cut off and he shall speak peace unto the Heathen and his Dominion shall be from Sea to Sea and from the River unto the ends of the Earth Malachi speaks to the same purpose with the greatest clearness imaginable Chap. I. vers 10 11. Who is there among you that shuts the doors or kindles fire on mine Altar for nought I have no pleasure in you saith the Lord of Hosts neither will I accept an offering at your hand for from the rising of the Sun even unto the going down of the same my Name shall be great among the Gentiles and in every place Incense shall be offered unto my Name and a pure offering for my Name shall be great among the Heathen saith the Lord of Hosts On all which passages one may make these Observations 1. That all this whole Series of Idea's hath as much connexion to one another as the words of those Oracles have which we have now alledged 2. That these Prophets have set it forth with all its possible Characters by the Original of these People calling them the Children of Seth by their Countreys Egypt Assyria the East and West by their Idolatry by their Aversion to the Jews their Ignorance c. 3. That these Prophecies were generally understood by the Jews of old of the Calling of the Gentiles as appears from the use the Apostles made of them when they preached to the Gentiles 4. That forasmuch as God had ordered Proselytes to be received into the Jewish Communion he seem'd thereby to have hinted to them that what he had enjoyn'd them as to particulars ought with much more reason to be practiced in general to all the Nations of the World and ought also to be universally desired 5. That the Modern Jews themselves constantly believ'd that the Messiah should lead the Gentiles to Repentance So Kimchi Moses Maimonides and many other Authors since the Talmudists 6. That the Opinion which the Jews have entertained That the Messiah as a great Conquerour was to subdue the Nations proceeds only from the sense of the Oppression they have been and still are under which makes them so earnestly desire a temporal deliverance from the power of the Gentiles by means of the Messiah and the pompous expression of some of the Prophets have strengthen'd this belief in them tho'